〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to signifie the Providence of God Hebr. 1.3 and to shew that nothing cometh to pass without the will of God and all things that do come to pass by the wil of God are in respect of God most holy just and good for as in the creation all that he made was exceeding good so in the ordering disposing and governing of them all that he doth is exceeding just and the very evil that he suffereth to be done he turneth to good for his own glory and the benefit of his Church as he did the crucifying of his Son to the saving of all his servants For so great is his goodness saith S. Augustine that he would never have suffered Sin or any other evil to be done unless his power and wisdom were able as he drew light out of darkness so to draw a greater good out of our evil though not to them that commit the evil Rom. 6.1 because we should not sin that grace might abound as the Apostle sheweth 2. Signification Deut. 4.24 2. The foresaid Father and others say that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is derived 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is adurere accendere to burn and to kindle and enlighten and so Moses saith Our God is a consuming fire either because of his wrath against sin and sinners 1 John 1. or because of the brightness of his Majesty even as S. John saith God is light in whom there is no darkness at all Ezek. 1.27 and therefore he appeared unto Moses in a flame of fire in the burning bush and in his vision to Ezekiel he manifested himself in the appearance of fire which should make all sinners to be afraid to offend him lest this terrible fire should consume them 3 Signification Hebr. 4.13 3. The said Damascen saith that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be derived 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because he seeth all things and all things are patent and open in his sight as the Apostle sheweth and no Creature no word no thought can be hid from him and therefore the Wise man adviseth all discontented persons to beware of murmuring which is nothing worth because the eare of jealousie heareth all things and the noise of your muttering is not hid Sap. 1.10 11. neither is there any word so secret that it shall go for naught These be the Etymologies and significations of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Damascen giveth Curro uro cerno to run to burn to see and to these the Latine Writers do add another and say that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be derived à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by changing the asperate Δ into Θ and that signifieth fear because all nations should fear the Lord our God And so the Greeks shew us Qualis sit Deus what manner of God he is that seeth and governeth all things and the Latines shew us Quid sit nostri officii what our duty is to be afraid to offend this great and glorious God and so the Prophet Jeremiah demandeth Who would not fear thee O King of nations and God himself saith Fear ye not me and will ye not tremble at my presence which have placed the sand for the bound of the Sea by a perpetual decree that it cannot pass it that is which have bridled and tamed that unruly Element by the small and silly Sands and though the waves toss themselves yet can they not prevail though they roar yet can they not pass over these poor and feeble things 4. The next Attribute here expressed is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The fourth Attribute is of Gods power which is omnipotent in three respects 1. Respect Psal 135.6 that is Almighty or that can do all things and he is said to be almighty in three special Respects 1. Because he can do whatsoever he would do and he can hinder whatsoever he would not have don for whatsoever pleased the Lord that did he in heaven and in earth in the sea and in all deep places saith the Prophet and so the Creation of the World makes this manifest And Solomon saith Prov. 19.21 that many devices are in man's heart but the counsel of the Lord that shall stand and all their devices without his counsel shall come to nought as the Gyants that thought to build the Tower of Babel to scale the Walls of Heaven were soon confounded and their devices suddenly destroyed Gen. 11. Gen. 19. so the men of Sodom thought to press upon Lot and the Angels that were with him but the Lord presently blind-folded them so Absolon conceited to make himself King but God brought him to the bough where he was hanged and so our late Vsurpers and Rebells had brave devices and projects in their hearts to destroy us all and to make themselves Lords over all but you see how easily the Lord overwhelmed them and brought them to shame and confusion 2. He is said to be Omnipotent 2. Respect because he bringeth all things to pass so easily without any difficulty in the world for he did but speak the word and they were made Psal 148.5 he commanded and they stood fast And he doth all things either without means or with the weakest means in the world and sometimes contrary to the nature of the proper means as when he made the world out of nothing he did but say Let there be light and it was so Psal 77.20 Josh 6.20 Judg. 4.21 Judg. 7.2 and what weak instruments were Moses and Aaron to bring Israel out of Egypt Or Rams horns to batter down the strong walls of Jericho or a silly woman to be the death of General Sisera or Gideon with three hundred men to overthrow the mighty Host and the innumerable Army of the Midianites And with what improbable strength hath this Almighty God brought our gracious King to his Crown and Kingdoms again It was the Almighty God that did it And so in the Spiritual work of our Redemption by what weak means hath he loosned and overthrown the work of the Devil 2 Cor. 12.19 and delivered his Prisoners out of captivity For blessed be this strong Jehovah we see how his power is made perfect through weakness as the Apostle speaketh and how Christ that seemed a worm and no man as the Prophet speaketh in becoming poor hath made us rich and in becoming a curse hath made us the heirs of blessing 2 Cor. 8.9 1 Pet. 3.9 and after his Ascention into heaven with what weak instruments hath he converted the world from Idolatry and Infidelity to imbrace the Christian Faith Through the foolishness of Preaching saith the Apostle of a few poor Fisher-men and us that are their successors this is the Lords doing and it is marvellous in our eye But it is more marvellous that he should do what he will not only without means and by weak means but also contrary to all means John 9.6 as with Clay that is
and domineered over most and almost all the Nations of the World that the Jews will they nill they may see that omne mundi regnum omnis mundana sapientia omnia divinae legis sacramenta testantur quia Jesus est Rex every kingdom of the earth all the wisdom of the World and all the sacraments of the divine law do bear witness that Christ is King and this Lion here spoken of in this Text. And the difference betwixt this Lion and all other Lions is that as Franciscus Vallesius de sacra Philosophia c. 55. saith Mos Leonis est sibi tantum pradam capere non Leaenae but Christ took the prey for his Church and not for himself And we finde that his kingdome by three special prerogatives excelleth all other kingdomes of the world that is 1. Preheminence of Christs kingdome threefold 1. Eternity 2. Purity 3. Largity 1. The Prophet saith thy Throne O God Psal 110. is for ever and ever and thy Dominion shall endure throughout all Ages but transibit gloria mundi all other Kings within so many years shall not govern and after so many dayes they shall not be for death spareth none but sceptra ligonibus aequat And as Nazianzen saith Constantinus Imperator famulus meus ossa Agamemnonis Thyrsitis death makes no difference betwixt the bones of King Agamemnon and base Thyrsites the Emperour Constantine and my servant but when their race is run and their glass is out we may say of each of them as Horace saith of his Friend Torquatus Non Torquate genus non te facundia non te Horat. Restituet pietas But this King hath a prerogative above them all for he was Rex à seculo a King from everlasting and he shall be a King in secula seculorum world without end Luke 1.33 for so the Angel Gabriel testifieth that of his kingdome there shall be no end And this should batter down the pride of Tyrants that say with Nebuchadnezzar Is not this great Babel that I have built For mene mene tekel peres their glory is but as the grass of the field or otherwise if they were immortal they were intolerable And this should teach us to labour to become the Subjects of this King in whose kingdome there shall be Aug. l. 1 c. 10. de Trinitate as Saint Augustine saith requies sempiterna gaudium quod nunquam anferetur à nobis An everlasting rest and joy that shall never be taken from us 2. Preheminence The second preheminence of his kingdome is purity for of this King the Prophet speaketh thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity and the scepter of thy kingdome is a scepter of righteousness For this King is not like Ahab that would take away Naboths Vineyard nor like Rehoboam that would oppress his Subjects with over-grievous Taxes but he is a righteous King and a most just Judge far unlike some Judges of former dayes that for a word have made a man a transgressour and for a syllable or one letter have quite overthrown a mans cause and right and so have made the Laws a nose of wax to bend and turn as they pleased and to be rete Vulcanium like Vulcans iron net to catch the poor and friendless but tela aranea like the spiders web so easie for the rich and powerful to passe through it But blessed be God for it we have few such now and we hope we shall not provoke God so far as to send such amongst us for if you suffer oppression and wrongs when as the Poet saith Mensuraque juris vis erit Then surely peaceable men shall not be able to live in the Common-wealth But the equity and justice of this King should perswade all other Kings to follow his Example and as the wise man saith Sep. 1.1 to love righteousness all they that are Judges of the earth 3. Preheminence The third preheminence of his kingdome is that God anointed this King with the oyle of gladness in all things above his fellows for their time hath an end their dominion a limitation but his time is not limited and his rule hath no marches but exivit in omnem terram it hath gone forth into all Lands because he is the King of all the earth and when as all other Kings are but Reges Gentium Kings of some few Nations he is Rex Regum Dominus Dominantium the King of all other Kings and the Lord of all Lords And therefore Eusebius saith that the distinction or difference betwixt this true Christ and the other imaginary Christs that were anointed Kings before him may truely and very easily be discerned Euseb l. 1. c. 1. Eccl. Histor quia illi priores Christi nulli penè nisi genti propriae cogniti sunt those former Kings were scarce known to any but to their own proper people but not onely the name but also the rule power and kingdome of this true King is extended over all Nations per universum orbem terrae and through the compasse of the round world And though when the Jewes would have crowned him King Rex fieri noluit he refused the same yet to shew that this Dominus Angelorum was also Rex Judaeorum Beda l. 5. in c. 19. Luc. as Beda speaketh when he rid to Jerusalem upon the Asse he willingly permitted the people to cry Hosanna and to intitle him King of the Jewes and he confessed as much himself unto Pilat that he was a King And what meaneth this saith the Venerable Bede that he now willingly embraceth quod prius fugicudo declinavit that which before he declined and fled from it and the kingdome that while as yet he lived in the world he would not accept he now denieth not to take it when he is by and by ready to go out of the world He answereth that he formerly refused it Beda l. 3. in c. 11. S. Mar. because of the gross imagination of the Jewes that conceited him to be a temporal King like unto others but he doth now accept it to shew quod non temporalis terreni sed aeterni in coelis Rex esset imperii that his kingdome was not of this world as himself said unto Pilate but as the King of Heaven he ruled all the world Well then What we may learn from this Doctrine that Christ is our King seeing Saint Matthew doth by so many inanswerable arguments prove Christ to be a King and that he is a perpetual universal and principal King and here exprest by the Lion in this Text we may collect and draw matter both of comfort and fear both of joy and of grief For 1. Seeing Christ is King then as the Psalmist saith Psal 97.1 exultet terra let the earth rejoyce for if we will obey him and be ruled by him he will appoint over us such Viceroyes and under-rulers that will lead us sicut
of Genua who promised to deliver Constantinople into the Emperours hands so he would make him King of such a place that he desired And Mahomet yielded and assured him that he would do it and so he did Pet. Primanday c. 39. pag. 423. for as soone as ever the said Justinian had betrayed the City into his hands he presently made him King for that good service which he had done unto him but for a reward of his treachery to his Lord and Master Augustulus he cut off his head within three dayes after And so all the wise men that I have read of do conceive that no good service done to succeeding Kings can merit the blotting out of the perjury and perfidiousness of Traytors to their former Kings and Masters but that after they be rewarded for their good turns done to the latter they should likewise receive the merit of their perfidiousness to the former Theodorus in Collect. l. 2. The reasons why perfidiousness should not be pardoned And the reason is rendred by the foresaid Sages 1. Because that as Theodoric the Arian said when he cut off the head of an Orthodox Deacon whom he loved because he revolted to please Theodoric as he thought to Arianism they that keep not their oaths and faith to God can never be faithful to any mortal man Flav. Vopisc in vita Aurelian 2. Because that as Aurelian said when he suffered Heraclemon which had done him so good service to be slain he could not believe that he which would betray his Countrey and prove faithless to his own Prince could ever continue faithful unto him but that upon the like discontent or hope of a greater gain such Traytors as will turn the leaf and saile with every winde will become as treacherous to their latter benefactors as they have been unto their former Masters And therefore though we should forgive them as Christians yet it is neither wisdome nor pollicy to believe them as friends because not onely the Fable of the Snake but the Son of Syrach also teacheth us what little credit is to be given to reconciled friends Eccles 10.12 And the wise heathen bids us semper diffidere to suspect such faithless men continually Object But what if the Kings and Princes have promised Pardons unto the Traytors for some special service done unto them Can they afterward punish them for their precedent offences unto others I answer that as Cicero saith Sol. every man is bound and much more it is for the honour of a Prince to keep his word and promises inviolable though upon some exigent necessity he may be constrained to make the same to his prejudice and against his will and it was well said that the bare word of a Prince should be of as great force as the oath of a private man But though Kings and Princes should inviolably observe their words in their Pardon 's granted unto Rebels and Traytors and other Malefactors Not to countenance and favour those that have been Traytors and why yet as Philip King of Macedon answered Lasthenes that betrayed the City of Olynthum and Augustus Caesar said to Rymetalces King of Thracia that had forsaken Antonius to joyn with him that he loved the treason that did him good but he could not endure the Traytor that betrayed his Master And Alexander Severus was of the same minde but that he joyned cruelty with his hatred unto the Traytors for when he had inticed many Captains of Piscennius Niger his Competitor of the Empire to disclose their Masters secrets and had served his turn of them and settled his affairs he made all those Traytors Herod l. 3 and their children also to be put to death as Herodian writeth So the wisest men conceived that they ought not to countenance and favour those that had been Traytors unto other Princes though they had done good service unto them and that for these three reasons 1. For that he which hath turned one leaf can turn another and he that hath betrayed my Father may upon the like hopes and surmises betray me likewise and he that hath been a Rebel knows the way to become a Rebel 2. For that this honouring and magnifying of Rebels and Traytors to former Princes for their good service done to latter Masters may prove to be an encouragement for others to become Rebels and Traytors in like manner against their Kings For when amongst many thousands of Rebels they see but few punished the rest pardoned and many of them favoured and preferred why may not the seditions think that they shall either prevail or if miss of their enterprise they may escape the fortune of those few that shall be punished and be magnified like those that they do see thus rewarded 3. For that this favouring and countenancing of those that have been Rebels and false is a great offence and discouragement to those that have ever continued faithful and loyal especially if they see themselves postponed and neglected And therefore the Kings and Princes that I told you of thought it neither wisdom nor policy to regard and favour those whom they pardoned for their treachery to their former Princes though they had done never so good service unto themselves and if all Kings did so I believe fewer Traytors would spring up among the people And this appeareth plainly by our new Plotters of Rebellions and Treasons now amongst us in this Kingdom of Ireland for who and what are they that doe thus murmur and mutter against both God and his Anointed the King and his Lieutenant the Church and Common-wealth But those that have been members of the Beast and limbs of the great Anti-Christ the Rebels and Traytors that rose and warr'd and some no doubt but had their hands or fingers dipped deep in the bloud of that blessed Saint and glorious Martyr our late most gracious King Charles the First and having escaped their just deserved shame and death and being so highly rewarded by their Grand Masters for their great wickedness with the lands of the Irish without distinction whether they were bloudy Murderers and Rebels against their King or innocent Papists that were both loyal unto their King and succourers of the Protestants and now seeing the touchstone of truth and justice rendring to every one his own according to his merit either of nocency or innocency they stamp and stare and being moved with madness like boyes at blinde manbuâ—â— they let fly their Arrows even bitter words nay false scandalous rebellious and treacherous words against the King against his Lieutenant and against the peace and happiness of this whole Kingdom they care not whom they traduce so they may stir up the coals of contention and move the discontented to a new Rebellion And what wayes do they take for this but the very same which they had learned and practised before in England under the Long-Parliament 1. To tax and to traduce the good King for doing that they know
acervus auri Aegroto domini deducunt corpore febres They can neither deliver us from death nor preserve us in health nor yet keep us out of prison when God delivereth us into the hands of our enemies And therefore the wise man saith That when the rich mens eyes are opened they themselves will cry out Sap. 5.8 What hath pride profited us Or what hath the pomp of riches availed us Just nothing because they are but like the Spiders web that as the Prophet saith will make no garment for us 3. They are all deceitful 3. All the things of this world are deceitful and do deceive most of those men that love them and rely upon them for so our Saviour in the Parable of the Sower saith The seed which fell among thorns Matth. 13.22 is like unto him that heareth the Word of God and presently the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choak the Work for rich men and all other worldlings are like unto him that in his sleep dreameth he feasteth and is at a pleasant banquet filled with all dainty fare but when he awaketh behold his belly is empty and his soul is hungry And so the Prophet David saith The rich men have slept their sleep and when they awaked they found nothing in their hands And so now they are asleep and dream that themselves are the most happy men in the world and the dejected Servants of God to be the most miserable but when death openeth their eyes and their souls are once out of their bodies they do see that now all worldly things have forsaken them and they must go naked of all wealth and disrobed of all honour before the seat of Judgment to give a strict account of their Stewardship how they have gotten and how they have imployed all their wealth and then they will confess as you see they do in the fifth of Wisdom Sap. 5. What the worldlings at last do confess O how were we deceived for these are they Quos habebamus in risum whom we derided and had in a parable of reproach we fools thought their life madness and their end without honour and our selves only happy but now they are among the Sons of God and their lot among the Saints Sâ—p 5.3 â— 5. and we have erred from the way of truth and the light of understanding hath not shined unto us Et sic decipimur specie recti and thus in all these things we do but as Ixion did imbrace a Cloud for Juno and so deceive our selves with the shadow of things 4. The things of this world as riches honours 4. They are hurtful and the like are not only deceitful but also hurtful and so hurtful that the Apostle saith They that will be rich do fall into temptations and a snare and into many hurtful and foolish lusts 1 Tim. 6.9 which drown men in destruction and perdition For as the Vipers do gnaw out the bowels of their own Dams so the riches honours authorities and the like things of this world do many times prove the only bane and poyson that destroy their owners both in this world and in the world to come As witnesseth the story of that rich Roman Citizen who having done nothing against the Commonwealth nor any man else that he knew of yet being desirous to see the proscribed he finds himself with the first in the Proscription and then he cries out How vanities and vain desires have destroyed many men That it was his fair house at Nola and not any thing that ever he did had undone him and caused him to be proscribed So Plotius Plancus the brother of Minutius Plancus Consul and Censor of Rome was so rich and lived so delicately that being sought for by the Souldiers during the Proscription of the Triumvirate Valer. Maxim l. 6. c. 18. to be put to death and being hid in a very sure place by the faithfulness of his Servants he was betrayed and discovered only by the smell of his perfumes as was also Mulcasses King of Tunis discovered in like manner Jovius hist l. 47. as Paulus Jovius recordeth whereupon the Poet saith So many men whom vertue might have saved Are by fond pleasures of their lives bereaved And so many Women too For Demonica a Maid of the City of Ephesus promised to Brennus that besieged the same City to deliver up the Town unto him if for a recompence he would give her all the golden Chains and Bracelets of the Gaules to which Brennus yielded and after he got the City he caused all his people to cast all the golden Jewels they wore about them into the lap of this covetous Maid and she being opprest with the weight of so much gold yielded her life under it And Titus Livius relateth the like story of the daughter of Sp. Tarpeius But to search no further for ancient examples to confirm this point How many men have we seen searched after imprisoned and killed for being rich and of great possessions and being in honour and authority which perhaps had never been looked after if they had been poor and of no command and had neither place nor wealth to lose and their persecutors to gain nothing thereby For you know the old saying Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator The poor traveller that hath never a penny to lose never fears the thief when the rich Merchant oftentimes loseth both his life and his treasure And Dives the rich Glutton will tell you that the riches and treasures of this world do not only prejudice their possessors in this life but most of all in the life to come And therefore well doth bur Saviour advise us and say Labour not for the food that perisheth that is John 6.27 labour not so much for any thing that vanisheth and is of no certain continuance but labour for that which endureth for ever and which will bring us to eternal life And well doth he here perswade us not to be too careful for the things of this world especially because they are all so vain so fruitless so perfidious and so pernicious unto their possessors that too greedily do hunt after them And so much shall serve to be spoken for the Negative part of this Text that teacheth us What we should not do 2. In the Affirmative part Christ setteth down 2. The Affirmative part What we should do that is Seek the Kingdom of God c. In which words you may observe these two parts 1. A Precept 2. A Promise Or else 1. A Work 2. A Reward And 1. In the Work or Precept you have three things to be observed 1. In the work three things to be considered 1. An act to be done 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Seek ye 2. The things that are to be sought and they are two things 1. The Kingdom of God 2. His Righteousness 3. The time when we are to seek them first
that is himself upon Earth and Camerarius saith that this is a perpetual custom in the race of the Ottomans and Turkish Souldans to put all that pretend to succession unto death Neither is it only a Turkish custom to do so but it is the practice of most of them that are bewitched with this inordinate desire to rule as Kings to do the like for Plutarch writeth that Deiotarus having many Sons and being desirous that only one of them should reign slew all the rest with his own hands and Justin saith that Phrahartes the Son of Horodes King of the Parthians killed his own Father and after that massacred all his Bretheren that he might reign and rule alone And the Sacred Storie sheweth that the very people of God the Sons of Israel were not free from this fault Judges 9. but were pestered with this disease for Abimelech the Son of Gedeon slew seventy of his Bretheren in one day and played many other Tragical parts that he might make himself a King and the furious ambition of Absolon did let him on to play the Parricide 2 Sam. 15 16. and to end his Fathers days that he might reign in his place And not to go from our own home did not Henry the Fourth put by Richard the Second his own King and Cozen German that himself might be the King And did not Richard the Third cause the true King and his own Nephews the Sons of his own Brother Edward the Fourth to be done to death that he himself might be King And did not that arch-Rebel and Traytor now of late amongst our selves play the like Tragical parts that he might gain the rule of these Kingdoms And so did many others in many other Kingdoms for there is not any thing so Sacred which the great men of this world that desire to be made greater will not violate and spare neither King Father Brother or Friend to bring themselves unto advancement and to be the rulers of the People and to have the command and power over their Goods and Lives as the proof hereof is seen in Antoninus Caracalla who when he had murthered his own Brother Geta in his Mothers lap and betwixt her arms and being advised by some of his friends to Canonize him among the Heroes and to place him among the Gods to mitigate the thought of so execrable a fact answered like a wretch sit divus modo non sit vivus let him be a God among the dead so he be not alive among Men Camerar quo supra so great an enemy is the inordinate desire of bearing rule to all Piety and right saith mine Author Therefore our Saviour doth not stop when he had said seek a Kingdom which he knew most men would be ready enough and some too ready to do without bidding but he addeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Kingdom of God and not the Kingdom of this world nor the Kingdom of the Antichrist nor of sin but the Kingdom of God And the Kingdom of God is taken many waies but especially The Kingdom of God three fold 1. For the Kingdom of Nature 2. For the Kingdom of Grace 3. For the Kingdom of Glory 1. The Kingdom of nature The first is all the world Heaven Hell Sea and Earth and all men good and bad are the subjects of this his Kingdom for he is Rex universae terrae super omnes nationes mundi whom he ruleth with his mighty power and by his wisedom disposeth all things sweetly even when he permitteth the wicked to flourish and chasteneth his own children every morning our King doing herein as the Husband-man doth with his Oxen mactandus liber ibit ad pascua servandus jugo premitur that which is appointed for the slaughter shall freely run to the best Pasture but that which is to be preserved shall be pressed under the Yoak 2. The Kingdom of Grace 2. The Kingdom of Grace comprehendeth not all creatures nor all men but the elect only that is the good and godly men in whose hearts this King writeth his holy Laws and ruleth them by his Spirit that guideth and directeth them to observe his Laws 3. The Kingdom of Glory 3. The Kingdom of Glory is that which the Apostle describeth whose joyes passeth all understanding whose subjects are the Saints and Angels and whose King is Jesus Christ the King of kings The first of these was established by power when the Almighty God created all things by his powerful Word or the Word of his power which is Jesus Christ but it shall be finished through its weakness when languishing Nature that still groweth weaker and weaker can hold out no longer The second was begun in weakness when Christ the Son of God began the same in the the infirmity of our flesh and to gather his Church by the preaching of a few Fisher-men but it shall end in power when after he hath put all his enemies under his feet he shall by the power of his Deity absolve the same and deliver it as the Apostle sheweth 1 Cor. 15. unto God his Father but The third shall begin in power and continue in power without ending when as the Poet saith Gloriosum Imperium siue fine dabit Cui nec metas rerum nec tempora ponit God shall give us a glorious Kingdom without ending and eternal happiness unto his Saints where there shall be no fight because they have no enemie no tears because they can recieve no hurt no fear because there is no danger and no grief because there is no evil but all peace all joy all felicity because God will be all in all And of these three Kingdoms we ought to submit our selves with all contentedness unto the first and with all care and diligence to seek the second that so to our everlasting comfort we may attain unto the third Which kingdom we shall never come unto unless we seek the second which is the kingdome of grace as we ought to do for as among the Romans none came to the Temple of Honour but by the Temple of Virtue so none shall come to the Kingom of glory but the Subjects of the Kingdom of grace and therefore we must seek for that as we ought to do and that is 1. Generally that the Church of Christ may be enlarged by the preaching of the Gospel and by all other ways that we can to convert men to the faith of Christ and not to pervert them by wicked errours or the evil examples of an ungodly conversation 2. Particularly that the Spirit of God and not the Spirit of Satan the grace of Christ and not our fleshly lusts or any other sin might reign in us and rule our hearts to do all things according to Gods Laws that so we our selves might be members of his Church and subjects of this kingdom And as I told you before our seeking for this kingdom must not be as children seek for their
unjust to himself as all covetous men and the prodigal persons are when as the one hath the blessings of God and hath not the heart to use them and the other doth abuse them to the shame and destruction of himself profusely wasting them in feasting and drinking or as some do in beautifying their Tiaras and some others in sweeping the streets with Si ks and Velvets which are vanities that I know not how they shall answer when they come to appear before Almighty God and yet we that are the Preachers shall be but laught at for reproving of these vanities and telling them how it is far from that justice which we should render unto our selves besides the abuse that they offer to Gods creatures And thus I have shewed you what is just and righteous and directed you the right way to the Kingdom of God God give us grace to walk therein But you will demand Where is justice without partiality now to be found among Neighbours or in the Courts of Justice or in the Parliament House I cannot and I dare not say you shall not find justice therein yet this I dare say I have seen faction and friends contrary to justice to have carried things in all these places and therefore seeing that Injustice and Oppression do make wise men mad especially if they see the servants of Rebels and Traitors favoured and countenanced against the most faithful servants of their King and the Ambassadors of the living God And seeing that as Solomon saith Eccles 3.16 I saw the place of judgement and wickedness was there and the place of righteousness and iniquity was there My advice to you all is to follow our Saviours counsel If any man will sue thee at the Law Matth. 5.40 and take away thy coat let him have thy cloak also for in so doing in your patience you shall possess your souls and walk in the right way to the Kingdom of God And then secondly what is here promised shall be undoubtedly performed All these things shall be administred unto you through Jesus Christ our Lord to whom be glory and honour and thanks and praise for all his mercies and favours for ever and ever Amen THE SIXTH SERMON JOHN 3.14 And as Moses lifted up the Serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of man be lifted up THe Holy Apostle Saint Paul speaking of many things that befell the Jews while they wandered in the Wilderness saith 1 Cor. 10.11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All these things happened to them in a Figure Heb. c. 8. c. 9. and c. 10. and so were Types of things to come for our ensamples saith our Translation and so the Apostle proveth at large in his Epistle unto the Hebrews As 1 Aaron whose type he was Exod. 28. 1. Aaron their High-Priest was a Type of our High-Priest Jesus Christ and he ascending into heaven left his Apostles and they the Bishops to be his Substitutes to govern his Church here on earth in the place of the High Priest and the Priests and Levites were Types of our Priests and Deacons and his holy garments and most glorious ornaments which the Rabb called Bidge Zahab golden vestments as were the Ephod the Breast-plate with precious Stones the Vrim and Thummim the robe of the Ephod set with golden Bells and Pomgranates the plate of the Miter and the embroydered Coat all so exceeding glorious that when Alexander saw the High-Priest Simeon the just thus attired coming to meet him he was ready to adore him saying That God had thus appeared unto him the night before And so indeed he was the Type of our true God Jesus Christ and his glorious apparel signified the honour glory and respect that should be yielded to the ministery of the Gospel 2 Cor. 3.7 and the servants of Jesus Christ for so the Apostle reasoneth that if the ministration of death i. e. of the Law written and engraven in stones were thus glorious and this glory was to be done away then how shall not the ministration of the Spiririt i. e. of the Gospel which is to continue be much more glorious For as Kings and Princes and great Lords if they have no means nor servants to uphold their estate and to maintain their greatness with great power when there is need they shall not be respected nor secured against rebellious spirits so if the Ministers of Christ be poor Pauper ubique jacet and no great regard will be had of their words for all the brethren of the poor do hate him how much more do his friends go far from him And though Solomon tells you that the poor wise man delivered the City that was besieged by a great King Prov. 19.7 yet he saith no man remembred this poor man but his wisdom is despised Eccles 9.15 16. and his words are not heard And therefore it is no wonder that the poor Vicars preaching brings such poor fruits of charity when the great men of the Countrey carry all the great Livings from them or that poor Bishops can do no great good when those that have been great offenders Bene nota shall carry away the greatest Lordships from them 2. As Aaron the High-Priest of the Jews 2 The Tabernacle what it typifieth and what the Temple typified was a Type of our High-Priest Jesus Christ so the Tabernacle that Moses made in the Wilderness and the Temple that Solomon built on mount Moriah where Abraham was to sacrifice his Son Isaac and which was one of the three hills which were in the same tract of ground Sion Moriah Calvary were types and figures of the Christian Churches that should be erected under the Gospel For As in their Temple there were three things considerable First the Sanctum Sanctorum Secondly the Sanctum Vide Goodwin and thirdly the Atrium answerable to our Cathedral Churches that have 1. The Quire 2. The Body of the Church and 3. The Church-yard and In the Holy of Holies were the golden censer and the Ark of the Testament wherein were 1. The pot of Manna Heb. 9 4. 2. Aarons Rod. And 3. the Table of the Law signifying that the Christian Bishops that have the charge of the Sanctum Sanctorum must always preserve these three things first the Manna to feed the flock of Christ secondly the rod of Discipline to correct them and thirdly the Law to keep them within the bounds of their obedience And there was a covering of the Ark What the Propiriatory signified which was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Propitiatory or mercy-seat because it covered and hid the Law that it might not appear before God to plead against and accuse sinfull man for the transgression of this Law Rom. 3.25 and this signifieth our preaching of Jesus Christ to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our Propitiatour as the Apostle calleth him and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our Propitiation as S. John calleth him
vengeance in his anger so when the Jews were grown incorrigible he saith Jer. 21.7 He will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their life and they shall smite them with the edge of the sword and shall not spare them nor have pity nor have mercy upon them and such a sin is murder and the shedding of innocent bloud whereof the Lord saith Deut. 19.13 21 Et vide Ezek. 8.17 18. Thine eye shall not pity him but life shall go for life And such a sin is the sin of Rebellion which is as the sin of Witchcraft and spreadeth it self like a Gangrene and infecteth many millions of men and therefore the resisting of authority deserveth more severity and less clemency than any sin as you may see it in the punishment of Corah Dathan and Abiram who in the judgement of God himself deserved no less than to be consumed with fire from Heaven Rebellion how horrible a sin or to be sent down quick to Hell which in the judgment of Optatus is so fearful and unparallel'd a vengeance shewing the transcendent odiousness of rebellion that the like cannot be found since the creation of the world because rebelling against lawful Authority is no less than fighting against the divine Majesty and therefore the most holy Saints of the Primitive Church that were most innocent in all their lives would notwithstanding suffer the most cruel death rather than they would resist this ordinance of God or otherwise if they had so impudently reviled their Heathen Judges and so rebelliously resisted their persecuting Kings as you see many have done of late against the most gracious Princes the Church had never canonized them for godly Martyrs but had registred them among the most wicked Malefactors 3. Contempt of the Priest was the last The third sin of the Israelites Ver. 10. but not the least sin whereby the Israelites lost the Lord when they hated him that rebuked in the gate and abhorred him that spake uprightly that is the Prophet or Preacher saith Cornelius à Lapide because the Jews had their Tribunals and Judgements in the gates of their Cities as Moses sheweth and therefore Jeremy Amos Deut. 21.10 and the rest of Gods servants sate also in the Gates as you may see * Jer. 17 19. Esdras l. 2. c. 8. to rebuke the wrong Judgements as St. Hierom and Lyra note and to speak uprightly that is Perfectum sanctum sermonem a perfect and a just Judgement as the Septuagint and Symmachus render it and this the people hated and abhorred which is the height of all iniquity to reject the Prophet and to exclude his counsel from our judgements Sinners that reject their Teachers and Pastors are incurable for as the Gout is the shame of the Physitian because he cannot cure it so this is the plague of the soul and a sin that is incurable for though a man commits many and great sins and leads a very dissolute life yet if he will dutifully hearken unto counsel and patiently bear with his rebukes there is great hope of his amendment but as the diseased that is deadly sick and yet like Harpaste that would not be perswaded that she was blind though she could see no more than a milstone will not believe that he is sick and cannot indure the sight of his Physitian runs on a pace to death without any hope of life so the Judges that hate the Prophets company and abhor the assistance of the Priests in their judgements as the Israelites now did and that sinner who doth hate his Teacher and shuns the society of him that seeks to save his soul have little sign of grace and as little hope of eternal life and therefore the Scripture describing the deadly estate of the most desperate sinners such as with Ahab had sold themselves to work wickedness saith they are like those that contend with their Priests Hos 4.4 of whom there is little hope and less good to be expected any waies for is it possible that a blind man should find his way when he beats away his Leader Or that a child should thrive when he bites and beats away his nurse that gives him suck So it is impossible that they should do well which hate the light or that they should ever learn any good which abhor the Teachers of all godliness Gem. de coelo l. 1 c. 22. Job 9 9. The Preachers like the Hyades Geminianus tells us thâ—t the Ministers of Gods word are like the Hyades whereof Job speaketh 1. Because the Hyades or Pleiades as we translate them are watry stars so called from their effects the word Hyades of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying nothing else but rain So the Preâ—chers pour Respect 1 out the showers of heavenly doctrine upon the barren ground of our souls to make them fruitful even as Moses saith My doctrine shall drop as the rain Deut. 32 2. and my speech shall distill as the dew Respect 2 2. Because that as when the Pleiades do arise the daies lengthen the Sun is hotter and the Earth produceth more plentiful fruits so by the preaching of Gods word the light of truth is increased the heat of Christian love and charity is kindled and the holy fruit of all good works is increased Therefore if the Preachers be as the rain to make us fruitful as the light to direct our waies as our Fathers to instruct us and as the Angels of God to bring us into heaven as the Scripture testifieth that they are then I beseech you tell me what holy fruiâ— what heavenly light or what Christian good can be in them that despise their Teachers and expell their fathers from their societies Yet this was the sin of the Israelites and I fear we cannot free our selves from it for how have they been used since the beginning of this Parliament Was not he most cried up that cried most against the Church and Church-men And men of no note became famous in the House by making invective speeches against the Bishops 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 4.13 Heb. 11.38 and 37. and he was deemed most eloquent that was most bitter against them and how hâ—ve they been handled ever since Voted out of all their means and not any thing left them to buy them bread graviora morte and being thus made as the filth of the world and the off-scouring of all things unto this day as the Apostle speaketh they are either cast with Joseph into the dungeon or driven to wander in desarts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth being destitute afflicted tormented And I may say of some of them with Jeremy Jer. 5.9 they that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets they that were clad in scarlet embrace dunghils they sigh and seek bread and have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve their souls Lam. 4 5. 1.11 And shall I not
soon have put down their enemies and turned my hand against their adversaries the haters of the Lord should have been found lyars but their time should have endured for ever 3. Because he is able both to performe his promise and to satisfie Reason 3 our desires which our Prophet sheweth at large saying Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion Ver. 8. and turneth the shadow of death into the morning and maketh the day dark with night that calleth for the waters of the Sea and poureth them out upon the face of the earth that is as St. Hieron sheweth Fortificare debiles seek him that is the Creator of all things that is mighty to save and able to do whatsoever he pleaseth to strengthen the spoyled Ver. 9. as Vatab. and Arias say or as Aquila turns it subridere potentiam potentium to scorn the strength of the mighty and to destroy the destroyer And therefore if God be with us though we be weak and our enemies strong we few and they many yet we need not fear them because we rely not upon our own strength but upon the assistance of our God qui dividit contritionem super fortitudinem which casteth abundance of destructions upon the mighty as the Septuagint render the words of the Prophet and though we be simple and our enemies subtle and crafty full of all politique devices to raise men and to get money and to unite their strength by wicked Covenants Oaths and Associations yet we need not fear because we relye not upon our own wit but upon the wisdom of God which can destroy the wisdom of the wise 1 Cor. 1.19 and cast away the understanding of the prudent and turn the counsel of Achitophel to his own destruction Prov. 21.30 non est concilium contra eum and therefore O my beloved Brethren seek the Lord and fear not but as Moses saith stand still that is Exod. 14.13 constant in your resolution for the service of your God and the King and behold the salvation of the Lord which he will shew unto you this day or at this time 1 Sam. 14.6 2 Chro. 14.11 For there is no restraint unto the Lord to save by many or by few as both Jonathan and Asa testifie 2. The promise 2. The promise as I told you at first is the best of all desires you shall live the former part was like the toylsome labour of the Inhabitants of Persepolis when they cut the wood with their axes but this latter is like the feast that Cyrus made unto them Justia l. 1. hist when they had finished their Labours durus labor sed merces dulcis though the labour is hard yet the reward is sweet and it never troubles us to take great pains where we shall be well paid but to labour all night with the Apostles and to catch nothing How ill some masters reward their servants durus est hic sermo this is a hard saying after a hard labour but it is not so in Gods service for though in following the lusts of the flesh and the vanities of this World excessit medicina modum the reward that the Devil gives us shall be a great deal sorer than all the pain we have taken in his service for he deals with uâ— Val. Max. l. 9. c. 3. Curtius hist l. 3. as Alexander did with Clitus Calisthenes and other of his chiefest Captains or as Darius did with Eudemus to expose him unto death when he forsook his own native Country and deâ—icated his whole life to his command yet in the service of Christ it is far otherwise whatsoever a man doth for him he shall be rewarded a hundred fold How abundantly Christ rewardeth his servants and though he gives but a cup of cold water for his sake yet for this he shall not lose his reward And therefore this should incourage us to seek the Lord because our reward doth so far exceed our work Mat. 10.42 But let us consider the nature of this promise thou shalt live that is live long live well and live for ever For 1. The seekers of God shall live long Psal 37.2 1. Though the bloud-thirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their daies and the ungodly shall be soon cut down like the grass gemit sub pondere tellus when the earth is weary to bear them on it yet if we seek the Lord our daies shall be long in the Land which the Lord our God given us and though the pestilence that walketh in darkness Psal 91.6 and the arrow that flyeth in the noon day do threaten our death at every hour yet when a thousand shall fall besides us and ten thousand on our right hand it shall not come nigh us such is the reward of serving God 2. They shall live well Isa 3.10 2. They shall not only live for a miserable life is not so good as a happy death but they shall live well and happily while they live for surely it shall go well with the righteous saith the Prophet and King David saith the Lions may want and suffer hunger but they that fear the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good and the reason is rendred by the Apostle Psal 34.10 because godliness hath the promise both of this life and of the life to come And 1 Tim. 4.8 3. They shall live for ever Psal 37.27 3. If we eschew evil and do good we shall live for evermore gloriosum imperium sine fine dabit and God will give us a Kingdom without ending And therefore seeing this promise is so plentiful it is worth our labour that we should seek the Lord. Object But here it may be some will demand how doth he performe his promise for did not the Prophets the Apostles and all the Martyrs of the Primitive Church seek the Lord and believe in Christ with all their hearts and yet was not Zachary stoned in the Courts of the house of the Lord Micheas killed by Joram Amos knockt in the head with a club Isaiah sawed in pieces by Manasses John Baptist beheaded How they that sought the Lord were used in this world St. Stephen stoned James killed St. Paul beheaded St. Peter crucified St. Thomas killed with a Javelin St. Mark burned and what shall I say of Simeon Polycarpus Justinus Attalus Marcella Apollonia and abundance more of holy Saints Alii ferro perempti alii patibulo cruciati Euseb Ec. hist whereof alii flammis exusti some were burned others beheaded and all deprived of their life for seeking the Lord and confessing Christ And for any happy life the servants of God do lead doth not St. Paul say that all which will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution and afflictions do wait for them in every place 2 Tim. 3.12 Acts 20.23 Psal 37.36 Luke 16. and when the ungodly flourish like
Father and the Holy Ghost be ascribed all honour and glory for ever and ever Amen Jehovae Liberatori FINIS THE PERSECUTION AND OPPRESSION Which as Solomon saith is able to make a wise man mad OF JOHN BALE That was called to be Bishop of Ossory by the sole Election without any other mans Motion of that pious King Edw. 6. AND OF GRUFFITH WILLIAMS That was called after the same manner to the same Bishoprick by the sole Election without any other mans Motion of that most excellent pious King and glorious Martyr Charles I. Two Learned men and Right Reverend Bishops of Ossory LONDON Printed for the Author 1664. I. THis John Bale was a great Schollar and a Doctor of Divinity in the University of Oxford in the time of King Edward the sixth and he himself wrote a Book which the Right Worshipful and my much honoured Friend Sir James Ware lent me wherein he setteth down the vocation persecution and deliverance of himself and out of that Book I have drawn this Abstract of his life and persecution and expulsion from that very house from whence I was also expulsed and for which I am still oppressed and troubled 1. His Vocation was by the meer good will without any sollicitation of any other of that good King Edwards when he saw him in South-hampton he sent unto him by divers of his Nobility to bid him prepare himself to go to be the Bishop of Ossory which he obediently did and transported himself and his Family into Ireland and being consecrated at Dublin though with some opposition by reason of the Popish inclination of the Catholick Clergy he presently went to Kilkenny where 2. His Persecution did begin for he no sooner began to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ which he incessantly did but the most part of his Prebends and the Popish party opposed and contradicted him and within a very little while after the death of King Edw. 6. he was exceedingly persecuted by Barnaby Bolger and the Popish Priests and others that sought his death in his house this Bishops Court alias Holms Court Rich. Foster a Deacon Rich. Headly John Cage and the Maid where he saw five of his houshold Servants four men and a maid of sixteen years of age killed before his face and so had he been slain also had he not shut the Iron Grate of his Castle and kept the Kearnes out until the good suffereige of Kilkenny with a hundred horsemen and three hundred footmen brought him away in the night time and so delivered him out of their hands and forthwith sent him to Dublin from whence his life being there likewise hunted after he was conveyed away in a Marriners apparel and in his passage to Zealand was cruelly tossed by tempests and was taken at sea and carried to St. Ives in Cornwall where a wicked fellow named Walter accused our Bishop Bale of High Treason before the Justices there yet being not able to prove any thing against him the good God delivered him out of their hands And yet not long after one Martin an English Pirate did most falsly accuse him of many hainous crimes as the pâ—â—ting down of the Mass in England caused Doctor Gardiner Bishop of Winchester to be imprisoned and poysoned the King and many other hainous things which brought him abundance of troubles and vexations with the Captain of the ship wherein he passed towards Holland as himself relateth at large from fol. 38. of his Book of his persecution unto fol. 42. And because they are so fully exemplified and expressed by himself there together with the rest of his troubles and persecutions which he had in Ossory in Dublin and in his passage by Sea towards Germany in the Book that himself printed of his Vocation to the Bishoprick of Ossory and his persecution in the same I will set no more down here but refer my Reader to that Book II. GRiffith Williams born at Carnarvon at fourteen years old was sent to Oxford from whence by reason of the hard usage of him Junonis ob iram by an angry Juno that was his Unckles virago he was fain to betake himself within two years after alienas visere terras and failing to pass into France where he intended he was forced to retire into Cambridge where having no friends nor money a Country Gentleman of Harleton named Mr. Line having but one little Son about eight years old took affection unto me and entertained me into his house and table to tutor and teach that young Child and being there I got my self admitted into Jesus Colledge where as it came to my course I kept my Exercise and within two years after having gotten a Certificate from Christ-Church in Oxford of my study and good carriage there for two years before I had my degree Bachelour of Arts and within three years after I took my degree Master of Arts at 21 years of age and being admitted into the holy Orders of a Deacon by the Reverend Bishop of Rochester and of Priesthood by the Bishop of Ely after I had been a while Rector of Foscot in Buckingham-shire I became a Preacher and Lectorer in St. Peters the Proud in Cheapside and in the Cathedral Church of S. Paul For I found it so And then printed my first Book intituled The resolution of Pilate and my second Book intituled The delights of the Saints for the full space of five years I Lectored upon St. Pauls Epistle to the Romans and then began my persecution by the Puritans as they were then called and Fanaticks of those daies saving a little opposition that I formerly had by the same generation while I was Curate of Hanwel in Middlesex for now the more pains I took to study and to preach the truth boldly unto them as I ever did without fear the more mad they were against me and so mad that not only forty as they were against St. Paul but I believe above twice forty conspired together to work my death and most falsly accused me of such things as I never knew never did and never said yet they prosecuted the same so maliciously that I was bound over and they did their very best to hinder me to get any bayl to answer for my life at the Sessions house upon the Goal delivery of Newgate where I might demand tantenae animis terrestribus irae But he that dwelleth in the Heavens and knew mine Innocency and the cause of their malice laughed them to scorn and became to me as he is alwaies to them that fear him Deus in opportunitatibus a present help in trouble Who seeing that they would prefer no Bill against me quitted me and said they had forfeited and should pay their Recognizance as they well deserved to the King See the Epistle to the Reader before the seven Golden Candlesticks and delivered me with credit and honour out of the mouth of those Lions that were exceedingly blamed and checked by that worthy Judge
out of his hands and said this is a Sermon that I carried with me to preach where I should rest on the Lords day but that the Letters that were to the King and to the Bishop of York and others were in the Satchel and he for haste to see the Letters suffered me to put my Sermon and the Grand Rebellion into my Pocket which I feared would have been my death or utter ruine if the Commissioners had seen it Then Sir John having taken out the Letters asked me how I durst at those times carry Letters unto the King I answered they were Letters from those poor Bishops that therein shewed to his Majesty how they were pillaged and persecuted by the Popish Irish Rebels and I knew and had a Copy of what was in them before I would carry them then Sir John said I did wisely to do so and so he went in unto the rest of the Commissioners and left me lockt in the room yet very joyful for having gotten my Grand Rebellion out of his hands but behold still the malice of Satan and the subtilty of his Instruments while I was walking up and down the room and had torn the worst case that I had writ against the Parliament and chewed it in my mouth and threw it away an arrand knave was peeping at the key hole and went unto the Commissioners and told them that I had some desperate or treacherous Papers which he saw me tear then Sir John North comes to me again and aked what Papers those were that I was seen tearing I smilingly answered Alas Sir ever since I came from Sea I was troubled with a looseness and having by chance a loose leaf in my Pocket I pluckt it out and said this is the Paper that I had in my hand to go to the house of office and he looking upon it and finding it of no effect said Is this all And went his waies and then I remembred what our Saviour said When you are brought before Rulers Mark 13.11 take no thought what you shall speak for it shall be given you in illa hora in that very hour what to answer and God also wrought in the Commissioners such thoughts of me and my sufferings by the Irish that they gave me a Pass to go home and delivered me my horses which Captain Flaxon hoped to have had for his reward and the forty pounds which he found in my house and which I told the Commissioners was all that I had to keep me and my Family So graciously did God help me that I went home with joy contrary to the expectation of my Neighbours that informed the Rebels of my return to those parts And within a few daies after was the Battel at Edge-hill at which time I went to his Majesty and waited on him untill he came to Oxford And here in Oxford I printed fiâ—st my Grand Rebellion and afterwards my discovery of mysteries and last of all The rights of Kings where immediately I printed my Grand Rebellion and finding how well and how graciously his Majesty accepted of my endeavours therein I went to Wales and studied my discovery of mysteries or the plots of the Parliament to overthrow both Church and State and by the next Winter I came to Oxford to Print it and being printed Secretary Faukeland misliking a passage that I had set down of the Episcopal power in causa sanguinis would have had it called in but his Majesty would not suffer it to be supprest therefore I resolved by the next Winter to publish as I did my Book of the Rights of Kings both in Church and Commonwealth and the wickedness of the pretended Parliament and in the interim I was perswaded to go to London to see what I could work upon my Lord of Pembroke whom I had served so many years and tutored all his Children whereof two were now with his Majesty and when I came to London I took the opportunity to go unto him For I conceived that time to be the safest time while he was in bed and after much conference with him about the differences betwixt the King and his Parliament and their disloyalty to his Majesty and that I saw he began to be offended and very angry for fear he should deliver me to the Parliament that formerly had caused all that they found of my Grand Rebellion to be burnt I took my leave of him and presently highed me to go out of Town but was denied to pass untill I used my wit to the Maior of London to get a Pass by telling him that I was a poor pillaged Preacher of Ireland that came to London to see my friends and now having some other friends in North-hampton and thereabout And I have his Pass by me to this very day I humbly desired his Pass to go to see them and he pitying my case called for a cup of Wine and commanded his Clerk to write me a Pass without a Fee And then after I had passed a good way towards North-hampton I turned to Oxford and from thence within a while to Wales and from thence to Ireland and after Nasby fight being bound with my L. Taafe in a thousand Marks a peece unto his Majesty for the appearance of Collonel Vangary that returned at Edge-hill fight from the Parliament unto the King with Sir Faithful Fortescue at Beaumares Sizes for taking away a Drove of Cattle from the Drovers of Anglesey and he not appearing our Recognizans were forfeited and I was fain to return to his Majesty with Letters from my Lord of Ormond that Van-garie could not come out of Ireland and therefore his Majesty was humbly desired to remit the forfeiture of our Recognizance which his Majesty by his Letters to the Justices of Peace of Anglesey very graciously did and sent another Letter by me again to my Lord of Ormond but in my passage to his Majesty I was like to be carried to the Parliament by a knave that about ten miles from Aberystwith began to examine me and said that I was a Spy for the King and therefore I must be carried before some of the Parliament Officers to be examined and I had no other shift but to commend him for his care and to tell him that there were too many Spies abroad and I was but a poor pillaged man in Ireland that would very willingly go before any man and I still called for drink until he was perswaded that I was a very honest man and so he let me go in peace And before I could pass into Dublin General Mitton with his Army had entred into our Country and I preaching that Sunday that he came at Rhudhland had an Alarm about midnight and was fain to flee to Carnarvon shire and when he came to Carnarvon shire to slee too Anglesey And because Anglesey was an Island and could not be won if the Inhabitants would be true among themselves we that were true Royalists summoned the chiefest