vnto vs then the most holy and precious thyng of all that is to say that God may haue his due honour We sée then that we are taught to deale vprightly of the one part because we can not bée more safe by any meanes then by a safe conscience as Peter doth exhorte vs by the same reason in his first Epistle But what soeuer we feare and what ende soeuer may folow although an hundreth deathes be offered vs yet may we in no wise fayle from the pure worshyp of god For Daniel doubted not to enter into death and to go downe into the denne of Lyons that hée might declare that he worshypped the GOD of Israel Now that the nobles do fall to that barbarous and cruell counsaile that is that they might oppresse Daniel by the pretence of Religion hereby we gather how blinde the rage is whē ambition and enuy do possesse mens mindes for they do nothyng feare at all to fight manifestly agaynst god For they do not assayle Daniel as a man but they breake forth most wickedly and outragiously agaynst God when they would extinguish the worship of God to satisfie their lust Wherefore I say that we are admonished by this example how carefully wee ought to fly ambition and to take héede of it and also of enuy which spryngeth thereof What crime they committed agaynst the law of God it foloweth 6 Therfore the rulers these gouernours went together to the kyng and sayd thus vnto hym kyng Darius liue for euer 7 All the rulers of thy kingdome the officers and gouernours the counsellers and dukes haue consulted together to make a decree for the king and to establishe a statute that who soeuer shall aske a petition of any God or mā for thirty dayes saue of thee O kyng hee shal be cast into the denne of Lyons The rulers of the kyngdome went about by this policie to ouerthrow the holy Prophet of God that either he beyng cast into the denne of Lyons should perish or els that hée should forsake the outward profession of the worshyp of god But they thought that he was more constant and of greater courage then that hee would redeme his lyfe with such wickednes Therfore they thought that they were sure that he should dye They thinke thē selues very subtill but God setteth him selfe agaynst thē and helpeth hys seruant as we shall sée Yet this was a detestable malice that they go about to destroy Daniel vnder this pretēce For though they did not worshyp the God of Israel yet did they know that the minde of the Prophet was right and good and also they had proued by experience the power of that GOD which was vnknowne vnto them They dyd not cōdemne Daniel therefore in that conscience neither yet were they able to finde fault with that Religiō which he vsed Wherfore I say that they were so caryed by the hatred of the person vnto this cruelty that they set them selues against god For they could not be ignoraunt of this that God must be worshypped They them selues worshypped vnknowne Gods and they durst not condemne the worship of the God of Israel We sée therefore how the deuill bewitcheth them that they durst lay this crime agaynst the holy Prophet Howbeit it is vnknowen what occasion they abused to this their wicked purpose Some suppose that this was done because Darius could not well beare the glory of hys sonne in law For where he was old and the other was of a florishyng age he thought hym selfe contemned Some thinke therefore that Darius him selfe was pricked with some secrete enuy and that his nobles had therby an entry to deceaue this miserable old man ouer light of belief and so blynde his eyes But this coniecture doth not seme vnto me of any great weight neither yet do I much trauaile about this matter For it may be that they would gratifie their kyng in the begynnyng of this new kingdome and therfore that they would decrée some new and straunge thyng the which thyng we do sée often tymes to be done by such as do flatter kynges and princes Wherefore this old man might be deceiued herein now when his Monarchy was so lately encreased He ruled onely ouer the Medes before now came the Chaldees the Assiriās and many other nations vnder his Empire Such an encrease of dominion might make him dronken with vaine glory and the nobles thought that they had a plausible matter in hand to decrée diuine honours vnto their kyng Me thinke this one cause may suffice Wherfore I am not to much carefull to search any further for I do take that which offereth it selfe and is most probable We sayd before that the nobles which layd snares for Daniel were stricken with a maruelous ragyng madnes when they durst publish this decrée vnto the kyng which Daniel reciteth For that was an intolerable sacrilege that the kyng spoyled all the Gods of their honour yet dyd he signe and subscribe the decrée as foloweth to the intent that he might hereby try the obediēce of his people whom he lately brought into subiection by the helpe of his sonne in law For there is no doubt but that he ment to hold vnder the Chaldees who had bene Lordes vntill this presēt time For we know how that pride of hart is engendred by power authoritie When as the Chaldees therfore did reigne before this tyme so farre and so wyde it was hard to bryng them downe and to make them ready to all obedience especially when they dyd sée them selues to be their seruauntes whose equals they were before For we know that they had often tymes encountered in battaile with the Medes Although therfore they were now ouercome by the sword yet were not their hartes conquered Therfore would Darius proue their obedience This semeth to be the cause For hée doth not of set purpose prouoke the wrath of the Gods agaynst hym selfe but whiles he regarded men he forgate God set hym selfe in the place of the Gods as though he had authoritie to plucke downe the power of the heauēs to him selfe This was an horrible sacrilege as I haue sayd But if any man could try the hartes of kynges scarsely the hundreth man of thē could be found which doth not after the same sort despise all diuine power For although they cōfesse them selues to reigne by the grace of God yet will they be worshipped in Gods stead And heare we sée how easily flatterers can persuade princes any thyng that may seme to set out their honors and maiesties The Prayer GRaunt almighty God that as thou hast gouerned thy seruaunt Daniel when honours were offered aboundantly and when he was set vp in most high dignity that he yet alwayes continued in integrity and lyued innocently where all liberty was geuen vnto all euill graund we beseech thee that we may learne to reteyne our selues in that meane state whereunto thou doest restrayne vs and that we being contēt with our pouerty may
disobedience We sée therfore that this was spoken to amplify the crime that the king had set them ouer the prouince of Babylon they did not worship the golden Image neither honor his Gods. We sée that the Chaldees in all this accusatiō haue onely this respect to condemne Shadrah Meshach and Abednego of this crime onely that they did not obey the kinges commaundemement For they doo not dispute of theyr religion because that was not profitable for them to call into question whether the Gods that they worshipped were worthy such worship or no. Therefore they passe with silence that thing which they thinke not to be expedient and they lay fast holde of this darte that the kinges maiesty is contemned because these thrée do not worship the Image which the king by his decrée had commaunded Here agayne doo we sée that supersticious persons doo not apply theyr minde nor care to search out the true or right worship of God but casting of this care they follow onely theyr foolishe boldenes and theyr owne lust Wherefore seing such foolishe temeritie is set foorth vnto vs by the holy ghost as it were in a glasse let vs learne that our religion and worshipping of God can not be allowed by God vnlesse it be grounded of the worde of God and that in this poynt therefore the authoritie of men is nothing to be regarded For except we be assured that the religion which we follow doth please God what so euer by mans authoritie can be brought to the confirmation thereof it is weake and nothing woorthe Forthermore seing we sée these holy men charged with the crime of vnthankefulnes and also of rebellion there is no cause why we shoulde thinke much to suffer the same at thys day Those that falsely accuse vs do lay rebellion to our charge because forsooth that we despise the decrées of princes which would binde vs to their errors and blindnes But as we shall sée afterwarde we haue an easy and ready defence yet must we suffer this reproch for a while before the worlde as though we were stubburne and rebellious And though the wicked do charge vs with ingratitude and a thousand reproches moe yet must we beare theyr sclaunders paciently for a season whiles the Lord come with hys brightnes and glory to mayntayne our innocency 13 Then Nebuchadnyzer in his anger wrath commaunded that they should bring Shadrach Meshach and Abednego So these men were brought before the King. 14 And Nebuchadnezer spake and sayd vnto them what disorder Will not you Shadrach Meshach and Abednegoserue my god nor worship the golden image that I haue set vp 15 Now therefore are ye ready when ye heare the sound of the Cornet Trumpet Harpe Sackbut Psalterie and Dulcimer and all instrumēts of musicke to fall downe and worship the image which I haue made for if ye worship it not ye shal be cast immediatly into the midest of an hote fiery fornace for who is that God that can deliuer you out of my handes This hystory doth euidently declare vnto vs that Princes in dissembling some Religion haue onely regard to their owne authoritie that they may the better thrust in them selues into the place of the Gods. For this is a monstrous matter that kyng Nebuchadnezer doth here bragge agaynst all the Gods as though there were no power in heauen but that which he alloweth What God sayth he can deliuer you out of my hand And why then dyd be worshyp any other God For this cause verely to hold the people in with some bridle and so to establish his tyranny not that he had any care of holynes in his hart Daniel doth declare that the kyng was angry at the begynnyng For nothyng is more greuous to kynges then to sée their authoritie despised They wil be obeyed in all thinges though their commaundementes be most wicked Yet the kyng semeth afterward to temper hym selfe whē he asketh Sadrach Mesach and Abednego if they be not ready to worshyp his God and that Image of gold When therfore he speaketh vnto them doubtfully and doth yet propound vnto them frée choyce there is some moderation in these wordes For it semeth that he will not charge them with any crime so that they will suffer them selues to bée turned afterward But in the meane season the rage breaketh out vnder this deceaueable shew of moderation for he addeth straight wayes Vnles ye obey behold ye shal be cast into the fornace of burnyng fire And at the length he breaketh forth into that cursed sacriledge and horrible blasphemy that there is no God which can deliuer those holy men out of his handes We sée therfore in the person of Nebuchadnezer with what pride Princes do swell and are puffed vp euen where they pretend some zele of Religiō because they are not touched with any true reuerēce of the true God but will haue what soeuer they commaunde to be receiued of all men and so as I haue sayd they do rather thrust them selues into Gods place then study to worship God a right or to maintayne his glory To the same end tende the wordes which he vseth saying that he hath set vp the Image that he made As though he should say it is not now lawfull for you to consult whether the Image ought to be worshypped or no for my commaundement ought to be sufficient vnto you I haue set vp this Image not without consultatiō and reason therfore it were your duety simply to obey vnto me We sée therfore how he chalengeth most high authoritie euen in the makyng of a god For he doth not here treate of politike matters but he will haue this Image worshypped as God because he hath decréed so because he hath published his law And we must alway remember as I haue touched that this example of pride is set forth before vs that we may know how we ought to attempt nothyng rashly in Religion but that we must heare God speake so that we depend of his word and authoritie for if we sticke vnto men there wil be no end of errours Although therfore that Princes be proude and ragyng yet must we kéepe this rule that nothyng pleaseth God but that which he hath commaunded in his word and that the begynnyng of true Religion is the obediēce which we geue to God alone As concernyng the blasphemy it doth declare that which I haue spoken more playnely that is to say how soeuer they pretend Religion yet they despise all the power of God and they haue none other thyng in their harts but to set forth their authoritie and therfore they borow the name of God that they may be the more honored Howbeit in the meane tyme if it were profitable to chaunge theyr Gods a hundreth tymes euery day they would not care to do it Therfore is Religion for the most part but a pretence to earthly Princes and no true reuerence of God is in their hartes as in this prophane kyng is
the beastes of the fielde that is to say let hym haue some portion of meat to sustaine hys lyfe and let hym be washed wyth the rayne of heauen God doth signifie the though he would punish this kyng and shew an horrible tokē of hys wrath yet doth he regarde what he is able to beare and doth so temper the payne that there remayneth hope in the end This is the cause that he hath meate wyth the beastes of the fielde and hath also comfort of the heauenly dew The Prayer GRraunt almighty God that whereas we see how hard a thing it is for vs to beare prosperity and not to be demēted therewith to forget that we are mortall that our frailty and wretchednes may euermore be before our eyes which may retaine vs in true humility whereby we may glorifie thee and beyng admonished by thee may learne to walke wyth carefulnes and feare and submit our selues vnto thee and that we may liue modestly wyth our brethren that none of vs despise an other but study by all meanes to do hys office and duty whyles at the length thou gather vs vnto that glory which is purchased for vs by the bloud of thyne onely begotten Sonne Amen 14 In the decree of the watchmen is the sentence and in the word of the holy ones is the request to the intent that the liuing mē may know that the most hygh hath power ouer the kingdome of men and geueth it to whom so euer he will and appoynteth ouer it the most abiect among men God doth confirme by this verse that which he had shewed in a dreame to Nebuchadnezer Daniel therfore sayth that the king was certified of a matter of truth because it was decréed before God and his Angels The purpose is that Nebuchadnezer should know that he could not escape that punishment whereof he did sée the figure in his dreame There is some darkenes in the wordes but we perceaue the minde of the Prophet Yet is here a doubt for it semeth an absurditie to geue vnto the Angells thys power and authority for this is to make them equall with god We know that God is the only iudge and therefore that it pertayneth to him alone to decrée and to pronounce what sentence he pleaseth If this be attributed to the Angels so much séemeth to be taken away from Gods hygh dignity for it is not méete for hys maiesty to admit any companions But we know by the scripture that it is no strange thing that God taketh hys Angels vnto hym not as equals but as ministers to whom yet he geueth so much honor that he will admit them to hys counsaile And so are the Angels called Gods counsellers Wherfore they are named in this place to decrée with God not of them selues at theyr own pleasure but because they doo subscribe vnto Gods iudgement And here must we note two persons to be attributed vnto them For in the first place Daniel maketh them to subscribe vnto Gods decrée afterward he sayth that they require or demaunde And thys may well be that the Angels doo require in theyr peticions that all mortall creatures may be abased that God alone may haue the preeminence and that al things may thus be brought downe that obscure the glory of god It is méete and right that the Angels require thys continually seing we know that there is nothing that they doo more desire then that they them selues should worshyp God and all creatures with them And when they do sée Gods authoritie to be diminished by mans pride and arrogancy then doubtles they require thys that God would bring downe vnder his obedience and yoke those proude men that set vp theyr creastes agaynst hym Now do we sée why Daniel sayth that thys sentence is in the decrée of the watchmen and in theyr word a request as though he should say thou hast all the Angels thine aduersaries For with one consent and as it were with one mouth they do accuse thee before God that thou doest obscure his glory as much as in thee lyeth and God agreing to theyr requestes hath decreed to cast thee away and to make thee contemptible shamefull before al the world and thys decree is ratified by all the Angels as it were common with him and them For their consent and subscription might haue some authority with this prophane king And doubtles God as he doth many tymes doth now accommodate the vision to this mans capacitie who was neuer taught in the law but had only a confused knowlege of the diuinity so that he dyd not discerne betwix God and the Angels And yet thys sentence is also true that the sentence was published by the common decree of al the heauenly army and that together by supplication and request because doubtles the Angels did take it greuously that any thing should be withdrawne from Gods glory that there should be such madnes in men that they would draw and catch to them selues that which is proper and peculiar to God alone This seemeth to be the true sense And so that which followeth dependeth well hereof that mortall men may know that God hath power ouer the kingdomes of men For Daniel doth note the end of theyr request that the Angels would haue Gods authoritie to remayne wholly to himselfe and that nothing should be taken away therefrom by mans churlish ingratitude For man can chalenge to him selfe neuer so little but he robbeth God of hys due prayse and glory Therefore do the Angels craue of God continually that he would cast downe all the proud and that he would not suffer hym selfe to be defrauded of hys authority but that all power may remayne with hym wholly And this is diligently to be noted that all mortall men may know that the most high doth beare rule in the kingdoms of men For the most wicked will graunt that God hath the chiefe power and authoritie for they dare not draw him downe from his heauēly throne with theyr blasphemies but in the meane season they imagine that they can both get and defend kingdomes in this world either by theyr owne power or riches or other meanes Therefore the vnbeleuers would gladly shut vp God in heauen euen as the Epicure fayneth that God vseth his delicates in idlenes Therfore Daniel sheweth that God is spoyled of his right except he be acknowledged to be the ruler in the kingdome of men that is in the earth that he may humble whō he pleaseth So is it also sayd in the Psalme Power is neither from the east nor from the west but from the heauen And in an other place also It is God that lifteth vp the poore from the doung Agayne in the song of the holy virgin He casteth downe the proude from their throne and exalteth the humble and abiectes They all do confesse this thing but yet scarcely the hundreth man doth thorowly féele in his mynde that God doth rule in this world so that
he was a valiant warrior and was in great estimation yet is there no mention made of hym in thys place But whereas Xenophon doth rehearse that Cyaxares who is here called Darius was the father in law of Cyrus and that he was in great honor and authority it is no meruaile though Daniel do name the kyng himselfe because Cyrus was content wyth the power the prayse and the renowme of the victory and he was well cōtent that his father in law should haue the title whom he saw to be aged and worne But thys is vncertayne whether thys were the sonne of Astyages and so the vncle of Cyrus or no. For many historiographers consent together in thys that Astiages was the Grādfather of Cyrus that he maried his daughter to Cambyses because he had learned of the Astrologians that the childe that should be borne of her should be the Lord of all Asia And they tell many things beside how he commaunded Cyrus in hys infancy to be slayne but because these things are vncertayne I do passe ouer them Me thinke this is like to be true that Darius was both vncle and father in law to Cyrus Although if we do beleue Xenophon he was not yet maryed when Babylon was woonne For this hys father in law or vncle being vnable to deale wyth the Babylonians and Assyrians called Cyrus to ayde hym Howsoeuer it is thys that the Prophet sayth may agrée well enough that Darius the kyng of the Medes receaued the kyngdome because that Cyrus although he was more mighty and of greater authority yet wyllingly yelded vnto hym to be the kyng of Babylon and so was he kyng but by title onely ouer the Chaldees ¶ The Prayer GRaūt almighty God that that example of thy wrath which thou hast once shewed against all the proude may be profitable vnto vs at this day and that we being admonished by the punishment of thys one man may learne humbly and modestly to behaue our selues and neuer to desire any such dignity as may displease thee but that we may so cōtinue in our owne state as we may serue thee and may sanctify and glorify thy holy name that we desire nothing separate frō thee that we may so beare thy yoke in this world suffer our selues to be gouerned of thee that we may come in the end to that blessed rest and enheritaunce of thy heauēly kingdome which thou hast prepared for vs and which is purchased for vs by the bloud of thyne onely begotten Sonne Amen Chap. 6. The Text. IT pleased Darius to set ouer the kingdome an hundreth and twenty gouernors which should be ouer the whole kingdome 2 And ouer these three rulers of whom Daniell was one that the gouernors myght geue accomptes vnto them and the kyng should haue no domage HEre may we beholde agayne how God alway cared for hys Prophet and that not so much for his owne sake onely or any priuate respect as for that some comfort might come to the miserable exiles and captiues by hys meanes and diligence For God purposed to reach forth his hand by Daniel And we may call hym worthely the hand of God that strēgthned the Iewes For it is certayne that the Persians as they were a barbarous people of their own nature would haue bene no more gentle Lordes vnto the Iewes had not God set vp his seruaunt Daniel as a meane to succour them Thys then is to be noted that Daniel was chosen one of the thrée gouerners by Darius He had bene now the third vnder king Beltsazar though it were but for a moment yet thys myght haue brought hym into hatred wyth the new kyng because he had such honour geuen him But it is very probable that Darius was admonished of those matters which Daniel hath declared before that is to say that a hand did appeare vpon the wall that Daniel did declare the writing and that he was as an Herald sent from the heauēs to pronounce the destruction of kyng Beltsazar For vnlesse thys report had bene brought to Darius he could neuer haue gotten such authority with Darius For Darius had in hys army very many and we know that when one is a cōquerour by the sword he hath many hungery men about hym for all men are desirous of the spoyle Wherefore Darius would neuer haue taken vnto hym thys man beyng a straunger and a captiue to set hym vp in such honour and power vnlesse he had knowne hym assuredly to be the Prophet of God and hys Heralde in declaring the destruction of the Monarchy of Babylon And hereby we gather that this was the worke of God that he should be amongest the chiefe gouerners and the third in the kyngdome whereby he myght be more easily knowē vnto Darius For if Daniel had bene cast down by kyng Beltsazar he had layne vnknowne at home but whē he séeth him in princely apparell he enquireth who he is Thē he heareth by what meanes he came to so great honor so knoweth him to be the Prophet of God appointeth him to be one of the thrée gouerners Thus do we sée Gods prouidēce wherby he doth not onely preserue hys seruaunt wythout daunger but also prouideth for the wealth of the Church lest that the Iewes should haue bene oppressed more and more by this alteration 3 Now this Daniel was preferred aboue the rulers and gouerners because the spirite was excellent in hym and the king thought to set hym ouer the whole realme 4 Wherefore the rulers and gouerners sought an occasion agaynst Daniel concerning the kingdome but they could finde none occasion nor fault for he was so faythfull that there was no blame nor fault found in hym 5 Then sayd these men we shall not finde an occasion agaynst thys Daniel except we finde it agaynst hym concerning the law of hys God. Now the Prophet setteth forth the tentation that dyd arise sodainly which might haue driuen both hymselfe and the elect people to despayre but that God worketh miraculously For although onely Daniel was cast into the denne of the Lyons as foloweth yet vnlesse he had bene deliuered the condition of the whole people had bene more greuous and rigorous For we know how impudently wicked men do rayle against miserable innocentes when they do sée any aduersity towardes them If Daniel therefore had bene deuoured by the Lyons all men would haue raged against the Iewes wyth all their power God therefore did not onely herein exercise the fayth and patience of hys seruaunt but also he proued the Iewes by the same trial because they did sée themselues ready to suffer all extremity in the person of one man vnlesse God had sodenly holpen them as he did First of all Daniel sayth That he was preferred aboue all others because a more excellent spirite was in hym This doth not alwayes come to passe that they which are excellēt in wisdome or other such giftes haue also more authoritie and fauour For in kinges courtes
wee sée very beastes in the chiefe offices And at this day to leaue of old histories as all kinges almost are foolish and bruttsh so also are they the horses and asses of brute beastes Wherefore the more proude and dissolute euery man is the more authoritie hath hee in Princes courtes But when Daniel sayth that he was excellent he commendeth two benefites of God the one that he was endued with more aboundaunce of Gods spirite the other that Darius did knowledge this and therefore set hym in honour when he did sée hym to be a man of great vertue wisdome We perceaue then that which the Prophet would here teach that he was endued from heauen with wisdome and other giftes and also that king Darius iudged a right in weighing hys wysdome and other vertues and therefore set him in honour Because then a more aboundaunt spirite was in hym therfore did he excell all others Yea the king minded to set hym aboue all his kyngdome euen aboue those thrée gouerners Now although this was a singular priuiledge which God did thē vouchsafe to bestow vpō his people his Prophet yet haue we great cause at thys day to lament that kynges do so proudly contemne the giftes of God in all the best men which might be most profitable rulers of the people and in the meane season set so much by blockeheades like themselues and mē that are geuen to couetousnes and extortion yea most cruell and dissolute in all wickednes Seyng then we sée that there is no wisdome or discretion in kynges to discerne who are worthy of rule and authority we may worthely bewayle the state of the world for thys is vnto vs a manifest spectacle of the vengeaunce of God when kinges are so destitute of wisdome But king Darius alone shal be sufficient at the great day to condemne them who had so great a iudgement that he doubted not to set ouer all hys officers a man that was a straunger and a captiue This was therefore a right princelike and heroicall vertue that Darius preferred one captiue before all his familiars But now kynges regard nothing els but to set in authority their baudes their iesters their flatterers So in the meane tyme they set none vp but euill men of no valewe and whom God hath marked wyth some note of ignominy who though they be vnworthy to be counted in the number of men yet are they kynges of kinges for kynges are at thys day for the most part but seruauntes And this commeth vpon them for their slouthfull negligence which refuse and cast away from them all cares and will take no paynes Therefore are they compelled to commit the gouernment vnto others retayning onely the title to themselues These things as I haue sayd are certayne tokens of Gods wrath because the world is vnworthy that God should stretch forth hys hand to gouerne it Now as concernyng the enuie of the nobles we sée that this vice hath reigned in all ages that they despise vertue which do ambitiously aspire to honour For seyng they are giltie in their owne consciences they can not but hate the vertue of others Yet this may be though nothyng straūge that the Persians which had susteined great labours and vndertaken great daungers could not suffer a base and an vnknowen man not onely to be made a companiō vnto them but also to be set ouer thē as a superiour Their enuy therfore séemed to haue some grounde or at the least some colour But this is a thyng most worthy to be condemned that any man should so be addicted to his own commoditie that he should not regard the common profite For who so euer desireth authoritie and doth therein regarde his owne profite onely and not the commō commoditie of the people he must nedes be couetous a briber cruel vnfaithful do nothyng lesse then his office Seyng then that the nobles of the kyngdome enuie Daniel they bewray their wickednes therby that they haue no regard of the commō wealth but that they couet to scrape to catch all thinges to thē selues Now in this example we may sée what commeth of enuy And this is diligently to bee noted because there is nothyng more easie then to fall from one vice to an other He that enuieth an other can bee restreined by no equitie but that he will try all meanes possible how he may ouerthrow his aduersary These nobles do stomake the matter that Daniel should be preferred before them Now if they went no further yet that fault as I haue sayd were a signe of a wicked nature Howbeit they do burst forth further for they séeke some quarell or some crime in Daniel We may sée therfore how enuy doth styrre thē vp to search some crime So are all enuious men as it were in continuall watch and warde to catch them in a snare whose prosperitie they do enuy and to ouerthrow them by any meanes This is one point But when they finde no crime then tread they all equity vnder foote and without all shame and humanitie no lesse cruelly then traiterously they giue thē selues wholly to destroy their aduersary Daniel vttereth this of those that enuyed him He sayth first That they sought an occasion and founde none Then he sheweth the occasion which they tooke of no iust groūde but traiterously For there is no doubt but that they did know Daniel to bee an holy man and approued of god Wherfore when they lay snares for this holy Prophet they fight agaynst God as it were of set purpose but they are blinded with that wicked affection of enuy And whence commeth enuy but of ambition So do we sée ambition to be a most wicked poyson wherof springeth enuy and of this doth falshode and cruelty grow vp But Daniel doth admonish vs by hys example that we must labour to lyue vprightly that the occasion which the enuious and the wicked do séeke for may be takē away Wherfore there can be no better defense agaynst the enuious and the sclaunderers then to behaue our selues vprightly and innocently For how soeuer they lay snares agaynst vs they shall not preuaile for our innocency shall be like a shield to repulse all their malice Yet do we sée by the way that Daniel did not escape cleare for a quarell was sought agaynst hym in an other matter euen in the worshyp of god But here must we learne also that holynes and the care therof ought to be more estemed of vs then our owne lyues Daniel was faithfull and vpright in his gouernment he did execute his office so that he stopped the mouthes of hys enemyes and euilwyllers Wherfore vpright dealyng as I haue sayd is the best shield Agayne Daniel was in daunger because he would not forsake the pure worshyp of God and his profession Therfore must wee suffer daungers boldly and constantly when the question shal be touchyng the worshyp of god For this transitory lyfe ought not to be more deare
the rather endeuour our selues to behaue our selues innocently both towardes thee and towardes men with whom we haue to do that so thy name may be glorified in vs and we beyng defended by thy protection may go forward agaynst the malice of men and howsoeuer Sathan do assaulte vs and the wicked lay snares and like raging beastes rise vp agaynst vs that yet we may remaine safe vnder thy defence yea and though we should suffer an hundreth deathes that we may learne to lyue and to die vnto thee that thy name may be glorified in vs through Iesus Christ our Lord Amen 8 Now O king confirme the decree and seale the writing that it be not chaunged according to the law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not 9 Wherefore kyng Darius sealed the writing and the decree Hereby as I haue sayd it is most manifest how prone the myndes of Princes are to be deluded when they thinke that their authority should be encreased and their honour augmented For the king doth make no long disputation wyth his noble men but signeth the decrée because he supposeth that this shal be profitable for hym and his successors if he might haue the Chaldees so obedient vnto hym that they would be ready rather to deny all their Gods then to refuse any thing that he commaundeth Which shall not be chaunged say they that is to say let the decrée be immoueable after the manner of the Medes and the Persians which altereth not In that he ioyneth the Medes wyth the Persians hereby it appeareth as we haue sayd that Cyrus and Darius did raigne ioyntly together For whereas the greater dignity and honour was graunted vnto Darius as long as he liued yet the power remained with Cyrus and without doubt his children were the heyres of both those kingdomes and of the Monarchy of the East vntill they beganne to fall out betwixt themselues And whereas they do alledge that the law of the Medes and the Persians is immutable this doubtles is commendable in the lawes that their authority should be inuiolable and also that they should haue their force and obtayne their effect for the which they were made For where the lawes are euer chaunged and altered many men must néedes be iniuried for no priuate mans right can be stable and sure but where the law is continually one Agayne where it is permitted to make lawes to take away lawes there in the stead of equity succéedeth tyranny lust for law For they which haue this authority beyng corrupt by money wyll now pronoūce one law now an other So shall there be no equity where there is such liberty to alter lawes at will. Howbeit thys must of necessity be warely cōsidered first that kinges make no law nor proclamation without great aduise and long deliberation secondly they must take héede vnto them selues that they be not circumuented and deceaued by craft and cunning fetches as it cōmeth many tymes to passe Wherefore constancy is commendable and prayse worthy in kings and Princes so that wisdome and iustice do go before But straight way we shall sée how foolishly kynges would haue the name of constancy and by their pride peruert all equity 10 Now when Daniel vnderstoode that he had sealed the writing he went into hys house and hys window beyng open in his chamber toward Ierusalem he kneled vpon his knees three times a day and prayed and praysed God as he did before tyme. Now Daniel declareth that he was endued with the strength of the spirit of God that he might offer hys life vnto God as a sacrifice because he knew that there was no hope of pardon left hym if he had bene found to haue violated the kinges cōmaundement He knew also that the king hymselfe should not be frée although he would pardon him euen as it came to passe afterward Seing then that death was before the Prophetes eyes he had rather go vnto it willingly then cease from his duty in religion We must note that here is nothing spoken of the inward worshipping of God but of the outward profession If Daniel had bene forbidden to pray this fortitude might séeme to be necessary wherewith he was endued but now many may thinke that he was in ieoperdy without any great cause whē he dyd set himself forth to death whereas he was onely restrayned frō the outward profession But because Daniel doth not here declare his owne vertue but the spirit speaketh by his mouth we must marke that this boldnes of minde pleased God in the holy Prophet and his deliuerance doth declare how greatly his Godly fact was allowed in that he had rather to renoūce his owne life then to chaunge any thing of his vsuall custome in seruing of god We do know that this is the chiefe sacrifice which God requireth euen to pray vnto god For we do testify thereby that he is the author and geuer of all good thinges vnto vs and agayne we do geue a testimony of our fayth whiles we flie vnto hym and cast all our cares into hys bosome and do offer vnto hym our requestes and desires Seing therefore that prayer hath the chiefe office in the worship and seruice of God doubtles it was of no small importance that the king forbad that any man should pray vnto God for this was a manifest ouer grosse deniall of religion And hereby do we gather agayne how blinde the pride of thys kyng was whiles he could subscribe vnto their wicked and filthy decrée againe how greatly the nobles raged who that they might destroy Daniel went about as much as in them lay to destroy all religion and to plucke downe God from heauen For what remayneth when men thinke that they can want the helpe of God and so haue no care of God at all We know that vnlesse God do strengthen vs euery moment wyth hys power we are easily brought to nought When the king then did forbid all manner of prayer for a whole moneth this was as I haue sayd to require of euery man to deny god Therefore Daniel could not obey the decrée without great iniury vnto God and falling from religion because this prayer is the chiefe sacrifice that God requireth Wherefore it is no meruaile though Daniel did boldly stand against thys cursed decrée And concerning hys profession it was necessary that he should testify before mē that he did stand stedfastly in the worship of god For if he had chaunged any thing of hys vsuall order it had bene after a sort a deniall of his religion He had not publikely pronounced that he contemned God for Darius pleasure but the very chaunge had bene a signe of a traiterous defection and faythles falling from god But we know that God doth not onely require the fayth of the hart and the inward affection but also the testimony and profession of our religion Wherfore it was his duty vnlesse he would haue bene a shamefull apostata to continue in that holy
thou wilt be our deliuerer howsoeuer it be whether we do liue or die that yet we remayning in stedfast fayth and confession of thy name may be blessed whiles we be gathered in the end into thy heauenly kingdome which thou hast purchased with the bloud of thine onely begotten Sonne Amen We haue séene before how the enemyes of Daniel which had wickedly cruelly accused hym through enuy as soone as they were cast into the denne of Lyons were torne in péeces with their wiues and children whereby the miracle did more manifestly appeare as we haue sayd Now therefore let vs learne agayne that the Lyons are so gouerned by the power of God that they do not exercise their cruelty euery where nor against all men but when God armeth thē For as it is sayd in the Psalme thou shalt walke vpon the Lyon and Scorpion and tread vpon the Lyon and Dragon So also of the contrary part God doth pronounce vpon the wicked by the Prophet that the Lyons wyll come to méete them if they go out of their house We sée then how God doth swage the cruelty of the Lyons when it séemeth good vnto him but he stirreth them vp to rage when he wyll punish men And whereas the wiues and their children were cast into the denne we must not curiously dispute whether this was a iust punishmēt or no. For it séemeth that this is a certaine rule of equity that the punishment should not extend to the giltles especially when it standeth vpon the losse of life For although at all tymes this was receaued in well ordered Cities that many punishmentes were layd vpon the children together with the parentes like as in murther and in treason where all the goods were publikely sold also in criminall iudgementes the infamy of the parentes did redounde vnto their children yet this is more strait and seuere to kill the children together with their parents seyng they can not be gilty of the same crimes But although this be not very vsuall yet is it not lawfull for vs simply to condemne it We sée how God cōmaundeth whole families to be vtterly destroyed to shew how much sinne is to be detested and abhorred and God as he is a iust iudge doth alway kéepe a measure in his seuerity Therefore this example can not be precisely condemned but it is better to leaue this at liberty For we know that the kinges of the East part did exercise cruell and barbarous dominion or rather tyranny towards their subiectes Therefore there is no cause why any man should contend much about this question It greued king Darius that he was so deceaued Therefore he doth not execute punishment vpon the wicked accusers onely because Daniel was wickedly oppressed of them but because they did hym iniury He would therefore rather reuenge himself then Daniel and he was not content to recompence them with equall punishment but he punished euen their children also 25 Afterward king Darius wrote vnto all people nations and languages that dwelt in all the world peace be multiplied vnto you 26 I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdome men tremble and feare before the God of Daniell for he is the liuing God and remayneth for euer and his kingdome shall not perish and his dominion shal be euerlasting 27 He rescueth and deliuereth and he worketh signes and wonders in heauen and in earth who hath deliuered Daniel from the power of the Lyons Here Daniel addeth the decrée of the king which he caused to be published and by this decrée and proclamation he testifieth that he was so moued with the deliueraunce of Daniel that he gaue the most high glory to the God of Israel Yet do I not thinke that the king is sufficiently proued hereby to be of sound religion as many interpreters do here commend king Darius aboue measure as though he had bene wholy conuerted and had receaued the true worship prescribed in the law of Moses No such thing can be gathered of the wordes of the decrée and the matter it selfe doth declare that hys dominion and kingdome was neuer purged from superstitions For king Darius suffered hys subiectes to serue Idoles and he himselfe ceased not to be polluted with such filthines but he would place the God of Israel in the hiest degrée as though he could couple together fire and water of the which thing we haue spokē before For the prophane men thinke that they do their duty to the true God if they do not altogether contemne hym but appoynt him some place but especially when they preferre hym aboue all the Idols they thinke that they haue satisfied god But this is foolish For except all superstitions be abolished God hath not his right for he suffereth no cōpanions Therfore this place doth not shew that there was any true or sincere Religion in kyng Darius but we may onely gather hereby that hee was moued with this miracle to this ende that hee should celebrate throughout all nations that were subiect vnto him the glory and name of the God of Israel To conclude as it was but a particulare motion of kyng Darius so he went not beyond this particulare affectiō neither did he thoroughly acknowledge the power goodnes of God but tooke hold of that onely which was before his eyes Therfore he could not generally know the God of Israel that he might giue him self to true sincere pietie but as I haue sayd he would haue him to remaine amōg the other Gods and to be ouer them but so that he should not be alone But God doth refuse this halfe worship Therefore there is no cause why Darius should so much be praysed Yet shall he condemne all those by his example which at this day do professe them selues either Catholicke kynges or Christians or defenders of the faith and in the meane season do not onely oppresse true Religion but also as much as in them lyeth do ouerthrow the whole worship of God would willyngly abolish his name out of the world exercisyng tyranny agaynst all the godly and establishyng wicked superstitions thorough their crueltie Darius shal be a worthy iudge vnto them and this decrée which Daniel rehearseth shal suffice to condemne all such Now hee sayth That this decree was written to all people nations and languages that dwelled in all the earth We sée that Darius would not onely haue the power of GOD knowne to the people which were nere him but he did study to declare it farre and wyde Therfore hee did not onely publish it in writyng thoroughout all Asia and Chaldea but euen amongest the Medes and Persians Albeit he neuer reigned in Persia but because his sonne in law had taken him into the societie of the Empire his authoritie dyd also extend so farre And thus ought it to be vnderstand whē he sayth thorow the whole earth For it is not spoken of the whole world but of that Monarchy which was spread