Secondly , think not thou degenerate issue of old Noah , but that al thy waies lie open before me , thy practises , thy imaginations ; the secrets of thy soule are not hidden from my sight , and can yet thy wretched heart be so hardned , can it bee so wittingly impious , as to prouoke thy Creator , and in the face of Heauen , to dare combat to his Omnipotencie ? Remember the blessings wherewith I blest your Fathers , and call to mind my wonders of old time ; Did I to that end preserue your Progenitors from the Floud , that Children issuing from their loines , should requite me with this contumely ? Did I giue you fruitfull Shinar to possesse , and blesse you with the fat of the Earth , that plentie should make you stiffe-necked and rebellious against me ? Did I endue you with one language & one speech , that you should abuse it in inciting one another to such impieties ? Behold , I haue hitherto but looked downe from Heauen , and said , perhaps Man will turne from his wicked wayes , and seeke after mee ; but I will now vnsheath my sword , I will goe downe to execute iudgement ; for the sinnes of your mouth , & for the words of your lips , you shall be taken in your pride , I will confound your Language , that you may not vnderstand one anothers speech .

The totall summe is , a briefe of Gods proceedings against the builders of Babel for their arrogancie ; in the sentence or decree whereof ,

Obserue with mee these three parts . First , Profectionem , the progresse , circuit , or expedition which hee would make , Goe to , let vs goe downe . Secondly , Intentionem , the intention which hee had , and there confound their Language . Thirdly , Rationem , the reason or end of his intent , that they may nos vnderstand one anothers speech .

Of these in order ; as Gods grace shal enable me , and your Christian patience affoord me leaue , and first , de profectione , of Gods progresse or expedition against these wicked Rebels , which commeth in the first place to be considered , Goe to , let vs goe downe , &c.

Fourthly , It is doubted amongst some Interperters , who they should be to whom this descendamus , let vs goe downe ( it being a Verbe of the plurall number ) ought to bee referred . The Iewes ignorant of the blessed Trinitie , as also some others , would haue it to be spoken to those Angels which God purposed to vse as Instruments in the effecting of this miraculous confusion . But were it so , the Phrase would haue rather beene ( goe yee ) then ( let vs goe ) for ( let vs ) imports an equalitie betweene the speaker and the hearer , which equalitie cannot bee found betweene the Creator and the Creature ; besides , Angels being of a finite essence , can haue but finite and successiue operations , but to frame and infuse in one and the selfe-same moment , such varietie of sounds , and senses into mens braines , argues Gods immediate hand , and that in this action he had no partner . I rather ioyne therefore with our owne Interpreters , and amongst the rest with Caluine , Cal. ad locum . Sic Chrysost. Procop. Rab●n . Rupert . Cyrill . Tertull . who ex hoc loco non ineptè probatur , subesse in vna Dei essentia ●res personas : that from this place the pluralitie of persons in one essence may be well inferred . But my purpose is not stand vpon a point so sufficiently resolued by others . Another doubt here in my Text is , how God may bee said to goe downe ; For is it possible , that hee which is totus in toto mundo , should now want a locall descent to make him aliquid in parte mundi ? Whither shall I goe from thy spirit , saith Dauid , Psal. 139.7 . or whither shall I flye from thy presence ? If I ascend vp into Heauen , thou art there ? If I goe downe into Hell thou art there also ? If I take the wings of the morning , and remayne in the vttermost parts of the Sea , euen there also shall thine hand lead mee , and thy right hand shall hold me . To the clearing of this point , we must obserue , that this word descend , hath a double signication in the holy Scriptures , somtimes it is taken properly , for a locall motion from a higher place to a lower , and so the Angell of the Lord is said to descend from Heauen , when hee rolled away the stone from the mouth of our Sauiours Sepulchre , Matth. 28. sometimes it is taken Metaphorically , when one by manifesting himselfe in his actions , resembleth a kind of descent in his person , and so God may bee said to descend , non mutatione loci , sed patefactione sui , not by changing his place , but by declaring himselfe ; For though God being in his essence considered , is euery where present ; yet if wee consider him in his effects , and in his workes : certi huius praesentiae gradus dandi sunt , say the Schooles , there be , as it were , certayne degrees of his presence to bee granted . Greg. Com. in Ezech. h●m. 8. Omnia tangit , non tamen aequaliter omnia tangit , saith Gregory : so that hee is present in a seuerall manner to seuerall things : Communiter omnibus , specialiter aliquibus , hee descends by his workes of Power , to all his Creatures vpon Earth ; by his workes of Grace , to his Seruants Elect alone ; by his workes of Confusion , to the wicked and Reprobates ; and in this latter sense I take to be vnderstood the words of my Text , goe to , let vs goe downe . Now this going downe against these haughtie builders is sufficiently expressed in my Text , where God by the similitude of a King , who minding to punish wicked and rebellious subiects , sends not others , but himselfe goes downe in person to doe Iustice , notes out vnto vs his iust seueritie and vigilant care in rewarding head-strong and ambitious Miscreants ; but yet the reason hereof appeares better by the coherence of these words with the former Verse : Delr●e ex Philon. & Chrysost. For wheras there God had thorowly scanned and sifted , as it were , the , thoughts and imaginations of these wicked builders , and by experience found , that they were not now growne to an opinion alone , or a longing to commence this prodigious action for the winning of a name , but that Pride was by this time at her high tyde , and that a resolute presumption had gotten the sole swage of their affections , so that hee by way of communication with himselfe , describing , First , their condition , that they had not only imagined , or in their brests alone conceiued this vanitie , but had euen already begunne to doe it : Secondly , their resolution , that vnlesse hee with his Omnipotent arme should interpose , nothing would bee restrayned from them which they imagined to do , he addeth immediatly these words , Goe to , let vs goe downe , which beeing as it were a Decree grounded vpon the former communication , may not vnfitly afford vs this obseruation . That to bee bent vpon a vaine resolution of purchasing a name , is a fearefull presage of Gods comming downe to worke confusion .

Fifthly , no sinne is so hatefull to God , as this pride and seeking of glory , other sins hurt most our selues , or our neighbours , but this directly as it were , opposeth it self vnto God , by remembring our selues too much , it vtterly makes vs forget our Creator . God therefore is said to resist the proud . 1. Pet. 5. to scatter them in the imaginations of their hearts . Luke 1.51 . To destroy euen their house . Prou. 15. and whosoeuer is an exalter of himselfe , to bring him low . Matth. 23.12 . Assyrias Monarch affects but a name from his strength and wisdome , and is threatned to bee consumed like thornes with a flame , Esay 10. Nebuchadnezzar but triumphs in his Maiestie and glory , and that goodly Tree must bee hewne downe , and exposed amongst the beasts of the Field , Dan. 4. Looke vpon the Prince of Tyrus , Ezech. 28. or the Israelites , Amos 6. and wee shall find that the exalting of their owne name for blessings receiued of God , was that which puld downe plagues and afflictions vpon them . To omit many others , we reade of Herod , Acts 12. how immediately after the peoples shout , terming his Oration the Voyce of God , and not of Man ; the Angell of the Lord smote him , and why ? not for any boasting of himselfe for ought we find , but for not declining the too great applause of the people . So sudden hath God beene in confounding those , which eyther proudly haue sought , or vainly imbraced a glorious Name .

But what will some obiect , may no Fame bee affected or Name bee sought for ? Hath God enriched some with such admirable gifts and excellent endowments aboue others , and must all these bee buryed in obscuritie without speaking of ? Beloue , mistake me not , it is not a good name , neyther is it a great Name , which I heere dislike , but our owne inordinate seeking of it . Things are of two sorts , Thom. 2.2 . q. 132. art. 1. Valent. Tom. 3. disp. 8. q. 3. punct. 2. some are bona per●se , good in themselues , and these in themselues are to bee sought for , as Faith , Hope , Charitie , and the like Vertues ; others are not good , but indifferent in themselues , and are to bee hunted after only , as they may bee instruments of what is good in it selfe : and amongst these are reckoned Fame and humane Glory . To seeke Glory therefore , or a Name , as they may bee Instruments of a farther good is no sinne , a good Name being rather to bee desired then great riches , Prou. 22. For first , as it is meroe● des meritorum , a reward of our deserts , it stirres vp a desire of well doing in our selues , and herein is to bee desired : Secondly , as it is signum virtutum , a token of Vertues in vs , it makes our good indeauours the more passable amongst others , and herein is to bee disired ; Lastly , as it is Argumentum cuiusdam excellentiae diuinae in nobis , as Thomas speaketh , it worketh an acknowledgement of Gods graces towards man in vs all , and herein is to be desired . And in these respects Saint Paul bids vs prouide honest things not in secret onely , but in the sight of all men , Rom. 12. And our Sauiour addes the reason , Mat. 5. That men may see our good workes , and glorifie our Father which is in heauen . Whereupon saith Austen ; Aug a● frat . in Eremo se●m . 52. Iom. 10. Tenete quod dixi , atque distinguite . Duae suntres , conscientia & fama : Conscientia necessaria est tibi , fama proximo t●● . But to seeke a name as these builders did , without relation at all to any higher end , therein consists the vanitie . Our heauenly Father , he knowes what we haue need of , and hath in heauen rescrued a name for vs , which he hath written in the Booke of Life : to grudge because we want it in this world , is to weepe for the extinguishing of a Candle , when in stead thereof wee are assured of the light of the Sunne . And indeed , Saint Paul giues and excellent example , to illustrate and confirme this doctrine : for when some Corinthians began to make more account of the false Apostles , that crept in amongst them , then of him ; he that he might by bringing them to esteeme of himselfe , bring them also to esteeme of the Gospell which he preached , stucke not to tell them , that he was not a whit behind the chiefest of the Apostles : and to boast , that he had been in labors more abundant , in stripes aboue measure , in prisons more frequent , in deaths oft , 2. Cor. 11. vsing the magnifying of his name , as an instrument to magnifie his doctrine . But when on the contrary side , othersome more fierce in their censures then the rest , would giue no equall hearing to his iust defence , hee appeald from man to Gods Tribunall , and plainely shewed what he esteemed of a great name , or of mens estimations in themselues ; As touching me ( saith he ) I passe very little to be iudge of you , or of mans iudgement ; no , I iudge not mine owne selfe , 1. Cor. 4. As a name therfore may serue for our owne incouragements , the edifying of our brother , and the glory of God , wee are commanded to let our works shine before men , and to purchase a good report amongst all men , but as it is a thing in it selfe , meerely considered without further vse , we strictly are forbidden ambitiously to seeke it . What greater tokens of a zealous affection , then prayer , fasting , and almes-deeds ? By the one we commune with God ; by the other we humble our selues ; and by the third we testifie our loues vnto our neighbors : yet euen these in danger of vaine-glory , or hauing not a farther end accompaning them , are to be restrained from the eyes of men . Almes must bee so conceald , that the left hand may not know what the right hand doth , Matth. 6.3 . Prayers must bee so secretly powred forth , that the Chamber doore may not stand open when wee make them : Vers . 6. and a chearefull countenance must so colour our fastings , that we may not seeme to men to fast , but to our Father which is in secret ; and our Father which seeth in secret , will reward vs openly : Vers . 18.

Sixthly , I would to God ( beloued ) that these our soothing times , could bee contented to heare this doctrine , not in thesi onely , but would also as willingly make vse of it in hypothesi . It serues notably first against those , who , liue they how Epicurlike they list , be their possessions by fraud or oppression gotten , they care not ; a House yet , or some other Monument must they leaue behind them , if for nought else , yet to preserue their name . Weake impietie ; so much labour , such care , and all but to purchase a name . Why , Achitophel hath a name , Iudas hath a name , Belzebub hath a name : and , alas , how easie a matter is it to leaue a name , if that were all ; Babylons ruines ( me thinks ) might here lesson vs ; and one of those aged Syres , if you will , one of Iaphets sonnes , from whom we are descended , were hee now liuing , might thus informe vs ; Build not Palaces , erect not Marble Monuments to win a name , disce meo exemplo monitus , thy fore-fathers example may teach thee , that though thou build them , yet God may name them , and to deride thy vanitie , terme them as hee did this Babell , a Confusion . Beloued , there bee some here , whom if not now , yet hereafter it may concerne ; giue me leaue therfore to adde this for their instruction ; Are you desirous to haue a name . I disswade you not : but imagine not that it relies in worldly pompe or humane glorie : Men thinke ( saith Dauid ) that their houses shall continue for euer , and that their dwelling places shall indure from one generation to another , and call their lands after their owne names ; Neuerthelesse , they shall not abide in honour , seeing they may be compared vnto the beasts that perish ; this is the way of them : But if you would get a name , I will shew you a way ( saith Chrysostome , ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doe good deeds , giue to the poore , distribute your Almes to the necessitous , these things will bee liuing monuments , and Statues reard in the minds of men , when those of Stone and Brasse shall deriue nought but your vanitie vnto posterity . Dispersit , dedit pauperibus ( saith the Psalmist ) & iustitia eius manet in seculum , in one day hee disperst his riches , and we see his memorie extends vnto all ages . But will you needs build you Houses and lofty Palaces ? I forbid you not ; onely build them not on earth , if you will build , build a Tabernacle in Heauen , Where Cankers cannot corrupt , nor theeues digge through and steale . Would you adorne your dwelling places ? yet first remember , domum interiorem , your owne soules , adorne them , and Christ will come in and lodge with you . Would you line your walls with Tapestry and rich Imagetie ? yet remember when you haue cloathed them , that you leaue not Christ naked and destitute of cloathing . Build you houses for habitation , not ostentation , and bee sure of this , that ouer-much outward pompe will proue like a shoo being to bigge for you , it will hinder you in your way towards the heauenly Ierusalem .

But let mee wade a little farther ( my brethren ) for neyther must this Example altogether so litterally be applyed , Perer. Cor. Nel a Lapid . Diod. Sic. l. 3. c. 4. Herod . l. 1. Theod. in quaest. in Gen 59. Hieron . l. 5. comment in Esai c. 14. but that it may likewise yeeld some matter of admonition euen to vs , which in this place haue consecrated our selues to our set professions . Commentators much disputes the question , whether it were this lower , which is so described by Diodore and Herodotus , and whether it were to be seene in Saint Hierome and Theodorets time ; Our latter Voyages affirme the ruines to be yet extant ; For mine wone part , I would not counsell any man to trauel thither to decide the controuersie . No beloued , let him look at home and in a Mappe decipher his owne affections , he needs not with Galileus vse perspectrue Glasses to descry Mountaynes in the Moone . I feare , too many there be , if they would but pluck the beame out of their own eyes would cleerely see , that Babel is yet standing , and that not in part only raysed , as was this in my Text , but reared to the Battlements ; nay , ( I am affraid ) in too many mounted as high as the Weather-cocke . If we looke abroad and cast our eyes with our Sauiour from the top of the high Mountayne vpon the splendor of the World , no doubt , but there we shall see Towers and Babels enough a building , wee shall easily yeeld that Princes , and Potentates , and Secular Policies haue their hands full of such worke ; but let 's reflect our eyes vpon our selues , and aske whether here may not bee some of Babels builders , whether here may not bee some day-labourers , which set their hands to the laying of that foundation ? Perhaps one amongst our selues would reply , that here are none but such as haue renounced those forded Trades , and haue dedicated themselues wholly to the liberall Professions ; but alas ; beloued , wee are not sharpe-sighted enough in our owne cause , Cucullus non facit Monachum ; let 's aske Elezeus Seruant , hee which could discerne the Mountayne couered with fiery Chariots , and hee would tell vs , that there bee indeed here many Noahs , many Sems and Hebers , which bewayle the headinesse of their Brethren , and would restrayne them if possibly they could from such precipitate courses ; but , alas , whilest some too much neglectfull of their true scope , do day and night lye digging and deluing , and hewing out their wordly aduancement ; whiles it is too common a fault amongst men , to ruffe cast and playster ouer their owne deformities ; that with Simon Magus , they may affirme themselues to bee some body , whilest not a few with liues and trauels stand either measuring others actions , or else as if themselues were the Poles of the world , are taking the eleuation of their owne worth ; how can one choose but say that here also may sit many of those Mechanickes , who ( if I should speake , with my Story ) doe make Bricke and burne it , and carry slime and mortar to the building of this Tower . Babylon ( beleeue it ) may as well be built in a Schollars braine , as in the Plaines of Shinar , and vaine glory may in the one be as fit an Instrument to promote the Deuils kingdom , as in the other it serued for the erecting of Nimrods Monarchie . Sciences and Disciplines were first inuented for vse , and contayne themselues then within the bounds of Modesty , but vaine glory raysing them aboue their proper Spheare , made them in the end take folly for their Centre . Whence grew those infernall Arts of consulting with foule spirits , whence those scrupulous inspection of the higher bodies ; but that earth and clay knowing not it selfe which it was bound to know , to get a name would needs know that which it ought not to know ; might I but particularize , I thinke , there is none ignorant in the seuerall Ages of Learning . What corruptions of Arts arose from Pride ? What Sects arose like Locusts to deuoure the flowers of all good learning ? How by them Philosophy losing her profitable vses , was turned to abstractiue and sophisticall speculations , how Diuinitie was stuft out with curious and vnnecessary doubts , how preaching it selfe through postelizing became verbal , & bent only as it were to delight the fancie of fond Auditors . I cannot much censure therefore those Schoolemen , which held Diuinitie it selfe to bee then a speculatiue Science , when the Popes to build their Empire thought good to abstract it from the practice . Non sic à principio , it was not so from the beginning .

Agrip. de vanit . Scient. An Agrippa could supply my Meditations with Examples , and tel you how all Disciplines assumed first their vanitie from the affectation of humane glory , and a Viues could deriue vnto you the causes of the corruptions of Arts from aspiring cogitations . Viues , de causis corrupt . arti . Till Arrogancie beare Dominion ouer Truth ; the transcendencie of the Pope found no footing in the Church . Till ambitious ends blinded the eyes of iudgement , the doctrine of massacring Princes was not knowne . Till Schoole-learning turned Aduocate to the pride of Antichrist , we knew no higher Iudge of Controuersies then the Scriptures . But my purpose is not to prosecute this subiect any farther ; I desire ( Beloued ) knowledge in you all , but I would haue it vestita , clothed with Humilitie , for as it is in it selfe nuda , it puffeth vp , saith Paul , 1. Cor. 8. but ioyned with loue it edifieth . Let no man therefore presume to vnderstand aboue that which is meete to vnderstand , but that hee vnderstand according to sobrietie , as God hath dealt to euery man the measure of Faith , lest striuing with these builders to get a name , hee participate of their confusion ; which was the intention of Gods descent , and commeth next to bee handled ; and there confound their Language .

Seuenthly , bow dangerous a weapon the tongue of man is , how liable either to vse or abuse , no Author almost is silent to report . With our tongue wee will preuaile , say the wicked , Psal. 12. Death and life are in the power of it , Prou. 18. And to conclude , It is a fire , a world of wickednesse , an vnruly euill , full of deadly poyson : Iam. 3. No maruell therefore , if the Lord , when he saw that man by depriuing himselfe of his originall iustice , had lost the true skil of vsing this weapon , did now somewhat shorten the length of it , to the end that some proportion might bee found betweene the wounded and worne Souldier , and his vnweeldie blade . Had Adam still continued in his first estate , reason in him like a golden bridle would haue kept this member in subiection ; At hi iam mortui sunt , those Armes which then were lusty and strong , haue now lost their vigor , and the tongue as an vntamed beast runnes ouer all it meetes with , and tramples to the ground all such as giue it not way and passage . God therefore since the Rider had not any longer the free power to restraine his beast , thought good to shorten his race , scantle his liberties , and reduce the large Common where before it roued , and went astray into seuerall inclosements . Shemeis tongue may bee free in cursing , but it shall boote no where now but in Iurie . Athenian Demagogi may bee prompt in mouing seditions , but their eloquence must end with the bounds of Greece : and Caius Curio may be facundus malo publico ; but his Rethoricke shall be powerfull onely in Romes Territories .

From hence wee may obserue many points worth our consideration , as first , that all the punishments which it pleaseth God to inflict on the wicked in this life , are no other then so many steps and staires to promote the welfare of his Church . For howsoeuer , the World abounded as much with wicked after , as before , yet men being deuided into as many factions as tongues , and hauing not so free commerce as before , the Church might now seeme to haue an indifferent share , being compared with any one part , though to all it beare no proportion . Secondly , wee may note the end of Gods punishments , how it is to represse the ragings of sinne , Greg. lib. 34 Moral . & Chrysost. in Gen. c. 11. v. 6. and to restraine it from growing to that prodigious hight which these builders had raised it vnto . For no doubt , the Lord seeing the imaginations of mans heart to be euill continually , and that this vnitie of speech so much serued the wicked to win them partners in their wickednesse , vsed this confusion of Languages as a bridle to curbe their audacious spirits , that if notwithstanding all this , they should haue as much will to sinne , yet should they haue lesse power to hurt : and though perhaps there might bee as many wicked , yet should there be fewer partakers in the same wickednesse . Alas , God might , as hee did to Sodome , haue rained downe fire and brimstone vpon them , and so haue consumed their work with them , but then he had not left vs the posteritie of that wicked consort , as a perpetuall argument of his mercy : he might with Lighthings or Earthquakes haue demolisht their worke , and not them : but then hee had onely deter'd them from proceeding in that mischiefe , not taken away the meanes of beginning a new . Wherefore hee like a prudent Iudge , that this malum poenae , this punishment which he would inflict vpon them , might take some effect in all their Posterity , suits their punishment to their offence : the vnity of lunguage caused them to incite one another to build , and the consusion of Languages shall for euer take from them the meanes to proceed ; similitude of speech , made them seeke a combination , and a diuersitie of speech shall cause their final seperations ; likenesse of Tongues , made them conioyne in consultation , and diuision of Tongues shall deuide their humors and affections . Kingdomes bee diuided by speeches , and speeches by the causes of the diuisions of Kingdomes so that now to reunite all men againe vnder one visible forme of gouernment , is to reedifie Babel , and to frustrate that course which God by this confusion of languages established in the world . I cannot tell what others may coniecture , but , mee thinkes , it cannot bee but a fond imagination of the Papists , to think that now all Nations should againe conspire and agree vnder one visible head : did God so miraculously scatter & diuide men , lest being vndiuided they should againe returne to their vomit , and their Commanders incite them afresh to hatch such Monsters as this was ; and must all Mankind subiect it selfe once more to the command of one Nimrod , and all concurre to the raysing of a second Babel ? I confesse with Aristotle in the third of his Politickes , that a Monarchy is the best forme of Regiment absolutely , and the best in one Citie and one Countrey , as most symbolizing with the order of nature , and beeing the best preseruer of Vnitie and Concord , which is Aristotles mayne ground ; yet considering the manifold defects of men , amongst which this confusion of Languages is not the least ; ( and therefore when our Sauiour was to giue his Apostles a large Commission to preach vnto all Nations , he supplyed it with the gift of Tongues ) considering , I say , the imperfections of Nature , I deny a Monarchy to bee the best forme of Regiment , in respect of the whole World , and euery part thereof so farre distant and remote one from another . For to omit the impossibilitie and inconueniences alleaged by Ocham , a Schoolman of their owne , in the second of his Dialogues and first Tract , who thinkes it most dangerous to haue all men subiect their eares and vnderstandings to one mans Dictates ; least hee in whom they put so much confidence by falling into errour , like the Serpent , should draw the most part of the starres from Heauen with his tayle ; to passe by , I say , these Arguments , we may find proofes strong enough in our Text ; For if God vsed this confusion of Languages as a remedie for mans Pride and Arrogancie , because a vniuersall combination of men in the infancie of the World brought forth such prodigious births as was this Babel , into what wickednesse may wee conceiue , might Mankind in its more declining Age head-long throw it selfe to its greater confusion ? This only , I say , old Babylon rayseth the doubt , and new Babylon hath resolued it .

But whilest wee striue to subdue our open Enemies , wee must be wary , least our bosome friends , our owne affections , subdue vs . Le ts see therefore , what lesson each of vs in particular may for his priuate vse deduce from the manner of punishing , which God vsed in this place . The whole Earth was of one Language ( sayth the Pen man of this story ) & dixerunt alter alteri , aedificemus , and they said one to another , let vs build vs a Citie and a Tower ; & quia vnius labij ideo dixerunt alter alteri , had they not beene of one Language , they could not haue said one to another , Let vs build . God resumes the argument in the sixth Verse ; Behold , the people is one , and they all haue one Language , and this they beginne to doe . Wherefore hee dealt not with them , as sometimes Physicians doe , who for a Disease in the head apply the Playster to the foot , he punished not their eyes with blindnesse , as he did the men of Sodome , Gen. 19. nor their bodies with the leprosie , as he did Gehazi , 2. Kings , 5. no ; that member which stird them vp 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to wage warre against him , by the same he makes them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , Cyp. serm. de lapsis . in Languages to discord amongst themselues . Inde coepit poena , vnde coepit & crimen , sayth Cyprian , where the fault began , there began likewise the punishment ; It was the tongue that set them on worke , and in all Iustice hee makes the tongue to pay for it ; some say , vt qui vnanimiter per linguam offendissent , linguam ad orandum vnanimiter veniam non haberent : that because they had offended ioyntly by the tongue , they should not now haue a tongue whereby they might ioyntly aske pardon : Austin saith it was , Vt qui alto superbiae tumore membra contempserant , in fragilissimo substantiae suae membro poenam vtique sermonis sentirent , that by the iust Iudgement of God , they which puft vp with Pride did contemne and abuse their parts , should in the weakest part they had sustayne the punishment of confusion . Howsoeuer these men hauing by the tongue so heinously offended , and being by the confusion of tongues so seuerely punished , may yeeld a generall caueat vnto all those which abuse those gifts and good parts , whatsoeuer they bee which God endowes them withall , and may point out vnto vs this Obseruation .