Sir, It was a special happiness, which Chrysostom earnestly re- commended to persons of quality, that they would so order their conversations, that their parents might rather glory in them, than they in their parents ; " Otherwise (saith || he) it is better to rise
* God grant that the end proposed may be obtained, that the ancient and truly venerable nobility may at length return, who by the honour of prudence and know- ledge, and lustre of renowned deeds, may obscure the same progenitors, and quite remove and wipe off the stain brought on its august name. Humph, on Nobility.
f In the same manner, you ought to seek the path of life, as the mariners at sea seek the designed course of their ships, who, if they observe not some luminary in the heavens, steer but an uncertain course, but whosoever is resolved to keep iu the right path of life, must not look down to the earth but to heaven ; and (to speak more plainly) he ought not to follow men but God; therefore if thou woulde^t al- ways keep thine eyes fixed on heaven, and observe the sun whence he ariseth, and take him as thy guide, thy feet of themselves will keep straight in the way. Lactant. lib. 1 . c. 8.
\ Mali esse coguntur, ne viles habeantur, Salv. de Gubernat.
§ Quo vos offendimus i>i alias preesumitmis vrfuptates? si oblectari nolnmvs, nostra inju- ria est ; reprobamus quceplacent vobis> nee vos nostra delectant. Tertul. Apolog. adv. Gcnr.
|| Melius est de contemptibili Jieri durum, quam de claro genere contemptibilem esse, Chrysost. in Mat. 4. Nee Jieri potest quia hunc comiletur ignobilitos etiamsi vel uvis, id proavis natus sil vita inculpatis, qui ab curum studu's alienvs est, segue longissime linn die/is, lumfactis a nobilitate disjunct. Nor can aught but ignominy pursue the wretch, who, though nobly descended, bespatters the escutcheon of his worthy ancestors by his an- worthy conduct.
6 THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY.
" to honour from a contemptible parent, than to be contemptible " from an honourable parent j" but blessed be God, you and your worthy ancestors reflect honour upon each other.
Had God suffered you to degenerate, as many do, it would have been but a poor consolation to have said, My progenitors were men of honour, the love and delight of their country. This, as * one excellently expresseth it, would be the same thing, as if one that is blind himself, should boast what a sharp and piercing sight his father had ; or one that is lame himself, should glory in those feats of activity his grandfather performed; but God (to whose bounty therefore you are doubly obliged) hath made you the inhe- ritor of their virtues, as well as of their lands, and therein fulfilled many thousand prayers, which have been poured out to God upon your account. But I must forbear, lest I provoke others to envy, and draw upon myself the suspicion of flattery. What hath been already said may serve for a sufficient reason of this dedica- tion. I know the ■(• agreeableness of such discourses to the pious dispositions of your souls, is of itself sufficient to make it welcome to you. It is a treatise of Christ, yea, of the Method of Grace, in the application of Christ ; than which no subject can be more ne- cessary to study, or sweet to experience. % All goodness is attrac- tive, how powerfully attractive then must Jesus Christ be, who is the ocean of all goodness, from whom all streams of goodness are derived, and into whom they all empty themselves ? § If Pindarus could say of the lovelv Theoxenus, that whosoever saw that august and comely face of his, and was not surprised with amazement, and enflamed with love, must have an heart of adamant or brass ; what then shall we resemble that man's heart unto, that hath no ferverous affections kindled in it by the incomparable beauty of Christ ! a beauty, which excels in lustre and brightness, that visible light which so dazzles our eyes |], as that light doth darkness itself; as Plato speaks of the divine light Christ is wrefiaKkovrus xoJ.o;, an
■ What profit is the sharp- sighted ness of ancestors to their offspring, deprived of sight ? What help can it give the man that is dumb, for attaining the power of speech, that his parents and grandfathers had the voice of orators ? In like manner, just parents cannot help their unjust children; nor the temperate those who are luxurious : nor at any rate, can the good communicate goodness to the bad. Pkilo. vrsoi 'E-jyiVctac.
f When the mind of the hearer is good and gracious, it easily assents to speeches of truth. Chiysost. Horn. 26. in Mat.
J Ovb-'j a'/./.o g£/v a Bouffiv avOgwroi ?j ns ayaGx aveXxsi rratra, y^ avafrTra* raii otxziaig O.a'A-^/ZGu ug v'/joc. Plato.
§ A'A7i)/ag T0ocwvrs iia^aoTi^isaag ooaTitig og /x« rroOo) '/.v/auivitou, u; aba xavrog.
1| To vortTov <pug, ro o.rf/j7'j-(j\i tiavluv roffsrca ra ogam Ijifjnrgursgov rs iy avfoetbs&gw u<pn ^r'/.iog tf%otsg.
THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 7
inexpressible beauty, and all other beauties are but tntdv, **/ <r*/« an image, nay, a shadow of his beauty. How was holy Ignatius ra- vished with desires after Christ, when * he cried out, O how I long to be thrown into the jaws of those lions, which I hear roar- ing for me ! and if they will not dispatch me the sooner, xK/ «<T£o<rS/a<ro//,a/, I will enforce them to it by violence, that I may en- joy the sight of my blessed Jesus. O my heart, (saith -f- another) how is it thou art not drawn up by the very root, by thy desires after Christ ? The necessity, and the trial of our union with, and interest in, this lovely Loud Jesus, is the main subject of this discourse. Without the personal application of Christ by faith, our hopes of heaven are but deluding dreams, Heb. iii. 11. "I u sware in my wrath, u sifcXsvgovrai, if they shall enter into my " rest :" What then ? Nay, there is all : but it is a dreadful AposU opes is (as one calls it) such a pause as may justly shake every vein of the unbeliever's heart : If they shall enter : as if he had said, If ever they come into my glory, then say, I am no God, for I have sworn the contrary.
I will not be tiresome, but conclude all in a few requests to you and to God for you both. That which I request of you is,
(1.) That you will search and try your own hearts by these truths, especially now, when so great trials are like to be made of every man's root and foundation in religion. Account that your first work, which Bellarmine calls " the first error of Protestants,** to make sure your interest in Christ ; J every thing is as its foun- dation is : a true diamond will endure the smartest stroke of the hammer, but a false one will fly.