rule Semper eris pauper si pauper es If wretched soule thou liu'st in need The richer sort will let thee bleed The Dogs may lecke thy smarting sores But pittie none peeps out of doores Somtimes the pretence of Iustice in obseruing the Statutes is a barre to their deuotion but Oh! vniust crueltie when as their loue to true Iustice indeede is nothing lesse then they would heerein praise it to be Experience proclaiming another right deplorable cause thereof to be Nil tamen attuleris c. For gifts blind the eies of the wise yet so that they will neuer see to vndertake the indigent till they haue thus put them out Gods house cals vpon such pompeous Landlords for tribute to repaire her ruines but they haue so many euils Deuils fashions conformities deformities lie nibling at their bagges gaping for maintenance that Caesar cannot haue his due neither can they spare ought to the honor of God whereas to the former Noctes atque dies patet atri ianui Ditis Their bags the mouth of Plutoes sable caue Which beare this thirsty Motto still we craue Lye euer open to the hand of sinne Where Grace in vaine petitions to come in It shall neither mooue them to passion nor compassion to pitty nor piety to see the gates of Sion which the Lord so highly preferreth to lye waste Againe this Sanctuary opens her doore that the King of glorie according to his promise may come in when his seruants shall repaire to that place where hee hath put his Name to do him worship But heere is found vsually as a confluence of a great many so not of many great whereof some rest satisfied with a few typid petitions of their owne at home being onely a morning sacrifice for the whole day and offered vp in a Closet without any testimony but of their owne consciences that is enough to free them of hypocrisie and as they are perswaded to obtain remission here and a reward in heauen Others heare them from other men but without a mentall consent or ioyning of the heart as the sequell of their behauiour shamefully confesseth neither of them loues a fiery zeale for affecting a carnall prosperity they cannot beare to bee eaten vp with the zeale of Gods house Howbeit the Church stands not as a Rocke in the Sea to bee auoyded but as a Cliffe on the shoare to shew vs that thither we should direct our course Neither did the people of God in their banishment vow the prelation of Ierusalem to their chiefest ioy but that they were there most happy where they could freely serue the Lord. For all this they hauing builded their sumptuous houses by the might of their power for their honour as proudly said Nabuchadnezzar they resolue it is time for them wholy to repose in these and leaue their rooms in the Lords house empty The Adamites were a Sect whose custome modesty is loath to mention But they deuised them a Church after an hot-house for the space of seruice time they went all naked Men and Women and the virgins preached vnto the rest Are not such houses made if I may so say our most frequented Churches Or I would such Preachers were not most reuerenced best beloued Beeing with them our Adamites as those other iudge themselues in Paradise one word distilling from the tongue of such an Oratresse gaines soules and bodies to her seruice more then many vigilant Diuines can ouercome to God The Arke of the Lord was accounted the glory of Israel The glory is departed from Israel for the Arke of God is taken 1. Sam. 4.22 But we like Gentiles of vncircumcised hearts doe not so esteeme of his Temple but cast vp our accounts another waies and goe a whoring after heathenish abominations yet not imagining a Queene of Heauen but imagining an earthly Mistresse to worship her who works a stranger effect with her flexible audience then Saint Pauls long Sermon did with Eutichus he fell downe in a sleepe and was taken vp dead Act. 20.9 notwithstanding his heauenly doctrine but they if halfe dead are by her mortall incantations throughly quickned and reuiued This is a pleasure conceiued partly in the eye and for that the Philosophers condemne our choice saying it is praeclarius homine dignius Coelum potius quam coelata intueri hoc pulcherrimum opus inter micantibus astrorum luminibus tanquam floribus adornatum quam ficta picta gemmis distincta mirars More excellent and worthy of a Man to behold the Heauens then any thing fashioned and set forth by the art of Man and rather to admire the beauty of that fabricke graced with luminous Lamps to put vs in mind of our Creator of our calling of our Country that the first is God and not Man secondly that we being christians haue lastly not Earth but Heauen for our Country thē as the sense may fairely beare it womē in respect of their monstrous vncouth disguisments feigned painted and adorned with Iewels It hath also its conception partly in the eare by reason of effeminate adulation and bewitching blandishments for as Lactantius aply Oratio cum suauitate decipiens capit mentes quo voluerit impellit Speech sweetly season'd doth intrap mens minds And as it list seduce in sundry kinds And forasmuch as such pellacious charmes doe vndoubtedly draw them to a dislike aspernation of the simple speech of the Gospell of Christ and are irratamenta vittorum quae ad corrumpendos animos potissime valent the spurs of vices which mghtily preuaile to the corruption and deprauation of our soules it is needfull to conclude with the Author of these words Ergo tollenda sunt nobis We must therefore void abandon and renounce them WHAT AND HOW FARRE PLEASVRES ARE lawfull and to be vsed ALbeit affliction was dictated by Christ to his Disciples through them to all the faithfull for the very portion which they are to expect and receiue from the World in this world yet was it not with an absolute inhibition of all outward pleasure or any full exception taken thereunto it being meant onely so much as was necessaty for them because it is a Point in Christs Church that through many tribulations they must enter into the Kingdome of Heauen And the godly haue beene somtimes excited by the Prophets from God himselfe to reioyce in regard he would remoue this grieuance from thē and in stead of affliction cast out their enemies giuing them rest and a release from his iudgements Reioyce O Daughter Sion be ioyfull O Israel be glad and reioyce with all thy heart O Daughter Hierusalem the Lord hath taken away thy iudgements he hath cast out thine enemies Zep. 3.14.15 The Preachers comparatiue position It is better to enter into the house of mourning then into the house of feasting doth not ouerthrow our priuiledge of some recreation it proouing chiefely the prestantiority of mourning as it serueth to expresse the mortification of our
therewith content neither hee himselfe receiueth the brethren but forbiddeth them that would and thrusteth them out of the Church 3. Epist Ioh. 9.10 Furthermore it is in our Aduersaries the mother and Nurse of strife raylings euil surmisings and vaine disputations which beget in the minds of the vnresolued often doubtings concerning the truth and sometimes translating them into the fearefull state of Apostasie whereof examples are not scant this day If any man saith S. Paul teach otherwise and consenteth not to the wholesome words of our Lord Iosus Christ and to the doetrine which is according to godlinesse hee is puft vp through ambition and knoweth nothing but doteth about questions and strife of words c. from such separate thy selfe 1. Tim. 6.3 But if any Greatnesse should heere enter an Apology for Ambition saying they could not rise without it forasmuch as nothing is more prosperously atchieued then what is attempted with importunate desire and dignitie is the life of nobilitie it may suffice for farther resolution that such an earnest will to aspire to ciuill dignity before sufficiency and desert make way vnto it whereby there may be a likelihood of the answerable performance of those weightie duties which are required in so high a calling is contrary to true contentation which being one of the most notable vertues of a resolute Christian that other by consequence is iustly branded for a hatefull sinne and therefore vnworthy the entertainement of Noble hearts whither S. Bernard as a carefull Watch-man for the good of the Church highly commendeth a better guest in this his feeling confessiō of him Dignus est plane morte qui tibi Christe recusat vinere qui tibi non sapit desipit qui curat esse nisi propter te pro nihilo est plane nihil est Christ onely must bee the obiect of our wisdome of our life of our being that wee may liue to bee wise in him and be wise to bee found in him or else our sentence ends not in dignus morte but in morte morieris Thou shalt dye the death for whilest we delude-our selues in the glory of a fleshly wisedome we incurre not onely the censure of being fooles but that more strict one Nihil sumus whatsoeuer wee are wee are nothing in estimation with God To aspire vnto Christ with the wing of spirituall graces and celestiall vertues is the onely true Nobilitie and the beauty of both the other of the natural which is deriued from Parents and of the ciuill which is imposed by supreme Authority Nobilitie saith Boetius est laus quaedam proueniens ex merit is parentum It is a certaine praise issuing from the merits of the Parents Thereby insinuating our Ancestors to haue gone through the Temple of Vertue to the Temple of Honor and deseruedly to haue reached their dignitie which so long continueth an honourable praise to their posterity as they hold on a correspondency with them in vertue but if otherwise they inherit their Nobility and not the soule by which it liues they doe not onely demolish the Trophe of their Fathers worthines but open the passage of iust dishonour to themselues For who seeing a letter of Gold in a mud wall wil not iudge it out of its place and where grace and vertue haue not their character in the forehead and polish the actions that face is to foule that heart to vnworthy of the faire titles Christian and Noble A great Man should be like the Sunne which as it is more excellent then the other Planets so it sendeth forth more light that he may say as Paul Brethren be ye followers of me and looke on them which walke so as yee haue vs for an ensample Phil. 3.17 It is memorable of him that beeing a King thought nothing could suit better with Maiesty then wisedome to gouerne his people and therefore the Ambition of all other things seposed he asked of God only that wherewith honor and riches stand bound but are not the principal The affluence of honour and riches which are to vertue no better then iniusta nouerca checking her ouer precisenesse for awaking the conscience to looke scornefully vpon Ambition and Auarice are not to be sought or coueted of those that stand charged with the administration of a common-weale but wisedome principally to dispossesse and cleanse the heart of those choaking corruptions that it may be free for the lodging of equitie iustice and liberalitie For they being as it were the East which Aristotle cals Dextrum Coeli or for them more aptly dextram Reipublicae it is naturall to their high ascent and dexterious location for vertue to rise but neuer to set in them What could be more preiudiciall to the States of Israel then that the Prophet hauing nominated those duties which are pertinent chiefely to their eminent qualitie and he expected to haue found in them should through their dissolute distemper and extreame corruption be enforced to complaine the contrary But they haue altogether broken the yoake and burst their bonds Ier. 5. in not seeking the truth nor executing Iudgement by which two the man in authoritie is knowne to be Gods lawfull and approued delegate and Minister When Dauid heard that Saul was about to come vp to Keilah to destroy the Cittie for his sake he inquired of God Will the Lords of Keilah deliuer mee into his hands He made a question though it concerned the ruine of their Cittie and liues whither they would betray his innocency 1. Sam. 23.12 noting the dutie of good Gouernors that they should be so chast constant and faithfull in defence of integritie of the truth and of a well deseruing cause as that no hazzard should impell them to peruert iustice Although Balack offer large gifts to blind the eyes and allure them to curse where they should blesse yet must they answer as Elisha to Naam in I will not receiue it 2. King 5.16 and as Michaiah to Nahabs messenger who prayed him to speake good vnto the King his Master as the false Prophets had done Whatsoeuer the Lord saith vnto me that will I speake 1. King 22.14 If thou wilt giue me thy house full of Siluer and Gold I will not passe the commandement of the Lord. Numb 22.18 which is to do iustly to loue mercy and to walke with God Mich. 6.8 The tooth of auarice for the most part biteth like a fiery Serpent to the death of the soule hauing made impression it so inflameth that no earthly medicine can preuaile to asswage it Riches of all others seeme the surest Lenitiue which yet worke a contrary effect Non satiando sed irritando as Seneca kindling where they should quench and laying on more load where they should exonerate lighten for which our dignities haue to cast their eyes on the brazen Serpent of their Nobilitie which if it bee right by participation of Grace wil cure it by fundamentall extirpation For the Nobles of Berea when Grace saluted Greatnesse
Alexander that loued it but regarded and rewarded as a vertue whilest hee more esteemed the vulgar Medes and Persians for reuerencing him for the sonne of Iupiter then he did the Nobles of Macedonia for their loyal and faithfull dealing so where voluptuousnesse ambition and auarice get hands to their passe they are disputed by some as necessary by others as conuenient to be vsed loosing the note of sinnes Why so As in Egypt sometimes they that were vnlearned in Necromancy were accounted infamous wherfore the best and wisest would apply their study vnto it So not to bee skilled in these blacke Artes were enough to bring disease disrespect and pouerty vpon vs besids the accumulating of other vnworthy contumelies Therefore to auoyd the tax of being cruel to our selues which Saint Austine layes vpon them that neglect their fame meaning the good report which a christian should be carefull to preserue wee in a misconstruction of his sence will bee tyrants to our soules that we may be famous sinners This ignorance springs from our non proficiency in the Schoole of Christ as Saint Pauls example effectually prooues against vs who being ripe in that measure of diuine knowledge which is giuen as diuersly to the Saints in this life so to all sufficiently toward their eternall state would not reioyce but in the Crosse of Christ whereby the world was crucified to him and he vnto the world Gal. 6. teaching the same to bee the duty and practise of all well gouerned christians to hold fast with the rock whereon they are founded and not to suffer the externall respects of riches reuerence and time-seruing to loosen their anchor from this shore and bewitch them from his obedience on whom they ought meerely to depend as being wholy his We are either old learners and too young proficients or but yong learners and no proficients who hauing in Christs Gymmasy but one word to learne haue not yet learned it as wee should Christ faith Discite a me quia corde mit is sum et humilis We must learne of him humility but pride commune nobilitatis malum that common mischiefe of Nobilitie that too common misery imo pene omnium almost of al men doeth so often put them all out as they goe about to pronounce it yet necessity lies so hard vpon vs deuiating Pilgrimes if we will be happy and happy are we that we can be taught that we must not thinke our direction hard thence be discou raged from following it but labour and thereby we shall be able to take the low way which is the right way for there is no high way to that high countrey and heauenly inheritance Quicunque desiderat primatum caelestem sequatur humilitatem terrestrem non enim qui maior fuit in honore ille maior sed qui iustior ille maior as Chrisostome Our humility on earth must helpe vs to preferment in heauen for the most honourable heere shall not in that in that respect be the greatest there but the iust shall shine as the brightnes of the firmament and they that turne many to righteousnesse shall shine as Starres for euer and euer Dan. 12.3 The lesson is but short the vnderstanding sweet our obedience vnto it gracious the reward glorious therefore detesting pride the enemie of prayer and bane of all godly motions Humilitate omnia facto nostra condiantur as S. Augustine aduiseth let vs season all our wordes and workes with humility CHOYCE AND APPLICATIONS Which may serue partly for the vse of the precedent Treatise Not vnprofitable for direction as well in Sacred as in ciuill duties By Charles Goldwell Master of Artes. LONDON Prined by Bernard Alsop for Iohn Pyper 1621. TO THE WORTHY and right nobly disposed Sir Walter Tichborne Knight the blessing of heauen and earth be multiplied SHall not my hand present my heart to him That gaue my feeble armes more strength to swimme Then faile my hand to guide thine artlesse pen And heart forget good nature vnto men If both prefer him not to lasting praise That made me happy in my dysmall dayes This be a Record of your noble mind Seated in blood of a most loyall Kind That Prince and people cannot wish to see Hearts better stockt with true integrity Nor any blame my gratefull heart that giues Aduancement to your worth where merit liues SIR I Haue entred so great a Bond to your worship that I am hopelesse euer to say as the indebted seruant to his master vpon your patience I will pay you all yet doe I not desire that vpon proofe of my willingnesse your clemency should pardon all I would not be so secure lest ingratitude corrupt me but that hauing iustly to consider your free and frequent fauours my best endeauours may still bee striuing to procure your acquittance so shall your Worship bee sure not to loose what is worth the requiting I hopefull still to receiue those benefits which may continue my study thereunto Sir I could make choyce of no better thing to present you with all then what my heart hath chosen to rule and content it selfe withall desirous to perswade you so much hereby that no greater seruice shall bee wanting which may deriue a promise from this briefe Hierogliphick The shortnesse is to bee measured by the streightnesse of my time not by the defect of my loue the matter to bee examined by my purpose of profiting others so well as my selfe not in any thing taxable of presumption the vnfiled composure to bee tollerated for the condition of the matter As they are I heartily wish they may at least content you if not adde a scruple to your happy experience The Lord who hath abundantly blessed you with many sweete hopefull branches likewise enrich your hearts with his graces that you may bee throughly and perfectly blessed in body and soule and euermore protect and direct all yours to the glory of his sauing health Your Worships euer bounden CH. GOLDVVILL TO THE WORshipfull my deare Father Iohn Goldwell Esquire the continuation of blessings temporall the increase of graces Spirituall and the assurance of life eternall be granted and sealed by God and his holy Spirit SIR AMong many your necessary and wholsome rules laid downe by way of Fatherly aduertisement vnto me this hath beene one as not the least repeated not the least worthy Efficacius est vitae quam linguae testimonium It is better specially for a Diuine to make his life then his tongue his witnesse vnto the people that in being an example vnto his flocke bee may saue himselfe and them that heare him wherein howsoeuer I haue failed or may hereafter yet I intended hereby to expresse my desire euen by this my resolution vnto a constant setlednesse and composition of life Who shall thankefully entertaine the friendly reprehension of any noting my going astray from that which I haue chosen Sir that I haue not made the dedication of these my labours vnto you the world knoweth that