bee able be also a spoiler Shall hee who kils a man with a sword be called a murtherer and shall hee bee any better that with-holdeth from him that whereof the want will shortly kill him Doth not hee put out the Lampe that powreth not oyle into it as well as he that blowes it out Doth not he put out the fire that puts not on wood as well as hee that throwes on water What 's the oddes but that which the murtherer doth suddenly thou doest it leasurely and lingringly and so art the more cruell murtherer of the two because thou doest not quickly dispatch but doublest Death by delaying and extendest life onely for greater torment not so mercifull as a courteous hangman that leaps on the shoulders or puls by the heeles to put out of paine but rather as cruell as that Tyrant who was said to be nothing but morter made of bloud not contented to put innocents vnto death vnlesse the Executioner did so strike them that they might be sensible of their dying Neuer say then that thou keepest but thine owne It is the bread of the hungry which thou detainest it is the garment of the naked which thou sufferest to lye Moath-eaten in thy presse It is the gold and siluer of the needy which rusteth in thy Coffer It is the Corne of the poore ready to dye with hunger which thou sufferest to moulder in thy Mow or Barne Neuer say thou doest no man wrong Thou wrongest so many as thou doest not releeue being able Callest thou thy selfe a Christian and arguest thou thus quite contrary to the rules of Christianity Answer once an Heathen who neuer knew Christ and his Gospell vnto his short question Cur eget indignus quisquam te diuite Why seest thou any one to want who is vnworthy while thou doest abound Art thou not vnnaturall who sufferest that which nature cannot endure vacuity Art thou worthy to breathe the ayre who wilt not endeuour to doe as the ayre doth shift some of it selfe from places that are oner-full to others that are empty How canst thou call thy selfe a Christian when the members of Christ doe quiuer with cold for want of that which doth clothe the Moaths in thy presse Or to want necessaries for lacke of that which the rust consumes in thy bagges or starue for need of of that which releeueth Rats and Mice in thy Barnes Hee is a bad seruant who will flaunt it in silks himselfe gotten by his masters goods and glut himselfe with the choicest food and see his Masters children yea the Master himselfe in them goe naked or ready to starue for want of bread But did not religious Ioseph in the yeares of plenty gather and keepe vp Corne which he sold afterward in the yeares of famine He did so and that lawfully for you haue beene told that there is a lawfull storing vp of Corne when it is done as Ioseph did not to procure a Dearth but to preuent it or to be the better prouided against it Godly Ioseph opened his Garners in the yeares of famine he did not shut them his intent was not to raise the price but to prouide a supply against the time of want He gathered and kept not for himselfe but for others euen for strangers thou with-holdest it from neighbours and wilt suffer vile vermin to feed on it rather than thy brethren Shamest thou not to alleage the example of Ioseph whose care for the common good so directly condemneth thy couetousnesse who carest for none but for thy selfe But doe wee not read that Gedeon threshed out his Corne not to sell it but to hide it and yet is not blamed for so doing He did But when did hee hide his Corne in time of inuasion by the enemy His Garner might be closer and safer than his Barne And from whom did he hide it not from his neighbours but from his and their enemies the Midianites Thy course is quite contrary Then the Israelites threshed out their corne to hide it from the Midianites but our Midianites will not thresh out theirs or if they doe it is to hide it from the Israelites The Sword of the Lord and of Gedeon the godly Magistrate bee against such mercilesse Midianites Dearth and Famine is one of the most grieuous Iudgements which God inflicteth on a sinfull Nation Thou shalt fall by the Sword by Famine and by the Pestilence These are the three rods wherewith God vseth to scourge a wanton and wicked people I know that some graue Diuines doe affirme Famine to bee the easiest of the three because God who best knowes the waight of his owne rods accounteth three daies Pestilence and three months of the sword equall with seuen yeeres famine But this to me seemeth no sufficient reason sure I am that Dauid in his hard choice preferred pestilence before it and it is not probable that hee would choose the heauiest punishment Besides the Prophet Ieremie saith They that be slaine by the sword are better then they that be staine by hunger Moreouer this scourge of famine is the worse and the more intolerable for the miseries and mischiefes that doe commonly attend it Pestilence often is the companion of it robberies rebellions outrages and other enormities are the Pages that doe wait vpon it Dire famine thou hast taught tender-hearted Mothers to turne Cannibals and to become Butchers cookes caruers eaters of their owne children Thou hast taught men to exceed Cannibals and for want of other food to deuoure their owne flesh and as much as they might to eat vp themselues For this Ieremie most lamenteth as for the most lamentable iudgement Mine eye doth faile with teares my bowels are troubled my liuer is powred vpon the earth for the destruction of the daughter of my people because the children and sucklings doe swowne in the streets of the Catie They say vnto their Mothers where is corne and wine They swowned as the wounded in the streets of the Citty their soule is powred out into their Mothers bosome That which followes is most patheticall Shall the women eat their owne fruit and their children of aspan long Now it is proper to the Lord alone to punish a sinfull Nation He knowes when it is fittest to whip a people with famine and he hath wayes enough to bring such a calamitie on a Country whensoeuer it pleaseth him A fruitfull land he turneth into barrennesse for the wickednesse of the people that dwell therein Sometimes he makes the heauens aboue as brasse and the earth beneath as iron so that albeit men doe labour and sowe yet they receiue no increase Sometimes againe he giueth the former and the later raine in due season so that the earth yeeldeth abundance but the Lord sending blasts rusts Mel-dewes Caterpillars Canker-wormes doth cause the hope of the yeere to faile as if such worthlesse creatures were more worthy
collectiue curse as if there were a gathering of curses ouer the whole Countrey and none saue such as himselfe refused to contribute curses towards him Not one man not a few but the whole Countrey as with Hue-and-Cry shall pursue him with curses Execrabuntur shall curse and banne him or Maledicent shall say all euill of him and pray that euill may befall him The Originall word is very Emphaticall Persodient they shall digge or stab or runne him thorow with curses A Metaphor borrowed from digging or stabbing as who should say the people with their curses shall digge on him as with Mattockes or runne him thorow as with Rapiers A common crime still drawes on a common curse God in iustice doth vse to proportion the punishment to the offence Who so hurteth or oppresseth many must looke to bee cried out against and to be cursed by many The wings of their punishment shall spread as farre as the tallands of their oppression their iudgement shall be of equall dimensions with their transgressions Our Dearth-mongers as they are procurers of a common calamitie must looke to be pursued with a common out-cry the whole Country shal stab them with cursings as they seeke to stab it with staruing But is this such a punishment to be hunted with the clamours and curses of the people Doubtlesse it is when those curses are iustly caused by wrongs done vnto the people In such cases we may safely lay downe this assertion that The Peoples curse iustly procured is a fearefull iudgement Hardly can there be a greater plague then to be pursued by the clamours and curses of the people for oppressing them Here we must distinguish that we may the more safely teach The peoples curse is two-fold either caused or causelesse iust or vniust either iustly procured by some reall wrong insticted on them or vniustly vented out of error or malice where no iust cause hath been giuen Salomon himselfe affordeth vs this distinction saying As the Bird by wandring and the Swallow by flying doe escape so the causelesse curse shal not come to passe Where he sheweth that there is a causelesse curse which is not to be feared when people out of spleene or because their corrupt humors are not satisfied doe flye to the fooles Asylum or shelter of execrations or curses Such are the curses of some impudent and insatiable beggars such are the curses of some desperate malefactors against the Iudges when they are sentenced according to Lawes and their deseruings such are the curses of Roarers sonnes of Belial against zealous Ministers for discharging their duties Hence Ieremy complained that hee was causelesly cursed I haue not lent on vsury neither haue men lent to mee on vsury yet euery one doth curse mee And it is not vnprobable that some of you worthy Magistrates for diligence in doing your duties and for your laudable endeuours to furnish the Markets by drawing forth the Corne out of the bands of horders and the hands of hucksters shall carry away some curses from the mouches or in the mindes of these mizars 'T is not vnlikely but that some of them such is their charity will reward you with curses euen for this your care to preuent the curses of the people vpon them But be not discouraged Salomon hath secured you against such airie execrations These breath-bullets shall not pierce you these Speares of Reed and Swords of Bull-rushes shall not so much as pricke your reputations much lesse your consciences The bubbles of such curses shall fall into the faces and eyes of those who blow them vp like mad-men they runne at you with the hilt but the point of the sword runneth into their owne brest Let that bee your refuge which was Dauids in the like case euen flying vnto the Lord Let them curse but blesse thou Say you by them as he did by Shimei when hee cursed him God will requite good for such cursing If for doing Iustice you bee vniustly pursued with virulent tongues the same promise appertaineth vnto you which the fountaine of blessednesse hath made vnto vs Blessed are yee when men reuile you and say all manner of euill against you falsely Reioyce and be glad for great is your reward in heauen Their curses are but like the Popes Bruta fulmina his banning Buls which the more lowdly they bellowed against Queene Elizabeth of blessed memory the better she prospered the more she was blessed Therefore Feare not the reproach of men neither be afraid of their reuilings but Sanctifie the Lord of Hoasts himselfe let him be your feare let him bee your dread Rest in the blessing of the Lord Who hath blessed vs with all Spirituall blessings in heauenly things in Christ Let these causelesse curses be so farre from hindering or disheartning you in your lawfull courses as that you doe rather reioyce in them and binde them as crownes to your heads and be you assured that the promise God made to Abraham belongeth to euery childe of his continuing in his faith and obedience and so particularly vnto you I will blesse them that blesse thee and will curse him that curseth thee Contrariwise formidable is that curse which is extorted by oppression and vented forth from a brest surcharged with vexation No Iron Bullet driuen by the strongest powder from the mouth of a Cannon is more terrible and tearing Such a curse being shot from earth mounteth vp to heauen and being sent vp from man is sealed by God It is true that the common people doe commonly erre and offend herein their curses many times are their fooles-bolts shot without ayme and falling without hurt saue to themselues But many times they are enforced by grieuous pressures to shoot these arrowes against their oppressors and then they hit surely and wound deepely In this case the people haue a legatiue power like the Pastors What they binde on earth is bound in heauen Here the voyce of the people especially of the poore the people of God is the voyce of the God of the people Therefore wee finde in Scripture that the curse of the people and a woe from God are all one vpon the reckoning Our Wise man saith in this booke Hee that saith vnto the wicked thou art righteous the people shall curse him The Prophet Isay inueighing against the same sinne saith VVoe to him that iustifieth the wicked for a reward Here you see that God addeth a woe to that sinne whereon the people doe affix a curse a curse extorted from them is sealed with a woe denounced by Him p whose curses as they are neuer discharged without iust cause so they neuer returne without effect Heare and tremble all ye Nimrods all you rough-handed Esawes grinders of the poore oppressors of the people Thinke not to fillip off these curses which your cruelties haue squeised from them with Tush what care I what
the people say The Fox the more he is cursed the better he fares Let them curse and spare not as long as such curses doe fill my Coffers Know you that the curse of the people iustly caused is a vapor exhaled from earth or rather indeed a thunder which causeth a thunder-bolt to be cast downe from heauen Let the oppressor poste from it as fast as he can it shall ouertake him r as the arrow of Iehu did Iehoram and smite him betweene his armes and runne thorow his heart let him fence himselfe with the best amunition that hee may it shall pierce him thorow No coate of male shall rebate the edge no armour of proofe shall beare off the stroke of the peoples curse when it is edged with iustly conceiued passion and backed by the Almighties approbation Wise men therefore will hearken vnto the counsell of wise Syrachides Make not an hungry soule sorrowfull neither prouoke a man that is in distres Adde not more trouble to an heart that is vexed defer not to giue to him that is in need Turne not thine eyes from the needy and giue him no occasion to curse thee for if he curse thee in the bitternesse of his soule his prayer shall be heard of him that made him And among all grinders of the poore tremble you who with-hold from them that which they should grinde for the necessary sustenance of life and so grinde them the more because you keepe them from grinding You rurall Tyrants who by with-holding your Corne doe enforce the miserable people to flie to their for lorne hope of ringing a peale of curses against your couetousnesse in the eares of the Almighty If the hire of the labourers who haue reaped downe your fields being by fraud kept backe cryeth and those cries doe enter into the eares of the Lord of Sabboth then doubtlesse the deserued curses of those who are ready to perish because you will not so much as fell vnto them that which they laboured to reape and to saue for you and which without the sweat of their browes and galling of their hands you could not haue saued doe sound like a volley of shot in the eares of the God of mercies and will awake him to take vengeance on your cursed cruelties If any widdow or fatherlesse childe be afflicted by thee saith the Lord and in their affliction doe at all cry vnto me I will surely heare their cry and my wrath shall wax hot and I will kill you with the Sword and your wiues shall bee widdowes and your children fatherlesse Will God heare the cry of one widdow of one fatherlesse childe being afflicted and can his eares be shut at the generall cry of the whole multitude among whom are so many widdowes so many Orphans and some of them doubtlesse his owne children the sonnes and daughters of his deare Saints the linely members of his onely begotten sonne Christ Iesus And that these enforced curses are not alwayes effectlesse in this life witnesse the fearefull iudgements which God hath inflicted on some Nabals for terror vnto others I could tell you old Chronicle-stories out of Matthew Paris and others of terrible examples in our owne Land vpon offenders in this kinde As that of Walter Grey an Archbishop of Yorke in the yeare of grace 1234. Who hauing fiue yeares Corne vnder-hand would not thresh it out for the releefe of the poore in three yeeres famine hoping still that the price would encrease Being aduertised by his Officers that it was greatly to be feared lest the Corne were consumed by Mice he willed them to deliuer it to the Husband-men who dwelt in his Mannor vpon condition that they should pay him as much new Wheat for it after Haruest They attempting to take downe a great mow of Corne which hee had at Rippon saw the heads of many Snakes and Toads and other venemous creatures peering out at the end of the sheaues This being related to the Archbishop hee sent his Steward with diuers of good credite to enquire the truth thereof who seeing what others had seene enforced not withstanding certaine poore men to goe vp to the top with ladders They were scarcely vp when they saw a great smoake arising out of the corne and felt withall a loathsome stinke which compelled them with all haste possible to hye them downe againe Moreouer they heard an vnknowne voyce saying vnto them Let the Corne alone for the Archbishop and all that he hath belongeth to the Diuell In fine saith the Story they were faine to build a wall about the corne and then to set it on fire fearing lest such an huge number of venemous creatures should empoison at least annoy the whole Country I could tell you out of forraine Authors of a German Bishop who in time of dearth kept in his Corne and called the poore which came about him begging reliefe the Rats and Mice which deuoured his Corne. But God retorted his malicious scomme vpon his owne head for he himselfe was soone after deuoured aliue by Rats and Mice notwithstanding that he immured himselfe in a strong Tower which is reported to be yet standing and in the name it beareth to retaine a memoriall of the strange Iudgement I had rather preferre to your consideration the pious action of Ethelwald a Bishop of Winchester before the Conquest who in a great Dearth did breake vp all the Plate belonging to his Church and gaue it to the poore saying that the Church in good time might be prouided of necessary ornaments but the poore that perished for want of food could not be recouered But these examples of ancient times doe lesse affect and may be held fabulous That God hath made the curses of the poore effectuall vpon such couetous Corne-horders euen in recent remembrance may appeare by this that some of this cursed crue haue become their owne executioners and in kindnesse haue saued the Hang-man a labour by haltering themselues when contrary to their expectation the price of corne hath sodainly fallen and this both in other Countries and among vs as Diuines of good reputation haue deliuered vpon their owne knowledge But worst of all will be when Christ at the great and terrible day of his comming shall adde vnto all these the insupportable weight of his heauie and intolerable curse when he shall say vnto these as vnto others in some respects more excusable then these Depart ye cursed into euerlasting fire prepared for the Diuell and his Angels for I was hungry and yee gaue me no meate I was thirstie and you gaue mee no drinke nay you would not so much as sell mee meate and drinke for ready money and at a deere rate when by relieuing mee you might haue enriched your selues by feeding me you might haue filled your owne purses Oh what shall be said to them who will not sell for money when Depart from me ye cursed is the