man cannot possibly performe except it continueth after this life immortall Now the perfection of Mans Soule consisteth in wisdome vertue with the which her chiefest powers are beautifyed adorned and by meanes of which those powers obtayne their ends chiefe perfection But few there are who in this life giue themselues to the obtaining of wisdome and therefore the greatest part of men make small or no progresse therein and those who spend their tyme in the search or purchasing of it do scarcely get the hundreth part of that abundance of wisdome wherof the mynd of man is capable for though a man should liue a thousand yeares yet might he daily profit and increase therein yet not obtaine it in its highest measure Therfore it is necessary that the Soule of Man doth liue after the death of the body that in the next life seing in this it cannot it may come arryue to its perfectioÌ„ since otherwise in vaine should that capacity and extension of the Soule be giuen her in vaine should that vnquenchbale desire of knowledge be engrafted in her for that capacity and desire is in vayne which cannot be filled and satisfyed Besides it is most absurd to say that Nature which in the smallest most despicable things neuer doth any thing without a due purpose end should in the most noble creature of all worke and labour so much in vaine and to no designed drift or proiect THE XIIII REASON CHAP. XV. IT is certaine that the Soule of man cannot know it selfe in this life except it be very obscurely and confusedly euen as he which seeth a thing farre of through a cloud perceaueth it imperfectly as not being able to discerne the colours or lineaments of it Now this want of the Soules perfect knowledge of it selfe was the cause of so many different opinions of the Philosophers touching its owne substance some of them teaching it to be of a fiery substance others an â—yery and some others that it was a substance taken from the ayre from the soule of the world as their phrase was The Soule then knoweth not either what it selfe is or of what quality whether a simple or pure spirit or consisting of a most thin body whether it hath distinct faculties and powers in it selfe or that it performeth all her operations immediatly by it selfe what is the power and nature of those faculties how they performe their functions how the obiects do meet and associate themselues with their faculties how the organs and instruments of the senses do concurre and cooperate with the animal spirits In these and almost all other things belonging to her selfe the Soule is strangely blind and diuineth and coniectureth of them as it were in a dreame Therfore if the Soule doth perish togeather with the body she neuer knoweth her selfe but remaines ignorant thereof both when she is first ingendred whyle she liueth and after her death But now it is most fitting both in nature and reason that sometimes she might be able to contemplate her selfe to see and perfectly to apprehend her owne beauty nature and ornaments for as nothing more clearly belongeth to the Soule then her owne Nature and such things as are intrinsecall and inward to her so no knowledge is more necessary to her then the knowledge of her selfe and things appertaining to her for she is most neere and deâ—re to her selfe Therefore it must necessarily be granted that she is not extinguished after this life but that after she is once freed of the body and of all corporall obiects which afore she apprehended by helpe of the externall senses and that by meanes thereof she enioyeth her owne simplicity then shall she see her selfe distinctly and clearly and shall daily esteeme those her goods ornaments which in this life she so smally prized For one kind of vnderstanding agrees to her whiles she is tyed to this mortall body another when by meanes of the bodyes death she shal be set at liberty shal nakedly exist by her selfe For while she remaynes in the body she can know nothing perfectly but what is corporall and vnder a corporall shew wherupon it followeth that she cannot see or know her selfe but after she is once diuorced from the body she shall then take the forme and manner of vnderstanding answerable to spirits and then shall discerne spirituall things as now she apprehendeth by her eyes corporall things For the manner of knowing doth euer answere to the manner of existence and agreeth to the state of the thing which knoweth since euery thing worketh according to the manner of its owne nature THE XV. REASON CHAP. XVI THIS corporeall World as also all things contained therein were made for man as is aboue shewed for all things are disposed in that sort as they may best serue to the benefit and profit of man Thus the world seemeth nothing els then a vast house furnished withall things necessary whose inhabitant possessour or Fructuarius is man So that supposing man were not then were there no vse of the world but it should be as a desart seruing only for a denne of wild beasts and for a wood of thornes Therfore seeing all things are first instituted for man it followeth that man is a most excellent thing and created for a far greater and higher end then it can attaine in this life for seing so many different seruices of things and so wonderfull riches are prepared for man for his better and more easy leading of this short and mortall life how can it be thought that no good or happynes expecteth him after his death but that his Soule vtterly decayeth with his body Doubtlesly this is a great argument that he is ordained to enioy after his emigration passing out of this life a most noble honourable and admirable felicity happines This point is further confirmed If the Soule doth perish with the body theÌ„ it followeth that the world and al its admirable furniture was only framed by nature that man for a short season and tyme might liue eate drinke sleepe in gender and then presently for euer decay Thus this should be all the good the end and the â—ruite oâ— so worthy and admirable a worke But it is not likely that to so meane small an end the heauens should be incessantly caryed about with such a daily motion That the Sunne Moone and Starrs should still continue their courses that the change of day and night and the vicissitude or continuall circles of tymes and seasons as spring summer autumne and winter should be ordained Againe that winds should blow the clouds should be gathered togeather the showers should be powred downe that the earth should cause so many kinds of flowers and fruits should containe within its bosome such inestimable treasure that the Sea should bring forth such seuerall sorts of fish the ayre should abound with so great store of byrds Nature her selfe should so painfully labour in the producing
for the preuenting of Death for Death of the body depriuing the soule supposing it to be mortal of all good should become her chiefest infelicity and euill and present life her greatest good and happynesse And therefore it followeth that the soule should feare nothing so much as Death and on the other side affect desire and defend nothing so much as present life But now daily experience teacheth the contrary for many do make so small an estimate of life though abounding with all the goods of fortune as that they willingly spend it for prayse fame liberty auoyding of reproach and dishonour and for the exercise of vertue Yea some there are who for the declyning and shuning of disgrace or griefe and affliction of mynd or for the purchasing of a very little reputation sticke not to become their owne parricides murtherers So much more do those things which belong to the soule or mind preponderate ouerballance al that which appertaines to the body THE SIXTH REASON CHAP. VII SO great is the capacity and largnesse of the soule or mind as that no riches no dignities no Kingdomes not the Empire of the whole world no pleasures briefly no finite and limitable good can quench her insatiable thirst and desire but to this end it is needfull that she enioy some one immense infinite and boundlesse good and such as containeth in it selfe by way of eminency or preheminēcy the fulnes of all good whatsoeuer This the Prophet Dauid insinuateth Psalm 16. when he saith Satiabor cum c. I shal be satisfyed and filled when thy glory shall appeare as if he would say no other thing can giue me full contentment except the manifestation of thy glory which is an infinite and illimitable good And to the same end S. Austin saith Fecisti nos c. Thou hast made vs like vnto thee and our hart is vnquyet till it rest in thee Now if the Soule were restrained to the narrownes of the body it should not be capable of an infinite good neither should her desire be extended to any thing but what were conducing and accommodated to a corporall life as it appeareth in other liuing creatures For the Body and the matter doth restraine the appetite desire and capacity of the forme From whence it proceedeth that by how much the forme of any body is more materiall by so much it is more narrow and lesse capable but the more spirituall and more eleuated the forme is the more ample and the more enlarged it is and extendeth it selfe to more things thereby the better to perfect it selfe For bodyes wanting life as stones and metals as also their formes because they are materiall and grosse in the highest degree do desire nothing out of themselues neither do they endeauour any thing to further their perfection but rest in themselnes quiet and dead But Plants because their forme is more pure and perfect do couet after their manner nourishment and do attract it from without as also they change it distributing it through the whole body and conuerting it into their owne substance Besides they send forth flowers fruits and seedes so they continue dayly working to the augmentation conseruation perfection propagation of themselues but because they haue no sense or feeling of their nourishment they therfore receaue neither pleasure nor griefe thereby Liuing Creatures in that their forme is in a higher degree do not only performe all those operations which plants do but with all they haue knowledge and sense of their nourishment yea they mooue themselues to it they seeke it from the vse of it they take pleasure and from the want of it they receaue griefe and molestation Notwithstanding all their knowledge and affection or liking is limited within certaine narrow bounds for it only extendeth it selfe to the profit or hurt of their bodyes so as they apprehend no other thing they couet and fly no other thing they are delighted and grieue at no other thing which is a manifest demonstration that their Soule depends only of their body for their soule therfore perceaues and desires nothing but what conduceth to the rest good of their corporall life because their soule dependeth of the felicity of their body Aboue all other liuing Creatures is man indued with a reasonable soule or mind whose knowledge affection is not limited to things belonging to the body but is altogeather illimitable extending it selfe to euery truth to euery kind of good as is aboue said both which beare no reference or respect to the body And from hence it followeth that the Souls capacity or ability either in knowing desiring or in taking delight is infinite no otherwise then the ability of spirits or celestiall Intelligences which is an vnanswerable argument that the soule of man is not wholly depending of the body and necessarily tyed to the same This point is further thus confirmed Substantiae separatae as they are called that is incorporeall substances do therfore enioy the force of vnderstanding and do extend themselues ad totum ens to euery thing and ad totum verum bonum to euery verity goodnes because they are simple formes eleuated aboue all matter not depending of the same as Philosophy teacheth And hence it is that there is no spirituall substance but euen in that respect it is intelligent and vnderstanding Therfore seing the Soule of man is endued with the faculty of vnderstanding and is in her selfe of that expansion and largnes as that she stretcheth her selfe to the whole latitude of Ens in generall that is to euery truth and euery thing that is good by vnderstanding what is true and affecting and louing what is good no otherwise then spirituall and separated substances do it followeth that the soule doth not depend vpon any matter or bodily substance For where there is effectus adaequatus there is also causa adaquata that is where there is a proper and peculiar effect there also is to be found a proper and peculiar cause from whence the effect riseth But in the Soule of Man the effect is found to wit the force of vnderstanding and the capacity of euery truth and euery good therefore the cause also is to be found that is a spirituall nature independent of matter or of a body THE SEAVENTH REASON CHAP. VIII THere are in the nature of things some liuing formes which are separated from all matter both in their essence and manner of existence with the Philosophers do cal Intelligences or substantias separatas separated substances and Christians tearme them Spirits or Angels There are also some others which both in their Essence and existence are altogether tyed and immersed in the matter wherin they are and such are the Soules of beasts Therfore there oughtto be some other formes betwene the former two which in regard of their Essence may not depend of their body that so they may be like vnto spirits or Angels yet for their
of all things And all this to no other end but that man being a mortall creature should for a small tyme liue in great misery great ignorance prauity of mynd then instantly should returne to nothing If there be no other end nor fruite of so wonderfull a worke as the world is then in vaine is it all therein created and in vayne doth Nature labour in all her actions For what good doth man reape by liuing a short tyme in so many afflictions of mynd and body since this temporall life in it selfe is not good nor to be wished for both in regard that it is mixed with so many calamities as also in that no corporall good or benefit is for it selfe alone to be desired For as the body is made for the soule so the corporall goods are to be referred and finally directed to the good of the Soule Neither is this temporall life to be wished as being a meanes to a greater good because it is presumed by these men who deny the immortality of the Soule that no such future good remaineth after this life Salomon had a feeling vnderstanding of this point who after he had abundantly tasted al the pleasures of this world did burst out into this sentence Vanitas vanitum omnia vanitas And then after Vâ—di cuncta c. I saw all things which are vnder the Sunne and behold all is vanity and affliction of spirit Salomon also in that his booke of Ecclesiastes prosecuteth many other points of this nature but in the end he as it were preacheth to al men that al the goods of this life delights riches honours and pleasures are to be esteemed as of no worth or price to wit as they are considered in themselues alone and as they conduce nothing to the life to come I ad further that this temporall life hath not only in it no true good for the which it should be desired but it is also intricated and intangled with so many euils that it were far better more conuenient for maÌ„ neuer to haue bene then to receaue a soule lyable and subiect vnto death For besides that man is wasted away with infinite cares diseases and miseries he doth litle or no good or rather in lieu thereof he coÌ„mitteth much euill spending his life for the most part in all turpitude and basenes of manners and conuersation Now let the euill which he perpetrateth be ballanced with the good he doth and we shall find that his wickednes by infinite degrees doth preponderate and weigh downe his vertuous actions If so how then can it be truly conceaued that that creature which is the authour of so great euill and worker of so small good and froÌ„ whome no future good can be expected should be accounted as profitable and necessary to the whole vniuerse Yea rather as being a thing most pernicious and destructiue why should he not be instantly exterminated and banished from thence If in a kingdome or CommoÌ„-wealth there be found any ony Family whose endeauours in no sort tend to the common good but only rest in the violating and breaking of the lawes of the said state it is thought necessary that the said family should be vtterly extirpated rooted out as threatning if it should continue no smal danger and ruine to that kingdome or commonwealth why then by the same reason should not all mankind which betrampleth the law of God and nature vnder its feet be exiled from al this most ample large Commonwealth of the whole Vniuerse as a professed enemy to iustice and vertue From these premises we may further conclude that man and the world it selfe were not only made in vayne since from thence proceedeth so small good but also that Nature much erred in bringing forth mankind For as he deserueth euil at that state who bringeth in an improfitable nation contemning the institutions and decrees therof EueÌ„ so should nature be much blamed for her producing of mankind All which things how far dissonant and estraÌ„ged they are from reason who seeth not Therefore for the auoyding of these otherwise ineuitable absurdities we must coÌ„fesse that the Soule of man remayneth after this life immortall and that then she shal be partaker of most high and inestimable rewards or els of insupportable torments according to her different carriage in this world Thou maist heere reply that granting the former reason for good and sufficient it followeth that all wicked men should be now borne in vaine or rather that in reasoÌ„ they ought not be borne since their being in the world conferreth no good or benefit therto but only dishonoureth and wrongeth the same abusing nature her selfe all the guifts of God to their owne improbity and impiety I answere hereto grant that al meÌ„ in the world who before their deaths shal not be conuerted but shall leaue this world in a finall impenitency may in a certaine manner be said to be borne in vaine since they declyne and swarue from that principall end whereunto they were created far better it had bene for theÌ„ neuer to haue bene borne then so to liue and dye Yet from this acknowledgment it followeth not that all Mankind the whole world it self should be created to no purpose First because many men do here liue vertuously and shall hereafter be partaker of infinite remuneration and reward Now these men alone are worthy that the world should be created to their vse and serue them for the better gayning of so great a good according as the Apostle saith Omnia propter electos c. All things are for the elect that they may obtaine saluation And though the number of the reprobate be imcomparably greater then of the Elect yet this is not either so few nor of so small importance as that God should repeÌ„t himselfe of creating the world and mankynd for as he who husbandeth an Orchard planteth in it many trees of a strange kind of which the greater part proue dead and fruitles the rest do bring forth good fruyt and sufficient for the maintaining of his household cannot be iustly said to haue spent his labour in vaine but rather solaceth himselfe at the thought of his owne paines since the excellency of the fruite recompenceth the small number especially seing the store is able to nourish his family The like by way of proportion and analogy may be conceaued and supposed of God who is the workeman of the world and men who are as it were his engrafted plants or seedes Secondly vpon the former confession it followeth not that the world is made in vayne because wicked men are not altogether in this world to no purpose For they serue to sharpen and stir vp the vertue of the iust For while they afflict the vertuous by seueral meanes they minister vnto the other abundant matter of patience and humility giue them plentifull occasioÌ„ of â—â—ore full exercise of their vertues Since by this
to wit the mansion for the pious and vertuous soules in heauen for the wicked Hell And this opinion all Antiquity euer did hold Next he asketh Quanta multitud◠c. how great a multitude is there of soules as of shadowes for so many ages To which is to be answered that the multitude of soules is as great as there is number of men which haue liued from the beginning of the world vnto this day For seeing the world tooke a beginning the number of the soules is not infinite but it is comprehended within a certaine number and that not exceedingly great for it were not very difficult to shew that this number exceedeth not two or three Myriades of millions Now the soules are ignorantly called by Pliny Vmbrae Shadowes seing that they are like vnto light and the body is to be resembled rather to a shadow as the Platonicks were accustomed to say After this Pliny thus expostulateth Quae dementia c. VVhat folly is it to maintaine that life is iterated and begun againe by meanes of death But herein as in all the rest he is deceaued for the life of the soule is not iterated after the death of the body but the body dying it continueth and perseuereth After he further enquireth Quae genitis quies c. VVhat rest can euer be if the sense vigour of the soule remaineth aloofe of in so high a place To which is to be answered that not only rest quyet and fredome from the troubles and miseries of this life belongeth to the soules separated but also wonderfull pleasures and ioy if they haue here liued well but misery if they haue spent their tyme in wickednes without finall repentance And this the Platonicks also acknowledge In the next place he thus further discourseth saying that the feare of what is to succeed after this life doth lessen the pleasures of this life Thus we heere see that this is the chiefe reason why wicked men are loth to belieue the immortality of the soule to wit because this their beliefe confoundeth all their pleasures woundeth their mynds with a continuall feare of what is after to come For being conscious and guilty to themselues of their owne impiety and of what they iustly do deserne therefore they wish that their soule might dy with their body since they cannot expect with reasō a greater benefit For so they should be free from misery and torments which hang ouer their heads And because they earnestly desire this they are easily induced to belieue it to come to passe Now the extinguishing of the soule is not the chiefe good of nature as Pliny thinketh but the chiefe euill rather of nature since euery thing chieffly auoydeth its owne destruction as losing al it goodnes in Nature thereby For how can that be accounted the chiefe good of nature by the which all iustice is ouerthrowne all reward and remuneration is taken away from vertue and all chastisement from vyce For though it were for the good of the wicked that the soule were mortall yet it were most iniurious to the vertuous and hurtfull to the publick good of the vniuerse no otherwise then it would be inconuenient to the good of a temporal commonwealth if no rewards should be propounded for vertue nor reuenge for exorbitancy and transgression of the lawes Certainly the cogitation of death the soules immortality increaseth the anxiety and griefe of the wicked since they do not only complaine for the death of the body which depriueth them of all pleasure of this life but also and this with far greater vehemency for the punishments which after the death of the body they are perswaded through a secret feeling of nature their soules are to suffer But now on the contrary part the former cogitation doth increase the ioy and comfort of the vertuous seing they not only reioyce at the death of the body by meanes whereof they are discharged of al the afflictiōs of the world but also and this in far greater measure at the certaine expectation of that felicity and happines wherwith after their death they shal be replenished Now from all this heretofore deliuered set downe it is euident that the obiections and reasons of Pliny are most weake friuolous as proceding rather from an inueterated hate and auersion of the contrary doctrine then from any force and ground of reason But here one perhaps may reply say Be it so that the soule is immortall notwithstāding it may so be that after this life it shall suffer no euill but enioy great liberty busiyng it selfe in the contemplatiō of things Or if it shall suffer any punishmēt yet this sufferance shall not be perpetuall but longer or shorter according to the proportion nature of its offences committed in this world and that greater sinnes shal be expiated with a more long punishment or at least with a more grieuous and lesser with a shorter or more gentle chastisemēt Indeed I grant the iudgement of the Stoick to haue bene that the soule after this life suffered no euill but that instantly after death it returned to some one appointed starre or other and there remayned either vntill the generall exustion and burning of the world if it were vertuous wise or els only for a short tyme if it were wicked and foolish which period being once ended the soule was to be turned into the Element from whence it was taken But these assertions are friuolous and not warranted with any reason for granting that soules do liue after this life what then is more easy to be belieued then that they receaue either rewards or paynes according to their different comporttments in this world Since otherwise where should the Prouidance of God be Or where Iustice But of this point we haue abundantly discoursed aboue Furthermore if Soules for a certayne tyme can subsist without a body why can they not for euer continue so For seing they are simple and vncompounded substances they cānot in processe of tyme grow old or loose their strength and vigour as bodyes compounded of Elements do Now if they can but for one instant exist and liue without a body thē can they for all eternity perseuer in that state as being not subiect to any extinguishment or destructiō as the whole schoole of the Peripatetiks and Aristotle himselfe do teach For there is nothing which can destroy or corrupt a simple substance subsisting by it selfe And therefore it is houlden that Materia as being a simple substance and inhering in no other thing as in a subiect is incorruptible and inexterminable Now touching that which is spoken of the burning of soules in that sense as if they could be dissolued and vanish away into ayre by meanes of fyer as bodyes is no lesse absurd For the soule is not a body or an oyle-substance which can be set on fire but it is a spirit more thin pure and light then either ayre or fyer But what is
the chastisement of our peace was vpon him and with his stripes we are healed Al we like sheepe haue gone astray we haue turned euery one to his owne way and the Lord hath laid vpon him the iniquity of vs al. He was oppressed he was afflicted yet did he not opeÌ„ his mouth â—â— is brought as a sheep to the slaughter and as a sheepe before the shearer is dumbe so he opeeed not his mouth c. Al which particulers that they were most euidently fulfilled in Christ appeareth out of the Euangelists 14. His CrucifixioÌ„ is recorded in Psalm 22. Foderun manus c They pierced my hands and my feet c. The same was prefigured in the bâ—asen serpent being hanged a height at the beholding wherof al such as were bitteÌ„ by serpents were cured Numer 21. as our Lord himselfe declareth Iohn 3. 15. That the was crucifyed betweene two theeues and that he was to pray to his Father for his persecutours is foretold in Isay 53. Ideo dispertiam c. Therfore I wil giue him a portion with the great and he shall deuide the spoile with the strong because he hath powred out his soule vnto death and he was couÌ„ted with the transgressours and he bare the sinnes of many and prayed for his trespassers 16. The irisions blasphemyes of the Iewes against Christ hanging vpon the Crosse in Psalm 21. Ego sum vermis c. I am a worme and not a man a shame of men contempt of the people All they that see me haue me in dâ—rision make a mowe and nod the head saying he trusted in the Lord let him deliuer him let him saue him seeing he loued him Where we find almost the same words in part in Mathew 27. 17. The diuision of his garments and casting lots for the same in psalm 21. Diuiserunt c. They parted my garments amoÌ„g them did cast lots vpon my vesture For one vestmeÌ„t they diuided into foure parts for the other because it was not to be deuided they did cast lots Iohn 19. 18. That being vpoÌ„ the Crosse he druÌ„ke gall and vinegar psalm 68. DederuÌ„t in escam c. They gaue me gall in my meat in my thirst they gaue me vinegar to drinke 19. That his bones were not to be broken Exod. 12. and Num. 9. Os illius c. You shal not breake a bone thereof That his syde was to be thrust through with a speare appeareth in Zachary 12. Aspiciunt c. They shal looke vpon me whome they haue pierced both which places are expounded of Christ by S. Iohn the Euangelist c. 19. 20. His Resurrection is prophesyed in Psal 15. Non derelinques animaÌ„ c. Thou wilt not leaue my soule in hel neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption c. which passage of Scripture S. Peter instantly after he had receaued the holy Ghost and of a rude ignoraÌ„t fisher became a most wise Doctour of the whole world interpreted of the Resurrection of our Lord. Act. 2. 21. That he was to rise from death the third day Osee c. 6 Viuificabis nos c. After two daies will be reuiue vs and the third day wil be raise vs vp and we shall liue in his sight Of which verity Ionas who was three dayes in the whales belly the third day came out aliue Ionas c. 2. was according to our Sauiours explication a type and figure 22. His Ascension into heauen in Psal 14. Aperite c. Lift vp your heads you gates and be you lifted vp you euerlasting doores the King of glory shall come in And Psal 67. Ascendisti c. Thou art gone on high thou hast led captiuity captiue and receaued guifts for men Which place in the fourth to the Ephesians the Apostle doth thus interprete 23. The sending of the holy Ghost in Ioel. 2. Effundam Spirtum meum c. I wil power out my spirit vpon al flesh and your sonnes your daughters shal prophesy your old men shal dreame dreames and your young men shal see visions Which prophesy was fulfilled in the second of the Acts eue according to the exposition of S. Peter 24. The destruction of the Iewes for the death of Christ was prophesyed in Psalm 69. Fiat mensa c. Let their table be a snare before theÌ„ their prosperity their ruine Let their eyes be blinded that they see not and make their loynes alwaies to tremble powre out thine anger vpon them and let thy wrathful displeasure take them â—et their inhabitans be voyd let noâ—e dwel in their â—ents for they persecuted him whom thou hast smitten c. 25. The tyme wherin al these things are to happen is exactly described by Daniel being taught herein by an EuaÌ„gelical reuelation for thus the Angel speaketh c. 9. Tu animaduerâ—e sermonem c. Vnaerstand the matter and consider the vision Seauenty weekes are determined vpon the people vpon thine holy Citty to finish the wickednes and to seale vp the vâ—sion and prophesy and to annoynt the most holy The sâ—â—â—â—e of which place is that God appointed the space of 490. yeares for so many yeares do seauenty Hebdomadaes or weekes of yeares containe within which compasâ—e of tyme to wit towards the end therof the Messias was to come who being the authour of al holines shal blot away the sinne of mankind shal recoÌ„cile man to God shal bring into the world eternal iustice at whose comming the visions predictios of the Prophets shal be fulfilled And then he declareth where these Hebdomadaes are to begin and where to end Scito ergo animaduerte ab exitu sermonis c. Know therfore and vnderstand that from the going forth of the commandement and to build Ierusalem againe vnto the Messias the prince shal be seauen weeks and threescore and two weekes and that is 69. weekes or 483. yeares Now this Exitus sermonis that is the fulfilling of the kings coÌ„mandement touching the building of Ierusalem to wit when the Citty was finished dedicated as the learned do interprete and proue is made in the 23. yeare of Artaxerxes or as Iosephus wryteth in his 11. Booke of Antiquities c. 5. in the 28. yeare reckoning froÌ„ the beginning of the reigne of Xerxes that is in the third yeare of the 80. Olimpiade which was the seauenth yeare of Artaxerxes then gouerning priuately Furthermore from the third yeare of the 80. Olimpiade to the baptisme of Christ when Christ was declared by his Father to be Dux Populi and that he begun so to shew himselfe in doctrine miracles are precisely 483. yeares And where in the same chapter it is said And the street shall be built againe and the wall in a troublesome tyme. This was often attempted but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at the last perfected from the twentith yeare of Artaxerxes til the 23. yeare being in â—â—e 80. Olimpiade And after threscore two weeks which
rest at whose command all the others do moue or rest quyet Now then by force of this reasō there ought much more to be the like order among spirits so as all are in regard of soueraignty ouer them to be reduced to one supreme spirit for by how much any thing is more excellent by so much it ought to enioy a more perfect order in the world but spirits are far more worthy in nature then corporall things therefore among thē there ought to be the perfectest order to wit of subiection and domination For it were most absurd to grant an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and confusion in the noblest ranke of Creatures seeing we fynd the lowest and most inferiour degree of things to be so orderly disposed and distributed This poynt is further confirmed from the most dangerous and imminent inconueniences accompanying the contrary doctrine for if among spirits there were no order that the rest should not be subiect vnto one at the command wherof the power of them were to be restrained then might euery one of them trouble and afflict the world at its owne pleasure might take away mens goods burne and destroy all things might infest mens bodyes with griefes diseases death to be briefe might destroy and ouerthrow all mankynd neither could any redresse be found to the contrary seing there were no supreme spirit to the which this other did stand subiect and so the world could not in any sort long consist For how prone wicked spirits are to hurt and afflict men appeareth both frō the history of Iob all whose substance the Diuell destroyed killed his sonnes and daughters infected his body with most grieuous vlcers as also frō the innumerable sacrifices of the heathens in the which the malignant spirits commāded that mens bodyes should be sacrificed vnto thē still making choyce of that which was most deare to the sacrificer as his sonne his daughter or one who was in great estimation in the Common wealth finally frō the warres and tumults to the which the Diuels vnder the shew of diuyne and celestiall powers haue stirred men Now if they are thus cruell and merciles towards men God but giuing them in some sort the bridle for the offences of men what would they not do with what calamities would they not afflict men and what honours worships would they not extort at our hands if they were at their owne power and liberty receauing from no superiour spirit any restraint or inhibition Yea amōg themselues warres emulations dissētiōs would grow if there were not one that could impose a command ouer them For as among Princes who acknowledge no superiour oftētimes wars are stirred vp with the which the world is miserably afflicted because there is none to whose souerainty they stand subiect and who is of power to compose the rising controuersies among them Euen so among spirits there would grow repinings contentions wars with the which the world would be vtterly extinguished if they stood not in subiection to some one supreme power for euery one of them would seeke to aduance himselfe and labour to draw all things to his owne pleasure and desire wherfore Homer most truly did leaue it registred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is It is not good that there be many Princes in one kingdome let one Prince one King be And answerably hereto Aristotle as borrowing it out of Homer thus writeth in the twelth booke of his Metaphisickes c. vlt. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Things in nature do not couet to be gouerned in an euill sort and manner To conclude seeing there are many spirits as is shewed aboue I would here demand from whence this multitude had its begining Or who brought thē into the world They proceed not from bodies in that they are of a more excellent and eminent nature then bodyes are as also in that bodyes do bring forth only bodies Neither is one of them ingendred of another as we see liuing creatures are propagated seeing this kind of generation is peculiar to things which are subiect to corruptiō to wit that by this meanes the species kinds of things may be perpetuated whiles the nature being extinct in the parent is conserued in the issue Neither can it be said that euery one of these spirits haue their being from themselues so as they depend of no other cause granting that any thing receaueth its existence and being from it selfe it is far more probable that this so taking it existēce should be but one not many For it is much more fitting that there should be one certaine Nature independent of any in the which the whole fulnes of beeing resteth eminenter and vnitedly from which one nature the beeing of all things is deriued according to the degree of euery such thing thē to maintaine that there are many Natures which depend not of one supreme nature For where there is a multitude of seuerall species or Indiuidua and particuler things there is also a limitation and imperfection seeing those many things are altogither distinct and seuerall neither do one comprehend the perfection and vertue of another And hence it ryseth that none of those is for it selfe but for another and all together conspyre and meet in one and are as it were parts of one entyre whole which riseth out of them Thus do many bodies make the world many men a Common wealth many spirits one kingdome or cōmon wealth of spirits but what is of it self ought to be altogether perfect and sufficiēt to it selfe needing not the support help of any other thing And what may be the reason thereof Euen this that what is of it selfe is also for it selfe according to that Quod caret principio effectiué caret etiam fine What wanteth an efficient cause wanteth also a finall cause and therefore it selfe becomes the end to it selfe not seeking out of it selfe any ayde light truth ioy or beatitude but hauing all these things in it selfe and from it selfe Therefore that which is of it selfe and independent of another must needes be but one not many to wit a primordiall or illimitable essence sufficient by it selfe being the fountaine of euery thing and of each limitable nature We may ad hereto that to grant a being of many spirits independent of any is to introduce a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or confused company of Gods and many first beginnings as blynd Gentility was accustomed to do assigning proper and peculiar Gods to euery particuler busines affaires of man who should be the authours directours and vpon whome that kind of particuler negotiation should be peculiarly incumbēt So they made Venus the goddesse of loue and lust Diana of hunting Ceres of fruyte Mercury of negotiation Esculapius of curing diseases Mars of warre Pallas of wisedome Apollo and the Muses of Poetry Fortune of casuall euents and the like in diuers other things but all this with a strāge blindnes of iudgment as if one
and the other two only left to the sonne of Salomon with which point Salomon in his life tyme was threatned certainly The prouidence of God appeared woÌ„derfully in the execution of this diuision as is to be seene in the third book of the Kings cap. 11. and 12. 5. Ieroboam aduanced from a meane estate to the Kingdome was mainly bent to fortify settle himselfe by al meanes whatsoeuer he fearing then that if the People went yearely to Ierusalem to sacrifice in the Temple of the Lord that his Kingdome might be lost the people turning theÌ„selues to Roboam King of Iuda therefore for the better preuention hereof he caused two golden calues to be erected vp as Gods and diuulged an Edict whereby the people were commanded not to go to Ierusalem but to sacrifice to those two Idols This proceeding might perhaps seeme much conducing to the preseruation of his politicke state and yet in a mature consideration of the matter nothing could be inuented more sorting fitting to the vtter subuersion thereof for it is said in the third of the Kings cap. 13. For this cause the house of Ieroboam is ouerthrowne and blotted out of the roundnes of the earth He raigned 22. yeares not without great troubles and molestations who being dead his sonne Nadab succeeded but he scarce gouerned two yeares being depriued both of his life and Kingdome by his seruant Baasa who instantly so extinguished the race and family of Ieroboam as that there was not left one thereof And this very thing was threatned to him by the Prophet But such for the most part are the Counsels and proiects of polititians of whome this Ieroboam may serue for an example who make religion to be subiect and seruiceable to policy who imbrace that profession of faith which best sorteth eyther to the obtayning or keeping or encreasing of their States and other such humane respects for although their subtle machinations and plots seeme at the first to be specious fayre and conuenient yet in processe of tyme they commonly inuolue and intangle the Actours with great difficulties such as in the end do occasion their destruction all which proceedeth from the disposall of the diuine Prouidence which euer hath a predominancy and ouerruling ouer mens actions and determinations 6. After the death of Ieroboam and his sonne the Empyre of the Israelites was houlden by Baasa whose indiscretion and madnes was wonderfull for though he knew that Ieroboam with his whole family was vtterly extinct for committing of Idolatry notwithstanding himselfe did not forsake it wherefore the like finall destruction was denounced against him by the Prophet Ieâ—u the execution whereof was not long delayed For when he had raigned two twenty yeares as Ieroboam did that his sonne Ela succeeded him euen in the secoÌ„d yeare of Ela one of his Captaines by name Zamri did ryse vp against him who being killed Zamri inuaded the kingdome and presently by death did extirpate all the family of Baasa Some few yeares after the same fortune happened to King Achab and to his impious wife Iesabel for Achab himselfe after he had tasted of many calamities was slaine in warre against the Syrians and after his death Iehu appointed by God captaine or leader of the warre killed Ochozias the sonne of Achab and successour of the Kingdome as also all his progeny and caused Iesabel the Queen to be cast froÌ„ a height headlong downe to be deuoured of dogs Al which miseries God by his Prophets did foretell to fall vnto them by reason of their idolatry and their other sinnes 8. At the length seeing the Kings of Israel and the people would neuer cease from sinning and particulerly from worshipping of Idols notwithstanding so many comminations and threats so many admonitions and increpations and so many chastisements inflicted by God for this their offence they were in the end depriued of their Kingdome Citties houses grounds possessions and liberty themselues being carryed away into Assyria to liue in perpetuall bondage and slauery Iust after this manner the prouidence of God carryed itselfe towardes the Kinges of Iuda and that people for as often as they yielded to the committing of Idolatry they were worne out with diuers warres and calamities till they became peniteÌ„t of their former sinnes but when they worshipped God truly and religiously then they enioyed great prosperity and were honoured with many victoryes as also flowed in all opulency and wealth as it falled out in Abia Asa Iosaphaet and Ezechias For against Abia King of Iuda Ieroboam came with fourescore thousand men but Abia finding himselfe much inferiour in forces put his sole confidence in his prayers to God beseeching his help and ayde whereupon God sending a terrour into the army of Ieroboam forced it to flight the which Abia following killed fifty thousand of his men and tooke many of his citties But Asa had a farre more famous victory for Zara the Ethiopian with a huge army consisting often hundred thousand armed men made warre vpon Asa who though farre inferiour in force yet putting his trust in our Lord met him in the field and vpon his humble prayers made to him the Ethiopians were suddenly affrighted and dismayed and thereupon began to fly but Asa following them killed most of the army and returned enriched with in finite spoiles of the enemy Neither was lesse wonderfull that victory of Iosaphat who only with his prayers vertue and assured hope of Gods assistance without any weapons at all ouercame a mighty army which was gathered of three very populous nations to wit the Ammonites Moabites and the Idumeans For his small forces being drawne out against the enemy he commanded his Quiristers who did sing diuine seruice laudes to go before his souldiers singing at which sight the Enemies were by Gods speciall prouidence possessed with such a fury as that they killed one another leauing a great valew of spoyles to the Iewes To the former may worthily be adioined the victory of Ezechias who as being brought to great extremities by the Assyrians made his recourse to God by prayer who hearing him sent an Angell to assist him who in one night killed one hundred sourscore and fiue thousand Assiryans I omit the captiuity of Babilon the history of Esther the history of Iudith the history of â—obias the warres of the Machabees the besieging of the Romans and the vtter ouerthrow of the Iewes in all which the prouidence of God hath wonderfully appeared It were an infinite labour to set downe all those examples in which the Diuine Prouidence hath helped succoured and extolled the godly and vertuous and on the other side hath depressed humbled chastised punished the impious and wicked For indeed the chiefest subiect of the holy Scripture is this seeing all their narrations doe tend to this end to wit to instruct men that prosperity and aduersity do depend of the prouidence of God and that both these
existence that is that they may exist after a conuenient maner they are to haue a body that therin they may agree with the soules of beasts and these are the soules of men This argument is confirmed from analogy and proportion in that this degree of things seemeth to be best fitting least otherwise we should passe from one extreme to another without a meane to wit from a nature absolutly mortal drowned in a body to a nature absolutly immortal and separated from a body therfore betwene these two there is to be a nature partly mortal and partly immortal mortall according to the body and immortal according to the Soule And the very Soule it selfe according to its Essence is to be immortal and to be ranged with spirits though according to the manner of its existence and as informing a mortal body it is to be like the soules of beasts For the vnion of the Soule of man with the body as also the informing and the viuificâ—tion as I may tearme it of the whole body decayeth no lesse then in beasts And thus it falleth out that man containeth in himselfe the powers and faculties of both the extremes I meane of spirits and beasts being for the body and sense like vnto beastes for the soule to spirits or intelligences Vpon which occasion the Platonicks do cal man the Horizon of the whole Vniuerse of things created For seing the vniuerse of things doth consist as it were of two Hemispheres to wit of a spiritual nature and a corporal nature Man partaking of both these extremes doth ioyne the spiritual nature being the higher Hemisphere with the corporal nature the lower Hemisphere For this very same reason also Man is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the lesser world as coÌ„prehending within himselfe al the degrees of the vniuerse no otherwise then the greaer world containeth THE EIGHT REASON CHAP. IX FOR the more accession of reasons in this point it may be alledged that there is a greater association and affinity in nature betwene the Soule of man and spirits or Angels then betwene man and beasts For as spirits or Angels haue their knowledge and desire circumscribed or encompasled with no limits and are delighted with the beauty of truth and vertue in like sort is the soule or mynd of man In so much that in this respect there is no disparity betwene a soule and a spirit though there be a difference in the perfection of the operations proceeding from the vnderstanding and the will in them both Now the sense knowledge and affection or desire of beasts is restrained to their feeding and to venery Furthermore the Soule of man hath society and familiarity with spirits conuerseth with them intreateth help and ayde from them discourseth disputeth and iudgeth of their â—states and wisheth her selfe to be like in dignity to them But no like affinity is discerned betweene man and beasts for beasts can neither apprehend nor desire the state of man neither is there any communication of Counsell or aduise betweene theÌ„ Therefore so farre forth as belongeth to the condition of Mortality and immortality it is not to be wondred if mans Soule doth rather follow the condition and nature of spirits betweene whome there is so great a similitude and resemblance then of beasts from whome the Soule doth so infinitely differ THE NINTH REASON CHAP. X. IF the Soule could not consist without the body then should the soules chiefest felicity be placed in a corporall life pleasures of the body and her greatest misery in the affliction and death of the body vpon the force of which inference the Sect of Epicures and others who did hold the soule to be vtterly extinguished with the body taught the chiefest good to rest in the pleasures of the body This is further made euident from the testimonyes of those who in the second of the booke of VVisdome conclude that during the tyme of this life we are to giue our selues wholly to pleasure holding this to be mans felicity in that nothing remaineth say they after this life as also froÌ„ the like seteÌ„ce of others who in the 22. of Esay say Consedamus bibamus c. Let vs eate drinke for to morrow we shall dye But if this illation were true then were it laudable in a man to indulge and pamper his belly and studiously to affect and seeke after whatsoeuer may conduce to the same end and the warrant hereof should be because it is most laudable for all things and particularly for man to follow its most supreme good or felicity and to enioy it at all tymes But now iust contrary hereto we find that this coporall sensuality of eating and drinking and the like is holden as a thing dishonourable in man and vnworthy his nature as also that those who abandon themselues wholly to their corporall pleasure are ranged among brute beasts for nothing draweth more neere to the nature of beasts then the pleasure of the body consisting in the senses of tast and feeling And therfore as Tully witnesseth in his booke de senectute Architas Tarentinus was accustomed thus to say Nullam capitaliorem pestem quà m corporis voluptatem à natura hominibus esse datam That Nature had not giuen to man a more capitall plague then the pleasure of the body Againe if the chiefe felicity of man did belong to our corporall life then were it lawfull for the auoyding of death and torments at the commanding and forcing of a tyrant to commit periury and blasphemy to worship Idols and finally to reâ—â—â—quish and shake hands with all piety iustice vertue and truth for it is the law of nature and of it selfe ingrafted in al men that nothing is to be preferred before Summum bonum or the chiefest felicity and that is to be imbraced before all other things that on the other side nothing is more to be auoyded then Summum malum the chiefest infelicity From which position or ground it riseth that in euery euent wherin is necessarily endaÌ„gered the losse of our greatest good or of some other lesser good we are taught euen by nature and reason that euery inferiour good whatsoeuer is to be willingly lost for the retaining of the chiefest good and euery lesser euil to be endured for the auoyding of the greatest euil But now what thing can be imagined more absurd in it selfe or more vnworthy a man then that for the preuenting of death any flagitious or heynous wickednes whatsoeuer may and ought to be cnmmitted THE TENTH REASON CHAP. XI A NATVRE which is intelligent and indued with an vnderstanding is the worthiest nature of all others which are in the world this is proued in that such a nature is capable of all natures for it comprehendeth them all it vseth them al and applyeth them to its owne benefit for it taketh profit not only from terrene and earthly things but also froÌ„ celestial things as from the light darkenes day night wynds
the body therefore to be separated from the body and to exist and continue separatly is coÌ„trary to its naturall inclination and in some sort violent But Violence perpetuity are incompatible Not the later I meane that sometime after its separatioÌ„ the soule is to be restored and reunited with the body because from hence it would follow that the resurrection of the body should be naturall and due to the naturall course of things which point is not to be granted both because it is a high mistery of Christian fayth as also in that all ancient Heathen Philosophers were vtterly ignorant of this doctrine of the resurrection of bodyes I answere first that Origen and the Platonicks vtterly denyed the reasonable soule to be the forme of the body who placed the same in the body not as a forme in its naturall subiect for the commodity and benefit of the subiect but as one that is guilty and detained in prison for a reuenge of its former errours Whereupon they taught that one substance to wit Man was not properly compounded of the soule and the body but they auerred that only the soule was man and the body the prison therfore they said that euery body was to be auoyded But for confutation of this errouâ— it is manifest that it is repugnant to reason For if the soule be with-houlde in the body as in a prison why then doth it so much feare and auoid death Or why is it so grieuous to the soule to be disioyned and separated from the body Why is it not painful to the soule to stay in a body so stored with filth and impurity As we see it is most displeasing to a man of worth accustomed to places of note and regard to be kept in a sordid and obscure dungeon Why doth it so much affect the commodities and pleasures of the body and is so greatly delighted therewith Why at the hurt and losse of the body is it so infinitly afflicted and molested since otherwise it hath iust reasoÌ„ to reioyce at these corporal endomages no otherwise then captiues and imprisoned persons who are glad to see their chaines fall asunder their prison laid leuell with the ground Therefore seing the reasonabie soule is no lesse seÌ„sible of ioy or griefe touching the pleasures or aduersities of the body then the soules of beasts are it is euident that the reasonable soule is the naturall forme of mans body and that it doth affect and couet to be vnited with it Yet because it is not so immersed in the body as that it ought to be extinguished with it but is able through the benefit of its owne subâ—ilty and spirituall substance to subsist by it selfe Hence then it riseth that it predominateth ouer the affections of the body contemning them at its pleasure so as it yealdeth if it selfe will neither to pleasure nor griefe nor death it selfe which priuiledge is not found in irrationable creatures This opinion then being reiected we affirme that the soule is not to continue separated but sometimes to be â—eunited to the body because it was not first ordained to be an entyre and complete substance as an Angell is but to be only a part of a substance to wit the forme and consequently an imperfect and incomplete substance Whereupon it is needfull that we admit the resurrection of bodies And yet we cannot tearme this to be naturall for although the forming of the body and the vnion of the soule with the body be a naturall thing and due to the naturall state perfection of the soule yet this cannot be accomplished by naturall causes but only by diuine power and therefore it is to be called supernaturalis euen as giuing sight to the blynd is so reputed or restoring of decayed and feeble parts of the body and the curing of incurable diseases Neither ought it to seeme strange that the soule of man cannot obtaine for euer its naturall perfection without the power of God and his extraordinary assistance the reason here of being in that it is capable of a double as it were of a contrary nature to wit spirituall and corporall mortall and immortall Therefore the Soule requireth the body once lost to be restored to it but to be restored so firmely strongly as that it is neuer more to be lost is supernaturall since otherwise there ought to be infinite tymes a resurrection of bodyes The Philosophers were ignorant of this resurrection either because they thought the soule not to be the naturall forme of the body but a complete substance or els in that they thought it lesse inconuenyent to teach that the soule remained after death perpetually separated then to introduce bring in as a new doctrine the resurrectioÌ„ of the body For though it be naturall to the soule to be in the body yet in that respect only as it is separated from it it feeleth no griefe but rather it is freed therby from all the inconueniences and discoÌ„modities of this life obtaineth a more high and more worthy degree and becomes more neere to diuine celestial substances Wherefore I do not thinke that the soule being separated doth of it selfe much couet to be reunited with the body though by the force and weight of nature it hath a propension therto And the reason her of is because those goods and priuiledges it possesseth as it is separated are more to be esteemed then those are which it enioyeth in the body Neither is it true that this separation is violent to the soule for although the want of this vnion be in some sort violent to it to wit by way of negation as it is a priuation of that to which the very essence of the soule doth efficaciously propend and inclyne yet that liberty which it then enioyeth and that vigour of the Soule maÌ„ner of vnderstanding is not in any sort violent but most agreable to its nature as it is in state of separation The third Argument The structure of the body may seeme to intimate imply the mortality of the soule for it is almost wholy framed for the temporal vses of this mortall life to wit that the body may be maintained and preserued and nature propagated and continued Thus the teeth and stomacke are ordained to chew and concoct meate the intestines and bowels to auoyd the superfluous and excrementall matter the liuer to confect bloud the gall to receaue the sharper more bitter parts of the nutriment the splen or milt to containe the more grosse bloud the reynes to part and diuyde the serasus wheish matter of the nourishment from the bloud the bladder to receaue and send out this wheish matter the instruments of the sexe to procreatioÌ„ But after this life there shal be no need either of the vse of meates or of procreation therfore there ought not to be these members which are ordayned to those ends and consequently there ought not to be the soule which
rebuked by a Prophet because they being so often deliuered out of the handes of their enemies by God and hauing receaued so many benefits from his diuine bounty did neuertheles so often depart from his seruice and worship But when they were most importunate and instant with God in their prayers for their deliuery he raysed Gedeon to whome an Angell was sent in mans forme encouraging him to so great a worke who when he was assured by pregnant signes from heauen of the victory he alone with three hundred vnarmed men furnished only with a trumpet and a vessell of earth containing in it a firebrand vndertooke so great an enterprise These sounding the trumpet in three places of the army there instantly did ryse so great a tumult amoÌ„g the enemies as that they being stroken with a sudden fury partly by killing one another with their owne swords and partly by being slaine in the pursuit there were dead of them more then a hundred thousand Gedeon being dead they relapsed againe to Idolatry for which cause our Lord deliuered theÌ„ to the power of the Philistians and the Ammonites from whose hands they receaued great afflictioÌ„s and pressures during the tyme of eighteene yeares they returning againe to our Lord asking pardon of him obtained for their captaine Iephte who being prouided of an army fought with the enemies and got at one tyme twenty of the Ammonites citties restoring the Israelites to their former liberty Scarcely had fiue and twenty yeares passed from the death of Iepthe but the Israelites returned againe to their old vomit by abandoning of God of whose benefites they had before so often tasted plunging themselues a new into Idolatry the chiefe cause of all their miseries and therfore they were made againe subiect vnder the yoke of the Philistians during the space of forty yeares but in the end God being moued with mercy sent them Sampson whose strength of body was such seconded with the peculiar force of God as nothing was able to withstand him for he toare a sunder with his handes a Lyon that came fiercely vpon him and carryed vpon his shoulders the gate doores of the citty Gaza within which being besieged by his enemyes he was shut in like sort he being vnarmed inuaded the whole army of many armed souldiers oÌ„ly with the Iaw bone of an Asse wherewith he killed a thousand droue the rest into flight Againe he ouer threw the house of Dagon two of the chiefe pillars therof being shaken downe by the strength of his arme many thousandes of the PhilistiaÌ„s who were present being killed with the fall Which afflictions gaue to the Israelites some breathing tyme of ease and rest but they againe enioying a long peace and increasing the mount of their former sinnes with the accesse of more they were once more cast into the handes of Philistians by whome there were slaine 34. thousand Israelites besides the Arke was taken the keepers of it to wit Ophni Phinees two principall Priests were killed as God foreâ—ould by Samuel that the same should come to passe This calamity happened in the fortith yeare of Heli. Yet heere were the Israelites though ouercome so punished as that the Philistians though conquerours were afflicted with farre more grieuous miseries for when they offered the Arke of God to their Idol as a spoyle to to the Victour God in reuénge of so great an indignity punished them seueral waies for the Idol did not only fall twice downe before the Arke the head and handes of it being maymed and broken but also the bodies of the Philistians throughout all the citties were stroken with a most loathsome disease to wit their hindermost intestine or gut became putrifyed stood farre out so as innumerable dyed thereof Besides al their fruite of the earth their yeares prouision aforehand were eaten consumed with abundance of myce comming out of the fieldes and villages Doubtlesly these tribulations were farre more heauy then if they had beene brought vnder the yoake of the Israelites Therefore the Philistians were in the end enforced to confesse the power of God of Israel and honourably to send backe the Arke with all its dowryes and guifts euen by those men who were witnesses of the calamities inflicted by God vpon them All this is at large set downe in the bookes of the Iudges 1. Sixthly those thinges are to be taken in our consideration which chanced to the Israelits being vnder the gouerment of the Kinges First Saul after a wonderfull manner and by the speciall fauour of God to wit by diuine election and also by lot was aduanced to the kingdome who when he would not obey Gods commandments was with all his posterity depriued by God of all regall authority and in the end his army being vanquished and the kingdome transferred vpon Dauid himself with his eldest sonne was slaine in the warre 2. Dauid although a great worshipper of God had his sinnes to wit the one of his adultery and the other of his homicide most seuerely punished of God euen after his repentance for his Sonne to his great griefe was depriued of life and the fairest of his daughters was violated and defaced with an infamous incest by his eldest son and the sayd sonne was afterwardes treacherously slaine by his owne brother and Dauid himselfe was contumeâ—â—ously cast out of the Kingdome by his owne sonne and his wiues were constuprated abused by his sonne All which aduersities that they should fall to him in punishment of his adultery homicide were foretold by Nathan the Prophet 3. Againe when Dauid sinned through elation pride of mind in numbring the people God in punishment there of by his Prophet Gad sent to him gaue him choyce of one of these three chastisements to wit whether his kingdome should be afflicted with famine for seauen yeares or himselfe should be ouercome by his enemies for three moneths or should be infected with pestilence for three dayes Wherupon Dauid seing himselfe brought into these straights thus answered Coarctor nimis c. I am straitned ouermuch but it is better that I fall into the hands of God for many are his mercyes then iuto the hands of men And answerably hereto he made choyce of pestilence with the which being suddenly sent from God there dyed seauenty thousand men in three dayes but after sacrifice being offered vp for the appeasing of Gods iustice the plague instantly ceased 4. Salomon succeeded Dauid who being indued from God with a greater measure of wisdome then any other man and enioying more riches honour glory and a longer peace then any of the former Kings of that people at length being giuen ouer to the loue of women was so absorpt with the pleasure of them as that for their sakes he was content to worship Idols In reueÌ„ge of which so great an offence God presently after his death diuided shared his Kingdome ten trybes wherof were transferred vpon Ierobam