goods melt away as snowe This is it which Salomon meaneth in the ende of his first chapter of Prouerbs that the prosperitie of fooles destroyeth them I will not here forget what S. Chrisostome writeth of vppon the fift of the first to the Corinthians that a little gayne fraudulently gotten is often times the occasion of the losse of great wealth though well come by And in vaine do men locke their chestes with cheynes springes padlockes when they haue enclosed therein deceat a most violent theife which desperseth what euer it findeth within the coffer We read in histories and in Daniel the miserable ende of manye and among other of Nabuchodonosor and of Alexander the great who left nothing to their heyres but their wickednes We read likewise in the Prouerbes that the riches of the wicked auaile not in the day of wrath and that the breade of deceat is sweet to a man but afterwarde his mouth shal be filled with grauell And that the roberie of the wicked shal destroy them For iustice beeinge remoued euery state falleth to ruine and an inheritaunce hastely purchased shall not be blessed And God sayth by Ieremie that as the Partrich gathereth the young which she hath not brought foorth so he that getteth riches and not by right shal leaue them in the middest of his dayes and at his ende shalbe a foole And he pronounceth a cursse on his head that buildeth his house by vnrighteousnesse And in Tobie and some of the Psalmes a little is more worth with right then much heaped vp in iniquitye And it hath not without cause beene saide in auncient time that whatsoeuer vice buildeth it destroyeth Which beeing well considered it ought to stirre vp all maner of persons who wil not degenerate from the auncient nobilitie which hath taken foot and sure foundation vpon vertue to be true and kepe their promises what soeuer should chaunce to happen and not to seeke ought but by honest meanes For if you will exempt iustice and truth out of a gouernment it is then no more then a very robbing as Sainct Augustin affirmeth And for as much as the inconstancy of Princes and almost of al other kind of men is sufficiently apparant and sundry inconueniences haue ensewed where too much trust hath bin yeelded the wiser sort and best aduised haue stoode vppon their garde haue not been too light of beliefe and haue so prouided that men shall not easelie breake their faith with them or surprise them I thinke likewise that they haue heald a verye absurde opinion that commende crueltie in gouernours For he which delighteth in taxing can neuer be beloued or esteemed of I coulde answere them as king Alphonsus did that such men deserued to be gouerned by Lions Beares Dragons and such like beastes For as Salomon writeth the Kinges throne shal be established with mercie the which togeather with subiectes loue and iustice is the very chaine that holdeth togeather and maintaineth an estate and not force feare or great gardes as Dion declareth in Plutarque God beeing willing to make him knowne to Moyses calleth him selfe the Lord the Lord strong mercifull and gratious slow to anger and aboundaunt in goodnes and truth And the Grecians called the king of their Gods Melchins that is to say sweete as hony And the Athenians called him Memactis that is to say succourable And the holy scripture and sundrye Philosophers calleth him a Father a shepheard a refuge and protectour of his people For to murther and torment is the office of a Diuell of furie of a hangman not of a king or honest man And subiects ought otherwise to be accounted of then as slaues as Bartole in his treatise de regimine ciuitatis declareth it vpon the seuenth of Deutronomy where kinges are exhorted not to lift their harts vp aboue their brethren amonge which God had made choyce of them For the puissance of a father as Martian the Lawyer wrote l. s de paracid consisteth in pietie and mercy no whit at all in rigor It is written in the second of the kings how the cruell Senacherib after the angell had put to death 155000. of his men was himselfe slaine by his owne children And in the same booke he writeth of sundry kings and queenes abandoned of God pilled and murthered for their cruelty Like ende had Ptolome surnamed the lightning Ptolome Lamious that is to say the babler Cambises killed him selfe with his owne swoorde Xerxes was slaine by his vncle Seleucus Nicanor killed by Ptolome Kerapnos Antiochus Ierax surnamed the sacre because he liued vppon pillage was in like sort slaine as also was Seleucus surnamed the lightning because of his violence Antiochus the great pilling of the temple was slaine of his people as were Epiphanes and Eupator the histories are full of an infinite number of others which had like ende for their crueltye and couetousnes A man may see in an apology of Saint Ciprian against Demetrian the names of those which persecuted the church and how they haue beene punished holding it for a maxime that there was neuer no crueltye vsed against the Christian church that was not in shorte tyme after reuenged Aristotle exhorted Alexander to doe good to euery one and not to be cruell rather to be praised for his clemency then conquestes It is written of Theodosius that when he deliuered his swoord to his Constable he willed him to vse it only against malefactours and if he commaunded any thing cruell or vniust then hee should draw it againste him selfe As also the kinges of Aegipt would sweare their Iudges that they shoulde not obeye them in ought they demaunded of cruell vniust or against the lawes The like did Antiochus also write to the Cities vnder his obedience that they should obey and keepe such his commaundementes as oppressed none Antonius Pius held opinion of Scipio Africane that he rather chose to preserue one of his subiects then slay one thousand of his enemies Which I greatly wish all kinges would obserue Marecellinus termeth the vice of crueltye the boche of the soule proceedinge from the feeblenes and basenes of the hart And the sayd Antoninus sayd that nothing rendreth an Emperor more famous among al natiōs then clemency vpon this and graciousnes is the assurance of the publike weale founded as Valerius Publicola repeateth in Titus Liuius and Plutarque And Antigonus was wont to say that Clemency worketh more then violence One of the interpreters of the Bible councelled Ptolome to vse patience and longe sufferinge imitatinge the sweetnesse of God to the ende hee mought reigne well And Marrinus the Emperour wrote to the Senate what good is there in Nobilitye if a Princes hart be not replenished with bountye and sweetnesse toward his subiectes Plutarque mentioneth of the great captaine Pericles that when his friendes came to visite him in his sickenesse and had put him in minde
and engendreth within vs an amendment of life readie obedience and loue towardes God and our neighbour giueth vnto vs the hope of eternal life and of obtaining what we ask at Gods hands rendreth our conscience peaceable maketh vs to perseuere in the good giueth vnto vs a boldnes to addresse our selues to the throne of grace bringeth with it selfe a constancie and pacience in all aduersities and comforteth vs cleane remouing away all feare anguish vexation of minde For this cause God is called by S. Paul in the beginning of his second Epistle to the Corinthians The God of mercie and consolation And in the sixth to the Ephesians he doth exhort vs to take vpon vs the shielde of faith wherewith we may quench all the fierie dartes of the wicked CHAP. 3. Properties of the truth and how much it is requisite in a Prince and Clergie SAint Paul recommendeth this trueth vnto vs as an especiall and principall part of the armour required to be worne by a Christian Knight and as a bulwarke against all assaults And most excelent is that saying in the 8. chapter of the prophesie of Zecharie where hee exhorteth Euerie man to speake the trueth vnto his neighbour and as the bodie bereft of the soule is nought else then stinking carrion so man depriued of this trueth is no better then a verie infection and filthie carkasse For this cause Plato in his commonwealth ordained for a lawe that aboue all thinges the truth might be preserued And Xenophon bringing in a good Prince vnder the person of K. Cyrus requireth especialy that he be founde true This was also the first lesson which Aristotle taught Alexander the great And Isayah setteth downe a King to reigne in Iustice and a Prince to rule in Iudgement being as an hiding place from the winde and as a refuge for the tempest And a byshop of Cologne declared to Fredoric the Emperour that the bare worde of a Prince ought to be of as great weight as other mens othes and that the trueth ought to bee his chiefest ornament The aunsweare which Charles the fift Emperour made vnto such as would haue perswaded him by no meanes to sende backe Luther being come vnto him vnder his safe conduit is greatly praised saying that though the performance of promises were cleane banished the face of the earth yet it should be kept by an Emperour Our Sauiour also in manie places of the Euangelistes commaundeth vs in any wise to keepe truth and nameth himselfe the sonne of Iustice and the essentiall truth On the other side the Diuell is called a lyer and the father thereof to the end that euerie one abyding in God who is the soueraigne good and hauing him for a father Lorde Sauiour and Protectour might be founde true and that we should not serue so wicked a murtherer and cruell deceauer as Sathan and that we shoulde abhor lying with which he onely serueth his turne to extinguish the light of the truth the onely life of the soule And Iob sayth that the wicked abhor the light they knowe not the wayes therof nor continue in the pathes thereof The Catholique Church is likewise called of S. Paul The pillar and grounde of trueth And Lactantius calleth it the fountaine of trueth house of faith and temple of God into which who so doth not enter is cleane shut vp from anie hope of eternall life For out of her is there no saluation to be found but euen as it fared with them that were without the Arke of Noah in the time of the flood And our religion hath beene founded vppon faith which dependeth of this truth which alone hath much more vertue than Cicero would attribute to Philosophie as in casting out of spirits remouing vaine solitarinesse deliuering vs from lusts and chasing away all feare For she teacheth vs the true seruice of God how to worshippe his mightinesse admire at his wisedome loue his bountie trust vnto his promises and rule our life according vnto his holie will She cleareth and giueth light vnto the course of reason thorough the knowledge of thinges and guideth our will vnto the true good and taketh away the clowdes of our vnderstanding as it is saide the North winde doth in the ayre And wee daylie see that the afflicted and wretched innocent taketh his greatest comfort in that the trueth is of his side And this truth causeth that parte of our vnderstanding wherein reason lyeth to rule and our will affections and like partes willingly obey thereto and suffer themselues to be gouerned therby And we may the rather be termed men in neare approching to God our patron For all the doctrine of the lawe tendeth to ioyne man through holinesse of life vnto his God as Moyses in Deutronomy sayth to make him leane vnto him For neither the worlde nor anie other creature can make man happie but he alone which made him man And thorough this truth are we deliuered from false opinions and ignorance and in al actions she is the light to guide vs frō stumbling and bringeth foorth all vertues And since that the end of Grammer is to speake aptly and agreeably and the end of speech societie of Rhethoricke to carrie all mens mindes to one opinion And of Logicke to finde out a truth amidst manie falshoodes all other artes doe likewise tende to this trueth And let vs make our senses to serue our vnderstanding and that vnderstanding of ours to serue him by whom it is and doth vnderstand And since this truth is a light her propertie is to chase away the darkenesse blindnesse and ignorance of our vnderstandings and to reioyce and comfort vs as the sunne rising doth to Pilgrims except they be such as our Sauiour spoke of who loue darkenesse more then the light which maketh vs to perceaue what hath beene hidden from vs. And men are more afraide to do amisse by day then by night and we are better able to guide our selues and can yeelde a better testimonie of what we haue seene as our Sauiour sayde in S. Iohn we speake that we knowe and testifie that we haue seene CHAP. 4. Extremities in the truth and how men may speake of themselues and of that which they vnderstande and that men ought not to publish anie writing but of their owne inuention and to some purpose nor to attribute to themselues the honour of a thing well done SInce that this trueth is approued to be a vertue she ought to hold a mediocritie to be set betweene two vitious extremities of either too little or too much as it is saide of the rest of the vertues which make them selues more apparaunt in gayning vnto themselues by those actions which consist in the middest of two contrarie vices as doeth the true tune among discords The excesse and ouerplus shal proceede of arrogancie pride vaunting disdain insolencie
things concerning the vertues yet haue they not declared at whose handes they ought to be demaunded nor whither they ought to bee referred neither haue they knowen the beginning of the corruption of mans nature nor the remedie of al euils which is reuealed in the Gospel by the knowledge of the trueth and the adoption of the Christians the remission of sinnes and the promises which giue vs a certaintie of the fauour blessing and good will of our good God whereof ensueth a good conscience hope and peace in the spirite which consumeth all the greefe and sorrowe as the Sunne doth the morning dewe And there is none of the said Philosophers except Plato which was able to set downe that the soueraigne good of man was to be ioyned with God but he had no tast at all what this coniunction meant nor the meane to attaine vnto it And as touching the comfortes of the Philosophers the complaint which Cicero made in his Epistle to Atticus is true that the medicine is not of force enough for the disease that neither the discipline learning nor bookes ought profited him Which a body cannot auerre by the holy scriptures as Dauid saide that hee was quickened comforted instructed that they gaue light to idiots And there is another manner of efficacie then the drougg which Homer called Nepenthes which he said was able to keep one from smelling yll sauours charme greefe vnderstanding therby a discreate speaker one able to apply himself to the present affections times affaires as more at large we haue before declared Which maketh me to disproue the opinion of Seneca which attributeth it to god in that we liue but in that we liue wel to Philosophie which in deede ought rather to be referred to God the aucthor of all good Horace spoke as ignorantly writing that God gaue him life riches but that he furnished himselfe with a good and right vnderstanding For God causeth the eye to see the eare to heare and giueth the right iudgement both to will and to perfourme as S. Paul sayth and he disposeth the pathes intentions of men This word Philosophie hath beene interpreted for the loue of wisedome and Aristotle in his second booke of his Metaphisicks taketh it for the knowledge of the trueth Many haue noted great varietie ambiguitie vncertaintie in the doctrine of Aristotle and that he was ignorant of the most excellent things of nature vsed verie necessarie demonstrations The which men in time past wel marked picturing behind his portracture a woman which had her face couered with a vayle named Physis that is to say Nature And it is no maruaile at al if all of them were not able to attaine to those supernaturall things since that the most excellent treasors of nature were concealed from them The which ought to make vs admyre at Gods speach in the fiue last Chapters of Iob discoursing of the mouings of the heauens force of the starres of the earth founded vpon the waters of the waters hanging in the middle of the worlde and sundry other wonders which a body may perceiue able to declare the knowledge of man to be verie ful of ignorance S. Augustine compared the life of the ancient Pagans which were accounted so wise vertuous to a wandring course their argumēts to a glasse which is shining but verie brickle Concluding it better to halt in the way of truth then to runne lightly without it He wrote likewise that their vertues were impure imperfect because there is nothing good without the soueraigne good And where there is defect of the knowledge of eternal life there vertue is false mens intentions go awrie And there is no man that can haue any quietnes of conscience but through the promises of God from which they were shut out also by the inward obedience required of God by trusting in him by repentance righteousnes iustification of the faithful by the free forgiuenes of our sinnes by hope patience confidence in aduersitie confession giuing of thanks by referring al things to the glorie of God to charitie And S. Chrisostom vpon the first to the Corinthians fourth Homelie cōpareth the subtile disputations of the Philosophers to cobwebbes which breake rent asunder with the wind speaking of a happy life were neuer able to attaine vnto it and as S. Paul writeth professing themselues to be wise they became fooles And not without cause Socrates in Plato lamented that the Philosophers studyed more the contemplation of nature knowledge then to liue well or giue good precepts And towards the end of the treatise of his lawes as through a diuine inspiration he giueth hope of the comming of one more excellent more redoubted and more holy then any man whose office was to open the secrete places of truth and the hidden fountaines who should be folowed honored of al men which surely could not be vnderstood but by our Lord Iesus Christ which is the waie the truth and the life S. Chrisostome setteth downe in the ranke of Philosophers Aristides Cato Solon Lycurgus Epaminundas sundrie other who besides their knowledge were excellent in matters of state gouernement as was our lawyer Vlpian and studied more to do good to euery one then to bee conuersant in contemplation For the Sophisters counterfait to be wise in deed their ende is but glorie and proud boasting And S. Augustine thought that all Philosophers were rather giuen to the seruice and searching out of the intelligences seperate which we call angels diuels and which they called gods and spirites then of the true God albeit they confessed there was one only almightie father of the Gods and men And it is easie to gather out of their writings how they confessed one only God in three persons the Father the Sonne the holy ghost and other Articles contained in the Apostles Creede to conuict Atheists and Epicures withal CHAP. XX. Of disguisings done to Princes and what is their duetie for their honour and quiet of their subiects and of the miseries of the wicked of the obseruation of ordinances and of that which maintaineth or altereth an estate PRinces were ordained of God to be fathers protectors and shephardes ouer the people cōmitted to their charge to serue to maintaine their libertie and to defende them against all iniuries and to shewe them good example to entertaine iustice and peace to cause vertue learning sciences and good lawes to flourish to prouide for the instruction of youth to esteeme of the good and chastice the wicked Plato did write following the fixion of Homer that children born of Kings were composed of a pretious masse to be seperate from the common sort And it is saide of Scipio and certaine other great personages that they were descended from a
receaued an iniurye ought to keepe and obserue as aboue I haue touched and it is onelye longe sufferinge that in the ende byteth And to pardon is a signe of a heroicall and noble heart and as Homer wryteth the more excellent a man is the lesse is his anger burninge and euerye gentle hart is easelye contented Sainct Paule wryteth to the Collossians As the elect of God holye and beloued put on tender mercy kindenesse humblenesse of minde meekenesse long suffering forbearing one an other and forgiuing one an other if anye man haue a quarrell to an other euen as Christ forgaue you euen so doe yee And aboue al these thinges put on loue which is the bonde of perfection And let the peace of God rule in your hearts to the which yee are called in one body and be yee amiable They ought to be accounted wise who knowing how apt of their owne inclination they be to choler vse notwithstandinge such remedies as they thinke fit to retyre themselues either in bearing patiently forgetting pardoninge moderating of them selues without beeinge too much mooued or breaking that which is easie to be dashed in peeces of a seruaunt as did Calias and Cotis or in burning their enemies letters before they see them as Pompei did those of Sertorius and Caesar those of Pompei The holye scripture doth often times exhort vs to forbeare one an other And whereas Saint Paule writeth that we shoulde portion a like to one an others charges hee vnderstandeth infirmities Dion after hee had restored his countrie againe to libertye was counselled to put to death one of the greatest enemies that he had now fallen into his handes but he sayd that he had long agoe learned to surmount wrath enuy and all euill will whereof the proofe consisted in behauing ones selfe temperatelye and courteouslye towardes his enemies and that he rather chose to surmount in bountye and courtesie then in power reuenge proceeding from a base minde We ought then to shun all suspicion of contempt and audacity rather casting the fault vppon the ignoraunce mistaking or lacke of those which haue offended vs to the ende we may escape that vengeaunce which is so often forbidden of the Lorde and which proceedeth from the same spring as doth the iniury and offence Notwithstanding that anger is not to be blamed which is vsed sometimes to make men amende when they haue done a fault For as Aristotle writeth in the fourth of his Morales euen as disordinate anger is a fault so is sometime the want of moderate choler or rather hatred of vice And it seemeth that they which are not angrye when it is required at their handes to feare offendours are very euill aduised and expose them selues to manye iniuries For this cause Plato called anger the sinew of the soule for that it serued to encrease valour being moderate and temperate And Aristotle writeth that it is an armour to vertue but such a one as rather mooueth vs then is ought mooued it selfe Lactantius in his booke intituled of the wrath of God c. 17. writeth that it is necessary that those thinges which are nought should displease such as are vertuous persons and that hee which is displeased at euill should be mooued when he seeth it wrought so wee doe decline to vengeaunce not because men haue offended vs but to the end discipline may be kept maners corrected and licentiousnes repressed This kinde of choler is lawfull which as it is necessarye to man for the amendment of lewdnesse so is it found in God of whome man taketh example for as much as we ought to chastise our subiectes so ought God to represse the vices of each one And to bring this to passe it is necessarye that he be angry and that it is naturall and good to be mooued and stirred to wrath Therefore anger ought to be defined a motion of the spirite lifted vp for the repression of sinne For the definition which Cicero maketh of the desire of reuenge is not much different from this but that anger which we call choler or fury ought not to fall within man being a thing vicious vnprofitable Notwithstanding I am of opinion that the diuines will not be of Lactantius his mind in that he attributeth any passion to God for he worketh nothing either with greef or paine The old prouerb holdeth that an Ant will be angry and yet we are not able to discerne when she is moued much lesse in God whose workes are vnsearcheable and passe the capacitye of our vnderstanding Albeit the holy scripture doth often apply it selfe to our fashion of speach who trouble our selues with passions in taking pitie or in punishing or in seeing some disorder And S Paule writeth that of our own nature we are the children of wrath from whence we are deliuered by Christ Iesus our mediatour Dauid sayde Psa 103. that God hath not dealt with vs after our sinnes nor rewarded vs after our iniquities And Psal 86. he calleth him a pitifull God and mercifull slow to anger and great in kindnes and truth And Psal 145. That the Lord is good to all and his mercies are ouer all his workes The which is likewise repeated in Exodus 34 Numbers 14. Nehemiah 9. Ieremiah 15 Ioel 2. Ionas 4 Nahum 1. A man ought diligently to take heede how he committeth those sinnes which prouoke the wrath of God especially to be no idolatour Deu. 9. 32. nor to tempt God Exod. 17. Psal 78. nor to murmure against his prouidence Nom. 12. 14. nor to be rebellious Deu. 9. nor to shead the bloud of the innocent Math. 25. nor to molest the widowes and fatherlesse Exod. 22. The holy scripture speaketh of the old and new man and of the circumcision of the heart So meant the Philosophers when they sayde we were made of two partes and that he which made the worse subiect vnto the better was counted continent and contrariwise he which made the brutish and vnreasonable part of his mind to preceed and commaunde the more noble was accounted incontinent and worse then it For this cause is it required that thorough the bit of reason we put backe and tame that felonious courage of ours to submit it vnto the moste milde yoke of the holye lawes of God which so much recommendeth vnto vs peace patience and mercy Valerius and others haue written that iniuries are surmounted thorough courtesie and bountye not by the reuenge of a new hatred And Cicero in his Oration for Murena and Demosthenes particularly in that he made before Alexander the great to hinder the siege of Athenes do amply shew that it is an act nearest approching vnto diuinitye to vanquishe ones owne courage represse his wrath moderate victory amplifie the dignity of ones enemy commande ouer ones selfe and not too much to trust in anger a mortall enemy to counsell For as our sauiour Christ sayde the violent that is to say
condemned but they which are consenting thereto and knowe him do not reueale him to the end that the holye name of God be not prophaned contrarie to the first table of commandements which forbiddeth vs to take it in vaine The which hath beene the cause that some diuines haue esteemed it a greater and more haynous sinne then murther forbidden by the second table the rather for that if proofes be wanting against the murtherer men haue recourse to his othe Salomon in his prayer that hee made at the dedication of the temple demaunded the punishment of such as should periure themselues The Aegyptians and Scithians put them to death the Indians cut off the toppes of their feete and handes for an example to shewe the offence they had committed against God and their neighbour Saint Lewys the King caused their lips to be feared with a hote yron in Zuiserland they fasten their tong with two nayles and in some Cantons they make them dye like felons or pul out their tongue And against them there are sundrie ordinances made by the Kings of France which we ought to obserue especially against blasphemers the which God in Leuiticus woulde should be stoned vnto death It is written in the Prouerbs The toung of the frowarde shalbe cut off And Iustinian the Emperour ordained by sundrie lawes that such should be executed And not without cause haue the diuines accounted blasphemie much more worthie of punishment then any other fault wickednesse which as Samuel sayth are chiefely committed against men whereas blasphemies are directly against the honour of God and in despite of him And by some decrees of the Court they haue beene condemned to a most greeuous fine and to haue their tongue perced thorough with a hot yron and after to be hanged and strangled It is worthy to be considered what Iohn Viet a Phisition in his historie of the deceites of diuels and sundry other writers haue testified of some that haue beene visibly carryed away by diuels in calling vpon them or giuing themselues vno them Pope Iohn the 12. was deposed and afterwardes put to death for hauing broken his othe made to Otho touching Berangare Iustinian the sonne of Constantine the fourth for hauing violated his faith giuen to the Bulgares and periured himselfe in assailing of the Sarazins was deposed from his imperiall crowne and banished I omit an infinite number of other who haue receiued like punishmentes for their periuries Pericles being required by a certaine friende of his to sooth a certain matter for his sake aunswered I am thy friende as farre as the aultar that is to say so farre as not to offende God To which that which is written of Hercules may be very well referred that he was so religious and vertuous that hee neuer swore in all his life but once and it was one of the first thinges that children were forbid as Fauorinus testified and the better to retayne and keepe them from this vice there is a very auntient ordinance at Rome that expressely forbiddeth them to sweare And the Prophetisse of Delphos made aunswere vnto the Lacedemonians that euery thing should prosper better and better if they forbad all othes Also it was in no case permitted to the Priestes of Iupiter to sweare for that often times an othe endeth in cursing and periurie And Stobeus writeth that for this cause the Phrigians did neuer sweare They which periure themselues as an auncient father sayth very well shewe suffycient testimony howe they despise God and feare men And if one thoroughly examined all estates and whereto euery offycer is bound to God to the king and to iustice by his othe hee should finde a maruelous number of periured Cicero in his oration which hee made for Balbus sayth that what oth soeuer he that is alreadie periured can take yet must one not beleeue him and in the end shall carrie his own paine For what shal remaine to God if he be spoyled of his truth making him a witnesse and approuer of fashood Therefore Iosua when he would haue had Achā to confesse the truth vnto him sayde My sonne I beseech thee giue glorie vnto the Lord God of Israel declaring that God is greatly dishonored if one periure him selfe by the like coniuration that the Pharises were wont to vse in the Gospell it appeareth that they commonly accustomed this kind of speech If we will then liue with quietnes of minde without destroying our selues we must eschewe all lying periurie folow our vocation obserue whatsoeuer we haue promised to God men CHAP. XXX That lying in doctrine is most pernitious and that one ought carefully to search for the truth EVery man confesseth yea the very Pagan Philosophers that men were created for the seruice of God and that aboue all thinges they should make accoūt of religion which giueth the only meanes to vnite and reconcile man to God for his saluation Cicero and Lactantius in sundry places declare besides that we find written in the old new testament that onely by seruing of god men differ from brute beasts and the good frō wicked and that the aucthoritie of Philosophie consisteth in the searching out of the principall end soueraine good of man And since that godlinesse is the scope of the rest it is requisite that it be fixed vnmoueable yet ther is nothing wherin mē erre so much as in that which ought to be most knowen The cause of the error proceedeth as in sundry places S. Augustin writeth by the testimonie of the scriptures for that the most part measure the said seruice rather according vnto their own blind braine then by the rule giuē in the word of god according to our corrupt reason through the hereditary fal of our prime parēts who were not able to cōprehend as the Apostle saith the diuine heauēly things Frō thence hath proceeded the multitude of Gods when they haue thought that one was not able to suffice prouide for all so were sundry kind of seruices in shew inuēted which might plese the cōmō people the creature taken in place of the creator nothing in steed of infinit S. Basil in a proeme writing of the iudgements of God greatly lamenteth that the church was so seuered in diuisions And searching into the cause therof he remēbred that passage in the booke of Iudges where it is written that Euery man did that which was good in his owne eies Since then that no error is so dangerous as that which is cōmitted in religion for as much as our saluation quietnes and happines dependeth therō it is very requisite that we apply therto what sense or vnderstāding soeuer is within vs according to the opiniō of S. Augustin if it be a leude part to turne the waifaring mā out of his right waye then are such as teach false doctrine much more to bee
detested because thorough such a mischiefe they leade men to destruction turning them from the eternall felicitie and infecte the most pure doctrine which is our spirituall foode and so separate men from the catholicke church without which is no saluation S. Augustin in his 4. booke of the Citie of God reproueth Varro Pontifex Sceuola who were of opinion that it was very expedient men should be deceiued in religiō because that there is no felicitie or rest but in the certaintie thereof and in an infallible truth And Chrisippus said that without diuinitie the doctrine of god none could take any principle at al in the discipline of maners And Polibius sheweth that there was nothing which so much aduāced the Romanes as their religion albeit it was not pure S. Paul writeth to the Corinthians that he had prepared them for one husbande to present them as a pure virgine to Christ And the Prophets cal lying adultery And S. Chrisostome vpō the argument of the Epistle to the Romanes sheweth that al mischeif proceedeth frō the ignorance of the scriptures as our Sauiour Christ imputed vnto the Iewes that they were deceiued not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God Matth. 22. Mark 12. And if it haue been saide of the auntient fathers that the word is a medicine to the greeued spirite a man may well say it is also poison being falsly taught The which moued the prophets Apostles so carefully to warne men to beware of false prophets seducers wolues which speake not by the mouth of God neither are sent by him because there is no cōparison to be made between the straw and the corne nor betweene an infected riuer and a good spring Againe we are exhorted to stand in the wayes behold and to aske for the olde way which is the good way and walke therein to the end we should not wander from that life thorough desearts but find rest for our souls And we read in the Acts of the Apostles that at the end of the sermons euerie man searched the scriptures to see whether those thinges they had harde were so For God by Isaiah sendeth vs backe to the lawe and to the testimonie because if they speake not according to this woorde it is for that there is no light in them as who would saye that they were abused and remayned in darkenesse And S. Peter caught nothing when hee fished by night vntill he cast out his net into the sea at the cōmandement of our Sauiour as some anciēt fathers haue gathered hereon What euer we do without the worde of God profiteth vs nothing and it shall be sayde vnto vs as in the first of Isaiah who hath required these thinges at your handes And if they say that the holy scripture is harde and not easely to be vnderstood God protesteth in Isaiah that he hath not spoken in secrete neither in a place of darkenesse and his doctrine is not obscure nor doubtfull but readie to instruct vs to perfection to lighten vs and guide vs to saluation And in an other place he sayth that the word of God is as the wordes of a booke that is sealed vp to the vnbeleeuers And Saint Paule wrote to the Corinthians that if his Gospel were hid it was hid to the infideles that were lost For this great Prince making his alliance with his subiectes and creatures to saue them deliuered all in cleare and simple termes And Saint Augustine writeth that whatsoeuer appertayneth to saluation is manifestly set downe in the scripture and whatsoeuer is obscure in one place is manifested in another and in the 15. Chapter of the same booke he giueth vs a notable rule howe to discerne figuratiue speeches as if we be commaunded to doe well straight wee are forbid the euill and so is it no figure for in that one shall finde the very scope of the scripture to wit the glory of God and charitie but contrariwise if taken according vnto the letter if it seeme to commaund ill and forbid the good then may we easely iudge it to be a figure whereof he giueth vs sundrie examples And Saint Paul in his seconde to Timothe sheweth that the whole Scripture is giuen by inspiration of God and is profitable to teach to improoue to correct and to instruct in righteousnesse that the man of God may be absolute being made perfect vnto all good workes The holy ghost is likewise called the spirite of prudence and discretion enterteyned by meditating of the scriptures contrary vnto the Philosophers bookes where leaues are onely gathered and not the trewe fruite And after that the Prophet Baruch had set downe what a number of mischeifes grewe by the carelesnesse of hearing of the worde of God and that we should drawe from the fountaine of wisedome he exhorteth vs to Learne where is wisedome where is strength where is vnderstanding that we might knowe also from whence commeth long continuance and life and where the light of the eyes and peace is The holy Scripture is also called the worde of reconciliation of life of peace and of saluation and there is not almost one line thorough out the hole Bible which doth not pull vs by the eare and sleeue to awake vs out of the sleepe of this world and to pull vs out of the clammie vanities wherein wee hange that it may bring vs to the glory and presence of God which is our saluation The which mooued S. Augustine Chrisostome Ierome Theophilact and other doctors to exhort the laytie the simple people artificers and all kinde of persons dayly to exercise themselues in the reading and meditating of the holye scriptures adding that they which haue founde a golde or siluer mine trauayle to digge the earth and endure most pestiferous ouerheating of themselues so as they may gather some fewe drammes of golde and siluer and ought we that haue so riche precious a treasor in the holy scriptures to neglect and not search it out being called therto by God Yea wee see what toyle men take in haruest season and yet howe slacke and sluggish we are to reape our celestiall wheate And the sayde holy scriptures are better vnderstoode of a modest idiote then of an arrogant Philosopher And as Saint Basile wrote the lambe wadeth thorough the streames of the scriptures when the Elephant swimmeth And in 119. Psalme it is saide that this word of God serueth for a rule and correction to youth and lightneth and giueth grace to the humble And the most auncient trueth sayth Tertullian is the most certaine It is also called a testament and alliance because we finde therein the legacye of eternall life and an immortall succession in communicating of all the riches merites and perfections of our Lorde and sauiour Christ Iesus thorough the fayth which we haue in his promises It is giuen vnto vs for a buckler defence and safegarde against all assaultes for a present medicine