garment of ours Therefore hee would never make any defence or excuse for himselfe how often and before how many severall Judges soever he were accused as professing to be desirous and most willing if not found yet at least to be accounted guilty that so though not such in his owne person yet in ours he might suffer death and torments as a delinquent to free us from them that have deserv'd them and to whom they are truly and indeed due and doe properly belong Which if it be so why then surely we can never sufficiently magnify and extoll this his great goodnesse and inutterable love and charity towards us thus to cloathe himselfe with the rags of our wickednesse that so he might invest and adorne us with the robes of his owne righteousnesse to expose themselves to the danger of the Lawes curse to make us heires of the eternall and everlasting blessing insomuch as he cryes out unto his heavenly father in the Prophet Thine indignation lyeth hard upon mee and thou hast vexed mee with all thy stormes Psal 88.7 because indeed the just wrath of his eternall father and other punishments due onely to us for our sinnes hee would they should bee laid upon his owne shoulders and therefore is hee silent and stands mute before the Judge when they cry out against him If hee were not a malefactor we would not have delivered c. And they to make their accusation good and that so withall they might be sure as they thinke to leave some aspersion upon him having learn'd one of the Devils lessons Calumniare fortiter aliquid haerebit To calumniate strongly that so if not all that is said yet something at the least may stick fast and remaine behinde therefore they lay to his charge and pretend to accuse him of a three-fold crime or transgression saying First that hee went about to pervert the people yea subvert and overthrow their Nation Secondly that he denyed to give tribute unto Caesar And lastly that hee made himselfe a King as it is to be seene Luke 23.2 Sic tria excogitantes quemadmodum facerent crimina ubi nullum invenerant as it is said of Gn. Piso in Seneca seeking how to make three faults there where indeed they found not one But all this doth but the more proclaime them to be the true children of their father the Devill as Christ himselfe called them John 8.44 For he was a lyer from the beginning and so will continue to be the father of lyes unto the end For for the first Christ was so far from stirring up seditions or raysing tumults and dissentions among the people as that on the other side he strived and indeavoured what hee might to congregate and gather them together in one even as the Hen gathereth her Chickens under her wings as he professeth himselfe Matth. 23.37 Secondly instead of denying Tribute unto Caesar he paid it in his owne particular when he bade Peter to take twenty pence out of the Fishes mouth and give it for them two Matth. 17.27 as also he preach't it to the people saying Give unto Caesar those things that are Caesars Luke 20.25 And lastly hee was so farre from seeking to un-un-king Herod or dis-throne Caesar as that hee professes his Kingdome not to bee of this world John 18.36 And therefore as Seduliuâ— well sings Hostis Herodes impiè Christum venire quid times Non eripit mortalia Qui regna dat coelestia That is O thou wicked Herod and enemy to all goodnesse Why fearest thou the birth of the Messias who although hee give Kingdomes that are eternall yet will take away none that are temporall But seeing he found them setled and established at his comming will onely adde this new honour and blessing unto them Vt etiam Ecclesiae Dei fiâ—nt That they may become so many Churches of God but for any of their former Rites Priviledges or prerogatives Nulla parte imminuere aut labefactare vult saith mine Author hee will not diminish or lessen them in the least degree either by himselfe or Ministers which shewes those Popes who have undertaken to dispose of Princes Diadems to be no Vicars of Christ but of the Devill rather who offered to give away all their Kingdomes at a clappe Matth. 4.9 Let us then for Vse and application of this point beseech our mercifull Redeemer that through that great and unimitable humility and patience of his whereby he being the Judge of quick and dead would yet permit himselfe to stand in our stead as guilty before the Barre and Bench of a corrupt and unrighteous Judge and there to heare and beare so many calumnies and false crimes as were obâ—ected against him by his enemies without the least reply in his owne justification or defence he would vouchsafe to grant unto us such a measure of the same graces of his as whereby wee may be enabled patiently to suffer and endure all injuries and opprobries contumelies and reproaches whatsoever inflicted and raised against us by the men of this world And that further hee would take away from us that propensity and readinesse whereby wee are all prone and forward to cover our weakenesses and imperfections yea our very foulest sinnes and transgressions with the figge-leaves of vaine and idle excuses that so condemning our selves in all things we may not be condemned at the day of judgement but be thought fit to be made partakers of grace in this life and glory in the life to come For he that covereth his sins shall not prosper but who so confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy Prov. 28.13 As also yet further let us herehence learne to bee obedient to those that have the oveâ—sight over us be they good or bad doe they right or wrong For seâ—ing the Sonne of God was so submissive before Pilate surely it behoves not any man that challenges an interest in his sufferings to bee refractary and disobedient to his superiours and lawfull deputed Judges but rather to yeeld and give way to his very equals if not inferiours since hee being God submitted himselfe to the power and ordinance of man Secondly let us hence also learne to be patient if at any time we receive ill at their hands of whom we have deserved well seeing Christ doth the like not onely from these Jewes but also from our selves who notwithstanding we be so many wayes obliged and bound unto him yet we doe both negligently serve him and daily and hourely offend him by our foule transgressions Thirdly when at any time our well doings are ill construed and our good intentions ill taken yet let us therewithall be contâ—nt seeing our Saviour that is the onely Truth of the world was accounted no other no better then a very Impostor and Seducer a Malefactour and Deceiver it being indeed a maine property of all envious and malitious men Vt etiam per ornamenta feriant To wound and strike those they hate and oppose even through their
part of our love being as the fuell to keepe that fire of his love still burning on the Altar of our hearts let us againe and againe consider what Christ hath suffered for us For the fruits and benefits of the frequent commemoration of Christ his passion nec pauci sunt nec parvi saith one are neither few nor small but these foure at the least custodia à peccatis spes firmior praesumptio infirmior charitas flagrantior it will keepe and preserve us from falling into notorious sins and delioquencies strengthen and confirme our hope weaken and abate our presumption and lastly kindle and inflame our love and charity as well among our selves as towards him and his heavenly Father which last I have especially chosen to inlarge upon at this time To which purpose therefore marke once more I beseech you how the Church speaketh to each faithfull soule saying Come forth yee daughters of Sion and behold King Salomon with the crowne wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his marriage and in the day of the gladnesse of his heart Cant. 3.11 So say I O yee faithfull soules daughters of your mother the Church Goe forth Egredimini de sensu carnis ad intellâ—ctum mentis Goe out of the sense of the flesh and come to the understanding of the mind come I say a little out of your selves and by holy meditation behold your King Salomon the true peace-maker and your King too Christ Jesus who though his Kingdome be not of this world yet is a King even in this world with the crowne wherewith his mother crowned him that is with the crowne of thornes upon his head wherewith his mother the Jewes Synagogue quae ei non sc matrem exhibuit sed novercam which herein proved not her selfe indeed a kind mother unto him but rather a stepdame crowned him i. e. fodicavit lancinavit saith Tertullian galled him and gored him In the day of his marriage i. e. in the day of his passion upon the crosse when he was married to his Church built out of his side as Adam to his Eve created of his rib In the day also of the gladnesse of his heart i. e. in the very season of his suffering which was as joyfull to him as a geniall and nuptiall day unto a bridegrome come forth I say see him consider him and meditate on him Et palleat sub spinato capite membrum fieri delicatulum and let us be ashamed under an head so crowned with thornes to become members of delicacy and wanton nicenesse sed studeamus ut membrorum vita capitis sit corona as Austin but let us rather indeavour that the austere and mortified lives of the members may be the crowne and glory of the head and freely acknowledge and confesse every one of us Et quantum valeat quantum debeat as the same Father as well his owne worth in that God would vouchsafe to suffer such things for him as his owne debt and obligation of love and thankfulnesse backe againe unto him for such his sufferings And this he expecteth and looketh for at all our hands crying out unto his Spouse in the Canticles to this purpose that she would set him as a seale on her heart and a signet on her soule Cant. 8.6 which is as if he should say Though I am now going from thee for a time yet forget me not but as a loving wife frames the Image of her deare husband in her heart and as a longing woman imprints the forme of the thing which shee longs for on the childe in her wombe so set me as a seale on thy soule thinke on me delight in me Figar tibi totus in corde qui totus pro te fui fixus in cruce let me be wholly fixed yea fastned in thy heart which have beene wholly fastned for thee on the crosse And as that famous Artemisia so much affected her dead husband Mausolus that she tooke the dead ashes of his urne and mingled them wâ—th her drinke and so intombed his dead carkas in her living body so do thou my Spouse let me live with thee and in thee even after my departure eat me drink me in the Sacrament let me be still in thine heart and on thine arme in thine intention in thine operation within thee without thee every where and at all times let me be beloved and thought upon on earth as I am and ever will be carefull of thee in heaven let us O let us then fulfill his desire now that he may accomplish all our desires hereafter And this sufficeth for Christs sufferings under Pontius Pilate and his crucifying Marke 15. verse 37. And Jesus cryed with a loud voyce and gave up the ghost Dead THe next circumstance to be handled after the crucifying of Christ is his death For so saith the Creed He suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead c. which is the very same with the Text read unto you Iesus cryed with a loud voyce and gave up the ghost For to give up the ghost we all know in our daily and ordinary experience is as much as to dye or to have our soules separated from our bodies which before did live act and appeare together So that to say Christ is dead is as much as to say that after he had indured manifold torments as well in soule as in body here upon the earth that at the last per dolorum vulnerum violentiam as one saith through the violence of the said wounds and afflictions the naturall frame and complexion of his body the conserver of his life before being dissolved his said soule and body were separated asunder verè realiter as truly and really as when any one of us dies Serm. 131. â— Temp. so that sicut in veritate natus ita in veritate mortuus sepultus est saith S. Austin As he was borne a man in the truth of our humane nature so as truly as any man else does or ever did he againe died and was buried And thus we are come at the last to the summe of Christs obedience unto his heavenly Fathers ordinance when commending his spirit unto him in cruce expiravit hee gave up the ghost upon the crosse or as it is in the Creed He died For so saith S. Paul Hee humbled himselfe and became obedient unto the death even the death of the crosse Phil. 2.8 yea he was made a little inferiour to the Angels through the suffering of death that by Gods grace he might taste of death for all men Heb. 2.9 In which wee may behold as one saith Omnium Christi passionum ac afflictionum terminum i. e. the end and termination of all Christs sufferings and afflictions His consummatum est or small finishing of all that belonged to his paines and our peace to his sufferings and our satisfaction And till this was finished there could no peace be perfected nor satisfaction of our debts acknowledged
in him thus to fall into the hands not onely of his enemies but such as were unrighteous Judges also yea so many of them all foure such never an upright one amongst them and yet to have no other place to appeale unto judge yee If any should demaund of mee Plus vident oculi quà m oculus what is the reason that in our Courts of Justice there are usually so many deputed by the supreame authority to sit as Judges together I might reply with one that amongst divers this surely is none of the least Quod ubi pauci Judices sunt Machiavâ—l de Râ—pub Venet. l 1. cap. 7. facilè à paucis corrumpi in suam sententiam pertrahi queant That if a single man or two of them perchance should either for favour or friendship pâ—ece vel precio either by intreaty or reward bee drawne aside to the perverting of justice or not be ready and willing upon all occasions to right the cause of the innocent yet they should not all be such But that the one halfe of them might stand up for truth and equity against the others or if it should so fall out which God forbid that major pars should vincere meliorem The greater part should sometime oversway the better yet that one at the least should speake his conscience freely and plead the cause of the innocent boldly that so the injustice and unrighteousnesse of men might not altogether prevaile against the truth which is of God but that aequum bonum that which is right and good might take place and true judgement and justice bee seene to flourish in our Land For where all are such as in this case of Christ that there is never an honest or righteous man upon the Bench there righteousnesse it selfe is sure to be arraigned and innocency condemned Justice perverted and all Lawes be they never so sacred and religious violated and broken Now in our Saviours case I say besides that some of them had declared and manifested themselves to be his enemies why the others also aswell as they were wicked and unjust too there being not one of them ready patrocinare or to defend the cause of this innocent no nor to speake a word to purpose on his behalfe although he were the most righteous and harmlesse person that ever the world brought forth but he suffered some kinde of injury and indignity or other from them all every one of them apart as shall appeare unto you more plainly by that which followes and succeeds For howsoever Pilat made a shew indeed of pleading his cause against the Jewes for a time yet the catastrophe and close of all will make it manifest that he was as wicked and unjust in his degree and kind as any of the rest But let us take them in their order For Saint Iohn tels us that they led him away to Annas first who was father in law to Caiaphas which was high Priest the same yeare Iohn 18. â—3 So that howsoever the cognisance of the cause at this time belonged properly to Caiaphas as being the present high Priest yet the catchpoles and souldier that tooke and haled him along carryed him first to Annas non tanquam ad judicem sed ad hostem veluti praedam ostentantes In locum as Erasmus speaks not as to a Judge that had power to censure him but as to an adversary that had a desire to see him thus under arrest and in his enemies hands And therefore as bragging and vaunting of their prey and glorying in their conquest over him they carry him unto him who they knew would rejoice together with them and give them praise and thanks rather then the least discountenance for what they had done unto him And besides Annas as it is probably to be thought was of the conspiracy to take him being one of those that had hired Judas to betray him and procured the band of souldiers from the civill Magistrate to assist and helpe him in the action and imployment For three of the Evangelists viz. Matthew Marke and Luke doe all tell us That he went to the high Priests in the Plurall number and They not He appointed unto him thirty pieces of silver c. as Mat. 26.14.15 Now then There being more then one of these high Priests that had done thus Annas must needs be the second man because we reade not of any other about this time but onely of Annas and Caiaphas who by turnes as it should seeme had managed the high Priests office for some while together as appeares by the relation of Saint Luke who saith That Annas and Caiaphas were the high Priests when the word of God came unto John the Sonne of Zacharias and he began to preach in the wildernesse Luke 3.2 Now then if these were the men that had promised Judas his pay and it may be the souldiers some gratuity for their paynes why then they had reason to repayre unto them both to give an account of their imployment and undertaking and especially to Annas first as being the Elder man and one whose habitation was neerer then the other In locum as Saint Austine and some others doe imagine and conceive But whatsoever were the true cause it is evident and apparent by Saint Johns relation that to him he was first carried and brought Neither did he take himselfe to be so voyded and deprived of all jurisdiction but that he had power and durst presume to examine him and question with him For so is it said That the high Priest asked him of his Disciples and of his Doctrine John 18.19 which the ancients generally allow to be Annas though Calvin I must confesse In locum and many other Neoterickes thinke otherwise viz. That he was not questioned at all till he came into the common Councell And then that Caiaphas was he that did it Annas being present and sitting by as his assistant upon the bench or at the least that this question was not demâ—nded him till then unto which hee gave that answer which occasioned a stander by to strike him For hereupon He the said Calvin takes occasion to observe the excessive rage and unrulinesse of these enemies of Christ together with the tyrannicall discipline that was exercised by these high Priests That while they seeme to sit as Judges Interea saeviunt ut truculentae belluae yet they are as savage as the most furious and fiercest beasts For in the midst of their Councell and Assembly where ought of all places to be exercised and shewne the greatest gravity and decorum in their proceedings a common officer or servant amongst them assumes so much license and liberty to himselfe as in the very time of examination and handling of the cause in the open face of the court and in sight of both the Judges to strike the prisoner even without any offence and that without any checke or reproofe from them againe for his so doing And
thereupon concludes Non mirum si intam barbarico consessu damnatur Christi doctrina a quo non modo eis aequitas exulat sed eis quo que humanitas pudor It is no marvell that the Doctrine of Christ should be condemned in such a barbarous assembly whence not onely all right and equity but even all shame also and humanity is banished and exiled so far Calvin And Buissonius in his Evangelicall harmony saith Non dubium est quin Iohannes nomine Pontificis non Annam sed Caiapham intelligit It is not to be doubted but that Saint Iohn by the name of high-priest in this place meanes not Annas but Caiaphas But when or where or by whomsoever this question was askt it is evident by the text that when Christs answer thereunto pleased not the standers by one of them dedit ei alapam saith the vulgar Latine i. e. gave him a boxe on the eare or as our last translation reads it smote him with the palme of his hand saying Answerest thou the high-priest so vers 22. of the former eighteenth Chapter of the Gospell written by Saint Iohn Whereupon Saint Chrysostome exclaimes In locum Exhorrescat Coelum contremiscat terra de Christi patientia servorum impudentia Let the heavens be sore afraid and the earth tremble and shake for dread at Christ his patience and the servants impudence Et quod alapa Deus percuti petuit and to thinke that God could receive a boxe on the eare or be stricken with the palme of the hand O Angeli qui haec intuemini quomodo siletis c. O ye Angels which behold these things how is it possible that ye should be silent how can you contain your hands from fighting your tongues from speaking in the Lords defence or is it because you are astonished to behold so great insolence and madnesse in them and so much mildnesse and meeknesse in him so great sawcinesse and perversenesse in them that offer it and so much patience and humility in him that suffers it To thinke that a Master should be stricken by his servant and the Creator by his creature yea the Lord of the whole earth before whom the very heavens tremble and infernall powers shake and quake for feare should receive such an indignity and affront from a sordid and base slave yea a vile worme and very scum of the earth O eternall Father and Creator of all things looke with the eye of pity and compassion upon that amiable countenance and lovely face of thy Christ sole illustriorem as Cyrill speaks more bright and beatious then the Sunne that is thus smitten with the foule fists and fingers of sinfull man How canst thou so patiently put up so great an indignity offered to thine onely Sonne and the Worlds onely Saviour What punishment should he be accounted worthy of that should offer the like violence or once make but a shew of lifting up his hand against the sonne of an earthly Soveraigne or other the pettiest King or Prince of the World when as all the Kings of the Earth are but weake and feeble bulrushes and mushromes in comparison of this King Christ Jesus who is both Rex Regum Dominus Dominantium King of Kings and Lord of Lords as the holy Scriptures style him The hand of Ieroboam that was a King himselfe being stretched out against but a Prophet of the Lords dried up and withered presently so that he could not pull it in againe unto him 1 Reg. 13.4 whereas behold a greater then a Prophet is here yea one that is King Priest and Prophet too all in his owne person that is stricken with the fist and yet striketh not againe nor makes any other the least resistance Consider also how God smiteth Vzzah with present death for but lifting up his hand to uphold and stay the Arke being not thereunto lawfully called 2 Sam. 6.7 How many deaths then is this man worthy of that presumes thus to lift up his hand against the Lord of the Arke himselfe and to smite him on the face as Zedekiah a false prophet smote Michaiah the true Prophet of the Lord on the cheek our blessed Saviours Type no doubt in this because he did not answer the King according to his desire 1 Reg. 22.24 But O manus infaelix saith one This was an unhappy hand indeed that was thus daring and audacious as to strike that heavenly face whom not onely the Cherubims and Seraphims and all the celestiall powers above but every created nature also besides strive to worship and adore that divine countenance Tam diu in mundo desideratus so long desired to be beheld and seene in the world before it came with so many wishes and prayers O uâ—inam disrumpat coelos Oh that he would breake the Heavens and come downe Esay 64.1 and so many sighes and teares begd at the hands of God by the Patriarches and Prophets yea the very joy of Angels which they had long expected to looke upon and rejoyced with joy unspeakeable when they were once made so happy as to behold and see it indeed That face of which Moses spake when he said unto God If I have now found favour in thy sight Ostende mihi faciem as the vulgar Latine reades it O Lord shew me thy face Exod. 33.13 and David likewise when he said Ostende faciem tuam salvi erimus Cause thy face to shine upon us O Lord and we shall be saved Psal 80.3 This this is the very same face I say which these prophane rabble doe so foulely abuse and seeke to disgrace by striking it in this scornefull and contemptuous manner yea spitting upon it and blindefolding of it too as you shall heare hereafter In which that of the Prophet is wholly fulfilled which you heard but in part before when he said in the person of this our blessed Saviour I gave my backe unto the smiters and my cheeks to the nippers and I hid not my face from shame and spitting Esay 50.6 Answerable also to that which himselfe foretold unto his twelve Apostles saying Behold we goe up to Jerusalem and all things shall be fulfilled to the Sonne of Man that are written by the Prophets For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles and shall be mocked and shall be spightfully entreated and spit upon Luke 18.31 32. O blessed Jesu the meekest and the mildest Lambe upon the Earth Whose heart is so hard and stony as not to be ready to burst for griefe and melt into teares at the consideration of this thy wonderfull and unparalleld patience whereby thou so quietly sufferest that most beautifull and glorious face of thine For in es speciosus prae filiis hominum fayrer then the children of men saith the Psalmist of thee Psal 45.2 to be thus shamefully handled and ignominiously striken and spitted upon by base and ignoble persons servile and inferiour fellowes I nunc homo superbe impatiens qui subito câ—mmoveris saith one
done for any other intent or end then onely that the Jewes being satiated and glutted as it were with these injuries and tortures inflicted upon him might thinke themselves satisfied and sufficiently avenged to their content and so desist from shedding his blood and taking away his life For scourging was a punishment which for the severity of it was appointed by Moses Law onely for grievous offendors and malefactors of an high nature And yet with this limitation and restriction too that it should not exceed forty stripes lest a brother should seeme vile unto them as you may see Deut. 25.3 And the infamy of it was sâ—ch that the Romans did exempt their Citizens from it as is plainely to be collected out of Acts 22.25 And therefore a Schoâ—le-man cals it Foedum supplicium a foule and a filthy punishment Which makes Granatensis a learned and devout Postiller to cry out Quam indignum verberum supplicium non in Domino dico sed in quovis etiam homine abjectissimo how unbeseeming and unfitting yea indigne and unworthy a punishment and chastisement is scourging and whipping not only in the Lord but in any other inferiour and contemptible man whatsoever Est enim hoc omnium suppliciorum vilissimum quo pueri quo mancipia quo latrones plectuntur as he goes on as being the vilest and most infamous of all other punishments wherewith onely children bond-slaves and pilfering laroones or rogues use to be corrected and chastized And yet our great Lord and Master Jesus Christ ye see doth not disdaine to undergoe it for our sakes that so he might beare in his body those wounds and stripes that we have deserved by our sinnes as also that thereby he might animate and encourage his Martyrs and Confessours unto patience and constancy in their like indignities and disgraces which he knew the World in succeeding ages would put upon them for his names sake Neither was this kind of punishment and affliction of his only infamous and opprobrious but terrible and tormenting too For the souldiers and other executioners of it having once their warrant confirmed by authority from Pilate for doing it did presently strippe him of his garments and fasten him to a poste or pillar as it should seeme by many writers the manner was and then charge and discharge upon him such bloody blowes as if he had been both the greatest offendor and the basest slave in the World And that not with a single scourge or rod alone but with severall and sundry kinds of them if we may take the word and warrant of some Antiquity For it is fathered upon Saint Hierome by sundry Authors which I have read That there should be sixe of these scourges whereof two should come with their thorny rods two with knotty whips and two with iron chaynes or linkes or wyers sharpened for the nonce and their points bowed inward like an hooke onely to rent and teare his skin as they went and to make wounds and gashes in his flesh And when the first two had wearyed and tyred themselves as it were with the earnestnesse and violence of their blowes and stroakes the others to take their places till by alternate succâ—ssive turnes they had added stripe upon stripe and wound upon wound latter upon former and new upon old so long that he was all over in a goare bloud For his stripes were not stinted according to the Jewish manner to 40. or 39. strokes alone But the sentence being executed by the Roman Souldiers and after a Roman sort Sine numero servorum instar flagellatus est He was corrected as a Roman slave with as many stripes as the Executioners pleased to give him whereby he had from the sole of his foot to the crowne of his head no whole or free part in him as the Prophet speaketh Esay 1.6 which notwithstanding he was not unwilling it should be so nay he was most desirous to have it so because in his mysticall body the Church for which he suffered Nulla pars sana atque integra esset as saith mine Author There was no part whole and found nothing therein but wounds and swellings sores full of corruption Esay 1.6 Yea some affirme that there issued from his body Fluenta sanguinis streams of bloud others Rivi sanguinis whole rivers But these hyperbolicall particulars are no matters of faith and therefore in them I leave every man to beleeve as he list onely we may and must beleeve his torments tortures to be much the greater because as the former Prophet Esay saith elsewhere He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities The chastisement of our peace was laid upon him so that with his stripes we are healed Esay 53.5 As also because these Pharisees and other his enemies might be affraid as a Postiller well observes that Pilate because he scourged him would not have beene drawne to crucifie and kill him after Curaverunt ergo taliter eum flagellari ut inter flagella animam daret They provided therefore that he should be so scourged that as they hoped and desired he would have even breathed out his last and yeelded up the ghost under these tormentors hands Quod factum fuisset nisi divinitus vitam cruci reservasset as my Postiller goes on which accordingly had come to passe unlesse his divinity had preserv'd and reserv'd his humanity to dye upon the Crosse But this yet is not sufficient to satisfie the malicious mindes of these not men but monsters of cruelty and impiety And therefore after the soldiers had thus scourged him They brought him into the Pretorie or common-hall once more and there againe they strip him and put upon him a purple robe and pressed upon his head which you know is a very sensible and tender part and which before had scapâ—t the whip a crowne of sharp thornes that so mille puncturis as one saith with a thousand stings they might torture and torment him yea and put a reed in his hand in steed of a Scepter and scornefully bowing themselves salute him king of the Jewes and spit upon him the second time and taking another reed smote him therewith upon the head By all which actions it appeareth that they were as much if not more desirous to take away his reputation as his life For they sought but onely the ordinary torment of the crosse by which to take away his life but to take away his reputation they ran into all these and many more strange inventions equally composed of torment and shame wherein crueltie seem'd pleasant and mirth full of malice as it is well observed by Doctor Heyward out of whose Threatise called The Sanctuary of a troubled soule give me leave with your patience onely for haste to finish this point to insert here a few lines well fitted there by his devout heart and skilfull hand to my present purpose They shall not be many neither wholly his but interlaced sometimes with other notes