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HE fubject-matter of this treatife muft without all controverfy be paffing excellent, it being not only a portion of divinely inspired fcripture, but fuch a portion of it as is the moral law; the moft ftraight, infallible, perfect, and perpetually binding rule of life and manners; that fhort fummary and abridgment of all called-for duties, and forbidden fins (whatever Socinians (with whom Anabaptifts and Arminian Remonftrants on the matter join hands) on a woful defign to transform the gofpel into a new law or covenant of works, that thereby, in place of the righteoufnefs of faith, a righteoufness of works may be established, by their alledged fupplements and amendments of, and additaments to it, to be made in the new teftament; and Papifts by their vainly boasted-of works of fupererogation and counfels of perfection, whereby they would have the law outdone,by doing more than it requireth, audaciously aver to the contrary; even thefe ten words (afterward contracted by the Lord Chrift into two words or commandments) immediately pronounced by God himself,and twice written with his own finger on tables of ftone, comprifing a great many various matters and purpofes; fo that it may without any the least hesitation or hyperbole be afferted, There was never fo much matter and marrow, with fo much admirably-holy cunning, compended, couched, and conveyed in fo few words, by the most laconick, concife, fententious and fingularly fignificant spokesman in the world: and no wonder, ince it is he that gave men tongues, and taught them to speak, that speaketh here, who hath infinitely beyond the most expert of them (being all but battologifts and bablers befide him) the art of fpeaking much, marvelously much in few words; and would even in this have us according to our mea fure humbly to imitate him. And no doubt it is one of the many mo, and more grofs evidences of the declention of this generation from the ancient, lovely and laudable fimplicity, that many men forgetting that God at firft appointed words to be the external figns of the internal conceptions of their minds, and foolishly fancying that, because they love and admire to hear themfelves talk, others do, or are obliged to do fo; affect to multiply words, if not without knowledge, yet without neceffity,and with vaft difproportion to the matter: and

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whereas a few of their words,rightly difpofed,might fufficiently serve to bring us to the very outmoft border and boundary of their conceptions, and alfo to make fuitable impreffions of them (all the end of words) yet, ere we can come that length, we must needs wear away our time, and weary ourselves in wandring through the vaft wilderness of the unneceffary and fuperfluous remainder of them: And this doth usher in, or rather is ushered in by, another piece of neighbour-vanity, whereby men wearying of wonted and long-worn words, tho fufficiently fignificant, grow fond upon novel, new-coin'd, and never-before-heard-of ones, ftretching their wit (if fuperfluity of words, tho' both new and neat, be worthy to be placed amongst the productions of wit; for thereby we are made never a whit the wifer, nor more knowing) and putting their invention on the tenters to find out (no new matter, but) new words, whereby often old, plain and obvious matters are intricated and obfcured, at least to more ordinary readers and hearers; a notable perverfion of the end of words, for which the inftituter of them will call to an account. Neither are they fatisfied with fuch curiofity in coarfer and more common matters; but this alien and foreign, yea, even romantick and wanton ftile of language is introduced into, and malepertly obtruded upon Theologicks, and moft fublimely fpiritual purposes, whether difcourfed by vive voice, or commited to writing (which ought I grant to be spoke as becometh the oracles of God, with a grave appofitenefs of phrase, keeping fome proportion with the majesty of the matter, that they may not be expofed to contempt by any unbecoming incongruity or bafenefs) by which it cometh to pass, to the unfpeakable prejudice and obftruction of edification, that many in their nicenefs, naufeating the form of fimple and found words, are ready to hifs and howt off the theatre of the church the most precious and profitable points of truth, tho' abundantly beautiful, majeftick and powerful in their own native fpiritual fimplicity, as unfit to act their part, and as being but dull and blunt things, if not altogether unworthy to be owned and received as truths; if they appear not, whether in the pulpit or prefs, clothed with this ftrange and gawdy attire, with this comedian's coat dreffed up with the feathers of arrogant human eloquence, and be daubed with this rhetorick and affectedly-belaboured elegance of fpeech (which our truly manly and magnanimous chriftian

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author did undervalue; and no great wonder, fince even the heathen moral philofopher Seneca did look at it as fcarce worthy of a man; for, writing to his Lucillius, he willeth him, inftead of being bufied about words, to caufe himself have a feeling of the fubftance thereof in his heart, and to think those whom he feeth to have an affected and laboured kind of fpeech to have their spirits occupied about vain things; comparing fuch to diverse young men well trimmed and frizled, who seem as they were newly come out of a box; from which kind of men nothing firm nor generous is to be ex pected. And further affirmeth, That a virtuous man speaketh more remifly, but more fecurely, and whatever he faith hath more confidence in it than curiofity; that fpeech being the image of the mind, if a man difguife and polish it too curioufly, it is a token that the speaker is an hypocrite, and little worth: And that it is no manly ornament to speak affectedly; nay, this hath of late with other extravagancies rifen to fuch a prodigious height amongst the wisdom of words, or word wifdom, monopolizing men of this age, that if the great apoftle Paul, who fpoke wisdom) tho' not of this fort, nor of this world) amongst them that were perfect, and did upon defign, not from any defect, decline all wisdom of words, all inticing words of mens wisdom, and excellency of fpeech, that the cross of Chrift might not be made of none effect, and that the faith of his hearers might not ftand in the wifdom of men, but in the power of God, and, who loved to fpeak in the demonftratin of the Spirit and of power, wherein the kingdom of God confifteth, and not in words: if that great apoftle were now preaching, he would probably be looked at by fuch wordy and wife heads as but a weak man, and of rude and contemptible fpeech (as he was by the big-talking doctors of the church of Corinth) if not a mere babler, as he was by the philofophers and orators at Athens. The fubjectmatter, I fay, of this treatise mufts need be most excellent, being the fpiritual, holy, juft and good law; the royal law, binding us to the obedience of God our King; the law which Jefus Chrift came not to deftroy, but to fulfil, whereof he is the end for righteoufnefs to every one that believeth: which doth as a school-mafter lead to him, by difcovering the holy nature and will of God, and mens duty to walk conformly to it; by convincing of the most finful pollution of our nature, heart and life, of univerfal difconformity to it, and innumerable tranf

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greffions of it, of the obligation to the wrath and curfe of God because of the fame, of utter inability to keep it, and to help ourselves out of this finful and wrathful eftate; by hum. bling under the conviction and fenfe of both; by putting on to the renunciation of felf-righteoufnefs, or righteousness according to this law; and finally, by convincing of the abfolute and indifpenfible neceffity of another righteousness, and fo of this imputed righteoufnefs; the law that is fo very ne ceffary to all men in common, and to every regenerate and unregenerate man in particular; from which, ere one jot or title can pass unfulfilled, beaven and earth muft pafs; and which the Prince of paftors, infinitely skilful to pitch on pertinent fubjects of preaching, amongst many others made choice of, to be a main fubject of that folemn fermon of his on the mount; wherein he did not, as many would have expected, foar aloft in abftrufe contemplations, but gracioufly ftooped and condefcended to our capacity, for catching of us, by a plain familiar and practical expofition of the commands (as indeed religion lieth not in high-flown notions and curious fpeculations, nor in great fwellings of words, but in the fingle and fedulous practice of these things that are generally looked on as more low and common, as the great art of preaching lieth in the powerful preffing thereof) infinuating of how much moment the right underftanding of them is, and how much religion lieth in the serious study of fuitable obedience thereto, not in order to juftification, but for glorifying God, who justifieth freely by his grace,through the redemption that is in Fefus; without which obedience, or holiness, no man fball fee the Lord. And, if the treatife bear but any tolerable proportion to fuch a text and theme, it cannot but have its own excellency; and, that thou mayft be induced to think it doth, I fhall need only to tell thee, that it is (tho' alas pofthumus, and, for any thing I know, never by him intended for the prefs, otherwise it had been much more full; for he is much Thorter on the commands of the fecond table, than on these of the first, touching only on fome chief heads, not judging it fit belike at that time, and in that exercife, to wit, fabbath-day-morning-lectures before fermon, to dwell long on that fubject (which a particular profecution. would have neceffitated him to) efpecially fince he was at that fame time to the fame auditory preaching fabbath-afternoons on the third chapter of the epiftle to the Colof

fans, a fubject much of the fame nature, but what he faith is material and excellent) great Mr. Durham's, who had fome excellency peculiar to himself in what he fpoke or writ; as appeareth by his fingular, and fomeway feraphick, comment on the Revelation, wherein with Aquiline fharp-fightednefs, from the top of the high mountain of fellowship with God, he hath deeply pried into, and ftruck up a great light in several mysterious things, much hid even from many wife and fagacious men before; and by his moft fweet and favory, yet moft folid, expofition of the Song of Solomon, fmelling ftrong of more than ordinary acquaintance with, and experience of, thofe feveral influxes of the love of Jefus Chrift upon the foul, and affluxes of its love (the fruit and effect of his) towards him, wherewith that delightful discourse is richly as it were embroidered: The greateft realities (tho' indeed fublime fpiritualities) moft plainly afferted by God, and moft powerfully experienced by the godly (whofe fouls are more lively affected with them, than their very external fenfes are by the rareft and most remarkable objects; and no wonder, fince every thing, the more fpiritual it is, hath in it the greater reality; and worketh the more ftrongly and efficaciously) however of late, by an unparalleledly-bold, blackmouthed,blafphemous fcribler, nefarioufly nick-named fine romances of the fecret amours betwixt the Lord Chrift and the believing foul, told by the nonconformift-preachers. What? are thefe and the like, Let him kifs me with the kiffes of his mouth, for his love is better than wine; Thy name is as an ointment poured forth, therefore the virgins love thee: We will remember thy love more than wine, the upright love thee: Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant, alfo our bed is green: A bundle of myrrbe is my beloved unto me, he shall ly all night betwixt my breafts-Ijat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was fweet to my tafte: He brought me to the banquetingboufe, and his banner over me was love: Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples, for 1 am fick of love: His left-hand is under my head, and bis right-hand doth embrace me: My beloved is mine, and I am his : I am my beloved's, and his defire is toward me: I found him whom my foul loved, I held him, and would not let him go: Set me as a feal upon thy beart, and as a feal on thine arm: Love is ftrong as death.-Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: I charge you, 0 ye daughters of Jerufalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tel!