And yet notwithstanding in peinting of an Image thou lookest vpon it a hundred times and diuers dayes thou amendest it and thou busiest all thy wits about it If thou be the dooer of this woorke in the making of man tell mee why thou hast not children when thou wouldest and why thou hast them sometime when thou wouldest not Why hast thou a Daughter when thou wouldest haue a Sonne or a Sonne when thou wouldest haue a Daughter In peinting thy Pictures thou doest not so disapoint thy felfe Also if thou beest this good workemaister in making of thy child tell me how thou hast fashioned it Whence is the hardnesse of his bones the liquor of his veynes the spirite of his Heartstrings and the beating of his Pulses Seest thou this which is also as smally in thy power as if it were none of thine Tell mée what is hidden in his breast and the whole workemanship that is couched within him If thou hast not seene it in the opening of thy like thou knowest nothing thereof Tell mée yet further the imaginations of his brayne and the thoughts of his heart nay tell mee thine owne which oftentimes thou wouldest fame alter or stay and canst not It is a bottemlesse Pit the which thou canst not gage and therefore it followeth that thou madest it not Knowe thou therefore O man that all this commeth too thee from some cause that is aboue thy selfe And séeing that thou hast vnderstanding needes must that cause haue vnderstanding too and seeing that thou vnderstandest not thy selfe needes must that vnderstand thee and seeing that thou after a sort art infinite in nomber but much more infinite in thy thoughts and deedes needes must that bee infinite too And that is it which we call God What shal I say more or rather or what remaineth not for mee too say I say with the auncient Trismegist Lord shall I looke vpon thee in the things that are here beneath or oâ— the things that are aboue Thou madest all things and wholâ—â—ature is nothing els but an image of thée And I will conclude with Dauid Blesse ye the Lord all ye workes of his yée Heauens yée waters yée Winds yee Lightenings yee Showers yee Seas yee Riuers and all that euer is blesse yee the Lorde yea and thou my soule also blesse thou the Lord for euer For to lay forth the proofes which are both in the great world and in the little world it would stand me in hand to ransacke the whole world as the which with all that euer is therein is a plaine booke laide open to all men yea euen vnto Children to reade and as yee would say euen to spell God therein Nowe like as all men may reade in this booke as well of the world as of themselues so was there neuer yet any Nation vnder heauen which hath not thereby learned and perceiued a certeine Godhead notwithstanding that they haue conceiued it diuersly according to the diuersitie of their owne imaginations Let a man ronne from East to West and from South to North let him ransacke all ages one after another and wheresoeuer he findeth any men there shall he find also a kind of Religion and Seruing of God with Prayers and Sacrifices The diuersitie whereof is very great but yet they haue alwayes consented all in this poynt That there is a GOD. And as touching the diuersitie which is in that behalf it beareth witnesse that it is a doctrine not deliuered alonly from people to people but also bred and brought vp with euery of them in their owne Clymate yea and euen in their owne selues Within these hundred yeres many Nations haue bene discouered and many are daily discouered still which were vnknowen in former ages Among them some haue bene found to liue without Lawe without King without House going starke naked and wandring abroad in the fields but yet none without some knowledge of God none without some spice of Religion to shewe vnto vs that it is not so natural a thing in man to loue company and to clad himselfe against hurts of the wether which things wee esteeme to be verie kindly as it is naturall vnto him to knowe the author of his life that is to say God Or if wee yeeld more to the iudgement of those which were counted wise among the Heathen nations whome afterward by a more modest name men called Philosophers The Brachmanes among the Indians and the Magies among the Persians neuer began any thing without praying vnto God The lessons of Pythagoras and Plato and of their Disciples began with prayer and ended with prayer The auncient Poets who were all Philosophers as Orphey Homer Hesiodus Pherecides and Theognis speake of none other thing The Schooles of the Stoikes Academikes and Peripatetikes and all other schooles that florished in old time roong of that The very Epicures theÌ„selues who were shamelesse in all other things were ashamed to denie God To be short the men of old time as witnesseth Plato â—hose their Priestes which were to haue regard of the seruice that was to be yéelded vnto God from among the Philosophers as from among those which by their consideration of nature had atteined to knowe God And so which sildome happeneth but in an apparant trueth the opinion of the comon people and the opinion of the wise haue met both iump togither in this point Well may there bee found in all ages some wretched kaytifes which haue not acknowledged God as there be some euen at this day But if we looke into theÌ„ either they were some yong fooles giuen ouer to their pleasures which neuer had leysure to bethinke them of the matter and yet when yeeres came vppon them came backe againe to the knowing of themselues and consequently of God or els they were some persons growen quite out of kind saped in wickednesse and such as had defaced their own nature in theÌ„ selues who to the intent they might practise all maner of wickednes with the lesse remorse haue striued to perswade themselues by soothing their owne sinnes that they haue no Soule at all and that there is no Iudge to make inquirie of their sinnes And yet notwithstanding if these fall into neuer so little daunger or be but taken vpon the hip they fall to quaking they crye out vnto heauen they call vpon God And if they approch but a farre of vnto death they fall to fretting and gnashing of their téeth And when they be well beaten there is not any shadowe of the Godhead so soone offered vnto them but they imbrace it so ready are nature and conscience which they would haue restreined and imprisoned to put them in mind thereof at all howres They be loth to confesse God for feare to stand in awe of him and yet the feare of the least things maketh them to confesse him Nay because they feare not him that made all things therefore they stand in awe of all things as wee see in the Emperour
Poyson for teaching that the Gods which were worshipped in his tyme were but vanitie And for that in scorne of them he was wont to sweare by an Oke by a Goate and by a Dogge as who would say there was no more Godhead in the one than in the other Yet notwithstanding he was the man whom Apollo by his Oracle déemed to bee the wisest of all Greece thereby confessing that he himselfe was no God His Disciple Plato deliuereth a rule in fewe words whereby to discerne his meaning When I write in good earnest sayth he you shall knowe it hereby that I begin my letters with onely one God and when I write otherwise I begin them with many Gods Uerely his ordinarie maner of spéeches were not If it please the Gods with the helpe of the Gods and such like but if it please God by the helpe and guyding of God God knoweth it Such a man is the cause thereof next vnto God and such other like Whereas he affirmeth al other things not to bee in very déede He calleth God the Father of the whole World the Béer that is to say he who only is or hath béeing the selfbred who also made the Heauen the Earth the Sunne the Moone the tymes and seasons and all other things both heauenly and earthly high and lowe and whatsoeuer els is In other places he calleth him the Beginning the Middle and the End by whom for whom and about whom all things are the Gouerner of all that euer is and shall be the very Goodnesse and the Paterne of all goodnesse the King of all wighte indewed with reason and mynd of whom all things haue their Béeing and which is of more excellencie then the word Béeing And the names and titles which he giueth vnto the true God are commonly giuen him vnder the name of Iupiter and he thinketh that they be not to be communicated vnto any other In déede sometymes he suffereth himselfe to be caried away to the coÌ„mon maner of speaking perhaps for feare of the like end that his Schoolemaister had he doth it expressely in his booke of Lawes which was to bee published to the people For there and in diuers other places he calleth the heauenly Spirites by the name of Gods but yet he maketh God speaking to them as to his Creatures naming them Gods begotten and made by him and him on the contrary part the Father God of Gods Also he honoreth Heauen with the same name because of the substantialnes thereof and likewise the Starres by reason of the perpetuitie of their course And it may be that in that respect the Greekes called them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gods Howheit he addeth that they bee visible Gods and that the Heauen was made by the only one inuisible God That it hath none other immortalitie than such as he hath giuen vnto it and that he hath placed the Starres in the Skye for the measuring of tymes seasons and howres appoynting vnto euery of them his Circuit As touching meÌ„ he sheweth wel enough what he beléeued of them by his declaring of their Genealogie that is to say their mortalitie to wit that he acknowledged in theÌ„ some shadow of the Godhead but that the very essence or substance thereof was in the onely true God All the Platomists haue followed the sayd doctrine bringing it so much the more to light as they themselues haue drawne néerer to our tyme. Damascius sayth The one bringeth foorth all things The one ought to be honored by silence The one like the Sunne is seene dimly a farre of and the neerer the more dimly and hard at hand taketh away the sight of all things Iamblichus surnamed the Diuine acknowledged euery where a diuine cause which is the beginning end and middle of all things That there is one God the maister of all at whose hand welfare is to be sought That the end of all Contemplation is to ame at one and to withdrawe from multitude vnto vnitie And that the same one or vnitie is God the Ground and of all trueth happinesse and substaunce yea and of all other Grounds themselues He sayth in déede and his bookes are so full of it That there are both Goddes and Féeâ—des and of them he maketh diuers degrées as good and bad high and lowe and so foorth But yet for all that he alwaies acknowledgeth one chiefe whom he calleth the onely one God which hath vin afore all that is and is the Fountaine and Roote of all that first vnderstandeth or is first vnderstoode that is to say of all formes shapes or Patternes conceiued or conceiuable in mynd or imagination Suffizing to himselfe and Father of himselfe the begetter of the Soules of the other Gods according to the Patternes conceiued in his owne mynd who is not only the chiefe Being but also the superessentiall Beeing that is to say a Béeing which farre surmounteth passeth and excelleth all Béeings nor simply Good but the very Good and Goodnesse it selfe Insomuch that he calleth all the other Goddes Seuered essences Goodnesses deriued and Myndes sparkling foorth from the Godhead of the Supersubstantial God that is to say of the God whose substance surpasseth and excelleth all maner of substances which Gods vnderstand not any thing but by beholding the sayd One nor are any better than dealers foorth of certaine giftes which they haue from him And Theodore the Platomist addeth that all of them pray carnestly ot the first and drawe from him which is of himselfe and that otherwise they should goe to nought Proclus after the maner of the Platomists which was for the most part to be very Superstitious turneth himselfe ofttymes aside to many Gods but yet his resolutioÌ„ is this in expresse words Who is he sayth he that is King of all the onely God separated from all and the producer of all things out of himselfe which turneth all ends vnto himselfe and is the end of ends the first cause of operatioÌ„s the author of all that euer is good and beautifull the inlightener of all things with his light If thou beleeue Plato he can neither be vttered nor vnderstood And anon after Then is it this first simplicitie which is the King the Souereintie and Superexcellencie of all things vncomprehensible not to bee matched with any other thing vniforme going beyond al causes the Creator of the substance of the Gods which hath some forme of goodnesse All things goe after him and sticke vnto him for he produceth and perfecteth al things that are subiect to vnderstanding like as the Sunne doth to al things that are subiect to sence To be short it is the vnutterable cause which Plato teacheth vs vnder two names in his Commonweale calling it the very Goodnesse it selfe and the fountayne of trueth which vniteth the vnderstanding to the things that are vnderstood And in his Parmenides The One or Vnitie wherevpon all the
diuine Vnities are grounded and which is the Originall of all that is and of all that as yet is not In his booke of the Soule and of the Spirit he teacheth vs the way to atteyne from many multitudes to this supersubstantiall Unitie which hee calleth the Nature grounded in eteruitie the life that liueth and quickeneth the waking vnderstanding the welspring of all welfare the infinite both in continewance and in power and yet notwithstanding without quantitie and so foorth Neuerthelesse he attributeth much to Angelles and Féendes according to Art Magicke which the Platomists did greatly affect in those daies howbeit in such sort as he continually followeth this rule of his so oft repeated in his bookes That all things are from the true God who is hidden and that the second degrée of Gods that is to say the Angelles and Féendes are from the very selfsame and to bee short that to beléeue any mo Gods than one and to beléeue none at all are both one thing Simplicius sayth Whatsoeuer is beautifull commeth of the first and chiefe beautie All trueth commeth of Gods trueth And all beginnings must needes bee reduced to one beginning which must not bee a particular beginning as the rest are but a beginning surpassing al other beginnings mounting farre aboue them and gathering them all into himselfe yea and giuing the dignitie of beginning to all beginnings accordingly as is conuenient for euery of their natures Also The Good sayth he is the Welspring Originall of al things It produceth all things of it selfe both the first the middlemost and the last The one Goodnesse bringeth foorth many Goodnesses The one Vnitie many Vnities The one Beginning many Beginnings Now as for Vnitie Beginning Good and God they be all but one thing For God is the first cause of all all particular Beginnings or Grounds are fast settled and grounded in him He is the Cause of Causes the God of Gods and the Goodnesse of Goodnesses Porphyrius acknowledged the one GOD who alone is euery where and yet in no one place who filleth al places and yet is conteyned in no place by whom all things are both which are and which are not This God doth he call the Father which reigneth in all he teacheth vs to sacrifize our Soules vnto him in silence and with chast thoughts On the other side he acknowledgeth the other Gods as his Creatures and Seruants some visible some vnuisible vnto whom he alloweth a materiall seruice farre differing from the seruice of the true God As touching Plotin his Schoolemaister surnamed the Diuine whom the Oracle of Apollo as is reported by Porphyrius himselfe didregister in the number of the wise men of this world and in the number of the Gods in the other world He that would alledge the things which he hath spoken diuinely concerning the vnitie of the one God should be fayne to set downe his whole treatises vndiminished The Summe is That there is one Beginner of all things who hath all thiugs and is all things and is all things whose hauing of theÌ„ is as though he had them not because his possessing of them is not as of things that were another mans and his being them is as though he were them not because he is neither all things nor any thing among things but the power of all things That this Beginner dwelleth in himself is sufficient of himself of himselfe bringeth foorth all maner of Essences Soules and siues as being more than Essence and all life That by his Unitie he produceth multitude which could be no multitude vnlesse he abode One. As touching the vndergods he sayth that they neither bée nor can bée happie of themselues but onely by the same meane that men can become happie namely by beholding the light of vnderstanding which is GOD through their parttaking whereof they abide in blessednesse Yea he affirmeth that the Soule of the whole world surmized by the Platomists is not happie but by that meanes namely by beholding the light which created it like as the Moone shineth not but by the ouershining of the Sunne vpon her That was the very opinion of the Platonists as well old as newe coâ—cerning the onely one God notwithstanding that of all Philosophers they were most giuen to the seruing and seeking out of the bodilesse Spirites whom we call Angels and Deuils and whom they called Gods and Féeâ—ds Now let vs come to the Peripatetickes and begin at Aristotle Platoes Disciple who notwithstanding was vnreligious in many places in not yéelding vnto God his due glorie after the maner of these supersticious folke who are ouerliberal in bestowing it vpon others aud yet euen in him shall we finde this selfsame trueth Aristotle leadeth vs by many mouings vnto oue first mouer whom he declareth to bee infinite without beginning and without ende From thence a man may step further for that which is infinite can be but one because as I haue sayd afore the infinitenesse of one restreyneth the power of all others Afterward he defineth him to be Liuing Inunortall and Euerlasting And againe he nameth him he onely possessor of wisedome the Beginner of all Causes and such like None of all which things can bee attributed to any mo than onely one Yet notwithstanding he setteth certeyne Godheads in the Heauen in the Starres and in the Sunne Moone vnto which Godheads he alsotteth the gouermneÌ„t of those things and termeth them heauenly Mynds First substances vnchaungeable and vnpassible which in his opinion cannot wexe old because they be aboue the first Mouable consequently aboue tyme. Yea and Common custome with the force of Loue caried him so farre as to set vp Images vnto Iuno and Iupiter vnder the name of Sauiours for the life of Nicanor and to doe Sacrifize to a woman whom he loued as the Athenians did vnto Ceres But yet in his Abridgement of Philosophie which he dedicated in his olde age vnto Alexander his finall doctrine is this This world sayth he wherein all things are orderly disposed is mainteyned by God the highest thing that is in it is that it is Gods dwelling place No nature is sufficient of it selfe to indure if it bee not assisted by his tuition He is the Father of Gods Men the breeder and Mainteyner of all the things whereof this world is composed and yet for all that he entreth not into them but his power and prouidence ouersitting them from aboue atteyne vnto all things moue the Heauen the Sunne and the Moone Preserue the things on earth and make all and euery thing to doe according to their nature He likeneth him to the great King of Persia who from out of his priuy Chamber gouerned his whole Empyre by his power and officers sauing sayth he that the one is God infinite in power and the other a very bace and féeble wight He sayth moreouer that all the
difference which he maketh The Nature of the Gods sayth he is neither mightie nor excellent for it is subiect to the selfesame beit Nature or Necessitie which ruleth the Heauen the Earth and the Sea But there is not any thing so excellent as God who ruleth the World and is not subiect to Nature but commaundeth Nature it selfe And he is full of the like sentences As for Plutarke he suffereth himselfe to raunge oueroften into fables but yet in good earnest he speaketh thus Let vs not woorship the Elements the Heauen the Sunne the Moone and so foorth for they be but Lookingglasses for vs wherein to consider the cunning of him that ordeyned all things and all the World is but his Temple Againe Wherefore doth Plato call God the Father and Maker of all He calleth him the Father of the begotten Gods and of men like as Homere also doth but he calleth him the Creator of the things that haue no life nor Reason And therefore sayth he in another place he made the World as a Common house both to Men Gods Yea sayth he further Although there were many moe such Worldes as this is yet notwithstanding the one onely God should gouerne them all Now this true God whom he calleth the great God the great Workemayster the Sea of Beautie the Ground of all good things and the true Béeing of whom alone it can be said Thou art and not thou hast bin or shalt be is he whom he meaneth by the name of Iupiter saying That of the Gods one is called Liberall another Gentle and a third the Dryuer away of euill but the great Iupiter is in Heauen who hath care vniuersally of all things Thus ye see then how all the Philosophers of all tymes of all Sects and of all Nations haue agréed in one God which is the thing that the learned Varro noted very well namely that although the Teachers of the Heathen named many Gods and Goddesses yet notwithstanding they comprehended them all vnder one which was Iupiter of whom the residue were but powers and functions And this Iupiter is he whom such folk worshipped vnder another name as worshipped the only one God without Images and he sayth that so God ought to bee worshipped And to that purpose alledgeth he these verses of the right learned Poet Valerius Soranus The loue almightie is the King of Kings and God of Gods One God and all the Father both and Moother of the Gods But now it is tyme to come to the auncient Poets which were also Philosophers and who by their feynings opened the gap to the pluralitie of Gods Among these the first that wee méete with is Orpheus whom Iustine calleth the first Author of them the first giuer of names vnto them and the first blazer of their Pedegrées But yet there is a Recantation of his in his Hymne vnto Musaeus which is called his Testament that is to say his last doctrine whereunto he would haue men to sticke Lift vp thyne eyes sayth he to only maker of the World He is but one bred of himselfe and of that one are all things He is all in all he seeth all and is seene of none He onely giueth both welfare and wofull teares and warre He sitteth in Heauen gouerning all things with his feete he toucheth the Earth and with his right haÌ„d the vtmost shores of the Sea He maketh the Mountaynes Riuers and deepe Sea to quake and so foorth And in another place he calleth him the Firstborne the Great the Apparant who hath created an incorruptible house for them that are immortall Also vnder the name of Zeus or Iupiter he sayth of him as followeth Looke vp to that same only King which did the world create Who being only one selfbred all other things begate And being with them all vnseene of any mortall wight Beholdeth all things giuing Man now wealth and harts delight Now wofull warre For sure there is none other King but hee I see him not because the Clowdes a couert to him bee And in the eye of mortall man there is but mortall sight Too weake too see the lightfull Ioue that ruleth all with right For sitting in the brazen Heauen aloft in Throne of gold He makes the earth his footstoole and with either hand doth hold The vtmost of the Ocean waues and at his presens quake Both Mountaynes huge hideous Seas and eke the Siygian Lake And anon after againe The endlesse Skye and stately Heauens and all things els besyde Did once within the Thundring Ioue close hoorded vp abyde The blessed Gods and Goddesses whose beeing is for ay And all things past or yet to come within Ioues bowâ—lles lay From Ioues wyde womb did all things come Ioue is both first last Beginning Middes and End is Ioue From Ioue are all things past Ioue layd foundation of the Earth and of the starry Sky Ioue reigneth King The selfesame Ioue of all things farre and ny The Father and the Author is One power one God is hee Alonly Great one Lord of all This royall Masse which wee Behold and all the things that are conteyned in the same As Fyre and Water Earth and Ayre and Titans golden flame That shines by Day and droopy Night and euery other thing Are placed in the goodly House of Ioue the heauenly King Phocilides followeth him in these wordes There is but onely one God mightie wise and happie And againe Honor the onely God Also All of them are mortall men God reigneth ouer their soules And Theognis who is of the same tyme speaketh not any otherwise Homere whom Pythagoras reporteth to be punished in Hell for making Fables of the Gods cannot make a notabler difference betwéene the true GOD and al the rest of the Gods whome men worshipped in this time than when hee saith That if they were all hanged at a Cheyne beneath he would pull them vp spight of their téeth and also that he maketh them all too quake vnder him and that whensoeuer there is any greater déede talked of he speaketh alwaies but of one God in the singular nomber Also Hesiodus who described the pedegrees of the Gods sheweth his heléef sufficiently in this onely one verse written to his brother Both Goddes and Mortall Men from one selfe race descend That is to say All the Goddes are created by the onely one God Likewise Sophocles saith thus Certesse of Goddes there is no mo but one Who made the Heauens and eeke the earth so round The dreadfull Sea which cleaps the same about And blustring Winds which rayze the Waues aloft But we fond men through folly gone astray Euen to the hurt and damning of our soules Haue set vp Idols made of Wood and Stone Thinking lyke fooles by meanes of honoring them Toâ— giue full well too God his honor due Euripides goeth yet further saying Thou Neptune and thou Iupiter and all You other Goddes so wicked are you
worme as thou art thou inuentest a thousand trades and artes which are euerichone of them so many poynts of wisdome and consequently as many prouidences As much as thou canst thou makest all things to stoope to thy lur◠thou applyest the rayne and the drought the heate and the cold to thyne owne commoditie thou turnest the doings of thy neighbors of the Cittie and of thy Commonweale to thine owne profite and honor yea and if it were possible thou wouldest apply the heauen the earth the sea and oftentymes euen God himselfe to thine own benifite Now then who prouideth for the Plants and for the brute beastes in whom thou seest so great prouidence though they themselues haue none at all but onely he which made them Or who directeth the Arrowe to the marke the Arrowe I say which seeth not the marke but the Archer who hath eyes for it And cannot he prouide for all which giueth prouidence to all And he that giueth it thee in such sort as thou the◠by makest al things to stoope to thy Lure whereas yet notwithstanding thou madest them not and of whom thou scarsly knowest the names is not he able to gouerne euery one of them according to their nature and too direct them yea and thee too vnto the end that he hath purposed seeing he hath made them Againe if God be not able to prouide for things and to direct them to their end how say we that he surmounteth all that euer we can imagine sith we cannot deny but that hee which prouides aforehand is of more abilitie than he that cannot And if wee can imagine any thing to be greater then hee why should not wee our selues be that thing And if euen in man the abilitie of prouiding be better then the vnabilitie seeing we vphold that whatsoeuer is excellent in our selues which yet notwithstanding is but in measure and by perticipation the same is infinitely and originally in God Why doe we not graunt that God by his infinite wisdome can direct all things to his ende as well as euery thing can by their particular wisdom which he hath printed therein prouide for the things which the nature thereof requireth Too bee short seeing that Prouidēce is nothing els but a wise guyding of things to their end and that euery reasonable mynd that woorketh beginneth his worke for some end and that God as I haue said afore the workemaister of all things hath or to say more truely is the souereine mynd equall to his owne power doth it not follow that God in creating the worlde did purpose an end And what other could that end bee than himselfe and his owne glory considering that the end wherevnto a thing tendeth cannot be lesse good than that which tendeth vnto it and againe that as farre as his power extendeth in abilitie to create the world at the beginning so farre doth his wisdome extend in abilitie to guyde aud direct it to that end And seeing that the beginner and the end of things the Archer I meane and the marke that he shootes at are both one that is to wit God himselfe can any thing crosse him or incounter him by the way to hinder his atteyning therevnto Well then thou seest now that thou canst not deny GOD the gouernment of the world vnder pretence that he is vnable But you will say that he will not voutsafe to haue a care thereof How come you I pray you to be so priuie to his will Hath nature taught you Nay thou seest in the Plants a certeine inclination to nourish all their parts in beastes a charishnesse to bring vp their yong in men a desire to prouide for their children and household and in all folkes a regard to the mayntenaunce of the things which they haue either made or manured And him that doth otherwise thou estéemest to bee not a barbarous persone or a wylde beast but a very block or a stone Now then shall not he which hath giuen such inclination to all things yea euen to the very sencelesse creatures by his touching of them shall not he himself I say haue it for them all Darest thou beréeue him of that which thou takest to bee a prayse to thy selfe or darest thou father that vppon him which thou takest to bee an iniurie to thy selfe Nay like as this care is a sparke of goodnes so he that is the goodnes it selfe and the welspring of all that euer is good in all things sheadeth foorth this care into all things by his goodnes He say I which hath voutsafed to create vs will not disdeyne to preserue vs. But forasmuch as it was his will to create vs to some purpose for if nature doe not any thing in vayne how much lesse doth he that created nature he will also guyde vs to that purposed end by his wisdome Let vs sée what things wickednes can alledge against so manifest a doctrine First of all steppes me foorth Epicurus and denyeth that he sees any prouidence at all in the world but thinks to marke many things to the contrarie in the whole world whereby he will néedes gather that there is no prouidence no nor if he durst say it any God at al. For if there were a prouidence saith he why should Mountaynes occupie any part of the Earth why should there bée any wyld beastes why should there be any Sea And of that little dry ground that is why should two parts be vninhabitable the one for ouer great heate and the other for ouer great cold and the third part be in daunger to be vnhabited also were it not that men plucked vp the Bryers and Thornes that woulde ouergrowe it Why falleth the Snowe vpon the Corne and the Frost vpon the Uines Why blowe the winds both on Sea and Land To bee short why happen sicknesses and diseases according to the seasons of the yere and finally death And at a word why is man borne in worse case than the least thing that creepeth on the earth and hath néede of many things which all other wights may well forbeare Nay he should rather haue sayd I sée a thousand mouings in the Heauen whereof euery one hath his peculier end and yet tend all neuerthelesse to one selfsame generall end I see them all caryed by one vniuersall moouing notwithstanding that euery of them inforce themselues to the contrarie by their owne proper courses and that this vniuersal motion is moued by one Moouer which moouer so ouerruling them must néedes be of sufficient power to rule them all considering that euen with one twinckling of an eye hee ruleth euen the same Heauen that caryeth all the rest about It followeth then that there is one principall moouer which gouerneth the Heauen and all the diuersitie conteined therein Agayne I see that the Globe of the Earth and of Sea togither is in respect of the Heauen but a litle point or as Pythagoras said but as one of the least Starres that the Moone
ruleth the Tydes of the Sea and the Sunne the seasons of the Earth and they both are disposed by the course of the heauen Wherevpon I conclude that he which ruleth the Heauen ruleth both the Sunne and the Moone and that hee which ruleth them doth also rule both the Sea and the Earth For how is it possible that he which ruleth the whole should come short in ruling any part of the whole Or howe should the force of hym be impeached by the Earth which gouerneth those by whome the earth hath her force Insomuch that if to my séeming his prouidence appere more lightsomly in the Heauen than in the Earth which yet notwithstanding is not so and I cannot yéelde a reason of all the things which I sée I will consider with my selfe that I haue séene many instruments made by men as I my selfe am whereof I sée plainly the effectes but I conceiue not the causes of them Also that in other some I perceyue well the vse of some partes of them namely of the greatest and notablest parts but as for the smaller parts as the Uices Nailes Pinnes Riuers Buttons and such like I haue thought them to be but bywoorks and yet without them the residue could not hold togither nor performe that which they were made for and although they were taken all a sunder and shewed mée seuerally one by one yet could I hardly conceiue them Yea and moreouer that I my selfe haue made some whereof my Seruants and Children haue not perceiued the reason at all but would haue burned them in the fire as seruing to no vse And therefore I will prayse GOD in the things which I knowe woonder at him in the things which I conceiue not and rather thinke my selfe who am as nothing to want wit and vnderstanding than misdéeme him that is the maker of all things too bée faultie in his prouidence But sith fooles must be answered to their follies least they should thinke themselues wise and that the wisdome of these folke consisteth all togither in putting foorth questions and in answering to nothing let vs examine these goodly demaunds ouer from poynt to poynt If there be a Prouidence say they whereto serue the Mountaines Nay say rather if all were of one sort where were then Prouidence For what els is Prouidence but a disposing of many sundrie things to some one ende And how caÌ„ any such disposing be where there is but one selfsame thing euerywhere throughout Bruite beast that thou art So would an Ant speake of thée It would aske whereto serued the rising of thy nose aboue thy face or of thy browes aboue thyne eyes or of thy ribbes aboue the rest of thy bodie all which are higher aboue thy bodie than the Mountaines are aboue the Plaines of the earth Thou estéemest greatly of the beautie that is in thy face and of the proportion that is in thy bodie insomuch that thou fallest euen in loue with them in another and yet thou wilt finde fault with it in the whole world as a deformitie and want of order But thou Lucrece durst thou I pray thée bee so bolde as to speake so of a Painter Or would it not offend thée if another man should speake so grossely of thy bookes If a man should finde fault with the shadowing of a picture in a table it would be answered that the Shoomaker ought not to presume aboue the Pantople For without the blacke the white could haue no grace neither could the bright bée set out without a dimming nor difference and proportion of parts appeare without a medley of contrary resemblance nor finally the â—unning of the Painter be perceiued without diuersitie of colours Also he that should finde fault with the art of thy booke hauing red but some péeces of it here and there should by and by bee answered by the Lawyer That a man cannot iudge of the Lawe without reading it wholly throughout And if there happen any absurditie by and by there starts me vp a whole world of GraÌ„marians which inforce their wittes to the vttermost to excuse it and to finde some elegancie in thyne vncongruities Alledging that that which is vnseemly in the part beautifieth the whole worke and the shadowe more than the perfect colour and the dimme more than the bright when they be fitly placed All the commendation of these paynted things consisteth in their diuersities Insomuch that if thou see a Playne ouerhanged with a shadie Rocke or a dankish denne at the head of a Riuer springing out of it thou likest the better of the table for it and praysest the Paynter the more for his skill Surely it is not possible that the Playne should please thée more than the Hilles or the Riuer more than the Rockes but that neither without other could please thée at all Now if thou diddest consider the World as the worke of God and the Mountaines and other parts which thou mislikest not in themselues but as they be small péeces of that worke doubtlesse thou wouldest say as much thereof And therefore sith thou canst not at one view behold all the whole world together to iudge of the proportion of the whole masse and of the seuerall parts thereof at one instant learne to commend the cunning of the workmaister in the things which thou thinkest thy selfe to vnderstande rather than to call it into question for the things which thou vnderstandest not But let vs sée further what reason thou hast to complaine Thou wouldest shunne both Rayne Hayle Frost Behold the Mountaynes furnish thée with wood and Timber to house thée to shelter thée and to make thée warme Thou followest the commoditie of Traffick and behold they serue thy turne with Riuers from East West North and South making way from the middest of the Land to the Sea and ioyning the Coastes of Sea and Land together The ambition of thy neighbours is suspected of thée and thyne perchaunce is noysome vnto them the high Mountaines are as bounds to separate Nations asunder and to kéepe them from incroching one vpon another I omit the Wines and fruits which they yéeld foorth the clere waters which they shed out the flockes and heards of Cattel which they feede and the pleasant dwellings which they conuey in them If thou couldest finde as many things in thy bare Playne alone I would giue thée leaue to complayne of the Mountaynes Nay on the contrary parte if thou haddest felt the discommodities of the Playnes of Lybie or but onely of the Playnes of Beawsse or of the Desert of Champayne thou wouldest by and by wish that all were Mountaynes and yet notwithstanding if all were playne or al were hilground thou couldest not tell how to commend or discommend eyther of them both Now then let this stand for an answere to all those Philosophers which take vppon them to controll the parts of a worke which they conceyue not whole For to blame the whole World for the Mountaynes sake or
foorth diuers Seruants diuers waies all to one place to the intent that of many some one at the least may escape and come home againe They méete there all together At the first sight the thing which was forecast by good order seemeth to them to happen by aduenture A Captayne hauing deuised to take the Gate of some Citie causeth a Cart or a Charyot to bee broken vpon the Drawbridge as it were by some mischaunce that his ambush may in the meane while breake foorth and enter the Towne The Warders fall to beating of the Wagoner for it and othersome excuse him as ouertaken by misfortune And so the thing which was a pollicie of Warre in the Captayne that deuised it is a chaunce or fortune to the Towne that wist not the ground of it A wise man to giue a glyke to another wise man or a Captayne to beguyle a Captayne or an enemie to delude his enemie cyphereth a letter grossely for the nonce and sendeth it such a way as he imagineth that it shal be surprized He that lighteth vpoÌ„ it is glad of so good aduenture and thinking that he readeth the secretes of his aduersaries hart buildeth all his affayres in good earnest vpon things contriued to deceyue him And so the thing which was a rare deuise in the one is a rare aduenture to the other Now if among men which are all of one kynde and haue welneere like portion of reason there bee such oddes betwéene age and age betwéene qualitie and qualitie and betwéene wit and wit that the same which in one is prouidence is fortune in another shall wee thinke it straunge that the thing which seemeth fortune to vs that are but blindnesse and ignorance should be singular prouidence as in respect of God Or that he which is the only cause of all causes should haue the skill to assemble them together to some one certeyne effect how farre distant soeuer they be As for example if he make thee to finde a Treasor in digging of a pit or to scape a fall from a plancher in going to walke vppon it wouldest thou steale that benefite from the goodnesse of GOD who brought thée to the one place or saued thée from the other I say from God who is thy maker to father it vpon blynd Fortune which knoweth thée not And why should it be harder for him to match two causes together that are farre asunder than to haue made them so farre at oddes one from another Or than it is for thy selfe to put wood to fire and fire to water thy meate into the water which are causes so farre distant and yetnotwithstanding thou ioynest them together to one certeyne ende which is the nourishment of thy bodie And what things are further distant in thy mynd than a Charyot a Draw-bridge and an Hoste of men which things notwithstanding thou couldest skill to bring fitly together for the taking of a Citie Thus looke wherein thou doest chiefly place fortune there doth the rarest and most wonderfull poynt of Prouidence most euidently shewe it selfe But now comes me the other Aduocate who to bring vs vnto Destinie and to a certeyne necessitie of all things and of al doings maketh his hand of all the things which we haue alledged against Fortune Therefore let vs see how we may walke betwéene Fortune and Destinie so as wee may shunne chaunce without failing into necessitie and perceiue whether the same be Prouidence or no. If all things say they be guyded by GOD to some one certeyne end yea euen those also which seeme casuall then can they not bee turned any other way I willingly graunt them that And if they cannot bee turned then are not mens doings free but of necessitie Nay this coÌ„sequent is vtterly false because the things which haue free will to endeuer themselues contrary to Gods will haue not free power to restreyne his will from ouerruling them But let vs lay foorth this matter more at large that it may bee the better vnderstood We see in the Skye a great number of Starres that are fixed and many also as the Planets which haue euery of them their peculiar mouings turnes courses seuerally to themselues Now the highest Heauen by his vniuersall mouing carieth all the Starres about as well the mouable as the vnmouable without any stopping or interrupting of their perticular mouings whereby bee made innumerable figures aspects and respects which I leaue to the Astrologers to declare The Sunne maketh the day and the yéere the Moone maketh the moneths the quarters the Pleyads and Hyads make the Seasons the Dâ—gstarre maketh the heate of the Sommer and so foorth Let vs put the case that the highest Heauen stood still and that the lower Heauens kept on their peculiar mouings or let vs put the case that he went on and that all the rest stood still and then should there bee none of the sayd figurings and aspects to bee seene But let them all alone as they bee let the highest Heauen by his mouing carie all the Starres about and let euery of them continue the hauing and executing of his owne peculiar nature the mouable as mouable and the vnmouable as vnmouable and euery of them indeuer accordingly against the Uniuersall and then shall wee see the woonderfulnesse of the Heauen which by an vniforme kynd of mouing that leaueth to euery Starre his proper and peculiar mouing yéeldeth euery day diuers formes in the Skye which cause alterations in the ayre which thing neyther his owne sole mouing could doe if the residue of the Starres stoode still neyther could the courses and mouings of the Starres bring it to passe if they were not carried about by the mouing of him Now let vs see how this example agréeth with our matter God by his will and power hath created all powers and disposed all willes That his power ouerruleth all powers al men confesse For who is he that maketh a Clocke and cannot rule it But that his will should direct all willes to such ende as he listeth without forcing them froÌ„ their nature which is to be free there is the dowâ— God forbid that he which created nature to doe him seruice should be vnable to vse the seruice thereof without marring it God then say I guydeth all things to the performance of his will the mouable by their mouings and the vnmouable by their stedfastnesse the things indewed with sence by their appetites and the reasonable things by their willes the naturall things by their thraldome and the things that haue will by their freedome And the freer that they be the greater is his glorie as in déede it is a more commendable thing to cause libertie to yéeld freely to obedience by gentle handling than to hale it by forâ—e and compultion as it were tyed in a chayne If the willes of all men were caried by Gods will without hauing their awne peculiar mouings the power of God could not shine foorth in them so
much as it doth now when all willes inforce themselues seuerally against his will and yet neuerthelesse euen in following their owne sway doe finde themselues led they wote not how whether soeuer it pleaseth him Neither should wée see the said diuersities of figures in the Heauen which bréede so diuers effects of Warres of Peace of decayes of prosperitie of aduersitie and such other which serue all to the Prouidence of the euerâ—asting God but wee should see euerywhere one vniforme will holding all other willes fast fettered and carrying them whether soeuer it listed and the more streightly that they were tyed vp the lesse should we estéeme of his power as who would say he stoode in feare to let them loose Agayne if wee imagine all those willes to haue free scope to followe their own lykings without any gouernment of higher power to ouerrule them and restreyne their whâ—n they intend to breake out wee should undoubtedly see diuers ends in things where as now they tend all to one And libertie would turne into loosenesse loosenesse into disorder and disorder into destruction whereas the world doth necessarily require ordâ—r and order requireth all things to bee referred to some one certeyne ende God therefore to shew his power in our fréedome and libertie hath left our willes to vs and to restreyne them from â—â—senesse he hath so ordered them by his wisedome that he worâ—â—th his owne will no lesse by them than if wee had no will at all Let vs enforce ourselues as much as wee list against his will and yet euen our disobedience shall turne to the fulfilling of his will Let vs goe Eastward when his will goes Westward and yet doth his mouing coÌ„duct vs still But alveit that God do leade foorth and guyde the one will as well as the other yet notwithstanding right happie as that will which indeuereth to followe and vnhappie is that which must bee haled and dragged Likewise in a keness of Hounds euery of them runneth according to his naturall inclination and yet all of them serue the purpose of the Hunter Also in an Hoste of men one fighteth for honour another for spight a third for gayne and al for victorie to the Prince that sent them into the field Take from the Hounds their naturall inclinations and from the Souldierrâ— theâ— perticular willes and dispositions and ye doe away Hunting and the Armie must néedes disperse Yea say they but God sawe al things and all the courses of the world from euerlasting al at one instant and things cannot fal out otherwise than he hath forséene them It séemeth therfore that nothing is casual nothing at the choyce of our wil nor any thing that is not of necessitie Yes for as God beholdeth all things with one view so doth he also behold euery of them woorking according too their seuerall properties He séeth the motting of the Heauen and the particular mouings of the Sunne and the Moone to bring forth the Eclipses of necessitie he seeth men coÌ„sulting of warre of peace of alyance and other things willingly and hee séeth the Plants spâ—ing vp and growe naturally He himself hath set downe the second third yea and fourth causes and hath linked them one to an other to do what he will haue done but the thing that deceiueth vs in this case is that we consider not that our wills are among these causes and that according to their fréenesse such as it is they work fréely in the doings of this world lyke as all other causes woork euery of them according to their peculiar moouings inclinations abilities natures or kynds After the same maner the man that is acquaynted withâ— his howseholdmatters will deeme aforehand which of three parts his eldest sonne will choose and which his second will choose though he be farre of froÌ„ them bicause he knoweth their natures and inclinations and yet for all that hee inclyneth them not to the dooing of the one or of the other Ageine another foreséeth that a Prince will kéepe peace or make warre bycause he knoweth him two be eyther of a quiet or of an vnquiet disposition Euen so is it with God sauing that he being néere and innermore to al things than the things themselues are doth knowe them most perfectly wheras we haue nothing but by coniectures and those verye weake To be short as in respect of God the things are of necessitie which as in respect of themselues are things of casualtie the cause wherof is that the matter which in the things themselues is to come is present to his sight euerlastingly and his foreséeing of things to come is not in the causes of them as it is vnto wyse men but in himself who is the cause of all causes and therfore he séeeth not that thou shalt do this or shalt not do that as of a thing to come but whatsoeuer thou art to doo he séeth thée doing it from euerlasting naturally if it be to be done naturally and willingly if it be to be 〈◊〉 willingly and yet thy will is no lesse subiect to his will than thy nature is subiect to the power that created it neither is the fréedom of thy will such as it is now after thy fall any more compelled in taking deliberation than thy nature is compelled in growing or shuming When I speake heere of fréewill I meane not to deale with this Question whether it lye in vs to choose the way of Saâ—â—ation or no. For as it is a thing that surmounteth the whole nature of mankind and excéedeth the proportion of our 〈◊〉 vnderstandings so must it necessitie ensue that wee must bee drawen by some hygher cause from aboue as in a case that concerneth the forsaking of our selues and of our owne desires and not the following of them Ageine I intend not to take away the extraordinarie motions which God worketh in vs when he vseth vs sometymes beyond the inclination of our nature â—y bréeding that in vs by a secret operation which was not in vs of our selues But I speake peculiarly of these inferiour doings which are proportionable to our wit and to the capacitie of our reason in which things our Fréewill as mayâ—od as it is hath abilitie to exercyse itself notwithstanding that is be vtterly lamâ—aud vnable to mount vp any higher After that maner therefore may we 〈◊〉 betwéene the Fortune of Epicurus and the deâ—mie of Chrysippus by Prouidence and betwéene casualtie and necessitie by the will of Got and betwéene Loocenesse and Bondage by leauing their mouings frée which yet neuerthelesse shall come to the end which God hath listed to appoint vnto them whatsoeuer windings and wreathings they séeme to themselues to make in the meane tyme. And as touching the destinie of the Astrologers who make all things subiect to the whéelings about of the Skye and make all things to be as much of necessitie as the mouings thereof we will leaue them to pleade their case ageinst that greate Learned
take away the doubts and to auoyde the krinks inuented anew by certeine Libertines But forasmuch as there are many Ceremonies which disguise them selues in the attire of Religion to deceyue vs it is more needfull for vs to haue sure and infallible marks whereby to discerne the true Religion First of all therefore let vs lay this foundation which I haue layd and settled alreadie heretofore namely that Religion is the ryght Rule of seruing God and of reconcyling and reuniting man agein vnto God that he may be saued Now mans Saluation is nothing els but his felicitie happynes souereyne good or welfare and his welfare as I haue declared afore is to be knit vnto God For neither the world nor any creature in the World can make man happye but only he that made man And it is a cleare case that wee ought to serue him heere beneath who is to make vs happie aboue and nòne other but him All Religion therefore how goodly a showe so euer it haue to the eye which turneth away from seruing God to seruing the Creature is but Idolatrie and vngodlynes vnto vs. Also all Religion which causeth vs to séeke our welfare anywhere els than only in him that is the maker of all welfare wil be vnto vs not only vanitie and a thrusting of vs out of the way but also a murthering of ourselues and a casting of vs headlong into all wretchednes They may well haue in them an offering of first fruits of thanksgiuings and of other seruices but all these are but iniuries and blasphemies ageinst God if wee think ourselues beholden too any creature for the things which we neither haue nor can haue of any but the Creator Also they may well haue prayers and sacrifices but those prayers shal be both vayne and vngodly being made to him that cannot here them and which impute the gouernment of the world vnto Creatures or to such as sée them not or can scarsly sée the things that are afore them And asfor their Sacrifices they shal be but smokie sauours yea ful of trayterous trecherie to God in that they confesse their lyues before dead things and make amends to Creatures for the offences which they haue committed ageinst the Creator Now therefore let the first marke of the true Religion which we séeke be this that it direct vs all our Church-seruices vnto the true God the maker of Heauen and earth the only searcher of mens hearts which are the things wherewith he wil cheefely be serued that it may distinguish it from all Idolatries which seeke vnto wood to stone to the Sunne to the Moone to Men to Angells and to all the Creatures that are in Heauen and in earth And it is not needfull to heape vp here greate nombers of proofs or to repeate agein the things that haue bin discoursed in the second and third chapters of this woorke For sith there is but one God and but one Religion there is not also any thing more agréeable to nature than to referre the same wholly to the creator And in verie deede Plotin Porphyrius Proclus Iamblichus and such others which worshipped the Angels or good spirits as they thought sayd that their so doing wherein neuerthelesse they were more vnexcusable was to atteyne by degrees to the highest God But will this sayd marke alone fuffice vs No wee must not only serue GOD but we must also serue him aright Now then what is the Rule of this seruice or who is he that can set it downe in writing That we may serue him aright it behoueth vs to know him aright and which of vs can vaunt of that How many bee there which after long studie can but so much as tell vs what it is not And what followeth then but that lyke as the wizdome of the world cannot without the ouerthrowe of it selfe atteyne any further concerning God than to say what hee is not so the same wizdome may well atteine so farre as to discerne what seruing of God is false but it can no more set downe and poynt out the true seruice than it can atteyne to the knowledge of the Godhead The Country cloyne shal be skorned for his labour if he take vpon him to appoynt how his Prince is to be serued and yet is he a man as well as the Prince differing from the Prince in state and calling but not atall in nature and kind What is to be sayd then of Man who is but a woorme yea and lesse than a woorme in respect of the euerlasting God if hée will needes shape him serue him after his owne fancie The Philosopher will say that GOD ought to bee serued And if he be a Diuine he will passe somewhat further and say that he is not serued with vapors and smoakes nor with the sheading of blud But which of them hath euer sayd God is spirit and serued in spirit And if any of them haue come any thing neere it how wyde hath he wandered away ageine when he came to the particular poynting out of that seruice Of a trueth what are all the worshippings of God which man hath ordeyned of his owne head but childish imaginations not onely vnbeseeming the Maiestie of God but also inferiour to the discretion of a man as Gaming 's Showes Stageplayes Ronnings of Horses Iusts a thousand sorts of Combats Swordplayings Wrestlings Buffetings and such other And what doth all this betoken but that man mounteth not aboue man and that when he thinketh himself to flye his lightest pitch he scarce heaueth himselfe vpright vppon his feete but neuer riseth aboue the earth For what man is hee which calling his witts about him and looking aduisedly vnto him selfe could find in his heart to bee honored and serued after that maner Surely then let vs say that looke how farre God voutsafeth to stoope vnto vs so farre be we able to mount vp vnto him for his comming downe is our mounting vp For if we cannot see the Sonne but by helpe of the Sonne how welsighted so euer we be much lesse can God be séene or knowen of vs without the help and light of God himself To be short we cannot serue God except we knowe him nor knowe him except he voutsafe to discouer himselfe to vs and therefore wee can not knowe how to serue and worship him furtherfoorth then he listeth to shewe it vnto vs by his word And yet for the discouering of himself vnto vs he néedeth neither to drawe vs vp to his brightnes nor to come downe to vs in his maiestie For our mynds could no more abyde it than our eyes can away with the beholding of the Sonne but hee must be fayne too stoope to our small abilitie by telling vs what seruice he requireth at our hands not according to his spirituall nature which we cannot possibly comprehend but as it were through a glasse or a scarf according to the fleshly nature which we beare about with vs. Thus haue