LXXX sermons preached at the parish-church of St. Mary Magdalene Milk-street, London whereof nine of them not till now published / by the late eminent and learned divine Anthony Farindon ... ; in two volumes, with a large table to both.

PART V.

MICAH VI. 8.

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, &c.

WE have laid hold of one Branch of this Tree of life, and beheld what fruit it bare. We must now see what we can gather from the second, Mercy or Libe∣rality, which groweth upon the same stock, is wa∣tered with the same dew from heaven, and bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance and answerable to our heavenly calling. Whether you take it in actu elicito or in actu imperato, whether you take it in the habit or in the act, which is misericordia eliquata, that which run∣neth from it in the melting as it were, the Love of Mercy includeth both, both a sweet and heavenly disposition, a rich treasurie of goodness full and ready to empty it self, and those several acts which are drawn out of it, or rather which it commandeth. And here though miracles be ceased, yet this by the blessing of the God of mercy retaineth a miraculous pow∣er, healeth the sick, bindeth up the wounded, raiseth the poor out of the dust, and in a manner the dead to life again, upholdeth the drooping and fainting spirit which is ready to fail, intercedeth and fighteth against the cruelty of persecutours, filleth up the breaches which they make, raiseth up that which they ruine, clotheth the naked whom they have stripped, buildeth up what they have pulled down, and is as a quickning power and a resurrection to those whom the hand of Wickedness and In∣justice hath laid low and even buried in the dust. A Branch it is which shadoweth and refresheth all those who are diminished and brought low by oppression,* 1.1 evil and sorrow.

And these two, Justice and Mercy, are neighbouring Branches, so en∣wrapped and entwined one within the other that you cannot sever them. For where there is no Justice there can be no Mercy, and where there is no Mercy there Justice is but gall and wormwood. Therefore in the Scri∣pture they go hand in hand. Ʋnto the upright man there ariseth light in darkness:* 1.2 he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. There is an eye of Justice, a single and upright eye, as well as an eye of Mercy: There is an eye that looketh right on;* 1.3 and there is a bountiful eye: and if you shut but one of them you are in darkness. He that hath an evil eye to strip his brother can never see to clothe them. He whose feet are swift to shed blood will be but a cripple when he is called to the house of mourning: and if his bowels be shut up, his hand will be scon stretcht

out to beat his fellow servants. It becometh the Just to be thankful:* 1.4 In their mouth praise is comely, it is a song, it is musick. And it becometh the Just to be merciful and liberal: out of their heart mercy floweth kindly, streameth forth like the river out of Eden,* 1.5 to water the dry places of the earth. There you shall find gold, and good gold••bdellium, and the onyx stone, all that is precious in the sight of God and man. But the heart of an Unjust man is as a rock, on which you may strike and strike again, but no water will flow out, but instead thereof gall and wormwood, blood and fire, and vapour of smoke. The tender mercies,* 1.6 the bowels, of the wicked are cruel. Their kisses are wounds, their favours reproches, their Indulgences Anathema's; their bread is full of gravel, and their water tainted with blood. If their Craft or Power take all, and their seeming Mercy, their Hypocrisie, put back a part, that part is nothing, or but trouble and vexation of spirit. Thus do these two Branches grow and flourish and bring forth fruit, and thus do they wither and dye together.

And here we have a fair and full vintage. For indeed Mercy is as the Vine, which yieldeth wine to chear the hearts of men;* 1.7 hath nothing of the Bramble, nothing of the fire, nothing that can devour. It yieldeth much fruit, but we cannot stand to gather all. I might spread before you the rich mantle of Mercy, and display each particular beauty and glo∣ry of it. But it will suffice to set it up as the object of our Love. For as Misery is the object of our Mercy, so is Mercy the object of our Love. And we may observe, it is not here to do mercifully, as before to do justly (and yet if we love not Justice, we cannot do it) but in express terms the Lord requireth that we love mercy, that is, that we put it on, wear it as a robe of glory, delight in it, make it, as God doth make it his, our chiefest attribute, to exalt and superexalt,* 1.8 and make it triumph over Justice it self. Justice and Honesty give every man his own; but Mercy openeth those treasuries which Justice might lock up, and taketh from us that which is legally ours, maketh others gatherers with us and partakers of our basket, and bringeth them under our own vine and fig-tree. Et haec est victoria, This is the victory and triumph of Mercy.

Let us then draw the lines by which we are to pass. And we shall shew you Mercy 1. in the Fruit it yieldeth, 2. in its Root; first, in its proper Act or Motion, casting bread upon the waters,* 1.9 and raising the poor out of the dust; secondly, in the Form which produceth this Act, or the Principle of this Motion, which is the Habit, the Affection, the Love of Mercy. For so we are commanded, not onely to shew forth our mercy, but to love it; What doth the Lord require, but to love mercy? &c.

We begin with the first. The proper Act of Mercy is to flow and to spend it self, and yet not be spent, to relieve our brethren in misery and in all the degrees that lead to it, necessities, impotencies, distresses, dan∣gers, defects. This is it which the Lord requireth. And howsoever Flesh and Blood may be ready to perswade us that we are left at large to our own wills, and may do what we will with our own, yet if we consult with the Oracle of God, we shall find that these reciprocal offices of Mercy which pass between man and man are a debt, that we are bound as much to do good to others as not to injure them; to supply their wants, as not rob them; to reach forth a hand to help them, as not to smite them with the fist of wickedness.* 1.10 And though my hundred measures of wheat be my own, and I may demand them, yet there is a voice from Heaven and from the Mercy-seat which biddeth me take the bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Do we shut up our bowels and our hands together. Behold, habemus legem, we have a Law, and

the first and greatest Law, the Law of Charity, to open them. It is true, what we gain by the sweat of our brows, what Honesty and Industry or the Law hath sealed unto us, is ours ex asse, wholly and entirely ours, nor can any hand but that of Violence divide it from us: but yet habe∣mus legem, we have a Law, another Law, which doth not take from us the propriety of our goods, but yet bindeth us to dispense and distribute them. In the same Court-roll of Heaven we are made both Proprieta∣ries and Stewards. The Law of God as well as of Man is Evidence for us that our possessions are ours; but it is Evidence against us, if we use them not to that end for which God made them ours. They are ours to have and to hold; nor can any Law of man divorce them from us, or question us. For what Action can be drawn against want of Mercy? Who was ever yet impleaded for not giving an almes at his door? What bar can you bring the Miser to? Who ever was arraigned for doing no good? But yet in the Law of God and in the Gospel of Christ, which is a Law of Grace,* 1.11 we find an Action drawn de non vestiendis nudis, for not clothing the naked, not feeding the hungry, not visiting the sick. I, saith Nazianzene, could peradventure be willing that mercy and Bounty were not necessary, but arbitrary; not under a Law, but presented by way of counsel and advice; for the Flesh is weak, and would go to heaven with as little cost and trouble as may be: but then the mention of the Left hand and the right, of the Goats and the Sheep, of the torments they shall be thrown into, not who have invaded other mens goods, but who have not given their own, not who have beat down, but who have not supported these Temples of the Holy Ghost; this is that which striketh a terrour through me, and maketh me think and resolve that I am as much bound to do acts of mercy as I am not to do an injury, as much bound to feed the poor man as I am not to oppress and murder him. To shew Mercy to others is not an E∣vangelical Counsel, it is a Law. Therefore as Homer telleth us, that men did not call some things by their proper names, for the Gods had o∣ther names for them,

* 1.12〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Chalcidem homines, Cymindim Dii vocant,

and he speaketh of a certain bird: so when we call that ours which our net hath taken in, our wit and industry hath brought it unto us, we speak after the manner of men, we speak the language of the world, the di∣alect of Mammon: but when we call them ours, and make them ours for the use and benefit of others, we do à Christo discere disciplinam, as Tertullian speaketh, we speak in the language of our Saviour, in that phrase and sense which God and the holy Saints do ever take them. Did I say it was the language of men? It is the language of the two daughters of the Horsleach,* 1.13 of Covetousness and Ambition, Give, Give; alwaies taking in, never emptying themselves: It is the dialect of that generation whose teeth are swords, and their jawteeth as knives, to devour the poor of the earth: It is the voice of Luxury and Riot, which must be fed, as De∣vils are,* 1.14 with the bloud of others; who, like that Behemoth, can drink up rivers of bloud: It is the language of the Devil himself, who is no helper, but a Destroyer. The language of Nature is more mild and gen∣tle; Misericordiâ nihil est naturae hominis accommodatius, saith Tully; There is nothing more suitable with the nature of Man then Mercy and a desire to do good to others. For when thou seest a man, thou beholdest thy self as in a glass: In him thou beholdest thy self, now chearful, and anon drooping; now standing, and anon sinking; now in purple, and a∣non naked; now full, and anon hungry: Thou seest thy self in the weak∣ness, in the mutability, in the mortality of thy condition; and his present

necessities are not onely a lesson and an argument which plainly demon∣strate to thy very eye what thou or any other man may be, but withall a silent and powerful appeal to thy Mercy, a secret beseeching thee (I might say, a legal requiring thee) to do unto him as thou wouldst be done to in the like case, which thou art as liable to as he; to be of the same mind now which thou wilt be certainly of when with this Lazar thou lyest at the gates of another.

But if this light of Nature be not bright enough,* 1.15 yet by the light of Scripture, by the light of the Gospel, we may easily discern the truth of this parallel. For the Servant of God, the true Christian, is born a∣gain, not for himself alone, but for all those who are parts of the same building and members of the same body. If one member suffer, all the members suffer with it. And this maketh not onely all the riches, but withall all the miseries, all the necessities, all the afflictions of our bre∣thren, ours. And what a celestial Harmony doth Mercy make, which putteth those who are at liberty in bonds with the prisoners, which make∣eth the rich lye down with the poor, the strong simpathize with the weak? What Harmony is that which riseth out of such discords, when the joyful heart weepeth with them that weep,* 1.16 and the sorrowful Spirit re∣joyceth with them that rejoyce, when all men are of the same mind one with another, the rich naked with the poor, and the poor abounding with the rich, the whole Church imprisoned in one man, and every man comfort∣ing his bondage with the peace and prosperity of the whole? This is an harmony indeed. But I fear I may say it is like the harmony of the Sphears, which was never heard; or at the least we have more reason then we would to believe that there is scarce any such Musick in our dayes. But thus it should be; and this Musick Mercy doth make.

I know the waies of God are past finding out;* 1.17 and the reasons of his judge∣ment, saith Basil, are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as Jewels, fit to be hid and reserved in the treasuries of God alone, and are understood onely by that Wisdome which sendeth them abroad: Yet if you ask why one is born a servant, and another free; why one grindeth at the mill, and another fitteth on the throne; why one lyeth at the gates whilest another feasteth in his palace; I may with confidence give you this reason for one; This God doth to exercise the patience and humility of the one, and to stir up and awake the mercy of the other. The rich and poor meet together,* 1.18 the Lord is the maker of them both, saith Solomon; not that his immediate hand made them rich and poor, poured down with his left hand riches into the bo∣some of the one, and withdrew it from the other, and so left him naked; For this is not manifest. God forbid that we should have such a conceit of God, that he should fill the usurers bags, or enlarge the territories of the wicked. Nor can we say that every poor man was predestinated to beggery; nor make it good, that God hath thus discerned and distin∣guished them; for we know Luxury and Idleness cloatheth many with rags, and Industry gathereth much, and Craft and Power more. But God is the maker of them both; They were both the work of his hands, and from his hands they were the same, though now the fashion of the world hath brought in a disparity between them. And God, saith the Father, did make both poor and rich, ut in pauperibus divitum misericordiam proba∣ret, that he might make the want of the poor as a touchstone to try the mercy of the rich. For no doubt he could send the Ravens to feed them, he could send Angels to feed them, he could let down all manner of flesh in a sheet, as he did to Peter; his Providence is never at a stand,* 1.19 but can find out waies which we cannot think of: But Christ hath so ordered it, that though we cannot have him,* 1.20 yet the poor and miserable

we shall alwaies have with us, ut locupletem aliena inopia ditaret, that what all the world cannot, anothers poverty may do, that is, enrich and bless us. Et tu neminem praetereas, nè is quem praeteris Christus sit, And let thy mercy, saith Augustine, pass by none, lest it pass by Christ himself. This he put into the Covenant which he made with us when he was on the earth, and sealed it with his blood; and now he looketh that we should make it good, and to that end presenteth and offereth himself unto us in these, and even boweth before us, to the end of the world. And certainly it is strange that we should thus stand out with him, and deny him that which is his by Covenant; that we should lock up all from him, who opened his heart, and let out his blood for us. But so it is: The vice we de∣light in maketh that virtue which is contrary to it a punishment; and when we love the world, to give an almes is as irksome and grievous to us as to pay a forfeiture; Liberality is a penalty, and therefore we use all means (but pay down nothing but excuses) to take it off; Mercy is no thriving virtue, but seemeth to come upon us as a thief and a robber, to strip and spoil us, and to make us like unto them whom she bindeth us to relieve; and therefore we shut her up in a narrow heart and an earthy mind.* 1.21 And if there be any Mercy in us, it is as a fountain sealed up, which sendeth not forth a drop; or a garden inclosed, where no man can come to fill his hand. This hard opinion the world hath of Mercy, as of the most useless and the most unprofitable and disadvantageous thing in the world, as the nurse of Prodigality and the mother of Beggery, as that which letteth out our blood and life to feed and strengthen others. We will therefore in the next place, as Tertullians phrase is, in hunc ictum confiderare, have an eye on this blow, and we shall avoid it with ease: For indeed it is rather a proffer then a blow. And it will soon appear that it is Mercy alone that maketh our wealth ours, that it is never more ours then when we part with it, that Alienation is our best Assurance, and con∣tinueth it to us for ever.

For first, it is but an errour to imagin that God openeth his hand, and filleth our basket, and giveth us the good things of the world for our selves alone and for our own use; that he openeth the windows of heaven, and droppeth down his blessings into us, there to settle and putrifie and corrupt. For this is, saith Basil, as if a man who made hast to the thea∣tre should think all others excluded because he came first. This is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to appropriate to thy self those things which are common to all, to lock up that in thy chest which should fill the bellies of the poor. The goods of the Church in former ages were called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the wealth of God and of the poor,* 1.22 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the things of God. Tertullian calleth them deposita pietatis, the pledges of Mercy deposited in our hands. And if I should call the wealth of Christians so, I should not erre;* 1.23 for all are bound to count them so, patrimonium crucifixi, the pa∣trimony of their crucified Saviour, given them not onely to feed and cloath themselves, but to supply the necessity of others, who have a right which indeed they cannot challenge, have something in our granaries and wardrobes to which we onely keep the key, with a charge from Heaven to open them when Nakedness and Misery come but so near as to knock at our eyes. For God who gave them is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the great Auditour, who will take a strict account if we do 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, use them as our own, as the Antients use to speak, or spend that in wantonness which should strengthen the weak knees and hands that hang down. We are ready to say, saith the Father, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; Whom do I wrong in keeping of my own? And must I be cruel to my self, that I may be merciful to o∣thers? Must I put my knife to my throat, that a stranger may be fed?

And we are easily perswaded that we are good Christians, if we be not Foxes to deceive, or Lions to devour them. The greatest part of our Piety is negative; and I would we did but make that good. Not to oppress, Not to defraud, Not to take away, with us is to be Merci∣ful; as Thieves, saith Salvian out of Tully, qui putant se vitam dare qui∣bus non eripiunt, who will say they give him his life whom they do not kill. And yet if Mercy open not my bowels and my hand too, I may wrong my brother when I do him no harm, I may defraud and spoil him when I take nothing from him. I wrong no man, is a poor apology. Why, man,* 1.24 thou wrongest the King of Kings when thou sufferest his subjects to perish. And this Negative Mercy is no better then Theft. The bread which thou layest up is not thine, but the bread of the hungry; The gar∣ment which thou hast lockt up in thy chest is the garment of the naked; The gold which thou hidest in the earth is the revenue of the poor and needy. As he said of his writings, Omne tuum, & nihil tuum, All is thine, and nothing is thine.

For, in the second place, the best use we can put our riches to, the true use which God that gave them hath taught us, is so to use them that they may stead us in our greatest necessity; to open our hand, that it may be filled; to water, that we may be watered again, saith Solomon;* 1.25 to make them our friends, saith a wiser then Solomon; to make that which is a parasite to deceive us, a snare to entrap us, an enemy to fight against us, a friend to help and succour us; so to use it that it may return multiplyed into our hands. For what is properly gain? Is not this, for a mite to receive a talent? for one seed, one work of Mercy, to receive an hundred-fold? Negotiatio est, aliqua amittere, ut plura lucreris,* 1.26 saith the Father; It is a kind of traffick and merchandise, to lay out some∣thing, that you may gain more; to venture a knife or bugle, to bring back a diamond; to treasure up by spending, to increase our stock by diminishing it, and by losing all to purchase more. What was ever, saith Julian the Apostate, the poorer for what he gave? And of himself he telleth us, that whatsoever he laid out to supply the wants of others was returned back again by the Gods (as the Apostate had now learnt to speak) into his hands with usury. For when his Liberality had well-near exhausted his own estate, his Grand-mothers happily and oppor∣tunely fell into his hands. What that cursed Apostate falsly attributeth to his false Gods, that the God of Gods doth most exactly perform. He hath set up his Assurance-office to pay us back in our own coine, or, if not, in that which cannot be valued, being of an inestimable price. I make no doubt but Gods Mercy is ready to shine upon ours; for he loveth it, and loveth to look on it. I doubt not but he rewardeth our Mercy with the blessings of this life. For a cup of cold water which the hand of Mercy filleth and poureth out he giveth many times riches and honour, though we perceive it not, but attribute them to something else, as to our Wisdome and Industry rather then to that Providence which alwaies waiteth upon Mercy, blessing it in the work, and blessing it when the work is done. But what are these to that reward which is laid up for those who do seminare in benedictionibus, sow plentifully? What are Riches, that have wings, to Immortality? What is a Palace to Heaven? We visit the sick, and the Spirit of comfort visiteth us. We serve our brethren, and the Angels minister unto us. We cover the naked with our cloth, and God clotheth us with joy. We convert a sinner, and shine as stars. We part with a few shekels of silver, and the hand of Mercy worketh and turneth them into a crown. We sow temporal and transitory things, and the harvest is Eternity. Whilest we make them

ours, they are weak and impotent; but when we part with them, they work miracles, and remove mountains, all that is between us and bles∣sedness.* 1.27 All the riches in the world will not add one cubit to our stature; but if we thus tread them under our feet, they will lift us up as high as heaven. Nulla sunt potiora quàm de misericordia compendia; The best gains are those we purchase with our loss, and the best way to find our bread is to cast it upon the waters.* 1.28

Will you see the practice of the primitive Christians; I do the rather mention it because methinketh I see the face of Christendome much changed and altered, and Christians, whose plea is Mercy, whose glory is Mercy, who but for Mercy were of all men most miserable, who have no other business in the world then to save and help themselves and o∣thers, using all means to dry up the fountain of Mercy, shaping to them∣selves virtutem duram & ferream, bringing forth Mercy in a coat of a mail and, like Goliath, with an helmet of brass, standing as Centinel, as a Guard about our wealth, with this loud prohibition to all that stand in need,* 1.29 Touch not, Tast not, Handle not. Let us therefore look back, and see what they were in former times, and we shall find them so unlike to those of succeeding generations, that they will rather be brought under censure then set up as a pattern for imitation. For we are as far removed from their Piety as we are from the times wherein they lived. They, I am sure, thought Mercy a virtue, and the chief virtue of the Gospel, a virtue in which they thought it impossible to exceed. They made it their daily bread to feed others. Melior est racematio, &c. Their gleaning-grapes were much better then our Vintage. Justine Martyr in his Apo∣logy for the Christians telleth us that that which they possessed they did 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.30 bring it into a common treasury. Tertullian calleth it arcam communem, a common chest. Nor was this Benevolence exacted as a tribute from those who desired to be joyned with them in communion, as the Heathen did calumniate; but every man did sponte conferre, saith Tertullian, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith Justine Martyr, voluntarily, and what he would. And that which was gathered was committed to the hands or trust of the Bishop, and after, when he was taken up with other matters more proper for his calling, to the Deacons, which by them was laid out for the clo∣thing of the naked, the maintenance of the poor, of orphans, and of old men; to redeem captives, to succour men who had been shipwrackt by sea, and those who were in prison for their profession and the Gospel of Christ. Plus nostra misericordia insumit vicatim quàm vestra superstitio templatim, saith Tertullian; Our Mercy layeth out more in the streets on the poor then your Superstition doth on your Gods in your Temples; our Religi∣on hath a more open hand then your Idolatry. And to this end they had matriculas egenorum. certain Catalogues of the names of their poor bre∣thren, personarum miserabilium, persons, as thy termed them, miserable. How many of them were there who,* 1.31 as Aristotle speaketh, did 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, greatly exceed in their liberality, and did seem to be more merciful then the Lord requireth?* 1.32 Nazianzene telleth us of his Mother Nonna, that she was possest 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, with an immoderate and unmeasu∣rab••e desire of bestowing her goods, that she was willing not onely to sell all that she had, but even her very children, for the use and relief of the poor. Gorgonia her daughter suckt this pious and melting disposition, though not from her breasts, yet from her good example; Who stript her self of all, committed her body to the earth, and left no other legacy to her children but her great example and the imitation of her virtues, which she thought was enough to enrich them, though they had nothing else. S. Hierome telleth us of his Paula, that though she were eminent in many

virtues, yet her Liberality did exceed, and like a swelling river could not be kept within the banks. Hoc habebat voti, ut mendica moreretur; She wisht for that which most men do fear as much as Death it self, and her great ambition it was, that she might dye a begger. We might in∣stance in more. And these examples have shined in the Church as stars of the fairest magnitude: But after-ages have thought them but comets, looked upon them, and feared them. And though they know not well how to condemn this exceeding piety, yet they soon perswade themselves, and conclude, that they are not bound to follow it, and so are bound up as in a frost, in the coldness and hardness of their hearts, because some did seem to overflow and pass their limit. These indeed are strange examples; but yet S. Basil delivereth a doctrine as strange;* 1.33 for he would not give it as his counsel if it had not truth to commend and con∣firm it: If thou hast but one loaf left in thy house, saith he, yet if a poor man stand at thy doors, and ask for bread, bring it forth and give it him with thy hands lifted up to heaven, whilest thou doest that which God requi∣reth, and for thy own supply reliest on the Providence of thy Father which is in heaven. Do it in his name, and in his name thou shalt be fed assuredly. Thou hast parted with thy one loaf here, but his Power to whom thou givest it can and will multiply it. For they that thus give are as wells, which are soon drawn dry, but fill the faster, and the more they are exhausted the fuller they are. I know not whether it may be safe to deliver such a doctrine in these daies, and therefore we will not insist upon it; and these examples which I have held up to you may be transcendent, that we may not bind every man to reach them. These pious Women may seem perhaps to have stretcht beyond the line and exceeded the bounds of moderation; but yet we cannot but think that this was truly to go out of the world whilest they were in it. And we may observe that this excess is incident to great and heroick spi∣rits, who, as it is said of Homer and Sophocles, sometimes swelling above that proper and ruled sublimity of speach wherein they did excell, do ge∣nerosè labi, erre and fall more nobly and with-greater commendation then others who spin an even but course thread, and are so far from rising too high, that they are flat, and alwaies lye upon the ground. I know that all our actions are to be squared by the rule, and that it may savour of great folly to be wiser then that Wisdome that taught us: But yet I cannot think that a God of Mercy, that loveth it in himself and in his crea∣ture, will look in anger upon those who through too much fervour and ambition of doing all do more then is required, but favour and reward them rather; when he will severly punish that negligence that bindeth our hands in our bosome that we do nothing. Meliùs ultrà quàm citrà stat misericordia; There is less danger in the works of Mercy to exceed then to fall short; I may say, less danger in Superstition then in Profaneness, less danger in giving all then in giving nothing. And I can see no reason there should be bounds set to our Mercy: For this is the way to shut it up quite; and then we can set the bounds where we please; our Non ultrà will be a penny, a mite, a cup of cold water, and at last nothing. I will not censure the Devotion of these Women, and I need not take any pains to frame an apology for them: He that shall be so bold as to pass sentence against them will betray in himself so much love of the world as will de∣serve a heavier doom. And although I may not press it as a duty on every man, yet thus much we may gain by it as to conclude, That if these Women attained to this so high perfection as to be willing to strip themselves of all and give it to the poor, it is not so hard a matter as we make it to part with our superfluities. It is as easie for Mercy to open our hands now as then. And if this excess of

theirs were as a rock which we should avoid (as indeed it is not) yet what need they to fear it who are so unwilling to set out, or to follow them but so far as to the mean, and those Tropicks which we our selves set up and do acknowledge in our course?* 1.34 Julian the Apostate in one of his E∣pistles, observing how glorious and renowned the Christians were grown for this virtue, thought it a great piece of his art and cunning to lay this imputation and slur upon it, That their acts of Mercy were done rather out of policy then devotion, and were rather a cheat then charity; that by their liberality they did countenance and commend their Religion, which had nothing else to speak for it, and with this shew of bounty, with the ce∣russe and paint of communicating to the necessities of others, did cover the horrour (as he there impiously speaketh) of their profession, and thus did entice and draw others to their faction, as men do children with a cake, whom they mean afterwards to destroy. If the Apostate were now alive, he would not be put to the labour of his brain, nor forced to ask counsel of his wits to find out such a malicious lye. For our Mercy for the most part is in the heart. I mistake; I would it were there: for then upon occasion it would evaporate and shew it self. No, it floteth on the tongue, and the countenance of it is wan and pale, without paint or dress. Our Almes are verba sine penu & pecunia, words without works. What need this ceremonious and expensive Mercy? It is enough if our Charity speak, and we shew our love to Mercy even then when we have shut it up in the inward man, and do but think of it.

But let us not deceive our selves. This duty is written in lasting cha∣racters to all posterity: Poverty and Contempt of the world will be Bea∣titudes to the worlds end. Mercy and Compassion are everlasting duties. To part with our coat to our brother is as necessary now as when Christ first taught it. Why should we paraphrase Mercy, and coyn distinctions and draw out limitations as it were to copse her up and confine her, that she shall not move our tongue or hand but when our Lusts will give her leave?* 1.35 Be ye merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful. Why, that is impossible; and therefore, because we cannot reach so far, we will not stir a foot.* 1.36 Lend, looking for nothing again. That cannot bind us in the letter; and so, though we may be perswaded to lend, yet our Covetous∣ness shall have line enough to reach the debtour, and take him by the throat, and make him lay down what he oweth with the advantage. Go, sell all thou hast.* 1.37 That was spoken to the young man, and so concerneth us not. It is true, To sell all, and give it to the poor, was a particular precept to the young man in the Gospel, and with this command Christ made a window into his breast, and discovered the rottenness of his heart: But yet this precept is not so particular to the young man but that it may and doth con∣cern those who are fallen into the same snare of the Devil, and are ready to be strangled 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, with the same golden halter, and in this respect it may concern more then a many. For should our Saviour come with his fan in his hand, he would find too much of this chaff, discover too many who are ready to subscribe to the Decalogue, to those commands which they are too ready to break, but have no hand at all to fling one mite in∣to the treasury; too many so like that young man in this that they may well receive this strict command, Go, sell all that you have, and give it to the poor. For the Love of the world is a foul humour, and no other pill can purge it out. Nor can this Augean Stable, the heart of a covetous man, be purged without a Hercules, otherwise then by a strong and violent evacuation. No better remedy against the Love of the world then thus exhaeredare se secu∣lo, to abandon the world, and disinherit our selves of all right and title to it, as the Philosopher telleth us. To make a crooked staff straight, the

best way is to bow it violently the other way: And if this Physick will not purge and cure the Covetous, no power, no miracle, no mercy can save him.

I am very willing so far to be as a John Baptist, a forerunner to Mercy, as to fill up every valley, and to bring every mountain and hill low,* 1.38 to make smooth every rough passage, and so prepare a way, and make the paths of Mer∣cy straight: And in doing this I prepare a way for Christ himself; for Christ and Mercy never go asunder. I would not see her circumscribed and drawn within that compass which the Flesh will make narrow e∣nough with glosses, distinctions and limitations. If it be Mercy, it can∣not be thus shut up, but will break through and shine every where in its full strength, scatter every mist, disperse every cloud, and be most seen in darkness. If it be a Man and miserable, she maketh hast to help him. She asketh no questions, maketh no pause nor deliberation, standeth not upon circumstances of time or place or measure, of what or where or when or how much. She doth not examine nor catechize the person, and then raise scruples; for a scrupulous Mercy is but a conniving cruelty;* 1.39 it doth not hurt, but it doth not help. Shee seeth him cast down, and she imployeth the understanding to find out waies and means, she open∣eth the ear to hearken to complaints, she maketh the tongue as the pen of a ready writer, and speaketh to his heart, and stretcheth forth the hand to lift him up. Her hast is her wisdome, her loss her improvement, her motion her light, her actuating is the next object, her life is misery, her method poseth the wisemen of this world, her art is simplicity, her soloe∣cismes rules, her strange works the the laughter of fools and the musick of Angels. In a word, she endeth not but in her self: For if it end where the object is seen, it is not Mercy. And thus she leadeth us on, and grow∣eth up with us to that strength that we are able to die for the brethren;* 1.40 and then and not till then the merciful man and his mercy end together: And yet they do not end; for they shall be had in everlasting remembrance.* 1.41

And we shall not think so strange of this Operation and Magistery of Mercy, if, in the next place,* 1.42 we consider what spring and what principle it is which beginneth and continueth its motion, and setteth it a work∣ing. S. Paul placeth it in the inward man, in the very Bowels of him: Put on therefore bowels of mercy, bowels which may sound as an harp to raise and refresh every drooping soul. For there is a melting as well as a flow∣ing, which is nothing else but Compassion or Fellow-feeling. And as every natural act and motion hath its principle from whence it proceed∣eth, so have our spiritual duties their form as it were to give them life and motion: And when this is wanting, we fail and sink in our performance, are but idoles, have eyes, but see not, have mouthes, but speak not, have hands,* 1.43 but cannot reach them forth.

Now Compassion is the spring and principle of Mercy, when it exer∣ciseth its act, when it teacheth the ignorant, or feedeth the poor. This wrought the miracle of the Loaves: For Christ telleth his Disciples,* 1.44 I have compassion on the multitude; and he multiplieth them. This forced tears from him, and drew them down his cheeks:* 1.45 For when he came near, he beheld the City, and wept over it. In a word, this nailed him to the Cross. Nor can we take it ill or be troubled to hear of a compassionate and weeping Christ, unless we be troubled also that he was a Man. For never did the Hand reach forth relief, nor the Tongue speak comfort, till Compassion had melted the Heart. Never was there any true natural motion without a spring. Nor was there any reason it should be expun∣ged and left out: For we read it again John 11.35. Jesus wept. It is no wisdome so to honour Christ as to take from his Humanity. This

Wisdome cometh not è porticu Solomonis, from the porch of the Tem∣ple, but from the gallery and schools of the Stoicks, who took away all Passion, and with it the very nature of Man. It was extreme folly with them to be compassionate. And as they took Passions away quite, so the Peripateticks left them, but with a curb, to be stopt and moderated. And here they both run diverse waies, and both missed of the right. For as Lactantius well observeth,* 1.46 neither are the Affections quite to be ex∣tirpated and rooted out, as the Stoicks hold, nor yet alwaies to be checked and bounded, as the Peripateticks would have it, but to be levelled and directed on the right object. If you set your compass, and steer to the right point, you cannot fill your sails too much. If Jerusalem, Jerusalem now shaking, tottering and falling, be in your eyes, you cannot weep too much: If a multitude now ready to famish, you cannot be too compas∣sionate. If your affections be set right, your Anger cannot be too loud; for no Indignation can be raised up equal to your Sin: your Love cannot be too intensive; for you cannot love. Virtue enough; the Love of a friend, the Love of a woman cometh short, and will never reach it: your Sor∣row cannot be too excessive; for how can they be cast down too much who are fallen from God; He that goeth out of his way, though his pace be gentle, yet must needs walk with danger; every step is an errour: but he that keepeth on in the right way cannot possibly make too much speed. No; Compassion is so far from being imputed as a defect, that it is that by which we come nearest to Christ himself. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, It is a Divine thing,* 1.47 saith Isidore, to be compassionate; an imitation of him who is a Father of Mercies,* 1.48 and whose compassions never fail. And there∣fore, God forbid, saith S. Augustine, That though we pray against them, and would use our strength and wit and utmost power to keep them off, we should take off our eye, as loth to see, or shut our ears, as unwilling to hear the com∣plaints and grievings and miseries of our brethren. It is indeed a sad spe∣ctacle, but a blessed occasion to call up our Compassion, and to draw out our Mercy into act; to kindle the fire within us, that it may break forth into a pure flame to warm and comfort them. And what is a Christian mans life, and what is the business of his life, but to watch and observe and lay hold on occasions? to look upon that fire which may melt him, and that misery of others which may make an impression and leave its image in his heart? which will bring in that heavenly community, cùm quam∣vìs alii ferendo patiantur, alii cognoscendo compatiantur, communis tamen fit tribulatio, when Mercy possesseth the heart of all men with the smart of that affliction which but one man lieth under, making every man a partaker, though not in the loss, yet in the sorrow.

For this Compassion is bound up as it were in the very nature and con∣stitution of the Church; and it is as impossible to be a part of the Church without it as it is to be a Man without the use of reason; nay, we so far come short of being Men as we are defective in humanity. Christians are the parts of the Church, and all must sustein one another. And this is the just and full interpretation of that of our Saviour,* 1.49 Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self; then thou wilt pity him as thy self. Tolle invidiam, & tuum est quod habet; Take away Envy, and all that he hath is thine: And take away Hardness of heart, and all that thou hast is his. Take away Malice, and all his virtues are thine; and take away Pride, and thy glories are his. Art thou a part of the Church? Thou hast a part in every part, and every part hath a portion in thee.* 1.50 We are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, compacted together by that which every joynt supplies; A similitude and resemblance taken from the Curtains of the Tabernacle, saith learned Grotius, whereof every one hath its measure,* 1.51 but yet they are all coupled together one to another,

by their loops which lay hold one of another. And like those curtains we are not to be drawn but together, not to rejoyce, not to weep, not to suffer but together. The word Church is but a second notion, and it is made a term of art, and every man almost, saith Luther, abuseth it, draweth it forth after his own image, taketh it commonly in that sense which may favour him so far as to leave in him a perswasion that he is a true part of it; and thus many enter the Church, and are shut out of heaven. We are told of a Visible Church; and the Church in some sense is visible: But that the greatest part of this Church hath wanted bowels, that some parts of it have been without sense or feeling, besmeared and defiled with the bloud of their brethren, is as visible as the Church. We have heard of an Infallible Church; we have heard it, and believe it not: for how can she be infallible who is so ready to design all those to death and hell who deny it? If it be a Church, it is a Church with horns to push at the nati∣ons, or an army with banners and swords. We have long talked of a Re∣formed Church; and we make it our crown and rejoycing: But it would concern us to look about us and take heed that we do not reform so as to purge out all Compassion also: For certainly to put off all bowells is not, as some zealots have easily perswaded themselves, to put on the new man. Talk not of a Visible, Infallible or a Reformed Church: God send us a Compassionate Church, a title which will more fit and become her then those names which do not beautifie and adorn but accuse and con∣demn her when she hath no Heart. What Visible Church is that which is seen in blood? What Infallible Church is that whose very bowels are cruel? What Reformed Church is that which hath purged out all Com∣passion? Visible, and yet not seen; Infallible, and deceived; Refor∣med, and yet in its filth; Monstrum, horrendum, informe; This is a mis∣shapen monster, not a Church. The true Church is made up of bowels. Every part of it is tender and relenting, not onely when it self is touch∣ed, but when others are moved; as you see in a well-set instrument, if you touch but one string, the others will tremble and shake. And this Sense and this Fellow-feeling is the fountain from whence this silver stream of Mercy floweth, the spring and first mover of those outward acts which are seen in that bread of ours which floats upon the waters, in the face and on the backs of the poor.* 1.52 For not then when we see our bre∣thren in affliction, when we look upon them and pass by them, but when we see them and have compassion on them, we shall bind up their wounds, and pour in oil and wine, and take care for them. For till the heart be melted there will nothing flow. We see almes given every day, and we call them acts of piety; but whether the hand of Mercy reach them forth or no we know not. Our motions, all of them are not from a right spring: Vain-glo∣ry may be liberal, Intemperance may be liberal, Pride may be a benefa∣ctour, Ambition must not be a niggard, Covetousness it self sometimes yieldeth & droppeth a peny, and Importunity is a wind which will set that wheel a going which had otherwise stood still. We may read large cata∣logues of munificent men, but many names which we read there may be but the names of Men & not of the Merciful. Compassion is the inward & true principle begetting in us the Love of Mercy, which completeth and perfect∣eth & crowneth every act, giveth it its true form & denomination, giveth a sweet smel and fragrant savour to Maries oyntment;* 1.53 for she that poured it forth loved much. I may say Compassion is the love of Mercy. Et plus est di∣ligere quàm facere, saith Hilary; It is a great deal more to love a good work then to do it, to love Virtue then to bring it into act, to love Mercy then to shew it. It doth supply many times the place of the outward act; but with∣out it the act is nothing, or something worse. It hath a privilege to bring

that upon account which was never done, to be entitled to that which we do not, which we cannot do; to make the weak man strong, the poor man liberal, and the ignorant man a counsellor. For he that loveth Mercy would do, and therefore doth, more then he can do. As David may be said to build the Temple, though he laid not a stone of it: for God telleth him he did well that he had it in his heart:* 1.54 Thus our Love may build a Temple, though we fall and dye before a stone be laid.

Now this Love of Mercy is not so soon wrought in the heart as we may imagin; as every glimering of light doth not make it day. It is a work of labour and travel, of curious observance and watchfulness over our selves. It will cost us many a combat and luctation with the World and the Flesh, and many a falling out with our selves. Many a Love must be digged up by the roots before we can plant this Love in our hearts: It will not grow up with Luxury and Wantonness, with Pride or Self-love; you never see these together in the same soyl. The Apostle tel∣leth us we must put it on:* 1.55 And the garments which adorn the soul are not so soon put on as those which clothe the body. We do not put on Mer∣cy as we do our mantle; for when we do, every puff of wind, every di∣stast bloweth it away: But Mercy must be so put on that it may even cleave to the soul, and be a part of it; that every thought may be a melting thought, every word as oyl, and every work a blessing. Then we love Mercy, when we fling off all other respects, whatsoever may ei∣ther shrink up or straiten our bowels, or seal up our lips, or wither our hands; when we look upon the World but as our stage, where we must act our parts, and display the glories of Mercy, where we must wast our selves, drop our tears, run in to succour those who are roughly handled in it, and thus tread it under our feet, and then take our Exit and go out. When we can forget our Honour, and remember the poor, forsake all rather then our brethren, and desire not to be rich but in good works; when we have so incorporated our brethren into our selves, that we stand and fall, are happy and miserable together; when we consider them as ingrafted into the same Christ, and in him to be preferred before the whole world, and to be lookt upon as those for whom we must dye, then we love Mercy,* 1.56 then we are merciful as our heavenly Father is mer∣ciful.

Thus if we be qualified, we shall become the temples and habitations of Mercy; and as our bodies shall after their resurrection, so our souls shall here have novas dotes, be endowed with activity, chearfulness and purity. And first our Mercy will be in a manner Natural unto us; se∣condly, it will be Constant; thirdly, it will be Sincere; fourthly, it will be Delightful to us. It will be natural, not forced; it will be constant, not flitting; it will be sincere, not feigned; and it will be delightful, that we shall long to bring it into act.

And first, we then love it when it is in a manner made natural to us. For we never fully see the beauty of it till we are made new creatures, and have new eyes.* 1.57 Then as the New creature cannot sin, as S. John speak∣eth, that is, can do nothing that is contrary and destructive to that form which constituteth a new creature, no more can a Merciful man do any thing which will not savour of Mercy, but doth as naturally exercise himself in it as the Sun doth send forth its beams, or the Heavens their influence. For the Spirit of God hath made his heart a fountain of Mer∣cy, as he made the Sun a fountain of light. And if he break not forth into action, it is from defect of means or occasion, or some cross accident which cometh over him, which do but cloud and eclipse his

Mercy, as the interposition of a gross body doth eclipse the Sun, but not put out its light At the very sight of Misery Mercy is awake, up, and either doing or suffering. Who is weak, and I am not weak?* 1.58 saith S. Paul,; who is offended, and I burn not? If I but see one weak, I faint; and if I see him vexed, I am on fire. Nature is active, and will work to its end. Heavy bodies will descend, and light bodies will mount upwards; and Mercy will give, and lend, and forgive, it cannot be idle. Inquies opere suo pascitur; It is restless, and is made more restless by its work, which is indeed its pleasure. It is then most truly Mercy when it shew∣eth it self. If occasion presenteth it self, it soon layeth hold on it. If an object appear, it is carried to it with the speed of a Thought, and reach∣eth it as soon. If there be no object, it createth one, if there be no oc∣casion, it studyeth one. Is there yet any left of the house of Saul,* 1.59 that I may shew kindness to for Jonathans sake? And, Is there no Lazar to feed, no Widow to visit, no Wounds to bind up, no weak Brother to be restored, none that be in darkness and errour to be brought into the light? These are the Quaeres and the true dialect, this is the ambition of Mercy. It long∣eth more for an occasion to vent it self then the Adulterer doth for the twilight, layeth hold on the least as on a great one; thinketh nothing too high, nothing too low, which it can reach; is still in motion, because it moveth not, like artificial bodies, by art or outward force, but by a prin∣ciple of life, the Spirit of Love; it moveth not as a Clock, which will stand still when the plummet is on the ground, but its motion is natural, as that of the Spheres, which are wheeled about without cessation, and return by those points by which they past, and indeed may be said rather to rest then to move, because they move continually and in the same place. Misery is the point and the object of Mercy, and at that it toucheth ever∣lastingly. Mercy and Misery still go together and eye each other. The eye of Misery looketh up upon Mercy, and the eye of Mercy looketh down upon Misery. Like the two Cherubins, they have ever their faces one towards another. Their eyes are both full, and ready to drop and run down. The eye of Misery is ever open, and Mercy hideth not her eye.* 1.60 By this you may judge of your acts of Liberality. You may look upon them as those sacrifices with which God is pleased when you find something within you that enlargeth you, that openeth your mouth and hand,* 1.61 that you cannot but speak and do. When you find a heat within you that thaw∣eth and melteth you, that you pour out your selves on your brethren, then your works of Mercy are of a sweet-smelling favour, when Love set∣teth them on fire.

Secondly, Mercy being made natural unto us, will be also constant. It will be fixt in the firmament of the Soul, and shine and derive its influ∣ence uncessantly and equally, doing good unto all men while it hath time,* 1.62 that is, at all times. When the Heart dissenteth from it self; and Love onely uniteth and maketh it one; when it is a divided heart, divided be∣tween God and the World, hath inconstant motions and changeable counsels, joyneth with the object and leapeth from the object, is willing to day and loathing to morrow; this day cleaving to the object, and e∣ven sick for love, as Amnon was for Tamar,* 1.63 and the next day thrusting it out of doors; chusing without judgement, and then altering upon expe∣rience; In such a heart Mercy cannot dwell. And from hence it is that we see men every day so unlike themselves, now giving, anon oppressing, now reaching out an almes, and by and by threatning with the sword; now giving their brother the right hand of fellowship, and within a while with that hand plucking him by the throat; now pitying him that lyeth in the dust, & anon crying out, So, so, thus we would have it. For indeed their

Pity and their Rage, their Mercy and their Cruelty have the same original and are raised upon the same ground, Love of themselves and not of Mercy. And thus they do some acts of Mercy magno impetu, sed semel, with much earnestness and zeal, but not often; like some birds, whose notes, or rather noise, we hear one part of the year, and then they leave us, vanish out of sight and hearing, and, as some say, sleep out the other. Even in the worst of men there be some seeds of goodness, which they receive as they are Men, and from hence arise those 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, those sudden but short and transitory inclinations, which are choaked up yet not so dead in them but that sometimes they shew themselves and shoot out, but as grass doth upon the house-tops,* 1.64 which withereth before it groweth up. There is no Tyrant but may do one act of mercy; no Oppressour, but may give a cup of cold water. In pessimis est aliquid optimi; There may be some∣thing of that which is good even in the worst. Then Mercy is in its full glory when it acteth upon a certain and well grounded determination; when we decree, as the Stoicks speak, and resolve so to do; when we have fixed this decree, and made it unalterable; when we are rooted and grounded in Mercy,* 1.65 as S. Paul speaketh; rooted, as a tree, deeply in it; and built, as a house, upon it, where the corner and chief stone is the Love of Mercy. Then we are as Trees, to shadow others, and as an House, to shelter them. Otherwise our Mercy will be be but as a gourd,* 1.66 as Jonahs gourd, and will grow and come up and perish in a night.

Thirdly, if we love Mercy, it will be Sincere and real. For Sinceri∣ty is the proper issue and child of Love:* 1.67 It maketh the wounds of a friend better then the kisses of an enemy,* 1.68 a dish of herbs a more sumptuous feast then a stalled ox; it maketh a mite, a good wish, a good word an Almes, What is the Mercy of the Parasite? He feedeth by it. What is the Mer∣cy of the Ambitious? A stirrop to get up by. What is the Mercy of the Covetous? A piece of art, a warrantable cheat. What was the seeming Mercy of Peter?* 1.69 It was an offense, for which Christ called him an Enemy. What is the Mercy of those who through covetousness with feigned words make a prey of mens souls?* 1.70 I will not tell you, because I cannot give it a name bad enough. There may be Mercy in a supply, but that supply may be a snare: There may be Mercy in counsel, but that counsel may betray me.* 1.71 There is Mercy in comfort, but we know, there be miserable comfor∣ters. True Mercy must be like our Faith, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, unfeigned. Then it runneth most pure and clear, without taint or trouble, when Love open∣eth the fountain, or rather is the fountain from whence it floweth; when the Love of Christ hath begot in us the Love of our Brethren, and we shew Mercy to them, not for those arguments which we make our selves, or those perswasions which may be the oratory of the Flesh and the World, but for Christ's sake and for the love of Mercy, whose rational and demon∣strative eloquence we should most obey. Otherwise it will begin fairly, and end in blood, it will drop tears, and then hailstones; it will be but a preface of clemency, a mild prologue to lead in a tragedy, an echo out of a sepulchre of rotten bones, and as musick at the gates of hell: It will be Mercy,* 1.72 but not like unto Christ, in whom there was found no guile, but like unto Marcion's Christ, all in appearance; Mercy with a trum∣pet in one hand, and a sword in the other; Mercy which shall lessen your burden, to lay on more; shall speak of ease, and then add to the mise∣ry of the oppressed. For that which is not sincere is not lasting. It may begin to shine, but it will end in a storm. A true face is ever the same, but a visour will soon fall off. In a word, if it be not sincere it is not Mercy; and sincere it will not, it cannot, be, if we love it not.

Last of all, if we love Mercy, we shall take delight in it. For Joy is but a resultancie from Love. That which we love is also the joy of our heart. Behold my servant whom I have chosen, saith God of Christ;* 1.73 and then it followeth, in whom my soul delighteth. I have loved thee,* 1.74 saith God to Israel; and his Love thus bespeaketh them,* 1.75 As a bridegroom re∣joyceth over his bride, so shall thy God rejoyce over thee. The bridegrooms heart is ravished, and then the floodgates are laid open,* 1.76 and the stream is Joy; How fair is my love? how much better is thy love then wine, and the smell of thy oyntments then all spices? Davids heart was knit unto Jonathan,* 1.77 and then, Very pleasant hast thou been unto me.* 1.78 Abraham loved hospitali∣ty, and therefore he is said to sit in his tent door, in the heat of the day,* 1.79 to in∣vite men in, as if every stranger had been an Angel. If Love be as the Sun, Joy and Delight are the Beams which stream forth from it. If Love be as the Voice, Joy is the Echo; for Joy is but Love in the reflexion. If Love fill the heart, it will heave and work it self out, and break forth in Joy. By our Joy we may see the figure and shape and constitution of our souls. For Love is operative, working and raising up something in the soul, and with it that Delight which is born with it and alwaies waiteth upon it. If it be dark and scarce observable, our Joy interpreteth it. Joy is open and talkative. In the Wanton it is Frolick, in the Revenger it is a Boast, in the Drunkard it is a Ballad, in the Rich it is Pride, in the Ambitious it is a Triumph, but in the Merciful it is Heaven. What a well drawn picture is to an Appelles, what a fair character is to a Scribe, what a heap of gold is to the Miser, that and much more are the works of Mercy to them that love it: onely here the Joy is of a purer flame, and burning brighter; that is gross and earthy, this is Seraphical. When you reach forth your hand to give a peny, tell me, What do you feel in your heart? When you give good counsel, do you not hear a pleasing echo return back upon you? When you have lifted up the poor out of the dust, do you not feel an e∣levation and ascension in your mind? When you clothe the naked, are not you even then supervestiti, clothed upon with Joy? Believe it, you cannot give that relief to the miserable which Mercy worketh in the soul, nor can he that receiveth be so much affected as he that giveth: For when he giveth he giveth indeed his money, but hath bestowed the greatest Almes upon himself. The poor man rejoyceth as a hungry man that is fed, as a naked man that is clothed, as one that sitteth in darkness doth at the breaking in of light; but the Merciful man hath triumphs and Jubi∣lees within him. In a word, to love Mercy is to be in heaven. Every man, according as he purposeth in his heart, let him give, not grudgingly,* 1.80 or of necessity: for God loveth a chearful giver. Such a Mercy is Gods Almoner here on earth; and he loveth and blesseth it, followeth it with his Provi∣dence, and his infinite Mercy shall crown it. That gift which the Love of Mercy offereth up is onely fit to be laid up in the Treasury of the Al∣mighty.

And now I have set before you Mercy in her full beauty, in all her glo∣ry. You have seen her spreading her raies: I might shew you her building of Hospitals, visiting the sick, giving eyes to the blind, raising of Temples, pitying the stones, breathing forth oracles, making the ignorant wise, the sorrowful merry, leading the wandring man into his way: I might have shewed you her sealing of Pardons: But we could not shew you all. These are the miracles of Mercy; and they are wrought by the power of Christ in us, and by us, but by his power. The fairest spectacle in the world. Let us then look upon it, and love it. What is Mercy when you need it? Is it not as the opening of the heavens unto you? And shall it then be a pu∣nishment and hell unto you when your afflicted brethren call for it? Is

it so glorious abroad, and shall it be so foul an aspect as not to be thought worthy of enterteinment at home? Shall it be a jewel in every cabinet but your own hearts? Behold, and lift up your eyes, and you shall see objects enough for your Mercy to shine on.* 1.81 If ever one depth called up∣on another,* 1.82 the depth of Calamity for the depth of our Compassion, if ever our bowels should move and sound, now, now is the time. I re∣member that Chrysologus observeth that God did on purpose lay Laza∣rus at the rich mans gate quasi pietatis conflatorium, as a forge to melt his stony heart. Lazarus had as many mouthes to speak and move him to compassion as he had ulcers and wounds. And how many such for∣ges hath God set before us? how many mouthes to beseech us? how many wounds wide open which speak loud for our pity? how many fires to melt us? Shall I shew you an ulcerous Lazar? They are obvious to our eye:* 1.83 We shall have them alwaies with us, saith our Saviour; and we have them almost in every place.* 1.84 Shall I shew you men stript and wounded and left half-dead? That may be seen in our Cities as well as in the high waies between Jericho and Jerusalem. Shall I shew you the tears drilling down the cheeks of the orphans and widows? Shall I call you to hear the cry of the hire kept back by fraud or violence.* 1.85 For that cryeth to you for compassion, as Oppression doth to God for vengeance; and it is a kind of oppression to deny it them.* 1.86 Have you not compassion, all ye that pass by, and every day behold such sad spectacles as these? Shall I shew you Christ put again to open shame, whipt and scorned and crucified, and that which cannot be done to him in his person laid upon his Church? Shall I shew you him now upon the cross? and have you no regard, all ye that pass by? Shall I shew you the Church mise∣rably torn in pieces? Shall I shew you Religion? I would I could shew you such a sight! For scarce so much as her form is left. What can I shew, or what can move us, when neither our own Misery, nor the common Misery, nor Sin, nor Death, nor Hell it self will move us? If we were either good Men, or good Citizens, or good Christi∣ans, our hearts would melt and gush forth at our eyes in rivers of wa∣ter: If we were truly affected with peace, we should be troubled at war: If we did love the City, we should mourn over it: If we did de∣light in the prosperity of Israel, her affliction would wound us: If Re∣ligion were our care, her decay would be our sorrow: For that which we love and delight in must needs leave a mournful heart behind it when it withdraweth it self. But private interest maketh us regard∣less of the common, and we do not pity Religion because we do not pity our own souls, but drink deep of the pleasures of this world, enlarge our territories, fill our barns, make hast to be rich, when our soul is ready to be taken from us, and nothing but a rotten mouldring wall, a body of flesh which will soon fall to the ground, between us and Hell.

I may well take off your eye from these sad and woful spectacles. It had been enough but to have shewn you Mercy: for she is a cloud of wit∣nesses, a cloud of arguments for her self; and if we would but look up∣on her as we should, there need no other oratour. I beseech you look into your Lease, look into your Covenant, that Conveyance by which bliss and immortality are made over to you, and you shall find that you hold all by this. You hold it from the King of Kings, and your quit-rent, your acknowledgment for his great Mercy, is your Mercy to others. Pay it down, or you have made a forfeiture of all. If you be merciless, all that labour (as it is called) of Charity is lost,* 1.87 your loud Profession, your forced Gravity, your burning Zeal, your Faith also is vain, and you are yet

in your sins. For what are all these without Mercy but words and names? And there is no name by which we can be saved but the name of Jesus Christ: And all these, Devotion, Confession, Abstinence, Zeal,* 1.88 Severi∣ty of life, are as it were the letters of his Name: and I am sure Mercy is one, and of a fair character; and if we expunge and blot it out, it is not his Name. Why boast we of our Zeal? Without Mercy it is a consume∣ing fire. It is true, he that is not zealous doth not love; but if my Love be counterfeit, what a false fire is my Zeal? And one mark of true Zeal is, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, if it be kept within its bounds;* 1.89 and Mercy is the best watch we can set over it to confine and keep it in. The Church of Christ is not placed under the Torrid Zone, that these cooler and more tempo∣rate Virtues may not dwell there.* 1.90 If you will have your Zeal burn kind∣ly, it must not be set on fire by any earthly matter, but from Heaven, where is the Mercy-seat, and which is the seat of Mercy. If you will be burn∣ing lamps, you must pour in oleum misericordiae, the oyl of Mercy, as Ber∣nard speaketh. If this oyl fail, you will rather be Beacons then Lamps, to put all round about you in arms, as we have seen in Germany and other places. Men and Brethren, I may speak to you of the Patriarch David,* 1.91 who is dead and buried; and though we have not his Sepulchre, yet we have the memory of his Mercifulness remaining with us to this day. And I ask, Had not he Zeal? Yes, and so hot and intensive that it did consume him, Psal. 119.139. and yet, but three verses before, Rivers of waters ran down his eyes. And this heat and this moisture had one and the same cause, be∣cause they kept not thy law, in the one, because they forgat thy word, in the other; which is the very same. We much mistake if we do not think there may be a weeping as well as a burning Zeal. Indeed Zeal is never more amiable, never moveth with more decorum, nay with more advan∣tage both to our selves and others, then when Mercy sendeth it running down the cheeks. We cannot better conclude then with that usual ad∣vice of Bernard, Zelus absque misericordia minùs utilis,* 1.92 plerumque etiam per∣niciosus, &c. Zeal without Mercy is alwaies unprofitable, and most com∣monly dangerous: and therefore we must pour in this oyl of Mercy, quae zelum supprimat, spiritum temperet, which may moderate our Zeal, and be∣calm and temper our spirit, which may otherwise hurry us away to the trouble of others and ruine of our selves; but it cannot do so if Mercy be our Assessour.

To conclude; Let us therefore cast off every weight,* 1.93 let us empty our selves, fling out all worldly lusts out of our hearts, and make room for Mercy. Let us receive it, naturalize it, consubstantiate it, as the Greek Fathers speak, with our selves, that we may think nothing, breathe no∣thing, do nothing but Mercy; that Mercy may be as an Intelligence to keep us in a constant and perpetual motion of doing good, that it may be true and sincere, and sweeter to us then the honey or honey comb, and so be our heaven upon earth whilst we are here, that peace may be upon us,* 1.94 and mercy, even upon all those who love Mercy, who are indeed the true Israel of God.

The last Branch is our humble Walking with God; And that we shall lay hold on in our next.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Psal. 107.39.
• * 1.2

  Psal. 112.
• * 1.3

  Prov. 4.25. Prov. 22.9.
• * 1.4

  Psal. 33.1.
• * 1.5

  Gen. 2 10, 11, 12.
• * 1.6

  Joel 2.30. Prov. 12.10.
• * 1.7

  Judg. 9.13, 15.
• * 1.8

  James 2.13.
• * 1.9

  Focl. 11.1. 1 Sam. 2 8. Psal. 113.7.
• * 1.10

  Isa. 58.4. Luke 16.7.
• * 1.11

  Matth. 25.41, &c.
• * 1.12

  Iliad. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.13

  Prov. 30.14, 15.
• * 1.14

  Sanguis, Dae∣monis pabu∣lum, Tertull. Apol. c. 22. Rev. 9.11. lib. Off. 1.
• * 1.15

  Errat olim istae sententia, Ne mo aliis nasci∣tur, meriturus sibi. Tert de pall. c. 5. 1 Cor 12 26.
• * 1.16

  Rom. 12.15, 16.
• * 1.17

  Rom. 11.33.
• * 1.18

  Prov. 22.2.
• * 1.19

  Acts 10.
• * 1.20

  John ••2.8.
• * 1.21

  Cant. 4.12.
• * 1.22

  Apol. c. 39.
• * 1.23

  Bern. l. 4. de considerat.
• * 1.24

  Ad voluntatem commodantis commodatarius uti debet ac∣commodato, alioquin fur∣tum facit in re commodata, Bern. de Inte∣teriori dom. c. 25.
• * 1.25

  Prov. 11.25. Luke 16.9.
• * 1.26

  Tertull. ad Mart. c. 2.
• * 1.27

  Matth. 6.27.
• * 1.28

  Eccl. 11.1.
• * 1.29

  Col. 2.21.
• * 1.30

  Apolog.
• * 1.31

  Eth. l. 10.
• * 1.32

  Orat. 10.
• * 1.33

  Orat. in fa∣mem & siccitat.
• * 1.34

  Epist. 49. & Fragment ep. edit. Petav.
• * 1.35

  Luke 6.36.
• * 1.36

  —35.
• * 1.37

  Luke 18.22.
• * 1.38

  Luk. 3 5.
• * 1.39

  Ʋbicunque est homo, ibi bene∣ficio locus est, Sen. l. 4. De benef. c. 24.
• * 1.40

  1 Joh. 3.14.
• * 1.41

  Psal. 112.6, 30
• * 1.42

  Operari, est lar∣giri eleemosy∣nam, Tert. de Idolol. 23. Cypr. De ope∣re & eleemos. Col. 3.12. Isa. 16.11.
• * 1.43

  Ps. 115.4, &c.
• * 1.44

  Matth. 15.32.
• * 1.45

  Luk. 9 41.
• * 1.46

  Lib. 6. de ver. cult. c. 14, 15, 16, 17.
• * 1.47

  2 Cor. 1.3.
• * 1.48

  Lam. 3.22.
• * 1.49

  Matth. 19.19.
• * 1.50

  Eph. 4.16.
• * 1.51

  Exod. 26.2, 3, 5.
• * 1.52

  Luk. 10.31, &c.
• * 1.53

  Luk. 7.47.
• * 1.54

  1 Kings 8.18.
• * 1.55

  Col. 3.12.
• * 1.56

  Luke 6.36.
• * 1.57

  1 John 3.9.
• * 1.58

  2 Cor. 11.29.
• * 1.59

  2 Sam. 9.1.
• * 1.60

  Prov. 28.27.
• * 1.61

  Hebr. 13.16,—35.
• * 1.62

  Gal. 6.10:
• * 1.63

  2 Sam. 13,—4.
• * 1.64

  Psal. 129.6.
• * 1.65

  Eph. 3.17.
• * 1.66

  Jon. 4.10.
• * 1.67

  Prov. 27.6.
• * 1.68

  Prov. 15.17.
• * 1.69

  Matth 16.22, 23.
• * 1.70

  2 Pet. 2.3.
• * 1.71

  Job 16.2. 1 Tim. 1.5.
• * 1.72

  1 Pet. 2.22.
• * 1.73

  Isa. 42.1.
• * 1.74

  Isa. 43.4.
• * 1.75

  Isa. 62.5.
• * 1.76

  Cant. 4.9, 10.
• * 1.77

  1 Sam. 18.1.
• * 1.78

  2 Sam. 1.26.
• * 1.79

  Gen. 18.1.
• * 1.80

  2 Cor. 9.7.
• * 1.81

  Psal. 42.7.
• * 1.82

  Cant. 5.4. Isa. 63.15.
• * 1.83

  Matth. 26.11.
• * 1.84

  Luke 10.30.
• * 1.85

  James 5.4.
• * 1.86

  Lam. 1.12.
• * 1.87

  1 Thes. 1.3. Hebr. 6.10. 1 Cor. 15.14, 17.
• * 1.88

  Acts 4.12.
• * 1.89

  Naz. or. 14.
• * 1.90

  Ignis zeli arde∣re debet oleo misericordiae, Aquin. de Eruditione princip. l. 2. c. 15, 16.
• * 1.91

  Acts 2.29.
• * 1.92

  46. S. in Cant.
• * 1.93

  Hebr. 12.1.
• * 1.94

  Gal. 6.16.