bee some corruptible substance which unlesse it were some way or other good it could not be corrupted I perceived therefore and it was made plaine unto me that all things are good which thou hast made nor is there any substance at all which thou hast not made And for that all which thou hast made are not equall therefore are they all good in generall because all good in particular and all together very good because thou our God hast made all things very good CHAP. 13. All created things praise God 1. ANd to thee is there nothing at all evill yea not onely in respect of thee but also not in respect of thy Creatures in generall because there is not any thing which is without thee which hath power to breake in or discompose that Order which thou hast settled But in some particulars of thy Creatures for that some things there bee which so well agree not with some other things they are conceived to be evill whereas those very things sute well enough with some other things and are good yea and in themselves good And all these things which doe not mutually agree one with another doe yet sute well enough with this inferiour part which we cal Earth which hath such a cloudy and windie Region of Ayre hanging over it as is in nature agreeable to it 2. God forbid now that I should ever say that there were no other things extant besides these for should I see nothing but these verily I should went the better And yet even onely for these ought I praise thee 〈◊〉 that thou art to be praised 〈◊〉 things of the 〈◊〉 doe 〈◊〉 Dragons and all 〈…〉 Haile Snow â—ee and 〈◊〉 Wind which fulful thy 〈◊〉 Mountaines and all 〈◊〉 fruitfull Trees and all Cedars Beasts and all Cattell creeping things and flying Fowles Kings of the Earth and all people Princes and all Iudges of the Land Yong men and Maidens Old men and Children let them praise thy Name Seeing also these in heaven praise thee let them praise thee O our God in the heights Let all thy Angels praise thee and all thy Hosts Sunne and Moone all the Starres and Light the Heaven of Heavens and the Waters that be above the Heavens let them praise thy Name I did not now desire better because I had now thought upon them all and that those superior things were better than these inferior things but yet all together better than those superiour by themselves I resolved upon in my bettered judgement CHAP. 14. To a sober minde none of Gods Creatures are displeasing 1. THey are not well in their wits to whom any thing which thou hast created is displeasing no more than I my selfe was when as many things which thou hadst made did not like me And because my soule durst not take distaste at my God it would not suffer that ought should bee accounted thine which displeased it Hence fell it upon the opinion of two substances and no rest did it take but talkt idlie And turning from thence it fancied a God to it selfe which tooke up infinite measures of all places and him did it thinke to be thee and him it placed in its heart so that it became once againe the Temple of its own Idoll which was to thee so abominable But after thou hadst refreshed my head I not knowing of it and hadst shut up mine eyes that they should no more behold vanity I began to bee quieted a little within my selfe and my mad Fit was got asleepe out of which I awaked in thee and then discerned thee to be infinite another manner of way But this sight was not derived from any power of my flesh CHAP. 15. How there is truth and falshood in the Creatures 1. ANd I looked after this upon other things and I saw how they owed their being to thee and that all finite things are in thee but in a different manner not as in their proper place but because thou containest all things in thine hand of truth All things are true so farre forth as they have a being nor is there any falshood unlesse when a thing is thought to bee which is not And I marked how that all things did agree respectively not to their places onely but to their seasons also And that thou who onely art eternall didst not beginne to worke after innumerable spaces of times spent for that all spaces of times both those which are passed already and those which are to passe hereafter should neither goe nor come but by thee who art still working and still remaining CHAP. 16. All things are good though to some things not fit 1. ANd I both found and tryed it to bee no wonder that the same bread is lothsome to a distempered palate which is pleasant to a sound one and that to sore eyes that light is offensive which to the cleere is delightfull and that thy Iustice gives disgust unto the wicked yet not so much but the Viper and smallest vermine which thou hast created good but are fit enough to these inferiour portions of thy Creatures to which these very wicked are also fit and that so much the more fit by how much they be unlike thee but so much liker the superiour Creatures by how neerer resembling thee And I enquired what this same Iniquity should be But I found it not to bee a substance but a swarving meerely of the will crookt quite away from thee O God who art the supreme substance towards these lower things which casts abroad its inward corruption and swels outwardly CHAP. 17. What things hinder us of Gods knowledge 1. AND I wondred not a little that I was now come to love thee and no Phantasme instead of thee nor did I delay to enjoy my God but was ravisht to thee by thine owne beauty and yet by and by I violently fell off againe even by mine owne weight rushing with sorrow enough upon these inferiour things This weight I spake of was my old fleshly customes Yet had I still a remembrance of thee nor did I any way doubt that thou wert he to whom I ought to cleave but yet I was not the partie fit to cleave unto thee for that the body which is corrupted presseth downe the soule and the earthly tabernable weigheth downe the minde that museth upon many things And most certaine I was that thy invisible workes from the creation of the world are cleerely seene being understood by the things that are made even thy eternall power and Godhead 2. For studying now by what reasons to make good the beauty of corporeall things eyther celestiall or terrestriall and what proofe I had at hand solidly to passe sentence upon these mutable things in pronouncing This ought to be thus and this must be so plodding I say on this upon what ground namely I ought to judge seeing I did thus judge I had by this time found the unchangeable and true eternity of truth residing upon this
obseruance perseuered so long in patience and meekenes that shee of her owne accord discouered vnto her sonne the tales that the maid-seruants had carried be tweene them whereby the peace of the house had been disturbed betwixt her and her daughter-in-law requiring him to giue them correction for it When he therefore both out of obedience to his mother and out of a Core to the well-ordering of his family and to prouide withall for the concord of his people had with stripes corrected the seruants thus bewrayed according to the pleasure of her that had reueal'd it her selfe also added this promise that cuery one should looke for the like reward at her hands whosoeuer to picke a thank by it should speake any ill of her daughter-in-law which none being so hardy afterwards as to doe they liued euer after with a most memorable sweetnesse of mutuall courtesies This great gift thou bestowedst also O God my mercie vpon that good hand maid of thine out of whose wombe thou broughtest mee namely that she euer did where shee wasable carry herselfe so peace fully betweene any parties that were at difference and discorded as that after shee had on both sides heard many a bitter word such as swelling and indigested choler vses to breake forth into whenas vnto a present friend the ill-brookt heart-burning at an enemy is with many a byting tittle-tattle breathed vp againe shee neuer for all that would discouer more of the one party vnto the other then what might further their reconcilement 4. This vertue might seeme a small one vnto mee if to my griefe I had not had experience of innumerable companies I know not by what horrible infection or sinne spreading farre and neere who vsed not onely to discouer the speeches of enemies angred on both sides to one another but to adde withall some things that were neuer spoken whereas on the contrary it ought to bee esteemed a meane vertue in a man to forbeare meerely to procure or increase ill will amongst people by ill speaking vnlesse hee studie withall how to quench it by making the best of euery thing And such a one was shee thy selfe being her most intimate Master teaching her in the schoole of her brest Finally her owne husband now towards the latter end of his life did shee gaine vnto Thee hauing now no more cause to complayne of those things in him when hee was once baptized which she had formerly borne withall before hee was conuerted 5. Yea shee was also the seruant of thy seruants and whosoeuer of them knew her did both commend much in her and honored and loued Thee for that they might well perceiue thy selfe to bee within the heart of her holy conuersation the fruites of it being witnesses For shee had beene The wife of one man shee had repayed the duty shee ought vnto her parents shee had gouerned her house very religiously for good workes she had a good report shee had brought vp her childen so often trauailing in birth of them againe as shee saw them swaruing from thee Lastly of all of vs thy seruants O Lord whom for this fauour receiued thou sufferest thus to speake vs who before her sleeping in thee liued in society together hauing first receiued the grace of thy baptisme did shee so take the care of as if she had beene the mother to vs all being withall so seruiceable as if she had beene the daughter to vs all CHAP. 10. Of a confernce had with his mother about the Kingdome of Heauen 1. THe day now approaching that shee was to depart this life which day thou well knewest though we were not aware of it fell out thy selfe as I beleeue by thine owne secret wayes so casting it that shee and I should stand all alone together leaning in a certaine window which lookt into the garden of the house where wee now lay at Ostia where being sequestred from company after the weary somenesse of a long iourney wee were prouiding our selues for a sea-voyage into our owne country There conferred wee hand to hand very sweetely and forgetting those things which are behinds wee reached forth vnto those things which are before wee did betwixt our selues seeke at that Present Truth which thou art in what manner the eternall life of the Saints was to bee which eye hath not seene nor eare heard nor hath it entred into the heart of man But yet wee gaped with the mouth of our heart after those vpper streames of that Fountaine which is before thee that being besprinckled with it according to our capacity wee might in some sort meditate vpon so high a mystery 2. And when our discourse was once come vnto that poynt that the highest pleasure of the carnall sences and that in the brightest beame of corporall lightsomenesse was in respect of the sweetenesse of that life not onely not worthy of comparison but not so much as of mention wee chering vp our selues with a more burning affection towards that did by degrees course ouer all these corporeals that is to say the heauen it selfe from whence both Sunne and Moone and starres doe shine vpon this earth yea wee soared higher yet by inward musing and discourse vpon Thee and by admyring of thy workes And last of all wee came to our owne soules which wee presently went beyond that wee might aduance as high as that Region of neuer-wasting plenty where Thou feedest Israel for euer with the foode of Trueth and where life is that Wisedome by which all these things are made and which haue beene and which are to come And this Wisedome is not made but it is at this present as it hath euer beene and so shall it euer bee seeing that the Termes to haue beene and to be hereafter are not at all in it but to Be now for that it is eternall For to haue beene and to be is not eternall And while we were thus discoursing and streyning our selues after it we arriued to a little touch of it with the whole stroake of our heart and we sighed and euen there wee left behinde vs the first fruits of our spirits enchayned vnto it returning from these thoughts to vocall expressions of our mouth where words are both begun and finished And what can bee like vnto thy Word our Lord who remaines in himselfe for euer without becomming aged and yet renewing all things 3. Wee said therefore If to any man the tumults of the flesh bee silenced let these fancies of the earth and waters and ayre be silenced also yea let the Poles of heauen be silent also let his owne soule likewise keepe silence yea let it surmount it selfe not so much as thinking vpon it selfe Let all dreames and imaginary reuelations be silenced euery tongue and euery signe and whatsoeuer is made by passing from one degree vnto another if vnto any man it can bee altogether silent and that because if any man can hearken vnto them all these will say vnto him We
drops of time are precious with mee and I haue long since had a burning desire to meditate in thy law and by it to confesse both my skill and vnskilfulnesse vnto thee the morning light of thy enlightning mee and the relikes of darknesse in mee so long remayning swallowed vp by till infirmitie bee strength Nor will I suffer my houres to bee squandered away vpon any other thing which I finde free from the necessities of refreshing of my body and the recreating of my minde and the complying in those offices of seruice which wee owe vnto men yea also which wee owe not and yet pay them 2. Giue eare vnto my prayer O Lord my God and let thy mercy hearken vnto my petition because it stryueth not to entreate for my selfe alone but to be beneficiall also to my brethren Thou seest my heart that so it is and that I am ready to sacrifice vnto thee the best seruice of my thoughts and tongue now giue mee what I am to offer vnto thee For I am poore and needy but thou art rich to all those that call vpon thee who not distracted with cares thy selfe takest the care of all vs. From all rashnesse and lying doe thou circumcise both my inward and my outward lippes Let my chaste delights bee thy Scriptures let me neyther be deceiued in them nor deceiued by them Hearken Lord and haue mercy vpon me O Lord my God O thou light of the blind and the strength of the weake yea also the light of those that see and the strength of the strong hearken thou vnto my soule and heare mee crying vnto thee out of the Deepe For if thine eares bee not with vs also in the Deepe whither then shall wee goe to whom shall wee cry The day is thine and the night is thine at thy backe the time passes away 3. Affoord out of it some spure time for my meditations vpon the hidden things of thy Law which I beseech thee shut not vp when they knocke for entrance at it For in vayne it was not that thou wouldest haue so many leaues full of darkesome secrets committed vnto wryting nor are those Fortests without their Harts which retire themselues into them making their range and walkes in them feeding lodging and chewing the Cud in them Perfect me O Lord and reueale them vnto me Behold thy voyce is my ioy yea thy voyce exceedeth the abundance of all pleasures Giue mee what I loue for verily I doe loue it and this loue is of thy giuing Forsake not therfore thine owne gifts nor despise thou him that thirsteth after thy herbage Let me confesse vnto thee whatsoeuer I shall finde in thy bookes and let mee heare the voyce of prayse and let me drinke thee vp and let me consider of the wonderfull things of thy law euen frō the very Beginning wherein Thou madest the heauen and the earth vnto that euerlasting kingdome of thy holy City which is before thee Haue mercy Lord vpon mee and heare my petition for it is not I suppose of the earth not for gold siuer or precious stones or gorgeous apparell or honors and offices or the pleasures of the flesh or necessaries for the body or for this life of our earthly pilgrimage all which shall bee added vnto those that seeke thy kingdome thy righteousnesse Behold O Lord my God what it is that I now desire The vngodly haue sometimes told mee what themselues delight in but they are not like the delights of thy Law See now whence my desire proceedes 4. See Father behold and approue and let it bee pleasing in the sight of thy mercy that I shall find so much grace with thee as that the Secrets of thy Word may bee opened vnto mee when I knocke By our Lord Iesus Christ thy Sonne I beseech thee that man on thy right hand that Sonne of man whom thou hast appoynted a Mediator betwixt thy selfe and vs by whom thou soughtest vs who little sought for thee yet didst thou seeke vs that wee might seeke thee and thy Word by whom thou madest all things and mee amongst them Thy Onely Sonne by whom thou hast called the beleeuing people vnto thee and mee amongst them by Him I beseech thee who sitteth at thy right hand and makes intercession for vs in whom are hid all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge Him doe I seeke in thy bookes of Him Moses wrote this hee sayes this Truth sayes CHAP. 3. Hee desires to vnderstand the holy Scriptures 1. LEt mee heare and vnderstand how thou In the beginning hast made Heauen and Earth This Moses wrote of he wrote and passed away hee passed from hence vnto thee for he is not at this present before mine eyes for if hee were then would I lay hold of him and intreate him and for thy sake would I beseech him to open these things vnto me yea I would lay mine eares vnto his mouth But should he speake in the Hebrew tongue in vayne should hee beate mine eares for neuer should he come neere my vnderstanding whenas if he spake Latine I should well enough know what hee sayd 2. But how should I know whether he sayd true or no and if I could learne this too should I know it by him For within mee in that inward house of my thoughts neither the Hebrew nor the Greeke nor the Latine nor any other language but euen Truth it selfe and that without any helps of the mouth tongue without any sound of sillables should tell me He sayes true and my selfe therupon assured of it would confidently say vnto that seruant of thine Thou speakest truth Seeing I haue not now the meanes to conferre with Moses I beg of thee my God inspired by whom he vttred these truths I beg of thee the pardon of my sinnes and thou that enabledst that seruant of thine to deliuer these Truthes enable mee also to vnderstand them CHAP. 4. The Creatures proclayme God to bee their Creator 1 BEhold the heauens and the earth are already they proclaime themselues to haue beene created for they are changed and altered from what they were Whereas whatsoeuer is not made and yet hath a being hath nothing in it now which it had not before which to haue were indeede to bee changed and altered They proclayme also that they made not thēselues but say Therefore wee are because we are made and therefore were wee not before our time was to bee as if we could possibly haue made our selues Now the euidentnesse of the thing is this voyce of the Speakers 'T is thou therefore O Lord that madest them thou who art full of beauty they beeing fayre also thou who art good they also beeing good euen Thou who hast Being seeing these haue their Beings yet are they neyther so fayre so good nor are so as thou their Creator art compared with whom they are neyther fayre nor good nor are at all Thus much wee know thankes to
thee for it yet is our knowledge in comparison of thine but meere ignorance CHAP. 5. How the world was made of nothing 1. IN the beginning God made Heauen and Earth But how didst thou make them and what Engine hadst thou to worke all this vast fabrick of thine For thou wentest not about it like a fleshly artificer who shaping one body by another purposes according to the discretion of his minde to cast it into such a figure as in his fancy hee seeth fittest by his inward eye But whence should hee bee able to doe all this vnlesse thou hadst made him that fancy and he puts a figure vpon some Materiall that had existence before suppose clay or stone or wood or gold or other thing but whence should these materials haue their being hadst not thou appoynted it them T is thou that madest the Artificer his body thou that gauest a soule to direct his limbs thou madest the stuffe of which he makes any thing thou madest the apprehension whereby he takes his art by which he sees in himselfe what he hath to doe Thou gauest him the Sences of his body which being his Interpreters hee may from his mind vnto his stuffe conueigh that figure which hee is now a working which is to signifie vnto his minde againe what is done already that the minde vpon it may aske aduice of its President truth whether it bee well done or no. Let all these things prayse thee the Creator of these all 2. But yet which way doest thou make them how O God didst thou make heauen and earth Verily neyther in the heauen nor on the earth stoodest thou when thou madest heauen and earth no nor yet in the ayre or waters seeing these also belong vnto the heauen and the earth Nor yet standing in the whole world together didst thou make that whole world because there was no place where to make it before it was made that it might haue a Being Nor didst thou hold any thing in thy hand whereof to make this heauen and earth For how shouldst thou come by that which thy selfe hadst not made For what hath any Being but onely because thou art Therefore thou spakest and they were made and in thy Word thou madest them CHAP. 6. He disputes curiously what manner of Word the World was created by BVt how didst thou speake after the same way that the voyce came out of a Cloud saying This is my beloued Sonne As for that voyce it was vttered and passed away had a beginning and ending the sillables made a sound and so passed ouer the second after the first the third after the second and so forth in order vntill the last came after all the rest and silence after the last By which most cleare and plaine it is that the motion of a Creature expressed it performing thy eternall Will in it it selfe being but temporall And these words of thine thus made to serue for the time did the outward care giue notice of vnto the intelligent soule whose inward eare lay listening to thy eternall Word But whenas this latter had compared these words thus sounding within a proportion of time with that eternall Word of thine which is in the Silence it sayd This Word is far another frō that a very far different Word these words are far beneath me nay they are not at all because they flee and passe away but the Word of God is farre aboue me and abides for euer 2. If therefore in sounding passing words thou spakest that heauen and earth should bee made and that way didst create heauen and earth then was there a corporeal creature euen before heauen and earth by whose motions measured by time that voyce tooke his course in time But there was not any creature before heauen and earth or if there were surely then thou didst without such a passing voyce create that whereof thou mightest make this passing voyce by which thou wert to say the word Let the heauen and the earth be made For whatsoeuer that were of which such a voyce were to be made vnlesse by thy selfe it were made it should not at all haue any being That a body therefore might be made by which these words might be made by what word of thine was it commanded CHAP. 7. The Sonne of God is the Word coeternall with the Father 1. THou callest vs therfore to vnderstand the word who is God with thee God which word is spoken vnto all eternity and in it are all things spoken vnto euerlasting For neuer is that finished which was spoken or any other thing spoken after it that so all may come to bee spoken but all are spoken at once and vnto euerlasting For otherwise there should be time and alteration and no true eternity no true immortality Thus much I know O my God thankes to thee therefore This I know as I confesse to thee O Lord yea hee knowes and blesses thee as I doe whoeuer is not vnthankfull to thy assured Veritie 2. Wee know Lord wee know that in as much as any thing is not now what sometimes it hath beene or is now what heretofore it hath not beene so farre forth it is borne and dyes Nothing therefore of thy Word doeth retyre and come in place againe because it is truely immortall and eternall And therefore vnto thy Word coeternal vnto thy selfe thou dost once and for euer say all that thou dost say and it is made whateuer thou sayest shall bee made Nor doest thou make it otherwise then by saying and yet are not all things made together or euerlasting which so thou makest by saying CHAP. 8. The Word of God is our teacher in all 1. VVHy I beseech thee O Lord my God is this so Verily I see it after afort but how to expresse it I know not vnlesse thus it be namely that whatsoeuer begins to bee and leaues off to bee beginnes then and leaues off then when in thy eternall reason it is resolued that it ought to haue begun or left off in which Reason nothing does eyther beginne or leaue off That Reason is thy Word which is also the Beginning the same that likewise speakes vnto vs. Thus much sayd it in the Gospell by our Lords humanity and so much sounded outwardly in the eares of men to the intent it might be beleeued and sought for inwardly and found in the eternall verity where that good and onely Master taught all his Disciples There Lord heare I thy voyce speaking vnto mee because hee there speakes vnto vs who teacheth vs but he that doeth not teach vs though hee does speake yet to vs hee speaketh not 2. And who now is able to teach vs but the vnalterable Truth seeing that when wee receiue any admonishment from a mutable creature wee are but ledde along vnto that vnalterable Truth where we learne truely while wee stand to heare Him reioycing greatly because of the Bridegroomes voyce and returne our selues backe to that
somewell-filld Fruit-yards in which they discouering some fruites concealed vnder the leaues gladly flock thither and with cherefull chirpings seek out and pluck off these fruites For thus much at the reading or hearing of 〈…〉 words doe they discerne â— how that all things 〈…〉 to come are out 〈…〉 by thy eternall and 〈…〉 continuance at the 〈…〉 and how there is 〈…〉 all that any one of the 〈…〉 all creatures which 〈…〉 of thy making O God â—hose Will because it is the â—â—â— that thy selfe is is no â—â—â—s changed nor was it â—â—â— Will newly resolued vpâ—â— or which before was not â—â— thee by which thou createdst all things not out of thy selfe in thine own similiâ—â—â— which is the forme of â—â— things but out of nothing â—â— a formelesse vnlikenesse to â—â— selfe which might after â—â—â— formed by thy similitude â—â—â—â—â—king its recourse â—â—â— thee who art but one 〈…〉 to the capacity 〈…〉 for it so farre as is giuen to each thing in his kind and might all bee made very good whether they abide neere about thy selfe or which being by degrees remoued further off by times and by Places do eyther make or suffer many a goodly narration These things they see and they reioyce in the light of thy trueth according to all that little which from hence they are able to conceiue 2. Another bending his obseruation vpon that which is spokeÌ„ In the beginning God made heauen and earth hath a conceit that that begining is Wisedome because that also speaketh vnto vs. Another aduising likewise vpon the same words by Beginning vnderstands the first entrance of the things created taking them in this sense In the begining he made as if he should haue sayd He at first 〈◊〉 And among them that vnderstand In the beginning 〈◊〉 In thy Wisedome thou createdst heauen and earth One beleeues the matâ—â—â—â— of which the heauen and earth were to be created to be there called heauen and earth Another the natures already formed and distinguished Another vnder the 〈◊〉 of Heauen conceiues â—â—â— one formed nature and that the spirituall one to bee 〈◊〉 and vnder the name of Earth the other formelesse 〈◊〉 of the corporeall matter And as for them that vnder the names of heauen and earth vnderstand the matter as yet vnformed out of which heauen and earth 〈◊〉 to be formed neyther let they vnderstand it after 〈…〉 manner but One 〈◊〉 matter out of which both the intelligible and the sensible creature were to bee made vp Another that matter onely out of which this sensible corporeall bulke was to bee made which in his mighty bosome contaynes these natures so easie to bee seene and so ready to be had Neyther yet doe euen they vnderstand alike who beleeue the creatures already finished and disposed of to bee in this place called heauen and earth but one vnderstands both the inuisible and visible nature another the visible onely in which wee behold this lightsome heauen and darkesome earth with all things in them contayned CHAP. 29. How many wayes a thing may be sayd to be first 1. BVt he that no otherwise vnderstands In the beginning he made then if iâ— were sayd At first he made hath on ground whereupon with any truth he may vnderstand heauen earth vnlesse hee withall vnderstand the matter of heauen and earth that is to say of the vniuersall intelligible and corporeall creature For if he would haue the vniuerse to be already formed it may be rightly demanded of him If so be God made this first what then made hee after wards After the vniuerse surely he will finde nothing at all wherevpon must bee against his will heare of another question How is a thing first if after it there bee nothing But when he sayes God made the matter vnformed at first â—ad formed it afterwards there is no absurdity committed prouided that he bee able to discerne what 〈◊〉 first in eternity what in time what in choyce and what in Originall First in eternity so God is before all things first in time so is the flower before the fruit first in choyce so is the fruit before the flower first in Originall so is the sound before the Tune Of these foure the first and last that I haue mentioned are with extreme difficulty obtayned to be vnderstood but the two middlemost easily enough For too subtle and too losty a vision it is to behold thy eternity O Lord vnchangeably making these changeable things and so in that respect to be before them 2. And who in the second place is of so sharpe-sighted an vnderstanding as that hee is able without great paines to discerne how the sound should bee before the Tune yet is it so for this reason because a Tune is a sound that hath forme in it and likewise 〈…〉 that a thing not formed may haue a being whereas that which hath no forme can haue no being Thus is the matter before the thing made of â—â— Which matter is not before the thing in this respect for that it makes the thing seeing it selfe is rather made into the thing nor is it before in respect of distance of time for we doe not first in respect of time vtter formelesse founds without singing and then tune or fashion the same sounds into a form of singing afterwards iust as wood or siluer be seru'd whereof a chest or vessell is fashioned Such materials indeede doe in time precede the formes of those things which are made of them but in singing it is not so for when a man sings the sound is heard at the same time seeing that hee does not make a rude formelesse sound first and then bring it into the forme of a Tune afterwards 3. For a sound iust as it is made so it passeth nor canst thou finde aught of it which thou mayst call backe and set vnto a tune by any Art thou canst vse therefore is the tune carryed along in his sound which sound of his is his matter which verily receiues a forme that it may become a tune And therefore as I sayd is the matter of the sound before the forme of the tune not before in respect of any power it hath to make it a tune for a sound is no way the workemaster that makes the tune but being sent out of the body is like materials subiected to the soule to make a tune out of Nor is it first in our choyce seeing a sound is not better then a tune a tune being not onely a bare sound but a gracefull sound But it is first in Originall because a tune receiues not forme to cause it to become a sound but a sound receiues forme to cause it to become a tune By this example let him that is able vnderstand the matter of things to bee first made and called Heauen and Earth because Heauen and Earth were made out of it Yet was not this matter first made in respect of time because that the forme of
Ghost the Creator of all thine owne creatures CHAP. 6. Of the Spirits mouing vpon the waters 1. BVt what was the cause O thou true-speaking light vnto thee lift I vp my heart let it not bee taught vanities dispell thou the darkenesse of it and tell mee by our mother charity I beseech thee tell mee the reason I beseech thee why after the mention of heauen and of the inuisible and shapelesse earth and darknesse vpon the Deepe thy Scriptures should euen then at length make the first mention of thy Spirit Was it because it was meete so to haue Him insinuated as that he should bee sayd to moue vpon and so much could not truely bee sayd vnlesse that were first mentioned vpon which thy Spirit may bee vnderstood to haue moued For verily neyther vpon the Father not vpon the Sonne was hee moued nor could he rightly be sayd to moue vpon if there were nothing yet for him to moue vpon First therefore was that to bee spoken of which He was sayd to moue vpon and then Hee whom it was requisite not to haue named otherwise then a Hee was sayd to moue vpon But wherefore yet was â—â— not fitting to haue Him insinuated otherwayes vnlesse Hee were sayd to moue vpon CHAP. 7. Of the effect or working of the Holy Ghost 1. FRom hence let him that is able follow with his vnderstanding thy Apostle where hee thus speakes Because thy loue is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost which is giuen vnto vs and where concerning spirituall gifts he teacheth and sheweth vnto vs a more excellent way of charity and where he bowes his knees vnto thee for vs that wee may come to learne that most excellent knowledge of the loue of Christ And therefore euen from the very beginning did the Spirit supereminently moue vpon the waters Whom shall I tell it vnto and in what termes shall I describe how the hugy weight of lustfull desires presses downe into the steepe pit and how charity rayses vs vp againe by thy Spirit which moued vpon the waters Vnto whom shall I speake it and in what language vtter it For they are no certaine places into which wee are plunged and out of which wee are againe lifted What can bee liker and yet what vnlikeer They bee Affections they be Loues they be the vncleannesse of our owne spirits that ouerflow our lower parts with the loue of cares and it is the holynesse of thy Spirit that rayseth vs vpwards againe by the loue of our safeties that wee may lift our harts vp vnto the Lord where thy Spirit is moued vpon the waters and that wee may come at length to that repose which is aboue all rests when namely our soules shall haue escaped ouer these waters where we can find no ground CHAP. 8. How Gods Spirit cherisheth feeble soules 1. THE Angels fell and mans soule fell and all thy Spirituall creatures in generall had shewne the way vnto the deepe which is in that most darkesome bottome hadst not thou sayd Let there be light and there was light and vnlesse euery spirituall creature of thy heauenly City had continued in obedience vnto thee and settled it selfe vpon thy Spirit which moues vnchangeably vpon euery thing that is changeable Otherwise had euen the heauen of heauens it selfe for euer continued a darkesome Deepe whereas now it is light in the Lord. And now by that miserable restlesnesse of the falling spirits and by their discouering of their owne darknesse the garment of thy light being pluckt off them doest thou sufficiently reueale how noble the reasonable creature is which thou hast created vnto which nothing will suffice to settle its happynesse and rest vpon that is any way inferior vnto thy selfe and therefore cannot herselfe giue satisfaction vnto herselfe For t is thou O Lord that shalt lighten our darknesse from thee must grow these our garments and then shall our darknesse be as the noone day 2. Giue thy selfe vnto me O my God yea restore thy selfe vnto me for I loue thee and if it be too little let mee now loue thee more affectionately I am not able to measure my loue that I may so come to know how much there wants of enough that my life may euen runne into thy embracements and not tnrne from them againe vntill I bee wholy hidden in the secret of thy presence This one thing am I sure of that woe is me if I be not in thee yea not so onely if I bee without my selfe but ill will it goe with mee though I be hidden within my selfe yea all other plenty besides my God is meere beggery vnto me CHAP. 9. Why the Spirit onely moued vpon the waters 1. BVT did not the Father also or the Sonne moue vpon the waters And if wee vnderstand mouing as it were in a place like a body then neyther did the Spirit moue But if the excellent highnesse of the diuinity aboue euery changeable creature bee vnderstood then did both Father Sonne and Holy Ghost moue vpon the waters Why therefore is this sayd of thy Spirit onely Why of him onely as if there had beene some place where indeede there is no place for it of which onely it is written that Hee is thy gift Let vs now take vp our rest in this thy gift there let vs enioy thee O our rest and our place 2. Loue preferres vs thither and thy good Spirit aduances our lowlynesse from the very gates of death In thy good pleasure lies our peace our body with his owne lumpishnesse swaies vs towards its owne place Weight makes not downeward onely but to his owne place also The fire mounts vpward a stone sinks downeward All things pressed by their owne weight goe towards their proper places Oyle powred in the bottome of the water yet will swimme on the toppe of it water powred vpon Oyle sinkes to the bottome of the Oyle They are weighed downe by their owne hea-luinesse they go to seeke their owne centers Things a little out of their places become vnquiet put them in their order agayne and they are quieted My weight is my loue that way am I carried whithersoeuer I bee carried Wee are inflamed by thy gift and are carried vpwards wee waxe hot within and we goe forwards Wee ascend thy waies that be in our heart and wee sing a song of degrees inwardly enflamed with thy fite with thy good fire and wee goe euen because we goe vpwards to the peace of Ierusalem for glad I was when as they sayd vnto me We will go vp into the house of God There let thy good pleasure settle vs that wee may desire no other thing but to dwell there for euer CHAP. 10. All is of Gods gift O Happy creature which knowes no other thing but that whenas it selfe was another thing euen by thy Gift which moueth vpon euery mutable thing it was so soone as created and no delay of time betweene taken vp in that
of cares Who Lord but thy selfe who once commandedst That the waters should be gathered together into one place and that the dry land should appeare which thirsteth after thee For the Sea is thine and thou hast made it and thy hands prepared the dry land Nor is the bitter spiritednesse of mens wills but the gathering together of the waters called Sea yet doest thou also restraine the wicked desires of mens soules and settest them their bounds how far the waters may be suffered to passe that their waues may breake one against another and in this manner makest thou it a Sea by th' order of thy dominion which goes ouer all things 2. But as for the soules that thirst after thee and that appeare before thee being by other bounds deuided from the society of the Sea them dost thou so water by a sweet spring that the Earth may bring forth fruite and thou O Lord so coÌ„manding our soule may bud forth her workes of mercy according to their kind when we loue our neighbour in the reliefe of his bodily necessities hauing seede in it selfe according to its likenesse Whenas out of the consideration of our owne infirmity wee so farre compassionate them as that we are ready to releeue the needy helping them euen as wee would desire to be helped out owne selues if wee in like manner were in any necessity And that not in things easie to vâ— aloue as in the greene hearâ— which hath seede in it but also in affording them the protection of our assistance wâ—â— our best strength like the tree that brings forth fruit that is to say some right good turne for the rescuing him that suffers wrong out of the clutches of him that is too strong for him and by affording him the shelter of our protection by the powerfull arme of iust iudgement CHAP. 18. He continues his Allegory in alluding to the workes of the Creation 1. SO Lord euen so I beseech thee Let it spring out as already thou makest it doe as already thou giuest cheerfulnesse and ability Let Truth spring out of the Earth and righteousnesse looke doâ—n from Heauen and let there be lights in the Firmament Let vs breake our bread vnto the hungry and let vs bring the poore that is cast out into our owne house Let vs cloath the naked neuer despise those of our own flesh Which fruits being once sprung out of the earth see that it is good and let our temporary light break forth and wee our selues from this inferiour fruitfulnesse of Action arriuing to that superior word of life in the delightfulnesse of Contemplation may appeare at length like the lights in the world fast settled to the Firmament of thy Scriptures For there by discourse thou so clearest things vnto vs as that we be enabled to deuide betweene Intelligible sensible creatures as betwixt the day and the night or betweene soules giuen eyther to Intellectuall or vnto sensible creatures insomuch as not onely thou thy selfe in the secret of thine owne Iudgement like as before euer the Firmament was made thou deuidest betweene the light and the darkenesse but thy spirituall children also set and rancked in the same Firmament thy grace now clearely shining throughout their Orbe may now giue then light vnto the earth and deuide betwixt the day and the night and bee for signes of times seasons namely that old things are passed with theÌ„ lo all things are become new and that our saluation is now neerer then when we first beleeued and that the night is passed and the day is at hand and that thou wilt crown the yeere with thy blessing send labourers into thy haruest in the sowing whereof others haue taken paines before sowing the seed also for another harwest which shal be in the end of the world 2. Thus giuest thou life to him that seeketh 〈◊〉 and thou blessest the yeeres of the 〈…〉 But thou art the same and in thy yeeres which fayle not thou preparest a beginning for the yeeres that are a passing For thou in thy eternall counsayle doest in their proper seasons bestow thy heauenly blessings vpon the earth for to one there is giuen by thy Spirit the word of wisdome resembling the greater light for them who are delighted with the brightnesse of perspicuous trueth rising as it were in the beginning of the day To another is giuen the word of knowledge by the same Spirit resembling the lesser light To another faith to another the gift of healing to another the working of miracles to another prophecy to another discerning of Spirites to another diuers kinds of tongues and all these resemble the lesser starres All these worketh the same Spirit deuiding what is fit for euery man euen as it will and causing the starres to appeare in their brightnesse vnto ech mans edification 3. But as for the word of knowledge wherein are all the Sacraments contayned which are varied in their seasons like the Moone together with those other notions of gifts which are afterwards reckned vp like the startes they so much come short of the brightnesse of wisdome in as much as their rising is in the beginning of the night But yet are these necessary vnto such as that wisest seruant of thine could not speake vnto as vnto spirituall but as vnto carnall men euen hee who also speaketh wisdome among those that are perfect As for the naturall man like him who is a babe in Christ and a sucker of milke till such time as he growes bigge enough for strong meate and can looke steadily against the Sunne let him not vtterly forsake his night but rest himselfe contented with what light the Moone the Starres affoord him These discourses holdest thou with vs O our most wise God in thy Bible that Firmament of thine that we may learne by it how to discerne of all these things in an admirable contemplation though still but in Signes and in times and in daies and in yeeres CHAP. 19. Our hearts are to be purged from vice that they may be capable of vertue He still continues his Allegory of the creation 1. BVt wash you first make you cleane put away the euill of your doings out of your own hearts and from before mine eyes that the dry land may appeare Learne to doe good iudge the fatherlesse pleade for the widdow that the earth may bring foorth the greene herb for meate and the tree bearing fruite and then come let vs reason together saith the Lord that there may bee light in the Firmament of the heauen let them shine vpon the earth That rich young man demanded of our good master what he should do to attaine eternal life Let our good master tell him whom he thought to bee no more then a man who is good because hee is God let him tell him That if he would enter into life hee must keepe the commandemeÌ„ts let
him put away the bitternesse of malice and wickednesse let him not kil nor commit adultery nor steale nor beare false witnesse that the dry land may appeare and bring forth the honouring of Father and mother and the loue of our neyghbour All these sayth hee haue I kept 2. Whence then commeth such stoare of thornes if so bee the earth bee fruitefull Goe stubbe vp those thicke bushes of couetousnesse sell that thou hast and fill thy selfe with standing corne by giuing to the poore and follow the Lord if thou wilt be perfect that is associated to them among whom he speaketh wisedome he that well knoweth what to distribute to the day and what vnto the night that thou also mayst know it and that for thee there may bee lights made in the Firmament of heauen which neuer will bee vnlesse thy heart be there nor will that euer bee vnlesse there thy treasure bee also like as thou hearest of our good master But that barren earth was sorry at that saying and the thornes choaked the word in him 2. But you O chosen generation you weake things of the world who haue forsaken all that ye may follow the Lord goe yee now after him and confound the strong go after him O yee beautifull feete and shine yee in the Firmament that the heauens may declare his glory you that are mid-way betweene the light and the perfect ones though not so perfect yet as the Angels and the darkenesse of the little ones though not vtterly despised Shine yee ouer all the earth and let one day enlightened by the Sunne vtter vnto another day a speech of Wisedome and one night enlightened by the Moone shew vnto another night a word of knowledge The Moone and Starres shine in the night yet doeth not the night obscure them seeing they giue that light vnto it which it is capeable of For behold as if God had giuen the word Let there lights in the Firmament of heauen there came suddenly a sound from heauen as it had been the rusking of a mighty winde and there appeared clouen tongues like as it had beene of fire and it sate vpon each of them and there were made lights in the Firmament of heauen which had the word of life in them Ely euery where about O you holy flies O you beauteous fires for you are the light of the world nor are you put vnder a bushell he whom you claue vnto is exalted himselfe and hath exalted you Ranne you abroad and make your selues knowne vnto all nations CHAP. 20. He allegorizes vpon the creation of spirituall things 1. LEt the Sea also conceiue and bring forth your works ◠and let the waters bring foorth the mouing creature that hath life For you by separating the good from the bad are made the mouth of God by whom he sayd Let the waters bring forth not a liuing soule which the earth brings forth but the mouing creatures hauing life in it and the winged fowles that fly ouer the earth For thy Sacrament O God by the ministerie of thy holy ones haue moued in the middest of the waues of temptation of this present world for the trayning vp of the Gentiles vnto thy name in thy baptisme In the doing wherof many a great wonder was wrought resembling the huge Whales and the voyces of thy Messengers flying aboue the Earth in the open Firmament of thy Bible that being set ouer them as their authority vnder which they were to fly whithersoeuer they went For there is no speech nor language where their voyce is not heard Seeing their sound is gone thorow all the Earth and their words to the end of the world because thou O Lord hast enlarged them by thy blessing 2. Say I not true or doe I mingle and confound and not sufficiently distinguish betweene the knowledge of these lightsome creatures that are in the Firmament of heauen and these corporeall workes in the wauy Sea and those things that are vnder the Firmament of heauen For of those things whereof the vnderstanding is solid and bounded within themselues without any increases of their generations like the lights of Wisedome and Knowledge as it were yet euen of them the operations bee corporeall many and diuers and one thing growing out of another they are multiplyed by thy blessing O God who hast refreshed our soone cloyed mortall sences that so the thing which is but one in the vnderstanding of our mind may by the motions of our bodies bee many seuerall wayes set out and discoursed vpon These Sacraments haue the Waters brought forth yea indeede the necessities of the people estranged from the eternity of thy trueth haue brought them foorth in thy Word that is in thy Gospell Because indeede the Waters cast them foorth the bitternesse whereof was the very cause why these Sacraments went along accompanied with thy Word 3. Now are all things faire that thou hast made but loe thy selfe is infinitely fairer that madest these all from whom had not Adam falne this brackishnesse of the Sea had neuer flowed out of his Ioines namely this mankind so profoundly and so tempestuously swelling and so restlesly tumbling vp and downe And then had there beene no necessitie of thy ministers to worke in many waters after a corporeall and sensible maner such mysterious doings and sayings For in this sense haue those mouing flying creatures at this present fallen into my meditation in which people being trayned vp admitted into though they had receiued corporeal Sacraments should not for all this bee able to profit by them vnlesse their soule were also quickned vp vnto a higher pitch and vnlesse after the word of admission it looked forwards to Perfection CHAP. 21. He allegorizes vpon the Creation of Birds and fishes alluding by them vnto such as haue receiued the Lords supper are better taught and mortified which are perfecter Christians then the meerly baptized 1. ANd hereby by vertue of thy Word not the deepnesse of the Sea but the earth it selfe once separated from the bitternesse of the waters brings forth not the creeping and flying creatures of seules hauing life in them but the liuing soule it selfe which hath now no more neede of Baptisme as the heathen yet haue and as it selfe also had when it was couered heretofore with the waters For there is entrance into the kingdome of heauen no other way since the time that thou hast instituted this Sacrament for mē to enter by nor does the liuing soule any more seeke after miracles to worke Beliefe nor is it so with it any longer That vnlesse it sees signes and wonders it will not beleeue now that the faithfull Earth is separated from the waters that were bitter with infidelity and that tongues are for a signe not to them that beleeue but to them that beleeue not The Earth therefore which thou hast founded vpon the waters hath no more neede
now of that flying kind which at thy word the waters brought foorth Send thou thy word into it by thy Messengers for their labors indeede they are which we speake of but yet thou art he that worketh in them that they may worke a soule to haue life in it 2. The Earth brings forth that is the Earth is the cause that â— they worke this in the soule like as the Sea was the cause that they wrought vpon the mouing things that haue life in them as also vpon the fowles that flie in the open firmament of heauen of whome this Earth hath no neede although it seedes vpon that fish which was taken out of the deepe vpon that Table which thou hast prepared for the faythfull For therefore was He taken out of the Deepe that hee might feede the Dry land the Fowle though bred in the Sea is yet multiplyed vpon the Earth For of the first preachings of the Euangelists mans infidelity was the cause yet giue they good exhortations vnto the faythfull also yea and many wayes doe they blesse them from day to day But as for the liuing soule that tooke his beginning from the Earth for it profits not the faythfull vnlesse they can containe themselues from the loue of this world that so their soule many only liue vnto thee which was dead while it lined in pleasure in such pleasures Lord as bring death with them For t is thou O Lord that art the vitall delight of a pure heart 3. Now therefore let thy Ministers worke vpon this with i not as sometimes they did vpon the waters of Infidelity when they preached and spake by miracles and Sacraments and mysterious expressions when as Ignorance the mother of Admiration might giue good care â—o theÌ„ out of a reuerent feare it had towards those secret wonders For such is the entrance that is made vnto faith by the sonnes of Adam forgetfull of thee while they 〈◊〉 themselues from thee 〈◊〉 become a darksome deep But let thy Ministers worke â—ow as vpon dry land that is separated from the gulfes of the great deepe and let them 〈◊〉 patterne vnto the faithfull by liuing before them â—â— stirring the vp to imitation For thus are men to heare not with an intent to hearken only but to doe also Seeke the Lord and your soule shall liue That the Earth may bring forth the liuing soule Be not conformed to this world Containe your selues from it then shall your soules liue by auoyding it which dyed by affecting it 4. Contayne your selues from the immoderate wild humour of pride the litherly voluptuousnesse of lust and the false name of knowledge that so the wilde beasts may be tamed the cattell made tractable and the Serpents harmelesse For these bee the motions of our minde vnder an Allegory that is to say the haughtynesse of pride the delight of lust and the poyson of curiosity these be the motions of a dead soule For the soule dyes not so vtterly as that it wants all motion because it dying by departing from the fountayne of life is there upon taken vp by this transitory world and is conâ—â—â—ed vnto it But thy word O God is the fountaine of eternall life and that neuer calleth away wherefore this departure of the Soule is restrayned by thy word when 〈◊〉 sayd vnto vs Be not conformed vnto this world that so the Earth may in the fountyne of life bring forth a 〈◊〉 soule that is a soule 〈◊〉 continent by vertue of 〈◊〉 Word deliuered by thy 〈◊〉 and by followâ—â—â— the followers of Christ 〈◊〉 is indeede to liue after 〈…〉 because the emution a man takes is from â—â— friend Be yee sayth he â— am for I am as you are 〈◊〉 in this liuing soule shall 〈◊〉 be good beasts meeke 〈◊〉 actions For thou 〈◊〉 commanded Goe on with thy businesse in meekenesse so shalt thou be beloued of all men And there shall be good cattell in it too which neither of they eate much shall haue nothing ouer nor if they eate little any lacke and good Serpents not dangerous to doe hurt but wise to take heed such as will make such a search into this temporall nature as may bee sufficient that Gods eternity may be cleerly seene being vnderstood by the things that are made For these Creatures are then obedient vnto Reason when being once restrayned from their deadly preuayling vpon vs they liue and become good CHAP. 22. Of Regeneration by the Spirit He allegorizes vpon the Creation of man 1. FOr behold O Lord our God our Creatour soone as euer our affectioÌ„s are restrayned from the loue of the world by which we died through our euill-liuing and began to bee a liuing soule through our good liuing and that the word which thou hast spoken be thy Apostle shal be made good in vs Be not conformed to this world that next followes vpon it which thou presently subioynedst saying But be ye transformed by the renuing of your mind not as liuing now after your kind as if you followed your neighbour next before you nor yet as liuing after the example of some better man for thou didst not say Let man be made after his kinde but Lei vs make man after our own Image and similitude that we might proue what thy will is For to this purpose sayd that dispencer of thine who begets Children by the Gospell that hee might not euer haue them babes whom hee must bee sayne to feede with milke and bring vp like a nurse Be ye transformed sayth he by the renewing of your mind that ye may proue what is that good that acceptable and perfect will of God Wherefore thou sayest not Let man he made but Let vs make man Nor saydst thou According to his kind but After our own Image likenesse For man being renewed in his minde and able to discerne and vnderstand thy truth needs no more any direction of man to follow after his kind but by thy shewing doth hee proue what is that good that acceptable and perfect will of thine yea thou teachest him that is now made capeable to discerne the Trinity of the Unity and the Vnity of the Trinity Whereas therefore it was spoken in the plurall number Let vs make man vet is it presently inferred in the singular And God made man and whereas t is sayd in the plurall number After our owne likenesse yet is inferred in the singular After the Image of God Thus is man renewed vnto the knowledge of God after the Image of him that created him and being made Spirituall he now iudges all things those namely that are to bee iudged yet hee himselfe is iudged of no man CHAP. 23 Of what things a Christian may iudge He allegorizes vpon mans dominion ouer the creatures THat hee now iudgeth all things this is the meaning That he hath dominion ouer the fish of the Sea and