it suffise thée to kéepe lawes so farforth as all thinges be not trod vnder foote For this is the greatest wisedome not to know what lawe and equitie is but to know that wisedome is not followed nor obeyed in this worlde This lyfe will not abyde to haue all thynges done right The summe therefore of this place is not to put any trust in our strength but to rule by wisedome which oftentymes kéepeth all things vpright in a kyngdome where force and violence marreth all Why so Because there is no mā on the earth that doth good and sinneth not MArke this alway the Salomon speaketh of things vnder the sunne and of such thinges as may be donne Neyther informeth he here mens consciences chieflie but teacheth quietnes of mynde in difficulte matters of this world Therfore he addeth expressely on the earth vnderstanding worldly iustice and such offēces as we make one against the other as if he should say Why goest thou about to haue all thinges donne straightly according to lawe It shall neuer be that all thinges shall be aright If thou wilt lyue in the common weale thou muste winke at many thinges thou must not knowe many thinges to the ende thou mayst obserue some iustice Looke vpon thy selfe and thou shalt sée how many tymes thy selfe doost vniustly so not without a cause offendest many Therfore séeme not too iust because thou sinnest and offendest in many ihinges So Christ in the seuenth of Mathew sayth Thou seest a mote in thy neighbours eye and considerest not the beame in thine owne although there he speaketh of heauenly iustice If we would looke on our selues at home thē surely we should fynde these defectes that iustly offende others This thing surely ought to admonish vs not to be so seuere Iudges towarde others nor to iust exactours of others Iustice For hereof it commeth that such rigorous exactours are manye tymes most vitious men They haue no affection of mercy and compassion they are greuous and intollerable both toward them selues and others Salomon therefore meaneth that we should not be angrie though we sée things donne that offende vs For we our selues alwayes doe not that we ought At many thinges we must winke and beare with them For as it is the propertie of the righteousnes of fayth and spirituall Iustice to beare with the weake and gently to enfourme them so it belōgeth to ciuile iustice wherof he speaketh in this place to beare with others defaultes so that there ought to be a mutuall bearing and suffring one with an other Cicero in his booke of frendship will haue nothing dissembled in frendeship And Erasmus in his Moria will haue all the faultes of our frendes corrected There be also speculations of most passionate men Fooles will gouerne the worlde with bookes not perceauing how no man is able to perfourme that is prescribed So the Stoikes fayned most foolishly a wyse man without sence being themselues greuous to all men It remayneth therefore that we winke and beare one with an other For there is no man but offendeth and doth that that greueth an other Take not heede vnto euery worde that is spoken least thou heare thy seuaūt curse thee For thine owne hart knoweth that thou thy selfe also hast often tymes spoken euill by other men EVen as I sayd to thée touching the experience of thine owne sight so say I also touching the hearing of other men In déede thy familye must be gouerned and the wicked must be punished If thou canst amend or redresse no farther let it alone The wicked shall not goe vnpunished For this is a true prouerbe or saying thou doest not clerely runne from the hangman for God is the hangeman him selfe Least thou perhappes here thy Seruaunt cursse thee THere are some so curiouse in them selues that they will hunte out all mens sayings and signes in so much that they will harken at the windowes and péepe in at the creuesses of the walles to heare what euery body speaketh of them To whom it iustly falleth out to heare that of their owne familye that gréeueth them Therefore if thou wilte geue eare to euery bodyes taulke looke to heare euen thine owne householde to speake euill of thée Yea perhappes when thou thinkest not of it For as thou shalt trye and proue many thinges so shalt thou heare many thinges that thou wouldest not so that thou shalt not néede curiously to harken what euery body sayth Neyther be thou therfore by and by angry take weapon in hand but make light of them cosidering that thy selfe also hast offended others in many thinges If Iupiter shoulde throw foorth his thunderboltes as often as men deserue them he would in short space be left weapōles as Horace sayth Therefore these two thinges are necessary in the gouernaunce of the world The lawe maker and the Qualifier of the lawe The lawe maker to order and gouerne the comon weale by wholsome lawes The Qualifier of the lawe to applye them rightly and to vse them prudently according to tyme place and persons c. And a Moderator of the lawe is more necessary in the comon weale then a lawe maker as we may sée by the example of our owne howses A wyse housholder appointeth euery seruaunt his dutie his tyme and place to doe it in moreouer he appoynteth meate drynke and clothing for men seruaunts and mayde seruauntes But it chaunceth that his seruaunt falleth sicke Here the lawe must be broken and tyme must be serued He will not require his taske of the sicke body He prepareth for him better meate drynke and more handsome lodging then for the rest c. And he is discharged of his taske For els his maister shoulde be a foolyshe man and an vngodly So here the appointment of the lawe is dashed because the person is chaunged Therfore if we many tymes depare frō the lawe and offende in our sayinges doinges let vs beare with the same in others All these thinges haue I proued by wysedome for I thought I would be wise but it wēt the farther from me It is farre of What may it be And it is a profounde deepenes Who can finde it HE alleadgeth his owne experience declaring what heretofore hath happened vnto him while he wente aboute to search these things I instruct thée saith he by myne owne example I teach y to leaue of this precise wisdome that wisdome a wise man be not all one I was cōpelled to learne these things by experience when I would go about to be wise and bring all the worlde to be ruled by my straight lawes But nothing succeded lesse Therefore these two as I sayde are necessary for the lyfe of man a lawemaker and a moderator of lawe this one aswel as that other Euen as it is not inough for a wagener to haue good horses and to knowe what waye to goe vnlesse he gouerne well his wagen in the way as he goeth
Thou art a preacher or minister of the word of God continue in reading the Scripture and in teaching be not drawen to any other trade before the Lord draw thée For whatsoeuer the Lord doth not say or commaūde profiteth not which thing he proueth by his owne experience saying I sawe the swifte preuayled not by running and many strong men which yet lost the victory I sawe also many notable wyse mē haue litle successe many diligent and good gouernours which litle preuayled It lies not in the person how industrious or witty soeuer he be Many tymes the strong are ouercōmed in warre of the weake and many tymes great hostes are slayne by small number of men because the matter consisteth not in strength So Troye was a most impregnable thing wāting neyther strēgth nor power and yet was it subdued and ouerthrowen For the tyme was come that God had ordeyned it should so be By the lyke reason in the yeares passed the Emperour tooke and vanquished the kyng of Fraunce notwithstanding he farre passed him in strēgth of mē Where he saith that running helpeth not the swifte it is an Hebrew phrase for with them to rūne is to beare office as Paul to the Corinthians So runne I not as at an vncertaine thing Agayne I haue fynished my course To be had in fauour it helpeth not to be cunning THat is many are skilfull in artes good learning and yet they are not regarded no man séeth to them or taketh care for them So with vs the worde is plentifull there are many good wyttes and yet we can not bring all men to the fayth and yet not withstanding we must not leaue of from preaching the Gospell For God raigneth euen in weakenes he shall gouerne our doinges bring them to passe The Lorde is able to kindle a greate fyer flame so we will preserue sparcles We are also meruelously troubled and vexed in our myndes about getting our liuing One because he would be rich becōmeth a Printer and loe he consumeth that he hath It is not therefore sufficient to be wise and industrious For many singular wyttes and excellent artificers are vtterly despised This is it he sayth The Successe of all thinges dependeth on fortune THat is I cā not determine or apoint what successe I shall haue when I haue donne all I can Doo thou onely that is thy duetye God shall finde a tyme to vse thy labour We cā not iudge of these thinges we must labour but appointe no ende and effect of our woorking Man knoweth not his tyme but as the fyshes which are takē with the angle as birdes that are catched with springesse so are they snared in the perelous tyme when it cometh svddenly vpon them VNderstand this tyme to be not onely the very end of life but euery hower and occasion as if he should say Thou must labour although thou know not what will followe thereof Therfore applie thy selfe to learning and if God so appoint he will giue thy study fruite and successe The lyke we must do in all other trades exercises of lyfe labouring and commytting all successe vnto god For the tyme of successe is not reuealed to vs. And as fishes c. WYth two feate similitudes he proueth that most tymes matters fall out cōtrary to our deuises and wéening the fishe is desirous of meate deuoureth the hooke The byrdes lykewise without all feare goe on féeding and thinke no thing of the grynne and sodenly they are caught So we when we haue chosen and hoped for that we thinke good are deceaued And when we thinke euil is toward then goodnes is at hand And we rushe in to those thinges which afterwarde we can not get out of in such a wyse as we perceaue not how we be circumuented And all this commeth to passe because we knowe not the tyme and hower So that experience teacheth vs how thinges are not ordered by our deuises but most tymes against them And hence procedeth the saying of misfortunat folke I thought not it would haue so fallen out This wisdome also haue I seene vnvnder the Sunne and me thought it a great thinge There was a lyttle Citie and a fewe men within it So there came a great kinge and beseeged it made great fortes against it and in the Citie there was found a pore mā but wise which through his wisdōe deliuered the Citie Yet was there no body that had any respecte vnto such a simple man Then sayde I wysedome is better then strength Neuertheles a poore mās wysdome is despised his wordes are not heard I suppose that this is set after his cōclusion in stead of an example whereby he declareth all that he hath sayde before It is a generall example the lyke whereof is foūde in many histories For thus in the ix Chapter of the Iudges a woman deliuered the Citie saying Abimelech the king with a peece of a mylstone He calleth it great wysedome because indeede that wisedome of gouernaunce is very greate that delyuereth a litle Citie of small force frō valyaunt enemyes But to forget this wisedome and so great benefites as most times it happeneth is greate vnthankfulnes Thus Themistocles employed many benefites vpon his Countrey men but he founde greate ingratitude for the same Thus Dauid benifited all Israell so did Salomon But afterward forgetting so great benefites tenne of the Trybes forsooke the house of Dauid Wherefore to pleasure and benefit the worlde is nought els but to lose our benefites and to cast golde into durt and Pearles before hogges The best is therefore to be mery and to labour for the tyme present casting of all care of things to come For it were better that my benefites perished then I to perish with my benefit also as sayth Phaedria in the comedye entituled Eunuchus And no man remembred the man. IN déede the wyse mans wordes were heard while he gaue good counsell but that done he was by and by forgotten The tenth Chapiter The wordes of the wyse are more heard in quietnes then the crye of him that ruleth among fooles THe effect of this place is to comfort and exhort them which are troubled with worldly affaiers next to rebuke those which are a let and hindraunce that wise and godly mens counsels goe not forward as he beganne with the example of a poore man that wisely brought a great matter to passe but assoone as the benefite was past it was forgotten For all present estate of men as was sayde before is despised Therfore Salomō perceauing this matter sayth weary not your selues you cā bring the world to none other passe nor yet the men therein If matters procéede according to your good deuise commytte them vnto God. The wordes of the wyse are hearde in quietnes c. THe wordes of the wise are not regarded therefore they are compelled to harken to the wordes of a foolishe ruler The crying of a
vexe thēselues with care of things absent Or if they haue any vse of their goods it is but bitter vnpleasaunt Cicero that great eloquent man had beene maruelous happy if he had knowen well how to haue vsed this quietnes but the miserable man desirous still of higher aduauncement to set forward his owne wayes deuises depriued himselfe of many great bēnefites and was the cause of his owne calamitie and destruction Well therfore doth S. Augustine say Thou hast appointed O lord that that man which is not contented with his owne estate and cōdition shal haue a vexed troubled minde for his punishment And if a man would compare the goodes that he hath with the euils that he hath not he should at length perceaue what a treasure of goodes he possessed He that hath his eye sight cleare and good maketh no great accompt therof nor is not much delighted with Gods benefits but if he wanted eyes he would giue all the goodes he had to haue them Thus fare we in health all other lyke thynges If God would giue me the eloquēce that Cicero had the power of Cesar the wisedome of Salomon yet should I not be contented Bycause we alwayes seeke after that we haue not If we lack a wife we seeke for one When we haue her we lothe and despise her We be all together lyke vnto quickesiluer which in no place can stand still in rest So inconstant is the mynde of mā being therfore vnworthy to enioy any one of Gods benefites Agaynst this wretched affections of mā doth Salomon in this booke inuey reprouyng the inconstancie vanitie of mās hart which enioyeth neither his goodes present nor yet them to come bycause he doth not acknowledge the benefites he hath receaued nor geeueth thankes to God for them and vaynely seeketh after the thyngs he hath not which is as one should hang betwene heauen and earth The first Chapter ¶ The Preacher or oration of the son of Dauid King of Hierusalem THe tytle of Ecclesiastes or Preacher I thinke is rather to bée referred to the name of the booke then to the authour therof because we must vnderstand that these wordes were openly pronounced by Salomon in some assembly of his Lordes and others For where he was a kyng it was not his dutie or office to preach but the Priestes Leuites Wherfore I iudge these things were spoken by Salomon in some company and hearing of his counsellers and Courtyers eyther at some banquet or after the banquet when diuers of his nobles and men of honour were present hauing long tyme before mused and studyed of the state and condition of these wordly affayres or rather vayne affections and so as it fell out when they were all present spake and vttered the same And that afterward some of the rulers of the Cōminaltie or clergie noted them and gathered them togither In so much that in the end of the booke they confesse they receaued these things of one Shepherd or Pastor and digested them in this order As if some one of vs sitting at a table should discourse of mans affaires other being present writing what were sayd So that this booke is a publike Oration which they heard Salomō make of the which Oration they thought good to call this booke Coheleth that is to say the Preacher Not that Salomon was any Preacher but for that the booke maketh as it were a publicke Sermon ¶ All is but most vaine vanitie sayth the Preacher HEtherto after a sort we haue vnderstand the summe end of this booke Now the greatest difficultie hereafter will be in the Hebrew wordes and figures wherwith Salomōs bookes of all others doe chiefly abounde For Salomon hath a singular kynde of speakyng séeking to sence more elegant then his father Dauid as hauing his communication more beutified with flowers and figures then hys He speaketh not lyke the common sorte but like a Courtyer Dauids talke is more playne and yet wanteth not all maner of vsuall figures But Salomon vseth none but a Courtly kinde of talke And as Courteours vse to corrupt the natiue speach of their predecessours specially in writing so Salomon because he would not seeme to speake as the cōmon sorte vse differeth far from his fathers plainnes of speach and from Moses who of all others is most plaine and yet hath many notable figures in him as hath also Dauid but they are common and vsed figures Most vayne vanitie THis an Hebrew phrase For where the Hebrues haue no superlatiue nor comparatiue degrée they are constrained by way of compounding to make their superlatiue and comparatiue degrées So they vse to call a most excellent and singular song the song of songes as Salomon hath done A vanitie of vanities that is the greatest vanitie that can bée that is nothing els but vanitie All this he speaketh not against the creatures thēselues but against the hart of man that abuseth the creatures to his owne hinderaunce And this repetition vanitie of vanities and all thinges are vayne is Salomons peculiar copiousnes In this beginning he placeth the Theeme as it were an argument of hys whole booke wherof he meaneth to intreat saying that he wyll speake of the greatest vanitie that is how mē are most vaine in all their deuises because they be not satisfied with thinges present which they vse not nor can not enioy thynges absent They turne euen the best things into misery and vanitie through their owne default and not through fault of the thinges What hath a man of all the labour he taketh vnder the Sunne BVt vanitie That is to say men are led and drowned with their owne deuises and in all their enterprises what get they naught els but vanitie because their labour is vayne It auayleth nothing For they neyther enioy things present nor absent because their mynde is not quiet so they are caryed betwéene heauen and earth and preuaile nothing For this word vanitie properly signifieth that that we cal nothing They heape vp treasures riches and séeke to be of power c. And all these are nothing Golde in deede is a thyng but to thée that canst not vse it it is nothyng That he saith of all his labour must be vnderstoode as spoken with a kinde of vehemēcie For hereby he declareth that he will not intreate of Gods workes which are holy and wholesome as are all his creatures but of mans workes which are led and borne about with their owne wayes and deuises meaning hereby to represse their calamitie and toylefull trauels Neyther speaketh he of the labour of our handes commaunded by God Gen. 3. In toyle and labour shalt thou eate thy bread but of our owne wayes and deuises whereby we goe about to bring to passe that séemeth good in our eyes For the word Amal signifieth misery and calamitie rather then labouring euen such a kinde a labour as men afflicte
that I teach any rebellion or slacknes in doing our duetye All these things haue I considered and haue geuen my mynde vnto euery worke that is vnder the sūne and I sawe how one man hath lordshipp ouer an other to his owne harme NOw returneth he to his Register repeating againe the miseries of mans vanitie Among all these thinges that I haue rehearsed I haue séene this the man hath power ouer man to his owne hurt This is to be referred to the person that is subiect that is it commeth to passe many tymes that Tyrantes beare the rule and their rule tendeth to the afflicting of the subiectes And yet notwithstanding their commaundement must be fulfilled and no tumult or busines to be made for although the Prince were a good man yet hath he no thanke and not onely he is not thanked but men also become the worse euen lyke as the commons in these dayes being deliuered from the Byshop of Rome his lawes and bondage All men desire to haue tyranny taken away but when they are deliuered they can not abyde in that state neyther He graunteth therefore that magistrates are euill in punishing of subiectes but that they are notwithstanding to be borne and suffered Lykewise I sawe the wicked buryed which walked in the holy place and they were forgotten that they had so behaued themselues This also was a vanitie THe like place is in Amos the 6. chap. Woe be to the riche in Sion which proudly enter into the house of Israell To enter into the Church or house of God is an Hebrew phrase signifiyng one that beareth office or rule ouer the people of God as in the 22 of Deuteronomy the Ammonites are forbidden to enter into the house of God that is to beare any rule in the cōmon weale of the Iewes For the Ammonites were suffered to be among the Iewes but not to beare any office So likewise in this place They were in the holy place that is to say they were rulers in the commō weale Therefore he sayth I saw the wicked buryed THat is how tyrauntes dyed and good Princes succéeded as Dauid did after Saule was dead But the wicked once deliuered from their tyrāny forget their deliuery Thus men acknowledge not their benefites So we by and by had forgotten our good Prince Frederike the author of peace No man remembreth what benefites they got by him from what mischiefes he deliuered them We alwayes desire chaunge neglecting and forgetting thinges present All these thinges Salomon speaketh to this ende that we may learne to know this world and wysely to vse the foolishnes therof Therfore this booke new rulers ought chiefely to reade on who hauing theyr heades troubled with diuers opinions thinke to rule the world after their owne deuises and will exacte the vttermost of all men But these men ought first to haue learned to know the worlde namely how it is vniust stubborne disobedyent vngracious and to cōclude vnkinde Let them geue God thankes if they can bryng but the hundreth parte to the obseruing of their lawes So our Sectaries are not content with the present goodnes of God with the preaching of fayth and grace of the gospell but will disturbe all the worlde with newe and vayne opinions Therefore Salomons counsell is to teach vs their vanity and to withstand it as much as in vs lyeth Howbeit those whom we are not able by our admonishmentes to conuerte vnto the fayth and to kéepe in the same we must bid a dieu For the euill are made euen obstinate and the worse with continuall punishement Therfore he sayth Because sentence agaynst an euyll worke is not executed speedely therfore the hart of the children of mē is fully set in them to doe euill THis may be two wayes expounded Actiuely thus that is the wicked holde on in doing euil because their punishement is deferred Because God taketh not vengeaunce by and by as men doe therefore they waxe the prouder Passiuely thus we that sée how such goe vnpunished are filled with many euils we take indignation we are ouercome with tediousnes and cease from doyng well For both these thinges punishmēt put of bringeth to passe First it maketh vs obstinate and the worse nexte it maketh other also that sée these thinges the slacker to doe their duties Both senses are good But though a sinner offend an hundreth tymes and God prolong hys dayes yet I know that it shall goe well with them that feare the lord and doe reuerence before him But it shall not be well to the wicked neyther shall he prolong his dayes he shall be lyke a shadowe because he feareth not God. NOw he comforteth not man but the godly hart For man can not abyde this nor suffer such ingratitude Neither could Dauid beare with foolishe Nabat but purposed to kill him in his cogitatiō in the first of the kinges the .25 He saith therfore learne onely to know the world Thou canst not redresse or amende it shee will not yelde to thee thou must yelde to her that thou mayst know it is ingratefull and vnmyndefull of all pleasures and benefites knowing thys thou shalt doe well This therefore is that he woulde say by these wordes though a sinner offēd an hundreth tymes that is though his punishment be deferred and his vniust dealing not reuenged yet shall he be punished in tyme to come It cā not be chosen but such vngrateful persons must be punished Therfore be not thou so hasty to iustifye and make good the worlde or to be reuenenged of all men Holde thy selfe well apayde if thou canst conuerte but the thousandth parte thereof and make it thankefull Let the worlde sinne and not thou For it shall not escape vengeaūce no more then the Iewes which murthered the Prophetes Christ escaped the punishment of Vespasiane ¶ And his dayes shall not be prolonged IT séemeth the punishment of the wicked is long differred specially to those that are afflicted but when the day and punishmēt of the wicked commeth it séemeth thē to vs all to soone As Iob saith That the day of the wicked commeth suddenly And in the 54. Psalme Wicked men shall not lyue out halfe theyr dayes that is where they alwayes take enterprises in hand and hope after many thinges they dye before they bringe halfe their purposes to passe ¶ There is a vanitie also which is done vpon the Earth that is there be righteous men to whom it happeneth as if they did the workes of the wicked and there be also wycked to whom it commeth as if they did the workes of the iust I sayd This also is a vanitye THese two thinges greately offend the mynde of man that the punishment of the vnthankfull is differred and the good are entreated and dealte with all as if they were wicked good men hated and enuied and the wicked had in estimation and reuerenced And yet dayly so it commeth to passe