soule in death the same day The same day was Q. Elizabeths Initium Regni her Coronation Ianuary 15 following That leasure enough might be taken in these great affaires the See of Canterbury continued void aboue a yeare At last in the second yeare of Q. Elizabeth 1559 December 17 was Matthew Parker legally consecrated Archb. of Canterbury by foure Bishops William Barlow formerly Bishop of Bathe then elect of Chichester Iohn Scory before of Chichester now elect of Hereford Miles Couerdale Bishop of Exeter Iohn Hodgeskins Suffragan of Bedford Mathew Parker thus irrefragably setled in the Archiepiscopall See with three other Bishops in the same Moneth of December solemnely consecrated Edmund Grindall and Edwin Sands The publike Records are euident and particular relating the Time Sunday morning after Prayers The place Lambeth-Chappell The manner Imposition of hands The consecrators Mathew Cant. William Chichester Iohn Hereford Iohn Bedford The Preacher at the Consecration Alexander Nowell afterwards the worthy Deane of Pauls The Text Take heed to your selves and to all the flocke c. The Communion lastly administred by the Archbishop For Bishop Iewel he was consecrated the Moneth following in the same forme by Mathew Cant. Edmund London Richard Ely Iohn Bedford Lastly for Bishop Horne he was consecrated a whole yeare after this by Mathew Cant. Thomas S. Dauids Edmund London Thomas Couentry and Lichfield The circumstances Time Place Form Preacher Text seuerally recorded The particulars whereof I referre to the faithfull and cleare relation of Master Francis Mason whose learned and full discourse of this subiect might haue satisfied all eyes and stopped all mouthes What incredible impudency is this then for those which pretend not Christianitie onely but the Consecration of God wilfully to raise such shamefull slanders from the pit of Hell to the disgrace of Truth to the disparagement of our holy calling Let me therefore challenge my Detector in this so important a point wherein his zeale hath so farre out-run his wit and with him all the Brats of that proud Harlot that no Church vnder Heauen can shew a more cleere eeuen vncontrolable vntroubled line of the iust succession of her Sacred Orders then this of ours if his Rome for her tyrannous Primacie could bring forth but such Cards the world vvould bee too straight for her He shall maugre be forced to confesse that either there were neuer true Orders in the Church of England which he dares not say or else that they are still Ours The Bishops in the time of King Henry the eight were vndoubted If they left Rome in some corrected opinions their Character was yet by confession a a Quis ignorat Cathol c. similiter Ordinatos verè esse Ordinatos quando Ordinator verè Episcopus fuerat adhuc erat saltem quantum ad characterem Bellar. de Rom. Pont. l. 4. c. 10. indeleble They laid their hands according to Ecclesiasticall constitution vpon the Bishops in King Edwards dayes And they both vpon the Bishops in the beginning of Queene Elizabeths They againe vpon the succeeding Inheritors of their holy Sees and they lastly vpon vs so as neuer man could shew a more certaine and exquisite Pedigree from his great Grand-father then wee can from the acknowledged Bishops of King Henries time and thence vpwards to hundreds of Generations I confesse indeed our Archbishops and Bishops haue wanted some Aaronicall accustrements Gloues Rings Sandals Miters and Pall and such other trash and our inferiours Orders haue wanted Gâ—eazing and Shauing and some other pelting Ceremonies But let C. E. proue these essentiall which we want or those Acts and Formes not essentiall vvhich we haue Et Phyllida solus habeto In the meane time the Church of England is blessed with a true Clergy and glorious and such a one as his Italian generation may impotently enuy and snarle at shall neuer presume to compete vvith in worthinesse and honour And as Doctor Taylor that couragious Martyr said at his parting Blessed bee God for holy Matrimonie SECT XVIII MY Cauiller purposely mistakes my rule of Basil the Great Refut p. 90. 91. and my Text of the Great Apostle whiles from both I resolue thus I passe not what I heare Men or Angels say while I heare God say Let him be the Husband of one Wife he wil needs so construe it as if I tooke this of S. Pauls for a command not for an allowance As if I meant to imply from hence that euery Bishop is bound to haue a Wife Who is so blind as the wilfull Their Leo b b Leo ep 87. abaâ— 85. Tam sacra semper est habita ista Praeceptio calls these words a Preception I did not If hee knew any thing he could not be ignorant that this sense is against the streame of our Church and no lesse then a Grecian errour Who knowes not the extreames of Greece and Rome and the Track of Truth betwixt them both The Greeke Church saith Hee cannot be in holy Orders that is not maried The Romish Church saith He cannot bee in holy Orders that is maried The Church Reformed sayes Hee may bee in holy Orders that is maried and conuertibly Some good friends vvould needs fetch vs into this idle Grecisme and to the societie of the old Frisons c c Espenc lib. 1. de Contin c. 1. and if Saint Ierome take it aright of Vigilantius Espencaeus and Bellarmine and our Rhemists free vs. There is no lesse difference betwixt them and vs then betwixt May and Must Libertie and Necessitie If then Let him be the Husband of one Wife argue that a Bishop may bee a maried man I haue vvhat I would and passe not for the contrarie from Men and Angels We willingly grant vvith Luther that this charge is negatiue Refut p. 91 92. Non velut sanciens dicit saith Chrysostome But this negatiue charge implyes an affirmatiue allowance we seeke for no more As for the authorities which my Detector hath borrowed of his Vncles of Rhemes they might haue beene well spared He tels vs Saint Ierom sayes Qui vâ—am habuerit non habeat He who hath had one Wife not hee that hath one I tell him Saint Paul saith d d Tit. 1.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If any man be the Husband of one Wife not If hee haue beene Let e e Chrysost in 1. Tit. homil 2. Saint Chrysostome therein answer Hierome and Epiphanius and all other pretended opposites Obstruere prorsus intendit haereticorum era qui nuptias damnaâ—t c. He purpos'd in this to stop the mouthes of Heretikes that condemned mariage shewing that that estate is faultlesse yea so precious that with it a man might bee aduanced to the holy Episcopall Chaire Thus he whom their learned f f Esp vbi supra Bishop Espencaeus seconds and by the true force of the Text cleareth this sense against all contradiction Nec enim Paulini de Episcopis c. For
and hell whom it is both dishonour and basenesse not to serue Non reputes magnum quod Deoserum sed maximum repata quod ipse dignatur te in se uuÌ„ assumere sibi Bernard Psal 1.6 Revel vlt. Eccles 10.7 The highest stile that King Dauid could deuise to giue himselfe not in the phrase of a friuolous French complement but in the plaine speech of a true Israelite was Behold I am thy seruant and he that is Lord of many seruants of the Deuill delights to call himselfe the seruant of the seruants of God The Angels of Heauen reioyce to bee our fellowes in this seruice But there cannot bee a greater shame than to see seruants ride on horse-backe and Princes walking as seruants on the ground I meane to see the God of heauen made a lacquey to our vile affections and in the liues of men to see God attend vpon the world Brethren there is seruice enough in the world but it is to a wrong master In mea patria Deus venter as Hierome said Euerie worldling is a Papist in this that hee giues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seruice In mea n. patria Deus venter est in diem viuitur sanctior est ilic qui diâ—ior est Hier. ad Chrematum to the creature which is the lowest respect that can bee Yea so much more humble than latria as it is more absolute and without respect of recompence Yea I would it were vncharitable to say that many besides the sauages of Calecut place Satan in the throne and God on the foot-stoole For as Witches and Sorcerers conuerse with euill spirits in plausible and familiar formes which in vgly shapes they would abhorre so many a man serues Satan vnder the formes of gold and siluer vnder the images of Saints and lightsome Angels vnder glittering coats or glorious titles or beauteous faces whom they would defie as himselfe And as the free-borne Israelite might become a seruant either by forfaiture vpon trespasse or by sale or by spoile in warre so this accursed seruitude is incurred the same wayes by them which should bee Christians By forfeiture for though the debt and trespasse bee to God yet tradet lictori hee shall deliuer the debtor to the Iaylor By sale Matth. 18.34 1 King 21.20 as Ahab sold himselfe to worke wickednesse sold vnder sinne saith the Apostle By spoyle beware lest any man make a spoyle of you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Paul to his Colossians Alas Col. 2.8 what a miserable change doe these men make to leaue the liuing God which is so bountifull that he rewards a cup of cold water with eternall glory to serue him that hath nothing to giue but his bate wages and what wages The wages of sinne is death And what death not the death of the bodie in the seuering of the soule but the death of the soule in the separation from God there is not so much difference betwixt life and death as there is betwixt the first death and the second Oh wofull wages of a desperate worke Well were these men if they might goe vnpaid and serue for nothing but as the mercy of God will not let any of our poore seruices to him goe vnrewarded so will not his iustice suffer the contrary seruice goe vnpaid 1 Thess 1.8 in flaming fire rendring vengeance to them that know not God and those that obey not the Gospell of our Lord Iesus Beloued as that worthy Bishop said on his death-bed we are happy in this Ambrose that wee serue a good Master how happy shall it be for vs if we shall doe him good seruice that in the day of our account we may heare Euge serue bone well done good seruant enter into thy masters ioy Now he that prescribes the act seruice must also prescribe the manner Truly totally God cannot abide we should serue him with a double heart an heart an heart that is hypocritically Neither that we should serue him with a false heart that is niggardly and vnwillingly but against doubling he will be serued in truth and against haluing he will be serued with all the heart To serue God and not in truth is mockerie To serue him truly and not with the whole heart is a base dodging with God This 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eye-seruice is a fault with men but let vs serue God but while hee sees vs it is enough Behold hee sees vs euery where If hee did not see our heart it were enough to serue him in the face and if the heart were not his Epist 108. QuidaÌ„ veniunt vt audiam non vt discant Aliqui cum pugillaribus veniunt non vt res excipiant sed verba it were too much to giue him a part of it but now that he made this whole heart of ours it is reason hee should be serued with it and now that he sees the inside of the heart it is madnesse not to serue him in truth Those serue God not in truth which as Seneca saies of some auditors come to heare not to learne which bring their tablets to write words not their hearts for the finger of God to write in Whose eyes are on their Bible whiles their heart is on their Count-booke which can play the Saints in the Church Ruffians in the tauerne Tyrants in their houses Cheators in their shops those Dames which vnder a cloke of modestie and deuotion hide nothing but pride and fiendishnesse Those serue God not with all their heart whose bosome is like Rachels tent that hath Teraphim Idols hid in the straw or rather like a Philistims Temple that hath the Arke and Dagon vnder one roofe That come in euer with Naamans exceptiues Onely in this Those that haue let downe the world like the spies into the bottome of the well of their heart and couer the mouth of it with wheat I meane that hide great oppressions with the shew of small beneficences Those which like Salomons false Curtizan crie Diuidatur and are willing to share themselues betwixt God and the world And certainly this is a noble policie of the Deuill because he knowes hee hath no right to the heart hee can be glad of any corner but withall he knowes that if he haue any he hath all for where he hath any part God will haue none This base-mindednesse is fit for that euill one God will haue all or nothing It was an heroicall answer Theod. l. 4. c. 4. that Theodoret reports of Valentinian whom when the souldiers had chosen to bee Emperour they were consulting to haue another ioyned with him No my souldiers said he it was in your power to giue me the Empire while I had it not but now when I haue it it is not in your power to giue me a partner We our selues say The bed and the throne can abide no riuals May wee not well say of the heart as Lot of Zoar Is it not a little one Alas
how excellent were her Masculine graces of learning valour wisdome by which shee might iustly challenge to bee the Queene of men So learned was shee that shee could giue present answers to Embassadors in their owne tongues or if they listed to borrow of their neighbours shee paid them in that they borrowed So valiant that her name like Ziscaes drum made the proudest Romanists to quake So wise Didymus veridicus that whatsoeuer fell out happily against the common Aduersaries in FRANCE NETHERLANDS IRELAND it was by themselues ascribed to her policie What should I speake of her long and successefull gouernment of her miraculous preseruations of her famous victories wherein the waters O nimâ—uÌ„ dilecta Deo cui militat aether coniurati veniunt ad classica venti Claud. Pro. 13.29 winds fire and earth fought for vs as if they had beene in pay vnder Her of Her excellent lawes of Her carefull executions Many daughters haue done worthily but thou furmountest them all Such was the sweetnesse of her gouernment and such the feare of miserie in her losse that many worthie Christians desired their eyes might bee closed before Hers and how many thousands therefore welcomed their owne death because it preuented Hers Euerie one pointed to her white haires and said with that peaceable Leontius Soz. l. 3. c. 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Dolm. p. 1. p. 2 6. p. 2. p. 117. When this snow melts there will be a floud Neuer day except alwaies the fift of Nouember was like to bee so bloudie as this not for any doubt of Title which neuer any loyall heart could question nor any disloyall euer did besides Dolman but for that our Esauites comforted themselues against vs and said The day of mourning for our mother will come shortly then will wee slay our brethren What should I say more Lots were cast vpon our Land and that honest Politician which wanted nothing but a gibbet to haue made him a Saint Father Parsons tooke paines to set downe an order how all English affaires should be marshalled when they should come to bee theirs Consider now the great things that the Lord hath done for vs. Behold this day which should haue beene most dismall to the whole Christian world he turned to the most happie day that euer shone forth to this ILAND That now wee may iustly insult with those Christians of Antioch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theod. 3.15 Where are your prophesies O yee fond Papists Our snow lies here melted where are those flouds of bloud that you threatned Yea as that blessed soule of Hers gained by this change of an immortall crowne for a corruptible so blessed be the name of our God this Land of ours hath not lost by that losse Many thinke that this euening the world had his beginning Surely a new and golden world began this day to vs and which it could not haue done by her loynes promises continuance if our sinnes interrupt it not to our posterities I would the flatterie of a Prince were treason in effect it is so for the flatterer is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a kinde murtherer I would it were so in punishment If I were to speake before my Soueraigne King and Master I would praise God for him not praise him to himselfe Euseb de vita Const l. 4. c. 4. A Preacher in CONSTANTINES time saith Eusebius ausus est Imperatorem in os beatum dicere presumed to call CONSTANTINE an happy Emperour to his face but he went away with a checke such speed may any Parasite haue which shall speake as if he would make Princes proud and not thankfull A small praise to the face may be adulation though it be within bounds a great praise in absence may be but iustice If we see not the worth of our King how shall we be thankfull to God that gaue him Giue me leaue therefore freely to bring forth the Lords Anointed before you 1 Sam. 10.24 and to say with SAMVEL See you him whom the Lord hath chosen Euagr. l. 5. c. 21. As it was a great presage of happinesse to Mauritius the Emperour that an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a familiar Deuill remouing him from place to place in his swathing bands yet had no power to hurt him So that those early conspiracies wherewith Satan assaulted the very cradle of our deare Soueraigne preuailed not it was a iust bodement of his future greatnesse and beneficiall vse to the world And hee that gaue him life a 〈◊〉 Crowne together and miraculously preserued them both gaue him graces fit for his Deputie on earth to weild that Crowne and improue that life to the behoofe of Christendome Let mee begin with that which the Heathen man required to the happinesse of any State his learning and knowledge wherein I may safely say he exceedeth all his 105 Predecessors Our Conqueror King William as our Chronicler reports by a blunt prouerbe that he was wont to vse against vnlearned Princes Malmesbur made his sonne Henry a Beauclearc to those times But a candle in the darke will make more show than a bonefire by day In these dayes so lightsome for knowledge to excell euen for a professed student is hard and rare Neuer had England more learned Bishops and Doctors which of them euer returned from his Maiesties discourse without admiration What King christned hath written so learned volumes To omit the rest his last of this kind wherein he hath so held vp Cardinall Bellarmine and his Master Pope Paulus is such that Plessis and Mouline the two great lights of France professe to receiue their light in this discourse from his beames and the learned Iesuite Salkeild could not but be conuerted with the necessitie of those demonstrations and I may boldly say Poperic since it was neuer receiued so deepe a wound from any worke as from that of His. What King euer moderated the solemne acts of an Vniuersitie in all professions and had so many hands clapt in the applause of his acute and learned determinations Briefely such is his intire acquaintance with all sciences and with the Queene of all Diuinitie that he might well dispute with the infallible Pope Paulus Quintus for his triple Crowne and I would all Christian quarrels lay vpon this duell His iustice in gouerning matcheth his knowledge how to gouerne for as one that knowes the Common-wealth cannot bee vnhappy wherein according to the wise Heathens rule law is a Queene and will a subiect Plato He hath euer endeuoured to frame the proceedings of his gouernment to the lawes not the lawes to them Witnesse that memorable example whereof your eyes were witnesses I meane the vnpartiall execution of one of the ancientest Barons of those parts for the murder of a meane subiect Wherein not the fauour of the blocke might be yeelded that the dishonour of the death might bee no lesse than the paine of the death Yet who will not grant his
the Popes leaue without any reasonable cause that such Mariage of his is a true Mariage and the parties maried are true Husband and Wife and their Issue truely legitimate although in so marying both the parties should sinne mortally in doing this act against the Vow of Chastity without a reasonable or at least a probable cause of their so licensing and consequently neither should the Pope himselfe be excused from mortall sin But if there be any reasonable cause of dispensing with this vow of Chastity then the party thus marying and dispenced with may both safely marry and liue in Mariage And hereupon it appeares That since a reasonable cause of dispensing with this Vow of Chastity may bee not onely the publike Vtility whether Ciuill or Ecclesiasticall but any other greater good then the obseruing of that Chastity it iustly followes that the Pope not only may but with a safe Conscience may dispence with a Priest of the Westerne or Roman Church that he may marry euen besides the cause of a publike benefit And therefore the determination of some hath beene too presumptuous in affirming That absolutely and without such cause the Pope cannot dispence whereas as we haue shewed the Pope may doe it without any cause though in so doing he should sinne and with any reasonable cause without sinne and in both the Matrimony stands firme Thus he Words that neede neither Paraphrase nor Inforcement And how h h Sedes clementissima quae nulli deesse consâ—euit dummodo albi aliquid vel rubei intercedat Matth. Paris Alius abusus est in dispensationibus cum Constitutis in Sacr. Ord. c. vsuall the practice of this Dispensation hath beene that we may not rest onely in Speculation appeares enough by the ingenious complaint of their i i Concil Select Card. Si Sacerdotes non maturâ deliberatione se astrinxerunt videat Rom. Pont. qui circa haec solet dispensare quid sit agendum in particularibus Mart. Perefius c. selected Cardinalls to Paul the third Who cry downe the abuse of these ouer-frequent Grants which they would not haue yeelded but vpon publike and weighty Causes especially say they in these Times wherein the Lutherans vrge this matter with so much vehemence Neither is it long since our kind Apostate M. Carier gaue vs here in England from bigger Men then himselfe an ouerture of the likelyhood of this liberall Dispensation from his holy Father of Rome vpon the conditions of our re-subiection Would we therefore but stoope to kisse the Carbuncle of that sacred Toe our Clergy might as well consist with holy Wedlocke as the Grecian Oh the grosse mockery of Soules not more ignorant then credulous Will his Holinesse dispense with vs for our sinne We can be dispensed with at home for his dispensation It is their Sorrow that the World is growne wiser and findes Heauen no lesse neere to Douer-Cliffe then to the Seuen-hills And ere we leaue this point it is very considerable what may be a reasonable cause of this Dispensation For those very k k His votis afirictus non potest Matrimonium absque Dispensatine iâ—ire quamuis vebementissimis carnis stimulis vrgeatur c. Sanch. l. 7. de Matr. Imped Disp. 11. Authoritas superioris dispensantis expectanda est Communis illa regula Doctorum nominatim Caietani nimirum quando ei qui vouit conflat aliquid esse melius praeteritá voti materia posse propriâ authoritate recedere Sanch. de Matr. l. 7. de Impedim Disp Iesuites which hold the power of this Vow such That the vehementest tentations and foyles of the flesh may not be relieued with an arbitrary Matrimonie since the matter of this Vow is so important and caries so much danger in the violation as that it is not to bee left to the power of a priuate Iudgement though morally certaine whether Matrimonie all things considered be in this particular expedient for that may bee fit for a man as a singular person which is not fit for him as part of the community yet they grant that this extreame perplexednesse and violence of carnall motions is a iust cause of dispensation What need we more Though some l l Angel Matr. 3. Jmped 5. in fine vera cruz 1. part spec art 15. Casuists be more fauourable and grant that in such cases we may not onely allow but perswade Matrimonie to the perplexed Votary As Cardinall m m Aen. Syl. Epist 307. So Benedict 12. gaue Dispensation to Petrarch Archdeacon of Parma to marry his Laura too neere him in blood as it is thought and ex vberiore gratiae that he should keepe all his Promotions and receiue yet more on coâ—dion that the said Benedict might haue the vse of Petrarchs sister Matth. Parker Defens of Pr. Marr. ex Fasciculo Temp. Platina vita Petrarchae c. Aeneas Syluius who was neuer lesse Pius then when he was Pius giues this hearty aduice to his friend Iohn Freünd a Roman Priest that he should notwithstanding his Orders helpe himselfe by Mariage yet the former will serue our turne If therefore those superiours which haue all lawfull and spirituall authority ouer vs shall haue thought good vpon this reasonable cause to giue a generality of dispensation to all such of our Clergie as shall not after all carefull and serious indeuours find themselues able to containe allowing them by these lawfull remedies to quench those impure flames What can any Iesuit or Deuill except against this This is simply the cleere case of them whose cause I maintaine And yet further Put the case this had not been if without the thought of any Romish Dispensation the n n Occidentalis non Orientalis Ecclesia castitatis obtulit votum in Dist 31. Easterne Church neuer held it needfull to require the Vow of single life in the Ministers of the Altar they know the words of their own Glosse why should not our Church challenge the same immunity for that from the generall consideration of Ecclesiastiques as such we may turne our eies to our Ecclesiastiques in speciall no Church vnder heauen kept it selfe more free from the bondage of those tyrannous Impositions The o o Vid postea Epist Girard Eboracens Arch. ad Anselm Huntingd. Fabian Polidor Virgil. vid. post lib. 3. Clergie of this Iland from the beginning neuer offered any such vow the Bishops neuer required it for more if any credit be due to Histories then a thousand yeeres after Christ The great Champion of Rome Master Harding was driuen to say They did it by a becke if not by a Dieu-gard but could neuer proue it done by either Neither is it more worth my Readers note then my Aduersaries indignation that the wise Prouidence of God so pleased to contriue it of old as that from the beginning of the first conuersion of this happy Island it rather conspired with the Greek Church then with the Roman After the Grecian account we
before Montanus infected the World with a preiudice against second Mariages after decease they were held vnlawfull for any calling or person Refut p. 98. and we will grant him clamorous to some purpose To proue this opinion and practice of the Church like a wise Master hee brings in * * Tert Exhort ad castit c 7. Tertullians authoritie in his Book which he wrote in the time of his Heresie whiles he was ouer the eares in Montanisme where he tels vs hee hath knowne some eiected for second Mariages But if he had euer read the Booke following of Monogamie hee might haue found his Tertullian then Montanizing to vpbraid the true and Catholike Church which he cals Psychicos with the vsuall practice and allowance of the second Mariages of their Bishops * * Tert. dâ— Monog mia c. 12. Quot enim aigami praesident apud vos insultantes vtique Apostolo c Miror te vnum protraxisse in medium cum omnis munduâ— his ordinationibus plenus sit non dico de presbyteris ad Episcopos venio quoâ— si figillatim voluero exuâ—erare tantus numerus congregabitur vt Ariminensis Synodi multitudo superetur Her ad Ocean de Cart â—io Hisp Ep. digamo c. Refut p. 99. Quot enim digami c. For how many Bishops are there amongst you twice maried But who-euer was matcht with so vaine a Babler I proued from Saint Paul that a Bishop might haue one Wife he proues by Councels and Fathers that he may not haue two It is pitie that his Masters the Iesuites haue no more Trees for him to set with the rootes vpward Any thing rather then to weary the World with his foolish clacking Out of this indiscreet and odious verbositie lest he should want noise he stumbles vpon the Councell of Constantinople before it come in his way and spends a vvhole leafe onely to tell vs that he will talke of it hereafter Hereafter he shall receiue answer enough What needs this disorderly anticipation To conclude then this place of our Apostle stands for vs vnshaken by any the impotent blasts of his friuolous Elusions and shall warrant vs against Earth and Hell that a Bishop may be the Husband of one wife SECT XX. Refut p. 100. 101. MY next place of the honorablenesse of Mariage amongst all hee smoothes ouer with a pretended concession professing with Fulgentius and Hierom to giue all high Titles to that state only preferring the rule of a better life praising Mariage but more extolling Virginitie But vvho euer made the comparison These are faire Nets to catch Fooles Whiles hee heapes vp all the reproachfull termes that spight can deuise against the very state of Mariage in some callings not so much as preiudiced by Vow how doth he grant Mariage honorable amongst all If the comparison be the matter he stands vpon let him say Mariage is good and lawfull for all conditions Virginitie is better he shall haue no aduersarie And whereas to call him to reckoning for arrerages he turned off this place when it was with a scoffe out of Bellarmine That Mariage is honorable amongst all Refut p. 13. yet not between Father and Daughter c. the Man alluded sure to their great good Alexander the sixt and the chaste Lucrece of whom he knowes the Riddle d d Here lyes Lucrece in name Thais in liâ—e The same Popes Daughter Lemmon and his owne sonne Wife Filia Sponsa Nurus For vs that it is honorable in all estates of men by Apostolicall warrant is sufficient assurance that to no calling or estate it can bee dishonourable and vnlawfull But to vntye Bellarmines trifling knot I say Mariage is honourable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in all but not betweene all That is euery man may marry with a woman but not with any woman whatsoeuer as with his Mother or Sister So Father and Daughter may marry but not one the other See now what a worthy Messe of Sophistry is laid in S. Pauls dish by these Caruers and how easily ouer-turned So as I might very vvell proclaime to all the world which I do now confidently second that if God might be Iudge of this Controuersie Refut p. 102. it were soone at an end If my Refuter make faces at this their whole Schoole shall beare mee out in it Et e e Espenc l. 1. de Cont. c. 3. Caiet Opus de Castle sanè communis est scholae resolutio c. And in truth it is saith their Espencaeus the common resolution of the schole that if we insist only in those things which were spoken by Christ and written by the Apostles in the Canon of the New Testament secluding the Lawes of the Church holy Orders neither as Orders nor as holy are any hindrances of Matrimonie Thus he And said I any more any other Ibid. p. 102. 103. By their confession then God neuer imposed this Law My proofe was that euen in the time of that legall strictnesse he allowed Wedlock to the Ministers of his Sanctuarie Herein how am I refuted If he meane saith my Detector that for puritie and perfection of life the Law of Moses was more strict then the Gospell the vntruth is notorious To which he addes out of Hierome that the greater perfection of the Euangelicall Sacrifice exacteth greater Holinesse and concludes that the permission of Wiues in the Aaronicall Priesthood argues euidently the imperfection of that Law So he Surely God wanted this Counsellor vpon Mount Sinai hee could haue aduised him better Rules of his mis-contriued Priesthood Would my Refuter make himselfe so ignorant as not to know that notwithstanding the rather greater perfection of Moralitie required vnder the Gospell yet that Leuiticall Law placed impuritie in many of those creatures and actions wherein the Euangelicall findeth none Did not the touch of some Vessels or Garments make a man legally vncleane Did not the lawfull act of Coniugall Beneuolence Did not the accidents of the holyest Child-bed carie in them an expiable impuritie If he be not a Iew he will not say it is still thus vnder the Gospell How iustly therefore might I inferre that if our holy God vnto whose Wisdome it seemed good to stand of old vpon such points of outward vncleannesses did notwithstanding allow Wedlocke to his Priesthood much more at least no lesse vnder the Gospell doth he allow it when as all those imputations of impuritie are vanished SECT XXI I Produced the Testimonie of their Pope their Cardinall their Doctor Refut p. 103. 104 Basils Rule is a sure one that the Witnesses of Enemies are most conuictiue Their Cardinall was Panormitan Their Pope Pius the second Their Doctor Gratian. For Panormitan My Refuter likes his words so well that like a sawcy Fellow hee dare pull off his red Hat and trample it in the Floore denying his Cardinalship and charging him With participation of
see that in those yong dayes of the Church the mystery of iniquity began in this point to worke so as Mariage according to the Apostles prediction began to be in an ill name though the cleere Light of that Primitiue Truth would not endure the disgrace So as in all this I haue both by Moses and the examples of that Leuiticall Priesthood by the Testimonie of the Apostles by their practice by their anciently-reputed Canons and by the testimonie of the agedest Fathers so made good the lawfulnesse and antiquity of the Mariages of persons Ecclesiasticall that I shall not need to feare a Diuorce either from my Wife or from the Truth in that my Confident and iust Assertion THE HONOVR OF THE MARIED CLERGIE maintained c. The second Booke SECT I. AND now since in this point wee haue happily won the day lesse labour needs in the other Refut p. 130. It is safe erring with Moses and the Prophets with Christ and his Apostles Soone after according to Saint Pauls Prophesie Spirits of Errors were abroad and whether out of the necessary exigence of those prosecuted times or out of an affectation to win fauour and admiration in the eyes of Gentilisme Virginity began to raise vp it selfe in some priuate conceits vpon the ruines of honest Wedlocke neither is it hard to discerne by what degrees yet neuer with such absolute successe as to proceed to any Law of restraint I doe not therefore faine to my selfe as mine idle Refuter golden ages of mirth and k k Though Amram the Leuite father to Moses maried in the heat of Pharaohs persesecution and Dauid did the like in Sauls Refut p. 131. Refut p. 131 132 133 marying vnder those tyrannous persecutions but in those bloody ages I doe auouch to him and the World an immunity from the tyrannous yoke of forced continency This if hee could haue disproued by any iust instances he had not giuen vs words If he be angry that I said some of the pretended Epistles of his ancient Popes to this purpose are palpably foysted Let him fasten where he lists if he haue not an answer let me haue the shame in the meane time it is enough to snarle where he dares not bite That which I cited from Origen aduising the sons of Clergie men nor to be proud of their parentage he cannot deny he can cauill at The same perswasion saith he might be made to Saint Peters daughter as many are of opinion that he had one yet will it not follow that he knew his wife after he was an Apostle So he But what needs this Parenthesis if the man be true to his owne Authors Did wee deuise the Storie of Petronilla Did we inuent the passage of her Sutor Flaccus Of her Feuer the cure whereof her father denyed Of her Epitaph ingrauen in Marble by her fathers owne hand Aureae Petronillae dilectissimae filiae To my deare and precious Petronilla l l Esp 1. c. 8. Volat. 1.18 Pet. Nat. l. 5. c. 69. Plat. vis Paul 1. Sigeb 757. my most beloued daughter found by Paul the First Are not these things reported by their owne Volateranus Petr. Natalis Beda Vssuradus Sigebertus Platina Still where is the man that cryes out of reiecting authorities in other cases allowed either then let him giue the lye to his Histories or else let him compute the Time when Flaccus the Roman Count was a Sutor to her and see if he be not forced to grant that she was begotten of S. Peter after his Apostleship And so for ought he knowes might those sonnes be whom Origen thus dehoureth This man was not their Midwife The place of Origen which hee m m Orig. Homil. 13. in Numer cites to the contrary he tooke vp somewhat on trust let him goe and inquire better of his Creditor by the same token that in the Homily of Origen whither he sends vs he shall find nothing but Balaeams Asse an obiect fit for his meditation As for that parcell of the testimony Refut p. 133. which hee saith my chiâ— cough câ—used mee to suppresse sin ipsa Christianitate it is as Herbe Iohn in the Pot to the purpose of my allegation Origen speakes of that Text Many that are first shall be last c. Which he applies as a cooling-card to the children of Christian Parents especially Si fuerint ex patribus Sacerdotali sede dignificatis If they be the sons of them which are dignified with Sacerdotall honour The change of the Preprosition is remarkeable ex Patribus argâ—ing that hee speakes not of their education but their descent and therefore implying no lesse then I affirmed that their parentage giues them a supposed cause of exaltation SECT II. HOly n n Athanas Epist ad Dracent Many Bishops c. Refut p. 134. Athanasius was brought by me in stead of a thousand Histories Who tels vs that it was no rare thing to find maried Bishops in his time My wise Refuter after he hath idlely gone about the bush a little comes out with this dry verdict What will Master Hall hence infer That Bishops and Priests may lawfully marrie Saint Athanasius saith it not but onely recounteth the fact that some maried of both sorts but whether they did well or ill or whether himselfe did approue or condemne the same there is no word in this sentence Thus he We take what he giues and seeke for no more We cited Athanasius in stead of many Histories not of many Arguments Histories de facto not discourses de iure The lawfulnesse was discussed before the practice and vse is now inquired of This Athanasius witnesses and C. E. yeelds Wherein yet I may not forget to put my Refuter in minde how brittle his memorie is who in the same leafe contradicts himselfe For when he had before confessed that Athanasius doth neither approue nor condemne the practice Refut p. 136. either as good or euill now he plainly tels vs that the words were not spoken by way of simple narration but of mislike and reprehension He would be a good lyer if he could agree with himselfe Why of dislike For saith he it was neuer lawfull for Monks or Bishops to beget children Ipse dixit wee must beleeue him Not to tell him that o o Chrys ad Hebr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysostome teaches vs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is possible with Mariage to doe the acts of Monkes not to conuince him with counter testimonies let him tell me what fault it is to doe or not to doe miracles These in this sentence of * * Athanas ibid. We haue knowne Bishops working miracles and Monkes working none Many Bishops not to haue maried c. As likewise you may finde Bishops to haue beene fathers of Children and Monkes not to haue sought for mariage Athanasius goe in the same ranke with Mariage But to cleare Athanasius he brings Hierom against Vigilantius impudently called by him The
cannot but witnesse that I name diuers in all ages recorded for maried Bishops and Presbyters This Breadrole he saith is idle because I shew not that they then vsed their Wiues when they were Bishops An hard condition Refut 254. That I must bring witnesses from their Bed-sides Is it not enough that we shew they had wiues that they had children No saith my Refuter It must be proued that they had these children by these wiues after Ordination Wee were neither their Midwiues nor their Gossips to keepe so strict an account But what meanes * * They sleepe with their wiues and in the time of being Bishops beget children of their owne wiues Socr. Vbi supr Cum vxoribus dormiunt and Tempore Episcopatus filios gignunt ex propriis vxoribus This we haue shewed out of Socrates What was that which Dionysius the ancient B. of Corinth before euer Paphnutius was wrote to Pinytus charging him Ne graue seruanda castitatis onus necessariò fratribus imponat x x That hee doe not necessarily impose the heauy burden of continencie vpon his Brethren Euseb l. 4. hist c. 22. What was that for which Eustathius B. of Sebastia the vnworthy sonne of Eulanius B. of Caesarea was censured was not this one of the Articles y y Socrat. l. 2. c. 33. Refut p. 155. Benedictionem c That he taught men to decline the blessing and communion of maried Priests Away then with this either ignorant or impudent facing of so euident a falshood The testimony of Hierom the example of Vrbicus B. of Claramont and of Genebaldus B. of Laudune shew what was the conceit practice of those particular places wherin they liued And yet Hierome in the same Booke can say z z Hier. l. 1. aduers Jouin. As if now adayes many Priests also were not maried Quasi non hodie quoque plurimi sacerdotes habeant matrimonia In that story of Vrbicus related by Greg. Turonensis I can but wonder how far men may be transported by superstition so as to make the Apostles charge giue way to an humane opinion The vvife of a a Greg. Tur. l. 1. c. 44. Cur coniugem speruis cur obturatis auribus Pauli praeceptae non audis Scripsit enim Reuertimini ad alterutrum c. Ecce ego ad te reuertor nec ad extraneum sed ad proprium vas recurro c. Why despisest thou thy Wife why dost thou shut thine eares against the precept of S. Paul For he hath written Meet together againe lest c. Vrbicus comes to his doore and alledges S. Pauls charge Meet together againe lest Satan tempt you c. Cur coniugem spernis c he yeelds to do the duty of an Husband and now in remorse inioynes himselfe a perpetuall penance What penance do we think S. Paul was worthy of for giuing this charge which she alledged Let my Reader iudge whether of the two was tâ—e better Diuine How insolent is tradition thus to trample vpon Scripture But since it pleased my Refuter to lend me this one example of Greg. Turonensis I am ready to giue him vse for it In the 2. booke of Turonensis he shall find b b Greg. Turon l. 2 c. 21. Nat. Theodos Iun. Valent. 3. Imperat. vxor Papianilla cum qua concorditer vixit liberosque ex ea suscepit v. triusque sexus 4d Apoll. epist 16. l. 5 Sidonius a maried Bishop and his Wife a Noble Matron in all likelihood liuing with him for nesciente coniuge without his wiues knowledge he gaue siluer plate to the Poore c c Turon 4. c. 12. In the fourth Booke he shall find Anastasius a maried Presbyter feoffed in some Temporalties which he would rather die then not leaue to his issue d d Tur. l. 8 c. 39. In the eight Booke he shall find Badegisilus the cruel Bishop of the Cenomans matched with an ill wife who yet liued with him as it seemes all his time and had altercations with Bertram Archdeacon of Paris for his goods deceased In these there is strength of legall presumption though no necessity of inference But what doe I instance in these or any other when Balsamon tels vs clearely that before the sixt Synod e e After their Episcopall dignitie Balsam in Can. Apost 5. Are ioyned in Mariage vid. supr Vse Mariage contracted it was lawfull for Bishops to haue wiues Etiam post dignitatem Episcopalem And his own Canon law can tell him that in the East Church their Priests Matrimonio copulantur which his wariest Masters expounding would interpret by copulato vtuntur Iudge then Reader what to think of the metall of this mans forehead who would beare vs downe that no one Bishop or Priest was allowed after Orders to haue any wife Yea euen for the very contraction of mariage it selfe after Orders f f Ispen l. 1. c. 11. honest Espencaeus can cite one g g Io. Maior comptuar Concil Refut p. 159. Ioannes Marius a Dutch-man by birth but a French Historian to whom hee allowes the title of non indiligeris who writes that he knowes that in the times of Pope Formesus Ludonicus Balbus Priests were maried Et iis licuisse sponsam legitimam ducere modò Virginem non verò Viduam and that it was lawfull for them to marry a Wife so she were a Virgin not a Widow As for that base slander wherewith this venemous Pen besprinkles the now glorious face of our renowned Archbishop and Martyr Doctor Cranmer whom hee most lewdly charges with lasciuiousnesse and incontinent liuing with I know not what Dutch Fraw it is worthy of no other answer then Increpet te dominus It is true that the holy man wisely declining the danger and malignitie of the times made not at the first any publike profession of his Mariage as what needed to inuite mischiefe But that hee euer had any dishonest conuersation with her or any other it is no other then the accent of the mouth of Blasphemy And if any one of our Clergie after a legall and iust Diuorce long since haue taken to him selfe that liberty which other Reformed Churches publikely allow as granting in some case a full release both à thoro and à ivinculo what ground is this for an impure wretch to cast dirt in the eyes of our Clergie and in the teeth of our Church Malicious Masse-Priest cast backe those emissitious eyes to your owne infamous Chaire of Rome and if euen in that thou canst discerne no spectacles of abominable vncleannesse spend thy spightfull censures vpon ours I reckoned diuers examples of maried Bishops and Priests out of Eusebius Refut p. 160. Ruffinus others amongst the rest Domnus Bishop of Antioch which succeeded Samosatenus for which my Margent cited Eusebius in his 7 Booke and 29. Chap. My Detector taxes me for citing Authors at random as Euseb lib. 7. cap. 29. when as there are he saith but
countenance of an executioner Iacob sees the face of Esau as the face of God Both men and deuils are stinted the stoutest heart cannot stand out against God He that can wrestle earnestly with God is secure from the harmes of men Those minds which are exasperated with violence and cannot be broken with feare yet are bowed with loue when the wayes of a man please God he will make his enemies at peace with him Of IACOB and LABAN ISAACS life was not more retyred and quiet then Iacobs was busie and troublesome In the one I see the Image of contemplation of action in the other None of the Patriarkes saw so euill dayes as he from whom iustly hath the Church of God therefore taken her name Neither were the faithfull euer since called Abrahamites but Israelites That no time might be lost he began his strife in the womb after that he flyes for his life from a cruell brother to a cruell vncle With a staffe goes he ouer Iordan alone doubtfull and comfortlesse not like the sonne of Isaac In the way the earth is his bed and the stone his pillow Yet euen there he sees a vision of Aâ—â—els Iacobs heart was neuer so full of ioy as when his head lay hardest God is most prâ—â—â—nt with vs in our greatest deiection and loues to giue comfort to those that are forsaken of their hopes He came farre to find out an hard friend and of a Nephew becomes a Seruant No doubt when Laban heard of his sisters sonne he looked for the Camels and attendance that came to fetch his sister Rebecca not thinking that Abrahams seruant could come better furnished then Isaacs sonne but now when hee saw nothing but a staffe hee looks vpon him not as an vncle but a master And while he pretends to offer him a wife as the reward of his seruice he craftily requires his seruice as the dowry of his wife After the seruice of an hard Apprentise ship hath earned her whom he loued his wife is changed and he is in a sort forced to an vnwilling adultery His mother had before in a cunning disguise substituted him who was the younger son for the elder and now not long after his father in law by a like fraud substitutes to him the elder daughter for the younger God comes oftentimes home to vs in our owne kind and euen by the sinne of others payes vs our owne when we looke not for it It is doubtfull whether it were a greater crosse to marry whom he would not or to be disappointed of her whom he desired And now he must begin a new hope where he made account of fruition To raise vp an expectation once frustrate is more difficult then to continue a long hope drawne on with likelihoods of performance yet thus deare is Iacob content to pay for Rachel fourteene years seruitude Commonly Gods children come not easily by their pleasures what miseries will not loue digest and ouercome And if Iacob were willingly consumed with heat in the day and frost in the night to become the sonne in law to Laban What should we refuse to be the sonnes of God Rachel whom he 〈◊〉 is barren Lea which was despised is fruitfull How wisely God weighes â—ot to vs our fauours and crosses in an equall ballance so tempering our sorrowes that they may not oppresse and our ioyes that they may not transport vs each one hath some matter of enuy to others and of griefe to himselfe Lea enuies Rachels beauty and loue Rachel enuies Leahs fruitfulnesse Yet Lea would not be barren nor Rachel bleare-eyed I see in Rachel the image of her Grandmother Sara both in her beauty of person in her actions in her successe shee also will needs suborne her handmaid to make her a mother and at last beyond hope her selfe conceiueth It is a weake greedinesse in vs to affect Gods blessings by vnlawfull meanes what a proofe and prayse had it beene of her faith if shee had stayed Gods leasure and would rather haue endured her barrennesse then her husbands polygamy Now she shewes her selfe the daughter of Laban the Father for couetousnesse the daughters for emulation haue drawne sinne into Iacobs bed he offended in yeelding but they more in solliciting him and therefore the fact is not imputed to Iacob but to them In those sinnes which Satan drawes vs into the blame is ours in those which we moue each other vnto the most fault and punishment lyes vpon the tempter None of the Patriarkes diuided his seed into so many wombes as Iacob none was so much crossed in his seed Thus rich in nothing but wiues and children was he now returning to his Fathers house accounting his charge his wealth But God meant him yet more good Laban sees that both his Family and his Flocks were well increased by Iacobs seruice Not his loue therefore but his gaine makes him loth to part Euen Labans couetousnesse is made by God the meanes to inrich Iacob Behold his strait master intreats him to that recompence which made his nephew mighty and himselfe enuious God considering his hard seruice payd him wages out of Labans folds Those Flocks and Herds had but few spotted Sheep and Goates vntill Iacobs couenant then as if the fashion had beene altered they all ran into parted colours the most and best as if they had beene weary of their former owner changed the colours of their young that they might change their master In the very shapes and colours of brute creatures there is a diuine hand which disposeth them to his owne ends Small and vnlikely meanes shall preuaile where God intends an effect Little pilled sticks of Hasell or Poplar laid in the troughs shall inrich Iacob with an increase of his spotted flocks Labans sonnes might haue tried the same meanes and failed God would haue Laban know that he put a difference betwixt Iacob and him that as for fourteene yeares he had multiplyed Iacobs charge of cattell to Laban so now for the last six yeares hee would multiply Labans flocke to Iacob and if Laban had the more yet the better were Iacobs Euen in these outward things Gods childen haue many times sensible tastes of his fauours aboue the wicked I know not whether Laban were a worse Vncle or Father or Master he can like well Iacobs seruice not his wealth As the wicked haue no peace with God so the godly haue no peace with men for if they prosper not they are despised if they prosper they are enuied This Vncle whom his seruice had made his father must now vpon his wealth be fled from as an enemy and like an enemy pursues him If Laban had meant to haue taken a peaceable leaue hee had neuer spent seuen dayes iourney in following his innocent sonne Iacob knew his churlishnesse and therefore resolued rather to be vnmannerly then iniured well might hee thinke that he whose oppression changed his wages so often in his stay would also abridge his wages in the
Prophets yeeldance as for his owne life This was the way to offer violence to the Prophet of God to the God of that Prophet euen humble supplications Wee must deprecate that euill which wee would auoid if we would force blessings we must intreat them There is nothing to be gotten from God by strong hand any thing by suit The life of the Captaine is preserued Elijah is by the Angell commanded to goe downe with him speedily fearelesly The Prophet casts not with himselfe What safety can there be in this iourney I shall put my selfe into the hands of rude Souldiers and by them into the hands of an inraged King if he did not eagerly thirst after my blood hee had neuer sought it with so much losse But so soone as hee had a charge from the Angell hee walkes downe resolutely and as it were dares the dangers of so great an hostilitie Hee knew that the same God who had fought for him vpon the hill would not leaue him in the Valley hee knew that the Angell which bade him goe was guard enough against a world of enemies Faith knowes not how to feare and can as easily contemne the suggestion of perils as infidelitie can raise them The Prophet lookes boldly vpon the Court which doubtlesse was not a little disaffected to him and comes confidently into the bed-chamber of Ahaziah and sticks not to speake ouer the same words to his head which hee had sent him not long since by his first messengers Not one syllable will the Prophet abate of his errand It is not for an Herald of Heauen to be out of countenance or to mince ought of the most killing messages of his God Whether the inexpected confidence both of the man and of the speech amazed the sicke King of Israel or whether the feare of some present iudgement wherewith hee might suspect Elijah to come armed vpon any act of violence that should bee offered ouer-awed him or whether now at the last vpon the sight and hearing of this man of God the Kings heart began to relent and checke it selfe for that sinne for which hee was iustly reproued I know not but sure I am the Prophet goes away vntouched neither the furious purposes of Ahaziah nor the exasperations of a Iezebel can hurt that Prophet whom God hath intended to a fiery Chariot The hearts of Kings are not their owne Subiects are not so much in their hands as they are in their Makers How easily can God tame the fiercenesse of any creature and in the midst of their most heady careere stop them on the sudden and fetcht them vpon the knees of their humble submission It is good trusting God with the euents of his owne commands who can at pleasure either auert euils or improue them to good According to the word of the Prophet Ahaziah dies not two whole yeares doth hee sit in the Throne of Israel which hee now must yeeld in the want of children to his brother Wickednesse shortens his reigne he had too much of Ahab and Iezebel to expect the blessing either of length or prosperitie of gouernment As alwaies in the other so oft-times in this world doth God testifie his anger to wicked men Some liue long that they may aggrauate their iudgement others die soon that they may hasten it The Rapture of ELIJAH LOng and happily hath Elijah fought the wars of his God and now after his noble and glorious victories God will send him a Chariot of Triumph Not suddenly would God snatch away his Prophet without warning without expectation but acquaints him before-hand with the determination of his glory How full of heauenly ioy was the soule of Elijah whiles he foreknew and lookt for this instant happinesse With what contempt did he cast his eyes vpon that earth which he was now presently to leaue with what rauishment of an inward pleasure did hee looke vpon that heauen which he was to enioy For a meet fare-well to the earth Elijah will goe visit the schooles of the Prophets before his departure These were in his way Of any part of the earth they were nearest vnto Heauen In an holy progresse therefore hee walkes his last round from Gilgal neere Iordan to Bethel from Bethel to Iericho from Iericho to Iordan againe In all these sacred Colledges of Diuines he meant to leaue the legacie of his loue counsell confirmation blessing How happy a thing it is whiles we are vpon earth to improue our time gifts to the best behoofe of Gods Church And after the assurance of our owne blessednesse to helpe others to the same heauen But O God who can but wonder at the course of thy wise and powerfull administrations Euen in the midst of the degeneration and Idolatries of Israel hast thou reserued to thy selfe whole societies of holy Prophets and out of those sinfull and reuolted Tribes hast raised the two great miracles of Prophets Elijah and Elisha in an immediate succession Iudah it selfe vnder a religious Iehoshaphat yeelded not so eminent and cleerely illuminated spirits The mercy of our prouident God will neither be confined nor excluded neither confined to the places of publike profession nor excluded from the depraued Congregations of his owne people where hee hath loued he cannot easily be estranged Rather where sinne abounds his grace aboundeth much more and raiseth so much stronger helps as he sees the dangers greater Happy was Elisha in the attendance of so gracious a Master and the more happy that he knows it Faine would Elijah shake him off at Gilgal if not there at Bethel if not yet there at Iericho A priuate message on which Elijah must goe alone is pretended from the Lord Whether shall we say the Prophet did this for the tryall of the constant affection of his carefull and diligent seruant or that it was concealed from Elijah that his departure was reuealed to Elisha Perhaps hee that knew of his owne reception into heauen did not know what witnesses would bee allowed to that miraculous act and now his humble modesty affected a silent and vn-noted passage Euen Elisha knew something that was hid from his Master now vpon the threshold of heauen No meere creature was euer made of the whole counsell of the Highest Some things haue been disclosed to babes and nouices that haue been closed vp to the most wise and iudicious In naturall speculations the greater wit and deeper iudgement stil caries it but in the reuelations of God the fauour of his choice swayes all not the power of our apprehension The master may both command and intreat his seruants stay in vaine Elisha must bee pardoned this holy and zealous disobedience As the Lord liueth and as thy soule liueth I will not leaue thee His master may be withdrawne from him he will not be withdrawne from his Master He knew that the blessing was at the parting and if he had diligently attended all his life and now slacked in the last act he had lost the reward