thée Agayne some séeke him like Iudas for money for wealth and to get vauntage by theyr so séeking but Lorde Iesus those shall or neuer finde thée or be flung flat on theyr backes when they find thée And yet Lord too there is an other kinde of people that séeke thée Lord we read that Ioseph and Mary did séeke thée Dolentes that is mourning â–ª so we séeke thée in these dayes of teares agaynst so many dangers agaynst so many â—…pprobries in so diuelish a generation in so combersome a worlde in so straite a way in such contrary law of our members and of our spirites in such haling backe of the world and worldly frenship that dolentes quaerimus te alas good Lord with great hart breake we seke thee Lord geue strength to our fayth and kindle courage in vs to make after thee and séeke thée Lord if we séeke thée thou hast promised we shal finde thee all thy words are truth it selfe therefore we will make after thée and séeke thée We reade that Ioseph and Mary sought thée with sorrow but founde thée with ioy We know Lord that the griefes of this iorny are nothing worthy the ioyes that thou yeldest to them that haue founde thée He that had his eares full of the world and hys armes full of the world and his belly full of the world and his eyes full of the world and all the best pleasing pleasures in the world he hath cryed out agaynst them vanitie of vanities and all is but vanitie O Lord all other thoughtes are vayne and most extreame vayne O thou only worthy to be sought and none but thou worthy to be fouÌ„d height nor depth heate nor colde egde nor poynt of sword foe nor frend shall neuer preuayle against vs but we will make after thée and séeke thée O that we may finde thée graunt O good Lord that we may finde thée He that hath founde thée hath found the Shiloh and Messias of the whole world he hath found the Lyon of the tribe of Iudah that is able to master all the beastes of the field he hath founde a rocke a buckler a shield and a horne of health and one that will lift vp his head so that he néede to feare foes no more he hath founde that pearle which a wise man would sell all that he hath to buy so that he néede to bestow his loue vppon no Iewell els any more he hath fouÌ„d the Lambe after whom he shall for euer walke in innocency in white apparell so that he shall not be troubled with rebellious motions of his flesh any more He hath founde the healthfull trée of life in the midst of Paradise so that he shall not sée death any more he hath founde hym out of whose belly gush floodes of life yealding waters so that he shall not be dry any more he hath founde him that will wype away all teares and all infirmiâ—…ies so that he néede not to be drouâ—…ie and heauy any more he hath found hys owne wisedome hys owne sanctification his owne Iustice he hath founde the strong God the only wise God the Lord of worldes the Prince of peace the father of eternitie the glorious Angell of the great Counsell to whom with God the Father and God the holy Ghost thrée persâ—… and one 〈◊〉 be all honour and dominion both now and â—…uermore Amen â—…en 2. Erant vterque nudi Adam Eua non erubescebant They were both naked Adam and Eue and blushed not TO the opening of thys matâ—…â—…ght honourable and 〈◊〉 Christian presence I can not mutch speake except I shoulde tel you a great long story how that Adam and Eue were first planted and placed in Paradise What a rich thing Paradise was what a pleasaunt thing it was what safetie Adam and Eue liued in what blessednes they liued in yea and in so great good case and integritie that they being euen at the worst that is euen starcke naked néeded not to blushe But neither néede I say any thing more neither will I. And me thinke euen fitly inough of it seâ—… without further exposition my matter may suffer a diuision And I know no fitter diuision theÌ„ if I should first speake because the text sayth Adam and Eue were both naked and blushed not first who was naked then what it is to be naked and thirdly the effectes of being naked Which in a cleare and crimelesse conscience is not to blushe and in a criminous conscience is to blush Now when I come to tell who was naked I say that Adam Eue were naked and I will not make one particular â—…tise of Adam and an other of Eue but as the Scripture in the first Chapter of Genesis calleth the man and the woman Adam and as they were man and wife together so shall they be one together for me in this treatise Or els if I should talke both of Adam and Eue and bee but so large as I well mought it would not be very well for the season is very colde and I most sickly to speake and besides that our scantling to preach in the Court is a most short scantling Now if ye aske what it is to be naked I say it is to be without armour it is to be without apparell and so sayth Chrysostome and â—…o Musculus The effectes of being naked is to blush or noâ—… to blush so sayth thys text on one part so sayth reason and so sayth a Gréeke Sâ—…phist writing hereupon But before I shall procéede to make further spéech in thys processe I shall pray you most hartily to assist me with your deuoute praiers to be deliuered vp to the throne of our almighty father in heauen In which prayer c. Adam and Eue were both naked and blushed not Now it is not to aske me who was naked for I haue coÌ„cluded to say that Adam was naked And what is Adam to be expounded Adam is redde earth man is redde earth Here then falles out to be considered the basenesse and badnesse of mans metall Here then first in the very thresholde of my sermon let vs sée that euen as the earth by his naturall course is borne downeward and is lowest of all elementes so man borne by the tallent and motion of his fleshe is beyond horse and Mule and is by the Prophets warned to learne wisedome by the Swallow by the Ant by the Spider by the Oxe by the Asse and almost by all the beastes in the field Man is base earth Dauid speaking contemtuously of Gods enemies likeneth them to the dust before the face of the winde The Prophets to bring downe the lookes of the proude worldlinges do call them the sonnes of the earth Dauid saith that their honour shall licke the dust In Genesis y most base and contemptible Serpent to fill him yet more full of contempt was enioyned to eate the dust of the earth Such base dust as is driuen before the face of thâ—…
harboâ—…lesse helpelesse And néedes must I further yet say that in many a poore scholer of the Uniuersities Christ him selfe is full of hunger and necessitie These be the noble sonnes of the Prophets and most apt of all others to be builders of Gods temple yet haue I séene many a good witte many a long day kept low and leane to be made broken with huÌ„ger and abiecte with pouertie I do not now know the liberalitie of this Citie towardes both those places onely this can I say that lesse then the tenth part of that which is nothing but surfitte and sicknesse to the great excessiue eaters of this towne wold cherishe and chéere vp hungry and thirstie Christ in those his hungerstarued members right well Touching the hunger of Orphanes and such as be fatherlesse I do not thinke but that it is very great and I haue no great hope that it will be much lesse The fathers them selues in this worlde haue much adoe to shift for them selues therefore it must néedes be the condition of these poore selie ones to huÌ„ger to thirst to pine and to starue Yet the example of thys good gentleman Alderman Dabbes his euer laudable goodnes to this litle poore people was likely to haue stirred vp many after this time to haue done the like But I trowe for all that we can preach and exhort it will be true that when the sonne of man commeth there will be but little fayth and little good workes too This man in these Orphanes hath clad Christ and fed christ She that shed oyle vpon Christes head shall haue a good name where soeuer the Gospell goeth and the sheding of this reliefe vpon Christes members is a thing of fame and very worthy of standing memory Concerning impotent persons and poore in generall though many Hospitals haue bene for them erected and her Maiestie and her Maiesties Counsell haue had by one Acte of Parliament to their reliefe a goodly respecte yet Christ this way and in this people is more hungry then Lazarus and more néedy then Irus And as the Scripture sayth Abels bloudshed cryed to God so me thinke the hunger of this hungerstarued generation should crye a loude to god And iâ—… they will turne ouer to me the penmanship or inditement of their bitter exclamation me thinke I could for their purpose contriue no more fitly then in these wordes and thus Lorde we doe heare and vnderstaÌ„d that the earth is thine and the fulnesse therof And though it be that we deserue no more then we haue yet turne down thine eye and do but sée what maner men they be whom thou hast blessed with wealth how they grope theyr soules with rest and how they eate their bread alone Why Lorde here is no Abraham to enterteine thy messengers nor Lot to compell thy ministers to come in but many a rich glotton to make fast the doores vpon them to cause them to kéepe without The Prophet Elias lacketh his hostes of Serapta The Prophet Elizas lacketh his hostes the Sunamite Paule can not finde the Purpurisse nor Peter the Currier Iob we haue not nor Toby we finde not Captaine Cornelius is a blacke Swan in this generation here is no Philip to feast the poore but eche ritch glotton doth geue interteinment to his equall or better no Martha is there to geue thée curtise interteinment nor Mary to poure any thing that swéete is vpon thy head Lazarus lieth still before the doores and can not with long loude crying come by the crommes of their tables In vs Lorde thou art day and night tumbled miserably before their doores In vs thy down bed pillowes are hard pauement stones thy warmth is haile snow and what so falleth froÌ„ heauen thy welth is want thy foode is hunger Truely this land is a land of no charitie for euen of purpose they deuise good Lorde to make hauocke of all thinges that we may be relieued with nothing Hauocke in their owne apparell their wiues childrens and seruauntes apparell outragious hauocke in their diets yea too much hauocke to many wayes Their horses chewe and spewe vppon golde and siluer and their mules goe vnder ritch veluet Dogges are deare vnto them and féede much daintily Courses and Kites coste them many a round pound There is none but thy Maiestie that knoweth all thinges that knoweth all their hauockes vaine expenses so that we can get nothing specially good Lord O good Lorde this London people though it drawe neare thee with lippes and haue a name to liue yet hath it a most flintie and vncircumcised hart and is in déede a people of no bowels Lorde here is the ritch glotton to be séene vp and down and round about the towne Here is scarce any thing in the vpper sort but many a foolishe Nabal scraping and scratching eating and drinking and sodeinly and vnworthely dying The eyes of Iuda were sayd to be red with drincking but mutch of this people haue their whole faces fire red with continuall quaffing carousing Sodome and Gomorra were sayd to be full of Bread but these Londoners are more then full for they are euen bursten with bancketing and sore and sicke with surfeting Lord thou whistlest to them and they heare thée not thou sendest thy plague amongest them and they minde thée not Lorde we are leane Lorde we are faint Lorde we are miserable Lorde we are thy members Lorde therefore thou art leane Lord thou art faint Lorde thou art miserable rise good Lorde arise and iudge thine owne cause And thus much of Christ a beggar in these beggars And now will I speake of Christ a Lilie gatherer And to gather vp Lilies Of gathering of Lilies many thinges may be spoken many wayes And what Lilies do signifie in this place I am to say as before that when the beloued goeth down into his spicery to be fed in the Orchardes and to gather Lilies is no more but that he goeth to be refreshed in the earth Howbeit the fathers haue made a further processe in this matter and some yelde one sense and some an other But for my selfe I would not for any thing rehearse opinions vpon opinions notes vppon opinions and exhortations vppon notes for that woulde be now long and werisome onely I will say something of one exposition which Rabbi Iarhi and S. Barnard do séeme to embrace that is to gather vp Lilies is to gather vp men and yet euen in this one exposition resteth to be handled that Christ is a gatherer and men be flowers If Christ be a gatherer then is he no disperser In déede it is méete that the shepeheard should gather his shéepe and the hen her chickins and the husbandman the graine into the barne Euen so the Prophet Ezechiel sayth That Christ should gather hys sheepe out of all landes and gather them into their owne land So doth he him selfe say with an affection of most déepe loue O Ierusalem Ierusalem how often would I
that be loyall and subiect then of those that be stubburne and rebellious And as it is good policy to punishe this misliued folke so it is good diuinitie Artaxerxes writeth to Esdras after thys sort Omnis qui non fecerit legeÌ„ Dei tui et legem regis diligenter c. Who so euer Esdras sayth he doth not the will of thy God and of the king with diligence let him haue iudgement without delay whether it be vnto death or to be rooted out or to haue his goodes confiscat or to be put in prison Prison was the least punishment that Esdras should put them to Prison is the greatest punishment that we can get them to yea and so easy and so gentle a kinde of prisonment that it is much better and wealthier then many of our liberties And now to speake of that that the prince may be iust in punishing and yet be still called a milde and a mercifull Prince it is sayd of Dauid Lorde remember Dauid and all his mildenesse Yet in the 101. Psal. the sayd Dauid doth say In the morning I did kill all the sinners of the earth that I might destroy from the Citie of God all that do euill Dauid destroyed all Gods enemies her Maiestie hath destroyed none of Gods enemies Dauid did it in the morning of his kingdome it is now farreforth dayes since her Maiestie beganne to raigne and yet it is vndone Dauid thus doing was a man according to Gods hart Let no Prince looke to haue Gods hart if he do the contrary to Dauid And if a Prince lose Gods hart he loseth more then mans hart can thinke It is sayd of Moses that he was the most milde of all men that euer â—…aried in the earth yet Moses killed an Egyptian that molested his couÌ„treymen and Moses when the golden Calfe of Idolatrye was erected willed them to arme their handes and to hide their swordes in the fleshe of their neare kinsmen and to make hauocke of their liues And so there was killed thrée thousand and Moses said they had made holy their handes to god The mildest man that euer was in the world thus behaued him selfe to Gods enemies and not withstanding the iust punishment of all these Idolaters Moses shall euer kéepe still his prayse and be called iustly milde Moses Salomon that was so milde in his lawes and so milde in his sawes when as an euill hauty harâ—…ed subiecte named Adoniah through feasting and bancquetting popular behauiour had strengthened him self in frendships and partly through kinsmen and partly through frendships being drawen into a great spirit to gape for the crowne had gotten the kinges owne mother to speake for him to marry the Sunamite by whom he might make title to the crowne then milde Salomon thus answered his mother God do so and so to me if Adoniah haue not spoken this worde agaynst hys own life Now therfore as the Lorde liueth which ordayned me and set me on the seate of Dauid my father and made me an house as he promised Adoniah shall dye this daye And he sent by the hand of Banaiah the sonne of â—…ehoiada and he smote him that he dyed Salomon can not abide that Abisag should be asked to wife for Adoniah For geue him that wife and geue him Salomons kingdome Abisag is no wife for Adoniah Abisag is no wife for Adoniah Thus Salomon was wise yet Salomon coulde punishe King Dauid him selfe sayth that his song should be of mercy and iudgement so that that musicke sâ—…andeth vpon two stringes mercy one and iudgement the other King Dauid touched both the stringes and stroke them both and therfore in his regiment there was a good musicke Our Prince hath yet but stricken the one string and played vpon mercy but if she would now strike vpon both the stringes and let her song be of mercy and iudgemeÌ„t then there would be a goodly musicke in her regiment all thinges would be in a much better tune then they now are S. Ambrose in his booke of Offices saith Beatus qui tenct mansuetudinem rigorem c. Blessed is he that keepeth both mildenesse and rigorous iustice that by the meanes of one innocencie be not oppressed by the meanes of the other discipline be kept Gregory sayth Let so rigour rule mildenesse and so mildnesse beutifie rigour let the one so take his commendation froÌ„ the other that neither rigour be to rigorous nor mildenesse to loose Though I do not like the Councell of Trent nor caÌ„ speake any great good of the Bishop of Bipont because he is Papisticall yet for the execution of straite iustice doubtlesse he spake there thus very worthely Where sayth he seueritie goeth in loosenesse there edifying goeth into destruction custome into corruption lawe into contempt mercye to be laughed at godlinesse into hypocrisie preaching into silence God into the Epicure and the sauour of lise into the sauour of death Nazianzene sayth that onely force of discipline will compresse rebels And I do verily thinke that as Eleborus doth best purge the head Aloes the stomacke Tamarisc the splene so discipline is the best purger of the weale publicke Ben sira an Hebrician in his morall preceptes sayth thus Correct a wise man with a nodde a foole with a clobbe If these Northren rebels had had any sober witte in their head by this time so many noddes and so many nots would haue stayed them But it is well inough considered I thinke of those that haue most cause to coÌ„sider it that nodding will not serue nor becking will not serue nor checking will not serue therefore it must be a clobbe or it must be an hatchet or it must be an halter or something it must be or els of a suretie some of their heades will neuer be quiet As it is true that two and two make fower that when the sunne is in the middest of the heauen it is noonetime that euery part of the circle differeth equally from the center that when the sunne riseth it is morning so it is infallible true that no perfect Papist caÌ„ be to any Christian Prince a good subiect Euery one that is a good subiecte must be vpon a right conscience a good subiecte But all those of the Papistrie haue their coÌ„sciences sered with that hot iron wherof Paule speaketh they haue adust and corrupt consciences therefore they can be no good subiectes Againe who soeuer will be a subiectâ—… for conscience sake as all true subiectes must be that conscience must be enformed by the worde of God 〈◊〉 Papistes are not enformed by Gods word but falsly enformed therefore they can not be true subiectes Againe he can not be a true subiecte that can loose him selfe from his dutie to his Prince when he list but the Pope at all times will dispense with his and discharge them of all duties to all men therfore they can be no good subiectes but by the