haue looked to the woorship of the Lord and how careful they haue bene of their owne estimation how litle they haue bestowed on the house of God and how manie thousandes on their owne painted pallaces how little they haue bestowed on the poore of Iesu Christ and haue exceeding much on their carnal friends in whom they delighted When those thinges shal come clerely to their remembrance then shalbe fulfilled that saying of the Apostle Go too yee rich men howle weep for the miserie which shal come on you Many and mightie shal be their wailings it shall greeue them that they haue bin rich when they shall see the blessings of the poore their honour shal breed thought of dispaire and confusion in their harts their faire lands which they made their paradise here on earth shalbe a burning consumption in their coÌ„sciences When the wicked shall see heauen open aboue hell gaping belowe and the earth melting away betwixt them both when they shall heare that voice of ioy Come ye blessed and that voice of sorrowe Go ye cursed into euerlasting fire when they shall see the mightie put downe from their seate and the humble lowly harted exalted it shall greeue them so that they shall vtterly loath all those pleasures which they haue so loued they shall gnash thereat with their teeth But to the godly to the penitent sinners to those which loue his holy worship and study to maintaine his poore members heere vpon earth the Lorde of his great mercie will bestow his louing kindnes peace with the fruition of euerlasting life Which he graunt vs that hath bought it so dearely for vs euen Iesus Christ the righteous to whome with the Father and the holy Ghost one most holy blessed and glorious Trinitie be all glorie and honour for euer and euer Amen FINIS Deo gratias Celsus of Verona his Dissuasiue to the renoumed Senate of Venece shewing that since they enriched themselues with the goods of the Church they are become vnable to resist their enimies IT hath beene the maner of many men most entire Prince and worthie Senate oft times when they were to intreat of anie matter truly to speak to reueale to comprehend that in their speach which might please the eares of the hearers or obtaine grace and generall good liking of all And on the contrarie that which is right which is profitable which seemeth good and honest vnto them that they openly refuse and vtterly reiect as a thing lesse pleasant and lesse delightfull to the hearers But I am farre of an other opinion sith as me thinketh those men are greatly deceiued and faile oft times of their purposed conclusion For whilest they seeke the glorie and commendation of men by a seruile kinde of merchandise they fall into the pit of ignomie and discredite For what is more vnhonest then with the colour of vertue and goodnes deceitfullie to blinde the eies of our friendes What more vnseemely thing then in the steed of truth to place fained and forged errors what is more filthie or further from all honest dealing then by pestilent fauning and flattering to induce mortall men into manie great and dangerous errours these kinde of men are not to be accounted friends or welwillers or yet good men but rather to be esteemed as cruell enemies vtterly to be detested of all men For who is able to recount what mischiefes what losses what pestileÌ„t destructioÌ„s they bring with theÌ„ I saie who is able to number all the great detriments the charges the discommodities the dangers which thorough the wicked counsell of these parasiticall flatterers and their deceitfull glosinges not onelie priuate men but all Common-wealths and the Dominions of all Princes haue sustained And it is no hard matter for them to attaine hereunto sith they masking vnder the smooth visure of good will and amitie with glosing wordes and fained flatteringes they blinde the eies of those which beholde them they intangle them and they intrappe euery one not yet acquainted with their sleights and in such manner that they cannot possiblie discerne what is good and holsome for them nor on the contrarie what is ill and hurtfull They thinke themselues to bee such kinde of men that of right and reason they shoulde bee commended from which opinion innumerable offences doe proceede sith heereby they remaine in most grosse errours Therefore at this present I am not minded to treade in their steppes but rather I mind to prosecute and to declare those things boldly which though they seeme lesse plausible or lesse pleasant yet they are not forged or fained but are such indeede as become a true friende and faithfull instructer and therefore peraduenture they will prooue not altogether vnprofitable nor vnfruitfull for the potions of Phisitions oft times are bitter but yet the same minister helpe and health vnto the diseased the which thing also it behooueth me to do euen to execute the same duelie and to resemble the same person whereby I may more easilie and directlie recouer the good health of those which nowe lie still and languish In this respect if I shall seeme to haue vttered anie thing more licentiouslie then I might doe not thinke that it proceedeth of stomach or malice but rather that your minde most excellent Prince and theirs also which are destitute of such admonitions may bee stirred vp effectuallie and in good earnest to take wiser and more holesome counsell In fine I request you to accept this small treatise of mine written rudelie and in a meane stile which for that great loue and hartie good will which I beare vnto your Honour and that most famous Senate I haue determined with my selfe to dedicate vnto you If peradâ—enture not onelie by my daily and deuoute praiers but also by exhortations I may profite you and your afflicted state either with counsell or otherwise with my profitable indeuour And now lest my speach should rome range too far most mighty Prince I will begin to declare that which I mind to intreat of at this time If by the way I may but note and name this one thing that therefore of mine owne accorde I tooke this labour vpon me that in no respect so farre as my facultie wil extend I would restraine my selfe but I woulde supplie those things I would perswade those things I would admonish you of those things which I am sure nerely concerne the safetie and preseruation of that your most honourable and famous Senate and in these so great calamities and daungers your perpetuall name and glorie NOt many daies since most Noble Prince trauailing through many Countries and Cities I spake with many rare excellent men many famous mighty Princes In the midst of our talke oft times wee fell into the selfe same speaches which are now common in euerie mans mouth that is concerning the prosperous successe of the warres of the great Turke a most wicked and professed enemie euen to the name
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the present commodity is euer most accepted for the subtill age to come will alter all Together with this iron earthly age the seede of corruption is daily sowne whose blossomes nowe already put foorth though they shine cleere and bright as dooth the cockle amiddest the wheate yet if they once beginne to reape to threshe to grinde to grinde to bake to eate they shall soone perceiue that there is cockle amongest the corne and ofte times vnder the painted viserd of great knowledge you shall se blind bayard wax so bold that through many wordes and often speaking amongest the ignorant whose eyes dazell in beholding such painted sepulchers hee is reputed for wise and learned According to that true saying of that lerned Dorne In hoc ferreo postremoque saeculo non nisi faeces artium superesse videmus etsi non nulli putent eas maxime vigere propter sermonis ornatum In this last iron age we haue but the dâ—egges of artes and sciences although manie thinke that learning florisheth more nowe then in times past because we talke more then they did and that more cunninglie more smoothlie more courtlie Which great absurditie of this our age throughly mixt with earth iron to the great perill and daunger of many thousand soules mooued mee first to penne this rudely written treatise in the behalfe of the Church of Iesu Christ and the soules health of all true Christians vnto whose handes it shal come Which secret cogitation taking effect by outward sence and shewing to my bodilie eyes in sundrie places and manie solemne foundations nowe made desolate whereby manie thousandes of learned pastours might haue beene maintained for the preaching of the Gospell of Christ and the dailie praysing of his name credidi propterea loquutus sum with the holie Prophet and Apostle I beleeued and therefore I writte that which the holy scriptures the holy counselles the holy fathers haue plainelie affirmed When I looked backe and considered what wee are and what wee ought to bee what wee haue doone and what we ought to haue doone the truth piersed my spirite my heart rent and my ioyntes did cleaue in sunder the passion of that sight beganne to worke the fyer was kindled within the sayinges of the holie fathers ministred oyle wherewith the flame brake foorth at my mouth crying alowde for Sions sake I will not hold my peace Here with returning to the mirrour of trueth the holie word of God whereby all our thoughtes wordes and workes are to bee tried and furthermore perusing the holie fathers by the assistaunce of the holie Ghost openers of the true vnderstanding thereof I meant to gather some store of testimonies out of them to witnesse with mee that this my affirmation in this matter is a certaine and vndoubted trueth Hauing behelde this radiant sunne of light the word of God and the little starres the holie fathers illuminated with the cleare beames thereof though the trueth appeared plainelie in them both yet their testimonies concerning thinges once dedicated to holie vse seemed to mee neither so manie as I expected nor so plaine Herein hauing made some spence of time in seeking that which was not so plainely figured in the fathers as I hoped and as it was truely meant at length the trueth of that conclusion offered it selfe most plainelie to my cogitation which was that as that auncient Solon hauing made many excellent lawes amongest the Athenians hee made no lawe neither set hee downe any punishment for him which should kil his own father supposing that the earth would neuer nourishe so wicked a creature Euen so it is truely supposed that those holie fathers liuing in the siluer age of olde antiquitie did neuer imagine that out of this earthlie yron age of ours there should spring anie so barbarous so cruell so wicked that would attempt to take awaie any thing from the true worshippe of almightie God Which suppositioÌ„ least in some mens sight it should seeme to want true position and sure ground let vs turne our minds a litle from carnal cogitations of worldlie minded men which thinke of necessitie the course of the world must bee mainteined howsoeuer the seruice of God be neglected and his holie temple your mindes thus turned cleane away from wordlie vanities which in one minute shall all vanish and consume like the paper cast into the fier turne your eies and behold the booke of life therewith conferre the expositions of holie councels and ancient fathers expounding the true sence of the same and you shall see most plainlie that things once dedicated to holie vse are not in anie wise to bee altered vnleast it be in extreame necessitie the braunches whereof are plainlie laied open by that holie father Saint Ambrose in these wordes Vasa ecclesiae initiata in his tribus confringere conflare vendere etiam licet primum vt extremae pauperum egestati succurratur c. In these three cases it is lawfull to breake to melt to sel the vessels of the Church first for the relieuing of the poore secondlie for the redeeming of the Christians beeing captiues to infidels Thirdlie for the preseruing of the Church christian buriall of the dead these extremities make that irreligious fact sometimes lawfull as appeareth though verie seldome in the practise of the primatiue Church according to that which Sozomene writeth in the fourth booke of his ecclesiasticall storie the 24. Chapter Saith hee when the people of Ierusalem wanted meat and were all readie to perish through the great famine which was amongest them Cyrillus the Bishoppe of the citie solde the treasure of the Church with all the costlie clothes belonging to the same distributing to the poore according to their necessitie First of all the goods of the Church being dulie and dutifullie bestowed on the worshippe of God and diuine function the true proper and principall vse and end of the same Secondly in extreame necessitie this is a good lawfull and also a holie vse of them and scarcelie to be called alâ—enating of the Church goods sith the poore are belonging to the same according to that generall sentence of all the councels and fathers Bona ecclesiae sunt bona pauperum the goods of the church are the goods of the poore But to take awaie the landes and goods of the Church whereby the beautiful feete of those which bring the glad tydings of the Gospel are shed their sides clothed their bodies fed and numbers of those which dailie praie in his holy temple are or ought to be mainteined lifting vp pure hands with hartie prayers for the sinnes of the people and those also which dailie sing praises to his holie name for his wonderful mercies shewed to mankind no scripture no councel no father no writer no religioÌ„ whatsoeuer doth allow it If wee looke into the law of nature or the rules of humanitie not much dissonant from the conclusions of morall
the magistrate would counsell mee to giue vp the goods of the Church into his handes I would not willinglie do it Concluding that vnlesse it be in cases set down before by the holie Father saint Ambrose It is not lawful any waie to alienate the goods of the church To this generall consent of scriptures counsels Fathers as the conclusion of the rest succeedeth the great and dangerous punishments which the Lorde sendeth on all them that take any thing from his holie temple of which who so mindeth but to sippe and take a bare tast let him marke these examples plainely propounded in these fewe lines following but if hee will haue more store and is minded to wade further let him enter the dissuasiue it selfe consisting more of example then rule and Celsus of Verona his dissuasiue thereunto adioyned There he shall finde it true by record of sundry histories which is written in holie scriptures concerning those which either take or deteine anie thing once vowed and giuen to the holy Church And what is that wee reade in the Actes of the Apostles that Ananias Saphira his wife consented to keepe backe some of the money which they had once giuen to the Lord. Which how haynous a crime it was let all men note Sith for the same Saint Peter opened his mouth and strooke them both with present death reasoning with them and saying on this maner was it not your owne to haue doone with what you list why then doe you tempt the holy Ghost sith the offence is not against man but against God signifiyng that after it is once giuen or appointed to holie vse no man ought to retract any parte thereof backe againe The like punishment succeeded to all those which spoyled the Church at any time Euagrius in the fourth booke of his historie sheweth that the Duke Gabaones hearing tell that the Vandalls came against him with a puissant army called some of his Captaines to him willing them to put on poore simple apparell and so to passe ouer to the host of the Vandalls marking diligently whether the Vandalls honoured the temples of the christians or spoiled and violated them If they spoyle or violat them saith he then see that in what you can you reedifie and adorne them for the God which the Christians worship I know not but if he be so mightie as they say he is he wil spoile thē which spoile his house The Vandals went forward as they had begun they spoiled the christian temples as they passed with their army they did eat they dranke they sported triumphed enriched with the spoils goods of the church they marched forward And at length ioined battell with Gabaones but moste of them were slain many greeuously wounded in the battell some taken put to diuers torments Quanto rectius ille how much more wisely did that heathen Emperour Alaricus the captaine of the Gotes which besieging that famous Citie of Rome at last conquered it gaue the spoile therof to his soldiers only excepting the faire solemn temple built ouer the tombe of S. Peter for the reuerence which they bare to him commaunding charging most straightly that no man should once touch it or violate any person any goodes or any thing whatsoeuer belonging to the same which was the cause why the whole Citie of Rome was not then clean defaced destroied Let no man in this place obiect on the contrary saying Moses tooke the calfe burnt it to ashes casting thē into the running brooke the Israelits destroied the temples of the heathen Iosias pulled down the temples of the groues Elias the temple of Baall Dauid eate the shew-bread being lawfull onely for the Priestes Phinehas slew the adulterers being a priuate man of which some were mooued by speciall zeale proceeding from the holy Ghost wherby they were warranted and some were commanded as the Israelits to slay man woman and children which thinges at this day wee must not onely not doe but if we doe thē as Bullinger manie learned writers affirme it is sin in the sight of God Sith the son of man as saith our sauiour came not to destroye but to saue He hath broken downe the wall of separation hath made one shepheard one sheepefold both of Iewes Gentles euen the holy Catholike Church the walles whereof who so diminisheth or casteth downe the Lord shall inflict the tormentes of this world on him and his posteritie vnlesse with hartie repentance he restore that which he hath taken away and in the world to come he shall cast him out into vtter darkenes where the worme of wicked conscience stingeth day and night where the fire is neuer quenched the crie neuer ceased the paine neuer mittigated the miserie neuer ended But to those which loue the Lord and beautifie his holy temple with the finest of their gold the first of their fruites the most hartie goodwill that they can the Lord of his mercie shall redouble their gratious charitie many thousand time into their bosome granting them their heartes desire heere in this worlde and in the world to come the eternall saluation of their soules euen the life euerlasting which God graunt vs all thorough Iesu Christ our only Lord and sauiour Amen Euerard Digbie his Dissuasiue The second part HAuing perused the excellent disswasiue of that worthie man Celsus of Verona though the pages bee fewe in number and the paines of translating the same not worthie the account yet considering the deadlye sleepe into the which we are fallen in these moste daungerous times and that as Hermes Trismegist in his Pymander writeth the vsuall and carefull feeding of our fleshlie bodies is the consumption of our soules In regard of my humble dutie towards the most honorable espouse of Iesu Christ our louing mother the holie church and to my deare country a member of the same I seeing nowe the same doubt daunger of the enemie which was in his daies the same suppliāce collected frō the church the same wound the same swelling the same griefe conceiued doubting least if this vnnaturall wound be long vnhealed it will drawe to an issue which is commonly vncurable without the daunger of the whole bodie I thought good to pen this simple short treatise with Celsus of Verona his dissuasiue thereunto annexed that thereby not the common people onely but also those of higher place and degree might cleerlie vnderstand that hee which eateth the bread of the innocent shall neuer be satisfied he which taketh awaie the clothes of the poore shall neuer bewarme he which spoileth his nurse shall neuer be well lyking he which powleth the church shall neuer be rich and hee which weakeneth his mothers backe shall neuer stand vpright against his enemies in the daie of battaile Therefore my deare bretheren bought with the same price you which loue the Lord more than earthlie kingdomes and which count all worldy honour
forth in Israel not for weekes or yeares or hundred yeares onlie though it was suppressed in that watrish Aegipt but it shined so cleare out of the darke Cloude in the wildernesse that the arke was there built by the hande of his great messengers Moses and Aaron Neither could the desartes of Synaie or sinne or the exceeding high hilles of all the mountaine countrey restraine the course thereof but it passed ouer the toppes of the highest mountaines it diuided the deepest waters of that Countrey passing on drye lande throw the bottom thereof into that promised land the land of Canaan When the Arke the true figure of the Temple was by the prouidence of almightie GOD thus brought and placed neere the propper home And Dauid also the seruaunt of the Lord taken from the sheepefowlde preserued from the tyrannie of Saul and placed in his kingdome Now for our example let vs marke howe this holie place and godlie King accord together and what effect there is betwixt them The Arke hauing bene long before neglected by Saul which appeared by his ende Dauid hee had a speciall eie and regarde vnto it before all other thinges with great strength power glorie bringing it from the house of Abinadab neerer him ' First placing it in the house Obededom and afterwardes seeing the great blessinges which the Lorde shewed to that place where his Arke stoode he brought it home into the Citie of Dauid placing it in the tabernacle which hee had built for it Afterwardes when hee had conquered all his enemies round about and he sate quietly in his pallace hee followed not the swelling humour of flesh bloud which ruleth most in those that are the lowest born and the basest minded according to that auncient saying Asperius nihil est humili cum surgit in altum but that which is the dutie of a godly prince hee called the prophet Nathan vnto him and saide Do you not marke howe I dwell in my sumptuous house of Cedar and the Arke of the Lord is simply couered with skins shewing that it was not meete that the house of the king or of anie man should bee more faire more sumptuous more honourable and maiesticall than the house of God And therefore hee purposed fully with himselfe to builde a temple vnto the Lorde which hee hath perfourmed with dutifull endeuour in good time but that the Lord by the mouth of his holy prophet signified that his good intent was accepted and therefore the Lorde would blesse him on all sides promising that hee would giue him peace and rest from his enemies that he would place him quietlie in his owne pallace and when his yeares were come to an ende and that hee should after the manner of the godly sleepe with his fathers the Lord promised that hee would raise vp a sonne vnto him in whome he would establish the kingdome of Dauid for euer and which should builde an holie temple vnto the Lord God of Israell Heere vppon the kinglie Prophet did magnifie the Lord in his soule and his spirite did so hartelie reioyce in the wonderfull mercies of his creatour that hee lifte vp his voyce before the Lorde and penned manie Godlie himnes to bee musicallie and melodiouslie sunge by the chaunter and the quire before the Lord. He yeelded his whole heart vnto the Lord and gaue vnto him the first fruites of his lippes Therefore the Lord blessed him with a vertuous sonne euen the wise Salomon whose workes were lyke vnto the wisedome of his heart shewinge plainelie vnto vs the worke and fruite of true and perfecte wisedome and what is that As hee was the wisest man that euer was created so he brought foorth the best and happiest fruite that euer was building an holie temple vnto the honour and seruice of the Lord and that such a one as farre surpassed all the superstitious temples of the heathen Hee set manie thousandes of men a worke at once hee prouided the goodliest timber that could bee seene or heard off the fairest squared stones that might bee and of greatest price His ships went to Tharsis for golde and hee spared not to spende the iewels of Arabie on the same He erected therin great piâ—llers of beaten gold siluer gilding it on euerie side and garnishing it most â—oyallie Hee endowed it with landes and possessions most liberallie He finished it most perfectlie he frequented the same with his deuout praiers dailie to the glorie of God the profitre of his nation the publique practise of the â—olie lawe and sacrifice of the Lord. All the daies of his life hee enioyed it most happilie though by infirmitie hee fell yet y e Lord remembring his mercie let him depart in peace so that hee slept with his fathers and was buried in the cittie of Dauid and Roboam his son raigned in his steede Likewise also the highe and mightie Monarch Cirus King of the Persians though he were an heathen man yet hee yeelded so much vnto the true God that hee released his chosen people out of captiuitie saying the Lord of heauen who hath made mee Lord ouer the whole earth hee hath commaunded mee to builde him an house in Ierusalem Though hee was an heathen and cheefe ruler ouer all the worlde yet hee disobayed not the heauenlie voyce sending Zorobabell the cheefe of the Iewes proclaming that it might bee lawfull for anie of those which were in captiuitie to goe home and to helpe vp the buildinge of the house of the Lord bringing out the golden vesselles which Nabuchodonozer brought from the temple of Ierusalem and yeelding them all into the handes of Zorobabell and the rest whome hee sent vnto Ierusalem to builde vp the wasted temple giuing them great freedome authoritie and store of golde of filuer of worke men and all kinde of suppliance what so euer After this his religious bountie towardes the temple of the Lorde hee had great battailes against the Kinge of Babilon and manie other mightie Princes against whome the Lorde gaue him so great and so good successe that after he had ouercome the rich and strong king Craesus king of Babilon and that most mightie magnificent famous Cittie which manie other most puissant Princes hee alone was cheefe ruler of the Assirians the Medes the Persians beeing the first erector of the second Monarch of the worlde Wherein wee see most plainelie the great care and dilligent eye which the Lorde hath vnto his temple in that hee commaunded Cyrus to reedifie it and the good successe which followeth those which helpe to builde the same Especiallie if they perseuer in theyr good deuotion vnto the ende But if after they haue begunne to worke in the spirite they incline themselues to fulfill the desire of their fleshlie eye Let them knowe though they obtaine most excellent victories and high renowne in the battaile though they be placed ouer many kingdomes and haue obtained the height of theyr desire in what they
can wishe in this worlde yet after all this shall succeede the infamous death of Cyrus who with his exceeding great armie was ouercome in the feelde And good cause whie sith as Plato writeth hee sinned much in bringing vppe his children wantonlie commaunding his owne brother to be slaine very treacherouslie Let no man presume so much as to doubte that there is a God the rewarder of the iust and punisher of the wicked that so mercifull on the one part and so perfectlye iust on the other that of his exceeding mercie hee rewardeth the least good deede of vs sinfull wretches and punisheth euerie sinne whatsoeuer vnleast we doe hartelie repent and turne our selues truelie vnto his mercy which we commit against his diuine maiesty Howe commeth it to passe that we are become like horse and mule which haue no vnderstanding If the carter doe but wagge his whippe the horses hie on apace if the shepheardes dogge doe but barke the sheepe doe whirrie all on heapes if the lion roare the beastes of the forrest tremble And yet the Lord calleth dailie and hourelie by signes from heauen by fiers in the ayre by strang courses in the waters by vnnaturall monsters in the earth by losse in the fielde and by scarefire in the house by sicknesse in the bodie by the denouncing of death to our soules and no man trembleth no man runneth no man looketh vp no man once regardeth it O â—sencelesse sensualitie Doe you marueile why your greefe lasteth daie and night and your disseases bee vncurable sith you haue such great store of honour and wealth to ease your minde which poore men wante they want them both in deede and fith they seldome taste the meate the Lorde of his mercie seldome offereth them the sower sawce belonging to such daintie dishes Therfore let al men leaue theyr wandering thoughtes of fancie of chaunce ill lucke wicked men euill mindes deceitfull hartes Non est malum in ciuitate quod non fecit dominus there is no chaunce or fortune in regard of God neither hath the wicked any power to hurte but where the Lord shall permit and hee permitteth not without deserte There is no deserte without sinne no sinne without punishment no punishment without deserued paine vnleast wee repent no repentaunce without sufficient restitution as much as lyeth in vs. Therefore thou which art stronge meruaile not that thou art wounded of the weake whose heart perhappes is greater then thine Thou which art riche and farest daintelie meruaile not that thou lyest sicke pininge consuming groning with the palsey in thy heade the burning in thine heart the Ciatica in thy hippes the stone in the reiâ—es the goute in the thy toe thine arme or thy legge the burning ague through thy whole bodie Thou which art mightie wise and honourable merueile not if thou beest brought vnder if thy foolish doinges breede the repentaunce with discredite Thou which hast honour and riches dominions and power health and Phisitions credite and successe at thy will meruaile not though thou want children or hauing one onely child which is all thy ioye when he is taken away by vntimely death Say not to thy selfe O what ill fortune is this that hauing one onely childe in whome I ioyed hee should bee thus taken from mee neither weepe so bitterlie for thy naturall childe O yee sonnes of the earth weepe not for your children but weepe for your selues and your owne sinnes against God Knowe yee right well that who so euer maketh his ioye of anie thing prouideth for anie thing honoureth anie thinge more or in comparison of the Lord eyther hee shall not enioye it or it shall not enioye him This is the Maior and the Minor is like vnto it which is this There is no aduersitie what so euer commeth to vs but it is for our sinnes though not the thousande parte which wee deserue but as it were a philip in respecte of the cutting off of the heade If wee will but turne our eyes from the vaine cloude of worldlie follie and confusion we shall see most plainelie that there is no sickenesse no vntimelie death no losse of Parentes or children no imprisonmentes no aduersitye what so euer but it is sent of the Lord for our sinne and on the contrarie that the Lorde is so full of goodnesse and loouing mercie that hee continuallie blesseth euerie good deede of ours what so euer and that by his continuall mercies shewed vnto them which loue him and his holy temple where his name is to bee praised to the worldes ende Wee may see it plainelie amongest the heathen that the Lorde is iust in remembring his promised mercies to all them which feare him and say also with that holie Prophet Verely there is a rewarde for the iuste not for the Iewe onelie or the Christian onelie or for this nation this degree this sorte or kinde of men onelie but as saint Peter affirmeth there is no acception of persons with God but in euerie nation who so euer feareth the Lorde a right and worketh righteousnesse he is accepted in the sight of God Let all men therefore learne to feare the Lorde aright let them open the fountaine of theyr charitable compassion towardes theyr brethren especiallie towardes his holie temple At the least let not vs be more vnkind vnto the spouse of Christ then were the heathen Looke backe againe to that highe mountaine from whence wee are newlie discended Cyrus began to builde the temple of the Lorde and hee prospered wonderfullie hee forgatte the Lord and hee came to an euill ende Darius also succeeded him who finished the building of the temple begunne by Cirus willing his lordes and captaines beyonde the floude that in anie wise they should not hinder the Iewes in theyr building But that if they wanted stone or timber or siluer or golde calues goates kiddes salte oyle or wine they should let them haue all thinges at theyr will shewing therein his good minde and the cheefest vse of these worldlie goods in these wordes Vt offerant deo coeli oblationes orentque pro vita regis filiorum eius That they maie offer vp oblations to the God of heauen and praie for the life of the King and his children It is verie straunge and worthy to be let vp as a mirour before the eyes of all Christian princes that these heathen Emperours should attribute so much to the glory of God hearing but a far off seing his mighty maiesty but in a cloude What may be compared to that which followeth in the stile and wordes of Artaxerxes written after this manner Artaxerxes rex regum c. Artaxerxes King of Kinges c. Vnto Eâ—dras the most learned scribe of the law of the God of heauen I haue decreede that of Israell in my kingdomes and dominions who so will goe with thee vnto Ierusalem that hee haue free libertie to goe and what golde or money thou
base minded as to looke about him how hee might raise great summes from the poore people or how hee might vnder some good pretence exact some paiment from the church though his enemies were manie mighty his warre great his troubles innumerable his charges infinite yet hee did not molest any one person belonging to the church nether would he suffer the mightiest of his princes once to meddle with them He could not possiblie be perswaded to increase his treasure with any penny which came from the Church or his honour with their prerogatiue or his securitie with their trouble or his credit with their disgrace But this foster father of the poore dispersed lambs of Iesu Christ he bestowed he founded he erected on high he reedified those temples which the heretickes had pulled downe hee restored the landes which they had taken awaie when hee tooke it into his handes he did not giue one halfe to God kept the other halfe to himselfe saying I haue two eies the one to looke to my kingdome and the other to the church But beeing a good true christian philosopher hee knew that though wee haue two eies yet we must looke but one way nor see but one marke at once We cannot at once loue both God and Mammon sinne and righteousnesse the kingdome of this world and heauen But hee knew it truelie and wayed it wisely in his hart that the high God of heauen did create him that hee blessed him preserued him exalted him gaue him all that he had And therefore hee rendred vnto him and his beloued spouse all honor freedome peace and abundance Hee was taught by the holie fathers out of the booke of life that the Lord is a ielous God he will not part stakes with any nor giue his honor to any other but of him it is said and of him onelie Thine is thy kingdome thy power and thy glorie for euer and euer Amen When the good Emperour beheld this perfect stile of Iesu Christ did see the ensigne on which it was described together with the church of Christ cast downe to the bare earth hee drawing neere as S. Paul did to the altar wherein was written ignoto deo beholding but foure bare letters I. N. R. I. which signified that this was the ensigne of the vnknowen God not acknowledged amongest men forthwith hee humbled himselfe in the flesh and reioiced in the spirit that the vnknowen God the God of heauen of earth had vouchsafed him that speciall grace to reueale himselfe vnto him He cast downe his banner and tooke vp the crosse of Iesu Christ crucified hee cast all dignities courts commissions and kingdomes aside and laid his honor in the dust in regard of the true honor of Iesus Christ as wee haue mentioned hee imploied all the giftes which hee had giuen him euen of mind bodie and goods especially in founding erecting beautifying perfecting adorning priuiledging and freeing the church of Christ as Eusebius testifyeth most plainlie in these words Ecclesias vero Dei incredibile est supra omnem opinionem c. It is incredible and far beyond all mens opinions to recount what giftes and ornamentes hee bestowed on the church of God what freedome what plentie of maintenance what honors he gaue to them which had wholy bent theÌ„selues to serue the Lord in his holy temple daily to pray for the safety of the lande for the honour of the King and the sinnes of the people This was the expressed pietie of that first and most Christian Emperour and the Lord of his great mercie redoubled his kindnesse euen into his bosome for hee not onely shewed him the scale which Iacob saw and the gate of heauen opened at the top therereof but hee gaue him that great and rare gift of perseuerance in his deuout deedes euen vnto the end Therfore the Lord blessed him in his pallace in the field froÌ„ the arow which flieth in the wars abroad and from false friends at home and in such plentiful manner that all things which he tooke in hande did prosper wonderfully His victories are compared with the conquests of Cyrus but his end was much more happie for when he had most honourablye passed the full course of the life of man enioyed all the blessings of the earth aboue the space of sixtie yeares not once troubled with any sicknesse of bodie or vexation of minde but in wisedome and true christian loue florished continuallye like the greene bay tree whose fruite doth comfort the hart of man like the spreading vine like the fat Oliue braunch which maketh him to haue a ioyfull countenance sith hee distilled these sweete drops of his sincere loue into the bosomes of the poore distressed christians of his daies the Lord he kindled the sparke of true christian loue in his heart and made him glad with the ioy of his countenance Hee had alwaies victorie against his enemies conquering from Scythia in the east to this Ile of Britaine in the west Neither was the loue of the Lord extended vnto this good Emperour in his life onely but to the end all men may knowe that the loue of the Lorde is not fained that his iustice neuer changeth that his mercie endureth for euer hee departed out of this life being full of yeares in his ripe olde age euen about the feast of the ascension of our sauiour Christ and the descension of the holy Ghost at high noone At which instant his soule leauing the mortall body heere on earth hee was no doubt receiued vp into heauen by the hands of immortall angels there enioying the crowne of eternall blisse Which the Lord hath prouided for all those assuredly which looue his comming and maintaine his holy militant Church heere on earth Neither was the reward of the Lord onely proportioned by the merit of man neither did his munificent mercie onely exceede the merite of this true christian Emperour so much as the compasse of the heauens whose least starres are much bigger then the lande and sea exceedeth the earth in giuing him his hartes desire which is eternall blisse and felicitie but that which the Lord recounteth to Abraham Isaac and Iacob for a sure blessing here on earth he gaue this Godly Emperour three good and godly sonnes to â—it vppon his seate after him neither for one or two liues onely but as it is written of his posterity Vt imperii sedes c. That as the Empire discended from his father vnto him so by the course and lawe of nature it was continued vnto his childrens children and their posteritie Neither is it all onelie to bee marked what fruite the braunch beareth in the top but if we be good simplicians we will haue recourse vnto the roote from whence the first life and naturall vertue proceedeth Heerein if we consider well and looke more narrowlie into it wee shall plainely perceiue that these former examples more