Christian Prouinces but in the meane time what madnesse is it in vs not only to giue aime to these rouing flights but to offer our selues to bee their standing Butt that they may take their full aime and hit vs leuell at pleasure Doe wee not heare some of their owne fellow-Catholikes in the midst of their awfullest Senate the Parliament of Paris pleading vehemently against these factious spirits and crying out passionately of that danger which will follow vpon their admission hoth of lewd manners and false doctrine and doe we in greater opposition feare neither and especially from English Iesuites Some Countries yeeld more venomous vipers then others ours the worst I would it were not too easie to obserue that as our English Papists are commonly more Iesuitish so our English Iesuites are more furious then their fellowes Euen those of the hottest climates cannot match them in fiery dispositions And doe we put our selues out of our comfortable sunne-shine into the midst of the flame of these noted incendiaries Doe wee take pleasure to make thâ—m rich with the spoile of our soules and because they will not come fast enough to fetch these booâ—ies doe we gâ—e to carry them vnto their pillage Sect. 20. The danger is in the men more then in their cause and if this great Curtizan of the world had not so cunning Pandars I should wonder how shee should get any but foolish customers Thâ— searcher of all hearts before whose Tribunall I shal once come to giue an account of this Censure knowes I speake it not maliciously Him I call to witnesse that I could not find any true life of Religion amongst those that would bee Catholikes I meddle not with the errours of Speculations or Schole-points wherein their iudgement palpably offendeth I speake of the liuely practise of Piety What haue they amongst them but a very out-side of Christianity a meere formality of deuotion Looke into their Churches there their poore ignorant Laity hope to present their best seruices to God and yet alas they say they know not what they heare they know not what they doe they they know not what returning empty of all hearty edification and onely full of confused intentions and are taught to thinke this sacrifice of fooles meritorious Looke vpon their Chemarim the sacred actors in this religious scene what shall you see but idle apishnesse in their solemnest worke and either mockery or slubbering Looke into their religious houses what shall you see but a trade of careles and lazie holinesse houres obseruedâ— because they must not because they would What doe they but lull piety a sleepe with their heartlesse and sleepy Vespers Look into the priuate closets of their deuout Ignorants what difference shall you see betwixt the Image and the Suppliant If they can heare their beades knacke vpon each other they are not bid to care for hearing their prayers reflect vpon heauen Shortly in all that belongs to God the worke done sufficeth yea meriteth and what neede the heart bee wrought vpon for a taske of the hand Looke into the melancholike cels of some austere Recluses there you may finde perhaps an hairecloth or a a whip or an heardle but shew me true mortification the power of spirituall renouation of the soule How should that bee found there when as that sauing faith which is the onely purger of the heart is barred out as presumptuous and no guest of that kinde allowed but the same which is common to Diuels What Papist in all Chistendome hath euer beene heard to pray daily with his family or to sing but a Psalme at home Looke into the vniuersall course of the Catholike life there shall you find tâ—e Decalogue professedly broken Besides the ordinary practise of Idolatry and frequence of oathes Who euer saw Gods day duely kept in any city village houshold vnder the iurisdiction of Româ— Euery obscure Holy-day takes the wall of it and thrusts it into the channell Who sees not obedience to authority so sleighted that it stands onely to the mercy of humane dispensation and in the rest of Gods Lawes who sees not how fowle sinnes passe for veniall and how easily veniall sinnes passe their satisfaction for which a crosse or a drop of holy-water is sufficient amends Who sees not how no place can bee left for truth where there is full roome giuen to equiuocation All this though it bee harsh to the conscionable man yet is no lesse pleasing to the carnall The way of outward fashionablenesse in religion and inward libertie of heart cannot but seeme faire to nature and especially when it hath so powerfull angariation It is a wonder if but one halfe of Christendome bee thus won to walke in it Those which are either vngrounded in the principles of Religion or the vnconscionable in the practise are fit to trauell into theâ—e miserable errours But though Israel play the harlot yet let not Iudah sinne Come yee not to Gilgal neither goe yee vp to Bethauen Sect. 21. From the danger of corruption iudgement Let vs turne our eyes to the deprauation of manners which not seldome goes before Apples therefore fall from the tree because they are worme-eaten they are not worme-eaten because they fall and as vsually followes Satan like the rauen first seizes vpon the eye of vnderstanding and then preyes freely vpon the other carcase Wee may be bad enough at home certainly wee are the worse for our neighbours Old Rome was not more iealous of the Grecian and African manners then wee haue reason to be of the Roman It were well if wee knew our owne fashions better if wee could keepe them What mischiefe haue wee amongst vs that we haue not borrowed To beginâ—â— at our skinne who knowes not whence wee had the varietie of our vaine disguises As if wee had not wit enough to bee foolish vnlesse wee were taught it These dresses being constant in their mutabilitie shew vs our masters What is it that wee haue not learned of our neighbours saue only to be proud good cheape Whom would it not vexe to see how that other sexe hath learned to make Antiks and monsters of themselues Whence came their hips to the shoulders and their breasts to the nauell but the one from some ill-shap't Dames of France the other from the worse minded Curtizans of Italie Whence else learned they to daube these mudde-walles with Apothecaries morter and those high washes which are so cunningly lickt on that the wet napkin of Phryne should be deceiued Whence the frisled and poudred bushes of their borrowed excrements as if they were ashamed of the head of Gods making and proud of the Tire-womans Where learned wee that deuillish Art and practise of duell wherein men seeke honour in bloud and are taught the ambition of being glorious butchers of men Where had we that luxurious delicacie in our feasts in which the nose is no lesse pleased then the palate and the eye no lesse then either wherein the
him to the stables of the great Mogol or to the solemnities of Mecha or to the Librarie of the Mounâ—aine of the Moone will hee be so farre the drudge or Lacquay of his owne imagination as to vndertake â—his pilgrimage Or where will he stay at last vpon his returne If he haue smelt the ill-sented Cities of France or haue seene faire Florence rich Venice proud Genua Luca the industrious if then his thoughts shall tempt him to see the rich gluttons house in Ierusalem or inuite him to Asmere or Bengala must he goe And if hee can denie and chide his owne vnprofitable desires at the last why began hee no sooner That could not be forborne too early which at last weâ— repent to haue done he therefore that trauels onely to please his fantasie is like some woman with childe that longs for that peece which she sees vpon anothers trencher and swounds if she missâ— it or some squire of Dames thaâ— doats vpon euery beautie and is euery day loue-sicke anew These humours are fitter for controlment than obseruation Sect. 9. It is an higher facultie that Trauell professeth to aduance the supreme power of our vnderstanding which if from hence it may be manifestly improued he should not bee worthy to tread vpon the earth that would not emulate Drake and Candish in compassing it but set aside the studie of Ciuill Law which indeed findes bettâ—r helpes abroad all sciences the word may seeme proud but is true may be both more fitly wooed and more surely wonne within our foure seas for what learning is that which the Seas or Alpes or Pyrenees haue ingrossed from vs what profession either liberall or manuary wherein the greatest masters haue not beene at least equalled by our homâ—-bred Ilanders what hath this or the former age knowne more eminent for learning then some of ours whiâ—h haue neuer trod on any but thâ—ir owne earth And as good market-men by one handfull iudge ofâ— all the whole sacke why may weâ— not finde cause to thinke so of the rest if they would not be wanting to themselues I am sure the Vni uersities of our Iland know no matches in all the world vnto whose perâ—eâ—tion that as they exceed others so they may no lesse exceed themselues nothing wanteth but seuere execution of the wise and carefull lawes of our Ancestors and restraint oâ— that libertie which is the common disease of the time And why should not the childe thriue as well with the mothers milke as with a strangers Whether it be the enuie or the pusillanimitie of vs English wee are still ready to vnder-value our owne and admire forrainers whiles other nations haue applauded no professors more then those which they haue borrowed from vs neither haue wee beene so vnwise as to lend forth our best our neighbours which should be our corriuals in this praise shall be our Iudges if those fâ—w of our writers which could be drawne forth into the publike light haue not set copies to the rest of the world not without iust admiration And how many starres haue wee of no lesse magnitude that will not be seene Blessed be God who hath made this word as true as it is great no nation vnder heauen so aboundeth with all varietie of learning as this Iland From the head of Gods anointed doth this sweet perfume distill to the vtmost skirts of this our region Knowledge did neuer sit crowned in the throne of maiestie and wanted either respect or attendance The double praise which was of old giuen to two great nations That Italie could not be put down for armes nor Greece for learning is happily met in one Iland Those therefore that crosse the seas to fill their braine doe but trauell Northward for heat and seeke that candle which they carry in their hand Sect. 10. Yea so farre is our ordinary Trauell from perfecting the intellectiue powers of our Gentry that it rather robs them of the very desire of perfection For what discouragements shall they finde from the loue of studies in those parts which are most soughâ— to for ciuilitie Who kâ—owâ—â— not that they are growne to that height of debauchâ—ment as to hold learning a shame to Nobilitie esteeming it as a fit gard for the lâ—ng robe only too base for their Tissâ—es An opinion so sauouring of proud ignorance and ignorant loosenessâ— thaâ— I cannot honour it with a confutation Who would thinke that the reasonable soule of men not professedly barbarous should bee capable of such a monster What is learning but reason improued And can reason so farre degenerate as to hate and contemne it selfe Were these men made onely for a sword or a dogge or an horse Onely for sport or execution I know not wherein Lewiâ— the eleuenth shewed himselfe vnwitty but in the charge which hee gaue to his sonne to learne no more Latine but Qui nescit dissimulare nescit viuere and would this alone teach him to rule well Doth the Art of Arts such is the gouernment of men require no grounds but dissimulation or ignorance Euen to the feeding of hogges or sheepe there is more and better skill necessary How vâ—like is this to a successor of Charles the great whose word it had wont to be that he had rather abound in knowledge then wealth In the Court of our King Henry the eight a certaine great Peere of this diet could say it was enough for Noblemens sonnes to winde their horne and carry their Hauke faire that studie was for the children of a meaner ranke To whom Pace iustly replied that then Noblemen must bee content that their children many winde their hornes and carry their Haukes while meaner mens sons doe weild the affaires of State Certainly it is a blinde and lame gouernment that lackes learning whose subiects what are they else but as limmes of a body whose head wanteth senses which must needs therefore faile of either motion or safetie From hence it is that so few of the forraine Noblesse are studious in comparison of ours in which regard I am not ashamed to recant that which my vnexperience hath out of heare-say written in praise of the Frencâ— education and those few that haue stolne the turning ouer of bookes hide their skill left they should be made to blush at their vertue What braue Trophees and rich monuments hath the pen of our gracious Soueraigne raised of himselfe vnto all posterities When ignorance and malice haue shot their bolt the glory of his great wisdome and knowledge shall more fill the mouthes and affect the hearts of all succeeding ages then of his greatnesse Paul the fift and his greatest Chaplaines Bellarmine and Perron haue felt the weight of his hand whereas the great King that stiles himselfe Catholike when he comes to passe his censorious edict vpon Cardinall Baronius who in the eleuenth Tome of his Historie seemed too busie in fastening the title of the Kingdome of Sicilie vpon the Pope professeth to ground his
piles of dishes make barricades against the appetite and with a pleasing encombrance trouble an hungry guest Where those formes of ceremonious quaffing in which men haue learned to make Gods of others and beasts of themselues and lose their reason whiles they pretend to doe reason Where the lawlesnesse mis-called freedome of a wilde tongue that runs with reynes in the necke through the bed-chambers of Princes their closets their Counsell-Tables and spares not the very cabinet of their breasts much lesse can bee barr'd out of the most retired secrecie of inferiour greatnesse Where the change of noble attendance and hospitalitie into foure wheeles and some few butterflies Where the Art of dishonestie in practicall Machiauelisme in false equiuocations Where the slight account of that filthinesse which is but condemned as veniall and tolerated as not vnnecessary Where the skill of ciuill and honorable hypocrisie in those formall complements which doe neither expect beleefe from others nor carry any from our selues Where that vnnaturall villanie which though it were burnt with fire and brimstone from heauen and the ashes of it drowned in the dead sea yet hath made shift to reuine and cals for new vengeance vpon the actors Where that close Atheisme which secretly laughes God in the face and thinkes it weaknesse to beleeue wisdome to professe any religion Where the bloudy and tragicall science of King-killing the new diuinitie of disobedience and rebellion with too many other euils wherewith forraine conuersation hath indangered the infection of our peace Loe here deare Countrimen the fruit of your idle gaddings Better perhaps might bee had but hee was neuer acquainted at home that knowes not our nature to bee like vnto fire which if there bee any infection in the roome drawes it straight to it selfe Or like vnto â—et which omitting all precious obiects gathers vp strawes and dust Ilanders haue beene euer in an ill name Wherefore saue only for the confluence of forrainers which neuer come without the fraight of their nationall wickednesse The experience whereof hath moued some witty nations both ancient and present to shut themselues vp within their owne bounds and to barre the entercourse of strangers as those that thought best to content themselues with their owne faults A corrupt disposition out of a naturall fertilitie can both beget and conceiue euill alone but if it bee seconded by examples by precepts by incouragements the Ocean it selfe hath not so much spawne as it In all which regards he hath escaped well that returnes but what hee carried but hee is worthy of memorie that returnes either more good or lesse euill Some haue come home perhaps more sparing others more suttle others more outwardly courteous others more capricious some more tongue-free few euer better And if themselues bee not sensible of their alterations yet their Country and the Church of God feeles and rues them Sect. 22. Let mee therefâ—re haue leaue to close this discourse with a double sute one to our Gentry the other to supream authority both which shall come from the bottome of an heart vnfainedly sacrificed to the common good neither speak I words but my very soule vnto both To the former my suit is that they would bee happy at home God hath giuen vs a world of our owne wherein there is nothing wanting to earthly contentment Whither goe yee then worthy Country-men or what feeke yee Heere growes that wealth which yee go but to spend abroad Heere is that sweet peace which the rest of the world admires and enuies Heere is that gracious and well-tempered gouernment which no nation vnder heauen may dare once offer to parallell Here all liberall Arts raigne and triumph And for pleasure either our earth or our sea yeelds vs all those dainties which their natiue Regions enioy but single Lastly heere Heauen stands open which to many other parts is barred on the out-side with ignorance or mis-beleefe And shall our wantonnes contemn all this bounty of God carry vs to seek that which we shall find no where but behind vs but within vs Shall the affectation of some friuolous toyes draw vs away from the fruition of those solid comforts which are offred vs within our owne doores How many of ours whom their iust offence hath cast out of the bosome of their country compare their exile with death and can scarce abide to bid that breath welcome which they are forced to draw in a forraine aire and though freedome of conscience entertaine them neuer so liberally abroad yet resolue either to liue or die at home and doe wee suffer our folly to banish vs from those contentments which they are glad to redeeme with the hazard of their blood Are we so little in our owne books that wee can bee content to purchase out-landish supersâ—uities with the mis-carriage of our soules with the danger of mis-carriage with the likely-hood of danger Are we so foolish that whiles we may sweetely enjoy the settled estate of our Primogeniture wee will needes bring vpon our selues the curse of Reuben to run abroad like water whose quality it is not eaâ—ily to be kept within the proper bounds yea the curse of Cain to put our selues from the â—ide of Eden into the Land of Nod that is of demigration None of the least imprecations which Dauid makes against Gods enemies is Make them vnto like a wheele o Lord Motion is euer accompanied with vnquietnesse and both argues and causes imperfection whereas the happy estate of heauen is described by rest whose glorious spheres in the meane time doe so perpeâ—ually moue that they are neuer remoued from their places It is not the least part either of wisdome or happinesse to know when wee are well Shall weâ— not be shamelesly vnthankfull if we cannot sing the note of that great Chorister of God My lot is fallen to mee in a good ground Hath not the munificence of God made this Iland as it were an abridgement of his whole earth in which he hath contriued though in a lesser letter all the maine and materiall commodities of the greater world and doe wee make a prison where God meant a Paradise Enioy therefore happy Countrimen enioy freely God and your selues enrich your selues with your owne minâ—s improue those blessed opportunities which God hath giuen you to your mutuall aduantage and care not to be like any but your selues Sect. 23. And if at any time these vnworthy papers may fall betwixt the hands of my Soueraigne Master or any of his graue and honorable ministers of State let the meanenesse of so weake and obscure solicitors presume to commend this matter to their deepest consideration and out of an honest zeale of the common safetie sue to them for a more strict restraint of that dangerous libertie whereof too many are bold to carue themselues Who can bee ignorant of those wise and wholesome lawes which are enacted already to this purpose or of those carefull and iust cautions wherewith the licences