bishops, and deans, and chapters, down with them! These college-lands, these cathedrals, nay, these churchhouses, or temples (for so I will call them, whether the devil will or no,) all come from idolaters, and are abused to idolatry, down with them! Nay, think you but he hath taken the boldness to cry out, These priests, these ministers, are all antichristian, seducers, needless, enviers of the spirit of prophesy, and of the gifts of their brethren, monopolizers of preaching, down with them too! So that though he yet have not what he would have, the old serpent hath done more as a reformer by overdoing, than he did in many a year as a deformer or hinderer of reformation. Yet if he do but see that there is a Sovereign Power that can do him a mischief, he is ready to tell them, they must be merciful, and not deal cruelly with sinners! Nay, it belongs not to them to reform, or to judge who are heretics and who not, or to restrain false doctrine, or churchdisturbers. Christ is sufficient for this himself. How oft hath the devil preached thus, to tie the hands of those that might wound him.

Would you see any further how he hath played this successful game of overdoing? Why, he hath done as much by it in worship and discipline, as almost in any thing. When he cannot have discipline neglected, he is an over zealous spirit in the breasts of the clergy; and he persuades them to appoint men penance, and pilgrimages, and to put the necks of princes under their feet. But if this tyranny must be abated, he cries down all discipline, and tells them it is all but tyranny and human inventions; and this confessing sin to ministers for relief of conscience, and this open confessing in the congregation for a due manifestation of repentance, and satisfaction to the church, that they may hold communion with them, it is all but Popery and priestly domineering.

And in matter of worship, worst of all. When he could not persuade the world to persecute Christ, and to refuse him and his worship, the serpent will be the most zealous worshipper, and saith, as Herod, and with the same mind, "Come and tell me, that I may worship him." He persuades men to do and overdo. He sets them on laying out their revenues in sumptuous fabrics, in fighting to be masters of the holy land and sepulchre of Christ; on

going pilgrimages; worshipping saints, angels, shrines, relics, adoring the very bread of the sacrament as God, excessive fastings, choice of meats, numbered prayers on beads, repetitions of words, so may Ave Maries, Pater Nosters, the name Jesus so oft repeated in a breath, so many holidays to saints, canonical hours, even at midnight to pray, and that in Latin for greater reverence, crossings, holy garments, variety of prescribed gestures, kneeling and worshipping before images, sacrificing Christ again to his Father in the mass; forswearing marriage; living retiredly, as separate from the world; multitudes of new, prescribed rules and orders of life; vowing poverty; begging without need; creeping to the cross, holy water, and holy bread, carrying palms, kneeling at altars, bearing candles, ashes; in baptism, crossing, conjuring out the devil, salting, spittle, oil; taking pardons, indulgencies, and dispensations of the pope; praying for the dead, perambulations, serving God to merit heaven, or to ease souls in purgatory; doing works of supererogation, with multitudes the like. All these hath the devil added to God's worship, so zealous a worshipper of Christ is he, when he takes that way. Read Mr. Herbert's "Church Militant of Rome," pp. 188-190. I could trace this deceiver yet further, and tell you wherein, when he could not hinder reformation in Luther's days, he would needs overdo in reforming ! But O how sad an example of it have we before our eyes in England! Never people on earth more hot upon reforming! Never any deeper engaged for it! The devil could not hinder it by fire and sword; when he sees that, he will needs turn reformer, as I said before, and he gets the word, and cries down antichrist, and cries up reformation, till he hath done what we see! He hath made a Babel of our work, by confounding our languages; for though he will be for reformation too, yet his name is Legion, he is an enemy to the one God, one Mediator and Head, one faith, and one baptism, one heart, and one lip, and one way, unity is the chief butt that he shoots at. Is baptism to be reformed? Christ is so moderate a Reformer, that he only bids, Down with the symbolical, mystical rite of man's vain addition. But the serpent is a more zealous reformer. He saith, Out with express covenanting; out with children; they are a corruption of the or

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dinance. And to others he says, Out with baptism itself. might follow him thus through other ordinances. Indeed he so overdoes in his reforming, that he would not leave us a Gospel, a ministry, a magistracy to be for Christ, no, nor a Christ; (though yet he would seem to own a God, and the light of nature.) All these with him are antichristian.

By this time I hope you see that this way of overdoing hath another author than many zealous people do imagine; and that it is the devil's common, successful trade; so that his agents in stateassemblies are taught his policy, 'When you have no other way of undoing, let it be by overdoing.' And the same way he takes with the souls of particular persons. If he see them troubled for sin, and he cannot keep them from the knowledge of Christ and free grace, he puts the name of free grace and Gospel-preaching upon Antinomian and libertine errors which subvert the very Gospel and free grace itself. If he see men convinced of this, and that it is neither common nor religious libertinism and sensuality that will bring men to heaven, then he will labor to make Papists of them, and to set them on a task of external formalities, or macerating their bodies with hurtful fastings, watchings, and cold, as if selfmurder were the highest pitch of religion, and God had pleasure to see his people torment themselves! I confess it is very few that ever I knew to have erred far in the austere usage of their bodies. But some I have, and especially poor, melancholy Christians, that are more easily drawn to deal rigorously with their flesh than others be. And such writings as lately have been published by some English Popish formalists, I have known draw men into this snare. I would have all such remember, 1. That God is a Spirit, and will be worshipped in spirit and in truth; and such worshippers doth he seek. 2. That Gok will have mercy and not sacrifice; and that the vitals of religion are in a consumption, when the heat of zeal is drawn too much to the outside; and that placing most in externals, is the great character of hypocrisy, and is that pharisaical religion to which the doctrine and practice of the Lord Jesus was most opposite, as any that will read the Gospel may soon see. 3. That God hath made our bodies to be his servants, and instruments of righteousness (Rom. vi. 13.), and helpVOL. I.

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ful and serviceable to our souls in welldoing. And therefore it is disobedience, it is injustice, it is cruelty to disable them, and causelessly to vex and torment them, much more to destroy them. You may see by sick men, by melancholy men, by madmen and children, how unfit that soul is to know, or love, or serve God, that hath not a fit body to work in and by. The serpent knows this well enough. If he can but get you by excessive fastings, watchings, labors, studies, or other austerities, especially sadness and perplexities of mind, to have a sick body, a crazed brain, or a short life, you will be able to do him but little hurt, and God but little service, besides the pleasure that he takes in your own vexation. Nay, he will hope to make a further advantage of your weakness, and to keep many a soul in the snares of sensuality, by telling them of your miseries, and saying to them, 'Dost thou not see in such a man or woman, what it is to be so holy and precise? They will all run mad at last. If once thou grow so strict, and deny thyself thy pleasures, and take this precise course, thou wilt but make thy life a misery, and never have a merry day again.' Such examples as yours the devil will make use of that he may terrify poor souls from godliness, and represent the word and ways of Christ to them in an odious, and unpleasing, and discouraging shape. Doubtless that God who himself is so merciful to your body, as well as to your soul, would have you to be so too. He that provided so plentifully for its refreshment, would not have you refuse his provision. He that saith that the righteous man is merciful to his beast, no doubt would not have him to be unmerciful to his own body. You are commanded to love your neighbors but as yourself; and therefore by cruelty and unmerciful dealing with your own body, you will go about to justify the like dealings with others. You durst not deny to feed, to clothe, to comfort and refresh the poor, lest Christ should say, "You did it not to me." And how should you dare to deny the same to yourself? How will you answer God for the neglect of all that service which you should have done him, and might, if you had not disabled your bodies and mind? He requireth that you delight yourself in him. And how can you do that when you habituate both mind and body to a sad, dejected, mournful garb? The service that God requires; is, "To serve

him with cheerfulness in the abundance that we possess;" Deut. xxviii. 47. If you think that I here contradict what I said in the former Directions, for pinching the flesh, and denying its desires, you are mistaken. I only shew you the danger of the contrary extreme. God's way lieth between. both. The truth is (if you would be resolved how far you may please or displease the flesh) the flesh being ordained to be our servant and God's servant, must be used as a servant. You will give your servant food, and raiment, and wholesome lodging, and good usage, or else you are unjust, and he will be unfit to do your work. But so far as he would master you, or disobey you, you will correct him, or keep him under. You will feed your horse, or else he will not carry you; but if he grow unruly, you must tame him. It is a delusory formality of Papists, to tie all the countries to one time and measure of fasting, as Lent, Fridays, &c. When men's states are so various that many (though not quite sick) have more need of a restoring diet; and those that need fasting, need it not all at once, not in one measure, but at the time, and in the measure, as the taming of their flesh requireth it. As if a physician should proclaim that all his patients should take physic such forty days every year, whether their disease be plethoric or consuming, from fulness or from abstinence, and whether the disease take him at that time of the year, or another. And remember that you must not under pretences of saving the body, disable it to serve God. You will not lay any such correction on your child or servant as shall disable them from their work, but such as shall excite them to it. And understand that all your afflicting your body must be either preventive, as keeping the fire from the thatch, or medicinal and corrective, and not strictly vindictive; for that belongs to your Judge. Though in a subordination to the other ends, the smart or suffering for its fault, is one end, and so it is truly penal or vindictive, as all chastisement is. And so Paul saith, "Behold what revenge," &c. 2 Cor. vii. 11. but as not mere judicial revenge is. Remember therefore, though you must so far tame your body as to bring it into subjection, that you perish not by pampering; yet not so far as to bring it to weakness, and sickness, and unfitness for its duty. Nor yet must you dare to conceit that you please God, or satisfy him for your