At the Court at Whitehall.
Dr. Thomson, Deane of Windsor,182 made a sermon; he hath a sounding laboured artificiall pronounciacion; he regards that soe muche, that his speech hath no more matter then needes in it. His text 2 Psal. 10, 11. "Be wise nowe, O ye Kings; be learned, O ye Judges; serve the Lord with feare, and rejoyce unto him with reverence."
Be learned; scientia conscientiæ rather then scientia experienciæ. Serve the Lord: a straung doctrine that those whom all desyre to be servants unto, should be taught, that themselves must serve an other: yet this the highest point of their honour to serve God: for the excellency of man is in his soule, the glory of his soule in virtue, the height of virtue in relligion, and the ende of relligion to serve God. As strang to teach that they whom others feare, should feare an other.
fo. 126.
10 Aprill 1603. Mr. Layfeild; his text. "Not preaching ourselves." Noo heretike ever preached himselfe directly, for they never can be heretikes except they professt Christ, and such as preach themselves for saviours deny Christ; but preaching them selves undirectly is when by preaching men stake their owne glory or advauncement, as the cheifest end of their preaching. "Labour not for meat;" that is, make not meate the chiefest end of labour, but the service of God in that vocation, and the benefit of the State; soe labour in all your trades as yf you laboured for God, making not the hyer the maine end, though it be an end alsoe.
Every man spends more then he can gett; untill thirty yeare commonly men doe nothing but spend, and then when they begynn to gaine, yet expenses runne on with their tyme.
Every manuary trade is called a mystery, because it hath some slight or subtlety of gayning that others cannot looke into. Every man cannot be a carpentour of his owne fortune. The faults of preachers in preaching themselves and false doctrine, like a physicion that poisoneth his medicines, or a mintmaister that adulterates the coine; he kils under pretence of safety, and this robbes all under pretext of honest gaine.
Mr. Hill told me that Mr. Layfeild married a rich wife, worth above 1,000l. He speakes against covetousnes, but will exact the most of his dutyes in his parishe.