racking of rents and raising of fines and some other their dealings toward their pooretenants though buyers and sellers in venting their wares and making their bargaines doe haply doe no more then by the law in its strictnesse they may iustifie yet their doings many times if they be well considered will be found the one sort to be neerer the nature of oppression then of right and liklyer the fruits of great cruel tie then of good conscience and the other to sauour more of deepe deceit then iust dealing and prooue rather plaine couzenage then honest carriage And to adde vnto these one or two of another nature It is a common course at this day with Patrons to sell or assigne to such as will sell the Advowsons of Benefices and as they say it is currant in law By our common but not by our canon law a man may doe it But how lawfull soeuer it bee this I am sure of If things may bee estimated not by their names but by their effects and wee may iudge of the tree not by his leaues but by his fruits it is a course in my iudgement most sinfull vile as by which Sacriledge and Symonie if they be rightly defined are openly and vsually committed or rather made to bee no sinne and wee if this impious course be continued must from henceforth looke for no other dealing ordinarily at their hands but to buy our spirituall liuings Deposita Pietatis Doctrinae praemia laborantium stipendia sanctorum munera c. of them before wee haue them as other men Lay-men doe buy their temporall reuersions leases and copy-holds For what men may be allowed to sell they will not lightly giue and he that hath first bought for his mony will hardly beleeue but that vendereiure queat he may sell by Authoritie For obteining Ecclesiasticall preferments the world cries out and almost euery body talkes of the shifts and subtilties wherewith one thing beeing done and another intended men couer their couetousnesse cloake their Symonie and elude the lawes our weake lawes now in force But may we beleeue that so long as men can blinde the world or auoid the law of man all is well the conscience cleare God pleased and such assure themselues they haue not sinned in this nor sold their soules with their sales vnto the diuell for filthy gaine And by our lawes a great number of the best of our spirituall liuings are taken from the Church and many spoiles and wrongs vnto the Church vnder the name of Customes compositions prescriptions and other like titles all countenanced by law are vpheld and borne out which yet as I and others more learned then I haue in our writings formerly published prooued and shewed and in a manner all the godly learned of the land doe hold ought not to be done but are sacrilegious vngodly iniurious and vnconscionable courses for the not reforming whereof by law God no doubt is highly displeased So that besides reason very experience referred to due examination doth necessarily inferre and informe vs That it is not alwaies pium tutum good and safe to walke by the way of humane lawes Men bee but men and may misse Neither their multitude nor their magnitude neither their place nor their purpose their wealth nor their wit no nor their pietie or their policie can secure vs that they haue not erred Wherefore we must know that as in things Diuine and Ecclesiastical our obedience to the Lawes and ordinances of men ought to be but quátenus so farre forth as the commaund is not against God and a good conscience so in things humane and temporall our practise and conformitie must be with such limitation as exceeds not the rule of Equity crusheth not the veine of true Iustice and crosseth not the right forme of sincere carriage heere prescribed vs by him that could not erre A Christian sustaineth a double person that is of a Moral man and of a Diuine And therefore he must so satisfie the one that hee may also condignely represent the other which can onely then be when he doth so conforme himselfe vnto and follow the directions of men that his conformity thereto be alwaies subordinate and agreeable vnto the precepts of God It is sufficient for a friend that he be a friend Vsque ad aras and as much as can be required of a Christian that he obey man in Domino in the Lord and for the Lords sake indeuouring in all things to keepe a good conscience both toward God and toward men We doe liue God be praised vnder so happy a gouernment that wee may boldly compare with any els for multitude and goodnesse of Lawes but yet it would bee I suppose a hard taske for any to vndertake to proue them all euery one in particular so currant and absolute that none of them need nor can be amended and it is more I thinke then is expected at any mans hand to receiue them all and to practise them euery one without any caution or scruple at al none otherwise then a man may or must the very lawes of God But in asmuch as the Lawes of Nations and seuerall Countries and Dominions are not all alike but do fall farre wide each of others perfection and the best of them of that which Gods Law doth require the rule we seeke extending to all as well as some I may safely conclude The Lawes of men in euery seuerall countrey for it selfe Neither are nor can be any setled or certaine Rule for those that bee or liue therein in this behalfe And thus for the Negatiue we may partly see for since via erroris multiplex the way of error hath many by-waies and turnings therein happely I haue not remembred all What is not the right sense Let vs now for the Affirmatiue consider what is or may bee the right sense and true meaning of these words Which as the words themselues doe plainely sound may briefely bee explaned and expressed thus that is Whatsoeuer you being well aduised and rightly moued would wish desire or expect that any other friend or foe neere neighbour or stranger if they were in the same case and state toward you as yee are toward them should by thought word or deed for bodie goods or name performe or offer vnto you that euen so and none otherwise but so you likewise at all times and in all things doe and offer vnto them This being the true sense of the words thereby it appeareth That euery man is to measure by himselfe what is good for another and to iudge by his owne heart and desire what he ought to doe to another Wherein this Caution onely needeth to be obserued this limitation allowed which thing also the words aboue doe sufficiently intimate That wee vnderstand it not of euery will and desire as of lawlesse and inordinate lust but of such a will onely as is reasonable and iust lawfull and well
Seneca must be briefe that it may the more easily be conceiued and remembred of the vnskilful or as a word from heauen vttered It ought to command not to discourse or dispute 2. They must haue asmuch perspicuitie and plainnesse as may be Perspicuitie is either in the words themselues wherewith the law or in the language wherewith the words of the Law are expressed If the one be such as is familiar and naturall to them and the other such as is plaine and easie to be vnderstood of them for whome the lawes are made If a trumpet giue an vncertaine sound who will make himselfe readie to the battaile 3. They must be needefull and necessary for the time and place wherin they doe liue for whom they are made The due regard whereof cannot but require many repeales and alterations many qualifications and exceptions to be made from time to time Legum etenim humanarum tanta varietas imperfectio instabilitas est ut singulapoenèiam non secula amplius sed lustra ferè novas leges restrictiones ampliationes modificationes novas c. ferant importent For saith one So great is the variety imperfection and vnstabilitie of humane lawes and affaires that not only euery age but also euery other yeare in manner they admit and require new lawes restrictions and extensions new qualifications c. to be had and made 4. They must be equall and indifferent And this aswell in respect of the persons indifferent to all not easing some and grieuing others nor respecting these and neglecting those as if they were aliis mater aliis noverca to some a mother to other some a step-mother as of the penaltie which must be such as may by the sharpenes seuerity thereof suffice to conteine those within their bounds whom precept alone cannot preuaile withall and not by the lacke or leuity thereof as if they were counsels rather then lawes open gaps and leaue way at will to those that will violate and breake them Salutaris seuerit as quam dictat communis ratio ordo publicus postulat inanem speciem clementiae vincit For Holesome Seueritie which common reason appointeth and publike order requireth easily putteth downe the vaine shew of Clemencie as saith that worthy Polititian Tullie Secondly as it is a precept the vse thereof concerneth 1. the executing 2. the vsage 3. the want 4. the ignorance and 5. the defects of humane lawes In executing lawes already extant this Rule of Equitie doth require That such fidelitie and sincerity be vsed that the lawes may haue their due course and effect which is to maintaine vertue and suppresse vice defend the good and correct the euill that the common good be sought and preferred that partialitie and respect of persons be auoided that the Law be not wrested nor true Iudgement peruerted that Iustice be not denied or delaied that none with vnnecessary suites or vnreasonable expenses be vexed and consumed c. Which courses if Magistrates if Officers and others to whome the managing of the lawes is committed doe not carefully and constantly obserue in vaine doe they pretend that they due to others as they would bee done vnto and they well deserue to bee numbred among those which as the Prophet saith Convertunt iudicium in absinthium iustitiam in terra relinquunt turne Iudgement into wormwood and leaue off righteousnesse in the earth For the vsage of Lawes by such as take the benefite thereof it is too truly obserued and too often seene that diuerse that doe goe to law doe egregiously abuse it in that albeit they know in their own consciences that they haue a bad cause yet will needs proceede or not respecting whether their cause be good or bad will not bee quiet and this either vpon a vaine desire and diuellish delight they haue to be quarrelling vpon which noxious humour they do feede themselues liue none otherwise then doth the Salamander by the fire as who be no longer well at ease in themselues then while they be at trouble variance which others or for that in the aboundance of their malice and hatred toward them for they can not goe to law but with a spitefull minde and malicious spirit they desire to plague the aduerse parties to vexe them extreamly to make them spend their mony and if they can do it to vndo them or for that trusting in their owne subtilties craftie heads they take a glorie that they are able by some or other indirect and cunning courses to make an ill cause seeme good to blinde the iudge cast a mist before wise mens eyes that they may not easily see what is truth right or finally for that counting themselues wronged and discredited if any cause good or bad go against them they resolue neuer to giue ouer while possibly they can finde any delaies any shifts or deuices whatsoeuer till they haue so worne wearied out their aduersaries that at length they must be enforced to forsake giue ouer their good cause and iust title But detesting such wicked vnconscionable and prophane courses too commō in these our euil daies we must know That then only in this respect we doe as we would be done vnto if we vse law which of it selfe is good and holy if a man vse it lawfully not as fooles and children do their daggers which are out at euery flie but as wisemen doe their armour that is as our last refuge when all other and easier helpes doe faile If we make it not a rigorous Iudge to reuenge our wrongs in the highest degree sharpest measure but an indifferent Arbitratour with all lenity and moderation to decide a cause or resolue a question twixt vs and our neighbour Lastly if we reckon him we contend and goe to law withall not our enimie but our friend considering as we should it is the cause and not the party the matter not the man wee must prosecute and haue to doe withall and accordingly therefore doe so deale with him and follow the suite that it may appeare we seeke not his trouble but our owne ease his losse but our right nor haue any minde or delight to vexe or hurt him but to quiet and benefit both him and vs him as well as ourselues For the want of Lawes If there fall out as oft there may and doth any new case in which there is yet no nationall no positiue law enacted till this be done for supply thereof wee must haue recourse to this Ground of lawes and in that case so doe and so deale as it doth informe vs Assured we cannot doe amisse so long as wee doe not decline from this A man may not thinke in such an Accident There is no law for it no statute no Act of Parliament therefore I will doe or I may doe what I list No If there be no statute or law for
sinned O Lord we haue sinned and committed iniquity we haue grieuouslie offended and transgressed this thy Law c. For as the Apostle saith true it is In multis labimur omnes In many things we do all amisse From the matter I come to the manner of doing which I suppose not vnfitly may bee considered also doublewise viz. Negatiuely and Affirmatiuely 1. Negatiuely what is not 2. Affirmatiuely what is the right and proper sense thereof To which purpose I say 1. The sense is not That we should doe to others what we will and deale with them as it pleaseth vs. Our Sauiour doth not say Whatsoeuer you lust to doe to others so doe to them This neither Gods Law nor mans Law doth allow For though euery man should be a Law vnto himselfe hauing the Law of God from the beginning written in his heart and thereby his thoughts accusing or excusing him yet seeing this Scripture is now so defaced by the fall of man that none can rightly reade it and since the will of man being become vtterly peruerse vnto any good and prone only to euill hath therby so gotten the mastery ouer reason that it which should rule cannot and it which should obey doth not wil not there is now no hope nay no possibility that man following his will should alwaies do well and follow the thing that is good and right Our will is now like a blind man groaping his way and therefore must be guided or rather like an vntamed horse that knowes no pace and can keepe no path and therefore it must with the bit of Religion be curbed with the reines of reason be ruled and with the hand of discretion be held aright Indeed the Numrods and Neroes of the earth readily runne this race Sic volo sic iubeo stet pro ratione voluntas So I will so I commaund Let will in roome of reason stand is their common course But cursed be their course for it is cruell and their way for it is wicked And among men but of inferior place so licentious is the age and time wherein we doe liue a man may sometimes heare verie peremptorie tearmes as May I not vse mine owne childe mine owne Seruant as pleaseth me It is mine owne Money that I spend mine owne goods that I waste and what hath any to doe therewith c. But surely such sayings sound ill in the mouth of a Christian who should know That there is but one absolute Lord The Lord of the Vineyard mentioned Matth. 20. Who alone may doe to euerie man as the Potter with his clay and with euerie thing for all is his what hee will and not bee ignorant that euerie one of vs is but a Steward at most to this Lord a Labourer in that Vineyard and accordingly hath an order assigned him a course set how and whereafter hee ought to dispose himselfe in euerie thing and shall haue his counting day reserued him wherein hee must reddere rationem yeelde a reckoning and receiue thereafter his penie or his paine and heare either to his Commendation Euge serue bone fidelis Well done good and faithfull Seruant c. Or to his Condemnation Serue nequam ignaue Thou vngracious and ignauious seruant c. In summe for both As the Sea is conteined within its bounds beyond the which it may not passe for he that made it hath said vnto it Hitherto thou shalt come and shalt not exceed so haue we our bounds set and our Sea-marke pitcht and those are not our will but his word not our lust but his Law not our intention but his direction who hath said aswell concerning our neighbour as himselfe Ye shall not doe euerie man what seemeth good in his owne eyes but what I commaund you that shall you doe The sence is not we should doe to others as they doe to vs. Our Sauiour doth not say As others do to you so doe to them likewise Not so neither If this were a current course then many times we should do euill to others in stead of good If this were the rule I suppose it would bee obserued more then now it is For euen now though it be not the rule yet as if it were the rule of Equitie and the right course many doe excuse and seeke to iustifie themselues thereby Why What haue I done I haue vsed him but as he did me Such bread as hee brake to me haue I broken to him againe c. as who would say In doing but so they had done but well Hence it comes that many are so readie if they be striken to strike againe if they be euill spoken off or euill spoken to to speake euill againe if they be hurt to hurt againe if defrauded to defraud againe and that it is growne by common practise to a common prouerbe Fallere fallentem non est fraus c. But thus it ought not to be For this wee haue no warrant at all Gods Law condemnes it Recompense to no man saith the Apostle malum pro maelo euill for euill or rebuke for rebuke Also our Sauiour before If any man take away thy coate what then take thou away his for it No rather let him haue thy cloak also And If any giue thee a blow on the cheeke what Giue him twaine No but rather Turne to him the other also that is Bee ready be content rather to receiue more wrong then by requitall to doe any But what speake I of Gods Law in this case Mans law also condemneth this course For what Nation is there whose Lawes ordinarilie hold it not vnlawfull for priuate persons retaliare to repay in euill like for like And not onely so but by the very light of nature the Philosophers heathen-wise somtimes saw it was our dutie not onelie not to doe euill for euill but that we ought likewise to doe good for euill Insomuch that Xenophon when one railed at him answered him not an ill word againe but Thou saith he hast learned to raile and speake euill and I my conscience cleering me to contemne railings and I speake nothing but good And another when one in an euening followed him home to his house all the streetes as hee went rayling at him returned him not an euill word but being come home called forth one of his Seruants and bad him take a Torch and light home that fellow that could no better see what to say Learne we then learne we I say this lesson from hence That it is naught vngodly vnnaturall and not warrantable to doe to others alwaies as they doe to vs and therefore know we it is no good excuse no iust ground why to doe euill to any But know we this Whatsoeuer others doe to vs yet we must beware that we doe nothing to them but good Their doing will not excuse vs. When euery cause shall come to iudgement before him whose eyes cannot be
in all times hereafter and so the people should not depend vpon the bare opinion of Iudges and vncertaine Reports And lastly There bee in the common law diuerse contrarie Reports and Presidents and this Corruption doth likewise concerne the statutes and Acts of Parliament in respect there are diuerse Crosse and Cuffing statutes and some so penned as they may be taken in diuers yea contrarie senses And therefore I would wish both these statutes and Reports aswell in the Parliament as common Law to be once maturely reviewed and reconciled And that not only all Contrarieties should be scraped out of the bookes but also that euen such penal statutes as were made but for the vse of the time from breach whereof no man can bee free which doe not agree with the condition of this our time might likewise bee left out of our bookes And this Reformation might mee thinkes be made a worthie worke and well deserues a Parliament to bee set of purpose for it Secondly to the Iudgement of former Parliaments which so oft as a matter very serious and needfull viz. An. 25. 27. 35. Hen. 8. and An. 3. Edu 6. enacted That the King should haue Authoritie to assigne a certaine number of his subiects as well spiritual as temporall learned in the lawes of this Realme to examine certaine lawes then and yet in force to the end that such of them as the King and the said persons or the more part of them should adiudge worthy and conuenient to be vsed and obeyed might be executed continued the rest to be abrogated Thirdly to the continuall spoile wast and impeachment of the Churches in our land which as is too apparent to the eye of all that will see daily increaseth and spreadeth it selfe like a wilde canker in the flesh that it is likely in a little time if due speedy remedie be not prouided so to consume and ruinate them all that little more as in many places already alas doth appeare then the bare name shall be left remaining And lastly to the very nature of all humane lawes which properly haue as all things vnder sunne ortum statum occasum their rising standing and falling wherein it is more then probable that the very alteration of times and of the manners of people with time cannot but now then call for a change For to vse not mine owne but the very words of S. Aug. as he is cited also to like purpose by that worthie Diuine the learned Zepper That is not alwaies true which some do say Semelrecte factū nullatenus esse mutandum A thing once well done is by no meanes to be altered or changed because the case of the time being altered true or sound reasō doth so necessarily require that which before was well to be altered and now made otherwise that whereas they say It is not well done if it be changed contrariwise the variety it selfe of the time cries out It is not well vnlesse it be changed So that both wil only then be right if with and according to the varietie of the time they bee made variable or to differ each frō other Hitherto S. Aug. These considerations weighed it seemeth to mee if it may be free and lawful in a good honest cause and in a Christian and religious common wealth to speake the truth That such as haue place power in condendis legibus for forming of lawes do not do as they would be done vnto nor obserue that equitie which they ought principally and precisely to maintaine if some thing be not by them done in this behalfe but all things left as if nothing were amisse without any reformation or redresse Secondly touching precept for particular practise passing by the manifold occurrents that doe or may fall out betwixt Prince and people magistrate subiect man and wife parents and children maister and seruant teacher and learner buyer and seller borower and lender lawyer and client plaintife and defendant Iudge and Iurie accuser and witnesse neighbour and stranger friend foe with sundry other like al which ought to be tried by this touch Do as thou wouldest be done vnto I will for brevitie and examples sake insist only on some such as concerne the Ministers of our Church alone and shew by some Instances how wel or rather how ill this rule by our people toward them is obserued They are the men which for the exceeding necessitie of their labours and the singular yea vnspeakable good that comes vnto vs thereby which for the worthines of their calling excellency of their vocation should aboue many other be had in singular regard and accounted worthy double honour They are the men vnto whom certaine it is whatsoeuer wrong iniury whatsoeuer force or fraud whatsoeuer reproach or disgrace contempt or abuse is offered done Christ protesteth he taketh it as done to himselfe They be his owne words Qui vos audit me audit He that heareth you heareth me and Quivos spernit mespernit He that despiseth you despiseth me They are the men whom whosoeuer deales not vprightly iustly withall it is no maruel if he do not deale iustly and well conscionably and vprightly with any others Now how are they dealt with First of all What prouision is there made for their maintenance And what due courses taken that they may bee according to their places and calling their Learning and labours condignely prouided for Is it not too too euident that the whole land thorough neere one halfe in number or worth of their liuings are seazed into lay-mens hands and the remainder for allowance left them is so meane and beggerly that in many places it is not one halfe nor a quarter enough for their sustenance It is true indeed that Ministers haue some goodly and sufficient liuings left them But 1. They are but a few in respect of those of like or more valew that are taken from them and in respect of the remainder of poore and vnsufficient liuings 2. They are all but such as were left them by the Papists to whom though their enemies in religion they are beholding for prouision as which came to them better though much rent and mangled out of their fingers then it is either confirmed or continued to them by our hands and who in this point practise if we will giue them their due haue shewed themselues more sound and constant more righteous and religious more reasonable and conscionable then some of vs Protestants that in profession knowledge go so far before them For if my obseruatiō faile me not there is scant a lay-man found among vs in all this time of the Gospell that hath I say not religiously added giuen he indeed were rara avis in terris nor I say not wholly but conscionably at least restored to the Church any one or any part of one of those liuings which I wil
for the 1. hardnesse thereof 2. largenesse thereof 2. Lawes of men for 1. President that they be 1. Briefe 2. Plaine 3. Needfull 4. Equall 2. Precept cōcerning the 1. Executing of hu Lawes 2. Vsage of hu Lawes 3. Want of hu Lawes 4. Ignorance of hu Lawes v. Application viz. in 1. General touching our Lawes needing some Reformation 2. particular concerning our Ministers for the 1. Liuings prouided them 2. Bestowing of their Liuings vpon them 3. Hauing of their dues 4. Recouerie of their dues vj. Conclusion with Admon to 1. England 2. Impropriatours 3. Patrones 4. Parishioners 5. all men THE ROYAL LAVV OR THE RVLE OF EQVITIE PRESCRIBED VS BY CHRIST MATH 7. VERS 12. HOW necessarie Lawes are among men as daily experience doth declare so the practise of God the Creatour doth make manifest who creating man wrote in his heart an eternal Law the Law of nature and placing man in Paradise gaue him apositiue law the law of Abstinence from the tree of good and euill and the doing of God the Redeemer doth argue it who so deliuered vs from the curse of the law that he left vs lyable to the obedience of the law was so farre from abrogating the law that he protesteth He came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it being indeede the end of the Law but as S. Aug. long agoe obserued Finis perficiens non interficiens consummating not consuming And for our better furtherance both in the vnderstanding and obseruing thereof at one time abridged the whole Law and the Prophets into these two precepts 1. Diliges Dominum c. Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy soule with all thy minde and with all thy strength and 2. Diliges Proximum c. Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe and at another time summed vp both the law and the Prophets so farre as concerneth mans duty to man into this Compendium Quaecunqueigitar c. Whatsoeuer ye will that men do to you euen so do ye vnto them Al which shew that men can no more liue without lawes then a blinde man walke without a guide It cannot therfore I suppose be a labour vnfit or a worke vnnecessary to spend some time on this argument and by meditating a little on this principall and notable Ground of humane lawes that Royal Law propounded vnto vs and enacted for vs by Christ himselfe to open a way to vertuous and godly mindes how to examine their actions and conforme their liues some-what answerable to that integritie which the lawes both of God and Nature doe require at their hands Wherein that I may conteine my selfe within conuenient compasse I haue resolued to confine my pen within these ordinarie limits viz. The 1. Author of this Law The 2. Forme of this Law The 3. Sence of this Law The 4. Vse of this Law To the which in fine I will adioyne some speciall Application thereof according to the state and time wherein we doe liue The consideration wherof will if I be not deceiued present some and intimate many more profitable and worthy obseruations vnto our eyes and minde In all lawes The Author thereof who made it as the efficient cause is worthy to be considered For vpon the worthinesse or vnworthinesse the great or small estimation of him doth the force and vigor the state and nature of the law much depend To which point if we doe but a little cast our eye forsomuch as the maker of this law is Christ our Lord he that is the Sonne of God and wisedome of the Father he by whom and for whom all things were made and vnto whom all things are made subiect for vnto him is giuen all power both in heauen and in earth we shall easely perceiue this law to be most equall and iust most holy and good most fit and necessarie For who should enact what is iust and equall if not Iustice it selfe decree what is holy and good if not Goodnesse it selfe or prescribe what is fit and necessarie if not Wisedome it selfe In lawes made by men wee may euer suspect their soundnesse and therefore as men that are to buy wares will view them well before they bargaine for feare of deceipt or that are to receiue money will trie it well least else they take crackt for currant and base for good coyne it is not amisse that wee examine and prooue them well by this and other rules of perfection before wee approoue and practise them assured that it is said in this case no lesse then in any other Probate omnia tenete quod bonum est Prooue all things and hold fast that which is good But in lawes made by God by Christ we cannot suspect their sinceritie without sinne nor deferre them to tryall without iniurie to him that made them and danger to ourselues that are to vse them This sheweth vs likewise the large extent that this law hath namely That it reacheth to as many as are or ought to be in subiection vnto the Author thereof that is euen vnto all people of all times all places and all degrees whatsoeuer As none is so mightie that he can be more nor any so meane that he can be lesse then a subiect to this Lawmaker so is there no person that iustly can pretend Hee is from this law exempt Likewise no place that can pleade Priuiledge as if thither it could haue no accesse No time no age of which it may be affirmed either yet it is not in or now it is out of Date and vse The same serueth also well to promise vs blessing and fauour mercy and good If we carefully obserue and to threaten vs iudgement and wrath trouble and euill If we carelesly transgresse this law There is indeede no promise nor penalty hereunto in expresse words annexed but inasmuch as it proceedeth from him in whose hand is life and death good and euill blessing and curse his very person must assure vs that he will neither leaue them vnrewarded that keepe nor them vnpunished that breake it And yet when as he doth after adde that This is the Law and the Prophets he doth sufficiently thereby intimate vnto vs that it also hath dependant vpon it those promises and threats those benefits and plagues those blessings and curses which the Law and the Prophets doe either generally or particularly denounce vnto those that obserue or breake regard or contemne the same Wherfore let no man lightly regard or rashly reiect this law but know for surety Whatsoeuer particular it is that can aptly properly and rightly be from this generall deducted If he obserue it there will a particular blessing If he obserue it not a particular iudgement correspondent to the action good or euill attend him for it Touching the forme of it we may therein obserue the Breuitie and yet Perspicuitie thereof points though alwaies
or painted for all men to reade and doe thereafter And as other haue it he being no Christian for it alone much fauoured the Christians affirming often that those men could not be bad that had among them lawes so good Of the hardnesse and difficultie to performe this precept no man hath need greatly to complaine seeing no more is required at his hands to be done to another then he desireth iudgeth fit another should render vnto him the performance whereof can bee no harder for the one then it is for the other Rather it will behooue euery man as of a precept most plaine and pregnant most iust and necessary to be take himselfe with all sedulity and readinesse of mind to the performance and obseruation thereof It is a part of our humane corruption and home-bred or rather inbred imbecillity while we should bee studying how to do that which is commaunded and fulfill that is taught vs to bee thinking on excuses for our negligence and defence of our transgressions But the issue thereof will be onely to take from vs all iust excuse of our disobedience and to conuince vs to haue had more knowledge then loue of well doing and greater ability then purpose strength then desire to keep what is prescribed vs. The Vse of this Law our fourth principall point is manifold and exceeding great but for auoiding Prolixitie and that which comes thereof Tediousnesse I will reduce it vnto a two-fold consideration onelie that is of the 1. Law of God 2. Lawes of men In regard of the law of God as it is the summe both of the Law and the Prophets so it serueth well as a remedy and an helpe against the largenesse and the hardnesse of them both For whereas the Law and the Prophets conteine many volumes of writings too much to bee of euerie ordinarie head comprehended and kept in mind and memory the summe and substance of them both is so contracted into this Compendium that therein alone is conteined and infolded as the quintessence of that greater masse the very summe and effect of all that which in those many and larger Bookes and writings exhortations and dehortations Lawes and ordinances is explaned and enlarged And whereas many places sentences and words in the Law and the Prophets be darke and obscure hard and intricate to bee vnderstood and expounded the sense of them all may be found in these few words alone as which doe conteine whatsoeuer in them or any of them is intended assured that only is and must be the true sense thereof which accordeth as the worke to the rule with this Ground of lawes and foundation of equitie This vse is plainly deliuered vs by our Sauior himselfe in the words annexed Haec est n. Lex Prophetae This is the Law and the Prophets By which clause he doth clearely intimate that al that is conteined in the Law and the Prophets concerning our dutie vnto man is but as it were so many seuerall and particular explications members branches and clauses of this one principall precept and originall statute Doe to others as by others thou wouldest bee done vnto And therefore hee that knoweth this knoweth all and hee that doth this doth all that in and by them to that purpose is more at large taught and commaunded If this be the law and the Prophets for so bee the words and this be as I haue said and happely soone will be granted so plaine and easie to be vnderstood what needeth then may some say so much teaching and preaching A great many Sermons might be saued and lesse Seruice a good deale well enough suffice This charge and cost to maintaine Ministers and Teachers Schollers and learning c. is it not superfluous As Iudas said when hee minded his purse howsoeuer hee pretended the poore so may not we Quorsum haec perditio What needeth al this waste For al that they can say and teach in their so long and so laborious Sermons words and works it is all but this Doe as thou wouldst be done vnto And this I trow one man may tell and teach another quickly Who cannot learne this without any great labour and therfore their pains and their place too may be spared Farther what need so many lawes and statutes so many proclamations and edicts so many Canons and Constitutions to be enacted made published Kings and Princes Gouernors and Rulers of Kingdomes and Countries of Common-wealths and cities haue taken more labour belike then they needed and troubled themselues very much without any great cause in making so many lawes and ordinances in enacting so many statutes and publishing so many orders and decrees when it might haue sufficed to haue proclaimed nothing but this Quaecunque vultis c. But take heede take heede I say of such suggestions This wisedome descendeth not from aboue but is earthly sensual and diuellish Such as so reason and so speake if they thinke as they speake doe not despise men but God and presume themselues to be wiser then he For first of all That which is conteined in this law is but so much only as concernes our disposition and conuersation vnto man that is the obseruation of the second table of Gods law which is but the one halfe and that the lesser and inferiour halfe of the whole For we owe besides this as I thinke euery body knowes a dutie also vnto God which consisteth in the profession and practise of true religion according to the tenour of the first table of Gods law of all which this rule hath not a word Be it then that for our duty toward men this law this abridgement of the second table might suffice yet for our duty to God we must haue a further direction and other helpes And therefore if not in this yet in that regard at least the labour and diligence of the Ministers of the Church is most necessarie and the vse of knowledge and learning exceeding expedient 2. If this alone were instruction sufficient for our dutie vnto man then did God the Father very much forget himselfe with reuerence of his Diuine Maiestie be it spoken in that he did command and send forth his Priests and Prophets from time to time to set forth to the people in their many and large speeches and exhortations not only such things as concerned Gods worship alone but also and withall those and so many of those that concerned our dutie vnto man Neither did the Sonne of God well that he would giue this in charge to his Apostles his Ministers and Preachers of the Gospel to call the people to amendment and newnesse of life to exhort them to all and singular particular duties to insist no lesse on these kind of doctrines then on those which pertaine to religion only Nor yet the holy Ghost by whose inspiration all scripture was written in causing the Law and Prophets and a great part
to draw Schollers so good vnto conditions so vile and base as are too bad to be offered to the oddest and meanest the Countrey yeelds These Micahs may well glorie among such as be of their owne haire and them that know not chalke from cheese that they haue gotten a Leuite to their Priest but such glorie is to their greater confusion and condemnation Men of iudgement doe know that with lesse sinne they might as Ieroboam haue set vp some of the lowest of the people to fill the roome and serue their owne turnes withall When wee are admitted or instituted to any preferment ecclesiasticall wee must take a corporall oath De Simonia per nos in hac parte vel aliam interpositampersonam directè vel indirectè non commissa nec in posterum aliqualiter committenda Now when they know the bargaine and haue not let goe the Liuing till they haue seeking and waiting who will giue most gotten one that hath or will satisfie their greedie desire faine would I know what conscience what equity yea or what pietie is there in such men to see vs what in them lyeth runne into such wilfull periurie I grant it is our great fault and grieuous sinne that wee will so miserably for gaine for liuing bee drawne into so dangerous a course but out of all doubt their sinne is no lesse then ours in that they tempt and induce they vrge and force vs thereunto and so they may haue and that they will haue of one or other their couetous humour and sacrilegious desire accomplished and satisfied care not what becomes of vs for bodie or soule God in his law commandeth if we see our enemies oxe or his asse fall vnder his burther that we helpe him vp if we see our neighbours yea our enemies beast goe astray that we bring it home againe if not it shall be sinne vnto vs. Hath God care for oxen much more then for our brother our friend If thou shouldest see a man wilfully goe about to cast him selfe away as to cut his own throat oughtest thou not with all speede to thy vttermost let and hinder him If not shall not his bloud be required at thy hands How then canst thou be innocent if thou shalt see thy brother desperately ready by periurie to destroy his owne soule and shalt not only not reclaime and perswade him from it but all thou canst shalt further and prouoke him thereunto And doest thou herein but as thou wouldest be done vnto Lastly when they haue by some such impious course gotten into their hands the greatest part or the worth thereof of that which they should freely and wholly giue and haue brought the poore and wretched Incumbent to a portion of the plague of Elies house a piece of siluer and a morsell of bread likelyer to begge then giue reliefe I aske Haue they done to him but as they would be done vnto Would any of them be content with a halfe or a quarter sometimes not somuch of his liuing and patrimony and account that he is honestly vsed and that no wrong no iniurie is done to him so long as he hath some pittance and little part thereof left him Oh that these Achans and Tobiahs would once bee ashamed of such cruell and vnconscionable courses and learne to deale more iustly and vprightly more sincerely and religiously in this so great and weightie a cause or if Admonition or Reprehension will not preuaile and indeede venter non habet aures it is hard perswading against profit would to God our lawes might bee so sharpned as might make them feele the smart of it and therefore at least to feare to commit any more such heynous sins and abhominations amongst vs. It was thought likely it is at the enacting of them that the lawes alreadie extant were strong enough to bridle such insolencies and cut off all such mischiefes but since dangerous experience for them notwithstanding our Churches daily goe to wracke and ruine as more then abundantly would appeare if due notice and diligent view were taken a thing much wished and exceeding needfull to bee done of all such sacrilegious and symoniacall spoiles alienations vsurpations compacts and conueiances which since the making of those statutes haue beene made and committed and are yet in esse and beeing vnpunished and vnreformed among vs hath made the contrary too too apparant it cannot but be necessarie that as in other and inferiour cases many farther prouision bee made against those euasions and eruptions which this kinde of couetousnesse and impiety hath found out and put in vre iij. When wee haue Viis modis by one hard shift or other happely as the President his Burgeship gotten a peece of a poore liuing whereas of those Dues that are yet left vnto the Church no small part is vnder the name of Customes Prescriptions and other like sacrilegious deuices deteined and wrested from vs Let men but examine their owne consciences aright whether they would be content if the case were theirs so to be dealt withall What man is there that doth not looke to haue the libertie to take the benefit of the time and to make of his goods and commodities as other men of theirs What other man would thinke himselfe vsed like a subiect I had almost said like a Christian if he alone should be inforced to take for his goods but as they were worth for an hundred or 200. yeares agoe to take but such wages for his labour such paie for his seruice as was allotted in like cases sixe or seauen score yeares agoe Such dealing is offered vs daily by many parishionors we haue and yet which of them hath the grace or the conscience to thinke Doe I doe as I would be done vnto They thinke they haue gaily salued this sore when they haue said The Law is so or This is the Custome as who would say Lawes or customes of men could make iniquitie to be equity and sinne no sinne euill to be good and good euill If it be lawfull and iust in one or in some particulars so is it so may it be also by Consequ in all nor can that bee sinne whatsoeuer it be extreame needinesse verie beggerie or whatsoeuer else that may or shall thereof insue If it bee a course conscionably good and fit for vs thus to be tyed to one rate still why is it not also good for themselues Is that good for vs which is ill for them If wee must sell them or let them haue our goods at the old a low rate why doe not they also fell to vs of their goods at least what we for our necessaries neede to buy at the like rate as they haue ours can Wee alone endure to buy at one price and sell at another Tyme was that by law too other men were tyed to sell their goods and wares at the accustomed and former prices to take no
blind as not to see or your hearts so hardned as seeing it not to redresse the cause thereof The law of God bids you no law of mans forbids you to doe it and yet as if either you ought not or else dared not you leaue it vndone In ill doing many of you can be ready to runne one before another and to encourage and draw-on one the other how commeth it then to passe that in weldoing all are so backward euery one is so afraid to be foremost and in manner none willing to be a leader or an ensample to the rest Be you assured that euen in this case too if you will not be of Ioshuahs minde that is resolued whatsoeuer others do that yet each one of you for his part will doe that is right and fit it will neuer be well While you all tarrie to looke for all to ioyne and goe on with you it must needs be that all abide in sinne and none amendment be found among you Lastly Let euery man in his seuerall place and calling from the highest to the lowest make this Rule the Leuell of all his actions his internall externall actions viz. his thoughts his words and his deedes to all men-ward for bodie goods and name Let him by it examine still what measure it is he doth offer to any other assured that only is and can be the right and iust which is sutable to this rule and can abide as good gold the touch the tryall of this stone Let him offer and do to another no way any thing that is contrary to this course He doth but deceiue his own heart and blinde himselfe that thinkes his owne or other mens peruerse and disordered wils or desires other mens doings or examples any Custome or humane law or any other like precept can iustifie or beare him out therein The Rule is so iust and perfect so plaine and pregnant so large and generall that against it no iust exception can bee taken no lawfull priuiledge or sufficient exemption can be pretended Wherfore and in a word as the wise man saith Whatsoeuer thou takest in hand Remember thy end and thou shalt neuer doe amisse so I Let euery man in all passages betwixt him and other men remember well this one sentence and do thereafter Doe as thou wouldest be done vnto and surely he shall not he can not doe amisse Such dealing such doing shal make equity to abound in the land and integritie to ouerflow the earth It shall make mens workes to shine before men and men themselues being blamelesse and pure euen as the sonnes of God without rebuke in the midst of a naughtie and crooked nation to shine as lights in the world Finally it shall make them of their calling and election sure and minister to them assured hope when these their mortall daies are ended with the immortall Angels and blessed Saints to inhabite those celestiall and glorious mansions and inherite those eternall and vnspeakable ioyes which there are prepared for those that haue done and doe here the will euen this will of their Father which is in heauen To whom with his only sonne Ie-Christ our Lord and Sauiour and the blessed spirit of them both the holy Ghost our Sanctifier and Comforter three persons and one euerliuing God be ascribed and rendred all praise honour and glory for euer and euer Amen FINIS 2. Thess. 1.8 Eph. 4.18 Math. 7.21 Math. 5.16 1. Pet. 2.12 Math. 7.12 Iam. 2.8 * Viz in my Maintenance of the Minist and my two-fold Tribute Rom. 2.15 Gen. 2.17 Math. 19.17 Math. 5.17 August Math. 22.37 Math. 7.12 Iam. 2.8 The Diuision j The Author is Christ. Which argues 1. This law to be perfect and good Math. 16.16 Ioh. 1.14 and 17. Prou. 8.22 Collos. 1.6 Heb. 1.2 Ioh. 1.3 1. Cor. 15.27 Heb. 2.8 Math. 28.18 Gen. 18.25 1. Thess. 5.21 2. To extend pertaine vnto all 3. To conteine a blessing to them that keepe it and a curse to them that breake it Reuel 1.18 Leuit. 26. Deut. 28. c. ij The forme wherein Breuitie and Perspicuitie D. Bois Dom. Trin. 18. p. 130. iij The Sence twofold viz. the matter the manner 1. Matter coÌ„prehending our thoughts our words our deeds Gathered froÌ„ the nature and vse of this law Rom. 7.14 Calu. Instit. l. 2 cap. 8. sect 6. Which therefore is not very easie to be obserued Ferus in loc fol. 119. Iam. 3.6 Math. 19.20 Ludolph de vit Chr. par I. c. 39. Psal. 19.12 Dan. 9.5 Iam. 3.2 2. Manner and that 1. Negatiuely 2. Affirmatiuely Negatiuely 1. Not as we will or lust or doe Rom. 2.15 Gen. 6.5 Math. 20. Rom. 9.20 1. Chro. 29.11 Luke 16.1 Math. 25. Iob. 38.11 Deut. 5.32 12.8 2 Not as others do to vs. Rom. 12.17 1. Pet. 3.9 Math. 5.40 Xenophon Pericles 2. Cor. 5.10 3 Not as other men doe to them Aug. ep 89. ad Casulan Laert. Diog. de vi mor. Philosoph Senec. in Prouerb Math. 7.13 Iohn 7.48 Luke 16.20 Leo Pap. ser. de Ieium Nic. I. act Mich. Imparat Cicero Not as men themselues would Galen lib. 4. de morb cap. 10. Valesc de Tar. in Philon. lib. 4. cap. 8. Gen. 39. 2. Kin. 5. Hab. 2.15 Reg. iur an t Aug. cont mend ad Consent c. 7. 5 Not as we haue beene accustomed Math. 15.3 Mark 7.9 Aug. De vnic â—apt lib. 2. Cypr. cont Aquar Iustin. Cod. li. 8. tit 55. lib. 2. Const. ff de leg Senatus l. Greg. decr lib. 1. tit Consuet cap. 10. 11. lib. 3. tit de vi honest cler c. 12. c. Bb. Iewel Reply p. 21. Pet. Mart. loc commu class 1. cap. 10. §. 7. R. Gualt in Math. hom 64. A. Will. in Synop contr 2. q. 3. and many oâ—hers Gen. 28.26 Ioh. 18.39 Mark 15.8 Act. 3.14 1. Pet. 2.22 See P. Mart. loc com class 1. cap. 10. Graft chron par 7. pag. 81. 82. Fem. Mon. in the cond Babing in Gen. c. 19. Aug. Ench. ad Lauren. cap. 80. Obiect Answ. Decret lib. 1. tit 4. De consu cap. vlt. Math. 5. 15. 6 Not as the lawes of the land bid or permit you Rom. 13.1 1. Pet. 2.13 Act. 5.29 Tul. Offic. l. 1. p. 17. Cat. de mor. lib. 3. Examples 1 In temporall 4. In ecclesiasticall causes Lindw provinc lib. 5. tit de accus cap. Nulli * In my two-fold Tribute * As Master Carlt. in his treat of Tithes D. Ridl in his view of lawes Mr. Butl. in Fem. Monar D. Gard. in Scourge of Sacriledge Mr. Sklaters Min. portion Mr. Roberts in The reuenues of the Gospel c. 1. Pet. 2 13â— Acts 24.16 Affirmatiuely The right sense viz. As we would others should do do to vs. A Caution so as our will be iust reasonable and orderly S. Aug. de serm Domini in monte lib. 2. c. 34. Iansen Com. in Concord Euang. cap. 43. Examples Perkins in loc p. 460. Fer.