our face c. But the godliest man that euer liued was neuer free from all those punishments that there are appointed for the transgressours of the lawe nor yet blessed with all those blessings in all thinges which are promised to them that keepe the lawe and therevppon we may safely conclude that the godliest man that euer liued did neuer fulfill the lawe For then surely the Lorde woulde haue stoode stedfast to his promise both to haue procured all these blessings promised vnto him and also to haue kept euerie part of those punishments from him whiche are appoynted for the transgressours of the commaundements of God. In this manner dothe the Apostle proue that righteousnesse commeth by the mercies of GOD taken holde on by faythe bycause the wrath of GOD is reuealed from heauen againste all vnrighteousnesse and vngodlinesse of men withholding the truth in vnrighteousnesse proceeding to the punishment of the Gentiles ▪ to declare what did befall them declaring also as concerning the Iewes that the name of GOD was euill spoken of for them that calamitie was in their wayes and that they had not knowne the way of peace taking his ground from the punishments that light vpon them to proue that they did holde the truth in vnrighteousnesse that their obedience did not aunswere vnto their knowledge whiche they had of GOD that they coulde clayme nothing in respect of their deedes whiche the Lorde from heauen had reproued by punishmentes brought in vppon them And therefore hee doth strengthen his former affirmation that the iust man shall liue by faythe which was his purpose to proue vnto them and vnto the whiche ende he directeth all his speache in those foure chapters In like manner the Apostle proueth to the Romanes that all men had sinne euen children that did neuer committe any actuall offence bycause death which is the punishment of sinne did take holde vpon all This one punishment therefore if there were no other may suffice to proue that no man euer did keepe the lawe bycause death whiche is a punishment for transgressing the lawe dothe seaze vpon all men of what estate degree or yeares so euer It is the reason of the Apostle in that place that bycause all had sinned therefore death came vpon all prouiding by the dealing of GOD against man in punishing of him that man had dealt against GOD in transgressing of his lawe and commaundements nay prouiding which is yet more that bicause GOD punished al men therefore euerie man hathe offended against him in transgressing his lawes and commaundementes so that there is no man that can say hee hath or doth fulfill the lawe For if it might in trueth be vttered of any man that hee were able to fulfill the lawe it might in like manner as truely bee affirmed and hoped for that the same man should neuer dye or chaunge this corruptible estate Wherefore then serueth the lawe May it stande with the righteousnesse of GOD to commaund any thing that we can not doe Or to make promises of lyfe for the keeping and obseruing of that which hee knewe assuredly wee coulde not perfourme Firste that the Lorde might righteouslye require that kynde of obedience at our handes though it were not possible for vs to perfourme it may bee proued heereby bycause we should haue had power to haue perfourmed it if wee had continued in that estate that he had lefte vs in Oure sinne therefore and weakenesse by the meane of sinne whiche is our owne offence can not nowe make that vnrighteous in GOD whiche before was righteous Our vnrighteousnesse and sinne can not make vs lesse indebted vnto GOD then before we were Is it not blasphemie to say that bycause we had offended more therefore the iustice of GOD should bee lesse then before it had beene Wee confesse it was iust before the fall of man to require all these duties at our hands bycause he had giuē vs power and abilitie to be able to performe them And can our sinne so pull in the iustice of GOD that nowe it shall no longer bee lawfull for him to keepe the same rule of equitie which he did obserue before Moreouer who can lett the Lorde who is indebted vnto no man to promise eternally lyfe vnder what deedes or couenauntes so euer seeme good vnto him Shall it be vnlawfull for a man who hath some portion of lande to sell to saye vnto a poore man who is not able to gyue halfe so muche as hee dothe offer to sell it for and as it is woorth in deede Thus muche I meane to haue for it of him who so euer shall inioy it Is it vnlawfull thus to price it bycause the pore man is not woorth so muche as will purchase it Dothe his pouertie make the lande of lesse value eyther else make it vnlawfull for him to require any thing like as the goodnesse of the ground doth deserue No man will thinke this to haue any equitie or right in it No more surely hath this other that our pouertie and want shoulde make it vnlawfull for the Lorde to esteeme the treasures of his kingdome aboue all the obedience that wee can perfourme and to set them at a greater price then this pouertie and want that wee are in shall euer bee able to reach vnto If it bee further demaunded what meaning the Lorde had in promising lyfe vnto vs for doing of that which hee knewe wee neuer coulde perfourme and bring to passe it is to bee aunswered that the Lorde did it to let vs who are so well persuaded by the nature of our owne abilitie see clearely into our pouertie and wante howe great it is that wee might haue true triall within our selues howe greatly wee are beholden vnto the free mercies of GOD in Iesus Christe When wee shall haue seene plainely by the lawe howe vnable wee are to perfourme that there is required to bee done of so many as hope for wages by reason of their woorke and that if wee will lay clayme to the mercyes of GOD for our woorkes wee remaine accurssed for euerie sinne and offence against the law committed by vs bycause it is the written sentence of the lawe that Hee is curssed that continueth not in all thinges that are written in the booke of the law to do them Then not from the bare speeche of our mouth but from the true tryall of our heart wee are sente to the mercies of GOD alone to stick wholy vnto them acknowledging all our goodnesse to proceede from thence alone and are compelled by the sense and feeling of our owne wantes made knowen vnto vs by the law to let passe all that opinion of our owne workes which we before were so well persuaded of As if some impotent and lame childe that were in deede able to doe nothing towardes the earning of his liueing beeing chargeable to his father not onely for him selfe but also for one that should giue attendaunce vnto him should in the foolish persuasion
and iust soeuer the cause be that might prouoke me thervnto It was a saying sometime of Asia that it was no prayse neuer to haue seene it but to haue liued temperately in Asia was praise worthie so many were the allurements so great was the intemperancie thereof I thinke we may nowe altering the words reteine the trueth of the matter if we should say it were no great matter neuer to haue seene the Courtes of Princes but to haue liued Christianly in those Courtes were a special work of Christ in his And therefore Madame as sometimes I spake in the hearing of your honour so nowe I say againe that where the assault of the aduersarie lyeth sorest against any there wisedome would that the instruments to beare off and to beate backe the same should be more in number and stronger in effect And for this cause we do reade that in the Courte of Israel the Prince himselfe who for the number and weight of affaires was as may be thought by some iust title to be priuileged aboue the rest might not be exempted from keeping this diligent watch and warde in his owne person by reading all the dayes of his life in the lawes of his God against the dangers that by reason of that place he was in great danger of diuers wherof after they are recited in Deuteronomie immediately the holy Ghost giueth the medicine for them whiche is to be occupied in the lawes of his God all the dayes of his life If any by daily meditation in the lawe of God shall thus exalt wisdome that is the word of God by making it the chief delighte of their heart beside the auoyding of these daungers and suche like there is a promise passed from the Lord that wisedome shall exalt them If they shall sett her in place and estimation aboue all other things she will requite it againe by aduauncing their honour and estate aboue the condition of others but if they shall make no more of her but as a common thing she wil answer them in like measure againe to leaue thē in place estimation with the common worst sort of men The honour therfore of aduauncement which all men are giuen to haue so great lyking of commeth neither from the East nor frō the West but from the Lord him self this true honour wayteth vpon all of them whom imploy them selues their countenance and their credite to honour and aduaunce this wisedome which is the worde of god Which thing that it may abound in you Madame daily more and more and in his honour to whome the Lorde hath ioyned you and that by the meanes thereof you may so continue your life as that you shall not feare to dye as in dutie I am for many benefites receiued moste bounden so I doe moste humbly craue it of our mercifull GOD to whose fatherly prouidence ceassing to adde any thing further and remayning to perfourme all duties from time to time that I shall bee enabled vnto I do most humbly committee your Honour ¿ ¿ Your honors moste humble to commaund in the Lorde Iohn Knewstub ⧠THE LECTVRES of Iohn Knewstub vpon the twentith chapter of Exodus and certeine other places of Scripture The first Lecture vpon the firste and seconde verse of the same Chapter THEN God spake al these words saying I am the Lord thy God 2 Which haue brought thee out of the lande of Aegypt out of the house of bondage IT hath alwayes beene and now is a frutefull trauaile of men to drawe arts and sciences plentifully laide out into briefe heads and some few general rules and principles not onely for memorie whiche in many and long discourses becommeth so intangled as it can hardly with any fruit get out but also for practise whiche of necessitie muste be so much the later as it shall be longer before we learne the matters to be practised and the slower we are in perusing matters to be done the slacker must we be in the performance therof But yet all this notwithstanding aswell reason as the practise of the learned might easily be auoided bicause all is but the reason and practise of man if the onely wise God had not leafte vnto vs the whole doctrine of Christianitie comprehended in verie fewe words examples whereof we haue diuerse bothe in the olde and newe Testamente whiche may be a sufficient warrant for enterprising thus briefly to comprehend Christianitie If any shall take exception against the preaching and opening of the lawe in this cleare lighte of the gospell calling it as it is called in the seconde Epistle to the Corinthes the ministerie of death the killing letter let him vnderstand that the holie ghost in the same place speaketh of the lawe without Christe what it worketh in our infirmitie whereas otherwise of the law being considered in the couenant that is in Christ it is truely saide by the Prophet in the Psalme The lawe of the Lorde is perfect conuerting the soule the statues of the Lorde reioyce the heart c. At the publishing of this lawe of God there was great terrour feare on euery side For as appeareth in this former chapter the mount Synai was all on smoke and the Lorde came downe vpon it in fier and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a fornace and all the mount trembled excedingly The people hearing the thunders and lightnings and the sounde of the trumpet seeing the mounteine smoking and feeling such terrible trembling and shaking of the earth fled and stoode a farre off making earnest suite vnto Moses that he would speake vnto them and that they might not heare the Lorde least they died so great was their feare and so woonderfully were they amased at the matter It was very requisite and necessarie that this maiestie of the lord should come in with the entrance of his worde For we are giuen to make small reckoning of it lightly to reiect the authoritie thereof For doe not thousands imagine that they sufficiently reuerence the maiestie of the Lord when notwithstanding they liue without all awe feare and reuerence of his word Nedeful therefore was it nay most necessary that the maiestie of the Lord should visibly come forth after a glorious maner at the deliuery of the word that men might vnderstand that the neglect of the worde is the contempt of the maiestie and honor of the Lorde For the Lorde hath coupled his honor and glorie to his word so that they can not neglect the one but that they must in so doing cōtemne and despise the other Those plentifull testimonies that are recited to the Hebrues to aduaunce the dignitie of Christe prouing his diuinitie and giuing him superioritie aboue the Angels are in the seconde chapter applied by way of exhortation to the reuerencing of his worde telling them that if the worde spoken by angels was ratified and that euery disobedience receiued a iust recompence of rewarde how could they
some fall to stealinge or seeking vnto witches wisemen or wisewomen as they call them to haue their griefes remedied and their wantes supplied others not vsing the same yet by one vnlawfull meanes or other winde them selues out of daunger not wayting by faith vpon the Lord vntill by lawfull meanes he procure their deliuerance This corruption also of the naturall man is no lesse euident when he is out of danger and hath ordinary meanes to maintaine him by For when a naturall man hath credit wealthe or freendes to compasse matters by either not at all doth he seek to God by prayer to prosper those meanes whiche he vseth either else if hee pray vnto him it is so coldely as that euery man may perceiue but especially his owne conscience may tell him that his hope ariseth rather from the meanes he hath then from the goodnes of God without whose blessing all helps are nothing yet for all that he findeth no fault with him selfe for want of faith but will protest that he taketh God to be his God and looketh for all things from him beleeuing as assuredly in him as the best of them all It is not greatly to bee merueyled at if the naturall man giue so much vnto the meanes for it cōmeth often times to passe that the Lorde is constrayned in dealinge with his Children to withdrawe something from the number or stength euen of his lawfull and ordinary meanes that the glorie may be wholy his A notable example wherof we haue in the booke of the Iudges where the Lorde caused Gedeon to send away the greatest parte of his men when hee shuld go to battail giuing the reason of his doing in these words The people that are with thee are to many for me to giue the Madianites into their handes lest Israel make their vaunt against me and say My handes haue saued me Thus corrupte is the estate that all men are borne in and in this estate doe all men contynue finding no faulte nor mislyking of the same saue that little flock of Christes that by the benefite of his death are exempted from it whome when it pleaseth God to call vnto the hope of euerlasting life by the meanes of his word he cleareth their wit and vnderstanding to conceiue the goodnes of this God to them warde hee purgeth their wil and affection to take comforte in it And therefore when meanes want they are not as the wicked altogether without hope running after vnlawfull meanes but waite better vppon their God and when they haue the ordinarie meanes whereby God vsually bringeth matters to passe they are careful in crauing the successe of it yea with inwarde persuasion of heart to finde no fruite but by his blessing The man that will truely examine himselfe in this commaundement muste well consider with himselfe what euil and vnlawfull shiftes he hath made throughout this life in his distresse and necessitie or what doubtes and feares of not beeing well and in due time prouided for haue arisen at any such in time his hart how tickle his nature is thervnto Likewise when hee hath had the vsuall meanes of Gods mercies he muste consider well how sparing and how colde he hath been in prayer to God for the successe of them which declareth that his trust was rather in them then in God the giuer of them Thus may he easily perceiue in what a miserable condition he should haue beene had not the mediatour and redeemer Christ Iesus aunswered the matter for him It is therefore required that after this māner he throughly examine his infirmitie and disobedience vntill he be truely humbled and brought to Christe to see the benefite of his death and passion how greate it is and how needful for him when by due examining of himselfe he doeth well vnderstand that he is wholy beholden vnto God for the benefite of his saluation because by the lawe they are accurssed that continue not in all things which are written in the booke of the law to doe them then is he forced to acknowledge that it is good right and reason that his life should be ordered after the pleasure and wil of him that by his death hath brought deliuerance vnto him from euerlasting death and destruction and the hope also of a blessed estate to continue for euer Whervpon he proceedeth not only to the misliking of this corrupt nature of his but also to the suppressing of it that it deale not as it was accustomed neither when it wanteth meanes nor yet whē it enioyeth thē calling earnestly vnto God by praier that he may so increase in faith that he may glorifie him in the obedience of this commaundement His profiting in this obedience how great soeuer is alwayes ioyned with true humilitie because hee wel vnderstandeth by the sight that he hath of him self that he standeth by the mercies of God in Christ alone because also he plainly perceiueth that his obedience is not without frailtie and manifolde infirmities cleauing vnto it as his obedience is not with out humility so his falles infirmities ar not without grief vexatiō of hart whilst he seeth in them the dishonour and obedience of that God of whose free goodnes he holdeth al that he hath or hopeth for A great number persuade thē selues that their faith is perfect inough no want in it at all whē notwithstāding in their necessities distresses they are all ready to doubt distrust of cōfort as if they had neuer heard of the Gospell nor learned any thing of the promises made vnto the faithfull Nay which more is they shall no sooner be in any distresse but they are as farre from hope in God and as redy to helpe them selues by one euill shift or other as those ciuil men which haue no religion in them at all And all this notwithstāing they cannot see nor be brought to acknowledge any want in their faith Let a man bee broughte something behinde hand as we say either by losse that he hath had in his sheepe or cattle or by meanes of euill creditors with whome hee hath hadd dealinges and by and by he wil be ready to imagine that he shall not be able to liue vnlesse he vtter his commodyties at a greater price then before he hath done when notwithstanding hee hath gone as farre before as conscyence coulde in any respect giue him leaue Hee thinketh that his former decay doth priuiledge and make lawfull this kinde of dealing and vnderstand by the way that in all this purpose practise he receiueth not any suspition that there should be any wante of faithe or weakenesse in that behalf when as in very deed then is there true tryall of our faith if in our necessitie wee shall thereby stay vs from euill meanes in hope to haue vs prouided for according to his promise albeit we see not any likelyhood therof so far as our reason can reache For in faith there is hope beyonde hope
almightie creator And if there be acknowledgement of superioritie ouer vs to the thing that we shal sweare by as is witnessed by the holie Ghoste then as we may not sweare by Heauen Earthe or any other creature muche lesse may wee by Masse Mattens Roode or such like we will put the honour of the Almightie vpon them and take them as our God who onelie hath superioritie ouer vs to iustifie righteousnesse and to bring the wickednesse of the wicked vpon his head whiche thing in our othe we do acknowledge to belong vnto him by whōe we sweare When Almightie God promiseth by his Prophet Hosea to receiue the Israelites to fauour again after their affliction he saith that he wil take away the names of their Idols out of their mouth thei shuld be no more remēbred by their names These things may suffice to teach vs that the Lord cannot beare the dishonour of his name but will haue that vpholden in honour and reuerence without suffering it either to lie open vnto the cōtempt of godlesse persons or vnto the spoyle of Idolaters who breaking it vpon his glorie do beautifie and set out his creatures with the ornamentes thereof This commaundement likewise reacheth particularly to all of them whiche neglecte any of those meanes that God hath commaunded vs to vse either for the welfare of our soule or bodie For the wordes and workes of his wisedome may not be refused as vaine needelesse but must with all humilitie be imbraced that in our so doeing his wisdome may be honoured who hath appointed those to be the meanes whereby he will conueye his mercie towards vs the neglect whereof chargeth the Lord with want of wisedome in ordeyning them Here falleth to the grounde the wicked and blasphemous opinions of the Anabaptistes Libertines and the feigned Familie of loue who are growen to suche a magnifying of grace brought as they say by the reuelation of the spirit as the wisdome of God in his worde is of small or no account with them in deede but as if it were a needeles matter or had no certeintie in it it is wholy transformed into their spirite made to speake accordingly The nature of man is in this cōmandement corrupted as in the rest doing the thinges which he doeth to God without all awe and feare of his word It behoueth the man therfore that wil truely trie him selfe to searche into his life and wel to consider what manifest contempte there hathe beene in him of the name and honour of God in stubbernely standing againste the authoritie of his word while he hath willingly neglected to be admonished and aduised thereby what contempt of his honour he hath giuen forth in common swearing and vsual oathes that either directly or indirectly reach to the glorie of God euen to the wounding of him in the same Moreouer it behoueth him to consider what carelesnesse there hath beene and what little regard in his best doings to haue them so soundly throughly done as vnto the honour of God doth apperteine where the diligent paines carefull and through dealing in matters that touch his owne name shal be a sufficient light to disclose his halting with the lord For the corruption of mans heart is so great and so hidden that all meanes almost are to few to vtter it therfore it is requisite that we vse al the meanes we may in that behalfe Let a man in this examination wel consider whether there hath beene any suche feare or care to auoide things forbidden and to do things commanded him by the word wherein consisteth the glorie of God as there hath ben while his own honor is in hand and his owne name called to question at any time whether he hath delt in dueties appointed him by God with feare and care lest the Lorde through his infirmitie shuld be foyled his name dishonoured whiche coulde not haue beene wanting if his owne estimation had beene in hazarde that he may be brought to the sight of his Sonne For when it pleaseth God to cal any to the hope of his kingdome hee letteth them see their corruption to be so great in these and suche other kindes of dishonor that they haue done vnto him as that their harte is forced to appeale vnto the mercie of God fastening themselues to it vtterly giuing ouer their owne obedience Whiche mercie of God they so stay vppon and are so comfortable in that it prouoketh them no longer to neglect the name and glorie of their God but with all reuerence to submit themselues to the gouernement of his word alwayes endeuouring to better their obedience towardes his lawe because it tendeth to the glorie of his name wherein howe greate so euer their profiting be yet this corruption whiche cleaueth so fast vnto them cānot but continue in them stil an humbled and lowly harte euen in all their blessings while they clearely perceiue them by the sight of their corruption to be the vndeserued graces and gyftes of their god Their offending also whatsoeuer cannot be without the great grief of their hart because they see it to be with the dishonour of him who hath abased himselfe to the deathe of the Crosse to worke the honour and aduauncement of them We are therefore brethren diligently to learne to waxe wearie of those wayes that would depart from the reuerence and honouring of the Lord in not fearing to offend againste his word because it is written He that despiseth the worde he shal be destroyed but he that feareth the commandement shal be rewarded Let vs learne to become careful in the duties which are appointed vs by the worde for the Lorde will not holde them guiltlesse that are secure therein We can not beare good heart vnto the Lord if we let his honour fall to the ground among vs it is his mercie that doth vouchsafe vs this fauour to be trusted with his honour Can it want then iust reproche if we shal be tried to be senselesse in this point It drewe teares from Dauid that the wicked kept not his lawe can we see our owne liues and the liues of those committed vnto vs wandring from the wayes of life and hungerly in the contempt of the worde pursuing after death and yet for all that neuer to be touched with it especially seeing the dishonour of our God dependeth vpon it It should vexe vs that the gospell hathe beene so long time with so litle fruite among vs that the instruments of his grace that haue gayned so many in former times vnto God shuld not only not preuail in many but euen receiue discredite and dishonour among men and that the litle fruite appearing in our liues shoulde call into question the veritie of Gods gospel being in fruite and effect so vnlike in many vnto that it hathe beene in former times A Christian should go to the dueties laide vpon him by the word with the like minde that a good souldiour goeth
is there declared he must be solde Thus did the iust God in the olde Testament by lawes made for that purpose and punishments appointed accordingly declare his hatred of the euill and in what reckoning it commeth before his iudgement seate that we might take light at his iudgement howe to discerne of theft and how to iudge of this kynde of hatred towardes our neighbour that bewrayeth it selfe in so vniust dealing with his goods The loue that wee muste shewe foorth towardes our neighbour by dealing well with his goods may not only be seene in this law so sharply punishing the thefe for his want of loue euidently appearing in his theft and iniurie cōmitted but also in the lawe made for him that should borrow any of his neighbours goods Which lawe did very well prouide for faithfull dealing with it in punishing the contrarie so sharply as his vnfaythfulnesse howe great so euer should gaine him nothing at all For thus it is written in Exodus If a man borrowe ought of his neighbour and it be hurt or else dye the owner thereof not being by hee shall surely make it good If it be an hyred thing he shall not make it good it came for his hyre It appeareth here plainly that the owner must haue his losse made good of the borrower vnlesse his owne eyes could testifie that the hurt or losse thereof came not through any default of the borrower But he that shall lend for hyre must stand to the aduenture of the principall if it decay The reason is rendred bicause it came for hyre and not of loue alone as did the thing borrowed And therefore the reason is good why hee should not be charged in this case as the borrower to make good that which he hath hired being hurt or dead Marke well I pray you this lawe of God for lending and hyring that the borrower must make good things borrowed if they decay but not the hyrer Marke it well I say for this is the ground of many thinges that are to be spoken of hereafter The equitie of this lawe bringeth great light to discerne of the vsuries that are so common at these dayes In things borrowed it appeareth by this lawe that only the hurt or death of the goods was prouided for Here is then no helpe for mony that is borrowed or lent which perisheth not with vse but is still of the same value and worth that it was at the first deliuerie of the same Besides that if it were worsse for the vse there is no more required but to make the decay of it good Howe then can those who lend their monie to vsurie whiche decayeth not with vse clayme any thing aboue that which was deliuered By this lawe of lending their recompence was commaunded onely in this title that the thing by lending was certeinly knowne to be impayred Howe dare then the vsurers claime a right of recompence vnder none other title but that it was likely with the vse thereof that they might in that time thus and so greatly haue gained It is the equitie of God to require no recōpence for the vse of things that are the worsse with vsing so long as there appeareth no casuall hurt as we call it of the whole What equitie then must it be that for thinges not worsse with vse contenteth not it selfe no not with the whole Here in this law of God good wil is no better recompenced but that it be no looser Shall a couetous desire then so richly be requited as that it shall bee sure alwayes to come home a gayner By this equitie of God when it is certeinly knowen that by the vse of the thing borrowed the borrower hath good gaine yet doth the almightie allowe no returne of commoditie to the lender for that gayne By what equitie then can the vsurer clayme gaine for the vse yea oftentimes when it is certeine there is no gaine gotten at all By this lawe of GOD the lender could neuer gayne for there is no other prouiso made but for his principall by ouer practise he is euer assured of gayne By that lawe the borrower was assured of the gaine that was to returne to him by this practise the lender is oftentimes the whole gayner If it be graunted that this lawe of God in borrowing and lending haue in it any equitie this practise in borrowing and lending of monie must bee condemned of playne wrong and iniurie as directly standing against the same If this dealing shall feare the strict iustice of borrowing and lending and seeke couert vnder the libertie of thinges let out to hyre it is also shut out there and findeth worsse interteynment For hyred thinges bycause they goe for hyre haue not the ordinarie allowaunce of the principall if they shall decay which borrowed thinges iustly claime bicause they come freely and without hire therfore the law that we had of hyred thinges handleth the vsurer more hardly thā that law of borrowing lending For here bycause of his hyre he hath no holde of the principal if it decay Thus if it should be graunted that monie may be hyred which I thinke neuer can be proued yet must it bee with hazard of the principall according to the equitie of this lawe That by the equitie of this lawe which is the equitie of God it can haue no better allowance if it shall bee proued lawfull to let it out for hyre then to stande to the daunger and decaye of the principall these reasons will plainely proue The goods whiche naturally yeald commodities in the vse of them to him that possesseth them as sheepe and suche other muste stand to the aduenture of decay if they be hyred therefore muche more must they doe so which naturally and of them selues yeald no commodities The goodes that in yealding their commodities doe spend and we are away them selues are contented with their hyre and lay no clayme to haue the whole repayred By what iustice then may goodes that are neuer a whit the worsse for wearing besides their hyre binde a man to vphold the whole If it bee equitie that those goodes which naturally of them selues yeald by vse a certeine gayne should not be charged with the daunger of decay it is against all equitie that those things which neyther of them selues nor yet with like certentie yeald the commoditie should beside their hire haue the whole vpholden To conclude if those goods which by all mens iudgement may most lawfully haue consideration for their vse be not better considered it seemeth to me good reason why those goods which the most thinke are not at all to haue hyre for their vse and all men thinke they may not so iustly require it as the other should hold them selues well contented whē their allowance is as good as theirs is whiche best do deserue it If any man shall replie and say that some of great deseruing in the Church of God men of singular learning and iudgement haue thought and