but he is better thaÌ„ they all though they all were equall in dignitie and authority and had power in their hands and counsaile by their sides yet were they inferiour vnto him in the care of Gods service To haue compared him with Manasses his grand-father or Amon his father who went next before him and whose steps he declined contrary to the maner of childreÌ„ for vvho would haue thought when Manasses did ill and worse than the Amorites and Amon no better that Iosias would not haue followed them or to haue matched him with a few given him preheminence within some limited time say for an age or two or three had sufficientlie magnified him But all times examined chronicles and recordes sought out the liues and doings of kings narrowly repeated Iosias hath the garland from them all the paragon to all that went before him and a preiudice to as many as came after him The reason is because he turned His father grandfather went awry they ranne like Dromedaries in the waies of idolatry but Iosias pulled back his foot David turned to his armed men strength of souldiours Salomon to the daughters of Pharao Moab RehoboaÌ„ to his young couÌ„sailers Ieroboam to his golden calues Ezechias to the treasures of his house contrary to the word of the Lord Deut. 17. hee shall not provide him many horses neither shall he take him many wiues neither shall he gather him much silver and gold Some had even solde themselues to worke vvickednes had so turned after the lusts of their owne hearts that they asked who is the Lord but Iosias turned to the Lord the onely strength of Israell as to the Cynosure and load-starre of his life as that which is defectiue maimed to his end perfectioÌ„ as to his chiefest good as to the soule of his soule as to his center and proper place to rest in They said like harlots we will goe after our lovers that giue vs breade and water wooll flax but Iosias as a chast and advised wife I will goe and returne to my first husband The maner measure of his turning to the Lorde was with all his heart withall his soule c. You seeme to tell me of an Angell of heaven not of a man that hath his dwelling with mortall flesh and that which God spake in derision of the king of Tyrus is true in Iosias thou art that anointed Cherub for what fault is there in Iosias or how is he guilty in the breach of any the least commandement of the law which requireth no more than is here perfourmed Least you may thinke Iosias immaculate and without spot vvhich is the onely priviledge of the sonne of GOD know that he died for sinne because he coÌ„sulted not with the mouth of the Lord he was therfore slaine at Megiddo by the king of Egypt But that which was possible for flesh bloud to do in an vnperfect perfection rather in habite thaÌ„ act endevor than accomplishment or compared with his forerunners followers not in his private carriage so much as in his publike administration in governing his people and reforming religion all terrors difficulties in so weighty a cause as the chandge of religion is for chandge it selfe bringeth a mischiefe all reference to his forefathers enmity of the world loue to his quiet set apart he turneth to the Lord with all his hart c. So doth the law of loue require God is a iealous God cannot endure rivals hee admitteth no division and parâ—ing betweene himselfe Baal himselfe Mammon himselfe and MelchoÌ„ his Christ Beliall his table the table of devils his righteousnes the worlds vnrighteousnes his light and hellish darknes I saie more he that forsaketh not I say not Baal Mammon Melchom Beliall but father mother wife brethren sisters landes life for his sake loveth not sufficiently For as God himselfe ought to bee the cause why we loue God so the measure of our loue ought to bee vvithout measure For hee loveth him lesse than he shoulde vvho loveth any thing with him What not our wiues children friendes neighbours yea and enemies to Yes but in a kinde of obliquity our friendes and the necessaries of this life in God as his blessings our enemies for god as his creatures so that whatsoever we loue besides God maie be carried in the streame of his loue our loue to him going in a right line and as a direct sun-beame bent to a certaine scope our loue to other either persons or things comming as broken reflexed beames froÌ„ our loue to God You see the integritie of Iosias in every respect a perfect anatomy of the whole man every part he had consenting to honour God and that which the Apostle wished to the Thessalonians that they might be sanctified throughout and that their whole spirite soule and body might be kept blamelesse vnto the comming of Iesus Christ their spirit as the reasonable and abstract part their soule as the sensuall their bodie as the ministeriall and organicall is no way wanting in Iosias For whatsoever was in the hart of Iosias which â—yra vpon the sixth of Deut. S. Augustine in his first booke of Christian Learning expound the will because as the hart moveth the members of the body so the will inclineth the partes of the soule whatsoever in his soule vnderstanding sense which Mat. 22. is holpen with another word for there is soule minde both whatsoever in his strength for outward attempt performance all the affection of his heart all the election of his soule all the administration of his bodie the iudgment vnderstaÌ„ding of the soule as the Lady to the rest prosecution of his will excecution of his strength he wholy converteth it to shew his service and obedience to almighty God Bernard in a sermon of Loving God in his 20. vpoÌ„ the Canticles expoundeth those words of the law thus thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy heart that is kindly affectionately with all thy soule that is wisely discreetly with all thy might that is stedfastly constaÌ„tly Let the loue of thy heart enflame thy zeale towards 〈◊〉 let the knowledge of thy soule guide it let the constancie of thy might confâ—â—me it Let it be fervent let it be circumspect let it be invincible Lastly the rule which he fastneth his eie vpon was the law of Moses and the whole law of Moses other rules are crooked and 〈◊〉 this only is straight as many as minde to please God must 〈◊〉 themselues wholy to be directed thereby not turning eithâ—â— to the right hand or to the left This history considered I pray you what hindereth the commauÌ„dement government of the king both in causes and over persons of the church For 1. in the building of the temple Iosias giveth direction both to Shaphan
there anie vessell more or lesse in honour then the rest are Moses is no better then Samuel Samuel thē David David a king then Amos an heardman Iohn Baptist more then a prophet not more then a prophet in this auctority Peter or Andrewe the first that was chosen not better then Paul that was borne out of due time The foure beastes in the Revelation haue eies alike before and behinde and the Apostles names are euenly placed in the writings of the holy foundation Salomon the vvisest king that euer vvas in Ierusalem perceiued righte vvell that wheresoeuer the vncreated vvisedome of GOD spake it spake of excellent thinges even thinges seemelie for Princes David his princelie father before him had so high a conceite of these ordinances of the most high that vvhere he defineth any thing he esteemeth them for value aboue great spoiles and thousandes of gold and silver yea all maner of riches and for sweetnesse aboue the hony and the honycombe where he leaueth to define he breaketh of with admiration wonderfull are thy testimonies I haue seene an ende of all perfection but thy commandement is exceeding broade meaning thereby not lesse then infinite The Iewes acknowledge the old testament abhorre the new the Turkes disclaime Iulian atheists and skorners deride Grecians haue stumbled at both olde and newe Papistes enlarge the olde vvith Apocryphall vvritings some of the ancient heretickes renoūced some prophets others added to the number of Evangelists but as the disciples of Christ had but one Maister or teacher in heauen and they were all brethren so one was the authour of these holy vvrittes in heaven and they are all sisters and companions and vvith an vnpartiall respect haue the children of Christes familie from time to time receiued reverenced and embraced the whole and entire volume of them They knowe that one Lorde vvas the originall fountaine of them all vvho being supremely good vvrought and spake perfect goodnesse One vvorde and vvisedome of God revealed these wordes to the sonnes of men himselfe the subiect and scope of them one holie Ghost endited them one bloude of the lambe sealed and confirmed the contentes of them one measure of inspiration vvas given to the pen-men and actuaries that set them downe one spowse and beloved of Christ as gages of his eternall loue hath received them all in keeping And surely shee hath kept them as the apple of her eie and rather then any maime or rent shoulde bee made in their sacred bodye shee hath sent her children into heaven maimed in their owne bodies and spoiled of their dearest bloud they had thinking it a crowne of ioie vnto them to lay downe their liues in the cause of trueth And therefore as branches of the same vine that bare our predecessours to vvhome by devolution these sacred statutes are come vvee esteeme them all for Gods most royall and celestiall testament the oracles of his heavenly sanctuary the onelie keye vnto vs of his revealed counselles milke from his sacred breastes the earnest and pledge of his favour to his Church the light of our feete ioy of our heartes breath of our nostrels pillar of our faith anchor of our hope ground of our loue evidences and deedes of our future blessednes pronouncing of the vvhole booke with every schedule and skrole therein conteyned as hee did of a booke that Sextius vvrote but vpon farre better groundes vivit viget liber est supra hominem est It is a booke of life a booke of liuelyhood a booke in deede savouring of more then the wit of man Notwithstanding as the parcelles of this booke were published and delivered by divers notaries the instruments of Gods owne lippes in divers ages divers places vpon divers occasions and neither the argument nor the stile nor the end and purpose the same in them all some recounting thinges forepassed some foreseeing thinges to come some singing of mercy some of iudgement some shallowe for the lambe to wade in some deepe enough to beare and drowne the Elephant some meate that must bee broken and chevved vvith painefull exposition some drinke that at the first sighte may bee supt and swallowed dovvne somevvhat in some or other parte that may please all humours as the Ievves imagine of their Manna that it rellishte not to all alike but to everie man seemed to taste accordinglie as his hart lusted so though they vvere all vvritten for our learning and comforte yet some may accorde at times and lende application vnto vs for their matter and vse more then others Of all the fovvles of the ayre I meane the Prophetes of the LORDE flying from heaven vvith the winges of divine inspiration I haue chosen the Doue for so the name of Ionah importeth and Ierome so rendereth it to Paulinus to bee the subiecte of my labour and travell vndertaken amongest you vvho vnder the type of his shipwracke and escape figuringe the passion and resurrection of the sonne of GOD and comming from the sea of Tharsis as that Doue of Noahs Arke came from the vvaters of the floude vvith an oliue branch in his lippes in signe of peace preacheth to Niniveh to the Gentiles to the vvhole vvorlde the vndeserved goodnesse of GOD towardes repentant sinners For if you vvill knowe in briefe vvhat the argument of this Prophet is it is abridged in that sentence of the Psalme The LORDE is mercifull and gracious of longe suffering and of grette goodnesse Hee is mercifull in the first parte of the prophecy to the Mariners gracious in the seconde to Ionas long suffering in the thirde to the Ninivites and of great goodnesse in the fourth in pleading the rightfulnesse of his mercie and yeelding a reason of his facte to him vvhich had no reason to demaunde it So from the foure chapters of Ionas as from the foure windes is sent a comfortable breath and gale of most aboundant mercies And as the foure streames in paradise flowing from one heade vvere the same water in foure divisions so the foure chapters or sections of this treatise are but quadruple mercie or mercie in foure parts And so much the rather to bee harkened vnto as an action of mercie is more gratefull vnto vs then the contemplation the vse then the knowledge the example then the promise and it is sweeter to our taste beeing experienced by proofe then vvhen it is but taught and discoursed You heare the principall matter of the prophecie But if you woulde knowe besides what riches it offereth vnto you it is a spirituall library as Cassiodore noted of the Psalmes of most kindes of doctrine fit for meditation or as Isidore spake of the Lordes prayer and the Creede the vvhole breadth of scripture may hither bee reduced Here you haue Genesis in the sodaine and miraculous creation of a gourd Moses and the lawe in denuntiation of iudgement Chronicle in the relation of an history Prophecy in prefiguring the resurrection of
chambers to be clensed and the vesselles of the house of God to be brought thither againe 3. because the portions of the Levites and singers had not beene giuen to them and everie one was fled to his lande hee reprooued the rulers Why is the house of God forsaken 4. he caused the tithes to be restored brought the Levites togither to their place againe and apointed faithfull officers and treasurers to distribute vnto them The petition that hee maketh vnto the righteous Lord who will not forget our labours at the foote of every of those services is framed to this effect Remember me O my God in goodnesse and wipe not out my kindnesse concerning this and pardon me according to thy great mercies Thus Nehemias you see was not vnmindefull of the Lord that the Lorde might be mindefull of him againe Neither in the building nor in the warding of the wals of Ierusalem nor in releeving the burthens of his brethren nor in sanctifying the sabbath nor in purging the people from commixtion with strangers nor in replenishing the chambers of Gods house vvith maintenaunce for his ministers All which he zealously vndertooke and constantly followed to the end fastening his reproofes like nailes that are driuen in a sure place and shewing himselfe a carefull Magistrate both in warre and peace in civill religious affaires towardes the children of the lande and towardes strangers that traffiqued within the borders thereof Vndoubtedly your charge is greate whome the Lorde hath marked out to places of gouernment and if euer you hope as Nehemias wished that God shall remember you concerning this or that kindenesse shewed in his businesse remember you whose image you carry whose person you present whose cause you vndertake whose iudgmentes you execute vpon earth And though yee are not troubled vvith building and warding the wals of your countrey because peace is the walles and the strength of God our bulwarkes and fortresses and mine eies would faile with expectation of that day vvhen the chambers of the Lordes house vvhich Tobiah the Horonite hath seized into his handes should be restored to their auncient institution for the maintenaunce of Levites and singers yet in the oppressions of your brethren vvhose vineyardes fieldes houses libertie living are wrung from them and their sonnes and daughters vndoone if you doe not in all respects as Nehemias did lend them money corne hee and his servauntes of their owne and bestowe the fees of your places tovvardes their reliefe for hee ate not the breade of the governour in twelue yeares and an hundred and fiftie hee mainetained dailie at his boarde with sufficient allowance yet such as oppresse too much exhort ' reprooue cause them to respight cause them to remit tie them by promise to do it binde them by oath and if that will not serue vnlesse you be loath to throw a stone against an adulterer or to shake your lap against an oppressour because you are guilty in your heartes of the like trespasses shake the lappes of your garments against them and with an vnfeigned spirit beseech the iust iudge that such as will not restore may so be shaken out and emptied from all his mercies Likewise for the sabbath of the Lord the sanctified day of his reste helpe to bringe it to reste it is shamefully troubled and disquieted the common daies in the weeke are happier in their seasons then the Lords sabbaths Then are the manuary craftes exercised every man in his shop applying his honest and lawfull businesse the sabbath is reserved as the vnprofitablest day of the seven for idlenesse sleeping vvalking rioting tipling bowling daunsing and what not I speake what I know vpon a principall sabbath for if the resurrection of Christ deserue to alter the sabboth from day to day I see no cause but the cōming downe of the holy ghost should adde honour and ornament vnto it I say vpon a principall sabbath not onelye those of Ierusalem and Iudah solde their wares but those of Tyre also vvhich came from abroade brought in their commodities and neither your gates shut nor forreiners kept out nor citizens reprooved nor any thing donne wherby Gods name and day might be honoured Go now and aske if you can for blushing as Nehemias did O Lord remember vs concerning this kindnesse It is not enough for you to beare the place of preeminence in the shippe but you must reprooue as the maister here did nor enough barelie to reprooue but you must goe forwardes in hunting securitie from her couche by vrging how hard it is to appease the anger of God if it bee throughly enflamed how dangerous against the life and soule if it be not prevented It is the fervency of the spirite even of a double spirit as Elizeus sometime wished the spirite of magistrates which are more then single persons perfit hatred to sin crushing both the egge the cockatrice courage in the cause of the Lord zeale to his house both kindling and consuming your heartes a good beginning and a good ending which the Lorde requireth Will you saue-gard the ship in the Ocean sea and breake her vvithin a league of the haven will you put your hande to the plough of the best husbandry and thriving in the world and then looke backe vvill you lay the foundation of the house rere vp the vvalles and not seeke to couer it you know the parable This man beganne to builde It had beene better not to haue knowne the way of trueth then not to persist in it nor to haue set your shoulders to the worke of the Lorde vnlesse yee hold out The leafe of a righteous man neuer fadeth vvherevpon the glosse noteth that the fall of the leaues is the dying and decaying of the trees When it repenteth a man to haue begunne well it is a sinnefull repentaunce and much to bee repented of The fire vpon the altar of the Lord must alwaies burne never go out and the sedulitie of Gods lieutenantes vpon the earth must euer bee working neuer wearied All vertues runne in the race one onely receiveth the garland the image of most happy eternitie happy continuance I tolde you before that nature directed the Marriners to the acknowledgement of a God it is heere further ratified with manie other principles of nature if they vvere needefull to bee examined as 1. that God only is to be invocated and called vpon Call vpon thy God 2. the vnity of the godhead is avowed For the shipmaster forgetting the multitude of Gods nameth one singlie without other associates If so be God 3. That the felicity of mankinde dependeth vpon the serenity gracious favorable aspect of God as I gather by the phrase here vsed if God will shine vpon vs. 4. It is implied that our life death are in Gods hands That we perish not But let those passe a while The matter we are now to examine is the liberty and freedome vvhich the shipmaister gaue vnto Ionas
immortality of their soules others disputing doubting knowing nothing to purpose til their knowledge commeth to late others obiecting themselues to death rather in a vaineglorious ostentation then vpon sound reason I say compare with them one the other side christian consciences neither loving their liues more than a good cause and yet without good cause not leaving them and aske them what they thinke of this temporall life they will answere both by speech and action that they regard not how long or how short it is but how well conditioned I borrow his words of whome I may say concerning his precepts and iudgements for morall life that he was a Gentile-christian or as Paul to Agrippa almost a christian as in the acting of a comedy it skilleth not what length it had but how well it was plaide Consider their magnanimous but withall wise resolutions such I meane as should turne them to greater advantage Esther knew that her service in hand was honourable before God and man and her hope not vaine therefore maketh her rekoning of the cost before the worke begun If I perish I perish her meaning assuredly was If I perish I perish not though I loose my life yet I shall saue it If there were not hope after death Iob would never haue said lo though he kill me yet will I trust in him And what availeth it him to know that his redeemer lived but that hee consequently knewe the meanes wherby his life should be redeemed If the presence of God did not illighten darknes and his life quicken death it selfe David woulde never haue taken such hart vnto him Though I shoulde walke through the valley of the shadowe of death I woulde feare no evill for thou art with mee and thy rodde and thy staffe comforte mee If his shepheardes staffe had fayled him against the Lyon and the Beare which hee slevve at the sheepe-foulde or his sling against Golias that he had fallen into their handes yet this staffe and strength of the Lord could haue restored his losses The sentence that all these bare in their mouthes and harts and kept as their watch-worde was this Death is mine advantage The Apostle taketh their persons vpon him and speaketh for them all Therefore we faint not because we know that if our outward man perish yet the inward man is renued daily God buildeth as fast as nature and violence can destroy Wee know againe that if our earthly house of this tabernacle bee destroyed wee haue a building given of God that is an house not made with handes but eternall in the heavens Vpon the assurance of this house not made of lime and sande nor yet of flesh and bloude but of glorie and immortalitie hee desireth to bee dissolved and to bee with Christ and by his reioycing that hee hath bee dyeth dayly though not in the passion of his body yet in the forwardnesse and propension of his minde and and he received the sentence of death in himselfe as a man that cast the worst before the iudge pronounced it I may say for conclusion in some sort as Socrates did Non vivit cui nihil est in mente nisi vt vivat He liveth not who mindeth nothing but this life or as the Romane orator well interpreteth it cui nihil est in vitâ iucundius vitâ who holdeth nothing in his life dearer then life it selfe For is this a life where the house is but clay the breath a vapour or smoake the body a body of death our garment corruption the moth and the worme our portion that as the wombe of the earth bred vs so the wombe of the earth must againe receiue vs and as the Lorde of our spirites said vnto vs receiue the breath of life for a time so he will say hereafter returne yee sonnes of Adam and go to destruction By this time you may make the connexion of my text The master of the shippe and his company 1. worshippe and pray vnto false Gods that is builde the house of the spider for their refuge 2. Because they are false they haue them in ielousie and suspicion call vpon thy God 3. because in suspicion they make question of their assistaunce if so bee 4. because question of better thinges to come they are content to holde that which already they haue in possession and therefore say that wee perish not With vs it fareth othervvise Because our faith is stedfast and cannot deceiue vs in the corruption of our bodies vexation of our spirites orbity of our vviues and children casualty of goods wracke of ships and liues wee are not removed from our patience we leaue it to the wisedome of God to amend all our mishappes we conclude with Ioab to Abishai The Lorde doe that which is good in his eies honour and dishonour good reporte and evill reporte in one sense are alike vnto vs and though wee bee vnknowne yet wee are knowne though sorrowing yet wee reioyce though having nothing yet wee possesse all thinges though wee bee chastened yet are we not killed nay though we die yet we liue and are not dead we gather by scattering we win by losing we liue by dying we perish not by that which men call perishing In this heauenly meditation let me leaue you for this time of that blessed inheritance in your fathers house the peny nay the poundes the invaluable weight and masse of golde nay of glory after your labours ended in the vineyard meate drinke at the table of the Lord sight of his excellēt goodnes face to face pleasures at his right hand and fulnes of ioy in his presence for euermore Let vs then say with the Psalmist my soule is a thirst for the living God oh whē shall I come to appeare in the presence of our God For what is a prison to a pallace tents boothes to an abiding citty the region of death to the land of the living the life of men to the life of angels a bodie of humility to a body of glory the valley of teares to that holy and heauenly mounte Sion whereon the lambe standeth gathering his saints about him to the participation of those ioies which himselfe enioieth and by his holy intescession purchaseth for his members THE NINTH LECTVRE Cap. 1. ver 7. And they saide euery one to his fellowe Come and let vs cast lottes c. AS the māner of sick men is in an hote ague or the like disease to pant within themselues and by groning to testifie their pangs to others to throw of their clothes and to tosse from side to side in the bed for mitigation of their paines which whether they doe or do not their sicknes still remaineth till the nature thereof bee more neerely examined and albeit they chaunge their place they change not their weaknes so do these Marriners sicke of the anger of God as the other of a feuer disquieted in al their affectiōs
fearing as the other pant praying as the other groane casting out their wares as the other of their clothes and removing from action to actioÌ„ from feare to praier from praier to eiection of their wares from thence to the excitation of Ionas in all which they finde no successe till they enquire more narrowely into the cause of their miseries and therefore they betake themselues to a new devise of casting lottes For when there is no other remedie in all their fore passed meanes they begin to suspect some higher point of sacrilege against the maiestie of the godhead vvhich cannot be expiated purged by their goods alone but by some mans life amongst them Wherein you haue another principle of nature to consider of that sinnes are the causes of our calamities in that the tempest heere raised is imputed to the vvickednesse of some in the shippe not to bee quieted and stilled againe vnlesse the mouth of the waues may be stopped with that impious person that hath committed it Goe then and say with the Priests in Malachie Everie one that doth evill is good in the sighte of the Lorde and he delighteth in him whereas nature it selfe lying more close to a man than the marrow to his bones informeth the hartes of these marriners that the mother and original of al their woe is some notorious wickednes Let the censure of an heathen philosopher bee added herevnto What wicked maÌ„ soever thinketh he pleaseth God in his wickednes he is chiefly notoriously vvicked for that very opinion because he esteemeth the Gods either to bee foolish or vnrighteous The verse now in haÌ„d openeth their meanes vsed for the detection of the transgressour laieth before our eies in order these foure pointes 1 Their consultation They saide every man to his fellow Come 2 Their resolution Let vs cast lots 3 The reason of their counsell held and resolved That wee maiâ— know for whose cause this evill is done 4 The issue or successe which their deliberation tooke The lot fell vpon Ionas In the consultation by occasion of the phrase Every one to his fellow I obserue the vnity consent that was amongst them for they proceed to their busines as the tribes of Israel brought David to HebroÌ„ with a single hart with a perfite hart with one hart yea they are ioined coÌ„posed togither as IerusaleÌ„ was built not like the foxes of Sampson back to back every maÌ„ fancying a course to himselfe nor as the maÌ„ner of a disordered army is which Curtius describeth thus Alius iungere acâ—em alius dividere stare quidaÌ„ et nonnulli circuÌ„vehi Some wil haue the army ioined others disioined some wil stand others ride about but with such coniunction of souls as if they grew togither vpon one stocke they coÌ„sult resolue execute the best means to help theÌ„selues One coÌ„mon cause one coÌ„moÌ„ fear which for the most part is the master of disorder disturbance hath so coÌ„corporated linked these men togither though they are not the sons of one nation that as the angels of the mercy seate did turne face to face so they applied fitted invention to invention opinion to opinion verdite to verdite as if the blssing of God Ezec. 37. had lighted vpon theÌ„ the wood of Iudah the wood of Ioseph shal be ioyned in one tree they shal be no more 2. peoples nor devided henceforth into 2 kingdomes These being strangers forrainers one to the other can hold agreement We in a common danger say for example A Spanish invasion though we be threatned before hand as Benadad threatned Ahab thy silver thy gold is mine also thy women thy faire children are mine c. though our land our substance our sons daughters our crowne kingdome were to be forfaited alienated passed vnto strangers though whips provided for our torture and kniues for our slaughter how do we consult Vir ad amicum suuÌ„ or vir ad collegaÌ„ A man with his friend or companion with mutuall aspect in our faces or mutual assent in our harts Not so But rather as if the curse of the almighty were fallen amongst vs Zac. 11. I will breake my staffe of bands dissolve brotherhood a man with his rivall evil-willer enemy one iealous suspicious of the other one seeking the peace of the land another wishing in his hart that it might be overrun In such distraction and variaÌ„ce of minds if our state were as strong as the kingdome of Sathan as it is but a kingdome of flesh bloud and of mortal men it would fall to ruine Our Saviour you know giveth the rule in the gospell the devils keepe it as the surest principle and maxime in their policie not to sever their forces Seven coulde agree togither in Mary Magdalene a whole legion in an other man wheras amongst vs in one people in one family there is not consent betweene seven persons There is a day when Herod Pilate are made friends and cleaue togither in their devises against Christ as the skales of Leviathan perhaps they feare the dissolution of their autorities dominions if Christ be not overthrown Curtius writeth in his history of certaine barbarous people that though they were ever banding in armes before one provoking the other yet when Alexander the great came vpon them the equality of the danger wherin they were ioined ioined also their harts and forces togither If there were nothing els to moue our country men to the ensuing of peace yet the equality me thinks of the daÌ„ger coÌ„mon to both parts should invite them therunto For howsoever they discontent theÌ„selues vvith the government which God hath apointed cry with the children of Israel Giue vs a king Giue vs a king not Samuel nor all the Samuels in the vvorlde can disswade them vvith the tyranny which the king shall practise vpon them their wiues and children vineyards fieldes servantes asses sheepe but they still cry Nay but there shall bee a king over vs yet it may be when they haue their wish the fable wil be moralized and verified vpon them A storke was given theÌ„ and then they would see in how much better case they lived before than now vnder the king of the Persians as Alexander told his souldiour And though we are now devided into two companies like Labans sheepe and goates some blacke and some speckled some Papistes some Protestantes it may be their goods wil be taken for Protestants their houses and inheritance for Protestants their heads for Protestants and both theirs and ours laide as the heades of the sons of Ahab by Iehu vpon two heapes Come let vs cast lottes As many other thinges so this facte of theirs doth expresse the force of a most vnusuall teÌ„pest for there had bene tempests vpon the sea when there were no ships both tempests ships when there were no lotts cast a
but riotously wasted and consumed their whole ability In vvhich profusion of substance when the matter engaged ieopardeth the stocke and state of a man his passions must needes be stirred and a troupe of wretched sinnes commonly ensueth swearinge forswearinge banninge defying hart-burning fighting spilling of bloud vnsupportable sorrovves of hart cursed desperation weedes able to disgrace the lawfullest recreation wheresoever they are found as the Harpyes defiled the cleanest meates The third sort of lottes serving to diuination the law of God in a thousand expresse prohibitions comminatioÌ„s the lawes of men both civill canon mainly impugne as by their edicts penances anathemas hath bene puplished to the world They had many sorts of predictions presensions foreseeings none of theÌ„ all but either with the manifest invocatioÌ„ of devils or with their secret insinuation at the least In coÌ„iuring witchery it is too open but in their necromaÌ„cy such like prophecyings by signes characters in the fire are vvater ground entrales of beasts flying crying feeding of birds lineaments of the hand proper names numbers verses lead waxe ashes sage-leaues and the rest it is somewhat more secret but no lesse certaine The artificers and maisters of which faculty are most to be excused that vsed least earnest at whome a wise man marveiled that they laughed not one vpon the other when they met as being privie to themselues of enriching the eares of the worlde with fables to enrich their owne houses with treasure But how scrupulous and fearefull others were how deepely enthralled to the collusions of Sathan is most ridiculous to consider as that Pub. Claudius should be condeÌ„ned by full parliament because in the first Carthaginian warre being in sight by sea and asking how the birdes fared to take his good speede there hence vpon knowledge given him that they would not come out of their coope to feede hee answered so irreligiouslye as it was taken Beholde they will noâ— eate let them drinke and go with a mischiefe and so cast them all into the sea VVho woulde ever haue thought that C. Marius being condemned by the Senate of Rome seeing an asse to forsake his provendour and go to the water to drinke should take occasion thereby to forgoe the land and betake himselfe to sea for safety of his life Yet was the accident imputed both to the providence of his Gods that directed him and to the skill that himselfe had in interpreting religion Augustin writeth that one came to Cato and told him in great sooth that a ratte had gnawen his hose Cato answered him it was no marveâ—le but much more if his hose had gnawen the rat Fabius Maximus refused his dictatorship because he heard a ratte but squeake If a man should forsake but his meate or bed for the squeaking of many rattes or a scholler his bookes because a ratte had eaten the leaues thereof in our times who would not laugh at their folly This was their misery and seruility who went from the living to the dead from the mouth of the Lorde to the mouthes of enchanters birdes beasts devilles from the lawe and the testimony to those lawles curious idolatrous pernicious magicall devises The manner of our charmers is not much behinde these in impurity prophanenes Wherein what reason can be given of applying holy writte to vnholy actions of vttering vnsignificant words which carry no sense of drawing vnproportionate figures of tying to folish and vnnecessary conditions but a very secret operation wherby the devill doth infuse himselfe into such workings For curinge the tooth-ach or the like disease a writinge must bee red or kept but greate regard to be had vvhether it be written in paper or parchment in sheepe or in goate skin with the right or the lefte hande vvhether by a Virgin or common person Sometimes Christ himselfe is abused and his sacred word with apocryphall imaginarye false allegations as that Iesus spake to his wife when he was never married and such like blasphemies You vvill say they vse good prayers in their chambers I aunswere with Augustine they are either magicall or lawfull If magicall God vvil none of such praiers if lawfull yet not by such oratours I denye not but a good event hath sometimes ensued thy losse recovered thy teeth cured what then doest thou not know the power of Sathan that he transformeth himselfe into an Angell of lighte worketh by strong delusions lyinge wonders that if it were possible the very elect should be seduced Augustin wrote to Faustus the Manichee you worke no miracles vvhich if you did yet in you wee would beware your very miracles It is the deserved iudgement of God vpon those that haue recourse to these vnlawfull helpes vvherein though they vnderstand not themselues sometimes what they write or speake the Devill vnderstandeth well enough to leaue them to the God of this worlde the prince of darkenesse who ruleth in the children of disobedience because they flie from the revealed will of God to prestigiatorie and fraudulent impieties The Lord demaundeth in the 1. of Kinges who shall entice that is perswade deceaue Ahab that hee maie goe and fal at Ramoth in Gilead one saide thus an other thus Then there came forth a spirit and said I will entice him wherewith I will go be a false spirite in the mouth of all his Prophets Then the L. said thou shalt entice him shalt prevaile go forth and doe so Such is the counsell that the Lorde holdeth in heaven to bring to confusion al those whome the load-star of his written word cannot leade but they will take to themselues croked and perverse vvaies vvhich go downe to the chambers of death I now conclude all these with that memorable saying of Augustin He that desireth neither to liue happily hereafter nor godly in this present vvorld let him purchase eternall death by such rites Thus much of the course resolued vpon Come let vs cast lottes The reason why they resolved vpon lottery was that they mighte know for whose sake the evill was vpoÌ„ theÌ„ Who are they that enquire this vir ad amicuÌ„ suuÌ„ every one in the ship no doubte Ionas amongst the rest as quicke to dissemble his faulte as hee that was most innocent Looke froÌ„ the crowne of the head to the soule of the foote from the maister of the ship to the ship-boy they had all deserved this tempest full of idolatry impurity of life fitter for their vvickednesse whome the iawes of hell then the waues of the sea should swallowe vp Yet as if they were free from staine they will try by lottes for whose cause the evill is vpon them So is the nature of man wedded to it selfe leauing her eies at home in a boxe in discerning her own infirmities but in the faultes of others as quicke sighted as eagles Then every eie hath a double ball to see with and they stand without the
togither Say that being young thou wert riotous gluttonous libidinous given to drinking surfetting giving thy streÌ„gth to harlots shal not thine olde age rue it art thou not one the saÌ„e person both in thy yonger older years in the waxing in the waning of thy daies shall the difference and change of times exempt thee froÌ„ the gout dropsie the like distemperature Thy grandfather 2. or 3. degrees beyond thy father and thy selfe Et natinatorum qui nascentur ab illis thy childrens children nephews to come you are all but one house Aeacidae froÌ„ Aeacus springing froÌ„ one roote the head of the family in his sight account who esteemeth a 1000. generations but as one day Plutarch himselfe was wise enough to answere the argument There is not the like comparison betwixt father son as betwixte a workeman his worke neither can they alike be separated for that which is borne or begotten is not only from the father but of him as a part belonging vnto him The Castilions bloud in France spilt at the massacre may rightfully be required of the Guisian race in the 4. or 5. generation to come This is the cause that David curseth the wicked on both sides both in their descent let their children bee vagabondes begge their breade and in their ascent let the iniquity of his father be had in remembrance let not the sinne of his mother be done away The like is daily practised in the community and felowship of diverse partes within the same body as in a matter of felonie the hand only hath taken and borne away but the feete are clapt in iron the belly pinched with penury the bones lie hard the best iointe is endangered for it Sundry partes though distinguished both in place and office feele the punishment which they may fondly say the hand only deserved Yea the eie may bee sore and a veine prickt in the arme to cure it the hoofe tender and weake and the top of the hoâ—ne annointed for remedie thereof eveÌ„ so in the body of a city the body of an army the body of a church the bodie of a ship though happily few offend yet their iniquity is brought vpon the head of a whole multitude The kinges are mad the Greekes are plagued 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the vvhole citie oftentimes reapeth the fruite of one vvicked man amongst them What iniury is done therein is it more then one citie is not that citizen a member of their body Is not Socrates one and the same man at the head at the foote is not Englande one and the same land at Barwicke and at the Mount is not London one and the same city at Ludgate at Aldgate These may be the reasons why the whole number of passengers is plagued both in the losse of their wares in the hazard of their liues for the principall transgression of Ionas 1. they were wicked themselues because they were idolatrous what other corruptions they had the Lord knoweth 2. they were all but one body vnder the same discipline and government tied togither by orders lawes for sea as by iointes by reason they had entertained and consorted themselues with disobedient Ionas Other causes there may be secret vnto God which I dare not search out Why should I climbe into paradise or pâ—ie into the arke to behold his counsels wheÌ„ he hath set darknes clouds about his pavilioÌ„ why should I labor to remoue theÌ„ We know not the reasons of many a thing beloÌ„ging to our coÌ„moÌ„ life how it coÌ„meth that our clothes are warme about our backs when the earth is quiet through the south-winde shal we reach after hiddeÌ„ knowledge A plague begaÌ„ in Aethiopia filled AtheÌ„s killed Pericles vexed Thucy dides or to match the example a plague beginneth in FraÌ„ce taketh shipping at NewhaveÌ„ laÌ„deth in EnglaÌ„d with Englishmen harboureth it selfe in LondoÌ„ never departeth therehence againe Wil you know the reason hereof It may be that the works of God may be made manifest as Christ spake of the blind maÌ„ Ioh. 9. or to shew his power that he hath over his clay to exercise his iustice to practise proue our patience whether we wil curse him to his face as it may be the divel hath informed against vs or to apply the coÌ„tinual physick of afflictioÌ„ chastisemeÌ„t vnto vs that we ruÌ„ not into desperate maladies For there are 4. kinds of meÌ„ which by 4. kinds of means come to heaveÌ„ 1. some buy it at a price which bestow al their teÌ„poral goods for the better coÌ„passing therof 2. soÌ„e catch it by violeÌ„ce they forsake fathers mothers land living life al that they haue for that kingdomes sake 3. some steale it they do their good deeds secretly they are opeÌ„ly rewarded 4. others are enforced to take it by coÌ„tinual afflictioÌ„s made to fal into the liking therof Or whatsoever els be the cause which the sanctuary of heaven hath reserved to it selfe buried in light that may not be approached vnto this I am sure of that the challeÌ„ge of the Apostle shal stand like a wal of brasse against al the obiectioÌ„s in the world NuÌ„quid iniquitas apud DeuÌ„ Is there any vnrighteousnes with God And so farre was it of that these marriners receiued losse by their losse that it vvas their occasion to bring them to the knowledge and feare of the true God as hereafter shall appeare vnto you in the tendering of their vowes and other the like religious dueties Then saide they vnto him tell vs for whose cause this evill is vpon vs c. Having presumed that the lots could not lie being governed and guided by the wisdoÌ„e of God they gather theÌ„selues togither like bees al make a coÌ„mon incursion vpon Ionas For by likelihood of their demands because they are many in nuÌ„ber many to the same effect as some supposed it is not vnprobable that their whole troupe assaulted him each one had a pul after his fashioÌ„ as they had sundry heads mouthes so they had sundry speeches to expresse one the same thing therfore one asked vnde venis wheÌ„ce coÌ„mest thou another quae terra tua what is thy couÌ„try a third ex quo populo of what people art thou when his people couÌ„try dwelling place differ not in substaÌ„ce And certainely I cannot blame them if in such peril of their liues when the first borne of death the next immediatest death to sight was vpoÌ„ theÌ„ they al make an head open their mouthes without order or course against the worker of their woes When Achan was brought to the valley of Achor to be executed he his sons daughters asses sheepe the silver garment wedge of golde his tent all that hee had there produced it is said that all Israell threw stones at him and burnt them with fire and stoned
them with stones as being the very cause that Israel could not stand against their enimies In the conspiracy at Rome against Iulius Caesar there were not fewer by reporte then 24. daggers stabbed into his bodie because he was taken by the nobility of Rome to be the perturber of their common wealth and an enemie to the common liberty An othe of association was taken in many places of this lande I know not if in the whole within these few yeares for the pursuite and extirpation of those persons togither vvith their confederates and as I remember their families who by trecherous machination shoulde violate the life and crowne of our gracious Soveraigne Was it not grounded vpon this presumption that the authours of common calamities and subverters of states can never bee persecuted with too much violence Traitours executed at Tyborne of late were sent I say not to their graues but to their endes such as they were too too mercifull for traitors with such a showte of the people to sâ—ale their affections and assentes as if they had gained an harvest or were deviding a spoile and I doubt not but the Angelles in heaven reioâ—ce when they see such deliverances Others distinguish the questions and make them implie severall thinges as if they enquired of fiue sundrie matters 1. his fact Indica cuius causâ tell vs not for whome but for what this evill is vpon vs 2. his calling and course of life his arte profession quae opera tua 3. his travell and iourney and the company and society hee last came from vnde venis 4. his region quae terra tua 5. his dwelling cittie ex quo populo which last may be referred to the notifying of his service and religion whereof it was easie to gesse by the citie he came from In the generall course of all which particulars wee haue a singular document and instruction of iustice from barbarous nations Ionas had beene detected by the suffrage of God himselfe speakinge in the lotte and doubtlesse by these men helde and reputed the principall malefactour in the ship The lotte fell vpon Ionas vvhat needeth more conuiction how shoulde their eies nowe spare or their handes longer forbeare him mee thinketh they should now cry out against him as the men of Iobs tabernacle vvho vvill giue vs his flesh to eate or as the Priests and false prophets against Ieremy the iudgemente of death belongeth to this man Awaie with him away with him from the earth he is not worthy to liue They doe not thus but in the extreamest perill of their liues having no time to bethinke themselues driven to take counsell vvithout counsell as fensers in the sand who defende themselues but as the blowe falleth out yet they deliberate in the cause they evolue all circumstances for the manifestation of his fact and by a most exquisite inquisition they proceede in iudgement what is thy fact thy trade thy travell thy countrey thy people Tullie affirmeth that a kinde of iustice there is amongst robbers and pirates in deviding their booties and mainteining their fraternities such a iustice as Ananias the high priest was a iudge vvho sate to iudge Paul according to the lawe and caused him to bee smitten contrarie to the lawe a painted iudge and a painted iustice But it serveth mee thus farre to collect that even in the tents of Mesech in the societies of the most wicked there is a counterfeite iustice an image and imitation of that vertue without the which Iupiter himselfe saith Plutarch cannot reigne in heaven much lesse can amitie be maintained betwixt man and man The empresse wiselie admonished her husbande when sitting at play and minding his game more then the prisoners hee pronounced sentence vpon them The life of man is not as a game at tables where a woodden man is taken vp by a blotte and throwne aside and the losse is not greate And whether it be life or lande there is no greate difference in the account of God for the bread of the poore man is his life and hee that oppresseth the poore eateth him like breade Whether therefore it be in the life or in the living of man the office of iustice is not to wade to the anckles but vp to the chinne to sound the bottome and depth of the cause carefully to conferre all presumptions and inducements prudently to deliberate to enucleate all difficulties and though the case bee daungerous as this was and greate preiudices against the examinate yet by a curious indagation to haue the proofe of the fact clearely laide forth We haue a president heereof in God himselfe Who though he bee nearer to offenders then the barke to the tree by the presence of his godhead which filleth heaven and earth yet when the cry of Sodome and Gomorre was greate to leaue an example of iustice to the sons of men I will now go downe saith he see whether they haue done altogither according to that crie if not that I may know This descension of God to see and to know what is it els but the delivery of his iustice by rule by number and by ballance that first he will weigh and ponder the cause afterwardes measure out his iudgementes Now to the particulars In the first of these demaundes which is of the fact the other but coniectures tending to the proofe of it they are not content with the sentence of the lot but they require further the confession of his owne mouth Indica nobis Tell vs for what cause The like did Iosuah to Achan My sonne giue the glory to God tell me what thou hast done hide it not It is a part of the glory of God to iustifie him his iudgmentes to yeeld to the victory of trueth when he hath put a spirit as it were into lottes and lawes to gesse aright not to dissemble the force thereof Now if any shall inferre herevpon that by the examples of Iosuah proceeding against Achan the marriners against Ionas the trâ—all of life landes good name should be brought from the lawes of the country and put to the decision of lottes besides the rule of Ierome vpon this place Privilegia singulorum non faciunt legem communem that the priviledges of singular men make not a common law and the generall rule in all examples that none is further to be followed theÌ„ the lawe abetteth and maketh it good otherwise they are to be admired rather then imitated it is the teÌ„pting of God to seeke signes when they are not for profit but onely for experience we ought to be very circumspect in executing iudgment and to leaue no lawfull meanes vnattempted least we iustifie the wicked and condemne the innocent I say besides al these reasons it appeareth from both the examples before specified that neither Iosuah nor the marriners rested in the designation of the lottes but desired further to be asserteined from
author therof commendeth the fact of Razis who being beset by Nicanor â—ounde aboute and having no meanes to escape fell on his owne sword and missing his stroke ranne to a wall to breake his necke and yet his life being whole within him ranne through the people and gate to the top of a rocke and when his bloud was spent gushing out from him like a founteine hee tooke out his bowels with both his handes and threw them vpon the people calling vpon the Lord of life and spirit that hee woulde restore them againe vnto him and so he died This the story commendeth for a manfull and valiant act Aquinas thinketh otherwise There are some saith he that haue killed themselues to avoide troubles and vexations of which number was Razis thinking they doe manfully which notwithstanding is not true fortitude but rather a certaine effoâ—minatenesse of minde not able to endure their crosses I will pronounce nothing rashlye The mercy of God may come inter pontem fontem as the proverbe is betweene the bridge and the brooke inter gladium iugulum betweene the sworde and a mans throate and the laste wordes of Razis testifie his petion to the father of life and spirit that his bowelles might be restored him But excepting that conclusion what difference I pray you betweene him and Cato of whome Seneca writeth at large that the last night hee lived hee red Plato his bookes as Cleombrotus did and taking his sworde in his hand said fortune thou hast done nothing in withstanding all my endevours I haue not hitherto fought for mine owne liberty but for the liberty of my countrey neither haue I dealt so vnmoueably to liue free my selfe but that I might liue amongst free men now because the affaires of man-kinde are irrecoverable let Cato bee horne to rest so he stabbed his body and when his wound was bounde vp by the physitians having lesse bloud lesse strength than before yet the same courage and novve not angry againste Caesar alone but against his owne person hee tumbleth his handes in his wound and sendeth not forth by leasure so properly as by violence eiecteth his generous spirit skorning and disdeigning that any higher power should commaunde him Both these you heare betake themselues to a desperate refuge the pointe of the sworde Razis to avoide Nicanor Cato Caesar both alleadge the good of their countrey not their private estates both are impatient of the misery to come the reproach and disgrace that captivity might bring vpon them both misse their fatall strokes both are implacably bent to proceede in their voluntary homicides both tosse and embrue their handes in their owne bowelles and as the one reposeth himselfe vpon Gods goodnesse so the other was not without hope of rest when hee cried Cato deducatur in tutum let Cato goe to a quiet place both are commended for their valiant death But it is certaine that Cato died through impatience of minde Occîdit enim se ne diceretur Caesar me servavit For hee killed himselfe that it might not bee said Caesar hath saved me and Seneca affirmeth as much that it might not bee happy to any other man either to kill or to preserue Cato Valerius Maximus reporteth the wordes of Caesar when hee found him dead Cato I envie thy glory for thou enviedst mine It was a candle before the deade and as messes of meate set vpon a graue but a trueth which an other told him thou shouldest haue red and vnderstoode Plato otherwise If thou haddest well considered what Plato vvrote thou mightest haue founde reasons sufficient to haue staied so vnnaturall a fact 1. that God is angry with such as a Lorde with his bondmen that slay themselues 2. that the relinquisher of his owne life is more to be punished then a reneger of his service in warre And therefore there is no doubt but the fact of Razis also must haue very favourable interpretation if it bee any way excused Albeit Seneca in the place before alleadged commended the dying of Cato in some sorte yet it is not amisse to consider with what golden sentences hee endeth that Epistle It is a ridiculous thing through wearisomenesse of life to runne to death when by the kinde of life thou hast so handled the matter that thou art driven to runne vnto it Againe so greate is the folly or rather the madnesse of men that some for the feare of death are enforced to death Hee addeth singular preceptes A wise and a valiant man must not flie but goe from life and aboue all thinges that affection must bee shunned vvhich hath taken holde vpon many a longing and lustfulnesse of dying Hee vvoulde haue vs prepared both waies neither to loue nor to hate this life too much and some times to finish it when reason calleth vs foorth but not with a fease and impotent forwardnesse His counsell certainelye agreeth vvith divinitie For our Saviour exhorted his disciples If they persecute you in one citie flie into another Notvvithstanding hee had vvarned them vvhosoever will finde his life and not forsake it vvhen the time and cause require him to laye it dovvne that man should lose it Which lawe and precept of Christ by the iudgement of Gregory Nazianzene compelleth no man to offer himselfe vvilfullye to death or to yeelde his throate to him that seeketh it least through a desire vvee haue to please GOD in povvring foorth our bloude vvee either compell our neighbour to breake that commaundement Thou shalt not kill or seeke to purchase and procure our owne deathes but vvhen the time calleth vs to the combate then vvee must cheerefully stande foorth So saieth Ierome vpon these woordes of Ionas Non est nostrûm mortem arripere sed illatam ab alijs libenter excipere It is not for vs to catch after death but when it is offered by others then willingly to receiue it Seneca in his eighth booke of controversies setteth downe a lawe against fellones of themselues and debateth it both waies The lawe is vvhosoever murthereth himselfe let him bee cast forth without buriall The declaration on the one side in defence of the felon is made to say somthing for fashion sake Be angry with the murtherer but pittie him that is murthered I aske not that it may be honour for him thus to die but that no daunger They are as cruell that hinder those that are willing to die as others that kill them when they are willing to liue But on the other parte vvhat vehemency and eagernesse doth hee vse It is a shamefull parte that any handes shoulde bee founde to burie him whome his owne handes haue slaine Hee vvoulde haue attempted any thinge that coulde finde in his hearte to kill himselfe No doubte hee had greate crimes in his conscience that draue him so speedilie to his ende and this amongest the rest is one that vvee cannot proceede against him as against other malefactours by course
worker in the workes of all sortes of men Communiter author fateor sed non nisi boni fautor Commonly and indifferently I graunte an author in a common and large signification but a favourer onely of good Doest thou addresse thy selfe to vertue it is done both by the privitie and assistaunce of GOD. To vice vvith his privitie and permission not vvith his helpe some thinke saith Lipsius vvith his vvill too It is most true that GOD doeth suffer sinne there is nothing visiblie and sensiblie donne which is not either commanded or tolerated from that invisible intelligible court of the highest Emperour August 58. senten for it could not bee done if God did not suffer it In his Enchirid to Laurent 100. it followeth and truely he doth not suffer it against but with his will and being good as hee is he would never suffer any thing to be ill done but that being also almighty he can doe well of that which is evill Vndoubtedly he doeth not suffer against his will for that woulde bee with griefe and must needes argue a power greater than himselfe then if he willingly suffer Permissio est quoddam genus voluntatis his sufferance is a certaine kinde of will In his booke of predestination and grace he compareth Nabuchodonosor and Pharaoh togither both which had the same plaister of chastisement laid vnto them though converted in the one to his soules health in the other to his destruction Touching nature they were both men for honour both kings concerning the cause of correction both helde the people of GOD in captivity and lastly for their punishment both were admonished by the scourges of GOD. Yet the endes of their punishment were diuerse for the one fought against God the other by repentance obtained mercy Now what obiections soever a man may frame-here hence against the equity of God Intelligat ista tamē vel adiuvante Domino perfici vel deserente permitt◠vt noverit tamen nolente Domino nihil prorsus admitti Let him vnderstande that all these thinges are either brought to passe God aiding them or suffered God forsaking them so that hee knowe withall that nothing in the worlde can be done if God be vnwilling If then I sinne by the will of God how can I helpe it and why doeth hee yet complaine as Paule obiecteth Romanes the ninth I will remoue this stone of offence and then returne to my purpose My will I say is borne by a streame of the will of GOD or it is my destiny to sinne the starres haue fore-signed my going awry Mars committed the murther Venus the adulterie thus vvas I borne and marked the fault is not mine I sinne by compulsion I put them all togither because it is the fashion of some to set vp a iudgement seat in their erroneous phantasies and thereat to arraigne God of iniustice sive per transennam sive per cannam longam sive per proximum either by the casemēt or through a long cane obliquely or farther of and some hard at hand and directly some by destiny some by starres ohers reaching immediately at God himselfe Deus hoc voluit si nollet Deus non facerem God would haue it thus if God would not I coulde not haue done it One in a monastery being reprooved that hee did some things not to be done omitted others which he should haue done answered those that rebuked him what kinde of man soever now I am I shal be such as God hath fore-seene I should be Who therin saith Augustine both spake a trueth and yet was no whit bettered to amendment of life by that trueth O damned absurdity rooting her wickednes in heaven as if the prescience and will of God were the cause of our sinning whereas his prescience is but the antecedent to our sins going before them for because we sin therfore they are foreknowne not because they are foreknowne therefore we sin and his will is but the consequent following vpon them I say againe God hath a will and purpose in the sins of vnrighteous men not that he liketh the sins but he ordereth governeth thē in wise manner turneth them to some end that well pleaseth him And though he willeth not the evill it selfe yet the doing of the evill doth in some respectes content him And that will in God is consequent to our will For albeit it were before ours in time because his will is as ancient as himselfe even from everlasting yet in order and course of thinges it commeth behinde it and he that fulfilleth the will of God in this māner or rather the will of God is fulfilled vpon him shall hang in hell for his service so little thankes is he likely to reape at Gods handes For there is no question but God doeth fulfill good purposes of his owne by the ill purposes of ill men Iudas was not yet formed nor any member of his body set togither or fashioned when they were all written in the booke of God He saw his treason in the glasse of his foreknowledge and vnderstoode his thoughtes a far off There was not a word in his tongue but God was long since acquainted with it He knew that his will was bent to mischiefe from before the world was established Now God hath a will vpon and after the will of Iudas and thus he bethinketh himselfe Iudas hath a will to betray his maister I will not stop his will but cōvert it to some good vse I will draw a preservative against poison frō the very poison of a serpent I wil declare my power skill therby The world shal know that of the vnnaturallest treason that ever the sun beheld I cā worke a good effect I will shew my iudgements amongst all nations vpon Iudas and his complices by the fruites of that bitter roote the vilest treachery that ever hell cast vp I will save mankinde Iudas himselfe never intended therein either to magnifie the power of God or to manifest his iustice or to deliver any of his brethren vvho I dare say never conceived therein how his owne singular soule might be saved So then Iudas committed a treason and God foresawe a treason whose knowledge is as great as himselfe and the workes of a thousand generations to come as present vnto him as that vvhich is done at the present time What of that praescivit non praedestinavit vel fecit hee onely foreknewe it hee neither predestinated it nor committed it For this is the rule Mala tantùm praescit non praedestinat bona verò praescit praedestinat Evill thinges hee onely foreknoweth good hee both foreknoweth and praedestinateth that is apointeth and taketh order for them before hand Hee also foretolde the infidelity malice mischievousnesse of the Iewes in complottinge the same villany against the sonne of God VVhat of that praedixit non fecit hee onelye foretolde and not wrought it Ipsorum praescivit peccata non sua Hee
adulterie and other faultes having either nature or custome on their side are lesse odious to men though not lesse haynous in their kindes But name an vngratefull person and vvithout naming any more vvee all detest him as a prodigious vnnaturall noveltie violating the communion and nature of mankinde I conclude It is a good thing to praise the Lord to sing vnto the name of the most high to declare his loving kindnesse in the morning and his trueth in the nighte season It is good touching the actioÌ„ it selfe For it is better to blesse theÌ„ to curse and to giue thankes then to giue out a voice of grudgings It is good in respect of the matter and obiect that so glorious renowned a God vouchsafeth to be magnified by our polluted lippes the honor returneth vpon our selues It is good because of the retribution For Cessaâ— decursus gratiarum vbi non fuerit recursus the course and descent of the graces of God ceaseth and the spring is dried vp where there is not a recourse and tide of our thankefulnesse Wherefore let not so good an exercise bee a burthen and griefe to good soules Let the vnrighteous vanish away in their gracelesse ingratitude and become as the dunge of the earth Let them forget the God of heaven that the God of heaven may also forget them But let the righteous alwaies reioyce in the Lord for it becommeth well the iust to be thankefull Earely and late let vs blesse his holy name though not with Lutes and Harpes and instrumentes of ten stringes yet with the best members and instrumentes we haue bodies and spirits which the fingers of God haue harmonically composed and ioined togither and the ioy of the holy ghost hath melodiously tuned for this purpose Let vs never turne our backes to the temple of the Lord nor our faces from the mercy-seate Let vs not take without giving as vnprofitable ground drinketh devoureth seed without restoring Let vs neither eate nor drinke nay I will more say let vs neither hunger nor thirst without this condiment to it The Lorde be praised Let the frontlets betweene our eies the bracelets vpon our armes the gards vpon our garments be thankes Whatsoever we receiue to vse or enioy let vs write that posie and epiphoneme of Zachary vpon it Grace grace vnto it for all is grace Let vs learne the song of the blessed before hand that hereafter we may be able to sing it with more perfection Praise honor and glory be vnto him that sitteth vpon the throne and to the Lambe Paul is ours Apollos is ours Cephas is ours the worlde ours children friendes fieldes vineyardes health wealth all things ours but we are Christes and Christ Gods there is the fountaine thence they come all thither they all returne He is α and ω first and last authour and finisher giver and receiver his holie name be blessed for ever and ever Amen THE XXVI LECTVRE Chap. 2. verse 3. and 4. For thou hadst cast mee into the bottome in the middest of the sea and the flowdes compassed mee about all thy surges and all thy waues passed over me Then I said I am cast away out of thy sight c. IMAGINE the songe of Ionas to consist of three partes a proposition narration and a conclusion and the proposition alreadye to bee past in the seconde verse summarilye abridging the beginning proceeding and ending of the matter in hande that is the perill praier and deliveraunce of Ionas The narration nowe followeth to the eighth and ninth wherein hee concludeth so that all that lyeth betweene the seconde and those maketh but for exornation for both his daunger is more amplie described and his praiers often mentioned and a frequent hope of his deliveraunce ingested And it is well worthy your considering that as musicke consisteth of acutum and grave high and lovve sharpe and flatte so this song of Sion which Ionas singeth in a strange lande vvith a far heavier hearte then ever Israell sange by the rivers of Babylon is mixte and compounded of two kindes of soundes For on the one side are daungers terrours desperations and deiections of minde often hearde but on the other the sweetest comfortes and ioyes of the holy Ghost that coulde be conceived First in the third verse Thou hadst cast mee into the bottome of the sea with many exaggerations to declare his feare But in the fourth Yet vvill I looke againe to thy holy temple Againe in the fifth The waters compassed mee aboute vnto the soule c. But in the sixte Yet haste thou broughte vp my life from the pitte O LORDE my God Lastly in the seventh My soule fainted vvithin mee yet I remembred the LORDE and my praier came vnto thee into thine holie temple Invicem cedunt dolor voluptas sovver and sweete mourninge and ioy trouble and peace come by courses and successions There is no weeding vp of these tares no remooving of these griefes and annoyaunces from the life of man This is the state and condition of our present pilgrimage as of a fielde vvherein there is vvheate and darnell they must of necessitye grovve togither till the harvest when it shall be saide priora transierunt the former thinges are past sorrovve and sickenesse dreade and death haue nowe their ende The eveninge and the morning are but one day Barnardes allusion to that place of Genesis is the interpretation of the Psalme heavinesse maye bee in the evening but ioye commeth in the morninge VVee beare foorth our seede vvith teares vvee shall bringe home the sheaves in our bosome vvith ioye The Sonne of GOD hath beene entertayned in this life at one time vvith Benedictus blessed is hee that commeth in the name of the LORDE at an other vvith crucifige crucifie him Iohn Baptist at one time is reverenced and hearde gladlie at an other beheaded Not to speake of the heade or members aparte the vvhole bodye cryeth in the Canticles I am blacke O yee daughters of Ierusalem but comelye Nigra vestro formosa divino Angelicó que iudicio blacke in the iudgemente of menne faire in the sighte of GOD and Angelles nigra foris sed intùs formosa blacke without by reason of the miseries and deformities of this life but invvardelye beautifull vvith a godlye presumption and hope of my blisse to come One generation passeth and an other succeedeth saieth Ecclesiastes the sunne govveth downe and the sunne dravveth to the place of his rising againe the vvinde goeth to the South and compasseth tovvardes the North and returneth by the same circuite and though all times differ yet they differ not in this that they are all subiecte to varâ—atitions And as a discorde in musicke giveth a grace and commendation to the song so these discordes and iarres in our life keeping their alternatioÌ„ make our pleasures more welcome when they come That Christians should well digest them there is some better cause by reason of their faith
put not of their cloathes saue onely for the washing you vvill easily confesse that their meaning vvas when they first saide let us rise and builde to doe their worke at once and to busie themselues aboute nothinge els not to giue rest to their bodies more then nature did necessarily and importunately call for nor vacation to their mindes till their worke were at an ende Thus Ionas arose for I am as willing in these our lasie and loytring daies to builde vpon the worde as those vpon the fragmentes and ruins of Ierusalem that is he strengthened and armed and inflamed himselfe to runne vvith his errande to Niniveh his legges are as pillers of marble and his feete as the feete of an Vnicorne to vndertake the travaile Hee knevve that as vineger is to the teeth and as smoake to the eies of a man so is a slowthfull messenger to him that sendeth them but much more a slowthfull prophet woulde grievously offende so high a LORDE as hee was nowe to deale with So Ionas arose The example riseth with full strength against idlnesse a sinne as idly and carelessely neglected in this place as carelessely committed I will speake with your good leaue Your collections for the poore by hear-say are not over-spating The Lord encrease not onely your oile and meale in your vessels but your mercy within your bowels The lower you draw forth these wels of charity the clearer will your waters flow vnto you But where are corrections for the slowthful the meane time an almes as necessary as the former and a worke of mercy not to bee slipte in a well-ordered common-wealth The faithlesse stewarde in the gospell being warned to make his accounte and giue over the stewarde-shippe amidst his perplexed thoughtes what he shoulde doe for times to come saide within himselfe I cannot digge and to begge I am ashamed These more faithlesse in their callinges then that vnrighteous stewarde are not ashamed to begge though they are able enough to digge and sustaine the burthen of other labours but vvill not as vnprofitable to the earth as Margites in the Poet of whome it vvas saide that hee neither ploughed nor delved nor did any thing his life throughout that might tend to good Will you knowe the cause that Aegysthus became an adulterer we neede not call for Oedipus or any cunning interpreter to render a reason of his lewde living Slowthfulnesse vvas the bane that poysoned him And if you will knowe the cause of so many robberies in the fieldes riottes in your streetes disorders in common life wee may shortlie and in a worde deriue them from idlnesse it is so ranke a sinke sayeth Bernarde of all lustfull and lavvelesse temptations It is not lesse then a wonder in nature that Plinie in his naturall history reporteth of the bees their industry and painefulnesse to bee such and so hardly to bee matched in the vvorlde that almost of the shaddowe saith he rather then substaunce of a verie small living creature nature hath made an incomparable thing They never loose a day from labour if the aire will giue them leaue to worke And when the weather is lowring and troublesome they cleanse their hiues and carry out the filth of those that laboured within dores The manner of their working is this In the day time they keepe watch and warde at the gates as they doe in campes In the night they take their rest and when the day is sprong they haue an officer to call them vp with humming twice or thrice as with the sound of a trumpet The younger go abroad to fetch in worke the elder stay at home some bring burthens other vnloade them Some build other polish some supply them with stuffe for the worke other take care for their victuals for they take not their diet apart that they may be equall in all things Moreover they are very observant and strict in exacting the labours of every one and such as are idle they note and chasten with death Finally the drones which are the servantes of the right bees they are content to giue house-roome vnto in fruitfull years but they rule them as their slaues and put them formost to the labours and if they be slacke punish them without pitty and when the hony is ripe they driue them from their dwellings and many falling vpon one spoile them of their liues Go to the bees O sluggard consider their waies and be wise they are but small amongest foules yet doth their fruit exceede in sweetnes saith the sonne of Sirach their labour in greatnesse And goe to the bees ye magistrates of the earth and learne from that little kingdome of theirs to vse the vigour and sharpenesse of discipline against our vnserviceable drones who like paralyticke members in the body of man loose and vnbound in the iointes of obedience say to the head commaund vs not for vvee will not stirre at thine apointment I will adde to the former example vvhat the same history speaketh of the pismires a people not strong yet prepare they their meate in sommer They labour likewise as the bees But these make the other horde vp meate Their bodies and the burthens they beare haue no comparison But such as are over-great for their strength they set their shoulders vnto and with their hinder legges drawe them backe-warde And because they fetch their provision from sundry places the one not knowing which vvaye the other goeth therefore they ordaine certaine daies of marte wherein they meete and conferre and take a generall account each of others labour We see saith he that the very flintes are vvorne and pathes trodden out vvith their iournying least any might doubt in every creature of the worlde how availeable it is to vse never so little diligence I say againe Goe to the pismires O sluggarde consider their vvaies and bee vvise For they having no guide governour nor ruler provide their meate in sommer and gather their foode in harvest We having our rulers and guides of many sortes soule to governe our bodies reason our soules God our reason nature to shew vs the way as it did these creatures law to hold vs therein and grace to further vs and not labouring for the foode of this transitorie life alone but for that meate that perisheth not and for the rest from our labours yet are content as it vvere to languish aliue and to linger out our little time in a continual wearinesse of well-doing as if the lavve had never beene given to the sonnes of Adam to labour nor to the daughters of Eue to passe through affliction and vvhen I saye not pismires and bees and the little wormes of the grounde but the angels of heaven are evermore attending vpon their businesses for thousande thousandes stande before him and tenne thousande thousandes minister vnto him yet wee will sit downe and holde our selues bound to no ministration nay when the Lorde himselfe sanctified not
satisfy his disconteÌ„ted mind by any either lawfull or vnlawfull meanes Now therfore I pray thee take my life froÌ„ me c. Neither did he onely conceaue anger in his minde but he followeth feedeth maintaineth it that we haue iust cause to strike him againe with another sentence of the same wise man Be not thou of an hasty spirit to be angry for anger resteth in the bosome of fooles Damascen maketh three degrees of anger bilem iracundâ—aÌ„ infensioneÌ„ Choler wrath heavy displeasure The one he sayeth hath beginning motion but presently ceaseth the other taketh deeper hold in the memory the third desisteth not without revenge Gregory Nyssen keeping the same number calleth the 1. anger the â— lightnes of the braine the 3. starke staring madnes Clichtoveus compareth the first to fire in stubble which is soone kindled soone put out the secoÌ„d to fire in iron which hardly taketh longer abideth the third to fire that is hid never bewraieth it selfe but with the ruine wast of that matter wherin it hath caught Some are sharp saith Aristotle others are bitter a 3. kind is implacable The anger of Ionas may seeme to haue beene in the third place it cannot bee mitigated Hee desireth nothing so much as that Niniveh may bee overthrowen Hee complaineth persisteth replieth and by no perswasions can bee brought from shewing his displeasure both against God and against his ovvne life To come to my purpose the particulars to bee examined for the better searching out of his fault are 1. that hee prayed vnto the Lord 2. what hee prayed and therein both the substance of his petiton in the 3. verse therefore I beeseech thee take my life from mee and the causes that mooved him so to pray for that the mercy of God had disapointed him I knew that thou art a gratious God c. togither with an exprobration that hee suspected so much when hee was at home And hee prayed vnto the Lorde That Ionas prayed or that he prayed vnto the Lorde I dislike not Happy is that man who either in the midst of anger or of any other offence can pray Hee ever obtaineth either that which hee prayeth for or that which is better or that which is sufficient If Ionas had restinguished and choked the fervour of his wrath with the fervency of the spirit hee had done beyond exception but it is well that he remembreth himselfe any way to bee a prophet and doth not quite forget God and his whole duty towardes him For anger hath a company of most pestilent daughters swelling of the minde so high and so full that there is no roume for any good motion to dwell by it contumely towardes men blasphemy towardes God indignation of heart impatience and clamour of speech violence of handes with other savage and monstrous demeanour as far forth as strength will giue it leaue Anger is cruell saith the Proverbe and wrath is raging but who can stande before Envy I know that the effectes of anger haue beene such as I named before They were such in Simeon and Levi whome Iacob their father vppon his death-bed when all displeasure shoulde haue died with him detested in his verye soule and insteede of blessing cursed them They were such in Saul against Ionathan his owne flesh for excvsing the absence of David and making no more than a iust defence of his innocency wherefore shall hee die What hath hee done When hee tooke vp a iaveling in his hande and woulde haue nailed him to the wall if his marke had not shunned him· It appeareth by that which followeth that if it had beene possible for Ionas to haue commanded fire from heaven as the disciples woulde haue done Luke 9. against a towne of Samaria hee would not haue spared it But anger exerciseth the armes of the stronge ths tongue of the weake Therefore sithence hee hath not power over the thunders and lightnings of God he occupieth but his tongue but whatsoever may be done by the intemperatnes therof he dissembleth it not It is no great commendation to Ionas that hee prayed because hee prayed in choler with a spirit troubled and disordered measuring all thinges not by the wil of God but by the fansies thereof because with such distraction of minde the founteine of his hearte powring forth sweete and sowre togither the words of his lippes directed vnto God but his inward cogitations altogither bestowed in purging himselfe wishing revenge accusing God and other such like forreigne and improper intentions It might haue bene saide to Ionas bending himselfe to prayer in this sort as the prophet spake to Ierusalem wash thy heart from malice how long shall thy wicked thoughts remaine within thee Or as it was said to the Scribes in the gospell why thinke yee evill in your heartes Our saviour counsailed his disciples Mat. 6. when they prayed not to bee as the hypocrites standing at the heades of the streetes but to enter into their chambers and shut the dores vnto them and to pray to their father in secrett that hee might openly reward them Now to what purpose is it to remooue the body from the eies of men to close it vp in a private chamber within walles and dores if the soule haue a troublesome and vnquiet company within anger impacience envie to disturbe her meditations with noise for these must also be put forth as Christ put forth the minstrelles and mourners all the affections of the heart must be repressed the whole strength and might of the soule kept nearely togither without wandering abroade that by their forces vnited in one the goodnesse of the Lorde may the sooner be obtained The oracle gaue aunswere to a man desirous to knowe what art he shoulde vse in praying thou must giue the halfe moone the whole sunne and the anger of a dogge that is cor thy whole heart with every affection belonging vnto it In that introduction of prayer which our Saviour setteth downe in the gospell though there bee sundry branches of requests to God as the sanctifieing of his name the enlardginge of his kingdome or whatsoever else is meete either for the body or the soule of man yet all the rest are passed over with their onely first reciting and the onely exposition which hee leaveth vnto vs is vpon the fift petition wherein wee desire pardon of our owne debts as wee pardon others For there our Saviour addeth culling this one from amidst all the rest and setting his speciall marke vpon it if you forgiue men their trespasses your heavenly father will also forgiue you if not looke accordinglye to bee dealt with His meaning no doubt was that when we bring our gift to the altar the oblation of our lippes and heartes and come not in charity whatsoever we make request for is returned backe againe and our whole offeringirefused as an vnsavory thing which the Lorde hath no
pleasure in Though I speake with the tongues of men angelles and haue not charity I am as sounding brasse or a tinckling cymball though I had the gift of prophecy and knew all secrets and knowledge yea if I had all faith so that I coulde remooue mountaines and had not charity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before I was little I was but a sound now I am nothinge What can we lesse pronounce of the prayer of Ionas though one that spake with the tongue of a man in coÌ„parison of other men the tongue of an angell a tongue of the learned a tongue refined like silver though one that had the gift of prophecy and knewe as many misteries of knowledge as was expedient for flesh and bloud to be acquainted with one that had faith enough to saue him in the bottome of the seas the bottome of the mountaines the bottome belly of a monstrous fish but that the want of loue was sufficient to haue lost the blessing grace of all his hearts desires And said I pray thee O Lorde was not this my saying c. Consider now I beseech you what he prayed and therein howe long it is before hee commeth to the matter intended a foolish and vnnecessary discourse interposed of his owne praise but his subiection to the wil of God not thought vpon For what is the substaÌ„ce of his prayer that which is inferred after a loÌ„g preface therfore I pray thee take away my life from mee hee strengthneth it by reason for it is better for me to die than to liue Why better the cause of this commodiousnes and convenience are contained in the prolocution in those frivolous vaine speeches that are first laide downe I beseech thee was not this my saying c. Asmuch as to say I was thrust forth into a charge which from the first houre I had never liking vnto wherin I thought said and resolved to my selfe from the very beginning that I should be deceived Admit all this Say thou foresawest it and that the end would bee other than thou lookedest for oughtest thou therfore to haue refused thy message a necessity was laid vpon thee and thou mightest well assure thy selfe that woes would haue lighted vpon thee as many as the haires of thy head if thou didst it not Leaue the event to God let him vse his floore at his pleasure whither hee gather into the barne or skatter as the dust of the earth do thou the office of a prophet Againe thou sentest me to denounce a iudgment thou meantest nothing but wel vnto theÌ„ I preached righteousnes and severity thou art a gracious God and full of pitty I made their accounts perfect and straight that destruction should fal vpon them at the end of forty daies thou takest a pen of thy mercy and dashest thy former writing writest theÌ„ a longer day yeares and generations to come I know not how many Vpon this he concludeth therefore now O Lord take away my life c. But we will weigh the conclusion when we come to it Mean-time we must rip vp his former speaches which were of preparatioÌ„ making the way to his suit before haÌ„d Peruse theÌ„ who will he shal finde them fuller of affections than words and such a bundell of errors wrapt togither as one would hardly haue imagined in a prophet Wherein by a blind selfe-liking loue to his owne wit iudgement he is carried from reason truth obedience from that reverent estimation which he should haue had of God For howe often in so short a space doth he challendge wisedome to himselfe I beseech thee O Lord I appeale to thine own coÌ„scieÌ„ce speake but truth be not partiall in thine owne cause was not this my saying I am able to alleadge particulars I can remember the time and the place when I was yet in my countrey therefore I prevented it If I had had mine own will I had stopt this inconvenience for I was not to learne that thou vvast a gracious God there was no pointe of fore-sight wherein I mistooke Thus his saying his providence his prevention his knowledge these are the thinges that hee standeth to much and to long vpon Thy saying Ionas or my saying or the saying of any mortall man what are the wordes of our lippes or the imaginations of our harts but naughtie foolish peruerse from our youth vp if God direct them not or vvhat thy prevention and forecast or of all thy companions prophets or prophets children in the world to knowe what to morrow will bring vpon you or the closing vp of the present day vnlesse some wisdome from heaven cast beames into your mindes to â—llighten them As Elizeus directed the hand of Ioash the king of Israell to shoote and the arrow of Gods deliverance followed vpon it and so often as he smote the ground by the apointment of the prophet so often and no longer he had likelihoode of good successe so the Lord must direct our tongues hearts in all that proceedeth froÌ„ them and where his holy Spirit ceaseth to guide vs there it vvill bee verified that the prophet hath Surelie everie man is a beast by his owne knowledge Therefore the advise of Salomon is good Trust in the Lorde vvith all thine hearte and leane not vnto thy vvisedome in all thy waies acknovvledge him and he shall direct thy pathes Be not wise in thine owne eies and feare the Lorde and departe from evill so shall health bee to thy navell and marrow to thy bones You haue heard the counsaile of the wise nowe ioine vnto it for conclusion the iudgment of the most righteous Wâ—e vnto them that are wise in their owne eies and prudent in their owne sight Wisedome presumed you see and drawne from the cisterne of our owne braine is in the reputation of God as the sinnes of covetousnesse oppression drunkennes and such like and standeth in the crew of those damned and wretched iniquities which God accurseth I pray thee I like the note that Ierome giveth vpon this place he tempereth his complaint because in some sort he accuseth God of iniustice For this cause he sweetneth the accusatioÌ„ with faire flattering speach For to haue challendged God in grosse blunt tearms had bin to apparant therfore he commeth with a plausible glosing insinuation vnto him I pray thee O Lord for remembring that fearful name of his Iehova wherein he saw nothing but maiesty dreadfulnes could he do lesse than entreate him if he had spoken but to the king of Niniveh in whose dominions he was or to Ieroboam the second who raigned in his own natiue couÌ„try the very regard of their persons and place would haue enforced him so much It was the couÌ„saile that AEsop gaue to Solon enquiring what speach he should vse before Croesus either verye little or very sweete For a prince is pacified with curtesie and
Hilkiah what should be done 2. the booke of the law is presented vnto him he commauÌ„deth both the priests princes to enquire of Huldah the prophetesse about it he weepeth reÌ„deth his cloathes as the principall person whoÌ„ that daÌ„ger care doth principally coÌ„cerne 3. he assembleth all the people both in Iudah IerusaleÌ„ the Chronicles adde Ierusalem Beniamin al the couÌ„tries that pertained to the childreÌ„ of Israel throughout his whole dominion both small great elders priests prophets levites both laity Clergy 4. he readeth the law in the house of the Lord 5. he maketh a covenaÌ„t himselfe 6. taketh a covenaÌ„t of the people to keep it 7. he causeth al to staÌ„d vnto it 2. Ch. 34. coÌ„pelleth al in Israel to serue the Lord 8. he ordaineth holdeth a passeover the like wherof was never seene since the daie of the Iudges nor in al the daies of the Kings of Israel the kings of Iudah he apointeth the priests to their chardges 2. Chr. 35. chaÌ„dgeth the office of the levites that they should not beare the arke any more so the priests stood in their places also the levites in their orders iuxta regis imperium according to the coÌ„mauÌ„demnt of the king 9. in the purdging of Idolatry removing those swarmes of idolatrous priests with al their abominable service he coÌ„maundeth Hilkith the high priest the priests of the secoÌ„d order to do thus or thus Meane while the levite the priest the prophet are not wronged by the king in their callings The king doth the office of a king in commaunding and they their offices in administring Hee readeth the booke of the covenant doubtlesse in person and in the house of the Lorde but he standeth not on a pulpit of wood made for preaching to giue the sense of the law and to cause the people to vnderstand it for that beloÌ„geth to Ezra the Priest to the Levites Neh. 8. Again he causeth a passeover to be helde but he neither killeth the passeover nor prepareth the people nor sprinckleth the bloud nor fleaeth the breast nor offereth burnt offerings for all this he leaveth to the sonnes of Aaron yet is nothing done but iuxta praeceptum regis Iosiae according to the commauÌ„dement of king Iosias Moreover the booke of the Lorde was his counsailour and instructour in all this reformation For so is the wil of God Deuteronomie the seventeenth that a booke of the law shoulde be written to lie by the king to reade therein all the daies of his life that he might learne to feare the Lord his God and to keepe all his lawes And in a matter of scruple he sendeth to Huldah the prophetesse to be resolved by her and she doth the part of a prophetesse though to her king liege Lord tell the man that sent you vnto me thus saith the Lord beholde I will bring evill vpon this place 2. King 22. By this it is easie to define if the spirit of peace be not quite gone from vs a question vnnecessary to be moved dangerous and costlie to Christendome the triall whereof hath not lien in the endes of mens tongues but in the pointes of swordes and happy were these Westerne partes of the world if so much bloud already effused so many Emperours Kings Princes defeated deprived their liues by poison by treason and other vndutifull meanes vnder-mined their state deturbed overthrowen might yet haue purchased an ende thereof but the question still standeth and threatneth more tragedies to the earth Whither the king may vse his authority in ecclesiastical causes persons Who doubteth it that hath an eare to heare the doings of Iosias He is the first in all this busines his art facultie professioÌ„ authority immediate next vnto God held froÌ„ him in capite not derived froÌ„ beneath is architectonicall supreme Queene coÌ„mauÌ„der of al other functions vocations not reaching so far as to decree against the decrees of God to make lawes coÌ„trary to his law to erect sacraments or service fighting with his orders nor to â—surpe priestly propheticall offices nor to stop the mouthes of prophets and to say vnto them prophecy not right thinges but having the booke of the law to direct him himselfe to direct others by that rule and as the Priestes instruct the prophets admonish him in his place so himselfe to apoint and commaund them in their doings VVhat should I trouble you Iosias as their Lord maister and king 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 assembleth commaundeth causeth compelleth buildeth pulleth downe planteth rooteth vp killeth burneth destroyeth VVhat doth Hilkiah in all this but obey though higher than al the priests because he was the high priest yet lower than Iâ—sias Or vvhat doeth Huldah the prophetesse but pronounce the worde of the Lorde her person possessions family liberty life all that shee had being otherwise at the kings commaundement So let Samuel tell Saul of his faultes Nathan tell David of his Ahia Ieroboam Elias Micheas Ahab Elizeus Iehoram Ieremie Zedekias Iohn Baptist Herod Ambrose Theodosius and al Christian Bishops and priests their princes offendours The state of the questioÌ„ me seemeth is very significantly laid down in that speach of Constantine the Emperour to his Bishoppes you are Bishoppes within the church and I a Bishoppe without the church They in the proper and internall offices of the worde sacramentes ecclesiastical censures he for outward authority and presidence they as over seers of the flocke of Christ he an over-seer of over-seers they as pastours and fathers he as a maister and Lord to commaund their service they rulers and superiours in their kinde but it is rather in the Lord than that they are Lordes over Gods inheritance and their rule is limited to the soule not to the body and consisteth in preaching the vvorde not in bearing the sword but he the most excellent having more to doe than any man Lastly to them is due obedience and submission rather offered by their chardges than enforced to the other a subiection compelling ordering the people whither they will or no. I will drawe the substance of mine intended speach to these tvvo heads 1. That the greatest honour and happinesse to kings is to vphold religion 2. That the greatest dishonour and harme to religion is to pull downe kings The former I need not stand to prooue they are happy realmes in the middest whereof standeth not the capitol but the temple of the Lord. If this lie wast vnfurnished vnregarded and men be willing to cry the time is not yet come that the house of the Lorde shoulde bee builte or beautified the plagues that ensue are without nuÌ„ber heaven shal giue no dew earth no fruite drought shal be vpon mountaines valleyes much shall be sowne little brought in and that little shall bee blowne vpon and brought to nothinge But vvhere the prophecie is fulfilled kings shall bee thy nursing