hath appointed to be the head of your Corporation Whether they be Iewes or Gentiles Scottish Walsh or Irish bond or free so that they concurre with you in the same Religion see that yee loue them as your selues and let not the Diuell separate those whom God hath ioyned together Perhaps the Idiome of their speech their thicke pronounciation displeaseth your delicate cares because like Ephramites they cannot so distinctly vtter your filed shibboleth because they cannot runne away with their words so glibâ— so smooth nor so elegantly as your selues After this manner did the Athenians inuaigh against Anacharsis that famous Sâ—ythian but what answere did hee retort them Speeches ought not to be termed bad while they comprehended good counsels while honest deeds accompanied their words This also the Apostle corroborates requiring Preachers not to come with excellency of words to shew the testimony of God vnto the people And this hee proues by a diuine reason intimating that the word of God consisteth not in the enticing words of mens wisedâ—me but in the euidence of the spirit and of power But these scruples are too triuiall for men of vnderstanding Away then with such idle phantasies Away with such Panick peeuish doubts Blesse we the Authour of our Vnion which hath incorporated two Christian Kingdomes constituting an eternall league of amitie betwixt vs by his own personall presence by the Maiestie of his birth so that wee may boldly bid S. George S. Andrew S. Dauid S. ' Patricke to auaunt Auaunt Adieu ye sinnefull Saints and in their stead come come thou the onely true and sacred Saint Lord Iesus to whom all other Saints doe crowch and kneele for mercy Our Cambrian cause comes next For the same reason embrace our plaine societie speake well of vs the poore remnants of the ancient Britaines and let not the Prophecies of our Bardhs dismay your generous mindes that we one day shal Lord it in Troy-nouant measuring your silken Stuffes vpon our warlike ' Pikes that we shall worke our full reuenge for that dismall and bloudy long-kniu'd day These Prophecies are already expired but in a mysticall manner Haue not diuers of our Nation beene elected Mayors in your chiefe Cities and so triumphed for their due deserts I will not say how Austen the Monk subiected your Ancestours to the Romisâ— yoake how Swaine with his Danes and William with his Normanes swayed ouer your persons goods and lands how your owne members haue beene torne among your selues through ciuil discord when York and Lancaster set vp their flags of red and white Roses Ambo pares rosulas pila minantia pilis Though these misfortunes of yours might well satisfie a reuengefull spirit yet will not I insist on such cruell Augurismes but rather reioyce that vnder the same Prince vnder the same Lawes the same Liberties wee ioyne together in our spirituall offices I reioyce that the memoriall of Offaes Ditch is extinguished with loue and Charitie that our greene Leekes sometimes offensiue to your daintie nostrils are now tempred with your fragrant Roses that like the Gibeonites we are vnited and graffed into Israel God giue vs grace to dwell together without enuy without Detractions LINEAMENT VIII 1 The Spirit of Detraction conuicted in Aduocates and Counsellours at Law for putting on a good face on bad causes 2 The Authours resolution on the behalfe of honest Lawyers IT is no small slander in our Christian Corporation when our Aduocates and Counsellours at Law for the greedinesse of a little worldly mucke doe put their tongues to sale and polish their wits purposely to colour a foule cause with faire speaches to make that seeme tolerable before the Tribunall seate of Iustice which they in their Consciences know to be intolerable This in very deed is a scandall to the Weale-publike to the Spirit of God which through the Prophets mouth thundred out this terrible curse against such lewde practisers Cursed be yee which speake good of euill and euill of good This kinde of dealing is likewise rebuked by the Wiseman Hee that iustifieth the wicked and hee that condemneth the iust they both are abhominable vnto God For certainely were it not that these Instruments of Sathan did patronize our enuious aduersaries by backing them in their base proiects they durst not beard the Sonnes of Iustice so long as they doeâ—nay were it not that they so boldly bolster and beare out ill matters the reuerend Iudges of this Land need not lose halfe so many nights of sleepe turmoyling their braines in the search of truth least they wrong the partie innocent Whereto I might adde how these wainescot Lawyers in concealing and couering the carriage of such lewde members doe aggrauate and augment the nature of their sinnes which otherwise through the prickles of flesh bloud through the smart of shame they would forgo submitting themselues to the rod of correction For there is no better remedie to kill sinne and cure the soule then to suffer the sinner to sustaine for his sinne some punishment by shame griefe or other meanes What auailes it me to gaine a world of wealth and within a short while after to leaue behind mee both my wealth and this world Better it is to sup a messe of pottage with securitie then to feede on the daintiest cates with hazard Admit that Clients load me with golden fees for setting out a brazen face on damned causes Admit that all my life time I haue glutted my gut vvith fruit of Paradise yet if I dare not appeare in the presence of God but am forced to hide my selfe as where can I hide my selfe from his All seeing Maiestie and to howle for very feare and anguish yee mountaines fall vpon me yee Rockes couer me what shall my fees and fruit then profit me what good shall I get by them vvhen Death dogges me at the heeles when my pulses shall faintly beat my sences faile and my eye-lids shut neuer more to open vntill they shall see the gates of new Ierusalem shut fast against their wretched Maister O remember this all yee that leane to Mammâ—n all yee that loue shadowes better then substance and falshood better then Truth For mine owne part though I am but young yet I haue obserued somewhat I know as many trickes and quillets to entangle men as another doth I know diuers meanes to circumuent them that happily thinke themselues as wise as my selfe like vnto that Italian which boasted he knew so many deuises to get money as there be dayes in the yeare but I protest before him that made me I would chuse to be murthered rather then to vse them in my greatest need Such is the resolution of my soule or as a friend of mine lately termed it the tendernesse of my Conscience that I fouly scorne to play the part of a mercenarie Mechaniâ—ke with my brother in Christ. I fouly scorne to nourish contentions for mine owne aduantage For how dare I claime my selfe to
THE ARRAIGNMENT OF SLANDER PERIVRY Blasphemy and other malicious Sinnes shewing sundry examples of Gods Iudgements against the Ofenders Aswell by the Testimony of the Scriptures and of the Fathers of the primatiue Church as likewise out of the reportes of Sir Edward Dier Sir Edward Cooke and other famous Lawiers of this King dome Published by Sir William Vaughan Knight LONDON Printed for Francis Constable and are to be sold in Pauls Church yeard at the signe of the Crane 1630. TO THE LORDS OF HIS MAIESTIES most Honourable Priuie Counsell INImitation of that Burgundian Booâ—c that saluted the French King with a present of Radish rootes and also of the Persians who by reason of their countrey-custome durst not Ire salutatum Satrapes sine munerâ— magnos Greet their great Lords without some gratefull gift Right prudent â—â—dprâ—â—â—dent Lords I present a meane obiect to your indicious sights A meane obiect indeed if yee regard the worth of the person that presents it or the person whom it concernes being the spitefull Spirit of Detraction yet tollerable perhaps if yee receiue the presentours readie will with the reflection of your comfortable countenance but most noble and worthy to be ennobled with your patronage if yee respect the meanes and Circles as I know you doe whereby this Spirit is Coniured and Conuicted euen by the sword of Angels the mysticall sword the word of God and also by the sword of man Alexanders sword the decider of our Gordian doubts VVith the former sword Michea confuted the false Prophets of Samaria Michael coÌ„founded the detracting Dragon and Michaels followers here on earth the false Prophet of our Christian Church that dâ—ceiuer that deprauer of the holy Ghost and of his pretious properties With the latter sword men punish men malicious men With this sword a King plagued Midas for his doltish DetractioÌ„ a Queene plagued Niobe for her courtizan comparison VVhether these obiects be noble tollerable meane or as waste leaues good for nothing saue for Apothecaries to wrap about their drugs I submit them and compromit them together with my selfe to your Honors graue arbitrement in hope that yee will ascribe all imperfections to my want of perfections to the breuitie of time and to the sodainnesse of the accident For the worlds great Thunderer hauing lately taken vnto him my deare wife by a sulphureous dampe of lightning and shaken some part of my house with a thunder-clap hath likewise strooke me with such an amazement in mine vnderstanding with beholding out of my tabernacle of flesh and bloud the glorious gleames of his power that truly I must needs confesse my selfe to be somewhat backward in penning and painting out this handy-worke of his almost as ominous to me as his hand writing was to Balthasar in Babylon To this I may adioyne multitudes of impediments as well of publike causes and suites abroad as also of mine owne priuate affaires at home All which concurring vpon me in confused heapes some by importunitie of office some of necessitie and some by Sathans suggestion commmonly euery day since that fatall blast caused such vnpolished points as in the reading may occurre to your learned view And yet for all this Right honourable I had not so abruptly at this time hastened on mine abortiue worke to your presence were it not because I would stay betimes the forward steps of Sathan and also because I would stop the vnpure mouthes of pratling Momes and tatling Niobes who inter Bacchanalia amidst their pots of drinke their pipes of Tobacco and idle fits of iollity establishing the shallow foundation of their reports vpon the flying and lying rumours of licentious libellers doe blasphemously blaze abroad to the derogation and preiudice of the powerfull Lord of lightnings that the Diuell our spirituall Tempter acted this terrible tragedie Some other times they giue out that the same Diuell coniured vp at mortall mens commaunds tooke her away bodie and all or at leastwise some principall part of her bodie VVhich sacrilegious imputation as I know Gods elect do alreadie both loath and laugh to scorne so I doubt not but all others shall by this present Treatise learne to leaue it off as a poisoned paradoxe Againe there is not wanting a sort of suspicious Critickes who arrogating to themselues the gift of Prophesie or reuelation from aboue doe make a taunting table-talke of this heauenly visitation in lieu of a grace or salt to season their meates withall by attributing this vnexpected chance to some secret sinnes of hers VVhich Scrthian censure all her acquaintance will contradict and condemne of calumniation All her familiar acquaintance wil consent with one voyce with one mind in the scrutinie of her triall that she liued as innocently as industriously as honestly as humbly towards God and man as any whatsoeuer in all her country without deceit without Detraction And if this be a Demonstration infallible that out of sure premisses we inferre a sure conclusion that none dieth ill who hath liued well for a good tree euer beares good fruit and that we must iudge men by their liues and not by their deathes then dare I assuredly assume that she died as guiltlesse as those on whom the Tower of Siloc fell By the stayres of hell she swiftly climed aboue the starres of heauen By lightning flames as Elias in fiâ—ry Chariots her soule soared vp aloft into the Region of eternall light Othersome in mine owne countrey more passionate because I reforme disorders and would redresse certaine misdemeanures whereof they claime prescription as an hereditarie or necessarie euill doe euaporate these vncharitable speeches touching my proceedings that God sent these prodigious euents as prodromes and forerunners of his indignation conceiued against me for my seuerity of iustice Summum ius summa iniuria Extreme iustice extreme iniurie Which Detraction of theirs I will only countermine with that graue authoritie interpreting old Augustines honest minde Rash iudgement hurts not the person that is iudged but rather him that so rashly iudgeth Quia cuâ—nvolumus aliena per iram coercere grauiora committimus by reason that when we would correct the faults of other men in passion our selues commit more grieuous faults Another kind of Detractours measuring our actions by the ell of their owne guiltie consciences and vsurping the Popish partes of Ghostly Confessors doe parley in priuate among themselues that our iust Iehouah darted this lamentâ—ole mishap as a mysticall scourge for some silent sinnes of mine At which accusation I will â—â—t equiuocate nor endeuour to acquite my selfe â—hereof with the presumptuous Pharisee for I frankly acknowledge as one of Adams progeny that I am throughly tainted with the leprosie of sinne whereof I expect no deliuerance at all by any earthly Aesculaptus saue onely by the fiery Serpent which healed the Israelites I am carnall as S. Paul said and sold vnder sinne Yet notwithstanding if sinne present doe not please me I know that sinnes past shall neuer harme me But
to the Arch-spirit of heauen is the knowledge of goodnesse both which Good and Euill we know euer since the eating of the forbidden fruite which man had not lusted except God had commanded the contrary Deteriora sequor Sinne tookâ— occasion by the commandement and deceiued vs. So that we left the tree of life and tooke the worst The knowledge of euill is sinne or worldly craft The knowledge of the good is the seruice of God or innocency Assoone as Adam had eaten the Apple in the garden of triall his eyes were opened and he knew the differences both of the Good and Euill yea he was made partaker of Euils and miseries as well of equity happinesse and innocency O what a Diuine mysterie is this Mans body and soule stands almost in suspence in an equall ballance betwixt God and the Serpent betwixt innocency and sinne Or more mystically to compare our states we stand in this world like our Sauiour Christ cruelly crucified betwixt two theeues the one penitent the other desperate the one acknowledging his Deity the other blasphemously detracting from his innocent life Euen so doe we wade betwixt Good and Euill betwixt the spirit and the flesh betwixt peace and warre betwixt heauen and hell betwixt life and death betwixt vertue and vice Xenophons pathes for Hercules in his youth betwixt light and darkenesse betwixt truth and falshood betwixt loue and hatred betwixt ioy and sorrow betwixt eternity and time Gods spirit of Goodnesse seekes to winne vs by infusing into our intellectual senses faith loue truth and other vnderspirits of his Our Ghostly tempter wicked sinne the old Serpents sting inwardly prickes our soules to know euill as well as good for malum cognitum facilius euitatur euil being knowne is the more easily auoyded to permit wantonnâ—sse licentiousnesse Detraction and other petty petulant spirits of sinne vnto our children in their tender age that they may leaue them of the sooner in their riper yeares according to the prouerbe A wilde colt will proue a good horse a rude youth a good man and a young Diuell an old Saint God labours to mortifie the body that the soule may see his Godhead The Diuell by sinne his earthly substitute deceitfully aduiseth to pamper the body with daiaty delicaciâ—s that the soule being stupefied may behold nothing but perpetuall darkenesse God pronounceth rigorousnesse vnto them which fall but towards thee kindnesse if thou continue in kindnesse The Diuell whispereth into thy heedlesse heart Sisaluaberis saluaberis If thou shalt be saued thou shalt be saued If thou be reserued among the remnant of Baals seuen thousand according to the election of Grace what needest thou make this world thy hell thy body thy crosse thy contentment thy discontentment If thou be not predestinated vnto saluation wilt thou enioy a double holi Therefore while thou hast time cheerish vp thy body with all kindes of sports and pleasures Laugh and bâ—fat I am veniet tacito curua sexecta pede Anon olde age with stealing pace will come Ah poore soule how art thou entangled being created after the image of God composed for his Spouse endowred with his spirit redeemed with his blood accompanied with his Angels capable of happinesse and partaker of reason as a learned Spaniard in imitation of Father Bernard broke out into admiration O Alma hecha a laimagen de Dios compucsta como para esposa dotada consu espiritu redimida consu sangre accompanadae consus Angeles capaz de bienauenturanza participante derazon Why dost thou follow thine enemy and forsake thy Maker O heauenly soule Why dost thou offer vnto the Diuell the fairest and the sartest of thy flocke and leauest vnto God a leane and a lame sacrifice Wilt thou draw vnto the Diuell thy sweetest drinkes and vnto God thy sowrest dregges O carelesse creature Say not God hath caused thee to erre for he hath no need of the sinful man He made thee from the beginning and left thee in the hand of thy counsell and gaue thee his commaundements and precepts He hath set water and fire before thee stretch out thy â—and vnto which thou wilt Before thee was life and death good and euill What liked thee was giuen Which excellent doctrine another confirmed Thus saith the Lord Behold I set before you the way of life and the way of death Say not thou I am besieged with Diuels with reall spirits out of hell For in thy center O intellectual soule is imprinted the very character of Gods owne essence and three persons in Trinity insomuch that thou resemblest the Diuine Hypostasis and indiuisible vnity and also possessest immortality from the Father vnderstanding from the Sonne and sanctification from the Holy Ghost All which concurring in one identified essentiall vnion make thee a perfect soule without blemish Let not thy fall from that blessed state discomfort thee The bloud of Christ if the fault be not thine owne doth like a lauer purifie thy sins though they become as red as scarlet These theeues of the Deity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a very ancient Father terms them can neuer harme thee really howsoeuer their spirit of Detraction as false spectacles to multiply thy feares layes downe that humourous tradition before thy simple sight Seest not thou how those spirits which dallied with the holy water dare not once come neere our reformed Church As there be degrees of sinnes so in my iudgement these deluding spirits neuer appeare but to the grossest sinner Where a man hath but one honest man in his house there that house prospereth better then if that one were absent for that hee terrifieth the rest from cousenages and conspiracies so where one Godly man dwelleth there the Diuell dares not draw neere LINEAMENT III. 1 That all wicked Spirits ordinary and extraordinary doe issue from the same head 2 That they cannot harme a man really without his owne naturall or wanton motion 3 Their varieties proued out of the Scripture where Saules lunacie is censured 4 That the Spirit of Detraction attendeth on all the said spirits EVen as good spirits or vertuous motions issue from the Godhead as from the cleere fountaine of goodnesse so wicked spirits and vnbridled affections fetch their pedegree from the deceitfull Serpent wâ—h allured Eue to insring the Lords commandement For his malicious spirit repining that man a new made creature found more fauour then himselfe belike long afore an out-cast from Gods presence turned about the weaker vessell the simple woman and makes her an instrument for all their ouerthrowes together They were all of them accursed mankind destinated to death the Serpent to darkenesse Since which time continuall calamities and phantasticall spirits the blacke guard of sinne pursue mankinde till death gets the vpper hand and looseth the soule out of her prison of flesh and bloud I say vntill death as Gods Sergeant doe attach our bodies vpon debt due vnto nature and our soules vpon sinnes committed
and Elias in their soules and bodies vp into heauen Many good men haue died sodainly Abell Iosias Onias and others had no long warning to prepare themselues God knowes best what besits our humane natures It may be he causeth some to die suddenly because of their crazed braines lest in their lingring disease they fall according to the constitution of their bodies into despaire or to railing and reuiling whereby they might leaue behinde them in this world an infamous memoriall Therefore to case them of their torments and for auoyding of so soule a scandall he suddenly sends for his selected seruants Some others he send for suddenly and terribly to terrifie them which remaine behinde for if Gods seruants die such a fearefull death what hope hath the sinner In a word good men neuer pray against suddaine death but to the entent they might order their worldly businesse before their deathes as the said to Hezechias Set thy house in order for thou must die LINEAMENT XII 1 That we must not iudge by mens misfortunes or sudden death that they be forsaken of God 2 Charitable censures which a good Christian may yeeld touching those that die suddenly 3 The Spirit of Detraction conuicted for censuring ouer cruelly of the Authors wife who was striken dead with lightning the 〈◊〉 of Ianuary 160 0 where â—er commâ—ndation and assumption are moralized WHen the Lord is disposed extraordinarily to extend his glorious power why dost thou ô foolish man presume to enter into his hidden power Why dost thou labour like Lucifer to climbe vp into his chaire of secrets Shal the thing formed checke him that formed it Can the Pottervse his vessels as he thinkes good and shall not the Lord dispose of his owne creatures Who arâ— thou which iudgest another mans seruant What canst thou tel whether God hath predestinated them to saluation and accepted of their submission as of the thiefe which was crucified with him at the last gaspe and as they say betwixt the bridge and the brooke Betwixt the stirrop and the ground Mercy I thought mercy I found As one â—pitaphed vpon the tombe of him that fell dead sodainly from his horse Sometimes it pleaseth his Maiestie out of our errour to raise his owne honour and to make vertue perfect and complete by infirmity And therfore it is verie vncharitable for one sinner to iudge of another sinner Let him who is without sinne throw the first stone at him as Christ said â—â—et the sinner draw out the beame out of his owne eye before â—e remoue the mote out of his brothers eye It is Gods office onely to iudge the euent and end of things Therefore iudge nothing before the trâ—e vntill the Lord comes who will lighten the hidden things of darknesse and open the counsels of the hearts Saint Paul was made a gazing stoâ—ke vnto this world he was defamed yea he was made as the filihinesse of the world as the off-scouring of all things yet a chosen vessel and Apostle of Christ. When it was told our Sauiour that Pilate had massacred the Galilaeans euen as they sacrificed he willed vs not to iudge of their liues and sins but by their example to amend our liues For neither those poore Galilaeans nor yet these eighteene vpon whom the tower in Siloc fell were greater sinners then all ohers which dwelt at Ierusalem Iosias was one of the godliest kings that euer reigned in Iuda yet was he killed with dartes in the battell against the king of Aegypt Zachariah the Prophet Stephen the martyr with other seruants of God were tyrannously put to death Yea and Christ himselfe being without sinne endured worldly sorrowes without number and also died a most terrible death yet did they iudge him as though he were plagued and cast downe of God according to that which was prophesied of him The Lord is righteous in all his waies the Lord is holy in all his workes as the Prophet Dauid confessed and as Maurice the Emperour protested when he saw his wife and children murthered before his face by his seruant Phocas How then darest thou which art vnrighteous and vnholy sit and reade on the secret deeds of the righteous God and on the wondrous proceedings of the holy one of Israel Sometimes it pleaseth him to fulfill in our daies that Prophesie of his concerning the taking of the godly from among the wicked The righteous perisheth and no man regardeth it in his heart Good godly men are taken away and no man considereth it namely that the righteous is conueyed away from the wicked who heape vp treasures and pleasures for this world as the godly do for the world to come It may be also that his mercy is so great that respecting not our sinnes his aboundant grace will vouchsafe to pronounce that answere concerning Lazarus in our behalfe This sicknesse is not vnto death but for the glory of God Correspondent to which is likewise the satisfaction which our Sauiour Christ yeelded to his disciples demaund when they asked him about the blind man Master who did sinne this man or his parents that he was borne blind Iesus answered neither hath this man sinned nor his parents but that the works of God should be shewed in him Perhaps the Lord sends extraordinary accidents vpon his seruants to the intent that they should serue for a Parable or warning peece to the rest of his people in this countrey from whom he meanes shortly to take away their power the ioy of their honour the pleasure of their eyes and the desire of their hearts except out of hand they become watchfull and repentant with the Niniuites For if iudgement begin at the iust what shall be the end of them which obey not the Gospell of God And if the righteous be scarcely saued where shall the vngodly and sinner appeare If there be no difference betweene the innocent and reprrobate in the manner of their deathes and worldly crosses why doe we ioyne field to field land to land and make account to see long lasting daies in this transitory world or to die in our soft downe beds The word of the Lord came to Ezechiel Behold I take away from thee the pleasure of thine eyes with a plague yet shall thou neither mourne nor weepe So Ezechiel spake vnto the people in the morning and in the euening his wife died The Parable was this thus saith the Lord God behold I will pollute my sanctuary euen the pride of your power the pleasure of your eyes and your hearts desire And you shall doe as I haue done ye shall neither mourne nor weepe but ye shall pine away for your iniquities and mourne one towards another Thus Ezechiel is vnto you a signe And thus perhaps am I a signe vnto you O worldly wizards whose tongues are hired by the detracting spirit to blaspheme the powerful Lord of lightnings to curse God and die with Iobs wife and
as transferring loue to the Sonne the Sonne is loue as transferring loue to the Father and the holy Ghost loue onely as it is transferred produced and proceeding from them both Thus the whole Trinity according to the substance of loue agree all together in one for euery one of them partaking of one Godhead partakes also of the attributes thereof of loue of wisdome and others onely they differ in the order and maner of their loues or of their wisedomes productions In like maner the Father is wisdome ontly as begetting or producing wisedome the Sonne is wisedome onely as wisdome begotten or produced of the Father and the holy Ghost is wisedome as it is produced from the ioint and mutuall will of the Father and the Sonne so that wisedome is not the Father as it is wisedome but as it is wisdome begetting or producing neyther is wisedome the Sonne as it is wisedome but as it is wisedome begotten and produced of the Father nor is the holy Ghost wisedome as it is wisedome but as it is wisedome produced or proceeding from the Father and the Sonne Whereby good Christians may note the manner of the difference how that loue producing loue produced of the Father and loue produced both from the Father and the Sonne be three distinct things And so are wisedome begetting wisedome begotten and wisedome proceeding three personall properties distinct in the relation of one to another though indistinct in respect of their essence and eternity To wind vp this discourse in a word when I pray to the Father I pray with feare fearing his iustice when I pray to the Sonne I pray with hope hoping for mercy when I pray to the holy Ghost I pray with admiration admiring Gods loue in mitigating the seuerity of iustice with the sweete streames of mercy towards the penitent sinner through the spirituall apprehension of Iesus Christ crucified This the Pagan Poets of elder ages like guilty conscienced Caiphas were constrained to confes when they painted out Minerua their Goddesse of wisedome begotten in Iupiters braine and when they fained also that Bellona their war-like Goddesse was conceiued and begotten in a Goddesse fist for indeede the origen and roote of mans wisedome ariseth vp at first out of the braine and his strength out of his hand Both which serue for instrumentall agents to display out those worthy vertues of Strength and Wisedome Marke well my words muse vpon them thou that meanest to mortifie the outward man and to be conuerted into the inward man into a new Christian soule Maruell not at this distinction of mine touching Gods properties for I distinguish them not but into persons onely for order sake and that to the intent that thou mayest obserue his manifolde loue towards mankinde whose reasonable capacity his sacred Maiesty inuites by such a plaine distinction of personall functions to the mysteries of our soules saluation namely to know our Election by the Father our Redemption by the Sonne and our Sanctification equally breathed from them both in loue and wisedome by the holy Ghost who ingraues as with a seale these Diuine mysteries in our conuerted consciences And euen as these Poets like Apes glaunced at Gods personall properties by such Allegoricall examples so did they expresse their descending downe to men in varieties of shapes after the imitation of the Scripture where it is said that Iacob wrastled with an Angell that Abraham feasted three Angels vnder the habite of Pilgrims and that the Holy Ghost descended like a Doue at the Baptizing of Christ. Sometimes those Poets brought in their Gods disguised as men to feast with Philemon some other times as Heyfers Swannes and in a golden shower as Iupiter to Danae so that this verse may wellbe his Non frustra dictus Bos Ouis Imber Olor Courteous Reader here is in explicable admiration but no admirable explication nor yet any application worthy the least glimpse of his glorious name for the least sillable of this word Iehouah imports a more miraculous mysterie then slesh and bloud can possibly perceiue If his very name which no man knowes but himself containes such hidden wonders exceeding all the Anagrams Artes and Etymologies of the world much more mystically ought wee to conceiue of his vn-reuealed essence contenting our selues onely with the Scriptures phrase for a godly ignorance concerning such deepe matters downe poyzeth a world of Adams knowledge in good and euill LINEAMENT IIII. 1 The description of our Sauiour Christs Incarnation 2 In what maner he tooke vpon him our infirmities 3 His terrible passion and death 4 His Resurrection and Ascension 5 That he alone is our Mediator with the Father 6 His comming to Iudgement FRom the vndistinct substance of this omnipotent Godhead as fire from fire without diminution or waste came the Light of life the reasonable Word which was euer with God before the beginning of the world the Image of the inuisible God the first borne of all Creatures in whom all things consist by whom and for whom God made all things the bright sunne of our soules Horizon the giuer of Counsell the mighty God the euerlasting Father the Prince of peace the diuine Oracle the Paschall Lambe the Womans seede which must tread vpon the Serpents head our heauenly Fathers Ambassador to mortall men the Lion of the tribe of Iuda Iacobs Shiloh which must gather the people to gether the repayrer of that breach which was made by Adams fall betwixt the Angels and mankinde the Prophet whom God promised to raise vp like vnto Moyses the Angell of the great Counsell the roote of lesse which shall stand vp for a signe to the people and the nations shall seeke vnto it the life of the liuing the death of death The head corner stone which the foolish builders reiected the brazen Serpent which the Lord commaunded to be set vp as a signe to them that were slung with fiery Serpents in the Wildernesse for their recouery The stone hewed out of the Mountaine without hands which breake in peeces Nabuchodonozors glorious Image representing the Monarchies of this world The Virgins sonne Emanuell of whom Esay foretold King Ahaz This lightsome Word or Lord of peace to fulfill his Fathers predestinate counsell for the restitution of mankind which fell from the state of innocency to the intent that the sauage Wolfe might co-habitate and conuerse together with the silly Lambe vnder the same roofe of rest that the parents hearts might be reconciled towards their children and the children towards their parents that the stony flinty heart might be taken away and the tender fleshie heart restored to the second Adam that the different and disproportioned tuncs or thoughts of our mindes moulded after the diuers and different motions of the Planets at our natâ—uities might at length after the manifold crosles of this world agree in one in the vnity or vniforme harmony of the Spirit to this end I say this Prince of
in the world to come euen as he lasheth some for their reformation and not for their ruine ad correctionem non ad ruinam as Queene Elizabeth of famous memory spake touching a subiect of hers then in durance This kinde of punishment called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord himselfe names the rod of men the plagues of the children of men such as the Father vseth to his childe he likewise vseth to his elected childe to the intent that man might not waxe ouer-wanton in affections or seem righteous in his owne conceit for no flesh stands instified in his sight and as that holy man alleadged that hee might deliuer him from pride that he might keepe his soule from the graue and his life from the sword Whereto agreeth that Prouerbe Dulcia non meruit qui non gustauit amara Who tasted not the sowre deserues not sweet God foreseeing that some of his children might sinne in many things scourgeth them with infirinity of body lest they should sinne Vt ijs vtilius sit frangâ— languoribus ad salutem quam remanere incolumes ad damnationem That it might be more profitable for them to bee broken with diseases for saluation then to remaine whole and in health for damnation This another auncient Father confirmes Magis intus dolemus per hoc quod foris patimur We grieue in wardly the more for that which wee suffer outwardly And againe While wee are outwardly strucken we are secretly and wofully recalled to the remembrance of our sinnes Our fleshly fathers corrected vs and we gaue them reuerence and shall wee not patiently endure our heauenly Fathers scourge They for a few dayes chastned vs after their owne pleasure but hee for our profit that we might be partakers of his holinesse When any Plague Murren losse crosse or misfortune befals vs that proceedes not from the diuell but from our Father in heauen It is he that created light and darknesse that makes peace and trouble It is hee that ordereth this worlds globe and turnes the wheele of all our fortunes And againe as himselfe promiseth If we will walke in his Ordinances he will send peace in the land but if we despise his commandements he will send a sword vpon vs. His prouident Maiestie knows best what befits our fraile natures He will haue mercy on them who deserue mercy at his handes And he will punish those that deserue punishment Shall we receiue good at the hand of God and not receiue euill Shall we reioyce when the Sunne shines and when it lowres shall we lowre and frowne likewise Know then O worldly men that no euill can chance vnto you without the appointment of God Out of his mouth goeth both euill and good as the Prophet lamented And as another Prophet testified Shall there be euill that is calamity in a Citie and the Lord hath not done it Great reason it is that hee which sent vs into this world should take vs out of the world after what maner soeuer it pleaseth him Whether it be by ordinary or extraordinary meanes by death naturall or violent lingring or sudden welcome be death vnto vs that be borne to die For this cause while we haue time to repent let vs beginne instantly out of hand to amend our liues before his darts doe hit vs before the darke night of tribulation comes vpon vs. Repentance which is done vpon the laâ—â— houre is commonly done vpon feare of future torments Then it is hard by reason of our prrsumptuous delayes to finde grace and mercy as a Spanish Diuine very well obserues Malse hallan los remedios en el trabaio que enâ—e descansoy paz no se buscaron Ill doe they finde remedies in time of trouble when they sought for none in time of peace In this case the counsell of the wise man is very good Get thee righteousnes before thou come to iudgement and vse Phisicke before thou be sicke Examine thy selfe before thou be iudged and in the day of destruction thou shalt find mercy humble thy selfe before thou be sicke and while thou mayest yet sinne shew thy conuersion Most certaine it is that Sathan tyrannizeth most furiously at the shutting vp of our liues when we are least able to resist by reason of our extreme paines and panges both in body and minde Then the very best haue enough to doe A man hath not two soules that he may aduenture one of them Therefore O Christian stand to thy tacklings stand stout alwayes prepared to preuent all future euils O lim haec meminisse iuuabit The time will come when the remembrance of thy fore past crosses will auaile the repeating In the meane time Mors tua mors Christi-fraus mundi-gloria coeli Et dolor Inforâ—i sunt meditanda tibi Thinke on thine owne and Christ his death And on false worldly traines Thinke also on sweet heauens ioyes And on Infernall paines God helpe vs if we shall do nothing else in this world but liue in continuall care pensiuenesse and perplexity of minde as in truth we must if we liue in feare of deathes suddaines But the case is otherwise for the Church hath prouided in the Letany that we pray God to deliuer vs from lightning and tempest from plague pestilence and famine from battell and murther and from sudden death O man full of Detractions how long wilt thou tempt the Lord thy God This earthly world was not giuen thee for a Paradise but for a Purgatory It was not made thee to build in but rather to pull downe to crucifie and to mortifie thy couetâ—ous thoughts that in the other world thou mightst liue for euer with Christ and his Angels This world is indeede a place of triall a warfare a maze of troubles and a seate to soiourne in for a time for short time Wherefore and because this time later or sooner serius aut citius is not limited by Patent to any mortall creature whereby we might foreknow or preuent the brunts of nature fortune or destiny which three I hold to be the ineuitable will of God let vs stand watchfull against sudden death seeing it is for a great prize for a great purchase that none can be greater euen for the saluation of our deare soules I graunt that olde Adam prayeth against the suddennesse of death but alas poore man it is for doubt of the worst It is the nature of a sinfull soule to become so enamoured with this enchanting world that it loathes as the horror of hell all sudaine mischiefes and chiesly a mischieuous death We would faine die the death of the righteous but in no wise would we liue the lise of the righteous And yet how dare we iudge of them that die so suddenly May not the â—ord dislodge his tenants at will specially for their aduancement without warning at any time Did not hee after this sudden manner as it were in the twinckling of an eye translate Henoch
to lay an ambush for your neighbours good name fame and reputation Learne by these exemplary crosses to be vigilant for in the houre which you thinke not as a theese in the night will death steale vpon you It is high time for you to prepare your selues to preuent the Tempter Alreadie it begins to smoake and as the Poet forewarnes Tunc tua res agitur paries cum proximus ardet When the next wall vnto thy house doth burne Looke to thy selfe betimes next is thy turne These reasons considered I dare boldly auouâ—h for no earthly creature can iudge her conscience more freely then my selfe that my welbeloued wife whom God of late hath taken to his mercy by an vnexpected accident by the lightning power of his fearefull thunder resteth in the Lord as concerning her soule and resteth on earth as concerning her memory both which I trust by the diuine bountie scorne all the brauadoes scaladoes and engines which eyther enuy or Sathan can inuent for their assaults This is the chiefest solace I embrace after so great a crosse This Christian hope richer then any temporall or golden haruest I reape to my selfe after my fatall losse For my light affliction which is but momentary causeth vnto me a farre more excellent and eternall waight of glory while I looke not on the things which are seene but on the things which are not seene I looke not so sâ—rupulously on the manner of her death as I looke on the manner of her life which God receiued as a burnt offering Packe hence therefore ye Enthusians and be not like vnto Curdogs that bark at a dead Lyon Though she fell she shall rise againe though she sate in darknesse the Lord will be a light vnto her MY tongue is no hireling Herald to coine her a new pedegre nor yet a mercâ—nariâ— Aduocate to extoll her shadow in steed of substance onely in steed of Popish posâ—humes or Purgatorie trentals I will sacrifice this cacomtasticall oblation as seralem coeâ—am a funerall banquet to her well deseruing memory Holy Augustine neuer conceiued more diuinely of his mother Monica then I doe of thy felicity O happie soule partaker of celestiall ioyes thou needest no praise of mine seeing that thy God hath transported thee in the yeare of lubily to this port of tranquility and conuerted thy pilgrimage to the hauen or rather heauen of euerlasting health Where though thou abound with vnspeakable pleasures yet pardon me if I striue to canonize thy peerelesse fame The pleasant sounds of thy verdant vertues like so many resounding Ecchoes shall neuer vanish from mine insatiable eares Thy extraardinary loue the liuely Jdaea of a spotlesse life shall alwaies dwell within the mansion of my restlesse minde At all times whether it be morning or euening noone-tide or midnight while I soiourne in this house of clay I will congratulate thy high fortunes All haile immortall spirit thou spouse of Christ wrapt vp in his holy armes full of transcendent grace full of transeendent glory All haile full of health full of happinesse which art translated from mortall men to immortall Saints from sorrow to solace Yesterday thou wentest entaÌ„gled with the thorny cares of this world now thou triumphest among the Angels of heauen Yesterday thou wert here where Iob himselfe complained that he was placed as a But to be shot at where Gods enuenomed arrowes stucke in him where the Prophet Dauids bones were consumed that he roared all day long Now thou florishest in the harmony of Gods Spirit minding on nothing but on diuine vertues on spirituall melody Yesterday thou wentest drooping in an earthen cote shaken with the frownes of Enuy with the frumps of Detraction to day thou walkest and this day shines alwaie neuer sets in a temple not built with hands in the line of the liuing God without Enuy without Deraction Here is thy habitation assigned thee thy lot is fallen in a faire ground Liue for euer And this as a looking glasse shall glister vnto thy friends on earth Dorcadis hic dotes miti cum mente Rebecchae Priscillaeque fides mens tamâ—n vna tribus Corpus humas mundus laudes tenet igneus Eliae Elisias tua mens Elizabetha rotas Here Dorcas deeds as starres doe shine Priscillaes faith heere doth combine With mild and kind Rebeccaâ—s mind Yet but one soule to three assign'd Thy bodie earth the world thy name Thy soule by faith Elisian fame Elizabeth eterniz'd gaines Elias-like in lightning waines LINEAMENT XIII 1 The Authours gratulation for his late fortunate deliuerance 2 His description of the Lightning tragedy the third day of Ianuarie 1608. at what time God tooke away his wife 3 His description of other Crosses at the very same time 4 How God fore-shewed by mysteryes the said crosses before they hapned vnto the Authour wherein his censure of Dreames is interlaced 5 His description of his miraculous escape out of the Sea wherein he fell by force of a cruell tempest on a Christmas day 1602. GOD forbid that I should charge all my Countreymen with the branded marke of blasphemie for there be many good men which neuer kneeled vnto Baal which neuer worshipped the spirit of Detraction all ready viua voce as the Prouerbe saith with both hands to hold vp the roofe of my opinion They alledge simply and charitably that this great Accident vpon my wife and house came from God as a faire warning for mee and them to prepare our selues for his heauenly kingdome which charitable conceit I cannot cancell with obliuion or ingratitude but rather confirme the same with an applauding Alleluiah The Lord gaue the Lord taketh away blessed be the name of the Lord. No man aliue this day stands more indebted then my selfe for matters of life vnto the Author of life Daniel was wonderfully deliuered from the Lions clawes Ananias Azarias and Misael from the fierie fornace Ionas in the Whales belly from the stormy sea and Paul with his Pilots Marriners and Companions from perishing in the Mediterranean seas but what am I vile wretched sinner whom thou hast saued as strangely from fire and water O glorious God is it because thy prouident maiestie hath predestinated me to some worthy seruice tending to thy glory O bountifull Lord of vnsearchable wisedome graunt that my faith may be signed with the seale of thy mercy Let my spirit become regenerated and renued as the Potters vessell markt to an honest purpose Whatsoeuer I am whether tolerably toward or vntoward tolerably cleane or vncleane I wholy submit my selfe at the feet of thy mercy altogether depending on thy Sonnes merits from whence I will not depart though I were sure with Asahel to be slaine by Abner and as Iob protested if thou wouldest kill me yet will I trust in thee On the third of Ianuarie 1608. about the third houre of the night or thereabouts as I lay solitarie vpon my bed what with torment of a sodaine tooth-ache and what with an