of one of his legges he goeth not a step but he reioyceth that he was so gloriously marked Wherefore they are not our wounds that do so greeue and trouble vs but the occasions for the which we receiue them they bring vs either honor or dishonor neither is any thing esteemed for the thing it selfe but for the end why we do it If we endure all things for the honor of God and for the saluation which we shall obtaine through our patience then that which we call euill shall turne to our good and that which once seemed to vs to be bitter shall in the end be found very sweet The patience which this moderation of spirit shall bring vs will be a secret testimonie vnto vs that we are the faithfull seruants of our maister that we spare our selues no whit at all to obey him nor yet refuse any trauell or paine to put his commandements in execution There is nothing surely so honourable in this world euen in the iudgement of the very heathen as to vnderstand how to forgiue and pardon The lawes permit euery man to pursue the wrong done vnto him but to pardon and forgiue belongeth vnto a Prince alone And therefore if thou wilt be a king ouer thy selfe forgiue thy selfe freely for the glory of a Christian consisteth chiefly in this loue by which he bindeth his neighbour to loue him and to be voide of this worldly desire of reuenge which as a worme gnaweth the hart of those which are infected therewith tosseth turmoileth them all the day and keepeth them waking all the night And therefore the spirit will compose it selfe with this equalitie as that it will not suffer it selfe to be carryed away with hatred and euill will And from thence will ensue another excellent disposition of the soule which is modesty moderation which bringeth with it a certaine comlinesse vnto all the actions of the body and is a testimonie by them of gentlenesse goodwill vertue which can do more then all the rest to make vs sociable to get vs the friendship of those with whom either our nature good hap or choise coÌ„ioineth vs. This gratious maner is so agreeable vnto meÌ„ as nothing more for she wringeth out of theÌ„ that which force is no way able to do for she desireth no superiority ouer the rest but according to reason which is a kind of weapon that will cut deeper then either yron or steele But these proud frowning and scornefull people which looke at all the world ouer their shoulders which are therwith swolne so full as their skinnes can hold and looke at their tailes like vnto proud Peacocks do reason great wrong when as they so do clothing him with such talke as vtterly disgraceth him and maketh him odious And beleeue me it is a very hard thing for these men to come any thing neere this holy Philosophie or wisedome which dwelleth amongst the graces that garde and eâ—…iron her on euery side Tertullian who is desirous to haue vs learne how greatly mildnesse and simplicitie serue vs to prepare our selues to receiue the gifts and perfections of the holy Ghost saith precisely that he appeareth oftenest in the shape of a Doue to shew vnto vs that he dwelleth not but in such as are without gall as a Doue is but are very gratious and gentle Now because that for the most part it commeth by reason of our infirmitie as thinking to fly one sinne we fall into another we are to feare that because we are not well confirmed in vertue thinking 〈◊〉 hold vs in humilitie we fall to become very cowards when as in deed wâ— should rather fall to banding chaâ—ging And therefore it shall not be â—misse that we adde vnto that which we haue spoken of temperance and mildnesse certaine considerations to raise vs vp to be most couragious wheÌ„ as it shall stand vs in hand to be so Which wil principally serue vs to keep vs in a straite and an assured course against all whatsoeuer shall offer it self to amaze and turne vs from obeying the commandements of God For first we shall on the one side haue rash presumption to egge vs forward to desire more then that wherevnto God hath called vs and oppose our selues vnto his constant and firme purpose Our happie successes and prosperous encounters or accidents will so tickle vs as that they will make vs laugh our good hap will promise vs high and great things and yet for all this we will not once change our visage nor countenance We will scornefully behold and looke vpon and that with a leering eye the presents of fortune if I may so say like vnto the faire fresh coloured Apples which grew neere to the lake of Ghomorre but they were no sooner touched but that they fel forthwith into powder and ashes But if reason telleth vs that we must take them we will then vse them with great equalitie of minde and facilitie of maners and make none other estimation of them On the other side we shall haue afflictions dangers griefes and pouertie which in the iudgement of the common people wrappeth vp all manner of miseries And it is against these enemies chieflie that this vertue must boisterouslie stretch forth her armes It is through them that she must make way if she meane to come to the end of her purpose Howbeit if we our selues stand in no feare and flie not before such time as we see the enemie what mischiefe may they do vs Forsooth they will spoile vs of all our goods and so we shall go the lighter seeing then that the reward is reserued for him that commeth first and shall the longer while enioy the immortall goddes which soonest commeth thether shall we then feare to lose the baggage for the obtaining of such a glorious victorie And now behold the breach is made and our Captaine within that calleth vs and we our selues busie our selues to shoote at him that arresteth vs by the cloake and put our selues in hazard to remaine prisoners in the hands of the enemie that will cause vs loso both cloake and honour and the fruite also of all our trauell We are threatned with death and what other thing else is it that we seeke after We haue not clothed our selues with this transitorie and mortall life but onely to pay the tribute and discharge the tolle at the comming in of euerlasting life These are good newes seeing we are called vpon to pay for it is a token that we are come on shore But what is this death that thus terrifieth vs What is he so to be feared as that he will make vs turne our backs vpon him forsake the field of vertue â—…ly hid in the trenches or rather in the sand holes of sâ—…thfulnesse and cowardise If we thinke it an euill thing it is because we feele it to be so or else because others thinke so of it Haue we not heard the plaint of those who haue
an innocent life 6 Trust therfore in God ô my soule reioyce in his fauour for I right well knowe that he is well pleased with his prayses by my lips All my life long â—ill I prayse him and declare and confesse him to be the God of truth the God of iustice God the tutor of the innocent God the father of saluation and God mine only defence I will haue mine eye alwayes fixed on him and my face continually turned towards him for I haue found no saluation but in him O my God who from the beginning of the world reachest out thine armes vnto the afflicted which hast alwayes receyued into thy protection the oppressed and comfortest the iust vniustly tormented graunt me O Lord both comfort and courage to the end that I taking my spirits vnto me againe which were halfe in a dead sleepe through affliction may glorifie thee with all my force and strangle by the strength of my voyce the blasphemies of the wicked which goe about to defame thine honor and not being able to reach thee rush and runne vppon the good and godly men that faithfully serue thee All people harken and geue c. Psalme 46. 1 COme vnto mee all yee strange nations drawe neere yee people that are farthest off come yee from all coasts to heare that which ye shall neuer heare else-where Passe ye the seas mountaines and let not any hardnesse of the way stop ye for the prize of your nauigation shall be greater then he that sayleth from the East to the West laden with pearles and diamonds And the reward of 〈◊〉 sweâ—…ings shall be more pretious then the Trophees of those that conquer the nations of the earth Shore vp your eares therefore harken attentiuely vnto that which I shall now say vnto you O I would 〈◊〉 God that ye were all 〈…〉 all the rest of your 〈…〉 might strengthen your heâ—… 〈…〉 conceiue that which I will delâ—… 〈…〉 to you 2 Come come all ye that 〈…〉 selues the children of the earth which thinke to attribute your originall being vnto nothing but vnto the earth and your being borne vnto none but vnto your fathers and suppose nothing to be more auncient here in this world then they and nothing greater then your selues In very deed yee are the right children of the earth for ye are as insensible as it is and of no more vnderstanding then images made of clay and annealed in the fornace Come and open your eares that I may open the spirit close vp the eyes of your bodies that I may make your soules so clearely forsake this stepmother of earth that I may make you know your heauenly father Come ye therefore together both poore rich for ye are vnworthy of the goods that I meane largely to bestow vpon you 3 Come for I go about to discouer lay wide opeÌ„ vnto you the treasures of eternal wisdom And in opening my mouth being inspired with the grace of Almighty God I meane to vnfold vnto you in my words his wonderfull wisedome I haue long held my soule in a deep thought and after I had a great while dreamed I conceiued in the end of a strange discourse of Gods wisedome by which I vnderstood his goodnesse and mercie in all things and the folly misery infirmitie of mankinde 4 Whereupon I being as it were beside my selfe about the wondring at his greatnes the feeling of our own infirmitie I was forthwith desirous to geue eare vnto that which my spirit taught me and began carefully to consider of those things which it couertly shewed me vnder a disguised maner the knowledge the truth And after I had carefully vnderstood examined the same I tooke my harp in my hand according my voyce vnto the sweet tune of my harp I was ready to put abroad my conceits and to make my meditations to be heard vnto all those that would heare them that they might be acceptable vnto God the author of so holie thoughts and wholesome instruction vnto the fauourable hearer of my discourses 5 If thou wilt then know what I sayd within my selfe this I sayd what shall I feare in the hardest time of my life Why should I feare when death shall come to lay hold on me and to cause me to get me out of this world Alas death is a strange busibody I know not who should not feare him seeing no man can keepe him selfe from him How shall I be able to defend my selfe from his arrowes What armour shall I put on against his pick-axe which ouerthroweth and razeth Castels Cities Kingdomes and Empires yea which threatneth to bring the world to an end and who at last shall make an end of him-selfe I shall need no kinde of weapons but innocencie that is able to be a steely an assured buckler for me for if I take not good heed vnto it that traytor sinne whome death hath appoynted will neuer be from my heeles will lodge in my concupisceÌ„ce and deliuer me presently at an assault into the hands of damnation 6 O deare and wholesome innocencie in thee alone resteth all our assurance vnder thy faith we constantly abide whatsoeuer shall come vppon vs and we beleeue that thou art strong inough to defende vs from death O foolish and mad men who leauing this faithfull protection assure them-selues in their greatnesse and mightinesse make an accompt of their ritches and magnificences They accompt the Nations which are vnder their gouernments and recken vp the treasure which they keepe vnder lock 〈◊〉 key and to what purpose serueth and this against death 7 If one brother can not redeeme the life of another for money nay and if one would dye for another yet inexorable death will not receyue him what then shall man geue vnto death for his owne ransome Shall he geue the goods that are none of his or his dominions which he loseth as soone as he is dead No no there is nothing which hee hath left vnto him-selfe wherewith God is appaised and pacified when his iudgement is once pronounced against mortall men He will not compound with him for any thing whatsoeuer This is his creature this is the slime of the earth out of which hee will take when it pleaseth him the spirit of life which he breathed into him and therefore man can no way gaynsay not yet reply against him 8 Let vs I beseech thee a little value the soule of man and let vs see what he will offer vnto God for his ransoming of him let him trauell a little all his life long let him go and trauell awhile all the dayes of his life let him goe and ferrit out all thâ—…â—…ners of the earth let him go and 〈…〉 out the bowels of the mines let him draw dry the golden dugs of both the Indies let him dispeople the Easterne parts of the world of all her pearles and when he hath heaped vp all this geare let him then come
Imagin then with thy selfe that thou seest a flocke of Goats in a faire Garden set full of yong graffes and impes bordered and knotted with beautifull floures and sowen with most excellent seeds of most dayntie herbs and in a moment they are all rauened broused on bitteÌ„ to the stumps and rooted cleane vp Or else imagine thou seest before thee a small houill or shed as we call it built vp with dirt and spittle and Thatched with strawe and as soone as any storme ariseth it carrieth away with it an handfull of it this way and another handfull that way and the place where it stood is that where the least part of the substance thereof remayned Euen so hath Syon bene dealt withall for of all the great Temples and braue buildings thereof can hardly be sound the place whereon they stood that a man might say Here they were once For now there is no more speech of them then if they had neuer bene The feasts and Sabboths which were there celebrated with so great ceremonie and reuerence are vtterly abolished Yea both Kings and Bishops were touched with the â—inger of God as well as the rest Zain It was a strange thing to see God grow to be thus angrie that he abhorred his Aulters had his sacrifices in abhomination to curse that which he him self had once sanctified to leaue his holy Temple his very deere and pretious Sanctuary in the impure and polluted hands of infidels To lodge this vncleane nation within this braue magnificall and religious accent or Tenor as it were within the tents of a Camp To heare the crying and howling of their barbarous voyces in that place where his seruice was wont to be solemnly celebrated and Hymnes song vnto his glory Het It may be very well sayd that God thought long before to destroy this City to see how all things met so iump for seruing to the ouerthrow thereof all at once Thou mightest say that he had taken measure and order of and for all things for it to the end they might ioyne together in this behalfe In so much as there was nothing wanting as if it had bene fatall that whatsoeuer we had bene able to haue done could no way haue turned the hand of God froÌ„ vs neither yet deferre our misery for all felt it yea forefelt it we also saw before the coÌ„ming of our mishap the very walls of our City as it were weepe and all the face of the City fall away and looke sadly and beare on her forehead a cloudy and darke wildernesse for after she had once receyued a strange shock she was straightwayes ouerturned and there was not left one stone vpon another Thet Oye braue honorable Gates of Syon ye haue bene cast downe wide open your books and hengils puld out your locks broken vp and your iron barres beaten in pieces and in vâ—…se deed there was not a gate left for the Citie lay wide open in euery place and men might go in and out at the breaches where they pleased But for thy last vnhappie farewell before thou wert razed thou sawest thy Princes and worshipfull Citizens passe ouer thy thresholds led captiues into a strange land Thou sawest thy law abolished yea euen that law which the Lord thy God had geuen thee as a guage and earnest pennie of his couenant so as thou mightest haue iudged that thou haddest lost his friendship wheÌ„ as he tooke from thee those his pawnes And besides he neuer reuealed him selfe vnto thee for his spirit was neuer in thy Prophets they that came froÌ„ him had no mo visions by which he made them vnderstand his will he hath left vs without both counsell and conduct like strayed sheepe that goe bleating ouer the fields without Shepheard or guide Iod. And therefore the poore gray haired old men which could no way escape finding no more help in their God and seeing him deafe vnto their prayers being altogether out of heart layd themselues downe on the grouÌ„d and leaning vpon their elbowes pitifully lamented their miserie and taking ashes in their hands cast them vpoÌ„ their heads praying from the bottome of their hearts that their poore and miserable bodies might eftsoones be there changed They also were so trussed vp in sackcloth as that there could be nothing seene of them but their feet the place of their graue They carried also their haires on their backs that they might be either familiarly acquainted with the custome of their miserie or else make them not to feele it all And after this manner bewailed they their calamitie The poore and delicate maydens and desolate fatherlesse children followed them casting downe their eyes bedeawing their cheekes holding downe their heads euen as the Lilly doth when it is sore beaten with rayne and wind Caph. And in very truth when I saw this so lamentable a Tragedy mine eyes melted into teares and I had almost lost my sight as it were with extreame weeping and mine heart heaued vp my body as if one had rent my bowels out of my belly when as I saw I say the poore children of Syon in this pitifull estate when I saw them lament so bitterly when I saw the greatest of them fall into swoundâ— with very sorrow and griefe and the sucking children forsaken of their mothers pine away most miserably Lamed Some crying vnto their mothers for the teat and others calling vppon them for bread But they had neyther milke not bread to geue them and this was the greatest comfort that the poore mothers had euen to go as farre as they could from theyr poore children and turne away theyr faces from them vntill such time as the famine had consumed them and they themselues lay screeking out in other places dying of very faintnes as if they had bin wounded to death And some of them were of that stomacke as that they could abide to see their children dye between their armes and by little and little prolong their owne poore life dying soonâ— after with very sorrow and griefe O what wounds felt these poore harts and how deepe did these blows pierse verely euen into the place of motherly pitie which is euen the very bottome of the heart And it is no maruell that they died so suddainly wheÌ„ as they were at once so piersed throughout all the vitall parts yea to the very wounding of the soule and the casting of it perforce out of the body Mem. O poore and miserable Ierusalem how shall I depaint and set foorth this thy so great misery what tearmes shall I deuise liuely to expresse so strange and suddaine a calamitie Whereunto shal I compare the greatnes of thine affliction The earth is not able to comprehend it and therfore the sea must for it is as large and infinit as the sea is a tormentrous field like to the sea a bottomlesse gulfe and a receptacle for great hidious monsters as the sea is one mischiefe driueth on another as the waus of
the hand of thy iustice which would swallow me vp Thou shalt turne away the dart of death whose point hath pierced me euen to the very hart Thou shalt lengthen the course of my yeares which my sinne hath already shortened And thou shalt bee contented that thou hast reprooued me without vtterly vndoing me and made me to acknowledge and confesse my sinnes with punishing me for the same 12 And although I thinke my selfe blessed and as it were in most excel-cellent peace yet do I vse nay rather abuse the blessings and riches which thou hast lent and vouchsafed mee yea and although I say I should be drunken with the hony sweet pleasures of this world yet loe a store of affliction and misery is betide me which as a most bitter brooks is come vpon me to drowne me and swallow me vp But as I was about to giue vp the ghost I felt thee taking me by the hand and by a wonderfull helpe drewest me by little and little out of that fearefull gulfe O Lorde the weight that sunke me to the bottome was the waight of my sinnes They lay so thick and heauie on my head and held me so to the ground as that I knew not how to lift vp mine eyes vnto heauen much lesse was I able to hold vp my head and open my mouth to vtter and shew forth thy holy grace and mercy Thou hast broken the chaines of the wicked affections which held me bound vnto these cursed sinnes And neuerthelesse because they are euer before thine eyes and that my repentance in some measure coniureth thy goodnesse and mine iniquity sharpeneth thy iustice yet hast thou cast all mine offences behinde thy back and turned them all away from thy presence to the end there might be nothing betweene me and thy mercy to hinder me from being enuironed by the same as mine only and assured defence But how can this be ô Lord that thou who seest all things both present to come which seest through the earth and piercest the bottomes of our hearts that in regard of me alone ô Lord thou becommest blinde and seest not my sâ—…nes which enuiron me round about O how wonderfull great is thy mercy which blindfoldeth the eyes of thy Deitie which hideth from thee that euery one seeth and maketh thee forget that which thou knewest before such time as it was done 13 From whence ô Lord commeth this great change and alteration in thee whence commeth it that to do me fauour thou puttest so farre from thee thy iustice which is naturally in thee I wonder but yet cannot I tell from whence this thy so great clemency and louing kindnesse proceedeth It is yea it is ô Lord because thou wilt saue vs whether we wil or no and to draw vs as it were by force out of that condemnation which we most iustly haue deserued For thou art the God of glory iealous of honour and praise for thou art alone worthy therof Thou knowest right well that very hell shall praise thee and thou knowest also ô Lord that death it selfe shall set forth thy praise Seeing that thou hast created all things to testifie thine infinite goodnesse and power shall death which is one of thy works make an end of thy praise Yea and seeing thou hast here placed man to lift vp his eyes vnto heauen and to behold thy glory and to sing both with the heart and mouth a continuall hymne therof and if thou take away his life is not that a breache of one of the organes of thine honour And if thou send him to hell is not that to defame thy workmanship Thou hast ô Lord sowne by the mouthes of thy Prophets the truth of thy promises Shall they that are pent vp in the earth gather together the fruite thereof shall they whome the death of the body hath closed vp the eye liddes and whome the death of the soule engendred through their impenitence hath sealed vp the eyes of the spirit making them go groping to hell wandring and stumbling from paine to paine and from torment to torment No no it shall be the liuing man that shall publish and set forth thy praise the man I say that liueth and that liuing life which is maintained by those blessings which thou bestowest vpon vs here on the earth and that life which is nourished by the beholding of thy Deitie and by the blessings which thou hast laide vppe in heauen Euen so O Lorde do I at this day with them seeing it hath pleased thee to conuert my miseries into grace and blessing and to turne away from me death and dolors which brought them vnto mee Mine infirmitie is at this day seeing it so pleaseth thee an argument of thy glory thou workest such miracles in me as are able to astonish an whole world To the end ô Lord that the fathers may tell vnto their children what the effects of thy mercies are how sure the effect of thy promises and how vndoubted the truth of thy word And so whensoeuer the last and hindermost posteritie shall vnderstand what hath be fallen vnto my person it will praise and blesse thy holy name 15 Seeing then my God that thou hast assured me this life I meane this earthly and corporall life graunt me also assurance of this heauenly and diuine life to the end that I being most full of all hope and strength may passe the rest of my daies in praising and seruing of thee continually Mine aboade ô Lorde shall be alwaies at the feete of thine aulters mine action shall bee a song of thy praise and goodnesse and so will goe day and night into thy church lifting 〈…〉 eyes vnto thee and hauing my thoughts fixed on thee I will open â—ine heart and thou shalt fill it with thy grace that it may sanctifie all mine affections and so 〈◊〉 thereby may set forth nothing more then thy glory FINIS
cleanse our selues and let vs see from whence and which way we are fallen that thereby we may perceiue by what meanes we may be able to lift vp our selues againe For God saw nothing amongst all his workes which any thing drew neare vnto his perfection and therefore he himself was then desirous to mould and fashion a liuing image of his Deitie which should be his chiefe and especiall worke and set him in the middest of the world Whereupon man forthwith shewed himselfe in the middest of the earth so perfect and complete as that nothing could be wished to be more excellently perfect For he being made a liuely image and being also as it were but a short and halfe picture hauing withall many the lineaments both of the aire and of the grace of the principall subiect or matter was most wonderfully perfect The holy fier which God had breathed into him being very pure enlightened his vnderstanding and filled him with the knowledge of all things in so much that he hauing truth for his guide and vertue for his ayde all his actions passed within the compasse of reason and turning him selfe continually vnto his Creator receiued to himselfe as in a very cleere looking glasse the forme and fashion of the Deitie in beholding of whome he fixed and stayed all his thoughts and thereby became very blessed for he liued in God and God in him But when as this mirror which was beautified and adorned with the obiect of the Deitie would needs runne him selfe amongst the troublesome and dangerous stormes and thereby defile and sully him selfe then this immortall brightnesse disdained any more to shew himselfe vnto him and left him altogether to remaine in darkenesse obscuritie So that man before such time as he had turned his back vpō God being filled with a most sure knowledge of all things is now as it were become brutished and in stead of truth is full of error and lying and in stead of a ruled and moderate will is now full of burning lust so as all his thoughts which before were reunited to the beholding of his creator haue now spread themselues ouer the creatures roame about at all aduētures without either guide or reason This concupiscence and lust then hauing thus prostituted her selfe forthwith conceiued sin which comming to a ful growth amended death And death in deed brought forth the extremitie of al euils and death I say the hope of all horror and obscuritie wherein all the while that mā was swadled wrapped was neuer since euer able to receiue the brightnes of the immortal light ne yet attaine againe vnto the conduct of the truth the only beholding wherof is able to keepe him backe frō comming to the point of his felicitie When man saw himselfe thus defaced he was displeased with himselfe cursed his life as a gulfe of miserie where he saw nothing before his eyes but cōfusion and darkenesse And all his animaduersions were nothing but of euils and all his hope of nothing but of calamities For God being nothing but righteous and man nothing else but sinne what measure or end could there be of his punishment Howbeit the eternall wisedome who wrought with God in the creation of man hauing compassion of the losse destruction of such a worke came as Tertullian sayth to lay a steepe the poison of death in his own blood to wash cleanse vs besides to turne away the iust wrath of his Father that he might haue mercy vpon vs and so turne vnto vs againe Thus we see how we are entred againe into grace with our God purified by his mercie called againe vnto the knowledge of his truth and the beholding of his glorie Howbeit we are so peruerse obstinate in our cursednesse so great enemies to our owne felicitie as that so soone as this eternall light would begin to appeare and shine vppon the clearenesse of our consciences there to expresse and reimprint the face of his Deitie and relieue and recharge the lineaments of this deuine wisedome which are so shamefully defiled and as it were vtterly defaced as that we make a thousand foule blemishes rebound vpon our selues which blind and defile vs and thrust them selues betweene vs and the grace which should enlighten vs. We must therefore as often as we defile our selues so often also lay too our hands to wipe away our foule and filthie staines for the cleansing and clearing of our soules so that we thereby being polished the beames of our principall bountie and goodnesse may cause the clearenesse of vertue and truth most clearely shine and brightly burne vpon vs. Here then we see the meanes which we herein must hold and keepe let vs now looke what the cause of this euill is and then let vs also wisely consider of the remedie for the same In very deede our peruerse and corrupt iudgement is the very fountaine of all our offences and the spring-head of that pestilent humor which so infecteth and spoyleth vs. The things which spoyle and trouble vs are the delightes and pleasures which on euery side alure vs and make vs drunke before we are fully awake This licour then being mixed amongst our tender senses by reason of the infirmitie of our age so delicately seasoneth vs as that we can neuer after lose and forget the sauour thereof We content not our selues with moderatly drinking but we will be ouer head and cares also tarrying still by it as if we would haue the tide ouerflowe vs leauing our selues drowned as it were vpon the swallowing quicksand of miserable old age Now these sweet licours wherewith we so fill and glut our selues turne by and by into bitternes and fill our harts and minds with a venemous humor which infecteth and corrupteth vs. For the affection which we beare vnto the beauty of these created things being entertained and flattered by vs changeth it selfe into a furious and mad lust which peruerteth and ouerthroweth our senses for the flattering and dissembling desire which we haue vnto these worldly riches turneth it selfe into a blinde and senslesse passion and are none otherwise to be esteemed in this world but as the ordure and excrement of the earth and the loue of false honor conuerteth it selfe into a foolish desire to be farre more then the rest of the world and chalengeth vnto it selfe the reuerence and seruice that is due vnto God himselfe The pleasure which we take in our feeding is turned into beastly and shamelesse gluttony The care that we take in preseruing our bodies delicately groweth into beastly vncleannesse and filthy lust and the worthinesse that we beleeue too too much of ou◠own courage and valure turneth it selfe into outragious choler and rashnesse And surely our minds being stopped and oppressed with so foule and slimie humors can neuer breathe forth any thing that is pure and cleane Now for the purging of all these subtile and mortall passions and poysons of the minde we must see what
the iudgement which therein is denounced and the paines that are prepared for the wicked is it possible that that man will euer haue the heart to deceiue him whome the lawe hath commaunded to loue as him selfe will he by defrauding of his neighbour deceiue his owne soule of that euerlasting blessednesse whereof those men can neuer be partakers who communicate with the father of lying and of lyes For truth commeth from heauen falshood in the daughter of darkenesse All kinds of fiction coulored and counterfeit shewes and all leasings are the craftie deuises of the deuill and he that entertaineth them and vseth them couenanteth with the wicked spirits and maketh himselfe the bondslaue of sin And therefore all our actions should be sincere and faithfull but especially their actions who are in authoritie to gouerne the people and are put in trust to render iustice vnto euery particular man They must not do as the Egiptian Iudges did that ware the image of Iustice about their necks but they must haue it imprinted in the bottome of their hearts and betweene their lips for she alone it is that must direct their iudgements so as neither loue nor hatred must at any hand make the ballance or scales which they hold in their hands leane either one way or other but reason alone must cause the lawe spurne and kick against iniquitie Surely no man can haue a better testimonie vnto his conscience of his election then when as he feeleth himself to take pleasure in dealing iustly and rightuously for whosoeuer he is that loueth iustice is a man of God for the light shineth on the righteous man and vpoÌ„ him that is of an vpright hart The way and path of the iust is like vnto the dawning of the day her light encreaseth by little and little and becommeth like vnto the noonetide The wise man could not more properly compare iustice vnto any thing then vnto the light for as the light shineth not for it selfe but causeth others to see euen so this most excellent sound vertue of it selfe looketh not but vnto the benefit profit of another hauing none other end but by a well willing righteous affection to conioyne entertaine one another of vs. When this vertue is growne vnto a full perfectioÌ„ she straightwayes beginneth to loue may very wel take vnto her that name because that she hauing vnited conioined vs together teacheth vs to accompt our selues to be one anothers flesh as being the members of one body or rather the body of one head leauing in vs a charitable affection which is the souldering sinowing of our bodies together For as we see in the constitution of our persons euery member to be so framed therein as that that which is fardest off moueth it selfe forthwith in affectioÌ„ good liking vnto the rest so as if we haue any paine in our foot by by the eye looketh vnto it straightways we put to the hand in the end bend the whole force of our body to help to do it good Euen so fareth it with the mistical coniunction of the body in the holy coÌ„gregation of the faithfull whereof we are all members and the spirit of God which doth rule and gouerne vs teacheth vs that for our owne conseruation we must needs make one of another and make both our aduersitie and prosperitie common that we might contribute vnto the necessities of one another For our christian righteousnes restraineth not vs only to discharge the ciuile and politick bands which may be amongst vs but also acquiteth this naturall obligation which bindeth one man to another by mutuall good will and loue It remayneth now that this righteousnesse must conioyne vs vnto God and bring forth her most excelleÌ„t effects which kepeth our soule vpright quiet capable of the wil of God and as it were fast tied vnto the loue of euerlasting blisse which is done by the gifts of faith hope For after we haue purged our selues of the peruerse filthy affectioÌ„s which our soul hath gotteÌ„ into her by liuing on erth so blinded our wil as that she caÌ„not returne to ill yet must she go on to her mark guide her self vnto her resting place Now as we are cast downe into the darkenesse of this world into the deserts of sin bottomlesse deapths of perdition we cannot see our end without light nor find our way without a guide ne yet sustaine our selues go forward without stay and our light guide and stay is the reuelation which God hath shewed vnto vs out of his will the knowledge which he hath geuen vnto vs by his grace the spirit by which he communicateth himself with vs and in the end commeth himselfe vnto vs because we are so feeble as that we cannot go vnto him We call faith the sound and right affection whereby wee receiue that which he declareth vnto vs and which we constaÌ„tly beleeue and by which we iudge of him in the goodnes simplicitie of our harts This is it with which we humble our senses and with which we deny our selues to geue credit vnto his truth in acknowledging our infirmitie by which we allow his almightines reuereÌ„ce admire the effects so often reiterated for the reconquering of our saluation deliueraÌ„ce froÌ„ eternall death Now wheÌ„ as our soule hath once found her self disposed to belieue this and receiued this impression froÌ„ the word of God she then cleerly seeth the marke whereat she aimeth knowing thereby the benefit which is set before her she is touched with a certain effectual feeling of pleasure which eggeth her coÌ„tinually forward to wish looke for the saluation which is prepared for her This is that hope by the which she foreseeth the happy hour of her felicitie by which she is kept for the loking for her blessednes vpholden double strengthened against all the griefes and miseries which mâ—ght shake the same and crosse her in the way Here then wee see how we must prepare our soule to make it capable of this felicitie We must now then necessarily see behold by her dealing how she delighteth her self in this most excelleÌ„t pleasure And it is to be considered two maner of wayes the one is that whilst she is clad about with this flesh and detained here in this vile world yet she still ioyneth and vniteth her selfe vnto God her creator by meanes of her pure holy disposition and of her good and charitable works The other is that wheÌ„ she is deliuered despoiled of the earth the world she wholy vniteth her self vnto her first originall being In this first estate we shal see her reioice in such happinesse pleasure contentment as infinitely surpasseth all the other delights which we possibly are able to wish or desire here below And such in very deed as are no way comparable vnto those pleasures which we know to be prepared for vs in the life to
wisedome alone hangeth the liues of all those that are embarked with him Now your studie age and experience haue brought vnto you great sufficiencie and ripenesse of counsell and your wisedome and sinceritie haue made you in such sort affect the coÌ„mon weale of your countrey as in deed you ought so that you haue thereby gotten your selfe such credit amongst your naturall countrey-men as the time yeeldeth and affoordeth for honest men to haue For with what pretence can you any way abandon the common good of your countrey It may be you will say I am not able to abide the outrages which reigne amongst the people I can not away to see the disorder and confusion where-into all thinges are fallen Tell me I beseech you doth this agree with the words which I haue heard you oftentimes speake that our Countrey is in the stead of our Father and Mother and to this effect it is called Patria by a name the deriuation whereof signifieth a Father and the feminine termination signifieth a Mother as conioyning them both in one word and signifying Patrie and Matrie both together Put the case that a Father should waxe mad and be out of his wits vppon whome would you bestowe the care keeping and ouersight of him would you not say vppon the Children Now if the Children would excuse them selues and say that hee had punished iniuried and beaten them and therefore would not take it vppon them would you not finde fault with them and with checks and taunts enforce them to doo that dutie which both nature and charitie commandeth them Peraduenture you will say that there are two things which withdrawe you and they seeme to excuse you for putting too your helping hand and medling in and with these affayres And the one is that it is lost labor that the pleadings of honest men are vtterlie vnprofitable and serue for none other purpose but to make them to bee enuyed and hated without bringing any benefite to the common-weale at all By this the wound is no whit the more cured and libertie hath ouer-much wonne vppon reason For honest men are no whit bound to trauell for the proffit and commoditie of the common-weale but so farre-foorth as theyr trauell may do good and that there is thereby some hope of well doing For men must deale in a State as Phisitions do with their phisicke for they must not minister phisicke vnto diseases that are incurable which bringeth nothing else vnto themselues but shame and dishonor The other that you tell of is this that there are some things which an honest man may not by any meanes possible support nor dissemble Well patience is a maruellous great vertue and greatly beseeming and necessary for the life of men and yet she hath her bounders and the mischiefe groweth sometimes vnto such an head as that they which both loue and feare God are no way able to abide it For answere vnto the first this I say that it is a cowardly idle and slothfull excuse grounded rather vpon our pusillanimitie then vppon wisedome which it so vaunteth of For who is he that can haue any iust occasion to despaire of the good of an Estate or of a Citie since we see by the course of histories how vncertaine both their ruine and preseruation is For how often haue we seene kingdomes cities fall euen in their most flourishing time by a suddaine earthquake and by great winds and other some altogether tottering and almost halfe fallen maruelously holden vp raysed and set vp againe in the middest of their ruines For this power of God which men foresee not hath caused them to hang betweene feare and hope neither was there euer any thing so sure as that the fall of it was not to be feared nor any thing so staggering as that there was not some hope of the staying thereof And this is without all doubt most true that if our saluation lay wholy in our owne hands we had alreadie bene damned Howbeit God fighteth for vs against our selues and will saue vs whether we will or no. Now although we were sure to be ruined and sawe it neuer so clearely that it would light vpon vs as in verie deed we see not so much as one iote thereof is it not a part of the dutie of good children and good friends â—o assist those that are incurably sicke euen vnto death and â—ourd them with faire words whome wee can not possibly heale You will perhaps say that you are not able to abide the vnbridled libertie which some priuate men take vpon them as the oppression of Iustice and the disorder and confusion wherein we liue What is it then that you would haue Would you see all things as they should be as to see good men in authoritie ill men supprest by lawes and Iustice to rule and reigne Surely these are worthy wishes of you and worthie an honest man howbeit the world is not gouerned by wishing and woulding A man may lawfully desier good things but let them be as they may we must needes beare them There will be vices ynow in the world so long as there are men in the world And this is to heale and ease these disorders whereunto the common weale and your dutie call you neither must you bring with you your eyes alone but your hands also to heale your countrey of so grieuous wounds I right well knowe that you shall not therein be able to do as you would neiâ—her is the mischiefe to be medled withall but you must do what you can in it and as the condition of the mischiefe will suffer you This is an occupation out of which we choose not the matter but is geuen vnto vs for a good workman is oftentimes enforced to worke in a rotten peece of wood and yet for all that he must not geue it ouer but make the best he can of such an ilfauoured peece of wood When Solon was asked whether he had geuen vnto the Athenians the best lawes he could he answered no but I haue geuen them the best that they are able to abide And we must apply remedies according to the strength nature of the diseased To be short we are not warranted in our affaires none otherwise then with our counsels and hauing done the best we can because it is to be done we are thereof discharged both before God men And as for the particular iniuries which we receiue therby where caÌ„ we better bestow our charitie patience where shall we exercise that which we learne out of the schoole of Christ if we can not beare the iniuries slanders of the people with whome wee liue yea when shall we hope that by our patience wee shall appease the popular furies bring agayne the rebellious people into their right wits displace the wicked from their authoritie and set good men in their rooms It is most certaine that these diseases are sooner cured by winning of time then by applying of
as the fearfull Doue hideth her selfe in some small hole or creauie at the noise of thunder euen so my soule when she beholdeth thine heauie indignation seeketh the darkest and obscurest places for her retraite But how long O Lord will thine anger last 4 Howbeit come O my Lord come and looke vpon me with thy pittifull eyes with which thou canst not blot out my sinne alone but all the sinnes of the world also For I feele my â—oulâ— sticke fast in a most filthie and deepe puddle of iniquitie therein she lieth drowned ouer head and eares and stretcheth out her hand O Lord vnto thee alas pluck her out of it O Lord and set her againe into the way of saluation Saue her O Lord for she coniureth thee therunto by thine infinite goodnesse and incredible mercy True it is O Lord that she no whit deserueth the same neither oughteth she to hope for any helpe at his hand whom she hath so cowardly forsaken against whose honour she hath so wickedly conspired the reward of whose sinne deserueth no fauour but hell fier and eternall death 5 But who O Lord shall sing thy praises and sound thy name in the infernall pit and in the bottomlesse depth of death For it is the house of sorrow for there is nothing heard and seene but howling torments where contrariwise thy praise consisteth onely in setting forth of thine infinit mercy goodnesse and clemencie 6 And besides behold on the one side how humble repentance maketh intercession for me and hath sworne that she will neuer depart from me vntill such time as she hath reconciled me vnto thee And on the other side consider how humble praier importuneth thee for me and hath sworne also that she will neuer be froÌ„ thine heeles vntill such time as she hath reconciled me vnto thee O my God thou hast often times seene my teares heard my grones I daily wash my face with tears through the remeÌ„brance of my sins I cause my bed to swim with the teares that trickle down my eyes what is that O Lord which repentance coÌ„mandeth me that I do not religiously obserue 7 I cast downe mine eies tremble with feare when I behold thy angry countenance I patiently beare the rebukes of mine enemies take in good part their reproches as a iust punishmeÌ„t for my sinnes I walke before their faces in sackcloth ashes and with the confession of my mouth I kneele at the feete of thine aulters I with rods make leane my flesh which caused my soule to sin howbeit mine enemies do but laugh at my trouble which place them selues round about me with mocks to betray me 8 But when as thou hast mercie vpon me I will say vnto them Away from me yee children of iniquitie yee shall no longer laugh at my miserie The Lord hath heard my praier and my teares haue appeased his anger and behold I now enioy the fruite of his holy fauour The light of his goodnesse hath shined vpon me and behold the stormes that came about my head are calmed and dasht in a moment 9 With much a do haue I opened my lips to call vpon him for aide with much a do could I get mine heart to crie him mercy and I haue found his grace to be powred vpon me comforting and quickening my languishing and sick soule euen as warme water refresheth a poore surbatred trauller O incredible clemency how ready O Lord art thou to pardon and forgiue I runne to offend thee and yet thou wilt shew me fauour I haue bestowed all the daies of my life both by sea and by land to hunt after ambition couetousnesse and filthie lust and when I haue beene ouer head and eares and vtterly vndone in my beastly delights yet hast thou in a moment pierced the heauens and the cloudâ— to come downe to deliuer me so as behold me now triumphing ouer my sinne which most humbly followed the trophes of my repentance which hath found grace before thee And so the hope which my sinnes had as it were strangled is now more liuely then euer it was before which promiseth me not onely the Empires of the world that bend themselues which way soeuer the Lord enclineth them but also openeth vnto me the highest heauens and assureth me after an happy life here in this world to enioy the heauenly immortalitie 10 What will mine enemies theâ— do when as they shall see me stored with so great felicitie They will then surely blush with shanie their soules will be greatly troubled and returne altogether confounded and amazed for he whom they thought to be vtterly ouerthrowne is now set in an higher degree then euer before he was Alas they all made a scorne at my ashes they laughed at my fastings and whilst I with abstinence straue against my flesh the very enemy vnto my soule they bathed themselues in the pleasures of the worlde but loe the arme of the Lord is ready to thunder lighten vpon their insolencie O my God giue them a long time a acknowledge the extreame danger wherein they are and to call vnto thee from on high for the onely remedy of their disease and as for my selfe who feele my soule purge her selfe of the filthy matters which are in and about â—er who feele my spirit inflamed with the fier of thy loue teach my lips to set forth thy praises lift vp my voice to resound thy mercies and guide mine affections sincerely to loue thee and to establish in the knowledge of thy tâ—…th my soueraigne happineâ— châ—efest felicitie Blessed are they vnto whom c. Psalme 31. BLessed are they my God whose sinnes thou hast pardoned and whose iniquities thou hast buried in the toombe of obliuion Alas what shall become of him whose iust punishment thou doost still continue vpon him for his iniquities An armie of euils encompasse him pouerty assaulteth him sicknesse afflicteth him famine presseth him and death it self which he thinketh to be the porte of this tempestuous nauigation is the bottomlesse pit which must draw him vnto euerlasting torments 2 And therefore they are three or foure â—imes blessed whom God calleth not vnto a reckoning for their deedes but is contented to haue them humble themselues before him acknowledging their infirmities opening vnto him the very bottom of their harts For we must by true confession and with a sincere conâ—…ience call vpon him 〈◊〉 his mercies and he that will be heard must humble himselfe before him for as he that goeth vnto a riuer or pond putteth downe the mouth of his vessell to take vp the water so must he also do that humbleth himselfe before his creator that will draw and taste of the water of this holy spring from whence runneth the moisture which onely purgeth and clenseth our consciences 3 I haue somtimes thought O my God to hide my sinnes away froÌ„ thee and haue said within my selfe how shall he vnderstand what I haue done or not And so haue my
from the rocks of this world which on euerie side threaten my soule with wracke And as the Marriner when he is come to the hauen crowneth the maste of his Ship with floures in token that he is in safetie euen so O Lord crowne thou me with the pretious gifts of thine holie Spirit as pawnes of thy euerlasting blessednesse which thou hast promised me With the gifts I say of that Spirit of thine which reigneth amongst thy faithfull which distributeth faith vnto thine elect loue vnto thy best beloued and hope vnto those whome thou hast predestinate to euerlasting life 13 Now all the while that my soule resteth thus banished looking still to be called home agayne vnto thee I will teach the wicked to walke in the way that may best please thee and set them also in it for feare they hurt not them-selues in the darkenesses of this world against the stumbling blocks which they may suddainely light vppon lying before them And so they will beleeue me and returne vnto thee ô Father of lights and with all their hearts embrace thy faith and walke in thine obedience 14 I know O Lord that there will be some such found as will stop their eares at my words and will obstinatly continue in their sinnes coniure my death and defile their barbarous crueltie with my bloud O my God deliuer me out of their hands and reserue me to declare thy righteousnes and to pronounce their condemnation I will foretell them their miseries and they shall feele them and I shall no sooner hold my peace but that thy hand shall be vppon them and thy hand shall no sooner haue stricken them but that they shall be broken to fitters and be vtterly destroyed 15 And then thou shalt open my lips and my mouth shall set forth thy victorie for the ayre shall be still the winds shall be calme and the flouds shall be quiet to hearken vnto my resounding voyce which shall sing out the wonders of the eternall God For thy prayse ô Lord shall be the sacrifice that I will alwayes offer vp vnto thee and which thou also wilt euer haue good liking of 16 I would gladly haue embrued their Aulters with the bloud of a great number of cattell I would gladly haue cut the throats of a thousand oxen and of a thousand lambs to haue done thee honor but bloud stinketh in thy nostrels neither takest thou pleasure in the flesh of beasts The smoke of such offerings the winds carrie away so as they neuer ascend vnto thee But the voyce onely of a iust man passeth aboue the heauens and the Angelles present the same before thee 17 O what an acceptable sacrifice before thee is a broken and contrite heart and an humble heart that acknowledgeth his sinne thou wilt neuer reiect for if it will come vp vnto thee it must first come downe and if it will touch the heauen it must first crawle vppon the ground if it will haue thee to heare it it must fyrst be silent and if it will be crowned in thy kingdome it must fyrst be beaten and scourged in the world These are the Sacrifices O Lord wherewith wee must he reconciled vnto thee and enter into couenant as thou hast set it downe vnto vs. 18 But if it be thy pleasure ô Lord that we shall offer bulls and bullocks vnto thee and perfume thine Aulters with the bloud of beasts if thou wilt that we by the death of an innocent burnt offering should represent vnto thee the death and innocencie of him whome thou hast destined to redeeme our soules If the figure of that which should come in the person of the vnspotted lambe doth please thee by the killing of Weathers and Sheepe looke then with pitie vppon thy poore people comfort thou desolate Syon and encourage her poore enhabitants to the end they may set vp againe the walls of thine holie Citie and reedifie thy Temple not according to that equall proportion O Lord which thou deseruest but according to the wealth and industrie that the poore world can possibly affoord 19 Thither shall come from all parts thy faithfull in great multitudes to offer vp sacrifice vnto thee and there shall the expiation and purging of their sinnes be acceptable vnto thee But it shall neither be the death of beasts that shall wash away their spots for the cleansing of their disobedience and preuarication was prepared from all eternitie This is an inestimable sacrifice a burnt offering without spot which shall drawe away the curtayne disperse and destroy the darkenesses breake downe the wall or hedge that we may see the truth of our saluation face to face make the beames of his diuine mercie shine vpon vs and reassociate vs vnto the communion of that euerlasting blisse which we willingly haue renounced O most mercifull God which hast vnseeled the eyes of mine vnderstanding to see the misterie of my saluation make me O Lord to taste the excellent fruite which flourishing vppon the tree of the Crosse shall with the iuice thereof quicken and geue life vnto our dead soules preserue and warrant vs for euer from that ruine and calamitie which hath so miserably brought together the race of mankinde and ouerflowed them through their disobedience Lord heare my Prayer Psalme 102. I Haue ô Lord cryed and called vppon thee a long time for thy mercie and do yet looke for ayd and help from thee The ayre is filled with my cryes The winds haue carried the voyce of my dolor and griefe euen vnto the vttermost parts of the world and thine eare which heareth and vnderstandeth whatsoeuer is done in the bottomlesse pit of hell doth not yet heare and vnderstand my prayer which reacheth and beateth the very heauens Wilt thou therefore be deafe only vnto me and shall all the world heare me saue thy selfe alone No no my God thou hast oueâ—-long stretched out thine armes now to reiect mee when as I come vnto thee for refuge 2 And now that I feele a thousand and a thousand sorrowes and that miseries assayle me on euery side do not turne thy backe vpon me ô Lord. Alas haue I setled my whole power and strength vpon the sweet countenance of thy face Haue I diuorced my selfe from the world to the end I might drawe neere vnto thee and haue I forsaken the children of the world that I might ioyne my self vnto the master of the heauens and wouldest thou now forsake me O Lord deale not so with me but assist mine infirmitie all the dayes of my life 3 Let my voyce no sooner cry and call vnto thee my God but that I may also soone feele thee and let thy grace descend as speedely vppon me as an Eagle hasteth her selfe to ayd her yong on s For if thou assist me not what maner of fight shall I be able to make against the enemies of my soule 4 My strength and life would dayly vanish away as the light smoke doth in flying in the ayre for the
and bargain with God for the prolonging of his life and wee shall heare his reasons What other thing shall he be but like vnto a prisoner which offreth to cast off his bolts and shackles if he might haue libertie geuen him O miserable man that thou art for that thing which thou thinkest should serue thee for thy safegard is the very window whereat death must enter For death commeth by reason of sin sin by reason of concupiscence and thy concupiscence is nourished encreased and kindled by all these For God will speake all naked vnto thee eueâ— as he placed thee here in the world and will before he begin to capitulate with thee haue thee deliuer vnto him that which thou hast robbed him of I meane those graces and benefits which thou hast misused then shalt thâ—… thinke with thyself whether thou hast of thine owne to pay him double yea quadruple for the punishment due vnto thee for thine ill life 9 Alasse poore senselesse thing if thou once commest to that what shalt thou be able to say against death seeing that the wisest and valiantest men are enforced to be courbed vnder his yoke Shalt thou who hast made no accompt but of corruptible and perishing ritches shalt thou I say be preserued from corruption and the wise man who sought by all the meanes possible he could to immortalize himselfe here in this life conuersed with the Angels cannot warrant himselfe from him Thou thy selfe seest him come to an end and hopest thou to be immortall No no for both wise men fooles dye but after a diuerse sundry manner for the death of the wise man shal be but a passage he shal sâ—…d at his returne his talent infinitely multiplied and encreased and the glorie which he hath sowne shal encrease aboundantly and ouershadow the generation of his children 10 Howbeit all these poore wretched blind soules who contiâ—…ally hold down their heads vnto the earth and whose spirits are shut vp in their purses who haue none other vnderstanding but to loue those things which are not to be beloued who neglect and contemne both Sunne and Moone the verie principall works of nature to admire stones and marble gold and siluer which vainely scatter and disperse the vertues of intelligeÌ„ce and vnderstanding for the getting together and heaping vp of the excrements of the earth shall forgoe the ritches which they haue so greatly loued and for which they hated all the rest Ye shall see them hale and pull against death and draw their ritches with them euen vnto the graue but death will set them vpon their fingers ends and cause them to leaue them euen when they haue gotten them They that are halfe dead shall goe about to lift vp a little their eye lids to see if they can find their treasure at the wykes of their eyes but in the end they must be packing they must leaue this worldly pomp because a mightie power hath pluckt them away But vnto whome shall they leaue this preparation furniture forsooth it may be vnto a stranger whome they neuer knew or euer yet once dreamed of who shall bath and blesse him selfe in the sweate of this miserable ritch caytife churle who shall haue no more left him for his portion but a graue of fifteene or twentie foot long at the most and this shall be his house for euer wherein let him keepe him selfe if he will 11 What is become then of these braue waynscotted palaces these guilt vautes these beautifull ranks of choyse pillers these so faire curled marbles these emblemes sentences engrauen in brasse and all the rest of these wonders of vanitie What is nothing of all this left for him he had established his lands and possessions from race to race from generation to generation and called his houses by his owne name surely this must needs be a great man 12 Alasse poore man for when he was in honor he knew not himselfe neither had he any knowledge he so caried himself as that he is brought to be of the number of the bruite beasts made like vnto Asses horses who haue neither wit nor iudgement For what greater honor could he desire or wish to haue then to be made and formed vnto the fashion of the Deity and to be placed amoÌ„gst the works of God there to command as his lieutenant he was not as it were lesse then Angels had a spirit to comprehend the greatest wonders of the Deity but by flying from the day and light of knowledge he hid himselfe in the dens and caues of ignorance blockishnes and remained therein all his life long hatching there I know not what miserable ritches was found in the end to become like vnto the bruite beasts for as they neuer neigh bray but after otes and neuer trauell but foâ— pasture euen so this man neuer bestirred him selfe but about the getting of necessarie things for the bodie nay he did worse then so for he could not prouide and vse for the entertayning of him selfe the goods which he so eagerly coueted but became therein farre worse then all the rest of the beasts of the field whose vnruly appetites were satisfied with the vse of those things which they desired 13 O what an infamie and offence are the liues of such kinde of men who are so shamelesly brutished What remayneth then more for them both here in this world and in the world to come but shame in this and payne and torment in the other And besides let them runne on in delighting them selues in their vayne discourses and priding of them selues in their ritches Let them now a little remember the speeches which they haue whereby they seeme to esteeme of none but of them selues and their money making no better accompt of all other men then of the rushes vnder their feet 14 Thus we see how they draw them selues vnto hell eueÌ„ as sheep led to the Shambles death is come who hath deuoured them and nothing left of them but their pitifull bare bones which canker and are worme-eaten in the graue 15 And loe the iust man who patiently endured their insolencie his time is now come to reigne and is at case he is vp by the breake of the day and after hee hath geuen thanks to God he goeth to see if he can finde the place where one of these miserable caytifs dwelt and where he is placed for insulting brauing and tyrannizing of the whole world and sayth a part vnto him selfe Thanked be God for cleansing the earth of such off-scouring and placing such as blesse his name For this wicked churle with all his glorie is become rotten and putrified He is now in torment and there is not one to help him and so let him remayne there hardly for death is a passage for him neuer to returne 16 And as for me ô Lord I right well know that I must dye for the sin of our first parent
come any thing neere the number of them Now what obedience is it that we should yeeld vnto thee how should we ghesse to do that which might please thee who is able to sound the bottome of thy thoughts and who shall be able to vnderstand that which thou wouldest haue I therefore beseech thee only that thy will be done For lâ—…h thou art altogether good thou willest nothing but good things and for thee both to do and to will is all one and in making this prayer vnto thee we wholy submit our selues vnto thee who neuer faylest to will vs well and to performe the fame also For whatsoeuer ô Lord thou hast willed waâ— done and from this thy will as from a liuely and pleasant spring head are deriued all the benefits wherewith the whole face of the earth is couered and wherewith all the heauens are beautified Continue thou the same towards vs and seeing thy loue is as a fire that encreaseth according as it findeth matter to burne let it encrease and enlarge it selfe in doing good vnto vs vnto vs I say poore miserable wretches in whose weakenesse miserie and infirmitie it shall finde it selfe matter enough to exercise and worke vpon When I pray thee ô Lord That thy will be done my meaning is to beseech thee that thou wouldest eftsoones root out of mine heart all these worldly desires and willes which being borne in the corruption of the flesh can not haue any fellow-feeling and agreement with the law of the spirit neyther geue thou me the bridle to liue as I lust and seeing that I am thy child and honorest me with this title let me neuer be bondslaue vnto my affectioÌ„s but keepe me vnder the rod of thy law vnder the tutorship of thy 〈…〉 demeÌ„ts to the end that my 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 many as haue swoâ—…se to 〈…〉 â—…ing framed to serue and 〈◊〉 thee worthely may also be reâ—dy â—…erfull in the ministerie of thy â—eâ—…ce so long as we shall abide here below in this mortall world as thine Angels and other most blessed soules are in that heauenly habitation and so Thy will be done in earth as it is in heauen And seeing it is thy will that our frayle and mortall bodies do dayly decay and had need to be repared and strengthned by some new nourishment that wee might haue continually recourse vnto thee Geue vs my God our dayly bread and geue vs therewith the grace so to vse it and all other thy benefits which thou hast bestowed vpon vs that we in some measure nourishing and maintaining our bodies grieue not nor vexe not our soules making them thereby lesse able to come vnto the knowledge of thy truth And in vsing thy liberall dealing with thanksgeuing we tye not for all that our affections vnto earthly and worldly things but make vs so to passe through these temporall benefits as we lose not for the getting of them the eternall blessings Let not the taste of earthly bread wherewith we feed our bodies make vs forget our heauenly bread that bread of life that eternall bread which nourisheth strengthneth our soules keepeth them from death filleth our mouthes with the Deitie and maketh vs the temples of our God to receiue him into our bodies and to be made members of his members Graunt vs my God that by this bread or rather by this flesh we may be incorporated into our Redeemer and as he in taking and putting on of our flesh was partaker of our death euen so we taking and putting on of his flesh may be partakers of his immortalitie And seeing we haue my God bene made vessels and receptacles of his Deitie wash vs and make vs cleane to the end that he comming to dwell in vs thou mayest finde nothing there to geue thee occasion to depart from vs and to make vs voyd of thy grace and of our saluation Now it is impossible for vs to be made cleane without thou forgeue vs our sinnes and remit our debts For we haue bene bondslaues both vnto sinne and vnto death and whatsoeuer we clayme to be ours it belongeth vnto him neither haue we any thing either to pay our raunsome or yet to discharge our debt and therfore ô Lord it is thou that must do it Thou hast once for all redeemed vs and set vs at libertie but yet notwithstanding we dayly fall into the hands of the enemy we daily commit a thousand sinnes which make vs bond vnto sinne cease not for all this my God to opeÌ„ vnto vs this treasure froÌ„ which we may take the price of our libertie Be thou ô Lord more strong stout in pardoning of vs then we are in offending of thee Let thy merciful hand stretch it selfe out continually vnto vs for sin cleaueth fast vnto the marrow of our bones and groweth and waxeth old in vs which maketh vs wheÌ„ we are old to be after a sort more filthy infectious were it not that thou continually applyest vnto our miserie the merit and worthinesse of thy holy passion to the end that we in some measure launching wounding our consciences thou mayest strengthen and heale our wounds and rub out with the oyle of thy mercy the skarres that may of them remayne Otherwise ô Lord I should be afeard that thou in casting thine eyes ordinarily vpon vs wouldest in the end be so angry and grieued as that thou wouldest come very fast vpon vs to be reuenged of the wickednes which we our selues haue coÌ„mitted Forgeue vs therfore our offences that is to say our sins which we coÌ„mit all the time of our life And forgeue vs ô heauenly Father as we from our very harts forgeue theÌ„ that trespasse against vs. Cause vs coÌ„tinually to set before vs this loue by which thou hast not only takeÌ„ vpoÌ„ thee to pay our debts but the punishment for our sins that we may iudge what an vnreasonable thing it should be for vs to looke to haue any fauour at thy hands who wil not agree with our neighbors considering there is no comparison betweene the offences which we commit against thee and the offences wherwith they offend vs. Pluck cleane out of our harts all pride malice for their sakes for whose ayd and succour thou causedst vs to be borne Geue vs gentle and meeke spirits which may keepe vs in vnitie and brotherly loue by patiently meekly bearing the infirmities one of another For we right well know my God how easily we slip yea how easily we stumble and fall in the way of thiâ— slippery and irkesome life We haue too too little force and strength continually to keepe our feet and to resist the winds which driue vs forward into the steepe breake-necks of all wickednes and iniquitie And therfore we pray most earnestly vnto thee Not to leade vs into tentation and to keepe farre froÌ„ vs all occasions which may any way cause vs to offend thee and to arme vs with thy holy spirit against all those
is this that all things are alike vnto vs in our miserie For persecution passeth as lightly away as we and is present euery where with vs. For if we thinke to escape by any vnknowne and secret place we shall finde some thing to bewray vs and deliuer vs vnto our enemies Ha what a thing is this must we who are chased into all the corners of the earth thinke to returne and hide our selues vnder the ruynes of our houses there to reliue continually our griefes in beholding the hideous desolation of our Citie Daleth O poore Syon wee should then be enforced to behold thee againe with far more teares grones we should looke vpon the great beaten hye wayes and say vnto our selues What is become of all those companies that were wont to couer all these hye wayes and where are they that were wont to come by heapes to honor our Citie For all the nations both whole and some haue come running vnto our feasts and to the solemnities of our great sacrifices but now we see not so much as a man once come neere vnto this holy Citie There is not so much as an hermitage about it All the wayes are couered ouer with grasse and there is a pretie forest of briers thistles about it Neither can one finde and pick out the footstep of any man These beautifull and great gates so ritchly cunningly wrought which in the solemne dayes were belong with garlands and nosegayes are now layd all wide open vpon the ground and broken in fitters The Centres that layd open the wayes are now filled and stopped vp with their ruynes Alasse what a change is this And the garmēts of our Priests which went in their pontificalibus singing with great maiestie reuerence the prayses of our God are torne and rent in pieces as well as other mens and do nothing else but weepe and groane They looke vp pitifully with their eyes vnto heauen to see whether the rigour of his wrath would fall vpon them yea or no. The tender Virgines who were wont with their beauty to adorne the face of our City as the Starres do a most glorious and cleare night are all withered and besmeared and nothing but horror and astonishment in their countenances For extreame famine hath dried vp their flesh cold hath bereaued them their ruddy and smooth cheekes sorrow and griefe hath wrinkeled their faces and the flower of their chastitie by the souldier insolently defaced hath couered all their faces with shame and dishonor And these are now no more but euen so many dead liuing For they liue altogether in sorrow and griefe Neither is there any thing that encourageth them more to liue then the same dolor which killeth them with very heauinesse and awakeneth them out of their bitternesse He. A dolor truly too too bitter and in very deede more bitter then soote to see them-selues carried in triumph by their greatest enemies to see them braue by our spoyles ritch by our great pouertie and mightie by our ouerthrow Thou hast ô Lord poured out thy heauie wrath vppon vs and madest vs feele how heauie thy reuengefull hand is Thou hast I beleeue gathered together all our faults into a bundell once for all because that when thou sawest them to be so infinite and worthie the like payne and punishment thou awakenedst thy selfe and hast discharged the arrowes of thy seuere iustice against vs. But ô Lord oughtest not thou to stay the course of our punishment in our owne persons and consume all thy torments vpon vs but must we also be tormented in the persons of our children and for the making of our miserie the greater to cause vs also to see theirs For wee were spoyled of our goods put out of our houses and led away captiue Wee thought that there was nothing as it were to bee feared more then death and yet now wee feare it not for it is sweet to those that are in miserie But our speedie and quicke calamitie to our great payne and griefe hath now ouertaken vs with newe miseries For wee haue seene goe before vs whole bands of our children fettered and carried captiue into Babylon there to serue our enemyes as bondslaues Vau. Euen so hath Syon lost the flower of her youth and all the honor of her City is cleane gone She hath bene miserably torne all to rags and there is no whole thing left in her but sorrow griefe For the greatest and ritchest of her inhabitants were caried away by troupes and led into strange Prouinces as flocks of sheepe are driuen by dayes iourneys from market to market without geuing them any leaue to feed as they go They go with their heads and their eyes looking downe to the ground sighing most piteously And the conqueror followeth them scourging them with rods and they which dwell by the hye wayes sides as they passe laugh at their affliction and most iniuriously cry out vpon them Zain And as a fresh wound openeth againe the old ones euen so were their harts throughly pierced whereby they remembred their old sinnes and the punishment which their fathers suffered because they had forsaken the true seruice of God and geuen them selues ouer vnto their foolish passions They called also to mind how often they were fallen into their enemies hands when as God had left them O thou too too ouer late remembrance thou shouldest haue come a great deale sooner to haue turned them from their wicked and abhominable wayes and if they would not haue done it for Gods sake yet they should haue done it at least for feare of his fury which they had so often felt O late repentance which commeth after punishment suffred They were very poreblind that could not foresee this great trayne of miseries which followed their offences But alasse ô blind sinne thou doest thus bleare the eyes of thy friends and wilt not put them in mind of their repentance but when it is all past time For Ierusalem hath turned her back vpon God and followed her owne concupiscences she hath made her a God of her owne pleasure and worshipped her owne delights She neuer once turned her eyes towards heauen vntill such time as she sawe her magnificence cleane vnder foote the whole world laughing at her shame making a scorne of her Sabboths and translating and altering of her sacrifices wherein she had so great confidence which could in very deed serue her to no purpose because they were done with such polluted hands Heth. For to say truly Ierusalem was nothing else but a sinke of sinne and filthinesse for from the highest vnto the lowest they were all most abhominable for she began to forget her God that was so fauourable vnto her and thereupon as one that was blinde she stumbled fell into all maner of wickednesse And after that she had groped about here and there at all aduentures she fell into this strange calamitie and then as many as heretofore were wont to reuerence
bitter which way so euer I turne me I see nothing but horror and trembling for without the sword cutteth downe whatsoeuer staÌ„deth before it the iron pardoneth nothing My land is not knowne it is so thicke sowne with dead bodies and within the estate and condition is not much more pleasant for I see there my children afflicted with famine and dye most pitifully I behold them lying gastly and thinly with goggle eyes and wide open gaping mouthes breathing out the last gasps of death Sin O what a fatall horrible spectacle is this and yet men haue no compassion on them They haue seene me in this estate and yet could there not be found one that had a fellow feeling of my misery or that euer gaue me any comfortable word to mitigate my griefe And as for mine enemies the extremitie of my miserie made theÌ„ no more to melt then if they had had stony hearts in their bodies and frosen bloud in their vaines For all their talke was Marke how God hath chastized and drest her and beaten downe her pride But thou knowest not ô thou tygerlike inhumane race how God keepeth thee Thou thy selfe reioycâ—st at my miserie and I wil comfort my selfe by thine For thou wilt shew vnto them ô Lord God that thou art iust all the world ouer and that with thee there is no acceptation of persons that euery man hath his turne through thine hands and that the longer thou deferrest thy vengeance the more grieuous and terrible it is when it commeth recompencing the forbearing thereof with rigour and seueritie Tau Enter therefore ô Lord into iudgemeÌ„t with mine enemies lay open a little their doings shew vnto them their liues and after that thou hast caused them to know that their consciences are full of blasphemie pollution and hast taken from them the curtain of hipocrisie which so mightely ouershadowed theyr robberies and thefts be reuenged a little of theyr turnes lay them vpon the rack that they may be hard a little to cry vnder the presse of tribulations to the end they may vnderstand that seeing that I haue suffered for my sinnes that the rigour of my punishment is but as it were a summons and denunciation of theirs and that my teares and grones haue put out thy heauie wrath which I kindled and lighted against my selfe and that they haue lighted againe the same against those which reioyced and laughed at my misery CHAPTER II. Aleph MArke and behold here a strange and lameÌ„table alteration of things For Syon the dearely beloued daughter of God who held vp her head aboue all the Câ—…es of the world as a Cypres tree doth aboue all the bushes in the wood who caried in her forehead an honorable and magnificall maiestie and shining most gloriously is now brought downe to the ground and so disfigured obscuâ—ed besmeared and blemished as that no man will euer know her and this ô Lord is come to passe by reason of thine irefull blowes which thou hast layd vpoÌ„ her who as thou hast with an infinit power created all things in perfection destroyest also with a most infinit power all things in the heat of thy iust anger Thou hast lifted vp euen vnto heauen thy dearely beloued Syon and afterward threwest her downe roundly from heauen to earth because she contemned thy amitie and friendship Her mightinesse serued her for none other purpose but to make her fall the greater and the noyse thereof the more terrible For as thou art extreame in louing so also art thou as extreame in punishing and wheÌ„ through long impenitencie the people enforce thee to put to thy reueÌ„ging hand then is thine anger like thunder and lightning which spareth nothing that it meeteth withall Now it is a strange thing to see how God hath dealt with Syon in his fury to see how he hath bene auenged of his very Temple to see how he hath destroyed shaken to fitters the place of the world which best liked him wherupon a maÌ„ might say he rested his feet making his deitie to be seene and knowne in that place as much as possible might Beth. And what hath he pardoned Hath any thing escaped his hands vntouched Looke vpon all the houses of Iaâ—ob and vpon what so euer exquisite thing that is in Iudah and tell me if there be any whit of any of all these things standing Tell me I beseech thee if there be so much as a corner of any of all those so braue and proud fortresses remayning Is it possible for all Palestine to be noted for one whose feasts are not brought downe also as low as the foundations Hath the Kings Throne bene polluted ouerthrowne Haue the Princes and noble meÌ„ of the countrey bene beaten with cudgels and drest like poore and miserable slaues Surely they were the very Buts of the iniuries Gimel To be short since the time that God began to be aduenged of vs he hath not left either great or mighty in our land whom he hath not shaken shiuered For what so euer was eminent high hath met with the finger of his wrath He hath brought vpoÌ„ our heads great armies of enemies assembled strange nations and brought them home euen vnto our faces and left vs vnto their furious cruelty We haue called and cryed vpon him and coniured him to ayd his people but he hath beheld vs with a threatfull and disdainefull eye and turned his back vpon vs without geuing vs answere And incontineÌ„tly he lightened a fire of dissention in the middest of our prâ—uince which winning from place to place and compassing all the whole countrey hath burnt downe euen to the very least houill or shed and deuoured all the whole nation Daleth It is the Lords hand which hath done this It is he that is our principall enemy and he that hath fought against vs. We haue seene his bowe bent against vs his arme stretched ouer our heads And with this blowe haue all our Citizens bene cast to the ground With this blow haue our most proud palaces fallen to pieces Belieue me it is with his owne hand that he hath spred vpon our land the fire of his indignation which hath thus miserably consumed vs. Vnto him alone must we impute our ruine For all the forces of meÌ„ were neuer able to bring this matter thus about and to passe He. Nay he hath of set purpose put to his hand hath denounced warre vnto Israel and meaneth to proue his forces against him O what an hard and dangerous tryall is this He hath cast downe headlong from the highest vnto the lowest the most pompous and great feast euen vnto the bottomlesse deapths of pouertie miserie the hath shaken with thunder and lightning all her fortresses and dismanteled all her Castles He hath humbled and that with great shame both men and women and changed their pomp magnificence into mourning and groning Vau. But wilt thou know how we haue bene handled