Downame - Puritan-02038 v2

774 Of tile é f irituoll emit t which accompany worldly thing!. .Quo major qui vnto finne,and as furtherance s in their wicked courfes, this peccaralrque Both much aggrauate their fault, andprouokes the Lord to Minor wuja more heauie dií leafurc. Befides, the more highly they are peceandi,eo ma- p tut peccatum. aduanced in the feate ofprofperitie,the more their wholeca- riage and behaui our obferued,the more alto imitated and followed by thofe who behold and looke vpon it. Whereby the Granes of great men are doubled and redoubled, becaufe they are exetnplarie and fcandalous, drawing others,as euill prefidents,to the committing of the like wickedneffe. In re- gard whereof it is truly Paid, that in the greateff profperitie IN maximafor- there is leaf} libertie ; becaufe in greatperfonages, apparan- tunaminima eft cesofcuill are faults ,andfaults crimes; feeing they vngrate- ra .in con- fully neglect the Lord , vino whom they are bound in fo ma- and extraordinarie bonds ofloue; and alfogoenotthe iur.Ctil. Y way of defiru6tion alone, but draw on, and intice many o- thers by their euill example to beare them company. So like - wife this great and profperous cftate in the world,doth make menmore prone to offend in the light ofmen, as it maketh them more proud,infolent,and apt to offer wrongs andiniu- ries,when hauing the law in their owne hands,they maydoe what they will without relifl:ance; and hauing thus offended it:doth both thew and aggrauate their faults for as the rifts and leakes in a veffel are not eafily difcerned whileff it remai- neth emptie, but plainely appeare when it is filled with wa- ter; fo whileff a man is deflitute of worldly riches and pre - ferments,his infirmities are not much obferucd ;bur no foo- net is he aduanced,and(as it were)filledwith thefe large gifts ofworldlyprofpertty,but his corruptions and fpiritualleakes are confpicuous in the fight of all men. So that if there bee not in great perfons a great and extraordinarie reformation, they.doe in sliming vp to thefe high places, and continuing Bill in their vices and times, but (like Apes on the tops of houfes)draw men the more readily to looke vponthem, and looking to behold their nakednes and filthineffe. And as thegreatn ¡fí'e of the bafe Both make the image vpon it to feeme fo much the leffe; fo the greatneffe of mens places loth but themore extenuate their worth,and íhewthe great difproportion,betweene their aduancement and defert.Nei- cher, princ.requir. doEtr.