EPISCJ:. IY. 333 wardlhip,with patience: he findes more comfort in his aflli~i~ns,then any worlding - A in f,kafures. /\nd as he hath thefe graces to comfort htm wtthm, fo hath be the An. ge s to attend him w~tb~ut; f~irics betterthen his.owne; more powtrfull,more glorious : Thefe beare htm mthmarmes,wake by his bed, keepe hts foulewhlle he bath ir and recdve it when it leaves him. Thefe are fome prefent differences: rhe greardl a:e furure; which could not be lo great, if themfdv~s were n?t wirndfe; no leffe rhen betwixt heaven and hell, tormenr and glory, an mcorrupnble crowne, and fire .unquenchable. Whether Infidels beleeve thefe things orno, we knowchem : fu !hall they buttoo late. What rcmaines butthatwe applaud our [elves in this happindfe, and ~alke on cheerily in this heavenly profd!ion ~ acknowledging that God could not doe more for us; and that we cannot doe enough for him. Let others boa(l (as B your Ladifhipmight withothers) ofancient and Noble Houfes,large pat.rimonirs, or dowries honorable commands; others offamous names, ht~h and envted honours; or the fa~ours ofthegreateft; othersofvalour or beauty,or fvme perhaps ofeminent learning and wit; ic !hall be our pride that we are Chri!tians. To my Lady Ho N oR 1 A H A v. E•· I V .Difcourjingofrbenm[siry •fJJ•prifmt; •mltht eflauofrho{t rPhkh nm!farily JIANtit. MADAM: c MEchinks children are like teeth,troublefome both in cbe breeding, and lofing, and oftentimes painful! while chey ltand: yecfuch, as we neither would, nor can well be wichout. I gGe not about to comfortyou thus late,foryourlolfe, I rathercongratulate your wife moderation and Chri(lian careofthde fir(l fpirituall pri•ileges; defiring onely to facisfie you in what you heard as a wimelfe; not in what you needed as amother. Children are the bleffings ofParents, and Baptifmc is the bkffing ofchildren, and parents : whereinthere isnot onely ufe, but neccffity; neceflicy, not in refpea fo much ofthe end, as ofthe precept: God bath enjoyned ic,. to thecomfort ofparents, and behoofe ofchildren :which therefore,as ic may not be fuperflitioufiy haltened, fo not negligently deferred. That theconremptofbapcifme damneth, is pa(l all doubt; but thatthe con(lraioed abfence thereof, ihould fend D infants co hell, is a cruell rafhneffc. It is not their finnero die early: death isa puniihment, not an offence; an effcc5tofliooe, not a caufe ofcormenr; they want nothino buttime1 which chey could not command. Becaufc they could not live a while loo~ ger, thac cherefore chey fhould die everla(lingly, is che hard fcnrence ofa bloody religion. I am onely forry, that fo harfh an opinion fhould begraced wich the name of a Father, fo reverend, fo divine : whofe fentence yet let no man plead by halves. He who held ic unpoflible fora child to be faved unlelfe the bapcifmall water were powred on his face, held it alfo as unpoflible,for the fame Infant, uoleffe the facramentall bread were received into his mouth. There is tbe fame ground for both, the fame erroc in both, aweakneffe fit for forgetlulneffe; fee yethow ignorant, or ill-meaning po(lerity, cGuld fingle out one halfe oftheopinion for truth, and condemne che 0 • E cheroffalfhood. In fpight ofwhom, one part fhall ealily convince the other; vea witboutall force: fince both cannot ftand, bothwill fall tog<rher for company. Th~ fame mouth, which faid, Unl<ffe ye be bomeagaine ofwater, and che Holy Ghoft faid >lfo, Excepc ye eat the fl<ih of the Sonne ofMan, and drinke his blood: an e~ quail neceflity of both. And left any ihould pleaddifferent interpretations, the fame S. ...A•f/ in averres this latter opinion alfo, concerning the neceOluy communicating of children, to havebeene once the commonjudgementofthe Church ofRome; A fcntence fo difpleafing,that you !hall find che memoryof it noted wich a blacke coalc, and wip'c out in chat infamous bill of ExpMrg•tillfl. Had the ancient Church held cbis drfperate fequcle, what ltrange, and yec wilfull cruelcy had ic beene io them, to deferre baptifme awhole year long: till Ea(ler, or that Sunday, which hath his name (I thinkc) from the white robes of the baptized~ - Yea
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