Works, Preface · Part 2
II. Advertisements touching the Author and his Writings.
1. As for the Author, I shall not need to exspatiate in a large and particular recounting of the several Perfections (whether Intellectual Accomplishments or Moral …owm …ts) which were eminently conspicuous in him, there being …n a true and lively Picture of him in the following History of his Life and Death, (written by some of great acquaintance with him, and that always had a just esteem for him) and in that compendious Epitaph annexed thereunto, (which, together with the Verses set in the beginning of this Volume, was sent out of the Countrey from a Reverend person sometime of Cambridge) as likewise in the adjoyning Appendix to the Author's Life, (sent from another Doctor anciently of the same University, one who frequently resorted to Mr. Mede, and thought himself richly rewarded by his discourse for every journey he made to his Chamber.) In these Three there is an endeavour to represent the Author's Picture at large and in his full proportions. Howsoever it may not be impertinent to superadde here foreign some few Memorials; as Pictures of Great persons are wont to be express'd not only in their just proportions, but also in little Tables and Medals.
In short then, His Intellectual accomplishments must needs be eminent and advanced above the ordinary pitch, they being the Effects of excellent Natural parts accompanied with an early and unwearied Industry, as also (which is a more rare conjunction) with a great Iudgment and a great Memory. He began his search after Wisdom betimes, and continued it unto the last; it might truly be said of him (to borrow the words of*Ecclus. 51. 15 Siracides) that foreign, from the flower till the grape was ripe, (from the budding ingenuities of his youth till the more concocted and mature thoughts of his riper years) he delighted in Wisdom, he sought her from his youth up,*Vers. 20. and had his heart joyned with her from the beginning. And for a proof of that success which attended this his early enquiry after Knowledge, it may not be here impertinent to observe, That some of those peculiar Notions of his which occur in his latter Writings (as in that of the Reverence of God's House) were his eldest thoughts and studies, as he himself calls them somewhere in his Epistles. What he hath observ'd in his Christian Sacrifice, about the Oblation of Praise and Prayer at the celebration of the Eucharist, he had an early apprehension of; as appears by that (not till now published)*See Book I. Disc. II. Discourse of his upon Psal. 50. 14. which was composed by him in his younger daies. What he hath at large illustrated in his learned Discourse upon 1 Tim. 4. 1. concerning Daemon-worship and the Apostasy of the Latter Times, he had a glimpse of many years before, as is evident from his*S…e Disc. XLII… Discourse upon 2 Pet. 2. 1. And as for that short, but elaborate, Tract De Numeris Danielis, or Revelatio Antichristi, perfected by him toward the latter end of his Life, he call'd it*See Book IV. pag. …4. an old Notion long laid aside by him, but now upon an apprehension of its Usefulness thought fit by him to be resum…d and perfected: Ita ut cano placeret quod juveni complacebat, as Walsingham (though an adversary) reports of Wiclef. By which Instances (to name no other) it may appear what a quick Sagacity he had in his younger years, and how his early studies were blest with the discoveries of such Theories as lay deep and were not obvious to every eye.
His skill in History and Geography appear'd betimes; a fair Specimen whereof the Reader may observe in those two*See Book I. Disc. 49, 50. not published before. Discourses of his upon Gen. 10. 5. where he treats of the Original Habitations and First Seat of Iaphet's Sons and their Colonies after the great dispersion from the Tower of Babel; (a Subject that the learned Bochartus in his Phaleg has copiously discours'd of.) And for the happiness of Mr. Mede's Conjectures in an argument so difficult and so little traced by any Writers before him, I refer the judicious Readers to those above-mention'd Discourses, where they will find several Conjectures of his more easie and less unforced than in some Authors that have written either before or after him, not excepting Bochartus himself. And herein we have another proof of his early Sagacity.
But more particularly for History, his Commentaries upon the Apocalyps and some passages in Daniel speak the eminency of his skill herein, there being no Interpreters before him that have with equal clearness accommodated those Prophecies and Visions to their proper Events. That Methodus legendi Historicos cum fructu, drawn up by him and sent to Sr. William Boswel (his ancient and inward Friend) for the private use of some studious Gentlemen, would also have testified as much. This Method for the study of History, as likewise his Catalogue of such Authors as were most eminent in the several Arts and Sciences, sent to the same Learned Knight, and (what was sent at a third time to him for the use of some Friends of his) a little Bibliotheca Theologica, or an account of such Authors as had made the best distribution of Theology into its parts, and had written best for the several parts thereof; these his Three Epistolary Discourses (for the which Sr. W. B. does in his Letters return most affectionate thanks to Mr. Mede) would certainly have been most advantageously instructive unto all, could they have been found among Sr. W. Boswel's Papers, and copied out for the publick use: but as yet they cannot be retrived, notwithstanding all imaginable diligence has been used, of which they were well worthy, as containing (not mere lines of Ceremony and Complement, such as usually pass between Friends, nor little matters of News or of private concern, but what is of greater importance) Instructions and Advices about the study of Theology, the Arts and History, and from one who was versatissimus and excellently accomplish'd in them all, And for the attaining a rare perfection in (that which was last named) History, he had a singular advantage from his great Memory, without which all studies of this nature would signify but little, His Memory was so officious and faithful to him, that he relyed much upon it, and made little use of Common-place-Books: Accordingly in the Catalogue of his Manuscripts, written by his worthy Executor the learned Mr… Iohn Alsop, (then Fellow of Christ's College) are set down Two thick Paper-books in folio, prepared by the Author when he was a young Student; but withal this note is there added, That little or nothing was written in them. Yet did he not wholly trust to his Memory; for he had a lesser Paper-book wherein he wrote down (besides what he had briefly observed out of the Ancients and others) some short Notes of his present Conjectures and Thoughts upon either some obscure Text of Scripture or some other difficult argument. That he had some such Repository for his Notions, (and it were well if those that are more knowing and Contemplative would be thus commendably provident,) is intimated in the*Sect. 2. at the end. Appendix to the Author's Life.
By other Letters of his (if they could be had) might farther appear his equal skill in the History of Nature and Philosophy; they being written in answer to several Enquiries of Sr. W. Boswel, an excellent Philosopher and Mathematician, some De motu Gravium & Levium, as likewise touching the Equality of Natural Motions, with some reflexions upon the common opinion of their being velociores in fine quam in principio; others about the Nature of Comets, particularly about that Comet in 1618. its figure and Disposition, &c, Besides several other ingenious Quaere's mention'd in Sr. W. Boswell's Letters, as (to name two or three) about Shooting or managing the long Bow; as also about the possibility and best methods of teaching the Deaf and Dumb from birth to cast accompts, with other Mathematical calculations, to know moneys and the use thereof, to understand by sight of others writing and express by their own whatsoever may pass for civil life and conversation.
For the Languages, (particularly the Oriental,) although his Modesty would not permit him to speak otherwise of himself than in such an humble strain as this,*In the like strain he somewhere speaks of his skill in Chaldee… as also in the Mathematicks, which yet was great in others esteem, how little soever it was in his own. In Hebraicis modicum forte possim, as he writes in one of his Ep. to L. de Dieu: yet that his knowledge herein was more than mean and ordinary, yea such as shew'd him to be a man of a rare perspicacity in the Genius and Proprieties of the Sacred Language, may be sufficiently evinced from the many useful Criticisms and Observations upon several Words and Phrases of Scripture, scattered throughout his Writings, and particularly (to omit other Instances) from his clear and smooth*See Book III. p. 666, & 671. rendring and explaining that difficult Paragraph in Dan. 11. 36. &c. about Mahuzzim, &c. and from his unexampled accuracy in translating and glossing upon that which is the most important of all the Prophecies in the Old Testament for the interest of Christianity, (I mean Daniel's LXX Weeks in chap. 9. from vers. 24. to the end) Concerning which (not to meddle with his Epocha of the LXX Weeks, wherein perhaps he did not fully satisfie himself, for he was*See Ep. 23. p. 777. unwilling his Papers about this subject should be imparted, otherwise the most communicative of his Notions of any man living) this is to be observed, That those expressions in vers. 26. foreign and foreign, and those in vers. 27. foreign and foreign are very intelligible, and there is scarce any tolerable sense made of them in some other Versions; but in his Translation and Notes the importance of them is very easie and natural, and agreeable to the mind of the Original: whereby is verified what he in a Letter of his to L. de Dieu observes of himself.See pag. 569. Eo ingenio sum, (delicatulo, an moroso?) ut nisi ubi interpretatio commode & absque salebris eat, nunquam ntihi satisfacere soleam.
And indeed his singular ability for interpreting the foreign and clearing the Obscurities of the Holy Scriptures was out of those Great Accomplishments which were most illustrious in him. His insight into the inmost Recesses of these Sacred Writings was so quick as well as sure, that it was a most true Elogium which Sr. Will. Boswel gives of him in one of his Letters. That Mr. Mede did discern Day before others could open their eyes. Nor might that Cognomen be unfitly applied to this Ioseph, which was given to the Patriarch Ioseph, I mean that Egyptian name,*Gen. 41. Zophnath-paaneah, which is as much as foreign, The Revealer or Interpreter of hidden things, according to Philo, Iosephus, both the Targumists, Ionathan and Onkelos, several Hebrew Writers, and (to name only one more, but one whose judgment is the more considerable, because of his peculiar skill in the Coptick language) Athanas. Kircherus. And from this famous Parallel between the two Iosephs (which lies more open to every ones observation) I might take occasion to adorn this Preface with several other not less memorable, though less obvious, Resemblances betwixt them: But I must not give way to a Digression that would take up more room than I can well spare, in the Preface; especially having several other Memorials to bring in that are more useful and proper to the design thereof; which I shall dispatch with all convenient brevity.
The most Mysterious of all the Books of Scripture is the Apocalyps: and yet, though it be more mysterious and dark than the rest,*Rom. 15. foreign, it was, as well as the rest of Scripture, written for our learning, for our comfort, for the encouragement of our Patience, Faith and Hope; and therefore written to be understood: Otherwise the *This is mentioned both in the beginning and in the end of the Apocalyps, Ch. 1. 3. and Ch. 22. 7.Promise of Blessedness to them that read (that is, that read with understanding) and hear and keep the words of this Prophetical Book and the things written therein, would be but a Mock-promise of a Blessedness promised upon a*For such an impossible condition is the understanding of this Book suppos'd to be according to that Hypothesis. condition impossible, after the use of all endeavours, to be perform'd, and withal promised to a blind obedience, or to the keeping and observing they know not what: Which to imagine and affirm were an unworthy reproch and high dishonour done to the Divine Wisedom and Goodness.
In the Interpretation of this Book of Mysteries (as also of Daniel's Visions) how well the Author hath quitted himself, let others judge; such as are of a free and discerning spirit, and not unacquainted with the Schemes of Prophetick style, (for these alone are competent judges in these matters, foreign, ) let such as these judge between the Author's method and the Novel way of interpreting, wherein the Learned*In his way of interpreting 2 Thes. 2. & Dan. 7. he departs also …m the sense of the Ancients, and forsakes those common Sentiments and Notions wherein the Fathers generally agree touching the foreign and the man of Sin; the Fourth Beast and Little Horn, the Son of Man's coming in the clouds, the Stone cut out of the mountain without hards; besides other passages in th…se ch. & in ch. 11. Hugo Grotius is the Choragus and leads the Dance, (a Dance which has made those of the Court of Rome no little sport.) For me here to make a judgment upon these two so distant Methods of Interpretation, (if it were fit, yet) it is needless; both of them being brought into view and impartially compared, and the Author's Method undeniably evinced to be the better, and fully vindicated from the little pretensions of the contrary party; and all this perform'd by‖See Dr. More's Mystery of G…dli…ess, Book. 5. ch. 15, 16, 17. and his Synopsis Prophetica, Book 2. ch. 2, 3, 4, &c. one not only of the same University, but of the same Colledge too; which renders the performance more decorous and graceful, it being as well a becoming testimony of a fair and worthy respect to the Author's memory, as a seasonable service to the Truth it self.
This is a little of the much that might be observ'd touching the Author's Intellectual Accomplishments.
His Moral Endowments did testifie his great Piety, as the other his great Parts and Learning. By his Moral Endowments I mean his Humility and Charity, his Moderation, Peaceable-Spiritedness, Long-suffering and Patience, his Meekness towards those that oppos'd themselves, his Benignity, Largeness and Openness of Spirit, his Zeal for God and things Holy, Iust and Good, his Freedom from Ambition, Envy and Love of the World, his Sympathies and Pious Solicitudes for the Breaches in Christendom; and (not to instance in all those Vertues that shined forth in him, and render'd him an Exemplary and Usefull Christian) I shall name only one more, (and it's that which is the signal Character of the Best Souls, such as approch nearest to an Heroick State of Goodness, and the greatest resemblance of the Divinity) his Communicativeness and readiness to do good, (and that particularly by a free imparting unto all ingenuous lovers of Knowledge, of his best Treasures) and his Unweariedness herein, an argument that he sensibly knew that Noble pleasure which useth to accompany the exercise of such Beneficence: And (which is the Crown of all) all these were actuated and inspirited by Faith, the Root of every Grace that is truly Christian; and accordingly the necessity of such a Living and Operative Faith the Author has with great seriousness treated in several of his Discourses. And here indeed were a large and pleasant Field to traverse, a rich argument to discourse upon: But there being in the following History of the Author's Life a very particular account of these and other his Endowments which must needs make his Memory precious to all persons of Piety and Learning, I would not by an unnecessary lengthening of this Preface detain the Reader too long from the satisfaction he may there receive.
Thus much in brief touching The Author.
2. Concerning his Writings (besides what has been intimated by the way in the foregoi…g Advertisements) these things are fit to be observ'd.
1. That there were Three Treatises of his published in his life-time. The First was his Clavis & Commentationes Apocalypticae; the largest and withal the most elaborate of any of his Writings. This was his First-born, his might and the excellency of his strength, as*Gen. 49. Iacob spake of his First-born. It was extorted from him by the loving violence of some great Friends; otherwise he would have deferr'd the publishing of it till he had perfected his Specimina upon the last Chapters of the Apocalyps into a just Commentary, agreeably to that large method of Interpreting wherein he had proceeded to the end of Chap. 14.
The other Two short Tracts (viz. about the Name foreign anciently given to the H. Table, and about Churches in the Apostles times) were not published neither without his modest reluctancy; he was overruled herein by his Superiors, whose Command for the former was accompanied with this high Elogium, (as some of the Author's friends have related it) That this little Piece should silence all other Tracts about that argument, there being enough therein (said they) to satisfie all reasonable men, and there having been more than enough already published, but to less purpose. The English of the many Quotations in these Two Tracts not translated by the Author, I have set (not in the body of the line, immediately after any of the Quotations, but) in another Column. To have done so in the rest of his Works would have swell'd the whole into a greater bulk: But I chose to do thus in these Two Tracts, because they were published in his life-time, and without any Translation immediately following the several Testimonies out of others. And yet I am apt to think that if he had lived to prepare for the publick view some other Tracts or Discourses, he would have render'd them into English; and I the rather think so, because he has done thus in some Discourses perfected by him (though not published) not long before his death. These were his Discourse upon Eccles. 5. 1. intitled The Reverence of God's House, and that upon S. Matth. 6. 9. about the Sanctification of God's Name: These were revised by him, and seem to have received his last care, besides some other Tracts, as his Paraphrase and Exposition of S. Peter's Prophecy, and that Latin Tract De Numeris Danielis.
2. That his other Discourses and Treatises (whether formerly printed or now added) were Opera Posthuma, and yet too good to have been buried in obscurity, and consequently lost to the World; (for, according to that twice-mentioned sentence in Siracides, ch. 20. & 41. foreign; ) although had they been revised by the Author in order to printing, they would doubtless have received some polishing lustre and farther enrichments from his last hand. How advantageous such a Revisal of them would have been, may appear from those fore-mentioned Discourses of his, the former draughts whereof (as they were deliver'd in the Colledge-Chappel) were upon his review and going over them again much enlarged and made more full.
This Advertisement was fit to be here mentioned, and that in justice to the Author's memory: And therefore it is a very reasonable request, to entreat the Reader to peruse them with that Candour and Fairness which is deem'd by all ingenuous persons but a due respect to the Posthumous Works of Worthy men. In the confidence of such a Favor & Civility have the Posthuma of many Learned men been presented to the world; particularly some Posthumous Pieces of the eminently learned Bishop Andrews by the then Bishops of London and Ely, the Three last Books of the Iudicious Mr. Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity by the late Bishop of Worcester, and (to name but one more of the many that might be mentioned) the Profound Dr. Iackson's Tenth and Eleventh Books of Commentaries upon the Creed by the unexpressible industry of the Reverend Mr. Oley. Upon the like confidence of a fair respect to be afforded to the Posthuma of this Great Author did the Reverend Mr. Iohn Alsop publish the first part of his Diatribae, being Chappel-Exercises and (most of them) short Discourses upon Texts of Scripture, which yet the Author could have made more full and perfect, had he design'd them for the publick view.
Amongst his Posthuma, the largest, and which cost him most study, was his Treatise about The Doctrine of Daemons, &c. or The Apostasy of the Latter Times, containing several Discourses upon 1 Tim. 4. 1. Of this there were 3 Copies amongst his Papers. The first was a shorter Draught of his Thoughts upon this Subject, when prepared for the Colledge-auditory. The Second was larger and fuller, being delivered in several Sermons at S. Mary's before the University. Both these were in 8o. A Third in 4o, when formed by him into a larger Treatise, and in several places enrich'd with considerable additions. And according to this Third and last Draught is this Treatise printed in this Edition, wherein also are added some Marginal Annotations of his, others, that were displaced in the former prints, restored to their due and proper places; so that the whole must needs be now more significant, clear and useful to the judicious Readers, as well as render'd more grateful and accommodate for their perusal by being distinguished into Chapters with Contents.
There were some Friends (to whom he had communicated this Treatise) that moved him to print it; (and had it been then published by him in compliance with their desires, it would certainly have brought him in a large Return of Esteem and Honour, for the multifarious Learning and the many Notions therein, not less solid and important than ingenious and uncommon.) But he being hugely averse from appearing any more in print (as may appear from what he writes in Ep. 97.) withstood the importunity of that motion, alledging for his excuse some Deficiencies therein, which his maturer thoughts could correct, and that he could mend the Foundation thereof*… p. 43.: Which expressions of his need not seem strange, nor are they to be interpreted to the lessening the due value of that Treatise, they being the proper language of his Modesty, and usual with him, when he was put upon any such occasion of expressing his sense concerning any of his Composures. And indeed he was so infinitely curious, and so seriously sollicitous that every thing which came from his pen should be exact and accurate, that in a‖See Ep. 29. Letter of his to the L. Primate of Ireland he thus writes of himself, That he should never get through that which is his own, without everlasting mending, blurring, and pausing at every sentence to alter it. Smaller matters to so quick and severe an eye as Mr. Mede had for his own Writings, would be thought to want correcting, and sometimes, it may be, expunging: But this is nothing to the main substantial Notions that influence the whole Treatise; for these the Author professedly owns and insists upon in his Commentary upon the Apocalyps (which was written after this Treatise, and contains his elder and maturer thoughts.) As for example, That grand Notion which runs through the whole Discourse upon 1 Tim. 4. 1. viz. of Daemon-worship revived amongst an Idolatrous sort of Christians, he makes use of in his Notes upon Apocal. 9. 20. and refers to his Treatise about The Doctrine of Daemons for the fuller confirmation thereof: as also in his Specimina upon Apocal. 17. he makes use of that Notion discoursed of in the fore-mentioned Treatise, chap. 8. viz. That Idolatry is the main Character of the Churche's Apostacy. But without mentioning any more particulars, what in his Apostasie of the Latter Times was consonant to his Clavis & Commentationes Apocalypticae, was avowed by him; and those some things he saith in his Epistles that he could alter, were such especially as were not so*See pag. …2. consentaneous to his Apocalyptical Notions. In short, although the Foundation and the whole Structure of this Treatise may seem, as it now is, sufficiently strong and well compact to the eye of others, yet he being foreign a wise master-builder says he could have mended it, that is, have added some more strength to it, (for to mend the Foundation is not to take it quite away, but rather to strengthen it:) an instance not only of his great Humility, (when he was forced to pronounce concerning any performance of his own,) but also of his equal Sagacity and Quick-sightedness in discovering where any the least passage might be mended, which yet to others seem'd not deficient; and withall an argument of his great Sollicitude for the best satisfaction of others.
It is not unlikely but some may have an itching curiosity to know (if it were possible) where he would have either alter'd or added. And for answer to such there is a Paper of his own writing with Memorandums to this purpose. His Addenda for the farther clearing or confirming of some passages in this Treatise were such as these. 1. He would have added a Paraphrastical Exposition upon the last verse of the former Chapter, in short this; God was manifest in the flesh, that is, was incarnate: Iustified by the Spirit, that is,*So the word foreign is used. testified and witnessed by the Holy Ghost at his Baptism, &c. Seen of Angels, visited by them at his Fasting in the wilderness and at other times, &c. 2. To what is said in Chap. 2. That Daemon-worship or Idolatry is the Apostasie meant in the Text and elsewhere in Scripture, he would have added for a farther proof hereof, That it is so, as being a direct Breach of the Vow in Baptism, according to the foreign in the ancient form of Baptism, *Vid. Clem… Constir. Cyrill. Hierof. Catech.foreign. And to this he would have added that of S. Augustin, lib. 1. De moribus Catholicae Ecclesiae, c. 34. where he saith, Nolite consectari turbas imperitorum, qui vel in ipsa vera Religione superstitiosi sunt, ut obliti sint quae promiserint Deo. Novi multos esse Sepulchrorum & Picturarum adoratores. 3. To what he hath observed in the second Part of this Treatise, about Lies of Miracles, he would have shew'd more at large, That Miracles out of the Charnels are properly those specified foreign, 2 Thess. 2. 9. because Satan ever loved to delude the world in that kind, and it appears not that God useth to work Miracles by such means. Quaere (saith he) whether the Charnel-cures are not a-kin to those Magical ointments made of like ingredients. As for the Alterations, he has a Memorandum to consider whether in his explication of the word foreign somewhat may not be cut off or contracted; and another Memorandum he hath to alter somewhat in the beginning of his explication of foreign and withal That the*See pag. 652. Scriptures of the Singular and Plural number speaking of the Last Time or Times be so fitted, that they may leave Dies Iudicii to be a Continued Time; for, according to his*See pag. 531, & 772. Notion and Description thereof, upon his study of the Apocalyps, Dies Iudicii non breve aliquot horarum spatiolum designat, sed (pro more Hebraeorum, Diem pro tempore usurpantium) continuatum multorum annorum intervallum.
These are the Addenda and Corrigenda as they are set down in that Paper; but not a word about foreign, as if any thing therein were to be alter'd: and yet some (and they not over-captious nor prejudiced persons) have been apt to demur somewhat upon his explication of those words. The intendment of this Preface is not to write Notes upon any of the Author's Works, yet for the sake of the Ingenuous it may not be impertinent here to observe these few things. 1. That foreign (or, as some Copies read, foreign) may properly enough be rendred Doctrines of, that is, concerning, Daemons; the Genitive case here, as elsewhere in Scripture in the like Forms of speech, being to be taken Passively; as the Author hath made it clear in Chap. 1. of this Treatise. 2. That foreign or Daemons are to be taken in Scripture sometimes in a better and indifferent sense, (according to the sense of the Gentile Philosophers) for the Souls of men deceased, and need not be taken always in the worst sense, for Devils or Evil Spirits, he hath endeavour'd (in Chap. 6.) to make it appear from several places of Scripture, and from an observable passage in Epiphanius; where he also shews That the worship of these Daemons or Souls of the deceased was in reality the Worship of Devils; those Evil Spirits counterfeiting sometimes the Souls of men deceased, and none but Devils being willing to admit that Honour which does certainly derogate from the Honour of the only true God. 3. That whatsoever the importance of foreign or Doctrines of Daemons be in this place, yet what is taught and practis'd by an Idolatrous sort of Christians, as to the worshipping of Angels and Saints, adoring of Reliques, Image-worship, &c. is a lively and express resemblance of the Doctrine and Practices of the Gentiles concerning their foreign or Daemons: as he hath proved at large. 4. That there are only three Chapters in this Treatise (viz. Chap. 3, 4, 5.) which treat of foreign, the use of the word, and the Gentiles Theology concerning the Nature, the Office, the Original of Daemons, the manner and way of worshipping them; but all the rest of this large Treatise is as valid and concluding as if all in those three Chapters had been omitted, nor does the strength thereof depend upon that Hypothesis pursued in those Chapters, viz. That foreign or Daemons are to be taken here for the Souls of men deceased. 5. That the truth of the former Assertion may be confirmed from a view of these severals. 1. His Arguments (in Chap. 7, 8, 9.) to prove Saint-worship and Image-worship to be Idolatry, have no dependence upon his foregoing explication of the word foreign, but prove what they are brought for, be the sense of the word that or any other. 2. His Discourse of the Churche's Visibility clouded in the prevailing Apostasie under the Reign of Antichrist, is not concerned in his peculiar Notion of the word foreign. 3. And as little concerned therein is all that large and considerable part of this Treatise which discourses of the foreign, or the Times of the great Apostasie; as likewise that which is grounded upon that famous and express Prophecy (in Dan. 11. 36, &c.) of the Churche's lapsing into Idolatry and the worshipping of Mahuzzims; the proper meaning of which word, (not easie for every one to have discovered,) as also the fitness of this Title to be applied to the worshiped Angels and Saints, with their Images and their Reliques, are there explain'd and confirm'd by him, both by comparing several Places of Scripture, and by pertinent Proofs out of Ancient and Modern Authors. 4. All the Second Part of this Treatise is unconcern'd in the foremention'd Notion of foreign. I mean that Part which relates to verse 2, 3. foreign, &c. foreign, &c. and makes it evident by several Proofs (collected with great industry and equal judgment out of Ecclesiastical Antiquities) That Invocation of Saints and Image-worship were advanced by Hypocritical Lying, Lies of Miracles, Fabulous Legends, &c. wherein the Professors of Monkery had the Chiefhand.
3. There is one thing more to be added concerning the Authors Writings, (and it is fit to be advertis'd, as being a Right due to his Name and Memory,) That whereas in the former Editions the Discourses, being published at several times and by several persons, could not be so fitly ranked and set in order, as otherwise they might have been, had they been published all at once; but the New and Old were mingled together, without any intimating which were composed by him in his younger days and which in his elder: In this Edition care is taken to dispose them otherwise. Know therefore, that those Diatribae or Discourses *of this Edition.are set first that were composed and deliver'd by him within the last Ten years of his life, (viz. from the year 1628 to 1638,) and the First XXVI Discourses are such: XXI of which were published by the Authors Executor, but for the Order wherein they were set, (except those two which treat upon the Lords Prayer, and were therefore fitly placed first) he seems to have been indifferent; otherwise (if he had thought it expedient) he could have placed them according to the time when they were delivered in publick, either in the Colledge-Chappel, (as most of them were, being Common-places and short Diatribae on several Texts of Scripture) or before the University at S. Mary's, (as the larger Discourses were.) For (as it appears by the Authors Papers) Discourse the 7th was delivered Anno 1637. Disc. 9. An. 1633. and in the same year Disc. 14, 21. Discourse 13, An. 1632. Discourse 19, An. 1635.
The Nine following Discourses (viz. from Disc 26. to Disc. 35. as also 37.) were preached all of them (except Discourse 30, of which I am not so certain) between the years 1624 and 1628, as I gather from some Memorials in the Manuscripts.
The Twelve next Discourses were between the years 1615 and 1624. some of which are more Notional than others, as Discourse 36. upon Ier. 10. 11. and Disc. 35. upon Urim and Thummim, and those upon Genes. 3. 13, 14, 15. But if these and Disc. 47. be not every way so accurate and exact as those Diatribae that stand in the first rank, whereof it may be said (to use Paterculus his expression) In illis Scriptis plus limae est; it was sit that the Reader should be advertis'd about the distant times wherein these and the other Discourses were composed by him.
The Six last Discourses (the‖Disc. XLVIII. First is added in this Edition) all but the*Disc. XLIX. Second of them, were made by him in his‖Disc. L, LI, An. 1613. Disc. LII, An. 1615. Disc. LIII, An. 1614. younger days, and all of them but the Last are elaborate, and argue his great reading and study. The Last, which is plainer than the rest, was added, because the latter part thereof especially is a fit Supplement to Discourse 39. and withal, because the whole is a pregnant proof of his freedom from Vaingloriousness and Affectation, (a Disease to which Young men are most subject) and that he knew (as to discourse learnedly before capable Hearers, and to prepare*Heb. 5. strong meat for those of full age, so likewise) to become weak to those that were weak *1 Cor. 9., in imitation of the Great Apostle of the Gentiles, and, when he was to speak before a Country-Auditory, to express himself in a very plain and familiar way. Which ability and readiness of condescending to the meanest capacity was a Vertue and Perfection in him worthy of praise and imitation, rather than an unseemly debasement and lessening of himself. The Great S. Augustine was pleas'd to humble himself to a yet lower condescension; he would speak sometimes broken and barbarous Latine before some sort of Hearers, so it were better understood by them, as Ossum for Os, &c. upon the mentioning of which instance he adds,*Vid. Enar…t. in Psal. 138. Melius est ut nos reprehendant Grammatici, quam ut non intelligant populi.
In general, His Style is every where grave and proper and fitly expressive of his sense, (an argument that he was Master of his Notions, and did fully comprehend them.) Nor is it easie to find many Writers that, in treating upon Prophetical and Obscure Scriptures of any other Abstruse arguments, have either illustrated them with that clearness, that easie and punctual accommodation of them to their proper Events, or represented their Notions so handsomely and advantageously, as he hath done. To be short, In his Discourses and Sermons there is nothing that is light, humorous and trifling, no little pieces of Wit or slight Phancy, no high-flown nor affected Modes of expression, no needless Quotations of the meaner and less-significant Sentences out of Authors; with which some (such especially who are less acquainted with the inward sense and relish of Better things) endeavour to make their Discourses look very fine and (as they think) wondrous learned, hoping thereby to gratifie some weak and Childish minds, and by them to be had in admiration, whose Applause yet is in the esteem of Wise men a Disparagement: No, His great care was to make his Discourses rather substantial and solid, sit to entertain such as are of a more Manly and serious spirit, than gawdy and quaint and pleasing only to those that are but Children, and not grown to be Men, in Understanding; as being well assured that to men of judgment (as Petronius hath well observ'd) Nihil esset magnificum quod pueris placeret: His Generous Soul could not stoop so low as to humor these, such a Pedantick foreign and Affectation being in his account a certain sign of a Poorness and Narrowness of spirit, a Littleness of Mind, when it can thus vacare rebus tam exiguis, & his interesse ut suis.
In a word, what is related in the Life of Padre Paolo, (that Oracle of Venice, the famous Author of the History of the Council of Trent, and, for his scarcely-parallel'd Accomplishments, both Intellectual and Moral, the Glory and Wonder of that Age, Il miracolo di questo secolo, as the learned and excellent Vincentius Pinellus of Padua did love to style him,) may with equal truth be said of Mr. Mede and his Writings, viz. That here was an happy conjunction of those Excellencies which rarely meet in one and the same Subject, Scienza & humilita, prudenza e mansuetudine, ritir atezza & officiosita, seriosita e dolcezza, brevita e chiarezza, soavita e sodezza, Knowledge and Humility, Prudence and Meekness, Retiredness and Officiousness, Seriousness and Pleasantness, Brevity and Clearness, Sweetness and Solidity.
I might add a word concerning some other Tracts of his, and particularly such as (besides his Clavis Apocalyptica) refer to the Apocalyps, and make the three last Chapters in Book V. But concerning these there is an Advertisement there prefixed: And for the foreign or*Book III. pag. 581. Remains upon the Apocalyps, this in short may suffice to be intimated, That they were only an Additional Supplement to the first Draught of his Synchronisms privately communicated to some Friends, and were not written after, but*Except that Tract in Chap. 9. of the Remains he of a …ater date. before, his Clavis & Commentationes Apocalypticae, which were his Last labours upon that mysterious Book; and by these his Last Thoughts upon the Apocalyps should be farther cleared and rectified whatsoever may seem in those former Papers less perfect and satisfying. Concerning other Tracts of his there are particular Advertisements inserted (where thore was need) in their proper places.
And thus much concerning the Author and his Writings; I proceed to the last Head of Advertisements.