FOVRE SERMONS LATELY PREAched by Martin Fotherby Doctor in Diuinity and Chaplain vnto the Kings Maiestie The first at Cambridge at the Masters Commencement Iuly 7. Anno 1607. The second at Canterbury at the Lord Archbishops visitation Septemb. 14. Anno 1607. The third at Paules Crosse vpon the day of our deliuerance from the gun-powder treason Nouemb. 5. Anno 1607. The fourth at the Court before the Kings Maiestie Nouemb 15. Anno 1607. Whereunto is added An answere vnto certaine obiections of one vnresolued as concerning the vse of the Crosse in Baptisme written by him in Anno 1604. and now commanded to be published by authoritie AT LONDON Printed by HENRY BALLARD for C. K. and W.C. 1608. TO THE MOST REVEREND Father in God and singular Patron of all good learning the Lord Archbishop of Canturbury his Grace Primate of all England and Metropolitane and one of the Lords of his Maiesties most Honourable Priuie Counsell RIGHT honourable and my gracious good Lord I make bold to present to the view of your wisdome foure Sermons preached by me though not very lately yet not very long since vpon speciall occasions as their titles shewe Beeing hitherto vnwilling that they should see the light though thereunto I haue bene greatly importuned both by the instance of diuers my iudicious friendes and for some of them pressed by the reuerend authority of your Graces owne name which notwithstanding I haue hitherto detrected as knowing how little needfull it is to pester the world with any more bookes which groneth already vnder the burden of them Yet am I now beaten from my former resolution by the incessant importunitie of certaine seduced and seducing spirits who swelling with a windie opinion of knowledge falslie so called haue taken great exception at the second of these Sermons which was preached at your Graces visitation and as yet make no end of traducing it to the world as tending directly vnto the disgrace of preaching For the detecting of whose ignorance and conuincing of their malice I am now not vnwilling to publish to the world what was spoken at that time if your Grace doe not esteeme it as a thing borne out of time Not doubting but that wich passed the fauourable censure of so reuerend and so learned an assembly as then were the hearers will now find like acceptance with all that be iudicious and indifferent Readers As for Papists and their confederates in this cause our schismatickes and Sectaries I neither expect nor respect their approbation of it They be now as we hope not in any so great number as that any great reckoning is to be made of them especially in your Graces peculiar Dioces which I am verily perswaded is better defecated and purged both from Papistes and Schismatiks then any other quarter of this land which as it is our most blessed peace and quiet so may it be your Graces exceeding ioy and comfort These slender labours and indeuours of mine I presume to offer vnto your Graces patronage not onely in respect of my strict obligation vnto your Lordship for many of your forepassed most honorable fauours but also because in true account your Grace may rightly be esteemed the very anchor of all these my selfe but the instrument they all of them receiuing their first motion and being either directly or occasionately from your gracious fauour as from their first mouer which as it giueth me full assurance of your honorable acceptance so it bindeth me to performance of all dutifull obseruance and to pray for the continuance of your Graces most prosperous and happie estate that as God hath made you hitherto a notable instrument to settle and establish both his truth and Church amongst vs so wee may long inioy you to the comfort of all them that wish well vnto them both Your Graces most obliged to all humble duty MARTIN FOTHERBY The first Sermon at Cambridge ECCLES 1. VER 2. Vanitie of vanities saith the Preacher Vanitie of vanities all is Vanitie THE Iewish Rabbines prescribed vs this excellent rule for the right vnderstanding of euery text of Scripture Qui non aduertit quid suprà quid infrà scriptum is planè peruertit viuentis Dei verbum He that weigheth not what is written both aboue and below shal neuer well expound that is written betweene them Now if we proceede by this rule in expounding of this Scripture wee shall finde that King Salomon in this booke of the Preacher had a two-fold end the one of them subordinate vnto the other For first if we looke vpward to the beginning of this booke we shall there finde this sentence which I now haue read vnto you Vanitie of vanities all is vanity wherein his end and scope must needs bee to bring vs out of loue and conceit with earthly things as being vile and vnprofitable nay hurtfull and damageable which there he implieth by this title of Vanity Secondly if we looke downeward to the end of this booke we shall there finde this sentence Let vs heare the summe of al Feare God and keepe his commaundements for this is the whole duety of man wherein his end must needs againe be to bring vs into loue with diuine and heauenly things and as the Apostle Paul aduiseth to make vs seeke those things that are aboue as comprehending in them the onely true felicity So that King Salomon in this booke hath as I said a double end The first is to reuoke vs from the loue of the world The second to prouoke vs vnto the loue of God which will certainely ensue and follow in vs if the former obstacle be remoued from vs. For our God and Creator who is perfect loue himselfe hath made vs his creatures of such a louing nature that as Plutarch well obserueth we needes must be alwayes louing of some thing so that if our loue bee diuerted from the world it needes must be conuerted vnto God or else it should lie idle which loue cannot doe that is against the very nature of it Now King Salomon to diuert our loue from the world and the things of the world he vseth none other argument thorowout this whole booke but onely this one to tel vs they be Vanity neither could he indeed haue vsed any reason more forcible to bring them into extreame contempt with vs then by calling them Vanitie for no word in the world doth more fully expresse the vile and the thriftlesse and vnprofitable nature of these earthly things then Vanity doth And therefore seeing that King Salomon so constantly vseth the name of Vanity thorowout his whole booke whensoeuer he speaketh of any worldly glory calling them stil Vanity and Vanity of Vanities and nothing but Vanity it shall not be amisse to enter a serious and diligent inquisition what should be heere intended by this name of Vanity For we must not thinke that the holy Ghost doth iterate so often and beate vpon one word either rashly or idlely
Sonne our Sauiours sake to whom with the Father and the holy Spirit be all honour and glory both now and for euer Amen The second Sermon at Canterbury at the Lord Archbishops visitation ECCLES 1. VER 2. Vanity of Vaniities saith the Preacher Vanity of Vanities all is Vanity I Haue partly here and partly elswhere vnfolded the whole substance of this present Scripture yea and that in many Sermons as you may remember deliuering in all of them such profitable doctrines as I thought best befitted the nature of the hearers which I purpose not at this time to rehearse againe vnto you but onely to offer vnto your considerations a modest defence of some speciall doctrines which haue beene much traduced as false and erroneous that so those questions which arise in the Church may peaceably be both heard and determined not in any blind and obscure conuention as some of them haue beene but in a learned and a lawfull congregation For our fitter ingresse into which discourse let me onely repeat thus much That the generall partes which I considered in this Scripture were in number two The Author and the Matter or his Doctor and this Doctrine The Author is heere called by the name of a Preacher Saith the Preacher The Matter is deliuered in the forme of a censure defininitiuely pronouncing of all earthly glory that it is indeede nothing but Vanity of Vanity In the Author of this doctrine I made this obseruation that hee calleth not onely himselfe A Preacher who spake this Sermon with his liuely voyce as Athanasius affirmeth but he calleth this booke A Preacher too though it haue neither voyce nor language as the Psalmist speaketh From whence I then collected these three positions for the cleering of certaine truths which haue beene greatly obscured Atramento Sepiarum as the Orator speaketh by the writings of certaine troublers and disturbers of our peace First that all the bookes of the Scriptures are Preachers vnto vs which teach vs most plainely the way of Saluation not onely when they bee expounded but also when they are humbly and faithfully read This position I then proued first by the authority of king Salomon in this place who calleth this booke as you see A Preacher which had beene an vnfit a misapplied title if the books themselues did not preach vnto vs. Secondly I proued it by the authority of S. Iames in the Actes of the Apostles who calleth Reading expresly by the name of Preaching Moses saith hee hath them that Preach him in euery citie seeing he is read euery sabboth day He saith that he is preached because he is read Because for euen Beza himselfe in his translation expresseth that place by this causal coÌ„iunction Quum Because So that he which denieth the reading of the Scripture to be a preaching to vs he denieth the authority both of the old and new Testaments For Salomon affirmeth it in the old Iames affirmeth it in the new yea as Eusebius noteth of the Metaphrasis of Talianus hee putteth the holy Ghost himselfe to schoole and wil teach him how to speake more fitly exactly though Sus. Mineruam For the holy Ghost as you see calleth a booke a Preacher and hee calleth Reading Preaching which certaine men amongst vs count an absurd kind of speaking nay a false and an erroneous doctrine blaspheming therein euen the Spirit of truth himselfe The second position which I deduced out of the former obseruation in his calling a booke by the name of a Preacher was this that this Reading is not a faint or a feeble kind of Preaching as some men affirme of it who call bare reading but bare feeding but it is a mighty and a powerfull kind of preaching both sufficient and efficient to beget in our hearts both faith and all other spiritual vertues if wee rightly come prepared vnto the reading of them and if God vouchsafe his blessing vnto our labours in them two necessary conditions vnto our profitable â—eading the first of them giuen by S. Augustine the second by S. Chrysostome yea and both of them no lesse necessary in preaching then in reading without which it is no more in the Preachers power then it is in the Readers to beget any good in the hearts of the hearers But these two being granted euen bare reading as some scornefull spirits doe in derision terme it may be as actiue a kind of preaching and as operatiue of all true Christian vertues as their most adorned or impassioned Sermons This position I proued first by the authority of the Prophet Moses who ordained in the booke of Deuteronomie that the booke of the Law should be read vnto the people yea and that vnto them all men women and children yea and that euery time that they appeared before the Lord. Now to what end must all this reading be yea and reading so often of one and the same thing He telleth vs in that place that these three effects shal insue follow of it the knowledge of God the feare of God and the faithfull keeping of the commandements of God All which notable effects as there he noteth the bare reading of the word shal effect and bring forth yea and that not onely in men of vnderstanding but also euen in women and children yea and that not onely in the Israelites but also in the Heathen and stranger that should heare it Which point I pray you diligently to note that euen bare reading is able of it selfe not onely to nourish faith in the heart of the faithfull but also to beget faith in the heart of the infidell and such as before did neither know God nor his word Secondly I proued the same position by the authority of Ezra who found by his experience the former prediction of Moses to be true for when as he had but onely read the booke of the Law vnto the people it was of so mighty powerfull an operation that it cast them all into mourning and weeping yea and that so excessiue that he himselfe was constrained by a publique edict and commandement to restraine it Now though in that place there be some mention made of exposition and giuing the sense yet note I pray you that this notable effect of their mourning is not there ascribed vnto the exposition but onely to the reading for it is said that it was the wordes of the Law which wrought this vehement passion and not any glosse which was made vpon them A like effect also did the bare reading of the Law produce in King Iosias it had so powerfull an operation in him that it caused him to rend his clothes off from his backe and his heart to melt away within him and yet was there heere no exposition but onely bare reading The same points I yet further backed by the testimonies both of Ieremie and Baruck The first of whom foretold as much as Moses and the second sound performed
as much as Ezra in the bare reading of the word for it made the people both to fast and to pray and to weepe and to giue almes vnto their needy brethren Now what or whose preaching could haue wrought more worthy and noble effects then this bare reading did Thirdly I proued the same position by the testimony of S. Iohn who ascribeth euen faith it selfe which is the chiefe point in question vnto this action of reading These things saith he are written that ye should beleeue Now that which is written cannot make vs beleeue but onely by reading Finally I confirmed it by the testimonie of our Sauiour in bidding vs Search the Scriptures that is to read it and adding that so we should find eternal life in it So that by the forecited Scriptures you see that both The knowledge of God and The faith of God and The feare of God and The obedience of God and Eternall life with God which is the highest reward of all vertues is expresly ascribed vnto the bare reading of the word And therefore those men which deny reading to be an effectual kind of preaching disable it froÌ„ begetting either faith or any other spirituall vertue in vs they make Moses and Ieremie two false prophets Nehemiah and Baruck two false historians S. Iohn a false Apostle and our Sauiour a false Christ for all these affirme it The third position which I gathered from the former obseruation in calling a booke by the name of a Preacher was this That Preaching is not alwaies more effectual then reading This position I then proued by two speciall instances The first of them out of Tully who found his vnderstanding the first part of his minde a great deale more instructed by reading a short letter sent vnto him from Atticus then it had beene by hearing a long discourse of Curioes vpon the selfe same points whereupon he cried out vbi sunt qu◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where be they now saith he who say the word spoken hath greater power in it then hath the word written He there confuteth that opinion by his owne experience Quanto â—agis vidi ex tuis literis quam ex illius sermonâ— quid ageretur The second instance was out of S. Paul whose aduersarie found his affection the other part of the mind a great deale more touched by the bare reading of his letters which he plainely confessed to be strong and mighty then euer it had been by the hearing of his Sermons which he despised as light and things of no value His letters indeed saith he are sore and strong but his bodily presence is weake and his speech of no value This is truely and ingeniously the summe of that doctrine which heretofore I haue deliuered as concerning the comparison of Reading and Preaching In all which what was spoken that could giue the least offence vnto any well meaning or but indifferent mind What that any way offended either against any article of our Christian faith or any duty of godly life or against any other point of sound and wholesome doctrine Nay what but iustified by the authoritie both of the old and new Testament and ratified by the testimonie of the holy ghost himselfe Nay yet further what but auouched for a sealed truth by al true ProtestaÌ„ts against the Papists who teach vs that the Scripture is darke and obscure and such as cannot preach vnto vs. With whom I did neuer looke that any of our men professing themselues to be such reformed and reforming Protestants would euer haue ioyned hands as we euidently see by the writings of some and the speeches of others they apparantly doe For those three forenamed positions of mine which I am sure would greatly haue offended the Papists if they had bin my hearers and beene censured of them as hereticall doctrines haue likewise displeased some that call themselues Protestants Who haue in their ignorance traduced all those three former positions both farre and neere and howted them vp and downe not onely as three false and erroneous doctrines but also as doctrines dangerous and such as tend directly vnto the disgrace of preaching and making it of none effect though no word were spoken vnto any such purpose no nor yet that could bee forced vnto any so badde a sense vnlesse it were this one which must bee done with a wrinch too that they which preferre any preachers Sermon either in excellencie or in effecacie before the holy Scriptures they preferre this word of a man before the word of God which I take to be no heresie but an impregnable verity and so I hope to make it to appeare most plainely to you And therefore I must craue your Christian patience that I may clere the former doctrines from the two former imputations especially from that imputation of falsehood which is the greatest infamie if it be true and the greatest iniurie if it be false that can possibly be cast vpon a Preacher yea a farre greater iniurie then to call him either a murderer a theife or a traitor For to be a false teacher is to be all these together it is to be both a murdererer of mens soules a theefe vnto Christs fold and a trator to Gods honour And therefore Saint Hierom saith that Neminem decet in suspicione baereseos esse patientem That no man ought to be patient when his doctrine is impeached And Ruffine though his aduersarie in some other matters yet in this agreeth with him That he which can indure the suspicion of an heretike it is vnpossible for him to be a true Catholicke And therefore I must pray your licence that by a modest and a Christian Apologie I may vindicate these doctrines into their natiue verity and not suffer such tried and approued truthes to runne vp and downe so branded for errors but freely and sincerely to discharge that duty which I owe both vnto God and to his truth and to the Church and to my selfe All whom I should betray into the handes of the wicked if I should permit such innocent truthes to be any longer so scourged and whipped as they haue lately beene and not doe my best indeuour to rescue and deliuer them First therefore as concerning those three positions which haue bin so mightily resisted you are to know thus much which I doubt not but the greatest part of this graue and learned auditore being the flower of our Clergy doth sufficiently vnderstand that there is none of them all which is any nouelty of mine owne inuention but are all of them maine and beaten grounds of religion expresly and positiuely set downe by all our learned Protestants in their disputations vpon these pointes against the Papists Of which I wonder that some of the reprouers of those doctrines should be so vnlearned as to be ignorant For first whereas the Papists teach vs that the Scriptures of themselues are darke and obscure such as cannot teach vs much
fullest of them heere in this world when hee awaketh and riseth vp vnto the resurrection shall finde himselfe emptied of them all When the hungry shal be filled with good things but the rich shall be sent empty away as it is in the Gospel For as Christ when he came to vs in mercy did empty himselfe quite of all his heauenly glory so we when we go vnto Christ in iudgement shall likewise be emptied of all our earthly glory we shall appeare before him naked being stript of all those gay and goodly trappings which now so much glorifie and vanifie foolish worldlings as euen Plato himselfe noteth And then as I noted before out of the booke of Wisdome wee shall truely see the Vanity of all these earthly glories when wee see how bare and how naked and how empty they haue left vs. This briefly for Vanity as it is Inanity that is voyde and empty of all those good things whereof it seemeth to haue store and plenty The second branch of Vanity in this second signification is Vanum opposed vnto Graue or Ponderosum and so Vanity signifieth a thing light and windy so that Vanitas and Leuitas be in this sense Synonyma In this sense doth Salust vse the name of Vanity as Nonnius citeth him Maurivanum genus He calleth the Morians a vaine nation that is Light and vnconstant Ingenio mobili as he noteth them in an other place So likewise doth Tully vse this word Vanity in his booke of Diuination where he complaineth that the notable Art of Diuination is brought into comtempt Leuitate Vanitate hominum By the leuity and Vanity of men For as the excellent Art of Musicke is growne into contempt through the basenes and lightnes of certaine vagrant musitians which prostistute their comming at euery drunken feast so likewise that renouned Art of Diuination grew into great comtempt through the vilenes of certaine roguing mountbanks cosoning fortunetellers which out of mens forheads and faces and hands would take vpon them to diuine and to reade hidden destinies and thereupon it was that Tully so complained that the dignity of so noble an Art had suffered such a preiudice through the leuity and Vanity of certaine hir professors Vsing Leuity Vanity Promiscuè for one thing And in the same sense doe likewise the Scriptures vse the name of Vanity for lightnes and that which hath no waight or worth in it The Prophet Moses calleth Idoles Vanity and the Prophet Isay calleth them Wind both words noting out their lightnes vnto vs they are as light as wind which is the lightest of all things yea as light as nothing as it followeth in that place for an Idoll is nothing as is noted in an other place The Prophet Dauid likewise discoursing of the vaine condition of man he vseth the same word in the very same sense for he saith that Man is deceitfull vpon the waights Yea and altogether lighter then Vanity it selfe Lighter thâ—n Vanity Which must needs imply that Vanity is a very light and windy matter when as it is put for a principall instance and example of lightnesse as there you see it is The third branch of Vanity in this second signification is Vanum opposed vnto Verum and so Vanity signifieth a thing false crafty so that Vanitas and Falsitas be in this sense Synonyma In this sense doth Plautus vse the name of Vanity in his Mostellaria Vera cantas Vana vellem You speake the Verity I would it were Vanity opposing Vanum vnto that which is Verum In this sense doth Terence also vse the name of Vanity in his Eunuchus Si falsum aut Vanum aut fictum continuò palam est he calleth that a Vaine thing which is a false and a fained thing expressing Vanum by his Synonymon as Plautus did by his Oppositum And in this sense I find the name of Vanity applied most commonly vnto three seuerall things First in spirituall matters I find Idolatry to be called by the name of Vanity because it is but a false religion it is Falsum and therefore Vanum as you heard before out of Terence It hath a shew of godlines as the Apostle Paul speaketh but yet it lacketh the power of it In this sense doth Moses vse the name of Vanity in the booke of Deuteronomie where complaning of the Iewes in the person of God he saith that They moued him to iealousie with that which is not God they prouoked him to anger with their Vanities As Idols are false gods so idolatrie is false worship and both these called Vanity because they be false Hence likewise the Prophet Dauid calleth such heathen worship Superstitious Vanity Superstitious because idolatrous and Vanity because false Secondly in common life I find Lying to be called by the Vanitie because it is a false speech it is Falsum and therefore Vanum as before I noted In this sense doth Tully vse the name of Vanity in the first of his Offices where speaking of the falsehood of tradesmen in their artes he saith that Nihil proficâ—unt nisi admoâ—um mentiantur nec quicquaem est turpius Vanitate He saith their chiefest profit ariseth from their lying rather then from their buying which he calleth a dishonest kind of Vanity A good item for such men So likewise doth Virgil vse the name of Vanity for lying and faining Nec si miserum fortuna Sinonem Finxit vanum etiam mâ—ndacemque improba finget Where as you plainely see he vseth Vanus and Mendax a Vaine man and a Lying man as two wordes of one sense So likewise that Apoliinaris in Gellius of whom I spake before he defineth Vanos to be properly Mendaces et Infidos that is Liers and Vnfaithfull men And in this same sense doe likewise the Scriptures vse the name of Vanity O yee sonnes of men saith the Prophet Dauid how long will yee loue vanity and seeke after lies Where the latter word expoundeth what is meant by the former to wit that by Vanity he vnderstandeth Lying So likewise in an other place Vanitatem loquuntur quisque cum proximo suo They speake Vanity euery man with his neighbor that is they speake deceitfully and tell lies Thirdly in friendship I find Flattery to be called by the name of Vanity because it is but a false and a counterfeit loue It likewise is Falsum and therefore Vanum In this sense doth Tully vse the name of Vanity in his booke De Amicitia Assentatio ea est molestissima saith he cùm ad vanitatem accedit authoritas He saith that Flattery is then a most dangerous quality when as men of authority doe abiect themselues to so vile a Vanity In this sense doth Accius vse the name of Vanity also putting Vanans for Fallens as Nonnius obserueth and he citeth this place out of his Alcmena which notably expresseth the whole nature of
Vanity in this present sense as it is taken for Falsity Tanta frustrando lactans et vanans protrahit So that Vanum is that which doth Protrahere and Frustrando lactare A vaine thing is that which leadeth on our desire and as it were suckleth it with a false and flattering hope and yet vtterly frustrates and deceiueth it in the end So that to gather all the branches of this second signification of Vanity into one bundle and to apply them vnto our present purpose King Salomon in calling these earthly matters Vanity if Vanity be taken in this second signification insinuateth thus much that there is nothing in all the greatest glories of this present worlde but meere deceit and falsehood they being empty of all those things whereof they seeme to be ful light in all those things wherein they seeme to be waighty and treacherous in all those things wherein they seeme to be friendly so that they doe nothing but delude and abuse our weaker senses with false and flattering shewes of a certaine painted goodnes that which indeed is not in them and therfore those men which set their harts vpon them and place their whole felicity in them are as vaine and as foolish as if they should make their felicitie of an empty bladder which is Vanum Vacuum or of a light feather which is Vanum ventosum or of a lying picture which is Vanum falsum all which were great points of ridiculous folly The third signification of this word Vanity is all one with Frustra Vanum quasi frustraneum which signifieth a thing that attaineth not his end Hence some of the antient and learnedst Grammarians define Vanum to be Quod fieri non potest they call that a vaine thing which cannot be compassed as if a man should indeuour with Danaus his daughters to fill a sieue with water or with the foolish Romanes to reach vp vnto the heauens with their finger it were a vaine attempt because he cannot attaine his end In this sense doth Virgil vse the name of Vanity in the first of his Aeneids Nifrustra auguriuÌ„ vani docuere parentes Where he expoundeth Vanum as you see by Frustra In this sense doth Accius likewise take the name of Vanity in the place that I cited before vnto you Tanta frustrando lactans vanans protrahit vanans frustrando In this sense also the Scriptures themselues vse the name of Vanity for that which doth frustrate and disappoint vs of our end Eue hoped when she had brought forth her first borne sonne Cainâ— that he had beene that promised seed which should breake the serpents head but afterward perceiuing by his wicked life that he could not possibly be the man she seeing her selfe deceiued in her first sonne she called her next sonne Abel that is to say Vanity because her hope in his brother had not attained his end The Prophet Dauid likewise in one of the Psalmes vseth the name of Vanity three times together in this third signification Except the Lord build the house the builder buildeth but in Vaine Except the Lord keepe the city the watchman watcheth but in Vaine Except the Lord giue his blessing the plowmans toyling is in Vain that is without the grace blessing of God neither the Carpenter in his building nor the Watchman in his watching nor the Plowman in his toyling can possibly attaine vnto his end and therefore he calleth their indeauours Vaine So againe in another place A horse is but a Vaine helpe to saue a man And why is he but Vaine the reason followeth in the very same place because he cannot deliuer any man by al his great strength That is he cannot attaine his end in sauing of a man and therefore he is said to be but a Vaine helpe So againe in another place Helpe Lord for Vaine is the helpe of man That is mans helpe attaineth not his end but is like vnto the rotten reede of Egypt which pearceth the hand that leaneth vpon it if helpe Lord be not ioyned with it So likewise Saint Paul If Christ be not risen then is our preaching in Vaine and your faith that is likewise in Vaine That is they cannot attaine their end So that if Vanity be taken in this third signification then the end of King Salomon in calling all things Vanity is to insinuate thus much that no earthly thing can attaine vnto his end but that when a man hath euen tired himselfe and wasted out his strength in hunting and pursuing after them yet shall he neuer finde that end nor that glorious good which he seeketh for in them but shall in the end be driuen to complaine that he hath wasted wearied himselfe in Vaine as he himselfe professeth in the booke of Wisedome Take himselfe for an example how greatly he abounded with all the greatest glories that the earth could yeeld Wisdome Honour Riches Pleasure whatsoeuer worldly good the hart could desire all which when hee had so fully attained that hee was euen glutted with them yet could he no where find that end which he sought for â—n them to wit any setled contentment and comfort â—nd therefore first he was driuen to shift and change his desire from one thing vnto another being still wearied but not satisfied nor contented with the fruition of them And after he finding them euery one to be alike deceitfull hee generally pronounceth of them al without exception that they haue nothing in them but Vanity and Vexation as is largely declared in the second chapter of this booke The fourth signification of this word Vanity is all one with Fragile or Mutabile that is A thing fraile and weake and of no firmnesse nor continuance and so Vanum is opposed to Firmum or Constans In this sense doth Tully vse the name of Vanity in his second booke De natura Deorum Nulla in caelo Vanitas inest sed contra summa ratio atque constantia He saith that there is no Vanity in the heauens but contrariwise all firmnesse and constancy So that he maketh Vanity and constancy to be opposite and contrary Hence the Latines vse Vanescâ—re and Euanescere for a thing that quickly changeth and cannot continue in his state In tenuem eâ—anuit auram sayth Virgil. When a thing is easily dissipated as smoke is into ayre then doth it Euanescere that is turne into Vanity in the Latine tongue to wit into this fraile and fleeting Vanity And in the same sense doe we vse the word Vanish in our English tongue likewise when a thing is quickly dissipated and passeth out of sight then is it sayd to Vanish away that is to be turned into this fading Vanity In this sense doth Iob vse this word in his booke where he sayth of his fickle and deceitfull friends that They Vanish into Vanity noting thereby their inconstancie and referring the word Vanish vnto his true originall from whence
aetatem tuam Turpassis Vanitudine See that thou defile not thy youth with Vanity that is with Wickednesse as with lust and filthinesse and such like vices which our Sauiour Christ telleth vs doe defile the man In this sense doe also the Scriptures vse the name of Vanity as well as in the former The Prophet Dauid desireth the Lord to turne away his eyes that they behold not Vanity that is Wickednesse And King Abiam calleth Ieroboams followers Vaine and wicked men Vaine and wicked expounding by the latter word what he meant by the former And the holy Ghost calleth the sinnes of the Gentiles the Vanity of the Gentiles And againe God knoweth the thoughts of men that they be but Vaine that is Wicked For so it is expresly affirmed in the booke of Genesis All the imaginations of the thoughts of mans heart are onely euill continually So that if Vanity bee taken in this fifth signification King Salomons meaning is that all earthly things bee not onely Vaine in all the forenamed kindes of Vanity but also in this too which is worse then all the rest that they be occasions and inducements vnto wicked Vanity They draw on iniquity with the cart-ropes of their Vanity as the Prophet Isai teacheth vs. Hence riches are called wicked Mammon because they bee occasions of wickednesse vnto vs. They be the roote of all euil as the Apostle Paul teacheth vs. And the like may be said both of honour of knowledge of pleasure of all other worldly goods whatsoeuer There is as it were a secret hooke conueyed closely into euery one of them Quo homines Capiantur tanquam hamo pisces as Tully obserueth out of Plato whereby those men which chop greedily at the bait are by by taken with the hook and so drawne on by the cordes of their Vanity first vnto sinne and then vnto misery and therefore Saint Augustine in one of his Sermons hauing entred the consideration of the dangerous and insidious nature of these earthly goods he crieth out twenty times in detestation of them O munde immunde fallax proditor qui homines illaqueare non desinis quiescere non permittis O the Vanity and villany of this present euill world which with one and the same breath both flattereth betraieth vs neither suffering vs to sit stil with out hir allurements nor yet to escape the snares of hir punishments So that to gather all these significations of Vanity together you now may see how vile the nature of it is It is Inutile it is Fucatum it is Inane it is Falsum it is Leue it is Simulatum it is Mendax it is Frustraneum it is Inconstans it is Caducum it is Iniquum and it is Stultum These be the materiall partes of Vanity Wherein you may plainly see what King Salomons true censure is of all these worldly things which seeine so specious vnto men first that they be altogether without all fruite and profit which is the proper adiunct or rather indeed the essentiall forme of Vanity Secondly that whereas they haue a shew of profit yet is that nothing but euen a shew indeede yea and that an emptie shew a flatering shew a lying shew Thirdly that if they could haue any profit in them yet were it but a light profit not worth the accounting of because it neuer attaineth that end which it maketh shew of Fourthly that though all those things should attaine their end yet could they not possibly retaine their end they being so fraile and so brittle that they be more easily broken then a bubble Fiftly that they doe not onely disappoint and defeat vs of their hoped end but also they mislead vs to a wrong and a worse end namely to sinne and iniquity the end of which is death and vtter misery And thus all the greatest glories and good things of this world be not onely fallacia quia dubia but also insidiosa quia dulcia as Lactantius truely noteth They be not onely deceitfull because doubtfull but also dangerfull because delightfull Now all these worldly things being thus many wayes Vanity it followeth by a consequent of vnauoydable necessity that if man doe stil set his heart vpon them he himselfe should be Vanity in the sixth and last sense that is blind and foolish Vanity For in that sense sometimes do I find this word Vanity to be taken In this sense doth Salust vse the name of Vanity in his Iugurthine Warre expounding Vanitas to be imperitia that is Vnskilfulnes and Ignorance In this sense also did that Grammarian take it who contended with Apollinaris about it as I noted before out of A. Gellius Hee confidently maintained that Vanus and Stolidus were all one that is that a Vaine man is nothing but a foolish man In this sense doe likewise the Scriptures themselues vse the name of Vanity Vaine man saith Iob would faine seeme to be wise that is Foolish men do affect an opinion of wisdome So likewise doth Salomon vse the same word He that followeth the Vaine is voyd of vnderstanding And so likewise doth Saint Paul vse it interpreting Vanity to be nothing but the darkenesse of vnderstanding So that man if he set his heart vpon these Vaine and foolish things which be inthralled and subiect vnto so many Vanities then must needes hee himselfe be Vainer and foolisher then they and so be altogether lighter then Vanity it selfe as the Psalmist speaketh Thus haue I largely shewed what Vanity is and what parts it hath and that though it be a word of many significations yet that there is not one good one amongst them all as before I noted but all of them implying that that which is a Vaine thing must needes be a vile thing a false and a flattering a fraile and a fleeting thing and such a thing as hath no kind of good thing in it Let vs now see in a word for the conclusion of this Sermon why King Salomon hauing thus brought all earthly things into extreame contempt with vs by calling them not Vaine but euen Vanity in abstracto is not yet content with that but calleth them still further The Vanity of Vanities For we must not thinke that euen this is done in Vaine Of which point I find three differing opinions which I will dispatch in three words The first is S. Hieroms that this Vanity of Vanities is spoken onely per exaggerationem by way of amplification to note out the greatnes and the excellencie of their Vanity For the Hebrewes because they lacke the highest and superlatiue degree of comparison they do vsually expresse it by ingemination doubling of the positiue as Dominus Dominantium The Lord of Lordes for the greatest Lord Canticum Canticorum The song of songs for the excellentest song Seculum seculorum The worlde of worldes for the world Eternall And so Vanitas vanitatum for the greatest and
especiall point more eminent then the rest which will occupie the whole time Only here let me giue you this one general note to make the way more plaine vnto that particular subiect whereupon I purpose somewhat longer to insist that wheras there be but three kindes or formes of Musikes as Isidore obserueth the first Harmonicall which is expressed by Voyces and Singing the second Rhythmical which is expressed by Strings and Strikings the third Organicall which is expressed by Pipes and Blowing Or as S. Augustine distinguisheth them in somewhat other wordes but to the same effect Cantus Flatus Pulsus Cantus iu choro Flatus in tuba Pulsus in cithara the Psalmist heere calleth for euery one of them and will haue none left out as S. Augustine there obserueth He calleth for ioyfull Singing and loud Singing which is Harmonicall Musike He calleth for Timbrell Harpe and Violâ— which is Rhythmicall Musike and he calleth for Trumpets which be Organicall Musike All these he heere calleth for vnto none other end but onely that as the booke of the Psalmes is concluded euery thing which hath breath might praise the Lord. For the first of those three Musickes to wit Harmonicall musicke he nameth in the first verse two seuerall kinds of it The first is Ioyfull singing which is called Exultation and respecteth the springing and motion of the heart The second is Loud singing which is called Iubilation and respecteth the tuning and modulation of the voyce But yet so that neither Exultation is without the voyce of the body nor yet Iubilation without the ioy of the soule but be only so denominated from that which is predominant being otherwise in vse almost neuer asunder therefore in this place they be ioined both together Exultate Deo adiutorinostro Iubilate Deo Iacob exultate iubilate As likewise againe in the ninety fiue Psalme Exultemus Domino iubilemus Deo and in diuers other places Of the first of these two singings to wit of Exultation I haue already spoken in another place vpon the like occasion which is offered at this time and therefore without either any repetition or further circuition I will now come to the second to wit to Iubilation and shew you what that is Which point I am induced the rather to discusse yea and that somewhat largely because I find it so often euen incullced vnto vs throughout the whole tract of this booke of Psalmes Reioyce and iubilate in one place Sing and iubilate in another Play and iubilate in another And so euer for the most part when there is any exhortation vnto spirituall reioycing there still is ioyned with it this Iubilation as though our inward ioy could not be rightly tempered vnlesse this Iubilation were therewith intermixed Let vs therefore now consider what this Iubilation is whereunto the holy Scriptures doe so often times inuite vs. Iubilation as some thinke is an Hebrew word indenised and made free amongst the Latines as diuers other strang words be because otherwise they could not without long circumlocution expresse the full power and signification of it a worde more familiar amongst Diuines then amongst secular writers it being coÌ„monly applied vnto the expressing of a spirituall and heauenly reioycing In which word there be diuers of the ancient Fathers which thinke there lieth hidden some Diuine and Heauenly mysteries and therefore it is a matter that is worthy the noting to see what strange speculations they haue deuised in it and how greatly they haue laboured and toyled themselues to giue vs the full signification of it Origen when he commeth to expound this word Iubolare professeth that he feeleth himselfe to be inwardly touched he knoweth not by what secret and extraordinarie motion to search into the secret meaning of it hoping verily there to find Thesaurum magnum in parua dictione as Saint Chrysostome writeth in another like case that is Some great treasure couched in this little word And the rather is he so conceited of this word because he findeth a place in the Psalmes where it is thus written Beatus populus qui intelligit Iubilationem Blessed is the people which vnderstandeth that reioycing which is called Iubilation and therefore he saith that he cannot but search out quid istud tantum operis sit quod populum possit beatum facere What great and hidden mysterie or rather indeed what treasurie this Iubilation is which is able to make blessed not onely the practisers but also the very vnderstanders of it Saint Augustine in like sort whether it were that he had read this place of Origen and so by imitation borrowed his conceit from him or whether by the light of his owne vnderstanding he light into the same conceit with him I know not but he also handleth this same word Iubilare after the selfe-same manner For when he commeth vnto the exposition of it he likewise professeth that he cannot by any meanes ouerpasse it finding himselfe instiged by an inward inspiration to search into the inward and hidden meaning of it And he alleadgeth for his reason that same place of the Psalme Beatus qui intâ—lligit Iubilationem Adding further as Origen did before him that it needs must be some great and weighty thing and very worthy to be searched whose bare knowledge is able to make all his knowers blessed as it is said of this word concluding with this praier to attaine vnto the right vnderstanding of it Det mihi Deus noster intelligere quod dicam Det vobis intelligere quod audiatis God giue me vnderstanding to know what I speake and God giue you knowledge to vnderstand what you heare Vnto both parts of which praier I doe hartily say Amen as handling now that sublime and difficult argument which hee then so greatly feared Let vs therefore now approch vnto the secrets and mysteries of this Iubilation vnto which we haue made so great a preparation Hilarie saith that this Iubilare is vox agrestis pastoralis a word that is borrowed out of the countrey but how or by what reason he expresseth not Onely thus much he seemeth by the forenamed titles obscurely to insinuate That Iubilation is a voice which represents that ioy which Shepheards vse to make when as they sheare their sheep or husbandmen when as they inne their fruit which commonly they doe with great gladnes and reioycing as the prophet Dauid noteth in one of the Psalmes where he compareth his owne ioy for the fulnes of it vnto the husbandmans ioy when his corne and wine and oyle increaseth which he insinuateth to be great The prophet Isai likewise vseth that same comparison to expresse that great ioy wherewith God would recompence the sorrow of his people he saith that there shal be such a ioy and such a shouting in the land aâ— is commonly vsed at the shaking of the oliues and the gathering of the grapes when the vintage is ended
Iö triumphe which the Israelites did in their like deliuerance out of the waters The Lord hath triumphed gloriously ouer his enemies the horse and his rider the ship and his sailer hath he ouerthrowne in the middest of the sea The waters haue couered them the floods haue ouerwhelmed them they sanke vnto the bottome as a stone Therefore blessed be the Lord for thus auenging of Israel This cause haue we to Iubilate vnto the Lord our God if we remember his great mercies in that memorable yeare the wonderfull deliuerance which he then brought vnto vs out of those great waters which had almost ouerwhelmed vs. Yea and neuer a white lesse haue we nay ten thousand times greater if we call vnto our mind our miraculous deliuerance from that raging fire which was prouided to deuoure vs the second of our instances wherein we might truely haue sayd with the Prophet Isai that If the great mercie of the Lord of hostes had not beene we should surely haue beene made euen like vnto Sodome and to Gomorrah Like vnto them indeed yea and not onely like vnto them in the generall state of our destruction being vtterly destroyed as they were Cum ramento puluisculo as it is in the prouerbe but also like vnto them in the particular meane of our destruction being destroyed by fire as they were Our Towers our Princes our Churches our Priests our Cities our Houses of all which we might haue said if their plot had preuailed Haec omnia vidi inflammari Priamo vi vitam euitari Iouis aram sanguine turpari and all reduced to the true face of Sodome But yet here is one difference wherein the malice of our enemies did as it were erect it selfe that they had prouided for our destruction a farre more base and vnworthie fire then that wherewith the Sodomites themselues were destroyed For their fire was the fire of God as it is expresly called in the booke of Iob but our fire should haue beene the fire of of the diuell Their fire came downe from the bosome of Heauen but our fire should haue come vp from the bowels of hell So that by this difference their fire was farre more noble then ours But yet there is another difference wherein maugre all the malice of our hellish enemies yet our fire had beene more noble then theirs that their fire descending downe from Heauen and tending towards hell did certainely beat downe with it those cursed bodies thither but our fire ascending vp from hell and tending towards Heauen had doubtles carried vp those blessed soules thither whom our enemies had appointed as sheepe vnto the slaughter and intended to haue sacrificed as a burnt offering vpon an altar A burnt offering indeede burnt euen to coles and ashes but yet for all that a sacrifice which no doubt but God would graciously haue accepted in respect of the innocencie of those lambes which were offered though vtterly detested and abhorâ—ed in respect of their cruelty by whom they were slaughtered as he did the sacrifice of Abels holy blood though offered by the vnholy hands of his cruell brother Caine. But yet for all that thrice blessed be the name of the Lord our God Who did not giue vs ouer as a pray into their teeth but miraculously deliuered vs euen inter sacrum saxum as he once deliuered Izaack euen as the stroke was in striking So that we haue great cause to iubilate vnto God and to sing that ioyfull melos which the Isralites once did in their like deliuerance from their imminent danger Our soule is escaped as a bird out of the snare the snare is broken and we are deliuered Our helpe is onely in the name of the Lord. And againe that in another place Blessed art thou O Israel who is like vnto thee O people saued by the Lord To conclude If Iubilation be takeÌ„ for the Ecclesiasticall psalmodie and musicke of the church whether militant or triumphant when they make their holy melody and praise the name of God In Hymnes and Psalmes and Spirituall songs as it is in the fourth sense then euen in this respect also haue we great and iust cause to iubilate vnto God who hath most graciously deliuered this famous church of ours not onely from those our forenamed enemies which openly oppugne hir but also from others vnnamed too which secretly vndermine hir indeuoring by a colourable pretence of reformation to bring it vnto vtter desolation and destruction and to make it an habitation for ostriches and dragons that Zijm and Iim may dance in our palaces and the Satyr call out vnto his fellowes that whereas now there is heard the voice of holy singing and iubilation there might be nothing seeme but onely The abomination of desolation Notwithstanding all whose malice and secret vnderworking yet hath God here established a most glorious church amongst vs not vnlike vnto that New Hierusalem which came downe from heauen made altogether of Carbuncles and precious stones as the prophet Isai speaketh so that the glorious beauty of our church this day draweth all mens eyes vnto it as it were a blazing starre yea and euen perstringeth and dazeleth them with the shining brightnes of it Neither is there any thing God be praysed in this worthie church of ours which so greatly needeth to be reformed as that such vncleane and filthie birds be chased out by whom it is defiled and by whose iarring sounds as it were by the yelling of Mewes and the scritching of Owles the holy musicke of our church is greatly disturbed And therefore that our church may be glorious within as well as without as it is required in the spouse of Christ we ought continually to furnish it with the voice of iubilation that the praises of God and of the Lambe may perpetually sound in it and neuer die Thâ—s in what sense soeuer we take this Iubilation you see how great a cause God hath giuen vs all to vse it no sort of vs excepted Courtiers nor Carters Souldiers nor Citizens lay men nor Ministers but that euery one of vs in our seueral callings haue waighty cause to Iubilate vpon special occasions but all of vs in generall vpon that great occasion wherby we are now called vnto this present Iubilation because euery man hath his share in this cause of our reioycing And therfore as the psalmist in this place exhorteth vs let vs take vp the Psalme bring out the timbrell the pleasant harpe with the vioâ—e sound vp the trumpet as in the new moone that yong men and maidens old men and babes may Iubiâ—ate and praise the name of the Lord. For this is the day which the Lord hath made therefore let vs be glad and reioyce therein A day wherein the diuell contended with God himselfe about the body of our King and in him about the body of our whole kingdome too as once he contended with the
point not Obiter but ex instituto taking vpon him there to decide this very question therfore his iudgement ought to haue the greater estimation There he expresly affirmeth that it is a thing as lawfull to conuert an abused idoll vnto the seruice of God as it is to conuert a â—â—duced man so that order be taken that it be not worshipped yea and euen T. C. himselfe for all his detestation of idols yet is not so blindly carried with hatred against them but that he can see well enough the gold and siluer to be Gods creatures in them of which his conscience can giue him good leaue to make a priuate vse notwithstanding the tragicall exclamations of the admonition and the direct iudgement of Saint Augustine vnto the contrary yea and of Caluin too Nay hee goeth yet further and alloweth the cappe and sâ—rplice which the admonition condemneth for idols garments and he himselfe calleth a wouen image not onely a priuate but a publicke and common vse which how it wil stand with his other doctrines it concerneth this disciples to consider So that as concerning your proposition That no idoll may be vsed in the seruice of God you see in what sort it must bee qualified or els that you haue both Scriptures and Fathers and Reformers against you Ob. But you proue your proposition by that place of Saint Iohn Babes keepe your selues from idols which as you say forbiddeth not onely idolatry but also idols too Resp. I answere that this place of Saint Iohn to keepe our selues from idols is a Metonimie of that subiect and implyeth no more but to keepe vs from idolatry with out which an idoll in it selfe is nothing as the Apostle Paul teacheth vs. To this exposition I am induced by these reasons First because I take it to bee the peculier opinion of the Mahometanes to condemne all vsed of images simply as you seeme to do by pressing this place In which opinion I thinke none other sort of men concurreth with them neither Christians Iewes nor Pagans Secondly because I finde Didimus Alexandrinus amongst the Ancients and Marlorate and Aretius amongst the Moderns to expound this place directly of idolatry and not of idols Thirdly because Tertullian who in his booke de corona seemeth to condemne not onely the action of idolatry but also the very idols themselues yet in the very same place confesseth that those very idols be Substantiae mundae ut dei res et hac sua conditione communes vsus And in his second booke against Marcion expounding the second commandement hee saith that the true cause why God forbiddeth images is only this that so hee might Cohibere substantiam idololatriae Which two places of Tertullian I pray you to marke the first showing that idols may haue a lawful vse and therefore be not simply forbidden the second that they onely be forbidden in respect of idolatry Fourthly because both Caluin Beza which extend this place to the abolishing of idols yet do it onely in this respect because they may bee occasions vnto idolatry Fiftly because both the aforesaid authors do allow some vse of images which sheweth that they thinke them not by this place of S. Iohn to be simply condemned Sixtly because I find euen the scriptures themselues to forbid images onely in respect of adoration and worship ye shall make you none idols or grauen image to bow downe to them for I am the Lord thy God So that this place of S. Iohn in forbidding idols forbiddeth not simply all kinde of vse of them but onely that religious vse when wee adore and worship them For this place of S. Iohn is paralleled by an other in the booke of Exodus where wee are forbidden so much as to name or to mention other Gods Which place must needs be restrained with this exposition that it forbiddeth vs but onely Honoris causa nominare or else the very scriptures should be contrary to them-selues For they not onely name but also preserue and keep in record the names of diuers heathen gods Astaroth and Milcom are named in the booke of kings Arcturus and Orion in the booke of Iob Castor and Pollux in the Acts of the Apostles and Act 14.12 Iupiter and Mercury Therefore as here is no more ment but that in naming wee should not honour them so in that place of Iohn there is no more ment but that in keeping our selues from them wee should not worship them VVhich it is knowne wee do not vnto the crosse So that if it were graunted that the crosse were an idoll yet as long as wee do not worship it it is not by that place of Saint Iohn condemned But to come now to the Assumption of your argument you say in it that our crosse is an Idoll and you proue it by three instances First that the Papists doe thinke it a defense against the diuâ—ll Second that they thinke it to sanctifie the vsers of it and Third that they doe adore and worshippe it Of which three proofes because the last doth indeed proue it to be in some sense an idoll I will take none exception against the two first though they be insufficient but wil grant that to the Papists it is no better then an idol But yet I pray you note how ill these points hang togither The Papists adore and worship their crosse ergo our crosse is aÌ„ idol How incohaerent is this Can their worship of their crosse make our crosse an idol which is not worshipped How then could our consciences be assured of the lawfull vse of any thing which we vse when as wee are not sure whether the same thing in some other place be not made an idoll Suppose that at our communion there should come in some temporizing Papist who seeing the communion bread vpon the table would inwardly adore it afte the idolatrous manner of the Romish church doth his making of that bread an idol pollute the vse of it vnto the Godly receiuers if yea then can we neuer bee assured whither that which we receiue be Christs body or an idol because there may be alwaies some such disguised Papists amongst vs if no why shold their adoration of an other crosse corrupt ours which is not the same wheÌ„ as his adoration of the bread which is none other but the same that wee receiue corrupts it not that crosse which they adore is not the same which wee make in our baptisme and that crosse which we make is not the same that they adore therfore I do not see by what rule either of true religion or of common reason the one should be condemned for the other Ob. But yet seeing they make though not the same indiuiduall crosse which wee vse yet the same species of crossing an idoll we ought to forbeare the vse of a thing so much abused especially it beeing none ordinance of God but onely a meere inuention of man