his portract the other his person the one the cloude which contained the light of Gods Church the other the fire which shined into the cloude or to speake it more familiarlie as it were to draw this new wine out of these old vessels this oyle out of that Oliue this honey cut of that combe this corne out of that chaffe this marrow out of that bone this manna out of that pitcher this law of grace out of those Tables of damnation This word which is intellectuall and not imaginarie necessarie and not superfluous diuine and not humane certaine and not doubtfull in points necessary plaine and not obscure that from the beginning of 〈◊〉 to the Reuelation there is no other difference but of the figure and the things figured That like vnto that golden propitiatory from the which God spake described by Moses to haue two Cherubins one of euery side looking directly each vpon other And in manner of these Seraphins seene by Isai which by alternatiue voices did continually sing holie holie Euen so do those Cherubines of the old and new Testament mutually breathe out the testimonie of our great propitiation of the which Dauid saith Quia apudte Domine propitiatio est And these two Seraphins in like manner doâ—… render alternatiue ecchoes in both these Testaments of that holie holie Sauiour In such manner that it doth breed incredible ioy to a Christian heart to remarke the vniformitie and correspondence of the Spirit of God throughout the word The Scripture for Example maketh frequent mention of the waters of life to vnderstand what is ment by the waters of life in the old Testament God himselfe said to to Moses and Aaron Loquimini ad Petram istam ipsa dabit vobis aquam in the new Testament Saint Paul doth expound the mistery bibebant Patres nostri de spirituali consequente illos Petra Petra autem erat Christus was there euer any more cleerenesse or correspondency Againe it is said in Ezechiel Effundam super vos aquam mundam mundabimini ab omnibus iniquitatibus vestris And in Esai Effundam aquam supersitientem fluentia super aridam And in Zacharie Erit font patens Domui Iacob in ablutionem peccatoris menstruatae Is not that as plaine as Christ himselfe did speake it to the Samaritane woman at the same well of Iacob thereafter I giue you water to drinke after the which you shall thirst no more was there euer prophecie or exhibition more correspondent then to heare Esay crying Omnes sitientes venite ad aquas and to heare Christ himselfe answering by St. Iohn Si quis fitiat veniat ad me The law of Moses was written in Tables of stone and deliuered with horror per â—…mpadas seniâ—… Buccinae montemque fumantem saith the Text to shew the austeritie thereof and our impossibilitie to fulfill it and doth not the Gospell accord most cleerely with the same Hoc iugum neque nos neque Patres nostri pertare potuiâ—…us The law Euangelicall and of Grace was written in the flesh of the incarnate deitie to declare the softnesse and facilitie thereof according to that which was prophesied as our Sauiour himselfe doth testifie Iugum meum suaâ—…e est â—…us meum leue All which things doe shew the correspondencie and plainnesse of the holy Scriptures Lastly it is that omnipotent word where of the Apostle saith It is inspired from God and is able to make the man of God perfect in euery good worke Then seeing it is such a powerfull and perfect word shall we turne backe to Iudaisme and blinde our selues in obduration against the splendor thereof boldly affirming that it is obscure imperfect and hath neede of humane helpe how shall we be confounded in that great day being confronted with that learned Iewish Rabbin Barachia who out of consideration of this harmonie and correspondence of Gods word was forced to say in his booke intituled Medras Cobel-eth Redemptor primus Moses Redemptor vltimus Messias sicut Redemptor primus fecit ascendere puteâ—…m ita Redemptor secundus fecit ascendere aquas ad salutem And with that other Rabbin Iosue who doth directly call them the waters of Baptisme which saith he succeedeth to circumcision Qui baptizatur non circumciditur ipse erit Gher id est Gentilis conuersus ad rectam fidem So that I say for your Loto hold that this word is not sufficient to instruct you and why because it is not panis fermentatus it is not corrupted with pharisaicall traditions nor flowes not from a Church whose Prelates and members pretend that they cannot erre O but it flowes from the three persons of the God-head and is inspired from aboue as the holy Spirit doth testifie This is a sorrow neuer to be repented to maintaine that any thing other then Gods infallible incorruptible word can be without error or fault Man not to erre seeing the Prophet Dauid hath said omnis homo mendax seeing God himselfe hath said It repents mee to haue made man all the cogitations of his heart are wicked there is nothing true but God and his word as the Apostle saith Deus autem verax est sermo eius veritas What shall wee speake of men no not his very Angels be cleere in his eyes Et reperit prauitatem in Angelis suis saith Iob vnto the great spirit of God is only giuen to be Custos Tabularum Verbi Dei Gardian of Gods truth it is too pretious a iewell to be trusted to flesh and bloud for if it had bin Gods will to tye his truth to men why not to his knowne Saints Adam whose body was formed by the finger of God whose soule was breathed in his nostrils from the mouth of God he had this spirit of truth once giuen him but it left him by the suggestions of Eua Noah the first Preacher of the second World he had this spirit but was neglected of him in his drunkennesse The excellent Moses of whom it is said dilectus Deo hominibus Moses cuius mememoria in benedictione est he had that great spirit in such measure that he ouercame nature by Sea and Land he commanded the Angels and in a manner wrested the will of God but he was neglected of this great spirit in his distrustfull percussion of the Rocke Aaron had this spirit but was forgotten of him in the erection of the calfe Miriam also was forgotten in hir grudging against Moses Dauid a man to Gods owne heart was fearefully neglected of this great spirit to follow adulterie and homicide Salomon whose breast the Lord filled with wisedome was likewise left of this great spirit when he fell in impious Idolatrie The Arch-Apostle Peter did not obey this spirit in the deniall of his master yea after the Ascention and comming of the holy Ghost there was contradictions among the Apostles It is more then madnesse to affirme that the wisedome of any man hath
not close and inseparable among our selues we shal be found the vncleane vessels of dishonour Vnity is the beauty of the Church now and it shall bee her triunphant song in the end to cry as the Prophet had foretold of lattet times Venite ascendamus in montem Domini Come brethren let vs goe vp together to the mount of God Therefore these exhortations are to pray the Lord God who hath formed vs to make vs vnited vessels of honour and to that effect to rectifie our iudgements that wee may esteeme no names so sacred vnder heauen as the holy names of harmony peace and vnanimity within the Church in one thing and in all things that we may thinke no opinion more Christian in this age wherein wee liue then that of the venerable Zanchius one of the brightest stars of our owne Hemispheare in his treatise De verareformandarum Ecclesiarum ratione written for that part as followeth Whatsoeuer is in the Church of Rome or in any other Church it is either agreeable to the written word or contrary or adiaphoron indifferent Whatsoeuer is besides the written word either in the Fathers in the Councels or in the Papall decrees they are in like sort vnder the same distinction Pro contra or indifferent For the first that which is agreeable with the word is to be retained or if it be reiected it is againe to be receiued for the second that which is contrary is to be refused or if it hath been followed is againe to be forsaken for the third that which is indifferent we must not thinke that it doth of it selfe belong vnto saluation but in such a case we must follow the rule of the Apostle That nothing bee brought into the Church but that which doth tend to edification order or vnity All indifferent ceremonies therefore may bee securely followed for any of those respects but so to be followed as that we stil preferre things which bee more ancient vnto those which be more late aswell for the honour of antiquity as because that which is most ancient in the Church is most true for albeit nothing can binde the conscience but canonicall Scripture yet to introduce nouelties or to banish out of the Church any of those things which from the primitiue time hath beene allowed by common and Catholike consent and confirmed by the writtes of the ancient Fathers To reiect such things with out authoritie of generall Councell it is not lawful for any Christian man who feareth God saith he Can we maintaine more sound opinions either as good Christians or as good subiects then those of Zanchius for vnity tending to the strengthening both of Church State we especially of this Isle the condition wherof if we consider truely when it lay thousands of yeres of our ancestours diuided in weake and dismembred Kingdomes and as our owne eies haue seen it subiect to the ambition of so many forrain Pharaohs as haue pressed to bring it vnder their seruitude by practises now from France now from Spaine now from Rome we shall thinke this age wherein we are to be like to that fourth generation wherein God did predestinate as he foretold Abraham to bring his posterity out of Egypt for that same God called Mirabilis Deus in sanctis suis miraculous in his Saints who raised that excellent Moses to lead his people through the troublesome deserts to a glorious state in the Land of Canaan hee hath also sent to vs a mighty and extraordinary instrument to lead vs through those perilous perplexities now past vnto the ioyfull Iubile of these conioyned Kingdomes making this Isle great and fortunate in his royall person as hee made his people of Israel most blessed for the time by the like coniunction of the tree of Ioseph with the tree of Iuda saying by the Prophet Ezechiel That they should bee all vnder one King and no more a diuided people So that they who delight in disiunction be they Aaron be they Miriam be they Core Daâ—…han or Abiraâ—… who rebels against Moses especially bee they Iesuited Papists or heteroclite Puritans I speak not of any good men who obey God and the Prince but of those who carry armed hartâ—… factious and vehement spirits against the State spirits contrary to God because as the Scripture saith Non in commotions Domâ—…us The Lord is not in commotion spirits not of peace nor edification but of destruction In spiritu vehâ—…ti câ—…nteres naâ—…es Tharsis saith Dauid Be who they will who grudge against Moses euery wel disposed member of the common-wealth hath great cause to grudge against them least they cut the thred of our felicity and bring vpon vs which God of his infinite mercy forbid by our constant murmurings that euill which befell the obstinate Israelites at the waters of contradiction whose wicked rebellions made Moses to offend the Lord grieuously euen that good Moses of whom it is said Delectus Deo hominibus Moses cuius memoria in benedictione est Though hee was dearely beloued of God and men and though hee was the most meeke of all liuing flesh yet they brought the Lords indignation vpon themselues and vpon him who both were preuented by death and were not suffered to enter into the Land nor to taste the fruits of their long and painefull voyage in the Wildernesse God of his goodnes grant you to loath these waters of strife and chiefly these waters which bee poysoned with Iesuiticall wormewood and gaul wherof so many millions of people haue died within these threescore yeres that you may cry in time with that Prophet Saluum me fac Domine quoniam intrauerunt aquae vsque ad animam meam Deliuer me O Lord because those waters haue gone vnto my Soule God grant that like vnto the holy Doue you finde no resting place among them vntill you enter into the Arke and vnitie of the Church that we may liue together in one hope to see the further mysteries of this happy time the seale whereof is already opened to the great admiration of all the world It was forbidden anciently to sacrifice a Swan because her plumes are white and her heart black so would I wish that from this peace offering might be debarred all such whose hearts are incurably blacked with pride of stricktnesse and singularity and that it should bee onely handled of those meeke and ingenuous spirits who will bee contented to found their iudgement thereof vpon those three grounds without the which our knowledge cannot be sure as S. Augustine faith Contrarationem nemo sobrius contra scripturâ—…s nemo Christianus contra Ecclesiam nemo pascificus That no sober man should make opposition to reason nor no Christian man to the Scriptures nor no peaceable man to the Church And so hoping that the modest Reader will obserue these grounds I doe submit my selfe to his discretion beseeching him that he would not looke vpmy paines with his sinistrous eye nor receiue with the wrong hand that which
beene or can be without error other then Iesus Christ the Iust or that any cannons traditions bookes other then that one indited from the heart of God and penned by his Spirit to remaine for euer The vnchangeable rule of our faith in Christ the only sustance thereof and our only infallible example that we are to follow sheâ—… first in the old Testament darkely to Moses in the mountaine when it was said to him fac secundum exemplar quod tibi in monte monstratum est 〈◊〉 secondly in the new Testament more cleerely in mount Tabor and now most cleerely in the true mount of God That great spirit is the only inditer who cannot lye That Scripture the only booke which will not be wrested that Iesus the only man who cannot erre Therefore this word as it is said must be sufficient to make the man of God perfect Christian perfection standeth in knowledge and in action referring knowledge to our faith and action to our practise of faithfull workes to hold that the â—…ly Scripture is not accomplished for knowledge as the Euangel saith sapientia est per fidem Iesu Christ or to hold that Christ was not a perfect Architype and Schoolemaster of all vertues who hath himself said discite 〈◊〉 I thinke it is blasphemie so that talke what we will it must be blinde ignorance to affirme that the originall fountaines of Gods word as they are comprehended in the holy Scriptures of the Prophets and Apostles are not more sincere and wholesome then the riuers flowing from the same through the channels of humane brains which can no more remaine vnspotted by mans weakenesse then naturall waters running from cleere fountaines can be without alteration of colour or taste according to the qualitie of ground through which they passe The vniuersall Clergie of the Church of Rome doth damne this opinion of the sufficiencie of holy Scripture what then it is more strong the multitude doth abhorre the wayes of God to walke in the broade way If the Gibeonites had securely depended vpon the multitude of their neighbours of Canaan they had perished in that common naufrage certaine they are few who truely beleeue this word some poore Gibeonites doe heere the voice of God and are mocked of the world the multitude like vnto the Crowe for loue of the sensuall carrions which flote among the waters of the earth refuseth to remaine within the Arke This holie Arke of Gods word is builded for a small number of his Saints who find no rest without it The multitude leaueth the sincerity of this word to follow the wisedome of men as the sonnes of Adam departed from the Orient to builde the Tower in the land of Senaar which is interpreted stincke how many were saued in Iericho by that red marke which was vpon the house of Raâ—…ab how many doores were marked in Egypt to be spared by the holy Angell within this small Arke there was safetie but not without Now to come to my intended purpose which is not to play the Theologue with your Lo there be certaine yeares gone since I went forth of the Countrie poussed thereto from a scruple of my conscience hauing from my childhood drunken in some preiudicate and forestalled opinions which did euer trouble and disquiet my minde so oft as I called to memory howe Plato and other Philosophers had trauailed ouer the world to acquire natural knowledge I thought it both ignominious and dangerous for me iâ—… I should not paine my selfe to vnderstand the truth of Gods worship whereupon transported with the fury of this preiudice and closing my eies against the splendor of the word which doth shine at home I resolued once to fine my selfe intra lâ—…mina Apostolorum within the towne of Rome that pretended mother Church without the which there was no meanes of Saluation as then I did imagine And this I doe protest before the heauens and before him who did creat them was the true cause of my voyage enterprised to seeke my fathers Asse as he said which was so truely spoken of him that like vnto that high Priest Annas he hath vttered a notable veritie vnknowne to himselfe as I will shortly set downe from such graue theologicall reasons as shall both free me from passion and idlenesse in this point and serue for the Christian edification of others we see how it is familiar with the spirit of God in the Scripture to vse the names of beastes to make our grosse vnderstanding more capable by that kinde of sensible instruction there is mention of good and euill beastes and in the legall sacrifices of cleane and vncleane beastes By euill beastes generally are meant the Diuell and his Angels and the dominion of sinne into vs it is said by the Prophet erit seâ—…ita recta via sancta vocabitur mala bestia non ascendet per eam And Dauid Ne tradaâ—… bestijs animas confitentesâ—…bi And in the Reuelation vidi de mari Bestiam asceâ—… habentem capita septem cornua decâ—… which beside that true interpretation to be the Antichrist some doe also allegorize to be the seuen deadly sinnes and tenne seuerall transgressions of the commandements whereby Satan doth make himselfe Prince of the world confringam corâ—… peccatorum saith the Lord And the Prophet Zach. hac sunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Israel So the tyranie of sinne into man makes him to get the names of beastes as the holy man getteth the style to be called God or the sonne of God as in the Psalmes God iudged in the assemblie of the Gods and in St. Iohn Dedit ijs potestatem filâ—…s Dâ—…ifieri And St. Paul of himselfe viâ—… ego iam non ego viuit vero in me Christus So are beastes said to liue in the wicked man as the Prophet Dauid saith in 48. Psalmes The cruell man is said to be like the Ostrige Filia populi 〈◊〉 crudâ—… quasi 〈◊〉 iâ—… deserto The craftie insidious man as a Beare Ursus insidians factus est mihi the proud man like a Lyon â—…sse quasi Leo in doâ—… the obstinate and wilfull man like vnto the Adder which desperatly closeth her eares sicut aâ—…is sur 〈◊〉 obtâ—…rantis aures 〈◊〉 the wrathfull man as a Dragon fold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fraudâ—…lent man as a Fox quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 propheâ—…ae tui Israel the oppressor as a woolfe Beniamin lupus rapaâ—… the lustfull man as a Goate irâ—…tus est furor 〈◊〉 super caprâ—…s visiâ—…abo the lasciuious man as a horse equi amâ—…tores in faeminas emissarij facti sant the murtherer as a serpent 〈◊〉 Dan ooluber in via the tyrant as a Pard quasi Pardus laedet eos the ambitious man as an Eagle si exaltatus fueris fieut aquila trahant te dicit Dominus the backbiter as a dogge quare maledicit canis hic Domino meo Regi the filthie man as a sow quasi sus lotâ—… in volutabro luti These
the first place to Apostles the second to Euangelists the third to Prophets the fourth to Pastours and the last to Doctours Whereof the first of the number Apostolus doth comprehend in it as in genere these whole species ennumerated of spirituall functions so that euery Apostle was also a Doctour but notreciprocally By these we doe manifestly see that Christ in the foundation of his Church did follow for gouernment the same Architype which was giuen vnto Moses and that one God hath but one meaning of one order in matter of Policie as I haue sayd for if ye will hold this comparison betwixt the Iewish and Christian Church to be remote and fantasticke because the first was Typicall and is expired I answer There was in the Mosaicall Law three parts the typicall the morall and the politicall the daily sacrifice and these ceremoniall things which were figuratiue of Christs passion they are finished and haue no imitation in Christs Church but for the morall it doth remaine the same Law lieth ouer vs which did astrict them albeit we haue easier meanes to performe it by faith in Iesus Christ. And for the politicall it doth also remaine as S. Paul saith Know you not that those who minister at the altar doe liue by the Altar c But for the concordance of these two Churches in matter of Policie I bring first the testimony of S. Ambrose who expounding these words of S. Paul to Timothy Seniorem ne increpaueris doe not reproach an Elder among other things he saith also thus Vnde Synagogaprius postea Ecclesia Seniores habuit sine quorum consilio nihil agebatur first the Iewish Synagogue then the Church of Christ had their Elders without whose Councell nothing was done Next I bring the testimony of Iohn Caluine who vpon the harmony of the Euangelists hath written thus Quant au nombre de 70. il me semble auoir c. Touching the number of the 70. Disciples it appeares to me saith he that our Sauiour hath followed the same order whereunto the Iewes of old were subiect and accustomed So many Apostles were chosen who should be as Patriarkes to assemble the members of the reall body of the Church for the like respect of imitation the 70. Disciples were elected for we know saith he that Moses being vnable to beare the charge tooke vnto him seuentie to gouerne the people For of him who would obiect against the similitude of these Churches for policie that the 70. of Israel were no spirituall Rulers and therefore could not be resembled by the 70. Disciples I would aske you how then did the holy spirit come vpon them that they prophesied in the presence of the people and how was the spirit of Moses parted among them Thirdly I giue the Testimony of Doctour Beza who hath deriued his reformed discipline whereby the Elders be adioyned to the Pastours from the Iewish example But that which makes this poynt of the similitude in policie of these two Churches to be most cleere and out of doubt is the opinion of S. Ierom the pretended Patron of the Presbyterians who in the conclusion to the Epistle to Euagrius writeth thus Quod Aaron filij eius atque Leuitâ—… in templo gesserunt hoc sibi Prâ—…sbyteri Episcopi Diaconi vindicent in Ecclesia vt sciamus traditiones apostolicas de veteri Testamento sumptas esse saith hee Whatsoeuer Aaron his sonnes and the Leuites did exercise in their persons in the Iewish Church let Bishops Presbyters and Deacons take on them to doe the same that we may vnderstand saith he the Apostolicall Traditions are exemplary drawen out of the old Testament Alwaies heere it is where the Puritan and the Papist meet to vrge one thing vpon the Leuiticall imitation in policie the Puritan to inferre an inconuenient the Papist to induce his aduantage first say they if you appeale to this exemplar how can you auoid Priestly Soueraignty and a supreme Bishop next they turne it ouer thus If your bishops be in the Church for vnities sake as they are ad â—…ollenda Schismata then this argument following must be good Either there is as great vnity in a parish vnder a Minister as in a Diocesse vnder a Bishop or else the more Churches make the greater vnity If the second be true then must we allow the Hierarchall Supremacy because thereby all Churches are reduced vnder one so that vpon this the Papist will build his Popery and the Puritan will haue our Bishops to bee Antichristian Which obiection is so friuolous that Caluine himselfe alleaged by them to bee a fautor of their Presbyterian rule doth answer vnto it saying there is not the like reason betwixt a peculiar people as the Iewish Synagogue and the whole world vnder the Gospell Neither was it the meaning of our Sauiour that as euery particular Church should be vnder one Pastor so all the world vnder one head otherwise why did he choose his twelue together and in parity For howsoeuer we doe marke in the particular members of nature manifest argument of Monarchiall policie yet find we no generall vnity noâ—… absolute Soueraignty but in God As for example although the Lyon be king of beasts who did euer heare that all Lyons were subiect to one Lyon or that all Kings be ordinarily subiect to one Supreme Monarche The Lord God is onely the Center from whence the diuersitie of nature hath proceeded whereupon the Cabbalists did found that word In Centro veritas in circumferentia nihil The verity is in the Center and in the circumference nothing but shadowes which is confirmed by the holy Scripture Solus Deus verus sermo eius veritas Onely God is true and his word is only verity the 〈◊〉 of nature haue no other fountaine to returne vnto but God nor no capitall vnion to repose into but him If the Angels haue their owne Hierarchies we doe not read that they bee all vnder one head vnlesse it bee the Lord Iesus Christ called by the Prophet the Angel of the Testament and the Angel of the great Counsell as is said before As God hath reserued the Supremacie of generall nature to rest in his owne person so hath Christ in his Church reserued it to himselfe to be onely head thereof in such sort that no Bishop can be called Antichristian but in so farre as he doth depend from the Papall Soueraignty and as the setting vp of a second Bishop in one Diocesse were to be Schismaticke from the first Bishop so to introduce an vniuersall Bishop in Christes place is to make defection from him For euen aâ—… Christ did send his Twelue with equall Commission and equall graces that the establishing of our faith should be more miraculous by the vnanimity of twelue then could haue beene by the consent of one euen so hath it beene the meaning of the Apostles and their successors to mainetaine Catholike vnitie not by Hierarchall Supremacie in
and to shew that all voycing musicke though hauing so noble a precentor and being celebrated by so full a Quire of all the people of Israel verse 1. yet is not sufficient to display the zeale and ioy of the Church of God there commeth in besides as in Medio Chori the noyse of Tymbrels in the hands of Miriam and of all the women that came out after her verse 20. not to yeeld any new instruction to their vnderstandings though she were a Prophetesse but which is the true vse of such musicke first to giue a greater downeweight to their affections and to make their spirituall ioy ouerflow the bankes of ordinary apprehension and to transport them into an higher degree of heauenly rauishment by those artificiall sounds added to the naturall and secondly to infixe deeper in their minds and memories those diuine straines by recording and repeating the same point in the same verses a thing in Church musicke not to be abandoned if tempered with grauity as here we may expresly gather For when Moses and the people had begun their song in this manner I will sing vnto the Lord for hee hath triumphed gloriously c. Miriam with her troupe and instruments and voyces answered the men Sing yee vnto the Lord for hee hath triumphed gloriously c. vers 21. This because it did precede the deliuery of the ceremoniall law by Moses I thinke I may safely referre either to the law of nature or to the inueterate practise of the most antient Church of God euen from the first Patriarkes and Fathers of mankind In time of the Law the very enditer himselfe Moses did by the immediate command of God when he was to die leaue as his last Testament of monition or cygnea cantiō a formall song which as God put into his mouth so he into the mouths of the children of Israel Exod. 31. 19. to be a perpetuall witnesse to and against them which beginneth with a most rhetoricall and Poeticall exclamation of adiuring the heauens and earth to bee witnesses This pithy abstract of the admonitions and doctrines of Moses conteyning Gods benefits towardes his Church the vpbrayding of their ingratitude Gods threats against them and mysterious predictions of the vocation of the Gentiles c. The spirit of GOD did chuse to set downe to his Church rather in forme of Song then of Sermon thereby insinuating that it would be with more facility receiued and with deeper impression retained which is implied by Moses himselfe in the following words of the beginning of that song ver 2. My doctrine shall drop as the raine and my speech shall distill as the deaw As if hee had said this last doctrine of mine which I deliuered to Gods people by way of song shall indeed by the diuine matter thereof instruct their vnderstandings but shall by the manner of musicall inditement and recording therof pierce with the greater sweetnesse and facility and by a secret vnseene influence feed and refresh your soules as the hearbs and plants are cherished by the deaw and fedde by the soft showers And afterward when the Temple was to succeed the Tabernacle Dauid did before hand prouide Leuites and singers his preparations of that kinde were first when the Arke had rest 1. Chron. 6. 31. 1. Chron. 15. And shortly after the Temple was to be builded by Salomon 1. Chron. 25. At both Dauid appointed Leuites and singers with instruments of musicke c. And added thereto the ditties which they were to sing being a set forme of inuocation and thanksgiuing 1. Chron. 16. 8. Prayse yee the Lord c. which also is repeated among the Psalmes Psal. 105. Moreouer in a manner the whole Booke of Psalmes were by the same Prophet penned in Meeter to be sung as they are since in all ages and places in the Church of God Amongst which some Psalm 33. and 150. make especiall reference vnto the instrumentall musicke If heereto it be replied that all this furniture of musicke was proper to the Temple and meerely typicall and part of the pedagogy of the old Testament I may answere that in regard of the number and distinct offices and certaine kindes of instruments those constitutions of Dauid might well bee ceremoniall but the vse of instrumentall musicke in generall in the publike praising of God was and is morall or naturall not indeed of absolute necessity as if there were no lawfull seruice in the Church without it but of conuenience and expediency for the naturall fitnesse and decent fruitfulnesse which they may haue Neither can it be denied but that where the same cause of constitution yet remaineth the practise may be well retained at least as times and circumstances shall require or permit Now those that are most seuerely affected against the Church musicke among Christians vse this as a chiefe reason why it was established in that Church because it was a fit Schoolemaster for that people And are there not and alwayes will bee among Christians some that neede to be fed with milke as well as others with strong meate Did not Saint Basil obserue this and in that regard commend the prouidence of the spirit of God who by the Prophet Dauid had prouided for his Church perpetually that heauenly mysteries might be mingled with sweet melody That two sort of learners might thus bee the better prouided for those that are either young in yeeres or greene in growth of vertue might while they thinke to delight themselues with the melody receiue some good impression of instruction But if this cause seeme vnsufficient or Saint Basils authority not strong enough wee may out of the text it selfe where this musicall furniture for the Temple is instituted 1. Chron. 16. deriue a more constant reason which must needes hold in both Testaments Leuites were appointed to sing with instruments c. that they might make a sound and lift vp their voyce with ioy whence I thinke I may thus inferre The end and reason of the institution of such musicke by Dauid is not for ought I can finde said to be for any prefiguration of action to be fulfilled by the Messias or for any cause or consequent proper to the people and Church of the Iewes which with the sacrifices and other ceremonies were to expire but the reason there added is from a naturall or rather spirituall affection common to all Churches whether vnder the Law of Moses or vnder the Gospell of grace especially in flourishing times namely a cleare and feruent confession and profession of the mercies and graces of our God with thanksgiuing and exultation which as it is in the congregation to be solemnly performed with the voyce and that lifted vp viz. with singing so that it may be aduanced to the highest streyne of ioy it must or at least with conueniency may haue the help of instrumentall musique which may make a sound and lift vp their voice with ioy So if in the Christian Church where the vaile is
my Palinodie The better and worse condition of things earthly standeth in comparison because there is no perfect condition here and the trueth of our pleasures and displeasures standeth in the fortitude or weakenesse of our apprehension therefore to know surely what a Prince and what a state wee haue wee are to remember our selues what may bee in Princes as they are Prnces and what also is commonly found in them and in their rule What may be in a Soueraigne King Looke to the holy Story of Sauls Creation Hee shall appoint your sonnes for his Chariots and for caring of his ground hee shall take your daughters and make them Cookes hee shall take your fields vineyards and best Oliue trees and giue them to his seruants saith the Lord. Out of this you shall truely obserue what a state it is you liue in next to vnderstand what oftentimes is in Princes I might in this argument send you to contemplate the cruell domination of Nero the exorbitant gouernement of Caligula the auaricious raigne of Galba the treacherous Empire of Tiberius c. But because it hath no kind of Decorum to bring those in ballance with a most vertuous most Christian Monarch I will wish you to call to memorie what was your condition during the Ciuill calamities of your neighbour Countries of France and of the Netherlands for a whole age when vnder the â—…adow of your Princes winges you was couered from those miseries while you stood securely on the shore and behelde the troubled Ocean of those tempests doe not you confesse that those countries haue felt more afflictions in one moneth then wee in all our time Or if his Maiestie by violent and vnlawfull ambition should bring such armies vpon our neckes whither would you then make any great reckoning of a light Subsidie or would you cry that his Maiesty should make a bridge of gold for your enemies to goe forth Is there any marke of a Prince approued of God and happie among men so infallible as to become a great Monarch by iust and peaceable meanes as to enioy long and introubled tranquilitie Is there any happinesse comparable with it Besides the priuate ioyes which peace doth yeeld vnto vs it is the nourse of good letters and good policies and of whatsoeuer is good As for riches it is true indeed that the accumulation of treasures is both lawfull and necessarie for Princes because they are the Gardians of people and states And Pecunia est neruus Belli but speaking of subiects remember when great Kings be most mechanicke there the people are most gouerned Sub virga ferrea whereof we haue seene examples enough not farre from our coastes How is it then we should so lightly esteeme two such rare benefits of a constant peace and of a glorious Monarchie reserued for many yeeres to be the most conspicuous blessing of this age certainly peace is so heauenly and extraordinary a good that the spirit of God hath allowed we know the Church to pray for Infidell and wicked Princes that they might haue peace vnder them seeing our peace then and prosperitie is matchlesse as no man can denie it is wicked ingratitude in vs that we should not thanke God and cry Quis poterit similiter gloriari nobis If it were not that our ignorance doth parly excuse our ingratitude for how can he valew the sweetnesse of hony who hath neuertasted of tartnesse and acerbitie the lightnesse of his yoake compared with the pride and insolence of many great dominators and the serenitie of his raigne to speake so hath bene without any intermission that how could you know what a thing is the waight and austerity of domination and if it should not be that our owne follies and euill gouernment should breede vnto vs more discontents and aggrauations then the misgouernment of the state doth we were apparantly the most fortunate subiects vnder the sunne And if any should grudge in the court I will speake thus farre vnto you with humble reuerence because you are the most excellent Creatures that of all the grudges which be within the kingdome that is most pernitious such a malignant and proud spirit made Lucifer to be put to the doore ' when the court of Heauen was first established hee is not worthy to liue at a Princes elbow who knowes not that as godly and Orthodoxall Kings beare the liuely image of God vpon earth so their Courts must resemble the seat of God in the heauens replenished with innocent Maiestie vertuous glory noble and actiue creatures subiect to perpetuall sympathie and loue tranquilitie obedience and order you haue the place of the Spheares which are neerest vnto God Imaque telluris ventos tractusque coruscos Nimborum accipiunt nubes exedit Olympus Pacem summatenent So should you be free of those clouds which are bred in the inferiour ayre of popular distemper and discontentments yea by your serenitie and secret influence you should purge them and make the multitude to admire the close harmonie of the Court euen as wee are astonished to behold the silent murmure and musicke of these celestiall orbes which are aboue the troublesome elements The Lord God hath not found it good to make all his Creatures equally capable of his graces the Angels are not of like degree yet all of them take sacrety of Gods countenance the inferiour Planets haue not bodies sufficient to containe the whole splendor of the Sunne yet they are all saciate of light to illuminate their owne spheares God did vouchsafe vnto Miriam a propheticall spirit but not in that measure as he did to Moses therefore she was strucken with leprosie for her grudging remember that if the sunne shine of his Maiesties bounty bee remoued from you for your murmuring you should bee plagued with a sort of Leprosies to desend againe into the inferiour world carrying in your faces the visible impressions of consuming and contemptible enuy shall the potsheard say to the Potter what dost thou make certainely no And you who may happen to be principall Planet of the Court or first moouer of the Courtly spheares if it should please you to learne the right lesson of your motion in the common schoole of Nature it should hardly fall forth to you to become an errant Planet wherfore hath the Lord God made the huge bosom of the great Ocean to be so spacious and receptible of waters not that shee should acquiesce in her selfe and bee delighted in the largenesse of her fountaines but that by secret channells shee should continually communicate the vse thereof to those riuers which bee appointed to water the earth and as a common seruant in the house of Nature render to the Sunne her ordinary moystures to furnish raine for the fruites of the earth wherefore hath God planted this glorious Lampe in the Sunne not that he should pride himselfe in his owne splendour for that was a Luciferian tricke but that hee should illustrate and beautifie inferiour Planets
and that hee should minister life and light to other creatures Doeth not your courtly witted Tacitus tell you that euen the best Princes are iealous of Soueraigne points if any striue to keepe a constant eclipse vpon a Kings face that it may not shine vniuersally drawing the whole reflexe vpon himselfe hee saith it is arcanum imperij a mystery of the Maiesty It is the fault of Prothemeus to steale the sacred and royall light to participate of the Maiesty becom guilty of a Soueraigne point it is to eate of the forbidden Tree seeking to be like vnto God who as in one Vniuerse he is only one Center vnto the which the end of all motions and the glory of all actions doe returne so is a King in one state a only one Center wherin the whole weight and praise of gouernment doth rest So that you who doe abuse the diuine bounty which shineth in some rare good Princes you become as the same Tacitus saith Foedum mancipium malis artibus ambitiosum a sordide slaue of Ambition yee doe snare your selfe into the wicked arts of the same to your ignominious ouerthrow and to the eternall testimony of royall piety and iustice in him who doth punish you for it Therefore as his Maiestyâ—… our gracious Soueraigne hath beene the first happy Prince in the world by his wise and skilfull creation of those whom hee hath preferred to the chiefe dignities of his fauour witnessed by their great seruice to the State of whom many be gone and numbers yet doe liue through his Maiesties dominions so let you onely contend among your selues for that Angelicall happinesse to flye the wicked spirit of proud emulation that you on the one side may detest that vnnaturall and monstrous enuy of the brethren of Ioseph among the soones of one family and he on the other who among his brethren findeth himselfe beloued of his father doe not abuse himselfe with the dreames of Ioseph vnlesse he haue also his propheticall spirit T is a fearefull thing to consider how ingrate and rebellious people doe oftentimes constraine good Princes to offend against God and procure his iudgements both against their Princes and against themselues whereof we haue that terrible example of the punishment of Moses for the murmuration of Israel at the waters of contradiction therefore that it should not befall vnto vs as it did vnto them that the Lord doe not take from vs our great Captaine Let vs no more murmure nor grudge but seeing we see his Oracles haue hitherto been from God and that the Lord hath said to him as hee said to Moses Feare not I shall be with thee which our conscience wil confesse if we examine our selues how many times we haue seen the Lord miraculously vpon his side Let vs with Zanchius say who are we to oppose ourselues against such Lawes as he hath alredy established or may heereafter doe by the authority of a setled Church and well gouerned estate Let vs acknowledge both Papist Puritan and Protestant the reuealed mystery of this time wherein wee are and reuerence this great Instrument of God who hath opened the seale thereof and vnder whom wee are come from Egyptian bondage to be a great and mighty Nation Let vs honour this Orient light which doth arise with him after so long eclipse both in the Church and in the Common-wealth that being confirmed and strong by intestine vnion we may by the force of vnited mindes aspire to that Christian ambition to be led vnder our excellent Moses or Ioshua to that ioyfull Iubile of the Catholike harmony of Christendome and to eiect those detestable and vile Amalakites of the Turkish race that making so our way into the Land of Holinesse wee may all cry in one voyce as the Prophet foretold of latter times Venite ascendamus in montem Domini Come brethren let vs ascend together into the mount of the Lord which is the onely scope of an vpright Christian Amen Now hauing treated thus farre fot the glory of God and edification of his Church I will craue your pardon who are a discreete Reader to speake two words for the iustification of my voyage to Rome The credit wherof hath beene so miserably dilacerate by some Papists who say that I went thither expressely per fare la spia to play the spie that I receiued the Popes money and payd him backe with false measure at my returning homeward And I affirme in this foro publico contrary to these that I went to Rome out of meere zeale to the Papall Religion that I should not prooue ingrate to so great a personage as the Pope I confesse to haue beene beholding to his humane and courteous behauiour towards mee during my residence within his dominions And to the true affection of some few of his Cardinals and certaine other chiefe persons in whose manners to speake ingenuously and Christianly I did see nothing but vertuous conuersation much zealous mention of the Primitiue simplicity of the Church great remorse for her present diuisions and many hearty wishes that it would please God to make his Maiestie of Great Britain another Constantine and to blesse their daies with Christian peace and vnity But I affirme that I did neuer receiue any money nor benefit whatsoeuer of the Pope of his Cardinals Iesuites or any other persons whatsoeuer within the Romane Church except in medals beades Agnus Deies Indulgences and such childish toyes and trash whereof I made small accompt euen then much lesse now I affirme that I did neuer wrong the Pope nor any Papist whosoeuer except this be wrong Quod metui danaos dona ferentes that is to say that being Papist my selfe I was as diuers were of my Countrey men professed religious in the Romane Church beyond seas contrarious to the alluring Iesuist because I knew him to be Enemie to my Soueraigne King and Country and except by my renuntiation now of his Idolatrous religion Further I affirme that I might haue pursed the Popes money and would not And I sweare by that blessed Trinitie whose countenance I hope in the merit of my Redeemer to enioy that all these my foresayd affirmations are sincere and true And what one among a number of you who haue so prodigally and vniustly spent my Reputation is able to make the like Apologie for himselfe that hee hath neither receiued nor refused that hostile money vnlesse he will betake himselfe vnto his lessons of Aequiuocation What came to my knowledge of the deuises of those who seeke the destruction of this Kingdome whereof I am a member or of the counsels againe of such as were knowen to bee faithfull frinds and fautours of the same all that I did most sincerely relate by his Maiesties appointment vnto the first watchmen of the State vnder his Maiesties selfe all tending to this same end whereunto this present discourse is directed that is to the assuring of his Maiesties Crowne from the treacherous craft of