our nation I heard say once when he was charged with a couple of launces O how sparing would such men bee of their bodies and blood saith Boccace if their country should need it Lib. 25. that are so neere themselues in their worldly pelfe They stretch themselues farre to bestowe their daughters magnificently rather then ciuilly and to furnish a bride chamber for a Prince rather then for a priuate body They spare for no cost to set out themselues with sattens and silkes their wiues with bracelets an borders of gold and pearle Their horse with trapping and furniture of the best Their hawkes and hounds shall want no cost of keeping and manning yet can they finde nothing for the common Fooles that we are what will become of vs if the common weale be in shipwracke What will great kindred auaile if the common-wealth faile How will peace bee maintained wrongs righted or priuate good secured Who will there be to giue vs iustice Quis dabit iura si publicum cessabit subsidium Take away common aide and subsidie and take away all owner-shippe from all men Thus farre he and more to like effect It is absolutely against duty and policy to doe as we doe and God will plague vs for both at once That it is against duty I haue tolde you already and if ye will aske your learned they will tell you much better 1. Pet. 2. regem honorificate What honour is it wee doe him or our selues to deny him publique aide or to shrinke in our heades or to make such beggarly suites as we doe to be discharged It is also against policy for wee must allow them to bee Kings and full of Prerogatiue Both Gods law and mans law giues it them They are patriae parentes and what the childe is bound vnto towards his parents we are bound as much to our Princes and they say more And therefore if we forget our selues towards them when occasions bring them behinde hand and they are loth to vrge our vnwillingnesse can we blame them if they doe what they can out of their prerogatiue Royall to helpe themselues In places where Kings haue no lands yet they liue like Kings by their prerogatiue and if they haue lands also yet they loose no prerogatiue though they vse it not alwayes but at a neede And moreouer if subiects bee vnkinde they spoile their Princes and will make them doe many things that they may and would not take all forfeitures and escheates close their hands to all pardons and immunities inclose forrests and chases and all their wastes to themselues giue eare to all informers and promooters that shall any way intitle them and that which is worst they will make them sell and alienate the reuenues of the crowne which is so vnfitting a thing to a kings estate that subiects ought to take notice of it and make meanes rather for his releefe Much lesse ought they to robbe kings and pull from kings especially if they bee officers in any sort It is next to sacriledge and robbing of Churches to supplant a King A kings officer had neede to be one of his ioynts if it might be For nothing so consolidates the greatnesse of a king as trustie and true officers and nothing soooner sinks the same then to bore holes in his ship Remember I forewarne you if yee chance to beare office If a king be poore and vnable can the subiect be secure Is he not a prey to his enemies and we with him Or doe we not know by our selues and our owne debts how immense will his be quickely if they be not quit betimes Hee that sees a king in debt sees but halfe a king to that he is and would be if he were free His bounty is stop his rewards stopt and much grace stopt that would flowe like baulme from him towards his subiect and many a good thing vnperformed by him that would helpe and inrich many If a king be in plenty all the care hee hath is that his subiect may haue also plentie But if otherwise all his care will bee for himselfe and all the good a king can doe is hindred or rather buried before it be hatcht I cannot speake too much of the sores that doe ensue the indebted estate of kings Our flourishing France had a costly tryall of it once or twise in my memory and was in great hazzard by it if timely ayde had not come Her head-ach made her cry heartily caput meum doleo 4. Reg. 4. caput meum doleo and if God had not helped her when time was she could not haue beene raised againe without miracle Two great faults I note in the subiect about this affaire One is an vnworthy tergiuersation or backwardnesse in him towards the common good with a base conceit he hath that all is too much that goes that way neuer reflecting vpon his duty to God and his countrey nor to the ease of those that bee not so well able as hee Hee will lay all vpon his tenants if hee can and haue all his rents come in cleare to him And the richer they be the further off most of them as may bee seene by their carriage The other fault is delay where if that were done at the first which must be done at the last when it is growne double and trebble with lingering it would haue beene much better where now it is scarcely seene Interest increaseth and new charges grow before the olde bee discharged and by that time one subsidie bee paide in two more will not suffice Which punishes also the subiect more then had hee drawne his purse wide and cleared all at the first And therefore I commend them of Vtica when Julius Caesar came and imposed a great matter vpon them to bee paide at sixe payments in three yeares they made him answer out of their loue or height of minde that they would pay all downe and so they did the same day Naucl. I thinke three hundred persons paide all Once well done is twice done But as matters be handled tenne times done is scarce once done Before the kingshould fell land or diminish his estate who would not make the hundreth part of his meanes and giue it him downe rather then make an euery yeares charge of it as wee doe and the king not much the better by it And this would quit a million or two suddainely for once in a kings life time and doe no man hurt And how much better this to giue part rather then all or halfe or a third part of ones Rents as they did to Ladislaus king of Boheme and Hungary and as in extremity wê are bound though God defend it should bee needed But I haue read of the like in other countries namely once in Rome vnder the Consuls Liuie 26. Florus Leuinus and Marcellus when there was not a man from the highest to the lowest who brought not into the treasury all his golde and siluer hee had
conscience as I said which to obserue is to make all euen and nôt to obserue is to prouoke Gods displeasure who is Lord of all and no more is to bee done in it then heathens can in the businesse And therefore I haue gone with you by degrees to rectifie your consciences as how yee should loue your selfe and how your neighbour Your soule first his next Your owne life first his next vnlesse hee be a publike person or very necessary to the common-weale Your goods and fortunes likewise how to bee vsed frugally yet charitably without hurting your selues or your soules I might haue said how bountifull also for gifts and benefits to followers and fauourites according to their deserts and your abilities else it will soone be sinne and sinke mens estates with ouermuch good nature ere they bee aware And this is more to bee pittied then any thing besides the offence to God-ward Likewise how yee may purchase and what conditions for buying and selling without wrong or exaction 1 Thes 4. Saint Pauls rule is the best nequis supergrediatur neque superueniat in negotio fratrem Let no man ouer-reach or circumuent his brother in any businesse Of your charity remember it I might haue said the like of lending which is as good a deede and a man is as much bound to doe as to giue if it bee with assurance Iucundus homo qui miseretur commodat Holy Dauid saith it made him merry to lend Psal 111. and yet hee had no interest for it I might haue said somewhat also of setting and letting where men bee of opinion that they may doe what they will But they may not You must not racke it to the most and stand to no hazzard It ought not to trouble a man if his tennant haue a penniworth for his money or for fauour The Lacedemonians neuer raised Rents yet liued most happily It is good for you to follow some worthy bodies and to do as they doe that are knowne to bee of the best conscience I haue not omitted to say somewhat of our duty to the common and of the greatnes of this bond and of the cheerefulnesse and alacrity wee ought to entertaine it with sorry that our hand is not in euery publike worke though no body saw it but onely God To the king especially who as hee is great by law so should hee be greater in our loue and haue part with vs in all but in grudge and contradiction So farre bee it from vs to magnifie him in words and minnifie him in workes as they doe to Conquerers and Tyrants And lastly I come to your Superfluum whereof I haue shewne you some deformities and what a monster it would prooue in a common-wealth if lawes did not reprooue it somewhat and conscience more And yet I haue beene briefe vpon the point the matter requiring more perswasion then instruction more eloquence then arguments and more grace in the hearer then tongue in the teacher For why Goods if they bee good they haue wrong to be kept in Omne bonum est sui communicabile The nature of good is to doe good and to impart it selfe to others if man doe not hinder it The sprouting springs are not content with their owne fulnesse and to serue the neighbourhood with pailes full and tankardsfull but send the rest immediately to poore Millars and Fishermen and make riuers nauigable for the vse of man The liuer not content to feede it selfe with blood packes away the ouerplus all the body ouer euen to fingers and toes as farre as it can goe Yea golde and siluer not satisfied with their owne riches and brightnesse nor pretious gemmes with their luster and vertue where they lye in sea coastes or desart mountaines but offer themselues to mans industry whosoeuer will fetch them Leo. Afer Gaoga and Tambuco furnish Africke with millions Mexico and Peru replenish Europe and Spaine and the East Indies releeue Asia with richest stone and mettall It is against nature to keepe good things in Yet wee by corrupt vsage smother vp all in corners that none may bee better for them If one may doe it all may doe it And what if all should doe the like what if all were hourders should wee not thinke them Caterpillers Say it were not money wee hourded but that wee bought vp all the beefes and muttons in markets all the corne and graine that comes there and all other commodities that come in for mans prouision would not townes and countries cry out on vs and is it not all one to hourd vp euery mans prouision and to hourd vp that which men should buy it with If all should hourd vp corne as one did a countri-man of ours who solde no corne but in deare yeares should they not bee murtherers to the multitude and quellers to their ownesoules The man was rich and had alwaies three yeares corne in barnes and stackes before hand His farme was his owne rich ground all of it The fourth yeare vpon a Whitsune-eue he walked vp a hill and saw the countrey full of goodly corne and came home to the good woman his wife and tolde her he was vndone Why so said shee It is likely to be a plentifull yeare againe said hee Marry thankes bee to God said shee many such yeares God send vs. But hee went into his barne and hung himselfe and so had dyed if chance had not beene The hourder doth ynough for his part that no man should haue either money or wares Dionisius the Tyrant of Syracusa taught a citizen how to imploy his money better then so For hearing of much treasure hee had hidden in the ground he sent vnto him to bring it him which hee did But hee brought not out all And that which hee left hee bestowed presently vpon house and land in the countrey Which when the Tyrant also heard of hee sent for him and gaue him his money againe saying to him since thou knowest how to vse money take thy money againe which is made to vse and not to lye by one and so dismissed him Glad was he that he learnt so good cheape But woe be to the country that knowes not how to vse riches vntill a Tyrant teach it them True riches is to haue store of necessaries wherewith to feede many not store of Superfluum that no body may touch Golde and siluer will not feede as they lye nor costly furniture with gazing on It will bee long before any of these will giue vs a breakfast though neuer so goodly to behold And therefore it was thought but rude and childish in Telemachus Odisses 2. Plut. Mor. who when he came vnto Nestors house and saw it stored with wine meate prouision and entertainement for all commers and how shold-stuffe in great plenty hee neuer commended him for the store of all necessaries But when hee came to Menelaus his house where was plenty of superfluous things the romes bright with copper gold and alchumy
owe to our countrey then to our owne life As he approoued right well by himselfe and all his actions I haue tolde you what your learned thinke belongeth to a good Christian now heare what they say becommeth good citizens or common-wealths men That is to say such as are good to the common loue the common delight in common good and preferre the same before their priuate as I will briefely shew you Yee haue heard what they thinke of life how little it is to bee regarded in respect of common well-fare Euen so they tell vs of our goods and estates and giue vs one rule in stead of all which I beseech you to marke whether it be not of God and most worthy our following 2.2 ae q. 26.3 Jn all worldly things say they which we are bound to wish to the common and to our selues we are bound to preferre the common before our selues They do not say we may prefer but we are bound and sinne if we doe not Out of this rule comediuers noble conclusions and fitte for euery man to know I will remember you of some few in stead of many I may preferre my selfe before the common to this house or that manner because I am not bound to wish these things to the common I may saue my owne horse from drowning before the kings horse if other danger insue not but losse of a horse It is a common case to defende our right against the King in lawfull sort and to hedge in our groundes from the purlieus if wee haue right so to doe though his game haue restraint by it Otherwise it is of his house or palace where hee dwelleth which I am bound to defend with losse of my owne house in danger of fire If my store-house adioyne to the publique granary I must saue this before my owne My single dammage must not weigh with the publike I am bound to ruine mine owne house to stoppe a fire from going further All statutes and by-lawes made for common good wee are bound to obserue And there is a curse due to wilfull breakers as is to them that digge vp dooles Some thinke they satisfie with paying the penalty But lawes were not made for the penalty but for conformity that all may draw by a line Lawes intend not the punishment of a few but the good of all And therefore all that bee of one common-wealth must haue one spirit and the same the Law-makers had They ought not to set light by lawes nor break them as they list so they bee not spyed Yea more then this we should rather worke our selues and bee still deuising for common good and for them that come after though wee liue not to see it But it is a wonder to see how crosse and contrary wee be on this behalfe As if lawes belonged not to vs when they bee made or if wee keepe them it is more for feare then loue of the common What a flourishing common-wealth should wee now haue if lawes had beene as duely obserued as grauely prouided Or how would it yet flourish if wee would yet begin and leaue to bee children in this kind Where one makes conscience to keepe a good law twenty breake it and then as good no law There is none will take benefit sooner then wee of a high way mended or a bridge new builded or repayred But when wee come to contribute wee drawe backe or if they fetch grauell for it out of our grounds wee resist and sweare wee will bee euen with them another time How far is this from common-wealths-men or good men either I will approoue it hee loues not God that tenders not common good to his power Aquinas 1. 2 ae q. 92.1 ad 3. Aquinas saith and other Diuines after him Impossibile est quòd homo sit bonus nisi sit bene proportionatus bono communi Hee cannot bee a good man that is not in good proportion to common good That is to say that rates not himselfe and rankes not himselfe for common good in proportion to his meanes And our nation hath beene accounted most zealous in this kinde though few care now but for their owne time Wee may learne of Moores and African merchants another while Leo Afer who I heare are so forward for common good that wee scarce haue the like of them now adaies amongst Christians Yea who so opposite to God herein as wee that be Christians Saint Paul saith 1 Cor. 9. Omnia omnibus factus sum I am become all things to all men What would hee haue done if he had beene rich Col. 3.11 Eph. 1. Hee that made himselfe common to all mens seruice should not his purse haue beene common also to the common good Christ himselfe was omnia in omnibus And surely he that was so liberall of his blood that all of vs haue part in it would hee haue beene sparing of his goods towards vs if hee had profest to possesse much would hee haue preferred himselfe before the common or taken from commons as wee doe without amends to the poore Wee are made like to God saith Leo Ser. 2. that wee may haue in our selues a patterne how to imitate him yet see how different wee bee from God heerein who was all for euery body and wee nothing for any body but our selues The very Sunne I thinke that shines to all we would ingrosse to our selues if we could and make rent of it How doe we imitate Christ in this and yet wee doe in this as we doe in all We make our selues strangers to his Lawe in all things Wee carry his imitation in our hands to reade of but wee haue it not in our hearts to make vse of Verily if it were no more but for imitating of God and of Gods knowne seruants and though ability were not great in vs yet our good will wee should shew in this duty and our inclining that way in what wee can The common-wealth should not bee so ready to aske of vs as wee ready to giue Common-good not so ready to require our seruice as wee ready to proffer and performe and glad that wee may stead it in any sort And this hath beene the practise of our fore-fathers and ancestours that haue gone before vs as by the publike workes they haue left behind them and our Chronicles are full of and euery towneship can giue testimony it may appeare And this if wee cannot doe after the best imitation yet me thinke we should doe it for our honor and reputation Lib. 5. de ciu cap. 15. as Saint Augustine tels the Romanes did Priuatas res suas pro re communi hoc est pro repub pro eius aerario contemserunt They despised their owne for the publike good and common treasury And all their industry was if they were good vt aerarium esset opulentum tenues res priuatae That their treasury might be rich though their priuate were poore enough And with this
nothing of my selfe which either I saw not before or would not see And although no sinner can at all times perfectly assure himselfe of thy fauour whilest hee liueth yet some comforts or tokens as it were earnest-pennies it pleaseth thee to bestowe vpon vs whereby with humility wee may beleeue and bee perswaded that wee bee in thy fauour and assuredly hope that we be conuerted vnto thee And that by nothing more then by the alteration of our wils and desires which wee feele and finde by thy grace ouer that wee did before our conuersion And hee that hath not this feeling and hath beene a sinner can hardly thinke himselfe truely conuerted no more then a sicke body can recouer but he must feele it and can tell when he began to amend And by this feeling and alteration that I finde in me I hope I am conuerted vnto thee and haue ioy and comfort in it not presuming in my owne merit but humbling my selfe in thy greatnesse that hast made mee partaker of so great a benefite And to thy onely glory and my poore comfort I often call to mind how it is with me now and how heeretofore when I was all alike without alteration and felt my selfe neither better nor worse at any time And although selfe-loue in me hath made me been carelesse as yesterday and the day before so this day and the same this yeare that I was the yeare before and many yeares before that without finding any difference at all in mee but that if I were well now I was well then if well then also now and at this stay I kept many yeares together at an euen water but indeede ebbing and marked not that none can stand at a stay in thy seruice but qui non proficit deficit Leo. and that shall euery one feele in themselues if they flatter not themselues All this while I say I could not think my selfe truely conuerted vnto thee because I could not remeber or make estimate when I began to alter from my wonted desires or sinnefull estate I began not my conuersion with hearing of sermons onely and little care to follow them or with reading good bookes and liking or commending them onely which was but for a fashion I began not with outward receiuing the Sacrament which we were wont to doe at a certen age and are worse and worse for it if wee take not heede I began not with inward security that all was well with me because I felt no resistance in me For this was indeede no true security but a blindnesse and punishment for sinne bredde by custome like those that liue in an ill ayre and care not to goe out of it because they are vsed to it All these were to me no arguments of my conuersion But contrariwise that I was all this while in the cloudes and darkenesse of selfe-conceit and selfe-liking It was my very great fault and I confesse vnexcuseable that beeing so well indued by thee as I was and so quicke of sight otherwise I would be so grossely misledde by my enemy where he listed vntill it pleased thee of thy infinite goodnesse to pull in my scattered thoughts and madest me see his deceits that blinded me gauest mee a heart to bee pennitent and sorowfull grace to bee thankfull care to be watchfull and courage to feare no blowes that I might receiue from any aduersity or prosperity in time to come Hoc signum posuisti in nubibus Gen. 9. This is the first signe or mark which thou did'st put in the clouds of my soule Euer since I haue had a detestation of sinne more or lesse and a desire to know my sinne Since that time also I haue beene afraide to trust my owne iudgement againe in matters of my soule Mee thinke I heard thee say to mee Eccl. 32. fili sine consilio nihil facias and peccator homc vitabit correptionem I know right well that custome in sinne maketh vs thinke wee sinne not when we sinne And therefore I haue doubted my selfe and asked such as haue thy spirit and know more in these matters then my selfe After this it hath pleased thee secondly to nourish my poore endeauours with gladnesse much like to them that are lightened of a heauy burthen Thirdly when of frailty I haue fallen againe at any time thy mercy towards mee hath not giuen mee ouer but hath touched me inwardly with some heauines and anger against my selfe till by thy ordinary meanes I haue beene restored againe to good estate More then this thou hast giuen me a fourth token which is to examine my thoughts wordes and deedes many times in a we eke Especially in those things I vse to offend in most that by often contrition and sorrow for them I may be the readier for thee and not altogether vnprouided if thou shouldest call me any time vpon the suddaine For all which good signes and loue-tokens of thy thine I humbly thanke thee and beseech thee to continue to my liues ende Amen THE SECOND HOMAGE OF A SOVLE PROCEEDING IN GODS GRACE with signes thereof O My Lord God by thy gifts we are illuminated carried vpward by thy light and leading we goe higher and higher make ascents in our hearts and sing vnto thee a canticle of degrees or song of parts Behold the degrees or steps thou hast made in my soule O that thou couldest beholde them in me as thy gracious goodnes hath intended them to my vndeseruing selfe Thou hast shewed me much and I haue followed little Thou hast inspired often and I haue imbraced seldome Thou hast proffered great things and I haue not bin answerable Thou hast often dropped on my marble heart that it might be made hollow and capeable of thy hony dew at the least wise in some small measure and quantity Small and very small it is indeed by my owne fault as thou dost know and my selfe bewaile yet somewhat it is whatsoeuer it is In respect whereof I am to reioyce in it being thy gift and therefore good although in lesse measure then thou hast meant it me yet more a great deale without comparison then I could euer deserue I reioyce and praise thee because thou hast done great things vpon mee All creatures praise thee in their creation for which they be Homagers to thee of duty and Tributaries of endlesse thankes Men much more and I aboue all do praise thee or ought to praise thee and I much more then numbers doe owe vnto thee all that can be due by a subiect to his Prince by a child to his parent by a lost childe or cast-away to a pittifull father by a captiue or gally-slaue to a mercifull redeemer by a ruefull and vnhappie firebrand of hell to a most sweete and bountifull Sauiour Euen whatsoeuer a creature can possibly owe vnto his Creator all that I doe owe vnto thy Maiesty If I should reckon the things that haue made me indebted to thy greatnesse it would aske an
Ancientie of your title and the price was giuen for it and will yee bee beaten from it with any fire or sword or haply with a lewd looke of an intemperate eye Oh farre be these from your Christian manhood farre be it from your own selfe loue far be it from your baptisme and grace of God in you But mee thinkes I see heroicall signes in you your faith leapes in your faces your heart is in flames and your spirit replenished with resolution which giues great hope that the gates of hell will neuer preuaile against against you nor stop you of your way your way to heauen-ward I say which I haue painted pointed you vnto Haste yee thither and runne a pace put wings to your willes and out-strippe all impediments I conclude with Saint Paul Sic currite vt comprehendatis 1. Cor. 9. So runne as yee may catch So run as ye may obtaine what ye runne for Let no man say he is fatte Esa 35. and pursie and growne past running For God hath promised him the feete of a Stagge if he doe but his good will Abac 3. Let no man say he is old feeble and weake and cannot breake ill custome for he must know that Virtus in infirmitate perficitur 2. Cor. 12. Luc. 15. The weaker a man is the greater is Gods glory in the combate Christ will take ye vp vpon his shoulders and runne away with you if you will but take the paines to get vp Sic currite so runne saith he Almost all the world runnes backward and yet they runne But this is not Sic currite Run yee forward I beseech you There be some also that runne about Psal 11. yet runne In circuitu impij ambulant The wicked walke in a circuit will yee knowe what this is They that walke the way of ambition and emulation They that walke the way of pleasure and delight They that walke the way of riches and ease it is a great aduenture they will neuer arriue at the happinesse we speake of not that rich folke cannot come to heauen but they that seeke riches and lay to heape riches Not that men cannot winne heauen that haue pleasure but they that seeke pleasure and poure themselues out vpon it Not that kings and princes and honorable persons Bishops Archbishops and such like haue no part in our heauenly kingdome but they that aspire after greatnesse aspire after kingdomes and labour after Prelacye and Sublimitie in the world all these I say runne round in a circle and waxe giddie withall They are drowned in their owne desires and cannot breath for it They are borne so downe with their burthen on their backs that it is impossible to make way The word is ambulant they doe but walke not runne and to runne thus is not Sic currite Runne yee the next way be sure and loose no ground Some againe there be that runne with the Hare as they say and holde with the hound They flye vice and yet incline to vice flye one temptation and entertaine another flye the act and delight in thought Oh this is not Sic currite Long shall they so runne and neuer catch Wee are bidden so runne as wee may obtaine This word runne excludes all daliance and delay Wee must not stand at a stay nor looke behind vs. This word obtaine includes perseuerance to holde it out to the ende To runne therefore without wearinesse to goe forward still without repentance this is indeede Sic currite this is to runne so as the Apostle will haue vs. The onely enemy to perseuerance is idle vncertaine and vnsettled life Make your selues businesse alwaies that may bee good and then let no alteration of time or place hinder you no hard fortune disarme you no fawning of any friends vnstrengthen you Let your word bee Semper idem Hee that knowes yee now and sees you not againe of twenty yeares together let him finde you the same or better Let all your neighbours report of your sweetnesse all your acquaintance take example by you of much goodnes and fetch fire at your feruour FINIS TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE HIS VERY GOOD LORD EDWARD EARLE OF Worcester SIR the place you haue for honour and armes with my bounden duty together haue mooued mee to dedicate to your Honor this part of my labours wherein I bring you not a grape of mine owne planting or a Pome-deroy or a Musk-million but a posie of mine owne picking out of other mens gardens My hope is you will not looke into the meanenesse of my performance but the merit of the subiect wherein your selfe haue also laboured right nobly and much more profitably would if gentlemen as they bee true gentlemen would become your true followers To them I speake in this little treatise and not to you but learne of you And so with all humility wishing you health and longer yeares I take my leaue of your Lordship All your good Lordships to command W. Wiseman THE FIRST CHARGE BY THE DVKE against Duellum RIght noble audience and fellowes at armes I haue inuited you hither to day for your good company which I can neuer be weary of and partly also out of the aboundance of my heart to impart vnto you somewhat that may stead you hereafter wheresoeuer yee become Yee haue beene pleased ere now to heare your Generalls voyce halfe an hower together And it hath beene I thinke for your good My words concluded then with commanding but now with intreating and mutuall imbracing Men of peace may bee to seeke in time of warres So you that come newly from the warres may bee to seeke of your carriage in time of peace Yee were men of sort and noble the most of yee before yee came hither And yee haue lost no reputation by your comming but shall returne into your countries I doubt not with much increase of honour Honour in regard of your owne approoued valour Honour in respect of the cause and quarrell yee haue spent your time in and much of your blood For what more Honourable then to fight against the great deuourer of Christianity the vpbraider of Jsraell and blasphemer of the Sonne of God Christ Iesus Yea how much more honourable this then to waste our Jrascible part vpon one another at home Not onely to fight and kill if we can but when we haue done our worst to beare malice and deadly feud still and sometimes as long as we liue A very bad vse in our countrey Euen family against family and man against man without all moderation Those whom God gaue his life for we will take life from Those whom he suffered paine for we would put to paine if we could or to shame if we cannot Those who by generation or regeneration should be our brothers and all one with vs all selected children of one God and parteners of one blessing we seeke to dishonour by word or deede vpon euery light occasion We that should beare one
anothers burthen and doe as we would be done to we doe the contrary heape coles one vpon another deeme the worst of euery bodie as we list neuer reflect vpon Gods Law or mans Law but how to wreake our anger and make our humors therein both Iudge and hangman Thankes be to God our hand hath not bin hitherto in our neighbours bloud We haue spent our anger and fury where it can neuer bee ill or better bestowed vpon the grand-enemies of God our new Philistims Whom to strike is duty to kill is Honour and to bee killed of them a sacrifice There to fight wee are sure is Gods battell there to bee valiant is true valour there feare wee no iniustice in the worst wee can nor neede to bee ouer scrupulous to thrust our swordes in vp to the hilts There to turne our backes is cowardize there to bee afraide is to bee white liuered there to shew pitty were impiety and they that should bee fainting or faulty therein might be truely charged with dishonour The cause iust and honorable the quarrell Gods not ours commanded by lawfull authority not by humane leuity The honour ours if wee winne no dishonour if wee loose so we doe our indeauour There bee men too fewe for ought I see to bee imployed in that honourable seruice And yet wee fight and wrangle and kill vp one another at home and robbe the Christian common-weale of their interest in vs without mercy pitty or true manhood indeede as I shall prooue vnto you If our idle spirits at home did but see what we haue seene the inundation of hell-hounds that haue come downe vpon vs by hundreds of thousands at once their noise of armour horses and howling their pride and fury against vs the ayre filled with trumpet fife and drum as if it were doomes day our voyce crying out the whilest to God and Christians to come helpe vs men would not bee so idle and home-bredde as they bee for want of an enemy to poke and push at one another as they doe but would couet to fight where men fight and dye where men dye and shall haue glory and renowne for it When yee come in your countrey againe yee shall finde those euen such as yee left behinde you when you came hither that neuer sawe army in their life and yet will giue lawes of chiualry know not how to trayle a pyke like a souldier and yet will braue a souldier to his face were neuer officers in the field and yet if they haue beene at the Vniuersity a while and haue read a little of Liuie or Plutarks liues and then come new to court or Innes of court they thinke themselues straight to bee Scipioes or Hannibals and fall to practising and doe as they see others doe learne to giue the lye brauely or to vse the fist or poynard at the entring It is the fault of youth and of the times and there bee too many of them at this day but I hope there will bee fewer Yeares time and better knowledge of themselues and of their owne woorth will bring them more discretion Meane time I would there were not so many also of iudgement sufficient and of elder sort that thinke it valiant to bee stirred quickly a word and a blow with them or spit in his face and in the field next morning to kill or to bee killed And this not onely they doe but thinke it lawfull to doe and thinke it base and cowardly not to doe It is vndoubted that Honour is a great ornament to him that hath it and euery one seekes it in his degree and ranke And our countrey is as fruitfull of Honorable and well indued persons as any nation in the world and as quickly it is seene by them as soone almost as they haue cast off their long coates And as well furnished yee shall finde them with matter fitte to support their honour when they come to yeares as either for manhood valour strength actiuity or noblenesse of minde All which as they bee vertues well beseeming gentlemen and men may doe much to vphold them so is it a most vnworthy thing and worthiest of punishment that they should receiue blemish by any wrong The most of you as I said before are men of sort and as yee haue all deserued well and none of you the contrary so is it necessary yee should maintaine your Honour in places where yee come But how In Honorable sort without dishonour to God or disgrace to your countrey or Soueraigne And it will be expected in these corrupted and maleuolous times yea God will aske it at your hands beeing men at armes and neuer yet touched with the least cowardize no not when they haue beene fiue to one I will not say ten to one that yee should shew good example to your countrey-men and that your actions should bee their instructions your good experience their better learning and your carriage their rule that haue not such cause to know what you know or not so well as you in regard of the long time and place yee haue serued in where questions of Honour haue daily risen and were seldome suffered by superiours to come to blood if they had authority to restraine them The world is full of wrangles and the good and patient are abused and abased euery where Pride and disdaine haue filled all things with debate One backbites another is incensed one doth vnkindly another taketh it ill one meanes well the other mistaketh it one giues a contumely another deales a blowe and in all these is wisedome required to carry an euen hand And because I would not wishe you to take so much wrong nor yet to right your selues with any vnrighteousnesse I thinke it good to let you knowe and it is fit yee should alwaies remember your duty to God and the world and to forget your selues as little as yee can in hot bloud or in colde By hot blood I meane all suddaine things before wee can well deliberate By colde I meane when the heate is gone but desire of reuenge remaineth To the first belongeth iangling brawling blowes foule speeches and multiplying To the second belong the dregges of the former after they bee parted The first hath commonly present execution while the fire is yet hotte The second hath time to pause and if hee doe amisse the fault is the greater The first can neuer bee without offence in the cause giuer whether it come of heate mistaking or scorne For how can yee miscall one or giue approbious words without sinne neither is it without offence in the answerer though not so great He is more then a man or lesse then a man that can put vp a contumelie on a sudden Cap. 7.8 And therefore it is written in Ecclesiastes Calumnia conturbat sapientem A disgrace or contumely will trouble a wise man S. Act. 23. Paul himselfe might seeme humanum pati when he called him whited wall that made him be smitten
feare which is a feare of shame and disgrace with the vulgar and that is a base feare but yet they haue it They feare not what the best thinke but onely what the vulgar and most thinke And were it not for this feare haply they would not fight Quid non ausus erit populi vitare cachinnos What is it they dare not doe for vulgar feare that longs thereto They feare more euery idle breath of a mans mouth then losse of their life They feare more what a shoppe-keeper sayes when they walke the streetes by him then what a Fabius Maximus if hee were liuing And this is that cowardly feare which God rebuked in Ionas when he sent him to the Niniuites to foretell their subuersion But he would not go for feare of disgrace by it regarding more what the common sort thought of him then what God or the people of God Jonas was soone corrected for it but people now a dayes will not see They are ashamed not to be vulgar Psal 135. and feare where there is no feare as Dauid said which is the bafest feare that is This the dastardly feare that another Prophet exclaimes against saying Nolite timere approbrium hominum Esa 51. Feare not what the vulgar say or thinke of you that seldome thinke as they should thinke For so the word homines here signifies the common or vulgar sort of men be they Noble Mar. 18. or others So Christ himselfe vsed it Quem me dicunt esse homines Whom doe men say that I am and presently after but what thinke you saith he as who should say you that are not of the vulgar Cap. 21. Gal. 1. what thinke yôu of me So in Saint Luke Eritis odio omnibus hominibus So Saint Paul Si hominibus placerem Christi seruus non essem If I should please men that is to say the common sort of men I were not Christs seruant Must no man please God but Saint Paul none but Apostles and preachers none fly the vulgar leauen but these Did not Salomon so take it also when hee called the vulgar fooles Stultorum infinitus est numerus An other cals them incondîtum vulgus the vnseasoned or distempered vulgar Others ignobile vulgus the base conceited vulgar and insipiens vulgus the doating vulgar that iudge not rightly of honour or any thing The last part of my definition was in matter of courage And matter of courage is where a man may and is bound in honour to vse courage If I see my friend assaulted here is matter of courage to defend him If my master or seruant be in danger and I runne away here is want of courage If I see a gentlewoman abused or disgraced in the streete and I can right her with my sword the defence is honourable and a thousand things besides wherein to bee fearefull or shrinke away is want of manhood and courage and the party to be charged in point of honour But to say that that is honour or cowardize which the vulgar only thinke so that is as our author saith both foolish and base And the king of France and Princes of the blood call it brutish madnes haue adiudged it no true honor For who made the vulgar iudges of honour Edict of 1609. that gentlemen should stand so in feare of their censures Indeede if they were brought vp as gentlemen be or gentlemen brought vp as they should be their iudgement and opinion might iustly be feared and stoute men would not dare to doe as they doe for feare of true shame But the ground of honour is horribly mistaken by vs which is not altogether in boldnesse or hardinesse but as it is imployed in vertue and true prowesse Who is there in the world can tell vs what is honour if he know not what is vertue Is it honourable to haue ones will in euery thing Honorable to be on fire quickely or giue a scoffe readily and to thrust into euery fray these be gracefull things with a great many But let no man tell me of honour in action if it bee not for some vertue that makes the motion I holde Hercules and Theseus honorable for strength of body and durable nature bestowed where it should be I holde those souldiers honourable in times past that wonne the crownes Liui. 5. One for entring first the enemies campe called Corona Castrensis another for scaling a wall first another for bording a shippe first Strabo and these were of golde another of oake leaues called Ciuica for rescuing a citizen as Socrates did by his fellow Xenophon Liui. 7. Steph. text another of greene grasse which was best of all and was giuen to Publius Decius Fabius and Petreius for some singular exploites and raising of sieges All bee honourable that doe honorable things discouer treasons saue blood from spilling houses and townes from burning with daunger to themselues Honorable Scipio Hanniball Pompey Caesar Alexander Honourable all men at armes Graue Senators and counsellors most honorable of all next vnto Princes that rule the world in their chaire and giue to all men their due And these may be called heroicall honours But the bounds of honour goe further then this There is honour due to all kinde of Excellency And in the meaner sort it is called praise Each profession hath honour or praise with it euen to the meanest that is And as euery one excels in the same facultie so are they more noble or more praise worthy then other Now which of all these doe our Duellors excell in when they make challenge or answer which of these vertues doe they shew in it what innocent defend they by it what good to the common what duty to God or man hath drawne them to it Ye say honour is a vertue and that yee fight for your honour A faire Lady is precious and yee fight for her loue A satisfied minde is a good thing and ye fight for obtaining it And if you get any of these thus yee say it is honourably gotten Pardon me I beseech you It is not honourably gotten It may bee stoutly and hardily gotten but not honourably Ye abase honour when ye apply it thus Friendshippe is not friendshippe if it be to a traytour Duty to ones father is no duty if it be to ouerthrowe a city or common-weale withall We may say there is mettall and courage in a villanousaction and matter of honour in a rebell dishonourably bestowed as it was in Clodius and Catelyn Will ye wound your selfe to shew a passion of loue or strike him that is next you to satisfie your minde be these good meanes to get honour and if it were good that we desired were it honourably gotten to get it so giddily per fas et nefas Say your meaning be good yet the meanes must be lawfull else the act is dishonourable And that this meanes is vnlawfull I haue prooued already both by Gods lawe and mans law and
and left themselues little else but what they wore on therr belts and buckles and rings on their fingers An other time they of Marseiles did the like vnasked Iust 43. to aide the Romanes at a need and left not themselues a peece of golde either in publike or priuate Neither is it fit for vs to iudge the State at our pleasure when matter of burthen is propounded our Soueraigne being wise and bearing conscience towards vs. They sitte neere the Sunne and know what must bee better then wee They are wise and more experienced then wee and their part is in the burthen as well as ours It belongs to vs to listen willingly and performe gladly 2. Cor. 9. Hilarem datorem diligit deus God loues a cheerefull giuer and blesses him no doubt accordingly And the reason why our ancestours thriued better then wee and liued more plentifully Saint Augustine imputeth to this Quia deo decimas Hom. 48. de Sanctis regi censum dabant Because tithes they paid to God and tribute to the king Others pay also at this day but they doe it not willingly and God regards more what the heart doth then what the hand doth And therefore whosoeuer bee Iustices or Assessours on the bench our loue and conscience must bee of the quorum Let mutiny and turbulency finde no place with ingenuous spirits Christ himvelfe made meanes to contribute to superiours for our example hauing himselfe neither lands nor goods And so would wee if we had but loue in vs. A dead horse is no horse no more is dead loue any loue And where should wee shewe it more then to our Prince in whom all causes of loue concurre together most commonly Some weare their kings in their hat some in a iewell about their necke and wee set vp his picture in our eye where we eate and drinke we praise him and set out his vertues and run out to see him and bidde God saue him as if wee had neuer seene him before Wee pray for him in priuate and publike and hee is all our glory till wee come to part with any thing and then the king knowes not mê say they I shall neuer haue thankes of him I haue children and charge the king had more neede giue mee Some say it some thinke it and wee see not who lookes on the whilest Euen he that iudgeth both subiect and Soueraigne and will not suffer his annointed vnreuenged of any indignity But I will goe forward I come now to your Superfluum I spake of A thing that is not ill in it selfe if men doe not loue it too much and seeke it not so eagerly as they doe I will tell you in a word what your Pastours thinke of it and then conclude The scripture bids you Tobit 4. If ye haue much giue much Abundanter tribue If yee haue little giue little but let it bee volenter willingly Christ saith Mat. 25. we shall be damned for not doing some things Which all the fathers vnderstand to be the workes of mercy both spirituall and temporall The spirituall are comprehended in these verses Aduize reprooue good comfort giue Beare with him pray for him and forgiue All which sixe as well temporall persons as spirituail are bound to doe especially the second which is brotherly correction No man may forbeare to admonish his neighbour of his offence if yee bee not more likely to doe hurt by it or bee likely enough to doe him good and no body else will Which rule alone I must tell you when I well considered it made mee the bolder to aduenture on this daies charge though better becomming other manner of persons then my selfe if they were at hand But beeing so that my happe aboue others hath beene heere to speake about such businesse although I haue no cause to admonish or touch in particular any one for the enormities aforesaide yet by the way of praemonition I giue a brotherly warning to all as by this rule I thinke my selfe bound that they fall not into the same For according to this rule I finde it written in another place vnicuique mandauit Deus de proximo suo Eccl. 17. euery man hath charge in charity ouer his neighbour That is to say either by preuenting euill before it come as I doe now or by correcting euill if it bee past which I haue no cause in any of you And this I holde to bee the chiefe or onely spirituall worke that all persons alike are bound vnto But as for temporall workes which was the other part of my diuision wee are bound to more And therefore for our better memory they are put into verse thus Feede visit sicke redeeme out of thrall cloath harbour harbourlesse giue buriall All set downe by our Sauiour himselfe but the last Mat. 25. which is buriall and all these or most of them wee must doe vpon paine of hell fire Ite in ignem eternum saith hee Goe yee into euerlasting fire For yee visited me not ye cloathed me not c. Of spirituall workes more then I haue said I say nothing they belong to Diuines and Preachers who are the best instruments with learning and spirit to mannage our soules Of corporall workes also I haue not much to say more then of the instrument and meanes for them which is gold and siluer and which we either haue or lay for more then they and therefore are bound to doe them more then they For there is not a corporall worke except that of visiting but requireth some charge and outward ability Euery body cannot redeeme prisoners yea who make prisoners but rich folke An hundred dye in a yeare sometimes out of one prison as many ready to starue without shirt to their backe or bread to eate Many are ashamed to begge or to complaine and bring in their winding sheet when they come in vnable to buy necessaries and much lesse to pay debts But this is their manner of redeeming prisoners to lay them faster if they can or to abridge them any comfort that a prison may affoord Let rich men and prison-keeprs take heede of this if euer they looke to prosper with that they haue For if any should perish thus through their wilfullnesse it is murther before God and if they want maintenance they are bound by this precept to maintaine them The rich men I say for deteining the vnable if they think them so Prison keepers for looking no better to their hospitalls for euery Iaile is an hospitall as well as a prison And if begging will not serue they must finde them bread and drinke at least or giue vp their office God will charge vs one day that wee did not some of these things which wee were able to doe and had good meanes for Vnicuique mandauit Deus as I said before And mandauit implies a duty It is not as we will but wee are bound to it as it appeares by the penaltie which is laid vpon it
sinne to weaken his meanes and sell much land for it as it were to make a rich coate for one that lyes a dying or is sicke of a consumption If his Superfluum will doe it he may doe his minde in it Many poore shall haue worke and reliefe by it and if hee keepe a good house after for the poore and not a shew of a house for the world to gaze on as some haue done his conscience will bee the better satisfied and the world in him that God is not forgotten but hath his part in it There is no question made but a man may purchase what hee will out of Superfluum so the lawes of loue bee kept to his neighbour which I spake of before Hee must not gripe him by no meanes nor worke vpon his neede but giue him the full worth A gentleman stands in more neede sometimes then a poorer man in shew And it may bee a deede of charity to buy of him if lending will not serue And wee shall neuer be charged with it for hourding But I must tell you more what they hold and it is a caueat to all purchasers They must not put themselues vpon the taint so as to shut vp doores or abate saile for it a yeare or two after but the more they purchase the more they must spend either in their house vpon increase of an honest retinue or vpon the poore elsewhere fiue persons more for euery hundred pound land purchased were not much If Crassus had gotten it as well as hee spent it well what hee got hee had beene a right good man Hee kept a Legion some whiles together at his owne charge besides other good workes of his How much more should Christians doe the like They may purchase warily but they must spend it liberally They may heape but not hourd like but not loue too much And the greater meanes one hath the more in store for them that want They bee misers that purchase and spend no more lurchers to the common they abuse the law of Superfluum and the blessings of God bestowed on them Yet how many bee there of these that wee could reckon who liue at the same rate now as they did many years since when they could not spend the tenth nor twentieth part They keepe neuer the more seruants set neuer the more on worke feede no more mouthes giue no more to the poore or contribute to the common much more then they did And what a world should we haue if there were many rich and euery rich man should doe so Either men must perish or seeke some where else where to dwell Wee may iudge of a whole countrey by a little countrey towne of fortie or fifty houses with land to them all and one man buyes them out and dispeoples the village What becomes of the poore the whilest who liued there wholly vpon reliefe haply ten or a dozen No doubt hee is bound to keepe them out of his increase They must bee part of his purchase or appurtenances yet will not spend two pence the more for it but postes them ouer to the shire if he can to begge their bread Would not many such townes in a countrey consume a countrey and is it not happy that prouision was made for it betimes in later Parliaments Deut. 15. Let there not be a beggar amongst you saies the Law of God And there is a blessing annexed to it from Gods owne mouth As who should say Diuide your abundance among them euery one in his tribe ward or parish that there may be no beggar or vagrant person among you For without this diuision there will be store of them and Statutes will not serue the turne I assessed therefore euery hundred pound a yeares increase at keeping fiue poore bodies or setting them on worke besides his houshold Whether I exceede or come short in this reckoning I must refer it to your iudgements and experience Our doctours intermeddle not so farre but leaue it to mens consciences so they make a true conscience of it But if ye thinke that I grate too much vpon you Deut. 32. Mementote dierum antiquorum call to mind the ancient daies when there were not such store of poore as now therebe to bestow their superfluum on But in lieu thereof what a nūber of Churches Chappels were then built euery three miles walke doth testifie besides Bishopricks and houses of religion free-schooles hospitals bridges almes-houses other works of charity euery where to be seen with lands to most of them all Which if it be well pondered and how largely they powred out their superfluum in those daies the proportion I speake of will not seeme great to make vp this equality It is hard to make a rule in this busines if conscience do it not But very probable it is if a man spend halfe his reuenue in hous-keeping among the poore and leaue nothing of it at the yeares ende hee will haue little to answer for in that and the remainder will not be much But not to spend halfe that way not a quarter not a fift or a tenth part as many doe not thât they hold to be execrable in the sight of God and intolerable in a common-wealth Neither is their any sence or husbandry in it to hord lay vp for children which made such a flourish in the contrary argument at the first There is no sence I say for the portion will not grow bigger with locking vp Not good husbandry when Scripture it selfe aduiseth vs to put it out to bankers or other lawfull gaine and not to hide it or dig it into the ground Mat. 25. Opportuit te committere pecuniam meam nummularijs And so no doubt it would bee both surer to them that shall haue it and also more auaileable to them then if it lay cankering all the while in a corner to look one But the thing I should haue spoken of at the first I may not omitte to speake of last And that is how to know Superfluum and when we haue it For the true deciding whereof I thinke wee shall neede a iudge For if men bee their owne iudges they thinke they haue neuer enough much lesse too much Witnesse their owne complaints if we talke with them seriously about this businesse though they bee neuer so rich And I thinke they say truely in respect of their want of that they intend and would compasse but falsely in respect of our duty to God and bond to the poore Couetousnesse is a most vile passion and couetous persons are neuer out of it The angry body is not alwaies angry The spitefull body not alwayes enuious The vicious and gluttonous bodies are not alwayes so These haue a time to see their faults beeing as it were in a tertian or quartan the other allowes no intermission but is in a cotidian till he dye And being alwayes therefore in his passion he cannot iudge rightly of himselfe Hee