hinder and vndoe many Pastor The lawes of this realme made and ordained by policie and wisdome and maintained by authoritie are said to consist of perfect reason auntient custome yea and of the law of God very perfectly pointing to euerie man his owne as God hath limited out of the creation leauing nothing common or vndesposed but the fishes of the sea the fowls of the ayre and the beasts of the wildernesse And it hath his denomination Lex à Ligando because as a bond doth knit and hold many things together and as of many links is made one chaine Eph. 4 1.2.3 Exo. 28 1.2.3.4.5.6 and as by the sinewes our ioynts and parts of our naturall bodies are tied and bound together euen so by law the politicke body of a common weale is vnited knit together as one for the preseruation of peace in the profession of one true euerliuing ouer-ruling Lord. It requireth in it selfe the captiuating of our owne wils and obedience to the wil of the maker thereof vpon pains and penalties enforcing the same The lawes so considered make difference betwixt right and wrong betwixt good and euill men the lawes of this Land if they be duely and truely handled haue that end and purpose as the law of Almightie God which is to reduce men from sauagenesse to ciuilnesse from ignorance to knowledge and from vice to vertue Rom. 13 3.4 therefore S. Paule said Princes are nor fearefull by their lawes to them that doe good but to them that doe euill Wilt thou be without feare doe well then so shalt thou be praised then is he the minister of God for thy wealth but he is the minister of God to take vengeance on them that doe euill These our lawes are laudable and very neere for excellencie and sinceritie to the lawes of God as doth partly appeare by the definition thereof Lex est sanctio sancta iubens honesta prohibens contraria The law is a holy ordinance commaunding good things and forbidding the contrarie Why then is it dispraised nay rather why is it not most highly commended liked and allowed Parishioner All this that you haue said of the law it selfe I partly graunt but what maketh this for the calling of Lawyers and their practise as Councellors Doctors Attorneis Proctors Sollicitors Petty-foggers and such like there were no such men allowed in the iudiciall lawes of God euerie man was heard of the iudge to say what he could for hmselfe and why should not our lawes haue that proceeding Is there any matter so hard and intricate that the partie grieued cannot vtter it himselfe and where a cause being neuer so hard and tedious might be ended within ten daies after the defendants aunswere it is now drawne to three or foure yeares handling by the deceit and for the lucre of Lawyers vpon whom all the world crieth out with open mouth Pastor It should seeme you speake of conscience as wishing all things well or of extreame malice being some way grieued by them the best of both pleads you guiltie in accusing all for some It was not so hard a matter for Moses to iudge all Israell at the first by himselfe as it was afterwards to iudge them by himselfe and others when Iethro councelled him for his ease to choose many more helpers And more tedious it is to determine all the causes moued by the subiects here in England than it was for Moses when he had most to doe in Israel for complaints Exod. 18 13. to 23. iniuries and wrongs are encreased so that many hundreth iudges could not deliberatly heare and consideratly determine all the causes arising here although the plaintife and defendant were suffered to speake but tenne words a piece where indeed if they should haue their allowance 2000 would not serue Againe ignorant and vnlearned men are not able to set forth or report to the iudge the points and truth of their owne causes Besides if they were yet is not any iudge so exquisite perfect in the laws or any mans wit so pregnant or memorie so ready as vpon such sodaine to minister iustice to euerie man as his cause requireth therefore learned lawyers as Councellors Doctors Attorneis and Proctors are necessarie and fit men to open argue and debate causes whereby the iudge may see more clearely who hath wrong and who hath right and be called to minde by their motions what sentence or iudgement is fit to be giuen betwixt them And further if the parties should plead their owne cause such might be the skill and subtiltie of the wrong-doer and the simplicitie of him that desireth redresse or recompence the iudge being ignorant De veritate facti for want of information might approue the wicked and condemne the innocent wherefore I say againe and againe that Councellors Doctors Attorneis Proctors yea and Sollicitors and the officers vsed in and about the execution of law and iustice are fit men necessarie and profitable in a Christian common weale But for a Petti-fogger it is a word of disdaine I know no such calling allowed in the law And whereas you speake of delaies and shiftes vsed by lawyers whereby they hinder and vndoe many you must vnderstand that seeing the causes and sutes in this land are many as is aforsaid and seeing there is a prioritie of one sute before another in regard of the commencement thereof and therefore also must needs be a prioritie in the proceeding therein and likewise also in the hearing and determining of the same euerie one being heard in his course some competent and reasonable time must therefore be allowed vnto euerie cause for the continuance thereof But if there be any that professe the law that are either so vnskilfull and vnlearned that they cannot councell their clients for their best expedition or so couetously bent and so addicted to gaine and lucre that they will for their owne benefite protract and delay any mans cause as amongst many of what degree or calling soeuer there are some bad seeing there are others God be thanked a great many that are conscionable and honest and againe learned and wise if any fall into the hands of the former vnlearned or vngodly lawyer it is to be accounted his owne folly for that he when it was his owne election to retaine whom he list would make choice of such a one when he might as easily and with as small cost haue had him that had bin learned and godly But in deed commonly the fault is in the clients themselues who are so cruelly and spitefully bent that what lawyer soeuer they haue they will themselues seeke infinite waies and deuises to delaie their sutes and to detaine their aduersaries a long time in trouble and expence of law insomuch as I haue credibly heard of some who knowing their cause to be vniust and yet also knowing themselues of wealth and abilitie to exceed those against whom they haue delt and therefore meaning by reason of
by S Luke at Rome and dedicated to one Theophilus This booke is an abridgment or a chronicle of all famous worthy acts of Christ of his disciples and Apostles herein is annexed the sermons of the Apostles touching faith maners the open persecution of the truth the victorie thereof in the end The Argument of the Romanes THe Romanes were Iews and Gentiles embracing Christ in Rome among whom were many false teachers which moued S. Paule to write this Epistle by his secretarie Tertius exhorting them to take heed therof and to encrease in the knowledge of Christ The dignitie of works of faith of grace and iustification of the law and the vse thereof from Corinth Acts 20. Rom. 16. some few daies before he went to Ierusalem The Argument of the first to the Corinthians THe Corinthians had their originall of Corinthus who built that citie in it was the temple dedicated to the Goddesse Venus There was that great notorius whore Lais spoken of ouer all the world and there was many other abhominatiōs yet in this city God had his church S. Paule staied there almost three yeares but when he departed into Siria manie false teachers entred in who taught that whoredome riot drunkennesse c. was lawfull they denied marriage and the resurrection vpon which occasion S. Paule wrote this Epistle to withdraw them from all those euils Act. 19. 1 Cor. 16. and with exhortations to remaine in the doctrine which he had taught From Ephesus 4 The Argument of the second to the Corinthians HEre he excuseth his long absence by diuerse troubles which hindered him he willeth to excōmunicate him that was taken in adulterie he cleareth himselfe of all blame towards them Acts 20. he sheweth a difference betwixt one spirite and another the agreement of the old testament with the new From Philippi 6 The Argument of the Gallathians THe Gallathians were a people of Asia after S. Paules departure thence many false teachers entred in and taught That the ceremonies of the law were to be kept and they taught euill things against the Apostles thereby to deface their doctrine which moued him to write vnto them discharging himselfe for the credit of his calling and confirming of his doctrine with the ouerthrow of the contrarie From Rome 13 The Argument of the Ephesians THis citie of Ephesus was famous by the sea side of Ionius where was a temple dedicated to the false Goddesse Diana S. Paule at his first comming staied little there but at the second time he continued three yeares perceauing that God had many soules there to be saued euen among witches sorcerers c. whereby the mercie of God appeared more aboundantly at his departure he left among them elders and Timothie as their Bishop This Argument agreeth neerly with the Romanes and Gallathians Sent from Rome 11. The Argument of the Philippians PHilip Macedon was the originall of the citie they had domesticall troubles and many lost for the trueths sake and therefore he exhorteth them to patience and watchfulnesse Sent from Rome 8. The Argument of the Colossians THe Colossians were a people of that great citie Collossa S. Paule was neuer with them they were taught by Epaphras Onesimus Tychichus S. Paule heard that they were troubled with the Iewes about ceremonies and with the gentils about subtill questions and wordes of philosophie wherefore he wrote vnto them to confirme them in that they had learned concerning Christ and to confute the contrarie Sent from Roome 9 The Argument of the first to the Thessalonians THessalonica was a famous citie of Macedonia whence the people had their names he was among them but three Sabaoths by reason of the Iews He sent Timothie vnto them by whom he vnderstood of their conscience and that they should consider well of the resurrection Acts 17 He sent it from Athens The Argument of the second to the Thessalonians HE excuseth his long absence shewing them the manner of the resurrection and the comming of Christ he dehorteth from curious questions Sent from Athens 2 The Argument of the first to Timothie HIs father was a Graecian his mother a Iew which was the cause he was not circūcised in his infancie according to the law His mother Eunice and his grandmother Loida were godly wherein they brought him vp S. Paule his maister sent him on the Lords busines to diuerse places in the end he was left at Ephesus as their bishop to whom he wrote this Epistle about the choise of Pastours in the church At Laodicea 3 The Argument of the second to Timothie HE mourned greatly after S. Paule therefore Paule did write to cōfort him and withall to shew him how he was held in prison which was the cause that he came not to Ephesus according to his promise Sent from Rome 12 The Argument of Titus HE was a Graecian borne Paule was his maister who left him at Creete to constitute ministers in euerie parish and to refourme their manners Titus was a yong man therefore his maister wrote this Epistle that he should do nothing rashlie What kinde of Pastours should be allowed and what not From Nicapolis in Macedonia Acts 20. 5 The Argument of Philemon HE was Collocentia a rich man and a godly liberall man he had a seruant named Onesimus who departed from him by stealth when he heard S. Paule preach he beleeued in Iesus Christ and confessed his fault wherevpon S. Paule wrote this Epistle to his maister exhorting him to forgiue his seruant Sent from Rome 10 The Argument of the Hebrues THe truth is by the opinion of the most and best learned that S. Paule wrote this Epistle the Grecians did so allow of it and the same was confirmed in the councell of Nicen. Nicephorus saith that it was written in Hebrue by S. Paule and translated into Greeke by S. Luke who altered S. Pauls stile and method of writing Iraeneus who was Policarpus scholler said the same the trueth being receiued from S. Iohn who was Policarpus maister such was the obstinacie of the Iewes resisting the doctrine of Christ which gaue occasion to S. Paule to write exhorting them from the hardnes of their hearts Herein he magnifieth Christ aboue the prophets Moses and Aaron Leui and all other offices and officers who fulfilled the prophesies accomplshed the law and offred a farre more perfect sacrifice than they all Sent by Timothie from Italie The Argument of Iames. IN the tenth of Mathew mention is made of two Iames one the sonne of Zebedeus the other the sonne of Alpheus which Iames was the Author of this Epistle he is called Lebbeus and Thaddeus and he is called the brother of Iude Gal. 1 19. and the brother of our Lord. Here he instructeth al men to liue wel and to beleeue well he sets out the conuersation of those that are regenerated the excellencie of faith of works of patience c. The Argument of the first of Peter THis Peter
their wealth to suppresse the truth and by long delaies so to impouerish their aduersary as they should neuer be able to bring the cause to hearing haue in the bitternesse of their heart and in the heat of their furie vttered these words I will not leaue him worth a great I will make him daunce the beggers galliard before I haue done with him with such other cruell and vnchristian speeches And these and such like minded men for the better effecting of this their wicked intention labor and endeuour to seeke vnto themselues such lawyers as will sit their humors wherevpon if God for the hardening of their hearts doe send them vnto to such a one then they haue their desire if otherwise they light vpon such a lawyer that will not fauour nor further that their extreame bitternesse and cruelty then they themselues partly by wrong informations giuen to their lawyer and partly by other subtill and secret practises find out the means to delay lengthen their suits and to hold detaine and keepe both themselues and their aduersaries in long and tedious actions to the poore mens great decay and impouerishment if not to their vtter vndoing By means whereof the law is euill spoken of and the lawyers are slaundered whereas indeed the law it selfe is good and holy and may be well vsed and so is by a great many of the professours thereof and when it is otherwise administred the fault is not in the law but in the practisers thereof that are defectiue either in learning or conscience but most commonly in the clients themselues Parishioner As you thought me to speake ill of Lawyers vpon spleene onely by reason of some grieuance receiued by or from some of them so I thinke that you speake well of Lawyers by reason of some fauour or good done vnto you by some Lawyer as partly it appears by the dedication of your booke There were many better men and greater in account more likely to gratifie you than a Lawyer Pastor Esa 15 20.21 As he that iustifieth the wicked is subiect to woe so he that condemneth the godly is subiect to woe as it is a sinne to arrogate for him that deserueth ill so it is a sinne to derogate from him that deserueth well you can not denie but all that I haue said concerning the law and the professours generally is true And whereas you seeme to charge me with some benefit past which makes me partiall I confesse that euen he was the pleader and that by his learning and paines yea without fee he deliuered me from a greedy Informer who through his subtiltie and my simplicitie had condemned me in a hundred marks more than I was worth to which worshipful Lawyer I dedicate this my labour thinking it a sufficient gratification in that it pleaseth him to patronize the same and me also who as a poore Doue among Kites Crowes am throwne into the world into many dangers and hard aduentures whose loue and faithfull friendship towards me I assure my selfe is sealed and deliuered whose readinesse likewise to helpe all such as are helplesse if it be desired and whose vprightnesse in his profession towards all hath many yeares appeared And shall I suffer this man to be obscure no no I will not no he is not no if I you and 1000 more with vs both tooke in hand to dimme that he hath done the saincts in earth would praise him and the angels in heauen would pray for him that God might regard and reward him Carpturum alios immaculatum esse oportet Parishioner For my question I rest satisfied Now therefore I pray you what is your opinion and iudgement of Phisitions they robbe men of their liuings and spoile men of their liues vnder the pretence of doing good they heale few and kil many Pastor PHisicke is a preseruer of health Hipocrates De arte and the repulser of sicknesses Phisicke is a putting too and a taking from that is to say It doth adde encrease strengthen and augment good blood where it is decaied by age by imperfection of nature by surfait or by any other means howsoeuer and it doth take away cut off kill destroy purge or by some such way it doth discharge the body of that which is ouer aboue nature as of chollor rheume corrupt blood impostumes c. The body of man is subiect to infinite diseases and therefore through the corruption therof it is likened by the holy Ghost Esa 6 4. to a filthie clout or the cloath of a menstruous woman Exo 9.9.17 2. King 1 2. 2. Cron. 11 14. It is subiect to the leprosie to the pluresie to the dropsie to the frensie to the palsie to the botch to the canker and to other infinit diseases which will soone infect ouerrunne and destroy the body if it be not aided maintained supported and defended by Phisicke whence our sauiour Christ said The whole haue no need of the Phisition as well to confound the opinion of those that trusted in their owne righteousnes as also to shew that it was a matter necessarie requisite Mat. 9 22. that he which was sicke should seeke to the Phisition Answerable to this Eccle. 38 1. c. Iesus the grandfather and Iesus the nephew gaue in commaundement highly to esteeme and reuerently to account of the Phisition with this great word Honor which indeed is a word of great dignitie and commonly yeelded to Lords of nobilitie Honor saith he the Phisition with that honor which is due vnto him which is as much to say He deserueth to be honored it doth pertaine vnto him it is his right and his duetie to be had in aestimation and to be reuerenced not because it doth any way good vnto him not that he hath any vse of thy honour reuerence or seruice but in respect of thy owne necessitie for thine owne need thou shalt haue continuall occasion to vse him Honor therefore the Phisition because of necessitie And for another reason he is to be honored because the Lord hath created him the Lord hath ordained and constituted him forthy sake and for thy good as thou wilt not be found to neglect the good gifts the good ordinances of almightie God Honor the Phisition A third reason enforceth this honor to weet his studie his calling and his profession which commeth of God his maiestie hath created it he it is that hath instituted and ordained it If Phisicke be not the ordinance of Almightie God I would faine know what vse haue we of diuerse roots hearbs flowers trees plants licours and many other things in beasts in foules in fish and creeping creatures whose effects are verie strange and wonderfull all working the health and preseruation of mans bodie or were they created in vaine we haue in our knowledge no other vse of the Rose than the sight the sappe and the sauour yet it hath many other excellent vses and effects simple or compounded What shal
base and beggerly fellow euerie lewd and wanton mistres euerie prophane and rusfianly gētleman euerie swearing swash-buckler and many such as make shew of honesty and conscience of religion in their feasting in their gaming in their riding in their going yea in all their affaires they will be medling and sensuring of ministers Some will blame them because of their conuersation some will despise them because of their wiues some will slander thē because of their apparel some wil disdaine them because they be poore some will scorne them because they be ritch and some will condemne them because they be couetous some cannot like them because they preach often some will discōmend them because they preach seldome and some will not fauor them because they preach too plaine and easie and some will not loue them if they preach too prosound and deepe some will not loue them if they pray for Bishops some will not loue them if they pray not for Bishops some cannot away with Latine Greeke and Hebrue some cannot away without it and some can not away with neither Alas poore silly souls of all sortes the greatest some mislikes you scornes you disdains you hates you and condemnes you O how few are there that likes you and loues you But be of good cheere saith Christ I haue ouercommed the world Ioh. 15 20. The seruant is not greater than his master if they persecuted me they will also persecute you all these things will they doe vnto you for my names sake 1. Cor 15 14. to 21. Blessed are yee c. reioice and be glad for great is your reward in heauen If our reward were not with God then were we of all men most miserable Parishioner You are beholding to your selfe and the rest of your bretheren haue cause to praise you and to pray for you You haue condemned me as a man of no knowledge of no conscience and of no charitie and you haue made others my partners and assotiats that said nothing at all to you to iustifie your selfe and all sorts of ministers good and bad and yet neuerthelesse you assure your selues of Gods blessing in earth and of aeternall fauour in heauen Pastor Good Sir I haue said nothing of my selfe nor for my bretheren but that the Lord hath said and warranted out of his holy word He it is that condemnes all such as you are for medling with other mens matters 1. Thess 3.11 the holy Ghost councelleth you to be quiet to meddle with your owne businesse and to worke with your owne hands Vziah was strucken dead when he did but set his hand to stay the Lords Arke from falling 2. Sam. 6 6.7.8 and shal you remaine aliue yea and vnhurt that put your hands not to helpe but to hinder the Lords proceedings Mat. 18 1.2.3 Christ did promise a woe and a heauie iudgement against him that offendeth a little one in the church or in the society of the faithfull and shall you escape this woe and heauie iudgement that maliciously wilfully and tirannously doe intreat and handle such as are great such as are the ministers the disposers of Gods secreats and his heauenly Embassadours no no. I speake not in the commendation of any such as deserue condemnation much lesse did I warrant their iustification or blessing from the Lord. If their conuersation be euill and their doctrine good take the one leaue the other their doctrine doth belong vnto you their life conuersation to themselues You shall answer for their doctrine not for their doing The Scribes and Pharisies were counted hipocrites painted Sepulchers and deuourers Ma. 23 1.2 yet Christ willed the people to heare them so long as they sate in Moses chaire meaning so long as they preached truely and taught the lawe of Moses And I pray you is the gospell of Iesus Christ more defiled and of lesse force by the ill demeanors of the ministers than the law was through the vilenesse and abhominations of the Pharisies no no so great a maiestie and so great might the preaching of Gods word hath as it cannot be diminished by the vilenesse of the vilest nor augmēted by the vertue of the most holiest and therefore it is a question generally cōcluded That a vicious minister preaching the Gospell truely and continually doth more good and lesse harme in the church of God than an honest minister and good house-keeper that cannot or will not feed the soules of his people with the continuall preaching of the word As a seale of copper or of wood if it be well graued doth make as good an impression in wax as a seale of siluer or of gold so the holy word of God being well deuided and deliuered by an vngodly man doth make as good an impression in the souls of the saints as if it were deuided and deliuered by a most honest and an vpright man God forbid yea let it be farre from any man to thinke much lesse to teach that the vilenesse of the minister should derogate any working or withhold any force or effect from so great a maiestie as the word of Reconciliation for then Lord what good shall it doe all men are sinners we haue all sinned we haue done amisse and delt wickedly We can not exclude the ministers out of this number S. Paule speaking of the Sacrament of Christs death 1. Cor. 11 29. saith Whosoeuer eateth and drinketh thereof vnworthilie eateth and drinketh his owne damnation Is he accounted an vnworthie receiuer in respect of the minister or in respect of himselfe if it be in respect of the minister because he is vile c. then must you make God contrary to himselfe who saith Deut. 24 18. 2. King 14 6. 2. Chro. 2.25 4. The soule that sinneth shall die and shall nor beare the iniquitie of another and then you must also grant that faith in the receauer hath no effect which is contrarie to S. Paule 1. Cor. 13.5 who willeth all men to search and to proue themselues for the same thereby to make them worthie If the receiuer be counted vnworthie in respect of himselfe then it followeth that the receiuer either good or euill doth not helpe nor hurt in the administration of the sacrament As the vertue attractiue to draw iron is not in the iron but in the A damant euen so the vertue and power of saluation lieth not in the minister but in the power of the word wrought by the spirit As the raine and the snow commeth downe from heauen and returneth not thither againe but watereth the earth and makes it fruictfull euen so saith the Lord my word shall not returne vnto me void Esa 55.10.11 but it shall accomplish that which I will and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it Thus much briefly concerning the truth and dignitie of the word preached Wherein I haue said nothing to excuse much lesse to iustifie the vnlawfull and dissolute liues of some