A divine herbal together with a forrest of thorns In five sermons. ... By…A divine herball together with a forrest of thornes In five sermons. ... By…

4 For obscurity and darkness; the earth is called a place of black darkness, the land of forgetfulness. So Job and David term it. The wicked Soul is full of darkness, thickness of sight, caecity of understanding; not seeing the glorious liberty of the Sons of God. Our Gospel is hid to those that are lost. ¹Whose minds the god of this world hath blinded. ²There is in them Hebetudo mentis, which is acutae rationis obtusio, carnalis intemperantiae crassis sensibus inducta. They are so utterly ignorant of heaven, that (as it is in the Proverb) ne pictum quidem viderunt: they have ⟨p. 109⟩not seen it, so much as in the map or picture. As to men shut up in the low caverns of the earth, not so much as the sun, and stars, and the lights of heavens lower parts have appeared. Tolerabilior est poena, vivere non posse, quam nescire. Ignorance is a heavier punishment then death; saith the Philosopher.³ Darkness is their desire, because their deeds are evil. Perhaps at last, after a long dotage on their dark delight, earth; they come to hear of a better & richer country: and then take only with them the Lantern of Nature to find it. But so erepto lumine can delabrum querunt. Having lost the light, they grope for the Candlestick. A man that comes into his house at midnight, sees nothing amiss: in the day-light he finds many things misplaced. Nature is but a dark Lantern, when by it we endeavour to ransack the conscience. Only the light of grace can demonstrate all the sluttish and incurious misorders in our souls.

4 For obscuritie and darkenesse; the earth is called a place of blacke darkenesse, the land of forgetfulnesse. So Iob and Dauid tearme it. The wicked Soule is full of darkenesse, thicknesse of sight, caecitie of vnderstanding; not seeing the glorious libertie of the Sonnes of God. Our Gospell is hid to those that are lost. ¹Whose minds the god of this world hath blinded. ²There is in them Hebetudo mentis, which is acutae rationis obtusio, carnalis intemperantiae crassis sensibus inducta. They are so vtterly ignorant of heauen, that (as it is in the Prouerbe) ne pictum quidem viderunt: they haue