Atheismus vapulans, or, A treatise against atheism, rationally confuting the atheists of these times by Will. Towers ... Polytheismus vapulans, or, There is but one God.

ATHEISMUS VAPULANS , OR , A TREATISE AGAINST ATHEISM , Rationally Confuting the ATHEISTS of these Times .

By WILL . TOWERS , B. D. sometime Student of Christs-Church in Oxon.

Nec cur●●● Deum quenquam Mortalia credis !

Virgil.

At quae est haec summa Delicti , Nolle Agnoscere , quem Ignorare non Potes ! Cypr. De Idol . Vanit .

Psal. 58.11 . Verily , there is a God .

LONDON , Printed for Humphrey Moseley , and are to be sold at his Shop at the Sign of the Prince's Arms in St. Paul's Church-yard . 1654.

modern bookplate

TO THE Right Honourable , the Lord NEWPORT , Lord of High Ercall , his singular good Lord , the Author dedicates the Book and Himself , and implores his Honourable Protection upon both . Right Honourable ,

SAlveto , quantumque Cupis , quantumque Mereris . Your Lordship may , perhaps , wonder , to see Me in Print ; and you may , above the rest of Honourable Personages ( to some of whom , I am onely known de Facie ; to others , de Nomine ; to Most , not so much , as that there is such a Creature , in Rerum Naturâ ; and to your Peculiar Lordship Intimately , quem nôsti , tanquam Te , Such hath been the Humility and Graciousness of your Lordship's Stooping Affection ) have store of Reasons for it ; your Lordship hath known me , à Teneris , to be very far from Publick , or from Private-Great-Commerce ; and , had not your Lordship condescended to take notice of me , when I was Nothing , that by your taking Notice of me , I might be Something , your Lordship knows , I had still been only a Contemptible part of that Obscure Croud , out of which your Extracting Influences have exhal'd me , though not to a Solid Consistency , yet , to Hover above it , whenever your eminent Lordship is the Center of my Meditations , and to Relapse into it , whenever I leave off to think of your Lordship : besides this infirmness of my own Solitary , and Un-conversing Disposition , your Lordship does know , how Un-furnish'd I am , in the Upper Story of the Man , of that , which some have well call'd , in relation to Better Heads , Agapetus . an Ambulatory Library ; and , your Lordship May know , by the Fate of these times , the Ineluctabile Fatum , and , as to Me , not the One , onely , but the

Fati Series , Jo. Secund. & iniqua Tyrannis Fortunae — the Upper Story of the House too , is , in part , Disspoyl'd of , and , in part , not Inhabited by , a Stationary Library ; and how Such a Man should either Write at all , or Presume to affix your Exactly-Learned , and Critical Name , your Lordship may go on to Wonder , till I have taken off Both these Astonishments from your Collective Self , qui Unus mihi instar Theatries , and from my Common Reader ( every of which may , in a Throng , as the Author Himself does , pass , One by one , for a Single Man , and are not , our Several Selves , what your Lordship is , an Entire Sum ) by telling Them , and Remembring You ( who have so much of the Good Caesar in you , to forget nothing but your own Condescensions , and the Benefits you have done ) that , had I no other Books , but That One Volume of Letters , which I have receiv'd from your Hand , These alone are enough to Create a Genius in Him , who was , before , as very a Fungus , and Stipes , and Truncus , and Lignum , as my self : Nor is This to Boast ought in Me , besides that I have been so much Favour'd , and Taught , by the Familiar skill of Your Lordship 's Pen.

Upon This Stock it is that I dare to write ; and must suspect Him to be more Read in Books , than in Men , who though with as Good Authority , as Great Distast , He throws Me and my Name away , does not Judiciously take them up again , when He Sees , that Your Rayes have Enlightned me , and Your Name Supports me : If He Considers This , He will be favourable to me for your Lordship's sake , nay , for His very Own , lest Himself might Incurr That Unlearned Name , by which He calls me , in that He is Wholly Ignorant of your Lordship , that is , of the Totum , quod est , in re literariâ ; for , You do not only Instill , and Encourage Learning , but you Possess it All ; As St. Austin said true of Hierome in a Letter to Cyril , Quae Hieronymus Nescivit , nullus hominum unquam Scivit ; So , no doubt , He had said as true , had He told Cyril , or Any else , Had He , and They , known nothing at all of what Hierome knew , they had indeed known nothing at all ; let not the Reader Censure too fast , and I will quit His Kindness , and spare the Application ; and I have learnt from that Hierome ( who thought it some Addition to His Fame , that He had † † G. Nazianzenum & Didimum , in Scripturis sanctis Catechistas habui . L. 2. Ep. 4. Nazianzen and Didimus for his Teachers ) to acknowledge This the best Stake in my Reputation , that my Ears , and Eyes , drank Instructions out of your Mouth and Pen.

We have , yet , ( and we bless God for it ) in , and of , England , a Nobility , not onely made so , by Both those Bloods , that in their Veins , and the other Wealthy Purple they were Cradled In , and Born To , but made more Noble yet , by the Mothers side , the Present Universities , and by their Other Nurses , Sage , and Learned Authors . But , O! may not After Ages , when Themselves have no Profound , Greek , All-Languag'd , and All-Matter'd PERPOINT ; no Suddenly-Oratorious SEYMOUR , who , at an Instant , can Hear , and Reply to , the Premeditations of a Whole University ; no Scholastically-Learned SCUDAMORE , who knows More of Good Distinction , than others do of Bad Division ; no Devoutly-Learned HATTON , who can Write better Piety , than Others can Semble ; no Humanely and Naturally-Learned TRACY , who can teach Morality to the Professour , and Prescribe to the Doctors themselves , nay to Him of the Chair too ; no NEWPORT , who is , in Himself , All of These , and Loves , and Countenances , in Others , the very Buds and Sproutings of Any of these ; may they not , then , misdoubt , that , even we also , had them not ? they may , but that we well hope , the Stems , and Derivatives of some of These , will be their Able , and Living Confutations . Your Lordship has , why I write .

And why upon this Subject , to Prove That God to Be , who is , not onely All , that is Every-where , but , Principiatively , and Fundamentally , All , that is Any-where ; not onely in Simplici Entitate , but , in complexione Propositionis , as your Lordships , and My , Aristotle hath , long since , distinguisht , and , in re omni Cognoscibili ; Besides the Particular reason ( as the first Motive and Ground of this Design , with which the Entrance of this Book will acquaint your Lordship ) the Loud Noyse abroad , that there is No God , besides that , which is Diffus'd ( and As it is Diffus'd ) amongst the People , as well as no Power in the State , but , Originally in the People ( which Opinion , how dangerous and disloyal it is even to Any Authority , in Any State , if the People have but a Will to Disobey , I leave to the Prudent Wisdome of those Several Authorities , to consider ) no Power in the Church , even to Ordain Ministers , but Fundamentally in the People ( which Opinion , if not how Destructive it is to all true Christianity , yet how Promoting it is , to the Sowing of Tares , in Christ's Field , if the Some People have a Will to Ordain a Schismatick-Minister , and the Other People an Heretick-Priest , I leave to the Holy Wisdome of my Brethren in the Same Calling , to Consider ) and this , so loud a Noyse , that it reach'd even to my Remote , and knockt at my Un-inquiring Cell ; this unwelcome Noyse , which did first put me in Mind of what Heraclitus said , Aristotel . l. 1. de Part. Animal . c. 5. that , In Casulis etiam sunt Dii , and made me so far from disbelieving a God , because I have but a thin Cottage over my Head , and That Ruinated , and , in part , Fallen , that I am rather willing to Cry out , Stantia non Poterant Tecta Probare Deum , Martial . And to Worship my God the more for his Chastizing of Me ; and , then made , me Weep with Heraclitus , when I heard that Others were Full , and deny'd God , Prov. 30.9 . and said , Who is the Lord ? and then made me Mourn again , that That Observation of Petrarch should be true , in this Unthankfull age , De Remed. Utr. Fort. Epist. Prae. fat . in quam nos Deus Reservavit . Qui Damna , Pauperiem , Exilium , Carcerem , Supplicium , Mortem , & , Pejores Morte , Graves Morbos , aequo animo tulerunt , Multos vidi ; qui Divitias , Honores , Potentiam , Nullum ; It , at length , wrought this Perswasion in me , that , as for the sakes of some of my Countrymen , it is Wretchedly-Seasonable , not onely to Catechize Practically , ( as He , H.H. D.D. who does all things Incomparably , hath Incomparably done ) nor onely Doctrinally , ( as Many ) but to prelude That , without which They could not Teach , nor We Know , and Do as We Ought ; and to Compell the Belief and Profession of a God into the Most Doubtfull Man , by the Clear , and Deliberate , Dis-passionate , Un-interested , and Most Impartial Testimony of His Own Self and Soul : So , the Mean , Inconsiderable , if not Despicable Condition of the Author , in respect of this Worlds affluencies , might adde some Weight to the Witness-bearing unto the truth of GOD , in that , shall I say , I own Him not the Less ? Nay , in that I Reverence Him the more , for the Counsel , and Benefit of His very Rod.

My Lord , may I not say , of the GOD and Author of them , as a Late Learned Author hath said of the Difficulty of Scriptures , J. G. in His Ep. to the L.B. of S. that , if , while some others , Preach , and Preach , and Preach , and Travel a Sabbath-daies , and a Week-daies Journey too , to do it , some one do , as well as he Can , towards the making good of this Ground-work , I think He may be let alone at least ? Ovid. Virgil. and have Veniam pro Laude ; Neither — Spolia ampla reportans , nor , Spoliatus Ipse ? And may I not wish , that my Brethren , not onely in the Profession of Christianity , but in the Ministerial Function too , would all of them do what some of my Fathers , and Brethren do , spend their Wits , and Cares , and Pains , upon Establishing the True Fundamentals , and Raising the True Superstructions , and Edifications out of them , and upon them ? that they would Itinerate and Sermon Pertinently and Advantagiously , not onely to the State ( though to the State also ) but , Principally , to the Church , the Kingdome of Christ ? that they would be Apostles ( if they are Apostles ) that they would be Ministers , not of Men , neither by Man , but by Jesus Christ ? Gal. 1.1 . not , but that the Outward Calling , the Mission from Man , is requir'd also ; for , This St. Paul Himself , ( call'd not by Man , but by Jesus of Nazareth , Whom He Persecuted , Act. 22.8 . ) was , Instantly , sent , by the Lord Himself , unto Man , Go into Damascus , and There it shall be Told thee of All things which are Appointed for Thee to Do , ver. 10. that they would remember That Apostolical Precept , Be ye not the Servants of Men ? 1 Cor. 7.23 . not , but that they are to serve Men also , but , not , in Opposition To Christ , even when they pretend a Compliance With Christ , He that is Called , being free , is Christs Servant , v. 22. and not a Gratuitous Servant neither , He is Bought with a Price , v. 23. He must Serve Man , but Under Christ , and Christ Himself More ; He must not Serve the Pay of Man ( Non Tu , Pomponi , Martial . Canae Diserta Tua est ) and neglect the Purchase , and Price of Christ ; His Blood , and his Supper , is That Purchase , and Price ; These are to be Receiv'd and Distributed by the Ministerial Man ; I , and that Often too ; not onely , Do ye this , but , Do it often , 1 Cor. 11.25 . This is One of the Temptations that our Sayiour has bade them Pray , Luk. 22.40 . that they enter not into , that the Wealth of this World may not be overvalu'd above the Word , and Sacraments of Christ ; not onely , not Above the Word ( for some do Press that , in Season ; I , and , in very deed , Out of Season too ) but , not above the Sacraments also ; for , the Counsel is given , in That very Chapter , in which the Supper is Instituted ; and I am not able to apprehend , how the Words of Man , though Upon the Word of God , can nourish Faith half so well , as Those very words of God Himself , Ver. 19. This is My Body which is Given for You. This for What I do .

And for the Manner How , I think I have good reason for That also , both in the Dialectical and Pathetical part of it ; The Example of Saint Paul is my Warrant , and His Success my Hope , in that , as He Spake concerning the Kingdome of God , so I write concerning God Himself , Act. 19.8 . Disputing and Perswading . I know , Man is altogether Corrupt , in Head and in Heart , and therefore I use both waies to enlighten Him , not onely with a Common Coal , but with a Torch too , and that of the best-Wrought , and best-Scented Ware I have ; I know , Some Men are more Corrupt in Heart , than in Head , and that , having Eyes , they Will not perceive , therefore I use the latter way to Convert them by a Pia Fraus , 2 Cor. 12.16 . and to Catch them with a Holy Craft , and a Gospel - Guile .

In the Disputing part , I make use of those Sincere Antients who were never stain'd with That Modern Imputation , Jo. Sec. Utilitas Certabat Honesto ; who lov'd Truth more than Expediency , and Counted Truth it self the Best Expedient ; who never Swerv'd from Universal Truth in all those three Branches of Vincentius Lyrinensis's Universality , in Time , Place , and Men , that Truth which was Antiently Believ'd from the very Beginning of Time , and Every where , and by Joynt Consent , and not an Almanack , or Ephemerides-Truth , of such a Climate , which , over the Sea , is False ; nor a Politick Truth , Omnia pro Tempore ; Nihil pro Veritate . Optatus , lib. 1. of such a Time , which Was Yesterday , and Will be to Morrow , False ; nor a Rich Truth , of such a Party , which to Day is False , to a Poorer Man ; of Those Antients , who , though at their Births , and in their Bodies , they were of Several Distant , and Denominating Countries , yet , in their Minds , and Writings , were 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and Taught , not Rome , nor Athens , but the World .

Among These , I make choyce of those Arguments , which , in all the Judgement I have , are , Severally , Concluding ; and therefore I may , the rather , hope , by All of them , from the most Prejudicate Understanding , what I Promise to my Self , by Any of them , from a Sober Mind , that He would first believe , not onely , what the Secretary of the Holy Ghost , the Author to the Hebrews , Cap. 11. ver. 3. Cap. 3.8 . Primus est Deorum Cultus Deos Credere . Sence . Ep. 95. but what the Secretary of Nature , Epictetus too , would have him , first believe , that God Is ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ( and , at length , that He is , not onely , as the One , a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him , but , as the Other , a Revenger too , against them that seek Him not ) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( else the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 will not be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : ) If One will not Convince this kind of Gainsayer , I would even Shame that Stubborn , Stomachosum Hominem , with whom I have to deal , into a Confession of truth by a Cloud ( but a very Bright one ) of Witnesses .

And , though these Arguments , and More , are Obvious to the Carefull-Learned , out of Several Authors , yet , because this Sin of Atheism is a Popular Sin , the Sin of those Ignorant , though Conceited Heads , who Do know as Little of Latine and Greek , as they Would know of God ; and because these Arguments have not , till now , seen any English Light , I deem'd it a piece of Charity to some of my Erring Countrymen , to set such a Lamp as This , before their Eyes , whereby they may know Him , Jam. 11.17 . who is the Father of Lights .

And , to take off from your Lordship , and Any Other Learnedly-True Man , the Tediousness , and Nausea of a Crambe , ( for , such it is , and but B is Cocta , whatever I serve up to your Lordship , out of the Writings , though of the Ablest Men ) I hope I shall not so much Glut Your , and Their Appetite , with my Borrow'd Dishes , as Sharpen them , with a Mess or two of my own Providing ; Arguments , which ( if I mistake not , out of that Partiality , which is Common to Mankind ) are of Pregnant behoof , for those who have made us believe they are about Christning some part of Turky ; and by which , I would gladly pay Use , if not to Posterity , to the Present Age , for what I have taken up upon Score from the former ; and , yet , not so Credulously upon Score , but that I have Try'd their Metal , with my Own Touch-Stone .

For the Perswasive part , though Perhaps I do not ( what Your Great Lordship does , Grotius . Tanti qui Nominis Imples Mensuram ) perform my Undertakings , and have not One Word of Rhetorick in all the Book , besides That of Your Name before it ( and yet , had I been so Happy to have known Your Lordship as much in these daies of Thunder and Astonishment , Cùm Cava Fauce Globos Aera Tonante Vomuere , as I did in the former Halcion-daies of Peace and Plenty , ( Those themselves being the very Embleme , as well as the Of-spring , of Perswasion , and almost-All Rhetorick , having of Late taken its flight with Those ) I could not choose but have Learnt to Perswade , much better , by Your Lordship , who are , as absolutely , Lord of That , as You are of Your Own Lands ; nay , as You are , even of Me , for whom You shall never need to Compound ; Sooner than That , I my self may be Rich enough to Buy back my Own Twentieth Part , though , Hitherto , I know not What it is in me , that does Offend a Powerfull Committee , Asperat & Magnos in Mea Damna Deos , and makes Them keep me Contentedly-Low , as free from danger of Another Stroke , as from Un-Envyable , and yet Oppos'd Preferment , when I could not fore-apprehend any Reason of my Miscarriage , and have , Since , onely therefore learnt to Judge it fit , and Equitable , because the Wisdome of the Court deny'd me ; to whose Displeasure I submit , and , more than That , would Crave their Pardon too , were my Obnoxiousness as Manifest as my Plea ; whatever , else , was my Guilt , I am sure it was not my being Rich , Luk. 1.53 . that Caus'd me to be sent Empty away : But , This Long Parenthesis , is Long Digression ; and yet , Perhaps , it may not Altogether be so , if They will be Perswaded by it to a future Tenderness : but , to Return ) yet , that I ought to Attempt some Rhetorical Insinuations ( how much soever I do Excidere Ausis ) so long as a Man has a Heart , and Will , and Affections , as well as a Head , and Judgement , and Understanding ; As St. Paul was my Copy in the Whole manner of Prosecution , whose Practice it Was , Act. 18.28 . not onely Mightily to Convince , but , Elegantly to Allure too ; So He is more Peculiarly my Pattern , in this Oratorious branch of my method , and with a Peculiar Appositeness to the very Matter I treat of ; witness that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that Short and Sweet , Mining and Prevalent , Yielding and Conquering intercourse betwixt Him and King Agrippa , ( not to be match'd by Cicero and Demosthenes , though Another Caussine should Compare Both Them to Paul , as One hath done Him to Him ) King Agrippa , Act. 26. v. 27 , 28 , 29. Believest thou the Prophets ? I know that thou Believest ; Then Agrippa said unto Paul , Almost thou PERSWADEST me to be a Christian ; And Paul said , I would to God , not onely Thou , but also All that Hear me this day , were both Almost , and Altogether such as I am , EXCEPT THESE BONDS ; a little before , He saies , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , I am Perswaded ; Ver. 26. He might have Chang'd the Voyce , and said , I am Perswading , for He was , even Then , and by these very Arts , wooing King Agrippa to believe that Christ was the God ; and He , that Denies Christ to be the God , as well as He that Denies Any God at all , is an Atheist too , in Saint Paul's Account , Without Christ , Ephes. 2.12 . and without God in the World ; They are Synonima ; He puts God and Christ together , and Separates Him from Both of them , that is an Alien to Either of them .

Nay , my good Lord , not onely St. Mendo. Vim & Potestatem Dicendi , à Spiritu accipere . Lucian . in Philopat . Paul , but Your , and His Lord too , who , as He is God , hath given to your Lordship the full Streams , and Chanels of Both , and to Me , a Scanter Rivulet , and some few Drops of Either , Pour'd from out Your Cistern which Himself hath fill'd ( in that I , who was Sometimes sent a Moderator , and after I had observ'd Your Nervous Inferences , went back a Disciple , Is. 50.4 . Taught to Argue , from Your Mouth , as well as to Write , from Your Hand ) that Lord of Ours , who , as he is God , † † A Diis , & Prudentes , & Fortes , & LOQUENTES , Nascuntur . Pindarus . does give the Tongue of the Learned , and , as He was Man , did Practice Both these kinds of Learning ; witness not onely His Name , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which Signifies ( though more , even Verbum , and Grammar also , yet , as to this present purpose ) Ratio & Oratio , Logick and Rhetorick too , but His Disputing with the Doctors , Luk. 2.46 . and His Rhetorizing with the Multitudes in his Sermon upon the Mount ; Mat. 5. What could more inflame their Love of those Patiences and Virtues in the Midst ( Vertue 's Own , and Proper Seat ) than a Blessedness at large in the Head of Every of them , and a Peculiar Blessedness in the Close ? a Portion in the Entry of the Verse , and a Certainty , What , and how very Much the Sum shall be , in the Period of it ? Each Verse ( which I may call a Purse , or a Coffer rather , a Whole Shire , or a Wholler Heaven rather ) of those eight Beatitudes , is a more Compleat Form , and Exact Unimitable Idea , how to work upon , and regulate the Passions of Man , than all the Numerously-Erroneous Dictates , which the Heathen hath prescrib'd in His Volume , de Rhetoricâ , and the Jesuite in His , de Eloquentiâ .

And yet , though All this , and the Entire frame of the Scriptures of God , abounding with Both of these , do entitle Me to a Shallow and Unequal imitation , yet , since , not Both These already nam'd , nor all the Florilegia and Spicilegia besides , will furnish us with Sufficient , either Precepts or Instances , of a Gracefull Well-speaking , and an Un failing Perswasiveness , He will be too blame that exacts me to any other Statera than that of Pro re nata facundia ; and He will Wound me beyond remedy , that measures my Dear Lord's River by my Stillicidium ; 't is true , I acknowledge your Lordship ( though This it self is not your Master-piece ) to be the Skilfull'st Master I know of this Commanding faculty ; and Where would I Love to Learn , but where I might Learn Most ? Not , Enviously , to Commit your Lordship with the Living , Bishop , or Priest , or Esquire , Hall , or Donne , or Howell , but , Componens Manibusque Aeneid . l. 8. Manus , atque Oribus Ora , to Compare your Pen and Speech ( in reference to whom Virgil wrote that Verse ) with the Deceast , with Tully , Horar . Quem penes arbitrium est , & Jus , & Norma Loquendi , who Himself was a Cortex to all the rest ; and with Self stil'd Putean , who said of Himself , that He had learnt sine Cortice nare , that he was , Nullius addictus Jurare in Verba Magistri ; Morat . with Erasmus , who is well-nigh an aemulous Competitor with Tully's self in point of Clean Phrase , and Classique Tongue ; with Pliny , who reverenc'd his Trajan ; and with Languet , who Lov'd and Honour'd our Sidney , in some degree near to the Love , and Honour , and Reverence I bear to my Lord ; and yet all these , in all their Epistles , come as Short of yours , as their Valuations of those whom they would most Extoll , come Short of my Esteems of You ; who , amongst the rest of your Skills , have this great Conquering Art , Artem Celare ; and , as Pliny said of Isaeus , L. 2. Ep. 3. Dicis semper extempore , sed tanquam Diu Scripseris ; Multa Lectio in Subitis , Multa Scriptio Elucet ; but then , and for all this , He , who so Odiously imployes Himself , as to Mete your Lordship's Bushell by my Thimble , notwithstanding I have already told Him , that the Shreds onely are Mine , and the Garment Yours , I have no other way left to redeem my Lord's Fame ( whom , all I write , is , as I may , to Honour ) from such a disproportion'd Scandal , than to take my leave of this Busy-Body-Objector , by telling Him , that , Quintilian's self ( though He could not Choose but Love those Rules which His very Self had made ) Prescribes like One Orator , and Declaims like Another ; How much more may I deflect , ( though I Out-Love my Lord , more than He did His Self ) not onely from the over-reaching Perfection , but from the Mediocrity too , ( if any thing be so , in His Stile ( as it Lawfully may be in Another Man's , and in an Unbound , Un-feeted discourse ; for , That Inhibition , Non Homines , non Dii , non Concessere Columnae , Horat. may only be impleaded against Indifferent Poets ) and even That Indifferency would be My Perfection ) which Shines in His very Suddennesses , especially when I have so long , and so longly-sad a time , Truanted from my Best of Masters ? Cum Magnis Nominibus , etiam Errare , Honestum est : But now , at Length ,

I beseech you give me leave to Come Home to you ( for , wherever I am , I am onely Tanquam at Home , when I think , and Speak , and Write of You , and onely Then , Really at Home , when I See and Wait on You ) and to tell your Lordship , as , Why I Print , and Why This , so Why , Under Your Wing .

There is , and will be Reason enough for it , so long as I am capable to Understand What Reason is , and what the Gratitude and Demeanour of an Oblig'd Servant Ought to be to a Mercifull , and even-Friendly Lord , in such a stiff Age in which those two Heats , of Anger and Powder , have made the Love of Many to wax Cold.

To Speak of Your Goodness to me , when it was in Fashion to Be Good , and to Do Good , This Would , Mores Saeculi Celebrare , and not Tuos ; but my Acknowledgements must be as Singular , as your Lordship's Affections Are ; It might have Satisfied all my Un-meriting Desires , that your Lordship was , Long Since , Unica nata Meis Requies uberrima Curis ; but , in that your Lordship does , still , Beneficia Beneficiis Cumulare , and , in your very Actions , speak that piece of Poetry , Aloud , and Unfeignedly , to my Worst Condition , Et , Nuper , Mea Cura , & Nunc , Mea Cura , this it is , that extorts from me a Publication , not so much of my Book , as of my Gratitude ; 't is all that I am able to return to so much Excess , and Wonder of your Bounty , that Goldsmiths Hall , and I , should upon one and the same Day Rifle your Bags ; that the Thousands paid in There , could not hinder you , from Raining down a Voluntary Shower of Gold upon Me also ; that You should , After , send Reliefs , and Visits too , to so Mean a Person , Enough to make me Suspect I had injur'd my Fortune ( and not Fortune , me ) in setting too Light by Her , when the very Ill she did me , had so much of Advancement in it , as that it made me fit ( in your Eyes , as Lowly as my own Fortune ) to be Consider'd by your Lordship ; I Laid them Both Together , the Reliefs , by your Self , and the Visits , in your Name , by your Chief of Servants , and Concluded out of those Premises , had I been Less , I could not have Receiv'd more than the One , had I been Greater , You could not have Done more than the Other , no Otherwise , then , as your Lordship was , After , pleas'd to Do , to send your Encouraging Letters also , Seal'd with your Own Arms ; What could you have done More , had I been the very Signet upon your Arm ? and what can I do Less , than Testifie to the World , how Much I Owe Your Lordship , and , though You did these Good things , Secretly , Declare , what You did , before all the Israel we have left , and before the Sun ? I am sure , it does not break the Command of our God Christ , if , when the Alms-Giver did not let his Left Hand know what His Right Hand Did , Mat. 6. the Receiver Sounds the Trumpet .

You , my Good Learned Lord , who know All things , ( quantum Humana Natura , & Aetas Tua Capere & Portare possunt ) know , ( and yet this is no Ill Tidings I bring , and therefore not liable to That , Nos Cogimur Omnia Scire ) that He , who is Already Noble , is made much more Noble yet , the Less He makes of Himself , whereas He , that is not Noble at all , does make it Impossible for Him , that He should be so , by taking upon Him that He is So : I have Experiment enough that your Lordship is not Sowr'd into One of those , who , instead of Accepting , upon such Presentations as these , are ready to cry out , Quis Mihi ? Quid Tecum ? Proximus Ipse Mihi . Let them Startle at a Dedication , who have not Worth enough to Challenge it , or have not Paid enough before-hand for it ; Both Waies , Your Lordship is a Free-man of England ; and therefore , that I may Stop Your Lordship's Message to your Steward , give me leave to tell your Lordship , that This is not a Petition , but an Acquittance ;

Non Posco , neque Gratiam , nec Aera , Nec Rubri Spolium Maris , nec Aurum ; Sed Charus magis Ipse sis , vel Aere , Vel Rubri Spelio Maris , vel Auri.

After all these Confessions , and Acknowledgements , if your Lordship asks me , Why I Printed a Former Book , and made not You the Patron of it , and Me ? I shall easily obtain your Lordship's Pardon ( for You are Vir Priscae Humanitatis ) if I , first , tell you , that I chose no Patron to it , but the Thousand Readers ; and next , that I , therefore , Own'd not You , because I dis-own'd my Self ; and yet , Whereas That Book Was so speedily sold off , for want of the Author's Name to Spoyl the Bargain , I thought it a piece of Prudence , when I Hazard the going off of this Impression , by the Unworthiness of My Name , to do my Self and my Stationer Right , to make it Sell into Other Mens Hands , by your Lordships passing good Name , and not to lye upon Our Hands , by Mine .

Let me take my leave of your Lordship , with this Protestation , that I shall study never to forget the Constancy of your Good Will towards Me in these Unsteady times , Sive Prememus Humum , sive Prememur Humo , and shall be Alwaies ready to Press into the Ears of this deaf , froward Age , how much I am ( but that Infinitudes cannot be Reckon'd up )

Your Lordship 's Infinitely Oblig'd , and ( if it be possible ) as Devoted Servant , WILLIAM TOWERS .

The Names of Authors , and Sententiaries , Antient and Modern , Christian and Heathen , whose Books , and Speeches , are , occasionally Mention'd , and purposely made use of , in the Following Discourses . 1 AELian . 2. Aesop . 3 Agesilaus . 4 Agapetus . 5 Ambrose . 6 Bishop Andrews , in His MS Notes upon the Common-Prayer-Book . 7 Anselm . 8 Aquinas . 9 Aristainetus . 10 Aristotle . 11 Aratus . 12 Athanasius . 13 Ausonius . 14 Michael Auguanus . 15 Saint Austin . 16 St. Basil . 17 Doctor Basire . 18 Balduin Casus Conscientiae . 19 Beslarmine . 20. St. Bernard . 21 Beza . 22 Bias. 23 Bion. 24 Caussinus , e Soc. Jesu . 25 Cato . 26 Caecilius in Cicerone . 27 Caesar . 28 Chilon . 29 Cicero . 30 St. Cyprian . Cyrill . 31 St. Chrysostom . 32 Clemens . 33 Common-Prayer-Book . 34 Q. Curtius . 35 Demosthenes . 36 Diodorus Siculus . 37 Diogenes Cynicus . 38 Diogenes La●rtius , 39 Dionysius Areopagita . 40 Dr. Donne . 41 English College of Doway . 42 Queen Elizabeths Injunctions . 43 Epictetus . 44 Epicurus . 45 Epiphanius . 46 Erasmus . 47 Estius . 48 Eucherius . 49 Eusebius . 50 Eustathius . 51 Fagius . 52 Minutius Felix . 53 Firmicus . 54 Dr. Field of the Church . 55 Galen . 56 Joannes Galensis Anglus . 57 John Gregory , late of Christ-Church . 58 Gregory the Great . 59 Grotius . 60 Godfrey Goodman , Bishop late of Gloucester . 61 Dr. Hall , when He was the R. R. B. of Exon. since B. of Norwich . 62 Dr. Hammond . 63 Lord Hatton . 64 Heinsius . 65 Heraclitus . 66 Hesiod . 67 Hierocles . 68 St. Hierome . 69 St. Hilary . 70 Homer . 71 Horace . 72 Jo. Huartus , Hispanus , in His Examen de Ingeniis . 73 Esquire Howell . 74 Iamblichus . 75 Irenaeus . 76 Julian Apostate . 77 Justin Martyr . 78 Juvenal . 79 Lactantius . 80 Languetus . 81 Dr. Laud , Late Arch-Bishop of Canterbury . 82 Levinus Lemnius . 83 Livy . 84 Lucan . 85 Ludovicus Granatensis . 86 Lucretius . 87 Machometus . 88 Macrobius . 89 Manilius . 90 Manual of Godly Prayers . 91 Martial . 92 Peter Martyr . 93 Michael ab Isselt . 94 Picus Mirandula . 95 Greg. Nazianzen . 96 Optatus . 97 Origen . 98 Ortelius . 99 Ovid. 100 Petronius . 101 Petrarch . 102 Philo the Jew . 103 Pindarus . 104 Pisanus . 105 Plato . 106 Plinius Secundus . 107 Pliny the Naturalist . 108 Plutarch . 109 Angelus Politianus . 110 Portugallus Atheus . 111 Primasius . 112 Proclus . 113 Propertius . 114 Prudentius . 115 Putean . 116 Pythagoras . 117 Quintilian . 118 Raimundus de Sabunde . 119 C. Rhodiginus . 120 Rusticus Diaconus . 121 Ruvio . 122 Scaliger . 123 Joannes Secundus . 124 Seneca Phil. 125 Seneca Trag. 126 Severus . 127 Socinus . 128 Socrates . 129 Solon . 130 Statius . 131 Suarez . The Schoolmen . 132 Tacitus . 133 Tertullian . 134 Theodoret. 135 Theodorus . 136 Tibullus . 137 Trismegistus . 138 Maximus Tyrius . 139 Emanuel Thesaurus . 140 Theophilus Antiochenus . 141 Theophylact. 142 Valerius Maximus . 143 Varro . 144 Vincentius Lyrinensis . 145 Virgil. 146 Xerxes .

A Table of the Principal Contents . THE Occasion and Purpose of the Book , in the Introduction . Why the Author does , in Part , wave Scriptural Proofs , and that upon Scriptural Practice . 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5. God prov'd to Be , From the Chain of Causes . 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10. From Motion . 11 , 12 , 13 , 14. From the Difference in Entities . 15 , 16. From the Tendency of all things to a Certain End . 17 , 18. From the Natural Inclination , and Desire of Man . 19 , 20 , 21. From the known Heavens . 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27. This way of Probation , clear'd , By the Practice of the Fathers . 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33. Of the Schoolmen. 34. Of the Apostles . 35. Of Job . 36 , 37. The Objection against this truth answer'd by the Objectors themselves . 38 , 39. In what manner the Author proceeds to Scriptural Proofs , and why he invites the Naturalist to the search of them . 40. Because of the Confest Sinfulness of All Men. 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45. Because of the Known Displeasure of God against Sin . 46. Because of God's Punishing Sin Eternally . 47. Because there is no Virtue but from God . 48. Because there is no Meritorious Virtue . 49. Because there is some Resemblances , of the Father , and Christ , and the Spirit , and of Trinity in Unity , in the very Heathens . 50 , 51. The very Atheist does Confess God . 52. In his very Denying of him . 53 In the Most Wicked of his Practices . 54. A Caveat against his Sottish Sin . 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61. The Atheist's Fear proves God . 62 , 63. The Atheist's Recall , and ( si vult Ipse ) Recovery . 64. The Recall of Semi-Atheists . 65 , 66 , 67 , 68. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . 69. A Perswasion to the Naturalist , to search Scripture , Because of the Uncertainty amongst Heathens , what Happiness is . 70 , 71. Because of the Certainty , that Happiness Is to be Desir'd ; that , Nothing is , in Vain , to be Desir'd ; that , in all Natural , Verisimilitude , and Reason , Scripture is the onely Declarer what True Happiness is , and how to be Acquir'd . 73 , 74 , 75 , 76. The Author's Apologie , again , for these kind of Reasons . 77 , 78 , 79. The Natural Reasons why our Scripture is the Word of God . 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96. The Atheist's final Reclaimer . 97 , 98 , 99 , 100.

In the Second Discourse . Deus Unicus . THE Fitness and Rationality of it . 1 , 2. The Probation ; that God is One , Simplicitate . 3 , 4 , 5. Singularitate . 6. Universalitate . 7. The taking off Objection . 8. The Confirmation . 9 , 10 , 11. Against the Romanists , who apply the true Worship of the True God , to somewhat else . 12. Particularly , against English ( in all senses ) Doway , and Doway - misapply'd Texts . 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37. Texts , sincerely , and , ex abundanti , urg'd , against ( not Texts , but ) Mis-application . 38 , 39. In fine , an Accounting Post script to my Honour'd Patron , Ego , sub Illius , Ille , & Ego , sub Dei Alis , donec Haec transeat Calamitas .

Atheismus Vapulans , OR , There is a GOD.

The Introduction .

TO Prove that God Is , ( the Theme , and Business , which I am , now , upon , and about ) did it onely arise out of a Curiosity in Notional , and Speculative Knowledge , would be my own Shame , and not a Rebuke to the Apostacy of this Age and Clime ; and I my self , who take upon me ( by the help of him who is the Subject of my Discourse ) to endeavour the Conversion of others , should stand in need to be Converted by another's Pen , from such a Fantastick Imployment ; but , since the Undertaking is so far from Humour , that there are , abroad , who need such a Cure as this , I shall not forbear that , which is usefull to Some , for fear lest a Medice Teipsum might be apply'd to my self from Others ; if all , I write , were Digression , and Impertinency ; if all , to whom I write , would eccho back to that Heavenly Covenant , I will be their God , and they shall be my People , Thou shalt be , thou art our God , I should esteem this Loss of Time and Pains , to be the most Fortunatus Error I could ever commit , and should more glory in Confirming my Brethren , than in Converting an Alien ; but , since some cry out , with Pharaoh's blasphemy , Exod. 5.2 . Who is the Lord ? I , and I , and I , know not the Lord , and may compell him ( as he was driven to it by the Obstinacy of That Pharaoh ) to prove himself to be the Lord , by his own most Authoritative , most Infallible bearing witness to himself , that he is the Lord , three several times in the next Chapter , V. 2.8.29 . to prove his Power , as he did to Pharaoh , by his Judgements against them who deny his Power , it is necessary for some of us to Preach by a Hand-writing ( lest God may do it upon a Wall ) such a Fundamental Doctrine as This , the rather , because such a Wild Separating People ( who , if Authority so pleas'd , should be almost Compell'd into a Congregation , that they might begin at Christ's Cross , and Learn This a , ( for That is the Name of God ) this first Letter in Divinity , that there is a Christ , and a God ) do run away from the Ministerial Vox Viva , lest they should be Converted , and God should heal them : This it is that makes me run after ( with a Bleeding Heart , because of their Dry Eyes ) such Infatuated Perishing Souls , who Voyd to themselves , whatever God by Our Ministry , hath taught to Others , of Fearing God , Loving God , being Zealously-Affected to God , and put so much Shame and Dishonour upon our Great and Good God , as to Deny Him , not onely in his Attributes , to be Great and Good , but in his very Essence , even to Be ; the modest Heathen will not keep pace with them in any of these ; even to him , he shall be , not onely Deus , but Optimus , and Maximus too .

Some such there are Abroad ; and there are , Abroad too , who impute that there is , at least , some One such within my own Circuit ; whatever Prophane Languages have slipt out of that Unhallow'd Mouth , I would fain hope , they never came out of the Heart too ; and yet my Saviour hath almost made me to despair , and not to hope so , in that himself hath said , Out of the Abundance of the Heart , the Mouth speaketh , Mat. 12.34 . and hath given me Occasion , by the force of his own Argument , to ask a Question , like his , in the Method , though unlike his , in the Matter , Ibid. How can he , being Good , ( Good at Heart , how Can he ) speak such evill things ?

Whether this be , indeed , a Sin of Blasphemy , and Atheism amongst us , or a Sin of Slander , and Defamation amongst them , I know not ; but , since it must be one of these Sins , and of one of these People , though I am in a great Str●it , yet I could wish to make Choyce of the Lesser Evil , for ( though Both of them are stark naught ) it is surely better to Slander and Defame Man , than God ; this onely I know , that my present Design is , by the Conversion of him , who is himself the suspected Adversary , and hath given Occasion to the very Servants of God to speak Reproachfully , to make such a bold Report hereafter , to be but a very Slander ; and by the Conversion of those his Fratres in Malo , in Another and Another Place , but in the same , and more than the same Iniquity , who are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , not so much Suspected by us , as Convicted by themselves , that they are the Adversaries of God , not to suffer it ( quantum in me est ) to be any more the Slander , either of Man or God .

This is One part of the Design , to have Compassion on him , whose Foot hath well-nigh slipt , Jude 22. and to save him with hope ; to Compassionate those , who are not almost , but altogether Gone out from us , who , themselves , have made it Manifest , that they were not of us , and to save them by Fear , Pulling them out of that Fire , into which they have thrown themselves ; and it is Another , to Establish , and Keep them in the Love of God , who are , already , and still , Deists , and Christians , that they would earnestly Contend for the Faith , which was once Deliver'd to the Saints , how eagerly soever some , who neither are Saints , nor have Faith ( not so much Faith as to believe a God ) contend against them for it .

For that Conviction , and Conversion-sake of some , and for that Remembrance , and Establishmentsake of others , I shall divide this Treatise into three parts ; each Part shall be a Treatise by it self , and the two Latter subordinate to the first .

The first Treatise shall prove that there is a God .

The second , that there is but One Onely God . And

The third , that the God of us Christians is He , that One , and that Onely God ; first , in that he is a Lord and Ruler over us ; secondly , in that he is a Rock and Defence unto us .

And , though I might take one Text of Scripture , to prove all , and every part of this ( that of David , in his 18 Psalm , and v. 31. For , who is God , save the Lord ? and who is a Rock , save our God! That is the first thing , Presuppos'd , and Granted , by David , and , by all those , who are , as David was , 1 Sam. 13.14 . Men after God's own Heart , throughout the Double , the Iterated , the Repeated Question , in the whole Verse , that , indeed , a God there is ; for , when he asks , Who is a God save — Who is a Rock save — a Rock and a God he presumes there is ; and then he , as Equally , and Firmly , though but secondarily , implyes , in those Interrogatories of his , that there is but One , True God ; That is Inferrible out of his Manner of Limitation ; for , when he Confines the Excess and Latitude of the Question , Who is a God — to — the Lord Singularly — Who is a Rock — to — Our God — Unically , he does Convince , that there is but One True God , One Onely Lord ; and , thirdly , he Proves , and Evinces , that Our God is the One , the Onely , the True God , by a twofold Argument ; first in that he is Lord and Ruler over us , Who is God , save the LORD secondly , in that he is a Rock , and Defence unto us , Who is a ROCK , save our God ? ) yet , I must acquaint you with two several Reasons , why I , in part forbear , and , in part , insist , to do this .

1. I will forbear , because , in my first Treatiso , I am to Prove a God to the Face and Heart of him , whose Face does Confidently , and whose Heart does Hypocritically seem to Deny a God ; and , to such a One , I must not prove God by Scriptures , ( lest , though perhaps he has not Latine enough to do it , he tell me , without Mood and Figure , and in plain English , that I do Petere Principium ) but , rather , Scriptures by God .

2. I will forbear , because some of this queazy Age , and Innovating Isle ( for , I am onely seen in my own Vanities , and the misbelief of a few of my Countreymen , who have need to be Reform'd out of their very Reformation , as they Injuriously and Dishonourably call it , to that Authority , under whose Cloak they pretend it ) who account Preached Sermons , in Actu Exercito , to be the whole Body of Divinity , and the Hearing of them to be all the Practice of it ; who esteem of them , Ex Ore onely , to be God's Ordinance , and Edifying , and Ex Prelo , to be Man's Inventions , and Corrupting , and therefore will not ( though a Wise Man hath bade them do it ) Buy Truth , and Wisdome , Prov. 23.23 . and Instruction , and Understanding , but account of Sermons , Ore tenus , to be the Wisdome of God , and Printed Sermons to be the Foolishness of Preaching , and , therefore , will not Coelum Stultitiâ hâc Petere ; no , by no means , Non hac Itur ad Astra . And yet , though I will rather * * Although Concio , in Veteri , & Primitivâ Ecclesiâ Tractatu● nuncupabatur . Bishop Andrews in MS Notes on Common-Prayer-Book . 1.5.11 . Treat , than Sermon to them , I would fain Unbewitch them of such Mis-perswasions too ; when St. Paul bids his Thessalonians , Edify One Another , would he not have them do it , by that Doctrine , which he Preacht unto them ? nay by that very Epistolar Sermon , which he wrote unto them ? Is not Comfort an especial part of Edification ? and does he not Exhort them to Comfort one another with these Words ? Ch. 4. v. 18. these Written Words ? Does the Spirit of God go along with them , when they are deliver'd to the Ear ? and forsake them , when they are Presented to the Eye ? how ill does this suit with that God , whose property is to be Immutable ! Himself is One of those two Immutable things , Heb. 6.18 . and his Oath Another ; Is not this kind of deserting That , which he before allow'd of , at least some Variableness , and not None at all ? at least a Shadow of Turning ? is that , which was Wholsome Meat from the Pulpit , either Mors , or Herb-John in Ollâ , when it has past through the Shop ? are Ecclesiastes , and other Tracts , Catechisms , and Confessions of Faith , Any thing , and Every thing else , Good , and Saleable in Paper ? and onely That , which is very Hot in the Mouth , and esteem'd Best of all There , Cold in Operation , and Good for nothing , when it is Drest the same way as These ? Good God! what Sickly and Unsound Palats are we to provide for ! For their sakes also it is , as well as for that Atheist's sake , with whom I expostulate , that in the prosecution of what I have in hand , ( in Hand I say , and not upon the Tongue ) I shall , in much part , decline Scriptural Authority , lest That , which is a Treatise in Volume , might be suspected of so much Jesuitism , as to have chang'd its Name from that Sermon which it had been in the Chapel , though the Length , as well as the Tediousness of it , ( for , these two , are , sometimes , as much From the Same , as Idem , cùm faciunt Duo , is not Semper Idem ) and the Debility of my own Lungs might Vindicate it from that Honest Imputation ; and yet

3. As well for the Connexion and Requiringness of the Matter , as for the Integrity of those Setled Heads , who love the Word of God , and the sincere solid Interpretation of it , as their own Souls , I shall , in much part , insist upon Choyce and Pertinent Scriptures , a little in the first and second Treatise , ( and , in doing this , I shall but transcribe the Policy , and leave out the Infection , of a Ruvio , and a Suarez , ( who , in their Logick , and Metaphysicks , talk Much , and Unseasonably , of the H. Eucharist , more to Roman than Aristotelical Intent and Purpose ) excusably enough , because I would , even at unawares , not onely Contest , and Dispute , but Surprize my incurious Reader , into the belief of a Truth , not English , or Spanish , but owned by Mankind ) but , more in the third , because the other two do presume him to be a Christian but in Fieri , not fit , at all , for Apostolical strong Meat , and scarce , for Milk , but , in the third , and in Facto esse , for Both ; in the Language of this last expression I may tell you , that you know your Fare , wish you Fall too , and pray God to Bless it To you .

The First Treatise . That there is a God .

1 TO tell you that Every word of Scripture does prove this , because , as St. Paul tels me , 2 Tim. 3.16 . All of it was Inspir'd by God ; nay , to tell you , that those very words , which the Devil , in Scripture , hath spoke , do prove this , because it is God , who hath made them Scripture in that he hath vouchsafed to Relate them There , will not serve my turn , nor suit with that ground of Method , which not I make choyce of , but the Perversness of Man proposes to me , and compels upon me ; if he Fights with Wood , and Hay , 1 Cor. 3.12 . and Stubble , and I warr'd with Gold , and Silver , and Pretious Stones , I shall not Componere , but Dilatare his Obstreper as Fauces , for want of a Reply ad Idem ; such a Goliah as this , must have the Neck of his Objection cut off , with his own , though a Leaden , Sword ; the Other , and Better way , would indeed satisfie Other and Israelited , better and Un-Philistin'd men , to Remember them , that there is a God , who already believe this Truth , but not to make him Know that there is a God , who as yet , Denies it , and , doing that , must , by Miserable Undoing Consequence , Deny this Book to be Made by him , whom himself he Denies to Be.

2. Therefore , by a Rational Physick against the Pestilence , and Infection of so Ill an Air , ( a Disease more dangerous than that other noysome Pestilence , Psal. 91.6 . which walketh ( as this hath done , though , now , it attempts to wast even at Noon-day ) in Darkness , for , That does testifie a God , though an Angry one , which This out-braves , Psal. 65.8 . and the People were afraid of the Tokens of That , as of God's Tokens , whom This out-dares ) and with design , that that Ill Air may not onely leave off to Poyson the Air next to it , but begin to Purge it self , I shall first , Convince the Falshood , of the Atheists more said and Divulg'd than Beleeved opinion , out of those Principles , which it is impossible for Themselves , as they are what they profess themselves , Meer Men to Gainsay ; and shall Secondly , in Honour to the Scripture , and the God of them , either Convert Them , who , if they thrust not themselves without the Pale , thrust the Pale from themselves , or , at least Confirm those , who are within the Pale , that they may not be seduc'd to Pluck One Stake out of it , by a Mixt kind of Natural and Spiri●ual Argument , from the general manner , and Method and Stile , Aim , and sense , and Purpose of the ●criptures , that a God is the Au●hour of them .

3. To apply my self First , to the Quality of the Opponents , Acts 5.3 , 4. whose Hearts Satan hath filled , to Lye to the Holy Ghost , not to Lye unto Men , but unto God ; ( and is not ●his a Sacrilege in grain , to withhold God from the People , and beyond That of them , who with-held the Gift of the People from God ? ) in Proving that there is a God , out of such Evident and Created Principles , which Themselves will be no more able to Disprove , than a Dog to Bite the Moon , at which He Barks ; and yet , for the sake of Others , I have heeded that Counsel of Putean , Comus . Cavendum est , ne vel Ipso Latratu Mordeat .

4. And did not God Himself , and Moses Himself imply as much , that God might be known ( though no● in His Simply-Intire essence , eve● by Scriptures themselves , or to Angels themselves , for , Nothing bu● God can thus Comprehensively know God ) at least , in His Existence , and Being , in a more Remote , but Certain and Infallible though Confus'd knowledge , eve● by the Light of Nature ? ( thoug● there be more of Resplendency , i● the Sun , than in a Candle , yet it is as sure , that we Do See , by a Candle , as by the Sun ) When God Himself hath told us by Moses , that I● the Beginning , Gen. 1.1 . God Created the Heavens , and the Earth , in the very Beginning of the Word of God , and hath not , First , Expresly told us 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that God Himself Is ( for , it is never to be said He was , of whom there is not Erat , quando non Erat , but in the same Line and Verse , that He is too ; else , Revel. 1.4.8 . Exod. 9.14 . His Name , I AM , is brought into suspicion ) before that Beginning , but hath left the Heavens , and the Earth , that He Made , to tell us That .

5. And do not the Apostles themselves do the same ? and upon the same Ground ? and , perhaps in reference to that very First Verse in ●he Written Book of God , being ●aught so to do , by the Example of God and Moses , as well as by Inpiration of God ? They do not tell ●s , in Terminis , that God Is , much ●ess do they attempt ( that which They well knew to be a thing Im●ossible ) to Prove Him to Be , à Priori ; such a very Proof as this ( besides the Arrogancy of it , in taking upon them , to be in greater ●avour with God , and to see deeper into Him , Exod. 33.23 . than Moses did , who saw Him , but à Posteriori , in His Back Parts ) would be but an Artificial , a more Elaborate , and subtle kind of Denying God ; They only tell us Involvedly , that He is , when they tell us , that They Do , and We should , Believe in God the Father Almighty ; To Beleeve In Him , He , and They have taught us in Holy Scriptures , but Credere Deum , to Beleeve Him to Be , the next Words after , teach us That , Maker of Heaven and Earth .

6. Now , if Any shall say a fresh , as Galen once did , Omnia Dicit , Nihil Probat , that Moses does but Say , God did This , and That , Made Heaven and Earth , He does not Prove it ; to Reply to all such ( who are themselves as Natural , as was Galens Study ) let me take That Heaven , and That Earth themselves , into my Discourse , whereby to Prove their Maker ; I begin , with Part of That , which God Made , and , out of which , He Made Us , the Earth , and the Inhabitants thereof . Take the Whole of it , or take it in Pieces , either Way there is a God .

7. All of it , and the Glory of it all , the Vrbes and the Civitates , the stately Buildings , and the societies of Men , whence were they ? the Cities did not Build themselves ; the Russet Coontryman knows as much as this comes to , that , not Orpheus ●idle Musick , but the Hands of Laborious Men have done all this ; but , whence then were Those Men ? He in the Woods and Fields , and He in the Grove of City-Houses , knows that too , that , as some of them have Children , so All of them have had Parents ; but , whence those Parents ? they know that too , that , as some of them Are Grand-fathers , so All of them have Had Grand-fathers ; but whence , still , came they ? from their Fore-fathers , and Those from a First of all ; As certainly as you cannot tell , Any man alive Shall have a Future Child ( for the same Power , Jer. 22.30 . that said Write ye This Man Childless , may , if He please ( for , God , and His Power , Attribute and Person are Convertible and th● same ) say , Write ye This Woman untimely , Is. 37.3 . for , the Children are come to the Birth , and there is no Strength to Bring forth ) so certainly you may know , that there was a First Man of all , that had no Man at all to his Father — Orbe Novo , Juven. Sat. 6. Caeloque Recenti , Vivebant Homines , qui Rupto Robore Nati , Compositique Luto , Nullos habuere Parentes .

Such a First Man there must have been , Quare etiam atque etiam Maternum nomen adepta Terra tenet Merito , quoniam Genus Ipsa creavit Humanum . Lucret. or else there must be , ( that , which the Philosophers , the meer Natural Men , ( and the best knowing of All meer Natural Men , ) call a Progressus in Insinitum , a Proceeding even to an Infinitude , which , the meer Natural Men do , Discerningly , and Truly , and Deliberately , Deny to be Possible in Nature ; which very word does signify all , I have already said , an● preoccupies somewhat more that 〈◊〉 have still to say , Natura , quasi Aliunde Nata ; As All Propagated Creatures which , at this day , have a Being in Nature , receiv'd it from the Prae-Being of some of the same kind , so the first Individual , which it self does partake of Nature , in its Composition , though not in the Efficiency of it , must needs have its Being Aliunde still , and therefore from That Which Is , before Nature Was ; for , as it is impossible , for the First Man of all , to have Had a Father ( else , He was not the First Man ; else , He must be Father to Himself , in that He was the First , and His Own Child , in that He had such a Father ) as Impossible , as it is for Himself , to Be , at the same Instant and Point of Time , both Before and After Himself ; at the same Instant , both to Be and Not to Be , which is One Contradiction in it self , and Another Contradiction to the very First of Principles , in the very Chief of Sciences , Omne , vel Est , vel Non ; for , Metaphyr . Whoever Makes Any thing , is as much and as Really before that thing which He makes , as Any of those who Plow their Own Lands , or Plant their own Vines , were in Being , before those Vines were first Planted , or those Lands Last Plow'd , as a Shoomaker Is , Before the Shoo , He Makes , a Carpenter Is , Before the Plough he Makes , and a Smith Is , Before the share He makes to that Plough : Now , as a First Man must have been , and That First Man Cannot have made Himself , so ( though We already know , who That First Man was , Adam , and who made Him , God , yet , that those who Deny God may be well forc'd to acknowledge Him , as I am Ill-forc'd thus to Prove Him ) Either it was God , or somewhat Else , that made That First Man : if Any thing else Besides God , the Question returns , Who made that somewhat else ? so that , at last , of meer and Undeniable Necessity , God must be ( as to our Understanding , as God would be , as from His own Goodness ) the First Maker of All ; the First Maker of all , must be God , and nothing else but God , because whatsoever is in Him , must Necessarily be in God , and Incommunicably in Any thing else but God ; such Properties are these , To have a Being of Himself , not Depending upon any thing else but Himself ; To have such a Being , of which All else Depend , as well in Produci as in Conservari ; To Be without Beginning ; To be Eternal ; and these four properties , are proper to God Quarto Modo , they do Convenire Soli , & semper : And thus He is driven in many Words , and per Circuitus & Ambages , to Confess God , Who , in One Onely word , Denys Him ; nor can His Ignorance , any otherwise be excus'd , than if we fancy Him to be ( what Erasmus does not say , Any man Was , but only Himself fancies some One Man so to be ) so besottedly Ignorant , as to beleeve , that Himself was never Born ; This , says that Inventor would be more Pardonable , than to Deny a God ; nay Pace Illius dixerim , This would not Deny a God , but pretend Himself to be One , a God , and a Christ too , as being a Stone cut out , Dan. 2.34 . Deus est Rerum omniCausa . Arist. Meta. Virg. l. 1. without Hands .

8. This is that , which they call the Chain of Causes ; and as much Evidence as this , will arise out of any Other Cause , in respect of any Other Effect , when it is thus driven up to the Head , to that God , who may Article with some Heady men now , and aske the question of them , Jud. 11.8 . Virgil. Ovid. which Jepthah ask'd of the Elders of Gilead , shall I be your Head ! Jovis omnia plena ; and Jupiter est , quodcunque Vides ; you may see God , on † † Quid est Deus ? quod Vides totum , &c. Senec. every thing you see ; the most Minute , most Contemptible Production in Nature , is not at all Minute , is not at all Contemptible , in that it is a Demonstrative Argument , to Prove a Creator , a God ; the very Mice , and the very Frogs will do it , not only when they come upon Gods errand , Exod. 8.2 . to execute His Judgements upon Pharaoh , and by the wonderfulness of the Judgement , in the Feebleness of the Instrument , had it not been Impower'd from above , to declare a God , whose Name is wonderful , Ps. 9.6 . qui Solus facit Mirabilia , but when they Come of their Own Errand , to Feed upon the Crumbs from under thy Table , and to Drink the Dew of Heaven from off Thy Grass , even These , and even Then , will be Arguments and Doctrines , Proofs and Inferences of a Deity ; Not to Dispute whence they have their Being , whether as some say , the One out of the Dust , and the Other out of the Air ; be it from these , or be it from what else it will , whence had this Dust , and this Air , and this Any-thing else , their own Beginning , whereby they Contribute to the Origination of these ? I must not now tell you , out of Scriptures , that the very Dust , and the very Air , Mat. 8.26.27 . John 9.6 . the Winds which Christ Commanded , and the Clay which He bad be Physick , and Cure the Blind , did testifie Christ to be God , and God to be their Maker , by their Obedience to Him ; but I must tell you , out of Nature , that God was the Maker of That , which , by the Descent , and Continuation of second Causes , became Frogs , and Mice ; for , if Man , the most Excellent of Sublunary Creatures , and as this self-minded Atheist is apt to believe , the Paramount subsistence amongst all those which have Any Being , was not able to bring forth Himself , but ( as we have already prov'd ) must needs be beholden to a Superiour Power , an Original Maker , a First Cause , for the Relative , and Dependent Being which He has , much less could those more Ignoble and Servile Creatures , the Air ( which it self He is , perhaps as ready to Believe not to Be as the God , and for the same Reason , ( which may equally make Him doubt , whether He has a Soul or no ) because Both of them , because all three of them are Invisible ) or the Dust of the Earth ( that sluggish Creature , which He disdainfully tramples under His Foot , not Considering that , That Foot , and the whole Body besides , is , now , but Compacted Clay , and will , anon , be Viler , more putrified ( I must speak modestly ) More Offensive earth than That , and Stand in need of that very earth He Scorn'd , to (p) (p) Pellucidum Tegit , Opacum Abscondit . Cover , and to Hide too , not his Nakedness only , but His very Stench , lest the Survivers hide their faces at Him ) much less could these Senseless , ( and therefore , much more , Unvoluntary ) Atomes at first , make themselves , and then the World , however one ( Himself as Unworthy to be Nam'd as His vain opinion to be Particularly confuted ) though he durst not fancy the former , did invent , and vent the latter , and then why does He deny God in One Word , when he Confesses Him in two ; that it is the First Cause which hath deriv'd efficiency into all of these ? t is all one to my Understanding as if he said it were God Himself ; and I could well wish these Naturall men would learn one more Principle of Nature , Frustra Dicitur per plura quod potest Dici per Pauciora , that they would save some expence of Breath and call Him God in One Sylllable , as well as in a Periphrasis of Two .

Of Both these Arguments , let me speak two words more in the Persuasive way I propos'd ; Persequamur & Flores rerum , Rhodig . l. 1. c. 5. ut , si nil aliud , Varietatis Jucunditas , & inde , Genius aliquis non absit .

9. To the first Argument , from Parentage . Consider , when your Child , which was Born of you , does aske You Blessing , That very Child , and the humble Acknowledging practice of it , does Teach you , ( what you should have taught that very Child ) to Crave a Blessing from Him who is your Father in Heaven ; Let Him not be less your Father , because He is Out of your sight , though you are not out of His , then your own Child is the less your Son , when neither of you see each Other ; you see Him not , Col. 2.21 . you Touch not , Taste not , Handle not , and therefore , Is He not ? O doe not un-God Him by such a strange and Answering reason , the very Contrary of which would Un-God Him ! for He were a Body , if He could be Toucht , a Sapid Body , if He could be Tasted , and a Colour'd Body , if He could be Seen , and therefore , not a Spirit ; and a God , which does neither Eat nor is Eaten , neither Handle , nor is Handled , any otherwise than in such a Discourse as this ; nay amongst all the Bad ones , let Me tell you , the most seemingly-prevailing Argument , that He is not , is , that you your self Deny Him , unless That of the Poet be an Argument against this ; Nullos esse Deos , Inane Coelum , Martial . Amantissimus Pater Filiis , quanquam Ingratis , veram felicitatem optat . P. Martyr . Affirmat Coelius , probatque quod se Factum , dum Negat hoc , Videt Beatum ; and yet let me once again , send you to School to your own Child , to be Reclaim'd by Him , whom you Begat ; It is an Undutifull , and Rebellious Child ; but are not you , still His Father ? that very Rod you now take in your Hand tells Him that you are so ; it is a wayward and Denying Child ; yet , because it is a Child , and because yours , you sollicit His Obedience to you , with Bribes and Mercery ; and is God the less your Father , the more He Loves you ? God forbid ; — Patrio pater esse Metu probor ; Ovid. Met. I and Patrio Viscere too , His Care , and Feare of , and for you , who care not for the Lord , unless He Thunders , and are feareless of Him , when he has laid his Bolt aside , even this , proves Him to be a God , a Father of Mercyes , 2 Cor. 1.3 . Psal. 94.1 . though not , as yet , such a God to whom Vengeance belongeth . When you blesse your own Child consider , as , whence it was , from God and you ( t is Sol & Homo , but it is Sol Justitiae , Aristot . Mal. 4.9 . quae generant Hominem ; from God , as the chief Agent , from you , as His weak Instrument , more weake , and useless , and unactive , when He takes you not into His Hand , and cooperates not with you , than your own lazy Axe , when you take it not into yours , or when the Head of it falls from the heft of it , ● Ki. 6.5 . into the Water ) so , whence you , and your Fore-Fathers and Their First Father was , from the Earth , and That , Originally , from those two Extreme-Opposites , Nothing & God , who , Himself , in Making it , was the Only Agent , and His Power , and Will , and Love ( which are Himself ) all the Instrument He us'd ; Consider , that He made you of Earth , that sedentary , and groveling , and underfoot Element , that you should have nothing to boast of , least of all such a vile , and worse than earthly Opinion ( nay , even Worse than Hellish too for , Jam. 2.19 . the Devills also believe a God , though it puts them into an Ague of Trembling Fits ) as if God Himself was such a Nothing against which to Boast ; if you are so stout-hearted , that Nothing will make you Fall down and Worship , Let such a Nothing as This do it ; and yet Consider too , that it is He that made you of that Earth , and therefore , acknowledge Him your Father for Making you , and your God for Making you so Powerfully , out of That , which but a few dayes before , was Nothing ; Beg of that Father that Made you , to Blesse you ; desire of that God who so Powerfully Made you ( what your Re-maker , your Redeemer Christ , hath desir'd of Him for you ) that He would Keep you by His Power , that he would prosper first , the Work of His Own Hands , Joh. 17.11 . your selves , and then Guide and Succeed Your Handy-Work .

10. To the Pursuit of That First ; Whatever you see , even the Basest Creature in the account of Man , be it some Apostolicall Man , 2 Cor. 10. v. 10. who is that Base Creature , whose Presence is Base , as Pauls , and Speech Contemptible as His , or be it He who accounts Him and His speech and His Presence so , Act. 28.3 . or be it that very Viper on Pauls Hand , or that Coale of Fire at His Foot ; Look agen , and see the Dignity of that Office , and of that Creature , in that God hath made the One , and Ordained the Other ; Let not the Heathen be more quick-sighted than Thou ; Juven. Hic putat esse Deos ; if He Himself sayes Jovis omnia plena , say thou so too , only , change that Name of His God into the Etymon of that Name , In every thing , see , and acknowledge One God , Ephes. 4.6 . Psal. 46. and Father of All , who is a very present Help in the needfull time of trouble ; Disdain not any Thing , much less any Person , which He hath Made ; thou , who shouldst see a God , in a Frog and a Mouse , nay in a very Viper , be not thou , too suspicious to see a Devill , in a Man and a Woman ; nay in a very Saint ; Tell the Atheist , who will not see a God in any thing , that thou seest a God in every thing ; Wonder at the Atheist , who makes God to be Nothing at all , when thou , even by Nature , knowest Him to be what His own Word tells Thee He is , 1 Cor. 15.28 . All in All.

11. Such another Argument is That concerning Motion , which , because it is not Altogether the Former , but Another , I shall Name , and because it is so like the Former , and Such , I shall But Name .

12. We see Motion every where ; and yet we must know , that every thing is Mov'd of somewhat els besides It self ; Second Movers there are , or else there is no Motion at all ; the Tongue , that Denyes this , let it ly still , if it can , whilst it Denyes this ; and yet Second Movers there are not , unless they partake of Motion from the First of all , so that , at length to avoid a process into Infinitude , we must at least in our Concessions , Ascend up to a First Mover , and that is God . Anes . l. 7. This was Aristotle's Argument , to prove a First Mover , and That Terme is equivalent to a God ; and though in His Entrance upon that Discourse , He sayes , Corpus Naturale , habet , In se , principium Mot us , yet He sayes not Habet A Se , the Naturall Body hath the Principle of Motion , Within it self , it has it not Of , or From it self . It was that Aristotle , who knew not God at all , by His own Word , but only by that innate Principle which God had grafted into His Soul , and by the Book of Creatures , the Verbum non loquentium , which exerted that innate Principle , and brought it into Act , which blew the Hidden Fire into a Light Flame , and awaken'd the discursive Faculty , and Power of Knowing God , into an Actuall Ratiocination , and Argument , and Discovery Of God .

13. Act. 17.28 . I must not , in this case , apply That of S. Paul , In Him ( i. e. in God ) we Move , because the Divinity of His Authority is above that Faith , and Capacity , of Him whom I undertake to Instruct , and of those ( woe is me , that there are Those , amongst whom we are Constrain'd to Dwell , or They , suffer'd to dwell amongst us ! ) whom to Confute ; and yet , I may too , apply the Words , and leave out the Paul , as . well as the Saint , because He does not quote God but Man , and Him not Inspir'd unless with Poetical heat , Aratus 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Pythagoras . when He adds — As certain of your own Poets Also ( as well as we Evangelists , and Apostles ) have said , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 we are his Of spring too , it is God that Made us , aswel as God that Moves us .

14. And now , tell the Atheist , how much thou admir'st that He will not confess a God , by the great and speedy Volubility of the liveless Heavens ( to the Circulations of which , we may adapt that of Pliny , The Naturalist . Inidoneum vel Coeli spectaculum , si tantum Praeterirent , and fit a reason to it , which was none of His , they were a useless spectacle if they did not demonstrate a God above them , which whirl'd them about , as well as fecundate the earth beneath them ) when thou Confessest Him by the lesser and retarded Motion of every Creeping thing , since it is the first Mover , God , that has imparted the Gift of Motion to All of these ; As the Philosopher rebuk'd and silenc'd Him , by Taking a Turn , and by Gesture , who denyed there was any Motion , so , do thou but Walk , and every step thou takst , does out-pace and out-Argne Him , who denyes there is a God .

15. There is a Third of a distinct kind , but of the same Conviction , the different Degrees of Entity , of Being , which we observe in the Scale of Creatures , which does evince Them to be Creatures , and that there is a God , the Creator of them ; we find that there is a lesseness of Entity , a worseness , an Inferiority of Being in some , and a Greater Entity , a more Excellent , and Superiour kind of Being in Others ; Some things have a Being and no Composition , which , though they are not Compounded themselves , are yet of a Degraded Quality , because they are Ordained to Serve others as the first Ingredients , and Principles of their Composition ; some things have a Compounded Being , but no life at all , such , as the Grosser Earth and the Parts of it , Stone and Metall , &c. These are the Foot of this Ladder , and those Before as the Ground upon which it stands ; ( I will not stay to open and Anatomize the Parts of this unelementall Earth ( for it is not , it self One Element , but made up of more ) the severall Species of Liveless Beings , the severall Differences of them , according to the more or less worthy Operations of them , to the more Lazyness , or quicker Activity in Producing their effects ; This may be the work of Another Pen , and of another Coat , and to Another Purpose ) the Degree of Being , more worthy than This , is in those which have Meer Life and no More , the Lowest , the most Ignoble kinde of Life , and neerest of kin to that Earth , within which it Lives , and is quite Dead when it is , All , Above it , only to Grow and Increase , and not to have Any Sense at all , as the severall kinds of Plants , Flowers , Herbs , and Trees ; for , That which is call'd Plant-Animal , has but Quid Analogum Sensui , and does not Sentire ; the Being Above That , is that of Beasts , which have the Advantage of sense , added to the Faculty of Vegetation ; the Being Above these , is that of Man , the Lord of these , who has , besides His sense ( or else He is Beside Himself ) Reason and Understanding ; and yet this Man too has one more Created Being Above Him , the Spiritual Being of Angels , and their more Immediate , and Instantaneous , and Intuitive Reason and Understanding ; and must there not Be , the Stagyrite's Ens Entium , a Being of Beings Above All these , and from which . All these have their Communicated Beings ? the very Difference of these kinds of Being , the More and Less , that Better and Worse , does Evidence that there Must ; for , Nothing has Less , and Worse of Being , but as it does more approach to That , which has the Least and Worst of Being , nay to That , which is Less yet , even to Nothing it self ; and nothing has more , and Better of Being , but in some . Approximtion , and Likeness , and Reference to That which has ( or rather Is ) the Most , the Best Being of all , in whom we have our Being afwell as in whom we Move ; Acts 17.28 . and That Chief , that Best , that Universal , that Original , that Essential Being can be no Less than God ; the very Order of these Beings , and the several steps of this Scale does Evidence as much ; for , as there is a Lowest Being , that Vilest , and most Deprest , the very Center and Element of the Earth , which has a Being and nothing else ; and a Compounded Being of a Body made of Parts , which is nothing else but Body ; and a Being one Step above that , a Body , but yet a Live , a Veget , a Growing Body , which hath Arms , but not of Flesh , and Stomack , but not above ground ; a Being , one step higher yet , a Live and growing Body , but a Body that has sense too , aswell as growth , that can Feel , as well as be Felt , that can Tangi , & Angi too ; and a Being , still one step Higher , partly-Body , partly-Spirit , Man ; and a Being one step Higher yet , Purely-Spirit , but Created and Depending Spirit , Angel ; so there must be , to make this Scale Perfect ( the Top of which must reach not only to Heaven , Gen. 28.12 . but to God in it ) a Supreme , Soveraign , exact , essentially , and selfly-Spiritual , Independent Being , who is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( Nam Veteres Theologi , Caeli . Rhid . Praefat. Centri Nomine , Deum esse intelligendum prudentiortbns insinuarunt ) Opposite to the Other extreme , the Center of the Earth the most Deficient , and beggerly element of Being , nay to the very Nothing , to which the Nobler sorts of Beings Approach , and Of which , All sorts of Being Partake , as well as a weaker , more Infirm , and Partial Being , to which the more Ignoble Beigns do Declien ; and That Being must needs be † † Deum qui non summum putet , Rerum imperitum existimo Caecilius in Cicerone . Philo Jud. God ; so that , even by Natural help , such as this Ladder is , Man might reach up to the Belief of that Jehovah , who is Fons Essentiae .

16. When thou seest , and observest this Difference of Beings , One to partake more of Entity , and Another , less ; One Meerly to Be ( Est , & Praeterea Nihil ) and Another to Be , and Live ; One , to Live , and Grow , and Another to Live , and have Sense , Virg. Superatque & Vescitur Auris Aethereis ; One to Live Partly Body , and Partly Spirit , as Thy self does , and Another to Live only Spirit , as an Angel does ; tell that No-man that denys a Being Above all these , which gave a Being to All of these , that He is not a Man , He has no Reason ; He is not a Beast , He has no † † Improbum & Vislentum est , Rationem its ascribere , qui Notitia Dei Carent . Plutarch . in Gryllo . Qui Deos negant , Abjectum Genus Hominum , & sine sensu . Max. Tyrius Serm. Deo●esse , omnes sana mente praediti , arbitrātur . Plutarch . de Homero . Sense ; He is not a Plant , for He does not Grow , unless it be worse ; He is not so much as a Dead Chip , for there was not a Live Tree , out of which He was Cut ; He is Nothing ; Less than That , for , That Nothing is in an Objective Power , and Can be Produc'd by the Soveraign Being , and the very Production of it , when it is In Fieri , nay , the very Capacity to Be Produc'd , while it is but in Posse Fieri does Confess a God ; worse then That , for That Nothing Cannot Disbelieve .

17. There is a Fourth , Natural , and Invincible Argument of a Deity , that All these severall Beings do Certainly Operate to a Fixt , Design'd End and Purpose ; This Concludes , that , not All things , no , not Any thing , is Casual and Fortuitous , by meer Dull , and Ignorant , Frustraneous and End-less Chance ; and therefore , they are all guided by an Intelligence greater than They , which hath Created them All for their Distinct uses , and That Intelligence must needs be God .

Whence is it , Jer. 35.7 . Domus Antra fuerunt & Densi Feutices , & junctae Cortice Virgae . Ovid. Metam . l. 1. that Stones , and Wood , have This End ( which Themselves know not that they Have ) that we may not be Rechabites , but Build Houses , make Fires , Dress Meat , and Live ? Whence is it that the Sheep and Oxen , wear their own Hides , and Wool , till they have worn them fit for Our Use , and then , we wear them After , and yet they cannot tell , that they are Stewards and Providers for us ? whence is it , that we Live by Air , and yet the Air understands not that we Breath it ? or , if it did , knows not in what secret Caverns to hide all of it from our Nostrils , but that we do still in spite of its fleetness and Invisibility Haurire , & Reddere , take hold of it when we List , and bid it Go as Cato came , Ideo Tantum ut Rediret , Auson . etiam dum Loquor , Redi ? Whence is it that Men make Laws , whereby Man may Live Innocent , and safe ? not safe only Though He be Innocent , but Because He is Innocent ? or who is it , that hath taught Man so much Goodness and Protection ? why is it , the Bad Man , who knows He should keep Laws , does yet break them , but that Himself proposes an † † Omuis Homo Agit per Intellectum cujus est , ex Fiue , Operatio . End , though a wrong One , to Himself ? and whence is it , that the Good Man does not utterly Perish in the overthrow of those Laws , but that the God-Intelligence does supply the Defect of Law , and Protect Him , who Pursu'd a Right End ? Is it not hence , that the very Iniquity of some , does Confirm the Integrity of Others ? All would be Casualty , and Breach , and Destruction , were there not a God to Over-see and Over-Power All , and Nothing is Casualty , and Breach , and Destruction to the Good-Man , because there is ( and He knows there is ) such a God ; whence is it , that the Ill Man is Never at Home ? but may answer Truly , and in sober sadness , out of His own Window , as the Merry Man in Erasmus did , Colloq. Ego non sum Domi ? that He Lives and Dyes , Amaz'd , and out of Himself , now stupify'd , and Anon Terrify'd in his heart ? Fickle and unconstant in Tongue , how undaunted soever he be in haughty Brow , and Forhead of Brass ? and whence is it , that the Good Man Lives Above , nay upon his miseries , reckons upon them as the unawares Preferment Bestowd upon him by the very Malice of Man ? as the Purpos'd Medicinal Gifts , and Counsels , and Instructions of his God ? then , Dyes , and Conquers Death , Moriens , Animam abstulit Hosli . Vir. Aeneid . l. 9. as his Christ did , by † Death it self ? Dyes , with more Joy , and Comfort , and Tryumph , ( because it is much deeper than a Face-Joy , and a Comfort Wealthier than all the Indies can administer , and a Triumph over his very self and all his Frailtyes ) than those , who make him dy , and , in Dying Make him Live ? Dyes with an unmoveable serenity in his Heart and Mind and Conscience ? has the Image and Picture of That serenity , graven and imprinted in the Coutage and stedfastness of his eyes and Countenance , in the solidity and unrecantingness of his expressions ? and wishes that his very Words were written , nay printed too in a Book , nay Graven too , and that with an Iron-pen , such words these , Job 19.28 . v. 24 , 25 , 27. I know that my Redeemer liveth , whom these very Eyes of mine shall stedfastly Behold ? whence all this ? but because as another Poet of their own hath said , Est Deus in nobis , God , the Influences , and Comforts of God , are in him , and upon him , and Men may see ( if they will not , Maliciously to their own Soul , Blind the Better ey of their Soul , Reason ) in such a Life , and in such a Death , that there is an Ever-Living , a Never-Dying , an Immortall , a Providentiall God .

18. From the end for which every thing is Made , and to which every thing does Collime ; Ask the Atheist , Wherefore He is Made ? and to what End He Denyes that God , for whose Honour He was made ? If He can tell Thee neither this , nor that , believe Him in Nothing else ; and if He can tell Thee , believe a God ; For , if He deale plainly with thee , Why He denyes a God . His only , and Bosome Reason is this , that He would not have a God to Punish Him ; and such a Reason as this , does not Deny but Confess God , nor does only Confess God , but Prove Him too . Whence came this Fear of After Punishment , which stands at the elbow of every desperately-bad Attempt ? but that it was † † Non solum Innatum sed etiam Animo Insculptum , esse Deos. Cicero l. 3. de Nat. Deorum ; & Laertius in vita Zenonis . imprinted with indelible Characters into the Soul of Men ( who may sooner wash away His own Soul than wash these signatures out of it ) by that God who would be Known and Acknowledg'd ( when Protected Man Will not do it by due ) by Fear of being Out-Lawd from that Protection , and Providence , by which He Rules and governes the Whole Great World , and that Prowd little-Great World Man , who thinks Himself to be Bigger , and of more Consideration , than the Whole .

19. Which last Epithetes of Ruling Protection and Governing Providence , casts me upon a fift Argument , by which Nature Herself in the Best desires , even of the Worst of Men , does testify that there is a God Of Nature , a God Above Nature ; And that is , the Naturall Inclinations and Propenseness , and even-Beseechings of Man , to partake in the Blessings of God .

20. That there is such a Naturall inclination in Man , in the whole Species , because in every Individuum of it , will appear most dilucidly and uncontradictorily , when Any That Man is surpriz'd and beset with a Weight of Suddenness of Danger and Death , which He would escape , & out of which , He cannot Extricate Himself by all the Wit of Man , so , that He will even Faile , rather than Faile , & Mori , ne Moriatur , Mart. so that He will make Choice of one kind of Death , without any † † Hic rego , non Furor est . id . Fury , or Preposterousness , since His designe is not , simply , to avoyd Death , but Comparatively , a worse and more formidable kind of it , so that , to Him , the less painfull Death has some proportion and Analogy to Life it self , in respect of those fiercer anguishes , which He thus avoyds , and in some sense escapes Death , by Incurring it : Bring we to such a Test , that most daring Atheist , who all His Life , Deny'd God , and see , if His Practice , in that eruption and Uncounseldness be not somewhat Godly , in defiance of His Opinion ! At That Instant you shall hear Him both Confess God , and Invoke God ; Invoke God that He would not Vicem rependere , and Deny Him also , Matth. 4.5 , 6. Lege Talionis ; Walk up with Him to the Brow of a Hill ( suppose it like that Pinacle upon which the Devill set our Saviour , Himself Tempting One Person of the God-head to make Him Deny Another , by Tempting God His Father ) where all the way , He sees nothing else but Hill ; at that Instant and on that Top and Brow of the Hill , do Thou Stand , and suppose Him to Fall , to See nothing , into which He must Fall , but Pitch , and Brimstone , and Flames of Fire ; tell me now , Didst thou not hear him Cry out , with as much Acknowledgment as with horrour , God Bless me ! God Protest me ! God Deliver me ! Such a Cry , when he had not Leisure to be ill-advis'd by his deprav'd Corrupted Reason , must needs flow out of a Naturall Inclination to believe , that there is a Supreme Invisible Power , which is the Preserver of Men ; Job 7 . 2● . and to Believe such a Preserver , such a Governing and Providentiall Power , is to believe a God , in whom such a Power does Reside and Dwell ; And , that This is a True Belief , does follow out of the Convinc'd Truth of the Naturall Inclination , and the Naturality of the Cry ; for Nature herself will bear witness , that no Inclination and Desire , which proceeds meerly and Directly , firstly and Originally from Her , was ever in vain .

21. And then why does the Atheist Rashly deny him , from whom , at his Most Need , by an Innate Impulsion , he does Soberly begg Ayd ? Thou knowst , that there is a God ; and thou hearst That Denying Man , when He is Ready to Perish , cry out , God save me ; Remember then that Thy God hath said ( said , and sworn ) As I live , Rom. 14.11 . saith the Lord , Every Tongue shall Confess to God . Every Tongue , the most Blasphemous Tongue Shall do it ; when you hear such a Tongue Deny God with the same Oath , with which God hath sworn It shall Confess him ; when you hear It swear by the very Name of Him whom it Denyes to be , think , that , Matth. 21.16 . as Christ hath said , Out of the Mouth of Babes , and Sucklings , thou hast perfected Praise , so , God hath perfected Truth , out of the Mouth of them , who are but Once Born , and are not New-Born Babes , who , either , have not suckt the Sincere Milk of the Word , 1 Pet. 2.2 . or else by a Divellish Assmilation ( for , they themselves , are Satan Manifested in the Flesh , and like Spiders , turn what they feed upon into their vicious selves ) have converted That Milke into Poison : Beseech we God , that , as All things , even Persecutitions , and Miseryes of All sorts , do work together for Good , Rom. 8.28 . to them that Love God , so All things , even Atheismes and Blasphemyes of all sorts , Believed , and Done , may work together to the Magnifying of God , by all Saints , so much the more , as He is Vilify'd by a Desperate Few , of this Untoward Generation .

Thus the whole Earth does attest that God who Beares up the Pillars of it . Psal. 75.3 . And the whole Heavens do so too .

22. I must not now rest upon That Text of David , The Heavens Declare the Glory of God , Psal. 19.11 and the Firmament sheweth his handy-worke ; I must not stay to Disprove the God-Confessing , though the Christ-God Denying Socinus , in His Comment upon that Text , that the Heavens declare the Glory of God , only by a pre-supposition that God was known to be , before the Heavens were seen , for , That Text Clears it self ( and saves me the labour ) God , was not only known Before , but Made known by them , the Firmament , sayes David , sheweth his handy-work , sheweth by the very Prospect of it self that it self is the handy-worke of God ; Here , I must not stay ; but , as , to Christiaus , the right Method is , to Prove , and Confirme Any Truth in Nature , by the Greater Truth of the Word of God , so , to the Atheists , we must Prove , the very Truth of God himself in his Word , by the lesser Truth , because more evident to them in Nature ; the Good Christian , I know , will Pardon me , for his sake , Aesop . who is so Cockish as to Preser One single Grain of Corn , above that Rich Jewell , which might Purchase to him an intire harvest .

23. And yet , in This ( that I may not only dwell upon Nature , or rather , that whilst I do so , I may shew you that I have the Authority of the Ancient Fathers ( who are Patres though Patrati Patres ) and of the more Ancient , and Father to them , the Apostle S. Paul , so to do ) I shall confirme that Text , by a Reason of Theodorets , drawn out of Nature herself , and shew , by the Consent of Other Fathers , that Nature herself does much help us in the Inchoative knowledge of a God ; nay by the Practice of S. Paul himself , who does Countenance such kind of Arguments as These , by his own example .

24. First then ( perhaps in too much Civility of Complyance ; but as Austin said , he would rather speak false Latine , Ossum to Edify , than True Os , not to be understood ; Veritas in dicto . so I must rather choose to write a Naturall Theology , whereby to reclaime an Atheist , than a Disbelieved supernaturall , whereby to leave him still in that Pit , in which there is no Truth ) give me leave , as the Importunity of the Atheist Compels me , to wave both the Testimony of David , and of Theodoret too , and to strengthen the Truth of David , with the Reason of Theodoret ; When we see any stately Palace Well-built , it is Impossible for us , but to reflect presently upon the skill and Contrivance of the Architect and Master-Builder , whose Wit and Industry brought This to passe ; To him we refer all the Prayse of the Edifice ; what is there more a Palace , more Stately , better Built , than Heaven ? ( certainly , none , of the Fools Imaginary Paradises upon Earth ) and can he be lesse than God , that Raisd such a sumptuous Structure ? thou art less than Man , thou art worse than Devill that thinkst so ; Satan himselfe knew , what a Powerfull God he was , in shaking heaven , aswell as in Casting him out of it .

25. Luke 10. ●8 . But , though He fell from heaven , like Lightning , Bonum est nob is , esse Hic ; Matth. 17.4 . I am so in Love with it , that I cannot , on the sudden , let passe the discourse of Heaven , but , in a Continuation , and Inhancement of that Naturall Argument , must call upon my Reader , by occasion of those heavens above him , Psal. 2.4 . to acknowledge that God , who sitteth in the heavens , and to let his Name , Psal. 8.1 . be excellent in all the Earth , who hath set his Glory above the heavens .

26. In the Motion of them , there is Nihil Temerarium , nihil Fortuitum , nihil Varium , sayes the great Orator , L. 2. de Natura D●●rū . Nothing Rash , and unadviz'd ; nothing Casuall , and by meer Chance ; nothing altering and unstable ; but a Constancy , and Order in them All ; ( and yet , were there not This Constancy , but , That Casualty , * * Quodest ex his , vel , si omniahaec sunt , Philosophandum est ; sive nos Inexorabili lege , Fata cōstringunt ; sive , Arbiter Vniverst , Deus , Cuncta disponit ; sive Casus Res Humanas , sine Ordine , Impellit , & Jactat , Philosophia nos tue●t debet ; Haec adhortabitur , ut Deo Libenter Pareamus ; ut Fortunae Contumaciter Resistamus ; haec docebit , ut Deum sequaris , Feras Casum . Senec . ep. 16. 1 Cor. 14.33 he that was as great a Philosopher as the other an Oratour , would Infer God , and Dispute an Acquiescence in God , even from thence ) and therefore he infers That very Deity , to Regulate them , whom Our S. Paul cals , the God of Order and of Peace : If the wit of his meer Speculation , could discover and unveile so much of the Godhead to him , how much more and Better , might he ( as he did ) have known That God , by the Sense , and experience of those many Benefits , which those heavens distill hourely upon us ? Why does the Sun so Constantly , and indefatigably , Travell , but that all we , upon the Globe of the Earth ( those who dwell upon the One Face of it , and those , who upon the Other ) might have a Vicissitudinary Comfort , and Benefit of his Light ? that by It , we might See One Another , See what to doe , and how to live ? See That Sun it self , and see , through That , Psal. 19.6 . to God ? Why is nothing hid from the heat thereof , but that the heat of That Sun , might Inanimate and Quicken Us , and All other Living Creatures For us ? So much it is of that Nature of God , of which , God would have us to be , Gal. 6.9 . Not to be Weary in Well-Doing , that we may Piously Imagine , This it selfe to be One Reason , why God does not suffer the Sun , which does so much Good to us , to Run his own Proper and Naturall Course , but to be wheeld about by the Motion of another , and by another Motion Contrary to his own , lest so Beneficiall a Giant , as the Sun , might be suspected to do that Good he does , willingly , and knowingly , and thereupon , might be ador'd , as God : And yet , the Persian Excesse of Religion , ( though a Lofty and Damnable Crime ) in worshipping the Sun it self for God , out of a mistaken Gratitude for those Benefits which he receives by the Influences , but not by the donation of the Sun ( which very Benefits themselves do enough teach him that There Is a God , though they do not teach him enough , Who that God Is ) this Idolatry , in esteeming somewhat else to Be God , which Is not so , Is more excusable , and will be Lesse , though Grievously Punisht , than the Atheists defect of Reigion ( which is a sin , if not the same , to be compar'd with That against the Holy Ghost , ) in worshipping No God at all , and , out of a base † † Plutarc . in His Book De superstitione , define . Atheism to be Stupor quidam , Deos non sentientium . Stupidity , not seeing a Footstep , or Image of God in any thing , though every thing he sees , is , either , a dimme † † Creatura , est quosi De● vestiginm . Suarez . Disput. 2. sect. 2. Footstep at least , or a Brighter * * Exemplumque Dei , quisque est i● Imagine p●vo . Manil . l. 4. c. ult . Psal. 14.1 . & cur dici● insipiens , quod non est Deus ? Cur ? nisi quia stultus , & Insipiens ? Anselm . In corde , non in ore , quiae si velit Hoc verbis eloqui , stultus esse ( sicut est ) Publici Assensus Judicio arguretur ? Hilar. in Psal. 52. Image of God ; since our School-men have told us true , and our own Naturall Reason hath approv'd their doctrine , Imago Dei , in Rationalibus , in Coeteris , Vestigium ; sure Our David did not erre , when he tells us what a Foole such an Atheist is , though he be ( which , yet , is the worst , being so , of all ) but in his Heart an Atheist ; not only A Foole , but The Foole , no such Foole in the world as he ; and how can he be otherwise , who has no Light of Reason in his Soul ( for want of such a Light as this same , in the Gospel , though Virgins are called Foolish Ones ) or how can he have that Light , Mat. 25. who , by that , does not See , and Grant , an Image , a Delineation , a Reflection of the Godhead , in that very Soul of his ?

27. Let us leave the Atheist awhile , and put him off to another sheet , and let us once more return to our own , our more enlightned David , and cry out with him , Let Heaven and Earth praise the Lord ; Ps. 69.34 . let us acknowledge that they do so , by exhibiting Copious Matter of Divine Praise , to every eye that beholds them ; let us apply that of David once again , and call upon that other Heaven , our Soul within us , Ps. 103.1 . which came from thence ( Bless the Lord , O my Soul , and all that is within me bless his holy Name ) and upon that other Earth , our Flesh about us , which was made of it , that our very Soul may worship Him , and our very Body , all the outward works of our Lives , testifie , to Him , to our Selves , and to the World , that we Believe him to be ; that we Believe in him , according to his Commands upon us ; that we Magnifie him , for his Goodness to us .

28. Hitherto I have ( with Sadness enough ( but that scarce any Sadness can be enough ) that such Times as these force such a Calling as ours to Prove such a Truth as this ) evinc'd such a Fundamental Truth ( without which , there can be no Truth , as well as no Salvation ) that there Is a God , by the Testimony of Heaven , and Earth , of Man , and of all the Inferiour Creatures , and Inferiour Principles resulting from these , which , by some , who have the Shape of Men , and the Contradiction of — ( there is nothing to Compare them to , but Themselves ) are more Believ'd , and Betroth'd Truths , than that Principle of Principles , as well as Being of Beings , that there is a God .

29. I go on to Confirm this Truth by Nature , with the Countenance which those Spiritual Men , the Fathers ( who have had an Oa● in the same Boat ) and that more Spiritual Man , the Apostle St. Paul , ( whose Example is my Just Warrant ) and the general sense and purpose of the Scriptures of God ( which make Them , and Him , to be Spiritual Men ) do shew , to this kind of Argument .

30. In his He●●mer . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( saies St. Basil ) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , The whole World ( take it in its Latitude , and full Comprehension , as it is made up of Both Globes ) is a School , which does Instruct and Discipline us in the Knowledge of God ; So that , in the sense of that holy . Father , we have not done amiss , to prove a God , by the Testimony of the Wor●d , the witness-bearing of Heaven and Earth .

31. Facil ùs credas Prophetiae , Discipulus Naturae , 〈◊〉 Resur●ect . saies Tertullian ; we shall , the more easily , be induc'd to believe the Old , and New Testament , the Prophecy , and Gospel , if we have , first , been the Disciples of Nature , and study'd those Lectures which she has read to us , in this Nether Orb , the World Below ; so that , in the sense of that Pious Father , we are much Excusable , in drawing arguments through the whole Map of the Earth , to Convince a God ; though we cannot choose but be sorry , that Ortelius , who was , never , till now , fit to be quoted in Divinity , is , now , fit , all over .

32. St. Bernard saies , that he had Nullos , aliquando , Magistros , nisi Quercus , & Fagos , no other Masters , and Tutors in Divinity , for some space of time , than the Oken , and the Beechen Trees ; and yet these Dumb Masters , these Un-mov'd Tutors , who were not more Ignorant in Themselves , than an occasion of Knowingness to him ( though no Preacher were clos'd up in the Hollow of the Trees ) even these could Teach him that there is a God ; so that , in the sense of that humble Father , we have un-heretically submitted , to ask Counsel of the Meanest Creatures , and to Learn ●●e Power of God , from the very Feebleness of Frogs and Mice .

33. And though Irenaeus ( twenty years Elder than the Eldest of these ) hath said , Deus , sine Deo , non cognoscitur , that , as we cannot see the Sun , L. 4. advers. Haer. c. 14. Sicut Oculus Luce nos tantùm suâ , sed Solu Ipsum Luce solem conspicit , Idemque qui Videtur , & Visum facit . Grot. Silv. l. 1. Eucharist . but by the * Light of the Sun , so , without God , we cannot Know God : yet that may be , either Cum Favore understood , that we cannot know God at all , not Confusedly , not Remotely , by any , by all of the Creatures , unless we see the Power and Wisdome of God in the Order and Disposition of Every of them ; or else Rigidly , that we cannot Savingly know God , without the more Especial Light of his own Word and Gospel ; and then the Inference will be , that he that does not know God at all , not so much as by the Creatures , is without God in this World , ( without the Acknowledgement of him , Natura Humana , nec Rationem , nec Orationem De Diis suscipere potest , sine Diis . Iamblicus , c. 26. not without the Subsistence by him ) He , that does not know God savingly , not so much as by his Word , shall be without God , in the Other World ( without the Benefit and Mercy of God ( unless a Metaphysical Benefit , a meer Notional Mercy , to Be , though in Torments ) not without the Severity and Judgement of God ) All this it argues , but it argues not at all that God Himself Is Not , no more than we may conclude there is no Wealth in the Womb of the Sea ( as , indeed , in some sense there is not , if it be either Vse or Possession , and not a Bare Being , which does dare esse to Wealth ) because we do not know , what Jewels are bred , or what Gold has been cast away , in the Bowels of the Main .

34. To all these let me adde that Axiom of the Schools , Media Perfecta and quae-Ordinantur , that , as all the Means , which God hath ordain'd , are Compleat and Perfect , to the Production of that Effect for which God ordain'd them , so the Chain of Causes , the Scale , the Motion , the End , the Inclination of Creatures , the whole World , and every part of it , are Joyntly , and Severally , Perfect , and Sufficient Means , whereby to know a God * * Est quaedam Imperfecta Perfectio , at sciat Homo , se non esse Perfectum in hac Vita . Primasius in Col. c. 1. in Fine Imperfectly . . ( and let none suspect he stumbles at a Contradiction in the repugnancy of those two words ; for , is there not a Distinction of Aquinas , Perfectio in Viâ , & Perfectio in Patriâ ? and is not that , in Via , an Imperfection , if compar'd to that , in Patria ? ) at least that He Is , since they were never ordain'd to reach out to us , any further , and more Clear ; Distinct , and Exact Knowledge of God ; though they will not enough speak All the Praises of the Almighty , yet , even They , will enough stop the Mouth of the Atheist , and put his Lying Lips to silence , Ps. 31.18 . which speak Derogatory and Blasphemous things , Proudly and Disdainfully , against the Righteous Judge of all the Earth .

35. And , above all these , let me adde , that Paul and Barnabas us'd the like Natural Argument , to prove the Invisible God ; and , if you weigh the Circumstances , you cannot choose but Grant' , that such an Argument had great Weight and Power in it , or else you must Condemn those two Great and Greatly-Illumin'd Doctors , to have been unskilfull Divines , 2 Tim. 2.15 . and Workmen that had need to be ashamed , in that they did not Rightly Divide that very word of Truth , which the God of Truth spake in Nature her self . The Occasion which brought them to such a Proof and Conviction of an Eternal , All-seeing , and Un-seen God , was This ; When St. Paul , by a word onely , Act. 14.10 , V. 8.10 . had Recover'd the Impotent Man , who was a Creeple from his Mothers womb , and so Recover'd him , that he Leaped and Walked , the People lift up their Voyces , and said , V. 11. The Gods are come down to us in the Likeness of Men ( This * * God does some Miracles , to Shew his Omnipotency , and to Prove his Doctrine . Jo. Huart . Examen de Ingeniis , c. 2. Miracle was enough to make them Confess One God at least ; and , what is there in Nature , that is not a Miracle , but that it is Ordinary ? and yet as Ordinary as it is , is above the Self-Power of Man to produce ) Now , when they were so far prepar'd , as to believe that there Is a God , that they might not Honour Men as Gods , but Believe and Worship the True God , This was the Proof ; V. 15 He is the Living God , which made Heaven , and Earth , and the Sea , and all things that are therein , who , in Times past , suffer'd all Nations to walk in their own waies ( and we may Grievingly apply — Who , at this present Time , hath suffer'd Some Men in This Nation to walk Peculiarly in their own waies ; ( the Atheist's waies are more Peculiarly than any Mans alive , His own , and therefore I said Some Men — ) for whatever else were the Sins of Nations , whatever else were the Sects of Schismaticks , whatever else were the Societies and Combinations of Men , there * * Apud nos , Veritatis Argumentum , Aliquod Omnibùs videri , tanquam Deum esse inter alia , sic colligimus , quod Omnibus de Numine Opinio Insita est ; nec ulla Gens unquam ade● extra Leges Moresque projecta , ut non Aliquos Deos credat . Senec. Ep. 118. Nemo Barbarorum , ad Contemptum Deorum excidit unquam , neque in Dubium Vocant Illi , sintne Dii , an non sint ? & curentne Res Humanas , an non ? Aelian . l. 2. dé Var. Histor. c. 31. never was an Entire Nation , there never was a Characteris'd Sect , there never was a Profess'd Society , and Combination of Atheists ; so Ridiculous , as well as so Irrational , it has ever been , and will alwaies be , to Deny a God ) and yet , though God has Permitted some Nations , and Sects , and Societies , to Commit such Distinguishing Sins , whereby they might be Known , and some Few Atheists , different from the Guise of the whole World , to be Guilty of a Monstrous and Dis-own'd , Unconfederated and Unsociable Sin , yet , saith St. Paul , God left not Himself without Witness ( to either of them , the Several Whole Bodies , or that Small Handfull of Men ) * * Illud Pr●fecto , quod Precamur , non fieret , nec in Hunc Furorem , omnes Mortales Concensissent , alloquendo Surda Numina , & Inefficaces Deos , nisi hoc in Aperto foret , Ipsos Benefacere . Senec . de Benef . l. 4. c. 4. Deus est , cui Nomen Omne Convenit ; Vis Illum Fatum Vocare ? Non errabis ; Hic est , ex quo Suspensa sunt omnia , Causa Causarum ; Vu Illum Providentiam dicere ? Rectè dices ; Estenim , cujus Consilio huic Mundo Providetur , ut Inconcussus eat , & Actus suos explicet ; Vis Illum Naturam Votare ? Non Peccabis ; Est enim , ex quo Nata sunt Omnia , cujus Spiritu Vivimus . Id. Natural . Quaest. l. 2. c. 45. in that He did Good ; after he had first made the World by his Power , and ever since Govern'd it by his Providence , the very Being , and Orderly Being of the World , was , in St. Pauls account , a Witness-bearing to the God that Made it , and Keeps it ; He goes on , to Instance , in the most Discern'd , and Popularly-Known acts of his Providence , In giving Rain from Heaven , v. 17. every Globular Drop of which , does , in some faint manner , Resemble and Attest , that Eternal Circle , which God Himself Is ; and the Fructification , the Plenty , which follows those Drops , does Evidence and Manifest the Goodness and Bounty of that God ; That 's his second Instance , the second Link of that Chain of Providence , the second Branch of that Accumulative Argument , whereby he proves a Deity , In giving fruitfull Seasons upon Earth , every Least Grain of which ( to use his own expression elswhere , 1 Cor. 15.37 . It may chance of Wheat , or of some other Grain ) does Convince a Providential God against the Atheist , as well as a Raising God to the Christian ; and then he drives his Proof home , to the very Heart and Soul of Man , in that God does , by these , as the Effect of these , Fill our Hearts with Food and Gladness ; He had need be a Blind Man , not to see Rain ; a Tastless Man , not to Eat Bread ; that is resolv'd to be an Ungratefull Man , in being Fed , and Glad , by These , and not giving God the praise for These ; He that does not this , at least by acknowledging God to Be ( for That it self is some slender part of our Sacrifice of Thanksgiving ) takes himself to be more wise and learned , than the most wise , and most learned of all Christs Disciples ; for , here , it is not a beseeching , and you are Inexorable if you grant it not , 't is not a persuasion , and you are Unkind if you yield not , 't is not a Counsel , and you are Self-will'd if you obey not , nay , 't is not bare Doctrine neither , and you are Ignorant if you believe not , but it is Doctrine , Argu'd and prov'd , powerfully evinc'd , and even sensibly demonstrated , that there is a God , and you are maliciously stupid , wilfully Blind , if your solitary testimony runs-cross to that of all the world besides , that a God there is .

36. And did not Holy Job teach St. Paul , or rather , did not the Holy Ghost teach Both of them , that such an Argument as This , was ungain-sayable , that the Contrary to This was undisputable ? so far from being Thetical , and Dogmatical , Evident Truth , that it was not so much as Hypothetical , and Problematical , suspicious Truth ? when Holy Job proves the validity , and sufficiency of that Aggregate Universal Argument , by Proving that Universal Argument , by Induction , by Enumeration of all Particulars , not only that All the World together does Argue a God , but that every Particle , and Fraction of it , severally , does do as much ( Quaeque Probant strictim singula , Juncta Magis ) and does effectually do it , even in answer to the most Colourable Objection that ever was , against the Being of God ? The Tabernacles of the Robbers Prosper , Job . 12.6 . and they that provoke God are secure . When we name a God we Mean a Duty of Piety from Man to God ; and , to Incourage that Duty , we mean a Reward from God upon pious Man ; we declare what that duty of Piety is , to do that , which is Conscionably Right , what ever † † Vir Bonus quod Honesti se facturum putaverit , faciet , etiam si Laboriosum erit , & Damnosum . Senec. Ep. 76. Ps. 115.16 . wrong befalls us here , for doing it ; we declare When that season of Reward Is , not , alwaies here , in Our World , in that Earth , which God hath given to the Children of Men , but , ever , hereafter , in Gods world , in that Heaven , which is the Lords , and which he will give to the Children of the most high ; and yet , Ibid. 82.6 . Damnum Tu●pi Lucro Proterendo Chil● . the wrong which befalls , here , to Right and Conscionable Men , is the strongest Weapon , which the Natural Man ( I can scarce call him so , for Nature , which God made , will never be so Ungrateful , as not to Acknowledge her Maker , which , the Unnatural Man ) takes into his hand , wherewith to War against the very Being of God , and to beat down the useless , unprofitable , dis-advantagious , nay , sometimes , the dangerous , Ruinating , Capital Integrity of Man , who , not only , in Vain , Ps. 73.13 . Ps. 35.12 . Cleanses his heart , and washes his hands in Innocency , but , is evilly Rewarded too for his Good , to the spoiling of his Soul indeed , if such an Opinion as this , once enter into it .

This , the best of Heathen , the wisest of meer Natural Men , Seneca , Ep. 74. does confess to have been a great stumbling-block , whereby to shake the honesty of Man , and to overthrow the very being of God ; ex Has Deploratione nascitur , from this deplorable wretchedness , which betides the wisest and best Men , it is , that Men are so Ingrateful Estimators , and Interpreters of Divine providence , and Abrogators of Divinity it self .

37. The Adversariness to St. Paul's and Job's Argument , is set down to the height by Job , and Seneca ; let us see what Job and Seneca themselves Reply , to what themselves , out of worse Mouths than their own , Object . Job goes on , with shame and indignation , that so falsly-confident and undisturb'd an inference should be made out of so feeble a Ground , that Men should be more Insensible of a Deity , than the very Beasts , that to them he sends them for better Information , V. 7.8 . But ask now the Beasts , and they shall teach thee , speak to the Earth ( upon which those Beasts feed ) and It shall Teach Thee ; the Beasts are provided for , and will not that God , which Caters for them , sustain Men ? the Beasts , are all alike , neither better nor worse , and they feed all alike , and shall not Men , who have a difference in goodness ( amongst themselves , aswel as a difference in being from the Beasts ) have a divers Portion ? and that divers Portion distributed according to the Rules of Equity and Judgement , Mercy and Truth ? Reason it self will tell you , they shall , though not secundum hic & nunc ; any , not only Reason , but ( if you will take his word , whose Name is word and Reason , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Volatilia will tell you the same , Ask the Fowls of the Air , Mat. 6.26 . and they shall tell you ; They sow not , neither do they reap , nor gather into Barns , yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them ; from these our Saviour proves that providence more expresly , which Job only intimates ; and proves it by such a Reason , which , is Cognoscible even to Natural Men ; and that providence proves a God and a Father too , a powerful God , and a loving Father , a Heavenly God and Father . V. 8. Job goes on ; the Fishes of the Sea shall declare unto thee ; the parts , and joints , of which they are compacted and made , the Fins and Scales , with which they are arm'd , and drest , is it not a wise and an infinite power , that made them , and put them on ? Is it not , by providence , that they Live , out of that Air , which is Causa sine quâ Non , without which thou canst not Live , and within the glassy Element , under which , thou canst not choose but Dy ? and is not that wisdom , and power , and providence , the three Letters , which spell a God to thee ? and are not those Muta Animalia thy Tutours , to teach thee to read a God in the great Book of Creatures , some scatter'd leaves of which themselves are ? At length he descends , peremptorily , and Irrefragably to his Conclusion , Who knoweth not , ( who ? 't is an Universal challenge , and no Atheist will ever dare to give in an Answer ; He will rather learn one Lesson more , a sober silence , from those Dumb , and yet Teaching Counsellours , V. 9 to whom Job sends him to School ) who knoweth not , in all these that the Hand of the Lord hath wrought this ?

38. And that Conclusion of Job is as a Premise , which makes way for that other Conclusion of Seneca ; Ibid. since there is a God that made all these , since there is a God , who suffers Ill ( that , which Appears to be Ill ) to befall really good Men , Placeat Homini , quicquid Deo placuit , Let that be acceptable to Man , which Man cannot choose but see to be pleasing to God , and to be allotted to Man by God , whether the Lot be fallen to him in a fair Ground , Ps. 16.6 . or whether he hath neither part nor Lot in this matter , Acts 8.21 . in any good Ground at all ; Let it suffice , for the Child of Abraham by Faith , and the Brother of Abraham by Adoption , as being Son of the same God who was Abraham's Father , that he only Inherits that penurious condition of his Father Abraham , Luke 12.13 . that that only No-Inheritance be divided betwixt his Brother Abraham and him , in that , Acts 7.5 . God for a while , Gives no Inheritance to either of them , no not so much as to set their foot on , whilst he has some hopeful assurance , that as God was Abraham's , so he will , hereafter be his , ●en. 15.1 . exceeding great reward .

39. That other Heathen , who was more Poet , than Philosopher , and less wise , than witty , into what a Maze , Ovidius in Morte Tibulli . and Labyrinth , and Intricacy was he brought upon such a Ground as this ? Cum Rapiunt Mala Fata Bonos — That 's the quarrel he has against God , that Good Men suffer Ill things and untimely Deaths ; upon this occasion , how does he strive to Hoodwink his reason ? and yet , in his own expression elsewhere , Sic certat , tanquam qui vincere Nollet , for , that reason breaks through the transparent Veyl which he puts upon it , and , velit nolit , will be his Clue to bring him back to his right wits agen ; for , throughout , he does confessingly deny , and Grants against himself ; First , Ignoscite Fasso , He would be Pardon'd for what he says ; and , certainly , it is a fault , that needs a pardon ; truth though it cannot alwaies protect , does ever forgive it self ; and then — Sollicitor Nullos esse putare Deos ; 't is but Sollicitor , 't is not Vincor ; his Passion stirr'd , and mov'd and tempted him , but it did not quite orecome him ; and 't is but Sollicitor putare , 't is not , credere , it mov'd him scrupulously to doubt , not infallibly to believe , that there is No God ; and , at last , All this is but a piece of his Poetry , and Invention , 't was no part of his Atheism and incredility .

40. From these preparatives and foundations , with the addition of two more Concessions , one , by the ablest , and the other , by all Natural Men , First , that all Men are sinners , and Secondly that all Men desire to be happy ( for the very Nerve of Reason , why some few Men deny a God , is , because they would be happy here ; and , because that , which we truly call sin , would be a means to impede their happinesses since themselves ( notwitstanding that Comick truth , † † Non est quod nos magis Asiena judices Adulatione perire qu● Nostra . Senec . de Tranquillit . Nemo tam alteri adblanditur , quam quisque sibi ) cannot so much flatter themselves , as to believe that sin and happiness can go , Hand in Hand together , therefore they take the wise course ( the worldly , the helly-wise course ) to deny that there is any sin , upon this foundation , because there is No God ; for , say they , if there were such a thing as sin , it must be a breach of a command of God , we our selves , and † † 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . 1 John 3.9 . our God himself , they say , defines it so , Dictum , Factum , vel Concupitum contra Legem Divinam ; and , if there be no God , there is no sin ; That 's the next word in the Atheists Mouth , and that 's the very desire of his Heart , that , upon that score , he may do , fearlesly , what he list ; ( and , because , this , I know , to be his profession , I must to reclame him , suit my discourse in an Immethodicalness , proportionable to his speech and practice ) and , if the foundations be shaken , Ps. 11.3 . 139.7 . ( nay destroy'd ) if there be no God , what shall the righteous do ? whither shall they go , to his spirit ? or whither shall they fly , 1 Cor. 15.19 . to his presence ? If there be hope only in this Life , they are , indeed , of all Men most miserable ; and , if the foundations be destroy'd if there be no God , then there can be no Devil neither , and to what Hell shall the unrighteous go ? If there be Hope , only in this Life , Job 14.7 . if there be no Hope of a Tree , when it is Cut down , that it shall sprout again ( Et Homo est Arbor Inversa ; 2 King . 19.30 . in the grave He takes Root downward ; There He lyes a Mel●owing till the Resurrection , and shall then , bear fruit upward , sprout above the earth ) they are , of All Men , the most Happy , I and the most Vertuous too , Senec. Trag. Prosperum scelus Virtus vocetur ) from these preparatives , which make way for it , I shall proceed to the Scripturall Argument , in the manner I proposed .

41. That there is a God in Heaven ( eminently , and Inthron'd there , but essentially every where ) is , not only One Part of the Righteousness of Man to Confess , and Another part of His Righteousness to Worship that God , but the very sinfulness of Man does confess as much , in that , Man is , ex ore Ipsius , Confessedly sinfull ; and in that , sin is , by the Naturall and Morall knowledge of Man , a Violation of the Commandements of God .

42. That , which , long since , cost me some paines ( but that the delight I took in it , did defray the Charges of my Industry ) after their Vintage and whose Harvest of Morality , to pick up , in my severall walks after them , some Gleanings and Resemblances of Christianity , dropt from the very heathens , may perhaps administer delight to the Reader too , when he shall receive all of them which have a Pertinency to the matter in hand , Bound up in a Sheaf together ; for , believe it , as All is not Gold that glisters , and we have , at this day too many Leaden , and falsecoin'd , and even-heathenish Christians , how faire and shining an outside soever they show to the deluded world , 1 John . 5.19 . which is not only in Malitia but In Tenebris positus ( and , Then , a Gloworme can do asmuch ) I and those too , such a kind of Tenebrae as I have somewhere read of , when Men did Ingenuously Confess that they were Nimia Luce Occoecati , so , All is not Tares , which growes in a Field situate on the tother side of Christendom ; such humble Confessions as these , if they are not wheat , sure they are not Cockle Neither .

43. As , That All Men are sinners . Annal. l. 20. If That of Tacitus , Vitia erunt , Donec homines , does only acknowledge the perpetuity of Guilt , but not of the Guilt of all Men , ( and yet , even in him , Vitia seemes to have the same extent as Homines , and may perhaps not unfitly be call'd the Name of Man , as well as of Zoilus , Marr. Non vitiosus homo es , Zoile , sed vitium , if thou art homo , thou art Vitium too ) yet That of Propertius will reach Home to , and arrest the most Righteous Man , as being in arrears by sin , Unicuique Lib. 2. Eleg. 10. dedit Vitium Natura Creato ; and if That does not Impeach Every Man , as Born in sin ; ( and yet Vitium seems to have reference to Creato , and to conclude Man a sinner , as soon as He was Man ; what ? Psal. 58.3 . Serm. l. 1. sat. 3. had He read King David ? They goe astray as soon as they are Borne ) That of Horace will swathe the whole kind of Man in the Red Mantle of Sin , and that , from His very Craddle , Vitiis sine nemo Nascitur . Here is the Confession of Originall sin , even by those , who never heard of an Originall Adam ; and that without any Romish exception ; Nemo ; not so much as One Virgin , a single Mary , unattainted .

And for Actuall sin , They are as Copious in their acknowledgments , as we are in our Transgressions ; they not only tell Us , that we had a Beginning of sin from another , but that we have no end of it in our selves , Quis — Peccandi Finem posuit sibi ? Quisnam Hominum est , Juven. sat. 13. quem tu Contentum videris uno Flagitio ? Every Man is guilty of Many sins ; they speak it as plainly , as if they had learnt it from S. James , for in Many things we offend All ; and every of those Many , Ch. 3. v. 2. is a Grievous sin too ; Little in the sight of Man , but Mediocribus esse , non Dii Concessere ; — Old Rome was not so mincing in this point , as New Rome is ; He would believe no sin to be Veniall , Tull. Tuse . Quaest. l. 3. who said Omne Malum , etiam Mediocre , Magnum est .

44. And , as All are sinners , and , notwithstanding the Popes Dispensation Grievous ones , so , no sin is allowable in any , notwithstanding that Precise Opinion , that , when two Men commit the same Act , God sees , and detests Murther in One , and does neither detest nor see so much as the Act in the Other , unless with eyes which have left off to be pure , and can behold , Hab. 1.13 . but not Chide Iniquity ; Peccare , certè , licet nemini ; Tull. Par. 2. it is sin , if thou dost it , as well , as if another Man , and thou hast as little leave to offend as he ; nay though thou pretendst a very good and holy end , yet , not only S. Paul forbids Thee to doe evill that Good may Come thereof , but Seneca himself , Rom. 3.38 . would fain Indoctrinate Thee out of it , De Ira. l. 1. Nunquam Virtus vitio adjuvanda est , se contenta ; and Reason Thee out of it , Ab sit hoc à Virtute malum , ut unquam Ratio ad Vitia confugiat ; and shame thee out of it , c. 9. c. 10. Non pudet virtutes , in Clientelam vitiorum demittere ; and abhor thee out of it , Abominandum Remedii genus est , sanitatem debere morbo ; and , if none of these will do it ( what thou canst least of all indure ) Epictetus will even Foole. thee out of it ; Cap. 12. he will not suffer thee to think any Colour to be Title enough for a Contradiction , an Impossibility , that That , which is sin in the Deed , should become Not sin because of the Person , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the little great Philosopher seemes , Cap. 19. in this particular , to be a great , though conceald , Christian , whilst thy self art but a ittle one , though a Professour .

45. Nor is Man only , by Nature , acknowledged a sinner in those Open Impure and Unholy acts , which man can take cognisance of , and forbid , and punish by Law , but in those secret deeds , which no man knowes of besides the base and unseen Committer , in those Thoughts , and wishes , and desires , against which man could never Frame a Law ; for though the nine former Statutes in the Decalogue , are by some of the Heathens , made Precepts and Lawes , though in other words , and one of them in the very words of Moses , as that of Solon , Non Furaberis , and that of Diodorus Siculus in the very words of Christ 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and that Word of Severus ( when He sentenc'd any to death ) which is a Compendium of the second Table , and is the express and Comprehensive Law of Christ , Mat. 7.12 . Fac , quod vis pati ; but That Non Concupisces , is a Law Purely-divine , and yet even against That guilt , though they could not Sancire Edicta , yet they would , and did advize and warn against , with That exclamation in Lucan , Heu Quantum poenae Misero Mens Conscia Donat , Lib. 7. and with that just terrour , and Christian doctrine of a very Juvenal , that the sin is not the lesse , because there are not more eyes upon it , prima est haec ultio ( it is prima , Satyr. 13. it is not sola ) quòd se Judice nemo Nocens absolvitur ; nay , though he hath only purpos'd to sin , He must answer for That ; for He hath already sin'd in the very purpose ; ( He that looketh upon a woman to this end , Matth. 5.28 . that he may Lust , hath not only Lusted , but Adultered too ) Has patitur poenas , peccandi sola volunt as ; Nam scelus Intrase Tacitum qui Cogitat Ullum , Eacti Crimen habet . Not only Tertullian , ( that good Christian , and the lesse a sinner , for that for Confessing himself to be the more so ) would say of himself that He was Omnium notarum peccator , De poenitentia De se . that he had sin'd all these kinds of sins ; or Theodorus 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but a very Seneca too , would Paul-like , and Austin-like write his own Confessions in the most extensive latitude , Ego in profundo omnium vitiorum sum .

46. And , as all men , are by nature , sinners , originally , actually , intentionally , so , by nature , they know , God to be offended at the sin of man , and Hell to be Threatned to it .

47. So certain it was with them , that God was displeased at sin , that they could not invent so much as a Cupidinean God , but , in the same line in which He is a God , He is told to be Fierce and Angry at the sinfull lover , Aristainet . ep. 10. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . How Gracious soever they acknowledge the Eternall Power , yet , their own sin , they say forces the Bolt from out His Hand , Horat. Carm. l. 1. Od. 3. Neque per nostrum patimur scelus , Iracunda Jovem ponere Fulmina ; which though it comes a slow ( non Ocius Alti In Terras cadit Ira Jovis ) yet it comes a sure pace , Statius Theb. l. 3. and will Metam Figere , Hit the Right Mark , for it comes from Him , whom Homer calls 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and , of whom Statius sayes — Sed videt hoc , Theb. l. 5. videt Ille Deum Regnator , & Ausis , Sera quidem , manet Ira tamen — And yet , that none should Courage themselves in Mischief , because , though the Vengeance of God be Certain , yet it is Tardy , Another of them will dis-hearten Vice by the Weight of the Punishment , which makes amends to the Justice of God for the Lateness and Delay , Val. Max. l. 1. c. 1. Lento Gradu ad Vindictam sui Divina procedit Ira , Tarditatemque , Supplicii Gravitate Compensat .

48. And the Punishment too of Un-reconcil'd Sinners , even in Their Black Book , is no Less than Hell . Not onely Punish'd they must be , those who are Alive in the Flesh , and Dead in Sin ; and Punish'd they Are , those who are , Both waies , Dead — Exercentur Poenis , Virgil. Aenaeid . l. 6. Veterumque Malorum , Supplicia Expendunt , but they they are Punish'd in Hell too , so Undoubtedly , as that he is a very Bold and Saucy Sinner who thinks to purchase a Mitigation of his Torments , either with Gold , which is altogether Light in the Balance , or with Counterfeit Holiness , which is but a base Metal within , and onely Colour'd and Beam'd about , like Gold , Audax Ille quidem , Idem , in Culice . qui Mitem Cerberon unquam Credidit , aut Ulli Ditis placabile Numen . How particular and express , as well as resolv'd and peremptory , they are in this Doctrine of Hell ! like some good , staid , Primitive Christians , and Unlike the Modern , Neutral , and Lukewarm Christians ! Does Gospel say , that there are Lower Parts of the Earth ? Eph. 4.9 . Act. 2.27 . that there is a Hell , out of which none but that . Christ Return'd , who , Alone , was Free among the Dead ? Ps. 88.5 . Humanity saies both This , and That , and saies it with a Check to the Boyishness of those who will be Diffident in One Article of our Creed , Esse Aliquos Manes , Juven. Sat. 2. & Subterranea Regna , Nec Pueri credent , nisi qui nondum Aere Lavantur , Sed Tu Vera Puta ; And those such Kingdomes which are Irremeable ; Senec. in ] Morte Claudii . Avernus est , unde Redire negant Quenquam ; does Infallible Scripture say again , Luk. 16.26 is a great Gulf betwixt Hell and Heaven , and no Passage from One to Other ? Honest Heathenism will say again , Noctes , atque Dies , Virgil. Aenaeid . l. 6. patet Atri Janua Ditis , Sed Revocar● Gradum , Superasque Evadere ad Auras ; Hic Labor , hoc Opus est ; And that a Labour , like the washing of a Moor , which is Proverbially call'd the Labour in Vain ; a Work , like that of Sisiphus , to Role a Stone up Hill , that it may Role down it self . Does Christ say , Broad is the Way that Leadeth unto Destruction , Mat. 7.13 , 14. and strait is the Gate that Leadeth unto Life , and Few there are that find it ? Ibid. Virgil saies so too — Facilis Descensus Averni — and — Pauci Laeta Arva tenemus . Mat. 8.12 . Ps. 49.19 . Is the Un-Christian Christian's Hell a Place of Utter Darkness ? in which he shall Never see Light ? the Un-Christian Heathen's Hell is so too ; Scelerata Jacet Sedes in Nocte profundâ Abdita , Tibull . l. 1. El. 3. quam Circum Flumina Nigra sonant , Tum Niger in Portâ Serpens — and bury'd and hid from its very self in an Everlasting Darkness , which hath no Communion at all with any Light ; Queis nunquam Candente Dies Apparuit Ortu , Id. lib. 4. Paneg. ad Messal . Sive supra Terras Phoebus , sive Curreret Infra . Does Moses tell us , Gen. 3. that the Devil tempts Man to Sin ? Does Peter expound Moses ? 1 Pet. 5.8 . and the Saint declare to us the Devil's Design in his Temptation , that by yielding to his Suggestions , we may Obey our Selves into his Jaws , and he Devour us ? that we our selves may be that Dust , which Moses tels us , Gen. 3.14 . In Piman . Dial. 1. the Serpent shall eat ? and does not Trismegistus tell us the same ? Daemon , ad Patranda Scelera Armat Hominem , ut Turpioris Culpae Reus , Aeriori Supplicio sit Obnoxius .

49. And , since , by their own Confessions , every Sin does Attest a God , whom That Sin offends , and a Devil , whom God imploys to Chastise that Sin , and a Hell , in which to Chastise it , * * Dux Erebi Populos poscebat Crimina Vita , Nil Hominum miserans ' , Iratusque omnibus Vmbris . Impartially , and without Respect of Persons , Have they not , therefore , rightly charg'd upon us the Practice of those Attoning Virtues , contrary to those Provoking Sins ? One of them , in that One Verse , which Scaliger commends to be the very best of all Virgil's Poetry , Discite Justitiam Moniti , Aeneid . l. 6. & non temnere Dives ? And , not onely Justice , and Virtue , in Genere , but , Specifically , 1 Cor. 13.13 . S. Pauls three Theological Virtues , Faith , Hope , and Charity ? and do they not plentifully tell us , that we have all these , and all the other Good we do , from God ? Cicero , l. 1. De Naturâ Deorum . Si inest in Hominum genere , Mens , Fides , Virtus , Concordia , unde haec in Terram , nisi à Superis , defluere potuerunt ? They , in whom these Graces shine , like the Moon at Full , have attain'd to the Perfection of Virtue ; and yet when they have done that , a very Pindarus will tell them who they are to thank for it — Ad summitatem Virtutis pervenerunt , cum Dei autem Favore ; and , not onely these Choycest Graces , of Gold , and of Silver , 2 Tim. 2.20 . but every more Feeble Virtue , of Wood also , and of Earth , are Fashion'd in us by a Hand from above , by him whom Isaiah cals our Potter ; 64.8 . None at all of them come from our selves , either by Nature , Arist. Eth. l. 2. c. 1. Nulla fit Virtus Morum in nobis , Natura , or by Art , Non fit ab Arte , Maximus Tyrius , Serm. 22. quòd Evadimus Bon● , but All of them by the Gift and Grace of God , Sed potius Beneficio Jovis , Aristainet . Ep. 13. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 .

50. And yet , these Virtues , how eagerly soever pursu'd , and in some intense degree practis'd , since , by the Frailty of Man , they cannot be entirely practis'd , or , if they were so , could merit nothing at that God's hands , who gave the Virtues , therefore he who is the bright Morning-Star , and the very Sun , amongst the Heathens , when he had done all he could , would expect his Reward onely by Grace and Mercy ; and , had he done more than he could , he would yet have done One thing more , ( that which our God and Christ commands us to do , Luk. 17.10 When we have done all those things which are Commanded us ) confest , that he was an Unprofitable servant ; one of these , He confesses , throughout a whole Book of His , for the Title of it is De Clementiâ , and , almost , in the very entry of that Book , Lib. 1. c. 1. Non est Quisquam cui tam valdè innocentia sua placeat , ut non stare in Conspectu Clementiam paratam humanis erroribus gaudeat ; and the other , in His B. De Ira , Lib. 2. c. 17. Quis est islequi se profitetur Omnibus Legibus innocentem , ut hoc ita sit , quàm Angusta Innocentia est , ad Legem Bonum esse ? to which purpose is it excellently said by Ausonius ( who , though he be wholly Christian in one Copy , is extremely Heathen in † † Vbi Castissimum Maronem lasciviis inquinat non suis . Another , and very little Christian in any else , so that I may well suspect that one Copy to be Illegitimate , thrust into his Book by the Charity of another man , and not thrust out of his Head ( as the Poet's * * Minerva . E●yss . 2● Goddesse out of Jupiters ) by his own Devotion ) Deliquisse Nihil , nunquam laudem esse putavi .

51. And as they acknowledg God , Jam. 1.17 . Plato in Eutryphone c. 47. to be wrathfull against sin , and from whom every Good gift does come , ( Nihil nobis est Bonum , quin Dii Praebeant , the same Dii , whom Homer Stilo Jacobino calls 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , & whom Jamblicus does singularize into Largitor Bonorum Omnium ) so , do they not , in some manner too acknowledge the Trinity of Persons ? the Father is in every Mouth of them , Aristot . l. de Mundo . Deus , sine dubio , servator omnium est , & Parens eorum quae in Mundo Conficiuntur ; and not only the Father of all in this World Below , but of all , in That Above too , the Father which is , Himself , in Heaven , and the Father , of all them which are There with Him , Virgil. Ae●aid . l. 10. O Pater , O Hominum , Divumque aeterna Potestas ! The Son , is upon the Tongue of severall of them , Aenaid . l. 1. Nate , meae Vires , mea magna Potentia solus ; the Godhead of That Son , Ad te Confugio & supplex Tua Numina posco ; His Birth of a Virgin , Eclog. 4. Jam Redit & Virgo , redeunt Saturnia Regna ; Aenaeid . 10. His Cruell Death , and the Salvation of Man by That , Tua haec , Genitor per Vulnera Servor , Morte Tuâ Vivo ; nay , almost , the very Sacrament of His Body and Blood too , which is the Seal to Our Faith , and to His Promises ; Miraris Hominem ad Deos Ire ? dos any wonder that Man goes up to God ? Seneca will tell you a more wonderfull thing , Deus ad hominem venit , Ep. 73. God Himself , ( by His Birth ) comes down to Man ; imò , quod propius est , In hominem venit ; nay , neerer yet , God ( by His Sacrament ) comes Into Man ; Nulla sine Deo , Mens Bona est , the Heathen will say , that no man has a Good Soul within him , unless he has a Good God within that Soul ; and the Christian will say , the Soul of the Best Man , is then at Best , when his Christ is , Thus , within it ; and the Holy Ghost is within the lips of One of them , of Him , whom a Learned , and right estimatour of All Antiquity , an Authour of our own , Donne sermon . p. 362. calls the Morall Mans Holy Ghost , Seneca , what else did he mean , when he describes very much of the Gracious and Peculiar office of the Holy Ghost ? when he earnestly desires to know by what Name he might call such an inspiring and sanctifying power , which makes us to forbear That Ill , which we would do , and to do that Good , which we would not ? Quid est hoc , quod nos , Aliò Tendentes Aliò Trahit , & , eò , unde Recedere cupimus , Impellit ? quod colluctatur cum Animo nostro , nec permittit nob is semel velle ? which suffers us not to will an evill thing , Once & only-Once , Once & unalterably ? Fluctuamus inter varia Consilia , the Spirit of God draws One way , and the spirit of Man , another ; Mans spirit is willing to obey God , but mans flesh is weak and will obey it self ; Nihil liberè volumus , we have not so much as a Will , ad Bonum , of our selves , but we have it by an operation and influx from God , it is he that worketh in us , both Motum ad Actum and Actum too , Phil. 2.13 . both to Will and to Do , Nihil Absolutè , Our will is dependent upon Gods , Nihil semper , our will here is fluid , and Alterable , and never fixt and unchangeable , till our state be so in Heaven ; Stultitia , inquit , est , cui nihil constat ; if you charge Him , and such His Various and Mutable Condition , Job 4.18 . as God hath Charg'd Hit very Angels with folly , His next words do Darkly and secretly implore the Wisedom of the Holy Ghost to Unfool Him , All of it , in epist. 5● . Sed quomodo , aut quando , nos ab illa revellemus ? oportet Manum Aliquis porrigat , Aliquis Educat ; And who is this Aliquis , but the B. Spirit of God ? Thus , severally , both in Human persons Confessing , and in Divine Persons Confest , they acknowledge a Holy Trinity ; and do they not so together too ? what els doth Virgil mean in that Mysterious Clause — Numero Deus Impare gaudet ? Eclog. 8 : what else do the Platonicks understand in their Tria Principia , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and Iniellectus , and Mundi Anima ? by their Bonum , do they not Antedate a Comment upon that of our Saviour , There is none Good , Matth. 19.17 . but One , i. e. God ? by their Intellectus , do they not Understand that Saviour Himself ? and are not they the Greeks to whom S. Paul sayes , 1 Cor. 1.24 . Col. 2.3 . Christ is the Wisedom of God ? in whom are hid all the Treasures of Wisedom ? or , is This part of the Gospell hid , quite out , to them that are lost in Obscure Philophy ? by their Anima Mundi , what else could be the thought of their own Souls , Gen. 1.2 . but that Spirit which Mov'd upon the Waters , and hatcht the whole Creation into Form and Shape , Light and Life ?

52. All this Heap of Heathen Authorities , and the Correspondency betwixt them and Gospell , agrees , both with the Title , in the head of the Book , and with the Design in the Heart of the Authour , in that every , even the most Remov'd quotation does , at least Inclusively , argue a God ; Sin , does do it , and Hell , does do it ; Sin proves a God , without the Rebelion against whom sin is not sin ; Hell proves a God , without the wrath of whom , Hell would not be Hell , but only a Philosophicall Fable , or a State-Device ; and by the complyance betwixt Scripture and Thefe , I would Recall my Atheist , as S. Paul , His Infidell , to the searching of Scriptures , and the worshipping a God by them , since their own Books have some Allusion to the most Abstruse articles of these ; He that sees Men walking like trees , may , in time , see so clearly , as to let Trees be Trees , and Men Men.

53. Nay , not only Sin at large , be it what sin it will but the largest sin , which is every sin in semine , This it self , of Denying God , does prove Him to be , and the adverse Practices of this sinfull Denying Man , do , in a secret & clancular way , acknowledge Him , though with an unwilling Fear ; and that , because This very Man would have some Hopes in the very God whom he denyes ; such a principle there is in Him , even in Him also , Psal. 65.5 . that God is the hope of all the ends of the earth , although That Principle be much weakned , and That Hope , as to Him , Impaird by his overswaging sin .

54. The very Denying of God does Confess Him , not only in that , Man has not the power to do this , so much as in a Thought , to say this , so much as in his Heart , but that Himself had his Heart , and that Heart the Power and Faculty of Thinking from his God , though himself hath Poisond that Innocent heart , which God gave him , and corrupted that advantagious power and faculty , which God gave unto his heart , not only in these ( for , though this be in it self true ( so true , that no Parcelsus could ever make a Man , and put a live Heart into him , nor any other , but that Infinite Power , which put that heart into a man could put that thought into a heart ) yet to this affectedly wilfull doubter , all this is but Petitio Petitii ) but in that very Reason , ( which himself cannot deny to himself , though he disguise it to his opinions enemy , and his own friend ) why he denyes a God , † † Hierocles c. 10. because he would not have a God to sentence , and execute , and torture him ; why he denyes a God , faintly , but wilily , to this only end , that he may corrupt others , to speak the same wicked Blasphemy ; that , of them , he may learn Reasons , and Arguments , to strengthen his very weakness , and to confirm his doubt ; to turn his Question — Is there Knowledge in the most high ? Psal. 73.11 . ( and yet , if he be the Most High , there cannot choose but be Knowledge in Him ) into a Doctrinall Negation , that there is no such thing as the Most High , much less any knowledge at all in him who himself is Not. Hast thou ever met with this Would-be Atheist ? hath he to Thy Face , deny'd that there is a God ? and made thy face blush , for want of that Red in His , which is Virtutis Color , in whom there is not so much as Color Virtutis ? Quintil. Search Him , weigh Him , Dive into Him ; This is all he means , he would be taught by thee to deny a God , if not , by thy Impossible Reason , either by thy concurrent Testimony , or , at least , by thy unrebuking Patience ; something he has got , if thou abhor him not , if not a new string to his Bow , some waxe at least to make his old string the sleeker , and he will deny God † † Turpe est contra Ardenter perversa asserentes nos pro veritate Frigidiores inveniri . Rusticus Diaconus L. adversus Acephalos . Excede Pietas si modo in nostra Domounquam fuisti . Atreus apud Senes . in Thyest . Act. 2. the more , the less Zealously thou dost Confess him , and the lesse stoutly defend him ; If instruction will do no Good upon him , loath him , despise him let him alone , Let him be alone , and his own solitariness and retirements , and Tremblings , will be his effectuall Instructers , that a God , and an Angry God there is . For ,

55. Marke the practices of such a gainsaying man ; as you can never find any Tincture or Relish of Holyness in all his Words , Actions , and Conversation , who ( like the Fixt honest man , but in wrong Constancy ) is so resolved a Devill , that he will not so much as Hypocrise for Virtues sake , whose very mask he loathes , and will not take it up , though it lyes before him in every street ; so , This you will alwayes find in him that he loves man , only to undoe him , and the Society of man , that That man may Insensibly , be as himself , unsociated , unacquainted with God ; he loves the company of Man , only that he may be his companion in sin , and the sin which he commonly makes choice of , is the sin of Riot , and Excess , and Drunkenness ; and why all this , but that when he is in Company he may not have leisure for serious Afflicting Thoughts , and when he is Alone , he may not be himself , but fall asleep , charm'd with those Inconsidering Fumes , and Wake Another man , till he comes to another Man , and returns to his stupifying Circulation of excess and drowziness .

56. As this sottish sin is a Gradual and Imperfect , and preparatory Atheism , in those other sinners , who strive , by this perverse Medicine , to Consopite , and stifle all the checks and remorses of busy Conscience concerning their particular heinous sins ; so it is a more peculiar Antidote ( and yet never any venom more dangerous then such a formenting remedy , Angelus Politian . Quis nescit plus esse in Pharmaco , quam in Morbo Periculi ? ) to cast into a dead sleep the Schooling conscience of him , who , without this Opinue cannot but have his eyes open , to see , and condemn his deserv'd but ungrounded Atheism .

57. Now consider this , all ye who , Ps. 50.22 : in any your several sins , forget God ; Consider that every sin , even in the most upright person , is a partial , but loath'd Atheism , and every lov'd sin , is a lov'd Atheism too ; Consider , that one Devil tempts you to Chambering and wantonness , to revelling in Beer and Ale and Wine , that these are another Devil , a Trinity of Devils to make you renounce God , Mat. 3.9 . and fall down and worship them ; These are in some the consequents , and followers , in others , the signs and fore-runners of Bestial , of Diabolical Atheism .

58. The abundance of those Houses , that trade in this , that sell Iniquity by the Quart , are at least a suspicion and scandal to any Parish , and that quarterd iniquity is much more , not only a sin and unholiness ( if I speak not too Favourably , for — Ebriet as quid non designat ? it is never a single sin but a Volume , and Catalogue , and combination of unholiness ) and the Factor for that sin of sins , that unholiness , that will not suffer any thing at all to be holy , no not God himself .

59. And yet , as it is oft times the Receiver , that makes the Theef , so , it is not they , that sell , but we , who buy , that make the Alchouses ; our frequenting them ( I speak in the name of all England , by imitation of all Holland , who , though they break the word into two pieces , and leave out the house , yet they powr in the Ale ) is the License that sets them up ; I excuse not the poor , any where , who mis-think they have need to do ill , and then , make that need , their Justice and Magistrate , not to punish but to allow the ill ; but I am much more offended at the wealthier , amongst us , and every where , ( in that their , and my God is offended ) whose countenance does fill those Vessels , and whose unsatiableness does empty them , till we are ready to change conditions with the poor sinners , and , if not inrich them ( for this is such a moth-eaten gain , in quo vix gaudet Tertius Haeres ) yet impoverish our selves , and when that is done , learn of the other poor ones , and begin where they did , to do ill because we have need to do so ; It cannot be helpt , we must do it , and do it without Control , till our proud sin be above the power of Church or State , Pulpit or Bench , to Preach or to Vote it down .

60. This is the practice of him that is a beginner , and this will be the practice of him that is a Proficient in Atheism , to this end , that he may be so contrary to those , who fear where no fear is , Ps. 53.5 . as to do nothing else , but sensually rejoyce , where there is nothing else but fear ; Prov. 19.13 . they courage themselves in mischief , they rejoyce to do evill , and delight in the frowardness of their ways .

61. But , then , as I have nam'd a giddy sickness in this floating British ile , and told you the danger of that sickness , that it is in some a temptation , and , in others , a tempting the temptation to deny the Lord that bought them , 2 Pet. 2.1 . and therefore , reprehended the love and delight in that sickness , which makes the Disease a death too , 't is as true of the Ale-pot , as of any else , Mors in Olla , 2 Kings 3.30 . ( for , what St. Paul says of pleasure , and delicacy at large , is more emphatically true of this Swinish pleasure , this Miry † † Cauis immundus vel Amica Lutosis . Hor. Serm. l. 3. Ep. 2. delicacy , this Dog-like Vomiting , He and She , that liveth in this frail Glassy pleasure , 1 Tim. 5.6 in this Intoxicating , Murthering Delicacy , is dead whilst he , and she seemed to live , Dead and Bury'd too — Somno Vinoque Sepulti , Virg. their Bodies are not humane Bodies , but Graves , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and their Souls are not at all reasonable ( unless passively ) but rottennesses within them ) so , I would not name the sickness , but that Beasts might recover into Men , uncharm'd from the transforming draughts of Circe ; nor tell the danger , but that Men might escape it , as a Lord have mercy is set upon some Doors , to forbid Man an entrance there ; nor reprove their love of it , but that they might learn to loath the sin as much as the Surfet , this Disgraceful , and Bewitching , this un-manly and un-Godly sin , as the Spartans taught their Children Sobriety , by shewing them the follies of their drunken servants .

62. Consider therefore , that , as St. Paul says , your Bodies are , in reference to a Corporal Resurrection , from the Grave , so your Souls also are in reference to a Spiritual Resurrection from sin , like a Grain of Corn ; that Grain of Corn has seed in it self , and may live and multiply , live , Ps. 65.13 . and live happily , Laugh and sing too , and even shout for joy , if it be sow'd in the Earth , in the Manur'd Earth , Plow'd and Harrow'd ; but , if you Sow it in the Water , it does not only not multiply , but it perishes , it does not only not laugh and sing , but it weeps , and dyes , and comes to nothing , to nothing but that , which is most like to nothing , to putrefaction ; every Soul in this Nation has seed in it self , and may live , if it will indure , and be the better for , such Harrowings , and Plowings as these , which dig about it , and cut up the Weeds , and open the soars of it , and tell that swimming Soul , that it does not yet live , though it be in a capacity to live , that it may live , and thrive , if it will it self be the good ground to receive this word of exhortation with joy , Mat. 13.23 . and to let it take root , that it be not washt away at the next rainy meeting , to receive it into an honest and good heart , and to keep it there , and let it never more be washt away ; for the watry , the melting soul , the liquid , the fluid Soul , will as the water it self , take no Impression , no not from the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ ; the very word of God will not fructify there ; 't is true , without moderate drinking , life it self will not indure , as the earth it self will not bring forth , Job . 2.23 . Ps. 65.11 . Prov. 3.20 unless God give it the former rain moderately , which falls down in drops ; only this way , will the Clouds drop fatness , when themselves drop down like Dew , but a Deluge , an Inundation of either , will ruin both ; when our Saviour Christ was mercifully minded to forgive a sinful Woman , John 8.6 . 't was the dry Earth he wrote upon ; he quickly found the tractableness of that , he stooped down , V. 8. and wrote on the GROUND agen , but he never grac'd the unstable waters , ( which David hath branded with that comparison , that they reel to and fro , Ps. 107.20 and stagger like a drunken Man ) with one word from one of his Fingers ; and in the whole Gospel , we read but of one Man that had the Dropsy , when he was before our Saviour , as the Object of his compassionate cure , he does not presently heal him , but Questions first , and disputes the Case , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is it possible , or , if it be possible , Luke 14.3 Is it lawful to do it .

63. Fear , I told you , sends the Atheist to the Sign-Priest ; Ps. 10.4 . He goes not thither because God is not in all his thoughts , but that God may not be in any of them ; the fear of the superstitious Heathen , that scrupled at every thing , Fecit Deos , This it was , that made Gods for him ; if he feared a Disease , he would worship even that , that that might not afflict him ; rather then have no God at all , the Ambulatory Gout should be one God , and the Sedentary stone another , and the sudden fear , the mind-startles , the Soul-Agues of prophane Atheist , do themselves prove the true God to be ; How can such a desperate irreligious Man fear , but at the apprehensions of an eternal , and implacable , and irresistible power of him , who though he is a Galilaean , is a Conquerour too , Vicisti Galilac . Julian . whom his Irreligion does Offend , and Desperateness Provoke , and Imbecillity Arm ? and how can such a Desperately Irreligious Man , such a Vaunting Worm , Apprehend a God at any time , but that he cannot tell how to tear the Impression of that Deity out of his Soul , which will be acknowledg'd by the very Heart of the most Resolv'd Gainsayer ? He may wash , as long as he will , in Abana and Pharphar , 2 King . 5.12 . Rivers of Damascus ( for the Rivers of Israel , the Waters of Jordan , are not for his turn ) and sooner wash his Soul out of his Body , than such a Sculpture as that , out of his Soul .

64. That he does fear so , and that because of his Sin , because of this gigantine , and mountainous Sin of his , which involves within it , and is made up of all other and lesser Sins ( as , when you break into its several pieces those Giants scaling Fabrick . you may say , This is Pelion , and that Ossa , and then , break one of these , you may discover a World of little Hillocks ) that he is afraid of that God , in the Night , and Alone ( a Tumult , and Throng , being the Scene of his Mirth , and solitude of another Tumult and Throng of Disquietness within himself ) whom he defies in the Day , and in the Face of the whole World , of the Sun and of Men , I stand not in need of the Testimony of Minutius Felix , Per Quietem , Deos Agnoscimus , quos Impiè , per Diem Negamus ; I require not the witness-bearing of that Man , who , to avenge the Cause of his God , hath try'd him in the Dark , with a hollow and terrifying Voyce , till he hath Confest that very Un-known Man , to be his Un-known God ; I ask him not to satisfie Me , but I leave him to decide this Question within his own Soul , to answer himself , when he is alone , and , in the Emblem of his Future Hell , wrapt about with a Thick * * Naturalis Tenebrarum metus , in quas addactura Mors creditur , sed cum persuaseris Ista Fabulas esse , subit Altus Metus ; aequè enim Timent , ne apud Inferos sint , quam an Nusquam . Senec. Ep. 72. Darkness ; Let him then hear the Roef crack , like the Gnashing of the Teeth there ; let him see the Flakes of Lightning ready to scorch out his Eyes , and to Anticipate to him the Blindness there ; Let him hear the Winds , and the Rain , the Hail , and the Thunder roar , like the Howling and Weeping , Storm and Tempest , Fire and Brimstone there ; Let him then ask himself , Is there not , now , a God , which Builds up , Job 38.35 . and Puls down ? Is it not a God , that sends Lightnings , and makes them Go ? Canst thou do this ? and make them say unto thee , Here we are ? nay , Canst thou Un-do this ? and make them say unto thee , Here we will be no more ? Is it not a God , that Bringeth the Winds out of his Treasuries ? Ps. 135.7 . or canst thou , when they are ready to whirl thee away , send them back thither ? Hath the Rain a Father ? and is not God he ? or who hath Begotten the Drops of the Dew besides the Lord ? Job 38.28 . The Rain is the Dutifull Child of God ; he hath commanded it , and it does assault thee ; Canst thou command it back , that it should leave off to storm thy Room ? to shatter thy Windows ? to shake and Astonish thy very Soul ? Is it any Less than the Lord God , can say , And ye , O great Hail-stones , Exek. 13 . 1● . shall fall ? Or , art thou more Lofty , and God-denying , than Pharaoh was , Exod. 9.28 . who intreated Moses and Aaron to intreat the Lord , that there might be no more mighty Hail ? * * Credidimus Jovem Regnare . Hor. — Coelo Tonante — Will not the rattling Thunder that tears the Skyes , rip open thy Breast , and tear this Confession out of it , as it did out of thy Fellow-Heathens , that there is a God which reigns in Heaven ? and art thou not afraid of these Tokens of the Lord , when he thus visiteth the Earth ? Ps. 65.8 , 9. Tell all , or any of these , that there is No God ; tell them , if thou dare , that they are not sent upon God's Errand to thee , to make thee Confess it is God that sent them ; nay , tell thy self , if thou dare , so much as in thy most recluse and undiscoverable thought , that these Insensible Ministers of God do not powerfully , and beyond the resisted efficacy of his own Verbal Ordinance , preach the Divinity it self unto thee ; Hold out , now , at this Battery , if thou canst ; and , if thou canst not , be faithfull to thy own Soul , and inform thy next gain-saying self , how much thou wast , now , even now , taught the Fear of the Lord ? how little thou didst dare to deny God now , lest his last Executioner , the Devil himself , should immediatly appear , and prove him to thee by an Argument as everlasting as the Active and Passive Torment of the Devil himself , as un-deniable , as it is , now , wretchedly un-deniable , that thou didst , before , deny God , in Tongue , and in Hand , in Profane Voyce , and in Godless Life .

66. Dost thou not , now , begin to feel that Principle which thou hadst hitherto inslav'd , to stir and fetch about , to breath and gasp for Life , that there Is a God ? Ps. 145.9 . Joh. 1.3 . a God that is Good to all ? a God that made all things ? and a God that hateth nothing which he hath made ? Dost thou not , now , confess him ? and confess him to have been good to thee , in sparing such an Enemy so long , that he might reconcile thee ? to have been good to thee , whom he might justly hate , in that thou hadst un-made thy self from all that , which God had made thee ? in that thou wert a Rebel , instead of a Creature ; and a Foe , instead of a Child ; and a Bastard , instead of a Son ? Is not he , now , all the Desire and Hope thou hast , who , but a little before , was Nothing at all ? As soon as thou beginn'st to know him , though thou tremblest at thy former Denial , and with Peter , Mat. 26.75 weep'st bitterly , * * Esto , ego Flagitiosus sum , saltem mecum age paenitentiam . Hieron . Lib. 2. Ep. 3. Agens Paenitentians with him , with whom thou hadst been Flagitiosus , dost thou not admire the inexpressibleness of his Mercy ? thou hast derided him , in his Minister ; thou hast mockt him in his other Servants , and in his own Service ; thou hast vilify'd him , in forbearing his House ; and vilify'd him more , in despising him , in setting light by him in his very House , as if thou thy self wert all the God that wert present there ; and what greater Indignity can be offer'd to the Divine Majestie ? what Sin can be imagin'd more than this ? could'st thou imagine it , thou would'st surely act it too ; and yet , how hath God contriv'd it , ( and what but a God could contrive this ? ) that there should yet be probational hopes of Mercy to such a Hellish Sinner ? and that Mercy it self should be Argument and Conviction for it self ? Past Mercy , for Future Mercy ? To bring thee down upon the knees of thy Soul , to humble thee at his Footstool , and to make thy universal , absolute , entire submission and prostration , acceptable in his sight , and comfortable in thy own , at the same instant , when he sets before thy Eyes so much horrour of Iniquity , that thy Eyes loath to see it , and the very Order , in which they are set , does confound thee the more ; He sets before thy Eyes too , so much Miracle of Mercy , that thy Eyes are dazled with it , that , notwithstanding all that horrour of Sin , he hath hitherto Repriev'd thee ; Confess , and adore , and reverence him now , with Person , and Life , and Livelyhood , with Soul , and Body , and Estate , and will he not do more , and more spiritual good , for Confessing , and Adoring , and Reverencing — Thee , who hath already done so much good , in so marvelous a forbearance , to thee that denyd'st , and scorn'dst , and revil'dst thy God ? thou hadst begun to neglect him , and he conniv'd at that ; thou wentst on , to despise him , and he still held his peace ; thou wert perfect in sin , and didst even abjure him , and then he held out his Bow in the Skye , but there was no Arrow in it , nay his very Bow was a Testimony of his Love — Ponam Arcum was the Word of a God at Peace with Man ; Gen. 9.13 . do but begin to serve , and love , and fear him , and see if some good Gabriel does not tell thee , that at the Beginning of thy Conversion , Dan. 9.23 . and Supplication , the Commandment went forth , and that he is sent to shew thee that thou art Greatly Beloved , to Encourage thy Better Beginning , to Reward thy Wiser Progress , and to Crown thy Holier Perfection .

66. Let me here confess and deplore the sins , the their sins of Priest and People throughout this Nation , in imitation of That Daniel's Piety , to whom This Message was sent , whiles he was confessing his sin , V. 20 and the sin of his People Israel . Let me pursue and magnifie the Mercy of God , notwithstanding our unrelented perversness , and multiply'd provocations , Day by Day ; and , O , let that Mercy be , what God designs it should be , an Invitatory Means to recall us from our Obstinacy and Customariness in sin ; & let who will call this Extravagancy and Digression , it matters not , I am sure his ( for he confesses himself soar , and guilty , in that he is so unwilling to be toucht ) and mine , and all our digressions , and Extravagancies , compell me to it .

67. What sins are there , that are not our sins ? and yet for all that , what Mercies are there to the Nations round about us , which we do not partake of ? are not we onely a Sodom , and an Egypt here , whil'st there is somewhat More , though not Enough , of Goshen and Israel , upon our Right and Left Hand ? and yet , have we not still the Light of Goshen , though thrust under a Bushell , as if we , either were , or , if we would , might be , the very Israel of God ? What though we are not profest Atheists ? are we not practical Atheists neither ? do we not all of us do as they do ? Drink a Health to the Devil ( though we do not Complement him so much as to say we do it ) when in over-much and useless favour , to the Health of Another , and Another Man , we * * In Potâ est nulla Salute Salus . Ovid. Nulla , neu Stomachi , neu Mentu . drink away our own Health , both of House and Guest , Tabernacle and Inmate , Body and Soul ? where is there more Surfetting and Drunkenness ? a Man need not cross the Seas , and hazard his Life that way , to become a Bad Good-fellow , he may be Pleasantly-Mad at home , the Canaries , the Whites and Reds will cross the Seas for his sake , and , without the Expence of a Voyage , drown him upon the Shore ; And is not this , to deny that God , which is All Spirit , whil'st we make our own Flesh , and the noysomest part of it ( that which is it self One Draught-house , and fils Another ) our Belly our God ? Phil. 3.19 . Where is there more Swearing ? He is not Gentleman enough , who , though he Low'rs upon his Tenants , and Charge below him , those under his Roof , and under his Command , does not Low'r upwards too , and against Heaven it self , and , this very way , challenged Obeisance from men , in that he is to Great , as not to have a very God above him ; and does not his Retinue begin to be Rude with God , and to count it a piece of Civility and Service , to swear a Little , because he , that payes them wages , does Much , to whom yet they yield a Prerogative in some great Oath , and will no more dare to meddle with that , than with the Meat upon his Trencher ? and is not this to Deny God ? do we not , when we take his Name in Vain , make himself also to be a Vain , a No-God ? Wh●re is there less of Marriage , and more of Uncleanness ? and is not this , to Deny God , whil'st God himself , when he would declare his Detestation of this sin , cals the Forsaking of God by this Name ? He does so , in the Mouth of David , 78.27 . They go a Whoring from thee ; he does so in his own Mouth too , Hos. 4.12 . My People ask Counsel at their Stocks — for — the Spirit of Whoredome hath caused them to erre , and they have gone a Whoring from ●●nder their God ; Where is there more Covetousness ? how many , at this day , sit under Vines , not of their own , and under Figtrees , of other Men , whil'st the Owners of them sit sub Dio , and rest their Cold Heads upon Jacob's Pillows of stone ? and does not the Covetous Man Deny God by Distrusting his Providence ? does he not worship another , and not the true God ? St. Paul saies , he does , when he tels him he is an Idolater ; Col. 3.5 . and the True God himself tels him , who it is he Does worship , and who it is he Can Not worship ; 't is his own Mammon which he Loves and Holds to , and therefore He cannot Love , but * * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Epictet . c. 18. Hate , he cannot Hold to , but Despise his Dis-own'd God ; Let him not Deceive himself , ( for , his Undeceiving God he cannot Deceive , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Plato , in Fine 2. Polit. ) to think Christ will be God in the Breast , when Silver is God in the Bag ? was it so with Judas think ye ? it was not , it cannot be , Ye cannot serve God and Mammon . Mat. 6.24 . Where is there more Un-blushing Theft , when one Takes , and will not humble himself to Borrow ? Another Borrows , and will not honest himself to Pay ? unless it be with a Text of our Saviours , and a Gloss of his own — Lend , Luk. 6.35 . Hoping for Nothing again ? when a third would take pains , and pay , and is himself more put by from Emolumental Labour , than another preferr'd to it ? when one Parent would with-hold his Child , and cannot , and another Parent breeds up the Child to it , makes it the Child's Trade , and Occupation , and Apprenticeship , and the Parents Livelyhood , and Meat , and Income , to Steal ? when the Trades-man sels his Ware at an Over-price , and his Soul , and his God , at an Under ? when some of the People will sooner take away two Coats , than give one ? Luk. 3.11 . when some of the Publicans will rather exact more than is Appointed them , V. 13. than Mitigate the Taxes ? when some of the Souldiers will be readier to do Violence , than to be Content with their Wages ? V. 14. when some of the Divines will be more Vehement to Preach away Tithes from their Brethren-Divines , than to Preach Salvation , and Baptism , and Eucharist , to their Flock ? Some of all sorts do Steal , either with an Oppressing Tongue , or with an Envious Eye , with a Ravening Hand , or a Devouring Heart , and some of all sorts , do give , either an Alms , or a Pity ; and though these do , in their Bounty , worship their God ( for , Right Charity is a Service of his ; 't was known so to be in Warmer Daies — Knowing , Q. Elizabeths Injunct . 25. that to Relieve the Poor , is a True Worshipping of God — Alms , and Devorion of the People — their very Alms were part of their Devotion , and with such Sacrifices , Heb. 13.16 God is well pleased ) yet , do not those Others , by their several kinds of Theft , Deny God ? this Sin is in the Head of those , against all which God himself in this manner complains — Will ye steal ? — and walk after other Gods , Jer. 7. v. 9 , 10 , 11. whom ye know not ? and yet come and stand before me , in this House , which is called by my Name ? Is the House , which is called by my Name , become a Den of Robbers in your Eves ? Where is there more of Blood-shed , when some Fields in London , after Night has spread her Curtains over them , cannot be walkt through , safe and dry , notwithstanding the Law dwels at the next Door to them ? and the High-waies to it are sprinkled Redder with Blood , than with Sand ? and is not this to Deny God , whose very Image they cannot endure to see alive ?

68. These Things are so ; and though so they are , what Blessings are we to seek for , besides the Blessings of Holiness and Obedience ? of Peace and Love ? we are Blessed in our Basket and in our Store ( though my self have so Little Store , that I have scarce a Basket to put it in , and am almost in the Condition of those , whom our Saviour sent abroad , Mat. 10.10 V. 9. Eph. 4.25 . Without Scrip , as well as without Gold , and Silver , and Brass , yet , in that we are Members One of Another , I put my self into the Number , because I see others , of whom my self , in a Spiritual Alliance , am part , to be Rich , and Full , though they reign as Kings without me ) as Blessed , as if we had done all that to which Performances these Blessings are promisd , Deut. 28.1 . Hearkned diligently to the voyce of the Lord , to Observe and Do All His Commandements ; And , Therefore are we thus Blessed Temporally , that , by these we might be wrought upon , to hearken to the voice of the Lord our God in All things , and by that , be blessed Eternally .

69. But , if any of those severall sinners ( all of whom I ●●rive to reclaim as well as that Atheist , who himself is all of them ) who shall read how heinous and Atheistick their sins are , would forsake them , because of — I cannot say more then — the Ungodliness of them , and yet fear they can not forsake them , God will not forgive them , because they are so estranged from God , by them ; not to tell any such , that Niniveh ( as sinfull as the most sinfull of those , who will stoop to read this ) did repent at the first voice of Jonah , I shall conclude this ( which by this time , is digression enough ) with setting before them the Great Mercies of God against the sim of Paul , and Gods recovering him out of those sins , into which he was plung'd all over ; but the ears of him , which , by hearing Christs voice , taught the whole man to worship Him . Act. 9.1 . — When Saul was yet Breathing out threatnings & slaughtters against the Disciples of the Lord ,

We have amongst us , too many of those evill qualities which S. Paul feard to be amongst his Corinth : 2.12 , 20. Debates , Envyings , Wraths , Strifes , Backbitings , Whispers , Swellings , Tumults , Slaughter , — but , God be thanked , None of these are intended against the Disciples of the Lord , at least not Quatenus Ipsum , As they are the Disciples of the Lord , not Therefore and because of that very Reason , but rather , because , Though they are so , they are either suspected not to be so , or , if they are suspicion-proofe , for some Temporal & Collateral reason , which , either the Religion of That Man does not allow , or else the Man of That Religion does Thwart ; this , though it be an Atheism , is not a direct and an Irrecoverable one ; for , sure it is a much easier task , to persuade This Man to be content with His Estate , and to serve God with that little He hath , to persuad ●hat Man to lay dow the vain The ●hts of Honour , and to esteem the True Worship of His God , to be the Best , Greatest , and most Durable Honour , then to assail , and Unwind Him , who strikes the First Blow against God Himself , and wounds Him , not as Ignorant Saul did , through the sides of His Saints , but through the very substance of Himself ; And yet , let me tell every Threatning soul amongst us , that , whether They whom He Threatens , Are , or are Not Disciples of Christ , Himself , who does thus Debate , and Envy , who is thus Wrathfull , and Strisefull , who does thus Backbite and Whisper , who is thus swelling and tumultuous , during these pestilent and outragious Humours , Matth. 11.29 . Is. 9.6 . 2 Cor. 12.11 . 1 John 4.16 . is no Disciple at all of the Meek Jesus , the lowly in Heart Jesus , the Prince of Peace Jesus , the God of Love Jesus , and the God Jesus , who is love it self ; — When Saul desired Letters — ( Authority and Commission from the Heathen and Unchristian states ) that if he found Any — ( He had made them to hide themselves for fear of his further persecutions , that it was difficult even for Him , who was perniciously zealous in the Cruell Inquest , and for all those Promoters he would imploy in the service of the Unbaptized State , to Find them out ) — of this Way ( professing Christ and his unacceptable Truth ) — Whether they were Men or Women — ( He would neither show Mercy to his Fellow Men , nor compassion to that weaker Sexe , which is unable to Bear , to that Tender Sex , which is apt to Compassionate ) — He might bring them bound — ( they must be brought , for he would so Binde them , that they could not Come ) — to Hierusalem , Verse 2. — However we persecute One Another , the most of us do it but in a private Malice ; we seek not to Unchristian , unbaptize the State ( and , O! may none of us ever seek to do it ! ) by ingaging the Power of That , to be as malicious as our selves ; we do but Threaten , and ( what ever in past yeares we have done ) we Wound not Men , we do but slander , we Binde nor women ; and yet , do we These ? and am I not too Courtly to say we do — But these ? And yet , in the very Act and Fury of doing All These , in the very care and Industry ( Toiling himself , that he might be Toilsome to Others ) when he Journey'd to execute All These , Verse 3 yet , for all this , and the presentness and impetuousness of All this , does Christ Call Saul , and Convert Saul , Blind him , and Cast him down , From ver. 4. to ver. 31. Recover him , and Lift him up , make him Confess Christ , and preach Christ , and protect him for doing This against the hate of Men , who laid wait for him , because he did This.

O Lord , our God , we are as great Objects of Thy wonderfull Mercy , as Saul was , Pardon us , Inlighten us , Strengthen us , that we who have liv'd the Life of Saul against Thee , may live and dy , the life and death of Paul for thee , to the honour of that Name of Thine which we have hitherto caus'd to be evill spoken of among all the People .

70. As there is sin in every Man , and that sin is a disobedience to the Commands of God in His Jus Naturale as well as in His Jus Positivum , so that the very waywardness of Man , does Prove that God who is the Law-giver ; Jam. 4.12 . As there is in Man Power to Discriminate , and Distinguish , sinfull , and evill , and unjust , from Holy , and Good , and Righteous , so that this Innate Faculty of separating the One from the Other , of Discerning betwixt Light and Darkness , betwixt Foul and Upright , by reason of which Horace does highly complement Him , and from the very Foundation and first † † Aristotle in Ethic. says , Man cannot be Prais'd for any thing but vertue , because strength , and beauty , &c. Naturall perfections , are not , as This , in his own power ; and he has no Power to this , but by his discerning faculty . Principle of Praise , of whom He sayes — Qui Turpi secernis Honestum , Is , and is us'd by some for an Argument of the Deity ; As This sin , which Man is Guilty of , and which Man Knows Himself to be Guilty of , does hinder Him from That great and Last happyness , which he naturally desires , and which he Naturally Desires of God , so it is God only , which can give to Man that Final , that uninterrupted , that eternal happyness ; which happyness , as Man cannot Understand , as well as not Injoy , without the gift of God , so , because the Scriptures do Teach both these , both what that Blessedness Is , so far forth as the shallowness of the Prosoundest Man is able to Conceive and how Man may attain to this Throughout-unconceivable Blessedness , and nothing else , but Scripture does teach both these . Let this it self be one Argument whereby to prove to the Hitherto doubting man that God Himself Is , not only in Himself , but is too the Authour of those very Scriptures .

71. That * * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Aristot . Ethic. l. 1. c. 1. happyness , the greatest , the chiefest , beyond which there is nothing more , not only to be possest , but to be Imagin'd ( for , the greatest , the chiefest happyness is much More than so ) is the Desire of All those , who have so much of Man , as to be capable of a Desire , is Confest by All ; Aske the very Atheist , who Denys God , if He would not This ? and , how much soever He Robs God , not only of his honour , his Bene esse , but of his Esse too , He will not be so ungratefull to the Calls and yearnings of his own Appetite , to say that this is not the Desire of his Heart and Soul , to be as Happy as the Nature of Man is Capable to be ; And then take Advantage of This Partiall , and interested , and self-Concession , and ask Him , if He be not willing , for that very Happyness sake , to grant such a God , who may Grant Him This.

72. But then , though happyness be the Desire of all , even meere Naturall Men , yet , Varro , in Philosophia , apud August . de Ci. Dei l. 19. c. 1. since those Naturall Men are so Divided amongst themselves , that they know not , by what Qualities to Describe it , or by what Name to call it ( who , amongst the two hundred threescore and eight severall Opinions Concerning it , and Names of it , have not hit upon the Right ) and are so far from Defining it ( and indeed , it is One part of the Christian Mans Happiness that He cannot define it , unless , as many Philosophers do the soul of man , Negatively , not only because it is More than He can Define , but because he knows it so to be ) that they cannot so much as give you the right 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of it ; They define it , only Identically , the ignorant result of All , the Ablest of them say Concerning it , is but This , that † † Praemium , Finemque virtutis , optimum , Divinumque quoddam , atque Beatum esse constat . Arist. Ethic. l. 1. c. 9. Happyness is Happyness — Nothing els , is True , and certain , from them , and therefore such a very Truth , and certainty as This , thus Limited , and Identifi'd , is a part of their ignorance ; since amongst the Wise ones of them , One calls that Fortune , which is always Assistant to Good Counsells , happyness ; Fortuna Consiliorum Bonorum Adjutrix , Felicitas . Cicero does so ; and though He does well , to make Counsells , and Deliberations , and the Goodness of them , to be One Part of Happyness , yet he does Ill , to account of these , as if they were The Happyness of Happynesses , and not the After-Reward of These ( even of that earthly Happynesse it self ) to be It ; and He does worse , ( to do , as the Poet reprehends the unwiser men to do — Te Facimus , Fortuna , deam ) to make Fortune the Goddess , Juven. which succeeds Good Counsells , and Discreet Deliberations ; what has such a Fickle thing as she , and Her Updown wheel , to do with the Certitude and Stability of these ? She , that has much less of Pow'r , and Jurisdiction , and soveraignty , than the stars ? and the * * Sapiens Dominabitur Astris . Wise man ( such as Cicero was , till he Bow'd the knee to Fortune ) who , in some sense is well said to Govern them , should govern her much more ; or else , Tully himself ; as Politique a Statist as he was , as Governing a Head-piece as he had , if That Fortune which is wont to Favour † † Fortuna Favet Fatuis . Fools , more than Wise Men , if that Deaf Fortune , whom the most Passionate of his Orations could not so much Inflect and perswade , as the Attentive Multitude , does but look awry & Frown , leaves off to be happy , and a Prosperous Catiline , all whose Counsells are evill , and Deliberations Treasonable , will have as much claim to Happiness as a Defeated Tully , notwithstanding the Sobriety of His Counsells , and Loyalty of His Deliberations , since they do ex aequo divide his definition betwixt them , in that the one Counsells , well , and Fortune Assists the other . Since Another calls That man † † Bonus qui Rotâ Torquetur , & Malis conflictatur , Felix . Happy , who Indures the wrack and wheel , and unyieldingly Conflicts with a World of Miseries ; — Seneca does so ; And he does , in Part , Well , to Call him Happy , whom Adversity and wretchedness does not make Lesse Good ; and in Part , Amiss , for , who will be Incourag'd to be Faithfull and Perseverant in that Goodness whose only Happyness is , to be Miserably-Good ? Quis Virtutem amplectitur Ipsam , Praemia si tollas ? if you take away the Future Reward , who will Court a Penurious Vertue ? nay , if , insted of the Reward , you give Him Sisiphus's stone , and Ixtons wheel , who will Court an Ingratefull , an Undoing , a Plaguing Vertue ? Since Another cals Pleasure happiness ; Epicurus did so ; and Xerxes † † Xerxes , Rex Persarum , Nova Voluptatis Repertori praemium Constituit . Nihil aliud putans esse vitam nisi vescendi & Potandi Licentiam , Firmicus de err . part . Relig. did so ; and the first did , in part , Well , if you Apply to That Word . His sober and Inward sence , if you do , as Seneca would have you do , Propiùs Introspicere , and Confine it to a Mentall Gust ; if you suffer not the Curiosity of the Palate , and the Insatiableness of the † † Machometus credidit Beatudinem consistere , in cibo , potu , & delectationibus corporatibus . Joannes Galensis Anglus . l. de Orig. Mach. c. 5. Belly to be the Seat , and Determinatour of that Pleasure , and thereby , make not the Word , which was more Innocent ; and Refin'd , and subtle , in his purpose , obnoxious to the Misconstruction of him , who wisht that he had a Cranes Neck , that he might be a great while a Feeling and Tasting , the Delicacy , and sapidness of His Old wines , and Sybaritique Feasts ; for certainly , Xerxes the Persian King , did much mis-understand Epicurus , and the Choiceness , and Intimacy of His Delectation , when he constituted a Reward to him , who should so much vex and trouble himself , even with pleasure , as to take paines to Invent a New one ; And yet when you have purg'd , and still'd and Fin'd this delight from all its drossiness , Is This Delight it self the Happyness ? what then will become of that Good Man who has this Tryal put upon his Goodness , to have the Present joy and contentment withheld , and separated from it ? must he then , leave off to be Good ? & seek out happyness in Another , more Rosy , and less Thorny Road ? Since a fourth defines † † Regnum res est inter Deos Hominesque pulcherrima . Happyness to Consist in honour , and power , soveraignty , and principability ; Livy does so ; But then is none happy without that † † Omnis saec●li , Honor , Diabolo est negotium . Hilarii , can . 3. in Matt. honour , which is the Traffique and Merchandize of the Devill ? and is it in the power of that Satan , who offer'd the Kingdoms of this world , and all the Gloryes of them , to that Christ , whose they alwayes were , though without a Contract , and unbargain'd for , to make a Blessed Man ? Is none happy , unless he be a King ? None indeed , no not one ; but then He must be Rex sui , Himself , and His Passions ( and , amongst the rost , this it self , by which he desires to Reign ) all the People over whom he Reigns ; Is any Other Rule , the only Heaven ? and the way to that ( Per Fas , per Nefas ) the only way to Happyness ? Few indeed there are that find this strait Gate , Matth. 7.14 . that walk in this Narrow way ; nor was it the Well-taught Judgment , but the ungovern'd Ambition of Caesar , who said , he would rather be the First at a siege , than the second at Rome ; it savours , sure , of more Naturall and Rational , aswell as Christian and Gospell Divinity , to desire to be the Least in the Kingdom of Heaven , Matth. 11.11 . rather than the greatest in any Kingdom upon earth ; if it be so , that it must be , aut Caesar , aut Nullus , how Many of the Nones will there be ? if it be so , that it must be - . Only a Prince is happy , into how close a Room is Felicity Pent ? how does it Thwart , and Contradict , imprison , and even inslave its own self , in that it is become thus un-diffusive , and incommunicable ? and is , Therefore , neither good , nor happy ? for , what is Good is Sui Diffusivum , the more Good , the further it reaches , as the Bright and Apparent Sun , is a greater blessing , than when That Sun weares a cloud upon his Face , and goes to Bed in darkness , Hid from our eyes ; and what is Happy , is so far from being like a Crown , that it is , Impatiens Non-Consortis , the less happy , Lucan . Erasm . in Mor. Encom . the less others are happy with it ; Nulla boni viri ( and none , but the Good Man , is the Blessed Man ) Jucunda Possessio sine socio . Since therefore a fift makes Wisdom to be This happyness , and the Wise Man This King ; † † Sapiens , uno Minor est Jove , Dives , Liber , Honoratus , pulcher , Rex denique Regum Horace . does so ; and he does well in doing so , had he Rightly known what the True Wisedom is ; but , by reason of This Errour , He makes That , which he calls happyness , to be Nothing at all , because the Wisest of meere Natururall men , Hoc tantum scio me nihil scire . has so much of Socrates in him , to know , and understand , and Confess , † This is All his wisdom to Arrogate to himself None of this ; he has much of Wisedom , but he is Wise enough to apprehend , that there is much more of Wisedom which he cannot comprehend , and therefore , he will not indure to be denominated Wise † † Omnis denominatie sumiturà Majori . from the lesser part ; he knows much , but , that much is little to what he knows not ; He Rules himself well , by that Talent , and Portion of Wisedom which he has , but he does More Mis-Rule himself for want of More of that Wisedom ; Since a sixt does define Happyness to Consist in Operation , in Well-doing . Aristotle , in One place , does so ; in the Contentment , and satisfaction , and Delight , which follows that Operation , that Well-doing ; Aristotle , in another place , does so ; But , since happyness , cannot be without a Rest from Labours , for , a Toilsom happiness who can away with ? since that delight does not alwayes follow Well-doing here , or , if it does , since That is not the Supreme happiness ; From the uncertainty in all These , the wisest of Naturall men , what Happiness is ; from the certainty in all these , and in all mankind besides , that happiness is , and is to be desir'd , Let the Natural Man , upon this very ground , search the Scriptures to find that happiness .

73. Happiness is , in very deed , the desire of all ; and yet , it cannot behad upon this earth , if it could , a King , who has the most command of this Earth , is most like to have had it ; And yet , that such a one , a very King , who was a meer natural Man , could not have it here , but in Heaven , nor there neither , but in his † † Summum Bonum Animorum est , Deo Frui . Trismegist . Pimand . Dial. 1. God and the God of Heaven ; for , story has told us , that , when Egyptian Priests told any of their Egyptian Kings , his God would have him leave his Kingdom , and come to him , he presently , and chearfully , Kill'd himself , as he thought , up to Happiness , and God and Heaven .

74. Since all the writing of Heathens will not help us to it , though severally they agree in telling us , that there is such a thing , and yet , severally contradict each other in what that things is , let me go on , as I long since promis'd , to the honour of God , and his Scriptures , to propose the Scriptures of God , by a Natural reason , even to him , who is , yet , but a Natural Man , out of which he may truly learn , what that happiness is , and how he may reach up to , and be involved in that true happiness .

75. Nemo Malus , Felix . Juven. Certainly , it is not for nothing , that Man knows , his Sin , if unremedy'd , will unhappy ; it is , sure , to a good end this ; and more , certainly , Man does not desire a vain and impossible thing , when he would be happy ; for , † Nature has given an appetite to nothing , Sat. 4. Natura nihil Frustra . but the God of nature has provided something to fill up that appetite ; Let me therefore propose to a modest scrutiny , and sober examination , such inquiries as these .

76. Is it not of necessity , of the very essence of God , that the same God , who is a just God , should be a merciful God too ? Is it not exceeding probable , Psal. 5.21 . that , as the Justice of God does set our sins in order before our eyes , and , thereby , Naturally make us to fear that punishment , which belongs , and is due , to the disorderliness of our sin , so the mercy of God would set in order before our eyes too , some infallible method of reclaiming us from that sin , and Indow us with a holiness contrary to that sin , and instate us in a happiness contrary to the punishment of that sin ? What would better prescribe this holiness , and hold forth this happiness , than the written Law of our teaching God , and the written promises of our gracious God ? since , if there were no directing Law , we could not learn to be holy , if there were no incouraging Promises , we could not claim to be happy , and , if neither of them were written , by the corruption of man , and the deceiveableness of Tradition , they might both of them be chang'd , and interpos'd , and expurg'd , till they agree with the humour and wilfulness , and exchequer of man , who , insted of the establish'd universal Religion of God , might obtrude upon us the mutable Doctrines of a Sect and partee .

If it be probable , that such a Law be written ( and , upon so indubitate a ground , as to have the choicest attribute of God , that , which God most loves , and man most loves , his very mercy , to attest the Probability of it ) that such a Law is written , and we find it not in all the volumes , the most Apophthegmatical discourses of the wisest , the most learned , and most devout of Heathens , whose Books are as dark to any such purpose , as the Ink they wrote with , or the Black Ball we Print with ; and if there be such a Book of Books ( not only in that , That one Book is made up of several Books , but in that , All the Books in the world together are not comparable to that one-several , that one-every Book ) whose design it is , to instruct us in such a Piety , and to Crown us with such a Reward , Is it not highly worth the while to turn over that Book ? that we may be sincerely and solidly Religious by it , and truly and eternally blessed by the Author of it ? and what Book has such contents in it ? can do all this ? besides that , which we call the Scripture ?

77. Bring hither , into a comparison , I say not all the choicest writings , of all those , who were the holiest , and hope-fullest of Men , in a Natural Religion ( for such a low comparison would be a scandal to this Holy word ; and , indeed , any , though less unmannerly , and more approaching comparison , would be so too ; but , the Nature of this present discourse do's make it somewhat tolerable , if not require it ) but bring hither the Extractions of all their holinesses , and hopes , amass into one Treatise , only the Excellencies and Quintessence of all , that all have said , as to an integrity , Here , and a Heaven hereafter , and see , if they are not , all , those halt , and blind , and maim'd Religions , which only this Jesus , whom we Preach , è suggesto , and è Praelo , can heal ! and that , as he made the world , with a word only , with this very word of God , which we call upon you , to search , and to ask Counsel of ! See , how the Gospel of Jesus Christ is , throughout , clean and sanctify'd ! 1 Tim. 5.23 . how , though it allows Wine for the Stomack sake , yet it charges a sobriety , even in Wine too ! Prov. 23.31 . Look not thou upon the Wine , when it is red — lest it make thee look as red as it when it giveth its colour in the Cup — lest it make thee give thine in thy Face , — when it moveth it self aright — lest it and make thee move wrong , and untowardly , and reelingly , thy Legs carry thee whither thou wouldst not ; John 21.18 . and it tells you what a mocker it is , and that he that is deceived thereby is not wise , Prov. 20.1 . no not Seneca's self , though he says it sparingly , and with an Aliquando — Bibendum est ad ebrietatem usque — no Aliquando at all here , unless such a time , which is neither Day , nor Night , nor a dubious mixture , and instantaneous compound of both ; find out such a time , and sin thou mayst , Gospel it self , and the God of it , will not be angry ; but , till then , ( i. e. for ever ) cease from sin ; See , how there is nothing , here ( as in all other the most pious writings , which are not founded upon this ) to be read and heard , cum veniâ & favore ! not only a Cato may , without a blush , but a Saint in Heaven dos , with an unspotted reverence , look upon these mysteries ! how there is much of it consonant to right reason ! for otherwise , man could not apprehend it much of it ( for , if we stay there ; Possibly Man might have compil'd it ) above the quickest , most exact reason , of the sharpest most piercing Man ! and yet ( for otherwise , it were not God neither , that made it ) nothing at all contrarient to reason ! What other Book is there , can tell us , how God without a violation of his Justice against the sins of Man , can , yet , mercifully save sinful , because penitent , Man ? No way , was ever yet heard of , besides this way , which could rationally deliver Man from the one Thraldom and captivity of his sin , and the other Thraldom and Captivity of Hell , into which his sin would hurl him ; No way , but this , can lead him into that happiness , of which , his sin ought to defraud him ; other Books can tell you , that there is a Styx and a Charon , and a Rhadamanth ; that there are Virgines Furiae , which are uncapable to be vitiated and corrupted with any Bribes ; and they tell you true ; and they charge you to believe that they tell you true , — Tu vera Puta ; but , no Book , besides this , ( unless it borrows its Narrative Traditionally from this , and makes it somewhat the worse , because the less plain , for wearing ) can , by an infiniteness of the mercy of God , and an assent of the reason of man , 1 Pet. 5.8 . Rom. 5.5 . tell you , of one roaring Lion ready to devour you , and , of another Lion , that of the tribe of Judah , which can challenge you ( you who resist not , ( for , though the Debt be paid , if a wilful Man , that is in Love with bonds , reject and tear the acquittance , He must pay it agen , to the utmost Farthing ) you , who take hold by the hand of Faith , of what he hath done for you ) as his lawful purchase ; which can , and will , deliver you from the Jaws of that Lion , and make him roar agen , because the prey has escapt from betwixt his teeth ; which can rescue you from the Conveiance of that Charon , and the judgement of that Rhadamanth , and the torture of that Styx , and preserve you from the loss of your blood , by the inestimable price of his incorruptible own ; O , that all those Heathen - ( far abroad , Ps. 2.8 . in the uttermost parts of the earth , and at home , and amongst us too of this Natron , which calls upon his Name , and is call'd by it - which God hath given to this JESUS ( who is the Authour , and subject of the Book ) - for his inheritance ( which he was Born to , and had not at all been Born in this world , but for that inheritance sake ) - for his possession ( which he hath bought with the voluntary laying down of that Life , John 10.18 . and powerful taking it agen , to which he was Born from the womb , and Re-Born , from the Grave ) O , that all those Heathens ( the profest ones , beyond Christendom , and the secret ones , Acts 17.11 . in the Bowels of it ) would do as the Bereans did ( who are honoured with the stile of Noble for doing it ) Diligently and Daily search the Scriptures ( the Evangelical Scriptures ) whether these things are so !

77. And I may be excus'd , even amongst such People as we are , to Honour and Defend the Authority of holy Scriptures , even by such an Argument as this , because of the more than Exact , and Supereminent Holiness of them , L. de Veritate Rel. Christ . in that , not onely the Learned and Indefatigable Grotius hath us'd the like Argument against the Heathens , but the Consciencious Balduin too hath done the same , Casus Conscientiae . whereby to Confirm the Faith , and Settle the Consciences , even of Christians themselves , who might , Possibly , Scruple at the Authority of holy Writ .

78. Excuse me therefore , my Brethren of the Christian Confession , and give me leave to go on , since such a Method as this , as it may be Instrumental to the Begetting of Faith in him , who , as yet , dis-believes that Book to be the Work , as well as the Gift of God , so it cannot choose but re-mind you , and cherish , and encourage that Faith which you already have , and stir up , and awaken that Love , and Honour , and Reverence , both to God , and the Word of God , which your Hearts bear to Both , when you consider , that by the Stile and Method , the Manner , and Matter of it , it can be no less than God , that spoke and made it .

79. Nay , hath not God himself given way to such a manner of Arguing as this , when ( as , Christ , the Son , abridges the Gospel into two Commandments , so God , his Father , Mat. 22.40 . Contracts the Law , into a Command , and a Promise , upon Obedience to it , and a Threat , upon Rebelling against it , Isa. 1.18 . and makes his Entrance upon it with such a Preface — Come now , and let us reason together — and as an Inference out of the whole — For the Mouth of the Lord hath spoken it . Which intimates to us , V. 20. that , as we must Believe , because God hath said it , so , we may Argue , and Reason , that God hath said it , because , what is Deliver'd there , is above the Power and Capacity of any Creature . I shall for a little while Respite the Promises & Threats of Scripture , which is Isaiah's Argument , that Scripture is the Word of God , because , in right order , I ought to begin with the beginning , and to consider , first , the Stile and Method of God , from the very first Word , and so on , throughout his Book .

80. The Stile and Method in which the Word of God begins , does continue to the end ; it speaks , as from One having Authority , Mat. 7.29 . and not as the Humane Scribes , and Writers , whose occasional sudden Voyce , and Considerate , Purposing Pen too , are subject to Errour ; In the Doctrines of Man , the Method is , to Prove , unless it be onely in Re Factâ , that he , who speaks , brings his Eyes with him , as the Witnesses which saw such a thing done ; In all else , it is his Reason which sways us , and works upon our Belief , and not his Name ; But in holy Scriptures the Case is alter'd ; Moses , in the beginning of them , does onely say , that , In the Beginning , Gen. 1.1 . God created the Heavens and the Earth : He does not Prove God , nor , that Great Work of God , the Creation ; and , in this , the Authority of Moses , nay , of All Mankind , nay , of the very First of them All , is altogether Invalid , and Un-concluding ; and , that one Exception , of being an Eye-witness , is , in this case , wholly taken off : For , though the Invisible things of God are clearly seen by the Creation of the World , though Every man may know , Rom. 1.20 . by Every thing he sees , that there is a God that made it , and there was a time when it was made ; yet Moses was no Eye-witness of the making of the World , for himself was made long after , and himself tels us so ; neither could he receive , by the Testimony of Man , in what Order the World was made , because Man was the last thing that was made in the World ; not onely Scripture tels us , he was the last , but Reason it self tels us , he could not be the first , his Vbi must have been made before himself could be plac'd in it . He that wrote that Book , and the whole Pentateuch , does every where discover a great measure of Wisdome in himself , and therefore could not possibly be guilty of so much gross and absurd Folly , to think his own Testimony Valid , when , out of himself there are Irrefragable Reasons against the Validity of his single Testimony , or the Joynt Concurrency of the whole Rational Creation ; and , therefore too , it cannot be , but that he would have the Eternal Creatour , qui nec Fallere potest , nec Falli , to be understood the sole Author , and himself onely to have been as the Pen in the Hand of God , whil'st God himself was the Ready Writer . Psal. 45.1 . In Man , Reason is the Authority , but , in God , Authority is the Reason ; and therefore Man proves , and God onely saies ; nay , let me say , that this it self is the most powerfull proof that can be either urg'd , or imagin'd , that God hath said it ; t●e very Method , incommunicable , and un-applicable to Creature does signifie , that it is that God which spake these words , who hath acquainted us , that this is his peculiar Stile , Psal. 82.6 . Dixi — I have said that ye are Gods , Deputed Gods by me , to stand in my Room , to Distribute my Justice , to Execute my Vengeance , 1 Tim. 6.15 . Psal. 97.9 . who my self am the King of Kings , and the Lord of Lords , Exalted far above all Gods , so that we may , not onely Pardon , as Hyperbolical , but Approve , as Literally true , that Vehement Expression of Raimundus de Sabunde , Dum Minùs Probat , Magìs Probat ; In Naturali Theologia . God does prove all he saies , the more , in that he does not Prove at all , but Say , because , did he Prove , it would administer Doubt , that the Words were Mans , who , though perhaps he be in Many Things , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , is , in Nothing , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; but , to Say , by way of Authority — Non Vox Hominem sonat , This is , indeed , Act 12.22 . not the Voyce of Man , but of God ; and , since so it is , he that would have a Richer Pawn , a firmer Obligation , than the Bare Word of God ( and yet I do not well to call it his Bare Word , for , his — Dixit , & Factum est , Psal. 33.9 . go together , what he saies , is never Bare , but alwaies apparel'd with Performance ) I know not what to compare him to , but to our Covetous Purchasers , who think their Lease Imperfect , and their Bargain lost , if they have it not For Ever , and , for One Day at least , more than for ever , For Ever and a Day ; Thus the Stile and Method proves God to be the Author of them .

The Manner , and Matter does so too .

The Manner does so , in another manner of Stile and Method .

It finds fault in the whole Creation , Gal. 2.17 . though it makes not Fault in any part of it ; It is Objurgatory , and Rebuking , to those on Earth , and to those in Heaven too ; and what Creature Amongst Us will be so Bold , to Stile and Manner it so Loftily , and Majestically , and All-Knowingly ? it tels us , not onely that All Men are Sinners , Jam. 3.2 . but it uses the Hands of those very Sinfull Men , to self-acknowledge their particular most grievous and hainous Sins , and makes those Men hold up their Hands at the Bar of Heaven , and not onely cry Guilty , in the Mass , as Heathens do , but thus , and thus , thus and thus hainously and specifically Guilty ; and what Creature will be so Injurious to his own Fame , to leave his Shame , and Scandal , and Dis-repute , upon Record ? not onely , as he is one of Mankind , but too , as he is this Individual Man ? A Seneca , In Vita Beatâ , c. 18. In Alto omn. though he cryes out — In Profundo Omnium Vitiorum sum , would never cry out against his own Covetousness , though he did against the Avarice of other Men ; in his own Behalf he is more sparing , and saies , Sapiens ( for himself did Opine himself to be that Wise Man ) non optat Divitias , sed Mavult , and he leaves others to tell us more Loudly , not onely of Senecae Praedivitis Hortos , Martial . but of his - Amor Sceleratus Habendi ; and , not onely this , Job 4.18 . but God in Scripture Charges his Angels too with Folly ; and Heathen Man will rather Dispute , whether there Be an Angel , whom he never saw , than charge that Invisible Angel to have sinn'd with him .

91. Would St. Paul , trow ye , have told us , that he had once been so far from Saint , as to have been a Blasphemer , and Persecuter , 1 Tim. 1.13 . but that he was Over-rul'd by a Divine Power , which draws Good out of Evil ? and makes the Penitence of St. Paul , V. 16. and the Mercy of God upon it , an Example and Encouragement to Atheistical Blasphemers , and Un-Christian Persecuters , to return from their Evil Waies , and not to Kick out their own Blood against the Pricks ? Act. 9.5 . to be more Upright , and Just , both to God and Man ? Would holy David have told us , that he had been so Un-holy , Title of Ps. 51. as to go in to Bathsheba , but that the Adulterer should , with him , detest and forsake that Impure and Unclean Sin ? should come Home , and return to his First Love , be constant to his Spouse Jesus , Rev. 2.4 . 2 Cor. 11.2 . and not make his Members the Members of an Harlot ? Would Moses have told us , that his Anger waxed hot ? that he cast the Tables ( which were the work of God , Exod. 32.19 . V. 16. and the Writing within them was the Writing of God , of God's own Commands ) out of his hands , and broke them , Et Manus & Duplices Manibus Cecidere Tabellae . Ovid. de Remed. Am. l. 2. But that we should not Fret ( as he did ) lest we should be mov'd to do Psal. 37.8 . Evil , as he did ? and to break all the Commandments of God , in a much worse sense than he did ? but that we should imitate him in his Sorrow , in his better Anger against his worse Anger , and in his other more predominant , and denominating Quality , his Meekness , Num. 12.3 and his Zealous Keeping all the Commandments of his God ? It makes , and offers Promises to All Men , it Pours out , and Denounces Threats upon All Men , even Kings , and Judges , and Magistrates ; and what One meer Man will take such a Universal Power to himself , and will not suffer his Empire to be Bounded by any part of that Vast Ocean , all of which has it self a Ne Vltra , Ps. 104.9 . Thus far thou shalt go , and no further ; were it possible that such a One Man should be King of all the World , yet the Promises , and the Threats , are to That One Man too ; and it is as Ridiculous and Absurd , for a Man to make a Promise to , and to Threaten Himself , as if he should have an Action at Law against himself for breach of Promise , or sue himself to be Bound to the Behaviour and Peace , for Threatning himself ; there is but one Allowable , nay more , Commendable ( and Pity it is , that it is so un-imitated , for want of Pity ) way that I know of , for a Man to sue himself ; The Lord Viscount Scudamore , and Mr. Farrar of Huntingdon shire . some , whose Predecessours have Impropriated , have had such Berean-Nobility , and high Primitive Christianity in them , as to cause their own Names to be Prosecuted in Chancery , and there have Resign'd , and by Law Confirm'd Tithet to the Church ; and , for their sakes , I could wish this Book might Live , that their Names might give Fame to the Book , and the Gratefull Book Perpetuate their Names .

82. Thus , from the Latitude , and Unlimitedness of Jurisdiction , in both Branches of it , Punitive and Remunerative , Vindictive and Premiative , Ps. 145.9 . in doing Good to all , high and low , rich and poor ; in calling all Men to Account , even those Cedars , and the Tallest of those , whose Office it is to call Inferiour Men to Account here , It must be that Absolute , Universal Monarch , the Maker , the Owner , the Possessour , the Ruler of the World , whose words these are .

Thus , the Stile , and Method , and Manner , Proves God to be the Author of them .

The Matter does so too .

83. The Promises are , Mat. 5.8 . of Eternal Happiness in Heaven , in the Sight and Enjoyment of the Eternal God ; The Threatnings are , of Pains in Hell , Mat. 25.41 . with the Devil and his Angels for ever ; Neither of these can be Apprehended , but by him , who has the faculty of Discourse and Ratiocination ; and no Reasonable Creature can Promise or Threaten these ; The Good , neither Angel , nor Man , will usurpe so much False Power to himself , as to Bestow Heaven , or to Inflict Hell ; since Nothing can , Nihil dat , quod in se non habet . of its own Power , give , or cast , that upon another , which it hath not in it self , by its own Power ; and no Angel , much less , Man , how good soever , can Possess , and Enjoy God , whether God will , or no ; He may as soon be God , and what God is , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as , so , Enjoy him ; and , whether he be Man , or Angel , if he be Good , he hath not Hell at all ; The Bad cannot lift up Another to that Heaven , which himself has Not , nor sentence Another to that Hell , which has himself ; All , that go thither , go the same way , and , certainly , the First of All was not so Ill a Lover of himself , as that he would Sciens & Prudens , Damn himself thither ; ' t is - Nullum Numen ( 't is not Nullus Daemon ) Abest , Juven. Sat. 1. si sit Prudentia Tecum .

84. It makes Promises of things , which , had they not been Reveal'd by God , could never have entred into the Heart of Man to conceive ; that there should be , Col. 2.9 . in the same Person , Perfect God , and Perfect Man ; Is. 7.14 . that a Virgin should have a Son , and be a Virgin , when she bears him , Mat. 1.23 . and ever after , and so much the more , and more evidently a Virgin , because she had such , and so holy a Son ; Luk. 1.35 . All Promises , that any Creature makes , must ( like the Child that any Creature bears ) be Conceiv'd before they are Made ; and , since no Creature could ever , by any the most lightsome faculty of its own , Conceive such mysterious Depths as these , therefore , that in which these Promises are made , must needs be the Word of an All-knowing , as well as an All-powerfull God , of that God , who saw his Own , as well as his Father and Servant David's Substance , and , in whose other Book all his Members were written , Ps. 139.16 when as yet there was none of them .

85. Mar. 12.33 It Commands a Universal Holiness to God ; the Good are so Good , that they will not Command this , in their Own , but onely in the Name of their God ; and the Bad are so Bad , that they will not Command this at all , no , nor Perswade it , no , nor Suffer it ; Since therefore the Scripture is , as Nazianzen saies of it , Omni Rationabili facultate Validior , Oratio 7. above the Capacity of any Rational Creature to Compose , it must needs be , it cannot possibly be otherwise than , the Work of that God , who alone is above all Rational Creatures ; not onely Above them , but with that Reverend Addition of St. Paul — Far above all Principality , Eph. 1.21 . and Power , and Might , and Dominion , and Every Name , that is Named , not Onely in this World , but Also in that which is to come .

86. Hitherto I have shew'd you , how the Stile and Method , the Manner and Matter , of Holy , and Making-Holy , Scriptures , does Prove a God , and propos'd to the Hitherto-Atheist , the Diligent Search of these , in that they are , not only Holy , and Sanctifying Scriptures , but , because they are so , Blessed and Happifying Scriptures too ; the search of these , upon this Ground , I propos'd to him , that he might find out , by these , what that True Happiness is ( and Confess GOD , not onely Essentially to Be , but Mercifully to be the Author , and Fountain , and Giver , both of the Scriptures , and of the Happiness Taught and Repos'd in them ) which All Men desire , and , concerning the Declaring and Defining of which , all Un-Scriptur'd Men are as Wavering and Unconstant , as the Citizens of Jerusalem were , in telling what was the No-Fault , of Un-guilty , and Saint , Paul , that some cry out One thing , Act. 21.34 some Another ; some a Prosperous Goodness , and some , an Innocency , though Afflicted ; some , Pleasure , and some , Honour ; some , Wisdome , and some , Contentfull Goodness ; so that we can no more know the Certainty , than the Chief Captain of the Band could , who came to Paul's Rescue , because of the Philosophical Tumult ; Of which Happiness , let me shew you , in one word more , a Glimpse and Tast out of holy Scriptures , how it is much More , and much Better , not onely than any One , but than All of those Names , by which they call it ; and so I shall , though slowly , Descend to , yet speedily pass through , the Second Treatise , or Second part of the First .

87. That Happiness is a Prosperous Goodness , for it Consists in Enjoying that God , who , first , Mat. 5.8 . made Man Good , and then Happy ; and the Security of that Happiness , is beyond the Power of such a Giddy thing as Fortune , either to Bestow , 1 Thess. 4.17 . or to Deprive Man of ; for it is for ever ; And that Happiness is much more than all the Successes of this World , and more than that Much More too ; for he that has been the most Successfull Man here , can yet imagine Happinesses beyond all that Actual Success ; but , there , he shall Possess More , than he can Covet here ; not onely the Excellency of all that God hath Created , and which , in his Infinite and Mercifull Wisdome and Goodness , he shall appoint to endure in Heaven , when he Annihilates those unworthier Creatures , which , here , we Enjoy'd too much , and Lov'd too well , because not well enough ; and , yet , who can Imagine the Entire , though Inferiour , Happiness of the Created All in this World ? and , much more , the Things which are in Heaven , Wisd. 9.16 who hath searched out ? those things which the Prophet Isaiah , Isa. 64.4 . and the Apostle St. 1 Cor. 2.9 . Paul , have told us , the Heart of Man , though it can Enjoy , cannot conceive : and , yet , it shall not onely Enjoy All These , in That God , 1 Cor. 15.28 . who is All in All , but therefore Much More than All these , because that God also ; There shall be Tranquill Happiness of the Mind , without the Vexation of the happiest Mind here , which Plots , and Contrives , Studies , and Beats , to be more Happy still ; That Happiness shall consist , if not In , yet with , Virtue , and Love , and Knowledge ; we shall Love our own Glory , and Love the Glory of God above that , and Love his , even in that he hath Glorify'd us also ; We shall stand up compleat in Virtue , 1 Cor. 10.12 . without bare thinking that we stand ( though some , here , will not be contented with a Modest Thinking , but will arrogantly Proclaim too , that they stand , even whil'st they lye flat along in that Ditch into which their Blind Guide hath thrown them ) and without anxious Taking heed , lest we fall , for , Mat. 15.14 our God will take that heed for us , and hold up our Arm with his ; we shall be Wise , not in any perplex'd Speculation of the Divinity in Things Created , but in the Open Vision of the Essence of God , in the streaming Rayes , though not in the whole Sun of that Essence ; we shall be like him , in Un-sinfull , Un-dangerous Knowledge , 1 Joh. 3.2 . because we shall see him as he is .

88. There shall be all the Happiness of the Body too ; Beauty , and Health , and Strength ; the Body shall shine as the Sun ; Mat. 13.43 1 Cor. 15.54 . that shall be its Beauty ; It shall be Immortal as the Soul ( when Man shall be , as it were , Re-made , not of Body and Soul , but of Soul and Soul ) that shall be its Health , it shall be Impassible , Un-suffering , as the Angels of God , it shall have an eye , which they have not , and yet , no more Tears than they which never had Eyes to weep ; Rev. 7.17 . nay , the Eyes of it shall be , like those of Christ , as a Flame of Fire , Rev. 19.12 . Un-wet , and as Dry as that ; Sooner may Contradictions be Verisimilitudes , and Fire weep here , than a Saint there ; and that shall be its Strength .

And , not onely the Mind shall be Happy , in that which Peculiarly appertains to It , Virtue , and Love , and Wisdome ; not only shall be added to the Happiness of the Mind , that of the Body , in that which Peculiarly appertains to It , Beauty , and Health , and Strength ; but , to both these Distinct Happinesses , of the Body , and of the Mind , will be added a third , which will , once again , make both of them joyntly Happy , That , which we , here , miscall the Goods of For●une , and shall , there , rightly understand to be the Wealth of God , for , both Body and Mind shall be ( I will not say Fortunate ) Happy in the perpetual possession of all manner of Riches ; for , as the Body and Mind make the Man ( 't was in some refin'd and limited sense , well said of Pythagoras , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and of Plato , Animus Cujusque Is est Quisque yet , when Pythagoras , and Plato , were dead , his Soul , and his Mind , still were ; but that Soul was not Pythagoras , nor that Maxd , Plato ; else , Pythagoras was Alive , without any 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , even after he was Dead , and Plato was Return'd before his own Great Year ) and God makes the Man a Saint , so , the same God will make that Saint a Joseph , Gen. 41.43 . who shall be Ruler over all his Land , Ruler over all his Goods , over the whole Kingdome of Heaven , for , that it self is , both the Field , and the Treasure , Mat. 24.47 Mat. 13.44.46 . and the Pearl in it , for which we should Sell All we have here , and Purchase those , by Selling , by Despising , by Counting All we have here , Phil. 3.8 . but Dung , that we might win Christ ; Such an un-doting esteem of these Under , and Deceitfull Happinesses , will make them to be Dung indeed , such Dung , as will Enrich and Fructifie that Field , and make it bring forth that Treasure , and that Pearl for us ; Let us , therefore , with a Comparative Contempt of these , cry out , as St. Austin did , Whatever else the Lord our God hath given to us , In Psal. 26. let him ( what he hath been , a long time doing ) take it all away , and give us these . For

89. With these , as he will give us an Establish'd , and Persevering , so he will also give us an Un-afflicted Goodness ; Sin and Misery go together , and neither of them can enter into Heaven ; Sin is a Moth , which will eat a hole into our Happiness , Mat. 6.20 . and Misery is a Thief , which will steal it all away , and there is no room for such Guests as these ; There was , sometime , a kind of Hell in the Lower Heavens , Gen. 19.24 . but all the Fire and Brimstone of them will be rain'd down upon the Sodoms and Gomorrahs here ; nay , those very Heavens themselves , will endure the Plague , which they did Inflict , they will Melt away with forvent heat , 2 Pet. 3.12 and onely that Heaven shall endure for ever , in which there is , and will be , nothing else , but God , and Angels , Saints , and Joy .

90. The Pleasures there , are much more ( and much more Pleasures ) than Man can either Desire or Apprehend ; for , they are not onely Pleasures for evermore , Ps. 16.11 . but they are too , a whole River of them . Psal. 36.8 .

91. There is Honour ; and that more multiply'd in the Nature of it , than in all those words of St. Peter , 1.1.7 . Praise , and Honour , and Glory , and more Magnify'd still , in that the Father of Jesus Christ will honour those there , Joh. 12.26 who serve Jesus Christ here .

92. The Wisdome there is infinitely beyond all the Wisdome in this World ; not onely beyond all the Wisdome of the Children of this World ( who are so Wise in their Generations , one would scarce think they were ever Children ) but of the Children of Life and Light too , whil'st they are in this World ; The Best , the Chiefest Wisdome of the Children In this World , though not of the Children Of this World , is , to be Wise to Another , a Greater , a Better World ; 't is true , Nemini sapit , qui sibi non sapit , and 't is as true , as that — Nec sibi sapit , qui sibi non in Aeternum sapit , Ps. 111.10 . The Beginning of that Wisdome , is the Fear of GOD , and the Instructers in that Wisdome are the holy Scriptures ; 't is the great Eulogie , that St. Paul gives of them to Timothy , 2.3.15 . that they are Able to make him wise unto Salvation ; and in the verse after , All of them are given by Inspiration from GOD ; so that this one Link in the Chain of Happiness , is sufficient to both those ends , for which I insist upon it , both that Scriptures might be search'd , as the onely Certain Foundation of Future Bliss , and that that God might be acknowledg'd , whose Gift that Happiness is , and whose Fear does begin to make us Wise unto it ; And , if there be so much Wisdome , in the very Way to Salvation , how much more in the Enjoyment of it ? As certainly as much More , as that First Principle , which is equally agreed upon by all Mankind , has Certainty in it , Totum est majus suis Partibus , for , Here we know , but it is but in Part , we Prophecy , but , in the most Studious , or most Enlightned of us , it is but in Part ; 1 Cor. 13.9 , 10. but , hereafter , When that , which is Perfect , is come , then that , which is in Part , shall be done away ; We are Children , so long as we are here , we speak , we understand , we think , V. 11 as Children ; Then onely , when we are grown up to a Perfect Man , Eph. 4 : 13. unto the Measure of the Stature of the Fulness of Christ ( and that is only , when we enter into Happiness ) shall we cast away Childish Things ; for , though in that place , St. Paul was become a Man even below Stairs , and out of Heaven , by a special and bountifull Illumination and Sanctification , yet , how many of us together , in respect of Knowledge and Holiness , cannot make up one St. Paul ? And yet the Knowledge which the Man St. Paul had here , was but Weak , and Childish , and that onely , Manly and Perfect , which he Now has Above ; The Evangelical Knowledge , which he had , and we have here , was indeed , Perfect , if Compar'd to a Legal Knowledge , but very Lame , and Heavy , Dull , and Ignorant , if set in Competition with that in Heaven ; so Theodoret interprets that place ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . and so St. Paul too , when , in the verse after , he does so far Un-Man himself , as to wrap up himself , and us , in the same Thick Cloud , for , Now , We see through a Glass Darkly ( We , not a very Paul excepted ) but , Then , Face to Face ; and ( lest that might be suspected for a meer piece of Civility , humbly to involve himself in that Ignorance , which is the Lot of All ) he speaks more home yet , and to his own Door , Now I know in Part , but , then , shall I know , even as I also am known ; and , what Wisdome , what Knowledge , Greater , and more Sublime , than to Know , even as God himself Knows , ( sure , if there be a Prius and Posterius in the Knowledge of God , the first thing that he ever knew , was , that himself Alwaies Is from Everlasting ) and to be Wise ( in some granted Proportion , Psal. 93.2 . even by the Testimony of God himself ) as he is Wise ?

93 : There , is also a Contentfull Goodness , a Filling , a Satisfying Happiness — Lord shew us the Father , Ioh. 14.8 . and it sufficeth ; nay , not onely the Father , but the Son , and the Holy Ghost too , are shew'd sufficiently to all the Saints of God here , in their Exile , and will be shew'd sufficingly to them all Above , in their Countrey .

94. The End why I propose to my Atheist-Reader all these several Branches of our Future Happiness , ( which will hereafter be bestow'd by the Father of Spirits , and are , Heb. 12. ● in the mean while , attested by the Spirit of the Father ) is , that he may ( by that Lov'd Argument of Self-Preservation , and , for his very own sake ) be in love with those Scriptures of God , which so much Out-Promise , and Out-Give , all that All Natural Men have written , or can desire , that , by these , he might Know , and Acknowledge , Love with Reverence , and Serve with Fear , that God , who is , even by Natural Reason ( which , to the Atheist , is instead of God ) convinc'd to be the Bountifull Author , both of these Scriptures , and of all other Bounties .

95. May such Reasons as these be effectual upon him , to seek all his Happiness at the hands of that God , who is Rerum omnium Pleroma , Irenaeus , l. 2. c. 1. the One , Onely Fulness , and Satisfaction , Center and Rest of All things , without whose Blessing in a Contentment here , and in making that Contentment an Earnest of a Heaven , our Souls are Empty , when our Chests are Throng'd , and our Appetite , even when it is Sated , Hungers after we know not what .

96. In Enchiridio Orthodoxograph . 'T is good Counsel of Pisanus , that , since no Creature , without God , can do Enough for himself , and be Satisfactory to himself , he , that would have sufficient , and enough , should seek to enjoy his God ; should Study , and Pray , and Live , after that manner , whereby he might have a Title and Interest in that Fundamental Universal Blessing , ( without which , Nothing else , not all the Pomp and Prosperity , the Gilded Hooks , and Candid Venoms of this World , is Blessed ; and , with which , Nothing , not all the Contempt , and Visible , naked-fac'd Scorpions of this World , can make Wretched ) I will be their God , Frequenter , in utroque Codice . and they shall be my People ; Who suffer'd more than the Apostles of Christ Jesus ? and yet , 2 Cor. 3.4 . because such Trust they had , through Christ , to God-ward , who suffer'd Less than they ? Did they suffer , to whom it was given to suffer ? Who ever complain'd of Liberality , as of Stripes ? of Kindnesses done to him , as of a Load and Pressure ? What Liberality greater ? What more Abundant Kindness , than such a Bounty , which , in St. Paul's account ( who had often experimented the Sweetness of that , which Persecuting Man meant Gall and Wormwood ) is made Equal , even with Faith in God ; His Zealous Disciples would have Envy'd him , if they might not Partake with him in the Honour of Enduring Afflictions ; and therefore he does , not onely Comfort his Philippians in these , but these themselves are the very Comforts which he speaks , and God Administers to them — For unto you it is given , C. 1. v. 29 , 30. in the behalf of Christ , not onely to Believe in him , but also to Suffer for his sake , having the same Conflict which ye saw in me , and now hear to be in me ; He does not , and he would not have any of those , to grieve , for any of these ; nay , he does , and would have those do so too , thank his and their God for them ; how weak , and despis'd , and unwealthy soever they were in this World , yet this was his , and all his Disciples , 2 Cor. 3.5 . great Support , that — Their Sufficiency was of God ; Have God , and you have Sufficient , for — He is All ; Have not God , and you have Nothing , for he is All : Paul had Conflicts , and the Philippians had Conflicts ; and , these were to them , Signs , and Marks , and Testimonies of true Disciples ; nay , they were more , Mercies , and Donations , and Gifts to Beloved Disciples ; Not onely these , but Christ himself had Conflicts too , and , in the Eye of the World ( till the Eye of the World , the Sun , was asham'd to see All of it , and hid both his own Face , and the Face of the whole Earth , in Darkness ) Nothing else but Conflicts ; and yet in the midst of all these Conflicts , these had All , because they had God ; and Christ had All , because He Was , and Is God , and Is to Come , to Reward those , who Patiently Endure these .

97. By this time , I hope he , to whom I now write , has left off to be he , to whom I Began to write , that he is Austin'd into — Ego non sum ego , and Paulin'd into — I live , Gal. 2.20 . yet not I , but Christ liveth in me ; that he is not onely a Deist , but a Christian too ; and therefore I shall take my leave of him with two pieces of Sober Counsel ; One , from the General Doctrine of God , that he would depend wholly upon him ; Another from the Particular Doctrine of Happiness , that he would go on in being a Saint , Psal. 85.8 . and not turn again to Folly , in prizing Glass above Pearl .

98. From the First , Learn he not to gape after the Inferiour All , but to attend on that God , who , even now , Ps. 81.10 . hath brought him out of Egypt , and hath promis'd , though he open his Mouth never so wide , to Fill it ; to labour for a Title , and not to doubt of Sufficiency in him , who is Above Ali , Eph. 4.6 . and Through All , and All in All ; Let him be Above all , by his Proselytical , and our Renew'd Obedience to his holy Precepts ; Let him be Through All , by his , and our Resigning all the several Powers he hath given us , back to himself , by imploying them in a Subordination to Just and Mercifull Power ; Let him be All in All ; Desire we nothing else but him , Nothing but from him , Nothing but for him . Are we his Children ? who is so wise as he , to know what we stand in need of ? Mat. 6.8 . & 32. Who is so Good as he to supply to all our wants ? Who is so Fatherly as he , to Chastise us , and yet to Love us too ? Are we not his , but Belial's Children ? who is so Gracious as he , to afflict us , that we may be his ? who is so Holy and True , Just and Potent as he , to controul all our Inordinate and Sinfull Desires of Having ?

99. From the Second . Learn we to return that Answer to all the gaudy Temptations , and fond Allurements of this Inchanting World , which Agesilaus did to him , who besought him to hearken to the Voyce and Song of one , who well imitated the Various and Pleasant Notes of the warbling Nightingale ; No , saies he , Ipsam Lusciniam audivi , I have heard the Nightingale her self , and all Imitation I know , comes short of her ; Say to any Tully , who bids you ask for Happiness from Humane Plots , and Counsels , and Contrivances , and the Aids and Assistances of Fortune upon these , I will none of that , since I have heard of a Firmer Happiness , which Fortune has Nothing to do with , a Happiness from Above , and to Above , from that God , from whom Every Good Gift does come , Jam. 1.17 . and from whom too All Good Counsels do proceed ; If it be not Good , Common-Prayer-Book . 't is no Gift , and I will not receive it ; If it be Good , 't is none of hers , and I will not be Accessory to her Theft , nor purchase a Halter , be it never so Silken a one ; I remember that of Seneca ( whom I once took for Divine too much , and now wish he were more Divine ) Fortunae de me Potestatem , non do , and I am Christian'd into a new Philosophy , which saies , Non datur Fortuna . Say to any Seneca , who cals the Conscience of Well-doing , Happiness , even then , when the Body is in Torture , I am contented with the Yoke now , but I look for a Release anon , Ps. 34.19 . since I have heard that though Many are the Afflictions of the Righteous , yet the Lord not onely Delivereth them out of all , Gen. 15.1 . but is , himself , their Exceeding great Reward ; Ps. 58.11 . Verily there is a Reward for the Righteous , Verily he is a God that judgeth in the Earth ; I believe it enough , because David hath said it , and yet I have learnt to put both the Verilies together , Amen , Amen , dic● vobis . and believe it the more , for David's Sons , and my God's sake , whose Stile That Is ; though I suffer Many things , 2 Tim. 1.12 . nevertheless I will not be ashamed , for I know whom I have Believed ; What is a little Blood-shed ? I have empty'd a Vein to Recover from a Sickness , and was well again ; Shall I not empty them All , for Christ and Heaven ? Say to any Epicure , to any He , that would be more Crane than he is Philosopher , that bids you , to be Happy , to become a Dog , and a Sow , to wallow in your own Myrie Vomit , to allow of nothing but Sensual Pleasure , I will none of that ; since I have heard , not onely that a Friar , Erasmus in his Ecclesiastes . to Torment a Drunkard , bade him be Drunk again , as Conceiving no Torture to be equal to an Over-charg'd Stomach , nor the Rope it self more Cruelly to stretch a Throat , than a Loathsome Yawning , but that at God's Right Hand there are Pleasures for Evermore , Ps. 16.11 . Innocent , and Un-satiating Pleasures , a whole and a clear River of them ; not onely a River , but the Spring-head too , All my Springs are in thee O God , Psal. 87.7 . Say to any Livy , who calls Worldly Honour , and Earthly Soveraignty , Happiness , I will none of that , since I have heard , There is no Honour like to that , L. Hatton's Preface to the Psalms . of serving God in a Great Capacity ; that this is the onely Lawfull Way , by which to set up a Royal Priesthood , 1 Pet. 2.9 . Exod. 19.6 a Kingdome of Priests , even amongst the Laity also , when God shall make them , indeed to be , what in both those Scriptures they are call'd , a holy Nation . Say to any Horace , who , to be Happy , bids you be Wordly-wise , and Wise in your Generation , I will none of that , since I have heard of Another , a Heavenly Wisdome , a Wisdome to all Eternity , and to Salvation in it ; This , if compar'd to the Worlds , is not Another , but an Onely Wisdome ; the Worlds , if compar'd to this , is not Another Wisdome , but an Onely Folly , Madness , Desperation ; What is my Generation , but a Point , a Nothing , to God's Eternity ? My Daies are but a Hands Breadth , Psal. 39.5 . ( Diogenes's 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in respect of some Longer Liver in the first of Ages ) and mine Age is as nothing before thee O God ; Might I be as Happy , Latum Unguem , and one Day of my Life , as all this World could make me , and wretched the whole hand-breadth , and all the Life besides , I would not make so Indiscreet and Unpolitique a Choyce ; All this Life , to all Eternity , is infinitely less than a Day , to all this Life , and shall I choose the Greater Evil ; and forfeit the Greater Good , when I have skill enough to refuse the Lesser Good , because of a Lesser Evil ? Say to any Aristotle , who comes nearest the Mark , when he bids you be Happy in Well-Doing , and in the Satisfaction which arises from thence , I will more than that , since I have heard , that though a Good Conscience , Prov. 15.15 . and a Merry Heart , because of That , is a Continual Feast , yet the Reward of that Good Conscience is a much Better , and Merrier Feast , and that therefore I look up to that Jesus , Heb. 12.2 . who , as he is the Author , has appointed unto me a Kingdome , and , when he is the Finisher of my Faith , will Crown me in it , that I may Eat and Drink at his Table , Luk. 22.29 , 30. in his Kingdome .

100. And yet , though this Jesus be Another Notion , Examinatio Portugalli Atheis . 1617 or rather Another Person ( for there was a Portugal Atheist , who being ask'd what he thought of the Trinity , answerd , Examinatio 3. quaest. 6. Se adorare Trinitatem , sed per al●as Notiones , non sub Nominibus Patris , & Filii , & Spiritus Sancti ) yet it is but One , and the Same God , who makes this Feast of Happiness , and fils the Table with all these , and many more , Several and Precious Messes , and who by his Vnity with the Father , and the Holy Ghost ( to which Unity in Trinity be all Prayer and Praise for ever ) calls upon me for my Promis'd Disquisition , and Determination , That there is One ( already Argu'd ) and But One God , to which I proceed , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 .

Polytheismus Vapulans ; OR , THERE IS BUT ONE GOD.

Greg. Nazianz. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 .

LONDON , Printed for Humphrey Moseley , and are to be sold at his Shop at the Sign of the Prince's Arms in St. Paul's Church-yard , 1654.

TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE , THE L. VISCOUNT TRACY , My much Honour'd Lord and Patron .

MY Honour'd Lord , Since , by some Unhappynesses ( which have made Long Furrowes upon your Back , though they could not , Psal. 129.3 . upon your Face , and , by your unmatcht patience , have left That , as they found it , and have not writh'd , nor Afflicted One wrinckle more upon your constant Brow ) I cannot , as the Duty of my Place obliges me , Preach to your Ear , give me leave to do it to your Ey , and to be your Chaplain from the Press , when you cannot Hear ( unless by others ) that I am so from the Pulpit : I may remember your Lordship , that the ONE GOD , of whom I treat , though He binds Himself to None , does usually observe this Method , in repairing worldly Adversities with spirituall Advantages ; and , as it is His Generall design , to better That man , by any Cross , which He layes upon His shoulders , and to bring him neerer to the Favour of That Christ , who bore the Cross for Him , by the similitude of sufferings ; so , in your Lordship's Case , he does , not only Prescribe , but Confect too ; tells you what is best , and prepares those Ingredients for you , in removing you from him who has less of skill , in the Cure of Souls , to him who has more of it ; and who would not bless God the more , for such a Medicinall , and Healing Tribulation ? As All eyes see your Patience , Luke 21.19 . Dionys. Areopag . in which you Possesse your Soul , though , not very much besides , so I beseech That God , who is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and sees All things , that the things which have Happen'd unto you , Philip. 1.12 . v. 13. Ibid. may fall out to the furtherance of the Gospell in you ; that , as your Bonds are Manifest in All the Palace ( and were they not manifest , I would not have nam'd them ) so they may be Bonds in Christ , that , even This also may turn to your salvation , through your , and our Prayer , and the supply of the Spirit of JESUS CHRIST . V. 1● .

These my god Lord , and many more Inconveniencies and , Incumbrances of life and fortunes , with which you struggle , or , to speak more properly , which struggle with you , have made me believe that such a dedication as This , ( upon which your life is Comment , and your Fortunes Notes ) would be not an unacceptable piece of service , in recalling to your Lordships Consideration , That , which all the Circumstances of all your Affaires , do daily Mind you of , that there is but One Heaven , That Above , Job 22.14 . but One God , He that Walks in the Circuit thereof .

When you Tasted , and Try'd All the Happinesses of the Earth together , you were , even Then , too wise , to make a God of Any , or of All of These ; in that you Had Them , and They Had not you ; in that they Serv'd you , and you Rul'd them ; and an Gbedient God , a Bounden and Chain'd Deity , a Divinity under Lock & Key , You was never so much Persian to allow of ; much less , Q. Curtius l. 4. scribit de Persis , quod Deos , quo Certius retinerent , catenis vinciebant . when Fortune has , now , turn'd one half of her wheel , will you make the Clay Feet , the Iron legs , the Brazen Belly , and Thighes of That prosperity a God , whose Breast , and Arms of Silver , and Head of Fine Gold , Dan. 2.32.33 . you could not indure to worship ; Let Men , that wrangle at wealth , and for wealth , the Clent , and the Lawyer , Creep , and Crouch to such Images as These , and think if they will , that they are well awake the while , whilst That they Dote upon , is but an Image , and not the Architype , a Beam , and not the Sun , least of all , Mal. 4.2 . That of Righteousness , and they themselves , when they expect to grasp it , do but Dream ; but let my Good Lord look higher , and Pity the Childings at the Barre ; Let Him not be Froward with them that are Froward , but buy love with love ; with so cheap a Fee , let Him Purchase the One and Onely God , who , though He be but One , and Onely , Is , and has All things , and will sell them All at the Price of Love ; Prov. 8.17 . I love them that love Me ; ( would they have Estates , V. 18. and Titles ? ) Riches and Honour are with Me , ( would they have Unmolested Estates , and Unforfeited Titles ? ) yea Durable Riches , and Righteousness ; what ever the violence of Time , or Man , takes away , Is neither Wealth , nor yours ; That which Lasts , is Wealth , and That , which Is You , is Yours ; the Philosopher said well — Omnia Mea Mecum , Bias. but your Christian Lordship sayes better , Omnia mea Ego ; your self is , only , and all , your Own ; nor can you stand in Need of Any thing from Any Other , but from Christ ; may He Clothe you , with His Robe of Righteousness , and no matter though there be never a Pocket in it ; with That Robe , you will have Peace with God , and Without That Pocket , Peace with Men too ; That you may be blessed Both these wayes ; and be so like your IESUS , Luke 2 , ult. as to Increase in Favour with GOD and Man , whilst you are on Earth , at least , inseparably , and without any Altercation , in Favour with Him , who is God and Man in Heaven , and , yet , in Both those Natures , is but One Person , and , in That One Person , is the same God , with the other Two , Three Persons , and One God , is the Prayer of

Your Lordships obliged Chaplain , and faithfull Servant , WILLIAM TOWERS .

Polytheismus Vapulans , OR , There is but One GOD.

1. HOw Necessarily that First Doctrine , that there Is a God , is to be backt with this second Doctrine , that there Is but one God , will appear , out of the corrupt nature of all , the self-deifying opinions of some , and the Diabolical practices of others .

2. 'T is not only so , in this great Case , but it is so also , in almost every Case , where Man has more of passion then judgement , and loves Interest above Truth ( and , almost every man has so , and dos so ) that , when he is convinc'd , he has been in an unprofitable errour , he will never think he can run far enough from that unrewarding mistake , till he runs into another , Equally as bad as that ; and then , dos not care how irrecoverably he sinks into a second Ditch , so long as he is sure he escapes the danger of the former Pit . 'T is so in the Religion of Nature , in Morality ; 'T is not enough to tell the Covetous Man , how base his sin is , whilst he dos , ( as Bion says he days ) † † Sordidi Divites ita facultatum curam habent , quasi propriarum , ita parcunt , tanquam alienis . take so much care over his wealth , as if it were his own ( his beloved Spouse — Incubat Auro ) and so much spare it , and forbear it , as if it were another Mans ; to tell him , that he starves himself , that he may starve others ; to tell him , that it is better to give , then to hoard , and that he hoards up his own Damnation ; that his Hell is stole away , when his Bags are Ris●ed , if he grieves more for the sin of him that open'd his Chest , then because he left it empty ; When you have told him all this , and more , & made him fear to be Rich , Is 33.14 . as much as he fears the everlasting burnings , you will make him apt to sin as much in prodigality and wastfulness , as he did before in laying up , and going to Bed with the Key in his mouth . Therefore , you must tell him too , that though the sparkling , and yellowness of his Gold , be like the Flame of fire , of which too much , and an ungovern'd heap , will burn him , yet a little of it , if it kindles not in the very heart , will warm him ; you must not only tell him , Josh. 7.21 . that to with-hold the Wedge of another Man , and to bury it in his own Tent , will cause him to be put to death , V. 26 and to have a heap of stones over him in Earth , ( I , and if he repent not , if he testifie not his repentance , by dispersing , V. 22 by restoring to the owner , and by giving to the poor , a heap of Coals over him , in Hell too ) insted of a heap of Gold and Silver under him ; but you must tell him too , that , 1 Tim. 5.8 . if he provides not for his own , he is worse then an Infidel ; and , if he provides not of his own , he is the same Man still , worse then Infidel ; you must , not only tell him , that his extortion , whereby he makes the poor eat stones , Is. 3.15 . instead of Bread , whereby himself grinds the poor people of God , Ps. 53.4 . and eats even them up , as it were Bread , that this makes him to be less charitable , Mat. 4.3 . then the Devil himself , who besought that stones might be made Bread ; but you must tell him too , V. 4 that himself must live by Bread also , though not by Bread only ; you must not only tell him , as St. L. 2. Ep. 6. Non modo aliena non appetas ( hoc enim publicae leges p●niunt , He means , when the appetite is fill'd and not when it yawns ) sed Tica , quae sunt aliena , non s●ves . Hierom does , that he must not covet that , which is another Mans ( for , every right Christian St. will say as St. Austin did , that the superfluity , and over-plus of a rich Man , is the debt and portion of a poor Man ) but you must tell him too , that , though every Man besides , is his neighbour , himself is his neighbour also ; ( Proximus egomet mihi is a good rule , when it is a common rule , and not an inclosure , when it lets this , and that Man be proximus too ; as , in a Circle , though the Line that is first drawn , points in the Circumference , yet every after Line touches as close as that ) and though he must not reserve from others , that of his own also , which is another Mans , yet he must not impart to others , that , without which , nothing is left his own ; but he must love , and cherish them , and himself , by liberal imparting , and moderate using of what he hath , and not leave off to love and cherish either , by immoderate keeping ; else , if you only declame against his covetousness , till you perswade , and charm , and fright him into a renouncing , and loathing , and ejuring of that , and use not your discreet endeavours to stop him in the right , middle , and vertuous way , you will only dispossess him of one Devil , that he may have room , in which he intertain another ; so , a Prodigal Man may be chid out of his spending vanity , till he does nothing else , but scrape , and neither he , nor he , be , the more , or at all , a liberal Man , for all you have said unto them . So it is in Christian Religion too ; A Reform'd Anabaptist will sooner turn a persecuting Papist , and a Reform'd Papist sooner turn a persecuting Anabaptist , then either of them be a truly-reform'd Protestant ; though , like Sampsons Foxes , Judg. 15.4 . they turn tails to one another , ( and are ready to spit fire too in the Face of each , ) yet they have a Firebrand in the midst , with which they burn up all the shocks , V. 5 and standing Corn , ( as that Corn signifies true Disciples ; and tares , Apostates ) all the Olives and Vine-yards ( as that Vine-yard signifies the true Church of Christ ) which the Heathen Poet , Ovid. Fast . l. 4. however it came to his hands , hath acquanted us with , † † Scilicet vulpem . Captivam , stipulâ , Foenoque Involvit , & Ignes Admovet ; Urentes effugit illa Manus ; Quà Fugit , Incendit Vestitos Messibus Agros ; Damnosis Vires Ignibus Aura dabat . Histories are almost as full of those Passionate Changers ( with whom the wise Man , Prov. 24.21 . bids us to have nothing to do , especially , not to do , what they will not choose but do , Meddle ) who have run from One extreme to the other , as of those Judicious changers , who have run from both extremes , to the truth ; of all enemies to the Church of England , from an English Jesuit , who hath formerly protested better , Good Lord deliver us ; and I would it were well consider'd , whether in these very dayes , and in this very Nation , for want of this judgement and moderation , and sobriety ( for , there is , and should be , a mental sobriety , aswel as there is , though there should not bee , a mental drunkenness , Pliny l. 9. Ep. 26. Ex Demosibene . Non Datum . † 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ] the office † taken , at any thing , which was , or seem'd offensive , has not been the cause of so many real offences amongst us ; God in his mercy and wisdom , restore to us , those two great blessings , which alwaies fall off together , truth , and love , that the swords may be beaten themselves , beaten into plowshares , and the spears into pruning Hooks , that the Hedge of Christs Church may be only prun'd by these , to grow the better , and not quite cut down by those . As thus it is , in Morality , and thus in Christianity , that the unguided hate of one fault , in ill practice , and mis-opinion , does beget another ; so , thus it is too , in the very beginning , as well as in the progress of true Religion : not only the Cathari ( for , that word will be less quarreld at then the direct English of that word ) will misdeem themselves so † † Paenitentiam denegat . Austin . de Haeres. 169. Aetas nostra tam praesentibus plena est numinibus , ut facilius possis Deum , quam Heminem invenire ; 't is so true of Aetas nostra , that I may spare to quote Petronius for it . holy and perfect , as if they were a kind of Demi-Gods on Earth , at least the Dii minorum Gentium ( for , they are the minors , the inferiour sort of people , who artogate to themselves this inferiour kind of Divinity ) nor only the contracters and Covenanters with Hell , who rather then fail of a Plurality , though they assuredly know , there is but one God , will worship the Devil himself for another ; but , out of the infirmity of his unknowing Nature ( for , less of knowledge is part of the punishment of Adams sin , in all Adams race ) and , in the simplicity , and mis-lead zeal of his Heart , he that is , but now , Initiated into the belief of a God , that is convinc'd of his monstrous crime in denying that there is any God , will so abhor that Atheistical gui●t , as , rather then return to that gross mistake , every thing he sees , and knows , every thing he loves , and fears , shall be a God ; there shall not only be , as St. † † L de Haeresib . Fig. 46. excus . Oxon & ad●ct . Vincenti● Lyrinens . Cōmonitoriu . duabu● Ani 1631. Austln sayes the Manichaeans held , Duo Principia , Aeterna & Coaeterna , Boni & mali , but numerosum Principium utriusque and yet , even amongst these too ( which would make the very Soul to blush ) every good Soul is of the same nature , of which God himself is ; This also they say , † † Ibid. out of their former absurd principle , although with a Coguntur dicere ; and then , uno absurdo dato , sequuntur mille , if ever there were but one thousand of good Souls , ( perhaps a thousand of thousands too , ) every good Soul of these is an absurdity , a Solecism of the Manichaeans ; not only the living Spirit of a Man , but the liveless Body of the Sun shall be one God , and every Star another ; and then what † † Quicquid humus , pelagus , coelum , mirabile signat , Id dixere Deos , colles , Freta , Flumina flammas . Prudentius ; the Heathens do worship 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Naz. de Natal . Christi . store of Gods have they ! and how above number ! though we have store enough of God , in one , and that , innumerable store too , because but one ; yet , such a one , as is infinitely more infinite then all else , which , in their own nature , though not by the actual Arithmetique of Man , are capable to be numbred , because he , alone , is more all then they , which I shall presently tell you of , in shewing you the several ways , by which God is one .

3. He is one , simplicitate , because he is not made up of several parts , as all things are , that have this , that they are , of gift , the most simple of them , are , at least , compounded of Actus , and Potentia ; All things else , are compounded ; and the very composition of them does Un-God all things else ; every totum Physicum ( and I speak only of substantials which are intire , and have nature in them ; for , they , who make the part of a Man , a God , have answer'd themselves , for , how can that , which is but a part , and that but of a Man , be , yet ; a God ? and a whole God too ? but , when they make the worst part of Man a God , they may safely do it , Nil securius est Lascivo Idololatra ; I can only reply to such , Phil. 2. what Tully did to Anthony , Sunt quaedam , quae honestè non possum dicere , Phil. 3. and what to Dolabella , Ea turpitudo est , quae objici , ne ab inimico quidem potest verecundè ; and they , who make the Accidents of Man a God , who implore Febrem Deam , to take away Febrem Morbum , who will have a Deus Vagitanus , that their Children may not hurt themselves with crying , and a Deus Fabulanus to teach their Children how to speak , a Deus Statelinus , that they may stand upright , and not fall , and a Deus Potinus , that they may Drink aright , and not fall ; and if every such circumstance as these must Deity , any one Man may set himself upon so many imployments , and mishape himself into so many postures , till he stands in need of all Hesiods thirty thousand Gods , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . to protect such a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and multiform Man ; but these , and the suspicions rather then opinions of these , are more worthy a pitty , then a disproof ) every totum Physicum is made up of its Constitutive parts , matter , and form ; there must be matter , that it be not made of nothing ; there must be form , that it be not made Incomplete ; and , being both these , there must be , an Efficient cause of the union of both these , lest any thing should make it self ; and , therefore , being made by another , ( and it is all one , if it were possible for any thing , to be made by it self ) it cannot be God , because not Eternal , à parte ante , much less , though it were Eternal à parte post , could it , yet be God ; and yet , even thus-eternal , the choicest piece of it , is not , of its own prerogatival nature , but only by grant , from that Ens simplicissimum , which gave it the Originals of which it was made . Ortum quicquid habet , Statius . Finem timet , Ibimus omnes I●imus . Much less can that Fortune , which this age adores , be a Goddess , because it is not a substance ; which if it were , That very Composition word — Te FACIMUS fortuna Deam — is Argument enough against her Goddess-ship ; for what Divinity has she , whom such a mortal makes , Mat. 5.36 . that cannot make a Hair black or white ?

4. But then , the Metaphysical Beings , which approach nearest to this ens simplicissimum , yet they are , neither It , nor God , and therefore they are not God , because they are not pure , though immaterial acts , but acts , and power too ; nor do they , by that spirituality they have , so much recede from the matter below them , as they are , in the very same spirituality , distant from the Fountain Spirit above them ; they are , Spirits , but they were not ; yet , when they were not , they were in a power and capacity , to be produc'd ; not in a Potentiâ Subjectivâ , as all Physical Compounds , after the Creation of the First matter , are ( when the Earth was , ( as the Philosophers say that First matter Is , Gen. 1.2 . Informis & formae vacua ) without form and voyd ) as they all , besides Man alone , are , without all doubt and controversy , educ'd è potentiâ materiae , but , in a potentiâ Objectivâ , essentially inhaerent in God and yet , not Inhaerent in him , as a Philosophical Potentia , in relation to future Acts , for he is Actus Purus , and nothing else but Actus , but as an Actual Potestas ) for , of themselves , there was no part existent , till themselves were ; this kind of Composition they have ; else , they alwaies were , and , of themselves , would alwaies Be , Ab Aeterno , in Aeternum , and therefore , were God in deed , and being so , would alwaies be so ; but they were , neither so , nor he ; for , if they had not this Composition , and were God ( for , Gods , I cannot away to call them , so much as in supposition , ) it must be known , that they had not this , and were that , either by the Light of Scripture , or by the Light of Nature ; but , neither of these Lights will give in any such false evidence , or brib'd verduit ; not that of nature ; for , in her School , the Captain Disciple of the highest form , will sooner doubt , whether there be any such thing , as Angel , then make such an ambiguous Essence ( which is so far remov'd from demonstration , that there is no such Praecognitum of it , Quod sit , but rather a dispute , and that , rather held in the Negative , An sit ) to be his God ; if there be , at all , any knowledge of an Angel by Nature , the very 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of it will tell the Inquisitive natural Man , that an Angel is such a Creature ( for , by this time , and because of this Office , I may well call him so ) which is to deliver the Message of another to another ; and a Godhead that goes on errands , the very natural Man will not allow of ; Besides all this , may it not therefore be , that the gracious wisdom of God did conceal the whole Order of Angels from the meer Man , upon this prevision , and fore-knowledge , that Man would be apt to adore such spirituities , and , upon this merciful ground , to prevent such Idolatrous adorations ? And Scripture , by which we Infallibly know , there are Angells and Archangells too , will not Connive at any such Mistake ; For , There we know , the Archest of them , is so far from being God that He is much rather , and in that very Word , a Fool in comparison ; His Angells , All of them , Job 4.18 . He charged with Folly ; marke the word , and the Authority of it , t is not He suspected them ; for a meaner man may suspect a much Better than Himself , and not●ing in this world of ours more Common , not Avarice , and Pride more in the Heart and upon the Back of Man ; than suspicion and Jealousy , in step He takes , and of every Men he sees ; tisnot barely , He knew them Guilty ; for , That , the Low , and Poor Man , may do , by the High and Rich Man ; t is not barely , H. Punisht them for their guilt ( though He did , some of them , even unto Damnation ; one of them , who was too prowd in His Office ( Angelus , Officii● , & Ministerii vox est ) Fell like lightning , ( like one Fire● , Luke 10.18 . into another , like a Bright One , into a Dark one ) for the Cob-Webb-Laws , in All Nations , will vex a Fly , when it does Corvis Ignoscere , not because the Crow is more Innocent , but because the Fly has less wings , and weaker leggs ; but it is , He Charged them ; He p●ead● the La● against them , and That no Cob-web-Law , but the very same within them , and He pleads till themselves cry Guilty til they do , as the lightning does , like which they Fa●● , Fall of themselves , Rom. 13. till they also 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , not only by Resisting the power , which is Of God , but which is inseparably In God , in aiming to Independ of Him ; and I think I may further explain the explication which a late Judicious † Authour hath apply'd to the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , not only , Dr. Basire in his sacr●lege Arraign'd . as He sayes Beza sayes , they shall be Damned , in a passive sense , nor only they shall Damne themselves , in an Active sense , by wilfull Perjury , or by wi●full Impenitency , but they shall Damne themselves too , by Approbation of the Sentence against them , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , they shall Take Damnation as their Due , as a Right charge against them , as a Just Judgment upon them ; Coloss. 1.20 . and ever since , the Angels which stand , Confirm'd by That Jesus , who hath Reconcil'd all things , whether they be things in Earth , or things in Heaven , have been very Wary not to admit , but to Reject any Over Humilities of Man to them , to the Derogation from the Honour of Their One only God ; and the whole Multitude of them sung , Glory be to God in the Highest ; not to GOD'S , Luke 2.14 . least of all to themselves .

5. Thus , from the Finite , and Made Nature of all things els , in Earth , and Heaven too , there is but One God ; for I list not to seek out Another God , in that , which is No where , in Purgatory , nor , in That , which is the Worst where , in Hell . And though this might suffice , yet I go on to prove the Unity of the Godhead , from the very Nature of the God-head .

6. He is One , singularitate ; so , as he is Only One ; not so , as the Sun is Only One ; for , though there never was , nor will be any more , than One Sun in the Firmament , yet , if God had so pleas'd , there Might have been , and still May be , as many Suns , as Stars , as well as Certainly there Will be neither Sun , nor Starrs ; but He is , so , One Onely God , that it is Impossible , and Contradictory to the very Nature , and Essence , and Power of God , that there should be More Gods than One ; for , if there were More , there were None ; and that because each God could not be Infinit , as being Excluded from That somewhat els , which is God as well as He ; from which if He be excluded , He is a Finite God , and , as good have no God at all , as a Finite One , which , in very deed , is no God at all ; and , if He be Not excluded , He is the very same with That somewhat els , and , so , not More Gods , but One God ; Each God , were not Almighty , or not a Free Agent ; not Almighty , because He could not do any thing contrary to the Doing of that other God , who is equally Almighty as Himself , i. e. neither of them is Almighty , which is a Tam and a Quam , Negatively , as good as we can devise to Allow them ; or els He is not a Free Agent , because , if He could do it , He must not have Will to do it , till He can obtain leave from His Fellow-God , to surcease the contrary Action ; and these , to be Infinit , and Voluntary , and Almighty are the very Nature , and Essence , and Power o● God , without , All , or without Any of which , He is , as Pliny said , some would have the Tribunatus to be , Lib. 1. ep. 23. Inanis Umbra , & sine Honore Nomen , and Lucan , to the same purpose , of Pompey ( if I forget not ) as if One of them had Read the other , stat Magni Nominis Umbra ; Thus , That immutable God , in whom there cannot be so much as a shadow of Changing , James 1.17 . would yet Himself be nothing els but shadow , and that upon such a No Ground , as , by the same Reason , Locus est & pluribus Umbris , Nullique Deo , and all Hesiods Three hundred Jupiters would not be sufficient to make up One. Let me Illustrate This , by occasion of That passage in Lucan with the vanity & Nothingness of a Bandy'd Power against Power , and a Fighting will against will even up on Earth ; When the Breach was made so wide betwixt Caesar and Pompey , that One Land would not hold their Power , nor One Verse so much as Their Name ; but that — Caesarve Priorem — must stand by Himself , and then — Pompeiusve Parem — by Himself ; when they could not knit , and yoke together , unless in Virgil's quarrelsome expression — Pede pes , Densusque Viro Vir ; when Caesar would have none Above Him , but would Himself be supreme , and Pompey would have none Equal to Him , but would Himself be more supreme than Caesaer , what follow'd then , but — Pila Minantia Pilis , - the exact and terrible Picture of their Desires Thwarting their Desires ? and when could there be an end of these Discords , till there was an end of one of these Ambitious Pretending Supremes ? nay , even After He was deceast , as if there were a new Civill war betwixt His own Putrifying Members , as if one fide of Him did Side with Caesar , and Another , with Himself , One Grave could no more hold All of Pompey , than One Pharsalia could hold Pompey and Caesar too — Jacere — Uno non poterat tanta Ruina Loco ; Martial . as if Pompey were as much divided against Himself , even after he left off to be himself , as a third Poet tells us , the very Flames of departed Etheocles and Polynices did point severall wayes , and held up the Lasting Fewd , even after Death it self , which was begun , for Empire-sake , betwixt Both of them Alive , — Fratris primos ut Contigit Artue Ignis edax , Statius . Thebaid . lib. ult. Tremuere Rogi , & Novus Advena Bustis Pellitur ; exundant Diviso Vertice Flammae ;

Nor shall I yet , let pass this Oneness of singularity , but give you a very good and Rationall Account of itfrom that solid probation which , even the Heathens themselves have affixt to it ; Those three properties of Ens , ( which is one of the first Lessons , we read in all the Metaphysicians ) Plato and his followers , have wisely thought fit to apply to God Himself , and to prove the Unity of the Godhead not only by the propriety of Unity , Insequuti Doctoris vestigia , singulari Ingenio , eloquentia non Incuriosâ , Platonici multi , unum modò esse Deum , Ratione Triplici probare connituntur ; primo , quia summa est Vnitas Nam , si quodlibet summum est Vnicum , quid magis Vnicum est , quam summa Unitas ? Est etiam Unus , quia est Veritas , summa enim viritas una est ; Nam si Duae summae Veritates esse dicantur , aut Una earum habet quicquid Altera habet , aut Non ; si prius datur , una est , non Duae ; Si secundum est , Neutra est summa ; Deest enim Isti , Illud verttatis , quod in Illa est , & Illi , quod est in Ista ; Item unus est Deus , quia summa est Bonitas ; summa quippe Bonitas , quicquid Boni reperiri usquam potest , complectitur ; Quod si Duas induxeris Bonitates summas , quicquid Boni est in Vna , est & in Altera ; Alioqui Neutra esset summa ; & , secundum Boni Ipsius Naturam Unum sunt , non Duo ; Neque est aliquid Illis admixtum , praeter Bonitatis Naturam , quia summae non essent , sed Inquinatae , Unum itaque sunt Omnine . L. C. Rhodiginus , Lectionum Antiquarum lib. 22. cap. 4. M. D. XCIX . pag. 1029. but by those other two of Truth , and Goodness also ; there is , say they , a One and an Only God , first , because there is a Chief , Supreme Unity , above which , we cannot after do so much as to imagine any thing ; Meditate God ; Think himself ; and go up higher if thou canst ; Think any thing which Is , and Is Not Himself , and thou Thinkest Downewards , of Created spirits , or of some thing els , which is so far off from God , that it is less than They ; such a Chief soveraign there Is ; for , if every Chief in its own kind ( I may Latine both the words , and call it Genus summum ) be only One ; ( as in the kind of substances , That is the chief , which i● Above a●● the rest , abstracted from This and That , and That is but One substance at a●ge , and not This , or That specificall . Individuall substance , of the first of which , there are alwayes two , and of the atter , many more ) much more is the supreme Chief , which is God Himself , above all these Inferiour Chiefs , in th● very Unity also . Agen , He is a One , and an Only God , because He is Truth as well as Unity , and the Chief , as well in This as in That ; and that the Chief Truths should be One , and but on●y One. Is so Popularly granted , and so upon the Tongue of the mostignerant Man , even then also , when He Believes amiss , and is Wedded to a Falshood , insted of a Truth , by the Authority and Countenance of the Next Justice , whose Religion He Will follow , that the Derivative Truth from Him , is , Proverbiably , and undis●utably , but One. There Can be but One Truth ; nay but One Truth , even under the Sun , in the Latitude of its Compass , nay in One Iland of which , ( that which resembles , as some say , the Forme of Pythagoras's Letter , as being like the Greek 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Triangular , and which , † † J. Greg. in Notes upon some passages of Scripture , to the Reader pag. penult. Another Grievingly sayes , He is sure 't is far enough from a square ) This Nation of ours , there is but One Truth , though there be many falshoods , ( Anabaptisticall , Jesuiticall , &c. more than I can Name , or than Christians in former ages have felt , Or Catalogists of the Schismes and Heresies , have reckoned ) which Rebell against Her , over which she should Reign , and which , because they are Rebellious against Her , she should subdue , and even Inslave in Her own meek Bonds of sincere Gospell-Truth ; and if , so Confessedly even by the Enemyes of Truth , there is but One Truth Below , how much less , and Impossibly can the Authour of That One Truth , who has His undisturb'd , unrioted Throne in Heaven be factious against Himself , as being Divided into severall Truths ? It cannot be ; for supposing there were more Truths than One , though but One Truth more , ( I suppose , as Plato did , more Supreme , more Chief Truths , though , at most , but two Chief Truths ) either One of those Chief truths , must have All that Truth in it , which the other of those Chief Truths has , or els , it must Not have All. If it Has All , they are so Like , that they are Altogether the same , Et eret is in Veritatem unam , and yee Twain shall be One Truth ; If , it has not All the Truth , which the Other has ; either One of These , the Really-Chief Truth has All , that Is Truth , in it , and the Other , the but supposedly . Chief Truth , though it has Nothing els , but Truth in it , has not All ; and then , the Former only is the Chief Truth , as Lacking nothing , and the latter not so , as being defective , which is Contrary to the nature of Chiefness , and Summity ; and therefore , still , but One of These is the Chief Truth ; or els Both of them , have some of That Truth , which either of them Lack , and , so , Neither of them is the Chief ; though a Chief Truth , there must be , which has neither lack of Truth in it self , nor a Chiefer Truth Above it , à Coneessis , & à Fortiori , because there is but One Chief Truth Below the Sun , deriv'd from That , which is , Absolutely Incomparatively , and exclusively , The Chief Truth above it ; it somewhat Pleases me , that Plato Himself , should come , though but Thus-Neere , to That Christ of Ours , John 14.6 . whose Name is The TRUTH , and who ( though Himself was essentially , and indivisibly , Matth. 19 17. the same Good God of whom He spake ) said also , there is None Good , but ONE , that is GOD ; and This , which He thus said , as Truly , as Dogmatically , directs me to give you the English of the third Platonicall Reason for the Unity of the Godhead , that there is One , and an Onely God , because there is a Chief Bonitas , a Supreme Goodness which Comprehends All , which is Any where , or in any Degree , Good , within its one self ; that there is such a Chief Goodness ( which has no Admixture of Bad in it , for , els it would not be the Chief Good , which is Nothing els but Good , nothing in any Contrariety to Goodness ; and , by being partly-Good , and partly-bad , would be so far from the One only Good , that it would almost break its very self in two ) do but place Good a●d Goodness in the room of True , and Truth , and the Former Arguments may be all over , Re-pleaded ; By all of which , it appeares that there is bu● One God ; who is only More , in this most allowable , Theologicall , and Orthodox sense , in that He is One , More wayes than One ; and one way more yet ; for

He is , not onely One , simplicitate , by reason of the Composition , and , thereby , of the Finiteness , and Mortality of all things els , unless H● who is simply-One , though He continues them in their Finiteness , Clothes them upon , with Immortality ; He is not only One , 2 Cor. 5.4 singularitate , . as , all things els , besides the Supremes in their kinde , are , at least Two ; and those , in Genere suo supreme , are lesse One than He ; who , as He is , Ens simplicissimum , so he is Unitas simpliciter summa ; but he is also .

7. Picus Mirandula . One God , & One Only God , Universalitate ( as † one well sayes of Him ) Deus est Omnia , God , Is , All that Is : which , once agen , besides the Finiteness , and Mortanty of every thing e●s , takes off the Pretence unto Deity , from Any thing els ; All things that Are , the One God is All them together ; and much More , all them , then All they are themselves ; not only , in that , all they are but , severally , themselves ; This , is this , and nothing els but this ; That , is that , and nothing els but that ; and therefore , one by one , are Circumscrib'd , the Dimensions of their bodyes , which have Bodyes , being proportionated too , and comprehended within the Dimensions of that place , in which they are ; the Bodyes , at least , are so , if the created Spirits are not , this way also , circumscrib'd and comprehended ; for as to these very termes , in relation to Those very Spirits , adhuc sub Judice lis est , though it be extra Controversiam positum , that , even These also , severally , and One by One , are so Hic , ●hat they are not Alibi but their Hic & Nunc , and their Anon and Elsewhere , go together : but This One God , is , at once in all places , not circumscrib'd in any , and Is , all these , In One ; not only , the One God is more All things , than all things are themselves , this one way , but he is More All They , than All they are Themselves this Other way too , in that All They are Themselves Preeariò , and He , is All They , Potestativè ; they were , All , in Him , before they were at all in Themselves , as the effects ly Hid in their Causes , till they are Actually produc'd ; and They having been in Him , before they were made , by way of Power , and Authority , more than in Themselves , After they were made , they , Then , having a Being by Dependency , and Beholdingness , do no more Multiply Him , after they are Created , then they did Multiply Him , before they were Created , when there was nothing in th● world els but He , nay not so much as a world , neither , Himself being , as the Alone God , so , All That world which Himself Inhabited , in whom yet Al●things els , and Millions of worlds besides , even Then were , by way of Eminency , and Power to produce them .

8. The Best of all these ( however they are wrongfully call'd Gods , in respect of the first and Independent sense of the word , though they are Precarious and Derivative Gods , and that with a much more Authoritative 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , than Any Man can speak ; Psal. 82.6 . Dixi quòd Dii estis ) are so far from being Essentially-Really Gods , that they are not Similitudinarily so , not so much as like unto him , Amongst the Gods ( the Made-Gods , the Gods made by Man ) there is None ( they are called Gods , they are not so ; they are but Idols , 1 Cor. 8.4 . and an Idol is Nothing in the World , a whole Multitude of them is but a Repeated Nothing , a deal of Cyphers crouded together , without so much as one Figure to stamp a Being upon them ) None like unto thee , Psal. 86. ● . O Lord ; Whatever it is , that pretends to this , it must be , either All , or Part , of Heaven and Earth , and the Inhabitants thereof ; and yet , All of these , and every Part of these , are the Work of his Hands , Gen. 1.1 . In the Beginning , God made them All , and made them too , without Elaboration , on , without putting his Whole Hand to them , for they were ( as a Father Dishonours them from the Hand of God ) but Opus Digitorum Ipsius , and Fashion'd too , In Principio ; they , who had a Beginning , are as much Un-Godded , in that they , once , were not , as they , who have a Sepulcher , Diogen . Laert. in vita Thaletis . and are not now , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; and , therefore , upon this Ground , because they were Made , and were the Work of Another , does it well follow , and by way of Powerfull Argumentation and Confutation , in King David , Neither are there any W●rks like unto thy Works ; it is not a God , that can either be Idle , or not Work Excellently ; unless it makes , and no less than a New Heaven and a New Earth , it will forfeit all the Devotion , and Knees , which it Impotently Challenges ; Nay , the Best Counterfeit of all these , is so far from being Like that God , whom it would fain Resemble , that he that takes it so to be , is Like even to it ; Their Idols haue Mouths , but they speak not ; Eyes have they , but they see not ; they have Ears , Ps. 115.8 . but they hear not ; they that make them , are like unto them ; and what an Inglorious God is this , when it is the Contumely of Man himself to be such ! So sensless , so unseen , Ducit , & affictu quodam Interno rapit infirma corda mortalium , formae similitudo , & membrorum imitata compago ; Plus valent simulachra , ad Curvandam Infelicem animam quod os habent , oculos habent , aures habent , quam ad corrigendam , quod non loquuntur , non vident , non audiunt , non ambulant . so unheard-of , so unfit to be spoke of , a thing it is , to believe more Gods than One ; And though upon that place St. Austin saies , that the Outward the Shape , and Imitated Joyntness of Members , does not onely entice , and lead , but compell , and draw , the Affections of Weak Minds after them , yet I cannot choose but wonder , as well as Grieve , that his Observation should be any where true , that such Images should more prevail to humble a wretched Soul before them , because they have Mouth , and Eyes and Ears ( or , rather , Holes , instead of these ) than to instruct a wretched Soul , that it should not be humbled before them , because those Images can neither speak , nor see , nor hear , especially when the dumb and moveless posture of them speaks this to the Eye of the Beholder , as loudly as the Word of God does speak it ( who , if he had pleas'd , might Comment upon that Text of his , Et mihi si non vis Credere , Crede tibi ) that they are made by Man , and therefore cannot be Gods : Worship him therefore , not onely all ye , the Subjected People , Psal. 27.7 . but Worship him too , All ye , the Ruling Gods , and that , V. 9. because Thou Lord art high above all the Earth , thou art exalted far above all Gods ; whoever he be , that would be worshipp'd instead of a God , he is , instead of a God , a very Satan , and O , that we could get him hence , not onely out of this Isle , but out of the World too , that we , and all else , might neither have his Rome nor his Company ! Mat. 4.9 . For it is written , Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God , and him ONELY shalt thou serve .

9. And might not these three waies , by which God is One , and but Onely One , by Incomposition , by Singularity , and by Universality ; and these three Reasons of the Indivisible Oneness of God , drawn from Vnity it self , from Truth , and from Goodness , might not either of these three Degrees , or rather Orders of Unity , occasion that Zealous Expression of St. Bernard , in which he calls God On t , in the third Degree , the Superlative of Comparison ? who , rather than any else should make another God , would himself ( with a modest Parenthesis ) make a word , for the Onely God , Lib. 5. de Consider. Deus Vnus est , & ( si dici potest ) Vnissimus : Nay , one of the Better-brain'd Heathens , Plutarch , was so much too Rational to admit a Plurality of Gods , that he tels us , Apollo ( who was his God ) was so call'd ab a Privitivâ , & 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , because there cannot , to any sober Imagination , be more than One ; and , though all Wise Men say so ( for he is as very a Fool , that saies in his heart , Psal. 14.1 . there are Two Gods , as he , that saies there is No God , no not One ) yet I make choyce of the Testimony of the first of these , because of the Singularness and Fervency of his Expression , and of the latter , because of the Resolute Authority of the most Judicious of Heathens .

10. I shall conclude this way of Argumentation , that there is One God , that there is but One God , that nothing else is Really God , with a Note upon Deut. 6.4 . and proceed , in one word , openly against the Romanist , who , now , more than ever , laies Snares , to draw us off from the True Worship of the One God ; and though he does not make somewhat else his God , in Terminis , yet , in effect , he does , whil'st he applyes that Worship , which is onely Proper to the Onely True God , to somewhat else that is not God ; though he is not got into the Inner Rooms of the Polytheists , yet I am sure he treads upon their Threshold ; and , in another word , against the Opinionist , and Ill Liver of our own , the one being a Recusant , though not a Romanist , and the other robbing God of his honour , as much as he , though not the same way as he .

11. But before I proceed to these , hear this one Word of God , which it self calls upon you to hear it , Hear , Deut. 6.4 . O Israel . ( whatever sounds contrary to this , it must not be listned to ) the Lord our God is ONE Lord ; we should wear this Verse , written in our Heads and Hearts , ( we should read and peruse it there , for it is already there , written and engraven by the Finger of God ) as it is Recorded of the Jews , Fagius , in Exod. 13. that they writ it out in Parchment , and wore it within their Hair , and upon their Brow , and upon their Left Arm.

12. And yet , does not Rome at Rome , and Rome in England , sin against the Unity of the Godhead , which she confesses to Believe , whilst , on this side , and on yonder side the Sea , she bows down to Images , and invokes Saints , and , at this instant , labours , though in a Mine ; and fights against our Religion , though under the Cloke of it , both in Church and State , to make Proselytes , not onely to more Spirits than one , but to less than Spirit , to less than Un-canoniz'd , nay to less than Breathing Man , to Stocks , and Stones , Psal. 115.135.17 . Quibus non est Spiritus in Ore Ipsorum ? I could wish ( but that they are too cunning , not onely for me , but , a while , for the State too , to discover ) that some Man's Buff was taken off , and sent to his Holy Father , with that Question graven upon it , Haeccine Tunica Filit Tui ? Would the Pope himself , trow ye , as his Emissary , Counterfeit Protestant , that he might be a Successfull Fisher of Men ( though the very Success in Errour , is the greatest Dammage ) and draw all of us , as Fish to his Net ? I fear me , he would rather draw with the Binding of a Fagot .

13. He that worships Images on Earth , and Saints in Heaven , nay , that undoubted Saint , the Virgin Mary ( although even we also justly acknowledge that she is Quantò splendidior , Ovid. Met. lib. 2. quàm caetera sidera , fulget Lucifer , & quantò , quàm Lucifer , Aurea Phoebe , Tantò Virginibus Praestantior omnibus — ) More than , or as much as , or besides , the Holy Of-spring of that Virgin Mary , gives that Honour of God to another , either Thing , or Person , which God himself saies , he will give to neither ; I am the Lord ; that is my Name , Is. 42.8 . and my Glory will I not give to another , neither my Praise to Graven Images ; What greater Glory , than Invocation ? what greater Praise , than Prayer ? of which , in its Distinction , Praise is part — I will worship towards thy holy Temple , and Praise thy Name ; Psal. 38.2 . What harm has the Blessed Virgin done us , that we should afflict that Modesty and Humility of hers , ( which , no doubt she retains in Heaven , and is , even there also , the Handmaid of her God , though the very Best , and Best-beloved that he has ) with an undue Praise , and an unheard Prayer ? Not onely the Holy Ghost tels us , that when she heard those great Eulogies , and Wellspeakings , Luk. 1.28 . Hail , O thou highly Favour'd , the Lord is with thee ; V. 29. In Lib. cui Tit. Meditationis Vitae Christi Lat. Dar. à Michaele ab Isselt . c. 2. Blessed art thou among Women , though from the Mouth of an Angel , who knew better what he said , than either they or we , She was troubled at his saying , but their own Ludovicus Granatensis adds a Timuit to the Turbata est , and gives this reason for it , Nihil enim Humili adiosius est , quàm proprias audire Laudes , Nothing is more Hatefull to an Humble Mind , than to hear it self Commended ; why then do they , to the very Spirit of her , whom they so much love , that thing which she so much hates ? unless they will conceive she hath put off her Humility , with her Cloaths of Flesh ? and will not afford her as many Virtues in Heaven , as she had on Earth ? He goes on , Nihil magis timet , quam hujusmod● Gratulationes , She fears nothing more than a Mess of Praises ; and why will they diet her with that she is afraid to tast of ? why are they not more Civil , than to put so excellent a Lady ( whom they can never enough esteem , onely bating her the honour of her God ) into a Fright ? She is , indeed , Angelical , ( whatever they will , below God ) she has the Passion of Hope , that they will Convert , the Passion of Joy , when they do Convert , not to her , but God , and the Passions of Fear and Grief , when they do Convert , not to God , but her ; and he goes on still , and still wondrously and Pathetically well , Quemadmodum Avarus metuit Latrones , as a covetous Man , when he rides with his Master behind him , a Portmantieu of gold at his back , fears a high-way Theef ; sic verus humilis metuit laudes hominum , quae sunt fures humilitatis ; so , one , that is truly humble , fears an over-praise , which is an enemy ( pessimum inimicorum genus laudantes ) and a Theef too , Tacitus . to steal away her humility ; and why then will they put her , into so great , and so dangerous a fear ? as if they suspected , either she is not truly humble , or else would not have her be so hereafter . Let them take heed lest by such Adulatory complements , themselves be those Theeves , of whom our Saviour , ( the Son of our Virgin Mary , and of their Goddess Marry ) hath said , that they shall not come to Heaven , to break through , Mat. 6.20 . and steal there ; Let them , if they will bow in their Churches , as our late † † In his Speech in the Star-Chamber June 14.1637 . Arch-Bishop hath observed Moses and Aaron fell down upon their faces at the door of the Tabernacle , Numb . 20.6 . as Hezekiah the King and all with him did , they bowed and worshipped , 2 Chron. 29.29 . as David calls upon all to do , Ps. 95.6 . O come let us worship and b●w down ; nay , let me , without offence , ( for I hope , none at home , will be angry at the very , and express words of Scripture ) adde one example more of this kind of veneration ; because the reason of it is involv'd in it , Wherewith shall I come before the Lord ? and bow my self before the high God ? Micah . 6.6 . the Prophet will let them alone , and we will nor quarrel at them ; for , this is no part of the pre●ent controversy , whether God is to be worshipt , with the Body also ? and holy and good Men of our own , the stoutest adversaries of the errors of Rome , have done all this ; but then let them do all this , as a worship only to the only God ; let them do it upon the Prophets account , bow , and be lowly , because God is as high now , as ever he was ; and if they tell me , the Prophet joins them together , as there being the same and equal Authority , or , at least , License , for bowing before the high God , as for comming before the Lord , if they shall inquire , why we , who know it necessary to come before the Lord , Heb. 10.25 . and not to forsake the Assembling of our selves together , as the manner of some is , do yet call it unlawful , and either Anti-Christian , or Jewish , to bow before the high God , I confess I have not wherewith to reply ; and all this I say , to take off from the scandal , which has been thrown upon the former Pillars of our Church , Holy Scripture it self being the Pillar of their practise , which , that is was not Judaical , the most R. † † In answer to the tw●lfth Innovation , so cald . Laud hath cleard , in that , long before Judaism began , Bethel the House of God was a place of Reverence , collected out of Gen. 28.17 , &c. To inquire whether All the Negative Commandements do not , all of them , involve a Preceptive Affirmation directly contrary to the prohibition ; whether , in the † † The sccond to us , but , none at all , to Rome . second Commandement , the Affirmative Duty is not , that we ought to bow to God ; whether , to bow to graven Images , be not , therefore , Idolatry , because the Image is thus worshipt with a reverence due to God , non est hujus institu●i & loci ; yet this is evidently and expresly enough a command , Thou shalt not make unto thee any Graven Images , Exod. 20.4 . or the likeness — Thou shalt not bow down thy self to THEM , nor serve THEM ; and I think the Emphasis lyes in the last word ; These words , however they have an Art and shift , not to call them the Second Commandement , yet they have no shift nor Art at all , not to call them Scripture , they being in their very own Bible , as wel as in Gods , one only word being chang'd , which alters not , and another left out , which touches not , the quick , V. 5 and heart of the Objection , In the Bible translated by the Colledge of Doway . Printed by John Consturier , 1635. at Roven . Thou shalt not adore them , nor serve them ; and this is the result of all their long Notes upon that Commandement ; they worship Saints with Dulia , not with Latria ; that Saints are to be honour'd with Religious Honour , which is greater then Civil , & less then Divine ; that they Honour God alone with Sacrifice , and not Saints ; that they have Authentical examples , in these Scriptures Gen. 32.48 . Exod. 3.32 . Numb . 22. Joshua 5.3 . Reg. 18.4 . Reg. 2. Psalm . 98. for honouring Saints and Reliques . Not to meddle with their Dulia and Latria any otherwise , then as , after , they interpret them by Divine , and Religious worship ; and not to meddle with these , in the answers already given to them by † † Of the Church Book 3. C. 20. p. 106. Printed at London 1606. Doctor Field , any otherwise , than to call to your remembrance that remarkable passage out of St. Austin Honoramus eos ( i. e. Saints and Angels ) Charitate , non servitute . De verâ Relig. Cap. 55. which , in the sense of that Holy Father , dos more expresly and significantly exclude the Dulia to Saints and Angels , by how much Servitus is more Latinely significant , than Dulia , but , to examine a fresh their Distinction of worship , into Divine and Religious , and to determine out of Scripture-probalities at least , by occasion of St. Austins distinction of Charitas and Servitus .

14. I take it , Divine and Civil , are terms directly opposite ; and Religious and Civil , are terms so too ; and Divine and Religious , in respect of worship , are terms equivalent : All which if so it be , they have much faild in Logick in dividing worship , into three parts , two of which three , against rule , and reason , and disputation , do Coincidere ; whether they do so , or not , and how they can , or cannot be distinct , in the sense , in which Doway urges them , let us further try .

The word Divine , though it dos alwaies , dos not only relate to God ( and the Membra Dividentia of any thing , ought to be plain , and evident , and not only so , but Incommunicable too , as being the essentiales differentiae , which do dare else , and distinguere ab omni alio ) else , why is the title of the last Book of God — 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 The Revelation of St. JOHN the DIVINE ? of whom I never yet heard that it was a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , calld in question even by the Church of Rome , whether he was a Divine , yea or no ; And then , as Creature may be Divine , in an Interiour degree , as God himself is Divine ; so the Creature-Worshippers , ( if they may worship at all ) may worship Creature ( notwithstanding this plausible distinction ) with Divine worship , Caveated that the Divine worship be infinitely inferiour to that of God ; this is all their own sense of Religious worship , and let them evade , if they can , my application of it to Divine worship .

15. But then , next , let them give me leave soberly to inquire concerning the lawfulness of this Inferiour degree as they call it , and but religious worship , as they diminish it : I must confess , that , as Religion is so calld a Religando , from the Obligation it lays upon Man to perform it ; so , it cannot , as yet , enter into me , that any thing is true Religion , or truly Religious , but what is made so , Vi Praecepti , by such a command , which makes it binding , and obligatory to Man ; is any thing Religion , which may be observ'd , or not observ'd ? is any Act Religious , which may be done or omitted , ad placitum spontanei cultoris ? O what an Indifferent , what a Neutral , what a luke-warm Religion is this , which , when Man forbears , God is not offended , and when Man practises , God is ready to spue him out of his mouth , with a Quis ista Requisivit ? Is. 1.12 . The DIVINE himself tells us as much , so then because thou art luke-warm , and neither cold nor hot , I will spew thee out of my mouth ; and let them not tell me , that this threat is denounc'd upon the luke-warmness of him that pays the worship , and not upon the indifferency of the worship which he pays , lest I tell them , it is the same fault , to obtrude that service with too much fervour , which is , at best , but indifferent , if not an obsequious sin , as to pay that service , with too little fervour , which is so far from being indifferent , that it is a sin of undutifulness , not to pay it : but is it , not a Neutral , not an indifferent worship , but a necessary duty ? if so , so it is , by vertue of command , either from God , or from the Church of God ; That God hath not commanded this kind of worship , we shall shew anon ; only , in the mean while let me tell them , that if they pretend th●● to be a duty , & their performance of it to be an obedience to the command of their God , then , this it self , is not , in their sense , a Religious , but , by their own Interpretation , a Divine worship , in that they only obey that God in doing it , who commanded them to do it ; If I do not worship God himself , and worship him infinitely , in respect of himself , and , as near to infinitely , as I can , in respect of my own devotion , when I labour to the utmost of my own indeavours , assisted by his grace , to fulfil , all , or any , of his own immediate commands , I would fain know , when it is , or in what it is that they do , or I can , worship the God of us all , with a Divine worship . If they worship Saints or Angels , by vertue of a command from the Church of God ( which very Church of God can only command , either that Gods own commands be obey'd , or that her commands be obeyd in the name of God , in those things , which God , by leaving them indifferent , neither charg'd , nor prohibited , hath left to her prudence to consider , and to her power to determine , not at all that any Sanction of hers be submitted to against the express will of God ) then they perform this duty , either simply , as the Church , consisting of such a number of Men , commands it , and then it is not so much as Dulia to Saints or Angels , ) but rather a civill worship of the Commanders ; for , as the stream will never run up , any higher then the Fountain which feeds it , so , their obedience cannot be denommated by a more excellent stile , then that which belongs to the primary cause of their obedience ; or else , they perform this duty , as the Church , not consider'd as such a number of Men , but as infallibly assisted with the Grace , and direction of God , Injoins it , and then , their worship of Saints and Angels , is not so little as Dulia , but so much as Latria , in that the Direction of God is the principal cause of their worship , and the service perform'd to Saints and Angels , it being not perform'd to them , as they are Saints and Angels ( for , such they are , though God , and his Church never bids the worship of them ) but because God hath commanded it , either by himself , immediatly , or by his Spirit residing in his Church , is as much a Latria , and worship of God , as Prayer to God himself , even privatly , because he hath commanded it , or Prayer to God , in a set form of Liturgy in his House , because his Church hath prescrib'd it , is a Latrta and worship of God ; eâdem positâ causâ , idem sequitur effectus . Thus , for ought I yet see , their distinction of Latria , and Dulia , and civil worship , grounded upon , and proportion'd to ( as they tell us most triumphantly ) the three several degrees of Excellency , that of God , that of created , but supernatural , grace and glory , that of worldly Excellency , ( which , they truly say , are as much different , as God , Heaven , and Earth ) is , as to their present use of it fallen to the ground , and hath deserted them to a Palinodia Canenda ; for , though in all these , the Excellency Inherent in the severall subjects is That , which Is worshipped , yet the Cur sit , in all of them , is the Command of God ; els the wisest of the Heathen ( who , often , do that , which is Bonum , but not Benè , for want of understanding the Right Cause for which they should do it ) do worship aright , because they pay Reverence to the most Excellent object of Worship , though they pay it not according to the Command and Direction of That Chief Excellency ; els , the same Heathens Reverence their Kings aright ( for , that of the King is the Instanc'd worldly excellency which Inferiour men ought to Reverence ) though they do not Reverence them 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; 1 Pet. 2.13 . and is there not more Regard to be had , in the Reverence and Adoration , which we Pay to the Chief●st Excellency of all , even to God Himself , to the Why we do it , then to the Bare doing of it ? But , of this no more . Rather ,

16. To take off from the Worshipping of Angels ( and by consequent , from the Worshipping Saints too ; for , the Reason of their Dulia , drawn from Grace , and Glory , is equally valid , or equally Invalid , as to both ) Let me give you two Reasons , One . Negative , out of the History of Moses , and the Other , Positive , from the Command of Christ .

17. Why is it , that Moses , in the History of the Creation , either speaks not at all of the Creation of Angels , in so much that some say , the Angells were Created long before that History , which Moses wrote ? or els , that He speaks of their Creation , so obscurely , that some say , they were Created , when God made the Heavens , others , they were Created , when God said Fiat Lux ? why this , either preterition , or Intricacy ? but that it is a much less Mistake , and no sin at all , when Man is Invincibly , I or Supinely and Carelesly , Ignorant of the time in which the Angels were Created , or whether they were not Created before any Time Was ; ( Time , which the Philosopher defines to be Numerus Motus , Aristot . c. de quanto . and which Motus relates to Bodyes , being That , which the B●dyless Angells are very little concernd in — ) then , to know , so Curiously , of them , till Man does Idolize them ? Idolatry , we all know , was apt to creep into the very Cradle of the world ; the Serpent ( which Himself was the first , and the early Idoll , in being listned to more than God ) did not account it as any of his small skills , to wrapp a superstitious Adoration in the Mantle of antiquity ; In the first Book of God , we hear of an Abraham before any tidings of an Angel , of that Abraham , who is the Father of the Faithfull , Rom. 4.12 . who , it is like , would teach the people , the same Faith , which himself did bear to God alone ; of whom , it is first recorded that He Believed in the Lord , Gen. 15.6 . and he counted it to him for Righteousness , or , in the Doway-Books , Abraham believed God , and it was Reputed to him unto Justice , and then , in the Chapter after the first newes of an Angel , and the first business of an Angel in Scripture , was , to send back Hagar to her Mistress Sarah , Gen. 16.7.9 . from whom she had Fled , — And the Angel of the Lord said unto her , Return to thy Mistress , and submit thy self unto her hands , — perhaps , to signify that , least of all , would they themselves robb That God whose servants , and Ministers they are , of the Honour due to him from any their fellow-servants , when they were so Jealous of the Honour of Sarah , to send back her servant to her , and to charge her , carry her duty along with her ; least of all would they Superstitiate those into a wrong worship , who translate that place — And the Angel of Our Lord said unto Her — And why may not this b● the Reason of the Concealement of the Angels Creation , Doway . as well as of the Concealement of Moses his Sepulcher , to prevent Idolatry ? since themselves say , in their Marginall Note upon That part of the sixt verse of the 34. Chapter of Deuteron : — And no man hath known his sepulcher until this present Day — ( so they render it ) Onely Angels , whose Ministery God used herein , knew the place of his Buriall : lest the Jewes , prone to Idolatry , might have honourd him for God , I add to their Interpretation . In honoring him , with That spirituall worship , which is due to God , though they never misunderstood his very Body to be God .

18. And does not Christ Himself seem to Debarre the Angells from any , Matth. 22.37 , 38 , 39. the most Minute Adoration , when He sayes , The First , and Great Commandement , is , Thou shalt love the Lord Thy God with all thy Heart , and with all thy Soul , and with all thy Minde ; and the second is like unto it , Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as Thy self ? That first Commandement is the summary of all in the first Table ; and that second , the Abridgment , and concise comprehension of all in the sec●nd ; That so they are , the very Naming of this Command — Love thy Neighbour , the Second , does sufficiently evidence ; else in our account , the Not making of Graven must be the second , and in the Roman account the Not taking in vain — In neither of these , is there roome for Angel-Adoration ; not in the first ; for , if the subordinate love of Angels must be understood there , lest we should bestow more than Love upon them , God is content ( as a prevention of That errour , ) to challenge no more than Love to His very selfe ; t is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , both in St. Matthew , and in St. Luke , 10.27 . t is , in neither of them 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , no , nor 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 neither , which properly signifies ad Pedes alicujus advolvi ; the Devill was as goodly a Grammarian , as He was badly Ambitious , when He said , even to Christ Himself , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Matth. 4.9 . If thou wilt Fall down and worship ; and our Saviour's Answer is very considerable in that very word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , V. 10 thou shalt Worship , thou shalt fall down to ( t was an Ancient , and every-where practise — 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) the Lord thy God , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Him only shalt Thou serve ; the Only is to be referd to the worship by Falling down , ( for That was it which Satan calld for , ) as well as to the Latria ; does the word thou shalt Love , mean Latria , and That only ? then , that meaning of the word does shut out the Angell from any share in it ; dos it mean Latria and Dulia too ? then the next words 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Lord Thy GOD , does shut out the Angell from any share even in Dulia too ; for , thus to love the Angell , is to esteem him as the Lord our God ; and less hope is there for the Angel to be Reverenc'd in the second Commandment ; for , an Angell is not such a Neighbour of ours , as to be our Father , or Mother ; I never yet heard of a she-Angell , He is not such a Neighbour , From whom we can take away , or to whom preserve ; not such a Neighbour , whom the very'st Sodomite alive can defile , not whom the very'st Saint alive can make more Chast ; not such a Neighbour from whom any High-way-Man can Robb ought , or to whom any Magistrate can Restore ought ; if there be any hope at all , t is in the next command , Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Neighbour , which , as it is Principally meant against That kind of false witness , which does Really Prejudice and Indamage my Neighbour , so it is not , at all meant against the Defrauding , either my Brother whom I have seen , or the Invisible Angells of God , of any part of Religious worship ; for , I must love my Neighbour as my self , and would I also , be thus worshipt ? Matth. 7.12 . thus Religiously ? What soever ye would that Men should do unto you , do ye even so to them ; I would , if it were possible , have the love of all , and , because so I would , let who will Reward with hate for my love , I will Restore That , Psal. 69.4 . which I took not away , and pay him back Love for His Hate ; but I will neither Take , nor Give to any Man , what I owe only to my God ; if they say , because of the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in that Text , this is the Law only of Man to Man , and none at all of the Law of Man to Angells , or of Whole Man to Half Man , to Saint Departed , from His own Body , as well as from our society , they must give me leave to tell them back , out of my Saviours words , in the Close of that Text , that This , and nothing els but This , is the Law ; if , because in Scripture , God Himself is often Parabled , by the Name of Man , they will needs Include Angells too , in the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Let them give me the example of One Good Angell that hath thus worship't Man , unless him who is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and of whom God Himself hath said — Let the Angells of God worship HIM , Heb. 1.6 . and I will allow them a whole thousand of Men , to do even so to him , to worship Many Angels more . And , in the last place , if their Excellency above Nature be the Basis to Uphold , and the Diplomata to require a worship above Civill , I would know but one thing more , and I have done with This ; According to the Equity of that Rule , that , which is More excellent , does deserve more of This worship ; why then is it , that this man chooses a Matthew for his Saint ; and the Confess●r of that man puts a Peter upon him for his , aswell as a third makes a choice of a Virgin Mary , and a fourth has a beloved John taskd upon him ? if the Virgin be a better Saint , than the Publican , why has Matthew more of one mans Devotion than she ? if John , the other Son of the Virgin Mary ( Woman , John 19.26 . behold Thy Son ) is a more excellent Saint than Denying Peter , why is Another , more prostrate to Peter , and less , if at all , to John ? or , if Peter must be the better Saint , t is but asking the same question backwards ; and why , is any one , even the best of these , more worshipt , alone , than herself with the whole Society of Saints , and Angels ? Since , if they are Catalogu'd together ; None of Her Excellency is left out , and all of theirs is put in ?

19. The Religious worship of praying to Saints and Angells is . Ex Confesso , part of that worship which is due to God ; but then , All , that is due to God , they pay not to Saints , and Angels , because they Sacrifise not unto them ; Literall and proper Sacrifices they must mean ; for those Other Sacrifices of Praise & Thanksgiving , they offer to Saint and Angell , and those other Sacrifices , Heb. 13.1.6 . with which God is well pleased , of doing good and Communicating , they offer even to Men ; to their God , and Christ , what do they offer ? they offer even Christ Himself ; will they thus Pay Him , with nothing els , but his own Coin ? Heb. 10.14 . will they multiply the offerings of Christ , notwithstanding He , by ONE Offering hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified ? Will they multiply Christ himself , whilst every one , that Receives , has All Christ , and yet All Christ is still in Heaven too , and all this Bodily , notwithstanding that assertory Truth of the Heathen Man , Matth. 5.17 . In Plauto Amphytrio , S●si●m alloquitur , qui se Domi ait esse , cum peregre sit , Copus Christi , Domi ? in Coelorum Coelo & tamen peregre , in terrâ , in Hac Terra , & in Illa ? in Hac , & in Illis ? in Hoc ore , & in Illo ? in Hoc , & in Illis ? founded upon the unalterable Principles of Nature , which , as the Law , Christ came not to destroy , but to fulfill , Tun' id dicere audes quod nemo unquam Homo antehac Vidit , nec Potest fieri , Tempore uno , Homo Idem Duobus Locis ut Simul Sit ? Quae neque Fieri Possunt , neque Fando unquam accepit quisquam , Profers .

Were their Christ not yet ascended ; were He still , Bodily upon earth , though without any Consecration of theirs , which , as the Poet sayes his verses can bring down the Moon , — DeCoelo possunt deducere Christum

Had he erected almost All of Christianity , had and not yet Instituted the Holy Supper , they would then have nothing at all to Offer to their Christ , and to His Father , but of the same kind , Prayer , and Praise , which they offer not to Him alone , but to him , and to Angell , and to Saint too , unless they would relapse into abolisht Judaism , and Sacrifise a Bullock still ; since , therefore , we cannot be perswaded to worship , Saint , and Angell , as they do , though in an Inferiour , yet in a Spirituall degree , since we cannot be wrought upon to Sacrifise , as they pretend to do , Really , but only , in Commemoration , as Christ hath taught , Luke 22.19 . Do this in Remembrance of me , I must take leave , in one word more , to take off this worship from Saint and Angell , in that very word , upon which they Found their Mistaken Duty , by which it may appear , they worship God amisse , in giving that worship , which is Peculiarly His , to that which is not He , and we worship God aright , by the peculiar debt of Invocation , though not by the Impropriety of Sacrifice , Heb. 10.18 . since it is as true as Gospell There is no more Offering for sin ; which will make way into the Inquiry after those which they cal the Authenticall examples in Scripture .

20. Amongst the Rest , it seemes to be warily done , that they Name not the 148. Psalm , the Psalm begins , Praise ye the Lord from the Heavens ; their Note upon that , is , All ye Heavenly Spirits praise God ; V. 2 the Psalm goes on , Praise ye him all His Angells ; though in the form of the words , David Here seems to speak to Saints , and Angels , yet Intentionally , He speaks and prayes only to God , that Saints and Angels should praise Him , and expects no more to be heard by Saint , and Reply'd to by Angell , then he believes Sun and Moon , Heaven and Waters can grant a Request , V. 3 V. 4 or that Fire and Hayle , Snow and Vapours , have eares , or that Beasts and Cattell , V. 8 Creeping things and flying Fowle can understand , V. 10 or that Kings , and Princes , and Judges , V. 11 are to be Worshipt more than Civilly , or that People are to be worshipt at all ; V. 11 and the Reason why all these should Praise the Name of the Lord ( as doubtless , they all doe , Omnia precantur , hymnosque Proclus . l. de Sacrif . concinunt ad Ordinis sui Ducem ; alia , Intellectuali modo , alia Rationali , alia Sensitivo , alia Naturali ) is exprest verse 13. — for , His Name Alone is Excellent ; which though they Render Is Exalted , it matters not ; since every Exaltation is Excellent in suo genere , and every excellency exalted ; and if thus to be excellent , super omnia , to have His glory above the Earth and Heaven , be the Partiall cause of spirituall praise ( for , the Adaequate Cause , is that excellency , and the Declaration of it , and the Command upon it ) then , nothing els must at all partake of that kind of Worship , though in an Inferiour degree , all eis being excluded by that Alone-Excellent , to signify , that whatever els it be , which has an Inferiour Excellency , t is not excellent at all , as to the Claim of this praise ; for , throughout the Psalm , David does only say , and often say , Praise him , and Praise him , and not , Praise Him thus , and thus , in summitate , whereby he asserts to God , not only the Chief , but the All of Praise ; and in that word , The prayse of all his Saints , or , as They , a Hymn to all his Saints , is only meant , that God is the Praise of them al , that God , Verse 14 who Inhabiteth the Prayses of Israel , takes possession of them all , Psal. 23.3 . and will not divide stakes with an Inmate Saint , not that the Saints should be a Praise , and Hymn , and Song one to the other ; els , if their degree of Excellency be Title enough to a Degree of Spiritual praise , if That should chance to be true , which Macrobius out of Plato tells us , Plato cùm de Sphaerarum Coelestium volubilitate tractaret , singulas ait Sirenas singulis orbibus Insidere , significans Sphaerarum motu , Cantum Numinibus exhiberi . Macrob . in Somn. Scipion. l. 2. cap. 3. and a Councill should tell us so too , that there is a severall Siren sitting upon each severall Heaven , and singing praise to God , we must sing Spirituall Praises , not only to God ( though , only to God we must ) not only to Saint and Angell ( to whom we must not at all ) but to that New Society of Sirens too .

But let us examin their grounds in Scripture . Gen. 32.24 . There wrestled a Man with him . Their Note sayes ; this Man was an Angel , and this wrestling Spiritual , as appears by Jacobs earnest prayer , and the Angels Blessing ; but whence comes this Man to be an Angel ? the Text Sayes not so ; why is not this Man the second Person in the God-head , who vouchsaft to appear to Jacob , in he would , that man-hood , which he would , after , Take ? why may not Jacob , V. 29 when he sayes , Tell me , I pray thee , thy name , seem , to desire a further and plainer knowledge of this Mystery ? and why may not the answer wherefore is it , that thou dost ask after my name intend , that Jacob should be Thankfull for so much Revealing of the Lord unto him , and that the plainer evidence of the second Person , was reserv'd to after Ages ? what Angell will ever take upon him to Bless , and not declare the Commission which God hath given him so to do ? and whether it was that Second , or either of the other two persons of the Godhead , V. 30 yet , for certain , God it was — I have seen GOD face to face ; V. 1 In the beginning of that Chapter , V. 2 when the Angels of God met Jacob , so apparently , that they were discernd to be Angels , He does not call them God , but Gods Host , He does not wrestle , nor pray at all ; and , if prayer to One Angell would be prevalent , how not much more , to More ? And why did He pray to One , but that He knew him not to be an Angell ? why did he not pray to More , but that he knew them to be Angells ? If it was an Angell , Jacob did worship him as God , in that he said , I have seen God face to face , and this themselves , upon Exodus , confess to be Idolalatry , and , by consequence , themselves Idolaters , if this be their example ; but , They , and we , truly acknowledge Jacob , in that speech of his , to have been no Idolater , therefore Jacob neither must be their example , so much as to Invoke an Angell ; for their Authority , how to Interpret that Text , I have neither Leisure enough , nor Book enough to search ; but it matters not , since Scripture , under which Head That Argument is made , Answers for it self ; it does so again ,

Genes. 48.16 . The Angell ( that delivereth me , sayes their Translation ) which Redeemed me from all evill , bless the Lads ; they say true , that we say , This Angell must be understood of God ; they say , we indeavour to prove this , out of the 31. and 32. Chapter , not onely so , we are not so far to seek ; we will prove this out of the very words , the Context , and your own Translation , and Comment ; you say , it is evident from this place , that the Angell ( He , that is so calld ) deliverd Jacob from evills , what ? from All ? you do well to leave out that word , when you mean a Created Angel ; but That word is in the Text , because of which you ought to Mean the Creator God ; for , who ●●s , can deliver us from All Evil , be-besides that God , Matth. 6.13 . to whom our Christ hath taught us to Pray — Deliver us from Evill ? Amongst All the evils , from which Jacob was delivered , was not a starving hunger one , when he was Fed first out of Egypt , and then , in Egypt ? himself reckons right , when he maks mention only of that great Comprehensive Blessing , to Feed him , without which he could not have Injoyd any one of all the rest ? and was it not God which did this for him ? and by contexture , was not . God the Angel , who did this , and all the rest ? Looke one verse backward , and you may read in your own book ; GOD , in whose sight , my Fathers , Abraham , and Isaac , have walked , God , that feedeth me from my youth untill this present day , The Angel , that delivereth me from All Evills , Bless — give me leave to tell you , that God and God , and Angel , are the Nominative before the Verb Bless ; and certainly , if God does Bless , we are secure enough , though we never Invoke His Angel which he hath Made ; and that the Angel , after , is the same with the God before , appeares very probably , in that he is no more separated from God , the first and second time nam'd , than God the second time nam'd , is from God the first , not with an And , but only with a Comma ; Non quisquam Hanc Verborum Forman Concepit , Serm. 4. contra Arrianos . sayes Athanasius , Det Tibi Deus , & Angelus , if he meant a Created Angel ; t is the Son of God , whom Jacob prayes to , Hunc enim Magni Consilii Patris Angelum noverat , whom the Prophet calls Angelum Faederis ; Mal. 3.1 . Your own Note there , is , Christ is the Angel of the Testament ; Can you imagine it possible to be Demonstrated , that This Christ is not the Angel , whom Jacob prayes to ? Your selves must be somewhat more than Angel thus to Dive into the secrets of His Spirit ; Lib. 3. Thesaur . c. 1. Not to desire you , with Cyril's Quaeso to it , that you would not defame That Holy Man , but , with a Quaeso and an Obsecro too , let me even Beseech you , that you would not Dishonour our Christ so far , as , Peremptorily to Robb Him of That Prayer , which , for ought you know , Jacob directed to Christ Himself ; to Jacob , Him of doing that good to Jacob , which , for ought you can ever dispute to the Contrary , Christ Jesus may have done by Himself , and without the Ministery of His Angells . In Exod. 2. and 32. not one word of worshipping Saint , or Angels ; in the One , there is required a Reverent Address to God Himself , in the Other , is reprehended the Making and worshipping a Molten Calf .

21. Indeed , in Numb. 22. the same Balaam worshipt the Angel with Religious worship , in their Notes upon the 31. verse , which same Balaam , in their own Notes upon the eighth verse , Consulted his False God , whom he served , and called him the Lord , not knowing our Lord God Almighty ; the Authour ( since such was their Character of Him ) might render the practise well worthy suspicion , if not abomination also , even to them who cite him with such a mark of disgrace .

22. Joshua 5. and ( with them ) verse 15. Joseph fell flat on the ground , and Adoring , he said — Adoring of him , who said verse before I am a Prince of the Host of our Lord ; why not The Prince ? which the Word equally beares , why not — The Lord ? since there is no Our in the Originall ; ( I have observ'd that to be a frequent zealous mistake , Our for The ) and then , All he denyes , is , that he is the same Person , for he is not Lord , and Father ; not , that he is the same Nature , for , the Son , is Lord and Prince too ; and the Son it is , that said this , who , in the Right opinion of the Ancients , did often in the Old Testament , appear in a Similitudinary flesh , as , in the fulness of Time he came , in a Real Flesh ; and who , in this Text , was truly worshipt , if not as the Son , yet , as True God ; his Name does attest this , the Lord , Ch. 6. v. 2. ( still they call it Our Lord ) 't is Jehovah , a Name incommunicable to any but God ; nay , it is the Lord too , in that very stile , in which he delivers himself to Josue — the Prince of the Host of the Lord ; All the Angels in Heaven , and all the Saints there , and in Earth , are his Host , and who but God is Prince of all these ? if it be an Angel , then that Angel is , in one Notion , a Captain , & Commander in Chief , as being a Prince , and in another Notion , a Subject , and under his own Command , as being Part of that Host , of which himself is Prince . Nay , let me say it , ( and not be told of a Petitio Principii , for I have Scripture for what I say ) his very accepting of this Honour done to him ( since it is evident and unscrupled , that he was no less than Angel ) argues him to be more than Angel , as much more as God ; I fell , saies St. John , at the Angels feet to worship him , and he said unto me , See thou do it not , Rev. 19.10 I am thy Fellow-servant , worship God , in that very form and posture of Worship in which Josue fell down ; and you have the same again , totidem Verbis , Ch. 22.8 , 9. and , if that may adde any thing to the weight , 't is not onely in the last Chapter , but , in the same Chapter too , in which this also follows , If any man shall adde unto these things , God shall adde unto him ( he shall do it , no Angel shall stop his hand ) the Plagues that are written in this Book ; V. 18 enough , with the Grace of that God , to make a Man solemnly bethink himself of that Counsel of St. Paul , not onely Let no man Beguile you of your Reward , but , if St. John may interpret him , Let no man Plague you , instead of Not Rewarding you , Plague you with more Plagues than those on Egypt , with all the Plagues which God hath denounc'd in both his Volumes , Let no Man ( nay let no Angel neither ) Beguile you , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , being Voluntary in Humility , Col. 2.18 . and the Worship of Angels ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; it signifies Religion , that very Name which they put upon it , a Religious Worship .

23. Their Figure 3 , by enquiry into Joshua , is not there concern'd ; for , though I was apt to believe they borrow'd all their Arguments from Bellarmine ( in whom I find them all , and to whom , as well as to them , I reply ) and , by the preposterousness of 5 before 3 , might well conjecture , they did not mean Josue , yet I was willing not to spare my own pains , but to be exact , even against an Imaginary Possibility of Objection , that I had not reply'd ad Idem , but made choyce of Texts which they never urg'd , and which themselves taught me to answer ; therefore , to follow them , and their Bellarmine , I go on to examine

24. * * Called with us , the First Book of Kings , cap. 18. ver. 7. 3 Reg. 18. When Abdias was in the way , Elias met him , who when he ( Abdias ) knew him , fell on his Face , and said , My Lord , art not thou Elias ? Their Note saies , Abdias adored Elias as the Prophet of God , and a Holy Man , with Religious Honour , called Dulia . Did he so ? I trow , not ; not onely because this Dulia also is due to God , in Christ's own account , and therefore not payable to any else , but God himself ; for , when our Saviour Christ saies , Ye cannot 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , serve God and Mammon , Mat. 6.24 . two such contrary Masters ; He saies it , upon the neck of this , as a strong probation of it ; V. 23 No man can 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , serve two Masters , not onely two , which are contrary , as God and Mammon , but two , which are two , though in a subordination , as God and Prophet ; His Servants ye are , Rom. 6.16 . to whom ye obey , saies St. Paul , who himself would not be obey'd , no nor follow'd neither , in his Person , but in his holy Doctrine , and exemplary Life , as , in both of them , he follow'd Christ , Be ye Followers of me , 1 Cor. 11.1 . even as I also am of Christ . When he does but leave out the Name of Christ , he does not Command , but Beseech , I beseech you , 1 Cor. 4.16 . be ye Followers of me ; Salute indeed we must all them that have the Rule over us ; Heb. 13.24 I , and obey them too , V. 17 and submit our selves unto them , but we must onely obey their Precepts , and submit unto their Counsels , and not pay ( what we owe not ) a Religious Worship to their very Persons ; neither This , which we owe not , nor Contempt , which we do owe , not to pay ; what we owe , and how we are to pay , is involv'd in the seventh verse of that Chapter , Remember them which have the rule over you , who have spoken unto you the Word of God . According to that Express Word , or the Evidently Necessary Deductions thence , we must not onely greet , and mind them , but obey and submit unto them — But , after all this , first , is it Obligatory enough , that the Scripture tels us , such a thing was done , though it commands not us to do the like ? if so ( not to heap up Consequential Inconveniencies , but to be Civil to them whom I must not Adore ) the Doway-argument from an Idolatrous Balaam , must still stand in force , and the Bellarmine-argument of an Irreligious Saul Adoring a Diabolical Apparition instead of the Soul of Samuel , must not onely be Logically concludent , which it is not , but also Theologically binding , which it much less is ; but , secondly , the Prostration of Abdias to Elias , was not a Religious , but a Civil Worship ; it was , indeed , to a Prophet , a holy Man , but that does not Specificate the Act , nor any more make it a Holy , than a Prophetical Worship ; for , when they say , the Holiness of the Man Bow'd to , was the Cause of the Bowing , yet they must mean the Religiousness of the Bowing to be inherent in him who did Bow , and not in him to whom ; But not this neither ; This falling on the Face was an Outward and Civil Reverence , nor did the Heart it self mean it any more , as far as it is possible for Man to discover ; if it be pretended otherwise , let me desire to know where that Perspective is , and of what it is made , which lets in the Eye of one Man into the Heart of another ; nor was the Heart of Abdias deceitfull , in that it did mean this , this Outward and Civil Respect , which was writ in Broad Letters upon his Bending Face ; neither is this Civility of respect confin'd to the Secularity of the Object , but dilated to those Created Excellencies , which are Spiritual also , not as they are Spiritual , but as they are Created Excellencies , with abstraction , from Spirituality , not Actu Negationis , by Denying them to be Spiritual , but Actu Praecisionis , not Considering them in the Species of Spirituality , but in the Genus of Excellency ; Nay , but what if I shall say , a Civil Honour is due to any of these Excellencies ( throughout , I mean , as Doway does , the Excellencies which inhere in Living and Rational Subjects , and not , as Persia does , the Excellency of a Liveless , though Life-giving Sun ) even in their Spiritual Capacity , and Determination ? I am yet to learn wherein the Errour consists , if so I shall say ; especially , when those Excellencies , even Spiritual , and Quà Spiritual too , are conspicuously before our Eyes , they evidencing their Spirituity to the Eyes of our Mind , though those in our Head see onely Bodily Appearances , and either they address to us , or we to them ; In the Humbling Posture of Abdias , the Prostration of the Body ( which is all the Text tels us of ) was solely and entirely Civil ; and such a Civil Respect ( by Bowing , or , by what other Custome the Fashion of the Countrey does express Civility by , to stir the Head , or the Hat , or to lay Hand on Breast ) is Due to the Pastoral Authority from the Unorder'd Lay , by a Reason which equally concerns them both , that the one may be Excus'd , in that he hath Paid it , and the other Satisfy'd , in that he hath Receiv'd it ; that neither he , who hath them not , may lye under the Slander of Contemning holy Orders , nor he who hath them , lye under the Suspicion of being Contemn'd ; Would God appoint such an Honour to be paid to his own Officer , for the Receipt of which Debt , that own Officer of his could never give any Acquittance , nor be really sensible that he hath receiv'd it ? He is Man , though a Spiritual Man , that pays this Honour ; He is no more than Man , though a more Spiritual Man , that receives this Honour ; and therefore , in respect of both of them , the Honour is to be paid by one to the other , such a way as is cognoscible to Man ; and no way is such , but the way of paying Secular , Outward , Civil Honour ; He that does this , and does not mean it , does deceive himself more than me , for the Outward Honour is paid , though Un-willingly ; He that does mean more than this , even a Religious Honour ( any otherwise than as the paying of Civil Respect is a Duty which Religion commands ) deceives both himself and me ; himself , in paying that which he does not owe ; and me , in offering that which I will not receive : the Lay of Rome , and the Lay of England ( of Old England ) agree in paying this Outward Respect to the Minister of God , and I am perswaded , the Unlearned Lay of Rome ( who , as they understand it not , have never heard of this Charm-word Dulia ) do it with the same Integrity , as the well-taught Lay of England ; Since therefore the Outward Act is equally perform'd on both sides , let the Romish Teachers either call it as it is , an Outward Worship , if they will not endure the word Civil , or , in respect of the Persons to whom it was perform'd , Angelical , to Angels , or , to whom it is perform'd , Humane , to Men , or by any other Allowable Name , and , as to this Point , we will no longer be two sides , but one ; or else let them produce one Command in Scripture , or one Lawfull and Imitable Example , wherein the Internal , and Religious , and Duliaworship , is as Evident as the External Prostration , and we will , in Seneca's Language , Manus dare , without that Puta of his , and with a more Certain Concord , and in that Apostolical Expression , we will give unto them the Right Hand of Fellowship , Gal. 2.9 . and they shall be no more Strangers and Foreiners , Eph. 2.19 . but Fellow-Citizens with the Saints ; or , if they will not break the Word in two pieces , giving the Angel his part , by himself , and Man his , by himself , let them accept of St. Austin's Charitative Reverence , instead of their Religious Dulia , and we have done again : But because this Controversy , which was begun out of Scripture , should not close with a Father , a Paeter Patratus , I will conclude with a Text out of him , whom Rome does more peculiarly own for a Father , a Text apposite to the whole Matter in hand , and Refutative of their whole Interpretation ; 't is that in 1 Pet. 2.17 . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Honour all Men , Love the Brotherhood ; 't is a Precept in his ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΚΑΘΟΛΙΚΗ , that 's the Title of it , his General , or ( if they love that word more ) his Catholick Epistle , and therefore does oblige Every Man to the performance of it ; What ? must Every Man Honour to Every Man ? the Greater to the Less ? for , the Greater is One in the Every , and the Less is Another in the Every ; Upon what Foundation then stands that Distinction ( which it self is the foundation of all this Controversy ) of Excellencies , into Divine , Religious , and Natural ? Whence that Thesis , that the Subjects , in which these are , require from their Inferiours , in all these kinds , a Distinction of Worship , according to the distinction of Excellencies , which are severally in them ? Since it is an Apostolical ( nay , which with some , is more than that , a Petrine ) Truth , that even That , which is , in it self , Less , and Inferiour , in respect of Excellency is yet the true and proper Object of Worship , and Honour , even to That which is Greater , and Superiour , in respect of Excellency ? and yet All Men are to be Honour'd , even the Meanest of all , which throws a B●ock in the way of Excellency ; and again , All Men are to be Honour'd with no more than a Civil Honour , which throws another Block against Dulia ; that All Men are to be Honour'd , is the express Doctrine of the Apostle ; that amongst them all , the Ministerial Men ( who are part of all , and therefore involv'd in the same Worship ) are to be Honour'd onely Civilly , is grounded upon that word which St. Peter in the same verse , ( for , certainly , he would not use the same word , in one and the same verse , to one & another sense ) uses whereby to express Civil Honour . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Honour All Men , and , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Honour the King , therefore None of All are to be Honour'd with Another , a Bigger Honour , than the Biggest , the Chief of All , the King ; for , in the King's Name it is that they themselves issue out all their Writs for Civil Honour ; * * In their Notes upon Exod. 20. No Christian doubteth but he honoureth God with Divine Honour , and the King with Civil ; which very expression of theirs , ( besides that it is Argumentum ad Hominem , that the Minister must be content with Civil Honour , with that of the same kind , because in the same word , which is due to Kings ) is yet one Argument more against their Dulia , for certainly it does more agree with the Principles of Sanctify'd Reason , to believe that , which All Christians believe ( a Divine Worship , and a Civil ) than that , which only Some Christians believe ( a Religious Worship , which is below Divine , and yet not Civil . Above Civil , and yet not Divine ) But one word more , and I have quite done ; and , in that one word , let me take in the entire verse , and tell you , that that takes in all those Excellencies they have nam'd , and yet takes off the Religious Dulia from the middle excellency , and applyes to it onely a Charitative Honour ; Honour all men , saies St. Peter ; then he distinguishes those All , into King , and Brotherhood ; in King he includes all Heathens , but especially , the Supreme , though a Heathen , the Then-King being such ; in Brotherhood , he includes All Christians , but especially , those Prophetical Ministers , the Gospel - Elias's in whom Doway instances ; This , I take it , is a very Logical and Rational Interpretation ; else the Apostle does not comprehend in the two Species of King and Brotherhood , All those whom he comprehended in the Genus of All Men , and it is well known , Membra Dividentia must be ejusdem Latitudinis cum Diviso , and illud totum absorbere , so that there can be nothing Potentially , in the Genus , which is not Actually , in this , and that Species , Simul sumptis , nothing in All Men , which is not in King and Brotherhood ; for , though Estius saies , by All Men he means either Men in Authority , or Men of Holiness , and secludes the Ungodly Man from this Honour , yet we must involve him too , in his Person , though not him , in his Impiety ; He too , in his Essential and Constitutive parts , and in the Consecutive Propriety of his best part , is the Workmanship of the same God , who made the Hodiest Man alive ; and , in this sense , and for that Gods sake , is an Object well worthy of Honour ; and yet , not in this neither , as if there were any thing of Excellency in him that Is Honour'd , above him that Does Honour ; but , though not in All things , yet , in reference to the Workmanship of God , an Equality ; and because , with Relation to God , the King , and all Heathens , to whom God gave Power and Being ; the Minister , and all Christians , to whom God gave Orders and Holiness , are to be Honour'd , therefore is the Fear of that God , who is the Cause of the Love to the one , and the Honour to the other , plac'd in the midst betwixt them both ; let them shew , that God any where commands that kind of Religious and Dulia-Honour which they apply to Creatures , as we have shew'd them one , and can shew them a whole Sheet of Texts , that God enjoyns a Charitative Respect , and , actum est , we will lay down the Cudgels .

25. * * With us the second of Kings , 2.15 . 4 Reg. 2.15 . And the Children of the Prophets said , The Spirit of Elias hath rested upon Elisaeus , and coming to meet him , adored him to the Ground ; This Argument is in câdem Navi with the former , and the same Rudder will serve to steer it in its Right Course .

26. * * With us , Ps. 99.5 . and worship AT his Footsteel . Psal. 98.5 . Exalt ye the Lord our God , and adore his Footstool , because it is holy . Their short Note after that verse , tels us , the Hebrew Doctors understand this , of the Ark , the Doctors of the Church understand Christ's Humanity ; their Long Note after the whole Psalm , tels us , that the Humanity of Christ is to be adored in the holy Eucharist : In this they follow Bellarmine to a hair , and will erre , and digress honourably , because so they think he does ; but the whole objection from hence , if we consider what he and what they would adapt this Text to prove , we may safely enough ne pili quidem facere ; he applys it , to prove the invocation of Saints , and they do so too ; for , immediatly after these words , — the Church honoured Saints and their Reliques — follow these , — neither want there authentical examples of holy Scripture , whereby the same ( the honouring of Saints , and their Reliques ) is proved ; amongst the Texts , in which they instance , this , Ps. 98. is the last , explicity , though it be backt with — And elsehwere ; if , by that foot-stool is meant the humanity of Christ , and by worshipping that humanity , the honouring of Saints , I must take leave to tell them , such an inference is not Christian , no nor Romish neither it is Socinian , nay ; and Mahumetan too ; if it proves that Saints and their Reliques may be honour'd , it presumes no more , then that Christ was a Saint , and his humanity the Relique of a Saint ; and this , the too Reational , and too ungraceful Socinian will confess , nay , the neither Graceful , nor Rational Turke will not deny , that Christ was a holy Prophet , an exemplary Saint ; but , no more of this , because it is only a defect in their Logick , and not a purpose to dishonour their Saviour , by only Sainting of him ; only let them pardon me that I take so much notice of their digression , as to digress my self , in the Confutation of it , and , if they will , let them thank me that I call it no more ; but ad rem .

27. There is much to be reply'd ; & , though they talk much of the Fathers who sense it the same way with them , yet I doubt not but they will grant me , that one Scripture , which is evident , and undoubtful , is a more allowable interpretation of another Scripture , which is obscure and ambiguous , then one Father is , and that many Scriptures are more allowable then many Doctors of the Church ; Therefore , first let me open that Text , by Text Parallel to it ; and , though they will not take notice of the words of our Translation worship at his foot-stool , yet , Ps. 132.7 . in this , I shall not vicem rependere , and look off , every where , from theirs , — we will go into his Tabernacles , we will worship AT his foot-stool , With them , Ps. 131.7 . says our Bible ; we will enter into his Tabernacle , we will adore IN the place where his feet stood , says theirs , At the foot-stool and not the foot-stool it self , In the place , and not the place it self . Next , consider we all those places , in which the foot-stool of God is nam'd , and worship we him at every of those foot-stools ; and if thus to do , be not more honourable to our God , more edifying that Church of his , which is already his Church , and more increasing that Church of his , by the Accession of those who are not , yet , his Church , then only to worship the Body of Christ in the Holy Eucharist , then , that Interpretation shall have the upper hand of this ; and thus to frame an interpretation , with these mighty advantages , out of the Bowels of other Scriptures , which are Consonant to this in the most substantial word of them , if this be not , though not the best way , a very fit way , I leave it to all modest Christians to Judge . And , before I betake my self to this way , I shall only bespeak them that they would not quit Admonitions with me , and call this digression , for the honour of a painful and well deserving † † R. P. Michael Auguanus Bonon , in his Comment upon the Psalms . Tom. 2. cum licentia & privilegiis . Venitiis M. D. XIII . writer of their own , who , upon this one Text , and to a much inferiour , and more impertinent purpose , makes use of all those other Texts , to which I now hasten . Thus saith the Lord — the Earth is my foot-stool , Is. 66.1 . One part of the meaning of that , in their 98. Ps. and the intire meaning of it , in reference to this Text , is , That , which St. Paul hath commanded 1 Tim. 2.8 . I will that Men pray every where . The Lord hath cast down the beauty of Israel , and remembred not his foot-stool , where the Church of God is the footstool of God ; and , thus , the meaning of that in Ps. 98. is that which David hath said in Ps. 89. v. 7. God is greatly to be feared in the Assembly of the Saints . 2 Chron. 9.18 . There was to the throne a foot-stool of Gold ; not to inquire any further , what that foot-stool of Gold is , but to accept the interpretation of Auguanus , Scabellum Aureum est Angelica Natura , propter virtutem consummatae Charitatis ; but , if so , the meaning of that in their 98. Ps. is , that , for this cause , the Woman and the Man too , ought to worship God , the more reverently , and sincerely , 1 Cor. 11.10 . because of the Angels . Untill I make thine enemies thy foot-stool Ps. 110.1 . Here , the wicked are the foot-stool of God , in being subjected to his will though against their own ; and , in this respect , the worshipping at his footstool , does mean , that we should not refrain , even in the sight of the wicked , to sing that new Song , Ps. 40.3 . which God hath put into our Mouth ; and which they are unacquainted with , even praise unto our God , to this end , that many , even the wicked , may see it , and fear ; and trust in the Lord , in the last place , and out of the first Text , He tells us † † Pag. 472 Col. 2. in Fine . Scabellum ejus est ipsa Christi humanitas , the Manhood of Christ is this foot-stool . To the purpose then , understand we , by this foot-stool , as Auguanus does , in the simplicity of his heart , the humanity of Christ , quae totaliter Deo conform is est , and not only that , but the whole Earth also ; and , in that Earth , not only the Church , the Saints of God , but the very wicked also ; and , not only the Church Militant on Earth , but that part of it which is triumphant in Heaven , confirm'd in an establisht undecaying Righteousness by Christ Jesus , the Holy Angels of God ; and understand we not , by this foot-stool , exclusively , the humanity of Christ , and nothing else but that , nay , understand we not that humanity of Christ only Sacramented , as Doway does , in the design of their hearts ; and then , if it does not more redound to the honour of God , and to the edifying , and increasing of his Church , that we should sincerely worship God , all the Earth over , not only in the Congregation of the Saints , the more to inflame their devotion by the Conjunction of ours with theirs , but in the presence of the wicked , to make them asham'd of their irreligious folly , and to invite them by our example to draw near unto the Lord , with unfeigned Lips and unfeining Hearts , and all this because of the Angels of God , nay , because of the God of those Angels ; if , thus to do , and thus every where to do , and upon these grounds , does not conspire , in a more probable effectuality , ( and a more innocent uninsnaring conspiration ) to both those ends , then to worship the Body of Christ himself , as , that foot-stool , and only to worship that Body Sacramented , at some times , in some places , with some few , then we will quit this extensive interpretation , and run , totis pedibus into their limited sentence .

28. And least that reason , which David gives , and which they render because IT is holy , might bear sway against this multiform sense , confining the foot-stool only to one , and the worship to that very footstool ; to evade this pretended reason , I must give them to know , not only that that word , in the Original may be equally translated IT or He , but that , in that place , it ought rather to be translated he , because , in the Verse after , is set down what that worship is , to invocate the Lord ; and , because though it were so , for IT is holy , yet the worship is not of it , but at it , explained in the last verse of that Psalm , and in both the same words , in which the reverence is charged upon us in the 5. v. Exalt ye the Lord our God , and ad re say they , and worship say we ; Hitherto , there is a perfect agreement with the 5. 1 Cor. 1.10 . and last v. they do ( what the Apostle would have us all to do , though Doway will neither hearken to us , nor him ) speak the same thing ; and the explication follows — In or at his holy Mount , because the Lord our God is holy ; the Mount is confessedly holy , yet the holiness of the Mount is not alleged as a reason , why we should worship it , but the holiness of our God , why we should worship in , or at , his holy Mount . I go on , to inquire after their — And elsewhere , by which words , and some search , I find out of their notes upon Gen. 48.5 . That they mean the Invocation of Angels , grounded upon Mat. 18. Acts 12.1 Cor. 11. For want of their New Testament , of which I am bereft , they ought to be content ( as I must ) that I reply out of the Originals .

29. And first , what says Matthew for them ? He says ( but not for them ) that Christ himself said , 18.10 . Take heed , that ye despise not one of these little ones , for I say unto you that in Heaven , their Angels do alwaies behold the Face of my Father which is in Heaven ; what means our Saviour by this ? not that we should invoke Angels ; himself tels us no such matter ; but that we should not despise little ones ; that is it , which himself tels us ; and , upon this ground because they have Angels , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; had they hence , infer'd , that God had appointed Angels , Ministring Spirits , to take care for , and to protect little ones , they had argu'd right ; and we would shake hands with them in this matter ; let them tell us , no more then what that Text tells us ; let them infer no more then what our Saviour Christ infers , and we are agreed ; is it not enough to that purpose , to take off contempt from little ones , that God takes so much care of them , as to appoint Angels over them , though they never pray ( as they are never bid so to do ) to Angels ? and are not those words design'd to this purpose by Christ ? had Christ said — Despise them not , Ps. 115.16 . for , to these Children of Men , I have given the Earth ; Despise them not , for it is for their sake , Job 38.8.9 . that I have shut up the Sea with doors , and made the Cloud the Garment thereof , and tho thick darkness a swadling band for it ; Despise them not , for , for them it is , that I have created the Lights in the Firmanent of Heaven for signs and seasons , Gen. 1.14 Ps. 104.19 for dars and years ; 't is for them , that I have appointed the Moon for seasons , for them , that the Sun knoweth his going down . His going down , with his Rays into the Bowels of the Earth , and his bringing up from thence Herb for the service both of Man and Child ; that God hath done all , or any of these , for mankind , is reason enough not to contemn the least of them ; but is it reason enough , that Man should fall down , and first worship , and then eat his Herb ?

( Sarculo Amicas Colit hic Fruges Et suum hic mandit , Bibit ille , E man . Thesourus è Soc : Jesu . Numen If so , Happy the Heathen , that are Heathen still , Felices Gentes , quibus haec nascuntur in Hortis Numina ) Juven.

That Man should exalt the Sun , and adore the Moon ? that Man should bow to the Sea , and kneel down to the Lights ? nay to the Cloud ? nay to the thick darkness ? and do his reverence to these swadling bands , and to that Garment as to sacred Reliques ? for all of these , let us bless God that gave them , and not bless the blessings themselves , nor set at nought , the meanest of those , who have an interest in all of these ; for his Angels , and Arch-Angels — Let us laud and magnifie his glorious Name , which we shall do the more acceptably even to those glorious Angels themselves , whilst we only invoke their and our God ; if there be an Angel there , that can be offended at this , I could even suspect Heaven it self not to be altogether so holy a place , as it is a branch , if not an Article , of my Faith to beleeve it is . And , in good earuest , for what cause is it , that we should invoke the Angels , is it , because we are benefited by them ? so we are , in all those other instances ; is it because we are spiritually benefited by them ? so we are by all of these ; for , from the Heavens to the Herb , all of them Declare the glory of God ; is it , because the Beneficial Angels can hear us ? but — à posse ad esse , is no good Argument ; I can , walk ten miles to morrow ; but it is inconsequent to conclude , that , Therefore , I will not stay , all day , at home ; is it because they do hear us ? but we will dispute of that anon ; and yet , neither that they can , or do , is exprest or involv'd in that Text ; and , at last , a precept I call for , or ( though they have given me some , to which I have already reply'd ) an allowable example ; shew me ( which is impossible ) a command to invoke carved Images , and I will presently invoke , and confess , that , all this while , I have much mis-believ'd King David , for they have ears , Ps. 111.6 and hear , shew me ( which is equally impossible ) a command to invoke Angels , and I will become a stooping Proselyte , and profess my forrow that Epiphanius hath either told us there were no Angelici left , Austin de Haeresibus 39. in his age , or , that he hath call'd them Heretiques , in their own , or that St. Austin hath joynd with him in that opprobrious Compellation .

30. But let me look a little further into the Text they bring me ; what if these 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , are the same little ones , of whom our Saviour says , in the Chapter after , Mat. 19.14 . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( for , the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in Mat. 18.2 . was he , by occasion of whom our Saviour said 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the little Child v. 2. was the one of these little ones v. 10. ) Suffer little Children , and forbid them not to come unto me ; it should seem , by the Context in both places , they are the very same ; for , in comparison with these little ones , it is said , Mat. 18.3 . Except ye be converted and become as Little Children yee shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven , and , in Mat. 19.14 . it is said Of such ( such little Children ) is the Kingdom of Heaven ; there is the very sameness of matter , and expression , and , almost the sameness of Chapter too , so that , in very good reason , we are to believe those little ones Mat. 18.10 . to be the very same with those little ones Mat. 19.14 . Now , what little ones , and how little ones these were , we may learn of St. Luke , when he repeats the story , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Luke 18.15 . And they brought unto him also Infants — read to the end of the 17. v. and St. Lukes Infants are St. Matthews little ones , whose Angels — let me drive it a little further , and show you that Saint Lukes 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , does confine Saint Matthews Little ones to Infants ; not only by the Authority of Eustathius 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , they are Children new Born , ●ut by all these Scriptures . Luke 2.16 . Act. 7.19 . 1 Pet. 2.2 . and before you shall find the word applyed to him that is of age , and can speak for himself , you shall sooner finde it apply'd to him that is not yet Born , and therefore , much less , can speak , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Luc. 1.44 . the Babe leaped in my Wombe .

31. All this being said , it is time to tell you Why ; to clear That Text , out of which they pretend to it , from giving any Countenance to Angelicall worship ; for , whatever layes claim to it out of Scripture , must do it , either from the Command of God , or , from the practise of Saints ; That there is no Command is evident ; likewise that there is no example , so much as Imaginary , to be gatherd out of that Text ; for those that were Infants and could not voyce a Prayer to God Himself , could , much less , to any Angell , either of God ; or of their own ; and , for ejaculatory prayers , Intended , though not utterd , although I presume Actuall Faith ( and such there must be even in Mentall Ejaculations ) presupposes the use of Reason , yet , in this case , it matters not , though I seem to grant it , since , not the close Purpose , but the Manifest expression of the Heart is onely capable to grow into example ; and therefore , since , from hence , they have neither Precept , nor Practise , it concludes not so much for them as it might , if they had said nothing at all ; for , though that silence of theirs would be very far from a probational argument , yet That silence of theirs would never have been refuted , nor be made an argument against them , as their vain Babling is . I am in very great hast , and I have many reasons to be so , and therefore I will not trouble , either them , or my self , to overthrow them more ; who are already upon the ground ; Let us see , if their next Quotation will lift them up , and give them Breath for a New Contest .

32. Act. 12. And here I thank them , that their Citations and my speed may well agree ; there is so little of moment , in that whole Chapter for them ; t is true , verse 7. that an Angel of the Lord came , and smote Peter on the side , and Rais'd him up ; t is more easy to conclude , that the Angell suspected Peter , being down , to worship Him , and that he smote him for it , and bade him arise up quickly , then that Peter did Really worship , or the Angell cheerfully accept ; but , not this neither ; for , till the Angel parted from him , Peter was not come to himself , verse 10.11 . No Precept , no Practise in all this ; t is true , Verse 8. Exod. 3.5 . the Angel bids Him Binde on his sandales ; but , when the very ground was Holy , the Shooes were commanded off , and to put on the Sandales , was no signe of worshipping Angelical Purity ; the Angel bids Him — Cast Thy Garment about Thee ; Luke 19.36 , 37. Contrariwise , the garments were strewd in the way , when Christ was Honour'd ; His Chaines fell off from his hands , verse 7. and the Iron-gate open'd to them of its own accord , verse 10. I hope , I may believe all this , and be no more of the present Faith of Rome , then Ovid was , who , I know not by what method of Tradition , did light upon the same story , Sponte suâ patuisse Fores , Metam . l. 3. lapsasque lacertis , Sponte suâ fama est , nullo solvente , Catenas .

But , Verse 9 betwixt this , Peter wist not , that it was true , which was done by the Angell , much less did He Adore the Angel for Doing it ; and after all this ; when Peter came to himself he knew that the Lord had sent his Angell : Verse 11 All concludible from hence is , that , the Angels ( who are spirits , by Nanure , and Messengers by office ) do that Good to Man , which God Commissions them to do ; All this I stedfastly believe , and am a Protestant still — but verse 15. when Peter Himself knockt , they said , it is his Angell ; Not to enter into That dispute at present , whither there are Tutelar Angells to Nations , to Particular callings , to Individuall Persons ; be it which way it will ( Unusquisque sensu suo abundet ) it matters not , neither does this , nor that , nor the Third way make ought for the Invocation of Angels ; That , which should most deepely ingage a private Person , to Revere his peculiar Angell , does not Ingage him at all , not only from the Incapacity of the Angell , to receive That which is due to God , but from the Incapacity of the Votary , to pay that to his Angell , when he knowes not , which is his ; will you allow of a Confus'd worship — Thou My Angell , whosoever thou art — I persuade my self , Thy own Angell , at That Instant , would not be Thine ; nor is this a gratuitous persuasion ; for , may it not therefore , be , that God Conceales , from Nations , Callings , and Men , who is their Deputed Guardian , lest God , the Lord , might have too little of Honour , and his servant , the Angell , too much ? There is but one mention more throughout that Chapter of Angell ; and it is he , who punisht Idolatry with Death , Herod with wormes , for accepting that shout of the People — It is the voyce of a God , Verse 22.23 . and not of Man , and because he gave not God the Glory ; This Text will sted them less than any .

Thus , having grappled with them , in their main Battalia , and in their Reserve , let me follow them into their Last Hold , and examin the slrength of That , and then wish , that we might both take our Leaves of one another .

1 Cor. 11.10 . for this cause ought a woman to have Power 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 on , or † † Erasmus renders it in caput . In her head , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 because of the Angels ; a Text , in the last word of which ( which is the very sting of the Objection ) † † Vide Heinsium super locum . Interpreters , both Greek , and Latin , do much differ ; Clemens understands by Angels , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Just , and vertuous Men ; some interpret it , of the Bishops , and Overseers of the Church , and those Non pauci ; sayes my Authour ; some understand Angels , but evill ones ; and those too , Men of Antiquity , for , Saint Austin tells us of them l. 15. de Civit. Dei ; so does * Tertullian , In lib. de Virginibus Velandis . his Elder , by 250. yeares ; Lactantius , De divinis Institutionibus , interprets alike ; so does Eusebius , and , ex veteribus plerique Most of the Ancients as another Authour tells me ; nay , their own Estius , in his first Tome upon S. Pauls Epistles , fol. 396. col. 2. recites these three opinions , and does not dislike the two Former ; reliquae secundae expositiones suam quoque probabilitatem habent ; He adds a fourth opinion , which , some , though unfitly , held , that women should behave themselves Modestly , lest , by a garish attire , and wanton eye , even the Heavenly Angels might be corrupted to loose thoughts ; at length He concludes with a fift , as a Potior sententia , because of the Presence of the Good Angels , who are delighted to see the service of God performd decently , and with singleness both of Heart and Ey ; but , even in Him , not one word of adoration , and I am Loth to be quicker-sighted in his own cause , than his learned self : I will conclude this , that , ( besides the Reasons already given , and which shall be given after ) this is a most unstable , ambiguous Foundation , upon which to erect the Worship of Angels , since it is capable of so many expositions .

34. Though I am loth to take advantage upon them , by Invalidating that one only Text , which tells us of a Saint in Heaven , who was Really and Actually Invokt , from being an example worthy their or our Imitation , yet , because the beginning of this Discourse against Doway , was commenc'd against the Invocation of Saints , and because all their Arguments , in that place , are the same with Bellarmins , and because their — And elswhere — upon Exod. 20. and their — And the like — upon Genes. 48. may seem to design That very Text , which Bellarmin also makes use of , I shall account it no loss of time , to enervate all his Conclusion , and all their Imaginations from thence .

35. Luke 16.24 . The Rich man Cry'd , and said , Father Abraham have Mercy upon me ; t is true , Abraham is here Invok'd , but not , in the sense of Rome , as an Intercessour , but in the Rich mans own sense , as an Opitulatour ; nay , I may say ; He is Invok'd , with a perfect Idolatry , not as a Saint , but as a God ; at least , not at all to Intercede to God for Him ; for , if Miserere mei , be not incommunicable to any other , besides Him , whose Mercy is over all His works ( which , I believe Doway will not grant to me , because I finde , in a † † By John Bouturier , M. DC . XXXIII . Manual of Godly Prayers , and Litanyes , taken out of many Famous Authours ( of which I have reason enough to suspect Doway , to be , if not the Compilers , the Approbatours , ) the same Frayer , to another Saint † † By John Bouturier , M. DC . XXXIII . O Holy Mary , stretch abroad the hand of thy Mercy — † † By John Bouturier , M. DC . XXXIII . O Holy Mary have mercy on us ; — and , Pag. 382. though Christ is not altogether left out , Pag. 383. yet sometimes , He is pray'd to , in that secondary Order , as if His Mother's prayers were more prevalent , and first to be sought , and then , Her Son 's after ; — † † By John Bouturier , M. DC . XXXIII . Virgin Mary , Pag. 98. with her Benign Son , Blessus ) yet , the Rich Man being in Hell , would certainly never pray to that God , who had plung'd Him thither , and from whom , He knew He was for ever a Castaway ; or , if this He did , He would not be an example to us of Praying , even to God himself , for known Impossibilities , much less , to Saint , or Mother of God , as shall liberally appear ; though , as a Hopefull preface to all the rest , This , at Best , is but an example from the Damned in Hell ; and That opinion is wretched enough , which must seek for succour out of so helpless a pit ; I can more easily excuse the Torturd Rich Man ( who , by reason of Anguish , said He knew not what ) to call upon Abraham , than I can forgive any Bellarmine who takes Himself to he wel in His Witts , to make such a Distracted Creature , His Laudable Pattern ; But let us dive into the story .

36. The whole of it is a Parable , in the opinion of many and Learned Doctors ; Theophylact is vehement in this persuasion ; Justin Martyr and Theophilus Antiochenus , state it with him ; Eucherius , in his Questions upon Saint Luke , and Saint Chrysostome , in his Homilies , familiarly call it so ; And , though † † Levinus Lemnius . He , who wrote ex Institutio , of the similitudes and Parables in the Bible , does not mention this for One , yet , besides , that Humana authoritas non valet Negativè , He is not to be condemn'd for his omission , because his declar'd Purpose was , only to speak of those similitudes and Parables , in which † † Quae in Bibliis , ex Herbis , & Arboribus desumuntur . tit. lib. Herbs and † † Quae in Bibliis , ex Herbis , & Arboribus desumuntur . tit. lib. Trees are concern'd ; and , for certain , Abraham was no Herb ( for , He was translated from Grace to Glory , and I never yet , heard of an Herb of Glory ) though planted in the better than Paradise , nor was Dives a Tree , though He had taken deep Root , even as Deep as Hell ; and , if a Parable it is , it is a stated Question , that Parabolicall Divinity affords no convincing Argument in point of Controversy : But what if it be a History ? Gregory in His 40 Homimily , sayes it is , and calls it Res Facta ; Tertullian , and Saint Ambrose think they Prove it , by that Argument , which Origen us'd against the Jewes , that there was such a Man as Job , because the Name of the Man is set down in the Narration ; and , because , as we know , there was an Abraham ; so , by the same Reason , and in the same story , there must have been a Dives and Lazarus too ; but grant we this , what get They hence ? when Dives dos particularize what He Prayes for , That is confest , by All to be a Metaphore ; send Lazarus , that he may Dip the Tip of his Finger — He does not mean that very thing , for which He seemes to Pray ; or , if it did mean it , Abraham , is deaf , and dos not hear , or els , hears , V. 25 V. 26 and denyes , Thou art tormented , and he cannot come ; show me a more successefull copy to Pray by , or els , I am as speechless , as the Saint is Earless : And , besides all this , the Pontificii themselves , are not , yet , at one , amongst themselves , whether this be a Parable or a History ; from whose discord , this is one Argument , that , all , they conclude from hence , as to the Invocation of Saints , is Inconsequent and Unargumentative ; it would look more like Christian Logick , to conclude , as † † In vitâ Pauli . Non illuc Auro positi neque Thure sepulti pervenient . Lucan . lib. 9. S. Hierome does , Illi quidem pauperculo Paradidisus Patet , Vos Auratos Gehenna suscipiet ; and since the poor Man went to Heaven , and the Rich to Hell , Bellarmine had done well if he had retracted one Note , his 15th , of the true Church , which he calls Temporal Felicity , and had well consider'd , that the Israelites , onely upon this ground , deserted the true Church of God , and fell into Foul Idolatry ; They answer'd Jeremiah , saying . Jer. 44.15 , 16 , 17. As for the word that thou hast spoken to us , in the Name of the LORD , we will not hearken unto thee ; But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our OWN Mouth , to Burn Incense unto * * Discrtis verbis , the Virgin Mary is call'd so , O Holy Mary , Queen of Heaven . Manual . p. 382. the Queen of Heaven , and to pour out Drink-offerings unto her , as we have done , we , and our Fathers , our Kings , and our Princes , in the Cities of Judah , and in the Streets of Jerusalem , FOR THEN HAD WE PLENTY OF VICTUALS , AND WERE WELL , AND SAW NO EVIL .

37. I have now done with the Errours of Authors , which , and with the Piety of Authors , by which , to Oppose , and would heartily wish , Doway , and Doway's Proselytes , to consider , how feeble , ill-grounded , and un-fenc'd such Doctrines are , how Circularly the Proof roves into the Question , and the Question is left Naked , to become its own Proof , and Syllogism , and Champion ( for , does not Bellarmine , his own self , imply all this , when he saies , God Reveals our Prayers unto the Saints , and yet the Saints deliver up those Prayers of ours , more Prosperously to God ? ) When the Meanest Minister in the Church of England , even then , when It , and He , are at the Lowest , is Big enough , assisted with the Truth of God , and the God of Truth on his side , to wrestle with a whole Erroneous College ; what would become of them , if themselves should be at leisure , from Designs , and Disguizes , and our Learned Fathers should be at Leisure , from those two Controversies , of Want , and Division at home , to enter the Lists with them ? I beseech God to Humble Prosperous Mistakers , to Strengthen Poor Truth , and to Save All.

38. But it shall not be enough to Reply to the Texts , mis-interpreted by them ; for , though thus to do , does , in some degree , shake the Foundations of Errour , yet it does not , so far as Right ought to be Defended , establish the Truth ; let me therefore ( that I may not onely shut the Mouth of the Pit upon Falshood , but open the Pit , Veritas in Puteo . that Truth may arise , and her Enemies be scatter'd ) conclude against the Religious Worship , and Invocation of Saints and Angels , with some Few Scriptures more , and a little calm Reasoning .

39. Since Invocation is so highly valu'd in the Word of God , as to be joyn'd with that Instrument of our Salvation , Rom. 10.14 . Faith — How shall they call on him , in whom they have not Believed ? — since it is , in both Testaments , the Comprehensive Word , which Involves in it the Entire Worship of God ; Joel 2.32 . — Whosoever shall CALL upon the Name of the Lord , shall be Delivered ; by which Expressions , God himself seems as Jealously to Call for our Calling upon him , as for our Believing in him , or , for our Worshipping him at all ; for the sake of these , and some more Texts , I would much stagger at any Saint-Invocation , lest otherwise I might perhaps stagger in the Faith ; 2 Kings , 22. ult. What does King David mean , when he saies , Thou , O God , O THOV that hearest Prayer ? Psal. 65.2 . but that he means it a Peculiar Attribute to God ? not onely the Good Man is taken away from the Evil to come , that he partake not of it , but that he not so much as See it — I will gather thee unto thy Fathers , See more in B. Hall's Old Religion , pag. 140. and thine Eyes shall not SEE all the Evil which I will bring upon this place ; — but , if they Reply , as Bellarmine does , that in the Old Testament the People of God were not wont to say , Ora pro nobis Sancte Abrahame ; — what means our Saviour himself ( who could best teach us to pray ) when he bids us , not to call upon Saint or Angel , Luk. 11.2 . but upon Father which is in Heaven ; and , though the Church of Rome does that too , yet she has a great Favour done her by those amongst us , who do it not , from whom by such a Continu'd Omission she may hope , that in time they may forget they ever were Commanded to call upon God onely ; for , by this , as God is in himself , so we acknowledge him to be our God , our God , in that we pray to him , and our God , in that we pray as he hath commanded us ; and is not this , Treason against the Divine Majestie , when , by our Disloyal Prayers , we give those Acknowledgements to another , whereby he , that did make , and should rule us , is testify'd to be our God , and our King ? does not this seem to make him , either a Nescient God , that cannot understand our Requests , unless they are convey'd to him through the Intercession of others ? or else a Proud God , that will not admit of an Immediate Access unto himself ? as if he , that humbleth himself to behold the things that are in Heaven , and in Earth , Ps. 113.6 . would , for all that , take so much State upon him , as not to take notice of the Best things that are , in Earth and Heaven ( besides those things which are in God himself , and which are God himself ) Humble and Faithfull Prayer : God hath never told us , that Saimt , or Angel , does hear the words of our Lips ; if any of them do this , at any time , yet , who can tell , that this or that Saint or Angel does hear at this time , when that Letany is pray'd , Holy Mary , Manual , pag. 422. Pray for us . St. Michael Pray . St. Gabriel Pray . St. Raphael Pray . And not onely St. John , and St. Peter , and St. Paul — Pray — but St. Agnes , and St. Cecily , and St. Anastasia — Pray — ? nay , when some pray to this , or that Forged Saint , which are so far from being now in Heaven , that we have no assurance they ever were on Earth ? Yet , for those Real and Un-doubted Saints ( far be it from me to fasten a Shame upon any of them whom God hath Glorify'd ) I onely wish , they may not Rival their God in Honour ( and , I am sure themselves wish the same with me ) nor be over-charg'd with Reverence , more than themselves Desire , or God Appoints ) who can tell , that their Present Employment , when Busy Man invokes them , is not design'd to them by their God elswhere ? and then take we heed , that we do not apply that Ubiquitariness , to be Everywhere at once , which is properly attributed to God , to Saint or Angel ; but then , for the especial part of Prayer , that of the Heart ( without which , the Lips do onely Mutter , they do not Pray ) and that of the Heart onely ; if the Heart prays to Saint , or Angel , does not that Heart make Saint , or Angel , God , though unmeaningly ? whose Property alone it is , to search the Heart , Rom. 8.27 . and the Reins . Deos , qui Colit , Ille Facit . Martial . He , that worships Religiously , makes that a God , which he Ignorantly Worships ; and Prayer is an Especial part of Worship ; and that of the Heart , an Especial part of Prayer : And , if Any thing else but God , must be Religiously Invok'd , if any thing else but God can pry into the Hearts , notwithstanding 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 does acknowledge that he can do it , and 〈◊〉 , Act. 1.24 . that he onely ) Thou , Lord , which knowest the Hearts ; how little Honour is there of which we leave God the Sole Proprietary ( though the Angels and Saints in Heaven know , themselves cannot honour him enough , much less we ) if , as From us , and To us , we may invoke others besides God , others besides God may search into our Hearts ! and what though they of Rome often say , and often in a day , and in that Variation , throughout those three Creeds , the Apostolical , as Text , the Nicene , and Athanasian , as Commentary ; and perhaps , in one more , and larger than all these , the Tridentine , ( all the Deliberations and Conclusions of that Councel being sworn to , as if they were all one Creed ) that — they Believe in God Almighty , the Maker of Heaven and Earth ? — of all things , Visible , and Invisible — that they worship God in Trinity , and Trinity in Vnity — yet , whil'st they worship Saints , and Angels too , and imbase the Honour of God down to them , in their several Confessions of Faith , they do not what they say they do , but rather acknowledge what they ought to do , entirely to worship God ; which , it is the whole purpose of this Discourse , to Argue , and Perswade , and upon the Knees of my Soul , to Beseech them to do . I shall conclude , with that Advice of holy David , Give unto the Lord , 1 Chron. 16.28 , 29. ye Kinreds of the People , give unto the Lord , Glory and Strength ; Give unto the Lord the Glory due unto his Name , even this , Come before him , Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness ; To worship any else , Religiously , is to Rob God of his due ; it is unbeauteous , altogether deformed in his Eyes , and in the Eyes of all his Saints and Angels ; Therefore , onely To him , who is the Blessed , 1 Tim. 6.16 . Rev. 15.4 . and onely Potentate , To him , who is Onely Holy , To God , Onely Wise , Be Honour and Power Everlasting , Rom. 16.25 . Be Glory through Jesus Christ for ever . Amen .

APOSTROPHE , To my Honour'd Patron , The LORD TRACY . My good Lord ,

HOW your Noble self , and my other dear Lord Newport , will excuse me , to both of whom I have not perform'd all that I have promis'd to either , though , as to me , the Performances of both your Lordships have exceeded the Reality of your own , and the Vanity of other mens Promises , ( which were spoke into the Air , and writ upon the Water ) I cannot tell ; and I have but these two empty Reliefs , that my Breach is but a Delay , Et mea sit solo Tempore lapsa Fides . And that there is less of Affliction to either of your Honours , whil'st such Trifles as these , do less swell ; and perhaps a little more consideration may make amends , in the Substantialness of the rest , for the Froth of these .

Give me leave , I beseech you , to acquaint your Lordship why I insist so much against Doway-Rome , and why in that particular , against their Worshipping of Saints , and why too I intermit my Advertisements to the English Opinionist , and ill Liver ; I have done the first , because in a late Disputation held at Winchcombe , some of my Brethren , Nov. 9. and my self , have been accus'd for Romishly-affected , in the Good Will we are thought to bear to Holy-dayes ; how unjust this Imputation was , did then appear , how Rash , and Unadvised , G. Goodman , Bishop late of Gloucester . I collect out of my Ordinarie's Dedication to the Lord General , ( and , by the way , the Civil Supremacy was asserted by us , whom some will traduce , as guilty of Dis-affection , against the Allowance of those , who , though by a new kind of Popery , would be accounted the main Pulpit-Champions for it ) to whom he intimates some holy Thanks for the expected Reviviscency of Festivals . I have done this against Doway-Rome , because I have Rational Presumptions , some of them may be my Early Readers , and because I would divert them from Clancular-Machinations , to a Pen-Contest ; I Reprieve my Sentence against the Opinionist , and my Spiritual Physick for his Recovery , because I would both search to the Root and Heart of that Question which concerns the Ministerial Order , oppos'd by them , who are especially oblig'd , even by that Order it self , to Defend it ; and because , as many have already canvast it , I resolve , not to be a Fidentinus , a Plagiary , but to bring New , as well as More Sacks to this Mill. This being the great 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of this Seeking Age , a Subject in which Plain , and Evident , and Apodictical Satisfaction , is as Necessary as in any , and in which the Honour of God is of Fundamental Concernment , I hope none will blame me , if I retire a while , and gather new Breath for such a severe Encounter .

And now , my Lord , I have more Reasons still for such a Postscript , and those of a very Intimate , and Individual Signature , though I esteem it the Duty of my Gratitude , to let our British World partake .

'T is very true , ( and , though unfortunate sometimes to my self , yet alwaies Honourable to those of whom I make Respectfull Mention ) I Complement no Man ; — and 't is , not onely his , but my Happiness , that my dear Lord Newport cannot be Flatter'd ; I have told him truly , that no Lord , besides his Excellent self , does quite-out know me ; nor does this derogate from your Honour an Iota ; Salt , and Time , and Constancy of Affection , are the marks , without which it cannot be discern'd , but by a Remote Conjecture , what a Man is ; His Lordship hath had these Trials of me , and , I humbly thank him , I have had these Tasts of him ; Such Characteristical Declarations of the Spirit of a Man , may , hereafter , be as entirely Yours , and I , if it be possible ( — pardon my Antient Zeal to Him , which does not take off from You ) as much Inaerated to Your Honour , as His ; Preaching is but the One Half of him , who is , at all , a Man , though his Judgement be of so low a Stature as Mine , and is so far from being Commensurate to the Head and Whole , that it will scarce reach up to the Skirts and Half of some Better-grown , and Taller Mind ; and One Half of this Half of me , has been Communicated but two years to your Parish ( let my Brethren pardon the word , and not afflict Innocency , either Vocabulary , or Personal ) and not One to your Lordship , some Necessary Affairs , & some Recesses having withdrawn your Lordship's Ear from out your own Pew ; And yet , though but thus Little Known , and Less Deserving , what Plenty of Favours have you heapt upon me , from the time when I was not known at all , to this very day ? neither will , to recount this , be a Disparagement to the Clemency of my other Excellent , and Ever-honour'd Lord , no otherwise than it is a Shame to have Another tread in his Virtuous Steps , and to do Good as he hath done ; I am sure it will not offend his Meekness , if I should ride over , and tell him , concerning your Lordships Love to me — Amat me ( Nihil Possum dicere Ardentius ) UT TU : Plin. l. 3. ep. 2. Your Lordship , when you did not know me , nor I your Lordship , and therefore was un-brib'd so much as with a Desire of mine — Ignoti Nulla , did call me to you , that you might know me , and , ever since , your Indulgence has increas'd , un-allur'd with ought , but a Gratefull Acknowledgement , as if each humble and welcom'd Visit of mine , were an Obligation upon your self , who , out of all your Treasury of Books , have learn'd nothing more , than to Oblige ; You instantly Consider'd the Dues of the place in which you seated me , were so exceeding small , as to the Encouragement of Studiousness , that you fear'd , without some New Access , I might be rather Studious , how to Live , therefore you annex'd , out of your own Store , Ten Pounds , to be Yearly paid by your self , which I receive , without a Call , and with Increase ; the Occasional Rich Favours , and the Daily Improvement of your Kindness , will be more tedious to you to Read , than to Bestow ; but I have no other way of Visible retribution , than thus to speak , nor of Real , than still to pray ; there are , yet , such Primitive Noble Spirits in our Isle ( and I wish them more , for , certainly , this it self is one fair step , though this alone does not reach home , to the making of them Beatify'd Spirits ) however we are the By-word of the People , and , sometimes , of one another , God mend it ) who see , through our Calling up to God , and , for him , Regard our Function , Prov. 3.9 . and Honour him with their Substance , and without Superstition , by imparting some of it to such an Off-scouring of all things , 1 Cor. 4.13 . as we are at THIS DAY ; nay , though some of us are cast in so Rough a Mould , and Uncourtly Frame , as nothing does more prejudice us , than our own Backwardness , and dis-commodious Modesty ; such an Indisposition I have suffer'd under , for many years , and can take no better Revenge upon it , than to tell the World what a Peevish Undoing Tyrant it has been ; but you , my good Lord , like the Sun , have search'd into Obscurity , and brought forth , and made much of that , which would still have lain in Contemptible Darkness , and be worth nothing , had not you look'd upon 't ; Such an affable and munificent Spirit there is in your Neighbour-Name , Sir Humphrey Tracy . the Bounteous Baronet , who , next to God , loves the Minister of God ; His , and your Minister , pray for Him , and You , and that the same Mind may for ever run in the Blood of all the Tracys : Nay , my Lord , not onely you , in your Person , have done this , and more , but you , in that , and in your Example too , have done done more than this , whil'st your self , in much part , and your Village , in the rest , have alwaies exempted the Calling of God , ( since the first day I serv'd you , and them in Christ ) from the Burthen of Taxes , so that I am , well nigh , in as good a state now , as when I was , once , Onely - Student of Christ-Church . This I desire , with my Name to it , to Record , for the Honour of Toddington , that , in such an Age , when some think that Proverb a Law , to Pinch on the Parson's side , I have Neighbours of so much a better Religion , by how much they will pinch themselves , that their Vicar may escape . Deus Hic , Semper Eadem , Alibi Meliora — And yet , though I do , as I ought , thus liberally acknowledge your Lordship's Liberality , I should be sorry , if any shall take disadvantage from hence , and ( because by these gratefull Presents , they know where I am ) call upon me to pay the Debts of Others ; to prevent which Unprosperous Cruelty , let me give them also to understand , what your Lordship has often said , that it is Pity I should have so Much too Little to Live on ; and that the good late Bishop of Gloucester hath Printed my dear Father amongst those Reverend Bishops who dy'd Poor , so Poor , that he was not able to leave to his Onely Son one Onely Score of Pounds ; Little I had of the — Res Relicta — and , that I had not much of the — Parta Labore — ( though perhaps , more , for want of the — Parta — than of the — Labor — ) my present Lowness does Testifie ; I take leave , to desire the World to bear me witness , that I profess my self

From my Study . ( which your Lordship built ) in Todington , Nov. 20. 1653. Your Lordships exceedingly oblig'd Chaplain , to serve you , WILLIAM TOWERS . FINIS .