Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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A85693
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Rules of life: being good wishes to the clergy and laiety; for whose use the Asse's complaint was written. / By Lewis Griffin.
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Griffin, Lewis.; H. W. Balaams reply to the asse.
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1663
(1663)
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Wing G1983; ESTC R227025
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17,979
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46
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Black Patches are an abomination in the sight of the Lord And I believe that when God and Sathan shall divide their flock it will be as with Laban and Iacob the spotted and ring-streaked will fall to the Devils share Joyn not therefore thy Self unto an Harlot unlesse thou hast a mind to Hire a Guide to Hell 31. But let it be thy main endeavour to wed thy Soul unto Christ which will be the happyest match The Mariage of the First Adam was not so Honorable as that of the Second will be Glorious for then will hee give unto his Spouse Fullness of Ioy for a Possession and make her a Joynture of everlasting Pleasure whereas the chiefest Iewell that the Flesh the world and the Devil can boast of is Deaths head set in the Ring of Eternity This Christian Reader is pat of the Doctrine of the Asse as Good Advice as my Sick Head can at the present afford thee But when the powerfull voice of Almighty God shall command a Calm in the troubled Sea of My distempered Mind I shall present thee If not with better matter yet in a better Method In the mean time accept of this form him who is Thy Servant in him who became a Servant to make us free LEWIS GRIFFIN THE ASSES COMPLAINT AGAINST BALAAM OR The Cry of the Country against Ignorant and Scandalous Ministers To the Reverend Bishops YEE mitred Members of the House of Peers The Kings Church-wardens and Gods Overseers Fathers in Christ we your poor Children cry Oh give us Bread of Life or else we die For we are burd'ned with our old Sir Johns Who when we ask for Bread do give us stones And only cant a Homily or two Which Daws and Parrots may be taught to do Drunkards Cannonical Unhallowed Bears That name God oftner in their Oaths then Prayers Into what darknesse will our Church be hurld If such as these be call'd The light o' th' World These that have nought to prove themselves devout Save only this That Cromwell turn'd them out Mistake us not we do not mean those Loyal And Learned souls who in the fiery tryal Suffer'd for King and Conscience sake let such Have double honour we shall nere think much But this our tender Conscience disapproves That Ravens should return as well as Doves And croak in Pulpits once again to bring A second Judgement on our Church and King Though England doth not fear another losse ' Cause God hath burn'd his Rods at Charing-crosse Yet Clergy sins may call him to the Door Ev'n him who whip'd and scourg'd them out before Oh therefore yet that read the sacred Laws Eject their Persons and disown their Cause God and the King have both condemn'd this crew Then let them not be patroniz'd by you 'T is not their Cassocks nor their Surplices We quarrell at there is no hurt in these We own their Decency yet every Foole Cannot be call'd Monk that wears a Cowle Were grace and learning wanting by your leaves We would not pin our faith on your Lawn-sleeves 'T is Aarons Breast-plate and those sacred words Become a Churchman best THAT THAT my Lords Which pious Baxter makes his livery Would all our Curates were but such as he Pardon my Lords we do not make this stir To vindicate the Factious Presbyter We hate his wayes and equally disown The Zealous Rebell as the Idle Droan And beg as oft to be deliver'd from The Kirk of Scotland as the Sea of Rome We pray for Bishops too Oh may ye stand To heal the sad distractions of the Land Then give us Priests loyall and painfull too To give to Caesar and to us our dues Who maugre all the pow'rs of Hell have stood Men that are neither drunk with Wine nor Blood God save King Charles our Christian Faiths Defender And bring Religion to its wonted Splendour Written in the behalf of the Country by Lewis Griffin A Supplement to the Asses Complaint against Balaam Or the Cry of the Country against Ignorant and Scandalous Ministers AVaunt ye Smooth-tongu'd Flatterers of the Age Praesto ye Meal-mouth'd Prophets clear the Stage Enter the Asse again who though he Kneel Unto the Higher Powers lifts up his Heel Against all those who make Gods house a Den Of Clergy Theeves Have at them once agen But hark I hear a Country Parish crye Were ever Christians in such slavery Must we be taught by an Illitr ' ate Bear Hee Preach Hee 'll only teach our Boyes to swear Is then your Priest a Swearer Hah must he That taunts a Bishop taste a Pillory And 't is but Just and right yet who controules Him who Blasphemes the Bishop of our Souls What Is an Oath lesse poenal than a Word Or is the Servant greater than this Lord No He that Swears commits the fouler Sin And more deserves to lose his Ears than 'T is true Seditious Spirits that Deny Obedience to the Sacred Hierarchy Merit Severe Correction let them hae't They 'r the Disturbers both of Church and State Yet Prelat's Zeal would be much better shown In striking Gods offenders than their Own Nay Gods are theirs for he that wears lawn sleeves Like Christ is murder'd 'twixt a brace of Theeves Both shew their enmity but Divers wayes The Presbyter denyes but This betrayes Now tell me gentle Reader which were Greater The sin of Judas or the crime of Peter Then let the Bishops cast them out for thus They do but Justice to themselves and us Like the wife Mariners who to appease The fury of the Raging Winds and Seas Threw Jonas over-board such was his sin There was no Cannon Law to keep him in Nor is it Reason all should be maintain'd i th' Church who took Degrees and were Ordain'd For He that after proves a Drunken Beast Degrades himself from Man much more from Priest And such they were who caus'd our Bloody War When Levy's tribe were kick'd by Issachar For though Men speak with a not so thy Sons Yet God reprov'd them with the voyce of Guns Phanaticks those Philistins wan the field Whilst our poor Israel were forc'd to yield For Ely's boyes had lost the Ark of God Each Phinehas begot an Ichabod Then Oh ye Bishops heal these sad disasters We do not call for Rectors but for Pastors A Priest should lead his Parish as a Guide Not leap upon their galled backs and ride For 't is our Mother Churche's grand disgrace That these black patches stick upon her face Writen by Lewis Griffin BALAAMS REPLY TO THE ASSE OR THE CLERGIES Answer TO THE Countryes Complaint To the Reverend Bishops You Learned Prelates of the House of Peers That sit in Moses Chair and bow your ears To Widows just Complaints and Orphans tears Grave Fathers of the Church to you we come Begging for Justice though they say we are dumb If we were so indeed 't were well for some To you we render our complaints alasse None fitter then an Angel to appese The fray betwixt poor Bala'm
Grace hee will refuse to open to thee in his Day which is the day of Judgement 18. That thy Soul may enjoy her freedom labour to subdue thy Passions Let not the Sun go down upon thy Wrath Anger is said to rest in the bosomes of fools for indeed no wise man will be willing to harbour in his House a Thief or Murderer wrath of four and twenty hours standing takes a Degree in the School of Satan and commences Revenge The Devil can in the space of a Day and a Night hatch his Cockatrice-egges in thy warm Bosome But observe the fruits of Sin That which buds in Anger blossomes in Malice growes ripe for destruction and is gathered in Damnation It was an Antidote prescribed by Athenodorus to Augustus Caesar to repeat over the Letters of the Greek Alphabet It would be a Christians better and safer Remedy to think upon him who is the Alpha and Omega 19. To avoid those many and dangerous falls which may happen unto thee in thy Journey by that unruly Beast thy Tongue be sure to take along with thee Davids bridle Take heed of that cursed Cacoethes which is now accounted Badge of a Gentlemans Swearing If there will be one day an account given of Idle words there will be surely a stricter reckoning for Oathes and Blasphemy and if to say Lord we have prophecyed and preached in thy Name will be no good excuse certainly then to say Lord we have sworn and ranted in thy Name can be no Lawfull Apology 20. Have a great care to observe the Lords day If we refuse to keep a day of Rest how can we expect a time of Peace the breach of one Commandement draws on the Violation of an other When the Prophane party had liberty Given them to break the fourth Commandement then did the Hyppocritical take Liberty to break the fifth 21. Let thy Recreations be manfull not sinfull there is a great vanity in the baiting of Beasts the Bears and Bulls lived quietly enough before Adams Fall It was our sin that set them together by the Ears let us not therefore rejoyce to see them fight for that would be to glory in our own shame And to take delight in that which is the fruits of our Apostasy 22. Honour and obey thy natural Parents although thy be poor for if thy earthly Parents cannot give thee riches and honours yet thy heavenly Father hath promised thee length of dayes But especially forget not thy duty to thy Political father the King who is a visible God as God is an invisible King If thou honourest not the one thou canst not fear the other They who murdered the King would have done as much to Christ had he been then in the Flesh 23. Let not thy envious eyes be dazled at the Glorie of thy Princes mercie neither Goe about to rip open these wounds which his Royal clemency hath healed There are some sick of Jonahs disease who because the Gourds of their foolish hopes and expectations of preferment are withered grow sullen and discontented that the poor penitent Ninivites are not destroyed men of such Principles have cause to give thanks that their selves are not Kings for divine Providence foreseeing the mischievousnesse of their Spirits did wisely to set them in such places where they might do the Least hurt 24. And as thou art to honour the King so likewise is it thy duty to Reverence the Bishops and Fathers of the Church for the one is Gods Vice roy and the others his Embassadours be not like those who envy their greatnesse and gape after their Lands but love their Persons and obey their Doctrine and since it is Gods will to make them Bishops I hope thou wilt give the King leave to make them Lords Why not my Lord Bishop as well as my Lord Iudge I think of the two the Divine is the more noble Function 25. Labour to Keep alive in thy breast that little spark of caelestial fire called Conscience Conscience like Virgils Gnat doth with her sting awake the sleepy Soul thereby to prevent the stinging of the Serpent Conscience to an evil man is a never dying Worm and as the Poets feign of Prometheus a Vultur continually Gnawing his Liver but unto a Good man a perpetual feast so that he may well say with Samson out of the eater came forth meat 26. The chief Perfection of a Christian is Love which ought be the duty of all men Art thou for old things the old Religion old Ceremony old Customes consider there is nothing so old as love or art thou for new things new Lords new Laws new Lights or rather new nothings alas poor Child there is nothing so new as love Whether therefore thou art an old Heretick called a Iesuite or new one called a Phanatick let love oblige thee Love is the Alpha and Omega the New and the Old Commandement If thou wilt not Believe me enquire of St. Iohn the Apostle and he will shew thee Epistle for the One and Gospel for the other 27. If thou wouldst enjoy true content live quietly in that Vocation unto which Providence hath called thee Meddle not with another mans trade and imployment but learn to move in thy own Spheare and to mind thy particular Function Our old Aversary the Devil who tempted Adam with a promise to make him as a God hath a fine bait for thee also If thou art a Traytour he will promise to make thee as a King If thou art a Factious Presbyter he will promise to make thee as a Bishop It is his design to set the Church upon the wrack and to dislocate the Ioynts of the Mystical Body of Christ 28. Call thy self to an account each night for the sins of the past Day and reckon in the Morning for the iniquities of the night God hath a book for thy sins and a Bottle for thy tears If humane frailty run ' o th' Score in his book then let Repentance fill his Bottle The way to avoid Gods judgements is to judge thy self and by condemning thy Self thou mayest shun Damnation 29. Remember often the brevity and uncertaintie of thy Life consider what business thou hast here upon earth thy Life is called a Race and warfare So run this Race that thou maist obtain and so fight this Warfare that thou maist become more than Conquerour through him who hath loved thee take heed of being Uxorious as well as Covetous Whores and Plunder will ruine any Army Self and Pels Bag and Baggage undoe the World 30. If thou art not yet Maried but intendest it get thee a Wife modest rather than Beautifull Meddle not with those Ladies of the Game who make Pageants of their Cheeks and Shops of their Shoulders and contrary to all other Trades keep open their VVindows of the Sabboth day impudently exposing their Nakednesse to the view of a Whole Congregation which Eve modestly covered which there was no man in the World present save only her Husband