can wishe in this worlde yet after all this shall succeede the infamous death of Cyrus who with his exceeding great armie was ouercome in the feelde And good cause whie sith as Plato writeth hee sinned much in bringing vppe his children wantonlie commaunding his owne brother to be slaine very treacherouslie Let no man presume so much as to doubte that there is a God the rewarder of the iust and punisher of the wicked that so mercifull on the one part and so perfectlye iust on the other that of his exceeding mercie hee rewardeth the least good deede of vs sinfull wretches and punisheth euerie sinne whatsoeuer vnleast we doe hartelie repent and turne our selues truelie vnto his mercy which we commit against his diuine maiesty Howe commeth it to passe that we are become like horse and mule which haue no vnderstanding If the carter doe but wagge his whippe the horses hie on apace if the shepheardes dogge doe but barke the sheepe doe whirrie all on heapes if the lion roare the beastes of the forrest tremble And yet the Lord calleth dailie and hourelie by signes from heauen by fiers in the ayre by strang courses in the waters by vnnaturall monsters in the earth by losse in the fielde and by scarefire in the house by sicknesse in the bodie by the denouncing of death to our soules and no man trembleth no man runneth no man looketh vp no man once regardeth it O â—sencelesse sensualitie Doe you marueile why your greefe lasteth daie and night and your disseases bee vncurable sith you haue such great store of honour and wealth to ease your minde which poore men wante they want them both in deede and fith they seldome taste the meate the Lorde of his mercie seldome offereth them the sower sawce belonging to such daintie dishes Therfore let al men leaue theyr wandering thoughtes of fancie of chaunce ill lucke wicked men euill mindes deceitfull hartes Non est malum in ciuitate quod non fecit dominus there is no chaunce or fortune in regard of God neither hath the wicked any power to hurte but where the Lord shall permit and hee permitteth not without deserte There is no deserte without sinne no sinne without punishment no punishment without deserued paine vnleast wee repent no repentaunce without sufficient restitution as much as lyeth in vs. Therefore thou which art stronge meruaile not that thou art wounded of the weake whose heart perhappes is greater then thine Thou which art riche and farest daintelie meruaile not that thou lyest sicke pininge consuming groning with the palsey in thy heade the burning in thine heart the Ciatica in thy hippes the stone in the reiâ—es the goute in the thy toe thine arme or thy legge the burning ague through thy whole bodie Thou which art mightie wise and honourable merueile not if thou beest brought vnder if thy foolish doinges breede the repentaunce with discredite Thou which hast honour and riches dominions and power health and Phisitions credite and successe at thy will meruaile not though thou want children or hauing one onely child which is all thy ioye when he is taken away by vntimely death Say not to thy selfe O what ill fortune is this that hauing one onely childe in whome I ioyed hee should bee thus taken from mee neither weepe so bitterlie for thy naturall childe O yee sonnes of the earth weepe not for your children but weepe for your selues and your owne sinnes against God Knowe yee right well that who so euer maketh his ioye of anie thing prouideth for anie thing honoureth anie thinge more or in comparison of the Lord eyther hee shall not enioye it or it shall not enioye him This is the Maior and the Minor is like vnto it which is this There is no aduersitie what so euer commeth to vs but it is for our sinnes though not the thousande parte which wee deserue but as it were a philip in respecte of the cutting off of the heade If wee will but turne our eyes from the vaine cloude of worldlie follie and confusion we shall see most plainelie that there is no sickenesse no vntimelie death no losse of Parentes or children no imprisonmentes no aduersitye what so euer but it is sent of the Lord for our sinne and on the contrarie that the Lorde is so full of goodnesse and loouing mercie that hee continuallie blesseth euerie good deede of ours what so euer and that by his continuall mercies shewed vnto them which loue him and his holy temple where his name is to bee praised to the worldes ende Wee may see it plainelie amongest the heathen that the Lorde is iust in remembring his promised mercies to all them which feare him and say also with that holie Prophet Verely there is a rewarde for the iuste not for the Iewe onelie or the Christian onelie or for this nation this degree this sorte or kinde of men onelie but as saint Peter affirmeth there is no acception of persons with God but in euerie nation who so euer feareth the Lorde a right and worketh righteousnesse he is accepted in the sight of God Let all men therefore learne to feare the Lorde aright let them open the fountaine of theyr charitable compassion towardes theyr brethren especiallie towardes his holie temple At the least let not vs be more vnkind vnto the spouse of Christ then were the heathen Looke backe againe to that highe mountaine from whence wee are newlie discended Cyrus began to builde the temple of the Lorde and hee prospered wonderfullie hee forgatte the Lord and hee came to an euill ende Darius also succeeded him who finished the building of the temple begunne by Cirus willing his lordes and captaines beyonde the floude that in anie wise they should not hinder the Iewes in theyr building But that if they wanted stone or timber or siluer or golde calues goates kiddes salte oyle or wine they should let them haue all thinges at theyr will shewing therein his good minde and the cheefest vse of these worldlie goods in these wordes Vt offerant deo coeli oblationes orentque pro vita regis filiorum eius That they maie offer vp oblations to the God of heauen and praie for the life of the King and his children It is verie straunge and worthy to be let vp as a mirour before the eyes of all Christian princes that these heathen Emperours should attribute so much to the glory of God hearing but a far off seing his mighty maiesty but in a cloude What may be compared to that which followeth in the stile and wordes of Artaxerxes written after this manner Artaxerxes rex regum c. Artaxerxes King of Kinges c. Vnto Eâ—dras the most learned scribe of the law of the God of heauen I haue decreede that of Israell in my kingdomes and dominions who so will goe with thee vnto Ierusalem that hee haue free libertie to goe and what golde or money thou
churches remained vntouched and vnuiolated as holy houses on which they durst not presume to lay their handes which reuerence done to the religious houses of the gentils sith it was done by the aforenamed king it seemed that it rather proceeded of the wise pollicie and rule of regiment left to him by that worthie ruler Numa Pompilius his predecessor then of anie great deuotion which hee had towardes the gods or their holie temples in that it is written of him that hee accounted nothing lesse honourable or princely then to apply himselfe to the honor of religion Therfore his fierce wild desperate mind was so daunted and throughlie pierced with deadlie agony and shaking fare that of a neglector of religion and religious houses sodainly he left all other matters whatsoeuer most earnestlie and superstitiouslie fulfilling euen the least ceremonies of their religion But because hee became religious rather for feare than for loue through the wrath of God hee and his house together were burned and cleane consumed with lightning from heauen So farre were the people of that age from spoiling the temples of their owne gods that when they conquered any nation they feared to laie handes on the temples or anie other thing Nay it seemed to them great sacriledge a thing alwaies punished by God to alter or translate the holie rites or anie thing thereunto belonging as appeareth in the same historie After Tullus had conquered the Sabynes sacked their citie beeing now in his maiestie replenished with honor all kind of kinglie abundance of a sodaine newes came to the court that it rained stones in the mount Albaine Whither when they had sent messengers and found it so there was also a voice heard in the mount crying aloud and saying that Albines should vse their owne Countrie Religion which they had left when they left their temples behinde them desolate and lost their countrey With this the Romanes were also much moued so that for memorie of this they appointed certaine solemne feast daies Nether was this religious minde onely proper to the Romanes who in this point of all people were most religious But common also to other people euen by the law and instinct of nature as appeareth by the legats of Locris sent to the Senate of Rome who as it is partlie recorded of Celsus of Verona after manie great iniuries and violences offered to them and their Countrie they repeated this as the chiefest saying There is one thing O worthie senate of which euen that Religion which nature hath infixed in euerie mans minde doth will vs to complaine wee know right well how deuoutlie and ceremoniouslie you embrace not onelie your owne gods but how fauourably you entreate and vse the gods of other nations We haue a temple dedicated vnto Proserpina Amongest other his abhominable facts your Legat Pleminius did take away the treasure of this Temple hee shipped it and hoisted vp saile but the winde blew the tempestes did arise the waues tossed the surges fomed the sea roared in such sort that the shippes were violentlie reuersed to the shore from which they went and spletted on the sands where the treasure was found and restored to the temple againe Nether did anie thing euer prosper which he took in hand after that deed so that being driuen from Italie he entring Greece in the night he died a shameful an vnlucky death After this your legat and the tribunes of soldiers presumed so far also as to laie violent handes on the treasure belonging to the same temple therewith defiling themselues and their houses Which fact o worthie Senate vnlesse you will by your religious mind reforme without doubt ye shal haue no good succesie in your affairs either in Italie or in Affrick but their bloud shall bee spilt and your common wealth hazarded also in lue of that fact And to saie the truth euen at this instant the wrathful reuengement of the goddesse doth light vpon your captains soldiers we our selues hane lately seen how they run violently together with banners displayed one part against another the captaine of one part is Pleminius of the other the two tribunes Thus they dailie fight together most cruelly most barbarouslie most deadlie Many of the soldiers be oft in a phrensy think you that the goddes hath let the captains goe scotfree no she punisheth them surely The Tribunes were takē by the Legat whipped with rods Also the Legat at length apprehended by the pollicie of the Tribunes his bodie all rent and torn with sundrie torments his nose his ears cut off he was left bleeding almost to the death Afterwardes the Legat recouering cast the Tribunes into prison whipping scourging them stocking and tormenting them with most vile punishments fit for roges and rascals he put them to death forbidding any mā to burie them These be the punishments which the Goddes hath sent on the spoilers of hir temple Nether wil she cease to torment them all and euerie of them with innumerable plagues and punishments til the treasure takē from her temple be restored to it againe This was the speach of the Legats of Locris vnto the senat of Rome which sheweth plainly that as wel the Gretians as the Romans counted it a wicked thing to diminish or take ought frō the temple of the gods of the nations Nay they themselues not onely tooke this wise and sure way in the establishing of their common-wealth but also in euerie particular action whatsoeuer they had a special eye regard vnto the Gods their religion their reuerence their worship their temples And surely if we looke into the Romane histories we may see most plainly that they obserued the rule of their owne Poet A Ioue principium musae they first of all regarded the temples of their Gods and then their common-wealth By which safe rule they conquered east by Pompey and farre west by Iulius Caesar who at the first was most of all men in that age addicted to the maintaining of temples their Gods Whereby hee did gather such strength and rose so high that neither Prince nor king could retyre the force of his army or subdue him in the battaile Till at the length through daily practise of shedding bloud by force of armes his heart was so hardened that vnnaturally he drew out his sworde and lifte vp his armes against his owne country from whence he had his chiefe beginning But afterwardes when he had helde foorth his swoorde against his mother which gaue him it first into his handes and had dissolued the most famous and renowned state of the Romane Senate and by force made himselfe Emperour or Rome That which is the desteny of all worldly felicitie the Lorde yeelded him vp to a most famous death beeing stabbed by the handes of those wise and auncient Senatours Why doe you reason thus within your selues against a plaine truth ioyned most narrowlie with your owne soules
our face most apparantly I will not long discourse on that part pardon me the glasse is cleare what should I write That prouerbe was vsed of auncient time and we prooue it true Suis quisque malis blanditur euery man flattereth himselfe in his owne humor and though the glasse do shew thee plainely that thy face is foulie spotted in diuers places with vncleannesse of thine owne hands and full of puffed pimples by reason thou drinkest lyquor not ordained for thy stomacke yet to the ende that those small scabbes without may breede great sores within and that thine ende may bee the lue of thy desert flattering thy selfe with thine owne deformrtie and loath to bee corrected by an other thou castest away the glasse which once abandoned qui semel verecundiae limities transilient without all blushing thou affirmest boldly a mould a wart a wrinckle a â—reckle a spotte a wheale is but a toye in a mans face I count but little of the foolishe glasse And shew me reason why not why not if it be not seene it is no blot but if it be no more hid then the nose on your face or the sight in your eye if all men loath the sight thereof and count you carelesse of your health for neglecting the same then knowe that the time is nowe come of which it was foreshewed that men should bee loouers of themselues more then of the Lorde and you are a childe of the same nowe therefore sith the glasse is gone and reason is the rule by the which you leauell knowe yee that your deformities are great and sith you loue to feede on meate forbidden two men of your complection know this for a trueth that all meates are not for al meÌ„ It were a straunge vnnatural kindnes if the little child sucking on his mothers brest shold pull the meate out of her mouth as she is feeding yet much more vnholsome to be eaten of the child then straunge to the beholders If this vnnatural vnkindnes doe seeme so vntollerable in the flesh how much more in the children of the spirite wee must knowe that man as Hermes writeth consisteth of two natures of heauen and earth of bodie and of soule of the fleshe and of the spirite The fleshe is of earth earthlie the spirite is from heauen heauenlie first is that which is spirituall and then that which is bodilie The bodie is quickned last and dieth first but the spirite is that which is first and laste As the spirituall is first so wee ought first of all to walke after the spirit and not after the flesh to become like our spirituall father and to nourish our spirituall mother and brethren redeemed with the same spirituall sacrifice renewed with the same spirituall grace confirmed by the same spiritual pastours vnto sanctimony holines of life reading first aboue al other knowledge science contemplacions and reuelations the true heauenlie doctrine of the spirit Seking with our bodies liues and goods to preserue keepe the volumes the pastours the temples of the spirituall worship of the Lord where the breade of life is broken to those which hunger and thirst after righteousnes and the spirituall foode of the soule After the body followeth the shadowe and next to this spirituall foode of the soule the food of the corruptible bodie is to be prouided Both are necessarie but the former first Therefore let vs not seeke after the foode which perisheth but seeke the foode which preserueth both bodie and soule vnto eternall life knowing that as our sauiout Christ saith man liueth not by bread onely but by euerie worde which proceedeth out of the mouth of God This word is the conduit of the spirit whose substaunce is perfect trueth this word was in the beginning by it all thinges were made It created all thinges of nothing in weakenes strength in vilenes honour in the dust it placed a liuing a heauenly and an vnderstaÌ„ding soule erecting the bodily chariot where in he placed it right vp to heauen that he might aboue al things continually haue his face his eie his hart and cogitacion fixed on heauen and heauenlie conuersation But man would not abide in honour the spiriual grace of the heauenly fountaine infused into him was corrupted with the vncleanes of the vessel FroÌ„ the beginning his enemies prouoked him to offend his maker to leaue y e heauenly spirit to incline to her handmaid this sinful filthy coruptible flesh Therewith he lusted after his sensuall appetite he rowled his eie to fro according to y e wauering of fleshly sensuallity leauing the mistris in most degenerate sort he bound himself to serue the pleasurs of the body with the los of life he brought in death in affecting the losenes of the flesh he lost the freedome of the spitit in seeking lands honor on the earth he left the spiritual Canaan the heaueÌ„ly IerusaleÌ„ perfect lawe of the libertie Sith therfore the essence of man is his spirit according as it is written Mens vniuscuiusque is est quisque as the minde is so is the man eyther good or bad and that our first and chiefest constitution is spirituall Let vs vnderstand thus much of our selues that it is most consonant to our creation to our constitution to our saluation that aboue all other things we frame all our thoughts and meditations our calling and conuersation our goods and landes our liues and liuinges our bodies and our soules to the nourishing of the doctrine of trueth and the maintaining of the nurses the true teachers and preachers of the same This is the key of knowledge whereby wee must open the doore of heauen the tree of life which feedeth the soule the cleare light which lighteneth euery man which commeth into the world Now the windowe beginneth to open the day spring from an highe now visiteth vs teaching vs truely that as we consist of two natures so we are of two beginnings spirituall and earthly of a spirituall father the creator of heauen and earth a spirituall mother the holy catholique Church on whome hee hath sent his holy spirite visibly descending So we must first and principally apply our selues to the maintaining of the health peace and safety the reuerence renowne and glory of this spirituall father and mother leauing our earthly father and our earthly mother in regard of them because hee created redeemed and sanctified vs vnto himselfe our holy mother She nourisheth vs with the spirituall milke of the holy ghost that wee should be an holie religious generation vnto the Lord. Therefore after wee haue truelie confessed that wee beleeue in the most holie blessed and glorious trinitie three persons and one God next vnto our heauenlie Father wee acknowledge our spirituall mother the holie catholique Church in whose custodie at his departing out of this world he left his will and testament plainlie written and subscribed with his owne hand and the handes of
Philosophers or Philosophers raigned Herein we learne that euen by the mere motiō and instincte of nature the verie heathen honored wisedome and vertue in what person soeuer aboue all the giftes of the body naie they so highly esteemed of knowledg and vertue that they not onlie gaue them the highest honor and dominion whilest they liued but after their death they built temples vnto them and celebrated their memorie after their heathenish superstition perpetually Their doinges shewed plainely that they had some hidden sparke in them by nature of the fire which ought not onelie to be kindled in the hartes and mindes of all true christians but also it ought to flame forth giue light in their liues conuersations much like a candle which standeth on highe giueth light to the whole house This candle sheweth vs plainelie that man by nature following the better part of his constitution is appointed to worship God and to emploie himselfe his goods his giftes and all his power for the maintaining of the true worship of God in his holy temple aboue all other thinges in heauen in earth Neither let any man thinke that this is the dutie of the clergie onely whose office is in the first place of holie function to be ministers of his diuine worship or that it belongeth onelie to the poore fatherlesse inferior people although of such commonly the kingdome of God dooth most consist as it is written not many mightie not manie rich not many of the most accounted of in this world shall enter into the kingdome of heauen but vnto the worshipfull the honorable the Duke the Prince the King the Emperour who though he bee accounted the greatest among christians yet hee that is least in the kingdome of God is greater then he Sith this little sparke of heathen fire hath lightened the candle euen of christian princes let not our harts be so ouer grown with the choking weeds of this mortalitie Neither let the God of this world either so blinde our eyes or dimme our sight that wee professing the name of Christians with our mouth shold be like the heathen people in our life Herein let vs learne to distinguish the cleere light of a christian candle from the smoking snuffe of the heathen Hee which is the king of kinges and onely ruler ouer all hee said plainlie my kingdome is not of this world Neither those which onely bende themselues to the fleshlie course of this worlde to attaine highe stile dominion and rule the fat of the field or riches of the Citty are the truest christians For what is a christian or what difference doe wee make betwixte the worthie dignitie of christian princes and the tirannicall empire of the heathen Theyr strength is the cursed confidence of flesh and bloud Though an horse be but a vaine thing to saue a man though all fleshe is grasse and the glorie thereof is as the flower of the fielde which florisheth to day and to morrow is cast into the furnace though euerie man liuing and all the liuing of man is but meere vanitie yea lighter then vanitie it selfe yet the heathen and worldly man will disquiet himselfe in vaine hee will make fleshe his arme and the compasse of the earth his dominion hee will plante his foote in the sea and his armie in the highest hils he will displaie his banner before the clowdes and compare his glory to the golden tressed sunne The swelling of sinfull fleshe is aboue measure and desire of rule seeth not God Christian kinges they set the glorie of God before theyr eyes and not their owne glorie they first of all acknowledge their spirituall father and their spirituall mother before their naturall parentes according to that sence and sentence of Hermes Diuina officia praecedere humana sequi debent we must first seeke heauenly things thē those which cōcerne this world But the Kings and rulers of the heathen they are filii terrae the sonnes of the earth Their desire their life their looue their greatest glory and rule is in the earth alone and came from the earth they knowe not their heauenly father and therefore ofte times they spoile their spirituall mother Such as they be such is their rule not for the glory of God or the safetie of his church for they defie her they prophane her they pill and poll her but they rule for their owne glory their owne peace and safetie according to their owne humour as it is plainely described by the mouth of Daniell speaking vnto Balthasar in this manner O King the most high God hath bestowed dominion magnificence glorie and great honor vpon Nabuchodonozar thy father and in regard of that highnes which God gaue him all people kindreds Kinges and nations trembled before him and feared him greatly Whom he would he killed whom he would he did strike whome hee would he aduaunced and whom he would he threw down This is the tyrannical rule of the Kings of the nations concerning which our sauiour Christ hath said principes gentium dominantur eis c. This is the waie of flesh and bloud into the which that younger sonne euen the carnall man is alreadie entered but to the elder children begotten in the spirite borne of our true spirituall mother and nursed in the schoole of Christianitie and by her instructed out of the booke of life in the fayth feare and looue of God our spirituall father hath sayd Vos autem non sic The Kinges of the heathen and rulers of the earth they are called good maister and good grarious lord most highe most renowmed most mighty most glorious most excellent maiesty without exception of heauen and earth They thinke themselues to be Gods making the ende of their power and rule to bee the extolling of their owne honour and dignitie They regard not iustice that they should doe no iniurie nor the poore that they might bee called mercifull nor their brethren that they might seeme naturall nor their inferiours that they might appeare humble nor the goods the landes the peace the priuiledge the honour the glorie of God or man that there might appeare some sparke of Godly life in them But without regard of God of pietie or pittie they say to this man cast thy selfe headlong from yonder rocke before my face breake his legges pearce the other to the heart reache mee the heade of that braue knight let that Lord be pulled in peeces with wilde horses cast that Earle into the dungeon with the Lions destorie that nation burne those temples sley man woman and childe onelie preserue my kingdome my crowne my maiesty and let your praiers be made onely vnto me But christiā Princes must not do so Though the Lord hath giuen the highest honor to the King and put the scepter into his hand in which respect they are said to be gods sitting in the place of God pronouncing the sentence in his name and person yet let
is lighter than vanitie it selfe The wise high mightie honorable politike rulers of this world trouble themselues all the dayes of their life in fetching in casting in compassing goods lands honour dominion and power They rise vp earely and goe to bed late as sayth the prophet they eate the bread of carefulnes they search and seeke many newe waies They inuente many strange pollicies they aduenture many great daungers they loose many frendes they vndoo many poore schollers widowes and fatherles children euen to the losse of their owne soules and yet they say they loue the Lord and his holy temple O sinfull harts besotted with sensualitie Can that shippe be safe which is tost with euerie surge of the sea and ouerwhelmed with euery blast of wind can that minde bee quiet which boyleth with sundry flames of fire Is there any suretie in lightnes it selfe any certainetie in outwarde fortune any safetie in perpetuall warre any securitie in present daunger any frendshippe in open defiaunce any felicite in outwarde riches anye religion in spoyling the Church Be there two heauens that wee should make our paradise heere on earth or is the Lords arme shortened that hee can not execute his will or his iustice decayed that the sinners shoulde escape vengeaunce Is hee asleepe that hee is not stirred vp with the outrage which the heathen and hard harted worldlings commit against his church or is hee deafe that hee heareth not the crie of the poore or blinde that he seeth not the pride of the world openlie disclaiming the brightnes of the heauens No the Lord is not slack as some count slacknes He which made the heauens so high most carefully he beholdeth the lowest the poorest the simplest creatures here below He which made the eare hee will heare the crie of the poore and hee which made the eie hee will beholde the scarres which be inflicted on the face of his beloued spowse In his compassion hee shall pittie her and in his iudgement he shall draw forth the two edged sword of his wrathfull indignation He shall rise vp like the Gyant to the battaile and shall passe forth as the Lyon to deuour his praie Hee shall redouble the wickednesse of his enemies into their bosoms Hee shall cast downe the house on their heads He shall bring the curse of their desert vpon them and who is able to withstand the surie of his wrathfull indignation to endure his anger or to suffer his heauie displeasure though some men prosper for a while with that which is not their owne being reserued to a greater destiny yet let those which hope for the saluation of Israel learne to feare the Lord aright Let vs not abuse the long patience louing kindnes which the Lord hath shewed in sparing vs so long I grant the Lord is merciful long suffering full of patience and mercie sore grieued with the death of a sinner But yet he is iust in reuenging the iniuries of his spowse If anie offer iniurie to the king or to a noble mā or to a meane man before his face he will reuenge it presently but if wee offer violence to the spowse of Christ or the dead or the fatherlesse or the innocent which cannot speake for themselues nor pleade their owne cause then know that the Lord hath taken the defence of these to himselfe Hee which dwelleth in the heauens hee seeth it Though his blow be long in comming it pearceth deepe euen into the Marrow and the bottom of the soule and that to the third and fourth generation of them that hate him Hee beareth long with them but when he commeth he payeth home Hee suffereth the wicked to deuise many vnlawfull means whereby they waxe rich in this world He letteth them passe on their course oft times with great prosperity euen many yeares diuers liues till at the length when the fruit of sinne is ripe and the first sower thereof is readie to reape a plentifull haruest of his vngodlinesse then besides the danger of the soule the sowthwinde ariseth the heauens ouercast the outragious tempest breaketh out of the cloudes aboue it passeth it pearceth it ouerthroweth so that the haruest which hath bene so many yeares in growing of a sodaine is cleane distroyed and vanisheth out of sight Though thou haue thonsandes of landes and tenne thousandes more than the auncient inheritance of the fathers Though thy money bee heaped in bagges and thou wallow in thy wealth hauing all thinges at thine owne will yet if thou haue robbed thine owne mother to enrich thy treasure thou shalt bee a fatherlesse childe and childlesse father thy selfe so that thou shallt haue no parents in whose presence thou maiest ioy nor leaue any childe behinde thee to weepe for thee at thy graues side Nay that which is a visible curs thy goods for which thou hast drudged so sore when thou art dead shall bee translated into the handes of thine enemies to the end they may strongly bee auenged of thy dearest friendes O let not your eies bee blinded with carnall delight and too much carefulnesse of this earthlie bodie let not the delights of the flesh blot out the well meaning motions of the spirite Be wise betimes and vnderstand this true rule of the spirite least the terriblenesse of the example cause you to tremble at the first sight and after further view breede great amasement in your hart and conscience If thou haue children and childrens children and great store of earthie offices honors and dignities for them all yet if thou spend more time and care in prouiding for them and herein count more of thine owne honour now begunne and budding in thy posteritie then of the prosperitie of the Church of Christ of his diuine worship of of his holie ministers Thy wife shall prooue a stinging serpent in thy bosome thy children shall bee wastfull distroyers of that which thou so carefullie hast built vp thy bodie agonished with sundrie malladies altogether vncurable thy groning daie and night will marre thy melodie conceiued of thine abundance of riches thy hart shall quake with doubtfull feare of thine enemies death will double the discord of thy disquietnesse and if thou were the mightiest and most puissant prince in the world yet if thou count of any earthlie thing before or in comparison of God and his holie Church vnlesse thou repent thy desire shall neuer prosper Concerning this conclusion I minde onely to giue you a tast of which if it please you to pervse Celsus of Verona hereunto annexed yee shall find the whole seruice represented in sundry deynty dishes which manie wicked worldlings take from the ministers of the Chuch setting them on their owne tables Hee hath described the whole course and named sundrie costlie meates whereon the Venetians vsed to feede adioyning thereto their sower sawces which once receiued in at the mouth but hardlie afterwardes digested did breede great hart burninges in their breastes And good
secrete polling and vndermining the Church of Iesu Christ. And if it be a great punishment sent from God vpon thee thy wife thy children thy house or family thy countrie or people though thou haue not sinned lately notoriouslie yet remember what thou hast done long since thinke that long since thou inclosedst such a fielde from thy poore neighbours that that thou tookest the goodes lands and priuiledges from such a Church there giuen to maintaine the worshippe of the Lorde therewith remember that though it were long since yet with the Lord a thousand yeares is but as one day and therefore now hee punisheth thee euen with as perfect iustice as if the deede were nowe in dooing before his face Would to God that men woulde hereby learne to feare the Lord and to tremble at his secrete iudgement that they woulde cast off the loue of this wicked worlde which corrupteth their consciences and poisoneth their owne soules that they woulde leaue this fained kinde of repenting in worde onelie and repent in deede which is restoring with Zacheus foure folde and vndooing that which they haue done to the vttermost of their power If the loue of the Lords blessinges will not incite them to good life yet let the fcare of his heauie iudgementes deterre them from sinne Let vs not looke on those great and grieuous examples which I haue nowe rehearsed thinking those were long since in times past and that in forraine nations beyond the seas for if we looke well we shall see that as many plagues pestilences and other contagious diseases of the bodie haue beene brought ouer sea into this fortunate Iland so also this most contagious and deadly maladie of bodie and soule came ouer and rooted it selfe in this lande long since Wee haue store of examples at home and one shall serue for the perfecting of this period William Rufus the third sonne of the Conquerour after hee had ouercome his enemies and their resistance diuers times beeing returned out of Fraunce and quietly enioying the Scepter of this land afterward hee liued in ioy and triumph and for the more suppliance of his pleasure and pastime he to inlarge his Forrest pulled downe foure Abbeies seauenteene parish Churches and all the Townes belonging to the same Quo quisque peccat eodem saepe plectitur modo Oft times a man is punished the same way by which hee offendeth and so was hee for in the same Forrest where these Churches stood which hee pulled downe and in the same disport or pastime for which he dissolued them he was slaine by the glauncing of an arrow shot at a Deare by a Knight so that hee fell downe therewith on the grounde giuing onelie one grone Some write that in the same place where he fell downe and died in olde time there had beene a faire Church which with others in his Fathers time were dissolued for the enlarging of the said Forrest in which Forrest also a litle before the Kings Nephew was slaine by the like chaunce This Kings Father and he both minded to haue made this a fâ—ire goodly Forrest fit for the disport and hunting of a king but the Churche of Christe and the houses of his poore Subiects stood in his waie His officers and sycophants considering what would come rouling into their purses that way said it was very meete it should be so so it was But alas it proued a small pleasure of the father which ended with the deadlie groning of his sonne a simple pastime for the king to haue his bodie wounded with the piercing arrow to the death Pleasure bought with griefe is seldome kindly and gaine procured with the displeasure of the Almighty doth neuer profite The hearts of the wicked lust after their owne bane and wanton pleasure poisoneth hir owne Nurse The flower of flesh florisheth not an houre and the fall thereof is griefe to the eie The wisedome of this world compoundeth cares and the height of their deuises want successe Most mens fancie wearieth the spirite and their welthiest wish is perfect disquietnes He which magnifieth himself seeketh his owne decaie because the chaire of pride is placed on slipperie ice Hee which gathereth vnrighteous goodes for his children pierceth the heart of his owne flesh and who so taketh away his neigbours possession he diggeth vp the roote of his owne posteritie Hee which neglecteth his maker choketh his soule and hee which taketh from the Church shall not prosper vppon earth his bodie shall decaâ—e without his bloud shall drie vp within his marowe shall consume within his bones his musicke shall bee groning daie and night his feeding shall be loathsomnes of meate his wish shal be O that I were as yonder poore man his comfort that his good daies bee past his recreation one pang vpon an other his glad tidings the death of his children his consolation the loathing of his friends his hope the feare of death and vnlesse hee repent his ende shall bee despairre of eternall life Who so mindeth to liue with Iesus Christ eternally in heauen aboue and in this life mindeth to see good daies let him walke the way of the righteous and marke the fruitlesse paths of the wicked Frst of all let him keepe his hands from violating holie things and behold the miserable ende of those which doe the contrarie Let him reade the holie Gospell of Saint Mathewe and in reading let him marke diligentlie in marking diligentlie let him vnderstand truelie what our Sauiour Christ meaneth when hee saith yee fooles whether is the golde holie or the Temple which sanctifieth the golde and whether is the gift holie or the Altar which sanctifieth the gift If the Temple make the ornaments holie then the walles the woode the stone of the which the Temple doth consist is holie if the Altar doe sanctifie the gift then that which belongeth to the maintaining of the Altar is sanctified they which minister ther at are to be reputed holy If by our sauior Christ his speach those things be true then they be holie men which build vp the Lords house and they be wicked which pull downe the same according to that old verse Ecclesias Christi quas fundauêrâ— parentes Heu malè diripiunt gnati pietate carentes The godlie Fathers builded vp the Churches of Christ and the vngodlie children haue pulled them downe But marke the end of all those which walked this way and learne to keepe thy conscience cleare from this gracelesse fact The Lord inflicted manie plagues on them whilest they liued here and when they were once deade their honour vanished like smoake and was buried with them in the graue As their bodies consumed in the earth euen so their infamie did spring vp out of the ground their goods wasted like waxe in the fire and like snow before the Sunne their posteritie became like the grasse growing on the house top which withereth before it â—ee ripe Nether was this only the
reward of those which defaced the Temple of the Lorde and decaied his holy Ministerie but it is most plaine and euident by sundrie auncient histories that in all ages when wisdome learning and religion once gaue place to worldly pollicie when the vertues of the mind were subdued to the force of flesh when vertuous life waxed out of vse and sensualitie increased when the bodie robbed the soule and the naturall man imprisoned the freedome of the spirite when the pride of the worlde mainteined it selfe with the goods of the Church then shortly after followed the vtter subuersion of the whole common wealth Therefore let sinfull man looke downe vpon himselfe with great humilitie let the pride of corruptible flesh strike saile in time leâ—t with the sodaine puffes and pirreies of vnnaturall windes which commonlie rise from such mens hearts it be violently driuen into the swift currents of perdition whose end is the gulfe of eternall sorrowe Let not worldly men goe on daie by daie minding nothing else but earth and earthly ioies like brutish beastes which haue no vnderstanding but let them looke vp vnto heauen from whence commeth our ioy and true felicitie let them consider that which the Philosopher gathered by plaine reason that man consisteth not of bodie onelie neither that his beginning is meere naturall as is the stone the flower the tree the oxe the asse but that he is indued with a soule of heauenly and angelicall substance made vnto eternitie that his stature was framed vpright and his countenance erected to the heauens to the ende that aboue all thinges hee shoulde haue a diligent eie vnto God his Creatour who dwelleth in the heauen aboue and a speciall regard vnto his diuine worshippe which hee hath appointed heere belowe That this duetie is inioined him from the day of his birth to the day of his death that in obseruing the same is life and in neglecting it is death not the death onely of the bodie but the eternall death both of bodie and soule If this be so how diligently ought we to looke about vs how readie to walke the steppes of our Sauiour Christ whose meate and drinke was to doe the will of God here an earth howe willing should we bee and desirous to imitate those godly Christians of the primatiue Church who sold their goods and their lands laying them downe at the Apostles feete or their successours which imploied themselues their goods and their lands on the diuine seruice and reuerent Temple of Iesu Christ Let no man presume so farre in his blind zeale altogether deuoid of knowledge and sauering rather the doctrine of men then of God to say that God dwelleth not in temples made with hands neither is he worshipped with outwarde worship but in truth and spirite thereby most prophanely concluding that we ought to put no religion in outward things or to ascribe any holines to the same Wee haue heard that the Temple sanctifieth the gold thereof and if any man doubt of the same let him adde prophane hands vnto the arke though vnder colour to holde it vp and trie with Oza whether he shall presently be stroken from the Lord with sodaine death Or let him but holde out his hande against the Prophet and trie with Roboam whether it will be presently dried vp or no. Though the Lorde strike thee not presently with Oza or at thy returne chaunge thee into a Leaper as white as â—nowe with Gehesey though he doth not accurse thee as hee did the figtree yet assure thy selfe that with the burning sinnes of thy body the winges of thy soule wherewith thou shouldest flie vp into heauen shall bee scorched thy heart shall melt thy conscience shall burne and thou shalt be consumed in the great daie of the Lord. Let all men knowe this for a truth that those which diminish the worshippe of God heere vppon earth the Lord will cut of the line of their posteritie in this life and blot out their portion in the lande of the liuing If this be fearefull O ye sonnes of men then let the daily remembraunce thereof enter into your brestes let it sinke downe into your harts and ransacke your inward spirits that ye may therby learne to kisse the louing son of your saluation to imbrace his manifolde mercies and to tremble at his iudgements Say not God is mercifull and therein abuse him he is farre off and therefore deny him a thousand yeares with him is but a daie and therewith forget him but remember with your selues and consider wiselie that all his wordes are truth and hee hath saide long since I come and I will not staye behold I come quickly He hath girt vp his loynes he hath taken his two edged sword into his hande his trumpet is now ready to sound that great alarum of the day of iudgement His thousand thousandes of angels are ready to deuide the heauens to inflame the aire to dry vp the waters and to shake the earth with all the kingdoms therein and now he is comming euen at the doore Though some may thinke that my penne declyneth to this fading conclusion rather by course of stile than for the euidence of truth therein contayned for the glorie of Iesu Christ or for our dutifull readines against the day of our saluation yet in so great daunger remaine not doubtfull through the flattering shew of sinfull delusions But rather sith it greatly concerneth our soules health let vs harken to that plaine voice of truth when you see these things then thinke that your redemption is at hand and bee yee perswaded fully of the same by euident reason by that which you see with your eyes which you heare with your eares which you haue felt with your sensuall bodies not many yeares since And now after the meditation thereof more truly vnderstand with your harts Whereby you are forewarned hereof euen by secret thoughts when you lie in your beds considering that the bridegroome of our eternal saluation is at hand Cast off the loue of this present world scarce go backe into thine owne house to thy wife and thy little children if thou bee at home within thy doores goe not out into the field to see thy cattell or into the streets to bid thy friends farewell or looke once aside from this present comfort the redemption of all the godly Resolue thy selfe to giue account to come to iudgement for nowe the course of this worlde by all computation is run out all flesh is come to an ende And would you haue it set more plainely before your face Lift vp your eies and you shall see that long since the figge tree is budded the fields are all white vnto haruest the heauens are shrunke in their seat and waxen olde like a garment If you yet doubt that the world is not at the point to bee dissolued or that there is no such present appearance why wee should looke for a newe heauen