partly they might bee entertayned by mens policie which the better to keepe the people in awe and to knit them the more firmely together did inuent certayne rites and ceremonies for that purpose amongst which these of Altars and Sacrifices seemed to worke more impression in mens minds then the rest Vt quos ratio non posset eos adofficium religio duceret saith the Orator that whom reason could not perswade those Religion might master partly they might receiue much furtherance from mens consciences which being guiltie of rebellion to God did questionlesse promote and aduance these Altars as who should say that by a Sacrifice on an Altar must the Maker of Heauen and Earth bee reconciled vnto his creatures But naturall reason could not direct them the way to find out the true scope and buit at which all the Sacrifices and Altars did tend Quamuis homo norit Deum esse esse optimum maximum non norit tamen patrem in filio reconciliatum say Diuines though man by the light of nature knowes that there is a God and that this God is Goodnesse it selfe yet the Father reconciled in the Sonne he knowes not No man knowes the Father but the Sonne nor the Sonne but he to whom hee hath reuealed him These things were wonders to the blessed Angels much more are they mysteries vnto naturall men Nature rather shewed the necessitie of a Sacrifice then what that Sacrifice should be it reade as it were a Lecture vnto man of his wretchednesse but bade him go to the Schooles of the Prophets to learne the remedie so that in conclusion of all it brought him vnto death something must die for him but there left him Whereupon it was that the Gentiles in this thick mist of ignorance being not able to see the marke at which their Altars did ayme fell foully short wide in applying them first in attributing to the Sacrifices which they offered vpon the Altar a vertue somewhat resembling the Papists opus operatum to pacifie the indignation of God Thure Deum placa appease God with Frankincense saith the Poet they considered not that from vs to God the way is vnpassable if God himselfe be not our way whereby to come thither Secondly they failed in the end in not respecting in all these things the death of Christ the Poets question should haue beene better canuassed by them Cum sis ipse nocens moritur cur victima pro te seeing that thou art guiltie tell mee why the Beast dies for thee this indeed should haue beene their protestation That whereas the silly innocent Beasts did suffer death it was they themselues which deserued it both in body and soule and therefore without a further reference then the shedding of the bloud of a Beast well might Lucian deride Iupiter for delighting in the smell of carkasses and it was truely said of Hierocles that their Sacrifices were to the fire but a feeding thereof with fuell and vapours and to the Priests a superfluous maintenance of butcherie I will adde and to their Altars an institution but of a new shambles Thus haue you briefly seene the lawfulnes of Altars amongst the Gentiles their originall and withall the abuse of them let vs now trauell from Athens into England from the World vnder the Law to the World vnder the Gospell and consider what it is wherein we are to imitate these Gentiles concerning their Altars and what it is wherein wee must leaue and forsake them Altars as they are properly so taken for those on which the typicall or supposed reall Sacrifices were offered are now ceased and taken away Our Sauiour when he was lifted vp vpon the Crosse bad Altars to bee beaten downs when hee rent the veile of the Temple the Earth-quake shooke their foundation when he died their parts were acted and went out The Papists that they may scrue the Pope farther into the mysterie of iniquitie will haue him maintayn one Lesson which themselues confesse to bee a note of Antichrist and that is that Iewish ceremonies are not yet ceased at the least in matters of Sacrifices and Altars But perhaps they had rather be beholding to the Gentiles for them For if wee would beleeue Cardinall Baronius Baron Annal ad ann Dom. 44. wee may see their lustrall water and sprinkling of Sepulchres in Iuuenals sixth Satyre Lights in Sepulchres in Suetonius's Octauius Lamps lighted on Saturday in Seneca's 96. Epist Distribution of Tapers amongst the people in Macrobius his Saturnals But more liuely may we see it in their Altars first in multiplying the number of them in euery Church God allowes but two Altars to the Temple Bruschius reckons 51. Bruschius de Monast Germaâ—o fol 129. Virgil. in one Church in Vlmes taking their pattern belike from Venus temple of which the Poet Vbi templum illi centumque Sabeo thure calent arae but God teacheth no such Arithmeticke as to multiply Altars Because Ephraim saith he hath made many Altars to sinne Altars shall bee vnto him to sinne Hos 8. Secondly they imitate the Gentiles in dedicating their Altars to such as it is vnknowne or at the least vncertayne if euer any such were in the World as to Saint George Saint Katharine and Saint Christopher doing no otherwise then did the Romans August de Ciuit Dei l. 3. c. 12. who consecrated Altars Dijs incertis to their vncertayne gods or these Athenians who built them Deo ignoto to their vnknowne god But wee need not much seeke to know whom they follow in these deuotions when as it is a mayne Argument vrged by Bellarmine Bell. lib. 1. de Mâ—ssa c. 20. that Altars and Sacrifices were vsed by the Gentiles therefore they must still be retayned by Christians I know not what antiquitie they pretend nor what they can find in the Primitiue Church to proue the lawfulnesse of them we denie not but that the Fathers might terme the Table of the Lords Supper an Altar and that first in respect of the similitude it hath to the Altars of the old Testament for that on it are placed the Sacraments of Christs Body which before was figuratiuely offered vp by the Priest vpon the Altar Secondly because on it were laid the Oblations Offerings which well disposed people were wont to bestow vpon the Poore and this wee will grant them but that there were any such Altars in vse in the Primitiue Church as they pretend we absolutly denie We haue an high Priest saith the Author to the Hebrewes who needeth not daily as those Priests to offer sacrifice Heb. 9.25 nor that he should offer himselfe often as the high Priest entreth into the holy place euery yeere with the bloud of others for then must he often haue suffered since the foundation of the World but now once in the end of the World hath he appeared to put away sinne by the sacrifice of himselfe Chap. 9. v. 25 28. Well then Altars of stone and metals are
exemplifies two wayes principally Viz. First Negatiuely in declaring what hee was not I was no Prophet neither was I a Prophets Son Viz. Secondly Affirmatiuely in declaring what he was but I was an Heardman and a gatherer of Sycomore fruit In the Negatiue we may consider the termes first absolutely in themselues A Prophet a Prophets Sonne Secondly with relation to Amos I was no Prophet I was no Prophets Sonne In the Affirmatiue we may obserue likewise if the time could permit the Trades hee was of the one about Cattell I was an Heardman the other about the fruits of the earth I was a gatherer of Sycomore fruit And now haue I presented before your eyes the Inauguration or Generation rather if I may speake Physically in a Diuine subiect of a Prophet his progresse à non esse adesse his terminus à quo ad quem it is a sampler of our new birth in Christ where the Author of all Prophesie by the anoynting Oyle of his Spirit takes vs from amongst the heards whose companions wee are by imitation and the Sycomores or wild Fig-trees of whose lineage we are become by barrennesse and degeneration and enrols vs in the lists of his Prophets He which lifted Amos from an Heardsmans banke to a Prophets Chaire eleuate our earthly thoughts from such Obiects to the Chaire of Prophesie and confirme his Calling as effectually by the power of his Word as his Word by the Miracle of his Calling whilest first I treate of the termes absolutely in themselues which here are negatiuely spoken of him and come in the first place to bee handled A Prophet a Prophets Sonne Thirdly the word Prophet hath euer enioyed a sacred and religious vse and although the Heathens were guiltie of that Sacrilege that they stole it from the Church to adorne their Poets with it yet in its owne right it still contayned it selfe within the Arke of the Couenant and the Offices of the Sanctuary and in them receiued a three-fold acception For first and most vsually it noted that extraordinary Calling of those which attayned to the knowledge eyther of things to come or otherwise mysteries aboue the Spheare of mans naturall apprehension by Diuine Reuelation And in this classis or ranke sit the Prophets which were the Penmen of holy Writ Secondly It signified one which celebrated the honour of God in Hymnes and Psalmes and Musicall Iustruments and so Dauid erecting or preparing rather a Quire for the Temple is said to separate the sonnes of Asaph and of Heman and of Iedulthion who should prophesie with Harpes with Psalteries and with Cymbals 1. Chron. 25. Thirdly it pointed out any one as hee was an Expounder and Interpreter of the Law and so of Aaron it is said Exod. 7. That hee should bee Moses Prophet which Iunius and Tremelius render constitui Aaronem vt esset interpres tuus and in this sense Saint Paul opposeth Prophesie as an ordinary gift to that extraordinary gift of Tongues 1. Cor. 14. making Prophets and Doctors of the Church saith Mercer to be Synonima's and of equiualent sense Now relatiues being best knowne by their correlatiues the surest way to find out the meaning of this word Prophet in my Text will be by his sonnes quaelis filius talis pater Like son like father A Prophets sonne in the old Testament is not the sonne of a Prophet so termed for generation or adoption no this were to hold the graces of God in fee simple and to entaile them to a Stocke or Linage but for institution and education sake They are mentioned sundry times in the Bookes of Kings and by the circumstances of the places as also the concurrence of Interpreters are found to be nothing else but young Students trained vp vnder religious and learned Teachers as in Schooles and Accademies of pietie A Prophet then in this place by the nature of relatiues is the Master or Teacher and a Prophets sonne the Scholer and Auditor in a Vniuersitie Yet giue me leaue to affirme the roote of a Prophet in my Text I speake not grammatically for this is denied by many but historically to bee Prophets inspired who haue as it seemes bequeathed the name of Prophet vpon such Instructors as these because they were the Founders of the Order and their Predecessors in the Chaire For whom doe we find standing ouer the Prophets in that illustrious Schoole of Nayoth but Samuel 1. Sam. 19. whom ouer the Colledges in Bethel Ierico and Gilgal but first Elias and after him Elisha 2. Kin. 2. and fourth Chapter So that the Office and function of Teachers in Schooles being adorned with that sacred title of Prophet and the Chaire consecrated by the Prophets themselues who were the King of Heauens Professors in those most ancient Accademies of the Prophets sons warrants me to inferre the institution and erection of Schooles or to speake plainely of Vniuersities the ordination of Masters and Instructers in the same the cōcourse of Youth reduced vnder a certain prescript of Discipline therein not to be a plot as some imagine of human inuention but sacred and of Diuine institution Vide Iohan Regij Dantiscani Doruss orat 2. de comparatione Paradisi Gen. 3.8 And indeed where shal we begin not discouer some Athenian ruines What was Paradice before the fall of our first Parents but a glorious Schoole wherin magnus ille peripateticus God who was heard walking in the Garden did till that time possesse the Chaire What was the Euening Gen. 2.19 wherein Adam gaue names to creatures according to their Natures but a Phylosophicall vespers Gen. 3.1 What the conference with the Serpent but a disputation where such was the fortune of the day that the Serpent which before was but allowed to aske a Placet and dispute an argument vpon the victorie then gotten mounted the Chayre euer since opened Schooles of his owne Good cause then had the Church to be as sedulous and careful in building staire-cases for Heauen as the Deuill in digging descents to Hell And do you think it was not Ioseph antiq Iudaic. l. 3. cap. 2. Caine saith Iosephus found out the Art of Weights and Measures Iabal the Architecture of those dayes he was the Father of all such as dwell in tents saith the Scripture Iubal inuented Musick Gen. 4.20.21.22 hee was the Father of all such as handle the Harpe and Organ And Tubalcaine an instructer of euery Artificer in Brasse and Iron Thus was there a mixt Accademy of Mechanicks and Mathematicks erected within the Serpents Pale The Deuil might here bragge as much as Endemon Endaem in Causab or any Iesuite penes se esse imperium litterarum that the Empire of Learning was within his Dominion It had been no disgrace to the Church to say these were their Drudges to make Instruments and Tooles for them to imploy in the maine worke to wit in the doctrine of true Religion as it is no disgrace to a
The Soule of euery one comes as naked into the world as his Bodie not hauing so much freedome as to set open Shop in the meanest Trade without seruing an apprentiship That which the Poets faigne of some that they became most learned solo Musaruni Apollinis afflatu hath a Poeticall licence for its Pasport it was the priuiledge of those Legats à latere in the new Testament the Apostles and the truely Apostolicall Nuncio's Matth. 10.19 the Euangelists when they were brought before Kings to speake their embassage without conning and though saith Austen August de doct Christ in proâ—og de doctr Christ it be reported that Saint Anthonie could without any knowledge of Letters repeate the whole Scriptures by heart and that a Christian bond-slaue obtained by three daies praiers to reade any booke at the first view yet vpon these relations should no man looke to bee rapt vp with S. Paul into the third Heauen or expect a parly with our Sauiour of his instruction No beloued God hath founded his Schoole on Earth and the Lecturers in Ordinarie to whom hee sends vs for our lessons are men Cornelius though an Angell certifies him his praiers found their acceptance with God yet to reade vnto him the Doctrine of his Redemption the Angell meddles not with the taske but refers him to Peter Act. 10. The Eunuch plods vpon the prophesies of Esay and God like a tender Master lookes vpon him with the eyes of compassion yet he neither speakes to him himselfe nor dispatcheth a winged Messenger from Heauen to informe him but sets Philip like a speaking Commentarie in the way to be his Guide Act. 8. Saint Paul found that grace to bee spoken vnto by Christ and to haue that sweet Oratorie of our blessed Sauiour sollicite him in his iourney but it was onely a generall summon if Paul thou wilt know particularly what thou must doe Get thee into the Citie and there Ananias shall tell thee Act. 9. The ends hereof are many to procure honour and respect to teaching to make vs the true Temples of the holy Ghost by deliuering his Oracles and lastly to open a doore for Charitie to diffuse and communicate the rich treasures of Knowledge to others This made the most excellent and most renowned in both testaments for learning both acquisite and infused to propose their owne education in this kind vnto others for a rule to imitate Ioshua vnder Moses Samuel vnder Eli Elisha vnder Elias Salomon vnder Nathan Baruch vnder Ieremie Timothy vnder Paul and the Apostles themselues as domestick Disciples vnder our Sauiour were first trained vp before they were sent out to preach Nay that most glorious Redeemer which is the sole founder of this propheticall Order that chiefe corner Stone vpon which wee build and to whose meritorius intercession vnto his Father we owe this sacred Charter in my Text made choice Luk. 2. of the Hierosolymitan Academie and of all times their Acts as it seemes to bee the entrance and presage of his future Ministerie there is hee found for his place in medio Doctorum in the midst of the Doctors for his gestures a true Academick a perfect Schooleman obseruing the formes of the Schooles in his Questions and Answeres Was it that hee would recommend vnto vs from his owne practice the trayning vp of youth in these exercises and in this method or that withall he gaue the World hereby to vnderstand that he offers himselfe first this being as it were the first fruits of his propheticall office to the Prophets and Prophets sonnes such as in the Schoole of pietie are industrious and vigilant in the purchase of Knowledge vnlesse this also may be added for the honour of the Prophets that he was first saluted God and Man Matth. 2. by the Wise-men of the East and presented in the Temple with the stile of Illuminate Doctor by Simeon Luc. 2.25 Galat. l. 1. c. 3. whom Galatinus makes to be the Diuinitie Reader in the Hierusolymitane Vniuersitie The Fathers in the primitiue Church who were the Guardians of Christian Religion in its None-age knew well the behoofe and necessitie of this Doctrine and therefore whom preferd they to the stern of the Church but such as had not onely beene sonnes of the Prophets but also were worthy in respect of their rare and excellent learning to be Prophets themselues For from whence was Polycarp aduanced to the See of Smyrna or Irenaeus to that of Lions Iren. aduer haeres l. 3. c. 3. Euseb l. 5. c. 19. Hieron Epist 29. Socrat. hist Eccles l. 4. c. 22. Nazian Orat 2 in Iulian. in laudem Basili but as Irenaeus himselfe tells vs from that flourishing Vniuersitie of Ephesus founded by Iohn the Apostle Whence Gregorius Neocaesariensis lifted to the Pontick Bishopricke but as Socrates recites from Caesarea that renowned Schoole of Palestina Whence Nazianzen set ouer the Sasimians or Basil ouer the Capadocians but from the Athenian Academie In a word whence were Pantenus Origen Clemens Alexandrinus and so many able and victorious Captaines in that desperate and forlorne state of the Church prest forth to stand in the Gap and in the fore-front of the Battaile but from the Seminarie and Source as Saint Hierome hath it of all good Literature Hieron Catolog scriptorum Ecclesiast erected by Saint Marke himselfe in Alexandria The reason is because when wee hope to know any thing by speciall and immediate reuelation from God wee vse not to betake our selues to studie and meditation but to prayer onely and other good works nor to the most learned but to the most zealous and deuout and therefore wee are not to bee steared by such as are onely more religious and deuout then others but such as are withall more learned the holy Ghost sending vs not now as in the old Testament 2. King 22.14 to Huldahs Amos his Women and Heardsmen but to the Prophets and Prophets sonnes for the Spirit which guideth the Church vnto the consummation of the World Speaks not of it selfe but whatsoeuer it heares that doth it speake Ioh. 16. A notable lesson beloued for these Fanaticall times of ours wherein a bastardly brood discended from the loines of Montanus and his prophecesses Priscilla and Maximilla haue multiplied and encreased aboue measure and as if reuelations were parcells of their Trade Heardsmen haue stept in to the Pulpit with Amos thinking this warrant sufficient that they can say with him Non Propheta eram neque filius Prophetae I was no Prophet neither was I the sonne of a Prophet I will passe by the Swinckfeldians and Libertines Sleidan Comment l. 10. Meshou Hist Anabaptist out of whose camps Storkius in Saxonie Shackerus in Heluetia and that Leiden Botcher in Munster laid siege to the very roote of Christian institution by fostering this opinatiue inspiration because with such Innouators as destroyed the Principles of Faith and tooke away the common Medium
sense and meaning when they say God left not himselfe without witnesse wee must note that the witnesse which is here vnderstood is the witnesse of Nature and the thing witnessed is God displayed by his workes of nature the mayne doubt concernes the extent of this knowledge quantum Deitatis how much of the Godhead may be knowne of vs by this witnesse of Nature To decide this controuersie wee must obserue that the knowledge of God is two-fold either of him as he is considered in himselfe or as he is considered in his workes as in himselfe so either of his essence or of his persons as in his workes so likewise it is either of his workes of Creation or his workes of Redemption As for him considered in his persons or in his workes of Redemption I take that the witnesse which is here implied in as much as it confines it selfe to the light of Nature extends not further then to yeeld limilies to illustrate them Tho. part 1. q. 32. art 1. or as Thomas sayth of these points sufficit probare non esse impossibile quod sides praedicat it is enough if wee can proue that those things are not impossible which Faith preacheth For first concerning the workes of Redemption almost all Diuines doe assent and agree in this that Quamuis homo norit Deum esse Morn de verit relig c. 27. esse optimum maximum non norit tamen patrem in filio reconciliatum though Man by nature knowes that there is a God and that this God is goodnesse it selfe yet the Father reconciled in the Sonne he knowes not It was a wonder vnto the blessed Angels much more is it a mysterie vnto naturall men And touching the doctrine of the three Persons Thomas in the place aboue cited resolues vs plainly that per rationem naturalem cognosci possint de Deo ea tantum quae pertinent ad vnitatem essentiae non autem ea quae pertinent ad distinctionem personarum by the light of nature onely those things may bee knowne of God which concerne the vnitie of his essence not those which concerne the distinction of persons Many I confesse haue ransackt Nature for Mediums to perswade this doctrine of the Trinitie Morn de verit relig c. 5. one tells vs that a Spring begets a Riuer and that from both are deriued smaller Brookes all which yet make but one Water another shewes a Roote from which rises a Bodie and from thence Branches and yet all make but one Tree some more subtile Philosophers produce a Man which in one Soule hath three faculties and yet all these if wee beleeue the Scotists doe differ but formally from the Soule no not at all if wee beleeue the Nominals But this makes not any thing to denie the defects of this witnesse of Nature in respect of this high mysterie for who knowes not that Naturall reason is one thing as it is nuda bare and naked in it selfe an other thing as it is vestita adorned and clothed with higher gifts one thing being considered sine indumento without the ornaments and perfections which the knowledge of God out of the Scripture giues vnto it another thing as it is considered cum indumento being inuested with that light which the Word written like the Sun darting his beames vpon the Moone reflect vpon it before it can shine towards vs. The former way Natures resemblances of the Trinitie are not of such power and force as that by them a man in puris naturalibus constitutus being left to the light of Nature onely should bee able to come to the knowledge of that incomprehensible depth no more sayth Philip Mornay in his fifth Chapter De veritate Religionis then cyphering Characters can shew him the summe they import which was neuer instructed in their vse though being considered cum indumento with their perfections and additions which they receiue from the light of the Scripture they make easie that doctrine being to that purpose inuented by those sayth one qui prius crediderunt quam intellexerunt who did first beleeue before they vnderstood But though these mysteries of the Trinitie and of our Redemption wrought by that incarnate Sonne of God Christ Iesus are so remote from this witnesse of Nature yet in points concerning the essence of God in generall or his workes of Creation not illustrations onely or a bare fame may be had from the light of Nature as Socinus Ostorodius and the like Samosatenian Atheists in Polonie doe affirme but also demonstrations and direct conclusions may be deduced The doctrine therefore which our Apostles in my Text doe insinuate vnto vs when they say that God left not himselfe to the Gentiles without witnesse must needs be this That so much may be knowne of God by the witnesse of Nature as is sufficient to confirme vnto vs though not his Persons or workes of Redemption yet his Godhead and also his handie-worke in creating and gouerning of the World God is in himselfe inuisible and yet The inuisible things of him sayth the Apostle Rom. 1.20 that is his eternall Power and Godhead are seene by the creation of the World being considered in his workes To resolue the members of which Verse were to propose vnto you a whole systeme of naturall Diuinitie each part being a scale sayth Beza which whosoeuer will ascend Beza in annot ad loc may by it attaine to the knowledge of Gods eternall Power and Diuinitie O God when I consider the workes of thine hands the Sun and the Moone which thou hast created and that all things which are comprised within the circumference of them doe receiue their being and perfection from thee alone how can I chuse but assent that thou thy selfe art most perfect most essentiall when I confesse that thou art the prime cause and first moouer of all things reason were no reason if from hence it concluded not that there is nothing left which can moue thee or make thee mutable when thou alone madest the fabrike of the World by thy mightie power doest now sway each iota thereof by the Scepter of thy Word it were sacriledge should I say thou wert not a Spirit and that for time eternall for place euery where for power omnipotent Now when in Nature there can bee but one most perfect one immutable one infinite and omnipotent Essence let it not be presumption if I goe a little farther and inferre that thou O God and none but thou which dost these things art that one most perfect immutable infinite and omnipotent Essence Thus you may perceiue what wings Nature hath yet affoorded Man to soare aloft if hee would but prye into that glorious Cabinet of heauenly treasure if wee looke into the foure last Chapters of Iob we shall see God himselfe as it were reading a lecture of these workes of Nature that by them he might demonstrate his wisedome and by them his power and prouidence might bee conceiued The old
haue I deriued the race of our Prophets and Prophets sonnes through the whole volume almost of sacred Writ I find yet farther a forme of a Scholasticall exercise and though not a Sylogisticall yet an Oratoricall disputation mentioned by Saint Paul 1. Cor. 14. together with the Lawes prescribed and the stile of Prophet retained still with it Let the Prophets speake two or three and let the other iudge which giues a glimpse at least if not an authentike warrant for a Christian Schoole Zanch. orat de conseru in Eccles puro Dei verbo thus much Zanchius bids mee say that wheresoeuer you find Catechizing mentioned by the Apostle you may affirme that there was training vp of Youth in this Discipline and such saith he was at Antioch whereof Barnabas was Teacher Acts 13. and this Schoole was extant in the time of Constantine the great And so hauing seene the Doctrinalls of this Prophet and Prophets sonne in my Text le ts see what vse and application wee may frame thereof vnto our selues You see beloued here in my Text an Vniuersity Charter dated from Heauen confirmed by the High Parliament of the sacred Trinitie and the wordes and stile of the foundation exprest by those most glorious titles of Prophets and Prophets Children Other dignities are borowed from the world and the world may challenge its owne againe but this one priuiledge to bee Prophets and Prophets Children is the phrase of the Court aboue it is the language of the Spirit of God and this none can take from vs. If we be religious in preseruing the Liberties and Immunities granted vs by the Princes of the earth we should be sacriligious in neglecting this which proceeds from the King of Heauen t is high impietie to haue one word of this raz'd or one tittle alter'd it must bee ingrost not with letters of inke but in the Characters of mans life our actions and professions that whosoeuer can vnderstand may reade and whosoeuer reade may find as it were engrauen in the liuing frontispiece of this our body prophetas prophetarum filios both Prophets and Prophets sonnes First Prophets and that is when in the Schooles wee haue no other Regents then the Prophets themselues and this libertie wee haue recouered againe which once was lost 1. Kin. 19.2 1. Ki. 18.13 when the Roman Iesabel forced Elias to flie and the Prophets to hide themselues to keep their Acts in Caues and confine their intertainement to bread and water they are now thanks bee to God returned from exile and possesse their ancient places and here I turne to those who lothing the beautie of their natiue Soyle vpbraide vs with defects and imperfections in our Nurseries extolling the superficiall and histrionical teaching of the Iesuits with the title of Methode and Expedition the barbarousnesse of the Friers with the appellation of solliditie and soundnesse and aske what are those ballances in which they weigh the ware of these men I am sure there neuer wanted on our side a Dauid to encounter the stoutest Goliah which they could bring into the field thus much my Text warrants me to say that where the oldway of which Ieremy speakes Ier. 6.16 is not stood vpon but via Thomae the way of Thomas as the Dominicans speake and via Scoti the way of Scotus as the Franciscans where the Masters of the Sentences are not the Prophets but Peter Lumbard growes to bee a Text where Moses lies as in Popish conuenticles at the Popes feete and he vsurpes his Chaire they may haue a trunke or case of an Accademy but the soule and life of it which are Moses and the Prophets is departed they haue forfeited the priuiledges giuen them by God and let them vsurp what Angelicall or sublimated titles they please the best of them can say of himselfe no otherwise then Amos heere whilest he was an Heardsman non sum propheta I am no Prophet And if the case stands so with the Master that hee hath this sacred name of a Prophet pind on his sleeue for a monitor how doth the Prophets sonne reflect vpon the Scholer Doubtlesse no otherwise then a picture doth vpon him that it represents I may almost say as a definition vpon that which it defines For not to speake with that rigor in Logick a sonne may analogically be the matter and a Prophet the forme the one the genus the other the differentia in the definition of a Scholer or Disciple Take the common qualities of a sonne with the restringent qualifications of a Prophet and they make that sweete harmonie which the Psalmist found in Brethren that dwell together in vnitie For as a naturall father begets the body of his sonne so a Prophet informes the soule of him and no lesse restores that life which Adam lost then the other that which it neuer had Againe as our earthly Parents communicate their worldly goods so these spirituall Parents the Prophets their spirituall treasures to their sonnes and make them heires not by halues as the Pope but of all that they haue And lastly as a naturall sonne is a part of his fathers family so whosoeuer is truly the sonne of a Prophet is incorporated into the family of a Prophet submits himselfe to liue in ranke and place and obedience of a sonne if otherwise he either takes the Cell and Hermitage he liues in to bee a Kings Palace and a Schoole of fashions or with cursed Esau contemnes his Birth-right Gen. 25.34 and sells his Fathers inheritance for pottage hee is no true sonne of a Prophet but an embrio an abortiue fruite a Changling or rather a Cucko hatcht in his neast making perhaps a ridiculous singing in the Spring and May-time of his life stammering for good reason before the Summer of it in the Autumne dumbe and when the Winter of old age approacheth taking no other thought then how to shroud his nakednesse in some obscure hole from the sight of the world The consideration hereof should rouse vp beloued euery one in his seuerall place to looke about him and see in what ranke he is ordered what is required of him and how strict an account of so high a Calling wee must make For if Vices once ascend Gibha the Hill of God where shall they not enter If Sathan plant ill manners in the most eminent place of the Church in the houses of Prophets what will he not doe in priuate Families Samuel the first builder wee reade of Colledges calleth his Colledge Naioth that is 1. Sam. 19. euen beautie itselfe now a small spot in beautie is a great blemish againe Colledges are Epitomes of the Common-wealth as Athens was of Greece and what a thing were it in an Epitome to find superfluitie Vniuersities are the Eyes of a Kingdome and a Mote in the eye is a great trouble briefly Ezech. 47. Barad in coâ—cord hist Fuang Tom 1. li. 2. cap. 6. they be Ezechiels Rockes or Bayes where Salt is
Heardsmen and gatherers of Sycomore fruit which is the affirmatiue condition or state of Amos and should come next to be handled But as to treat of Heardsmen is a point of husbandrie beyond the spheare of my profession and an admitting of them without licence from the Patriark of Philosophers Arist Polit. lib. 7. c. 9. first obtained within the precincts of the Chaire so were it to conspire with Amaziah the Priest in remouing our Prophet from Bethel to present him before you in the Plaines of Techoah amidst his flocks Amos 1. ◠and I cannot tell besides the vnseasonablenesse of the day for so long a iourney whether the learned palates of my Auditors could rellish such homely entertainment as those barren Desarts doe here in my Text promise of a dish of Sycomore fruits though it were of Amos his gathering I will therefore keep home for this time and circumscribe my Meditations within this present circle of the Prophets and Prophets sons And so to GOD the Father GOD the Sonne and GOD the Holy Ghost bee rendred all Honour and Glorie Might Maiestie and Dominion from this time forth for euermore Amen EPHESVS COMMON PLEAS Handled In a Sermon before the Iudges in Saint MARIES at the Assises held at OXFORD in Lent An. 1618. By ED. CHALONER Doctor of Diuinitie and Fellow of ALL-SOVLES Colledge in OXFORD London Printed by W. STANSBY 1623. EPHESVS COMMON PLEAS ACT. 19.38 Wherefore if DEMETRIVS and the Craftsmen which are with him haue a matter against any man the law is open and there are deputies let them implead one another HE which shall peruse the Annals of the Apostles shall find Sathan not like a Sage of the more ancient and better times apparelled still in one and the same fashion but in a copious Ward-robe no lesse attyring himselfe in change of sutes then Proteus amongst the Poets was painted out in varietie of hapes At Lystria he appenres like a Commediun Act. 14.12 Plautus Amphit as if a Scene of Plautus were to bee presented vpon the Stage would haue Iupiter and Mercurie bee thought to act the parts of Paul and Barnabas At Antioch he comes like a Iesuite with Traditions in his mouth Act. 15.1 and would choake the proceedings of the Gospell by the mixture of abolished Ceremonies At Athens hee sallies out of the Schooles like a Philosopher Act. 17. and vnder the habite of a Stoike or Epicure playes the Sophister here at Ephesus he presents himselfe in his Apron like an Artificer and yet surely of all these I know not wherein hee shewed more Arte and Cunning either then when hee masked vnder the Philosophers Gowne at Athens or now when hee makes himselfe no better then a Townes-man of Ephesus I am not ignorant what Sectes Philosophie hath beene distracted into at Athens nor what contentions haue arisen amongst the professors of each part witnesse the heart-burning which sometimes Aristotle cannot dissemble against Plato but the fray still ended with words neither was Saint Paul more discourteously entertained amongst them then with scoffes or sarcasmes What will this Babler say or Act. 17. Wee will hears thee againe of this matter In the conclaue of these Mechannickes the wits of Hell are scraped to the vttermost for a plot to ruine him Profit and Commoditie the most potent arguments of Rhetoricke are cull'd out Vers 27. by this man our Craft is in danger 〈◊〉 be set at nought and if by great chance Religion lurke in the skirt of some mans Conscience then a Climax promotes the businesse and the Theam◠is aggrauated from an amicle of their Creed the Temple of the great Goddesse Diana is despised by him and her Magnificencie is destroyed whom all Asia and the World worshippeth Demetrius a Siluer-smith by Trade that thus artificially blew the coales of commotion amongst his Fellow-artificers and one that made as the Text tells vs siluer Shrines for Diana yet pardon mee if I thinke not more curious in making of those Shrines then in the composure of this Oration Plin. l. 36. c. 14. What the Temple of Diana vilified and set at nought a place so magnificent for the structure hauing been as Plinie relates it two hundred twentie yeeres in building so renowned for the Oracles of the Goddesse so magnified for the Image supposed fallen downe from Iupiter V. 35. so honoured by the Oblations of all the Astatike Potentates no maruaile if the violence of these blasts shake the foundations of Ephesus Solin Polyhist c. 52. Plin. lib. 2. c. 84. and the Citie so subiect as Geographers relate to the rackings and tremblings of the inferiour Element doe now feele and vnwonted and vnheard of Earth-quake in the bowels of her Inhabitants And thinke it as soon done as said onely passe forwards if you please and imagine this done what place such a mixrand heady multitude would picke out to breath forth those sulphurious and restlesse vapours which disquiet them within But my Storie trauailes to your conceit when in briefe it names the Theater a place so dissonant to deliberat consultations and indeed to the acts of the reasonable facultie that wee may well hold those Commentators excused if they erre who would haue this Day to haue beene the Time and this Assemblie in the Theater the Beasts which Saint Paul in the 1. Cor. Theophilact in 1. Cor. 15 Thom. Gloss Haimo Carthus Bruno Anselm is said to haue fought with at Ephesus after the manner of men Let me spare for breuitie sake other passages of the Storie the Ephesians acclamations Saint Pauls couragious resolution his friends discreet counsel Alexander the Iewes enterprise and obscrue what my Text leads mee vnto The Towne-clerkes demeanour in stilling the vproare And here may you behold a Map of a perfect Polititian The commotion and insurrection he would allay and Paul with his associat for I know not what affection he would refine but the meanes he stands not vpon whether by reconciling the fabulous originall of Diana's Image or by an vniust excuse of Pauls companions that they were not speakers against their Goddesse This was not the desire of these Saints to be freed by such Pleas Paul thou hadst lost thine honour and Demetrius had wonne the day if thou hadst payed so deare for thy libertie The titles and names wherein thou now liuest had here perished and breathed their last hadst thou consented to redeeme thy safetie by such an Aduocate But see our Orator is somewhat mended he ends better then hee beginnes reseruing his weightiest stroakes for the fare-well of his speech where hee satisfies Passion with Reason Furie with Iustice and in my Text diuerts the rapid streame of an hare-brain'd Assembly by presenting the maiesty of an Assises or Sessions where you may obserue viz. First A producing of accusers Demetrius and the Crafts-men viz. Secondly Directions for their hearing The law is open and there are Deputies viz. Thirdly A prescription or
caught with such fallacies but it was amongst the posterity of Cain which the sixt of Gen. distinguishing from the seede of faithfull Seth to shew what wee should expect from them stiles with the name of the sonnes of men Amongst these Caine himselfe was the first Scholler Gâ—n 4.8 that practised this Art who slaying his Brother Abel seemes to haue layd downe some rough hewed principles thereof but because hee did it not vpon termes of honour in that hee drew Abel abroad guilefully and slue him at too much oddes Gen. 4.23 Lamech his sonne refined the Art and brought it to that acutenesse and subtilitie which wee see it hath at this day hee slue a man to his wounding and a young man to his hurt Cains murder no doubt was detestable to all his kindred for besides that hee shewed himselfe to be his Fathers own Sonne killing his brother as the other did his whole posteritie he did it grosso modo basely but Lamech perhaps seeing the reproach of Cain painted the face of that vgly monster reuenge with the beautifull colours of Fortitude yet in this Action of his we may note two circumstances the one that hee dared not make any of the Sages of his time iudges of his picture but his Wiues who could not bee thought skilfull in martiall Lawes heare my voice ye Wiues of Lamech hearken vnto my speech the other that his conscience told him a presumptuous and brauing murder to be as odious in Gods sight as an insidious If Cain shall be auenged seuen fold truly Lamech seuentie seuen fold Gen. 4.24 The example of Dauids Combat with Goliah 1. Sam. 17. makes nothing for their purpose for besides that he was licenced by Saul the King to enterprise this action all writers doe agree that hee did it by an immediate instinct from God wheras these do it by an immediate instinct from the Deuill Nor of greater moment is the Combat mentioned betweene twelue of the Tribe of Beniamin 2. Sam. 2. and twelue of the seruants of Dauid for besides that these were authorised hereunto by two Generalls of either side Valent. Nauar Caiet vtsup Abner and Ioab Valentia doubts much whether it be lawfull at all for a Generall to make so bloudy an action the subiect of a spectacle Caietan condemnes it Nauarre allowes it no way vnlesse it be to winne an opinion of strength and courage in the one side and so to dishearten the other as the fall of Goliah did the whole Armie of the Philistins so that vnlesse our Duelists will pretend more subtiltie then the Schoole-men themselues I cannot see any thing in the Scriptures that can auaile them Mat. 26.51 Some bring in here Peter smiting off Malchus his eare with his Sword but this Bellarmine makes to be none of the eight and twentie prerogatiues of Saint Peter nor can more warrant this cause then the denying of his Master can bee a warrant sufficient for the Pope his pretended successor to do the like Nay in his third Booke de Laicis and two and twentieth Chapter he confesseth this Action of Peters to bee iustly reprehended by our Sauiour because it was done by priuate authoritie besides an other goodly reason which I cannot omit tunc enim Petro nondum Pontifex sed discipulus erat for that Peter was then only a priuate Disciple and not Pope So then by his reason it were a laudable thing in the Pope to play the Swordman to smite off not the eares only of his subiects that they may not heare the Scriptures read in a tongue knowne for this hee doth but to cut off the heads of all powers that dare oppose his temporall Monarchie I might here say with Saint Bernard quid tu denuo vsurpare gladium tentas Bernard lib. 4. de consideratione quem semel iussus es ponere in vaginam why dost thou attempt to handle that Sword which once thou wert commanded to put vp into the scabbard Why doth the Tradentine councell excommunicate Concil Trident sess 25. c. 19. euen the spectators of single combates when thou canonizest the actors and plotters of heynours murders But admit that these challenges did not contradict the Lawes of God nor abrogate the authoritie of the Magistrate to whom the execution of Iustice appertaineth yet le ts consider the little satisfaction which can arise from these Duels to the party wronged And because there is a new kind of philosophie inuented for this practice I wil examine it acording to the grounds of Philosophie vsually deliuered that so those which are now trained vp among vs may when they come into the world remember how farre differing these combates are from those rudiments which they once embraced A man you know hath diuers considerations either in generall whereby hee may bee wronged in his Naturals by terming him dull heauy or sottish in his Moralls by stiling him dishonest intemperate or couetous in his Politickes by branding him with Traytor or Violator of the Law or else a man may come to bee considered in some particular science or profession which hee is of as Diuine Lawyer Phisician Trades-man or the like Now let mee aske the question when a man chanceth to bee wronged any of these wayes how doth the Field redeeme his credit which hee thinkes is diminished Lying Couzenage or Folly is obiected to you and you would disproue it in single sight hereby indeed you argue your selfe if you vanquish to be a better fencer then the other or more nimble and strong but who obiected a want of these things vnto you who cast a defect of them in your teeth Opposita must bee ad idem you cleare your selfe of that which was neuer obiected to you that which you were vpbraided with that you answer not no more then if two Painters should contend about their skil in painting and he should bee preferred which ouercame at the point of weapon But some will say is single fight therefore wholly vnlawfull I le vnfold my paradoxe in few words single Combats are not onely lawfull but also necessarie but what Combats are they why such as are performed by weapons sutable to the quarrell if the contention be about cunning and skill shew by skill and cunning that the victorie ought to fall on thy side if about honesty let honesty by actions proportionable to it selfe vanqiush the accuser if about wisdome let discreet proceedings quell the spirit of the ditractor if about Religion let Deuotion Sanctitie Obedience Patitience and Charitie enter the lists and fight for thee Here thou dost all things contrary to reason thou stormest that thou art not held vertuous and in this action declarest that thou canst no more moderate thy affections then a mad beast thou frettest that any conceiue thy reputation to be weak or sick and in this remedie thou discouerest thy selfe like an vnsound bodie which no sore is touched but cries out thou wouldest make thine aduersarie repent him
it or deferre it till his rooting vp of the Tares and winnowing the Chaffe from the Wheat It is an excellent saying of Chrysostomes in his sixe and fortieth Homilie ad populum Antiochenum God doth neither exact punishment of all men in this life lest thou shouldest despaire of a Resurrection and desist to expect a future Iudgement neither doth he suffer all men to goe vnpunished lest thou shouldest surmise his prouidence to be deficient but he punisheth and doth not punish in that he punisheth hee awakens the Sluggard with lessoning him that euen heere hee taketh notice and account of his offences in that he doth not punish hee summons the Insolent to a more fearefull Assises and strict Iudgement to come Thus haue I detayned you as Soiourners in a strange Land you haue all this while trauailed in the East where to your eyes haue beene presented the Iustices and Tribunals of Ephesus It might bee here expected that hauing finished this as I may well feare so tedious and irksome a voyage I should in the Port where our Ship is now arriued make some collation and application of that which in those remote Countries wee haue discouered I must confesse that the Climate is not the same the Meridians diuers the Cities many Degrees distant the one sometimes the Metropolis of lesser Asia the other at this time the Light and Pharos of great Brittanie And truely amongst other accidents wherein I cannot but note a great difference this is not the least vnremarkable that in the same cause which the Towne-clerke and my selfe haue vndertaken to manage my felicitie hath surmounted his in that my Auditors haue not been Demetrius or the Craftsmen in a turbulent Theater but the Pillars of peace and quiet in a Sanctuarie of Pietie where if my weake oratorie hath beene deficient the presence of Iustice hath I doubt not engrafted that which my Text aymes at with a silent Sermon and reall perswasion of its owne I shall thinke mine owne taske sufficiently discharged if I haue in such wise vnfolded the points deliuered that without much difficultie your selues may be so farre Preachers as to make the vses and applications your owne the Time suites the Occasion suggests my Text directs If Demetrius and the Crafts-men haue a matter against any man the law is open and there are Deputies let them implead one another To GOD the Father GOD the Sonne and GOD the Holy Ghost one essence and three Persons be rendred all Praise Honour and Glorie Might Maiestie and Dominion from this time forth for euermore Amen IVDAHS PREROGATIVES Deliuered In a Sermon at Saint MARIES in Oxford vpon the foure and twentieth of March being the day of thanks-giuing for his MAIESTIES happie and prosperous succession to this his Crowne of England c. An. 1619. By EDW. CHALONER Doctor of of Diuinitie and Fellow of ALSOVLES Colledge in OXFORD LONDON Printed by W. STANSBY 1623. IVDAHS PREROGATIVES IVDG 1. Vers 1. Now after the death of Iosua it came to passe that the children of Israel asked the Lord saying who shall goe vp for vs against the Canaanites first to fight against them and the Lord said Iudah shall goe vp GOD which created Man of the dust of the Earth hath in his Schoole of Nature framed a discipline so proper for our weake capacities and vsed a method therein so sutable and correspondent to our inbred dulnes that our meditations which Serpent-like feed vpon the dust or as Narcissus consume their very marrow vpon that earthly Cottage which they inhabite should not want euen there volumes I may say wherein to reade most excellent admonitions of our frailty as necessarie dependance vpon him In euery person are they engrauen in ordinarie Characters and in a lesser print so the Sonne hath them to view in the decease of his Father the Husband in the departure of his Wife the Seruant in the losse of his Master but they seeme to be written in Capitall letters in Funerals of Princes wherein as in one common booke the subiect reads not oftentimes so much his Princes as his owne mortalitie The Tribes of Israel might well hang vp their Harpes vpon the Willowes erect Banners of Sable and crie Alas that Moses alas that Iosua our victorious Captaines are dead and this they might well doe in remembrance of what was past but let them reflect an eye vpon the state and condition they are now in let them from the top of Nebo discouer the potencie of their Enemies whom they had incensed the Cities whose walls mounted to Heauen which they were to besiege the Giants and Monsters of men whom they were to encounter and lastly their owne dis-joynted and confused regiment being as Sheepe without a Shepheard and they might now with teares confesse that in out-liuing them they suruiued but their owne obsequies and that it had beene good that either these men had been neuer borne or else that being borne they had neuer died And with this mournefull Preface doth my Text beginne the summe whereof is a passage betwixt the Children of Israel and GOD the one in distresse crauing the other in mercie adjudging who should goe vp for them in the pursute of the warres with the Canaanites Wherein for our better proceeding may it please you to obserue with mee a Petition and a Grant In the Petition we discouer Viz. First The ground or motiue of it it was an Interregnum or a Vacancie intimated in the death of Iosua Now after the death of Iosua c. Viz. Secondly Whom they petition the Lord. It came to passe the Children of Israel asked the Lord c. Viz. Thirdly What they petition Who shall goe vp for vs against the Canaanites first to fight against them c. The Grant is Who should goe vp Iudah And the Lord said Iudah shall goe vp Thus haue I set out before your eies the seuerall parts of my Text I trust that Wee which perswade our selues to bee the Israel of God and euen now iourneying to a Canaan which is aboue shall not need arguments to stirre vp our attention to listen to what befell Israel in their passage into Canaan whilest I discourse first of their Petition and that of the ground or motiue of it being an Interregnum or Vacancie intimated in the death of Ioshua and comes in the first place to be handled Now after the death of Ioshua c. Ciuill gouernement vnder a supreme Magistrate is so naturall to a State that the Common-weale which is destitute of it altogether is like to one of those mis-shapen Blemmij Iul. Solin cap. 44. whom ancient Geopraphie hath made an headlesse Nation and that which is not linckt and vnited in one ouer-topping Scepter is as a bodie each member whereof liues by a seuerall soule and is prone as in the Tale of Menenius Agrippa to ioyne in a ciuill combustion against his fellowes Liu. hist lib. 2. And both these prodigies jumped together in the State of
and against the Canaanites first and that to fight against them which is the Israelites Petition in my Text and commeth next to be handled Who shall c. Although wee cannot allow that which some Papists require that euery thing in the Scripture may haue a quadruple sense they being diuers applications rather then diuers kinds from the other yet in a good sense some things may haue a transient and ambulatorie Predicate by reason whereof they may haue a compounded literall sense one Subiect whereof may direct and point out vnto the other of greater excellencie And howsoeuer the request of the Israelites in so significatiue and prefiguratiue a subiect as the ingresse into Canaan and the specification of Iudah in the Grant enforce a speculation of the great Leader of that Tribe Iesus Christ who conducts vs into the blessed Land whereof Canaan was but a shadow yet is not this the onely sense a maine one it may be for the soule of Prophesie seemes to breath in it yet not the onely for according to the letter also we cannot denie but that originally it was meant of the personall and particular occurrences of those times The Canaanites I am sure found not the warre to conclude in tropes but in bloud and the swords of the Israelites to cut really what ere they meant figuratiuely Now as the letter sounds there is no small controuersie amongst Interpreters what the Israelites doe here meane or intend in this their Petition Some say that they craued a General or Captain ouer their whole Armie in the place and roome of Ioshua and of this opinion are most of the old Popish Commentators who follow herein the corrupt vulgar Edition which renders it Quis ascendet ante nos contra Cananaeum erit dux belli that is Who shall goe vp before vs against the Canaanite and shall be Captaine of the warre Others thinke it was who should goe vp first to fight not for the common cause but for his owne lot and these are some of our new Diuines following the translation of Iunius Quis ascendet ex nobis contra reliquum Cananaeum which of vs shall goe vp against the remainder of the Canaanites For mine owne part seeing these diuers interpretations doe proceed chiefly from the diuersity of translating I will walke in the midst and adhere to such a sense as the most authenticke translations shall suggest vnto me Now the Septuagint Hierome Arias Pagnine the Complutensian edition and our owne correct vulgar say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nobis for vs Who shall goe vp for vs So that if we collect the summe of all we shall haue a vniuersall royall and highest dignitie with which the Israelites are not here as importun'd contented but as suters importunate to haue conferred on some or other First that it should bee an highest or supremest dignitie it is plaine for it was who should bee first in warres now in warres to bee first whether in battaile or in entrie of a Citie taken is that highest honour amongst Souldiers Secondly that it should be royall for it was who should fight against the Canaanites The Land of Canaan you know was long before giuen to the Israelites but yet when one hath right possession must bee taken by order of Law now to giue possession and dispossesse another is proper onely to the chiefe Magistrate and to his Officers so that the Israelites demanding who should fight for them was as much in effect as who should exercise that royall prerogatiue of putting them in possession and displacing the Canaanites Thirdly they sue that it may be vniuersall and that in two respects the one in respect of themselues it was not who shall goe vp for himselfe but who should goe vp for vs euery bodies part as it should seeme lay therein and this Iudah performed as his taske for besides that hee conquered his owne lot in which he requested the assistance of his brother Simeon Vers 3. hee fought also for the rest as it appeareth in the 4. Verse of this Chapter where is mentioned his taking of Besek a Citie in the Tribe of Ioseph Pellican in locum noted by Pellican as an enlargement of his brethrens portions Another marke or token of this vniuersall and extended dignitie consists in the enemies of the Israelites the Canaanites Sometimes I confesse they note a particular Nation of the People inhabiting those tracts but here in my Text they designe all those Countries which the Israelites were to possesse The reason is euident for when they point out some one particular Nation amongst the rest bearing that name then doe they intimate those parts which are included within Phoenicia or neere adioyning vnto it for First who should of right more deseruedly beare the name of his father then the eldest sonne now Canaans eldest sonne was Sydon Gen. 10. and Sydon was the chiefe Citie of Phoenicia Againe all ancient Writers make the Carthaginians to be Phoenicians and the Carthaginians besides the likenesse of Speech Hieron in Esay 7. obserued by Hierome vpon that of Esay Behold a Virgin shall conceiue where he notes their congruencie in Almath a Virgin and by Austin vpon his sixteenth Question vpon Iudges who there finds their Baal a Lord and Baalsemon a Lord of Heauen to bee alike in both Languages The same Father in his Exposition begun vpon the Romans sayth that the Countrie people about Carthage being demanded what they were would answere in the Punike language Chytr in comment ad locum Procop. de bell◠Vandalic◠that they were Canaanites and Procopius reports that the People inhabiting Africa as Hercules Pillars vsed the Semiphoenician Dialect and that in Tingis a Citie built by them there were two Pillars extant with this inscription in the Phoenician Language Nos sumus Canaanaei quos fuganit Iesus latro Lastly if preseruation of a name bee authentike proofe in a Pedegree where meets our Sauiour in all his Gospell with any of that name but in Tyrus and Sydon Phoenicia's Cities Then Iesus departed into the Coasts of Tyrus and Sydon and behold a woman of Canaan came out of the same Coasts Matth. 15. So that the lot of Iudah lying not neere vnto Canaan so properly called nay Beniamin Ephraim Zabulon Ishacher Nepthali as Geographers shew lying betweene them by the Canaanite here cannot be meant any particular portion of the Land so properly called and destinated for the lot of Iudah but the whole Countrey designed by God for the Territories of all the Children of Israel who here doe ioyne in one generall petition as in a common cause concerning them all Now let me summe all together the Israelites aske of God who shall goe vp first for them therein they allow supreme dignitie they aske who shall fight it was a case of seizure and possession therein to this dignitie they ioyne a Royall authoritie Lastly they aske Who shall fight for them against the Canaanites therein they adde to
our owne Genius's Doth our stocke multiplie and increase or are our fields fatted with dew and raine from Heauen we thinke not vpon the Cause aboue but our owne prouidence or industrie here beneath these are the gods O Israel which brought thee vp out of the Land of Aegypt Exod. 32.8 Are our Garners stored with food or our hearts through any earthly promotion filled with gladnesse we goe no further what though Saturne be deiected from his Throne Plutus be confined to Hell Phehus resigne his Chariot the world yet shall want no gods to worship Wee our selues will be Iupiters and Mercuries Act. 14. come downe in the likenesse of men A shame it is for vs Christians amongst whom God should bee all in all that we can be content to attribute the most to our selues the rest to fortune Is it so that we so lately abandoned Rome and rescued our selues from the worship of the Beast and are we now relapsed againe so suddenly to a new Idolatrie Doe we thinke much to inuocate and adore those glorious Starres of the Empyriall Heauen the Saints and Angels and shall wee be so sordid as to giue diuine worship to dust and ashes Where is the zeale of the Apostles in these our dayes Whither is the godly indignation of those patternes of true humilitie proscribed I wish you not beloued as they did to rent your clothes they are but superfluities in our times rent you your hearts I desire you not to run amongst the people or to contend with a headie multitude take a shorter iourney run but to your selues crie out but to your selues and bee the first that shall witnesse to your owne soules That it is God onely which hath done you good and gaue you raine from heauen and fruitfull seasons and filled your hearts with food and gladnesse tell me whosoeuer thou beest that makest an Idoll of thy selfe hath God left himselfe without witnesse to proue in despite of pride that thou owest him for whatsoeuer good thing thou possessest tell me if thou beest so stupid as not to feele the testimonie of thine own conscience which should be a thousand witnesses vnto thee whether yet thou canst auoid the clamorous cries euen of tonguelesse creatures God hath beene bountifull vnto many Nations France may boast her fertilitie Spaine her wealth Italie her beautie and magnificence but England hath had an happie and peaceable State of long continuance vnder most gracious and vertuous Princes and these will tell thee that God hath not witnessed himselfe so to any Nation in doing good But good may many wayes bee enioyed there may bee peace at home and warre abroad plentie of gold and siluer enough to lend vnto our neighbours and yet we may haue a famine vpon our Land lightnings and hailestones to consume the fruits of the earth as it was in Aegypt but the blessed times which we haue enioyed will tell thee that he hath not left himselfe without witnesse likewise in giuing vs raine and fruitfull seasons But say we haue fruitfull seasons yet inter pocula extremaque labra multa cadunt intestine commotions may bereaue vs of our haruest forraine inuasions may make vs turne our Mattockes into Speares and our Sythes into Swords but God hath affoorded vs hitherto this testimoniall of his bountie that he left not himselfe without witnesse in filling our hearts with food also But when we haue our desire satisfied in all these that God witnesseth himselfe vnto vs in doing good many wayes in giuing vs raine and fruitfull seasons and filling our hearts with food yet for all this our Harpe may be turned into mourning and our Organ into the voice of them that weepe there may be subtile whisperings rebellious doctrines Iudas-like practices traiterous attempts vpon the pillars both of Church and Common-wealth but hee which keepeth Israel neither slumbreth nor sleepeth the wicked hee hath made to fall into the pits they inuented for others and this generation may tell it vnto another that God hath not left himselfe without witnesse vnto vs in filling our hearts with gladnesse also To him therefore the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost one God and three Persons bee rendred all Praise Honour and Glorie Might Maiestie and Dominion both now and for euermore Amen PAVLS PEREGRINATIONS OR THE TRAVELLERS GVIDE Deliuered in a Sermon at Pauls Crosse Anno 1617. BY EDWARD CHALONER Doctor of Diuinitie and Fellow of ALL-SOVLES Colledge in OXFORD LONDON Printed by W. STANSBY 1623. PAVLS Peregrinations OR The Trauellers Guide ACT. 17. VERS 23. For as I passed by and beheld your deuotions I found an Altar with this inscription to the vnknowne God I Know not how the Pens of Heathen writers haue so bewitched the iudgements of many men that euen amongst Christians themselues they haue found not a few Patrons To omit Viues and Erasmus who hauing made their Lines their Consorts and Companions in this pilgrimage on earth pronounce with no small touch of affection that one day they shall enioy likewise their sweet companie and societie in Heauen Petrarch in the third of his Inuectiues goes thus farre Se non credere aliquem de Philosophis aut Poetis idola coluisse that it cannot sinke into his thoughts that any either of the Poets or Philosophers worshipped Idols And certainly I was almost perswaded that diuine Philosophie would haue preserued her Professors from vulgar infections or at least haue wrought her Disciples to a more readie acceptance of higher mysteries till I found her Royallest Palace renowned Athens so defiled with Idols and Saint Paul himselfe so banded and oppugned by a rout of Epicures and Stoikes How it should come to passe that humane learning forgetting as it were that diuine Originall it had should vnnaturally bend it selfe against Gods Diuinitie whether because like the Sunnebeames lighting vpon grosse and earthy subiects it doth recoile back againe vpon the Fountaine and Efficient or that aspiring to discouer the secrets of the God-head and wanting the light of the Gospell to direct it the farther it wades the farther it drawes the minde of man from the marke and makes its returne the more tedious or that God to confound the wise in their wisdome and the prudent in their prudencie doth oftentimes conceale that knowledge from the Learned which he reueales to Babes and Sucklings I stand not now to discusse In no place can we haue a more notorious instance to confute that old opinion that Arts and Disciplines haue no Enemies but the Ignorant then here where wee see the noblest of Arts of Disciplines euen Diuinitie it selfe assaulted by two most famous Sects of Philosophie Euery where did Saint Paul find 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tit. 1.12 Act. 20.29 euill Beasts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and grieuous Wolues and yet I know not which seemed more difficult vnto him whether that when he fought with Beasts at Ephesus after the manner of men or this when he is encountred by Philosophers