world went all wayes were alike to vs Looke vpon man and wife the Epitome of the Common-wealth was there euer such iarres so little loue such chopping and chaunging of wiues and husbands such Nullities such playing fast loose with the sacred coniugall knot such houses ouerthrowne by busie pragmaticall and disobedient Euahs and effeminate slauish and passiue Adams Looke in the streete if you can distinguish men and women asunder by their apparell or behauiour if euery Succuba seemes not an Incubus so that you had need of a Iury to inquire of their Sexes Consider well if there be such a thing as modesty and chastity or shamefastnesse left amongst women or courage manhood and honour left amongst men Looke vpon the highest if they make any other account of the poore then of their tame cattell I except their dogs and horses and perhaps their sheepe deere hogges for these must all be fed before them Looke vpon the Commons if their teeth grinde not with indignation as if they had stomach enough both to eate the beasts and their more beastly masters Looke vpon all men if sinnes of all kinds doe not abound See if you can distinguish the man from the Master but that perhaps the man goes brauer sweates lowder and wil be drunke sooner And if his Master keepe from Church for conscience sake he will keepe from thence because he hath no conscience Looke euery way if it be not a shame to seeme good much more to bee so If it be not a glory to regard neither God nor King Religion nor Lawe If they be not the only braue fellowes who dare doe the basest acts most boldly and in a drunken desperate moode iustle sober and silent Iustice from the wall into the Channell Behold if want hath not made a violent ceizure of vs all want of wealth want of strength want of courage want of wit want of conscience want of grace so that wee resemble the people of Laish spoken of in the 18. Chap. of the Iudges 7. 10. verses and so are a carelesse secure irregular Nation a fit prey for any Conqueror This is all true all men see it and confesse it but where is the cause of this Our sinnes they are both the cause the effect for sinne is punished with sinne And we that are euill Customers to defraud God of his due must looke to haue strict seuere Searchers and Controllers and watchers set ouer vs. But vvhere is that causa proxima of sinne Sinne is a cause indeed of sinne but it is causa remota so that euery eye cannot discerne that cause Why the next cause of sinne which euery eye may see is the lacke of Execution of good Lawes wee haue them but thy lie as Henry the fifts Bowes and Arrowes at Pomfret Castle with which he wan the battaile of Agincourt or Edward the thirds sword in Westminster which he vsed in the Conquest of Fraunce and tels vs now what braue fellowes our forefathers haue beene Heere only is the difference that sword is euer drawne but the sword of Iustice is euer in the Sheath Now my honorable Lords you haue the sword in your hands though not the scepter draw it foorth and strike with it the enemies of Truth and Iustice who wander out of the Kings high-way in their wayes of neighborhood and wayes of priuacy You heare Nehemiah say Cap. 6. 11. Should such a man as I feare It were a shame Should such as you either feare or fauour or respect causes or persons I cannot suspect such a cloud where there appeares such a shining Sun of graces and gifts of knowledge and profession I dare not admonish you of any thing I am so confident of your integrity Yet because I know as you are the eyes of the State the eyes of his Maiestie so you must see by othermens eyes and heare by other mens eares I turne me therefore to them Honorable Gentlemen the King hath made you Iustices to assist these Iudges in presence to supply by your authority their absence Shew your selues as your Predecessors haue done vvorthy of your places reforme what you can inform where you cānot that the higher power may I know you know you were not made Iustices of peace to the end to be silent but to speake He is vnworthy of his place vvho attaines it onely for his owne grace to hurt his enemies profit his followers to vphold his faction and partie and therefore attends his profit or pleasure rather then his calling vvhere withall he thinkes his conscience is not charged but that it is enough for him to sit on the Bench to tell the Clocke and keepe his Cushion warme You know and therefore doe the contrarie the Church the Common-wealth expects more from you and I excite you to this in their names And you Gentlemen of the Grand-Enquest and of other Iuries with chiefe Constables and pety Constables I turne me to you Consider you are the eyes and eares wherewithall Iustice sees and heares without you shee is blind and deafe let not preiudice or partialitie take vp your affections therefore aforehand Be not like Band-dogs muzled for feare of biting remember the dignitie authority and vse of your places and disgrace them not by your vnworthy cariage The poorest Constable is an eye to the richest and wisest Magistrate but few of them I feare haue eyes to see it and that their Certificates would witnesse if they were strictly examined which commonly are nothing but matter of forme and yet without either matter or forme Consider I beseech you how Policie hath set one eye ouer another and how many eyes there are ouer-looking all your voluntarie your wilfull your negligent and partiall escapes the petty Constables chiefe Constables Grand-Enquest the Iustices the Iudges and the whole County And you that are next the lowest consider the like and so successiuely as you are superordinate I ascend to you honorable Iudges who know you haue a King aboue you too vvho can distinguish of wayes discerne colours though all scarlet sinnes crying crimes be kept from his eyes and eares artificially Eccl. 5. 8. there is one aboue him too who rules the hearts of Kings as the riuers of waters and being aboue him he must needs ouersee vs all Psal 97. 9. Pro. 21. 1. Act. 15. 8. for he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the searcher and seer of the heart There is a double worke at the Assises the triall of Nisi prius and Censure of manners This this last my Lords is the needfull the acceptable worke for we haue more neede of a Cato to reforme our corrupt manners then of a Cicero or Antony or Salust to purifie and polish our Language Wee all speake like good Angels but we liue like euill The Country Contention makes the Lawyer rich but the neglect of Iustice makes vs all poore Heere nothing profits but due execution which is then done when your honors do not only giue
good and learned Charges and good examples by present actions but leaue an impression for the future and looke at your returne for full obedience to your commands and orders which else are effectuall no longer with some then this my Sermon which being taken for a matter of course is perhaps â—ost by censure and science for a vvhile but scarce touched by conscience or drawne into practise by any at all though that should be the end of all hearing as it is the end of all preaching Now to conclude that both my Sermon your Lordships charge and all our actions may be to the glory of God and the good of this Common-wealth Let vs ioyne together in humble and harty manner and commend the end of this our present way of knowledge and the beginning of your great worke of Execution and practise which followes to his holy blessing and direction in faithfull and humble prayer Gratious God thou that hast giuen vs a way to walke to heauen in the way of thy commandements and vvhen vvee did not keepe that way as wee ought didst in thy mercy reueale the way of grace vnto vs in thy Gospell sending thy Sonne to be a way life and truth vnto vs. A way to vvalke in the life and strength wherewithall vvee walke and the truth wherevnto wee vvalke dispose our hearts to meditate to obserue those things that thou hast taught vs and obediently to shew our thankfulnes by labouring to practise the same in our seuerall vocations with the care of good coÌ„sciences to thy glory Lord giue vs grace to shun all wayes that seeme euill and are so or are euill though they seeme not so Let vs not be mis-led by wayes of neighborhood by imitation or example either of our predecessors deceased or otherwise absent or present nor wander in our priuate wayes from the publique rule of thy vvord and the true end of our callings in Church or Commonvvealth Especially O Lord keepe vs from abusing the Lawe for a colour of sinne as if vvee had warrant and authority to iustifie our vvickednesse and durst sinne without feare of punishment in the sight of the Sunne in the Kings high way like Robbers And since we see lack of execution of good lawes is the cause of our euil liues giue care courage to thy Iudges zeale and conscience to euery other Officer of Iustice that all may ioyn together to root vp sin to strengtheÌ„ the man of God in the wayes of God that wee may so walke with thee heere in obedience as Enoch did that as he was vvee may be heereafter translated to vvalke with thee in eternall glory through Iesus Christ our Lord and Sauiour Amen A Postscript to all Christian Readers especially to my brethren and fellow-laborers in the Ministerie and to the Freeholders YOu haue seene the high-wayes of God and the King playnely layde downe Keepe you to the word of God strictly for that is Gods high-way 2. Tim. 3. 14. 15. 16. 17. Concerning the Kings high-way that also is his reuealed will in the Lawes of the Land which although his absolute will doe not constitute as Gods vvil doth yet his consent confirmes them as the Parliament propounds them In the Parliament then which is the whole State representatiue these high-wayes are made and the fundamentall customes of our State makes euery Freeholder a way-maker in this case not binding any man before he hath bound himselfe by the Knights and Burgesses who are his Spokesmen Bee therefore wary when you heare a Parliament summoned by his Maiestie whom you choose Knights of the Shire and Burgesses of Corporations that is whom you constitute in your places to repaire or make these high-wayes of the King wherein you are bounde to walke obediently for conscience sake and remember vvhat admonitions his Maiestie hath giuen you often by Proclamation to this end especially in the first yeere of his Reigne vvhen he found fault vvith such as disabled their Counties and Corporations vsing to choose strangers according as they were directed by letters or superior Command as if they had no freedomes or wanted sufficient men of ther owne to supply those places And remember also how before this last Parliament his Maiestie hearing and beholding vvhat packing plotting and vndertaking there had beene vsed in this important businesse did command all men to forbeare writing and vnderhand solliciting for the place either on their owne behalfe or others and aduised the people to chose freely not to betray their owne liberties in the choice Better counsell you cannot haue When therefore you heare of a Parliament towards let the Ministers prepare the people and warne them of the worke in hand and let such as are Freeholders conferre together and neglecting both their Landlords or great neighbours or the Lord Liftenants themselues looke vpon the wisest stoutest and most religious persons and be carefull to choose such as haue no dependancie vpon Greatnes nor seeke change of the State Lawes and Religion nor hunt ambitiously for place honor and preferment for there is danger in these but he that is religious vvill stand for his Countries good and in choosing such you shall please God and the King and profit your selues and your posterity Finally let none amongst you bee seene idlely to sit at home whilst these things are doing in the full County as if it did not concerne you but ride runne and deale seriously herein as for your liues and liberties which depend heereupon And as you see such as are contrary minded bandy themselues together for their party to choose one of their opinion for their turne so see you doe the like that you may countervvorke them and hold the liberty you haue got and the Lord prosper you and make you of one minde as one man that the Gospell may still flourish among you that mercy and truth may meete Psal 85. righteousnes and peace may kisse each other that the Lord may giue that which is good and the Land may yeeld her increase Errata Fol. 10. lin vlt. for alterations reade altercations Fol. 73. lin 2. for villaine reade villanie FINIS
as God made man righteous but as man hath corrupted his owne wayes By his Sense if he iudgeth he finds himselfe often deceiued for a straight sticke put into the water seemes crooked in his eyes an eccho beguiles his eares his feeling tasting smelling all of them are subiect to deception And for his Reason the best it can doe is to discourse probably of the least common accident of a Plea or a Flie and then whatsoeuer he brings may be controuerted so by another seeming reason that the Iudge who should from this base ground his determinations had need do it with caution and leaue roome to retract and reuerse his sentence Much more is man puzzeld and lost when he climes vp to higher contemplations to consider the hidden things of Nature as wee may plainely see by Gods arguments to Iob Iob. 38. 39. If then the spirit of a man cannot infallibly iudge of the things of a man of his owne soule and body or of such things as are subiected to his gouernment how shall he be thought a competent iudge to determine the things of God though we graunt him to be of as vpright a heart as David and as wise as Salomon himselfe All that man can doe is to iudge by apparance and wee see heere things may seeme otherwise then they bee Now besides the insufficiency of Man this way 1. Tim. 5. 21 we shall finde other defects in him which accompany impotencie and are vnworthy of a Iudge for in a Iudge two things must be principally auoyded preiudice and parciality now both these we shall discouer in our Iudge Man First Preiudice Man naturally abhors all things propounded by his aduersarie and the hate of the person wil not suffer him to intertaine the truth of his discourse but rather seeke arguments to oppose it his iudgement is so taken vp aforehand Thus I haue seene the sentences of the Fathers reiected for hereticall by Romane Catholiques when they haue beene found in Luther or Calvin Whitaker or Perkins Secondly Partiality Man naturally affects what either proceeded from himselfe immediately or from his neere deere honord and beloued Predecessors or some that in his eyes seemes learned wise honest religious In which regard God himselfe disputes this point with man Ezechiel 18. 2. and in the 29. verse concludes with an interrogation with an expostulation saying Yet saith the house of Israel The way of the Lord is not equal O house of Israel are not my wayes equall or are not your wayes rather vnequall And this is come into fashion againe that Man dares argue the cause with his Maker and if God do not as man will haue him subiect his actions to mans reason and aâ—e all his creatures but that according to the rule of Iustice he condemne some Reprobates he is like to be iudged the Author of sinne And I wonder he scapes censure for making fishes foules beasts I muse they finde no fault because he made not all these to be men and immortall and why he made not men Angels whilst holy David wonders at his extraordinary care loue showne towards man saying O Lord what is man that thou so regardest him or the sonne of man that thou so visitest him He wonders that any man is regarded these wonder that all men and all creatures are not alike regarded Thus man that iudgeth by apparance whose sense and reason may be deceiued and so deceiue him as he deceiues others who may bee iniquus Iudex a Iudge full of preiudice full of partiality especially in his owne case is vnfit to decide a controuersie of this nature And this therefore caused that resolute Luther to vtter that speech for which he hath beene so often and so vniustly taxed and chalenged That he preferd one Saint Paule before a thousand Ambroses Augustines Hieroms or Chrysostoms Because Saint Paul by the iudgement of all those was for the first planting of the Church guided by the infallible direction of Gods Spirit after a wonderfull and extraordinary manner and measure But all these men graunt themselues that they might erre nay that they did erre and so retracted diuerse of their former opinions desiring neither to be beleeued nor followed farther then their words and writings should bee found consonant to the verity of the written Word of God Now then all the iudgement of Man nay of all men contradicting the Word of God is of a priuate spirit such as Adam was directed by when he left the guidance of Gods Spirit of which Saint Peter speakes 2. Pâ—t 1. 19. 20. 21. If therefore a multitude of men how learned wise or holy soeuer they bee should ioyne against the Scripture their authority must not carry it for they all erre and their interpretation is priuate though their persons their places their professions be publique And one or a few men expounding with the Scripture doth not expound by a priuate spirit though his person perhaps bee priuate but by the spirit of Truth which directed the holy Pen-men of the Scripture and his opinion and interpretation is Catholique and orthodoxe whatsoeuer his person bee Cyprian vvas a publique teacher yet interpreting some Scriptures to proue rebaptization his interpretation therein vvas priuate because against the generall sense and scope of Scripture And Augustine vvas a Bishop and so a publike person at whose mouth we are to seeke wisedome yet when hee brought Scripture interpreted by himselfe contrary to the generall scope to prooue Children should receiue the Lords Supper his interpretation was worthliy reiected as of a priuate spirit All the founders of Heresies haue beene publike persons such as were Nouatus Arrius Eunomius and with these diuerse Bishops of Rome haue ioyned eyther as authors of Heresies or Sectators of such and heerein they were all led by priuate spirits Therefore Bellarmine confesseth lib. 3. cap. 3. De verbo That the Spirit of interpretation which in S. Peters sense is publique is often giuen to priuate men So then the Scripture must be expounded by the Scripture the darker place by the place more cleere Man must not seeke a fortification in Scripture for his opinion but he must be carefull to raise his opinion and Iudgement out of the Scripture euidently confirmed explaned by it selfe and by conference and coherence of the same with it selfe and this is publique interpretation whatsoeuer is contrary is from the spirit of priuacy Veritas docendo suadet falsitas suadendo docet All this that I haue spoken then is not totally to exclude man from determining questions and doubts in Diuinity but to shew by what rule he ought to iudge that is by no other rule then by the Scriptures for I gladly acknowledge that whereas there is an authenticke and fundamentall Iudge Christ himselfe the best interpreter of the Law being the Law-maker so he hath placed a ministeriall Iudge which is the Church which must interpret Scripture by Scripture and euer be wary not to contradict the
in God as in a good Father and might wholly seeke to him and cleaue to him as to the chiefe and souereigne good able to supply and satisfie all his desires aboundantly This being thus layd downe for a rule let vs by this comparatiuely proceed to try some points of Religion controuerted which are fundamentall or lye next to the foundation and iudge them right or wrong from the nature and quality of their doctrine that is whether they ayme at the right end The glory of God or at an oblique end the gaine of this world and the glory of Man that propounds them according to that direction which our Sauiour giues Iohn 7. 18. He that speakes of himselfe seeketh his owne glory but he that seeketh his glory that sent him the same is true and no vnrighteousnes is in him 1. First for Faith the foundation Our Aduersaries teach a faith which only beleeues the power of God to saue man wee teach a faith which beleeues both his power and will Theirs teacheth feare ours both feare and loue Theirs cloudes his mercy ours giues true glory both to his power and mercy 2. Secondly for hope Spes boni incerti our Aduersaries teach a hope which vncertainely expects a good to come whether they shal be saued or no they know not but they hope well whether there be a heauen prepared for them yea or no they know not but they hope well Wee teach a hope which the Scripture teacheth that is an earnest out-looking expectation and longing for the accomplishment of those gratious promises which God hath made to vs in his Word So our faith beleeues that there is a heauen and a heauen prepared for vs our hope longs for the time when this shal be perfected and taught by patience and experience stayes the Lords leysure and yet cries out Apoc. 6. 10. How long Lord how long They call this hope Presumption but wee know they are presumptuous for calling it so 3. Thirdly Solent Haeretici semper prospera polliceri caelorum regna peccatoribus pandere vt dicunt parata sunt tibi regna caelorum potes imiâ—ari maiestatem Dei vt absâ— peccato sis Accep stâ— enim liberi arbitâ—iâ— potestatem Hieron Com in Hier cap. 23. for Charity They teach what Charity is truly but in this they erre that they make it that is the charity of man to be the cause which moues God to saue vs nay which deserues and merits saluation of God And this Charity they teach so to depend vpon Free-will as thereby they exalt the nature of man conceale his fall and make the decree of God to be grounded vpon the mutable and vnconstant will of man We on the other side teach that our saluation wholly proceedes from the charity and loue of God and that all meanes conducing to that end rise from the same fountaine of loue and so our charity as an effect of that charity of God to vs serues not as a cause moouing God to saue but followes as a cause declaring whom God will saue And that our Charity as it is a fruite and effect of Gods Charity is true charity and the works proceeding from that charity of ours good but imperfect good as done by a person accepted imperfect as done by a sinner as done by a babe which growes and labors towards perfection which perfection is not wholly to bee attayned till this imperfection be wholly put away and corruption hath put on incorruption And therefore for merit wee are farre from it as a doctrine opposite both to our charity and to the charity of God To our charity because charity is a free worker not respecting the wages if she thinkes to merit she is not Charity To the Charity of God because if God gaue for the merit of our workes heauen were not properly a gift nor grace were not grace nor charity charity for charity is free Thus euen Adam himselfe in his integrity could not merit because bee had nothing but what he receiued he was indebted for his daily bread and for the grace he had to see and acknowledge this loue of God so whilst we are giuing thankes for benefites receiued wee are not paying our debts but running farther in for euery grace that wee haue is a new obligation To him that hath shal be giuen and wee are receiuing whilst we thinke our selues giuing Againe they teach Though Christ dyed for vs and though Gods grace guide and direct our actions and affections yet there are some sinnes left to be satisfied and discharged by our selues either in this life by workes of merit or pennance heere or heereafter by punishment in Purgatory Now this they doe teach not euer perhaps because they so beleeue but because it is a profitable error and they know they may easily vndertake to pardon all that come into Purgatory Besides it is a great glory for their Hierarchy to be sticklers in so large and spatious a roome as they fancy or faine it to bee not only to haue all earth but all Purgatory also within the verge of their Inquisition Now vvee teach the contrary because we see this doctrine derogatory to Gods infinite mercy and glory and to the infinite merits of our Sauiour As if God had forgot to be gratious or as if our Sauiours merits and actions were imperfect as our workes are or rather indeed as if our workes were perfect to merit supererrogate and his imperfect not able to do inough for all vvhen our Sauiours death did satisfie for all the faithfull and vvas sufficient for many vvorlds more and his merits vvere superaboundant for vs and for all that beleeue and repent Fiftly they say that after the vvords of consecration the bread is changed into the body of Christ as he was borne as he suffered This they doe to exalt the dignity of their Preisthood vvee teach the contrary that it is his body and truly eaten but both by faith after a spirituall manner as the Angels eate Christ in heauen by contemplation And this vvee teach both because vvee haue good testimony of Scripture vvith the whole choherence thereof and the Analagie of faith so to expound it as also because it makes more for the glory of God and the humiliation of man when our Aduersaries doctrine doth the contrary For doth it not call in question the truth of Gods word the truth of Christs body when we are led to imagine such a body as might be borne of the Virgin or not born might be crucified or not crucified being neither to be felt nor seene nor tasted yet to be taken vvith the hand eaten with the teeth receiued into the stomach And doth it not exalt man vvhen it makes him able to make his Maker And with his word to make him so as it should be in his power according to his intention will to haue him present or not present What is this else but to sit in the seate
gift and so resolutely to rest vpon the grace of the giuer as to assure himselfe and others of this crowne Presumption is faith with them and true sauing faith is Presumption When they heate him say Rom. 8. 38. I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shal be able to seperate vs from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord they would gladly make this only a probable perswasion no certaine faith but others seeing this too grosse a dallying with the manifest scope of the Text say Saint Paule vvas assured of the certainty of his saluation of the happy end of his right way by extraordinary reuelation only But let it be so was it reuealed to him for others that beleeue too he saith so for he saith nothing shal be able to seperate vs Now then if it be reuealed to him for others let vs beleeue the reuelation and apply it with vnfained faith to our owne hearts in particular as he did to his And by the way obserue what it is that Saint Paule builds his faith vpon so that nothing can preuaile against it Is it vpon Peter that rocke Is it vpon Indulgences or Pardons of man Is it vpon personall righteousnes inherent iustice or his owne or other mens merits No It is vpon that rocke Christ Iesus it is vpon the loue and Charity of God in and through the merits of Christ Iesus our Lord which loue not death nor life nor Angell nor power nor heauen not hell can alter for Gods loue is immutable he is not as man that he should repent whom he loues he loues to the end his wayes seeme hard but the Yssues of them are the wayes of life Whereas therefore our Aduersaries accuse vs of nouel presumption for teaching a faith that may assure vs of our saluation and to elude this cleere place of Saint Paul and diuerse other the like say This was reuealed to him by extraordinary fauour Wee know and confesse that hee as a worthy instrument of Gods glory as a Master builder had many things reuealed vnto him for the edification of the Church but for this particular it was no otherwise reuealed to him then it is to euery faithfull Christian in vvhom the Spirit of God dwels as in a temple and there teacheth them to offer Sacrifice and to cry Abba Father with teares and grones that cannot be expressed Well may there bee a difference in the measure of the reuelation not in the matter reuealed Wee know saith Saint Iohn 1. Ep. 3. 14. that wee are translated from death to life c. and after verse 23. He that keepeth his commandement dwelleth in him and he in him and heereby wee know that he abideth in vs euen by that Spirit which he hath giuen vs. So the persons are wee not I not Saint Iohn alone but wee all that beleeue and loue for this faith and loue are inseperable Againe wee are translated not it is probable wee shal be but wee are vvhich makes it certaine by faith as if it were done and accomplished Lastly we know this and wee know it by the Spirit which God hath giuen vs the same Spirit that taught Saint Paule and Saint Iohn is our tutor too For other reuelations Christ himselfe hath silenced all pretences and shadowes and giuen absolute authority to the Scripture opened and interpreted by the Spirit of God to resolue all scruples in case of conscience Luk 16. 19 And this wee may see cleerely in the Parable of Diues and Lazarus where Diues after he had failed of his personall suite and could not obtaine a drop of mercy for himselfe yet requested Abraham to send one to his friends to forewarne them of the state he was in not that they might pray for him for that vvas to no purpose the tree was falne but that they might by repentance and amendment auoyde the danger themselues To whom Abraham giues this answere They haue Moses and the Prophets let them heare them so he turnes them to the Scriptures wherein the will of God is reuealed to euery man what they should shun what they should doe what they should beleeue and how they should liue And when Diues persisting in his suite saith Nay father Abraham but if one went vnto them from the dead they will repent Abraham replies definitiuely and resolutely If they heare not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded though one rose from the dead So wee see he that doubts the Scripture or beleeues any thing against it vnder pretence of reuelations from heauen or hell or Purgatory or the like fictions of Ghosts and Spirits appearing is in a wise case and may be drawne into a fooles Paradise but neuer into the true Paradise and so wander in this way which seemes right but the end thereof are the Yssues of Death To shut vp this point obserue the certainty of this iudgement as the Apostle Saint Iohn before in the 1. Ep. 3. Chap 14. verse speakes in the present Tence we know that wee are translated to note the certainty of their translation to glory so heere Salomon saith It is the way of Death and the end thereof is so to note the certainty of the thing And this is a plaine proofe of the Spirits assistance to discerne the end and determination of a thing before the end be come when otherwise it were too late to doe it For it is too late for Diues to repent in hell when the end is come he should haue attended better to Moses and to the Prophets before and beleeued the word of God not the foolish traditions of his forefathers against the Word or the idle old-wiues tales of his foremothers besides the Word he should haue attended the admonition of the faithfull Pastor and Prophet and not to the fained Legend of his flattering Patasites trencher-fed Chaplaines The perfection of all humane judgement is to iudge by the end and issue and euen heere wee often erre too but if man goes farther of himselfe by nature it is but coniecture and presumption arising from long experience in obseruation of like circumstances as the effect leades vs to the cause but yet euen then wee cannot say it is or certainely it shall bee but it may be so it may so fall out it may be the end of Death But the Spirit of God sees the end before it comes he sees the thoughts afarre off and iudgeth and warneth men aforehand inwardly by good and holy motions outwardly by the Scriptures and he that will not beleeue the holy Spirit of God in the Scriptures it is but iustice if God giue him ouer to a reprobate minde that he should be seduced and beleeue lies who would not receiue the truth of God but was transported with respect of times persons places and other humane Motiues And heere before wee
arising heere for lacke of a King that is of a fit person to execute the Lawe against Idolatry Likewise in the 19. Chap. of Iudges the Leuites wife is defiled after an vnsatiable brutish maner The reason of this villaine this iniustice this error in practise is giuen as before Then there was no King c. So all disorders of life are for lacke of execution of Iustice for God gaue the People a Lawe in this case so they lacked not a law but a Magistrate to execute it Againe in the 21. Chap. of Iudg There are two barbarous facts mentioned the first the bloudy destruction of Iabes Gilead the other the rape of certaine virgins by fraude and force who came out without feare of trechery securely trusting to their owne innocence and the peace of the State The reason of these disorders is giuen as before Then there was no King in Israel but euery man did what seemed good in his owne eyes There vvas a Lawe but there vvas none designed to execute it Praysed be God vvee haue both King Lawes Priests and Iudges how haps it then that there are I do not say sinnes for there vvill be sinnes as long as there are men but such common open crying sinnes such raigning roaring raging sinnes such beaten roads common high-vvayes of sinnes and sinning as if there vvere no King no Lawe no Priest no Iudge in England I speake not of them vvhich may pretend their excuse from the fraylty of our natures and our procliuenes to sin but of such as are committed with a high hand standing like theeues by the high-vvayes side at nooneday and robbing God of his glory the Common-wealth of their honor and that vvith violence vvith applause shaddowing their vnlawfull actions vnder the pretence of Lawe it selfe vvhich should reforme them And some of these for the manifestation of this point I intend to bring to the barre to answere for themselues But see I shall not neede for impudent Sacriledge appeares of himselfe to confront the Pulpit and the bench too It is not a scarlet gowne that can fright Diues for he vvent in purple euery day If Iustice helpe not he vvill strangle Deuotion for vvho vvill giue to God if the Diuell enioyes vvhat is giuen Or vvho vvill giue to the Clergie to the poore to charitable vses if the Athiest the prophane person the vncharitable vvretch the Politician may ceize vpon it sell it or the title to iâ— as he doth It lyes only in the hands of Power and Authority to stop his mouth for he hath got such countenance and supportance as he sits in judgement and hath giuen sentence like the Man of sinne against the Clergy that tithes are not due to them Iure Diuino and therefore he and his may ceize vpon them vvith Prescriptions Impropriations Prohibitions like an other three-headed Cerberus Iure diabolico The Country-people like well and vvill soone learne this lesson they thought before it vvas no conscience to pay tithes but all being due by almos it vvas no theft no sacriledge but vvisedome and good husbandry to keepe asmuch backe as they might vvee expected reformation and a restoring of the oyle to the lampes as God had lent these times more light then others But now there is cause to doubt rather substraction then to hope for restitution much lesse to expect addition Simony Sacriledge all are let loose and armed and Iudas hath sufficient colour to saue like a theefe his oyntment from Christs members and Ministers vnder pretence of charity and releeuing the poore though Christ sees the thiefe in Iudas heart and though Salomon knowes howsoeuer this way may seeme right to themselues yet the end thereof is destruction to the Church and death to many a poore soule But they are in their vvay rather vvilling to pay tenths to Sathan then to God It is therefore ten to one if one of ten haue grace to returne and to restore God is iust who whilst they withdraw their hands and hearts from good withdrawes his grace from their hearts they may heare but they profit not to obedience and practise He will not suffer such to gaine grace by the preaching of the Word vvho for their owne priuate gaine vvould starue the Preachers of the Word The Vsurer comes next as a brother in euill to Sacriledge This must not now be called a sinne it is justified out of the Pulpit to be none and it is growne to be a profession too and the Vsurer is a free-man of euery company but not free in any good cause or company It was a sin so vgly heeretofore as none durst practise it scarce durst name it but vvith the signe of the crosse as if they had spoken of a Diuell but it is now so common as he is scarce thought an honest man that is not one for he cannot be honest that is not rich and he cannot be rich vvithout this trade This is the gulph wvith sinks and swallowes our Marchants Clothyers Farmers Owners all Men complaine of the Law and that vvorthily but this this is the rocke that Shipwracks all and spoiles all trading and commerce whilst the venter and hazard is the buyers and the sellers but the certaine gaine fals betwixt both to the vsurer This Man payes neither duty to God nor the King for his trade hath no warrant from either God forbids it the King tolerates it as some States doe the practise of the Stewes or as our Sauiour said of Diuorces Moses for the hardnes of your hearts suffered you to put away your wiues but from the beginning it was not so the time hath not beene long since this sinne came in request for a vertue nor will it bee long ere the practisers shall see that howsoeuer the way seemes good in their owne eyes yet the Yssues thereof are the wayes of death Next the vsurer and the Sacrilegious person who are coupled like dogges comes three together in a cluster 1. The Forestaller 2. The Ingrosser 3. The Depopulator as seuerall species of one Genus birds of a feather who hang together of a string and it is pitty they should not euer so hang. The Forestaller I meane not the petty forestaller of a Fayre or Market but the forestaller of Commodities in a vvhole Country bites closer then a Goose for the Goose eates all aboue the earth but this beast eates vp all commodities before they spring assoone as they are sowne in the Earth and therefore is a right earth-worme 2. Neither when I speake of Ingrossers do I intend petty persons who ingrosse vp this or that commodity but the Ingrosser of Farmes who like another Cain takes possession of all and will not indure any man to thriue or liue by him Euery Farme euery trade euery Sheepes-course is his Nothing fatts him but a deere yeare nothing drownes him but a deepe and long snow for if that melts not the sooner hee melts He hath in his hands perhaps what would
imploy and maintaine ten households and he scarce keepes one Thus he beggars himselfe whilst he is not able to stocke all his Farmes nor giue them that compasse Arist Oecon. lib. Sterquilinium which Aristotle saith is the best namely to compasse the ground about often with the owners feete hee beggars his Landlord whilst once in seauen yeeres he hangs his Lease on the hedge quod agro est optimum vestigia Domini and trusts to his heeles he beggats the poore whilst he will affoord them no abiding place in the Earth nor no imployment to preserue them from Idlenesse and he beggars the whole State whilst he breeds beggars and makes the ground vnfertile for lacke of tending which if it were in the hands of more that could manure and follow euery part would yeeld more increase to the Occupier to the Master and to the State of the Common-wealth 3. The last of these is the Depopulator who to inhanse his Rents puls downe all the petty Tenements and Farmes and will haue none dwell neere him Assoone as this is done he lackes neighbors thus the iustice of God vvhips him by his owne hand Then he hyes to the City vvhere the Dicing-house vpon the right hand and the Drinking-house vpon the left hand and the Drabbing-house before him spends all that is left or if any be left the tyre-woman and the taylor dogs and hawkes and Coach-horses diuide it and amongst these he wastes all that wherewith his predecessors feasted themselues and their poore neighbours There are Lawes against these but often it concernes the Iury the Iustices nay the Iudges themselues and therefore the Lawes must be silent in this case for these wayes are good in their owne eyes though the Yssues of them be the wayes of death There come next to hand three others who depend of those that went before and whose profession is practised with a kinde of warrantable deceite namely the Malster the Brewer the Alehouse-keeper these drinke vp the State as the other did eate it vp and for their sakes drunkennesse is thought a tollerable nay a necessary euill Their pretences are the prouision for the poore or the raising of the price of corne that the husbandman may liue and that the rackt Rent may not vndoe him but what he gets of these at the Barne dore he leaues at the Buttery-hatch Mothes are no worse in cloth rust in yron nor whules in Mault then these in the Common-wealth For since these were set vp and manly exercises cryed downe our bodies are weakened and corrupted our spirits dulled and made effeminate and we fitted for slauery being euery day ouer-mastered and made slaues by drunkennes and excesse And yet there are some vvho suppose this trading to be as necessary for the State as Tobacco or the trade of the East-Indies and for my part I am easily induced to beleeue them vvhilst I know the equall discommodity of all and see that though their wayes seeme good to themselues yet the Yssues thereof are the wayes of death Next these the bribing Officer appeares as in a clowde for his wayes are darke and past searching out except to him that can hold a candle before the Diuell Mammon brought him in Mammon keepes him in and the excesse of his wife child seruants giues notice to all eyes that such brauery is not to be maintained without bribes And therefore vvhen poore men come to passe any thing how iust soeuer they are warned to open their purses vvide and so whatsoeuer the cause bee their reedles eye shal be made bigge enough for the Cable or the Camell to enter â—sai 1. 23. Iustly may God complaine of vs as of Israel Thy Princes are rebellious and companions of theeues euery one loueth gifts and followeth after rewards they iudge not the fatherlesse neither doth the cause of the widow come vnto them And Ier. 5. 26. Among my people are found wicked men they lay waite as he that setteth snares they set a trap they catch men As a cage is ful of birds so are their houses full of deceite therefore they are become great and waxen rich They are waxen fat they shine yea they ouer-passe the deeds of the wicked they iudge not the cause the cause of the fatherlesse yet they prosper and the right of the needie doe they not iudge Shall I not visite for these things saith the Lord shall not my soule be auenged on such a Nation as this God himselfe must visit for these sinnes the Magistrate will not it is he that must be visited it must be an omnipotent power that must therefore reforme this generall corruption that spreads so wide and climbes so high for these wayes seeme good to the eyes of great men yea to some of the greatest who should correct it though the Yssues thereof be the wayes of death Now I haue proceeded so farre I vvill conclude with him that is the cause of all this and that 's the Courtly Thiefe who begges a Patent that all these before spoken of and more too may rob as it were with vvarrant vnder his seale But I doe him wrong perhaps to call him thiefe he is rather a Beggar not a beggar by the Kings high-way but a Beggar of the Kings high-way so that no man may passe vp and downe in course of Lawe and Iustice but hee takes custome Surely he hath begg'd so long that he hath almost made vs all beggars and therefore it is pitty there is no whipping post for him But assure himselfe though he be of the number of the sturdy and incorrigible persons heere in this vvorld yet there is a vvhipping post for him in another world and he shall see that though his wicked wayes seemed good in his owne eyes and in the eyes of his fellowes of his fooles of his flatterers yet the Yssue of them are the wayes of death and destruction But vvhat should I need to dwell longer vpon particulars when not only this or that member this or that finger or toe but the whole body is corrupted Looke vpon Religion are not our aduersaries on all sides increased Do not all places swarme with schismes sects heresies and priuate spirits Looke vpon our liues was there euer such defect of charity as if indeed it were true which some slander vs withall that wee teach a solitary faith would saue and that works were needlesse nay sinfull was there euer generally such an itch of priuate wealth which euer forerunnes and effects the ruine of the Common-wealth Looke vpon all our Proiects of draining surrounded grounds or whatsoeuer other profitable pretence they carry see if they ayme not at the draining of the publique purse at the milking of the state by priuate Monopolies as if England were a hard step-dame and no indulgent Mother to her prodigall and vngratefull children Looke vpon our affections was there euer such a deade luke-warme indifferencie a dow baked zeale as if we cared not which way the