Isâ—achar seeing the rest good and the land pleasant to sit me downe betweene my burthens so that as one buried aliue there should want nothing but Senocas epitaph passing by the house of a sluggish citizen Hìc situs est Vatia here lies one that only serued to make one qui nulla re alia nisi otio notus consenuit only by keeping tale of the many yeares of his age standing grew old died For such a life if it be any thing at the best it is but as Pyndarus prizes it a shadow a dreame such a bodie but the soules sepulchre and such a soule fit for nothing but to embalme a carcase and keepe it from putrefaction But though such be the quiet contented and pleasing life we lead here in the Vniuersitie which from the pleasant situation thereof hath long since wonne the surname of Bellositum such indeed that I may borrow the Italians proverbe of Venice that he who hath not seene it and liued in it cannot prise it marrie he that liues there it costs him deare though such I say be the content I find here that had I liued neuer so many yeares yet according to the epitaph of that noble Romane who dying old professed he had beene long indeed but liued onely seauen yeares which free from the seruice of the Court he had past quietly at his countrie farme I might well number the daies of my life onely from the time I beganne my studie here and iustly blesse the meanes thereof as farre as euer Augustine did his freinds liberalitie strayning themselues to maintaine him at the Vniversitie of Carthage yet farre be it from me to make that quiet and content which God hath giuen but as meanes for the furthering of better ends my vtmost end or as if I were in my proper place where each bodie is quiescent to set vp my rest and make me a Tabernacle here No man I know was expulsed paradise to labour and not to make himselfe another paradise elsewhere for ease and pleasure And as farre doe I wish from our Vniuersitie all such priests as sacrifice here to Vacuna the goddesse of idlenes as her Temple was remooued out of the gates of Rome For mine owne part as fearefull and as breefe as the trumpe of iudgement alwaies sounded in Saint Hieromes cares is Saint Pauls woe euer before mine eyes if I preach not the Gospel and when I leaue my diligence in my calling or loue my ease or pleasure more then that nay if I preferre not Sion in all my mirth then God do so to me and more and leaue me likewise as indeed vnlesse he leaue me I cannot leaue his seruice For according to that reason which that glorious Martyr gaue the Tyrant why he could not choose but alwaies remember the name of Iesus it is written in my heart it cannot out And therefore I will gladly make the Prophets contestation my owne Let my right hand forget that little skill it hath when I forget Gods seruice yea let my tongue cleaue to the roofe of my mouth and forget to speake when it forgets to speake of thy word and testimonies But though this ease and quiet hath not had power to captiuate me yet peradventure I stand off as ashamed of the Gospel of Christ Iesus repenting me of my choise as if like Demas I could be content to forsake the Ministerie and follow the world No I shall euer magnifie my calling as my crowne my reioycing and thinke my selfe much more bound to giue thankes to almightie God in this behalfe then Plato because he was made a Grecian rather then a Barbarian And so farre euer was I from Hercules crosse-way to demur and debate the matter that as if this one thing were necessarie I euer minded and intended it alone and howsoeuer in other things I wish to put off childishnes and grow in wisedome as in yeares yet shall I neuer be ashamed in this behalfe stil to thinke as when I was a child but rather it shall be my daily prayer as it was Gods for the Israelites when their heart was right that the same heart be euer in me and for euer so affected to my calling But happily as the louelinesse thereof hath allured me so the difficultie therof now deterreth me and the greatnes of the charge beeing as one tearmes it Onus Angelicis humeris formidandum such a burden that the angels themselues would tremble to vndergo it doth so discourage mee that with Gedeons faint souldiers for feare I desire to be dismissed from this warfare and beeing called to so great a charge like feareful Saul seeke to lurke and avoide so troublesome a function Indeede if I thought it enough to pretend authorities as that Braggadochian said hee would be with them paulò post principia after the fraie was well begunne and the worst past and good reason why for fecerunt Herules Pyrrhus I haue presidents inough before me to countenance my weakenes and fearefulnesse For Moses thrice refused and excused himselfe euen till God was angrie Ezechiel for all God so laboured to strengthen and confirme him yet went vnwillingly yea in bitternesse and indignation of his spirit and Ionas directly turned his backe fled an other way How many of the Fathers whilst they tooke counsel with flesh and blood withdrew their haÌ„ds from the Lords plough This made Ambrose hide himselfe and three times flie from Millaine and when he was miraculously brought backe after he had trauelled all night finding himselfe in the morning but at an other gate of the same citie though one of singular integritie he sought to defame himselfe to trie if by any means he might avoid this pastorall charge This drove Gregorie Nazianzene to flie againe and againe to the studie of Philosophie And this caused S. Augustine to absent himselfe from Churches where pastors were wanting and euen to weepe when taken vnawares he was to be ordered and to deprecate the Episcopall function put vpon him by Valerian in these tearmes Quid vis vt peream as if it stood him as much vpon as his life and soules saluation came vnto But of all Chrysostome is most plaine in this point Ex Ecclesiae ministris non arbitror multos saluari translating vpon Ministers that hard saying of our Sauiour with what difficultie rich men shall be saued because of the greatnesse of their charge and their negligence therin But though this difficultie haue made many so backward that the Lord of the haruest hath been forced euen to thrust out labourers into his vinyard yet while I remember nihil esse difficilius c. sed apud Deum nihil beatius c. the one so ballanceth the other that I professe the difficultie thereof though I duly waigh it yet waighing withal from whome and to what ende it is it
let my soule therefore euer magnifie thy holy name because thou hast ruised mee out of the dust to stand before thee and hast shewed mee the light of thy countenance and let mine eyes see thy saluation To be a seruant of Seruants was once a curse but to be a seruant of one of thy seruants is one of the highest blessings thou thy selfe beeing Lord of all deigning to serue thy Seruants washing their feete and it beeing an office wherein thy blessed Angels doe reioyce But howsoeuer it is an honourable calling yet it is vnto thee a seruice and not vnto ease or pleasure Those that are in Princes Courts may goe in soft rayment and liue at their ease but not so they that serue in thy Courts O Lord. Thy selfe didst begin thy preaching with a fast of fourtie daies and didst enioyne to all that did follow thee to leaue all earthly pleasures which together with the world they were to forsake in stead thereof to take vp thy crosse that so thy members maybe conformable vnto their head Men are all borne to labour as a spark to flie vpwards it is a curse that followed mans fall but to labour in thy vineyard is a blessing following mans repayring and redemption to keepe and dresse thy Paradise thy inclosed garden as it was Adams charge in the happie estate of his innocencie so is it now the Ministers after the happie restoring thereof Thy vineyard laie desolate and the wild bore of the forrest spoyled it but thou hast new digged planted and hedged it and built a Tower therein and thou hast set it forth at a price to thy Ministers to be the Keepers thereof wherefore if it yeeld thee not the fruit or doe not well entreate thy seruants or suffer it to grow wast they can looke for no other but to be cast thence out of thy paradise Not without a cause did thy seruants reioyce that they were thought worthy to suffer for thy sake and thy Martyrs gladly shed their blood for the seed of thy Church and to water what thou hadst planted Thy first grace to thy seruant Paul after thou hast chosen him for a vessell of thine honour was to shew him what great things he should suffer for thy sake as thou hast done before for ours but alas let vs doe what we can or suffer whatsoeuer we are able for Christs sake yea though we should laie downe our liues for him or his sheepe as hee for vs and them yet weare we but vnprofitable seruants Neuerthelesse as blessed were the pappes that gaue thee suck so blessed also are those whom thou hast made the Nources of thy Church to giue them meate in due season blessed the wombe that bare thee and so that which beares thy children the wombe indeed that bare the Lord was deliueuered without paine or labour but thy children must be borne with labour and trauell and the Ministers are as it were daily to trauaile in birth with such as are begotten by them vnto thee but they soone forget their trauaile and reioyce so that children be borne vnto thee and thou makest them fruitfull and takest away the reproach of their barrennesse I know Lord I am no more able to doe the seruice then thou hast need of my seruice and yet since it hath pleased thee thogh all-sufficient and all-powerfull of thy selfe to vse the weake things of this world as thine instruments thereby the more to manifest thy power able to worke by the most vnlikely meanes I humbly and willingly yeeld my selfe as if I were euen nowe in thiâ—e hands new to be framed and created as clay to the hands of the Potter to be made whatsoeuer vessel either of honour or dishonour yea though it weare to be an Anathema to thy seruice For now that I haue 〈◊〉 my hand to the plough for the tilling of that good ground wherein the seed of thy word is to be sowne I may not looke backe to Sodome to the world whence thou hast called mee but wholy intend the worke thou hast set me to doe Thy seruants must know they are vnder a Taskmaster though a righteous one vnlike those of Egypt that will duely and daily exact their work of them and see that hauing straw giuen them they make bricke for the building of thy house and multiplie the Talents committed vnto them And now there is a woe for me if I preach not the Gospel and that sincerely not can I vnlesse I will be worse then Baalim for a world goe farther then thy holy word will warrant mee Graunt O Lord that my delight be wholy in thy word that I may thinke alwaies I therein heare thee speaking and as thy sheepe knowing thy voice may follow the sheapheard of my soule whether soeuer hee call mee O let not the booke of thy holy word I beseech thee be a sealed book vnto mee but thou that hast the key of Dauid the Lambe that art onely found worthie to open it vnfold it and giue me an vnderstanding heart which aboue all things hauing vndertaken so great a charge I desire with Salomon that I may be a right dispenser of thy holy word and go out and in before thy people For I knowe Lord they which will preach in thy name if thou send them not and assist them are but like those who without authority from thee would cast out deuils in thy name which prevailed against them yea euen those whom thou hast called and set apart to thy ministerie if they do not wel and abide in thee and thou in them the deuill will enter into them as he did into Iudas and make them the sonnes of perdition tenne times worse theÌ„ before Giue me grace therefore first to direct mine owne wayes according to the dictat of thy holy Spirit and word that beginning with my selfe and so speaking out of the treasure and abundance of my heart and knowing the things which belong to saluation I may be blessed if I doe them let me first worke out myne owne saluation with feare trembling and so saue both my selfe and others least otherwise I be beaten with many stripes First O Christ make the vessel newe make me a new man and then put in new wine turne thou my water to wine And because thy Ministers are as the eies of thy mysticall and militarie bodie for as thou art the light of theÌ„ so they are the light of the world O let there be no beames in their eyes who are to be eyes to the blind but make their verie feete to shine as the starres in the firmament make them conuert many to righteousnesse and beeing first guided by thee the bright morning starre let them become themselues starres also though shining in the night and with thy beames to guid and direct others to the house of the Lord that so hauing found the Messias they may wiâ—h the wise men noise it abroad and cause others as Philip did Nathaniel to come
THE YOVNG DIVINES APOLOGIE for his continuance in the Vniuersitie with Certaine Meditations written by NATHANIEL POVVNOLL late student of Christ-church in Oxford Printed by CANTRELL LEGGE Printer to the Vniuersitie of Cambridge 1612. And are to be sold in Pauls Churchyard by MATTHEVV LOVVNES at the signe of the Bishops head ⧠TO THE REVEREND FAther in God IOHN L. Bishop of London RIght woorthie and reuerend Father in God Blame not your ancient Obseruer if nowe after he hath recouered in a manner at Cambridge that life which he lost at his departure from Oxford he rises aniew as it wear out of his ashes to do his humble seruice to your Lordship and indeede to whome can any fruit that comes from him bee with more right presented theÌ„ to him in whose garden and vnder whose shadow it griew Into whose hand should this small booke though wanting his owne Epistle be deliuered but vnto that to which it hath before giuen so many Epistles whear can it looke for protection with more hope theÌ„ whear it hath formerly with all fauour founde it If your Lordship thearfore will be pleased to be the defender of this Apologie and to breath as I may truely say the breath of life againe into his sequent Meditations that so beeing annimated aniew with those vnspeakeable sighs and alike feruent zeale of spirit whearwith they wear first as in fierie chariots carried vp into heau'n I doubt not but they will seeme beeing so quickned to any that shall reade them especially if as Iob wished in a case not much vnlike his foule wear in his foules stead no cold or dull or dead lettets and in so doing you shall not onely followe him into his graue but call him out of it with this so speciall a benefit binding with the dead in one knot of thankfulnesse all his Friends that yet liue and cannot but ioy to see your Lordships fauour out-liue the person on whom it is bestowed of whome my selfe being the least shal euer thinke I am most bound to be Your L. to command in all good seruice G. FLETCHER To the Reader THe Authour of this small discourse or rather giue mee leaue so to call him the Swan that before his death sung this divine song is now thear whear he neither needs the praise nor feares the envy of any whose life as it deserued all so it was covetous of no mans commendation himselfe beeing as farre from pride as his desert was neere it Yet because it was his griefe that hee should die before hee was fit to doe God the service hee desired and his freinds desire that beeing so fit as hee was for his seruice hee might if it had been possible neuer haue died at all thearfore his booke was bould to thrust it selfe into that world which the Authour of it had lately left therby to satisfie both his Makers desire in doing the church of God some seruice and his friends griefe in not suffering him altogether to lie dead And truely what better seruice can it doe then to persuade with reason since Authoritie forces not our young Neophytes to abide awhile in the schooles of the Prophets at Bethel before they presume to enter the Temple at Hierusalem and if reason can doe little with them because happily they want it yet let his Example an argument that prevailes much with the common People of whome such Prophets are the tayle make them at least see and confesse though they know not how to amend their fault Ten yeares had hee liued in the Vniversitie eight languages had hee learnt and taught his tongue so many seuerall waies by which to expresse a good heart watching often daily excercising alway studying in a word making an ende of himselfe in an ouer-feruent desire to benefit others and yet after hee had as it wear out of himselfe sweat out all this oyle for his lampe after hee had with the Sunne ran so many heauenly races and when the Sunne was laied abed by his labours after hee had burnt out so many candles to giue his minde light hauing alwaies S Pauls querie in his minde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee neuer durst adventure to doe that after all these studies done and ended which our young Novices doeing nothing coumpt nothing to doe but still thought himselfe as vnfit as hee kniew all men weare vnworthy of so high an honour as to be the Angells of God I could wish that he had left behinde him if not all his learning yet some of his modesty to be deuided among these empty sounding vessels that want both but since in him so great examples of piety knowledge industrie and vnaffected modestie are all fallen so deepely a sleep as I am afraid we shall hardly find in any of his age the like which I speake not to deny iust praise to the liuing but who wil not affoard a fiew flowers to strowe the cophine of the dead thear was no way to awaken them and in them him but by layeing them vp not with him in his graue but in these immortal monuments of the presse the liuing Tombes proper to dead learning wherin these flowers may liue though their â—oote be withered and though the trunke be dead the branches flowrish Let rich men therefore in the guilded sepulchres and proud monuments of their death beg for the memorie of their liues the righteous shall be had in euerlasting remembrance without any such proud beggary nor shall he euer be behoulding to a dead stone for the matter and good reason Righteousnes beeing a shadow of that diuine substaÌ„ce which hath in it no shadowe of change much lesse of corruption only I could wish that their liues wear as long as their memories that so this crooked age might haue as great store as it hath need of them G. F. AN APOLOGIE FOR YOVNG Students in Diuinitie why they stay in the Vniversitie to learne before they presume to teach abroad Written and sent by NATHANIEL POVVNALL for his owne defence to his Parents MOst gracious and deare Parents I could neuer yet perswade my selfe to be of Galbas mind who thought it needlesse that any man should be tied to giue an accoumpt of his idle time much lesse of Pericles that hauing ill stewarded the Common-wealths Treasurie did not thinke so much how to make his accompt as how to make no accompt at all but since the season doth in a manner now require that I send you some fruits of your so long and so well manured and so carefully planted yet so long barren vine as whose fruits you haue with patience for many more yeares expected then that Husbandman did the fruits of his barren figtree though as yet it beeing the first spring it can send forth but small grapes yet such as they are since they be not wild grapes I hold it honest so farre to serue the time though no time seruer as of mine owne accord vnlike those bad husbandmen in the Gospel to