August de Civ Dei l. 5. cap. 12 to set Honors temple close on the backside of Vertues temple and not wittingly to suffer any to come into the Temple of Honour which haue not first done their devotion in the Temple of Vertue not to make his Iudges and chiefe Magistrates like f Ieroboams Priests of the basest e 1 Kin. 12.31 lowest of tâ—e people but such as g Eood 18.21 Moses at Iethro's perswasion made Iudges over Israel men of courage fearing God men dealing truly and hating covetousnesse 14 And such R. H. you haue by good demonstrations evidently proued your selues to bee So that to make any large discourse before you of your particular duties may pervadventure seeme vnto some as needlesse a peece of work as it was for h Tull. de orat lib. â—â— Phâ—rmio to make a military discourse before Annibal or for Plotin to read a lecture in Philosophie in the presence of Origen Yet because it comes within the limits of my text I beseech you that you wil with patieÌ„ce heare me while I shall say somewhat of that dutie which God requires at your hands in that hee hath seated you in those high roomes Many will tell you of the greatnesse of your places but not so many will truly acquaint you with that which God requires for the discharging of those places For my part me thinkes I may say vnto you as i Liv. dec 1. lib. 10. Lucius Posthumius sometimes said vnto the Senatours of Rome Non sum Patres-conscripti adeò vestrae dignitatis memor vt obliviscar me esse CoÌ„sulem I am not so mindfull of the greatnesse of your places that I should in the meane time forget mine owne how that God hath made me his Ambassadour commanded mee to acquaint you with some part of his will 15 It is our parts duties to giue you that reverence and honour which is due vnto men of your place But yet as the people said vnto the Asse that caried the image of Isis when the beast seemed to be proud because the people bowed as it went along the streets as if the honour had beene giuen vnto it and not vnto the image religioni noÌ„ tibi said they it is not thee but the goddesse whom wee worship So it is not to you as yee are men but as you are in Gods place do beare and resemble his person that we exhibit this reverence You are Gods but yee are Gods on earth and Gods of earth as wee shall heare anon Mathematitians tell vs that the whole earth is but a point in respect of the highest moueable it is no more in respect of that heaven which is Gods throne then k Aelian Var. hist l. 3. Alcibiades his lands were in that mappe of Greece that Socrates shewed vnto him The greatest Iudge in the world if his circuit should extende over the whole globe of the earth is but a God of Gods footstoole Your circuit is farre lesse you are but Gods of an outcorner nay a little portion of an out-corner of Gods footstoole Let mee then speake vnto you in the words of the Tragoedian Vos quibus rector maris l Seneca in Thyeste atque terrae Ius dedit magnum necis atque vitae Ponite inslatos tumidosque vultus you whom the God of heaven and earth hath so highly extolled as to make Iudges of life and death bee not proud of your autorities but thinke with your selues that Quicquid à vobis minor extimescit Maior hoc vobis Dominus minatur What hurt soever your inferiours shall sustaine by your meanes there is a greater God that threatneth the same nay a worse vnto you m Psal 2. Be wise now therefore O yee Gods be learned yee that are Iudges of the earth serue the Lord with feare and reioice before him with trembling kisse the sonne least he be angry Let his word be a law to direct your sentences his will the line to measure your actions With what conscience can those hands subscribe to an vntruth which should be Gods instruments to confirme a right with what faces can those mouthes pronounce an vniust senteÌ„ce which should be the organes of God to confirme a right When you do amisse you are not only iniurious vnto man whom yee wrong but contumelious vnto God whose sacred iudgments yee pollute Giue mee leaue then to say vnto you with good king n 2. Chr. 19 6 7.10 Iehosophat take heed what yee doe for yee execute not the iudgements of man but of the Lord he will be with you in the cause and iudgement Wherefore now let the feare of God be vpon you take heed and doe it for there is no iniquitie in the Lord our God neither respect of persons nor receauing of reward Therefore in every cause that shall come vnto you between blood and blood between law and precept statute and â—udgement yee shall iudge the people according vnto right and admonish them that they trespasse not against the Lord. Let me say with o Deut. 1.16 17. Moses Iudge righteously betweene every man and his brother and the stranger that is with him yee shall haue no respect of persons in iudgement but shall heare the small as well as the great With p Ier. 22.3 Ieremiah vnto the king of Iudah Execute iudgement and righteousnesse deliver the oppressed from the handes of the oppressour vexe not the stranger the fatherlesse nor the widow doe no violence nor shed innocent blood in this place And finally with my Prophet in this Psalme Defend the poore and fatherlesse see that such as be in need necessity haue right deliver the outcast and poore saue them from the hands of the vngodly 16 I speake not this as if I would haue you to exceed the limits of iustice for coÌ„miserating the cause of the poore I know the poore may offend as well as the rich as the poore is to be pitied so the rich is not to be wronged And he that hath given this law vnto the Magistrate that he should not respect the persoÌ„ of the mightie hath giuen this also q Lev. 19.15 that he should not favour the person of the poore It is not the miserie of the one nor the felicitie of the other that the Iudge is to respect For the matters in question sound them to the bottome anatomize them to the least particle and sift them to the branneâ— but for the parties whom they doe concerne further then this that yee are to iudge betweene a man and a man yee ought not to enquire The r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lawe in the Greeke tongue comes from a verbe that signifieth to divide because it divideth to every man that which is his own You then which are dispensers of the lawe should giue to every one poore or rich that which is his right Herevpon it is that Å¿ Arist Eth.
golden chalices or woodden were to bee vsed in the administratioÌ„ of the sacrament Boniface bishop and afterwards Martyr t Beat. Rhenanus lib. 2. rerum Germanicarum made Å¿ In Synodo Triburiensi An. Do. 895. answere that in former times they had golden ministers wooddeÌ„ chalices but in his time woodden Priests vsed goldeÌ„ chalices I may say the contrary in the times of our forefathers were blockish and woodden Priests and then they had golden cups Then the people would eveÌ„ haue pulled out their own eies to haue given to those blind guides and were so ready to offer their free gifts to the building of the tabernacle that u Exod. 36.5 6. Moses was constrained to say the people bring too much and more then is enough nay moreover to make a proclamation enact a statute which yet is in force but needlesse that neither man nor womaÌ„ should prepare any more for the oblation of the sanctuary But now thanks be to God wee haue golden pastors and woodden dishes are thought good enough for them a Persius Dicite pontifices in teÌ„plo quid facit auruÌ„ What should the church doe with gold Peter said vnto the lame maÌ„ b Act. 3 6. gold silver haue I none c Ps 45.14 The kings daughter is al glorious within they forget what follows her clothing is of wrought gold the ministers kingdome is not of this world a coÌ„petent living is sufficient that is 40. or 50l. â—ush he must not be troubled with the thorny cares of this world d Num. 16. yee take too much vpon you yee sonnes of Levi thus would these wilde asses fat buls of Basan beat out of the manger the oxen that tread out the corne that they may haue the best themselues leaue only the orts for them which should haue all Alas beloved that Gods legats which should be harbarous beneficial vnto the poore and provide for their family should thus be stinted by such whose harts are never satisfied with earth till their mouthes be filled with gravel But let them not think that the ministers living is ever coÌ„petent where any part of his right is detained And therfore let them beware how they play the Iudas in stealing out of the bag which is committed vnto them part of that reliefe which should sustaine Christ his Apostles or betray him in his maintenance by a coÌ„sequeÌ„ce in his meÌ„bers the flocke by withdrawing their food For if Succus pecori then it must needs follow that lac subducitur agnis if the pasture be without the fleece the flocke shal want their fodder It is an obiection which some would fasten as a scandal vpon our Vniversities that many of our preachers drone-like lurke in their owne hiues and flee not abroad that they bury their talent at home in their own studies as in the ground whereas by setling theÌ„selues in some couÌ„try charge they might put it out to their masters best advaÌ„tage But shall I tell you the case is with theÌ„ as it was with the sicke impotent man by the poole Bethesda in the 5. of Iohn gladly would they be in the poole but there is none to put them in an angell troubles the water and presently while they are comming an other steps downe before them The fountaines are stopped no streame can flow abroad vnlesse Tagus-like it haue goldeÌ„ sands or like vnto Eurotas and Alpheus it passe vnder the earth as it were by some sleight and secret conveyance and so burst vp on the suddaine in some place where it cannot be preveÌ„ted or like vnto Tigris that fierce and swift running river which perforce wil burst down such dammes and bankes as would hinder his course or last of all like vnto Maander that insinuating and parasiticall river as I may call it which windes turnes it selfe into every pleasant vally that it may as it were get the good wil and favour of the places where it comes These 4. rivers finde the easiest passage rich Tagus fierce Tigris subtill Eurotas winding Maeandar The rest for the most part for I speake not of all though their waters be as pleasant as the e Gen. 2.10 4. rivers of Eden yet shall they f Ios 3. stand on a heap like the waues of Iordane wheÌ„ the Israelites passed over or as a poole or the dead sea without any vent wheras if there might at the vacancy of livings an offer be made vnto one of the Vniversities a choice made thence no doubte but the gospell of Christ would flourish in every quarter of this realme from Dan to Beersheba from the river of Twede vnto the lands end And God would for this cause even open the windowes of heaveÌ„ vnto the inhabitants thereof and powre down vpon them a blessing without measure and rebuke the devourer for their sakes that he should not destroy the fruits of their grouÌ„d neither shoulde their vine bee barren in the field as the Lord speakes by the Prophet g Mal. 3.10 11. Malachie 17 I haue dwelt too long vpoÌ„ this point Only to end I would these men woulde remember Iudas his end Demiror te Antonî quorum facta imitaris eorum exituÌ„ noÌ„ phorrescere It is the saying of h Philippice 2. Tully to Antony I wonder Antony that thou art not afraid of those mens deaths whose liues thou imitatest And it is strange that these men will bee like vnto Iudas in the premises and never thinke of the conclusion that was inferred therevpon i Amos 7.14 I am not a Prophet nor am I the sonne of a Prophet that I should foretell the manner of their particular ruines Thus much vpon good grounds I wil say that these goods wil in time profit them no more then the price of him that was valued availed Iudas they will bee like k Plin. lib. 10 cap. 3. Eagles feathers they will eate consume the rest of their substance or like equui Scianus aurum Tolossanum in l A Gell. lib. 10 cap. 9. Gellius which were still infortunate to those that had them And those goodly buildings which they make for themselues with the ruines of Gods house I will speake in the words of Isaiah against the enemies of the church m Isa 34.11 13. c. the Pellican and the hedgehogge shall possesse them the great raven and the owle shall dwell in them and he shall stretch out vpon them the line of vanitie and the stones of emptinesse they shall bring forth thornes in the palaces thereof nettles and thistles in the strong holds thereof they shall be habitatioÌ„s for dragons courts for Ostriches there shall meet Zim Iim the faeries shall dance there the skrichowle shall rest there and shall finde for her selfe a quiet dwelling there shall the owle make her nest and lay and hatch gather them vnder her shadow there shall the vultures also be gathered
Mat. 19.24 the narrow way that leadeth to heaven that those goods which by grinding and oppressing they haue scraped together the Lord will fan them away with the fan of vanitie vnlesse as o Dan. 4.24 Daniel said to Nabuchadnezzar they breake off their sinnes by righteousnes and their iniquitie by mercy towardes the poore that which they haue by vnlawfull meanes gotten with Zachaeus p Luk. 19.8 they restore it againe foure-fold 20 From the Locust wee come to the Cankar-worme from oppressing Ahab to bribing Gehazi of whom I may truely affirme that which q Hist lib. 8. Tacitus speakes of the Astrologians in Rome it is genus hominum pestilens fallax quod in hac republicae semper prohibetur semper retinetur a pestilent and froward kind of people which hath beene still gaine said and yet never more common and frequent then now an ofspring not so degenerate from the Ioines of Iudas as is the oppressour Because the oppressour like the fat Buls of Basan closeth the poore on every side and gapes vpon him with his mouth as it were a ramping a roaring lion wheras the briber r Psa 10.8.10 lieth closely in the theeuish corners of the streets that hee may ravish such as he shall get into his net The oppressour takes it perforce the briber gets all by secret compact What will yee giue me Å¿ Est 4.11 None might come to the inner court of king Ahashuerosh saue hee to whom the king held out his golden scepter But none may come to the bribers inner court saue hee that shall hold out a golden scepter vnto him Be thy cause never so light in the balance of equitie it is not material if thou canst make it vp in gold it shall be currant through his liberties Right and wrong truth and falshood are onely distinguished by their attendants If iniustice get the overthrowe it is because shee is not garded with such companies as are expected But I haue not Elishaes eies to point out Gehazi and to obserue what he hath done in secret therefore I will passe him over onely thus much I would haue him to knowe that Iudas caÌ„not so secretly compact with the Priests but Christ knoweth it That speech of our blessed Saviour which that worthy Martyr Hugh Latimer vsed for his posie is an vndoubted truth There is nothing so secret but it shall bee revealed Thou maist well flatter thy selfe with an outward shew of iustice like that monster in the t Hor. epiâ—â— lib. 1. ep â—6 Poet Pulchra Laverna Da mihi fallere da sanctum iustumque videri Noctem peccatis fraudibus obijce nubem O beautifull Laverna grant that I may deceaue the world with a counterfeit shew of holinesse cover my sinnes with a cloud of obscuritie that they may bee hid Deceaue the world thou maist but thou canst not deceaue God u Ovâ—d met Sol oculis hominem quibus aspicit omnia cernit God whose eies are ten thousand times brighter then the sun caÌ„ pierce through this cloud if it were darker then hell and behold thy doing It is no heathenish couÌ„sell which a heathen man giues neither doth it smell of Epicurisme though it was his dictate who was the father of that swinish sect a Epicurus apud Sence that whatsoever thou art about to doe though never so secret thou shouldst still imagine that some doth behold thee and obserue thy actions Vt sic tanquam illo spectante vivas omnia taÌ„quam illo vidente facias saith Seneca And therefore whatsoever thou art about to doe saith the same writer imagine that Cato a severe reprehender of the least vices or if this be too much suppose that Laelius a man of a quiet disposition but such as cannot brooke any notable offence doth behold thee This is good counsell of a heathen man which knewe not God aright But thou which doest professe Christianitie shouldst goe a step further and fully assure thy selfe that not a sinfull man but that a sinne-revenging God doth watch thee Propè à te Deus est tecuÌ„ est intùs est And Sacer in te spiritus sedet bonorum malorumque observator custos as the heathen Stoicke divinely speaketh there is a holy spirit within thee which seeth whatsoever thou doest good or bad Do not then deceaue thy selfe like that Sophister in b â—ost anal 〈◊〉 1. cap. 1. Aristotle who thought it impossible to know by demonstration the affections of a number or triangle because he kept some number or triaÌ„gle in his fist which otheâ—s did not knowe of Be it Nummus or Numerus triangle or crosse or whatsoever it bee thou canst not keepe it so closely in thy hand but God lookes into it and will one day call thee to an accouÌ„t for it 21 In the last place comes the Grashopper the cozening Lawyer who feedes his client with sugered words golden hopes but al proues in the end for a quid mihi dabitis Here as Tullie said vnto the Romans touching the Catilinarians Cupio me Patres CoÌ„scripti esse clementem cupio non dissolutum videri I would gladly hold my peace and not bee iudged by any to exceed the limits of modestie But Voces reip imò totius regni me nequitiae inertiaeque condemnarent the voice of the whole kingdome exclaiming against the great abuses of these times would condemne me of negligence The time is protracted vnnecessarie delaies are vsed newe doubts are dayly invented insomuch that the causes are oftentimes more vncertaine in the latter end theÌ„ they were at the first beginning What postings off from court to court what delaies and procrastinations from tearme to tearme from yeare to yeare in somuch that a man may sooner travel about the whole globe of the earth then passe through an English court The laws are made like a game at the cards wherein all the players are loosers and all the gaine comes to the butler which founde them cards to play on And the lawyers proue such arbitratours as was Quintus Fabius in Tullie who being appointed a daiesman betweene the Nolanes and the Neopolitanes touching the borders of their grounds tooke a great part of their right from both or rather like to Philip of Macedon who being chosen a iudge betweene two brethren touching their fathers kingdome took it from theÌ„ both and reserved it to himselfe They take froÌ„ both the parties though not the same numero which they contend for yet the same specie I meane the value of the same and gaine it to themselues The silly sheepe in a tempest runnes to a briarbush for a shelter when the storme is overblowne he is so clasped in the briars that before hee get out he is enforced to leaue some good parte of his fleece behinde him so that he is made vnable to endure the next storme And yet better it is that he should indure it with patience then by having
king over Israel and was without cause hunted by Saul like a Pelican in the wildernes and an owle in the desart 11 Then to draw thy sword to seek perforce to depose such as God hath placed over thee either because they are not sutable to thy affections or not faithfull in their places what is it but with the old gyants 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to fight with God with the curre dog to bite at the stone not regard who casteth it or with the rebellious child to snatch at the rodde never remember who smiten with it The weapons of a Christian in this case wheÌ„ such a case doth happeÌ„ must be preces lacrymae prayers that either God would turne the heart of an evill magistrate or set in his roome a man n 1. Sam. 13 14. David-like after his owne heart and teares for his sinnes which as they are the cause of warre famine pestilence and all other calamities so are they also of wicked vngodly magistrates Otherwise they haue reason to feare that if God should displace an evil magistrate he would sett a worse in his rooÌ„e According to that of thâ— o Val Max. lib. 6. cap. 2. old wife of Syracuse who when others praied for the death of Dionysius the Tyrant shee prayed for his long life being sent for by Dyonysius demaunded wherin she was beholden vnto him that she so devoutly prayed for him in nothing said she am I beholden to thee yet I haue great reason to pray for thee For I remember wheÌ„ I was a yong wench there was a cruel tyrant that reigned over vs and all of vs prayd for his death I as fast as any shortly after he was slayne and then came a worse in his roome Then we prayed for his death at length he was dispatched Now after both these art thou come and thou art a thousand times worse then all thy predecessours And who knowes but when thou art gone God may if it bee possible send a worse in thy roome This they may iustly expect which coÌ„tinue in their sinnes think by their private endeavours to crosse Gods ordinance Thus much of those duties which are required at the hand of every private man towards the Magistrate Vse 2 12 My secoÌ„d inference shal touch those duties that are required at the hands of Magistrates in that God hath made theÌ„ his deputies As God hath done great things for them so he requireth much at their hands But alas it often falleth out that those which owe God the most pay him the least and those who of al others should be most carefull of their places of al others make the least coÌ„science of their waies p Annal. l. 6 Tacitus reporteth of Claudius that he was a good subiect but an ill Emperour q Hist lib. 2. of Titus that he was an ill subiect but a good Emperour Where one proues like Titus two proue like Claudius Honours change manners And those goodly blossomes which did appeare in many when they were private men when they come in Gods place like frost-eaten buds wither away proue like thunder-blasted fruit not worth the touching much lesse the tasting It is noted of r Buchcâ—c Ind. Chron. Aeneas Syluius that when once he became Pope and got his name changed into Pius secundus he condemned divers of those things which he had written wheÌ„ he was a private maÌ„ Whervpon one came over him with this quippe quod Aeneas probavit Pius damnavit that which Aeneas commended Pius condemned A fault to which men of eminent place are too much subiect to condemne and dislike those good things when they are in autority which they approved when they were privat men Quod Aeneas probavit Pius damnabit Thus those whoÌ„ God cals Elohim change their natures and proue Elilim idols and vanities The heathen persecuters as f Abbas Visp some writers haue recorded in the place where Christ was crucified had placed the image of Venus a heathen idoll that if any should worship Christ he might seem to adore Venus This is the devils practise to set an idoll in Gods roome sometimes a Venus a Cupid that vse their authority for the enioying of their owne carnal pleasures sometimes a Mars vsing his power to blood and revenge sometimes a Saturne that eateth vp his childreÌ„ that is his inferiours which he should affect as a father doth his own children as if they were bread sometimes a Mercurie who is eloquent in speaking but withall nimble in fingring having a smooth tongue like Iacob but rough hands like Esau nay Eagle clawes like Nabuchadnezzar to scrape and scratch togither whatsoever comes in his way vsing his place only for his owne advantage Here is the vndoing of all for besides that Gods place is polluted and the people wronged there is an evill president given to private meÌ„ to follow the wicked example of their governours For as the lower spheres follow the motion of the higher so in the common-wealth those that are of an inferior ranke are ready to follow the practise of those that are set over them When a shrub or bramble falleth they hurt none but themselues but when a Cedar of Lebanon or an oke of Basan falleth down goes al the vnder-wood that grows about theÌ„ It is the nature of the plague to infect vpwards from a lower to a higher roome but the plague of sin is more forcible in infecting downewards from an higher to a lower room It discends froÌ„ the top to the toe froÌ„ the head to the skirts of the clothing If t Mat. 2.3 Herod be troubled about the birth of Christ all Ierusalem will be in an vproare with him And if u 1. Kin. 12 Ieroboam be an idolater a Claud. componitur orbis Regis ad exemplum all Israel wil go a whoring after him And herevpoÌ„ it is that yee shall seldome meet with his name in the books of Kings but you shall finde him branded in the forehead with this marke that he made Israel to sinne 13 God be thanked wee haue no great occasion of complaint at this day especially in our chiefe Magistrates I wish I might without checke of conscience say as much of those that are of an inferiour ranke The Lord hath set over vs his name for ever bee blessed for it a most godly and religious King of whom as b Rarâ tempoâ—um felicitate vbi sentire qua velis quae sentis dicere licet Hist lib. 1. Tacitus â—aith of Traiane and Cocceius Nerva a man may thinke what he wil speake what he thinkes God hath giuen him as hee did vnto c 1. King 4 29. Solomon a large heart as the sand that is vpon the sea shoare to iudge his people according to right and to d 1. Kin. 3 9 discerne betweene good and bad Whose princely care is to obserue the practise of the olde Romanes e