periured senator I am the more willing to cōceale passe ouer the application of these examples because it doth redouble my sorrows to think the heathens should ouercome Christians or Romanes Englishmen in pietie deuotiō to their coūtry But O vnspeakable grief I can neither find in you Curtius faith nor Scaeuolas zeal nor Horatius courage nor Regulus cōstancy You attempt my destructiō contrary to Curtius you imagine your soueraigns death cōtrary to Scaeuola you desire to bring in strāge forces cōtrary to Horatius you deny loialtie to your frends wheras Regulus performed faithfulnes to his enemies Regulus kept promise w e his foes because he wold not indamage his coūtry you break promise w e your frends enter league w e your foes because ye wold ruinate your country Unworthy therfore are ye to be numbred among such men Traitors are men in shape but beasts in behauiour vnworthy to liue amōg christian men nay vnworthy to carry the names of men hauing litle in effect but the outward shape of men Ye haue defaced the beautie of humane nature in deforming your minds with brutish behauior Ye haue learned to weaue Spiders webbes and to hatch Cocatrices egges Ye haue lerned of the Tode to swell aboue natural proportion of the Wolfe to barke against the Moone of the wilde Asse to braie against the thunder of the Owle to eschue the light of the Sun and of the Viper to gnaw through the bowels of your mother Much more I might say but I willingly refraine least my spéeches should séeme rather to be distempered with partial choler then seasoned with louing affection I could neuer yet vnderstand that any traitor closed vp his last daies with honor or the his gray haires went downe to the graue in peace The end of Traitors nuserable but though for a time hée so florished in pomp of worldly felicitie the there might séem neither to haue bin place for better fortune nor feare of worse yet was his iollitie nought els but grins to intangle his desires withall the being dronken w e excesse of vanitie furfetting vpō al varietie of plesure he might be pampred vp like an Oxe the in the stall is made fat for the slaughter To which purpose if I should begin to discourse besides the I should enter into a wide open field I should also light a candle at noone day in reporting that wherof these times haue made you eiewitnesses Therfore I wil only point w e the finger at one or two examples takē forth of our own Chronicles which for the they are in their kinde passing notable ought not to be buried in silence Richard the vsurper raging like a foming Boare sought by force to open the waie to his wilfull inordinate desire of soueraintie sparing neither age sexe affinitie nor degrée till hee had inuested himselfe with the regal Diademe was then perswaded that he had so firmely established his regiment that hee might without daunger giue fortune the defiance yet sée a litle cloud rising from the sea did on the sodaine so darken the Sunshine of his deuises that as one surprised with trembling feare and wéelded in an endles Labyrinth hée sound no issue to wade through but was affrighted with guiltie suspicion by day and terrified with fearful visions by night neither felt he any release vntil death hastned to demaund his right to take iust reuenge vpon him Who though he were a king yet being slain in the field was disaraied of his armor robes stript naked was throwne ouerthwart a horsback with his face groueling to the earth and so besmeared with mire and gore was hurried from Bosworth to Lecester there in stead of funerall solemnities he had black fame for his herault shame for his shrouding shéete neuer dying obloquie for his sepulchre Neither were the executioners of his commaunds exempted from penaltie For Syr Iames Tarrell who was by him aduanced for the murther of the yoong king his nephew was in the raigne of king Henry the seuenth beheaded at the Tower hill for treason A vicious life endeth sildom with a happie heath Miles Forrest péece-meale rotted away Iohn Dightons death though it be not certainly specified yet we may weout any breach of charitie suppose the it was not greatly discrepant from the former course of his life And no maruel if the Lord of hostes be so ielous ouer his Vicegerent poure out such rigorous punishments vpon archtraitors conspiring against his annointed séeing he suffreth not petie trecheries though in degrée far inferior to escape vnreuenged As may appear by Henry Banester seruant to the Duke of Buckingham who though he were brought vp vnder the Duke had from him receiued many benefites yet at such time as the Duke being encountred with great extremities and on euery side maruellously distressed committed his life to Banesters secrecie thinking it the safest refuge and sanctuary that he could repaire vnto Banester in expectation of the reward that was promised by proelamation to him that could discouer him readely cōdescended to befraie his Lord. But shortly after it came to passe the his sonne and heire fell mad died in a Bores stie his eldest daughter was striken with leprosie his second sonne was takē lame his yoongest son drowned in a pudle lastly Banester himselfe was arraigned for murther and with much adoe escaping was frustrated of that golden recompence which he preferred before his Lords life and his owne reputation I speake not this to patronage the Dukes action the equitie of whose cause I refer to the censure of the wise but séeing all déeds are to be measured by the intent of the doer and the sequele of the fact néeds must he be noted for a faithles caitife that began his action in wretched auarice and ended it in shamefull miserie If I should draw these and such like particulars into the forme of an induction and thereupon grounding a generall conclusion should say that neuer traitor to his prince atchiued happie and prosperous end I thinke it would be hard for you to giue an instance to the contrarie vnles haply you please to reply by nominating any of the stragling extrauagants Iesuites by profession are in condition Iscariotes that carying the title of Iesuites lead the liues of Iscariots and either by raunging abroad or dissembling at home chance to escape the whip But they must imagine that forbearance is no quittance and the longer they run on the score the harder will the reckoning proue when it comes to paiment Howsoeuer one traitor list to descant vpon the fall of another imputing his ouerthrow to second causes ascribing it to fatall influence and angrie stars wresting it either to want of pollicie or neglect of opportunitie or default of secresie or his too much carelesnes or his too litle courage and with these vaine illustons flatter his conceite hoping that he shal ouerleap that stumbling blocke
confusion of theyr aduersaries And as he broke the wheeles of the Egyptians Chariots when they pursued the Israelites so will hee dashe in pieces all theyr engins force them to crie out as the Egyptians then did saying Wee will flee from the face of Israell Exod. 14. for the Lorde fighteth for them against the Aegyptians Then shall they that haue accepted the wages of vnrighteousnes burst out with Balaam into these words Num. 23. how shal we curse where God hath not cursed or how shall we detest where the Lord hath not detested Then shall their great Master for griefe of heart roare out with julian the Apostata saying Vicisti Galilaee vicisti acknowledging his ouerthrow to proceede from Christe whom he hath as scornefully abused as euer did Julian confessing him in word but in heart denying him prophaning the sincerity of his gospel reproching the basenes of his humanity despitefully persecuting him in his members what in him lyeth crucifying againe the sonne of God With this hope as with a precious cordiall doo I recomfort my languishing spirites with this as with a soueraigne restority doo I reuiue my fainting courage with this as with a gentle emplaster doo I qualifie the rigor of my passionate and biting grieuances knowing that he which kéepeth Israell doth neither slumber nor sleepe Genes 41. but he will busie Pharaos fantasie with troublesome dreames for the releasing of Joseph the sustayning of Iacob Ester 6. he will depriue Assuerus of his naturall rest for the deliuerance of Israell the destruction of Haman Dan. 3. and notwithstanding Nebuchadnezzar command Gods children to be throwne into the fiery Furnace yet shall the fire forget his property to burne the flame shall forgoe his scorching heate and alter th' effects prescribed by nature his Angell shall with watchfull regard minister vnto them so that not one hayre of their head shal be burnt neither their coates chaunged nor any smell of fire shall come vpon them Though the Midianites and Amalekites marshall their forces Iudic. 7. and encampe against the Lords people like grashoppers for multitude and as the sandes by the sea fide which are without number yet will he giue Gedeon the victory while they as men distract of their witts shall broche the brests of their neighbours and fellowes in armes with their owne swordes Psalm 118. This is the Lords doing it is wonderfull in our eyes Wonderfull in deede and passing wonderfull if we behold it with fleshly eyes measure it by the leuell of carnall capacity but if God sharpen the eyesight of our faith then shall wee clearely perceiue that he tendereth the safety of his chosen as the apple of hie eye causeth all his creatures to imploy theyr seruice to their behoofe giuing withall his and their enimies to vnderstand that al wisdome is folly and all strength infirmitye that is opposed against the Lord of hoastes Now séeing the matter standeth thus tell me yée peruerse generation with what hope doo yée cast to cōtriue so execrable purposes Nauis stultorum Now can yée expect a prosperous wind to land your vessel at the desired hauen séeing your ship is fraighted with superstition ballasted with treason such trumperies as he that flyeth on the winges of the windes vtterly abhorreth Why despise yée the Lords holy temple in Ierusalem Why trudge yée so fast vnto Dan to offer 1. Sam. 5. why post yée from Dan to Bethel to please Ieroboam Behold to obaie is better then sacrifice and to hearken to the voice of God is better then the fat of Rammes How can Dagon the Idoll of the Philistines stand where the Arke of God is in place néedes must he fall flat to th' earth and though the Idolatrous priests labour to erect him againe yet shall his latter fall be more shamefull then the first his head his hands shal be cut of he shall neither haue the reason nor the power to lift vp himselfe any more The Pope compared to the Idoll of the Philistines The Dagon of the Philistiues was said to be like a man in the vpper parts but from the nauill downeward like a fishe your Dagon of Rome is neither flesh nor fishe but as he flesheth him selfe by bathing in the bloode of faithfull and innocent Martyrs so maketh he all fish that comes to net by fashioning religion as may best serue to increase his reuenue inrich his coffers Whose mishapen deformities if they were artificially pourtracted liuely depainted in fresh colours as an obiect for euery mans eie then might I question as the Poet did Spectatum admissirisum teneatis amici Frendes had you leaue to looke your fill how could you chuse but laugh Why then are yee so highly offended that Dagon is falne why take ye it so at the heart that I haue abridged his authority emptied my cask of such stinking dregs haue I done any other thing then cast corrupted vnsauery salt on the dunghill as his proper place Therefore let me say vnto you as Ioas said to the men the were so furiously incensed against Gedeon for breaking down the altar of Baal Iudic. 6. will yee pleade Baals cause or will yee saue him he that will contend for him let him die ere morning If he bee God let him pleade for him selfe against him that hath cast downe his altar Dauid sorrowed repented him selfe in that he had cut off Saules skirt O griefe to be commended so accompanied with grace You storme repine that you cannot cut short the blossome of my ioy glory of my garland O griefe to be condemned so far past all grace But repent repent euen while it is called too day fall downe vpon the bended knees of your hearts before the Lords footestoole with all humility and supplication sue for grace at the throne of grace Which vnles yée doo know for a certainty that as Dauids cōmendation dyeth not so your condemnation sléepeth not only the Lord lifteth vp his hand on high that he may inflict the déeper woūd when he striketh Obedience to Princes a principle in nature Now if this singuler example of Dauid pierce not your heartes with a godly remorse yet consider that obedience to Princes is a principle in nature who hath ingraued in euery mans mynde a religious impression of duety in subiects towarde theyr soueraignes Yea she hath instituted a lawe which the very vnreasonable creatures duely obserue among themselues as the beastes giue place to the Lyon and the foules yeelde reuerence to the Eagle Neyther hath there bene any nation so destitute of ciuility wherein some one eyther for that he was descended from royall parentage or for the honorable opinion they conceiued of his vertues obtayned not the greatest titles of dignity and retained not the highest seate of preheminence Though Iezebel were a woman of a vile disposition who reposed her chiefe felicity in the
were defeated thogh they were able to declare their possession of an hūdred or two hundred yeares Againe all such as either themselues or their ancestors had born any kinde of magistracie were called to account notwithstāding they had bene cleared many yeares before by receiuing theyr quietus est yet if the quittance were lost by reason of time they were condemned to repay the whole I might make special relation of all accises customes exactions that he imposeth vpon al manuary trades mechanicall faculties vpon al cōmodities the may any way grow to the inhabitants but they woulde require a large treatise But think to what an huge masse of mony it amoūteth when the Farmar of the butchery and pultry of the city of Naples payeth daily thrée hundred ducats when vittailers pay fiue ducats for yerely obedience shoomakers one french crowne filkemakers fiue when for euery chimney he hath sixe shillings thréepence of euery strūpet or curtizan thrée shillings peny half peny and of all others in proportion Euery head of great cattel payeth thrée Caualluchi of the which fourtéene or fiftéene make a peny euery head of small payeth two and as it is credibly recorded that taxe in one yeare onely in two shieres Apulia Calabria came to foure hundred thousand french crownes sterling and there followed the next yeare after a taxe of six hundred thousand frenche crownes We vse to say where nothing is to be had the king looseth his right But the Spaniard though he make his gaine his right and his will his law though he haue brought the people to a low ebbe a miserable state yet will he haue what taxes soeuer he list to leuie though he rake it out of their bowells and pull their skins ouer their eares for it These are his practises in Naples The cruelty of the Spaniards in the Indies but the execrable tyrannies which the Spaniards haue shewed on the Indians as they doo almost surmoūt credit so can they hardly be furnished with termes effectual to decipher them They haue dispeopled in India more then ten realmes greater then al Spaine Aragon Portugall which nowe remaine as a wildernes abandoned desolate being before as populous as was possible Within the space of forty yeres they as in a cōmon butchery slaughtered of innocent lambs aboue twelue millions men women children At their first arriuall they were intertained w e performance of al seruiceable curtesies the Indians most humbly submitting themselues vnto them after a sort adoring thē as diuine creatures descēded from heauen but after they were too well acquainted w e their sauage cruelties they fled frō them as frō hatefull furies broke loose out of hell The Spaniards made it a sport to murther the Indians The Spaniards customarily disported thēselues in laying of wagers which of them shoulde w e one thrust of a sword panch or bowell an Indian brauest in the midst or w e one blow most deliuerly strike off his head or best dismēber him w e one stroke They vsed to mutrher the lords nobility by broiling them on gredirons with a soft fire vnderneath that yelling and despairing in those lingring torments they might so giue vp the ghost Foure or fiue of the Lords on a time being rosted on this maner with their pitifull roring and lamentation disquieted the Captayne the caytiffe I should say and broke his sleepe wherevpon for his better quiet he commaunded them to be strangled This Perillus wanted but a Phalaris to serue him of the same sauce the Ser geant woulde not suffer them to die so easie a death but himselfe putting bullets in their mouth to the ende they should not crie rosted them softly after his desire If at any time by due order and formall processe of lawe a malefactor being a Spaniard were put to death by the Indians the Spaniards ordayned a decree among them selues that for one Spaniard they were to flay an hundred Indians A certaine Indian Lord flying from out the I le Hispaniola into the I le Cuba was by the Spaniards so continually pursued that at last they apprehended him and burned him with the rest of his company When he was bound to the stake a Franciscan Frier began to common with him touching the knowledge of God principles of Christian faith Which thinges albeit the noble man had neuer heard of before yet hee gaue good eare to the Frier who was earnest to perswade him the if he belieued those matters wherein he instructed him he should goe to heauen to inioy euerlasting happines otherwise there was no way but to hell with him to indure perpetual torments The L. somewhat pawsing at the matter demaunded of the religious whether the Spaniardes went To heauen without question said the Frier because they die in the Catholike fayth the L. hearing him say so The Indian though it better to be in hel then to liue with the Spaniards answered immediately without any further deliberation that he would not goe to heauen because he would not come in place where Spaniards were nor haue society with a nation so cruell When a certain tyrannicall gouernor entred vpon the firme land a Lord of the country to gaine his good will and to auoid torture presented him with the waight of nine thousand Ducates The Spaniardes thinking to wring out of him an ample booty by compulsion who of his voluntary accord had made so large a proffer layde holde on him fastned him to a stake and setting him on the earth with his feete stretched out put fire thereto to make him bring forth more treasure The L. sent to his house and caused three thousand Castillans more to be brought and deliuered to them They not yet satisfied gaue him the torments a fresh not ceasing to frie his feete at the fire till the sinewes brast and the marrowe spange forth trilling downe to the soles of his feete so that of the same cruelty he died Another monster after he had wrought a most bloody massacre vpon diuers Lords and other Indians out of whose handes one noble man with his retinew to the number of thirty or forty had escaped inclosed themselues within a temple the Spaniarde following after them neither waighed the reuerence of the place nor the innocenci◠of the persons but deuoide of all humanity compassion set fire on the temple so burned them Himselfe in the meane while vsed like gesture behauior as did Nero when he had caused Rome to be fired he beholding it sate singing playing on his harp This tyrant passed on to Mexico trampling in humane bloode Motenzuma king of Mexico being aduertised of his cōming sent a thousand presents to welcome him Corpora magnanimo satis est c. met him at the barres of the citie attended on with an honorable troope of nobles but that same daie by a diuelish Spanish suttletie they got the king into their hands
well knowne Proditionem amo sed odi proditorem Me thinkes your dealings are liuely described in the picture of Furie who is painted with a sword in his hand and for the impatient desire of reuenge wherwith he is inflamed desperatly rusheth vpon a iauelin slayeng himselfe while he attempteth to annoie his aduersarie ye are farre more besotted than that foolish felow that was content to forgo one of his eies conditionallie his companion might loose both But if this that I haue said do not alter your minds I doubt whatsoeuer may be said will be insufficient And therefore in respect of your obstinacie I am to wish that ye might be dealt withall as the eagle dealeth with hir yoong ones who tumbleth such out of hir nest as can not stedfastly looke against the sunne beames or that there were some deuise for the riddance of traitorous papists out of the realme like to that which king Edgar inuented for the auoidance of wolues when he bound the Welshmen to paie their tribute with wolues skinnes If haply your maladie be past recouerie I will notwithstanding comfort my selfe by repeating the words which Mardocheus vsed in a case that threatned as great extremitie When Haman had obtained of king Assuerus that all the Iewes within his Prouinces should be destroied Ester 4 An example of singuler comfort to all faithfull subiectes had got the proscription cōfirmed vnder the kinges seale manuell Mardocheus being a Iewe vncle to quéene Ester certified her by the kings Eunuches of Hamans procéedings and sent her the copie of the commission charging her to become petitioner and frame supplicatiō to the king for her people When Ester heard the wordes of Mardocheus she commanded the Eunuche to tell him that the law was so whosoeuer should come into the kings presence vncalled must die vnlesse the king of his grace held forth his scepter vnto him Now saith she I haue not beene called to the king these thirtie daies which when Mardocheus vnderstood he returned her this answere Thinke not with thy selfe that thou shalt escape in the kinges house more then all the Iewes For if thou holdest thy peace at this time comfort deliuerance shall appeare to the Iewes out of another place but thou thy fathers house shall perish And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time So though you being animated through the Popes absolution and in hope of I know not what lordlie preferments haue agréed among your selues to make away with such as shall not be found to haue an Auemaria sticking betwixt their téeth or an Agnus Dei couched in their bosome yet because your rage is raised against the Lord your tumult ascended into his ears I trust he wil doe to you to your confederats as he did to proud Senacherih put an hooke into your nostrils and a bridle into your iawes For as it was prophecied of Troie that it should not be subdued so long as the Palladium which fell down frō heauen vpō the wals therof remained within it so I am assured that England shall haue rest frō all her enimies so long as Gods holy word shal be sincerely preached diligētly followed Our sins the meanes to draw Gods plagues vpon vs. For there is nothing that can withdraw his blessings from vs or draw his punishments vpon vs but our stiffnecked and vncircumcised harts which neither haue thankfuly receiued his truth nor yéelded obedience vnto the same And were it not the there is a zealous Moses among vs whose praiers appeare before the Lord as incense the lifting vp of whose hands is as an euening sacrifice 1. Pet. 2. were there not a iust Loth who day by day vexeth his soul in seeing our vnlawfull deedes by continuall intercession slaketh the heat of Gods wrath I feare me your vngodly purposes had ere this preuailed his heauy indignatiō consumed vs. Exod. 17. But whensoeuer Moses hands shal begin to ware wearie when Loth shall once depart out of Sodome then I feare lest God lay the raines on your neck and the yoke on ours lest he grant vnto you power to despoile allott vnto vs sodaine destruction then I feare least as the floud was in the spring of the yeare and the burning of Sodome at the rising of the Sunne So I feare I say least Gods comming vnto vs be in the winter of our faith and the summer of our pride and least hee thrust the sickle of his vengeance into the full haruest of our iniquities Let vs therefore learne to loue him as a father and let vs not forget to feare him as a Lord. Let vs not despise the riches of hys bountifulnes patience and long sufferance knowing that by the same he allureth and leadeth vs on to repentaunce the differring whereof is most daungerous for so muche as it is to be giuen of hys mercie not commanded at our pleasure Nam qui promittit poenitenti veniā non promittit peccanti poenitentiam He the promiseth pardon to him that repentes doth not promise repentance to him the offends As for you let this suffise that there was a cursse denounced against him that shoulde build vp Iericho againe that Achan with his familie his cattell his implementes and all that hee had was stoned and burnt in the vallie of Achor because he had taken a Babilonish garment certaine shikels of siluer and a wedge of gold being excommunicate things and hid them in his tent dare ye then shrine such abhominatiōs in your harts Surely I greatly doubt the as the Lord plagued al Israel till they had punished Achan so hee will not leaue to scourge vs till we haue rooted out all of Achans brood The example of Tarquin in cutiing off the toppes of the poppies was moste happilie imitated to the glorie of God and benefite of the Realme for by that meanes I trust the stalkes will soone wither away The Queene of Scots the roote of infinite mischiefes But while the roote remained whole it nourished a great number of noisome and superfluous branches Our malcontent Romanists were so affectionately deuoted to the contriuing of her contentment as Aeolus was desirous to gratifie Iuno when hee sayd Tuus O Regina quid optes Explorare labor me iussa capessere fas est To thinke the thing thou faine wouldst haue pertaines O Queene to thee But to performe what ere thou craue that dutie longs to me Your villanies before theyr late discouerie seemed in your owne conceits wellnigh to haue attained the highest step of theyr perfection so that if Sinon could haue brought the horse within the gates of Troy he should then haue giuen the watchword to the Grecian Fleete houering aloofe at Tenedos Then would it haue bene to late to haue wished for Hector whē Politus should haue bene slaine at the altar and sanctuarie when Cassandra should haue bene rauished in the temple and Priamus murthered
in his own Pallace O vnspeakeable grief all these valefull calamities to haue sprung from one Helena How much better had it bene that that Helena had neuer bene borne or being borne a thousand tymes better she should haue bene throwne into the middest of the sea with a milstone about her necke then to haue bin the subiect for so many tragedies When Iabin king of Canaan sought to oppresse Israel by the handes of Sisera his captaine â—udic 4. the Lord raised vp Deborah and Barak to ouerthrow his power But the mother of Sisera making iust reckoning of victorie looked out at the windowe and cried through the lattesse why is his Chariot so long a comming why tarrie the wheels of his Chariot haue they not gotten nowe they deuide the spoyle c. The mother sister cosin or friend of Sisera or howe soeuer she were allied vnto him looked long she looked but in stead of Sisera contrarie to her hope she saw Iehu come to doe iustice The Lord looked also downe from heauen hee saw your deuises hee liked them not but laughed because hee perceiued your day was comming yea hee looked long at last he sawe iustice done and it pleased him well For my part I will euer pray that I may rather beare the burthen of Deborahs song then the burthen of Phineas wiues sorrow The song of the one was So let all thine enemies perish O Lord Sic 〈…〉 diâ—â—◠〈◊〉 bethae malâ— vâ—lunt but they that loue him shal be as the sunne when he riseth in his might The sorrow of the other was The glorie is departed froÌ„ Israel for the Ark of the Lord is taken But because a liue dogge is more to be doubted then a dead Lion I wish that all theyr lurking holes may be narrowly searched and they ferretted out of theyr Conniburrowes Psalme 101. where priuily they lay wayt for innocent bloud I pray God her Maiestie may perfilly learn Dauids song Traytors presume upon her Mâ—iâ—â—â—â—â—s mercie who said he would sing vnto the Lord of mercy and iudgement Her clemencie hath bene moste notoriously abused the musick had almost bene mard and all like to be brought into an vnpleasant discord while she harped so long vpon one string The seruauntes of Benhadad king of Syria 1. Reg. 2â— what iniuries soeuer they had wrought Israel yet when they were fallen into the lapse they comforted themselues with these wordes Behold we haue heard saie that the kinges of the house of Israell are merciful kings let vs therefore put sackcloth about our loynes ropes about our heades and go to the king of Israel it may be that he will saue our liues They stood vpon what may be and what he wil do not vpon what must be what he ought to doe thus they made mercy the groundwork of their mischiefe But the king of Israel was reproued by the Prophet who tolde him because thou hast let goe out of thy handes a man whome I appointed to die thy life shal goe for his life thy people for his people No lesse are those runnagate ruffians to be regarded who practise to steale away the harts of the people crying out with the black mouth of Rabsakeh What say ye vnto me we trust in the Lord our God Esay 36. Is not that he whose high places whose altars Ezechias took down am I come vp without the Lord to this land therfore let not Ezechias deceiue you for he shall not be able to deliuer you And as Artabanus king of the Persians answered the letters of Alexander emperor of Rome saying In stead of paper J assigne him the field a lance for the pen bloud for inke wounds for words So these companions for disputations bring dispensations for reasons treasons arguing ab vtili and not ab honesto concluding neither honestum nor vtile arming their religion with atheisme and supporting theyr faith by faithlesse trecheries Yet when they are cut short by iustice Papistes make treason the truit of conscience they wouldimpudently face out the matter that they die for their conscience whereas God knoweth their conscience was dead long before But we may answere their great maister as king Richard the first did when the Pope sent to him commanding him to release the Bishop of Beauuois and his Archdeacon whome hee called his sonnes being taken by Earle Iohn the kinges brother in the field and by the king coÌ„mitted to prison he sent to the Pope theyr complete armour with this message Genes 37. Vide an tunica filij tui sit an non sée whether this be thy sonnes coate or not Let the pope looke whether his Iesuites iett in the garments of godly Churchmen or rather of roisting vagabondes let him saie if these be the doings of men that deale vpon zealous conscience or rather vpon traiterous intent These are they that by their whispering tales would put men in fear where there is no cause of feare giuing false fires and striking vp hote alarmes when there is neither shot nor souldier nigh haÌ„d Papistes indeuour to amaze men with causelesse feare thinking to make men afraid of skarcrowes of their own shadows or rather of nothing at al. These are they that construe euerie accident that befalles to the aduantage of their purpose speaking as they would fayne haue it These are they that vse wicked consultation in holie places prophaning temples by their lewd conference and making the house of prayer a den of theeues In a Church-yard in Paris shortly after the bloudie massacre sprong vp a Palme tree which the Papistes straight interpreted to be a signe that the Protestants were fullie vanquished and the lott of victorie falne to theyr part But it was indeede a true token and Time which is Truthes mother hath prooued it so to be that howsoeuer they practised by violence to extirpate true professors yet maugre their malice his seruants should florish like the Palme trée and that from their blood as from the ashes of the Phenix should reuiue a glorious of spring For the blood of Martyrs is the séede of the Church And therefore as Alexander the great couragiously answered when his souldiors would haue disswaded him from going vnto India because the image of Orpheus swet what quoth Alexander doth Orpheus sweat then I know we shall make worke for the Poets so we though not Orpheus image but Orpheus Ape Neanthus whom I touched before though I say the Pope sweat and sweare and take on as one of his predecessors did for his pie yet we know that in mainetaining Gods truth obeying our soueraigne we shall doe a worke acceptable to him but they and you which doe the contrarie will make worke daungerous to your soules damageable to your countrie onely profitable for the hangman I wish you better I would I might hope better of you and when I sée you begin to amend then shall you sée me leaue off to mistrust But though faintnes now inforce me to shut vp my complaint yet vntill that time neither can I be fréed from feare nor you cleared from suspicion O Louing God and most mercifull Father A prayer for the preseruation of her maiestie and continuance of the gospel who holdest in thy hand the harts of all Princes turnest them which way standeth best with thy diuine pleasure we beséech thée so to order the thoughts of thy seruant our dread soueraigne and so to dispose all her actions that as a faithfull handmaide she may studie to please thée and as a carefull nurse séeke to cherish thy Church And forasmuch as thy glorie is chiefly shewed by bringing to passe thy will through weake meanes féeble instruments assist her we pray thée with thy spirite that being weake in her selfe she may be strengthened by thy arme to confound all such as shall with Holofernes assault thy people And as thou hast hertofore oftentimes redéemed her out of the mouth of the lion so defend her still that neither open force nor secret villanie at anie time preuaile against her And séeing thesmall graine of thy Gospell which by her hand thou hast graciously sown amongst vs in the field of thy Church hath béene so watered with the heauenly dew of thy blessing that the birdes come now build in the branches thereof and the slender vine that thou broughtest out of Egypt and plantedst in this land hath through thy goodnesse taken such roote that the mountaines are now couered with the shadow of it the boughes therof spread abroad like the goodly Cedar trées we beséech thée to watch ouer it that neither the Caterpiller which lurketh in corners consume it nor the wilde Boare out of the wood destroy it but that being nourished by thée it may grow vp before thée bring forth fruite vnto thée Remember not our former iniquities but let thy tender mercies preuent our imminent miseries And as in the daies of Iosua thou didst stay the sunne in the firmament vntil thy people had cleane vanquished their thine enimies so now maintaine the throne of thine annointed that her daies may be as the daies of heauen for brightnes and as that day of Iosua for continuance that she may wéed out the aduersaries of thy truth that so the worke which thou hast mercifully begun may be prosperously perfited by her Let it neuer be tolde in Gath that the glorie of Iacob is darkened let it neuer be published in Ashkelon that the scepter of Iudah is falne lest the daughters of the Philistines reioice and the vncircumcised begin to triumph But let all the world know that thou carest for thy people and vpholdest thine heritage As for thine enimies they shall be as the smoke that vanisheth in the wind as the waxe that melteth at the fire and as the dust that is scattered before the tempest They shall perish yea they shall all perish at the rebuke of thy countenance