no art or labour euen Paul himselfe who so many yeeres had laboured himselfe to God yet complaines and cries out as if hee had done nothing VVretched man that I am who shall deliuer mee from this body of death Rom. 7. and yet we who haue done nothing make our selues secure against sinne and Satan as if one houre were enough to conquer all vnto this had the righteous respect when they complained of the shortnesse of their liues and prayed to haue their daies prolonged not for that they feared to die or loued this fraile life for it selfe wherin they saw nothing but misery and vanity but because they feared lest death should preuent them before they were prepared as thinking all their daies too few to learne repentance in perfection Vnto this had S. Paul respect when he exhorted the Corinthians not to drowne themselues too deepe in the affaires of this life this I say because the time is short 1. Cor. 7. that they which haue wiues be as if they had none and they which buy as if they possessed not and they which vse the world as if they vsed it not and all this he exhorted because the time is short It is a wonder to see how men plant and build and buy and sell as if there were no other life but heere It is fearfull to consider how prodigall men are of the time and lose these golden daies which they ought to redeeme while in the meane time heauen flies away and hell hastens on them Sed sicut capillus de capite sic nec momentum peribit de tempore saith Bernard God is so mercifull to vs as to keep vs to a haire of our heads hee shall also bee so iust with vs as to presse our account to a moment of time misimployed by vs. The last point generall of the text is our miserable pilgrimage and endurance in the world we come in poorely we goe out quickly and while we continue wee continue carefully it is not short and sweet neither only short and swift but it is short and sharpe Full of trouble Some translate and carie it thus Satur ira Man short in daies full of wrath or anger which may be ment either passiuely by reason of the wrath of God vpon vs for our sinnes for as it is Psal 90. VVee are consumed by thine anger and by thy wrath we are troubled and what are all the plagues of this life but the execution of Gods wrath vpon vs for our sinnes or or else it may bee vnderstood more actiuely by reason of the troubles which man himselfe being a turbulent creature moueth in the world for wee rage at God himselfe when he doth but a little punish vs wee are still at warres and at law one with another and as Balaams Asse could tell the verie beasts are not free from our madnesse and crueltie and therefore Tremellius translateth it Satur commotione Man borne of a woman short in daies and full of commotion as if all mankind were in a tumult and vp in armes and so wee are indeed at warres with God Esa 9. and at warres with one another Ephraim against Manasses and Manasses against Ephraim and both against Judah Wee are not quiet in the wombe but as Jacob and Esau wee spurne and kicke at one another we are not borne into the world but with a cry and exclamation and when wee come into it we stamp and stare like Furies on the stage and with the King of Babylon wee make the earth to tremble Esa 14.16 and if there were no outward thing to trouble vs yet we haue a pitcht field in our selues still vexed and pained with our owne vnruly passions Looke into the seuerall sexes of men and women and see if either of them bee free from trouble Jn sorrow shalt thou bring firth in subiection shalt thou liue and thy husband shall rude oner thee saith God to the woman and then he turneth to the man Because thou hast eaten where J forbad thee Jn sorrow shalt thoa eate thy bread the earth is accursed thornes and thistles are multiplied c. He must labour in wearinesse both hee and shee must die at last and haue their fill of sorrowes in the meane time she to sorrow at home and in the house hee to sorrow abroad and in the furrowes of the field she to sorrow in bringing forth of children he to sorrow in bringing vp of children shee to sorrow in her subiection to him and hee to sorrow yea a great deale of sorrow in passing his time with her that lest they should lacke trouble they should bee a cause of mutual trouble to themselues and sorrow in their very comforts as Lot was plagued in Sodome which hee chose out for his pleasure Againe is there any time or age free from trouble surely none for in sorrow shalt thou eate thy bread saith God All the dates of thy life Gen. 3.17 Begin with childhood and can any misery or trouble bee there yes sure the things which are most necessary are miserable to a child the mastering and breaking of his will seemes oppression to him but the shaking of the rod is flat persecution light sorrowes you wil say in respect of the greater troubles which ensue It is true they are so yet a little trouble is great where there is neither reason to conceiue the necessity nor patience at all to beare it But then comes on youth headdy aduenturous voluptuous passionate and prodigall youth wherein al our actions and courses whether good or euill yet minister matter of vexation to vs For labour wee indeed our youth is the time of our labour yet our very labours spend vp our strength that had wee not a seuenth day to rest from the sorrowes of the sixt wee should faint and die Againe studie wee an easie trade an idle kind of life The world saith to vs Exod. 5. as Pharaoh to the Jsraelites Ye are too much idle yet Salomon said that Much reading was a wearinesse to the flesh Eccles 12. Againe resist we as young men ought to doe our euill lusts and desires 1. Ioh. 2.14 Oh how sweet are the lusts of youth how strong are the temptations and what a paine it is to resist the things which are pleasing to vs But play wee or follow wee our pleasures indeed that is the naturall trade of youth as Eccles 11.9 Reioyce O young man in thy youth c. yet are wee no way more vexed and plagued then by our pleasures for as a theefe robbes in feare and an adulterer though the dores bee fast lockt yet is afraid still so is there a checke of conscience which bites the most riotous in the midst of their riot Againe if our pleasure bee in prodigality our end must be beggery that sin being peculiarely a scourge to it selfe and many times before the Prodigall can spend vp all the prison the presse or the halter do spend vp him miserable is the
tender and deare vnto my mother yet they did not coker mee but taught me and said vnto me There is a loue in parents a doting loue which teacheth nothing and there is a gouernment in parents which looseneth all the raines and suffereth to riot and for biddeth nothing and there is a pitie in parents a foolish pitie which pardoneth all and punisheth nothing till God come with the sword as hee did to the sons of Eli and kill where the father leaues vncorrected a strange loue in parents to kill their children with too much kindnesse but Salomons father loued him to proue his loue hee taught him as thinking him much better vnborne then vntaught If it be demanded heere how Dauid taught his sonne the text it selfe sheweth that sometime he spake vnto him himselfe He taught mee and said vnto mee hee taught him by word of mouth as the Eagle teacheth her young to flie Deut. 32.10.11 And as Plutarch saith the Nightingale teacheth her young to sing and God knew that Abraham would teach his sonnes Genes 18 And carefull parents are euer whetting the law vpon their children Beside it is also like that Dauid taught him by an instructor by Abiathar by Zadok by Nathan or some other and it is a chiefe prerogatiue of Kings that they may chuse their Tutors and instructours throughout their kingdomes The father of the great Alexander professed that hee was not more glad that hee had a son then that he had such a schoolemaster as Aristotle to teach him And Alexander himselfe confessed that he had his naturall life from his father but to liue well and vertuously hee had it from his master And it is strange to tell what honour Theodosius the Emperour gaue to Arsenius his sonnes schoolemaster And thus did Dauid teach And consider on the passiue part that as none is so carefull to teach the sonne as the father so hath none of the sonnes so much neede of teaching as he who succecdeth in the kingdome of the father Bee wise ye Kings saith Dauid and bee learnedye that be Judges of the earth Psalm 2. It is true that Kings are Gods annointed yet not annointed onely with oyle but with speciall graces but what grace before wisdome and learning which leades the way to all other grace as Kings are leaders to all other men Let the Lord appoint a man ouer the congregation who may leade them out and in saith Moses Numb 27. But it was neuer intended by God that they should be blind and ignorant themselues who were appointed as leaders and lights to other men And what was Salomon admired for but chiefly for his learning and for his wisdome The Queene of Sheba came of purpose to heare and proue his wisedome And 1. King 4.34 There came of all people to heare his wisedome as commonly when the people enquire after the King they doe not listen so much whether hee bee rich for they thinke he may be too rich as Julian the Emperor said that a couetous king was like the Splen in a mans body which when it swelleth and groweth great all the rest of the members are in a consumption by it Nor doe they listen so much if he be a man of warre they like it well that hee bee martially minded and readie to encounter when the enemie giues cause but they like it not that hee haue Animum auersum a pace A minde hating peace or delighting in warre Psal â—8 30 yea cursed are the people which delight in warre saith Dauid himselfe euen one of the greatest souldiers that euer was in the world but the chief thing enquired of the subiects is if the King bee learned or wise for then they know that he wil carrie himselfe the state well in warre in peace in want in abundance in all conditions safely and well And that Salomon was thus wise it was not only his fathers teaching for men can but plant and water but first he had helpes from nature which had exceedingly fitted him besides he was studious and industrious of himselfe for as it is Eccles 1. Hee gaue his heart to search out wisedome and which is more then all humane helps when God appeared vnto him gaue him leaue to aske what he would 1. King 3. he asked not riches long life nor honour but hee asked wisedome and God gaue it him in great abundance for hee was seene in all wisedome yea he had considered all the workes that were done vnder the sunne Eccles 1. euen as Moses the gouernour of Israel was seene in all he wisedome of the Egyptians Act. 7. He spake three thousand Sentences or Prouerbs his Ethikes or morall Philosophy hee wrote Songs Psalmes or Poems a Poet among other learning He spake of trees plants euen from the Cedar to the Hysop his Physiques or naturall Phylosophie yea he spake euen of the beasts and creeping things A wonder to see a King come from his Throne an Iuorie Throne ouerlaid with gold mounted vpon steps for Maiesty and euery step with Lions on each side a wonder I say to see a King to come from thence to looke into the bowels vaines of a beast yea of a vermine the lowest steps of naturall learning what thought hee of learning which sought it thus And therefore they are deceiued which thinke learning to bee but a meere ornament to a King It is true there is facultie of ornament as playing singing dancing for as this learned Salomon saith There is a time to dance Eccles 3. and there is faculty of good vse as tilting running riding promised to the Kings of Judah Ierem. 22. If ye doe these things ye shall ride vpon Chariots and horses but learning and wisedome are essentiall to gouernment he was no mere scholer nor vulgar man but hee was a King which said it that Rex illiteratus est asinus coronatus Henry 1. King of England that a King without learning was an asse with a Crowne for to what end sits he vpon the iudgement seate which when hee comes there may sit and see and heare but hath no wit to iudge This Salomon himselfe sat in iudgement vpon the two harlots 1. King 3. and gaue such a sentence as all the kingdome applauded to heare it besides for knowledge of religion he was Ecclesiastes a professed Preacher as Eccl. 1. J the Preacher haue bin King ouer Jsrael c. and that knowledge is also needfull for a King for if a schisme or schismaticall fellow arise in the Church hee is a kinde of persecutor that onely punisheth him it is more kinde and kingly first by learning to controll him Constantine sat oft himselfe in iudgement and gaue sentence in causes Ecclesiastical especially in the faction and quarrels of the Donatists And I could speak of a King now vpon the stage which speaks and disputes and writes that Rome it selfe is enraged to reade it for the Romane Clergie doe with their kings as the late Queene
quakes to looke vpon the danger so wee when wee looke backe to our birth and thinke on the dangers in it onely we can say with Dauid Thou O God and not our selues thou art he that tooke me out of my mothers wombe Psal 22. When we are borne what then we fall if not hand hold vs to the feete of her that bare vs that is wee fall from the wombe to the ground from one earth to another So naturally at the first doe wee finde the way to o r last home euen as God said to Adam at the first Out of earth wast thou taken and to earth thou shalt returne Gen. 3. And oh that wee might see or could we but remember with what pompe and glory wee are borne into the world Naked as wormes crawling like snakes that there is not amongst the creatures so weake and helplesse a creature as man the mother a misery to thinke the mother that hath newly borne vs lieth by vs indeed but halfe slaine by our birth and least able to helpe vs so we are borne like Beniamin with hazard of her life that gaue vs life and we seeme halfe murtherers so soone as we are borne when wee are taken vp what then we fall a crying as either repenting of our change or wishing our selues vnborne againe or as if we did foresee the sequell of the text the troubles which ensue In the middest of this our moaning wee are as Ezechiel speakes chap. 16. of his prophecy we are washt and bathed and swadled in clouts No doubt goodly gallants and great cause to bee proud if wee thought of our selues in our first pollution when wee are thus swadle and prankt vp like puppets a dainty lump of liuing earth What pleasure feele wee nay what feele we what sense or feeling haue we saue now and then of weakenesse and sicknesse the pangs and smart of the parents sinne We are then brought to the mother to looke vpon and she as a theefe when he is pardoned lookes backe to the gallowes or to the halter that had like to hangd him so lookes shee on her son on her sonne as on her death if God in great mercy had not preuented it when the mother hath lookt and kist we are brought to the father too and to looke vpon too and while the father looks euery one cries out Behold the father looke vpon the child see see and behold how like they looke while indeede they looke more like then they should and it were well for the child if it were not so father-like or mother-like as it is and what get both father and mother by looking but to looke as Salomon saith of the rich man and his money Eccles 5. VVhat good comes to the owners thereof but the beholding of it with their eyes So looke the carefull parents on a wofull child sometime laughing with hope of that it may be sometime distressed with feare of that it may bee watching in the day wakeing in the night somtime merrie somtime sorrie sometime angrie that it were not possible for them to passe through so much patience if God had not infused animpregnable affectiō of loue to ouercome it thus are we borne in teares and sorrow to our selues in perill and sorrow to her that beares vs in nakednes and shame to all that looke vpon vs here is nothing yet to boast on But is our case amended or is our birth magnified by her that bare vs Man that is borne of what of a woman as much as to say like nest like bird like mother like child but why not as well Man begot of a man as Man borne of a woman perhaps because the woman is the weaker vessell and the meaning chiefly was to abase man in his owne might or perhaps because sinne was first inuested in the woman and since wee stand so much vpon our antiquity wee are only sinners by antiquity rebels by prescription and rebellion rooted in our first blood sinners by the father but first by the mother as by the surer side or perhaps it is because sinne hath more vniuersally preuailed ouer women Eccles 7. for Salomon counting a thousand women one by one by that account to finde one good one found one good man indeed but that man was Christ but not one good woman among them all And whether by the woman wee vnderstand the first woman the mother of mankinde or else the mother of euery seuerall man it comes all to one end Iob 25. for how can hee bee cleane saith Bildad which is borne of a woman If wee looke to Eue our great grandmother what haue we to pleade for her Adam was called Pater viuentium the father of al men liuing and Abraham was called Pater credentium the father of the faithfull or of all the beleeuing but Eue might as well bee called Mater peccantium the mother of all sinners and what receiue we by right of such a mother but blushing at her pride and feare of her confusion If wee looke backe to her that last bare vs the rocke whereout wee are hewen oh how little are wee amended by her for Jn iniquity was J borne saith Dauid and in sinne hath my mother conceiued me Psal 51. Sinne came from Eue A longe the date is so old as wee haue forgot how we came by it but the mother that last bare vs shee hath stampt it anew with her owne hands shee hath powred it out into vs more naturally then milke out of her paps yea euen as a poyson new tapt and fresh out of the vessel so by our grandmother wee haue sinne translated and giuen as at the second hand but by our mother wee haue sin reuiued and newly incarnate in vs and haue we not great cause then to be proud of her that bare vs euery man thinkes deepely what good hee hath receiued by his parents what inheritance what countenance what blood hee hath by them yea the very name of our ancestors seemeth precious to vs but yet no man considereth that all this is poysoned with sinne and that the whole summe of the good doth not counteruaile the least part of the euill which commeth by them You will say you were borne of a woman but what had you by her you receiued life by her true a temporall life but you receiued withall the reward of sinne eternall death and it were better neuer to be borne then to bee borne to such a death you sucked and receiued your foode from her so did you your poison too you receiued your wrapping your clothes and raiment by her so did you your nakednesse your shame and sinne too summe vp your gettings with your losse and see vpon the account what cleerely you haue gained therefore vainly said the Iewes wee haue Abraham to our father and idly say you you haue a princesse a Countesse or a Lady to your mother Sonnes of men in Scripture are neuer spoken of but with
people lie vpon the King Rex non modò peccat sed peccare facit a King doth not onely sinne himselfe but also makes the people to sin either by sufferance as Aaron did or by example as Salomon did or by tyrannous compulsion as Jeroboam did of whom it is said seuenteene times in the bookes of the Kings that he sinned and made Jsrael to sin how then why then as when the people first began the making of the golden Calfe yet Aaron was first called in question about it Exod. 32.21 VVhy hast thou brought so great a sinne vpon the people so Kings Princes must account to God not onely for their owne sinnes but also for the sins of the people and were there no other trouble then this yet this very point of accounting to God is a troublesome and fearefull thing to thinke of Besides what art and great labour haue Kings in the very act of gouernment It is an art of all arts saith Gregory Nazianzen to gouerne man who is so wild a beast and vntamed of himselfe Exod. 18. Moses sat from morning to euening to heare and determine causes that Jethro pitied much to see him so wearie and so tired and it was truly said of Maximinus one of the Romane Emperours Quo maior fuero eo magis laborabo The greater I am the greater labours I see will stil befall and lie vpon me and the Lion which is king of the beasts is said to sleepe with his eyes open to shew that it is no sleepie life to be a king Besides what perturbations of feare are in the mindes of Kings more then of other men who may feare euery cup and euery bit and euery gift who feare their enemies and feare their friends because they know not their enemies from their friends for neither the habit be it neuer so religious nor behauiour of men be it neuer so humble can promise security to Princes witnesse the last but one of France Henry 3. slaine by a Frier Iacobine euen crouching and kneeling on his knee yea are not Kings more subiect to violent death then the common sort of men Of the Kings of Judah from Rehoboam down to Zedekiah there were in number twentie and six of them that is almost a third part slaine Againe of the Kings of Israel from Jeroboam downe to Oshea there were also in number twentie and tenne of them that is a iust halfe slaine Yea looke into our owne stories and our English Chronicles are all bloody from the Conquest downeward which is better known of three and twentie deceased Princes eight that is more then a third part slaine besides the Tragicall reports of France other countries Now sure it were a most fearefull thing amongst the common sort of men if one in euery three were subiect to violent death And whether shall a man turne but the higher still the more troublesome and more infortunate Oh therefore value nothing too high which death doth abolish dote not too much on death and troubles and golden misery Let not men set their hearts on that which cannot profit them or if it please a little yet it will not long stand by them If here wee seeke for peace it wil be answered as the Angels said of Christ Resurrexit non est hic Indeed it is often promised heere the world the flesh make promise of it and wee like false Prophets cry Peace peace and promise it to our selues but the true peace is gone vp with Christ and is not here Mat. 28. and Saint John was commanded to write it for assurance Write◠from hence forth blessed are the dead for they rest from their labours Reuel 14.13 they rest hence forth but they rest not here and therefore since wee haue no rest but sorrowes and warres and troubles here let vs not seeke our rest here lest if we spend our time in seeking where it is not wee faile to finde it where it is God of his mercy draw our mindes from the deceit of this vaine miserable and sinfull world and lift vp both our hearts vnto the hope and our endeauours vnto the pursuit of eternity euen for Iesus Christ his sake To whom with the father c. THE KINGS HIGH WAY TO IMmortalitie A SERMON PREACHED this present yeere Ann. Do. 1614. Ian. 16. TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTY Prince CHARLES at his house and Chapell of S. Iames. PRO. 4.3.4 For I was my fathers sonne Tender and deare in the sight of my mother When he taught me and said vnto me Let thy heart hold fast my words Keepe my Commandements and liue MOst renowned and excellent But that sorrowes make short times seeme long it is not long since at vnawares and not knowing what I did I made vnto your deceased and now immortall brother a Sermon of Mortality or of death It is now fallen out by Gods prouidence and which God himselfe being witnesse I did not thinke of when I chose the text that I must make vnto your Highnesse a Sermon of life but as I had then no special illumination or prophecy that death was so neare to him so haue I now no absolute promise of life to you but vpon the conditions heere annexed Let thy heart hold fast my words Keepe my Commandements and thou shalt lieu which are the words of Dauid the speech of a King and therefore of weight and moment and it is a speech made to Salomon the sonne of a King and therefore pertinent and it is a speech taken from the mouth of the King the father by the pen of the King his sonne and therefore not lost or let fall to the ground as good counsell oft times is but recorded as a thing for euer permanent And wee may distinguish in it two things which diuide it into two parts for first Salomon sheweth what tender loue his parents bare vnto him He was his fathers son Tender and deare in the sight of his mother and then hee sheweth next by what testimonie they expressed their loue vnto him They taught him and said vnto him Let thy heart hold fast c. For the first that Salomon was to his father thus and to his mother thus and thus it is a tale vndoubtedly true but how agreeth it with Salomons wisedome to tell it They say a chiefe point of wisedome is to keepe counsell especialiy to conceale the secrets of a King but most especially to keepe secret what Kings and Queenes doe in their chambers and among their children It may bee that Dauid loued Salomon exceeding much how then It may be likewise that his mother loued him exceedingly more and what of that perhaps when he was swadled in clouts and lapt vp in a mantle shee might take him in her armes and talke like a mother to him perhaps when he was able to goe vpon his feet yet shee might set him on her knee and dance him yea and it may bee too that when hee was able to