handes with Pylate and not onely to saie as hee said I am free from this innocent bloud but both in woord and deede to keepe our prophane handes from the violating of holie thinges That holie father Saint Augustine hee affirmeth that God is a cleere eye and seeth euerie where much more hee beholdeth all the corners of his owne house and the footsteppes of those which spoyle his temple before his face Which who so rudelie rashly and irreligiously presumeth at any time to attempt let him consider that he doth it against the Lord openlie before his own face and therwith let him know that he is a ielous God visiting the sinnes of the fathers vpon the children to the third and fourth generation of all which hate him sith he is God yesterday to day and for euer as also all thinges are which are once consecrated to his holie worship I vnderstand that by the course of lawe inheritaunce descendeth to the next of the bloud and for want of heirs in the second third or fourth generation of the eldest it commeth backe to the younger brothers issue and posterity of which if all fayle and at length by intailement or otherwise by lawe if it commeth into the possession of the King it neuer goeth backe If this bee the prerogatiue of goods giuen to earthly Princes which are here to daye and to morrowe lye rotting in the graue let vs not denie the same to the Lord of Lordes the King of Kinges the creatour of heauen and earth into whose house whatsoeuer is incorporated though conscience and religion dare not speake therein yet let the heathen Poet open his mouth and make the period 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which is once doone cannot bee vndoone againe If this constancie was alwaies kept betwixt man and man how much more betwixt God man betwixt his Church his Prests his spirituall Pastours and the men of this world whose parentes and instructurs they are according to that saying of Micha vnto the Leuit remaine with me and be my father and my Priest and the tribe of Dan also to the same Leuit houlde thy peace and come with vs for thou shalt be our father and our Priest Sithe then by the secreet instinct of nature and also by the expresse commaundement of God wee are commaunded to honour our father and mother to obey and cherishe them in all wee canne by the same lawe wee are vtterlie forbidden to to detract or take any thing away from them And if any hard harted christian vnder the colour of dissembled zeale seeme to open away herein to his sacrilegious couetous minde saying that these commaundements of our Lord are meant concerning our naturall father and mother let him and all men knowe that the holie fathers expounding this commaundement affirme first that it concerneth our honour to our spirituall father and the Church our spirituall mother secondly it commaundeth vs to nourish and obey al superiours magistrates and ministers amongest whom are contained our naturall parentes But suppose that were obscure and doubtfull which is as plaine and cleare as the noone daie yet canst thou doubt what the will of God and the rule of right is in this case wherein the Lord hath spoken plainely as it is shewed before in these wordes whatsoeuer is once dedicated to God shall neuer be sould or redeemed As is the fountaine so are all the little brookes running from the same This is the lawe of the Lord concerning thinges dedicated to his holy worshippe and the liues of the holy Patriaches the Prophets the Apostles the Maâ—tirs the fathers doo cleerely expresse the same Ioseph the true figure of our Lord and sauiour Iesu Christ in that great famine of Aegipt when hee had bought almost the whole land and brought it into the Kings hand he would not once offer any money for the priestes landes but in that their great want gaue them nourishment of the Kings store according to that rule of the Lord the suburbes of the Priests shall not be sould for the possession of them is eternall without redemption God is our heauenly father he hath sowed the eternall seede of his exceeding looue in our hearts to the ende he might receiue from vs the same euen looue for looue because such as hee soweth such will he reape Can we say that we loue our spirituall father and therewith spoile his louing spouse our spirituall mother the holie Church castinge downe her walles banishing her eldest children possessing her landes goods and treasure which is an odious crime in the sight of God and man according to that saying of Saint Ambrose si quis in sua if any man presume to take the treasures of the Church to his priuate vse it is a great crime Wherin least he should seeme to abridge the spirituall pastours of the Church for whose sustenaunce they were first giuen hee expoundeth himselfe in these wordes Templum domini laicis tradi non debet the temple of the Lord ought not to be giuen into lay mens handes signâ—fying that wee must giue vnto Caesar those thinges which bee Caesars and vnto God those thinges that bee Gods Amongest the heathen Philosophers it was couÌ„ted the first point of iustice to giue to euerie man his owne and least amongst christians anie in time should prooue so barbarous and vtterly voide of grace that hee should laie violent handes on the goods of poore innocents which cannot speake euen the temples of the Lord dedicated to the worshippe of his holie name besides the expresse commaundement of the Lord in holy scriptures the holy fathers and councels haue pronounced it a cursed thing as the cleare bage of him which hath renounced heauen and taken himselfe wholy to serue this wicked world and the vanities thereof The councell of Gangrene celebrated the yeere of our Lord 324. or there about according to the Cannons of the Apostles decreed in this manner If any man shall presume to take any thing once offered to God vnleast it bee the Bishop or his deputie appointed for the distributing of the Church goods to the poore let him be accursed In like manner also the third councell of Rome If any man couet or take away any reuenews belonging to the Church or if any of the Priestes consent there to let them be accursed The reason followeth in the fift councel alleadged in this manner for it is a great iniurie and an vntollerable sacriledge that what so euer any man bestoweth on the church of Christ should be altered or translated to any other vse especially by those men who of all other ought to maintaine the Church as be christian Kings Princes and Prelates Furthermore that it might be manifest to all those which dutifully embrace and reuerence the spouse of Iesu Christ howe wicked an enterprise it is and what manifest daunger to the soules of all them which shall presume heerein the same
Councell hath foreseene the daunger and set downe the sentence of eternall trueth in these wordes Hee which shall not wiselie foresee this euident daunger of eternall damnarion to his owne soule and contrarie to this sentence take awaie the goods and possessions once giuen to the Church or vniustlye deteyne the same vnlesse hee make present restitution to the church so soone as he can let him be strucken with the curse which the wrathfull iudge of all the world shall inflict on all the soules of the wicked at the day of doome and let these goods bee a curse to him which gaue them from the Church which receaued them and which possessed them Neither let him finde anye protection for his crime before the tribunall seate of Iesu Christ because without all feare of God and regard of his holie worshippe against lawe and right hee hath taken awaie the goods of the Church giuen to maintaine the holie worship of the Lord and to feede the hungrie bodies and soules of the poore innocent people Generallie saith the same Councell whosoeuer shall presume to confiscate to spoyle or to take anie thing consecrated to holie vse or belonging to the Church vnlesse hee truelie repenting correct and amend his wicked facte so soone as hee can and that by restitution to the same Church let him bee subiect to the greeuous curse and censure of the Church Likewise those which enter on the goods of the Church and detaine them through the gifte the authoritie the commission of Kinges and Princes obtaining them by tirannicall force from the Church leauing them to theyr heyres and posteritie as though they were theyr owne inheritaunce vnlesse with speedie repentaunce they restore the Lords possession vnto his Church being first admonished by the holy Bishop let him be accursed for euer and accounted as an infidell according to that commandement of our sauiour Christ if he will not heare the Church let him be to thee as an heathen or as an infidell therefore saith the councell it is not lawfull for the Emperour or anie true christian to attempt anie thing contrarie to the commaundementes of God neither to doe anie thing repugnant to the rules of the holy Prophets the Apostles and Euangelists Those which bee my sheepe saith our Sauiour Christ they heare my voice and those which be naturall children of the Church their hart will melte when they heare the voice of their mother crying in the streetes Our heauenly father he hath begotten vs in the spirite and our spirituall mother shee nourisheth vs with the sweete milke of the word of life Shee vttereth her voyce often and cryeth alowde in many places of the world but neuer so manifestly as when shee sheweth her countenaunce openlie to all the world in open generall councell gathered together in the holie Ghost You haue heard her voyce whileare and the sound thereof hath gone into all landes saying touch not mine annointed neither anie thing once dedicated to my holie worship Sponsus sponsam amat the bridegroome doth loue his spouse intirely Hee sheweth her his brest and reuealeth to her the secrets of his hart his wil is apparant vnto her she hath reuealed it at sundry times vnto her children Which times though they were diuers yet veritatis simplex est oratio her voice was is alwaies the same as appeareth by the councell of Aurialens whose wordes though they differre from the former yet the sence and sentence is the same first forewarning her eldest children of this grieuous sinne and then the other in their order after this manner Let no Clarke or spirituall pastour alienate any goodes belonging to the Church and least it should seeme true which some obiect that those which giue to the Church may also take away the same councel doth meete with that obiection in the 19. chapter in these wordes It is not lawfull for him which giueth anie thing to the Church or for his heires once for to require it backe again In like maner the second councell ☜ of Spale Those Churches which by tumultes and warres haue beene disturbed shal altogether retaine the selfe same liberties which they had before with all the possessions whether they bee possessed by any other Church or any others whatsoeuer The first councell of Paris hath giuen this resolute iudgement concerning Bishops goodes and therein the goods of the Church because the goods and possessions of Bishops are knowne to be the goods and possessions of the Church If any man shall violently intrude himselfe into them or by violence peruert them let him bee stroken with the curse of the holie Canon that he which would not followe the motion of his owne conscience at the least maye bee reclaimed by the holie constitutions of the Church Which offence least it shold seeme a smal sinne in the eyes of worldlye men or that the gaine gotten thereby might seeme to counteruaile the losse no man is so simple which seeth not plainely that this is a pleasaunt sinnefull thought leading to a bitter end as appeareth by the sentence of the same councell following Let no man be so farre from the seeking of his owne soules health or so willing to seeke eternall death that he should once desire enter or possesse any goods landes or commodities belonging to the church Though the councell of Magnutium seeme in the beginning by gentle words to mittigate the haynousnesse of the fact yet indeede the meaning is the same and in conclusion of the same weight as appeareth by their style in this manner If anie man doe presume to retaine diminish or take anie goodes landes or profites belonging to anie Church Colledge or any holie place let him bee excommunicated as a spoyler of the Church not once allowed to come neere the Church doore These milde wordes least they should animate the wicked they drawe a more fearefull iudgement after them as appeareth afterward in the same councell concluding thus If anie man diminish any thing belonging to the Church as a cruell murtherer of the poore let him bee accursed for euer This was the voice of the mother and her children haue learned to pronounce the same Saint Ambrose as it is written before affirmeth it vnlawfull for temporall men to possesse ecclesiasticall goods Saint Augustine writing on the Psalmes saith that when the last dedication of the house of God shall come then shall that safetie also bee giuen vnto it which was spoken in the seuenteenth chapter of the second booke of the Kinges after this manner I will appoint my place of worship with my people Israell and they shall dwell alone seperated from others and the sonne of iniquitie shall not presume to destroy it The scripture calleth the spoilers of the church the sonnes of iniquitie bicause the sonne of heauen hath not beheld a more vngodlie fact then the iniurie of the sonne done to the mother of the infantes to the nurse of
Christians to the Church which is the spirituall mother of all Christians as well rich as poore the mightie as the simple the king as the begger according vnto the saying of Saint Chrisostome writing on the Gospell of Saint Mathew Ecclesia primorum regum est mater The Church is the mother of the highest Princes Not many pages after giuing his iudgement concerning the goodes of the Church in this sorte those which builde tombes for the Martyrs of Christ and adorne his temples they do a good worke Thereby signifiyng that they which deface the temples of God and pull them downe they commit a great and greeuous sinne in the sight of the almightie Paulus Diaconus in the fourth booke de gestis longo Bardorum recordeth that Theodelinda that vertuous Queene built a faire Cathedrall Church dedicating it to the name of Saint Iohn Baptist adorning it with manye pretious iewells ornamentes and goodlie landes which the aforesaid Authour sayth oughte not to bee alienated According vnto the sentence of Iustinian in his booke Authent Columna secunda of constitutions intituled of not alienating or chaunging ecclesiasticall goods whatsoeuer All good Emperours in their lawes and constitutions had a special care of preseruing increasing and safekeeping the goods of the Church And sith Iustinians lawes were their direction he not onelie made General statutes for the preseruation thereof but also in his law he affirmeth that the holie vessels and garments of the temples ought not to be pawned except it bee for the redeeming of captiues out of the seruitude and tirannie of infidels nay in another place hee chargeth the Bishops that they take not to themselues the treasure of the Church which holesome lawes so mooued the harts of all Christian Emperours that they bestowed verie deuoutlie and bountifully on the church commaunding straightly that all meÌ„ should restore vnto the same whatsoeuer had bid taken therefrom by wicked tyrantes robbers of the Church and spoilers of the dead which Saint Chrisostome in his booke Defato counteth litle lesse than manslaughter Hereupon Theodoricus commaunded Duke Ibba that he should restore vnto the Church of Marbâ—na the possessions therof taken awaie detained from the Church by Alaricus And in an other epistle to Gelericus hee commaundeth him to restore a fielde which was alienated from the Church of Constance and to punish the possessor thereof in that hee presumed to take to his owne priuate vse the possessions of the Church This censure was giuen without exception of anie person according to that which Turonensis writeth in the fourth booke of his Historie certaine kinges saith hee haue presumed most irreligiouslie to take the goods of the church into their treasure as did Clotharius which made an edict that all the Churches of his realme should paie the third part of their fruits into his treasurie but beeing rebuked by that holie Bishop Iniuriosus he retracted his irreligious opinion and that wicked fact Let no man beare so irreligious a minde or so hard a hart within his breast to thinke otherwise than that it is a most grieuous sinne to take any thing from the holie Church sith first it is giuen to maintaine the holie worshippe of God there Secondlie to feed the poore and to bee bestowed on such like holie and vrgent necessitie according to the which our ancient Beda writeth in the first booke of his historie concerning this Iland Bonorum ecclesiasticorum saith hee of church goods the first part is due to the Bishop for the maintenance of hospitality the second to the inferiour clergie the third to the poore the fourth to the repairing of the church but to other or to those which haue sufficient of themselues the goods of the church are not to be imployed as that learned Prosper in his treatie De vita contemplatiua witnesseth in these wordes ecclesia nihil eis erogare debet c. The church ought not to bestow any thing on those which haue sufficient of their owne Otherwise though some of the Church giue it yet it is plaine sacriledge for them which take it as saint Ierom in his epistle to Damasus sheweth in these wordes qui autem parentum bonis c. Those which haue sufficient left them by their parents to maintaine them if they take anie of those goods which are giuen to maintaine the poore it is sacriledge Caluin writing on the seuenth of Amos calleth the diminishing of the immunities or commodities of the church sacriledge sounding the same with good Saint Barnard writing on the Canticles according to this tenor Proditores dei ecclesiae c. They which take from the temples they are betraiers of God and his church These learned fathers they expresse the true sentence of their mother the holye church pronouncing the true fauour of God and his louing countenance turned clerely vnto them which fauour nourish his holie church with his poore belonging to the same and the seuere wrath of the Lord God kindled against all those which spoile his louing spouse here on earth bereauing her of her beautiful children her costlie garmentes made of needle worke all glorious within concerning whom the Lord hath sayd hee which harmeth you he toucheth the apple of mine eie Bullinger on the fift of the first epistle of saint Paul to Tymothie concerning the reformation of Church goods writeth thus the goods of the Church are the gold of Tolossan which breedeth his distruction that possesseth it Therefore though the churches their goods landes were abused by Monkes and Friers yet there is no cause why Christian Princes should thinke that reformation good and religious which pulleth down the churches and turneth the church goods to the vse and possessions of laie men for they were not first giuen to this end kinges and princes and magistrates haue their reuenewes their tributes their fines their customes their publique treasures appointed for their vses but as for the goods of the church they were first giuen for the maintenance of students in humanitie and diuinitie for the maintaining of Bishops and hospitalitie for the relieuing of the poore widowes stangers and captiues and those which are in necessitie and a certaine portion was appointed for the repairing of Churches Let them restore such sufficiencie of goods to the Church as will fullie suffice for the maintaining of all the premisses before they take one halfe pennie from the Church or else let them surelie looke for the grieuous vengeance of God on them and their house That learned Peter Martir concerning the goods of the church vniustlie required by Magistrates writeth thus in eo quaesto difficilis est in qua dissoluenda c. In that case it is a doubtfull question in answering the which I had rather incline to that point that if the prince or magistrate should take awaie the goods of the church no man ought violentlie to resist them But if
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the present commodity is euer most accepted for the subtill age to come will alter all Together with this iron earthly age the seede of corruption is daily sowne whose blossomes nowe already put foorth though they shine cleere and bright as dooth the cockle amiddest the wheate yet if they once beginne to reape to threshe to grinde to grinde to bake to eate they shall soone perceiue that there is cockle amongest the corne and ofte times vnder the painted viserd of great knowledge you shall se blind bayard wax so bold that through many wordes and often speaking amongest the ignorant whose eyes dazell in beholding such painted sepulchers hee is reputed for wise and learned According to that true saying of that lerned Dorne In hoc ferreo postremoque saeculo non nisi faeces artium superesse videmus etsi non nulli putent eas maxime vigere propter sermonis ornatum In this last iron age we haue but the dâ—egges of artes and sciences although manie thinke that learning florisheth more nowe then in times past because we talke more then they did and that more cunninglie more smoothlie more courtlie Which great absurditie of this our age throughly mixt with earth iron to the great perill and daunger of many thousand soules mooued mee first to penne this rudely written treatise in the behalfe of the Church of Iesu Christ and the soules health of all true Christians vnto whose handes it shal come Which secret cogitation taking effect by outward sence and shewing to my bodilie eyes in sundrie places and manie solemne foundations nowe made desolate whereby manie thousandes of learned pastours might haue beene maintained for the preaching of the Gospell of Christ and the dailie praysing of his name credidi propterea loquutus sum with the holie Prophet and Apostle I beleeued and therefore I writte that which the holy scriptures the holy counselles the holy fathers haue plainelie affirmed When I looked backe and considered what wee are and what wee ought to bee what wee haue doone and what we ought to haue doone the truth piersed my spirite my heart rent and my ioyntes did cleaue in sunder the passion of that sight beganne to worke the fyer was kindled within the sayinges of the holie fathers ministred oyle wherewith the flame brake foorth at my mouth crying alowde for Sions sake I will not hold my peace Here with returning to the mirrour of trueth the holie word of God whereby all our thoughtes wordes and workes are to bee tried and furthermore perusing the holie fathers by the assistaunce of the holie Ghost openers of the true vnderstanding thereof I meant to gather some store of testimonies out of them to witnesse with mee that this my affirmation in this matter is a certaine and vndoubted trueth Hauing behelde this radiant sunne of light the word of God and the little starres the holie fathers illuminated with the cleare beames thereof though the trueth appeared plainelie in them both yet their testimonies concerning thinges once dedicated to holie vse seemed to mee neither so manie as I expected nor so plaine Herein hauing made some spence of time in seeking that which was not so plainely figured in the fathers as I hoped and as it was truely meant at length the trueth of that conclusion offered it selfe most plainelie to my cogitation which was that as that auncient Solon hauing made many excellent lawes amongest the Athenians hee made no lawe neither set hee downe any punishment for him which should kil his own father supposing that the earth would neuer nourishe so wicked a creature Euen so it is truely supposed that those holie fathers liuing in the siluer age of olde antiquitie did neuer imagine that out of this earthlie yron age of ours there should spring anie so barbarous so cruell so wicked that would attempt to take awaie any thing from the true worshippe of almightie God Which suppositioÌ„ least in some mens sight it should seeme to want true position and sure ground let vs turne our minds a litle from carnal cogitations of worldlie minded men which thinke of necessitie the course of the world must bee mainteined howsoeuer the seruice of God be neglected and his holie temple your mindes thus turned cleane away from wordlie vanities which in one minute shall all vanish and consume like the paper cast into the fier turne your eies and behold the booke of life therewith conferre the expositions of holie councels and ancient fathers expounding the true sence of the same and you shall see most plainlie that things once dedicated to holie vse are not in anie wise to bee altered vnleast it be in extreame necessitie the braunches whereof are plainlie laied open by that holie father Saint Ambrose in these wordes Vasa ecclesiae initiata in his tribus confringere conflare vendere etiam licet primum vt extremae pauperum egestati succurratur c. In these three cases it is lawfull to breake to melt to sel the vessels of the Church first for the relieuing of the poore secondlie for the redeeming of the Christians beeing captiues to infidels Thirdlie for the preseruing of the Church christian buriall of the dead these extremities make that irreligious fact sometimes lawfull as appeareth though verie seldome in the practise of the primatiue Church according to that which Sozomene writeth in the fourth booke of his ecclesiasticall storie the 24. Chapter Saith hee when the people of Ierusalem wanted meat and were all readie to perish through the great famine which was amongest them Cyrillus the Bishoppe of the citie solde the treasure of the Church with all the costlie clothes belonging to the same distributing to the poore according to their necessitie First of all the goods of the Church being dulie and dutifullie bestowed on the worshippe of God and diuine function the true proper and principall vse and end of the same Secondly in extreame necessitie this is a good lawfull and also a holie vse of them and scarcelie to be called alâ—enating of the Church goods sith the poore are belonging to the same according to that generall sentence of all the councels and fathers Bona ecclesiae sunt bona pauperum the goods of the church are the goods of the poore But to take awaie the landes and goods of the Church whereby the beautiful feete of those which bring the glad tydings of the Gospel are shed their sides clothed their bodies fed and numbers of those which dailie praie in his holy temple are or ought to be mainteined lifting vp pure hands with hartie prayers for the sinnes of the people and those also which dailie sing praises to his holie name for his wonderful mercies shewed to mankind no scripture no councel no father no writer no religioÌ„ whatsoeuer doth allow it If wee looke into the law of nature or the rules of humanitie not much dissonant from the conclusions of morall
the truth appeare plainly speake brieflie therwith repeating your chiefest arguments most truely And what be they In great mislike of many good things now vsed in our church you commonly begin after this manner In mine opinion Byshops Deanes cathedrall churches c. are not to be allowed sith they sauour of the constitutions of men and are not commaunded by the word If you will ioyne reason with true iudgement and let iudgement guide the vncertaintie of opinion you shal easily perceaue that in mine opinion is no great good argument Looke into true art and you shall soone see that as vnderstanstanding is the internall beginning of the demonstratiue syllogisme whose conclusion is aeternae veritatis vnpossible to be refuted and as fansie is the internal beginning of Sophistical arguments which flie at the presence of the former euen as the shadow of the earth shrinketh successiuely from the rising of the sunne Euen so opinion is the internall beginning of probable reasoning whose conclusion is indifferently either true or false as the Philosopher in his Morralles concludeth most plainely as it cleerely appeareth by this example In your opinion they are not to bee retained in myne opinion they are Now let the Reader iudge which of these two argumentes is the stronger The absurditie of this conclusion flowing from the fountaine of ignorant arrogancie teacheth vs that these mens opinions is more than the truth There zeale farre beyond all knowledge their arguments without all compasse of art Herein wee must vnderstand that opinion is their proper prerogatiue Art is not worthie to knocke at the dore of their blind arrogant zeale What then remaineth to raise this scaled Dragon out of his dungeon Exurgat Dominus dissipentur inimici etus Let the Lord arise and let his enemies bee scattered abroad Let the truth breake forth like the morning beams descending from the cristall skies Let the holie scriptures confute this reason founded on the ysie ground of false opinion and that by the example of Ietro who though he were an Ethnicke and a straunger to the Common wealth of Israell yet his aduise proceeding from mans inuention was both accepted of by Moyses and directlie followed in all good Common wealthes vnto this day Therefore the constitutions of Byshoppes Doctors Deanes Cathedrall Churches c. and all other Discipline orders constitutions and lawes whatsoeuer in the Church of Englande or else where though they proceede from mannes inuention as they tearme it yet if it bee Secundum non contrae scripturas according to the word of God not contrarie to it They are all lawfull good and godlie This is a plaine vndoubted truth and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against it And though the piercing floud striue to issue through the chinkes of those infernall dores Though the pitchie smoke ascending from that deadlie pitte contende to couer the eies of the simple Though this hellish Cloude of darknesse could put on the cleerenesse of the radiant Sunne and those foule deuilles appeare in the habite of the brightest angels Though they open their mouthes wide and to the end they may deceaue manie crie alowde dispersing the doctrine of sedition vnder the colour of the word of God opposed to mannes inuentions yet shall the Lord of light quell this hideous dragon with one small sentence of truth proceeding frō his mouth And though the truth is best knowen and most euidentlie seene when she is most naked yet is she not so tender that she can be pierced with the sharpest arming sword of her enemies nor so feeble that shee will yeeld to blastes of wind nor so ill appointed that she hath but one pore dart nor so vnlearned that shee should yeelde to the vanishing smoke of false opinion nor so simple but that she can soone discerne deceauing spirites from the spirit of truth Wisedome crieth in the streates saith Salomon and the truth of this conclusion though it was first pronounced in Ierusalem yet at this day the sound therof hath passed through al our streets entred al our eares◠knocked at the dore of al our hartes And what is the sound thereof euen the voice of the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world He hath said it plainely Whosoeuer is not against vs is with vs. By which shorte sentence he which hath but halfe an eye may plainly see that whatsoeuer is not contrary to the worde of God is according to his worde Sententia scripturae est scriptura saith Saint Augustine Not the words but the meaning of the scripture is the scripture The letter is a dead element but the spirituall vnderstanding thereof founded in truth and veritie giueth life to all which apprehend it Therfore these subtill deceiuers which cry out for a new reformatiō in the church framed in their own fancy according to the word and vnder that colour disclaime the regiment set downe by our most gratious Princesse they do therein most presumptuously abuse her maiestie and all her subiectes This facing error is not content with bare saying but it also proceedeth to defending and prouing after this manner Things once abused by superstition and idolatrie ought not to bee vsed in the woorship of Christ therefore Churches c. ought to be pulled downe and vtterly abolished When I heare this principle so often repeated by them I think on that prouerbe Facile quae cupimus credimus and when I confer therewith the manner of their reasoning I remember Tindarus his short salutation to his master Salue atque vale So when I behold their false propositions which they take as granted and their vntagged arguments therevnto annexed I cannot imagine that they euer entered further into the Logicke schooles than the threshould or beeing there that euer they did once behold that mistresse of Arts and Sciences or if they did once see her grace and countenance yet they neuer saluted her or if they did salute her it was but Salue atque vale Ex vnguibus leonem the first view of this daungerous error doth discouer the vglines of the monster Suppose these seeming saints were so indeede their opinion true yet doe but view a while the venim taile which she draweth after her and you shall soone espie a thousand Hidraes heades arising out of her footings If you be so hard harted that you will not beleeue vnlesse you see then cast away the blinking eyes of fonde opinion and with the cleare sight of true vnderstanding behold that mirrour of heauenly truth which by the beautifull shew of sundry portraitures teacheth vs plainely that things abused by superstition may be well wisely and religiously vsed in the church of God The Gentiles they had their gods to whome they built solemne temples offered daily sacrifices many praiers petitions Therfore should not Salomon builde a most solemne temple vnto the God of heauen and earth The example confirmeth that rule Quarum rerum est vsus
dangers true vertue atchieueth the greatest victorie And surely if we behold the poore innocent Church all naked in the midst of hir armed enimies daily wouÌ„ded by some betraed by others coÌ„temned of the most If we looke into the world see the smal comfort which poore schollers haue commonly when they come abrode the counterfeit curtesie the seeming friendship the smiling looks the double words the single deedes the smoth promises the doubtfull denials We cannot but confesse that hee which in this vncertainty continueth a certaine asure Patron Arduam virtutis calcauit viam sed tamen gloriosam He hath entred the hard way of perfect vertue but yet that which leadeth vnto true honor He which with the light of heauenly wisedome and the true integrite of a right noble heart hath entred this way at no time diuerting out of the same ether by flatterie of fauning friends or feare of priuie nipping enimies or by double danger proceeding from theÌ„ both He it is whom God loueth whome the better sort doe striue to imitate whose memorie the posteritie shal celebrate for whom we dailie pray and whom I honor with my hart In this perfect resolution I haue presumed to dedicate this my Dissuasiue vnto your Honour at this day a most assured friend to the church of Christ a special benefactor to our Vniuersitie and my most honorable singuler good Patron whoÌ„ I desire to gratifie in the best manner I can deuise Which I haue done the rather to shew my duetie to the common vveale and the sincere affection vvich I beare to your most rare vertue assuring my selfe that you will take it in good part as from him which without all flatterie and with intire affection doth beseech your creator to bestow that vpon you vvhich your most honourable heart doth desire Your Honours in all dutifull obseruance for euer Euâ—rard Digbye The Preface to the Reader IF my pen Gentle Reader had erst bin dipped in the siluer streames flowing from Parnassus hill or that Apollo with his sweet sounding harp would vouchsafe to direct the passage thereof vnto the top of that high Olympus after so general a view of great varietie fâ—r and neere I might bouldly begin with that most excellent Poet Cicelides Muse paulo maiora canamus But sith I finde it true in this my simple state of life now wel nere spent which the father said vnto his sonne affecting his goulden tressed chariot draweÌ„ with breathing horses through the christall skies Magna petis Phaeton quae non viribus istis munera conueniunt I feare to flie so high a pitch leaue the loftie discourse of higher argument to those which with the Eagles eies of perfect wit are able to behould the bright radiant Sunne of true inuention And sithens sometimes in giuing attentiue eare to the sweetstrains of melodious musicke I have most affected the pleasant mean sith in the life of man the goulden mean is that sure rule by which the wise do passe they sie seas of worldly calamities In a mean stile I mind to record to you a true Christian argument which though in these daies it be but meanly regarded of the most yet it is and alwaies hath bin had in great honor with the highest the greatest mightiest Princes in the world And what is that meane that soundeth so high If you wil listen the note is sweete and the dittie resoundeth the little Church of Iesu Christ. Though my musike bee verie simple and I not practised in the art though the song bee plaine truth and the Echoe thereof most vsually odium parit yet sith naked truth by her owne meere strength preuaileth against all the armies and armed men of the world sith her simplicitie is not able to bee refuted by the finest wittes and most eloquent tongues I am bould to sound my slender oten pipe amongest Mineruaes muses and therewith to gratifie you with Celsus of Verona his dissuasiue plainly translated into our English tongue The truth whereof incited me in simple stile no lesse effectuallie to record the good blessings of the Lord powred on those which loue his church than Celsus hath done to the contrarie Considering that these be those euil daies foreshewed by the Apostle of which it was said charitie shall wax cold and that the generall flow of iniquitie ouer the face of the whole earth doth argue vnto vs the dauning of the latter daie For our soules health I thought it expedient to shew vnto those which shall read this rudely written treatise how daungerous a thing it is in the sight of God how loath some in the eies of all true christians to detract any thing from the true worship of God his holy temple and the reuerend fathers the true disposers of the sacred mysteries in the same In which discourse though in the eares of some I may seeme to sing the treble rather than the meane to nisse the moode and to mistake the figure and therewith to sound some sharps insteed of flattes yet in that my purpose is to profit the good and so little as I may to offend the euill I hope God willing to shewe the truth so plainely so briefly and so truely as that the well disposed may vouchsafe to read and the euill may desire to learne To the end that this little fountaine might flow more abundantlie and therewith deriue it selfe into diuers passages I ment before this to haue published the same indifferentlie to all But afterwards considering the simple plainnes of the same scarce worthie the reading of the learned on good cause hauing halfe vowed neuer to publish any thing hereafter I thought it good rather to present my friend with it as a priuate token of my goodwill then by publishing it to make my selfe a marke for such boults as in this case vsually flie abroad Hauing sometimes walked this waye heeretofore I finde that Poeticall prouerbe most true pronounced by that anncient Alceus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnder euery stone there lieth a Serpent If the enuious toong were but as the winde which changeth often or as the sting of the little Bee whose greatest swellings are easily asswaged with the annointing of sweet honey Then might I aduenture my little boate into the wide Ocean seas and crie alowd with old Anchises Vela date ventis But sith the venimous tong more mortal then the Cockatrice empoisoneth farther then â—the eye can see infesting the absent with deadly disgrace heereafter Spes fortuna valete shall be my song and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my full conclusion Euerard Digbie his Dissuasiue The first part THE exiled Poet in the sorrowfull distresse of his banishment gentle Reader hauing penned the record of the same and now readie to send it into the citie Parue nec inuidio sine me liber ibis in vrbem My litle booke saith he I do not enuie thee that thou shalt freelie passe thither whither I cannot come Sith the Poets shadowed stile
riches pleasure and dignitie vile earth springing out of the earth and destinate with your bodies to the earth againe be yee not so enchaunted with the humming swarme of worldly pleasures and delightes that yee loose the ioy eternall And now a litle seclude those painted showes of worldlie vanities besmeared with glistering vernish which dimmeth your eies and looke vppon your selues your soules and bodies Neither is it sufficient to consider with that holie Father vnde vbi quo from whence wee came where wee are now and whither wee shall returne the true answere whereof is that treble anxesis of the prophet earth earth earth But in this iourney according to the counsell of saint Paule we must shake of all which hangeth heauie on and presseth vs downe we must learne to weane our selues from our infirmities and to know our disease with fixed eies we must behold our wounds how many how dangerous how deep they bee how they are to bee cured and how the stroke of the enemie here after is to be auoided Though al our battaile and strife is not directed against flesh and bloud onelie but also against spirituall powers and enemies of our soules yet the enemie of flesh and bloud oft times so daunteth our harts with his proud defiance and in such sort that through the too much caring and carking for our selues hee maketh a plaine and readie entrance to the wounding of our bodies and so much the rather because the shield and brestplate with which wee chuse to defend our selues though at the first sight it sit fit vpon our breast and outwardly seeme well steeled to the eie yet inwardlie it is most dangerouslie impoisoned infesting the bodie with strange contagion sinking into the vaines and synewes so deepe that it weakneth our iointes it dulleth the spirites and daunteth the courage of the heart This is the contagion wherewith as Celsus wriâ—eth the Venetians seeking to ouercome their enemies were made a praie vnto them This is that two edged sword with which whilest wee rashlie fight against our enemie and striue to reach him a sore blow with lifting our hand vp too hastilie too rashlie too high with the other side wee cut our owne faces This is the rule which teacheth vs that when we are prouoked to battaile by outward foes we must not make flesh our strength or put any confidence in riches but if wee hope to ouercome our bodilie enemies wee must first conquere the spirituall aduersaries of our soules now ruling in our mortall members and that is by flyflying to our most louing captaine and victorious conquerour Iesu Christ who hauing conquered our great enemies death hel and damnation is ascended vp on high leading captiuitie captiue and giuing great spoiles and giftes vnto men His louing voice doth sound from heauen and biddeth all men come Come vnto him all yee that are loaden and he will refresh you The spirite and the spouse say come and hee which heareth let him saie come hee which thirsteth let him come and those which hope to see their desire vpon their enemies let them come and all which loue Iesu Christ and his louing spouse come and see touch and tast how sweet the Lord Iesu is But how shall wee come and which is the way hee which biddeth come hee calleth them which thirst opening to them the fountaine of eternall life And though I am vnworthie to aduise anie yet my purpose is to admonish those which erre that they come into the true way And how shall wee come by true repentance of our former wickednes and sinnes committed against God And how shall we repent not in only saying Lord Lord or onely God forgiue me and so going on in our sinful life but if thou hast offended thy Lord and louing father thou must bee heartelie sorie for thy misdoings with fasting with praying with shewing thy penitent mind and sorrow for thy sins in thought in word in deed If thou haue taken thy neighbours goods restore double and with that good Zacheus in signe of true repentance giue halfe thy goods to the poore In this habit of a true Israeliâ—e forsaking all that â—hou hast follow our Lord and sauiour who hath walked the same waie before vs. If thou haue sinned in fleshlie lustes and desires fast and praie instantlie strew ashes on thy head put on sackcloth in stead of silkes returne from the view of courtlie troupes entring into thy secret Chamber cast downe thy selfe before the Lord euen vppon the could ground Mourne and lament before the Lord crie out alowd Adsum qui â—eci in me conuertito ferrum It is I O Lord it is I wretched maÌ„ which haue sinned against heauen and against thee haue mercie vppon me O Lord according to thy great goodnes and according to the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences This is the beginning of repentance for these sins of infirmitie and the end is like vnto the same These were the wordes and deedes of Dauid and was there nothing else yes verilie after due consideration of his sinnes and sorrow for the same he sought to please the Lord he fullie purposed to take the arch out of the simple tent and to build a faire temple vnto the Lord God of Israell this was his holie life wherewith he sought to win the Lordes fauour and his sinnes were the sinnes of his bodie euen the sins of infirmitiâ— but if thou once lift vp thine hand against the Lord and his holy temple if thou take away the goods of his church and the maintenaÌ„ce of his holy ministers preachers of his word who first tooke thee vp in their hands and brought thee into the Church who haue washed thee with the baptisme of repentaunce vnto eternall life who haue taught thee the true Christian faith and cloathed thee with the stole of righteousnesse and leade thee by the right hande vnto eternall life who pray dayly for thy sinnes and the sinnes of the whole people then knowe thou assuredly that though thy armye of souldiers bee huge and monstrous Though they bee verie manye and their courage great Though thy chariots be nine hundred all of iron as were the chariots of Sisera though thy barred horses bee raunged foorth by thousandes and thy Iennets by tenne thousandes Though thy riches be incomparable thy strength aboue al estimation yet if thou haue taken anie iote of maintenaunce from the seruice of the high God if thou weaken the walles of his Church and by vnlawfull exactions impouerish his ministers I speake a truth and I call heauen and earth to witnes the same that which you accouÌ„t your strength shall breede your destruction The Eagles feather once thrust in shall eate to dust all the feathers in the bedde the lyons haire shall consume the mixture of other peltes adioined thereto and Achanes forbidden spoile shall cause the Israelites with losse of life to flie the
field Though thy number bee three to one and thou assure thy selfe to haue the daie yet if the forbidden Babilonish garment bee hidden in the tent rather then thou shouldest prosper therewith the starres in heauen euen the starres shall fight in order from heauen against thee as they did against Sisera the Riuers shall swell against thy comming which if thou enter they shall strike of the wheâ—es and carrie thine iron charrets cleane away The stones in the walles shall fight against thee at home and the foules of the ayre abroad thine enemie shall stand vpon the shore with his banner displaied whilest thou liest drowning in the deepe He shall march vnto the toppes of the highest hilles without losse of men or shedding of his bloud hee shall display his banner with triumphe hee shal descend in peace and refound his trumpet in his tente most courragiouslie Therefore let all true christians muse and meditate more wisely on the will of the Lord let them knowe that it is better to trust in the Lord alone then in any power of man that it is better to depend vpon the seruice of the Lord and the loue of his holie name then to put any confidence in Princes in power in authoritie in riches Let the trueth of the Lord be theyr light and let his looue be the way his holy Prophets their guiders in the same Let theÌ„ fight cheefely for the glory of the Lord and not theyr owne glory for his church and not their own possessions for their soueraigne and not their owne primacie for the realme and not for reuenge of priuate quarels or hope of higher rule Let their departurebe in peace vnfayned loue vnto the spouse of Iesu Christ at theyr going foorth let them not say that theyr garmentes theyr furniture theyr money their coine came from the church but let them looke backe into the lande and beholde the church from whence they sprang Let them pitty theyr mother in their hart and let them say with the sons of God peace bee with thee and sweete prosperitie O thou house and Citty of the Lord let their watch word be Domus dei and theyr great allarum Vincat veritas But let them not be christians onelie in word let not all their religion dwell in their mouth and nothing in their hartes and deedes let them not goe foorth laughing and leaue manie weeping eyes behinde them let them not bragge that they fight for the Church abroad whilest they are full of deadlie sinne within and weaken the foundation of the Church at home Can wee looue our father and yet spoile our elder brethren Can wee tender our mother and yet presse her teates so sore that in steede of sweete milke they droppe bloude Can wee cherishe the sucking childe and yet empoision the teate of the Nurâ—e which giueth it sucke Dooth hee looue his freende who while hee is gone into a farre countrie taketh his little childrens bread out of their handes their cloathes from their backes their houses ouer their heades If this question knocke at the doore by which wee would faine enter into the Church of Iesu Christ and the answere to the same bee the key which openeth the waie and sheweth vs the light of trueth whose beames shine cleerely from the sonne of God why shutte wee vp the fleshlie windowes of our heart with custome of this great sinne aboue the rest So that that the cleere beames of the sonne of God the bountie of his mercie the brightnesse of his glorie cannot once open our earthlie intralles or mooue our sinfull bowels to haue compassion on our tender nurse and most loouing mother if this be farre from your perswasion and you doubt of the same then open your eares and incline your hartes to the voyce of health and saluation lifte vp your eye liddes O yee worthies of the earth and comprehend the light which shineth in darknesse O yee Princes open your gates and yee the elect of the Lorde open your eternall doores and the true light of the God of glorie shall enter in Which when thou hast once beheld with thy mortall eye hauing therewith reade this small treatise rudelie written in hast with a posting pen aske no more the question is this true or shall I aunswer for goods thus taken or is it a blessed thing to giue vnto the Church and a cursed thing to take there fro In this conceite bee not highe minded but feare and tremble before the Lord looke how high the lord sitteth aboue all heauens and howe lowe thou art here on the earth Way that thou art in the earth a worme and no man that thy daies are but a spanne long and that one spanne is a continuall warefare hereunto applie this processe that when thou camest first into this world and werte verie young thy spirituall enemies were olde and subtill that they haue rather wonne then lost euer sithence and holde the same vantage of thee at this daie that they haue wounded thee sore and so sore that thou art not able to stand vpright in the way of life Therefore though thou be mightie and puissant yet in that thou art sore wounded refuse not the holesome oyle of the simple Samaritane which he powreth in thy woundes denye not his suppliant paines in binding them vp in setting thee on his horse which will bring thee to thy Inne and place of rest where thou wouldest be If he doe the best he can and laie out the finest coyne in his purse for thee though it be but two pence yet sith all this is doone for the bringing thee into the way from the which thou wert wandered the deliuering thee from euill and the sauing of thy life confesse the trueth which thou canst not denie the oyle is holesome the binding coÌ„fortable the man deuoute his dooing good his sayings true blessed bee the God of trueth Which because thy dooings shewe thou yet doubtest lesten but a little whilest I open before thine eyes the highe fountaine from whence the trueth of sure perswasion most gentlie floweth together with the plaine examples of auncient times which shewe most clerely in a glasse the true countenaunce of the well disposed minde the good life and happy death of all those which heretofore haue looued founded inriched nourished freede priuiledged adorned the church and contrarie the vglie shape the tirannous life and miserable death of those which persecuted the Christians pulling downe theyr temples pilling and powling the liuinges and freedomes of the Church of Iesu Christ here on earth Concerning this kinde of catterpillers Celsus of Verona had written plainely vnto the Duke and Senate of Venece In which short treatise sith we may euidently beholde the great deformitie of our age Sith his leaues be fewe his examples many his appliaunce plaine his conclusion true sithe it is nowe translated and set open before our eyes shewing vs this foule spot in
deinceps parentum solatio delectari Omnia pro Christi amore contempsi coepiiam esse vt Melchisedech sine patre sine matre sine genealogia Solum Deum patrem agnosco matrem non habeo nisi Ecclesiam It is not conuenient that I should hereafter take comfort in anie naturall parentes I loath all other thinges in regarde of the loue of Christ and nowe I am become like vnto Melchisedech without father without mother without kindred I haue no father but God neither anie mother besides the holy Church In these words he signifieth thus much that who hath created vs first and loued vs most wee ought to seeke him first and most to loue him and therfore sith our heauenly father is a liuing spirit and our mother trulie spiritual sith there is no loue comparable to his which leauing all creatures in heauen in earth gaue his life for vs or to hers which though she were ten times persecuted euen vnto death for our sake yet she louingly embraced vs In louing our spiritual parents before all other things let vs render like for like Let vs willingly reiect the sensuall entisements of the flesh disarming our selues of riches goods lands honour office authoritie yea our owne father and mother according to the flesh that wee maye serue our spirituall father and mother in the vnitie of the spirite This is a cleare glasse in which a christian maye beholde the degrees by which wee must passe thorow this vale of miserie vnto the kingdome of heauen and the rule is like vnto it for the first rule or direction of a christian soule vnto heauen is aboue all thinges to meditate with himselfe whether he be in the true way of eternall life or no. And therewith to consider with himselfe what he hath done what hee hath not doone and what hee ought to doe which who so wiselie weigheth hee shall finde it true that before all care and prouision of our sinfull bodies we ought most painefully to prouide for the health of our soules knowing assuredly that we must passe this earthly pilgrimage with suche religious care of our spirituall father and mother that therewith wee must restraine our affections from the woonted wishes of the worlde and weane them so from fleshlie corruptions with the true discipline of our spiritual nurse that neyther riches nor goods nor dominion nor power nor freinds nor enemies nor life nor death can once separate vs from the true worship of his holie name and the daily maintenance of the same This is the way easie to bee found out of all those which heede the same The ground is euen the path is plaine the degrees not many the passage easie O that the foote could bee content to follow the direction of the eye that the handmayd would be obedient to her mistrisse or that the flesh would but cease a little to resist the good motions of the spirite If wee could but a little yea I saye but a little sequester our selues from this worldly securitie which with her manifold charming pleasures hath lulled vs so long in the cradle of the flesh that wee are almost all fallen into a daungerous deade sleepe If we could but once beholde the Lorde as hee is in himselfe truth and equitie or but once thinke of him aright of his woonderfull maiestie supported with eternall sanctimonie holines and righteousnesse If the Lorde of his great mercie would but once open our eyes and let vs see this heauenly obiect we should be so farre from offending his maiestie and decaying his church that for euer after wee would loath this earthly dungeon of our bodie ful of deadly destructions and pleasaunt miseries wee shoulde then more truely know God and Iesu Christ whom hee hath sent wee should bee able to discerne the honourable the blessed the singular prerogatiue which hee hath giuen to his spowse And therwith wee should striue to yeelde her the first fruits of our best and greatest endeuours wee shoulde looke about vs aâ—d see more clearly how farre the heathen haue gone before vs in their kinde concerning religion how farre we are fallen in these daies from the rules of nature and true philosophy from the examples of the holy fathers the olde patriarkes the true prophets the blessed apostles the christiaÌ„ emperors the reuerend Bishops whilest we embrace this present worlde and make desolate his holie Church with the ministerie thereof Let vs knowe that wee are heere placed in a strife of obtaining double pleasure and double paine the pleasure of the sense worketh sinne and sinne is the parent of death but the minde flieth higher vnto the heauenly hilles euen to the top of that high Olimpus from whence commeth our health These two contrary desires bee the cause of mans disquietnes in this life shewing plainly that the flesh euermore striueth against the spirite with such perfect discord that whatsoeuer maintaineth the one destroieth the other that which delighteth the one displeaseth the other that which exalteth the one depresseth the other So that though the spirite bee willing yet the flesh is verie weake and vnable to walke this straite and narrow way of eternal life yea so weake that Saint Paule in the middest of this battell crieth out that which I would doe that I doe not and that which I would not that I do O wretch that I am who shall deliuer me from this bodie of sinne euen the grace and mercie of God thorowe Iesu Christ our Lord. Let vs therefore cast of this coate of sinne with the workes of darkenes and put vpon vs the armour of light now in this most daungerous day wherein charitie is waxen so colde and iniquitie so hoat that we scarse count it any sinne to take away the maintenance of the Church of Iesu Christ. The naturall Philosopher teacheth trulie that euerie compound bodie consisteth of two parts of matter and forme affirming that the forme is the more excellent part of nature The Logitian considering with Plato that matter is a note of corruption affirmeth that the forme is worthie to rule The morall Philosopher writeth thus Animal autem primum constat â—x animo corpore quorum illud quidem imperat natura hoc quidem paret animus imper at corpori herili imperio mens antem appetitui ciuili regio a man consisteth cheefelie of minde of bodie the minde by nature dooth rule the bodie by nature dooth obaie concluding thus Imperet sapiens let the strong in bodie take paines but let learned wisedome rule In Aegipt the best Astrologers were had in greatest honour and as it appeareth by Hermes the first lawe giuer of the Aegiptians such were commonly chosen Kinges So likewise with the Chaldeans with the Assirianes with the Romanes and Indianes the heauenlie vertues and giftes of the minde were in highest honour so that as Plato writeth they counted that common wealth happie in which either Kinges were
theÌ„ know that they must die like men that theyr bodies are made of a lothsome matter that they are but wormes meate dun ashes earth earth earth most vile and corruptible earth as all other men be though their descent bee princely ofte times from the house of many mighty Kings and Emperours though the knee of flesh and bloud doe bowe and kneele at their presence though their honour bee great in the eyes of the people their scepter mightie their crown gorgious yet one clod of earth must couer their heades in the graue and all their glorie shall be shut vp in a fewe lines according to the saying of saint Augustine in his booke De vera innocentia Qui splendes in mundo c. Thou which shinest in the world aboue the rest thou accountest of thy nobilitie of thine auncestors thou reioycest in thy large dominions in thy parentage in the great honour and homage which all men doe vnto thee knowe thy selfe that thou art earth and thou shalt bee consumed into earth againe looke vppe but a little and beholde those which were placed in the same throne of maiestie before thy time What is become of those excellent Oratours those mightie princes those puissant conquerous those renowmed Emperours Looke vnto the graue whether thou art passing beholde and see are they not all nowe rotten dust are they not like a sparke of fire which is vanished is not all there glorie and fame contained in a fewe lines written of them by some poore contemned scholler shall not the greatest Prince in this world rise vp naked at the daie of iudgement all amazed trembling and quaking Naie not his bodie onelie but his heart and his minde his soule and his conscience shalbe laied open before the Lord his Angels his saints and all his elect If hee haue plaied the tyraunte beating his fellowe feruantes ruling for his owne gaine and not for the benefitte of his Church shall not the remembraunce of his honour bee a stinging serpent to him in his conscience and his Princely dominion a most deadly corasiue to his heart Therefore be wise ye kings and princes of the worlde and yee which iudge the earth hearken to the wordes of vnderstanding Knowe yee that the wisedome of this world is not as is the wisedome of God Many men in their wisedome forecast by all meanes possible to come into possession of riches honour authoritie power and maiestie which when they haue attained let them but looke back a little and consider with what wicked sinnefull greeuous paines they were gotten with what feare and daunger they are possessed with what greefe they are loste let them enter into theyr owne heartes and beholde what a hell of corruptions and what an armie of tempting serpentes accompanie the minde that is set vppon riches let them marke howe manie wise men of this world haue come vp of nothing to great aboundaunce of wealthie authoritie and yet after they haue well practised and wiselie waied manie yeeres which waie they might come to enioye the height of their desire which is to rule whilest they liue heere on earth and to leaue the like to their posteritie it hath pleased the Lorde in one hower to cutte of the sequell and issue of all theyr hope Either theâ—â—elues togeather with their posteritie are cutte off or else the Lorde dooth take awaye that theyr ioye before theyr face or after all sendeth a worse mischeefe to theyr soule then anie penne can write anie tongue can tell or anie heart can vnderstand Which though we cannot sound to the bottome yet let vs learne by the shadowe to gesse the pourtraiture of the body by the effect to search the cause by the conclusion to knowe the trueth of that axiome Who so euer maketh his God of any thing here on earth it shall neuer prosper with him And who so maketh his quiet heauen here He shall neuer possesse the eternall heauen in the world to come Who so presumeth of his owne wisedome before the iustice of God or on his might that he may treade downe the poore hee shall not bee able to stand vpright in the daie of his daunger and to his vtter confusion he shall heare that voice at length Non est sapientia non est prudentia non est consilium aduersus dominum there is no wisedome there is no pollicy there is no counsell against the Lord. If wee will not hearken to the poore contemned ministers of Iesu Christ which forewarne vs dailie of that great daunger of our soule which wee rashlie aduenture by more esteeming of man then of God of the seruice of man then of the seruice of God of the commaundement of man then of the commaundement of God of the house of man then of the Church of God of the seruaunt of man then of the minister of God the stones in the wall shall crie out aloud and our owne conscience shall tell vs plainly that in loouing the honour the maintenaunce the issue of our bodie wee haue vtterly lost the saluation of our owne soules O that our eyes were so cleane washed with the water of life that wee might but once stedfastly behold the bright beautie of the radiant sonne of God no doubt we would leaue this great politike wisedome of this world wherin euery one striueth to frame his children and learn the true wisedome which is follie in the eyes of flesh wee would humble our selues before the Lorde and kisse the sonne least he be angry We would not count of that sweetnes which is tasted with toong nor of the fading beautie which shineth in the face of sinneful flesh we would cast our worldly honour in the dust and put our scepter vnder the foote-stoole of Iesu Christ We would not so much seeke the honour of earthly kingdoms nor triumph so often in the flesh but we would first aboue all other thinges reade the will of our God and meditare in the same both daye night wee would seeke to differ from the heathen in extolling our scepters after the manner of flesh bloud we would leaue the delight careful seeking of the worlde which is the first entraunce vnto Christ. We would knock at the doore of his mercie by a true faith and enter further by perfect obedience We would drawe neere to the father and kisse the sonne most louingly because he loued vs first so entirely that when wee were his enemies and beeing a most vile and sinnefull creature he left thousands of bright shining holie angels his daily ministers the spheares of heauen the stars of the firmament with all the rest of his beautiful creatures comming down in great humilitie was made man He beeing the high God of heauen earth for our sake was made man he suffered hunger and thirst reprochies and reuilings agonies and paines he sighed in his heart hee groned in the spirite and that which is able
health saying these bee examples of Iewes Gentils If the matter bee doubtfull and ambiguous why do you not rather help to confirm this true conclusion sithens the open display therof is the great glorie of God and the benefite of his church will you that I proue the true leuel of mine ayme and that I draw foorth this line from Persia in the east vnto England in the west seioyned from the continent of the whole world The Iewes they requested our sauiour Christ most instantly that hee would reuiue the Centurions seruaunt saying that he was worthie of that good turne for he had loued their nation had built them a synagogue Which good works because they proceeded from a perfect faith as appeared afterwards by the approbation of our sauiour Christ◠the Lorde did not forget him in the day of his sorrow and most bountifully remembred his faithfull deuout deeds Afterwards though many yeares the sunne of the Gospel was darkened with the manifold stormes and clowdy tempests of persecution yet when it began to reflect the cleare beames on the top of the highest mountaines of the earth to illuminat the hart of that holy renowned Emperour Constantine the great the sun waxed warm the fields were pleasant the soile was fruitful the seed of the Gospell of Christ sprong vp apace in sundry sortes so that this godly Emperor though he could not come to the beholding of the sun himselfe yet hee receiued the brightnes of his shining beames so clearely in at his eye and shut them so secretly in his heart that in perfect zeale he shewed his louing heart vnto the Christians hee stretched foorth his handes and most hartily embraced the poore orphane Christians dispersed persecuted weakened discomfited Hee nursed and nourished them he called them togither into one place knowing that vnited vertue is the stronger He gaue them the milke of good and wholesome councell willing them in the name of God to foresee what was the truth to seeke that to discusse that with one consent to conclude that he with all his wil power would ratifie the same After that the iointes of this little infant began to knit and councell waxed riper in the head he supplied stronger meats he gaue thē libertie of calling a generall councell hee supplyed with yearely commodities the wants of those which had illuminated his hart with the glad tidings of the God of heauen after innumerable great charges gifts endowments bestowed on the church that which is an example for all Christian princes hee spent all his time in meditating vpon the law of the Lorde in studiyng deuising howe hee might promote the religion true faith of Iesu Christ. Herein considering that we cannot possesse our soules in this life without bodies nor bodies without meate nor meate without money nor money vnlesse it bee giuē with great ioy loue he laid the foūdations of many faire temples raising thē an exceeding great height in the honour of Christ endowing them with great store of lands and possessions therewith giuing great freedome vnto those places and all the ministers of Christ to whome they belonged Hee built a verie solemne and sumptuous temple in the place where our sauiour did rise againe commaunding that it should farre passe all other temples of the worlde in exceeding faire walles and marble pillers adorning it within most richly with princely ornamentes more sumptuous than can bee expressed in a fewe wordes adding thereto solemne monuments of gold siluer and almost infinite numbers of pretious stones Neither was his loue as is the loue of man soone hote and soone colde or as is the loue of these latter daies in which wee surely looke for the greate day of doome but hee proceeded in building and founding of temples and religious places for the maintaining of the poore disciples of Iesu Christ. At Bethlem also where our sauiour was borne hee builded a temple and that at the motion of that deuoute woman the Ladye Helina the Empresse his mother who being endued with special graces from heauen ascended high after the steppes of Christ on the toppe of Mount Olyuet from whence he ascended vp into heauen euen in the very top thereof founding a sanctuarie for the Church of Christ and at the bottome of the same mount in that place where our sauiour was woont to resorte with his Disciples shee erected a verie fayre Church shewing vnto her sonne the waye wherein hee should walke not onely in founding temples for the woorship of the Lorde but in giuing vnto the poore in redeeming captiues in clothing the naked with hir owne hands in visiting the poore sicke Christians The cleare candle which this vertuous woman held in her hand gaue such light vnto the most worthie Emperour her sonne that imediatly after his mothers death hee builded temples in all prouinces making them much more faire than they were before Also he built many faire and sumptuous temples in Constantinople he retired backe againe into Asia euen to Nicomedia the first and chiefest citie in Bithinia where he built an exceeding large temple and no lesse beautifull adioyning to it on all sides verie high and faire Cloisters within he erected a sanctuarie of an infinit height being in forme eight-angled with verie huge pillers sumptuous arches bossinges and monumentes all adorned with great plentie of gold brasse and other pretious mettell Though the church of Christ and his profession was now but yong amongest the gentils yet he had a special regard to the faithful patriarches of old He looked farre backe and sith his sight was good hee beheld his forefather Abraham remembring that heauenlie apparation of the holie blessed and glorious Trinitie vnder the oke of the valley of Mambrie vnto the patriarch for a monument he commaunded a faire Church to be built in the same place reedified all the decayed Temples and monumentes building them verie high and faire destroying the Idols of the gentils pulling downe their altars vtterlie defacing their superstitious religion and all other worldly states whatsoeuer were a hindrance or disgrace to the church of Christ. It is plainle shewed by the ecclesiastical writers that so soone as hee had ouercomed the enemies of the Church hee imployed himselfe and all which hee could do by word by worke by letter and example to reedifie the churches of the christians or else to build them new leauing a most perfect patterne behinde him which all true christians ought to behold When hee had vanquished his enemies all the world ouer and was placed in the throne of the empire with great honor triumph glorie maiestie abundance of health of wealth of libertie to commaund what he list he did not swell in his hart with pride but in all humilitie fell downe before the crosse of Christ Iesus yeelding himselfe Christ his soldier vnder whose banner this most renowmed Emperour marched forwarde Hee was not so
base minded as to looke about him how hee might raise great summes from the poore people or how hee might vnder some good pretence exact some paiment from the church though his enemies were manie mighty his warre great his troubles innumerable his charges infinite yet hee did not molest any one person belonging to the church nether would he suffer the mightiest of his princes once to meddle with them He could not possiblie be perswaded to increase his treasure with any penny which came from the Church or his honour with their prerogatiue or his securitie with their trouble or his credit with their disgrace But this foster father of the poore dispersed lambs of Iesu Christ he bestowed he founded he erected on high he reedified those temples which the heretickes had pulled downe hee restored the landes which they had taken awaie when hee tooke it into his handes he did not giue one halfe to God kept the other halfe to himselfe saying I haue two eies the one to looke to my kingdome and the other to the church But beeing a good true christian philosopher hee knew that though wee haue two eies yet we must looke but one way nor see but one marke at once We cannot at once loue both God and Mammon sinne and righteousnesse the kingdome of this world and heauen But hee knew it truelie and wayed it wisely in his hart that the high God of heauen did create him that hee blessed him preserued him exalted him gaue him all that he had And therefore hee rendred vnto him and his beloued spouse all honor freedome peace and abundance Hee was taught by the holie fathers out of the booke of life that the Lord is a ielous God he will not part stakes with any nor giue his honor to any other but of him it is said and of him onelie Thine is thy kingdome thy power and thy glorie for euer and euer Amen When the good Emperour beheld this perfect stile of Iesu Christ did see the ensigne on which it was described together with the church of Christ cast downe to the bare earth hee drawing neere as S. Paul did to the altar wherein was written ignoto deo beholding but foure bare letters I. N. R. I. which signified that this was the ensigne of the vnknowen God not acknowledged amongest men forthwith hee humbled himselfe in the flesh and reioiced in the spirit that the vnknowen God the God of heauen of earth had vouchsafed him that speciall grace to reueale himselfe vnto him He cast downe his banner and tooke vp the crosse of Iesu Christ crucified hee cast all dignities courts commissions and kingdomes aside and laid his honor in the dust in regard of the true honor of Iesus Christ as wee haue mentioned hee imploied all the giftes which hee had giuen him euen of mind bodie and goods especially in founding erecting beautifying perfecting adorning priuiledging and freeing the church of Christ as Eusebius testifyeth most plainlie in these words Ecclesias vero Dei incredibile est supra omnem opinionem c. It is incredible and far beyond all mens opinions to recount what giftes and ornamentes hee bestowed on the church of God what freedome what plentie of maintenance what honors he gaue to them which had wholy bent theÌ„selues to serue the Lord in his holy temple daily to pray for the safety of the lande for the honour of the King and the sinnes of the people This was the expressed pietie of that first and most Christian Emperour and the Lord of his great mercie redoubled his kindnesse euen into his bosome for hee not onely shewed him the scale which Iacob saw and the gate of heauen opened at the top therereof but hee gaue him that great and rare gift of perseuerance in his deuout deedes euen vnto the end Therfore the Lord blessed him in his pallace in the field froÌ„ the arow which flieth in the wars abroad and from false friends at home and in such plentiful manner that all things which he tooke in hande did prosper wonderfully His victories are compared with the conquests of Cyrus but his end was much more happie for when he had most honourablye passed the full course of the life of man enioyed all the blessings of the earth aboue the space of sixtie yeares not once troubled with any sicknesse of bodie or vexation of minde but in wisedome and true christian loue florished continuallye like the greene bay tree whose fruite doth comfort the hart of man like the spreading vine like the fat Oliue braunch which maketh him to haue a ioyfull countenance sith hee distilled these sweete drops of his sincere loue into the bosomes of the poore distressed christians of his daies the Lord he kindled the sparke of true christian loue in his heart and made him glad with the ioy of his countenance Hee had alwaies victorie against his enemies conquering from Scythia in the east to this Ile of Britaine in the west Neither was the loue of the Lord extended vnto this good Emperour in his life onely but to the end all men may knowe that the loue of the Lorde is not fained that his iustice neuer changeth that his mercie endureth for euer hee departed out of this life being full of yeares in his ripe olde age euen about the feast of the ascension of our sauiour Christ and the descension of the holy Ghost at high noone At which instant his soule leauing the mortall body heere on earth hee was no doubt receiued vp into heauen by the hands of immortall angels there enioying the crowne of eternall blisse Which the Lord hath prouided for all those assuredly which looue his comming and maintaine his holy militant Church heere on earth Neither was the reward of the Lord onely proportioned by the merit of man neither did his munificent mercie onely exceede the merite of this true christian Emperour so much as the compasse of the heauens whose least starres are much bigger then the lande and sea exceedeth the earth in giuing him his hartes desire which is eternall blisse and felicitie but that which the Lord recounteth to Abraham Isaac and Iacob for a sure blessing here on earth he gaue this Godly Emperour three good and godly sonnes to â—it vppon his seate after him neither for one or two liues onely but as it is written of his posterity Vt imperii sedes c. That as the Empire discended from his father vnto him so by the course and lawe of nature it was continued vnto his childrens children and their posteritie Neither is it all onelie to bee marked what fruite the braunch beareth in the top but if we be good simplicians we will haue recourse vnto the roote from whence the first life and naturall vertue proceedeth Heerein if we consider well and looke more narrowlie into it wee shall plainely perceiue that these former examples more
often and so plainly to haue opened the glasse before your face or to the ende that you should acknowledge your deformity wherewith your fleshly hands haue fowlie bespotted the beautiful countenance of your soules I should not haue needed to haue trauailed into strange countries amongst the Iewes and heathen people to shewe you by the true consent of sundrie glasses that as it appeareth without so it is that you haue fowlie stained your christian consciences inwardly with this fowle sin of taking from the Church Neither should I neede nowe after the proposing of those two faire wel steeled glasses of the heathen and the Iewes to adde the thirde which is the true mirror of christianity shewing most plainly that the Lorde Iesu hath an especiall eie vnto his beloued spowse the holie Church and most seuerelie punisheth the detracters of the same Herein as we haue begunne if wee goe forwarde and pierce the fountaine wee shall soone perceiue great riuers flowing from the same For first of all in the daies of our Sauiour Christ let vs marke what was concerning the Church what ought to haue beene and what followed The Lord of light was made a man he walked amongst vs in the habit of man he was vsed verie hardly he liued in very meane estate he was reuiled persecuted whipped despited with mockings mowings with spittings with a reede in his hand and a crowne of thornes on his head And lastlie with a most bitter and cursed death for our sakes and for our saluation Likewise also the Disciples though they preached the glad tidinges of the Gospell with the great power vertue and Maiestie of the holie Ghost yet concerning the worlde they were poore simple contemptible persecuted men In so lowe a valley it pleased the Lord to sow the first seed of his Gospel and to the end that the Roofe of the Church might afterwardes rise farre and high aboue first of all he laid the foundation in great humilitie farre belowe Thus it was then and worldlie minded men regarding more the prosperitie of their bodies then the health of their soules and the safetie of the holie church misconstruing that voice of truth Vos autem non sic say that as the simplicitie of the Church was then euen so it ought to bee now in the flourishing state of the Gospel Wherein I wish them to beware that they looke not on this Christall mirrour too much or that they hold it not too neere for fear lest their fleshlie breath doe dimme the same Remooue the sight of the glasse a little and let vs see what was then and what ought to haue beene they contemned the Gospell of grace they crucified the Lord of light and cruelly persecuted his disciples what were these according to the prophecy the Kings and Rulers of the earth euen Pontius Pilat high deputie of Iurie Herode the Tetrarch of Galilee with the high priests the Iudges the scribes and the pharises and the whole multitude of the Iewes so that in these daies the Church was trodden downe the poore Ministers contemned afflicted persecuted by that faithlesse generation But nowe you which so much allude to those darke daies of persecution in the Church Doe but alter the case a little and suppose that the Emperour and Pontius Pilate his deputie Annas and Caiphas with the rest of the Rulers in those daies had beleeued in Christ and confessed plainely that he was the Sauiour of the world that he created them that he came to redeeme them that he nourished them in their mothers wombe that hee perserued the breath in their nostrels and that it was he by whom they shoulde bee either exalted or put downe either accepted or reiected either saued or condemned in the daie of iudgement If this had bin so let vs thinke what a strange metamorphosis had followed in their doings how would they haue falleÌ„ downe before the Lorde with what humilitie would they haue cast down their crownes scepters at his feete with what ioy woulde they haue exalted the Lord of light what honour magnificence would they haue yeelded to that heauenly bridegrome and the children of the marriage what great freedomes and foundations would they haue bestowed on his Church litle flocke for euer No say some though Iupiters priests with the whole City when they did see the mighty woorking of the holy Ghost by the hands of Paul Barnabas would haue sacrificed to them giuen them the honour title of gods Yet they refused it knowing that the true worshippers would worship him in truth an spirit outwardly yelding him but meane reuerence belonging to simpler state Neither would he or his disciples haue accepted of any worldly honour sith he said plainely my kingdome is not of this worlde As was the roote of humilitie so were the braunches springing from the same As the Lord though he would not openly bee proclaimed a king yet he had ordained in his secrete counsell that the Church shoulde haue hir time of infancie of childhoode of strong age of florishing and decaying Euen so it pleased him that this seede shoulde not bee both sowne and reaped in one daie that it should not first spring and bring foorth seede in one houre and that the Church shoulde not bee founded and perfected both in one minute Though by diuine prouidence the Church was in the infancie that time of our Sauiours beeing heere on earth and his Apostles and though the space of three hundreth yeares after it was trodden downe verie low by persecution vnder the heathen vnder Ebion Cherinthus and Arrius heretiques of the first head whereby the account and calling of the Ministerie waxed verie poore and meane contemned of some misliked of many little reuerenced of the most yet if these Kinges and Rulers had had the grace to haue acknowledged Christ to bee the GOD of of heauen and earth out of doubt they woulde haue applied themselues in all loiall manner to â—he enlarging and amplifying of the true profession of his name they would haue left their princely pallaces and founded solemne temples for the seruice of the Lorde they woulde haue founded largelie for the maintenance of his holy worship and giuen perfect freedome to his Ministers Which if anie now blinded with this beggerly conceited errour concerning the poore simple estate of the primatiue Church whereunto in hope of our liuinges they desire to reduce vs doubt what these Kings and Rulers if they had beleeued woulde or ought to haue done Let them but marke a litle what the first Christian Emperour did who being guided by the spirite of God his doinges shewed plainely what the Lord woulde haue done Beholde a while the gratious feature of this most Christian Emperours minde reade the histories of his life and marke diligentlie what great account he made of the holie fathers of his time aboue all other men Magistrates Rulers and Princes of his dominions How
secrete polling and vndermining the Church of Iesu Christ. And if it be a great punishment sent from God vpon thee thy wife thy children thy house or family thy countrie or people though thou haue not sinned lately notoriouslie yet remember what thou hast done long since thinke that long since thou inclosedst such a fielde from thy poore neighbours that that thou tookest the goodes lands and priuiledges from such a Church there giuen to maintaine the worshippe of the Lorde therewith remember that though it were long since yet with the Lord a thousand yeares is but as one day and therefore now hee punisheth thee euen with as perfect iustice as if the deede were nowe in dooing before his face Would to God that men woulde hereby learne to feare the Lord and to tremble at his secrete iudgement that they woulde cast off the loue of this wicked worlde which corrupteth their consciences and poisoneth their owne soules that they woulde leaue this fained kinde of repenting in worde onelie and repent in deede which is restoring with Zacheus foure folde and vndooing that which they haue done to the vttermost of their power If the loue of the Lords blessinges will not incite them to good life yet let the fcare of his heauie iudgementes deterre them from sinne Let vs not looke on those great and grieuous examples which I haue nowe rehearsed thinking those were long since in times past and that in forraine nations beyond the seas for if we looke well we shall see that as many plagues pestilences and other contagious diseases of the bodie haue beene brought ouer sea into this fortunate Iland so also this most contagious and deadly maladie of bodie and soule came ouer and rooted it selfe in this lande long since Wee haue store of examples at home and one shall serue for the perfecting of this period William Rufus the third sonne of the Conquerour after hee had ouercome his enemies and their resistance diuers times beeing returned out of Fraunce and quietly enioying the Scepter of this land afterward hee liued in ioy and triumph and for the more suppliance of his pleasure and pastime he to inlarge his Forrest pulled downe foure Abbeies seauenteene parish Churches and all the Townes belonging to the same Quo quisque peccat eodem saepe plectitur modo Oft times a man is punished the same way by which hee offendeth and so was hee for in the same Forrest where these Churches stood which hee pulled downe and in the same disport or pastime for which he dissolued them he was slaine by the glauncing of an arrow shot at a Deare by a Knight so that hee fell downe therewith on the grounde giuing onelie one grone Some write that in the same place where he fell downe and died in olde time there had beene a faire Church which with others in his Fathers time were dissolued for the enlarging of the said Forrest in which Forrest also a litle before the Kings Nephew was slaine by the like chaunce This Kings Father and he both minded to haue made this a fâ—ire goodly Forrest fit for the disport and hunting of a king but the Churche of Christe and the houses of his poore Subiects stood in his waie His officers and sycophants considering what would come rouling into their purses that way said it was very meete it should be so so it was But alas it proued a small pleasure of the father which ended with the deadlie groning of his sonne a simple pastime for the king to haue his bodie wounded with the piercing arrow to the death Pleasure bought with griefe is seldome kindly and gaine procured with the displeasure of the Almighty doth neuer profite The hearts of the wicked lust after their owne bane and wanton pleasure poisoneth hir owne Nurse The flower of flesh florisheth not an houre and the fall thereof is griefe to the eie The wisedome of this world compoundeth cares and the height of their deuises want successe Most mens fancie wearieth the spirite and their welthiest wish is perfect disquietnes He which magnifieth himself seeketh his owne decaie because the chaire of pride is placed on slipperie ice Hee which gathereth vnrighteous goodes for his children pierceth the heart of his owne flesh and who so taketh away his neigbours possession he diggeth vp the roote of his owne posteritie Hee which neglecteth his maker choketh his soule and hee which taketh from the Church shall not prosper vppon earth his bodie shall decaâ—e without his bloud shall drie vp within his marowe shall consume within his bones his musicke shall bee groning daie and night his feeding shall be loathsomnes of meate his wish shal be O that I were as yonder poore man his comfort that his good daies bee past his recreation one pang vpon an other his glad tidings the death of his children his consolation the loathing of his friends his hope the feare of death and vnlesse hee repent his ende shall bee despairre of eternall life Who so mindeth to liue with Iesus Christ eternally in heauen aboue and in this life mindeth to see good daies let him walke the way of the righteous and marke the fruitlesse paths of the wicked Frst of all let him keepe his hands from violating holie things and behold the miserable ende of those which doe the contrarie Let him reade the holie Gospell of Saint Mathewe and in reading let him marke diligentlie in marking diligentlie let him vnderstand truelie what our Sauiour Christ meaneth when hee saith yee fooles whether is the golde holie or the Temple which sanctifieth the golde and whether is the gift holie or the Altar which sanctifieth the gift If the Temple make the ornaments holie then the walles the woode the stone of the which the Temple doth consist is holie if the Altar doe sanctifie the gift then that which belongeth to the maintaining of the Altar is sanctified they which minister ther at are to be reputed holy If by our sauior Christ his speach those things be true then they be holie men which build vp the Lords house and they be wicked which pull downe the same according to that old verse Ecclesias Christi quas fundauêrâ— parentes Heu malè diripiunt gnati pietate carentes The godlie Fathers builded vp the Churches of Christ and the vngodlie children haue pulled them downe But marke the end of all those which walked this way and learne to keepe thy conscience cleare from this gracelesse fact The Lord inflicted manie plagues on them whilest they liued here and when they were once deade their honour vanished like smoake and was buried with them in the graue As their bodies consumed in the earth euen so their infamie did spring vp out of the ground their goods wasted like waxe in the fire and like snow before the Sunne their posteritie became like the grasse growing on the house top which withereth before it â—ee ripe Nether was this only the
of the Frenchmen And Brennus himselfe beeing sore wounded in many places and not able to indure the paines and exceeding anguish of his wounds he killed himself with his owne dagger and so for his bold attempts he had his deserts by deserued death WheÌ„ â—yrrâ—us had coÌ„pelled the Citizens of Locris to giue him a great portion of the treasure of the goddesse Prosorpina wheÌ„ he was sailing away loden with his wicked praie he and his whole nauie by force of a sodaine tempest was beaten against the shores of the goddesse on which the money being found againe it was restored to the olde custodie of the treasurie But what should I speake anie more of these things for I feare me that if I should comprehend all the examples of auncient times appliable to this purpose in this treatie that I shoulde keepe no meane in writing of the same for they bee so manie that they can scarce bee numbered I omitte the example of Qu Cipio who beeing Consull when hee had sacked the Towne Tholosam and that there was found much golde and siluer in the Temples of the same Towne whosoeuer presumed to touch anie of that golde in that spoile in lue of his deserts hee died therefore in most horrible griefe and anguish I omit Xerxes the king of the Persians which sent foure thousand soldiers to Delphos to destroy Apollos Temple which companie was cleane destroied with lightning and tempest that Xerxes might vnderstande thereby the greater iniurie hee offered to God so much the lesse his force shoulde bee to resist Which reuenge truelie may bee applied to these our daies for wee haue seene it oftentimes chaunce in like sort vnto you euen in these daies since you beganne to take the goods of the Church into your owne handes and to paie Souldiers wages therewith For as you your selues can witnesse verie well not onelie your Shippes full fraughted with munition for warre were destroied with diuerse tempestes with thundering and lightning from heauen but also manie thousandes of souldiers afflicted with diuers calamities died most miserablie so that none or verie fewe which you sent vnto the warre came safe home againe Tell me O most renoumed Venetians how should these strange ouerthrowes these strange slaughters and destructions of men these manie calamities and miseries come but that this your warre is not onelie against man but also against God and his true worship a worde in this matter is inough Now I mind to applie my speach vnto these our times and to couclude with domesticall examexamples for we must not content our selues with the examples of auncient times if our owne bee appliable also hereunto Especiallie sith manie will saie vnto me why doe you propound vnto vs the examples of the Pagans temples and their wicked gods why doe you rehearse their reuengementes against their enimies sith by the hand of God at length they were all taken away To whome I may well answere in good time that I make mentioÌ„ of those heatheÌ„ gods to the end we might thereby vnderstand how seuere a reueÌ„ger our God eueÌ„ the God of all Gods of his iustice ought to bee vnto those which presume wickedly to take away the goods of the church and transport them vnto other vses sith that those which were falselie called gods and which indeede were no gods or rather God himselfe by them sent such cruell plagues and punishmentes for the contempt of their religion The cause why the most righteous God permitted that they which were rather deuils then gods should so grieuouslie punish men was because forasmuch as they knew they contemned the true religion and the true God Sith those idols were most wickedly contemned of them which though falselie yet the whole people tooke them to be true gods and they seemed to these men which spoiled them so wickedlie to bee true gods indeede Wherefore God himselfe brought iust punishment vpon them for this contempt of that which they faithfullie beleeued to bee God And nowe in these daies that cloud of ignorance beeing cleane remoued sith he is more barbarously contemned of vs surely he will punish vs more seuerely greeuously But nowe from whence wee digressed let vs returne vnto these of our time to tell what great death slaughter chanced to that wicked Fredericke the second for violating the libertie of the church I shall not need many words for that is plaine inough to those which read the histories For when he was made Emperor by Innocentius the third and had taken the crosse in his hande against the enemies of the Christians then euen vnto his owne vndooing deuising most vnhappily with himself how he might take away the goodes of the church now dedicated to holy vse he was not afraid to take them wickedly and to imploy them prophanely herevpon hee became so blinde in his owne opinion that hee made a sacrilegious pact with the mightie king of Aegypt the Soldan concerning the suppressing of religion religious houses and concluded that from which a christian man ought especially to abhorre But hee did not long escape the iust vengeance of God For after that he had spoiled many cities after many dissentions had with the church of Rome after that hee had deuoured many temples after many most cruel barbarous sacrileges hauing his own sonne in a ielousie that he affected his Empire he shut him vp in most filthie dungeons til he died And he feeling the great grieuous censure of the church as the righteous God had appointed he was strangled of his own sonne Manfredus most cursedly Here I will not omit the like calamities of the princes of Carraria in the like impietie for when they began once wickedly to challenge to themselues the ordering of those things which belong only to holie function by reason of the pestilent councell which they had taken very soone after they lost that famous citie Patauium most strong both by situation force which was thought almost to be inuincible Neyther fained he which wrote that saying Vnlesse the Lord keepe the citie the watchmen watch but in vaine And vnlesse the Lord of hostes doe helpe truly he laboureth but in vaine which leadeth the armie forth trusting onely to his owne wit and pollicie So also did that holy woman Iudith sing before the Lorde when she cut off the head of the insolent Holifernes with his owne sworde she did sing most excellently in this manner O Lorde thy power consisteth not in the multitude of an host neither in the strength of an horse but the praier of the humble and meeke was alwaies acceptable before thee Wherfore if you put your confidence in your strong and mightie nauie of goodly ships and do not seeke to please God with good works and more diligent deuotion in your religion ye haue good cause to feare least whilest yee haue offended him hoping for victorie yee striue in vaine when according to the heuenly saying of Dauid wee must