for as it is true that Kings are Gods so is it as true that God is a King The Lord raigneth Psalm 97. and Omne sub regno grauiore regnum est All kingdomes are but prouinces and Kings but deputies to doe iustice for God and without iustice Quid sunt regna nisi magna latrocinia saith Austin when Kings shall doe what they list and shake of their subiection to God what are Kings but great theeues as great theeues in their kind are said to be little kings yea and this is sure that the errours and irregularities of great men are extended and grow great by their greatnesse for it is an abomination to Kings to commit wickednesse Prou. 16. That which is but sinne in another man is abomination in a King and why so first because Kings in sinning abuse the sword of God which was put into their hands to cut downe sinne secondly because they defile the very place the seate of God which is maintained by iustice and ouerthrowne by sin and thirdly because their actions being for the most part exemplare they seduce the people of God and doe more hurt by their ill example then by their owne sin And be it true that Kings heere may sinne without impunity as being subiect to no correction of man but onely to the hand of God yet they are subiect to God and must account to him for the keeping of his Commandments and must fall into his hands at last where to fall as the Apostle saith it is a fearefull thing Hebr. 10.31 And in the meane time they shall be sure of this that though they scape open outcry yet here shall resound from euery hill and euery wall a murmure of ill fame which shal answere instantly as Ecchoes to their euill yet they know not whence For though no man dare say To a King thou art wicked or to Princes ye are vngodly Iob 34. yet reeds will whisper and owles will crie in the night and the sonnes of darkenesse will raile and write in corners then what they thinke they haue done in secret as Dauid is adulterie it shall bee painted like Belshazzars destiny vpon the walles And which is yet a more singular punishment vpon the faults of Kings and Princes that whereas while they liue they finde flatterers which sooth them in their sinne and tell them they doe well when they doe exceeding ill yet when they are once dead and gone then euery Chronicler which passeth ouer the faults of meaner men yet when hee comes to write of Kings he reporteth freely how one was prodigall another was couetous one was an adulterer another a coward and basely timorous and writes it vp as boldly as euery yeere Prognosticators write the ecclipses of the Sunne and the Moone so as where meaner men do oft amisse and carrie it away in silence with them yet their offences shall stand vpon record that if a man would not forbeare to breake the Commandements of a conscience to God yet feare of perpetuall infamie should bee a bridle to him But what is the conclusion of all Dauid concludeth with reward Keepe my Commandements and thou shalt liue The greatest blessing which the father can giue the greatest reward which the sonne can receiue And indeed to what doe parents beget their children but to liue to liue by vnion of soule and body which is by naturall generation but chiefly to liue by vnion of the soule with God which is by spirituall regeneration in which sense S. Paul said to the Corinthians J haue begotten you in Christ 1. Cor. 4. and what doe parents for their children if they doe not this The life which is by nature it is conceiued in sinne borne in sinne and proceedes in sinne and the reward of sinne is death so nature promiseth life to her children and performeth death Is not this a mockery to mankinde and are not naturall fathers meere mockers to their children if they bee no more then meerely naturall But keepe my Commandements and thou shalt liue saith the law And this is life eternall that they know thee and him whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ Ioh. 17.3 the life of the Gospell and thus is life proposed to all But to Dauid and to Salomon that is to the King and to the Kings sonne it was a popular and peculiar acclamation as they passed by the streets Viuat Rex God saue the King or life bee to the King Now vnder life which is the ground of all our good the Iewes doe commonly wish and pray for all other happinesse health and prosperity And wee may heere first vnderstand the life that is by nature Keepe my Commandements and liue that is liue heere for though the naturall life bee not the height of our hope yet the honour of a King dependeth much vpon the present life for while hee liues sinne is punisht religion is promoted Gods Church is built and God himselfe is glorified by him but when hee hath serued his time these seruices also are ended with him Againe while hee liues euery man praises him and admires and adores him and hee is the light of Israel and my Lord the King is as an Angell of God but when he is once dead his honour oft dies with him and his light put out in darkenes so Kings are Kings but for terme of life that as this Salomon said Jt is better to bee a liue dog then a dead Lion Eccles 9.4 Or it may be that life is promised heere respectiuely against hazard of death not that Salomon should not die but that hee should not die a violent death Amongst the Kings of Israel and ludah how many perisht some by conspiracie at home and some by the sword of the enemie And S. Austin obserueth that of all the Romane Kings two onely that is Numa Pompilius and Ancus Martius came to their graues in peace yea Kings are maliced whether they doe well or doe ill if not for their vices yet for their places for enuie shoots alwaies at the fairest marke especially where a quarrell growes for right of a kingdome who knoweth not that such trials are made with hazard of life But Thou thou shalt liue saith Dauid to Salomon and Salomon found it true for when Adonijah his elder brother rose vp to vsurpe the kingdome the vsurper soone miscaried but Salomon escaped and raigned and liued and so shall it bee with all them which extend their authority to maintaine the honour of God They shall flourish but their enemies shall perish Moses shall march through the sea as on the land when Pharaoh and his host shal sinke to the bottome as a stone and as our eyes haue seene the great Armadoes and inuincible fleets part flying home with shame and part or them drowned in the depth of the sea so let your heart hold fast the words c. and your Highnesse shall liue and feele the power of God in your preseruation when all Machiuellian Italian
quakes to looke vpon the danger so wee when wee looke backe to our birth and thinke on the dangers in it onely we can say with Dauid Thou O God and not our selues thou art he that tooke me out of my mothers wombe Psal 22. When we are borne what then we fall if not hand hold vs to the feete of her that bare vs that is wee fall from the wombe to the ground from one earth to another So naturally at the first doe wee finde the way to o r last home euen as God said to Adam at the first Out of earth wast thou taken and to earth thou shalt returne Gen. 3. And oh that wee might see or could we but remember with what pompe and glory wee are borne into the world Naked as wormes crawling like snakes that there is not amongst the creatures so weake and helplesse a creature as man the mother a misery to thinke the mother that hath newly borne vs lieth by vs indeed but halfe slaine by our birth and least able to helpe vs so we are borne like Beniamin with hazard of her life that gaue vs life and we seeme halfe murtherers so soone as we are borne when wee are taken vp what then we fall a crying as either repenting of our change or wishing our selues vnborne againe or as if we did foresee the sequell of the text the troubles which ensue In the middest of this our moaning wee are as Ezechiel speakes chap. 16. of his prophecy we are washt and bathed and swadled in clouts No doubt goodly gallants and great cause to bee proud if wee thought of our selues in our first pollution when wee are thus swadle and prankt vp like puppets a dainty lump of liuing earth What pleasure feele wee nay what feele we what sense or feeling haue we saue now and then of weakenesse and sicknesse the pangs and smart of the parents sinne We are then brought to the mother to looke vpon and she as a theefe when he is pardoned lookes backe to the gallowes or to the halter that had like to hangd him so lookes shee on her son on her sonne as on her death if God in great mercy had not preuented it when the mother hath lookt and kist we are brought to the father too and to looke vpon too and while the father looks euery one cries out Behold the father looke vpon the child see see and behold how like they looke while indeede they looke more like then they should and it were well for the child if it were not so father-like or mother-like as it is and what get both father and mother by looking but to looke as Salomon saith of the rich man and his money Eccles 5. VVhat good comes to the owners thereof but the beholding of it with their eyes So looke the carefull parents on a wofull child sometime laughing with hope of that it may be sometime distressed with feare of that it may bee watching in the day wakeing in the night somtime merrie somtime sorrie sometime angrie that it were not possible for them to passe through so much patience if God had not infused animpregnable affectiō of loue to ouercome it thus are we borne in teares and sorrow to our selues in perill and sorrow to her that beares vs in nakednes and shame to all that looke vpon vs here is nothing yet to boast on But is our case amended or is our birth magnified by her that bare vs Man that is borne of what of a woman as much as to say like nest like bird like mother like child but why not as well Man begot of a man as Man borne of a woman perhaps because the woman is the weaker vessell and the meaning chiefly was to abase man in his owne might or perhaps because sinne was first inuested in the woman and since wee stand so much vpon our antiquity wee are only sinners by antiquity rebels by prescription and rebellion rooted in our first blood sinners by the father but first by the mother as by the surer side or perhaps it is because sinne hath more vniuersally preuailed ouer women Eccles 7. for Salomon counting a thousand women one by one by that account to finde one good one found one good man indeed but that man was Christ but not one good woman among them all And whether by the woman wee vnderstand the first woman the mother of mankinde or else the mother of euery seuerall man it comes all to one end Iob 25. for how can hee bee cleane saith Bildad which is borne of a woman If wee looke to Eue our great grandmother what haue we to pleade for her Adam was called Pater viuentium the father of al men liuing and Abraham was called Pater credentium the father of the faithfull or of all the beleeuing but Eue might as well bee called Mater peccantium the mother of all sinners and what receiue we by right of such a mother but blushing at her pride and feare of her confusion If wee looke backe to her that last bare vs the rocke whereout wee are hewen oh how little are wee amended by her for Jn iniquity was J borne saith Dauid and in sinne hath my mother conceiued me Psal 51. Sinne came from Eue A longe the date is so old as wee haue forgot how we came by it but the mother that last bare vs shee hath stampt it anew with her owne hands shee hath powred it out into vs more naturally then milke out of her paps yea euen as a poyson new tapt and fresh out of the vessel so by our grandmother wee haue sinne translated and giuen as at the second hand but by our mother wee haue sin reuiued and newly incarnate in vs and haue we not great cause then to be proud of her that bare vs euery man thinkes deepely what good hee hath receiued by his parents what inheritance what countenance what blood hee hath by them yea the very name of our ancestors seemeth precious to vs but yet no man considereth that all this is poysoned with sinne and that the whole summe of the good doth not counteruaile the least part of the euill which commeth by them You will say you were borne of a woman but what had you by her you receiued life by her true a temporall life but you receiued withall the reward of sinne eternall death and it were better neuer to be borne then to bee borne to such a death you sucked and receiued your foode from her so did you your poison too you receiued your wrapping your clothes and raiment by her so did you your nakednesse your shame and sinne too summe vp your gettings with your losse and see vpon the account what cleerely you haue gained therefore vainly said the Iewes wee haue Abraham to our father and idly say you you haue a princesse a Countesse or a Lady to your mother Sonnes of men in Scripture are neuer spoken of but with
and tongue and then this immortall honour dies and is as mortall as your selues But come we to the life of mankind the age of the world Indeed of all the rest that may seeme the longest but as to the longest day at last comes night so is the world bounded within the termes of Creation and dissolution it had a beginning though wee began not with it and it shall haue an end though wee liue not to see it and all time is short when it commeth to his end Wee are borne into the world as some come to a play yea rather as many come to a Sermon which came not to the beginning and happily stayed not the end yet had it both beginning and end and so hath the world to vs yea the world it selfe is but A sea of glasse Reuel 4. and glasse is no mettall of long endurance but a time shall come when the Almighty shal but blow vpon it and it shal breake in pieces and as Saint Peter saith it selfe and all therin shall be consumed with fire 2. Pet. Now if any man aske the causes of this short life sure it is that life and death are in the hands of God and haue their date and destinie set by him yet instrumentally this vanity and shortnesse of our daies proceedeth from our selues our life being not onely short in nature but also shortened by our selues Indeed wee are not made of the lasting mettals there is found in our mixture no ingredience of iron brasse or steele but wee are made of flesh which is as grasse and all the glory of it as the flower of grasse so soone it fades and wee are gone but as if nature of it selfe were not fraile enough wee post on to death by disorder of our life for sometime wrath and enuie fret gnawes vs that while we seek to kill other men we kill our selues sometime drunkennesse and gluttony consume and deuoure vs body and goods yea our very meats eate vp our strength as we our selues eate vp our meates and sometime incontinence and fleshly lusts doe wast and rot the bodies of men that as Martha said of Lazarus Lord hee stinkes Ioh. 1 â— for hee hath been foure daies dead so it may bee said of some that they stinke and putrifie halfe their daies yet they liue not halfe their daies And thus as Babylon made her selfe a lease of eternity A Lady sure for euer Esa 47.7 and did eate and drinke in the cups of the Temple and with her concubines euen to the night of their destruction Dan. 5. â— 30 So doe we glory in vanity and triumph in intemperance and do not only suffer mortality but also hasten it vpon vs by our sinne Now for the causes of this error How comes it to passe that our daies being so short and so few yet they seeme to vs to be so many much like to him who standing in his gallery takes a perspectiue glasse and looketh down into his garden there sees alleyes and walkes which seeme so many miles in length as they are scarce discerned at their length and yet when hee comes downe to walke those many seeming miles make but short turnes and are measured by a few paces Sure the causes of this errour in the computation of our life are chiefly two first for that wee neuer thinke how the time goes till wee see it bee gone but as the Sunne though it mooue most swiftly yet because we see not how it moues it seemeth to stand still so our daies though they passe away speedilie yet because wee marke them not in the passage they seeme to continue still therfore happie is that man which euery night can say to himselfe A day is gone a part is cut off so much lesse haue I left of a short and miserable life wee are in the world as Merchants in a ship who whether they stand or sit or lie or sleepe yet are carried on by the motion of the ship so we whether we eate or drinke or wake or sleepe yet grow on in age and wax old before wee bee aware and when our time is once gone then euerie man can say to himselfe oh how short is this life how soone is it gone and then it is all one to him who hath liued out his ful fourescore as to him who hath liued but foureteene onely this is the oddes as Saint Hierome saith Quod senior peccatis onustior decedat That the elder man and the longer liuer hath still more sinnes to answere to God The other cause of this errour is for that men consider the time onely in it selfe and not compared with eternity which the diuell himselfe is not so foolish to doe for the diuell knoweth saith Saint John that hee hath but a short time Reuel 12.12 A strange point of wisedome in the diuell and of follie in vs sixteene hundred yeeres agoe the diuell thought that hee had but a short time and we thinke a lease of three liues to bee a matter of eternitie Now what is the reason of this because we thinke of no other life then that which is present whereas the diuell hath an eye to the world to come the life that shall be in respect whereof a thousand yeers is as nothing yea what is ten thousand to eternity The world passeth away saith Saint John and the lusts thereof 1. Iohn 2.17 The world it selfe passeth the very frame of heauen and earth shall turne to vanity and therefore the lust of it that is whatsoeuer is desired admired or loued in it shall passe away with it and happie is hee that hath not perisht in these vaine desires Now as the perfection of wisedome is to draw good out of euill so shall we come at last to be immortall if we can make true vse of our mortality We see heere a short time limited and yet wee haue a long way to go euen as far as it is from earth to heauen and had wee not then need to pray to haue our life in some measure prolonged It is an old and a true saying Vita breuis ars longa wee haue a short time to liue and a long Art to learne euen the Art of repentance and a few daies wherein to learne it The basest Art hath full seuen yeeres the tithe or tenth part of our life allowed to learne it wherein the Master takes great paines to teach the Apprentice takes great pains to learne and yet happily after much instructing often beating early rising and late downe lying he proues a Non proficient too and are not we ashamed to thinke that where seuen yeeres are deuoted to a mechanicall craft or trade we of all our life time put together can scarce account of so many daies to learne Repentance which is of such necessity of so much difficulty and so much better or doe wee thinke repentance to bee but the worke of an houre faith but a fancy and all religion to bee of
no art or labour euen Paul himselfe who so many yeeres had laboured himselfe to God yet complaines and cries out as if hee had done nothing VVretched man that I am who shall deliuer mee from this body of death Rom. 7. and yet we who haue done nothing make our selues secure against sinne and Satan as if one houre were enough to conquer all vnto this had the righteous respect when they complained of the shortnesse of their liues and prayed to haue their daies prolonged not for that they feared to die or loued this fraile life for it selfe wherin they saw nothing but misery and vanity but because they feared lest death should preuent them before they were prepared as thinking all their daies too few to learne repentance in perfection Vnto this had S. Paul respect when he exhorted the Corinthians not to drowne themselues too deepe in the affaires of this life this I say because the time is short 1. Cor. 7. that they which haue wiues be as if they had none and they which buy as if they possessed not and they which vse the world as if they vsed it not and all this he exhorted because the time is short It is a wonder to see how men plant and build and buy and sell as if there were no other life but heere It is fearfull to consider how prodigall men are of the time and lose these golden daies which they ought to redeeme while in the meane time heauen flies away and hell hastens on them Sed sicut capillus de capite sic nec momentum peribit de tempore saith Bernard God is so mercifull to vs as to keep vs to a haire of our heads hee shall also bee so iust with vs as to presse our account to a moment of time misimployed by vs. The last point generall of the text is our miserable pilgrimage and endurance in the world we come in poorely we goe out quickly and while we continue wee continue carefully it is not short and sweet neither only short and swift but it is short and sharpe Full of trouble Some translate and carie it thus Satur ira Man short in daies full of wrath or anger which may be ment either passiuely by reason of the wrath of God vpon vs for our sinnes for as it is Psal 90. VVee are consumed by thine anger and by thy wrath we are troubled and what are all the plagues of this life but the execution of Gods wrath vpon vs for our sinnes or or else it may bee vnderstood more actiuely by reason of the troubles which man himselfe being a turbulent creature moueth in the world for wee rage at God himselfe when he doth but a little punish vs wee are still at warres and at law one with another and as Balaams Asse could tell the verie beasts are not free from our madnesse and crueltie and therefore Tremellius translateth it Satur commotione Man borne of a woman short in daies and full of commotion as if all mankind were in a tumult and vp in armes and so wee are indeed at warres with God Esa 9. and at warres with one another Ephraim against Manasses and Manasses against Ephraim and both against Judah Wee are not quiet in the wombe but as Jacob and Esau wee spurne and kicke at one another we are not borne into the world but with a cry and exclamation and when wee come into it we stamp and stare like Furies on the stage and with the King of Babylon wee make the earth to tremble Esa 14.16 and if there were no outward thing to trouble vs yet we haue a pitcht field in our selues still vexed and pained with our owne vnruly passions Looke into the seuerall sexes of men and women and see if either of them bee free from trouble Jn sorrow shalt thou bring firth in subiection shalt thou liue and thy husband shall rude oner thee saith God to the woman and then he turneth to the man Because thou hast eaten where J forbad thee Jn sorrow shalt thoa eate thy bread the earth is accursed thornes and thistles are multiplied c. He must labour in wearinesse both hee and shee must die at last and haue their fill of sorrowes in the meane time she to sorrow at home and in the house hee to sorrow abroad and in the furrowes of the field she to sorrow in bringing forth of children he to sorrow in bringing vp of children shee to sorrow in her subiection to him and hee to sorrow yea a great deale of sorrow in passing his time with her that lest they should lacke trouble they should bee a cause of mutual trouble to themselues and sorrow in their very comforts as Lot was plagued in Sodome which hee chose out for his pleasure Againe is there any time or age free from trouble surely none for in sorrow shalt thou eate thy bread saith God All the dates of thy life Gen. 3.17 Begin with childhood and can any misery or trouble bee there yes sure the things which are most necessary are miserable to a child the mastering and breaking of his will seemes oppression to him but the shaking of the rod is flat persecution light sorrowes you wil say in respect of the greater troubles which ensue It is true they are so yet a little trouble is great where there is neither reason to conceiue the necessity nor patience at all to beare it But then comes on youth headdy aduenturous voluptuous passionate and prodigall youth wherein al our actions and courses whether good or euill yet minister matter of vexation to vs For labour wee indeed our youth is the time of our labour yet our very labours spend vp our strength that had wee not a seuenth day to rest from the sorrowes of the sixt wee should faint and die Againe studie wee an easie trade an idle kind of life The world saith to vs Exod. 5. as Pharaoh to the Jsraelites Ye are too much idle yet Salomon said that Much reading was a wearinesse to the flesh Eccles 12. Againe resist we as young men ought to doe our euill lusts and desires 1. Ioh. 2.14 Oh how sweet are the lusts of youth how strong are the temptations and what a paine it is to resist the things which are pleasing to vs But play wee or follow wee our pleasures indeed that is the naturall trade of youth as Eccles 11.9 Reioyce O young man in thy youth c. yet are wee no way more vexed and plagued then by our pleasures for as a theefe robbes in feare and an adulterer though the dores bee fast lockt yet is afraid still so is there a checke of conscience which bites the most riotous in the midst of their riot Againe if our pleasure bee in prodigality our end must be beggery that sin being peculiarely a scourge to it selfe and many times before the Prodigall can spend vp all the prison the presse or the halter do spend vp him miserable is the
people lie vpon the King Rex non modò peccat sed peccare facit a King doth not onely sinne himselfe but also makes the people to sin either by sufferance as Aaron did or by example as Salomon did or by tyrannous compulsion as Jeroboam did of whom it is said seuenteene times in the bookes of the Kings that he sinned and made Jsrael to sin how then why then as when the people first began the making of the golden Calfe yet Aaron was first called in question about it Exod. 32.21 VVhy hast thou brought so great a sinne vpon the people so Kings Princes must account to God not onely for their owne sinnes but also for the sins of the people and were there no other trouble then this yet this very point of accounting to God is a troublesome and fearefull thing to thinke of Besides what art and great labour haue Kings in the very act of gouernment It is an art of all arts saith Gregory Nazianzen to gouerne man who is so wild a beast and vntamed of himselfe Exod. 18. Moses sat from morning to euening to heare and determine causes that Jethro pitied much to see him so wearie and so tired and it was truly said of Maximinus one of the Romane Emperours Quo maior fuero eo magis laborabo The greater I am the greater labours I see will stil befall and lie vpon me and the Lion which is king of the beasts is said to sleepe with his eyes open to shew that it is no sleepie life to be a king Besides what perturbations of feare are in the mindes of Kings more then of other men who may feare euery cup and euery bit and euery gift who feare their enemies and feare their friends because they know not their enemies from their friends for neither the habit be it neuer so religious nor behauiour of men be it neuer so humble can promise security to Princes witnesse the last but one of France Henry 3. slaine by a Frier Iacobine euen crouching and kneeling on his knee yea are not Kings more subiect to violent death then the common sort of men Of the Kings of Judah from Rehoboam down to Zedekiah there were in number twentie and six of them that is almost a third part slaine Againe of the Kings of Israel from Jeroboam downe to Oshea there were also in number twentie and tenne of them that is a iust halfe slaine Yea looke into our owne stories and our English Chronicles are all bloody from the Conquest downeward which is better known of three and twentie deceased Princes eight that is more then a third part slaine besides the Tragicall reports of France other countries Now sure it were a most fearefull thing amongst the common sort of men if one in euery three were subiect to violent death And whether shall a man turne but the higher still the more troublesome and more infortunate Oh therefore value nothing too high which death doth abolish dote not too much on death and troubles and golden misery Let not men set their hearts on that which cannot profit them or if it please a little yet it will not long stand by them If here wee seeke for peace it wil be answered as the Angels said of Christ Resurrexit non est hic Indeed it is often promised heere the world the flesh make promise of it and wee like false Prophets cry Peace peace and promise it to our selues but the true peace is gone vp with Christ and is not here Mat. 28. and Saint John was commanded to write it for assurance Write◠from hence forth blessed are the dead for they rest from their labours Reuel 14.13 they rest hence forth but they rest not here and therefore since wee haue no rest but sorrowes and warres and troubles here let vs not seeke our rest here lest if we spend our time in seeking where it is not wee faile to finde it where it is God of his mercy draw our mindes from the deceit of this vaine miserable and sinfull world and lift vp both our hearts vnto the hope and our endeauours vnto the pursuit of eternity euen for Iesus Christ his sake To whom with the father c. THE KINGS HIGH WAY TO IMmortalitie A SERMON PREACHED this present yeere Ann. Do. 1614. Ian. 16. TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTY Prince CHARLES at his house and Chapell of S. Iames. PRO. 4.3.4 For I was my fathers sonne Tender and deare in the sight of my mother When he taught me and said vnto me Let thy heart hold fast my words Keepe my Commandements and liue MOst renowned and excellent But that sorrowes make short times seeme long it is not long since at vnawares and not knowing what I did I made vnto your deceased and now immortall brother a Sermon of Mortality or of death It is now fallen out by Gods prouidence and which God himselfe being witnesse I did not thinke of when I chose the text that I must make vnto your Highnesse a Sermon of life but as I had then no special illumination or prophecy that death was so neare to him so haue I now no absolute promise of life to you but vpon the conditions heere annexed Let thy heart hold fast my words Keepe my Commandements and thou shalt lieu which are the words of Dauid the speech of a King and therefore of weight and moment and it is a speech made to Salomon the sonne of a King and therefore pertinent and it is a speech taken from the mouth of the King the father by the pen of the King his sonne and therefore not lost or let fall to the ground as good counsell oft times is but recorded as a thing for euer permanent And wee may distinguish in it two things which diuide it into two parts for first Salomon sheweth what tender loue his parents bare vnto him He was his fathers son Tender and deare in the sight of his mother and then hee sheweth next by what testimonie they expressed their loue vnto him They taught him and said vnto him Let thy heart hold fast c. For the first that Salomon was to his father thus and to his mother thus and thus it is a tale vndoubtedly true but how agreeth it with Salomons wisedome to tell it They say a chiefe point of wisedome is to keepe counsell especialiy to conceale the secrets of a King but most especially to keepe secret what Kings and Queenes doe in their chambers and among their children It may bee that Dauid loued Salomon exceeding much how then It may be likewise that his mother loued him exceedingly more and what of that perhaps when he was swadled in clouts and lapt vp in a mantle shee might take him in her armes and talke like a mother to him perhaps when he was able to goe vpon his feet yet shee might set him on her knee and dance him yea and it may bee too that when hee was able to