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A11933	A godlie and learned commentarie vpon the excellent book of Solomon, commonly called Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher in the vvhich commentarie are briefly and plainly layde downe the methode, sense, and vse of that most profitable sermon, on the which, yet there hath neuer bin set forth any exposition in the English tong before this time, in such large and profitable manner. VVritten in Latin by Iohn Serranus, and newly turned into English by Iohn Stockwood, school-master of Tunbridge.; Commentarius, in Solomonis Ecclesiastes. English	Serres, Jean de, 1540?-1598.; Stockwood, John, d. 1610.	1585 (1585)	STC 22247; ESTC S117199	256,809	478

the worde of God for from thence shall we haue true and sound rest Let vs not disquiet our mindes with diuerse goings about the bush for knowledge One thing is inough if wée choose that same better parte wée shall certainly finde it to be the guide of our whole life The knowledge of saluation is the chiefe knowledge Nowe the same is to be craued at the hande of God neither are we to reioyce in that we knowe sundry sciences but that we vnderstand the knowledge of saluation the which contayneth promises of both liues And the same shall then at last ingender in our mindes true and sound quietnesse if we shall knowe our names to be written in the booke of life Which foundation being layd wée shall no doubt carrie away most plentifull profite out of humane sciences as it were out of the spoyles of the Aegyptians A confutation of pleasure That is to saye That in pleasure there is great vanitie The second Chapter 1 I sayd in mine heart come now I wil proue thee in ioy and beholde thou pleasure and see this also is vanitie 2 Of laughter I sayd thou art mad and of ioy Whereunto serueth this The exposition That happinesse is neither in pleasure nor in the prudence of man SOLOMON thus far hath taught that happinesse is not in the wisedome of man now he teacheth that it is not in pleasure nor in the prudence of man the which discourse he continueth from this place vnto the third Chapter ver vij And he very fitly passeth from one contrarie vnto another For the studie of sciences and artes is cleane contrarie vnto a voluptuous and intemperate life for the one weareth away it selfe with great labors and toyles both of minde and bodie the other altogether giueth it selfe vnto ease and ioy Solomon therefore hauing had experience of the crabbed encumbrances of the Philosophicall life sayth that after a long and earnest deliberation in the ende he set downe with him selfe that the life which is spent in pleasure is better then other kindes of life And he setteth down a notable description of a minde reasoning with it selfe of vaine principles gathering vaine conclusions To what end Solomon gaue himselfe vnto pleasure For to this ende Solomon teacheth that he applyed his minde vnto pleasure not to commend a voluptuous life but to finde fault with the vanitie thereof and to condemne the blinde vainesse of the nature of man in allowing and embracing of the same For of this Preface 1 I sayd in mine heart c. this is the meaning The he after that he was not satisfied in that his former purpose to get wisedom tooke another course and being wearyed with the painfull studie of the thornie life about the knowledge of Philosophie of purpose speedely gaue him selfe vnto the contrarie part For in these words he sheweth that with setled purpose he embraced a newe kinde of life Nazianzen as Nazianzen doth verie well expound it And thinking to haue this in deede I determined to tourne my selfe vnto an other course of life and to giue ouer my selfe vnto delyte and to make tryall of sundry kindes of pleasures For To say in heart is so to consider of any matter as that you conclude determine some certaine thing For thinking or considering is the speach of the minde reasoning without wordes as speach is the thinking by expresse wordes because that which wee conceaue in minde we vtter by speach as the interpreter thereof Now what were those newe thinkings vpon a newe life after that he had had tryall of the mysteries of man his wisedome hee teacheth in these wordes A liuely resembling of the minde reasoning with it selfe Come nowe that is to saye Go to let vs consider a little more diligently of this matter and let vs gather our minde together for he speaketh vnto him selfe the which imitation or resembling of the minde reasoning with it selfe is farre more plaine and effectuall then if the matter were nakedly and barely set downe For the wauings and tossings of the thoughtes of man rashly turning them selues hither and thither are by this meanes notably expressed Go to then saith Solomon forsaking the studie and labour of those things in the which I haue wearied my selfe in vaine I will proue my selfe in ioy or I will poure out my selfe into ioy or I will giue my selfe vnto ioy Some expounde it one waye and some another according vnto the sundrie significations of the Hebrewe verbe The meaning is I will giue my selfe wholly vnto pleasure I will leaue nothing vndone vnto the seeking out of all pleasures to fill my selfe with them I will ouerflowe in delites I will wholly drowne my selfe in them I will let lose the raynes vnto mine appetite In a worde he sheweth that of a setled purpose of minde he doeth more freely giue ouer himselfe vnto pleasure and diligently as he himselfe thinketh best seeke all occasions to enioy her The which he signifieth also by another kinde of speaking And beholde good for To see To beholde good or pleasure or beholde good or pleasure is to enioy pleasure the kinde of speache with the Hebrewes growing hereupon because Wee haue our eyes fastened vpon that thing the which wee do loue And what I praye you doeth the minde gather by that same taste of pleasure Beholde this also is vanitie that is to say that by his own experience he acknowledged that in pleasure there is most great vanitie and that felicitie happinesse is most farre from that kynde of life The doctrine 1 Such is altogether the nature of man Man carried headlong into contrarie studies that being carried away with the rage of desires it is driuen headlong by outwarde things into contrarie partes So wée may oftentimes sée that sterne seueritie is losed into a certaine dissolute kinde of licentiousnes that they which haue liued an harde life forsaking their censorlike seueritie doe licentiously giue ouer them selues vnto pleasure The daily life doeth afoorde vs examples of this inconstancie of man Ioas. Ioas King of Iuda first of all from a chylde being verie well brought vp through the care diligence of Ioiada the high Priest in the beginning of his kingdome profitably shewing his singular care for the restoring of the pure worship of God yet notwithstanding had a clean contrarie end of his life his both care and manners being shamefully altered and chaunged The Empire of Rome also hath felt the hurtfull change of manners in Caligula Themistocles Lucullus and others mo abandoning vtterly the care of the common wealth haue giuen themselues wholy vnto pleasure and ease that they might beholde Neptune raging a farre off from the lande that it might behold the turmoyles and hurliburlies of the worlde themselues being at quiet and without the danger of the same like vnto one that séeth the Seas to worke be tombled together with the vehemencie of the windes himselfe standing

not cōparable to him in knowledge are preserued by grace to shewe a most cleare distinction betwene these two giftes of God the one of wisedome to knowe the other of strength to stande yet must no man surmise that any thing thereby is derogated from the authoritie of those writings which the spirite of God hath appointed by that his instrument to be penned for the perpetuall instruction of his Church in all ages And lest of all of this booke which as it appeareth to haue beene written in the latter ende of his dayes so it is thought of many learned men that it is a testimonie of his repentance after his fall If anye thing therein seeme hard to be vnderstood as some things are in deede which the vnstedfast and vngodly peruert as they do the rest of the scriptures to their owne destruction These difficulties are so well opened and the true and naturall sense of the whole text with the right scope and e●de thereof is so lea●nedly expressed in the Commentarie that in mine opinion no man hath either with more faithfulnesse sinceritie or dexteritie to the satisfying of the best l●arned interpreted this booke of Ecclesiastes then this learned man Serranus Finally the same Commentarie is so truely translated by one which is a learned Diuine himselfe and vnderstandeth the worke whereof the Commentarie entreateth as euery one doeth not that taketh vpon them to translate in these dayes that the studious Reader by the assistance of Gods spirite shall vndoubtedly finde such frute of his trauaile as he shal neuer repent him of his labour bestowed in reading Thy louing brother in Christ W. Fulke A Praeface of Iohn Serranus vpon the Booke of Solomon called Ecclesiastes or the Preacher conteining the Argument and Contents of the Books IN the beginning certain pointes seeme to be set down in the way of a Praeface concerning the authoritie ende method and vse of this Booke that these matters being vnderstood a more sure and fit way may be made vnto the reading of this most excellent Sermon and also vnto the most notable profit which thereby may and ought to come vnto vs. Because that some doe doubt of the person of Solomon it co●●eth to passe that hereby they take occasion of impea●●●ng not only the authoritie of this Sermon but also of all other his writinges as if the same priuiledge of credite and authoritie were not to be giuen vnto them which is vnto the canonicall Scriptures And concerning Solomon Sundrie opinions concerning the person of Solomō the opinions of the learned are diuerse and that for most weighty considerations for in regarde of the notable testimonies of the goodnesse of God towardes him some thinke very well of his saluation and holde that there is no doubt to bee made of the same albeit he fell into a most foule fault the whiche coulde not make voyde in him the excellent giftes of God amongest the whiche that gift of forgiuenesse of sinnes not to be repented of and the foundation of the same the eternall election of God obteyneth the first place and therefore that it is not meete that by reason of such a faulte wee shoulde doubt of his saluation no lesse then of manye other holye men whose notable faultes are playnely sette downe in the bookes of the scripture to the ende that in this miserye of man his infirmitie and weakenesse we might perceiue the stedfastnesse of GOD his mercye making those whome he will The reasons of them that doubt of the saluation of Solomon worthye of eternall life Some others doe in suche sorte weigh the circumstances of his most greeuous sinne that they make a very great doubt of his saluation For the Scripture doth flatly set downe that the heart of Solomon went aside from the God of Israell and that by foule abusing of the goodnesse of God towards him as vnto whome God had appeared twise Moreouer that this fell oute vnto him at the last ende almost of his life after so manye and so great tokens of God his mercye and liberalitie towardes him in that age wherein if euer he ought in deede to haue had bene wise That it was also a shamefull kinde of fault against true religion the which in the faythfull howsoeuer they are sometimes diuerslye carried awaye of their owne lustes doth take such deepe roote that it cannot chuse at al times but bring forth most plentiful fruit of reuerence and constancy To conclude that there appeareth no testimonye of his repentance and that the renting asunder of the kingdome which within short time followed doeth teache that God did in no wise forgiue vnto him this fault The minde of the Author touching the saluation of Solomon Doubtlesse the fault of Solomon was most greeuous and cannot by any meanes be excused For that hee whiche had receiued suche singuler giftes of GOD aboute the laste tyme of his lyfe did of wicked rashnesse fall awaye vnto Superstition and to the offence of the church and destruction of manye did sette vp publike Monumentes and tokens of that his fallinge awaye it is a thing so shamefull as is that whiche is moste shamefull Yet are not these thinges to this ende set downe vnto vs that we shoulde take vpon vs so muche authoritie ouer the secret iudgementes of God that wee shoulde conclude so singular a person whome the Lorde woulde haue to be a Figure of his Christe to bee appoynted vnto euerlasting destruction wherefore as it is a pointe of rashnesse certaynely to pronounce of so weightye a matter so on the contrarye parte it is a token of safenesse and modestye in matters of suche importaunce and nothing at all appertayning vnto our knowledge by staying oure iudgement to be wise out of the worde of God and there out only to gather those thinges whiche hee will haue of vs to bee knowne The fall then of so excellente a personage To what ende the fal of Solomon is set forth vnto vs is therefore set forth vnto vs that we should knowe with howe great carefulnesse we ought to walke betweene the sleightes of the Deuill and sinne in whose snares the best men are somtimes entrapped and moreouer that we holilye vse the giftes of God least being puffed vp with them we bee depriued of his grace of the which being voyde and trusting vnto our strength we must needes runne headlong into assured destruction Further the expresse and plaine setting downe of the faulte of Solomon appertayneth vnto the Historye following of the scattering of the kingdome of Israell the cause whereof to haue rested in the posterity of Dauid is playnely proued by this notable sinne of Solomon But for all this whatsoeuer may bee determined eyther of the saluation or damnation of Solomon The fal of Solomon is no discredit to his writings And why this notwithstanding must be holden for certaintye that the reproche of his falling awaye or punishment maketh nothing at all agaynste his Writinges and

some Prophets may seeme base and as it were creeping on the ground do yet notwithstanding with their weight and their heauenly maiestie throwe downe and as it were trample vnder their feete all the flourishing and furniture of man his wisedome Vale. A Commentarie of Iohn Serranus vpon the Preacher of Solomon The first Chapter 1 The wordes of the Preacher the sonne of Dauid King in Hierusalem The Exposition THere is no doubt but that by this name of the Preacher Solomon noted vnder the name of the Preacher Solomō is noted after a certaine kinde of excellencie for as much as the names of Dauid his father and the kingdome of Israel the chiefe citie whereof was Hierusalem are plainely expressed But at what time he wrote these things it is not in deede certaine The time vncertaine whē this booke was written yet the coniecture is likely to be true that he wrote these things in his last age for he writeth in such sort as if he had learned this doctrine by verie great experience of things and long vse and there is a peculiar circumstance hereafter cap. 12. And this Preface he setteth downe before this most excellent discourse of the chiefe and soueraigne good to get vnto him selfe authoritie and attention or heedefull hearing by the gloriousnes and dignitie of his person for it is not one of the common sort that speaketh or secretly whispereth some thing but he doth euidently preach who being garnished by God with great and glorious giftes and renowmed in the Church of God with princely dignitie hath lawfull authoritie to teach for it is not to be thought that it came to passe at all aduenture that Solomō was indued with that same extraordinarie wisedome Yet doe I not thinke that Solomon preached these things out of the Pulpit for I alow the coniecture of Luther that the Hebrew word which is translated the Preacher is rather to be referred vnto the matter it selfe then vnto the person of Solomon the which doctrine he did not onely teache diligently vnto the men of his time to serue vnto all occasions but also would haue it to be common that it might be vnderstoode of all men and being committed vnto writing that should last for euer might be deliuered ouer vnto posteritie Diuerse callings are not to be hudled vp together and be profitable vnto the Church For Solomon did not huddle vp together diuers functions and callings that is to say the office of a King and of a Preacher For whereas the holy historie doth beare record that he preached in the dedication of the temple that was a thing extraordinarie beyond the generall duetie of kings in maintaining and spreading abroad of true doctrine and yet was not such that the boundes of callings should bee broken the which how pernitious and hurtfull it is the holy historie doth teach by the lamentable example of Ozias no bad king otherwise The Hebrew word Koheleth the Greekes translate a Preacher in the masculine gender that is to say such a one as doth teach in an assemblie or in the congregation and Church whereas notwithstanding the Hebrew word is the feminine gender the which the interpreters doe in such sense expoūd that they say this word Nephesch soule is to be vnderstood in the same that the gender may agree as if it were a Preaching soule And it seemeth to be a verie fit kinde of speaking whereby the great earnestnes of the preacher is more expressely signified as if namely not his mouth but his minde did speake that is to say his minde after a sort were to be seene in his wordes By the name of Wordes What is to be vnderstoode by this name Wordes according vnto the vsuall maner of the scripture he vnderstandeth certaine graue weightie profitable sayings not common or worne but such as are worthie the minding and verie meete to be well kept in memorie as in the Psalmes and in other places and the wordes of Ieremie or the word of the Lorde which was giuen by Ozeas and such like the which are wont to be set downe in the beginnings of the Prophets And by this kinde of speaking this also seemeth to be signified that the matter is not set forth barely and simply or by writing and in common speach but such as is to be vttered by the publike ministerie of the Church and that the same in deede is a profitable doctrine the which soundeth in the Church and that it is the office of the ministers that they speake The doctrine The dignitie of the ministerie 1 The authoritie of the word doth not in déede hang vpon the person of the minister yet prouision must be made that the dishonestie of the minister hurt not the dignitie and gloriousnesse of his ministerie Nowe let the Ministerie of the Church be reckoned vile and base with wretched men when as so notable a king had it in so great a price that he would peculiarly be termed by that title The office of princes and magistrates 2 The especiall duetie also of Princes and of all chiefe Magistrates is signified namely that they be maintainers of true religion and that therefore they diligently labour about this one thing that the people may be rightlie instructed in sound doctrine which is the true and sounde foundation and strengthening of all common weales And truely by better right might we call that common wealth happie in which the King or Prince either were a diuine or a diuine king then a Philosopher such Philosophers as were the wicked Emperours and vnhappily learned Marcus the Philosopher and Iulianus the Apostata or backslider in whom the knowledge of Philosophie and learning was an hurtful instrument to the plague and destruction of their subiects On the contrarie side the examples of Dauid Solomon Ezechias and other godly kings haue taught that the earnest studie and care to plant religion is the most sure foundation of the common wealth wherewith it being established may happily and prosperously be increased 3 Furthermore the word Koheleth What the word Koheleth doth teach vs. the which is taken from a verbe which signifieth to call together an assemblie sheweth two things One that this is the true way to be wise which is not occupied onelie in bare speculation but that which is altogether referred vnto practize and the common profit of the Church 4 The second that the same is a true consent and agréement of kings and people that with ioyned mindes they embrace true doctrine and that Princes ought to be guides and preseruers of that agréemēt For both the title of a Preacher is giuen vnto king Solomon and also this word Preaching doth plainly import a multitude great or small to be preached vnto Let princes therefore and people know what is the true and sure way to increase the publique peace Princes that the one imploy their trauell that the voice of pure doctrine may sounde in the Church and

smallest and least points thereof that he doth gouerne families common wealths kingdomes all empires and euerie particular man but especially that he hath a singular care ouer his Church the which he preserueth amongst hurliburlies of the world the ruines and ouerthrowes of kingdomes and empires and therefore that she is not onely the kéeper of true antiquitie but also the witnesse and discrier of all those chaunges she her selfe being not at all subiect vnto alteration or chaunge Therefore as Habacuc saieth Let vs goe vp into the watch-tower that is to say let vs out of the worde of God and in the bosome of the Church behold the confusions of the perishing worlde and let vs wisely iudge of them This is the generall proofe of the confutation A short repetion of the principall prooues of the first confutation namelie that in the whole life of man there is great vanitie the which Solomon hath prooued by the vnstedfastnesse and shortnesse of life the vnprofitable successe of man his labours the weaknesse of the wit of man the forgetfull darknesse of the things themselues and the sundrie chaunges and alterations of the same A confutation of the wisdome of man that is to say that in the wisedome of man there is great vanitie 12 I the Preacher haue beene King ouer Israel in Hierusalem 13 And I haue giuen mine heart to searche and finde out with wisedome that which is done vnder heauen this sore trauaile hath God giuen vnto the sonnes of men to toyle themselues therein 14 I haue seene all the workes which are done vnder the sunne and beholde they are all vanitie and vexation of spirit 15 That which is crooked can not be made right and the want can not be numbred 16 I spake with mine heart saying Beholde I am become great haue added wisedome aboue al those which haue beene before me in Hierusalem and mine heart hath seene a multitude of wisedome and knowledge 17 And I haue giuen mine heart to knowe wisedome and knowledge and madnesse and foolishnesse I knew also that this was vexation of spirit 18 For in the multitude of wisedome is much anger and he which increaseth knowledge increaseth sorow The exposition 12 I Hitherto he hath generally shewed with soūd argumēts the vanity of the life of man as hath beene by vs declared nowe he beginneth to rehearse particular reasons to prooue by induction the generall proposition from whence he tooke the beginning of the discourse That al things are vanitie And he fetteth the first argument of the 1 An inductiō is a kind of argument by reckoning vp of many particulars in the end cōcluding a generall induction from himselfe and after a sort setteth forth himselfe abroade for an example of vanitie to shewe that flesh is so foolish that man his reason is so blinde that it can be amended by no examples For he speaketh in such sort of himselfe that when as he had made proofe or triall of sundrie kindes of life he confesseth himselfe to haue beene altogether disceiued for that he founde vanitie in those things in the which he searched for happinesse He witnesseth therefore that he himselfe commeth forth not as some odde Philosopher discoursing of matters at home in his studie or as a scholler rehearsing the Latins of his maister but as he that both had beene a long time conuersant in the Church and also had diligently giuen himself vnto the knowledge of this most excellent thing For the wordes of this preface are to be valewed by their weight for he calleth himselfe a Preacher to this end Why he calleth himselfe a preacher to shewe that he himselfe vnderstandeth the things which he teacheth Neither did God without cause indue him with singular wisedome as else where we haue alleaged out of the holy scripture Why he termeth himselfe a King The terme of Kingly dignitie is adioyned for the same cause and that not of euerie kingdome but of the kingdome of Israel the which God had dedicated as a peculiar iewell of prise vnto himselfe and that in Hierusalem to wit an holy place and full of Maiestie the which God had reserued as a sanctuarie vnto himselfe So the naming both of a kingdome and also of the chiefe citie maketh for the increasing and also the making plaine of the matter It is therefore as much as if he should say Doubtlesse beyng taught by experience I set forth my selfe a witnesse of the doctrine which I teach such a one as no exception is to be taken against as who being garnished both with singular giftes of God and also long and much conuersant in his Church hauing borne a most high office could not choose but to haue gathered verie great experience of things The expositiō of Nazianzē So Nazianzen I set not downe these things rashly without aduisement as being now first conuersant in the Church but hauing beene made King of the Hebrewes in Hierusalem I haue sufficiently considered all things What doth he gather hereof that he being furnished with those great opportunities and helpes for the doing of things had notwithstanding more toyle and griefe then good successe that he attained not vnto the things which he enterprized by the force and benefite of his owne wisedome and power and in a worde that he could not by these helpes finde happinesse in the things belonging vnto men To this end he alleageth his owne example by this reason An argument from the greater vnto the lesser If I haue had no good successe with my counsailes what may other men being fortified with lesser helpes hope for And hereby may be gathered that this booke was written by Solomon in the times of his verie last age as it euidently appeareth by these wordes The doctrine 1 They no doubt are true teachers Who are true teachers who doe soberlie and earnestlie ioyne practize vnto contemplation of things and knowledge of the same that is which are perswaded and assured of that which they teache by certaine experience In which kinde of doctrine the Apostles did chiefely excel who doe teach that the crosse is to be borne in bearing the crosse in their owne persons Away therefore with the vaine speculations of such wizardes as can onelie debate of matters at home in their studies who reason coldly and generally as it were out of the schoole of Philosophers concerning things appertaining vnto godlinesse But let those be vnto vs teachers of greater account which haue experience ioyned with doctrine 2 But out of the lamentable example of Solomon endued with so manie and so worthie gifts The fall of Solomon oughte to teach vs to walke circumspectly we haue cause why to walke with great carefulnesse For he did not so well and profitably apply vnto himselfe the true way of being wise the which his purpose is to teache in this booke as he was able to set it downe vnto others But if he had as earnestly detested the vanitie

or happinesse No perfect quiet in any familie 7 Wee should therefore be farre deceiued if wee shoulde thinke that wee should finde perfect tranquillitie quiet in matters concerning our familie albeit neuer so well ordered and sumptuous in the which doubtlesse there is much labour and but little or no profit but the more certaine and heaped vp rewarde thereof is vanitie and affliction or trouble of spirite that wee should make reckoning with our selues to seeke for an euerlasting dwelling and an inheritance elsewhere then in this world To conclude if wee seeke for gaine that wee should know that godlinesse ioyned with satietie and contentednes of minde is great gaine The Exposition 12 And I looked backe This place is diuersly expounded For some doe so expound it This place diuerse waye● expounded as if Solomon would signifie that hee hauing had experience of the troubles that are in keeping of an house did seeke after a more restfull quiet course of life bidding farewell vnto the care of the other and set his minde againe vnto wisedome of the which he spake in the first chapiter But that this is not the true meaning of this place I hope that the learned will agree with me if the circumstances bee dulye considered For Solomon no doubt goeth forward with his discourse in hande concerning Prudence or wisedome of man neither could he repeate againe that which he had sayd before of man his knowledge without foolishly babling or vayne repetition of the same thing for the which who doubteth that this writing is for He hath noted out that part of Prudence the which is occupied in the direction of housholde matters the which in deede of it selfe is of great weight vnto the vse of life Solomon nowe handleth the cheefest parte of prudence And now he doth at large and excellently set downe that whiche is the chiefest and most notable parte of Prudence namely that which iudgeth of the whole life the which teacheth what is good what is euill what agreeable what disagreeable iudgeth of such thinges as fall out in the life of man weying the grounds and causes of men their actions and therefore prescribeth counsaile to order the issues of things that a happy end maye follow sheweth the danger that it may be auoyded The Bookes of Politikes or of such as haue written of common wealth matters are full of this excellent knowledge and the counsailes of prudent men are directed by the guidance and helpe hereof It is likely that so families Cities were founded and ordeined that so great Empires sprang vp and were increased and that so the same were maintained preserued But what is the successe of this ciuile prudence or wisdome Solomon being taught also by his own trial and experience will tell vs hereafter now he teacheth what it is vpon how sure ground he speaketh of the same Loking back By the word Loking back he meaneth a certain and sure purpose for the Hebrew worde doeth not simply signifie to see but to turn about one his self to behold and mark a thing more heedfully but yet so that with all the inconstancye of a doubtful and wauering mind whiche gazeth about hither and thither is thereby represented For these things are to bee ioined with that which went before with the words that follow after in the which he describeth and setteth out the alterations and chaunginges of diuerse courses trades of life The inconstācie of the mind of man the which do declare that the mind cannot stay long in any one sure and setled thing He sayth therfore that he loked back to see that is to say to marke try vnstande Wisedome and Madnesse and Follye that is to say whatsoeuer went vnder the name or but vnder the shew of ciuile Wisedome as wee haue expounded it before for he repeateth againe the same wordes Ciuile Prudence or Wisedome is questionlesse a moste principall and profitable part of Philosophie and therefore the naming agayne of the same wordes doth very well agree vnto it The summe and effect is that he speaketh not of a thing that is vncertaine but whereof hee had good triall knowledge and experience as about the studie whereof he raunged not as they saye ouer the fieldes but tooke great payne and laboure and diligently gaue himselfe vnto the searching out of all the partes thereof Therefore he doth verye notablye alleage his owne Example For what is a man c. The wordes are somewhat hard but the sence and meaning is nothing doubtfull The very expres significations of the hebrew text word for word is thus What is man whiche shoulde come after the King vnto those thinges whiche they haue done alreadye Some as many of the Rabbines as Ierome by the worde King vnderstande God The hebrew words I haue left out of purpose because I suppose thē needlesse vnto the ignorant reader and that in sundrye sences eyther that we oughte to bee content with the workes of God nor seeke any further thinges then that which is made alreadie and that we ought not to find fault with his workes as wicked Carpers vse to doe or After the pronouncing of God his decree that God is not to bee prayed vnto to reuoke it or call it back agayn when as it can by no meanes bee called backe againe but whilste wee haue opportunitie of time that we ought so to prepare and frame our selues that God be not cōpelled to exercise his iudgement against vs or that no man can so clearely and purelye knowe the wisedome of his Creator and King as hee knoweth which is the Creator Which thinges I confesse in themselues are true but they are cleane beside the purpose Others also by the word King An other interpretation do vnderstād God but in this sence That it is in the pleasure and power of God alone that like as he hath created vs so hee also gouerneth the successe of our affaires and that therfore ther is no man that in this behalf can imitate and follow God the King and Lorde of all thinges that is to say do as he doth for that is done which he hath commaunded his counsaile and will doth direct the successes of things the which power can by no meanes befall vnto any man But this exposition albeit that it conteine a very profitable doctrine yet it doeth not agree with the wordes and meaning I therfore expound these things of Solomon in this sence What man I pray you is there that coulde haue experience in more thinges then I The expositiō of the author Who when as I am King and haue had autoritie ouer so great a people being endued with singuler gifts from God and haue also taken great paines to know these things haue gotten most exact and perfect vnderstanding of these thinges and by good right may be a witnesse of these thinges such a one as no exception can be taken against I thinke

flower of Haruest And the locust shal be a burden vnto him The locust By the worde Locust they vnderstand the priuie members the which in old men are stretched out The which exposition seemeth to be the more simple and playne because it followeth And lust shall bee driuen away the which wordes doe plainelye shewe that in old men the power of desiring not only of meate and drinke but cheefely of lust doeth abate and waxe cold when as the vitall and naturall desires doe faile but the priuation and bereauing of those powers the whiche hee rehearsed before is an assured token of death drawing neare Because man goeth vnto c. that is to saye by this meanes a waye is made vnto death For hee calleth death The house of man his age as the euerlasting seate or dwelling place in the which euerye man must dwell vntill the daye of the resurrection or rising agayne And the mourners M●urners He signifieth the graue And setteth out the maner of burial yea and also death it selfe For the deade were wont to be lamented women being hired for this seruice the which of the Latines were called Praeficae And that this custome was muche vsed among the men of the east The siluer coard it doth appear by many places 6. The siluer coard c. Some doe expounde the siluer coarde to be the ridgebone of the back the which is tied together as it were with certaine linkes He calleth it Siluer because of the white colour as appeareth in a deade bodye And the Coard in my iudgement is sayde to be stretched out because that in death the ioyntes are made more loose and especiallye in olde men whose reines are crooked Others vnderstande the sinowes grislie muscles ioints cordes because that the sinowes are like vnto white stringes and in as much as they are the instrumentes of the sences and of moouing they haue especiall force and power in the body of man The golden ewer or pot The golden ewer or golden pot by whiche kinde of speaking they saye the brayne to be signifyed or else that skin in the braine the whiche is called Pia Mater Plato placeth the tower and fortresse of life in the braine Some take it to be meant of the heart because the heart is the fountaine and spring of the vitall powers and of the cheefe heate and the similitude of gold seemeth rather to agree vnto it together with the spirites The Pitcher be broken By the worde Pitcher they suppose the hollow veine to bee signified The Pitcher namelye the receiuer of the bloud which the vitall powers do drawe from the liuer that from thence as it were by pipes it maye bee conueighed by the vaines into the whole bodye the which distribution and conueighing of the blood into all the parts of the body Plato calleth hydreian and diocheteusin By the word Fountaine they saye the liuer is noted Fountaine the which is the principall and natural vessell to conteine the blood And by this kinde of speaking he meaneth that the blood fayleth and so consequently that death followeth Virgil One and the selfe same way the blood and the life doe follow The wheele The wheele be broken vpon the Cisterne They say that by the wheele the Heade is signified because of the power attractiue and that by the Cisterne is meante the hearte from the whiche the natural powers are drawn after the like maner as a bucket full of water is drawne out of the well by a wheele The Cesterne The originall and first heate being quenched when as the sences and all the instrumentes of the sences weare and consume away death followeth The which in expresse wordes bee by and by sheweth And dust returne c. there bee a separating of the soule and the bodye the which is a true definition of death when as namely the two natures of that essence whereof man consisteth and hath his name A true definition of death shall returne vnto their principles the earthy vnto the earth and the diuine and heauenlye vnto God and therefore the body bee broughte againe vnto the earth and the soule go vnto heauen and be ioyned with GOD after whose Image it was made It is therefore a most notable place Concerning the immortalitie of the soule To wit that there is in man one part earthlye and mortal an other part diuine and immortal the one that is to say the body goeth to the earth the other that is to say the soule vnto GOD. This auntient or simple truth is to be opposed or set against the deuises of prophane men the whiche haue gone aboute to darken this truth with the tedious discourses of subtil and deep disputations the sparkes whereof notwithstanding haue remayned in the mindes of some of the heathen euen in spite of the teeth of the Deuill Arist●tle Aristotle in this matter being wonderfull obscure and darke doth entangle the mindes of the vnwarie and vnskilfull with daungerous suspicions Plato In Plato there are greater remnantes of this truth albeit hee speake not so rightly as hee ought to doe concerning this mysterie or secret Euery where notwithstanding hee holdeth that this doctrine of the immortalitie of the soule is the foundation of true Philosophie and gathering the summe and effecte of this long disputation hee declareth his iudgement concerning this matter in expresse and plaine wordes saying The soule therefore is immortall and free from all destruction And when as death commeth vnto man that indeed whiche is mortall as reason is it should dieth but that which is immortall goeth away sound and voyde of all corruption giuing place vnto death Phocylides truly out of that auncient philosophie Phocylides teacheth the immortality of the soule in euident and cleare wordes The which place also it shall not greeue me to set downe that it may appeare that they which either denie the immortalitie of the soule or else call it into doubt are conuinced and reproued of follye and madnesse euen through the force and power of the light of nature that I recite not the excellent testimonies of Cicero touching this matter The bodies dead the soules of men The golden verses of Phocylides concerning the immortalitie of the soule doe vncorrupt remaine For bodies from the earth we haue and into it resolude againe VVe are but dust to Heauens hie VVhen body dieth the soule doth flie And these wordes of Solomon are expresly to be noted to the ende we maye knowe howe wickedly and lewdly they deale the which take occasion out of this booke eyther to establish vngodly doctrines or else doe reiecte and refuse the same as not sound The place therefore the which is in the third chapter verse 21 is to be vnderstoode by comparing it with this In the ende therefore of this sermon he enterlaced the mention of olde age and of death to the ende that we should vnderstand that this is euen an