A17286:8
The excellency of a gracious spirit Delivered in a treatise upon the 14. of…The excellency of a gracious spirit Deliuered in a treatise upon the 14. of…
The excellency of a gracious spirit Delivered in a treatise upon the 14. of Numbers, verse 24. By Jer. Burroughs minister of Gods Word.The excellency of a gracious spirit Deliuered in a treatise upon the 14. of Numbers, verse 24. By Ier. Burroughes minister of Gods Word.
London: printed by Miles for R. Dawlman, 1639
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EDWARD, Viscount MANDEVILLE.
TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE EDVVARD, Viscount MANDEVILLE.
Right Honourable,
Right Honorable,
There is a common slander that hath been raised, and vile aspersion that hath been, and still is cast upon the ways of godliness; That they dis-ennoble mens spirits, (which Salvian complained of eleven hundred 1years agoe, Si quis ex nobilitate converti ad Deum coeperit, statim honorem nobilitatis amittit; o quantus in Christiano populo honor Christi est, ubi Religio ignobilem facit!) That they make men rigid, melancholy, sour, uncivil; That they dull their parts; That they take them off from the delights of the things in the world; That if men take up the power and strictness of them, they must resolve never, to keep any correspondence with their friends ⟨image 3⟩who are of rank and quality in the world; and therefore although those who have little of the world, and little to do in the world, may live strict lives; yet it is not for such who are borne to great things, whose fortunes are raised higher than other mens, who have references to many of quality & place; it cannot be expected that they should be so strict; this must needs hinder them in their outward accomplishments; if they begin to take such a course, it is impossible they should be complete every way, as beseems such as they are: and thus many are compelled to be evil, lest they should be esteemed vile, as Salvian complains of his time; Mali coguntur esse ne viles habeantur: a notable speech of his, fully suitable to our times. The first observance (that I remember) I had of this place in Salvian, was from your Lordships own hands, showing it to me in him, as an expression that your Lordship was much affected with. But these men do not consider how much they speak against themselves; were this true, it were a snare, a judgement to be raised in outward excellencies above others. No; it is not honour, they are not riches, parts, dignities that hinder godliness; it is the baseness and corruption of mens spirits,