England's restitution or The man, the man of men, the states-man.: delivered in several sermons in the parish church of Waltham Abbey in the county of Essex. / By Thomas Reeve D.D. preacher of Gods word there.

First to handle the peccant humour, For the transgression of a Land. From hence observe that Transgression is the inlet unto judgement; no transgression, no judgement; punishment is the exercise of vindicative justice, now how can God avenge, where there is no trespass? punishment is per inflictionē contrarii, by the inflicting of that which is contrary; now till we make oppo∣sition against God, God layes upon us nothing which is con∣trary to our natures; no, till sin come to be the corruption of the action, God brings no judgement as the corruption of the Agent: punishment is contrary to our wills, and till we do that which is contrary to Gods Lawes, God doth no∣thing which is contrary to our desires; no, we have sub∣stracted that which is due to him, before he substracts that which is convenient for us: we are guilty of an injury, before he exacts satisfaction of us by suffering: our palates are out of course, before be does administer such sharp Physick to us to recover our tast. It is the tree of disobedience that brings forth the rod of correction. No man is smitten but for a fault. As Aristophon was ninety times accused by the Athe∣nians, & as often acquitted; so God hath no Bar to condemn an innocent. If Alphonsus could walk without his guard becaus he had wronged no man; so where there is no injury offered against heaven, there is no justice to be feared: people offend highly, before they are made the generation of Gods wrath, Jer. 7.29. He visit transgressions, Amos 3.14. Pour upon men their own wickedness, Jer. 14.16. Measure their former work into their bosome, Isa. 65.7. Consume them in their sins, Num. 16.26. Make them bear their own iniquity, Levit. 5.1. Can two walk together except they be agreed? Amos 3.3. But can two fight together when they are agreed? no, God hath no sword to wound his Friends, nor no corrosive to apply to sound flesh; will God stub up his trees of righteousness? trample under feet his own jewels? rase his own Temples? It is enough for Saturn to devour his own chil∣dren, God will never destroy the seed of the blessed. Balaam could use no inchantment against Iacob, nor no divination a∣gainst Israel, because God saw no iniquity in them. Num. 23.21. A∣chior the Ammonite gave good counsel to Holofernes not to at∣tempt war against the Bethulians, except he could find out, that they had sinned against their God, Judith 5.20,21. without sin

people live as securely as if there were not a God of justice in heaven, or any Ministers of his vengeance upon earth; for, shall not the Iudge of all the earth do right? will he make a wast in his own portion? root up his own garden? cast down his own Throne? no, he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly, Pr. 2.7. he keepeth the feet of his Saints, 1 Sam. 2.7. they shall dwell be∣tween his shoulders, Deut. 33.12. he will be unto them for a Sanctu∣ary, Es. 8.14. & they shall inherit the seat of glory, 1 Sam. 2.8. But if men provoke the eyes of his glory, fury will come up in his face, his hot displeasure will soon arise, he will appoint ter∣rours over them, Lev. 26.16. and make their plagues wonderfull, Deut. 28.29. and execute judgements upon them with furious rebukes, Ezech. 5.15. for why should not God skin the fat Bulls of Basan? and crush the nest of Cockatrices egges? a tire of Ordnance discharged is little enough for them which hold out the flag of defiance against him, fire that will burn to the bottom of hell is not too hot to consume those which branch up in presumptuous sinnes, as patient as God is, yet he is not slack to them that hate him, Deut. 7.10. Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and be avenged of mine enemies, Es. 1.24. for, hath God enabled men to serve him, and do these turn their own Masters? is it not fit for such insolent servants to be hum∣bled? yes, That is the equallest punishment, that they should lose that which they will not use well. Or, they are justly punished which abuse lawfull things. A people of obedience have their Tutelar Numen to preserve them, but can a Land of transgression be a Land of security? no, a Land of trouble and anguish, Es. 30.6. a Land of destruction, Es. 49.19. God will fan in the gate of that Land, Jer. 15.7. leave that people upon their Land, Ezech. 32.4. all the mirth of the Land is gone, Es. 24.11. yea, an end is come upon all the corners of the Land, Ezec. 7.2. Sinners beat out their own chains, or hew out their own gibbets, a peoples calamity doth come from their own impiety, the Land doth suffer by the Transgression of the Land.

And how can it be otherwise, when they cast away their Target, lose their Antidote: turn the Law into an Accuser, and Conscience into a Fury: make the Flesh their Ensign-bearer, and corrupt Nature their Champion: defie Scripture, and

brave upon the Pulpite contradict their own convictions, & wrastle with their own conflicts: make Filth no shame, and Vengeance no horrour: which delight in corruption, & seek misery: love to be unworthy, and strive to be unhappy: Pa∣tronize Sinners, and hate Saints: reject all motions of grace, and entertain all opportunities to wickednesse: listen to car∣nal allurements, & stop their Ears against Soul-smiting warn∣ings: snuffe at dangers, and kick against the just God. Now is it possible that these men should run through the Pikes and not be wounded? Fall down from such precipices & not crush their bones? shall not these beasts of prey at last be slayed? and these Mutineers shot to death? yes, your iniquities at last will stiffle your own breath, and your sins suck your own blood. Evil will hunt the evil doer. The Land will smart for her own transgression; for, For the transgression of the Land, &c.

Applicat. This sheweth that the sinner is on the fore'hand with God Almighty, the sinner doth give the first blow, make the first thrust, begin the quarrell, set up the standard. Before God doth strike, how many indignities hath he endured? how many grievances hath he been vexed with: —longa est injuria, longae ambages. There is a long track of injurious courses, in∣finite windings of provocations, which we have past through;

—pudet haec opprobria nobis Et dici potuisse, & non potuisse reselli.

God can read a large indictment against us, where the crimes charged against us are so manifest, that there is no reply to be made. Sin is so apparent, that it is a wonder, (as Cato said to a vaunting Souldier) whether men doe more un∣dervalue virtue, or the honour of their own lives. Many are so notoriously wicked, that if they aske for a good man, they must seek for one most unlike themselves, as Agis the youn∣ger said to one desperately profane, who would needs be pro∣pounding questions concerning true virtuous men. We have little cause to wonder why this Land hath been the Stage of judgements; for how many transgressions have we had, which have brought in the Actours; we have sinned, till our

hands did call for stroakes, till we did add rebellion to our sin, till God was weary with repenting. He endured, till there was no remedy. 2 Ch. 36.10. till he could no longer forbear for the evil of our doings, Jer. 44.22. How injurious were we, before be waxed ireful? how execrable, before he became implacable? Is God prone to be severe? no his bowells are soft, his heart-strings are tender, and at last his Iustice is without Fury, & his wrath without passion: Oh what an urging people then have we been, that have stirred up a patient God to lay heavy hand up∣on us! can we justifie our selves? no, then our impudence were as much to be blamed as our impiety. God hath a large Catalogue of distastes, and disgusts, irritations & exasperati∣ons, plaints and complaints to bring against us. We have been the miserable of the earth, yet we cannot say, but that as his mercy is infinite, so his vengeance hath been just. Peo∣ple feel but the stings of their own incorrigiblenesse, a Land suffers for her own transgression, For the transgression of a Land.

Secondly, here we may see, that sin hath judgement fol∣lowing her at the heels. If there be transgression, look for no truce; no, breach of Articles raise up a professed enemy. Be∣hold the eyes of the Lord are upon the sinfull Kingdome to destroy it from the face of the earth, Amos 9.8. The sinners in Sion shall be afraid. Isa. 33.14. Our Fathers have sinned and are not. Lam. 5.7. and Sons & Fathers will at last be buried in the same grave. The Lord will not acquit the wicked, Nah. 3. He hath sworn by the excellency of Iacob, that he will never forget any of their works, Am. 8.7. Ye then that do try masteries with God by your sins, shall find by your broken bones, what it is to grapple with such an adversary.

Constitit Alcides stupefactus robore tanto.

Hercules himself might dread such an Army: If ye contend with God, where will you leave your glory? Isa. 10.3. Sin at last will be buried in her own ruines. A wicked Nation is a Con∣spiratour against her own welfare, it doth undermine her own State, and dig Mines to blow up her own greatnesse. Take away the prop of obedience, and the house will soon fall; put out the Candle of holiness, and there will be a dark room; fight against the Scriptures, and ye will have a thou∣sand

curses pluck ye by the throat; send a challenge to heaven, and ye will have an host of Angels draw upon you. It is a hard thing for any Leonem radere, to shave a Lion, to pro∣voke the all confounding God. Dares Entellum provocas? doth Dares vie puissance with the great Entellus? Do ye provoke me to wrath, and not your selves to confusion? VVho ever resisted the Lord and prospered? hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voyce like him.? Job 40.4. He that doth cause God to awaken in Iudgement, will find him a swift a∣venger; God will strike surely, he will strike but once: They which fly about the Candle of Gods Lawes, will soon have their wings burnt: they which swallow poyson, will swell to death; they which plow wickednesse, Hos. 10.13. it is easy to know what they shall reap: they which violate Gods com∣mandements, are sinners against their own Souls, Num. 16.38. They which have upon their necks the yoke of transgression. La. 1.14. are ready to have their throats cut. Is not destruction to the wicked? & a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity? Job. 31.3. It is a good saying of Aeschines, Obedience is the Mother of felicity, but disobedience is the Mother of misery. There is no Barricado to be set up against Gods justice, nor Fort-roy∣all to be reared against the Fury of his Canon. Farewell to all the glory and splendor of the Nation, if Gods vengeance come once to lay battery against it. Our sins are the most destructive things that are in the Nation; they will empty Ware-houses, drayn away Treasure, unlock Ports, rase Block-houses, sink Ships, fire Cities, massacre Heroes. All go to wreck and ruine, where sin doth call in judgement: the Land must suffer, that abound with transgression; for, For the transgression of a Land, &c.

3. Thirdly, this discovers unto us the true state of our Land: for are not we a Land of transgression? I know with Lysima∣chus, we think that we can touch heaven with our Lance, that we are the onely heavenly people upon earth. Crede mihi magnos aquabunt ista Camillos, believe me (saith one) the pious things that are amongst us, will equall the ages of the Patriarchs & Prophets. We are wise people, & the Law of the Lord is with us.

But all these swimmerings of our own perfections, are but velut aegri somnia vana, the vain dreames of a sick brain; for in stead of being the pure Nation upon earth, what are we, but the corrupt Nation? Indeed, with Chorazin and Bethsai∣dah, we are lifted up to heaven in the enjoyment of the means, but where is the fruit of our priviledges? we have a profession of godlinesse, but where is the power of godli∣nesse? Alass, we have little holy amongst us but the Ordi∣nances, or consecrated but our Temples: we study Christi∣anity, but learn nothing but Principles; and run to Lectures, but carry away nothing but observations: we pray, but all our Religion is in our Knees; and weep, but all our contri∣tion is in a little salt water: we speak much of the primitive truth, but any new fashion, or old abomination is dearer unto us; we talk highly of the Gospel, but the light of Na∣ture was more perfect: we cry out against Rome, but their Beads and Crucifixes; Whipcord and Sackcloth; Roodlofts and Relicks; Holy Grains and Holy Water, have more self-deniall in them, then our Sabboth-services, or our morning exercises; our petitions, or our repetitions; our Monethly Sacraments, or our Quarterly Fasts. We have forms of Wor∣ship, but the green Bush on the Sign, is better then the Wine in the Cellar. Set aside the noise of our Sermon Bells, and our Sanctuary Crowdes; the listing up of our Eyes, & listen∣ing with our Eares; the penning down of Notes, & dropping forth Sentences; our magnifying of precious Truths, and admiring of gracious Teachers; the adoring of our own Saints, and the defying of all others as Reprobates; what sincere piety is there amongst us? nay what execrable impiety doth there not abound, where God and his Lawes, Christ & his Gospell, seem so much to be valued? Are we Protestants? wherein? but in protesting against the Pope? Are we the Re∣formed Church? wherein? but in reforming our Title? It is an easie thing to give Names, or to take Names. Have we not limited all Sanctity to the rules of our own devising, & to the modells of our own framing, to our own ascriptions and subscriptions, to the addicting our selves to particular

Doctors, and the principling our selves in particular Do∣ctrines, to our own Paradoxes of Government, and Criti∣cismes of Worship? Is not Christianity almost turned into these Mathematicks? and redemption it self into these Hie∣roglyphicks? are not our own divinations almost as much set by, as Gods visions? is not the fear of God taught by the pre∣cepts of men? shall not all be Saints which will use these things? shall any be Saints which will not submit to them? Indeed in respect of the high cry about these things, there is an o∣pinionative Religion amongst us; yea a man would think, that the Chair of Sanctity were in this Church, nay, that the Oracle of piety were in this Land. But it is not the ma∣king a fair shew in the flesh, that will create a true beauty; it is not the broad Phylactery, that will constitute a true observer of the Law, nor sceptical opinions that will verifie true Chri∣stianity: pure Religion consisteth very much in purity of life. And I pray what manner of Land are we now? a Land of innocency, or a Land of transgression? I am loth to decide the question, because I find it to be more dangerous to speak truth, then to be guilty, and to discover sin, then to commit it. I am unwilling to look towards this Dunghill, or to rake this Sink, or to dig the earth about this root of gall and worm∣wood, to prefer an Indictment against the Age, or howsoever to be the Cryer of the Court: Yet because my Office is, to tell Judah of her sin, and my conscience doth tremble to bear the guilt of other mens bloud, more to preserve my peace in heaven, then to quarrell with the sins of the Age; I knock at the Goal door, and ask what Prisoners are there; or feel the Pulse, and try the constitution of the body: What therefore a Land of Ordinances, and not a Land of abomi∣nations? a Land of profession, and not a Land of transgres∣sion? Oh that I could acquit you! oh that ye could excuse your selves! But I beseech you, was there ever a people which unclasped a Bible, laid a Sacrifice upon the Altar, trod upon the pavements of a Sanctuary, or stood within the sound of a Preacher's voyce, that was guilty of more enor∣mous sins, then are daily and daringly committed in this

Nation? The old World was scarce drowned, and Sodome & Gomorrah scarce burnt for more heinous and horrid crimes then this Land is stained with: we have sins amongst us, which cannot be sufficiently derided, or deplored: we even † lament, that our Countrey should be the Mother and Nurse of such evils. This land is so full of transgression, that what transgression is it free from? we are as spleenative as Esau, as bribe-taking as Balaam, we are as uncharitable as Nabal, and as oppressing as Ahab, we are as voluptuous as Delilah, and as much addicted to painting as Iezebel, we curse like Rabshakeh, and quaffe like Belshazar, we are as temporising as Demas, and as trecherous as Iudas, we are as ill as Caldeans and Sabeans in the fields, & as Turks and Iewes in our Shops, we thrust into all Offices, and care not by what sordid means we get gains, we have de∣filed Sanctuaries, and polluted the very Table of the Lord, we have rifled our neighbours houses, and stained the earth with our Brethrens bloud, we have seized upon the Lords portion, and cast lots for Christs Garment, we have revi∣ved ancient heresies, and speak blasphemy as familiarly as if it were our Mother tongue, we have expelled many a wor∣thy Patriot from his lawfull inheritance, and chased many an eminent Minister from his just Cure: St. Steven in these dayes would have been stoned, and Iohn Baptist beheaded: what one precept have we not made a breach of? What one Law have we not violated? if some have not the sins of the Publicanes, yet they have the sins of the Pharisees: what ex∣ample of Jew or Infidel, is not some way imitated? we have equalled the most lawlesse, yea, overpassed the deeds of the wick∣ed. Multi habent scientiam, pauci vero conscientiam, we are a peo∣ple of much knowledge but of little conscience, of much seeming devotion, but of little reall sanctity: for as they of old cryed, the Temple, the Temple, & yet profaned the honour of God, casting men out of their houses, and saying, let God be glorified; so we have committed all these things with our Bibles in our hands, and the name of Christ in our lips, as if the Scripture must give dispensation, and the Saviour Patro∣nage to all our impieties. Holy Writ, the holy Redeemer,

were they ever so disparaged? Oh the sin of the house of Iudah is very great! we have filled the Land with sin from the one end to the other, Satans seat seemeth to be set up amongst us, we have caused God to abhorre the excellency of Iacob, we have scandaled our profession, and blasphemed that worthy name by which we are called. Is this the smell of the rose of Sharon? the tast of the wine of Lebanon? the lustre of the pearl? the fruit of the noble vine? The chastity of the Virgin daughter of Iudah? the milk of a Churches breasts? no, the botch of Egypt, the stench of a dead carkass, the skin of a viper; the forehead of a Leper, the head of a Leopard. If the flesh had been our Church, and Nature had been our Laver, and Hell had given Lawes, and the devil had been our Prophet, could many have been worse livers? Well, if this be your State, as excuse it if you can, will ye still cry peace, peace, a Lady sure for ever, To morrow shall be as this day, and much better? No, so many sinnes are like so many pioners to dig down this glo∣rious structure, though it were settled upon a foundation of brass. Much we have suffered already, but all that may be but a warning, the fatal stroke may yet be behind. God may send in his black horse famine, to starve us to death; or his red horse war, to dash out our brains, he may send in pestilence after the manner of Egypt to make our Countrey but a com∣mon burying place, he may send earthquakes to shiver in pieces the Nation, or inundations to wash this Island into the salt sea, he may bring in a foreign enemy to put yokes about our necks, or stir up male-contents to be domestick Execu∣tioners. Antidotum adversus Caesarem? is there any antidote a∣gainst Caesar? any preservative against divine wrath? no, God hath —mille modos, mille nocendi Artes, a thousand wayes, and means to work destruction. They are not our Banks or our Bulwarks, our Mounts or our Magazines, our Castles or our Cannon, our ••ourts of Guard or our Camps royal that can protect us against his justice. Though ye have kept your heads whole in many dangers, yet if Iupiter altitonans; He that rideth upon the heavens as an horse come to back his warlike steed, and shake his glittering sword, ye dy with∣out

remedy; Oh therefore dread his power, and presume not too much upon his patience, for ye have sinnes enough to kindle the wrath of a just God, & to incense the displeasure of a long-suffering God. God will never enter into a League, or conclude a lasting peace with wilfull sinners; no, he may stay till ye be gorged with vanities, till the sinnes of the Amorites be full; but then he will be as quick in punishment as ye have been in provocation; incorrigiblenesse will bring in inexo∣rablenesse, contempt: confusion; judgement will enter into the Land, if there be transgression in the Land: For the transgression of the Land.

Fourthly, this should teach us to know, that Sin is the mi∣sery of the Land. A man cannot imagine a greater damage, or infelicity to a Nation, then sin; Sin is a shame to the people, nay sin is a bane to the people. Man suffereth for his sin. Ah peo∣ple laden with iniquity! As if sin were a horrour to behold, an anguish to think on, which cannot be spoken of without pas∣sion, nor mentioned without an Ah. It is sin that causes all the groans and yells, and wasts, and bloud-draughts in a Land. We transfer them to other causes, and cry out of other mo∣tives, as the recklessness of friends, and the rage of enemies, but when we have declaimed against a thousand inducements and seducements, our chief indignation ought to bespent a∣gainst sin; here is the Ionas that hazards the ship, the Achan that troubles the whole Camp, —dedit hanc contagio labem, it is this contagion, which causeth the malady of the times. Be sure that whensoever judgement enters into a Nation, Iliacos in∣tra muros peccatur & extra, that all the walls within and with∣out are stained with sin. From sin comes the wrath of God, and the wretchednesse of man. Impute not therefore these fatall Acci∣dents to turbulent Spirits, or violent rapines, to the deform∣ity of government, or decay of trading, for they proceed properly from the instigation and exasperation of your own outragious, enormous, unbridled, and unreformed impie∣ties, the misery of the Land doth come from the transgres∣sion of the land. For the transgression of the Land, &c.

Fiftly, this should stir up men to a sense of sin. For oh that

there should be transgression in the Land, and that we should have no feeling of it! yet how hard a thing is it to bring any to a lively apprehension of their apparent, published, and stig∣matized errours? I have brought in a large Transcript of Transgression, but I doubt that the only use which will be made of it, shall be for reprehension, not apprehension; I shall be counted rather too prying, and pragmatical; then men stand forth peccant, and criminal; Ministers are usually turn∣ed off rather as Oratours, then Convincers, or as Remem∣brancers, then Preachers; the fruit of a thousand Sermons end without any serious application, or passionate remorse. How hard a thing is it to strike a sinner to his knees? to humble his haughty brow? to open his dumb lips? and to make his flinty heart cleave? no, men have onely a general perception of sin, but no particular cognizance; the Age is sinfull, but there are no sinfull men to be found in it; not these are their sinnes, or those their delinquencies; it is not lawfull to no∣minate a sinner, and he will never cite or summon himself. So long as Christ say but There is one of you shall betray me, that One will never single out himself: no, face out all with an im∣pudent question, Master is it I? if a man should speak of Tray∣tors, Murtherers, Thieves, Oppressours, of the most scanda∣lous, noxious sinnes that could be uttered; would there not be many as artificial as Judas to conceal their selves and er∣rours? yes, when men come to close with their own crimes they are past feeling, Eph. 4.19. their consciences are seared with an hot iron, 1 Tim. 4.2. they are hardened through the deceitfulnesse of sin, Heb. 3.10. they are in a spirit of slumber, Rom. 11.8. first there is incuria recklessnesse, and then there is indolentia remors∣lessnesse; if 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 irregularity doth go before, then 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 insensibility doth follow after. There are men, which can go a pilgrimage over the whole world, yea compasse the Ar∣tick and Antarctick Poles rather then travel into themselves, their own demeanour is the true terra incognita, Vnknown Land to them. They can as soon see all the hidden mines in the bowels of the earth, and all the secret meteors in the air, the creeping things innumerable in the sea, their own entrailes,

and their own soules, as their own sinnes; they can tell their own names, but not what names the Law, or the Judge doth give them; they can tell their own age, but not what old pre∣varicatours they have been; they can tell when they were sick, but not when they were heart-sick; when they broke a leg, but not when they broke a Commandment; when they bought such a Messuage, but not when they bought a Tenement in hell; when they sold such a parcel of ground, but not when they sold themselves to commit evil; when they were diseased from the womb, but not when they were transgressours from the womb; when they were in the highway to ruine, but not when they were in the broad way which leadeth to destruction; when they had the overflowing of the gall, but not when they were in the gall of bitternesse; when their estates did reach up to such a revenue, but not when their sinnes did reach up to heaven; when they did take leave of their neighbours, but not when they turned their backs upon God Almighty; they can tell a thousand things, all the accidents of their lives rather then the errours of their lives; these same sinnes of theirs, though they have conceived them, and acted them, reiterated and persisted in them, given them education, and subsistence, yet they are not acquainted with them; they are privy to all the parts of their bodies, rather then to that little piece called the heart; they are great Politicians, but very idiots to their soules. I have read of many ignorant men, as of they young Senatours, which knew not the way to the Senate house, of Messala Corvinus which knew not his own name, of the Leifelanders, that knew not how to make wax of honey, but threw it away; of the Helvetians that sold a Carbuncle of infinite lustre for half a flo∣ren, of Ranimere a King in Spain, who in a warlike expedition holding his shield on his left hand, and his spear in his right hand, knew not how to order his bridle, but held it between his teeth, but thou seemest to be a greater Bard and Dulhead then all these, which knowest not thine own sins, which thou hast been acquainted withall from thine infancy, and daily dost converse with them.

But what is the reason that men which are so sensible of all other things, should be so insensible of sin.

When men make sin a delight, there is nothing more per∣nicious to the soul then pleasure in unrighteousnesse; if men come once to affect their vanities, the very love they bear to them, will not suffer them to see either the corruption, or the curse of them.

Quippe nec ira Deûm tantum, nec tela, nec hostes, Quantum sola nocet animis illapsa voluptas.

Pleasure secretly stollen into the heart, doth wound deeplier then Gods anger, or enemies armour; they which rejoyce in a thing of naught, Amos 6.3. though it be never so empty, yet they hold it some compleat thing. The young man which doth rejoyce in the wayes of his own heart, and walk in the sight of his own eyes, there is nothing almost will make him to discern this dangerous state, but the latter Judgement. Delilah then doth lay in the Lap, till it doth shave off our Locks, cast us into fetters, and pluck out our eyes; for there is in it such a slippery sweetnesse to things unlawfull, and such an eagernesse of the affection to meer natural things, that there cannot be a thought spa∣red, to recount the peril of such irregular wayes. Pleasing things are binding things; he that is under this sorcery, hath enchant∣ment enough upon him. This is the man that hath the fat heart, which can feel nothing, nor fear nothing.

When men have a frequency in sinning, —laqueo tenet am∣bitiosi Consuetudo mali, custome in sinning hath taken us in her chain. Callus adimit sensum. The brauny heart hath no sense of sin. St. Chrysostome was wont to call the doubling and treb∣ling of ill manners a Tyranny; for as Pomponius Marcellus said truly, it would at last bear more Soveraignty over us, then the great∣est Emperour upon earth. They which are frozen in their dreggs, and settled upon their Lees, can scarce alter their dispositions; Mithridates by eating poyson often, counted it no venome. Claudius was so used to play bloudy prizes, that he accounted it no trespass to stab men upon the least occasion. They which love to wander, cannot at last refrain their feet.

When men have but a sudden terrour for sin, as Felix for a while trembled, & Ahab for a short space went softly; these same present consternations are but Bugbears, that terrifie onely

at the first appearance; there is not the most unregenerate heart, but hath some gripes, and gallings for sin; the natural conscience is sometimes troubled with fury; but true con∣trition is a continuall displicency, if not in the exteriour, yet in the interiour part; for, semper doleat poenitens & de dolore gaudeat Let the penitent alwayes grieve, and let him rejoyce of such grief: For whosoever is truly humbled for sin, Deus ligat eum vinculo perpetuae, detestationis peccati, God doth bind him with the bond of a perpetual detestation of sin, that though blush∣ing & groaning, & weeping against sin doth not always con∣tinue, yet the hatred against sin must be permanent; not one∣ly because sin doth retard us from perfection, but because it is of the nature of virtue to be essentialized with constan∣cy; now where this is wanting, there is rather a fright of sin, then a true sense.

4. When men take away the scandal of sin, that they are not abased, nor dejected for it: let men count virtue an honour, but let sin have no such same; for a shame it is, that the Harlot should wear the Spouses Iewels. It is an heavy thing, when men rejoyce in doing of evil. Had they not as good brag of Botches, or Squint eyes, or stinking breaths? will any one write encomium's of vermine, or excrements, or burnings, or famines, or shipwracks, or Magicians, or De∣vils? they which praise sin, will next praise Hell it self; they which are not ashamed of sin, will not be ashamed of dam∣nation. Yet how many are there which count it no blemish to be vicious, nor ignominy to be detestable; the unjust knoweth no shame, Zep. 3.5. they glory in their shame, Phil. 3.19. like Cyrus the younger, who boasted that he could take off more Cups then Artaxerxes, and bear his drink better: and Sylla, who set his hands by his sides, when he had filled a Pool with mans bloud, and cried out, oh what a noble act have I done! And have not we many that magnifie swearing, as a dialect of high speaking, and lust as a Gallants frolick, and new fashions as the garbe of comelinesse? No marvell that these men have no sense of sin, when they have vaunted away all the reproach of sin, and I think would hold it a credit un∣to

them, to be called firebrands, and sons of perdition, for they declare their sins as Sodome, Isa. 3.9. and know not how to blush, Jer. 6.15.

5. When men take upon them the defence of their own actions, that because they have had a hand in them, therefore they must be justified; or else their wisdome and integrity will be disputed (they think) and disparaged, as if they car∣ried the measuring line of equity in their brains, or held the balance of Justice only in their own hands; a proud, self-conceited people, who will submit to no counsel, nor be brought to any scrutiny; as the Athenians, who being accu∣sed because they had banished Aristides the justest man of the earth in those dayes, yet they defended it, saying they had purged their City; & the Corinthians when they were shamed that they had defiled the Roman Ambassadours with dung, they excused themselves, and said that it was fit for them to carry dung to Rome, who came to fearch for their gold. Did not our first Parents thus excuse the eating of the forbidden fruit? Cain his murther? Simeon and Levi their slaughtering the She∣chemites? Achan his stealing the Babylonish garment, and the golden wedge? Saul his sparing Agag, and the chief of the cattel? yes, what men have once done they will be Advo∣cates and Patrons to it, & so instead of the first sin they com∣mitted, they beget a new breed, verifying the old saying, that scelere scelus velandum est, One sin is to be covered with another. Oh this is the intoxicating cup (that persons must not suffer their own actions to lay open to disgrace) which send such a fuming steam into their brains, that it takes away both wit, and con∣science too; men can be sensible of no sin, when they are sen∣sible only of their own honour.

6. When men take up example for the lawfulnesse of their actions; we should live by Precepts, and we live most by precedents. To do as others do, this is the golden rule, yea to too many Canonical Scriptures. These are resembling times, it is the Age of imitation, yea divers times we limme out our lives according to the draughts of the worst pictures; that whereas a wise man aegri contagia vitat, doth shun the conta¦gion

of sick men, we will be sick for company, —veteris trahit orbita culpae, our conversations are squared out by the com∣passes of old crimes. We look not upon the curious stones within the building, but upon the rough stones without. The Scenes of our lives are just like the Parts, which we see seve∣ral men act upon the Theatre of the World: bitter things change the sweet, and bright things are soiled by the touch of the filthy, we would not have other men's judgements (as Dion saith) and yet we have their sinnes; a very conforming people we are, and generally in the worst things; as the Ae∣thiopians imitated the diseases of their Princes, so the basest things usually have the most followers. Not a wicked man doth appear, but he shall have his second. Let Nero be never so bad, yet Vitellius will not only repair his Images, and sacrifice to his Ghost, but endeavour what he can to equal him in all villany. How many God-dammees have ye that have their disciples, yea I have heard of them, which have had their Part∣ners in drinking healths to the Devil, and not this amongst Paganish infidels, but Christian infidels; now, how can these have any feeling of sin, which have scarcely any feeling of a God, but the use of the Age is their Deity? But ought we to follow a multitude to do evil? then evil will march with her Troopers: there will be little true worship left, if men will have customary adoration, swear that Dan liveth, & the man∣ner of Beersheba liveth, Amos 8.14. Christ shall have few Be∣lievers, if the crafty heads of the times shall be taken up for the Rabbies of their faith, for, Do any of the Pharisees be∣lieve in him? wise men, and most men must not be our war∣rant, but the unchangeable rule of the eternal God, and for want of this, what little reflection upon sin?

7. When men Deisie Teachers, that because such admired Teachers have justified such a thing in the pulpit, therefore it must be taken up for an infallible truth. Oh saies many a man, I have heard that which I practise preached up with con∣sidence, and my soules Guide is a man of conscience; I know his rare parts, it would make you quaver to hear his rhapso∣dies, he speaks like a man that had learned his Divinity at the

radiant Academy amongst the Cherubims and Seraphims; and for his integrity, he hath a breast washed throughout with the water of that fountain which is as clear as Crystal, the dove seemeth to take up his nest in that Locker, suspect not his sincerity, for I am privy to all his intentions, I have turned his heart upside down in my hand, and find nothing but pure spirit; therefore such a man would not offer to mis∣guide and mislead; thus men are inchanted with their Teach∣ers, & infatuated with their fancied Prophets, that as Euphan∣tus said, the people thought that Callicrates had Ulysses image in his seal, so these think that their magnified Churchmen have the Vive Image of the holy Ghost in their lips, yea they are so intoxicated with high opinions of their gifts, that they drown them in their heady doctrines, as Fliolmus King of the Goths was drown'd in a Butte of rich liquors by his own Par∣tizanes, whose sweet cups he delighted to tast of. Oh it is a dan∣gerous thing to be too much addicted to plausible Counsel∣lers, ye are insnared with them before ye are aware; ye think ye know all things they drive at, and ye silly hearers know but only their tongue. Fistula dulce canit— the pipe makes a merry noise, when the bird is ready to be catched. Oh this Mercurial Syrinx is able to cast into a deep sleep the hundred-ey'd Argus: dost think to have all politick designs chaunting upon a Preacher's tongues end? no, then could he never inchant. For all his Saint-like language he hath underhand drifts, which thou canst not, nor shalt not pry into. He hath undertaken a cause, and to live by that cause he will sacrifice the honesty of his person, the honour of his calling, yea both credit and soul too rather then he will desert his cause. Beware therefore of these same Temple-wizards, there is a great deal of witchcraft in the pulpit, O foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you? Thou art like to have a very unsteady soul if thou dost fix thy faith upon such a false, mutable, self ended Director; I have Scri∣pture for what I say, A wonderfull and an horrible thing is com∣mitted in the Land, the Prophets prophesie falsely, and the Priests bear rule by their means, and my people love to have it so, and what will ye do in the end thereof? Jer. 5.30,31. When Prophets are

apt to circumvent, and people willing to be seduced, there is a crafty Teacher, and a credulous hearer well met or ill met. Believe not every spirit then, but try the spirits whether they be of God. Beware therefore of depending too much upon man, for then thou must be made man indeed, as simple a man, as thy first father was by listening to what the Serpent said. If the serpent were a Lecturer in paradise, he met with two as weak∣brained hearers a could be, he preached seditious doctrine, corrupted the Text, Nequaquam moriemini, Ye shall not dy at all; and he having poisoned their judgement, presently the serpentine venome, the false doctrine wrought, two — caught in schism and rebellion, the two Sectaries and Con∣spiratours have haughty hearts aspiring, they would be no longer subjects, but Princes, no longer creatures but Gods, Gods of the serpents making, Aspes rather then Gods, or ve∣ry poysonous Gods; the serpent by preaching them into a God head, preached them out of paradise, preached them into their grave, and without Gods mercy had preac•…•…d them in∣to hell; here is the heaven that such preachers will bring men unto, or the Godhead which they will leave them, such a God∣head as the preachers themselves have. It is strange the ser∣pent could perswade our first parents to make them greater then he was himself, but false doctrine doth so dazle the un∣derstanding, that it can mind neither grounds nor conse∣quences, nor absurdities, but onely the bright object before it. Beware then of thy Church-man, go with a circumcised heart and ear into the Temple, lest thy magnified Teacher make thee a slave to his errour, and carry thee in bondage to hel; if thou beest not wary, night may be unto thee for a vision, there are those that can transform vices into virtues, call good evil, and evil good, sweet sow'r, and sow'r sweet, light darknesse, and darknesse light; therefore if thou beest not sensible of thy Preacher, thou wilt never be sensible of thy sin, thou wilt turn sin into sanctity.

8. When men contemn admonition, for if thou hast vilified one warning thou wilt hazard to despise the next, and so at last neither counsel nor commination, checks nor threats

will reform thee: it is an heavy thing, when faithfull adver∣tisement, —projecta vilior alga, is baser then any Sea-weed. Saul, Jeroboam, Zedechias, are woful examples. He that being oft reproved hardneth his neck, shall be destroyed without remedy, Pro. 29.1. If the Ministers toung be the alarum-bell to awaken thee out of thy culpable condition, then if thou wilt not be sensible of his admonition, thou wilt never be sensible of thy sin; a man should leave his sin without ad∣monition, for why should not every mans Conscience be his own Prophet? but if the domestical Chaplain be tongue-tied, should not a man hear the loud Crier in the Temple? where∣fore doth God send his Messenger, if he cannot have audi∣ence? or his admonition be anguish, and a rage doth attend his reproofs? Qui admonentem non patiuntur, de his nulla spes sa∣lutis; they which will not endure them that give warning, of such there is no hope of health. Yet how commonly is it seen, that rebuke is a grievance? Iohn Baptist will soon have his head in a Platt•…•… if he must be talking against Herods incest? Micaiah must to l•…•…le-ease, if he doth prophesie against Ahabs mercy to Ramoth; Amos must eat no bread in that Land, where he must be denouncing judgement against the Idolatry of the Age; Ignatius the Patriarch of Constantinople, must be cast out of his Chayr, and be shut up alive in a Sepulchre, if he will be reprehending Bardaes loose life; St. Chrysostome must have a double banishment, if he cannot double with Eudoxia's violences. There is a great cry in the world for cou∣ragious Teachers, but if they be so, they will meet with out∣ragious Censurers, if they tell Judah of her sin they will be told of it, if they put a trumpet to their mouthes, they will find Sakers and Demiculverins in their peoples mouthes; the Minister of all the people in the world should be stout and zealous, but if he be impartial it is easily found who will be impatient. I see none more spighted, then those which would sever men from their known sinnes, and pluck men out of the clawes of the Devourer; men are saved with a kind of rage, or are sullen and savage if we will not suffer them to be

quietly damned. There are some which are all for moderate Teachers, so moderate, that they must see their riots, and cheats, and new fashions, and what not? and yet they must remain like a company of silenced Preachers, or if they do speak against whoredome, drunkennesse, and swearing; yet by no means they must not preach against hypocrisie, per∣jury, schism, sedition, rebellion, sacriledge; no, touch the Publicans as much as ye will, but by no means do not med∣dle with the Scribes, and Pharisees. If these things come to be glanced at, then the Minister is taught the boundaries of his calling, that he must preach nothing but repentance, faith, and Christ Jesus; and I pray how repentance, if ye will not suffer us to bring you to a sense of your manifest sinnes? and how faith, if we must tell you stories of justifica∣tion, & your brains are full of nothing but your old errone∣ous opinions? & how Christ Jesus, if we must assure to you a redeemer, & ye make all other slaves? these mens repentance is nothing, but to have men lament the sins against their own cause, & their Faith is nothing but to have people learn their new principles of justification, & their Christ Jesus is nothing but to set up a Saviour of politicks, that they might by their Iure divino, keep whom they would from Church Livings, and seclude whom they would from the Sacrament. And yet under these neat pretences no sins must be touched, or not their sins; no, he that with an upright heart, and a bleeding Conscience come to reprove such sins, as he finds are an infa∣my to the Protestant Religion, and have in their physnomy too much of the Iesuites cholerick complexion, and the De∣vils Coal-black, shall be counted but a Traducer, if not a Fury. Elias for this was counted the Troubler of Israel, and St. Paul a sower of sedition, and our Blessd Saviour one that had a Devil. Oh beloved, Gods Lawes are not abrogated, the curses are as confounding as ever; guilts doe not alter with the times; we are not to be partakers of other mens sins, and if we may not reprove manifest abominations, how shall we cleanse your souls, and free our own? This same conni∣vence, which many men drive at, what is it but a soft pillow

for carnal security to sleep upon, till the last trump doth come to awaken; or a stupifying of the senses, that people might go out of the world, without any feeling of their Ma∣ladies, and die of a Lethargy? they which hate warning, will never be sensible of their sins.

9. When men make sin light; that Iudah excelled Samaria in Idolatry, seemed but a little thing unto her, Ezech. 16.4. the unworthy guests that were called to the Kings Banquet, counted it a matter of nothing, to despise such an invitati∣on; for when the Messengers came to bid them, they set light by it, Mat, 22.5. So the most grievous trespasses with some men are but little, and light. The whore wipeth her mouth and goeth away; so we think to cleanse away the defile∣ments of our conversations with a spunge, or a wipe; we swear and carouse, and cheat, and slander, and work our teene up∣on our adversaries, and we think there may be some errour in these things, but they are crimes of no great concern∣ment, we scarce blush, or go to our knees to beg pardon for them. But though we extenuate these things, yet do they not aggravate guilt before God? yes, he doth adde sin to sin, which after the sin committed, doth take upon him the Patronage of an unlawful thing. How shall a man keep his house up, if he doe not throughly observe the maimes? or clear his scores, if he doth not lessen his debts? or recover of his disease, if he doth slight his distempers? no, we come difficultly to health, if we doe not know our selves to be sick. God was highly offended with his dear people, because when they had trimmed them∣selves to get Lovers, and they had taught the wicked ones their wayes, and in their skirts were found the blood of in∣nocents, yet they stood upon their innocency; will he not bring them unto triall for this? yes, I will plead with thee, be∣cause thou sayest I have not sinned, Jer, 2.25. The Prophecy of Malachi is every where edged with divine indignation, that people were nigh to destruction, and yet they saw not the least ruining sin in them, Iudah had profaned the holiness of the Lord, in marrying the daughter of a strange God; & though God threaten, that he will cut off the man that doth

this, the Master and she Scholar, and root him out of the Tabernacle of Iacob, yet Iudah doth ask a reason of Gods dis∣pleasure. Is God so offended as ye say? yes, and the more angry, because ye purge your selves, for though ye be guil∣ty of all this, yet ye say wherefore? Mal. 2.14. yea further, Ye have said, that every one that is evil, is good in the sight of the Lord: what is that? Ye have taken upon you a new Canonization, to cry up Miscreants for holy men, and put new Titles upon their odious sins, stiling out of your partiall affections the vilest offenders (which Barbarians would blush at) men well affected, gracious people, & precious Saints; yea, ye will force God to own them against his own Lawes, making Monsters Mirrors. Ye have wearied the Lord with these things, yet ye say, wherein have we wearied him, Mal. 2.17. Nay, in the 3 ch. & 7. v. of that Prophecy it is said, From the dayes of your Fathers ye are gone away from his Ordinances, and have not kept them yet return ye unto me, & I will return unto you, but ye said, wherein shall we return? Return? from what? or for what? they were as bright as the sun, as innocent as new born Babes; they had not set a step awry, not strayed an inch from their just duty. Return? wherein shall we return? God charges, and they answer the charge; God accuses them of high things, but they see no reason of the accusation, they are ever and anon at where∣fore? and wherein? God puts in his Bill, and they put in their Interrogatories; God may have the first word, but they will word it too; God shall not say all, or say alone; no, they will have their saying with him, for I said, and ye said. Well, hath God now done? hath he said his last? no, he hath ano∣ther saying for them, and such a one, that if Malachy be a true Prophet, I would not suffer the doom of the reprehension for the Grand Signior's Crown, or Crown-land: why? what is the crime? nothing but a little Sacriledge, a great crime indeed! hath God nothing 〈◊〉〈◊〉 to lay to our charge? nothing else? ye will find enough before all is done; Sacriledge indeed is a petty sin in the world, but it is an high grievance, an horrid sin, for it doth bring down a dreadfull judgement: what jugement? ye are cursed with a curse, even this whole

Nation, Mal. 3.9. what cursed? and a whole Nation cursed? what is the matter? ye have spoiled me in Tythes and Of∣ferings; in Tythes and Offerings? aye, that is true indeed, and why may not we make a Banquet for our selves, and pur∣chase a Fee-Farm, and strike up a bargain, and fill the War∣drobe with changeable Suits, and hang our Walls with Ta∣pestry, and marry a Child or two out of these same Tythes and Offerings? It is true, there are a kind of people, which wear the Linnen Ephod, and they doe a little service for the Tabernacle, burn a little incense, offer a few sacrifices, pre∣sent a few prayers, blesse a little in thy name, give us a little lip-salve, and mouth-cordials; but alas, this is but the fetch, ing of a few gaspes, the stirring of their long pipes, an ima∣ginary gale, a fancied wind: what should we make of it? we know what this Church-work is, and if thou would'st (oh God!) every Hind amongst us could do this, as well as the best of them: what therefore? must we pay so dear for our Sanctuary wares? no, the Temple hath too much, these same Priests and Levites are too fat, they serve for Salary, they live upon stipends, they are but Hirelings, we work for them, & sweat for them; all that they have doth come out of the fruit of our labours; and what? shall we stand by and see so much go out of our Estates, and hold back nothing for our selves? yes we will lurch out of this same, which they call the Church means, sharke out of the oblati∣ons, curtayle, defalke, decerpe, detruncate, purloin, perte∣nuate; what is it to make bold with a few Tythes and Offe∣rings? what is it saith God? it is Robbery, yea, and such a Robbery, as would make Pagans to hang down their heads for it. For, will any rob their gods? yet have ye robbed me, Mal. 3.8. Thou saist it, but we unsay it, gainsay, say the contrary to it: for, wherein have we robbed thee? herein saith God, wherein say they? Sacriledge with them was no sin, or a pu∣ny sin, a very inconsiderable sin, a sin that doth not deserve an inward gripe or check, or the least scruple of conscience; for wherein? If Malachy had lived in these times, he would have been counted Episcopal he speaketh much in the tone,

and accent of an old Canonical Priest. If Malachy be a true Prophet, and he hath something in him Morall, as well as Leviticall, he will be a sad Prophet to some; a sad Prophet? not a whit; for as those times slighted him, so these times would have been lesse frighted with him. Let him curse on, people can blow away all these curses with a single blast; he shall curse neither dread of sin, nor terror of conscience into many; no, wherein? well, is God now at his full stop? no, there is one short sentence more, before God will set to his period; what is that? ye call the proud happy, and they that work wicked∣nesse are set up, and they that tempt God are delivered, Mal. 3.15. that is, the daringest persons were counted the most zea∣lous, they which could most comply in wretched designs were the onely Favourites; they which deserved to stand upon the Pillory, & to bleed at the whipping post, & to swing upon the Gibbet, yet these are the men that have the onely protection; not a man of worth can have any respect, favour, or countenance, but prosecuted for supposed crimes, or for the least shadow of transgression against the Laws of their ar∣rogated Government; but these men find no such severity, but all the partiality, tenderness, & indulgence that can be ex∣pressed; oh these are their Parasites, Sycophants, and there∣fore made their Familiars, Intimates, Darlings; if they be never so arrogant, yet ye call the proud happy; if they be never so de∣bauched, yee the fitter for preferment; they that work wicked∣nesse are set up; if the Law doth justly require their necks, yet not a Brother shall suffer, but be priviledged, exempted from any Courts of Iudicature, for they that tempt God are de∣livered. These things have been laid to your charge, but ye clear all, make your selves inculpable, & them innocent; yea if ye be questioned, ye are enraged, and fume with disdain and roughnesse against your God, that tells you of your partiality, and blandishing. For your words have been stout a∣gainst me, saith the Lord, yet ye say, wherein have we spoken a∣gainst thee? Mal. 3.13. Not spoken nor done, neither been faulty or stout; no, the grossest misdemeanours turned off with wherefore and wherein? so that I think the Prophet hath made this sufficiently manifest; that people by extenu∣ating

errours, come at last to have no burthen of conscience for the greatest errors, but quarrell with God, and make it a kind of injury, that they should be blamed, or faulted; how∣soever if they have transgressed, they are but lapses, they are guilty but a little. This same dwarsing, and pusillating of sin, ye see, is as old as Malachy: Malachy is a severe opposite to Temporizers, a deadly enemie to Neuters; if he had lived in these times, it would have been said, that he had medled with State matters, & he would have been called Malignant to his face; I would not have exempted him from a Seque∣stration; nay perhaps he would have been cast into Caitiff's hole, & have had a lodging appointed for him in the Clink; he doth spare none, and yet he doth fright none; no, they have the wit to keep their courage, and to be as audacious as he was resolute, and as impudent as he was impartial; let Malachy speak what he can, yet they will have a tongue, and endeavour to out-tongue him too: Let them marry the daughter of a strange god, and rob the true God; despise his Ordinances, and defile his Holinesse; have the blood of In∣nocents under their skirts, and make the scandals of the earth their bosome friends; yet all this is nothing, or as good as nothing: small things in others would be high crimes, but these grand exorbitancies in them, are but mistakes, or mis∣constructions, not worthy a wet eye, a blush in the cheeks, the setting a step backward; for Return unto me, saith the Lord, but ye said, wherein shall we return? Beware therefore, that ye do not like these hypocrites, varnish over your decayed posts, when inward rottennesse is within, and make your mor∣tall wounds lesse dangerous then they are, for they which slight sin, will never be sensible of sin.

Thus have I shown you many things, which will make men insensible of sin, would to God I had now spoken e∣nough, that after all which I have said, I could see the Rock cleaving in your browes, the Adamant softening in your bosomes, the slumber going out of your temples, the vail rending from before your eyes, the hot Iron cooling upon your consciences, that the Magicians would fetch out their

books of curious arts and burn them, that Ephraim would take up her Idols and throw them away with indignation, saying, Get ye gone; that sinners of the Land would lay to heart the transgressions of the Land; that this hour I could see you take your pride from your backs, your lusts out of your members, your riots out of your palats, your blasphe∣mies out of your lips, your oppression out of your hands, and your malice out of your hearts; that ye would know your sins, and bewail them, reflect upon them and renounce them; that ye would say, we have sinned, we are greived that we have sinned so often, and do vow that we will sin no longer; that ye might say, we have once been at Church and heard one penitential sermon, that here we have met with conviction, and will carry home conversion; oh that it might be said, that ye came blind, but go away seeing, that ye came remorsless, and goe away contrite; ye came guil∣ty, and go away innocent; oh I stand waiting to see a little water in your eyes, a little shame in your cheeks, a little smi∣ting upon your breasts, a little turning of your feet; oh I stay for a circumcised ear, a rent heart, and a renewed life. Do it for the love of your souls, do it for love to your Coun∣trey, for the land that hath been stained with transgression, for the land which hath suffered for transgression, and for the Land which may perish by transgression. Though a great part of the Land should be impenitent, yet have ye repentance unto life; pacifie Gods wrath for your selves, and sacrifice for your Countrey; so if greater judgements should be reserved for the land, and this Nation which will not be reformed must be weather-beaten again, yet ye may have an hiding place from the storm, that if the destroying Angel should smite on all sides, your sprinkled door-posts may be past over, that ye may be taken like the two legs, or the piece of an ear out of the mouth of the Lion, or plucked like a brand out of the fire. Oh therefore search and try your ways, and turn again unto the Lord, if iniquity be in your hands, put it far away, leave not an hoof in Egypt, spare not one Amelekite but put the whole cursed race to the edge of the sword, loath your selves

in all your abominations, turn from every evil way, through∣ly amend your wayes, and your doings. I would I could con∣vert the whole Nation, howsoever I do desire to renew you, let it be the fruit of my Ministry, the priviledge of the meet∣ing, the blessing of the day. Oh remember, that there is no such refuge as repentance, nor no such Sanctuary as submis∣sion, God cannot be angry with you if ye seek his favour by humiliation, or howsoever ingratiate your selves into him by reformation. It is sin that is Gods professed adversary; take away this, and there is not a frown in Gods brow, nor a fret in his brest; his razor is laid aside, his vial of indigna∣tion is set by, his thunderbolts fall out of his hand. Attone∣ment with the land, if there be the amendment of the land, because judgement to the land, if there be the transgression of the land. For the transgression of the Land.

Notes

• Aquin. 22. q. 19. a. 1.
• Idem 1. q. 48. a. 5.
• Culpam se∣quitur per∣cussio, Cass.
• Illa est p•…•…∣na justissi∣ma, ut amit∣tat unus∣quis{que} quod bene uti no∣•…•…it, Aug. Iuste pu∣niuntur qui licitis abu∣tuntur, Hu∣go.
• Virg. 1. Aeneid.
• Ovid. 1. Metam.
• Virtutem, an vitam vili∣pendas, Plu. in Pelopida. Quis opti∣mus? tui dis∣simillimus. Plut. in A∣popth.
• Luc. Phars.
• Plato.
• Virgil. 5. Aeneid.
• Qui Deum evigilare in judicio facit, velocem ul∣torem inve∣niet. Aug.
• 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• Quae socci superant risus lu∣ctusque co∣thurni.
• †

  Deplora∣mus patri∣am nostrā, quod tali∣um malo∣rum & auctor sit, & nutrix. Basil.
• Bern.
• Sueton.
• Virgil.
• Iuvenal. Sat. 2.
• Horat. 1. Ep.
• A peccato venit ira Dei, & mi∣seria homi∣nis, Aug. de pec. mer. & rem. c. 23.
• Tully.
• Pliny.
• Orosius.
• Ph. Co∣men.
• Collerut.
• Silius Ital. lib. 15.
• Eccles. 11.9.
• Voluptas est lubrica sua∣vitas ad il∣licita, Isiod. Synon. vo¦luptas est af∣fectio tota si∣mul, & sen∣sibiliter in naturam proficiscens Arist. l. 1. Rhet.
• Iuven. Sat. 7.
• Plin. lib. 25. cap. 2.
• Aquin. supp. 4. 4. d. 1.
• Aug. de vera & fals. poen. cap. 11. Hugo sum. sent. tr. 5. cap. 11.
• Ovid. de Ponto, l. 3.
• Iuv. Sat. 14.
• Lapides qui sunt intus in aedificatione, sed cos qui sunt foris, Chry. hom. 21. in Mat.
• Quomodo in theatrali∣bus scenis a∣gitur, ita tot habemus personarum fimilitudi∣nes, Hier. ad Marcel. Sueton.
• Athen. l, 6. c. 6.
• Ioh. Mag∣nus, l. 7. c. 17.
• Virgil. Ec. 2
• Plutarch.
• Zonaras.
• Theodoret
• Peccatum peccato ad∣dit, qui cul∣pae quam fe∣cit pa••reci∣nia defensio∣nis adjungit Greg. l. 22. moral.
• Difficulter ad sanitatë venimus qui•• nos ae∣grotare ne∣scimu••. Se∣neca Ep. 60.