but if they are lost, all is lost, and you lost and undone in both worlds.^ Christ, that only went to the price of souls, hath told us that one soul is more worth than all the world. Chrysostom well observeth, ' that whereas God hath given us many other things double — viz., two eyes to see with, two ears to hear with, two hands to work with, and two feet to walk with, to the intent that the failing of the one might be supplied with the other — he hath given us but one soul ; if that be lost, hast thou,' saith he, 'another soul to give in recompense for it?' Ah, friends ! Christ left his Father's bosom and all the glory of heaven for the good of souls ; he assumed the nature of men for the happiness of the soul of man ; he trod the wine-press of his Father's wrath for souls ; he prayed for souls ; he paid for souls, and he bled out his heart-blood for souls.2 The soul is the breath of God, the beauty of man, the wonder of angels, and the envy of devils. It is of an angelical nature ; it is a heavenly spark, a celestial plant, and of a divine offspring, 1 Pet. V. 8. Again, weigh well to Xvrpov, 'the incomparable price,' which Christ paid for the redemption of the soul, 1 Pet. i. 18, 19. What are the riches of the East or West Indies, the spoil of the richest nations, rocks of diamonds, mountains of gold, or the price of Cleopatra's draught, to the price that Christ laid down for souls I 1 John i. 4, 12, and Heb. xxii. 23. The soul is a spiritual substance, capable of the knowledge of God, of union with God, of communion with God, "and of an eternal fruition of God. There is nothing can suit the soul below God, nor nothing that can satisfy the soul without God, nor nothing that can save the soul but God. The soul is so choice, so high, and so noble a piece, that it divinely scorns all the world in point of acceptation, justification, satisfaction, delectation, and salvation. Christ made himself an offering for sin, that souls might not be undone by sin. The Lord died that slaves might live ; the Son died that servants might live ; the natural Son died that adopted sons might live ; the only-begotten Son died that bastards might live ; yea, the judge died that malefactors might live, Heb. ix. 11-14, and x. 10, 14 ; Gal. iv, 4-6 ; Heb. ii. 8. Ah, friends ! as there was never sorrow like Christ's sorrow, so there was never love like Clirist's love, and of all his love none to that of soul-love, Isa. liii. 3, and Gal. ii. 20. To say much in a little room, the spiritual enemies which daily war against the soul, the glorious angels which hourly guard the soul, and the precious ordinances which God hath appointed as means both to convert and nourish the soul, [shew forth that love,] Eph. vi. 11, 12 ; 1 Pet. ii. 11 ; Kom. x. 17 ; 1 Cor. xi. 23-27. The soul is capable of ' a crown of life,' Rev. ii. 10 ; of ' a crown of glory,' 1 Pet. v. 4 ; of ' a crown of righteousness,' 2 Tim. iv. 8; of 'an incorruptible crown,' 1 Coi'. ix. 25. The crowns of earthly princes stand as a sophister's-^ cap, on one side of the head. Many may say of their crowns as that king said of his, 0 crown, more noble than happy 1^ In the time of Galienus the emperor. Anno Christo 260, there were thirty competi-
^ Mat. xvi. 26. The soul is a greater miracle in man than all the miracles wrought amongst men, saith Augustine.
* Isa. Ixiii. 3 ; John ivii. ; Luke xxiii. 34; Mat. xivi. 28.
* ' Sophieter,' a 'pretender to wisdom,' but here probably a University term for an undergraduate of a given (early) standing. — Q.
* Queen Elizabeth was said to «wim to her crown through a Eea of sorrow.
270 THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY.
tors on foot for the Koman crown and throne, who confounded and destroyed one another. A princely crown is oftentimes the mark for envy and ambition to shoot at. Henry the Sixth was honoured with the crowns of two kingdoms, France and England ; the first was lost through the faction of his nobles, the other was twice plucked from his head. Earthly crowns have so many cares, fears, vexations, and dangers that daily attend 'them, that oftentimes they make the heads and hearts of monarchs ache, which made Cyrus say, ' You look upon my crown and my purple robes, but did you but know how they were lined with thorns, you would not stoop to take them up.' ^ But the crowns that immortal souls are capable of are crowns without crosses ; they are not attended with care of keeping or fear of losing ; there are no evil persons nor evil spirits that haunt those crowns. Darius, that great monarch, fleeing from his enemies, he threw away the crown of gold from his head that he might run the faster ; but a sincere Chris- tian is in no danger of losing his crown, 2 Tim. iv. 8. His crown is laid up in a safe hand, in an omnipotent hand, 1 Pet. i. 5. Now what do all these things speak out but the preciousness and excellency of the soul ? Once more, the excellency of the case or cabinet — viz., the body — intimates a more than ordinary excellency of this jewel. The body is of all materials the most excellent. How does David admire the rare texture and workmanship of his body ! ' I am wonderfully made ; I was curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth,' Ps. cxxxix. 13, 15. When curious workmen have some choice piece in hand, they perfect it in private, and then bring it forth to the light for men to gaze at. So here, the greatest miracle in the world is man, in whose very body — how much more in his soul ! — are miracles enough, betwixt head and feet, to fill a volume. One complains that men much wonder at the high mountains of the earth, the huge waves of the sea, the deep falls of rivers, the vastness of the ocean, and at the motions of the stars, &c., but wonder not at all at their wonderful selves.^ G-alen, a profane physician and a great atheist, writing of the excellent parts of man's body, he could not choose but sing an hymn to that God, whosoever he were, that was the author of so excellent and admirable a piece of work ; he could not but cry out, 'Now I adore the God of nature.' 3 Now if the cabinet be so curiously wrought, what is the jewel that is contained in it ! Oh, how richly and gloriously is the soul embroidered ! How divinely inlaid and enamelled is that ! Princes impress their images or effigies upon the choicest metals, viz., "•old and silver. God hath engraven his own image with his own hand upon angels and men, Gen. i. 26, [Damascene.] The soul is the glory of the creation, a beam of God, a spark of celestial bright- ness, a vessel of honour, a bird of paradise, a habitation for God. The soul is spiritual in its essence ; God breathed it in ; God hath invested it with many noble endowments ; he hath made it a mirror ~ beauty, and printed upon it a surpassing excellency. The soul is
'rov. xxvii. 4, ' Doth the crown endure to all generations' — Heb., to generation and ^^"ition ?•