place permit But yet first and principally wee must seeke to feede our soule with the foode that neuer perisheth and then the body Those which doe blesse the Lorde of heauen and loue him aboue all the fading ioyes of the earth they shall receyue from aboue blessing for blessing grace for grace loue for loue to their endlesse comfort in the great day of his visitation they shall florish like the fruitfull vine their children shall stande like oliue braunches round about their table and they shall neuer want one to sit vppon their seate after them for euer They shall see their childrens children together with the temples and good woorkes of their owne handes They shall reioyce therein because their memorie shall neuer perish from the face of the earth but especially because this oyle which they haue in their lampes shall giue a light to their eyes a direction to their feete a comfort to their heart and conscience in the day of iudgement This is the sentence of holy scripture and the example is like vnto the same Looke ouer the booke of God peruse it diligently and tell mee if euer you did see the righteous forsaken or his seede begging their bread But alwaies those which first aboue all worldly affaires did seeke the kingdome of God and the righteousnesse thereof whiche built temples to his holie name maintaining his praise and glorie in the same they had all good blessings powred on them Abraham left his owne country willing to haue sacrificed his onely sonne at the voice of the Lord and therefore hee had this assuraunce by the voyce of an Aungell from heauen By my selfe haue I sworne saith the Lorde that in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed Which blessing continued in Isaac the fruits therof began to budde in Iacob whose willing minde well knowen vnto the Lord concerning his house in his sleepe there appeared vnto him a ladder the foote whereof stood on the earth but the top did reach vnto the heauens by which the angels did ascend and descend and the Lord leaning on the top of this ladder said vnto him I am the Lord the God of thy father Abraham and thy father Isaac the land in which thou art now will I giue thee and to thy seed and thy seed shall bee as the dust of the earth Thou shalt increase from the East to the West froÌ„ the North to the South and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed When Iacob awaked out of his sleepe he said of a truth the Lord is in this place I knew not and trembling he said further O how terrible is this place this is none other place but euen the house of God and the gate of heauen Forthwith rising in the morning hee tooke the stone which lay vnder his head all night and rearing it an ende he powred oile vppon it making a vow and saying if the Lord will bee with mee c. the Lord shall be my God and this stone which I haue here set an ende shalbe called the house of God and I will giue him the tenth of all the encrease which hee shall giue me After the sparks of heauenlie fire new kindled in the breast of the holie patriarch the flame brake forth at his mouth and so fructified together with his true pietie that afterwards hee was wonderfull rich in seruants goods and cattel in beeing a ioyfull father of manie goodlie-children liuing to a good olde age seeing his childrens children laying his hand on them that which passeth all though his graundfather Abraham did make an alter in the same place proceeding to offer the bloud of his onelie sonne vnto the Lord which was a perfect figure of Christ yet the latter light did shine the clearer and the Lord did so multiplie the blessings promised to Abraham in his sonnes Isaac and Iacob that long before the time of the reuelation of that holie one to him and in him he vncouered the vale so much that he shewed his louing regard to his elect here vppon earth in looking downe on Iacob and leaning on the ladder in sending his Angels vp and downe to his patriarch full of grace Who when his eies were open and he did see as it is said Gratia gratiam peperit Grace brought foorth grace For to the end that hee and his posteritie might more easilie clime this ladder and for our example hee trembled when hee perceyued that the Lord was there hee gaue the title and ioyned the reuerence thereunto saying out of all doubt this is the house of God and the gate of heauen concluding it shall be called the house of God Which his zealous speech and dooings condemne the fruitelesse zeale of our age for when hee perceiued that hee was once in the house of God with a reuerent feare hee trembled Not dispairing but beleeuing in heart hee looked vp confessing with the mouth hee promised and perfourming in deede hee reared vp the corner stone on which euen in the same place the holie temple of the Lord euen in the Temple of Ierusalem was afterwards built which though it was refused of the cunning builders in latter times yet beeing once annointed with holy oile it became the head stone of the corner If the Lord did so woonderfullie blesse the patriarch Iacob in his true faith and perfect zeale that of one smaâ—â— sâ—one hee raised the most holie the most honourable the most sumptuous the most rich and costlie Temple in the whole world Let no good Christian doubt to lay though it bee but one stone in the Colledge the Church the Temple of the Lord acknowledging with Saint Paul that Non est volentis non est currentis sed miserentis Dei It is not hee which willeth or hee which runneth but God which sheweth mercie It is not wee which do it but the grace of God which is in vs. Which if it once beginne to spring and shew it selfe in the woorke laie waight enough on it for it will rise mauger the might of all the world Hee which hath laied the greatest foundation in the lowest element the highest glorie in the lowest places which confoundeth the strength of this world with his weaknes which putteth downe the mightie from their seat and exalteth the humble meeke of his abundant mercie hee will magnify the charitie of the poore Widowe though it bee but a mite he will make the building strong though it bee founded on a cuppe of could water Those which loue his spouse hee will blesse their seede here vpon earth with plentie of peace and glorifie them in his heauenlie lerusalem This blessing is seldome obscure or vnseene amongest the sonnes of GOD neither doth it cease from generation to generation For if wee looke backe vnto this litle sparke wee shall see and saie with the prophet Dauid that the fire was kindled in Iacob and the flame broke
right and equitie is the will of God by which what is right or wrong is to bee examined Who then is of the councell of the Lorde or to whome is his will knowne Aristotle that excellent philosopher saith that the cogitations of the hart be plainlie knowne by the woordes of the mouth sith the voice is the interpretour of the minde and as our sauiour Christ saith out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh by which inferiour rule of reasonable philosophie wee may climbe vp to that true conclusion in diuinitie that the Lordes will is reuealed in his worde And is there anie mention thereof in holie scriptures Come and see turne the booke and read the twentie seuenth chapter of Leuiticus where it is thus written plainelie shortlie and truelie Omne quod domino consecratur c. what thing soeuer is consecrated vnto the Lord bee it man beast or field it cannot bee solde or reuoked againe because whatsoeuer is once dedicato God is holie of holiest vnto the Lorde Man is not like vnto the meere vegitable creatures the flowers of the garden or the lillies of the fielde that hee shoulde growe and goe forward vntill hee come to such a degree of ripenesse and then to wither and decaie neither is the Lordes temple or his holie worshippe as the earthlie fielde whose seede dooth growe and straight decaieth againe but to man it is appointed that from the beginning of his daies vnto the ende thereof he shoulde first and last seeke the kingdome of heauen and the righteoufnesse thereof In which course who so hath begunne let him knowe that not to goe forward is to goe backewarde and what is that Hee which is the waie the truth and the life hee hath shewed it vs saying Estote sancti quoniam ego sanctus sum bee ye holy because I am holie In what manner not in hearing but in dooing the will of God not in talking but in walking as it is written not the speakers but the dooers of the lawe shall bee iustified as also another scripture Regnum Dei non est in sermone sed in virtute the kingdome of God is not in woordes but in vertuous and holie life not in criyng Lord Lord but in doing the wil of God which is in heauen not in looking for a mansion place or building pompous pallaces heere on earth whose greatest ioyes be a shining miserie but in hastening forwards towards the kingdom of heauen in giuing our goods our lands our bodies and soules vnto the Lorde Our goodes to feede the poore to cloth the naked to coÌ„fort the sick c. Our lands to the maintaining of his temple wherin his word is daily preached his name praised the poore commonly harbored Our bodies to the prison the lyon the sworde the fire for his names sake all which is the true christian and acceptable yeelding our soules into the handes of our almightie creatour our merciful redeemer our heauenlie comforter This is the olde christian way to the kingdome of heauen through the armies of pleasures of temptations of dangers of punishments of the spiritual powers of this world which who so refuseth hoping to saue his life he shall loose it and who so looseth it shall finde that place vbi vere viâ—itur the true life of eternall blisse for euer Who so grudgeth to giue a peece of vile pelting earthlie land to the Church of God or taketh ought therefro or esteemeth more of goods lands friends rumors fame credit kindred bretheren sisters father or mother or his owne life than of the glorie of God of the welfare of his beloued spowse the holie Church hee is not worthie of the kingdome of heauen neither hath his foot troden the first step of the way of life If this be thus then what manner of men ought we to be in holines of life in studying daylie by all meanes possible how to gratify the Lord of life If he reward the charitable bestowing of a cuppe of could water on his disciples when they thirst how highlie is he displeased with those who ether diminish or take away the maintenance of his holie Temples where his name dwelleth In this respect gentle Reader consider that as Dauid said concerning his sonne now dead I shall goe to him but he shall not come againe to mee so wee must thinke of goods once giuen to the holie worshippe of the Lord for so it is wee must goe to them and that often euen to the holie Temple but they must not bee brought backe againe to vs. This is one true plaine christian way leading to one perfect ende according to that saying of Bachilides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. there is but one waie for mortall men to attaine happinesse and one ende thereof to this agreeth our due and dutifull consideration of the Lords worshippe and his holie will which is that his glorie should be onely and wholy to himselfe as it is written gloriam meam alteri non dabo I will not giue my glorie to an other The truth of this conclusion telleth vs that we must serue him onely not onely first but him onelie Which if we did ponder wisely with our selues and thereunto frame our liues and daily dooinges wee would not take the squared stones of the temple to builde our pompous pallaces withall but we would rather remember that olde saying accursed is that house which hath any stone in it belonging to the church We would not chang the names of church landes and call them by our owne names our lordships our lands our mannours We would not eate the bread of the poore nor drinke the teares which trickle downe the cheekes of the widdow nor contemne the simple estate of the ministers by whose landes and liuinges we are now fatted like the buls of Basan If we would but once enter into our owne conscience plainly and truelie remembring whose goods they are that we possesse and lift vp our eye to the heauens to the which both we and they are dedicated wee would soone loath that which wee haue looued our hart would quake thorow the bitter sting of conscience and sinne would cleane couer our faces with the mantle of darke and deadlie despaire sith wee haue spoiled robbed contemned him whose loouing countenaunce is our eternall Saluation Herewith remembring the bitter sequele and deadlie sting of sinnes committed against God himselfe losse of goods landes contrarie to all expectation sodaine fiers in one hower destroying house goods and all the treasure which thou hast wickedlie heaped together many yeeres barrennesse of wombe sith thou hast trauelled all thy life long for goodly lands and hast no children to enioy them or if thou haue theyr sodaine death before thine eyes and lastlie the restlesse paine and eternall miserie of hell fire purchased with so manie cares and troubles with so much wealth of this world wee ought to wash our
our face most apparantly I will not long discourse on that part pardon me the glasse is cleare what should I write That prouerbe was vsed of auncient time and we prooue it true Suis quisque malis blanditur euery man flattereth himselfe in his owne humor and though the glasse do shew thee plainely that thy face is foulie spotted in diuers places with vncleannesse of thine owne hands and full of puffed pimples by reason thou drinkest lyquor not ordained for thy stomacke yet to the ende that those small scabbes without may breede great sores within and that thine ende may bee the lue of thy desert flattering thy selfe with thine owne deformrtie and loath to bee corrected by an other thou castest away the glasse which once abandoned qui semel verecundiae limities transilient without all blushing thou affirmest boldly a mould a wart a wrinckle a â—reckle a spotte a wheale is but a toye in a mans face I count but little of the foolishe glasse And shew me reason why not why not if it be not seene it is no blot but if it be no more hid then the nose on your face or the sight in your eye if all men loath the sight thereof and count you carelesse of your health for neglecting the same then knowe that the time is nowe come of which it was foreshewed that men should bee loouers of themselues more then of the Lorde and you are a childe of the same nowe therefore sith the glasse is gone and reason is the rule by the which you leauell knowe yee that your deformities are great and sith you loue to feede on meate forbidden two men of your complection know this for a trueth that all meates are not for al meÌ„ It were a straunge vnnatural kindnes if the little child sucking on his mothers brest shold pull the meate out of her mouth as she is feeding yet much more vnholsome to be eaten of the child then straunge to the beholders If this vnnatural vnkindnes doe seeme so vntollerable in the flesh how much more in the children of the spirite wee must knowe that man as Hermes writeth consisteth of two natures of heauen and earth of bodie and of soule of the fleshe and of the spirite The fleshe is of earth earthlie the spirite is from heauen heauenlie first is that which is spirituall and then that which is bodilie The bodie is quickned last and dieth first but the spirite is that which is first and laste As the spirituall is first so wee ought first of all to walke after the spirit and not after the flesh to become like our spirituall father and to nourish our spirituall mother and brethren redeemed with the same spirituall sacrifice renewed with the same spirituall grace confirmed by the same spiritual pastours vnto sanctimony holines of life reading first aboue al other knowledge science contemplacions and reuelations the true heauenlie doctrine of the spirit Seking with our bodies liues and goods to preserue keepe the volumes the pastours the temples of the spirituall worship of the Lord where the breade of life is broken to those which hunger and thirst after righteousnes and the spirituall foode of the soule After the body followeth the shadowe and next to this spirituall foode of the soule the food of the corruptible bodie is to be prouided Both are necessarie but the former first Therefore let vs not seeke after the foode which perisheth but seeke the foode which preserueth both bodie and soule vnto eternall life knowing that as our sauiout Christ saith man liueth not by bread onely but by euerie worde which proceedeth out of the mouth of God This word is the conduit of the spirit whose substaunce is perfect trueth this word was in the beginning by it all thinges were made It created all thinges of nothing in weakenes strength in vilenes honour in the dust it placed a liuing a heauenly and an vnderstaÌ„ding soule erecting the bodily chariot where in he placed it right vp to heauen that he might aboue al things continually haue his face his eie his hart and cogitacion fixed on heauen and heauenlie conuersation But man would not abide in honour the spiriual grace of the heauenly fountaine infused into him was corrupted with the vncleanes of the vessel FroÌ„ the beginning his enemies prouoked him to offend his maker to leaue y e heauenly spirit to incline to her handmaid this sinful filthy coruptible flesh Therewith he lusted after his sensuall appetite he rowled his eie to fro according to y e wauering of fleshly sensuallity leauing the mistris in most degenerate sort he bound himself to serue the pleasurs of the body with the los of life he brought in death in affecting the losenes of the flesh he lost the freedome of the spitit in seeking lands honor on the earth he left the spiritual Canaan the heaueÌ„ly IerusaleÌ„ perfect lawe of the libertie Sith therfore the essence of man is his spirit according as it is written Mens vniuscuiusque is est quisque as the minde is so is the man eyther good or bad and that our first and chiefest constitution is spirituall Let vs vnderstand thus much of our selues that it is most consonant to our creation to our constitution to our saluation that aboue all other things we frame all our thoughts and meditations our calling and conuersation our goods and landes our liues and liuinges our bodies and our soules to the nourishing of the doctrine of trueth and the maintaining of the nurses the true teachers and preachers of the same This is the key of knowledge whereby wee must open the doore of heauen the tree of life which feedeth the soule the cleare light which lighteneth euery man which commeth into the world Now the windowe beginneth to open the day spring from an highe now visiteth vs teaching vs truely that as we consist of two natures so we are of two beginnings spirituall and earthly of a spirituall father the creator of heauen and earth a spirituall mother the holy catholique Church on whome hee hath sent his holy spirite visibly descending So we must first and principally apply our selues to the maintaining of the health peace and safety the reuerence renowne and glory of this spirituall father and mother leauing our earthly father and our earthly mother in regard of them because hee created redeemed and sanctified vs vnto himselfe our holy mother She nourisheth vs with the spirituall milke of the holy ghost that wee should be an holie religious generation vnto the Lord. Therefore after wee haue truelie confessed that wee beleeue in the most holie blessed and glorious trinitie three persons and one God next vnto our heauenlie Father wee acknowledge our spirituall mother the holie catholique Church in whose custodie at his departing out of this world he left his will and testament plainlie written and subscribed with his owne hand and the handes of
manie faithfull witnesses surelie sealed with his most precious bloud He fixed it so surelie and with such vertue that therwith the speres did shrinke in the heauens the Moone against nature retired from the East into the Meridian the Sunne lost his light the aire was darke the earth did shake the graues opened the spirits arose the hel below all trēbled so that the powers therof were loosed After this athentical signifying of his most pretious death bitter passion in heauen in earth in hel he gaue it as his owne deed his last wil testamēt vnto his beloued spouse the holy church a sure seale and pledge of eternall saluation to her all her faithfull children for euer As is the loue of her husband so is hirs for she hath it giuen her of him euen breathed from his owne mouth hee is one and his loue is one for euer the heauens shall waxe old like a garment the Sun shal shrinke from his Excentrich the earth shall passe awaie like a tempest but the loue of our spiritual mother is as the loue of our heauenlie father once euer whom she once loueth she loueth them to the end that most entirely according to the saying of the prophet when father and mother forsaketh me then the Lord taketh me vp Therefore if we be his true children we must frame our selues that we bee like our spirituall parents not in countenance onlie outward looke but in sinceritie holy deuotiō We must forsake both father mother concerning the flesh honouring our spirituall father our spiritual mother aboue all other things both in heauen and in earth He hath begotten vs sonnes of the spirit euen by the spirite of life and she through his great grace doth nurse vs vp with the same food she taketh vs vp out of the mirie waies of this sinful flesh she vnfoldeth the sinfull clothes of the bodie wherewith wee are almost smothered she openeth our mouth applying thereto her tender teats from whence she distilleth the drops of spiritual life into our hearts wherby our soules be fed our bodies preserued our vnderstāding increased our eies cleared our faith perfected so that we see most plainly how we should loath the world learne to loue our holy mother the church knowing that it is not meete to leaue the cleare Sunne to waite on shadowes or possible to serue God Mammon this world heauen the flesh the spirit according as Hermes writeth Nisio fili corpus tuum oderis teipsum amare non poteris impossible est vtrisque simul intendere O Sonne vnlesse thou hate thy body thou canst not loue thy soule for it is impossible to applie thy selfe at once to them both Therfore be ye not so blinded with the stinking mist of Sathans deadly smoke or the painted vale of this wicked world or the sinful web of fleshlie corruptions ouerspredding the sight of your eie that you should not look into the cleer glas now set before your face wherein you may plainlie behold the reflexion of your deformities this vnnaturall spot wherewith you greatlie disgrace your selues before the face of God and man at this day If your eies be so dim through the cares of this present world that ye cannot looke into the times of old if you cannot see so far before you by reason of the cloudy tēptations which the world the flesh the deuil beat in your faces yet in regard of your safety look downe vnto your own feet least you depart frō the way of life If you be so intangled with the briers of this wicked world that you cannot goe forward nay that you cannot once turn your selfe to look towards the Church Yet fixe thy feete that thou goe not backward from euill to worse and let thy countenance affect the sight of the heauenly Ierusalem Though thine eies bee dim yet open thine eares harken to the sweet admonitiōs of thy mother foreshewing thee the sweete and the sower of this thy dangerous iourneie wherein sith thou art to walke through the wildernes of this wicked world before thou assaie the isie ground therof know that which elsewhere is wisely written Terra imbrobitatis est prouincia the earth is a prouince full of naughtines through which who so mindeth to walke safelie hee must bee verie circumspect taking heede to his beginninges knowing that hee which beginneth well hath halfe finished the work The first entrance of this waie vnto eternall life is to loue the Lord thy God with all thy hart thy mind thy soul the next step is like vnto it loue thy neighbour as thy selfe according to the rule of nature Quod tibi fieri non vis alterine feceris Do vnto others as yee would that they should doe vnto you againe This rule is generall the meaning large the obseruance thereof hard and tedious therfore before I post forward too fast vnto the ende I will make some litle small spence of time in opening the first beginning thereof and which is that as it is said in the rule of christian faith next to the blessed trinitie is ioyned the holie catholique church as also in the table of the ten commaundements next to those which wholie concerne the worship of God in the first place and before all the rest is placed Honor thy father and thy mother and that with a blessing which who so mindeth to be partaker of hee must not onelie honor his naturall father and mother but he must vnderstand truelie that as the spiritual part soule of man is before the flesh so first and principallie wee must honor our heauenlie father which hath begotten vs of the true spiritual immortal seed wherby as saith S. Paul the faithful daily crieabba father next to this our spiritual father aboue all fleshlie parentes we must honour our spirituall mother the holy catholique church whose children we are before we haue our perfect beeing in the flesh according to the saying of Euaristus in his decrees Scimus Christum esse caput cuius nos membra sumus ipse est sponsus ecclesia est sponsa cuius filii nos sumus wee trulie know that Christ is the head of his Church whose members we are for he is the husband and the church is his spowse we the children of thē both Therefore before wee looke at our naturall parents we must most christianly apply our selues vnto the honour and reuerence of our spirituall father and our spirituall mother Nay we must forsake both goods and landes honour and dignitie frendes kindred brethren yea our naturall father and mother and cleaue vnto our spirituall mother the holie Church according to that most christian aunswere of that learned Tritemius to his naturall mother To whō after she had signified by diuers louing letters that she most earnestly desired to see him face to face hee returned this aunswere Non licet mihi
Philosophers or Philosophers raigned Herein we learne that euen by the mere motiō and instincte of nature the verie heathen honored wisedome and vertue in what person soeuer aboue all the giftes of the body naie they so highly esteemed of knowledg and vertue that they not onlie gaue them the highest honor and dominion whilest they liued but after their death they built temples vnto them and celebrated their memorie after their heathenish superstition perpetually Their doinges shewed plainely that they had some hidden sparke in them by nature of the fire which ought not onelie to be kindled in the hartes and mindes of all true christians but also it ought to flame forth giue light in their liues conuersations much like a candle which standeth on highe giueth light to the whole house This candle sheweth vs plainelie that man by nature following the better part of his constitution is appointed to worship God and to emploie himselfe his goods his giftes and all his power for the maintaining of the true worship of God in his holy temple aboue all other thinges in heauen in earth Neither let any man thinke that this is the dutie of the clergie onely whose office is in the first place of holie function to be ministers of his diuine worship or that it belongeth onelie to the poore fatherlesse inferior people although of such commonly the kingdome of God dooth most consist as it is written not many mightie not manie rich not many of the most accounted of in this world shall enter into the kingdome of heauen but vnto the worshipfull the honorable the Duke the Prince the King the Emperour who though he bee accounted the greatest among christians yet hee that is least in the kingdome of God is greater then he Sith this little sparke of heathen fire hath lightened the candle euen of christian princes let not our harts be so ouer grown with the choking weeds of this mortalitie Neither let the God of this world either so blinde our eyes or dimme our sight that wee professing the name of Christians with our mouth shold be like the heathen people in our life Herein let vs learne to distinguish the cleere light of a christian candle from the smoking snuffe of the heathen Hee which is the king of kinges and onely ruler ouer all hee said plainlie my kingdome is not of this world Neither those which onely bende themselues to the fleshlie course of this worlde to attaine highe stile dominion and rule the fat of the field or riches of the Citty are the truest christians For what is a christian or what difference doe wee make betwixte the worthie dignitie of christian princes and the tirannicall empire of the heathen Theyr strength is the cursed confidence of flesh and bloud Though an horse be but a vaine thing to saue a man though all fleshe is grasse and the glorie thereof is as the flower of the fielde which florisheth to day and to morrow is cast into the furnace though euerie man liuing and all the liuing of man is but meere vanitie yea lighter then vanitie it selfe yet the heathen and worldly man will disquiet himselfe in vaine hee will make fleshe his arme and the compasse of the earth his dominion hee will plante his foote in the sea and his armie in the highest hils he will displaie his banner before the clowdes and compare his glory to the golden tressed sunne The swelling of sinfull fleshe is aboue measure and desire of rule seeth not God Christian kinges they set the glorie of God before theyr eyes and not their owne glorie they first of all acknowledge their spirituall father and their spirituall mother before their naturall parentes according to that sence and sentence of Hermes Diuina officia praecedere humana sequi debent we must first seeke heauenly things thē those which cōcerne this world But the Kings and rulers of the heathen they are filii terrae the sonnes of the earth Their desire their life their looue their greatest glory and rule is in the earth alone and came from the earth they knowe not their heauenly father and therefore ofte times they spoile their spirituall mother Such as they be such is their rule not for the glory of God or the safetie of his church for they defie her they prophane her they pill and poll her but they rule for their owne glory their owne peace and safetie according to their owne humour as it is plainely described by the mouth of Daniell speaking vnto Balthasar in this manner O King the most high God hath bestowed dominion magnificence glorie and great honor vpon Nabuchodonozar thy father and in regard of that highnes which God gaue him all people kindreds Kinges and nations trembled before him and feared him greatly Whom he would he killed whom he would he did strike whome hee would he aduaunced and whom he would he threw down This is the tyrannical rule of the Kings of the nations concerning which our sauiour Christ hath said principes gentium dominantur eis c. This is the waie of flesh and bloud into the which that younger sonne euen the carnall man is alreadie entered but to the elder children begotten in the spirite borne of our true spirituall mother and nursed in the schoole of Christianitie and by her instructed out of the booke of life in the fayth feare and looue of God our spirituall father hath sayd Vos autem non sic The Kinges of the heathen and rulers of the earth they are called good maister and good grarious lord most highe most renowmed most mighty most glorious most excellent maiesty without exception of heauen and earth They thinke themselues to be Gods making the ende of their power and rule to bee the extolling of their owne honour and dignitie They regard not iustice that they should doe no iniurie nor the poore that they might bee called mercifull nor their brethren that they might seeme naturall nor their inferiours that they might appeare humble nor the goods the landes the peace the priuiledge the honour the glorie of God or man that there might appeare some sparke of Godly life in them But without regard of God of pietie or pittie they say to this man cast thy selfe headlong from yonder rocke before my face breake his legges pearce the other to the heart reache mee the heade of that braue knight let that Lord be pulled in peeces with wilde horses cast that Earle into the dungeon with the Lions destorie that nation burne those temples sley man woman and childe onelie preserue my kingdome my crowne my maiesty and let your praiers be made onely vnto me But christiā Princes must not do so Though the Lord hath giuen the highest honor to the King and put the scepter into his hand in which respect they are said to be gods sitting in the place of God pronouncing the sentence in his name and person yet let
theÌ„ know that they must die like men that theyr bodies are made of a lothsome matter that they are but wormes meate dun ashes earth earth earth most vile and corruptible earth as all other men be though their descent bee princely ofte times from the house of many mighty Kings and Emperours though the knee of flesh and bloud doe bowe and kneele at their presence though their honour bee great in the eyes of the people their scepter mightie their crown gorgious yet one clod of earth must couer their heades in the graue and all their glorie shall be shut vp in a fewe lines according to the saying of saint Augustine in his booke De vera innocentia Qui splendes in mundo c. Thou which shinest in the world aboue the rest thou accountest of thy nobilitie of thine auncestors thou reioycest in thy large dominions in thy parentage in the great honour and homage which all men doe vnto thee knowe thy selfe that thou art earth and thou shalt bee consumed into earth againe looke vppe but a little and beholde those which were placed in the same throne of maiestie before thy time What is become of those excellent Oratours those mightie princes those puissant conquerous those renowmed Emperours Looke vnto the graue whether thou art passing beholde and see are they not all nowe rotten dust are they not like a sparke of fire which is vanished is not all there glorie and fame contained in a fewe lines written of them by some poore contemned scholler shall not the greatest Prince in this world rise vp naked at the daie of iudgement all amazed trembling and quaking Naie not his bodie onelie but his heart and his minde his soule and his conscience shalbe laied open before the Lord his Angels his saints and all his elect If hee haue plaied the tyraunte beating his fellowe feruantes ruling for his owne gaine and not for the benefitte of his Church shall not the remembraunce of his honour bee a stinging serpent to him in his conscience and his Princely dominion a most deadly corasiue to his heart Therefore be wise ye kings and princes of the worlde and yee which iudge the earth hearken to the wordes of vnderstanding Knowe yee that the wisedome of this world is not as is the wisedome of God Many men in their wisedome forecast by all meanes possible to come into possession of riches honour authoritie power and maiestie which when they haue attained let them but looke back a little and consider with what wicked sinnefull greeuous paines they were gotten with what feare and daunger they are possessed with what greefe they are loste let them enter into theyr owne heartes and beholde what a hell of corruptions and what an armie of tempting serpentes accompanie the minde that is set vppon riches let them marke howe manie wise men of this world haue come vp of nothing to great aboundaunce of wealthie authoritie and yet after they haue well practised and wiselie waied manie yeeres which waie they might come to enioye the height of their desire which is to rule whilest they liue heere on earth and to leaue the like to their posteritie it hath pleased the Lorde in one hower to cutte of the sequell and issue of all theyr hope Either theâ—â—elues togeather with their posteritie are cutte off or else the Lorde dooth take awaye that theyr ioye before theyr face or after all sendeth a worse mischeefe to theyr soule then anie penne can write anie tongue can tell or anie heart can vnderstand Which though we cannot sound to the bottome yet let vs learne by the shadowe to gesse the pourtraiture of the body by the effect to search the cause by the conclusion to knowe the trueth of that axiome Who so euer maketh his God of any thing here on earth it shall neuer prosper with him And who so maketh his quiet heauen here He shall neuer possesse the eternall heauen in the world to come Who so presumeth of his owne wisedome before the iustice of God or on his might that he may treade downe the poore hee shall not bee able to stand vpright in the daie of his daunger and to his vtter confusion he shall heare that voice at length Non est sapientia non est prudentia non est consilium aduersus dominum there is no wisedome there is no pollicy there is no counsell against the Lord. If wee will not hearken to the poore contemned ministers of Iesu Christ which forewarne vs dailie of that great daunger of our soule which wee rashlie aduenture by more esteeming of man then of God of the seruice of man then of the seruice of God of the commaundement of man then of the commaundement of God of the house of man then of the Church of God of the seruaunt of man then of the minister of God the stones in the wall shall crie out aloud and our owne conscience shall tell vs plainly that in loouing the honour the maintenaunce the issue of our bodie wee haue vtterly lost the saluation of our owne soules O that our eyes were so cleane washed with the water of life that wee might but once stedfastly behold the bright beautie of the radiant sonne of God no doubt we would leaue this great politike wisedome of this world wherin euery one striueth to frame his children and learn the true wisedome which is follie in the eyes of flesh wee would humble our selues before the Lorde and kisse the sonne least he be angry We would not count of that sweetnes which is tasted with toong nor of the fading beautie which shineth in the face of sinneful flesh we would cast our worldly honour in the dust and put our scepter vnder the foote-stoole of Iesu Christ We would not so much seeke the honour of earthly kingdoms nor triumph so often in the flesh but we would first aboue all other thinges reade the will of our God and meditare in the same both daye night wee would seeke to differ from the heathen in extolling our scepters after the manner of flesh bloud we would leaue the delight careful seeking of the worlde which is the first entraunce vnto Christ. We would knock at the doore of his mercie by a true faith and enter further by perfect obedience We would drawe neere to the father and kisse the sonne most louingly because he loued vs first so entirely that when wee were his enemies and beeing a most vile and sinnefull creature he left thousands of bright shining holie angels his daily ministers the spheares of heauen the stars of the firmament with all the rest of his beautiful creatures comming down in great humilitie was made man He beeing the high God of heauen earth for our sake was made man he suffered hunger and thirst reprochies and reuilings agonies and paines he sighed in his heart hee groned in the spirite and that which is able
where is that or what sure direction haue wee to the same whilest wee saile in these tempestuous and troublesome seas of vncertaintie considering that the bottom is so britle that wee can haue no ancre holde the seas so wide that wee are farre from kenning of anie coast the winde so vncertaine that wee knowe not whither wee are driuen let vs surelie beleeue that which our parents told vs at our entring into this fleeting vessell that there bee manie gone before vs euen the same way through the same seas to the same hauen that we desire And if you will looke vp with mee a litle I assure you I haue descried one which though it bee farre off and scarcelie within kenning yet by the view the pilot thereof seemeth cunning the course direct the shippe faire and good taking the verie waie of our direction and now lying at ancre before the mouth of the hauen which wee so long haue wished And where is that The examples which I minde to propound vnto you is these three wise men The first fruites of the Gentils which by the appearing of a starre were directed vnto Christ sith in these daies the stile of learning and the learned is lowe yea so low that it lyeth written in the dust troden downe with the feet of ignorant men the kingdome of this world is the golden mirror on which most mens eies are continually fixed with desire and admiration Let no man doubt but these learned men were also kinges according as it is written in sundrie learned fathers Dicts sunt etiam reges quia illo tempore philosophi sapientes regnabant they were also called kinges because in those daies wise philosophers reigned Then these beeing the first fruites of the gentils and the first Christian kinges that euer were All those which minde to come to Iesu Christ to bee washed with his bloud to bee saued by his perfect merit and great mercie let them fixe their eies on these first christian kings let them learne trulie marke diligeÌ„tly what they did They left their owne naturall countrie with all thinges therein following the starre which led them to Iesu Christ. They came to the Inne where the childe was porelie layed in a Maâ—nger there heart was stil fixed with the light which did shine to them from Heauen though they were mightie Kinges yet they regarded not the basenesse of the house nor the vnseemlinesse of the stable where this holie Childe was but acknowledging great maiestie to lye here couered in low humilitie they cast downe the glorie of their kingdomes at his feete they opened their golden vessels and offered to him gould mirre and frankensence the first fruits of true christianitie Wherein wee haue a plaine example propounded to all christian princes and people in that they followed the light of the starre shewing that the wisest though they bee exceedingly learned as they were yet sith this is the Lorde of wisedome euen the wisedome of the God of heauen and earth leauing our owne natural wisedome and denying our selues wee ought to followe this cleare light which shineth thorow Christ from heaueÌ„ Though they be noble Princes as these were yet they ought to acknowledge him to bee king of kings and Lord of Lords of whom it was forshewed that he should walke vpon the lyon and the dragon that all nations should doe him seruice that his kingdome shall haue none ende And who shall declare his generation though the mightie of this world bee of high honour and dignitie as they were yet their humble kneeling and obedience sheweth that christian Princes are not to rule ouer their subiects like the heathen for their owne pompe their owne honour their owne magnificent glorie for the safetie of their owne life regiment kingdome but that with the princely maiestie of the annointed of the Lord they should leaue the care of their earthly kingdome and follow the cleare star of Iesu Christ which lightneth the grossest darkenes They should bowe their bodies and bende their whole strength before Iesu Christ and his holie Church Though worldly men Potentates and Princes liue in greate plentie of honour freedome and all abundance yet knowing that without God is without all let them leaue the loue of their owne houses the delight and glorie of their pompous pallaces let them forsake their owne fathers house their goodes and landes and cimery with the faithfull Abraham and bestowe their whole substance honour and riches on the Lord Iesu and his louing spowse the holy Church Remembring that he created them poore wretches when they were nothing and that of nothing as it is saide he hath loued them without their desert and that with a most entire surpassing loue Hee feedeth them in their mothers wombe and openeth their mouthes that they should breath Hee preserueth them from all the daungers of their infancie euerie minute maintaineth them in their kingdoms holding vp the scepter in their handes as it is written Per me reges regnant by my permission kinges doe rule vppon earth They rule by him and him alone for if hee doe but alienate the mindes of the subiectes the princes seate dooth shrinke vnder him If hee doe but a while restraine the dewe of heauen as hee did at the praier of Elias the prophet of the Lorde both prince and people famish together Though hee giue store of foode though it bee well prepared and by the counsell of good phisitions drest finely for the kinges owne mouth yet if the Lord do not blesse it in his mouth as he cheweth it in the throate as it descendeth in the stomacke as it concocteth in the passage from thence as it digesteth his meate is his bane or at the least hee falleth sicke after the tast thereof and lyeth miserably groaning vppon his pillowe If the Lorde dooth with-hold but the least of his benefits a little the fire from roasting the sunne from shining the corne from riping the tong from tasting the lungs from breathing but one minute of an houre though he be the mightiest king in the world forthwith hee perisheth from the face of the earth Therefore let all kings and princes all people and nations acknowledge the great power of the Lord euen in the least of his benefits Let them leaue off the delight of worldly vanities wherewith they are puffed vp their honours landes and goodes Let them affect the true honour and maiestie the glorious triumph and perfect pleasure which well beseemeth a christian prince euen the annointed of the Lord. Neither are wee carried with the fruitlesse winde of scisme that we should condemne those pleasures which bee lawfull knowing that as the Lorde hath giuen man a bodie together with his soule so it is as necessarie that he looke for the sustenaunce the defence the delight or recreation of his body as of his soule and that in most honourable pleasant triumphant manner if time and
base minded as to looke about him how hee might raise great summes from the poore people or how hee might vnder some good pretence exact some paiment from the church though his enemies were manie mighty his warre great his troubles innumerable his charges infinite yet hee did not molest any one person belonging to the church nether would he suffer the mightiest of his princes once to meddle with them He could not possiblie be perswaded to increase his treasure with any penny which came from the Church or his honour with their prerogatiue or his securitie with their trouble or his credit with their disgrace But this foster father of the poore dispersed lambs of Iesu Christ he bestowed he founded he erected on high he reedified those temples which the heretickes had pulled downe hee restored the landes which they had taken awaie when hee tooke it into his handes he did not giue one halfe to God kept the other halfe to himselfe saying I haue two eies the one to looke to my kingdome and the other to the church But beeing a good true christian philosopher hee knew that though wee haue two eies yet we must looke but one way nor see but one marke at once We cannot at once loue both God and Mammon sinne and righteousnesse the kingdome of this world and heauen But hee knew it truelie and wayed it wisely in his hart that the high God of heauen did create him that hee blessed him preserued him exalted him gaue him all that he had And therefore hee rendred vnto him and his beloued spouse all honor freedome peace and abundance Hee was taught by the holie fathers out of the booke of life that the Lord is a ielous God he will not part stakes with any nor giue his honor to any other but of him it is said and of him onelie Thine is thy kingdome thy power and thy glorie for euer and euer Amen When the good Emperour beheld this perfect stile of Iesu Christ did see the ensigne on which it was described together with the church of Christ cast downe to the bare earth hee drawing neere as S. Paul did to the altar wherein was written ignoto deo beholding but foure bare letters I. N. R. I. which signified that this was the ensigne of the vnknowen God not acknowledged amongest men forthwith hee humbled himselfe in the flesh and reioiced in the spirit that the vnknowen God the God of heauen of earth had vouchsafed him that speciall grace to reueale himselfe vnto him He cast downe his banner and tooke vp the crosse of Iesu Christ crucified hee cast all dignities courts commissions and kingdomes aside and laid his honor in the dust in regard of the true honor of Iesus Christ as wee haue mentioned hee imploied all the giftes which hee had giuen him euen of mind bodie and goods especially in founding erecting beautifying perfecting adorning priuiledging and freeing the church of Christ as Eusebius testifyeth most plainlie in these words Ecclesias vero Dei incredibile est supra omnem opinionem c. It is incredible and far beyond all mens opinions to recount what giftes and ornamentes hee bestowed on the church of God what freedome what plentie of maintenance what honors he gaue to them which had wholy bent theÌ„selues to serue the Lord in his holy temple daily to pray for the safety of the lande for the honour of the King and the sinnes of the people This was the expressed pietie of that first and most Christian Emperour and the Lord of his great mercie redoubled his kindnesse euen into his bosome for hee not onely shewed him the scale which Iacob saw and the gate of heauen opened at the top therereof but hee gaue him that great and rare gift of perseuerance in his deuout deedes euen vnto the end Therfore the Lord blessed him in his pallace in the field froÌ„ the arow which flieth in the wars abroad and from false friends at home and in such plentiful manner that all things which he tooke in hande did prosper wonderfully His victories are compared with the conquests of Cyrus but his end was much more happie for when he had most honourablye passed the full course of the life of man enioyed all the blessings of the earth aboue the space of sixtie yeares not once troubled with any sicknesse of bodie or vexation of minde but in wisedome and true christian loue florished continuallye like the greene bay tree whose fruite doth comfort the hart of man like the spreading vine like the fat Oliue braunch which maketh him to haue a ioyfull countenance sith hee distilled these sweete drops of his sincere loue into the bosomes of the poore distressed christians of his daies the Lord he kindled the sparke of true christian loue in his heart and made him glad with the ioy of his countenance Hee had alwaies victorie against his enemies conquering from Scythia in the east to this Ile of Britaine in the west Neither was the loue of the Lord extended vnto this good Emperour in his life onely but to the end all men may knowe that the loue of the Lorde is not fained that his iustice neuer changeth that his mercie endureth for euer hee departed out of this life being full of yeares in his ripe olde age euen about the feast of the ascension of our sauiour Christ and the descension of the holy Ghost at high noone At which instant his soule leauing the mortall body heere on earth hee was no doubt receiued vp into heauen by the hands of immortall angels there enioying the crowne of eternall blisse Which the Lord hath prouided for all those assuredly which looue his comming and maintaine his holy militant Church heere on earth Neither was the reward of the Lord onely proportioned by the merit of man neither did his munificent mercie onely exceede the merite of this true christian Emperour so much as the compasse of the heauens whose least starres are much bigger then the lande and sea exceedeth the earth in giuing him his hartes desire which is eternall blisse and felicitie but that which the Lord recounteth to Abraham Isaac and Iacob for a sure blessing here on earth he gaue this Godly Emperour three good and godly sonnes to â—it vppon his seate after him neither for one or two liues onely but as it is written of his posterity Vt imperii sedes c. That as the Empire discended from his father vnto him so by the course and lawe of nature it was continued vnto his childrens children and their posteritie Neither is it all onelie to bee marked what fruite the braunch beareth in the top but if we be good simplicians we will haue recourse vnto the roote from whence the first life and naturall vertue proceedeth Heerein if we consider well and looke more narrowlie into it wee shall plainely perceiue that these former examples more
of the people to sit in the throne of maiesty This did not the noble Godfrie of Bullē he did not so but possessing the true treasure of right valure and perfect vertue in his hart he coūted not his saftie to stand in the death of his enemies nor his cheefe possession in worldly riches nor his honor in glistering show nor his triumphe in magnificent troupes of noble men nor his maiestie in a crowne of molten mettal This he might haue had but he would not si quidem posse nolle nobile the noble minde ofte may but wil not The vertue of the minde was his possession and wisedome was his guide in this famous victorie He was studied in bookes of arte and wisedome hee red the Poet and liked his heroicall verse full well Sicelides musae paulo maior a canemus non omnes arbusta iuuant humilesque myricae His minde was great indeede he could not glorie in fleshly pleasures He sawe this famous Cittie was but a heape of lime and sand built with the handes of manie poore slauishe workemen the riches like glistering poison infused with the wine into y e cup of gold the whole kingdome of Iudea he saw was earthlie and easie to be won at al times with a sworde of iron and steele Therefore hee counted the glorie of the crowne and scepter but a toye And what was that then which hee counted off euen that for which hee came by which hee conquered in which hee meant to dwell Ierusalem Not that Ierusalem whose desolata est did raise a most sweete pleasaunt note from the musitions penne not the figured but the perfigured euen the Church of Christ and also that which is figured by it the heauenlie Ierusalem the true holy cittie the place of eternall rest of the true glory of perfect triumphe where hee might safelie and euer saie vnto his owne soule O my soule thou hast marched valiantlie Hee counted not of glorie which riseth out of the earth and therefore most wisely he fixed his hart and minde on true eternitie which dwelleth onely in the heauens Hauing conquered he did not ascend the chaire of maiestye that hee might showe himselfe vnto the people with great glorie but as that holie and victorious conquerour Henrie the fifte king of England when with a fewe thousands of men hee had vanquished Charles the Dolphin of Fraunce strengthened with a royall army wherein was most of his nobility he with all his armie kneled downe in the feeld holding vp his hands to heauen singing saying Non nobis Dominenon nobis sed nomini tuo da gloriam not vnto vs O Lord not vnto vs but giue the glory to thy holy name Euen so this worthy conqueror of Ierusalem though not with the same words yet with the like deuotion hee humbled himselfe before the Lord for the space of seuen daies walking on foote in Ierusalē beholding the places where our sauiour Christ was cōuersant whē he liued here on earth where he was takē wher he was examined where he was whipped scourged despitefully spit on derided with a reed in his hand a crown of thorns on his head The mighty conquerour did behold all these with his eies and his heart melted within him Hee often kneeled down and kissed the places where our sauiour Christ had beene With weeping eyes hee looked vp into the heauens and his soule desired to see the Lord of light That the Lord of his mercie would regard him he daily prayed with great humilitie liberallye bestowing on the poore In the place where the temple was founding a most solemne colledge for religious men giuing them great and large liuinges calling them Prebends building them many faire houses neere vnto the Church for them to dwell in These and innumerable such like where the fruites of this noble minde which beeing cleare in the sight of God of Angels and of men the Lord blessed prospered him wonderfully in so much that in regard of his high prowesse and victorious conquests to his eternall fame with all posteritie he is reputed one of the nine worthies of the world The fountaine of this perfect glory did first breake foorth in Fraunce flying ouer the highest Alpes euen to Ierusalem where by the way if wee will but diuert a little into Spaine amongst some good some bad we shall see one most excellent famous noble woman a great freend true louer of the church The best truest chronicles giue her this stile Serenissima ac catholica domina Elizabetha Hispaniarū ac vtriusque Siciliae ac Ierusalem Regina c. The most vertuous catholicke lady Elizabeth Queene of Sapine Sicily Ierusalem c. This vertuous woman much like the godly Helina mother of Constantinus was so greatly esprised with the loue of Iesu Christ his church so y t shee bent all her muse cogitation seeking daily diligentlie how she might beate downe the heathenish power of the Turkes and infidels therewith to enlarge the kingdome of Christ and the dominions of the Christians to the ende that her vertuous intent might the better prosper she began this worke with fasting and often praying with almes-deedes and founding of many godly temples not leauing anie worke vndone which shee thought was acceptable in the sight of God nor any meanes vntried which might procure the fauour of Iesu Christ her louing sauiour She turned her euery way and looked diligently on all sides howe and where she might best bestow the fruitfull seed of her charitable deuotion her heart was so enflamed with this heauenly desire that she could not containe her selfe anie longer in her pallace In great desire she founde no rest And what followed with the consent of her princely Ferdinando shee mustered her men of warre and gathered together the power of a mightie prince like the auncient Debora shee marched forwardes into the kingdome of Granata the greatest part whereof had beene inhabited by the Ismaelites aboue seuen hundred yeares defended by them a warlike people continually against the Christians which kingdom paid tribute to the crowne of Spaine 800000 crowns by yeare she counted not of the force of so huge strong a people neyther once regarded the greate reuenewe which came into her treasurie that waye The winters diuers times were so extreme cold that her captains soldiers requested her most instantly to breake vp her campe till a more seasonable time of the yeare yet she answering that this was the subtiltie of Sathan to hinder the woorke of the Lord warred continually for the space of three yeares till the enemies of Christ cleane ouercome shee made that whole realme christian bestowing very liberally on the poore the maimed the captiues the strangers that were in anie distresse In the same realme founding and erecting many goodly churches colledges and hospitals for the poore maymed comfortles people Wee may see by the large spreading and plentifull
Tullie saith Fluctibus saepe obruitur antequam portum conspicere valet After hee haue bin long tired and scratched in the bushie woods peraduenture he shal come to the death of the Hare And yet in our moral the course is not so hard nor halfe so vncertaine For when the wished preferment which you meane is once to be atchieued who so hard harted that will not bestow it on the best Is it detur meliori or detur pulchriori I know not but I am sure hee that seekes shall find Gladly would I learne that kinde of seeking If his wished preferment lye in the court he must prouide a friend in the court who is alwaies better than the pennie in purse What if it be in the countrie these things haue all one certaine rule But as the giuer is so is the way of obtaining Then the learned are in worse case than they were before because the way is more vncertaine for hee must sometimes sue to the good honest Farmer in the Countrey who knoweth a golden angell better than a Latine word sometimes to the gentleman in the Citie sometimes to his wife his sonne his daughter his cosin his steward his factor sometimes to the Noble man and all his circumstances before he can come to the matter And when he hath done if hee bee not so well seene in secret Philosophie that hee can talke learnedlie with the secretarie his studying at the Vniuersitie so many yeares his riding into the countrie the citie the court his expenses his paines his hope is all lost Is this the seeking which you meane and must the poore learned man after hee hath read so many volumes and studied so many yeares in so manie sciences and tongues runne and ride post hast from place to place from countrie man to gentleman from him to his wife from both to the court to the noble man to his sonne his clerke his secretarie alas poore scholler Whilest wee haue bene seeking after your manner we haue almost lost the game which wee begunne to hunt and yet I hope wee are not runne so farre counter but that wee may easilie vndertake it againe Sith it followeth conuenientlie if they be good minded men which pittie the poore distressed case of the learned then they be euilly minded which are the cause thereof diminishing the liuinges of the Church wherewith the learned ought to bee mainteined Without such contingent seekinges the last dispaire of most learned mens desire From this riuer conduit pipe floweth a channell of fowle troubled water wherewith whilest these worldly minded men do vse to wash their faces they appeare much more deformed than before sith the tasting often of the sweetnesse of this troubled earthlie channel in hart and minde are so bewitched with the loue of this present life that the honor of God the reuerence of his name the due hearing of his word the daylie celebrating of his diuine Seruice together with the immunitie and perfect freedome of his ministerie is much decayed I passe ouer al the examples and plaine speaches of contempt vsed against the ministers of Christ at this day Those which be thus euilly minded towards the Church of Christ nay towardes Christ himselfe are the Christians are they comparable to the heathen in their kinde or worthie to bee numbred amongst men though their titles be many their honour great their landes inestimable yet thinke yee that these men shall prosper here on earth as for heauen turne backe good sir this is not the way The gate by which yee must enter in thither is verie lowe the way narrow the iourney long your bodie is idle your doinges dissolute your chariti cold your hart to high yee cannot come in Our Lord and Sauiour Christ when hee liued here on earth hee willed that the litle Children should come to him saying that of such consisteth the kingdome of God And yet if the children treading in the steppes of their fathers contemne the minister of God or in their childishnesse dishonour him If the children of Bethell scorne the good prophet Elizeus like graceles boyes crying out on him goe vp you bald pate go vp though they be smal yong yet their crie pearceth to the heauens The Lord shall listen verie attentiuely when ought doth sound against the honour of his prophets he shall open the window of his wrath in his displeasure two shee Bears shall come out of the wood shall deuour two and fortie of them that thereby both olde and young may learne to reuerence the prophets of the Lord sent vnto them Euen as the countenance of the mother beholdeth the sucking child in her armes most louinglie as the eie of the Hawke minting at her pray doth most fixedlie and fiercelie behold the same euen so the Lord dooth continually behold his embassadours his prophets his pastors his ministers and not their life onely and their safetie but their good mainteine and regard so that the sonne shall not burne them by daye nor the moone by night The pride of sinfull flesh shall not represse them long nor the greatest tyrant in the worlde shall disgrace them in any word or sprinckle any spot in their face but it shal be washed off againe euen with his owne precious bloud Well and wisely did the Poeâ—s faine that the contemners of the goddes alwaies came to euill end Amongest a number of examples this appeareth plain in Aiax who counted more of bodilye valour than of Mineruaes wisedome and with hawtie speach disdained that it shuld haue the due reward therfore he was berest of commoÌ„ wit vnderstanding being stricken with a most furious fit in which he slewe himself vpon his own sword What should I rehearse the manifold plagues punishmeÌ„ts which the Lord sent vpon the conteÌ„ners of his holie worship euen from Noe vnto the birth of our S. Christ whose life because that tirant Herod sought by his bloudy sword to cut off froÌ„ the earth that with the shedding of much innocent bloud therefore the Lord on a soleÌ„ne feast day wheÌ„ he shewed himself vnto the people in his highest glory the multitude to flatter him cried most blasphemosly it is the voice of a God not of a man then euen then the Lorde from heauen stroke him by the hande of his angell so that presently his flesh rotted crawling full of quicke worms and lice which deuoured him most miserably before the face of all the people If carnall sensualitie did not too much dimme our eyes I should not neede to holde out this my obscure light vnto you now at the noon daye when the light of the Gospell shineth most cleare and bright round about vs. If we had cunned the rules of true christianitie by hart or vnderstood the truth of them or had receiued the vertue of wel woorking into our consciences therewith renewed in the spirite I should not neede at this day so
reward of those which defaced the Temple of the Lorde and decaied his holy Ministerie but it is most plaine and euident by sundrie auncient histories that in all ages when wisdome learning and religion once gaue place to worldly pollicie when the vertues of the mind were subdued to the force of flesh when vertuous life waxed out of vse and sensualitie increased when the bodie robbed the soule and the naturall man imprisoned the freedome of the spirite when the pride of the worlde mainteined it selfe with the goods of the Church then shortly after followed the vtter subuersion of the whole common wealth Therefore let sinfull man looke downe vpon himselfe with great humilitie let the pride of corruptible flesh strike saile in time leâ—t with the sodaine puffes and pirreies of vnnaturall windes which commonlie rise from such mens hearts it be violently driuen into the swift currents of perdition whose end is the gulfe of eternall sorrowe Let not worldly men goe on daie by daie minding nothing else but earth and earthly ioies like brutish beastes which haue no vnderstanding but let them looke vp vnto heauen from whence commeth our ioy and true felicitie let them consider that which the Philosopher gathered by plaine reason that man consisteth not of bodie onelie neither that his beginning is meere naturall as is the stone the flower the tree the oxe the asse but that he is indued with a soule of heauenly and angelicall substance made vnto eternitie that his stature was framed vpright and his countenance erected to the heauens to the ende that aboue all thinges hee shoulde haue a diligent eie vnto God his Creatour who dwelleth in the heauen aboue and a speciall regard vnto his diuine worshippe which hee hath appointed heere belowe That this duetie is inioined him from the day of his birth to the day of his death that in obseruing the same is life and in neglecting it is death not the death onely of the bodie but the eternall death both of bodie and soule If this be so how diligently ought we to looke about vs how readie to walke the steppes of our Sauiour Christ whose meate and drinke was to doe the will of God here an earth howe willing should we bee and desirous to imitate those godly Christians of the primatiue Church who sold their goods and their lands laying them downe at the Apostles feete or their successours which imploied themselues their goods and their lands on the diuine seruice and reuerent Temple of Iesu Christ Let no man presume so farre in his blind zeale altogether deuoid of knowledge and sauering rather the doctrine of men then of God to say that God dwelleth not in temples made with hands neither is he worshipped with outwarde worship but in truth and spirite thereby most prophanely concluding that we ought to put no religion in outward things or to ascribe any holines to the same Wee haue heard that the Temple sanctifieth the gold thereof and if any man doubt of the same let him adde prophane hands vnto the arke though vnder colour to holde it vp and trie with Oza whether he shall presently be stroken from the Lord with sodaine death Or let him but holde out his hande against the Prophet and trie with Roboam whether it will be presently dried vp or no. Though the Lorde strike thee not presently with Oza or at thy returne chaunge thee into a Leaper as white as â—nowe with Gehesey though he doth not accurse thee as hee did the figtree yet assure thy selfe that with the burning sinnes of thy body the winges of thy soule wherewith thou shouldest flie vp into heauen shall bee scorched thy heart shall melt thy conscience shall burne and thou shalt be consumed in the great daie of the Lord. Let all men knowe this for a truth that those which diminish the worshippe of God heere vppon earth the Lord will cut of the line of their posteritie in this life and blot out their portion in the lande of the liuing If this be fearefull O ye sonnes of men then let the daily remembraunce thereof enter into your brestes let it sinke downe into your harts and ransacke your inward spirits that ye may therby learne to kisse the louing son of your saluation to imbrace his manifolde mercies and to tremble at his iudgements Say not God is mercifull and therein abuse him he is farre off and therefore deny him a thousand yeares with him is but a daie and therewith forget him but remember with your selues and consider wiselie that all his wordes are truth and hee hath saide long since I come and I will not staye behold I come quickly He hath girt vp his loynes he hath taken his two edged sword into his hande his trumpet is now ready to sound that great alarum of the day of iudgement His thousand thousandes of angels are ready to deuide the heauens to inflame the aire to dry vp the waters and to shake the earth with all the kingdoms therein and now he is comming euen at the doore Though some may thinke that my penne declyneth to this fading conclusion rather by course of stile than for the euidence of truth therein contayned for the glorie of Iesu Christ or for our dutifull readines against the day of our saluation yet in so great daunger remaine not doubtfull through the flattering shew of sinfull delusions But rather sith it greatly concerneth our soules health let vs harken to that plaine voice of truth when you see these things then thinke that your redemption is at hand and bee yee perswaded fully of the same by euident reason by that which you see with your eyes which you heare with your eares which you haue felt with your sensuall bodies not many yeares since And now after the meditation thereof more truly vnderstand with your harts Whereby you are forewarned hereof euen by secret thoughts when you lie in your beds considering that the bridegroome of our eternal saluation is at hand Cast off the loue of this present world scarce go backe into thine owne house to thy wife and thy little children if thou bee at home within thy doores goe not out into the field to see thy cattell or into the streets to bid thy friends farewell or looke once aside from this present comfort the redemption of all the godly Resolue thy selfe to giue account to come to iudgement for nowe the course of this worlde by all computation is run out all flesh is come to an ende And would you haue it set more plainely before your face Lift vp your eies and you shall see that long since the figge tree is budded the fields are all white vnto haruest the heauens are shrunke in their seat and waxen olde like a garment If you yet doubt that the world is not at the point to bee dissolued or that there is no such present appearance why wee should looke for a newe heauen
and a newe earth doe but looke backe a little into the olde worlde and you shall see plainely that the time is nowe expiring There bee but twelue houres in the day and if ye will calculate exactly there bee eleuen of them and fiftie nine minutes past Hee which standeth on the hil toppe he seeth the enemy a far off the vigilant watchman he saith that euerie minute hee perswadeth himself that he heareth the trumpet sounding Surgite mortui venite ad iudicium arise ye deade and come to iudgement The world was created in six daies and perfected in the seuenth whereby the ancient writers learned by coniecture out of the prophesie of Elias also by proportion that the world should remaine six thousand yeares and after that should succeede the eternall sabaoth of our soules Fiue ages by all mens computation are past now we liue in the sixt whose 1589 yeares nowe already past argue that the sequell of the sixt is also at an ende Of those six thousand which long since the learned aimed at already bee expired 5562 and hee which with his word did create the world and at his wil shal destroy it clean euen in the twinckling of an eie he hath promised that the daies shalbe shortned for his elect chosen childrens sake which seemeth likely that the day is euen now appearing in the heauens If wee looke a little into the deepe visions and reuelations of Daniel in which the course of times seasons to come in the latter end of all was plainly reuealed vnto him wee may easily gesse by that which is past the course which is yet to come Hee which hath seene the rising of the sunne and marked the course therof fiue daies togither from the rising to the setting and the sixt day he marking howe it did rise in the morning howe it was eleuated at noone howe it beginneth to decline when it draweth into the west hee will haue a shrowd gesse when it is towardes night So likewise let vs but a little tourne ouer the two and twentie bookes of hidden conference which according to the sixe daies of creation deuided the world into three tooes The infancie which is two thousand before the law the strong age which is two thousand vnder the law the old age which is two thousand vnder grace Let vs rise by proportion from two to foure which bee the foure astrologicall trigones in the heauens executing the influence of the seauen planets and that by the ministerie of the foure elements in order proportionating the foure great Monarches of the world Hereunto if wee shall adioyne the regiment of the seauen mouers or spirits which the Lord hath placed vnder him by the course of nature according to his secret decree to dispose the elementall creatures here below we may gesse to our great comfort by that which is past that the end is at hand The trigonicall course of constellations haue alwaies begun proceeded declined and ended after the same manner in the heauens beginning the first daâ—e of creation at the first degree of Aries the head of the fierie trigone so passing through the earthie the airie the watrie till it ended in the last minute of Pisces the full and perfect period of the watrie trigone These trigones as they alwaies passed after the same fort in the heauens so commonlie the same or verie like successe fell out in the earth and the same spirit of planet entring the rule of the world the same or like euents followed here on earth The world as Plato diuinelie writeth was created in fier euen in the signe Aries the head of the fierie trygone At which time Orifiel the first planeticall angel or spirit of Saturne began according to the disposition of the Almightie to rule the world After whom according to the processe of the foure trigones followed Araell the spirit of Venus Zachariell the spiâ—it of Iupiter Raphael the spirit of Mercurie Samael the spirite of Mars Gabriell the spirit of the Moone Michaell the spirit of the Sunne Each of them ruling the world three hundred â—iftie and foure yeares till the ende of that great watrie trigone in the taile of Pisces At which time according to the computation of the seauenty interpreters and that learned Beda the watrie trigone ending vnder the reigne of Gabriel the spirit of the Moone within few years after issued that great vniuersall flood Vnto this day the trigones with the regiment of the seauen angels or planeticall spirites according to the appointment of God successiuely tooke the disposition and regiment of the world beginning in the fierie trigon vnder the spirit Orifiell passing on to the other trigons whose particular proceedings if I should declare with the whole course of the successe effect of that which followed here vppon earth shewing that as the constellations changed in the heauens so commonlie there followed alterations of kingdomes of states of prosperity and aduersity of famin plenty of alteration of lawes rules people and nations the rising continuing and ending of Monarches mighty Empyres it were a more demonstratiue and forcible way But because it is tedious to shew this course perticularly from the beginning of the world vnto this day As for example When Orifiell began his dominion ouer the world first then men were naked rude liuing abroad To whom when Arael the spirit of Venus succeeded then began they to bee more handsome and to loue one another After him Zachariell the spirit of Iupiter succeeded vnder whom men began to build and to rule one ouer another To this Raphael succeeded the spirit of Mercurie vnder whom caracters and writing and musicall instrumenâ—s were first inuented To this succeeded Samal the spirit of Mars vnder whom though the Hebrewes accouÌ„t that the flood was yet according to the account of the septuaginta Isiodore Beda and Tritemius who prooueth this assertion by the same rule of multiplicatioÌ„ the flood was afterward vnder the dominion of Gabriel the spirit of the Moone Because it were both obscure and tedious to shew from the beginning of the world vnto this day euery course of these trigones in the zodiach and euerie dominion of these planetical spirits with the effectes which followed here on earth to the end that wee may vnderstand a secret truth sufficient to warne euery one which loueth the Lord to be ready sith his day and comming seemeth neere at hand I will onely shew some effects of the watry trigone especially what followed when it ended as it did lately in the tayle of Pisces with the appliance of the effects of Gabriell the spirit of the Moone who last of all begun his dominion ouer the world the yeare of our Sauiour his incarnation 1525. and shal rule vnlesse the Lord shal cut off those euill effects til the year one thousand eight hundred seaueÌ„ty nine eleuen months For
the more inciting of vs vnto the consideration of our state and this present age in which wee liue let vs call to minde the words of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ who when he forewarned his Disciples of the last day of doome which now hangeth ouer our heads then saith hee looke vp for your redemption is at hand He which biddeth vs looke vp hee first created man vpright to behould the heauens not minding to make vs gase at nothing but hee hath set some cleere obiect for vs to behold aboue And because heauen is aboue and earth below looke vp vnto the heauens and behold the starres which as the Scripture faith are fixed therein for signes times for years and dayes sith the Lord himselfe in the creation of the starres appointed them for signes and seasons and sith the Son of God hath bid vs looke vp to them Let vs not regard the coloured speeches of the ignorant who beeing a ridiculous generation would faine seeme that which they are not But let vs looke vp we shall see straunge signes in the heauens such signes as hath not bene since the beginning of the world vnto this day and were not nor could not well haue bene found out of vs if wee had not had cunning and expert Astrologers amongest vs. The apparance of these prodigious sights in the heauens do bid vs consider that the sixe thousand years are almost ended that the sixt age of the world is inclining it selfe into the graue that the fourth Monarch though Liberatie verie learnedly addeth a short defensiue for the same is now languishing The starres were appointed for signes seasons this is a great signe of the decaying of the fourth monarch in that the watrie Trigone is now expired vnder the which the fourth monarch had the beginning The same two great planets Saturne and Iupiter being conioined in Scorpio Iulius Caesar being then in the height of his imperiall pride which was fortie seuen yeres before Christ. That learned Liberatie argueth strongly on the contrary to an other conclusion than I will name affirming that no constellation decaieth his owne proper effect Ciprianus Leouitius coniectureth a shorter conclusion from heauen It is lawful for all men to beleeue what seemeth most likely and when all is doone the conclusion is meere coniecturall but yet by many probabilities This for our instruction let vs mark after the passing of these six thousand yeares six ages foure momarches and now the fourth Trigone newly ended that the world also is drawing towards and end With this lette vs consider howe often this constellation hath had issue from the beginning of the world together with the dominion of Gabriell the spirit of the Moone who ruleth now And therewith let vs consider the effectes which followed them Anno mundi 2242 the watrie Trigone drawing to an end Gabriel the angell of the moone began his dominion ouer the world and what followed men being then giuen to pride and lecherie to feeding their bodies and not their soules to regard the kingdoms of the earth not the kingdome of heauen not regarding that learned Noe the seruaunt of the Lorde the cloudes were dissolued aboue the fountaines of the earth were opened below the seas were let loose abroade the waters flowed outragiously ouer the whole earth and drowned all worms and beasts all fowles all men women and children all liuing creatures of the earth except Noe and those which hee tooke with him into the Arke After this general destruction of the whole world in the ende of Pisces the spirites of the planets together with the Trigones proceeded successiuely till at the length in the ende of the dominion of Samaell the spirit of Mars vnder whome the destruction of Troy was complete Gabriel the angell of the moone beganne the second time to rule in the ende of the watrie Trigone And what followed that mightie Monarchie of the Assirians was destroyed and came to vtter ruine vnder that â—leshly Sardanapalus Also the kingdome of the Macedonians the kingdome of the Syluians ended and the Romanes began together with the captiuitie of Babylon amongst the Iewes Thirdly the Trigones and planeticall spirits proceeded successiuely till the same watry trigone ended againe the fiery entring six yeares before the birth of Christ and what followed There was great change throughout the whole world The sacrifice of Moses did cease the oracles and idolatrie of the heathen came to an end the Gentils were called to be partakers of the true faith the empire of Rome was subdued and brought vnder the lawe of the Gospell which began vnder the fiery triplicitie After which the succession of the trigones proceeded to the end of the watry trigone which was about the yeare of our Lord 600. And what followed Mahomet the Arabian brought in the sect of the Saracens by which the Romane Empire and the profession of christianitie decayed together in Asia besides many wastings destructioÌ„s in the church recouered againe by Charles the great From that time to this the trigones haue passed their course successiuely in such sort that nowe the watrie trigone is once againe expired in Pisces and the fiery newly entred in Aries together vnder the dominion of Gabriell which ruled in the time of the floud and in the destruction of the first Monarch And what shall followe God knoweth and no man no not the angels in heauen And yet let vs not be so blinded with the cloudie fancies of the flesh that we should looâ—e our spirituall vnderstanding But let vs looke vp to heauen and behold the great signes which the Lord sheweth in the heauens especially let vs fixe our cogitation on that strange star which he shewed vnto vs fifteene yeares since Which though it appeared amongst the starres of heauen and that in the place of a starre so that none but Astrologers could perceiue the same yet it was a straunge sight to all the learned which beheld it And so much the rather because it was found to bee placed verie high in the aethereall region aboue the sphere of the moone a faire cleare bright calme starre round and euen but brighter than the starres of heauen it was exceeding strange to the wise and learned because there was neuer any such like seen since the first creation of the world vnto this day but at the comming of Christ. Though some olde Chaldeans note that the like appeared to Noe fifteene yeres before the floud therfore seemeth to be a signe vnto the world of such an effect as neuer was in the world before vnlesse it were the comming of that holy one the Lord and sauiour of the world It appeared in the heauens not in the elemeÌ„ts whereby we gather that it signifieth an euent from heauen In a signe which neuer setteth and that a whole yere together which forsheweth an eternity The signe
wherein it appeared is Cassiopeia which by the Aegyptians and olde Astronomers is figured a virgin sitting in a chaire with a braunch in her hand which likely resembleth the state of iudgment Sith therefore after so many generall courses of the Trigones of the monarches of the dominion of the planeticall spirits the Lord hath shewed wonderful signes of his comming in the ayre in the water in the earth and lastly aboue all hath held out his hand in the heauens shewing vs that he is nowe opening the doores of heauen and comming to iudgement and that the doome of all creatures is now dawning Let vs wisely weigh consider the exceeding great power and maiestie wherewith the Lorde of hostes shall come to iudge the earth Though he was made man for our sakes and for our saluation yet bee yee not so carnall in your cogitation or so bewitched with the delaying fancie of sensuality that you shuld imagine his power to be compact after the manner of men that when hee is mustering his thousandes of angels as Enoch prophesied long since that wee should heare of it before and that after we heare of it he should be long in comming No the Lord will bow the heauens at his pleasure and come downe euen in the twinckling of an eye according as it is written euen as the lightning breaketh out of the East passing forthwith into the West euen so shal the comming of the Sonne of maÌ„ bee Hee is not like to the earthly princes that hee should sende his harbinger before But I am is he most monderful most holie most mightie in whose presence the angels are not pure and the heauens corruptible Hee spake the word and they were all made and at the sownd thereof they shall all be consumed He shall kindle the fire of his heauy displeasure against the sinners of the earth Hee shal cleaue the heauens asunder and the flame shal breake forth like a furnesse As were the dayes of Noe a generall destruction with the voice of mourning and weeping and deadly lamentation as was Sodom that sinke of sinne and Gomorrha that euil nurse of iniquitie as the fier and brimstone rained downe from heauen most ruthfully firing wasting burning destroying and sincking those wicked cities so shal bee the comming of the sonne of man Hee shall shake the heauens aboue and make the hell below to tremble the trompet shall sownd euen the trompet of the God of heauen and earth the sownd thereof shal rend the clowdes of the aire it shall make the fowles to shrinke with feare and to fall downe dead on the earth Therewith the sea shal flee from the woonted course and the flouds shall roare the earth shall swell the creatures thereof shall be amased the ayre shall thunder and lighten the elements shall melt with heat the starres shall fall from their spheres and the light shall vanish from before the face of all men then liuing on the earth as it was foreshewed by the prophet long since This is like to be a black day a glowming day a day of fire and smoke from the heauens a day of anger and wrath of bitternes and teares of lamenting and vtter destruction on the earth Then shall feare come on all men liuing and the inhabitants of the world shal be agasht when they shall see that with their eies which maketh our hartes quake when we remember it The prophet long since hath giuen vs warning thererof and many hundreâ—h yeares agoe hee cried alowd blow vp the trumpet in Syon and showt in my holy mount Let all the inhabitantes of the land tremble for the daie of the Lord is come for it is now at hand a fier deuoureth before him and behinde him the flame burneth vp the earth shall vanish at his presence like a tempest the heauens shall melt the clowdes shall droppe the Sunne and the Moone shall be darke and the starres shall withdraw their shining There shall appeare fearfull wonders in the heauens and in the earth bloud and fier and pillers of smoke the Sunne shall be turned into darknesse the Moone into bloud Then shall wee see the powers of heauen to mooue aboue in the firmament and the inhabitantes of the earth shall stand gasing all amazed and who is able to behold it then shal the dead arise out of their graues according to the sownd of the trompet then shall all arise and come to iudgement The poore together with the rich the old the young the mightie the simple the King the begger TheÌ„ shal the poore of this world reioice when they shal behold the heauenly countenance of the bridegrome their louing sauiour and mercifull redeemer Then and in that day the Lord shall looke vpon his poore militant church with a cheerfull eie and louing countinance Hee shall send downe his angels who shal imbrace his louing children take them vp into euerlasting ioy But as for the wicked and many of those which haue inioyed the great honor auctoritie pleasure plentie and ioy in this world he shall behold them a farre off Euen as the clowdy piller which was placed betwixt Israell and the Egyptians was light to Israell and darknesse to the Egyptians euen so the chosen of the Lord in that day shal stand in the light shine in the kingdome of heauen as the starres in the firmament but the children of this world and those which made their heauen of this worldly treasure shall stand still all amazed in hart the Clowde of confusion shall compasse them about and their faces shall be couered with the mantle of shame griping shal pinch their hearts within and their voice shall sownde out nothing else but woe and alasse When they shal behould all their gould melted their houses burnt aâ—d their hope cleane vanished their landes suncke and their friendes gone they shall runne starke madde vnto the waters all amazed vnto the mountaines kneeling downe before them and crying couer vs and our iniquities O couer vs from the face of him that sitteth on the throne their consciences accusing them they shall hate the goods which they haue gotten euilly and shall flie from those landes which they haue violently takeÌ„ from the poore or from the holy church fearing least it should open and swallow them vp into hell They shall flie from their houses built with ill gotten money least they bee consumed together with the flame thereof great feare and vexation of spirit shal bee to the mightie men of this world according as it is written potentes potenter patâ—entur the mightie shall bee punished mightily when the puissant princes of these earthly regions shall stand all naked before all the world both good and bad before the angels of heauen and Iesu Christ now sitting on his throne and all their deedes yea all their secret doings therewith laid open when they shal remember how negligently they
haue looked to the woorship of the Lord and how careful they haue bene of their owne estimation how litle they haue bestowed on the house of God and how manie thousandes on their owne painted pallaces how little they haue bestowed on the poore of Iesu Christ and haue exceeding much on their carnal friends in whom they delighted When those thinges shal come clerely to their remembrance then shalbe fulfilled that saying of the Apostle Go too yee rich men howle weep for the miserie which shal come on you Many and mightie shal be their wailings it shall greeue them that they haue bin rich when they shall see the blessings of the poore their honour shal breed thought of dispaire and confusion in their harts their faire lands which they made their paradise here on earth shalbe a burning consumption in their coÌ„sciences When the wicked shall see heauen open aboue hell gaping belowe and the earth melting away betwixt them both when they shall heare that voice of ioy Come ye blessed and that voice of sorrowe Go ye cursed into euerlasting fire when they shall see the mightie put downe from their seate and the humble lowly harted exalted it shall greeue them so that they shall vtterly loath all those pleasures which they haue so loued they shall gnash thereat with their teeth But to the godly to the penitent sinners to those which loue his holy worship and study to maintaine his poore members heere vpon earth the Lorde of his great mercie will bestow his louing kindnes peace with the fruition of euerlasting life Which he graunt vs that hath bought it so dearely for vs euen Iesus Christ the righteous to whome with the Father and the holy Ghost one most holy blessed and glorious Trinitie be all glorie and honour for euer and euer Amen FINIS Deo gratias Celsus of Verona his Dissuasiue to the renoumed Senate of Venece shewing that since they enriched themselues with the goods of the Church they are become vnable to resist their enimies IT hath beene the maner of many men most entire Prince and worthie Senate oft times when they were to intreat of anie matter truly to speak to reueale to comprehend that in their speach which might please the eares of the hearers or obtaine grace and generall good liking of all And on the contrarie that which is right which is profitable which seemeth good and honest vnto them that they openly refuse and vtterly reiect as a thing lesse pleasant and lesse delightfull to the hearers But I am farre of an other opinion sith as me thinketh those men are greatly deceiued and faile oft times of their purposed conclusion For whilest they seeke the glorie and commendation of men by a seruile kinde of merchandise they fall into the pit of ignomie and discredite For what is more vnhonest then with the colour of vertue and goodnes deceitfullie to blinde the eies of our friendes What more vnseemely thing then in the steed of truth to place fained and forged errors what is more filthie or further from all honest dealing then by pestilent fauning and flattering to induce mortall men into manie great and dangerous errours these kinde of men are not to be accounted friends or welwillers or yet good men but rather to be esteemed as cruell enemies vtterly to be detested of all men For who is able to recount what mischiefes what losses what pestileÌ„t destructioÌ„s they bring with theÌ„ I saie who is able to number all the great detriments the charges the discommodities the dangers which thorough the wicked counsell of these parasiticall flatterers and their deceitfull glosinges not onelie priuate men but all Common-wealths and the Dominions of all Princes haue sustained And it is no hard matter for them to attaine hereunto sith they masking vnder the smooth visure of good will and amitie with glosing wordes and fained flatteringes they blinde the eies of those which beholde them they intangle them and they intrappe euery one not yet acquainted with their sleights and in such manner that they cannot possiblie discerne what is good and holsome for them nor on the contrarie what is ill and hurtfull They thinke themselues to bee such kinde of men that of right and reason they shoulde bee commended from which opinion innumerable offences doe proceede sith heereby they remaine in most grosse errours Therefore at this present I am not minded to treade in their steppes but rather I mind to prosecute and to declare those things boldly which though they seeme lesse plausible or lesse pleasant yet they are not forged or fained but are such indeede as become a true friende and faithfull instructer and therefore peraduenture they will prooue not altogether vnprofitable nor vnfruitfull for the potions of Phisitions oft times are bitter but yet the same minister helpe and health vnto the diseased the which thing also it behooueth me to do euen to execute the same duelie and to resemble the same person whereby I may more easilie and directlie recouer the good health of those which nowe lie still and languish In this respect if I shall seeme to haue vttered anie thing more licentiouslie then I might doe not thinke that it proceedeth of stomach or malice but rather that your minde most excellent Prince and theirs also which are destitute of such admonitions may bee stirred vp effectuallie and in good earnest to take wiser and more holesome counsell In fine I request you to accept this small treatise of mine written rudelie and in a meane stile which for that great loue and hartie good will which I beare vnto your Honour and that most famous Senate I haue determined with my selfe to dedicate vnto you If peradâ—enture not onelie by my daily and deuoute praiers but also by exhortations I may profite you and your afflicted state either with counsell or otherwise with my profitable indeuour And now lest my speach should rome range too far most mighty Prince I will begin to declare that which I mind to intreat of at this time If by the way I may but note and name this one thing that therefore of mine owne accorde I tooke this labour vpon me that in no respect so farre as my facultie wil extend I would restraine my selfe but I woulde supplie those things I would perswade those things I would admonish you of those things which I am sure nerely concerne the safetie and preseruation of that your most honourable and famous Senate and in these so great calamities and daungers your perpetuall name and glorie NOt many daies since most Noble Prince trauailing through many Countries and Cities I spake with many rare excellent men many famous mighty Princes In the midst of our talke oft times wee fell into the selfe same speaches which are now common in euerie mans mouth that is concerning the prosperous successe of the warres of the great Turke a most wicked and professed enemie euen to the name