DOVVNEFALL OF SHEBNA Together with AN APPLICATION to the bloudie GOWRIE of SCOTLAND As it was deliuered in two seuerall Sermons of that occasion in S. MARIES Church IN OXFORD And now published for a warning to all ill-affected OGILVIESTS Vt quorum exitus perhorrescunt eâ—â—â—â— facta non imitenâ—â—â— BY J. S. PSAL. 37.28 The Lord loueth Iudgement and forsaketh not his Saints They shall be preserued for euermore but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off LONDON Printed for John Bill 1615. TO THE RIGHT Reuerend Father in God my very especiall good Lord and Patron IOHN KING Bishop of London J. S. Wisheth all true happinesse in CHRIST IESVS May it please your Lordship I Haue according to the receiued ceremonie made bold to recommend this Treatise of SHEBNA his Downefall to your patronage as a testimonie of mine vnfained thankfulnesse for your many fauours and beneficence In accepting whereof I humbly pray you to imitate the goodnesse of Almightie God who as a learned Father saith Coronat voluntatem vbi non inuenit facultatem For otherwise had not I this strong confidence I so well vnderstand mine owne disabilitie and take so little pleasure in proclaiming the same as that this liuely representation of my many defects had neuer come to your Lordships view much lesse patronage I know it needs a Patron I dare not trust mine owne eie the obiect is too neere to be well discerned And I cannot but remember in this bookish age the complaint of Andromache Ω 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eurip. An. drom O opinion opinion thou hast made many to thinke well of themselues who were nothing indeed Right Reuerend let it haue your countenance and as for others if any man know more concerning the Subiect heere handled either Shebna or Gowrie my paines may serue to stirre vp in him a desire to profit more that so what he knoweth sciat alter If any know lesse I trust he will rather thanke me then censure me There is none I assure my selfe so rigid and deuoid of ingenuitie that will denie exiguis hunc addere rebus honorem Now the Lord that made heauen and earth blesse you out of Sion the Lord guide and prosper you in all your waies the Lord establish your house and familie that you may see your childrens children and an happy addition of many good and comfortable daies in this life and this life ended eternall happinesse in the kingdome of heauen Your Lordships Chaplaine in all humble dutie and seruice to be commanded ISAAC SINGLETON THE DOWNEFALL OF SHEBNA ISAY 22.15 Goe get thee vnto this Treasurer euen vnto Shebna which is ouer the house and say THough it be true that the Iudge of all the world must needs do right a Gen. 18.25 and that hee who is of infinite maiestie power and iustice can do no lesse then auenge himselfe of sinne and sinfull men yet such is his patience and longanimitie that now and then as the wise man saith dissimulat peccata hominum b Wisd 7. he dissembleth and seemeth not to see the sinnes of men And as S. Austin obserueth there is not alwaies apertio oculorum when as this God seeth with the open eie and takes apparant notice of the mischieuous practises of euill doers but sometime opertio when he considereth as I may so say with the eie-lid and appeares vnto the wicked as one that sleepes and winkes at their impieties Insomuch that the crie of Sodome c Gen. 18.25 came vp to the very gates of heauen ere he came downe to them the wickednesse of the Amorites d 13.16 was rotten ripe ere he began to launce and the day of trouble and time e Isai 22.15 prefixt expired ere he proceeded in iudgment with the Princes of Iuda And Shebna in my text by his many impieties and wicked machinations euen turned his patience into fury ere he sent our Prophet vnto him to threaten his ruine Till at length the sinnes of Shebna began to crie and the measure of his iniquitie waxed full and the day of his trouble came and then when hee thought himselfe most strong and flourished like the bay tree f Psal when he dwelt in the cliffes of the rocke g Ier. 49.16 and kept the height of the hilles and was to vse our Prophets words in the fiue and twentieth verse h Isai 22.25 of this Chapter as a naile fastned in a sure place loe euen then comes a fearfull mesage and most direfull prediction of his vtter ruine and destruction Goe get thee vnto this Treasurer euen vnto Shebna which is ouer the house and say Which parcell of holy Writ may very well be intituled The Downefull of Shebna Occidit vna domus sed enim domus illa perire Digna fuit For the better vnfolding wherof consider with mee I beseech you these three proposals First What this Shebna was Secondly What was his offence And thirdly How it was punished As touching the first what this Shebna was goe wee no further then to the title heere giuen him and the bare signification of the name it selfe wee shall finde that as was his name so was hee for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which our English renders Treasurer Musculus as Musculus very well obserueth is not so much a name of office as parentage and he was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Socuite from the Citie wherein hee was borne Now the Verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 either signifieth to impouerish so that Shebna as it should seeme was one that was giuen to wrong and hurt others and set light hy all such as had not relation to him and fauoured his proceedings and therefore among his other vices which doubtlesse were many and great as you shall heare anon the holy Ghost i Isa 22.21 in the one and twentieth verse of this Chapter plalnly specifieth the malice and spleene which hee bare vnto good Eliachim and to regret and gall him the more it is recorded as a parcell of his punishment that whereas hee laboured to supplant Eliachim and bring him into disgrace with the Prince and State Eliachim should be aduanced and that in Shebna roome For with thy garments will I cloath him and with thy girdle will I strengthen him thy power also will I commit into his hand and he shall be a father of the Inhabitants of Ierusalem Isai 22.21 and of the house of Iudah Or else it signifies to entertaine to warme and cherish In which sense it is vsed the first of Kings the first Chapter and second verse 1 Reg. 1.2 where it is said that the seruants of Dauid perceiuing a decay of nature and that his vitall heat was well-nigh spent they brought a young Virgin vnto him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sit ei proficiens foueat cum let her cherish him Which signification of the word if we will follow in this title then wee may conceiue Shebna
suspiciones malenolae calumniantium suspitiones beneuolae Gubernantium malitious suspitions proper to calumniators beneuolous and friendly suspitions proper to Gouernors If my friend betray me I beshrew him but if my enemie betray me I beshrew my selfe said he But goe we on and follow his Maiestie into the darke chamber of death and then tell me if Zenacheribs armie Rabsaches threats the inconstancie of the people the disloyaltie of Shebna could put Ezechiah in such danger or that it was euer higher time for God to put to his helping hand then now no beloued here here stand you still and behold the saluation of the Lord which he shewed as on this day open the booke of his workes read the doctrine of prouidence Exod 14.13 did euer God shew himselfe to bee a God almighty and a God of power did hee euer manifest his particular prouidence more articulatly beyond the strength of reason and compasse of second causes then now Was it not strange and miraculous that he that was appointed to bee the murtherer should presently vpon the sight of the King as Baltashar when he saw the hand-writing on the wall stand trembling and quaking rather like one condemned then an excutioner of such an enterprise Was it not strange and miraculous that the King should dragg Alexander to the window and that his Nobles at the selfe same instant should bee vnder that and the very same window Lastly was it not strange and miraculous that that blessed Angell and messenger of the Lord that Iosuah and mighty Deliuerer Sr Iohn Ramsey should finde the turnepicke doore open follow it vp to the head enter into the chamber rescue the King from Alexander and strike bloudy Gowry himselfe stone dead in the place All these are as so many bookes wherein he that runneth may read Gods especiall prouidence ouer his annoynted Turne ouer the leafe againe That hee that should haue been the murtherer should now stand as one that was to be murthered That the King should dragg Alexander to the window That his traine should be at that very time vnder that very window That Sir Iohn Ramsay should lite vpon that darke vnused vnknowne by-way free him from Alexander and strike bloudy Gowrie dead in the very roome read it aduisedly and then awake all antiquitie and shew mee the like instance of Gods especiall prouidence againe I know you will tell me of Noah in the Arke for what in the eye of reason should become of Noah in the Arke in the Arke without Anchor to stay her without mast to poize her without sterne to mooue her without Pilot to guide her had not the same God who forgets nothing that he hath made both shut him in with his owne hands and preserued him being in which otherwise in reason could neuer haue been I know you will tell me of the Israelites deliuerance from 70 yeers captiuitie Psal 126. which the Prophet Dauid saith strooke such an amazement in them that they were like them that dreame Liuius 33. Psalme 126. and as Liuie saith in a case of great ioy much liberty and freedome Maius gaudium fuit quà m quod vniuersum homines caperent vix satis credere se quisque audiuisse alij alios intueri mirabundi velut somni vanam speciem I know you will tell of Peters inlargement out of prison which so maruellously affected the blessed Apostle that hee was scarce his owne man hee knew not that it was true which was done by the Angell but thought he had seene a vision Acts 12.9 Acts 12.9 But what was there in all these or any one of them that you shall not read in some one page or other of this most omnipotent and all powerfull deliuerance of his sacred Maiestie Reg 12.9 Great is the Lord and most worthy to be praised and his greatnesse is incomprehensible Psalme 145. Generation shall praise thy workes vnto generation and declare thy power Obiect Another circumstance followeth In applying whereof durst I presume either on the time or your patience or mine owne strength much might be inserted to the indelible shame of these bloudy Gowries For they miscreants as they were thirsted not after the bloud of a priuate man nor any subordinate Magistrate but of the King himselfe A King not precario or by conquest pag. 29. read his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but an absolute Monarch and free borne King the which with vndaunted presence of minde he tould pale Alexander for the righteous are as bold as a Lyon hee was borne a free King and should die a free King A King not offensiue or grieuous vnto his subiects but a King surnamed by the voice of all his people of all humors of all factions of all religions the geude King A King and a King of the line of Dauid a King and a King of the tribe of Iudah Euent But here I must lay my hand vpon my mouth I cannot say what my heart conceiues nor yet conceiue what ought and should be said wherefore I come to the euent For what of all this a King and a free borne King a King and a geud King a King and a King of the line of Dauid a King and a King of the tribe of Iudah what of all this It was a foule treason they were bloudy villaines what of all this did you neuer heare of a treason before did you neuer heare of a King murthered and what a quoyle here is about one Gowrie seduced happily by pestilent firebrands abroad in Italie or what if his deep Melancholy now brake forth and growing starke mad as Aiax offended with Vlisses Agamemnon and Menelaus wreckt his malice vpon a sillie and a harmlesse sheepe thinking it had been Vlisses So hee insteed of those that had done him wrong as hee thought and proceeded against his Father missed his ayme and fell vpon the King as vpon a sillie and harmlesse sheep who was in his minoritie and wholy passiue in all that businesse why what of all this Beloued shall a Prince and a great man fall in Israell the second of Samuel at the third 2 Sam. 3.38 and will the sonnes of Zeruiah stand still will no tumults no vprores no alteration follow And shall an absolute Monarch though but now in Hebron as Dauid yet in expectation and sight of all the world to the ioy and comfort of Gods Saints to the terror and amazement of the enemies of God and his Gospell the puissant Monarch of Great BRITAINE and of all Israel shall he I say be bloudily mangled and hewen in peeces and no horror no murthers no massacres follow Yes yes for to omit what thousands â—â—e obserued hoâ— about that very same yeere nay within the compasse of one moneth and weeke almost many subiects of principall note miscarried and grew corrupt in their allegeance many treacheries were attempted many Protestant Princes miraculously preserued what meant what meant that posting to Rome that gadding
length a list of Shebnaes foule sinnes and offences Shebna was an hypocrite Shebna was ambitious Shebna was ingratefull Shebna was enuious and giuen ouer to those crying sinnes of detraction supplanting slandering lying and what not but yet we haue not named the sinne of Shebna the particular capitall crime the predominant sinne of Shebna which awaked Gods iustice and prouoked him thus in all seueritie to proceed against him For all these which but now I named hypocrifie ambition ingratitude enuy why they were rather peccata hominum peccata Iudaeorum then any appropriated sinnes of Shebna they were sinnes incident to the corrupt nature of man familiar to the people of the Iewes and cannot by way of denomination be termed the sinnes of Shebna Insita est mortalibus naturâ saith he men by nature are wholy giuen to taxe and maligne vertue and goodnesse in others pari dolore aliena commoda ac proprias iniurias metiri and to take other mens benefits and blessings as much to heart as their owne proper iniuries But especially the Iewes no people no nation so giuen ouer to hypocrisie ambition ingratitude and enuy as the Iewes Besides it is worth the noting that God proceedeth after another fashion with the Princes of Iudah and the rest of the inferiour sort of people and punisheth their offences in another kinde as he that will peruse the former part of this Chapter may easily perceiue and I as easily shew you could I now stay But when he cals to minde the sinne of Shebna he bids our Prophet addresse himselfe to Shebna in particular as vnto a supereminent notorious offender aboue all the rest Goe get thee vnto this Treasurer euen vnto Shebna which is ouer the house and say It was not then his hypocrisie it was not his ambition nor yet his ingratitude no nor yet his enuie it was a sinne of a deeper die accomcompanied I grant you with all these but yet not any one of all these And that was his sinne of Treason Shebna was a Traitor patriae proditor which as one saith comes à prodendis consilijs hostibus so that Shebna as I verily thinke reuealed both arcana dominationis domus secrets of State and secrets of Court and most treacherously combined to betray Ezechiah and Ierusalem into the hands of a professed enemie and atheall miscreant Zenacherib as hoping forsooth that when once Zenacherib should be vested in the Throne of Iudah he would thinke on Shebna and make him King ouer his owne Countrey at the least And this I take to be the sinne of Shebna As for those other sinnes I make no doubt but Shebna had of a long time nourished them and God might say vnto him as it is in the Psalmist Psal 49.21 Haec fecisti tacui These things hast thou done Shebna and I held my peace But when once he committed the sinne of treason then was it high time for God who as the sonne of Siracke saith patient est etiam redditor Wisdome to come downe and visit Shebna with a rod of iron Goe get thee vnto this Treasurer euen vnto Shebna that is ouer the house and say Shebna then was a Traitor his offence Treason nay I added more a transcendent Treason For looke vpon the most hainous Treasons and bloudie assassinats in the bookes of the Chronicles of the Kings of Iudah and other faithfull stories in the word of God you shall finde somewhat that will lessen them and giue occasion of extenuation In all of them you shall obserue that flesh and bloud will haue some Sanctuarie to flie vnto and an indulgent obseruer will easily inuent arguments to mitigate if not quite to purge the foulenesse of each offence But Shebna his treason was so dangerous and inexcusable that it will admit of no extenuation In the second of Ester you shall reade of a dangerous treason attempted by Bigthan and Teresh Ester 2. vpon the body of an annointed King the King Assuerus where if we looke vpon the authors of the treason it was very dangerous and inexcusable for what could not these mischieuous villaines doe that were Squires of the body and had the life and being of the King in their owne custodie But yet if wee cast our eie vpon the obiect of their treason why surely it extended no farther neither had they any other obiect then the bare life only of Assuerus at the most In the third of that booke you shall finde recorded a barbarous massacre intended by Haman against the person not of one or two but euen of Mordecay and the people of Mordecay Heere now if you looke narrowly vpon the latitude of the obiect Mordecay and all the Iewes verily the crueltie of mercilesse Haman can no way be extenuated but yet if you will search a little farther and enquire after the end he proposed vnto himselfe we cannot say that the life of his liege Lord or that the welfare of the proper inhabitants of that Countrey or that the preseruation of the state wherein he liued and whereof hee was a principall member was any way put in hazard onely Mordecay and certaine Iewes dispersed vp and downe thorowout the Kings prouinces were aimed at In the second of Samuel at the 15 we haue storied a foule and vnnaturall treacherie of Absolon against his father Dauid 2. Sam. 15. where if we marke well the end he proposed vnto himselfe to wit the vsurpation of the Kingdome or the meanes he vsed for the atchieuing of this his end namely by stealing away the hearts of the people sollicitando pollicitando as Simo chargeth Crito in the Comedie feeding their fansies with affable gestures and faire promises by getting armes and militarie forces into his hands by quarrelling the execution of iustice and course of gouernment by deluding his father with a pretence of performing his vow and the more free seruing of God and a world of such like traiterous lies and deuices nothing can be said for it But yet if you will weigh the issue and euent which in probabilitie must needs haue followed you will not thinke it so hainous for the worst that can be said or feared was but the change of a Prince of the father for the sonne of an old for a new the Law should haue remained the same the Religion the same the gouernment the same and there would haue ensued little or no inuersion much lesse euersion of the state So that in all these though dangerous and inexcusable treasons and murders in themselues yet somewhat there is that a man partially affected may picke out to alleadge if not for defence yet for excuse and extenuation of them But Shebna his treason heere is like a strong poison composed of whatsoeuer was most bad in the worst of these And it was dangerous and inexcusable not onely in regard of the author as that of the Eunuches nor yet of the obiect as that of Hamans nor yet of the end and meanes
vp all the oyle and graine in the country before it was ripe sold Bishopricks gaue away Abbeyes to Falconers and committed a many the like insolencies grew in the end despicable in the sight of his people and was forsaken of all The like befell Lodouic Sforza Duke of Millan Guice Inuentorie of France vita Lewis the 12. who by his great exactions and impositions saith Guicciardin so exasperated his subiects that when Lewis the 12. came against him they forthwith tooke armes killed his Treasurer forced him to flie called in the French and yeelded the towne and themselues to their obedience And lastly Mathew of Wâ—stminster tells vs of King Iohn Mathew Westminster how that exosum se praebuit he made himselfe hatefull vnto his people as well for the murther of his nephew Arthur as for his adulteries his tyrannie his exactions and the like in respect whereof Vix alicuius meruit lamentatione deplorari he deserued not to be lamented scarcely of any How well and warrantably the subiects of these Kings demeaned themselues I leaue to your iudgement I like it not By these few examples you may see how apt the people are to grow in dislike with their King when hee once ceaseth to be truly royall and by hard vsage alienateth their mindes and affections from him But here was no such matter Shebna could not implead his Prince of any such outrage Ezechiah was a good and godly King vnto whom the Scripture still giues thiâ— testimonie that he did vprightly in the sight of the Lord according to all that Dauid his father had done he trusted in the Lord God of Israel So that after him was none like vnto him among all the Kings of Iuda neither were there any such before him 2 Reg 18.5 2 Kings 18.5 But this is not all maius opus moueo maior mihi nascitur ordo rerum there was more in Ezechiah then all this Ezechiah was a King and a King of the line of Dauid A King and a King of the tribe of Iudah vnto both which God had bound himselfe by so many promises and couenants as that he might as well faile to be what hee is as not to be a faithfull protector of Iudah and of the stocke of Dauid saying I haue sworne once by my holinesse that I will not faile Dauid Psal 89.63 His seede shall endure for euer and his throne shall be as the sunne before me Psal 89.36 His ego nec metas rerum nec tempora pono Imperium sine fine dedi So that here as in a mirrour you may see Shebna his more then Luciferian pride his Gygantomachia in that being a poore finite wretch a Typhon a vassall a bramble hee durst attempt that which hee could not but know called in question all those holy and faithfull promises of that neuer-fayling keeper of Iudah and of the line of Dauid End And cui bono that I may let goe those two former circumstances the Author and the Obiect and come to his end which he proposed to himselfe and the meanes whereby he must obtaine this his end to wit that Shebna might bee a King Here may you obserue a strange point of nature in this Traitor in that hee so impotently affected his owne priuat aduancement as that hee cared not what became of Ezechiah or of Ierusalem or of the whole land of Iudah so hee might bee a King Nay God himselfe must goe from his word fall from his promise forsake his annoynted abandon his owne peculium and proper people and all that Shebna may be a King Deare Christ what is this heart of man how boundlesse the desires thereof was it not enough for Shebna to bee glutted with the fauours of his Prince was it enough for him to speake in the phrase of the Poet to detaine fortune captiue with all her treasures and carry in triumph the felicities of this world glory honor riches but Shebna must needs be a King I that 's it Shebna must be a King Otherwise his ambitious heart would pant and bray and all this present greatnesse and honor wherewith he waâ— now invested would but increase his griefe sinke him in Melancholie and driue him into a consumption or worse disease so long as he was depriued of that which must crowne and actuate all the rest and giue vnto his aspiring minde her full complacencie and contentment and that 's a kingdom Shebna must be a King Ah poore Shebna quid hoc putemus esse qui modo scurra aut si quid hae re tricius videbatur Must he now needs be a King was it euer heard that a traitor was rewarded did euer wise man thinke him worthy of any reward but such as is truly due vnto him the gallowes yet Shebna must be a King Alexander the great saith Iustin at his Fathers obsequies commanded publique 〈…〉 done vpon those whom he had himselfe secretly imployed to kill him Tiberius saith Tacitus in the first of his Annales disavowed his commission giuen to a souldier to kill Agrippa telling him that he should answer the matter before the Senate And howsoeuer men or rather monsters of men many times are contented to take the benefit of a seruice done by euill meanes yet euer after they hold the instrument suspected and hate the malitious nature and disposition of him that doth it Yet Shebna must be a King Inuentor of France vita Henry the 3. Iames Clement a Iacobine voweth to kill Henry the third of France hee imparts his damnable proiect to Doctor Bourgoing Prior of his Couent to Father Comelet and other Iesuits and to all the chiefe of the sixteene and to the forty of Paris All incourage him to his happy designe they promise him Abbeyes and Bishoprickes and if he chance to bee made a Martyr no lesse then a place in heauen aboue the Apostles This traitor thus incouraged goes on kills the King and Paulus Quintus spends a great deale of wit and inuention in commendation of the murther it was rarum saith he inauditum memorabile facinus There is abroad in the world that shames not to iustifie Rauillacs stabbing of Henry the fourth late King of France and saith it was not so much Rauillacs fault as stoliditas Regis ob susceptum haereticorum patrocinium And I know there are that mince that superlatiue sulphurious treason Alas it was but the attempt of some few and those vnfortunate Gentlemen and that when they held the King for no King or not their King and lastly expectanda erat diuturna persecutio and what will you neuer giue ouer saith Parsons that personated traytor your clamors and exaggerations the Powder treason the Powder treason But tell mee if euer you read or heard of any that truly and in heart loued the traytor yet Shebna must be a King Meanes I but how or by what meanes say you must Shebna bee a King why sollicitando pollicitando which was Absolons course and many traytors
Aesculapius made an end of him by some long and miserable consumption thought himselfe secure and past danger and that hee had done nothing but what was lawfull and warrantable and what very well sorted with his great spirit and high imagination But beloued I beseech God of his infinite mercie giue me grace and as many as heare me this day forasmuch as we are all of vs in proportion of the same minde wee all of vs in our iollitie thinke wee may doe what wee list and so long as God forbeares to punish we will neuer forbeare to sinne But God grant which shall be all the vse I will now make and with which I will shut vp this point God grant I say wee may remember and lay vnto our hearts what that good Father S. Austin saith Nihil est infelicius Augustin Nothing is more vnfortunate then the felicitie of sinners whereby their penall impunitie is nourished and their malice strengthned and increased When God suffereth sinners to prosper then his indignation is the greater towards them saith that Father and when he leaueth them vnpunisht then he punisheth them most of all Witnesse this spectacle of Gods vengeance Shebna who not long since I my selfe saw in the course and passage of my meditations strong and in great power spreading himselfe like a greene bay tree Vidi eum super exaltatum as the vulgar hath it honoured and exalted aboue measure eleuated and lifted vp farre higher then the Cedar trees of Libanus And yet now againe I passed by and loe he was gone I sought him but he could not be found Psal 37. Psalm 37. And so I come to his punishment which is set downe by our Prophet heere in so full and ample manner as more cannot be said All that I shall need to doe will be to recommend vnto your further consideration two speciall traces and steps of Gods iustice in punishing Shebna whereof the first is the suddennesse of it Potentes potentèr tormenta patientur Wisdome 6.7 The second the manner of it Wisd 6.7 In quo peccamus in eodem plectimur Touching the suddennesse of it lend me your attention and you shall finde in our Prophets commission heere what you shall seldome or neuer finde in any of the like nature All other commissions giuen to Prophets when they were sent to denounce the ruine of any one man or nation runne for the most part with a prouiso and mercie is ioined with iudgement as Fabius with Marcellus to temper and allay the fiercenesse of it Nouit enim Deus suas comminationes conditionaliter esse intelligendas nempe nisi resipiscant saith learned Zanchius Zanchius de Nat. Dei sect 2. c. 4. As Ionas the third at the fourth verse Yet fortie daies and Niniue shall be ouerthrowne true if yee will not repent Ionah 3.4 and amend your liues by my preaching Isay 38.1 So Isay the 38. at the first which commination some thinke came iust at the very time of Zenacheribs fearefull expedition Put thy house in order for thou shalt die and not liue true vnlesse God may heare thy praiers and see thy teares and then his heart is turned within him his repentings are rowled together and he will not execute the fiercenesse of his wrath as it is Hos 11. Hos 11.9 But most pregnant of all other is that of God himselfe Ier. 18. at the 7. Ierem. 18.7 I will speake suddenly concerning a nation or concerning a kingdome to plucke it vp and to root it out and to destroy it But if this nation against whom I haue pronounced turne from their wickednesse I will repent of the plague that I thought to bring vpon them Nay Diuines say that if Iudas whom I may tearme the Traitor could haue repented he might haue found mercie Iudas had time though not grace to repent But Shebna his case heere is farre more lamentable and desperate heere 's no respite for repentance no hope of mercie all iudgement Transportando transportabit te Volutando volutabit te Behold the Lord will carry thee away and will surely couer thee hee will surely roll and turne thee like a ball in a large Countrey there shalt thou die and there shall the Chariots of thy glory cease O thou scandall and dishonour of thy Lord and Master Manner See how euery word hath his weight how euery sinne beares it owne burden and which is a speciall token of Gods heauie wrath and vnpartiall processe in iudgement see how he meets with him in the same kinde Adoni-bezek caused seuentie Kings hauing the thumbes of their hands and of their feet cut off to gather crummes vnder his Table and the thumbes of Adoni-bezeks hands and of his feet were cut off Iudg. 1.7 Iudg. 1.7 Agags sword made women childlesse and his mother was hewen in peeces and made childlesse among other women 1. Sam. 15.33 1. Sam. 15.33 Ralphe Lardein saith M. Fox betraied George Eagles a good and a iust man and the same Ralphe afterward was attached himselfe arraigned and hanged The chiefe of the Vault-pioners resolued to blow vp the Parliament with powder and the same Vault-pioners were maimed disfigured shot wounded and blowne vp with powder Right so fareth it with Shebna Shebna to refresh his reputation and vphold his greatnesse suppresseth Eliachim God suppresseth Shebna and raiseth vp Eliachim Shebna resolueth to liue and die in Ierusalem God driues him out of Ierusalem Shebna lookes for grace releefe and countenance from the enemie the enemie disgraceth hangeth executeth Shebna Psal 83.13.14.15.17.18 Psal 83.13 O my God make them like vnto a wheele and as the stubble before the winde Psal 83.14 Like as the fire that burneth vp the wood and as the flame that consumeth the mountaines Psal 83.15 Persecute them euen so with thy tempest and make them afraid with thy storme Psal 83.17 Let them be confounded and vexed euer more and more let them be put to shame and perish Psal 83.18 And they shall know that thou whose name is Iehouah art only the most high ouer all the earth Application And now to make some application and to compare Shebna with Gowrie and Shebnaes treason with the treason of Gowrie so farre as my knowledge of their like condition can parallell them together I must craue leaue to flie to that old refuge Similitudes hold not in all things Neither shall I be able to parallell Gowrie with Shebna nor his treason with Shebnaes treason in each particular Howsoeuer certaine it is to begin with that I first obserued in Shebna he was a man of note and eminencie a man of maruellous comely deportment and behauiour a man that had conquered the affections both of his owne Country-men and strangers in such sort as that notwithstanding a cloud of witnesses the cleare and laudable depositions of sundry examinants the Act of Parliament for the forfeiting of his estate and of his heires for euer and which is
instar mille testium the all-prouident hand of God in opening the mouth of Sprot and hailing him to the Ministers of iustice and causing him to be his owne accuser and that an eight yeeres after when Bour and Loganâ— two other Conspirators were dead and putrified in their graues and deuoured of wormes and no mortall creature could detect him but his owne witnesse Iudge and executioner the Conscience of his owne breast Yet notwithstanding there are not a few who shame not to take vp that of the Prophet Quis credet auditui Who will beleeue your report But this I will boldly say and it shall stand incontroleable till the day of doome to the eternall confusion of Gowrie that he was as much tied vnto his Maiestie as a subiect in his case and of his qualitie could possibly bee vnto his Soueraigne neither shall it be any amplification at all or any the least straine of wit to tell you that his Highnesse proceeding and carriage towards Gowrie was farre more gracious and charitable then that of Ezechiah vnto Shebna For Shebna by the meanes of Ahaz was now thorowly acquainted with the course of gouernment and happily Ezechiah might haue especiall vse of his aduice and could not be without him and that the children of God are driuen often times to relie vpon the wise in their generation is not Ezechiah his case alone Secondly Shebna for ought we finde during the time of Ahaz and vntill this terrible inuasion of Zenacherib remained in his allegeance sound and vncorrupt whereas Gowrie bloudie Gowrie for I shall euer call him so he was a man of bloud his heart was died as red as scarlet with the royall bloud of an anointed King could stand his Maiestie in no such stead Secondly his race was tainted the leauen of his fathers disloyaltie had sowred the whole lumpe and masse of his thoughts and affections and therfore he could looke for no gracious aspect from his Maiestie sith of so bad a kinde as Traitors are it is true the souldiers said at the death of Maximinus sonne there ought not to be saued so much as a whelpe A pardon an indulgence a conniuencie doth neuer change the cankred and festered distemper of a wicked wretch There are benefits which are odious which exasperate and cause the heart of an vnthankfull malicious miscreant to swell and burst againe when he is as it were conquered and ouercome of loue and faire vsage All instances and allegations omitted whatsoeuer take that of Parrie for a pregnant president from whom in despight of Pope or Deuill the very aspect of our late right illustrious Queene extorted this feruent acknowledgement When I looked vpon her Maiestie saith hee and what maruell for she was the most glorious creature of her sex that then breathed remembred hir many excellencies I was troubled and yet I saw no remedie for my vowes were in heauen my letters and promises in earth and had she preferred me neuer so greatly yet must my enterprise haue held But what should we goe further then his Maiesties owne experience who thought by being gracious at the beginning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 31. to winne all mens hearts to a louing and willing obedience but found by the contrary the disorder of the Countrey and the losse of his thankes to be all his reward Yet notwithstanding so graciously dealt he with this vngracious Traitor that for his sake he was content to dispence with the principles of morall wisdome and after a sort to offer violence to his owne princely knowledge and experience Whereupon it was that hee heaped so many coales of fire vpon this bloudie Gowries head and that beyond all example True it is that Saul for reasons best knowne vnto himselfe could not endure that any of his subiects that were diffident and doubtfull of his title should so much as bee called in question There shall not a man die this day for to day the Lord hath saued Israel 1. Sam. 11.14 1. Sam. 11.14 And Dauid so farre foorth as it concerned his owne person was well pleased to pardon Shimei Thou shalt not die and the King sware vnto him 2. Sam. 19.23 2. Sam. 19.23 And Salomon dealt so mercifully with him that he confessed The thing is good as my Lord the King hath said so will thy seruant doe 1. Reg. 2.38 1. Reg. 2.38 But heere his Maiestie vpon no one motiue in the world neither vpon the apprehension of an extraordinarie blessing as Saul nor vpon a passion of ioy as Dauid nor vpon a point of policie for a spirt and after three yeares to meet with him for good and all as Salomon but freely and voluntarily of his owne benigne nature and regall clemencie forgiueth and acquitteth Gowrie he restoreth him to his land he restoreth him to his dignities he nourisheth and bringeth vp two or three of his sisters as it were in his owne bosome by a continuall attendance vpon his dearest bedfellow in her priuie chamber And if all this had beene too little he would haue giuen him as it was said to Dauid such and such things 1. Sam. 12.18 1. Sam. 12.18 Quorum si singula duram Flectere non poterant potuissent omnia mentem But O ignominia domus Domini It is more then stupendious to see how all this wholesome nourishment which should haue bred good bloud turned to venome and how strangely that which would haue dissolued an heart of flint and wrought remorse made this villaine more retchlesse and obdurate all this louing commemoration of so many binding benefits no more mooued the bloudie butcher Alexander then the ruthfull mone of Lycaon fierce Achilles but all this he heard and as there the Poet saith replied Homer Il. φ. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For now after a little pause and conference had with his bloudie brother he begins afresh Ingrediturque domum luctus comitantur euntem Et pauor terror trèpidoque insania vultu Now no one word falls from his blacke mouth but dismall death tell not me of thy gifts nor of thy good turnes nor of any price of redemption whatsoeuer die die thou must the death of Patrâ—clus saith Achilles the death of my Father saith bloudy Alexander will not suffer me to thinke on mercy Now Antaeus-like he renues his strength Tusc quest l. 5. and as a furious Rambe vpon recoyle comes with the greater force or as Balistae lapidum reliqua tormenta telorum as Tully saith eo grauiores ictus habent quo sunt contenta obducta vehementius so grew this bloudy Alexander more violent and outragious Neuer did rauenous wolfe so insult and prey vpon a silly lambe neuer did doting she-Beare rob'd of her whelps so fret and foame as now this bloudy Alexander did Where though I confesse it addes little to what hath been already said yet to the dishonor of bloudy Alexander I beseech you note how devoide he was of all manhood
to Doway what meant that hissing of the Bee of Ashur that buzzing of the flie of Aegypt and all about this time Whereunto tended those many pasquils and pamphlets touching the doctrine of Succession Whereto tended those confident predictions of the Romish Rabshakehs Nondum completa est iniquitas Anglorum saith Pererius Dabit Deus tempus quando vetula illa anus saith another and all about this time But of all other whereto tended or what construction can you make of Pope Clements Bull to wit After the death of the Queene whether by course of nature or otherwise whosoeuer should lay claime or title to the Crowne of England though neuer so directly and neerely interessed therein by descent and bloud-royall yet vnlesse hee were such a one as would not only tolerate the Catholike Romish Religion but by all best endeuours and force promote it they should admit or receiue none to be King of England Surely when I consider this in mine heart as it is Lam. 3. I resolue it was the Lords mercy that we were not consumed For had not God his vnspeakable rich mercie be praised for it vpon the decease of the late euer-blessed Queene Elizabeth reserued a seed and a seed of a right generous kinde for ought that we can gather from the predictions Bulles and Briefes of those Romish Rabshekehs our Land as the Prophet Isay saith had lien waste Isai 1. our Cities had beene burned with fire strangers had deuoured our Land in our presence and it would haue become desolate as the ouerthrow of forraine enemies Had not God reserued a seed and a seed of a right generous kinde the daughter of Sion should haue remained like a Cottage in a Vineyard like a lodge in a garden of Cucumbers and like a besieged Citie Had not God reserued a seed and a seed of a right generous kinde wee had beene as Sodome and Gomorrah all in combustion and hurly burly then should you haue seene heere a Bonner whipping and broiling of poore innocents there a Gardiner proscribing imprisoning murdering of the right heires and zealous professors of Gods truth Then should you haue seene the very channels in our streets swell with the bloud of Martyrs as Iordan in the time of haruest Iosuah 3.15 and their bodies piled vp for fuell for beacons and bonefires in vsum nocturni luminis And which is a miserie which the heathen the sublimatest wit among the heathens could not expresse no sacking no rifling no razing of Cities no burning of whole townes and villages commeth any whit neere it Then should you haue seene cleannesse of teeth in all your Cities and scarcenesse of bread in all your places I meane the spirituall famine of Gods word when the people and sheepe of Christs fold should haue beene turned out to graze on the naked pasture of an implicite faith and should neuer haue come to the sight of that holy Manna that pabulum animae the sacred word of God but happily once in the yeere you should haue had a Ducking Frier step vp into this or the like holy Mount and fed them with the saliua the froth and foame of an allegoricall and tropologicall Postiller But why doe I argue the euent from the threats and Bulles and Briefes of those Romish Rabshakehs or why should we feare their feares or be afraid of them Isai 8.12 Who seeth not nay as S. Austin saith speaking of the blessings which the name of Christ and the Christian profession brought into the world in his first booke De Ciuitate Dei and sixth chapter He that seeth not this is blinde August he that seeth it and praiseth it not is thanklesse he that hindereth him that praiseth it is mad How that if violence had preuailed in the day of bloud we had beene bereft of all those blessings which his Maiestie as a ricke of corne came laden with into this Land euen in number as many as the benedictions of Abraham especially 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which â—â—â—â—â—â—dually accoâ—â—anied his 〈◊〉 person and depended not so much vpon the change of the Prince and death of Queene Elizabeth as vpon his and his only succession in the Throne I shall not need to reckon them I assure my selfe there is not any thankfull heart or true Israelite indeed but hath them in a table before him Sure I am had we wanted the least of them and had not God as on this day auenged himselfe on bloudie Gowrie â—â—th suddenly and in the same manner as it was said of Shebna we had wanted them very babes and sucklings would haue beene eloquent in the commemoration of them and that now we haue them in their height and perfection we are not sensible of them But beloued I beseech you in the bowels of Christ Iesus let vs in the day of wealth and all kinde of happinesse so comfort our selues as that we quite forget not the day of affliction Let vs so solace our selues with remembrance of what we now are as that we abandon not all thought of what wee might haue beene and of what God had he not beene the more mercifull might well haue depriued vs of Now O Lord God let thy name be magnified for euer by them that shall say The Lord of hosts is God ouer Iudah and let the house of thy seruant the King be established before thee 2. Sam. 7. Let it please thee to blesse the house of thy seruant that it may continue for euer and let the house of thy seruant and of his seed be blessed with thy best blessings Amen FINIS