Religion leade all our proiects not follow them let our liues be led in a conscionable obedience to all the Lawes of our Maker Farre be all blasphemies curses and obscenities from our tongues all outrages and violences from our hands all presumptuous rebellious thoughts from our hearts Let our hearts hands tongues liues bodies and soules be sincerely deuoted to him Then for men let vs giue Caesar his owne Tribute feare subiection loyalty and if he need our liues Let the Nobility haue honour obeisance obseruation Let the Clergy haue their dues and our reuerence Let the commons haue truth loue fidelity in all their transactions Let there be trutinae iustae Leu. 19.36 Iust balances iust weights pondera iusta Let there be no grinding of faces no trampling on the poore Amos 5.11 no swallowing of widdowes houses no force no fraud no periury no perfidiousnesse Finally for our selues let euery man possesse his vessell in holinesse and honour framing himselfe to all Christian and heauenly temper in all wisdome sobriety chastity meeknesse constancy moderation patience and sweet contentation so shall the worke of our righteousnesse be peace of heart peace of state priuate and publike peace Peace with our selues peace with the world peace with God temporal peace here eternall peace and glory aboue vnto the fruition wherof he who hath ordained vs mercifully bring vs for the sake of him who is the Prince of Peace Iesus Christ the righteous A COMMON APOLOGIE OF THE CHVRCH OF ENGLAND AGAINST THE VNIVST CHALLENGES OF THE OVER-IVST SECT COMMONLY called BROWNISTS WHEREIN THE GROVNDS AND DEFENCES OF THE SEPARATION are largely discussed Occasioned by a late Pamphlet published vnder the name of AN ANSWER TO A CENSORIOVS EPISTLE Which the Reader shall finde prefixed to the seuerall SECTIONS By IOS HALL LONDON Printed for THOMAS PAVIER MILES FLESHER and John Haviland 1624. TO OVR GRATIOVS AND BLESSED MOTHER THE Church of England THE MEANEST OF HER CHILDREN DEDICATES THIS HER APOLOGIE AND WISHETH ALL PEACE AND HAPPINESSE NO lesse than a yeere and a halfe is past Reuerend Deare and Holy Mother since J wrote a louing monitorie Letter to * * Smith and Robinson two of thine vnworthy Sons which I heard were fled from thee in person in affection and somewhat in opinion Supposing them yet thine in the maine substance though in some circumstances their owne Since which one of them hath washt off thy Font-water as vncleane and hath written desperatly both against Thee and his owne fellowes From the other J receiued not two moneths since a stomack-full Pamphlet besides the priuate iniuries to the Monitor casting vpon thine honourable Name blasphemous imputations of Apostasie Antichristianisme Whoredome Rebellion Mine owne wrongs I could haue contemned in silence Meam iniuriam patienter tuli impietatem contra Sponsam Christi ferre non potui Hieron ad Vigilant but For Sions sake J cannot hold my peace Jf I remember not thee O Ierusalem let my tongue cleaue to the roofe of my mouth It were a shame and sinne for me that my zeale should be lesse hot for thine innocencie than theirs to thy false disgrace How haue J hastened therefore to let the World see thy sincere Truth and their peruerse slanders Vnto thy sacred Name then whereto J haue in all pietie deuoted my selfe I humbly present this my speedie and dutifull labour whereby I hope thy weake Sonnes may bee confirmed the strong encouraged the rebellious shamed And if any shall still obstinatly accurse thee I refer their reuenge vnto thy Glorious Head who hath espoused thee to himselfe in Truth and righteousnesse Let him whose thou art right thee In the meane time we thy true sonnes shall not only defend but magnifie thee Thou maist be blacke but thou art comely the Daughters haue seene thee and counted thee blessed euen the Queene and the Concubines and they haue praised thee thou art thy Welbeloueds and his desire is towards thee So let it be and so let thine be towards him for euer and mine towards you both who am the least of all thy little Ones IOS HALL A COMMON APOLOGIE AGAINST THE BROWNISTS SECTION I. IF TRVTH and PEACE Zacharies two Companions had met in our loue this Controuersie had neuer bin The Entrance into the worke Zach. 8.29 the seuering of these two hath caused this separation for while some vnquiet mindes haue sought Truth without Peace they haue at once lost Truth Peace Loue vs and themselues God knowes how vnwillingly I put my hand to this vnkinde quarrell Nothing so much abates the courage of a Christian as to call his Brother Aduersarie We must doe it Math. 18.7 woe be the men by whom this offence commeth Yet by how much the insultation of a brotherly enemie is more intolerable and the griefe of our blessed Mother greater for the wrong of her owne So much more cause I see to breake this silence If they will haue the last words they may not haue all For our carriage to them They say when Fire Otho Frising ex Philem. Vâ— Chaldeâ—â—â— Ruffin Eccles Hist l. 2. cap. 26. the god of the Chaldees had deuoured all the other woodden Deities that Canopis set vpon him a Caldron full of water whose bottome was deuised with holes stopt with waxe which no sooner felt the flame but gaue way to the quenching of that furious Idoll If the fire of inordinate zeale conceit contention haue consumed al other parts in the separation and cast forth more than Nebuchadnezzars Furnace from their Amsterdam hither Dan. 3. it were well if the waters of our moderation and reason could vanquish yea abate it This little Hin of mine shall be spent that way wee may try and wish but not hope it The spirits of these men are too well knowne to admit any expectation of yeeldâ—nce Since yet both for preuention and necessary defence this taske must be vndertaken * * id Treatis of certaine godly Minist against Bar. I craue nothing of my Reader but patience and iustice of God victory to the Truth as for fauour I wish no more than an enemie would giue against himselfe With this confidence I enter into these lists and turne my pen to an Aduersarie God knowes whether more proud or weake SEP IT is an hard thing euen for sober-minded men in cases of controuersie to vse soberly the aduantages of the times vpon which whilest men are mounted on high they vse to behold such as they oppose too ouerlie and not without contempt and so are oft-times emboldned to roule vpon them as from aloft very weake and weightlesse discourses thinking any sleight and slender opposition sufficient to oppresse those vnderlings whom they haue as they suppose at so great an aduantage Vpon this very presumption it commeth to passe that this Author vndertaketh thus solemnely and seuerely to censure a cause whereof as appeareth in the sequele of the discourse he is vtterly ignorant which had he been
the eares of God then a speechlesse repining of the soule Heat is more intended with keeping in but Aarons silence was no lesse inward He knew how little he should get by brawling with God If he breathed our discontentment he saw God could speake fire to him againe And therefore he quietly submits to the will of God and held his peace because the Lord had done it There is no greater proofe of grace then to smart patiently and humbly and contentedly to rest the heart in the iustice and wisedome of Gods proceeding and to bee so farre from chiding that we dispute not Nature is froward and though shee well knowes we meddle not with our match when we striue with our Maker yet she pricks vs forward to this idle quarrell and bids vs with Iobs wife Curse and dye If God either chide or smite as seruants are charged to their Masters wee may not answer againe when Gods hand is on our backe our hand must be our mouth else as mothers doe their children God shall whip vs so much the more for crying It is hard for a stander by in this case to distinguish betwixt hard-heartednesse and piety There Aaron sees his sonnes lye he may neither put his hand to them to bury them nor shead a teare for their death Neuer parent can haue iuster cause of mourning then to see his sonnes dead in their sinne if prepared and penitent yet who can but sorrow for their end but to part with children to the danger of a second death is worthy of more then teares Yet Aaron must learne so farre to deny nature that he must more magnifie the iustice of God then lament the iudgement Those whom God hath called to his immediate seruice must know that hee will not allow them the common passions and cares of others Nothing is more naturall then sorrow for the death of our owne if euer griefe be seasonable it becomes a funerall And if Nadab and Abihu had dyed in their beds this fauour had been allowed them the sorrow of their Father and Brethren for when God forbids solemne mourning to his Priests ouer the dead hee excepts the cases of this neernesse of blood Now all Israel may mourne for these two only the Father and Brethren may not God is iealous lest their sorrow should seeme to countenance the sinne which he had punished euen the fearfullest acts of God must be applauded by the heauiest hearts of the faithfull That which the Father and Brother may not doe the Cousins are commanded dead carkasses are not for the presence of God His iustice was shewne sufficiently in killing them They are now fit for the graue not the Sanctuary Neither are they caried out naked but in their coats It was an vnusuall sight for Israel to see a linnen Ephod vpon the Beere The iudgement was so much more remarkable because they had the badge of their calling vpon their backs Nothing is either more pleasing vnto God or more commodious to men then that when he hath executed iudgement it should bee seene and wondred at for therefore he strikes some that he may warne all Of AARON and MIRIAM THe Israelites are stayed seuen dayes in the station of Hazzeroth for the punishment of Miriam The sinnes of the gouernors are a iust stop to the people all of them smart in one all must stay the leasure of Miriams recouerie Whosoeuer seekes the Land of Promise shall finde many lets Amalek Og Schon and the Kings of Canaan meet with Israel these resisted but hindred not their passage their sinnes onely stay them from remouing Afflictions are not crosses to vs in the way to heauen in comparison to our sinnes What is this I see Is not this Aaron that was brother in nature and by office ioynt Commissioner with Moses Is not this Aaron that made his Brother an Intercessor for him to God in the case of his Idolatry Is not this Aaron that climbed vp the Hill of Sinai with Moses Is not this Aaron whom the mouth and hand of Moses consecrated an high Priest vnto God Is not this Miriam the elder Sister of Moses Is not this Miriam that led the Triumph of the Women and sung gloriously to the Lord It not this Miriam which layd her Brother Moses in the Reeds and fetcht her Mother to be his Nurse Both Prophets of God both the flesh and blood of Moses And doth this Aaron repine at the honor of him which gaue himselfe that honour and saued his life Doth this Miriam repine at the prosperity of him whose life she saued Who would not haue thought this should haue beene their glory to haue seene the glory of their owne Brother What could haue beene a greater comfort to Miriam then to thinke How happily doth he now sit at the Sterne of Israel whom I saued from perishing in a Boat of Bul-rushes It is to mee that Israel owes this Commander But now enuy hath so blinded their eyes that they can neither see this priuiledge of nature nor the honour of Gods choyce Miriam and Aaron are in mutiny against Moses Who is so holy that sinnes not What sinne is so vnnaturall that the best can auoyde without God But what weaknesse soeuer may plead for Miriam who can but grieue to see Aaron at the end of so many sinnes Of late I saw him caruing the molten Image and consecrating an Altar to a false god now I see him seconding an vnkind mutiny against his Brother Both sinnes find him accessary neither principall It was not in the power of the legall Priesthood to performe or promise innocency to her Ministers It was necessary wee should haue another high Priest which could not bee tainted That King of righteousnesse was of another order He being without sinne hath fully satisfied for the sinnes of men Whom can it now offend to see the blemishes of the Euangelicall Priesthood when Gods first high Priest is thus miscaried Who can looke for loue and prosperity at once when holy and meeke Moses finds enmity in his owne flesh and blood Rather then we shall want A mans enemies shall be those of his owne house Authority cannot fayle of opposition if it be neuer so mildly swayed that common make-bate will rather raise it out of our owne bosome To doe well and heare ill is Princely The Midianitish wife of Moses cost him deare Before she hazarded his life now the fauour of his people Vnequall matches are seldome prosperous Although now this scandall was onely taken Enuy was not wise enough to choose a ground of the quarrell Whether some secret and emulatory brawles passed between Zipporah and Miriam as many times these sparkes of priuate brawles grow into a perillous and common flame or whether now that Iethro and his family was ioyned with Israel there were surmises of transporting the Gouernment to strangers or whether this vnfit choice of Moses is now raised vp to disparage Gods gifts in him Euen in fight the exceptions were
vpheld vs whether by remouing occasions or by casting in good instincts As our good indeuours are oft hindered by Satan so are our euill by good Angels else were not our protection equall to our danger and wee could neither stand nor rise It had beene as easie for the Angell to strike Balaam as to stand in his way and to haue followed him in his starting aside as to stop him in a narrow path But euen the good Angels haue their stints in their executions God had somewhat more to doe with the tongue of Balaam and therefore he will not haue him slaine but withstood and so withstood that hee shall passe It is not so much glory to God to take away wicked men as to vse their euill to his owne holy purposes How soone could the Commander of heauen and earth rid the world of bad members But so should hee lose the praise of working good by euill instruments It sufficeth that the Angels of God resist their actions while their persons continue That no man may maruell to see Balaam haue visions from God and vtter prophecies from him his very Asse hath his eyes opened to see the Angell which his Master could not and his mouth opened to speak more reasonably then his Master There is no beast deserues so much wonder as this of Balaam whose common sense is aduanced aboue the reason of his rider so as for the time the prophet is brutish and the beast propheticall Who can but stand amazed at the eye at the tongue of this silly creature For so dull a sight it was much to see a bodily obiect that were not too apparent but to see that spirit which his rider discerned not was farre beyond nature To heare a voice come from that mouth which was vsed onely to bray it was strange and vncouth but to heare a beast whose nature is noted for incapacity to our reason his Master a professed Prophet is in the very height of miracles Yet can no heart sticke at these that considers the dispensation of the Almighty in both Our eye could no more see a beast then a beast can see an Angell if he had not giuen this power to it How easie is it for him that made the eye of man and beast to dimme or inlighten it at his pleasure And if his power can make the very stones to speake how much more a creature of sense That euill spirit spake in the Serpent to our first Parents Why is it more that a spirit should speake in the mouth of a beast How ordinarily did the heathen receiue their Oracles out of stones trees Do not we our selues teach birds to speak those sentences they vnderstand not We may wonder we cannot distrust when we compare the act with the Author which can as easily create a voice without a body as a body without a voice Who now can hereafte plead his simplicity and dulnesse of apprehending spirituall things when he sees how God exalts the eies of a beast to see a spirit Who can be proud of seeing visions since an Angell appeared to a beast neither was his skinne better after it then others of his kind Who can complaine of his owne rudenesse and inability to reply in a good cause when the very beast is inabled by God to conuince his Master There is no mouth into which God cannot put words and how oft doth hee choose the weake and vnwise to confound the learned and mighty What had it beene better for the Asse to see the Angell if he had rushed still vpon his sword Euils were as good not seen as not auoyded But now he declines the way and saues his burthen It were happy for peruerse sinners if they could learne of this beast to run away from fore-seene iudgements The reuenging Angell stands before vs and though we know we shall as sure die as sin yet we haue not the wit or grace to giue backe though it be with the hurt of a foot to saue the body with the paine of the body to saue the soule I see what fury and stripes the impotent prophet bestowes vpon this poore beast because he will not goe on yet if he had gone on himselfe had perished How oft do we wish those things the not obtaining whereof is mercy We grudge to be staid in the way to death and fly vpon those which oppose our perdition I doe not as who would not expect see Balaams haire stand vpright nor himselfe alighting and appaled at this monster of miracles But as if no new thing had happened he returnes words to the beast full of anger voyd of admiration Whether his trade of sorcering had so inured him to receiue voices from his Familiars in shape of beasts that this euent seemed not strange to him Or whether his rage and couetousnesse had so transported him that he had no leasure to obserue the vnnaturall vnusualnesse of the euent Some men make nothing of those things which ouercome others with honor and astonishment I heare the Angell of God taking notice of the cruelty of Balaam to his beast His first words to the vnmercifull prophet are in expostulating of this wrong We little thinke it but God shall call vs to an account for the vnkind and cruell vsages of his poore mute creatures He hath made vs Lords not tyrants owners not tormenters hee that hath giuen vs leaue to kill them for our vse hath not giuen vs leaue to abuse them at our pleasure they are so our drudges that they are our fellowes by creation It was a signe the Magician would easily wish to strike Israel with a curse when hee wished a sword to strike his harmelesse beast It is ill falling into those hands whom beasts find vnmercifull Notwithstanding these rubs Balaam goes on and is not afraid to ride on that beast whose voice he had heard And now Posts are sped to Balac with the newes of so welcome a ghest Hee that sent Princes to fetch him comes himselfe on the way to meet him Although he can say Am not I able to promote thee yet hee giues this high respect to him as his better from whom hee expected the promotion of himselfe and his people Oh the honour that hath beene formerly done by Heathens to them that haue borne but the face of Prophets I shame and grieue to compare the times and men Onely O God bee thou mercifull to the contempt of thy seruants As if nothing needed but the presence of Balaam the superstitious King out of the ioy of his hope feasts his gods his prophet his Princes and on the morrow caries him vp to the high-places of his Idol Who can doubt whether Balaam were a false prophet that sees him sacrificing in the mount of Baal Had he beene from the true God he would rather haue said Pull me downe these altars of Baal then Build mee here seuen others The very place conuinces him of fashood and Idolatry And why seuen Altars What
but stay not at it The franticke man cannot auoid the imputation of madnesse though he be sober for many Moones if he rage in one So then the calme minde must be setled in an habituall rest not then firme when there is nothing to shake it but then least shaken when it is most assayled SECT III. Insufficiency of humane precepts WHence easily appeares how vainely it hath beene sought either in such a constant estate of outward things as should giue no distaste to the minde whiles all earthly things varie with the weather and haue no stay but in vncertainty or in the naturall temper of the soule so ordered by humane wisdome as that it should not be affected with any casuall euents to either part since that cannot euer by naturall power be held like to it selfe but one while is cheerefull stirring and ready to vndertake another while drowsie dull comfortlesse prone to rest weary of it selfe loathing his owne purposes his owne resolutions In both which since the wisest Philosophers haue grounded all the rules of their Tranquillity it is plaine that they saw it afarre off as they did heauen it selfe with a desire and admiration but knew not the way to it whereupon alas how slight and impotent are the remedies they prescribe for vnquietnesse Senecaes rules of Tranquillity abridged For what is it that for the inconstancie and lazinesse of the minde still displeasing it selfe in what it doth and for that distemper thereof which ariseth from the fearefull vnthriuing and restlesse desires of it wee should euer bee imploying our selues in some publike affaires chusing our businesse according to our inclination and prosecuting what wee haue chosen wherewith being at last cloyed wee should retire our selues and weare the rest of our time in priuate studies that wee should make due comparatiue trials of our owne abilitie nature of our businesses disposition of our chosen friends that in respect of Patrimonie wee should bee but carelesly affected so drawing it in as it may be least for shew most for vse remouing all pompe bridling our hopes cutting off superfluities for crosses to consider that custome will abate and mitigate them that the best things are but chaines and burdens to those that haue them to those that vse them that the worst things haue some mixture of comfort to those that grone vnder them Or leauing these lower rudiments that are giuen to weake and simple nouices to examine those golden rules of Morality which are commended to the most wise and able practitioners what it is to account himselfe as a Tenant at will To fore-imagine the worst in all casuall matters To auoid all idle and impertinent businesses all pragmaticall medling with affaires of State not to fix our selues vpon any one estate as to bee impatient of a change to call backe the minde from outward things and draw it home into it selfe to laugh at and esteeme lightly of others mis-demeanours Not to depend vpon others opinions but to stand on our owne bottomes to carry our selues in an honest and simple truth free from a curious hypocrisie and affectation of seeming other than we are and yet as free from a base kinde of carelesnesse to intermeddle retirednesse wich societie so as one may giue sweetnesse to the other and both to vs So slackning the minde that we may not loosen it and so bending as we may nor breake it to make most of our selues chearing vp our spirits with varietie of recreations with satiety of meales and all other bodily indulgence sauing that drunkennesse mee thinkes can neither beseeme a wise Philosopher to prescribe nor a vertuous man to practise All these in their kindes please well Allowed yet by Seneâ—a in his last chapter of Tranquillitie Senecaes rules reiected as insufficient profit much and are as soueraigne for both these as they are vnable to effect that for which they are propounded Nature teacheth thee all these should be done shee cannot teach thee to doe them and yet doe all these and no more let mee neuer haue rest if thou haue it For neither are here the greatest enemies of our peace so much as descried afarre off nor those that are noted are hereby so preuented that vpon most diligent practice we can promise our selues any security wherewith who so instructed dare confidently giue challenge to all sinister euents is like to some skilfull Fencer who stands vpon his vsuall wards and plaies well but if there come a strange fetch of an vnwonted blow is put besides the rules of his Art and with much shame ouer-taken And for those that are knowne beleeue mee the minde of man is too weake to beare out it selfe hereby against all onsets There are light crosses that will take an easie repulse others yet stronger that shake the house side but breake not in vpon vs others vehement which by force make way to the heart where they finde none breaking open the doore of the soule that denies entrance Others violent that lift the minde off the hindges or rend the bars of it in peeces others furious that teare vp the very foundations from the bottome leauing no monument behinde them but ruine Antonius Pius The wisest and most resolute Moralist that euer was lookt pale when he should taste of his Hemlocke and by his timorousnesse made sport to those that enuied his speculations An Epistle to the Asians concerning the persecuted Christians The best of the Heathen Emperors that was honoured with the title of piety iustly magnified that courage of Christians which made them insult ouer their tormentors and by their fearelesnesse of earth-quakes and deaths argued the truth of their Religion It must be it can be none but a diuine power that can vphold the minde against the rage of maine afflictions and yet the greatest crosses are not the greatest enemies to inward peace Let vs therefore looke vp aboue our selues and from the rules of an higher Art supply the defects of naturall wisdome giuing such infallible directions for tranquillity that whosoeuer shall follow cannot but liue sweetly and with continuall delight applauding himselfe at home when all the world besides him shall be miserable Disposition of the worke To which purpose it shall be requisite first to remoue all causes of vnquietnesse and then to set downe the grounds of our happy rest SECT IV. I Finde on the hand two vniuersall enemies of Tranquillity Enemies of inward peace diuided into their rankes Conscience of euill done Sense or feare of euill sufferred The former in one word we call sinnes the latter Crosses The first of these must be quite taken away the second duely tempered ere the heart can be at rest For first how can that man be at peace that is at variance with God and himselfe How should peace be Gods gift if it could be without him if it could be against him It is the profession of sinne although faire-spoken at the first closing to be
17. and be more neere to heare than to giue the sacrifice of fooles for Pr. 13.13 He that despiseth the Word shall be destroyed but he that feareth the Commandement shall be rewarded §. 7. In a Counsellor of State or Magistrate is required Wisdome Discussing of causes Prouidence and working according to knowledge Pietie Iustice and freed from Partialitie Bribes Oppression WIthout Counsell all our thoughts euen of policie and state come to naught Pr. 15.22 but in the multitude of Counsellors is stedfastnesse and no lesse in their goodnesse 1. Pr. 24 5. Ec 7.2 Pr. 14 33. Pr. 17.24 Pr. in their wisdome which alone giues strength to the owner aboue ten mighty Princes that are in the City a vertue which though it resteth in the heart of him that hath vnderstanding yet is knowne in the mids of fooles For wisdome is in the face of him that hath vnderstanding and in his lips for howsoeuer he that hath knowledge spareth his words yet the tongue of the wise vseth knowledge aright Pr. 15.2 Pr. 24.7 Pr. 26.1 and the foole cannot open his mouth in the gate and therefore is vnfit for authority As snow in summer and raine in haruest so is honour vnseemly for a foole And though it be giuen him how ill it agrees As the closing of a precious stone in an heape of stones Pr. 26.8 so is hee that giues glory to a foole From hence Pr. the good Iusticer both carefully heareth a cause knowing that Hee which answereth a matter before he heare it it is folly and shame to him and that related on both parts Pr. 18.17 Pr. 20.5 for He that is first in his owne cause is iust then commeth his neighbour and maketh inquirie of him and deeply fifteth it else he loseth the truth for The counsell of the heart of a man is like deepe waters but a man that hath vnderstanding will draw it out Pr. 22.3 Ec. 9.15 Pr. 13.16 Ec. 9 17. Pr. 21.22 From hence is his prouidence for the common good not only in seeing the plague and hid ng himselfe but in deliuering the city as he foreseeth so he worketh by knowledge and not in peace only as The words of the wise are more heard in quietnesse than the cry of him that ruleth among fooles but in warre A wise man goeth vp into the City of the mighty and casteth downe the strength of the confidence thereof For wisdome is better than strength Ec. 9.16 Ec. 9.18 Ec. 9.13 Ec. 9.14 Ec. 9.15 yea than weapons of warre I haue seene this wisdome vnder the Sunne and it is great vnto me A little City and men in it and a great King came against it and compassed it about and builded forts against it and there was found in it a poore and wise man and hee deliuered the City by his wisdome Neither can there be true wisdome in any Counsellor Pr. 14.16 Pr. 21.30 Pr. 11.3 Pr. without piety The wise man feareth and departs from euill being well assured that there is no wisdome nor vnderstanding nor counsell against the Lord and that Man cannot bee established by wickednesse and indeed how oft doth God so dispose of estates that the euill shall bow before the good and the wicked at the gates of the righteous neither is this more iust with God than acceptable with men for when the righteous reioyce Pr. 18.12 Pr. 29.2 Pr. 28.12 Pr. 28.28 Pr. 29.2 Pr. 25.26 Pr. Pr. 28.11 Pr. 24.23 there is great glory and when they are in authority the people reioyce contrarily when the wicked comes on and rises vp and beares rule the man is tryed the good hide themselues and all the people sigh and the righteous man falling downe before the wicked is like a troubled Well and a corrupt Spring Neither is Iustice lesse essentiall than either for to doe iustice and iudgement is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice To know faces therefore in a Iudge is not good for that man will transgresse for a peece of bread much lesse to accept the person of the wicked Pr. 18.5 to cause the righteous to fall in iudgement He that saith to the wicked Thou art righteous him shall the people curse and the multitude shall abhorre him Yea yet higher Pr. 24.24 Pr. 17.15 Pr. 17.23 Pr. 18.16 Hee that iustifieth the wicked and condemneth the iust both are an abomination to the Lord. Wherefore howsoeuer The wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosome to wrest the waies of iudgement and commonly A mans gift inlargeth him and leadeth him with approbation before greatmen yet he knoweth that the reward destroyeth the heart Ec. 7.9 Pr. 12.7 Pr. 15.27 Pr. 21.15 Pr. 19.15 Pr. 21.11 Pr. 21.2 Ec. 14.5 Pr. 12.17 Pr. 18.17 Pr. 19.5 Pr. 19.9 Pr. Pr. 14.31 Pr. 22.22 Pr. 24.26 that the acceptance of it is but the robbery of the wicked which shall destroy them because they haue refused to execute iudgement he hateth gifts then that he may liue and it is a ioy to him to doe iudgement He doth vnpartially smite the scorner yea seuerely punish him that the wickedly foolish may beware and become wise And where as Euery way of a man is right in his owne eies and a false record will speake lies and vse deceit he so maketh inquirie that a false witnesse shall not bee vnpunished and he that speaketh lies shall perish Lastly his hand is free from oppression of his inferiours which as it makes a wise man madde so the actor of it miserable for He that oppresseth the poore reproueth him that made him and if the afflicted be opprest in iudgement the Lord will defend their cause and spoile the soule that spoileth them and vpon all occasions he so determineth that they shall kisse the lips of him that answereth vpright words SALOMONS COVRTIER §. 8. Must bee Discreet Religious Humble Charitable Diligent Faithfull IN the light of the Kings countenance is life Pr. 16.15 Pr. 19.12 and his fauour is as the cloud of the latter raine or as the dew vpon the grasse which that the Courtier may purchase hee must be 1. Discreet The pleasure of a King is in a wise seruant Pr. 14.35 Pr. 22.11 Pr. 11.27 Pr. 12.26 Pr. 22.4 Pr. 15.33 Pr. 25.6 Pr. 25.7 Pr. 25.15 but his wrath shall be towards him that is lewd 2. Religious both in heart Hee that loueth purenesse of heart for the grace of the lips the King shall be his friend and in his actions He that seeketh good things getteth fauour in both which the righteous is more excellent than his neighbour and besides these humble The reward whereof is glory for before glory goeth humility He dare not therefore boast himselfe before the King and thrust himselfe ouer-forward in the presence of the Prince whom his eies doe see whom he see moued he pacifieth by staying of anger and by a soft answer breaketh a man of bone not aggrauating
fallen how to strike a remorslesse The other in a distinct iudgement and a rare dexterity in clearing the obscure subtleties of the Schoole and easie explication of the most perplex discourses Doctor Reynolds is the last not in worth but in the time of his losse Hee alone was a well furnisht library full of all faculties of all studies of all learning the memory the reading of that man were neer to a miracle These are gone amongst many more whom the Church mournes for in secret would God her losse could be as easily supplied as lamented Her sorrow is for those that are past her remainder of ioy in those that remaine her hope in the next age I pray God the causes of her hope and ioy may be equivalent to those of her griefe What should this worke in vs but an imitation yea that word is not too bigge for you an emulation of their worthinesse It is no pride for a man to wish himselfe spiritually better then he dare hope to reach nay I am deceiued if it be not true humility For what doth this argue him but low in his conceit high in his desires only Or if so happy is the ambition of grace and power of sincere seruiceablenesse to God Let vs wish and affect this while the world layes plots for greatnesse Let me not prosper if I bestow enuy on them He is great that is good and no man me-thinkes is happy on earth to him that hath grace for substance and learning for ornament If you know it not the Church our mother lookes for much at your hands she knowes how rich our common father hath left you she notes your graces your opportunities your imployments she thinks you are gone so farre like a good Merchant for no small gaine and lookes you shall come home well laded And for vent of your present commodities tho our chiefe hope of successe be cut off with that vnhoped peace yet what can hinder your priuate trafficke for God I hope and who doth not that this blow will leaue in your noble Venetians a perpetuall scarre and that their late irresolution shall make them euer capable of all better counsell and haue his worke like some great Eclipse many yeares after How happy were it for Venice if as she is euery yeare maried to the Sea so she were once throughly espoused to Christ In the meane time let me perswade you to gratifie vs at home with the publication of that your exquisit Polemicall discourse whereto our conference with M. Alablaster gaue so happy an occasion You shall hereby cleare many truths and satisfie all Readers yea I doubt not but an aduersary not too peruerse shall acknowledge the Truths victory and yours It was wholsome counsell of a Father that in the time of an heresie euery man should write Perhaps you complain of the inundations of Francford How many haue been discouraged from benefiting the world be this conceit of multitude Indeed we all write and while we write cry out of number How well might many be spared euen of those that complaine of too many whose importunate babling cloyes the world without vse To my Lord the Earle of Essex EP. VIII Aduice for his Trauels MY Lord both my dutie and promise make my Letters your debt and if neither of these my thirst of your good You shall neuer but need good counsell most in trauell Then are both our dangers greater and our hopes I need not to tell you the eyes of the world are much vpon you for your owne sake for your fathers onely let your eyes be vpon it againe to obserue it to satisfie it and in some cases to contemn it As your graces so your weaknesses will be the sooner spied by how much you are more noted The higher any building is the more it requires exquisit proportion which in some low and rude piles is needlesse If your vertues shall be eminent like your fathers you cannot so hide your selfe but the world will see you and force vpon you applause admiration in spight of modesty but if you shall come short in these your fathers perfection shall be your blemish Thinke now that more eyes are vpon you then at home of forrainers of your owne theirs to obserue ours to expect For now we account you in the Schoole of wisedome whence if you returne not better you shall worse with the losse of your time of our hopes For I know not how naturall it is to vs to looke for alteration in trauell and with the change of aire and land to presuppose a change in the person Now you are through both your yeeres and trauell in the forge of your hopes We all looke not without desire and apprecation in what shape you will come forth Thinke it not enough that you see or can say you haue seene strange things of nature or euent it is a vaine and dead trauell that rests in the eye or the tongue All is but lost vnlesse your busie mind shall from the body that it sees draw forth some quintessence of obseruation wherewith to informe inrich it selfe There is nothing can quite the cost and labour of trauell but the gaine of wisedome How many haue we seene and pittied which haue brought nothing from forrain countries but mishapen clothes or exoticall gestures or new games or affected lispings or the diseases of the place or which is worst the vices These men haue at once wandred from their countrie and from themselues and some of them too easie to instance haue left God behind them or perhaps instead of him haue after a loose and filthy life brought home some idle Puppet in a box whereon to spend their deuotion Let their wracke warne you and let their follies be entertained by you with more detestation then pittie I know your Honour too well to feare you your young yeares haue beene so graciously preuented with soueraigne antidotes of truth and holy instruction that this infection despaires of preuailing Your very blood giues you argument of safety yet good counsell is not vnseasonable euen where danger is not suspected For Gods sake my Lord whatsoeuer you gaine lose nothing of the truth remit nothing of your loue and pietie to God of your fauour and zeale to religion As sure as there is a God you were trained vp in the true knowledge of him If either Angell or Deuill or Iesuit should suggest the contrary send him away with defiance There you see and heare euery day the true mother and the fained striuing and pleading for the liuing child The true Prince of peace hath past sentence from heauen on our side Doe not you stoope so much as to a doubt or motion of irresolution Abandon those from your table and salt whom your owne and others experience shall descry dangerous Those Serpents are full of insinuations But of all those of your owne country which are so much the more pernicious by how much they haue more colour
And if wee could but as heartily haue prayed for him before as we haue heartily wept for him since perhaps we had not had this cause of mourning From sorrow let vs descend to paines which is no small cause of crying and teares as I feare some of vs must the word howsoeuer it is here translated is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 labour I must confesse labour and paine are neere one another whence we say that he which labours takes paines and contrarily that a woman is in labour or trauell when shee is in the paine of child-birth teares cannot be wip't away whiles toile remaines That the Israelites may leaue crying they must bee deliuered from the brick-kilnes of Aegypt Indeed God had in our creation allotted vs labour without paine but when once sinne came into the soule paine seized vpon the bones and the minde was possessed with a wearinesse and irksome loathing of what it must do and euer since sorrow and labour haue beene inseparable attendants vpon the life of man Insomuch as God when he would describe to vs the happy estate of the dead does it in those termes They shall rest from their labours Looke into the field there you shall see toiling at the plough and sithe Looke into the waters there you see tugging at the oares and cabels Looke into the City there you see plodding in the streets sweating in the shops Looke into the studies there you see fixing of eyes tossing of bookes scratching the head palenesse infirmity Looke into the Court there you see tedious attendance emulatory officiousnesse All things are full of labour and labour is full of sorrow If we doe nothing idlenesse is wearisome if any thing worke is wearisome in one or both of these the best of life is consumed Who now can bee in loue with a life that hath nothing in it but crying and teares in the entrance death in the conclusion labour and paine in the continuance and sorrow in all these What Gally-slaue but we would be in loue with our chaine what prisoner would delight in his dungeon How hath our infidelity besotted vs if we doe not long after that happy estate of our immortality wherein all our teares shall be wip't away and we at once freed from labour sorrow and death Now as it is vaine to hope for this till then so then not to hope for it is paganish and brutish He that hath tasked vs with these penances hath vndertaken to release vs. God shall wipe away all teares While we stay here he keepes all our teares in a bottle Psal 56. so precious is the water that is distilled from penitent eies and because he will be sure not to faile he notes how many drops there be in his register It was a pretious ointment wherewith the woman in the Pharises house it is thought Mary Magdalene anointed the feet of Christ Luke 7.37 but her teares wherewith shee washt them were more worth than her spilâ—nard But that which is here precious is there vnseasonable then hee shall wipe away those which here hee would saue As death so passions are the companions of infirmity whereupon some that haue beene too nice haue called those which were incident into Christ Propassions not considering that he which was capable of death might be as well of passions These troublesome affections of griefe feare and such like doe not fall into glorified soules It is true that they haue loue desire ioy in their greatest perfection yea they could not haue perfection without them but like as God loues and hates and reioyces truly but in a manner of his owne abstracted from all infirmity and passion so doe his glorified Saints in imitation of him There therefore as we cannot die so wee cannot grieue we cannot be afflicted Here one saies My belly my belly with the Prophet another mine head mine head with the Shunamites sonne another my sonne my sonne as Dauid another my father my father with Elisha One cries out of his sinnes with Dauid another of his hunger with Esau another of an ill wife with Iob another of trecherous friends 2 Kings 4. with the Psalmist One of a sore in body with Ezechias another of a troubled soule with our Sauiour in the garden euery one hath some complaint or other to make his cheekes wet and his heart heauy Stay but a while and there shall be none of these There shall be no crying no complaining in the streets of the new Ierusalem No axe no hammer shall be heard within this heauenly Temple Why are we not content to weepe here a while on condition that we may weepe no more Why are we not ambitious of this blessed ease Certainly we doe not smart enough with our euils that we are not desirous of rest These teares are not yet dry yet they are ready to be ouertaken by others for our particular afflictions Miseries as the Psalmist compares them are like waues which breake one vpon another and tosse vs with a perpetuall vexation and we vaine men shall we not wish to be in our hauen Are we sicke and grieue to thinke of remedie Are we still dying and are wee loth to thinke of life Oh this miserable vnbeleefe that tho we see a glorious heauen aboue vs yet we are vnwilling to go to it we see a wearisome world about vs and yet are loth to thinke of leauing it This gracious master of ours whose dissolution is ours while he was here amongst vs his princely crowne could not keepe his head from paine his golden rod could not driue away his feuers now is hee freed from all his aches agues stitches convulsions cold sweats now he triumphs in glory amongst the Angels and Saints now he walkes in white robes and attends on the glorious bridegroome of the Church and doe we thinke he would be content now for all the kingdomes of the world to be as he was We that professe it was our ioy and honour to follow him whither soeuer he had gone In his disports in his warres in his trauels why are we not now ambitious of following him to his better crowne yea of raigning together with him for heauen admits of this equality in that glory wherein he raignes with his Sauiour ours Why doe we not now heartily with him that was rauished into the third heauan say Cupio dissolui esse cum Christo not barely to be dissolued a malecontent may doe so but therefore to be dissolued that we may be with Christ possessed of his euerlasting glory where we shall not onely not weepe but reioyce and sing Halleluiahs for euer not onely not die but enioy a blessed and heauenly life Euen so Lord Iesus come quickly Now if any man shall aske the Disciples question Master when shall these things be the celestiall voyce tels him it must bee vpon a change For the first things are passed It shall be in part so soone as euer our first things our life
skin of Vertue and lookes louely Vertue as often comes forth like a Martyr in the Inquisition with a San-benit vpon her backe and a cap painted with Deuils vpon her head to make her vgly to the beholders Iudge not therefore according to the appearance The appearance or face is of things as of men We see it at once with one cast of the eye yet there are angles and hils and dales which vpon more earnest view the eye sees cause to dwell in so it is with this appearance or face of things which how-euer it seemes wholly to appeare to vs at the first glance yet vpon further search will descry much matter of our inquiry For euery thing from the skin inclusiuely to the heart is the face euery thing besides true being is appearance All the false 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that vse to beguile the iudgement of man hide themselues vnder this appearance These reduce themselues to three heads Presumptions false Formes Euents Presumptions must be distinguished for whereas there are three degrees of them first levia Probabilia light Probabilities then faire Probabilities and thirdly strong Probabilities which are called Indicia iuris the two first are allowed by very Inquisitors but as sufficient to cause suspicion to take information to attache the suspected not enough whereon to ground the Libell or the torture much lesse a finall Iudgement Thus Elie sees Annaes lips goe therefore she is drunke The Pharises see Christ sit with sinners he is a friend to their sins False formes are presented either to the eye or to the eare In the former besides supernaturall delusions there is a deceit of the sight whether through the indisposition of the Organ or the distance of the Obiect or the mis-disposition of the medium So as if we should iudge according to appearance the Sunne should double it selfe by the first through the crossenesse of the eye it should diminish it selfe by the second and seeme as big as a large Siue or no large Cart wheele at the most It should dance in the rising and moue irregularly by the third To the eare are mis-reports and false suggestions whether concerning the person or the cause In the former the calumniating tongue of the Detractor is the Iugler that makes any mans honestie or worth appeare such as his malice listeth In the latter the smooth tongue of the subtile Rhetorician is the Impostor which makes causes appeare to the vnsetled iudgement such as his wit or fauour pleaseth Euents which are oft-times as much against the intention and aboue the remedie of the Agent as besides the nature of the Act There is sometimes a good euent of euill as Iasons aduersary cured him in stabbing him the Israelites thriue by oppression the Field of the Church yeelds most when it is manured with bloud There is sometimes an ill euent of good Ahimelec giues Dauid the Shew-bread and the Sword hee and his family dies for it Sapientis est praestare culpam It is enough for a wise man to weild the Act the issue he cannot Wisdome makes demonstratiue Syllogismes à priori from the causes folly Paralogismes à posteriori from the successe Careat successibus opto quisquie ab euentu c. was of old the word of the Heathen Poet. If therefore either vpon sleight probabilities or false formes or subsequent euents wee passe our verdict wee doe what is here forbidden Iudge according to appearance Had the charge beene onely Iudge not and gone no further it had beene very vsefull and no other than our Sauiour gaue in the Mount wee are all on our way Euery man makes himselfe a Iustice Itinerant and passeth sentence of all that comes before him yea beyond all commission of all aboue him and that many times not without grosse mis-construction as in the case of our late directions Our very Iudges are at our barre Secrets of Court of Counsell of State escape vs not yea not those of the most reserued Cabinet of Heauen Quis te constituit Iudicem Who made thee a Iudge as the Israelite vniustly to Moses These are sawcy vsurpers of forbidden Chaires and therefore it is iust with God that according to the Psalmist such Iudges should be cast downe in stony places yea as it is in the Originall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they should be left in the hands of the rocke allidantur Petrae that they should be dasht against the rocks that will be sailing without Card or compasse in the vast Ocean of Gods Counsels or his Anointeds But now here our Sauiour seales our Commission sets vs vpon the Bench allowes vs the act but takes order for the manner we may iudge we may not iudge according to the appearance wee may bee Iudges whether 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the one to condemne the other to absolue wee may not bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iudges of euill thoughts and we shall be euill-thoughted Iudges if we shall iudge according to the appearance Not only Fortune and Loue but euen Iustice also is wont to be painted blindfold to import that it may not regard faces God sayes to euery Iudge as he did to Samuel concerning Eliab Looke not on his countenance nor the height of his stature Is an outragious rape committed Is bloud shed Looke not whether it be a Courtiers or a Pesants whether by a Courtier or a Pesant either of them cries equally loud to heauen Iustice cannot be too Lyncean to the being of things nor too blinde to the appearance The best things appeare not the worst appeare most God the Angels soules both glorified and encaged in our bosomes grace supernaturall truths these are most-what the obiects of our faith and faith is the euidence of things not seeene Like as in bodily obiects the more pure and simple ought is as aire and ethereall fire the more it flyeth the sight the more grosse and compacted as water and earth the more it fils the eye Iudge not therefore according to appearance It is an vsefull and excellent rule for the auoiding of errour in our iudgement of all matters whether Naturall Ciuill or Diuine Naturall what is the appearance of a person but the colour shape stature The colour is oft-times bought or borrowed the shape forced by Art the stature raised to contradict Christ a cubit high Iudge not therfore according to appearance What are the collusions of Iuglers and Mountebanks the weepings and motions of Images the noyses of miraculous cures and dispossessions but appearances Fit aliquando in Ecclesiâ maxima deceptio populi in miraculis fictis à sacerdotibus There is much cozenage of the poore people by cogged miracles saith Cardinall Lyranus these holy frauds could not gull men if they did not iudge according to appearance Should appearance bee the rule our haruest had beene rich there was not more shew of plenty in our fields than now of scarcity in our streets This dearth to say truth is not
where must at once vtterly fall off from that Church where that Man of Sinne sitteth His fall depends on the fall of others or rather their rising from vnder him If neither of these must be sudden why is your haste But this must not be yet ought as there must be heresies yet there ought not It is one thing what God hath secretly decreed another what must be desired of vs If we could pull that Harlot from her seat and put her to Iesabels death it were happy Haue wee not endeuored it What speake you of the highest Towers and strongest pillars or tottering remainders of Babylon wee shew you all her roofes bare her walles razed her vaults digged vp her Monuments defaced her Altars sacrificed to desolation Shortly all her buildings demolished not a stone vpon a stone saue in rude heapes to tell that here once was Babylon Your strife goes about to build againe that her tower of confusion God diuides your languages It will be well if yet you build not more than we haue reserued SEP You haue renounced many false doctrines in Poperie and in their places embraced the truth But what if this truth be taught vnder the same hatefull Prelacie in the same deuised office of Ministerie and confused communion of the prophane multitude and that mingled with many errors SECTION XXVI THe maine grounds of Separation YOu will now bee free both in your profession and gift You giue vs to haue renounced many false doctrines in Popery and to haue embraced so many truths we take it vntill more You professe where you sticke what you mislike In these foure famous heads which you haue learned by heart from all your predecessors An hatefull Prelacie Barr. and Gr. against Gyffe Confer Exam passim Penry in his Exam. Exo. 1.2 3 c. Ierem. 20.1 Ierem. 5. vlt. A deuised Ministerie a confused and profane communion and lastly the intermixture of grieuous errors What if this truth were taught vnder a hatefull Prelacie Suppose it were so Must I not imbrace the truth because I hate the Prelacie What if Israel liue vnder the hatefull Aegyptians What if Ieremie liue vnder hatefull Pashur What if the Iewes liue vnder an hatefull Priesthood What if the Disciples liue vnder hatefull Scribes What are others persons to my profession If I may be freely allowed to bee a true professed Christian what care I vnder whose hands But why is our Prelacie hatefull Actiuely to you or passiuely from you In that it hates you Would God you were not more your owne enemies Or rather because you hate it your hatred is neither any newes nor paine Who or what of ours is not hatefull to you Our Churches Bells Clothes Sacraments Preachings Prayers Singings Catechismes Courts Meetings Burials Marriages It is maruell that our aire infects not and that our heauen and earth as Optatus said of the Donatists escape your hatred Iohns praef to his 7. Reas Not the forwardest of our Preachers as you terme them haue found any other entertainment no enemie could bee more spightfull I spsake it to your shame Rome it selfe in diuers controuersarie discourses hath bewrayed lesse gall than Amsterdam the better they are to others you professe they are the worse Iohns 7. Reas p. 66. Tit. 3.4 yea would to God that of Paul were not verified of you hatefull and hating one another but we haue learned that of wise Christians not the measure of hatred should be respected Psal 69.4 but the desert Dauid is hated for no cause Michaiab for a good cause Your causes shall be examined in their places onwards It were happy if you hated your owne sinnes more and peace lesse our Prelacie would trouble you lesse and you the Church SECTION XXVII FOr our deuised office of Ministery you haue giuen it a true title The truth and warrant of the Ministery of England Mat. 28.19 Ephes 4.11 â— Tim. 2.2 1 Tim. 3.1 Act. 13. 1 Tim. 3.6 1 Tim. 5.22 1 Tim. 2.15 Discourse of the trouble and Excom at Amst It was deuised indeed by our Sauiour when he said Goe teach all Nations and baptize and performed in continuance when he gaue some to be Pastors and Teachers and not onely the Office of Ministery in generall but ours whom he hath made able to teach and desirous separated vs for this cause to the work vpon due triall admitted vs ordained vs by imposition of hands of the Eldership and praier directed vs in the right diuision of the Word committed a charge to vs followed our Ministery with power and blessed our labours with gracious successe euen in the hearts of those whose tongues are thus busie to deny the truth of our vocation Behold here the deuised Office of our Ministery What can you deuise against this Your Pastor who as his brother writes hopes to worke wonders by his Logicall skill hath killed vs with seuen Arguments which he professeth the quintessence of his owne and Penries extractions whereto your Doctor refers vs as absolute I would it were not tedious or worth a Readers labour to see them scanned I protest before God and the world I neuer read more grosse stuffe so boldly and peremptorily faced out so full of Tautologies and beggings of the Question neuer to be yeelded Let me mention the maine heads of them and for the rest be sorry that I may not be endlesse To proue therefore that no communion may be had with the Ministery of the Church of England he vses these seuen demonstrations First Certaine Arg. against the Minist of England Counterpoys Because it is not that Ministery which Christ gaue and set in his Church Secondly Because it is the Ministery of Antichrists Apostasie Thirdly Because none can communicate with the Ministery of England but he worships the Beasts image and yeeldeth spirituall subiection to Antichrist Fourthly Because this Ministery deriueth not their power and function from Christ Fiftly Because they minister the holy things of God by vertue of a false spirituall calling Sixtly Because it is a strange Ministery not appointed by God in his word Seuenthly Because it is not from Heauen but from Men. Now I beseech thee Christian Reader iudge whether that which this man was wont so oft to obiect to his brother a crackt braine appeare not plainely in this goodly equipage of reasons For what is all this but one and the same thing tumbled seuen times ouer which yet with seuen thousand times babbling shall neuer be the more probable That our Ministery was not giuen and set in the Church by Christ but Antichristian what is it else to be from men to be strange to be a false spirituall calling not to be deriued from Christ to worship the image of the Beast So this great challenger that hath abridged his nine arguments to seuen might aswell haue abridged his seuen to one a halfe Here would haue beene as much substance but lesse glory As for his maine defence First
man could not set forth his foot but into the iawes of death when piles of carcasses were caried to their pits as dung to the fields when it was cruelty in the sicke to admit visitation and loue was little better then murderous And by how much more sad and horrible the face of those euill times looked so much greater proclaime you the mercy of God in this happy freedome which you now enioy that you now throng together into Gods House without feare and breathe in one anothers face without danger The second is the wonderfull plenty of all prouisions both spirituall and bodily You are the Sea all the Riuers of the land runne into you Of the land Yea of the whole world Sea and land conspire to inrich you The third is the priuiledge of carefull gouernment Your Charters as they are large and strong wherein the fauour of Princes hath made exceptions from the generall rules of their municipall lawes so your forme of administration is excellent and the execution of Iustice exemplary and such as might become the mother Citie of the whole earth For all these you haue reason to aske Quid retribuam with Dauid What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits and to excite one another vnto thankfulnesse with that sweet Singer of Israel O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodnesse And as beneficence is a binder these fauours of God call for your confidence What should you doe but euer trust that God whom you haue found so gracious Let him bee your God be ye his people for euer and let him make this free and open challenge to you all If there be any power in heauen or in earth that can doe more for you then hee hath done let him haue your hearts and your selues That they doe good and be rich in good workes And thus from that dutie we owe to God in our confidence and his beneficence to vs we descend to that beneficence which we owe to men expressed in the variety of foure Epithets Doing good being rich in good workes ready to distribute willing to communicate all to one sense all is but beneficence The Scriptures of God lest any Atheist should quarrell at this waste haue not one word superfluous Here is a redoubling of the same words without fault of Tautologie a redoubling of the same sense in diuers words without idlenesse There is feruor in these repetitions not loosenesse as it was wont for this cause to be obserued both in Councels and acclamations to Princes how oft the same word was reiterated that by the frequence they might iudge of the vehemence of affection It were easie to instance in many of this kind as especially Exodus 25.35 Psalme 89.30 Iohn 1.20 and so many more as that their mention could not be voide of that superfluity which we disclaime This heape of words therefore shewes the vehement intention of his desire of good workes and the important necessity of their performance and the manner of this expression inforces no lesse Charge the rich that the doe good and be rich in doing good Harken then yee rich men of the world it is not left arbitrary to you that you may doe good if you will but it is laid vpon you as your charge and duty You must doe good works and woe be to you if you doe not This is not a counsell but a precept Although I might say of God as we vse to say of Princes his will is his command The same necessity that there is of Trusting in God the same is in Doing good to men Let me sling this stone into the brazen foreheads of our aduersaries which in their shamelesse challenges of our Religion dare tell the world we are all for faith nothing for works and that we hold workes to saluation as a Parenthesis to a clause that it may be perfit without them Heauen and earth shall witnesse the iniustice of this calumniation and your consciences shall bee our compurgators this day which shall testifie to you both now and on your death-beds that we haue taught you there is no lesse necessitie of good works then if you should be saued by them and that though you cannot be saued by them as the meritorious causes of your glory yet that you cannot be saued without them as the necessarie effects of that grace which brings glory It is an hard sentence of some Casuists concerning their fellowes that but a few rich mens Confessors shall bee saued I imagine for that they dawbe vp their consciences with vntempered morter and sooth them vp in their sins Let this be the care of them whom it concerneth For vs wee desire to bee faithfull to God and you and tell you roundly what you must trust to Doe good therefore yee rich if euer yee looke to receiue good if euer yee looke to bee rich in heauen bee rich in good works vpon earth It is a shame to heare of a rich man that dyes and makes his will of thousands and bequeaths nothing to pious and charitable vses God and the poore are no part of his heyre We doe not houer ouer your expiring soules on your death-beds as Rauens ouer a carkasse wee doe not begge for a Couent nor fright you with Purgatory nor chaffer with you for that inuisible treasure of the Church whereof there is but one Key-keeper at Rome but wee tell you that the making of friends with this Mammon of vnrighteousnesse is the way to eternall habitations They say of Cyrus that he was wont to say he laid vp treasures for himself whiles he made his friends rich but we say to you that you lay vp treasures for your selues in heauen whiles you make the poore your friends vpon earth We tell you there must be a Date ere there can be a Dabitur that he which giues to the poore lends vpon vse to the Lord which payes large increase for all he borrows and how shal he giue you the Interest of glory where he hath not receiued the Principall of beneficence How can that man euer looke to be Gods heyre in the Kingdome of heauen that giues all away to his earthly heyres and lends nothing to the God of heauen As that witty Grecian said of extreame tall men that they were Cypresse-trees 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. faire and tall but fruitlesse so may I say of a strait-handed rich man And these Cypresses are not for the Garden of Paradise none shall euer be planted there but the fruitfull And if the first Paradise had any trees in it onely for pleasure I am sure the second which is in the midst of the new Ierusalem shall haue no tree that beares not twelue fruits Reu. 22.2 yea whose very leaues are not beneficiall Doe good therefore O ye rich and shew your wealth to bee not in hauing but in doing good And if God haue put this holy resolution into any of your hearts take this
à quo not ad quem mildely according to my knowne disposition but vpon better deliberation I found the insolency of my Refuter such that I could not fauour him and not bee cruell to my cause If therefore for many it is his own art and word railatiue Pages he receiue from my vnwilling and enforced Pen now and then though not a Relatiue to such an Antecedent yet perhaps some drop of sharper Vineger then my Inke vseth to be tempered withall he may forgiue mee and must thanke himselfe What needed this cause so furious an Inuectiue As if the Kingdom of Heauen and all Religion consisted in nothing but Maiden-head or Mariage Cardinal Bellarmine when he speakes of the Greeke Church wherein a maried Clergie is both allowed and required Si errerem alium non haberent â—â—cise pax conceleretur Bell de Cleric lib. 1. c. 21. shuts vp moderately That if this were all the difference betwixt them and the Romane Church they should soone be at peace If my Refuter had so thought this had not been his first Controuersie Both estates meet in Heauen John the Virgin rests in the bosome of maried Abraham This inordinate heate therefore of prosecution rises from faction not from holy Zeale Hence it was that my Aduersarie cunningly singled out this point from many others ranged in my poore Discourses as that wherein Bishop Jewels confession hee might promise to himselfe the likeliest aduantage of Antiquity and how gloriously doth he vaunt himselfe in the ostentation of Fathers Councels Which vaine flourish how little it auailes him the processe shal shew where it shall appeare vpon what grounds no small piece of Antiquitie was partiall to Virginitie and ouer-harsh to Mariage as Beatus Rhenanus B. Rhenan Arg. lib. de exhort Castit Tertull. a learned and ingenuous Papist confesseth But this we may boldly say that if those holy men had out-liued the bloody Times and seene the fearfull inconueniences which would after a setled peace insue vpon the ambition or constraint of a denyed Continencie they had doubtlesse changed their note and with the moderate and wisest spirits of the later times Eneas Syluius Panormitan Durandus Peresius Montuanuâ— Erasmus c. Che Coll introductione del matrimonio ac Preti si farelle che tutti volt assetto lâ— affetto amor lorâ— alle moglie a figli per consequenza aâ—â—â—casa alla patria onde cesâ—erebbe la dependenza fâ—retta châ—l Ordine Clericale ha conâ—â— sede Apostolica tanto sarelbe Conceder ill matrimonio a Prâ—ti quanto distrugâ—â— la Hietarchia Ecclesiastico ridur it Pont. che non foâ—se pâ—u the Vescâ—uo ci Roma Histor Concil Trid. pag. 662. Troppo fâ—ste troppo teste troppo tempeste Vid. Dallâ—ngt obseru vpon Guicciard Doctor Mart. against Pr. Marr. pleaded for that libertie which the Reformed Church now enioyeth The vniuersall concession whereof after the priuate Suffrages of worthy Authors came to a publike treaty in the Romane Church amidst the throng of their late Tridentine Councell and it is worth the while to obserue on what grounds it receiued a repulse If Priests should be allowed Mariage say those wily Jtalians it would follow that they would cast their affections on their Wiues and Children and consequently on their Families and Countries whereupon would cease that strait dependance which the Clergie hath vpon the See Apostolike In so much as to grant their Mariages were as much as to destroy the Hierarchie of the Church and to reduce the Pope within the meere bounds of the Romane Bishopricke This was the plea of the Clergie their thriftie Laitie together with them enemies to the blessing or as they construe it the curse of fruitfulnesse are wont to plead Troppo teste our Gregory Martin of old computes the preiudiciall increase that might arise from these Mariages to the Common-wealth It is not Religion but wit that now lyes in our way Fond men that dare offer thus to controll the wisdome of their Maker and will be tying the God of Heauen to their rules of state As it is no Church in the vvhole World except the Romane stands vpon this restraint vvhereof the consequences haue been so notoriously shamefull that wee might well hope experience vvould haue wrought if not redresse of their courses yet silence of ours And surely if this man had not presumed that by reason of the long discontinuance of Popery time had worne out of mens mindes the memory of their odious filthinesse he durst not thus boldly haue pleaded for their abominable Celibate The question vvhereof after all busie discussions and pretences of age must be resolued into no other then this How farre the Tradition of a particular Church is worthy to preuaile against Scripture yea and against other Churches A point which a very vveake iudgement will bee able to determine In this returne of my Defence I doe neither answer euery idle clause nor omit any essentiall this length of mine is no lesse forced then mine Aduersaries Continencie wherein yet my Reader shall not sigh vnder an irkesome loquacitie I presume to dedicate this vnworthy labour to your Grace whom this famous Church dayly blesseth as her wise faithfull and vigilant Ouerseer as a renowned Patterne of holy Virginitie and Patron of holy Mariage The God of Heauen whose watch you carefully keep preserue you long to his Church and make vs long happy in your Grace and you euer happy in his plentifull blessings Such shall euer be the Prayers of Your Graces most humbly deuoted IOS HALL THE ANSWER TO THE ADVERTISEMENT THE man begins with a threat I may not but tremble Hee frights me with an vniuersall Detection of my errors It is almost as easie to finde faults as to make them Perhaps the Time had been as well spent in tossing of his Beads How happie a man am I that shall see all my ouer-sights My comfort is that if my Tree were fruitlesse there would bee no stone throwne at it In the meane while how well doth the title of a Detector become him that hides himselfe If hee be not afraid or ashamed of his cause let his name bee knowne that his victories may be recorded It is an iniurious and base aduantage to strike and hide and after a pitcht Duell to gall a fixed Aduersarie out of loope-holes If his person be vpon some treasonable act obnoxious it is hard if some of his names be not free But if I must needs be matcht with the shadow of a Libeller I wil so take him as he deciphers himselfe C. E. Cauillator Egregius and vnder this true stile of his am ready to encounter him and doe here bid Defiance to an insolent and vniust aduersarie And first let me tell my Cauiller this order is preposterous If all my errors be at the mouth of the Presse how is it that two or three of them are thus suffered to out-runne their fellowes Was his malice so bigge
the Popes leaue without any reasonable cause that such Mariage of his is a true Mariage and the parties maried are true Husband and Wife and their Issue truely legitimate although in so marying both the parties should sinne mortally in doing this act against the Vow of Chastity without a reasonable or at least a probable cause of their so licensing and consequently neither should the Pope himselfe be excused from mortall sin But if there be any reasonable cause of dispensing with this vow of Chastity then the party thus marying and dispenced with may both safely marry and liue in Mariage And hereupon it appeares That since a reasonable cause of dispensing with this Vow of Chastity may bee not onely the publike Vtility whether Ciuill or Ecclesiasticall but any other greater good then the obseruing of that Chastity it iustly followes that the Pope not only may but with a safe Conscience may dispence with a Priest of the Westerne or Roman Church that he may marry euen besides the cause of a publike benefit And therefore the determination of some hath beene too presumptuous in affirming That absolutely and without such cause the Pope cannot dispence whereas as we haue shewed the Pope may doe it without any cause though in so doing he should sinne and with any reasonable cause without sinne and in both the Matrimony stands firme Thus he Words that neede neither Paraphrase nor Inforcement And how h h Sedes clementissima quae nulli deesse consâ—euit dummodo albi aliquid vel rubei intercedat Matth. Paris Alius abusus est in dispensationibus cum Constitutis in Sacr. Ord. c. vsuall the practice of this Dispensation hath beene that we may not rest onely in Speculation appeares enough by the ingenious complaint of their i i Concil Select Card. Si Sacerdotes non maturâ deliberatione se astrinxerunt videat Rom. Pont. qui circa haec solet dispensare quid sit agendum in particularibus Mart. Perefius c. selected Cardinalls to Paul the third Who cry downe the abuse of these ouer-frequent Grants which they would not haue yeelded but vpon publike and weighty Causes especially say they in these Times wherein the Lutherans vrge this matter with so much vehemence Neither is it long since our kind Apostate M. Carier gaue vs here in England from bigger Men then himselfe an ouerture of the likelyhood of this liberall Dispensation from his holy Father of Rome vpon the conditions of our re-subiection Would we therefore but stoope to kisse the Carbuncle of that sacred Toe our Clergy might as well consist with holy Wedlocke as the Grecian Oh the grosse mockery of Soules not more ignorant then credulous Will his Holinesse dispense with vs for our sinne We can be dispensed with at home for his dispensation It is their Sorrow that the World is growne wiser and findes Heauen no lesse neere to Douer-Cliffe then to the Seuen-hills And ere we leaue this point it is very considerable what may be a reasonable cause of this Dispensation For those very k k His votis afirictus non potest Matrimonium absque Dispensatine iâ—ire quamuis vebementissimis carnis stimulis vrgeatur c. Sanch. l. 7. de Matr. Imped Disp. 11. Authoritas superioris dispensantis expectanda est Communis illa regula Doctorum nominatim Caietani nimirum quando ei qui vouit conflat aliquid esse melius praeteritá voti materia posse propriâ authoritate recedere Sanch. de Matr. l. 7. de Impedim Disp Iesuites which hold the power of this Vow such That the vehementest tentations and foyles of the flesh may not be relieued with an arbitrary Matrimonie since the matter of this Vow is so important and caries so much danger in the violation as that it is not to bee left to the power of a priuate Iudgement though morally certaine whether Matrimonie all things considered be in this particular expedient for that may bee fit for a man as a singular person which is not fit for him as part of the community yet they grant that this extreame perplexednesse and violence of carnall motions is a iust cause of dispensation What need we more Though some l l Angel Matr. 3. Jmped 5. in fine vera cruz 1. part spec art 15. Casuists be more fauourable and grant that in such cases we may not onely allow but perswade Matrimonie to the perplexed Votary As Cardinall m m Aen. Syl. Epist 307. So Benedict 12. gaue Dispensation to Petrarch Archdeacon of Parma to marry his Laura too neere him in blood as it is thought and ex vberiore gratiae that he should keepe all his Promotions and receiue yet more on coâ—dion that the said Benedict might haue the vse of Petrarchs sister Matth. Parker Defens of Pr. Marr. ex Fasciculo Temp. Platina vita Petrarchae c. Aeneas Syluius who was neuer lesse Pius then when he was Pius giues this hearty aduice to his friend Iohn Freünd a Roman Priest that he should notwithstanding his Orders helpe himselfe by Mariage yet the former will serue our turne If therefore those superiours which haue all lawfull and spirituall authority ouer vs shall haue thought good vpon this reasonable cause to giue a generality of dispensation to all such of our Clergie as shall not after all carefull and serious indeuours find themselues able to containe allowing them by these lawfull remedies to quench those impure flames What can any Iesuit or Deuill except against this This is simply the cleere case of them whose cause I maintaine And yet further Put the case this had not been if without the thought of any Romish Dispensation the n n Occidentalis non Orientalis Ecclesia castitatis obtulit votum in Dist 31. Easterne Church neuer held it needfull to require the Vow of single life in the Ministers of the Altar they know the words of their own Glosse why should not our Church challenge the same immunity for that from the generall consideration of Ecclesiastiques as such we may turne our eies to our Ecclesiastiques in speciall no Church vnder heauen kept it selfe more free from the bondage of those tyrannous Impositions The o o Vid postea Epist Girard Eboracens Arch. ad Anselm Huntingd. Fabian Polidor Virgil. vid. post lib. 3. Clergie of this Iland from the beginning neuer offered any such vow the Bishops neuer required it for more if any credit be due to Histories then a thousand yeeres after Christ The great Champion of Rome Master Harding was driuen to say They did it by a becke if not by a Dieu-gard but could neuer proue it done by either Neither is it more worth my Readers note then my Aduersaries indignation that the wise Prouidence of God so pleased to contriue it of old as that from the beginning of the first conuersion of this happy Island it rather conspired with the Greek Church then with the Roman After the Grecian account we
was such reiteration of the same Law shewes the opposition which it still found in the Church and the preuailing vse of the contrary practice The Epistle of Pope Gregory the Third to the Clergie of Bauaria Refut p. 243. which giues that disiunct charge Of either liuing chastely or marying a Wife whom they may not diuorce is no where forsooth extant because he finds it not in his Binius or Baronius as if no water had gone beside their Mill and here I am threatned with the Cornelian Law for forgerie no lesse crime To auoid the perill whereof let my far seene Detector turne to the Bauarian Annals of * * Auent Boyorum Annot. l. 3. Auentine in the third Booke there he shall finde it An Epistle sent to Viuilus and the other Clergie of Bauaria by the hands of Martinian George Dorotheus a Bishop Priest Deacon with this expresse disiunction Aut castè vinat aut vxorem ducat c. That which he brings from the successor of this Gregory Refut p. 244. Zacharias shewes what his Pope wished when he had gotten better footing in Germany but the successe makes for vs for B. Boniface either neuer durst or at least neuer did vrge these Rules to his Germans So I hope his mouth is stopt for my forged Testimonie of his Gregory which could not in his conceit be other because he neuer saw it peepe forth before this in other mens bookes Ywis nothing euer lookt forth of the Presse that escaped that bookish eye witnesse the next passage which if his Superiors could haue had the leisure to haue viewed they had blushed at their Champion This charge of Gregory I said was according to that rule of Clerkes cited from Isidore Refut p. 245. and renued in the Councell of Mentz but by our iuggling Aduersaries clipped in the recitall Here the man cryes out as before of forgery so now of ignorance telling his Readers that I haue onely taken this vpon trust from another mans note-booke Reader by this iudge of the spirit of my Detractor It is true Isidore wrote no Booke of this title But in the second Booke of his Ecclesiasticall Offices hee makes the title of his second Chapter De Regulis Clericorum Of the Rules of Clerkes From this Chapter I cite a confessed passage and am thus censured whereas the Councell of Mentz cites it by this very stile Sicut in Regulâ Clericorum dictum est As it is said in the Rule of Clerkes Is it simplicitie that he knowes not this title of Isidore or maliciousnesse that he conceales it One of them is vnauoidable It is cleere then to his shame if he haue any that the testimonie is aright cited and is it lesse cleere that it is maymed and cut off by the hams in their Moguntine Councell Conc. Mogunt 1. Compare the places the fraud shall be manifest That Councell in the tenth Chapter professes to transcribe verbatim the words of Isidore in the forecited Tract and vvhere Isidore saith Castimoniam inniolati corporis perpetuò conseruare studeant aut certè vnius matrimonii vinculo foederentur Let them liue chast or marry but one Their good Clerkes haue vtterly left out the latter clause and make Isidore charge his Clerkes with perpetuall continencie Let them liue chast He that denies this let him deny that there is a Sunne in the Heauen or light in that Sunne what need I say more Let the bookes speake Here my Refuter doth so shuffle and cut that any man may see hee speakes against his owne heart for to omit his strained misse-interpretation of Isidore since we now contend not of the sense but of the citation how poorely doth hee salue vp the credit of his Moguntine Fathers Refut p. 246. 249. whiles hee saith Isidore spake in generall the Fathers in that Councell more strictly when hee that hath but one halfe of an eye may see that both speake in one latitude of the same persons Those Fathers giuing the same title to that Chapter and professing to follow the Letters and Syllables of Isidore both name onely Clericos in that rule without distinction Away then with this gracelesse facing of wilfull frauds in your faithlesse Secretaries which haue also fetcht two Canons out of Carthage to Wormes and learne to be ashamed of your grosse falsifications and iniurious expurgations else doubtlesse the World will be ashamed of you SECT II. Refut p. 252. to 28◠I Did but name Huldericus his Epistle in mine as a witnesse not as the foundation of my cause my Refuter spends but one and thirty whole Pages vpon him how else should he haue made a Volume In all this what sayes he Little in many vvords and the same words thrice ouer for fayling And first he wonders at my extreame prodigality of credit and serednesse of conscience in citing an Epistle so conuicted by Bellarmine Baronius Eckius Faber Fitz-Simons the Iesuite and others Why doth hee not wonder that the Moone will keep her pace in the skie whiles so many Dogs barke at her below When these Proctors of Rome haue said their worst there is more true authority in the very face of this Letter and better Arguments in the body of it then in an hundred Decretal Epistles which he adoreth Let the World wonder rather at his shamelesnesse who relating the occasion of this fable as he termes it faines it to be only a Lutheran fiction to couer their incestuous mariages whereas their owne Cardinall Aeneas Syluius almost two hundred yeares agoe mentions it and reports the argument of it whereas it is yet extant as Illiricus in the Libraries of Germany whereas Hedio found an ancient copy of it in Holland and our Iohn Bale Archbishop Parket B. Iewell Io. Foxe had a copie of it remarkable for reuerend Antiquity in aged Parchment here in England which I hope to haue the meanes to produce Whereas lastly the very stile importeth age As well may hee question all the Records of their Vatican all report of Histories all Histories of Times He that would doubt whether such an Epistle were written may as well doubt whether Pope Zachary wrote to B. Boniface in Germany a direction when to eat bacon may doubt whether Paul the fift wrote to his English Catholikes to perswade them not to swear they would be good subiects may doubt whether Spider catcher corner-creeper C.E. Pseudo Catholike Priest wrote a scurrilous Letter of aboue two quire of paper in a twelue-yeares answer to three leaues of I. H. It is not more sure that there is a Rome or that Gregory and Nicolas sate there then that such an Epistle was written thither aboue seuen hundred yeres agoe It was extant of old before euer those Lutheran quarrels were hatched Let him therefore goe fish for Frogs in the Pond of his Gregory whiles he deriues thence the vaine pleas of improbability If there were differences in relating the circumstances of that story as I
against this Philistim to fight with him for thou art a boy and hee is a man of warre from his youth Euen Saul seconds Eliab in the conceit of this disparitie and if Eliab speake out of enuy Saul speakes out of iudgement both iudge as they were iudged of by the stature All this cannot weaken that heart which receiues his strength from faith Dauids greatest conflict is with his friends The ouercomming of their disswasions that he might fight was more worke then to ouercome his enemy in fighting Hee must first iustifie his strength to Saul ere he may proue it vpon Goliah Valour is neuer made good but by tryall He pleads the tryall of his puissance vpon the Beare and the Lyon that hee may haue leaue to proue it vpon a worse beast then they Thy seruant slew both the Lyon and the Beare therefore this vncircumcised Philistim shall be as one of them Experience of good successe is no small comfort to the heart this giues possibilitie and hope but no certainty Two things there were on which Dauid built his confidence on Goliahs sinne and Gods deliuerance Seeing he hath railed on the host of the liuing God The Lord that deliuered me out of the pawes of the Lion and the Beare he wil deliuer me out of the hand of this Philistim Well did Dauid know that if this Philistims skin had beene as hard as the brasse of his shield his sinne would make it penetrable by euery stroke After all brags of manhood hee is impotent that hath prouoked God Whiles other labour for outward fortification happy and safe were wee if we could labour for innocence Hee that hath found God present in one extremitie may trust him in the next Euery sensible fauour of the Almightie inuites both his gifts and our trust Resolution thus grounded makes euen Saul himselfe confident Dauid shall haue both his leaue and his blessing If Dauid came to Saul as a Shepheard hee shall goe toward Goliah as a Warriour The attire of the King is not too rich for him that shall fight for his King and Country Little did Saul thinke that his helmet was now on that head which should once weare his crowne Now that Dauid was arrayed in the warlike habit of a King and girded with his sword hee lookt vpon himselfe and thought this outside glorious but when he offred to walke and found that the attire was not so strong as vnweeldy and that it might be more for show then vse hee layes downe these accoustrements of honor and as caring rather to bee an homely victor then a glorious spoile he craues pardon to goe in no clothes but his owne he takes his staffe in stead of the speare his shepherds scrip in stead of his brigandine and in stead of his sword hee takes his sling and in stead of darts and iauelins hee takes fiue smooth stones out of the brooke Let Sauls coate bee neuer rich and his armour neuer so strong what is Dauid the better if they fit him not It is not to bee enquired how excellent any thing is but how proper Those things which are helpes to some may be encombrances to others An vnmeet good may be as inconuenient as an accustomed euill If we could wish another mans honor when wee feele the weight of his cares we should be glad to be in our owne cote Those that depend vpon the strength of Faith though they neglect not meanes yet they are not curious in the proportion of outward meanes to the effect desired Where the heart is armed with an assured confidence a sling and a stone are weapons enow to the vnbeleeuing no helps are sufficient Goliah though he were presumptuous enough yet had one shield caried before him another hee caried on his shoulder neither will his sword alone content him but he takes his speare too Dauids armour is his plaine shepheards russet and the brooke yeelds him his artillery and he knowes there is more safety in his cloth then in the others brasse and more danger in his peebles then the others speare Faith giues both heart and armes The inward munition is so much more noble because it is of proofe for both soule and body If we be furnished with this how boldly shall wee meet with the powers of darknesse and goe away more then conquerors Neither did the quality of Dauids weapons bewray more confidence then the number If he will put his life and victory vpon the stones of the brooke why doth he not fill his scrip full of them why will he content himselfe with fiue Had he been furnished with store the aduantage of his nimblenesse might haue giuen him hope If one faile that yet another might speed But now this paucity puts the dispatch to a sudden hazard and he hath but fiue stones cast either to death or victory still the fewer helps the stronger faith Dauid had an instinct from God that he should ouercome he had not a particular direction how he should ouercome For had he beene at first resolued vpon the sling and stone he had saued the labor of girding his sword It seemes whiles they were addressing him to the combat he made account of hand-blowes now he is purposed rather to send then bring death to his aduersarie In either or both he durst trust God with the successe and before-hand through the conflict saw the victorie It is sufficient that wee know the issue of our fight If our weapons and wards vary according to the occasion giuen by God that is nothing to the euent sure we are that if we resist we shall ouercome and if wee ouercome wee shall be crowned When Dauid appeared in the lists to so vnequall an aduersarie as many eyes were vpon him so in those eyes diuers affections The Israelites lookt vpon him with pitty and feare and each man thought Alas why is this comely stripling suffred to cast away himselfe vpon such a monster why will they let him goe vnarmed to such an affray Why will Saul hazard the honour of Israel on so vnlikely an head The Philistims especially their great Champion lookt vpon him with scorne disdayning so base a combitant Am I a dog that thou com'st to me with staues What could be said more fitly Hadst thou beene any other then a dog O Goliah thou hadst neuer opened thy foule mouth to barke against the host of God and the God of hosts If Dauid had thought thee any other then a very dogge hee had neuer come to thee with a staffe and a stone The last words that euer the Philistim shall speak are curses brags Come to me and I will giue thy flesh vnto the Fowles of the heauen and the beasts of the field Seldome euer was there a good end of ostentation Presumption is at once the presage and cause of ruine He is a weake aduersary that can bee killed with words That man which could not feare the Gyants hand cannot feare his tongue If words shall
of God sinne because grace hath abounded sinne that it may abound Thou art safe enough though thou offend bee not too much an aduersarie to thine owne liberty False spirit it is no libertie to sinne but seruitude rather there is no libertie but in the freedome from sinne Euery one of vs that hath the hope of Sonnes must purge himselfe euen as hee is pure that hath redeemed vs Wee are bought with a price therefore must wee glorifie God in our bodies and spirits for they are Gods Our Sonne-ship teaches vs awe and obedience and therefore because wee are Sonnes wee will not cast our selues downe into sinne How idlely doe Satan and wicked men measure God by the crooked line of their owne misconceit Ywis Christ cannot bee the Sonne of God vnlesse he cast himselfe downe from the Pinacle vnlesse hee come downe from the Crosse God is not mercifull vnlesse he honour them in all their desires not iust vnlesse hee take speedie vengeance where they require it But when they haue spent their folly vpon these vaine imaginations Christ is the Sonne of God though hee stay on the top of the Temple God will be mercifull though wee mis-carry and iust though sinners seeme lawlesse Neither will hee bee any other than hee is or measured by any rule but him selfe But what is this I see Satan himselfe with a Bible vnder his arme with a Text in his mouth It is written Hee shall giue his Angels charge ouer thee How still in that wicked One doth subtilty striue with Presumption Who could not but ouer-wonder at this if hee did not consider that since the Deuill dare to touch the sacred Body of Christ with his hand hee may well touch the Scriptures of God with his tongue Let no man henceforth maruell to heare Heretikes or Hypocrites quote Scriptures when Satan himselfe hath not spared to cite them what are they the worse for this more than that holy Body which is transported Some haue beene poysoned by their meates and drinks yet either these nourish vs or nothing It is not the Letter of the Scripture that can carry it but the Sence if wee diuide these two wee prophane and abuse that word wee alledge And wherefore doth this foule spirit vrge a Text but for imitation for preuention and for successe Christ had alledged a Scripture vnto him hee re-alledges Scripture vnto Christ At leastwise hee will counterfeit an imitation of the Sonne of God Neither is it in this alone what one act euer passed the Hand of God which Satan did not apishly attempt to second If wee follow Christ in the outward action with contrary intentions wee follow Satan in following Christ Or perhaps Satan meant to maâ—e Christ hereby weary of this weapon As wee see fashions when they are taken vp of the Vnworthy are cast off by the Great It was doubtlesse one cause why Christ afterward forbad the Deuill euen to confesse the Truth because his mouth was a flander But chiefly doth he this for a better colour of his tentation Hee gâ—ds ouer this false mettall with Scripture that it may passe current Euen now is Satan transformed into an Angell of light and will seeme godly for a mischiefe If Hypocrites make a faire shew to deceiue with a glorious lustre of holinesse wee see whence they borrowed it How many thousand soules are betrayed by the abuse of what word whose vse is soueraigne and sauing No Deuill is so dangerous as the religious Deuill If good meate turne to the nourishment not of nature but of the disease wee may not forbeare to feed but indeauour to purge the body of those euill humours which cause the stomach to worke against it selfe O God thou that hast giuen vs light giue vs cleare and sound eyes that we may take comfort of that light thou hast giuen vs Thy Word is holy make our hearts so and than shall they finde that Word not more true than cordiall Let not this diuine Table of thine bee made a snare to our soules What can bee a better act than to speake Scripture It were a wonder if Satan should doe a good thing well He cites Scripture then but with mutilation and distortion it comes not out of his mouth but maymed and peruerted One peece is left out all mis-applyed Those that wrest or mangle Scripture for their owne turne it is easie to see from what Schoole they come Let vs take the word from the Authour not from the Vsurper Dauid would not doubt to eate that sheepe which hee pulled out of the mouth of the Beare or Lyon Hee shall giue his Angels charge ouer thee Oh comfortable assurance of our protection Gods children neuer goe vnattended Like vnto great Princes wee walke euer in the midst of our guard though inuisible yet true carefull powerfull What creatures are so glorious as the Angels of heauen yet their Maker hath set them to serue vs Our adoption makes vs at once great and safe Wee may bee contemptible and ignominious in the eyes of the world but the Angels of God obserue vs the while and scorne not to wait vpon vs in our homeliest occasions The Sunne or the light may wee keepe out of our houses the aire we cannot much lesse these Spirits that are more simple and immateriall No walls no bolts can seuer them from our sides they accompany vs in dungeons they goe with vs into our exile How can wee either feare danger or complaine of solitarinesse whiles wee haue so vnseparable so glorious Companions Is our Sauiour distasted with Scripture because Satan misse-layes it in his dish Doth he not rather snatch this sword out of that impure hand and beat Satan with the weapon which he abuseth It is written Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God The Scripture is one as that God whose it is Where it carryes an appearance of difficultie or inconuenience it needs no light to cleare it but that which it hath in it selfe All doubts that may arise from it are fully answered by collation It is true that God hath taken this care and giuen this charge of his owne hee will haue them kept not in their sinnes they may trust him they may not tempt him here meant to incourage their faith not their presumption To cast our selues vpon an immediate prouidence when meanes faile not is to disobey in stead of beleeuing God we may challenge God on his Word wee may not straine him beyond 〈◊〉 wee may make account of what hee promised wee may not subiect his promises to vniust â—â—minations and where no need is make triall of his Power Iustice Mercy by deuises of our owne All the Deuils in hell could not elude the force of this diuine answer and now Satan sees how vainely hee tempteth Christ to tempt God Yet againe for all this doe I see him setting vpon the Sonne of God Satan is not foyled when he is resisted neither diffidence nor presumption can fasten vpon Christ he shall
not distracted with an accident so sudden so sorrowfull she layes her dead childe vpon the Prophets bed shee lockes the doore shee hides her griefe lest that consternation might hinder her designe she hastens to her husband and as not daring to bee other then officious in so distresse-full an occasion acquaints him with her iourney though not with the cause requires of him both attendance and conueyance shee posts to mount Carmel shee cannot so soone finde out the man of God as hee hath found her He sees her afarre off and like a thankfull guest sends his seruant hastily to meet her to inquire of the health of her selfe her husband her childe Her errand was not to Gehezi it was to Elisha no messenger shall interrupt her no eare shall receiue her complaint but the Prophets Downe shee fals passionately at his feet and forgetting the fashion of her bashfull strangenesse layes hold of them whether in an humble veneration of his person or in a feruent desire of satisfaction Gehezi who well knew how vncouth how vnfit this gesture of salutation was for his master offers to remoue her and admonisheth her of her distance The mercifull Prophet easily apprehends that no ordinary occasion could so transport a graue and well-gouerned matrone as therefore pittying her vnknowne passion hee bids Let her alone for her soule is vexed within her and the Lord hath hid it from mee and hath not told mee If extremitie of griefe haue made her vnmannerly wise and holy Elisha knowes how to pardon it Hee dares not adde sorrow to the afflicted hee can better beare an vnseemelinesse in her greeting then cruelty in her molestation Great was the familiaritie that the Prophet had with his God and as friends are wont mutually to impart their counsels to each other so had the Lord done to him Elisha was not idle on mount Carmel What was it that he saw not from thence Not heauen onely but the world was before him yet the Shunamites losse is concealed from him neither doth he shame to confesse it Oft-times those that know greater matters may yet bee ignorant of the lesse It is no disparagement to any finite creature not to know something By her mouth will God tell the Prophet what by vision hee had not Then she said Did I desire a sonne of my Lord Did I not say doe not deceiue me Deepe sorrow is sparing of words The expostulation could not be more short more quicke more pithy Had I begged a son perhaps my importunity might haue been yeelded to in anger Too much desire is iustly punished with losse It is no maruell if what we wring from God prosper not This fauour to mee was of thine owne motion Thy suit O Elisha made me a mother Couldst thou intend to torment me with a blessing How much more easie had the want of a sonne been then the mis-cariage Barrennesse then orbation Was there no other end of my hauing a son then that I might lose him O man of God let mee not complaine of a cruel kindnesse thy prayers gaue me a son let thy prayers restore him let not my dutifull respects to thee bee repaid with an aggrauation of misery giue not thine hand-maid cause to wish that I were but so vnhapy as thou foundest me Oh wofull fruitfulnesse if I must now say that I had a sonne I know not whether the mother or the Prophet were more afflicted the Prophet for the mothers sake or the mother for her owne Not a word of reply doe wee heare from the mouth of Elisha his breath is onely spent in the remedy Hee sends his seruant with all speed to lay his staffe vpon the face of the childe charging him to auoyd all the delayes of the way Had not the Prophet supposed that staffe of his able to beat away death why did hee send it and if vpon that supposition hee sent it how was it that it failed of effect was this act done out of humane conceit not out of instinct from God Or did the want of the mothers faith hinder the successe of that cure She not regarding the staffe or the man holds fast to Elisha No hopes of his message can loose her fingers As the Lord liueth and as thy soule liueth I will not leaue thee She imagined that the seruant the staffe might bee seuered from Elisha she knew that where euer the Prophet was there was power It is good relying vpon those helpes that cannot faile vs. Merit and importunity haue drawne Elisha from Carmel to Shunem Hee findes his lodging taken vp by that pale carkeise hee shuts his doore and fals to his prayers this staffe of his what euer became of the other was long enough hee knew to reach vp to Heauen to knocke at those gates yea to wrench them open Hee applies his body to those cold and senselesse limbs By the feruour of his soule hee reduces that soule by the heat of his body he educeth warmth out of that corps The childe neeseth seuen times as if his spirit had beene but hid for the time not departed it fals to worke a fresh the eyes looke vp the lippes and hands moue The mother is called in to receiue a new life in her twice-giuen sonne she comes in full of ioy full of wonder and bowes her selfe to the ground and fals downe before those feet which shee had so boldly layd hold of in Carmel Oh strong faith of the Shunamite that could not be discouraged with the seizure and continuance of death raising vp her heart still to an expectation of that life which to the eyes of nature had beene impossible irreuocable Oh infinite goodnesse of the Almightie that would not suffer such faith to be frustrate that would rather reuerse the lawes of nature in returning a guest from heauen and raising a corps from death then the confidence of a beleeuing heart should be disappointed How true an heire is Elisha of his master not in his graces onely but in his actions Both of them diuided the waters of Iordan the one as his last act the other as his first Elijahs curse was the death of the Captaines and their troupes Elishaes curse was the death of the children Elijah rebuked Ahab to his face Elisha Iehoram Elijah supplied the drought of Israel by raine from heauen Elisha supplied the drought of the three Kings by waters gushing out of the earth Elijah increased the oyle of the Sareptan Elisha increased the oyle of the Prophets widow Elijah raised from death the Sareptans son Elisha the Shunamites Both of them had one mantle one spirit both of them climbed vp one Carmel one heauen ELISHA with NAAMAN OF the full showers of grace which fell vpon Israel and Iudah yet some drops did light vpon their neighbours If Israel bee the worse for her neerenesse to Syria Syria is the better for the vicinity of Israel Amongst the worst of Gods enemies some are singled out for mercy Naaman was a great
and danger of it 222 Small A true note of a false heart is to bee nice in small matters and negligent in great 147 Societie Christian society how good 15 Our behauiour in society and priuacie 30 31 An inconstant man vnfit for societie 36 Solitarinesse How dangerous 15 The benefit of it 296 No cause hath he to bee solitarie that hath God with him 976 An help to the speed of temptation 1192 Sorrow How to bee well resolued in sorrow 16 Of the sorrow not to bee repented of 301 Against sorrow for worldly crosses 309 Soule Gods and the worlds profer for the soule compared 52 Our carelesnesse for our soule set downe 437 Spa Described to bee more wholesome then pleasant and more famous then wholesome 282 Speech The praise of a good speech 10 A good thing to inure youth to good speech 11 The censure of much speech and little wit 12 Not what or how so much as the end of a mans speeches are to be considered 145 Spirit It is good to try the spirits 1112 Spirituall spirituall things how soueraigne or hurtfull 1046 State Where the temporall and spirituall state combine not together see what followes 1062 Strife There are three things that wise and honest men neuer striue for 27 Subiect His duty to Prince and fellow subiects 233 234 The close relation betweene Prince and subiect 1117 The Soueraigne is smitten in his subiect 1259 Successe We must not measure our spirituall successe by our owne power c. 917 Good successe oft lifts vp the heart with too much confidence 955 The custome of successe what it doth in sinne 1007 Suffer In suffering euill wee must not looke to second causes 26 Suggestions It is more safe to keepe our selues out of the noise of suggestions then to stand vpon our power of deniall 1007 Sunne Of its standing still at Iosua's prayer 967 Superfluitie The affectation of it what 141 Nothing seemes so superfluous as religious duties 865 Superstition Its character 198 What it doth 900 It is deuotions ape 1047 How iniurious to God 1117 Superstition how it befooles men 1354 Suspition Charitie it selfe when it will allow suspition 958 Where it is good to bee suspitious 972 Suspition is quick-â—ighted 1144 Swine What swine the Deuill enters into 1302 T TAbernacle Sweet allusions of the Tabernacle with heauen 467 Tamar Of her and Ammon 1144 Her bewailing her virginitie 1146 Teachers The sinnes of Teachers are the teachers of sinne 1061 Teares Obseruations of them 135 That here our eyes are full of teares 462 How precious 463 The world full of causes of weeping 464 Temperance In diet words actions and affections 223 Temple Both the Tabernacle and it were resemblances of the holy Church of God 467 The Temple abused to Idolatry whether it may bee vsed to Gods seruice 593 Of their founders and furnishers ibid. The state of the Temple and our Church in resemblance 597 It is good comming to the Temple howsoeuer 870 There is now no Christian but is a Temple 1175 The building of the Temple 1266 Foure Temples to be seen in that one 1268 The resemblances of it with the Temple of our body 1268 1269 Temporals they are all troublesome 47 Temptations they are more perillous in prosperity then in aduersity 13 Those temptations are most powerfull which fetch their force from pretence of Religious obedience 1100 Christs temptation 1191 Strong temptation is a signe of sound holinesse ibid. The Deuils boldnes in tempting Christ ibid. Solitarinesse a great helpe to it 1192 In euery temptation there is appearance of good 1193 Satans motiue in the temptation of Christ worse then his motion ibid. 1194 No place left free from his temptations 1198 No temptation so dangerous as that which comes vnder the vaile of holinesse 1320 Tempter hee that would alwaies be our tormenter cares but sometimes to bee our tempter 1294 Testaments the maruellous accordance betweene the two Testaments 896 Thank-fulnesse we can neuer do though for a thankefull man 866 A true token of a thankefull heart 1032 Throne what it signifies 465 Thoughts good thoughts make but a thorow are in the wicked 874 Time its pretiousnesse and reasons of redeeming it 48 What to doe that time may neither steale on vs nor from vs. 60 Our wisdome in taking times for ought we doe 474 1051 Tongue the tongues and hearts correspondence 38 The tongue will hardly leaue that which the heart is enured to 149 A foule tongue punished with a foule face 915 Innocency no shelter for an euill tongue 921 How should men bee hypocrites if they had not good tongues 1048 Of the threefold vse of the tongue 1287 Traditions the Papists and Pharisees parallel in matter of traditions 413 Traffique 697 Tranquility vide Quietnesse Trauells aduice therein with the description of some mens ends therein 288 Two occasions of trauel 669 Youth not so fit for trauell as some thinke 670 Of too much speed in sending them forth 671 Early trauell and early rising compared in 3 things 672 What the trauels of our Gentry robs them of 674 675 Trauell for table-talke censured 676 The Trauellers stake for the goodly furniture of his Gentry 678 The trauellers entertainmeÌ„t in popish places 680 What by trauell men get for manners 685 A suit to his Soueraigne and the gentry in this thing 686 Transubstantiation concerning it 656 Treachery what it doth 280 Truth the Churches happinesse when truth and peace kisse each other 6 Diuine truth is most faire and scorneth to borrow beauty 139 Truth in words 217 Truth in dealings with its practice and reward 218 Truth within keeps the wals without 281 The veine wherein truth lies 516 Not bought with ease ibid. It is of an high rate 517 Why men tho doe not so much as câ—eapen it ibid. It is excellent alwayes thoÌ„ the issue be distastfull 518 It stands not more in iudgement then in affection ibid. Of petty chapmen which sell truth for trifles 519 How neere truth and falsehood meet together 933 Truth is not afraid of any light 1060 Truth how it may be concâ—aled though not denied 1077 1078 Truth must not be measured by the poll 1361 Truths lot ibid. V VAine-glory Its Character 294 Valiant the character of a valiant man 176 All valour is cowardise to that which is built vpon religion 1136 Vengeance Gods vengeance when it is hottest it maketh differences of men 921 vide Reuenge No strength can keep sinners for Gods vengeance 951 God hath more wayes for vengeance then he hath creatures 967 Small comfort in the delay of vengeance 1074 Vengeance against rebels may sleepe but cannot die 1263 Vertue euery vertuous action hath a double shadow glory and enuy 57 Vertue not lookt vpon alike with all eyes 853 Euery vertue a disgrace when euery vice hath a title 865 Those men are worse then deuils that hate men for vertue 1023 Vertue what great riches it is 1027 Vestals Prettily described 281 Vice Euery vice hath a title