dance and leape about him self yet shee as her owne pretty apt and actiue child might take him to her and kisse him and what of all this was there no other way but to take a pen and write a booke of these things To which I answere with the Apostle generally that whatsoeuer things are written they are written for our instruction Rom. 15.4 And that as the things which the holy Ghost hath concealed are therefore not fit to bee knowne so the most secret things as the drunkennesse yea the nakednesse of Noah when they any way make for publike edification they are iustly publisht and needfully made knowne The occasion of this report I take to be thus Salomon would perswade children or young men to learne what is the true wisedome or vnderstanding for so it appeares vers 1. of the chapter Heare O yee children the instruction of a father and giue eare to learne vnderstanding And to perswade that hee brings in himselfe for an instance For J was my fathers sonne c. As much as to say Thus was I taught thus did I learne when I was a child the tendernes of my yeers did not excuse me neither the loue of my parents nor yet my royal birth did priuiledge me to neglect these things therefore Heare ye children also and giue eare to learne vnderstanding That other mens children should learne by example of the Kings the consequence is very reasonable If the Kings sonne did learne and study these things then much more the sonnes of meaner men but the Antecedent that the Kings sonne did learne these things it is the very point of the text and it is a point of Princely consideration The strength of the reason lieth in Salomons own person For J was Heare ye and learne ye For J was thus and yet learned thus Salomon heere speaketh like a King and teacheth Kings likewise how to speake that is if they will perswade the people any thing to shew the experience of it first in themselues or if they will command the people any thing to shew the same thing first done by themselues For J was thus and yet learned thus that is to say hee layeth no other burthen on the people then he had first borne himselfe Kings and Priests in a common sense are both said to bee shepheards but the good shepheard goeth before saith Christ and then the sheepe follow after Iohn 10. It is said in the praise of Moses that hee was a man mighty both in word and deed Acts 7. Mighty in word as many gouernours are to command strongly but mighty also in deed to doe it accordingly Tully reports of Julius Caesar that hee was neuer heard saying to his souldiers Jteilluc Goe ye thither as if they should go forth vpon seruice and he to tarrie behinde in his tent but Venite huc Come ye hither as if hee had said Come on my hearts let vs giue the aduenture and aduenture our selues together for Participatus cum duce labor persuadetur militibus minor it shall bee an easie thing for the common souldiers to follow when they see the Captaine goe before but if a Magistrate shall exact of the people one thing and doe himselfe another they will say he is like a water-man which rowes one way and lookes another Philip King of Macedon was very curious and inquisitiue about the agreement of the Grecians among themselues and yet liuing in an horible diuision with his owne wife such a man though neuer so high yet is lookt at like one vpon a stage yea how can a King or Magistrate punish sin in another man when he is noted to be guiltie yea and notorious in the same sinne himselfe Alexander the great conqueror tooke one Dyonides a Pyrate vpon the sea and asked of him Quid sibi videretur vt mare infestum faceret what hee meant in that manner to trouble the sea the Pyrate answeres him boldly and truly againe yea rather what meane you thus to trouble the whole world but because I robbe and steale in a poore pinnace which you doe in a great and royall Nauie I goe for a Pyrate and you goe for an Emperour and when it is thus with the Magistrates in a kingdome though no man dare speake yet euery man will mutter and Socrates will laugh Quia video magnes latrones ducentes paruum latronem ad suspendium because he saw the great theeues leading the little theeues to hanging And so much for the personall point For J was Well what was he J was my fathers son Tender and deare in the sight of my mother that is to say he was his fathers and he was his mothers begotten of the one and born of the other and as the male and female of the doues doe hatch and feede their young by course euen so was hee diuided to them both But first Altera pars patri one peece goes to the father He was his fathers sonne his fathers sonne that must needs bee true in reason and yet it seemes triuial to write for euery child in Logique knowes the Relatiue predication Filius est patris filius and how can a man but bee his fathers sonne yet the Scripture vseth this phrase of speech either when the child doth much resemble the father as Ezech. 16. Thou art thy mothers daughter that is like mother like daughter an ill whelpe of an ill store and in that sense Christ denieth the lewes to be the sonnes because they did not the workes of Abraham Ioh 8.39 Or else the sonne is said to be the fathers when he is so respected and so accounted of the father and that is the meaning or Salomon heere J was my fathers sonne that is my father begat me and owned me and loued mee and saw himself in me It is said of the Ostrich that shee is cruell to her young as if the were not hers Iob 39. Such an Ostrich was Athaliah 2. King 11. that catcht vp her grand-children and killed them as shee catcht them as if they had not been the sonnes of her sonne And Augustus Caesar said of Herod that hee had rather bee Herods swine then his son for that being in part a lew hee forbare to kill swine and yet vpon a bare conceit hee killed two of his owne sonnes But Salomon was his fathers sonne and Dauid was to Salomon a kinde and louing father yet not taxed heere with indulgence neither nor doe we any where teach that naturall loue is a sinne or that religion doth forbid it but only bridle and gouerne it yea it came first from the Trinity and with a voice from heauen for the father to loue his sonne This is my beloued sonne saith God the father of Christ his sonne Mat. 3. And the best men were thus affected to their sons Take now thy son thy sonne whom thou louest saith God to Abraham Gen. 22. And so were the worst men affected to their sons for euen they which were euill
yet gaue good gifts vnto their children Mat. 7. Yea the cruell beasts doe loue their own The Dragons draw out their breasts and giue sucke to their young Lament 4. and 2. Tim. 3. It is reckoned for one of the signs of the latter day that men shall bee without naturall affection Now the reason why men do naturally loue their children is not because they bee wittie or faire or forward though these things may encrease their loue but because they be theirs The reason why good men loue their children is not onely because they bee theirs but because as they thinke they bee heires begotten vnto God But the reasons why Kings doe loue their children are many more and more peculiar First because they see all the people loue them which Saul saw in Jonathan when they reskewed him out of his fathers hands and deliuered him from death 1. Sam. 14. Secondly because the royall seed and name is preserued in them which was promised to Dauid in this Salomon 2. Sam. 7. Thirdly because Kings of all men being subiect to plots and practises while they liue and also to ill fame and censure when they are gone their sons stand vp not only as heires to inherit their crownes and kingdomes but as Champions to maintaine their honours and to auenge their quarrels whereof the former was performed by Jotham the sonne of Gideon Iudg. 9.17 The latter by Amaziah the sonne of Joash 2. King 14.5 Fourthly the King loueth his sonne the more for a diuine mysterie hi him for as Kings themselues are Gods so is the sonne of the King as the sonne of God God ruleth he world by Christ his sonne Iohn 3.35 So did Dauid yet liuing set Salomon vpon his owne Mule yea vpon his owne Throne 1. Kin. 1. God pronounceth his sonne the onely mediator to himselfe 1. Tim. 2.5 He in whom he is well pleased Matth. 3.17 So did Dauid worke himselfe peace with Saul a while by the mediation of Jonathan his son 1. Sam. 19. 6. and as the sonne of God is the wisedome of the father 1. Cor. 1.24 So saith Salomon heere that his father taught him that is put wisedome to him and he did not only teach him but also prayed for him in that behalfe Giue thy iudgements to the king O God and thy righteousnesse to the kings son Psalm 72. and thus was Salomon his fathers sonne But to his mother what Tender and deare or as some translate it Tender and only in the sight of his mother To his father a sonne barely and without addition His fathers sonne but to his mother her tender son her deare her onely sonne So the father setteth downe the Substantiue but Tender and onely the Adiectiues or Epithetes come from the mother and why so because Salomon should shew that his father loued him but his mother loued him more euen as commonly wee say that men abound in reason but women in affection Thy loue to me was wonderfull passing the loue of women said Dauid to Jonathan 2. Sam. 1. A wonderfull loue no doubt which passeth the loue of women Or else Salomon would shew that his fathers loue was in discretion hid as in the text it is but vnderstood but his mothers loue was Tender and deare and onely flaming out like fire which hath no power to hide it selfe for Can a mother forget her child saith Esay yea can a mother hide her affection from her child yes iust as Salomons mother hideth hers VVhat my sonne and what the son of my wombe and what O sonne of my desires Prou. 31. See how shee hides her loue Her sonne and the sonne of her wombe and the sonne of her desires as if shee had said O thou my sonne whom once I bare in my wombe and whom I euer beare in my heart borne of my body by course of nature but still vnborne by strength of loue the father saith Sonne thou art euer with me Luk. 15. The mother saith Sonne thou art euer within me and so is it heere Tender and onely in the sight of his mother Tender in respect of his age as Chron. 1.29 Salomen my sonne young and tender but more in respect of her affection as mothers are euer tender that is fearefull and carefull of their children Samuel was not in his mothers keeping but in the custodie of the high Priest much better sure then in his mothers keeping yet see how mothers nature workes for though hee wanted neither meate nor clothes yet shee makes him and brings him euery yeere a little coat 1. Sam. 2.19 lest too much wind should blow vpon him and when the Shunamites sonne was sicke she set him on her knees till he died 2. King 4.20 but when Jeroboams son was sicke the Queene her selfe runs out to the Prophet for him 1. King 14.4 Againe Salomon was his mothers Onely sonne not onely begotten for shee had three sonnes beside 1. Chron. 3.5 but onely beloued or if not the onely beloued yet the onely beloued in that degree for though she loued them all well yet shee wisht and procured the kingdome to him and when she heard that Adonijah was vsurping it she steps in to Dauid 1. King 1. and makes sure worke for him And all this Jn her sight or before her Tender and onely in her sight for Vbi amor ibi oculus Loue is euer looking Samuels mother went vp euery yeere to Shiloh 1. Sam. 2. Yea true shee did so but that was to offer sacrifice yea and withall to sacrifice a little to her eyes that is to see Samuel too for if the sonne be but a little missing or out of sight Siseraes mother lookes and lookes out at a window and why tarrie the wheeles of his Chariots and why is his Chariot so long a comming Iud. 5. But if the son be dead or gone A voice is heard in Ramah Rachel weeping for her children and will not bee comforted Ier. 31. Now Lord that wee were but halfe so tender of our soules as our mothers are of our bodies But Salomons mother was tender of his soule too for she was a Prophet to teach him for so is the chapter 31. stiled The prophesie which his mother taught him She tels him what a King should doe To iudge righteously to iudge the afflicted and the poore and shee tels him what a King should not doe Not giue his strength to women not giue himselfe to wine euen as Monica the mother of Austin Toties parturiens filios c. So oft as she saw her son to do amisse so oft she was in pains of trauell with them And thus to loue is the tender deare and onely loue But this appeareth better in the next part of the text He taught me and said vnto mee c. Which followes out of the former not as oft in this booke of Prouerbs after a loose and independent manner but it followes with a speciall force as if hee had said Though I was my fathers sonne
tender and deare vnto my mother yet they did not coker mee but taught me and said vnto me There is a loue in parents a doting loue which teacheth nothing and there is a gouernment in parents which looseneth all the raines and suffereth to riot and for biddeth nothing and there is a pitie in parents a foolish pitie which pardoneth all and punisheth nothing till God come with the sword as hee did to the sons of Eli and kill where the father leaues vncorrected a strange loue in parents to kill their children with too much kindnesse but Salomons father loued him to proue his loue hee taught him as thinking him much better vnborne then vntaught If it be demanded heere how Dauid taught his sonne the text it selfe sheweth that sometime he spake vnto him himselfe He taught mee and said vnto mee hee taught him by word of mouth as the Eagle teacheth her young to flie Deut. 32.10.11 And as Plutarch saith the Nightingale teacheth her young to sing and God knew that Abraham would teach his sonnes Genes 18 And carefull parents are euer whetting the law vpon their children Beside it is also like that Dauid taught him by an instructor by Abiathar by Zadok by Nathan or some other and it is a chiefe prerogatiue of Kings that they may chuse their Tutors and instructours throughout their kingdomes The father of the great Alexander professed that hee was not more glad that hee had a son then that he had such a schoolemaster as Aristotle to teach him And Alexander himselfe confessed that he had his naturall life from his father but to liue well and vertuously hee had it from his master And it is strange to tell what honour Theodosius the Emperour gaue to Arsenius his sonnes schoolemaster And thus did Dauid teach And consider on the passiue part that as none is so carefull to teach the sonne as the father so hath none of the sonnes so much neede of teaching as he who succecdeth in the kingdome of the father Bee wise ye Kings saith Dauid and bee learnedye that be Judges of the earth Psalm 2. It is true that Kings are Gods annointed yet not annointed onely with oyle but with speciall graces but what grace before wisdome and learning which leades the way to all other grace as Kings are leaders to all other men Let the Lord appoint a man ouer the congregation who may leade them out and in saith Moses Numb 27. But it was neuer intended by God that they should be blind and ignorant themselues who were appointed as leaders and lights to other men And what was Salomon admired for but chiefly for his learning and for his wisdome The Queene of Sheba came of purpose to heare and proue his wisedome And 1. King 4.34 There came of all people to heare his wisedome as commonly when the people enquire after the King they doe not listen so much whether hee bee rich for they thinke he may be too rich as Julian the Emperor said that a couetous king was like the Splen in a mans body which when it swelleth and groweth great all the rest of the members are in a consumption by it Nor doe they listen so much if he be a man of warre they like it well that hee bee martially minded and readie to encounter when the enemie giues cause but they like it not that hee haue Animum auersum a pace A minde hating peace or delighting in warre Psal â—8 30 yea cursed are the people which delight in warre saith Dauid himselfe euen one of the greatest souldiers that euer was in the world but the chief thing enquired of the subiects is if the King bee learned or wise for then they know that he wil carrie himselfe the state well in warre in peace in want in abundance in all conditions safely and well And that Salomon was thus wise it was not only his fathers teaching for men can but plant and water but first he had helpes from nature which had exceedingly fitted him besides he was studious and industrious of himselfe for as it is Eccles 1. Hee gaue his heart to search out wisedome and which is more then all humane helps when God appeared vnto him gaue him leaue to aske what he would 1. King 3. he asked not riches long life nor honour but hee asked wisedome and God gaue it him in great abundance for hee was seene in all wisedome yea he had considered all the workes that were done vnder the sunne Eccles 1. euen as Moses the gouernour of Israel was seene in all he wisedome of the Egyptians Act. 7. He spake three thousand Sentences or Prouerbs his Ethikes or morall Philosophy hee wrote Songs Psalmes or Poems a Poet among other learning He spake of trees plants euen from the Cedar to the Hysop his Physiques or naturall Phylosophie yea he spake euen of the beasts and creeping things A wonder to see a King come from his Throne an Iuorie Throne ouerlaid with gold mounted vpon steps for Maiesty and euery step with Lions on each side a wonder I say to see a King to come from thence to looke into the bowels vaines of a beast yea of a vermine the lowest steps of naturall learning what thought hee of learning which sought it thus And therefore they are deceiued which thinke learning to bee but a meere ornament to a King It is true there is facultie of ornament as playing singing dancing for as this learned Salomon saith There is a time to dance Eccles 3. and there is faculty of good vse as tilting running riding promised to the Kings of Judah Ierem. 22. If ye doe these things ye shall ride vpon Chariots and horses but learning and wisedome are essentiall to gouernment he was no mere scholer nor vulgar man but hee was a King which said it that Rex illiteratus est asinus coronatus Henry 1. King of England that a King without learning was an asse with a Crowne for to what end sits he vpon the iudgement seate which when hee comes there may sit and see and heare but hath no wit to iudge This Salomon himselfe sat in iudgement vpon the two harlots 1. King 3. and gaue such a sentence as all the kingdome applauded to heare it besides for knowledge of religion he was Ecclesiastes a professed Preacher as Eccl. 1. J the Preacher haue bin King ouer Jsrael c. and that knowledge is also needfull for a King for if a schisme or schismaticall fellow arise in the Church hee is a kinde of persecutor that onely punisheth him it is more kinde and kingly first by learning to controll him Constantine sat oft himselfe in iudgement and gaue sentence in causes Ecclesiastical especially in the faction and quarrels of the Donatists And I could speak of a King now vpon the stage which speaks and disputes and writes that Rome it selfe is enraged to reade it for the Romane Clergie doe with their kings as the late Queene
quakes to looke vpon the danger so wee when wee looke backe to our birth and thinke on the dangers in it onely we can say with Dauid Thou O God and not our selues thou art he that tooke me out of my mothers wombe Psal 22. When we are borne what then we fall if not hand hold vs to the feete of her that bare vs that is wee fall from the wombe to the ground from one earth to another So naturally at the first doe wee finde the way to o r last home euen as God said to Adam at the first Out of earth wast thou taken and to earth thou shalt returne Gen. 3. And oh that wee might see or could we but remember with what pompe and glory wee are borne into the world Naked as wormes crawling like snakes that there is not amongst the creatures so weake and helplesse a creature as man the mother a misery to thinke the mother that hath newly borne vs lieth by vs indeed but halfe slaine by our birth and least able to helpe vs so we are borne like Beniamin with hazard of her life that gaue vs life and we seeme halfe murtherers so soone as we are borne when wee are taken vp what then we fall a crying as either repenting of our change or wishing our selues vnborne againe or as if we did foresee the sequell of the text the troubles which ensue In the middest of this our moaning wee are as Ezechiel speakes chap. 16. of his prophecy we are washt and bathed and swadled in clouts No doubt goodly gallants and great cause to bee proud if wee thought of our selues in our first pollution when wee are thus swadle and prankt vp like puppets a dainty lump of liuing earth What pleasure feele wee nay what feele we what sense or feeling haue we saue now and then of weakenesse and sicknesse the pangs and smart of the parents sinne We are then brought to the mother to looke vpon and she as a theefe when he is pardoned lookes backe to the gallowes or to the halter that had like to hangd him so lookes shee on her son on her sonne as on her death if God in great mercy had not preuented it when the mother hath lookt and kist we are brought to the father too and to looke vpon too and while the father looks euery one cries out Behold the father looke vpon the child see see and behold how like they looke while indeede they looke more like then they should and it were well for the child if it were not so father-like or mother-like as it is and what get both father and mother by looking but to looke as Salomon saith of the rich man and his money Eccles 5. VVhat good comes to the owners thereof but the beholding of it with their eyes So looke the carefull parents on a wofull child sometime laughing with hope of that it may be sometime distressed with feare of that it may bee watching in the day wakeing in the night somtime merrie somtime sorrie sometime angrie that it were not possible for them to passe through so much patience if God had not infused animpregnable affectiō of loue to ouercome it thus are we borne in teares and sorrow to our selues in perill and sorrow to her that beares vs in nakednes and shame to all that looke vpon vs here is nothing yet to boast on But is our case amended or is our birth magnified by her that bare vs Man that is borne of what of a woman as much as to say like nest like bird like mother like child but why not as well Man begot of a man as Man borne of a woman perhaps because the woman is the weaker vessell and the meaning chiefly was to abase man in his owne might or perhaps because sinne was first inuested in the woman and since wee stand so much vpon our antiquity wee are only sinners by antiquity rebels by prescription and rebellion rooted in our first blood sinners by the father but first by the mother as by the surer side or perhaps it is because sinne hath more vniuersally preuailed ouer women Eccles 7. for Salomon counting a thousand women one by one by that account to finde one good one found one good man indeed but that man was Christ but not one good woman among them all And whether by the woman wee vnderstand the first woman the mother of mankinde or else the mother of euery seuerall man it comes all to one end Iob 25. for how can hee bee cleane saith Bildad which is borne of a woman If wee looke to Eue our great grandmother what haue we to pleade for her Adam was called Pater viuentium the father of al men liuing and Abraham was called Pater credentium the father of the faithfull or of all the beleeuing but Eue might as well bee called Mater peccantium the mother of all sinners and what receiue we by right of such a mother but blushing at her pride and feare of her confusion If wee looke backe to her that last bare vs the rocke whereout wee are hewen oh how little are wee amended by her for Jn iniquity was J borne saith Dauid and in sinne hath my mother conceiued me Psal 51. Sinne came from Eue A longe the date is so old as wee haue forgot how we came by it but the mother that last bare vs shee hath stampt it anew with her owne hands shee hath powred it out into vs more naturally then milke out of her paps yea euen as a poyson new tapt and fresh out of the vessel so by our grandmother wee haue sinne translated and giuen as at the second hand but by our mother wee haue sin reuiued and newly incarnate in vs and haue we not great cause then to be proud of her that bare vs euery man thinkes deepely what good hee hath receiued by his parents what inheritance what countenance what blood hee hath by them yea the very name of our ancestors seemeth precious to vs but yet no man considereth that all this is poysoned with sinne and that the whole summe of the good doth not counteruaile the least part of the euill which commeth by them You will say you were borne of a woman but what had you by her you receiued life by her true a temporall life but you receiued withall the reward of sinne eternall death and it were better neuer to be borne then to bee borne to such a death you sucked and receiued your foode from her so did you your poison too you receiued your wrapping your clothes and raiment by her so did you your nakednesse your shame and sinne too summe vp your gettings with your losse and see vpon the account what cleerely you haue gained therefore vainly said the Iewes wee haue Abraham to our father and idly say you you haue a princesse a Countesse or a Lady to your mother Sonnes of men in Scripture are neuer spoken of but with
reproch The sonnes of men are vanity the chiefe of men are liers Psal 62. and the harts of the sons of men are fully set in them to do euil Eccles 8. Thus we glory in our shame yea if we consider wel what sinners our parents were we shall be as much ashamed of them as Adam and Eue were a shamed of themselues wee haue nothing to boast of but the grace of God By the grace of God saith Saint Paul J am that J am 1. Cor. 15. though otherwise of the tribe of Beniamin an Hebrew of the Hebrewes c Though he had fought with beasts at Ephesus and was rapt vp into the third heauens yet he was nothing of himselfe but all by the grace of God yea as hee that findes a young Serpent killes it for his very kind though it haue done yet no harme so may we feare damnation euen by our parents though wee had done yet no actuall sinne of our owne euen as the sonnes of the wicked Saul were hanged for the cruelty of their father vpon the Gibeonites 2. Sam. 21. albeit they were not guilty of it Well here is our sicknesse that wee are borne of a woman what is the remedy that we be borne anew by Christ for as the woman with the bloodie issue being ill handled by her Physitians came vnto Christ to be physiqued anew so we who be ill borne and base borne at the first must come vnto Christ to be borne anew Naturally saith Saint John we are borne of blood supernaturally therefore wee must be borne of water ordinarily wee are borne of flesh extraordinarily therefore we must be borne of the spirit Iohn 3. for except a man bee borne of water and of the spirit hee cannot enter into the kingdome of God Where by new birth wee must not grosly fancy a retiring into our mothers wombe againe as Nicodemus did our mothers wombe gaue the matter of our first impurity but wee must become new men Ephes 4. that is we must haue new affections another spirit a better will a loathing of the world and a loue to God but this wee haue onely by the worke of God and nothing at all from our mothers wombe After our lamentable entrance comming into the world the next thing noted is our speedy passage and going out Short in continuance or as it is originally Short in daies In which three words foure things are to be considered first that the daies of our life are short secondly how they come to bee so short thirdly how being short yet they seeme by errour to bee so long and fourthly what vse is to bee made of the shortnesse of our daies The life of man is short whether by the life of man we mean he life of nature the age of euery particular man or whether wee meane the life of fame that life whereby wee liue euen when wee are dead or whether else wee meane the life of all mankind which is the age of the world If wee speake of the life of nature it is not here measured out vnto vs by yeeres nor by monethes nor yet by weekes or Sabbaths but onely by daies Short in daies lest with the rich man Luk. 12. wee take our measure too long and make account to liue out many yeeres when the reckoning is Hac nocte no longer to liue but to make an end at night Euery mā can tell how many moneths go to a yeere how many weekes to a moneth and how many daies to a weeke but no mā knoweth iustly how few or how many be the dates of his life My daies are but a span saith Dauid yea my daies are nothing in respect of thee Psal 39. yet let vs go to it by yeeres and imagine from God a lease of the longest date and see how we are deceiued in that Psal 90. The time of our life is threescore yeeres and ten saith Moses or set it vpon the tenters and racke it to fourescore though not one in euery fourescore ariue to that account yet can we not bee said to liue so long for take out first ten yeeres for infancie childhood which Salomon calles the time of wantonesse and vanity Eccles 11. wherin we scarce remember what wee did or whether wee liued or no and how short is it then Take out of the remainder a third part for sleepe short in daies saith Job hee speakes not of the night the time of sleepe wherein not like beasts but like blocks wee lie senselesse if not liuelesse and how short is it then Take out yet besides the time of our carking and worldly care wherein we seeme both dead and buried in the affaires of the world and how short is it then And take out yet besides which must not haue the least allowance our times of wilfull sinning and rebellion for while we sinne we liue not but we are dead in sinne Ephes 2. and what remaineth of that yea how short is it then so short is that life which nature allowes and yet wee sleepe away part and play away part and the cares of the world haue a great part and sinne the greatest part that the true spirituall and Christian life hath a thing of nothing in the end If we speake of the life of fame the Memoriall life whereby euen dead men are said to liue fame hath her wings not onely to flie about the world but suddenly to vanish and fly cleane away for how many haue there been of wonderfull note in their times yet now not remembred so much as by name that no man now can say heere was their trace here haue they trod or set a foot Where are they now that led the world in a string they at whose becke both men and beasts both sea land did bow they that subdued kingdome after kingdome and set one crowne vpon another they that pitcht vp their Pyramyds and Images of fame vpon the earth and set vp for perpetuall memory their brazen pillers in the sea they who while they liued were adored as God and thought when they were dead to bee Calendred among the Gods yet time and enuie hath eaten out their very names and where are they now This is it we call eternall and euerliuing honour yet how soone doth it die and we are gone nay let worldly fame go and let vs bee sought but in the mouthes and thoughts of our best and dearest seeming friendes and good God how soone are we forgotten when we are once gone that euen they who seemed while we liued to loue and honour vs yet now haue buried their loue with our bodies while you liue oh how wise how worthy how wonderfull are you yea it is your matchlesse wisedome your incomparable valour your equitie piety and Princely Maiestie your excellence and immortall honour but when the Lion once is dead then euery Hare dare dance vpon his carkase and dogs dare barke and Poets then dare raile and rime with pen
people lie vpon the King Rex non modò peccat sed peccare facit a King doth not onely sinne himselfe but also makes the people to sin either by sufferance as Aaron did or by example as Salomon did or by tyrannous compulsion as Jeroboam did of whom it is said seuenteene times in the bookes of the Kings that he sinned and made Jsrael to sin how then why then as when the people first began the making of the golden Calfe yet Aaron was first called in question about it Exod. 32.21 VVhy hast thou brought so great a sinne vpon the people so Kings Princes must account to God not onely for their owne sinnes but also for the sins of the people and were there no other trouble then this yet this very point of accounting to God is a troublesome and fearefull thing to thinke of Besides what art and great labour haue Kings in the very act of gouernment It is an art of all arts saith Gregory Nazianzen to gouerne man who is so wild a beast and vntamed of himselfe Exod. 18. Moses sat from morning to euening to heare and determine causes that Jethro pitied much to see him so wearie and so tired and it was truly said of Maximinus one of the Romane Emperours Quo maior fuero eo magis laborabo The greater I am the greater labours I see will stil befall and lie vpon me and the Lion which is king of the beasts is said to sleepe with his eyes open to shew that it is no sleepie life to be a king Besides what perturbations of feare are in the mindes of Kings more then of other men who may feare euery cup and euery bit and euery gift who feare their enemies and feare their friends because they know not their enemies from their friends for neither the habit be it neuer so religious nor behauiour of men be it neuer so humble can promise security to Princes witnesse the last but one of France Henry 3. slaine by a Frier Iacobine euen crouching and kneeling on his knee yea are not Kings more subiect to violent death then the common sort of men Of the Kings of Judah from Rehoboam down to Zedekiah there were in number twentie and six of them that is almost a third part slaine Againe of the Kings of Israel from Jeroboam downe to Oshea there were also in number twentie and tenne of them that is a iust halfe slaine Yea looke into our owne stories and our English Chronicles are all bloody from the Conquest downeward which is better known of three and twentie deceased Princes eight that is more then a third part slaine besides the Tragicall reports of France other countries Now sure it were a most fearefull thing amongst the common sort of men if one in euery three were subiect to violent death And whether shall a man turne but the higher still the more troublesome and more infortunate Oh therefore value nothing too high which death doth abolish dote not too much on death and troubles and golden misery Let not men set their hearts on that which cannot profit them or if it please a little yet it will not long stand by them If here wee seeke for peace it wil be answered as the Angels said of Christ Resurrexit non est hic Indeed it is often promised heere the world the flesh make promise of it and wee like false Prophets cry Peace peace and promise it to our selues but the true peace is gone vp with Christ and is not here Mat. 28. and Saint John was commanded to write it for assurance Write◠from hence forth blessed are the dead for they rest from their labours Reuel 14.13 they rest hence forth but they rest not here and therefore since wee haue no rest but sorrowes and warres and troubles here let vs not seeke our rest here lest if we spend our time in seeking where it is not wee faile to finde it where it is God of his mercy draw our mindes from the deceit of this vaine miserable and sinfull world and lift vp both our hearts vnto the hope and our endeauours vnto the pursuit of eternity euen for Iesus Christ his sake To whom with the father c. THE KINGS HIGH WAY TO IMmortalitie A SERMON PREACHED this present yeere Ann. Do. 1614. Ian. 16. TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTY Prince CHARLES at his house and Chapell of S. Iames. PRO. 4.3.4 For I was my fathers sonne Tender and deare in the sight of my mother When he taught me and said vnto me Let thy heart hold fast my words Keepe my Commandements and liue MOst renowned and excellent But that sorrowes make short times seeme long it is not long since at vnawares and not knowing what I did I made vnto your deceased and now immortall brother a Sermon of Mortality or of death It is now fallen out by Gods prouidence and which God himselfe being witnesse I did not thinke of when I chose the text that I must make vnto your Highnesse a Sermon of life but as I had then no special illumination or prophecy that death was so neare to him so haue I now no absolute promise of life to you but vpon the conditions heere annexed Let thy heart hold fast my words Keepe my Commandements and thou shalt lieu which are the words of Dauid the speech of a King and therefore of weight and moment and it is a speech made to Salomon the sonne of a King and therefore pertinent and it is a speech taken from the mouth of the King the father by the pen of the King his sonne and therefore not lost or let fall to the ground as good counsell oft times is but recorded as a thing for euer permanent And wee may distinguish in it two things which diuide it into two parts for first Salomon sheweth what tender loue his parents bare vnto him He was his fathers son Tender and deare in the sight of his mother and then hee sheweth next by what testimonie they expressed their loue vnto him They taught him and said vnto him Let thy heart hold fast c. For the first that Salomon was to his father thus and to his mother thus and thus it is a tale vndoubtedly true but how agreeth it with Salomons wisedome to tell it They say a chiefe point of wisedome is to keepe counsell especialiy to conceale the secrets of a King but most especially to keepe secret what Kings and Queenes doe in their chambers and among their children It may bee that Dauid loued Salomon exceeding much how then It may be likewise that his mother loued him exceedingly more and what of that perhaps when he was swadled in clouts and lapt vp in a mantle shee might take him in her armes and talke like a mother to him perhaps when he was able to goe vpon his feet yet shee might set him on her knee and dance him yea and it may bee too that when hee was able to