Select Observations Collected out of Several Authors, Century 3
THE Third Century.
1. SOme for a Temporal Heaven will venture an Eternal Hell.
2. Sapiens eſt qui novit tacere, is a ſaying of Ambroſe. He is a wiſe Man that knows how to hold his Peace.
3. Tertullian ſaith of Perſecution, Pata eſt quae dominicam purget aream: It is a Fan which purgeth God's Floor. Confuſum acernum fidelium ventilans, ſeparans frumentum Martyrum, & paleas Negatorum; ſeparating the Wheat of the Martyrs from the Chaff of Chriſt-denyers. Again, ſaith he, Pulchrior eſt Miles in praelio amiſſus, quam in fugâ ſalvus. De fugâ in Perſecut. Where he Counſels the Chriſtians to meet in the Night, if they cannot in the Day; and if not many together, Sit in tribus Eccleſia, Let the Church meet in Threes.
4. When Dionyſius ſent after Plato to excuſe his ſhewing him no more Reſpect when he was at his Court, he return'd the King this Anſwer, He had no leiſure to think of ſuch low things.
5. When Auſtin read that place in Exodus, No Man can ſee my Face and live, he then ſaid, Moriar Domine ut te videam; Let me dye, that I may ſee thee.
6. Luther mentions a Holy Virgin who uſed to rebuke the Devils Temptations, by ſaying, Chriſtiana ſum; I am a Chriſtian.
7. Auſtin complained, Nimis ſerò te amavi Domine. O Lord, I have loved thee too late.
8. They were wont to ſay of a Coward, Nihil eſt in illo Romanum, There is nothing of a Roman in him. So we may ſay of ſome Men, Nihil eſt in illis Chriſtianum.
9. Babilas the Martyr appointed to be buried with the Bolts and Fetters which he had worn for Chriſt.
10. Spiritus Dei eſt nexus Ʋnionis, & Medium Communionis cum Chriſto. The Spirit of God is the bond of Union, and the Medium of Communion with Chriſt.
11. The Fryers account it a great Honour to have a Prince enter himſelf into their Order: But what Honour is it to our Nature, for the Son of God to become Man!
12. Xenophon in his Apology for Socrates quotes him, ſaying, Some purchaſe their Delights and Pleaſures at a great price; but, ſaith he, Ego ſine ſumptu majores illis delicias ex animo meo comparo. I fetch without coſt greater delights out of mine own mind.
13. We are Fellow-heirs with Chriſt, not Fellow-purchaſers.
14. Ariſtotle in his Rhetorick tells us, there is a Colour in the Face that comes from Paſſion, as in Anger and Shame, and a Colour that is in the Complexion. So ſome Men have only a tranſient Colour of Religion and of Godlineſs in an outward Profeſſion, but not the Complexion of it in their Souls.
15. Tempus eſt Praeludium Eternitatis. Time is the Prologue of Eternity.
16. The firſt Table is a Load-ſtone to the ſecond, and the ſecond a Touch-ſtone to the firſt.
17. Tempus tuum currit, & tu dormis? Ambroſ. Thy Time runs, and doſt thou ſleep?
18. The worth that is in any thing below God, it is either in Mens Fancy and Opinion, or elfe in ordine ad aliud, in order to ſomething elſe.
19. Nihil certius quam quod ex dubio fit certum. Nothing is ſurer than what is made ſure after Doubtings.
20. foreign. The fulneſs of time is the time of fulfilling things.
21. There is a ſinning wittingly in oppoſition to Ignorance, and there is a ſinning willingly in oppoſition to Force, and there is a ſinning wilfully in oppoſition to Light and Knowledge.
22. The greateſt Humiliation cannot placare Deum, but the leaſt if true may placere Deo.
23. Timor Innocentiae Cuſtos. A good Fear is a preſerver of Innocence. Tertul.
24. It was one Maxentius that invented that Puniſhment of Murder, to tye the dead Man to the living Man's Back.
25. One Stancarus, a Popiſh Writer, hath this fooliſh ſaying, yet applauded by Bellarmine, Tom. 1. p. 567. Plus valet unus Petrus Lombardus quam centùm Lutheri, &c. One Peter Lombard is more worth than an hundred Luthers, two hundred Melanctons, three hundred Bullingers, four hundred Peter Martyrs, five hundred Calvins. If all of them were pounded in a Mortar, they would not make one Ounce of true Divinity.
26. There is a Fiſh call'd foreign, that hath one Eye upon the top of its Head, alwayes looking towards Heaven. The fit Emblem of a Chriſtian.
27. The Mark ſet upon Cain, Auſtin thinks was a continual quaking and trembling: As the Septuagint ſeems to interpret the Text to that ſence, Gen. 3.12. foreign. Thou ſhalt goe ſighing and trembling upon the Earth.
28. Tacitus calls the Chriſtian Religion Superſtitionem quandam deteſtabilem: A certain deteſtable Superſtition. And Suetonius calls Chriſtians Homines ſuperſtitionis malae & maleficae; Men of a miſchievous and bad Superſtition.
29. Honos est res imaginaria in arbitrio hominum poſita. Aquinas.
30. Faith will ſhew a man a Glory in Chriſt, that will enlighten the Darkneſs of this World, and darken the Glory of it.
31. Non tam miſeri quam mali dies. The dayes are not ſo miſerable as they are finfull.
32. The true Beauty of the Face conſiſts of three parts. 1. foreign, that there be no part wanting. 2. foreign, that the parts have Proportion to one another. 3. foreign, that there be a good colour and Complexion. And when Providence hath finiſht its courſe, all theſe will be found in it; nothing will be wanting: Every part will bear proportion to another. And then a divine Beauty will be ſeen in the face of it. Which Moſes may mean in that 90th. Pſalm, where he prayes, Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, &c.
33. Myrtus in profundo. A Myrtle in the bottom, is the Churches Emblem.
34. All Grace we receive, comes from Chriſt three wayes. 1. By way of Acquiſition and Purchaſe. 2. By way of Impetration and Interceſſion. 3. By way of Efficacy and Influence.
35. Qua quiſque eſt major magis eſt placabilis Ira, Et faciles motus mens generoſa capit.
Anſwering to the Greek Proverb foreign. Good men are flexible to Kindneſs, and good Counſel.
36. Chryſoſtom ſaith of S. John, that he did foreign. He thundred Divinity.
37. The Mariners make uſe of the natural motion of the winds to carry on their Veſſel, and fit their Sails to that end. So God makes uſe of the natural motions of mens Minds and Wills to effect his own Councels, without offering any violence to their Faculties.
38. God is ſaid in Scripture to ſwear by his Holineſs, to ſhew that he will not lye to us; which cannot conſiſt with his Holineſs.
39. Anima eſt domicilii ſui fabricatrix: The Soul forms to it ſelf the Body as an houſe to dwell in.
40. Fruſtra nititur qui non innititur. Bernard. He endeavours in vain, who doth not lean upon God.
41. He that is advanced by another, is call'd his Creature. As Moſes and Aaron are ſaid to be advanced by God, 1 Sam. 12.6. Heb. made by God.
42. Mali cum injuriam facere non ſinuntur injuriam ſe accipere exiſtimant. Grot. Annot. 8 Mat. 29. Evil men account themſelves injur'd, when they are hindred from doing evil to others.
43. There is converſio paſſiva, which is wrought per gratiam praevenientem; and converſio activa, which is wrought per gratiam conſequentem.
44. If God about Evil doth impute the Will for the Deed, will he not much more do it about Good?
45. Naturaliſts write of the Ermin, when hunted, will rather fall into the Dogs mouth, than run into the Dirt to ſave its Life. A Chriſtian may learn Purity by this, and make this his Motto, Mallem mori quam foedari; I had rather dye than be defiled with wilful ſin.
46. To bear Reproach for Chriſt, one calls it Contumeliam honoriſicam: Honourable Contumely.
47. The Ears are to be as Ballances that hang even, to hear one thing as well as another, without inclining, but only as Truth and Juſtice may incline them. The Hebrew word foreign ſignifying Ballances, coming from the root foreign which ſignifies the Ear.
48. When the Duke of Venice ſhewed Charles the 5th. the magnificent things of his Dominion, he anſwered, Theſe are the things that make men loth to dye.
49. Natural Worſhip is founded in the Nature of God, but inſtituted Worſhip in his Will. As it was with Adam, what he had by Inſtitution, was only from the divine Will, but all other Worſhip was planted in his Nature, and did reſult from the Nature of God.
50. The Devil appeared to our firſt Parents in the ſhape of a Serpent; and if Man had not ſinned, it is probable he could not have appear'd in human ſhape, as he hath often done ſince Mans Fall.
51. They ſay that the Gall of the Serpent is Poyſon to a Man, and the Spittle of a Man is Poyſon to it. And if the naked Foot of a Woman touch the Head of a Serpent, the Serpent preſently dyes. To ſhew the Enmity betwixt them.
52. Sol cum revelat inferiora, abſcondit ſuperiora: When the Sun reveals things below, it darkens the Starrs, and the Heavens above; but Chriſt by revealing to men the things above, doth darken to them the things here below.
53. The Rabbins ſay, that their Judges would admit no Proſelyte in David's time… leſt they ſhould come in for fear, nor in Solomons time, leſt they ſhould come in for outward advantage.
54. The way of a Chriſtian to Heaven i… like a Traveller paſſing over Valleys and Hills, ſometimes he hath Heaven in his View, and then loſeth the ſight of it again.
55. Edward the Firſt, when he beſieged Sterling in Scotland, he ſet up a Gallows beſore the Town, with a Pardon hanging upon it, that they might take their Choice; upon ſubmitting to him, the Pardon; and not ſubmitting, to be hanged.
56. From the Heb. root foreign which ſigniſies foreign, comes the noun foreign which ſigniſies a Line; for Expectation is Faith drawn out at length.
57. I have read of a certain Woman whoſe Breaſts the Tormentors cut off, to whom ſhe replyed, I have yet two Breaſts you cannot cut off, my Faith and Hope in Chriſt.
58. If you touch but one Leaf of the ſenſitive Plant, the whole Plant will ſhrink: ſo when one Member of Chriſt ſuffers, the whole Body ſhould ſympathize.
59. There are ſome Hereſies that ſpring from the mind, puft up with Pride; and others from the fleſhly Appetite, to indulge the fleſh.
60. It's ſaid, Heb. 2.16. that Chriſt took on him the ſeed of Abraham; and the Greek word foreign rendred took, ſignifies as ſome Writers ſay, the catching hold of a thing that is in magno diſcrimine, to ſave it from periſhing. So was all Mankind.
61. Calvin in his Comment on the 115th. Pſalm tells a ſtory of his meeting at an Inn a certain Atheiſtical Scholar who derided the Opinion of thoſe that thought God was on Earth, as well as in Heaven, ſaying, The Heaven of Heavens are the Lords, and he is not preſent upon Earth; but was ſuddenly taken with a great torment in his Bowels, whereby he cryed out, O God, O God, and ſo was ſelfconvicted.
62. A Servant will be gone, if he hath not preſent wages, but the Son ſtays in hope of the Inheritance, as our Saviour ſpeaks: The Servant abideth not alwayes, but the Son abideth alwayes. Jon 6.8.
63. Socrates reports of one Theodorus in Julians time, who being put to torment that he ſweat Blood; there appeared 'to him a young man with a white ſoft Cloth, wiping his Face; after which he felt no more pain.
64. In Heaven, ſaith Auſtin, there is felix ſecuritas, and ſecura foelicitas; felix aeternitas, and aeterna foelicitas; happy Security, and ſecure Happineſs; happy Eternity, and eternal Happineſs.
65. The Angels are ſubſervient to Chriſt as Mediator; which was repreſented to Jacob, when he ſaw the Angels aſcending and deſcending upon a Ladder, which was a Figure of Chriſts Mediation.
66. Bede tells a Story of a certain dying man, who having lived wickedly, was admoniſht to repent: No, ſaith he, I will not appear ſo great a Coward. And hereupon an Evil Angel appeared to him, and preſented him a great Volume of the Sins of his Life, and driving him to deſpair carried him away.
67. The Hiſtorian reports of Julian the Apoſtate, that he cauſed all the Meat and Drink in a certain Town to be conſecrated to an Idol, that the Chriſtians there might be ſtarved.
68. Want of Neceſſaries expoſeth men to Temptations. The Devil tempted Chriſt when he was hungry.
69. It's ſaid of Cicero the great Oratour, when he came to die, cryed out, O me minimè ſapientem. I am deſtitute of all Wiſdom.
70. Who would not willingly have John's Baniſhment for Johns Raptures and Revelations, and Jacobs hard Pillow for Jacobs Viſion?
71. If a Man ſometimes cannot ſtand before his own Conſcience, how can he ſtand before Gods Tribunal?
72. Iſſachar and Naphtali were two weak Tribes, and were joyned with Judah a ſtrong Tribe. So the Church of God is weak, but is joyned with Chriſt the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.
73. If the Light of Starrs fails for want of Miniſters call'd Stars, let us look more to Jeſus Chriſt the Sun of Righteouſneſs.
74. Plato reports of Thales a great Philoſopher and Aſtronomer, that walked looking up to Heaven, and fell into a Well. Our Contemplation of heavenly things ſhould not make us careleſs of our Converſation here below, among men.
75. Per vulnera viſcera. Through Chriſts wounds we may ſee the Bowels of his Compaſſion to Sinners.
76. Sin is call'd a Body of Death, yet it is full of Life.
77. Amo Chriſtum plus quam meos, plus qudm mea, plus quam me. Bernard. I love Chriſt more than my Relations, than my Goods, than my ſelf.
78. I have read of one Chilion a Dutch Schoolmaſter, who being perſwaded to recant, and ſave his Life for the ſake of his Wife, and poor Children, anſwered, If the whole Earth was turned into a Globe of Gold, and all mine own, I would part with it, rather than with my Wife and Children, and yet theſe I can part with for the ſake of Jeſus Chriſt. The like was ſaid by George Carpenter, as Mr. Fox relates, Part II. p. 113.
79. A man that was drowning at Sea, ſaw a Rain-bow; but ſaid, Quid mihi proderit haec Iris ſi ego peream? What will this profit me, that it is a token God will not drown the World, if I be drowned?
80. It is ſad to ſee the Mountain of the Houſe of the Lord to be a Mountain of Bether, which ſigniſies Diviſion.
81. Quicquid in omni genere ſummum, id Hebraei divinum appellant. That is, the Jews expreſs by the Name of God, whatever is excellent in its Kind: As the Cities of God, Trees of God, Mountains of God, &c.
82. There is a Well in Perſia, that it is a Capital crime for any to drink of but the King, and his Eldeſt Son. But the Well of Life lyes open to all.
83. Magnates Magnetes. Great men are Load-ſtones, whom all are apt to follow.
84. It is ſaid in the Syriack-Ritual, that when Chriſt came to be Baptized of John, he ſhould ſay to Chriſt, as it is rendred in the Greek, foreign. I cannot commit ſuch a Rape upon the Honour of Chriſt, as by Baptizing him to ſeem to preferr my ſelf before him.
85. Multi taedio inveſtigandae veritatis ad proximos divertunt Errores. Many turn aſide to the Error that is next, rather than be at the pains to find out the Truth. Minut. Felix. And ſo make good that ſaying of an Heathen, Omnes malumus credere quam judicare: We will rather believe than judge.
86. It was a Cuſtom among the Moloſſians, that he that came and proſtrated himſelf before the King with the Kings Son in his Arms, ſhould be pardoned any Offence. The Moral of this is eaſie.
87. God is ſaid, Ex. 34.6. to be foreign: in the Dual Number, which the Rabbins ſay, denotes Gods Patience both to the righteous and the wicked.
88. Herodotus in his Second Book makes mention of a Statue ſet up for Senacherib in one of the Temples of Egypt, with this Inſcription on it, foreign. He that looks upon me let him learn to be religious; (who for his Irreligion came to an untimely death.)
89. There was no certain meaſure ſet for the firſt Fruits under the Law. He that gave one of 40. was accounted a Man of a good Eye, but he that gave but one of 60. was counted a Man of an evil Eye. Maimonid.
90. The Hebrews ſay of the Ranſom Money under the Law, which was half a Shekel, which all were to pay alike for the Ranſom of their Souls, that if a poor Man had it not to give, he muſt ſell his Cloaths, or his Bed, rather than not pay it. The application is eaſie.
91. Bellarmine at his death prayed that God would deal with him, Non ut aeſtimator meriti, but as Largitor veniae: As a Sin-pardoning God.
92. The Jews had, ſome of them, a ſuperſtitious opinion of Fringes in their Garments, that they would be a defence to them from evil Spirits. And ſome of their Rabbins told them, that if they well obſerved the Law of Fringes, they ſhould be counted worthy to ſee the Majeſty of God. Blind Superſtition.
93. In the dayes of Trajan the Emperour aroſe a certain falſe Chriſt, and call'd himſelf Bar-chocab, the Son of a Star; but afterward being ſlain in Battel, the Jews call'd him Bar-Cazab, The Son of a Lye.
94. Gnabhar Zeman, Gnabhar Corban, ſay the Rabbins. The Offering is paſt, if the Seaſon for it is paſt.
95. One ſaid of Gardiner Biſhop of Wincheſter, Nature made him a worthy Man, but Fortune-corrupted him. A good Caution to Prelats.
96. It is recorded of one Theobrotus, ſome ſay Cleombrotus, that reading Plato's Book of the Immortality of the Soul, he threw himſelf down a Precipice, to be in another World.
97. I find I have inſerted in my Paperbook an Epitaph upon the Tomb of the Earl of Warwick, in whoſe Death the Family was extinct:
Within this Marble doth Entombed lye
Not one, but all a Noble Family:
A Pearle of ſuch a price that ſoon about
Poſſeſſion of it, Heaven and Earth fell out.
Both could not have it, ſo they did deviſe
This fatal Salvo to divide the prize,
Heaven ſhares the Soul, and Earth his Body takes,
Thus we loſe all, while Earth and Heaven part ſtakes.
But Heaven not brooking that the Earth ſhould ſhare
In the leaſt Atom of a piece ſo rare,
Intends to ſue out by a new revize,
His Habeas Corpus at the grand Aſſize.
98. Some Philoſophers thought that Good and Evil were diſtinguiſht only foreign, not foreign. By mens Laws not by Nature.
99. foreign. Socrates. Execution of Juſtice is the Healer of Wickedneſs.
100. The Rabbins ſay of the Law, Non eſt unica literula in Lege in quam non ſunt magni ſuſpenſi montes. There is not a Letter of the Law upon which are not hanging great Mountains; things of great weight.