place being of accidents become such instruments as inconueniences thorow noisome and festering diseases haue adioined to that art and mans intemperancie and corruption haue made necessarie And euen such course as this must Magistrates obserue in their politike bodies and in the sickenesses and fores that sprout and spread therein not vsing corrosiues but when the disease calleth for them nor lenitiues when biting plaisters and medicines are meet Adde hereunto that Dauid so well graced as hee was knew well ynough that kings raigne not by their armes but by their heads not by strength only much lesse by violence but by vertue yea hee knew this further that whē God should call them to an account concerning their offices and charges hee would not say vnto them You haue not beene bold ynough valiant ynough c. for men are naturally prone to such things and when they haue authoritie on their sides many times exceed therein but this rather will he charge them withall euen as this great king himselfe telleth vs Ye haue not iudged rightly Ye that were Psal 82.2.3 Wis 6.4 or should haue ben officers of my kingdome ye haue not ministred mercy to the afflicted the poore and the widdow The common people thinke these two vertues contrarie one of them to the other But what a conceit is that For if they were so they could not bee in God because the Godhead being but one and alwaies like it selfe cannot admit contraries And if that were true how could it bee said Psal 25.10 That all his waies are mercy truth and all his workes mercie and iustice And the like may bee in kings or else how could they be called Fathers and Iudges Prou. 16.12 And God himself hath said in one place The throne is established by Iustice And in another place he sayth againe The king vpholdeth his throne by Mercie And as much is spoken doubtlesse of all other men Psal 112.5 of whom it is said The iust are mercifull Prou. 14.22 and that their mercies are iustice indeed Againe if that were so to wit that they were contraries they could not themselues be vertues but the one or the other of them should bee a vice the reason whereof is plaine because no vertue is contrarie to vertue but onely opposite to vice And therefore if they were contraries one of them chuse which you will must needs bee a vice Wherefore wee may safely conclude that seeing they are not contraries they doe not destroy one another but rather instruct and helpe one another neither doe they driue away the one the other but follow and accompanie the one the other as those that are in one and the selfe same God and as it were going arme in arme together tend to the same end So that here that is verified which the Prophet promised Psal 85.10 Mercie and truth shall meet righteousnesse and peace shal kisse one another In God verily these great graces flow from that verie eternall fountaine which in him wee call goodnesse which he communicateth to some after one maner measure to others after another according to his owne good pleasure And these graces according to the diuers subiects wherein they are and about which they are occupied haue diners names Gods goodnesse vpon or towards his owne people is called Clemencie Beniguitie Mercie but vpon or towards the wicked it changeth his name and is tearmed Seueritie Iudgement and Iustice Both the one and the other are good and that not onelie as they come from God but euen whether they tend to blessing or to punishment Good they are I say for the aduancement of Gods glorie and the vpholding of order in the world for take away Mercie and Iustice and what shall we see amongst men but hell as it were let lose Good I say again for the societie and fellowship of men which without these two exercised and executed amongst them can neuer bee vpheld And lastly they are good euen for them also to whome they are directed and vpon whome they are bestowed as who without these cannot either well or comfortablie passe the daies of their pilgrimage or bee thorowly humbled For as in respect of the godly what consolation is this to know that the verie iustice of God is in them for thē Mercie and goodnesse that so his goodnesse might bee exceeding great and large And what a terror is this to the wicked or at the least wise ought it to be vnto thē that Gods iustice iudgement shall bee so much the more great and greeuous by how much they haue fruit trampled and trodden vnderfoot his great grace and goodnesse Some are prouoked by blessings to serue the Lord. Others are moued to displease and offend him euen by their punishments In both God worketh and for both prouideth by these meanes Respect the eternall God himself and then we shall see that his mercies are iustices and his iustices are mercies Will you see it by example His iustice vpon Adam was infinite mercie as may well appeare by this that being at the verie brinke of the bottomelesse pit and hee might iustly haue thrust him into the same he withheld him notwithstanding from it and which is more euen then gaue to him and his his owne sonne to saue them from death And yet this infinite Mercie was as a man may say swallowed vp of iustice when he laid the sinnes of men vpon the backe bodie of his eternall sonne I mean his whole person yet without cōfounding of the properties of either nature and was please that in his only begottē all our debts should be exactly paid and all our iniquities fullie pardoned This point is meet for all estates and degrees to remember as being full of heauenly comfort and spiritual instruction but cheefely profitable for princes and great personages who are Gods owne liuely images in this world and therefore should most remember and resemble these things True it is that they cannot balance or beare them in thēselues or weigh thē out to others so rightly as God doth for they are imperfect when they are at the best and God is alwaies perfect and iust And yet they should beware of this how they set thē at warre or make them to iarre one of them with another or oppose them one of them against another They should rather on the other side persuade themselues of this that that is indeed the most true Mercie that keepeth in it selfe and ministreth vnto others most of iustice and that that is the most true Iustice that holdeth in it selfe and yet expresseth to others most of Mercie So doe Mercie and Iustice in a prince or vnder a prince open the eyes cleer the sight as I may say one of another Mercie whilest it rightly ruleth the courage and haughtinesse of Iustice which because rulers many times inforce and constraine it further than is meet may easily run riot and be turned into rage And
from others and sundrie such like by means whereof men are many times misseled and because also I am sure these things may nay will fall out in perusing and reading euen the best things I can not but againe and againe entreat you herein also to haue a good eye to your selues and your own soules Assuredly you shall find specially if you weigh things well as in deed you should that you haue great and good cause so to doe for besides that the points handled therin are not meane neither of any simple subiect and therefore would be regarded and receiued with care and conscience of them the very manner of handling of them according to the vsuall course and practise of the Author is profound and pithie and therefore also will require a diligent and vnderstanding heart The treatie was first written in French by a worthy Nobleman of that country and therfore doth most properly appertain to that state That which peculiarly belongeth therto vnderstand it of and referre it to the same The rest that is common and according to general truth make common but yet good vse withall of it also And this premonition I think very meet to giue as knowing before-hand how ready men are to snatch and catch at that which belongeth not vnto them their times and states a point arguing great curiositie and no small lightnesse of mind and lacke of iudgement as also carelesly to neglect yea securely to contemne that which importeth them much a matter bewraying carelesnes at the least if not sencelesnesse of heart from both which as all other extreames I wish the Christian reader as my selfe in this and in all other things of the like nature to be freed and purged and on the other side to be fulfilled with all sound iudgement and carefulnesse of spirit that so from this and other good things we may alwaies learne to know what that good holy and acceptable will of his is and may be enabled by the blessed spirit stedfastly to beleeue the same and carefully to walk in the obedience therof Now the very God of peace sanctifie you thorowout and I pray also that your whole spirit and soule and bodie may be kept blamelesse vntill the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ to whom euery where but specially in the church be praise for euer euer Sobeit Yours euer in Christ T. W. Lord Iesus begin and make an end MEn who are desirous to frame their faces and to compound their countenances doe ordinarily go to glasses and indeuour to set them therby but Kings for the direction of their doings and affaires had much more need to looke thereinto as well because their callings are more high and heauie than other mens as also because they haue more lets from themselues and others that be about thē to hinder their sight And therefore they had need to haue if they could tell how more liuely and then you shall indeed surely raigne when you most soundly serue him Wherin if euen the best princes haue at sundry times ben not only admonished but threatened with the wrath and displeasure of God and all to preuent these euils in them that they might not fall away from their dutie or abuse his mercie patience and long suffering you Sir nor others must thinke much to be often called vpon yea prouoked and whetted on to these good things because none runneth so fast but hee had need to be incour aged 1. Cor. 9.24 So to runne that he may attaine neither standeth so sure but he had need to bee admonished and put in mind of the Apostles speech 1. Cor. 10.10 Let him that thinketh hee standeth take heed least he fall and withall to remember the saying of this very kingly Prophet Psal 30.6 7. I said in my prosperitie I shall neuer be moued but when thou diddest hide thy face I was sore troubled For this is a certaine and an assured point That men are in more danger to be ouerthrowne yea ouerwhelmed when they enioy abundance of graces from God than when they are vnder his chastisements and corrections For as for chastisements euen then when they beat downe men in themselues they lift them vp before God and make them by consequent capable and meet to receiue his mercies and that is it the Apostle meaneth when he saith They doe in the end bring with them the quiet fruit of righteousnes vnto them which are thereby exercised Hebr. 12.11 Whereas graces on the other side in Gods purpose indeed and their owne nature carrying men out of themselues vnto God cause them notwithstāding throgh Sathans malice and the corruption of their own hearts to despise almightie God himselfe and to say Who is the Lord Prou. 30.9 and so make them to become fit matter vpon whome to exercise and execute the seueritie of his rigour and wrath for the contempt or abuse of so singular graces Men much trouble themselues Sir now a daies to defend and maintain your calling and comming to the crowne But iwis it needeth not for your verie birth alone is sufficient to intitle you thereto But to come to it to come thorowly to it yea to come to the top of it and to carrie your selfe therein as is most meet there is indeed and there must bee indeed required a farre other thing and that is a great ascendent as men vse to say and a gracious aspect and direction thereof fauouring this birth of yours and being able to correct all contrarie cōstellations yea euerie thing that either directly or indirectly might annoy you with his influence That which I meane is not any starre or planet or anie whole zodiake as they vse to say no not heauen it selfe or the heauen of heauens but indeed the soueraigne God the only Lord maker and creatour of all things Iob. 38.31.32.33 who loseth as Iob saith the power of the starres and ordereth the gouernment of the heauens aboue the earth by whome as also saith Salomon Kings raigne Pr. 8.15.16 and Gouernors keepe their estate and by whom you Sir may say as this our King Dauid doth The Lord is with me I shal raign and rule against him there is neither counselnor strength wherefore nothing in the world can shake me or make me to be moued Wee that liue in the cleare light of Gods word wonder at the conceits that in the times of blindnesse and superstition men haue thrust one another into Astrologians made Princes in former time beleeue that such or such a planet bare rule ouer their birth They persuaded othersome that a certain spirit assisted them for the guidance line or leading of their life And it is as strange to consider what dotages these deceiued persons fell into and that not only the basest of the people but the best amongst men for euen the very Princes themselues honored these conceits and they did exactly obserue whatsoeuer they thought would please their instructers planets spirits and such
MEDITATIONS vpon Psal 101. Written first in French by PHILIP MORNAI lord of Plessis and by him dedicated to Henrie the fourth the French king And now translated into English for the benefit of the Christian Reader by T. W. LONDON Printed by Adam Islip for Thomas Man dwelling in Paternoster row at the signe of the Talbot 1599. To the right Honourable and his verie good Lord the L. Robert Earle of Essex c. L. high Marshall of England c. and now L. Generall of hir Maiesties forces appointed for the reducing of Ireland to former yea and to more faithfull obedience than heretofore T. W. wisheth all prosperitie and blessednesse thorow Christ both now and for euer WE haue right Honorable an old saying amongst vs He giueth twise that giueth quickly And the spirit which is both antiquitie and veritie it selfe saith A word spoken in his place is like apples of gold with pictures of siluer How fitly this wil agree with other mens actions and my present practise I had rather others and your L. especially should iudge and feele than my selfe speake This I am sure of that as hertofore many times you haue by sundrie persons ben presented with great varietie of vvordes and workes so now particularly vpon your going out against the Irish rebels you haue and shal haue the like performed because as Salomon saith Many doe seeke the face of the ruler I say againe how fitly these haue bene or are accomplished as also with vvhat affections men do them that is known to God alone who is the onely searcher of the heart and reins And yet I doubt not but that your L. is indued with grace from aboue in some measure to practise that in your selfe and towards other which the holy ghost speaketh Though councell in the heart of man is like deepe waters yet a man that hath vnderstanding will draw it out I vvill leaue others to the Lord before whome they must stand or fall vvhosoeuer they be for vvho am I that I should iudge or iustifie any sith that office belongeth to the Lord alone But touching my selfe it is ynough for me that I know mine owne heart and that I can in some sort sence truelie say as the Apostle dooth This is our reioicing the testimonie of our conscience that as in other things so in this that I now doe I walke not according to fleshly wisedome but in simplicitie and godly purenesse Many send your L. men and monie horsse and armor and many good thinges besides towards the furnishing and setting of you forward in this great and noble voiage yea sundrie are cōtent to aduenture as it vvere their portions and persons vvith you in this vvorthie seruice All these thinges no doubt of it are good in themselues may be true testimonies of sincere affection in your followers and fauourits yea they may be powerfull meanes of iust defence for you and yours our whole state of lawful annoiance and confusion vpon the enemies against vvhom you goe But take heede my L. that these cause you not to be puffed vp in your selfe and so to go forth in the arm of flesh and bloud The thing that you rather are especiallie to regard therin is that they bee thankefullie receiued as from God and religiouslie vsed as in regarde of your selfe and those that shall assist you and be at your command Outward and humane helpes my selfe haue not to present but may rather say vvith the Apostle Siluer and gold haue I none such as I haue such I giue And yet let not I beseech you my vvant of vvorldlie things make lesse precious in your iudgement the spiritual graces that God is pleased by me the vnworthiest of his seruants at this time to offer vnto you for this I can and dare assure you euen in the vvord of truth and life vvhich is more than the vvords of all mortall men in the vvorld though neuer so great that though it be little in outward appearance and weak according to vvorldlie shew yet if it be thorowlie setled in you for knowledge and continuallie obserued for practise it vvil be not onlie as good as the most or best outward things that you carie with you but a vvorthie mean to sanctifie all euerie one of them to you others yea it vvil make your going out glorious your cōming in again prosperous ful of renown a matter that manie I am sure wish and praie for vvith all their harts as which indeed wil watch for you when you sleepe vvill vphold your credit at home person abroad yea and preserue you yours though you should come vnto the greatest danger distresse that could be In al this great praise of the thing it selfe I neither praise mine owne paine I protest nor prouide for my commendation in the vvorld nor couetouslie o◠cunninglie seeke gifts from your L. But dutifullie thereby to prouoke your L. care to diligent reading thereof and carefullie to stir you vp to dailie performance of such good things as are propounded therin Your high place and person your honorable and holie profession the worthie and vveightie causes that you must manage the manifold perils that thereby you may preuent the singular good that thereby you shall atcheeue vvith sundrie such like shou1d I am sure and I doubt not but they vvill prouoke sincere obedience Wherof I trust your L. vvill haue no vvhit the lesse regard euen in this respect because that I for my part shall think my care my labour my loue and vvhatsoeuer dutie I haue done or may doe vnto your L. to be sufficientlie recompenced if these poore trauails may find good acceptance vvith you and patronage from you and in you may bring forth these good and gracious effects And so humblie beseeching the Lord mercifullie to direct you in all affaires that you shall take in hand according to his holie vvil namelie to prosper this present and so important seruice for Gods glorie the welfare of our kingdomes her Maiesties Christian comfort peace euerie manner of vvaie your owne particular good and the confusion and ouerthrow of al Gods the estates her Maiesties and your ovvn enemies I humblie take my leaue At London the second of March 1599. Your Honors very humble and readie to bee commanded in all Christian dutie T. Wilcocks the Lords vnworthy seruant To the Christian Readers grace and peace from God c. I Beseech you all of what state soeuer with carefull attendance and serious thoughts to view and read ouer this Treatise following This motion I make not for any doubt or suspition J haue of any vnsound matter therin for J am persuaded it containeth in it the truth of God But because I am acquainted with or at the least wise not ignorant of those ordinarie stops and lets that hinder our growth in goodnes by good things as Sathans malice our blind and ignorant harts our carelesse minds discouragements
performeth the same And reason will shew it vs. In actions that depend vpon vs and bee in our power as we say to doe there is small difference betwixt suffering them to bee done and the doing of them vnlesse it bee that to suffer them seemeth sometimes to be the more faultie This wil be thought a paradoxe in reason and religion but weigh this well I beseech you Hee that doth it is moued with prosit and receiueth some aduantage by it and the more he hath of temptation the lesse hee hath of sinne But hee that suffereth it receiueth domage by it in his honor in his subiects in his estate In his honor because it is impaired by euill in his subiects because they are oppressed and made worse by bad example and in his state because by sinne he haleth downe vpon it iudgement and confusion If he were but an indifferent and meane man as much inclined to good as to euil certaine it is that hee would not haue the euill done that hee would not suffer it specially seeing that there is adioined with it his owne domage and hurt Suffering it is now no more passion as wee may say it is action yea it is worse than the action because hee that suffereth it taketh pleasure therein And to delight in sinne is as bad if not worse than sinne and the rather because the Prophet in a feeling and fearefull heart saith If I delight in euill Psal 66.18 God will not heare my praiers And a strange metamorphosis doth sinne make when it doth alter and change the nature of things turning passion into action as hath been said before This is a very goodlesson for princes They will haue the praise and the profit of such victories as wherein their generals and captaines fight and preuaile and the credite and glory of the conquests in which their lieutenants haue laboured and taken sore paine And yet they will make themselues and others beleeue that they are not partakers of the blame and shame of their euill Magistrates and vnmeet Officerâ— when they commit iniustice and of the sinne of their courtiers when they doe violence and of their treasurers and exchequer men when they doe extortion But the law saith Hee that hath the profit he must also indure the paine and the domage And if mans law in die light of nature could say so no doubt but Gods law in the precise equitie thereof will much more affirme it And sith the labour likewise of the seruant belongeth to his Maister whether hee doe well or ill no doubt but hee that will tyth the paines the labour and the valour of all men and bring it to his owne pleasure to his owne profit to his owne praise must thinke also to haue the selfesame portion in the disgrace in the euill speech and in the paine that falleth out at other times My meaning is this that sith from the losse of sundry mens liues the kings of the earth draw glorious victories and from diuerse mens purses great and infinite treasures neither of which they haue made or can make that therefore certainely and indeed by verie good reason it must needs insue that seeing it is either through the Princes default or through his deed that manie iniuries and iniustices are committed by them whom he hath negligently and carelesly established in the gouernment he must needs vndergoe a iust condemnation therefore Now from actions and deeds Dauid commeth consequently to deale with words and from the heart the very mouer or mouing of actions he passeth to the tongue the very instrument and meane of speech the tongue I say I am 3.6 which as Saint Iames saith defileth the whole bodie and setteth all the world on fire but in the end saith he is set on fire by hell it selfe Wheretore wee haue need of great aid to restraine and represse this fire which wil cast vs if we auoid it not into a most fearefull fire of endlesse death and condemnation And therefore the Prophet Dauid presently addeth saying Verse 5. He that priuily woundeth his neighbor with his tongue I will cut him off And afterwards in the same verse passing from words to thoughts and gestures of loftinesse hee saith He that hath his eyes lifted vp and a grosse or high heart I can at no hand susser or indare him AMongst the manifold mercies that Iob in Gods name promiseth to them that feare the Lord this is one Iob. 5.20.21 The Lord shall deliuer thee from the force and power of the sword hee shall hide thee from the scourge of the tongue If we marke these words well we shall see that there is as wee say a gradation in them For his speech ascendeth and his meaning is That the tongue is no lesse dangerous and hurtfull than the sword Nay rather it seemeth to bee more dangerous indeed and that in many respects as first it pierceth and proceedeth further than the sword can then the stripes blows of it are more secret and close Lastly they hurt not the bodie onely but the good name in all which respects also they are surely more hard to be healed and holpen which though it bee true as in respect of all men generally yet the neerer they are to Princes that vse to strike with that weapon the more greeuous and great are those wounds and blowes Great I say because the tongue there prouoketh yea inflameth a very great and mightie power yea such apower as hath saith Salomon in the outward part of his lips death or life Great againe I say because it is skilfull to possesse beforehand and to peruert an eare that is verie much busied and by consequent more meet to beleeue eueric matter than to direct or order all or any thing Dioclesian the Emperour was a verie wise Prince and in his wise dome he could truly say That two or three courtiers could quickly seize or take hold of a Princes care What meant hee thereby Surely this that by such mens means he did vnderstand euery thing they caused him sometimes to looke this way sometimes that way and to carrie such countenances to or against others as pleased themselues wherein many times their sinne by abuse of the tongue was the greater by how much they did not onely speake besides or against truth but deliuered deceit and falsehood By which we may see how much it importeth all sorts and states of people but specially princes and great personages that the tongues which are about them should be pure and cleane and exempted and freed to the vttermost from the poyson of lying flatterie detraction and other such grosse corruptions which if the passage thereof bee not ftopped will slide from the care to the heart from the heart to the head and from the head to the hands of a Prince and so shall iniquitie be perfected Princes hands wee say whether it bee for euill or for good are of verie large reach euen vnto the skirts
and that hee miâ—â—â—â—â—ee religiouslie and holilie serued 〈◊〉 his church For let men thinke and say what they list it is for the churches sake alone which God hath euerlastingly loued euen from before all worlds that he vpholdeth and maintaineth this world For the Churches sake hee preserueth Monarchies Commonweales and Kingdomes which are rather the Innes as I may so call them than the houses of the church that warfaâ—eth and trauaileth to and fro in the world which otherwise wee might account sauing that by their grossenesse and thieknesse they shelter and couer the precious fruits that God hath put into them not very profitable specially as in regard of godlinesse And yet notwithstanding this is the Church that is sustained and maintained by God for his onely sonnes sake who hath suffered death for it euen Christ our Lord and Sauiour and notwithstanding is the king of kings vnder whom of necessitie all the kings of the world must bow and for whom it is that they must raigne casting down at the very feet of his crosse because in that hee triumphed their crownes their diademes and their scepters specially if they desire to raigne in blessednesse ouer their subiects in the world and would one day raigne for all eternitie in the heauens without which they are more miserable than the meanest of men Because for mighty men there are mightie torments prepared and the Prophet Isaih in expresse tearmes sayth Tophet is prepared of old Isaiah 30.33 it is euen prepared for the king he hath made it deep large the burning thereof is fire and much wood the breath of the Lord like a riuer of brimstone doth kindle it In a word then as it were or short summe to shut vp all and to conclude with Dauid Our king will frame his soule to Mercie and to Iustice From his person they shall run and flow into his court into his counsell and froÌ„ thence they shall spread themselues â—â—â—r all the members of his state euen vnto the very borders vtmost bounds of his kingdome All his waies in a word 〈◊〉 according to Gods own example 〈…〉 10. shal be Iudgement and Mercie But because that the bodie is made for the Church he will with all his heart giue himselfe to the studie of truth and be very mindfull of and carefull for the seruice of God and will referre all that hee hath or may haue to the defence and maintainance to the restauration and reformation of his Church the rarest iewel that God hath vouchsafed to make shine in the world O God which hast from before all times appointed our king to bee borne in so troublesome a time and wicked age as wherein the state is rent by factions the Church is troubled with schismes and the most wise see nothing but darknesse and the same so thicke as no eye nay no discourse is able to pierce it much lesse to driue it away double in these double mischeefes and euils thy blessed annointing euen thy holy grace vpon him Poure vpon his head the spirit of thy seruant Dauid yea double and treble that blessed spirit of thine vpon him that vnder him we may once agaiâ— see our State established and thy church gathered together that so vnder thee by his meanes wee may with one accord sing as thy holie Angels did and doe Glorie bee to God in the most high places and in earth peace Luke 2.14 and towards men good will and that I my selfe might then say though it were euen at this present houre Lord now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace Luke 2.29 according to thy word seeing that mine eyes haue seene thy saluation So be it