lighted and their life at an ebbe before the tyde be full others like flowers are gathered while they be fresh and being like a sentence interrupted before a period begin like some summer fruite to rotte assoone as they are ripe death writes them c Dan. 5. 3. as he did the Chaldean tyrant a letter of Summaunce to appeare that night before him It is a curse of God vpon the bloud-thirsty and deceitfull man d Ps 55. 23 he shall not liue out halfe his dayes it was a punishment of God vpon Elie for cockering his sonnes and vpon his sonnes for their disobedience e 1. Sam. 2. 32. 33. the multitude of thine house shall dye when they be men there shall not be an olde man in thine house for euer it was a plague of God vpon Israel that though they brought vp their children f Hos 9. 12 yet God would depriue them from being men a plague vpon the wicked g Iob. 36. 14. that their soule doth dye in youth a Iob. 22. 16 that they are cutte off before their time b Gen. 38. 7. like Er and Onan as not worthy to liue vpon the earth and on the other side it is Gods blessing if he increase the length of our dayes and yeares of our life if we multiply our dayes as the sand if death demande not his due till the crowes feete be in our eyes if we dye c Iob. 42. 17. with Iob being olde and full of dayes and goe to our graue in a full age d Iob. 5. 26. as a ricke of corne commeth in good season into the barne This serueth first to confute that heathen who said optimum est non nasci proximum quam cito aboleri the best thing is neuer to be borne and the second best is to dye quickely for though this life be ouer spread with sinnes and cares and crosses which like a filthy morphew make it lothsome to all iudicious eyes yet all these are but accidentall life it selfe is a blessing and the longer we liue the more experience we haue of Gods fauour a greater loathing of the sinnes which our youth delighted in and larger time of repentance Againe this teacheth that we must not hasten forward the end of our dayes and bring our selues out of breath before our race be ended for this is to throttle and choake the blessing of God let therefore the thred of thy life be drawne out by Lachesis till 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be sent to cut it in sunder let not the spirit resigne ouer it borrowed mansion till naturall moisture of it selfe doth soake away till like a Sise or wax candle it be consumed to the socket and the last drop of moisture quencheth the last sparke of glory surrender not thy selfe when a conceit takes thee let the landlord take it at his pleasure doe not like a coward run away but then depart in peace when God saith returne againe thou sonne of Adam and then willingly pay tribute to Nature when of themselues the naturall passages doe close together like an empty bagge neither loue this life for delights in it e Ec. 1. 2. for vanitie of vanities and all is vanitie yet loue it to serue God in it neither hate this life for the miseries of it yet hate it so far forth as it keepes thee in subiection to sinne Againe come not presumptuously into places where some bodies are contagiously sicke lest thou loose this blessing and come vntimely to thy graue come not within the lists of destruâ—ction if f Gen. 19. 20. with Lot thou canst haue a Zoar to saue thy selfe fly as much from him whose disease would infect thy bloud as from him whose cruelty would spill it Lastly bestow cost as long as thou maiest to continue this blessing by vpholding this ruinous house of thine it is against the course of Nature and a way to tempt the very God of Nature wilfully to hinder our health or not seeke meanes to continue it or to recouer it God sendeth seuerall diseases and hath appointed seueral Medicines as remeâ—ies to incounter theÌ„ therefore honour the Phisition g Es 38. 21 with Ezechias lay a plaister vpon the boyle say not man hath his set period as well as the sea it boundes which it cannot passe say not life and death is not in our owne handes for some seeke death in misery yet finde it not others meete with it at feasts and gaudees where they would fainest forget it say not when the glasse is run doe what wee can wee can stay no longer and the clocke will stricke when the minites be past say not let death seâ—ke vs yet it shall not finde vs till our time be come and therefore away with Phisicke what shall meanes doe for then a â—ope vpon thee try euery knife eate Colloquintida thy belly full freqâ—ent places where the ayre about thee doth infect and where the breath of one body is poyson to another but in matter of hope where the end is not knowne a 2. Chr. 16 12. vse meanes with Asa though thou rely not vpon them though many times they auaile not Daies though some mens liues be long yet the Lord saith not long yeares long monethes but long dayes and Dauid measuâ—eth their length not by a goade or an ell but by an hand b Ps 39. 5. thou hast made my dayes as it were a span long to shew how shorst this long life is and howsoeuer we patch and peece these poore cottages of ours yet they will come in manus domini and shortly fall into the Lords handes Let old men in their arithmeticke deduct their night for sleepe which is like vnto death being the customer of mans life taxeth the nights to his owne vse and they shall finde halfe their time stricken off at one blow let them deduct their prime dayes for c Ec. 11. 10 childehood and youth are vanitie another part is cut off let them deduct the dayes of sortow which are rather to be tearmed death then life and all their daies are gone for life and misery are twines Hipocrates twines borne together and dye together The Lacedemonian in Plutarch hearing the Nighttingale sing sweetly tooke her into his hand and hauing stripped her of her feathers sayd tantum vox she was nothing but voyce such is the life of him that can sing the merriest note if you strip it of sickenes strip it of cares strip it of sorrow d Gen. 5. 27. Mâ—thusalâ—h liued longest of all our forefathers yet he liued not a thousand yeares but grant he had yet a e 2. Pet. 3. 8 thousand yeares to God are but as one day but we who commonly exceede not threescore yeares and ten liue not an houre to that day and therefore Salomon as though our dayes were not worthy the title of time mentioned not a time to liue but f Ec. 3. 2. a time to be
nourishable meate p 2 King 4. 41. for the Prophet but these men on the other side with good food doe poison themselues As Gods word is prophaned when we turne it to a bad vse so also when wee make no good vse of it the speaking of Gods mercies should restraine vs from sinne as the very name of a father did q Gen. 27. 12. Iacob from subtlety and lying till Rebeccah his mother did egge and draw him to it and as the speaking of a good r GeÌ„ 39. 8. master did Ioseph from adultery when his mistrisse spake vnto him day by day to commit it the speaking of Gods correction of other should be a direction for vs and paternes pensiled out to vs not that we should insult ouer them but aliena insania fruentes consult against our owne misery if we can speake of others woes and not grow wise if we cannot take a pearle out of the serpent or a good stone out of the toads head or gather with the Bee sweet hony out of the bitter weeds if we doe not draw the better when we see one horse whipt in the teame if we cannot make vse of their death by whose life a man could reape no benefit If we can read or speake of Gods iudgements on Å¿ 1 King 22 34. Ahab and t 2 King 9. 33. Iezabell and yet gine our selues to oppression if reade or speake of his proceeding against u Act. 5. 5. 10. Anaâ—ias and Saphira and yet giue our selues to lying if we doe not set a memorandum on his punishments and marke his spitts with our starres if we reade them and there an end if we bring them forth of our mouthes as vntimely fruit which dieth assoone as it is borne then doe we prophane the word and so take Gods name in vaine and may be taxed with the vngodly to whom God said x Ps 50. 17 thou hast cast my word behind thee quoties legis toties negligis thou doest no sooner getit but thou doest forget it This as it serueth to condemne the negligent and carelesse so most of all such as make a mocke of Gods word and will not beleeue it and secondly such as make a iest of his word and delight to make themselues merry with it The first sort are they which sitting in the seate of the scornefull contemne the word and tâ—ead religion vnder their feet of whom Dauid complaineth when he saith the proud y Ps 119. 51. had him exceedingly in derision because hee studied the law of God whom z 2 Pet. 3. â— Peter chargeth with this that they said where it the promise of his comming they said because the world had continued so long it should still continue as it had done without alteration and as when a GeÌ„ 19. 14 Lot said vnto his sonnes in law Arise get you out of this place for the Lord will destroy the City seemed to them as though hee had mocked so tell these of the iudgement day they say there is no such matter they bee but words and words are but winde where is it let it draw nigh that we may see it and though it were so that others should perish yet there shall no harme happen vnto vs Wee haue made a couenant with death and with hell are wee at agreement though a scourge run ouer and passe thorough it shall not b Es 28. 15 come at vs. The second sort are they which make the word of God their minstrell which sport themselues with scripture and thinke no other mirth so cordiall vnto them such a one was he who as though he had been borne with inke in his mouth did so soone foule his paper with Pruritanus Lastly Gods word is profaned when wee will hurt the truth which is done many wayes First when we maime the sentences as the diuell when he alledged the 91â— Psalme cuts off these words c Mat. 4. 6. to keepe thee in all thy waies and the Pope who when Christ saith d Mat. 26. 27. drinke yee all of this scrapes out all and regards not all but saith the Priest shall drinke for all Secondly when wee adde vnto the word as the Iewes did traditions by which they e Mat. 15. 6 made the commandement of God of no authority as for example the law was no leper might come into the Temple the tradition of the Pharisees was that if they vncouered the roofe of the Temple and let him downe as the porters vncouered the roofe of the house f Mar. 2. 4. and let downe the palsie man and set him before Iesus this was no trespasse no transgression whereas the g Le. 13. 46 truth was that no leper should be in the Temple whither he did come in were brought in or were let downe and therefore though Vzziah did come cleane into the Temple yet when God did stricke him for vsurping the Priests office and when the leprosie did rise vp in his forehead Azariah h 2 Chr. 26 19. 20. the chiefe Priest with all their Priests caused him hastely to depart thence and he was euen compelled to goe out because the Lord had smitten him Thirdly when wee alter some word in it as Alcumists would change the substance of Mettals like them who take i Mat. 27. 46. 47. Ely for Elias and as they who to get honour to the virgine Mary in stead of hee translate shee k Gen. 3. 15. shall breake thy head as they which in our Ladyes Psalter for so they tearme it attribute that vnto the Virgine which the holy Ghost doth attribute to the Father and the Sonne and as they which thinking men are not so subiect to sinne as though they were bond-slaues of Satan translate prone vnto euill in stead of euill when the Scripture saith the l Gen. 8. 21 imagination of mans heart is euill euen from his youth there is a worme Clerus which destroyes and marres Honycombes and the popish Clerus is like vnto it which would this way corrupt the word which is sweeter then hony and the hony combe Fourthly when we will seeke all the corners of our wits to colour the Scriptures because wee thinke that men would otherwise reiect and condemne them as for example the Scripture saith election is of grace now say some if it were so then God should be an accepter of persons therefore they thinke to helpe it thus God chose some because they would be ready to receiue his grace and so they compose the matter like those who when they see the Papists doe attribute to much vnto workes and the Protestants according to the Scriptures say wee are saued by faith will as men indifferent steppe in and make a meane betwixt them saying faith is the chiefe Piller Iob takes vp his friends for their too much kindenesse in this case m Iob. 13. 7. 8. c. will yee speake wickedly for Gods defence and talke deceitfully
called theeues not such theeues as are commissioners on Salisbury plaine which by mistaking a word take vp such purses as fall in the lapse for want of sufficient defence but Den theeues y Mat. 21. 13. my house shal be called the house of prayer but yee haue made it a Den of theeues you haue crept into my right made a false entry vpon my freehold as great a blot doth cleaue vnto your hands as if the wildernes had giuen you and your children foode Againe Tithes and offerings are appointed and dedicated to the seruice of God and therefore they which with z Dan. 5. 3. Balthazar carrowse in the bowles of the Temple and the Merchants which breaking into the Church take away that which is the Ministers maintenance let them sterue at the altar that serue at the altar are as bad as the theeues which Christ whipt out of the Temple and would crucifie Christ again for his coate God makes them no better then theeues when he saith a Mal. 8. 3. you haue robbed me or you haue spoiled me in Tithes Offerings so likewise the eternall God who made time who b Gen. 1. 3. brought light out of darknes who put difference betwixt day and night betwixt day and day consecrated the Sabbath to his seruice and therefore it is sacriledge to take it vp for our owne vse for what is sacrilâ—gium but sacrilâ—dium a profaning of that which is holy c Mat. 22. 21. giue therefore as vnto Caesar the things which are Câ—sars so vnto God the things which are Gods giue him the calues of thy lips the roote of thy heart the first fruit of thy age the tenth of thy substance the seuenth of thy time But for so much as six daies are common to all men and God hath his seuenth seuerall to himselfe as his owne inclosure it would be knowne that God might haue his due time which of the seuen is the day that he claimes as his owne speciall right and interest The Iewes according to Gods institution set apart the Satterday for the seruice of God and that which wee call Sunday was their d Luc. 24. 1 first day of the weeke this they did in remembrance of the creation celebrating that day to giue credit to the greatest worke that euer was before but as the benefit of Israels deliuerance from the captiuity of Babylon was so great that it abolished the remembrance of her deliuerance from Aegypt e Ier. 16. 14 It shall no more bee said The Lord liueth which brought vp the children of Israell out of the Land of Aegypt but the Lord liueth that brought vp the children of Israell from the Land of the North So the benefit of our deliuerance from the captiuity of Sathan and the rising of Christ from finishing the worke of our redemption was so great that in respect of this other benefits are forgotten this shineth as the Sunne among the lesser starres and therefore God did change the day and put it off from that day he did lay in the graue till the day when by rising againe he did ouercome death and opened vnto vs the gate of euerlasting life And to shew the alteration the Apostles gaue this day the name of f Re. 1. 10. the Lords day g Act. 20. 7. they themselues kept it and h 1 Cor. 16. 1. ordained that the Churches in their time should obserue it this is indeed a day of good tidings We doe not well if we hold our peace this is indeed the day which the Lord hath made we must reioyce and be glad in it this is indeed a day like that night in Exodus i Ex. 12. 42 to be kept holy vnto the Lord that day of the Lord which all of vs must keepe throughout our generations Great was the worke of creation and therefore wee must now mount vpward with the wings of nature greater was the worke of redemption and therefore we must now soare aloft with the wings of grace It cost more to redeeme vs then make vs for in our creation k Ps 148. 5. dixit factum est hee spake the word and it was done but in our redemption he spake and did and suffered many things hee created the world in six daies but in restoring man hee laboured more then thirty yeeres In creating vs he gaue vs our selues in redeeming vs he gaue himselfe for vs so that how much he is greater then we so much is this day greater then that and more worthily to be obserued in regard of redemption then that in remembrance of creation not now to bee altered any more because there can bee no greater worke then this of redemption nor can so well deserue an â—cce in the beginning or Selah in the end to be stamped vpon it For in six dayes c. and rested the seuenth Longum itâ—r per praecepta breue per exempla to teach by praecept is tedious but by example but a short cut All the people cut downe euery l Iud. 9. 49. man his bough when they saw Abimelech cut downe boughs of trees and bare them on his shoulder to set the holde of the Shechemites on fire Reason should rule and to shew that it should beare sway it lodgeth in the midst of the braine the highest part of the frame of man but when reason cannot perswade example will moâ—e all the reason that Origen did beate into Alexander Seuerus could not so soone perswade him that Christ was the Sonne of God as the example of Origen And the Christians keepe holy the Sabboth day here is the precept which should binde vs especially seeing there is a memorandum set vpon it but if this cannot inforce obedience yet yeeld to reason God gaue you six daies for your owne seruice iudge then whither you are not to blame if you grudge him the seuenth if this hedge will not hold you in â—ee further whether this be stronger it is his owne day giue him his due if you yet breake thorough take God himselfe for an example and let this yoake you that he finishing his worke in six daies his worke of creation not of preseruation rested the seuenth In that God prescribing a law is himselfe an vnprinted statute and maketh his owne doing a commentary vpon that he prescribeth my note is this that they which teach other must as well instruct them vita as verbo bee as well lamps shining as voices crying knowing that the m Act. 2. 3. holy Ghost discended not in the likenes of tongues alone or fyre alone but in the likenes of fiery tongues and then doe they make themselues n NuÌ„ â—0 1. two trumpets when they lift vp their voice as a trumpet their life as a trumpet The vse is this to trace God by this fragrant odour and sweete sent let the resting on the seuenth day descend from God vnto man as the oyntment runnes downe from the head
therefore let wealth and worth goe together let goods and goodnes kisse each other The last sort which would haue their share in this honour and whose plea seemeth best for it are they which discend of more noble bloud then other and can fetch their pedigree furthest off but euen these must know that they are not to stand on the greatnes and antiquitie of their race if they lacke vertue whereof greatnes tooke her beginning Beatus Ludonicus being asked what honourable surname should be giuen vnto him demanded againe from whence it was that he had greatest nobility and when some sayd of his Predecessors others of his birth place I doe not remember saith he that euer I had greater honour then when I became a Christian and this was at Pissiacum and therefore will I be called Ludouicus de Pissiaco and so he was he thought no birth to a new birth in Christ no parentage to that of hauing God to his father Doe we reckon of the wine that runneth on the lees because it was drawne out of the same peece the neate wine was doe we reckon of muddy water though it came from a cleere spring shall we with the Israelites bow to a molten calfe because it was made of golden earings It was the saying of old English Chaucer to doe the gentle deedes that makes the gentleman gentry without vertue is bloud indeede but bloud without sewet bloud without sinewes bloud is but the body of gentility excellency of vertue is the soule that without this is a body without a soule and without honour falles downe in the dust and therefore when Hermodius a noble man borne imbraided the valiant Captaine Iphicrates for that he was but a shoomakers sonne my bloud sayd Iphicrates taketh beginning at me and thy bloud at thee now taketh her farewell be the birth neuer so base yet honesty and vertue is free from disgrace be the birth neuer so great yet dishonesty and vice is subiect to dishonour To conclude therefore if thou be noble by thy birth proue not ignoble either by bad vices of thine owne or lewde deuises of other take thy great birth to be an obligation of great vertue suite thy behauiour vnto it and inoble thy parentage with pietie and since true honour must come of thy selfe and not of other worke out thine owne glory and stand not on what thou wouldest borrow of thy predecessors If thou reach not the goodnes of those which gaue the outward glory know it is thy pride to be transported with a vaine name if thou doest not as much honour thy house with the glory of thy vertues as thy house hath honoured thee with the title of thy degree know thou art but as a woâ—dâ—n knife put into an empty sheath to help fill vp the place when that if good mettle is lost and can no more be found if thou doâ—st not learne Patrizare and let thy faâ—hers vertue meete with thy bloud know thou art but as a painted fire which may become the wall but giues no light to the beholder nay know further that the greater the honour of thy father was the greater is thy blemish and reproach if thou come short of thy fathers vertue for now art thou guilty of neglecting so good a President They that are noble will haue their retayners seeke the worship of their estates in the seruice of them then let themselues seeke the honour of their estates in the seruice of God and be as carefull to get true honour by seruing him as their followers to receiue ciuill worship by seruing them That thy dayes may be long g Gen. 32. 26. Iacob would not let the Angell goe before he blessed him nor the Lord part with this commandement before it leaues a blessing behinde vpon them which doe obserue it so that the entrance into this second table a Ex 12. 7. like the doore posts of the Israelites hath a blessing vpon it b Eph. 6. 2. Saint Paul calleth this the first Command-ment with promise not but that the second Commandement hath a generall promise of mercy for the generall seruice of God but this is the first that hath a particular promise made vnto them which performe the particular duties which it requireth and secondly the first not that a second followeth with any expresse promise for first hath not alwaies relation to a second thing c Rom â— 8. as we may see in the Epistle to the Romaines and theâ—efore Heluidius argument is false to proue the virgine Marâ— had a second sonne because the Holy Ghost saith d Mat. 1. 25 she brought forth her first begotten sonne and called his name Iesus and a Commandement with promise not that God doth binde himselfe that they which honour their parents shall alwaies liue long for Gods promises of temporall blessings are Hypotheticae anâ— goe with condition sometime expressed sometime suppressed which condition is as an oare in a boate or sterne of a ship and turnes the promise another way The first thing therefore which here I obserue is that long life is to be reckoned among the blessings of God It was a blessing of God vpon Israel that being in the wildernes 40. yeares e Deu. 29. 5 their garments did not weare f Ios 9. 5. as the garments of the Gibeonites so if in many yeares some mens strength weares not their senses doe not decay their bodys which are as the garments of their soules hold out longer then other mens as though with the Eagle they did renew their youth and God did adde certaine yeares vnto their dayes g Esa 37. 5. as he did vnto Ezechias this is a great blessing of God Men are full of holes and take water at a thousand breaches some goe away by siâ—kenes some by violence some by famine some by fulnes sometime death a Mat. 2. 16 is in the cradle b 2. Kin. 4. 40. sometime in the pot sometime in the cup therefore Iob doth not say the graue but the graues were prepared for him to shew that he was besiedged with many deaths that he had but one life among a number of deaths which were ready for him now if death which seeketh for vs euery houre in euery place be long before it finde vs if hauing an habeas corpus he will not serue his processe till our yeares be as many ages and we are satisfied with long life if when our life hangeth in the ballance and there is but a step betweene vs and death if we be continually as one trauelling with childe if we walke thorough the valley of the shadow of death and our soule be alwaies in our hand yet we multiply our dayes as the sand and euen like Salamanders liue long in the fire this is a blessing of God Some enter no sooner into life but they are at the brinke of death receiuing at once their wel-come and their farewell their lampe it wasted assoone as
figured on his forehead the calenders of death appeare in the furrowes of his face the graue doth call him saying it is high time to depart this life to come away and dwell in it and therefore take the benefit of this â—hoâ—t time a Ier. 4. 4. brâ—ake vp your fallow groundes and sow not among the thornes be circumcised b Deu. â—0 16. to the Lord and take away the fore-skinnes of your hearts let vnquiâ—t passions and ambitious desires be crucified c Mat. 2â— 38 like the two theeues and euen in this sense let them d Gal. 5. 12 be cut off that trouble you The wicked slippe no time to worke wickâ—dnesse e Ioâ— 2â— 5 as wil le Asses in the wildernesse they goe forth to their businesse it is now no good argument they are not drunken f Act 2. 15. since it is but the third houre of the day for g Esa 5. 11. they rise vp early to follow a â—â— 23. 2. drunkenesse Balaam posteth for a bribe b Luc. 16. 5 the vniust steward hasteneth to make friends of the vnrighteous Mammon be you as wise in your generatioÌ„ c Ex 16. 21 gather Manna in the morning steppe into the water d Ioh 5. 7. with the criple while health may bee recouered open while Christ e Reu. 3. 20 knocketh f Mat. 23. 37. gather your selues vnder the hen while shee clocketh with g Luc. 19. 5 Zacheâ— come quickely when Christ calleth at this present instant change your hearts a â— Cor. 6. 2 now is the accepted time and now knoweth no morrow b Ioh. 9. 4. worke while it is day euery day lay vp somewhat for the last take order with death before it serues you with an execution take hold on time as it commeth and catch it by the forelockes seeke Christ c Mat. 28. 1 with Mary the first day of the weeke and first houre of the day chase not away good houres to bad purpose sit not at the Alehouse and see the race of an houre glasse vse not time with the slothfull but gaine by the expense of time when it steales from you let it carry with it some witnesse of the passage in that you haue in it made your election sure and would not hazarde the saluation of your soules vpon the doubtfull euent of your finall repentance they are your daies say not we will doe with our owne what we list but spend them and end them in God In the land which the Lord thy God giueth thee Long life is a blessing which God giueth to obedient children but hast thou but one blessing my father Yes surely thou blessest when thou hast blessed and therefore thou giuest Israel a fuitfull land also the land of Canaan d Ex. 3. 17. a land that floweth with milke and honâ— so that thou hast e Gen. 27. 3â— blessed Iacob and therâ—fore hee shall bee blessed f Eph. 2. â— thou art rich in mercy mercy there is the compassion of thy nature rich there is the abundance g Luc. 8. 1â— thou giuest after thou hast giuen as a spring runneth after it hath runne a Ps 100. 5 thy mercy is euerlasting and thy goodnesse is without conclusion Frst thou giuest breath that thy dayes may be long then thou giuest bread in the land which the Lord thy God giueth thee here is a blessing vpon a blessing as though one of thy mercyes did binde thee to giue another as though former benefits were an earnest lay de to assure vs of those which are to come as though thou wouldest shew what thou wilt doe by what thou hast done The Oyle ceaseth not as long as there are b 2. Kin. 4. 6 vessels to receiue it and thy mercy lasteth as long as there is a true concurrence as long as there is no let in vs to hinder the apprehension O Lord make our praise and thankes answereable to thy goodnes that as thy goodnes is without end so there may be no period to our praise but that we may still say c Ps 41. 13. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel world without end So be it euen so be it Giueth not that the Israelits should haue this land in present possession for they did not enter vpon it till the daies of Ioshua in whose time God cast out other nations and planted them in but he speaketh in the present tense for the certaintie of performance God forgiues vs our debts and when we sue out our pardon d Rom. 8. 33. hee acquits vs by proclamation and crosseth our accompts here that hereafter we may haue our Quietus est and he is as true a debter to pay as he is mercifull creditor to forgiue and doth reckon that his promise doth as much indebt him to vs as mens loue or desert doe indebt vs to them first therefore O Israel here is a land made ouer vnto thee and the grant is good for that it coÌ„meth from the right Landlord the Lord and it is gratious for that it commeth not from a stranger but from thy God the Lord is thy God and therefore thou shalt haue it cum gratia et priuilegio 1o. cum gratia thou shalt not purchase it or pay a fine or rent for it but it shal be passed ouer to thee by a deed of gift thy God giueth 2o. thou shalt haue it cum priuilegio there shall be no ioint tenants or copartners to hold it with thee but thou shalt haue it solely and wholy to thy selfe The Lord misdoubt not thy state thy God looke to haue it with all fauour giueth doubt not of thy freedome theâ— feare not any that now keepe the possession The Lord thy God giueth The diuels mouth doth run ouer when shewing Christ all the Kingdomes of the world he saith e Luc. 4. 6. All these are mine and to whom soeuer I will I giue the power and glory of them if thou therefore wilt worship â—e they shall be all thine for first for his claime he is like the franticke man who standing on the sea shore thought all the shippes that passed by to be his owne or he doth but dreame he hath them like him who sleeping thought he held in his hands two staues and waking did thinke verely they should be two crocier staues and therefore presently prepared himselfe tooke horse and posted for two Bishoprickes not doubting but he should be presently installed but his horse casting him himselfe turned to be criple and his crociers to be critches God is the Lord of all by right the diuell but by vsurpation the Scripture stileth him f prince of darkenes he shewes himselfe like the Poet Accius who being but a dwarfe made himselfe an image as if he had been one of the sonnes of Anac indeede he may g Iob. 1. 7. compasse the earth too and fro and walke in it a Ps 24. 1. but the
light vpon Esau for his vnnaturall fact to roote him out of the lande of the liuing Mercifull men are taken away many times because d Heb. 11. 38. the world c Esa 57. 1. is not worthy of them but cruell and bloud-thirsty men because they are vnworthy to liue in the world But say their daies are prolonged and like Serpents and Salamanders they liue long yet are they killed with a sword of their owne as e 1. Sam. 17. 51. Goliah was the remembrance of their cruell fact wounds them at the very heart and strikes them in a maruailous feare of Gods great vengeance to be powred vpon them and whereas good men dwell safely be quiet from feare of euill and haue their delight in the multitude of peace God sends his plagues vpon murderous mens hearts their sinne lieth at the doore they know their iniquity and their sinne is euer before them their hearts know the bitternes of their soules euen in laughing their hearts are sorrowfull their sinne doth testifie to their faces their inuentions beset them about their casting downe is in the midst of them affliction and anguish doe make them afraid and preuaile against them as a King ready to battaile euen the wickedest men and they which seeme to be touched with nothing hauing once slaine them whom they hated most of all other doe presently after the deed done feele heartbitings which sting them inspight of their teeth and hold them as it were vpon the racke by making them feele that God sets himselfe against them as an enemy When Mariamne Herods wife was vniustly made away by her husband shee seemed euery night to trouble him and wake him out of sleepe pinching and tormenting him in such a wrekefull sort as he could not take his rest or ease at any time Theoricus vniustly slew Symmachus a noble man but being at supper he saw as he imagined the visage of Symmachus in a fishes head whereupon such a trembling did come vpon him and such a feare did take hold on his flesh that his strength being dried vp like a pot sheard his tongue cleauing to his iawes his heart powred out his soule cast downe his eies kept waking his bones cut in sunder he neuer after enioyed good houre thus doth Gods iustice follow these merciles men at the hard heeles they feele their sinne stirring in them as it were some liuing thing crawling in their bodies and gnawing vpon their hearts which make them cry out of the foulenes of their sinne and carry torments and vexations against themselues vntill their dying day As therefore the Pythagorians went too much on the one hand exceeding into too much pitty when they thought no liuing creature might be eaten and the Manichees who going further then thus would eate no egges imagining that when they be broken their life or soule passeth from them and more then so would not allow the cutting of hearbes or trees or plucking ought from them for that hauing life and feeling as they thought they did by this meanes suffer griefe paine and smart so they goe too much on the other hand which will not suffer the twist of mans life to twine out but cut it off before the clue be ended herein the chiefe offenders because euery man is neerest to himselfe are they which but cher themselues who will not abide in the station in which God hath placed them till he call them backe againe but send the soule from the sentinell wherein shee is placed in this body without the leaue of her Captaine whose calamities cause them to leaue life and cowardly run away who suffer shipwracke by taking a shorter cut to their iourneys end these are worse then beasts who sometimes goare one another but neuer rage against themselues such a one was Iudas who when the betraying of the innocent bloud lay heauy vpon his heart chose rather to aduenture vpon the future paines hee feared then indure the present horrour hee felt f Mat. 27. 5 and therefore like a fish he leapt out of the pan into the flame The funerall of the couetous man is many times wilfull for in the extremity of his couetous folly hee dispatcheth himselfe when corne is cheape hee hangs vp himselfe for the fall of the market Lawes haue prouided death for Theeues for Traitors and other notable malefactors but sometime they can finde little opportunity of execution for these lewde persons preuent the time sometime by peece sometime by poyson sometime by dagge sometime by dagger sometime they make a cutlers shoppe of their owne bellyes sometime they choake themselues with a little neck-weede one way or other they desperately sunder their soules from their bodyes and conclude their owne shamefull confusion There are other who though they are not guilty of their owne death by laying violent hands vpon themselues yet by other vnlawfull meanes they cast themselues out of the world and hasten forward their owne daies The glutton digs his owne graue with his teeth for life is a lampe excesse in meate doth shorten the one as too much oyle doth extinguish the other Intemperate gulliguts turning that into occasion of death which was giuen for preseruation of life neuer liue long neuer liue well plures periere crapula quam gladiâ— Cooks haue prouided as bad weapons as Cutlers for all turns to bad humour that transcends the due proportion of nourishment Epicures are as desperate as souldiers and meate kils as many as the musket the glutton therefore as he is hatefull to God loathsome to man so is hee hurtfull to himselfe in hastening his owne death Againe the drunkard layes himselfe in his graue before he be dead and is as stinking carrion more then halfe rotten aboue the ground The cup killes as many as the Canon and therefore challenging professors drinke themselues out of health while they drinke to the health of their friends Vna salus sanis nullam potare salutem Non est in pota vera salute saluâ— Vnlawfull desires doe wast the strength of adulterers as the flame consumeth the tallow they themselues like candle-flies venture so neare the fire that they burne themselues their harlots like horse leaches sucke out their best bloud euen their heart bloud howsoeuer their sinne delighteth yet nothing sooner at an end in it selfe nothing sooner maketh an end of them and sticking by them when all their friends forsake them causeth a short life and most shamefull death Lastly the enuious man doth murder himselfe for being as sory for another mans prosperitie as his owne aduersitie he lets goe the bridle to his cursed affection which like a fretting canker doth g Pro. 14. 30. eate vp his body dry vp his bloud and rotteth his bones This man is not like the maide whom Auicen speaketh of who feeding and nourshiing her selfe with poyson was her selfe healthy yet infected other with her venemous breath but like the serpent Porhpyrius which is full of poyson but wanting teeth
to offer to God for escaping the danger of the floud for his mercy comming inter pontem fontem betwixt the bridge and the brooke inter gladium ingulum betwixt the knife and the throate when Abraham lifted vp his hand to haue killed his sonne for escaping the cruelty of Pharaoh when they were brought out of the land of Ham and once a yeere and that was in september g Leu. 23. 42. the Israelits must dwell in tents seuen daies that they might better remember their preseruation in the wildernesse But the Prophet Mulachie may charge vs as well as hee did the Iewes both with the forgetfulnesse of our owne sinnes for they said h Mar. 1. 6. 2. 17. 3. 8. 13. Wherein haue wee blasphemed thee i Wherein haue wee wearied thee k Wherein haue wee spoyled thee l What haue wee spoken against thee as also of Gods blessings for they said m Mal. 1. 2. Wherein hast thou loued vs Wee are like Lâ—ts daughters who quickly put out of their mind as well their owne deliuerance as the destruction of Sodome and when they were gone with their father from Zoar to the mountaine n Gen. 19. 33. committed such incest as they might seeme to haue beene carried to a land where all things were forgotten In this wee resemble Abraham who said the second time of his wife o GeÌ„ 20. 2. shee was his sister as though hee neuer remembred Gods former punishent vpon Pharaoh or his owne deliuerance from danger Surely saith Iacob God is in p Gen. 28. 16. this place and I was not aware and God is among vs and many times takes away his hand from vs whereas hee did hold our noses to the grind-stone and wee are not aware we thinke not of it in extremities wee vow and promise faire but being deliuered wee forget the griefe of our misery and comfort of our deliuerance Gods blessings goe round about earthly men and they are no more moued then the earth which hath the circumference carried about it and it selfe standeth still giue mee leaue to instance in two particular deliuerances one of the body another of the soule first from the gunpouder treason though a match should haue gone to the working of it yet a treason matchlesse for example for it is of the first impression neuer before seene or allowed nameles for vglynes or at least it hath no name adaquatum sufficient to expresse it the name of Legion comes nearest to it q Mar. 5. 9. it had in it so many murderous spirits which cared not though their friends did fall so as their foes might dye withall Which regarded not either safety of the King or of the Countrey of the Queene or of the Prince but would haue swept away both Moses and Aaron Prelate and Potentate Priest and people high and low one with another haue killed the young ones with the damme and haue made Acheldama a field of bloud both of Church and common wealth But when the proud did thus rise vp against vs and the assemblies of wicked men did seeke after our soules r 2 Cor. 1. 9. 10. when wee receiued as the Apostle speaketh of his owne dangers the sentence of death then God who raiseth the dead deliuered vs from so great a death kept all our bones that not one of them was broken he to whom the shieldes of the world belong couered vs and with his fauour compassed vs as with a shield he who standeth about his people as the mountaines stand about Ierusalem deliuered our soules from the lowest graue as for those traytors which willingly drew to sinne against their will were drawne to payne God was terrible out of his holy places they did drinke of the wrath of the King and of the the state which brought them to naught as the rockes repell breake and consume into froath the boysterous waues which beate against them conantia frangere frangunt so let thine enemies perish O Lord but they that loue thy name let them be as the Sunne when it riseth in its might and let the land haue peace Nestâ—rs yeares As Iob spake of his words so say I of this great worke of â— Iob. 19. 24. God in preseruing vs Oh that it were written oh that it were written euen in a booke and grauen with an yron pen in leade or in stone for euer that it might be a signe vnto vs vpon our hands and a remembrance betweene our eyes that it might be bound vpon the heart and goe downe into the bowels of the belly but it is almost forgotten as a dead man out of minde buryed in obliuion as Christ was buryed in the earth and in very deede we deale with all our preseruations They are so many as Salomon did with the brasse of the Temple t 2 King 7. 47. it was so much he weighed it not but if Moses will haue the u Ex. 12. 42. Israelites keepe the night holy in which they were brought out of Aegipt and bids them x Ex. 13. 3. remember that day in which they came out of the house of bondage then remember and keepe holy the day of this deliuerance and say This is the day which the Lord hath made we will reioyce and be glad in it If you be silent rowse vp one another with the fower lepers which being deliuered from death when they were in the middest of it y 2. Kin. 7 9 sayd one to another this is a day of good tydings we doe not well to hold our peace Come to the deliuerance of the soule from the tyranny of Satan the thraldome of finne and the very gulfe of hell for the diuell is a Pharaoh the world is an Aegypt subiection to Satan is a bondage but Christ is our Moses who hauing conquered sinne death and hell hath wrought our deliuerance z 1. Sam. 17 34. when Dauid the youngest sonne of Iesse kept sheepe there came a Lyou and a Beare and tooke a sheepe out of the flocke but he went out after them slue them both and tooke away the sheepe though they rose against him our Sauiour Christ not the youngest but a Rom. 8. 29. first begotten of his brethren is the true shepheard who watcheth ouer his flocke b Luc 2. 8. like the shepheard of Bethlem there came a Loyn c 1. Pet. 5. 8. that roaring Lyon which goeth about seeking to deuour vs and a Bears d Pro. 28. 15. like that hungry beare in the Prouerbes of Salomon and e Dan. 7. 5. like that beare in Daniels vision which deuoured much flesh and tooke not one sheepe but the whole flocke but the shepheard following tooke them out of his mouth As for the bondage and thraldome of sinne by nature it reigneth in our mortall bodyes it hath gotten such a iurisdiction ouer vs as Iulius Caesar had ouer the Senate Perpetuam dictaturam we obey it in the lusts thereof
and pulles out his eyes he tryeth the spirits and retayning the good in a resolute courage throweth Iezabell out at the window On the other side that holy man for so they call him in the 2. counsell of Nice will not leaue worshipping of our Lady though if he will doe it the diuell promiseth by his honesty hee will no longer tempt or trouble him yet all this notwithstanding a Ios 9. 9. idolaters in Ioshua to saue their liues pretend to honour God and receiue his religion but if death all the torments which can be deuised should stand betwixt vs and our God in our iourney to heauen this Commandement enioyneth vs to passe them all rather then giue ouer our loue vnto God for whose sake Esay is content to be killed with a Sawe Ieremie with stones Amos with an yron barre Daniell to be throwne into the Lyons den these were but Originalls there followed Counterpaines which agreed with them Ignatius Polycarpus Irenaeus and others suffered not death without a Copy without an example Paul was content to lose his head Bartholomew his skin Luke to be hanged on an Olyue-tree Steuen to be vnder a heape of many stones and as our Sauiour Christ sayd to Peter and Andrew b Mat. 4. 19 follow mee so they followed him though not Passibus aequis in his life though not with like innocency in his death though not with like constancy these pledged their predecessors in the cup of afflictions and began to their successors and amongst other to our English Martyres who in this time of Queene Mary did sticke ad iguem and to shew they loued God more then their liues were content to goe to him with Elias in a fiery chariot not doubting but that same mantle that same body which they should leaue behinde them should at the resurrection of the iust be restored in a more Glorious sort the former Martyres stood in the forefront of the battayle and therefore c 2 Sam. 11. 15. like Vriah receiued the first in counter violence of their enemies the latter like old beaten souldiers won the field in the rereward all of them when they could not go the white way to God in time of peace to shew they preferred Gods loue before their owne liues were content to goe the red way in time of persecution This serueth to reproue those which can bee contented to follow Christ in a calme but being d Mat. 8. 27 vnlike the disciples will giue him ouer in a troublesome sea who are forward at first but if they perceiue they shall be prickt for martyres shrinke backe as snailes which putting forth their hornes being a little pricked pull them againe who being crased vessels will not hold but breake in peeces when they come to the furnace like the aples which as men write grow about Sodome and Gomorrah pleasant to behold buts vanishing into soote or smoke as soone as a man put his teeth to them or like the Christall which seemes a precious stone till it comes to the hamering such are they which forsake Christ because they will not giue their flesh for him as they in the Gospell e Ioh. 6. 66 forsooke Christ because hee said he would giue his flesh for them who when the sunne of tribulation scorcheth hot are f Mat. 13. 5. 6. like the seede which fell vpon stony ground which sprung vp but when the sunn◠rose vp parched and for lacke of rooting withred away vnlike the Egels young ones who looke directly against the face of the sunne and indure the perching beames thereof whereby the Egle which carryeth them vp to make triall whether they are naturall Egles or bastardly branches acknowledgeth them as her owne which otherwise shee would extrude out of her nest Indeed Gods Church is made stockfish and goes along by weeping crosse g Gē 25. 22 Iacob cannot be quiet for Esay no not in his mothers wombe h Mat. 2. 16 Herod turns his rage vpon the poore infants of Bethlehem when his malice cannot dispatch Christ himselfe i Luc. 13. 34. Our Sauiour compares himselfe to a Hen and his Church vnto chickens because Herod plaies the foxe and lyes in waite for them The Kites and birds of cruell kind deale hardly with the little k Mat 13. 32. which build their nests in the branches of the little mustard seed l Gen. 4 8. A thorne of his owne blood troubles Abell m Ex. 2. 15. Phaaroh seeks for Moses to slay him n Ioh. 21. 18. Peter must bee bound and led whither hee would not in respect of flesh and blood which is vnwilling to this sacrifice not in respect of the inner man and of the spirit o Act. 5. ◠for he went away reioycing when he was whipped but when the persecutors thorough their beastly crueltie and tyger-like tyranny haue sought to racke rent the babes of Christs spouse and like curdogs with their teeth to teare the lambs of Gods pasture euen then life hath not been deere vnto the Saiuts in respect of his loue Reade we the Acts and Monuments of the Church wee shall find that Saunders tooke the stake whereunto he should be chained in his armes and kissing it said welcome the crosse of Christ welcome euerlasting life and being fastened to the stake and fier put to him full sweetly he slept in the Lord and Doctor Taylor comming to the place of his execution thanked God that he was euen at home Carolus according to his name was carelesse of his body in this respect and thirsting after the cup of Martirdome had it last filled vp to the hard brimme Alas saith he I lie p Ioh. 5. 5. like the lame man at the pooles side by Salomons porch and euery man goes into the place of health before me but God will appoint me one one day to put me in these and a thousand besides These were good grapes and feared not the presse were good gold and feared not the fire were good corne and feared not the flayle or grindging of their bodies with the teeth of the wilde beasts they desired to hold life with Christ and therefore feared not death for Christ and if some of them thorough infirmity of the flesh haue a little yeelded to their enemies and stained their cheeks with blushes of recantation yet like valiant souldiers after flying did againe fight and not giue ouer the field till they had finisht their course reioycing that the sentence of death did send them sooner to heauen then the course of nature would haue done and that their aduerfaries did helpe them to euerlasting blisse by their speedy dispatch The next duty to loue enioyned by this commandement is seare Loue and feare are sweetely tempered together in the hearts of the faithfull they loue God fearefully they feare God louingly whereas the vngodly feare him slauishly without loue and therefore are said to q Iob 18. 14 goe to the
saith Ionas here g Act. 20. 9 with Eutychus you may take him vp dead but I will looke againe toward thy holy Temple here you may see him with h Gen. 45. 27. Iacob to reuiue i Luc. 7. 15 with the young man to sit vp and speake k Mat. 9. 7. with the palsey man to arise walke l Rom. 7. 24. O wretched man that I am sayth Paul herein consideration of his infirmitie setting vp sayles of discomfort hee is ready to runne vpon dangerous shelues but I thanke God thorough Iesus Christ our Lord this is a breath of faith which comming stopes his course and standing as a rudder in the sentence turnes it quite another way but as for the vngodly it is not so with them when they hit vpon discord they neuer fall into a good concord when they fall they fall away Prolapsi id est prosus lapsi they fall like the Elephant who being downe riseth not againe m 1. Sam. 4. 18. they fall backward with Heli and can haue no helpe of their hands in a word this feare and terrour of conscience in the godly lasteth but for a time and they are deliuered from it in the wicked it abideth alwayes and they are deuoured by it to the one God giues the thred of grace to bring them out of the laberinth of a troubled mind the sense of sinne sendes the other headlong n Mat. 8. 32 as the diuels the heard of swyne to the lake of disperation feare in the one o Psa 114. 3. like Iorden is driuen backe in the other like p 2. Kin. 5. 27. the leprosie of Gehezi it cleaâ—eth fast for euer of all feares feare not this feare it is most opposite to the true feare of God which this Commandement requireth Lastly the wicked feare death and that because they neuer feared God in their life they carnally feare to dye they hellishly feare to be dead the intollerable payne in the very act of dissolution causeth the first the conceit that they shal be euer dying causeth the second A good man lookes death in the face and goeth out couragiously to meete it with a smile and taking it by the hand before it taketh him doth at once welcome and contemne it he knoweth that q 1. Cor. 15 56. the sting of death is sinne and that Christ hauing pulled it out calles it droane to it face r 1. Cor. 15 55. O death where is thy sting and therefore he is like the Swan which by a naturall instinct finisheth his life with ioy and singing vbi fata vocant vdis abiectus in herbis Ad vada Maandri concinit albus olor but to the wicked it is a death to thinke vpon death when they consider on the one side what euill they haue done and on the other side what euill they shall suffer on the one side what bad stewards they haue been on the other side what reckoning they shall make at the audit they cry loath to depart and are still willing like slaues to be chained to their gallyes and are as vnwilling to goe out of life as Å¿ Gen. 19. 16. Lâ—t out of Sodom and and are pulled from the earth with more violence then t 1. Kin. 2. 28. Ioab from the hornes of the Alter But if the feare of God possesseth our hearts then are wee voyde and empty of this and all other base feares according to the admonition of Esay u Esa 8. 12 wee feare not the feare of the wicked And secondly wee feare not the wicked men themselues according to that of our Sauiour Christ x Mat. 10. 28. feare not them that kill the body Iustinus Martyre sayd the persecutors could only kil they could not ill much like that of Petus concerning Nero occidere me potest lâ—dere vero non potest they haue no more power ouer the soule then Satan had ouer Iobs and can hurt the soule no more then he which cutteth a garment hurteth the body for the body is the garment of the soule Iacob y Gen. 31. 3 when God bids him leaue Padan Aram and goe againe to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan hath a wolfe by the eares which he can neither hold nor let goe without danger if he disobeyes he hath God against him if he obeyes his brother Esau comes against him but the feare of God as the stronger yron driues out the feare of man as the weaker nayâ—e Gods Commandement is of more force to make him obey then present perill to make him afrayd he feareth God more then man whose life is in his breath whose breath is in his nosthriles Saint Laurence feared not his persecutors who speake to the Emperour who caused him to bee tormented on a fiery gridyron on this wise This side is now rosted enough turne vp O tyrant great Assay whither rosted or raw thou thinkest better meate Apollonia feared not her persecutors who for confessing the faith of Christ had all her teeth pulled out of her head Herevpon I suppose it came that Apolline was the Saint for the Tooth-ach when the Tyrant threatned to burne her except she would blaspheame Christ she breaking from the Officers willingly leapt into the fire I commend her constant courage but set no Rosemary branch vpon her fact for when our Saui our Christ sayth to Peter z Ioh. 21. 18. another shall binde thee and leade thee whither thou wouldest not he teacheth that wee must suffer of another not of our selues we must not lay violent handes by no meanes vpon our owne bodyes In latter times Latimer feared not his persecutors for timâ—r addidit alas feare would force flight But he hauing forewarning six houres before that a Pursiuant was comming downe to call him vp to London there after examination to be clapt in the Towre and condemned was so far from flying that in that time he prouided himselfe that he might be ready to ride with the Messenger all these knew that if they be blessed that dye in the Lord then much more blessed are they that dye in the Lord and for the Lord they knew that Christ did forsake his father heauen and all to come vnto them they would forsake their friends earth al to come vnto him Their enemies being more weary in tormenting them then they of the torments which seemed more harsh to the beholders then to themselues who did endure them they were not afraid though ten thousand of people did beset them round about who could but kill the body but they feared him who hauing killed the body was able to cast both body and soule into hell according to the charge which Christ giueth a Luc. 12. 5. feare him which he doubleth yea I say vnto you feare him hammering vpon vs againe and againe because nay les the oftener they are smitten the deeper they peirce The last thing required by this commandement
Christ vsed sundry sorts of medicines as dyet in his forty daies fast Electuary u Mat. â—â— 26. in giuing his body and bloud at his last supper Sweat x Luc. 22. 44. which like droppes of bloud trickled downe to the ground Potion y Mat. 27. 48. when they gaue him vineger to drinke mingled with gall z Ioh 19. 34. letting blond when they peirced his hands and his feet and when Longinus thrust a speare into his side and strocke his heart veyne by his natiuity he made himselfe in case able to worke this cure by circumcision he entred bond for it by bloud at his passion he performed it Bloud is a great comfort to nature and hasteth thither where is most neede of succour when a man blusheth it goes to the face when he is afraide to dye it goes from the face to the heart to comfort the heart because it is distressed and when we which are members of Christ were as good as dead it came from the head to the members for a Reuel â— 5 he washed vs in his bloud and therefore the Church of God may be called Aceldama because it is a field purchased by the bloud of Christ and therefore we pray his bloud be on vs and our children not as the Iewes prayed b Mat. 27. 25. his bloud be vppon vs to reuenge it but his bloud c Reu. 1. 5. be vppon vs to wash vs d 1. Pet. 1. 19. to redeeme vs e Heb. 9. 14 to sanctifie vs. f Leuit 25. 10. The yeare of Iubily was a figure of g Luc. 4. 19 that acceptable yeare and h Mala. 4. 2 the Sonne of righteousnes reioycing as a Gyant to run his course caused this yeare by him the brightnes of heauen is opened vnto vs as the light of the day is conueyed vnto vs by the Sun in the firmament He was that Doue which after the floud of our sinnes brought a branch of Olyue that is peace and i Gen. 8. 1â— mercy to the Arke that is the Church in the euening and end of the world The world is a sea death is a hooke Christ is that fish k Mat. 17. 27. in whose mouth was found a peece the price of our redemption the tribute is payde and wee are deliuered l Num. 16. 48. Aaron stood betwixt the liuing and the dead Moses betwixt God and the people and m 1. Tim. â— 5. Christ is a mediator betwixt God and vs A mediator one that dealeth priuately for vs he is more then so n 1. Ioh. 2. 1 an aduocate one that comes to the barre in our cause o 2. Cor. 5. 19. he is a reconcilation one that in such sort dealeth betwixt God and vs that he will not punish vs he is more then so p 1. Io. 2. 2. he is a propitiation one that dealeth so with God for vs that he will reward vs this latter is more then the former for King Dauid is appeased toward Absolon by meanes of Ioaâ— after he had slaine his brother Ammon but q 2. Sam. 14 24. 33. yet let him see my face no more there is reconciliation but in the end he commeth to the King and r the King kisseth him there is propitiation as he is a mediator an aduocate a reconciliation and propitiation so is he our only mediator oâ—r only aduocate our only reconciliation our only propitiation he is the only high Priest which entred before the Arke where was the signe of Gods presence when all other were forbid to come neare the Å¿ Heb. 7. 23 one Priest who by t Heb. 10. 12. one sacrifice u Heb. 9. 28 once offered hath reconciled God to vs. And vs to know the originall cause of our death and damnation we must not range beyond the fall of the first Adam for by him sinne entred into the world and death by the meanes of sinne so to find our recouery we must not seeke elsewhere then in the second Adam Christ Iesus for thorough him saluation is conueyed from the Father to all his liuing members as through the veynes life is conueyed from the heart to all the vitall parts x Ioh. 14. 6. He is the way the Kings high way to heauen we haue no whither to goe but to him nor no other way but by him no man can ascend but by him that did discend y Gen. 28. 12. he is Iacobs ladder there is no other hy whom we can goe vp vnto God no building without this stone no perfume without this balme no Paâ—adise without this tree no God without this Christ no entrance â—nto heauen without this dore no sauing from the floud without this Arke he is the only z Luc. 10. Samaritan that powreth in Oyle to cure our woundes the only rocke a Gen. 35. 14. which Iacob annointed with Oyle and erected vp for a title of peace betweene God and men the only vessell full of Oyle wherewith b 2. Kin. 4. 7 with the widdow we must all pay our debts c Mat. 1. 25 Iesus is his name d Act. 4. 12. and there is no other name vnder heauen whereby we can be saued and therefore he is not only called a sauiour but e Luc. 2. 30 saluation it selfe because he is the only Sauiour as for Saints they are no such sauiours as can cure our euils in body their letting bloud cannot ease the plurisie of our soules and therefore as that man in the Gospell was to worship Christ because f Ioh. 7. 23. he had made him whole euery whit so on the other side are not wee to worship Saints because they can not make vs whole any whit The Church of Rome then is to be reproued which worshipp the Virgine Mary their Patronesse and Protectresse desiring her to exhibit to them the breast of her grace great babes to sucke our Ladyes breast attributing their happy estate to the helpe of her medecine acknowledging themselues seruants of her owne inheritance and of her peculiar dowre much such stuffe may we find in the Catholicke Primer called our Ladyes mattens in our Ladyes Psalter made by Bonaâ—eâ—ture to be sayd and song in the praise and seruice of our Lady which make her an aduocate pray for the people intreate for the Clergie make intercession for the deuout woman-kinde Which make her not only blessed her selfe but a giuer of blessednes to others not a vessell but a fountaine a mother of grace mercy Neither shall the Virgin be alone in this seruice but other Saints shall beare her company as Saint Nicholas grant by his merits and prayers we may be deliuered from the fire of hell as Mary Magdalen Let her purchase for vs the blisse euerlasting And as Pilate mingled the bloud of the Galileans with their owne sacrifice that is killed them while they were sacrificing and so mingled their bloud and the bloud of
the beasts together so they make their mixtures and their medleyes mingling the bloud of Christ and of their Saints one with another as Beckets bloud Tuper Thome sanguinem quem pro te impendit Fac nos Christe scandere quo Thomas ascendit Thou by the bloud of Thomas speaking of Thomas Becket which he for thee did spend Make vs Christ to clime whether Thomas did assend Thus doe they extenuate the worthines of Christs death in that they supply the weakenes thereof with the prayers and bloud of their Saints but as wax and water cannot meete together so Christ and any thing with Christ cannot meet in the saluation of man the bloud of Saints defaceth the bloud of our Sauiour the impression of their prayers dasheth out the inscription of Christ As for the Saints themselues the Virgine confesseth her Sauiour and therefore acknowledgeth her selfe a sinner s Luc. 1. 47. si peccatrix non depreâ—atrix quâ— egebat non agebat adâ—ocatum Mary Magdaleâ— stood behind Christ weeping she wept this was an g Lu. 7. 38. acknowledging of her fault and now she would that her eyes at which sinne had entred as at a window might now let it out as at a doore shee stood behind him as though shee thought her selfe not worthy to behold him and againe behind him that God through Christ might looke vpon her shall now any stand behind her a sinner that God thorough her may looke vpon them or they thorough her may looke vpon God as for the bloud of Saints the heart bloud of the best of them could not merit for themselues and therefore could no more wash vs from our sins then h 2 King 5 14. other waters besides Iorden could cleanse the leprosie of Naaman And therefore hunt not i Mar. 5. 2. 3. with the mad Cadarâ—n the graues of the dead as they did Thomas Beckets tombe seeke not among the Saints departed for mediators of redemption no not of intercession God did not send the King of Gerar to Noah or any of the dead Fathers but to Abraham then aliue and present k GeÌ„ 20. 7. hee shall pray for thee Indeed Brusierd saith if wee pray to Saints departed they as stricken with some compassion may say the like to God for vs as in the Gospell they did for the Canaanite send her away for shee cryes after vs but I answere if the Saints should haue a feeling of our miseries then little l Mat. â—5 23 would be their ease small would be their rest and heauen would be no hauen of happines An other saith No man comes to an earthly Prince without making meanes to some that are about him but I answer God respecteth not one person more then an other and therfore one need not an Atturney rather then an other to speake vnto God and therefore dashe out that subscription which Antonâ—nus saith was vsed in his time where Saint Paul and Frier Dominicke were painted together vnder the Image of Saint Paul was written Per hunc itur ad Christum vnder the other sed magis per istum the like story wee read of King Oswy who taking vp the matter about celebrating Easter betwixt the East-Churches which receiued their rite of Saint Iohn and the West-Church which receiued theirs of Saint Peter iudged with the West-Church that is the Church of Rome lest as he said gainsaying Peter the porter none should open when hee came to heauen gate if he were displeased that kept the keys The prodigall Child did vse no other meanes to come into his fathers house but m Luc. 15. 20. hee himselfe did come to his father As we are not to worship Saints in praying vnto them so not giuing that honour vnto them which belongs onely vnto God vnder the Law God appointed the Iewes three seuerall n Deâ— 16. 9. Feasts the Passeouer Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles the first in remembrance that God spared their houses when he slew the first-borne of the Agyptians the second in remembrance that God gaue them his Law 50 daies after their departing out of Aegypt the third in remembrance that they dwelt vnder tents and tabernacles forty yeeres in the wildernesse but after the Idolaters forged Feasts of their owne heads o 1 King 1â— 32. as Ieroboam made a new holy day in honour of the Calues which he had set vp at Dan and Bethel Vnder the Gospell we celebrate Easter Whit-sunday and other festiâ—al daies the first in remembrance of the death resurrection of Christ the second in remembrance of the sending of the holy Ghost quod abeuntem Christum non amisimus vâ—nâ—â—tem Spiritâ—â— possidemus other holy dayes of Saints wee keepe to the hoâ—our of Christ and not of them as the Anuntiation of the virgin in remembrance that Christ was then conceiued in her wombe the Purification in remembrance that Christ was then presented in the Temple Saint Peters day as proper to Christ professed by Peters mouth p Maâ— 16. 16. Thou art Christ the Sonne of the liuing God Saint Iohns day proper to Christ published by his writing and so of the rest whose holy daies our Churh doth most piously q Ioâ— 21. 24 and religiously bind vs to obserue but after this especially within this 500. yeares the Pope that great god maker of Rome coyned a great number of new holy daies as the Feast of the Conception of the virgin Mary which when the Franciscan or gray Fryers had newly found out in remembrance that she was conceiued without originall sinne was established by Sixtus the fourth who sent forth his decree commanding all men to solemnize the said Feast himselfe adding at the end of her Aue bâ—nedicta sit Anna matertua de quâ— sinâ— macula tua processit caro virginea and to stoppe the mouthes of the Dominicke or black Fryers who taking side with Peter Lombard Tho. Aquinas Bernard Bonauenture and other Schoole Doctors taught that it was heresie to affirme that shee was conceiued without guilt of originall sinne they said her flesh might well proceede without this infection for shee was not conceiâ—ed as others were and therefore they made a picture of Iâ—achim and Anna kissing by which kisse Anna was conceiued with the virgin Mary I omiâ— here the feast of her Natiuity brought in by Innocent the fourth the Feast of her Assumption brought in by Leo the fourth the Feast of Corpus Christi ordained and confirmed by Clement the fift who assigned indulgences to those that heard the seruice thereof For besides these that great Saint-maker shrined a rable of blind Saints of his owne creating prescribing the same to be vniuersally receiued in the whole world and binging them as holy children of Rome into his Romish Calender some with a Festum duplex some with a Festum simplex and celebrating his double and simple feasted Saints He commonly appointed a vigill before them that they might as well bee honored with
a fast as with a feast but what were they that hee did thus dignifie that did fiâ—d such place or fauour with him that they should be canonized and deified and being set downe in red or blacke colours should be called vpon for gifts and graces and be worshipped for Aduocatâ— and Mediators were they not commonly some Popes or some rich Bishops or some fat Abbots or some blind Fryers Monks or Nuns some builders of Monasteries or such as had stood for the dignities and liberties of the papists Church What made Innocent the third to Saint Fryer Dominicke and confirme his order of Preaching Fryers but that dreaming that the Church of Lateran was ready to fall Dominicke with his shoulders did vnderprop it why was Thomas Becket fifty yeeres after his death taken vp and shrined for a new Saint made of an old rebell but that hee died for the ambitious liberties of the holy Church had not that deformed Gilbert of Sâ—mpringham in Lincolneshire erected many Monasteries 13 to the dossen he had neuer been numbred in the Catalogue of Saints neither would Pepe Innocent himselfe haue made that blasphemous Collect in his honour wherein he prayeth that we being succoured by his suffrages may be deliuered from all diseases of our soules I will not here rehearse any more particulars lest the reader should blame me as much for stuffing my paper with this route rifraffe and rablement of Saints as I doe find fault with the Pope for placing them in his Calender Hee that will know more may find them dispersed in Pantaleons Chronographie and in the Acts and Monuments of the Church onely this the yeere was cumbred with so many idle holy daies and the Calenders with so many raskall Saints some of them as good as euer were they that put Christ to death that Simon I slip though hee were made Arch-bishop of Canterbury by the Pope to wit by Clement the sixt by his letters patent directed to all Persons and Vicars within his Prouince straitly charged them and their Parishioners vnder paine of Excommunication that they should not abstaine from bodily labour vpon certaine Saints daies which before were wont to be hallowed and consecrated to vnthrifty idlenesse afterward were more put downe by Iniunction in the Raigne of King Henry the eight Concerning those therefore that are departed let our remembrance of them shortly depart after them Varrâ— thinketh that death was called Iethum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is forgetfulnes because they which haue now forgotten all the world should soone be forgotten of the world on the one side if they were bad doe not so much as bring forth thy teares vpon them they of the Kings stocke in the Prophet Ieremy shall not lament Iehoâ—akim saying r Ier. 22. 18 Ah my brother neither shall they mourne for him saying ah Lord or ah his glory let him that liues without loue dye without teares without piety except we say it was pity he died no sooner Againe if their liues were black doe not we paint their sepulchers with white colours yet withall if any good inch were in them disdaine wee as much to derogate any thing from them as we would scorne to robbe an Hospital set not thy foote on a carcasse scourge not a dead man fight not with a shadow bee not like the dogs which bite the stones cast at them when they cannot touch those that hurt them The Papist findeth in his Masse to pray for the dead but not to play vpon them fie vpon Pope Stephen the sixt whose lightning being kindled against the dead tooke vp the Carkasse of his predecessor Formosus out of the graue brought it to iudgement before a Councell of Bishops spoiled it of all Papall robes cloathed it with a lay-mans garments endited it arraigned it condemned it cut off three fingers of it and cast it into the Riuer On the other side if they which are diseased were good men take vp a little while Dauids Lamentation for Ionathan weepe with Saint Ambrose both because they are gone before thee to glory and because the Church hath lost such labourers in the vineyard but let sadnes bewray rather a tender then deiected minde and let the felicity wherein they are now placed exchange the sorrow of thy losse into reioycing of their gaine commending the vertues that were in them breake a boxe of spikenarde among others and fill their eares with some part of that sweet perfume which they left behind them praise theÌ„ when as good sea men they are come to the hauen when as good warriours they are come to the triumph lastly if thou hast Å¿ Phil. 4. 8. 9. learned and receiued heard and seen in them that I may vse the Apostles words any thing that is true honest iust pure pertaining to loue and of good report praise God for it thinke on it and imitate it in thy selfe follow their good â—cts in thy liuing as they followed Christ in their liues Honoramus eos charitate non seruitute saith Saint Augustine giue therefore vnto the Saints thy teares giue them their praise giue them the honour of imitation lesse thou canst not giue more thou maiest not and more doe they not desire Nolâ—ut enim fic honorari a nobis c. Lastly wee are not to communicate Gods worship with Saints in swearing by them for herein we make them not so much lower then God as God hath made vs lower then Angels hereby wee confesse their wisdome their iustice their power see all this in one oath of the Romaines among whom this was a custome he that swore held in his hand a stone saying The City with the gods thereof being safe so Iupiter cast mee out of it if I deceiue willingly as I cast from mee this stone Heere they attribute vnto Iupiter wisdome acknowledging that he seeth the secret conceit of the heart their deceit and whither their deceit be a willing deceit 2. power that he can and 3. iustice that hee will punish their periury if they sweare not in truth and therefore God threatneth that they shall fall and neuer raise vp againe which was t 1 Sam. 4. 18. old Hely his fall u Amos 8. 14. which sweare by the sinne of Samaria that is by the Idols which the Samaritans worshipped and that say thy God O Dan liueth and he will cut off them x Zep. 1. 5. which sweare by the Lord and sweare by Malcham neither might the Iudge admit an oath y Ios 23. â— that any should take by their Idols Nae the holy Ghost will not haue vs giue so much honour to them as to mention them with our lippes and therefore it is probable that z Ios 18. 14 Kiriath Baal was called Kiriath-Iearim that the name of the Idoll might be forgotten and not honoured so much as with the naming of it and Socrates in despâ—ght of those Heathen gods did sweare by an Oake a Goate a Dogge as though hee denied
vnto it as it vnto him hee stumbles the second time at the same stone and though a sonne should not iumpe in euery foot-steppe of his good father and keepe the same pase and turning in all points as hee doth for ego pater meus in the Oeconomicks is no good plea though God registers the sinne of the father not for imitation but admonition of the sonne and though the father repents the ill hee did that the sonne might not doe that which hee repented yet Isaac the sonne of Abraham as though God in setting downe his fathers fall had said tu quoque fac simile treads in his fathers steps though hee did tread too much outward the imitation of his fathers euill did aequall the example or rather exceed it as much as the imitation of his fathers good Gen. 26. 7. came short of the paterne I know the hope of faring well and the danger which Abraham and Isaac foresaw to bee towards them in strange Countries if by this meanes they had not preuented it doth some thing extenuate their fact and may seeme to patronize it but now a dayes there bee diuers wittals who though there bee little hope of profit lesse feare of perill can bee content that their owne bosoms should bee false to them that others like fed Horses as the Prophet speaketh should â—eye after their Ier. 5. 8. Exod. 8. 3. GeÌ„ 49 14. 1 King 22. 11. wiâ—es and croke in their Chambers like the frogs of Aegypt they themselues being but cloakes for the raine while they smother the fault the blessing of Issachar bee vpon them let Zidchiah doe the best hee can for them let these Caffrani still father the craâ—le and with the wood-culuers or filly hedge sparrowes hatch and bring vp that which cuckows lay in their neasts Others of a more honest disposition thinke no iniury on earth can paralell this wrong they thinke this that others should haue the same coniunction with their wiues in wickednesse which they haue in holinesse and by the appointment of God to bee one of the greatest punishments inflicted by God or man by God for it is the first of the two punishments when God did gather his lappe full of plagues to powre vpon Israell for their idolatry Your daughters shal be Hos 4. 13. harlots and your spouses shal be whoors by man for it was the saying of a great man when diuers gaue their verdict what iudgement it were best to execute vpon a notable malefactor brought before them one saying hee should bee whipt at an horse taile an other that he should be hanged no saith hee I will punish him worse then so I will marry him to a whore Men of good minds and such as haue care of their credits thinke that if other men should vse their wiues more familiarly then honesty requireth that if other should gage the vessels and they should drinke the lees that if other should gather the grapes they should gleane the vine that if other should haue the entertainement of husbands with their wiues and they should see the staffe stand at their doores this staine they thinke to be the greatest blemish that might be to their reputation and a reproche which neuer could be put away as the woman for her part doth stomacke the matter when her husband hauing a wise of his owne is sicke of a plurisie And therefore Olympias the mother of Alexander the Great though Gen. 16. 3 Sarah for want of children gaue her seruant Hagar into her husbands bosome wrote vnto her sonne that he should not according to his custome call himselfe the sonne of Iupiter lest in so doing Iuno the wife of Iupiter might enuie her and take displeasure so on the other side the husband especially if hee be iealous cannot digest this villany Iealousie is the rage of a man therefore will hee not spare in the day of vengeance he will Pro. 6. 34. seeke his death that doth abuse his wife and diuorce his wife that takes her pleasure in dalliance with another man now God is a iealous God an husband that cannot abide a partner in his loue and therefore wee cannot wrong him more or dishonour him more then by going aftet other gods and coupling our selues to them nae his name is Iealous and Ex. 34 14. thererefore in any case he cannot away with a Riuall and therefore forsaking all other we must keepe our selues only to him so long as we both shall liue A good wife though her husband be not iealous yet will giue him her hand her heart and her body but if she know him iealous she will not giue him the least cause of suspition either by talking of others or walking with others so the spouse of Christ though her Lord were not a iealous God yet hauing betrothed her self to him and receiued pledges of his loue should delight in him and none other but considering hee is iealous shee should haue a greater care to retaine and keepe all her senses chast to obserue all loyalty and faithfulnesse she should not according to the precept of Moses and promise Ex. 23. 13. of Daaid not so much as make mention of other gods with Ps 16. 4. her lips But making protestation as they in the Psalme that she hath not forgotten the name of her God should reckon other Ps 44. 20. gods such strangers to her as though shee knew not their names neither should they euer bee heard out of her mouth much lesse should she euer come to Gilgall or goe vp to Bethauen desire oakes and chuse gardens bow herselfe and humble her selfe doe shamefully and follow her louers Visiting the sinne of the fathers vpon the children A good man hates iniquity not so much for the danger of it as the indignation but feare keepes backe the bad man when hee foresees the danger if he run into it A galley-slaue fals to rowing for he sees himselfe fast chained and knowes he shall be surely Ex. 8. 8. 10. 17. beaten if he row not Pharaoh becomes somewhat tractable but punishment driues him to it Balaam boweth and giueth NuÌ„ 22. 31. 34. good words but danger is towards him O derunt peccare mali formidine paâ—a As God therefore hath compassion of some so others hee Iude. 22. saues with feare in this place he hath salt in his speach and puts a wedge of yron into knotty wood God will wrestle with the wicked with them and theirs not vsing his right hand of mercy as he did with Iacob when he supported him GeÌ„ 32. 24. but his left hand of iustice as Iacob did with Esau when hee GeÌ„ 25 27. supplanted him and if he punish the posterity of wicked Idolaters how great then and terrible shall their owne destruction be when their issue shall perish thorough their default Visit Almighty God the Bishop of our soules goes his visitation he inquires of faults and
borne and a time to dye as though death did border vpon life as though our cradle did stand in our graue Hee sayd something to the purpose which sayd that life was smoake or the shadow of smoake or the dreame of the shadow of smoake but I say of him as one sayd of another in another case non dixit vt est dixit vt potnit hee made life as short as hee coulâ— noâ— so short as hee should hee shot nearer the marke who being demanâ—ed what life was made an answere answereles for he presently turned his backe and went his way and indeede we fetch but here a turne and God saith g Ps 90. 3. returne againe our mortall life is but a liuing death the â—aâ—th receiues vs like a kinde mother into her entralls when we haue a while troden her vnder foote and all our time in respect of eternitie is shorter then the time betweene the drinking of the â—emlocke and death of him that drinkes it mine a Ps 39. 5. age is euen as nothing in comparison of thee saith the Prophet and euery man liuing is altogether vanitie First therefore affect not a kinde of eternitie here vpon earth old men as they are children for simplicitie so would they be for yeares Lysicrates in his old age dyed his white haires blacke that he might sâ—eâ—e young still The b Num. 32. 5. children of Ruben and Gad hauing much cattle requested Moses leading the people toward the land of promise that they might be left in the land of Gilead and not goe ouer Iorden so carnall men hauing many beastly affections and worldly men whose portion is in this life say as Peter when Christ was transfigured c Mat. 17. 4 it is good to be here and therefore with thâ— Gadits d Num. 23. goe to building and make their prison as strong as they can but when they haue done what may be done yet within a few daies like the spider and her webbe wherein shee thought to haue lodged as in her freehold they shall bee swept away their daies shall soone suffer eclipse the night will come when their candle shall be put out and they shall goe to their long home though many times against their will e GeÌ„ 19. 26. as Lots wife went out of Sodome as f Luc. 16. 3. the vniust Steward went out of his office though with the Crabbe they goe backward from death and are pulled from life with more violence g 1 Kâ— 2. 28 then Ioab from the hornes of the Altar Secondly haue this life in contempt euen for this that it lasteth not a Mat. 20. 6 Here wee may not stand still here wee can not rest b Re. 14. 13 that is reserued to another life c 1 Pet. 2. 11 here we are pilgrims and strangers and therefore not in our Countrey to rest our selues but in our iourney to walke our selues if wee feele any pleasure it is soone dashed with some mishappe and like a calme continues not long without a storme nay our sweet is tempered with sowre and we finde a mixture of both but say that our life were a Paradise our ioyes exquisite and our pleasures without composition yet how can wee sing our songes in a strange land how can this but coole our delight and make vs lesse esteeme it to consider our life is short our delight vanish and though we spend our time in pleasure yet sodainly we goe downe to the graue Thirdly we haue here no abiding place therefore seeke the place where we shall haue d Heb 9. 15 a perpetuity rather then this from whence wee must shortly goe of necessity respect that where we shall haue an euerlasting habitation rather then this where like freshmen we haue but as it were a yeere of probation In purchasing you regard not so much three liues as the fee simple not so much a lease determinable by yeeres as land which goe to you and your heires for euer then set not so much by this life which shall vanish away like a scrolle as by that where you shall receiue the charter of an euerlasting being not so much by this day in which the sunne setteth as by that day which knoweth no euentide nor hath any sunne going downe where thou shalt haue no more Sunne to shine e Esa 60. 19 20. by day nor Moone by night where the Lord shall bee thine euerlasting light and thy God thy glory Thy daies The day to come f 1 Pet. 3. 10 is the day of the Lord but the dayes present h are our dayes A man reckones of that g Ps 90. 12 which is his owne though it be but of small value and hee of great ability Naball a man of great possessions and exceeding mighty yet reckones of his bread and other small commodities a 1 Sam. 25. 2. 11. Shall I take my bread and my water and my flesh and giue vnto men whom I know not whence they bee but if it bee dainty then wee set the more by it as the poore man did by that b 2 Sa. 12. 3. one little sheepe which he had bought in Nathans parable but if further we can neuer recouer it if once it be gone from vs then how great is our griefe to leaue it or loose it Now time is ours c Luc. 19. 42. this day and nihil nostrum nisi tempus nothing so properly ours as is time it is also rare and dainty for whereas of other things a man may haue d Iob i. 2. 3 many at one time he can haue but one time at once and if this be once past behind e Ec. â— 5. 6. 7. there is no holdfast to pull it backe againe The Sunne and the wind and the riuers all these three returne to their places In the three parables f Luc. 15. 6 9. 31. the man doth finde his lost sheepe the woman her lost groate the father his lost sonne but losse of time comes neuer againe but is like a bird let flie at large out of the hand or a word which babled out cannot be recalled If wee haue but a short time to enioy any thing we take all the benefit we can reape in that time as if a lease bee shortly out of date we rip vp the grounds eate vp the grasse cut downe the copses and take all the liberty the lease will afford Certaine hawkes in colder countries are most eager and earnest to take their prey when the day light there is of least continuance euen g Re. 12. 1â— the diuell him selfe is most busie because he hath but a short time Now time is ours and it is but a short time we haue he that is young may thinke he is old enough to die he that is strucken in yeeres sees his set period before him and may thinke himselfe too old to liue longer the palme tree is full of blomes the mappe of age is
the Tribes e Ps 115. 16 the earth God hath giuen to the children of men f Ps 105. 1 but this pleasant and plentifull part of the earth did he giue vnto Israel as a particular inclosure out of the commons of the whole world and therefore it is compared g Esa 20. 6 to an I le because Israel was separated from other countries as an I le from other lands as a Gen. 43. 34. Beniamin had his mease by himselfe so according b Num. 23. 9. to Balaams prophecy the people did dwell by themselues were not reckoned among the nations Ierusalem was walled about and c Ioh 4. 9. the Iewes did not meddle with the Samaritans but after according to the d Zac. 2. 4. prophecy of Zachary e Eph. 2. 14 the partition wall was broken downe and the Church of Christ dispersed farre and nigh f Gal. 6. 16 is called the Israel of God which shall enter into his rest and g Mat. 8. 11 sit downe with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the Kingdome of heauen whereof this land of Canaan was a type and figure whether hee bring vs that made vs for his Sonne Iesus Christ his sake to whom with the Father and the holy Ghost be giuen all honour and glory for euer The sixt Commandement Exod. 20. 13. Thou shalt not kill IT is true which the father of lyes saith in the booke of Iob a Iob 2. 4. Skin for skin and all that euer a man hath will he gâ—â—en for his lâ—fe Mens mindes are shut in their chests as dead bodies are buried in coffins they are interred in the Gâ—lgatha of this world as moles are intombed in their hils yet set a man neuer so much by his wealth he will giue his goods for the ransome of his life more then so men preferre their liberty before their riches for say fetters bee of gold yet is the seruitude no lesse miserable though it be more glorious but to saue their liues the b Ios 9. 23. Gâ—bâ—onites are content to loose their liberty and neuer to bee freed from being bondmen Since therefore life is so precious God in this commandement takes order for the life of man first forbidding all cruelty which might take it away then inioyning vs to vse the best meanes we may to preserue it The negligent Pastor the seditious Hereticke which slay the souâ—es of men and so destroy the life spirituall the detracting 〈◊〉 whose tongue as sharpe as the quilles of a Porcupin wounde the good name of his neighbour and so destroy the life ciuill with bare mentioning I passâ— ouer supposing that other commandements leade me a nearer way into these fieldes only the malicious murderer who laies waite for bloud and so destroies the life naturall shall be the subiect of my speach for the hand of this text doth leade me to him and therefore God assisting me I will spend this daies exercise in this walke There are some sinnes as more hainous then other which are said to cry vnto God for vengeance as the sinne of the Sodomites c GeÌ„â—8 20. mentioned in the Epistle to the d RoÌ„ 1. 24. Roâ—â—aines the sinne of oppressors e Ia. 5. 4 which keepe backe the hire of the labourers the sinne of murther for f Gâ— 4. 10. the voice of bloud doth cry vnto God the wounds opening and bleeding in the presence of the murderer doe after a sort cry and say Lord how long how long wilt thou cease to be auenged euen g Iob 24. 12 the soule of the slaine doth cry out and therefore when the seruants were slaine which were messengers sent to inuite the guests vnto the wedding God is not said to see it as he doth this and other sinnes but a Mat. 22. 7 when the King heard it hee was wroth b GeÌ„ 4. 11. The earth opens her mouth to receiue the bloud of the slaine c Esa 26. 2â— but the earth shall disâ—lose her bloâ—d and shall no more hide her slaine the bloud which shee hath drunke shee shall againe cast out that it may cry against those which spared not to dislodge the soules of innocents form their harmeles bodies A man cannot water the earth with his brothers bloud but he wrongeth God for d Gen. 9 6 in the image of God did â—â—e make man he therefore that batheth his sword in the pretious life of man razeth Câ—sâ—rs picture and breakes in peeces the Kings broade Seale The e Gâ— 3. 17 earth was cursed for sinne but f Gen. 4. 12 the first murderer did loose of that blessing which remained vnto it g Gen. 4 15 God would not haue Kain slainâ— not that he fauoured the murder but to shew how he detested the shedding of bloud when he would not haue a hand stretched out against him who had committed such outrage against the person of his owne brother The Lord did forbid the eating of bloud a Leu. 17. 13. euen the bloud of the least bird the eating of flesh b Gen. 9 4. which died of it selfe or which was strangled because the bloud was in it c Leu. 23. 28. Hee would not haue the damme and young killed both in one day and though d Deu. 14. 21. strangers had a larger Patent for eating of flesh then the people of God yet the flesh of an Oxe that had gored any man or woman to death might not be eaten noe not of strangers All these prohibitions tended to this end to teach that we must not lay waite for blould that we must not deuoure mens soules like Lyons and teare them in peeces that we must not bee like wolues in the euening eating vp our brethren as if we would eate bread nor swallow them vp quicke like a graue euen whole as those that goe down into the pitte Againe the e Num. 19. 11. the Lord did command that hee which had touched the dead body of any man as being vncleane should purifie himselfe the like should he doe f Num 31. 19. which had killed any person euen him or her whom to saue aliue had beene sinne g Gen 9 7 he commandeth the preseruation of seede a Deu. 20. 10. and commandeth euen in warre to be mindfull of pitty all these Iniunctions tended to this end to teach vs the more to detest the shedding of bloud and to shew that violence which is hurtfull in all things is horrible in life God in all ages seuerely punished this finne to shew hee would haue no man breake the prison and let the soule out but he that did inclose it before the law was giuen vnto Moses God enacted this statute b Gen. 9 6 who so sheddeth mans bloud by man shall his bloud be shed The c Ex. 21. 12 Law was life for life a law neuer repealed for it standeth in effect in the last booke of the Bible
d Ap. 13. 10 if any kill with a sword hee must bee killed by a sword If a man did smite his seruant that he died vnder his hand though among the Romanes such a master went free because he bought his seruant with his money yet because the life is more worth then money God will not free him e Ex. 21. 20 puniendo punietur hee shall be surely punished If men did striue and hurt a woman with childe though there were no intent to kill either the mother or the child f Ex. 21. 22. yet if death followed life should be paid for life A man would thinke it had been no great matter if he had killed a theefe that should come and vndermine his house or breake it vppe but yet if this were done in the day time by the iudiciall law of Moses g Ex. 22. 2. hee that did it must dye for it a Deu. 21. 1 If one were found slaine in the field and he not knowne that committed the murther the next City should beare the blame should offer sacrifice protest before God that they were cleere of that fact desire God to be mercifull to them and not lay innocent bloud vnto their charge If a man did not lay waite for bloud but had b Ex. 21. 14. killed any vnawares he might take Sanctuary and flie to the Altar but if he had killed any wilfully the holynes of the place should not defend him and therefore Salomon biddeth Benaiah to smite Iâ—ab because he smote two men more righteous and better then he and slew them with the sword though c 1 Kin. 2. 28 Ioab had caught hold on the hornes of the Altar God would take vengeance on d Gen. 9. 5. beasts generally for the life of man particularly e Ex. 21. 28 the goaring Oxe that killed any should be stoned to death to shew that beastly minded man should not goe vnpunished who sheds his brothers bloud like water who oppresseth him round about for his soule and causeth his head to goe downe to the graue with bloud The lawes of other Nations as well as Gods lawe to the Iewes doe meete with this sinne and cutting them off from other men rewards them to their face to bring them to destruction which lift vp their hands against other to destroy them To let passe forraigne Countries in our land if a man did run into a premunire he should be put out of the Kings protection his lands goods and cattles forfaited to the King but yet there was a law made Eliz 1o. against such as should slea euen such a man as was attainted in premunire King Richard the first making orders for sea-faring men ordained that if one slew an other on the shippe-boarde he should be bound to the dead body and throwne into the sea if on the land he should be bound to him and buried with him quicke The land is clensed of the bloud that is shed in it by the bloud of him that shed it and therefore the statute law takes away all murderers like drosse walking more stubbornly and taking greater vengeance on those which shall imbrue their hands in the bloud of them to whom by nature or duty they are most bound by nature as if a woman since her husband and shee are one flesh shall kill her husband shee shall be accounted a paricide by the Ciuill law and by the Statute of the land a traitor and be punished accordingly by duty as if a seruant kill his master it is petie treason if one kill any Iudge sitting in his place it is high treason and such a man shall drinke more depely of the cuppe of vengeance but let one sâ—ay a man bee he neuer so meane feloniously his least punishment is suspension his death-bed is the gallowes say he doth escape and be not taken then the Towne where the murder is committed shal be amerced say the matter be compounded yet God himselfe will take the matter into his owne hand his vengeance by iustice shall waite his destruction that doth commit it he will euen set his face against the person and will cut him off from among his people for sometime he stirreth vp f Gen 6. 9. some other man to shed the bloud of him thar sheddeth bloud and therefore g GeÌ„ 4. 14 Cain is afraid that euery man that findeth him will slay him That valiant Hercules did cast Diâ—medes King of Thrace who fedde his horse with mens flesh to horses to bee deuoured Perillus was inforced to make tryall how his brasen Bull would roare and when the Tyrant Phalaris had burned many in it his owne Citizens falling vpon him put him into the same Bull and made him end his life with like kinde of death It is remarkable how the Duke of Burgundy dealt with a murderer A cruell minded man had taken a noble man prisoner his wife whose heart did cleaue vnto her husband was an earnest suiter for his life that no hand might be vpon him to put him to death the cut-throate answered if he might goe vp to her bed imbrace her bosome take his fill of loue and his pleasure in dalliance he would set her husband at liberty shee thought it were as death to her to breake her faith plighted in marriage yet so great was her loue that shee did deliberate and first craued leaue to confer with her husband who though this thing were grieuous vnto him because of his wife yet gaue her leaue that he might haue his deliuerance the deed done and this varlet hauing lyen with her fleshly and vsed her at his pleasure he notwithstanding the next day chopt off her husbands head and sent it vnto her whereupon shee complained to the Duke who sent for him compelled him to marry her that so she might challenge a right in his possessions and then causing him to drinke of the same cup cut off his head It is true that the Psalmist saith a Ps 5 5. 23 the bloud-thirsty man shall not liue out halfe his daies one dies fettered in prison another scalded in the brothel house many in warre when the land of the enemies doth eate them licke them vp as an Oxe lieketh vp grasse of the field when their enemies chase them as Bees vse to doe so that they cannot stand in the day of battaile but their carcasses fall to the earth and cannot escape thus the roaring of the Lyon the voyce of the Lyonesse and the teeth of the Lyons whelpes are broken This made Rebecâ—ah speaking of Esau and Iacob to say b Gen. 27. 45. Why should I be depriued of you both in one day not thinking that Iacob being of a gentle disposition would rise vp against his brother Esau and so they kill one another but her meaning was that if Iacob did not auoid the countrey Esau considering that Iacob had the birthright and the blessing would kill him then some iudgement of God would
vsed for diuiding seuerall mens right so Iâ—shua diuided the land of Canaan among the Tribes a Ios 14. 2 by lott or for appointing officers as they b Act. 1. 26. chose an Apostle by lot to succeede in Iudas place but to vse them to the finding out of any secret thing except it be by the commandement of God who this way would c Ios 7. 18. haue Achaâ—s theft found out is but meere foolery and a great tempting of God For though God d Ion. 1. 7. in the prophesie of Ionah did order the lots which the Mariners cast in such sort that they found out the party for whose cause euill was vpon them which was done both that Ionas might be brought forth who fled from the presence of God and that the Mariners moued by this example might giue off their superstition yet what certaintie is there in lots what building vpon them when we see that e Est 3. 7. Haman who cast a lot from day to day from moneth to moneth beginning at the first vnto the last to finde out which might be the luckyest dayes to roote out the Iewes found them to be most f Est 9. 1. c. dolefull dayes to him and his which by lot were perswaded to be most fortunate on the contrary side the same dayes so ioyfull to the Iewes that they might say these are the dayes which the Lord hath made we will râ—ioyce and be glad in them and therefore they kept the very same daies festiuall they and their seed through many generations and indeed a man can no sooner finde out any thing vnknowne by lot by combat then he can Iudge of soundes by taste and therefore those Countryes which in the times of vnciuill ignorance tollerated a tryall by battaile doe now dislike it and therefore haue repealed those lawes which did allow it euen at this day the barbarous Turkes burne single combattants in the side with hotte coales of fire I will not here spend time to answere those which thinke it a staine to their credit and a disgrace to their name if they shall not answere those which haue sent them the length of their swords and from whom they haue receiued proude challenges onely this I say men of great valure haue reiected challenges which haue proceeded from them who haue had more heart then braine more head then wit without any blemish to their reputation but say that some will count thee a coward yet non quid alij sed quid tu de te feare not so much shame as sinne loue good name but yet as an hand-maide of vertue woe and court common fame no further then it followeth vpon honest courses and thinke thy selfe but base if thou shouldest depend on vulgar breath neuer hazarde thy life for thy name neuer kill an other man to be accounted a gallant man of thy hands this name shall not so much delight thee as thy conscience shall gall thee memory afflict thee repentance vexe thee perplexity torment thee when the deed done thou shalt see thy selfe cited before Gods iudgement seate euery houre when thy heart knowing the bitternesse of thy soule shall tell thee that thou hast neglected thy soule endangered thy body hurt thy children brought a blemish to thy posterity which in the next generation shall not be put out Indeed we read of spirituall Duels for in the g Mat. 4. 3. Scriptures we haue the Prince of peace and Prince of this world combating a 1 Sam. 1â— 41. together the Lyon of the Tribe of Iudah is encountred as Dauid with the Giant by the roaring Lyon that seeketh to deuoure vs. Againe wee haue the b Mat. 15. 22. Cananitish woman wrastling with Christ as c Gen. 32. 24. Iacob with the Angell and fastening vpon him with her prayers as the Shunamite vpon Elisha with her d 2 Kin. 4. 27 hands In the first Christ did vanquish and make the diuell auoide by casting in his face scriptum est In the second he is ouercome for with excellent wrestlings the Cananite wresled with Christ and got the vpperhand euery good Christian must fight those fights and therefore for the first the Church of God is called Militant In Baptisme we receiue our prest money and in the e Eph. 6. 11 Ephesians there is a proclamation ad arma neither doth a crowne remaine to any at the last but to such as first can say with Paul f 2 Tim. 4. 7 I haue fought a good fight he is lured to the crowne that is allured to the combat and therefore the holy Ghost setting out the compleat armour of a Christian doth not mention a backe Curete c to shew he should neuer flye and turne his backe vpon his enemy but be like Androclid whom when a souldier did deride him because being lame he went vnto the warre answered merrily he came to fight and not to run away For the second we must wrastle and combat with God by our prayers and not leaue till we ouercome him who is inuincible if we want any thing leaue him not our importunâ—ty cannot be too great our impatience cannot offend his patience beate vpon him still like the g Mat. 15. 23. 24. Cananite who stands to it though she had many repulses though Christ first neglects her then denies her then reprocheth her be like the a widdow a Luc. 18. 5 who will not leaue the vniust Iudge though at first he lend her but a dease eare be like the blindman who made the Sunne of righteousnes b Ios 10. 13 which stayed that Sun in the dayes of Ioshua which reioyceth as a Gyant to run his course c Lu. 18. 40 to stand still till his sight was restored If we indure punishment his anger is a speare leaue him not till our prayers breake it in peeces his iudgement is a sword leaue him not till wee make him put vp his sword into his sheath praiers haue power with God and are of such force that when he intends to punish a nation d Ier. 11. 14 he forbids his Prophets to pray lest he should alter his minde and so be ouercome these are the combats commanded commended by God as for other duels vnder what habit soeuer they may be shrouded and what glasse soeuer may be set vpon them if their vizors be taken off they will appeare to be flat against this statute not that a man in defence of himselfe when he can giue no further ground may with an vnwilling willingnes smite with the sword for now necessity doth bind him to strike and he seeks not so much an others death as the safegarde of his owne life Neither doth this Commandement shorten the Magistrates arme for e Rom. 13. 4 he beares not the sword inuaine and when f Ioh. 18. 11 priuate men must put vp their swords into their sheathes he must vn sheath his sword as the
so had no creature beside and therefore man should exceed all other creatures in the loue of his make and therefore Darius aforesaid when Alexander the great had ouercome him yet shewed himselfe stoute and inuincible till he vnderstood his wife was taken prisoner at hearing whereof his heart did melt his knees did smite together sorrow was in all his loynes being more grieued for her imprisonment then losse of his owne liberty victory credit and estimation Againe concerning the woman shee was taken out of the side of man neere the heart when she was first made and when shee is married there is a ring put by her husband on the fourth finger of her left hand where there is a veine which goes to the heart to teach their to loue him from the heart The Chronicle stores vs with a cluster of many singular examples of this loue some for loue to her husbands haue been content to hazard their estate as Some haue been content to leaue their Countrey when Lâ—ntulus Crustelio was banished into Sicily Sulpicia followed Gen. 12. her husband like Sarah for when Abraham by Gods commandement left his Countrey shee without commandement left her Countrey also as if shee should say to her husband as Ruth to Naomi whither thou goest I will gâ—â— and where thou dwellest Ruth 1. 16. 17. I will dwell where thou diest I will die and there will I bee buried the Lord doe so to mee and more also if ought but death depart thee and mee Some haue been content to loose their goods to loose their good name to loose their liues When Guelfus and other Noble men with their wiues were taken prisoners after a siege in the Castle of Winsberg the women hauing leaue to goe away and carry with them whatsoeuer they could beare on their shoulders they leauing all other things tooke vp their husbands and away they went A woman as we read in the Acts and Monuments defamed herselfe to deliuer her innocent husband it was Calaway a Gold-smith in London who should haue been cast away had it not been for his wife for he being indited of a crime which was death by the law and might not haue the benefit of his clergy because hee had married a widow for the law was that Bigamus might not haue his booke and he was accounted bigamus who had been twise married himselfe or else had married a woman whose former husband was dead his wife came forth before the Iudges and deposed that shee neuer was married to him that was accounted her first husband but liued in adultery with him When Nero condemned Seneca to dye he gaue him leaue to chuse what death he would dye whereupon he caused his veines to be opened in a Bath his wife Paulina of her owne accorde did the like choosing rather to dye with him then liue without him I cannot omit one example of an English Queene and that is Eleonor wife to King Edward the first for when he going to the holy Land was wounded by a Morian with a sword so enuenomed that art and medecine could not cure him this good louing wife with her owne mouth did day by day sucke and drawe out the venemous humour and without hurting herselfe helped her husband cured and closed his wound in remembrance of whose great affection King Edward did build her many monuments A second breach of this law and branch to bee cut off is Fornication which though it be not so great sinne as Adultery as I haue already proued yet flye Fornication for these 1 Cor. 6. 18 things are common to both these sinnes a diseased body a damned soule a poore purse a shamefull name a wronging of posterity and of the party with whom the folly is committed For the first these finne against their owne bodies wasting their strength in pleasure as the flame consumeth the candle and therefore are like Sparrowes which Aristotle saith doe therefore liue but a short time because of their common copulation they procure to themselues such infectious diseases as will hasten their death and such as will sticke by them when their best friends giue them ouer Concerning their soules Saint Paul excludeth them from 1 Cor. 9. 6 the Kingdome of heauen as he will haue them separated from 1 Cor. 5. 9 11. 13. the company of men vpon earth Concerning their estate pouerty commeth vpon them as one that trauaileth by the way and necessity like an armed man this sinne is purgatory to the purse though it be paradise to the desires Danae doth then like Iupiter when he comes vnto her in the forme of a showre of golden rayne and therefore the Poet saith Nuda Venus picta est nudi pinguntur amores Nam quos nuda capit nudos dimittat oportet How soone had the prodigall childe consumed his portion Luc. 15. 14 when once he light among harlots but you will say this sinne may bring a meane man to pouerty and a poore man to beggery but great ones may wallow in this sinne and yet their estate neuer be empaired nay women are like enough to gaine by the trade for they be receiuers with e Mat. 26. 15. Iudas they are at their Quantum dabis as if their louers bring any thing they are welcome if any of them say with Peter g Act. 3. 6. Siluer and f Gen 38. 16. gold haue I none ibit for as there is no entertainement for him f Thamar the string of their hearts reach to the pulse of their hands and must be rubbed with gold Concerning Name men haue a care of their credit and would haue a good reputation among men next to the approbation of God and the testimony of a good conscience for if a mans name be once tainted with iust reproch postea nullus erit but is like a garment which once rent is like to be torne on euery nayle now he that committeth adultery with a woman looseth his name a bad report is his portion while he liueth a bad heyre when he is dead and such a one as shall outline all his posterity his reproach shall neuer be put away and â—ro 6. 33. it were well if onely he himselfe did pay for it but this is not all but euen the children vnlawfully begotten doe feele the smart of it for first the staine remaineth to them and bastardy is their blemish then which what can be a greater and therefore when the holy Ghost would brande the Israelites with a marke of greatest reproch he cals them the seede of Esa 51. 3. the Adulterer and of the whore Againe parents are not so carefull of the good education of such children their birth is not so base but their bringing vp is as base as their birth such fathers care not though with the Israelites they offer such sonnes and daughters vnto diuels they haue no care to correct them they care not though they haue their swinge though
his gifts and lookes for increase and we must pay it he is nâ—uer needy yet delighteth to gaine neuâ—r couetous yet he demandeth vsury and Bornardine thought a man might let his money to vse without offerce but it was when he let it out to such as were neuer able to returne the principall as for other vsurers one saith they are the very vermine of the earth whom God neuer made but when the floud ceased they rose vp a other vâ—rmine of the slâ—me of the earth and euer since held by intrusion But what saith the vsurer the law of the land will allow ten of the hundred therefore you doe not well to inueigh against it first concerning the argument the law of the Lord not of the lande must be the square of our liues else are wee like the Iewes who when they would crucifie Christ said c Ioh. 19. 7 Wee haue a law and by our law hee ought to die Now concerning the Proposition the law is wronged for it alloweth not ten for lone of an hundred but punisheth him which extorteth more neither shal a man by law recouer ten if he put it in suite but forfet his principall if he compound for more then ten Another saith I may let or lend other things and take rent or haue for the lone and why not for my money the reason is not alike for other things are the worse for wearing not the money as good current money must bee returned as was let out Againe though a man let out other things yet is he Lord of them still so is not the of his money after that he hath parted with it againe other things yeeld a commodity of their owne nature so doth not money the labour and trauaile of him which borrowes it brings in all the profit Lastly if a man let other things the borrower doth not beare the losse if they miscarry except it be by his default as for example the sea makes a rupture into a peece of ground the lessor who owes the ground shall beare the losse the lessee who rents the ground shall not be constrained to it A man lets a Horse which falleth sicke and dieth if the owner knowes there was no fault in the borrower the borrower d Ex. 22. 15 shal not make it good for it was an hired thing and went for his hire but let money miscarry any way he that lends it will looke it should be repaide An other saith it is lawfull to giue vse ergo to take it rhis Argument is as weake as the rest A true man may deliuer his purse as many times he doth to saue his life or preuent a further mischiefe this doth not proue it lawfull for a theefe to demande or to take his purse A man may suffer wrong is it therefore lawfull to doe wrong Saint Paul commands the â— 1 Cor. 6. 7 8. one and condemnes the other doe not therefore let money sell not time for price make not a gaine of vncharitable charity free not a man from one band and wrappe him in many 1. be not worse then a Iew one Iew will not take vse of another be not like b Iosephs brethren who comforted their d Gen. 37. 35. father yet caused his woe nor the Iuy which killeth by culling nor the Aspe which with his sting casteth a man into a pleasant sweet sleepe but disperseth his venemous infection into euery member of the body to the losse of life bee not a legall theefe doe not breede money of money assoone as it hath any being set it not to beget more like the hare which while shee brings vp one bringes forth an other and conceiueth an other young after her first conception lay not this heauy burden vpon thy brethren much lesse looke for a secret gratuity besides the maine interest vsury is a trade too easie to be honest the bane of charity and very death of life and therefore as other Nations did punish this sinne some with Zachees restitution as the Romaines some with banishment as the Lacedemonians some with burning bands as the Athenians so God mentioning the cruelty of Ierusalem in taking e Ez. 22. 12 13. vsury and the increase like a man in a rage imites his hands together that they may be sure hee will bee auenged of it There are other Takers which Iob ranketh among theeues and of these he sets those in the forewarde which take away a mans land not onely such as doe this vnder colour of law as d â— Ki. 21. 16 Ahab tooke away Naboths vineyard but such as by displacing boundes incroach one vpon anothers ground ome saith he f Iob 24. 2. remoue the landmarkes that rob the flockes and feede thereof God who set bounds to the Sea appointed boundes betwixt land and land what a care God had of vpright dealing herein we see by the curse vpon them which would set in or out the bounde at their pleasure f Cursed bee hee that remoueth his neighbours marke what a care man had hereof we see g Deu. 27. 17. by the lawes and constitutions made for this purpose for not onely the Canon law taketh order for perambulations but there is a writ in England de perambulatione facienda Euen among the heathen there was an Idoll or god Terminus whom they supposed to haue the preeminence ouer boundes of lands to him they dedicated a Temple which alwaies had a hole in the roofe to shew the bounds of land should not bee couered or hid and besides this they were wont as Siculus Flaccus saith to put vnder bounds either ashes or coales or potsheards or broken glasses or burnt bones or lime or plaister and therefore Mr. Cambden in his Britannia is of this minde that a certaine little hill or barrow neere Lilborre in Northhamptonshire was some bound for that when men digged into it vpon a conceit to finde great riches in stead of gold they found coales exijt ridiculus mus and he is rather induced to be of this opinion for that Saint Augustine writing of coales saith Nonne miranda res est c. is it not a strange thing that coales which are so weake that they are broken with the least stroake and crushed in peeces if you doe but treade vpon them should nothwithstanding neuer be worne out in any age which was the cause that they which set vp bounds were wont to put coales vnder them for if a troublesome fellow saith Saint Augustine should rise vp in succeeding ages and standing in contention should say that the bound set vp were not the true bound he might be conuinced hereby when by digging they found coales vnder it that we run not into this fault we must remember the Prouerbes Feede within thy teather cut within thy leather There are others who breake this Commandement by taking pledges when cruell couetous misers will take for pledges those things with which poore men get their liuing or which they cannot
the righteous The two wicked men that witnessed against Naboth in the presence of i Kin 21. 13 the people saying Naboth did blaspheme God and the King they were the men that cast him for vpon their false accusation hee was stoned to death God to restraine this sinne would haue those to execute the punishment which did bring the accusation for many mens tongues are a two â—dged sword and some will wound him with their words whom they dare not touch with their fingers and therefore if any did accuse any man of such or such a crime the law did bid them take heed what they did for if their tongues did cast any man their hands should execute the punishment If they cahrged any man with Idolatry because the Idolater must be put to death k Deu. 17. 7 their hands shall be first vpon him to kill him and then the hands of all the people l Ioh 8. 7. If they accused any of adultery they like the accusers in â— the Gospell should throw the first stone 2. The punishment which the law of God inflicted on this sinne is sufficient to restraine it for hee which did falsely accuse another of any crime should indure the punishment m Deu. 19. 19. which the other should haue incurred if hee had been found guilty as if hee accused any of adultery if the party accused could bee proued cleere the accuser because adultery was death by the law should dye himselfe which iudgement wee see executed vpon the two Elders in the Story of Susanna God will not suffer this sinne to goe vnpunished and therefore though Haman who oppressed the innocent n Est 3. 8. â— Iewes with false accusations and lies that they might bee rooted out and destroied was not for those vniust and slanderous speaches put to death yet was hee oppressed himselfe and falsely accused of a fact which deserueth the Gibbet for his intent was not to force the Queene when hee fell downe at her beds feet or couch whereon shee sate but to make supplication for his life when he saw the mischiefe was towards him howbeit the King taking and making the matter worse then hee meant it will hee saith the King o Est 7. 8. force the Queene also before mee in the house marry hange him so they couered Hamans face and hanged him on the tree that he had praepared for Mordecai 3 Whereas a man may deale against his neighbour two manner of wayes either by way of denuntiation and telling him of his fault and in this case one man is sufficient p Mat. 18. 15. 16. if thy brother trespasse against thee goe and tell him his fault betweene thee and him or else by way of accusation and in this case there must be two at the least neither should one q Deu 17. 6 witnes be sufficient to condemne a man or rise against r Deu. 19. 15. him for any trespasse or for any sinne or for any fâ—ult he offended in but two or three should concurre together thaâ— euery one might be circumspect what testimony he gaue least any one should be found a false witnes if as at the passion of Christ the witnesses agreed not together let not therefore theÌ„ which are produced as witnesses in any kinde of trialls by periury sinne against God in dispising his presence sinne against man by taking away his life his goods or good name sinne against the Iury by leading them into by pathes out of the Kings high way nor sinne against the Iudge in deluding him with falsehood and lyes but without hope of gaine or feare of punishment without fauour on the right hand or malice on the left hand let euery one speake the truth from his heart sell not the truth like Iudas deride not the truth like the theefe on the left hand testifie not against it as the Iewes at the passion of Christ neither conceale it as did the keepers of the Sepulcher being corrupted with money but speake the truth and nothing but the truth refraining thy tongue from euill and thy lippes that they speake noe guile That Lawyer who pleades a bad cause and knowes it to be a had cause is the second person who runnes into the publicke breach of this Commandement neither is there any great odâ—es betwixt doing of a wrong and maintaining it and therefore the Scripture condemneth as well s him that shall put his hand with the Ex. 23. 1. wicked as him that shall giue a false report The Lawyer should be a true glasse and by him should iudge and Iury see the truth of the cause as it is but if with his smooth tongue and good vtterance he makes falsehood haue â—ore shew of truth then truth it selfe hee is a Christall glasse which howsoeuer il fauoured â— man be will shew a faire face I speake in the honour of good pleading where by meere Narrations men vnfolde the equitie of the cause when truth stripping her selfe naked comes to the barre this is a thing most honorable but false glasses and glosses varnishing and garnishing false bodyes and counterfeit colours are staynes and blemishes I speake not against plausible speach let men martiall their wordes the sooner to ouerthrow a badde cause and to win the truth but let not a rotten cottage be well hanged let a faire body haue a well fashioned garment smooth thy selfe at Tullies glasse speake not onely scripta but sculpta make not a good cause harâ—h to the hearers by slubbering it vp in rude careles wordes but neuer set a good coate on a mishapen body neuer garnish a ragged house with faire paintings if the cause be bad let not thy speach be full of florishes like the first letter of a Patent to better it seeke not to leade Iudge or Iurors out of the way with a golden chayne which comes from thy tongue to their eares let thy eloquence Rhethoricke and Art of perswading serue onely for Clyents of truth Againe the Iurors publickely breake this law when they being corrupted shall giue vp a false Verdict when they doe not enquire diligently of the fact and truely relate to the Iudges what they finde that they may doe Iustice and Iudgement Iudices n. apud noâ— iuris solum non facti sunt iudices Iudges with vs doe not so much enquire of the faâ— whether such a thing were done as set downe the law what the fact deserueth if it were done to refraine this sinne euen the law of our land doth punish it with great seueritie for if but one Iurour in any inquest shall take money of one party or the other to giue his verdict there lyes a Writ against him called Dâ—cies tantum and he shall pay ten times as much as he receiued but if a false verdict giuen by twelue men be found the 12. men be attaint their iudgement shall be this their Medowes shall be ared vp their houses broken downe their Woods turned vp and
all their Lands and Teâ—ements forfaited to the King Lastly Iudges they must heare and consider and then after giue sentence because they represent Gods owne person Be wise now therefore O yee Kinges be learned yee that are Iudges of the earth let your skill in discerning be answerable to your power in commanding put on iustice let it couer you let iudgment be your robe and crowne though the matâ—er be knowne yet let the party offending come to his answere that other may hearâ— anâ— feare t Dâ—â— â—â— 21. Ioshua examines Achan will haue him confesse that which he knoweth already if the matter be doubtfull commandement of God is u Deu. 13. 14. thou shalt seeke and make search and enquire diligently this was Iobs practise x Iob. 29. 16. when I knew not the cause I sought it out diligently God the Iudge of all the world would teach particular Iudges of seuerall circuits to prefer consideration before conclusion when he saith a Gen. 18. 21. I will goe downe and see In the law if a man were suspected to haue the Leprosie he should be shâ—t b Leu. 13. 4. vp seuen dayes and the Priest shoâ—ld view him againe and againe before he gaue iudgement a lucky traueler sets not forth while it is yet darke but stayes till the day Starre appeares c Ecc. 18. 18. get thee righteousnes saith the sonne of Sirach before thou come to iudgement learne before thou speake giue not a certaine sentence in a doubtfull matter d Cor. 4. 5. iudge nothing before the time before the time either collatae potestatis or cognitae veritatis say one man doth accuse yet the matter may be doubtfull Pâ—tiphar cannot be excused who vpon the accusation of his wife cast Ioseph his true and faithfull seruant into prison nor yet Assuerus who decreed against the Iewes vpon the accusation of wicked Haman say many doe accuse yet thou shalt not e Ex. 23. 2. agree in a controuersie to decline after many and ouerthrow the truth Elihues anger was kindled against Iobs three friendes f Iob 3â— â— 11. 12. Eliphaz Bildad and Zophar because they could not finde an answere and yet condemned Iob Behold saith he I did waite vpon your wordes and harkened to your knowledge whiles you sought out reasons yea when I had considered you loe there wâ—s none of you that reproued Iob nor answered his wordes As Elihu is to be commended in this that he heard all parties as g Kin. 3. 16. Salomon did the two harlots and then blamed the accusers who would condemne a man yet could not answere him so Pilate is to be condemned who did not oppose himselfe against the accusers of Christ but to please the people condemned the innocent for though he sought meanes to deliuer Christ first by comparing him with Barrabas secondly by delaying the sentence thirdly by pronouncing him guiltles what h Maâ— 15. 12. 14. euil hath he done â— yet because the high Priests accused him the Elders did witnes many things against him the people cryed out for iudgement he forgot to put on righteousnes on the right hand or on the left in that against his owne conscience he loosed the wicked and condemned the innocent Sometime there is no euidence yet many times the party but suspected is guiltie in this case wise Salomon found out the truth by making shew of diuiding the liuing childe I read of a Iudge who hauing sundry persons conuented before him among whom it was well knowne that one must needs be guiltie of a murder that was committed and yet no sufficient proofe to conuince any one laid his hand on euery ones heart and at last found him guilty whose heart did butte and pant more then the rest for an accusing conscience did worke some distemper within him I know this is no sufficient argument to condemne any man except it be a meanes to wring from him his owne confession yet is it as strong to argue a man guilty as that in Tully to proue the two young men guiltlesse of a murder committed in their chamber because they were found quietly asleepe in the morning Now as a man may be guilty though there be no sufficient proofe to conuince him so he may be guiltlesse though euidence be brought against him false witnesses may rise vp and lay to his charge things that he knowes not and therefore let Iudges heare and consider and giue sentence let them try the spirits of accusers whither they be of God or no happily they may be of the same spirit that Iames and Iohn were who desired vengeance Luc. 9. 54. Mat. 26. 59. and with the high Priests may rather seeke to put a man to death then desire to haue the truth knowne let them be like the Grecians who when they were vâ—ged to giue ouer-hasty sentence answered Patres suos apud Antipodes solem non vidisse sed semper expectasse donec ipsis oriretur Life is pretious 1 Kin. 2. 18. c. all that a man hath will he giue for his life pull not men from it with violence as Ioab from the hornes of the Altar cut not off the limmes except it bee well knowne they lacke bloud and life as you would say and also hurt other parts of the body Againe this Commandement is broken by speach priuatly when men either shall report the truth to a bad end as those malicious flatterers which come and accuse the Iewes of ingratitude and rebellion or else report that which is false Dan. 3. â—â— either of themselues when they shall too much magnifie themselues and boast of those gifts they haue not or on the other side too much vilifie themselues and extenuate the gifts they haue or of others when they shall disgrace worth by malice or smoothe and grace vnworthinesse by flattery â—â—uour or affection the Prophet Esay dislikes both sorts as well Esa 5. 20. condemning those which speake euill of good as those which speake good of euill the first sort which speake euill of good are lyers and slaunderers of which some robbe the renowne of the dead other sacke the good name of the liuing the first sort are like Hyenae that woluish beast which vntombes the bodies of the dead that he may feed himselfe with putrified flesh like the dogs not the dogs which did liâ—ke the sores of Lazarus to heale them but the dogs which did eat Iezabel by Luc. 16. 21. 1 King 9. 35. the walls of Israell and like the Rauen who hauing found the dead carkasse doth rest vpon it such a one gaue occasion of the prouerbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they are the scourge of the dead while they delight to die their tongues in their bloud on the one side therefore paint not the Sepulchre of the deceased with false colours in giuing him that tribute which belongs not vnto him make him not white as snow that was as blacke