[23] A contemporary of Sparrow, probably Samuel Pordage, wrote an Encomium on Sparrow in the Introduction to a long Behmenite Poem called Mundorum explicatio (London, 1661). The passage is as follows:
"And learned Sparrow we thy praises too
Will Sing; rewards too small for what is due,
The Gifts of Glory and of Praise we owe:
The English Behmen doth Thy Trophies show.
Whilst Englishmen that great saint's praise declare,
Thy Name shall join'd with his receive a share.
The Time shall come when his great Name shall rise,
Thy Glory also shall ascend the skies.
Thou mad'st him English speak, or else what Good
Had his works done us if not understood?
To Germany they beneficial prove
Alone: till we enjoyed them by thy Love.
Their German Robes thou took'st from them, that we
Their Beauties might in English Garments see.
Thus has thy Love a vast rich Treasure showen,
And made what was exotic now our own."
[24] Preface to Boehme's Epistles (1649).
[25] Preface to Boehme's Epistles.
[26] Ibid.
[27] Ibid.
[28] Preface to Epistles.
[29] Ibid.
[30] Preface to Sig. re.
[31] This question was raised by Barclay in his Inner Life of the Religious Societies of the Commonwealth (London, 1879), pp. 214-215.