delighteth himselfe in heauenly occasions so much the lesse apt shall he be for worldly matters because one loue abates and extinguisheth another The loue of God chaseth away all loue of our selues and of the world the neerer we neighbour to our owne respect and vaine esteeme of worldly affayres the further off are we from the loue of heauen The more a man talketh of God and groweth to be truely holy the more knowledge hath he of his owne defects euen as by the brightnesse of the day the darke obscurity of the night is discerned Therefore Daniel reputed himselfe vnwoorthy to talke vnto God saying Quomodo poterit seruus Domini mei loqui cum Domino meo How can the seruant of this my Lord talke with my Lord As if he would haue sayd I am not woorthy to behold much lesse to speake to the maiesty of my Lord because I am but a worme of the earth vile dirt and ashes And in great humility our forefather Abraham vsed the like speeches to God Loquar ad Dominum meum cùm sim puluis cinis I haue begun to speake vnto my Lord and I am but dust and ashes We may yet hereto adde another notable mystery vpō this place conforming it to the opinion of the Philosopher who sayd that of speeche men are masters but of silence God onely is master For Moyses before he talked with god spake well and freely enough but so sooone as god spake to him he became a stammerer And Ieremy speaking at the first very readily god hauing spoken to him he knew not how to shape a word Euen as Daniel in the like manner became dumbe Al which happened because there is great difference between our speaking to god and our conferring with men In our speaking to god we learne to be silent as may be discerned by those former alleadged examples And in that to men we learne nothing else but to talke onely For he that among men talketh not is held to be a melancholist blamed for a Saturniste reprooued with vnciuill conuersation accused of vnmanlynesse thought to be a clownish companion and nothing meete to holde societye among men Claudio But the Apostles learned not like such men to be silent for in regarde that they continually conuersed with Christ by the meanes of him they were made meet to receiue the holy ghost VVhich not onely depriued them of all dumbnesse or other impediment in theyr speeche but they being before rude men of tongue it altered them to most expert and eloquent Oratours yea in euery kind of language So that there was no Oratour or Philosopher how learned or skilfull soeuer he was that coulde equall or goe beyond them or knew how to answere or conuince them in disputation Therefore that which Tyrantes coulde not attayne to by despighting their tongues by rage violence and cruell torture they compassed against them Lodouico They first of all learned to be silent ere to speake and obserued taciturnity before speech that therfore when they began to speake they might the better deliuer any other language then before that time they had vsed and talk of another subiect then as yet they had dealt in And as Ieremie in no one thing more shewed himself to be sanctified and created a Prophet of the Lordes owne making then by becomming like a child depriued of his speech and euen at the very instant as a very child sayd to the Lord Ah Ah Ah. And as Daniel in nothing else declared so manifestly that God had spoken to him as by his losse of speeche And as Prince Moyses gaue no greater a signe of his talking with God and of his being chosen for his Embassador and guide to the people of Israell then when suddenly he became stammering and imperfect of tongue Euen so the holy Apostles in nothing else more apparantly witnessed that they had receiued the holy ghost then when by speaking in seuerall new languages it shewed in them more vnusuall then their first accustomed speeche was woont to doo VVherein euidently may be discerned that such as talke with God doo either learne to hold their peace or to speake otherwise then at the first they did The tongue being reformed as in like manner the hart is reformed and so consequently both life and conscience For a good conscience and a wicked tongue can neuer dwell together in one and the same habitation He therfore that talketh with God either wanteth words and is silent or breaketh foorth into diuine discoursing which is not our talking but our silence as we haue before sufficientlye prooued And euen in as absolute manner may we say that all they which in such sort do conferre with God they learne nothing else but to hold their peace because this new language is not ours but it commeth from God only Non enim vos estis qui loquimini sed Spiritus Patris vestri qui loquitur in vobis It is not you that speake but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you Finis Cap. 21. The Argument To the end that in our discoursing we should not grow offensiue to God it behooueth vs with deuout heartes to beg of him that he would purifie our minds and purge our lippes According as Dauid did who prayed to the Lord that he would open his mouth to the end that he might woorthily praise him And without him we cannot speake well because he hath the keye of our mouth Which is approoued by a sentence produced out of Esay where he sayth that Christ is the key of Dauid He therewith openeth the mouth and giueth not much of what we know to aske for because we should require things correspondent to his greatnesse Moreouer not onely are the lippes opened therewith but likewise the heart the vnderstanding the Scriptures types and figures yea heauen it selfe and the mouthes of the Saintes and Prophets and without this keye all things remaine shut vp and euery mouth dumbe Chap. 22. CLAVDIO I hold it then most necessary least that our manner of communing together do fal out to be guilty of blame and woorthy of reprehension that we should imitate the blessed Apostles who after they had gotten the sweete aspect of the humanity of Iesus Christ by his glorious ascēsion vp to heauen within few daies after they published to the world the holy faith manifesting to euery one the redemption made by the pretious bloud of the Sonne of God to banish idolatry to illuminate the vnderstanding of Infidels ouershadowed with the misty fogge of vnbeleefe and by the extirpating of wicked vices to sowe plentifully vertues all abroade So all of them returning deuoutly with the virgin Mary into a place of quiet there with fiery spirits enflamed harts and earnest desires they prayed to the Lord that he would send them the promised holy ghost which should fill them with sanctified zeale and purifie their minds disperse all cloudes
singular vertues yet if he leaue neuer so little a place discouered vnarmed wherat a man of an euil dispositioÌ„ may let fly from the bow of a wicked intention the enuenomed wounding arrow of his vile speaking tongue he will offend him to the death Of which kind of men Dauid sayd Exacuerunt vt gladium linguas suas intenderunt arcum rem amaram vt sagittent in occuliis immaculatum They haue whet their tongue like a sword and shot for their arrowes bitter words to shoot at the vpright in secret they shoot at him suddenly feare not Yet many times it comes to passe that they which vituperiously beÌ„d the bowe of their lying tongue and against the innocent doe come to the like themselues as they purposed against others and the venemous arrowe of infamy rebounds back at their own breasts Hence grewe the Prouerbe that a lye hath but short legs and hereupon the woorthye Prophet sayde in the fore-recited Psalme Sagittae paruulorum factae sunt plagae eorum infirmatae sunt contra eos linguae eorum They shall cause theyr owne tongue to fall vppon them and whosoeuer shall see them shall flye away Lodouico A most cleere example of what you haue sayd wee reade in the booke of Chronicles where is shewen that the most proude king Senacherib seeking to become Lorde of all Ezechias kingdomes and to terrifie the people sent certaine Embassadors to them who in his name spake such impertinent speeches and so full of pride against the omnipotent God of Israell as I beleeue the like are not to be read in all the holy Scriptures Therein they exalted so highly his strength blaspheming the power of the almightfull God as they did not stick to affirme that God had not the ability to deliuer them out of the Assyrians hands Si enim nullus potuit Deus cunctarum gentium at que regionum liberare populum suum de manu mea de manu patrum meorum consequenter nec Deus vester poterit eruere vos de hac manumea Sed alia multa locuti sunt serui eius contra Dominum Deum contra Ezechiam seruum eius Epistolas quoque scripsit plenas blasphemiae in Dominum Deum Israel loquutus est aduersus eum For none of all the Gods of any nation or kingdome was able to deliuer his people out of my hand and out of the hand of my fathers how much lesse shall your God deliuer you out of my hand And his seruants spake yet more against the Lord God and against his seruant Ezechias He wroté also letters blaspheming the Lord God of Israell and speaking against him For which God as a iust rewarder without Senacheribs becomming Lord of any one citie or sleying any person sent an Angell and so smote the very nerue of Senacheribs armie that as saith the Prophet Esay in whose time this slaughter was made Egressus est autem Augelus Domini percussit in castris Assyriorum centum octoginta quinque millia The Angell of the Lorde went out and smote in the campe of Ashur an hundred fourescore and fiue thousand But that which rendereth more admiration is that Senacherib returning in an infamous flight to Niniuie and beeing sacrificing in the temple of his Idoll Nesroch his owne sonnes Adramelech and Sarasar there murdered him All this befell him not for what hee did in act but because his tongue talked so blasphemously If hee had fought with his power and kept silent his infamous tongue perhaps his punishment had not bin so seuere or his successe against the people of Israell had bin better as it fell out with many other Infâ—rmata est contrae eum lingua eius By his thngue he lost so mighty an armie which by silence hee might perhappes haue defended with his hands The young Amalekite who with the tydings of king Sauls death brought the Crowne and bracelet to Dauid confessing how willingly and in meere pittie he had slayne Saul who had before faâ—ne vpon his owne sword the armie of the enemy comming so fast vpon him was iudged worthie of death by royall Dauid not so much for what he had done as in regard of the words he spake Sanguis tuus super caput tuum Os enim tuum loqutum est aduersum te dicens Ego interfeci Christum Domini Thy blood be vpon thine owne head for thine owne mouth hath testified against thee saying I haue slaine the Lords annointed As if Dauid would haue sayd If thou do suffer the death which already thou hast bestowed vpon an other doe not complaine of mee who as a Iudge commaunds death to be giuen thee But exclaime vpon thy selfe that with thy sworde hast slaine the king of Israell whose very garment thou oughtest not to haue touched And since with thy tongue thou makest vaunte of thy homicide therfore thou hast condemned thy selfe to death Infirmata est contra eum lingua eius with thy sword thou slewest Saul and with thy liberall tongue thy selfe Claudio Let vs therfore set a watch before our mouth and let vs haue a great care of our ouer-slippery tongue for feare of incurring the like misaduenture for to a generous spirit somtimes a bad word is much more iniurious then a wound receiued by a Launce Finis Cap. 6. The Argument Declaring that to keepe our selues idle wandering in our talking it behooueth that our speeche should haue fiue conditions or qualities which the tongue it selfe hath namely sweete Rose coloured sharpe flexible and close couched which are approoued by many authorities of Scripture as also witty saying of the Philosophers and naturall examples Chap. 7. LODOVICO If Senacherib the young Amalekite and all such as haue endured like punishment wold haue set a sure guarde vppon theyr tongue without doubt they had deliuered their soules from many anguishes whereinto else they had never falne Qui custodit os suum linguam suam Custodit ab angustus aniuam suam He that keepeth his toÌ„gue and his mouth keepeth his soule from anguishes sayth the wiseman Plutarch telles vs That the Lydians as well sentenced them with death that by their tongues robd men of their good fame as him that tooke away the life of any Citizen holding the guilt of infamie to be as great as the abhorred act of murder for to lay hand to the weapon vniustly is euen as much as to breed an vniust quarrel with the toÌ„gue Therefore that our discoursing may bee free from all such blamefull note it ought to haue fiue properties which the tongue it selfe hath The tongue is soft and delicate sweete and Rose coloured sharpe in forme of a Launce flexible and voluble close kept walking but in a little roome In like manner our talk ought to be soft by benignity Rose coloured as sweetned by honesty sharpned by seuerity pleasing by sagacity close kept by
but if he take his mattock plough share and such like other meete instruments he will make it tractable for producing the sowen seede The sword or weapon signifieth the polished speech adorned with rhetoricall colours a thousand quaint subtilties of arguments The mattock figureth the easie speeche domesticall familiar sincere cordiall without ornament or vaine tearmes which better fitteth for the heartes compunction and is more apte to produce the fruite of conuersion beeing cluttered before among the hard clods of sinne then the adorned kinde of speaking curious and artificiall designed by the sword or weapon The auncient Philosophers and Oratours because they would teache their lyes and follies they intricated them and beguiled men with picked polisht and nice kindes of phrases The trueth of the Gospell it hath no neede of any such ornament nor ought a Christian to fit himselfe with such curiosities in reproouing of sinne and correcting the sinner but rather hee shoulde make his playne mattock more plyant and readie in deluing vp the stubborne harts of wretched men Therefore Christ euermore spake with a materiall tongue deliuering many parables similitudes and examples An vnhandsome woman destitute of beautie and naturall comlinesse seekes by deceiptfull and lying colours to make her selfe appeare beautifull but she that from her naturall mother is adorned with good feature excellent fayrenesse great wrong shall she offer to nature in striuing artificially to make her selfe more fayre for the greater paynes shee takes to seeme beautifull by lying tinctures the more deformed in time shee assuredlye makes her selfe The Euangelicall doctrine of it selfe is so fayre and surpassing in riches of naturall beautie that shee hath no neede of artificiall or vayne rhetoricall ornament rather great wrong is done to her natiue beautie adorning it with vayne colours coyned phrases such as prophane Oratours were wont to illustrate set forth their grosse lyes withall A matter much to be blamed and yeelding no fruit at all because while the auditors listen not to the substance of what is sayd but to the cunning glosse and idle ornament only they loose the intire doctrine truth of the speech and hang their attention only on vanity which makes them not to put in diligent execution what is then said vnto them but only to lend a little admiration to friuolous eloquēce the cause of much harme in our christian common wealth I pray ye my Lord in curtesie tell me were it not to be reckoned as an expresse follie if an armie of enemies shoulde come against this city and engirt it with seuere besieging round about and then the citizēs did not presently run to take weapōs in their hands for defence of it darting their shafts and quarries against the enemy or what munition else they could possibly deuise to help it But if in stead of repulsing them by the harquebuz and Cannon they shoulde throw on their enemies heads sweet hearbs flowers might they not iustly be tearmed desolators of the cōmon good the very cheefest enemies vnto their own natiue country Such the more pitty are many christians in these times of ours become who ought with words most feruent and effectuall euen like vnto the sharpest pearcing arrows boldly reprooue the vile sinnes of men but they in stead therof cast flowrs of faire and fruitlesse words on their heads which not onely loose the vigor of all compunction but delights and begets a pleasing itching in the eare whereof God greatly complained by the Prophet Ieremie Date florem Moab quia florens egredietur ciuitates eius desertae erunt inhabitabiles Giue flowers vnto Moab that it may flye and get away for the cities therof shall be desolate without any to dwel therein As if he would haue said Ironicè Is it euen so Do you thus giue flowers to Moab You giue him a goodly remedy for his hurt if he florish so delicately as making that his beautie miserable Moab this will be the cause of thy ruine and the destruction of the fairest cityes in thy kingdome Then presently followeth Maledictus qui facit opus Domini fraudulenter maledictus qui prohibet gladium suum à sanguine Cursed be he that doth the worke of the Lord negligently and cursed be hee that keepeth back his sword from blood Euen as if he woulde haue sayd Cursed be he that doth the Lords worke with fraude and with deceiuing speeches is the cause of the losse of soules not drawing the sword of the tongue in due time reprehending sinners fetching blood at euery blowe with sharpe words yet full of charitie and feruent zeale So when the sword of the word is not adorned with vnfruitfull speeche therof we ought to make a mattock apt and meet to dig vp the stubborn earth of mens harts to the end it may become capable of increase by a good conuersion A certaine Greeke Oratour went to Lycurgus Prince of the Lacedemonians saying That he would read Rhetorique to the people of the common wealth because they spake very rude and grossely to whom Lycurgus answered We better affect our plaine country wisedome then vaine flourishing eloquence therefore you may go into Licaonia for men are there louers of artificial eloquence which here we make no account at all of Claudio An answere worthily beseeming such a Prince because the common wealth looseth nothing by lack of speeche but by defect of speaking well An artificiall deuise is not far off from deceipte and our words ought rather to tast of want of curious ornament then to be any thing defectiue from the trueth therefore I cannot but highlye allow your description of the sword and mattock Lodouico In the fourth place we say that our talke ought to shew the flexibility of the tongue which is to bee done by wisedome and discretion as the tongue is apt and pliant in yeelding euery way so ought our talke to be very discreete varying our discoursings according to the condition of such men as wee conferre withall and agreeing with the subiect whereof we speake Sometimes comforting the afflicted with the sweetnesse of our wordes sometimes instructing the ignorant with charitie sometimes reproouing with seueritie answerable to the offence sometimes commending with trueth the good and sometimes blaming as iustly the bad with significant speeches yea to suffer our selues with them all to be transformed as it were into all to put on the garmente of all onely to helpe and preserue them all according as Saint Paule did Omnia omnibus factus sum vt omnes facerem saluos I am made all things to all men that I might by all meanes saue some The dog hath a tongue very flexible slender and fine and is so medicinable withall as there is no sore or other harme happening on his bodye but it healeth it onely by the office of his tongue because hee can bring it to the
disgrace in thy teeth and say thou art an hypocrite a dissembler makest a shew of outward holinesse and art indeed but a very deuill So euery one will be doubtfull of conuersing with thee as hating hypocriticall and formall holinesse and where before thou wast reputed for an honest man of fellowly friendly and sociable conuersation thou shalt now be held for a reformed foole a melancholy precise captious companion with a thousand other such hellish obiections wherwith you are better acquainted in this kind then I can expresse them Lodouico This toothe is to bee broken in his mouth with a god sound stroke and let it bee the perfect consideration that at length hee shall bee discouered to all the worlde according as God spake by the Prophet Nahum Reuelabo pudenda tua in facie tua ostendam in Gentibus nuditatem tuam regnis ignominiam tuam c. I will discouer thy skirtes vpon thy face and will shewe the nations thy filthinesse and the kingdomes thy shame c. Socrates walking through the city espied a yong maÌ„ who stood ready to step forth of an harlots house but so soone as he saw Socrates he returned into the infamous house as one ashamed But Socrates passing on sayd to the young man Non te pude at exire sed intrasse Thou oughtest not be ashamed to come foorth of that bad house but rather for thy entring into it Euen so the sinfull soule it should not be ashamed to issue foorth of the infamous house of sinne the mansion and dwelling of the deuill but for first entering into it rather it behooueth vs therefore to bee carefull of breaking out this tooth Claudio The second tooth is the feare of repentance whereto the offended conscience speaketh and â—aith it is the sinne of luxury for chastisement whereof let the pampered ouer-hot body fast with bread water But the deuil watching as before his fit opportunity tunes the tongue with this answer I am not able to fast or forbeare what my appetite desireth what repentaunce then is likely to ensue vpon this nice nature Lodouico This tooth is to be broken and that very easilie by due consideration of the paines eternall So may wee soone refute put down the deuil when he frights vs with the feare of repeÌ„tance to tell him That a greater feare hath surprised thee euen the sufferaÌ„ce of those paines which neuer will be ended Claudio The third tooth is the vaine hope of long life vrging the sinner to procrastination of repentance by a false perswasion of liuing long time as trusting in the iocond youth of years the strength of our members and the present health of bodie Neuer remembring how fraile this mortall life is compared by holy Iob to the wind to a shadow and to a flour things that vanishe altogether with a glaunce of an eye or a puffe of breath Lodouico If we would breake this toothe with small trauaile let vs then consider that there is nothing more certaine then death nor more vncertaine then the houre thereof And that as the fish becomes taken by the hooke and dyes when he thinkes to liue a longer date and voide of â—aking euen so is man in the hand of death caught when he most hopeth of long life According as the wise man sayth Nescit homo finem suum sed sicut pisces capiuntur hamo sicut aues laqueo comprehenduntur sic capiuntur homines in tempore malo cum eis extempso superuenerit No man doth know his timâ— but as the fishes which are taken in an euill net or as the birds that are caught in the snare so are the children of men snared in the euill time when it falleth vpon them suddenly When the simple bird feedes most sauourly on the baite then without any meanes of escape is she taken And euen the very same is the case of man when least he thinketh on the hour of death in this vnexpected hour is he taken fals into death the fowlers snare therfore with this consideration we may break the tooth of vain bootlesâ—e hope Claudio The fourth tooth is this weake opinion that by no meanes we must repent vs of any huff-cap or riotous sinne because saith he they are tearmed but good fellowship tricks of youth or manly qualities Beside if we should repent them it were but needlesse for within a day or two we shal fall into the same againe and then the labour of repentance may be very wel spared And what ensueth hereoÌ„ only this conceit is daily buzz'd into our eares by the diuell That we haue a certaine kind of good will to leaue off these vanities but the more we striue to forgo them the more our nature fastneth liking on them and sins incident to nature doe admit tolleration Lodouico This tooth must needs be puld out for by breaking it some piece or stump may be left behind Consider but thus much The knight or Souldiour may well be counted foolish that returning greeuously wounded from the battaile will not suffer himselfe to be drest or his hurts bound vp but in a brauery and to be reputed a lusty gallant saith to the Chirurgian Thou shalt bestow no paines vpon me because to morrow I must needs be in the battaile againe Foole foole might the Chirurgian answer him is it not better going wel halfe cured then weakely and with thy bloud streaming forth about thee In a far worse estate is the sinner that makes so slight an account of repentaunce and will not giue ouer sinne because his nature affecteth to sinne Fall downe vpon thy knees put on a more humble and tractable spirit and desire thy Lorde God to giue thee grace that thou maist abstaine from all sinnes whatsoeuer and if thou doe thy part in true penitence so much as lyes in thee thou shalt finde God readye at all houres to assiste and strengthen thee Claudio The fift tooth is presumption relying too much vpon the diuine mercy and saying within thy selfe God is so mercifull as hee will not permit mee any way to perish Hee pardoned Peter his owne denyer Paul his Churches greeuous persecuter Mathew the rich couetous tol gatherer Zacheus the Publican Mary Magdalen the great sinner the Samaritane her heresie the woman her adultery and the theefe his iniquitie why then he cannot chuse but pardon me too This presumptuous wretch neuer considereth the true and intire repentance of all these before named and the especial graces of God therby conferred vpon them such as he bestoweth not vpon euery one but only on those that in singlenesse of soule vnfayned repentance seeke after them Lodouico This tooth may be broken by due consideration that many are the eternall paines of hell and many are condemned to endure them for presuming too rashly vpon the diuine mercy weening to
so much the more painfully afflict the soule bite the conscience and suffer the mind to inioy no quiet As may be said of him that nourisheth melanchollie in his hart whereby he pines and droupes away euen til death make seazure on him according as sayth the wise maÌ„ Multos enim occidit tristitia non est vtilitas in ea Sorrow hath slaine many and there is no profit in it But if a man vtter his griefe to a faithfull friend that knowes how to comfort him Oh what a cheering ioy is it to the poore afflicted hart for Salomon saith Fauus mellis composita verba dulcedo animae sanitas ossium Faire woordes are as the honie-combâ— sweetenesse to the soule and health to the bones How can the soule be in health that is full of putrifaction and ouercharged with sinne and deales as the Pharisey did boaste of good deeds and hide therby foule sins it is like to one let bloud that giues passage to the best and keeps the worst behinde In Phlebotomy or bloud-letting when wee see the good bloud to come first foorth we vse to say it is a bad signe because the good bloud leauing the body and the bad making no issue at all it is held to betoken the death of the patient On the contrary when the corrupt and putrified bloud first makes his passage it is a signall of health to the partie Euen so when a proude and an opinionate sinner comes to conferre with God standing vpon the conceipt of his owne well deseruing in some kindes and shall presume to say O Lord I haue not robbed I haue not blasphemed thy name I haue not committed adulterye and other such like cleerings of him selfe It is an apparant signe that as foule sinnes are remayning behinde and as greatly doe endaunger the death of the soule Nor is this to be held as any repentaunce at all or contrite confessing our transgressions to God but rather a deuillish exaltation and vaine-glorious iustification of our selues For humble confession and true repentaunce is a free accusation of our selues for all faults committed without vaunting of any good worke whatsoeuer which is neuer doone but by the craft of the diuell making vs dumbe in our dutie as himselfe is dumbe Et erat illud mutum This kind of taciturnirie or rather dumbnesse begets great euilles in the soule and becomes the ruine of the conscience as Dauid affirmeth in one of his Psalmes Quoniam tacui inueteraueruÌ„t ossa mea dum clamarem tota die When I held my tongue my bones consumed through my dayly complaining as if he would haue sayd because I was so silent my bones waxed old to wit my vertue became weakned while I continued crying all the day Lodouico What a confused speech is this of Dauid If he held his peace how did he cry all the day and if he cryed all the day how was he silent A man cannot crye and hold his peace too both at one instant yet Dauids words are Quoniam tacui dum clamarem tota die inuterauerunt omnia ossa mea Because I haue bin sileÌ„t while I cryed all day all my bones are waxed old how can it stand a man to be silent and cry too Claudio Dauid speaketh of such sinners as already I haue spoken of to you who after the guise of the Pharisie in the Gospell at one instant time are silent and yet cry too crying out aloude of their own merits and singing their owne praises in a loftie straine Gratias ago tibi Deus quia non sum sicut caeteri hominum raptores iniusti adulteri velut etiam hic Publicanus Iâ—iuno bis in sabbatho decimas do omnium quae possidâ—o Oh God I thanke thee that I am not as other men extortioners vniust adulterers or euen as this Publicane I fast twise in the weeke I giue tithe of all that euer I possesse Doe you not heare of how many things they cry out aloude and yet are silent enough of their owne sinnes they talk not of such things as may abase them but boast of all things that may vainely aduance them by meanes whereof they fall downe into darkenesse according as this proude Pharisie did Therefore in our secret communing and talking with God we shold not be silent of our sins but cry loude enough on them if any good actions haue attended our liues to reserue them in silence without so much as a thought of theÌ„ for that is a place wherein to accuse our selues iustly of al our crimes not to make vaunt of any good work They that thus pharisaically do cry out on their merites and silently keep their sins in their own bosoms get a consumption in their bones Inueterauerunt ossa mea quoniam tacui dum clamarem tota die The bones doe signifie our vertues for as bones doe supporte the bodie so doe vertues vpholde the soule Omnia ossa mea dicent Dòmine quis similis tibi All my bones shall say Lord who is like vnto thee Dauid then saying that by his crying his bones waxed old consumed he meaneth that the power of our vertues are weakned by concealing our vices and vaunting of our vertues And old thing must needes be weake such is the state of the soule seeking to hide from God her secret sinnes and all this is the worke of the diuell therefore Et illud erat mutum But blessed bee God who sent his onely begotten Sonne to dissolue this strict bondage crush in peeces this vile snare of the deuill In hoc apparuit filius Dei vt dissoluat opera Diaboli For this cause appeared the Sonne of God that he might loose the works of the diuell therfore we reade that Christ cast the diuel out of the mans body pardoned his sins also Christ came not into the world to take sinners out of it but to take away the sinnes of the worlde which are the workes of the diuell therefore Saint Iohn Baptist sayde not Ecce qui tollit peccatores mundi but Ecce qui tollit peccata mundi The taking away from the worlde of the adulterer the mankiller the couetous vsurer the theefe and the blasphemer that appertaineth to the office of iustice which giueth sentence of hanging beheading burning and other kindes of death prouided for malefactors But Christ came to take from the worlde the sinne not the sinner to weete adulterie pride ambition idolatrie murther vsury such like Christ takes away the sins iustice the sinners but the diuel if he might he woulde take away both vertue and the vertuous too Christ in taking away sinne from the sinner deales as the painter dooth in taking a blemish from his picture with a dexterious hand the perfect vse of his pensill he takes away the offence yet harmeth not the picture God hath
toucht In the booke of examples the ninth distinction and the 57. example it is registred of a man of religious habite but one very vicious in his life who was greatly addicted to the sin of detraction And finding himselfe to waxe very sick hee was exhorted by diuers of his friends to send for some reuerend diuine and betweene God and his soule to remember the bad course of his life past that hee might aduise him to the speedier repentance but he made them answere that he could not doe it because his case was dispatcht already They not giuing him ouer so but still earnestly solliciting him desired him not so much to regard the greeuousnesse of his sinnes as to thinke on the infinite mercies of God who neuer withdrawes his eye from a repentant sinner Suddenly his tongue in this his stiffe impenitencie started out of his head whereat hee making an offer in anger to strike wrote afterward these words with his finger on the wall This wicked tongue is the cause of my damnation Furthermore it is sayd that his tongue continued swelling in such strange manner as hee could by no meanes drawe it back into his mouth but dying in this horrible manner gaue a feareful example of eternall damnation to al detractors Let vs fly then from this diuelish vice and get farre enough off from the like infamous tongues because their wicked company is to be shunned of all men that are weake in vertue Detractoribus ne miscearis Seeke therefore to conuerse and company with such as are grounded in vertue and do hold in due esteem true sanctity of life For as the Sun beames on foule mud is not a iot attainted but brings that moist filthinesse to dry dust Or as good strong wine swallows vp and conuerts water into his own substance And quenched coales are by close keeping quickly kindled againe Euen so doe vertuous men reduce the vitious into perfection without any taint or iniury to their owne goodnesse Lodouico I am of opinion my Lord that it is better keeping off a loofe then comming neere to such diabolicall tongues because we are then more secure that they cannot contaminate vs how weake soeuer we be then we are certaine to win them from their innated vices Saul prophecied among the holy Prophets yet for all that among vile men he was the very vilest Laban by Iacob became exceeding rich in substance but yet was very poor in beleef and goodnesse Potiphar by Ioseph grew euermore to be a maruellous substantiall man but in himselfe he increased the largest measure of wickednesse Wherby we may for a certainty perceiue that the saying of the Lyrick Poet is most true Quo semel est imbuta recens seruabit odorem testa diù Finis Cap. 12. The Argument Murmuring is an infectious sinne worse then any other disease and easie to be taken therefore it behooueth vs to flye the company of talkeatiue detractors because they are the originall of many euilles Whence it is that murmuring first ariseth VVhat punishment God hath inflicted on murmurers who haue leapt out of themselues as it were to fasten hold on other mens imperfections and stealing much lesse then they looked for at last vtterly lost all How they haue ioyned the tongue with the eare how they haue deceiued themselues ouer-much in iudgement by their owne dangerous facility in speaking euill of all men to which God will giue as a chastisement a perpetuall silence With an exhortation of the holy ghost not to defame but to refraine speaking euill of our neighbor Chap. 13. CLAVDIO We neede make no doubt but that it is much better to keep our selues far off then to abide neer such wickednesse knowing our owne weaknesse least while we seek other mens health we foolishly loose our own Neuerthelesse whosoeuer can reduce such tongues to perpetuall silence it wil appeare in him to be a very great office of charity Murmuring is an infectious disease for we may read that Myriam the sister of Moses murmuring and speaking euil against her sayd brother suddenly she became a Leaper quite couered ouer with a white ougly scurfe not much vnlike a fold of snowe And this happened by the iust iudgement of God who appearing in the piller of the cloude after her thundring foorth those disdaynefull speeches in the presence of the two brethren Moses and Aaron Myriam was smitten with the aforenamed leprosie Now albeit Moses and Aaron were great in the fauour of God and laboured him very instantly with their godly prayers for her yet could they not otherwise preuaile but that for seauen dayes she must be sequestred from the people If the punishmēt shold alwayes be inflicted answerable to the sin detraction murmuring beeing such an infectious euil as nothing in the world whatsoeuer sooner hurteth iudge you by the chastisement of Moses sister with leaprosie what should bee layde on such as sinne therein the disease beeing as readye in catching as the lauish tongue is in detracting Lodouico Woorthily in mine opinion was it so ordered to sunder such a byting tongue from all the other people least it might also happen to infect them too For heere was not any regard how euen but a little before they had prophecied in composing this worthy song Cantemus Domino gloriose enim magnificatus est equum ascensorem deiecit in mare We wil sing vnto the Lord for he hath triumphed gloriously the horse and him that rode vpon him hath he throwne in the sea Neither was there any respect made of Moses and Aaron his brother the one a Prince the other the high Priest both beloued of the Lord wherefore thus in iustice the lord did punish her If god shold alwayes thus chastice this great sin there would not be found neither could there be heard so many detracting grudging tongues a meer infectious plague among the people but silence wold be held in more venerable esteem and found to be not so necessary as profitable Cla. It is such a pernicious thing I meane this hellish vice of murmuring that oftentimes of very few words do arise infinite discords for the holy ghost saith by the mouth of Salomon A scintilla vna augetur ignis ab vno doloso augetur sāguis Of one little spark is made a great fire of one deceitful mā is bloud encreased As of one spark a great flame is kindled so by one malitious murmurer greate sins are encreased Sometimes a foolish body puts a spark of fire to the side of a poore mans house without doing any further harme departeth But then there comes another more foolish or rather more malitious then the first who so stirs blowes the little sparke that it breaks forth into a great flame which burnes consumes brings the whole house into ashes If the secōd had not stird blown it the spark perhaps had dyed of
Dauid that hee had slaine king Saul as hoping to haue gotten thereby a great reward because Saul was a most heauie enemy to Dauid But albeit hee was cleerelye innocent of the fact yet notwithstanding hee bare the penaltye of a murderer onelie by belying him selfe and accusing him selfe of a deede which hee neuer thought to doe Whereupon Dauid sayd to him Sanguis tuus super caput tuum Os enim tuum loquutum est aduersum te dicens Ego interfeci Christum Domini Thy bloud be vpon thine owne head for thine own mouth hath testifyed against thee saying I haue slaine the Lordes annointed I say againe that the want of speech is the occasion of much quiet because it is no meane labour to speake well to make answere in due time and to apt purpose to talke gratiously and to giue proportionable gesture to our words to adorne our sayings with comelinesse to deliuer sentences with sweetnes to accompany our speeches with the bodies seemely behauiour sometimes speaking lowde sometimes lowe now sweetlie then more sharplie But this you will say is the labour onely belonging to an Oratour Yet let me tell you that the want of speech in consideration of the many harmes whereinto a man falles by the tongue onely is the chiefe way to much quietnesse and the meanes to preuent innumerable euils Diuers haue desired that they could neuer haue spoken but neuer attained to such a happinesse If Cicero the father of Latine eloquence and Demosthenes the splendour of the Greeke tongue had euer been dumbe both the one and other had longer liued and death had been more sufferable to them and much lesse grieuous Claudio Questionlesse whosoeuer considereth our humane frailcie and how procliue a man is to faile in his speaking will allowe dumbenesse to be farre better then speeche He that hath lost the vse of speech hath also lost the arte of lying the consuetude of deceiuing the instrument of enmitie the organe of quarrelling the sower of slaunders and the broacher of blasphemies Many more are they that by their wordes haue become infamous then by their deedes for there is no part of our body more ready to doe harme and harder to bridle then the tongue of man is Therefore they that know them selues apt to faile thereby and consequently to fall into the vices whereon wee haue so long discoursed me thinkes should rather wish them selues to be dumbe then to couet the engine of their owne vnhappines Lodouico It is very true in regard it is a great treasure to be poore in euill Whereupon we may say and very truely that such as are borne without the vnhappy tongue are borne to be rich and they that haue such a wicked kinde of tongue doe loose for euer the eternall riches Thus by a new way may wee become wealthy loosing by finding and finding by loosing because there is no worse thing then to haue an euill tongue Euen so by consequence there is nothing better then in hauing it to remaine as depriued thereof seeing he that gets much that way looseth much more an other way And the tongue is as a fire which consumeth any thing Labia eius repleta sunt indignatione lingua eius quasi ignis deuorans Claudio But what shall we say if the tongue be not good that many yet haue been found to be of innocent tongues euermore praising therewith their Creator If then to loose an euill tongue is to get great riches to loose a good tongue is to loose greater riches Lodouico Hee that hath lost his tongue hath not lost his heart He remaines onely depriued of that member wherewith hee could appeare pleasing but to men but is not robbed of his heart wherewith he pleaseth God onely Being then not secured by that member which wonne him but the bare pleasing opinion of men it is best for him to preserue the heart carefully whereby hee may be thankefull to God to whom though hee cannot speake with his materiall tongue yet may he liberally and freely expresse his whole heart And if the wicked be said to haue the lippes of the heart how chaunceth it that the iust haue them not also Of the wicked saith Dauid Labia dolosa in corde corde loquuti sunt Flattering with their lippes and speake with a double heart The iust haue the mouth and tongue of the heart wherewith they may freely speake vnto God which made Dauid say of him selfe Non est occultatum os meum à te quod fecisti in occulto My bones are not hid from thee though I was made in a secret place Or as if he should say Lord the mouth of my heart which thou hast created for me in the most secret part of my body from thee it is not hidden because thou searchest into the secrets of the heart and hearest the moouing of the lippes of the thoughtes Dominus autem intuetur cor Praise then the Lord with the tongue of the heart because he is wont to be much more attentiue to that kinde of language then to the other idle talkatiue noise of the voice And in the presence of his omnipotent Maiesty there is no clamour more loude more vehement nor more moouing then that of the heart is because otherwise as we haue already sayd hee onely delighteth in silence This clamour did that Shepheard of his flocke and afterward the guide to numberlesse people Moyses breath foorth when praying in silence with a most earnest spirit his zealous cryes entred the eares of the Almighty which made God himselfe say Quid clamas ad me Wherefore cryest thou vnto me He spake not neither mooued his lippes and yet it is sayd he cryed As we perceiue then that he whom god heares is not dumbe because he speaketh to him with his heart euen so may we say that he who hath lost the tongue of outward crying and of the voyce whereby hee would striue to be vnderstood neyther wantes his materiall tongue nor voyce vocall Moreouer losse of the vse of speech hath been very aduantagious to diuers men because thereby their thoughtes haue had the more gentle freedome Which made King Dauid say that it behooued to set a good watch before the tongue Pone Domine custodiam orimeo ostium circumstantiae labits meis Set a watch O Lord before my mouth and keepe the doore of my lippes Dixi custodiam vias meas vt non delinquam in lingua mea I sayd I will take heede to my waies that I sinne not with my tongue Posui ori meo custodiam dum consisteret peccator aduersum me I will keep my mouth bridled while the wicked is in my sight And Salomon his sonne sayd that it behooueth with all diligence possible to keep the heart as that which is the fountaine of life Omni custodia serua cor tuum quoniam ab ipso vita procedit Keep
Lodouico The mystery must be sought where the letter hath not the sense Some do expoūd that this key is the fulnesse of the knowledge and wisedom of Christ Aimonius saith that this key is the incarnation of the word which as concerning the humanity had originall from Dauid to whom by especiall prerogatiue it was giuen to know the mystery of the incarnation Helimanus sayth that this key is the grace of wisedome arising from Christ the fountain of wisedome Others doo affirme that this keye signifieth the Prelacy and office pastorall which by soundnesse of doctrine accompanied with good example of life opens heauen to the godly And contrariwise by ignorance lewd course of life opēs hel both to the wicked and to themselues Others woulde haue it to bee the power of binding and loosing accompanied bothe with knowledge and order Others would haue it to be christ himselfe who as God here openeth the hart to holy inspirations the vnderstanding to beleefe the will to loue and Paradise to reigne in All which are to be gotten by this key with endlesse sweating innumerable sufferings teares of bloud and infamous death Data est mihi omnis potestas in coelo in terra All power is giuen vnto me in heauen and in earth And perhaps it was of this key the Prophet Esay spake to Eliacim the Priest saying Dabo clauem domus Dauid super humerum eius And the key of the house of Dauid wil I lay vpon his shoulders Claudio What keye is so heauy and ponderous as need shoulde require to lay it on a mans shoulder A keye is vsually caried fastened to the girdle or hid in ones pocket purse bosome or carried in the hand not on the shoulder And so much the rather doo I vrge this question because that the fulnesse of the wisedome of Christe nor the incarnation of the word nor the grace of wisdome nor the office of Prelacie nor the power of binding or loosing nor Christe himself is a weight so burdenous as to be caried on the shoulders of a man Lodouico And yet it is so What greater burthen is there I pray you then that of the Prelate who ought to watch with Argus eyes and haue a vigilant care of his beloued flock making spare of no toyle or discommodity whatsoeuer Sometimes ought he to feed them with the blessed sacraments then with the foode of healthfull doctrine Now must he entice them with celestiall promises thē againe threaten them with eternall paines Sometimes must he go before them in holinesse of life and vertuous examples then againe ought he to follow them with the knotted staffe of repentance Now must he comfort them with sweetest speeches then terrifie them with rough and stearne reprehensions And euen as if he trauailed with them like as a mother dooth with her burthen and afterward had brought them foorth so should he hugge them in his bosome hauing the selfe same loue and respect towards them as a mother hath of her deer esteemed Sonne and of them as of himselfe and for them as for himselfe for rendring of his account in the day of latest iudgement before the highest sheepheard and cheefest Prelate of all euen God himselfe And do you think my Lord that this loade lies lightly vpon the Churchmās shoulders No lesse painefull and greeuous is the power of binding loosing because he to whom such a charge is commitred may by his own ignorance loose both his own and all the soules committed vnder his cure As contrary wise by his wisedom learning and christiā prouidence he may also be the meanes to preserue both them and himselfe The fulnesse of grace in Christ Iesus beside that it is the key and beginning of our saluation because thereby the prophecies were fulfilled types and figures finished sins cancelled faults pardoned grace receiued hell closed heauen opened Moyses lawes concluded and the Gospell declared So was it not a most painfull burthen vnto Christ according to the power of flesh bloud to accōplish so much in himselfe and to be the onely Captaine of so signall a victory Christ himself who alone here vpon earth did open heauen is this key of Dauid according to his humanity descēding from the honorable royal stock of Dauid A key very weighty to weak sēse marueilous burthenous to the diuel a great load to the Gentiles and of infinite poise to the perfidious Iewes Christ truely is that key and the hould fast or handle to this keye was his glorious Crosse made Because thereon hee woulde open the adamantine gates of heauen VVherefore speaking of himselfe he sayde Oportes exaltari filium hominis vt omnis qui credit in ipso non pereat sed habeat vitam aeternam So must the sonne of man be lift vp That whosoeuer beleeueth in him shoulde not perish but haue euerlasting life Before the death of Christ through the lack of this key handle the Crosse which with disgrace he afterward bare for our honour and eternall saluation heauen was continually shut vp by reason of the auncient enmity between God and man Wherupon euery one and very iustly too should whether he would or no haue descended into the darke dungeon of the infernall parts But no sooner was the key Christ fastened to the handle of his Crosse but immediately heauen opened And as a signe of the then present opening at the very same houre that Christ dyed he sayd to the good theefe Hodie mecum eris in paradiso This day thou shalt be with mee in paradise Many would gladly haue entred Paradise before but they cold neuer compasse it because this key was wanting to them Whereupon in regard the gate was adamantine impearceable or else very strictly shut vp they desired either that the walles of heauen might be broken or that he would descend to them vpon earth Vtinam dirumperes coelos descenderes Oh that thou wouldest break the heauens and come downe Or that he would send the Lamb which might appease the Godheades displeasure that peace beeing obtayned heauen might bee opened Emitte Agnum Domine dominatorem terrae Stay a little while sayth God and then I will quickly send you the key Dabo clauem domus Dauid super humerum eius aperiet non erit qui claudat So shal you enter in at the doore as friends and not climb ouer the walles like theeues Claudio But wherfore is Christ called the key of Dauid if Dauid neuer gaue him any key Lodouico Do you not know my Lord that the fortresses placed at our vtmost confines are commonly called the keyes of this kingdome because they are seated in the beginning of the dominion And they being surprized the whole kingdome is easily taken either by besieging or by strength of armes because they are the originall doors and keys of the kingdome So Christ is
soules it is not necessary therfore that he who comes to reprehend should enter our soules house making there a curious enquiry and search after other mens transgressions to compasse occasion of imperious reproouing For Christ giues no such commandement but rather aduiseth vs to staye without doors that is not to charge our neighbours weak consciences with other mens infirmities but if we happen to see our brother sin to correct him charitably so signifieth this conditionall Si If. Lodouico If we our selues are stained with the selfe same transgressions ought we then to imploy our officious tongues in administring correction How can a foule hand make the face cleane except it self be first washed Otherwise the delinquent may vse the wordes of Christ vnto vs Quid vides festucam in oculo fratris tui trabem in oculo tuo non vides Why seest thou the mote that is in thy brothers eye and perceiuest not the beame that is in thine owne eye Or else this other Medice curate ipsum Physitian heale thy selfe For it appeareth that by our correction we may couer our owne proper vices which is no way conuenable in a Christian Claudio In such a case sayth Father Augustin We ought rather to condole and weep with him then come to correct and controâ—le him mutually wishing one another to repentance especially if the sin be publique For it will be a scandale to many for him to be a reproouer that in himselfe deserueth reproouing beside it is a sin of very great pride Lodouico If the delinquents sinne be publique ought the correction notwithstanding to be priuate This breedes in mee a doubt of Christes wordes who onely sayth Si peccauerit in te If he sinne against thee whether any other should be present or no Claudio If the sin be publique the correction should be publique also sayth the Apostle Peccantos coram omnibus argue vt caeteri timorem habeant Them that sinne rebuke openly that the rest also may feare VVe ought therefore to consider well how our brother hath sinned and not blindly go to reprehension till first we be certain of the sin for preuention of others infamy scandall Si peccauerit sayth Christ therefore looke well before and saye nothing Else in saying I thought he had sinned it may fall out as it did to vnaduised Lamech who going on hunting and seeing he knew not what to stir among the leaues imagining it had bin some wild beast there hidden drew his bow and losing his arrow when he supposed he had slaine a saluage beast he found he had slaine his father Caine. VVhereupon repenting himselfe for this ill shot arrowe he sayd to his wiues Adah and Zillah Audite vocem mâ—am vxores Lamech auscultate sermonem meum quoniam occidi virum in vulnus meum adolescentulum in liuore meo Heare my voyce you wiues of Lamech for I would slay a man in my wound and a yoâ—ng man in mine hurt Lodouico If the sin be secret but against a community or a whole State a good mind in me is not enough for reprehension of the offender neither auayleth hope by any respects to drawe him to amendment what correction then should such a one haue Claudio Beeing assured of no fruitefull successe as in this case it cannot bee you ought more to respect the weale publique then a priuate mans condition And in matter of faith not onely the meanest ought in humilitye to reprehende the mightier but in such a case an equall estimate shoulde bee in correction we beeing all Christians and all bound together for defence of the faith As Saint Paule reprooued Saint Peeter being aboue him in regard of the scandall which might arise Reprehendi eum quia reprehensibilis erat He withstoode him to his face for he was to be blamed Therefore sayth the greate doctour of the Church Whensoeuer the daunger of the faith is discerned wee ought to withstand it euen to life it selfe Corripe eum VVe find two seuerall kinds of correction one is the acte of iustice as when the Iudge sentenceth the guiltie and this only beloÌ„geth to theÌ„ in gouernmeÌ„t vpon whose shoulders lies the weight of iustice The other is the act of charity and particularly belongeth to euery man Therfore they which professe religion and yet vsurpe vpon these words they presume on that which appertaineth to the Iudge onely and in stead of their tongue doo strike with a sword Corripe eum inter te ipsum solum Tell him his fault betweene thee and him alone Not like vnto such as set vp writings infamous libels and Pasquilling slanders on publique poasts Corripe eum inter te ipsum solum And not in company of brauers swaggerers sworders and lawlesse quarrellers as seeking that way to please thy mind He sayth Corripe not Occide correct not kill tell him not defame him as now it is become the practise of the world Corripe eum not seeke reuenge because such correction belongeth to God onely VVe are the sonnes of God by adoption therefore let vs doo like vnto a childe when he is any way iniuried first runnes and telles his Father the wrong doone vnto him And the fatheâ— sayth to comfort him Peace my Sonne I will be thy reuenger So when any one hath offended vs let vs freely pardon him neuer mooue a hand to wreake our wrong it is enough for vs that our heauenly father knowes our iniury he will be our iust auenger Mihi vindicta ego retribuam â—is in tempore vengeance is mine and in time I wil repay it No sooner had Cain committed his murder but immediatly God said vox sanguinis fratris tui clamat ad me de terra The voyce of thy brothers bloud crieth vnto me from the earth implying therby that he would be his reuenger Scarsely had Myriam ended her murmuring against her brother Moyses but suddenly the Lorde strooke her with a leaprosie And you my Lord know much better then I how much christ desended Mary Magdalen against Iudas murmuring at the Pharisies supper Also of her sister Martha who lamented that Magdalen would not helpe her in her businesse But what was Christs answer Martha Martha sollicita es turbaris erga plurima Maria optimam partem elegit c. Martha Martha thou carest and art troubled about many things Mary hath chosen the good part So was Iob defended by God against the iniury of his three friends Susanna from the old luxurious Iudges and Dauid from the iniuries of Saul All that we ought to do is to pray vnto the Lord to giue vs patience and to illuminate the vnderstanding of our enemy to the end he may haue knowledge of his error in this kind also ought we brotherly to correct him Corripe eum Lodouico Ought we to
if not that I may know fol. 154. Chap. 27. 22. The voyce 〈…〉 hands of Esau fol. 180 Chap. 1. 8. God called the firmament heauen fol. 192 Chap. 34. 22. 23. If all the men children among vs be circumcised as they are circumcised shall not their flocks their substance and all their cattell be ours fol. 193 Chap. 37. 33. It is my Sons coat a wicked beast hath deuoured him Ioseph is surely torne in pieces fol. 195 Chap. 39. 12. He left his garment in her hand and got him out fol. 196 Chap. 3. 7. They sewed fig tree leaues together and made them selues breeches c. ibid. Chap. 18. 27. I haue begun to speak vnto my Lord and I am but dust and ashes fol. 236 Chap. 3. 24. And at the East side of the garden of Eden he set the Cherubims and the blade of a sword shaken to keep the way of the tree of life fol. 246. Chap 8. 11. And the doue came to him in the Euening and loe in her mouth was an Oliue leafe that she had pluckt whereby Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth fol. 270 Chap. 45. 24. And he said vnto them fall not out by the way fol. 275 Chap. 4. 23. Then Lamech sayd vnto his wiues Adah and Zillah Heare my voice yee wiues of Lamech hearken vnto my speech for I would slaye a man in my wound and a young man in myne hurt fol. 277 Chap. 4. 10. The voyce of thy brothers bloud crieth vnto me from the earth fol. 276 Exodus Chap. 34. 6. The Lord God is strong mercifull and gratious flow to anger and aboundant in goodnesse and truth fol. 58 Chap. 32. 4. 5. 6. These be thy Gods O Israel which brought thee out of the land of Aegypt c. fol. 95. Chap. 15. 1. 2. We wil sing vnto the Lord for he hath triumphed gloriously the horse and him that rode vpon him hath he thrown in the Sea fol. 148 Chap. 8. 2. 3. 4. Behold I wil smite all thy country with frogs And the Riuer shall sâ—rall full of frogs which shall goe vp come into thine house into the chamber where thou sleepest vpon thy bed and into the house of thy seruants and vpon thy people and into thine Oâ—ens and into thy kneading troughs Yea the Frogs shall climb vp vpon thee and on thy people and vpon all thy seruants fol. 157 Chap. 14. 15. Wherefore cryest thou vnto me fol. 220 Chap. 25. 24. 25. And thou shalt couer it with pure gold make thereto a crown of gold round about Thou shalt also make vnto it a border of foure fingers round about and thou shalt make a goulden crowne round about the border thereof fol. 223 Chap. 4. 10. Oh my Lord I am not eloquent neither at any time haue bin nor yet since thou hast spoken vnto thy seruant but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue fol. 229 Chap. 40. 2. The first day of the first moneth thou shalt set vp the Tabernacle called the Tabernacle of the congregation And thou shalt put therein the Arke of the Testimony and couer the Ark with the vaile fol. 246 Leuìticus Chap. 11. 13. These shall ye haue also in abhomination among the Foules they shall not be eaten c. fol. 67 Chap. 24. 14. 16. Bring the blasphemer without the hoast and let all that heard him put their hand vpon his head and let all the congregation stone him And he that blasphemeth the name of the lord shall be put to death fol. 14 Numbers Chap. 19. 15. The vessels that be open and haue no couering fastned vpon them shall be vncleane fol. 26 Chap. 24. 17. There shal come a star of Iacob and a scepter shall arise of Israel c. fol. 51 Chap. 22. 28. 29. 30. What haue I done vnto thee that thou hast smitten me now three times c. fol. 118. 229 Deuteronomy Chap. 22. 11. Thou shalt not weare a garment of diuers sorts as of wollen and linnen together fol. 87 Chap. 22. 24. 25. 26. 27. Because she cryed not being in the City But if a man finde a betrothed maide in the field and force her and lye with her then the man that lay with her shal dye alone And vnto the maide thou shalt doo nothing because there is in the maide no cause of death for as when a man riseth against his neighbour and woundeth him to death so is this matter For he founde her in the field the maide cryed and there was no man to succoure her c. fol. 127. Chap. 14. 15. 19. The Estrich nor the night crow And euery creeping thing that flyeth shall be vncleane vnto yee it shall not be eaten fol. 161 Chap. 6. 16. You shall not tempt the Lord your God fol. 194 Chap. 24. 10. 11. Thou shalt not goe into his house to fetch his pledge But thou shalt stand without and the man that borrwed it of thee shal bring the pledge out of the doors vnto thee fol. 276 Iudges Chap. 14. 18. What is sweeter then hony Chap. 7. 20. The sword of the Lord and of Gedeon fol. 187 1. Samuel Chap. 19. 24. And Saul stript off his garments and he prophecied also before Samuel and fell down naked all that day al that night therfore they say Is Saul also among the Prophets fol. 71 2. Samuel Chap. 1. 16. Thy bloud be vpon thine own head for thine own mouth hath testified against thee saying I haue slaine the Lords annointed fol. 65. 218 Chap. 20. 9. 10. Art thou in health my brother And Ioab tooke Amasa by the beard c. fol. 168s 1. Kings Chap. 19. 9. 10. What dost thou here Elias And he answered I haue bin very zealous for the Lord God of hoasts for the children of Israel haue forsaken thy couenant broken downe thine Altars and slain thy Prophets with the sword and I only am left and they seek my life to take it away c. fol. 73 Chap. 21. 10. And the wicked men witnessed against Naboth in the presence of the people saying Naboth did blaspheme God the king Then they caried him away out of the city and stoned him with stones that he died fol. 211 Chap. 10. 5. She was greatly astonied and there was no more spirit in her fol. 234 2. Kings Chap. 4. 32. 33. 34. Then came Elisha into the house and behold the child was dead and laid vpon his bed He went in therfore and shut the door vpon them twaine and prayed vnto the Lord. After he went vp and lay vpon the child and put his mouth on his mouth his eyes vpon his eyes and his hands vpon his hands and stretched himselfe vpon him and the flesh of the child waxed warm fol. 271 2. Chron. Chap. 32. 15. 16. 17. For none of al the gods of any natioÌ„ or kingdoÌ„ able to deliuer his people out of my hand and out of the hand of my fathers how much lesse
100 Psalm 4. 2. O you sonnes of men how long will you turne my glory into shame louing vanity and seeking lyes ibid. Psalm 132. 11. The Lord hath sworn in truth vnto Dauid and he wil not shrink from it c. ibid. Psalm 145. 18. The Lord is neere vnto all that call vpon him in truth ibid. Psalm 15. 1. 2. 3. Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle who shall rest in thy holy mountaine He that speaketh the truth in his hearte hee that hath no guile in his tongue ibid. Psalm 117. 2. The truth of the Lord endureth for euer fol. 107 Psalm 69. 2. I stick fast in the deep mire fol. 126 Psalm 120. 2. When I was in trouble I called vpon the Lord he heard me ibid. Psalm 35. 10. All my bones shal say Lord who is like vnto thee fol. 131 Psalm 73. 9. They stretch foorth their mouth vnto heauen and their tongue goeth through the world fol. 145 Psalm 50. 21. Thou thoughtst wickedly that I am euen such a one as thy selfe but I will reprooue thee and set before thee the things that thou hast done fol. 152 Psalm 33. 19. Let the vngodly be put to confusion and be put to silence in the graue Let the lying lippes be put to silence ibid. Psalm 31. 20. Which cruelly and disdainfully and despightfully speak against the righteous ibid. Psalm 119. 134. O deliuer me from the slanders of men and I will keep thy precepts ibid. Psalm 105. 30. Their land brought foorth Frogs euen in their kings chambers fol. 157 Psalm 57.5 The children of men whose teeth are speares and arrowes and their tongue a sharp sword fol. 163 Psalm 78. 36. They flattered him with their mouth and dissembled with him with their tongue For their hart was not vpright with him neither were they faithfull in his couenant fol. 170 Psalm 68. 25. The tongue of thy dogs in the bloud of thine enemies fol. 171 Psalm 110. 2. The Lord said vnto my Lord sit thou at my right hand fol. 174 Psalm 73. 24. Thou hast receiued me to glory ibid. Psalm 3. 3. My glory and the lifter vp of my head ibid. Psalm 2. 9. Thou shalt bruise them with a rod of yron breake them in pieces like a potters vessell fol. 175 Psalm 115. 1. Not vnto vs O Lord not vnto vs but vnto thy name giue the glory fol. 176 Psalm 45. 13. Shee is al glorious within her cloathing is of broydered gold fol 195 Psalm 50. 16. 17. Why dost thou preache my lawes and takest my couenant in thy mouth whereas thou hatest to be reformed and hast cast my words behind thee fol. 196 Psalm 36. 8. They shall be satisfied with the fatnesse of thine house and thou shalt giue them drinke out of the riuer of thy pleasures fol. 198 Psalm 119. 55. Blessed are they Lord that dwell in thy house for they shall praise thee for euer and euer fol. 210 Psalm 119. 91. They continue euen to this day by thine ordināces for all are thy seruants fol. 212 Psalm 150. 6. Let euery thing that hath breath prayse the Lord. ibid. Psalm 113. 1. Praise O ye seruants of the Lord praise the name of the Lord. fol. 219 Psalm 139. 15. My bones are not hid from thee though I was made in a secret place fol. 220 Psalm 45. 2. Grace is powred in thy lips because God hath blessed thee for euer fol. 222 Psalm 8. 5. Thou hast crowned him with glory and honour fol. 223 Psalm 115. 5. 6. 7. They haue eyes and see not they haue noses smell not they haue eares and heare not they haue hands and touch not they haue mouthes and eate not fol. 224. Psalm 65. 1. O God prayse waiteth for thee in Sion fol. 231 Psalm 28. 5. They vnderstood not the works of the lord fol. 246 Psalm 129. 3. The plowers plowed vpon my back and made long furrowes fol. 247 Psalm 40. 3. And he hath put in my mouth a new Song of praise vnto our God fol. 248 Psalm 51. 1. Haue mercy vpon me O God according to the multitude of thy compassions fol. 249 Psalm 104. 29. 30. If thou take away their breath they dy and return to their dust Again if thou send foorth thy spirit they are created and thou renewest the face of the earth fol. 254 Psalm 111. 9. The feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome fol. 256 Psalm 10. 6. 7. For he hath said in his hart Tush I shall neuer be cast down there shall no harme happen vnto me His mouth is full of cursing deceipt and fraude vnder his tongue is vngodlinesse and vanity fol. 257 Psalm 14. 3. 4. The Lord looked down from heauen vpon the children of men to see if there were any that would vnderstand and seek after God But they are all gone out of the way they are altogether become abhominable there is none that doeth good no not one fol. 265 Psalm 69. 1. Saue me O God for the waters are com in euen vnto my soule fol. 270 Psalm 107. 18. Their soule abhorred all manner of meat they were euen at deaths door fol. 272 Psalm 73. 21. I was ignorant euen as it were a beast before thee fol. 275 Prouerbs of Salomon Chap. 18. 21. Life and death are in the power of the tongue fol. 4 Chap. 10. 9. The foolish in talk shall be beaten ibid. Chap. 17. 29. A foole when he holdeth his peace is accounted wise and he that stoppeth his lips prudent fol. 5 Chap. 10. 20. In many words there cannot want iniquity but he that refraineth his tongue is wise fol. 11 Chap. 15. 14. A soft answere putteth away wrath but greeuous wordes stirre vp anger A wholesome tongue is a tree of life but the frowardnesse thereof is the breaking of the mind fol. 20 Chap. 25. 29. A man that refraineth not his speech is like a city which is broken down and without wals fol. 22 Chap. 13. 3. He that keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soule from destruction fol. 23 Chap. 18. 4. The words of a wise mans mouth are like deepe waters fol. 30 Chap. 14. 25. VVhere many words are there want attendeth ibid. Chap. 16. 1. The answer of the tongue is of the Lord. fol. 30 Chap. 15. 2. The mouth of a foole babbleth out foolishnesse fol 57 Chap. 12. 18. The tongue of a wise man is health fol. 71 Chap. 27. 6. The wounds of a louer are better then the false kisses of an enemy fol. 86 Chap. 23. 31. 32. Looke not thou vpon the wine when it is red and when it sheweth his colour in the cup it goeth down pleasantly But in the end it will bite like a Serpent and hurt like a Cockatrice fol. 92 Chap. 16. 24. Faire words are as the hony-combes sweetnesse to the soule and health to the bones fol. 129 Chap. 17. 11. A seditious person seeketh only euil a cruel messenger shall be sent against him fol. 141 Chap.