IT is become a formality of the times , to enter bookes into the world under great names , and to make them seeme greater then they be , by studied straines of excessive commendation , whereby many times they raise the Readers fancy much higher then his faith ; and while they advance their Patrons praise farre above all beliefe , they depresse their owne reputations below a charitable hope : and so make many , instead of reading on when they have begun ( as it were with one foot on the threshold ) first to stop , and then to step backe , lest their entertainment in the second course should be answerable to the first ; their deceitfull flourishes in the dedication , promising little sincerity in the ensuing discourse .

I have no cause to feare it will be my ill hap , to take such handsale of any judicious and pious peruser of these papers , while I doe but tell ( not you , my Lord , for it is already upon evident record , whereof your owne great reading gives you intelligence at the first hand , but others ) how you are valued by such as are best able to judge , and seeme to have least of the Bias of advantagious interests , or partiall affections , to wry their censures from the streight line of truth , to the crooked brace of a favourable falshood ; which I would have them know , not so much for your honour , as for their owne good , that in the fulnesse of such an example , as your Grace's , others ( especially of our Tribe , and most of all those of your own orbe ) may find both the discovery of their own defects , and inducements to diligence , in following so faire a patterne for their further proficiency .

Of many , who have writt●n what your modesty will not acknowledge , I will take up with the testimonie of three onely : The first shall bee learned Master Selden , a man of that profession , which ( by some ) is held too emulous of the credit of the Clergy , and who hath taken much paines against their profit in his history of Tythes : he notwithstanding hath the most reverend Archbishop of Armagh in that esteeme , that he holds him a a Reverendissimus Antistes Jacobus Usserius , Archiepis●opus Armachanus , vir summâ pietate , judicio singulari , usque ad miraculum doctus . Selden . Marmora Aru●… deliana in editionis ansa . p. 8. sine , & p. 9. princip. A Prelate of exceeding great piety , of singular judgement , and of so much learning , as is no lesse then miraculous .

The second shall bee b b Ea certè pietatis tuae & eruditionis apud nos est existimatio , ut Usserii nomen pietatis nobis & virtutis nomen sit , quibus fama constans frequenter ingerit , tot ingentes dotes quibus te Deus instruxit . Frederic . Spanhem . epist. Dedicator . praefix. 3. par●i dubiorum Evangelico●um , excus . Genev. an . 1639. Fredericus Spanhemius , Pastor of the Church , and Professor of Divinity in the University of Geneva , a man , who by his bookes of Evangelicall doubts , hath given undoubted evidence of his Abilities , both for the Pulpit of the one , and the Chaire of the other ; and hee from Geneva writes thus : Your piety and learning is of that accompt among us , that the name of Usher to us is a name of piety and ″ ″ So said Greg. Nazianz of Athanas . A 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Greg. Naz. orat . 21. tom . 1. p. 373. vertue , constant and continuall fame ringing in our eares the many and great gifts wherewith the Lord hath endowed you . And because piety is the Principall , and ( therefore Master Selden did well to assigne it the first place in his Elogium ) he remembers it againe : c c Summa cum laude , voce , ac calamo , plus tamen exemplo doces , &c. Seld. You teach ( saith he ) to your great praise , by your tongue , and by your pen , but much more by your practice among them who daily look upon your life , and observe the uprightnesse and integrity of your manners : And d d Vident in te non anxiam , non affectatam pietatem , sed gravem , & seriam , & quae in illum solum fertur , cui soli debetur ; vident raram humilitatem per quam à fastigio tuo descendis , nec quicquam infra tuam dignitatem existimas , quod ad promovendum regnum De● facit . Ibid. Your serious and unaffected piety , which is directed only towards God , to whom alone of duty it belongeth ; and ( withall this ) they see ( that which makes these graces the more shining , and more sure ) your rare humility , whereby you descend from your height of dignity and desert , and condescend to men of low estate , Rom. 12.16 . thinking nothing too meane for the eminence of your place , which may any way conduce to advance the Kingdome of God : Whence hee takes occasion e e Publicè profiteor , quanta Genevae nostrae nominis tui sit claritudo , quantus apud nostrates honor . Ibid. publickly to professe how glorious a name you have , how great honour in the City of Geneva .

The third witnesse ( and , that I may not turne your candor into another colour , the last I will produce , who gives ample attestation to your great worth ) is the late Author of an Epistle , published principally against Bishop Halls tenet of Episcopacy by divine right , ( under the borrowed name of Iraeneus Philadelphus ) who in the first page of his supplement of things omitted ( having left you out , where hee names other Bishops with respect ) makes you amends with this honourable mention : f f Segrego etiam à choro Episcoporum Romanensium Jacobum Usserium Archiepiscopum Armachanum , rarum non solum magnae Brittaniae , & Hiberniae , sed universi Christiani Orbis ornamentum , in quem quicquid superiori saeculo clara lumina , Cranmerus , Latimerus , Hooperus , Juellus , habuerunt pietatis , zeli , suavitatis moram , sanctitatis vitae & doctrinae , atque reconditae eruditionis , videtur quasi soedere facto concurrisse ▪ Omiss . fol. 1. post pag. 76. epist. Iraenei Philadelph . I except ( saith hee ) from the company of Romanizing Bishops , James Usher , Archbishop of Armagh , a grace or ornament not onely of great Brittain and Ireland , but of the whole Christian world , in whom all the piety and sanctity of life , all the zeale and sweetnesse of disposition , and the learning , the hidden learning ( hidden from the knowledge of other learned men ) of those famous lights of the former age , Cranmer , Latimer , Hooper , Jewell , are met as it were by a covenanted consent .

It is not possible ( my Lord ) that such eminency of grace and applause should not be dogg'd at the heeles with envie ; and dogged envie barkes out many times with reproachfull calumny : and Gods wisdome suffers mans wickednesse so to worke , for the welfare of those he loves best , lest they should love themselves too well , and take a dangerous delight in too good a conceit of their owne good parts , and others great prayses ( which might robb them of their fundamentall grace , humility ; for either of these , but especially both together , like the abundance of Revelations , 2 Cor. 12.7 . may incline many to selfe-exaltation ; ) for the buffeting of Satans messenger ( the tongue of a slanderer , for there is a smiting with the tongue , Jer. 18.18 . and if any tongue bee Satans , it is that which malignantly traduceth the most worthy ) is either a meanes to prevent such puffing up , or a remedy against it ; God by his all-wise goodnesse , tempering and turning a rank poyson into a soveraigne medicine , and so wel ( I doubt not ) it will be with you , ( my Lord ) if others be so ill minded towards you : and , in such a case , an Apology put in may prevaile , and prosper so farre , as not only to heal the wound which that cruell weapon , the tongue ( for it is a sharp sword , Psa. 57.4 . ) hath made , but to smooth the scarre in the skin , when the flesh is made whole .

If then there be any in whom sin so aboundeth ( because grace aboundeth in you and towards you ) as to suspect your sincerity , and to speake as ill as they thinke , ( and it is like , with men who run to extremes on either hand , you may suffer on both sides ; on the one as a Bishop , on the other , as too gracious with such as mislike , or admit not of Episcopall Governement ) I conceive ( beside the clearing testimony of your owne conscience , and Gods attestation to the integrity thereof ) you may , for the one sort , who set misconceits upon you for the callings sake , with comfort call to minde , that such as are addicted to a discipline which denyeth that disparity wherein you are placed , have given that testimony of you which I have here observed ; and more ( surely ) of that sort would doe you right in the like kinde , if they knew as well as I ( and I hope they shall know it ere long ) how humble you have beene ( not humbled as some are by the Parliament ) and in humility , how hearty and forward to take downe your selfe , and to project a forme of Ecclesiasticall Government , wherein you might be but as one of us in a sociable participation of Ordination and Jurisdiction with the rest of your brethren , the incumbent Pastors and Preachers of particular Churches .

And for the other sort , who thinke you have but too kindely complyed with the Disciplinarians of Geneva , and other parts , else they would not have honoured you so much as they have done , the wiser and better sort will take it for a token of your wisdome and goodnesse ; and to take off the offence of some ( who , in an over high conceit of Episcopall preheminence , disdaine all reformed Churches but those that have it ) I can tell them , that Archbishop Whitgift entertained a Minister of the French Church , one Master Buse , to preach a weekly Latine Lecture in his owne Chappell , and to other forraigne Ministers was very bountifull , as to Drusius , Rhenicherus , Fregevill , whom hee entertained in his owne house ; and not onely gave liberally to those whose merit was farre above their meanes , ( when they came within his reach ) but sent his bounty abroad to like objects in forraine parts , as to Master Beza , hee sent sundry times much money out of his owne purse , besides the generall collections and contributions to Geneva , which hee also greatly furthered , as g g Sr. G. Paul in the life of Archb. Whitgift p. 63 , 64. Sir George Paul hath written in the relation of his life .

And it had beene more for the honour of the English Prelacie , and much better for the publick peace both of the Church and State , if there had beene more courteous correspondence betwixt Episcopall and Presbyteriall Divines , notwithstanding the differences betwixt them in opinion or preheminence .

But there are a sort of men , who , whether out of unsoundnesse in religion , or pride or perversenesse of disposition , or some politick intention , I cannot tell , but out of some motive ( surely ) which is not good , take small cause to raise great clamours against those whom they should rather rescue from reproach , if others did defame them : Such an one was hee who sate so heavie upon the skirts of the Geneva Bible publickly in the Pulpit , charging the marginall annotations with Judaisme and Arrianisme , against whom I wrote an Apologie about twenty eight yeers agoe , which a double occasion now calleth to remembrance , the one precedent , the other present .

The former is , That it was the time of my first happy acquaintance with your Grace , when upon your perusall of some part of it , you left a letter for mee ( at your departure from Oxford ) approving what I had done , and encouraging mee to hold on in clearing their innocency , who were most untruly traduced in a solemne assembly of the whole University ; so long since is it , that I have had cause to observe your sincere affection to all the faithfull Labourers in the Lords vine-yard , whether of Geneva or any other Church of the reformed religion .

The other occasion is present , and it is the desire of divers , who wish well to the edification of ordinary Readers of the Bible ; and therefore desire that the Geneva notes , after a serious review and needfull correction , may be restored to their attendance upon the sacred Text , from which they have been all this while discarded , as if they had been guilty of those heynous accusations which were objected against them , and whereof my book , I doubt not , ( by the sentence of a h h The worthy Knight & Baronet , Sr. Edw. Dering , who hath the Chair in the Committee of Books . competent Judge , in whose hands it now is ) will fully and cleerely acquit them , which hath led me a little out of my way , but it is but a short digression , as a step from the margine to the text , whereto the tax of these marginall annotations did induce me , and whence I may readily goe on to note another Accuser of the brethren of the same kind , who upon the difference of one word in the Edition of Ignatius at Geneva , falls foule first upon the Printers , in these words , i i Sed à Genevensibus Typographis praeter fraudes , fucos , & praestigia , non est quod quicquam expectemus . Ric. Montacutius Eccles. Cicestr . Minister . Apparat. ad origin . Ecclesiasticas . p. 19. Of these Geneva Printers we must expect nothing but frauds and fallacies , and impostures . And then upon Videlius , ( a learned and religious Minister of that Citie , who set forth that Father ) in such intemperate termes as these , k k Neque audax & importunus Ignatii censor quicquam attulit ad paginas suas implendas praeter inscitiam , & incu●iam , & impudentiam singularem , dum ad suum Genevatismum antiquitatem detorquet invitissimam ; non autem quod oportuit , Calvinismum amussitat ad antiquitatem . Ibid. p. 19 , 20. That bold and importunate Censor of Ignatius hath brought nothing to fill up his pages , but ignorance , and carelesnesse , and egregious imposture , whereby hee writhes Antiquity back to his Genevatisme , and doth not , as he ought , regulate Calvinisme by Antiquity . In whose defence I need say nothing , they of Geneva are enow , and old enough to answer for themselves ; and I doubt not , but will doe it in due time .

I am sorry that I have occasion to observe the like lashing out in him , of whom , by his bookes of devotion and moderation , I was made to expect rather no reproofes of such men , then any such reproaches as I read against Master Parker , who having said , l l Non volentes , sed nescientes ; non per apostasiam aut contemptum , sed per infirmitatem & ignorantiam lapsi sunt , qui in disciplina aberrârunt . Park . de Polit. Eccles. lib. 2. c. 8. The Fathers , which erred in this matter of Discipline , did not offend out of will , but out of want of knowledge ; not through apostacy or contempt , but through infirmity and ignorance , receiveth his refutation in these words of high disdaine , viz. m m Bish. Hall of Episcopacy . part . 1. p. 60. But can I now forbeare to aske , Who can endure to heare the braying of this proud Schismaticke ?

If I say any thing to succour the credit of Master Parker against this contempt ( to which my charity enclines mee ) I shall with some men perhaps endanger mine owne , who will be ready to suggest ( as the Jews against the blind man in the Gospel , John 9.28 . ) that I am one of his disciples ; and if they doe , I will ingenuously acknowledge , that , having read his booke against symbolizing with Antichrist in Ceremonies , and being required by a great and learned Prelate to give my judgement of it many yeares ago , I answered then ( and I am of the same opinion still ) hee hath carried the cause against you , my Lord , but not against me : What meane you by that , said the Bishop ? I meane , said I , that he hath written enough against your urging of the Ceremonies , but not against my yeelding to them , if I may not enjoy my Ministry without them : Thus much for my selfe , now for Master P.

I should have thought that his great learning ( well knowne by his printed workes , though against the Crosse , and crosse to the Crosier ) might have secured him from such a brutish scorne , especially from that which degrades him to the lowest forme , not only of men , but of beasts ; and that as it is hard to prove , so none should be hasty to impute either pride or schism , where conscience is pretended , reasons abundantly alledged , and secular comforts deserted , as in his case it was ; his words did not ( mee thinkes ) so much as tempt , much lesse authorize any one to returne upon him with such contumelious termes : for did hee say any thing against the Fathers , that he must for that be held unworthy to be called a sonne ? yea , so worthlesse , as to bee excommunicated from men , and sorted to beasts ? hee said , they erred ; and why might hee not ? for , were they not men ? they erred in Discipline , they might for all that in matter of doctrine be very learned and Orthodox Doctors : They erred ( said hee ) not out of will , or through apostacy or contempt , but through want of knowledge in that particular , and of infirmity : they might then ( notwithstanding all this ) bee very good and holy men ( as indeed they were ; ) and must Master P. for saying but this , bee so farre undervalued and vilified , as to bee made but as the embleme of grossest stupidity ? For right against this inhumane wrong , I appeale from the Pontificall Tribunall of the Judge , decreeing the divine Right of Episcopacy , to the closet of the devout Doctor , where if hee meditate seriously upon this passionate reproach , hee will vow ( I hope ) to doe so no more ; and because hee hath not been wont in this sort to breake out of the way of Christian moderation , the plea of Balaams Asse may serve him for some excuse , Was I ever wont to doe so unto thee ? Numb . 22.30 . Wherein , that none may accompt mee like Cham , to bee a mocker of so reverend a Father ( Reverend and Father both , without borrowing any reputation from his Rochet ) I professe , though his word braying brought that story to mind , I would not have noted it with any reference to him ( whom both in this booke , and elsewhere , I have mentioned with affectionate and venerable respect ) but that the Asse did not bray , but speak ; and speak not the words of a man , but of an Angel .

And O that all our Prelates , who plead their preheminence from the title Angels , Revel . 2.3 . had been really Angelicall ! that wee might have seene by their workes , their heart-strings were tuned to the song of the blessed Angels , Glory to God in the highest , on earth peace , good will towards men ; that wee might have discern'd their desires by their endeavours ( as your Graces ) to be seriously set upon the happy union of those sacred Sisters , Truth and Peace , Zach. 8.19 . Peace and Holinesse , Hebr. 12.14 . to which your zeal hath burned with such a bright blaze , and ardent and constant heat ( and yet hath it beene guided with so much prudent circumspection ) that I cannot but hope God will make you an effectuall instrument of a most blessed accord both of Churches and Kingdomes ; and I heartily wish that you had , and pray that you may have many Iraeneos Philadelphos ( like him whom as such an one I have heard you many times mention with much commendation ) who may give most hopefull assistance of happy successe to such a worthy designe .

God forbid , that either we of England , or our brethren of Scotland should be so stupid , as not to apprehend , that the safety of both Nations is bound up in our union one with another , and our ruine like to be let loose in our rent and distraction ; or so stubborne , in asserting our owne interests , or working of our owne wills , as to fall out for them : and by our mutuall hostility , so to weaken each part , that the common enemie may come in upon us , and overcome us both ; rather then so , we should yeeld to any thing but sinne , part with any thing but with a good conscience .

In that which I have hitherto said ( my good Lord ) I have shewed but some part of that good report , which ( by such as are least lyable to suspitions of partiality ) is published of you ; and because opposites doe illustrate the evidence of truth , I have noted some examples of another straine , whereby it may appeare , that the great schisme and distraction among us , hath been made and maintained , not by a kind and respective correspondence betwixt persons or Churches of a different Discipline ( as some not onely untruly , but absurdly suggest ) but by proud and supercilious disdaine , rash and peremptory censures , rigorous usages of such as have had the advantage of the upper ground , to trample on those that were placed below them ; which hath been a principall cause of the great hatred and contempt of the Prelacie ; so that it is not now taken by many as an honour to the man , but the man an honour and succour to it ; who takes the calling of a Bishop , as Saint n n Episcopatus nomen est operis , non honoris . August . de Civit. Dei . lib. 9. cap. 19. Augustine said of it , rather for a matter of duty then of dignity , which binds him o o Quantum quis praecelsi culminis obtinet locum , tanto necesse est praecedat caeteros gratiâ meritorum . Concil. Toletan . 11. cap. 2. tom . 4. pag. 820. Edit. Parisiis . 1636. to so much more diligence as hee hath the higher preheminence ; and that duty p p Ibid. Item Concil. Constantinop . 6. can . 19. tom . 5. Concil. pag. 328. Concil. Trident. Sess . 24. Can. 4. tom . 9. pag. 414. chiefly to consist in preaching of the Word , making more account of the Canons which concerne the substance , then the ceremonies of their calling , as all men see your Grace doth , preaching every week in the Parish of your abode , according to the Canon of the q q Episcopus , si infirmitate non fuerit impeditus , Ecclesiae cui proximè fuerit , die Dominico deesse non debet . Concil. Aurel. can . 33. tom . 1. p. 723. first Aurelian Councell , and abiding there , though with disadvantage and inconvenience to your selse , where you may doe most good , making the choice of the Prophet Jeremy , I will get mee to the great men , and speake unto them , for they , saith hee , have knowne the way of the Lord , Jer. 5.5 . If they had not known it , he might have come to teach it them ; and if our great men know it already , you will make them know it much better ; smoothing the difficulties , and clearing the doubts of faith , in such sort , that their minds may bee settled in assurance of that which before they had but in fancie , or held but in opinion ; and this in a plaine and easie way , yet full of power and authority ; so that I may say of your Grace , as the people said of our Saviour ( reserving a just measure of preheminence to him that spake as never man spake , Jo. 7.46 ) you teach as one having authority , and not as the Scribes , Luke 7.29 . not as they who write all they say , and can say nothing but what they have written ; who preach coldly , as Erasmus noteth , because they are word-bound to a peece of paper ; and not as the Scribes , because they said and did not , Matth. 23.3 . but your life is a patterne , as well as your doctrine , and a rule of religious conversation ; and therefore I doubt not but God shall have much honour among the honourable by your ministery unto them , and intercourse with them at Court , and elsewhere ; for if Plato his presence and example wrought so much change in the Court of Dionysius a Tyrant , that upon his comming thither there followed a wonderfull modestie and temperance in Feasts and banquets , and other reformations , so that as r r Plutarch in the life of Dion . p. 972. Plutarch noteth , the Court was cleane changed , how much rather may we expect that the Court of so good a King ( as , blessed bee God , wee have ) should bee much bettered by your Graces addresses to his Majestie , and your preaching and practice so much observed , so highly esteemed by the best of all sorts ? Which was one cause that induced mee to dedicate this preparative discourse of the Sabbath to your Grace ; for , that being the chiefe of dayes for honour to God , and holinesse in men , it was meet the defence of it should bee countenanced with a name , which is eminent in both .

Besides , ( which gives your Grace more interest both in mee , and what now I present to publick observation ) the better to furnish and further mee in the prosecution of this cause , you have beene pleased to communicate unto mee divers MS. Treatises of the Sabbath , such I could not hope for from any other treasurie of learning then yours , which aboundeth with exquisite variety , not to be found either in Booksellers shops , or common Libraries ; and to promise mee under your hand , any help of that kind . Wherein I am like enough ( my Lord ) to take you at your word , and sure enough that you will keepe it , when upon just occasion I shall present my desires to your Grace to that purpose .

It may be some will think I should have dispatched the difference about the title of our Christian Holiday in a shorter discussion ; and to them I shall oppose others ( who have read it , and are wise enough to censure it ) that say there is nothing idle or impertinent in it , nothing vainely or tautologically repeated ; and the more sit to bee somewhat large , because so many adversaries ( which are not to bee sleighted ) have so long opposed it , and one of them with so much acceptation among some yong Students in the University , Dr. Pocklingt . his Book . as that for their delight they have read his booke at their common sires , which the high Court of Parliament judged to the fire to bee burned ; and by mine intentive handling of that which is of smaller moment , ( though the least things in Religion , as the filings of Gold , be very precious ) I was willing to engage my selfe to a proportionable care and diligence in those more important parts of my Sabbatary Treatises , which hereafter ( by Gods assistance ) I shall set forth .

It is time I should draw towards an end , lest I make my porch too large for the pyle of building that belongeth to it : and yet I beleeve no Reader will think me too long , but your Grace ; nor you , but that you will thinke I grace you too much ; and indeed , ( my Lord ) if I did not know you had so much humilitie , ( with all that excellencie of knowledge and goodnesse , which is obvious to all unblemished eyes ) that no prayses are like to puffe you up ; and were not confident , that you know mee too well , to take mee for a flatterer , I would not allow my selfe to make such a dedication unto you : But while I apprehend you as you are in your selfe , and ( as I conceive ) towards mee ; I cannot thinke I have offended in excesse , but I should bee very faulty in defect , if I should not adde to all that I have said , an Advertisement to your Grace , touching the generall both observation and expectation which , now especially is set upon you ( which , I am sure , will never be frustrate by your default ) .

Your great abilities , and your acceptation with the greatest , make many of the best and some of the wisest confident that you can , and your answerable zeale and sincerity makes them of strong hope , that you will take all the faire opportunities that God puts into your hands , to helpe forward the casting of all scandals out of the Church , and the setting up of all good meanes to keepe them out for future time : Gods Providence ( which doth nothing in vaine ) may well bee thought ( after so long absence , and so great distance of your ordinary residence ) to have brought you hither at this time for so great , so good a purpose : So that , though there be some s s Sunt qui quod sentiunt , etiamsi optimum sit , ( invidiae metu ) non audent dicere . Cicero l. 1. de Offic. p. 362. who think better then ( for feare of envie ) they dare speake , and so doe a great deale worse then ( perhaps ) they think : for ( as t t Veritatem reticere quoddam sacrilegium est . Sedul . in epist. ad Rom. c. 11. sol . 8. Sedulius saith ) to conceale the truth ( when there is just cause , and a fit season to set it forth ) is a kind of sacriledge , It is both beleeved and looked for , that your Grace , as you can upon occasion shew your selfe a Paul in eminence of knowledge , and a Barnabas in sweetnesse of spirituall consolation ; so with Paul and Barnabas , you will waxe bold in the cause of God and his truth , though ( as it was their lot ) you should meet with contradiction , even unto blasphemy , Act. 13 ver. 45 , 46. and indeed , the sincerest and wisest working may sometimes not onely faile of due acceptance and successe , but bee as wilfully withstood on the one side , as it is zealously pursued on the other : Yet your Grace may take the more heart to give free scope to your conscience herein , because you are so generally gracious , that as Hierome said to u u Tuae dilectionis fama dispergitur , ut non tam laudandus sit qui te amat , quàm scelus putetur facere qui non amat . Hier. ad Florentium , priore epist. tom. 1. p. 53. Florentius , To love you , is not so much to be reputed a praise , as not to love you a crime : I should be guilty of no lesse , if I should not in mine heartiest prayers to Almighty God commend your good health , and long life , for his glory and his Churches comfort , and sincerely professe all humble observance to you , as the duty of

THe Name and Lot of the Sabbath ( as many of this generation have used the matter ) are very unlike : for that is fixed on an Hebrew root ( which signifieth Rest ) this , as a watery reed ( tossed to and fro with contrary winds , by the manifold oppositions that are made about it ) almost , if not altogether Restlesse . Not all the Commandements of the Decalogue , besides that of the Sabbath ( which for number have the oddes of nine to one ) have suffered more or worse , under the strife of tongues , or conflict of pens , then it hath done .

It was ( by divine Ordinance ) to be as Noahs Arke : for in that not men alone , but the unreasonable creatures likewise ( though most disposed to range abroad ) were under an arrest , confined to a narrow compasse : and ( though otherwise adverse to each other ) united in a quiet and peaceable repose among themselves . So on the Sabbath , both man and beast ( for that day ) were to have each of them their quietus est : by the one sort , Rest was only to be enjoyed as a benefit ; to the other it was enjoyned as a duty : but not Rest onely , but Religion with it ; nor Rest meerly for it selfe , but for Religions sake , and that ( so farre as it consisteth in communion with God ) is another kind of Rest , and of all kinds , the best , and most delightfull .

But now is this Sabbath , or day of rest and quietnesse , become as a Ball , betwixt two Rackets , bandied this way and that way , by mutuall contradiction , not onely betwixt the godly and the profane ( which is no newes ) but among many of those , who are in no mean accompt in the Church of God , whether they bee valued by the eminence of their places , the excellency of their parts , or the holinesse of their lives .

The more is the griefe of religious hearts that doe observe it , and the more hearty their desires ( no doubt ) to see some good accord ( at least betwixt the better sort ) or ( which is next unto a peace ) that the differences about it may bee carried with such pious and prudent moderation ( on both sides ) as that God may lose no part of his tribute of honour , nor his servants be defrauded of the fruit of their holinesse , nor fall to a change or cooling of those charitable affections towards each other , without which Pomegranats , even the golden Bells of Aaron , are but like sounding brasse , or tinkling Cimballs .

Towards this purpose , if the employment of the Talent committed to my trust may any way conduce , I shall make no scruple to adde unto my other taskes an assay of satisfaction to their Doubts or Reasons , who either waver in the right , or are already swayed to wrong opinions in this point . And to this endeavour , I shall with more diligence addresse my selfe :

First , because the day in question , is the training day of military Discipline , by which the Church of Christ is unto the Synagogue of Satan ( as is said in the Canticles ) terrible as an Army with Banners : Cantic . 6.4 . which , if it should not be well united , and often exercised , the powers of darknesse would be mightily exalted . It containeth ( as a a Cùm subyersam omnem religionem vult ( apud Prophetas ) signisicare polluta , violata , non custodita , non sanctificata , sua Sabbatha conqueritur , quasi omisso hoc obsequio , nihil ampliùs restaret , in quo posset honorari . Calvin . Instil . l. 2. cap 8. parag . 29. pag. 140. Calvin sheweth , and b b Mast . Perk. exhortat . to Repent . vol. 3. pag. 421. col . 2. Doct. Prid. , his lect. on the Sab. Doct. Rivet . in Exod. c. 31. ver. 12. pag. 253. Grotius de jure belli ac pacis . l. 2. c. 20. pag. 244. Mast . Primrose Treat . of the Sab. part . 2. c. 6. p. 120 , 121. other learned Divines in effect say the same ) the summe and substance of all Religion . The Sabbath is unto it as the border of Sinai to that mountaine of terrour ; and as the tower of Sion , to that city of perfection : and so cannot be battered , or broken down , without an open breach upon Religion it selfe .

Secondly , because as it stands in eminency ( for force and use ) so it is the fairest marke for Satans malignity to aime at : and as if he had given his souldiers some such charge against it , as the King of Syria did once against the King of Israel [ fight against neither small nor great , 1 Kin. 22.31 . but against the King of Israel ] spend all your might against his person ; so against this , whether King or Queen of dayes ( for both these titles are attributed to the day of Rest , as I shall note in another place ) are all his forces set in battell array , and though ( in some respects ) adverse to one another ; yet in their way , they all of them doe violence to the Lords sacred ordinance of the Sabbath . Some endeavouring to undermine and supplant the fabricke of it , from the very foundation ( on which it is set ) ; and others piling upon it so many over rigorous positions and observances , as with their sad and sullen weight may incline it to crack and fall asunder .

Thirdly , The necessary instruction of the people in the heads of Catechisme , pressed by especiall command of our dread Soveraigne that late was , and of his Majestie that now is , maketh the Decalogue , ( and within it the Commandement of the Sabbath ) a more common Theme for popular discourses , and therewith . all a more fruitfull ground of erroneous descants then heretofore , if in such variety of opinions ( which cast a mist upon the truth ) there be not some more means to cleare it , and to guide men to that choice , from which too many now endeavour to seduce them .

Fourthly , I observed , that as some set their wits on worke to impeach the piety of the doctrine of the Sabbath ; so many set their wils either to worke or play , and so to pursue their profit or pleasure , as to make the Lords holiday every way in practice , as unholy and profane , as in position it could be : Irreligion and Libertinisme being a descent from Sion hill , which hath no need of hands to thrust it downewards towards hell .

It was well said of a grave c c The Bish. of S. Asaph . Prelate ( when hee heard of some too indulgent doctrines this way ) that therules of manners should be strict , for mens behaviour would incline fast enough to loosenesse of themselves . Besides , there is a sinister zeale in some against superstition , which proveth many times prejudiciall to the practice of religion : for ( as our late learned d d King James his Cign . cant . ● . 8 . Soveraigne hath observed ) under colour of weeding out superstition , it will pluck up by the roots many plants of Paradise .

And wee see but too many ill harvest men , using the weeding hooke to the wheat , which should bee exercised onely to plucke up the tares : of whose ill worke I shall beware for my selfe , and ( I hope ) shall give such warning unto others , as may not only withhold them from the like ; but may bee a direction to the simpler sort , what to take , and what to take heed of , as either of them shall bee offered to their choice .

Fifthly , While men make no scruple to violate the holy rest of the Lords day , they become the more bold to disobey their Superiours , ( whether supreme or subordinate ) ; for , Mat. 22. v. 31. as giving to God the things that are Gods , and unto Caesar the things that are Caesars , are sociable duties , and well sort together ; so commonly , where dues are denyed & detained from God , the King is not like to receive his right , either for aid , or obedience : for the fourth and fifth Commandements are so neere neighbours , that the like lot ( whether of observance or of sleighting ) is like to befall them ; which wee may well perceive , if wee doe but observe how our people have lately fallen , not onely from piety , but from civility , and broke out into manifold offences against the lawes of the King , since they were taught ( a lesson too easily learned ) to make light of this holy Commandement of God .

Nor is there any cause to expect any better behaviour among them , untill their consciences ( let loose from this bond ) bee tucked up to it by a more religious regard , both of the authority and observation of the Sabbath : Then may wee have more hope , and not till then , under our Governours , ( for whom the Apostle prescribeth all manner of prayer ) to lead a quiet and peaceable life , in all godlinesse and honesty , 1 Tim. 2.1 , 2.