AS the great Vniuerse, so the small World, Man is composed of, and diuided into two parts; Spirit and Body. The soule expres­seth creatures immateriall; Angells: The body is the character of things mate­riall and corporall. The world was pure till man fell: the sinne of the little world cursed the greate one. No sooner was Adam found guilty, but the earth was cursed, and that receiued [Page 2]punishment before the delinquent: yet not for its owne, but his sake. Man sinned, not the earth; the earth was cursed, not for its owne, but mans punishment: The ground must be cursed ere man can be punished: the earth must be barren, ere Adam can sweat. As of sinne, so is man the chiefe subiect of calamitie; each creature else for his sake, he for his owne. Their punishment is not theirs, but his; and their vnhappinesse onely in order to his misery. The earth indeed was curst, man more; barrennesse seised on it, death on him.

Punishment is light-footed, and will as soone reuenge God, as man can iniure him. Transgressi­on is sometimes punished with the obiect it de­sires. Adam indeede by eating the forbidden fruit, knew good and euill; but 'twas a lamentable knowledge. He knew euill, but first in himselfe: the first science he had, was of his owne infirmity; for, He saw that he was naked. Gen. 3.7. Sometimes 'tis punish't by the contrary: Adam would no sooner haue beene as God, but he was as man; ambitious to be equall with the Almightie, he became infe­riour to himselfe. By his owne power he would haue liued for euer, and therefore died presently; for, By sinne death entred into the world. Loe then! he was no sooner sinfull, than miserable; no sooner the subiect of transgression, than of afflicti­on. As then we deriue sinne from our parents, so it's punishment, and misery is as much ex traduce as guilt. What man then liues and oft-times sinnes [Page 3]not? what man oft-times sinnes, and is not some­times scourged? As then our affliction may be common, so our compunction should be mutuall. Our brother is corrected to day, to morrow may be our course: Iob was afflicted in this Chapter, he knew his friends might be ere long (as indeed they were in the last Chapter, where he was faine to sacrifice for them:) and therefore exhorts them to bestow that vpon him in his calamitie, which they would be glad to beg of him in theirs; at least, that weake mercy of commiseration, and that small solace, Pitie.

Man and wife are one by a matrimoniall vnion; Body and Soule make one by a naturall constituti­on. Each man hath in himselfe a state Oeconomi­call; Eue was married to Adam, the Body to the Soule. Adam then is both Adam and Eue, Soule and Body. The Serpent first beguiled Eue, then shee Adam: Vanity first cheats sense, then shee deceiues the soule. As both haue sinned, so both are punished in the same order: First Eue was chid­den, then Adam. First the body is punished in this world, then the soule in the life to come. The whole world of man transgressed in its parts; Adam and Eue, who were it: and, by a law of pari­tie, each of them is punished in their parts; soule and body, which make vp them. The whole man then is afflicted in his parts: looke but vpon this verse, and behold this afflicted man. My Text is the Embleme of a wretched wight, where by a method Syntheticall, the sacred limmer proceeds [Page 4]from the parts to the whole. First, there are two petitions correspondent to two parts: Haue pitie vpon me: and againe, Haue pitie vpon me. Pitie my body, pitie my soule: Both grounded vpon foure implicite reasons; two taken à Posse; for you may doe it, because 'tis Easie and Lawfull: and two à Debito; for you most doe it, because 'tis comman­ded by Nature and by God. Secondly, the parties petitioned, O yee my friends. Thirdly, the reasons expressed on the petitioners part, moouing and perswading to the grant of his request; which in generall are three: 1. taken from the causes of his affliction, which here are two; Instrumentall, s. The hand: prime Efficient, s. Of God. 2. taken from the action concrete, with its manner, s. Hath touched. 3. from the patient; the whole man, and but a fraile man, s. Mee.

First then of the double petition: Haue pitie vp­on me, haue pitie vpon me. Such was the loue of God to vs, that he would not make vs according to any image, but his owne: he would haue had vs no sooner men than sonnes; and the Creator vouch­safed to be the prototype of his creature. Yet the madnesse of our ambition fluttered to soare aboue the wisdome of his mercie: Coelum ipsum petimus stultitiâ. To be dust and ashes, was as much as by our owne nature we could be; yet to be but a little inferiour to God, was to be lesse than wee would be. How faine we would haue beene as God himselfe! and nothing could satisfie the stupide pride of our finite nature, saue to be absolutely equall with an insinite essence. So foolish was our [Page 5]first rebellion, that nothing could be the obiect of its aime, saue the vanitie of a contradiction. Thus in defacing his image, we vncreated his worke, and by the defect of a new creation, made our selues what he made vs not. Now, if he that is not with him, be against him; he that is not like him, is so dislike him, that hee is contrarie. As then we walked stubbornely against him, so hath he wal­ked stubbornely against vs, reuenging our dislike of his likenesse, and by his iustice punishing the contempt of his mercy. So that now our miserie is squared to our happinesse, and our sense as natu­rally admits the obiect that it hates, as that it likes. The eye can as easily see a ghastly pale, as a plea­sing white; our flesh may be as soone scorched with heate, as recreated by a refreshing luke­warmth. The eare can as properly heare the Toade as the Nighingale, and all our senses re­ceiue as naturally their punishments as their bles­sings. Nor is the soule exempted from this afflicti­on, but must haue as great a share with the body in miserie as it had in sinne; which though it haue not sense, it may haue a compassion and a fellow-feeling by the vertue of its vnion. It willes the wel-fare of its nearest neighbour, the body; which being tortur'd its desire is crossed, and the contra­diction of the will is the tartest punishment of the soule. Aquin. de ani­ma. q. vlt. My Text is compassed with the complaint of this double affliction, as the man of the Text (Iob) is with the miserie it selfe; He cries out in the 20. verse, My bone cleaueth to my skin, and I haue e­scaped with the skin of my teeth. Loe the distresse of [Page 6]his bodie. Againe he expostulates in the 22. verse, Why doe you persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh? Loe here the anguish of his soule. This double affliction then may well require a two-fold petition for a two-fold commiserati­on; Haue pitie vpon me, haue &c. Thus farre the pe­tition hath respected the two-fold subiect of ca­lamitie. Now, because that request is neuer perem­ptorie, which intercedes by the mediation of rea­son, 'tis best we should a-while haue respect vnto the foure implicite reasons; two taken à Posse, for 'tis easie and lawfull; and two á Debito, for 'tis com­manded by Nature and God. And first of the first, Easie. Tis easie. To be bad when there is a possibility for vs to be good, argues a neglect; to be bad when it is easie to be good, inferres a voluntarie rebelli­on. It would be an unnaturall contumacie to strug­gle against an offred vertue, and a studdied sinne to be vicious with difficulty. Teares are as easie as affection, and compassion as common as loue. If our friend be well, we must needes ioy, and if he be ill, by the same necessitie we must weepe: [...]. Xenoph: hist. graec. lib. 7. If we can ioy, we can grieue; teares are common to both, and each of them equally challenge a compassion. As easily as we can embrace, we can pitie; and be with as little difficultie compassionate, as passionate. It is a trouble to be hard hearted, and it was more paine for Ioseph to refraine himselfe than to weepe, Gen. 45.1. 'Tis no labour to be pitifull; for they that are weakest, are mostinclined to it; Women. Pharaoh, that could ride in a Chariot, was hard hearted; but [Page 7]his daughter, a Virgin, not capable of labour, had compassion vpon Moses. Exod: 2.6. The men were dogged that could striue against commiseration, and those children of Israel which wept at Christs death, S. Luk. 23.28. were the Daughters of Ierusalem. So easie it is for that sex to pitie, Athanas. q. act Antioch. 88. which by its nature is not of force to rebell against its nature. Pitie then is our owne, for it is ingraffed; tis harder to be stonie than re­lenting, and a prodigie to be cruel, none to be mer­cifull. [...]. Athanasius tells vs that signes and miracles are the onely effects of Gods power, but loue and compassion are the na­turall fruits of mans will. So that we need not take paines to entertaine lenitie, sith 'tis in our owne power to be mercifull. Thus condolencie is so properly, so genuinely ours, that we can hardly be vnmercifull; and therefore in the fable of Lycaon, the Poet iudiciously makes it the miraculous worke of a strange metamorphosis, for a man to become a Wolfe. We are so our selues when we are compassionate, that when we are vnmercifull we are not our selues. Athanas. ad Antioe. q. 118. [...]. Hardnesse of heart is not the worke of the creation, but of the Deuill; and crueltie alwaies followes either a base or a domi­neering distemperature. Aqui. 22 ae. q. 30. Art. 2. The proud cannot brooke pitie, supposing all, saue themselues (who are worst) worthy of punishment. He that is iniured is an enemie to it, for he imagines reuenge; and he that is iniurious, for he is only intent on malice. [Page 8]Briefly, it is a stranger to the fearlesse, desperate and the cowardly fearefull: the one is so carelesse of himselfe, that he forgets to pitie another; the other is so carefull of himselfe, that he hath no leisure to pitie another. Loe here the quintaine, the troupe of the Deuill; Pride, Reuenge, Malice, Despaire, and Feare; the lame and crooked nurses of vnmercifulnesse. The defects of nature are the sources of crueltie, and the distemperatures of the soule, the sole enemies of compassion. Yet (good God) how well we could be ought but what we are! we could performe any thing saue our taske, and be easily compassionate if it were not easie. Thus doe we warre against pietie; chusing rather to be vicious with difficultie, than vertuous with ease. Rather than we will be good, we will sweate to be bad; and by a mis-guided election, rather seeke a Viper which we know will sting vs, than receiue any refection which we know will nourish vs. Thus when God offers vs bread, we choose a stone; he giues vs a fish, and we aske a serpent. But stay: our nature is so bad, that it will be good, though but by its owne iustification. Rather than our iudgements shall faile, our inuentions shall preuadicate. Malignant mindes must be constant, though against reason; and will striue to prooue that bad, which they cannot indure should be stiled good. Tis no argument (they'l say) to prooue compassion good, because tis easie; for so most sins should be iustified. The answer to which, drawes vs to the consideration of the second rea­son; for tis not barely easie, but withall iustifiable: 'tis Lawfull.

[...]. Lawfull. Zenoph. memor. lib. 4. Tis Xenophons iudgement: what is iust, is lawfull; and what is reasonable, is iust. Vertue is measured by reason, and hath principally its nature from election. Reason is a diuine gift, though it be naturall, and can aswell make a vertue, as sense a vice. The flesh is weake; I but the spirit is willing: an intempe­rate body may desire badly: but a well guided soule makes the action vertuous. Mercie, Aqui. 22 ae. q. 30. Art 3. as a sen­sitiue passion, may be meere triuiall and idle: Mer­cie, as a motion of the minde, guided by reason, is a beautifull vertue. Now because vertue hath its extreames, and the Deuill can turne himselfe from blacke to white; from the extreame to appeare the meane; from the Prince of darknesse to se [...]me an Angell of light: we must seeke how to finde the meane, and refuse the extreames; to entertaine the Angell, and cast out the Deuill. To the perfor­mance of which, we must first define Pitie, shew­ing what it is; then, manifest the persons whom it respects. But before we proceede to define, let Logicke moderate vs; for because of the ambigu­ous terme Misericordia, Mercie, tis best to diuide. Tis taken then two waies, as only intimating com­miseration, or withall implying succour. In 4. Psalm. poenitent. S. Grego­rie makes the diuision, and proportions fit termes to the diuiding members. Per misericordiam mi­serentis affectum intelligimus, per miserationem verò misericordiae exhibitionem signamus. The word is ei­ther taken for a naked pitie, onely commiserating misfortunes, without giuing reliefe: or for a com­passion attended with a beneficence, which im­plies [Page 10]an actuall exhibition of succour. The first is most properly meant in my Text, the second is a naturall consequent: both may be handled; but to auoyde confusion and tediousnesse, the first onely in the doctrine.

Pitie then is defined to be Alienae miseriae in corde nostro compassio, S. Aug. de ciu. dei, lib. 9. cap. 5. a deepe and hearty fellow-feeling of anothers miserie. From which obserue these foure Canons. First, there must be a feeling or sorrow. Thus in the extremity of commiseration the Prophet cryeth, My bowells shall sound like an Harpe for Moab, & mine inward parts for Kirharesh; Isay. 16.11. Secondly, there must be a fellow-fee­ling; compassion as well as passion: for we must slere cum flentibus; weepe with those that weepe, Rom. 12.15. Thirdly, we must haue a respect to Mi­serie; Misericordiae propriasedes miseria est, saith S. Bernard: De conuers. ad Cler. ser. cap. 10. Felicitie requires no pitie, but miserie is the only seate of mercy. Lastly, it must be Alienae miscria, of anothers vnhappines. Our pitie hath re­spect to others, not our selues; and if we are sad for our own miserie, 'tis Dolor, not Compassio; Anguish, not Pitie. Sothen, if we haue not feeling, we are not passionate; if we haue not fellow-feeling, we are [...] cōpassionate. The definition then includes a re [...]on, & that respect brings vs to the persons. The consideration of whom swayes the ballance, and makes our pitie either friuolous or discreet. Now the persons to be itied, are to be considered in respect of their coniunction to the parties pity­ing: The coniunction may be three-fold, 1. Natu­rall, as of a Kinsman to a Kinsman; Aqui. 22. ae. q. 31. Art. 4. Ciuill, as of a [Page 11]Countriman to a Countriman; 3. Spirituall, as of a Christian to a Christian. We ought indeede to pitie all, but these per prius. Charitie begins at home: we owe it to each man, but first to the nea­rest. Vertue and Grace ('tis Aquin as his simile) imi­tate Nature; the fire first warmes what is like it, and next it. The ayre can sooner participate of the fires heate, than the water; and the flame soonest heats that which naturally is most propense and incli­ning to warmth. So though our Compassion ex­tends to all, it first respects the nearest. Religion and policie prescribe an order to our loue, and naturally our affection is as neere as nature. In Cant. Tom. 3. Puto quidem esse vim charitatis vnam, multas tamen ha­bere causas & multos ordines diligendi, saith S. Origen. We may loue, and consequently pitie, all; yet some first and most, and one commiseration may haue diuers degrees. The beautifull and de­formed may be both beloued, yet the fairest best: I may commiserate a friends case, yea and an ene­mies too, yet my friends first. Ioseph fed all Egypt, but he placed his father and his brethren in the best of the land, Gen. 47.11. He sold foode to the Egyptians, verse 14. but hee nourished them; vers. 12. S. Paul suffered persecution for the Gentiles, but he could wish him­selfe separated from Christ for his bretheren his kinsmen according to the flesh, Rom. 9.3. Israel was commanded to entertaine strangers gently, Leuit. 19.33. but they wept bittery for the de­struction of their countrimen the Beniamites; 2. Sam. 21.3. Iudg. 21.2. Dauid indeed pitied and reuenged the [Page 12]soiourning Iebusites: But Ieremy compiled a whole booke of Lamentations for his natiue City Ierusalem. Gen. 19.4.6. Briefly, Abraham may be kinde to Ha­gar, but he must loue Sarah. It was grieuous in his sight to part with Ishmael, yet he must not be heire with his sonne Isaack: Gen. 21.10.11. For we must doe good to all men, but specially to those that are of the houshould of faith, Gal. 6.10. These three things then, Religion, Kindred, and Country, claime the first title in our affection, and consequently in our compassion; and that commiseration which orderly respects them, is naturall, lawfull, and sanctified. These indeed in­ferre a priority in mercy, but insinuate not so clear­ly the legitimacy of Pitie it selfe. Now this law­fulnesse we may collect from the motiues to commiseration, and the causes of affliction. The motiues are of two sorts, 1. A parte miserentis, 2. à parte eius cuius miseremur: the one is grounded in the party pitying, the other proceeds from the person pitied. The causes of compassion, in re­spect of the person pitying, are three: 1. Dilectio. 2. Coniunctio. 3. Assimilatio: Loue, Kindred and equalitie, or likenesse. The first is Loue: There is a body as well by loue as by nature; the difference is, that two naturall bodies make but one by friendship. As one naturall body hath onely its owne sense, so two bodies, made one by friend­ship, hath but one feeling. So that pitie is as natu­rall as sense, and compassion as proper to friends as passion to men. All things are common amongst friends; then so is miserie: for affliction is as selfe-communicatiue as happinesse. My friend is as mine [Page 13]owne soule, Deut. 13.6. Thus if I loue my friend, I am but penè alter, scarce another; so that I ac­count his paine my griefe, and what he vndergoes properly, I must suffer, at least by reputation. The second motiue is Coniunction and nearenesse; which we haue before touched. The third is Assi­milation or likenesse. If the winde can scatter dust, then à simili, why cannot the breath of Gods no­strills scatter vs which are but dust? If one man be in miserie, we are men too, & but men, and may be iust so afflicted. Aetas parentum peior auis— we are all no better than our brethren; not so good as our fathers. If they be punished, so may we; if bad be scourged, why should worse looke for happi­nesse? If Iob be punished, why may not his friends be tormented? Saul persecutes Dauid; and what Supersedeas hath hee, but that for all that the Phi­listims may scorne him? Iacob was as wise, as aged, and pitied the Shechemites his neighbours, know­ing that the rest of his neighbours might ere long haue had cause to pitie him: If the inhabitants of the land should haue gathered themselues toge­ther against him being few in number, and so he and his house should haue beene destroyed, Gen. 34.30. If then we pitie others, we put our compas­sion to vse; we lend our mercie to our owne pro­fit, and onely store it to receiue it at neede. Thus our mercie reflects vpon vs, and our compassion to others includes as much respect to our selues as them. Now if we should onely pitie them for our owne sakes, it would be Philautie, not Charitie; a selfe-affection, not a brotherly compassion. There [Page 14]must be then causa [...], as well as [...]; The obiect must impell to, as much as we in our selues can be mooued to grant. So that we must weigh the motiues, aswell in respect of the partie pitied, as the partie pitying. Now that motiue is onely one, Miserie; which in respect of the person, its subiect, is two-fold. Involuntary; which befalls vs against our will: and voluntarie, which in some manner takes ground from our owne consent. Involuntarie vnhappinesse is of two sorts; Either Naturall, when any defect is in and by Nature: as blindnesse, lamenesse, and such like imperfections vnauoidable: Or casuall, as when from any thing we expect good, Iob 1. 2. Sam. 4.4. and it happens euill. So Iobs children met to be familiar and merry together, and the house fell vpon them. So Mephibosheth in hast to be saued, was lamed. These two sorts of vnhappinesse, may iustly cha­lenge pitie. Wherfore Christ had compassion vp­on the blinde man, Iohn 9.6. and Dauid vpon lame Mephibosheth, 2. Sam. 9.10. Now our calamitie may be termed voluntary two wayes; Ratione non euitationis, Aqui. 22ae. q. 30. Art. 1. & ratione electionis in causâ. Eyther in not auoyding it when we may; as when either by contempt or neglect we runne head-long into any imminent danger: Or in willing vnhappinesse in its cause; which is, when we will the cause of mi­serie; for so consequently we will miserie it selfe. He that eates knowne poyson, doth in some man­ner desire sicknesse. He that wills the transgression of the law, willes consequently the punishment. He that must needs sin, must needs die; and he that [Page 15]willes the one, desires the other. Israel will die if they will sin: wherfore God (as it were wondring at their vnnaturall desire) askes them not why they will sinne, but why they will die, Ezskiel 33.11. So these two sorts are so farre from moouing to pitie, that they excite to punishment. So then, all poore are not alike to be pitied. Cain was a wanderer, so was Iacob: but Cain a Vagabond, Iacob a Pilgrim; the one to be punished, the other to be relieued. He that will not auoide an apparent affliction, is worthy to receiue it. 1. King. 2.37.46. And if Shimei wil not keepe his bounds, but rashly goe ouer the riuer Kidron, good reason hee should be smitten that he die. Bona est misericordia, S. Aug. sup-Exod. lib. 2. sed non debet esse contra iudicium, saith S. Augustine. Mercy is good, but then inordinate, when against iustice. We know by the immutable decree of God, that bloud is to be shed for bloud: If then the murtherer will needs be glutted with bloud, let him buy it with the pay­ment of his owne; and receiue what consequent­ly he wills, the punishment. Deut. 19.21. His bloud shall be vpon him, and our eie must not pitie him. Not­withstanding, voluntarie affliction doth not al­wayes exclude commiseration, but only, or at least chiefly when it is offensiue to Iustice. Misereremei, non quia dignus, sed quia inops & pauper sum ego. Iustitia meritum quaerit, misericordia miseriam in­tuetur. Ver a misericordia non iudicat, sed afficit. Thus S. Bernard teacheth how to aske mercy by his owne petition. Haue compassion (saith he) vpon me, not because I deserue it, but because I want it. [Page 16]Iustice lookes for merit; Mercie takes notice of miserie; and true commiseration argues not by reason, but affects with passion. Samuel mourned for disobedient Saul, respecting his distresse not his sinne. And Dauid sorrowed for that trayterous parricide, Absalom: his teares indeed were in vaine, yet they were pious because pitifull. We may be­stow pitie vpon an offendour that is dying; not to saue him, but to comfort him: we may pitie an of­fendour that is liuing, Aqui 22. ae q. 31. Art. 2. Ad sustentationem naturae, non ad fomentum culpae. We may haue compassion vpon his nature in which he is like vs, and not cherish his vice, in which we should be dislike him. From these it is euident, how far compassion is lawfull, and how inordinate. But because the word Lawfull may only insinuate a tolerancie (for things indifferent, and not in themselues absolute­ly good, may be permitted, and according to that acceptation lawfull) the next reason challenges place; which is grounded vpon command: and first of Nature.

[...], Nature. Arban. q. 118. saith Athanasius. God hath so guided Nature, that shee makes her best workes, as like as shee can to God. Man was created according to his owne image, and is naturally in nothing more like him than in mercy. In each creature there is vestigium creatoris, the foot-steppe of the creator; in man his image. The most sauage cruelty hath its li­mits: Beares agree amongst themselues; and the Canibals that deuoure their enemies, nourish their [Page 17]neighbours. As bodies are naturally contiguous, so are our affections: Wee are as neere by loue as they by touch. A man had as good be a stocke, as a man without a neighbour. Wee are better than beasts only in discourse; so that our perfecti­on depends vpon a fellow. The cause why this fellowship is so necessarie, is the necessity of a mutuall reliefe; which is as well afforded by compassion, as in a gift. My minde may be as liberall as my hand; and if pouertie curbe my bounty, yet maugre misfortune I can bestow the naturall beneuolence of pitty: Which is to be accepted, sith it was the commendations of Agesi­laus, that [...]. Xenoph orat. de Agesilao. Hee respected those friends that would doe him a curtesie, more than those that could doe it; preferring the beneuolence of minde, to the possible beneficence of fortune. If I cannot grieue, yet I can loue; if by misfortune I cannot succour, yet by nature I can pity. By commise­ration though I cannot free my friend, yet I can ease him, Nor is it my sorrow that so helpes him, Aqui. 12ae. q. 8. Art. 2.3. but its cause, Affection: for it addes ioy to the afflicted, that hee is beloued euen to compassion. As wee are men, wee must be sociable; if wee bee sociable, when occasion serues wee must pitty. That loue is counterfeit which cannot grieue, & societie is nothing worth without symphathie. So rarely inbred is this passion, that there is scarce any thing attained so easily, Epist. 7 [...]. and good so natural­ly. Misericordia pias mentes ad compassionem dolen­tium [Page 18]necessario cogit affectu, saith S. Bernard. Mercie is so naturall to good mindes, that it doth not per­swade to compassion, but compell. So that though they would not pitie, yet they must; it being to them so naturall that it is vnauoidable. Now as nature rules the creatures, so the Creator rules na­ture; so that her prescript is but subordinate to his law, and shee onely proclaimes what God first de­crees. Thus we may inferre that it is Gods com­mandement, because hers; but by reason that we may see the Almighties will in the bright mirrour the Scripture clearer than in that dimme one of Nature, 'tis safest to haue recourse to it, where we shall finde that also: It is commanded by God.

Estote misericordes, sicut & pater vester est miseri­cors, saith Christ, S. Luk. 6.36. Be yee mercifull as your Father is mercifull. Actum est. A further proofe might sauour of incredulitie. Loe here the com­mand both of God and Nature; 'tis the Decree of Iesus Christ, God and Man. In which is a precept and an exhortation. He cōmands by his power, Be yee mercifull; and perswades by an example; Sicut pater &c. As your Father is mercifull. That statute must needs be good, which God enacts, and that action must needs therefore be iust, of which he is the example. Our first parents desired to be as God, and their ambition was rebellion. Yet loe we must labour to be as God, and our desire shall be religion. To aspire to be equall with God, is trea­son against his Maiestie: to indeauour to be like him, is obedience to his precept. The pride of their [Page 19]ambition attempted an equalitie; but the loue of our obedience aimes at a likenesse. His mercie is a­boue all his workes, wherefore if you will be most like him, Estote misericordes; Be you mercifull; so you shall be as neere him by assimilation, as your first parents were distant by their ambition. Their vainly intended equalitie was punished with iudg­ment, and your likenesse in mercy shall be rewar­ded with mercy. Aqui. 22ae. q. 30. Art. 2. ad 1. Deus non miseretur nisi propter a­morem in quantum nos amat vt aliquid sui, saith A­quinas. God therefore pities vs, because he loues vs, and onely loues vs because we are like him. He will pitie the mercifull, because he loues them, and he will loue them because they are so like him. Wherfore he will be mercifull vnto the mercifull; and therefore Blessed are the mercifull, for they shall obtaine mercie, S. Mat. 5.7. Heark beloued; Bles­sed are the mercifull, not barely happie; honoured with riches of god, not with the slender opulency of fortune. Are there any then amongst you (my brethren) which haue cloathed Christ when he was naked, fed him when hee was hungrie, and giuen him drinke when he was thirstie? if there be any, Come yee blessed of the Lord, S. Math. 25.24.25.26. and inherit the kingdome, prepared for you from the foundations of the world. Inherit that in this world by the stable possession of a certaine hope, which you shall in­herit in the life to come, in the fulnesse of ioy for euermore. Be not slow to pitie, for it is easie; bee not doubtfully curious to receiue it, for it is law­full: Refuse it not stubbornly, sith 'tis naturall; at [Page 20]least condemne it not rebelliously: for 'tis the com­mand of God. Pitie thy kinsmen with Ioseph, for they are thy flesh. Haue compassion vpon thy countrimen with Ieremy, for they are thy brethren: Be mercifull to those of thy religion, for yee are one in Christ Iesus; yee are of one houshold of faith. Pitie thy brother for his owne sake; for so thou maiest comfort him: haue compassion vpon him for thine own sake; for so thou maiest expect a retributiō in thy misery. Giue vnto the poore, & so lend vnto the Lord, and he wil pay thee: or giue vn­to the poore, & so pay vnto the Lord what he hath lent thee. Quid habes quod non accepisti? What hast thou, which thou hast not receiued? & what canst thou bestow, but what thou hast borrowed? If thou giuest to the poore, thou giuest to Christ; if thou giuest to Christ, thou giuest to God: Nor is it so much a gift as a debt; S. Aug: in. Psal. 147. Deillius das qui iubet vt des. May not God do what he wil with his own? If his eye be good, let not yours be therefore euill. For what you bestow is none of yours, but his only that commands you to giue it. If then God forgiue thee thy debt, take not thy brother by the throat for his. Doth the poore owe thee any thing? re­mit it: for in hauing more than is necessary for thee, thou owest as much to him. If thou hast more than thou needest, thou hast more than thine own. Superflua diuitum necessaria sunt pauperum. Idem. ibid. The ouerplus of the rich are the necessaries of the poore. A niggardly hand may oppresse as much as a violent. Idem. ibid. Res alienae possidentur, cum superflua possi­dentur. [Page 21]When you whoord vp that which you do not want, you spoyle the poore of that which they want. Anobis extrahitur crudeliter quod consumi­tur inaniter. That is cruelly extorted from the needy, which is lauishly spent vpon thy lust. Sith then God hath giuen to thee, imitate him in being bountifull to thy brother. Let Gods almes be thy almes, and what his mercie hath bestowed vpon thee, let thy pitie diuide vnto thy neighbour. Briefly, though the Shabeans robbe Iob, yet let Eliphaz pity him: though the Lord by affliction trye him yet let Bildad and Zophar haue compas­sion vpon him; and though he be persecuted by Satan his enemie, yet at least, Haue pitie vpon him (O yee his friends). Friends! yea, but very small ones; In my Text they are put in a parenthesis, and are no neerer than almost quite out. Prosperi­tie may haue choise of acquaintance; but onely miserie is the touch-stone of a friend. 'Tis true in­deed, the Man of the East had diuers friends, but now they abhorre, and are turned against the poore man, Iob, Iob. 19.19. So fickle is the amity of parasiticall friends, that the inconstancy of time and fortune can sterne its Nature. Now if we will loue constantly, we must loue well; and if we will loue well, we must loue vertuously. So that our friendship must principally respect goodnesse, both in our selues and friends. He that cannot af­fect himselfe, cannot affect another; and he that loues iniquitie, cannot loue himselfe: For he hates his owne soule, Psalm. 11.15. Cum ergo edissem [Page 22]animam meam, S. Aug. ad Mart epist. 155. de verâ amici­tiâ. verum amicum quomodò habere pote­ram, ea mihi optantem in quibus ipse meipsum patie­bar inimicum? saith S. Augustin. If in louing sinne I hate my soule, how can my vicious friend be my true friend, which onely can wish that content vn­to me, the desire of which makes me an enemy to my selfe? If then our selues be bad, we cannot loue our friends wel: & again, if our friends be bad they cannot loue vs well. The wicked is alwayes conscious of his owne vnfaithfulnesse, and iealous of his fellowes constancy by his guiltinesse of his owne inconstancy; he loues without trust, as if he would one day hate, and his friendship is alwaies startled with suspition. The vicious then cannot loue, for they dare not trust; though they be con­federate and ioyned by company, they are diui­ded in heart: so that religion onely and goodnesse can vnite the soules. A vertuous friend-ship cor­rects Nature, and what shee hath diuided in bo­dies, it makes one in affection. Wherefore the Poet liuely insinuates the nearenesse of friends by diuiding their soule: as though there were not two soules, Hor. Od. lib. 1. Od. 3. but one parted; so that himselfe had but —Animae dimidium— halfe a soule; his friend had the other part, Confes. cap. 6. and they two had but one life. S. Augustine commends this most significant and ex­pressiue description of true friendship by sharing of spirits, and the Scripture properly exemplifies in two religious friends; for the soule of Ionathan was knit with the soule of Dauid, 1. Sam. 18.1. So almost were they one, that they could not be abso­lutely [Page 23]two; and the only difference between them was, that each might be but halfe the other. This amitie is as constant as neare, and cannot be dissol­ued, vnlesse the friend should be vnioynted from himselfe. If Iobs friends had beene such, his petiti­on would haue beene granted before framed; and as soone as he had felt affliction, he might haue demanded pitie by the title of a Symphathie. But they are not so affectionate as to condole, nor so neare as to haue a fellow-feeling. Wherefore if he will require compassion, he must pleade for it; which he doth in the next place, by shewing the causes of his affliction. and first the instrumentall: For the hand of God hath touched me. The hand. De serm. Dom. in mont. lib. 1.

Quemadmodum in oculo contemplatio, sic in manu actio intelligitur, saith S. Augustine. The eye and the hand are the principall instruments of sense. The one of seeing, the nobler sense of discipline: The other of feeling, the most necessarie to the simple being. So that as we vnderstand contemplation by the Eye, In lib. Reg. cap. 1. Hom. 2. so we intimate power and action by the hand. Per manus intelliguntur opera, saith S. Origen. The hand is the most operatiue instrument of the will; and what we doe by it commonly, we expresse by it. So that nature hath established it a custome: and in most common-wealths at any publicke election, Hist. lib. 4. the motion of the hand declares the assent of the will. Vultu manu (que) assentiebantur, saith Tacitus. Isidorus lib. 1. In the Romane Senat they mani­fested fested their consent by holding vp their hands; and in their Armies too, to auoide the confusion [Page 24]of vocal suffrages, it was a militarie custome to sig­nifie their mindes by their hands: withall intima­ting by that instrument of vigour and force, not onely their approbation, but also their constancie and readinesse to the maintaining their resolution so expressed. The Scriptures are as copious of te­stimonies, as their authors of customes. We will vrge a few. First, God himselfe in a solemne Pro­testation is said to lift vp his Hand, Num. 14.30. insinuating the maintenance of his decree by his power. The light of his countenance can blesse his people; but when he miraculously deliuers them and plagues his enemies, 'tis with a mightie Hand. Psal. 136.12. The signe of strength is in a stretched out arme; and if Israel will conquer Amaleck, Aaron and Hur must stay vp Moses Hands, Exod. 17 12. Alas weake Iob! If the Hand of God be his power, and that wholly vpon thee, thy friends had neede pitie thee. The hand that can span the Hea­uens, must needes squieze a worme. The Finger of God was enough to plague a whole great na­tion, Aegypt, Exod. 8.19. Was it then possible that one miserable man should sustaine the weight of his whole hand? Qui dat pati dat posse pati. He that sends affliction will send patience. God is merciful as well as iust, and it was the Hand of God.

Yet that might be a question, God. if it were not an axiome, and be disputed as but probable, if the Holy Ghost did not warrant the necessitie: God approued of Iob, whom the Deuill slandered: Sa­tan smote him with boiles, Iob. 2.7. Then, was that [Page 25]the Hand of God? Malignus spiritus malâ volun­tate nocere appetit; tamen nocendi potestatem non ac­cipit, Ad Simpl. l. 2. q. 1. nisi ab illo sub quo sunt omnia certis & iustis me­ritorum gradibus ordinata. Thus S. Augustine answeres; The Deuill would hurt, but he wants the power: God must giue him leaue, else he can­not execute his will. Satan hath the will in him­selfe, but he cannot performe it, vnlesse God lend him power. The cause is Gods, and Satan cannot persecute till he will prosecute. God of himselfe is iust, and Satan malitious; & vnlesse God wil exe­cute his iustice, Satan cannot actuate his malice. So that Gods permission is his action and the power that he lends, is stiled his Hand. God is Iudge, Satan the executioner; 'tis the Deuills will, but Gods power. Now the Lambe is mercifull, but the Dra­gon is cruell; and though Satans malice would crush vs, yet the hand of God will but Touch vs.

Hath touched. Touched. And 'tis enough; for at the touch of the Lord, the mountaines smoake: and are the wicked any thing saue an heape of transgression? is the world of man ought else saue a mountaine of sinne? We are nothing saue a lumpe of disorder, a Babel of contumacie, built so high that our rebel­lion may reach to Gods cares, and need not with the bloud of Abel, crie, but whisper for a ven­geance: a fraile masse of confusion, on which if he doth but blow, he puffes vs into a nothing; and if he wil but touch this Babylon, our smoake must ascend for euermore. Yet is he not more iustice than mercie, & can expresse himselfe to be both at [Page 26]once. So that the Scripture attributes to him a three-fold touch, s. Tactum iusticiae, tactum miseri­cordiae, & tactum medium, or tentationis. He con­founds by the touch of iustice, when hee will re­uenge; So the Lord of hosts shall touch the land, and it shall melt away, Amos. 9.5. He comforteth by the touch of his mercie, when he will forgiue; for so Iesus touched the Leper, and he was healed, S. Math. 8.3. He toucheth by the touch of his mercie and iustice together, when he will trie; and so the hand of God hath touched Iob. In whose tryall, respect the affliction, and view Gods Iustice; looke vpon the end, and behold his mercie. He was sinfull, therefore might lawfully be punished, yet God afflicts him more to proue him, than to punish him. The Lord will rebuke him, yet not in his anger; he will chastise him, but not in his wrath. Because he hath sinned he may, I and shall be afflicted, and yet by that scourge not so much punished as proued. Thus all things proue to the good of the elect. If they sinne, they shall be pu­nished; yet their punishment shall be the witnesse of their triall, and that he path-way to their glo­rie. God will not cocker his children, but correct them; and strike hardest where he loues most. The man after his owne heart shall roare for paine: and iust Iob complaines, The hand of God hath touched Mee.

Vox clamantis in deserto; Mee. The voyce of one cry­ing in the Wildernesse: That was S. Iohn Baptist: Here is another vox clamantis, the voyce of a crier; [Page 27]'tis in the wildernesse too. His soule was desolate, and affected vncouth places as much as Dauid, who was like a Pellican of the wildernesse, and like an Owle of the Deserts. He was the Baptist too, Psal. 102.6. but meerely passiue, Baptismosanguinis; he was bapti­zed with the baptisme of affliction: and that he is a Crier as well as S. Iohn, is intimated by his name; Iob, which signifies a fearefull howling. We know the storie of him, and the scope of it. s. the mani­festation of Gods triall of mans patience in mise­rie. Each one knowes the afflictions of the man of the East, Iob: but who takes notice of the wo­man of the North, our Metropolis? Here is a third vox clamantis, the voyce of one crying, I and in the Desert. For loe Satan the Dragon hath per­secuted her as the woman in the wildernes. Nay her whole selfe not long agone was but a wilder­nesse, if you will take a Desert for a place desolate. Rev. 12.14. S. Gregories complaint was renewed, and the ruines by him deplored truly patterned in that example. Habitatores non exparte subtrahuntur, sed pariter corruunt. Domus vacuae relinquuntur. Filiorum fu­nera parētes aspiciunt, et sui eos adinteritum haeredes praecedunt. The stately towers of Sion were be­come the habitation of Satyres, her people not by degrees plucked vp, but mowed downe together in full swathes. Lo, a lamentable spectacle! The Grand-sire, by a preposterous priuiledge of surui­uing, heire to his intestate Nephew. You might haue beheld youth the first borne of death, and the gray haires descending latest to the graue. [Page 28]The great Temple of Ierusalem, that liuing house of God, the company of Christians was so vnioy­ted, that there was scarce a stone left vpon a stone; a man to conuerse in safetie with his neighbour. A pestilent disease disordered nature. The graue snatched what nature denied, the strongest. Net hoc parentes heu sibi superstites effugerit spectaculum. Pa­rents were mourners for their children, and closed those eyes which should haue wept at their fune­rals. The graues were as full of carkasses as the houses of inhabitants; and the poore remnant that were left and reserued from this fatall captiuitie, were not so much the parts as the ruines of a City. Troynouant was indeed new Troy, the wretched daughter of an vnhappie mother. Beth-rapha was turned into Bochim; The house of health, not to an edifice but a bare place of weeping. You should not haue mis-called a matron Naomie, but called her Mara; not a beautifull spouse but a distressed widow. Lo, gasping Rachel would haue the name; for in those fearefull plagues the fathers son of his right hand, his darling babe was but Ben-oni, the son of sorrow. God Almightie had withdrawne the light of his countenance from vs; The Arke of our saluation was wel-neare taken, and the lamen­ting mothers, bowing themselues for trauell, haue brought forth their first-borne abortiues; an vn­timely fruit of a name, distractedly inquisitiue, Ichabod; where is the glorie? Quam penè furnaeregna Proserpinae, & indicantem vidimus Aeacum! one foote was in the graue, and (O Lord) how almost [Page 29]did our soules goe downe into the pit? There was no Isaiah to saue the liuing from death; no Eli­as to raise the dead to life. The wise perished as the foolish, the Priests as the peasants, both promis­cuously interred together; so that each sepulchre was a charnel-house, each graue a Golgotha. Bel­shazzar trembled for a light threat: The hand of God appeared to vs, not writing on a wall, but a whole Kingdome, grauing the name of desolation in the black characters of the pestilence, and each doors fatall & common motto, Lord haue mer­cy vpon vs. Graues were scarcer than houses, and the earth more streightned to receiue the dead, than the habitations the liuing. So that necessitie made one pit a common sepulchre, and the whole Citie Ezekiels field. Yet loe, Mal. 3.8, 9, 10, 11, 12. those afflictions which should haue corrected, haue hardned vs. Will a man spoyle his gods? saith the Lord: yet yee haue spoyled me: but yee say, Wherein haue we spoyled thee? In tythes and offerings. The Priest-hood is become a derision, the Ministerie a contempt, and the Church robbed by contentious flocks and sacrilegious Patrons. Wherefore ye are cursed with a curse; for yee haue spoiled me (saith the Lord) euen this whole nation. But bring yee all the tythes into the store-house, that there may be meate in mine house, and proue me now here­with (saith the Lord) If I will not open the win­dowes of heauen vnto you, and powre you out a blessing without measure. And I will rebuke the deuourer for your sakes—. And all nations shall [Page 30]call you blessed; for yee shall be a pleasant land, saith the Lord of hosts. Pride, fulnesse of bread and deceit in the citie; Oppression and barbarous ma­lice in the countrie: these are the weapons which we haue whetted against our owne soules, and the broken reedes that pierced the hands of those that leaned on them. How many townes may we see turned into open fields, religion decayed with na­ture, the Church with the parishioners; land-lords metamorphosed to wolues, seruants into doggs. villages into sheep-coates, and families into shep­heards Curres! Because the blessing of God was troublesome, and the multitude of men seemed a burthen vnto vs, loe, the iust Lord hath eased vs in his indignation, and in a moment sweptaway (by warre and pestilence) aboue an hundred thousand. He hath recompenced our ingratitude with ven­geance, and which of vs all haue not lost a kins­man? O then, Haue pitie vpon vs, haue pitie vpon vs, (O yee our friends) for the hand of God hath touched vs. Yet the Lord is mercifull and gracious, and in the middest of iudgement hath remembred mer­cie. Our great Citie Nineueh, and her King hath repented in sackcloth and ashes, sorrow and humi­litie: and behold the Lord hath beene more mer­cifull than man. Though Ionah hath prophesied iudgements, he hath turned them into consolati­ons. Behold, Syon is againe inhabited, and who can number her towers? The voice of gladnesse is heard in her Palaces, and songs of thanks-giuing in stead of the mourning of Hadad-rimmon: Moses [Page 31]is heard, and the request of pious gouernours now fully granted. The Lord is returned vnto the ma­ny thousands of Israel. Reioyce therfore O my soule, againe I say reioyce. O let vs remooue the Leprosie of sinne from our soules, as God hath remooued the black spots of the Pestilence from our bodies. O be ioyfull in the Lord all ye lands, all sorts, all per­sons, young men and maidens, olde men and children, praise yee the Lord. So shall God render vnto Iob seuen fold; the wombes of our young women shall be fruitfull, and your children shall play by thousands in the streets; the strength of our young men shall breake a bowe of steele, and the gray hayres of our auncients shall descend with ioy & reuerence into the graue. O then beloued quick­ly, to day if you will heare, cast off the menstruous cloathes of Hypocrisie and wickednesse, and pre­sent your soules, your naked soules as a sacrifice without blemish vnto the God of your saluation. Come taste and see how good and gracious the Lord is. Take the Cup of saluation, and sing with Angels and Arch-angels, Glorie to God on high, in earth peace, and good will towards men. Wee praise thee, wee blesse thee, we glorifie thee, &c.