againe unto the Fold hee hath a Hooke as well as a Whistle And therefore as touching the later Children may likewise bee corrected Prov. 19.15 The Rod saith the Wiseman giveth wisedome but a Childe set at libertie maketh his mother ashamed Chasten thy sonne therefore Pro. 23.13 while there is hope and let not thy soule spare for his murmuring If thou smite him with the Rod he shall not die Thou shalt smite him with the Rod and shalt deliver his Soule from Hell The Caution then must bee this Not to make Food of that which should be ministred onely as Physicke Our Rebukes must bee milde and our corrections moderate Sweet Bals are best to scowre away the Dirt and behold the proceedings of our heavenly Father towards his children may serve all earthly Fathers for a Precedent whereby to fashion their practise towards theirs Hee never is so farre incensed against his as utterly to withdraw from them his fatherly kindnesse and compassion If they forsake my Law Psal 89.31 saith hee and walke not in my judgements If they breake my Statutes and keepe not my Commandements I will visit their transgression with the Rod and their iniquity with strokes I will not yet take from them my loving kindnesse nor falsifie my truth Wee must not guide the reines with too rigorous and stiffe a hand Metus hand dinturni Magister officii saith the Orator Feare is but a bad Tutor and whatsoever lesson he teacheth it is quite forgotten when we come to libertie And thus from the Persons in whose behalfe this Prohibition was awarded we follow our Apostle to the Reason upon which it is grounded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Least they should bee discouraged It is drawne from the inconvenience which usually followes this Act of provocation And this by the word in the originall is manifested to bee wondrous great For it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which implies three notable Evils The first is a Heavinesse of the minde whereinto children specially if they be godly religious are cast by this unseasonable severity of their Parents and from hence arise in them sundry sicknesses and diseases by which Nature is enfeebled and many times even life it selfe is abridged For as a Moth is to the garment Pro. 25.20 or a Worme to the wood so is Sadnesse to the Heart saith Salomon Parents therefore must have a speciall care to avoide this inconvenience that they may not bee thought to have begotten Children with an intent to become themselves their Executioners The second Evill contained in this word is that stupid dejection of the Spirits by which they become fearfull and unapt for any noble and ingenuous designes For finding by experience that their best observance is neglected and all that ever they can do for the pleasing of their Parents rejected as ill done they set them downe and doe no more but waxe dull and sluggish in their undertakings Now Parents must be very wary that they drive not their children into this state For Children are as it were the Armes and Hands by which their age must bee defended the Feet and Thighes by which their Weaknesse must bee underpropped and might wee not justly count him a madd man who with some Narcoticall medicine should so stupifie those parts as never to have the use of them againe Can we then thinke otherwise of those Parents who with their hardnesse and austerity so dull and stupifie their Children in their youth that they can neither helpe themselves nor them in their maturer yeares 3. And lastly this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 carries with it especially in those that are not of a good and generous disposition a desperate kinde of contumacy For when they see no hope of pleasing they likewise cast away all care to please yea many times they assume unto themselves a boldnesse to displease and make it their sport and pastime to provoke their Parents Now this in a Childe is the very height of all impiety Parents therfore must forbeare such sowre usage as may occasion in them this impiety The Rider in breaking of a Colt doth seldome make use of the Spurre but seekes by faire and gentle meanes to ring him to a perfect pace It is the familiar managing of the Hawke that makes her forgo her savagenes A Lion may bee stroâ—ed hee will not bee strucken Kindnesse may prevaile where crabbednesse shall be excluded It is not eyther Lightning or Thunder but onely the sweet and gentle shewes which the heavens send downe upon the earth that make her fertile and willing to produce such food and fodder as is requisite for Man and Beast The Sunne by shining gently upon the Traveller made him of his own accord lay by his Garment whereas to spite as it were the blustring Windes hee girded it to him the more Vnseasonable severitie is a retraction from duty Let not Parents therefore provoke their children least they bee discouraged The vulgar Latine reads it Vt non pusillo animo fiant that they may not bee pusillanimous white-liverd or hen-spirited as wee use to say which many happen to bee having beene too much snipped in their Infancy The Philosopher gives the Reason when hee saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Feare is to the Blood as cold is to the water it hinders Action and preventeth even Motion Some therefore alleage this for a reason why the Children of Israel were not presently brought into the Land of Promise because having beene bred up in the house of bondage they would not have had the courage to looke upon an Enemy Dicite pusillanimis Say unto them that are fearefull saith the Lord be strong feare not Esa 35.4 behold your God commeth with vengeance even God with a recompence will hee come and save you And thus we have done with the mutuall Duties of Children and Parents one towards the other The Ground of the first Booke of the third TOME Servants in all things obey your Masters according to the flesh not with eye-service as men pleasers but in singlenesse of Heart fearing God And whatsoever yee doe doe it heartily c. TOM III. LIB I. Having past the two first Combinations concurring to the constitution of a Familie the one whereof was betwixt the Husband and the Wife the other betwixt the Parent and the childe wee come now to the third which is betwixt the Master and the Servant whose mutuall duties one towards another being throughly expounded our Oeconomicks will be full and compleate Now here as in the two former the Apostle begins with the weakest Servants And 1. he gives them a Precept 2. Directs them in their practise In the Precept we wil first consider the Persons on whom it is imposed Servants 2. The Duty which thereby is exacted Obedience 3. The extent of this Duty how farre it is to reach and that is to all things 4. And lastly the Persons to whom it is to bee tendred Generally Masters Particularly
her disastrous to thy selfe Let not the wife then count that bitter which is sweet Neyther let the husband under these pretences obtrude upon her that for sweet which indeed is bitter But if the wife bâ— subject let the husband love So shall the ballance bee equally poysed and marriage if it be a bondage will prove such a one as is onely knit in love-knots The yoke of it will be drawne with pleasure and delight to Gods glory and their owne comfort The Ground of the first Booke of the second TOME Children obey your parents in all things for this is wel-pleasing unto the Lord. TOM II. LIB I. The duty of children to their parents FRom the first oeconomicall combination which was betwixt the husband and the wife we come now to the second which is betwixt the parent and the childe And here as in the former in exacting those mutuall duties which are to be performed by the one to the other our Apostle begins with the weaker and that as I conjecture eyther for the same reasons alledged there or others not much unlike For first of all children are usually more defective towards their parents than parents can bee toward them Hoc est amor in hoâ—inibus quod humor in arboribus Even corrupted nature teacheth every one to be carefully provident for his own For according to Gerson Naturaliter ascendit suâ—cus à radiâ—e ad ramos non è converso The sappe which is in Trees ascendeth naturally from the roote to the branches and not contrarily Secondly when children shall truely tender their obedience parents can not chuse but afford their love To come then to a particular consideration of the Apostles words wee have in them two things Regulam et rationem Regulae First a Rule Children obey your parents in all things Secondly a reason of this rule For this is well pleasing unto the Lord. In the rule wee may observe 4 things First the persons whom it concernes Children Secondly the duty which is exacted by it Obedience Thirdly To whom they are to tender it Parents Fourthly and lastly How farre In all things Children obey your parents in Children As touching the first In the originall we reade 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby is signified unto us a mans whole progeny So that sonnes and daughters are not onely to bee understood here but likewise nephew and neeces For even these are comprehended and that according to Law and Scripture under the name of Children As when the Iewes without any distinction are called the Children of Israel It is a rule then which concerneth all The Athenians according to Thucydides idly conceited their originall to bee from out the earth but reason and religion both teach us that man is the off-spring of man Whosoever therefore is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the childe of any one he hath by vertue of this title some to whom he owes all honour and obedience And it is neyther length of time nor difference in state that can authorize a dispensation for this duty For as touching the first It is not onely during our non-age and minority but likewise in our best maturity that we must with all due reverence subject our wils to their commands And as concerning the later Though in a civill and politicke respect a publique Magistrate bee more honourable than a private man yet as he is a sonne he is to count himselfe inferiour unto him from whom his being is derived Iacob was in great want when hee departed out of Canaan Ioseph his sonne yet being a Prince in Aegypt and one whom Pharaoh had made his Lord-high-Constable as it were for the government of his whole land caused his Chariot to be made ready and went up with all observance to meet Isaac his father Yee may see the like respect in Salomon 1 Kin. 2.19 His mother did no sooner approach but hee rose from our the seate of Majesty and bowed himselfe unto her Yea our Saviour Christ a greater farre then Salomon neglected not the meanenesse of his Parents but notwithstanding he was King of Kings and Lord of Lords he thought it no disadvantage to his dignity Luke 5.51 to shew himselfe subject unto them In a word then whosoever is a childe stands lyable to this rule and it is neither wealth nor age nor honour or the like which can unloose this tie The word is indefinite and without all exemption or limitation Children obey And so from the persons whom this rule concernes I come to the duty which hereby is required Obey The word in the originall is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and according to the native signification which it carrieth denotes unto us two things First the matter that must be tendred Secondly the manner how it must be rendered For first it implies an humble promptitude in entertaining the commands of others Secondly a chearefull application of our best endeavours to a quicke and full performance of the same The severall parts then whereof this obedience heere required doth consist are these First to doe that which our parents shall injoyne us Secondly to learne that which they shall teach us Thirdly to redresse and amend what ever they reprove as faulty in us As touching the first Obedience hath ever beene magnified both of God and man The off-spring of the righteous is obedience and love The Rechabites shall never want a Panegyricke to testifie their obedience to the world Hier. 35.2 no though the booke of Hieremy the Prophet happen to bee cut againe with a pen-knife and burnt upon a hearth as in the daies of Zidkiiah Ionadab their father had enjoyned them to drink no wine it was a Law which they observ'd with such a religious respect that neyther they nor their wives their sonnes nor their daughters did ever violate or infringe 'T was Christs prophecy of himselfe and it will beseeme us well to practise it The Lord opened my eare and I was not rebellious Esay 50.5 neyther turned I backe It was written of him in the booke that he should doe the will of his father and he did it The Law was in the midst of his bowels and without any protraction or delay he presenteth himselfe Psal 40.8 Loe I come He was obedient to the death yea even to the death of the Crosse and though he were the sonne yet learned he obedience by the things he suffered and according to S. Ber. Ne perderet obedientiam perdidit vitam Though his pangs were sharpe sweet was the peace wherewith they were rewarded Disobedience on the other side could never avoyd the judgements of Almighty God It cast the Angels out of heaven our first parents out of Paradise Le ts wife out of her life and nature too Saul out of his Kingdome Ionas out of the ship the children of Israel out of their native soile and which is more out of the naturall roote that bare them For this is the reason which God himselfe alleageth
bee still tyed to reverence obey their Parents Will as likewise to succour and relieve their wants as oft as occasion shall require they are not bound yet as before to cohabitate with them nor yet to expedite their businesses as having matters of their owne to looke unto and those of greater moment and importance And this is most apparent in the first sort For it is the Ordinance of God himselfe Gen. 2.24 that a man should forsake Father and Mother to cleave to his Wife which is not to be understood simply but comparatively in respect of an individual society Again he must labor for the susteÌ„tation of his owne Family This was that which Iacob pretended for his departure Gen 30. when Laban did sollicite him still to continue the keeping of his Flocke willing him to appoint his owne wages Thou knowest said Iacob how I have served thee and how thy Cattle hath beene with mee It was little which thou hadst before I came and it is now encreased to a multitude and the Lord hath blessed thee since my â—omming and now when shall I provide for my owne house also Now as touching those that have betooke themselves to any Church-imployments the case is cleare There is no authority in Parents to revoke them thence to looke againe to their terrestriall affaires For if a Father can not withdraw his Sonne from the service of an earthly King much lesse is hee to doe it from the service of the KING of Kings Hee that putteth his hand to this Plough and looketh backe Luke 9. ult shall bee thought unfit for the Kingdome of heaven The same reason may serve for those which are advanced in the Common-weale For it is requisite that privâ—te things should stil giue way to publike To resolve the doubt then in a word A child can never be freed froÌ„ the duty either of honouring or relieving his Parents but from Cohabitation as likewise from the administration of their domesticall affaires he may Here the Pharisees then meet with this condemnation while devillishly they would disspence with their childrens honouring and relieving of their Parents Mat 15.6 so they would bestow it upon them The Church of Rome likewise hath her blame while in imitation of their errour she affirmes it lawfull for children even against the will and pleasure of their Parents if once they be come to ripenes of yeares which in a Sonne they hold to bee at 14. in a daughter at 12. to put themselves into a Monastery For 1. to doe a thing not commanded by God with an apparent violation of that which is commanded is rash and irreligious but for a childe to take upon him the profession of a Monasticall life is no Commandement of GODS whereas to bee serviceably obedient unto Parents is a manifest injunction of his he must not therefore abandon them in such a case without their free consent 2. It is against Reason and religion to offer that which is anothers unto God without the approbation of him that owes it Now children so long as they remaine under their Parents tuition are a part of their peculiar possessions and therefore not to bee disposed of as they list themselves Wee have it in the old Law Num 30.3 That if a woman shal vow a vow unto the Lord being in her Fathers house and in her youth and her father disallow her in the day that hee heares thereof not any of her vowes wherewith shee hath bound her Soule shall stand 3. If it bee rashnesse to doe a thing without the advise and consent of our Parents it must needs be wickednesse to doe it against their Wils and when they use their best endeavours to prevent it but it is rashnesse for any childe of 15. or 16. yeares to determine upon a course of life without his parents knowledge and specially upon such a kinde of life as causeth a necessary a vocation from those duties which are to bee performed unto Parents what must it bee then to doe thus against their Wils 4. And lastly For I omit many reasons which might easily bee alleaged for the conviction of this Errour The Gangrensian Council celebrated in Paphlagonia Anno 324. pronounceth for Anathema the childe that under a pretence of religion shall depart from his Parents and not give them that reverence which they may justly challengâ— How true then this Assertion of the Romanists is let every man bee Iudge Here then are condemned Marriages without consent of Parents GOD gave Eve unto Adam as having most right because he made her And this authority hee hath communicated to all Parents Rebeccah askt the consent of her Father before she would marry yea Ismael though ungracious was willing his mother should appoint him a wife Hamor entreated Iacob for Dinah Gn. 21.21 The Sechemites though uncircumcised would not commit a rape but sought the good will of those whose daughters they desired to marry And in 1 Cor. 7.36 Every Father saith the Apostle hath power over his Virgin Now what this power is the Law will shew us If a man had entised a maide and laine with her hee was to endowe her for his wâ—fe Exo. 22.16 but if the Father would not conseÌ„t he was to pay the money and yet not marry the party yea let us search the Bible throughout and we shall finde that God did alwayes absolutely interest the parents in providing Wives for their Sons Deut. 7.3 and Husbands for their Daughters Samson though the beauty of the Timnite had in a desperate manner fired his affections Iudg 14.2 durst not yet without the consent of his Father and Mother take herto wife because he knew the match would otherwise bee unwarrantable It was the Plee which Thamar used to her brother Amnon when with a violent hand hee did invade her Chastilie 1 Sam. 13.13 I pray thee speake unto the King for he will not withhold me from thee So that the law of Nature the Law of Moses and the Law of Christ require from children a particular subjection of their owne wils to that of their Parents in this kinde To these we may adde the Lawes of Nations the Constitutions of Popes the determinations of Councils all like so many severall lines uniting themselves in one and the same Center 1. The Romanes obsâ—rved it very strictly allowed no marriage to bee lawfull but what was contracted and agreed upon by the Parents of either party Yee may see the practise of it in the Comedy Terent. Andr. Act. 1 Sâ—en 1. Hac famâ impulsus Chremes Vltrò ad me venit unicam gnatam suam Cum dote summa filio uxorem ut daret Placuit despondi hic nuptiis dictus est dies Act. 1. Scen. 4. Plautus likewise in his Aulularia presents us Megadorus stipulating with Euclio for his daughter in the same manner Catullus in a Nuptiall Verse of his thus speaking to a young Damzell who out
of a foolish fancy when her Parents had provided her a match against which lay no exception utterly refused it maketh this his Plee whereby to worke the obstinacy of her Will to a more flexible temper At tu ne pugnes tali cum conjuge Virgo Non aequum est pugnare pater cui tradidit ipse Ipse pater cum matre quibus parere necesse est Virginitas non tota tua est ex parte parentum est Tertia pars patri data pars data tertia matri Tertia sola tua est noli pugnare duobus Qui genero sua jura simul cum dote dederunt Refuse not gentle maide to bee his Bride Whom thy deare Parents did for thee provide By nature thou art bound them to obey Then let not Humour Dutie oversway Nor think thy selfe sole Mistresse of that Gemme In which thou hast no interest but by them The thirds of thy virginitie belong Vnto thy father and without great wrong In other thirds thy mother hath her share Onely the thirds remaining wee declare To be at thy dispose then humbly doe As they would have thee struggle not with two But rest content his loving spouse to be Whom they would make their sonne in law by thee Secondly among the decrees of Euaristus Pope and Martyr who lived about the yeere 110. there is one in which hee plainely pronounceth those marriages to be rather whoredomes and adulteries than marriages which are not concluded by the parents Pope Vrban was of the same opinion Thirdly the Lateran Councill under PP Innoc. third Cano. 51. did peremptorily determine that wedlocke if the person were under yeeres which was otherwise performed The 4th Toletan did the like Ad uxorem lib. 2. cap. 9. Fourthly Tertullian celebrating the praises of Christian Matrimony among other excellencies in it recounts this as a chiefe that they never marry Sine consensu patrum without the consent of parents Non est virginalis pudoris eligere maritum Lib. 1. de Patri Abra. cap. 9. saith St. Ambrose It becomes not the modesty of a Virgin to be the chuser of her own husband Euripides in his Andromacha makes Hermione to answer the importunity of her sutors thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I leave to my father the care of my marriage as a thing not at all belonging to my choyce I could produce a world of other arguments but I thinke this little essay of every severall kind enough to principle ingenious natures to the performance of their duty in this kind And therefore Children obey And so from the rule I come to the reason For this is well pleasing to the Lord. The Apostle alleageth it as a Motive to stirre up children to this duty and sure â—here can not bee a more effectuall inducement to â—eligious minds Hee doth not therefore say this your obsequiousnesse shall redound with great profit advantage to your selves or shall be pleasing to your parents but it shall bee acceptable unto Christ and to please him is everlasting happinesse But how may some object shall it appeare that this observance to our parents is so pleasing and acceptable to God our Father and to Christ our Lord I answer that it appeares two manner of waies First by the temporall reward which is annexed to that Commandement in the Decalogue which concernes the honouring of our parents being the first Commandement with promise and therefore urged by the Apostle to this end Eph. 6. 2. Againe it is evident by the temporall punishment which God himselfe hath appoynted to bee inflicted upon such as wilfully breake and violate this his mandate If a man sayth he have a stubborne and rebellious sonne Deut. 21.18 that will not obey the voyce of his father or the voyce of his mother and when they have chastened him will not hearken unto them he shall be brought unto the Elders of his City and unto the gate of the place and the men of his City shall stone him with stones that he die Yea the very heathen did acknowledge life to bee prolonged unto such as did demeane themselves piously towards their parents were of opinion that the contempt of these was to he expiated with no lesse punishment than that of the Gods Plato de legâ—b lib. 11 pag. 932. Let Children therefore obey their parents in all things for Wel pleasing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is not onely pleasing but wel-pleasing and from hence wee may collect these observations First that the faithfull in every good worke ought specially to looke unto the Lord not caring how it be censured by man so it bee pleasing and acceptable unto him Ludam et vilior fiam said David unto Michal I will be yet more vile 2 Sam. 6.22 when she derided him because hee danced before the Arke Secondly that there is a way to please God even by pleasing man and this may serve to hearten up the good in the performance of all family-duties as likewise to reprove the hypocrite who counteth sacrifice more pleasing to the Lord than eyther mercy or obedience For sure he will be served with obedience unto men Thirdly wee may note from hence That even in our childhood we have a meanes to endeare our selves to God For according to Hugo de S. Victore Haec paternitas est nobis Sacramentum et imago divinae paternitatis ut discat cor humanum in eo principio quod videt quid debet illi principio à quo est et non videt God hath appointed a paternity here below to serve us as a Sacrament and faire resemblance of his divine paternity above that we might learne by this Originall of ours which we see what we owe to that Originall from whence we are and see not Fourthly that even children are bound to make conscience of their waies as farre as they have reason to discerne good from ill and must endeavour to doe that which may be pleasing unto God 'T is sayd of Hieroboams diseased child That there was found some good thing in him towards the Lord God of Israel 1 Kin. 14.15 And sure it is a happy thing when young men see visions as well as old men dreame dreames Parents should begin betimes therefore to inure their children to the paths of righteousnesse and traine them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. For the workemanship of grace and obedience in the hearts and lives of children is like the graving of a Kings pallace and as soone may the character of God as that of Caesar be imprinted in those waxen yeares The children of Bethel might have bin taught as easily to have welcomm'd the Prophet with an Hosanna Blessed is he that coÌ„meth in the name of the Lord as in reproch scorne to call him Bald-pate Bald-pate as he past along And thus much concerning the duties of children toward their parents Now follow those of parents toward their children The Ground of the 2d Booke
of the second TOME Fathers provoke not your Children to anger least they be discouraged TOM II. LIB II. The duty of parents to their children THE Apostle still carries the scales in an even hand and as in the first combination belonging to the constitution of a family having principled the wife he came to direct the husband that neyther might bee defâ—ctive in the p rformance of such offices as by vertue of the nuptiall tie were mutually to passe from one to the other So here in the second which is betwixt the parent and the child he doth the like Fathers saith he provoke not your children least they be discouraged In the words we may observe two things First A prohibition Fathers provoke not your Children Secondly the cause of this prohibition least they be discouraged In the former we may consider First the persons to whom the prohibition is directed Fathers Secondly the act prohibited Provocation Thirdly the persons in whose behalfe it is prohibited Children Fathers As touching the first It may be demanded why the Apostle doth here make mention of Fathers onely not retaining the word Parents which hee had used before in exacting the obedience of children considering that fathâ—rs and mothers both are comprehended under it I answer that children are usually deficient in the tender of this duty towards their mothers 'T was necessary therefore in prescribing of the same that mothers should equally be included But very seldome or never is the tendernesse of their affections so farre exasperated against the fruite of their wombe as to looke upon it with an austere and sowre eye 'T was sufficient therefore here that fathers onely should be named as principally lyable to this Interdiction The offence of a mother is to bee more cockering than cruell Moses his wife Exod. 4.25 cal'd him a bloudy husband because he put her childe to paine though in a way which God had commanded And therefore Fathers provoke Fathers The very name implies an Argument For when he saith Fathers provoke not 'T is no other than if hee should have sayd Forbeare the doing of that which so ill beseemes the person and ought to be so farre removed from the practice of a father 'T is a title which sounds not any thing but mildnesse The Poet therefore speaking of one in whom this vertue was exceeding eminent sayth thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He was as milde and loving as a father And doe we not see that the very creatures are instructed by nature to be kinde and courteous towards their young Plutarch writes of the male Partridg that hee shares with the female in hatching of her egges and is the first when they come out of the shell that brings them meate The Beare and the Woolfe for want of hands wherewith with to stroke their whelps are still licking them with their tongues Yea the Dragons how pernicious so ever unto others looke smilingly upon their owne And shall we that are indued with reason bee froward and perverse to those of our owne loynes Omnes honesti mores in bestiis congregantur in homine Man is an universall Pandect and in him are congregated what ever vertues are in all the creatures Ishmael was a gibing bratte Esau a surly child and Absalom a trayterous sonne Abraham was yet loving to the one Isaac tender over the other and David most affectionate towards the third witnesse the care he had to preserve him while he lived and the lamentation which he made for him being dead In a word then having such a precept together with such pâ—eâ—edents Fathers provoke not your children And thus from the persons to whom this prohibition is directed I come to the act prohibited and that is Provocation The word in the originall is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and signifies to provoke to anger which may happen many waies to children from their fathers by abuse of their paternall power as first by words and secondly by deeds By words three manner of waies First by burdening them with precepts eyther unlawfull or unmeete unlawfull 1 Sam. 20.31 as Saul when he commanded Ionathâ—n his sonne to fetch David his innocent and harmelesse friend unto him that hee might deprive him of his life And likewise when Herodias enjoyn'd her daughter to aske of Herod who had promised with an oath to give her whatsoever shee demanded the head of Iohn the Baptist Math. â—4 8 we reade not yet that this dancing daughter was any way displeased with the bloudy mandate of her mother but had she harboured in her brest so much as a graine of piety 't would have griev'd her very soule to heare such an unjust request Againe unmeet as when the father no necessity urging him thereunto shall binde them to such servile and base imployments as beseeme not an ingenuous nature to undergoe For according to the Philosopher The rule of a father over his children should be like that of a King over his subjects grounded rather upon love than feare He should not out of an insul ing tyranny abuse their labour as the Aegyptians did that of the Israelites by tyring out their strength in workes of drudgery but make that use of it which may tend to the good of eyther Secondly fathers may provoke their children by thundering upon them undeservedly with rayling and reproachfull words For these have usually with them so sharpe a sting as will goe neere to wound the soule of the most setled patience and in this kind also was Saul injurious unto Ionathan when in his anger hee sayd unto him Thou sonne of the wicked and rebellious woman doe not I know that thou hast chosen the sonne of Ishai to thine owne confusion and to the confusion of that shamefull and ignominious wombe which brought thee forth For what should more provoke a sonne than to heare not onely himselfe reviled and disgraced but his mother likewise to bee scandalized with base invectives and made in reputation inferiour to a common Courtisan Thirdly and lastly parents may provoke their children in words by traducing their workes and weakning their desart to others and that eyther before their faces or behind their backes And indeed it hath often hapned that the father hath suspected vertue even in his childe and hath therefore laboured to weaken the reputation of it in the opinion of such as were thought to admire it or sought by bloudy practises utterly to extinguish it Solyman the fourth Emperour of the Turkish Monarchy commanded his sonne Bajazet to bee strangled by Hassan Aga together with his foure youâ—g sons one of which lying in the cradle was there murdered by an Eunuch the childe smiling in the villaines face And that which moved him to this unnaturall cruelty was onely the noblenesse of their sire which in his ambitious apprehension was gazed upon by his subjects with an eye of too much admiration The like jealousie provoked him with no lesse barbarous fury to prosecute the life of Mustapha
resolution at the first fully to ponde and examine every word of his that from them I might derive the greater weight unto mine owne In handling therefore of the two first combinations I followed his concisenesse and here where hee tooke a larger field I was forced to doe the like But why may some demand was hee so briefe in those and did so much enlarge himselfe in this I answer the reason may bee threefold 1. Because the property of Pagan servants was to cozen and defraud their Masters and in their absence like so many traitors as Cato termed them feloniously to curse and speake evill both of their persons and proceedings Witnesse that speech of one in the Comedie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He thought him selfe overjoy'd whâ—n hee could get but any opportunity to raile in secret upon his Master and howsoever they to whom he theÌ„ spake were converted to Christianitie it was but newly yet and any little discontentment offered them by their Masters might have made them with the dâ—g retuâ—ne to their vomit for the prevention whereof hee seekes by strong enforcements to tie them to their dutie A second reason may bee to expresse the riches of Gods mercy who despiseth not the very slave that is despised of all but seeks to make even him a lively stone for the building up of his most glorious Hierusalem and because husbands are willing to enforme their Wives parents carefull to teach their Children whereas Masters utterly neglâ—ct their Servants God to supply the defect doth here afford them a large Volume of instructions The third reason is for the comfort of servants who by this pressing of their duty may well resolve themselves of Gods affection The lover never thinkes his minde sufficiently vented and is therefore still courting the Object of his love And so it is here with God hee doth dilate himselfe in drawing them to shew that he doth much desire them A fourth and last reason may bee the intimation of his owne humanity The Physitian when hee meets with a needy Patient tels him in briefe that Kitchin physick must bee his onely remedy And so the Lawyer when hee lights upon a Thred-bare Client to shake him off the sooner makes him beleeve his cause will not bee worth the triall S. Paul teacheth them charity venting his counsell and advise more freely more fully in the behalfe of those whose inheritance in this world was nothing but the extremitie of misery than hee had done for theÌ„ that were of better qualitie as if the saving of one of those had beene a thing more meritorious than the other And thus having apologized for my tediousnesse in this point I leave the servant and come to the Master The Ground of the second Booke of the third TOME Masters give unto your servants that which is iust and equall knowing that yee also have a Master in Heaven TOM III. LIB II. THis VERSE which is made the first of the fourth Chapter I cannot liken better than to a Tree that by the violence of some earth-quake is removed out of one mans ground into an others For it should bee the period of the former and so not onely the matter of it which is oeconomicall and the fame with that in the eight Verses immediately going before but that likewise of the Verse following which is of a differing straine doth plainly shew it Chrysostome therefore Aquinas Hugo Illyricus Musculus Zanchius c. dispose of it no otherwise and we subscribing to their opinion will assume it as a part and parcell of the precedent thus then it divideth it self into two branches In the former hee shewes how Masters are to carry themselves towards their servants Yee Masters saith he do unto your servants that which is iust and equal In the latter he alleageth a Motive to induce them thereunto Knowing that yee also have a Master in heaven As touching the first In that he doth apply himselfe now to masters wee are taught that every true dispenser of Gods Word should not onely bend his endeavours to the fashioning of servants those of Inferiour ranke but should also instruct exhort and edifie Masters and Magistrates together with all those that have submitted their neckes to the yoke of Christ Againe howsoever it bee usuall with Superiours and that not without just cause to complaine of the faults of their inferiours themselves yet are seldome free from taint and from corruption The Apostle therfore would have neither Masters nor servants to upbraid each other with their imperfectioÌ„s but every one to ameÌ„d his own 2. Concerning the persons in whose behalfe this duty is here prescribed servants They may observe to their endlesse comfort the great sollicitude and care which God hath of their well-fare Hee respecteth both their soules and bodies For touching their soules No Monâ—rch hath a greater interest in the Kingdome of heaven than they if in Singlenesse of Heart they discharge those duties which hee in his diviner wisedome thought good to impose upon them As faire a recompence attends the one as the other and therefore the Apostle delivereth it with a kinde of Emphasis Servants bee obedient to your masters knowing that yee also shall receive Againe as if he were enamoured of the one hee seemes to Court their affections with the profer of his choisest Treasure and so to draw them to his Will whereas the other if yee reade and marke the Scriptures are usually driven thereunto by his most grievouâ— plagues and deadliest punishments Esay must tell the King that Tophet is prepared for him of old and it is deepe and large that the burning of it is fire and much wood and the breath of the Lord like a River of brimstone doth kindle it Eliiah must threaten Ahab that the Dogges shall eate him of his Stock that dyeth in the City and him that dyeth in the fields shall the Foules of the aire devoure He cals to the one in storme and tempest but in a soft still voice to the other Boanerges the Sonnes of Thunder are sent to shake the Cedar but Barionah the sonne of Consolation must hearten up the Shrub The state and condition of a servant in the Apostles time was enough to bruise the very heart God therefore seekes not to breake it but to binde it up Servants saith he be obedient to your masters knowing that yee also shall receive Againe to comfort servaÌ„ts in their distresse a little farther as hee shewes himself there tender over their soules so doth he here over their Bodies And because it is an easie thing for any man to abuse the power and authority which he hath over another and that there is not a more pernicious Creature than a tyrannicall and cruell master he limits even their proceedings with his precepts charging them to use those that are under their government with Iustice and Equity Yee masters doe that which is To come then to the duty it selfe it consisteth of two particulars
Anabaptists therfore erre that thinke the Rule and Government of Christians over Christians repugnant to the freedome of the Gospell The Papist likewise is mistaken Gerson qu. 1. de Potest Ecclesi ca. 9. qu. 2. c. 8. while hee counts Heresie a sufficient ground to take away the Soveraignty of Kings when the Apostle here allowes not Paganisme to prejudice the authority of a private Master over his Family If they bee Servants their duty is required Servants bee Obedient The word in the Original is the same which he used unto children and as there so here it implies 1. An humble promptitude in entertaining the commands of others 2. A carefull application of our best endeavours to a quicke performance of the same Their Obedience must expresse it selfe 1. With Reverence and that internally and externally Internally they must not despise either the Person of their Masters or the place but must count them worthy of all Honour that the name of God and his doctrine bee not evill spoken 1 Tim. 1.6 of Externally their speech and their behaviour must bee such as may not savour either of contempt or contumacy They must feare their Masters This is that which the Lord himselfe requireth in all his Servants If I bee a Master saith hee where is my feare Mal. 1.6 And in Ephes 6.5 Our Apostle exacteth feare and trembling from them towards their Masters The second Character of their Obedience must be Patience They must endure without resistance rebukes and Corrections bee they never so bitter and unjust For if when we do well 1 Pet. 2.20 and suffer wrong wee take it patiently this is well pleasing unto God Agar being roughly dealt withall by Sarai ranne away and would not abide her chastisements but the Lord by an Angell did controll this course advised her to returne home to her Mistresse and to humble her selfe under her hand A Servant may lawfully withdraw himselfe so it be done conveniently and without despising his Masters authority till the fury of his unjust anger be allayed For so David conveighed himselfe from Saul and the Aegyptian that directed David to the Amalekits made him sweare 1 Sam. 30.15 not to deliver him into the hands of his Master from whom hee was fled neither did David sinne in 〈…〉 an oath For in Deut. 23.15 it is set downe as a Law that if a servant were fled from his Masters cruelty especially if hee were a Heathen who little regarded the very lives of their servants hee should not bee presently redelivered but kindly entrâ—ated till mediation might bee made for the reinstating of him in his Masters favour but hee must not shew him selfe at any hand peremptory and rebellious And thus much of the duty the Extent of it followes In all things A Servant like a Bow in the hand of his Master must not be bended or unbended but according to his will and pleasure I am a man in authority saith the Centuâ—ion and I say unto one Goe and he goeth to another Come and hee commeth and to a third Doe this and hee doth it But there are some of that sturdy disposition that if the things enjoyned them doe any way crosse their credit prejudice their profit disturbe their ease or are contrary to their liking they will either not doe them at all or they will doe them with a left hand and as they list themselves Their usuall coÌ„plaint is that the master whom they serve is a churlish Nabal and one that forgetteth all humanitie both in exacting and rewarding the service that is done him But this is not enough to unyoke them from their Obedience For though they receive no comfort from their masters God yet to whom and for whom they doe their service will not leave them unrequited Iacob served a hard Laban 21 yeares In the day hee melted away with heate in the night he was benummed with cold yea the very sleepe departed from his Eyes that nothing might miscarry which was committed to his charge all which Laban regarded not but God in the end requited his care and travaile in a large measure And surely whatsoever a man doth that shall hee receive of the Lord whether he be bond Eph. 6.8 or free And therefore Servants bee obedient in all things In all things .i. in all outward things which are indifferent and lawfull Even Servants must look to that supreme Power whereunto their Masters are but subordinate and bee wary of doing any thing but the command of the one which they know to bee countermanded by the other The Master of our flesh is to bee obeyed so farre as he commands not that which is forbidden by the Master of our Spirit saith Saint Hierome They which please them in this kinde are utterly condemned It is said of Pharaoh That both hee and his servants sinned And indeed many are contented to prostitute their best indeavours to their Masters most adulterate designes Absalons followers were very forward in smiting of Amnon and those of Caiaphas to spit in the face of our blessed Saviour to buffet him with their hands Mat. 26 67 Let a great one make a scoffe of Religion and presently his Attendants to keepe him company will doe the like As there are Flatterers in Princes Courts so also are there in private cottages Many Apprentices and Iourneymen will never bee unfurnished of a Lie or an Oath that they may fill their masters houses as the Prophet speakes by bribery and cruelty whereas indeed they should humour them no farther than stands with the safety of a good Conscience The Servants of wicked Saul were none of the best yet they refused to execute his unjust sentence upon the Priests of the Lord though his commands had beene enough to countenance the deed Let Christian Servants therefore much more abhorre to please any Flesh so farre as to displease the Lord. The Apostle aymes not at a lawlesse and irreligious Obedience he onely forbids such a dimidiated and arbitrary subjection as Servants according to their owne fancy are willing to tender when he saith Servants bee obedient in all things This for the extent The Persons follow to whom this Duty must be tendred and that is generally Masters Particularly Masters according to the flesh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The very Title speakes the Equity of the Precept as well as that of Servants For as the word Servant intimates an Obedience to bee exhibited to to another so the name of Master implies a due Obedience to bee exacted from another Whosoever therefore is a Master must bee obeyed whether hee bee rich or poore kind or crabbed a true beleever or a false The Apostle sets it downe indefinitely without any difference of condition Servants bee obedient to them that are your Masters And we must understand it likewise without distinction of Sexe For the Head of the Family bee it Man or woman must be obeyed 1 Tim. 5.14 No Salik Law for the cutting
Masters according to the Flesh This is the deduction of the Precept The direction for their Practise is set downe two manner of wayes Negatively Affirmatively Negatively hee shewes the Faults and Imperfections which are incident to Servants and would have every Christian to avoid them For hee would not have theÌ„ either Eye-servers or Men-pleasers Affirmatively he seeks to fashion them to the contrary For hee would have their Obedience grounded upon an upright heart and guided by the feare of the Lord Servants bee obedient in in all things to them that are your Masters according to the flesh not with Eye-service as Men-pleasers c. And thus having shewed the severall parts which must bee the ground-worke of our ensuing discourse I returne to the Precept Servants obey This Precept was so much the more seasonable because servants in the Apostles time being converted to Christianitie did thinke themselves hereby exempted from the yoake of servitude for it seemed unreasonable that hee whom Christ with his precious blood had redeemed froÌ„ the power of the Devill should continue a slave to him who being not converted to the Faith was still a slave himselfe unto the Devill But this opinion was altogether erroneous and no doubt suggested into the mindes of men by that great enemy of man that so the Gospell of Christ Iesus might bee scandalized amongst the heathen as having no other ayme than utterly to subvert all discipline The Apostle therfore to silence such specious Plees prescribes a contrary command in which every word is of sufficient weight to evince both the Equity and Necessitie of what is here enjoyned For hee spake here to Christians and yet hee did not call them Brethren though indeed they were Brethren but he stiled them Servants The word in the Originall is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and implies not such attendants as wee usually now have For though wee hire them for wages their condition yet is free ingenuous but such as the ancients usually had who were either taken in warre and so were called of the Latins Mancipia because Manu capti Servi because in bello servati Or they were bought with a Price and were therfore wholly in the power of their Lords to be disposed of as they pleased And such a kinde of Bondage may still stand with Equity being used with Mercy moderation For 1. The Iewes being captivated Baruc. 1.11 by Nebuchadnezar were commanded by God to quiet themselves in that estate and willingly submit their necks to the Babylonian yoke Gen. 17.11 2. Abraham had such in his house Lev. 25.24 and the Iewes were permitted to have such 3. The Apostles in their Epistles impose Subjection upon Servants most of whom in those times were no other than Bond-slaves Art thou called saith S Paul being a bond-man Care not for it 1 Cor. 7.21 but let every man abide in that calling wherin he was called 4. Not onely the Philosopher calls such kinde of servants 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an animated possession but in holy writ they have the like Title In Iob. 1.3 the Servants of that holy man are put into the Inventory as a part of his Goods and Chattell And in Exod. 21.21 The Servant is stiled his Masters money But many things are objected to the contrary For 1. Some affirme this servile condition to be against the Law of Nature 2. Others to bee a fruit of sinne A third sort will have it to bee against the Law of Christ who hath purchased such a liberty to the world that now in him all are one The fourth and last kinde of opposers say it is against the Apostles owne Rule in the 1 Cor. 7.23 Bee not any longer the servants of men To all which I answer in order And first to the first Every Subjection is not against the Law of pure Nature For even in the state of Innocency there was a politicke Subjection of the wife to her husband and of Children unto both The Image therefore of God in which wee were created takes not away all Subjection but only such a Subjection as takes away all Dominion But this can never happen to the basest Slave that is for though his Master have Dominion over him hee hath yet dominion over the Creatures and this is in him a part of Gods Image 2. It is true that Bondage is a fruite of Sinne and so is Sicknesse so is Death and so are all other temporal punishments whatsoever and yet they still remain but as in them so likewise in this the curse is taken away to Gods Chilâ—ren Christ hath purchased a liberty both for our soules and Bodies but so long as wee live in this World wee must account it a great happines to receive primitias the first fruits of it and these are our spirituall liberty from sinne and Sathan from Hell and Condemnation which is a forerunner to that perfect freedome which wee expect in the Kingdome of Heaven when wee shall not onely bee freed from the power of sinne as here but even from all molestation thereof the sting of it shall bee plucked out and the Teeth of it shall bee broken It shall not bee able then either to bite or barke at us any longer Our enfranchisement shall not onely bee from the evill of servitude as now it is by Christ but likewise from servitude it selfe 3. I grant that all are made one in Christ and all Distinction of Bond and free is taken away but how It is taken away from the Spirituall Body of Christ which is the Church but not from the outward Bodies and Societies of men here upon Earth For then there should be likewise no distinction either of Countries or Sexes There should bee neither Scythian nor Barbarian Male nor Female They are all one in regard of the inward and spirituall man as also in regard of the meanes by which men are led to everlasting happinesse but in regard of the outward Man they still abide Masters and Servants Prince and People Bond Free Noble and Ignoble Paul had converted Onesimus a Servant and a runnagate hee did not keepe him yet at Rome nor discharge him his Masters Service because he was called but sent him backe to Philemon who although in regard of the Faith hee were to esteeme him as a Brother yet his outward condition was to be a Servant still 4. And lastly concerning the Apostles owne Rule Be no longer the servants of men It must bee understood of the Conscience which is to admit no other Lord than Christ and not otherwise for hee speaks not there of any bodily service unto men nor is there indeed any one word throughout the whole Scripture which doth any way countenance a licentious libertie Religion frees no man from his Duty but rather bindes him the more unto it Search all the Records of Truth and ye shall finde that the embracing of the Faith was never held a dispensation from these Tyes The