you shall see by that which way the wind is, which you shall not do by casting up a stone. More solid things do not shew the complection of the times so well as ballads and libels.

LITURGY.

1. THERE is no church without a liturgy, nor indeed can there be conveniently, as there is no school without a grammar. One scholar may be taught otherwise upon the stock of his acumen, but not a whole school. One or two that are piously disposed may serve themselves their own way, but hardly a whole nation.

II. To know what was generally believed in all ages, the way is to consult the litur. gies, not any private man's writing: as if you would know how the church of England serves God, go to the common-prayer book, consult not this nor that man: besides liturgies never compliment nor use high expressions: the fathers oft-times speak oratori. ously.

LORDS IN THE PARLIAMENT.

I. THE Lords giving protections is a scorn upon them. A protection means nothing actively, put passively; he that is servant to a parliament man is thereby protected.

What a scorn is it to a person of honour to put his hand to two lies at once; that such a man is my servant, and employed by me, when haply he never saw the man in his life, nor before ever heard of him.

II. The Lords protesting is foolish. To protest is properly to save to a man's self some right; but to protest as the Lords protest, when they their selves are involved, it is no more than if I should go into Smith field, and sell my horse, amd take the money, and yet, when I have your money, and you my horse, I should protest this horse is mine, because I love the horse, or I do not know why I do protest, because my opinion is contrary to the rest; ridiculous, when they say the Bishops did anciently protest, it was only dissenting, and that in the case of the Pope.

LORDS BEFORE THE PARLIAMENT.

1. GREAT Lords, by reason of their flatterers, are the first that know their own virtues, and the last that know their own vices. Some of them are ashamed upwards, because their ancestors were too great. Others are ashamed downwards, because they were too little.

II. The Prior of St. John of Jerusulem is said to be primus Baro Angliæ, the first Baron of England; because, being last of

the

the Spiritual Barons, he chose to be first of the Temporal. He was a kind of an otter, a Knight half Spiritual and half Temporal.

III. Queftion. Whether is every Baron a Baron of some place?

Anfwer. It is according to his patent of late years they have been made Barons of some place, but anciently not, called only by their sirname, or the sirname of some family, into which they have been married.

IV. The making of new Lords lessens all the rest. It is in the business of Lords, as it was with St. Nicholas's image: the countryman, you know, could not find in his heart to adore the new image, made of his own plum tree, though he had formerly worshipped the old one. The Lords that are ancient we honour, because we know not whence they come; but the new ones we slight, because we know their beginning.

2 .I V. For the Irish Lords to take. upon them here in England, is, as if the cook in the fair should come to my Lady Kent's kitchen, and take upon him to roast the meat there be. causé he is alcook in another place.

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MARRIAGE; A 0113

IOF all the actions of a man's life his marriage does least concern other people; Es gif bub di chifyết

yet of all actions of our life, it is most medled with by other people.

II. Marriage is nothing but a civil contract; it is true, it is an ordinance of God; so is every other contract, God commands me to keep it when I have made it.

III. Marriage is a desperate thing; the frogs in Æsop were extreme wise, they had a great mind to some water, but they would not leap into the well, because they could not get out again.

IV. We single out particulars and apply God's providence to them; thus, when two are married and have undone one another, they cry it was God's providence we should come together, when God's providence does equally concur to every thing.

MARRIAGE OF COUSIN GERMANS.

I. SOME men forbear to marry cousin germans out of this kind of scruple of conscience, because it was unlawful before the Reformation, and is still in the church of Rome. And so by reason their grandfather, or their great grandfather did, nor do it, upon that old score they think they ought not to do it; as some men forbear flesh upon Friday, not reflecting upon the statute which with us makes it unlawful, but out of an old score, because the church of Rome forbids it, and their forefathers always forbore

Alesh

flesh upon that day. Others forbear it out of a natural consideration, because it is observed (for example) in beasts, if two couple of a near kind, the breed proves not so good: the same observation they make in plants and trees, which degenerate being grafted upon the same stock and it is also farther observed, those matches between cousin germans seldom prove fortunate. But for the lawfulness, there is no coulour but cousin germans in England may marry both by the law of God and man; for with us we have reduced all the degrees of marriage to those in the Levetical law, and it is plain there's nothing against it. As for that that is said cousin germans once removed may not marry, and therefore being a farther degree may not, it is presumed a nearer should not; no man can tell what it means.

MEASURE OF THINGS.

1.WE measure from ourselves, and as things are for our use and purpose, so we approve them. Bring a pear to the table that is rotten, we cry it down; it is naught; but bring a medlar that is rotten, and it is a fine thing, and yet I'll warrant you the pear thinks as well of itself as the medlar does.

II. We measure the excellency of other men by some excellency we conceive to be in ourselves. Nash, a poet, poor enough (as E 6

poets