But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.
Ver. 18. To be zealously affected in a good thing] In a good cause, for a good end, and in a good manner. There is a counterfeit zeal, as is that of the Popish martyrs, or traitors rather, of whom Campian in his epistle to the honourable counsellors of Queen Elizabeth, Quamdiu vel unus quispiam e nobis supererit qui Tiburno vestro fruatur, &c. As long as there shall be left any one of us to wear a Tyburn tippet, a we will not cease our suit.
And not only when I am present] Since even absent I teach and tell you the truth of God by letters.
a A jocular name for a hangman's rope: usually Tyburn tippet. ŒD