braies and weepes to him for releife and so is taken Which let euery Christian man learn to follow this example that seeing himselfe beset with innumerable enemies wearied with the burthen of sin let him turne to the man Iesiu who is able and will deliuer him from all dangers O that we had mindes to consider our misdeeds hearts truly touched with a greife for sinne that they might relent and eies of a spongie humor that by the distillation of our teares we might bedeaw our faces that as Naâ—… was clean sed from his leprosie by washing in the riuer Iordan so wee being bathed in the pure fountaine of teares of a contrite heart may be thoroughly purged from the filthinesse of sinne There is a certaine riuer in Cecilia that if blacke sheepe be bathed in it there wooll shall turne white immediately such surely is the true nature of the fountaine of teares for if thy sinnes were as red as scarlet in them if thou bath thy selfe they shal be as white as wooll When Pharaohs daughter did di'cent into the riuer she found a babe lying among the flagges if thou discend into the riuers of teares thou shalt finde the babe Iesus comfortable to thy soule Lachryma enim lauat quod peccatumpolluit Teares will wash that which our sinneâ— hath defiled Teare are silent praiers they craue not and yet they obtaine pardon they plead not a mans cause and yet they receiue mercy saith Saint Ambrose Peter by weeping was remitted Susanna by weeping was deliuered from the false accusation Ezechias by lamenting was restored to his former health and his life prolonged let vs weepe then with Peter lament with Mary Magdalene mourne with Manasses that our soules may be cleared from Satans false accusation and our liues prolonged in that celestiall kingdome euerlastingly And lastly I come to the last obseruation betweene the behauiour of the godly and wicked The Citizens of Sion mourne for the want of it but the Citizens of Babilon neither remember Sion nor regard The wordly man may perhaps somtime weep but his â—e the tears of Esau only for want of the blessing because he cannot get some great bargaine to the vndoing of his poore brother The carnall man may sometimes be sorrie but it is the greife of Ammon because he cannot fulfill his lust with his sister Thamar The Enuious man may perhaps greiue but it is because of his brothers prosperous estate inuidus alteriâ—s rebus macrescit opimis the griefe of the wicked is only that they cannot do mischeife but the sorrow of a godly soule is when he wants some peaceable comfort to his soule Sion is his solace The remembrance of Sion in respect of the depriuation thereof is a great vexation vnto them The comfort that a godly man receiues by the word of God preached vnto him cannot be expressed of which when he is depriued like these Iewes in captiuitie what a heauinesse brings it to his tender heart Dauid being in banishment accounts this his greatest losse therefore he esteemes the sparrow and swallow happie because they had libertie to lay their young neere vnto the altar of God not that hee thought the birds did receiue any benefit hereby but that he out of his compassionate affection being rauished with a desire thereafter doth vtter this patheticall depriuation that he did want that which the birds did inioy when the minde of man by an heauenly contemplation is rapt into the heauen of peace to consider mans miserable estate in Babel and his ioyfull and happie estate in Sion he cannot expresse his greife without great lamentation herefore wee sigh and groane desiring to be dissolued and be with Christ Iesus da amantem sensit quod loquer euery soule that sighes for Sion and hath his cogitation there doth conceiue what I say O sancta Sion vbitotum stat nihil defluit O blessed Sion where there is no penurie no leading into captiuity nor no complaining in her streetes but peace and plenty within her borders for euermore happie shall he be that shal be admitted into her gates to pertake of her solace that hee may sing Halelutah vnto the lambe that sits vpon the throne for euer and euer Hauing ended my text right honorable right worshipfull and welbeloued it followes in the next place to speake of their iniquitie which was the cause of their miserie and to paralell them with the sinnes of these times wherein wee liue such as Idolatrie shedding of innocent blood pride drunkennesse lasciniousnesse and want of charity as the scripture doth set them downe vnto us but because the time hath preuented me I will only leaue them to your godly consideration first because I know these things haue been spoken against out of this place many times and therefore you are not ignorant of the heinousnes of them As also I speake vnto Christians that haue the word of God daily preached vnto them to diswade them from those and the like sinnes and therefore a shame for such to bee tainted with them it shal be easier for Sodome and Gomorah nay and Babel in the day of the Lords appearance then for this Citie because the word of God is so plentifully preached in it You right Honorable and worshipfull Magistrates of this Citie qui 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cooperatores dei estis Gods vicegerents or assisters vpon earth weigh diligently the charge that is committed vnto you remember that you are exalted to that place of dignitie to represse iniquitie let not your too mild meek spirit encourage the wicked to do euill for foolish pittie may mar the City Consider that the sword is not giuen vnto you in vaine but to take vengeance on them that do euill the daies are dangerous the people impious they will hardly obey but by constraint let sin be your subiect to suppresse it and the glorie of Sion the obiect of all your labors knowing that you stand alwaies in Gods sight from whose presence nothing can be hid I would to God that you had the spirit of Elias and zeale of Phineas to suppresse sinne in the action I would to God that the Magistrates of this City were like vnto the watchmen of Israel to search about the Corners thereof and finde out the abhominations therein to the oppressed be mercifull to the wicked fierce and terrible that you being faithfull in a little when your Lord and Master doth appeare he may make you rulers ouer great and exalt you to that blessed Sion to remaine with him for euermore And you honorable Iudges that are ordeined to determine the cause of the oppressed and to releiue the poore from wrong let not the greatnes of the person nor superiority of place cause you to haue any regard but only to the sinceritie of the cause But let all iust iudges that wish to inhabite blessed Sion haue only a respect vnto the truth of iustice quia non
also Marlorate and Musculus amongst the modeâ—… ashrine the same Saint Augustine hath made a great volume which he entitles de ciuitate Dei the citie of God where in hee comprehends all sorts of people into two namely the Citizens of Babel and the Citizens of Ston both which I haue mentioned in my text the one in bondage vnder the tyrannie of the other and in opposition one to the other the one in Babel corpore bodilie but in Sâ—… animo spiritually Anima est vbi amat non vbi animat the soule is where it loues not where it liues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Apostle S. Paul our rule or gouernment or as the vulgar hath it our conuersation is in heauen Omnis Catholicus saith Saint Augustine debet scire vnde ciues sumus vnde peregrinamur Euery Christian ought to know to what citie we do belong that sinne is the cause of our peregrination and our iuslification by grace in the merits of Iesus Christ the matter of our deliuerance But to leaue mysticall moralities and wrested allegories I will onely make a comparison in this betweene the World wherein we liue and this Babel wherein the people of Israel did liue comparatiuely This world wherein we liue may be well compared to Babel for sundrie reasons 1 Propter munditiam for the pompe and glory thereof Babel was a rich place and very fruitfull as the historiographers do write of it The World is fertill and very gorgeouse in shew the Diuâ—…l did reueale it vnto our Sauiour Christ Omnia haec dâ—â—o all these things will I giue thee is a description thereof Diues fareth deliciously and goeth gorgeously euery day Diues wants nothing in this world that his heart can wish 2. Propter affectionem for the affection of her inhabitants Babel habet suos amatores pacâ— temporali consulentes nihil vltra sperantes saith Saint Augustine the citizens of Babel desire no other dwelling for there they haue taken vp their rest the world hath her louers doth not the rich man in the Gospell prouide onely for this life Let vs eat and drinke post mortem nulia voluptas our life is short and tedious let vs take our pleasure that is present for this is our lot and portion 3. Propter afflictionem for the affliction which they suffer Babel is a place of torment for the Israelites the World a place of affliction for the godly for here they suffer violence of the wicked in munde pressuram sustinebitis in the world you shall suffer affliction was a cognizance giuen by our Sauiour Christ to know his flocke by The Apostle Saint Paul doth iustifie it by his often miseries A certaine Philosopher being sent into banishment hee tooke it patiently and one day being vpbraided by an other as a disgrace vnto him answered mildely sum ciuis mundi shewing that as long as he was in this world he was subject to the same affliction 4. Propter confusionem for the confusion of things in it let a man consider the world and all things in the world the state of things and manners of men and he shall finde nothing but confusion as the word doth import This 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be well said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because of the confusion of things both in Church and Common wealth Coelum mari admixtum parua magnis confusa heauen and earth are confused together for vertue is hated and vice is embraced no man is regarded for his giftes giftes yes surely si nihil attuleris this Homere for as giftes carries all away now adaies Amongst the Venetians there were certaine magistrates that were called praegads because at the first foundation of their Citie men were entreated to take offices but it is long since that order it is now cleane worne out of vse and especially in this Land for now they are not entreated to enter into offices but rather entreate pray and vse all meanes possible to haue them and if I mistake not my selfe they pay soundly for them is not this confusion what greater confusion can come to the Church then Iudas and Symon Magus to shake hands together what will ye giue and what shall I giue then all must needes come to confusion truly I thinke that such a confusion was neuer wrought in Babel as is at this day practised in this Church for they would not robbe their gods to beautifie themselues as these Latrones beneficiorum the Patrons of Benefices do Let but a Iack-daw come to these Benefactors that bestow benefices onely for their owne priuate commoditie with a purse in his mouth A birde that neuer came in at the doore but at the window or some little hole aboue and he shall carry away the presentation before a man of worth is not this confusion nay it is condemnation vpon the delinquents And shall I impute this abhomination onely vnto the Patrons Many of them be Laymen and cannot tell how to trie their Clarkes but by the sense of feeling there be other members in the Church that are to be blamed for it Let Elisha take heede that Gehezâ— his man be not the author of this confusion and so bring destruction vpon his soule Is it not a great confusion when Bel and Dragon are worshipped in the Church and idolatrie erected in the house of God as it is in the Romish Church where they giue that worship due and proper only to the Creator to the creature They adore the host kneele at the crucifixe and inuocate Saints departed which is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a seruice due only vnto God distinguish it as they will to be imparted to no Creature Ego sum Dominus saith the Lord by the Prophet I am the Lord this is my name my glory will I giue vnto none nor my praise vnto grauen Images Like vnto the heathen their Churches gorgeously they garnish inwardly and within they sacrifice vnto Deuils where such abhomination is wrought it must needes bee Babel nay that Whore spoken of in the Reuelation that hath made the whole world drunke with her fornications let vs and all true Christians pray the Lord to turne their hearts that they may see this confusion or else to send a westerly winde and driue such Caterpillers into the sea But to leaue them to Gods censure and come to the common wealth and you shall finde that these lawes and ordinances that haue beene formerly or deined to good purpose beare no sway in these daies The law was in auncient time to be required at the Iudges mouth which thing is now greatly in practice for the law now doth only depend on the Iudges voice And I will not say that the heaâ—â—ble Iudges of this land doe follow the footsteps of Samuels sonnes looke after lucre peruert iustice and take rewards I beleeue that neither cognatus aut argentum bribe nor brother will
to those plagues which the Lord doth threaten vpon the disobedient being alwaies hanging ouer the wicked as wee see by Lot that dwelling amongst the wicked Sodomites was taken prisoner with them in the ouerthrow Or else they are likely to be tainted with them dumspectant laesos oculilaeduntur ipsi they can hardly escape the wicked without receiuing some blemish of them Righteous Ioseph being amongst the prophaneseruants in Pharaohs court learning to sweare 〈◊〉 of Pharaoh if we then obserue the prophanesse of the place or the impâ—eâ—ie of the people of that place we shall finde their case miserable by reason of their habitation and so I come to the fourth circumstance of their commiseration that they did dwell by the bankesides if they had been receiued into their Cities or townes where they might had sâ—…er for their safegard then had they receiued some comfort but being expelled from their Cities and from thence to the Riuersides to remaine without shadow is a great miserie vnto them super slumina sedent they remaine by the riuer side in the countrey of Caldea there were sundry râ—…rs such as Euphrates Neâ—…rdâ—a Ahaua and Tigris which doth shew the place to bevery fruitfull to encrease their greife because they cannot be receiued into the Cities with them The Caldeans darenot receiue them into their fellowshippe Inimicis fidere cum illis habitare non tutum sentiunt to trust their enemies and to dwell with them they thinke it not safe enough therefore are they exposed into the Riuerside when the woman of Samaria came to lacobs well shee retained some comfort of her lourney for shee found the Messias the Sauiour of the world that was able to deliuer and did deliuer her from all her fornications but here they come to the riuers of Babâ—l where they haue no hope of deliuerer nor comforter to help them for the space of seuenty yeares Although Agar sit sorrowfull for a while by the Well in the wildernesse yet at last the Angell came to comfort her but here they sit a long space and haue no hope of Angell nor man to comfort nor releiue them These waters may be well called Massah or Meribah of strife or tentation Naturae enim repugnat for it is against their nature to be tied into such a barren place hauing had such goodly aspects of their owne before Their goodly Orchards gallant gardens delicate fine walkes beset with fruitfull trees and sweete bushes is now conuerted into a barren bankeside ouergrowne with willowes their pleasant parlors braue â—â—ls and costly hung chambers are now translated into a poore tent not able to defend them from the raine nor tempest hoc miseria plenum the more I do discend into their miserie the greater I findetheir greife to be aggrauated and so much of their affliction In their affection wee haue first set downe the cause of their conceiued sorrow which was the remembrance of their former happinesse Dura satis miseris memoratio prisca bonorâ—… Of all miseries it is the greatest to remember the ioâ—litie of our former life this torment doth father Abraham adde vnto the rich glutton lying in hell forments Râ—cardaremâ— sili remember my senne that thou in thy life time receiuedst thy pleasure which no doubt did afflict him more then all his former torments Whileman is in prosperitie hee neuer thinke of his future miserie which when it doth assault of all afflictions it is the greatest to remember his former happinesse inâ—…cissimum est in fortuny genus meminisse fuisse foelicem of all things it is the most vnhappie to remember that we were once happie King Cresus doth affirme this by that often repetition of Solon when he was going to the place of torment who did on a time bragge of his happinesse vnto Solon a Sage of Greece and said that hee thought himselfe the happiest man that liued vnto whom Solon replying said no man can be said to be happie before his death and being afterward taken in battell of King Cyrus did vtter nothing but Solon Solon shewing that the remembrance thereof did onely vexe and afflict him surely the greatest punishment that the damned shall receiue in hell torments wil be the remembrance of their former pleasure Plungent quia mundum dilexerunt plangent quia vitam non correxerunt plangent quia paenam incurserunt They shall weepe because they haue loued the world they shall mourne because they did not amend their life while they liued in the world They shall lament because they did deserue by their wickednesse to come to that place of torment when they departed out of the world the remembrance of their former losse will be their greatest griefe But to come to the height of their vnhappinesse and to take a veiw of the depth of their miserie it is no earthly thing that doth greiue them only the comfort which they wanted of Sâ—on is all that vexe them When we remembred Sion Mary sits very sorrowfull in a mournefull habite as long as Christ was absent from her but when her sister Martha came and told her that the Master was come and called for her O how speedily did she arise and embrace him ioyfully the want of the comfort of the word of God is the greatest griefe that can come to a godly soule Dauid accounts in his banishment this his greatest losse and the people there in captiuitie lament for the defect here of while they were in their owne countrey they did not account of it they dispised the Prophets quid nobiscuÌ„cum illis what haue we to do with such as prophesie euill vnto vs but now being depriued of it ô how they weepe for their want of it Demosthenes being banished Athens ô how he did weepe when he looked towards Athens the Israclites being banished into Babilon ô how they do weepe when they remember Sion Sion was an eminent place in Ierusalem where the Lord had set his name to be worshipped and where onely they did receiue comfort in the word Agar she weepes because she is thrust out of her Masters house they weepe because they are put out of Sion and debarred from their Masters presence in his house Diues being in prosperitie did not regard the word of God nor take any delight therein but in aduersity lying in hell torments he lamented his carelessenesse thereof wherefore he wished Abraham to send Lazarus to his fathers house to giue his brethren notice of their neglect herein least they should come into that place of torment Hauing spoken of the historicall sense according as it happened vnto these Israelites really may it please you right honorable right worshipfull and welbeloued that I speake of the my sticall meaning It is no allegorie which I handle but onely a moralitie drawne from the true historie according to the opinion of all the auncient as S. Augustine lerome Chrysostome Hugo Cardinalis Lyra and others as