Certainely this flying Booke mightily triumphed there like the Angell of the Lord in the Campe of Ashur that all after-ages might out of an awfull reuerence frame this incontroulable inference that he which plagued a Kingdome wil neuer leaue an house vnplagued for periury Wherefore we conclude that though God was much glorified and Religion iustified in the suffering of that holy Martyr Iohn Husse at the Councell of Constance yet both were cruelly dishonoured on the parts of his cruell persecutours because they put him to death contrary to safe-conduct A promise equiualent to an oath in the Lawes estimation Iohannes Molanus a professour of Louaine in a booke of this argument acknowledgeth the fact but with certaine limitations First that safe-conduct was granted not by the Councell but by Sigismund by which distinction vpon supposall that Sigismund and the Councell might be distinguished the fault is not discharged but only translated Secondly that it was against vnlawful violence and not against lawfull executions where he stands beholding to Minsinger the Ciuilian who mainetaines indeed that a man may bee punished for some superuenient misbehauiour notwithstanding safe-conduct whereas Iohn Husse before excommunicated for non-appearance suffered in that very case for which hee receiued warrant of security The disputers third euasion may wrest laughter from the spleene of grauitie it selfe which is that hee had safe conduct to come but not to returne Had not returne beene specified in the letters Minsinger might haue taught Molanus in the 82. obseruation the place whence hee mistooke his second shift that in letters of safegard where accesse is promised there recesse is alwayes included And was it then credible that an vnderstanding man should moone one foote out of doores vpon such weake tearmes of security Yes saith this charitable Author for you must note that this Iohn Husse was a reprobate and reprobates are very presumptuous Thus this censurer of bookes boldly transcends his commission and censures men Wee are the more vnwilling to meâ—e out the same measure backe againe vnto him because although hee square with vs in the Hypothesis touching Iohn Husse yet hee mainely ioynes with vs in the Thesis that faith must be kept with Heretikes wherein after seuerall proofes he takes it in some kinde of indignation that Hermannus Letmasius a Diuine of Paris misapplieth Isidores sentence In malis promissis rescinde fidem to the violating of promises made with Heretikes since Isidore meant by euill a present cuill of sinne no lawfull matter of an oath not a future euill of punishment or ensuing inconuenience By such principles of periurie as Let masius striues to lay downe you may generally mistrust the Papists especially considering a doctrine subordinate and in the next neighbour-hood to wit equiuocation by the benefit of which politike muention both in priuate and before a Magistrate they can say what they will sweare what they will against their knowledge and against their conscience prouided that they reserue in minde the contrarie Before you passe ouer the Alpes all trauailing young Gentlemen studie this learning as young Scholers in the Vniuersitie doe studie fallacies not for your practise Quid Romae faciam mentirinescio but for your owne profit and security With them that peruert the formall intent of words which were first ordained not for concealement but discouerie you can haue no fruitfull conference you can haue no safe society with them that impoyson the remedies of contention and cancell all seales of confirmation Amongst our selues at home sacred and inuiolable euermore bee the Religion of an oath both within without the place of iudgement In iudgement for no man that hath entred into a statute but vnderstands it extends to be executed on his body lands goods and will not suffer his eyes to sleepe nor his eyelids to slumber nor the temples of his head to take any rest vntill hee knowes how to performe the defesance and condition An oath is a kinde of Statute entred into and acknowledged vnto God the condition to say the whole truth and nothing but the truth to bee extended on the house The curse shall enter into the house of the false swearer the goods the lands the bodie the soule and the diuell like a nimble Vnder-sherife stands readie to take all in execution Phalaris licet imperet vt sis falsus admoto dictet periuria tauro Were it possible that the greatest Tyrant would extort a falsehood from me by proposall of the greatest torment as God be magnified for our Prince and peace wee know no such violence yet were it possible still I must hold fast truth as the hornes of the Altar because our Sauiour hath ouer-ruled this case Matth. 10. Feare not them which can kill the body but are not able to kill the soule rather feare him which is able to destroy both bodie and soule in hell Without the place of iudgement thinke not that men must be couzened with othes as children are with Counters Glorie not in equiuocating formes of swearing with some secret reference to the mysteries of your vnknowne profession For thus runnes the rule recited by the Schoole-men and Canonists out of Isidore Quacunque arte verborum c. With what sleight and cunning phrase soeuer you sweare God the witnesse of your conscience takes it as hee to whom you sweare by common construction vnderstands it Therefore subtile Trades-men ensnare themselues whiles they make a snare of Gods ordinance and the credulous buyer departs away nothing so heauy loaden and oppressed with the price of wares as the sellers soule is loaden with the weight of his owne periurie Cast off all in all places at all times because as Philo speakes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 false swearing proceeds from much swearing while vse breeds facility facility custome and custome periurie Let your yea be yea and your nay nay sweare not at all in your ordinary communication Heere am I fallen vpon that complaint which I could fill with teares as well as with words It may grieue I say not any tender but any heart of flesh which knowes not yet the degrees of the nether milstones hardnesse to heare that Name which is reuerend vnto Angles and terrible vnto diuels tossed about among the sonnes of men without reuerence or feare Children we see haue wit to sweare rashly before they haue discretion to speake distinctly Young men vse othes in hot bloud as arguments of courage and resolution Old men sweare in choller to maintaine their credit and reputation and he that will not sometimes rap out an othe in a brauado hath in the common opinion neither the wit nor the courage nor the credit of a man sure no stampe nor spark nor spirit of a Gentleman T is a bare and naked speech a cold and dead narration which is not mingled and interlaced with some blasphemous mention either of our Maker or Sauiour There must be either nailes or wounds or bloud or heart or body or soule
repent not as soone as we can repent for this that we repented no sooner Foelices quibus hae minae fient medicinae Happy thrise happy are they whom these woes shal woo to repentance This of the denunciation Woe The sinnes follow Pride and Drunkennesse I must begin with pride and first with her nature pride then with her ornament the crowne of pride For the description of this haughty sinne which springeth from the preposterous selfe-loue whereof euery man more or lesse is partaker most of the Schoolemen are beholding to S. Augustine and he truly calleth it a peruerse or inordinate desire of ones own excellency out of which as they iointly proceed in the steppes of S. Gregory either a man presumptuously challengeth to himself that which he hath not or that whereof he is owner but will not confesse himselfe receiuer the former is more senseles being altogether without any colour of ground or matter of tentation but the latter is more hainous because it includeth an vnthankfull iniury directed against God immediatly This iniury is offered two waies first when a man maketh himselfe the totall cause of all good things impudently denying the receit of any benefit Secondly when hee maketh himselfe the principall cause acknowledging the receit but pleading his owne merit here common reason might steppe and obiect that though merit bee alwaies a doctrinall sinne in Romish mouthes and a personall sinne in too many English hearts yet none euer will crosse Saint Iames his doctrine Euery good giuing and euery perfect gift is from aboue Iames 1.17 or if any shall bee so gracelesse that man may bee thought in equity more then proud rather in plaine termes an Atheist or an Infidell Certainely none vnder the degree of a manifest Infidel can possibly be so farre corrupt in estimation as to maintaine such an vnchristian monstrous Paradox vniuersally but in particular and for the time passionate affectation of their owne worth may beguile wise mens vnderstandings and teach them so proud an outward deportment as they could haue no prouder whosoeuer should imagine constantly Gods gifts their owne creatures Now Gods glory wherof as of his dearest spouse he is most ielous My glory wil I not giue to another Es 42. must of necessity cal for a woe against a sin of this nature Woe was the portion of the King of BabyloÌ„ who said in his hart I will ascend into heauen Esay 14.13 and exalt my Throne aboue besides the starres of God Esa 14 Woe was the portion of the Prince of Tyrus who said I am a God and sit in the seat of God Ezech. 28. in the midst of the Sea But aboue al that either haue bin read or heard Woe is the portion of that man of sin that child of perdition whose triple Crowne shall I say nay whose foote of pride is aduanced aboue all Crownes of pride I meane the beasts vncleane hoofes lifted vp either to receiue the kisses or spurne off the Diadems and tread on the necke of Kings and Emperours so that hee doth sit as God in the Temple of God 2. Thes 2. shewing himselfe that he is God if not by verball profession openly and directly yet couertly by consequent in reall vsurpation I touch not his going in Procession before the Osâ—e t is vnto vs but the going of a creature before a creature his sitting aboue the Altar Lapis super lapidem a stone vpon a stone no great pride of precedencie but what can God or Christ be more then he maketh himselfe a forgiuer of all sinnes a binder of all consciences a dispenser with all lawes a disposer of all Kingdomes a commander of Angels and diuels a sole Clauiger of heauen and hell though he should carry numberlesse numbers of people with him headlong to the kindgom of darknes none must say Quid it a facis Holy Father why doe you so you can appeale no more ascend no higher dispute no further then to the closet and consistorie of his brest wherein there is neither weaknesse nor error Saucy therefore was that Canon Regular in the daies of Paul the third who did set out a booke against the Popes authority wherein among others supprest this was one galling argument Either the Pope is a brother then may he bee warned at the least if not excommunicated Matth. 18. or else he is no brother then why doth hee say with vs Pater noster Our Father Wherewith when the Pope was both offended and perplexed a Courtier gaue him this iesting counsell Nolite vos vnquam dicere Pater noster solutum est argumentum Neuer say your Pater noster and this argument is answered As iesting as it was wee iudge it agreeable to Popish principles for we can doe him no greater wrong then once to thinke hee saith his Pâ—ter noster if he be as he is termed by the permitted and authorised voice of blasphemous parasites Dominus Deus noster Papa Our Lord God the Pope How long Lord how long holy and true dost thou not consume the pride of this wicked miscreant with the spirit of thy mouth and with the brightnesse of thy comming Thus we preach and thus you heare and thus all Christian hearts doe pray meane while euery man must watch ouer his owne soule with all diligence leâ—t as the Pope rose whilst the Emperor was absent when the feare of God departeth there steale vp in his heart a little Antichrist when once a mans dependance vpoÌ„ God is forgotten hee shall easily mistake his owne proportion when his proportion is mistaken hee will dote in admiration of himselfe and admiring himselfe he quickly proceeds to contempt and extenuation of others I thanke thee O God I am not as other men or as this Publican But as Optatus concludes that parable meliora inuenta sunt Peccata cum humilitate quam Innocentia cum superbâ—â Humble sinne was found better then proud innocency My short aduice for preuenting of this Satanicall sin is first that men would bring themselues often into Gods presence which was the thing that made Iob abhorre himself Iob. 42.6 Isai 6.5 and Isay confesse himselfe a man of polluted lippes and Saint Barnard liuing in a time and place of darknesse detest the proud opinion of merit Secondly that they would often examine themselues by the rule of the Apostle What hast thou that thou hast not receined The Crowne on her head makes her appeare more glorious either sitting like her Reu. 17. or standing like her 2. King 9. or comming out of her chamber like her in the 25. of the Acts verse 25. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with great pompe speaking the pompous words of vanitie walking with the pompous gesture of maiestie clothed in the pompous robes of brauerie the least of these might make a simple man eloquent and I would neuer wish a fitter subiect in this great assembly were I to treat of one subiect alone but the larger part of this
contingat abundè Some times besides haue had more experience of some diuine attributes then others I appeared to Abraham Exod. 〈◊〉 Isaac and Iacob by the name of Almightie God but by my name Iehouah was I not knowne to them Our fathers who built our Synagogues had sensible triall of Gods bountifulnesse though all bee conueied downe vnto vs yet is hee better knowne vnto vs by the name of wisedome For here hath wisedome built her house and hewen out more then twice seuen Pillars and as if this were but an earnest of more hereafter loe where shee is building still with both her hands What should I speake of Naioth now turn'd into Kiriah-sepher Ioshua 15.15 A City of Bookes wherein Wisdomes youngest children may consult all Sages Vniuersities Churches and Kingdomes calling a Counsell of their councels altogether 1. Cor. 9.2 If I be not an Apostle vnto others did Paul tel the Corinthians yet doubtles I am vnto you If I be not Wisdom vnto others may God and Christ tell vs doubtlesse I am wisdome vnto you Neither are we taught onely like children but like children nourished in such a liberall and magnificent manner as no traueller could euer parallel Iustus Lipsius who might haue sued out a Writ of dotage in his later daies doted not in this 3. Booke 〈◊〉 cap. Vnum Oxoniense Collegium rem inquisiui superat decem nostra One Colledge in Oxford I haue inquired the truth surpasseth ten of ours in his Local Historie of Louaine When Pope Adrian the sixth had erected his Colledge there with these inscriptions in the porch or entrance first Traiectum plantauit then Louanium rigauit after that Caesar dedit in cremenium Traiectum hath planted Louain watred Caesar gaue the increase No more another in scoffe subscribed Hic Deus nihil fecit Here God did nothing Take heed wee slubber not ouer our meditations here as hee did his inscriptions there omitting the principall that another come not after and write Hîc Deus nihil fecit All these strangers then will rise vp in iudgement against vs who walking through this Mesopotamia protest we dwell in the garden of Eden Praesentemque refert quaelibet herba Deum And euery herb sheweth that God is amongst vs. You that are Lords of this herbage suffer not these herbs and flowers to bee trod vnder feete by beasts in mens shapes as your soules will answer al terrible expostulations Must God nourish children and they rebell Shall Christ come to his owne and his owne refuse him Is there no balme in Gilead no wisdome in Teman no goodnesse in Oxford God forbid What should Wisdome doe Whither should she goe Where should she began Auditory Will you send her into the tents of Kedar and the streets of Askelon Alas Askelon and Kedar looke vpon her and her children for euill and not for good Onely to shape excuses out of her childrens examples for biting and toothlesse Vsury for conuentionall and confidentiall Simony If men in Colledges do so and so then this and then that and then I know not what you shall heare an hundred conclusions I hope the power of your integrity shall one day stop the mouthes of such disputers that they may bee put to a non plus and hissed out of the world for want of all exemplary arguments and did I thinke such fooles did now peepe in at Wisdoms windowes I would lift vp my weak voyce like a trumpet once more to proclaime that Wisdome is still iustified euen heere of her children Though Samuel D. Reynolds the true child and witnesse of Wisdome be dead and buried in his owne house at Ramah then when all Israel needed no commandement to mourne there is I trust a remnant who can say Whose oxe haue I taken and their haire shall neuer stare at the question Nay if they knew that finger in their hands which itcht to bee but accessorie to the least circumstance of a corrupt bargaine they would cut it off and sacrifice it to the memorie of those Founders whose Almes should not be saleable What vse of words Beleeue your owne eyes you shall perforce confesse that though wee vaunt not yet we despaire not of some Nehemiahs The former Gouernours that were before him Nebem 5. had been chargeable vnto the people and had taken of them bread and wine besides forty Shekles of siluer yea and their seruants bare rule ouer the people but so did not hee because of the feare of God rather he fortified a portion in the worke of the wall Yet strangers might imagine vs Scholars in a fooles paradise and I my selfe should not iustifie Wisdome but beguile mine own vnderstanding dispence with my conscience and preuaricate with that prouidence of God which brought me hither would I proceed hence to the iustification of all equiuocal members which are or haue been of our visible incorporation If any man therefore that is gone out from vs drinke securely in the Vessels of the Temple and deuoure holy things conuerted into new moulds as if God who hath the chaine of all causes and reason of all sequels tied to the foot-stoole of his Throne might be blinded with a few changes of the property let his knees smite one against another at Baltasars iudgement If any man among vs for a base nemo scit brought in at a Non licet gate dare hazard the shipwrack of a good conscience let his shoulders shrinke at the name of Gehezi his leprosie These are the worlds owne changelings wrongfully laid at Wisdoms doores Their Parasites may soothe them with a mocke of Wisdoms children as Alexanders flatterers would haue gulled him with a title of Iupiters sonne But when they are thus and thus wounded they may crie as he cried 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is the blood of a man t is not such as Home◠saith issueth from the Gods so This is surely flesh and blood my brethren t is not such as the Scripture saith proceeds from Wisdoms childrē therfore as they need not answere to the name of children so the Church and Vniuersity may consist without them wee are not bound to defend them Rather that such plants whom God neuer planted may be rooted out and misse of propagation by succession I beseech my mothers daughters the chaste virgin graces still to continue looking vpon one another especially the graces of men vpon the graces of God that they neuer either publikely or priuately cast a looke much lesse fasten a kisse vpon a rude and vngracious supplicant lest while wise mens fauours are entailed to fooles barbarisme steale into this place at the same gate that Yotylas entred Rome Porta Asinaria and our Colledges now houses as I am verily perswaded of Wisdoms children degenerate into theeuish dennes of money-changers or garrisons of Turkish Ianizaries which abomination of desolation the Lord in mercy keepe for euer farre from this Holy place and let all that haue or desire to haue in
or somewhat else it wants due complement and circumstance O God must the foundation of our honour needes bee laid in thy dishonour Lord Iesus was it the end of thy diuers sufferings to minister vnto men diuers formes of swearing or to take away the variety of their soules diseases To take away the variety of their soules diseases without all controuersie Therefore let them feare that they haue little or no part in the merit who thus abuse euery part in the paines of his sufferings If the loue of God with all the bonds of all the benefits wee haue receiued or hope to receiue cannot perswade vs to couenant with our lips against this euill from which of all euils wee haue most power of abstinence to which of all euils we haue fewest temptations yet remember from whence it ariseth from the first cause of euill Sathan whither it falleth into the last effect of euill damnation and in the middle point the short spanne of our life what mischiefe and vengeance it procureth for the sentence I know is Apocryphall but the sense compared with this flying Booke appeares to bee most Canonicall A man which vseth much swearing Eccles 23. shall bee filled with wickednes and the plague shall neuer goe from his house which continuance of the plague was the third part in my first diuision Some would in this place obserue a raigning and a domineering nature in the curse of this Booke which shrinkes not into corners but takes possession in the middle roome most honourable Mediâ dominatur in aulâ Kings indeede haue sometimes chosen the middle place of Kingdomes for their seat because that I may speake in that olde similitude the way to keepe a stiffened hide from rising at the sides round about is to set your feete vpon the center but the language originall shewes me small odds betweene In the house and in the midst of the house Therefore I rather obserue the stubburne quality of vengeance which like a froward Inmate once admitted vnder any roofe wil neither suddenly remoue nor remaining cease to be troublesome God hath ordained to put a difference betweene his friends whom he chastiseth out of that anger which Saint Augustine calleth an anger of consummation and his enemies whom he plagueth out of another anger an anger of consumption that the rod of the wicked shall not rest vpon the lot of the righteous Psal 125. That was the ground of that heroicall confidence of Athanasius when hee pronounced of Iulians hot persecution Nubecula est citò transibit it is but a cloud and a cloud will quickly vanish As for the vnbeleeuer The wrath of God abideth vpon him Ioh. 3. which words haue a double aspect one backwards according to Saint Augustine as if it were a wrath of great antiquity it comes not now t was before vpoÌ„ him another aspect it hath forwards in the Greeke Fathers exposition noting the continuance of wrath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It shall not depart from him In this sense it abideth and I know not whether there may not lurk in the word vpon him some secret intimation of aduantage froÌ„ an vpper place as though reuenge did stand continually preying vpon a wicked man like the rauenous bird in the fable vpon Prometheus or that other vpon Titius in hell whereof if any demaund Why is mine heauinesse continuall and my plague desperate and cannot be healed they haue matter enough for answere within themselues their owne obstinate continuance in sinne whereof though the particular acts are transeunt yet the staine and guilt is permanent A consideration which abundantly iustifieth the tenour of Gods temporall punishments in earth forasmuch as it quitteth his eternall iudgement executed vpon the damned in hell whereof Saint Gregorie Ad distrâ—cti Iudicis iustitiam pertinet vt nunquam can eant supplicio quoram mens in hac vita nunquam voluit carere peccato it concernes the iustice of the strickt Iudge that they neuer want punishment whose mindes would neuer haue wanted sinne yea they desperately cast themselues into a state irrecouerable and they would haue liued for euer onely that they might haue sinned for euer And therefore no maruaile if the flying Booke heere lodge all night with the impenitent malefactours because impenitencie deales with it as the Romanes dealt with victorie clipping the wings of it that it cannot fly away It shall remaine in the midst of his house It is no Christian wisedome then but carnall weaknesse for men any way visited by the hand of heauen to sigh and groane and aske how long out of ignorance and wonder that the terme of their heauy visitation is not yet expired In such a lamentable condition the Church may teach them how to correct and direct their spirit in the third of Ieremies Lamentations First there must be an inquisition after the proper cause Why is man liuing sorrowfull man suffereth for his sinnes then a resolution to vse the proper remedie Let vs search and try our wayes and turne vnto the Lord. Otherwise as when you are dead all the while any moisture remaineth the wormes will not forsake your carcasse so while you liue the curse will waite close vpon the cause still a sinner and still a sufferer Now the sinne of them which either deuoure holy things which is abomination or rob and oppresse their brethren remaines still as long as the spoyles themselues are vnrestored Israel could not stand before their enemies till they had put away the execrable thing from among them Jâ—sh 7.11 no more will the curse of the flying Booke vntill the treasures of wickednesse be returned backe againe to their owners Let the great Goliahs and Anâ—kims of the world who grinde the faces of the poore as they feare a weight greater then a milstone about their necks when these shallow riuers of temporarie punishment shall run into the sea of eternall torments come downe from their pride and imitate euen the greatest of them the example of little Zachâ—â—â— the greatest example that euer was for effectuall and substantiall restitution and let them breake off their sinnes with righteousnes which giueth euery man his owne for if wee beleeue Saint Augustine in his fifty foure Epistle ad Macedonium non remittitur peccatum nisi restituatur ablatum Without restitution no remission and where there is no remission of the guilt of sin there can be no decrease of the power of sinne and where the power of sinne decreaseth not the plague of sinne increaseth like a spreading plague or Leprosie which spares neither house nor walles of the house which is my last generall part the consequent or effect of the curse It shall consume the house with the stones thereof and the timber thereof What Salomon at the fourteenth of the Prouerbs deliuereth in generall The house of the wicked shall be destroyed you may conceiue heere verified in a speciall manner of destruction It shall consume it A consumption which Bildad
describeth Iob. 18 not without allusion to Sodome and Gomorrah Brimstone shall be scattered vpon his habitation Yet if a man himselfe and his children might escape more houses then one would bee purchased for money No the thiefe and the swearer shall bee cut off in the former verse Iob. 18.19 He shall neither haue sonne nor nephew saith Bildad amongst his people nor any posterity in his dwellings the curse will consume the house and the house in the Scripture comprehends the whole family For all that yet though his bodie be accursed like the barreÌ„ fig-tree Neuer fruit grow more on thee and his house accursed too which consisteth rather in the frame and fabricke then in materials may he not say as Absolon said doe as Absolon did I haue no sonne to keep my name in remembrance suffer me to take some of these stones of emptinesse that I may reare a pillar and call that pillar after my name no nor so Downe with it downe with it euen to the ground doth vengeance cry not a stone must bee left vpon a stone his remembrance saith Bildad shall perish from the earth and hee shall haue no name in the street This consumption is a totall destruction without all dispensation It shall consume it with the stones thereof and the timber thereof So Spurius Melius and Sp. Cassius in Rome and all such bastard plants haue beene rooted out iustice ordaining besides their own death Vt penatium quoque strage punirentur saith Valerius Lib. 6. Cap. 3. Euery mans house is his Castle by the ciuill Law and no man may bee dragged out of his owne doores iudicio ciuili yet in such causes as wee in England call Crowne causes especially Treason euident contempt or contumacie stately buildings haue beene vtterlie ruinated as theirs in the third of Daniel or conuerted into filthie draughts and receptacles of excrements This seueritie men haue learned of God himselfe who if hee make his owne Temple waste where it once becomes a denne of theeues certainely hee will by no meanes spare priuate houses which are not onely shops for exercise and shelters for defence but Monuments also for the bragging proclamation of iniquity When the stones at euery ioynt doe weepe like Marble and the timber at euerie pinne doth bleed like the Vine when both the stone out of the wall and the beame out of the timber ioyne in a mournfull Antheme one beginning and the other answering Woe woe to the man that buildes an house with bloud the curse must needs consume that house with the stones thereof and timber thereof Now then that my speech may keepe within the bounds of your pattence R. I should thinke my selfe and others blest in this dayes errand if euerie man would vouchsafe by the tryall of his heart to trie the foundations of his house whether they totter vpon sand neere vnto destruction or rest vpon the rocke able to withstand the tempest of Gods indignation whether you haue indeed a Palace of pleasure for your off-spring a fortresse of defence for your posteritie or a tower for the records of vengeance and for this flying Booke a Librarie doe it I beseech you throughly No where doth flesh and bloud delight to deceiue it selfe more then where the wages of deceite is a colour of profit and aduantage They that sell the sheepe of the slaughter in the eleuenth of this Prophecie Say Blessed bee the Lord for I am rich Many Prophets I make no question haue cryed out of this place as Zephaniah cryed against Ierusalem Woe to her that is filthie and polluted Woe to the robbing Citie and as Nahum against Nineue O bloudie Citie the prey departeth not it is full of lies and robberies they meant the men more then the walles though peraduenture the walles did as much obserue them Nor was there suspicion without all probable grounds who haue had Trades-men throughout most ages of the world in continuall ielousie otherwise our Sauiour would haue found another name then Theeues for buyers and sellers in the Temple and that old Athenian Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had neuer beene enacted That men should not lie in place of entercourse You doe not heare me deriuing Marchants from so wicked a Patrone as Mercurie though the verse say Expertos surandi homines hac imbuit arte Mercurius Notwithstanding the danger of mine owne profession a burden vnder which the shoulders of Angells may iustly shrinke and for which my shoulders will smart if I bee not faithfull pleads sufficiently for my boldnesse while I plainly tell you that your profession is dangerous yea exceeding dangerous Difficile est saith one vt non interueniat inter ementes vendentes peecatum It is hard to keepe sinne out of trading For Customers are not procured by chaunce but gained as it falleth out by casuall opportunities Therefore where the feare of God is once expelled or ouerwhelmed with couetousnesse affection cannot so much mooue you you deale not so much with friends or acquaintance discredit cannot trouble you you deale with strangers either soone forgotten or neuer seene againe vntill you meete in heauen or meete in hell Satan stands at your elbowes all the while stirring vp your desire of profit in ouerprizing cherishing the pride of your wittes in ouer-reaching and mingling lies oathes and blasphemies all his foulest brokeries with your fairest marchandise The meanes to stand vpon such slippery ground in your most lawfull contracts is by no meanes to couet a larger freedome in vniust or suspected bargaining Some may remember where I ranked the Vsurer when I made him the theeues coÌ„panion Me nemo Magistro Fur erit As farre is my tongue from recanting what Leo speaks Foenus pecuniae fâ—â—nus animae as mine cyes are from seeing that fire in this place then which Agesilaus neuer saw clearer when bonfires were made of Obligations Did you discerne in this and all other matters of practise the full scope and extent of your libertie thus farre may wee goe and no farther which all cases of conscience extant can hardly teach you yet would there be some difference still retained betwixt a morall agent by will determinable and a naturall agent who knowes no limits but the limits of his power betweene a beast that deuoureth all within his tether and a man to whome God hath giuen both reason and grace to rule his appetite Sinne will soonest take occasion by the Law when men hang vpon the brinkes of their liberty The Iewes might giue offenders fourty stripes by the Law yet Paul receiued you knowe but fourty stripes saue one perhaps they thought if the full number had once beene giuen their singers might haue itched to giue one more Qui à nullis refraenat licitis vicinus est illicitis hee that refraines from no lawfull things is vpon the borders of things vnlawfull and is in danger to fall vnto them As that note which comes too neere in the margent will slip into the Text
detestation of them as to countenance his other expurgations more cruell to the dead then euer was Spanish Inquisition to the liuing But because the penne of Antichrist commands so many ploughs in Europe and you whose hearts haue indited good matters may weepe with that great Calculator before you die Suissetus because you cannot reade your owne obseruations for the priuate and publike good I beseech you that as your tongues haue been like the pens of ready writers so your pennes would be like the tongues of ready speakers Great must be their reward who treading in the steps of the blessed Prophets Apostles shall write of the great things of the Law whereof I am now to speake in the next place The great things of my Law By this addition of greatnesse attending vpon the Law you plainely perceiue the great Law-makers purpose to giue it heere an honorable commendation whereunto because it is our duty like good subiects to subscribe we may doe it in Dauids language The Law of the Lord is perfect Psal 19. the testimony of the Lord is sure the statutes of the Lord are right the commandement of the Lord is pure I confesse Saint Paul seeketh the Law ceremoniall Gal. 4. by the names of Impotent and beggerly rudiments But it is comparatiuely not absolutely not as it was a schoolemaster vnto Christ but as it was without Christ or rather as it was set vp against Christ I deny not that hee speaking of the morall Law sheweth how the same commandement which was ordained vnto life was found to bee vnto him vnto death not directly but occasionally as himselfe interpreteth himselfe Rom. 7. Sinne tooke occasion by the Law t was then a scandall taken not giuen Otherwise in it selfe considered this heauenly doctrine cannot want any praise which choise and variety of Scripture can giue to the best of Gods ordinances yet let me speake but once more for it before I come to iustifie what I speake by comparison An expounder of the Law who had not obserued the least Math. 22. asked our Sauiour which was the great commandement to this end as Saint Ierome thinkes that whereas all the things which God had commanded were great vpon assignation of any one aboue the rest he might take occasion to accuse him wherefore Christs answere is full of good circumspection deliuering him first an Epitome of the former Table and then subioyning that the second was like vnto it Lastly adding that in both did hang all the Law and the Prophets as if all were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The wonderfull things of God the great things of the Law And indeede bee it that this greatnesse is a word of quantity or let it note perpetuall dignity or largenesse of extent betweene it and mens precepts you shall finde no resemblance of proportion for besides that eternall blisse the end heereof I meane of this whole doctrine is aboue the reach and beyond the Horizon of all humane learning whatsoeuer the Author in respect of whom part of it is tearmed the Royall Law Iam. 2.8 hath so ratified it that it giues all other decrees of man though they were as of the Medes Persians challenge in this behalfe vnanswerable None of them all can match this eueruerlasting Gospell themselues being iudges in vnchangeablenesse For suppose Iohn Gersons construction of Socrates modestic and the Academicks reseruatiuenesse were too too charitable whereas 〈◊〉 hee thinketh their reason of it might bee because they might thinke no stable truth or constant Law was to bee looked for but in God alone yet that testimony which Saint Augustine borroweth from Seneca Lib. 6. de Ciuit. Dei cap. 11. is a plaine confession how the Iewes accounted otherwise but a contemptible people wheresoeuer they came victivictoribus leges dederūt Being conquered gaue Lawes to their Conquerors What doe I spend my breath in this argument since all men the chiefest point of whose maiefty is to make a Law will grant that their best Topick places to commend their learned constitutions lyeth in the deriuation of them from Gods commandements they truly thinke that they can no way 〈◊〉 cōfirme thē bettter hen by confessing whence they stole thē Wherfore vpon experience that Gods Law stil continueth mens Lawes are transitory euery man may say with the Prophet Dauid I haue seene an end of all perfection but thy commandement is exceeding large exceeding large indeed for in extent it reacheth to the very secret purposes and most inmost affections entring thorow like that other thundering voyce of the Lord which maketh the Hindes to calue diuiding the soule and the spirit there like an Anatomist searching and prying into euery peece of a member and reading a long lecture vpon the smallest portion of euery particle spelling like a Critick the fractions of vnperfect and as yet vnshapen cogitations of concupiscense whereas of a thought kept within the compasse of a thought if a sinner can wash his bloudy hands with Pilate and not betray his bloudy heart by word deede or writing no Law of mortall man can possibly determine And therefore it is excellently spoken by Lactantius Sapentia corum vt plurimum efficiat Lib. 3. cap. 26. non abscindit vitia sed abscondit The vtmost effect of this worlds wisedome is but to driue corruption inwards in making men cōformitants many times to make them hypocrites Nay farther so short hath it come of this outward conformity that we finde in histories how men wise men haue not only winked at grosse transgressions but themselues grossely transgressed and that not in their actions alone but in their constitutions the plaine conclusions secōdary precepts of nature threatning to trespasse almost vpon the very common principles whilest murder among some hath been scarce punishable adultery pardonable and theeuery among many commendable but Gods more pure perfit and vnchangeable Law leaues no euill vncensured no good vncommended for which large comprehension the ten Commandements are by Peter Martyr compared to the tenne predicaments wherefore I trust I may well conclude this point with Moses What nation is so great that hath ordinances and Lawes so righteous as I set before you this day Here the very worth and the exceeding great perfection of this sacred doctrine though all aduocates should bee corrupt and all Champions Cowards seemes to mee to plead yea to fight for its owne right and interest not that it may bee a bare aduertisement which is granted by the aduersary but a rule as it is called Gala. 6. Phil. 3.1 Cor. 10. nor a potentiall rule only in regard of fitnesse may it please the Church so to pronounce it for that it preferres the voyce of men before the voyce of God but an actuall rule nor partiall onely for that is contrary both to the nature of it selfe and of a rule too neither of which can admit addition but totally definitiue and directiue for Gods seruice and all
this babbler say he seemeth to be a setter forth of strangâ— gods may we heare what this new doctrine whereof thou speakest is for thou bringest certaine strange things vnto our eares These were not the vulgar but the Philosophers of no vile City but of Athens which was the Greece of that Greece which counted all the world besides their owne inhabitants Barbarians Now if in Israel or in Athens the great things of Gods Law bee accounted as a strange thing wee must not maruell if godly men bee taken for signes and wonders in Israel or in Athens For that they that walke according to the rule should bee deemed miracles where the rule it selfe is taken for an hidden mystery to mee it can bee neither miracle nor mystery 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Saint Peter 1. Pet. 4.4 They thinke it strange you runne not with them to the same excesse of riot The Henne that hath hatched Partridge or Phesants egges seeing them soare aloft looketh strangely after them because she knoweth not that they are of a higher kinde The world that in some such sort hath brought vp Gods children for that which is naturall is first then that which is spirituall when they take a flight somwhat aboue the world standeth amazed because it is ignorant that they are of a better generation thus you haue heard briefly in what sence for what reasons with what consequents the great things of the Law are accounted a strange thing Now let vs bee bold in the conclusion to aske what is the degree of this great Lawes acquaintaÌ„ce in this place whether it haue indeed the sincere welcome of a friend or the sleight and transient remembrance of a stranger amongst vs Act. 28. The Barbarians of Melita shewed Paul no little kindnesse God forbid that our Athens as that Athens of old should vse him like a Barbarian yet other Authors we can learne by heart and haue the Text at our fingers ends but let a Text of Scripture bee pressed vpon our consciences from the mouth of the Preacher Aristotle we know and Plato we know but who are ye Quis nouns hic nostris successit sedibus hospes If we be to speake at home wee would not be thought ignorant of Grammaticall congruities and proprieties things which might be more precisely kept especially in publike without derogation on of granitie or exprobration of curiositie if wee bee to conuerse abroad with others digitum exere peccas the nicest rules of decencie are thought worth the learning things which well vsed serue to stirre vp and maintaine louing kindnesse But not to know Christ is no false Latine sencelesly to wound him thorow with fearefull othes is no breach of good manners our complement is compleate inough without him Alas no negligence or ignorance can make vs bee pointed at for punies or for freshmen here doe I descend too low my brethren and speake I but of trifles Blame your selues then yee that tithe Mint and Rue and Cummin and passe ouer the mightier things of the law When Alcibiades came into a Schoole asking the Schoole-master for one of Homers workes and the Schoolemaster answered hee had none hee vp with his fist and gaue him a sound box on the eare There is a keeper of Israel that with a watchfull eye visiteth howerly the Schooles and Colledges of our Prophets if hee take shall I say thee a Prophet no that were too foule a shame I will not suppose it or once suspect it but if hee take thee a faire Professor of Christianitie without this booke of thy profession though thou presently feele not his hand and thine eares doe not tingle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God shall smite thee thou whited wall But if we haue this booke and for our vse many thousands more liuing for all that like beggers in the middest of our wealth and like strangers amongst our owne seruants what may we nay what may we not feare Moses shall accuse vs the word that Christ hath spoken shall iudge vs Iohn 12. Let vs cast vp our helpes our meanes our prouision so haue we the number of our accusers our walkes our retirednesse our Maintenance our Languages our Lectures our Exercises our Libraries wee cannot reckon them Lord Lord thou knowest we shal reckon for them In that thy day thou maist iustly say vnto vs Depart from me I know you not if in this our day Iob 21. we shall say vnto thee Wee desire not the knowledge of thy waies If it will be no good answere then it is a shift and no good answer now to say I am no Diuine this is none of my profession for all learning as you haue heard without modification hence doth make but strong holds and high things to keepe out such batteries as come not alwaies from our enemies Wee are sheepe and of Christs fold John 10. My sheepe heare my voyce wee are children of Wisdoms houshold Matth. 11. Wisdome is iustified of her children Mich. 2. we would be thought honest men Are not my words good to him that walketh vprightly Wee would be made blessed men Blessed is the man whose delight is in the Law of the Lord. Here then you blessed soules who haue begun to vow and professe in your Christian station to follow this your exercise both day and night let it be your crowne and your reioycing still that your thoughts which are meditations vpon this booke are deemed fits of melancholy which many men scorne and deride that your workes which are your obedience to this booke are supposed paradoxes against which most men dispute eloquently that your speech which is the language of this booke is taken for such a Shiboleth as all the world besides cannot pronounce giue not one foote of ground sticke close to your vowes hold fast your profession Pardon mee brethren I know not how many rules of lesser circumstance I haue broken whilest it hath been my desire to keepe my selfe to this one great one And now that the great things of Gods law may neuer bee accounted a strange thing vnto you let me once for all exhort you in the Apostles words which because they are most naturall for my purpose I wish from my heart may be remembred as the last words vttered in the last breath of a man expiring and departing Let the word of Christ dwell in you plenteously in all wisdome not lodge for a night like a stranger but like a friend or a brother dwell nor so dwell that the niggardlines of our diligence should afford vs but a scant and sparing measure but plenteously nor so plenteously that it should notwithstanding be vnconceiued or vnapplied misconceiued or misapplied but in alwâ—sdome and the God of all wisdome lead you by the conduct of his spirit in his feare through the knowledge of his will to the fruition of hâ—s glory through Iesus Christ Amen THE CONCLVSION OF THE REHEARSAL SERMON at Pauls Crosse Anno 1614. AT length
exceeding dangerous and desperate But not vnto vs or the best prayers of the best of vs be the praise giuen Blessed rather be that prouidence euâ—rmore which can bring meanes of preferment as vncâ—rtaine in our eyes as the winds out of his bidden treasure that so many so reuerend so learned orthodoxe Fathers sit in Moses chaire who criâ— downe paradoxes amongst all their children with a becke of their countenance Otherwise this vniuersall wantonnesse from which the word of God it selfe cannot bee priuiledged among the people much like febris alba the Greene sicknesse euer longing for food which is no food would soone turne and remooue to another Gospell which is not another Gospell Gal. 1. Oh the wanâ—â—ing inâ—linations of inconstant hearers what will they doe whither will they goe me thinkes I seâ— thâ—m grâ—ene and vnseasoned as they be warping â—oâ—â—â—â—â—ds Papistry There there shall they meeâ— with â—hanges and variâ—â—iâ—s proportionable to their humoâ—â—us appetites Well knew the cunning coÌ„triuers of that policy â—ow the greater part of the world is transported vp down by force of imaginatioÌ„ Therfore haue they deuised a penance in appaâ—ell adâ—uotion vpon the fingers ends to please imagination A Transubstantiation like a Metamorphosis to please imagination liâ—es Saints like tales of the Queene of Fairies to please imagination orders of Friars of all colours like the dreame of a Painters apron to please imagination Masses Eleuations Processions like Measures Mummeries Enterludes and all to please imagination What shall I say the time passes your attention droopes my strength failes I cannot I may not stand to fill vp an induction with their inuentiue Ideas and Chimeras whence I might conclude the Popish humour without either face of grauitie in the doctrine or foot-step of antiquitie in the practice a Religion meerely Poeticall Theatricall Histrionicall To conclude this point and this part as that Marchant is more likely to grow rich who turnes his gallery into a ware-house then hee who turnes his ware-house into a dauncing Schoole or a gallerie so shall he sooner thriue in sound and sauing knowledge who borrowes places of his fansie for receiued principles making it seruiceable to his memory then he who by remembring nothing but such dumbe ceremonies frisking gestures makes his very memorie phantasticall For are these the wares for which wee should exchange an euerlasting Gospell of an euerlasting Kingdome only because they that preach it often beate vpon it and inculcate it often because they be Remembrancers and no more but Remembrancers God forbid for grant that the fundamentall Articles of faith may be taught within lesse then the terme of a Preachers life which curious speculatioÌ„ idle digressions and vaine altercations laid aside I conceiue not impossible impossible In the remainder what shall he doe Either he must preach the same againe and be a Remembrancer or be silent and be no Preacher which the execution of our office the second part of my dâ—uâ—sion now succeeding by no meanes will admit Be not silent Hierom best skilled of the Fathers in Hebrew wonders heere why the 70. translate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 betweene which two readings there is in the sense small correspondency whereat I haue more reason to wonder but peraduenture for as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the verbe signifieth to be like and to bee quiet because nature is stilled and quieted with likenes offended with disproportion they might imagine some such Noune only by proportion of the language The precept negatiue in sound for that the particle not denies that only terme before which it stands neuer the whole except in an immediate posture before the verbe is in meaning affirmatiue Bee not silent as much to say as speake nay speake continually for this not excluding here the priuation of speech answers after a sort to non infinitans in logicke admitting any thing rather then silence Hold your faith hold the truth hold your profession hold not your peace Tenuisse silentia clerum Oh t is the basest tenure any Minister can hold his liuing by The Apostle in more words expresseth the same charge at full 2. Tim. 4.2 Preach the word bee instant in season out of season Not that any Timothie should breake through the rules of discretion to preach at seasons in themselues vnseasonable There is a time to keepe silence and a time to speake Eccles 3.7 Rather that he should not bee ruled by the hearers disposition or estimation when to take his opportunities Oportunè volentibus importunè nolentibus saith Saint Augustine In season to the willing to them that are vnwilling out of season whether hearers be willing or vnwilling still preach the word and be instant You know that graces essentiall to a Christian accidentall to a Minister Faith Hope and Charitie be personall principally seruing for the good of the Receiuer though in a second place and degree they serue for others good because euery thankeful conuert wil proclaime the mercie which appeared in his conuersion Come vnto me and I will tell you what the Lord hath done for my soule Whereas graces Ministeriall in which number and account prophecie comes are Ecclesiasticall secondarily respecting the receiuer because teachers shal shine as the brightnesse of the firmament Dan. 12. Principally they tend to the hearers benefit according to the donors will The manifestation of the Spirit is giuen to euerie man to profit wâ—thall 1 Cor. 12. Wherefore as on the one part to speake in Gregories words Vobis nobis parcimus quando quod displicet non tacemus We fauour ourselues and fauour you when we speake that which so much displeaseth So on the contrarie part while we hold our peace which so much pleaseth wee preiudice you and preiudice our selues our selues wee wrap first in a criminall mischiefe because silence directly crosseth our vocation a silent Remembrancer implies as harsh an opposition as a darke light a dumbe cryer or a blinde Master-gunner Secondly in a penall mischiefe and that eyther of greatest losse in this life while our gifts decay The idoll Shephearà s arme shall be cleane dried vp his right eye shal be vtterly darkened Zach. 11. Take the talent from him that hid the talent in the earth Or else of most grieuous sense for euer Woe is vnto me if I preach not the Gospell 1. Cor. 9. You the people our silence doth boulster and abett in your sinne many be the maximes of the ciuill Law Qui non improbat probat qui tacet consentit qui per annum tacet recusare videtur We haue a case in the thirtieth of Numbers If a woman in her fathers house vow a vow and the father heare and hold his peace the vow shall stand A mute indeed is no vowell yet a mute among vowels cannot auoid the office of a consonant Secondly our silence doth draw on your punishment Your punishment both temporall and eternall for a Citie or a people are neuer neerer a woe then when
they suspend the threatning and say to the Prophets Prophesie not Amos 2. Newes came to a Towne as some thinke in Italy once and againe that the Enemie was approaching well hee did not approach Therefore they made a Law that none should bring such rumours of warre such newes of an Enemie Not long after the Enemie came besieged assaulted ruinated the Towne of those ruines nothing remaineth at this day for remembrance but a prouerbiall Epitaph 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That towne was destroyed by silence Yet this you may iustly thinke as nothing in comparison of punishment eternall That also followeth vpon our silence Where there is no vision the people perish Prou. 29.18 For we take not silence here in any metaphysicall consideration as a meere priuation Non entis nullae sunt operationes that which hath no being can haue no working and he which speakes nothing speakes no harme But wee take it in a legall consideration as a grand omission So be that is bound to worke must giue an account of his idlenesse and hee that is commanded to speake shall answere for his silence and good reason for as the darknesse of Egypt was a darknesse that might bee felt so the silence of a Remembrancer is a silence that smarts and smarts at the quicke If you trust not me trust S. Gregory Tot quotidie occidimus quot ad mortem ire tepidi tacentes videmus Euery day we kill as many as we suffer to die by the coldnesse of our zeale silence Or if you giue no credit vnto his words I hope you will giue credit to his argument Lib. 33. Ep. to Venantius Paul kept nothing backe from the Ephesians Act. 20. and thence inferreth I am pure from the bloud of all men Munduâ— ergo à sanguine eorum non esset si eis Dei consiliuÌ„ anuntiare noluisset He had not beene pure from their bloud if hee had not declared vnto them the counsell of the Lord or last of all if you beleeue not his argument as many as beleeue the Creed are bound to beleeue his Author Eze. 3. When I say vnto the wicked Thou shalt surely die and thou giuest not him warning nor speakest to warne the wicked from his wicked way to saue his life the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity but his bloud will I require at thine hands guilty of silence then and guilty of murder Therfore you that be the Lords Remembrancers be not silent you haue not forgotten that because the word of the Text was a ciuill word I reserued to my selfe a lawfull liberty to apply it vnto ciuill officers For though Saint Augustine saith vpon the similitude of the deafe Adder in the Psalme Non vndecunque sâ—militudo datur res ipsalaudatur Euery thing from which a similitude is drawne is not commended Yet when you haue one officers diligence proposed as a patterne to an other officer whatsoeuer inference holds against the neglect of the latter holds much more against the neglect of the former You then that are the King and Kingdomes Remembrancers knowe that we must follow you therefore you must goe before vs. Satan hath his Remembrancers in all assemblies they vouch their precedents Thou shalt find in the booke of the records of thy Fathers that this City is a rebellious City Ezra 4. they vouch their Law We haue a Law and by that Law he ought to die Ioh. 19. Shall they speake without a calling and will you that haue a calling hold your peace what will you answere to those voyces which sent you hither They will not hold their peace if you hold your peace if you hold your peace they wil wish with teares and griefe of heart that they had held their peace when they chose you Or if your might knowes how to shake off the poore mens clamours in the Country what will your consciences answer vnto God Your silence may hazard his glory nay diminish no lesse at this time then the silence of a Remembrancer in the Exchequour may diminish the Kings Reuenewes or if his glory finde other issues as it may finde innumerable Tell mee how doth your silence prouide for your owne posterity You must be contented to heare what Hester heard cap. 4. If thou holdest thy peace at this time then shall enlargement and deliuerance arise to the Iewes from another place but thou and thy Fathers house shall be destroyed Pardon I beseech you my boldnesse I confesse you haue lately made it much lesse necessary by laying downe the best and most religious ground of all good remembrance Doe this in remembrance of me onely let the rest of your proceedings euer looke backe vnto this deuout beginning Remember Maiesty and bring not the least discontent to our Soueraigne Lord the King prouoke not a Lion remember piety and breed not discord in our Church beware of the concision remeÌ„ber the Comminaltie and suffer not a decay to preuaile in the Kingdome speake peace vnto the people Mordecai Hest vâ—â— blessed Mordecai was next vnto King Ahashuerus great among the Iewes and accepted of the multitude of his brethren seeking the wealth of his people and speaking peace vnto all his seed O you that haue either greatnesse in your eves or goodnesse in your hearts set before you this example of a true Patriot a true Parliament man why are your dead desires at a stay where is your courage what is become of your ambition It is impossible that man should liue and loue his Countrie who would not in the midst of all earthly happinesse be contented to part with the whole world prouided that he might make euen with God through Iesus Christ and leaue behinde him such a Testimony such a Legacy Orbi quietem secula pacem suo haec summa virtus petitur hâc coelum viâ To shut vp all with a generall application vnto the hearers according to the meaning of this iniunction which we haue taken vpon our selues as truly belonging vnto our vocation If we the Lords Remembrancers may not be silent without all farre-fetcht motiues The very strength of a Relation betweene vs and you deriues an ineuitable inforcement of attention vpon you For if the Apostles question seeme reasonable how should they heare without a Preacher is it meete thinke you that wee should fight as men that beate the ayre why should wee preach without hearers I grant that the men of these latter times haue cares iudicious inough I heare them praising voices magnifying the learning extolling the gifts of teachers Nay you would soone confute me would I deny that many painefull labourers are in the highest places of the Church But beloued men and brethren there is one preferment yet behinde and that most proper vnto preaching a preferment in the hearts of the hearers If Preachers were at your hearts all your works would proue effectuall examples and your examples would proue a second kinde of preaching It is not for the small reliques of my strength heere to begin a quarrell though a iust quarrell with your liues and actions yet I must tell you for my last farewell how though there be many good gracions men amongst you yet the desert of the greater part hath brought such a slander on the better part that the world thinkes and speakes as it thinkes abroad The Citizens of London God blesse vs from the Citizens of London they care not they passe not for the meanes whether warrantable or vnwarrantable so their ends may be profitable As if you were those onely Marchants of the earth who fill your sailes and fill your ships and fill your houses but cannot fill your soules Neuer considering that like some Marchants vpon the coastes of Lap-land you buy your windes of the diuell Where this report or any bad reports are true of any while all the skill of most Preachers in the Land at one time or other in one place or other doth empt it selfe within your walles I referre me to your consciences whether the cause can be want of preaching Would you knowe the true cause indeede The man that cals himselfe veridicus Christianus the Christian tell-troth speaks of a Lady who demanded of her seruants whether the Sermon were done or no They answered I 't was done She pleasantly replied Dicta non fact a concio 'T was spoken 't was not done You haue had Sermons for liberality against extortion for charity against vsury for mercy against cruelty Sermons euer spoken neuer done O these were tedious Sermons iudge you that haue beene hearers on whose side lay the tediousnesse I will hold you no longer now you may say This long Sermon is spoken and done by the Preacher God grant wee may say 'T is practised and done by the hearers Most gracious God and louing Father which out of thine abundant mercies hast so richly prouided for thine vnthankefull seruants such instructions for their vnderstandings such perswasions for their will such repetitions for their memories crowne all this labour with fruit and good successe from heauen to the glory of thy Name the comfort of the Preachers and saluation of their Hearers through Iesus Christ to whome bee praise for euer FINIS