'The great lmpoflor. I any pm ofman bath [o many names, as the heart alone; For every. faculty that it A harh, and every atl:ion it doth, it hath a feverall name: Neither is there more multiplicitie, than doubt in this name; Not fo many mmes are ufed to fignifiethe heart, as the heart fignifies many things. When ye heore of the heart, ye think!lraightoftha~flelhypart in the center of the bodie which lives firft,and d~es lafl; andwhofe beaungs you find to keepe time all the ba'dy over; That is not it which is fa cunning; Alas, that is a poore harmeleffe peece meerely paflive;and ifit doe any ~h.ing, as the fubm!niflration_ofVitall fpirits, to the maintenance ofthe whole frame, 1t JSbut good.no, 1t lS the fpmmall pan that lurkes in this Belh, which is guilty of fuch deceit. We mu!llcarne ofwittie Idolatry to diO:inguilh betwixt the !locke and the invifible powers that dwell in it.lt is not B for me to be a ftickler bmvixt the Hebrewes, and the Gr<eke Philofophers,and Phy. fitians in a que!lion ofnaturall Learning,conc'erning the feat ofthe foule1nor to infiO: upon the reafons why the fpirit of~od rather places all_the fpirituall powers in the heart than in the brame; Doubtleff'e tn refpeet aftbe affethons there refident, where· by all thofefpeculative abilities are drawne to praetife;lt lhall fuflice ustotakeihings as we find them, and tO hold it for granted, !bat this Monofyllablc(for fil it is in many longuages)cOmprifes all that intelleCtive and affeffive wr:.riA \vhich concerneth man; and inplaine tmnes to fay, that when God fayes, Thibeart is dmitfo!i, he meanesthe undetftanding, will,affeCtions 'are deceitful!. The under!landing is doubly deceitful!; It makes us beleeve it knoweslbo[e things C which it cloth not; and that it knowes not thofe things which it doth : As fame foolilhMountebanke, that holds it a great_glory to feeme to know all things; or fame prefuming PhyfitilUI, thatthinks it a iliame not to profefTe skill in ony !late ofthe body or difeofe 1 fo doth our vaine underlbnding; therein framing it felfe according to the fpiritsit meets witholh if they be proud and curious, it perfwadcs them, they know every thing; ifcareleff'c, that they know enough. . In the firll, kind ; What hath not the fond heart of man dared to arrogate to it felfe ~It kn,owes all the ftarres by their names; Tulh, that is nothing1 lt knowcs what the ftarl,'CS meancby their very lookes, what the birds meane by their chirping, as Apolloniltf did; wh~t the heart meanes, by the featuresofthe face; it knowes the b events oflife by the lines ot the hand:the fecrets of An, the fecrets of Nature, the fecretS of State, the fecrets of others heartS, yea the fecrets of God in the clofet of heaven; Yea, not onely what God bath done, but what he will doe: This is ([apiens jlr~lt tia)a wife folly,a' lren~m fayd ofhis Valentinians;Ail Figure-ca£lers,Palme1lers, Phyfiognomers, Fonune-tellers,Alchymifts, lantatlick projeCtors, and all the rabble ofproltffors of tho fe ...,;,,,., not fa much cnrions ~sidle Arts, have their word given Aas ,9 . , 9 • t hem by the Apo!lle, Deceiving and deceived,; neither can thefc: men make any worfe fooles than their hearts have made themfelves; andwell may that Alexandrian / ;;;.;.,.,, ,~_wor, tax be [et upon them in both names , whether of aCtive, or paflive folly: And (as itcomm;;~lu falls out, t hat fuperfluous things rob the heart of neceffary) inthe E meane whil~,'tbofe thi~os which the heart may, and would know, it lightly mif· knowes: As our fenfes ar~ deceived by di~:tnce, or interpoftdonsJ to think the St:trres beamie and fparkling; the Moone horned,the Planets equally remote, the Sunne fometimes red, pale other fame: fa cloth a!fo ourunderftanding erre, in mif-opinion of divine things ; Itthinkes it knowes God , when it is but an !doll of fancie, as sauls rneffen<'ers, when they c:~.me imo rhe roome, thoughttheyhadthe true D4vid, whcnitwasbuta Wifpe1itknoweSthe will of God, when it is nothing but grolfe mif-conHruetion: fa as the common knowledge of men, though they thinke ita Torch, is bm an Ignis Fatum to lead them to a ditch: Howmany thoufand Affyrians think they ar<in the way to the Prophet, when they arc in the mid!lof Samaria ~ How many millionsthinkthey walketairdy onto heaven, when indeed they are in t he broad way that leads <0 de!lruCtion ? Oh poore blinde Pagans, halfe. fighted ) . Turks blcare-eied J ewes, blind-folded Papi!ls,Squint-eie~ Schifmaticks,purblind ig· noran;s, how well doe they find themfelves pleafed with their devotion, and thinke Cod fl1ould be lo too 1 when it is nothing buta mixture of mifprifon, fupcr£lition, conceicedneffc
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