TO you seauen , I dedicate these seauen Golden Candlestickes ; and to whom should I dedicate the same , but to you ? for in your house , and by your light I haue composed them ; and God hath blessed you , not onely in making you great through the fauour of Mutable men , but especially in making you good through the immutable grace and fauour of himselfe which changeth not , and which hath planted his feare in your hearts , and diffused those graces into your soules , that doe infalliby accompany saluation , and make you to shine as you doe , for the sincerity of your profession in the truth of the Gospell , and the vprightnesse of your hearts , which haue bin euer seene void of all double courtly dealing , amongst a crooked and peruerse generation , whereof I had almost said , the greatest part is either basely filled with hypocriticall flattery , or most pittifully blinded with idololatricall impiety ; and as a sure pledge of his pure loue vnto your Honours , he hath giuen vnto you such an inestimable gift , so many , so sweet , and so gracefull children , which for all good parts and endowments of nature , and for infallible signes of grace , I dare boldly say it , ( and I may the rather say it , because , rather then any other , I doe more experimentally know it ) God hath annointed aboue their fellowes , * * Especially that worthily beloued child , my LORD CHARLES HERBERT ; of whom for his admired towardnesse , I could truly say , more then any that know him not , would easily beleeue . that neither you nor all yours can be sufficiently thankefull vnto God for them ; so great a blessing it is , to haue so many , so many such Oliue-branches round about your Table . And therfore as God hath blessed your Honors , and made you great lights to shine for godly zeale in this wicked declining world , and to be patternes of true piety vnto others round about you ; So I doe assure my selfe , you will not disdaine to accept and peruse these my labours , which as a small expression of my vnfained thankefulnesse for those manifold testimonies of your loue and fauours vnto me , farre I confesse beyond my deserts , I doe most syncerely dedicate vnto your Honours , for whose compleate happinesse my witnesse is in Heauen , that since first I belonged vnto you , I haue daily prayed vpon my bended knees ; and I doe vnfainedly acknowledge that you deserue more from me , then I can performe , and haue performed more vnto me , then I can any wayes deserue from you : And therefore I presumed to dedicate these Treatises vnto your Honours , not to shelter them from any stormes of maleuolent tongues , but to publish that thankefulnesse vnto the world , which my heart euer acknowledgeth to be due vnto you : For I know it is fit that whosoeuer publisheth any thing vnfit , should beare the whole burthen of his owne fault , and whosoeuer ventureth to appeare in print , must expect the common lot of all Writers , to be variously censured of various dispositions ; Some as Nebuzaradan burnt the Temple , Greg. Cur. past . 3. p. c. 20. Nazian. in pacif . 2. but kept the gold , will be content to take the matter , and yet blame the Author ; others will reade it , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , not to better themselues , but to censure others ; In all these I would neuer desire Patrone to defend mee , nor feare enemy to depraue me ; for what is good will defend it selfe , and to flatter those whose pennes are silent , and their tongues alwayes babling , to condemne others in what they cannot mend themselues , were impiety , and to feare them imbecility ; for to please all is vnpossible , and to indeauour it is folly : And therefore I hope you will receiue them as I tender them . They be not vnbeseeming to be knowne by the greatest Monarches , for they containe not the smoaking fume of humane reasonings , nor the meandrian windings of Controuersiall subtilties , but the purest lights of all Christian Religion ; for I saw that as the Athenians were euer desirous of nouelties , so to satisfie this Criticke age , affecting nothing so well as quiddities , too many men haue addrest their mindes to disputable Controuersies ; and I found , though with griefe , that the Aduersaries on either side , and especially the Pontificials , as if there were not Controuersies enough in Religion , doe often forge tenents out of their owne braynes , and impute them each one against the other ; and so each Aduersary striues to make the other say what indeed he abhorres to thinke ; whereby it happeneth that a great part of disputations , being about imaginarie Controuersies , is but like a skirmishing in the ayre , which seemeth furious , but striketh no man ; and is vainely spent to no purpose , but to increase Schisme , and to inuolue themselues within the thickets of inextricable labyrinths ; because iarring and iangling about errours , they let passe the maine grounds of truth , and striuing to finde out new wayes , they doe quite forget the old way , which is the good way , and are become almost ignorant of the first and chiefest Principles of Religion . Such is the pollicie of Satan , to busie their heads about the lesse needfull Controuersies , thereby to make them the lesse diligent to inquire after the most necessary counsels of their saluation . And therefore considering with my selfe what the Apostle saith , that hee desired to know nothing but Iesus Christ , and him crucified ; I haue applyed my selfe to treate of these ensuing Theames : I confesse my manner of handling them is like my selfe , plaine and homely , without any gorgeous garments of Rhetorical ornaments ; because I euer desired to speak rather for the edification of my hearers , then for the oftenstation of my selfe ; but I assure you the matter is like them from whom I receiued it , sound and good ; fit to feede all those Christians that desire rather to haue their hungry soules fedde with the sincere milke of Gods Word , then their itching eares tickled with the inticing speech of mans wisedome : for they doe containe the knowledge of our selues , how poore and miserable we are become by sinne , the knowledge of the true and eternall God , and the knowledge of Iesus Christ , God and Man , then whom there is no greater , no better ; which few lessons are alone able to make vs happy . I neede speake no more of the worke , let it speake for me : I referre all to God , who esteemeth of our indeauours , not by their euent , but by our intent ; but remembring that presenting your Honours with a Booke , I must not make a Booke of an Epistle , I onely desire you to accept these notes of a Schollers obseruation , who desires not so much to make himselfe knowne , as to acknowledge his duty to God , and his desire to doe him seruice , to extoll his name in Heauen , and not to gaine himselfe a name on Earth , and to haue all his thoughts and workes to honour Christ , or to be dishonoured himselfe for no Christian . So with my daily prayers for you and all yours , I humbly take my leaue and rest ;

I Write not this vnto your Lordship by base flattery , to beg any thing of you ; for I doe endeauour alwayes to support my meane estate by meditating on the Apostles lesson , in any state to be contented ; and I know , that as we came naked into this world , so we shall all returne naked hence againe : but I presume to affixe these few lines vnto these my poore labours , to assure the world of mine vnfained ioy to see your Lordship placed in that seate of gouernment wherein you are , in a certaine hope , that ( as Saint Paul said of Timothy ) according to the prophesies that went afore of you ; that is , the Propheticall expectation that all men conceiued of you ; and the faire promises that your Religious and alwayes vpright carriage hath made vnto vs ; your Lordship will be a great comfort , and a Diuine blessing vnto that whole Diocesse wherein you liue . I know it is the practise of many , I dare not say of any Bishop , either basely to sell their spirituall promotions , or sinisterly to bestow them on their friends , their kinsmen and alliances ; and yet I say not the Church of England doth imitate that painted Harlot of Babylon , nor that Ierusalem iustifieth Samaria ; but as Demodocus said of the Milesians , they were no fooles , and yet they did the same things that fooles did ; so I feare that we may say of many in the Church of England , we are no Pagans , no Popes , no Papists , no worldlings , no carnall men ; and yet though I say not that any man doth ill , yet I doubt wee doe not all well , not much better then they vse to doe herein . I confesse the Apostle noteth it as a vice of the latter times , to be without naturall affection ; but if gifts blinde the eyes of the wise , that they peruert iudgement , I doubt not but this carnall loue of flesh and bloud will sometimes with Mydas , preferre Pan before Apollo : and this naturall affection to kinred , being vnworthiest , will not onely deiect the mindes of painefull men , and cause men rather to seeke to be allied to others , then to attaine vnto any worth in themselues ; but it must also turne to the hurt and detriment of the whole Church of God , and doth apparantly shew such spirituall Patrons to be indeed carnally minded ; for do not the Publicans and Sinners euen the same ? and therefore though I wish all men to abound in loue and affection vnto their Kins-folkes , yet in this case , I would to God that all of vs , Deut. 33 ●8 . wold imitate Leui , who saide vnto his father , and to his mother , I haue not seene him , neither did he acknowledge his brethren , nor knew his owne children , but obserued Gods word , and kept his couenant , that we would set God alwayes before our eyes ; Neither doe I say this to deny that men should doe for their kinsfolke being worthy men , but that they should not doe this , neglecting others farre more worthy . and laying aside all sinister respects , would doe onely what should be most for Gods glory , for the encouragement of painfull Preachers , and for the best benefit vnto the people of God : for if Christ being lost by Mary and Ioseph could not bee found among his owne friends and kins-folkes , these men should take heed they finde him not among theirs . I could say more of this point , and yet not so much as Saint Bernard saith vnto Eugenius , of many other points like to this : but this will serue to be a witnesse against some at the dreadfull day , and perhaps to stirre vp as much rage against my selfe , as the Iewes had against Saint Stephen , for speaking this truth against them that vse such dealing against God : If it doth , I say as Saint Chrysostome said of the rage of that cruell Empresse : If they keepe me poore , I know Christ had not an house to put his head in ; if they silence me and thrust me out of their Sinagogue ; so was that poore man that confessed Christ , and the Apostles inioyned not to speake in the Name of Christ ; if they cast me into prison , so was Ieremy , Saint Peter , Saint Paul , and many more ; If I be forced to flie my Countrey , I haue that beloued Iohn , and that Atlas-like Athanasius for presidents of the like vsage , or whatsoeuer else should be done vnto mee , I haue the holy Martyres for my fellow sufferers , and I will neuer count my life deere vnto me , so I may finish my course with ioy ; but I will by Gods helpe , be euer ready , with all my heart , to suffer any thing for the Name of Iesus Christ , and for the least iot of his truth . But I doe much reioyce in that assured confidence which I haue , that your Lordship will herein , as well as in all other points of true piety , be an heauenly shining light and president vnto all other circumstant and succeeding Bishops , and other Patrons whatsoeuer ; and to that end my prayers shall euer continue for your Lordship .