Dire(I.IO• Obj. An[w. Obj. Anfrv• nor inlligator, nor pander to•their lufls. Th1s-fire is eafi!y kindled: The Bellows of thy f<LirrTt are needlefs to make {Uch GunpowdLr burn. 1 1 Y ~· 10. Direct. 10· Fff]tntly lame>tt:be/or~ GJJ.'atid.lmn tbefiltbinift t~at thy tongue bath b"n guilty of, aHd "'ajh heart a11d tM~tle·•ll the bt.,dofCim]f ; and fly from the company and converfo of the ob– Jienc, ., thou "''"tdft do frollt a Ptjl-ho•fe bf any infdliour pe]riltl<tial aire. And if thou hear fuch rotten talJt rep.rove lt, o_r be gon~, and 1 Jet the~T! fee th~t t}\out H'atdl it, and fearelt God. 9· 11. Obj. But, fa~th the filrhy m6~u~, ! tbin_Jz ·~ b~~m .~ "!•Y "'' ltot)"aft a11d be merry?' An[ ... _What I h~ll thou nothmg to jeall wllh but dung and nlth and lm and the defilement' of fouls, and the 6ffendrng of God? Wouldll thoU. be tln'Ckah beforo the King or call dung in me faces, and fay, I think no harm, bur am in jeafi ? , ns ~· 12. Obj. Rut, fai1n he, tbofetbat ar~ fo demure, are' it bad in fecrit, and.wor[tthJIIwe. Anfw. W~at ! is a challe tongue a liga1 of an unchafie life? Then tbou maill as equally take a meek and <J.met tongue to be a fign of all ang•y man: or a·lying tobglle to be a figri of a true man : Would the ~rng take that excufe from thee, if thou talk Treafon openly, and fay, Tlioli: that do nof, are ye\ m fecret as b•d as t? I trow'he would not tl!l«! that for an excufe. Tit. 6. l>ireElio11s againfl Prophane.deridill!,, [coming, or oppojing G~dlinef ' .. l.!_ 'rho lixplica- ~· J, TO prevent the Replyes or excufes of the fcorner, I mull here tell you, •· That_by Godline{i tlott. I mean nothing but an entirt devotetines fo Gn4 .md livfng to him : The dD{lrjt~e and jraflicr which U agretab!C? to the buly Scripttt~t: I ~tan n'O fanfies of rnifiaken men, nor the private opini-ons of any [t[l ; bm the pra[iice 1f Chrijlianity it {elf. . ~or:ramintct Joquendum f:rpe, age~te id or:moms 9· 2. z, And yet l·mutl tell-you, that it is <he common practice of t~tfe fcorner.s to f•tl'cn· more upon the "'"""' than the •bftra/1, thep~rfon, than th~,bare[liJ[I,·ine, and io oppofe Godlyperfom as fuch, when yet they fay that they oppofe not Godlineft• The Reafons of this ar~ thefo. : l• Beoaufe they dare be bolder with the perfon, than with the R>tle aod dollrine of God himfelf' It th'ey faorn• at the Eiblt, or at Godlinift dire/1/y as fuch, they O,ould fo openly fcorn at Got! himfelf, that the wo~ldwould cry fhame on therh, and Confcience wou1d worry the~: B~ as- Grxllintji iS in fuch a neigbbour, ot fuch a Preacher, or fuch a man, fo they think they m_ay reverenceit lefs, and that what they do isagainll the per[on and not toe thing. 2 • • I~ men they have f9mething dfe to1retintl, ·to be the matter of their fcorn : Godline[f in men is latent, invifiblt, unprOvable as to the finceriry'qf it; and obfcure as to (he exetcife: If he tHat fcorn.. cth a Godly man, fay [He is not Godly, bu; an Hypocrite ;J in tbi< "'"Id there is no perfefr Juftifi– cation robe had,againll fuch a calumny; but the probJb!e evidence of Profcf[ron and a Godly life is all that can be brought. But Goi:Jline[l as i{ is in Scripture lyech open to the·vitw of all; and canno~ lie denyed there, but by denying the Scriptures thcmfclves. • 3 • Godlineft as in the Rule or holy Scr)phue is perfe/1, Y<ithout artr blemilh that may give a fcorne~ a pretence :'But GIJdiinefi in men is very imperfel1, and mixt with fins; with faults which the world may oft difcern, and the Godly thcmfelvcs are forward:trto ·confcfs: And therefore in them a fcor'ner may find fome plaulible pretenfe: And when he derideth thefe ProftJJourr of Godlinefs as• being 0 Q Hypocrites, he will h?t infiance in thtir vertues, but in1th'eir [a1tlts ; . as in NO'tlhJ druilkennefs, .afi<t Lot! incell;and Dav1d1 Adu!te,ry and Murder, an'd Petert denymg Chnfl: Yet fo as the dart flull be call ar Piety it felf; and the Condulion !hall not be, to drive men from drHnk!nnefr, adultery or anyfin,• but from feriozu Godlincfl it fit{ . 4 . Godlinefs as m the Rule JS to them a more unobferved dormant thmg, and doth not fo much annoy them: (for they can !hut their Bibles, or make nothing ol it, bu.t as a few good words): Bur Godlinefs in the Godly, ~xillent in their Ttachers and N~ighlrours is more difcernable to them, and mo:r.: activ~, and more troublefome ro them, and fo more hattd by them. In adct~d letter, m dud S:titrt,. that troubleth them not, they can commend it: but in tbe living they are rriolelled by it: And rho nt.Jrtr it is to them, the more they are exa[perated agalnfi it. The word is the {ttd of Godlituji ;• which !ealt offendeth them, till it fpring up and bring forth the fruit which condemneth their wicked lives. ~- 3· :;. And as oppofers and fcorncrs do ufually 1\rike at c;>odlinefs through the per[cn and hi< faultt, fo they ufe to flrike at the particular parts of Gods Wo1lliip, r_hrough lome modes or circumfiances, or imperfediOns of men .in the performance. It ts not Pre.ichzng or Pra,)mg that they fcorn if you believe them but this or that manner or imptrfellion in Preaching and Praymg. But the· drift ~f 3"ll is, not to hdp ;t1y man to do it better, but to make them odious that are ufoJl firiotu in doing it a> uU, and thereby to perfwade men that it is a needlefs thing. Yeh~ment ii, , . . . · ~ b L · s jactaredigltos folcblt, ita ut a plettfquc rtdcrdur, & defpe8:ui baheretur : qu:c t.amrn omma X'fUO !lumo 1er' ar. fttrt m ocrAtt. ~· 4· 4·Note alfothat it isnot the Image or ikadpllt of Religion that thefe men are moll offended at and oppofe ; but it is the Life and z.eal and dilig<HCt of the Godly. So that tf they dtffer not from • · them(elves
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