strength of this so much despised and debased authoritie of man Surely it doth and that oftner then we are aware of For although scripture be of God and therefore the proofe which is taken from thence must needes be of all other most inuincible yet this strength it hath not vnlesse it auouch the selfe same thing for which it is brought If there be eyther vndeniable apparance that so it doth or reason such as cannot deceiue then scripture-proofe no doubt in strength and value exceedeth all But for the most part euen such as are readiest to cite for one thing fiue hundred sentences of holy scripture what warrant haue they that any one of them doth meane the thing for which it is alleaged Is not their surest ground most commonly eyther some probable coniecture of their owne or the iudgement of others taking those Scriptures as they doe Which notwithstanding to meane otherwise then they take them it is not still altogether imposible So that now and then they ground themselues on humane authoritie euen when they most pretend diuine Thus it fareth euen cleane throughout the whole controuersie about that discipline which is so earnestly vrged and laboured for Scriptures are plentifully alleaged to proue that the whole Christian worlde for euer ought to embrace it Hereupon men terme it The discipline of God Howbeit examine sift and resolue their alleaged proofes till you come to the very roote from whence they spring the heart wherein their strength lyeth and it shall clearely appeare vnto any man of iudgement that the most which can be inferred vpon such plentie of diuine testimonies is onely this That some thinges which they maintaine as far as some men can probably coniecture doe seeme to haue bene out of scripture not absurdly gathered Is this a warrant sufficient for any mans conscience to builde such proceedinges vpon as haue beene and are put in vre for the stablishment of that cause But to conclude I would gladly vnderstand how it commeth to passe that they which so peremptorily doe maintaine that humane authoritie is nothing worth are in the cause which they fauour so carefull to haue the common sort of men perswaded that the wisest the godliest and the best learned in all Christendome are that way giuen seeing they iudge this to make nothing in the world for them Againe how commeth it to passe they cannot abide that authoritie should be alleaged on the other side if there be no force at all in authorities on one side or other Wherefore labour they to strip their aduersaries of such furniture as doth not helpe Why take they such needlesse paines to furnish also their owne cause with the like If it be voyd and to no purpose that the names of men are so frequent in their bookes what did moue them to bring them in or doth to suffer them there remaining Ignorant I am not how this is salued They do it not but after the truth made manifest first by reason or by scripture they doe it not but to controule the enemies of the truth who beare themselues bold vpon humane authority making not for them but against them rather Which answeres are nothing For in what place or vpon what consideration soeuer it be they doe it were it in their owne opinion of no force being done they would vndoubtedly refraine to doe it 8 But to the end it may more plainely appeare what we are to iudge of their sentences and of the cause it selfe wherein they are alleaged first it may not well be denied that all actions of men endued with the vse of reason are generally eyther good or euill For although it be granted that no action is properly tearmed good or euill vnlesse it be voluntarie yet this can be no let to our former assertion that all actions of men indued with the vse of reason are generally either good or euill because euen those thinges are done voluntarily by vs which other creatures do naturally in as much as wee might stay our doing of them if wee would Beastes naturally doe take their foode and rest when it offereth it selfe vnto them If men did so too and could not do otherwise of themselues there were no place for any such reproofe as that of our Sauiour Christ vnto his disciples could ye not watch with me one houre That which is voluntarily performed in things tending to the end if it be well done must needes be done with deliberate consideration of some reasonable cause wherefore wee rather should do it thē not Wherupō it seemeth that in such actions only those are said to be good or euil which are capable of deliberatiō so that many things being hourely done by men wherein they need not vse with themselues any manner of consultation at all it may perhaps hereby seeme that well or ill doing belongeth onely to our waightier affaires and to those deeds which are of so great importance that they require aduise But thus to determine were perilous and peraduenture vnsound also I do rather incline to thinke that seeing all the vnforced actiōs of mē are volūtary al volūtary actiōs tēding to the end haue choice al choise presupposeth the knowledge of some cause wherfore we make it wher the reasonable cause of such actiōs so readily offereth it self that it needeth not to be sought for in those things though we do not deliberat yet they are of their nature apt to be deliberated on in regard of the wil which may encline either way and would not any one way bend it self if there were not some apparent motiue to lead it Deliberatiō actuall we vse when there is doubt what we should incline our willes vnto Where no doubt is deliberation is not excluded as impertinent vnto the thing but as needlesse in regard of the agent which seeth already what to resolue vpon It hath no apparent absurditie therefore in it to thinke that all actions of men indued with the vse of reason are generally either good or euill Whatsoeuer is good the same is also approued of God and according vnto the sundrie degrees of goodnesse the kindes of diuine approbation are in like sort multiplyed Some things are good yet in so meane a degree of goodnesse that men are only nor disproued nor disalowed of God for them No man hateth his owne flesh If ye doe good vnto them that doe so to you the very Publicans themselues doe as much They are worse then Infidels that haue no care to prouide for their owne In actions of this sorte the very light of nature alone may discouer that which is so farre forth in the sight of God allowable Some thinges in such sorte are allowed that they be also required as necessary vnto saluation by way of direct immediate and proper necessitie finall so that without performance of them we cannot by ordinary course be saued not by any means be excluded from life obseruing them In actions of this kind
rashnes God was not ignorant that the Priests and Iudges whose sentence in matters of controuersie 〈◊〉 ordained should stand both might and oftentimes would be deceiued in their iudgement Howbeit better it was in the eye of his vnderstanding that sometime an erroneous sentence definitiue should preuaile till the same authoritie perceiuing such ouersight might afterwardes correct or reuerse it then that strifes should haue respit to growe and not come speedily vnto some end Neither wish we that men should do any thing which in their hearts they are perswaded they ought not to doe but this perswasion ought we say to be fully setled in their harts that in litigious and controuersed causes of such qualitie the will of God is to haue them to do whatsoeuer the sentence of iudiciall and finall decision shall determine yea though it seeme in their priuate opinioÌ„ to swarue vtterly from that which is right as no doubt many times the sentence amongst the Iewes did seeme vnto one part or other contending and yet in this case God did then allow them to doe that which in their priuate iudgement it seemed yea and perhaps truly seemed that the lawe did disallow For if God be not the author of confusion but of peace then can he not be the author of our refusall but of our contentment to stand vnto some definitiue sentence without which almost impossible it is that eyther wee should auoyd confusion or euer hope to attaine peace To small purpose had the Councell of Ierusalem bene assembled if once their determination being set downe men might afterwards haue defended their former opinions When therefore they had giuen their definitiue sentence all controuersie was at an ende Things were disputed before they came to be determined men afterwardes were not to dispute any longer but to obey The sentence of iudgement finished their strife which their disputes before iudgement could not doe This was ground sufficient for any reasonable mans conscience to build the dutie of obedience vpon whatsoeuer his owne opinion were as touching the matter before in question So full of wilfulnes and selfeliking is our nature that without some definitiue sentence which being giuen may stand and a necessitie of silence on both sides afterward imposed small hope there is that strifes thus far prosecuted will in short time quietly end Now it were in vaine to aske you whether ye could be content that the sentence of any Court already erected should bee so farre authorized as that among the Iewes established by God himselfe for the determining of all controuersies That man which wil do presumptuously not harkning vnto the Priest that standeth before the Lord to minister there nor vnto the Iudge let him dye Ye haue giuen vs already to vnderstand what your opinioÌ„ is in part concerning her sacred Maiesties Court of high Commission the nature whereof is the same with that amongst the Iewes albeit the power be not so great The other way happily may like you better because Maister Beza in his last booke saue one written about these matters professeth himselfe to be now weary of such combats and encounters whether by word or writing in as much as he findeth that controuersies therby are made but braules therfore wisheth that in some common lawfull assembly of Churches all these strifes may at once be decided Shall there be then in the meane while no doings Yes There are the waightier matters of the lawe iudgement and mercie and fidelitie These things we ought to do and these things while we contend about lesse we leaue vndone Happier are they whom the Lord when he commeth shall finde doing in these things then disputing about Doctors Elders Deacons Or if there be no remedie but somewhat needs ye must do which may tend to the setting forward of your discipline do that which wise men who thinke some Statute of the realme more fit to be repealed then to stand in force are accustomed to do before they come to Parliament where the place of enacting is that is to say spend the time in reexamining more duly your cause and in more throughly considering of that which ye labour to ouerthrow As for the orders which are established sith equitie and reason the law of nature God and man do all fauour that which is in being till orderly iudgement of decision be giuen against it it is but iustice to exact of you and peruersnes in you it should be to denie thereunto your willing obedience Not that I iudge it a thing allowable for men to obserue those lawes which in their hearts they are stedfastly perswaded to be against the law of God but your perswasion in this case ye are all bound for the time to suspend and in otherwise doing ye offend against God by troubling his church without any iust or necessary cause Be it that there are some reasons inducing you to think hardly of our lawes Are those reasons demonstratiue are they necessary or but meere probabilities only An argument necessary demonstratiue is such as being proposed vnto any mâ— vnderstood the mind cannot choose but inwardly assent Any one such reason dischargeth J graunt the conscience and setteth it at full libertie For the publike approbatioÌ„ giuen by the body this whole Church vnto those things which are established doth make it but probable that they are good And therefore vnto a necessary proofe that they are not good it must be giue place But if the skilfullest amongst you can shew that all the bookes ye haue hitherto written be able to afford any one argument of this nature let the instance be giuen As for probabilities what thing was there euer set downe so agreeable with soâ—â—â—d reason but some probable shewe against it might be made Is it meete that when publikely things are receiued and haue taken place generall obedience thereunto should cease to bee exacted in case this or that priuate person led with some probable conceipt shoulde make open protestation I Peter or Iohn disallow them and pronounce them nought In which case your answere will be that concerning the lawes of our Church they are not onely condemned in the opinion of a priuate man but of thousands yea and euen of those amongst which dâ—uers are in publique charge and authoritie As though when publique consent of the whole hath established anything euery mans iudgement being thereunto compared were not priuate howsoeuer his calling be to some kind of publique charge So that of peace and quietnes there is not any way possible vnlesse the probable voice of euery intier societie or body politique ouerrule all priuate of like nature in the same body Which thing effectually proueth that God being author of peace and not of confusion in the Church must needs be author of those mens peaceable resolutions who concerning these thinges haue determined with themselues to thinke and do as the Church they are of decreeth till they see necessary cause enforcing
by your lawes taken away your selues who haue sought them ye so excuse as that ye would haue men to thinke ye iudge them not allowable but tollerable only and to be borne with for some helpe which ye find in them vnto the furtherance of your purposes till the corrupt estate of the Churâ—h may be better reformed Your lawes forbidding Ecclesiasticall persons vtterly the exercise of Ciuill power must needs depriue the Heads and Maisters in the same Colledges of all such authoritie as now they exercise either at home by punishing the faults of those who not as children to their parents by the law of Nature but altogether by ciuill authority are subiect vnto them or abroad by keeping Courts amongst their tenants Your lawes making permanent inequalitie amongst Ministers a thing repugnant to the word of God enforce those Colledges the Seniors whereof are all or any part of them Ministers vnder the gouernment of a maister in the same vocation to choose as oft as they meet together a new president For if so ye iudge it necessary to do in Synods for the auoyding of permanent inequality amongst Ministers the same cause must needs euen in these Collegiate assemblies enforce the like Except per aduenture ye meane to auoid all such absurdities by dissoluing those Corporations and by bringing the Vniuersities vnto the forme of the Schoole of Geneua Which thing men the rather are inclined to looke for in as much as the Ministery whereinto their founders with singular prouidence haue by the same statutes appointed them necessarily to enter at a certaine time your lawes bind them much more necessarily to forbeare till some parish abroad call for them Your opinion concerning the law Ciuill is that the knowledge thereof might be spared as a thing which this land doth not need Professors in that kind being few ye are the bolder to spurne at them and not to dissemble your minds as concerning their remoouall in whose studies although my selfe haue not much bene conuersant neuerthelesse exceeding great cause I see there is to wish that thereunto more encouragement were giuen as well for the singular treasures of wisedome therein conteined as also for the great vse we haue thereof both in decision of certaine kinds of causes arising daily within our selues and especially for commerce with Nations abroad whereunto that knowledge is most requisite The reasons wherewith ye would perswade that Scripture is the onely rule to frame all our actions by are in euery respect as effectuall for proofe that the same is the onely law whereby to determine all our Ciuill controuersies And then what doth let but that as those men may haue their desire who frankely broch it already that the worke of reformation will neuer be perfect till the law of Iesus Christ be receiued alone so pleaders and Counsellors may bring their bookes of the Common law and bestow them as the students of curious needlesse arts did theirs in the Apostles time J leave them to scanne how farre those words of yours may reach wherein ye declare that whereas now many houses lye waste through inordinate suites of law This one thing will showe the excellencie of Discipline for the wealth of the Realme and quiet of Subiects that the Church is to censure such a party who is apparantly troublesome and contentious and without REASONABLE CAVSE vpon a meere will and stomacke doth vexe and molest his brother troble the Country For mine owne part I do not see but that it might verie well agree with your principles if your discipline were fully planted euen to send out your writs of surcease vnto all Courts of England besides for the most things handled in them A great deale further I might proceed and descend lower But for as much as against all these and the like difficulties your answer is that we ought to search what things are consonant to Gods will not which be most for our owne ease and therefore that your discipline being for such is your errour the absolute commaundement of Almightie God it must be receiued although the world by receiuing it should be cleane turned vpside downe herein lyeth the greatest danger of all For whereas the name of diuine authority is vsed to countenance these things which are not the commaundements of God but your owne erronious collections on him ye must father whatsoeuer ye shall afterwards be led either to do in withstanding the aduersaries of your cause or to thinke in maintenance of your doings And what this may be God doth know In such kinds of error the mind once imagining it selfe to seeke the execution of Gods will laboureth foorthwith to remoue both things and persons which any way hinder it from taking place and in such cases if any strange or new thing seeme requisite to be done a strange and new opinion concerning the lawfulnesse therof is withall receiued and broched vnder countenance of diuine authoritie One example herein may serue for many to shew that false opinions touching the will of God to haue things done are wont to bring forth mightie and violent practises against the hinderances of them and those practises new opinions more pernitious then the first yea most extremely sometimes opposite to that which the first did seeme to intend Where the people tooke vpon them the reformation of the Church by casting out popish superstition they hauing receiued from their Pastors a generall instruction that whatsoeuer the heauenly father hath not planted must be rooted out proceeded in some forrein places so far that down went oratories the very teÌ„ples of God theÌ„selues For as they chanced to take the compasse of their coÌ„mission stricter or larger so their dealings were accordingly more or lesse moderate Amongst others there sprang vp presently one kind of meÌ„ with whose zeale forwardnesse the rest being compared were thought to be maruelous cold dull These grounding theÌ„selues on rules more generall that whatsoeuer the law of Christ commandeth not thereof Antichrist is the author and that whatsoeuer Antichrist or his adherents did in the world the true professors of Christ are to vndoe found out many things more then others had done the extirpation whereof was in their conceipt as necessary as of any thing before remoued Hereupon they secretly made their dolefull complaints euery where as they went that albeit the world did begin to professe some dislike of that which was euill in the kingdome of darknesse yet fruits worthy of a true repentance were not seene that if men did repent as they ought they must endeuour to purge the earth of all maner euill to the end there might follow a new world afterward wherein righteousnesse only should dwell Priuate repentance they sayd must appeare by euery mans fashioning his owne life contrary vnto the custome and orders of this present world both in greater things and in lesse To this purpose they had alwayes in their mouthes those greater
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus much acknowledged by Mercurius Trismegist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus much cōfest by Anaxagoras Plato terming the maker of the world an Intellectual worker Finally the Stoikes although imagining the first cause of all things to be fire held neuerthelesse that the same fire hauing arte did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They all confesse therfore in the working of that first cause that counsell is vsed reason followed a way obserued that is to say constant order and law is kept wherof it selfe must needs be author vnto it selfe Otherwise it should haue some worthier and higher to direct it and so could not it selfe be the first Being the first it can haue no other then it selfe to be the author of that law which it willingly worketh by God therefore is a law both to himselfe and to all other things besides To himselfe he is a law in all those things whereof our Sauiour speaketh saying My Father worketh as yet so I. God worketh nothing without cause All those things which are done by him haue some ende for which they are done and the ende for which they are done is a reason of his will to do them His will had not inclined to create woman but that he saw it could not be wel if she were not created Non est bonum It is not good man should be alone Therfore let vs make an helper for him That and nothing else is done by God which to leaue vndone were not so good If therfore it bee demanded why God hauing power hability infinit th' effects notwithstāding of that power are all so limited as wee see they are the reason hereof is the end which he hath proposed and the lawe whereby his wisedome hath stinted th' effects of his power in such sort that it doth not worke infinitely but correspōdently vnto that end for which it worketh euen al things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in most decent and comely sort all things in measure number waight The generall ende of Gods external working is the exercise of his most glorious and most abundant vertue Which abundance doth shew it selfe in varietie and for that cause this varietie is oftentimes in scripture exprest by the name of riches The Lord hath made all things for his owne sake Not that any thing is made to be beneficial vnto him but all things for him to shew beneficence and grace in them The particular drift of euery acte proceeding externally from God we are not able to discerne and therefore cannot alwaies giue the proper and certaine reason of his works Howbeit vndoubtedly a proper and certaine reason there is of euery finite worke of God in as much as there is a law imposed vpon it which if there were not it should be infinite euen as the worker himselfe is They erre therfore who think that of the will of God to doe this or that there is no reason besides his will Many times no reason knowne to vs but that there is no reason thereof I iudge it most vnreasonable to imagine in as much as hee worketh all things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not onely according to his owne will but the counsell of his owne will And whatsoeuer is done with counsell or wise resolution hath of necessitie some reason why it should be done albeit that reason bee to vs in somethings so secret that it forceth the wit of man to stand as the blessed Apostle himself doth amazed therat O the depth of the riches both of the wisdome and knowledge of God How vnsearchable are his iudgements c That law eternall which God himself hath made to himselfe and therby worketh all things wherof he is the cause and author that law in the admirable frame wherof shineth with most perfect beautie the countenance of that wisdome which hath testified concerning her self The lord possessed me in the beginning of his way euē before his works of old I was set vp that lawe which hath bene the patterne to make and is the Carde to guide the world by that law which hath bene of God and with God euerlastingly that law the author and obseruer whereof is one only God to be blessed for euer how should either men or Angels be able perfectly to behold The booke of this law we are neither able nor worthy to open and looke into That little thereof which we darkly apprehend we admire the rest with religious ignorance we humbly meekly adore Seeing therfore that according to this law he worketh of whom through whom for whom are all things althogh there seeme vnto vs cōfusion disorder in th' affaires of this present world Tamen quon am bonus mund◠rector temperat rectè fieri cuncta ne dubites Let no man doubt but that euery thing is wel done because the world is ruled by so good a guide as transgresseth not his owne law then which nothing can be more absolute perfect iust The law wherby he worketh is eternall and therfore can haue no shew or colour of mutability for which cause a part of that law being opened in the promises which God hath made because his promises are nothing else but declarations what God will do for the good of men touching those promises the Apostle hath witnessed that God may as possibly denie himselfe and not be God as faile to performe them And cōcerning the counsel of God he termeth it likewise a thing vnchangeable the counsel of God and that law of God wherof now we speake being one Nor is the freedome of the wil of God any whit abated let or hindered by meanes of this because the impositiō of this law vpō himselfe is his own free volūtary act This law therfore we may name eternal being that order which God before al ages hath set down with himself for himself to do all things by 3 I am not ignorant that by law eternall the learned for the most part do vnderstand the order not which God hath eternally purposed himselfe in all his workes to obserue but rather that which with himselfe he hath set downe as expedient to be kept by all his creatures according to the seuerall conditiō wherwith he hath indued them They who thus are accustomed to speake apply the name of Lawe vnto that onely rule of working which superiour authority in poseth whereas we somewhat more enlarging the sense thereof terme any kind of rule or Canon whereby actions are framed a lawe Now that lawe which as it is laid vp in the bosome of God they call eternall receiueth according vnto the different kinds of things which are subiect vnto it different and sundry kinds of names That part of it which ordereth naturall agēts we call vsually natures law that which Angels doe clearely behold and without any swaruing obserue is a law coelestiall and heauenly the law of reason that which
whom he himselfe hath so instructed but euen they do acknowledge who amongst men are not iudged the neerest vnto him With Plato what one thing more vsuall then to excite men vnto the loue of wisedome by shewing how much wise men are thereby exalted aboue men how knowledge doth rayse them vp into heauen how it maketh them though not Gods yet as Gods high admirable and diuine And Mercurius Trismegislâ—s speaking of the vertues of a righteous soule Such spirits sayth he are neuer clâ—yed with praising and speaking well of all men with doing good vnto euery one by word and deed because they studie to frame themselues according to THE PATERNE of the father of spirits 6 In the matter of knowledge there is betweene the Angels of God and the children of men this difference Angels alreadie haue full and complete knowledge in the highest degree that can be imparted vnto them men if we view them in their spring are at the first without vnderstanding or knowledge at all Neuerthelesse from this vtter vacuitie they grow by degrees till they come at length to be euen as the Angels themselues are That which agreeth to the one now the other shall attaine vnto in the end they are not so farre disioyned and seuered but that they come at length to meete The soule of man being therefore at the first as a booke wherein nothing is and yet all thinges may be imprinted we are to search by what steppes and degrees it riseth vnto perfection of knowledge Vnto that which hath bene alreadie set downe concerning naturall agents this we must adde that albeit therein we haue comprised as well creatures liuing as void of life if they be in degree of nature beneath men neuerthelesse a difference we must obserue betweene those naturall agents that worke altogether vnwittingly and those which haue though weake yet some vnderstanding what they do as fishes foules and beasts haue Beasts are in sensible capacitie as ripe euen as men themselues perhaps more ripe For as stones though in dignitie of nature inferior vnto plants yet exceed them in firmenesse of strength or durability of being and plants though beneath the excellency of creatures indued with sense yet exceed them in the faculty of vegetation and of fertility so beasts though otherwise behind men may notwithstanding in actions of sense and phancie go beyond them because the endeuors of nature when it hath an higher perfection to seeke are in lower the more remisse not esteeming thereof so much as those things do which haue no better proposed vnto them The soule of man therefore being capable of a more diuine perfection hath besides the faculties of growing vnto sensible knowledge which is common vnto vs with beasts a further hability whereof in theÌ„ there is no shew at all the ability of reaching higher then vnto sensible things Till we grow to some ripenesse of yeares the soule of man doth only store it selfe with conceipts of things of inferiour and more open qualitie which afterwards do serue as instruments vnto that which is greater in the meane while aboue the reach of meaner creatures it ascendeth not When once it comprehendeth any thing aboue this as the differences of time affirmations negations and contradictions in speech we then count it to haue some vse of naturall reason Whereunto if afterwards there might be added the right helpes of true art and learning which helpes I must plainely confesse this age of the world carying the name of a learned age doth neither much know nor greatly regard there would vndoubtedly be almost as great difference in maturitie of iudgement betweene men therewith inured and that which now men are as betweene men that are now and innocents Which speech if any condemne as being ouer hyperbolicall let them consider but this one thing No art is at the first finding out so perfect as industrie may after make it Yet the very first man that to any purpose knew the way we speake of and followed it hath alone thereby performed more very neere in all parts of naturall knowledge then sithence in any one part thereof the whole world besides hath done In the pouertie of that other new deuised aide two things there are notwithstanding singular Of maruellous quicke dispatch it is and doth shew them that haue it as much almost in three dayes as if it dwell threescore yeares with them Againe because the curiositie of mans wit doth many times with perill wade farther in the search of things then were conuenient the same is thereby restrained vnto such generalities as euery where offering themselues are apparant vnto men of the weakest conceipt that need be So as following the rules precepts thereof we may find it to be an Art which teacheth the way of speedy discourse and restraineth the minde of man that it may not waxe ouer wise Education and instruction are the meanes the one by vse the other by precept to make our naturall faculty of reason both the better and the sooner able to iudge rightly betweene truth and error good and euill But at what time a man may be sayd to haue attained so farre foorth the vse of reason as sufficeth to make him capable of those lawes whereby he is theÌ„ bound to guide his actions this is a great deale more easie for common sense to discerne then for any man by skill and learning to determine euen as it is not in Philosophers who best know the nature both of fire and of gold to teach what degree of the one will serue to purifie the other so well as the artisan who doth this by fire discerneth by sense when the fire hath that degree of heate which sufficeth for his purpose 7 By reason man attaineth vnto the knowledge of things that are and are not sensible It resteth therfore that we search how maÌ„ attaineth vnto the knowledge of such things vnsensible as are to be knowne that they may be done Seeing then that nothing can moue vnlesse there be some end the desire whereof prouoketh vnto motion how should that diuine power of the soule that Spirit of our mind as the Apostle termeth it euer stir it selfe vnto action vnlesse it haue also the like spurre The end for which we are moued to worke is somtimes the goodnes which we conceiue of the very working it selfe without any further respect at all and the cause that procureth action is the meere desire of action no other good besides being thereby intended Of certaine turbulent wits it is said Illis quieta mouere magna merces videbatur They thought the very disturbaÌ„ce of things established an hyre sufficient to set them on worke Sometimes that which we do is referred to a further end without the desire whereof we would leaue the same vndone as in their actions that gaue almes to purchase thereby the prayse of men Man in perfection of nature being made according to the likenes of
lesse good was not preferred before a greater that wilfully which caÌ„not be done without the singular disgrace of nature the vtter disturbance of that diuine order wherby the preeminence of chiefest acceptation is by the best things worthily chalenged There is not that good which coÌ„cerneth vs but it hath euidence â—nough for it selfe if reason were diligent to search it out Through neglect thereof abused we are with the shew of that which is not somtimes the subtilty of Satan inueagling vs as it did Eue sometimes the hastinesse of our wils preuenting the more considerate aduice of fouÌ„d reasoÌ„ as in the Apostles wheÌ„ they no sooner saw what they liked not but they forthwith were desirous of fit froÌ„ heauen sometimes the very custome of euil making the hart obdurate against whatsoeuer instructions to the coÌ„trary as in theÌ„ ouer whoÌ„ our Sauior spake weeping O IerusaleÌ„ how often thou wouldst not Still therfore that wherwâ—th we stand blameable can no way excuse it is In doing euill we prefer a lesse good before a greater the greatnes whereof is by reasoÌ„ inuestigable may be known The search of knowledge is a thing painful the painfulnes of knowledge is that which maketh the will so hardly inclinable thereunto The root hereof diuine maledictioÌ„ wherby the instrumeÌ„ts being weakned wherwithall the soule especially in reasoning doth worke it preferreth rest in ignorance before wearisome labour to know For a spurre of diligence therefore we haue a naturall thirst after knowledge ingrafted in vs. But by reason of that originall weaknesse in the instruments without which the vnderstanding part is not able in this world by discourse to worke the very conceipt of painefulnesse is as a bridle to stay vs. For which cause the Apostle who knew right well that the wearines of the flesh is an heauy clog to the will striketh mightily vpon this key Awake thou that sleepest Cast off all which presseth downe Watch Labour striue to go forward and to grow in knowledge 8 Wherefore to returne to our former intent of discouering the naturall way whereby rules haue bene found out concerning that goodnes wherewith the wil of man ought to be moued in humaine actions As euery thing naturally and necessarily doth desire the vtmost good and greatest perfection whereof nature hath made it capable euen so man Our felicitie therefore being the obiect and accomplishment of our desire we cannot choose but wish and couet it All particular things which are subiect vnto action the will doth so farre foorth incline vnto as reason iudgeth them the better for vs and consequently the more auaileable to our blisse If reason erre we fall into euill and are so farre forth depriued of the generall perfection we seeke Seeing therefore that for the framing of mens actions the knowledge of good from euill is necessarie it onely resteth that we search how this may be had Neither must we suppose that there needeth one rule to know the good and another the euill by For he that knoweth what is straight doth euen thereby discerne what is crooked because the absence of straightnesse in bodies capable thereof is crookednesse Goodnesse in actions is like vnto straitnesse wherfore that which is done well we terme right For as the straight way is most acceptable to him that trauaileth because by it he commeth soonest to his iourneys end so in action that which doth lye the euenest betweene vs and the end we desire must needes be the fittest for our vse Besides which fitnes for vse there is also in rectitude beauty as contrariwise in obliquity deformity And that which is good in the actions of men doth not onely delight as profitable but as amiable also In which consideration the Grecians most diuinely haue giuen to the actiue perfection of men a name expressing both beauty and goodnesse because goodnesse in ordinary speech is for the most part applied onely to that which is beneficiall But we in the name of goodnesse do here imploy both And of discerning goodnes there are but these two wayes the one the knowledge of the causes whereby it is made such the other the obseruation of those signes and tokens which being annexed alwaies vnto goodnes argue that where they are found there also goodnes is although we know not the cause by force whereof it is there The former of these is the most sure infallible way but so hard that all shunne it and had rather walke as men do in the darke by hap hazard then tread so long and intricate mazes for knowledge sake As therefore Physitians are many times forced to leaue such methods of curing as themselues know to be the fittest and being ouerruled by their patients impatiency are fame to try the best they can in taking that way of cure which the cured will yeeld vnto in like sort coÌ„sidering how the case doth staÌ„d with this present age full of tongue weake of braine behold we yeeld to the streame thereof into the causes of goodnes we will not make any curious or deepe inquiry to touch them now then it shal be sufficient when they are so neere at hand that easily they may be conceiued without any farre remoued discourse that way we are contented to proue which being the worse in it selfe is notwithstanding now by reason of common imbecillity the fitter likelier to be brookt Signes and tokens to know good by are of sundry kinds some more certaine and some lesse The most certaine token of euident goodnesse is if the generall perswasion of all men do so account it And therefore a common receiued error is neuer vtterly ouerthrowne till such time as we go from signes vnto causes and shew some manifest root or fountaine thereof common vnto all whereby it may clearly appeare how it hath come to passe that so many haue bene ouerseene In which case surmises and sleight probabilities will not serue because the vniuersall consent of men is the perfectest and strongest in this kind which comprehendeth onely the signes and tokens of goodnesse Things casuall do varie and that which a man doth but chaunce to thinke well of cannot still haue the like hap Wherefore although we know not the cause yet thus much we may know that some necessary cause there is whensoeuer the iudgements of all men generally or for the most part run one the same way especially in matters of naturall discourse For of things necessarily naturally done there is no more affirmed but this They keepe either alwaies or for the most part one tenure The generall and perpetuall voyce of men is as the sentence of God himselfe For that which all men haue at all times learned nature her selfe must needes haue taught and God being the author of nature her voyce is but his instrument By her from him we receiue whatsoeuer in such sort we learne Infinite duties there are the goodnes
wherof is by this rule sufficiently manifested although we had no other warrant besides to approue them The Apostle S. Paul hauing speech coÌ„cerning the Heathen saith of theÌ„ They are a law vnto theÌ„selues His meaning is that by force of the light of reasoÌ„ wherewith God illuminateth euery one which cometh into the world meÌ„ being inabled to know truth from falshood and good from euill do thereby learne in many things what the will of God is which will himselfe not reuealing by any extraordinary meanes vnto them but they by naturall discourse attaining the knowledge thereof seeme the makers of those lawes which indeed are his and they but onely the finders of them out A law therefore generally taken is a directiue rule vnto goodnesse of operation The rule of diuine operations outward is the definitiue appointmeÌ„t of Gods owne wisedome set downe within himselfe The rule of naturall agents that worke by simple necessity is the determination of the wisedome of God known to God himselfe the principall director of them but not vnto them that are directed to execute the same The rule of naturall agents which worke after a sort of their owne accord as the beasts do is the iudgement of common sense or phancy concerning the sensible goodnes of those obiects wherwith they are moued The rule of ghostly or immateriall natures as spirits Angels is their intuitiue intellectual iudgement concerning the amiable beauty high goodnes of that obiect which with vnspeakeable ioy and delight doth set them on worke The rule of voluntary agents on earth is the sentence that reason giueth coÌ„cerning the goodnes of those things which they are to do And the sentences which reason giueth are some more some lesse general before it come to define in particular actioÌ„s what is good The maine principles of reason are in theÌ„selues apparent For to make nothing euideÌ„t of it selfe vnto maÌ„s vnderstaÌ„ding were to take away al possibility of knowing any thing And herein that of Theophrasâ—us is true They that seeke a reason of all things do vtterly ouerthrow reason In euery kind of knowledge some such grounds there are as that being proposed the mind doth presently embrace them as free from all possibilitie of error cleare and manifest without proofe In which kind axiomes or principles more generall are such as this That the greater good is to be chosen before the lesse If therefore it should be demanded what reason there is why the will of man which doth necessarily shun harme and couet whatsoeuer is pleasant and sweete should be commanded to count the pleasures of sinne gall notwithstanding the bitter accidents wherwith vertuous actions are compast yet stil to reioyce and delight in them surely this could neuer stand with reason but that wisedome thus prescribing groundeth her lawes vpon an infallible rule of comparison which is that small difficulties when exceeding great good is sure to ensue and on the other side momentanie benefites when the hurt which they drawe after them is vnspeakeable are not at all to be respected This rule is the ground whereupon the wisedom of the Apostle buildeth a law inioyning patience vnto himselfe The present lightnes of our affliction worketh vnto vs euen with aboundance vpon aboundance an eternall waight of glory while we looke not on the things which are seene but on the things which are not seene For the things which are seene are temporal but the things which are not seene eternall Therefore Christianity to be embraced whatsoeuer calamities in those times it was accompanied withall Vpon the same ground our Sauiour proueth the law most reasonable that doth forbid those crimes which meÌ„ for gaines sake fall into For a man to win the world if it be with the losse of his soule what benefit or good is it Axiomes lesse generall yet so manifest that they need no further proofe are such as these God to be worshipped Parents to be honored Others to be vsed by vs as we our selues would by them Such things as soone as they are alleaged all men acknowledge to be good they require no proofe or further discourse to be assured of their goodnes Notwithstanding whatsoeuer such principle there is it was at the first found out by discourse drawne from out of the very bowels of heauen and earth For we are to note that things in the world are to vs discernable not onely so farre forth as serueth for our vitall preseruation but further also in a twofold higher respect For first if all other vses were vtterly taken away yet the mind of man being by nature speculatiue and delighted with coÌ„templation in it selfe they were to be known euen for meere knowledge and vnderstandings sake Yea further besides this the knowledge of euery the least thing in the whole world hath in it a secoÌ„d peculiar benefit vnto vs in as much as it serueth to minister rules Canons and lawes for men to direct those actions by which we properly terme humane This did the very Heathens themselues obscurely insinuate by making Themis which we call Ius or Right to be the daughter of heauen and earth Wee knowe things either as they are in themselues or as they are in mutuall relation one to another The knowledge of that which man is in reference vnto himselfe and other things in relation vnto man I may iustly terme the mother of al those principles which are as it were edicts statutes and decrees in that law of nature wherby humaine actions are framed First therefore hauing obserued that the best things where they are not hindered do still produce the best operations for which cause where many things are to concurre vnto one effect the best is in all congruity of reason to guide the residue that it preuailing most the worke principally done by it may haue greatest perfection when hereupon we come to obserue in our selues of what excellencie our soules are in comparison of our bodies and the diuiner part in relation vnto the baser of our soules seeing that all these concurre in producing humaine actions it cannot be well vnlesse the chiefest do commaund and direct the rest The soule then ought to conduct the bodie and the spirit of our mindes the soule This is therefore the first lawe whereby the highest power of the minde requireth generall obedience at the hands of all the rest concurring with it vnto action Touching the seuerall graund mandates which being imposed by the vnderstanding facultie of the minde must be obeyed by the will of man they are by the same method found out whether they import our dutie towardes God or towards man Touching the one I may not here stand to open by what degrees of discourse the mindes euen of meere naturall men haue attained to knowe not onely that there is a God but also what power force wisedome and other properties that God hath and how all thinges depend on him This being therefore presupposed from that
wils or constrainedly we are not properly said to do it because the moâ—iue cause of doing it is not in our selues but carrieth vs as if the winde should driue a feather in the aire wee no whit furthering that whereby we are driuen In such cases therefore the euill which is done moueth compassion men are piâ—â—ied for it as being rather miserable in such respect theiâ— culpable Some things are likewise done by man though not through outward force and impulsion though not against yet without their wils as in alienation of minde or any the like ineuitable vtter absence of wit and iudgement For which cause no man did euer thinke the hurtfull actions of furious men and innocents to be punishable Againe some things wee doe neither against nor without and yet not simply and meerely with our wils but with our wils in such sorâ— moued that albeit there bâ— no impossibilitie but that wee might neuerthelesse we are not so easily able to doe otherwise In this consideration one euill deede is made more pardonable then an other Finally that which we do being euill is notwithstanding by so much more paâ—donable by how much the exigence of so doing or the difficultie of doing otherwise is greater vnlesse this necessitie or difficultie haue originally risen from our selues It is no excuse therefore vnto him who being drunke committeth incest and alleageth that his wits were not his owne in as much as himselfe might haue chosen whether his wits should by that meane haue been taken from him Now rewards and punishments do alwaies presuppose some thing willingly done well or ill without which respect though we may sometimes receiue good or harme yet then the one is only a benefite and not a reward the other simply an hurt not a punishment From the sundry dispositions of mans will which is the roote of all his actions there groweth varietie in the sequeie of rewards and punishments which are by these and the like rules measured Take away the will and all actes are equall That which we doe not and would doe is commonly accepted as done By these and the like rules mens actions are determined of and iudged whether they bee in their owne nature rewardable or punishable Rewards and punishments are not receiued but at the handes of such as being aboue vs haue power to examine and iudge our deedes How men come to haue this authoritie one ouer an other in externall actions wee shall more diligently examine in that which followeth But for this present so much all do acknowledge that sith euery mans hart and conscience doth in good or euill euen secretly committed and knowne to none but it selfe either like or disallow it selfe and accordingly eyther reioyce very nature exulting as it were in certain hope of reward or else grieue as it were in a sense of future punishment neither of which can in this case bee looked for from any other sauing only from him who discerneth and iudgeth the very secrets of all hearts therefore he is the onely rewarder and reuenger of all such actions although not of such actions onely but of all whereby the lawe of nature is broken whereof himselfe is author For which causeâ— the Romane lawes called the lawes of the twelue tables requiring offices of inward affection which the eye of man cannot reach vnto threaten the neglecters of them with none but diuine punishment 10 That which hitherto wee haue set downe is I hope sufficient to shew their brutishnes which imagine that religion and vertue are only as men wil accompt of them that we might make as much accompt if we would of the contrarie without any harme vnto our selues and that in nature they are as indifferent one as the other Wee see then how nature it selfe teacheth lawes and statutes to liue by The lawes which haue bene hitherto mentioned doe bind men absolutely euen as they are meÌ„ although they haue neuer any setled fellowship neuer any solemne agreemeÌ„t amongst themselues what to doe or not to do But for as much as we are not by our selues sufficient to furnish our selues with competent store of thinges needfull for such a life as our nature doth desire a life fit for the dignitie of man therefore to supply those defectes and imperfections which are in vs liuing single and solely by our selues wee are naturally induced to seeke communion and fellowship with others This was the cause of mens vniting themselues at the first in politique societies which societies could not bee without gouernment nor gouernment without a distinct kind of law from that which hath bene alreadie declared Two foundations there are which beare vp publique societies the one a naturall inclination wherby al men desire sociable life fellowship the other an order expresly or secretly agreed vpon touching the manner of their vnion in liuing together The later is that which wee call the law of a common weale the very soule of a politique body the parts whereof are by law animated held together and set on worke in such actions as the common good requireth Lawes politique ordained for externall order and regiment amongst men are neuer framed as they should be vnlesse presuming the will of man to be inwardly obstinate rebellious and auerse from all obedieÌ„ce vnto the sacred lawes of his natureâ— in a word vnlesse presuming man to be in regard of his depraued minde little better then a wild beast they do accordingly prouide notwithstanding so to frame his outward actions that they bee no hinderance vnto the common good for which societies are instituted vnlesse they doe this they are not perfect It resteth therefore that we consider how nature findeth out such lawes of gouernmeÌ„t as serue to direct euen nature depraued to a right end All men desire to lead in this world an happie life That life is led most happily wherein all vertue is exercised without impedimeÌ„t or let The Apostle in exhorting men to contentment although they haue in this world no more then very bare food and raiment giueth vs thereby to vnderstand that those are euen the lowest of thinges necessary that if we should be stripped of al those things without which we might possibly be yet these must be left that destitution in these is such an impedimeÌ„t as till it be remoued suffereth not the mind of man to admit any other care For this cause first God assigned Adam maintenance of life and then appointed him a law to obserue For this cause after meÌ„ began to grow to a number the first thing we reade they gaue theÌ„selues vnto was the tilling of the earth and the feeding of cattle Hauing by this meane whereon to liue the principall actions of their life afterward are noted by the exercise of their religion True it is that the kingdome of God must be the first thing in our purposes desires But in as much as righteous life presupposeth life in as much
theÌ„selues receiue externally some perfection froÌ„ other things as hath bene shewed In so much as there is in the whole world no one thing great or small but either in respect of knowledge or of vse it may vnto out perfectioÌ„ adde somewhat And whatsoeuer such perfection there is which our nature may acquire the same we properly terme our good our soueraign good or blessednes that wherin the highest degree of all our perfectioÌ„ consisteth that which being once attained vnto there caÌ„ rest nothing further to be desired therfore with it our soules are fully coÌ„tent satisfied in that they haue they reioyce thirst for no more wherfore of gooâ— things desired some are such that for themselues we couet them not but only because they serue as instruments vnto that for which we are to seeke of this sorte are riches an other kind there is which although we desire for it selfe as health vertue knowledge neuerthelesse they are not the last marke whereat we aime but haue their further end whereunto they are referred so as in them we are not satisfied as hauing attained the vtmost we may but our desires doe still proceede These things are linked and as it were chained one to another we labour to eate and we eate to liue and we liue to do good the good which we do is as seede sowne with reference vnto a future haruest But we must come at the length to some pause For if euery thing were to bee desired for some other without any stint there could be no certaine end proposed vnto our actions we should go on we know not whether yea whatsoeuer we do were in vaine or rather nothing at all were possible to be done For as to take away the first efficient of our being were â—o annihilate vtterly our persons so we cannot remoue the last finall cause of our working but we shall cause whatsoeuer we worke to cease Therfore some thing there must be desired for it selfe simply and for no other That is simply for it selfe desirable vnto the nature wherof it is opposite repugnant to be desired with relation vnto any other The oxe and the asse desire their food neither propose they vnto themselues any end wherfore so that of them this is desired for it selfe but why By reason of their imperfection which cannot otherwise desire it whereas that which is desired simply for it selfe the excellencie thereof is such as permitteth it not in any sort to be referred to a further end Now that which man doth desire with reference to a further end the same he desireth in such measure as is vnto that end conuenient but what he coueteth as good in it selfe towardes that his desire is euer infinite So that vnlesse the last good of all which is desired altogether for it selfe be also infinite we doe euill in making it our end euen as they who placed their felicitie in wealth or honour or pleasure or any thing here attained because in desiring any thing as our finall perfection which is not so we do amisse Nothing may be infinitly desired but that good which in deed is infinite For the better the more desirable that therefore most desirable wherin there is infinitie of goodnes so that if any thing desirable may be infinit that must needes be the highest of all things that are desired No good is infinite but onely God therefore he our felicitie and blisse Moreouer desire tendeth vnto vnion with that it desireth If then in him we be blessed it is by force of participation coniunction with him Againe it is not the possession of any good thing can make them happie which haue it vnlesse they inioy the thing wherewith they are possessed Then are we happie therfore when fully we enioy God as an obiect wherein the powers of our soules are satisfied euen with euerlasting delight so that although we be meÌ„ yet by being vnto God vnited we liue as it were the life of God Happines therfore is that estate wherby we attaine so far as possibly may be attained the ful possession of that which simply for it selfe is to be desired and containeth in it after an eminent sorte the contentation of our desires the highest degree of all our perfection Of such perfection capable we are not in this life For while we are in the world subiect we are vnto sundry imperfections griefe of body defectes of minde yea the best thinges we doe are painefull and the exercise of them grieuous being continued without intermission so as in those very actions whereby we are especially perfected in this life wee are not able to persist forced we are with very wearines that often to interrupt theÌ„ which tediousnes cannot fall into those operations that are in the state of blisse when our vnion with God is complete Complete vnion with him must be according vnto euery power and facultie of our mindes apt to receiue so glorious an obiect Capable we are of God both by vnderstanding and will by vnderstanding as hee is that soueraigne truth which comprehendeth the rich treasures of all wisdom by will as he is that sea of goodnesse whereof who so tasteth shall thirst no more As the wil doth now worke vpon that obiect by desire which is as it were a motion towards the end as yet vnobtained so likewise vpon the same hereafter receiued it shall worke also by loue Appetitus inhiantis fit amor fruentis saith Saint Augustine The longing disposition of them that thirst is chaunged into the sweete affection of them that taste and are replenished Whereas wee now loue the thing that is good but good especially in respect of benefit vnto vs we shall then loue the thing that is good only or principally for the goodnes of beauty in it self The soule being in this sorte as it is actiue perfected by loue of that infinite good shall as it is receptiue be also perfected with those supernaturall passions of ioy peace delight All this endlesse and euerlasting Which perpeâ—uitie in regard whereof our blessednes is termed a crowne which withereth not doth neither depend vpon the nature of the thing it selfe nor proceede from any naturall necessitie that our soules should so exercise themselues for euer in beholding and louing God but from the wil of God which doth both freely perfect our nature in so high a degree continue it so perfected Vnder man no creature in the world is capable of felicitie and blisse first because their chiefest perfection consisteth in that which is best for theÌ„ but not in that which is simply best as ours doth secondly because whatsoeuer externall perfection they tende vnto it is not better then themselues as ours is How iust occasioÌ„ haue we therfore euen in this respect with the Prophet to admire the goodnes of God Lorde what is man that thou shouldest exalt him aboue the workes of thy hands so farre as to
as humaine felicitie doth import in as much as the dignity of this exceedeth so far the others value But be it that God of his great liberality had determined in lieu of mans endeuors to bestow the same by the rule of that iustice which best beseemeth him namely the iustice of one that requiteth nothing mincingly but all with pressed and heaped and euen ouer-inlarged measure yet could it neuer hereupon necessarily bee gathered that such iustice should adde to the nature of that reward the property of euerlasting continuance sith possession of blisse though it should be but for a moment were an aboundant retribution But we are not now to enter into this consideration how gratious and bountifull our good God might still appeare in so rewarding the sonnes of men albeit they should exactly performe whatsoeuer duty their nature bindeth theÌ„ vnto Howsoeuer God did propose this reward we that were to be rewarded must haue done that which is required at our hands we failing in the one it were in nature an impossibility that the other should be looked for The light of nature is neuer able to find out any way of obtaining the reward of blisse but by performing exactly the duties and works of righteousnes From saluation therefore and life all flesh being excluded this way behold how the wisedome of God hath reuealed a way mysticall and supernaturall a way directing vnto the same end of life by a course which groundeth it selfe vpon the guiltinesse of sinne and through sinne desert of condemnation and death For in this way the first thing is the tender compassion of God respecting vs drowned and swallowed vp in miserie the next is redemption out of the same by the pretious death and merite of a mighty Sauiour which hath witnessed of himselfe saying I am the way the way that leadeth vs from miserie into blisse This supernaturall way had God in himselfe prepared before all worlds The way of supernaturall dutie which to vs he hath prescribed our Sauiour in the Gospell of Saint Iohn doth note terming it by an excellency the worke of God This is the worke of God that ye beleeue in him whom he hath sent Not that God doth require nothing vnto happinesse at the hands of men sauing onely a naked beliefe for hope and Charity we may not exclude but that without beliefe all other things are as nothing it the ground of those other diuine vertues Concerning faith the principall obiect whereof is that eternall veritie which hath discouered the treasures of hidden wisedome in Christ concerning hope the highest obiect wherof is that euerlasting goodnesse which in Christ doth quicken the dead concerning charity the finall obiect whereof is that incomprehensible beauty which shineth in the countenance of Christ the sonne of the liuing God concerning these vertues the first of which beginning here with a weake apprehensioÌ„ of things not seene endeth with the intuitiue vision of God in the world to come the second beginning here with a trembling expectation of things far remoued and as yet but onely heard of endeth with reall and actuall fruition of that which no tongue can expresse the third beginning here with a weake inclination of heart towards him vnto whom we are not able to approch endeth with endlesse vnion the mistery wherof is higher then the reach of the thoughts of men concerning that faith hope charity without which there can be no saluation was there euer any mention made sauing only in that law which God himselfe hath from heauen reuealed There is not in the world a syllable muttered with certaine truth coÌ„cerning any of these three more then hath bene supernaturally receiued from the mouth of the eternall God Lawes therefore concerning these things are supernaturall both in respect of the maner of deliuering them which is diuine and also in regard of the things deliuered which are such as haue not in nature any cause from which they flow but were by the voluntary appointment of God ordeined besides the course of nature to rectifie natures obliquity withall 12 When supernaturall duties are necessarily exacted naturall are not reiected as needlesse The law of God therefore is though principally deliuered for instruction in the one yet fraught with precepts of the other also The scripture is fraught euen with lawes of nature In so much that Gratian defining naturall right whereby is meant the right which exacteth those generall duties that concerne men naturally euen as they are men termeth naturall right that which the bookes of the Lawe and the Gospell do containe Neither is it vaine that the Scripture aboundeth with so great store of lawes in this kind For they are either such as we of our selues could not easily haue found out and then the benefit is not small to haue them readily set downe to our hands or if they be so cleere manifest that no man indued with reason can lightly be ignorant of them yet the spirite as it were borrowing them from the schoole of nature as seruing to proue things lesse manifest and to induce a perswasion of somewhat which were in it selfe more hard and darke vnlesse it should in such sort be cleared the very applying of them vnto cases particular is not without most singular vse and profite many wayes for mens instruction Besides be they plaine of themselues or obscure the euidence of Gods owne testimonie added vnto the naturall assent of reason concerning the certaintie of them doth not a little comfort and confirme the same Wherefore in as much as our actions are conuersant about things beset with many circumstances which cause men of sundry wits to be also of sundry iudgements concerning that which ought to be done requisite it caÌ„not but seeme the rule of diuine law should herein helpe our imbecillity that we might the more infallibly vnderstand what is good what euill The first principles of the law of nature are easie hard it were to find men ignorant of them but concerning the duty which natures law doth require at the hands of men in a number of things particular so farre hath the naturall vnderstanding euen of sundry whole nations bene darkned that they haue not discerned no not grosse iniquity to bee sinne Againe being so prone as we are to fawne vpon our selues and to be ignorant as much as may be of our owne deformities without the feeling sense whereof we are most wretched euen so much the more because not knowing theÌ„ we cannot as much as desire to haue them taken away how should our festâ—ed sores be cured but that God hath deliuered a law as sharpe as the two edged sword pearcing the very closest and most vnsearchable corners of the heart which the law of nature can hardly humaine lawes by no meanes possible reach vnto Hereby we know euen secret concupiscence to be sinne and are made fearefull to offend though it be but in a wandering cogitation Finally of
our chiefest direction is from scripture for nature is no sufficient teacher what we should do that we may attaine vnto life euerlasting The vnsufficiencie of the light of nature is by the light of scripture so fully and so perfectly herein supplied that further light then this hath added there doth not neede vnto that ende Finally some thinges although not so required of necessitie that to leaue them vndone excludeth from saluation are notwithstanding of so great dignitie and acceptation with God that most ample rewarde in heauen is laide vp for them Hereof we haue no commandement either in nature or scripture which doth exact them at our handes yet those motiues there are in bothe which drawe most effectually our mindes vnto them In this kind there is not the least action but it doth somewhat make to the accessory augmentation of our blisse For which cause our Sauiour doth plainely witnesse that there shall not bee as much as a cup of colde water bestowed for his sake without reward Herevpon dependeth whatsoeuer difference there is betweene the states of Saints in glory hither we referre whatsoeuer belongeth vnto the highest perfection of man by way of seruice towards God hereunto that feruor and first loue of Christians did bend it selfe causing them to sell their possessions and lay downe the price at the blessed Apostles feet hereat S. Paul vndoubtedly did aâ—me in so far abridging his owne libertie and exceeding that which the bond of necessarie and enioyned dutie tied him vnto Wherfore seeing that in all these seuerall kindes of actions there can be nothing possibly euill which God approueth and that he approueth much more then he doth commaund and that his very commandements in some kinde as namely his precepts comprehended in the law of nature may be otherwise known then onely by scripture and that to do them howsoeuer we know them must needs be acceptable in his sight let them with whom we haue hitherto disputed consider wel how it can stand with reasoÌ„ to make the bare maÌ„date of sacred scripture the only rule of all good and euill in the actions of mortall men The testimonies of God are true the testimonies of God are perfect the testimonies of God are all sufficient vnto that end for which they were giuen Therfore accordingly we do receiue them we do not think that in theÌ„ God hath omitted any thing needful vnto his purpose left his intent to be accomplished by our diuisings What the scripture purposeth the same in all points it doth performe Howbeit that here we swerue not in iudgement one thing especially we must obserue namely that the absolute perfection of scripture is seene by relatioÌ„ vnto that end wherto it tendeth And euen hereby it commeth to passe that first such as imagine the generall and maine drift of the body of sacred scripture not to be so large as it is nor that God did thereby intend to deliuer as in truth he doth a full instruction in al things vnto saluatioÌ„ necessary the knowledge wherof man by nature could not otherwise in this life attaine vnto they are by this very mean induced either still to looke for new reuelations from heauen or else daungerously to ad to the word of God vncertaine tradition that so the doctrine of mans saluation may be compleate which doctrine we constantly hold in all respectes without any such thing added to be so coÌ„pleat that we vtterly refuse as much as once to acquaint our selues with any thing further Whatsoeuer to make vp the doctrine of mans saluation is added as in supply of the scriptures vnsufficiencie we reiecâ— it Scripture purposing this hath perfectly and fully done it Againe the scope and purpose of God in deliuering the holy scripture such as do take more largely theÌ„ behoueth they on the contrary side racking stretching it further theÌ„ by him was meant are drawn into sundry as great incoÌ„ueniences These preteÌ„ding the scriptures perfection inferre therupon that in scripture all things lawfull to be done must needs be contained We count those things perfect which want nothing requisite for the end wherto they were instituted As therfore God created euery part and particle of man exactly perfect that is to say in all pointes sufficient vnto that vse for which he appointed it so the scripture yea euery sentence thereof is perfect wanteth nothing requisite vnto that purpose for which God deliuered the same So that if hereupon wee conclude that because the scripture is perfect therfore all things lawful to be done are comprehended in the scripture we may euen as wel conclude so of euery sentence as of the whole sum and body therof vnlesse we first of all proue that it was the drift scope and purpose of almightie God in holy scripture to comprise all things which man may practise But admit this and marke I beseech you what would follow God in deliuering scripture to his Church should cleane haue abrogated amongst them the law of nature which is an infallible knowledge imprinted in the mindes of all the children of men whereby both generall principles fâ—â— directing of humane actions are comprehended and conclusions deriued from them vpon which conclusions groweth in particularitie the choise of good and euill in the daily affaires of this life Admit this and what shall the scripture be but a snare and a torment to weake consciences filling theÌ„ with infinite perplexities scrupulosities doubts insoluble and extreame despaires Not that the scripture it selfe doth cause any such thing for it tendeth to the cleane contrarie and the fruite thereof is resolute assurance and certaintie in that it teacheth but the necessities of this life vrging men to doe that which the light of nature common discretion and iudgement of it selfe directeth them vnto on the other side this doctrine teaching them that so to doe were to sinne against their owne soules and that they put forth their hands to iniquitie whatsoeuer they go about and haue not first the sacred scripture of God for direction how can it choose but bring the simple a thousand times to their wits end how can it choose but vexe and amaze them For in euery action of commoÌ„ life to find out some sentence clearly and infallibly setting before our eyes what wee ought to doe seeme wee in scripture neuer so expert would trouble vs more then wee are aware In weake and tender mindes wee little knowe what miserie this strict opinion would breede besides the stoppes it would make in the whole course of all mens liues and actions Make all thinges sinne which we doe by direction of natures light by the rule of common discretioÌ„ without thinking at all vpoÌ„ scripture admit this position and parents shall cause their children to sinne as oft as they cause them to do any thing before they come to yeares of capacitie and be ripe for knowledge in the scripture Admit this and it shall not be with masters as it
of our fathers to be followed we therefore may not allow such customes as the Church of Rome hath because we cānot account of thē which are in that Church as of our fathers 6 To their allegation that the course of Gods owne wisedome doth make against our conformitie with the Church of Rome in such things 7 To the example of the eldest Church which they bring for the same purpose 8 That it is not our best politie as they pretend it is for establishment of sound Religion to haue in these thinges no agreement with the Church of Rome being vnsound 9 That neither the papists vpbraiding vs as furnished out of their store nor any hope which in that respect they are said to conceiue doth make any more against our ceremonies then the former allegations haue done 10 The griefe which they say godly brethren conceiue at such ceremonies as we haue common with the Church of Rome 11 The third thing for which they reproue a great part of our ceremonies is for that as we haue them from the Church of Rome so that Church had them from the Iewes 12 The fourth for that sundry of them haue bene they say abused vnto idolatrie and are by that meane become scandalous 13 The fift for that we retaine them still notwithstanding the example of certaine Churches reformed before vs which haue cast them out 14 A declaration of the proceedings of the Church of England for the establishment of things as they are 1 SVch was the ancient simplicitie and softnes of spirit which sometimes preuailed in the world that they whose wordes were euen as oracles amongst men seemed euermore loth to giue sentence against any thing publiquely receiued in the Church of God except it were wonderfull apparently euill for that they did not so much incline to that seueritie which delighteth to reproue the least things it seeth amisse as to that charity which is vnwilling to behold any thing that dutie bindeth it to reproue The state of this present age wherein zeale hath drowned charitie skill meeknes wil not now suffer any mā to maruel whatsoeuer he shal hear reproued by whōsoeuer Those rites ceremonies of the church therefore which are the selfesame now that they were whē holy vertuous men maintained thē against prophane and deriding aduersaries her owne children haue at this day in derision Whether iustly or no it shall then appeare when all thinges are heard which they haue to alleage against the outward receiued orders of this church Which in as much as thēselues do compare vnto mint and comin graunting thē to be no part of those things which in the matter of politie are waightier we hope that for small things their strife will neither bee earnest nor long The sifting of that which is obiected against the orders of the church in particular doth not belong vnto this place Here we are to discusse onely those generall exceptions which haue bene taken at any time against them First therfore to the end that their nature and vse whereunto they serue may plainely appeare and so afterwardes their qualitie the better be discerned we are to note that in euery grand or main publique dutie which God requireth at the hāds of his Church there is besides that matter and forme wherein the essence therof consisteth a certaine outward fashion whereby the same is in decent sort administred The substance of all Religious actions is deliuered from God himself in few words For example sake in the sacraments Vnto the element let the word be added and they both doe make a sacrament saith S. Augustine Baptisme is giuen by the element of water and that prescript forme of words which the church of Christ doth vse the sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ is administred in the elements of bread and wine if those mysticall words be added thereunto But the due and decent forme of administring those holy sacramēts doth require a great deale more The end which is aimed at in setting downe the outward forme of all religious actiōs is the edification of the Church Now men are edified when either their vnderstanding is taught somewhat whereof in such actions it behoueth all men to consider or whē their harts are moued with any affectiō suteable therunto whē their minds are in any sort stirred vp vnto that reuerence deuotion attention due regard which in those cases seemeth requisit Because therfore vnto this purpose not only speech but sundry sēsible means besides haue alwaies bin thought necessary especially those means which being obiect to the eye the liueliest the most apprehensiue sense of all other haue in that respect seemed the fittest to make a deepe and strong impression from hence haue risen not onely a number of praiers readings questionings exhortings but euen of visible signes also which being vsed in performance of holy actions are vndoubtedly most effectual to open such matter as men when they know remēber carefully must needs be a great deale the better informed to what effect such duties serue We must not thinke but that there is some ground of reason euen in nature whereby it commeth to passe that no nation vnder heauen either doth or euer did suffer publique actiōs which are of waight whether they be ciuil and temporall or else spirituall and sacred to passe without some visible solemnitie the very strangenes whereof and difference from that which is common doth cause popular eyes to obserue and to marke the same Wordes both because they are common and doe not so strongly moue the phancie of man are for the most parte but sleightly heard and therfore with singular wisdome it hath bene prouided that the deeds of men which are made in the presence of witnesses should passe not onely with words but also with certaine sensible actions the memory wherof is farre more easie and durable then the memorie of speech can be The things which so long experience of all ages hath confirmed and made profitable let not vs presume to condemne as follies and toyes because wee sometimes know not the cause and reason of them A wit disposed to scorne whatsoeuer it doth not conceiue might aske wherefore Abraham should say to his seruant Put thy hand vnder my thigh and sweare was it not sufficient for his seruant to shew the Religion of an othe by naming the Lord God of heauen and earth vnlesse that straunge ceremonie were added In contracts bargaines and conueiances a mans worde is a token sufficient to expresse his wil. Yet this was the auncient maner in Israell concerning redeeming and exchanging to establish all things A man did pluck off his shooe and gaue it his neighbour and this was a sure witnesse in Israel Amongst the Romans in their making of a bondman free was it not wondred wherefore so great a doe should bee made The maister to present his slaue in some court to take him by the hand and not