nes the heart, saith they are
hypocrites, _Cor dolo plenum; sonant vitium percussa maligne_, they are not
sound within. As it is with writers [6679]oftentimes, _Plus sanctimoniae,
in libello, quam libelli auctore_, more holiness is in the book than in the
author of it: so 'tis with them: many come to church with great Bibles,
whom Cardan said he could not choose but laugh at, and will now and then
_dare operam Augustino_, read Austin, frequent sermons, and yet professed
usurers, mere gripes, _tota vitae ratio epicurea est_; all their life is
epicurism and atheism, come to church all day, and lie with a courtesan at
night. _Qui curios simulant et Bacchanalia vivunt_, they have Esau's hands,
and Jacob's voice: yea, and many of those holy friars, sanctified men,
Cappam, saith Hierom, _et cilicium induunt, sed intus latronem tegunt._
They are wolves in sheep's clothing, _Introrsum turpes, speciosi pelle
decora_, "Fair without, and most foul within." [6680]_Latet plerumque sub
tristi amictu lascivia, et deformis horror vili veste tegitur_; ofttimes
under a mourning weed lies lust itself, and horrible vices under a poor
coat. But who can examine all those kinds of hypocrites, or dive into their
hearts? ]f we may guess at the tree by the fruit, never so many as in these
days; show me a plain-dealing true honest man: _Et pudor, et probitas, et
timor omnis abest._ He that shall but look into their lives, and see such
enormous vices, men so immoderate in lust, unspeakable in malice, furious
in their rage, flattering and dissembling (all for their own ends) will
surely think they are not truly religious, but of an obdurate heart, most
part in a reprobate sense, as in this age. But let them carry it as they
will for the present, dissemble as they can, a time will come when they
shall be called to an account, their melancholy is at hand, they pull a
plague and curse upon their own heads, _thesaurisant iram Dei._ Besides all
such as are _in deos contumeliosi_, blaspheme, contemn, neglect God, or
scoff at him, as the poets feign of Salmoneus, that would in derision
imitate Jupiter's thunder, he was precipitated for his pains, Jupiter
_intonuit contra_, &c. so shall they certainly rue it in the end,
([6681]_in se spuit, qui in coelum spuit_), their doom's at hand, and hell
is ready to receive them.

Some are of opinion, that it is in vain to dispute with such atheistical
spirits in the meantime, 'tis not the best way to reclaim them. Ath