that Caesars haue And sooth to say wherin hath Iesus err'd Or not deseru'd such suffrance at thy hands Hath he not alwayes in his life preferr'd Disgrace and dole to rid thee out of bands Oh was not he the man the Lambe that dy'd To shew thee heauen in woe and not in pride He was Almightie to haue sau'd his head If he had pleas'd But for a president Of passiue Fortitude and Lamblihead He condiscended vnto woe and torment And did erect the Crosse a capitall Ensigne of honour and renowne to all And since what Saint did euer amount to blesse That hath not more or lesse been crucifi'd Either with selfe zeale-doome or by oppresse Of tyrannie by villaines hands inflicted The seed that must to flowery growth redound Must first lie dead and withered in the ground Besides oh what a monstrous thing it is To liue delitious vnder a thorney head Thy God to daigne to die for thy amisse And thou repine to be dishonored For Vertues sake Oh fond ingratitude So to permit thy Sence thy Soule delude If so the flesh the world the deuill could doe More spight vnto thy state then God can quayle Or that his grace could not transcend thy woe Be-cheering it with happie counteruayle Then might'st thou with a just repine detest To be by any fate of flesh opprest But God both can and will relieue his Plaintife That doth with just petitions inuoke him Selfe-louelesse and repinelesle at the griefe That from his soueraigne doome betides him The louing mothers teat is not so prone Vnto her Babe as Christ to his deere one So shew'd his Pellican-content to die To giue thee life the gore adowne his breast To wash away thy sin-impuritie His dolour was thy euerlasting rest His bitter wounds the euer open gates Of grace and glorie to thy rankest fates Loe he thy paines-appease true charter-warrant Of glorie after gall The bonnie bright Whose crimson rayes can faire propulse and daunt The dreadest Goblin of thy darkest night Be thou the man of duty to thy dole The rest let him alone for to controle Inshrine thy Patience in his Passion Thy Hope thy Constance in his after-boones To his entire irradiation Submit thy night-shades and decreased Moones He is the Sonne of Right and will appay All vertues anguor with a Hollie-day Behold his image yonder on the Crosse See how he droops and dies and damnes Reuenge Yeelding his whole humanity in grosse A pendular reproch on woodden henge Yea euen his Deitie he doth deject Vnto a seeming shadowed defect Be not a beast of desperation A moodie torment traitor to thy selfe T' is grosse conceipt and imperfection To ground thy Barke vpon thy owne shores shelfe Suffice it that extrinsecall aggriefe Abound sans that thou giue it home-reliefe Thinke that thy sinnes are greater then thy woe Thy worldly griefes but Graces happy rescue From greater helles that to thy sowle doe growe Or haply to enforce to manly vertue Thy youngling hestes of grace or to containe Thy present good from proouing after vaine Time and thy graue did first salute thy Nature Euen in her infancie and cradle-Rightes Inuiting it to dustie Deaths defeature And therewithall thy Fortunes fierce despights Death is the gulfe of all and then I say Thou art as good as Caesar in his clay Death is the drearie Dad and dust the Dame Of all flesh-frailtie woe or maiestie All sinkes to earth that surgeth from the same Nature and Fortune must together die Only faire Vertue skales eternitie Aboue Earths all-abating tyrannie Read in my front the ruine of my nature And therwithall perpend thy miseries I doe confesse I were a cursed creature Were not Gods grace aboue m'infirmities So thou in Faith to after-retribution Asswage thy woe and tribulation Die in thy Sauiours wounds and there an end There pricke the Period of thy moody wander To him thy woe and the reuenge commend As to thy soueraigne Liege and high commander And thinke no errour whispereth in thine eare For what I say is true and that I sweare So said the teares of zeale trill'd downe his cheeks Attesting truth vnto his Catechisme When loe eâ—t soons vnto the Crucifixe Crooching adowne he said Oh sacred Chrisme Oh sweet asswage of infelicitie Witnesse that what I say is veritie Say art not thou the image of our Lord The true Character of his sufferance Was he not crown'd deluded and abhord Misuail'd and scourg'd with vile mis-valiance Oh was not he the holie Paschall-lambe That di'd repinelesse for the sinnes of man Sweet Iesu giue me leaue to kisse thy figure With thankfull zeale to thy benignitie And let me pray thee by so great disfigure T' inspire this man of woe thy passiue-glorie That not all like a beast hee droop and die Heart-lesse and impious in his miserie Defend thy image from so black a blurre With thy in-shine Let not temptation foyle So much thy Passions price all like a Curre But as thou art a President of toyle To after-glorie so let thy grace fore-goe And faire accompanie this man of woe Without thy grace my speech is all but aire And barraine Marle it batteneth not the ground It is thy grace that foysoneth all affaire That holie grace that floweth from thy wound I speak in flesh inuested in my bryer There is no flame at all but from thy fire Make it appeare how good a God thou art And how thy woundes were not in vaine inflicted What Nature cannot doe let Grace impart To strengthen and inhearten the afflicted Shew that thy mercie is aboue the bound Of Fortunes topsie-turuie to confound Let not the fancies of a loftie stile And vaine mundanitie transport thy creature As though alonlie Fortunes lowre or smile Were soueraigne Glories gift and dread defeature As though thy power were worne out of date And could no longer signiorize our fate Disperse the terrors of his moodie night That he may see thy shone Hierusalem And in this holie Cittie Sions light Abide and faithfullie beleeue this Theame Happie they all that suffer for our Lord For he to such his heauen will affoord With that he kist the Crucifixe againe And with a strict imbrace therof he sounded His Ghost amounted vp to heauens domaine His corps lay trunke-like seeming dead confounded Whiles I meane while internallie infiered Did feele the woonders of Gods grace inspired Then gan I credit Catechrysius And hatefullie abhor my former mood Base Melancholie black and impious That so distrayd me from eternall good My heart exulted and in zeale I swore Now by our Lord I le be a beast no more I will no longer grudge at vertues toyle But gladly will be crucifi'd with Iesu No yron-fate shall heerafter foyle My constancie vnto the Christ-crosse rew I will accompt all dollour and mishap More deere then sweetest Lullaby in Fortunes lap No longer will I wander vp and downe The desart of Reuenge and dread Dispaire But heer will stint me against mis-fortunes frowne A
others woes Th' injurious Gallant in his Commick-braue I agonize with vnexspected bale Because he shall not thinke that in the graue Lies nought but impotence and deaths auaile I 'le shew him that the worme hath power to moue And none so lowe but may amount aboue There is a Phoenix of Aduersitie That faire results from her incinderment And dares to braue with an vndaunted eie Prosperities shine brightest blandishments It is Reuenge t' is I can stare it out And make it by disgrace the Misers flout I rear'd Corelian from his exile state To triumph ouer Romes ingratitude And Caesar I did whollie animate To down with Pompeys scornfull altitude His sute deni'd him by the Senate-house Did cause me make him Rome-Emperious Of latter dayes a Bourbon in disgrace I arm'd against his Lieges injurie And gaue him victorie at Pauia-chace Where he beheld him in captiuitie What though he were a Traitor in so doing T is statelie done to ouer-top a King To be faire Fortunes euer Carpet-darling Is femall glorie But Reueng'd disgrace That 's truly Masculine and rich triumphing Al peace-content is too too cheap and base What manhood is it still to feed on Chickins Like infant nurse-boys in nice Fortunes kitchins Giue me the man that with vndaunted sperit Dares giue occasion of a Tragedie And be content for his more after-merit To be downe beaten from felicity To th' end that with a fierce amount he may Re-blesse himselfe in spight of Fortunes nay T is braue to plunge adowne into the deep And so vp-bound againe aboue the waue To be continually a mountain-sheep Is Cockrell-like it is a dung-hill braue The crauin Cocke is hartlesse from his hill Shame to be so that hast a manly will To be depos'd from blisse by injurie Is double glorie to remount to it Nor is thy title lost to dignitie Vnlesse suppresse of spirite forfeit it Misfortunes power cannot foyle thy right Doe thou but beare a minde in her despight We cannot say that man is ouercome That still beares vp his arme against his foe Nor that he is sincerely out-run Whom the Corriuals trip doth ouerthrow VVhat ere is lost with fore-wits vnpreuention Win it againe with after-wits contention This humane fate sometime to slip and fall But to ingrouell in durt is beastlie base To rise againe oh that is Iouiall Or els reuenge to death the downe-disgrace Therefore thou hast a spirit of despight As well as in good hap to take delight The gallant man vnhorst amidst his foes Fightes to the death his latest wrath away And when he can no more with mops and mowes He floutes both them and Death and Destinie So if not Victor yet vnvanquished He dies to euerlasting liuelihed Be not as is the coward Scorpion That rounded all about with ashie embers Dispaires and dies in self-destruction Renting with fierce enrage his venym members But if that Ioue nill ayd thy fortitude Downe to all Acharon and the Furie brood Hell holdes in honor the braue minded man That knowes the price and value of his head That measures not Renowne by inch or span But by th'eternitie of Ioues Godhead That skornes to brooke base infelicitie Or pocket vp degraded dignitie And haply Ioue himselfe supplants thy state To see how thou canst scamble vp againe And scuffle manly with malignant fate To a redoubled glories rich attaine Then cheerly man inhearten all thy sperites And dead Reuenge thy miseries demerites Loe I thy Aduocate vnto the Hagges Will still importune thy Prosperitie And be at hand with poison and with dagges To execute each plotted tragedie Misfortune â—â—all not scoffe at thy confusion If hell and I befriend thee in coniunction Lay but thy hand vpon thy conscience And faire in-vow mee in an earnest spirit So shalt thou compasse Tragick consequence On all thy foes that now so frollick it They shall no longer feast vpon thy frets Nor register thy woes in their banquets Thou shalt eniowle them one against another With hostill jealousie and dead debate I tell thee man all friendship is vnsure Founded vpon anothers downe estate Nor ioyes he long against Reuenges doome That wrong in-states him in anothers roome Heauen is the Arbiter and wils it so I and the Furies are the instruments To act that iustice in all tragicke woe Now is it in this case our good intents To joyne with vs thy manuall act heerin That more then pristin glory thou maist win But say thou winne not pristin glorie by it Yet shalt thou see thy foes in downe disgrace Thy selfe shalt act it such shall be thy merit And such thy glorie in a higher place What greater glorie can betide the vale Then force the Mountain-top adowne to fall So shall thy glorie not be lost but left Yea losse to them that all so dearly buy it When thou shalt Phoenix-like of blisse berest Râ—se from thy ruines to a higher merit Degraded from a puppit Commicke-stage To act the statelie Tragick personage Chang'd to a faire enfiered Salamander Breathing Reuenges bright sacred flames Which high inspirits men to lofty matter In quaint disdaine of aulicke infant games Games of the bodie follies of the minde Oh how t' is base to liue so like a Hinde Nature hath giuen you male female willes The one wherwith to couet meriments The other to detest all aduerse ils Now is almightie Ioues great woonderments More in his Thunder-boltes then in his sweetes To shew Reuenge more woorth then Pleasures greets Then arme thy selfe Reuenges Champion To bandie away thy foes and all disgrace VVith polliticke dissimulation Of contrarie language and contrary face As the Camelion changeth still his hue VVith euery obiect cullor so change thou So maist thou close Camelion-like conceale Thy tragicke shape of Horror and Reuenge Whiles they misdoubting not thy false reueale Are caught vnwares like Woodcocks in a sprenge Such is the honour of Aduersitie With sleightes to vndermine Prosperitie Be to thy oath as th' Ape is to his blocke Sometimes sticke to it sometimes flit from it As pregnant pollicy may thee prouoke T' is foole-sincerity and want of wit To make a pot to breake thy head withall Or rather not to breake it first of all Vse Friend and Foe and Neuter all alike Onlie as instrumentall implements To thy designe thy aymed stroke to strike And fee them but with ayery complements That done and thy affaire effected Destroy them all for feare thou be detected Dead dogges barke not nor stands it with thy honour To be vpbrayded with a curtesie Much lesse to be employd in like deuoir According Quid pro Quoes seruilitie Such is the summe of perfect policie To worke securely with Vulgaritie Be close and iealous in each action For that close dealing is good Speeds assuraÌ„ce And Iealousie 's the Sentinell of Caution And bear thou still in mind this circumstance If all good fortune and aduise should faile thee To haue a starring hole for after safetie T' was meger
therfore And so he kist the Crosse and said no more With that my heart exulted in my breast As faire presaging weale vnto my woe For why I was not vulgarlie distrest But for a cause that bore an honest showe Yet for my frailtie was impatient I long'd for speedy death or solagement Then stept I to that man of Mysteries With carefull Complement least to offend When he eftsoons with reuerend arise Did recomplie me like a perfect friend The teares of joy that trill'd adowne his chin Did sweare what true affection was within And lastly he thus embracingly bespake me Welcome Elizian-man a thousand-fold More deere and shone to Catechrysius eye Then all the pleasant pride of Pearle or Gold Rare yea all too rare are now adayes Elizas subjectes seen to passe this wayes Belike yee are a Paradized people That so contain your selfes in home-delights As though that only vnder your steeple And no wher els were all May-mery Rights A blessed people ye are if it be so And yet me thinkes thou seem'st a man of woe Wherto I answered all with humble thanks First that I was the man he tooke me for Bred and brought vp on fayre Elizas bankes Next did I largely shew him furthermore How blessedly we liue as hee had heard Vnder Elizas peacefull power and guard And as for my peculiar distresse I tolde him so I seem'd and so I was The Rag of Fortune Badge of base deblesse The Spunge of care a broken Hower-glasse The Finger-man of shame and Obloquie Downly degraded from Felicitie I told him of my dreary iournement On moodie Melancholie and how I sped With Cato and Reuenges babblement And how along the Desart as I fled I met with Good Desire a goodly Steed That brought me thether in my ghostly need I would haue told him more of my arange Euen all the verie conscience of my case The cause of such my reprobate exchange From blesse to bale how froÌ„ place to place Bowndâ—esse in care I rang'd to bownd my Fate Content to die but not die desperate But he eftsoones preuented me and said Oh happie thou if so thou knew'st thy hap I tell thee man thou art right â—aire apaid Exil'd from Mammon into Iesus lap Come sit we downe and I will shew thee how In this distresse thou mayst nor breake nor bow So downe we sate my heart was festiuall My care was eager-liquorish to embaite Good Catechrysius his Cordiall Who then with eies to heauen eleuate And crosse-laid armes did vow syncerely All loue and truth in what he meant to shew me And then quoth he deare Englishman suppose Me not vnciuill t' interrupt thy tale For in our Lord I well aread thy woes And Charitie hies me to recure them all Now all is but the action of the Mind That rectifi'd the rest is all but wind Know then thow art no better then a man Natur'd indifferently to weale or woe Who ere he be that 's borne of a woman Is first just nothing next an Embrio Then borne into the world in impotence Poore interest to future Excellence Nay borne in sable sinne to Gods offence Nipt in the blossome by the blast of Hell Spur-gall'd of Adam both in soule and sence And hodge podged between a man Deuel A fardle of frailties doom'd vnto damnation So sore we haue incurr'd Gods indignation If these be titles of felicitie Ah poore felicitie vnpleasant Pride Rooted in hell brancht in mortalitie And round imbark'd with sin on euerie side Nor are we thus disgrac'd but of our selfes For first we eate the Apple of all these helles We might haue chosen in Adams Libertie Whether t' haue eate that Apple yea or no But needs we would aduenture And wot you why Forsooth of Pride both good and bad to know So slunke from vs the glorie and grace of God Leauing vs quite to our selfe breeching-rod Heerhence we couet counterfeit content Sublime mundanitie and our Fleshes ease Rating the trash of earth true solagement And euery toy of price our sence to please Such is our frailtie and yet we see it not So to subject vs to so seruile Lot And such the matter of thy discontent Because thou ouer-prizest Fleshes sence Rating the world at all too high a rent Wheras it is but dust and Gods offence The Mammon of iniquitie in Scripture phrase And but a meere Crocadyle-amaze Conceipt thy selfe no better then thou art A sorie Iourney-man from birth to death And all this world but matter of vndesart And a meere momentarie trash-bequeath Death doomes all Flesh at last and Flesh-affaires Be it Fleshes joyes or Fleshes seruile cares Blesse being the perfect Counterpane of good This world is not of worth to correspond it It being but trash ore-flowne with Frailties flood And deep indown'd from heauens fellowship Then vp to heauen amount thy true ambition And as for earth out-care it in contrition Not to dispaire and die as Cato told thee For that is base Pusillanimitie And Natures most vnhallowed infamie Treason to God and fell disloyaltie So to betray his Fort and Character To selfe-misdoome and drearie disaster We ought not cancell Gods eternall doome Vn-labelling our life from his faire Charter For such is diffidence in his holidoome And prowd in-officing vs in his affaire Nor can we kill Calamitie by death For he is just in earth and hell beneath Thou canst not flit from his almightie doome He being th' Arbiter of all and nothing Who gaue thee Essence out of Vacuum Can paine thy ashes all in earth reposing Well maist thou shift his anger into grace But not depriue thee from his heauenly face As vaine it is to thinke Reuenges deed Can counter-doome thy bale to blessednesse The power of Flesh being but a rotten reed And selfely inclined vnto all distresse Then since we are so wretched of our selfes Add worse to yll doth but encrease our helles Such is Reuenge It is a haggard yll A Luciferiall ranke vncharitie The venym and blacke Santus of our will Vnreasons rage spawne of Impietie Breath of Despaire Prime-brat of Enuies brood And all good Natures Satyr Antipode Reuenges arme rear'd vp against the Foe Aimes to defeat God of his interest Who clausually reseru'd that worke of woe Vnto his owne judiciall behest Thou art a man and once didst sucke thy mother Thou canst not judge thy selfe much lesse another And what know'st thou whether haply for thine owne Or for thy Predecessors sinnes thou sufferest God oft transfers his indignation From the offending East to th'ending West Or whether it be to trie thy patience And flush the more thy good obedience If it be for thy sinnes oh happy thou That art so temporally corrected Such is Gods mercy not his Iustice-blow A worser doome is to thy euill indebted For God being good in all infinitie Such is thy sinnes and hels affinitie And if for thy fore-fathers trespasses T' is braue to be so good a Sacrifice God earst to expiate thy amisses Being
a president before thine eies Of willing death wee are not borne only Vnto our selfes Suche is vncharitie The feeble Nature euen of Flesh and Blood Hath been so kind to die for Ancestrie Gentility records Eneas good In that he bore his aged fathers frailtie Through Troyes flames much more ought Charitie Beare patiently anothers penaltie But shall I say that haplie in this case Our Lord is pleas'd to trie thy patience Thy valure and obedience in disgrace Oh that were all-too glorious a pretence For well ye wot that Souldiour is a King That choycelie is employ'd in warfaring T' is Scowndrell-glorie still to sit at ease In gawdie satisfaction of thy sence Nay t' is no glorie at all but a disease That Canker-like consumes thine Innocence Now God being pleas'd to cure thee thereof Doth thus confound it all into a scoffe And yet confounds it so as thou maist see His Iustice and his Mercie ioind together Thy yll contrould to future dignitie So dooth the goodnesse of thy cause auerre If God did meane thy eternall infamie Worse passiue cause had foule befall'n thee Thou canst not haue a more assured pavvne Of Gods benignitie then a good cause It being vnto thy soule a sacred dawne Of heauens day and an especiall clause Or Charter-warrant of Saluation By a secure Conscience-attestation Not all the glorie of this world is worth The minnim Emphosis of a good Conscience The verie penall teares it sendeth foorth Are more then pearles of Indie-excellence Much more are they Emperiall dignities Her inward Ioyes and Iocundities Say that the Corpes of such a Conscience Lie all in mange before the Misers dore His name as hell held in the worlds offence Yet is he not vnfortunate therefore For heauen and he being still in good conjunction All that 's but vapor and no sound confusion Nay t' is to thee a haughtie merit-matter If brookt with patient valure to the end Which easely thou maist doe if thou consider That Iesus tempts thy patience as a friend Not in his rage aboue thy power and strength Whom he reprooues at first he saues at length And sooth to say what is Prosperitie That so should make thee abhor Aduersitie Euen Caesars loftie pomp and soucraigntie Is not by ods sincere felicitie Subiect to Care and Alteration Through Enuie Errour and Adulation How much adoe is done ere men attaine To wealth and glorie by Ambition Still carke and care shares halfe the seruile gaine The rest remaines to Deaths confusion T' is well if tart Synderisie and Hell Triumver not to towlle the passing-bell Care in attaining and care in attaine Care is the lower and the vpper staire Such carefull glorie is but glorious paine Yea care or care-lesse either all 's but aire Feast it in care or feast it carelesly Death is the latter Harpie of all glory Besides how many Villaines are aduanc'd To such theatricall and stagie-state Whilst Vertue lies obliuiously entranc'd Neglected and disdain'd as out of date Besides the multiplicitie of abuse That is in such mundanities mis-use Whereas the patient Sâ—rapin distresse Behonesteth his guikie suffrance And if he suffer for Gods righteousnesse Loe there the sumine of all true valliance Heauens Machabe he is that so downe-dies Guiltie of all glorie and Gods deere dainties Who heares his name a thousand yeeres hence Will giue it glorie praise and reuerence As to a Temples ruin-Monuments Rased in Sacrilege and Gods offence He will be-villaine those that did the deed As Scowndrell-Agents of Hells blacke areed We are not borne to Fortunes complements As soueraigne dainties but as Vertues tooles Wherwith to shape vs perfect lineaments Of honorable Manhood And not as Fooles To dote vpon the Pensill in our hand And not depaint vs like to Gods command Vertue 's the Ladie of our Humanitie And Fortune but the hand-maid of our merit Now were it homelied one to magnifie The meane aboue the maine T' were pettie sperit To slip our nettes into the Sea for water And pardon Fish as no part of the matter This life is but a warfare against sinne And either Fortune is but sinnes Coate-armour Be it bright or blacke great danger lies therein If thou resist not with a haughtie valour T' is witlesse yeelding to her gawdements And cowardiâ—e vnto her orearements What skils it whether we fight with blacke or white If blacke and white be both our enemies The one in guile tho'other in flat despight The Goblin-Bugs and Faery Hiedegies Are both the shades of hell and night-affrayes Encounter not assent quelles their dismayes And why are we the image of our God The Monarches ouer all Elementaries But to controwll with Reasons righteous rod All flesh and bloods fraile sensualities T' is sensualitie and pettie power To mal-content thee for a fading flower Stand thou on Reasons haughty Promontorie Superiour and secure ouer all disgrace Rage wind and waue horror round about thee Yet all is glorie and peace in that bright place Nor Death nor Hell can damnifie thy honer So long as Reasons arme beares vp thy banner Oh generous minded men that can esteeme All state inferiour to their mindes degree And not abandon it to base misdeeme Of any Fortunes power aboue her glee But can out-stare it with a quaint regard In reference to merite and Gods grand reward That can conceipt all Fortune as a Fog Bee 't black or bright all but a matter of aire If bright oh then it doth but flatter and cog If blacke it drowns thee with a flood of care Vnlesse thy mind be as a Sunne aboue it Faire ouer-shining all her mist-demerit Faire Fortune is a Bog a dauncing danger And Temperance must foot it with a modest pace Her frowne a gulfe that drownes the hartlesse stranger That cannot wend with Patience his disgrace Both that and it are mortuarie matter If fed vpon in Indiscretions platter Submit not then thy sacred Substantiue To Fortunes hestes but as thou art of Nature So still continue thy prerogatiue Aboue her blandishing and spightfull power So shone a Patrimonie as thy Mind Let neuer Fortune wast it out of kind Thou art no part of Fortune but thine owne Vertue thy fore-guide Heauen thy attaine Good death not loftie life thy best Renowne Contented mind thy glories after-gaine Without content all glorie is but gall And with content disgrace is festiuall Content's the Spunge of true felicitie The Cordiall against degraded blesse Corriuall to the highest Empirie The badge of Innocence and Righteousnesse Vertues enthrone Rent of a manlie mind To God for whatsoeuer state assign'd It is the Phaenix of fore-glories Embers Patience her wing Heauen is her amount It is the Christopher whose manly members Wasteth the miser-man through all affrount It is the true and perfect Salamander Breathing vitalitie in flames of fire Not so the Skowndrell in his greatest glorie For ther is no Content in guilt of euill A skowll down-looke and swart synderisie Betokening him a member of the Deuill
He cannot with a faire erected front Be Abba God nor yeeld him good accompt His glorie in guilt of yll is as a flower Begnawne with an accursed Caterpiller Or as an Apple perisht in the coure Though faining outwardlie a faithfull faire Oh fatall incense oh accursed fume That so choaks vp the wretch doth it assume Wheras the others conscientiall-content Doth feast his Fates and ciuillize their rage Turning their gall to glee and solagement And faire be-heauening hell with her asswages Hee 's as a Bwoy aboue the bosterous waue Dauncing to scorne the Seas ybillowy-braue So strong in power is his sincere incline To Gods ordaine and holie prouidence Resting therin as in a sacred shrine Or Sanctuarie against all hels offence The Deuils eager-gripe cannot confound Him whom our Lords protection doth bound There is no hell but in our Gods offence Please him and boldlie plunge adowne the deep Of all accurse his holy Prouidence Being the Argus which doth neuer sleep Will on the wings of safe Protection Still beare the just man vp from all perdition What hap can hap amisse to Gods beblest What waue can surge aboue his prouidence The Hagges of hell are chain'd to his behest Hell gates obey his high omnipotence Diue downe to Hell if he beare vp thy chin Wel maist thou sink a while nere drowne therein If once thy hope be anchored in God No waue no bluster can endanger thee Thy foot from falling is securely shod He corresponding thy fidelitie If God thy Center be and thy defence Be Hell be Deuil thy Circumference The Tyrants steele the Hang-mans Axeltree His strangles mangles and his fierie doomes Cannot confound true magnanimitie Founded on Gods true loue hollidoomes His life in gore his Ghost in shades of hell Are more at ease than anie tongue can tell The earthen minded man cannot conceaue So haughtie glorie in disglorie and dole His groueling appetite doth so bereaue His wit impelling it to another gole Hee 's so befotted in his Leprosie That it alonlie he esteems true glorie But time will come when at a iust Tribunall The iust mans miserie and the misers glee Will come in Coram and bee doom'd for all Then mourning good shall mount to Maiestie And sin-polluted glorie downe discend T'irreparable dollour without end Then vae to guiltie glorie glorious guilt Vae to suppresse of vertue aduance of vice The Rascalls towre on Vertues tuines built Must then adowne and he repent the price Oh farre more happie then disgraced good Then Vice aduanc'd to skowndrell altitud But thou wilt say it is Detraction It is thy name defam'd among the just Thy life bely'd through misconstruction That more then all thy glorie in the dust Be-hels and tortureth thy manly mind It being a mischiefe of a woorser kind Bee 't so Elizian-man I doe confesse Detraction is indeed a monstrous euell Foule Harpie of honour Night of righteousnesse And the vnciuill tongues most venym-driuell Much more I doe confesse it is a spight To be of honest men a villaine hight But on the other side when thou consider The sand-blind errors euen of justest men How much from Gods intuitie they differ And oft when most they iudge are most mistaken Dispaire not at their doomes but in thy hart Blesse God who sees thee inly what thou art Oft-times the good man credits with his eares Not with his eyes Therhence if injurie Redownd to thee the fault being whollie theirs Farre be it from thy hearts synderisie Yea rather with a bolt-vp countenance Giue it the Lie and hardie sufferance Much more the Villaines obloquie disdaine it As currish crauin against thy Innocence His Viper-language cannot cracke thy credit A blush-lesse conscience pleading thy defence His tongue against thy Soules secure estate Fares as a reed against a brazen gate But if his obloquie be a true Eccho Of thy mis-gouernance and guilty life Then well I doe aread it is a woe Vnto thy honor and a slaughter-knife Wheras contrarie-wise if thou be sound It 's but an ayrie and an idle sownd Faire then aguize thee with a trim transcent Aboue al flesh and hells indignitie Embost with gentle Patience and Content Lamb-like repinelesse at aduersitie For sooth I say and heauen will witnesse it The just mans miserie is a haughtie merit And first please God in his commandements Next with a true Satrapick-sufferance Grace me that face of thine those lineaments Against Detraction and hells mis-valiance Shew that thou art the image of thy God In patient portage of his penall rod. So nor dispaire nor yet reuenge thy woe But with the prudent Serpent in distresse Safe-garde thy head let die the rest beloe Thy head in heauen thy heele in heauinesse Is merrie matter if thou well consider That death rejoynes them both in blesse togither Hast thou not noted this effect in Nature How chill-cold winter calefies the water Anteperistezing her powers together Wherby it faire resists her yâ—ie ire So in thy winter of Aduersitie Create thy selfe a sommer-Iubilie Giue place to furie as the humble Snaile Retreating in his hornes gainst misaduenture In time all violence will selfelie quaile If vnprouok'd with currish misdemeanure The chillest winter and the darkest night Redound at last to Sommer and broad day-light See how the Marigold against the Son Displayes and shuts it selfe at his dominion Lessening at night her spred proportion But nere disculloring her gold-complexion So to the soueraigntie of God aboue With Fortunes night deminish not thy loue But thinke misfortune is the flayle of grace The clarifying Fornace of thy soule Wherewith God strips away thy chaffe-disgrace And makes thee pure mettle with such controwlle T' is honorable manhood to obey thy God Bee 't in his mercie or his justice-rod Wilt thou submit thy mind to Fortunes Impostes Faithlesse of Gods benignitie and care Ah rather doe disdaine her bales and bostes As Crocadyle-deceipts and crabbed wareâ— And to thy God alonly plie thy hest For such is pure dutie and the pure best So doing better boones then Fortunes baubles Will Spaniell-like attend vpon thy merite Good death and after death th'immoâ—uables Of glorie and fame and an in heauened spirite In euerlasting lubilie and blesse Far more then heart can thinke or tongue expresse So shalt thou swim away in Verâ—â—es flood A happie burthen to a happy Maine Gods flowerie-eterâ—itie garlanding thy good And his embrace lullabying all thy paine Oh happy thou when such adoption Shall faire befall thy tribulation When all thy Crosses shall appeare in heauen As euer-memorable Annalles of thy merit Oras bright Trophees to thy Vertue geuen The Saintes of glorie all applauding it When God with his serenest countenance Shall euer bright be-boone thy sufferance Then wilt thou nere repent the of thy woe But wish it had been twentie folde as much For Iesus sake who euen in earth beloe Can frollick thy incinder with his tutch And faire be-heauen thy bones in drearie graue Aboue the glorie and ease
thinking who he is for whom you fight Redouble your prowesse and your manly might You combate for the high Hierusalem A region of Peace and Immortalitie Fore-spell'd and promist only vnto them That straine in her behalfe their vp-shot constancie Nor feare yee any woundes or any dying So good a death tends to a better reuiuing See how confusedly Doblessa fightes Without all discipline or good array Her Camp abandon'd to intestine spightes And euerie one contending to beare sway Their owne disorder will confound their power The frame of Discord dures not an hower On then like gallants of the holy-Ghost Fighting in Vnity and for a Crowne Against a rascall and tumultuous Host Nere let the strumpet pull the Temple downe No neuer shall the strumpet pull it downe For God is God and it is all his owne Rememorate the glorie of her Age And of her Raigne and of her pristin Warres How often hath she quell'd Doblessas rage Attempting to assayle her holy Rampiars Hath she not been a Nurse vnto yee all A Shelter and a feast most festiuall Besides hath God not promised of yore That hell shall nere preuaile against her gates And hath not he vouchsau'd to die therfore Establishing her glorie against all Fates Yea is not he her fundamentall stone Her daylie Sacrifice and high Oblation What will ye more Oh Sionites no more But to your tacklings stand like men of honor Like men of Sion one to twentie score Such Babell-hildings mortifie their rancor With constant and imperious resistance God and his Angels are in your assistance So said he blest them and dismist them all Who straight in troops vnto the Rampiers ran And happie he could get vpon the wall There then a second skirmish fresh began Doblessa still persisting in th' assault And Sion fierce supplying all default It was a heauen to see the good array And vnitie of Sion in this conflict How euerie one was willing to obay His Officers encharge though nere so strict The holy-Ghost was in and ouer all Cheering their combate with his cordiall Meane while the high Sacrificator he Attended to the Temples Sacrifice Offring it vp for peace and victorie He chanted Hymnes and Laudes and Letanies And in Pontificall Procession He and his Clergie made their intercession Some in their studdies commented the Text Conferring place with place and with traditions Ov'ring the fraud wherwith Doblessa vext Their Ghospels peace some others in her stations Boldlie aduentured their liues to tell The Babellonians of all her hell Some they perswaded those were verie few And of those few not one of ten persisted But still as feare and fraud their frailties drew They started backe againe like men agasted Oh what it is to be too secular It was selfe-loue that all their weale did marre And of such braue aduenturous Sionites As Doblessa could by hooke or crooke intrap They di'd the death and suffred all the spights That rage and rascall wit could jointly rap Subject they were to dreadfull persecution By publick edict and false brethrens treason What sacring and what sacramenting was In Sion all this while for Sions safetie Was more then all the strength of stone and brasse In her defence God not in enmitie But for her greater glories sake permitting Doblessa thus to bid it bale and bickring Contrarie-wise Doblessa ru'd the fate Of her attempt her mood began to quaile For God now seeing the prefixed date Of Sions patience in her last auayle Did on the suddaine so enlarge his grace That th'whoore retir'd and gaue backe apace And then to shew her latest trumperie Now that our Lords permission faild her powre She gan with Magicke-spels and sorcerie Faire Virgin-like to falsifie her figure Therby to seeme as gracious as she could To Sions eie such was her guize of ould But when she saw that all her fallaces And fierce assaults to Sion were in vaine And feeling now withall Gods heauie furies Showre down vpon her like a floud of raine Shee could no longer bide the brunt of Sion But backe she reel'd to hell and Babylon And fearing least her daunted enterprize Might haplie alien her peoples hearts From her obeysance She so bewitcht their eies With mystes of falsed glory and high deserts That they besotted in their disaster Betooke them to their heeles and fled with her And as they fled Oh marke their vanitie They did so crauin-cockadoodle it As though they had run away victorie And left faire Sion in her dying fit Such hoopes such clangor and such symphonie And all was but Doblessas pollicie She nusled them in so proud Peacockrie To th' end they might not see their damned state But still perseuer as the Bumble-Bee Repine-lesse in their dung and desperate Oh cursed and vnkind captiuitie To be so willing drudge to Falsitie Yet some whome Sions more especiall beame Had bright appaid to see her dignitie Fled from the witch as wak'd from out a dreame Of Faery and Chimericall Imagerie Such Sion intromitted in her gate Applauding them with deere congratulate Contrarie-wise whatsoeuer Sionite Doblessa could with slight or fight enthrall She led away into eternall night Blind-folding their eyes to make them fall Into a thousand helles and offendickles Thrise fatall lapse from Grace into such pickles Nor was the holie Temple thus acquitted For euer after from her hostill trouble But still as Hydra-like she had renued One head vpon the others stump and stubble She came againe and made a braggard-show But still she bare away the Palsie-blow Such being the ancient league of God to Sion Necessiting her Peace to such temptation And yet withall protesting his protection Therto against all hell and Babylon What greater safetie then so good assurance The word of God is of eternall durance Thus Sion triumpht ouer moode and tumult Cabaging her Peace in perfect vnitie Against whatsoeuer future-Scismes insult And seeing now no more hostilitie But all the Region cleere She fell arifling Doblessas spoyles the Honors of her fighting And in her warlike wardrop there she plast them Amongst a world of former pillages And spoyles of Babell high Hierusalem Sisterlie applauding such her victories And thinking long the day to honor her With her embrace and euerlasting cheere Then to conclude the high Sacrificator Came foorth in place and blest the Combatants Bidding them giue to God th' eternall honor Of so high hap And therupon he descants A large discourse of Gods protection How prompt he alwayes was to succour Sion So done he efts dismist the multitude T' attend vnto the buriall of their brethren Whom Sions honor had that day endu'd With zeale to die for her like valiant men Their graues resented Immortalitie Sweeter then all the sents of Arabiâ— And for it was a speciall victorie Archiu'd euen on the very walles of Sion There was proclaim'd a generall Iubilie To be sollemniz'd throughout all the region The Octaue after in feast-full reference And thanks to God for such his high defence In