that can holde no water The change is very vnequall worse then the change of Glaucus who gaue his armour of golde for armour of brasse and the losse vnsupportable For what aequalitie betweene a naturall fountaine vvhich ever floweth because it is euer fedde in the chambers of the earth and artificiall cesternes or pittes fashioned by the handes of man cesternes that are broken and cannot holde I saie not water of life and perennity but no water at all But when they saw their folly herein as a thiefe is ashamed saith God when he is founde so was the house of Israell ashamed they and their kings their Princes their Priestes and their Prophets because they had said to a tree Thou art my father and to a stone Thou hast begotten me He yet proceedeth against thē They haue turned their backe to me and not their face but in their time of trouble they will say Arise and helpe vs. You see the fits and pangs of idolatours First they digge broken pits afterward they are ashamed first they flie to the tree stone for succour but when they are vexed they seeke after the help of the true God Clemens Alexandrinus marvelleth why Diagoras and Nicanor with others should be sir-named Atheists vvho had a sharper sight in discerning the false Gods thē their fellows Amōgst whom Diagoras hauing something to boile tooke his Hercules carved of wood thus spake vnto him It is now time O Hercules that as thou hast serued Euristheus in twelue labors so thou shouldest serue mee in the thirteenth so threw him into the fire as a piece of wood A practise not vnlike the counsell which I haue read giuen to Clodoveus the French king Worship that which thou hast burnt incense vnto burne that vvhich thou hast worshipped The childrē of Israel in the book of Iudges finding their error folly in idolatry made a recātation of it for whilst they served the Lord he deliuered them from the Aegyptians and Ammorites children of Ammō Philistines Sidonians Malachites Mahonites they cried vnto the Lord he saued them out of their handes But whē they worshipped strange Gods they were no more delivered nay they were vexed oppressed sore tormēted thē the Lord vpbraided them Go crie vnto your Gods which you haue chosen let them saue you in the time of your tribulation And to that exprobatiō they yeelded saying we haue sinned against thee because wee haue forsaken our owne God haue serued Baalam doe thou vnto vs whatsoever pleaseth thee onely deliuer vs this day The like irrision he vsed before in Ieremy to those that honored stockes and stones but where are thy Gods which thou hast made thee let thē arise if they cā helpe thee in the time of thy misery A forcible admonition to those whom a truth cannot draw from a doctrine of lies from the worke of their own hands worship of their own phātasies whom Clemens Alexandrinus not vnfitly matcht with those Barbarian tyrants who bound the bodies of the living to the bodies of the dead till they rotted togither so these being living soules are coupled and ioined with dead images vanishing in the blindnesse of their minds perishing in the inventions of their own braines And as the naturall pigeons were beguiled by the counterfet and flewe vnto pigeōs that were shaped in the painters shop so stones saith he flocke vnto stones stocks vnto stocks men vnto pictures as sensles of hart as stocks stones that are carved But whē they haue tired thēselues in their supposed imaginary Gods whō do they worship Praxiteles made Venus to the likenes of Cratina whom he loved Al the Painters of Thebes painted her after the image of Phrine a beautiful but a notorious harlot Al the carvers in Athens cut Mercury to the imitation of their Alcibiades It may be the pictures of Christ the blessed Virgin the saints which they haue placed in their windows vpon the walles of their houses fastned to their beds and carrie privily in their bosomes as Rahel hid her fathers idols in the camels straw are but Pigmalions pictures workes of their owne devising or draughts of their lovers friēds as vnlike the originals as Alcibiades was to Mercury Phrine Cratina to Venus Lactātius scattereth the obiections made for images in his times reneued in ours like fome For whē it was alleaged that they worshiped not the images thēselus but those to whose likenes similitude they were formed I am sure saith he your reason is because you thinke thē to be in heavē els they were not Gods Why then cast you not your eies into heauē why forgetting the feature of your bodies which are made vpright that your minds may imitate them not answering the reason of your name pore ye downe vpon the earth bow your selues to inferiour things as if it repeted you Non quadrupedes esse natos that you were not borne foure footed beasts Againe images were devised to be the memorials represētatiōs either of the absent or of the dead Whether of these two do you think your Gods if dead who so folish as to worship thē if absent as litle they deserue such honor because they neither se our actiōs nor heare the praiers which we powre before thē When they further replied that they afforded their presēce no where so sone or not at al as at their images he answereth it is iust as the cōmō people deemeth that the spirits ghosts of the dead walk at their graues reliques are most cōversant in churchyards I passe his further infectatiō how senseles a thing it is to feare that which it selfe feareth falling firing stealing away which being in timber was in the power of a contemptible artificer to bee made some thinge or nothinge vvhen no man feareth the workeman himselfe which must of force be greater then his worke when the birdes of the aire are not afraid of them because they roust and build and leaue their filthines vpon them and the figments themselues if they had any sense or motion would run to thāke worship the carver who when they were rude and vnpolished stones gaue them their being When Saint Augustine heard them say in his dayes that they tooke not the idoll for a God he asketh them what doth the altar there and the bowing of the knee and holding vp the hands and such like gesticulations They seemed in their owne conceiptes to bee of a finer◠religion such are the pruners and purifiers of popery the cleanely Iesuites of these times which were able to distinguish I worship not the corporall image onely I beholde the portraiture of that which I ought to worship but he stoppeth their mouthes with the Apostles sentence and sheweth what damnation will light vpon them which turne the truth of God into a lie and worship the creature more then the creator which is to be
dissolute I feare and beare a reverent estimation 3. I am not carried away to dumbe idols I feare the Lorde God 4. who is not a God in heaven alone as your Iupiter nor in the sea alone as your Neptune nor alone in the earth as your Pluto but alone is the God of heaven and doth not hold by tenure but 5. himselfe hath made the sea and the dry land not only the land of Israel wherin he principally dwelleth and which I relinquished but the land of Tharsis also the continent dry ground belonging to the whole world not the land alone but all the waters of the maine sea which I tooke for my refuge and sanctuary I am an Hebrew From the beginning of the worlde to the time of Christ are numbred fowre propagations or generations the first from Adam to Noe the second from Noe to Abraham the third from Abraham to David the fourth from David to Christ. In the second generation was the name of the Hebrewes received in the third of the Israelites from Iacob sirnamed Israel whose grandfather Abraham was in the fourth of the Iewes after that Iuda and Beniamin which for the vnity of mindes were as it were one tribe following Rehoboam the son of Salomon of the tribe of Iuda made the kingdome of Iuda the other ten betaking them to Ieroboam of the tribe of Ephraim set vp the kingdome of the Ephraimites or of Israel One and the same people thrice changed their names Touching the first of these names there are sundry opinioÌ„s brought wheÌ„ce it arose 1. Some thinke they were called Hebrews of AbrahaÌ„ with the alteration of a fewe letters Hebraei quasi Abrahaei 2. some deriue them from Heber who was the fourth froÌ„ Noah 3. the graÌ„marians fetch theÌ„ froÌ„ an Hebrew word which signifieth over or beyonde because the posterity of SeÌ„ went over the river Tigris abode in Caldaea This sirname you shall first finde given to AbrahaÌ„ Gen. 14. where it is said that he which brought news that Lot was carried out of Sodome with the rest of the booty tolde it to Abraham the Hebrew because forsaking Vr of the Chaldees and passing over Euphrates he came into the land of Canaan therefore was he named of that couÌ„try people Ibreus that is one that past over So there is no doubt made but of Abraham they are called Hebrews because he harkned to the word of the Lorde and went beyond Euphrates Some haue gathered here-hence that in calling himselfe an Hebrew he maketh coÌ„fession of his fault that as the children of Sem Abraham past over rivers so by a borrowed speech he had past over the commandement of the Lord. For what is sinne but transgression transitio linearum the going beyond those lines limits that are prefined vs Other obserue that he implieth the condition of mans life heerein as having no abiding citie but a travaile vpon the face of the earth to passe from place to place as it is written of Israell in the Psalme they went from nation to nation from one kingdome to an other people and David confesseth no lesse I am a stranger and soiourner vpon the earth as all my fathers were Hierome vvoulde haue vs note that he tearmeth not himselfe a Iew which name came from the reÌ„ding of the kingdome but an Hebrew that is a passenger I take the letter of the text without deeper constructions that his purpose simply was to answere their last question which was yet fresh in his eares touching the people from whence he came and by naming his nation to make an argument against himselfe of higher amplification that lying in that corner of the worlde which was the diamond of the ring and as it were the apple of the eie heart of the body being sprung of that roote whereof it was saide Onely this people is wise and of vnderstanding and a greate nation for vvhat nation is so great to vvhome the Gods come so neere as the Lorde is neere vnto vs in all that wee call vnto him for or what nation so greate that hath ordinaunces and lawes so righteous as wee haue it might bee his greater offence to bee sovven good and come vp evill to bee richly planted in the goodlyest vine and baselie degenerated into a sower grape As it were a greater shame not to bee knit indissolublie to the worshippe of God in Englande than any other countrey almost it lying in Europe as Gedeons fleece in the flore exempted from the plagues of her neighbours and speciallye signed vvith the favour of GOD Hungary and Boheme busied with the Turkes Italy poisoned vvith the local seat of Antichrist Spaine held in awe with a bloudy Inquisition nether Germany disquieted with a forraine foe France molested with an intestine enemy Ireland troubled with the incivility of the place Scotland with her fatal infelicity England amongst all the rest having peaceable daies and nightes and not knowing any other bane but too much quietnes which shee hath taken from God with the left hand and vsed as the fountaine of all her licentiousnes After his country he placeth his religion I feare the Lord God of heaven which is here put for the generall worship and service that belongeth to God For that which God saith Esay 29. their feare is taughte by the precepts of men Christ interpreteth Math 15. by the name of vvorship In vaine doe they worship me teaching for doctrines the precepts of men Feare and worshippe in these scriptures are both one Come children saith the Psalmist hearken vnto mee I will teach you the feare of the Lord. And it is a notable phrase that the Hebrewes vse to this purpose as in the speech of Iacob to Laban Gen. 31. Except the God of my father the God of Abrâ—ham and the â—eare of Isaac had beene with mee surelie thou hadst sent mee avvay emptie where it is further to be marked that when Laban sware by the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor Iacob sware by the feare of his father Isaac that is by that God which his father feared that is worshipped and served It implieth thus much that the strength of Israell is a dreadfull God clothed with vnspeakeable maiesty as with a garment the glory of his face shining brighter than al the lights of heaven in their beauty yea the beholding of his countenance to a mortall man present death the Angels tremble the heavens melt the mountaines smoake the sea slieth backe the rivers are dried vp the fish rot the earth fainteth at the sight thereof therfore we ought not approach his grouÌ„d with our shooes on our feet with sensual base cogitations nor sit at his feast when the breade of his fearful word is broken without our wedding garment nor enter his house of praier with the sacrifice of fooles nor come to his holy mysteries with vnwasht handes or harts not
which foolish idolatry one of their owne sophists sometime spake in derision Bono estote animo quando Dij moriuntur ante homines Be of good courage since Gods die before men And not only men haue they thus hallowed but their qualities and vertues Iustice Prudence the like yea their affections perturbatioÌ„s Feare Hope Loue with the rest wherof Lactantius writeth Audax consilium Graeciae quòd Cupidinem Amorem consecrant Greece was very bold in making Loue a God Shal I adde moreover the defects infirmities of men they had their dumbe Goddesse by LactaÌ„tius a thing most ridiculously taxed in them Quid praestare colenti potest quae loqui non potest what good can shee do to her suitors that cannot speake They are not yet filthy enough vnlesse they erect altars and shrines to theis vices to Impudencie and Contumelye as Epimenides did at Athens and to those plagues which their sinnes deserved as to Furies and Fiends Revenge and the like mischiefes Tullus Hostilius put Feare Palenes in the number of his Gods It is pitty saith Lactantius that ever his Gods should go from him And the people of Rome helde Rust and the Ague in no lesse account The fruites of the grounde as Corne and Wine the very land markes in the fields rude unshapen stones were not debarred of this honor They had their God for dunging their lande and the basest thing that coulde bee imagined a goddesse for their draught-houses And not to disquiet any longer Christian eares with their hethnish absurdities drunkards harlots and the eues were not lefte without their patrons A Poet of their owne inveighed against their multitude of Gods in a Satyre long since Nec turba deorum Talis vt est hodie contentáque sydera paucis Numinibus miserum vrgebant Atlanta minore Pondere There were not wont to be so many Gods as now a daies the heavens were content with a smaller number of them laid lesse burthen vpon the shoulders of poore Atlas We read in the history of the sacred booke that Astaroth was the idoll of Zidon Melchon of Ammon Chemosh of Moab Beelzebub of Ekron for every natioÌ„ that came out of Asshur to inhabit Samaria who were therfore destroyed by lyons because they knew not that maner of worship which the God of the country required a several God was found out for the men of Babel Succoth-Benoth for the men of Cuth Nergal for Hamath Ashima Nibhaz Tirtak for the Avims for Shepharvaim Adramelech Anammelech to which they burnt their children in the fire Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum So much mischiefe coulde their verie religion persvvade vnto them Lactantius setteth dovvne the cause of this vainenes in the thoughtes and darkenes in the harts of men that wherein they professe themselues to bee most wise therein they become most fooles Men are therefore deceived because eyther they take vpon them religion vvithout vvisedome or studie vvisedome without religion so they fall to many religions but therefore false because they haue forsaken vvisedome vvhich coulde teach them that there cannot be many Gods or they bestow their paines in wisedome but therefore false because they haue let slip the religion of the highest God which might instruct them in the knowledge of truth To shew the absurdities wherwith this opinioÌ„ floweth of devising many Gods Cyprian proveth that the maiesty and sublimity of the godhead cannot admit an equal Let vs borrow an example from the earth saith he when did you ever know society communion in a kingdome either begin with fidelity or end without bloudshed Thus was germanity and brotherhood broken betwixt the Thebans Eteocles and Polynices One kingdome could not hold those brethren of Rome Romulus Remus though the harbor of one woÌ„be contained theÌ„ Pompey Cesar though so nearly allied yet they could not endure Caesarvé priorem Pompeiusvé parem either Caesar his better or Pompey his peere Neither mervaile sath he to see it thus in man when all nature doth consent therein The bees haue but one king flocks and heards but one leader much more hath the world but one governour That which was spoken to this effect in general 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the kingdome of many governours is not good Caesar applied to his owne name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in exception to the multitude of Caesars or Emperours The colledge of Bishops in Rome answered Marcellus when he would haue built but one temple both to Honour and vertue One chappel or chancel cannot wel be dedicated to two Gods I often alleadge Lactantius in these matters a man that hath notably deserved of the gospell of Christ against the vanities of Gentilitie who being as it were a streame issuing from the eloquence of Tully as Ierome commanded him converted all the force oâ— his eloquence to assault beate downe vanquish triumph over the enemies of true religion Thomas Beacon a countrey man of ours in an epistle to D. Nowell Cherubin to Cherubin giveth him this commendation to close vp his appetite amongst many others before vttered I cannot but cry out O Celius a man truely celestiall and divine O Lactantius an authour sweeter then any milke and hony O Firmianus a champion in defending Christian veritie most firme faithfull and constant Behold the man c. alluding to his happy names which he rightly fitted by answerable good conditions This Lactantius presseth his arguments nearer to the marke If there bee more Gods then one then singlelie and apart they must needes haue lesse strength for so much shall bee wanting to every one as the rest hâ—ue gleaned from him and the nature of goodnesse cannot bee perfitte and absolute but vvhere the whole not where a litle portion of the whole is It they shall say that as there are sundry offices to bee looked vnto so they are divided amongst many officers all commeth to the same ende For their severall iurisdictions cannot exceede their bounds because they are crossed kept in by others as two contrary windes cannot blow togither in one place For if they haue equall force one hindereth the other if vnequall the vveaker of the two must perforce yeelde Againe if offices be shared amongst them besides that the care of every God will goe no farther then his owne charge and province they must of necessitie often fall out as they did in Homer where the couâ—t is devided into two factâ—ons some alleadging for Troy that it should be defended otheir against it that it should be sacked If in an army of men there should be as many generals as there are regimentes bandes and companies neither coulde they well aray nor easilie governe and holde in their souldiers And to say that the worlde is ruled by the disposition of many Gods is such a kinde of speech as if a man shoulde affirme there were
blessed for ever For to returne where I first began besides the folly of the thinge the mischiefe is behinde Go cry vnto your Gods which you haue chosen and let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation What a wofull discharge and dismission were this to be lefte vnto such Gods whose heads the hands of a carver hath polished and if their eies be full of dust and their clothes eaten vpon their backes with mothes they cannot helpe it the beastes are in better case then they for they can geâ— them vnder a covert or shadow to do themselues good Then they may cry as the Apostles did vpon the motion of the like departure Lorde whether shall I goe for as Christ there had the words so hath the blessed Trinitie alone the power and donation of eternall life When Senacherib and Rabsakeh bragged that both the kings and the Gods of the nations vvere destroied by them Ezâ—chias aunswered the obiection Trueth it is Lorde that the kings of Assur haue destoyed their nations and their lands and haue set fire on their Gods for they were no Gods but the worke of mens handes even wood and stone therefore they destroyed them now therefore O Lorde our God saue thou vs out of his hand that all the kingdomes of the earth may know that thou O Lord art onely God This argument Moses tried vpon the golden calfe whereof Israell had said Behold thy Gods O Israell to shew that it was no God hee burnt it in the fire grounde it to powder strawed it vpon the water and then caused the people to drinke it To conclude the pointe It is most true which the Prophet resteth vpon Psalme 86. Amongst the Gods there is none like vnto thee O Lord and there is none that can doe like thy workes And as there is but one trueth encountered with as many falshods as there were gobbets and shreddes of dismembred Pentheus so is there but one true God opposed by as many false as happily there are falshoods It may be the maister of the ship finding a defect miscariage of their former labours that there was no succour to bee had vvhere they sought comfort that though they had all prayed they are not released standeth in a wavering touching the Gods which they called vpon and thinketh there may be a God of more might vvhome they knowe not so as in effect vvhen hee thus spake vnto Ionas he set vp an altar and tendered honour vnto an vnknowne God As if he had said I am ignorant whom thou seruest but such a one he may be as is pronest to do vs good and best able to saue our shippe For as an idoll is nothing in the worlde and there is no time in the worlde wherein that nothing can do good so there are many times vvhen idolaters that most dote vpon them as Ieremy speaketh are brought to perceiue it Esay in the second of his prophecie speaketh of a day vvhen men shall not onely relinquish but cast away their idols of siluer and golde vvhich they haue made to themselues to worship vnto the mowles and battes children of darkenesse fitter for those that are either bleare eied or that haue no eies to see withall then for men of vnderstanding go into the holes of the earth and toppes of cragged rocks from the feare of the Lorde and glorie of his maiestie when he shal arise to iudge the earth You see the fruit of idolaters that as they haue loved darkenesse more then the light so they leaue their Gods to the darkenesse and themselues enter into darkenesse a taste and assay before hand of that everlasting and vtter darknes that is provided for them If so bee God will thinke vpon vs. Now that this was the minde of the maister of the shippe to distrust his Gods I gather by this vvhich followeth vvherein the vncertaintie of his faith is bewraied and his hope hangeth as the crowe on the arke betwixt heauen and earth finding no rest without resolution of any comforte Si forte if so be is not a phrase fitte to proceede from the mouth of faith it is meeter to come from Babylon whereof the Prophet writeth Bring baulme for her sore si fortè sanetur if happilie shee maie bee healed her wounds were so desperate and vnlikely to be cured It is meeter to be applied to the sores of Simon Magus whome Peter counselled to repent him of his wickednesse and pray vnto God Si forte remittatur if so bee the thoughte of his hearte mighte bee forgiuen him The nature and language of faith is much different it nesteth it selfe in the woundes of Christ as Doues in the cleftes of rockes that cannot bee assaulted it standeth as firme and stedfast as mount Sion that cannot be removed it casteth an anchor in the knowledge of the true God and because he is a true God it doubteth not of mighte and mercy or rather mercie and might as the heathens call their Iupiter Optimus maximus first by the name of his goodnesse and then of his greatnesse His mercies it doubteth not of because they are passed by promise indenture covenaunt othe before vnmoueable vvitnesses the best in heaven and the best in earth His promises are no lesse assertained because they are signed with the singer of the holy Ghost and sealed with the bloud of his anointed and beloved By faith yee stande saith the Apostle to the Corinthians it is the roote that beareth vs the legges and supporters and stronge men that holde vs vp If we listen to the prophet Abacuk we may yet say more For by faith wee liue it is the soule and spirite of the new man wee haue a name that we liue but indeede are dead to Godwarde if wee beleeue not For if any withdrawe himselfe therehence the soule of God will take no pleasure in him Woe vnto him that hath a double hearte and to the vvicked lippes and faint handes and to the sinner that goeth two manner of waies woe vnto him that is faint hearted for he beleeueth not therefore shall hee not bee defended It is not the manner of faith to be shaken and waver like a reede to and fro nor of a faithfull man to bee tost of every winde as a waue of the sea that is ever rowling And therefore we are willed to come to the throne of grace with boldnesse and to drawe neare with a true hearte in assurance of faith and not to cast awaie that confidence vvhich hath greate recompence of rewarde and when we aske to aske in faith without reasoning or doubting and to trust perfectlie in that grace which is brought vnto vs by the revelation of Iesus Christ. Our life is a warfare vpon earth a tried and expert warriour one that bare in his body the skars of his faithful service keeping the tearmes of his owne art so named it and wee are not to wrastle against
Christ the precepts and ordinaunces of his law his mysteries of faith haue beene often preached often heard yet never wearied never satisfied those that hungered and thirsted after his saving health I goe backe to my purpose Ionas you heare praied This is the life of the soule which before I spake of when being perplexed with such griefe of heart as neither wine according to the advise of Salomon nor stronge drinke could bring ease vnto her toÌ„gue cleaving to the roofe of her mouth and her spirite melting like waxe in the middest of her bowels when it is day calling for the night againe and when it is night saying to her selfe when shall it be morning finding no comforte at allâ— either in light or darkenesse kinsfolkes or friendes pleasures or riches and wishing as often as shee openeth her lippes and draweth in her breath vnto her if God were so hasty to heare those wishes Oh that thou wouldest hide me in the graue and keepe me secret vntill thy wrath were past yet then shee taketh vnto her the wings of a doue the motion and agility I meane of the spirite of God shee flieth by the strength of her praiers into the bosome of Gods mercies and there is at rest Is any afflicted amongest you Let him pray Afflicted or not afflicted vnder correction of apostolique iudgement let him pray For what shall he else doe Shall he follow the vvaies of the wicked which the prophet describeth the wicked is so prowde that hee seeketh not after God hee saith evermore in his heart there is no God hee boasteth of his owne heartes desires he blesseth himselfe and contemneth the Lorde the iudgementes of God are high aboue his sight therefore hee snuffeth at his enimies and saith to himselfe I shall never be mooved nor come in daunger I can name you a man that in his prosperity said even as they did I shall never be moved thou Lorde of thy goodnesse hast made my hill so strong But see the change Thou diddest but hide thy face and I was troubled Then cried I vnto Lorde and prayed vnto my God saying what profite is there in my bloud c. Or shall hee vvith those vnrighteous priests in Malachie vse bigge wordes against the LORDE It is in vaine that I haue served him and what profite is it that I haue kepte his commaundementes and vvalked in humility before him O the counsell of the vvicked bee farre from mee saith Iob their candell shall often bee put out and the sorrowe of the fathers shal bee laide vp for their children and they shall even drinke the wrath of the Almighty And all such as feare the Lord speake otherwise every one to his neighbour and the Lorde harkeneth and heareth it and a booke of remembrance is written for them that feare him and thinke vpon his name Or shall he on the other side when his sorrowes are multiplied vpon him saie as it is in the Psalme vvho will shew mee any good thing Let him aunswere the distrust of his minde in the nexte woordes Lorde lifte thou vp the lighte of thy countenaunce vpon mee Thou shalt put more ioy thereby into mine hearte than the plentifullest enâ—rease of corne wine and oile can bring to others Or lastly what shall hee doe shall hee adde griefe vnto griefe and welcome his woes vnto him shal he drinke downe pensiuenesse as Behemoth drinketh downe Iordan into his mouth shall hee bury himselfe aliue and drowne his soule in a gulfe of desperation shall hee liue the life of Cain or die the death of Iudas shall hee spend his wretched time in bannings and execrations cursing the night that kept counsaile to his conception cursing the day that brought tidings of his bringing forth cursing the earth that beareth him the aire that inspireth him the light that shineth vpon him shall hee curse God and die or perhappes curse God and not die or shall he keepe his anguish to himselfe let his heart burst like newe bottelles that are full of wine for want of venting or shall hee howle and yell into the aire like the wolues in the wildernesse and as the maner of the heathen is not knowing where or how to make their mone feeling a wounde but not knowing how to cure it or what shall hee doe when he findeth himselfe in misery his waies hedged vp with thornes that heÌ„ cannot stirre to deliver himselfe there-hence what shoulde he doe but pray Bernard vnder a fiction proposeth a table well worthy our beholding therein the Kinges of Babylon and Ierusalem signifying the state of the world and the church alwaies warring togither In which encounter at length it fell out that one of the souldiours of Ierusalem was fled to the castell of Iustice. Siege laide to the castell and a multitude of enimies intrencht round about it Feare gaue over all hope but prudence ministred her comfort Dost thou not knowe saith shee that our king is the king of glorie the Lorde stronge and mighty even the Lord mightie in battell let vs therefore dispatch a messenger that may informe him of our necessities Feare replyeth but who is able to breake thorough Darknes is vpon the face of the earth and our wals are begirte with a watchfull troupe of armed men we vtterlie vnexperte of the waie into so farre a country where vpon Iustice is consulted Be of good cheare saith Iustice I haue a messenger of especiall trust well knowne to the king and his courte Praier by name who knoweth to addresse her selfe by waies vnknowne in the stillest silence of the night till shee commeth to the secrets and chamber of the king him selfe Forthwith she goeth and finding the gates shut knocketh amaine Open yee gates of righteousnes and be ye opened ye everlasting dores that I may come in and tell the kinge of Ierusalem how our case standeth Doubtlesse the trustiest and efectuallest messenger we haue to send is Praier If we send vp merits the stars in heaven wil disdeine it that we which dwell at the footestoole of God dare to presume so far when the purest creatures in heaven are impure in his sight If we send vp feare and distrustfulnes the length of the waie will tire them out They are as heavy and lumpish as gaddes of iron they will sinke to the ground before they come halfe way to the throne of salvation If wee send vp blasphemies and curses all the creatures betwixt heaven and earth will band themselues against vs. The sun and the moone will raine downe bloud the fire hote burning coales the aire thunderboltes vpon our heades Praier I say againe is the surest embassadour which neither the tediousnesse of the way nor difficulties of the passage can hinder from her Purpose quicke of speede faithfull for trustinesse happie for successe able to mounte aboue the eagles of the skie into the heaven of heavens and as a chariote of fire bearing vs aloft into the
al posterity to come that I will not meane-while forget to looke vp to the mountaines from whence my helpe was It is the parte of an honest ingenious minde to confesse vvho they are by whome thou hast profited but on the other side the marke of a most vngratious amd vnhappy nature rather to be taken in the theft than to returne like for like And what doe they else but steale and embezell the graces of God which either dissembling their authour assume them to themselves or confessing the authour extenuate their worth as if they were not meete to bee accounted for These are the theeves robbers indeede capitall malefactours sure to bee cut of on the right hand and on the left and not to inherite the kingdome of God as the Apostle threatneth The stealing of temporall things may bee acquited againe either with single or double foure-folde or seven-folde resolution But the filching and purloming of the glory of God can never bee aunswered Others steale of necessity to satisfie their soules because they are hungrie and but equall from equall man from man But these of pleasure and pride breake through heaven which though it bee free from violent theeves yet these by a wile and insidiation enter into it and steale away the honour of God which is most precious vnto him When Iohn Baptist was borne the neighbours and cousins vpon the eighth day at the circumcising of the childe called him Zacharias after the name of his father Elizabeth aunswered them not so but hee shal bee called Iohn though it were a mervaile to them all and none of his kinred were so named and Zachary wrote in his tables that Iohn should be his name They knew that hee was the gift of God which his mother in her olde age and in the state of her barrennes had conceaved and therfore called him Iohn that is the gift of God in remembrance of natures vnfuitfulnesse and their vndeserved sonne whome neither father nor mother nor kinred I meane not ordinary and carnall generation could haue given vnto them· such are the children of our wombes a gift that commeth from the Lorde And such are our children and fruit otherwise whatsoever wee possesse outwarde or inwarde wee holde it in Capite even in the Lorde of Lordes who is the giver of every good perfit gifte as Iames writeth Scipio Africanus the elder had made the citty of Rome being in a consumption and readie to giue vp the ghost Lady of Africke At length being banished into a base country towne his will was that his tombe should haue this inscription vpon it Ingrata patria ne ossa quidem mea habes vnthankefull country thou hast not so much as my bones Many and mightye deliverances haue risen from the Lorde to this lande of ours to make provocation of our thankefulnesse For not to goe by a kalender but to speake in 2. wordes wee haue lien in ignorance as in the belly of the whale or rather the belly of hell for blindnesse of heart is the very brimme and introduction into the hell of the damned the Lorde hath pulled vs thence Wee haue also lien in the heart of our enemies as in the belly of the fishe Gebal and Ammon and Amelek and the Philistines with those of Tyre haue combined themselues and cried a confoederacy a confoederacy against vs the Lorde hath also delivered vs to make some proofe of our gratefull spirites For this a rule in beneficence Ingratus est adversus unum beneficium is a man vnthankefull for one benefite for a seconde hee will not Hath hee forgotten two the third will reduce to his memory those that are slipt thence God hath liberally tried vs with one and an other and a third and yet ceaseth not But what becommeth of our gratitude It hath bene our manner for the time to haue pamphlets and formes of thankesgiving in our churches our heartes haue burnt within vs for the present as of the two disciples that went to Emaus to assemble our selues at praiers preachings breaking of bread and to give an howre or two more than vsuall from our worldly affaires as a recompense of Gods goodnes Our mouthes have beene filled with laughter and our tonges with ioy and wee have bene content to say the Lord hath done greate thinges for vs wherof wee reioyce But how quickly forget wee all againe Ingrata Anglia ne ossa quidam habes Vngratefull England thou hast not so much as the bones of thy patrone and deliverer thou hast exiled him from thy thoughtes buried him in oblivion there is not one remnant or footeprint left to witnesse to the worlde that thou hast bene protected What others have testified in former times by building of altars pitching of huge stones raysinge of pillers dedication of feastes vvriting of bookes that their childrens children might aske a reason and bee instructed in GODS auncient mercies thou haste not lefte to thy race to come by one stone one turfe one post one paper or schrole of continuaunce in remembraunce vnto them of thy ampler benefites It deserveth the protestation of GOD 1. Esay Heare O men and harken O Angels no. A greater auditorie is required Heare ô heavens and harken ô earth I have brought vp preferred and exalted sonnes and they have despised me If servauntes and bond-men the sonnes of Agar of whome it was saide Cast out the bond-man it mighte lesse have beene marvayled at but sonnes of mine owne education adopted by speciall grace these have despised mee They had an action in Athens against vnthankefull persons The more their blame Qui cum aequissima iura sed iniquissima haberent ingenia moribus suis quà m legibus vti maluerunt vvho having good lavves ill natures had rather vse their manners than their lawes For if some of those excellent men which Athens despightfully and basely required Theseus who was buried in a rock Miltiades who dyed in prison and the sonne of Miltiades vvho inherited nothinge amongst them but his fathers bandes Solon Aristides Phocion who lived in banishmente shoulde bring their action against Athens in the courte of some other cittye vvere it able to aunswere their iust exprobrations O Athens thy wals thy people thy trophees and triumphes farre and neare by lande and sea are thus and thus multiplyed Horum authores vbi vixerint vbi iaceant responde But put in thine aunsvvere and shevve vvhere the authours of those thinges lived and vvhere they are buryed God hath an action of ingratitude against his sonnes and bringeth them into lawe not before citty or nation but to note the horror of the vice before heaven and earth that all the corners and creatures of the vvorlde may both knowe and detest it And surelye it was well marked by a learned man No man wondreth at dogs or wolues because they are common but centaures and satyres such monsters of nature al gaze vpon It may be drunkennes
as never were more rare in the rarest Queene and in the sex of woman-hode carry admiration Why doe I saye woman-hode Vertue is tied neither to revenew nor kinde Iulita a vvoman one that witnessed a good confession for the name of Christ as shee was going to the stake to be burnt exhorted womeÌ„ that they should not complaine of the weakenes of nature because first they were made of the same matter whereof man was finished Secondly to the image of the same God Thirdly as fit and as capable to receive any goodnes Fourthly invested into the like honour Why not saith shee Seeing vvee are kinned vnto men in all respectes For not their flesh alone was taken for the creation of women but wee are bones of their bones for which cause vvee are endebted to God for courage patience virility aswell as men And Basile addeth his owne advise that setting excuse of their sexe aside they shoulde set vpon piety and see vvhither nature hath debarred them of any thing that was common to men I note it the rather because I know it greeveth Abimelech at the heart that a vvoman shoulde cast downe a milstone vpon his head to kill him and therefore hee calleth his page to thrust him thorough that men might not say A woman slew him It greeveth Abimelech of Rome and his whole faction that the church of England and the whole estate of our land vnder the government of a woman shoulde bee better able to defend it selfe against his tyranny than any country in Christendome Their heartes breake with envy hereat their tongues and pennes dissemble not their grudge at the foeminine primacie that a woman should bee the head vnder Christ of the church of Englande But as Chrisostome sometimes spake of Herodias and Iohn Baptist so by a contrary application of their manners may I of two as vnlike as ever fire and water the one to Herodias the other to Iohn Baptist Mulier totius mundi caâ—ut truncavit A woman hath beheaded within her realmes and dominions the falsely vsurpinge and surmised heade of the whole worlde Her father and brother of most famous memory had broken his leggs before as they brake the leggs of the theeues vpon the crosse the one his right legge of rentes and revenewes the milke and hony of our lande the other his left legge of idolatrous worshippes the doctrine of men false and erronious opinions wherewith the children of this realme had beene poisoned a longe time Queene Elizabeth hath bruised his heade for though his legges were broken hee began to gather strengh againe Hee now commaundeth not liveth not within our land saving in a few disordered and luxate members which as the parts of an adder cutte a sunder retaine some life for a time but never I trust shall growe into a body againe neither ever is hee likely to revive amongst vs vnlesse the Lord shall raise him vp for a plague to our vnthankefulnesse And therefore as they saide of Tarquinius Priscus in Rome a Corinthian borne and a straunger to their city hee hath vvell deserved by his vertues that our city shall never repent it of chusing a straunger to the king so by her gracious and religious government amongst vs hath her most excellent Maiesty worthily purchased that England shall never be sory that a woman was the Queene thereof When shee came to her crowne shee found the country as Augustus the city of Rome of bricke shee turned it into marble Shee founde it in the sandes she set it vpon a rocke the foundation of prophets and apostles shee founde it a lande of images ignorances corruptions vanities lies shee hath hitherto preserved it and I hope shall leave it to posterity a lande possest of the truth and seasoned with the gospell of Christ crucified This this is the savingest salvation that the Lorde hath this the blessing and happinesse that we enioy vnder her gracious government besides our peace such as our fathers never presumed to hope for plenty prosperity corporall benefites in that we lend and borrowe not not onely our milke but our bloud mony and men too to those that want and when wee ringe our belles for ioy and give eare to the noise of timbrelles and tabrets others are frighted with other kindes of soundes the neying of horses roaring of great ordinance howling of women and children to see their orbities and miseries before their eies I say this is the blessing vvee reape that the gospell is free by her procurement our consciences not enthralled to the ordinances of men our zeale rectified by knowledge and our religion reformed by the statutes of the highest God Now as we have great reason to singe merily vnto the Lorde and vvith a good courage Salvation is the Lordes for these graces so vvhat was the cause of her owne so many miraculous deliverances both before and since shee sate vpon the seate of her fathers but the same Salvation that by saving her saved vs I am sure shee was in daunger either of vvolves or of butchers when her rightuous soule cried Tanquam ovis and as a sheepe was shee led to the slaughter or not far from it When her innocency coulde not be her shield but though shee were free from crime and God and man might iustly have cleared her yet shee was not free from suspicion When she feared that the scaffolde of the Lady Iane stood for an other tragedie wherein her selfe should haue plaide the wofullest part Since which almost despaired escapes but that her time as David spake and her soule was in the handes of that Lord who deposeth and setteth vp Princes how it hath fared vvith her both at home and abroade we al know partly from trayterous and false-hearted Achitophels which haue served her with an hearte and an hearte partely from the bloudy bishops of Rome and their pernicious seminaries as full of mischiefe to Christendome as ever the Troian horse to the inhabitants of Troy partly from the king of Spaine whose study long hath beene to bee the Monarke of Europe of whom it is true that they spake of another Philippe of Macedon that hee bought the more part of Greece before hee conquered it so he buyeth countries before he winneth them and would doe that by his Indian gold which will be little ease for him to doe by men They haue long maliced her and I trust long shall and malice shall doe the nature of malice that is drinke out the marrowe and moysture of those that foster it and bring their devises vpon their owne heades as Nadab and Abihu were consumed with the fire of their owne censors So long as Salus Iehovae endureth which is as long as Iehovâ—h himselfe our hope shall not perish He hath even sworne by his holinesse as he did to David his servaunt not to faile Queene Elizabeth He that prevented her with liberall blessings before shee tooke the scepter into
who are converted by the word of faith should no otherwise be confirmed and strengthened than by that only word For our owne partes we cannot worke wonders we cannot call downe lights visions from heaven we must vse such meanes as God hath enabled vs vnto And therein tell mee also by experience If as in former times the Gentiles were confuted by the writings of the Gentiles which is either a parte or at least a preparatiue to conversion for wee must first remooue the preiudices conceaved against the trueth by the philosophy of Plato Trismegistus and others vvhich Iulian a wise but wicked Emperour saw beholde vvee are wonded vvith our owne quilles out of our bookes they take armour vvhich in fighte they vse against vs and therefore made a lawe that the children of the Galilaeans shoulde not reade philosophers nor Poets and as the Iewes in later yeares by the Talmud of the Iewes for proofe whereof I send you to the Truenes of ChristiaÌ„ religion written both in Latin French put into English by as honorable a translator as the author was So in the winning reclaiming of Papistes at this day it bee not an ordinary way to roote vp their errors besides the scriptures of God not onlie by consent of Fathers decisions of Councels but even by principles of philosophy by reason outward sense from the verdict wherof in many questioÌ„s amongst them they are wholy departed In TransubstantiatioÌ„ by name do we not shake coÌ„vince their in extricable absurdities by evidence of sense by that which our hands handle our eie declareth vnto vs by natural demensions which a natural body is subiect vnto by circuÌ„scriptioÌ„ of place collocatioÌ„ in one place at once how vnsensible a thing it is to have accideÌ„ts without their subiect roundnes whitenes the rellish of bread without bread even as the Lord himselfe proved the truth of his body by a truth of philosophy when they tooke him for a spirit touch me handle me see me TaÌ„gere enim tangi nisi corpus nulla potest res for nothing caÌ„ touch or be touched but a true body Is it enough in this coÌ„flict to tel a Papist that Christ is ascended into heaven there must sit til al things be restored doth he not drive thee froÌ„ thine holde put thee to a further replication So do they also in many other questions wherin if we rest vpon scripture alone we shall send them away vnsatisfied because they admit not this iudge without other copartners to sit give sentence alone in the ending of our controversies And therefore they must be vanquished as Basilides Saturninus were in Eusebius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both by written demonstrations and by vnwritten redargutions Is this now to make the pulpit a philosophers schoole or rather the philosophers schoole a foote-stoole to the pulpit and to vse it as a servant to Divinity that it may the better proceede in the necessarye vvorke The histories of the Heathen as lightly as we reckon of them of Moab and Ammon and all the cuntries of Canaan in former times of the Medes Persians auncient Romanes Graecians at this day of the Mores Moscovites Turkes and Tartarians their religion sacrifices manners lawes leagues wars stratagemes and even the wars of HaÌ„niball and Scipio wherin the providence of God mightily wrought and the pollicy of men carefully bestirred it selfe have they nothing in them fit for the vse of the teÌ„ple for the building of Gods house Then why do we traine vp our children in poets orators histories Greekc Latine old new not presently set theÌ„ to the testaments everlastingly keepe theÌ„ in the reading conning of only catechismes if all that elementary learning for so I confesse with Seneca rudimenta sunt non opera they are rudiments beginnings not workes must be wholy forgotten and laide aside in the exercising of an higher calling Or is it a point of wisedome thinke we to season these new vessels when their taste of life to come is especially to be framed with such vnprofitable licour wherof ther is no good vse to be made in riper yeares and at sounder discretion If such were the vanity and no better fruites of these yonger studies when an elder profession and a more settled iudgment hath them in handling let Licinius be cleared of that infamous speech of his in tearming good Letters the poison of a coÌ„moÌ„-wealth let al our bookes be heaped togither burnt in the market-place as those books of curious arts Act. 19 let their barbarous opinion who cry to pull downe schooles vniversities find favour good speed in the wishings of al men But I ever retained til I am better informed wil endevor to maintainea more honorable opinioÌ„ of learning such poore friendship as I am able to lend to the defence of it I wil ever be ready to shew as Ionatha did to David not only in the field where no man seeth it but even to the face of those by whoÌ„ it is most discredited Because I have ever found by my little simple experience that neither the vse of GraÌ„mer in the proprieties of words nor of Logicke in distinguishing ambiguities nor Rhetoricke in following precepts rules of speech nor Philosophy in scaÌ„ning causes their effects nor history in calculating times nor of any of these in many other vses and services could at any time be missing to the mistres Queen of al these arts I meane to the handling of Divinity which is the scieÌ„ce of sciences S. Austin writing against Petilian telleth vs that his adversary sometimes with open mouth and full breath would accuse him for a Logician bring Logicke it selfe to her triall before the people as the mistresse of forgery lying because he shewed some Rhetoricke would note him by the name of Tertullus the orator charge him with the damnable wit of Carneades the Academicke but you must know the reason CuÌ„ ad interrogatum respondere non posset when he was not able to answere the question propounded No doubt it was some great disgrace to that learned father to be blamed for good artes and to beare an obiection and reproach for too much schollership Thus let ignorance ever be able to obiect to the champians of the true church and propugners of the faith of Christ. And because I am falleÌ„ into the testimony of S. Austin let me further acquaint you what hee writeth of this very argument in his 2. booke of christiaÌ„ learning His iudgement is ample plaine that if the philosophers so called especially the Platonickes had spokeÌ„ any truth consonant to our faith we should be so far of from fearing it that we should bereaue them thereof as vniust owners and possessioners apply it to our owne vse For as the Egyptians had not onâ—ly idols burthens
to see brethren dwelling togither in vnity minding the same thing not the like but the same and having the same loue not equal but the same and having the same soules growing togither like twins concorporate coanimate and being of one iudgement Lastly he forgetteth not the most exquisite patterne of all loving kindnesses let the same minde be in you that vvas in Christ Iesus The same minde I am out of hope of it his loue was as stronge as death water could not quench it yea water and bloud could not put it out He cried vpon his crosse for the Iewes when hee hung vpon the top of a mountaine in the open face of heaven God and angelles and men beholding hearing wondering at it father forgiue them they know not what they doe Let not that minde be in you which is in lions and leopardes and good enough I haue heard of such peaceable times prophecied that swordes shoulde bee turned into fishes and speares into mattockes but never of so warlike furious wherein the tongues of men should be turned into swords and their heartes into wounding and slaying instrumentes yet though this were never prophecied we haue fulfilled it To make an ende the best remedy against iniuries is forgetfulnes Marcus Cato on a time being smitten in the bath to him that had done the wrong was desirous to make him amendes aunswered I remember not that I was smitten Shal Cato be wiser and patienter in his generation than wee in ours If wee cannot forget the time wherein wee haue beene smitten or otherwise iniuried at least let vs follow the coūsaile of the Psalme to bee angry without sinning that is if wee doe that which is naturall and vsuall and can hardly be stayed let vs avoide the other which can never be iustified Or if we sinne in our anger as who in the world is angry and sinneth not let the monition of the spirite of God in another place quickly temper our heat let vs beware that the sun goe not downe vpon it It was one part of the epitaphe written vpon Sylla his tombe Nemo me inimicus inferēdâ iniuriâ superavit I never had enimy that went beyond me in doing wrong Let not our liues or deaths bee testified vnto the world by such monumentes It was an honour fitter for Sylla of Rome an heathen a tyrant who died the chānels of the streetes with bloud than for any Christian. I will by your patience enter a little way into the next verse send as it were a spie to view at least the borders thereof before I proceede to examine the whole contentes So Ionas went out of the cittie It is thought by some that he offended no lesse in going foorth than when he first refused to come thither For he should haue continued amongst them to haue given them more warning The reason why Ionas went out I cannot rightly set downe Some coniecture and it is not vnlikely to avoide the company of wicked men for so he accompted the Ninivites and hee was afraide to beare a parte of their plagues The rule is good for can a man take coles in his bosome and not bee burnt or handle pitch and not bee defiled or flie with the Ostriches and Pellicans and not grow wild or dwell in the tents of wickednesse and not learne to be wicked or if Rahab abide still in Iericho Lot and his kindred in Sodome Noah and his family in the wast world Israell in Babylon shall those execrable places and people be punished by the hand of God and these not partake the punishmēt One place for many Iosh. 23. If yee cleaue vnto these nations make marriages with thē go vnto them they vnto you the Lord will no more cast them out but they shal be a snare and destruction vnto you a whip on your sides thornes in your eies vntill yee perish out of this good land which the Lord your God hath given you but his errour vvas in the applicatiō of the rule for if the Ninivites were so penitēt as before we heard the worst man for ought I know was within his owne bosome And sate on the East side of the city His purpose in chosing his groūd cannot certainly be perceived Ar. Mōt giveth this gesse that he thought if any plague were sent frō God it was likely to come from West and South because Iudaea in respect of Niniveh was so placed therfore because God was only knowne in Iudaea seemed to dwel no where els he wold surely punish thē out of those quarters for this cause as if he had decreed with himselfe if a scourge come frō God it shall not cōe neare me he taketh vp his lodging in that part of the city which was most safe Others make this supposition they say Tigris the river ranne on the west side of Niniveh vvhere by reason of their haven there was daily concourse of marchantes and passengers to and fro This frequencie Ionas avoided and betooke himselfe to that parte where the vvalkes were most solitaire and his heart might least be troubled Others thinke that hee shunned the heate of the sunne which in those countryes is farre more fervent than in ours and because in the mourning it is more remisse than at the heigth of the day when it is in the south or betweene the heigth and the declination when it draweth to the west therefore hee seated himselfe on the east side of the citie where hee might be freest from it Happily he vvent vnto that side by adventure quòpes tulit as his minde and feete bare him and it had beene indifferent vnto him to haue applied his body to any other side Or it may bee hee was thither brought by the especiall commandement and providence of almighty God As when Elias had prophecied of the drought for three yeares he was willed to goe towardes the East where he should finde a brooke to drinke of and the ravens were apointed to feede him It is not vnlawfull for mee to adde my surmise amongst other men In the East because of the sunne-rising there seemeth to bee greatest comforte and I nothing doubt but in this banishment of his Ionas sought out al the comfortes he might The garden in Eden which the Lorde God planted for man was planted Eastwarde Some say Eastwarde in respect of the place where Moses wrote the story that is of the wildernesse where Israell then was Others with more probabilitie in the Easterne part of Eden the whole tract wherof was not taken in for the garden but the choicest and fruitfullest parte which was to the East It is true in nature which some applyed to policie and to the state of kingdomes and families That more worshippe the sunne in his rising than at his going downe I saw all men living saith the Preacher ioyning themselues with the seconde childe which shall stande vp in the
for the life of Nabuchodonozor or the king of Babylon and of Balthasar his son that their daies may be as the daies of heaven vpon the earth This the Apostle requireth of vs that praiers and supplications be made for all men namely especially for kings and all that are in authority and that we be subiect one saith to the creature or constitution of man another saith to the ordinance of God because God hath ordained it by the hands of man whither it be to the king or his officer higher or lower One saith for conscience sake another for the Lordes sake because conscience is then assured when it goeth after his direction This is their right but that confidence which my text speaketh of belongeth onely to the hope of Israell to him is fully reserved VVill you knovve a farther reason to exclude both princes and all others vvho haue their dwellinges with mortall flesh from this affiance of ours they are the sonnes of men I except but one in vno filio hominis salus in one and that onely sonne of man there vvas salvation not because hee was meerely the sonne of man but the sonne of God also Amongst those that vvere begotten of vvomen there never arose a greater than Iohn Baptist yet hee tolde his disciples that claue vnto him I am not hee and sent them away vnto a greater and pointed at him with his finger Beholde the lambe of God When Cornelius fell downe at the feete of Peter to vvorshippe him Actes the tenth Peter tooke him vppe and aunswered I my selfe am also a man VVhen the priest of Iupiter brought bulles and garlandes to sacrifice to Paule and Barnabas it set them in a passion they rent their clothes and ranne in amongest the people crying and saying O men vvhy doe yee these thinges for vvee are also men subiect to the like passions that yee bee They mighte haue added for further explication sake that vvhich is vvritten Esay the seconde Cease from the man whose breath is in his nostrelles for wherein is hee to bee esteemed and in the 51. of the same prophecie VVho art thou that thou shouldest feare a mortall man and the sonne of man that shall bee made like grasse and a little before The moth shall devoure him like a garmente and the vvorme devoure him like woll but my righteousnesse shall bee for ever and my salvation from generation to generation A man of vvhat condition so ever he be saith Lactantius Si sibi credit hoc est fi homini credit if he trust himselfe that is if hee trust man besides his folly in not seeing his errour he is very arrogant and audicious to challendge that vnto himselfe which the nature of man is not capable of when the Israelites Esay 31. waited vpon the helpe of Egypt trusting in their chariotes because they were many and their horses because they were strong God gaue them none other aunswere than this the Egyptians are men and not God their horses flesh and not spirit and therfore when the Lorde shall stretch out his hand the helpe shall fall and hee that is holpen and both shall faile togither The nature of man at the first creation before that lumpe was sowred with the leaven of sinne was full of glory and grace as God expostulated with David I made thee king over Israell and if that had beene too little I would haue done much more so man vvas made king and put in Lord-like dominion and possession not over cantons and corners of the worlde but over the aire the sea the earth and every beast and fish and feathered foule therein created All thinges were made for vs for in a manner we are the ende and perfection of all thinges And if this bee to little God hath yet done more for vs. For our sakes were the heavens created and for our sakes were the heavens bowed and God vvas made man to pleasure man so that all is ours and wee are Christs and Christ is Gods The wise men of the worlde who never looked so far into the honours of man as we do yet evermore advanced that creature aboue all others One called him a little worlde the vvorlde a great man another a mortall God God an immortall man another all thinges because he partaketh the nature of plants of beasts and of spirituall creatures Phavorinus mervailed at nothing in the world besides man at nothing in man besides his mind Abdala the Saracen being asked what hee most wondred at vpon the stage of this world aunswered man and Saint Augustine saith that man is a greater miracle than all the miracles that ever haue beene wrought amongst men VVhatsoever our prerogatiues are as they haue beene greater in times past fuimus Troes vvee haue beene Trotanes and it hath beene an happy thing to be borne man wee cannot nowe forgoe our nature our generation is knowne to the worlde our foundation is in the dust vvee were fashioned beneath in the earth wee were brought togither to bee flesh in our mothers wombes in ten monethes and when we vvere borne vvee receaved no more than the common aire and fell vpon the earth vvhich is of like nature Our father is prooved to bee an Ammorite neither Angell nor God and our mother an Hittite and vve the vncleane children of an vncleane seede Let Alexander perswade himselfe that he was the sonne of Iupiter Hammon till he see his bloud let Sapor the king of Persia write himselfe king of kinges brother to the sunne and moone partner with the stars let the canonistes of Rome make a new canon to transfigure their Pope into a new nature writing him neither God nor man but somewhat betweene both let Antiochus thinke to saile vpon the mountaines Zenacharib to dry vp the rivers with the plant of his foote let Edom exalt himselfe like an Eagle and build his nest amongest the starres and say in the swelling of his heart who shall bring me downe to the ground yet when they haue all done let them looke backe to their tribe their fathers poore house and the pit from whence they were hewen let them examine their pedegree and descent and they shal finde that they are but the sonnes of men and that the Lord hath laid this iudgement vpon them man that is borne of a woman hath want of daies and store of miseries I end with that excellent admonition of Scaliger to Cardan I woulde ever haue thee remember that thou and I and others are but men for if thou knowest what man is thou wilt easilie vnderstande thy selfe to bee nothing For mine owne part I am not wont to say that wee are so much as men but pieces of man of al which put togither something may be made not great but of each of them sundred almost lesse than nothing If you vvill novve learne the reason vvhy you must not trust in the