it to see that religious holy Preachers participating with the vertue of Christe should haue such wonderfull sweetnesse in their woords as to drawe the whole world in a maner after them Some whereof haue conuerted more then an hundred thousand heretiques others that haue reduced to christian beleefe more then fiue and twenty thousand Iewes and aboue eight thousand Saracens For this were they accounted Euen as simple vessells prepared to containe the seed of the diuine word as S. Augustine saith speaking of himself Ego quid sum nisi cophinus seminato is id est Christi Ipse dignatus est in me ponere semen quod spargo vobis Nolite ad vilitatem â—ophini respicere sed nobilst at em seminatoris So sweet delicious and delicate is the word of God as it surpasseth the sweetnesse of honie then which there is nothing sweeter in the world Quid dulcius melle what is sweeter than hony quoth they that expounded the riddle of Sampson The word of God saith Dauid exceedeth hony in sweetnesse Quà m dulcia faucibus me is eloquia tua super mel oâ—i meo as much to say Oh lord how sweet are thy words vnto me that they surpasse the sweetnesse of hony when I haue them in my mouth Claudio A very rare example of the sweetnesse of the diuine word I remember I haue read in the first book of Samuel and the 19. chapter when wicked Saul pursued the death of iust Dauid fearing that which was to follow afterward namely that he sould succeed him in the kingdom he hearing that Dauid was with Samuel in Ramah among other Prophets hee perswaded himselfe that Dauid was gone to vsurpe his kingdome and to haue himself annointed king of Israel by Samuel to whome this office appertained Albeit he was with the Prophet praysing God yet hee sent a greate number of souldiours to the end they should surprise and bring him to his presence But they beeing come where Dauid was with the holy Prophets and hearing them so praise the Lorde beeing touched likewise by the spirite of the Lorde they forgotte the Kings commaundement and began also to praise God and to prophecie Saul expecting their returne and perceiuing they came not grewe vehement suspicious that they were growne abbetters of Dauid wherefore all-enraged he sent other ministers and more in number then the first were but to them it happened as it did with the other Saul hauing intelligence hereof began to burne in a more violent furie and sent the thirde band of ministers but in a larger companye to execute what was before intended They beeing come to Ramah such was the power of the worde of God that they no sooner entred among the rest but they did as the first and second and prophecied likewise among them When the king heard this much more enflamed with anger and desperate hate he mounted on horseback and rode along himselfe with a great multitude but so soone as he came neer the place of Ramah his very selfe O mighty miracle of God euen honied with hearing the word of God forgetting his former fiercenesse he also began to praise the Lord with the Prophets So that he despoiling himselfe of his royall garments prophecied among the rest in the presence of Samuel and euen naked as he was he sung the diuine praises all that day and night whereuppon arose the Prouerbe in Israel Num est Saul inter prophetas Is Saul also among the Prophets Such was the power preheminence and sweetnesse of the word of God as it changed the very hearts of the hearers Et expoliauit se Saul vestimentis suis prophetauit cum caeteris coram Samuel cecinit nudus tota die â—lla nocte And Saul stript off his garments and he prophecied also before Samuel and fell down naked all that day and all that night Lodouico Oh miraculous sweetnesse of the word of God but let vs proceed in our order begun our speech then must be sweet and soft as the tongue it selfe is Secondly our talke ought to haue the Rose-blush colour of honesty and charity because as the tongue is naturally red Rosie-coloured euen so ought our language to haue the die of honesty and modesty as also the crimson flame tincture of charity for in our words no one is to bee profered fauouring of dishonesty or iniurious to the edificatioÌ„ of our neighbor These dayes of ours do witnesse the world to be grown so dissolute our talk so vnseemely as very hardly do any words issue from vs but they rellish of dishonest iestings yea of shamelesse scurril and very impudent dissolutenesse Claudio The worlde can giue no other then it hath and because it is full of all vncleannesse vncleane likewise needs must our talke be The excellent Physitian knowes by the tongue the infirmitie of the bodie and when the disease is deadly in like manner by speeche is discerned the integritie or corruption of the hart and the healthfulnesse of the soule This was not onely the opinion of Socrates but also of Salomon himselfe as is to be seene in many places of his Prouerbes Lingua sapientium sanitas est I he tongue of wise men is health As if he would haue sayd wil you know if the soule be sincere whole from sin Awaite then the words proceeding from it because the sicknesse of the soule appears by the course of speeche deliuered by the tongue The world because it is full of pride luxurie and auarice therfore also the vtterance of our words sauour of the worldlye cogitations feeding the hart which are eyther voyde of honesty or empty of charity S. Iohn the Apostle saw in the Isle of Pathmos a wonderful vision ful of terror very dreadfull to the sight his words are these Et vidâ— de ore Draconis de ore bestiae de ore pseudoprophetae exire spiritus tres immundos in modum Ranarum And I sawe three vncleane spirits like Frogges come out of the mouth of the Dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet The dragon is the deuill the inuenter of pride the beast is the flesh which beast-like liueth in al filthie luxuriousnesse the false Prophet is the deceiuing world of whome ensueth all auarice whatsoeuer All these three spirits issued foorth in the likenesse of Frogges because these three in sinning haue some similitude with the Frogge The Frogge leapeth aloft behold there is pride delights to liue in the filthye myre there is the vncleannesse of beastlye luxurye it likewise croakes and with a screeking confused noyse or noate disturbeth quietnesse there is auarice which filleth a man with all distraction and daylye molesteth the quiet of the mind The world then being ouer burdned with these three foule vices how can there be any honest or charitable speeches beautified
Dauid that hee had slaine king Saul as hoping to haue gotten thereby a great reward because Saul was a most heauie enemy to Dauid But albeit hee was cleerelye innocent of the fact yet notwithstanding hee bare the penaltye of a murderer onelie by belying him selfe and accusing him selfe of a deede which hee neuer thought to doe Whereupon Dauid sayd to him Sanguis tuus super caput tuum Os enim tuum loquutum est aduersum te dicens Ego interfeci Christum Domini Thy bloud be vpon thine owne head for thine own mouth hath testifyed against thee saying I haue slaine the Lordes annointed I say againe that the want of speech is the occasion of much quiet because it is no meane labour to speake well to make answere in due time and to apt purpose to talke gratiously and to giue proportionable gesture to our words to adorne our sayings with comelinesse to deliuer sentences with sweetnes to accompany our speeches with the bodies seemely behauiour sometimes speaking lowde sometimes lowe now sweetlie then more sharplie But this you will say is the labour onely belonging to an Oratour Yet let me tell you that the want of speech in consideration of the many harmes whereinto a man falles by the tongue onely is the chiefe way to much quietnesse and the meanes to preuent innumerable euils Diuers haue desired that they could neuer haue spoken but neuer attained to such a happinesse If Cicero the father of Latine eloquence and Demosthenes the splendour of the Greeke tongue had euer been dumbe both the one and other had longer liued and death had been more sufferable to them and much lesse grieuous Claudio Questionlesse whosoeuer considereth our humane frailcie and how procliue a man is to faile in his speaking will allowe dumbenesse to be farre better then speeche He that hath lost the vse of speech hath also lost the arte of lying the consuetude of deceiuing the instrument of enmitie the organe of quarrelling the sower of slaunders and the broacher of blasphemies Many more are they that by their wordes haue become infamous then by their deedes for there is no part of our body more ready to doe harme and harder to bridle then the tongue of man is Therefore they that know them selues apt to faile thereby and consequently to fall into the vices whereon wee haue so long discoursed me thinkes should rather wish them selues to be dumbe then to couet the engine of their owne vnhappines Lodouico It is very true in regard it is a great treasure to be poore in euill Whereupon we may say and very truely that such as are borne without the vnhappy tongue are borne to be rich and they that haue such a wicked kinde of tongue doe loose for euer the eternall riches Thus by a new way may wee become wealthy loosing by finding and finding by loosing because there is no worse thing then to haue an euill tongue Euen so by consequence there is nothing better then in hauing it to remaine as depriued thereof seeing he that gets much that way looseth much more an other way And the tongue is as a fire which consumeth any thing Labia eius repleta sunt indignatione lingua eius quasi ignis deuorans Claudio But what shall we say if the tongue be not good that many yet haue been found to be of innocent tongues euermore praising therewith their Creator If then to loose an euill tongue is to get great riches to loose a good tongue is to loose greater riches Lodouico Hee that hath lost his tongue hath not lost his heart He remaines onely depriued of that member wherewith hee could appeare pleasing but to men but is not robbed of his heart wherewith he pleaseth God onely Being then not secured by that member which wonne him but the bare pleasing opinion of men it is best for him to preserue the heart carefully whereby hee may be thankefull to God to whom though hee cannot speake with his materiall tongue yet may he liberally and freely expresse his whole heart And if the wicked be said to haue the lippes of the heart how chaunceth it that the iust haue them not also Of the wicked saith Dauid Labia dolosa in corde corde loquuti sunt Flattering with their lippes and speake with a double heart The iust haue the mouth and tongue of the heart wherewith they may freely speake vnto God which made Dauid say of him selfe Non est occultatum os meum à te quod fecisti in occulto My bones are not hid from thee though I was made in a secret place Or as if he should say Lord the mouth of my heart which thou hast created for me in the most secret part of my body from thee it is not hidden because thou searchest into the secrets of the heart and hearest the moouing of the lippes of the thoughtes Dominus autem intuetur cor Praise then the Lord with the tongue of the heart because he is wont to be much more attentiue to that kinde of language then to the other idle talkatiue noise of the voice And in the presence of his omnipotent Maiesty there is no clamour more loude more vehement nor more moouing then that of the heart is because otherwise as we haue already sayd hee onely delighteth in silence This clamour did that Shepheard of his flocke and afterward the guide to numberlesse people Moyses breath foorth when praying in silence with a most earnest spirit his zealous cryes entred the eares of the Almighty which made God himselfe say Quid clamas ad me Wherefore cryest thou vnto me He spake not neither mooued his lippes and yet it is sayd he cryed As we perceiue then that he whom god heares is not dumbe because he speaketh to him with his heart euen so may we say that he who hath lost the tongue of outward crying and of the voyce whereby hee would striue to be vnderstood neyther wantes his materiall tongue nor voyce vocall Moreouer losse of the vse of speech hath been very aduantagious to diuers men because thereby their thoughtes haue had the more gentle freedome Which made King Dauid say that it behooued to set a good watch before the tongue Pone Domine custodiam orimeo ostium circumstantiae labits meis Set a watch O Lord before my mouth and keepe the doore of my lippes Dixi custodiam vias meas vt non delinquam in lingua mea I sayd I will take heede to my waies that I sinne not with my tongue Posui ori meo custodiam dum consisteret peccator aduersum me I will keep my mouth bridled while the wicked is in my sight And Salomon his sonne sayd that it behooueth with all diligence possible to keep the heart as that which is the fountaine of life Omni custodia serua cor tuum quoniam ab ipso vita procedit Keep
silence fol. 38 Silence and the commendation therof fol. 37 Schools for instruction of silence were very conuenient ibid. Silence helpeth both the wise man and the foole ibid. Sum of al that Seneca wrote to Lucullus was To be slow in speaking ibid. Secrets of a friend it is not good to know them fol. 42 Silence eternally man ought to keep fol. 44 S. Stephen in disputation ouercame many nations fol. 51 Silence breakers the first in heauen was Lucifer and on earth it was our grandmother Eue. fol. 52 Seneca said That anger was not good for any vertuous thing fol. 59 Seneca would not smite his seruant in his anger fol. 60 Silence is the only remedy against anger ibid. Senacherib slaine by his two sons and his Armie slaine by the Angel of the Lord only for blasphemy such was the slaughter that in one night there perished 185. thousand souldiers fol. 64 Saul the king among the Prophets fol. 71 Sampson and his mishap by speaking improuidently fol. 86 Sigismond the Emperour gaue a flatterer a blow on the eare demanding why he bit him fol. 93 Sacred scriptures why they were written in marble and the law not rather giuen without writing fol. 104 Sin why it is called a lance sharpned on both sides fol. 133 Socrates seeing a youngman comming forth of an harlots house gaue him a witty reprehension fol. 123 Sede tacâ— intra tenebras and the same explaned fol. 134 Sinners haue more need of tears then of talking fol. 135 Scriptures read of many by abusing them the heretique sucks out false opinions and the true Christian gathers nothing but sound doctrin and whence this variety ensueth fol. 139 Seneca his learned saying against euill tongues fol. 142 Sichemites circumcised themselues only to inherit the Israelits goods and possessions fol. 193 Sin in seuerall kinds do pretend some excuse for themselues but the sin of blasphemy can pretend none at all fol. 207 Silence is begotten of the hymne fol. 232 Sanctified spirit or holy ghost and the reason wherefore it is called in 〈…〉 T There belongs as much blame to vnproportionable silence as to vaine and carelesse talking fol. 4 The precept diuine as it commands obedience in the Sonne to his Father so doth it also bind the Father to bring vp his son in vertuous education fol. 15 To keep silence is the noblest Philosophie in man fol. 26 To keep silence is an especiall gift of god ibid. Thomas Aquinas was tearmed by his master Albertus Magnus the Oxe for the loue he bare to silence ibid. Theodauas and Agatonus two woorthie louers of silence ibid. Tiberius teaching a talkatiue Senatour silence caused him to vse very absurd and antiquelike behauiours fol. 35 Those things that God commandeth are most iust fol. 57 Three kinds of speaking and three kinds of tongues fo 112 Three things ought euery penitent soule to do in seeking pardon for her transgressions fol. 134 The whole powers and faculties of the soule do step foorth for sake and leaue the slanderer fol. 150 The â—â—â—gue of man is as a touchstone wherby to try him fol. 2 The tongue giuen to man for a reward fol. 3 The rich gluttons tongue was more punished then any other part of his body fol. 21 The tongue without a bridle is compared to a city without a wall or any guard or defence fol. 22 Tongues first before hands did crucifie Christ fol. 24 The tongue of man is like a City or Castle builded in a most artificiall manner fol. 27 The tongue being the occasion of so many euils wherfore it was by God bestowed vpon man fol. 39 The tongue compared to riches ibid. The tongue compared by Dauid to a sword and to a pen. fol. 40. The tongue is the best and worst thing in a man ibid. The wicked tongue is worse then hell fol. 41 The tongue is the Embassadour of the hart ibid. The tongue hath foure wayes to walke by all which do necessarilye require great care and circumspection fol. 55 The tongue ought to haue fiue conditions needefull for well speaking fol. 66 The tongue bewraies the health or sicKnesse of the soule fol. 71 The tongue of man ought to haue the properties of a dogs tongue fol. 77 The reason why God did shut vp the tongue between teeth lips fol. 79 The tongue hath two veines one answerable to the hart and the other agreeable to the braine fo 85 The serpents tongue is alwayes black and the reason thereof fol. 136 The reason why God permitted the diuell to binde vp the dumbe mans tongue ibid. The Bulles in India haue their tongues so long that they reache foorth vnto their eares fo 155 The hypocrites tongue how hurtfull it is fol. 182 Testimony of the conscience what it is fol. 186 Three seuerall wayes we may derogate from Gods goodnesse fol. 202 Three seuerall kingdomes made by God and each of them hath his particular language and phrase of speaking fol. 210 The wicked mans mouth is an open sepulcher fol. 241 Three seuerall kinds of precepts fol. 269 Time place and manner ought to be obserued in brotherly correction fol. 270 V Vertue first of all to be learned is to gouerne the tongue fol. 18 Vessels that be open and haue no couering fastned vpon them by Gods lawe were held to be vncleane fol. 26 Vnderstanding apprehendeth the knowledge of things fol. 50 Vnderstanding diuine is the cause and measure of things ibid. Vnderstanding of man is a lyer without God the onely truth fol. 51 Variable ought our discoursings to be according to the variety of the obiect and subiect whereof we speake fol. 77 Verity seldome knowne of Princes in regard of their flatterers fol. 89 Vanity of flatterers very liuely described fol. 90 Variable names of the flatterer and all significant fol. 86 Verity like vnto Honie fol. 97 Verity beloued of lyers themselues ibid. Verity is hated and thence ariseth flattery approoued by many notable places of Scripture fol. 98 Verity so beloued of Christ as for it only he came into the world fol. 99 Verity contendeth with eternity fol. 109 Virgin defloured in the field cleared from punishment by the olde lawe but being dishonoured in the City the lawe commaunded all the people to stone her Quia non clamauit c. fol. 127 Vice of detraction how great and odious it is fol. 144 Vertue consisteth not in the verbe but in the aduerbe fol. 167 Virgins in the Parable Mat. 25. notably expounded fol. 184 W Way of wisedome for a guide to the tongue fol. 65 Will is one of the tongues ways wherto there needeth a very good guardian fol. 56 Will commandeth all the powers of the soule ibid. Word of God how sweet it is and able to conuert men fol. 68 Word of God compared to a ploughshare fol. 75 Whence it ensueth that one and the selfe same earth produceth diuers and sundry fruits and grafts diuers vpon one stock fol. 139 VVorks good and vertuous in
considering as hath bin already sayd as to speake wisely so to be silent best declareth what the man is Dauid knowing how harde a thing it was to speake without blame desired the Lorde to set a watch before his mouth to the end hee might let no wordes passe but such as were to the prayse of God the profite of his neighbour and good of himselfe Hee desired also that hee would keepe the doore of his lippes that hee might speake with wisedome and vtter nothing which was not to be spoken Pone Domine custodiam ori meo ostium circumstantiae in labijs meis Dauid desiring to speake yet so strongly watched and defenced it is a signe sufficient enough that to speake well is a matter very hard And so could his Sonne Salomon say Omnis labor hominis in ore eius All the labour of man is for his mouth Dauid speaking further of this burdenous taske sayth of talkatiue men Labor labiorum ipsorum operiet eos The labour of theyr lippes shall bee so greate as to couer them As if he would haue sayde in mine opinion that the fruite of vaine labour in speaking among the wicked shall bee theyr paynes eternall whereon followeth Cadent super eos carbones in ignem deiicies eos in miseriis non subsistent Vpon them shall fall hote burning coales and the Lorde shall send them into vnquencheable fire If this bee so is not stricte silence better to bee endured then by speaking wickedlie to incurre such daunger Salomon was the onely wise king that euer in this worlde liued among men yet founde hee such difficultie in speaking vnreprooueably and the forwarde tongue so hard to bee brideled as in bitter sighing hee sayde Quis dabit ori meo custodiam super labia mea signaculum certum vt non cadam in ipsis lingua mea non perdat me Who shall set a watch before my mouth and a seale of wisedome vpon my lippes that I fall not suddenlie by them and that my tongue destroye me not S. Iohn Chrysostome sayth that like office as the doore hath of the house hath the tongue in the mouth of the minde And Hugo in his booke of the twelue abuses sayth We ought to remember that Dauid and Salomon desired a watche and a doore not a wall because if a wall should be placed there it would debarre the power and libertie of speache but setting a dooore there to be opened and shut as time requireth signifieth that there is a time to speake and a time to be silent yet euer to haue this care in our conuersing to keepe the doore of our mouth closed because we are alwaies in perill of corrupt speaking Furthermore he addeth that we should open the doore of our mouth at meete and lawfull howers as in the Church at praier in our Studies at our bookes and in our bed-chambers at priuate meditation The Church ought to be free from all vaine babbling and arguing our studyes voide of corrupt reading and our Chambers sole sanctuaries for diuine meditating So then wee ought to keepe the doore of our mouthes close shut but onely to religious and holy occasions because it is hard to fall in arguing without offence to God or our neighbour therefore I iudge it more meete to be silent then by talking to haue the mind in perill of daungerous compassing and me thinks Periander sayd very well Audito multa loquere pauca Heare much but speake little Claudio I deny not that we ought to heare much and speake little but I say that the impeaching of a mans speeche is a matter as hurtfull as any talking Lodouico You shall find fewe of the auncient or modern Philosophers but they haue much more commended silence then speaking hauing absolutely set downe that greater hazard is in speeche then taciturnitie Cleobulus Lindus one of the Grecian seauen Sages sayde A wise man is more sollicitous to heare then to talke for by hearing he learnes but by talking looseth Audiendi quà m lo quendi studiosior esto Who heareth much and speaketh little may best discerne falsehoode from trueth and erre very little if he be not blinded in reason and robb'd of vnderstanding Claudio Yet I finde it written that hearing and listening much is the signe of a young greene head which perhappes hee may the rather doe through the slender experience he hath in matters and then I count it better to bee mute knowing nothing then by speaking vnwisely to offend the eares of others for in speaking wittilie fewe words are needefull Adolescentis scito esse sayeth a learned man audire quidem multa loqui autem paucis prudentis Lodouico Perhappes his reason may iumpe with that of Zeno Elateus to weet because Nature hath giuen him one tongue onelye and two eares therefore hee shoulde speake little but heare much his wordes are these Aures tibi â—b id scito binas esse os vnicum vt plurima audiens loquaris paucissima This Philosopher was such an especiall louer of silence Example that his countrey beeing vsurped by a mightie Tyrante and hee much labouring for the libertie thereof was by the Tyrant committed to prison where beeing put to greeuous tortures and insupportable tormentes onelye for discouerie of the priuate coniuration hee to sree the rest from beeing reuealed with his owne teeth bit foorth his tongue and spat it afterwarde in the bloudie Tyrants face as contented rather to endure eternall silence then by his tongue to iniurie his countryes louers and copartners Finis Cap. 1. The Argument Proceeding further on it is here approoued that the first instruction a man ought to haue is to speake discreetely without offence to any Heere in an ample discourse the negligence of Fathers in their families is much reprooued for not instructing their children in silence whereby they may attaine to a perfect order of speaking For which purpose many curious sentences of the auncient Philosophers are herein entercoursed beside diuers other out of holy Scriptures Chap. 2. CLAVDIO Epaminondas that mightie Duke and glorie of the Thebanes commending silence sayde that a man should be more desirous to heare then to speake Audiendi potiùs quà m loquendi cupidum te ipsum praebeto And to this purpose the wise man wrote In multiloquio non deerit peccatuÌ„ qui aut eÌ„ moderatur labia sua â—rudentissimus est In many words there cannot want iniquity but he that refraineth his lips is wise He caÌ„not be far froÌ„ error that delightes in much talking therefore a wise man thinketh much more then hee speakes Lodouico Such was the counsell of Pittacus the Mitylenian one of the Grecian seauen wise men adding further Lingua non praecurrat mentem for when the tongue gads before the mindes preconceit the discourse cannot passe vnguiltie of error Claudio Me thinks then the tongue should be commaunded to silence and
vnchaste acte committed with his owne sister as loath to displease him because in deede he dearely loued him procured God to let him be slayne by his owne brother Absolon in the merrie sporting time of a sheep-shearing banquet and that Absolon should likewise rebell against him chase him foorth of his owne kingdome and that Salomon should also become an Idolater so that all his sonnes almost dyed miserably Therefore the holy Ghost sayd well Qui parcit virgae odit filium suum qui autem diligit eum instanter erudit Lodouico Such Fathers may be compared to the Iuie that hugs so close to the tree and pretending to beautifie and adorne it winds and writhes it selfe so fast about it as in fewe moneths it makes it drie and dead The very like doth that father and mother that is too nice and fond of their child with kisses they kill it with sweete meates they poyson it and with cockering make it vnapt to any vertuous action Therefore it was the pleasure of God that such as were appointed for the seruice of his maiestie they should be trayned vp from their verie childhoode in the diuine worship of him as we may reade in Leuiticus Hence was it that the wise man sayde Curua ceruicem filij tui ab adolescentia sua Bow downe the neck of thy son while he is young And he giues a reason for the same in another place of that very Chapter Equus indomitus euadet durus filius remissus euadet praeceps An vntamed horse will be stubborne and a wanton child will be wilfull It is ouerlate to resist the enemie when hee hath alreadie surprized the Citie and little auayles it to cast salt vpon the flesh that before is putrified Instruction then is most needfull for children and without all doubt the first vertue that Parentes or Schoolemasters ought to teach youth is to restrayne the tongues libertie and to speake vnder correction and if we will credit morall Cato he sayth Virtutem primam esse put a compescere linguam The first vertue that a Christian childe shoulde be taught is to bee silent or to speake vnder chastisement which vertue is of such excellencie as it makes vs neere neighbours or like vnto God Proximus ille Deo est qui soit ratione tacere sayth the same Cato Dauid in a dialogue which he composed where the speakers are onely God and himself falling into questions with the Lord he saith Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle and who shall rest vpon thy holy mountaine The Lord answereth He that walketh vprightly and worketh righteousnesse speaketh the truth in his hart and hath no deceite in his tongue Heere may be apparantly discerned how conformably Cato spake with Dauid considering that he that thinketh the truth in his heart and offendeth not with his tongue he shall dwell neerest vnto God it is euen all one with his wordes to weere hee that refrayneth his tongue and knowes reason when to be silent is neere vnto God Claudio Nay more he is like vnto God for he that speaketh the truth with his mouth and in his hart thinketh no deceipt is like vnto God who is the same truth Therefore Salomon sayde well that life and death is in the power of the tongue because he that delighteth to speak alwaies the truth is in true life with God that giueth life to all things and he that delights in lying and deceipte is contrarie to God and so consequently is dead from him Mors vita in manu linguae As among all things that are to bee desired there is nothing more affected then life euen so all our daylie labour and endeauour is the more willingly pursued for the maintenance of this present life which we do hold in so deare respect and are so much enamoured thereof as although we knowe there is another life much better and no way subiect to death yet doth this life so highly please vs and inexorable death is so horrible to vs as wee woulde gladly take any paynes whatsoeuer to transporte vs quickly to that other life without touch or taste of the sting of death or depriuation of these earthly goods and spoyles Oh we would fayne bee soone cloathed with immortality If then we would hunt this track with such earnest desire we should be somewhat mindfull of our tongues custodie which is the laylor as it were and keeps the key both of life and death with all our harts we should loue the truth which is the onely occasion of life and with the swift celeritie of an Hart flye from foolish talking lyes and vaine babbling the very begetter and nourisher of most horrid and abhominable death Nam qui sumus in hoc tabernaculo ingemiscimus grauati eò quòd nolumus expoliari sed superuestiri vt absorbeatur quod mortale est à vita For indeed we that are in this tabernacle sigh and are burdened because we would not be vnclothed but would be clothed vpon that mortality might be swallowed vp of life thus spake the Apostle to the Corinthians If then life and death bee in the hand and power of the tongue you see what an especiall care should bee had thereof because in no parte of the bodye can we carie any greater perill of life then in the tongue which is the gate as it were whereby life passeth foorth and death enters into vs. A bad creditour is this tongue with so rich a treasure as is the pretious and vnualuable iewell of life it beeing a member so voluble soft vnstable without boane which might giue it more firmenesse and hazarding life continuallye to infinite daungers Well did the Apostle knowe this when he sayd to the same Corinthians Habemus autem the saurum istum in vasis fictilibus But we haue this treasure in earthen vessels Since then the custos of our soule is so fraile we goe in dayly dreade of loosing the treasure of celestiall grace What thing can be more frayle then the mouth which by a turne of the tongue may make shipwrack both of temporall and eternall life offending with blasphemies the maiestie of our omnipotente God and by one iniurious word oftentimes it comes to passe life is miserably lost for a generous minde is more aggreeued at an iniurious word then is a slaue or villayne by the stroake of a weapon Lodouico Perhappes this is the true sense and meaning of that sentence of Salomon because in effect a pleasing word is sweete and much contents a mans minde and a bitter sharpe taunte mooues much strife and discorde So saith he Responsio mollis frangit iram sermo durus suscitat furorem A soft answere putteth away wrath but grieuous words stir vp anger And againe he saith Lingua placabilis lignum vitae quae autem immoderata est conteret spiritum A wholesome tongue is a tree of life but the
frowardnes therof is the breaking of the mind Cain offended God more with his tongue denying so presumptuously the diuine mercie Maior est iniquitas mea quà m vt veniam merear My sinne is greater then can be pardoned then he did with his hand in killing his brother Abel For with his tongue he vttered most horrible blasphemic and with his hand he but committed a murther with his tongue he offended God with his hand his neighbour with his tongue he did contrarie to the first table with his hand to the second with his tongue he flatly denyed Gods mercie with his hand he tooke away vniustly the life of his brother by his tongue he depriued himselfe of pardon and by his hand his brother of life Claudio The wicked wretch lyed because it is proper to God to pardon and he neuer chastiseth but when our obstinacie prouoketh him to iust displeasure The Church therefore obserueth a good Collect Deus cui proprium est misereri semper parcere c. O God whose nature and property is euer to haue mercy and to forgiue c. Likewise by the infinitenesse of his mercy as by the most effectuall meanes of all he shewes vnto vs his omnipotencie ruling and reigning ouer al and pardoning euery one whatsoeuer that truely repenteth him of his sinnes Therefore saith the Church Deus qui omnipotentiam tuam parcendo maximè miserando manifestas c. Worthily therfore did Cain taste the iustice diuine for denying so impudently the soueraigne mercy thereof Lodouico Moreouer Lucifer fell not from the supreme pole neyther by auarice nor gluttonie nor luxurie but fell onelye through the proude wordes which hee vttered against God when hee sayde I will ascend aboue the height of the cloudes and exalte my throne beside the starres of God I will sit vpon the mounte in the congregation of the North and I will bee like to the most high Therefore very deseruedly he that sayd hee would ascend vp into the highest place fell downe into the bottomlesse depth and hee that would needes be like to God himselfe became a most loathsome and venemous Serpent that he might no more exalte himselfe aloft The rich glutton without doubt had many sinnes because beeing one giuen and addicted to the pleasures of the bodie hee could not choose but commit many errors and among the rest the Euangelist sheweth that he was so wretched and inhumane that hee permitted his very dogges to goe beyond him in compassion for they licked the sores of the poore begger Lazarus but himselfe denyed him the very least crumme of bread He was dedicated to delightes for euery day hee made sumptuous banquets and daintie feastings He was proude in his garments for albeit he was no King yet notwithstanding he wore royall purple and riche silkes and although he had not a kingdome to gouerne yet would he go like a King in his clothing Neuerthelesse being cast into the burning flames of hell he complained of nothing so much as of his tongue because therein he suffered insupportable anguishe so that he begged of good father Abraham with maine instantnesse nothing else but that he would send Lazarus to coole his tongue to dip his finger in colde water and therewith but touch his burning tongue The reason hereof perhappes may be that hee had committed greater sinnes in talking then by his eyes in seeing by his hands in working or playing or by his mouth in eating For it is a matter very vsuall at banquets that there are not so many dishes fedde vpon or quaffing carowsing glasses drunke off as liberty of talke passing through the table dishonest speeches backbiting of friends neighbours and infinite other irkesome annoyances In warre they can kill no men but such as are present but at banquets they murder them that are absent they fley off the very skinnes of the dead yea a many yeares after onely to kill them afresh and wounde both present and absent persons with the keene edged sworde of the tongue Lingua eorum gladius acutus venenum aspidum dum insanabile so speakes the Prophet Dauid of the wounding tongue Therefore well and worthily was the byting tongue of the glutton tormented more then any other member of his body And iustly ought the tongue to suffer which as an vnfaithfull retayner of life and death permitted death to enter by vnaduised speeches and banished life away by the selfe same occasion and deseruedlye is the tongue made vnworthie of pitie which beeing defeated thereof coulde crye Pater Abraham miserere mei mitte Lazarum vt intingat extremum digiti eius refrigeret linguam meam Father Abraham haue mercie on me and send Lazarus that he may dippe the tip of his finger in water and coole my tongue a iust recompence for that which was pleasing to his owne taste and which hee did denye to miserable Lazarus Thus therefore may you see it to bee most true Vita mors i◠manu linguae both life and death is in the power of the tongue Claudio A populous citie abounding in all wealth cannot bee exposed to the subtilties of a besieging enemie by so manye daungerous and perillous wayes as is the soule of him that hath no restraynt of his tongue Sicut vrbs patens saith the wise man absque murorum ambitu ita vir qui non potest in loquendo cohibere spiritum suum A man that refrayneth not his speeche is like a City which is broken downe and without walles Therfore we haue great reason to say with Dauid Pone Domine custodiam ori meo ostium circumstantiae labiis meis Set awatch O Lord before my mouth keep the door◠of my lips A citie without guarde in time of suspicion stands euermore in daunger and the man that hath no gouernement of his tongue while he is in this world can want no enemies but howrely goeth in perill of his death The Church commending her spouse faith in the Canticles Sicut vitta coccinea labia tuae eloquium tuum dulce Thy lips are like athreed of scarlet and thy talke is sweete As if the holy ghost would haue sayd Because thou delightest me my loue thy lips are like to ribands of scarlet die and thence it ensueth that thy speeche is sweete euen as if there were milke and honie vnder thy tongue Lodouico What similitude hath a riband of scarlet die with the lip I vnderstand not this similie Claudio It is a goodly similitude and very commendable vnto our purpose It was a custome among beautifull young Damosells with ribands or strings of silke to gather their locks of hayre together and make a comely ornament thereof tressing and plaiting all the scattering stragglers amōg them to the end they should not hang loosely about their shoulders but stand very gallātly creasted on the head and most commonly the
beeing no lesse tyred with the others talke then the king himselfe was honourably spake these fewe lynes following Sacred Maiesty this my companion hath dwelt so long vpon his Oration as there remaynes nothing else forme to saye but onely to exhort your highnesse to graunte what hee hath required in his speeche for our good and your owne otherwise expect an Oration as long againe Highly was the king pleased with this second Oratour and falling into a princely smile tooke order that whatsoeuer the first Embassadour had desired should bee foorthwith executed to cut off all occasion of any more hearing him Claudio Not much vnlike to this Oratour was the Embassador sent from the Abderites to Agis king of Lacedaemon who making likewise before that state a very long Oration at last required an answer to his Embassie whereto the king thus gratiously replyed Returne home to Thrace and tell the men of Abdera that you stood so long vpon your Oration as I had no time left to make answer to it Verily so long a tale without wisedome is not to bee so much wondred at as that he to whome God hath giuen legges to walke away will yet sit still to listen such friuolous babbling Finis Cap. 3. The Argument Herein is handled which is the hardest matter for a man either silence or speaking And to this purpose eache one alleageth seuerall reasons with many examples out of the auncient Philosophers as also authorities out of the sacred Scriptures they shew likewise many inconueniences which arise by the tongue A discourse very excellent curious and sententious Chap. 4. LODOVICO In regarde of what hath beene saide alreadie I hold it much better sometimes to bee silent then talke with tediousnesse to the hearers and no credite at all to the speaker but men are commonly so addicted to their owne priuate conceites that they thinke themselues to suffer greate violence if they talke not Claudio In your iudgement then which do you hold as the hardest matter for a man to talke or to hold his peace Lodouico It is as difficult a thing to open the mouth well as it is to know how to close it againe because wee finde fair silence as commendable as is the verie comliest speaking Dauid called very instantly to the Lord Pone domine custodiam orimeo ostium circumstantiae in labijs meis Set a watch O Lord before my mouth and keepe the doore of my lips At an other time he prayed Domine labia mea aperies os meum annunciabit laudem tuam Open thou my lips O lord and my mouth shall shew foorth thy praise Againe he sayde Os meum aperui attraxi spiritum I opened my mouth and panted And another time dumbely as it were Ego autem sicut mutus non aperiens os suum I am as a dumbe man that openeth not his mouth And the reason of all this was because it is as harde to speake well as it is to bee silence Tempus tacendi tempus loquendi He that would not faile in his speaking should pray vnto the Lord that he would first inspire him with what he should say and afterward he may the boldlier speake learne first to bee silent and then prectise how to talke So did holy Dauid he prayed in silence to the Lord that he would instruct him what he should say and the Lord answered him Dilataos tuum implebo illud What can we otherwise gather heereby but that questionlesse it is as great a labour to speake well as likewise it is to bind the tongue to silence beeing naturally as procliue to talking as the eyes to seeing the feete to walking and the hands to working This great paine of ours in silence or speaking Salomon declared when he said Omnis lab or hominis in ore cius All the labour of a man is for his month Claudio What labour is it for a man to holde his peace Let him but keepe close his mouth and it sufficeth Sayeth not Ouid Quis minor est autem quam tacuisse labor To talke well is another manner of matter it behoueth the Oratour to busie himselfe not a little in searching his topicks for neate tearmes quaint course significant wordes and proportionate conceites to amplifie and adorne his Oration least it come short of his hearers lyking For this purpose were so many Schooles erected of Grammer Rhetorique and Philosophie not onely to teache an order in discourse without error but also how a man should hold his peace wherein there needs no other study or paines but only closing of the mouth Lodouico But this closing of the mouth is as laboursome as it is to speake and harder too I denye not that for comely speaking good studie is requisite and onelye learned wise men knowe that course of speaking but I tell you againe that absolutelye it is a more difficult thing to bee silent then to talke We see such as are dumbe to labour themselues much by signes because they cannot retayne the motion of nature hindered by the tongue therefore they make a shift with gestures such as in the tongue are meerelye forbidden Conceptum sermonem tenere quis poterit Who can withholde himselfe from speaking sayd Eliphaz the friend of Iob. Who can refrayne his tongue and not thrust foorth the conceite of his minde surelye no man I thinke without greate difficultie Such is the power of nature gadding to sound the thoughts of others as it is able to make the dumbe to speake if we dare credit the opinion of Herodotus For he telles vs that Atys the Son to Croesue king of Lydia hauing neuer spoken before in al his life time so soone as he saw one lift vp his armed right hand to take away the life of his father vpon the surprizing of the city so much preuayled the natural instinct of speaking accompanied with greefe and childlike pittie which gathered strength to breake the controwling ligament that till then had denyed the passage of speeche that crying out alowde he sayd Oh deare Father take heed Conceptum sermonem tenere quis poterit Claudio This perhaps may be more attributed to the loue of a Son to his father and the intire respect of his iniuried begetter then to the voluntarie torrent of nature Lodouico Both to the one and other may we most truly refer it because both the one and other are of like equality in power yet we may rather conduce it to the violent torrent in the very swiftnesse of his course then to the conceite of the mind the other beeing the way-gate for passage of speeche Philippides the Poet was very gratious in the eye of Prince Lysimachus so that he offered to graunt him whatsoeuer he would desire of him and would needs vrge him to request some thing the Poet replyed I desire nothing in reward or gratitude of all my paines
but only that you would neuer acquaint me with any of your secrets A man is euer so forwarde in disclosing his conceytes that Architas the Tarentine sayde If one were in heauen to consider the beauty of the starres the wandering order of the Planets the variable influences of the celestiall spheares and the goodly disposition of the inferiour creatures all these would seeme nothing sweete vnto him except he had a kind companion with whom he might confer vpon them Conceptum sermonem tenere quis potest It is such a hard thing to keepe silence that although there was a law among the Lydians that such as talked ouermuch should be eyther condemned to the Gallyes or learne with others to practise silence for a certayne time yet more woulde willingly goe rowe for many yeares on the Seas then conuerse among the Citizens to learne silence this dooth Plutarch testifye to vs. Quintilian wrote Nullam difficiliorem esse puto quà m tacendi virtutem There is no vertue more paynefull to be followed then silence this silence is a maruellous harde matter Tiberius taught a talkeatiue Senatour silence for the space of a whole yeare together but to behold his antique tricks behauiour was admirable for he did more harme by his nods and foolish becks then others did by talking to him such strong impressure suffered naturall vse as gestures seemed odious in regard of the tongue were sufficient to haue softned the seuerity of Caesar which being so Conceptum sermonem tenere quis potest Mydas had the eares of an Asse as the Poets tell vs but he couered them so cunningly vnder his royal crowne with a fine nightcap as none knew his monstrous deformity saue only his Barber who was prohibited from disclosing it vpon the seuere penalty of death But he being not able to withstand the naturall enforcement of reuealing the same went into a hollow caue of a forrest and there he cryed alowd many times to himself Mydas king of Phrigia hath the eares of an Asse Of the holy Apostles themselues it is written that they could not retaine within them the high celestiall secrets reuealed to them by the holy ghost and Christ himselfe Non possumus quae vidimus audiuimus non loqui For we cannot but speake the things which we haue heard and seene Howbeit it is a higher mysterie in the Saints this which in the Apostles was a vertue to other is giuen by naturall instinct How can an Organe but sound the bellowes feeding it with breath the Organists fingers playing vpon it Non possumus quae vidimus audiuimus non loqui it is not possible to bee silent but only by the especiall grace of God Claudio Silence is no greater a gift of God then speaking with wisedome and the flowing eloquence in the Apostles was the work of the holy ghost not the heate of Nature But albeit silence is such a hard imposition yet a wise man findes it no difficultye at all in him who by the compasse of reason measures all his wordes Lodouico Alas my Lorde doe you not know that Salomon himselfe was of my mind reputing it so impossible a thing to order the talking tongue that he sayd Domini est gubernare linguam The answer of the tongue is of the Lord. Claudio This saying that God onely hath the gouernement of the tongue approues not so much the difficulty of silence but likewise of speaking And if so many examples by you alleaged may make men beleeue that it is a matter almost impossible for a man to hold his peace I can produce as many men more who not only haue spoken little but in a manner haue beene alwayes silent Moreouer some of those men by you rehearsed were takē for indiscreet persons and worthy of reprehension and namely Eliphaz who sayd Conceptum sermonem tenere quis potest But they whom I will speak of were men of wisedome worthy of prayse as already we haue deliuered many others You reade of Pambus the Abbot a man of great holinesse who by the same of his goodnesse procured a reuerend Bishoppe to come and visite him but in all the time of his beeing with him hee would not speak one word His attendāts taking it in very euil part imputed it to him as inciuility discurtesie and vnmanlinesse to be silent in a time so much beseeming speech The patient man sayde vnto them My sonnes I could neuer read a better lesson nor learne at any time a dostrine more profitable then to be silent And of this mind hee still continued vntill it pleased the Lord to send for him Socrates wrote a booke wherein nothing else was read or taught but onely silence If there were Schooles in the city for instruction of silence how many would quickly learne to speake very eloquently Then all iangling corrupt talking murmuring detracting blaspheming and lying would soone cease He knowes not how to speake that knowes not how to be silent so sayd Socrates to his Schollers But Plutarch is repugnant to Socrates for in his booke de educatione liberorum hee hath set downe That he which talkes little hath need of a little reading As the vessell is knowne by the sound to be full or emptie so by talking is a wise man and a foole discerned Aquae Siloe currunt cum silentio Iob spake once and repented himselfe Vuum loquutus sum quod vtinam non dixissem alterum quib us vltrà non adam Manum meam ponam super os meum because talking giues a signe of lightnesse as himselfe confesseth for if he had held his peace then he had wanted the cause of repentance Qui leuiter loquutus sum respondere quid possum Dauid as already hath bin declared to receiue no cause of repentance by speaking prayed the Lord to set a watch before his mouth And Iob councelled his friends to silence because they might appeare to be wise Vtinam taceretis vt putaremini sapientes If then silence be so commodious for a foole to keepe his follie from discouerie howe much more is it beneficiall for a wise man Lodouico Taciturnitie is very necessarie in a foole for manifesting his follie but in a wise man contrarily is speeche necessary for apparancie of his wisedome otherwise how could it bee knowne which is wisest if both hold their peace Claudio The foole holdes his peace onely to seeme wise but the discreete man doth it because he is so indeede As sweete liquor beeing put into an vncouered vessell looseth his perfection and the goodnesse therof quite vanisheth as apparātly may be noted in wine euen so a man of a many words who hath his mouth still open to talking looseth the sweet sauour of deuotion the goodnesse of al perfection vanisheth quite from him Seneca sent sundry writings many books ful of great learning to
onely be blamed But silence is a thing so noble that it is very highly pleasing to god as may be easily gathered if we but consider that his diuine Maiestie would not haue his secrets knowne to any person whatsoeuer wherby we may see that he would not admit the knowledge of what hee would do in a day nay much lesse what he intended in an hour Most secret is God in all his affayres whereupon the Prophet spake not at randome saying Secretum meum mihi secretum meum mihi My secrets I keep to my selfe c. And Cato likewise sayd Proximus ille Deo est qui scit ratione tacere He is likest vnto God that knowes with reason how to hold his peace Finis Cap. 4. The Argument Wherein is declared how God spake so little as he spake but once or twise onely And how man ought to keep an eternall silence otherwise he that alwayes talketh sinneth Who was the first that brake silence as well in heauen as in earth How it is to be vnderstood that God onely is truth and euery man a lyar considering that many haue spoken the truth as well Philosophers of the Gentiles as also many Christians A discourse ful of learning pleasing curiosities Chap. 5. CLAVDIO Well then my Lord if God be so iealous of his secrets and hath so little reuealed them it behooueth vs in this case to confesse that he speakes much lesse and is very spaing of his speeche Lodouico God is so abstinent of his speeche as I find but that once or twise onely he spake nor is this any once it of mine own but the Prophet Dauid witnesseth it who speaking of God sayth Semel loquutus est Deus One time onely God spake and two things onely he sayd Duo haec audiui quia potestas Dei est tibi Domine mifericordia quia tu reddes vnicuique iuxta opera sua These two I heard that power belongeth vnto God and to thee O Lord mercy for thou rewardest euery one according to his worke This is also confirmed by the authoritie of Iob who maintaining God to be a louer of silence sayth Semel loquitur Deus idipsum sermo non repetit Can there be found any greater taciturnity then this Claudio God speaketh very little if he neuer spake but once or twise But how can this agree with the blessed S. Paul a preacher to the people a vessell of election and the trumpet of the holy ghost For he writing to the Hebrewes sayeth Multifariè multisque modis elim Deus loquēs patribus in Prophetis Nouissimè diebus istis loquutus no other end was made speeche conioyned with the eternall word actiue Omnia per ipsum facta sunt All things were made by it but to agree with the passiue of our humanity Passus sub Pontio Pilato It suffered vnder Pontius Pilate by meanes of the verball coniunction of his substance onely neyther for any other end did it assume flesh in the chaste virgins wombe then to declare therby the word spoken at first Moreouer what Christ did and said in the world was a manifesting of what the Godhead had in his mind as is witnessed in the words of the Euangelist Saint Iohn where most highly he saith Quod factum est in ipso vita erat Which more cleerely he replicateth in his wonderfull Apocalips saying Quia tu creasti omnia propter voluntatem tuam erant creata sunt For thou hast created al things and for thy wills sake they are and haue bin created Claudio If they haue bin how are they now created If now they be created then before they were not it seemeth repugnant to saye that first they haue beene and yet afterwarde they are now created Lodouico As if your Honor knowes not that before the Architect buildeth a palace he hath the Idea shaped thereof They were first in the diuinities minde afterward they were created not that first of all they were in Potentia and afterward in act or so to be expected from God because in God there is no such power which is called defectiue but euery thing in him is perfectly in act In vs between the deed the act according to the ancient Adage is a great alteration but in God between doing and speaking there is no difference at all Ipse dixit facta sunt ipse mandauit creata sunt And to returne to our argument first of all begun God is sayd to speake vnto vs alwayes eternally in the heart by his holy lawe and by his creatures which serue vnto vs as so many tongues as Dauid distinctlye speaketh in his 48. Psalme and as the three children in the fierye furnace of Babylon doe affirme in theyr song It shall be necessarie therefore for vs to be alwayes silent because he that alwayes speaketh spake but two things onely as before hath bin declared and so we may say Semel loquutus est Deus The diuine word is the liuing conceite of the Fathers vnderstanding which becomming flesh expressed the conceite of the Godheads mind Ipse enarrauit docuit omnia Also himselfe sayd to his beloued disciples Omnia qua audiui à patre meo nota feci vobis So that whatsoeuer he sayde it was to expresse the eternall will and though they may seeme to bee sundry discoursings yet in substaunce they are all but one whereupon it may bee truely sayde Semel loquutus est Deus And because it is a word eternall it would therefore haue an eternall silence which made Dauid say Te decet hymnus Deus in Sion As if he would haue said it is a matter most commendable O Lord that to thee should be giuen an eternall silence because thou speakest eternally for it is not lawfull that while thou speakest wee thy creatures should likewise be talking but to stand in humility listening to thee Te decet c. Claudio By your fauour my Lord if it bee a matter of dutie to stand alwayes mute and husht in silence wherefore doe you then reason so much not obserue the same in silence which you preach vnto me Lodouico These wordes of mine are my silence and the word of God also my silence they are because while I speake vnto you of matters diuine I hold my peace and God speaketh by mee An vnhappie wretch were I if I should speake as of my selfe because I should then tell nothing but lyes and be a manifest breaker of silence Doe not you know Omnis homo mendax Euery man is a lyer And how greatly God dooth punish lying Perdes omnes qui loquuntur mendacium Thou shalt destroye them that speake lyes Claudio Why then belike I am a lyar I thanke you for your kindnesse Lodouico Who makes any doubt of that are not you a man Claudio I make no question that I am
also a little water-brooke by euery sudden showre it is filled and ouerfloweth streaming away quite out of his bed the like cannot be seene in a maine great Riuer for if it arise out of his vsuall rest it prooueth to do an infinite dammage Our hart is so narrowly limited that by euery little distaste we are strangely altered and being in this teasty tetchy way presently we let flye foorth much vnseemelines But with God it is not so for he is so infinite and spatious as ouer-readily he is not drawne to be angry with vs wherfore it it written of him Dominator Domine Deus misericors clemens patiens multae miserationis The Lord God is strong mercifull and gratious slow to anger and aboundant in goodnesse truth There be some kind of angry men who if they be reprooued for their faultes will excuse themselues saying It is very true that I am cholerike and easily induced to disdaine and do speake very iniuriously in my furie but quickly I am appeased and soone cast off all rage so by seeming worthie of this excuse they perswade themselues not to bee the worst sort of men though vse makes a habite and their violence at length growes to bee as greate as any others Claudio In my iudgement this answere of theirs is very ridiculous because a man as soone dyeth by one small mortal wound as by the receite of a thousand for one stroake that pearceth soundly is sufficient to kill a man It importeth as much that any thing may bee as suddenly deuoured in a fierce flaming fire as if a longer time it lyeth to like purpose in a softer fire for it sufficeth that it is burnte but God blesse vs all from such a tongue Christ sayd to his disciples that the faithful among the other miracles that they shoulde accomplish and worke in the primitiue Church one should be this That if they drunke of any poysonous or mortiferous liquor yet they should thereby receiue no harme Et si mortiferum quid biberint non eis nocebit Vpon which words spake that golden mouth If thou shalt be defamed by a venemous tongue vilified iniuried and yet art not therby prouoked to reuenge it is a signe of great faith Let vs then take good heed to this dangerous way if we fall not therby our cariage will be the more commendable Lodouico As the terrestriall vapours do not ascend to the Moons heauen euen so iniuries and angers doe not arise into the generous breast of the wise Marsilius Ficinus saith That furies and follies are of two kinds One is bred in the braine and they that endure this fury are called fobles The other receiueth life from the hart and they that hà ue this disease are tearmed implacable angrye men but in mine opinion this seconde infirmitie is farre worse then the first Claudio Seneca telles vs in the booke which he wrote of anger That anger is not good for any vertuous thing much lesse then doth it incite to any couragious disposition because neuer can any vice be helpful to vertue And this doctrine he deliuered against certain men who excused themselues that without anger they could not do any magnanimous act whereto Seneca answered That anger is a very perillous thing and such things as be perillous are better to be kept farre off then neere at hand for more easily is resistance made in the birth or beginning then we can tell how to gouerne it beeing once gotten vpon vs. Aristotle affirmeth That anger is good yet not good to be as a leader but as a Souldier for so much the lesse then shal it work in cruelty And I thinke this is that kinde of anger which Dauid spake of when he said Irascimini nolite peccare Be angry but sin not Lodouico And Seneca as answering Aristotle saith That if anger be obedient to reason it ought not to be called anger but by some other name And afterwarde If anger shall be reckoned as a good Souldiour then will he be obedient to counsell Gods will is not that reason should take any help of sin Therfore saith Seneca anger can neuer be good either little or much And if Aristotle woulde haue anger to animate men to the battaile why then we may maintayne drunkennesse to bee profitable for it maketh men bolde furious and spleenefull and boldnesse maketh men verye forward Therfore I thinke that Seneca being growne into anger against his seruant would not then chastice him but only sayd Caederem si non irascerer I would smite thee if I were not in anger as fearing that choller shoulde take away the light of reason from him Diogenes likewise being spit in the face in the publique market place by a very insolēt young man sayd to the saucy youth Non quidem irascor sed dubito an irasci oporteat Truely young man I am not angry at this bold part of thine but I stand thinking with my selfe whether I ought to be angry or no because thou hast done but like a foole I ought to cary my selfe as becomes a wise man Cato handling a cause in the Senate house against Lentulus Lentulus growing into rage against him prepared a mouthfull of spittle and spat it ful in the midst of his forehead Wherewith Cato was not mooued any iot to anger but only sayd Now will I say Lentulus that such men are deceiued as shall say that thou hast not a mouth matter foule enough in it Claudio Oh what examples do liue of rare patience and great wisedome which touch to the very quick our vniust hastinesse He that of pure gold formeth a faire kind of money he doth no deed at al of wonder but he that from a massie log of Lead can draw a golden piece of money it is an act of far greater vertue The like may be saide of those gentile spirits which from men so beastly and full of anger could declare in themselues such noble vertues all which was nothing else but good knowledge in well looking to the way of the power irascible Lodouico The only best meanes to keepe our selues vntoucht of this vice of anger is to flye from it by wisedome in the same manner of flight as Iosuah obserued in taking the city of Hai. For if we will ouercome the passionate angry wee must take our flight and keep vs far enough off from them Dauid won honor to himself in flying from Absolon and reputed it as his glory not to take reuenge on Shemei but referred all such power to the Lord saying with a verye cheerefull countenaunce Tu autem Domine susceptor meus es gloria mea exaltans caeput meum c. Tu percussisti omnes aduersantes mihi sine causa dentes peccatorum contriuisti Dominus est salus c. Thou O Lord art a buckler for me
diligent custody He that hath his talke softned by compassion sweetned by loue sharpned by correction made tractable by discretion and close shut vp by heedfull caution can very hardly faile in his speaking First of all then we wil thus begin Our speeche ought to be full of pleasing because there is nothing that more mooueth a man to loue then doth gentle speeche sweete compassionate milde and benigne as well in answering as in reproouing the faultes in others Manie striue to ouercome men by the strength of armes but they are not such as by a gentle sweete perswasion haue brought men to doe euen what themselues woulde Whereuppon arose the wittie Prouerbe Men are bounde by wordes and beastes by cordes And Salomon in his Prouerbes sayeth Lingua mollis du itiem confringit for a sweete speeche suppresseth furie and extinguisheth the sparkes of anger in a harde and implacable mind Claudio Why this is euery day plainly enough discerned because many are chastised by sweete speeches that by rude and sharp language would become much worse As the diamond resisteth vpon the hardest steele yet neuerthelesse is broken with the soft blood of a Goate Euen so Responsio mollis fragit iram sermo durus excitat furorem A soft answer putteth away wrath but grieuous words stir vp anger He that will get himselfe many friends and appease the displeasure of his enemies must folow Salomons counsel VerbuÌ„ dulce multiplicat amicos mitigat inimicos A sweet talke multiplieth friends pacifieth them that be at variance This was apparantly to be noted in Absolon who by sweet speeches though very fraudulent in little time compassed the loue of the people yea that in such sort as he boldly attempted to depriue his Father of the kingdome Lodouico With this dulcitude of speeche there hath bin nothing almost left vnattempted as may be seen in those two great Orators Cicero and Demosthenes the one the light of the Latine the other of the Greek tongue What should I talke of their attemptings There was nothing which they vndertook but they obtaind it by the sweetnesse of their speech For Lactantius Firmianus declareth that Apollonius the Philosopher hearing Cicero in his Oration was so transported with admiration beyond himselfe that after some smal recouery he said to Cicero in the publique presence Cicero I commend thee am amazed at thee Xenocrates the Philosopher by this sweetnesse of speeche quite changed the vile base behauiour of a bad luxurious man called Palaemon Cato Censorius being accused fortie foure times before a Senate so much to be feared as that of Roome knew so well in his Orations how to defend himselfe as euermore he went away iudged innocent Aegesias the Scholler of Plato read so sweetely vpon the immortalitie of the soule that many for meere ioye and to attaine that high felicitye accounting it no crueltye to themselues layde violent handes on they re owne liues vntill Ptolomeus prohibited him to discourse any more vppon that matter Heereuppon the auncient Poets feigned that Amphion the Son of Ioue by musick onely without any other mysterie builded the walles of the city of Thebes the stones most commodiously laying themselues one vpon another as if by a skilfull masters hand they had beene ordered Also Arion Mitenâ—us of Lesbos with his harpe drew the Fishes netlesse out of the Sea so that himselfe rode vpon the back of a Dolphin which brought set him safely on the shore Alpheus by his sweete singing tamed the wildest and most cruell beastes Orpheus by the sound of his harpe made the woods to mooue the floodes to daunce and the stoanes to leape about him We may allude all this to the sweetnesse of their speeche as the alluring of men conuersion of sinners and they beeing before most vnciuill and barbarous to make them thus become verye meeke and tractable As wee may reade of the blessed Apostles and Martyres who conuerted the most stearne and bloodiest Tyrantes Wee haue a prety storie of one M. Iordanus described by Antonius the Archbishop of Florence who preaching in Vercellis where in those times was the generall place of studying he deliuered the word of God in such sweete and gratious manner as within fewe dayes after he drew the reuerend Doctors Fathers and diuers Noble men to forsake all things else and practice preaching onely Wherupon Gualterus Teutonicus Regent of the other Artes studies fearing to loose all his Schollers likewise sayde in the publique Schoole to them Take heede you goe not to heare the preaching of M. Iordanus for he polisheth his words with such sweetenesse as dooth an harlote when shee betrayeth and catcheth the soules of men But what ensued of this He that sought to withdrawe others was first of all taken himselfe euen so soone as hee went but to heare him And then he became quickly of another minde perceiuing all other studies to be but vaine and fruitlesse in comparison of the heauenly sweetes of the soule for there is no sweetenesse aboue that of the word of God Quà m dulcia faucibus meis eloquia tua super mel orimeo Claudio What mightier maruaile to approoue the sweetenesse of Christes speeche the like whereof was neuer heard then at the very time when they came to take and bind him hearing but his words they stood as men amazed and forgetting the commaundement imposed vpon them they returned back to the giuers of that charge saying Nunquam sic loquutus est homo Neuer as man heard to speake the like So sweet was his speaking as he drew infinite multitudes after him so that the city beeing vnable to containe them they flocked foorth after him into the fields among the mountains and on the Sea shoare with great striuing among them for taking places according as S. Luke declareth Cùm turbae irruerunt in Iesum vt audirent verbuÌ„ Dei c. And the people preased vpon him to heare the word of God c. Lodouico Great efficacy vndoubtedly was there in the sweet words of Christ that it could make the ministers of the Pharisies to forget their fiercenesse they comming against Christ like so many roaring lyons or most cruel Tigers to lay fast hold vpon him wherupon they could doe any other thing else but that which they then came for Whereat the Pharisies being amazed and filled full of railing against him imagined in their harts that they were also become some of his followers Dauid had reason to speake thus of the voice of Christe vox Domini in vâ—rtute vox Domini in magnificentia Vox Domini confringentis cedros The voice of the Lorde is mightye the voice of the Lord is glorious The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars And not the cedars only but the stonie and adamantine harts he breaketh and crusheth in pieces But more amazement I account
the glory of god edifying of my neighbour therfore I swept purged and clensed my thoughts from al the filth of malice slattery infamy and trechery Claudio Quite contrary do they that vtter whatsoeuer comes first to mouth lashing it liberally foorth without conceiting and foredeeming whether it be good or euill of whome wee may well speake that saying of Dauid Ecce labia mea non prohibebo Domine tu scistâ—s I will not refraine my lips O Lord thou knowest This is the reason why they commit many errors and become euen vnlike an vntamed horse without a bridle beside oftentimes by defect of the lips the whole body and soule do suffer greeuance dearly repenting what the tongue hath wilfully blabd abroade which if not in this world yet assuredly in the other as Dauid in very significant wordes testifieth in the 140. Psalme Labor labiorum ipsorum operiet eos Let the mischefe of their own lips come vpon them And therfore I think the Latins called the lips Labia à labendo quia per labia homo labitur in praeceps Lodouico Some hold that he would or else might haue sayd Labor labiorum ipsorum angustiabit or rather vestiet eos but in saying that the trauaile of the lippes shall couer them signifieth that there shall bee no parte of the bodie or the soule but it will be anguished by the defect of the lippes Moreouer such will bee the payne of the error committed by the lippes that their rage and choler beeing wasted the damned shall deuoure vp their owne tongues according as of some of them the Secretarie of Christ Saint Iohn telles vs in his Apocalypse Et commanducauerunt linguas suas prae dolore blasphemauerunt Deum coeli prae doloribus vulneribus suis And they gnawed their tongues for sorone and blasphemed the God of heauen for theyr paynes and their sores Be more carefull and respectiue Oh negligent man in thy talking and consider miserable wretche how manye are damned in hell not so much for what they haue doone as for their vile and blasphemous words spoken Claudio Sampson was a man of woonderfull strength yet so soone as he was ouercome by an immodest sillie woman he was bound and deliuered into the hands of his enemies who pluckt our his eyes and made him like a beast to grinde in a mill all which happened to him by beeing ouer carelesse of his tongue and too too readye in the labour of his lippes Dauid exhorteth them that forethinke not well what they woulde saye to lay a punishment on themselues answerable to such neglect thereby to preuente a farre greater detriment Quae dicitis in cordibus vestris in cubilibus vestris compungimini Examine your own harts and in your chambers and be still as meaning to inflict the penaltie there where the crime was committed The heart first contriued it before the tongue spake it the hart first cried guiltie ere the tongue did blab it therefore the heart must haue his due chastisement imposed on it Sacrificate sacrificiuÌ„ iustitiae c Offer the sacrifices of righteousnesse c. This sacrifice of righteousnesse saith old Father Augustine is the very same where of king Dauid speaketh in another place Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus cor contritum humiliatum Deus non despicies The sacrifices of God are a contrite spirit a contrite and a broken heart O God thou wilt not despise In the hart was first of all conceiued and committed the sinne of the tongue therfore the Iibbet of death should first be set vp for the hart there the soule dooing her true repentance shee is to endure the iustice of sacrifice on her selfe causing the hart to be intirely sory euen from the very bottom therof to weep bloudy tears in true compunctioÌ„ promising neuer to minister matter more to the tongue without sincere deliberate premeditation Lodouico The flatterer should haue some reason to refrain his glib and oylie tongue because silence is much better then false and coyned lying speeches for that is a sinne against nature because the tongue being the discouerer of the heart in speaking otherwise then then as the hart thinketh it appears to haue some want in his naturall office Pliny affirmeth That the tongue of a man hath two veines one correspondent to the hart the other agreeable to the braine the place where reason makes his abiding It seemeth that the diuine architect did this to instruct thereby that we ought not to haue one thing in the tongue and another in the hart much lesse should wee profer with the tongue all that is hidden and lockt vp in the heart but only those things wherof reasoÌ„ hath first tasted Whereupon the wise man sayd Qui ambulat fraudulenter reuelat arcana qui autem fidelis est celat amici commissum The flatterer praiseth and blameth not according to what he hath in his heart but agreeable to that which hee perceiues pleasing to him whome he would flatter therefore he neuer fastneth on any proper sentence but turnes and windes still euery way not much vnlike the clapper of a bell or like a vane on a house top as the winde bloweth Claudio The Satyrick Poet Iuuenal paints him forth to the life in a Satyre of his Rides maiori cachinno concutitur Flet si lachrimas aspexit amici Nec dolet iguiculum brumae si tempore poscâ—s Accipit endromidem si dixeris aestuo sudat Nocte dieque potest alienum sumere vultum A' facie iactaâ—e manus laudare parat us Plato in his Phedon and in Menexemus calles the flatterer A wilde furie infested in man and au vncleane deuill that with vnhappie meates and hurtfull brutishnesse nourisheth defiled thoughtes He compares him likewise To a Iuggler an Enchaunter or a poysoner who by deceiuing wordes worke mens mindes to their owne willes Hee giues him also the name Of a seperator because he is diuided in himselfe keeping one thing in his breast and vttering another with the tongue The Grashopper bathed in oyle dyeth but afterward being washt with vinegar he comes to life againe Euen so many are slayne by the oyly tongue of a flatterer which afterwarde by a iust reprehension doone with charitie doe recouer life againe This made holy Dauid saye Corripiet me iustus me in misericordia increpabit me oleum autem peccatoris non impinguet caput meum Let the righteous smite me for that is a benefit let him reprooue me and it shall be a pretious oyle that shall not breake mine head The reason heereof his sonne Salomon teacheth vs where hee sayeth Meliora sunt vulnera diligentis quà m frrudulenta oscula odientis The woundes of a louer are better then the false kisses of aâ— eâ—emie Lodouico Let euery such tongue be dumbe in a christian common
Hebrew people For speaking the trueth Ionathas the Sonne of Gedeon was murthered by Abimilech reproouing him but iustly Ieremie reprehending king Asa was therefore cast in prison with fetters on his feet Iohn Baptist telling king Herode of his vnlawfull mariage lost therefore his head Daniell because he told the Babylonians that Bel the Dragon were not Gods was cast into the den of Lyons All the holy Martyrs were slaine by wicked Tyrants and other iust men most cruelly persecuted for no other cause but for openly speaking and iustifying the trueth I haue read of a vertuous religious man according to some writers it was venerable Beda of England who had his eyes puld out for speaking the truth in manner following In search of ancient monuments in Rome there was foūd a goodly door of Marble on the forefront wherof these letters were engrauen P. P. P. S. S. S. R. R. R. F. F. F. many good wits were called to expresse the true sense of them but none knew directly how to construe them At last this reuerend man was sent for because in those times he was greatly esteemed for the same of his study in good letters was far neer renowmed He looking on these mysterious letters gaue the true interpretation of them as followeth The three P. P. P. signified Pater Patria Profectus est the three S. S. S. were thus read Sapientia Secum Sublata est the three R. R. R. had this meaning Regnum Romae Ruet the three F. F. F. were thus interpreted Ferro Flamma Fame And because he told the truth he was thought to prognosticate the ruine of Rome and for his reward had his eyes pluckt out Claudio Alas my Lord what needes so long a discourse or expence of time in approouing how odious trueth hath been and yet is to the world it selfe For the only truth it selfe the Son of God what trauailes endured he in the world al which he suffered for the trueth for confession whereof the Nazarites his neighborly compatriots would haue throwne him from the mount whereon their citty was builded For the trueth the Iewes tooke vp stones to stone him withall for the truth they prosecuted him euen to death at last he dyed for the truth Ego sum veritas I am the truth Ego in hoc natus sum ad hoc veni in mundum vt testimonium perhibeam verit ati For this cause am I borne and for this cause came I into the world that I should beare witnesse vnto the truth Hee came to teache trueth to the world Si veritatem dico vobis quare non creditis mihi And If I say the truth why do ye not beleeue me He came to teach vs the holy law whose precepts are not other then truth Omnia mandata tua veritas All thy commandements are truth The kingdome of heauē suffereth violēce and to apprehend it there are no armes more meet then truth Scuto circundabit te verit as eius His truth shall be thy shield and buckler When Christ ascended into heauen he promised nothing else to his disciples but the spirit of trueth Expedit vobis vt ego vadam Si autem abiero mittam ad vos spiritum veritatis It is expedient for you that I goe away but if I depart away I wil send you the comforter the spirit of truth If the holy spirit do teach men any thing it is nothing else but truth Cùm autem venerit ille Spiritus veritatis docebit vos omnem verit atem Howbeit when he is come which is the spirit of truth he will leade you into all truth If the Father would be worshipped he would haue it done in spirit and truth Adorabunt patrē in spiritu veritate They shal worship the Father in spirit and truth If that we be made free verit as liberauit vos The truth hath set you free The word of God is nothing else but trueth Sermo tuus verit as est Thy word is trueth If Christ be persecuted it is for speaking the trueth Quaeritis me interficere hominem qui veritatem vobis loquutus sum you goe about to kill me a man that haue told you the truth If God be sayd to be sorie for Lucifer for no other cause is it but for hauing forsaken the trueth Ille homicida erat ab initio in veritate non stetit quia non est veritas in eo He hath bin a murtherer from the beginning abode not in the trueth because there is no truth in him If God be sayd to greeue for men he lamenteth for nothing else but because they left the trueth and addicted themselues vnto lyes Non est in ore eorum veritas cor eorum vanum est Filii hominum vsque quò graui Corde vt quid diligitis vanitatem quaeritis mendacium There is no trueth in their mouth within they are very corruption O ye sons of men how long will you turne my glory into shame louing vanity and seeking lyes If God do sweare he sweares the trueth Iurauit Dominus Dauid veritatem non frustrabitur eum The Lord hath sworne in trueth vnto Dauid and he will not shrinke from it If God do draw neere to any man it is in regard of the truth Prope est Dominus omnibus inuocantibus eum in veritate The lord is neer vnto all that cal vpon him in trueth If he giue heauen to vs mortalles it is onely to such as speake the trueth Domine quis habitabit in tabernaculo tuo aut quis requiscet in monte sancto tuo Qui loquitur veritatem in corde suo qui non egit dolum in lingua sua Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle who shall rest in thy holy mountaine He that speaketh the trueth in his hart he that hath no guile in his tongue There is nothing more acceptable to God then trueth is because he is the trueth it selfe Therefore Stobeus telles vs that Pythagoras being demanded what thing men ought to doe to be like vnto God made answere Let them speake trueth because God is trueth the center for full confirmation the scope wherat all vertues aime Aeschines the Philosopher and Oratour the corriuall of Demosthenes in a certaine Oration which he wrote against him sayeth That the power of trueth is such as without it all strength is weakenesse all wisedome follie all temperance turpitude all iustice reuenge all humility deceipt all patience to no purpose chastity is hurtfull riches are but losse and pitty meere vanity For trueth among all substances it is the cheefest among the heauens the imperial among mettals pure gold among the elements the fire among pretious stones the Carbuncle among Sciences the most celebrate And as without light light cānot be seen euen so without trueth we can
compasse that saucily which is no way to be had but by true simplicity or to haue a labourers hyre for idlenesse when he that worketh not must haue no wages Vnwise may we call him who being falne into a quagmire with a purse full of mony in his hand in very great perill of perishing wil yet refuse to catch hold on a cord cast to him from a friends hand that by vsing some meanes to fasten it about him he may the sooner be drawne out of daunger But he like a foolish man loth to let fal the purse out of his hand because he would not loose such a sum of mony refuseth the cords helpe so at one instant the purse and his life are lost together In a far worse case do I account the sinner that refuseth to accept the diuine mercy in due time but preferreth a foolish delight before it so is damned wilfully for Misericordia is sayd to be quasi miserorum chorda We by our sinning doe fall into the bottomlesse depth of hel as Dauid sayth Infixus sum in limo profundi I stick fast in the deep mire god in meer compassion casts forth the cord of his mercy to saue vs from perishing in our sins but then vaine loue to this world which we hold in the hand of our hart will not permit vs for lucre thereof to take hold vpon it Let vs therefore learne to be wise and know when this gracious blessing is offered vs. It comes after the manner of time or occasion figured by our elders with a hairy forefront but a bald scalpe behind whereon grew the prouerbe Fronte capillosa post est occasio calua Let vs not suffer our selues to be caught of this rauening woolf nor be stricken dumbe by him but breaking his hellish teeth crye out with the Prophet Dauid that we may be heard Ad Dominuin cùm tribularer clamaui exaudiuit me when I was in trouble I called vpon the Lord and he heard me For to be silent in such necessity is a most diuellish and detestable error therefore let vs say Et illud erat mutum Finis Cap. 10. The Argument Continuing on still the same matter and discourse with diuers other excellent reproofes of this mighty sinne of vnwillingnesse to repent and easing our consciences of the heauy burden of sin wherein no silence is to be kept And that the detractors tongue is like the Serpents Also how we ought sometimes to crye out and sometimes to hold our peace Chap. 11. CLAVDIO God commaunded in Deuteronomy the two and twentieth Chapter that if a virgin were defloured in the city she should be publiquely stoned to death by the people and he yeelds the reason for this so seuere punishment Quia non clamauit cùm esset in ciuitate Because shee cryed not beeing in the city For if she had cryed out perhaps the impudent man would not haue been so forward in committing such a great misdeed by her not crying it appeared as an euident signe that she condiscended to this lustfull act But if it so happened that in the field shee was deflowred then God commaunded that the man onely should be stoned and not the woman because although she had there cryed out she could not haue had such helpe as she might in the city Sin autem in agro repererit vir puellam c. Et apprehendens concubuerit cum ea ipse mortetur solus puella nihil patietur nec est rea mortis quoniam sicut latro consurgit contra fratrem suum occidit animam eius ita a puella perpessa est Sola erat in agro clamauit et nullus affuit qui liberaret eam But if a man find a betrothed maid in the field and force her and lye with her then the man that lay with her shall dye alone And vnto the maid thou shalt doe nothing because there is in the maid no cause of death for as when a man riseth against his neighbour and woundeth him to death so is this matter For he found her in the field the maide cryed and there was no man to succour her Our soule is this faire young virgin virgo Israel proiecta est in terram suam non est quisuscitet eam The virgin Israel is left vpon her land and there is none to raise her vp Oh how many soules shal be stoned eternally in hell fire for not being subiected to this cry of hearty repentaunce because the diuell hath so stopt their throats as they cannot crye to god at all but sitting wilfully dumbe and stubbomly vnrepentant deseruedly they perish Whereas if they had followed Dauids rule and by maine stearne voice broke the diuels dumbe strings they might haue triumphed at the sight of his owne deceipt and cast in his teeth that repentance only is able to free any soule frō him so haue giuen him this bone to gnaw on Et illud erat mutum Sometimes I haue seene diuers Gentlemen yea euen of this city very well deriued to bee most gratious in speeche and in their familiar conference so eloquent as they needed not giue place to the very perfectest Oratour so excellently were they prouided for this fraile worlde Notwithstanding when they should come to talke priuately with God to lay open before him the heauy loade of their sinnes to speake in the true eloquent key of a repentant soule with prayers and petitions to pearce the heauēs they haue shewen themselues sleepy sluggish and made of lead as it were nay meerely dumb and so silent as they coulde hardlye affoorde to open theyr mouthes In like manner wee finde diuers women of a quick and ready tongue for any thing concerning pride voluptuousnesse or what their peeuish humour affecteth as at playes vaine pastimes or such like delights But let them come into the Church where attonemente is to bee made betweene god and their wretched polluted soules the diuell then strikes them dumb drowsie and negligent Or if they talke at all he will be sure to fit them another kind of way with talke of proude attyres praising of idle fashions in such and such gossips or deuises of delicates for the bellie or where to meete at some wanton exercise So in stead of repenting their sinnes they heape sinne vpon sinne extolling their owne vertues if perhaps they haue any at all far worse then the Pharisey which eyther in man or woman is to be highly reprooued A learned Doctour affirmeth that Omne nociuum inclusum magis nocet whereby we may gather that putrifaction within a wound causeth greater anguish then when it is drawne foorth for then the paine is more tollerable Euen so the soule that hath many sinnes hidden in it is not much vnlike to such filthy putrifaction for if by the launcing rancour of true repentance they be not gotten forth and pardon obtained they wil
stampt in vs his owne perfect figure and made his Sonne in all points like vnto vs sin only excepted what fairer portraite then this was euer drawne in the world But the deuill enuying this rare piece of workemanship by his craft and subtiltie made a staine first in the very forehead and afterwarde in other places disfiguring mightilie so curious a master piece and holding on his course still to marre the whole together hinders euery good meane that might reforme it againe The staine in the forehead he couers that with some proude vaile the stayne in the hearte hee hides that with fonde ostentation and so for euerie blemish he hath an apt couerture to make vs hide and conceale our sinfull infirmities But the penitent soule though smitten dumbe by this vile enemy cryes out in anguish of spirit to her Creator and he dipping his pensill in the purple of his passion makes her as pure and perfect as euer she was before Tollit peccata mundi non peccatores And the deuill working in vs this hurtfull silence is sure to doe it when wee haue most need of speech yea of crying out loudest vpon our heauy transgressions therefore we may still say Et illud erat mutum We can do no greater spight to the deuil then by breaking silence with Dauid and crying to the Lord that hee would take compassion on our sinfull soules Therefore sayth Saint Augustine Si tegis peccata tua Deus detegit si detegis Deus tegit illa pallio gratiae misericordiae Lodouico Hereupon it may be was it that the Prophet Osea sayd that Ephram speaking a great feare came vpon Israell Loquente Ephraim horror inuasit Israell Ephraim by interpretation is sharpe and Israell the man that saw God The sinner sheweth great sharpnes against the deuill when by true contrition he layes open his soule to God in which sense we may terme him to bee the same Ephraim As for Israel well may we tearme him to be Lucifer who saw God he being one of the chiefest and most noble angelicall spirits that God created Now the deuill can haue no greater feare horror and dismay then when he sees a contrite sinner to accuse him selfe of sinne and without any thought at all of merit to condemne himselfe as vnworthy to come in Gods sight for then are his sinnes pardoned in the death of his deare sonne and the deuill looseth the soule which he thought he had wonne And who can tell but that the Prophet Ezechiel had the like meaning in those mysterious words which he spake Loquutus sum ad populum mane mortua est vxor mea vespere I spake vnto the people in the morning and at euen my wife dyed as if he would haue said A great matter is this that hath happened vnto mee O Lord because I spake vnto the people in the morning and to me my wife is dead at euening it may bee therefore perhaps my wife dyed by night because in the cleare morning I spake to the people Our wife is our sinne or transgression which in committing of it we take as our consorte and she being naught and wicked seekes to dye secretly and in the darke euening of wilful despaire as ashamed of her owne lothsomnesse But in the bright morning that is in the contrite clearing of our consciences by the lustre of diuine grace which shewes our foule deformity and makes vs humbly acknowledge al our sins from the bottome of our hearts to God alone then is the diuell made mad and highly displeased Claudio Why then I perceiue that sometimes we ought not only to be silent but to speake likewise and cry out with a lowd voice in such manner as the keepers of a City do exclaime hearing the enemies drums and trumpets neer at hand intending the cities ruine spoile So then not with mute voice but rather in the loudest note of repentance we ought to breake silence in such a dangerous season seeing our deadly deformed sins our very grand capital enemies seeking all aduantages against the noble city of our soule Whereto the careful watchmen keepers therof the reuerend Fathers Preachers and ministers of the word doe dayly inuite vs as beeing put in trust with the charge of so worthy a city According as the Prophet Esay sayth Super muros tuos Ierusalem constitui custodes tota die tota nocte in perpetuum non tacebunt I haue set watchmen vpon thy walls O Ierusalem which all the day and all the night continually shall not cease How can they cease seeing so fierce and mortall enemies in armed preparation comming against vs Quasi romphaea bis acuta omnis iniquitas plagae illius non est sanitas All iniquitie is as a two edged sword the wounds whereof cannot be healed Two wayes is the Launce of our sinnes made sharpe depriuing vs both of grace and glorie killing both the body and soule together and offending both God and our neighbour robbing vs of glory condemning vs into hell fire confounding our vnderstanding and quite blinding our will How then can the carefull keepers of this Citie holde their peace seeing such cruell enemies comming on vs and armed with such dreadfull weapons Non tacebo saith the Prophet Ieremy quoniā vocem buccinae audiuit anima mea clamorem praelij I cannot be still for my soule hath heard the sound of the trumpet and the alarme of the battell Who can chuse but cry now and cry out with an affrighted feare when this mortal building is to be shaken with such dread terror Contritio super contritionem vocata est vastata est omnis terra repentè vastata sunt tabernacula mea subitò pelles meae Destruction vpon destruction is cried for the whole land is wasted suddenly are my tents destroyed and my curtaines in a moment Lodouico They also that are mindfull of the day of the Lord so dreadfull and terrible can do no otherwise but euen break silence cry out in teares They likewise that ruminate on the infinite fauors and singular graces hitherto extended toward them cannot abstain but break forth into diuine praises euen as the Prophet Esay did Qui reminiscimini Domini ne taceatis ne detis silentium ei donec stabiliat donec ponat Ierusalem laudem in terra Oh you that are mindful of the Lord keep not silence and giue him no rest till he repaire und till he set vp Ierusalem the praise of the world as if he wold haue said O you that remember God you that are mindfull both of his iustice and mercy in no case see you be silent neither let him enioy any rest vntill he establish and bring our soules into that land of promise so worthy of all glory and eternall laude But al this crying out is not any part of our speaking but euen
toucht In the booke of examples the ninth distinction and the 57. example it is registred of a man of religious habite but one very vicious in his life who was greatly addicted to the sin of detraction And finding himselfe to waxe very sick hee was exhorted by diuers of his friends to send for some reuerend diuine and betweene God and his soule to remember the bad course of his life past that hee might aduise him to the speedier repentance but he made them answere that he could not doe it because his case was dispatcht already They not giuing him ouer so but still earnestly solliciting him desired him not so much to regard the greeuousnesse of his sinnes as to thinke on the infinite mercies of God who neuer withdrawes his eye from a repentant sinner Suddenly his tongue in this his stiffe impenitencie started out of his head whereat hee making an offer in anger to strike wrote afterward these words with his finger on the wall This wicked tongue is the cause of my damnation Furthermore it is sayd that his tongue continued swelling in such strange manner as hee could by no meanes drawe it back into his mouth but dying in this horrible manner gaue a feareful example of eternall damnation to al detractors Let vs fly then from this diuelish vice and get farre enough off from the like infamous tongues because their wicked company is to be shunned of all men that are weake in vertue Detractoribus ne miscearis Seeke therefore to conuerse and company with such as are grounded in vertue and do hold in due esteem true sanctity of life For as the Sun beames on foule mud is not a iot attainted but brings that moist filthinesse to dry dust Or as good strong wine swallows vp and conuerts water into his own substance And quenched coales are by close keeping quickly kindled againe Euen so doe vertuous men reduce the vitious into perfection without any taint or iniury to their owne goodnesse Lodouico I am of opinion my Lord that it is better keeping off a loofe then comming neere to such diabolicall tongues because we are then more secure that they cannot contaminate vs how weake soeuer we be then we are certaine to win them from their innated vices Saul prophecied among the holy Prophets yet for all that among vile men he was the very vilest Laban by Iacob became exceeding rich in substance but yet was very poor in beleef and goodnesse Potiphar by Ioseph grew euermore to be a maruellous substantiall man but in himselfe he increased the largest measure of wickednesse Wherby we may for a certainty perceiue that the saying of the Lyrick Poet is most true Quo semel est imbuta recens seruabit odorem testa diù Finis Cap. 12. The Argument Murmuring is an infectious sinne worse then any other disease and easie to be taken therefore it behooueth vs to flye the company of talkeatiue detractors because they are the originall of many euilles Whence it is that murmuring first ariseth VVhat punishment God hath inflicted on murmurers who haue leapt out of themselues as it were to fasten hold on other mens imperfections and stealing much lesse then they looked for at last vtterly lost all How they haue ioyned the tongue with the eare how they haue deceiued themselues ouer-much in iudgement by their owne dangerous facility in speaking euill of all men to which God will giue as a chastisement a perpetuall silence With an exhortation of the holy ghost not to defame but to refraine speaking euill of our neighbor Chap. 13. CLAVDIO We neede make no doubt but that it is much better to keep our selues far off then to abide neer such wickednesse knowing our owne weaknesse least while we seek other mens health we foolishly loose our own Neuerthelesse whosoeuer can reduce such tongues to perpetuall silence it wil appeare in him to be a very great office of charity Murmuring is an infectious disease for we may read that Myriam the sister of Moses murmuring and speaking euil against her sayd brother suddenly she became a Leaper quite couered ouer with a white ougly scurfe not much vnlike a fold of snowe And this happened by the iust iudgement of God who appearing in the piller of the cloude after her thundring foorth those disdaynefull speeches in the presence of the two brethren Moses and Aaron Myriam was smitten with the aforenamed leprosie Now albeit Moses and Aaron were great in the fauour of God and laboured him very instantly with their godly prayers for her yet could they not otherwise preuaile but that for seauen dayes she must be sequestred from the people If the punishmēt shold alwayes be inflicted answerable to the sin detraction murmuring beeing such an infectious euil as nothing in the world whatsoeuer sooner hurteth iudge you by the chastisement of Moses sister with leaprosie what should bee layde on such as sinne therein the disease beeing as readye in catching as the lauish tongue is in detracting Lodouico Woorthily in mine opinion was it so ordered to sunder such a byting tongue from all the other people least it might also happen to infect them too For heere was not any regard how euen but a little before they had prophecied in composing this worthy song Cantemus Domino gloriose enim magnificatus est equum ascensorem deiecit in mare We wil sing vnto the Lord for he hath triumphed gloriously the horse and him that rode vpon him hath he throwne in the sea Neither was there any respect made of Moses and Aaron his brother the one a Prince the other the high Priest both beloued of the Lord wherefore thus in iustice the lord did punish her If god shold alwayes thus chastice this great sin there would not be found neither could there be heard so many detracting grudging tongues a meer infectious plague among the people but silence wold be held in more venerable esteem and found to be not so necessary as profitable Cla. It is such a pernicious thing I meane this hellish vice of murmuring that oftentimes of very few words do arise infinite discords for the holy ghost saith by the mouth of Salomon A scintilla vna augetur ignis ab vno doloso augetur sāguis Of one little spark is made a great fire of one deceitful mā is bloud encreased As of one spark a great flame is kindled so by one malitious murmurer greate sins are encreased Sometimes a foolish body puts a spark of fire to the side of a poore mans house without doing any further harme departeth But then there comes another more foolish or rather more malitious then the first who so stirs blowes the little sparke that it breaks forth into a great flame which burnes consumes brings the whole house into ashes If the secōd had not stird blown it the spark perhaps had dyed of
Iezabell found out two false witnesses against Naboth to win occasion of putting him to death the same witnesses testified that Naboth had blasphemed God and the king saying Benedixit Naboth Deum Regem For which he was vniustly led foorth of the city and stoned to death by all the people At illi viri diabolici dixerunt contra eum testimonium coram multitudine Benedixit Naboth Deum Regem Quamobrem eduxerunt eum extra ciuitatem lapidibus interfecerunt And the wicked men witnessed against Naboth in the presence of the people saying Naboth did blaspheme God and the king Then they caried him away out of the city and stoned him with stones that he died The like may we reade in the first and second chapters of the history of Iob. in the very wordes of the diuell to God speaking against Iob Tange cuncta quae pâ—ssidet nisi in faciem benedixerit tibi Touche all that hee hath to see if hee will not blaspheme thee to thy face And the wife of Iob exhorting her husband to curse and blaspheme God vsed scripture quite contrary speaking the word blessing in steed of cursing Dixit autem illi vxor sua Adhuc tu permanens in simplicitate tua Benedic Deo morere Then said his wife vnto him Doost thou continue yet in thyne vprightnesse Blaspheme God and dye The sacred Scripture hath great respect in but speaking or naming the word blasphemy yet the vngodly and wicked tongue of man makes no regard at all of it but euen with heart and mouth blasphemeth his Creator Could God more exaggerate this diuelish sinner then by vsing contrarye wordes in the describing thereof Claudio Blasphemy is likewise the vice of ingratitude because in signe of gratification euery creature is obedient to the Lorde blessing and praysing him after his manner Yet man endued with more singular giftes then all other creatures hee onely blasphemeth him and none but hee Ordinatione tua perseuerat dies quoniam omnia seruiunt tibi They continue euen to this daye by thine ordinaunces for all are thy seruantes The tongue which God gaue vnto man because therwith he shold lande him to make it the engine of cursing oh sin intollerable Dedit mihi Dominus linguam sayth the wise man in ipso laudabo eum The Lorde hath giuen me a tongue wherewith I will prayse him The blasphemer is worse then the brute beastes who doe all magnifie the Lorde as Dauid willeth them in his last Psalme Let euerie thing that hath breath praise the lorde And the three children in the middest of the fierie furnace inuited all the workes of the omnipotente to praise him Benedicite omnia opera Domini Domino laudate superexaltate eum in saecula All ye workes of the lord blesse yee the lord praise him and exalt him aboue all things for euer Onely the vngodly sinner blasphemeth him The heauens wheele about in their course the Starres twinkle the Sunne guides the worlde with his beames the Moone shines the fire heates the ayre breathes the seaâ—bs and flowes the riuers run the lakes stand still the earth fructifies the plants liue the beastes haue some measure of vnderstanding the birdes chaunte their noates the fishes glyde about in the waters and euerye creature in his kinde giues laude to his creatour vnthankefull man onely blasphemeth him Et iugiter tota die nomen meum blasphematur My name all the day continually is blasphemed Lodouico Happy Dauid who euermore praised his creator Benedicam Domino in omni tempore semper laus eius in ore meo I will giue thankes vnto the Lord his praise shall be in my mouth continually Good old Tobias forewarned and schooled his onely sonne to this lesson sayng Omni tempore benedic Deum pete ab eo vt vias tuas dirigat omnia consilia tua in ipso permaneant Blesse thy Lord God alwayes and desire of him that all thy wayes may be made straite and that all thy purposes and counsels may prosper Dauid also himself was no sooner in the morning risen from his bed but he charged all his children and seruants to glorifie the Lord. Laudate pueri Dominum laudate nomen Domini Praise O ye seruantes of the Lord praise the name of the lorde the lyke dooth hee in the 134. Psalme Claudio But some there are that doe quite contrary who rise no sooner in the morning out of their beds but full of impatience giue some sudden commaund to their sons or seruauntes and because they bee not as ready in executing of what they woulde haue them presently they breake foorth into horrible blasphemies and seuere imprecations so that the very first moouing of their lippes and first word deliuered from their tongues is infamy and disgrace to their creator VVhich greeuous sin being so frequent in committing if somtime the punishment thereto belonging were but as ready from God in following there would hardly be found so many diuelish tongues in the world if not for the loue of vertuous deeds yet at least to auoyde the terror of so condigne an infliction Lewis called the holy and Saint-like King of Fraunce caused the tongue of a blasphemer to bee cut foorth of his head And so offensiue was this sinne vnto him as at another time he commaunded the lips of a blasphemer to be feared with a hot burning yron saying I woulde very gladly endure this punishment in mine owne person conditionally it might sort to such a happy successe as by that example the hatefull vice of blasphemy might neuer more be heard in my kingdome But now adayes you haue men apt and ready enough to punish such praters or talkers as any way do fpeak against their own worth and esteem but none are found to reprooue them that speake open blasphemy against God and his saints The diuine lawe commaunded that the blasphemer should be stoned by all the people Educ blasphemum extra castra ponant omnes qui audierunt manus suas super caput eius lapidet eum populus vniuersus Bring the blasphemer without the hoast and let all that heard him put their hands vpon his head and let all the congregation stone him Againe Et qui blasphemauerit nomen Domini morte moriatur And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord shall be put to death Therefore Senacherib King of the Assyrians besieged Ierusalem and blaspheming the name of the Lorde the night following by Gods appointmente 185. thousand of his soldiours were slaine and himselfe murthered by his owne sonnes The lawe Ecclesiasticall enioyned that the blasphemer for seauen weekes together euery Friday should fast with bread and water and euery Sabboth day at Euening prayer time he should stand before the Church door without cloke without hose or shooes bare headed his girdle or a
praise more beeing thus blessedly in contemplation and with so sacred a taciturnity then the glibbest tongue can reache vnto with longest or loudest speeche Because the very subiect it selfe outgoeth the greatest and highest Oratorie What maruayle was it then if Moyses hauing talked with god found an impediment in his tongue and Ieremie knew not how to forme a word and Daniel remained as dumbe when euen the sanctified spirits themselues do hold their peace and are driuen to silence onely by the woonderfull excellency of the obiect Factum est silentium in coelo And so much the rather because those spoken of were but mortall men and the other are both immortall and euer blessed It is a matter oftentimes experimented that the greatnesse of the subiect for or to whome the speeche is prepared dooth daunt the Oratour in such sort as he becomes forgetfull of what he would say albeit the Oration had bin long time before premeditated and conned perfectly by heart as we vse to tearme it Whereof I could alleadge many examples which for ciuilities sake I am enforced to forbeare Onely let me remember you but of the Queene of Saba who departed from her owne royall kingdome to heare the admired wisedome of Salomon Being come to Ierusalem and beholding there the riches of Salomon the adornements of the Temple the pretiousnesse of the vessels the beauty of the Kings Palace the sitting of his seruants their sumptuous preparation their costly foode and variety of viands the Maiesty of the kings person his vnmatchable wisedome and his speeches deliuered with surpassing grace By ouer-abounding amazemēt she was quite caried from her selfe and she had not so much boldnesse left her as but to speak neither strength to go or ability to mooue but stood transported with vnspeakable astonishment euen like a body without a soule So that the holy scripture saith Non habebat vltra spiritū There was no more spirit in her What shall we hold it then to be for vs to see and speake with God himselfe as did Moyses Ieremy and Daniel Can there be any greater amazement to strike dumbe and make the tongue falter be imperfect when euen the blessed themselues do fall into such an extasie why then I may wel say that thus they prayse him more by silence then they can by the Hymne Te decet silentium Deus Which is a thing vnspeakable goes beyond al humane power euen Angelical praise it self Quantum potes tantum aude quia maior omni laude nec laudare sufficis Hereupon and much to this purpose Dauid hath a most excellent sentence Cogitatio hominis confitebitur tibi reliquiae cogitationum diem festum agent tibi As if he wold haue sayd Lord the iust man perceiuing thy greatnesse prayseth thee and in his praysings is filled full of most sweete rauishing thoughts which make so deep an impression into his mind as they cease not to solemnize haile thee for euer Likewise the blessed Saintes singing thy diuine prayses do fall into a merueilous astonishment And this is the silence wherewith pleasing themselues they euermore laude thee and in their lauding contemplate thee the highest Creatour after this manner Non cessant clamare quotidie vna voce dicentes Sanctus Sanctus Sanctus Dominus Deus exercituum And they ceased not dayly to cry with one voyce saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hoasts Claudio If at al houres and euery moment the celestiall spirits do giue prayse both with a contemplatiue silence and yet with voyces also do sing to the soueraigne maiesty diuine as you say what needed Dauid then to haue inuited them to laude him in the Psalme by you so lately alleaged as if otherwise they did not laude him at all His words are these Laudate Dominum omnes Angeli eius laudate eum omnes virtutes eius Praise ye the lord all ye his Angels praise him all his Army Lodouico Saint Augustine answers your demaund concerning that Psalme and that in very gratious manner also saying Although it be most true that the Angels and all the blessed spirits are neuer weary neither can be wearied in their praises to God whereon Saint Iohn sayeth Cantabant quasi canticum nouum They sung as it were a new song not that the Song was new but by the great sweetnesse they receiued in the praises diuine it seemed to them as a new Song onely by the inexplicable dulcitude therein contained Yet notwithstanding Dauid inuites them after such manner as the father of a family vseth to doe Or as a Gardiner who beholding his spade-men to labour lustily euen contending as it were for most speede and agility eache one seeking to out-strip his companion Hee in meere ioye seeing in them such diligent cheerefulnesse sayes to them On gallant spirits on you labour lustily Nor speakes he this as if he thought them to be slothfull and negligent for he plainely perceiues them to worke with courage but as one ouercome with ioy and contentment Euen so spake Dauid to those celestiall spirits Laudate Deum omnes Angeli eius c. But to returne to our own purpose it is not to be maruailed at if by the like or same reason Moyses found a defect to be in his tōgue if Ieremy Daniel were smittē as dumb being al assayled by the excellency of such a subiect glorious maiesty of the highest Creator whereupon the wise man sayd Qui scrutator est maiestatis opprimetur a gloria Saint Paul was a great Preacher and a most eloquent Orator neuerthelesse he being mounted aboue the third heauen there beholding the diuine secrets he knew not what to say but onely that they were inexplicable Audiuit arcana verba quae non licet homini loqui He heard words which cannot be spoken which are not possible for man to vtter VVe may also say in answere of the before named doubt speaking of Moyses and of Ieremy that when we our selues do come to the knowledge of god the more that knowledge encreaseth in vs so much the more will our strength grow enfeebled And perceiuing therby our own lesse aptnesse both to his diuine praises and also to the right cognition of his infinite maiesty we do come euen then to the true knowledge of our own insufficiency and vilenesse Therefore when Moyses had heard God speake to him he found himselfe to be the lesse fit for speaking to men Whereupon grew his excuse that he was vnmeete for the message to Pharaoh but much more need there was that God would make choise of his brother and companion Aaron he being a man most eloquent Obsecro Domine non sum eloquens ab heri nudiustertius ex quo loquutus es ad seruum tuum impeditioris tardioris linguae sum Whence we may learne this celestiall doctrine that by how much the more a man
delighteth himselfe in heauenly occasions so much the lesse apt shall he be for worldly matters because one loue abates and extinguisheth another The loue of God chaseth away all loue of our selues and of the world the neerer we neighbour to our owne respect and vaine esteeme of worldly affayres the further off are we from the loue of heauen The more a man talketh of God and groweth to be truely holy the more knowledge hath he of his owne defects euen as by the brightnesse of the day the darke obscurity of the night is discerned Therefore Daniel reputed himselfe vnwoorthy to talke vnto God saying Quomodo poterit seruus Domini mei loqui cum Domino meo How can the seruant of this my Lord talke with my Lord As if he would haue sayd I am not woorthy to behold much lesse to speake to the maiesty of my Lord because I am but a worme of the earth vile dirt and ashes And in great humility our forefather Abraham vsed the like speeches to God Loquar ad Dominum meum cùm sim puluis cinis I haue begun to speake vnto my Lord and I am but dust and ashes We may yet hereto adde another notable mystery vpō this place conforming it to the opinion of the Philosopher who sayd that of speeche men are masters but of silence God onely is master For Moyses before he talked with god spake well and freely enough but so sooone as god spake to him he became a stammerer And Ieremy speaking at the first very readily god hauing spoken to him he knew not how to shape a word Euen as Daniel in the like manner became dumbe Al which happened because there is great difference between our speaking to god and our conferring with men In our speaking to god we learne to be silent as may be discerned by those former alleadged examples And in that to men we learne nothing else but to talke onely For he that among men talketh not is held to be a melancholist blamed for a Saturniste reprooued with vnciuill conuersation accused of vnmanlynesse thought to be a clownish companion and nothing meete to holde societye among men Claudio But the Apostles learned not like such men to be silent for in regarde that they continually conuersed with Christ by the meanes of him they were made meet to receiue the holy ghost VVhich not onely depriued them of all dumbnesse or other impediment in theyr speeche but they being before rude men of tongue it altered them to most expert and eloquent Oratours yea in euery kind of language So that there was no Oratour or Philosopher how learned or skilfull soeuer he was that coulde equall or goe beyond them or knew how to answere or conuince them in disputation Therefore that which Tyrantes coulde not attayne to by despighting their tongues by rage violence and cruell torture they compassed against them Lodouico They first of all learned to be silent ere to speake and obserued taciturnity before speech that therfore when they began to speake they might the better deliuer any other language then before that time they had vsed and talk of another subiect then as yet they had dealt in And as Ieremie in no one thing more shewed himself to be sanctified and created a Prophet of the Lordes owne making then by becomming like a child depriued of his speech and euen at the very instant as a very child sayd to the Lord Ah Ah Ah. And as Daniel in nothing else declared so manifestly that God had spoken to him as by his losse of speeche And as Prince Moyses gaue no greater a signe of his talking with God and of his being chosen for his Embassador and guide to the people of Israell then when suddenly he became stammering and imperfect of tongue Euen so the holy Apostles in nothing else more apparantly witnessed that they had receiued the holy ghost then when by speaking in seuerall new languages it shewed in them more vnusuall then their first accustomed speeche was woont to doo VVherein euidently may be discerned that such as talke with God doo either learne to hold their peace or to speake otherwise then at the first they did The tongue being reformed as in like manner the hart is reformed and so consequently both life and conscience For a good conscience and a wicked tongue can neuer dwell together in one and the same habitation He therfore that talketh with God either wanteth words and is silent or breaketh foorth into diuine discoursing which is not our talking but our silence as we haue before sufficientlye prooued And euen in as absolute manner may we say that all they which in such sort do conferre with God they learne nothing else but to hold their peace because this new language is not ours but it commeth from God only Non enim vos estis qui loquimini sed Spiritus Patris vestri qui loquitur in vobis It is not you that speake but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you Finis Cap. 21. The Argument To the end that in our discoursing we should not grow offensiue to God it behooueth vs with deuout heartes to beg of him that he would purifie our minds and purge our lippes According as Dauid did who prayed to the Lord that he would open his mouth to the end that he might woorthily praise him And without him we cannot speake well because he hath the keye of our mouth Which is approoued by a sentence produced out of Esay where he sayth that Christ is the key of Dauid He therewith openeth the mouth and giueth not much of what we know to aske for because we should require things correspondent to his greatnesse Moreouer not onely are the lippes opened therewith but likewise the heart the vnderstanding the Scriptures types and figures yea heauen it selfe and the mouthes of the Saintes and Prophets and without this keye all things remaine shut vp and euery mouth dumbe Chap. 22. CLAVDIO I hold it then most necessary least that our manner of communing together do fal out to be guilty of blame and woorthy of reprehension that we should imitate the blessed Apostles who after they had gotten the sweete aspect of the humanity of Iesus Christ by his glorious ascēsion vp to heauen within few daies after they published to the world the holy faith manifesting to euery one the redemption made by the pretious bloud of the Sonne of God to banish idolatry to illuminate the vnderstanding of Infidels ouershadowed with the misty fogge of vnbeleefe and by the extirpating of wicked vices to sowe plentifully vertues all abroade So all of them returning deuoutly with the virgin Mary into a place of quiet there with fiery spirits enflamed harts and earnest desires they prayed to the Lord that he would send them the promised holy ghost which should fill them with sanctified zeale and purifie their minds disperse all cloudes
of sin make cleane their harts purge their vnderstandings and refine their lips with the burning fire of diuine loue To the end that their harts might not contriue nor their lips deliuer one word disagreeable to the honor of god iniurious to themselues or any way vnprofitable to their neighbour In like manner let vs beseech the holy ghost that the tongue may not mooue to minister a word comming from an vncleane thought to the end our speech may be free from folly But that as they had the holy ghost in the forme of fiery tongues Apparuerunt illis dispertitae linguae tanquam ignis seditque supra singulos eorum Et repleti sunt omnes Spiritu Sancto There appeared vnto them clouen tongues like fire and it sate vpon eache of them And they were all filled with the holy Ghost Euen so that all our talke may be enflamed with christian charity And for our better attayning herunto let vs first haue recourse as the Apostles had to prayer Erant omnes perseuerantes vnanimiter in oracione cum mulieribus Maria Maire Iesu fratribus eius They al continued with one accord in prayer supplication with the women and Mary the mother of Iesus and with his brethren Lodouico The like did all the holy Fathers and Doctors before they prepared themselues to their study they would be priuate in their Oratories where humbly on their knees they implored the help of heauen in assistance of whatsoeuer they presently should vndertake Which gaue such a blessing to all their labours being both begun and ended in prayer as they were able to resolue all doubtes expound all difficulte places and we from them to this day haue the benefite of theyr sanctified trauayles The same course also the Prophets obserued Whereupon Dauid knowing how easily a man might break silence by vain words desired the Lord to open his lippes Domine labia mea aperies os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam Open thou my lips O Lord and my mouth shall shew foorth thy praise to the end that a holy touche of Gods own hand might purifie his mouth euen as if it were to another Ieremy Claudio Is there such a difficultie in opening of the mouth as it must needs require the hand of God We reade notwithstanding your words that Dauid opened his own mouth Os meum aperui attraxi spiritum I opened my mouth and panted he was not then dumb neither had his lips so contracted that he should need another to open his lips On what occasion then should he desire the Lord to open his lips Is the mouth a door lockt with a key that Dauid of himself could not open it or had the Lord the key of his mouth in keeping Lodouico There needeth no question to be made but that the mouth is after the manner of a gate whereof the lips are as the very door If the mouth were not the door of the hart Dauid neuer wold haue sayd Pone Domine custodiam orimeo ostium circumstantiae labijsmeis Set a watch O Lord before my mouth and keepe the doore of my lips And his Son also would not haue sayd Orituo facito ostia seras auribus tuis Make a door and a bar and a sure bridle for thy mouth If then the mouth be the door of the hart and the hart the Exchequer or treasury of whatsoeuer is pretious in man and especially of life it selfe as the wise man sayth Omni custodia serua cor tuum quoniam ab ipso vita procedit Keep thine hart with all diligence for therout commeth life I should hould it very requisite that the gate of such a pretious treasary ought not to be free and set wide open to euery one but rather that a sound firme door shold be made before it well lockt and lookt vnto the key wherof the Lord only hath and he alone gouerns it as Salomon saith Domini est gubernare linguam The Lord is the gouernour of the tongue When Dauid opened his mouth it was because god had before opened it or giuē him the key wherwith to open it which caused him once to say Dilata os tuum implebo illud Open thy mouth wide and I wil fill it The mouth of that man wherof the Lord keeps not guideth the key remayns wide open al vncleannesse entring into it it deliuers foorth much euil is the occasion of infinit disorders Which made Dauid to compare it to a stinking graue full of all filthinesse Sepulchrum patens est guttur eorum linguis suis dolose agebāt Their throat is an open sepulcher and they flatter with their tongue And this ensueth because the tongue is not kept and lockt vp by the Lord therfore it is not apt to speak wel but to vtter foorth notorious blasphemies The blessed Apostles and al the holy Martyrs who ouercame the bloudiest Tyrants with no mean amazemeut by being most rare eloquent Orators Christ both opened did shut their mouthes saying to them Ponite ergo in cordibus vestris non praemeditari quemadmodum respondeatis Ego enim dabo vobis os sapientiam cui non poterunt resistere omnes aduersarij vestri Lay it vp therfore in your harts that you premeditate not what you shall answer For I will giue you a mouth and wisedom where-against all your aduersaries shal not be able to speake nor resist As if he would haue said My sons resolue with your selues that when you come before Tyrants you enter not into any premeditation of what you shal answer them for I wil mooue your tongues mith such wisedom as your very greatest enemies shal remain confounded so that they shal be no way able to answer you Wherby may be clearly discerned that God hath the key of the iust mans mouth Therefore Saint Iohn the Euangelist the Secretary to Christ and profound searcher into celestiall secrets writing by diuine commaundement to the Bishoppe of Philadelphia sayth Et Angelo Philadelphiae ecclesiae scribe Haec dicit Sanctus verus qui habet clauem Dauid qui aperit nemo claudit claudit nemo aperit Aed write vnto the Angell of the Church which is of Philadelphia These things sayth he that is Holy and True which hath the key of Dauid which openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth If God haue the key of Dauid it was no maruell then if he desired the Lord that he would open his mouth to the end he might speak without breach of silence Domine labia mea aperies The lord likewise vouchsafe in his mercy to open our mouthes to the end we may speak woorthily of him and then our talk shall neuer break silence Claudio In search and research of the whole history of Dauid I could neuer yet find that he had any such key
Lodouico The mystery must be sought where the letter hath not the sense Some do expoūd that this key is the fulnesse of the knowledge and wisedom of Christ Aimonius saith that this key is the incarnation of the word which as concerning the humanity had originall from Dauid to whom by especiall prerogatiue it was giuen to know the mystery of the incarnation Helimanus sayth that this key is the grace of wisedome arising from Christ the fountain of wisedome Others doo affirme that this keye signifieth the Prelacy and office pastorall which by soundnesse of doctrine accompanied with good example of life opens heauen to the godly And contrariwise by ignorance lewd course of life opēs hel both to the wicked and to themselues Others woulde haue it to bee the power of binding and loosing accompanied bothe with knowledge and order Others would haue it to be christ himselfe who as God here openeth the hart to holy inspirations the vnderstanding to beleefe the will to loue and Paradise to reigne in All which are to be gotten by this key with endlesse sweating innumerable sufferings teares of bloud and infamous death Data est mihi omnis potestas in coelo in terra All power is giuen vnto me in heauen and in earth And perhaps it was of this key the Prophet Esay spake to Eliacim the Priest saying Dabo clauem domus Dauid super humerum eius And the key of the house of Dauid wil I lay vpon his shoulders Claudio What keye is so heauy and ponderous as need shoulde require to lay it on a mans shoulder A keye is vsually caried fastened to the girdle or hid in ones pocket purse bosome or carried in the hand not on the shoulder And so much the rather doo I vrge this question because that the fulnesse of the wisedome of Christe nor the incarnation of the word nor the grace of wisdome nor the office of Prelacie nor the power of binding or loosing nor Christe himself is a weight so burdenous as to be caried on the shoulders of a man Lodouico And yet it is so What greater burthen is there I pray you then that of the Prelate who ought to watch with Argus eyes and haue a vigilant care of his beloued flock making spare of no toyle or discommodity whatsoeuer Sometimes ought he to feed them with the blessed sacraments then with the foode of healthfull doctrine Now must he entice them with celestiall promises thē againe threaten them with eternall paines Sometimes must he go before them in holinesse of life and vertuous examples then againe ought he to follow them with the knotted staffe of repentance Now must he comfort them with sweetest speeches then terrifie them with rough and stearne reprehensions And euen as if he trauailed with them like as a mother dooth with her burthen and afterward had brought them foorth so should he hugge them in his bosome hauing the selfe same loue and respect towards them as a mother hath of her deer esteemed Sonne and of them as of himselfe and for them as for himselfe for rendring of his account in the day of latest iudgement before the highest sheepheard and cheefest Prelate of all euen God himselfe And do you think my Lord that this loade lies lightly vpon the Churchmās shoulders No lesse painefull and greeuous is the power of binding loosing because he to whom such a charge is commitred may by his own ignorance loose both his own and all the soules committed vnder his cure As contrary wise by his wisedom learning and christiā prouidence he may also be the meanes to preserue both them and himselfe The fulnesse of grace in Christ Iesus beside that it is the key and beginning of our saluation because thereby the prophecies were fulfilled types and figures finished sins cancelled faults pardoned grace receiued hell closed heauen opened Moyses lawes concluded and the Gospell declared So was it not a most painfull burthen vnto Christ according to the power of flesh bloud to accōplish so much in himselfe and to be the onely Captaine of so signall a victory Christ himself who alone here vpon earth did open heauen is this key of Dauid according to his humanity descēding from the honorable royal stock of Dauid A key very weighty to weak sēse marueilous burthenous to the diuel a great load to the Gentiles and of infinite poise to the perfidious Iewes Christ truely is that key and the hould fast or handle to this keye was his glorious Crosse made Because thereon hee woulde open the adamantine gates of heauen VVherefore speaking of himselfe he sayde Oportes exaltari filium hominis vt omnis qui credit in ipso non pereat sed habeat vitam aeternam So must the sonne of man be lift vp That whosoeuer beleeueth in him shoulde not perish but haue euerlasting life Before the death of Christ through the lack of this key handle the Crosse which with disgrace he afterward bare for our honour and eternall saluation heauen was continually shut vp by reason of the auncient enmity between God and man Wherupon euery one and very iustly too should whether he would or no haue descended into the darke dungeon of the infernall parts But no sooner was the key Christ fastened to the handle of his Crosse but immediately heauen opened And as a signe of the then present opening at the very same houre that Christ dyed he sayd to the good theefe Hodie mecum eris in paradiso This day thou shalt be with mee in paradise Many would gladly haue entred Paradise before but they cold neuer compasse it because this key was wanting to them Whereupon in regard the gate was adamantine impearceable or else very strictly shut vp they desired either that the walles of heauen might be broken or that he would descend to them vpon earth Vtinam dirumperes coelos descenderes Oh that thou wouldest break the heauens and come downe Or that he would send the Lamb which might appease the Godheades displeasure that peace beeing obtayned heauen might bee opened Emitte Agnum Domine dominatorem terrae Stay a little while sayth God and then I will quickly send you the key Dabo clauem domus Dauid super humerum eius aperiet non erit qui claudat So shal you enter in at the doore as friends and not climb ouer the walles like theeues Claudio But wherfore is Christ called the key of Dauid if Dauid neuer gaue him any key Lodouico Do you not know my Lord that the fortresses placed at our vtmost confines are commonly called the keyes of this kingdome because they are seated in the beginning of the dominion And they being surprized the whole kingdome is easily taken either by besieging or by strength of armes because they are the originall doors and keys of the kingdome So Christ is
called the key of Dauid because he is the originall of Dauid as concerning his diuinity yet descēdeth of Dauid according to his humanity Ex semine Dauid secundum carnem Of the seede of Dauid according to the flesh And euen as with a key is shut and made fast the door of a house So no one of the Prophets being lockt vp neuer so fast opens better to our vnderstanding and reueales the mystery of the incarnatiō like vnto Dauid To whom god by an oath promised the Messias Iurauit Dominus Dauid veritatem non frustrabitur eum De fructu ventris tui ponam super sedem tuā The Lord hath sworne in truth vnto Dauid and he will not shrink from it Of the fruite of thy body wil I set vpon thy throne Before the eternall father sent this key into the world and long ere the Iewes prepared the Crosse all the gates whatsoeuer were fast lockt vp That of heauen Nemo ascendit in coelum nisi qui descendit de coelo No man ascendeth vp to heauen but he that hath descended frō heauen That of terrestriall Paradise kept by the Angel with a fiery sword Collocauit ante paradisum voluptatis Cherubim flammeum gladium atque versatilem ad custodiendam viam ligni vitae At the East-side of the Garden of Eden he set the Cherubims and the blade of a sword shaken to keep the way of the tree of life That of diuine mysteries Omnia in figura contingebant illis Al these things came vnto them for examples That of the sense of sacred scripture Quomodo possum intelligere nisi aliquis ostenderit mihi How can I vnderstand except I had a guide That of the maruails of God Non intellexerunt opera Domini They vnderstood not the works of the Lord. That of the Prophets mouthes Ah. Ah. Ah. Domine ecce necscio loqui Ah. Ah. Ah. Lord I cannot speak Domine labia mea aperies Open thou O Lord my lips Et ecce erts tacens non poteris loqui And behold thou shalt be dumb and not able to speak That of the Tabernacle with the vaile Prima die mensis primi eriges tabernaculum testimonij Et pones in eo arcam dimittesque ante illam velum The first day of the first moneth thou shalt set vp the Tabernacle called the Tabernacle of the Cōgregatiō And thou shalt put therin the Arke of the Testimony and couer the Arke with the vaile But Christ being come and the key handle of his Crosse fastened to him euen like the opening of a lock so were all things presently opened and dissolued Foorthwith rent in two parts the vaile of the Temple Velum templi scissum est in duas partes à summo vsque deorsum And hehold the vaile of the Temple rent in twane from the top to the bottome The Prophets mouthes opened Apertum est illicò os Zachariae Prophetauit And his mouth was opened immediatly and he prophecied The scriptures were opened and declared Tunc aperuit illis sensū vt intelligerent scripturas Then opened he their vnderstanding that they might vnderstand the Scriptures Christs side opened Lancea latus eius aperuit A speare opened his side The graues monuments opened Et monumenta aperta sunt And the graues opened themselues Their eyes were opened Aperti sunt oculi eorum Heauen it selfe opened Apertum est coelum Yea the mouthes of men and women were opened euery one spake The blessed virgine Mary spake and sung with a cheerefull voice Magnificat anima mea Dominum My soule magnifieth the Lord. The simple sheepheards spake Pastores loquebantur ad inuicem The Sheepheards sayd one to another c. The wise men spake Vbi est qui natus est rex Iudaeorū Where is the king of the Iewes that isborne The rude and vnskilfull Apostles who scantly before knew the characters of the Hebrew tongue became such perfect Orators as no one could go beyond them in al kind of languages Loquebantur varijs linguis Apostoli And S. Iohn who before was accounted as ignorant Nescitis quid petatis spake then so loude as that great doctor of the church S. Augustin could not imagin how to vnderstand the true sense of his high words Quid autem Sacramenti haberet verbum caro factum est nec suspicari quidem poterat This key opened the eyes to the blind the eares to the deaffe the tongues to the dumb the vnderstanding to the simple and heauen to the iust VVhen the handle of the Crosse was fastened to this keye it grew so great as then it could not be caried but vpon the shoulders Supra dorsum meum fabricauerunt peccatores The plowers plowed vpon my back Yea it became so weighty as it needed the help of Simon Sirenus And because this key is caried by some as tyed to their girdles or about their necks or in their pockets as your Lordship hath already sayd Let me tel you that they are such kind of men as wil not know the weightinesse of the lawe of christ but rather doo adorne themselues with it as if it were with a key of gould thinking it enough to gloryfie themselues with the very bare name of being Christians Others doo beare it about in their pockets and they are such weake faint harted cowards as feare in presence of the Churches enemies to be known for true christians and seruants to their Master Hereupon they hide this key so much as they can neuer shewing any signe of christianity at al. Therfore did Dauid desire this key with it that God would open his lips least otherwise he should break silence euen according as it opened the Apostles mouthes Dabo vobis os sapientiam And before he had this key he lamented that he was dumbe Ego autem tanquam surdus non audiebam sicut mutus non aperiens os suum I as a deaffe man heard not and as a dumb man which openeth not his mouth Then with a deuout hart he prayed the Lord to open his lippes Domine labia mea aperies And God instantly opened it when he sayd Dilata os tuum implebo illud It was opened and filled with the heauenly spirit Os meum aperui attraxi spiritum quia mandata a tua desiderabam I opened my mouth and panted because I loued thy commaundements And this came to him with such a gladnesse and spirituall reioycing as all his life time afterward he did nothing but sing sweete Songs whereon he vaunted to his friends Et immisit in os meum canticum nouum carmen Deo nostro And he hath put in my mouth a new Song of praise vnto our God Claudio How is it
possible to put words into the mouth What do you count them like to receiued morselles But admit they may be cramd into the mouth had it not as well sufficed if the Lord had sayd to Dauid Open thy mouth as to say Enlarge thy mouth A great morsell is required for the mouth if it must needs be enlarged so wide Lodouico Haue you neuer heard in disputation that the Master to supply the ignorance and weaknesse of his Scholler in commaunding him to open his vnderstanding winnes occasion thereby to haue himselfe answered In such a case we vse to say that the master puts the words into his schollers mouth So the lord commanding our vnderstanding to open and illuminating the will administers the words therby giues occasion of speaking woorthily without error Which made him say to Dauid Intellectum tibi dabo And to the Apostles he sayd Ponite in cordibus vestris nō praemeditari quē admodum respondeatis Ego enim dabo vobis os sapiētiam cui non poterunt resistere omnes aduersarii vestri Lay it vp therefore in your hearts that ye premeditate not what ye shall answere For I will giue you a mouth wisedome where against all your aduersaries shall not be able to speake nor resist this is called the putting of wordes into the mouth Claudio But what say you then to the so wide opening or enlarging of the mouth because that Dilatare idem est quod multum latare in regard some great morsell was to be put into the mouth Lodouico To speake vprightly Dilata os tuum implebo according to the interpretation of the reuerend and learne Caietanus importeth thus much Aske what thou wilt that I may giue it thee Is not this a morsell beyond comparison And Dauid knowing the greatnesse of the Godhead would aske nothing of little moment but euen a matter most great and important answerable to the maiesty of him of whom hee was to require it Whereupon he said Miserere mei Deus secundum magnam misericordiam tuam Haue mercy vpon me O God according to the multitude of thy mercies Implying thus much on Dauids behalfe and euen as if hee had thus minded to say Lord I haue required of thee that thou wouldst open my lippes Thou hast I thanke thee opened them and in the opening hast further sayd vnto me Opē thy mouth also demaund of me whatsoeuer thou wilt I being a sinner and in some measure considerate of the infinite power and maiestie of thy person will require no children of thee as Sara and Abraham did Nor foode to eate like the murmuring Hebrew people in the desert Nor death as Elias did vnder the Iuniper tree Nor long life with Haman of Siro Nor the reward of good labour as Peter did Nor a temporall kingdome like vnto Iames and Iohn But I desire a thing correspondent to thine owne greatnesse to wit that thou wouldst giue me thy grace pardon me my sinnes cancell my foule abusings of thee forget my weaknesses and take compassion on my miseries euen according to the immeasurable bountie of thy mercies This I aske this I desire and this with all my heart most humbly I sue for Miserere mei Deus secundum magnam misericordiam tuam In this manner also ought we to open our lippes because such a request is highly pleasing to God and without any perill of breaking silence Let vs pray then vnto the Lord that he would open our vnstanding mooue the will guide our tongue and rule our lippes in speaking rightly to aske nothing else but what may be to gods glory our owne soules health and our neighbours benefit Domine labia mea aperies Let vs hartily pray vnto him to giue vs such things as are answerable to his high magnificence agreeable to his glorious maiesty And not things worldly or momentary because in such requests we should offer high preiudice and wrong to his wondrous bounty Claudio Let me tell you my good Lord that if magnanimous and great persons haue giuen more liberall giftes then haue been asked of them by how much god exceedeth them in power omnipotencie by so much the more ought our petitions to bee answerable in conformitie Perillus a friend to Alexander the great required money of him toward the mariage of his daughter and Alexander gaue him fifty talents But Perillus dutifully made refusall of them deliuering acceptation but of ten talents onely and answered That they onely were sufficient for him whereto Alexander replyed Ten may be sufficient for thee to aske but not enough for Alexander to giue If Alexander had such bounty and largesse in him being but dust and ashes how much more in liberalitie will the greatest god enlarge his graces to his sonnes and seruants Lodouico Why then euen in as sound reason as god said vnto Dauid Dilata os tuum implebo illud may we in humilitie pray vnto him That he would purifie our vncleane lippes and purge our hearts of wicked thoughts and al vnmeete desires that no vaine cogitations may bee there contriued nor hurtfull speeches from our mouthes deliuered Finis Cap. 22. The Argument That aboundance of words without wisedome is not called eloquence but loquacity or babling Therfore our words ought first to be brought to the file ere to the tongue to auoide the errour of our folly in speaking Therefore we should pray vnto the Lord that it would please him to open our mouthes and fill them with the holy spirit of wisedome vsing euery morning duely some especiall godly prayer meete for such a purpose And because Intus existens Prohibet extraneum we cannot be capable of the blessed spirit except we first euacuate our owne proper spirit which is the occasion of infinite defects We must know that there are not so many letters in the Alphabet as are the errours hourely committed by the tongue that is not skild rightly in speaking of God Heerein likewise is declared what that race or stocke is whereof the wise man speaketh who haue in steed of teeth sharpe swoords Also what wisedome is according to the Philosophers Peripatetikes Stoickes Diuines with many other memorable matters beside Chap. 23. CLAVDIO An excellent prayer is that vsed by the Church entreating the eternall father that hee wold send his holy spirit to purifie our hearts to the end that we may worthily loue and praise him And this ought we euery morning rising out of our beds to vse for passage of the whole day after without staine of sinne which is ouer-easie to bee committed by the vnprepared heart and slippery tongue Deus cui omne cor patet omnis voluntas loquitur quem nullum latet secretum Purifica per infusionem Spiritus sancti corda nostra vt te perfectè diligere dignè laudare mereamus Amen O God to whom al hearts are open al desires knowen and from whom no
grace thou hast euacuated their proper will singular sense and priuate affection which giues them now to know both their own frailtie how much they were subiected to misery But by sending thy sanctified spirit into them thou hast created a new man within them formed according to thine owne diuine will Induimini nouum hominem qui secundum Deum creatus est in iustitia sanctitate veritatis Put on the new man which after God is created in righteousnes and true holinesse The iust man being filled with this spirit speakes holy wordes deliuers heauenly doctrine frames arguments of truth and grounded altogether vpon gods worde Eructauit cor meum verbum bonum My heart will vtter foorth a good matter And as a glasse being full with a very little turning aside doth emptie some part of the licquor contained in it Euen so the iust man with the least breath of an ardent sigh sendes foorth part of his grace receiued vnto vs making vs partakers of his inward blessings and so by the vertue of his good spirit he purgeth and dryeth vp the watrishnesse of our sinne so much as in him lyeth Lodouico How can this doctrine holde If winde be of a colde and moiste qualitie then it hath no drying vertue if we doe presse it according to the letter I speake not this to gaine-say you but rather to learne Claudio Aristotle the Prince of the Peripatecians in his twentie seauenth Probleme and fift particle going about to search by what occasion the winde being of qualitie colde and moiste hath yet notwithstanding a drying vertue answers him selfe thus Because it takes away and euaporates the part more colde As if he would say The winde is of a temperate coldnesse and humiditie therefore it makes the part more colde and moiste to euaporate it selfe as meaning thereby mudde and water The holy ghost is called a spirit and winde Tanquam spiritus vehemâ—â—tis As of a rushing and mighty winde Veni Auster perfla hortum meum fluent aromata illius Arise O North and come O South and blowe on my garden that the spices thereof may flowe outâ— because it cooleth the heate of carnall concupiscences Therefore the Angell speaking of this spirit to the virgin Marie said Spiritus sanctus superveniet in te virtus altissimi obumbrabit tibi The holy ghost shall come vpon thee and the power of the most High shall â—uershadow thee This shadowing is expounded by almost all the doctours that it signifyeth The taking away of all lasciuious or carnall affections and purgeth euerie loose concupiscence When therefore the holy spirit bloweth on the minde of him that listens to the woord of God it causeth to euaporate and vanish by his expulsiue vertue the excessiue coldenesse of sinne which is of such chilnesse as it freezeth vp the heate of all charitie So euacuating this colde it disposeth the soule to quietnesse and to lend attention to the holy doctryne of Christ For Saint Iohn Chrysostome saith That as it is not possible for the earth to fructifie by water only without winde Euen so as impossible is it that the Doctrine of the iust which is as the water celestiall they like pregnant cloudes Qui sunt isti qui vt nubes volant What are these that fly like a cloude that they I say should cause any fruite to growe in the ground of our soules without the sweet breathing winde of the holy ghost which of it selfe disposeth mens hearts to the hearing of gods word and makes them to bloome forth after the manner of the earth Euen as when Zephirus sends his kindely blastes abroad in the month of March according to the Poet Mantuans description The iust man therefore opens his mouth in the middes of the people and the Lord filleth it with the diuine spirit of wisedome and from hence proceede infinite good fruites to the soules of his hearers According as from the Apostle Peter it did who at the very first Sermon he made conuerted to the faith of Iesus Christ three thousand persons or thereabout as is to be read in the Actes of the Apostles the second Chapter Lodouico Yet by your licence my Lord it is necessary for vs to know what wisedome is so much the rather because according to the Prince of Latine Oratorie It is most expedient in an Oratour who without wisedome is tearmed ignorant and his full tide of speech is called loquacity not eloquence Whereupon being once demaunded what eloquence was he answered Nihil est aliud eloquentia nisi copiose loquens sapientia Claudio Iob maketh a long discourse of wisedome searching where it should be and what it was Finally after a long repetition of sententious wordes and a very large inuestigation of them he concludes That God onely knoweth what it is And he reuealing the same vnto man sayth That wisedome is nothing else but the feare of the Lord. Et dixit homini Ecce timor Domini ipsa est sapientia recedere a malo intelligentia And vnto man he said Behold the feare of the Lord is wisedome and to depart from euill is vnde standing And Dauid sayth Initium sapientiae timor Domini The beginning of wisedome is the feare of the Lord. The Peripatecians vsed to say That wisedome is an intellectuall vertue and by the highest and most noble causes makes thinges to be knowen Whereupon in the sixt booke of Ethickes the sixt Chapter and in the first of Metaphysickes the first Chapter defyning a wise man Aristotle saith Sapiens est qui scit omnia difficilia propter certitudinem causam ipsum scire propter se quaerens alios ordinans persuadens And a little after he saith That the wise man ought to be knowen not onely by the cause but also by the highnesse of the the cause According to the Stoickes and moral Philosophers such perhaps as were Seneca Socrates and Boetius wisedome is taken for none other But a masse or a heape of morall vertues which make a man to be vertuous Therefore according to this kinde of wisedome Seneca sayth in his booke of the tranquillitie of the minde That to a wise man there can happen no iniury or offence at all to molest the felicity of his minde which in the Stoicks opinion ought to bee imperturbable and his heart adamantine But according to the sacred Theologians or diuines Wisedome is a gift supernaturally infused whereby a man hath cognition of diuine things and of humane by diuine and spirituall inspiration or by some especiall gratious vicinity to God And because there is none more neerer vnto God then the innocent man so cleane as possible he may be from the foule staines of sinne who by such innocencie is made apt to vnderstand the secrets diuine therefore sayd Iob that wisedome is nothing else but the feare of God and the
soules it is not necessary therfore that he who comes to reprehend should enter our soules house making there a curious enquiry and search after other mens transgressions to compasse occasion of imperious reproouing For Christ giues no such commandement but rather aduiseth vs to staye without doors that is not to charge our neighbours weak consciences with other mens infirmities but if we happen to see our brother sin to correct him charitably so signifieth this conditionall Si If. Lodouico If we our selues are stained with the selfe same transgressions ought we then to imploy our officious tongues in administring correction How can a foule hand make the face cleane except it self be first washed Otherwise the delinquent may vse the wordes of Christ vnto vs Quid vides festucam in oculo fratris tui trabem in oculo tuo non vides Why seest thou the mote that is in thy brothers eye and perceiuest not the beame that is in thine owne eye Or else this other Medice curate ipsum Physitian heale thy selfe For it appeareth that by our correction we may couer our owne proper vices which is no way conuenable in a Christian Claudio In such a case sayth Father Augustin We ought rather to condole and weep with him then come to correct and controâ—le him mutually wishing one another to repentance especially if the sin be publique For it will be a scandale to many for him to be a reproouer that in himselfe deserueth reproouing beside it is a sin of very great pride Lodouico If the delinquents sinne be publique ought the correction notwithstanding to be priuate This breedes in mee a doubt of Christes wordes who onely sayth Si peccauerit in te If he sinne against thee whether any other should be present or no Claudio If the sin be publique the correction should be publique also sayth the Apostle Peccantos coram omnibus argue vt caeteri timorem habeant Them that sinne rebuke openly that the rest also may feare VVe ought therefore to consider well how our brother hath sinned and not blindly go to reprehension till first we be certain of the sin for preuention of others infamy scandall Si peccauerit sayth Christ therefore looke well before and saye nothing Else in saying I thought he had sinned it may fall out as it did to vnaduised Lamech who going on hunting and seeing he knew not what to stir among the leaues imagining it had bin some wild beast there hidden drew his bow and losing his arrow when he supposed he had slaine a saluage beast he found he had slaine his father Caine. VVhereupon repenting himselfe for this ill shot arrowe he sayd to his wiues Adah and Zillah Audite vocem mâ—am vxores Lamech auscultate sermonem meum quoniam occidi virum in vulnus meum adolescentulum in liuore meo Heare my voyce you wiues of Lamech for I would slay a man in my wound and a yoâ—ng man in mine hurt Lodouico If the sin be secret but against a community or a whole State a good mind in me is not enough for reprehension of the offender neither auayleth hope by any respects to drawe him to amendment what correction then should such a one haue Claudio Beeing assured of no fruitefull successe as in this case it cannot bee you ought more to respect the weale publique then a priuate mans condition And in matter of faith not onely the meanest ought in humilitye to reprehende the mightier but in such a case an equall estimate shoulde bee in correction we beeing all Christians and all bound together for defence of the faith As Saint Paule reprooued Saint Peeter being aboue him in regard of the scandall which might arise Reprehendi eum quia reprehensibilis erat He withstoode him to his face for he was to be blamed Therefore sayth the greate doctour of the Church Whensoeuer the daunger of the faith is discerned wee ought to withstand it euen to life it selfe Corripe eum VVe find two seuerall kinds of correction one is the acte of iustice as when the Iudge sentenceth the guiltie and this only beloÌ„geth to theÌ„ in gouernmeÌ„t vpon whose shoulders lies the weight of iustice The other is the act of charity and particularly belongeth to euery man Therfore they which professe religion and yet vsurpe vpon these words they presume on that which appertaineth to the Iudge onely and in stead of their tongue doo strike with a sword Corripe eum inter te ipsum solum Tell him his fault betweene thee and him alone Not like vnto such as set vp writings infamous libels and Pasquilling slanders on publique poasts Corripe eum inter te ipsum solum And not in company of brauers swaggerers sworders and lawlesse quarrellers as seeking that way to please thy mind He sayth Corripe not Occide correct not kill tell him not defame him as now it is become the practise of the world Corripe eum not seeke reuenge because such correction belongeth to God onely VVe are the sonnes of God by adoption therefore let vs doo like vnto a childe when he is any way iniuried first runnes and telles his Father the wrong doone vnto him And the fatheâ— sayth to comfort him Peace my Sonne I will be thy reuenger So when any one hath offended vs let vs freely pardon him neuer mooue a hand to wreake our wrong it is enough for vs that our heauenly father knowes our iniury he will be our iust auenger Mihi vindicta ego retribuam â—is in tempore vengeance is mine and in time I wil repay it No sooner had Cain committed his murder but immediatly God said vox sanguinis fratris tui clamat ad me de terra The voyce of thy brothers bloud crieth vnto me from the earth implying therby that he would be his reuenger Scarsely had Myriam ended her murmuring against her brother Moyses but suddenly the Lorde strooke her with a leaprosie And you my Lord know much better then I how much christ desended Mary Magdalen against Iudas murmuring at the Pharisies supper Also of her sister Martha who lamented that Magdalen would not helpe her in her businesse But what was Christs answer Martha Martha sollicita es turbaris erga plurima Maria optimam partem elegit c. Martha Martha thou carest and art troubled about many things Mary hath chosen the good part So was Iob defended by God against the iniury of his three friends Susanna from the old luxurious Iudges and Dauid from the iniuries of Saul All that we ought to do is to pray vnto the Lord to giue vs patience and to illuminate the vnderstanding of our enemy to the end he may haue knowledge of his error in this kind also ought we brotherly to correct him Corripe eum Lodouico Ought we to
damnatioÌ„ a sin so abhominable as the holy Scripture somtime forbeareth to name it among the rehersall of other grieuous offeÌ„ces A discourse very profitable ingenious necessarie worthy to be noted for feare of fulling into a sin so horrible and detestable Chap. 19. fol. 201 Approuing that it is better to haue no tongue at al and to be silent eternally then to fall into any of the before remembred vices What benefit ensueth by the priuation of speeche of which although wee should haue no vse at all yet we are not voyde of the speeche of the mind which is much more excellent and sooner listned vnto by god himselfe then to the carelesse and idle babling of the lippes He that wanteth speeche is disburdened of a heauy loade and may the easier preserue himselfe from many heauy charges because by the tongue of the body we please men onely but by the tongue of the hart we become pleasing to God Euery man hath two lips but the iust man hath his vpper lip much greater then the nether Contrarywise the wicked man hath his nether lip so great as therewith he couereth his whole face and all the strength of bad men consisteth in their lips which is approued by a short yet sweet discourse and afterward pleasingly concluded on the behalfe of silence approuing it to be much more allowable then speeche Chap. 20. Fol. 216. Hee that would talke with God must eyther learne to bee silent or speake faâ—re otherwise then hee did before because his hearte is to bee first purged of wicked thoughtes and his lippes made cleane from speaking of euill Hee that conferres with God must either holde his peace or speake very little in regarde of the greatenesse of diuine mysteries Or hee must talke highlie by a newe kinde of speaking as being lifted up by diuine assistaunce of the holy Ghost For approbation whereof diuers sound testimonies out of sacred Scripture are produced As of Moyses Ieremie Daniell Paule and the other Apostles Silence also makes the foole to seeme wise and the want of speeche is the gift of God as well as talking in many languages Heerin likewise is discoursed whence it proceedeth that some are borne dumbe and others very harde in deliuery of theyr wordes or else doe speake very slowly Chap. 20. Fol. 226. To the end that in our discoursing we should not grow offensiue to God it behooueth vs with deuout heartes to beg of him that he woulde purifie our mindes and purge our lippes According as Dauid did who prayed to the Lord that he would open his mouth to the end that he might worthily praise him And without him we cannot speake well because he hath the key of our mouth Which is approued by a sentence produced out of Esay where he saith that Christ is the key of Dauid He therwith openeth the mouth and giueth not much of what we knowe to aske for because we should require things correspondent to his greatnesse Moreouer not only are the Lippes opened therewith but likewise the heart the vnderstanding the Scriptures types and figures yea heauen it selfe and the mouthes of the saintes and Prophets and without this keye all things remainâ— shut vp and euery mouth dumbe Chap. 22. Fol. 239 That aboundance of words without wisedome is not called eloquence but loquacity or babling Therfore our words ought first to be brought to the file ere to the tongue to auoide the errour of our folly in speaking Therefore we should pray vnto the Lord that it would please him to open our mouthes and fill them with the holy spirit of wisedome vsing euery morning duely some especiall godly prayer meete for such a purpose And because Intùs existens Prohibet extraneum we cannot be capable of the blessed spirit except we first euacuate our owne proper spirit which is the occasion of infinite defects We must know that there are not so many letters in the Alphabet as are the errours hourely committed by the tongue that is not skild rightly in speaking of God Heerein likewise is declared what that race or stoke is whereof the wise man speaketh who haue in steed of teeth sharpe swoords Also what wisedome is according to the Philosophers Peripatetikes Stoickes Diuines with many other memorable matters beside Chap. 23. Fol. 251. From whence it ensueth that man being a creature so noble yet notwithstanding he committeth greater errours then any other creature whatsoeuer How God hath giuen him many helpes to preserue him from sinne and particularly the precâ—pt of brotherly correction committed into the power of the tongue The necessitie and excellencie whereof is heere discoursed on And that silence in such a case is prooued great babbling and a grieuous sinne because the tongue may be a safety to our neighbour They also shew the way which we ought to obserue in correcting of our neighbour as also the qualitie of the precept it selfe by approoued sound doctrine and testimonies of holy Scripture Chap. 24. Fol. 262 Wherein is discoursed how important the precept of brotherly correction is and for auoiding error therein all the words which our Sauiour vsed in giuing the precept are diligently examined and diuers good considerations in that behalfe alledged Moreouer they handle seuerally the number of corrections which are to be vsed to our neigbor and by the office of the tongue all iustified and warranted by proofes of Scripture Chap. 25. Fol. 274. A Table of the Authorities alleaged by the Author out of the sacred Scriptures in this present worke the better to declare his exposition of them Genesis Chap. 4. 13. MY sin is greater then it can be pardoned fol. 20 Chap. 11. 4. Come let vs build vs a city and a Tower whose top may reache vnto heauen that we may get vs a name least we be scattered vpon the whole earth fol. 24 Chap. 3. 2. 3. 4. VVe eate of the fruits of the trees of the Garden But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the Garden God hath said you shall not eat of it neither shall you touch it least that you dy fol. 38. Chap. 31. 47. Laban called it in his own language Tumulus testis and Iacob called it Aceruus testimonij fol. 104 Chap. 23. 13. Abraham said to Ephron I will giue thee the price of the field receiue it of me and I will bury my dead there ibid. Chap. 11. 5. The Lord came downe to see the city and the Tower which the sons of Adam builded c. fol. 113 Chap. 3. 12. The woman which thou gauest to be with me she gaue me of the tree and I did eate c. fol. 119 Chap. 37. 11. But his Father noted well the saying fol. 136 Chap. 18. 20. 21. Then the Lord said Because the cry of Sodome and Gomorrah is great and because their sin is exceeding greeuous I will go downe and see whether they haue don altogether according to that cry which is come vp vnto me and
if not that I may know fol. 154. Chap. 27. 22. The voyce 〈…〉 hands of Esau fol. 180 Chap. 1. 8. God called the firmament heauen fol. 192 Chap. 34. 22. 23. If all the men children among vs be circumcised as they are circumcised shall not their flocks their substance and all their cattell be ours fol. 193 Chap. 37. 33. It is my Sons coat a wicked beast hath deuoured him Ioseph is surely torne in pieces fol. 195 Chap. 39. 12. He left his garment in her hand and got him out fol. 196 Chap. 3. 7. They sewed fig tree leaues together and made them selues breeches c. ibid. Chap. 18. 27. I haue begun to speak vnto my Lord and I am but dust and ashes fol. 236 Chap. 3. 24. And at the East side of the garden of Eden he set the Cherubims and the blade of a sword shaken to keep the way of the tree of life fol. 246. Chap 8. 11. And the doue came to him in the Euening and loe in her mouth was an Oliue leafe that she had pluckt whereby Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth fol. 270 Chap. 45. 24. And he said vnto them fall not out by the way fol. 275 Chap. 4. 23. Then Lamech sayd vnto his wiues Adah and Zillah Heare my voice yee wiues of Lamech hearken vnto my speech for I would slaye a man in my wound and a young man in myne hurt fol. 277 Chap. 4. 10. The voyce of thy brothers bloud crieth vnto me from the earth fol. 276 Exodus Chap. 34. 6. The Lord God is strong mercifull and gratious flow to anger and aboundant in goodnesse and truth fol. 58 Chap. 32. 4. 5. 6. These be thy Gods O Israel which brought thee out of the land of Aegypt c. fol. 95. Chap. 15. 1. 2. We wil sing vnto the Lord for he hath triumphed gloriously the horse and him that rode vpon him hath he thrown in the Sea fol. 148 Chap. 8. 2. 3. 4. Behold I wil smite all thy country with frogs And the Riuer shall sâ—rall full of frogs which shall goe vp come into thine house into the chamber where thou sleepest vpon thy bed and into the house of thy seruants and vpon thy people and into thine Oâ—ens and into thy kneading troughs Yea the Frogs shall climb vp vpon thee and on thy people and vpon all thy seruants fol. 157 Chap. 14. 15. Wherefore cryest thou vnto me fol. 220 Chap. 25. 24. 25. And thou shalt couer it with pure gold make thereto a crown of gold round about Thou shalt also make vnto it a border of foure fingers round about and thou shalt make a goulden crowne round about the border thereof fol. 223 Chap. 4. 10. Oh my Lord I am not eloquent neither at any time haue bin nor yet since thou hast spoken vnto thy seruant but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue fol. 229 Chap. 40. 2. The first day of the first moneth thou shalt set vp the Tabernacle called the Tabernacle of the congregation And thou shalt put therein the Arke of the Testimony and couer the Ark with the vaile fol. 246 Leuìticus Chap. 11. 13. These shall ye haue also in abhomination among the Foules they shall not be eaten c. fol. 67 Chap. 24. 14. 16. Bring the blasphemer without the hoast and let all that heard him put their hand vpon his head and let all the congregation stone him And he that blasphemeth the name of the lord shall be put to death fol. 14 Numbers Chap. 19. 15. The vessels that be open and haue no couering fastned vpon them shall be vncleane fol. 26 Chap. 24. 17. There shal come a star of Iacob and a scepter shall arise of Israel c. fol. 51 Chap. 22. 28. 29. 30. What haue I done vnto thee that thou hast smitten me now three times c. fol. 118. 229 Deuteronomy Chap. 22. 11. Thou shalt not weare a garment of diuers sorts as of wollen and linnen together fol. 87 Chap. 22. 24. 25. 26. 27. Because she cryed not being in the City But if a man finde a betrothed maide in the field and force her and lye with her then the man that lay with her shal dye alone And vnto the maide thou shalt doo nothing because there is in the maide no cause of death for as when a man riseth against his neighbour and woundeth him to death so is this matter For he founde her in the field the maide cryed and there was no man to succoure her c. fol. 127. Chap. 14. 15. 19. The Estrich nor the night crow And euery creeping thing that flyeth shall be vncleane vnto yee it shall not be eaten fol. 161 Chap. 6. 16. You shall not tempt the Lord your God fol. 194 Chap. 24. 10. 11. Thou shalt not goe into his house to fetch his pledge But thou shalt stand without and the man that borrwed it of thee shal bring the pledge out of the doors vnto thee fol. 276 Iudges Chap. 14. 18. What is sweeter then hony Chap. 7. 20. The sword of the Lord and of Gedeon fol. 187 1. Samuel Chap. 19. 24. And Saul stript off his garments and he prophecied also before Samuel and fell down naked all that day al that night therfore they say Is Saul also among the Prophets fol. 71 2. Samuel Chap. 1. 16. Thy bloud be vpon thine own head for thine own mouth hath testified against thee saying I haue slaine the Lords annointed fol. 65. 218 Chap. 20. 9. 10. Art thou in health my brother And Ioab tooke Amasa by the beard c. fol. 168s 1. Kings Chap. 19. 9. 10. What dost thou here Elias And he answered I haue bin very zealous for the Lord God of hoasts for the children of Israel haue forsaken thy couenant broken downe thine Altars and slain thy Prophets with the sword and I only am left and they seek my life to take it away c. fol. 73 Chap. 21. 10. And the wicked men witnessed against Naboth in the presence of the people saying Naboth did blaspheme God the king Then they caried him away out of the city and stoned him with stones that he died fol. 211 Chap. 10. 5. She was greatly astonied and there was no more spirit in her fol. 234 2. Kings Chap. 4. 32. 33. 34. Then came Elisha into the house and behold the child was dead and laid vpon his bed He went in therfore and shut the door vpon them twaine and prayed vnto the Lord. After he went vp and lay vpon the child and put his mouth on his mouth his eyes vpon his eyes and his hands vpon his hands and stretched himselfe vpon him and the flesh of the child waxed warm fol. 271 2. Chron. Chap. 32. 15. 16. 17. For none of al the gods of any natioÌ„ or kingdoÌ„ able to deliuer his people out of my hand and out of the hand of my fathers how much lesse
100 Psalm 4. 2. O you sonnes of men how long will you turne my glory into shame louing vanity and seeking lyes ibid. Psalm 132. 11. The Lord hath sworn in truth vnto Dauid and he wil not shrink from it c. ibid. Psalm 145. 18. The Lord is neere vnto all that call vpon him in truth ibid. Psalm 15. 1. 2. 3. Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle who shall rest in thy holy mountaine He that speaketh the truth in his hearte hee that hath no guile in his tongue ibid. Psalm 117. 2. The truth of the Lord endureth for euer fol. 107 Psalm 69. 2. I stick fast in the deep mire fol. 126 Psalm 120. 2. When I was in trouble I called vpon the Lord he heard me ibid. Psalm 35. 10. All my bones shal say Lord who is like vnto thee fol. 131 Psalm 73. 9. They stretch foorth their mouth vnto heauen and their tongue goeth through the world fol. 145 Psalm 50. 21. Thou thoughtst wickedly that I am euen such a one as thy selfe but I will reprooue thee and set before thee the things that thou hast done fol. 152 Psalm 33. 19. Let the vngodly be put to confusion and be put to silence in the graue Let the lying lippes be put to silence ibid. Psalm 31. 20. Which cruelly and disdainfully and despightfully speak against the righteous ibid. Psalm 119. 134. O deliuer me from the slanders of men and I will keep thy precepts ibid. Psalm 105. 30. Their land brought foorth Frogs euen in their kings chambers fol. 157 Psalm 57.5 The children of men whose teeth are speares and arrowes and their tongue a sharp sword fol. 163 Psalm 78. 36. They flattered him with their mouth and dissembled with him with their tongue For their hart was not vpright with him neither were they faithfull in his couenant fol. 170 Psalm 68. 25. The tongue of thy dogs in the bloud of thine enemies fol. 171 Psalm 110. 2. The Lord said vnto my Lord sit thou at my right hand fol. 174 Psalm 73. 24. Thou hast receiued me to glory ibid. Psalm 3. 3. My glory and the lifter vp of my head ibid. Psalm 2. 9. Thou shalt bruise them with a rod of yron breake them in pieces like a potters vessell fol. 175 Psalm 115. 1. Not vnto vs O Lord not vnto vs but vnto thy name giue the glory fol. 176 Psalm 45. 13. Shee is al glorious within her cloathing is of broydered gold fol 195 Psalm 50. 16. 17. Why dost thou preache my lawes and takest my couenant in thy mouth whereas thou hatest to be reformed and hast cast my words behind thee fol. 196 Psalm 36. 8. They shall be satisfied with the fatnesse of thine house and thou shalt giue them drinke out of the riuer of thy pleasures fol. 198 Psalm 119. 55. Blessed are they Lord that dwell in thy house for they shall praise thee for euer and euer fol. 210 Psalm 119. 91. They continue euen to this day by thine ordināces for all are thy seruants fol. 212 Psalm 150. 6. Let euery thing that hath breath prayse the Lord. ibid. Psalm 113. 1. Praise O ye seruants of the Lord praise the name of the Lord. fol. 219 Psalm 139. 15. My bones are not hid from thee though I was made in a secret place fol. 220 Psalm 45. 2. Grace is powred in thy lips because God hath blessed thee for euer fol. 222 Psalm 8. 5. Thou hast crowned him with glory and honour fol. 223 Psalm 115. 5. 6. 7. They haue eyes and see not they haue noses smell not they haue eares and heare not they haue hands and touch not they haue mouthes and eate not fol. 224. Psalm 65. 1. O God prayse waiteth for thee in Sion fol. 231 Psalm 28. 5. They vnderstood not the works of the lord fol. 246 Psalm 129. 3. The plowers plowed vpon my back and made long furrowes fol. 247 Psalm 40. 3. And he hath put in my mouth a new Song of praise vnto our God fol. 248 Psalm 51. 1. Haue mercy vpon me O God according to the multitude of thy compassions fol. 249 Psalm 104. 29. 30. If thou take away their breath they dy and return to their dust Again if thou send foorth thy spirit they are created and thou renewest the face of the earth fol. 254 Psalm 111. 9. The feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome fol. 256 Psalm 10. 6. 7. For he hath said in his hart Tush I shall neuer be cast down there shall no harme happen vnto me His mouth is full of cursing deceipt and fraude vnder his tongue is vngodlinesse and vanity fol. 257 Psalm 14. 3. 4. The Lord looked down from heauen vpon the children of men to see if there were any that would vnderstand and seek after God But they are all gone out of the way they are altogether become abhominable there is none that doeth good no not one fol. 265 Psalm 69. 1. Saue me O God for the waters are com in euen vnto my soule fol. 270 Psalm 107. 18. Their soule abhorred all manner of meat they were euen at deaths door fol. 272 Psalm 73. 21. I was ignorant euen as it were a beast before thee fol. 275 Prouerbs of Salomon Chap. 18. 21. Life and death are in the power of the tongue fol. 4 Chap. 10. 9. The foolish in talk shall be beaten ibid. Chap. 17. 29. A foole when he holdeth his peace is accounted wise and he that stoppeth his lips prudent fol. 5 Chap. 10. 20. In many words there cannot want iniquity but he that refraineth his tongue is wise fol. 11 Chap. 15. 14. A soft answere putteth away wrath but greeuous wordes stirre vp anger A wholesome tongue is a tree of life but the frowardnesse thereof is the breaking of the mind fol. 20 Chap. 25. 29. A man that refraineth not his speech is like a city which is broken down and without wals fol. 22 Chap. 13. 3. He that keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soule from destruction fol. 23 Chap. 18. 4. The words of a wise mans mouth are like deepe waters fol. 30 Chap. 14. 25. VVhere many words are there want attendeth ibid. Chap. 16. 1. The answer of the tongue is of the Lord. fol. 30 Chap. 15. 2. The mouth of a foole babbleth out foolishnesse fol 57 Chap. 12. 18. The tongue of a wise man is health fol. 71 Chap. 27. 6. The wounds of a louer are better then the false kisses of an enemy fol. 86 Chap. 23. 31. 32. Looke not thou vpon the wine when it is red and when it sheweth his colour in the cup it goeth down pleasantly But in the end it will bite like a Serpent and hurt like a Cockatrice fol. 92 Chap. 16. 24. Faire words are as the hony-combes sweetnesse to the soule and health to the bones fol. 129 Chap. 17. 11. A seditious person seeketh only euil a cruel messenger shall be sent against him fol. 141 Chap.
but in steed of blaspheming vseth blessing fol. 211 Blasphemers are worse then brute beastes and euen do kill God so much as in them lieth fol. 212 Blasphemie is punished by all lawes fol. 213 The blessed do keep silence as being ouercome with ioy in beholding the presence of the maiestie diuine fol. 231 Breuitie in speaking hath alwayes been commendable fol. 30 Budeus defining an hypocrite sayth That an hypocrite is euery such dissembler as takes vpon him to represent that which himselfe is not fol. 169 C Cicero said That a man is known by his speaking to be either wise or foolish fol. 5. Cato was highly commended by Cicero because he neuer spake any word whereof he repented himselfe afterward fol. 7 Chilo was wont to say That the tongue ought not to fore-run the mind fol. 8 Cato of Vtica and Cicero said That it was a great fault to be silent when necessity of speaking was required ibid. Cleobulus one of the seauen Sages of Greece said that a wise man is more sollicitous to heare then to speake fol. 10 Careon a yong man very talkeatiue yet willing to learne the Arte of Rhetorick had a double salarie demaunded of him to teache him to auoide his euill talking fol. 12 Cadnidus king of Scythia was brother to Anacharsides the greate learned Philosopher fol. 13. Crates the Philosopher did much lament the negligence of those fathers of families who were carelesse of their childrens enstruction fol. 15 Cato his aduise for a childs first erudition fol. 18 Cain did more offend with his blasphemous â—ongue in denying the mercie of god then he did with his bloudy hand in taking away the lifâ— of his brother fol. 20 No better couering for the hart of man then silence fol. 26 Cicero was slaine for ouermuch speaking fol. 28 How all the creatures do bring vs to the knowledge of god and his omnipotent greatnesse fol 44 The creatures are to vs in steed of as many tongues wherby to speak vnto vs. fol. 46 Caiphas the high Priest vnderstood not his own prophecy and therfore is said to be like Balaams Asse fol. 51. Comparison of sundry waies wherby our feet make vse of walking and proofe of the like diuersity of pathes which the tongue hath to goe by fol. 55 Concupisâ—ible is a way whereby our tongue hath occasion to passe and therfore that way requireth a very good guardian fol. 57 Cain was the first heretique in the world fol. 56 Cato his saying of the angry man fol. 58 Cato his great patience being abused by Lentulus fol. 60 Cruelty very great in Hanniball fol. 61 Couragious and generous spirits doe receiue more offence by a bad spoken word then a wound receiued by a launce fol. 65 Conditions fiue in number belonging to the tongue of man very necessary in our manner of speaking fol. 66 Cicero how much he was able to preuayle only by the sweetnesse of his tongue in speaking fol. 67 Cato Censorius was accused forty foure times before the Romane Senate and yet was euery time adiudged innocent fol. 68 Christ moâ—t sweet in his speeches to his very enemies which made the Pharisies bloudy ministers to forget their fiercenesse against him fol. 69 Christ preached in a maternal tongue including many parables and similitudes among his enstructions fol. 75 The Crocodile in his qualities vsed as a necessarie obseruation to be had in a wise man fol. 79 Cicero his opinion of mens works and words fol. 81 Comparision of the Grashopper being bathed in oile dyes but being washed with vinegar comes to life againe fol. 8â— Commandement giuen by God that the flesh of Swans should not be eaten fol. 87 Constantine called the flatterer a Moath fol. 93 Calues made of gold by Ieroboam and honoured of the people as if they had bin gods So the like in Aaron c. fol. 95 Christ how many trauelles he endured and all for the trueth which himselfe so dearly loued the same is approoued by a very excellent discourse of trueth fol. 99 Chilo the Philosopher of Lacedemon gaue a singular discourse concerning the excellency of trueth fol. 102 Christ neuer called any one Son of the diuell but the lyer ibid. Circumcision vpon what occasion God caused it not to be left as a law in writing had such an especiall care of his commandements deliuered in the time of Moyses fol. 104 Conceite of the mind is called the word and speeche of the mind fol. 115 Confession of our sins how necessary it is and how highly offensiue it is to the diuell fol. 121 Confessors Pastors and Preachers are compared to watchfull dogs that keep away the diuell the wolfe of our soules fol. 122 In confession of our sins before God it is a most euill signe when we make a presumptuous ostentation of our owne doings and do not sorrow for the offences which we haue committed Reade much said to this purpose in Fol. 125. 126. so in the succeeding chapter Correction and punishment promised by god to detractors and euill speakers fol. 161 Comedians are Apes of other mens actions fol. 169 Confines or bounds out of which the hypocrit goes of himself f. 177 Charity is a vertue that liueth beyond all other whatsoeuer and blasphemy is a sin of the selfe same nature fol. 209 Cicero and Demosthenes their tongues cost their liues fol. 219 Custody of the tongue is very difficult fol. 221 Cholerick men doo stammer in their speaking and a reason is deliuered for the occasion thereof fol. 228 Comparison of cariage of keyes how some do fasten them to their girdles others put them in their pockets others weare them about their necks some on their shoulders fol. 247 D Diogenes the Cinick would eat raw fish fol. 7 Dauid desired of god that he wold set a watch before his mouth and a doore of wisedom before his lips fol. 9 Difficulty very great in speaking well ibid. Dauid and Salomon required of god a doore and a watch for their mouthes and not a wall wherein is deliuered an excellent mysterie fol. 10 Dulcitude or sweetnesse of conference is a certaine kind of viands fol. 13 Defect of the tongue is worse then gurmandise or luxurie ibid. Dauid the first lesson that he taught his children when they rose euery morning out of their beds was to praise the Lord. ibid. Diogenes seeing a dissolute boy to abuse himselfe in the street went and beat his Schoolemaster for bringing him vp no better fol. 17 Disorder and inconuenience which ensueth vpon the lack of reprouing the faults of our children ibid. Disorder and offence occasioned by feasts and banquettings fol. 21 Dauid somtimes prayed God that hee would vouchsafe to open his mouth and at other times desired that he would shut it fol. 33 Difficultie much greater to be silent than to speake ibid Doubt in a case resolued why the tongue being the cause of many euills was giuen by god to man fol. 39 Delicacie more then musique to the
his Army Ex de mal c. statuimus Example of the law Ecclesiasticall Example of the Emperor Iustinians lawe Example of the law amoÌ„g the Paganes Dan. 3. 96. Example of Mahomet the seductor What he seeks that by blasphemy opposeth himselfe against God Blasphemy leads to the denying of the Godhead Bernard in Cant. Septuages Serm. secundo A benefit is neuer truely knowen but by the losse of it The health of the soule is better then that of the body we are neerest to death wheÌ„ we thinke him furthest off The lacke of speech begets the quiet of the minde The yong Amalekites belying of him selfe for the death of king Saul 2. Sam. 1. What labour is required in the well and orderly deliuery of our speech Of Cicero Demosthenes whose toÌ„gues were their death What benefits ensue on the lack of speech It is great riches to bee poore in euil How to finde by loosing loose by finding Esay 31. 9. Sentence The hart only is pleasing to god the toÌ„gue winnes but praises of meÌ„ The wicked haue the lips of the heart Psal 12. 2. The iust haue the mouth tongue of the hart Psal 139. 15. God listens more to the tongue of the heart theÌ„ that of the voice Example of Moises crying to God in silence Exod. 14. 15. Lack of speech giues freedom to our thoughts Psalm 141. 3. Psal 39. 2. 2. Prouer. 4. 23. The tongue hath hurt many and holpeÌ„ but fewe The custodie of the tongue very difficult An excellent example of a man that desired to studie the Scriptures It is superfluous to heare much and practise little The reason why a man hath two lips to his mouth The vse of celestiall terrestrial things Psal 45. 2. Example of Zacharias Luk. 1. 20. Example of the talking deuils Luke 4. 41. Example of the thanklesse sinners Esay 23. 2. Iust men coÌ„pared to goodly hounds Example of the proposition table Exod. 25. 24. 25. The iust man compared to to the table Apoc. 3. 20. The lips of the iust man Eccl. 45. 12. Psal 8. 5. The wicked contrary to the iust man Iohn 3. 31. Wicked men compared to swine in all their behauiour Isidorus in Etim Lib. 11. Plinie in Hist Nat. Lib. 14. How the wicked doo wander through the Aethiopia of this world Psal 115. 5. 6. 7 The lower lip of the wicked couers al their face Of the lips of the wicked Psal 59. 7. Prouerb 12. 23. Mark 7. 6. Psaâ—m 140. 3. Prouer. 18. 6. Prouer. 15. 7. Pro. 16. 8. The whole power of the wicked is in their lippes Fooles by silence do seem to be wise Prouer. 17. 28. Silence is no meane grace in a wise man Prouer. 17. 27. Two benefits ensuing to the wicked by waÌ„t of speech Silence is the gift of God as well as speaking well Eccl. 20. 6. 7. Aristotle his opinion of the deafe and dumbe by birth Of the quicknesse and agility of the tongue how by naturall meanes it is caused or hindered in the melaÌ„cholic bodie Of bodies that are phlegmaticke Of such as are vnapt to be good Oratours Of such as knowe not how to speake lowlie according to Aristotle A very apt comparison The reason of stammering and vnready speaking How heate helpeth the part imaginatiue and the tongue The Authors conceipt of Moises excuse to God concerning his imperfection of speech Exod. 4. 10. Moyses perceiued his imperfection after his speech with God The like exaÌ„ple of the prophet Ieremie Ierem. 1. 5. 6. ExaÌ„ple of the prophet Danielâ— standing by the riuer Tigris Dan. 10 15. 16. 17. Naturall strength and speeche fayled Daniell in his talking with God The three exaxamples coÌ„ ferred together The maiestie and excelleÌ„cie of the preseÌ„ce of God Apoc. 7. 11. 12. A noate of no meane importaunce Apoc. 4. 8. Apoc. 8. 1. Psal 65. 1. The differeÌ„ce in the two translations The interpretation of the word Hymne How the word Hymne and and silence agree together The question how silence speaketh more then praise doth Feare ensueth of ouer-much boldnesse The answer how silence is begotten of the Hymne wheron he alleadgeth his first proofe His second proofe how silence praiseth more then the Hymne caÌ„ do His answere concerning Moyses Ieremie and Daniell Apoc. 8. 2. The greatnes of the person may daunte the best Oratour in his speaking Example of the Queene of Saba comming to king Salomon his third proofe 2. King 10. 5. The example vrged on gods behalfe and speaking in his presence His fourth proofe by Dauid Psal 75. 10. The maÌ„ner of the iust mans praising of God How the blessed sing the praises of god Apoc. 4. 8. S. Augustines answer to this point Apoc. 14. 3. ComparisoÌ„ of a Gardiner his seruants The same reason alleaged for Moyses Ieremy and Daniel Prouerb 25. 28 Example of S. Pauls rapture 2. Cor. 12. 4. Another answer by our owne coÌ„ming to the knowledge of god Moyses excusing of himselfe to God Exod. 4. 10. The loue of heauen killeth the loue of the world The more we talke of God the more we knowe our owne infirmities Dan. 10. 17. Gen. 18. 27. Men are masters of speech but God only is master of silence The differeÌ„ce between our speaking to God and to men How the Apostles learned their speaking No Oratour coulde equal any of the Apostles The Apostles learned sileÌ„ce before speaking The seuerall comparisous produced together for approbation of the Apostles speaking What they learne that talke with God All that confer with God learne silence Math. 10. 20. What the Apostles did after Christes ascension vp into heauen A dutie required on our behalfe Acts. 2. 3. 4. Prayer the best way to begin withall Acts. 1. 14. The Fathers and Doctours of the church vsed prayer Dauids prayer for the opening of his mouth Psalm 51. 15. The hand of God must opeÌ„ Dauids mouth Psal 119. 131. The mouth coÌ„pared to a gate Psalm 141. 3. Eccle. 28. 25. The hart is a mans Exchequer or treasurie Prouerb 4. 23. The Lord only hath the key of the mouth Prouerb 16. 2. Psal 81. 10. Of the mouth wherof the Lord keepeth not the keye Psal 5. 9. Of the blessed Apostles and holy Martyres Luk. 21. 14. 15. The Authors insinuation God hath the keye of the iust mans mouth Apoc. 3. 7. Why Dauid desired the lord to open his mouth Psal 51. 15. Seueral expouÌ„dings of the key of Dauid The expositioÌ„ of Aimonius The expositioÌ„ of Helimanus Others alluding it to the pastoral office Others to the power of binding and loosing Others to Christ himself Math. 28. 18. Esay 22. 22. His question for further satisfaction in this point The burthen imposed on the Cleargy the seueral duties required in him toward his flock ComparisoÌ„ of a mother trauayling with childe The painfull burdeÌ„ of binding and loosing The fulnes of grace in Iesus Christe and how the keye is applied to him Christe according to his humanitie desceÌ„ded of Dauid The Crosse