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A21119 Sermons very fruitfull, godly, and learned, preached and sette foorth by Maister Roger Edgeworth, doctoure of diuinitie, canon of the cathedrall churches of Sarisburie, Welles and Bristow, residentiary in the cathedrall churche of Welles, and chauncellour of the same churche: with a repertorie or table, directinge to many notable matters expressed in the same sermons Edgeworth, Roger, d. 1560. 1557 (1557) STC 7482; ESTC S111773 357,864 678

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And euen like the gift of counsayle without fortitude or manlinesse is of no price Nother manlines without counsell or good aduisement No more is science without pietie or pietie without the discretion of science And fear muste haue some of the saide giftes concurrent with it or els no good will come of it Then to our purpose Because that our knowlege naturally beginneth at some of our fiue exteriour or outward senses which we call the .v. wits if our knowledge shall be eleuate aboue that his common course to heauenly matters as be thinges parteyning to our fayth it hath nede of some supernaturall light by whiche it may ascende and pearce into the knowledge of such thinges as by his natural power he cā not attayne to As that there be three persons in one substaunce of the Godhead And that the father by his fecund and fruteful memory produceth and getteth his onely begotten sonne the second person in trinitie And that the father and the sonne by their fecunde and frutefull will bringeth forth the holye gost coeternall and of equall might and power with thē both And y ● that one God thus distinct in thre persons by his endles and mighty power at his pleasure and whē he thought good made all the world of nought And that by his onelye goodnes he mainteneth and preserueth the same so that if he would once withdrawe his hande of maintenaunce but one little moment from hys creatures they should sodainely fall to nought as they came fro And that all the glorious company of aungels he made to honour him like as all other creatures after their kindes and maners doth And where as some of the aungelles swarued from the grace that they were creat in and were damned to be the horriblest creatures and in most payne of all creatures of the world the others persistyng standinge in their goodnesse were confirmed in grace so that now they can not fall but continuallye remayneth in the glorious fruition sighte and loue of God euer ready to do his commaundemēt in heauen and at his pleasure here in earth toward vs mortall men Hebr. i. These and such high misteries of heauenly matters to perceiue and as it were by the sharpenes of mans witte to pearce into thē as man may here in this grose and corruptible bodye perteyneth properly to the gifte of vnderstandynge Ad donum intellectus And the more perfectly that this gifte is inspired into man by the holy gost the more distinctly and plainely he shal perceiue such hie secrets though perceue thē as he shall do hereafter in glory we can not yet And by mature and wise iudgement to discerne these verities from their contraries perteyneth properly to the gifte of Sapience or godly wisdome Ad donum sapientiae As to discerne one God from the false Gods To know that the .iii persons in Trinitie be equall in power and not one of them minister or seruaunt to the other as Arrius saide To know that there is but one maker of all thinges no more and not to put two creatours one of good thinges an other of euyl thinges as Manicheus saide And to iudge when the angels of God doth trulye Gods message And to discerne them from the aungels of darknes which many times disguise them selues into the fashion of the angels of light These and such other hye iudgementes in heauenly causes ꝑteineth properly to the gift of sapience or godly wisdome For this supernaturall gift of Sapience the wise man prayed Sapi. ix Da mihi sedium tuarum assistricem sapientiam Geue me the wisdome from aboue that is euer assistent bi thy seat of glory and from thence is deriued and infused or send downe to menne Because that Si quis erit consummatus inter filios hominū si ab illo fugerit sapientia tua in nihilum computabitur If a man be neuer so profound and excellent in mans wisdome if he lacke this godlye wisdome good Lord he shall not be estemed wise but rather a fole in as much as worldly wisdome is counted but folishnes afore God .i. Corin. iii. And the prophet Dauid prayed that he might obtayne thys supernaturall gift called Donum intellectus the gift of intelligence wittinesse or fine and cleare vnderstandyng saying Psal. cxviii Da mihi intellectum vt discam mandata tua Geue me intelligēce that I may learne thy cōmandementes Where it is highly to be noted that this noble king and prophet whiche so well knew Gods lawes and that saide he had kept Gods eloquent sayinges yet nowe he prayed for finer and clearer vnderstandyng by whiche he might yet better ascende and pearce into the same And we haue nede so to pray as the prophet did that this gift of Intelligence may be geuen vs to helpe our fayeth like as in many cases our faith helpeth our intelligence or vnderstandyng accordyng to the saying of Esay vii Nisi credideritis non intelligetis As saint Augustine and others redeth that letter Excepte ye beleue ye shall not vnderstande For many thinges there be whiche except ye beleue ye can not vnderstande as the articles of our fayeth with other like And many truthes there be that we can not beleue except we haue vnderstandyng either by hearyng the preacher by instruction or by study as Paule sayth Ro. x Fides ex auditu auditus autem per verbum Christi And this is acquisite fayth gotten by laboure studie or hearyng and so is vnderstandyng proporcionablye to the same whiche bothe be made more firme fast and certaine by fayth infused and by Intelligence or vnderstandynge infused and geuen from aboue of the holy gost And this gift of Intelligence is neuer withdrawen from good men specially about such thinges as be necessary for mannes saluation to be knowen although some men haue it in a higher degree thē some other haue but about other thinges not necessary to be knowen it is withdrawen to pul men downe that the matter occasion of pride and curiositie may be taken away and lest men should be to proud of gods gifts and accordyng to this speaketh saint Iohn i. Ioh. ii Vnctio eius docebit vos de omnibus The oyntment infusion or inspiration of the holy goste will teach you in all thinges necessary to be learned although very good men hauyng the grace that maketh thē acceptable and in the fauour of God may be dul and little or nought perceiue of other truthes without whose knowledge a man maye come to heauen wel inough Chrisostome in a sermon De spiritu sctō vseth a more familier playner distinction of these two giftes Sapience and Intelligence saiyng When it besemeth a doctour or a teacher to speake plainely his gifte is called the spirite of Sapience And where nede is that the hearer do wittily perceiue that is spoken the gifte that he muste haue is named the spirite of vnderstanding which also is called the spirite of reuelation whē nede is to learne
they wold not so sore charge the consciences of theyr subiectes but that whē they breake the said lawes whether it be with contempt or withoute they shoulde suffer the temporall paines determined ordained for them that offende the said lawes And so they binde the seconde way by the payne to be inflicte on the breakers of the same Thys due obedience of the subiectes to theyr heades rulers and other premisses considered al noble Princes and Prelates and all others that commonly be called to high counsels to make lawes had nede maturely to consider that in their offices they be Gods helpers and the mean betwixt God and hys people and to be well ware that they make none such humane traditions as ma● barre or deface the law of God as they dydde to whō Christ vmbraideth that they for their own lucratiue traditions disswaded from the law of the honour of theyr parentes Math. xv And that they doe not binde suche heauye and vnportable burdens vpon their subiects backes as they wil not set one finger to to helpe men to beare Math. xxiii as the Scribes and Pharisies did whych then had the aucthoritie both temporall and spiritual vnder the Romaines And that they haue no malicious eye towarde anye partie diuisyng lawes for theyr neyghbours destruction or excogitating lawes for the impouerishynge of other men alleuiatyng theyr owne charges and making others fal down vnder their burdens The Prophet sayth to them that be constitute and set in suche authoritie Psa. lvii O ye children of men if ye speake truelye of iustice and ryghteousnesse then se that ye iudge streightly neither declining on the right hand by affection to your selfe or to your friende neither on the leaft hand by malice or displeasure to your foes or to them that you fauour not Considering that the iust iudgement of God shall be against them that measureth the power that they haue receiued of God after their owne wickednes not according to Gods lawes Wher they that iustly and charitably haue vsed their authority shall haue suche reward prepared for them in heauē as no ●ong can tel nor hart can think Of whiche that we may be partakers he graunt vs that for vs dyed Amen An expositiō of the first epistle of Saynt Peter the Apostle set fourth in traictises or Sermons preached in the Cathedral Churche of Bristow by maister Roger Edgeworth Doctour of diuinitie one of the canons of the same Cathedrall church THe gret wise mā king Salomō y t by his wit searched out the natures kinds of all creatures on erth as far as any man might and dysputed reasoned of all the trees in the wood from the highe Ceder tre growing in Libanus where ●uch trees be abundant vnto the poore and lowe I sope that groweth out of the walles and that write and reasoned of beastes and birdes wormes and fishes and to whom resorted people of all nations and from all kinges of the world to heare hys wysedome yet he confesseth Ecclesiastes i. Cuncte res difficiles et non potest ea homo explicare sermone All thinges be hard to be knowen no man can perfitely expresse them by mouth For as the Logition speaketh we knowe not the substantiall and perfite dyfference and distinction betwyxte creatures of the world that we se afore our faces euery day Therfore it is no merueil though our wits be very thin feable and weake to vnderstād the holy scriptures For the faire beuty of godlye truth comprised and contained in the scriptures lyeth so priuely hid like a heauenly treasure layd vp in them that it wyll not appeare but onely to them that seeke and searche for it wyth a whole minde and with a clere hart And in asmuche as mans reason is grosse and combred wyth many ydle thoughtes and with muche busynes of the worlde running in mans minde this maketh vs the more blinde vnmete to finde the sayd treasure specially because that in spirituall and heauenly matters as Saint Paule saith we se but as it were in a glasse obscurelye and as a thyng farre of vnperfitelye And beside this I knowe that the thinges that be spoken of in Gods holye and liuely worde be endited by the holy spirite of God Wherefore it is not for euery man to examine thē and discusse them after his own iudgement for no man may worthely medle wyth hys doy●ge but he that hath the holy spirite and specially that gift of the holy spirite that S. Paule speaketh of .i. Corin. xii Discretio spirituum where he sayth that to some man is giuen the spirit of sapience to iudge and reasō of celestial matters to other the gift of sciēce in lower exercise to som is giuen faith by the same spirite To som power to discerne spirites to know when the good spirite speaketh and when the bad and noughtye spirite speaketh In catholike and true expounders of scriptures speaketh the good spirite in heretikes speaketh the bad and noughty spirite And in the holy scripture which is the worke of the holy spirite of the holy gost for he inspireth all the writers of the holye scriptures he is the chiefe author of holy scripture and they that be named the doers thereof as Mathewe Marke Luke Iohn and S. Peter whom we haue now in hand be but as the Scribes Notaries Scriueners and as it were the very quils or pennes of the holy goste Lingua mea calamus scribe saith the Prophet In the holye scriptures I saye when a texte maye haue diuers expositions and may be diuersly taken and euery way good and catholike yet to attaine to the verye prescise and true meaning of the holy gost is no small grace this is the grace of Discretiō of spirites or of putting difference betwixte spirites And withoute this gift no mā shal be able to pas fafely through the scriptures without a foyle Nowe who shall haue this gift and who shall lacke it it standeth chiefely in Gods handes and not in our merites and deseruing For these considerations it is no merueil that it be perilous to speake of almighty God of heauenly or godly causes far aboue our reache In somuch that many wise and wel learned men haue rather chosen silence to hold their tonges then to take labours in expoūdinge or preching y e scriptures But this is not inough for thē to whom the office of teaching is cōmytted As to bishops to whō is cōmitted the whole cure of their dioceses To Archdeacons persons vicars al other hauing cure of soules to al such it is very hurtfull noysome to kepe silence as s. Paule full well considered saying .i. Corin. ix Ve mihi est si non euangelizauero I am sure of wo euerlasting if I do not preach Christ biddeth scruramini scripturas search labour in y e scriptures he biddeth vs also seke and we shall finde Therefore we must search seke least we heare the reproche that Christe gaue the
w t loue cxciiii d The Wiues by their faith and good conuersation may conuert the husbande folio cccvii d Wyfe must be first taken and afterward proued otherwise then any other marchaundise fol cc b Wicliffes heresies when they troubled this realme xix a Vix saluabitur iustus is expounded fol. cclxxviii a Women when they woulde be sene to care leaste for their heare or lockes then they care moost fol. ccxviii d Womens heare is many times disgised fol. cxcix a Women whose honesty is light chepe be moste curiouse in disgisinge them selues Eodem c Woman is the weaker vessel is declared fol. ccvi b. Women of Rome in olde time knew not the vse of wine folio ccxxxiiii b. Worme of riches is pryde fo cccv b Women be no meet hearers of moral philosophy xxxiii a Women how they shuld lerne for their soul helth xxxiiii a Woman was last made and first in faute Eodem b. Women haue taught men witte fo xxxv b Worme and not a man why Christ was so called lxxviii b Worldly inheritaunce hath .iii. noughtye properties cxx c Wronges when we ought to remitte them and when we may redresse them fol. xcvi a Wronge there is none when the thinge commeth of mere grace fol. lxxv d Wyues deseruinge to be beaten reneige their wiues state and tourne to the seruauntes state againe fo cciiii b X. XAntippa Socrates wyfe cast a chamber vessell on his heade and what he sayd then fol. cciiii c. d Y. YOnge men be no mete hearers of morall philosophye folio xxxiii a. b. Yonge in age and yonge in maners Eodem clviii b Yonge men must gentilly do after their elders fo ▪ clvii d Finis ¶ The first sermon containing an introduction to the whole matter of the vii giftes of the holy goste And treatyng of the two first giftes called the spirite of sapience and the spirite of intelligence THe blessed euangelist sanct Iohn in the first chapiter of hys gospel after he had somewhat touched the ineffable coeternitie of the second person in trinitie the sonne of God with God the father cōsequently he descendeth to his temporall generacion in fewe woordes comprising the same verbum caro factum est et habitauit in nobis That worde of God the second person in trinitie was cōtent to come alowe and to take our mortal nature vpon him and to dwel among vs not with any diminutiō or decay of the godhead for the infinite glorye of God suffereth neither augmentacion or increase neither decreasyng or decay It is euer one after one maner though it pleased him to hyde the glory of his godhead for a season as condescending to the infirmitie of them that he should be conuersaunt withall and to teache vs the waye of humilitie and that is it that saint Paule sayth semetipsum exinaniuit formam seruiaccipiens He withdrewe his mightie power frō his operacion for if he had shewed it in his owne lykenes all the worlde had not been able to haue receiued him He kept a lower port euer vsing humilitie and lowlynes sufferyng the paynes of our mortalitie with all the despites that the Iewes did to him tyll in conclusion he came to his paynes on the crosse in his painefull passion And that he withdrewe his power from his operacion in the tyme of his bodily presence heare on yerth appeareth euidently by this that if it had pleased him he might aswel haue indued his disciples with the cōforte of the holy ghost whyle he bodily taried among them as to haue differred it tyll the commyng of the holy ghost by sensible signes at this holy tyme of whytsontide In a long sermon that he made to his disciples afore his passion among other holesome lessons he sayd thus vnto thē Expedit vobis vt ego vadā c. It is for your profite that I go from you for if I go not from you the holy ghost wyll not come to cōfort you I haue yet many thynges to teache you but as yet ye can not bear them away but when the spirit of truth the holy ghost cōmeth he shall teache you all truthes necessarye for you to knowe But good lorde what sayst thou Nowe we can not vnderstande suche thinges as we be to be taught than we shal vnderstand How may this be Is he greater of power then thou art Can he do more in teching vs then thou canst do thy selfe good maister Christ to auoyde this scruple doubt āswereth saying No syrs I do not say this for any impotencie in me or for any inequalitie betwixt the holy ghost and me for the thinges that he shall teache you shewe you he shall not speake them of him selfe but of me The cause why I say so is this Omnia quae habet pater mea sunt propterea dixi de meo accipiet annunciabit vobis All thinges that my father hath be myne all power all knowledge all connyng be equally and aswel in the sonne as in the father and in the sonne frō the father like as he hath his generacion production beyng of the father therfore sayth Christ the holy gost shall take of myne and shall shewe it you teach it you for when he shal sensibly come among you he shall shewe you my fathers pleasure which is all one with my pleasure All that he shal teache you he shall take and learne of my father and of me Like as he hath his beyng of my father and of me and as he is the infinite and ineffable loue of my father and of me Thus sayd Christ vnto his disciples for in very deede all the workes of the whole trinitie be al one vndiuidid outfurth among creatures Loke what one person doth the same thyng doth all thre persones likewise Therfore there was nothing that the holy gost taught y e Apostles but Christ could haue taught it them if it had pleased him But he reserued left this power of instructing and cōfortyng the Apostles and others by them vnto the holy gost the third person in trinitie lest if Christ had done all himselfe they would peraduenture haue thought there had be no holy ghost at all or els that the holy spirit had not been of equal power with Christ and with the father of heauen In very dede afterward there risse a pernicious sect of heretikes as Arrius and his faction whiche merueilously troubled al the world in their time saiyng that the seconde person in trinitie was but a creature and lesse of nature power then the father And that the holy ghost was also a creature and a minister and messager of the father and of the sonne and lesse of power then either of them both Because Christ would not haue his disciples to erre in this point he reserued the best porcion of learnyng of godly comfort from them that the holy spirit might teache it them for their comforte that so they might knowe the dignitie of the
proude in their own conceiptes neither to trust in the vncertaintie of their riches but to be riche in good woorkes and good deedes to geue gentlely without frowardnes c. The other wisedome called beastly wisedome they haue that be ouer muche geuen to the pleasure of their bellies and consequently to the pleasure of the flesh and lechery For of glotony foloweth lecherye and this is the wisedome of them that studieth nothinge so muche as howe they may please their bellies as where to get a delicate cup of wine and good chere These S. Iude in his epistle calleth spottes for they spotteth and defouleth thē selues by ebrietie and surfets and spotteth other mē by their yll examples and euill occasions geuing Hi sunt inquit in epulis macule conuiuantes sine timore seipsos pascētes Against al these speaketh our sauiour Christ. Luc. vi Ve qui saturati estis quia esurietis Wo be to you that be farced stuffed and full fed for you shall be a hungred at your iudgement when ye shall beg refreshing and none shalbe giuen you and this paine with which Christ doth threaten voluptuous persones is inflict and laid on mens neckes somtimes here in this world as we haue seen by many men which hath mispende all that their fathers left them goodes and landes and all and haue be ready to begge or steale for very nede and for very lack of their accustomed fare Much like vnto Esau whyche for a messe of potage sold his first frutes Gene. xxv et Contempsit quod vendidisset And he litle estemed yea rather despised that he had so sold them So these yong ruflers be not sory but rather doth maligne and freate and chafe and be readye to fighte when a man would vmbrayde them for so mispendynge all their substance worse then the prodigall and wastefull sonne that is spoke of in the gospel which after that he had scattered and wasted by his lose liuing all the goodes that his father left hym yet at the last he tooke remorse and repentaunce and returned home to his father againe The third euill wisdome is called diuellishe wisdome which they haue that be wise and wittye inough to do mischief but good they cā do none They be wylye to circumuent men and to deceiue them in all busynes exchaunges bargayning bying and selling and such other exercyse And such be they also that by oppression leapeth vpon mens shoulders like Apes as muche as in them is keeping them downe that they shall neuer come vppe a lofte to anye thrifte or ryches and that wyll be gladde to wayte men a shreud turne so that no man shall espye them or knowe that they do it and many times when they haue done a man a shreude turne will make a man beleue that they be their best frendes All these be carnall wysedomes and worldlye wysedomes that bringeth a man to death euerlasting Rom. viii prudentia carnis mors est And it is counted very folyshenes afore God Of suche wisedome speaketh Christe Luc. xvi The chyldren of thys wicked worlde all sette in malignitie and myschiefe be wyser then the chyldren of light the children of grace the children of God And he geueth laude and prayse to the father because he hath hid the misteries and secretes of the trewe faith of Christ from them that be worldly wyse and farre casting and hath reueled vttred and declared them to suche as be chyldren that is to saye small and little in malice humble and lowlye in harte and spirite For on suche the holye goste wyll spredde hys gyftes and on none of theym that thyncke theym selues so worldlye wyse whyche be verye fooles afore God The apostle Saynte Iames capit iii. declareth what is this godlye sapience or wisedome commynge from almightye GOD aboue by the effectes and properties of it Firste saithe he it is chaste in deedes and in exteriour behauiour for where the filthynesse of lecherye is there is no vertue that can please God and thys is contrarye to beastlye wysedome Then it maketh peace as wel wythin a mannes selfe or in a mannes owne conscience as outwarde to others dyrectlye agaynst dyuellysh wysdome that is euer quarelyng and waytyng shrewd tournes It keepeth a measure and good manner in worde and deedes And so doth nother beastly wisedome nor diuellish wisedome Easye to be counselled or intreated where earthly wisedome according to the properties of the earth is hard to be perswaded agaynste his lucre or aduauntage Agreing with good men as none of the other three wisedomes doth And full of mercy in hart and dede And full of good fruites that is to say good workes wheras of the other wisedomes cōmeth no goodnesse but it be colourable vainglorious or for some sinistre purpose Iudging without simulacion or faining Not shewing iustice and indifferencye outward bearing indignacion and parciality in hart inward Such an humble hart had Salomon when he made his supplicacion and peticion to God in Gabaon .iii. Regum .iii. where he offered to God a thousand hostes or beastes to be all burned in Gods honour as the maner was then sayinge I am but yonge and knowe not how to beginne nor how to procede or make an ende of my matters Therfore giue vnto me thy seruaunt O good Lorde a disciplinable hart ready and apt to learne what and howe I ought to doe that I maye iudge thy people and dyscerne or put difference betwyxte good and yll wythoute whyche no man can be able to iudge these people they be so many in nomber Thys desyre and prayer of thys yonge kynge Salomon pleased GOD wonderouselye well And because he asked not long life nother riches nother the death of his enemies but onely wisdome to geue discrete iudgement Almighty god said to him I haue done as thou hast said Dedi tibi cor sapiens intelligēs in tantū vt nullus ante te similis tui fuerit nec post te futurus sit I haue geuē thee a heart indued with Sapience and intelligence in so muche that among all the kinges of Israell that haue bene afore thee or that shall come after thee there was neuer none like thee Here ye haue expresse mencion of the two firste giftes of the holy gost Sapience and Intelligence wittines or fine and cleare vnderstandyng Of the which Sapience properly serueth for iudgement in speculatiue causes chiefely concernyng almighty God and celestiall creatures and verities or truthes about the same iudgyng and determining that to them a mā shold surely adhere leyne to refuse the contraries as false repugnant to the truth And I must nowe speake vnitely or ioyntly of the gift of sapiēce of y e gift of intelligence or vnderstandyng as the prophet Esay rehearseth them coupled and linked together because one of them adourneth and helpeth another For Sapience is much the lesse if it lack Intelligence or wittines And wittinesse without discrete iudgement of Sapience is very vnprofitable
iustice is rather to be called wylynes then science And to this purpose it is necessarye that you seruauntes do youre dutye to youre maysters obedientlye with feare and quakynge in simplicitie and playnes of hearte as vnto Christe not seruinge to the eye as to please man but like the seruauntes of Christ doinge the will of God with hearte and all Ephe. vi not deceauing your maisters by your idlenes or els beinge occupied about your owne busines when your master thinketh that you be in his labours And lykewyse you maysters do you to youre seruauntes instructynge them in theyr occupations for whiche they came to your seruyce accordyng to the trust that theyr parentes and frendes hath put you in that they maye get theyr lyuynge and yours with truth iuste dealynge and honestye and medle not to muche with other mens occupations that you cannot skyll on leas●e whyle ye be so curious in other mens matters not perteininge to your lerning you decaye as well in your owne occupation as in the other so fallynge to penurye extreme pouertye and very beggery For when a tayler forsakynge his owne occupation wyll be a marchaunt venterer or a shomaker to become a groser God sende him well to proue I haue knowē manye in this towne that studienge diuinitie hath kylled a marchaunt and some of other occupations by theyr busy labours in the scriptures hath shut vp the shoppe windowes faine to take Sainctuary or els for mercerye and groserye hath be fayne to sell godderds steanes and pitchers and suche other trumpery For this I shal assure you that althoughe diuinitie be a science verye profitable for the soule health yet small gaynes to the purse or to the worlde aryseth by it Not that I intende to reproue the studye of scriptures for I extoll it and prayse it aboue all other studye so that it be vsed as I haue sayde afore with modestye and charitie with longanimitie and easye sufferaunce tyll God sende the a true instructour not infected with wylful and newfangled heresyes From whiche I pray god to defende you all and sende you teachers indued with such science as may instructe you in the truth by whiche you may attayne to ioyes euerlastynge Amen The fyfte sermon intreatynge of the spirite of Pietie NOwe right worshipful audience I must aunswer to your expectation not doubtinge but that ye loke I shoulde perfourme the promise that I haue made you in tymes paste when I toke vpon me to declare vnto you the vii giftes of the holye goste whiche as the prophet Esay xi sayth rested on our sauiour Christ and by hym be deriued to his faythfull people to euery one as it doth please his goodnes to distribute them to some more of them to some fewer and not so many And to them that receiue the giftes of one kynde and maner yet some persones hath them more intensly more fullye and more perfitly some more remysly more faintlye and not after so perfit facion or maner as I haue heretofore declared at large which I trust in God is not all forgotten Fyue of the sayde giftes I haue stripped and passed ouer after the capacitie of my poore witte nowe consequentlye succedeth the .vi. of the saide giftes called Spiritus pietatis or donum pietatis the gift of Pietie This word pietas or pietie the latin terme is so ambiguose so diuersly vsed both in the scriptures and also of the doctours that me thinketh it very hard to make it plaine in the english tonge for your capacitie The translatours of the Bible in to englishe calleth pietas godlines and his contrary impietas vngodlines But thus speaking of Pietie it semeth to comon and large to be one of these .vii. giftes distincte from the other because that thus speakinge of it it agreith to the other vi giftes that I haue spoken of For the gyft of godly counsell is a certayne godlines the gift of Fortitude also is a certayne godlines The gyfte also of the dreade of God is a godly gifte and a certayne godlines as hereafter shall appeare And if I should english it call it pitie yet there I should fall into an other equiuocation for this word pitie is not euer taken after one maner in the englishe tonge sometime it is taken for mercy or compassion that we haue on the miserye of our neighbour that is in paine or trouble thus is pieras somtime taken as I shal shew hereafter sometime otherwise as when we say to an vnthrift or a cōmon malefactour it is pitie to do the good Here it signifieth rather an offence a fault or an il thing so speking I thinke this english may come of pio a verbe or piaculū taken in malam partē for a crime or a sinne as we take sacer or such other sometyme to signifie that is holye good and sometime that is cursed noughte But we haue not yet the principal significatiō of pietas that we now speke of Therfore more specially to speake of pietie ye shall vnderstand y t the paygnims in theyr writinges vsed y e same terme and as they thought in the same signification as we vse it Cicero .ii. officiorū Deos placatos pietas efficiet sanctitas They were deceiued by errour and worshipped many Gods yet this they thought good to pacifie cōtent and please their gods by pietie holines Albeit their pietie holynes and integritie or clearenesse of liuyng in thē were but counterfait and vnprofitable for their soule healthe and for saluation of their soules in as muche as it lacked the foundacion of faith whiche as I saide in the firste Sermon that I made here of these seuen giftes is presupposed necessarilye to all these seuen gyftes of the holye Goost Lactancius firm●anus diuinarum institutionum Li. iii. ca. ix inueighing against the erroure of the olde Philosophers whiche sayde that mans felicitie stoode in the knowledge of corporall thinges as Anaxagoras did whiche when he was asked wherfore or for what cause he was borne answered Solis ac celi videndi causa I was borne and brought into this worlde sayth he for to see the sunne and the heauen or the bodies aboue as meanynge that in the beholding of thē with our bodelye eyes hadde stande all our perfection where he ought rather to haue confessed and magnified the power of him that made the Heauen and in contemplation of his maiestye that is to saie in the interiour sight of our mindes occupied about his highnes and in loue corespondente to haue constitute our felicitie stedfastlye continuynge in the same while wee be here in this corruptible bodie till at the last wee maye attayne and come to the cleare fruition of the same in heauen without any impedimente or let Therfore if a man were asked now wherefore he was made he should not answere to stare vpon the skye as Anaxagoras saide nother to folowe the carnall lust of this fleshe as Aristippus sayde