prodigality and contempt of life, is the greatest ground of this quarrellous and fighting humour; Qui fuam vitam contempfit, dominus eft aliena; There is a kind of men, who because they contemn their own lives, make themselves Lords and Commanders of other mens, eafily provoking others to venture their Blood, because they care not how they lofe their own. Few places of great refort are without thefe men, and they are the greatest occafioners of Bloodshed, you may quickly know them; there are few quarrels wherein they are not either principals, or feconds, or fome way or another will have a part in them. Might there be publick order taken for the reftraint of fuch men, that make a practice of quarrelling, and because they contemn their own lives, carry themselves fo infolently and imperioufly towards others: It will prevent much mifchief, and free the Land of much danger of Blood-guiltinefs.

The fecond caufe which is much alledged in defence of Duels, I told you was point of Honcur, a conceit that it is dishonourable for men of place and fafhion quietly to digest and put up contumely and difgrace; and this they take to be a reafon of that Authority and strength, as that it must admit of no difpenfation: For anfwer, First, the true fountain and original of quarrel are of another kind, and Honour is abufed as a pretence: the first occafioners of a great part of them are indeed very difhonourable, let there an Inventory be taken of all the Challenges that have been made for fome time paft, and you shall find that the greateft part by far were raifed either in Taverns or Dicing-houfes, or in the Stews: Pardon me, if in a cafe of this nature I deal a little plainly; Drinking, Gameing and Whores, these are thofe rotten bones that lie hid under this painted Sepulchre and title of Honour.

Laftly,

Laftly, to conclude, It is a part of our Profeffion, as we are Chriftians to fuffer wrong and difgrace. Therefore to fet up another Doctrine, and teach that Honour may plead prefcription against Chrift's precepts,. and exempt you from patient enduring of Contumely and Difgrace, you withstand Chrift, and deny your vocation; and therefore are unavoidably Apoftats. But we lose our labour, who give young men and unfetled perfons good advice and counfel; the Civil Magiftrate muft lay to his hand and pity them; who want discretion to pity themselves: For as Bees, though they fight very fiercely, yet if you caft a little duft amongst them, are prefently parted; fo the Enacting and Executing fome few good Laws, would quickly allay this greatnefs of Stomach and fighting humour. How many have been cenfured for Schifmaticks and Hereticks, only because by probable confequence, and afar off they feemed to overthrow fome Chriftian Principle? but here are men, who walk in our ftreets, and come to our Churches, who un nepa, openly oppofe that great point of Christianity, which concerns our patience, and yet for their reftraint, no Synod is called, no Magiftrate ftirs, no Church-Cenfure is pronounced. The Church of Rome hath long ago to the difgrace of the Reformed Churches, fhut them out of the number of Chriftians, and pronounced them all Excommunicated Perfons, who upon what pretence foever durft enter the Field for Duel and Single Combat.

Theodofius the Emperour Enacted it for a Law, and it is extant at this day in the Code, a Book of Laws, that if any man fpake difgracefully of the Emperour, Si ex levitate contemnendum, fi ex infamia miferatione dignum, fi ex injuria remittendum.

Lactantius, fumma virtus habenda patientia est, quam ut caperet hemo juftus, voluit illum Deus pro inerte contemni.

So

So great a Virtue is Patience, that for the attaining of it, it is God's will we should fuffer our felves to be contemned as-Cowards.

Chrift is an example to us of fuffering difgrace; let us as the Ifraelites look up to this Serpent, and all the ftinging of fiery Serpents fhall do us no harm."

We must forfake all and follow Chrift: therefore Honour and Reputation too; If we be afhamed of this pattern of Patience, Chrift will be afhamed of

us.

Now that God may give a Bleffing to what hath been delivered, let us, &c.

Matth.

116.

Matth. XXVI. Verse 75.

And he went forth, and wept bitterly.

T

HUS to commit to writing, as here our Evangelist hath done, and fo to lay open to all Pofterity the many flips and errours which

have much blemished and difgraced the lives and actions of the best, and most excellent Men, may feem in the judgment of a reasonable Man to participate of much Envy and Uncharitableness: fo that their good Life had remained upon record for our example, we might very well have fuffered their Errours to have flept and been buried with their Bodies in their graves. St. Paul makes it the Property of Charity to hide the Multitude of Sins; whofe Property then is it thus to blazon them at Mid-day, and to fill the Ears of the World with the report of them? Conftantine, the firstborn among Chriftian Emperours, fo far miflik'd this Courfe, that he profeffed openly, if he found any of his Bishops and Clergy, whom it especially concerned to have a Reputation pure and fpotlefs, committing any greivous Sin, to hide it from the Eye of the World, he would cover it with his own Garment; he knew well that which experience had long ago obferv'd, Non tam juvare que bene dicta funt, quam nocere que peffime; things well faid, well done, do nothing fo much profit and further us, as the Examples of ill Speeches, ill actions do mifchief and inconvenience us: and Men are univerfally more apt from the Errours and scapes of good Men to draw Apologies for their own, then to propofe their good Deeds for Examples and Patterns for the mfelves to follow. Neither is this my own Specula

6

tion, St. Auftin obferved it long fince, who difcourfing upon the fall of David, complains that from his example, many framed unto themfelves this Apology, Si David, cur non & ego? If David did thus, then why not I? Preparas te ad peccandum, faith he, difponis peccare; Librum Dei ut pecces infpicis; Scripturas Dei ad hoc audis, ut facias quod difplicet Deo: Thou doft prepare thy Heart to Sin; thou provideft thy felf of purpofe; thou doft look into the Book of God, even therefore that thou mightest Sin; the Scriptures of God thou doft therefore hear, that by the example of thofe that fell, thou mayeft learn to do that which is difpleafing unto God. Yea, the greater is the Perfon offending, the more dan gerous is the example; For Greatness is able of it felf, as it were, to legitimate foul acts, to add Authority and Credit unto ill doings; Facilius efficiet quifquis objecerit, crimen honeftum, quam turpem Catonem, faith Seneca of Cato; Whofoever he be, faith he, that objects drunkenness to Cato, fhall more eafily prove drunkennefs to be a virtue,than that Cato, who used it, was too blame. When St. Peter (Galath. ij.) had halted in his Behaviour betwixt the Gentiles and thofe of the Circumcifion, St Paul notes, that many of the Jews, yea, Barnabas himfelf, was carried away with their diffimulation; and to fpeak truth, whom would not the Authority and Credit of St Peter have drawn into an Errour ? So eafily the faults of great Men, adolefcunt in exempla, grow up and become exemplary, and fo full of hazard is it, to leave unto the World a Memorial of the Errours, and fcapes of worthy Perfons. Yet notwith. standing all this, the holy Spirit of God, who bringeth light out of darkness, and worketh above and against all means, hath made the Fall of his Saints an especial means to raise his Church: and therefore hath it pleased him by the Pen-men of the lives of his Saints in holy Scripture, to lay open in the view of the World many I 3 grof