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.

The Ninth SERMON. (Book 9)

PART II.

1 THESS. IV. 11.

And to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you.

OUr progress in our studies and endeavours is common∣ly answerable to our method and to the rules we ob∣serve. If they be proper and connatural to the end we have set up, omnia breviora fiunt, our labour and pains are the less, and our profit and improvement the more. Every man would be quiet in his own place, and pretendeth he is so when he is busie and tumultuous abroad. The Covetous man is in his place, when he joyneth house to house, and layeth field to field, till there be no place. The Ambitious is in his place, when he flyeth out of it, never at rest, till he reach that height where he cannot rest. The Revenger is in his place, when he is digging in the bowels of his brother. The Pa∣rasite, the Calumniatour, the Tale-bearer, the Libeller, the Seditious, all desire peace and quietness, when they move as a tempest, drive down all before them, and are at last lost themselves in the ruine which they make: The Flatterer is poysoned with his own oyl, the Calumniatour is wound∣ed with his own lye, and it returneth back upon him into his own bowels; the Tale-bearer is consumed in the fire which he kindleth; The wit which the Libeller scattereth flyeth back upon him, and many times is writ in his forehead; the Seditious are oft struck down with the noise which they make, they divide the Common-wealth, and are distracted themselves: And though their craft or violence, their hypocrisie and perjury bring them home to that which their overdaring Hope first looked upon, yet there they find no rest, but move uneasily in the midst of those cares and fears, which came not near them when their thoughts were at home. For they have never more business to do then when they do not their own, neither have they their end when they have their end, because they went not that way, nor trod those paths, those plain and easie paths, which did lead unto it.

Now there cannot be a truer Method in our study and endeavour to be quiet then this which our Apostle hath here laid down, and which 1 Cor. 7.20. he calleth 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to abide, in our calling,* 1.1 to abide there as in our own proper place and sphere, as in our castle, as in our Sanctuary, where we are safe, safe from those incursions and affronts which will meet to∣gether

and multiply about us to shake and disturb us when we are out of it. The surest way to be quiet is to abide in our calling, in that state and condition in which the hand of Providence hath placed us, and not to be drawn out of it by the splendour or glory, the benefit and fairer ap∣pearance and shew of anothers man. Not to swell, 2 Cor. 12.20. For when we swell, we svvell over and out of our place, and so nearer and nearer to danger, to that opposition which will beat against us to shrink us into our own measure and compass, and either in ordinem redigere, as the phrase is, either drive us back to our own place, or leave us none to move in. Again, not to stretch beyond our line, 2 Cor. 10.14. For God in confining us unto our calling hath given us as it were our measure, hath drawn out a line which we must not pass. Peccare est tanquam lineas tran∣silire,* 1.2 saith Tully. Every action of ours hath its limits and boundaries, and if we pass them we sin. If we stretch beyond these, if we break through our bounds,* 1.3 and are busie-bodies in other mens matters, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, alieni speculatores, as Tertullian rendreth it, we take off our eye and care from our own, and send them abroad as spyes and observers of that which concerneth us not, we hold our Visitations and exercise our jurisdiction there where we have no power. Our Eye wandreth, our Ear is itching, our Tongue is walking through the earth, our Hand is reaching at every forbidden tree, our Feet are in every mans house, our Heart is the forge where we fashion out every mans business but our own, a Praetorium or place of State where we appoint out every mans Commis∣sion, set other men tasks, and neglect our own; and, as it is in the Pro∣verb, aedilitatem gerimus sine populi suffragio, we invest our selves with a power which was never given us, and usurp authority which we were ne∣ver voted to; and are neither quiet our selves, nor suffer others to be so. The Greeks call it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.4 which Gellius confesseth he cannot render, no not obscurely, in many words; Seneca, inquietam inertiam, an unquiet and troublesome sloth, by which we run up and down, and never abide at one stay, but, like men which run in hast to quench a fire, shoulder every one we meet, and tumble down our selves and others in the way,* 1.5 and so fall together. Curiosus nemo est quin sit malevolus, saith he in Plautus: Curiosity is the breath of Malice, and is mischievous. And Mischief provoketh Wrath; and Injustice and Mischief on the one side and Impatience and Wrath on the other meet and strive and struggle to∣gether, and in the contention either one or both are lost. And there∣fore Plato telleth us,* 1.6 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to meddle with our own matters, and not to busie our selves in other mens, is that which we call Justice; for by this we leave to every man that which is his untoucht, and preserve to our selves that which is ours; that is, we are just to others, and just to our selves; we do not trouble and disadvantage other men in their station, and de∣fend our own. But when we fly out and pass beyond our bounds, we are not what we should be, but carry about with us a world of iniquity. Our thoughts are let loose full of desire, and are doubled upon us full of anxi∣ety; and when we gain most, we are the greatest losers. We are in∣jurious, false, deceitful; we are oppressours, thieves, murderers, usur∣pers; we are all that in our selves which we condemn in others. For this is the seminary of all those evils which are sent forth as so many e∣missaries to break the peace of Church and Common-wealth. And there∣fore not onely Religion but Reason also, not onely Christianity but e∣ven Nature it self hath copsed and bound us in from flying out, and hath designed to every man his proper business, that he may not stray nor wan∣der abroad.

First, Christianity is the greatest peace-maker, and keepeth every man to his own office; if Ministery, to wait on his Ministery; if Teaching,* 1.7 to teach; if Trading, to follow his Trade; if Government, to rule with diligence; if Service, to be obedient with singleness of heart.* 1.8 Every man hath his gift, and every man hath his measure and proportion. And, as it was in the gathering of Manna, he that hath much hath nothing over,* 1.9 and he that hath little hath no lack: Every mans place is the best: for there is no place either in Church or Common-wealth which is not honoura∣ble, and a great honour it is to serve God in any place.* 1.10 One star differeth from another star in glory; but in its proper sphere every Star shineth; but out of it, it is either a Mass or lump, or nothing. It is true indeed,* 1.11 in Christ Jesus there is neither high nor low, neither rich nor poor,* 1.12 no difference between the Noble and the Peasant,* 1.13 between him that grindeth at the mill and him that sitteth on the throne; because his spiritual graces are communicated non homini, sed humano generi, not to this man or that, to this calling or that, but to as many as will receive them, to all the world: And every man that is Christs servant is a Peer, a Priest, and a King. And when he shall come to judge both the quick and the dead, he will not pardon this man because he was a King, nor condemn that man be∣cause he was a begger: For neither was Dives put in hell because he was rich, nor Lazarus carried into Abraham's bosome because he was poor; neither was Nero lost because he was an Emperour, nor Paul saved because he was a tent-maker. But yet for all this he hath made up his Church and formed Common-wealths, not of Angels, but of Men, who live in the world, and so under order and government; and hath assigned every man his place and calling, which every man would keep and make good, every man would be quiet and in peace: the Church would be as Heaven it self, all glory and all harmony; and the Common-wealth would be a body compact within it self, & never fly in pieces, but last for ever, and flourish in it self, being subject to no injury but that of Time, or a greater and overpowerful forrein force. For that conceit of a de∣signed Period, and a fatality hanging over every body Politique, which at last sinketh it down and burieth it in that ruine upon which another is rai∣sed, is generally believed in the world, but upon no convincing evidence, having neither Reason nor Revelation to raise it up to the credit of a po∣sitive truth. For, That such a thing hath been done, is no good Argument that it shall ever be so. Though God hath foretold the period and end of this or that Monarchy, yet the prophesie doth not reach unto all. And he himself hath given us rules and precepts to be a sense and hedge about every Common-wealth, which, if we did not pluck it up our selves, might secure and carry along the course of things even to their end, that is, to the end of the world. But this we talk of as we do of many other things, talk so long till we believe it, and rest on our bare guess and conjecture as on a Demonstration. But the truth is, we are our own fate and de∣stiny, we draw out our thread, and cut it. We start out of our places, and divide our selves from one another; and then indeed, and not till then, Fate and Necessity lye heavy upon a Kingdome, and it cannot stand. Christianity bindeth us to our own business: And till we break loose, till some one or other step out of his place from it, there is peace; we are safe in our lesser vessels, and the ship of the Common-wealth ri∣deth on with that smoothness and evenness which it hath from the con∣sistencie of its parts in their own place.* 1.14 For though all are one in Christ Jesus, yet we cannot but see that there is a main difference between the inward qualification of his members and the outward administration and government of his Church. In the Kingdomes of the world, and so in

the Church visible, every man is not fit for every place. Some must teach, some govern, some learn and obey, some put their hand to the plough, some to this trade, some to that; onely 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as Aristotle speaketh,* 1.15 those who are of more then ordinary wit and ability, must bear office in Church or Commonwealth. One is noble, another is ignoble; one is learned, another is ignorant; one is for the spade, ano∣ther for the sword; one for the flail, or sheephook, another for the scep∣ter.* 1.16 And such a disproportion, is necessary amongst men. For nihil ae∣qualitate ipsâ inaequalius; There is no greater inequality in the world then in a body politick where all the parts are equal. That Equality which commendeth and upholdeth a Commonwealth ariseth from the difference of its parts moving in their several measures and proportions, as Musick doth from discords. When every part answereth in its place, and raiseth it self no higher then that will bear; when the Magistrate speaketh by nothing but the Laws, and the Subject answereth by nothing but his obedience; when the greater shadow the less, and the less help to fortifie the greater, when every part doth its part, and every member its office, then there is an equality and an harmony, and we call it Peace. For if we move, and move chearfully, in our own sphere and calling, we shall not start forth to discompose and disorder the motion of others in theirs. If we fill our own place, we shall not leap over into anothers; our Desires will dwel at home, our Covetousness and Ambition die, our Malice cease, our Suspicion end, our Discontent vanish, or else be soon changed and spiritualized; our Desires will be levelled on Happiness, we shall covet the best things, be ambitious of Heaven, malice nothing but Malice, and destroy it, suspect nothing but our Suspicion, and be discon∣tent with nothing but that we are discontent, and so in this be like unto God himself, have our centre in our selves, or rather make Peace our cen∣tre, that every motion may be drawn from it, that in the compass and cir∣cumference of our behaviour with others all our actions, as so many lines, may be drawn out and meet and be united in Peace,

And this is not onely enjoyned by Religion and the Gospel, but it is also the method of Nature it self, which hath so ordered it, that every thing in its own place is at quiet and rest, and no where else. The Earth moves not in its place: Water is not ponderous in its proper place; The Fire burneth not in its sphere, but out of it it hath voracitatem toto mundo avidissimam; saith Pliny, it spreadeth it self most violently, and de∣voureth every thing it meeteth with. Nay Poyson is not hurtful to those tempers that breed it.* 1.17 Illud venenum quod serpentes in alienam per∣niciem proferunt, sine suâ continent, saith Seneca. The venome of the Scorpion doth not kill the Scorpion; and that poyson which serpents cast out with danger and hurt to others, they keep without any to them∣selves. And as it is in Nature, so is it in the Society of men. Our diligence in our own business is soveraign, and connatural to our estates and condi∣tions, but most times poysonous abroad, and dangerous and fatal to our selves and others.* 1.18 When Ʋzzah put forth his hand to hold up the Ark of God, and keep it from falling, though his intention were good, yet God struck him for his errour and rashness in moving out of his place, and struck him dead, because he did not 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, do his own business. When Uzziah invaded the Priests office,* 1.19 and would burn incense, and A∣zariah the Priest told him, It pertaineth not to thee, It is not thy business; even while the censer was yet in his hand, his sin was writ in his forehead, he was struck with a leprosie, and cut off from the house of the Lord. When Peter was busie to enquire concerning John,* 1.20 What shall this man do? our Savi∣our was ready with a sharp reply, What is that to thee? thy business is to

follow me. When Christians out of a wanton and irregular zeal did throw down Images, and were slain by the Heathen in the very fact, the Church censured them as Disturbers of the peace rather then Martyrs, and though they suffered death in defiance of Idolatry, yet allowed them no place in the Diptychs, in the Catalogue of those who laid down their lives for the Truth. Dathan and Abiram rise out of their place,* 1.21 and the earth swalloweth them up. Sheba is up, and bloweth a Trumpet, and his head fly∣eth over the wall. Absalom would up into the tribunal, which was none of his place, and was hanged in the Oak, which was fitter for him. And if any have risen out of their place (as we use to say) on the right side, and been fortunate villains, their purchase was not great, Honey mingled with Gall, Honour drugged with the Hatred and Curses of men, with Fears and Cares, with Gnawings within and Terrours without. All the content and pleasure they had by their great leap out of their place was but as musick to one stretcht out on the rack, or as that little light which is let in through the crack or flaw of a wall into him that lyeth fettered in a loathsome dungeon. And at last their wages was Death, eternal Death, and Howling for ever. Nay, when we are out of our place, and busie in that which concerneth us not, though what we do may be in it self lawful and most expedient to be done, yet we make that act a sin in us which is another mans duty, and so shipwrack at that point to which another was bound, perish in the doing of that which he shall perish for not doing. The best excuse that we can take up is, That we did honestâ mente pec∣care, That we did that which is evil (as we say) for the best, That we did sin and offend God with a good intention and pious mind. Which Gloss may be fitted to the greatest sin, and is the fairest chariot the Devil hath to carry us to hell. If we would be particular, the instances in this kind would be but too many. For such Agents the Enemy of the Truth hath alwayes had in all the ages of the Church, who have unseasonably distur∣bed the publick peace, and their own, whose business it was (and sure it could be none of their own) to teach Pastours to govern, and Divines how to preach; every day to make a new coat for the Church, to hammer and shape out a new form and discipline, as if nothing could be done well because they stood not by and had a hand in the doing it; and so make the Church not so fair, but certainly as changeable, as the Moon. One Sect disliketh this, and another that, and a third quarrelleth at them both; and every one of them, if their own phansie had been set up and establisht by another hand, would have kickt it down. For this humour is restless and endless, and for want of matter will at last feed on him that nourisheth it: As it was in that experiment of the Egyptians in Epipha∣nius, who filled a bag with serpents, and when afterwards they opened it, found that the greatest had eat up the rest, and half of it self. We may well say of them as Gregory the great doth, Illos alienorum actuum sagax cogitatio devastat; They so busie their thoughts upon other mens actions that they have none left for their own. Being sent abroad into the world, they leave a devastation, a wilderness, at home. They fly to every mark which is set up but that which their calling and Religion di∣recteth them to aim at. Their whole life and imployment is to do other mens business, and sleep in their own. It is safe neither for Church nor Commonwealth that such busie-bodies should walk in matters so far above their sphere and compass, nor is it fit that Phaeton should sit too long in the chair. For if these turbulent and domineering spirits pre∣vail, if the Mercy and Providence of God prevent it not, the whole course of nature will be set on fire, or else dislocated and perverted; the Foot shall stand where the hand doth; the Ear shall speak, the Tongue

hear, and the Foot see; all shall be Prophets, all Teachers; I might say, all shall be Kings, and I might add, all will be Athiests.

If then we will study peace, or desire to be quiet in our place, let Reli∣gion guide us, which hath drawn out to our hands the most exact method and most proportioned to that end. Or let us follow the method of Nature it self. And in the course of Nature thus we set it. The Hea∣vens are stretcht forth as a canopy to compass the Air; the Air moveth a∣bout the Earth;* 1.22 the Earth keepeth its centre, and is immoveable; the Moon knoweth her seasons, and the Sun his going down; the Stars start not from their spheres. Heavy bodies ascend not, nor do the light go down∣wards, but all the parts of the Universe are tyed and linkt together by that law of Providence and Order, that they may subsist. And so it is both in Church and Commonwealth. We are not in termino, we can∣not be quiet and rest, but in our own place and function. What should a Star do in the earth, or a Stone in the firmament? What should an In∣feriour step into a Superiours seat, and set himself above those who are o∣ver him in the Lord? This, I am sure, is to be out of his place, where he cannot move but disorderly. If men would but fill their own, they would have but little leisure to step into anothers mans place, or to be so much fools as to set their foot within their neighbours doors.* 1.23 The Historian hath observed that those men who neglect their private affairs are ever very busie in examining publick proceedings, well skill'd in every mans duty but their own.* 1.24 Who fitter to change the face of a Commonwealth then he that was so far indebted that he dared not to shew his own? who wanted so much that he might be worth nothing? Who more ready to shake and dissolve a State then he that hath wasted his own with riotous living? Who will sooner be a traytour then a bankrupt?

I might here urge and press this duty, which confineth every man to his own businness, 1 à decoro, from the Grace and Beseemingness of it. For what garment can fit us better then our own? what business more natural to us then our own? what motion more graceful then our own? Our own place best becometh us, and we are ridiculous and monstrous in any other. Apelles with an aul in his hand, or the Cobler with his pencil, Midas with asses ears, or an Ass in purple, Nero with his fiddle, or a Fidler with a crown,* 1.25 Commodus making of Glasses, a good dancer, and a sword-player, or a Glass-man and a Dancer giving laws, a Trades∣man in the pulpit, or a Divine with the meteyard in his hand, the Lord in his servants frock, and the Servant on his footcloth, are objects of that na∣ture that they command our finger and our smile, and the first and easiest censure we pass on them is our laughter, and it were happy for Common-wealths if they deserved no worse. But they are not onely ridiculous, but ominous and prodigious, and appear like comets, threatning and ushering in some plague or war, some strange alteration in Church or Commonwealth; Whereas our own place (be it what it will) doth not onely conserve but become and adorn us, and our regular motion in it is a fair prophesie of peace to our selves and to all that are about us. And though it be the lowest, we may be honourable in it; as Themistocles once said, being chosen into a mean office, that he would so manage it as to make it of as great repute in Athens as the highest.

2. Ab utili, from the Advantage it bringeth. Quod enim decet ferè pro∣dest,* 1.26 saith Quintillian; For that which becometh us commonly doth also further and promote us. We usually say, Our plough goeth forward; And when the plough goeth and is ours, when we sow our own seed in our own ground, we have laid the foundation of a fair hope, and we seldome miss of a rich and plenteous harvest. When we venture out of our place, we

venture as at a Lottery, where we draw many Blanks before we have one Prize; and when that is drawn, it doth not countervail the fourtieth part of our venture; but the trumpet soundeth as at a triumph, and we leave behind us more then we carryed with us, and go away with the loss: So it is when we move in another mans place, we move upon hopes, which most times deceive us. When we do our own business, we find no difficulty but in the business it self, and no enemy but Negligence: But when we break our limits, and leap into other mens affairs, we meet with greater opposition: we meet with the Law, which is against us, and very often too strong for us; we meet with those who will be as vio∣lent to defend their station as we are to trouble it: and if we chance to break through all these, yet when we have cast up our accounts, and reckoned up the trouble we have undergone, the illegality and injustice of our proceedings, the detestation of all good men, and the ven∣geance which hangeth over us, with that benefit which we have reapt, we may put our advantage in our eyes, as they say, and drop it out.

3. Lastly, à necessario, from the Necessity of doing it. I do not mean a legal and causative. Necessity, as the Civilians speak, a precise Necessi∣ty, which the Law and Honesty lay upon us, but a Necessity in respect of the end, which is to be quiet, which we cannot attain to but by our moti∣on in our own place. Other paths are strange paths and heterogeneous to it; and the further we go in them, the further we are off, and meet with nothing but that which is diametrically opposed to it, Injustice, Ha∣tred, the Curse both of God and man, Goods which are of no value whilst they are in our hands, and never estimable but in his whose they truly are, all ill materials to make a pillow to rest on. In a word, in this our irregular motion we look tovvard the rising Sun, and travel tovvards the West; vve run from the shade into a tempest; vve seek for ease and rest, and have thrust our selves into the region of Noise and Thunder and Darkness. Ask those boysterous and contentious spirits which de∣light in war, ask the Tyrants of the earth, those publick and priviledged Thieves, ask those who wade to their unwarranted desires through the fortunes and bloud of others, and see how they are filled with horrour and anxiety, how the riches which they so greedily desired have eaten them up. Behold them afraid of their fortunes, of their friends, of themselves, even fainting and panting on the pinnacle of State, ready to be blown down with every puff of wind, as busie to secure their estate as they were to raise it, and yet forced to that unhappy prudence which must needs endanger it. Behold one slain by his friends, another by his sons, a third by his servants, and some by their very souldiers, who helpt to raise them to this formidable height. Look over all the Tragedies which have been written, scarce any but of these.

Ad generum Cereris sine caede & vulnere pauci Descendunt.* 1.27

Few of them have brought their gray hairs unbloudy to their grave. And if this be to be quiet, we may in time be induced to believe that Rest and Peace may be found even in Hell it self. This then is not the way. If we will reach home to the end, we must choose that path which leadeth unto it. This is not the Apostle's method; No, saith S. Paul;* 1.28 We have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office. Ha∣ving therefore different callings, and different gifts, and different pla∣ces to move in, let every man wait upon and move in his own; for there he may be quiet, and no where else. Let the Lawyer plead, and the Divine preach; let the Husbandman plough the earth, and the Mer∣chant

the sea; let the Tradesman follow his trade, let the Magistrate go∣verne, and let all the people say, Amen. Let all men make good their place, and every man do his own business, and so rejoyce together in the publick order and peace. And as Cuiacius that famous Lawyer in France,* 1.29 when he was askt his opinion in points of Divinity was wont to give no other answer but this, Nihil hoc ad edictum Praetoris, This which you ask me hath no relation to the edict of the Praetor; so when any temptation shall take us, and invite and flatter us ire in opus alienum, to put our hands to another mans work, let us drive it back and vanquish it with this considerate resolution, That it is not amongst the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that it is none of our business, no more pertaining to our calling then Divinity doth to the Edict of the Praetor. And then, as we confine our selves to our own calling, so let us be active and constant in our motion in it, and, as it followeth in the Apostles method, let us shake off Sloth, and work with our hands. Which is next to be considered.

For indeed Idleness is the mother and nurse of this pragmatical Curio∣sity.* 1.30 Haec mihi verecundiam & virtutis modum deturbavit, saith he in Plautus; This taketh off our blush, and maketh us bold adventurers to engage our selves in other mens actions. When the mind of man is loose, not taken up and busied in adorning of it self, then Dinah-like it must gadd abroad to see the daughters of the countrey,* 1.31 and mingle it self with those contemplations which are as it were of another tribe and nation, meer strangers unto her. It is the character of the strange woman, That she is garrula & vaga,* 1.32 loud and ever stragling, (devium scortum, as Ho∣race calleth her) her feet abide not in her house.* 1.33 For 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.34 saith Aristotle; He that will be idle, will be evil; and he that will do nothing, will do that he should not. And the reason is gi∣ven by the Stoick, Mobilis & inquieta mens homini data est; The mind of man is full of activity, ever in motion, and restless, now carried to this object, and anon to that. It walketh through the world, and out of the world, and is not at rest when the body sleepeth. And if it do not follow that which is good, it will soon fasten to that which is evil. For it is not as a wedge of Lead, but of the nature of an Angel, which is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.35 cannot sleep. As Aristotle spake of Children, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, it cannot rest and be quiet: And therefore the same Philosopher much commendeth, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Archytas his rattle, as a profitable inven∣tion; for being put into the hands of children it keepeth them from breaking vessels of use. So this restless humour is made less hurtful by diversion. And such a course God and Nature may seem to have taken with us, not to dull this activity in us, but to limit and confine it. As God hath distributed to every man a gift, so he hath allotted to every man a calling answerable to that gift, that every man being bound to one may have the less scope and liberty to rove and make an incursion upon another mans calling. This is a primordial Law, of as great antiquity as the first man Adam, That we must work with our hands. For God will not every day work miracles for us, and send us, as he did the Israelites, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as Basil speaketh, food without the labour of plow∣ing and sowing. Every Dew will not bring us Manna, nor every Rock yield us water. No: In the sweat of thy brows thou shalt eat thy bread, was a command as well as a curse; and God hath so ordained it that by fulfilling the command we may turn the curse into a blessing. We are not now in Paradise, but, as our first Father after he had forfeited it, mundo dati quasi metallo,* 1.36 as Tertullian speaketh, condemned to the World as to the mines, to labour and dig, and so find that treasure we seek for. As Heaven, so the Earth is the Lords, and he hath given them both to the sons

of men. The food of our souls and the food of our bodies are his gift; and he giveth them when he revealeth and prescribeth the means how we shall procure them. For the one he hath given us Faculty and Will, for the other Strength and Appetite. Neither will the Heavens bow themselves down to take us in, nor the things of this world fall into our bosome when we sit still and lay no more out for them then a wish. Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. The opening of our mouth is our Prayer,* 1.37 our Endeavour, our Working with our hands; and then Gods blessings fall down, and fill it. Labour and Industry is a thing so pleasing to God that he hath even bound a blessing to it, which never leaveth it, but is carri∣ed along with it wheresoever it is, even in the mere natural and hea∣then man. Be the man what he will, it is almost impossible that Dili∣gence should not thrive: for a blessing goeth along with it, as the light doth with the Sun, which may be shadowed or eclipsed by the cloudiness of the times or by some cross accident, but can never be quite put out. In a word, Labour is the price of God's gifts; and when we pay it down, by a kind of commutative justice he bringeth them in, and putteth them into our hands.

ƲT OPEREMINI MANIBƲS, That ye labour with your hands. These words take in all manual trades and handycrafts which are for use and ne∣cessity, all lawful trades. For even Thieves and Robbers and Jugglers and Cheaters and Forgers of writings do work, not with their feet, saith Tertullian, but with their hands.* 1.38 And he bringeth in his exception a∣gainst Painters and Statuaries and Engravers, but no further then he doth against Schoolmasters, and Merchants who bring in frankincense; in that respect onely as they sacrifice their sweat and their labour, and are sub∣servient and ministerial, either to Lust or Idolatry. For, The diligence,* 1.39 saith he, of the Statuary is the Divinity of the Idole. And we may say, Those many unnecessary Arts and Trades, which are now held up with credit and repute in the world, because it will still be world, were at first the daughers, and are now become the nurses, of our Luxury and Lust. Luxury begat them, and they send our Luxury in triumph through the streets. Were Tertullian, whose zeal waxt so hot even against a Pur∣pleseller, to pass now through our great City with power and authority, how many shops would be shut up?* 1.40 or rather how many would there be left open? For it is not easie to number those Arts and Crafts, which had they never been professed, we might have had food and raiment, with which we Christians, above all the generations of men, should be con∣tent. But it is not for me to determin which are necessary, and which are not, but to leave it to the Magistrate. There be Arts and Trades enough besides these to exercise our wit, our strength, our hands, and such as Lycurgus might have admitted into his Commonwealth,* 1.41 whose prudence and care it was to shut out all that was unnecessary. The first that required the labour of the hands was Tillage and Husbandry. For antiquis temporibus nemo rusticari nescivit,* 1.42 saith Ischomachus in Colu∣mella; In the first age no man was ignorant of this art. And the learn∣ed have observed that the original of humane Laws, which were the preservers of peace, the boundaries to keep every man in his own place, was from Tillage and the first division of grounds. Whence Ceres, who is first said to have devised and taught the sowing of Corn, as she is called frugifera, the Goddess of Plenty, so is termed 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the maker of Laws: And in honour of her the Athenians celebrated those feasts which they called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.

— Mactant lectas de more bibentes Legiferae Cereri,* 1.43—

They did sacrifice to Ceres the Law-maker. These men never heard of the curse in Paradise, yet by the very light of Nature they saw the necessi∣ty of labour: The necessity, did I say? nay, the dignity and honour of it. For Man was made and built up to this end, saith Aristotle, ad in∣telligendum & agendum, to understand and to work. And what more unworthy a Man, who is made an active creature, then to bury himself alive in sloth and idleness? to be like S. Paul's wanton widow, dead whilest he liveth? to be a more unprofitable lump then the Earth? to live, and shew so little sign of life, whereas the ground receiveth rain, and sendeth back its leaf and grass? What can be more beseeming, then to have feet, and not to go; to have hands, and not to use them? Therefore that of the Apostle,* 1.44 Let not him that laboureth not, eat, is not onely true be∣cause S. Paul spake it, but S. Paul spake it because it is true? a dictate not onely of the Spirit,* 1.45 but even of Nature it self. Man is born unto la∣bour, saith Eliphaz; it is natural to him, as natural as for the sparks to fly upwards. And, if we rightly weigh it, it is as great a prodigie, as mon∣strous a sight, to see an idle person, that can do nothing but feed and clothe himself, and breathe, as to see Stone fly, or Fire descend to the centre of the earth; I may add, as to see the Sun stand still. Far as the Sun,* 1.46 so Man naturally should rejoyce to run his course.

Shall I now awake the Sluggard (if any thunder will awake him) and tell him he is a thief, that he drinketh not water out of his own cistern, that he eateth stolne bread?* 1.47 If I should, I have S. Paul, and Reason, to justi∣fie me, who telleth him plainly that he who worketh not at all walketh in∣ordinately, and eateth not his own bread; as if it were not his own if his own hands brought it not in. And Ephes. 4.28. Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labour and work with his hands. If he will not steal, let him labour; if he do not labour, he doth but steal, even that which in common esteem is his own. For we must not think that they onely are thieves who do vitam vivere vecticulariam,* 1.48 dig down walls by night or who lye in wait upon the hills of the robbers. Fur est, qui rem contrectat alienam; He is a Thief which maketh use of that which is not his. And then we may arraign the Idle slothful person at this bar, as guil∣ty of this crime:* 1.49 For he rosteth that which he never took in hunting, he useth the creature to which he hath no right. He hath interdicted and shut him∣self out from the benefit of fire and water and all humane commerce. He hath outlawed and banisht himself from the world. He hath rob∣bed himself: For though he have plenty of all things, yet Idleness will blow upon it and blast it. He robbeth the Commonwealth; For interest reipub ut quis re suâ bene utatur; Private diligence is a publick good, and the careful managing of every mans estate is advantageous to the whole. And last of all, he robbeth his own soul of the service and ministery of his body, which was made a servant to it. He robbeth his soul of his soul, of all the power and activity it hath, which serveth for no use but to car∣ry him to a feast, and from thence to his bed, where he lyeth the picture and representation of himself, of what he was when he was awake: And he will be yet more like himself when he is in his grave: For here he is but a walking, talking, breathing shadow, nay dead, compassed about with stench and rottenness, whilst many evil spirits hover over his grave, many temptations are ready to seize on him, and we may say of him as Se∣neca did of his friend Vatia,* 1.50 Hîc situs est; In this world he doth not live, but is buried.

I might here bring to this bar those cloystered Monks and Friars, who leave the World as men do Virtue and Learning, not because they loath and detest it, but because the way thereunto is hard and rugged;

leave the World to enter into a Paradise, where all things grow up of themselves. Of many of them that of Martine Luther, who was him∣self once a Monk, is true, Monachos ignavia fecit; Idleness hath made more Monks then Religion; who leave not the World for Christ, but shadow themselves under their Coul and his Name that they may the more quietly enjoy it. But to pass by these as none of the Horizon, a sort of Christians there are, and they think themselves of the best sort: We may call them Monks at large; as idle as they, but not cloystered up; Who though they labour for the things of this world, because they love them well, yet look not upon their labour as any acceptable service to God, but break it off many times most unnecessarily, and leave their duty behind them to go up with the Pharisee into the Temple, not to pray, but to hear a Sermon, and then return back to their shop, and commend and confute it; hear, and do not, but do the contrary. They call it Devotion; but it is the Itch and Wantonness of the Ear, which wasteth their Devotion, and sometimes their estates. This they delight in, and this is their Religion; nothing but words and noyse. To this they sacrifice their time, which is due to their calling, and then too oft redeem it with fraud and cousenage, which hath so often been pre∣sented to them as the gall of bitterness, even in the dish which they love. The word of God? can we hear it too oft? Yes, if we do not practice it, or if we practice the contrary; if we can go from the Mount, and break the Law whilst yet the thunder is in our ear. I may ask with the Apo∣stle, Is all the body Hearing? Doth all Religion dwell in the Ear? Nay,* 1.51 I will add further; Doth all Religion consist in Prayer? For what? (I must answer these men as S. Augustine did the Monks in his time) are we not bound alike to all the precepts of God?* 1.52 or may we lay out all our time in the performance of one duty, and leave none for the rest? Shall the Ear rob the Tongue, and the Tongue the Hand? Shall one du∣ty swallow up another? Si ab his avocandi non sumus, nec manducandum est; If we may not sometimes break off our devotion, we must break a∣nother precept, which bindeth us to work with our hands.* 1.53 And yet we need not so break it off but that we may carry it along with us, even car∣ry the savour of it, which may mingle it self with the actions of our cal∣ling, and so perfume them, and make them pleasing and acceptable to God. Arator stivam tenens Hallelujah cantat, saith S. Hierome; The Husbandman may pray and praise the Lord and sing an Hallelujah at the plough-tail, and so may the Smith with the hammer in his hand. And certainly, if we would entertein them, Religion and Devotion would wait upon us even in our shops, and be the best attendants we have, would make us honest, and make us rich. Palladius in his Lausiaca telleth us of a certain virgin who said seven hundred prayers in a day. Take the gloss in the margent; for it much took me when I first read it; Decem o∣rationes constitutae publicis rebus occupato non minoris pretii sunt quàm ter∣centum nihil agentis; Ten prayers, saith the Gloss, made by a man imploy∣ed in publick affairs, or in his own private calling, are of as high an esteem, and of force as available, as three hundred conceived or uttered by him who doth nothing but pray. I may be bold to adde; He that heareth but one Sermon, and meditateth thereon, and repeateth and acteth it over in his life, labouring painfully and honestly in his calling, is more pleasing and acccptable to God then he that neglecteth his calling and (if it were possible) in one weak heareth an hundred. And if you will not take my word, I doubt not but you will give some respect to S. Augustines reason, Citiùs exauditur una obedientis oratio quàm decem millia contemptoris; One prayer of an obedient man, who walketh in his calling according

to the rule, shall be sooner heard of God then ten thousand from him who maketh his Diligence to keep one commandment a priviledge and warrant to break the rest. For what folly is it, ut quod bonum est fre∣quentiùs audiatur, ideò facere nolle quod auditur? under pretense of having time to hear to take no time at all to practice that truth which is heard?

But the devout Sluggard may perhaps find something in Scripture which may serve him as a pillow to sleep on. For as the Covetous per∣son can cull out certain thrifty Texts to countenance his Covetousness, as that,* 1.54 He that provideth not for his family is worse then an infidel; and, Let not him that laboureth not eat;* 1.55 so hath the Idle and negligent person his, as, Take no care for the morrow; Take no care for your life; Labour not for the meat that perisheth. Thus, as Tertullian speaketh, they can draw the Scripture either way, ut haec restringere fraenos, illae laxare videatur, either to give a check or to let loose the reins to Idleness and Sloth. But the Scripture is truth in every part, and one part cannot contradict another. For we may work with our hands, and yet care no more for the morrow then if it were no part of time, then if it were nothing: and for ought we know it is so; for who can say he hath a morrow? And we may easily re∣concile these Texts by the two persons, the Covetous and the Careless: for both Texts do not so apparently fit both. Let then the Careless and negligent person have this goad set in his side, That if he provide not for his family, he is worse then an infidel; this Text is infallibly true for him: And then hold back the Covetous beast with this bit and bridle, That he must not care for the morrow; and this Text will fit him, qui ipsa quiete fa∣tigatur, as Hilary speaketh, who is weary of nothing more then rest, and is in labour if he labour not and drudge in the world. And thus may the Careless learn to labour, and the Covetous forget to care; the Slug∣gard may awake from his lethargy, and the Covetous not rise so early, nor make such hast to be rich. The one Text is as a whip on the back of the Slothful, and the other as a chain to bind the desires of the Cove∣tous: To the one, Labour not, to the other Labour, cannot be spoken with accent sharp enough. Our Saviour could not be too expressive a∣gainst Covetousness, because it is a vice which beareth up and carrieth a fair name and credit in the world: Men speak well of it, and call it Wis∣dome and Providence. Again, S. Paul could not speak loud enough to the Idle person, because Idleness is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a flattering and pleasing e∣vil, and which we do not easily shake off, especially when it hath got a mask on, and cometh forth with the varnish and colour of Piety, and can shrowd and shelter it self under the beauty of holiness.

We must not pass by the idle and boistrous Gallant, but give him a salute, because he looketh for it. For we see too many who have no calling, no profession, qui volitant velut umbrae, who flutter up and down like shades and apparitions; like Ghosts, which leave no im∣pression behind them, or such a one as is as dishonourable as the hole in a slave's ear, or the mark in the forehead of an impostour. They plough not,* 1.56 they trade not, they preach not, they plead not, they neither sow nor reap, yet Solomon in all his royalty was not clothed like one of these, nor yet so wise as they are in their own conceits. Salve, Getulice. Why should we now bow the knee, and do them reverence? Nay rather we may be bold to tell them that they are carcinomata reipub. the cankers and impostumes of their Countrey; that they are pinned to the Common∣wealth as their Feathers are to their caps, for shew, but for no use at all, like those parasitical plants, as the Herbalists call them, which spring out of other plants, and have their juyce and nourishment and vegetable

life from their roots; or as Warts upon a mans hand, which grow up with it, and trouble and deface it; or indeed as Idoles, which though drest up and painted and gilt, yet are nothing in this world. I know they may re∣ply that they are born rich, and what they possess is theirs by inheritance. This may be true; but yet they were not born Fools, nor were Luxury and Idleness entailed upon them at the same time. They were born Men, and not, as the Beasts of the field, to eat and drink and straggle up and down, and then fall to the ground. Were they born to great possessions? It is then most unnatural to draw this conclusion from hence, That they may do what they list. It will follow rather, That they are more bound to be active in doing of good, That they are more obliged to God which putteth that bread into their mouthes that he maketh others stoop for to the ground. I will not put the Sheephook into their hands; and yet the Patriarchs were Shepherds. I will not bind them to a Trade; yet Kings and Emperours have bound themselves to one, and made it their recreati∣on. I will not reach to them the Ax or the Chizel,* 1.57 and yet Joseph of the house of David, and according to the letter Christ himself, was a Carpen∣ter. I will not pull their hands to the Plough; for then I should take them from Complement, and the Gentleman were lost. But I cannot think that God gave them plenty to make them idle; that he did so much for them, that they should do nothing; or, which is worse, learn to defie him; that he gave them strength to make it the law of unrighteousness; wit,* 1.58 to descant on his Providence, to derogate from his Miracles, to baffle Re∣ligion, to laugh at Judgment, and to mock at Hell. We cannot think he made them rich to make them Atheists. For nothing else can be raised upon Idleness; not those mountains of Piety and Charity, but big and swelling imaginations which exalt themselves against God.* 1.59 There be other Trades besides those that are Manual; vivendi artes, the Art of good life, the Art of composing our affections, the Art of ordering our private af∣fairs, and of being subservient to the publick, quae non sub manu nascuntur, which cannot be learnt in the midst of riot and wantonness, which will cost us more pains then they take who work with their hands. For should the Plough-man turn Student, he would look back upon his former dayes as upon so many festivals, and on his labour as not so great, compared with that toil and contention of mind which stretch and rack him in the dayes of his Gown. To conclude this; Non otiosè vivit, qui qualitercun∣que utiliter vivit, saith Aquinas; He liveth not idly who imployeth him∣self in doing good, whether as a Divine, or Lawyer, or Tradesman, or Gentleman, or Lord, or King. He doth many times more then labour with his hands who doth stretch his endeavours to the furthest to be pro∣fitable to himself and others, to act his part upon the common stage, to make good his place in the Commonwealth; who bindeth himself to those acts which are proper to him, and therefore do most become him. Facito aliquid operis, ut te semper Diabolus inveniat occupatum,* 1.60 saith S. Hierom; be alwaies doing some work or other, that the Devil may find thee full and imployed, so busie in thy calling that he shall not spy a∣ny place where he may fasten his dart. If he thus find thee, he hath lost his craft and his strength, and will neither be a Serpent to deceive, nor a Lion to devour thee. This is S. Pauls Counsel, and part of his Method; and he setteth his seal to it, and doth not onely counsel but command it; Study to be quiet, Do your own business, Work with your own hands, SICƲT PRAECEPIMƲS, as we commanded you.

We may look upon it (and we can but look upon it) as a Command, and as S. Pauls Command. First, it cometh under command. Which lea∣veth it not to us to do when and how we please, but maketh it necessary

to be observed, as necessary for us to do as to Believe in Christ. For howsoever we may count these as petty duties and of a lower form, yet our blessed Saviour putteth an high esteem upon them, yea, upon the least title and Iota of them,* 1.61 and telleth us plainly that if any shall break one of these least commandments, which regulate our conversation with men, he shall be called the least in the kingdome of heaven, that is, shall be of no e∣steem at all, shall be shut out of that Kingdom. And indeed a strange thing it may seem that Faith and Hearing and Prayer and Fasting, and ma∣ny times but the formality of them, should make up the main Battalia in our spiritual Warfare,* 1.62 as those three hundred did in Gideon's army; and those homiletical virtues, Silence, Peaceableness, Honesty, Meekness, Do∣ing our own business, Industry in our calling, like those who lapped not, should be left behind as not fit for service.* 1.63 It is true, the Church is found∣ed upon a rock, upon Faith in Christ; but then Faith implyeth Practice, even the practice of those virtues which concern us as members of the Commonwealth as well as of the Church. For the Commonwealth is not in the Church, but the Church in the Commonwealth; for every Com∣monwealth is not Christian.* 1.64 And as S. Paul telleth us that he that know∣eth not how to rule his own house is not fit to take care of the Church, no more can he who at pleasure breaketh these tyes and ligaments with which Na∣ture and Religion have linkt him in a body politick, and that many times under pretense of Religion, boast or comfort himself in his relation to Christ. He that is not a good member of the Commonwealth is not a true member of the Church. He that is not a good Servant or a good Master, a good Governour or a good Subject; he that is not a Just deal∣er, an honest Tradesman, a faithful Labourer; he that loveth not his neigh∣bour as himself, he that is not quiet and peaceable and industrious (let him deceive himself as he please) can have nothing but the name of a Christian. For what? will Hearing onely, or Praying, or Fasting, lye upon this foundation?* 1.65 Was Jesus Christ laid as the foundation onely to bear up speculative and phansiful men, onely to bear up Pharisees and Hy∣pocrites? Will not Discretion and seasonable Silence and Honesty and Diligence in our calling concurre to that superstructure which must rise up as high as heaven? Will our Eye or Tongue or Ear or Knee or Phan∣sie bow and incline God? and will he not once look down upon our Or∣der, upon our peaceable and honest Conversation with men? Is Religi∣on turned Anchorete and shut up within our selves, there onely to listen after words and sounds, and breathe them out again? and must not she come forth to order our steps amongst men? May she not be seen in a settled Mind and Eye? in a labouring Hand as well as in an open Ear and a busie Tongue, which speaketh loud and oft of Gods Kingdom, when we do those things which will shut us out? Let us not deceive our selves; To be quiet, to meddle in our own business, to labour with our hands, are sub praecepto, under command, and binding, tendred to us and prescribed as a Law. Indeed Nature and Reason, one would think, should bind us, and guide our motion in that sphere or place wherein we are fixt. For why should not every man be what he is made to be? And although I do not think that every command in the Gospel is juris naturalis, and so made known to us by the light of Nature (for Nature certainly could not teach us to dye for our brethren,* 1.66 which yet the Gospel doth) yet there is nothing commanded there which carryeth not with it a natural dignity and beseemingness,* 1.67 to which with a little instruction and upon serious consideration we shall willingly subscribe. And these duties which we now speak of may seem clearly to issue from those dictates of Nature, That we should do to others as we would be done to, That all things should

be done decently and to edification, That nothing should be done against con∣science; which had been of force for the ordering of mens actions of this nature though the Scripture had never expressed them, and were of force before the Gospel was written, and did bind us, not onely because they were written, but because they were just. For why should he who would not be spoiled himself rob another? Why should he who maketh his house his castle be so ready to invade and break into his neighbours? Why should he who is even sick of a cheat be so ready to put one upon another? Why should he that would be quiet at home be so troublesome abroad? Why should not Ahab be as willing to part with his crown as to take Naboths vineyard? But Christ, the best Master and Lawgiver that ever was, came not to destroy but to perfect Nature; not to blot out those common notions which we brought into the world with us, but to make them more legible, to improve them, and so make them his Law. And if we look upon them as not belonging to us, we our selves cannot belong to the Covenant of grace. for even these duties are weaved in and made a part of the Covenant; and if we break the one, we break the other: and not onely if we believe not, but if we live not peaceably,* 1.68 if we stretch beyond our line, if we labour not in our calling,* 1.69 we shall not enter into his rest. For these also are his Laws,* 1.70 and these doth our blessed Apostle teach and command.

And, to conclude, such a power hath Christ left in his Church, confer∣red it first on his Apostles, and then on those who were to succeed and supply their place, who were to speak after them in the person and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We will not dispute now what power it is. It is sufficient to say, it is not an earthly but a heavenly power deri∣ved from Christ himself, the Fountain and Original of all Power whatso∣ever. As Christs Kingdom is not of this world,* 1.71 so is not this Power of that nature as to stand in need of an army of souldiers to defend and hold it up; but it is like the object and matter it worketh upon, spiritual, a power to command, to remember every man of his duty in Church or Commonwealth. For the Church and Commonwealth are two distinct but not contrary things, and both powers were ordained to uphold and defend each other, the civil Power to exalt Religion, and Religion to guard and fence the civil Power, and both should concur in this,* 1.72 that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. Our com∣mission is from Heaven; and we need no other power then his that sealed it: And the virtue and divinity of it shall then be made manifest when all earthly Power shall cease, and even Kings, and they who did what they list, shall tremble before it. We see that Power which is exercised here on earth, though the glory of it dazle an eye of flesh, yet sitteth heavy upon them who wear it; we see it tortureth them that delight in it, eateth up them that feed on it, eateth up it self, & driving all before it at last falleth it self to the ground, and falleth as a milstone upon him that hath it, and bruiseth him to pieces. It is not such a power: But I may be bold to say, though it be lookt upon and laught at and despised by the men of this world, yet is it a greater power than that which sometimes setteth it upon high and sometimes maketh it nothing, and hath its end when it hath not its end. For to publish our Master's will, to command in his name, is all. And though the command prove to some the savour of death unto death, yet the Power is still the same, and doth never fail. And if men were what they profess themselves, Christians,* 1.73 if they had any tast of the powers of the world to come, they would more tremble at this then at the other, be more afraid of a just Reproof then of a Whip, of an Excommunicati∣on then of a Sword, of the wrath of God, which is yet scarce visible, then

of that which cometh in fire and tempest to devour us. For Gods favour or his wrath ever accompanieth this power, which draweth his love near∣er to them that obey it, and poureth forth his vengeance on them that re∣sist it.

To conclude then; Look upon the command, and honour the Apostle that bringeth it for the commands sake, for his sake whose power and com∣mand it is. A Power there is proper and peculiar to them who are cal∣led to it. And if the name of Power may move envy (for we see men fret at that which was ordained for their good, and so wast and exhale all their Religion till it be nothing) if the name of Power bear so harsh a sound, we will give you leave to think it is not much material whether you call it so or no, vvhether vve speak in the Imparative mood, HOC FAC, Do this, upon your peril; or onely positively point as vvith the finger, This is to be done. We vvill be any thing, do any thing, be as lovv as you please, so vve may raise you above the Vanities of the vvorld, above that Wantonness vvhich stormeth at that vvhich vvas ordained for no other end but to lift you out of ruine into the highest heavens. Our Povver and the Command of Christ differ not so much, but the one includeth and upholdeth the other. And if you did but once love the command, you vvould never boggle at the name of Power, but bless and honour him that bringeth it. Oh that men vvere vvise, but so vvise as not to be vvi∣ser then God, as not to choose and fall in love vvith their own wayes, as more certain and direct unto the end, then Gods! as not to prefer their own mazes and labyrinths and uncertain gyrations, drawn out by Lust and Phansie, before those even and unerring paths found out by an infi∣nite Wisdome, and discovered to us by a Mercy as infinite! Oh that we could once work out and conquer the hardship of a command, and then see the beauty of it, and to what glory it leadeth us! We should then receive an Apostle in the name of an Apostle,* 1.74 & look upon the command though brought in an earthen vessel, as upon Heaven it self. Oh that we were once spiritual! Then those precepts which concern our conversati∣on on earth would be laid hold on and embraced as from Heaven hea∣venly; then should we be as quiet as the Heavens, which are ever moving, and ever at rest, because ever in their own place; then should we be as the Angels of heaven, who envy not one another, malice not one another, trouble not one another, but every Angel knoweth his office and moveth in his own order; and our assiduous labour in our calling would be a re∣semblance of the readiness of those blessed Spirits, who at the beck of Majesty have wings, and hast to their duty; who are ever moving, and then in their highest exaltation when they are in their ministery; in a word, then should we every one sit under his own vine and figtree, and no evil eye should look towards him, no malice blast him, no injury as∣sault him, no bold intrusion unsettle him, but we should all rejoyce together, the poor with the rich, the weak with the strong, the low with the high, all bless one another, help one another, guard one another, and so in the name of the Prince of Peace walk peaceably together, every one moving in his own place, till we reach that Peace which yet we do not understand but shall then fully enjoy to all eternity.

Notes

• * 1.1

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to abide patiently, Grot,
• * 1.2

  Partit. 16.
• * 1.3

  1 Pet. 4.15.
• * 1.4

  Lib. 11. Noct. Attic. c. 16. De Tranq. c. 12.
• * 1.5

  Sticho, act. 1. sc. 3.
• * 1.6

  De Repub c 4
• * 1.7

  Rom. 12.7.
• * 1.8

  Eph. 6.5.
• * 1.9

  Exod. 16.18.
• * 1.10

  1 Cor. 15.41.
• * 1.11

  Gal. 3.28.
• * 1.12

  Psal 49.2.
• * 1.13

  Exod. 11.5.
• * 1.14

  Gal. 3 28.
• * 1.15

  Polit l. 6, c. 5.
• * 1.16

  Plin. Epist.
• * 1.17

  Epist. 81.
• * 1.18

  2 Sam. 6.6, 7.
• * 1.19

  2 Chron. 26.16-21.
• * 1.20

  Joh 21.21, 22.
• * 1.21

  Numb. 16.1-30. 2 Sam. 20.1.—22. 2 Sam. 15. &c.
• * 1.22

  Psal. 104 19.
• * 1.23

  Thucydides.
• * 1.24

  Julius Caesar before the Ci∣vil war said it of himself, Quàm multis indigeo ut nihil habeam?
• * 1.25

  Commodus in his artifex, quae stationis impe∣ratoriae non e∣rant, &c Ael. Lamprid.
• * 1.26

  Instit. l 10 c. 1.
• * 1.27

  Juven. sat. 10.
• * 1.28

  Rom. 12.4.
• * 1.29

  Papyrius Mas∣son••us in Elog. illust. Viror. in vita Cuiacii.
• * 1.30

  Mostell.
• * 1.31

  Gen. 34.1.
• * 1.32

  Prov 7.11.
• * 1.33

  Lib. 2. od. 11.
• * 1.34

  Polit. 7. c. 3.
• * 1.35

  Lib. 8. Polit. c. 6.
• * 1.36

  De pallio. Psal. 24.1. & 115.16.
• * 1.37

  Psal 81.10.
• * 1.38

  De Idelol. c. 5.
• * 1.39

  Diligentia tua numen il lorum est, c. 6.
• * 1.40

  Tot suntartium venae, quot ho∣minum concu∣piscentia, Idem ib c. 8. 1 Tim. 6.8.
• * 1.41

  Vide Plutarch. vit. Lycurgi.
• * 1.42

  Lib. 11. c. 1.
• * 1.43

  Virgil. Aen. 4.
• * 1.44

  2 Thess. 3.10.
• * 1.45

  Job 5.7.
• * 1.46

  Psal. 19.5.
• * 1.47

  2 Thess. 3.11, 12.
• * 1.48

  Festus in Ve∣cticularia vi∣ta.
• * 1.49

  Prov. 12.27.
• * 1.50

  Epist. 55.
• * 1.51

  1 Cor. 12.17.
• * 1.52

  De Oper. Mo∣nach.
• * 1.53

  Sudaus messor psalmis se avo∣cat, & curva attundens vites falce vinitor aliquod Davi∣dicum canit Hieron. Mar∣cell.
• * 1.54

  1 Tim. 5.8.
• * 1.55

  2 Thess. 3.10. Matth. 6.25, 34. John 6.27. De Jejunio.
• * 1.56

  Matth. 6.26, 29.
• * 1.57

  Matth. 13.55. Mark 6.3.
• * 1.58

  Wisd. 2.11.
• * 1.59

  2 Cor. 10.5.
• * 1.60

  Aegyptiorum monasteria hunc morem te∣nent, ut nul∣lum abs{que} ope∣ris labore susci∣piant, non tam propter victus necessitatem, qu••m animae salutem, Hier, Rustico.
• * 1.61

  Matth. 5.19.
• * 1.62

  Judg. 7.6, 7.
• * 1.63

  Matth. 16.18
• * 1.64

  1 Tim. 3.5.
• * 1.65

  1 Cor. 3.10, 11.
• * 1.66

  1 John 3.16.
• * 1.67

  Vide Grot. l. 1. de Jure Bel∣li & pacis, c. 12. §. 6.
• * 1.68

  Heb. 3.18.
• * 1.69

  Rom. 12.18.
• * 1.70

  2 Cor. 10.14, 15.
• * 1.71

  Joh. 18.36.
• * 1.72

  1 Tim. 2.2.
• * 1.73

  Heb. 6.5.
• * 1.74

  Matth. 10.40.