DEarly beloved not to make any long pre­amble, or to use many circumlocutions but to fall aboard with my text, thes words are not litterally to be vnderstood but typically for this is a prophetique say­ing of our Mr. that their shall be many in the latter dayes that shall have no eares but loose them for the testimony of a good conscience, and for the Gospels sake, of which sort I and my other brethren which suffered with me are three, distempred and dismem­bred members. Yet beloved sister mistake me not I doe not mean dismembred in my principall member, the virge of generation, no this might well have gotten a loathing in you toward me, but is the losse of the tips of my eares.

There are many have eares to heare beastly and pro­phaine tailes, songs, and ballads with a great deale of contentation, and think not this time long or ill spent, but they have no eares to heare of piety and godlinesse, they thinkean houre a day, and a day 7 yeares yea they lock vp the dores of their eares, you may see their long locke hang over them, they have no eares to heare of the foure Cardinall virtues. [Page] And here I cry the Lord hearty mercy, and it would have made my eares to tingle (if I had them) that I should so farre over-shoot my self, to approve vertues to be Cardinalls, when I will by no meanes allow men to be Bishops, as Fortitude, Temperance, &c. And heere again I cry the Lord hearty mercy, that I should once name or mention that brand of the Beast on the neere Buttock, that &c. which wee so solemnly con­demned, and damned with their new Synodokical Ca­nons by the Common hang-man; but here wee see, though the spirit is willing, the flesh is weake.

Hee that hath eares to heare, let him heare, is meant by the eares of the new man, for there are many walke altogether after the flesh, the new man is hardly yet in the Embrio, it hath neither forme nor eares, to these as yet it is not given to heare or understand the hid my­steries, &c. and here also Idolatry is utterly abolished; Those must be prayed unto, that have eares to heare our prayers, but Idolls have no eares to heare, ergo they must not be prayed unto, the Minor is proved by ano­ther infallible and undeniable text, they have eares, and heare not, eyes and see not, and these Glosses I take to be the true and genuine sence of the text.

1 Vse. From whence I may raise many uses of Com­fort and Consolation, of Comfort, Dearly beloved, is this, I take and reape a great deale of Contentation, that when I preach, you (I say) dearly beloved Bre­thren and sisters will come 9. or 10. miles to lend the your eares, thus as the lopping off the top of a tree, the cutting off of one head begets many, even so, not onely [Page] the Saints themselves, but their very limbes also doe increase by losse.

2 Vse. Of Comfort, dearly beloved brethren and sisters, that I reape from hence, is this, That although I have lost my eares, yet through your bountifull libe­rality, as pledges of your most affectionate love to­wards me, I have their weight in gold, yea doubled and trebled, that if my adversaries knew all, they would loose theirs for halfe the moneys, this then in the se­cond place must needs be a great reioycing to my heart to have my eares tipped with gold, and both my pock­ets lined with the same.

3 Vse. Of Comfort that I raise is this, from the mildnesse of my censure and punishment, for these wolves in Sheeps cloathing, these fat bulls of Basan, might as well have plucked out my tongue by the roots, as to have cropped my eares for then the staffe was in their owne hand, they wanted not ability to doe it, but my God would not suffer it, but mollifi'd the hearts of the Lions, that they should not thereby stop my mouth for ever, and to have made me, as I often called them, a dumb dogge.

4 Vse. Of comfort, dearely beloved, that I make, is this, from the not making away, or burying of my eares (and indeed I had intreted them, but that the wicked should not thinke I did mourne and make a fu­nerall for the losse of my eares) and therefore I say, I have preserved them, and have made open reioycing for the losse thereof, and since God hath endowed them with great vertue, that I have miraculously done many [Page] cures with them, especially they are a present and Sove­raigne balsome (being imbalmed) for sore throars and to tell you the truth truely I am a Iew, a very Sa­baterian so that they are perfect Iews eares and hearin I may glory with the best of the Catholique Re­liques.

5. Vse. Of comfort dearly beloved brethren and sisters, I reaped from the effusion of my blood on [...] the pillory, that you would not suffer a drop to fall on the ground, but licked it up with your hand-kerchif [...]s and doe keep it in greater esteeme then Iewels or Dia­monds, and I am perswaded that you may find accult virtues even in that blood also if you would make ex­periments hence I say I have taken great ioy, that you keep and have it in so high honour, yet I must needs confesse ever and anon I receive a check from my con­science that I should so much inveigh against popish Reliques, and yet so contrarily suffer my owne to be kept, here we se that the best of the brethren play ship wrack of salvation on the rocks of vaine glory.

6. Vse. Of Comfort, dearly beloved brethren is this, do you remember the humble humble humble Bee (I know you doe) that gave me a vis [...] the pil­lory, and when the s [...]ffing Iewes and Ishmalites spit their poysen in mocks & scoffs to season their worm­wood word, she shit hony in my mouth; and her Bom Bom was a little bow bell, yet big enough to ring the passing peale for the little tips of my prick eares, thus you see to our further comfort when men are silent, God makes beasts to celebrate the funerall obsoquies [Page] of his Saints or the losse of any member of them.

7. Vse. Of Comfort that I reaped is this, when I returned from banishment to make amends for my disgracefull departure from this metropolitan City thousands of you came forth to mete me with rose­mary and ribonds in your hatts to bring me in with allollity to my long sequestred and widdowed wife, and gave vs a large offering of three thousand pound as if our nuptuall day were againe to be solemnized nei­ther should I have bin against it to have bin married againe to leave out those superstitions and Idolatrous ceremonies especially these two with this ring I thee wed, and with my body I the worship although I love my wife well yet I would be loath to make a God of her, but out alas this our glorious and triumphant re­turne was much ecclipsed the other day by those Irish Rebels that had 2000 for our one, and thouh they did not goe and ride forth with rosemary in their hats, yet by reason of their forwardnes of the spring, thousands ushered them in with palmes in their hands this I say beloved a great damp to our glory that we should be brought in like men, and such number their Rebels.

Now a word or two of one or two observ:

1 ob. The losse dearly beloved of our eares is a Infillable symptomy of a true child of God, and I should not be sorry, yea I could heartily wish that e­very sheep of this fold had thi eare marke, and then the wicked mouths were stop'd to call vs prick-eares.

[Page] 2. Object. This is the shortest and sweetest Sermon that ever I made, but the time was over-shot before I began, and Mr. Gaudy-dinner in a great forwardnesse that I cannot proceed to application, reasons and mo­tives to stirre you up not to be backward to loose your [...]ase for the holy Cause, but if you can relish this, I will proceed with the rest, and for this time, to wind up all in two lines,