The Preface to William Ames, A Fresh Suit against Human Ceremonies

THey who put to sea, according to their severall scopes & purposes, so doe they steere their Compasses, & proceed in their travells ansvvearablely. Such as sett out meerely to satisfy their pleasure, or some private end; vvhen once the heavens begyn to be besett vvith clouds, the vvynds grovve high, & the storme approaching threatens apparent danger, vvhen their companyes are scattered & severed from them, or vvhen the foulenes of their stomacks and the noysome humors ther, cause, that they cannot brooke the sea, but vvith much taedious disquiet & sicknes; They turne their courses & make to shoare vvith as much speede as they may.

Others vvho seriously intend to make a voyage of it, & are bound for some remote place, & resolved to fetch some precious commodityes from a farr country; they reckon vpon hazards, expect the common calamityes of the sea, & determyne to vndergoe, vvhat ever they doe expect, or shall befall. The conclusion is: vvilling they are to adventure the losse of their lives, but not vvilling, to loose their voyage, therfore on they vvill: extream necessityes may overbeare them, but no feares can discourage them in ther course.

As thus it fares in traveling, so fares it also, vvith men in professing the truth; their aymes are severall, & their proceedings sutable therunto: Some take up the profession of the truth, as a voyage of pleasure: & such vvill be sure, to sayle no further, then that they may see the smoake of their ovvn chymneyes: they vvill serveChrist no longer, then they may serve ther ovvne turnes, and therfore such vvill have no more of the gospell, then they may have their ovvne private vvith it, not only vvithin sight, but vvithin reach: And its admirable to see, vvhat falsenes they discover in ther course, & yet vvhat fayre colores, they putt upon all their procedings, & vvould beare the vvorld in hand, they vvyshnothing but soundnes, vvhen indeed ther is nothing but shevves & appearances, to please a sensuall eye:

Its not amisse therfore, to take the scantling of both these kinds, that the Iudicious Reader may be able to ovvne them as they appeare in his vvay, either in their vvritings, or behaviours: for the lives of men are like living books, vvhich a vvise man vvill serch into, & observe: To this purposse therfore vve shall shortly consider: 1 vvhat is the cause of this declyning? 2 vvhat be the pretenses, vvherby they labor to excuse it?

The cause of this declining, is the entertaynment of the truth upon false grounds: The apple vvhich is unsound at the coar, vvill discover rottennes in the skinne aftervvards: vvhen the foundation is not sure the vvhol frame vvil synke, [Causses of declyning 1 Sext. 13 Luke 19] vvhen its shaken by the least storme.

Some ther be, like the stony-hearted hearers, vvho from the present apprehension of the comforts & promises of the gospell, are tickled vvith the svveetnes the rof, though but in general conceaved, & have their hearts sudainly cheared, vvith the confused & unapplyed grounds of good; [13 Math. 20. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉] And therfore they are sayd to receive itsuddaynly vvith joy:

But as they florish speedily, so doe they fade assoone: [13 Math. 21. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 .] for these flashes of comfort, as they arise not from any deepe root of an humbled & self denyng heart: So they leave no deepe stamp or impression upon the Spirit: and therfore vvhen sad & heavy pressures of sorrovv doe sease upon the soule, these slight impressions of flashy ioy vanish avvay:

These comforts in Temporaries, are like the painting & complexion, vvhich is layd upon the face by deformed harlotts, vvhich the least violence of cold, or heat takes off immediatly; vvhereas, a sound joy issuing from grounded assurance, is like ruddy complexion, vvhich ariseth from good blood, & a vvholsom constitution, vvhich the greatest heats or colds may increase, but cannot remoove as long as life & strength lasteth:

[2 Sort of decliners.] Others agayne are brought to imbrace the truth because of the company or multitude, vvhich they see give credit or countenance therunto: [13 Luk 24. 8 Math. 20.] thus the Pharisee vvould not to heaven vnlesse he might go in the crovvd. Or because of the safty & commodity vvhich the Lord somtimes voutsafes to sincere Professors. Thus many turned Ievvs in Esters tyme, [Ester. 8.17.] not because they vvere the better, but the stronger party; not for the truth of their profession, but for the safty of the Professors. [6 Ihon. 26.] These attend upon Christ for the loaves and follovv the gospel no longer then profit follovves them. The name of a prison, the noyse of a chaine, makes the truth so deformed in their eye, that they dare not, & therfore vvil not ovvne it. As the leaves of a tree, vvhyle they be fed vvith moysture, dravvne up in◊o the branches by the Sunne in the springe, theyflorish and cold frost drive back the moysture, they vvither & fall. Like these leaves, is the love of these vvordly gospellers. An instance of this temper is apparant in many of our Elizabeth Professors (as they are termed) vvho vvere vvhot at the entrance of the Gospel, vvhen company, credit, & profite vvere attendants to it: but vvhen the frovvnes & displeasure of authority, like vvynter blasts, plucked avvay their livings & dignities vvhich vvere as the moysture, to feed their desires, they dried avvay in their (discretion) & reteined nothing but the name of auncient Professors, like boxes in Apothecaryes shops, vvhich cary fayre titles on the outsyde, & fill up roome, but have not one healing or usefull drugge in them.

A third sort ther be, [3 Sort.] vvho at the first appearing of the gospel in a place, are taken up vvith the strangnes and novelty, eyther of the Doctryne, or the manner of delivery, & ansvverablely vvith some affection make inquiry after it. This vvas their practise, vvhen Iohn Baptist came preaching in the vvildernes, [3. Math. 5.] Then vvent out to him Hierusalem, & all Iudea, & all the Region about Iordan. This also our Saviour acknovvledged as ther indeavor. [Ihon. 5.35.] Ihon vvas a burning & a shining light, & you vvould have recoyced in him for a season.