Sarah and Hagar, Frontispiece – Dedication
EFFIGIES REVERENDISS: JOSIAE SHUTE S: THEOL: BACCHA: COLCESTRIAE ARCHIDIAC: PRECONIS LONGE MELLITISSIMI. OBIIT 22o JUNII. 1643.
Surgito Lector, ades & Tibimet foreign Anglus,
Scilicet, egregius (SHUTIVS) ille preco:
Flexanimus vates, Animas Qui traxit in Aures:
Voce docens Sacrum (quod pede pandit) iter.
Malleus foreign constans, et foreign;
Qui nequit a Recto (Spe-ve, Metu-ve) Trahi.
Hunc tulit in Portum Dominus, Minitante Proceſſâ:
Nec fucrant Tanto Saecula digna viro.
Vmbra dat Effigiem, reſonat tibi Pagina Mentem:
Aſsolet ut Reliquis, gratus adesto Tibi.
Ed: Sparke.
Heer's yt wiſe Charmer, whoſe Sweet Ayres to Hear
Each Soule delighted so to dwell i'th' Eare:
Whoſe Life and Doctrine's Combin'd Harmony
Familiîarized St Paul's Extaſy!
But now (from growing Evills) mounted high
(Change but the Soule her Seat from Ear to th' Ey)
This bright Starr still doth Lead wiſemen to Christ
Through this dark Bochim, and aegyptian Myst:
Nay heer (what himſelf doth in Heav'n behoulde)
Ev'n Bleſsed viſions doth his Booke unfoulde.
T. B: Ed: Sparke.
SARAH and HAGAR: OR, GENESIS the ſixteenth Chapter opened, In XIX SERMONS.
BEING The firſt legitimate Eſſay OF The Pious Labours of that Learned, Orthodox, and Indefatigable Preacher of the GOSPEL, Mr JOSIAS SHƲTE, B. D. And above three and thirty yeers Rector of S. Mary Woolnoth, in Lombard-ſtreet, London.
Qui credens in Dominum Jeſum, non Circi Furoribus, non Arenae ſanguine, non Theatri Luxuriâ delectabatur; ſed tota illi voluntas in Eccleſiae erat Congregatione, charus omnibus, & loquendi Arte gnarus. Hieronim. lib. 3. Epiſt. in Vita Hilarionis.
foreign. Greg. Nazianzen, Oratione in laudem Baſilii.
foreign Dan. 12.3. foreign
He was a burning and a ſhining lamp, Joh. 5.35.
Publiſhed according to his own Original Manuſcripts, circumſpectly examined, and faithfully tranſcribed, by EDWARD SPARKE, B. D. of Clare-Hall in Cambridge, and Rector of S. Martins Iron-monger-lane, London.
foreign. Plato in Phaedone.
LONDON, Printed for J. L. and Humphrey Moſeley, at the ſigne of the Princes Arms in Paul's Church-yard. 1649.
To the Right Honourable, JOHN Lord Viſcount BRACKLEY, &c. And to the Right Worſhipful, THOMAS VINAR, Alderman and Sheriff of the honorable City of London; And the reſt of the well-wiſhing Pariſhioners and Auditors of the late worthy Author: Both the upper and the nether ſprings of comfort.
Honoured Sirs,
EVen Juſtice it ſelf, without any other relation, challengeth this Dedication to you; unto whom God had given the Author, and the Author himſelf devoted his Endeavours: ſo that whoſoever alienates things of this nature to a private Mecoenas, is juſtly to be redargued Paraſitical, and as a moral Impropriator. You know, the children of the bondman are the goods of the parents maſter,Lev. 25.45, 46. Levit. 25. and however hereby made more common, yet are nevertheleſs your own in particular.
That the Eye therefore may no longer (now) envie the Ear, but both help the Soul; theſe Sermons are preſented to your view; and that without the leaſt ſuſpition of one Senſe proving leſs candid then the other: appearing (here) as not without ſome diſadvantages, (in regard of that ſame Magiſterial preſence, and Charming Elocution of the Author;) ſo not without ſome oddes at other ſide, for permanencie, and more leaſurable inſtillation of the matter. And 'tis an happineſs obliging unto thankfulneſs, that God vouchſafeth thus to feaſt his people at both Senſes. The lively ſound, indeed, is the more piercing, (as Saint(a)Viva vox habet neſcio quid latentis foreign. In Prologo Galeato. Ierome ſaith;) but the Letter written, the more during; Litera ſcripta manet: The one, as it were, like Lightning; the other, like the fire upon the Altar.
According to my Talent, I have endeavoured ſome good both ways, not ſo much fearing cenſure, as deſiring the good of others; and that theſe Papers might ſpeak that permanently, to the eyes of all our Country-men, which found ſuch favour in the ears of your Citizens, and entertainment in ſo many hearts. Yet all this, but too narrow a confinement for his ample merit, which did ſo far tranſcend the Pattern of his Predeceſſors, that he hath laid a Task invincible upon his Succeſſors(b)As was ſaid of Chryſoſtoms ſucceſſor, Quis, Cui? and after Athanaſius, that a ſtorm followed a ſtream. Nazianzen.: Vix dedit, vix dabit aetas parem.
But I know, Love and Sorrow need no Remembrancer. 'Twould therefore be ſuperfluous for me (to ſay no worſe on't) if not infandum, renovare dolorem, to eccho to you his incomparable Parts and Arts; whoſe departure your love ſtill lamenteth; whoſe pious excellencies, ſo many painful yeers imprinted on your Memories; and not there onelyonly, but, I hope, ſhed, with all their Celeſtial influences, on your converſations; that as, in theſe writings, he being dead, (as the Apoſtle ſaith) yet ſpeaketh: ſo, in your Chriſtian practice, the world may ſee and ſay, that (albeit deceaſed) he ſtill liveth.2 Kings 23. 2 Chron. 35. Nor hath he ſo altogether forſaken us, (though This, like that other good Ioſiah, ſubductus aevo peſsimo, taken from the evil to come;) but that (as Nazianzen (c)foreign Naz. Oratione in laudem Baſilii.ſaid of Baſil) he ſtill doth us good, beſteads us ſtill: yet that, not (as they ſtretch his Rhetorick) by praying for us; but thus, by his inſtructions, and profitable labours, teaching us. For here, your meditations (though but in one ſhort Chapter opened) are carried, as it were, thorowout the Vniverſe: ſometimes, as in Elijahs chariot, up to heaven, to contemplate the Angels there, and their good offices; the bleſſed ſpirits of just men made perfect; I, and moſt frequently, the God of both of them, and him whom he hath ſent, Ieſus Christ, our dear Saviour: ſometimes alighting unto … lower objects, pointing us to all the ſeveral manſions of the Vertues, and powerfully ejecting that ſame Legion of Epidemick vices: ſometimes aloft, from the top of the tree of grace, ſhaking down the fruits of the Spirit (d)Gal. 5.: at other times again, ſtooping to inferiour capacities, and regulating of domeſtical relations: ſometimes (as a Remembrancer from heaven) advertizing the publike Magiſtrate; ſtrongly and ſweetly moving all, to ſpiritual prudence, and conſcientiouſneſs in their ſeveral Functions; chalking out to us (in theſe laſt and worſt times) the Chriſtian Menagry of all theſe various events of Divine Providence; with the profitable husbanding of both-hand-Temptations, Proſperity, and Affliction: That ſo (like Muſick out of diſcordant ſounds, or wholeſom Medicine from diſtaſtful ſeverals,Rom. 8.28. all things may terminate unto Gods glory, Mans amendment and felicity. All which (together with a grateful affection to the Authors memory,Acts 22.3. at the feet of which Gamaliel I had the happineſs to ſit ſome yeers) conquered me into this Vndertaking; for which (as ſome of his neer Correlates acknowledge) theſe divers yeers could not finde out an Gedipus.
What care and travel is beſtowed here, (in extricating the Character, rendering the Languages, digeſting of the Index, and tranſcribing the whole buſineſs) I mention not; nor need I, unto ſuch as have but ſeen his Copies: Yet modeſty need not bluſh to ſay, It was not each ones work; his Manuſcripts fulfilling that ſame Greek Proverb,(e)foreign. As difficult as excellent: his Notes right Golden Oar, (though precious in themſelves, yet) worth but little, till digged out with art and labour, (as ſome of your own eyes are pairs of witneſſes:) ſo that, although the matter of them be a divine Collyrium, or eye-ſalve to the ſoul; yet, penned in ſo diminutive a Letter, writ in ſo ſtrict an Hand, (the wonder of Youth to read, much more of Age to write it) that they appear like Baſilisks unto the bodies eyes: And that's the Remora (I ſuppoſe) that hath ſo long detained them, and hitherto deterred his deareſt Affectionates from ſuch peruſal of them.
But it ſhall ne'er be ſaid, but that, for ſuch an heavenly Paul, ſome of his Auditors will dare even pluck out their own eyes alſo,Gal. 4.15. (in this ſenſe) and give them to him; at leaſt, hazard ſuch a Private Darkneſs, to hold forth ſuch a Publike Light. 'Tis honour enough, in the Sanctuary of God, (where all cannot be Lamps) to be but of thoſe golden Candleſticks, 1 Kings 7.49. Revel. 1.12.1 Kings 7. Indeed, ſuch metal was ordained for ſuch ſervice; and pity 'tis, any coarſer ſhould ſupport our Authors holy Flame: Yet alas, ſome part of it (we ſee) hath been obtruded to the world in brazen, as it were, if not wooden ſockets; burning but dim and gaſtly, by reaſon of their dull reflections:(f)Quem recitas meus eſt, ô Fidentine, Libellus; ſed male, &c. Mart. Ep. Sed malè dum recitas; But the truth is, while thus mutilouſly they render him; 'tis even their own dark Lanthorn, rather then his Taper: and therefore I have uſed here both tongs and ſnuffers of the Sanctuary, to vindicate its proper luſtre. And although ſome (perhaps) might have effected it more dextrouſly; yet none could have more faithfully endeavoured, that the Childe might look like the Father, and not like thoſe Mephiboſheths that halt abroad under his injur'd name: which, however tolerably done too, as to ſuch private men and families, (the beſt uſe of Short-writing;) yet are right Short-hand-Sermons, Sermons far ſhort of that ſame hand that penn'd them; meer Skeletons, without all lineaments and beauty. Indeed, vulgar Stenography, I mean, illiterate Short-hand, is but the coarſe fieve of Learning, and the very Executioner of all Ingenuity; which it not onelyonly rifles and diſornaments, but commonly diſmembers, and beheadeth; ſucking indeed apace (like Leeches) but the groſſeſt blood. Theſe, no ſuch births blinde with haſte(g)Canis feſtinans caecos parit catulos., but delivered from his own Quill: Theſe Sermons are no Hagarens, but children of the free-woman, of the Authors own Minerva. Your Senſes can witneſs to your Vnderſtandings they are his; his totally, without any the leaſt mutilation: (Sermons, like their Author,(h)Atteſted by his own brother, M. Tim. Shute, to be his Sermons at large; and that he ſeldom altered a word or phraſe. compleat in all their numbers:) And who dares draw a line after ſuch an exquiſite Apelles!
And having ſhewed they are his, I know how little need there is, either to intreat your acceptation, or adviſe your uſe: it is enough to have preſented them into your hands, and, thorow them, to the Church of God; which they now finde (here) much like that wounded traveller, Luke 10.Luke 10. and none more like the good Samaritan, then he: Oh may his wine and oil (of comfort and inſtruction) help bathe, and ſearch, and binde her bleeding wounds, (our peace being bundled up in hers, as Iacobs life bound up in Ioſephs. Gen. 44.30.)
That God, who (above his other favours) hath given you fixed hearts in looſer times, and ſtayed your feet in ſo many ſlippery places, adde an increaſe of all other heavenly graces, by this unworthy ſervice of my weak endeavours. Mean time, 'tis both my joy and thankfulneſs, to have done (though but thus inſtrumentally) ſome little good: (in ſuch things ſure, Cauſa ſine qua non, non eſt cauſa ſtolida.) 'Tis at once a comfort and an honour to his poor ſervant, that the great God of heaven hath vouchſafed any way to uſe his hand, in the Ieaſt ſervice of his Church.
Theſe are but ſome Primitial handfuls, a few ſheaves of that goodlyiThe whole ſtock of the Authors Sermons being in the hands of his Reverend brother, Maſter Tim. Shute of Excoſte; whence the Church may expect them, if he live to act his promiſes, or leave ſuch as may do it Crop, which you may hope one day to reap, if God pleaſe to encourage Labourers. I have preſented you a fragrant Poſie of his Flowers; future time may make up the Garland: Facile eſt inventis addere. Here I have broke the Ice, whereat Gods Flock may drink, and finde the ſprings of comfort: I have ſpied out this Canaan, and brought you here the firſt true cluſter of the Grapes you long'd for. But there want not Diſcouragers: ſo that I ſhall either proceed or ſtand, according as the Cloud or Fire admoniſheth.
Theſe, in the interim, not onelyonly crave your entertainment, but bring along their Recompence; their Recompence (I ſay) by ſeaſonable Exhortations to piety and wiſdom. Had they come ſooner to my hands, they had ſooner come to yours: or could civil importunity have purchaſed more, I ſhould have given an account of him in a larger Volume. Nor yet, having but theſe, would I be tempted to play the Egyptian midwife with them, ſeeing the day of ſmall things is not to be deſpiſed, Zech. 4.10.Zech. 4. glad of each good opportunity to turn a Grievance into an Advantage,Pſal. 39.2, 3. (having kept ſilence long, with David, not without pain and grief) by thus improving an enforced Non-term, and over-long Vacation, in ſuch a promulgating the beſt of Laws.
Now therefore, as the ſedulous Author hath induſtriouſly compoſed, and his Amanuenſis ingenuouſly expoſed them: ſo do you henceforth conſcientiouſly impoſe them on your actions; copie them out with a fair hand in all your dealings, that they may work your riches into a Crown inviolable, and lead you unto Immortality; that they may conduct you (like S. Peters Angel) thorow this tumultuous City of the world,Acts 12.9, &c. nay thorow the Iron gate of death it ſelf, into that City of the new Ieruſalem: To which end ſhall my prayers daily follow you; deſiring therein a Retaliation, for
(Sirs) The meaneſt of your ſervants, and leaſt Spark on Gods Altar, EDWARD SPARKE. From my Study in LONDON, Novemb. 10. 1648.