Solomon tell us there is nothing better then that a man should Eat, and: Drink, and make his foule injoy good in his labour. Eccles. 2. 24. And why is God so incenfed against Ifrael for doing what he allowes them? Know then that it is not the act but the time that God ftands upon. Very unfeasonableness is criminall, here and now comforts are fins; to be joviall when God calls to mourning, to glut our maw when he calls to fafting, to glitter when he would have us fackcloth'd and fqualid, he hates it to the death; here we may fay with Solomon, of laughter thou art mad, and of mirth what is this thou doeft? He grudges not our moderate, and feasonable jolities, there is an Ope-tyde by his allowance, as well as a Lent. Go thy. wayes; Eat thy Bread with joy,and drink thy wine with a merry heart, for now God accepteth thy work. Lo Gods acceptation is warrant enough for our mirth: Now may his faints rejoyce, and fing, but there is a time to mourne, and a time to daunce. It was a ftrange word that God had to the Prophet Ezekiel, that he would take away from him his wife, the comfort of his life,and yet he must not mourne,but furely when he but threats to take away from us the publick comforts of our peace, and common welfare; he would have us weep out our eyes: and doth no leffe hate that our hearts fhould be quiet within us, then he hates that we should give him so just cause of our difquiet. Here the Prophet can cry out, Quis dabit capiti meo aquas? And how doth the mournfull prophet now pour out himself into Lamentations, How hath the Lord covered the doughter of Sion with a cloud in his anger, and caft down from heaven to the earth the beauty of Ifrael. Lament. 2.1. Oh that our hearts could rive in funder at but the dangers of those publick Judgments which we have too well deferved; and be leffe fenfible of our private concernments; then should we make a right use of that dreadfull hand of God, of whom our prophet here, thou hast made the Earth to tremble.

This for the paffive Earth quake of publick calamities; now for the active of publick ftirs and tumults; with thefe the land is moved too; and this quaking is fo much more unnaturall for that men are here the immediate troublers of themselves, whereas in the other they are moved by the immediate hand of God: And here alas,what fhall we fay to thofe men that take pleasure in the embroyling of States? that with Nero can fing to fee the City on fire, that love to daunce upon a quaking earth:Yea that affect to be actors in these un

kindly motitations. That great Mathematician braggart could vainly fay, give me a place where to fet my foot, and I will move the earth;that which that proud Engineer would do by Art, thefe men will do by wickedness, that and more, for they will be moving that earth which they cannot but tread upon.I remember Georgias Agricola (who when I was a young man was noted for the most accurate obferver of thefe under ground fecrets of nature) tells us most probably, hat the fecondary and immediate caufe of an Earth-quake is a certain fubterraneous fire kindled of fome fulphureous matter within the bowels of that vaft body,and increased by the resistance of the ambient coldneffe, the paffages whereof being precluded and blocked up by the folid and cold matter of the earth, it rages, and roars, within those dark hollowes, and by the violence of it, as murmuring to be thus forceably imprisoned,fhakes the parts about it, and at last makes way by fome dreadfull Vefuvian-like eruption: Such is the mif-kindled heat of fome vehement fpirits: this, when it lights upon fome carthy,proud, fullen,head-strong difpofition, and findes it felf croffed by an authoritative refiftance, growes defperately unruly; and in amad indignation to be fuppreffed is ready to thake the very foundations of government; and at laft breaks forth into fome dangerous rupture, whether in Church or State: Let no man think I intend to ftrike at a wife, holy, well-govern'd zeal; no, I hugge this in my bolome, as the lively temper of grace, as the very vitall fpirits of religion; I wish there were more of that in the World; Ipeak of the unruly diftempers of male-contented perfons, and of the furies of Anabaptism and Separation. Let fuch men think what they will of themselves, Solomon las paft his doom upon them, Prov. 6. 14. Homo nequam mifcet contentiones, as Tremelius turnes it: He is no better then a wicked man that hatcheth divifions; how ever they may fleight this contentious humour, I dare confidently fay, a private murderer fhall make an eafyer anfwer then a publick difturber, even Apoftolicall charity can with, would to God they were cut off that trouble you, And more then fo, whereas they would not be more ftirring then their neighbours, if they did not think themfelves wifer, he that is wifer then they gives them their own. It is an honour for a manto ceafe from ftrife, but every fool will be medling, Prov. 20. 3. So then a quarrelfome man in a parish, especially if he have gotten a little fmattering of law, is like a cholick in the guts, that teares, and

wrings,

wrings, and torments a whole township;but a Seditionary in a State, or a Schifmatick in the Church is like a fulphureous ficry Vapour in the bowels of the Earth, able to make that ftable element reele again; worse then that Monster of Tyrants, who could fay, qur davorios zum fxenlo me; when I am dead. Let Earth and fire jumble together; but this man fayesi; Let me live to fee the earth totter, and with that fhaking torne and divided; which is the ufuall effect of the Earth-quake, and the fecond head of our intended discourse; Thou haft broken or divided it :

I come not hither to aftonish.you with the relation of the fearfull effects which Earth-quakes have produced in all ages, as it were eafy to do out of histories and Philofophical difcourfes where you may fee Rocks torne in pieces, Mountains not caft down only bur removed, Hills raised not out of Vallies only, but our of Scas, Fires breaking out of Waters, Stones and Cinders belched up, Rivers changed, Scas diflodged, Earth opening, Towns fwallowed up, and many other fuch hideous events: Of which kind our own mcmory can furnish us with too many at home; although thefe colder climates are more rarely infefted with fuch affrightfull accidents. It is more properly in my way to fhew you the parallell effects of the diftempers and calamities in States, and Churches. To begin therefore with the active breaches; whom fhould I rather inftance in, then that wofull heart-burning of Corab the Son of Levi, and of Dathan, and Aliram, the Sons of Reuben? No fooner were they enflamed with an envious rage against Mofes and Aaron, then 250. Princes of the Affembly, famous in the Congregation, menof renown,rife up in the mutiny against their Governours; and thefe draw with them all the Congregation of Ifrael to the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation; What is the Iffue; After Mofes his proclamation the people withdraws from their tents, the earth: opens her mouth, fwallows up Corab and his Company, withall that pertained to them, and they go down quick into the pit. What a fhriek do you think there was, when they found themselves finking into that dreadfull gulfe; as for the 250. Reubenites, fire came out from the Lord and confumed them: Lo, the two terrible effects even of materiall Earth-quakes, opening and burning, which we shall find fpiritually happening in all commotions of this nawre. Look at the rebellion of Jeroboam ; the male-contented mul

titude when their petition fpeeds not, cries out, what portion have me in David, neither have we inheritance in the Son of Feffe, to your tents O Ifrael, lock to thine own houfe, David; What was the effect? Ifrael departed to their tents; only Juda ftuck to Rehoboam, there is the divifion: The ftones fly about the ears of Adoram, and become his fuddain Tomb, and drive their Leige Soveraign to his chariot ; there is the fire of violence.

So upon the harsh proceeding of Innocent the 4th.against Frederick the Emperour; Maxima partialitas populorum fubfecuta eft, as Tritemius tells us; There was fuch a divifion of the people as lasted in the computation of that Author no leffe then 260. years: not without the effufion of much blood; those which took the Popes part were called Guelfes, thofe which took the Emperours, Gibellines; here was qua indeed with this Roman Earth-quake. What fhould I overlay you with inftances. Will ye fee the like effects in the Church? I could tell you of thofe Eastern Earth-quakes caused by the Arrians, Donatifts, Circumcellians; of thofe of Province, and the bordering parts,wherein fo many thousand honest and inoffenfive Albigenfes were overwhelmed. I could tell you of the Parifian maffacres, and many other fuch tragicall acts; take that one whereof Binius himself can tell you; Pope Urban the 6th, coming to his Epifcopall chair would be correcting the loofe manners of the Cardinalls, they impatient of his reformation flew out to Anagina, chofe and fet up another for an Anti-pope Clement 7th. and thereupon perniciofiffimum fchifma, a moft pernicious fchifme arufe, which could not be ftinted of 36. years, or as Fafciculus temporum fayes, of 40. years; in all which time faith he, even the most learned, and confcientious men knew not who was the true Bishop of Rome, cum gravifcandalo totius Cleri, & grandi jactura animarum. In the mean time what wofull work do you think there was, what difcontented murmurs, what roaring of Bulls, what flashes of reciprocall anathema's, what furious fide-takings, what plots, what bloodsheds?

Here at home what deadly divifions have our inteftine Earthquakes brought forth, how have whole fields, whole Countries been fwallowed up with the unhappily raifed Barons wars, with the fatall quarrells of the two Rofes. Bleffed be God, our land bath had reft for many years, ever fince that happy and aufpicious union,

and

and bleffings, and peace be ever upon that gracious head, and. royall line in whom they are united. I fay we have had a long and happy peace, although perhaps it is no thank to fome body: for had that fulphureous mine taken fire (as it was very near it) this State in all likelyhood had not been fhaken only, but quite blowen up; those goodly piles and therein the Monuments of ancient Kings had been, together with the yet ftirring limbes of dying Princes, buried in their own ruine, and rubbish; Deus omen.

It is a dangerous thing (honourable and beloved) for a man to give way to a fecret discontentment, or to the firft offers of sedition: Curfe not the King no not in thy thought, Curfe not the Rich in thy Bed-chamber, Eccles. 10. ult. That great Lawyer faid well, if Treafon could be discovered but in the heart, it were worthy to be punished with death: For how ever fleight and force-leffe thefe beginnings may feem,they bring forth at laft no leffe then publique diftraction, and utter fubverfion; what a poor despicable beginning had the Scirifii, two Brothers in Barbary, who defired nothing of their Father but a Drum and an Enfigne, but with them they made fhift to over-run the two Kingdomes of Fez and Morocco: what a fmal fnow-ball was that which curfed Mahomet began to roll, which fince hath covered all the vallies, yea and Mountaines of the Eaft; what a poor matter is a fpark lighting on the tinder, and yielding a dim blew light upon the match; yet if once it hath light the candle, it foon kindles a fire able to burn a World; yea, what can be leffe confiderable then a litle warm Vapour fuming up in fome obfcure cell of the Earth; had it had but the leaft breathing out, it had vanished alone without noise or notice; but now the inclosure heightens the heat, and the refifting cold doubles it, and now it having gathered head, growes fo unruly, that it makes the Earth to tremble at the fury of it, and tears up Rocks, and Mountaines before it in making vent for it felf: Of this nature is a mutinous fpirit; he needs no other incentive then his own difpofition ; and by that alone,inraged with oppofition,is able to inflame a world: fo wife Solomon, As coales are to burning coales, and wood to fire; fo is a contentious man to kindle flrife. Prov. 26. 21. It hath been alwayes therefore the wisdom of Churches and States by an early fuppreffion to prevent the gathering of thefe hot and headftrong Vapours, by the power of good lawes, by carefull executions, and fo they must

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