Four Treatises Dissuading from Four Heinous and Common Sins, Dedication 2 – Treatise 5
TO THE RIGHT Honourable Sir Thomas Egerton Knight, BARON of Elleſmere, Lord Chancellor of England, and one of his Maieſties moſt honorable priuie Counſell, my very good Lord: health and prosperitie with increaſe of all ſpirituall graces in this life, and eternall happineſſe in the life to come.
HAuing had through your Honourable bountie, a part of the Lords Vineyarde allotted vntounto mee his moſt vnworthy woorkeman, by your Honour his moſt worthie Steward, to the end I ſhould plant and water, purge and prune it, I thought it my part not onelyonly to performe my duetie in this behalfe, in ſuch meaſure as God enableth mee, but alſo to preſent vntounto your Honour the firſt fruites of my labour which hauehave yet offered themſelues to publike view, to the end that I might thereby both ſhew my ſelfe not altogether negligent in our great Lord and Maiſters buſineſſe, and alſo giuegive ſome token of moſt obliged dutie and humble thankfulneſſe to you his Honourable Steward, by whoſe appointment I hauehave obtained a place wherein I may imploy my paines, whereas otherwiſe I ſhould eyther hauehave ſtood idle in the market place, or elſe beene compelled to hauehave digged in another mans ground, with great labour and little fruite. If theſe my firſt fruites ſeeme vnpleaſant in your moſt learned and iudiciall taſte, eyther impute it to the immaturitie cauſed by their ſhort time of grouth and ſmall-experienced skill of the Vintager, or elſe conſider that they are deſtinated to a phyſicall vſe for the purging away of choller, and therefore though they bee not pleaſant in taſte, yet may they bee profitable in operation. Such as they are (in all humilitie, crauing pardon for my boldneſſe) I commend them to your Honourable Patronage and protection, and your ſelfe to the Almighties, moſt heartely beſeeching the glorious and great Lord of the Vineyard long to continue you his faithfull Steward amongeſt vsus, to the aduancement of his glory, the propagation of his Vine, and the exceeding comfort of his poore contemned Labourers. Amen.
Your Honours in all humble dutie moſt bounden IOHN DOVVNAME.
To the Chriſtian Reader.
COnſidering the vniuerſall infection of this contagious diſeaſe of the Soule, VNIVST ANGER, and the manifold pernitious euils which it worketh, both priuate and publique, I thought good to preſcribe out of Gods word, ſome remedies for thoſe Patients which are committed to my cure, whereby they might eyther bee preſerued from theſe feuerlike fits, which cauſe men outwardly to ſhake and tremble, when as inwardly they are moſt inflamed, or els hauehave their heate ſomewhat allayed and abated, when they are already fallen into them. The which my preſcript I thought at the firſt ſhould hauehave beene communicated to no more then mine owne Patients, till I was perſwaded by more skilfull Phiſitions then my ſelfe, that the publiſhing thereof might redound to others profit And therefore deſiring nothing more then to exerciſe my poore talent to the glory of my maiſter who beſtowed it, and the benefit of my fellow ſeruants, for whoſe good alſo I hauehave receiued it, I willingly condeſcended to their motion. And for as much, as I had onelyonly ſhadowed a rude draught without colour or countenance, I was faine to take a review of my worke, altering ſome things, and adding others as it were new lineaments, which I thought more fit for the Preſſe then for the Pulpit. If any thinke me too quicke in practiſe, they will (I hope) excuſe me, if they conſider that I make experience of my ſlender skill, not in the vitall parts, but in the feete of the ſoule, namely the affections, and yet the curing of them, or but this one of them, may greatly redound to the benefite of the whole, for as the diſeaſes of the feete doe grieue the heart, and offend the head, and the curing and healing of them doth eaſe and comfort both, ſo when the affections are diſtempered being infected with the contagion of our originall corruption, euen the chiefe parts of the ſoule, the Vnderſtanding and Will, are not a little diſturbed and diſordered, by receiuing from them their contagious pollution. And therefore he who can skilfully purge theſe neather parts ſhal eaſe the higher, by drawing downe thoſe corrupt humours which do offend and annoy them. Seeing then, there may come by my practiſe great good with little danger, I hauehave the rather aduentured the cure: being contented to vndergoe the cenſure of ſome for too much haſt, who (I feare mee) are in theſe caſes as much too ſlow, to the end that I may to the vttermoſt of my skill benefit many. The Lord who is the onelyonly true Phiſition of ſoules diſeaſed with ſinne, bleſſe this and all other my indeauours that they may bee profitable for the ſetting forth of his glory, the benefit of my brethren, and furthering the aſſurance of mine owne ſaluation.
Amen.
A TREATISE OF Anger, wherein the lawfull vſe, and the vnlawfull abuſe of this affection is ſhewed out of Gods word.
Epheſians. 4.26.
Be angry and ſinne not, let not the Sunne goe downe on your wrath.