earth, the more it fills the eye: Judge not, therefore, according to appearance.

It is a useful and excellent rule, for the avoiding of error in our judgment of all matters, whether NATURAL, CIVIL, or DIVINE.

I. NATURAL. What is the appearance of a person, but the colour, shape, stature? The colour is ofttimes bought or borrowed; the shape, forced by art; the stature, raised (to contradiet Christ) a cubit high; Judge not, therefore, according to appearance. What are the collusions of jugglers and mountebanks, the weepings and motions of images, the noises of miraculous cures and dispossessions, but appearances? Fit aliquando in ecclesiá maxima deceptio populi in miraculis fictis à sacerdotibus; "There is much cozenage of the poor people by cogged miracles," saith Cardinal Lyranus. These holy frauds could not gull men, if they did not judge according to appearance. Should appearance be the rule, our harvest had been rich: there was not more shew of plenty in our fields, than now of scarcity in our streets. This dearth, to say truth, is not in the grain; but in the heart. If the hearts of men were not more blasted with covetousness and cruel self-love, than their grain with distemper of air, this needed not. The barns and granaries are full; the markets empty. Authority knows how to remedy this evil; how to prevent a dearth in abundance: that men may not affamish, whom God hath fed; and that, when God hath given us the staff of bread, it may not be either hid or broken; shortly, that our store may not be judged by the appearance.

II. CIVIL. Wisemen, and statesmen especially, may not always look the same way they would go. Like skilful seamen, they sometimes laver; and, as the wind may stand, fetch compasses of lawful, policies to their wished point. That of Tiberius was fearful; of whom Xiphiline ὧν ἔλεγεν ἔδὲν ἐβέλειο; That he sailed ever against the wind of his words. But sometimes a good Constantius or Anastatius will wisely pretend what he intends not: as our Saviour made as if he went further, when he meant to turn into Emmaus. The hearts of kings are as deep waters: we may not think to drain them in the hollow of our hand. Secret things to them of whom God hath said, Dixi dii estis; things revealed, to us and our children. Even we mean ones would be loth to have always our hearts read in our faces; Judge not, therefore, according to appearance.

III. DIVINE. In these our speech must dwell.

1. If we should judge according to the appearance, WE SHOULD THINK BASELY OF THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD. Who, that had seen him sprawling and wringing in the cratch, flitting to Egypt, chopping of chips at Nazareth, famishing in the desert, transported by Satan, attended by fishermen, persecuted by his kindred, betrayed by one servant, abjured by another, forsaken of all, apprehended, arraigned, condemned, buffetted, spat upon, scourged to blood, sceptred with the reed, crowned with thorns, nailed to the Cross, hanging naked betwixt two thieves, scorned of the beholders,

sealed up in a borrowed grave, could say other than, He hath no form nor beauty; when we shall see him, there is nothing, that we should desire him? Who, that should have seen his skin all dewed with pearls of bloody sweat, his back bleeding, his face blubbered and besmeared, his forehead harrowed, his hands and feet pierced, his side gushing out, his head bowed down in death, and should withal have heard his dying lips say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? would not have said, He is despised and rejected of men, yea, in appearance, of God himself? Yet, even this while, to the cutting of the sinews of those stiff-necked Jews, the Angels owned him for their Lord, the Sages adored him, the Star designed him, the Prophets foreshewed him, the Devils confessed him, his Miracles evinced him, the Earth shook, the Rocks rent, the Dead looked out, the Sun looked in astonished at the sufferings of the God of Nature. Even while he was despised of men, he commanded the Devils to their chains: while base men shot out their tongues at him, Principalities and Powers bowed their knees to him: while he hanged despicably upon the tree of shame, the Powers of Hell were dragged captive after the triumphant chariot of his Cross. The appearance was not so contemptible, as the truth of his estate glorious: Judge not, therefore, according to ap

pearance.

2. Should appearance be the rule, HOW SCORNFULLY WOULD THE CARNAL EYE OVERLOOK THE POOR ORDINANCES OF GOD? What would it find here, but foolishness of preaching, homeliness of sacraments, an inky letter, a priest's lips, a savorless message, a morsel of bread, a mouthful of wine, a handful of water, a slander-beaten Cross, a crucified Saviour, a militant Church, a despised profession? When yet, this foolishness of preaching is the Power of God to Salvation; these mute letters, the lively Oracles of God; these vile lips, the cabinets of heaven to preserve knowledge; this unplausible message, Magnalia Dei; this water, the Water of Life in the midst of the Paradise of God, agiotov pèv dwp; this bread, the Manna of Angels; this wine, Heavenly Nectar; this Church, the King's Daughter, all glorious within; this dying Sacrifice, the Lord of Life; this Cross, the Banner of Victory; this Profession, Heaven upon Earth: Judge not, therefore, according to appearance.

3. Should appearance be the rule, WOE WERE GOD'S CHILDREN, HAPPY WERE HIS ENEMIES. Who, that had seen Cain standing masterly over the bleeding carcase of Abel, Joseph in his bonds, his Mistress in her dress, Moses in the flags, Pharaoh in the palace, David sculking in the wilderness, Saul commanding in the Court, Elijah fainting under his juniper tree, Jezebel painting in her closet, Micaiah in the prison, Zidkijah in the presence, Jeremiah in the dungeon, Zedekiah in the throne, Daniel trembling among the lions, the Median Princes feasting in their bowers, John's head bleeding in the platter, Herod smiling at the revels, Christ at the bar, Pilate on the bench, the Disciples scourged, the Scribes and Elders insulting; would not have said, O happy Cain, Potiphar's Wife, Pharaoh, Saul, Jezebel, Zidkijah, Zedekiah, Median Princes,

Pilate, Herod, Elders; miserable Abel, Joseph, Moses, David, Elijah, Micaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, John, Christ, the Disciples? Yet we know Cain's victory was as woeful, as Abel's martyrdom glorious; Joseph's irons were more precious, than the golden tires of his Mistress; Moses' reeds were more sure, than Pharaoh's cedars; David's cave in the desert more safe, than the towers of Saul; Elijah's raven a more comfortable purveyor, than all the officers of Jezebel; Micaiah's prison was the guard-chamber of angels, when Ahab's presence was the counsel-chamber of evil spirits; Jeremiah's dungeon had more true light of comfort, than the shining state of Zedekiah; Daniel was better guarded with the lions, than Darius and the Median Princes with their Janisaries; John's head was more rich with the crown of his martyrdom, than Herod's with the diadem of his Tetrarchate; Christ at the bar gave life and being to Pilate on the bench, gave motion to those hands that struck him, to that tongue that condemned him, and, in the mean while, gave sentence on his Judge; the Disciples were better pleased with their stripes and weals, than the Jewish Elders with their proud phylacteries. After this, who, that had seen the primitive Christians; some broiled on gridirons, others boiled in lead; some roasted, others frozen to death; some flayed, others torn with horses; some crashed in pieces by the teeth of lions, others cast down from the rocks to the stakes; some smiling on the wheel, others in the flame; all wearying their tormentors, and shaming their tyrants, with their patience; would not have said; « Of all things, I would not be a Christian?" Yet, even this while, were these poor torturing-stocks higher, as Marcus Arethusius bragged, than their persecutors: dying victors; yea, victors of death : never so glorious, as when they began not to be: in gasping, crowned; in yielding the ghost, more than conquerors: Judge not, therefore, according to appearance.

When thou lookest about, and seest, on the one hand, a poor conscionable Christian, drooping under the remorse of his sin; austerely checking his wanton appetite, and curbing his rebellious desires; wearing out his days in a rough penitential severity; cooling his unfrequent pleasures with sighs, and saucing them with tears: on the other hand, ruffling Gallants, made all of pleasure and jovial delights, bathing themselves in a sea of all sensual satieties; denying their pampered nature nothing under heaven, not wine in bowls, not strange flesh and beastly dalliance, not unnatural titillations nor violent filthiness; that feast without fear, and drink without measure, and swear without feeling, and live without God; their bodies are vigorous, their coffers full, their state prosperous, their hearts cheerful: Oh, how thou blessest such men! "Lo, these," thou sayest," these are the darlings of heaven and earth: Sic ó sic juvat vivere: while those other sullen mopish creatures are the nadáquala, off-scouring and recrements of the world." Thou fool; give me thy hand: let me lead thee with David into the Sanctuary of God. Now, what seest thou ? The end, the end of these men is not peace: Surely, O God, thou hast set them in slippery places,

and castest them down into desolation: how suddenly are they perished, and horribly consumed! Woe is me! they do but dance a galliard over the mouth of hell, that seems now covered over with the green sods of pleasure: the higher they leap, the more desperate is their lighting. O woeful, woeful condition of those godless men; yea, those Epicurean Porkets, whose belly is their God, whose heaven is their pleasure, whose cursed jollity is but a feeding up to an eternal slaughter! The day is coming, wherein every minute of their sinful unsatisfying joys, shall be answered with a thousand thousand millions of years' frying in that unquenchable fire: and, when those damned Ghosts shall, forth of their incessant flames, see the glorious remuneration of the penitent and pensive souls which they have despised, they shall then gnash and yell out that late recantation; We fools thought their life madness, and their end without honour; now they are counted among the children of God, and their portion is among the saints, ours amongst devils: Judge not, therefore, according to appearance.

4. Should we judge according to appearance, ALL WOULD BE GOLD, THAT GLISTERETH; ALL DROSS, THAT GLISTERETH NOT. Hypocrites have never shewed more fair, than some Saints foul. Saul weeps;

Ahab walks softly; Tobias and Sanballat will be building God's walls; Herod hears John gladly; Baalam prophesies Christ, Judas preaches him, Satan confesses him: When even an Abraham dissembles; a David cloaks adultery with murder; a Solomon gives, at least a toleration to idolatry; a Peter forswears his Master; briefly, the prime disciple is a Satan, Satan an angel of light. For you: how gladly are we deceived, in thinking you all such as you seem: none but the Court of Heaven hath a fairer face. Prayers, sermons, sacraments, geniculation, silence, attention, reverence, applause, knees, eyes, ears, mouths full of God: oh, that ye were thus always! oh, that this were your worst side! but, if we follow you from the Church, and find cursing and bitterness under your tongues, licentious disorder in your lives, bribery and oppression in your hands; if God look into the windows of your hearts, and find there be, intùs rapine, we cannot judge you by the appearance; or, if we could, what comfort were it to have deceived our charity with the appearance of Saints, when the Righteous Judge shall give you your portion with Hypocrites? Whatever We do, He will be sure not to judge according to ap

pearance.

5. If appearance should be the rule, FALSE RELIGION SHOULD BE TRUE; TRUE, false. Quædam falsa probabiliora quibusdam veris, is the old word; "Some falsehoods are more likely than some truths." Native beauty scorns art. Truth is as a matron; error, a courtesan: the matron cares only to conciliate love, by a grave and graceful modesty; the courtesan, with philtres and farding. We have no hierarchy mounted above kings; no pompous ostentation of magnificence; no garish processions; no gaudy altars; no fine images clad with taffeties in summer, with velvets in

winter; no flourishes of universality; no rumours of miracles; no sumptuous canonizations: we have nothing but yáλa adoλov; the sincerity of Scriptures, simplicity of sacraments, decency of rare ceremonies, Christ crucified. We are gone, if you go by appearance: gone? alas, who can but blush and weep and bleed, to see that Christian souls should, after such beams of knowledge, suffer themselves to be thus palpably cozened with the gilded slips of error! that, after so many years' pious government of such an incomparable succession of religious princes, Authority should have cause to complain of our defection!

Dear Christians, I must be sharp, are we children or fools, that we should be better pleased with the glittering tinsel of a painted baby from a pedlar's shop, than with the secretly-rich and invalua ble jewel of Divine Truth? Have we thus learned Christ? Is this the fruit of so clear a Gospel? of so blessed sceptres? For God's sake, be wise and honest, and ye cannot be Apostates.

6. Shortly; for it were easy to be endless; if appearance might be the rule, GOOD SHOULD BE EVIL; EVIL, GOOD. There is no virtue, that cannot be counterfeited; no vice, that cannot be blanched: we should have no such friend, as our enemy, a flatterer; no such enemy, as our friend, that reproves us. It were a wonder, if ye Great Ones should not have some such burs hanging upon your sleeves: as soon shall corn grow without chaff, as greatness shall be free from adulation. These servile spirits shall sooth up all your purposes, and magnify all your actions, and applaud your words, and adore your persons: sin what you will; they will not check you: project what you will; they will not thwart you: say what ye will; they will not fail to second you: be what ye will; they will not fail to admire you. Oh, how these men are all for you, all yours, all you. They love you, as the ravens do your eyes. How dear was Sisera to Jael, when she smoothed him up, and gave him milk in a lordly dish! Samson to Dalilah, when she lulled him in her lap! Christ to Judas, when he kissed him!" See how he loved him!" would some fool have said, that had judged by appearance.

In the mean time, an honest plain-dealing friend is like those sauces, which a man praises with tears in his eyes; like a chesnut, which pricks the fingers, but pleases our taste; or, like some wholesome medicinal potion, that distastes and purges us, perhaps makes us sick, that it may heal us. Oh, let the righteous smite me, for that is a benefit; let him reprove me, and it shall be a precious oil that shall not break my head: break it? no; it shall heal it, when it is mortally wounded by mine own sin, by others assentation. Oh, how happy were it, if we could love them, that love our souls; and hate them, that love our sins! They are these rough hands, that must bring us savory dishes, and carry away a blessing. Truth is for them now, thanks shall be for them hereafter; but, in the mean time, they may not be judged by the appearance.

Lastly, if we shall judge friendship, by compliment; salubrity,