then of the fauour of God almightie who only is readie to comfort relieue and defend the godly and louers of vertue and religion The wicked and careles he regardeth not in loue but casteth them off and suffereth them to fall into their enemies hands The Scriptures abound with examples of the same and threatneth to such as feare not God miseries and calamities but to the godly it promiseth all prosperitie and victorie Whereby they haue alwaies cause to praise God and to sing hymnes of triumph to his glorie as Claudianus did in the behalfe of the happie victorie wherein Theodosius ouercame Arbogastes and Eugenius at the Alpes Omnium dilecte Deo tibi militat aether Et coniurari veniunt ad classica venti All thinges helpe them and fight for them that feare God whereof our late experiences may more and more encourage vs to become more and more obedient vnto him that maketh his creatures so obedient vnto vs. That all men should be readie to defend their Prince and Countrie And how inferiour officers in armes the common and priuate souldiers should behaue themselues as touching their obedience to God their Prince and Commanders The Argument of this second treatise HOwsoeuer it may seeme to some a needlesse labour and vnprofitable to sende foorth so simple a discourse into the field among men of warre accustomed rather to the pike then to the penne to the bullet then to the Bible and to a carelesse course of life then to leuell their actions according to that honestie and equitie which is required in the warres yet sith Iayme my desires for their good their comfort consolation I presume to set downe in a familiar manner some necessarie considerations of their dueties aswel in regard of God whome they ought chiefely to obey as of their Prince and superior Commaunders whom he commaundeth them to obey And to remember them of the daungers which commonly follow such as neglecting vertue and exercises of thinges commanded doe follow and imbrace vice and practise things forbidden Euery man I know will fauour and follow my counsel not as it is but as they themselues are if good they will receiue it without disdaine if euill they will scorne it and my good will Sundry reasons haue moued me to vndertake this worke and aboue the rest God knoweth the loue I beare to my couÌ„trie threatned by the rumors of warres and the good will I beare to my country men that must vndertake the defence by warre Wherein as I haue a little waded in the former treatise to shew my duetie to the highest in military offices so I endeuour to speake something to men of meaner qualities And for that not onely report but experience it selfe doth assure me that there is defect in the maÌ„ners proceedings of some meÌ„ trained vp in that most honorable exercise of warre in regard of diuine duetie and consequently that by tradition the corruption floweth to the peruerting of such as either voluntarily or by authoritie are daily drawne thereunto and the matter yet beeing so slenderly considered that no learned hath beene seene to vndertake any thing whereby to giue them the light by any peculiar treatise for their reformation and comfort as is fitte in that regard for the persons and for the time I the most vnworthy of all other aduenture my poore endeuours to be censured of the learned rather then to omit a mattâ—r of that importance at this time wherein the busines is for the glory of God himselfe in maintaining his trueth and the generall preseruation of all our estates against an aduersary mortally disposed as by many probabilities appeareth to lay all our honor in the dust SYth therefore there is no warrant promised or assurance to vs to preuaile or to maintaine our owne defence without the assistance of God the high Commaunder of all hoastes we must prepare our selues to meete this enemie and to shew what we are not that it is enough to say we are souldiers but that we can say our consciences and our professions doe testifie that we are christian Souldiers souldiers fearing God then we may goe forth with true boldnes because Dauids faith hath Dauids true courage and that shall stande our glory after our mortalitie Euery man called vnto these affaires may no doubt find for their military directions sufficient and able persons aboue them to conduct and leade them who also will haue care and regard of ciuill gouernement and military discipline But it more concerneth euery man to haue a priuate regard vnto himselfe that as his outward actions are trained by discipline of warre to the knowledge of the order of marching charging fighting retiring and such like necessary points and obseruations of warre so he must be also instructed how to behaue himselfe in loyaltie to his soueraigne in duetie to his commaunder in fitte exercises in time conuenient in loue and concord towardes his fellow soldiers how to make true vse of prosperitie wealth and plenty of pleasure and comfort of sorrow and griefe of life and death all which are the fruites and effectes of warre And especially hee ought to learne how to eschew the thinges that are euill and to imbrace and follow what is good how to know God to serue him truely the principall and chiefe ende for which wee were created And who so is thus prepared either in deede or in desire may challenge vnto himselfe thetitle of a true souldier He therefore that will vndertake this honorable profession must consider that the principall and chiefe meane to attaine vnto perfection is the feare of God without which he marcheth as a naked man be he neuer so completely armed on all partes at proofe as an vnskilfull man be he neuer so politicke and as a weâ—ke man had he the valour force of Hector And because it is presupposed that euery soldier is called vnto armes by his Princes authoritie as behooueth though some of their voluntary inclination be as forward I will speake first of euery mans obedience to his Soueraigne wherein hee must yeeld himselfe freely to her disposition and consequently to the direction of her Lieutenants and substitute Commanders that hee may with the more freedome of a good conscience serue the Lord in that vocation Obedience is the mother of all vertues and no man sauoureth truely of this obedience without hee first obey God and that obedience hee must learne by his worde with which obedience we will suppose that all English men are already indued so speake of their obedience wâ—ich they owe to Gods Ministers whereof the first is the chiefe Magistrate the supreame gouernour our Soueraigne whom we must obey in all things as the children of Israel obeyed Joshua saying vnto him All that thou commaundest we will doe and whithersoeuer thou sendest vs we will goe Here is the true paterne of the duty of true subiects towards their
of his souldiers as of the most vertuous as much as lieth in him after the example of Cyrus who sayd vnto his souldiers My friends I haue chosen you not because I haue had experience heretofore of your manhood but because I haue knowne you readie to doe those things which are honest and to eschew all dishonestie In his choice he seemed to agree with the opinion of valiant Agamemnon a Grecian Captaine who affirmed to Achilles that one man beloued of God is in stead of many men in an armie On the contrarie the Scripture affirmeth that the wickednesse of one man indangereth the state of a whole armie as Achan did the armie of Israel The Emperour Traian sayd to accept of warre to collect souldiers to put them in order and to giue battell belonged to man but to giue victorie was the worke of God onely Whereby it followeth that as victorie is the end of waging battell and battell disposed by best discretion of chiefe Commanders so there is not a more pretious thing in the execution of this busines then to doe all in his feare honor and reuerence that giueth that which is striued for They that couet to vanquish and not to bee vanquished must relie wholly on him that disposeth of victorie and to vse souldiers munition and policie as his meanes for if they be blessed by him they are holie otherwise they may bee aswell instruments of their owne and of the confusion of such as trust in them as of their safetie To the ende therefore that our enterprises may succeede to our comfort it behoueth all men of armes of what qualitie or degree soeuer he bee not to thinke is a blemish to his reputation to be seene vertuous religious and godly but to testifie the same in the view of all men by continuall exercise of prayer and praise to the God of hoasts that he may still blesse those meanes direct their counsels and dispose of their proceedings happily so shall they triumph in victorie as well with few as with many with the godliest and not with the greatest number of men And to the end that all militarie men may be put in minde of this heauenly consideration I haue presumed vnder your fauours to speake a little vnto you in a plaine manner not that I would be seene to presume to teach such as are alreadie furnished with diuine knowledge and are armed with faith and religion but to whet them on to the daily practise thereof and to stirre vp such as are more ignorant to a desire to become also vertuous and obedient to God and in him to their Prince and Commanders that as they seeke honor they may so attaine it as may make them in deede truely honorable Yours in christian good will Iohn Norden THE MIRROR OF Honor. A motiue to the consideration of the necessitie of this worke in regard of the time and of the different effectes of peace and warre THERE is nothing in this worlde more pleasing to fleshe and bloud then peace nor more beneficiall to a commoÌ„ wealth For where no trouble is there is a quiet state fitte for euery honest Artist to practise his skill to the furnishing of the state with Sciences necessarie and profitable In peace are Lawes at liberty to be duely executed and Iustice may flourish without restraint Veâ—tue may then shewe her effectes and Religion bee practised without terror or torture Then may the Church execute necessary Discipline and mannage all thinges to Gods glorie and the comfort and commoditie of all his members This hath England tryed true almost fortie yeeres vnder Queene Elizabeth who from God hath brought vs the blessing of this wished peace together with the rich Iewell of the freedome of Religion whose fruits if they flourish not as they ought amongst vs the fault is ours And that God that hath afforded vs these precious blessings finding vs negligent and colde in our professions threatneth to rouze vs out of our secure dreames by the drum of his surie to awaken vs out of our slumber by the noise of warre nay by the blowes of warre we heare the sound we see the swords the Cannon playes in our eares the armours glitter in our eyes here is the beginning of warre After the sweete song of Peace peace now is the dreadfull dumpe of Warre warre And what is Warre a May-game Noe it is the wofull messenger of confusion without the mercie of our offended God which is to be obtayned by faith and repentance We all know that peace is plausible a ioyfull and wished thing and yet we seeme full of it or at least of the fruites of it which is plentie and ease fulnesse and forgetfulnesse of God and our selues But if we had seene warre as we haue tasted peace we should esteeme the better of peace and prouide against the feare of warre in meeting the God of hoastes to appease him as Abigail did Dauid But England God be praysed hath beene made acquainted with warre by report from our neighbour territories and the most of vs are ignorant whether it be sweete or sowre by experience and therefore thinke not that it bringeth the miseries which Fraunâ—e Flaunders Holland Zeland Brabant and sundry other most pleasant Landes and Prouinces haue long time endured wherein Iustice hath beene suppressed and iniurie violence will and the swordes surie preuayled These infernall fire-brands inkindle warre whence proceed the outrage of bloudy furies wherein spoyles are helde lawfull prize riots maintained as rightfull lawes innocents murthered maydens wiues and most graue matrons violently abused and forcibly deflowred churches destroyed religion confouÌ„ded houses consumed with fire all vertue and honest duety abandoned vice exalted and imbraced the seruice of God contemned Gods children murdred euery degree sexe and qualitie grieued and oppressed all trades and traffique hindred the best men troden downe and all this with many other miseries by a crewe of most mercilesse and wicked men Heere are in parte the fruites of furious warre And yet it is the salue that our most louing God applieth to the infections of such Kingdomes and Countries as abuse his most sweete blâ—ssing of peace We are not ignorant of this though wee haue yet but giuen ayme as it were to forraine broyles not considering or at least not reforming the euilles that long peace hath bread at home For which our forgetfulnesse and neglect of duetifull diligence to reforme vs the same God that found out this remedie for the sinnes or iudgement for the transgressions of other Nations hath threatned the same to vs for that we repent not at his many other most gentle admonitions It seemerh he hath decreed somewhat against vs for the common report is that there will bee waâ—res and that England must prepare for warres surely this gentle forewarning of God among many others is to be helde a precious fauour for that he giueth vs time to consult with him what is
own tents the faults of inferior followers may be found out for there is nothing that can expell darknesse but light and nothing can discouer sin but the trueth and sincere obedience to the lawes and precepts of the highest And if the superiour gouernours be cleere and cleane being the spring of the fountaine the fountaine will yeeld pure water to the riuer but if the fountaine bee defiled it is impossible that the brooke should be cleane And surely if the opprobrious wordes of this Sultan might sometime sound in the eares of Leaders it might perchance so grate their hearts and pierce their thoughts that they may feele the necessitie of godlinesse and so clense themselues and their people from sinne for vnlesse it begin aboue and that the Commanders bee seene religious and righteous the inferiour sort will hang on their manners and thinke it neither pietie nor policie to cast off that which their Leaders imbrace And therefore let the two edged sword of faith and obedience cut off the head of sin in the head that it may dye in the members and let the sound sleepe wherein our Martiall men lie snorting for the most part of them in vanitie be awakened least that mischiefe which hath seazed vpon the most deuoure all and so our state which hath been long glorious in standing defencible by God against a mightie aduersarie become foyled to our disgrace Let all bee prouoked to the studie of vertue of that vertue which is accounted among the godly to bee the Ladie of fame namely Christian obedience whereby our slander which consisteth in our vicious liues may bee taken away whilest our vngodly and furious enemies take counsell against vs and lay plots to deuoure vs hauing no other ground but that wee haue forsaken our God and God vs and therefore they say in the way of reproch where is their God They are most grosly affected surely and their mindes very pernitious that seeme by their owne manners and by the tolleration of the wickednesse of others vnder them to hold that there is no necessitie of vertue or the feare of God among souldiers and that temperance sobrietie meeknes loue peace and such like arguments of christian modestie and fruites of religion should be entertained of meÌ„ of armes as though through these most blessed things manly mindes should seeme dastardly or cowardly without which diuine vertues none may indeede bee held either vertuous or valorous nay not men but beasts For these things are the fruites of faith whereof Paul sheweth the effect to be the chiefe guide and to haue highest dominion in warre Reade and consider his 11. chapter to the Hebrewes Euery vertue that is begotten without faith is bastardly for faith is the gift of God which he neuer giueth without those companions to follow it which make a complete vertuous man And therefore he that fathereth his vertues otherwise then on God the author and father of all goodnesse and good men vsurpeth his honor for the very heathen haue acknowledged that no man can bee honorable without diuine inspiration and inwâ—rd motion And Plato that famous man among the Greekes sheweth by the words of Socrates that all the vertue and grauitie of man is so much to be esteemed as he hath the knowledge of God and contrariwise his vice and wickednes may be measured by his ignorance of God And therefore is the Prince induced to conceiue well of him whom she purposeth to make Generall of an armie by the apparant tokens of his wisedome and experience and especially of his religion and feare of God whereby she is moued to referre vnto his disposition as it were her power and authoritie regall for matters requisite in the busines of warre And it behooueth that precise choyce be made for that his charge may import the preseruation of millions of men yea of the state of his whole countrie And therefore the more his resolution appeareth to bee grounded vpon the feare of the Highest so much the more hope hath his Soueraigne of prosperous expedition And so much the more vertuous and valorous will his followers appeare by howe much they see their Generall trulie religious And his care as before is said must be to furnish his companies with the most vertuous and as Agamemnon dispensed with a rich dastard and cowardly worldling for going to warre so and much more should religious Generals and Captaines refuse reiect wicked persons in as much as in them and their knowledge lieth For if a coward and faint-hearted man be supposed preiudicial and not to profit but to doe hurt in warre what may a wicked man through whose impietie and vngodly example many are corrupted and for whose cause not onlie warres but euery vertuous action succeedeth the worse And therefore is the religious man to be reuerenced for that in a good cause he is neuer fainthearted though it may bee that the imbecillitie of the flesh sometime may make him stagger but he gathereth his powers as it were vnto him and resolueth like Dauid resting assured that his owne weaknesse shall bee no impediment vnto him as long as hee feeleth the power of the diuine aide to compasse him about And howsoeuer the wicked may seeme sometime to preuaile by their hardinesse and desperate boldnesse there is no certaintie in their successe but alwaies a suspition of the issue For there is no true hope without faith and faith hath no ground but Gods promise which is onely made vnto the godlie that bring foorth such vertues as are approoued by the word of God and executed accordingly Such as are loden with euils haue no hope at all but onely an ambitious desire to preuaile as Goliah had whose trust was in himselfe but preuailing Dauid held himself by God who had promised victorie to faith therfore in that his liuely expectation he waited for the grace presence and power of God wherein he preuailed In vaine doth he hope that feareth not God and in vaine he fighteth that fighteth without Gods assistance for whether he ouercome or be ouercome neither is honorable for that the blessing followeth onely the promise which is made to the beleeuers whose consciences being pure and cleane they are accepted with God And their counsels and enterprises haue reason for their guide and passe not the limits of right and equitie And the hope which is grounded vpon this sound foundation is the greatest riches chiefestie well that a Generall can possesse for it causeth him to shake off the clogs of cowardise and of a couetous desire which hinder much the good successe of warre For from the latter proceed many mischiefes as strifes quarrels emulation hatred and murders and all forgetfulnesse of God who then besotteth humaine wisedom by the cares of spoyles delay and slauish feare But hope is an enemie vnto this greedy desire of gaine and argueth greatest
law in euery gouernment yea of armes hath power to punish and which in stead of the first offender being reuenged by the offended inflicteth the lawe iustly vpon him that might iustly haue craued the law against the other Vengeance is the Lords therefore should all men leaue it to him or to the iudgement seate of his scepter bearer in earth But he is the most honorable conquerour that freely forgiueth ouercomming euill with goodnesse which he cannot doe but with the weapons of that heauenly prudence wherewith also he must encounter two other dangerous impediments to honorable reputation Ambition and Tyrannie which daily offer themselues to charge the most heroicall spirit by the instigation of emulation and flatterie two inseparable companions of honour shrowded both vnder one vaile of dissimulate zeale of amitie whose fruites yet import enuie and disgrace And he may bee called prudent in deede that can walke so warily that he be not foyled in honor by the subtile wilines of one of these of which the most daungerous is flatterie which being shaken off the residue cannot with ease subdue the affections of the prudent If flatterie were plainly layd foorth before our eyes in it right shape howsoeuer it appeare being couered and cloaked like loue it would bee seene a pestilent deuourer of vertuous thoughts for it is a spirituall poyson an inuisible murtherer a pleasing voyce whereby aspiring hearts are vnawares wounded and enchaunted it beguileth the minde with vaine conceit of things that neither are nor will bee It promiseth life but practiseth death and worketh vpon the highest and greatest changing it selfe into what behauiour manners guize and quality be it vice or vertue that the obiect imbraceth it giueth a dissimulate eccho to euery sound it boweth and bendeth it standeth stout and becomes mute according to the president of the obiect Insomuch as were it possible the flatterer could transforme his shape into the shape of him whom hee flattereth yea hee would seeme content to dismember himselfe for imitations sake as it is reported that Alexander the great and Alphonsus King of Aragon hauing each of them a wry necke the one by nature the other by custome their flatterers to seeme the more applicable to their affections dissembled these their imperfections carrying their neckes also awry testifiyng their affections to bee as crooked Euery obseruing noble Man Men of power place and authoritie that behold their followers may discouer such disguised foxes and it is the part of discretion to discard them as not profitable but pernitious members of whom yet some being indued with perfect Prudence can make vse by carrying themselues so much the more warily by howe much they perceiue themselues inuaded by them And therefore a thing seriously to bee considered of all men but of military guides gouernours and leaders espeacially who ayming their vertues to the marke of honor are yet through originall weakenesse the subtiltie of the maligne spirit carryed to and fro to attayne thereunto by right or wrong And the greatest spurre to pricke them on in the contrary and forbidden course is to hearken and giue consent to the deceyuing perswasions of such as followe them of a meere desire to be aduaunced by them not in regard of that affection which loue grounded vpon the vertuous inclination of him whom they followe ought to inkindle in them The nature of man is most apt to conceyue a good opinion of himselfe and to affect them best that can most sweetly sing him asleepe in this conceit Such a one hath both the passiue and actiue partes of flatteâ—ie for he flattereth himselfe and contentâ— himselfe to be flattered as Absolon that stole the heartes of the people from his father by flattery wherein hee flattered himselfe to be more worthy of the Kingdom and was whetted on to this reprochful ambition by suffering himselfe to bee carried away by dissembling Achitophell whose end as it was wonderfull so is his ambitious practise to be auoyded The man that is deceiued with this counterfeit kinâ—nesse and loue which he seemeth to haue and hath not from other men bemisteth his affections more more by â—herishing those means that couet to iustifie all his actions so that he cannot perfectly see the true meaning of honest duetie and faithfull reuerence which he that vnfeinedly loueth coueteth to shew in discouering plainely what all men iudge and how the wise conceiue of his manners behauiour proceedings and which in all things deliuereth what it thinketh of all things propouÌ„ded to his censure what is sitte to bee done or omitted of him to whome it oweth this dutie were it to Caesar himselfe But plâ—yne simple trueth hath not that grace nor receiueth that entertainment of the most and most noble that it deserueth where it ought to be hâ—lde more deare then all Machiauels politickes But the good man is fauoured of the Lord. And he that can best dissemble is wise in the world who can carrie all vertues in his tongue and all vice and deceit in his heart he liueth he loueth he preuaileth and prospereth and he is fitte to be fauoured and in this he thinketh nothing more sententious then what he speaketh nor more praise-worthy then what he doth But the wise mans opinion is that there is more hope of a foole then of him And the greatest deseruer in his owne conceit gayneth but ignominie without the approbation of the prudent And therefore saith Iob Let all men feare God for he regardeth none that stand wise in their owne conceit We ought not to please our selues saith Paul which importeth that none should flatter himselfe or be puffed vp the more for the flatterie of other men although it bee the mayne troden way to that forbidden apple of ambition which once tasted peruerteâ—h the affections and sealeth vp the conscience that it yeeldeth neither iudgement nor equitie but measureth all thinges by will and iniurie Alexander in that humor put to death Calisthenes Parmenion Philotus to satisfie the desires of his flatterers shewing himselfe more baâ—barous then prudent The practises of Ric. 3. in cuâ—ting away the twigges that seemed to hinder his passage to Ambition is not so auncient but it resteth to this day and will be euer remembâ—ed to his notable ignominie a spectacle of the same nature ouerruleth all that giue place eyther to flatter themselues or to bâ—e carried from duetie by the flatterie of other men And therefore men in office and great place had nâ—ede to carry euer sayle betweene Sylla and Chaâ—ybdis flattering and flatterers least by the one they administer or by the other they take occasion to deceiue or be deceiued that they accept not nor giue fayre pleasant showe of loue which may be dissembled without the true approbation of the one by substantiall iudgement and triall of their inward dispositions which speake them fairest and of their owne true meaning
for preseruation and maintenance of which prudence and experience haue framed a law and decent order and prescribed the same to bee obserued of euery member of an armie vnder paine of that punishment which by that lawe is threatned to bee inflicted which order and law truly executed is called the discipline of warre To this discipline belongeth obedience and punishment for the contrarie And therefore it behooueth all men to shew thereunto a continuall zeale and desire to bee seene rather apt and forward to maintaine then to resist and violate the same And because it must be supposed that ancient souldiers and appoynted officers doe know what it is to obey and how to gouerne and to bee gouerned otherwise they cannot but discouer themselues to haue the bare name and not the perfection which their places require I onely speake vnto the nouices in warres and vnto such as come rawly into the field without former education If they purpose to become souldiers they must shew mindes and dispositions to bee directed And howsoeuer they seemed at home among their allies and friends praise worthie for that they were apt and actiue in feates of vanitie and to performe things with delight to the beholders agreeing with peace and pleasure they must now acknowledge ignorance and couet the knowledge of this new vocation wherein they be as strangers vnacquainted with the course and qualities of warre although it cannot bee but commended to haue vse of the fowling peece to handle the sword to tosse the pike and such like But these are farre from that which is required in a souldier the vse of the small peece requireth comelines and quicknes in charging and discharging in marching standing and retreiting The like is of the pike in whose vse is required more then abilitie to beare it at the armes end to couch it or aduance it the application thereof to best aduantage at the push to annoy the enemie and to gard himselfe is the true end thereof And whatsoeuer warlike weapon or instrument the younger souldier taketh in hand he cannot forthwith mannage it after the arte of warre And therefore it behooueth such as will be indeed what they couet to bee called to consult with the skilfull to obserue practise and endeuour for to the industrious and willing minded nothing is hard And hee that will come soonest to the perfection of a souldier must yeeld most to discipline and settle himselfe to sustaine all trauailes to aduenture all perils and to be resolute rather to dye in fight in hope of escape by force in ouercomming then to desire safetie by flying away for death is more to be wished in fighting in a iust cause then life by escaping like a coward For as immortall praise followeth the one so miserable and hatefull ignominie the other And doubtles death is more bitter and terrible to the fearefull and faint hearted that flie then to the valorous that desire to fight There are sundrie vertues required in a souldier yea when hee entreth the field first wherewith for the most part our English impes are not for want of education acquainted at home yet when they begin to take armes on their backes and would bee called souldiers whether they bee prest by authoritie or of their owne forwardnes they must endeuour to learne them speedily and cast off all thinges that are behinde namely profite pleasure friends and feare of death and march on valiantly as to the schoole where they shall bee taught the substance of honourable vertues indeede whereas they before imbraced but the shadowes For in stead of former profit and pleasure they shall haue continuall honor the regall riches of Caesar And as the way to the perfection required is obedience so that obedience must bring with it willingnes to be taught heedfulnes to learne and forwardnes to practise And these things can neuer bee without reuerence and loue to such as are aboue them And howsoeuer in regard of former times wherein some man that now must be commanded hath commanded at home and therefore this new obedience may seeme irksome he must now lay downe his conceit of being more worthie then his commander and become a disciple to such as can teach him his new calling For the speediest course to become a commander is to be willing to be commanded He that is truly obedient to discipline shall proceede from one vertue to another vntill he become able to distinguish betweene the honorable inclination of valour and the ignominious sluggishnes of the faint hearted whereby he shall also gayne true consideration how to weigh in discretion and with patience all other circumstances of honor and dishonor offered in warres The first and principall vertue in a soldier is to learne and truely to feare and serue the liuing God whose fauour loue and protection is obtained by faith and praier Which last howsoeuer it may bee thought a worke out of vse in the warres of this age God forbid that any Christian soldier should be ignorant how or negligent when to pray whereof I will say more in the ende of this worke As for the feare of God and exercise of Religion it is a matter of such necessiti◠and importance as without it no other vertue policie instruments of warre munition skonce forte castle trench wall or best holde strength or multitude auaileth any thing for such is the high Accompt that the Lorde of hoastes maketh of them that feare him tha◠he is as the Clarke of their Band for as Malachi witnesseth hee hath a booke of their names written alwaies before him as a remembraunce to saue them in the day of slaughter wherein though multitudes doe perish yet shal they be as deare vnto him in that day as a sonne to his father The Lorde neuer forsaketh them that feare him neither shall any euill happen vnto them he will not faile them nor forsake them What a necessarie thing is it how sweete and profitable for a soldier to feare God It bringeth with it sundry sweete blessings to accompany the same as his Mercie which is as a well of heauenly water still comforting refreshing renuing their wearied spirits strengthning their weake bodies It is as an arme of brasse to hold thē vp as a buckler of steele to defend thē as a sword of power to confound their enemies It is a comfort in all their distresses Yea as a faine pitieth his own children so hath God compassion on all them that feare him The feare of the Lord is glorie and gladnes reioycing and a ioyfull crowne It is a holy knowledge and beeing compared to worldly and carnall policie it shineth as the Sunne in the darke Who then would goe to the warres without this Iewell and what a watchman is this to keepe our cities and houses at home the soldier that hath it hath glory already and the practise
coward And therefore it is more policie and better safetie that Leaders hauing knowledge of a faint hearted wretch should dispence with him as Agamemnon did and not to number him with souldiers but to thrust him out of the armie with ignominie after triall that best encouragement cannot make him hardie The coward to saue his life which he is not worthie to beare is most readie to complot such pernitious practises as may endanger the state of an armie There is no mischiefe so odious but he thinketh it a vertue to purchace his priuate escape There is little difference betweene a cowarde and one that is desperate of his life for such is the strength of imagination in both that they thinke euery man aimes at them and that their very companions wil deuour them They haue no vse of reason for the time but bend al their deuises to rid them from the daunger by what wicked and vnlawfull meanes soeuer the misleading spirit shall argue most probable for them For as al godly and vertuous thoughts and actions proceede from a diuine worker and are effected by the ayde of the heauenly powers so all wickednesse and trecheries proceede from an infernall instigation And the man possessed with cowardice wanteth that spirituall life which faith expresseth by a godly resolution and therefore cannot encounter any maligne motion but yeeldeth his will and consent his power and practise to execute what mischiefe soeuer offereth it selfe for his euasion from supposed daunger And therefore should euery souldier eschue this cowardly feare least he bee thereby prouoked to put foorth his hand to crueltie and to shed the bloud of his innocent companions to escape the danger of honorable warre whose effects although they tend sometime to wounds and death yet both the one and the other gotten in the field in the face of the enemie bring immortall fame to the valiant And therefore as he that hath the markes of true magnanimitie may bee well sayd to bee of a diuine qualitie so he that is a coward bearing the tokens of a slauish feare may be truly sayd to be an incarnate infernall spirit For he that looketh into the first degree of this mishapen souldier seruile timorositie which can entertaine no vertue shall forthwith perceiue that it hath onely desire to shake hands with euery vice and wicked practise to account it the safest way to doubt all things that haue best probabilitie in right reason and to execute that which onely is begotten of suspition which is a passion of the minde ingendred of feare and griefe who practising their force and power grounded vpon a false opinion of daunger bereaue the minde of al rest and tranquilitie and gnaw and consume the life as rust doth the iron And therefore sayd Alexander that such as are possessed with this feare thinke no place so strong by nature or art as may preserue them from danger All the hope of a fearefull man is in euasion not by force of honorable armes but by the dishonorable practises of cruell tyrannie which often breake out into most odious treasons which neuer finde place in a noble heart For such is the effect of faith and vowed alleageance to his Soueraigne and her authorised ministers as he will rather submit himselfe to a thousand deaths then seeme to conceiue a trecherous thought much lesse to practise it indeede For none but periured persons bewitched with vaine expectation of vnlawfull aduantage will euer giue place to such an horrible wickednesse so highly hated of God and good men The ground of which monstrous affection is to dissemble and to lie in hope of small aduantage As the coward to winde himselfe out of the field will faine himselfe to bee infirme and to bee possessed of some secret maladie vnfit for the warres being indeede sound and of a strong bodie And when that preuaileth not he maketh vse of his falshood and lying in a more high degree as in seeking to betray his fellowes so he may escape If that effect not it groweth to the highest violation of his faith and breach of his alleageance as hauing a sluce in his conscience to admit into it euery wicked thought not regarding his fidelitie to God himselfe Whereas the man gouerned by reason and dutie will not bee seene in the least degree to violate his oth made vnto a priuate man what losse or daunger so euer insue Much more ought a souldier sworne to bee true to his Soueraigne and to bee readie to the vttermost of his power to defend her and his countrie be resolute in maintaining his honor by the effects of true fidelitie which is to lose his life rather then to be touched with cowardly vntruth and periurie Let no faint-hearted Englishman think that couert and counterfeit shifts and deuises to gaine dispensation for being imploied in the wars are so lawfull or honest but that they carrie with them and import in them very dissimulation which indeede is no other thing then to lye and to lye to the end not to performe what hee hath sworne vnto is periurie in it selfe which God curseth as a thing against which he will be witnesse himselfe It behooueth all men therefore to be wary how they faine such vaine matter to violate their vowed faith which is of so high importance yet vpon iust cause and reasonable grounds the most hardie and willing may make suite to be dispensed with and no Commaunder is so austere or seuere in his place but will accept of lawfull excuse To the end therefore that a souldier may daily proceede to more and more perfection let him first trample this grosse and cloggie companion dastardly feare vnder his feete with all the members and sequeles thereof though they bee inscrutable and examine such as manifestly appeare to deface the reputation of a souldier And because the profession of armes is an exercise of it sâ—lfe not requiring such continuall practise but that there are sundrie times of intermission apt onely for the sluggish and cowardly to entertaine Idlenes the nurse not only of all other vices but of infinite corruptions and diseases of the bodie And therefore a thing though sweete and pleasant to the basest minded to bee abandoned as the bane of all vertues and vertuous exercises And therefore doth Paul condemne it shewing also the fruites of it to be dangerous The very example of an idle person is hurtfull to many And therefore the Wiseman sayth He that is destitute of vnderstanding will follow the idle Whereby it followeth that he that is wise will imploy his time to profitable things Idlenes was one of the causes of Sodomes ouerthrow because it ingendred many euils in the minde which afterward opportunitie caused to be put in execution and that sometime in the godly how much more in the wickedly disposed The manners conditions and naturall dispositions of such as