A Complete History and Mystery of the Old and New Testament, Dedication 3
To the truly Noble Lord, Judge Rookesby.
My Lord,
ANtiquity of Pedigree may moſt truly be ſtiled, the worthleſs Moſs of Antient Times, and is too often found to be only a Nobility by Parchment. The Etymologiſt doth define Nobilis, quaſi prae aliis Virtute Notabilis; intimating, that the more Noble in Title a Man is, the more Notable in Virtue he ought to be 'Tis the ſaying of one of the Heathen Sages, Nobilitas ſola eſt atque Unica Virtus, ſignifying, that Titles of Honour ſhould be the ſhadows of Virtue; hereupon a moroſe Philoſopher affirmed, that Honours without Virtues are but the Mask of Vices. A Noble Genealogy from Antient Times, is but the matter of true Nobility; 'tis Virtue only that is the form and ſoul of it, which doth animate and quicken it, and without which it is no better than a dead carcaſs, that ſoon putrifieth into ſtench, and dwindles away into nothing, when Honour is not found growing upon the back of Virtue, and is not born up by it, as by i…s ſupporting Pillar. Hereupon it was once a moſt tart Sarcaſm of one (who roſe to Honour by Virtue) to one (who ended his Honour by Vice) Meum genus à me incipit, Tuum verò in te deſinit; and the witty Poet ſingeth, Quae nos non fecimus ipſi, vix ea noſtra voco. The Platonick Definition of Nobility, is [foreign] in Engliſh its ſenſe is, that the beſt Gentility is a virtuous exerciſe of generous Manners: Upon this account, the Men of Berea were called [foreign] that is, better Gentlemen, or more Noble than thoſe of Theſſalonica, Acts 17.11. Aſſuredly that Nobility is the beſt, and moſt truly Divine, where God is the Top of the Kin, and Religion the Root of it, &c.
Now, My Lord, thoſe happy Conjunctions (I ſpeak without vanity) are moſt happily found in your Lordſhips, both Parentage and Perſon, in whom Honour and Holineſs had their mutual and reciprocal Splendour. For firſt, I had the happineſs to have a perſonal and particular knowledge of your Honourable Deſcent from a truly honourable and holy Father, Coll. Rookesby, who was pleaſed to dignifie me with a Call of being his Chaplain, and whom I thereby became acquainted with, &c. to be a truly Noble and Religious Patriot of the late deſigned, and ſo much deſired Reformation, &c. as alſo from a godly Mother and Grandmother, both which I very well knew to be grave Matrons, and Mothers in Iſrael, and cordial well-wiſhers (in their capacities) to the power of Godlineſs. And ſecondly, as to your own Perſon, I have known your Lordſhip long to be an unfeigned Friend of our Lord the Bridegroom and of his Royal Bride the Church, Tantus quiſ que eſt, quantus ille eſt apud Deum; All Honours are well meaſured by the neareſt approach to the King of Kings, who is the beſt Fountain of the trueſt Honour; therefore the right valuation of every Man amongſt Men, muſt be according to the valuation which that Man hath with the great God. This or that Man becomes not to be honourable, becauſe he commendeth himſelf, or is commended by his fellow-creatures; but 'tis he whom the Lord commendeth, 2 Cor. 10.18. The Cuſtom among the Jews and Perſians, was to call their moſt honourable Courtiers [Men of the King's preſence.] Thus haughty Haman was ſo characteriz'd, and after him Modeſt Mordecai had the ſame Character. How much greater Honour it is to be a Man of God's preſence, to be one of God's Neighbours, as the Hebrew phraſe is, Lev. 10.3. the Lord is Neighbour to all them that fear him, Pſal. 34.18. God complains of his evil Neighbours that do diſhonour him, Jer. 12.14. when he had made them as Gods in high places, Exod. 22.28. but God promiſeth, that they which honour him, he will honour them; but they which deſpiſe him, ſhall be lightly eſteemed, 1 Sam. 2. v. 30.
My Lord, becauſe your Lordſhip is one that honours God, therefore hath he honoured you, and hath lifted up your Head (as another Joſeph) above your Brethren. The Judge of all the Earth (as God is called, Gen. 18. v. 25. and Pſal. 94.2.) hath advanced you to that Honourable Station of a Judge, which is the reſemblance of his own Infinite Grandeur and Glory. As one of the Twelve Famous Patriarchs of Iſrael was called Dan (which ſignifieth a Judge in Hebrew) becauſe he was to Judge the People, Gen. 49.16. So your Lordſhip is raiſed up at this Day to Judge the Mount of Eſaus, &c. Obad. v. 21. even a company of Incarnate Devils, who lately conſpired to Aſſaſſinate the Sacred Perſon of our Righteous Soveraign, &c. the Lord (whom you do ſincerely ſerve with the beſt, of your Service) hath exalted you to ſhine among the Stars of the firſt Magnitude in our Engliſh Horizon, and to ſerve your own Generation (as David did, Acts 13. v. 36.) by the will of God in your Generation-work; yea and that in ſuch a Day, wherein Hell and its Imps have been clubbing their moſt Sublimated Wits to deſtroy both our King and our Kingdom, yea, and to cut off the Locks of our Land, wherein our ſtrength doth lie, as was done to Samſon by Delilah, and to ſteal away our Palladium from us, as Ulyſſes did from Troy, namely, our Religion, which is not only an Ornament, but alſo a Muniment and Safe-guard to us. Your Honour's honourable work now is to bring thoſe Peſts to condign Puniſhment. The Moraliſt ſaith, He that will be truly generous and noble, muſt ſerve Philoſophy, how much more to ſerve Theology, and the Call of the Goſpel, wherein the Creature doth moſt eminently ſerve his great Creator: Deo ſervire, eſt Regnare, ſaith the Father: And David did account it his greater Honour to be the Servant of the Lord, than to be the King of Iſrael, Pſal. 18. title. My Lord, I cannot but admire, that, notwithſtanding your providential Lameneſs, (which, like a dark foil in a well-drawn Picture, ſerveth to ſet off its Beauty) the Lord ſtill enableth you to Ride your Circuit, and what he calls you to, he qualifies you for it, even for that Noble work of Judging the World. The Apoſtle ſaith [Know ye not that the Saints ſhall judge the World of ſinful men, yea and the fallen Angels alſo?] 1 Cor. 6.2, 3. You are not like to thoſe Nobles of the Tekoites, who would not put their Necks to the Lord's work, Nehem. 3.5. but rather like thoſe Nobles of Iſrael, who digged Wells with their Staves of Honour for the common good, Numb. 21.18. That the Lord may ſtill be with you, as he was with thoſe Judges, Judg. 2.18. that you may ſtill walk in the way of that wiſe Counſel which good Jehoſaphat gave to his Judges, 2 Chron. 19.6, 7. and ſo be ſtill more ſignally and ſingularly ſignificant in your high Station, is the cordial prayer of
Your ſincere Well-wiſher in both this World, and in that to come, Chriſtopher Neſs.