poore should so want if wee had not too much It is verie meete therefore that wee should take the lesse that they might haue the more Moreouer this sanction hath politique respects conuenient and behouefull to the Common-wealth For the increase of cattell therby is maintained The brood of the land thereby being preserued for the which the LeÌ„ten-time most seasonably is appointed And nauigatioÌ„ therby is better continued for the bringing in and spending Gods blessings by the Sea For which all the Annuall appointed fasts doo most conueniently serue It hath also this both godly and politique regarde That is our obedience vnto her sacred Maiestie and the preseruation of the vnitie of the church of God Euseb lib 5 cap 24 And this vse did Eusebius make of it And so did Irenaeus who when as Victor the Bishop of Rome would haue excommucated the East Church because in the orderly obseruation of Lent it did not agree with the Church of Rome he reasoneth with him thus What sayth he cannot we liue in loue and vnitie togither albeit they liue according to their rites and wee conforme our selues vnto out owne customes Saint Augustine setteth downe an excellent course in this case to bee taken which hee had learned of his maister Ambrose the godly and reuerend Bishop of Mediclanum and it is worthie of due regard Aug casulano presbyteto epi 86. in fine and it is this Indicabo libi quid mihi de ieiunio quaerenti responderit venerandus Ambrnsius Episcopus Mediolanensis nam cuÌ„ in eadem Ciuitate mater mea mecum esset illa sollicitudinem gereret vtrum secundum morem nostrae Ciuitatis sibi esset sabbato ieius nandum an ecclesiae Mediolanensis more prans dendum vt hac eam cunctatione liberarem interrogaui hoc supradictum hominem dei At ille quid possum inquit hinc docere amplius quam ipse sacio quando hic sum non ieiuno sabbato quando Romae sum ieiuno sabbato ad quamcunque EcclaesiaÌ„ veneritis inquit eius morem sernate si pati scandalum non vultis aut faeere That is I will tell thee what aunswere the reuerend father Ambrose Bishop of Mediolanum made vnto a question which I propounded vnto him of fasting when my mother was with mee in the same Cittie and shâ—e tooke care whether shee should fast according to the order of our Citie vpon the Sabboth day or take her dinner after the custome of the Church of Millan that I might resolue her herein I asked the fore say de man of God this question who replied saying herein what can I prescribe thee else but that which I doo my selfe when I am here I fast not vppon the Sabboth but when I am at Rome I fast vpon the Sabboth and to what Church soeuer you do repaire keepe the order and practise of that Church if you will take no offence nor giue no offence Wherefore since our Church hath receiued Lent and other dayes of fast let vs for godlie order sake that wee bee not offensiue according to the godly counsaile of this father diligently keepe them CHAP. V. of the definition of a true fast and of that fast which is spirituall HAuing thus distinguished of fasting ripped vp these former kinds which are not propper to that fast I would entreate of which is the true and speciall fast It is now necessarie that wee describe and define the nature and properties of this true fast and discourse of the speciall adiuncts and duties thervnto belonging This fast is an abstinencie The definition of a true fast from all meate and drink from all other things which might refresh and recreate the bodie with a godly sorrow and humilitie of minde crauing the mercy and fauour of God to be extended vpon vs. The seuerall parts of this definition shal bee orderly illustrated in their due course Wee must first examine the Genus of it which is here said to be an abstinencie and here againe wee haue occasion of distinguishing because this abstinency stretcheth verie farre and is of two sorts There is abstinentia vitiorum and abstinentia ciborum There is an abstinence from sinne A double fast and an abstmence from meate this double abstinence maketh a double fast Spirituall The one spirituall which is a fast from sinne the other corporall corporall which is a fast from meate The last is for the first for without the first the last is nothing worth Of this double fast the Prophet Esay in the person of God verie expresly and plainely maketh mention and sheweth that the one without the Other is superfluous Esay 58 5 6 7 8 9. Is it sayth he such a fast that I haue chosen that a man should afflict his soule for a day and to bow down his head as a Bulrush and to lie downe in sackcloath and ashes Wilt thou call this a fasting or an acceptable day to the Lorde Is not this the fasting that I haue chosen to loose the bands of wickednesse to take off the heauie burthen and to let the oppressed go free and that ye breake euery yoke Is it not to deale thy bread to the hungry and that thou bring the poore that wander vnto thine house When thou feest the naked that thou couer him and hide not thy selfe from thine owne flesh Then shal thy light breake forth as the morning thy righteousnes shall go before thee and the glorie of the Lord shall embrace thee Then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer thou shalt crie and he shall say here I am This is the perfect Christian fast which is restrained to no time place nor choise of dyet but is to be obserued in the midst of any feast Cicero Omnibus in rebus siue forensibus siue domesticis siue tecum agas quid fiue cum altero contrahas peregrinatur nobisâ— cum rusticatur nollo loco excluditur nunquam intempestiuum nunquam molestum est In all affaires either domestical or forreine whether thou doost any thing priuatlie or bargainest with another whether thou sittest still or trauailest it is no where excluded it is neuer vntimely or troublesome vnto vs. Non quaero a quo cibo abstineas Aug Tom 9 de vtilit Iciunii sed quem cibum diligas dilig is Iustitiam appareat ergo Iustitia tua I do not aske from what meate thou doost abstaine but what meat thou doost loue doost thou loue righteousnesse Therefore let thy righteousnesse appeare Fast from all things whereby thou may est doo wrong whereby thy Christian brother may bee oppressed or iniured for the bondes of wickednesse before named by the Prophet are cunning bargaines and deceytfull shiftes whereby wee get our neighbours into bondes either for corne which is the trade of diuerse catchpolles whereby manie a poore man is so bound as hee neuer can get loose againe or else by wares sold at a huge rate for a little time that
which was the elder by birth at the right hand of Iacob and Manasses the yonger at the left but Iacob altered and transposed his hands and laid his right hand vpon Manasses and his left hand vpon Ephraim so in this world the leder brethren haue the vpper hand the poore are born against the wall but in the world that is to come God will make an other reckoning and account and displace those who think themselues best and giue his blessings vnto his little ones and place them at his right hand in his kingdome A Similitude It is with the wealthie whilest they are in their roomthes as with the teeth whilest they are in the head for so long as they are sound we chearish and preserue them and keepe them carefully but when they waxe wormeaten putrified and corrupted wee pull them out and cast them away from vs but conâ—rariwise wee do with our legges which be the inferiour and nether parts bearing vp the waight and burthen of our bodies which solon gas they are whole and sound wee exercise with conâ—nuall labour and going making no respect or difference of places accustoming them to all base and seruiceable duties If they shall waxe lame and be disabled by any misfortune to execute their businesse we do not curte them off or intreate them roughly but wee tende them daintily and take great heede to them refreshing and helping them as if so be they had not beene made for sorrow but giuen vs as a Iewed that is to be nicely and tenderly laid vp The rich men in this world doo resemble the teeth for they occupie the head which is the cheefest roume if they shall corrupt and loose their fauor by any accident be vnseated and deposed from their high places of digmtie they run into a generall contempt of al men are basely reputed of but if they die vnlesse that God doth giue the greater grace they die without compunction and remorse of conscience and so without repentance whose damnation sleepeth not But it is not so with the poore and contrite heart which heere as feete and inferiour ioynts do vndergo al sorrow and beare the heate and burthen of the day If they be distressed the Lord is their comfort hee doth strengthen their weake ioynts and if they fall he raiseth them vp They are distressed but they are not forsaken they faint but they perish not they beare about them the death of our Lord Iesus that the life of the Lord Iesus might be manifest in them And wheÌ„ they die their heauines is turned into ioy their trauaile into rest their misery into all felieitie their soules by the Angels being carried into Abrahams bosome We conclude therefore this chapter as the Apostle Paul who after a long discourse of Gods prouidence and of his hidden misteries breaketh out into this patheticall exclamation O the deepenesse of the riches Rom. 11.33 both of the wisedome and knowledge of God how vnsearchable are his iudgements and his wayes past finding out for who hath knowne the mind of the Lord or who was his Counsellor CHAP. III. That Gods commaundement to giue almes is generall appertainig vnto all and that none is exempted from this dutie THey do grosly erre who thinke themselues free imposing and laying this burthen vpon other but not meaning to lift vp the same themselues with one of their fingers Almes is a worke and dutie of charitie but the rule of charitie is prescribed vnto all and there is none that hath a priuiledge that he should not be charitable Yet this must be considered that as al almes are not of the same nature but are distinct and of two kinds publike and priuate so al men confusedly are not to giue them but according to their callings which are likewise either publike or priuate Publike Almes Act. 2.4.5.6 The publike almes is that which coÌ„meth from the stocke and goods of the Church and from a common purse the dispensation and distribution whereof was in the beginning committed vnto the Apostles who afterwards feeling it too burthen some vnto them in regard of the charge of many churches which did lie vpon their shoulders and thinking it not meete to leaue the word of God to serue tables they did put it away from theÌ„ and surrogated Deacons in their rouines to performe this office But nowe in this Realme the charge in some sort is translated from them and committed to others as Churchwardens and Collectors for the poore beeing lay persons And this order is good and conuenient inough if so be they be faithfull and defraud not the poore by appropriating to themselues that which was giuen vnto a publike vse For the prouident regarde of prouision for the poore principally doth belong vnto the charge of the Ministers and Deacons who by exhortations and admonitions are diligently to further it and to the ciuill Magistrate more especially to effect and order it who are ouer their people as the head and minde is ouer the bodie to guide and direct them And therfore as the head and the mind is very prouident for the good of the body and neglecteth not any inferiour member but dooth aydeit and support it seeing hearing and vnderstanding what is good for it quickning and heartening the whole body So is it the part of a good Magistrate circumspectly to prouide and foresee the welfare of all of what degree and calling so euer they bee and not to grow remisse and slacke in their office when the needie state and calamitie of the poore doth crie for their furtherance as nowe it doth most pittifully in the heart and bowels and elbowes of the Realme Our most gratious Queene hath often inough charged the Magistrates vnder her to haue a care of this matter and to see the poore to be prouided for in this time of scarcitie But her commandements is nothing industriou fly carefully executed Maultwormes and badgers mercilesse maultwormes and badgers doo more and more abound who engrosse the markets and buy vppe all the prouision of corne that should serue the poore and enhaunce and raise vp the price of it mightily And what care these though the poore eate the flesh oâ— their owne armes though their bodies be like the drought of summer though they languish come to a miserable end while they cry for bread no man will giue the mit while they crie till their hearts ake and there is none that wil heare them What a rabble of beggers and hunger-starued people runne vp and down the Cities Countreyes and Villages round about gasping for comfort as a thirsty land The more they are the more shame it is to the inhabitants where they dwell that doo not maintaine them according to the godly laws of the Real â—e in that case prouided But for the magistrates to see them and not to take order for them as if this businesse belonged not vnto them it is most intollerable And so
prayer VVhen there is warre in the Gates then is it a verie fit time to fast So did Iehosaphat when hee was to wage warre agaynst his enemies the Moabites Ammonites and Syrians 2. Chron. 20 Vppon the like occasion and Ioel commaund the people of his time Ioel 2 to sanctisie a fast For the Assyrians vnder their Captaine Sennacarib warred agaynst them and threatned not onelie the ouerthrowe of their kingdome but the ruine of the Temple and the spoyle of Religion So the Israelites did fast Iuds 20 when they did fight vnhappilie agavnst the Gibbionites and had euill successe So did the labytes 2. Sam 31 and Gilyadites when as Saule and his sonnes and his Armour-bearer were slaine in Gilboa and the whole hoast of Israel was discomfited by the Philistines So did the Inhabitaunts of the great Cittie of Niueue Ionas 3 when the Prophet denounced from Gods owne mouth the subuersion and vtter destruction of that Cittie within fortie dayes immediately to insue and come vpon them So did that deuout and godly Queene Hester and her retinue Hest 4 22 and her good Vncle Mardocheus and his seruants when they with the people and whole nation of the Iewes were in no small daunger by reason of the blood-thirstie designment and platforme of Hammon their extreame enemie Liberius who liued in the time of Constantine when as either the seasons were vnnaturall or any famin pestilence or war did oppresse the land adiudged it most necessarie that a fast should bee proclaimed August wherby the anger of God might be asswaged Augustine when hee saw that his citie was assaulted and besieged by the enemies the Vandales he humbled himselfe with fasting and prayer in which siege hee died as Possidonius doth recorde So at all times when we are to performe any serious matter or woulde preuent an imminent iudgement or otherwise would intreat a deliuerance from a plague which is alreadie come vpon vs we are to fast Fasting is a thing that is in our freedom for by the outward law he cannot be condemned that refuseth to fast But when as our fasting may promote Gods glory it is not then free we ought necessarily to fast we prescribe no time for it because it is not prescribed by the Scriptures August ad Caff praesbyt Epist 68 For well faith S. Augustine Ego in euangelicis Apostolicis literis torog instrumento quod appellatur test amentum nouum ansmo id reuoluens video praeceptūesse set iunissm quibus autem dieb us non oporteat ieiunare quibus oporteat praecepto Domini Apostelorum non inuenio definitum I finde both in the Apostolicall and Euangegelicall wrightings and in the whole instrument which is called the New Testament considering it well in my mind that fasting is commanded but vpon what daies we ought or ought not to fast I finde it not determined In the time of warre famine or pestilence or in any affliction the Scriprures as before haue beene aboundantly proued doo will vs to fast Her maiestie therefore both in zeale towards God and loue towardes her subiects hath to verie good purpose commanded although not an absolute fast which is an abstinēce from all nourishment which some for age and weakenesse of nature are not able to beare yet a moderate diet commanding an abatement of our superfluitie for the better releeuing of those which are in wants which we cannot without wilfull and most vnnaturall disobedience refuse to performe Dicinonpotest quot vnum intermissum hodie prandium nostrum saginare potest It cannot be set downe saith Augustine how many poore people may be releeued by the forbearing of one meale Aug. which thing how easie is it for vs to do and if wee shall doo it both God therby shall be serued our good Queene obeyed her deere subiects and our fellowe members in Christ Iesus succoured our wealth nothing thereby impaired and our bodily health not a little furthered wherefore if there be in vs any comfort of the spirit any consolation in Christ Iesus any fellowship any mutuall loue or tender compassion one towards another fulfill this order and obey this precept that peace may still bee in our walles and plenteousnesse within our pallaces CHAP. X. That the Prince or Bishop or ciuill magistrate vnder the Prince and no priuate person is to preseribe a certaine time for anie publique or generall fast and that the Prince next vnder God is cheefe head of the Church AS a publike fast is only to be commanmanded for publike causes so none but publike persons may enjoyne the same The frantike Anabaptist arrogantly in this thing as in diuers other Church matters intrudeth himselfe into the magistrates office and at his pleasure when the toy is in his head assembleth his factious consorts and companions and proclaimeth a fast The lewd Papist who excludeth the Prince from all Church gouernment and ordaineth the Pope to bee the head of the church would not haue the Prince to meddle with this office and prescribe this dutie Thus as Iannes and Iambres resisted Moset so these two scismaticall and hereticall sects doo resist their Prince But the light of Gods word will scatter their darknesse the truth of the Scriptures will discouer theyr falshood they will fall downe both like Dagon before the Arke of God and the pregnant instances of the worde of God shall swallow vppe these fansies of these charming spirits as Moses and Aarons roddes deuoured the roddes of the Egyptian Sorcerers If wee looke into the Scriptures and into the publike fasting of all times that are there remembred it will soone appeare that either the Prince Bishoppe or Magistrate had the appointment of this godly dutie When as the Philistines greeuously afflicted and spoyled the Israelites 2. Sam. 7.4 the whole people generally were assembled and conuented to Mizpah where they both wept and fasted for this miserable calamitie But it was by the counsell and designement of Samuel their Bishop and their Magistrate A gaine when their was warre betweene these two people 1 Sam. 14 it was Saul their King that gaue commaundement to the hoast that they should fast vntill the euening When the Philistines had slaine Saul in mount Gilboa and put to flight the armies of the Israelites 1 Sam 1 12 Dauid who raigned in Sauls steede 2 Par. 20 moued the people vnto a generall fast King Iehosophat likewise in a trouble some time Hester 4.16 Gaue order for a fast So did Queene Hester whē as her leige people by the trecherie of Hamon 2 King 25 8 did stand in ieopardy When a fast was proclaimed for Naboaths destruction it was decreed and commanded by the authoritie of Iezabell Ioel 1 16 When the trumpet was blowne vpin Sion and a conuocation of the people had and a fast denounced it was by the aduisement of the Prophet Ioel. Esdras who was learned in the law of the God of