your peace with God In whose name and feare I beseech you to make a conscience of pleading euery cause When an ill cause cometh to you for counsell say that of it plainly which the buyer of his commoditie speaketh dissemblingly Prou. 20. 14. It is naught it is naught It is not so great a sinne for a chapman to say of a good commoditie It is naught it is naught as for a Lawyer to say of a naughtie cause It is good it is good Make a conscience of pleading against a good cause Let not couetousnesse make your wits skill learning and tongues instrumentall to iniustice Neither be Tertullists to pleade against Paul nor Abiezrites to pleade for Baal Will ye pleade for Baal Let Baal and Belial pleade for themselues How thinke ye to haue the Lord Iesus for your Aduocate that dare be pleading aduocates for Baal and Belial Therefore all Lawyers Take heed and beware of couetousnesse 4. I commend this caueat to all Church-patrons Take ye heed also and beware of couetousnesse What is the reason that our Church groanes vnder the heauie burden of so many insufficient ministers Nothing more then the couetousnes of Church-patrons who while they looke more at the gifts and gratuities in the hand then gifts and graces of the heart sticke not to bring into Gods Sanctuary those for Leuites to diuide the word who in good truth giue them their due are not worthy the place of Gibeonites to cleaue and diuide wood and draw water vnfit for the meanest seruice of the Sanctuary Me thinks Iudas his halter should make you afraid of Iudas his question Quid dabitis What will ye giue God gaue him an halter Take heed lest while you ask the same question God do not giue you the same answer For certainly this sinne makes you as very theeues as euer was Iudas and what can a theefe looke for but the halter You are euery whit as bad as Iudas He sold the Head you sell the members he the shepheard you the sheepe and the same sinne that set him sets you on worke too the sinne of couetousnesse As bad as Iudas Nay in some respect ye are worse then he Not that I am of that heretical opinion of the old Cainites of whom Augustiné maketh Lib. de Haeres ad Quodvultd mention who held that Iudas betrayed Christ out of a good and an honest mind as foreseeing that infinite good which his passion death should bring to mankind No I know he was a murtherer and a theefe and yet I say that you are worse then he He sold but the body but you sell soules and so make your selues guilty of the sin of that execrable filth of Babylon whose merchandize Apoc. 18. 13. is not onely pearles linnen scarlet c. but also the soules of men Iudas by his barter made but the potters field you by yours make Christs field Christs Church an Aceldema a field of bloud while for your wicked pecuniary respects in stead of barking dogs to keepe you put in rauening wolues and sleepie greedy dogs to kill Christs sheepe Now as you feare to haue your hands besmeared with the gore of soules and as you dread that heauie account which must be giuen for soule-bloud so all Church-patrons take heed and beware of couetousnesse 5. Me thinkes in the next place whilest this sinne is thus complained of I should heare Landlords and men that liue on Offices saying to me as the Publicans to Iohn Luk 3. 12. What shall we do If couetousnes be thus foule a sinne how then and what then shall we do To whom I giue the same answer that Iohn did to the Publicans and the souldiers both Exact no more then is appointed to you and Do no man violence be content with your wages Take heed and beware of couetousnesse Take heed of exaction Take heed of oppression Take heed of racking your rents Take heed of tentring your poore Tenants Grinde not the faces of the poore vncloathe not their loines to cloathe your dead walls Many Landlords are like Darius Dan. 6. 16. he prayes God to helpe Daniel but in the meane time sends him to the Lions den so many oppressing Landlords they crie God helpe but in the mean time play the Lions God hath sworn by his Holinesse that he will takeaway such oppressors with thornes and their posteritie with fish-hookes Am. 4. 2. God will serue them as Gideon serued the men of Succoth Iudg. 8. 16. whom he did teare with the briers and thornes of the wildernesse It is but iustice that their flesh should be torne off with briers who were thornes and briers to teare off the flesh of others Tantum ergo natum est vt loca non sufficerent quae solebant quaerebat consilium miser non quomodo erogaret quod plus natum erat sed quomodo reseruaret Aug. serm de diuit 28. Ye find a rich man immediatly after my text whom the Lord calleth Foole Foole this night shall thy soule be taken from thee Wherein lay this mans folly In that he tooke care not to lay vp for good vses but to lay vp for voluptuous vses that surplusage of estate which God had giuen him Now marke what Augustine inferreth hereupon If he be a foole which layes but vp his owne goods Vos inuenite ei nomen qui tollit aliena find you out a fit name for him that takes away another mans What name then may we find out Salomon fits them with a name Eccles 3. 18. Viderem hos esse illis bestias so Iunius not fooles but beasts And what beasts may they be Kine of Bashan Amos 4. 1. that is with the easiest Therefore Zephanie and Nahum make them wolues euening wolues Lions Lions whelpes roaring and ramping Lions Zeph. 3. 3. Nah. 2. 11. 12. Beasts they are beasts of prey that liue ex rapto Not onely kine of Bashan that by oppression trample vnder foote but deuouring wolues not onely trampling but tearing beasts How fairely were this Iland blest if it were as cleare rid of these as it is of other wolues How happie were it if these Cannibals were amongst the sauage Indians How well if these man-eating beasts might be vsed as was Nebuchadnezzar turned to grasse Dan. 4. 30. He was Volunt nunc comparcere micas in alendo misero Lazaro cum prius effuderint in epulonem omnes opes suas Dederunt enim episcopis arces ciuitates ac nimis splendide ac laute habuerunt eos Nunc cum isti alendi sunt qui vere fideliter docent vix micas alioqui perituras eis concedunt Luther in Gen. 21. driuen from men and did eate grasse as the oxen 6. I may not here let passe such as are guiltie of sacriledge impropriators of Church liuings together with close and cunning defrauders of the Ministerie Take ye heed and beware of couetousnesse There is nothing so sacred and inuiolable which this Harpy dareth not seize vpon The
heed and beware of couetousnesse 2. Ye honourable and reuerend Magistrates and Iudges who are not onely men of God but vpon whom God hath put his owne name I haue said ye are Gods Psal 82. take ye heed also and beware of couetousnesse So Iethro would haue Moses his Iudges to be qualified Exod. 18. 21. Men fearing God dealing truly hating couetousnesse These are well ioyned together for it is not possible they should deale truly in the place of iustice that do not hate couetousnesse I neither do nor can accuse any of our reuerend Iudges as guilty of this sinne or any such as commonly attend it when it setteth foote into the iudgment seate such as are iniustice bribery corruption raysing fauourites vpon the ruines of honest causes and men c. But onely as one this day in Gods roome I am bold to beseech and aduise your wisedomes to take heed and beware thereof And that so much the rather because this sinne will make you such as I dare not name But the Prophet Isay dares and doth Isay 1. 23. Thy Princes are companions of theeues Why so Not for taking of purses on the high way but for taking bribes in their chambers For euery one loueth gifts and followeth after rewards they iudge not the fatherlesse neither doth the widowes cause come before them That is true of the iudgement seate which Augustine speaketh of kingdomes that magna regna sine De Ciuit. Dei l. 4. cap. 4. iustitia are but magna latrocinia This sinne will turne Guild-hall into a Shooters hill and Westminster-hall into a Saris-bury plaine Her rulers loue to say with shame Giue ye Hos 4. 18. And what difference betweene giue ye and deliuer ye Indeed giue ye is not so dangerous by the law as deliuer ye and giue ye goeth oft in chaines of gold while deliuer ye lyeth in fetters of iron but in the Court of conscience before Gods tribunall there is no difference betweene theeuery and bribery For the same commandement that forbiddeth theeuery forbiddeth bribery yea and forbiddeth it vnder the name of theeuery That word Hos 4. 18. translated rulers Iunius and the margent of our new Translation reade shields Such indeed should men be that are in place of iustice they should be shields to shelter and defend their poore brethren in their right and innocency But if once these shields shall loue and desire to be gilt these shields will be turned into spoyling swords God shield you therefore ye reuerend Iudges from couetousnesse Walke in iustice speake righteous things refuse the gaine of oppression Isay 33. shake your hands from taking of gifts shake them as Paul shooke off the viper thinke them no lesse dangerous let them do no more hurt then the viper did him stop your eares and shut your eyes from seeing euill There be three sinnes in Scripture which are called peccata ingentia huge or mighty sins You shall find them all three together Amos 5. 12. and the middlemost of them is They take a bribe And well is it placed betweene the other two as that which indeed giueth life to both the other For why do they afflict or oppresse the iust They take a bribe And what mischiefe followeth vpon it They turne aside the poore â—n the gate from their right Take heede of this sinne as of a mighty sinne yea as of a burning sinne that will consume all for fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery Iob 15. 34. Let therefore neither gaine nor rewards be the remora to the ship of iustice let it saile speedily Currat lex let iustice haue a quick course Iethro was not pleased to see causes hang from morning to euening it would haue grudged him farre more to haue seene them hang from yeare to yeare worst of all it would haue angred him to haue seene causes vsed as vnconscionable Chyrurgions vse sore legs hold them long in hand not for the difficulty of but for the gaine of the cure Oh that your wisdomes would thinke of some course no lesse for speede then integrity in iustice that a good cause might not be tired and wearied out with long suite and that a mans right recouered by law might not be as costly as what is bought by purchase 3. It will not be an vnseasonable caueat to all inferiour Lawyers to aduise them also to beware and take heede of couetousnesse I may speake to you as the Apostle speaketh to the Corinthians with a little change of his words 1. Cor. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Now there is vtterly a fault amongst you euen amongst you Lawyers not because ye go to law one with another but because many of you out of a couetous desire of gaine do encourage men that haue bad causes to go to law with others Why rather suffer ye not wrong why rather sustaine ye not the losse of a little dishonest gaine Nay ye your selues do wrong and do harme and that to your brethren whilest out of a squint respect to your owne gaine you sticke not to pleade such causes as you know to be weake and vniust Know ye not that the vnrighteous shal not inherite the kingdom of God Be not deceiued Neither couetous nor extortioners shal inherite the kingdom of God The Apostle addes And such were some of you I would I might not speake in the present tense and say And such are some of you I speake not this as if I came hither to maintaine a foolish faction between Colledges and Innes of Court God forbid that we should stand vpon this holy ground with such filthy shooes but I speake it out of a desire of the peace of your owne hearts to the which I dare referre my selfe and make them the iudges whether ye be guiltie of this sinne yea or no. For while with Absalom ye say to euery man his cause is good 2. Sam. 15. 3. See thy matters saith he are good and righteous and this saith the text he did to euery man and so stole away the hearts of the people whilest I say with Absalom ye tell euery man his cause is good and so steale away not the hearts for them ye lose at last but the goods of the people are ye not couetous Whilest with Tertullus for your sees you care not to pleade against Paul against an honest mans cause Clientes sibi omnes volunt esse multos Bonine an mali sint id haud quaeritant Res magis queritur quà m clientium Fides cuiusmodi clueat Plaut in Menaec are ye not couetous Whilest with the men of Abiezer Iudg. 6. ye will pleade for Baal will for your gaines pleade in publicke Courts of Iustice for base debauched adulterous drunkards presented and indicted for their notorious irregularities and pleade for their honestie too I will not say Are ye your selues honest but I dare say Are ye not grosly couetous Oh take heed of this couetousnesse and aboue all fees and incomes in the world tender
eare that will not heare when parents necessities craue reliefe and succour He thinketh it no transgression to rob father and mother Pro. 28. 24. Nay he thinketh it no transgression to sterue father and mother It was the Pharises diuinitie Matth. 15. 4. 5. 6. It was no matter how empty the parents bellies were so their Corban were filled As if so be the smell and smoke of the sacrifice were sufficient to fat them This sinne was before noted to be a signe of a reprobate sence Rom. 1. 29. and well it may for verse 30. another signe is Without naturall affection Euen this sinne stupifies the bowels of nature and maketh men deny that debt which God and euen corrupt nature doth call for This is that sinne that made the heathen long since complaine of those vngracious births that Filius ante diem patrios inquirit in annos Ouid. thought their liues too long from whom they had their liues Oh saith good Abraham that Ismael might liue in thy sight But many a couetous Ismael speaketh like a profane Esau Oh that the dayes of my fathers mourning were come not that he would mourne but onely as heires vse to do whose teares we Haeredis lachrymae know are growne prouerbiall 6. Commandement Thou shalt not kill But couetousnesse is a cut-throate a bloud-sucking horseleech To that height often groweth the thirst after gold that it maketh men thirst after bloud One of the Prophets calleth Babel gold-thirstie Babel And all that know Babel know her to haue bene no lesse blood-thirstie then gold-thirsty Yea she is taxed for both Hab. 2. 8. 9. This Salomon noteth Pro. 1. 11. 12. 13. Come with vs we will lay waite for bloud and lie priuily for the innocent without a cause we will swallow them vp aliue like a graue euen whole as those that go downe into the pit we shall finde all precious riches and fill our houses with spoile And verse 19. Such are the wayes of euery one that is greedie of gaine he would take away the life of the owners thereof Therefore Ezek. 22. 13. Couetousnesse and bloud are ioyned together Ahab will haue Naboths vineyard or he will haue his bloud Iudas was both couetous and a murtherer and therefore a murtherer because couetous He sold not his maister so much out of an hatred of him as originally out of the loue of the thirtie peeces Couetousnesse is a bloudy sinne and if the hands be not defiled with bloud it is the law and not conscience that keepeth them cleane 7. Commandement Thou shalt not commit adulterie What licenseth the publicke stewes at Rome and those styes of Curtezans but the Popes Corban and the huge reuenew of crownes they bring to the Popes purse It is the inordinate desire after gaine that foundeth that bestiall abomination of brothelry It is not so much the lust of the flesh as the lust of the eyes that causeth such to be giuen ouer to that brutishnesse How many violate their matrimoniall faith and chastitie and the couenant of their God allured more with the adulterers purse then with his person How many a chast Danaë admitteth an adulterous Iupiter descending in a golden showre How many vnchast persons force themselues to a single life meerly to auoyde the charges of married condition and lie frying in the flames of their owne scorching concupiscence and so do offer vp themselues vnto Moloch in the fire of their burning lusts 8. Commandement Thou shalt not steale But as the world hath stolen his heart from God so sticks he not to steale from men This Commandement makes him an arrant theefe Iudas is called a theefe Ioh. 12 6. and why a theefe but because he was couetous Therefore our Sauiour Mark 7. 22. ioynes thefts and couetousnes and Paul 1. Cor. 6. 10. ioynes theeues and couetous persons together as neare and neighbouring sinners False dealing it is a breach of this commandement it is a fruite of this sin Ier. 6. 13. Euery one is giuen to couetousnes they all deale falsly Oppression it is a breach of this commandement it is a fruite of this sin Prou. 28. 16. A Prince destitute of vnderstanding is a great oppressor but he that hates couetousnesse shall prolong his dayes See how oppression and the hatred of couetousnesse are opposed We haue here a whole crowd of abominations all forbidden in this law as defrauding ouerreaching cosining one another in mutuall commerce in buying and selling extortion inclosures depopulations sacriledge impropriations detention of the labourers wages engrossers corne-hoorders those Mercatores humanarum calamitatum together with that foule-fangd sin of vsury that indeed now bites no longer but is turned Euening wolfe that swalloweth the bones and leaues not till the morrow And whence thinke ye come these litters of snakes and vipers Lo this is the dunghill in which they breed A couetous heart is the wombe that conceiues them the mother that giues breath and being to them all 9. Commandement Thou shalt not beare false witnesse against thy neighbour But as in the former he scrupled not at false dealing so neither in this stickes he at false accusing Therfore Luk. 3. Iohn ioynes these two together Accuse no man falsly and be content with your wages Not to be content is a fruite of couetousnesse and he that is couetously inclined will not sticke in hope of gaine to straine so farre as a false accusation comes to Flatterers they sin against this commandement and couetousnesse teacheth men to flatter Iude 16. Whose mouthes speake proud things hauing mens persons in admiration for aduantage Couetousnesse makes men flatter in hope of gaine as dogs fawne for crusts Knights of the Post with their hackney consciences what breeds those hellish monsters but this monster of couetousnesse What makes many Lawyers make so little conscience of pleading for a naughtie or against a good cause manifest transgressions of this law but because they see their Clients come to them as Balaks messengers to Balaam with the reward of diuination in their hands The deceit of Balaams wages makes them they care not to what Balak they do retaine 10. Commandement Thou shalt not couet thy neighbours house c. What may a man haue that he couets not Were his hands as nimble as his thoughts he must liue like another Adam in the world by himselfe no man neare him no man with him He hath a chymicall heart of his owne In his wishes he turneth all into gold He wisheth the whole earth had bene mines and Indies He cannot looke vpon heauen Non aspicit coelum tanquam coelum sed omnia putat esse pecunias Chrys ad 1. Cor. hom 9. which yet one would thinke might put him by his earthly thoughts but with a wish it were gold too He is iust like the Cardinals of Pope Benedict the 12. who being thereunto moued refused to make more Cardinals vnlesse he could withall make another world for this was scarce sufficient said he