Light for Smoke, Letter
To Mr. Iohn Saltmarſh, late Paſtor of Braſted in Kent, Iohn Ley wiſheth ſuch ſoundneſſe in judgement, and ſinceritie in affection, that he may truly, and cordially ſalute him as a Brother and a friend: And Sheweth in this Epiſtle his unfitneſſe to undertake the diſcuſſion of a Controverſie, or to be taken for an Antagoniſt in any Queſtion of the Doctrine of Religion, or of the Diſcipline or Government of the Church.
SIR,
YOu have taken upon you in the Title page of your laſt booke to make a full Anſwer to mine, but the fulneſſe you ſpeake of is but the tympanie of a promiſe, for your performance is ſo empty of reall ſatisfaction to intelligent Readers, that ſome of them (who have impartially peruſed our papers on both ſides) have ſeriouſly adviſed me not to take ſuch notice of it, as to vouchſafe an Anſwer unto it; and the rather, becauſe you your ſelfe make ſuch diſtinction betwixt a refutation and an anſwer, that, though you expreſly profeſſe the one,aI will not ſay I have made here a Refutation of yours, (that is, of your Booke) Smoke. p. 51. you will not ſay you have made good the other.
And for mine owne part, I will deale clearely with you, and let you know my mind, not onelyonly for the preſent, but for the future; and it is this. For the preſent,
I doe not take you to be ſuch an adverſary as may diſcourage a man, though but of meane parts, (if not with all of too puſillanimous a ſpirit) to be your Antagoniſt; ſince you lay your ſelfe open to ſo much diſadvantage, as may rather invite him to begin with you, then diſhearten him to hold on when you provoke him to proceed.
But yet (beſides the diſſwaſions of my judicious friends, who thinke I may right my ſelfe as much by a ſilent neglect of you as by a loud conqueſt over you) I will give my reſolution and my reaſons.
And for hereafter my reſolution is not to miſimploy precious time, (whereof my many ingagements in publique ſervice may make me more parſimonious then other men) in a reciprocation of a controverſie with you; and my reaſons are theſe.
Firſt, becauſe I ſee your genius is rather Rhetoricall, or Poëticall, then Polemicall; and will not keepe cloſe to a queſtion to bring it to an iſſue; and ſo you ſcatter your conceptions like drops of quickſilver out of the quill; or like beads broke looſe from the ſtring, ſo that it is matter of difficulty, and ſometimes rather of impoſsibility, to gather them into an argument, ſince they have more in them of the complexion and trappings of Phraſiologie, then of the conſtitution of ſound Divinity; which makes me (beſides that I had rather contend with an Antichriſtian Adverſary then with a Chriſtian Brother) more willing to take the confutation of the moſt learned part of Bellarmine for my taske, then to wait upon your wandring and new ſprung notions, though now and then you preſent your Reader with a Primroſe of pretty expreſsion to make him to miſtake the ſent of a weed for a flower, of an old error under the name and notion of a new truth.
Secondly,bFor your Logicall marſhalling, &c. Smoke p. 16. you profeſſe your ſelfe to have no good liking of Logick, formes of art, and methods of reaſon; andcPag. 60. renounce prudence and conſequences as the great engines of will-worſhip; and if you be of that mind you are fitter to write Poems, or Eſſayes, or Characters, then to maintaine a Diſpute in matter of Religion.
Thirdly, I conceive you are the leſſe fit for that purpoſe becauſe you ſeeme to me by that I have read in your writings to be a kind of Vbiquitary in beliefe, or (if I may not call it beliefe, being ſo uncertaine as you are) I muſt ſay you ramble about in your ſpeculation of opinions, but (as reſolved upon none of them) ſettle no where; ſo that your Adverſary knowes not where to find you. One while me thinkes you are a Presbyterian, becauſe you dedicate a Booke to thoſe that for the moſt part are ſuch, as to a moſt ſacred and reverend Aſſembly; another while youdSmoke in the Temple. p. 65. 68. reproach the Presbyterie, and gloriouſly ſet forth the Church way of Independents, andeIn your Epiſtle to me, pab. the beginning. bring in your ſelfe as one of them: ſometimes I take you for an Anabaptiſt, at leaſt for an Antipaedo baptiſt, for in your exceptions againſt Presryterie (and I muſt take your Tenet to be rather againſt, then among the Presbyteriall poſitions) youfSmoke in the Temple. p. 9. ſay, That Baptiſme is not to be received by generation now, as Circumciſion was, but by regeneration, or viſible profeſſion as at firſt; nor are the carnall ſeed now any more the children of Abraham, but the faithfull, and that no Ordinance is now to be adminiſtred upon legall conſequences, but on Goſpel precepts: and of Maſter Tombes his booke (in anſwer to my objection concerning the delay of Baptiſme by Chriſts example) you ſay thus,gIbid. in your anſwer to me. p. 37. I cannot diſpute that here now, Maſter Tombs will ſat is fie you at large in his learned Examen, where he hath made worke for an whole Aſſembly; wherein (to give you a word by the way) you are much miſtaken, both in the man, and in the matter; and you will ſee cauſe (within a while) to conceive otherwiſe of both, then now you doe; and that there lieth no obligation either of neceſsitie or of conveniencie upon the Aſſembly which may engage them to the examination of his Examen. Nor is Maſter T. with his moſt compleat armour ſo formidable a champion, as that there ſhould need an army of Divines to be muſtered againſt him, there be divers Davids who are ready for ſingle encounter with that braving Goliah, and ſome have given his cauſe ſuch a wound already, as (though he may play the Mountebanke with it and skin it over) will never be cured at the bottome.
But this onelyonly obiter, paſsing by him, and his booke, (as a parentheſis or parergon to that which is before me at the preſent) I muſt follow you a little further, and ſee whether (tracing the ſteps of your opinions by the print of your pen) I can overtake you, and at laſt find you in any place, or poſture of conſiſtence, or ſettlement.
In your Diſcovery of Independencie you deliver down-right Anabaptiſme in many particulars, (without any word of exception or caution to your Reader) as thathSmoke p. 10, 11.
hSmoke p. 10, 11.Thoſe who were baptized under Prelacy were baptized by an Antichriſtian power, and that they are no right baptized members of Churches.
That all conſequences drawne from circumciſion, are of no more force, then from the Cloud, and the Sea, and the Rock, and Noahs Arke, and other typicall and figurative places in the Word, (yet by your leave from ſome of theſe there may be a good conſequence to baptiſme of infants) nor can any legall, or probable Scriptures make any law or rule for any ſuch Goſpel adminiſtration, which is not directly in Scripture words to be found.
That childrens Baptiſme in the Church is a way never to have a Church of ſuch baptized beleevers, as in the Apoſtles times.
That Baptiſme, being a viſible ſigne, cannot rationally be adminiſtred upon one that can neither ſee, nor diſcerne what is done, to whom the water can be no ſigne, but they are onelyonly told of it when they come to age. Baptiſme is as a flaſh of lightning, (as was well obſerved by one) Circumciſion was as a fixed ſtarre, ſo much difference in theſe two rites.
Inſtitution of Baptiſme is to duty as well as grace, which children cannot performe, and ſo anſwer the ſigne.
Inſtitution of Baptiſme is doctrinal in the very act of it, as is acknowledged by all of the preſent Baptiſme, Matth. 28. now this implyes a capable and teachable ſubject. You have other poſitions ſymbolizing with the ſect of Anabaptiſts, but I note onelyonly thoſe, which have neereſt congruitie to the title of that Sect.
While ſuch opinions as theſe, which you ſeeme rather to confirme then to confute, incline me to take you for an Anabaptiſt, I am induced to doubt whether you be not ſomewhat elſe, ſomewhat worſe, by ſuch exceptions asiSmoke in the Temple. p. 13, 14, 15. theſe.
Firſt, That Matth. 28.18. (it ſhould be verſ. 19.) and Mark 16, &c. are rather, and farre more probably to be expounded of the Spirits Baptiſme, then of Baptiſme by water.
Secondly, That the Baptiſme of Ieſus Chriſt by water, was onelyonly in the Name of Ieſus Chriſt.
Thirdly. That the forme by which they Baptize (viz. … …aptize thee in the Name of the Father, Son, and holy Ghoſt,) is a forme of mans deviſing, a tradition of man, a meere conſequence drawne from ſuppoſition, and probabilitie, and not a forme left by Chriſt.
Fourthly, That to preach in the Name of Ieſus Chriſt, or to do any thing in the name of Ieſus Chriſt, is not alwaies in that groſſe manner (as it is taken) viz. naming Ieſus Chriſt, or the naming of the Father, Sonne, and holy Ghoſt over them, but in the power, vertue, efficacie, Miniſterie of Ieſus Chriſt, or the Perſons of the Godhead, the Father, Sonne, and holy Ghoſt.
Fifthly,kPag. 17. That none ought to give Baptiſme now, becauſe none can give the gift of the holy Ghoſt.
Sixthly,lPag. 18. That the fulneſſe of time is not yet come for ordinances, for as there were ſeverall ſeaſons for giving out of truth before, ſo now.
The next Title (under which you ſort the opinions of theſe times into ſeverall profeſsions) is of ſeeking and ſeekers, and there, (beſides other new Doctrines which you deliver) you ſay thatmPag. 17. all ſhall in the laſt times be in a ſecret, inviſible inward and ſpirituall glory, no more in groſſe, carnall, viſible evidences, & materiall beames of gifts, & miracles, & this is to know Chriſt no more after the fleſh; which cannot be the meaning of the Apoſtles words, 2 Cor. 5.16. (for gifts and miracles continued after the time that he wrote thoſe words) but either that he did not conceive of Chriſt as of a temporall King, as the Diſciples ſometimes did, Luk. 24.21. Act. 1.6. and our Saviour himſelfe denyed, Joh. 18.36. or that his affections to Chriſt were not ſuch as theirs that had converſed with him in the fleſh, and had been taken onelyonly, or chiefly with the comeltneſſe of his perſon, or had the ſenſible evidence of his miracles, or had a carnall conviction of his reſurrection, as Thomas Didymus had, Joh. 20.27. but that he did ſpiritually participate and communicate with him, deriving life and vertue from him, as the members from the head, as where he ſaith, I live, yet not I, but Chriſt liveth in me, and the life which I now live, I live by the faith of the Sonne of God, who loved me, and gave himſelfe for me, Gal. 2.20.
Another poſition (which you give out among the exceptions to the way of Seekers, which to orthodox Divines is a meere paradox) is,nPag. 18. that there is no ſuch power for ordinances as is pretended, but beleevers as diſciples may adminiſter, and ſo did the Apoſtles and beleevers formerly as they were diſciples.
I looked to have. found the Antinomian Tenets among the reſt which you report, but your ſilence concerning them in a place whereto their diſcovery was ſo ſeaſonable and pertinent, is thought by ſome, who have read over your booke of Free Grace before I ſaw it, that you thought too honourably of that Sect to bring it in there, where you intended to ſetoPag. 19. the ſtrength and weakneſſe of each opinion before it ſelfe, that as on the one ſide it may glory, ſo on the other ſide it may feare and be humble; and that booke ſhews you plainly to be an Antinomian, though you pretend to maintaine your Tenets by the conſent and teſtimonie of many ſound Divines, pag. 204. &c. wherein they ſay you deale by them, as other Antinomians have formerly dealt with Luther, bringing their words againſt their minds as they did his; and I the rather beleeve it, becauſe making triall of the ſinceritie of your allegations, in that Booke by the quotation which came next to my hands, viz. that which you cite out of Mr. Samuel Boltons Booke of the bounds of Chriſtian Freedome; I find you alleadge hispPag. 213. of your Booke of Free-grace, and the flowings of Chriſts blood. words with a guilefull reſervation, breaking them off with a ſubtle, &c. whereas if you had gone on to thoſe that follow next, you would have ſhewed the Reader a flat contradiction to the Cardinall Tenet of the Antinomians, (which gives them their name) in theſe words,qPag. 74. of Mr. Boltons booke. acknowledge the morall Law as a rule of obedience, and Chriſtian walking, and there will be no falling out, whether you take it as promulgated by Moſes, or handed to you & renued by Chriſt; is not this ſuch a piece of ſophiſtry in proofe as arQuirinus Cnoglerue in a little booke in 12. (but ſpider-like full of poyſon) called Symbol. in Symbol. Calvinian. malicious Papiſt uſed againſt Calvin, when he brought him in, ſaying, I would the names of the Trinitie, Perſon, homoouſios, &c. were buryed, but left out theſe words; So that the truth of thoſe Articles of the Chriſtian Creed were received and imbraced by all; we ſay the Papiſt in this corrupt and maimed allegation followed the devill in his quotation of the 91 Pſalme againſt our Saviour, Matth. 4.6. where he bringeth in a Text of divine Providence, He ſhall give his Angels charge over thee, and in their hands they ſhall beare thee up, left at any time thou daſh thy foot againſt a ſtone, verſ. 11, 12. but leaveth out the limitation, they ſhall keepe thee in all thy wayes.
In this example I have done you a favour to compare you to a Papiſt, and the Papiſt iuſtice in matching him with the devill, whoſe proper ſinne (as a devill) isſ2 Tim. 2. ſlander.
And I would take you for an Antinomian (as many doe) but that in the ſame booke whence they have learned to ſuſpect you for one of that Sect, I finde ſomewhat which ſhews you are not ſetled in their way, and it is your equall and indifferent dealing in part betwixt the Antinomians and their oppoſites in theſe words;tOccaſionall word prefixed before the flowings of Chriſts blood. pag. 1, 2. Some hearing the Doctrine of Free-grace, thinke preſently there will follow nothing but looſeneſſe, and libertiniſme, and others hearing of holineſſe of duties and obedience, thinke there will follow nothing but legalneſſe, bondage, and ſelfe-righteouſneſſe; upon theſe jealouſies one ſuſpecting the others doctrine, bends againſt another in expreſſions ſomething too uncomely for both; and there are ſome unwarrantable notions to be found on all ſides: and yet after a little impartiall equipoyſe betwixt both parties, and their opinions, you ſway all that followeth ſo for Free-grace, as to caſt diſgrace upon the Law; for you ſay,uIbid. pag. 56. If Chriſt had been more in the Divinitie of theſe times, in their preachings for Reformation, and Moſes leſſe, we had had not onelyonly more of his grace, but more of his glory then we ſee.
Whereas indeed by filling out of this new wine too freely, (to uſe yourxIbid. pag. 9. phraſe) many have play'd the looſe and wicked wantons, and have ſinned the more that grace might abound, Rom. 6.1. becauſe they thought themſelves not bound to the Law as to a rule of life.
All this while having endeavoured to diſcover of what Religion you are, I cannot yet finde that you have made choice of any.
You would have me take it for a part of your praiſe that youySmoke in the Temple p. 11. of your anſwer to me as it is in the ſecond edition. were not haſty to beleeve; but is there not a faulty ſlowneſſe of faith, which our Saviour reproveth in ſome, calling themySmoke in the Temple p. 11. of your anſwer to me as it is in the ſecond edition. fooles for not being forward enough to beleeve, Luk. 24.25. but you take it perhaps for a point of prudence, to keepe your ſelfe unengaged untill you ſee what varietie thezSmoke pag. 7. and of your Anſwer to me, pag. 47. 63. toleration you ſtand for (if it be obtained, as I hope it never will be) will bring forth; and you tell us that yetaSmoke, pag. 3. §. 11. we are but in our comings out of Babylon, and the fall of Babylon not yet, the ſmoke yet in the Temple, the Angels but yet pouring out their vials, the Angels that enlighten the earth not yet flying through the heavens: and yet towards the later end of yourbPag. 66. booke you ſay, Now the ſpirituall diſpenſation being come, even the Goſpel of Jeſus Chriſt, there is a fulneſſe of ſpirit let out upon the Saints and people of God, which gathers them up more cloſely, ſpiritually, and cordially then the power of any former diſpenſations could doe.
In the proſecution of this third reaſon of my refuſall to take you for an Antagoniſt hereafter, if I have been too copious, it is becauſe you have been too various and diffuſive in your fancies for matters of religion, ſo that I ſincerely profeſſe I know not where to finde any certaine fixing of your faith, nor in what predicament of profeſsion to place you, whether directly or reductively. And I thinke it my part rather to pray for you that God would eſtabliſh you in his truth, then to trace you through the multiplicitie of opinions diſperſed in your papers, eſpecially when they are not more untrue in themſelves, then uncertaine to your Reader whether they be yours or no.
Fourthly, If I could tell of what minde you are now, I ſhould have little incouragement to ſet upon the confutation of your preſent errours; becauſe you are a man ſo unſtable, that I may probably ſuſpect a prevention of my paines, or diſappointment of my purpoſe, viz. your c…nviction therein, by your voluntary departure from your precedent opinions, (before it could reach you) upon a pretence of new light, and further enlargement of Goſpel-grace. That this is no ſlander of you, nor ſiniſter ſurmiſe, will appeare by your Smoke in the Temple, for having alleadged ſome paſſages of your Booke of Policie againſt your opinion profeſſed in your New Quere, you anſwer me thus;dSmoke in the Temple, p. 13. For ſome things in my Booke of Policie I looke on them as a part of the darkneſſe I was in, and I can freely joyne with any in cenſuring my unregenerate part in me, as I eſteeme much of my carnall reaſon to be.
And upon another quotation of mine out of the ſame Booke, you reply againe,eIbid. pag. 45. I told you before I dare not allow my ſelfe the priviledge of an Aphoriſme of light then, when it was rather night then day with me; and a third time urging you with your own words out of the ſame booke, you anſwer me againe;fIbid. pag. 59. I told you my Politicks were written by my dimmer light; and yet let me tell you Sir (and I beleeve all judicious Readers of your Dictates will be of my minde) that booke was the beſt that ever you wrote, and therefore the beſt becauſe freeſt from errour, and freeſt from errour, becauſe it ſetteth down the practice of Policie in a Chriſtian life, taught from the Scriptures, as you expreſſe it in your Title Page, and conſiſteth of aphoriſmes, grounded upon a Text of Gods word, for the moſt part pertinently and truly applyed.
A fifth Reaſon why I ſhall but this once, not hereafter take you to taske in a word warre, is this; I perceive you glory in the quicke diſpatch of your worke, that is, to mine underſtanding, in beſtowing little ſtudy and taking little paines for what you publiſh, or, (as the Proverbe hath it) in making more haſte then good ſpeed. For in your Letter to me you ſay thus;gSmoke, p. 2. You ſee my labours, deducting the time of their printing, are of about two weekes growth, younger by ſome ſixe weekes if I miſtake not then yours; where you meane not I ſuppoſe that I was ſixe weekes in anſwering a ſheet of paper of yours, and that you anſwered fifteene ſheets of mine in two weekes; for you know not what private time I tooke for it out of publique employment; but comparing the publication of my booke from the Preſſe about the tenth of December, and of yours about the ſixteenth of Ianuary following, the computation you make in that reſpect is not much miſtaken: But why Sir ſhould you confine your ſelfe to two weekes time, when it was in your power to have allowed your ſelfe more? and it ſhould have been a part of your prudence not to have tuckt your ſelfe up to ſo little, eſpecially if you conceive, (as you ſay in your Letter to me,) I have much advantage of learning and experience; Sure if you thought ſo indeed, you would be more wiſe then to give me ſo much advantage by your over-haſty, and unconcocted effuſions, as you have done; Nor is this the firſt time of your precipitation and boaſting in this kinde, for in the yeere 1643. you ſet forth an Examination of Mr. Fullers Faſt Sermon, (preached at the Savoy, Iuly 26. and afterward printed), and you dedicated your Booke to thoſe Divines (under the Title of The moſt Sacred and Reverend Aſſembly for Reformation of the Church convened by Parliament) whom now you mention with a meioſis of eſtimation, as if all of them together were but a companie of ſuch deſpicable dwarfes, that Mr. T. the confident Antipaedobaptiſt might defie them, as Goliah did all the armie of Iſrael; and in the firſt lines of your Epiſtle Dedicatorie to them, you ſay you have but the thoughts of an afternoone to ſpread before them, and that you examined in the ſame pace you read. Now truly Sir, if this be true, I cannot commend your diſcretion in ſuch expedition; I know you will not plead for your warrant the words of our Saviour to Judas, Joh. 13.27.
You pretend as the motive to ſuch haſty motion, that your intent was, if it were poſſible, truth might overtake an errour before it went too farre, and you hope for pardon if your zeale to the truth made you ſee anothers faults ſooner then your owne; but you ſhould have conſidered, that your adverſary was a man of eminent parts, much more adviſed in what he publiſhed in the Pulpit, and by the Preſſe, then your ſelfe; and that following him in ſuch poſt-haſt, before you had well weighed what you wrote againſt him, it was not like to fall out, that (at long running) truth ſhould overtake errour, but rather that many errours on your part ſhould overtake ſome errours on his; and that the zeale which made you ſee anothers faults ſooner then your own was too like that of the hypocrite, Mat. 7. verſ. 3, 4, 5. and not to be thought more capable of pardon then of reproofe; for the truth had no ſtead of, nor was it like to have any aid by ſuch an extemporary undertaking of a cauſe of ſo great moment as the reformation of the Church.
And if your Adverſary had beene ſo contemptible (as he was not) that nothing could be too ſlight for him which came from you, the Aſſembly of Divines, to whom you dedicated your printed paper, ſhould have beene more venerable with you, then that you durſt offer ſuch ſudden conceptions to their peruſall and acceptance by way of dedication, unleſſe you conceived that their aſpect and protection could help and heale what was weake and ſicke in your overhaſty birth; and I confeſſe you ſeeme (but whether I ſhould take it for Poetry or flattery, I cannot tell) to attribute ſo much unto them, in your Epiſtle; where you ſay, That ayring your aſſertions under their Patronages will heale them; for ſo they brought forth the ſick into the ſtreets, that at leaſt the ſhadow of Peter might touch ſome of them. But this perhaps you will ſay was written by your dimmer light, when it was rather night then day with you, (as before I have noted) and I beleeve it was, for your whether imaginarie or adulatorie elluſion is a ſtraine of elevation of them, both above their merit, and acknowledgement.
But that which at the preſent I muſt preſſe a little further upon you, is the coercion of your Pen, that you put it not upon ſuch ſpeed as if it were yet as a quill in the wing. I ſuppoſe being a Poet you have read, and not forgot that of Horace concerning Lucilius, a—In h…ra ſ…pe due…tor Ʋt magnum verſut dictabat ſtans pede in une. Cum flueret lutulent… … qu…d collere velles. Her. Serm. l. 1. p. 212,powring out two hundred verſes in an houre and ſtanding on one foot; in which though ſomewhat were worth noting, yet his ſtreame runne muddily. And he commends thoſe verſes moſt which have beene made withb— in verſu facieudo Saepe caput ſcaberet, vivos & roderet ungues. Hor. Ibid. p. 237. often ſcratching of the head and biting of the nayles to the quick; and diſcommends ſuch as have not taken up c— carmen reprehendite quod non Multa dies, & multa litura cocrcuit, atque Perfectum decies non caſtigavit ad unguem. Hor. de Arte Poet. p. 369.many dayes, nor come under many blots, even to a tenfold correction; this in reſpect of number, and for time he would haved— ſi quid tamen olim Scripſeris, in Metii deſcendat judicis aures, Et patris, & noſtras, nonumque prematur in annum. Hor. Ibid. p. 373. 374. many dictates kept under the file even to the ninth year, which Quintilian the famous Rhetorician (whomeHic ſere omnes Latinos ſcriptores repreheudit, uni Quintiliano aſſurrexit. Bucolzer Index Chronol. ad an. 1465. p. 420. Laurentius Valla who carped at almoſt all Latine Writers, did ſingularly reverence) did ſo much approve of, that he kept his books in his private ſtudy long; that (as he gives the reaſon for it)*Ʋſus Horatii conſilio qui in Arte Poetica ſuadet ne praecipitetur editio nonum que prematur in annum, dabo iis otium ut refrigerato inventionis amore diligentius repetitos tanquam Lector perpenderem. Sic Quintil. in Epiſt. Tryphoni Bibliopola. praefix, Inſtit. Orat. the affection which naturally men beare to their owne invention may be cooled, and that a man may come to review of his owne writings with the indifferencie of an ordinary Reader.
It may be for the diſpatch you make, and make your boaſt of, you expect the praiſe of pregnancie of wit, asfThebis hebetes & brutos naſci relatum eſt, Athenis ſcribendi dicendique acutiſſimos, ubi penes colitam pueri menſe citius eloquuntur praecoce lingua. Tertul. deanima. Tom. 2. Edit. Rhenan. p. 331. Tertullian commends ſome Athenian children for their forwardneſſe to ſpeake at a monethmonth old, and asgSeptennes pueri concionantur in ordine Franciſci. Phil. Boſq. quarta Naufrag. Tabula. in ord. Franciſci in Dominic. pt. Pentecoſt. p. 241. Philip Boſquier doth his Franciſcan Brenthren of whom he ſaith, That boyes at ſeven yeeres of age preach in the Order of Francis, or (which is commendation enough for any mans beliefe) ashSixt. Senenſ. Biblioth. Sanct. l. 4. p. 220. col. 2. Sixtus Senenſis reporteth to the praiſe of Co… nelius Muſſe, that at twelve yeeres old he was an eloquent Preacher. And for thoſe rude times that might deſerve praiſe which in this knowing and learned Age may need pardon, eſpecially if without need any man will obtrude that upon a rationall Reader which hath more affinitie with the nimbleneſſe of conceit, then with the ſoliditie of judgement; and how ſoever ſudden ſparkes and flaſhes of fancie may take with the vulgar, they will not hold reputation with the wiſe, but rather ſtirre up indignation and diſdaine. And if I ſhould ſay that your Anſwer to me hath had no better acceptance with ſome very judicious and godly Divines, I am able to prove it, how fondly ſoever your ſelfe, or your ſeduced followers conceive of your papers. I deny not but ſometimes a man may be unexpectedly put upon it, to doe that extempore, which he would not willingly undertake but upon deliberation; and I have beene neceſsitated on the ſudden to preach even in the Vniverſitie, and in other places ſome of my Dictates have beene divulged with more diſpatch then I wiſhed; yet I was alwaies of the mind of David (and know no cauſe to be a changeling in it) who would not offer unto God of that which coſt him nought, 2 Sam. 24. nor would I ſo farre undervalue the judgement of men, eſpecially in this learned age, as to offer any thing to their peruſall, which had not come under a threefold cenſure on this ſide the Printing Houſe; the firſt of mine owne ſerious and rigorous reviſall; the ſecond of ſome middle capacitie, that I may know whether it be obſcure or no to an ordinary Reader; the third of ſome judicious Critick, that I might not juſtly come under the rod of an accurate Reader.
And in the choice of Bookes I would be glad to know not onelyonly the Authour, who makes them, but what time and ſtudie hath beene imployed upon them; and if they have taken up tenne years time, as did Perer. hisiHis firſt Tome was ſet forth an. 1589. and his laſt an. 1598. Comment. upon Geneſis: orkAdric. Delph. Praſat. in Theatr. Terrae … Sanct. p. 3. Thirty yeers, as Theatrum Terrae Sanctae made by Adrichomius Delphus as he profeſſeth in the Preface of his Booke: orlEmau. Sa. Aphoriſm. praefat. Lectori. p. 2. fortie yeers or thereabouts, which Eman. Sa. ſpent upon his Aphoriſmes, I like them ſo much the better (caeteris paribus) as they were done with more advice, ſtudie, and premeditation.
I will conclude this reaſon with a domeſticall ſtory which may be pertinnently applied to our caſe; A noble man had a controverſie in law with a Brewer, who had a garden and dwelling houſe bordering neere upon his, the Brewer gave a charge to his ſervant to put in ſo many hogſheads of water more into all his brewings then hee had wont to dee, telling him that ſuch a ſupply would beare the charge of his ſuite with his Adverſary; which being overheard by the Nobleman, he ſent preſently to the Brewer, reſolving he would not goe any longer to law with him, who upon ſuch eaſie and cheape termes could manage his part of the ſuit; I will make bold to apply it (upon confidence that you will doe …s you ſay,*Smoke in the Temple in anſwer to me. p. 13. for interpreting any thing from me on the better ſide of it,) while you ſuffer your fancie to flye abroad ſo faſt, and have ſuch a fluid inkpot as ready at hand as the Thames to the Brewer, in ſuch a cauſe to write in a fortnight more then an abler man then your ſelfe would undertake to doe in a monethmonth, I ſhall not thinke it fit to draw out this diſſention betwixt us to any further length, nor have I leiſure, or if I had, for the for… reaſ…s I ſhould have no liſt to wiredraw a debate or Controverſie of this kind with you, or any one elſe who makes no more of the matter then you doe.
Sixthly, It is needleſſe for me to be engaged any further in this quarrell; ſince,
Firſt, I am aſſured by very convincing evidence that your interpoſition for delay in ſetting up the Church Government (which at firſt I feared would prove a Remora unto it) is not like to give any impediment to the expedition deſired.
Secondly, Others, who thinke I might be better imployed in more publique ſervice, me willign to take me off this controverſie, and to undertake you themſelves, as occaſion ſhall require.
Now Sr. having done with you as an Adverſarie, I would cloſe with you upon kind and Chriſtian termes, if I knew under what notion to take my leave of you, with your good liking; and I am doubtfull what relation to make uſe of, ſince you ſay,aIn your Deſigne of Reconcil. p. 5. nu. 17. We may be in one Chriſt though diverſe, and we may bee friends though not Brethren,. If we be in one Chriſt I ſhould rather ſay we are Brethren, though not friends; but if we be friends and in Chriſt, we muſt needs be Brethren, ſonnes of the ſame Father, and heires of the ſame hope, and inheritance in heaven; although not knowing, or ſuſpecting each others intereſt, wee may bee more unfriendly among our ſelves then we ſhould be: And though you be leſſe a Brother then you have been, for (as I heare) you acknowleldged before the Honourable Committee of Examinations that you have renounced your Ordination, the ground of your Miniſteriall Brotherhood in the Church of England, yet ſince you are pleaſed to call me bothbSo in the inſcription of your Letter. Friend andcIn your Smoke p. 26. Brother; I ſhall (with much hearty ſorrow to ſee your good parts ſo ill imployed, as they are, on the wrong ſide, and my fervent prayers to the Father of lights to give you light for ſmoke, to guide you into the way of Truth and Peace, and to ſettle you in it) ſincerely ſubſcribe my ſelfe
Yours in the affections and offices of a friend and Brother JOHN LEY.