Schooles This is an infirmitie which is not onely incident to Vniuersitie learning but to all other professions in generall for the nicities and trickes of law are as foolish in their owne kinde as are the subtilties of Schooles were it not that a Writ directed to the Sheriffe for the execution of their lawes doth mitigate their follie When the penne and the sword doe meete together then who dare stand in defiance but make a separation between both and then strength will proue brutish and wit ridiculous not vnlike him that should dart a goose quill as learning is figured out by the pen of it selfe it will neither pierce nor make any long flight but if the Archer shall cunningly take the least part of it and glew it to his shaft then it will proue a very fearefull and dangerous instrument in warre but thankes to the iron and not to the feather Wee can discourse of the heauens and the earth when as yet we know noâ— how to alter the proprietie they can transport the inheritance when as yet they know not the substance conceiue the happinesse of the one in respect of the other and here you haue the difference The benefit which all professions seeme to receiue from schoole-learning is such and so great as that they being not able with due thankfulnesse to make any kind of recompence they requite it with iniuries reproches and wrongs or seeking to conceale what they haue borrowed that it might seeme to be their owne they say with the tenants in the Gospell Heere is the heire come let vs slay him and the inheritance shall be ours To let goe all other meaner professions and to insist in the wisedome of the law it were a foule disparagement to compare the learning of all ages the learning of the whole world the knowledge of God and nature with any priuate or prouinciall lawes but I do heere generally insist in all the lawes of the world Assuredly all their wisedome is onely borrowed from schoole-learning they haue indeed proper and peculiar to themselues their particular customes the formes of their writs the manner of their proceedings the nature of their Courts the extent and signification of their words all which are framed as well as possibly the wisedome of man could inuent but the ground and reason of their law is onely taken from schoole-learning Whereas our temporall lawes are squared proportioned according to that eternall law which makes much for the dignity and certainty of our lawes I would gladly aske who should take notice of that â—ternall law to whose profession doth the knowledge thereof most properly belong but to the Philosopher who by the inspection of nature viewing the course of Gods prouidence considering the soules actions and thereby iudging of her inclination is able to make a large volume and treatise of that subiect If question be made what circumstances doe alter the action here presently wee enter the lists of Morall Philosophiâ— which is able to direct vs for our selues in the Ethicks for our houshold and families in the Economickes for the kingdome or Empire in the Politickes Now in regard that the Church and the State are together combined and therefore must necessarily symbolize if any doubt be made in regard of a Christian Common-wealth here the Casuist Diuines take place and must giue his direction accordingly To conclude our schoole-learning doth as farre exceed all the lawes in the world in the excellencie of their wisedome and knowledge as the lawes of God and nature are much wiser then the lawes of men From the person and inward gifts of man let vs come to his substance which doth most moue the common sort of men as being most sensible and therefore I cannot but take notice of it Wealth giues no manner of contentment but rather like the dropsie prouokes the appetite for the mind still continueth empty and therefore still may desire when the purse or the coffer swallowes vp the treasure If this wealth bee excessiue in some then is the pouerty of others as excessiue for the enriching of one is the impouerishing of another there is no new creation of nothing we doe but robbe and purloine from each other and so at length make our selues a fit and a fat bootie In the greatest abundance yet naturall temperance prescribes a moderation and a sober vse of the creatureâ— Noâ— tâ—us hic capiet venter plusquam meâ—s Nature hath not giuen thee a broad backe and an emptie belly according to the measure and proportion of thy wealth thou canst take no more of thy great wealth then wee can doe of our little here is thy comfort indeed that thou takâ—st it from a greater heape and pleasest thy selfe with a conceite of thine owne pleâ—tie But Christiâ—n religion whose God appeared in basenesse and pouerty descends much lower both for the imitation of Christ that God beholding vs hee might discerne in vs not onely his owne imâ—ge but likewisâ— the image of his deare sonne who sustained our infirmities and wants as likewise for penance it prescribes a more strict mortification in the midst of our plentie and abundance we are enioyned our fastings our sackcloth our ashes and wherefore serues thy great wealth vnlesse thou wilt with the superfluitie of thy wealth as it were with the haire of thy head wipe the feet of thy Sauiour comfort the comfortlesse and helpe the distressed members of Christ If thou hadst nothing then if thou canst learne to contemne and despise wealth thy state is much more glorious and happie then if thou enioyedst all the treasures the whole earth could affoord thee Pouerty in spirit Goe and sell all that thou hast and giue to the poore it is a state Angelicall best befitting Christ and his Apostles The richest man vpon some occasion at one time or other shall stand in need of some necessarie commodity either the yeere will not serue for his plentie or the season will not affoord it or the market cannot furnish him sometimes his prouision for his owne priuatâ— household and family may faile him though otherwise he may haue it in store If a Prince were at sea he must content himselfe with a marriners foode and in our 〈◊〉 by land sometimes wee light vpon cottages where all things are wanting and what is this but to be poore in effect and in very deed when we lacke all these necessaries which our nature requires I haue knowne a great man in this kingdome who might haue spent many thousand pounds by the yeere and yet the report goes which I doe easily beleeue for I was not farre absent that hee died for want of a peniworth of Aquauitae which at that time might haue bin a great meanes vnder God to haue preserued him from such a sudden death There is a generation of men who notwithstanding their owne abundance yet denie vnto themselues necessarie prouision for this life who doe not choake but staâ—ue
deliuered without paine or sorrow they haue foorthwith strength to make their owne prouision for themselues for their brood yea their courage seems much to be increased that vpon any slight occasion they are so ready to fight in defence of their yong ones Will you see their ioy immediatly vpon their deliuerie hearke hearke the pratling gossip the cackling henne as soone as an egge is laid though at all other times she seemes to be mute yet now she sings and disquiets the whole house either to boast of the fruitfulnes of her wombe or to discouer her hidden treasure lest the goodwife should thinke her barley and corne ill spent behold a free oblation and profit to recompence the losse or to be a president and example to vs to teach women their manner in Churching which ought to be with a song of ioy and thankfulnes to God for the fruits of their wombe and for their happy deliuery If some other creatures seeme to labour in the birth then acknowledge that for mans sinne the whole earth was accursed and the dumbe creatures groane vnder the burthen of our sinne and therfore no maruaile if sometimes they share with vs in the punishment for thence we conclude the great offence the malignitie and infection of sinne but I speake vt plurimum for the most part it fals out among them not in one of a hundred but in mans kinde it doth most eminently appeare and therefore acknowledge vs to be the principals and them only as the accessaries in sinne Againe if some women be of that strong constitution so made and fashioned by nature so helpt and furthered by art that they are easily deliuered yet still are they deliuered with some paine and I speake vt plurimum for the most part generally in the whole kind you shall obserue it a punishment if some do better escape then others it is Gods mercy to them not one of a hundred but suffers a great torment more or lesse griefe alters not the truth of Gods iudgements when sorrow it selfe was the punishmeÌ„t As likewise in that other punishment of death some die without paine as many in their ould age when their body is not so sensible the least stopping of their breath puts out their candle whereas the yong man sicke of the stone or the pluriâ—ie dies in great tortures for heere the paines and torments of death were not the punishment but death it selfe so likewise in child-bearing more or lesse sorrow was not appointed the measure of sorrow was not prescribed but sorrow in generall here was the punishment though Scripture and all ancient writers do number it amongst the greatest torments sometimes indeed Gods iustice is allayed with his mercy and his wisdome permits the workes of nature to passe vncontrolable that so it might appeare that our sorrowes and infirmities proceed not from the necessity of our nature but from the incident malignity of our sinne Reasons I know there are alleaged in Physicke and Philosophy for this great paine in the birth and generation of man suppose it did proceed from natural causes yet would it then argue a great corruption of nature that should thus ordaine the beginning of man with the great sorrow and griefe of his mother as if man were of a viperous kinde and brood gnawing the bowels that first hatched and conceaued him but I do assure you that if you shall well weigh all those causes which seeme to produce the torments you shall find them very much defectiue and such as cannot giue you any satisfaction but herein I must be sparing in regard of my profession and speaking in a common and vulgar tongue these are secrecies proper to woman yet I may boldly say it that nature heerein seemes to outstrip her selfe and to torment the poore woman beyond all natural causes For the trees in producing their fruit seeme then to be most beautifull and do yeerely afford it all the beasts of the field do the like in the time of their greatest growth and best perfection only the the woman notwithstanding her strength and ablenesse of body it will not excuse her notwithstanding her good complection and sound constitution it will not auaile her for she is only subiect to sorrow Sorrow I say for there is no sorrow comparable to the sorrow of a woman in the time of her trauaile from their first quickning or conception you shall obserue them with pale lookes heauy eyes apt to faint vpon euery occasion they are a burthen to themselues their stomackes faile them and the night giues them no rest all the deuouring and rauenous wilde beasts are aptest to seaze vpon them the least knocke or blowe the least ill sauour or bad sight the least sorrow conceiued in the fansie is able to indanger all to hazard the life both of the mother and of the childe in her wombe Not to speake of the naturall greife arising from natural causes sometimes nature seemes with too much expedition to hasten her woe and then ye haue an vntimely brood as if Autum should fall out in the spring sometimes the wombe proues likewise the tombe and the place of conception serues for his buriall after seauen or nine moneths expectation behold hee comes carrying the forme of a slaine and a murthred man and so he presents himselfe to his sad mother to comfort her heauie heart being once thus deliuered the danger is not past but she must be attended on with safe keeping and good diet and thousands daylie miscarry when in mans expectation they seeme to haue ouerpassed al danger of child-birth But heere I will acquaint you with a strange point of crueltie men must become wiues men among wiues men-midwiues I meane who with the strength of their limbes and in the hardnesse of their hearts must execute that which the weaker sex compassionat women durst neuer attempt pittie it were that there should be such a profession of men were it not that necessity inforceth it before I can speake of them with patience I will first fall downe on my knees hould vp my hands lift vp mine eyes and if I can I will shed forth a few tâ—arâ—s and humblie desire God to helpe and comfort all those poore sillie women which shall haue occasion to vse their helpe heere you shall see sometimes the bellies opened the flesh rent the tunicles cut in sunder to finde out a new passage for the poore infant who must come into this world through the bowels of his dead mother and vpon his first approch may be iustly accused and arraigned for a murtherer if his mother escape then sometimes you may see the poore innocent childe mangled executed and quartered in the wombe there was no great offence I confesse vnlesse it were the sin of his first father but indeed I am affraid to speake any longer of these bloudy cruelties I will not lay open my nakednesse I will not defile mine owne neast the punishment sufficiently
leisure of others for his inheritance but he will sell his state in reuersion The Student no sooner looks on the title but presently turnes to the Index wee seeme like posts in our iourney and expect a like speedie passage for our sight and our flight Thus in attaining perfection the minde is stretched out vpon the rack of expectatioÌ„ and sometimes the heate of our desire is abated before things come to the ripenesse As if in the spring wee should long for the fruites of the haruest when in the summer season either wee forget our owne longing or hauing tasted the fruites the sweetnesse seemes to bee alreadie past and spent in the expectation Suppose that the vnderstanding either not possest with error or not hastening to be resolued should not torment it selfe with expectation nor the will should be disquieted by prolonging her hopes but that the one were enlightened with true wisdome and the other setled with constant and quiet affections then behold the foresight and knowledge of such euils as may daily befall vs strikes vs with terrour and fearfulnesse Haue I escaped one danger I confesse mine own merits I acknowledge thy mercy sweet Iesu what hath thy wisedome reserued in the second place to assault me Me thinkes I see the state and condition of euery man liuely set forth in the first Chapter of Iob Wheresoeuer or howsoeuer the wind blowes from any quarter of the world it still serues to bring vs some heauie tidings concerning our selues our health our children our kindred our substance our seruants all are subiect to shipwracke euery thing falles to decay and must be repaired not with restitution but with patience and long suffering See you not the Merchant how carefull he is twice euery day to meete at the Burse It is to enquire what ill newes hath befallen him poore wretched man that should be thus subiect to so many ill accidents The very thought and feare of many euils doe perplexe the mind as much in effect as doth the sustaining of any one in particular for neither of them doe immediately touch the reasonable soule and both of them are alike apprehended in the vnderstanding and it is the vnderstanding which is onely capable of ioy or of sorrow Suppose a man to bee carelesse and dissolute of his worldly estate or suppose his estate to be such and so great that hee feares no casualties or dangers Extra fortunae iactum If the Sunne and the Moone doe arise quoth the Vsurer my daies of payment will come if the Common Law of England stand in force I haue him fast bound in a statute or recognizance Heere is good security I confesse but thou foole this night thy soule shall be taken from thee where are thy goods where is thy substance Suppose thy honour or wealth should encrease yet thy life which is the foundation to support all the rest whereby thou art made capable of the rest of thy blessings daily decreaseth euery day thou leesest a day of thine age and in euery moment thou standest in feare of a sudden death O mors quà m amara est memoria tua homini pacem habenti in substantijs suis O death how bitter is thy memorie to him that reposeth trust in his owne wealth If man were sufficiently prepared to die and that he did not respect the shortnesse of his owne daies in hope of a better world to succeed yet the very thought and commiseration of others whose standing or falling depends vpon his life or his death would greatly perplexe him The poore husband sitting at meate accompanied with his louing and beautifull wife who indeed is the ornament of his table and like a fruitfull vine vpon the walles of his house together with all his hopefull children like Oliue branches round about his table in the middest of his mirth and feasting begins to consider what if God should suddenly take me away as the least crumme heere is able to choake me what should become of my fatherlesse children who should take thought of my desolate wife Alas poore widow alas poore orphants I haue heere brought you into a miserable world and if I should now forsake you better it were that the same earth should together intumbe vs. Men are deceitfull kindred are negligent friends are forgetfull I know not to whose custodie and charge I might safely commit you My state is very vnsetled my Testament not made for I know not how God may encrease my charge or daily alter my state I know not whether a posthumous child may succeed me alas poore widow alas poore orphants to God I commit my soule to the earth of his sanctuarie I commit mine owne body and for the remainder of my flesh part of my selfe my deare wife together with the fruits of my loynes my sonnes and my daughters as branches budding from a decayed root I leaue you to Gods safe custodie and protection Hee that brought vs together coupled vs in marriage and shall then separate vs by my naturall death bee an husband to my desolate and forsaken wife he that gaue me my children and then shall take me from them be a father to the fatherlesse Heere indeed is ioy to the Christian man but a cold comfort to the naturall man whose heart is full of distrust and infidelity I know not how other men may stand affected to death but in truth this very thought doth more perplexe me then death it selfe which thought I should reserue as my daily meditation vpon my first approch into my naked bed poore wretched man that I am when at length without strength without reason or sense hauing no power of my selfe no vse of my limbs or my members when I shall lie in the pangs and agonie of death when my friends and acquaintance shall leaue me my little substance forsake mee when mine owne flesh shall be spent and consumed and nothing shall remaine but skinne and the bones when euery part is tortured with griefe the soft bed seemes hard to my wearisome limbes when mine eyes grow heauie my breath noysome my heart faint then behold I shall enter a combate an impotent souldier I confesse and yet not a single combate but here shall stand the vglinesse and multitude of my sinnes together with an exact remembrance and the ripping vp of the whole course of my life there the palenesse of death the vncertainty of my future abode and habitation then the feare of Gods iudgements shall terrifie me the thought of hell fire and damnation shall â—amaze mee to see my selfe thus forsaken and destitute And notwithstanding my naturall inclination and desire of life yet to be hurried and carried away with the streame of the time no respite or leisure shall be allowed me my houre-glasse is runne and of all my liues labour and trauell I shall receiue no portion onely my sinne shall accompanie me and shall attend mee to Iudgement what shall it profit me to win the
willing ready to affoord it but we know not where to apply it for the disease consists in the phantasie Good counsell is the best helpe but alas he is vncapable of counsell he complaines that his head is all made of glasse that hee feeles his heart now melting away like waxe that mice are now eating and consuming his bowels Not much vnlike the simple pure sectaries of our age who in the point of the Eucharist beleeue things to be because they beleeue them Crede quod est est crede quod habes habes the body is there truly and really present because they apprehend it so by faith O the wonderfull power of their faith O the excellent curiosity of their wits which hath almost brought them to a fit of a phrensie And it is the more to bee lamented that the best wits should bee most subiect to these fits and in the most noble and deepest vnderstandings you shall most easily discerne some tokens and signes of melancholie But you will say that these are therefore the lesse because they consist in the phansie nay rather much greater for it is not the flesh but the mind which is capable of griefe and of sorrow the mind conceiuing them as true shee is alike affected therewith as if they were true indeed For all contentment consists in the minde and according to the apprehension thereafter followes the contentment but the iudgement together with the dignitie of the reasonable soule seemes to bee exceedingly disparaged as boasting of light and yet afraid of her shadow So that if with much labour and good persuasion you shall recall this wandering man it is to be feared that for euer he will bee ashamed of himselfe to thinke of his errour and will hide himselfe in sobriety hauing laid himselfe open with his madnesse and follie Not in himselfe alone shall man finde the fruites of these turbulent passions but being a sociable creature you shal obserue how they daily burst forth in his actions and conuersation among men If two cholericke men should conuerse together you might thinke that fire and brimstone consuming all others would likewise at length deuoure themselues Suppose that the cholericke and melancholie should enter a league you might as well conceiue that the two extreame elements the fire and the earth should moue together in one sphere The melancholie with the sanguine can haue no more affinity betweene themselues then dancing with mourning or feasting with fasting If melancholy bee coupled with melancholy assuredly at length there will follow a gangraena they will putrifie with sorrow and discontentment From this variety of temper and passions you would wonder at the great hate and enmity betweene men sometimes betweene Nations The Spanish grauity and staiednesse seemes to neglect and contemne the French leâ—ity and complements the fine and wittie Italian cannot endure the dulnesse homelinesse of the Dutch Nation somtimes naturall affection cannot asswage these passions From hence ariseth the disagreement and iarres between the old father the young Gallant his sonne for there are different inclinations proper to mens different complections and ages Youth strong in body wanting true wisedome and discretion to guide his owne strength age ripe in iudgement and true wisedome but hauing neither power nor ability to put her owne proiects in execution From hence obserue the different inclination of both the young man not considering the blessing and plenty of peace or the necessarie prouision for warre or the danger and casualtie of battell desires nothing more then the noyse of the drumme or the sound of the trumpet whereas the old counseller that intends nothing but safety and values other mens labours according to the weakenesse of his owne crasie body will accept of peace vpon any the basest conditions Thus hath God set a distance or difference betweene the powers of the body and the faculties of the soule whether it were to denie all men an absolute perfection in both so to abate the pride of our nature or else to tie al men together in a mutuall bond of loue by a necessitie of each others helpe that the blind might carrie the lame and the lame might direct the blind in his passage Well howsoeuer sure it doth argue that there is some antipathie and disproportion betweene the flâ—sh and the spirit which being coupled together in marriage and neither of them well able to subsist and liue of himselfe and both of them adding luster and beauty to each other assuredly this enmitie hath fallen since the first contract or solemnization of mariage Man being a sociable creature what is there in this world which he should esteeme more then his credit and reputation among men Pride was the first sinne of man and euery man is naturally enclined vnto pride as well knowing the dignitie of his condition and his height aboue other creatures and truly in right reason a generous and noble minde without spot of basenesse is most commendable For there are degrees of men and euery man in his owne place should bee most respectiue of his same and report then what a corrosiue were it to a vertuous and noble minde to sustaine wrongs iniuries reproches contumelies most vndeseruedly Notwithstanding many mens great deserts and endeauours yet shall they neuer attaine the loue and good will of the people for the multitude bellua multorum capitum like one vnreasonable creature with many heads hath herein the condition of dogs alwaies to barke at those whom they know not and where one whelpe begins all the rest will follow the crie Seldome shall you see any man deiected and cast downe whom they doe not instantly persecute and tread vnder their feete insulting vpon those who cannot resist and being like patient Asses to those who scourge abuse and delude them and thus they are iustly recompensed for their malice and follie Man being a sociable creature hee carries a greater reference and relation to others and therefore not in our selues alone not in our selues are the causes of our griefe but as if we were stubble very apt for combustion euery outward sparke serues to inflame vs. See how the poore mother laments for her gracelesse and dissolute child how the father bewailes the losse of his daughter which without his counsell or priuitie hath matched her selfe by the practice of his owne seruants to a knaue and an vnthrift how the parents mourne for the death of their eldest and most hopefull sonne how the vnkle is perplexed with thought of the poore orphants committed to his trust how the children finde want of their parents forsaken and desolate left to the wide world and to Gods onely protection the comfortlesse widow teares her owne haire when shee thinkes of her deare husband the whole kindred and family groane to see the waste of woods and the ruines of that ancient house from whence they are all descended but now fallen into decay by wardship or ill
for the lampes must alwaies burne in the Temple Exod. 27. vers 20 The Church must alwaies be visible that men may know where to repaire for their soules health by vertue of the most holy imposition of hands I will not stay my time and in the latter end of my speech craue pardon for all my offeÌ„ces here rather I wil now snatch at the present occasion so fitly offered if I haue spoken any thing or shall hereafter speake in this Pamphlet vnaduisedly illiterately without good order or methode acknowledge I beseech thee the generall punishment of whole mankinde which more especially discouers it selfe in my weakenesse the confusion of tongues I am confounded I am confounded poore silly wretch that I am I am confounded my minde is distracted my tongue is confounded and my whole nature corrupted in me in mee alone see the punishment of whole mankinde learne now to be compassionate and pitifull for I cannot altogether 〈…〉 Nihil humani à te alienum putes here is thy benefite indeed my weakenesse appeares the presse hath proclaimed it this Pamphlet can witnesse it and thine is yet vndiscouered Now in this generall confusion I know not where to betake my selfe or what to speake in the next place for my tongue is confounded I will therefore suppose my selfe to be lost in the woods and that at length after much wandering I should recall my selfe and finding no way for my passage I should haue recourse to my Carde and consider the intended scope of my iourney from whence I came Natus ex muliere my present state and condition I am a soiourner and stranger as all my forefathers were the scope and end of my trauell Puluis in puluerem from dust to dust that so at length I might safely arriue to mine own natiue Country à statu viae ad statum patriae Now certainely right reason would thus informe and instruct mee Vt secundum rectam linâ—am incedam that borne of the dust and tending to the dust I should keep my straight way neither puft vp with pride aboue my naturall state nor sinking downe with despaire beneath my condition that I should not vpon any occasion start out of the way but remembring my beginning remembring my end I should square out my course and trauaile accordingly Intending therfore to speak of the Fall of Man the corruption of nature the punishment of the first sinne I will lay aside all other slighter punishments all chastisements and corrections of sinne which were infinite to repeate and I will onely insist in those two generall iudgements being indeed the extreames the first and the last including all other punishments within their bounds 1. In dolore paries thou shalâ— bring forth with paine and sorrow being spoken to the woman 2. Morte morieris thou shalt dye the death pronounced indifferently against both and thus his corruption shal appeare by his first welcome and salutation into this world and by his last adue and farewell out of his world you shall better iudge of the whole course of his entertainement in this world In dolore paries Gen. 3. vers 16. Vnto the woman God said I will greatly increase thy sorrowes and thy conceptions in sorrow shalt thou bring foorth children c. As the woman first sinned in tasting the forbidden fruite so she is punished in the fruite of her owne wombe here is the fruite of Gods iustice But is it possible that the most naturall action which indeede intends the highest perfection of nature generare sibi simile should notwithstanding proceede with such difficultie danger and torment In all other actions and workes of nature you shall easily obserue how they flow with the greatest ease and delight of the subiect O how sweete and acceptable is sleepe to the wearisome body meate to the hungrie drinke to the thirstie and so for al other naturall workes I will not insist in them take death it selfe as it is natural to man so vndoubtedly it is without sorrow or griefe for the punishment was morte morieris but not in dolore morieris if you will suppose man to rise by steps and degrees and to fall againe by the same steps and degrees suppose him I say growing vnto 25. yeers when the moysture seemes to bridle his heate then increasing in strength vnto 33. yeeres there to come to a state of consistencie vntill 50. yeeres be expired then by the same degrees declining and decaying so that his moysture and heate giues place to his coldnesse and drinesse comming at length to the disease of old age without any vnnaturall distemper assuredly his life shall end as doth a lampe for want of oyle fire for want of fuell without any paine or torment but as the breath proceedes from his nostrels so shall the soule take her flight and leaue the carkase behinde her for heerein consists the difference betweene naturall and vnnatural actions the one performed with the greatest ease and facilitie the other being wrung out with violence carrie in themselues torture and sorrow Thus all diseases proue therefore our torments because they are vnnaturall then why should nature be defectiue in her highest worke that conception and deliuerie should bee with such sorrow whereas the principall intent of nature is to preserue her selfe and to propagate her seed behold the punishment and corruption of nature when she cannot performe the one without the great hazard and danger of the other this certainly cannot consist with the first institution and integritie of nature but is a subsequent punishment accompanying our sinne Consider all other creatures and you shall finde that by the seate and disposition of their wombes by the forme figure and members of the embrion by the proportion and quantitie betweene both there should be as great if not a farre greater difficultie in their production then in the generation of man And yet you shall finde it farre otherwise notwithstanding the numbers which many creatures bring foorth at once and euery one of theÌ„ carrying the like proportion to the damme as the childe doth to the mother yet are they able to worke and continue in their full strength vntill the instant time of their deliuerie they know the iust time of their bearing and doe prepare themselues accordingly they can hasten or prolong the time of their bringing foorth which well argues their strength of nature and the action without paine they are neuer so perfectly sound vnlesse they are bearing some of them bringing foorth by great numbers at once others bring foorth euery day as our common hens and all of them seeme to promise a kinde of certaintie in their bearing and yet in all of them the proportion whether for weight quantitie or figure appeares to be the same with vs and therefore should inforce the like sorrow and difficultie in them as in the woman Yet they crie for no helpe of midwiues they want no keepers or nurses they are
ordained to bee an eye and that women should proue teachers in the Church they begin to enquire of predestination reprobation prelection free-will the state of innocency the time of the generall iudgement c. Here are excellent wits indeed that cannot admit any bounds of their knowledge if there were a tree of knowledge in the middest of Paradise for the triall of their obedience you should easily discouer in them the same disposition And hence follow such monsters of opinions such mishapen conceits together with such neglect contempt and such a base respect of their ordinary Pastor as that you would not imagine such disobedience were it not that the same corruption and curiositie of knowledge did first appeare in the roote which now buds foorth in the branches How credulous and easie of beliefe are the young children as if they were fit subiects to be againe seduced by the serpent how do they rather incline vnto hate then vnto loue out of the malignitie and corruption of their owne nature as it were laying the foundation of that Machiauelian policie that Friendship is vncertaine but hate is irreconcileable see their obstinacy and wilfulnesse if you forbid them any thing the more you forbid it the sooner they will attempt it â—itimur in vetitum see how we follow the footsteps of our forefathers we neede not be taught this lesson aspis à vipera disobedience is now become naturall vnto vs see how these little children will alwayes attempt the most dangerous actions as clyming vp of ladders sliding vpon the ice running ouer bridges playing with edged tooles skipping ouer benches to shewe that the same nature still continues in those little impes which vnder colour of bouldnes and courage proues indeed to bee rashe and desperat suppose them to be weake and faint not able to vndertake such great exployts see then of all other places how they make choice of the basest the sinke the chanell the chymnie wallowing in the mire all daubde on with durt that were it not to signifie the vncleannesse of mans conception and birth I should much maruaile at natures intent herein See see these little children how apt they are to learne all lewdnesse and naughtinesse if there be but a nicke-name or a leud song or some libellous rime you shall finde them so inquisitiue so desiâ—ous to learne so retentiue of memory as that you would thinke it wonderfull whereas in all good learning there is such a dulnesse such a backwardnesse such forgetfulnes as that you would not suppose them to be the same wits Now the first offence for which our parents correct vs it is for the most part the eating of rawe and vntimely fruits see how these children do naturally symbolize with their parents and as of nature so there is a conformitie of wils as soone as our strength serues vs then wee begin to rob orchards to rifle aple-lofts ceasing vpon forbidden fruits as if we could not leaue our ould â—aunt or that we did claime a bad custome by prescription but I pray' marke the euent this eating of fruits ingendreth wormes in their mawe their stomackes and bowels their tender yong bodies become quicke sepulchers a wombe for the wormes to feed vpon their liuing carkases see here the eating of this fruit giues them the first token and assurance of their mortalitie morte morieris But I forget my selfe vnles I should here stay I feare I should againe and againe run through the whole course of his life neither indeed dare I far proceed in this subiect for I know what some will say that bachelors children are euer well taught giue me therefore leaue retiring far backe to make the longer leape from the cradle to the coffin being fast bound vp with swadling cloutes I will exchange them for my winding sheet and so in the last place I come to the last punishment of the first sinne morte morieris thou shalt die the death Gen. 3. v. 19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eate bread till thou returne to the earth for out of it wast thou taken because thou art dust and to dust shalt thou returne I confesse indeed I shal incurre a disorderly method if you consider the course and order of nature for nature passeth by degrees natura non facit saltum she takes no leape but when I consider the necessity of death together with the casualtie and vncertainty of all other accidents which may befall man statutum est hominibus mori there is a statute past that al men must die but peraduenture I shall be rich I shall be poore peraduenture I shall grow ould I shall be blind peraduenture I shall be lame I shall be a criple but without all peraduenture I shall die thus there being a necessity of death together with a great vncertaintie of the time I do appeale to the strictnesse and rigour of lawe that if a debt must be discharged and no due time be appointed then we must prepare for a present payment so that it cannot seeme much against method though I speake of death immediatlie vpon our first receiuing of breath If all other creatures were subiect to death yet me thinks obseruing the course and prouidence of nature man should be exempted from death consider the high prerogatiue of man in all restringent and penall lawes the Prince is excluded to shew his high estate aboue the ranke and condition of subiects now man is the king of the creatures let other creatures bee lyable to â—laughter for they were ordained and directed to man let other creatures die of themselues for in them there is nothing but nature nature which hath a certaine course and period a time of rising and a time of setting but the first fountaine of life in man is the inuisible and immortall soule free from corruption free from all change and alteration as in her owne substance so in her actions she cannot bee inforced or determinated but is beyond the Precincts of nature and therefore no way tyed to follow the ordinary course of nature Yet some beasts do far exceed man in life and continuance of being which is the foundation and ground worke of nature to support all other blessings and therfore seems to be the highest prerogatiue of nature wherein notwithstanding man is defectiue other creatures indeed seeme to attaine their perfection in their ends or their death the hearbes serue for the food of beasts and in their bodies and carkases they haue a more excellent being then they had in their greene blades the flesh of beasts becomes the nourishment of man and being made part oâ— mans own flesh heere is the height of all their preferment now in man you shall obserue it far otherwise who of the mirror and miracle of nature by his own death is suffered to putrifie and to be deuoured of the basest wormes as if his body were ordained to be the compost of the earth and did only serue
infidelitie vpon all fit occasions he is ready to reuolt and dares vndertake nothing for feare of his death which hee holds for his greatest woe Thus I haue proportioned the seuerall punishments of the first sinne to the tenne plagues of Egypt I haue contracted them to the number of tenne though further happily I could haue extended them were it not that I desire to speake al things according to some rule and proportion But now I call to minde the last punishment in Egypt was mors primogeniti the death of their first begotten and this hath likewise some reference to the last punishment of sinne mors primogeniti the death of the soule which is the first begotten in man and Scripture doth intimate as much in effect for this very phrase morte morieris thou shalt dye the death might seeme to include a needlesse repetition or tautologie were there not a first death and a second death and both of them brused brayed and beaten together in this one morter morte morieris thou shalt dye the death Which words â—ound to my eares as if they did intimate the truth of a double death both proposed to man and man himselfe made subiect and liable to both yet the necessitie seemes to be imposed only for one The first iudgment hath relation to the first death thou shalt dye the death if you tell me of the Hebrew phrase and the manner of their speech then I doe much more magnifie God who hath so ordained the tongues and languages of men to expresse such a mysterie If you please to consider the circumstances and â—orerunners of the last and generall iudgement they cannot but greatly astonish man when the world shall now be growne to that old age as that her sight shall begin to faile her or sicke of a dangerous and desperate disease vndoubtedly approching to death her light shall be put out which was the first token and signe of life and therefore was created in the first place when the Sunne and the Moone shall be darkened and in this darknesse as if nature were poysoned with mans sinne not any part thereof shall be able to performe her owne office and dutie but all shall stand in an vprore the heauens with the elements the elements with the heauens and all together confounded Luk. 21. vers 25. Then there shall be signes in the Sunne and in the Moone and in the Starres and vpon the earth trouble among the nations with perplexitie the Sea and the waters shall roare c. These things might seeme strange and terrible to the carnall man but here is the least part of his terrour for when hee shall see the wrath of God hanging ouer his head hell opened beneath him damnation before him his persecuting foes behind him on his right hand the whole number of his sinnes accusing him on the left hand all the creatures witnessing against him within him nothing but feare tormenting himselfe with the sting of his owne conscience without him nothing but torture and the crie of his owne sinnes together with Gods iustice calling for vengeance O what a fearefull thing it is to fall into the hands of the euer liuing God! When as al the plagues of Egypt which certainly were strange and wonderfull yet by the confession of the Egyptians and by the testimonie of Scripture it selfe were onely wrought by the finger of God digitus dei hic est alas what proportion is there betweene the whole hand and the little finger But shall I tell you how to to auoide the hands of this euerliuing God then let vs first fall into the hands of a dead God amor meus crucifixus est Christus meus crucifixus est his blood is shed and therefore he will not require our blood he is weakened and cannot hurt his hands are nailed and cannot strike he is not fit to punish but to commiâ—erate here wee may safely approch without feare and vnder the shadow of his wings we shalâ— finde protection Hebr. 4. vers 15. 16. Wee haue not an high Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all things tempted in like sort yet without sinne let vs therfore goe boldly vnto the throne of grace that we may receiue mercie and finde grace to helpe vs in this time of our necessitie Let vs call to minde what effects the preuision and premeditation of this last and great iudgement hath wrought vpon the dearest Saints of God the righteous Iob can testifie in the 21. Chapter What shall I doe how shall I escape when God shall come vnto iudgement The beloued Disciple though otherwise he had leaned vpon the bosome of Christ yet seeing Christ comming in iudgement he fell downe vnder his feete Apocal. 1. S. Ierome sets vp a stage and makes a liuely representation of this iudgement supposing himselfe alwaies to heare the noyse of the trumpet sounding in his eares Surgite mortui venite ad iudieiuÌ„ Arise ye dead come vnto iudgment S. Basill lets foorth this iudgement in place of a schoole-master to teach vs our selues and our owne wretched condition S. Chrysostome makes it a bridle to keepe vs from sinne within the lists of obedience Cyprian makes it a remembrancer of sinne for our repentance Vaepeccatis meis cum monti dicturus sum c. Woe be vnto my sinnes when I shall say to the mountaines couer me and to the deepe waters hide and conceale me to the earth swallow and ouerwhelme me that I may find some refuge in the day of Gods wrath Whither shall I goe from Gods presence if I flie vp to heauen hee is there if I goe downe into hell he is there also if I take vp the wings of a Doue and flie to the vttermost parts of the earth euen there also shall his power follow me and his iustice pursue mee whither shall I flie from Gods presence I will flie from God to God from the tribunall of his iustice to the seate of his mercie here is my appeale Call to remembrance O Lord thy tender mercie and thy louing kindnesse which haue been euer of old O remember not the sinnes and offences of my youth but according to thy mercie thinke thou vpon me O Lord for thy goodnesse Thus much for the expectation but I dare not proceede to the tortures and torments of hell S. Austine excuseth himselfe in speaking of that subiect and for my selfe I am afraid to thinke of them and therefore I pray' beare with me if I follow S. Austins example I had rather sound foorth the trumpets of Gods mercie then poure downe the viols of his wrath God preuent that in mercie which otherwise in iustice he might and should inflict vpon vs. If I should enter into this subiect I know not ho◠〈…〉 disquiet and perplexe the thoughts and consciencâ—◠〈…〉 â—â—â—nners quorum ego sum maximus of whom I am the chiefest and the greatest sinner But here is my
Heathen and hence they are called diuini Poetae many of their fables had some reference to the truth of a historie in scripture for as truth is most ancient so falsehood would seeme to bee the shadow of truth and to accompanie her thus all their sacrifices and rites carried some shew and resemblance of the sacrifices and ceremonies ordained by Moses As for example among the Iewes themselues you shall finde some spice of this corruption a brasen serpent was appointed as a meanes to cure their wounds and they fell at length to worship this Serpent a Calfe was slaine in sacrifice to pacifie God and in token hereof they set vp a golden Calfe for idolatrie now if this happened to the Iewes Gods chosen people who had the custodie of the law together with a continued succession of Prophets then what might be thought of the Gentiles let vs therefore search among their Poets what proofes and euidences there are yet extant of mans fall and corruption Certaine it is that they deriued their linage from the Gods and they generally held that the soule was diuinae particulaaurae and yet immediatly they forbeare not to speake of the warres which past betweene the gods and the gyants which well argues the opposition and defiance betweene the heauen and the earth as likewise of the strange opposition betweene the flesh and the spirit wherein the flesh seemes to conquer and vanquish hauing the stronger faction and being more powerfull ouer the will inclination of man video meliora proboque deteriora sequor And generally for the whole state of man it was the common complaint of those times that the world did daily degenerate Aetas parentum peior auis tulit nos nequiores mox daturos progeniem vitiosiorem when the Poets so often mention the golden age what doe they else but point out the state of mans first happinesse integritie and innocencie there they did conuerse with their gods for their gods did inhabit in groues gardens and fountaines as if man did then leese God when hee left the garden of Paradise quorum nascuntur in hortis numina this is not to be vnderstoode of garlike or onions but whose gods are as ancient as was their state in the garden then men were numbred among the gods to shew the conformitie of their wils or as our diuines holde there should haue been no death in Paradise but some happie translation then men liued free from the sweate of their browes contentique cibis nullo cogente creat is there was a sweete contentment and quietnesse of minde free from the disturbance of the bodie the fruites of the earth were not gotten with labour nature was not inforced the creation did still seeme to be continued in the production of creatures Would yee see the first sin of the first man shadowed forth in a fable Daedaâ—us would needes be flying but his wings were melted with heate and great was his fall man in the pride of his owne heart would eleuate and raise himselfe aboue the state and condition wherein he was first created â—ritis sicut dij yee shall be like Gods here is the height or exaltation which hee aimes at now marke his downefall praecipitium the breakenecke of man yee shall not dij but die like the beasts of the fielde here is the fruite of his pride but where is the curiositie of his knowledge Prometheus steales fire from Heauen fire may fitly be resembled to knowledge it kindleth it lighteneth it purgeth and is the highest and purest element these properties may well be agreeable to knowledge though not to the curiositie of knowledge but marke the euent Hinc noua febrium terris incubuit cohors as if the sentence wâ—re past morte morieris thou shalt die the death here you see man in himselfe Now for the rebellion of the creatures Actaeon hauing seene Diana the goddesse of wisdome naked with her nimphes straight he becomes a prey to his owne dogges now for the nature of man how it is altered and changed Deucalion is said to haue made men of the stones here you may see a new mould a hard and flintie complexion to conclude obserue their pleasures in the Elisian fields and you shall finde some reference to the garden of Paradise obserue their paines in hell and you shall see the punishment of sinne set sorth in a glasse wherefore should this be assigned vnto Tantalus vt poma fugacia captet were it not for the iustice and satisfaction of some offence committed in the vniust vsurpation of some forbidden fruite Thus I hope by the light of our corrupted reason it hath already sufficiently appeared not onely to vs Christians to whom our vndoubted beleefe which first wee receiued by faith might in processe of time seeme a naturall knowledge and so wholly possesse man as if it were imprinted in mans owne heart but likewise to the ancient Philosophers who were without the knowledge of the true God by the force of their owne reason as likewise to the ancient Poets in their fables and shadowes hauing first receiued it by tradition that many things doe daily befall man which could not happen in the first integritie and institution of his nature and were they not inflicted on man as the iust punishments of sin it could not stand with the goodnesse and iustice of the Deitie to impose them The consideration whereof may fitly informe vs first of the state wherein we are fixed a miserable and sinfull state and the hope of our happinesse whereunto euery man should aspire not to consist within the preâ—incts of this earthly tabernacle but to extend it selfe to a more eminent state of a higher nature and condition secondly reason discerning mans fall it may serue as an abatement to our pride that we might not presume too farre to prie into the high mysteries of Christian religion considering that corruption hath ouerwhelmed the whole man together with all his faculties both sensuall and intellectuall and therefore hee cannot raise himselfe of himselfe when as the ground-worke and foundation which sustaines the whole building is wholly corrupted thirdly as the first fall of man gaue way and occasion to the whole course of Christian religion so reason discerning this fall giues some testimonie to our Christian faith and as farre forth as shee can laies the foundation prepares the way to religion that so the truth of nature might beare witnesse to the truth of grace the one supporting the other the one tending and ending in the other Here I can do no lesse then magnifie the wonderfull prouidence and goodnesse of God for as the knowledge of a disease is the first degree to the cure so man by his owne nature seeing and discerning the corruption of his nature loathing abhorring and detesting this corruption might take some dislike with himselfe seeke for some helpe search for remedie and ease enquire for the Physitian Hee that opened our eyes to see
of Gods graces but iustice is alwaies seasoned with the spice of mercie in so much that in the paines of the damned Gods mercie still appeares for hee could by many degrees increase their tortures and torments as their sinnes and deserts doe iustly deserue and notwithstanding their paine yet still they retaine an entitatiue perfection Now to answere this doubt the father is punished sometimes in his sonnes the shame of the one redounding to the reproch of the other as you see it practised in our lawes where for the fathers offence the whole stock is attainted sometimes the sonnes doe share in the sinnes of their parents as furtherers and abbeâ—tors in his crime being then in his loynes and part of his substance Thus it was with whole mankinde in respect of Adam who was like a politike body and did sustaine the person of vs all and therefore as wee partake of his seede partake of his inheritance so it might well stand with iustice that we should partake in his punishment The punishment being such as hath been the occasion of a farre greater blisse such I say as rather includes a priuation of that originall grace which God first imparted to man then any great inherent malignitie in our nature whereby God intends our destruction and therefore seemes to bee some inferiour degree of our nature that man descending hee might ascend to a higher pitch of his happinesse How this sinne should be conueied to the postâ—ritie of Adam I finde it a very difficult controuersie much questioned by our Diuines and the rather because sin in it selfe is originally and primarily in the soule as being the fountaine of all our actions and therefore the onely subiect capable of sinne Now the Diuines together with the Philosophers agree that the soule is immediatly created of God and therefore being Gods owne worke and nothing but Gods it cannot be tainted with sinne Supposing this for a truth my answere is that sinne ought not to be tyed to the seuerall parts to the soule or to the body separatly but to the parts ioyntly together that is to the whole man and to the whole kinde as wee are the sonnes of Adam and then in his loynes actiuely in committing the sinne so wee are sinners Quid quaeris saith S. Augustine latentem rimam cum habeas apertissimam ianuam per vnum hominem peccatum in hunc mundum intrauit c. Why should we instance in the soule as it is created of God Why should we stand vpon the body as it consists of the elements But take this soule when it becomes the forme of man take this body when it becomes the vessell and instrument of this forme and then both are corrupted actions and qualities ought not to be ascribed to parts but to the compound or subiect Thus whole man is become sinfull the guilt remaines in the whole nature and the fruites of this sinne appeares in the contrarietie and opposition of parts the immoderate desires of the flesh the rebellion of the flesh against the good motions of the spirit serues for an vndoubted euidence to proue the corruption If it might be spoken without offence I would further discusse this one question whether the soule bee created or otherwise doth issue foorth from the soules of our parents an sit ex traduce It is a generall receiued opinion that the soule is immediatly created of God as being a spirit and therefore admitting no feede as being an immortall spirit and therefore free from generation growth nourishment or corruption Saint Augustine alone considering the descent of this originall sinne seemes to doubt of the soules first beginning and originall and therefore shrouding my selfe vnder his protection I may safely say that it is no inconuenience that there should be a generation among the soules of men notwithstanding their spirituall condition Did not God the Father beget his Sonne from all eternitie verbum in intellectu a word in his owne vnderstanding Doth not the holy Spirit proceede from the Father and the Sonne and might not the image of this Trinitie appeare very liuely in the creation of man for Adam God made his body of the earth and for his soule Deus inspirauit c. here was an immediate creation seuerally of both for his naturall temper could not yeeld him a forme as it did to all other creatures producant aquae reptile animae viuentis volatile super terram and againe Producat terra animam viuentem in genere suo reptilia bestias c. Adam thus created and cast into a dead sleep part of hiâ— flesh and why not part of his soule might as wel be taken for the creation of Eueâ— the rather to stirre vp loue and conformitie betweene both that they might be made one soule and one minde as they were made one flesh here God ceased from his labours and therefore wee expect no longer creation Abel being borne partakes of their flesh and why not partakes of their soule for otherwise the sonnes of men should not bee so properly sonnes nor tyed to those naturall duties towards their parents as are the dumbe creatures obliged to theirs Thus that one spirit should beget another it is the highest mysterie of our Christian faith and religion And it makes much for the absolute perfection in the worlds diuersitie for God is a spirit generating his Sonne and creating all creatures the Angels are spirits neither creating nor generating but being once created subsist alone and leaue no posteritie behinde them being all created at once and hauing a state of continuance in themselues the soules of men are created and being subiect to change and alteration in their state may beget other soules according to the condition of man which is to be generatiue in his own kind And thus Christ not onely in regard of his flesh which he borrowes from the first elements and hath his matter common with all the rest of the creatures but more especially and principally in regard of his soule hee is the Sonne of man descended from man to this soule the Deitie was first linckt and vnited and in this soule the hypostaticall vnion still continued notwithstanding his naturall death and the separation of his soule from his flesh this soule did truly locally and really descend into hell and here the prophecie was verified Semen mulieris conteret serpentis caput The Sonne of man hath conquered hell and damnation and lead captiuitie captiue which I could wish might most properly and literally be vnderstood This soule as all other separated soules had in it selfe a naturall desire and inclination to returne to the body which well argues that they are both twinnes and in the time of their separation the soules are still tyed to their naturall duties for Diues after his death could remember his brethren and yet they were not his brethren were it not that they did partake of the soules of their parents for