can change himselfe into what creatures hee will change creatures in what forme he will can transport our spirits and bodies can enter to possesse them can counterfait creatures like to our selues by his wicked abusing of humane seed againe his malice is dangerous by reason of the multitude of seditious spirits who hee doth command so farre that some alleadge that euery man hath his good and euill Daemon which for my part I will not affirme it is enough that the Scripture maketh mention of diuerse diuels who haue practised diuerse wickednes Some are called by Esay Vasa furoris the vessell of fury Some by Ieremy the vessels of wrath some by Ezechiel vasa interfectionis the vessels of murther some by Moses the vessels of iniquity some of them haue aiery bodies and power in that Element as those foure which had the windes in their hands Quibus datum est nocere mari terrae to whom it was giuen to trouble the earth and the seas by gendring of pestilence and destroying thunders as that of Iob which suddenly threw downe his house which sort of aiery diuels is said to inuade the intellectuall spirits of men to seduce them to Heresie or ambitious faction in State and of this kinde he is esteemed the Prince who is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or exterminans others againe that bee more earthly doe trafficke with base sorceries as those who taught the enchanters of Pharaoh vnto all which the Lord hath opposed millions of good Angels to gouerne his workes and to presidiate and gard the Saints so many to rule the spheares Celestiall which we may perceiue by Ezechiel and in the sixtie eight Psalme where it is said the Chariots of the Lord are 20000. Angels and hee is among them as in the sanctuary of Sion whereupon the Chaldean interpreters say that there bee so many principall lights in heauen and as many Angels to gouerne them and Leo Hebreus hath written in his second Booke that the eight heauen or primum mobile which maketh his couse in twenty foure houres is moued by a Cherubin with such miracolous swiftnesse that euery moments motion ariseth to more then a million of miles And of the Angelike care of the Saints of God on earth the Scriptures are full of testimonies that which guarded the Israelites comming from Egypt that which wrastled with Iacob and blessed him that Ceraphin which purged the lips of Esay and made him eloquent that Raphael whose presence Asmodeus cannot abide those Angels who carried Lazarus into the bosome of Abraham that which deliuered S. Peter out of prison that which went with Azariah into the furnace and made him thinke the flames a soft deaw and so forth The Lord God doth not only furnish vs with spirituall armes against Satan as by the power of his Angels by the force of his word and by our faith in Christ but he hath taught vs some familiar things which they cannot indure in nature as is thought as the fire whose presence doth terrifie him by a mysterious antipathy as the presence of the Wolfe astonisheth a Sheepe because God who is his enemy is a fire a lampe a light of glory and power to the godly a fire of loue mercy and goodnesse and to the wicked a consuming fire of wrath and vengeance and as by a naturall strife the voyce of a tyrannous Schoolemaster doth affraye a wayward childe so doth the sound of musicall instruments accompanied with the praises of God afflict and terrifie the diuell by a naturall Antipathy wherewith God hath indued them Againe the harmony of musicke doth by a naturall simpathy collect and vnite the distracted powers of our weake mindes to greater strength and deuotion and is quasi vehiculum the conduct of deuotion We read of the Prophet Elisha who being for sent to prophesie the issue of the battell he would not doe it vntill hee first caused to sound vp an instrument of musicke and then he fell into his Prophesie wee read likewise that when Samuel had consecrated king Saul God said hee to him to the Mountaine and thou shalt finde a company of Prophets who sound instruments and prophesie thou shalt enter among them and the spirit of God shall come vpon thee there and thou shalt bee changed into another man the reason of this naturall antipathy betwixt Musicke and the Diuell is because it is a diuine thing which draweth the spirit to harmony concord loue and heauenly contemplation and the constitution of his nature is contrary to these to be seditious discordant and implacable This whole Fabricke of the world is nothing else but a musicall order of Gods workes they stand as the Scripture saith in numero pendere mensura by number weight and measure All the creatures are but a musicke euery one hauing in their kindes their Supreme or Alt their Counter Base and their Tenor to shew it in few examples Among the Planets the austerity of Saturne and the rigour of Mars are tempered and tied together with the serenity of Iupiter as among the Elements the repugnance of the fire and water are kept in concordance by the promiscuall qualities of the ayre and speaking of the inteligentiall world the Angels are a mediate creature betwixt the diuine Essence and man man is a mid couple betwixt good and euill spirits the Ape betwixt man and fourefooted beasts the Niriades Tritoues which be not things fabulous betwixt men and fishes The Hermophrodite betwixt man and woman the Mandrake betwixt man and plants betwixt the fruites of the earth and things which growe within her bowels there are fruits and cornes petrefied that is to say naturally shapen in stones betwixt the earth and the stone Argillum is amid couple betwixt earth and mettals the Marcazitae are neither of them but a mediate thing so that as that diuine Philosopher Iesus the sonne of Syrac hath obserued in his Booke of Ecclesiasticus there is first a common antithesis and contradiction in all the workes of God Omnes via Domini secundum dispositionem sapientiae suae Duo contra vnum vnum contra vnum contra malum bonum contra vitam mors contra virum iustum peccator sic intuere in omnia opera altissimi saith the Scripture in that place All the waies of God according to the disposition of his owne wisedome two against one one against one good against euill life against Death the iust man against the reprobate and so looke into all the workes of the most high saith hee which in effect is so true that there is nothing in the world which can fall into our imagination wanting this contrariety but God againe hath made a concordance in all by this diuine Musick not only in natural substances but in their qualities and accidents yea in time it selfe Summer and Winter be contrary but by the harmony of the spring time they are conioyned blacke and white contrary do meet in mediate colours heate and
feede vs with contentious Sillogismes Pascuntur Sillogismo sicut Boues foeno as Oxen are fed vpon haye O you who call your selfe a Christian Pastor how doe you forget that precept of Saint Paul Vt orationes fiant postulationes gratiarum actiones pro omnibus hominibus That prayers supplications and thankes giuing may bee made for ◅ll men in generall how doe you not remember that he hath commanded your corrections and admonitions to be brotherly Noniactantiae studio nec contumeliosa obiurgatio sed in spiritu lenitat is Not in ostentation or cōtumelious reproach but in the spirit of lenity there is no other reason for this but because Confregitis Iugum rupistis vincula you haue broken the bonds of Christian fraternitie and loue This fire of charitie in the soule of a good man is like to the abundance of heat in the stomacke of a strong body which draweth good nourishment out of grosse and euill matters the want whereof againe doth turne the most delicate substance into phlegme and noysome humours if you had abundance of this loue you would doe through the heat thereof as the Apostle commaunds you Alter alterius onera portare you would digest the ignorance and weakenesse of your brethren by seeking their reformation by all brotherly meanes and the want of this againe vndoubtedly maketh you to distaste and loath euen the good things which be among them The want of it makes you to detest the name of a pacificatour to fly the voyce of peace to cry Crucifige to carrie one against an other murthering tongues poysoned pennes and vehement spirits of destruction spirits contrary to God Inspiritu vehementi conteres naues Tharsus saith Dauid in a vehement spirit shalt thou breake the ships of Tharsus Wee read in the second of the Kings while Eliab was commanded to attend the comming of God vpon the Mountaine the holy Spirit saith Behold there was a winde which did rent the rockes but the Lord was not therein therewas a great commotion and earthquake but neither was he there and thereafter a huge fire but he was not yet in it In the end there came Sibilus aura tenuis the whispering of a sweet and temperate ayre and therein was the Lord Euen so the Christian Clergie who goe into the mountaine of God to vnderstand the secrets of his will so long as they thunder out such tempestuous windes of mutuall despight God will neuer be there to pitty our Christian distractions So long as they raise such vehement commotions and fearefull earth-quakes to rent the states and liues of Christian Princes God will not be there neither to restore Ierusalem and to purge his holy Sanctuarie of the Catholike Church so long as you burne your selues with fire of mutuall acerbity and wrath you shall not yet see the Lord there to pitty our Christian discordes that our Christian Religion bee no longer a reproach to the dangerous multitudes of infidell nations who watch their opportunitie to assault vs because as the holy spirit doth testifie in that same place Non in commotione Dominus the Lord in his mercy cannot be in a commotion but if you should whisper out this Sibulus aurae tennis ibi Dominus this gentle and soft ayre of meeknesse and brotherly admonition there possibly you might finde the Lord. Now to the effect that this briefe exhortation to dispose our selues to Christian peace should not bee mistaken and neglected as an indigested phantasie of my braine I send you all to read that treatise called Eirenicon sine de pace Ecclesiae of the peace of the Church done by that famous Iunius one of the chiefest lights of the Church while he liued In which treatise he doth call all these of your humour wicked and seditious Tribunes and of which he did vpon his death-bed protest as I was informed of those who were present to haue more comfort hauing written it immediately before Tanquam cantum Cygneum as the spirituall song of his farewell then of all the religious exercises of his life time which were many and most laborious So that to imitate for Reformation the practise of our architype Ierusalem this is the first point which we must obserue with Daniel to make generall confession of our transgressions as well Pope and Iesuite as Puritan and againe to make orations and suppications for all which as it is a thing wee ought to doe so it is strange how wee should refuse to doe it while Daniel hath said Lord to vs belongeth open shame our Kings our people our selues T is strange of the Papist that you should affirme thy Pope and thy Priests are holy and cannot erre that they haue no need of generall Councells nor of generall Reformation as if God had taken corruption mutabilitie from the earth and granted vs heere a generall beatitude for the sake of Rome In Gods name let it please you to esteeme your Pope no more holy then Daniel was and if you wish him to be cleansed from his Idolatry and vniust vsurpations to be restored againe to the vnity of the Catholike faith and that dignity which he did once lawfully brooke to be a chiefe Bishop of the occidentall Church Then must you cry with Daniel O God to our Pope our Cardinalls and Priests and to vs belongeth open shame because we haue transgressed against thy seruant Moses euen our great Moses Iesus Christ who redeemed vs from the bondage of that fearfull Pharaoh Satan Wee haue turned his faith and all Religion to superstitious worship wee haue turned his spirituall gouernment into a Tyranous Monarchy and we haue turned the piety of Christian manners into iniquity and abhominion This must be the voyce of thy confession And thou protestant if thou wilt wish the increase and restitution of Christs Church thou must pray for Rome as Daniel did for Ierusalem Lord be mercifull vnto the holy City where thy name was once so truely worshipped thou must teach and admonish them preach and write to them as the Prophets did to the Israelites in captiuity Brethren as it came in your minde to depart from the Lord your God so wee beseech you to indeuour your selues tenne times more to turne to him againe If you will deny that Rome is your mother Church that is nothing either it is lerusalem Antioch Alexandria Rome or some other you cannot deny that shee is your sister Church who once had a concord and vnity of faith with you and that by her defection the Catholike Church is greatly weakned You cannot deny that whiles shee is fornicatrix the Lord doth beget in her sonnes and daughters who daily turne vnto him as he did in Ierusalem when hee said to his Prophet Hosea Goe yet and loue a woman that was an harlot according to the loue of God toward Ierusalem for she looked after strange Gods and I bought her with siluer c. You cannot deny but those who did possesse the chiefest functions
as to say Ezekiel was rapt in his spirit from Babel to Ierusalem it might be in spirit or in body The Hebrew Doctours hold in their remote Theologie that the Angels make oblation to God of the soules of his Saints who become dead by way of this abstraction alleadging for it this passage of the 116. Psalme Speciosa in conspectu Dominimors sanctorum suorum Pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints but to denie that transportation which is both in body and spirit were to denie the Scripture Eliah Enoch Abacucke were transported and in the Euangelists our Sauiour corporally transported by Satan to the pinacle of the Temple and after vpon a mountaine The best Theologes hold that Habacucke was indeed soule and bodie transported and so Saint Philip the Apostle whereupon Thomas Aquinas reasoneth thus If it bee possible in one it is also possible in moe and in like maner both he and Durand Herne S. Bonauenture do make this argument If Satan can abstract the spirit from the body much more can he transport both because the separation is more miraculous of the two and is next vnto the veritie of Gods word the strongest argument we haue for the immortality of the soule and an argument subiected to reason For saith Aristotle in his ninth booke De Animalibus if the soule can doe any thing without the body then it should be immortall alwayes this Aphairisis Exstasis or ablation of the soule is a thing most vndoubtable the Scripture approueth it in diuers places specially in the persons of Saint P. aul and Saint Iohn the greatest Philosophers haue acknowledged it Plato and Socrates did call the bodie Antrum animae the cauerne of the soule the chiefest Sorcerers who know it by experience haue acknowledged it Zoreaster did call the body the sepulchre of the spirit and the great Orpheus did call it the prison of the soule and to reason euen naturally we see that locall motion can be some times without touching of bodies but onely by vertue of the agent as the sea is mooued by the moone which is distant from it more then 50000. Leagues and the Iron is drawen to mooue by Magnes or the Loadstone without any touching which being so in things so insensible and Inanimal as Iron much more it may be in things not onely animal but who haue their greatest force and vigour in that locall abstraction as our soules be most Galliard when they be most remote from the body And for this point of Satans power to transport I say that while that Cherubin which moues the eight Spheare wherein there fixed stars doth role it Millions of miles in one houre what matter is there of admiration if Satan can transport a body some few miles vpon the earth Lastly there is the commerce or copulation of good and bad spirits with men and women and whether it be really locally or per exstaâ—…n experience doth commonly teach vs that sundry things which we may call spirituall because they are inuisible and intouchable doe take really possession of our bodies as the passion of loue which entering by the subtile spirits of the eyes doth wound the heart corrupt the blood weaken the vitall faculties and sometimes spoyle the life yea the vehemencie of loue towards God hath oftentimes hereby wrought as much in his best Saints Againe the plague of pestilence and such cotagious things doe enter in a mans body in a spirituall sort to possesse it The Scripture doth testifie this reall and locall copulation of good spirits with good men our bodies are said to be the Temples of the holy Ghost Our Sauiour hath said that the father and he would dwell in him who obey his will The Prophet Ezekiel speaking of his vocation by God to preach to the Iewes I fell downe said he vpon my face and the spirit which entered in me did raise me vp and set me on foote In like sort of euill spirits the euill spirit of the Lord is said to enter into Saul really and the spirit of Satan into Iudas and our Sauiour did eiect diuers reall and sensible deuils because their voyces were heard The oddes and distinction of these in my opinion is this the good spirits hath more celestiall and subtile bodies and so their possession of men and copulation with them being more spirituall then others It is also more perceiued by the actions of our spirit then by any change of our bodies whereas Demones as Saint August in his tenth Booke De ciuitate Det Thomas Aquinus in Summa 2. Questi 95. Origen in his booke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doe affirme that they be meere corporall so that Arist. Plato and diuers Philosophers who diuided them in aereall terrestriall and subterrestriall spirits they hold that the two inferiour species of them be in some sort grosse and elementarie more remoued from the celestiall intelligences of the supreme world and therefore giuen to a wicked commerse with men and women by all sorts of deceitfull and impious suggestions whose copulations are both bodily palpable and visible possessing the bodies specially of women as grosse filthy and contagious vapours breeding inflamation visible in the hearts and breasts mouing swelling and dumbenesse in the tongue depriuing the organicke faculties of hearing seeing and such like as daily experience doth teach Neither let any man imagine the carnall copulation of the euil spirits with women to be a thing extaticke or fantasticke that enemie spirit of whom the Prophet saith Ad conterendum erit cor eius ad internecionem gentium non paucarum whose heart shall bee bent for the ouerthrow and destruction of many nations and people hee delighteth to defile or extinguish the seed of man euen in the mothers wombe so farre that the profound naturallist Paracelsus affirmeth that those grosse and vncleane spirits of deuils doe mixe themselues with humane feed where it is lost by naturall weakenesse or nocturnall dreames that they doe cooperate with it to produce thereby those succumbent or incumbent spirits deuils which are found chiefly in the moystie and Northen Regions To which abomination it seemeth the lawe of God hath some relation where it is said that all these who should couple themselues with the deuill Peor should perish wickedly and who will marke these places in Exod. Leuit. Deut. Where sorcerie and brutall Paliardise or luxurie is forbidden will find vncouth and vnknown villanies couertly touched as there where it is said you shall not present to God the wages of a harlot nor the price of a dogge and againe where God doth say you shall no more sacrifice vnto those Buckes and Satyrs after whom you went a whoring which I doe not heere introduce impertinently nor curiously but that wee may learne to reuerence whatsoeuer meanes the Lord hath appointed for vs to withstand the malice of Satan which is so dangerous for two respects First because of his craft and skilfulnesse who
A VISION OF BALAAMS ASSE VVHEREIN HEE did perfectly see the present estate of the Church of ROME Written by PETER HAY Gentleman of North-Britaine for the reformation of his Countrymen SPECIALLY OF THAT TRVLY Noble and sincere Lord FRANCIS Earle of ERROL Lord HAY and great Constable of SCOTLAND Ioan 8. 32. The truth shall make you free LONDON Printed for IOHN BILL Cum Priuilegio 1616. TO THE KINGS MOST EXCELLENT MAIESTIE MOst Gracious and most sacred Soueraigne It is not without diuers reasons that I haue not boldly made a Dedication to your Maiestie of this Treatise put foorth for the good of your Maiesties subiects and hauing so much neede to be strongly armed now while as like vnto a weake Barke vpon a raging sea it entereth on the Theater of the World to speake of the peace and vnion of the holy Sanctuary amidst so many furious Giants of contradiction as are now in the Church of God This heauenly voice of Christian harmony hath neuer bin heard but followed with a malignant Echo of proud and vehement Spirits qui pascuntur syllogismo sicut boues feno who delight to feed vpon Disputes as Oxen on hay in such a desperate Paroxisme that they will not lose the reputation of one crooked syllogisme for the peace of whole Christendome yet the world doth neuer want some Phaenix who is content to burne her earthly fame to ashes in that pure fire of Christian loue to bring foorth some seedes of peace So that I do expect no other but to heare my cries contumeliouslie re-echoed that my conceptions of the reconciliation of Rome shal be esteemed not only Paradoxall but smelling of atheisme and that my proiects for perfect vnitie in matter of Ecclesiasticall policie and ceremonies within your Maiesties kingdomes shal be said to be a craftie and cunning preparation for superstition to re-enter into the Church of which vnchristian oblatration the first alarmes haue been sounded in my eares so hardly while my Copie was newly deliuered to the presse that I would haue retired it if I had bin one of those who liue in the aire of popular applause as in their naturall element who like to Narcissus will rather die for loue of their owne image then suffer one blow for so noble a common cause But when I consider how many odious calumnies our Sauiour and his Apostles did suffer for plantation of this peace of the Gospell I hold it a mans truest commendation and comfort if for the sake of the same he may say with S. Paul to the Corinthians that he fought with beasts in the maner of men Seldome is it indeed that goodnes is made the scope of our actions and in this corrupt age this vpright vertue of pacification hath neuer bin seen vpon the stage but waited with an infortunate Genius wee may witnesse those sweete ingines of Cassander of Erasme of Iunius of Paraeus of Causabone and other Pacificators And certainely I thinke it is a sillie vertue that for so braue an end cannot in the conscience of an honest deed with a sterne countenance out-face a guiltie Calumniator for such a Treatise as this can neuer be altogether fruitlesse if it were but to giue aire enough for discouering and venting of malicious humors that lurke in ill affected men And howsoeuer the matter shall worke two things did mightily encourage me first knowing that vnder the godly and gracious Reigne of your Maiestie in whose eares Moderation and Wisedome do constantly dwell an Aristides will be permitted to breath freely without feare of Ostracisme or banishment Next the priuate testimonies which I haue had of the presence of Gods holy Spirit to informe and to confirme my conscience whiles I did labour about these do giue me great hope that they shall haue sufficient auctoritie with good men to purge me from these vglie and odious aspersions And therefore for the first I did rather chuse to betake my selfe to the candor and nobility of my cause to the patience of those benigne and blessed Spirits who haue mooued before me this diuine argument de amahili Ecclesiaconcordia then presumptuously to thrust in your Maiesties bosome my hazardous endeauours the chiesest protection whereof must be to be acceptable of God whiles they are vngracious to men Alurements to Chatholike pacification Inducements to absolute vnitie within the Church of this I le Defence of the Orthodoxall policy of the Church gouernment Apologie of the most lawfull authoritie of my soueraigne Prince Perswasions to so worthy and so deare a Nobleman to vendicate himselfe from the bondage of Idolatry and such like sacred theames as be treated heere are able to preserue my reputation from blemish or suspition vnlesse that Archiecalumniator the Iesuite doe edge his bloody pen against me who seeing hee doth not spare to bend his murthering tongue against your Maiestie who is the Mirror and Miracle of the world his malediction or malscription can procure nothing but glory to such as I am The second reason of my non dedication to your Maiesty is that although it be ingens materia superba inscriptio a most stately and glorious subiect to write of Christian harmony yet it commeth in my hands as an excellent Lute to vnskilfull fingers in which respect I knew my paines to be vnworthy of your Maiesty as also by reason of my base and humble stile which flieth low inter aues palustres and is not composed of those Aquiline penns which can soare neer vnto the Sunne Thirdly I did not wish that any peintured dedication to your Maiesty should hide the true face of my labours and make that to be esteened mercenary which is most sincere Fourthly the whole treatise it selfe is no other then a sacrifice of my deuotion to your Maiesties seruice consisting of the most cleane and costly peeces that I could chuse to offer all tending to perswade your Maiesties people that the prosperity of the Church and the felicity of this kingdome haue no sure fundament now but such a firme coniunction as doth reserue no sparkle color nor pretext of seperation hereafter If that Great King out of the conscience of his Tyrannie and proud ambition did say in his time that he was none of his who did not fauour the Monarch asmuch as Alexander how much more need haue Princes now adaies that we should all insinuate vrge write preach and crie that he is not an vpright Subiect who doth not loue both the Royall person and the Royall Maiestie in these dangerous times while as a spirituall ambition hath so poysoned the soules of men by this Chymique Theologie of the Iesuite who presumeth as it were to Metamorphose nature and superinduce a new face vpon the World spiritualising the grounds of State and temporalising the condition of Religion making Popes absolute ouer Monarches and vsing Kings like to the Shepheards dogs who are beaten and chased away when they are not vigilant and barking to his pleasure that it is to
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
Scripture to signifie the Pagan gods which were things false and so nothing Esay saith of the gods of the Gentiles Behold you are nothing and your workes are of no worth Vnto the which Saint Paul alluding Wee know said he that an Idol is nothing in the world because howsoeuer it bee made of mettall timber or stone yet because the falshood which it representeth is nothing it is said to be nothing Now so ielous is God of his honour and worship That hee hath not only forbidden materiall images to bow down to them but there is also spirituall Idolatry forbidden whereof there is two sorts The first is of these who directly or indirectly haue society and company with the Diuell and trust in him as Sorterers Magitians Witches Consulters The second is of those who mainetaine any erronious opinion concerning the worship of God or against the word of God or who doe cherish and defend any great and odious vice by a displayed banner against God as the Prophet Samuel speaking of the disobedience of Saul Your rebellion saith he is the sinne of Witchcraft and your trangression Idolatry the reason is because hee who doth obey God after his own fantacie and not after Gods expresse Commandement he doth prefer his own conceipt and make an Idol thereof as Saint Ierome in this same sense shewes how there was oftentimes Idolatry among the Iewes when they had no materiall Idoles as the Gentiles saith he worship corporall Idoles so the Iewes hold for gods those Idoles which they haue forged in their soules and therefore they are Pagans and Idolaters Saint Austen expounding the meaning of Iosua when he exhorted the Iewes newly entred in Palestina to put away their strange gods It is not to be thought that in this time the Iewes had any Pagan god said hee because immediatly before he did praise their obedience neither is it to bee thought that hee spake these wordes without cause so it was said he that the holy Prophet vnderstanding them to haue in their hearts erroneous opinions of God contrarie to his honour hee desired them to leaue them Saint Paul doth cleerely testifie that the auaricious man and the glutton be Idolaters the one of his gold the other of his belly Quorum Deus venter est Many were among the Phylosophers whose wisdome did neuer suffer them to worship Creatures as Idoles yet were they spirituall Idolaters by denying of the Resurrection and of the immortality of the Soule in that true eternity which God hath appointed for it The Iewes and Turkes this day doe not worship any materiall Idol yea they worship the same God whom we doe yet they are Idolaters because they doe not acknowledge him as he is a Diuine Essence distinguished in three persons but after a fantasie deuised by Mahomet here and there be the Cabbalists of whom and of of all such Saint Basil saith Cursed be the men who forge false imaginatione in their owne braines and carry spirituall Idolatrie in their hearts And Gregorie Nazianzene more plainely How is it come saith hee euen to this that euery wicked man doth make a God of his wickednesse his filthy passions his wrath his murthers his lust and drunkennesse and other abominable excesse And Saint Ierome writing vpon Isay and Hosea in diuers places and Augustine in the City of God doth reckon monstrons numbers of false gods whom poore Gentility had forged to themselues aswell in their fantasies as in their Temples both which sorts of Iolatrie God hath very well forseene and very strictly forbidden by his precept of no grauen image in heauen aboue nor in the earth beneath wherein no doubt by the heauen are meant not onely the Planeticall bodies but imaginations of Angelicall figures to be counted of vs for gods and all intellectuall phantasies and falsehoods contriued by humane braine in matters of Gods worship that they shall haue no place in our mindes which point your Lo sees how cleare it is It being so then that the poore blinded Pagans who are strangers to doctrine of holy Scripture and kept backe from it by the lawes of Tyrants they are thus conuicted by the Doctors of the Church not onely for materiall Idolatrie but euen for spirituall through the excesse of euery predominant vice or erroneous phantasie which did transport them and that Saint Augustine introduces Iosua as we haue heard exhorting the Iewes to quit their Idolatry of wrongfull opinions I wil in like manner appeale to the diuine light of your Lo conscience how vigilant you thinke a good Christian must be about the points of Gods worship or what warrant there is this description of Idolatry admitted first to erect and maintain such number of images in the Popish Church Secondly what warrant to equall with God the power of the blessed Virgin And lastly and aboue all what warrant presumptuously to affirme that any elementarie thing is really the person of God himselfe I vnderstand that from such grounds as bee in the Romane Church your Lo will giue pretended reason enough but that is contrary to my protestation whereby I haue tyed your Lo. to that which the Diuine instinct of your conscience doth say to you in fauours of the meanest of those superstitions as for the last two of them I need not insist much because I thinke they bee extra controuersiam Idolatries But vnderstanding well how your Lordshippe will holde for the Images by reason of the good meaning and vse which is had of them and from the common ground ab abusu ad non vsum non est argumentum Certainely such fearefull abuses haue I seene which make me to say alas wee doe not remember what a peremptorie terrible and Iealous God hee is in the whole order and in the smallest circumstances of his worship he hath said hee is a Spirit and will be worshipped in spirit and no other will content him Let vs exhauste our whole meanes let vs distill our braines from neuer so good a meaning to worship him if our doing goe not with his owne rule it is hatefull abomination in his eyes and chiefly where any thing is added or altered to the substance and Essence of Gods word giuen out by himselfe it is Idolatry and which is more in the highest degree whereof that one instance of King Saul his disobedience might suffice for a thousand examples who could haue doubted of his extraordinary good meaning in sparing the fat beastes to sacrifice vnto the Lord more who would not haue imagined it should approue his thankefulnesse towards God and yet the Prophet Samuel called it the sinne of Witchcrafte which is Idolatry in the Superlatiue degree and for it had denounced the renting and transferring of his kingdome why because the Lord who knowes the heart of man he did see that Saul by his addition to his Commandement did preferre his owne inuention thereunto hunting thereby after a reputation of zeale in Gods seruice and so honour
that to doe miracles it is gratia gratis data a grace freely granted of God as is the gift of Prophesie according to Saint Paul and as the Saints by their praiers haue entreated God to grant them the reall gift of Prophesie so no doubt the faith and praiers of the Saints haue obtained from God for the good of his owne people to bee instruments and workers of Miracles and as the gift of Prophesie was not a constant and habituall vertue resident in their persons by the which they might Prophesie when they would As we see in Elizeus who beeing once demanded of the king vpon a secret Dominus inquit celauit a me the Lord hath hidden it from mee when King Dauid was bidden by the Prophet to build the Lords Temple because God was with him in euery thing the same Prophet did forbid him the morrow after confessing that he had spoken without Gods priuity and therefore falsely so that the gift of Prophesie is a transient passion as is the power of miracles which is not neither permanent but as the Sawe hath a vertue to cut a sunder not at all times but when the Craftesman putteth his hand to it This extraordinary gift was not onely not granted habitually but it was granted to a fewe in number and that in the beginning chiefely of Iewish and Christian religion for establishment of faith in the world which was then bewitched with Ethnicke Idolatry strenghthned with Diabolical miracles so that God well knew Quod contraria contrarijs curantur by the true miracles of his holy spirit wrought by diuers of his good Saints to the astonishment of people he did discredit the spirit of Satan and that was done in the beginning to purchase authority to the faith as our Sauiour saith Si mihi non vultis credere operibus credite si opera non fecissem quae nemo alius vnquam fecit peccatum non baberent But after the word of God and his Lawe hath beene once established and receiued as it was answered to the Rich man in the Gospel Mosen habent Prophetas and therefore they might not looke for one to come from the dead who had the holy Scripture to look vpon euen so we after so many miraculous works done by our Sauiour and his Apostles for confirmation of our faith and after the Gospell left in perfection by the Spirit of God and embraced of the Gentiles for eternall veritie we are no more to depend vpon miracles as Christ himselfe testified after the doing of all these Scrutamini Scripturas quia illa testimonium perhibent de me There is no doctrine more true then this that miracles haue beene onely appointed of God for the aforesaid vse for of themselues they are neither necessarie nor sufficient for saluation The Canancan and the Thiefe vpon the Crosse they did beleeue vvithout miracles and he himselfe hath saide Blessed are they who beleeue and haue not seene so as they are not necessarie Againe Pharoh did see a number of miracles and was euer the more hardened which makes that they are not sufficient Is it not then a great vanity that the Church of Rome should arrogate vnto her that power vvhich God thought not necessarie to leaue to his Church Yea and which he foresaw to be dangerous by reason of the vveakenesse of humane wisdome to discerne betwixt true and false miracles vvhat vvas it that did indure the heart of Pharoh vvant of beleefe in God no doubt but herewith also want of knowledge to discerne betwixt Mosaicall and Magicall miracles so that the leauing of this to the Church had beene an ambush to catch men and lead them to Idolatry and the seruice of Satan testified plainly by the Scipture The Prophet saith Seduxerunt Populum meum in miraculis mendasibus And in the Apostle Surgent Pseudo Christi pseudo Prophetae Dabunt signa magna prodigia in populum ita vt in errorem inducantur etiam Electi si fieri potest How many shall say of those Prophets in Nomine tuâ—… prophetanimus Demonia eijcimus How mightely did Simon Magus deeeiue the multitude so desirous of miracles and so ignorant of them Uir quidam Simon Magus seducebat Ciuitatem Samariae quem auscultabuntur omnes a minimo ad Summum dicentes haec est virtus Dei qui vocatur magna co quod multo tempore magicis suis signis dementasset cos The looking for miracles is a token of Iewish vnbeleeuing hearts Signa non sunt data fidelibus sed infidelibus saith the Apostle Therefore they are most proper to the incredulous Synagogue of the Iewes for the which cause aboue all the other Apostles so great power of miracles was giuen to Saint Peter the Apostle of the Iewes that he did heale the strongest diseases with his shadow which not onely was neuer done by none of his fellow Apostles but we doe not read the like of Christ himself Iudaei signa petunt Gentes sapientiam quaerunt saith Paul Secondly is it not more then madnesse in the Church of Rome by arrogating vnto her this perpetuitie of miracles which God hath made onely temporarie and personall in the beginnings shee doth manifestly cloth her selfe with those markes whereby the Spirit of God doth point forth the Antichrist Let vs heare Saint Paul Reuelabitur iniquus ille cuius aduentus erit secundum operationem Satanae in omni virtute signis prodigijs mendacibus omni seductione iniquitatis his qui pereunt And the Spirit of God in the Apocal speaking of that second Beast which had two hornes like to a Lambe and spake like a Dragon Edetquo Signa magna adeo vt faciat ignem c Coelo discendere in conspectu hominum seducet Incolas Terrae propter signa quae datum est ei vt faciat in conspectu Bestiae In which places as we see this Traffique of Miracles is plainely called Operatio Satanae and a seduction of those who must perish By these I doe appeale vnto the diuine light of your Lordships conscience whither you doe not thinke that we ought to content our selues with Moses the Prophets and Apostles following Christs owne precept Sorutamini Scripturas to search the Scriptures for the doctrine of Saluation and to contemne this ridiculous and impious profession of pretended Miracles I appeale to your Lordship as you will be answerable to him who hath said of that light which he hath giuen you Est lux vera quae illuminat vmâ—…m hominem venientem in mundum Whether you do not thinke that those who in this Sunne-shine of Gods word would ground their beliefe vpon Miracles doe not iustly merite that answere of Christ to the Scribes and Pharises demanding miracles Generatio mala adultera signum quaerit and whither you Lordship doe not hold all those who beleeue such poore and childish conceits bee not iustly giuen ouer to themselues as
high Court of Parliament at Paris hath beene perturbed with the agitation thereof sithence This I thinke is the best seruice which I can yeeld to God my Soueraigne prince and to the common weale seeing it doth concerne euery good subiect both Theologically and ciuilly to vnderstand what hee doth owe to his King in his conscience for Religion and ciuilly it concernes him for the securitie of his state The Iesuits indeed haue most subtilly gon about to make an Antithesis or contradiction betwixt the Principautie and Priesthood holding this to be onely diuine and that onely humane and therefore that to be subiect vnto this vpon which Antithesis they build this vsurpation ouer Princes and states but if your Lo doe not stop your eares against the following discourse I hope your Lordship shall find that in my peregrination beyond seas I did furnish my selfe with as much concerning the substance of this question from the most learned both writers and speakers as is sufficient to ridde any man whatsoeuer of this dangerous doubt vnlesse it be those whose hearts and best spirits are already ouercome by the poyson of this deadly Absinthium And first I lay downe this generall Thesis that all such authoritie and power in the Church which doth disproue Christian orthodoxal Magistrates erecting violent vsurpations in their place is manifestly contrary to the voyce of Christ in the Euangell the practise of the primitiue Church approued by the great doctors thereof in all following ages yea and contrary the first ordinance of God in the typicall gouernment of Moses and consequently all such doctrine which doe mainetaine the same must bee hereticall and impious To cleare this generall Thesis in the fountaine let vs looke vpon the first plantation of Christs Church and the condition wherein it was setled which by the Spirit of God is compared to a vineyard Homo quidem paterfamilias plantauit vineam circundedit eam sepibus and so forth as we read in the Text A certaine husbandman planted a vineyard and hedged it about This is the vineyard of Christianitie watered and made fertile by the foure floods of the foure Euangelists as is mystically figured in Genesis A flood went out of Eden to water the garden and from thence it was diuided into foure heads Christ who is the planter of this vineyard hath fortified it in the Gospel with three seuerall walles as so many diches and rampards to compasse it The first fortification and wall is the word of God and holy Scripture against heresies and heretickes Vt potens sit exhortari in doctrinasana eos qui contradicūt arguere to be able to reach wholsome doctrin to improue them who speak against it The second Fortification is of spirituall Iurisdiction against those who be rebellious Qui Ecclesiam non audinerit sit tibi tanquam Ethnicus Publicanus who is to be excommunicate from the company of the Saints The third Fortification is of Temporall power against humane inuasions Duo gladij Vpon the first of which three Ramparts hee hath placed learned Doctors in the Church who are furnished with spirituall wisedome to conuict herefie Vpon the second Prelates with authoritie to excommunicate those who be disobedient to the voyce of Christ. Vpon the third Brachium seculare Ciuill power of Princes to guard his Church from the persecution and inuasion of rauening Wolues from without and from intestine disorders without any of which three this Vineyard of Christ is neuer sufficiently fortified The erronious dreames of Anabaptists too much imitated by some pure and foolish Puritanes would depriue the Church of the vse of one of those strengths to wit of the secular Arme But specially this Iesuiticall Clergie hath preuailed mightly to breede a disiunction of the Ramparts which God wee see hath conioyned to rend asunder the Church and ciuill authoritie the Prince and the Priest which although they were contrarie in themselues as they be seuerall yet the Lord hath knit them together As of contrary Elements hee hath formed the vnitie of mans bodie and hath vnited a mans owne constitution of things meerely contrary soule and body heauen and earth Caro aduersus spiritum spiritus autem aduersus carnem saith the Apostle for euen as the soule of man which receiueth that diuine inspiration of wisedome and knowledge to rule our life is in it selfe a thing contemplatiue and abstract neuer able to subiect the members of our body to this Rule if it were not that the power of our actiue spirit sitting in the chaire of our conscience doth frame and force our will and the faculties of our minde to make our body obedient otherwise it should neuer obey vnto the soule by reason of the corruption therof Our soule is as the Alte of this Musicke our flesh as the Counterbase our actiue spirit as the Tenor and midcuple that ioyneth them This difference of our soule and spirit is cleere once by Saint Paul Ut seruetur corpus anima spiritus integor in die Domini nostri Our great Philosopher Christ againe did vse to say Tristis est anima meavsque ad mortem Spiritus quidem promptus caro autem infirma And Daniel Laudate Spiritus Animae Iustorum Euen so in Gods Church the Priests and Pastors are the soule which receiue the inspiration of Gods will in his law as the Scripture saith of them In quorū pectora condūtur Oracula Dei ex ore illorum promanant Eloquia diuina to bee taught and communicate to the people who bee the body of this Church if it were not by the power which God giueth vnto the Prince who sitteth in the Throne of authoritie and actiue wisedome like armed Pallas this bodie of ours would oftner refuse obedience to the soule as daily experience doeth prooue That Christian Princes to whose charge is committed the gouernment of States the rule of the people in pietie and iustice the protection of the Widdow the Orphanes the Innocent the Stranger the punishment of Malefactors and aduancement of the vertuous to Gods glory that those be not most diuine Offices and that therefore Ethnicke Princes haue had graunted by God himselfe the title to be his seruants who may deny it the Lords Annointed independent of any but of him alone and holding of him imediately the Charter of their authoritie Into the Iewish policie whereof God was the founder himselfe for an example to all vertuous and godly States wee see in the person of Moses a coniunction of spirituall and temporall power not onely did God esteeme his Vocation diuine but he giueth him the stile of a God Ego te constituam Deum Pharaonis I shall make thee the God of Pharaoh Moses did thereafter indeede by the direction of God separate those functions but alwaies in these termes that they should remaine in one vnited concurrence in the gouernment of Gods people like vnto the fingers of a mans hand
little vpon these following speaches to dispute whether there may not also bee a secret antipathie and enmitie naturall betwixt Musicke and wicked Spirits The reason of which when we begin to consider wee finde it more sublime and remote from our sensible capacitie then to search the causes of these other things which euill spirits are also thought to abhorre and therefore it doth argue that Musicke is a thing supernaturall and heauenly We read that the Deuils do mightily hate the presence of fire of salt and of Musicke the fire because it is life and light and Satan is the Prince of darknes and delighteth in darknesse the salt because it hath a virtue to purge corruption it is the marke of eternitie and he seeketh by all meanes to corrupt defile and destroy which is the reason why God commanded in the old Law to put salt vpon the Table of his Sanctuarie and to haue Salt specially in the sacrifice forbidding by the contrarie to put honie or wine therein to signifie that wee must offer the sacrifice of our prayers to God with sobrietie and prudence not mixed with flatteries or bold speeches God saith in the Law I shall make with you a couenant of Salt that is of perpetuitie as many are of opinion that the changing of the wife of Lot into a pillar of Salt was as to say a perpetuall Statue but when wee come to seeke the cause why the Musicke is fled of the Diuell wee finde it more subtle if the opinion were true of the Academicks who say that the Diuells be not onely bodily but elementarie mid-creatures betwixt visible and invisible bodies animalia scilicet corpore aëria mente rationalia animo passiua tempore aeterna Then might wee be induced without running to other mysteries to acknowledge some reason why they cannot abide the melodie of Musicke nor no delectable suffumigations by that which is read of the exorcismes of Salomon and of the smoake of the fish of Tobia but the difficultie to know the demoniack nature substance maketh this contemplation remoter S. August saith in his last chap of the 3. de Trinit that the Diuells are corporall as Basil Gregor Epiph say as much whereon this sort of demonstration is founded There is but one infinite substance the supreme essence a substance cannot be finite but by extremities of superficies and that doth only belong to corporall things and therefore those spirits must bee corporall because they are finite Alwaies the more common opinion of Theologie is as of Damasc Greg. Nazianz Thomas Aquinas and of the Master of the Sentences that the Angels and the Diuels be formes both pure and simple and that both can forme themselues in visible bodies when they would effect any thing bodily which is testified of the Angells by their apparitions to Abraham to Iacob to Moses to Eliah to Abatuck Of the Diuells againe testified by experience inquestionable of the aquilonar Succubi and Incubi testified by the Cabalists who affirme that vncleane spirits do often take the shapes of Bucks ston'd Horses and such like creatures repleat with bestiall luxurie wherevpon say they proceedeth that in Leuiticus that you goe not to sacrifice to those Bucks and Satyres and that in Esay of the destruction of Babell Zijm shall lodge there and their streets shall bee full of O him Satyres shall dance there and â—…im shall cry into their Palaces Testified againe by many places of holy Scripture the Diuell spake bodily to Adam to Christ. Hee tooke the person of Samuel albeit that Iustin Martyr and many of the Hebrew Doctors reason that it was Samuel himselfe as well because of that Text of Ecclesiasticus where it is said that Samuel did prophesie after his death as because of the answer giuen to Saul which seemeth to bee full of pietie pronouncing the name of GOD sixe or seauen times holding that Saul was not condemned eternally as they thinke but in the estate of that incestuous man who was ordayned by S. Paul to bee excommunicate to the end his bodie being chastned his soule might be saued Yet S. Augustine and the best Diuines stand for it that it was Satan and not Samuel which no doubt is the onely sound opinion Scotus subtilis in the second booke of his Sentences saith that the Angells assumed bodies not to bee ioyned or vnited with them hypostatically but to moue them and vse them as instruments much more then saith he the Diuells can assume bodies because they are more elementarie as they doe change themselues in bodies so from this same ground it is affirmed that they can also change bodies For three things we obserue in Gods works Creation which is onely proper vnto himself to make of no thing by the power of his word Generation which hee hath allowed to his Creatures themselues by a naturall instinct and appetite of succession to haue a power of generation and lastly Transmutation whereof hee hath giuen power vnto Starres and to the Spirits as saith Them de Aquin Omnes Angeli boni mali habent ex virtute naturali potestateÌ„ transmutandi corpora nostra All the Angells good and bad haue by a naturall instinct power to change our bodies wee see how the Sorcerers of Pharaoh did counterset the miracles of Moses Iob saith there is no power on earth like vnto that of Satan which prooues that the actions of the euill Spirits are actions indeed but extraordinarily so that wee must not thinke them illusions or prestigitations of our eyes Augustine chap 9. of the third booke de Trinitate saith thus Mali Angelipro subtilitate sui sensus in occultioribus elementorum seminibus norunt vnde rana serpentes nascuntur hac per certas temperationum opportunitates occultis motibus adhibendo faciunt creari The wicked Angells by their subtle sense and knowledge of the secret seeds of nature know by what meanes the Frogs and Serpents are made and by vsing of certaine tymous temperations they can accelerate their Creation Againe they haue power of transportation whereupon some follow the ignorant Viretus who holdeth it a fortitude of imagination in melancholious women who apprehend they bee carried with the deuill albeit antiquity hath esteemed it for a true ground that seldome doth a woman die of melancholie or a man of excessiue ioy for melancholie proceedeth of to much heat and drinesse and breedeth wisedome as Galen saith in his Booke De atra Bile to neither of which two is a woman subiect being of nature humid cold and passiue and therefore not wise as Solomon among a thousand men one among women none Besides that the Septentrinall people with whom the vncleane spirits are said to be most familiar they haue as little melancholie as those haue of flegme who dwell in Africke which sheweth the leuitie and weakenesse of this opinion of Viret Alwayes there be two sorts of transportations one in bodie and spirit the other in abstraction onely of the spirit
them a scruple against the peace and quietnes of the Church so were they gouerned with the spirit of charitie but such is our seuerity now adayes that we doe looke vpon euery circumstance with the iealous eyes of Iuno prying into the smallest shadowes of occasions that are not to our humour so hath one impetuous and vehement zeale extinguished our loue and too much curiositie drowned our meekenesse Confregimus iugum rupimus vincula we haue broken the bonds of Christian concord and harmonie as is said before The holy Spirit of charity should worke among distracted Christians like vnto that animall spirit of the Magnes or Loadstone which although it do banish and chase away Iron by the one end yet it is mightily attractiue by the other euen so although we should abhorre the Idolatrous points of the Popish Church yet by our kindly sympathising with things which be without error among them wee should contract and draw them as neere vnto vs as is possible but all in contrary the name of Poperie is become more odious to some of vs then the name of Paganisme and if we do not loue the Turke more then a Papist perhaps wee doe lesse hate him which is the reason why nothing can content vs but absolute derelinquishment of all and whatsoeuer is into the Church of Rome concerning the worship of God yea I do thinke there be among vs who if they knew how the Pope and his Priests doe eate they would striue to take their meat in an other sort that they might refuse to him the Communion of nature But as it were an ignorant part to refuse to eate of delicate and wholesome fruits because wee doe not see the root whereof they spring nor the secret conueyes of that moysture which doth nourish them or to refuse to dwell in splendid and commodious houses because we doe not see the fundamentall stones whereupon they were builded euen so no question it is an idle and euill part in vs if we doe not feed vpon the spirituall fruits of the Gospel peace loue and vnanimitie or if we refuse to dwell in one Arke because we cannot find to our curiositie all the reasons of the artifice whereby it hath beene builded doe not wee contemne the fruits of the Gospel when by our discrepance in matter of ceremonies indifferent at least if not vsefull wee make the Papist to say that the diuision of our language doth testifie that we are the Gyants who enterprised the Tower of heresie and when one Pastor doth affirme that his brother within the bowels of one Church and one kingdome doth carrie an idolatrous habite in the seruice of God yea when a Presbyter doth avouch that his ordinarie Bishop is Antichristian is not that a scandalous opposition within one particular church like to the twins of Rebecca who shooke each other in their mothers wombe whereby she became mightily afraid and dolorous for if wee doe flatter our selues to thinke these light differences vnworthy the name of separation wee must remember that small sparkles doe easily concitate a great flame chiefly when there be such cunning bellowes to set it a fire as the Iesuitique practises which be lurking among vs as the remanent of the Canaanites among the people of Israel And to conclude this point I pray God of his mercy that this kind of vnnecessarie distraction doe not make vs one day to say as Cyprian did lamenting the Church persecution for the contentions of his time These euills saith he had not come vpon the brethren if they had been linked together in the brotherly concord As concerning the rest of the Ceremonies being in the Church of England certainely they are not of that weight that wee need to insist on them And seeing it hath pleased the Lord to blesse these disordered beginnings of our Reformation here in Scotland by our Revnion with the ancient orthodoxall policie of his Church why should we not meet this mercifull dealing of God by our voluntarie acceptation of whatsoeuer indifferent Ceremonie not contrarie to Gods word which is in our neighbour Church yea rather in the bowells of our owne Church according to the opinion of learned and sincere Diuines to the effect that wee may remoue that the obloquie of our enemies which we vnderlie why should we not be altogether consentient among our selues to the effect wee may bee the more apt out of Christian loue to wish and pray for the generall reformation of the holy sanctuary of all Christian people whereof I will returne to speake because it is the point from whence did flow this particular Interim of our coniunction with the English Church in indifferent Ceremonies CHAP. XIII A briefe suruay of the States and Princes which be Catholike Romans and of the possibilities of general Reformation AND because I know that many good and wise men doe hold it a thing meerely parodoxall to reason of the reformation of Rome As I haue already spoken of the meanes whereby it ought to be after the true imitation of the refomation the restitution of Ierusalem in three seueral conditions so I wil now speak of the likelihood and possibility how they may come to passe It is true that the Church of Rome wil not willingly follow that example of Daniel to confesse before the Lord that her Pope her Cardinalls her Priests that both her Consistory and her Cloysters haue declined to fearefull Idolatry and abuses but what yet no man will imagine but God hath destinate a time for the reformation of so many Churches as haue drunken of that cup hee hath hung aboue her head the sword of his great seruant Mahomet wherewith hee hath chastised Ierusalem Antioch Alexandria and many other mother Churches he hath the sword of his omnipotent Word which hath already wrought admirable effects since the time of Luther If we shall wish her to be reformed by Mahometanâ—… fury we shall haue no Christian hearts towards her nor wisedome towards our selues if wee shall wiâ—… it to bee by the force of the spirituall sword of Gods Word wee must wish it to bee out of Christian loue and brotherly compassion otherwise our wishes our prayers our preachings are to no effect exhort in the spirit of meeknesse and loue saith the Scripture As Abraham did euen perturbe God in fauour of the Sodomites that hee would pardon that abominable people for the sake of tennemen if there could be found so many vpright before him there be no doubt in the Church of Rome thousands of good men who haue neuer bowed the knees of their hearts to â—…aal thousands of deuout soules who grone vnder that bondage languishing for their reliefe for whose sake wee would be heard if our prayers were founded vpon faith and charity if it were not that God doth repulse them because they are mutuall imprecations as is said The Lord hath neglected his holy sanctuary and the pace thereof hee hath suffered his people so long to lie in
cleare reuelation from heauen as then because propheticall actions be all finished and all Scriptures concluded in our Sauiour yet by the like effects we obserue one and the same working of God to maintaine the generation of the Iust for looking vpon these famous Emperours Constantinus Magnus and Carolus Magnus most deuoute and Christian Princes they resemble Dauid and Solomon the first whereof eiected the Arrians as Dauid did the Nations And the last is said to haue setled the first meanes temporall of Christs Church wherby they were more able to guard themselues from barbarous persecutions as Solomon did build the Temple and house of the Lord. Againe in Princely exaltations we doe obserue this that the Princes who bee called Flagellum Dei and who be so indeed such as Nimrod said by the spirit of God to be a mighty hunter before the Lord such as the wicked kings of Israel such as the persecuting Emperours such as Tamberline the Tartarian such as the formidable Ottomanicall Princes These I say and all such the Lord God doth suffer to rise vnnaturally vnlawfully in furie a good Prince is a rare Iewel like vnto the vision of Ezekiel where among sixe destroying Angels he saw but one man who had power of safety because the sins of men doe merit oftentimes punishments they come as fearefull tempests in the ayre which ouerthrow the strongest Oakes and most firme Towers they come as impetuous inundations to spoyle and destroy they doe all by violence and nothing can pacifie their rage because they are sent to execute the wrath of God These Princes againe who come for the solace and safetie of people sent out in mercie they rise as it were in the sweetnesse of Nature they come in peace and calmenesse they shoot vp by gentle and lawfull meanes from humble beginnings they mount in patience to miraculous greatnesse Moses and Dauid from the sheepe Nabucâ—…ad-nezzar whom the Lord called his owne seruant he was a terrible Prince misknowing God oppressing his people sub virga ferrea vnder a scepter of Iron because he was sent by God in Iustice. Cyrus againe a meeke and temperate Prince whose golden scepter brought comfort with it because he was directed in mercie So that it is easie to marke in Kings by their circumstances what kind of Commissions they bring To come from this general contemplation to an Hypothesis to consider the condition of our most gracious Soueraigne whom the Lord hath sent in his mercie to worke pacification and vnity in the hearts of Christian People to be a Father of Peace Piety and Iustice if we can rightly apprehend it we shall find great reason to say also Mirabilis Deus in sanctis suis we shall find this blessed age in this Isle to be like vnto that whereof the Lord God did prophesie to Abraham That in the fourth generation his posteritie should be restored from the bondage of Egypt so farre that one may imagine how the growing of this royall Monarch is not vnlike to that of the house of Israel and how God hath ordained our Soueraigne King for seruices not vnlike vnto those of Moses as I will shortly shew by conferring these circumstances following First the pouertie diuision and constant vexation of this Isle vnder the Scots the Pichts the Danes the Saxons the Brittaines the English doth it not well resemble the Egyptian bondage Next our being obnoxious to much forraine ambition now practised by Fraunce now by Spaine now by Rome during our Soueraigne his Minoritie was it not a true seruitude of Pharaoh Lastly our intestine contention for gouernment both in the Church and state these many yeeres past before the Lord did exalt his horne and place him vpon the throne of this stately Monarchie were they not like the grudgings and murmurations of the children of Israel in the wildernesse The protection of God ouer the life of Moses was miraculous after his birth when he was cast into the riuer and what floods of dangers did fall out about the Natiuitie of his Maiestie the Stories of our countrey can record Moses was called from the sheepe to talke with God in mount Horeb to receiue the mysteries of gouernment and we may say his Maiestie from humble fields and dangerous beginnings hath ascended into the top of high gouernment where the Lord as we see hath inspired him how to settle both Church and state Moses was obstinate against the ambition of Pharaoh and would not discontinue the working of his miracles and his instance to haue his people dismissed and let vs sincerely and vprightly ponder what a miraculous constancie was it in his Maiestie before his going into England to bee so confident against the opposition of so many Pharaohs who laboured to keepe his Maiestie still in Egypt how many Spanish Iesuiticall and strong machinations did he both contemne and frustrate which were cunningly vrged before he did possesse that Crowne and how many euen of his Maiesties friends and good subiects did hold his Highnesse both weake and impotent thinking of his Maiestie that which Moses feared should be said of himselfe Who am I that I should goe to Pharaoh That who was his Maiestie without stronger ayde to purchase so mightie a state The hoste of Pharaoh was drowned in the red sea while they sought to bring Moses into Egypt And did not that proud Armada of the Spanish Pharaoh perish in his Maiesties seas and in our eyes while they intended to detaine him in Egypt Moses was a man most painefull in his long and tedious voyage in the wildernesse and what were a number of his Maiesties yeeres but a wandering in the widernes of our rebellion a languishing in the discords of our distemperate stare as we know Moses was a man full of mansuetude patience and affection to his people notwithstanding their daily murmurations whther God hath indued his Maiestie with such quallities it is easily seene of those who please to remember how many grieuances his Maiestie hath indured of some of his insolent subiects in setling Ciuill and Ecclesiasticall Policie and how many there be in Scotland who be his Maiesties creatures Ex gratia holding their liues and estates of his clemencie Moses was a man replenished with great wisedome that God is said to haue taught him the secret Cabbale of vniuersall nature into the mountaine and how his Maiestie doth meet that part compared at least with the best knowledge of these times I haue alreadie giuen you the testimonie of the world so that it hath no need ofmine With this consideration of his Maiesties person let vs also weigh aswell how he doth possesse as what he doth possesse in Dominion and wee shall find indoubtable arguments to say That the Lord God hath sent him in mercy loue by marks which are not to be seene in any Christian Prince in all the world beside not onely to make of vs a mighty nation by erecting among vs a vertuous
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