Forty-nine Sermons upon Colossians, Dedication 4 – Part 3
The Author's Epiſtle Dedicatory TO MONSIEUR Monſieur de Rambovillet, LORD OF LANCEY, and of PLESSIS-FRANC.
SIR,
THeſe Sermons will not be new to You; there having paſt ſo little time, ſince you heard them at Charenton, no doubt but you will know them at firſt ſight. The ſupport they then found in our holy Aſſembly, emboldens them now to preſent themſelves in publick. Perhaps it had been better, to rest contented with that favour, which our people ſhew'd them, and not publiſh them once more in this other form. For beſide, that the eye is much more delicate than the ear, and the defects of a diſcourſe are far more eaſily obſerv'd on paper, where they abide, than in the air, where they do but paſs; there is further a great difference between an Auditor, whom devotion doth oblige to hear you, and a Reader, who does owe you nothing. The one would think, he ſhould ſin againſt Piety, if he deny'd you his attention. The other doth you a favour, in heeding you, and may examine you, without a crime. The one's judgment is half made for you; whereas the other's is at its full liberty. Theſe reaſons would have with-held me, from hazarding the edition of theſe ſmall Books, if the matter had wholly depended upon my opinion. But the deſires of my friends, and the intreaties of the Book-ſeller interpoſing in it, their violence hath forc'd my modeſty. Yet I ſhould have had vigour, and firmneſs enough, to defend my ſelf againſt it, if the question had been ſimply of my ſelf, and my reputation. For the preſent age being ſo polite, and ſo illuminated, as the moſt eloquent tongues, and the beſt faſhioned penns can hardly content it; I well know, that to pleaſe it, there is need of graces, and perfections, which I do not poſſeſs. But neither is that, the thing I ſeek: ſince of my weakneſs, and the Calling wherewith GOD hath honoured me, having competently ſecured me from ſuch a paſſion. That which made me yield, to the too favourable will of my Friends, is the intereſt of Chriſtian ſouls, which they laid before me, and the ſervice, they believ'd, this Book might do them. The ſucceſs will inform us, whether they had reaſon to promiſe themſelves ſo much from it. For my part, the thing being as yet uncertain, I held my ſelf obliged, to give place unto their judgment, and to prefer the profit, which they imagine the faithful may receive from my poor labours, before any other conſideration. And if it be temerity, to hope the ſame; at leaſt it is not a crime, but a laudable affection to deſire it. Of one thing, Sir, I am wellnigh aſſured; that you will not diſlike the gift, I make you, of this third, and laſt part of my work. For to ſay nothing of that ſweetneſs of ſpirit, and that obliging nature, which every one obſerves in you; and not to conſider divers teſtimonies, which I have received, of your good will towards me in particular, I am confirm'd in this opinion, by your piety, well known in our Church, both by the excellent fruits of your charity, in the ordinary courſe of your life, and by the ſervices, you have ſometime done our whole flock, in the Office of an Elder, while you executed it among us, with much edification, and praiſe. Perſwading my ſelf therefore, Sir, may it pleaſe you, that you will receive this ſmall preſent, with your uſual goodneſs, and facility; there remains not elſe, but that I pray GOD to conſerve you, with your worthy, and well-born Family in health, and proſperity, daily augmenting on you His moſt precious bleſſings, both ſpiritual, and temporal. I beſeech you, to continue me the honour of your good graces, and to do me the favour to believe, that I paſſionately am,
SIR, Your moſt Humble, and moſt obedient Servitour, DAILLE. From Paris. Apr. the 1. 1648.