in thys Prince in my iudgement was his peaceable gouernment after he attained the Imperiall crowne And although to some it may seme straunge to commend in one man twoo contrary thinges warre and peace yet in deede the varieties of times and other circumstances considered it is no straunge thing at al. His warres were against Gods enemies his peace was with gods people Euer sithens he was created Emperour his wars with the Turks once cōpounded he hath only studied to maintain publike peace he hath not attempted as other men haue to enlarge his dominion with theffusion of Christiā bloud he hath not stirred vp any ciuil warres vnder coulour and pretence of religion or for any other titles but rather peaceably gouerned nourishing concord and amitie among al the states of the Empire so that by meanes therof Germanie before afflicted bothe by ciuil and foreine warres is at this present by manye mens iudgement more floorishing both for men and wealth then it was anye one time this hundreth yeares that this man might wel haue vsed like wordes with Augustus the Emperour when he died Germaniam lateritiam accepi marmoream relinquo I receiued a Germanie of bricke I leaue it of Marble Therfore as in his warres I compared him to valiaunt king Dauid so in this latter time for his peacefull gouernment he may be verye well compared to Salomon who is termed by the interpretacion of his name pacificus peaceable or a Prince of peace And so he alone hath matched .2 most worthy Princes in two seuerall and moste princelye qualities The third thing that I commend specially in this Prince whiche I must speake not of knowledge but of moste credible reporte is his chastitie he was a chaste Prince a Prince that did truly and as they say preciselye keepe his wedlocke A notable vertue in anye man but more notable in a Prince and moste notable in so great a Prince specially in this loose and licentious age For in these daies it is to be feared that not onelye Princes but others of farre meaner estate think vnchaste life and the breache of Matrimonie a thing not onelye in them selues worthy of no reprehēsion but also accompt others of like state in power and authoritie very fooles and dastardes if they of conscience forbeare to do the same Like in that to the Ethnickes of whom S. Peter writeth these wordes Atque hoc absurdum illis videtur quod non accuratis vnae cum illis in eādem luxus refusionem And it seemeth to them a straunge or fonde thing that ye runne not with them in to the same excesse of riot or loosnesse But let these men assure them selues of that which foloweth in the same place These men saith saint Peter shal geue accompt to him that is prepared to iudge the quicke and the dead God hath not geuen a particular but a general law neither hath he geuen his commaundementes to poore men onelye or to men of meane estate but to all men and to al estates high and low Emperours kynges Quenes Lordes Ladies riche poore Yea the greatest Prince of the world shal as wel tremble at the iudgement seate of Iesus Christ and passe as hard an account as the poorest man of the earth an harder to for that he hath a greater charge cōmited vnto him according as it is writen Cui multū creditum multū requiretur ab eo et potentes potenter tormenta patientur To whom much is cōmitted of him much shalbe required and the mightye shall suffer mighty tormentes Let no man thinke therfore that high estate in this world geueth him a licence to liue wickedlye and vnchastely but rather follow this prince who vertuously godly and Christianly liued in honorable matrimonie And may therefore herein iustlye be compared to the vertuous Emperour Gratianus one of his predecessours To whom saint Ambrose geueth this laudable testimonie Fuit Gratianus castus corpore vt praeter coniugium nescierit alterius foeminae consuetudinem Gratianus was a chaste man of his body who out of wedlocke or besides his wife knew not the companie of any other woman And behold I beseche you how wonderfully God blessed him for his chaste obseruacion of Matrimonie For wher other Princes liuing heretofore incontinently haue bene plaged of God with sterilitie want of roial issue of their bodies and so the direct line of succession hath bene cut of after them God hath not onelye geuen vnto this Prince plentie of honourable children both Sonnes and Daughters but also according to the verse of the Psalme caused him see Filios filiorum his childers children to a very great number The honourable mariages of hys daughters in sundrie places of Christendome I omitte but one thing I cannot but note vnto you that hee receyued at Gods hande the same blessing which God graunted vnto Dauid whereof he hym selfe maketh mencion in the thirde booke of the Kinges the first chapiter in these woordes Benedictus dominus deus Israel qui dedit hodie sedentem in solio meo videntibus oculis meis Praised be God saith Dauid when Salomon his sonne was proclaimed king before his death which hath geuen me one of mine own to sit this day on my seate myne eyes looking on Like occasion to praise God had Ferdinandus the Emperour of whom wee speake for he afore he died sawe the most excellent and noble Prince Maximilian his eldest sonne now Emperour crowned king of Romanes and therby in most sure certentie if he liued to succeede him A great blessing to a Prince and a great blessing to a countrey where the case standeth so God for his mercies sake at his good appoynted tyme send such a blessing to England Amen Amen Thus much I haue thought good to speake in the cōmendacion of this noble Emperour both to continue an honorable memorie of the vertues that were in him as the occasion of this time and place iustly requireth and also to styr vp those that be present of all estates to followe these good thinges that were commendable in him And here I might cease to speake any more of him were it not y t there remaineth yet one scruple to be remoued For it will be obiected peraduenture that this Prince thus commended dissented from vs in religion and an answer therein required I answer that the matter of religiō is a matter of great weight in dede and such a matter as we must commend vnto God onely Let vs whom God in his mercy hath lightened with the bright beames of his Gospel render vnto him most harty thankes for the same Let vs thankfully embrace it and Christianly vse it to the glory of God and our own health And let vs pray instantly to god the geuer of al good gifts that he wyl in his good appointed time so lighten the eyes and directe the hartes of all Christian Princes that they may see the light of the truth and walke thereafter in the
by burning candels is signified the light of faith and Christian conuersacion the very fruite of true fayth and so in suÌ„me that we should be altogether in a readines Saint Peter also when he maketh mention of the ende of al thinges to be at hand vseth much like exhortacion Be ye sober saith he and vigilant in praier signifieng thereby that temperaunce in meates and drinkes sobrietie of conuersation in al the partes of our life vigilancie and continuauÌ„ce in praier and other godly exercises are sure signes that we make preparation for death and for the comming of Christ. Of such like exhortacioÌ„ to prepare against death the scriptures are most full so plaine that this part needeth no long prosecution Now for the second part there be two causes that ought if we be not altogether vnsensible to moue vs to prepare for death The one is the necessitie of death The other is the vncertaintie therof The ineuitable necessitie of death is very wel expressed by saint Paule in these wordes Statutum est omnibus hominibus semel mori post hoc iudicâ—um It is ordained or it is a statute concluded and enacted in the high court of the heauenly Parliament such a statute as neuer shalbe repealed y t al men of what estate oâ— condicion so euer they be shal once die and after that foloweth the iudgement The wise man sayth Moritur doctus simul et indoctus The learned vnlearned both die The Ethnickes also did very wel expresse this necessity of death For Horace saith thus Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas regumque turres Pale death or death that maketh the most beutyfull and best couloured faces pale doth knocke as indifferently at princes palaces as at poore mens cottages An other Poet hath these woordes Mors sceptra ligonibus aequat Death maketh scepters and mattockes equal and assone arresteth he the Prince that carieth the scepter as the poore man that diggeth with the mattocke Dauid calleth death Viam vniuersae carnis the wayâ— of all flesh But what needeth many testimonies in so plain a matter so vniuersally knowen by dayly experience in all places and times Now as concerning the vncertaintie of death which is the second and greatest cause to moue vs to be in redines This may be truly affirmed that as nothing is more certaine then that death wil come so is there nothing more vncertaine then the houre when it wyll come And therfore is our life in the scriptures coÌ„pared to things that vpon light and sodaine causes are alterable as grasse a flower shadow smoke vapour and death resembled to the stealing in of a theefe to a snare intangling the 〈◊〉 and the hooke catching the fishe vnwares This 〈◊〉 is also touched in my text Quia qua hora noÌ„ putatis c For the Lord will come at the houre which ye thincke not But both these things shall appeare more clerely by examples And to begin first with thexamples of the latter parte Nothing doth more euidently declare the vncerteinty of death theÌ„ the sodaine deathes of persons of all ages and degrees of which we finde plenty both in prophane histories and in the Scriptures Plinie in the seuenth booke of his naturall history hath a whole Chapiter intituled De mortibus repentinis And the like Chapiter hath Valerius Maximus where they write that many vpoÌ„ most light causes sodenly haue died One at Rome as he went forth at his chaÌ„ber doore did but stricke his finger a litle on the dore cheke and immediatly fel downe deade An other did but stumble as he weÌ„t forth and died forthwith An Ambassadour of the Rhodians after he had declared his message to the Senate departing forth of the Counsell chamber fell downe by the waye sodenly and there died Aeschilus the Poete lieng on slepe bare headed nere the Sea a great seafowle thinkyng his head to be a stone whereon he might breake the shelfishr whiche he caried lette it fall on hys heade wherewith he was killed out of hande Luciane a man in deede learned and eloquent but a derider of all religion and namely a blasphemer of Christian religion trauailing by the way was sodeinlye set vpon wurried with dogs a death worthy such a blasphemer and a terrible example to all coÌ„temners and deriders of religioÌ„ and pietie The Scriptures also want not like exaÌ„ples The churlish rich maÌ„ Nabal who at his sheepeshearing held a feast in his house like a kyng but denied to relieue Dauid theÌ„ persecuted and in distres within ten dayes after was smitten of the Lorde so diâ—d Ananias and Sapphira preteÌ„ding y t they gaue their whole patrimonie to y e relief of the poore in the primitiue Church but in dede reseruing a portion to them selues and so lieng to the holy Ghost were immediatly stricken of God and so ended their lyues to the fearefull example of all hypocrites and dissemblers namely in matters pertayning to Gods religioÌ„ Herodes Agrippa being in his most glorious magnificencie contented to heare him self magnified and extolled as a God and not a man was sodenlie smitten by the Angell of the Lord and dyed a most miserable death The riche man of whom meÌ„tion is made in the xii of Luke that entended to pull downe hys barnes and granaries and to builde larger sayd to his soule Soule thou hast prouision layed vp in store for many yeares and therfore take thyne ease Eate drinke and be merie But what became of him God sayd vnto him Thou foole euen this very night shall thy soule be taken from thee and then who shall haue that thou hast prouided Thexample of Nabuchodonosor is veri terrible who walkyng in his pallace and glorieng in his strong and stately Citie Babilon whiles the wordes were yet in his mouth was sodenly stricken with a plague worse then death for the vse of reason was taken from hym and he him self turned forth among beastes became as a beast eating hay like an oxe to teach al posterities ensuing not to glory in things of this world which are but vaine but that he which glorieth should glory in the Lord. It shal not be amisse if I adde one example of myne owne knowledge For Gods IudgemeÌ„tes exercised in our dayes are also to be obserued and marked I knew a Priest who had rapped together foure or fiue benefices but was resident vpon neuer a one of them All this sufficed him not and therfore he longed for a prebend also there to spende at ease the milke and the fleese of the flockes whiche he had neuer fed At length by mediation of money he obteyned a Prebende and when his man brought him home the seale thereof cast into a maruelous ioye hee brust foorth into these woordes of the Psalme taken out of his Portesse whiche was all his study Hec requies mea This is my rest saith the Priest this is my place of
right waye to the extirpacion of al supersticion and error and to the true setttng forth and maintenance of sincere religion and to the glory of God who is to be blessed for euer And yet somethyng to aunswer them as concernyng this prince diuers matters may be alledged wherof I will rehearse some which argue that he was not so much addicted to the Romishe religion as some men would haue y e worlde to beleue And herein I will not deale subtilie or craftly as to affirme before this auditorie for a more strength to our cause y t the Emperour afore his death thought in all points of religion as we do for I do not thincke so my self of him onely I will alledge a few thinges which either by the euidēce of the matter or els by good record are manifest to all y e world And first of al it cannot be denied but that he was contēted to be crowned Emperour without a Masse which no Emperour did before him a great many of yeres And if any mā would denie this there be diuers persones here present that were then at Frankford and saw the whole solēnitie of his coronation which was done for more suretie in this case at afternone not afore none as was accustomed Now if the Emperour had so much estemed the Masse as other haue done before him he would not haue suffred it to haue bene left of at his Coronation And if any for excuse hereof should affirme that he was contented at that time to dissēble the matter till he had obteined y e imperiall crowne those vnder coulour of frendship should be his enemies as diffaming him that for ambition sake he would do a thyng cōtrarie to his cōscience whiche who soeuer doth affirme thinketh not honorablie nor as he ought to thincke of so good and so worthy a prince Furthermore I haue heard for a truth that afore his Coronation he faithfull promised the princes Electours that he would neuer be crowned of the Pope and the sequele declared the same verie manifestly to be true for he was neuer crowned of hym in dede remaining so longe in the Empire without the Popes approbation whiche before time was vsed Let it then be indifferently considered whether this was not much derogatorie to the holy sea and whether Saint Peters Prerogatiue was not much touched herein What a schismaticall matter would this haue bene made and what stirres woulde haue ensued if the Emperour Ferdinande had liued in the dayes of Pope Gregory the seuenth who procured the deposing yea and death also of the Emperour Henry the .iiii Or in the dayes of Pope Alexander who set his foote in the necke of the Emperour Fridericus Barbarossa But the Pope is a wise man for although he retaine the same mind that the other his predecessors had yet bycause the tymes do not serue his purpose he dissembleth the matter and is contented rather to take a peece then loose all And surely this one acte is a playne demonstration that this Emperour did not thincke him selfe bound in conscience so much to tender the Popes supremacie as the Canonistes would haue it estemed who make it a matter De necessitate salutis of necessity to saluation For otherwise he would not haue done as he did to haue gayned tenne Empires Besides al this there is extant abroad in printe an Oration pronounced in the late Tridentine Counsell by the Emperour Ferdinandes Ambassadour in whiche Oration there is request made by the Emperour that libertie may be graunted to haue the Communion ministred in both kyndes Wherevpon may very well be gathered that the Emperour was not ignoraunt of the sacrilege of the Romishe Churche in depriuing the people of God of the one halfe of the Sacrament where Christe him selfe instituted both Or els if he had thought the one to be as sufficient as both whiche is the Popishe doctrine what neded he to make any further sute And for further declaration of his earnestnes in this pointe I will adde that whiche I sawe written in Auguste last past by a mā of good credite and estimation that Ferdinandus the Emperour not longe before hys death gaue licence to al his own countreis to haue the vse of y e Sacrament in both kyndes I do not affirme this but of reporte But surely if it bee true I do not doubt but that God reueled vnto hym other partes of religion also whiche we haue not yet heard of But as I haue sayd we will commende that matter vnto God And what soeuer hys religion was thys solemne action for memoriall of him may very well bee vsed notwithstanding And beyng fallen into y e mention of thys publique action and solemnitie it shall not be amisse somewhat to saye of the true vse meanyng and purpose of the same for the better satisfaction of doubtfull mindes For there is no doubte but there will bee two contrarye iudgementes concernynge the same The one parte wyll saye there is to lytle done the other will saye there is to muche The first parte wyll alledge that althoughe they cannot but confesse the action to bee done very honorablye and with muche magnificencie yet the principall matter of all is wantyng wyll they saye for here is an honorable memoriall of the Emperour Ferdinandus but here is saye they no prayer for the soule of Ferdinandus To those I aunswere that the holye Scriptures the woorde of God is the candell and the lanterne for our steppes By it we ought to directe our steppes if we will please God without it we walke in darkenesse and knowe not whether we go But first of all in the Scriptures we finde no commaundemente to praye for the soules departed vnlesse they will cite the place of the booke of Machabees And then Sainte Ierome shall make them aunswere who permitteth in deede these bookes of Machabaees to bee read 〈◊〉 but bycause they bee not of the Canon of the Scriptures they be not sayth Saint Ierome sufficient of thē selues to establishe any doctrines in the Church of God Secondarily we haue no example in y e canonical Scripture of any inuocation for the dead for we read in the olde Testament that the fathers as Iacob and others were buried with mourning and with much honor for a testimonie of the resurrectiō which is here also ment but that any prayers was vsed for them we read not Likewise we read in the new Testament of Stephen and other but of no prayer for thē or any others after their death read we any where in the old Testament or in the new Thirdly where in the olde Testament be Sacrifices and expiatiōs appointed for many and sundry thinges wherof some semed small offences yet was there neuer any Sacrifices appointed for any purgation or expiation of y e dead And therfore if Iudas Machabaeus offred a Sacrifice for the dead seyng none suche is prescribed in the law of Moses in that doyng he added to
e effect is this WheÌ„ the tribes of Ruben Gad and the halfe tribe of Manasse had receaued their portioÌ„ beyond Iordan at their returne home they builded a peece of worke lyke a great aultar whiche when the reste of the Israelites heard of they intended warre agaynste the twoo tribes and the halfe and sent messengers vnto theÌ„ burdenyng them with apostasie and reuolting from Gods religion for that they had builded an other aulter besides the aulter in the tabernacle whiche was the onely aulter appoynted by God The two tribes and the halfe aunswered that with callyng of God to witnes that they ment no such thyng nor neuer enteÌ„ded to offer any sacrifice vpon it But onely buylded it for a bouÌ„der for a testimonie both for them their children y t the bouÌ„des of their possessions reached so farre The reste of y e Israelites were with thys answere very well satisfied and contended and absteyned for any warre makyng agaynste them So I do not doubte but those who thinke this action to haue any affinitie with the superstitious abrogated ceremonies if any such men be when they shal vnderstand that there is no suche thyng neyther done nor ment they wilbe likewyse satisfied Firste of all here is no inuocation or massyng for the dead nothyng els done but that is godly First singyng of the Psalmes afterwardes readyng of the Scriptures which put vs in remembraunce of our mortalitie and of the generall resurrection with doctrine and exhortation All whiche thinges tend to edifieng of the lyuing not benefiting of the dead The rest of thynges tend to the honorable memoriall of this greate prince as hath bene vsed in all ages euen emongs Gods people Herein also we declare that we reuerence and honour the authoritie of Magistrates as those in whoÌ„ the Image of God here on earth is represented vnto vs. Purgatorie gaineth nothyng by this dayes action or such like but rather receaueth a blow for at such times there is alwaies iust occasioÌ„ ministred to speake against that foolish fable And as for this magnificence costes the Quenes maiesties act therin deserueth great coÌ„mendacion shewing her selfe therin a Prince of honor by doing the office of a Prince to the greatest Prince that raigned therby exercising the amitie that ought to be betwixt Christian Princes And that suche actes for Princes dead are with such circumstances lawfull and commendable may appere by the scriptures The prophet Ieremye rebuking king Ioachim saith thus Pater tuus nonne com edit et bibit et fecit iudicium et iustitiam et bene erat ei c â–ª Did not thy father saith he meaning good king Iâ—sias eate and drinke and dyd iudgement and iustice it went well with him What meaneth the Prophet by eatyng and drinking no man can liue without meate and drinke He meaneth that Iosias did not onely eate and drinke for necessitte but also vpon iust occasions made great roial feastes was sumptuous in other matters meete for hys estate but he ioyned withal iudgement iustice he destroied the monuments of idolatry he ministred iudgement to the idolatrous priests he ministred iustice to the oppressed to the widow and fatherles God was well pleased with him saith the prophet And so if the example of Iosias be folowed in the rest God wil not be offended with this And which is more special it is threatned to wicked kings by y e same prophet they shal not mourne for him alas y â— noble prince c. but as Asses shal they be cast abroade c. So that this our doing is an honour due euen by the scriptures to this worthy most noble prince Let no man here obiect diuersity of religion Ioseph dyd not refuse to take the Egiptians being of a diuers religion in his coÌ„pany to solemnize the burial of his father And Dauid sent a princely embassage to Hanon king of the Amonites to coÌ„fort him vpon the death of his father Naas I am of S. Augustines minde whatsoeuer saith he teÌ„deth to the edifieng or encrease either of faith or of charitye is commendable These kindes of actions bisides the entents before alledged tend to thincrease of charitie to the continuaunce and confirmation of vnitie concord and amity with a most noble and mighty prince our neighbour and therfore cannot but be coÌ„mended of al those that be louers of peace and vnitie But let this suffice of that matter Now resteth somthing to speake of the third part which is how a maÌ„ should prepare him selfe to die Wherin I entend to be very short bicause I haue speÌ„t much time in the former matters A very necessary matter it is for a maÌ„ to prepare him selfe to die wel and Christianly for in that resteth al. And therfore they are pronounced happy that dye in y e Lorde But this preparation must be made according to the direction of Gods woord not according to the deuise of mans phantasy In times past men made preparacioÌ„s afore death but God knoweth farre out of square Some redemed for money great plentye of Indulgencies from Rome and he that had the greatest plentie of them to bee cast with him into his graue when he was buried whiche I my selfe haue sene done was counted the best prepared for death Others made prouisions or foundacions to haue great number of Masses said for them after death thereby to be the sooner deliuered out of Purgatorie Other there were that thought it a more reasonable and speedye waye to quench the fire of Purgatory afore they fel into it and therfore they procured a great number of Masses Trentals to be said for them afore death Some of those y t haue bene learned the more was the pity haue died in an obseruant or gray Friars cowle and afterward bene buried in the same and so thought them selues well prepared But alas al these preparacioÌ„s were preposterous ParchmeÌ„t and leade Masses and Trentals were they before death or after the gray or blacke coulour of the Friars cowle were very slender matters of defence before Gods iudgement seate These thinges therfore being not onelye not commaunded of God but also tending to the diminishing of the efficacie and vertue of Christes crosse were more apte to kindle the vnquenchable fire of hel then to quenche the phantastical fire of Purgatorie which is no where It is not to be denied but our forefathers wer wise meÌ„ and in very many thinges highly to be commended yet lamentable it is to heare into what grosse errours superstitions they were caried by those that made a marchaundise of religion teaching thinges not conuenient for filthy lucres sake as S. Paule foreshewed To be briefe therfore as the time ouerspent requireth the true preparacioÌ„ to die well is to liue well A few wordes but a long lesson Saint Augustine hath a like saying Non potest male mori qui bene vixit et vix potest bene mori