answer It is no Case because as it is put it is a case impossible For Nemo angustiatur ad peecandum the Case cannot be supposed wherin a man should be so straitned as he could not come off fairly without sinning A man by rashnesse or feare or frailety may foulely entangle himselfe and through the powerfull engagements of sinne driue himselfe into very narrow straites or be so driuen by the fault or iniury of others yet there cannot be any such straits as should enforce a necessitie of sinning but that still there is one path or other out of them without sinne The Perplexity that seemeth to bee in the things is rather in the a Non enim datur perplexio ex parte rerum sed contingere potest ex parte hominis nescientis euadere nec videntis aditum euadendi absque ali quo peccato Caiet hîc See the glosse on dist 13. item aduersus where hee proueth against Gratian that there can be no perplexitie men who puzzle and lose themselues in the Labyrinths of sinne because they care not to heed the clue that would leade them out if it were well followed Say a man through heate of bloud make a wicked vow to kill his brother here hee hath by his owne rashnesse brought himselfe into a seeming strait that either he must commit a murther or breake a vow either of which seemeth to bee a great sinne the one against the fifth the other against the third commandement But here is in very deed no strait or perplexity at all Here is a faire open course for him without sinne Hee may breake his vow and there an end Neither is this the choyce of the lesser sinne but onely the b Non docet eligere minus peccatum sed solutionem minoris nexus Caietanus hic speaking of the Councell of Toledo See c. 22. q. 4. per tot loosening of the lesser bond the bond of charitie being greater than the bond of a promise and there being good reason that in termes of inconsistencie when both cannot stand the lesser bond should yeeld to the greater But is it not a sinne for a man to breake a vow Yes where it may be kept saluis charitate iustitiae there the breach is a sinne but in the case proposed it is no sinne As Christ saith in the point of swearing so it may be said in the point of breach of vow c Math. 5.37 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neuer was any breach of vow but it was peccatum or ex peccato the breaking is either it selfe formally a sinne or it argueth at least a former sinne in the making So as the sinne in the case alledged was before in making such an vnlawfull vow and for that sinne the party must repent but the breaking of it now it is made is no new sinne rather it is a necessarie duty and a branch of that repentance which is due for the former rashnesse in making it because a hurtfull vow is and that virtute praecepti rather to be broken than kept The d Exod. 1.16 c. Aegyptian Midwiues not by their owne fault but by Pharaohs tyrannous command are driuen into a narrow strait enforcing a seeming necessitie of sinne for either they must destroy the Hebrew children and so sinne by Murther or else they must deuise some hansome shift to carry it cleanely from the Kings knowledge and so sinne by lying And so they did they chose rather to lye than to kill as indeed in the comparison it is by much the lesser sinne But the very truth is they should haue done neither they should flatly haue refused the Kings commandement though with hazzard of their liues and haue resolued rather to suffer any euil than to do any And so e S. Augustin contra Mendac c. 19. Lot should haue done hee should rather haue aduentured his owne life and theirs too in protecting the chastitie of his Daughters and the safetie of his ghests than haue * Gen. 19.8 Perturbatio animi fuit non confilium Hist. Scholast in Gen. cap. 52. offered the exposall of his Daughters to the lusts of the beastly Sodomites though it were to redeeme his ghests from the abuse of fouler and more abominable filthinesse Absolutely there cannot be a case imagined wherin it should be impossible to auoide one sin vnlesse by the committing of another The case which of all other commeth neerest to a Perplexity is that of an erroneous conscience because of a double bond the bond of Gods Law which to f Sinne is the transgression of the Law 1 Ioh. 3.4 transgresse is a sinne and the bond of particular conscience which also to g Whatsoeuer is not of Faith is sinne Rom. 14.23 Omne quod fit contra conscientiam aedificat ad gehennam c. 28. q. 1. Omnes §. Ex his transgresse is a sinne Whereupon there seemeth to follow an ineuitable necessitie of sinning when Gods Law requireth one thing and particular conscience dictateth the flat contrary For in such a case a man must either obey Gods Law and so sinne against his owne conscience or obey his owne conscience and so sinne against Gods Law But neither in this case is there any Perplexitie at all in the things themselues that which there is is through the default of the man onely whose iudgement being erroneous mis-leadeth his conscience and so casteth him vpon a necessitie of sinning But yet the necessitie is no simple and absolute and vnauoidable and perpetuall necessitie for it is onely a necessitie ex hypothesi and for a time and continueth but stante tali errore And still there is a way out betwixt those sinnes and that without a third and that way is deponere erroncam conscientiam He must rectifie his iudgement and reforme the errour of his Conscience and then all is well There is no perplexitie no necessitie no obligation no expediencie which should either enforce or perswade vs to any sinne The resolution is damnable Let vs doe euill that good may come §. 27. The Rule applyed in two instances I must take leaue before I passe from this point to make two instances and to measure out from the Rule of my Text an answer to them both They are such as I would desire you of this place to take due and speciall consideration of I desire to deale plainely and I hope it shall bee by Gods blessing vpon it effectually for your good and the Churches peace One instance shall bee in a sinne of Commission the other in a sinne of Omission The sinne of Commission wherein I would instance is indeed a sinne beyond Commission §. 28. The former instance it is the vsurping of the Magistrates Office without a Commission The Question is whether the zealous intention of a good end may not warrant it good or at least excuse it from being euill and a sinne I need not frame a Case for the illustration of this instance
vpon and pronounced peremptorie sentence against such as vsed their libertie in some things concerning the lawfulnesse whereof themselues were not satisfied as if they were loose Christians carnall professors nomine tenus Christiani men that would not sticke to doe any thing and such as made either none at all or else verie little conscience of their actions This practice my Text disalloweth and forbiddeth and the rule hence for vs is plaine and short We must not iudge others The Scriptures are expresse d Matth. 7.1 Iudge not that yee bee not iudged Matth. 7. e 1. Cor. 4.5 Iudge nothing before the time c. 1. Corinth 4. f Kom 2.1 Thou art inexcusable O man whosoeuer thou art that iudgest Rom 2. And g Iam. 4.11 if thou iudgest thou art not a doer of the Law but a Iudge Iam. 4. Not that it is unlawful to exercise ciuill iudgement or to passe condemning sentence vpon pâ—rsons orderly and legally conuicted §. 12. This kind of iudging being for such â—s haue calling authority thereunto in Church 〈…〉 for this publique politique iudgement is commanded a Exod. 22.9 2. Chron. 19.6 Rom. 13.4 and elsewhere in the Word of God and reason sheweth it to bee of absolute necessitie for the preseruation of States and Commonwealthes Nor that it is vnlawfull secondly to passe euen our priuate censures vpon the outward actions of men when the Law of God is directly transgressed and the transgression apparant from the euidence either of the fact it selfe or of some strong signes and presumptions of it For it is stupiditie and not charitie to be credulous against sense Charitie is b 1. Cor. 13.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ingenuous and will c Ibid. vers 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 beleeue any thing though more than reason but charitie must not be d As Walter Mapes sometimes Archdeacon of Oxenford relating the grosse Simony of the Pope for confirming the election of Reginald bastard sonne to Ioceline Bishop of Sarum into the See of Bathe concludeth the narration thus Sit tamen domina maâ—erque nostra Roma baculus in aquâ fractus absit crederae qua videmus Mahap de nugis Curialium distinct 1 cap. 22. seruile to beleeue any thing against reason Shall any charitie binde mee to thinke the Crow is white or the blacke Moore beautifull Nor yet thirdly that all sinister suspicions are vtterly vnlawfull euen there where there wanteth euidence either of fact or of great signes if our suspicions proceed not from any corrupt affections but onely from a e cù◠〈…〉 siue nostris siue alienis expedit ad hoc vt seâ—â—â—ius remedium 〈◊〉 quòd 〈…〉 id quod est deterius quâ—d remedium quod est efficax câ—ntra mâ—tus malum multo magis est efficax contraminus malirit 〈…〉 4. 〈◊〉 3. charitable iealâ—usie of those ouer whom we haue especiall chargâ— at in whom we haue speciall interest in such sort as that it may conceiue vs to admonish reproue or correct them when they doe amisse so was Iob f Iob 1.5 suspicious of his sonnes for sinning and cursing God in their hearts But the iudgment 〈◊〉 elsewhere condemned is either first when in our priuate thoughts â—n speeches vpon slender presumptions we rashly pronounce men as guilty of committing such or such sinâ— without sufficient euidence either of 〈◊〉 or prâ—gâ—ant signe that they haue committed him Oâ— secondly wher vpon some actions g Aperta non ita reprehendamus vt de sanitate desperemus Gloss. Ordin in Rom. 14.13 Non quicquid reprehendendum etiam damnandum est Sen. l. 6. de benef cap. 39. vndoubtedly sinfull as blasphemy adultery periury c. we too seuerely censure the Persons either for the future as Reprobates and Castawaies and such as shall bee certainely damned or at leastwise for the present as hypocrites and vnsanctified and prophane and such as are in the state of damnation not considering into what fearefull sinnes it may please God to suffer not onely his h As Paul Marie Magdalene c. chosen ones before Calling but euen his i As Dauid Peter c. holy ones too after Calling sometimes to fall for ends most times vnknown to vs but euer iust and gracious in him Or thirdly when for want either of charity or knowledge as in the present case of this Chapter we interpret things for the worst to our brethren and condemne them of sinne for such actions as are not directly and in themselues necessarily sinfull but may with due circumstances be performed with a good conscience and without sin Now all iudging and condemning of our brethren in any of these kindes is sinfull and damnable and that in very many respects especially these foure which may serue as so many weighty reasons why wee ought not to iudge one another The vsurpation the rashnesse the vncharitablenesse and the scandall of it First it is an Vsurpation §. 13. 1. Vnlawfull Hee that is of right to iudge must haue calling and commission for it a Exod. 2.14 Quis constituit te sharpely replyed vpon Moses Exod. 2. Who made thee a Iudge and b Luk. 12.14 Quis constituit mee reasonably alleaged by our Sauiour Luke 12. Who made me a Iudge Thou takest too much vpon thee then thou sonne of man whosoeuer thou art that iudgest thus saucily to thrust thy selfe into Gods seate and to c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Chrys. in Gen. hom 42. inuade his Throne Remember thy selfe wel and learne to know thine owne ranke Quis tu d Iam. 4.12 Who art thou that iudgest another Iam. 4. or Who art thou that iudgest anothers seruant in the next following verse to my Text. As if the Apostle had said What art thou or what hast thou to doe to iudge him that e Rom. 14.4 standeth or falleth to his awne Master Thou art his fellow-seruant not his Lord. He hath another Lord that can and will iudge him who is thy Lord too and can and will iudge thee for so he argueth anon at vers 10 Why doest thou iudge thy brother We shall all stand before the Iudgement-seate of Christ. God hath reserued f Mali operis vindictam Boni gloriam vtriusque Iudicium three Prerogatiues royall to himselfe g Deut. 32.35 Vengeance h Isai. 42.8 Rom. 12.19 Glorie and i Rom. 14.4.10 Iam 4.11 12. Iudgement As it is not safe for vs then to encroach vpon k Tres hominum species maximam Deo faciunt iniuriam Superbi qui auferunt ei Gloriam Iracundi qui Vindictam Rigidi qui Iudicium Gods royalties in either of the other two Glorie or Vengeance so neither in this of Iudgement Dominus iudicabit l Heb. 10.30 The Lord himselfe will iudge his people Heb. 10. It is flat vsurpation in vs to iudge and therefore wee must not iudge §. 14. II. Rash. Secondly
it will proue to be if it set vs vpon any sinfull or vnwarranted meanes indeed no good intention but a bad For granted it must be that the Intention of any end doth virtually include the meanes as in a Syllogisme the Premises doe the Conclusion No more then can the choice of ill meanes proceed from a good intention than can a false Conclusion be inferred from true Premises and that is impossible From which ground it is that the a Greg. lib. 28. Moral cap. 13. Euseb. Emiss hom 26. and others Fathers and other Diuines doe oftentimes argue from the intention to the action and from the goodnesse of the one to the goodnesse of both to that purpose applying those speeches of our Sauiour in the twelfth and in the sixth of Matthew b Math. 12.33 Either make the tree good and his fruit good or else make the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt And c Math. 6.22.23 if thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light but if thine eye be euill thy whole body shall be full of darknesse The light of the body is the eye of the worke the intention No maruell when the eye is euill if the whole body bee darke and when the intention is euill if the whole worke be naught That which deceiueth most men in iudging of good or bad intentions is that they take the end and the intention for one and the same thing betwixt which two there is a spacious difference For the end is the thing propter quid for which we work that whereat we aime in working and so hath rationem causae finalis but the intention is the cause à qua from which we worke that which setteth vs on working and so hath rationem causae efficientis Now betweene these two kindes of causes the finall and the efficient there is not only a great difference but euen a repugnancie in such sort as that it is impossible they should at any time cöincidere which some other kindes of causes may doe It is therefore an error to thinke that if the end bee good the intention of that end must needs be good for there may as well be d Sed videte ne fortè non sit verè oculus simplex qui falletur Bernard de praecept dispensat a bad intention of a good end as a bad desire of a good obiect Whatsoeuer the end be we intend it is certaine that intention cannot be good which putteth vs vpon the choice of euill meanes §. 24. The first Inference against the Church of Rome Me thinkes the Church of Rome should blush if her forehead dyed red with the blood of Gods Saints were capable of any tincture of shame at the discouery of her manifold impostures in counterfeiting of Reliques in coyning of Miracles in compiling of Legends in gelding of good Authors by expurgatory Indexes in iuggling with Magistrates by lewd Equiuocations c. Practices warrantable by no pretence Yet in their account but a Sancta Hypocrisis was Dominicus his word piae fraudes for so they terme them no lesse ridiculously than falsly for the one word contradicteth the other But what doe I speake of these but petty things in comparison of those her lowder impieties breaking couenants of truce and peace dissoluing of lawfull and dispensing for vnlawfull marriages assoyling Subiects from their Oaths and Allegiance plotting Treasons and practising Rebellions excommunicating and dethroning Kings arbitrary disposing of Kingdomes stabbing and murthering of Princes warranting vniust inuasions and blowing vp Parliament houses For all which and diuers other foule attempts their Catholique defence is the aduancement forsooth of the Catholique Cause Like his in the Poet b Horat. lib. 1. Epist. 1. Quocunque modo rem is their Resolution by right or wrong c Gaudeo siue per veritatem siue per occasionem Romanae Ecclesiae dignitatem extolli Ioseph Stephanus de Osc. ped in Epist. ad lect the State of the Papacie must be vpheld That is their vnum necessarium and if heauen fauour not rather than faile helpe must be had from hell to keepe Antichrist in his throne But let them passe and touch neerer home §. 25. The second Inference against a vulgar error There are God knoweth many Ignorants abroad in the world some of them so vnreasonable as to thinke they haue sufficiently non-plus't any reprouer if being admonished of something ill done they haue but returned this poore reply Is it not better to do so than to do worse But alasse what necessitie of doing either so or worse when Gods law bindeth thee from both a Iam. 2.10.11 He that said Doe not commit adultery said also Do not kill and he that said Doe not steale said also Doe not lie If then thou lie or kill or doe any other sinne though thou thinkest thereby to auoide stealth or adultery or some other sinne yet thou art become a transgressour of the Law and by offending in one point of it guilty of all It is but a poore choyce when a man is desperately resolued to cast himselfe away whether hee should rather hang or drowne or stab or pine himselfe to death there may be more horror more paine more lingring in one than another but they all come to one period and determine in the same point death is the issue of them all And it can be but a slender comfort for a man that will needes thrust himselfe into the mouth of hell by sinning wilfully that he is damned rather for lying than for stealing or whoring or killing or some greater crime Damnation is the wages of them all Murther can but hang a man and without fauour Petty-Larceny will hang a man too The greatest sinnes can but damne a man and without Gods mercie the smallest will damne a man too But what wil some reply In case two sinnes be propounded may I not doe the lesser to auoide the greater Otherwise must I not of necessitie doe the greater The answer is short and easie If two sinnes bee propounded doe neither Emalis minimum holdeth as you heard and yet not alwayes neither in euils of Paine But that is no Rule for euils of sinne Here the safer Rule is è malis nollum And the reason is sound from the Principle wee haue in hand If wee may not doe any euill to procure a positiue good certainely b Eâdem doctrinâ quâ horremus facere mala vt eueniant bona horrere debemus facere mala vt euitemus peiora Euitare enim peiora multò minus bonum est quà m euenire bonum Cajetan hic much lesse may wee doe one euill to auoide or preuent another But what if both cannot bee auoyded §. 26. The obiection from the seeming case of perplexitie remoued but that one must needes be done In such a straite may I not chuse the lesser To thee I say againe as before Chuse neither To the Case I
any of his brethrens It is needfull that you of all others should bee eftsoones put in remembrance that those eminent manifestations of the Spirit you haue were giuen you First it will bee a good helpe to take downe that d Scientia inflat 1 Cor. 8.1 swelling which as an Apostume in the body through rancknesse of blood so is apt to ingender in the soule through abundance of Knowledge and to let out some of the corruption It is * Magna rara virtus profecto est vt magna licet operantem magnum te nescias Bernard in Cant. Serm. 13. a very hard thing Multum sapere and not altum sapere to know much and not to know it too much to excell others in gifts and not perke aboue them in selfe-conceipt S. Paul who e Phil. 4.12 in all other things was sufficiently instructed as well to abound as to suffer need was yet put very hard to it when hee was to try the mastery with this temptation which arose from the f 2 Cor. 12.7 abundance of reuelations If you finde an aptnesse then in your selues and there is in your selues as of your selues such an aptnesse as to no one thing more to be exalted aboue measure in your owne conceipts boastingly to make ostentation of your owne sufficiencies with a kinde of vnbecomming compassion to cast scorne vpon your meaner brethren and vpon euery light prouocation to flye out into those termes of defiance g Hîc vers 21. I haue no need of thee and I haue no need of thee to dispell this windy humour I know not a more soueraigne remedy than to chew vpon this meditation that all the Abilities and perfections you haue were giuen you by one who was no way so bound to you but hee might haue giuen them as well to the meanest of your brethren as to you and that without any wrong to you if it had so pleased him You may take the Receipt from him who himselfe had had some experience of the Infirmity euen S. Paul in the fourth of this Epistle h 1 Cor. 4.7 What hast thou that thou hast not receiued and if thou hast receiued it why dost thou boast as if thou had not receiued it §. 24. 2. to make them Rules vnto themselues Secondly Euery wise and conscionable man should aduisedly weigh his owne Gifts and make them his Rule to worke by not thinking hee doth enough if hee doe what Law compelleth him to doe or if he doe as much as other neighbours doe Indeed where Lawes bound vs by Negatiue Precepts Hitherto thou mayst goe but farther thou shalt not wee must obey and wee may not exceed those bounds But where the Lawes doe barely enjoyne vs to doe somewhat left hauing no Law to compell vs wee should doe iust nothing it can be no transgression of the Law to doe more Whosoeuer therefore of you haue receiued more or greater Gifts than many others haue you must know your selues bound to doe so much more good with them and to stand chargeable with so much the deeper account for them a Gregor Crescunt dona crescunt rationes When you shall come to make vp your accounts your receipts will bee looked into and if you haue receiued ten talents or fiue for your meaner brothers one when but one shall bee required from him you shall be answerable for ten or fiue For it is an equitable course that b Luk. 12.48 to whom much is giuen of him much should bee required And at that great day if you cannot make your accounts straight with your receipts you shall certainely finde that most true in this sense which Salomon spake in another c Eccl. 1.18 Qui apponit scientiam apponit dolorem the more and greater your Gifts are vnlesse your thankfulnesse for them and your diligence with them rise to some good like proportion thereunto the greater shall bee your condemnation the more your stripes But thirdly §. 25. 3. but not vnto others though your Graces must bee so to your selues yet beware you doe not make them Rules to others A thing I the rather note because the fault is so frequent in practice yet very rarely obserued and more rarely reprehended God hath endowed a man with good abilities and parts in some kinde or other I instance but in one gift only for examples sake viz. an Ability to enlarge himselfe in prayer readily and with fit expressions vpon any present occasion Being in the Ministerie or other Calling hee is carefull to exercise his gift by praying with his family praying with the sicke praying with other company vpon such other occasions as may fall out hee thinketh and hee thinketh well that if he should doe otherwise or lesse than he doth hee should not bee able to discharge himselfe from the guilt of vnfaithfulnesse in not employing the talent hee hath receiued to the best aduantage when the exercise of it might redound to the glory of the Giuer Hitherto hee is in the right so long as he maketh his Gift a Rule but to himselfe But now if this man shall stretch out this Rule vnto all his brethren in the same Calling by imposing vpon them a necessitie of doing the like if hee shall expect or exact from them that they should also bee able to commend vnto God the necessities of their families or the state of a sicke person or the like by extemporary Prayer but especially if he shall iudge or censure them that dare not aduenture so to doe of intrusion into or of unfaithfulnesse in their Callings he committeth a great fault and well deseruing a sharpe reprehension For what is this else but to lay heauier burdens vpon mens shoulders than they can stand vnder to make our selues iudges of other mens consciences and our Abilities Rules of their actions yea and euen to lay an imputation vpon our Master with that vngracious seruant in the Gospell as if he were a Math. 25.24 an hard man reaping where hee hath not sowen and gathering where he hath not strewed and requiring much where hee hath giuen little and like Pharaohs taske-masters exacting the b Exod. 5.18 full tale of brickes without sufficient allowance of materials Shall he that hath a thousand a yeare count him that hath but an hundred a Churle if he doe not spend as much in his house weekly keepe as plentifull a table and beare as much in euery common charge as himselfe No lesse vnreasonable is he that would binde his brother of inferiour Gifts to the same frequencie and method in Preaching to the same readinesse and copiousnesse in Praying to the same necessitie and measure in the performance of other duties whereunto according to those Gifts hee findeth in himselfe he findeth himselfe bound The manifestation of the Spirit is giuen to euery man let no man bee so seuere to his brother as to looke he should manifest more of the Spirit than he hath
Minister and Priest of God for this very thing putteth his knife to the throate of the Beast and with the fire of an holy zeale for God against sinne offereth him vp in Holocaustum for a whole burnt offering and for a peace-offering vnto the Lord. Samuel â—aith that b 1 Sam. 15.22 to obey is better than sacrifice and Salomon that c Prou. 21.3 to doe iustice and iudgement is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice Obedience that is the prime and the best sacrifice and the second best is the punishment of Disobedience There is no readier way to appease Gods wrath against sinne than is the rooting out of sinners nor can his deputies by any other course turne away his iust iudgements so effectually as by faithfully executing of Iustice and Iudgement themselues §. 25. and stayed the Plague When Phinehes did this act the publike body of Israel was in a weake state and stood need of a present and sharpe remedy In some former distempers of the state it may bee they had found some ease by dyet in a Psal. 35.13 humbling their soules by fasting or by an issue in the tongue or eye in an humble confession of their sinnes and in weeping and mourning for them with teares of repentance And they did well now to make tryall of those remedies againe wherein they had found so much helpe in former times especially the remedies being proper for the malady and such as often may doe good but neuer can doe harme But alas fasting and weeping and mourning before the doore of the Tabernacle of the Congregation had not strength enough against those more preualent corruptions wherewith the State of Israel was then pestered This Phinehes saw who well perceiued that as in a dangerous pleurisie the party cannot liue vnlesse hee bleed so if there were any good to bee done vpon Israel in this their little lesse than desperate estate a veyne must be opened and some of the ranke bloud let-out for the preseruation of the rest of the body This course therefore he tryes and languishing Israel findeth present ease in it As soone as the bloud ranne instantly the griefe ceased Hee executed iudgement and the plague was stayed As God brought vpon that people for their sinnes a fearefull destruction §. 26. Englands Plague so he hath in his iust wrath sent his destroying Angell against vs for ours The sinnes that brought that plague vpon them were Whoredome and Idolatrie I cannot say the very same sinnes haue caused ours For although the execution of good Lawes against both incontinent and idolatrous persons hath beene of late yeares and yet is wee all know to say no more slacke enough yet Gods holy name bee blessed for it neither Idolatry nor Whoredome are at that height of shamelesse impudency impunity among vs that they dare braue our Moseses and out-face whole Congregations as it was in Israel But still this is sure No plague but for sinne nor nationall Plagues but for Nationall sinnes So that albeit none of vs may dare to take vpon vs to bee so farre off Gods counsell as to say for what very sinnes most this plague is sent among vs yet none of vs can be ignorant but that besides those secret personall corruptions which are in euery one of vs and whereunto euery mans owne heart is priuie there are many publique and nationall sinnes whereof the people of this Land are generally guilty aboundantly sufficient to iustifie God in his dealings towards vs and to a Psal. 51.4 cleere him when hee is iudged Our wretched vnthankfulnesse vnto God for the long continuance of his Gospell and our Peace our carnall confidence and security in the strength of our woodden and watery walls our ryot and excesse the noted proper sinne of this Nation and much intemperate abuse of the good creatures of God in our meates and drinkes and disports and other prouisions and comforts of this life our Incompassion to our brethren miserably wasted with Warre and Famine in other parts of the world our heauy Oppression of our brethren at home in racking the rents and cracking the backes and b Esay 3.15 grinding the faces of the poore our cheape and irreuerent regard vnto Gods holy ordinances of his Word and Sacraments and Sabbaths and Ministers our Wantonnesse and Toyishnesse of vnderstanding in corrupting the simplicity of our Christian Faith and troubling the peace of the Church with a thousand niceties and nouelties and vnnecessary wranglings in matters of Religion and to reckon no more that vniuersall Corruption which is in those which because they should be such wee call the Courts of Iustice by sale of offices enhauncing of fees deuising new subtilties both for delay and euasion trucking for expedition making trappes of petty penall statutes and but Cobwebs of the most waighty and materiall Lawes I doubt not but by the mercy of God many of his seruants in this Land are free from some and some from all of these common crimes in some good measure but I feare mee not the best of vs all not a man of vs all but are guilty of all or some of them at least thus farre that we haue not mourned for the corruptions of the times so feelingly nor endeauoured the reformation of them to our power so faithfully as wee ought and might to haue done By these and other sinnes wee haue prouoked Gods heauy iudgement against vs §. 27. to be stayed by adding to our humiliations and the Plague is grieuously broken in vpon vs and now it would be good for vs to know by what meanes we might best appease his wrath and stay this Plague Publique Humiliations haue euer beene thought and so they are proper Remedies against Publique Iudgements a Ioel 2 12.1â— c. 8. Numb 25.6 To turne vnto the Lord our God with all our heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning to sanctifie a fast and call a solemne assembly and gather the people and elders together and weepe before the doore of the tabernacle of the Congregation and to let the Priests the Ministers of the Lord weepe betweene the porch and the altar and to pray the Lord to spare his people and bee not angry with them for euer Neuer did people thus humble themselues with true lowly penitent and obedient hearts who found not comfort by it in the meane time and in the end benefite And blessed be God who hath put it into the heart of our Moses with the consent of the Elders of our Israel by his royall example first and then by his royall b Proclamation for a weekly fast with a forme of diuine Seruice and other directions published 1625. command to lay vpon vs a double necessitie of this so religious and profitable a course §. 28. the Execution of iudgement But as our Sauiour told the young man in the Gospell who said hee had kept the whole Law a
turneth furious and Mercy it selfe cruell It is Mercy that threatneth it is Iustice that punisheth Mercy hath the first turne and if by Faith and Repentance we lay timely hold of it we may keepe it for euer and reuenging Iustice shall haue nothing to doe with vs. But if carelesse and secure we slip the opportunity and neglect the time of Mercy the next turne belongeth to Iustice which will render iudgement without Mercy to them that forgat God and despised his Mercy That for the Secure Now thirdly and generally for All. §. 16. 3. of instruction to All. What God hath ioyned together let no man put asunder God hath purposely in his threats ioyned and tempered Mercy and Truth together that wee might take them together and profit by them together a Auson Epigr 10. Diuidat haec siquis faciunt discreta venenum Antidotum sumet qui sociata bibet as hee spake of the two poysons Either of these single though not through any malignant quality in themselues God forbid wee should thinke so yet through the corrupt temperature of our soules becommeth ranke and deadly poyson to vs. Take Mercy without Truth as a cold Poyson it benummeth vs and maketh vs stupid with carelesse security Take Truth without Mercy as an hot poyson it scaldeth vs and scortcheth vs in the flames of restlesse Despaire Take both together and mixe them well as hot and cold poysons fitly tempered by the skill of the Apothecarie become medicinable so are Gods Mercy and Truth restoratiue to the soule The consideration of his Truth humbleth vs without it wee would be fearelesse the consideration of his Mercy supporteth vs without it wee would bee hopelesse Truth begetteth Feare and Repentance Mercy Faith and Hope and these two Faith and Repentance keepe the soule euen and vpright and steddy as the ballast and sayle doe the ship that for all the rough waues and weather that encountereth her in the troublesome sea of this World shee miscarryeth not but arriueth safe and ioyfull in the hauen where shee would be Faith without Repentance is not Faith but Presumption like a Ship all sayle and no ballast that tippeth ouer with euery blast and Repentance without Faith is not Repentance but Despaire like a Ship all ballast and no sayle which sinketh with her owne weight What is it then that wee are to doe to turne away Gods wrath from vs and to escape the iudgements he threatneth against vs Euen this As in his Comminations hee ioyneth Mercy and Truth together so are wee in our Humiliations to ioyne Faith and Repentance together His threatnings are true let vs not presume of forbearance but feare since hee hath threatned that vnlesse we repent he will strike vs. Yet his threatnings are but conditionall let vs not despaire of forbearance but hope although hee hath threatned that yet if wee repent he will spare vs. That is the course which the godly guided by the direction of his holy Spirit haue euer truely and sincerely held and found it euer comfortable to assure them of sound peace and reconciliation with God That is the course which the very Hypocrites from the suggestion of naturall conscience haue sometimes offered at as farre as Nature enlightened but vnrenewed could leade them and found it effectuall to procure them at the least some forbearance of threatned iudgements or abatement of temporall euills from God Thus haue you heard three Vses made §. 17. The Promises of God how to be vnderstood of Gods Mercy in reuoking ioyned with his Truth in performing what he threatneth One to cheare vp the distressed that hee despaire not when God threatneth another to shake vp the secure that hee despise not when God threatneth a third to quicken vp all that they beleeue and repent when God threatneth There is yet another generall Vse to be made hereof which though it bee not proper to the present argument yet I cannot willingly passe without a little touching at it and that is to instruct vs for the vnderstanding of Gods promises For contraries as Promises and Threatnings are being of the like kinde and reason either with other doe mutually giue and take light either to and from other Gods threatnings are true and stedfast his Promises are so too a Tit. 1.2 promisit qui non mentitur Deus which God that cannot lye hath promised saith the Apostle in one place and in another b 2 Cor. 1.20 All the promises of God are Yea and Amen and where in a third place hee speaketh of c Heb. 6.18 two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lye his Promise one of those two The Promises then of God are true as his Threatnings are Now looke on those Threatnings againe which wee haue already found to be true but withall Conditionall and such as must be euer vnderstood with a clause of reseruation or exception It is so also in the Promises of God they are true but yet conditionall and so they must euer be vnderstood with a conditionall clause The exception there to be vnderstood is Repentance and the Condition here Obedience What God threatneth to doe vnto vs absolutely in words the meaning is hee will doe it vnlesse wee repent and amend and what hee promiseth to doe for vs absolutely in words the meaning is he will doe it if wee beleeue and obey And for so much as this clause is to bee vnderstood of course in all Gods promises we may not charge him with breach of Promise though after hee doe not really performe that to vs which the letter of his promise did import if we breake the condition and obey not §. 18. and entertained Wouldest thou know then how thou art to entertaine Gods promises with what assurance to expect them I answer with a confident and obedient heart Confident because hee is true that hath promised Obedient because that is the condition vnder which hee hath promised Here is a curbe then for those mens presumption who liuing in sinne and continuing in disobedience dare yet lay claime to the good Promises of God If such men euer had any seeming interest in Gods Promises the interest they had they had but by contract and couenant and that couenant whether either of the two it was Law or Gospell it was conditionall The couenant of the Law wholly and à Priori conditionall a Luk. 10.28 Hoc fac viues Doe this and Liue the Couenant of the Gospel too after a sort and à Posteriori Conditionall Crede Vines Belieue and Liue. If then they haue broken the conditions of both couenants and doe neither Beleeue nor Doe what is required they haue by their Vnbeliefe and Disobedience forfeited all that seeming interest they had in those Promises Gods Promises then though they be the very maine supporters of our Christian Faith and Hope to as many of vs as whose consciences can witnesse vnto vs a sincere
Credimus esse Deos Vario See Plat. de leg Cic. 3. de Nat. deor Senec. de prouid Aug. 3. de lib. arb 2. Menand apud Stob. Serm. 104. heathen to see good men oppressed and vice prosper it made them doubt some whether there were a God or no others nothing better whether a prouidence or no. But what maruell if they stumbled who had no right knowledge either of God or of his prouidence when Iob and Dauid and other the deare children of God haue beene much puzzled with it Dauid confesseth in Psal. 73. that c Psal. 73.23 his feete had welnigh slipped when hee saw the prosperity of the wicked and certainty downe he had beene had hee not happily stepped d Ibid. 17. into the Sanctuary of God and there vnderstood the end of these men Temporall euills though they be sometimes punishments of sinne yet they are not euer sent as punishments because sometimes they haue other ends and vses and are ordinabilia in melius and secondly they are neuer the onely punishments of sinne because there are greater and more lasting punishments reserued for sinners after this life of which there is no other vse or end but to punish since they are not ordinabilie in melius If we will make these temporall euills the measure whereby to judge of the Iustice of God wee cannot secure our selues from erring dangerously Gods purposes in the dispensation of these vnto particular men being vnsearchable But those euerlasting punishments are they wherein Gods Iustice shall be manifested to euery eye in due time at that last day which is therefore called by S t Paul Rom. 2. e Rom 2.5 the day of wrath and of the reuelation of the righteous iudgment of God Implying that howsoeuer God is just in all his iudgements and acts of prouidence euen vpon earth yet the Counsells and Purposes of God in these things are often secret and past our finding out but at the last great day when f Ibid. 6. he shall render to euery man according to his workes his euerlasting recompence then his vengeance shall manifest his wrath and the righteousnesse of his iudgement shall be reuealed to euery eye in the condigne punishment of vnreconciled sinners That is the second Certainety Temporall euills are not alwayes nor simply nor properly the punishments for sinne If any man shall be yet vnsatisfied §. 6. the third certainety that all Euills of Paine and desire to haue Gods Iustice somewhat farther cleared euen in the disposing of these temporall things although it be neither safe nor possible for vs to search farre into particulars yet some generall satisfaction we may haue from a third Certainety and that is this Euery euill of Paine whatsoeuer it be or howsoeuer considered which is brought vpon any man is brought vpon him euermore for sinne yea and that also for his owne personall sinne Euery branch of this assertion would be well marked I say first Euery Euill of Paine whatsoeuer it be whether naturall defects and infirmities in soule or body or outward afflictions in goods friends or good name whether inward distresses of an afflicted or terrours of an affrighted conscience whether temporall or eternall Death whether euills of this life or after it or whatsoeuer other euill it be that is any way greiuous to any man euery such euill is for sinne §. 7. â—owsoeuer considered I Say secondly euery euill of paine howsoeuer considered whether formally and sub ratione poenae as the proper effect of Gods vengeance and wrath against sinne or as a fatherly correction and chasticement to nurture vs for some past sinne or as a medicinall preseruatiue to strengthen vs against some future sinne or as a clogging chaine to keepe vnder and disable vs from some outward worke of sinne or as a fit matter and obiect whereon to exercise our Christian graces of faith charity patience humility and the rest or as an occasion giuen and taken by Almighty God for the greater manifestation of the glory of his Wisedome and Power and Goodnesse in the remoueal of it or as an act of Exemplary iustice for the admonition and terrour of others or for whatsoeuer other end purpose or respect it be inflicted §. 8. are for the siâ—ne I say thirdly Euery such euill of paine is brought vpon vs for sinne There may be other ends there may be other occasions there may be other vses of such Euills but still the originall Cause of them all is sinne a Psal. 39.11 When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sinne It was not for any b Ioh. 9.2.3 extraordinary notorious sinnes either of the blinde man himselfe or of his parents aboue other men that he was borne blinde Our Sauiour Christ acquitteth them of that Ioh. 9. in answer to his Disciples who were but too forward as God knoweth most men are to iudge the worst Our Sauiours answer there neuer intended other but that still the true cause deseruing that blindenesse was his and his parents sinne but his purpose was to instruct his Disciples that that infirmitie was not laid vpon him rather than vpon another man meerely for that reason because he or his parents had deserued it more than other men but for some farther ends which God had in it in his secret and euerlasting purpose and namely this among the rest that the workes of God might be manifest in him and the Godhead of the sonne made glorious in his miraculous cure As in Nature the intention of the c see Arist. 2. Phys. End doth not ouerthrow but rather suppose the necessity of the Matter so is it in the workes of God and the dispensations of his wonderfull prouidence It is from Gods Mercy ordering them to those Ends he hath purposed that his punishments are good but it is withall from our sinnes deseruing them as the Cause that they are iust euen as the raine that falleth vpon the earth whether it moisten it kindly and make it fruitfull or whether it choake and slocken and drowne it yet still had its beginning from the vapours which the earth it selfe sent vp All those Euills which fall so daily and thicke vpon vs from heauen whether to warne vs or to plague vs are but arrowes which our selues first shot vp against heauen and now drop downe againe with doubled force vpon our heads Omnis poena propter culpam all Euills of paine are for the euills of sinne §. 9. of the sufferer I say fourthly All such Euils are for our owne sins The Scriptures are plaine a 1 Pet. 1.17 God iudgeth euery man according to his own workes b Gal. 6.5 Euery man shall beare his owne burden c. God hath enioyned it as a Law for Magistrates wherein they haue also his example to lead them that c Deut. 24.16 not the fathers for the children nor the children for the fathers but euery man should be put to death for his own
orbita culpae §. 20. 3. or education A third meanes of conueying vices from parents to children is Education when parents traine and bring vp their children in those sinfull courses wherein themselues haue liued and delighted So couetous worldlings are euer distilling into the eares of their children precepts of parsimony and good husbandry reading them lectures of thrift and inculcating principles of getting and sauing a Iuuenal Satyr 14. Sunt quaedam vitiorum elementa his protinus illos imbuet coget vitiorum ediscere sordes Idle wandring Beggars traine vp their children in a trade of begging and lying and cursing and filching and all idlenesse and abominable filthinesse And idolatrous parents how carefull they are to nuzzle vp their Posterity in Superstition and Idolatry I would our protest Popelings and halfe-baked Protestants did not let vs see but too often Wretched and accursed is our supine carelessenesse if these mens wicked diligence whose first care for the fruite of their bodies is to poyson their soules by sacrificing their sonnes and daughters to Idols shall rise vp in iudgement against vs and condemne our foule neglect in not seasoning the tender yeeres of our children with such religious godly and vertuous b Eph. 6.4 informations as they are caâ—â—ble of §. 21. tread in their fathers steps How euer it be whether by Nature Example or Education one or more or all of these certaine it is that most times sinnes a reâ—lit ad authores genus Stirpâ—mque primam degener sanguis refert Senec. in Hippol. act 3. passe a long from the father to the son and so downeward by a kind of lineall descent from predecessours to posterity and that for the most part with b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Homer Odyst β. advantage and encrease whole families being tainted with the speciall vices of their stocke Iohn Baptist speaketh of c Math. 3.7 a generation of vipers and if wee should but obserue the conditions of some families in a long line of succession might wee not espie here and there euen whole generations of Drunkards and generations of Sweareres and generations of Idolaters and generations of Wordlings and generations of seditious and of enuious and of riotous and of haughty and of vncleane persons and of sinnes in other kindes This vngodly king Ahab see how all that come of him taste of him and haue some spice and relish of his euill manners Of his sonne Ahaziah that next succeeded him in the kingdome of Israel the Text saith in the next Chapter that d 3. King 22.52 he walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother And another Ahaziah king of Iudah the grand-child of Iehosaphat by the fathers side and of Ahab by the mothers drew infection from the mother and so trode in the steps rather of this his wicked grandfather Ahab than of his good grandfather Iehosophat and of him therefore the Scripture saith remarkeably in 4. King 8. e 4 King 8 27. He walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did euill in the sight of the Lord as did the house of Ahab for hee was the sonne in Law of the house of Ahab Little doth any man thinke what hurt he may doe vnto and what plague he may bring vpon his posterity by ioyning himselfe or them in too strict a bond of nearenesse with an ill or an idolatrous house or stocke Here we see is Ahabs house taxed not his person onely euen the whole familie and broode and kin of them branch and roote And that Iehoram also who is the son here spoken of and meant in my Text did f 4 King 3.2 Patrisare too as well as the rest of the kindred and take after the father though not in that height of impiety and idolatry as his father is plaine from the sequele of the Story And so doing and partaking of the Euills of sin with his father why might he not also in justice partake of the Euills of punishment with his father §. 22. or secondly are possessors of something from their fathers with Gods curse cleauing thereunto Secondly the sinnes of the fathers are visited vpon the children sometimes as possessours of something which their fathers left them with Gods curse cleauing vnto it As in the Law not onely he that had an a See Leuit. 15.2 11. issue of vncleanenesse made them vncleane that touched him but euen the saddle or stoole hee sate vpon the cloathes hee wore the bed whereon he lay any vessell of earth or of wood that he did but touch was enough to bring legall pollution and vncleanesse vpon any other person that should but touch them So not onely our fathers sinnes if wee touch them by imitation but euen their b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euripid. lands and goods and houses and other things that were theirs are sufficient to deriue Gods curse vpon vs if wee doe but hold them in possession What is gotten by any euill and vniust and vnwarrantable meanes is in Gods sight and estimation no better than stollen Now stollen goods we know though they haue passed through neuer so many hands before that man is answereable for in whose hands they are found and in whose custody and possession they are God hateth not sinne onely but the very monuments of sinne too and his curse fasteneth not onely vpon the agent but vpon the bruite and dead materialls too and where theft or oppression or periury or sacriledge haue layed the foundation and reared the house there the c Zach. 5.4 Curse of God creepeth in betweene the walls and seelings and lurketh close within the stones and the timber and as a fretting moath or canker insensibly gnaweth asunder the pins and the ioynts of the building till it haue vnframed it and resolued it into a ruinous heape for which mischiefe there is no remedy no preseruation from it but one and that is free and speedy Restitution For any thing we know what Ahab the father got without iustice Iehoram the sonne held without scruple We doe not find that euer hee made restitution of Naboths vineyard to the right heire and it is like enough hee did not and then betweene him and his father there was but this difference the father was the thiefe and he the receiuer which two the Law seuereth not either in guilt or punishment but wrappeth them equally in the same guilt and in the same punishment d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phocyl 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And who knoweth whether the very holding of that vineyard might not bring vpon him the curse of his fathers oppression it is plaine that e 4 King 9.25.26 vineyard was the place where the heauiest part of that curse ouertooke him But that which is the vpshot of all and vntieth all the knots both of this and of all other doubts §. 23. that can be made against Gods iustice in
where all haue deserued the punishment it is left to the discretion of the Iudge whom he will picke out the Father or the Sonne the Gouernour or the Subiect the Ring-leader or the Follower the Greater or the Lesser offender to shew exemplary iustice vpon as he shall see expedient I say all these and other like considerations many though they are to be admitted as true and obserued as vsefull yet they are such as belong rather to Gods Prouidence and his Wisedome than to his Iustice. If therefore thou knowest not the very particular reason why God should punish thee in this or that manner or vpon this or that occasion let it suffice thee that the Counsells and purposes of God are secret and thou art not to enquire with scrupulous curiosity into the dispensation and courses of his Prouidence farther than it hath pleased him either to reueale it in his word or by his manifest workes to discouer it vnto thee But whatsoeuer thou doest neuer make question of his Iustice. Begin first to make inquirie into thine owne selfe and if after vnpartiall search thou there findest not corruption enough to deserue all out as much as God hath layed vpon thee then complaine of iniustice but not before And so much for the doubts §. 33. The first inference Let vs now from the premises raise some instructions for our vse First Parents wee thinke haue reason to be carefull and so they haue for their children and to desire and labour as much as in them lyeth their wel doing Here is a faire course then for you that are parents and haue children to care for Doe you that which is good and honest and right and they are like to fare the better for it Wouldest thou then Brother leaue thy lands and thy estate to thy childe entire and free from encombrances It is an honest care but here is the way a Iuuenal Satyr 14. Abstineas igitur damnandis Leaue them free from the b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isocratâ—s guilt of thy sinnes which are able to comber them beyond any statute or morgage If not the bond of Gods Law if not the care of thine owne soule if not the feare of hell if not the inward checkes of thine owne conscience c Iuuenal Satyr 14. At peccaturo obstet tibi filius infans at the least let the good of thy poore sweet infants restraine thee from doing that sinne which might pull downe from heauen a plague vpon them and theirs Goe to then doe not applaud thy selfe in thy wittie villanies when thou hast circumuented and prospered when Ahab-like thou hast d Vers. 19. hîc killed and taken possession when thou hast larded thy leaner reuenues with fat collops sacrilegiously cut out of the sides or flankes of the Church and hast nayled all these with all the appurtenances by sines and vowchers and entayles as firme as Law can make them to thy childe and his childe and his childes childe for euer After all this stirre cast vp thy bills and see what a goodly bargaine thou hast made thou hast damned thy selfe to vndoe thy childe thou hast brought a curse vpon thine owne soule to purchase that for thy childe which shall bring a curse both vpon it and him When thy indentures were drawne and thy learned Counsell feed to peruse the Instrument and with exact seuerity to ponder with thee euery clause and syllable therein could none of you spie a flaw in that clause with all and singular th' appurtenances neither obserue that thereby thou didst settle vpon thy posteritie together with thy estate the wrath and vengeance and curse of God which is one of those appurtenances Hadst thou not a faithfull Counsellour within thine owne brest if thou wouldest but haue conferred and aduised with him plainly and vndissemblingly that could haue told thee thou hadst by thy oppression and iniustice ipso facto cut off the entaile from the issue euen long before thou hadst made it But if thou wouldest leaue thy posterity a firme and secure and durable estate doe this rather Purchase for them by thy charitable workes the prayers and blessings of the poore settle vpon them the fruites of a religious sober and honest education bequeath them the legacie of thy good example in all vertuous and godly liuing and that portion thou leauest them besides of earthly things be it much or little be sure it be e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost. in Eph. hom 2. well gotten otherwise neuer looke it f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pausan. in Corinthiacis should prosper with them g 1 Cor. 5.6 A little leauen leaueneth the whole lumpe and sowreth it and a little ill gotten like a gangrene spreadeth through the whole estate and worse than aqua fortis or the poysoned h ardeo Quantum nec atro delibutus Hercules Nessi cruorc Horat. Epod. 17. see Sophocl in Trachin shirt that Dejanira gaue Hercules cleaueth vnto it and feedeth vpon it and by little and little gnaweth and fretteth and consumeth it to nothing And surely Gods Iustice hath wonderfully manifested it selfe vnto the world in this kinde sometimes euen to the publicke astonishment and admiration of all men that men of ancient families and great estates well left by their Ancestors and free from debts legacies or other encombrances not notedly guilty of any expencefull sinne or vanity but wary and husbandly and carefull to thriue in the world not kept vnder with any great burden of needy friends or charge of children not much hindered by any extraordinary losses or casualties of fire theeues suretiship or suites that such men I say should yet sinke and decay and runne behinde hand in the world and their estates crumble and milder away and come to nothing and no man knoweth how No question but they haue sinnes enough of their owne to deserue all this and ten times more than all this but yet withall who knoweth but that it might nay who knoweth not that sometimes it doth so legible now and then are Gods iudgements come vpon them for the greedinesse and auarice and oppression and sacriledge and iniustice of their not long foregoing Ancestors You that are parents take heed of these sins It may be for some other reasons knowne best to himselfe God suffereth you to goe on your owne time and suspendeth the iudgements your sinnes haue deserued for a space as here he did Ahabs vpon his humiliation but be assured sooner or later vengeance will ouertake you or yours for it You haue a Hab. 2.9 coueted an euill couetousnesse to your house and there hangeth a judgement ouer your house for it as raine in the cloudes which perhaps in your sonnes perhaps in your grand-childs dayes some time or other will come dashing downe vpon it and ouerwhelme it Thinke not the vision is for many descents to come de male quaesitis vix gaudet tertius haeres seldome doth the