Sin Stigmatized, Part 1 · Section 90 – Section 91
§ 90.
1 FIrſt, At their mouthes first by cenſureing the ſober.they will ſtrangely cenſure us, if we refuſe to doe as they doe, Pſal. 35.16. and 69.10.11.12. If a man will not ſweare, drinke drunke, and conforme to their lewd cuſtomes, he is an Arch-puritan, by the law which the Iewes had to kill Chriſt; yea, for this very cauſe, they will definitively cenſure one for an hypocrite, though they ſcarce know him ſuperficially; at leaſt, if a man be but carefull of his ſociety, they will tax and floute him with ſtand farther off, for I am holier then thou; they call piety pride, for not going with them to the Taverne; as indeed there is no goodneſſe in man, but ſuch will aſcribe it to vaine glory. The beaſtly Sodomites thought Lot a proud and imperious fellow, Gen. 19.9. And ſo Eliab cenſures David, I know the pride of thine heart, ſaith he, when nothing but the zeale of Gods glory, and deſire of his Brethrens good, made him ſo forward. 1 Sam. 17.28.29.
But as all are not Theeves that Dogs barke at; ſo all are not hypocrites which they terme ſo. The Phariſie cenſured the Publican, and the Infidells Paul, who were more precious in Gods ſight, then themſelves. But baſeneſſe, what it cannot attaine to; it will vilicate and deprave; and prejudice caſteth a falſe colour upon the beſt actions: whence it is, that if our righteouſneſſe, doe but exceede the righteouſneſſe of a ſwearer, or drunkard, we are ſure to be cenſured, yea, perſecuted for our righteouſneſſe, as Abel was of Caine, becauſe his owne workes were evill, and his Brothers good. If a man makes but the Word of God a rule to walke by, he is too precize; if he will be more then almost a Christian, he is curious, fantaſticall, factious, and ſhall, with David, Pſal. 69.11.12. be made the ſong and laughing ſtocke of every drunken beaſt: whereas, if he would be drunke, ſweare, miſpend his time, haunt Tavernes, play the good fellow, and doe as they doe, he ſhould have their love, approbation, and good word; yea, if all men would be prophanely wicked, and make no bones of ſinne, their cenſures would ceaſe, and there would not be a Puritane, with ſome of them, in all the world.
But it is the cuſtome of lewd men, VVhereof foure reaſons firſt they judge others by themſelves.(I confeſſe a lewd cuſtome) to meaſure all others by their owne Buſhell, to forme both their opinions and cenſures of us, according to the mold of evill in themſelves, yea, all (for the moſt part) judge others by themſelves; and hence drunkards doing all their good in hypocriſie, doe thereafter judge of others, Saint Chryſoſtome hath given the rule. As it is, ſaith he, a hard thing for one to ſuſpect another to be evill, who is good himſelfe; ſo it is more hard, for him to ſuppoſe another to be good, who is himſelfe evill. As we ſee in Nero, who being monſtrous incontinent himſelfe, verily beleeved, that all men were moſt foule libidiniſts, yea, that there was not a chaſte perſon in all the world, ſaving that men cloaked their vice with hypocriſie. Ill diſpoſitions, cauſe ill ſuſpicions; and ſurely he that ſuſpects another to be ill, without juſt ground, by ſo doing proclaimes himſelfe to be guilty; for in things uncertaine, a bad conſtruction muſt needs flow from a bad mind: ſuſpicion, for the moſt part, proceeds from a ſelfe defect: vertuous men rarely cenſure; as great labourers rarely ſneeze: ſo that to cenſure and traduce anothers worth, is to queſtion thine owne: beſides, it is an uncharitable and ridiculous thing, for where I want experience, charity bids me thinke the beſt, and leave what I know not to the Searcher of hearts.
§ 91.
INdeed, other reaſons may be given why they ſo cenſure us, as, firſt, their Ignorance cauſeth ſuſpicion; yea, 2 Their ignorance makes them ſuſpicious.there is nothing ſo makes a man ſuſpect much, as to know little; children in the darke ſuppoſe they ſee, what they ſee not; you ſhall have a Dog very violent in barking at his owne ſhadow, or face in a glaſſe. An ignorant Ruſticke ſeeing a Geometritian drawing of lines, not knowing to what end he doth the ſame, is apt to judge him fooliſh and fantaſticke. Tell a plaine country fellow, that the Sunne is bigger then his cart wheele, and ſwifter in courſe then any of his Horſes; he will laugh you to ſcorne. The Duke of Vondozme one day looking into his Well with others, and ſeeing face anſwer face (having never before obſerved the like) went home in all haſte, and called for ayde againſt the Antipodes. Paglarencis was amazed, and ſaid his Farmer had ſurely cooſened him, when he heard him tell that his Sowe had eleven Pigs, and his Mare but one Foale. Yea, I have read of a ſilly country fellow, that kil'd his Aſſe for drinking up the Moone.
But their owne hearts can tell them, how fruitfull a mother of jealouſies their ignorance of ſpirituall things is, and how it conceives upon firſt ſight of every object which they cannot skill on, and that being once conceived, it makes the party ſo travell to bring forth the ſame in words and actions of enmity, that for the interim, he is as buſie headed as if a hive of Bees were in his pate, not conſidering, that repentance ever followes raſh judgment.
Secondly, 3 Their paſſions and affections make them partiall.their pasſions and affections infatuate and beſot them, and makes them infinitely partiall. For as in an ill pact Jury, whereof there is one wiſe man, another honeſt man, five knaves, and five fooles, the greater part over-rules the better part, theſe ten, over-beares thoſe two: ſo fares it with a wicked man, the five ſenſes, and as many affections are the knaves and fooles, ſcience is the wiſe man, conſcience the honeſt; now neither ſcience the wiſe, nor conſcience the honeſt, can be heard, nor give their verdict, but all goes with the mad ſenſes, and frantick affections.
We know when a man lookes upon any thing directly through the aire, they appeare in their proper formes, and colours as they are; but if they bee looked upon through a glaſſe, be it greene, blew, yellow, or of any other colour, all the things we ſee, ſeemes to us to be of the colour of the glaſſe, through wch we do behold them: even ſo, a wicked man houlding the falſe ſpectacles of his ſeveral paſsions and affections before the dimme ſight of his judgement, all things appeare to him in a contrary colour. The eye that is blood-ſhot, thinkes every thing red; thoſe that have the Jaundiſe, ſee all things yellow: ſo theſe drunkards, being overgrown with malicious paſsions, thinke us in fault, when themſelves are only too blame.
O how the paſſions of anger, and affection of love over-rules and over-perſwades our judgements! wee may truly ſay, that love, hatred, and indifferency, lookes through three paire of eyes: what we ſee, or heare, being paſſionately tranſported either by love, or anger, wee neither ſee, nor heare it as it is. The object which we love, ſeemeth much more faire unto us, and that much fowler, which we loath. Yea, even love (Zaleuchus-like) will make a man put out one of his owne eyes, that ſo he may ſee his friends vertues not ſee his crimes. Hath not his affection rob'd him of his judgement, who thinkes better of a filthy ſtrumpet, then of his own chaſt wife? yea, ſurely if hee did not looke through the falſe ſpectacles of his fleſh, it could not be.
But anger eſpecially robs a man of his judgement, and lifts reaſon out of her ſeate, which makes theſe beaſtly, ſenſuall ſwilbowles ſo partial in judging between themſelves and the godly. As for example, (indeed the Scriptures afford not mamy examples of it, in them which were drunkards, for drunkenneſſe was then as rare, as now it is common, but what is true of all the Serpents ſeed, muſt needs be true of Sathans peculiar ones. How did anger rob Haman of his judgement, who thought Mordecae's not bowing the knee to him, a more heynous offence, then his owne murthering of thouſands? And Iezabel of hers, who thought it a greater ſinne in Eliah to kill Baals Prophets, then in her ſelfe to ſlay all the Prophets of the Lord? And the Phariſis of theirs, who could ſee more unlawfulnes in the Diſciples plucking a few eares of corne, and the Palſie-mans carrying his bed on the Sabbath, then in their own devouring of widowes houſes; and could better afford themſelves to murther Chriſt, then others to believe in him? yea, they could better afford themſelves to be the greateſt of ſinners, then our Saviour to be in company with ſinners. And laſtly, Ahab, who thought Eliah troubled Iſrael more, in doing the wil of the Lord, then himſelfe, in provoking the Lord, above all the Kings of Iſrael which were before him? which is the caſe of our drunkards, they cenſure more deeply, our fearing of God, then their owne blaſpheming of him,; and thinke it a more heinous offence, for us to be ſober, then for themſelves to be drunke. What then are their cenſures of us, when wee do offend?
Yea, if mens paſſions and affections did not make them ſtrangely partiall; how could they ſuffer their faithfull and painfull Miniſter (who lies ledger for the great King of Heaven and Earth) to feed upon Cruſts, and ſpinne out twenty or forty Marks a yeare, into a thread as long as his life; yea, murmure at his great meanes, and boaſt of their large contribution, and complaine he keeps no hoſpitality, though indeed even books would require ten pounds of the money: I ſpeak not of their blockiſh ſtupidity, who think none live more idly then Schollers) when yet themſelves, being undeſerving Attorneys, or ſilly Tradesmen, who doe little elſe, but ſtand in their Shops, or ungodly Ale-houſe-keepers, whoſe whole life is but a viciſſitude of filling and emptying, will get, and ſpend one hundred, two hundred, three hundred pounds per Annum a peece, and yet complaine of a hard world? ſurely they think Miniſters can preach without ſtudy, as the Apoſtles did; or live by miracle, as Iohn Baptiſt did, who was in his diet, habit, and carriage indeed a miracle.
3. 4 They ſee and look to us not to themſelves.Another reaſon is, as theſe drunkards can ſee us, but not themſelves: (without a glaſſe) ſo they looke to us, not to themſelves: it faring with them as it did witht he …airies, called Lamiae, who made uſe of their eyes, when they went abroad; but put them in a box when they came home; and they have much the more quiet for ſo doing, a wicked mans conſcience being like a bad wife, that wil either bee gadding abroad, or ſcoulding at home.
In ſurveying their owne evill actions they are beetle eyed, or like him, Iohn the 9. who had never a ſeeing eye; or at leaſt like Polyphemus, who had onelyonly one eye; but in ſpying ours, they have the eyes of a Baſiliske, and are as quick ſighted as Argos, who had his head compaſſed with an hundred eyes; yea, as Lynceus (who as Varro ſpeakes) could ſee through a wall; or if they have two ſeeing eyes, yet, like the purblind, they ſee double, or like thoſe women of Scythia called Bithiae, they have two ſights in each eye: for if they looke upon our actions, it is with an evill eye, judging of us by what wee ſhould bee; if upon their owne, it is with a tender eye, and ſo judge by what they are in their owne opinion, and the judgement of ſenſe.
And to mend the matter, Sathan, like our cunning men, preſents unto them ſpirituall things in a falſe glaſſe, ſtamping his own image on Gods ſilver, and Gods Image on his owne droſſe, and ſo comes their often miſtake in cenſuring.
Neither are their memories leſſe partiall, for in remembring our faults, they are like Clement the ſixth, who never forgat any thing he had once learned; but touching their own, they reſemble Claudius the Emperor, who preſently forgat whatſoever he did, or ſpake.
Now put all together, and tel me whether it fares not with drunkards, as it did with Pentheus in Euripides his Bacchus, who ſuppoſed he ſaw two Sunnes, two Thebes, every thing double, when his braine alone was troubled?