beeing a King he feared least he should forget that hee was a man finding howe hard it was for him liuing in all happines to knowe what hee dyd know in that which should lay open vnto him the frailetie of his nature and the vncertaintie of his estate VVherfore sith easily men forget what they like not to call to mind and soone waxe ignorant of most knowne thinges which sildome or neuer they haue in thought it hath beene and may bee iudged not inconuenient to put those great ones in remembrance which would haue none great but themselues that a greater there is aboue them which hath power ouer them and is able to bridle their immoderate desires VVhile they commaund others without resistance they loue not to think of of a Cōmaunder whom they are vnable to withstand especially beeing guilty to themselues that they doe offend But necessary it is aswel for them selues as for themselues as for others that in time they be awaked out of that sleepe of forgetfulnesse whereby lying buried in the graue of ignorance they dreame what they are not but neither know what they are nor what they ought to doe To the second obiection Answer 2 I aunswere that although men for the most part are affected most with those accidents which are fresh and come before their eyes and are mooued least with such euents as are old and farre remoued from their present sence whereof it hath been said Tit. Calphur. Vilia sunt nobis quaecunque prioribus annis Videmus et sordet quicquid spectauimus olim The things seeme vile our former yeeres haue seene Of no account is that which we before haue knowne So as what we haue neuer seene I knowe wee hardly beleeue and therefore old histories are fained fables we commonly heare and receiue yet in truth according to the iudgement of the vvisest habet in exemplis antiquitas Cicero de orato vt in atatibus authoritatem senectus in examples antiquity as in ages the most auncient The authoritie of antiquitie hath most authority For sith God is as he euer was one and the same and all men since the first man to reason and affection to lyke vertues and vices are subiect it commeth to passe that amongst the sonnes of men nihil est sub sole nouum there is nothing newe vnder the sun VVhy then shoulde not the first time serue as a glasse wherein to beholde our present age and the examples of our eldest Fathers be documents of our selues and our youngest children as discipulus pioris est posterior dies the second day is scholler to the first That God which raigneth in heauen and hath euer ruled in heauen and on earth made man at the first and first and last disposeth his actions ordereth his course lifteth him vp throweth him downe at his pleasure VVherfore all is one whether yesterday or to day in the beginning or in the end of the world this or that hath happened But because such is our weakenes that wee are carryed more with sence then the vnderstanding so dull we are that wee haue no feeling of that which is not done at our elbowes and before the very threshold of our doores it shall not be amisse for the better satisfaction and full instruction of all sorts to call to remēbrance what we haue heard to haue been done not long before our daies and what our eyes haue beene witnesses of euen amongst our selues wherein that vnspeakable power of the almightie hath so appeared as that the blindest of sight could not but see and the dullest of conceit but vnderstand and perceiue the same It is not long since the Emperor Charles the fifth at the intreatie of the Spanyards 1541. Iouij hist. 40 sailed with a great Nauie out of Italy into Affrica to be reuenged of Hasauaga who beeing Gouernour of Argiers vnder Barbarussa maintained there certaine notable Turkish Pirats which greatly had molested and spoyled the Coast of Spaine VVherefore hauing leuied a royall Armie of Spanyards The enterprize of Charles the fift at Argiers Germaines Italians he came before Argiers with an exceeding strength and making full account by means of his great Artillarie and thorough the number and valoure of his souldiers to surprize the towne hee sommoned Hasanaga by a messenger sent vnto him and suffered to land vpon signification of a parley to yeeld and deliuer vp the Towne Carolo Caesari terrarum Domino to Charles the Emperour Lord and Commaunder of the world VVhich Hasauaga laughing at and refusing to doe hee landed his forces beeing aboue twentie thousand men straightlie besieged it both by sea and land But within a short space after there arose such a tempest and such plenty of raine fell from heauen that with extreamitie of wet the land forces were exceedingly weakened not hauing Tents wherwith to couer themselues nor beeing able to discharge their shot wherein their chiefest strength did consist and the shyps riding at anker with vehemencie of winde being shaken and driuen together a hundred and fortie of them in the viewe aswel of the enemie as of the Armie to the encouraging of the one and discomforting of the other were miserably sunck and cast away not without the losse of a great number of good horses which much was the most of many gallant and braue men so as the great losses sustained and the victuall vvasted enforced the Emperour to rise and to depart from Argiers with all speede to embarque againe to hasten home for safetie of the remainder of his armie But scarcely were his men shipped and launched into the maine but that a newe tempest farre greater then the former ouer-tooke him which scattered them a sunder draue them vpon sundrie places of danger some backward into the mouth of their enemies others vpon rocks and sands and drowned the greatest part in the bottom of the sea very few escaping and Caesar himselfe with much a-doe ariuing as a man without life though aliue tanquam Iouis ignibus ictus Ouid. Trist. 1. Eleg. 3. Vixit at vt vitae nescius ipse suae as striken by th' almightie hand liuing of his life he did not vnderstand Such was the will of God to punish the wilfulnes of that man which neither by aduise of counsaile nor perswasion of friends could be staied frō pursuing his desire of reuenge Charles the fift reposing his trust in earthly means was deceaued and that with affiance onely in his owne strength For beeing asked of Hasauaga what moued him to thinke he should be able to winne the towne he presently aunswered pointing to the fleete with his finger The force of my Artilerie and the valoure of my men not seeming once to thinke of God who did not so much as lift vp his eye to heauen VVherefore the Lord God to shew himselfe to be himselfe that is the Lord of hoasts the giuer of victories and the Ruler of all worldly
Corne some wicked amongst many good Children yet if thy vice deface not thy vertue if the weedes ouer-grow not the Corne and the wicked doo not ouercome the good thou hast no cause to suspect thine ouerthrow So long as a disease take not the head possesse not the hart nor runne through the whole body there is great hope of cure no daunger of death The scarre of vice is not high in thy face it standeth low and serueth as a foile set vnder to set forth the vertue of thy Queene which is thy eye wherein thy beautie doth consist Thy greatest wound is in thy inferiour parts where if it will not be cured what is the worst Ense rescidendum est Ouid. Meta. ne pars sincera trahatur If by the salue of mercie it cannot be healed which often is as often it should be applyed by the sword of iustice it must be launced that the sound parts may be preserued which course being held as it is held so that the poyson of the wound feaster not too farre thou mayest be assured that the Lord God which often spareth the wicked for the sake of the good and neuer punisheth the iust for the faults of the vngodly will in mercy hold thee vp that thou shalt not fall VVhile thou art subiect to thy head which is so carefull of thy health that contempt of the maiestie of God she doth cut off and will not suffer sinne and iniquity to grow vp within thee thou art safe vnder her gouernment by his protection from all thy enemies As the mighty Oake fastened by the strength of his rootes so doest thou stand fast blow the wind where it shall it shall but blow downe thy withered leaues But that cannot euer be what hath beene vnited must be dissolued and nothing is more sure then that the Sunne shall set which once doth rise no man knowing how soone the brightnes thereof may be darkned with a cloud That being true yet is it no lesse true that as all Creatures were in their first creation so are they all both in their preseruation and destruction still subiect to the will of their Creatour hee hath set them a race which they cannot choose but runne what he doth order is not in their power to alter neuerthelesse his own hand is not shortened he is able to cut short and to prolong he can stop and turne the course how long and which way his pleasure is Iosu 3 4. The waters of Iordan comming downe from aboue he stayed so as they rose vpon a heape vntill the Priests bearing the arke of the couenant and all the Israelites went through Iorden Iosua 19. and passed ouer dry And when the Lord fought for Israell against the Amorites he stayed the Sunne in Gibeon the Moone in the valley of Aialon vntill the people auenged them selues of their enemies So as the Sunne abode in the middes of the heauen and hasted not to goe downe for a whole day and there was no day like that before it nor after it In like sort it is greatly to be hoped which aboue all things with feruent prayer is to be desired that the same God will stop the streame of whatsoeuer may hurt thy Soueraigns health and stay the course of her life so long that no health no life of any mortall Creature shall be like vnto hers that shyning amongst the Princes of the earth as the Sunne amiddest the starres of heauen she may giue light and life vnto his church for a long while be very late if not the last in going downe No doubt as it was the pleasure of the omnipotent God to deliuer her out of the hands of her aduersaries in miraculous sort and to rayse her to her princely seate ouer thee and as of especiall and exceeding fauour he hath in wonderfull wise euer sithence preserued her from the mischeeuous practises and dangerous attempts of many enemies abroade and at home first that she might be since for that she hath been a careful nurse of his church and tender mother of his children and so hath blessed her with honour and riches that her breasts flow with milke and her bones runne full of marrow to the continuall feeding and strengthning of his Gospell So mayest thou be well assured I speake what I hartily wish and am verily perswaded that that good God by whom she now liueth and raigneth in Maiestie will shew his power to the worlds wonder in the length of her dayes and glory of her kingdome if for the rebellion of thy people against him he take not her to him selfe as more worthy to raigne with Angels in heauen then to dwell with sinners wicked and vnruly sinners in denying God and disobeying her vpon earth Beware therefore thou prouoke not the Lord thy God by presumptuous sinnes to change his countenance and to turne his face away from thee Remember that for the transgression of the Land there are many Princes thereof Let thy people feare God so shall they not feare the losse of her vnder whom by his goodnes infinit blessings they enioy and thou art famous aboue all Nations Ierusalem is fallen and Iudah is fallen downe sayeth the Prophet and why because their tongue and works are against the Lord to prouoke the eyes of his glory That which was sayed concerning Ierusalem and Iudah thinke to concerne thee and know that if thou committest the like fault thou art like to feele the like smart for he that spake it is one and the same yesterday to day and for euer Num. 23. He is not as man that he should lye neyther as the Sonne of man that he should repent If thou cast behind thee his goodnes Psal 73. if thou settest thy mouth against heauen and not desiring the knowledge of his wayes thou sayest out of the pride of thy hart who is the Almighty that I should serue him Iob. 22. and what profit shold I haue if I should pray vnto him and because thou hast no changes Psal 55. therefore thou doest not feare him Thou shalt not onely dry vp the fountaine of his goodnes and dew of his mercy towards thee but shalt kindle the fire of his wrath to consume thee Iere. 44. So shall he take from thee thy stay and thy strength and visite thy people as he visited Ierusalem by the sword by the famine by the pestilence thy Citties shall be burnt with fire Strangers shall deuoure thee in thy presence and thou shalt be desolate Thus farre hath loue which stirred me vp carried me on and heere doth not suffer me to stay but forceth me further to put forth the best strength I haue whereby to remoue out of the minds of thy people that heauy block of grosse ignorance which may hinder them frō the knowledge of God and hasten destruction to fall vpon them For he not being by them honoured they cannot be by him preserued wherein before they can
as in all things sufficiently so most assuredly touching God appereth to be true The foole seeth not that there is a God and sayeth in his hart there is none for his eyes are not in his head and his hart is at his left hand wherefore it is no meruaile that he is blind and consider nothing aright But with men of reason contrariwise it is they walke not in darknes nor stumble at noone dayes to them things seeme as they are and God aboue all things is manifest vnto them For heauen and earth yeeld testimony of his diuine nature and magnifie his infinite power yea all the creatures of the world are liuely witnesses be they dead or lyuing and euident proofes though they lye hidden and cannot be seene that a God there is who hath made them and doth rule them according to his will So as man hauing sence and reason cannot be ignorant or doubtfull thereof when by sence he may perceaue and by reason consider what those creatures are which so notably set forth the being of their Creator Opening his eyes toward heauen aboue or to the earth beneath he doth behold such variety such excellencie of worke so much beyond his skill to iudge of so farre aboue his power to reach vnto that not onely his minde is mooued to a sodaine admiration of that he seeth but his hart is touched with a solemne reuerence of that whatsoeuer is Author thereof though what it is he doth not conceaue For reason Reason leadeth to the knowledge of God his guide by nature leadeth him to think that strange and notable effects cannot proceed but from some rare or worthy cause and that although the cause in the effects be resembled yet are the effects by the cause excelled beeing that which from it selfe giueth being to another but more to it selfe reserueth then on the other it bestoweth VVherby it cometh to passe that looking onely vpon the frame of heauen and face of the earth beholding the great beauty of them both th' one being adorned with starres of sundry formes and bignes the other set with trees and deckt with flowers of diuers colours and proportions he cannot but thinke that frame and that face of so exceeding beauty to haue beene made and deuised by some skill of excellency where-vnto of duty reuerence doth belong VVhich are things so manifest and apparant as by men of common reason they are seene and perceaued But who so with a sharpe eye doth enter into the world and vvith sound iudgement examine the parts thereof he easily doth finde that the whole and euery parcell of the same is like a glasse of Christall wherein the might and maiestie of God doth shine in such sort as that the eyes and minds of all be they not starke blind and voide of vnderstanding are striked and pierced therewith so that they are enforced to see whom to acknowledge and they cannot but acknowledge God whom their eyes doo behold to be the maker and ruler of heauen and of earth and of all things therein contayned By the swift constant and continuall motion of heauen by the course of the starres all obseruing order though thousands in number by the due succession of day and night the true patterne of life and death by the seasons of the yeare still fading and neuer fayling to returne what can be thought but that there is a moouer and a ruler of being eternall and of wisedome infinite which first turned round the wheele placed the lights distinguished the times and hath caused them all so long in such order to continue But let vs examine a part the sundry parts of the great and little world whom God that Lord of all vseth as instruments and imployeth as officers to execute his will and to shew his power and we shall see that with one voyce they witnes all and all agree in one that they had a maker and haue a Maister by whose power at the first they were and at whose commaundement continually they are The throne and footestoole of this great Lord is heauen and earth which are the roofe and foundation of the whole world of which th' one is of substance thinne and pure and the other thicke and corrupt the one light the other darke the one still in motion the other euer at rest VVherefore being most contrarily disposed impossible it is that eyther of the other should be caused so as in the contrariety of their nature they acknowledge they had a Creatour who at the first made them to be such as neither could haue being by the others helpe Betweene them to fill and take vp The Elements the ministers of God the heigth and the depth the length and the breadth of the whole fire reaching heauen water touching earth and ayre possessing the midle roome are placed and ioyned to and with them both as vniuersall Ministers of that mighty generall But what are their natures Most repugnant The repugnancie of their nature prooueth there is a God and vtterly disagreeing fire hote and dry water moyst and cold ayre hot and moyst earth cold and dry more apt to destroy then able to make or preserue one another And why are they such To shew that they are not of them selues and that all things of them should consist For all naturall bodies whatsoeuer receaue constitution from them as they their power from the iustnes of their temperature which being vnable of them selues to make by reason of their contrary and disagreeing qualities they craue an vmpier not onely of fulnes to supply their weaknes and of indifferencie to ioyne them with equallity but of aucthority absolute to commaund their seruice and of wisedome infinite to direct their course which euer tending to the worlds good and neuer fayling to the worlds end excludeth chaunce and prooueth choyse as well in their placing as in their ordering and that by him to haue beene made which could doo all and would doo best Consider how they are placed The power and wisedome of God in placing ordering the Elements and how ordered and both will appeare to be so as therein the power and wisedome of God doth so appeare as wonderfull it is to consider The fire being full of motion cleare and pure as best agreeing with heauen which euer mooueth with the cleare substance thereof and purity of the bodies therein is set next ther-vnto whether it may seeme easily to haue beene carried being light of nature and giuen to ascend but howe strange is it that there against nature it should be helde within a sphere and not suffered to mount The earth massie heauy and full of drosse was fittest to be at rest VVherefore it was layed lowest and from heauen that resteth neuer remoued farthest although it cannot but presse downward by reason of waight yet can it not fall down from one appoynted place Pondere terra suo subsedit Ouid. fast 3 where it hangeth and vpholdeth it selfe in
as to him that knowledge was naturall as his nature was perfect euen at the first yet when through the fall and disobedience of that first Father of mankind the perfection of mans nature was vtterly lost it could not be that they which after succeeded not beeing made by the hand of perfection but by the seede of corruption begotten and engendered eyther so soone or so well should attayne there-vnto nay rather considering the great transgression of that offender in being not onely vnthankfull to so bountifull a God as had giuen all things for his vse but rebellious to so mightie a Lord as had power ouer heauen and earth worthily all weakenes was to haue followed and the darke mist of ignorance for euer to haue blinded the eyes of his posterity But God hauing an eternall purpose both of iustice and mercy was pleased to leaue reason the naturall eye of the soule vnto all by course of time to obtayne a measure of perfection whereby to know there is a God and to his moreouer to giue fayth a supernaturall and more excellent eye of the minde whereby to beleeue in God and to liue for euer And accordingly it was his will to set forth a double booke to the world the one his works the other his word that in the one as many as were appoynted to be his might learne to know him a right to serue him after his will and to repose their trust in him for their endlesse comfort and in the other all whosoeuer might so behold him as they should not choose but perceaue him to be a God and haue no cause in excuse of them selues to say that he was hidden from them That sacred booke of his sauing word may be shut to many and in many places be vnknowne but the huge volume of his works lyeth euer open and euery where to be seene Gene. 11. The Sonnes of Noah for their pride and ambition were scattered vpon the earth and their language was so confounded that they vnderstood not one another yet all and euery of them saw the heauens and perceiued the firmament which declared vnto them the glory of that God whom they had offended and the worke of his hands by whom they were disperced For there is no speech nor language where their voyce is not heard Their line is gone forth through all the earth Psal 19. and their words vnto the end of the world VVho seeth not the glorious arysing of the Sunne his comming forth as a Bride-groome out of his chamber and his reioycing like a mighty man to runne his race Cicer. acad. quest lib. 1. It hath been sayed that from the Cimmerians the sight of the Sunne is cleane taken away and that onely they enioy the light of the fire but where doo they inhabit vpon the face or within the bowels of the earth or who could witnesse that to others which had not been there him selfe The course of the Sunne goeth round the earth and his light will haue entrance wheresoeuer the body of man can haue passage Miserable it is for a man to liue in a dungeon though but a short while wanting the comfortable shyning of the Sunne but impossible it is for a people to enioy life where the ayre is not tempered and the earth nourished vvith the vvarmth of the same VVherfore a fable it is to be noted Homo Odysi Vlisses sailed thither in his way to hell not to be beleeued that any there are to whom the Sunne is such a stranger as that his beames are vnknowne and his light neuer seene vnto them But the purpose of God being in his works to manifest him selfe to all the Sonnes of men it cannot be that from men that glorious starre should be hidden and most strange it is that amongst all any one should be found to denie God and to liue within the view of the heauen where he hath placed so many his creatures so shining bright so exceeding cleare that they pearce the eye lids through and strike euen the closed eyes that as well instruments of his power as witnesses of his nature they may seeme to be Aclian histo 2. lib. Aelian meruailed at the wisdome of the Barbarians that of them neuer any had the Gods in contempt or was in doubt whether there were Gods or no but rather he should haue wondered at the folly of the Grecians of whom some were doubtfull others resolute that there was no God at all or at the least none such as had care of the world I surely am amazed to consider how it can be that a man there should be Grecian or Barbarian Turk or Christian one or other whose feete tread vpon the earth or whose eye lids are opened towardes heauen who doth not beleeue there is a God and thinketh not with reuerence of his holy name yet is it sayed that such there haue been and such there are vvhatsoeuer causeth them such to be Surely as it may be supposed that Anaxagoras wold neuer haue affirmed Snow to be black but that he was stark blind of both his eyes so it is to be iudged that neuer man could thinke there was no God were he not altogether blinded in vnderstanding and bewitched with folly True it is the foole that hath sayed in his hart there is no God but yet a man it may be sayed though neuer so much a foole that can I not easily confesse for well it may be doubted whether such a one so diseased in minde or rather so dispossessed of him selfe may truly be sayed to be a man or no. Chap. 2. That the foole which denieth there is a God may in some respect be denied to be a man HEe that cannot away with society Aristo poli 1 is said of a great Philosopher not to be a man because to bee sociable is agreeable with the nature of man but to be reasonable is much more naturall vnto him take reason from him and the best part of his nature is gone That which causeth him to differ from a brute beast and to be esteemed a man is the mind which without reason is as an eye without sight and as he which lacketh his sight is truly sayed to haue lost his eyes so that man which hath not reason may iustly be thought to want his mind and not be a man at all Man of the Grecians is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth considering and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato in Cratylus that is to say seeth for that hee alone amongst all lyuing Creatures doth both see consider those things he seeth VVhich being done only by the vse of reason a foole cannot performe and therefore in that he hath not the nature he deserueth not the name of a man But such notwithstanding haue the shew of men and for men are taken throughout the world mistaken they are in very deed by such as they are them selues of
which sort the world is ouer full who as pictures or images of wood or of stone carry the resemblance but not the substance of those bodies which they represent Xenocrates Vale. mani because he was not prouoked to lust by the wantonnes of Phryne was sayed of her and of others reputed to be an image and not a man Dioge laerti so Carneades and Archimedes were accounted as dead men when they were aliue for as much as their minds being distracted through earnestnes of contemplation the naturall action of their bodies seemed to cease and giue ouer the one being forgetfull at his meate to reach forth his hand to the dish the other not knowing what the matter meant when the Towne of Syracuse was taken wherein he liued his house spoyled and the sword drawne ouer his head whereby he perished But they rather in truth are to be thought dead whose soules are dead for want of vnderstanding and such not to be men as want that which causeth men to be For it is not the barke that maketh the tree but the vegetable power whereby it doth grow and flourish nor the hide that maketh the brute beast but the sensible life by which it hath motion and appetite neyther is it fauour countenance or shape that sheweth a man but that reasonable soule whereby he doth discerne good and euill true and false VVherefore a young man beeing brought to Socrates to be seene Dioge Laer. he bad him speake that he might see him as if by his inward conceite and not by his outward shape hee could perceaue what he was Idem and Diogenes being asked at his returne from the games of Olimpus what assemblie was there aunswered that there was a great assembly and few men accounting the greatest number not to be the same which in outward appearance they seemed to be And Cicero interpreting that precept of Apollo Tuscula 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 know thy selfe sayeth Non credo id praecipit vt membra nostra aut staturam figuramue noscamus neque nos corpora sumus neque ego tibi dicens hoc corpori tuo dico cum igitur nosce te dicit hoc dicit nosce animum tuum nam corpus quasi vas est aut aliquod animi receptaculum ab animo quicquid agitur id agitur a te I doo not thinke he commaundeth that to the ende we should know the stature or feature of our outward parts for bodies we are not neyther I speaking this doo speake to thy body VVhen then he sayeth know thy self he sayeth know thy minde for the body is but as a vessell or receptacle of the minde that which of thy minde is done is done of thee And he againe entering into consideration what man was in expresse words deliuered that he could not be poynted out with a finger In Som. Scipio because mens cuiusque is est quisque the minde of euery man is euery man him selfe And which chiefely is to be regarded the word of truth which cannot erre Gene. 1. hath defined him to be the very image of God him selfe who being spirituall without bodily substance and full of all wisedome and perfection cannot be sayed by the face of a foole to be resembled without extreame folly and impiety Albeit therefore that the greater part which is the grosser sort will hardly be perswaded but that a foolish man is a man yet nothing may more assuredly be resolued then that such wicked fooles as by reason be no◠led to thinke there is a God are not of the number of those which are made in the likenes of God and are to be accounted men by the iudgement of all learned men diuine and prophane But least I may seeme vntruly to affirme that which the world with common consent will gaine say calling generally all men by the name of men be they wise or foolish good or bad religious or vngodly it behooueth me to render some reason why the worser sort are so called and to shew as well what they are as what they are not albeit much harder it be to prooue that which is true then to disprooue that which is false It cannot bee denied but they haue the birth and the shape they leade the life and dye the death of men yet are they not halfe men but monsters amongst men to be reputed That they are men in name but not in truth the reason is because double is the nature of man and a perfect man is a double man in him selfe one without and another within without his body is man and within his minde so as there is both an outward and an inward man and both in one if that one haue the perfection of a man The inward man That within is that same which is sayed to be endued with reason desirous of knowledge apt to societie the image of God the best of all creatures in the world Gene. 2. That which God breathed into the face of Adam whereby he became a liuing soule Gene. 1. that where-vnto hee sayed Rule ouer the fish of the Sea and ouer the fowle of the heauen and ouer euery beast that moueth vpon the earth and that same whereof the Prophet of God to God him self pronounced Psal 8. saying thou hast made him litle lower then Angels and hast crowned him with glory and honor The outward man The other first was made of the dust of the ground Gene. 3. Gene. 6. of whom God sayed hee was dust and to dust should returne and after that his spirit should not alwayes striue with him because he was but flesh and that as water he falleth vpon the ground and doth not returne a Sam. 4. as grasse he withereth and fadeth as the flower of the field 1 Kings 2. VVhich accordingly was vnderstood by Dauid when his dayes drawing neere that hee should dye he sayed I goe the way of all the earth and being considered in his beginning and after his ende truly as he is by an auntient Father is sayed to be Bernard medita Semen immundum cibus vermium post hominem vermis post vermen faetor et horror Vncleane seede Mans natures by name distinguished wormes meate after a man a worme an ill sauour and a horror VVhich two natures in man as they were found to differ so were they by name distinguished euen at the first the first earthly man being of the Hebrewes called Adam as homo tanquam ex humo Ambros de Isa et anima and the other heauenly of the Chaldeans Enoch which signifieth true man or that man which hath vndertaken and hopeth to call vpon God as if he were not a man or at the least not a true man whose hope is not in God So as a godlesse foole which hath no knowledge or sence of God being that earthly man which is dust flesh and corruption beginning in vncleannes of seede and ending
miraculous sort The water that is cold and moyst and least meete of all the rest to haue the company of fire farre from that and next vnto the earth wherwith it well sorteth being cold and somwhat heauie is bestowed but so as in wonderfull wise it coÌ„passeth surmounteth and ouerfloweth the same beeing penned in with banks not made or deuised by any creature whatsoeuer Then is the ayre which is warme moyst placed betweene fire and water as betweene two aduersaries a stickler being friend to eyther side through qualities agreeable to eyther part It reacheth vp to the one and downe to the other and although it be ioyned to them both which are mighty and mercilesse yet being weake and of small force it doth both preserue it selfe in safety and hold those in continuall peace which continually are disposed to warre So are they martialled in places best agreeing to their natures that according to their most power they may execute their best seruice at the will of their Commaunder And to the end they should all agree in mixture which are diuers or contrarie of nature for that all naturall bodies haue beeing and constitution of them they are each to other so ioyned and coupled in fellowship that they are all in all and hold together a perpetuall friendship The transmutation of elements For fire extinguished passeth into ayre ayre thickned groweth into water water mudded incorporateth into earth and againe earth into water is dissolued vvater into ayre exhaled and ayre into fire extenuated whereby it commeth to passe that none is alone without the others company and all are setled in a common societie which holding they giue constitution to other things and bring no destruction to themselues For as in themselues so in other things considered they are mingled in such sort as one is Maister and the rest giue place which causeth them to rest in peace O the depth of that wisedome and riches of that power which hath placed disposed and ioyned them in so wonderfull wise and to so necessary vse Heereof it is FroÌ„ whence the varietie and diuersitie of creatures that within the bowels of the earth vaines of sundry mettalls quarries of diuers stones are found in colour and nature one differing from another that out of the earth varietie of hearbs and flowers doe spring whereof none in sent leafe and vertue doe agree that trees are vnlike in barke and in fruite that all brute beasts are knowne so vvell a sunder and that as well the fishes of the Sea as the fowles of the ayre are seene infinitely to differ For as the earth is a receptacle of all influences descending from heauen like a mother bringeth forth and feedeth those things which are begotten with in her herselfe receiuing nourishment from water breath from ayre and naturall heate from fire of which according to the seuerall quantities vvhich she receiueth she yeeldeth forth her broode more or lesse perticipating of euery of them but taking most from herselfe because in herselfe shee ouermatcheth all the rest so after the like manner all liuing things bred or fed vpoÌ„ the face of the same and within the depth of the Sea haue theyr beeing being earthly watery or ayriall according to the place of which they are temperature which they receiue and all by the inwarde power they haue to moue or to rest to increase or to decay shew forth that first power whereby strength was giuen to those elements at the first to strengthen all things which of them should consist Hoc opus immensi constructum corpore mundi Manili Astro 1. Membraquae naturae diuersa condida forma Aeris atque ignis terrae pelagique iacentis Vis animae diuina regit sacroque meatu Conspirat Deus et tacita ratione gubernat Et multain cunctas dispensat faedera partes Altera vt alterius vires faciatque feratque This worke of world so huge framed into a body And parts of nature formed formes diuers to bewray Of ayre and fire of earth and sea which low doth lie Soules power diuine doth rule and by a sacred way God doth with all conspire and gouerne secretly And so doth many leagues betweene al parties make That each each others vertue may both giue take Hee which so sayed was deceaued in that hee thought the heauen and the elementes to haue soule and life whereby they are mooued and ordered but he perceaued truly that by the secret working of God they all are gouerned and by him sondry wayes vnited to make and to suffer each others vertue and power But daylie experience may seeme to controle what hath beene sayed touching the places and the peace which the elements are sayed to hold For it is seene that water is drawn vp neere the fire which ought to remaine below the ayre and ayre passeth downe into the earth whose place is prefixed aboue the water whereby their peace is broken and they are at warre amongst them selues the ayre thundering aboue and the earth trembling below True that so it is and fit it should be so the more to shew his aucthority that doth commaund and their dutie which doo obey for thereby appeareth his power in heauen and on earth when he thundereth from heauen and shaketh the earth and that the elements are his instruments to vse at his pleasure when he maketh them to followe and to forsake their nature VVhich is done the water ascending and the ayre passing downe and after the same water falling downe when the cloud is broken and that ayre going vp when the earth is opened and both returning to their appoynted quarter and executing as before their prescribed order to the quiet preseruation of the world The care and the eye perceaue there is a God So as sounding the thunder the eare doth heare and the earth shaking the eye doth see and when both are calmed of both we are assured that one supreame there is whose onely will as dutifull seruants to their onely Soueraigne they all obay VVhereas were they of them selues and subiect to no higher power which could commaund their seruice and correct their disorder in the world nothing should be but a generall Chaos and confusion of all together They could neyther be deuided for each others safetie nor mingled but to each others hurt For would fire continue vnder heauen and aboue ayre without consuming the one or wasting the other The nature of it being continually to befed or immediatly to be extinguished or should not the earth by the ayre be rent a sunder or by the water be ouerwhelmed the ayre pearcing into euery corner and not iâ—â—luring to be smothered and the water ouerflowing whatsoeuer it lyeth ouer No more possible were it they should be mingled and not destroyed following their nature which beeing contrary would neuer suffer them to agree So should they haue no beeing nor cause any other thing to be VVherefore the heauen and the
elements the placing and the ordering the open shew and the hidden strength of them all beare witnes and make proofe not to be denied impossible to be disprooued that there is a God The consideration whereof might suffice and needlesse it were to seeke further were it not too great an ouersight for man to ouerlooke him selfe who beeing the worthiest creature of all other is the fittest to set forth the glory of his Creatour by whose admirable wisdome he is of such incomparable perfection The body of man the patterne of the world and his soule the picture of God that his body is the patterne of the vniuersall world and his soule the picture of the immortall God So that in him more then in all the rest God is to be seene and knowne his body shewing outwardly the worke of his hand and his soule inwardlie bearing the image of him selfe His body of earth doth represent whatsoeuer is betweene heauen and earth yea the very heauens them selues are figured all naturall causes contayned and their seuerall effects produced therein Three heauens resembled by the body of man deuided into three parts Three heauens there are sayed to be which the members of the body deuided into three parts make a liuely resemblance of The lower seruing for generation and nouriture are like the lowest heauen within the compasse wherof the elements are found for as from them all beasts plants trees liuing and other things haue being receaue nourishment growth motion and sence so of foure humours there ingendered all the members are made fed mooued and augmented The same agreeing in nature as in number with the elements and producing effects in all aunswerable vnto them choller being hote and dry as fire blood warme and moyst as ayre fleame as water cold and moyst melanchollie as earth cold and dry of which altogether a perfect mixture and iust temperature beeing made the growing lyfe of plants and that which to brute beasts giueth motion and sence in the body of man is found doth appeare The vpper part in which the hart is seated may be compared to the higher heauen the eight sphere wherein the starres are fixed which holding one iust and continuall motion giueth light and life to all the world beneath through shining beames and comfortable warmnes it sendeth downe and euery where bestoweth for so the hart being still in motion after a iust proportion preserueth the whole body in life and health by sending forth the spirits of life wherewith it is well stored into all the parts by vaines and arteries in due course to be conueighed Lastly the head the vppermost part is as the third and highest heauen there sitteth the minde as in a Tower and doth behold gouerne and direct all the actions of the whole body causing it to mooue and to rest to performe and to forbeare what seemeth good there-vnto euen as that excellent almighty power from that high throne his seate mooueth the heauens directeth the starres and preserueth all things within the compasse of the world Man a little world VVherefore it is not without cause that man is sayed to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a little world when as his body alone beeing but the one halfe the worst part of him is the figure of the whole and with good right may bee termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in regard of the great beauty which aboue other creatures it hath and serueth no lesse then all the world besides to shew the great excellencie of that power which first was the founder framer thereof VVhose exceeding beautie caused some to thinke that God himselfe was like there-vnto Cicero de natu Deo 1. supposing the fairest and finest shape to be most fit for the best and diuinest nature VVherein they were like deceiued as if they should haue thought the counterfaite of Venus to haue resembled the countenaunce of Apelles the same being for excellencie of worke the chiefe spectacle of his Art but altogether vnlike the fauor of himselfe But strange it may seeme and incredible it may bee thought that man alone eyther in part or in whole should represent the world which consisteth of thinges both contrary in nature and infinite in number I confesse it is so strange that it is a vvonder but vvonderfull is that God who to shew the greatnes of his power could make man so strange a creature that in varietie what of outward shape Man in him selfe resembleth all creatures and vvhat of inward conceite hee should expresse and excell all other things whatsoeuer Sundry are the sorts of mettals and stones hidden vnder the ground infinite are the kindes of hearbes trees and fruites growing and of beasts going and creeping on the earth so of fish swimming in the Sea and of fowle flying in the ayre all which are framed of so iust a shape and of proportion so agreeable as of each kinde found within the same region and vpon the same Coast all or most of all are so like as not the like but the same they woulde seeme were they set a sunder not seene together and yet if all at once could be viewed sufficient difference to shewe the diuersitie of each kinde might bee noted But amongst all the childrē of men not any two though bred within the same climate though borne of the same parents coulde euer be found in whom difference did not appeare of heigth or of breadth of feature or of fauour Albeit for number and place of all members and parts they are all as one Many haue beene sayed exceedingly to haue resembled each other Valer. Max and none more then Alexander and Ephestio whereby the Mother of Darius was occasioned in steed of Alexander to salute Ephestio but though both were strangers vnto her shee soone found that shee was deceiued and craued pardon of her error Some-what there is which better is discerned then can bee described that causeth amongst all men such difference to appeare as easilie one from another and euery one may be knowne a sunder By which diuersitie of shape in his owne kinde expressing the variable shew of all kindes of things whatsoeuer In man some thing resembling euery creature it is to be thought that he was made to represent not any one but all the creatuers of the world which yet to make more manifest some things hee hath of them all whereby in him alone theyr counterfaite may seeme to be drawne and layed open to be seene His flesh is as the earth sound substantiall and firme it is braunched with sondry vaines as the earth is distinguished with diuers mettals VVhich therefore are sayed to lye in vaines because they follow the like course and are dispersed a like inwardly with bone as the earth with stone it is strengthned it is quickned and nourished with the same life that causeth plants to spring and hearbs to grow and like times it hath for the renuing and decay of blood as
they haue for the rising and falling of their sap It feeleth a VVinter and a Sommer a spring and a fall it is also furnished with those sences which euery sensible thing hath of which some others want sight some hearing some one sence some an other and yet perfect in their kinde that not wanting any if nature be not wanting vnto it And as in the outward fashion and disposition of his flesh so in the inward motions and dispositions growing from the same he is to him selfe vnlike Man vnlike to him self and like to all creatures in their affection and like to all the rest besides that are moued or affected in any sort Of diuers creatures the motions are diuers and as by kind they are seuered so are they seuerally affected Serpents are wilie Doues simple Lyons are bold Deare fearefull VVoolfes are cruell Sheepe gentle Asses are dull Horses quicke Cammels slow Roes swift and not one but all are most of all of the same kinde a like VVhereas of men one is simple an other subtill one fearefull an other hardy one is gentle an other cruell one quicke an other dull one swift Difference betweene men Man differeth from him selfe an other slow such difference there is betweene one man and an other Yea oftentimes such odds there is betweene a man and him selfe as not the same but an other then him selfe he seemeth to be for he is both simple and subtill both gentle and cruell both hardy and fearefull both dull and quicke both swift and slow subtill to deceaue an other and simple to auoide his owne danger cruell where he hateth and gentle to those he loueth hardy against a naked faynt harted enemie and fearefull against an armed resolued aduersarie swift to reuenge and slow to forgiue dull in learning the best things and quicke in apprehending the worst So is he most vnlike to him selfe and like affected to all the rest yea sondry more affections he hath then all the rest besides For what beast is iealous or malitious what giuen to reuenge or mooued with compassion which doth hope or dispaire which counterfaite or dissemble The Leopard is not so changeable in the spots of his skinne as man is variable in the affections of his minde Innumerable are his fancies vnspeakable his conceits infinite his deuises and desires The daily new fashions of attires the sondry formes of sumptuous buildings the rare inuentions of all kinds of arts faculties and misteries are euident proofes that the humours of mens minds are euer flowing and like the riuer Nylus Semper aliquid apportant noui Bring euer forth some new thing or other VVherein I must confesse he goeth beyond all creatures by reason of reason Reason following affection giueth strēgth there-vnto wherewith alone he is indued VVhich being captiuated by the strength of affection followeth the sway and altereth the course thereof adding force incredible there-vnto But by that which hath beene sayed euident it is that of all worldly things the lineaments are drawne in the very body and bodily affections of men be they neuer so many in number and so diuers in nature his outward proportion and inward disposition beeing infinite in varietie VVhich notwithstanding is not a more faire picrure of the world The soule of man the liuely image of God then his soule is a liuely image of God the same dwelling in that earthly tabernacle as God sitteth in his heauenly throne It is simple without mixture and spirituall without bodily substance it mooueth and is not mooued it neuer resteth and is euerlasting it is one in nature and deuided in power and being in one and the same place at once and in the same time it runneth through all the places of the earth it remembreth things past perceaueth things present and beholdeth things to come it seeth all and of nothing is seene againe rule also it beareth and cannot be ouer-ruled in thought or iudgment ioy or greefe All which are properties belonging to the nature of God and not found in any naturall thing but onely in the soule of man God said to be an immortall man and man a mortall God which from God was breathed into him VVherefore for the true resemblance betweene them the heauenly God hath beene sayed to be an immortall man and an earthly man a mortall God Caelius Rhodi ex Mereurio man being taken in respect of his diuine soule for a God on earth and God esteemed in regard of that humaine image to be a man in heauen Such was the conceit of a mortall man who perceauing that diuine part of him selfe farre to excell and greatly to differ from his earthly nature could not but thinke that there was a deity of like quality The being of God proued by the being of the soule so like vnto him that was Authour thereof So is the being of God fully prooued in being so truly resembled by that which such a creature could neuer haue beene had it not by such a Creator beene caused to be as is a God spirituall and immortall that euer was and euer shall be For impossible it were that a bodily substance should beget a spirituall essence and that from mortall seede an immortall soule should spring Remooue the opinion of God whose works are as well aboue the compasse as within the course of nature The cause by the effects discouered and it cannot be but that affinitie there must be between the spring and the streame the seede and the fruite VVherfore what could not be made by naturall meanes whose bounds are certaine must be thought to haue been created by a power supernaturall whose limits are vnknowne which being discouered in effects to be wonderfull is to be deemed a cause admirable in all heigth of reuerence rather to be esteemed then either to be denied or doubted of Sith then the image of God is lodged within the body of man and continually doth present it selfe to the view of reason no lesse then the face lyeth open of the eye to be seene as impossible it may seeme that a man should think that there is no God whose picture within him selfe the eye of his mind doth still behold as it is incredible that seeing his owne face in a glasse he should not iudge it to be the face of him selfe For more certaine is the sight of reason being sound and lesse subiect to deceite then is the iudgement of the outward sence which sondry wayes by outward meanes may be deluded But if any be so blinded with the mist of ignorance that by looking into his owne nature he cannot discerne that image of God yet turning from him selfe and casting his eyes vpon the creatures of the world if any thing he can thinke he cannot but think that there is a God For what can be thought to mooue heauen but that which made it VVhat to open and shut the gates thereof one whereat the Sunne goeth forth in the morning
the other wherin it returneth in the euening but that which dwelleth therein and hath rule ouer the same VVhat to set in order such an army of starres and to cause them all to hold one certaine iust course but that to which all things are easie and nothing is impossible VVhat to restraine the fire from ascending and the earth from falling down to keepe the Sea from ouer-flowing and to set peace betweene fire and water in discord to make vnitie and a friendly coniunction between things of contrarie disposition but that power which hath power ouer heauen and earth and doth commaund and controle both nature her selfe and all naturall things whatsoeuer and what should that be but euen that which in power wisdome and perfection is infinite admirable and incomprehensible That of the Grecians is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the sharpnes of his sight and swiftnes of his course because he seeth all and ruleth ouer all in a moment Of the Latines Deus for that of his fulnes and bounty hauing all he giueth all that the world hath of the English God for as much as in respect of excellencie he is only good and goodnes it selfe to be esteemed If then it stand with reason that nothing can make it selfe and no power other then God can be found or imagined sufficient to performe the least of those thinges before mentioned reason doth assure vs that there is a God and ouer and aboue reason euery sence for the light of heauen doth shew it to our eyes and the birds of the ayre doo sound it into our eares we tast it in the fruites of the earth and the sweete sauouring flowers breathe it vp into the very braine of our heads so as we are enforced to feele perceaue and vnderstande the same VVherefore vnreasonable and sencelesse is that man that seeth not and beleeueth not that there is a God Chap. 4. That reason and sence may iudge that there is but one God THe world consisting of heauen and earth it may seeme to haue beene the pleasure of God the maker of them both to place in eyther of them one speciall creature that for excellencie and vnity of nature should be the picture image of him selfe The sunne in heauen and on earth the soule of man to the ende that man of whom chiefely he would be honoured beholding the sunne with his bodily eye and with reason the eye of his minde looking into his owne nature as well without as within him selfe might perceaue that a God there is and that there is but one who doth both shine in heauen as that glorious starre the Sunne and rule on earth as that excellent creature the soule where-vnto all other liuing creatures are subiect Of this it hath been spoken The Sunne a resemblance of God of that it may be sayed that being in the firmament aboue it exerciseth his power on all the creatures below and holding an vnitie in it selfe it disperseth it selfe through the corners of the world and giueth light to euery starre that shineth and causeth life in euery thing that liueth and is of such brightnes that it darkneth the most glittering starres and dazeleth the sharpest eyes although neither starre haue light nor eye sight but by meanes thereof So as verie notably it expresseth the nature and the power of that onely and mighty God who from aboue beholdeth and ordereth all thinges whatsoeuer or wheresoeuer beeing and giueth sight and vnderstanding to all albeit in his greatnes and glory of none he can be seene or vnderstoode and yet as the Sunne is visible to the eye and the soule subiect to the sight of reason God of man in a measure seene and conceaued so God in a measure is truly saied sensibly to be seene and iudicially to be conceaued of all those which haue eyes to behold and reason to consider such creatures as he hath ordayned to be witnesses of his nature But the soule being buried in the body The body the graue of the soule as in a graue which therefore is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the graue of the soule and the Sun shining in heauen openly to be seene the eyes of men haue beene drawne to looke vpward and there to seeke God where manifestly appearing they could not but see him in all glory and maiestie to shine Howbeit in searching to know what he was their errors were as grosse as their opinions were diuers Some thinking the Sunne others the Moone and other-some the whole circuit of heauen By naturall reason impossible to know what God is to be a God And no meruaile that they were deceaued when by the low reach of naturall reason they sought to apprehend the high mistery of that supernaturall power which is infinite and incomprehensible But that it was onely one otherwise they could not thinke reason manifestly teaching that otherwise it could not be For when by consideration of all naturall things it is euident that nothing is of power sufficient to make or to mooue it selfe and that consisting of contraries they are more apt to destroy then able to cause or preserue one another most reasonably it is that there be because of necessitie it is that there must be a maker a moouer and a ruler of them all and how A maker of omnipotencie to doo what he will a moouer of aucthoritie to dispose as he will and a ruler of all goodnes and excellencie to order and preserue all according to his will else were it impossible that the world should haue been made mooued and ordered as it hath been consisting of parts no lesse repugnant in nature then infinite in number VVhich the Grecians well obseruing found out three names aunswerable to those three properties Aristid in hymno in Iouem Dioge Laerti Caelus Rhodi The Grecians by three names expressed the nature of God and gaue them all to one God as agreeable onely to one alone calling him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 somtimes by one and somtimes by the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as that wherby all things are caused to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for that he giueth life and motion to all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in regard of his excelling goodnes in gouerning and preseruing both the whole and euery particuler whatsoeuer VVho so being as in very truth he is the originall cause from which all things doo proceede the roote of life out of which all life doth spring and the fountaine of goodnes from whence all good doth arise flow then is he but one for it cannot be that more then one that cause that roote and that fountaine can be The cause of causes can be but one That cause of causes that is the causer of all things was to haue being before any thing had beginning and be he must onely by and of him selfe for be he could not by
his owne eye is a sure witnes and his vnderstanding an assured euidence to him selfe For as he cannot but see that there is but one Sunne in the firmament that lightneth the world warmeth the ayre comforteth and bringeth forth whatsoeuer groweth and flourisheth vpon the earth and one onely soule in man which giueth life to his flesh light to his vnderstanding causeth his actions ordereth his affections imployeth and directeth all the parts of his body So therin may he most euidently see and know that one God there is and onely one which hath made the Sunne and created his soule and hath framed them both to be such as they are of purpose to expresse his owne nature that appearing to be one to him alone and to none other all honour and glory should be yeelded for euer Chap. 5. That the power of God is ouer all but extended most ouer and vpon the greatest men GOD being the maker of the world and the Lord of all it is not to be doubted but that he hath power ouer the world and that all things are subiect vnto him The heauen and the earth the fire and the ayre the Sea and the Land men beasts euery and all wheresoeuer and whatsoeuer being are the worke of his hands and therfore his alone and only his to be commaunded Iupiter est quodcunque vides Lucan 9. quocunque moueris Estque Dei sedes nisi terra et pontus et aer Et caelum et virtus Thine eye thou canst not turne nor moue thy foote from God The earth the Sea the ayre is but the seate of God So heauen and power also No man can looke besides God euery where to be seene or turne away from God no place is without the view of his eye and th'aucthority of his presence his power is in and through all it is wonderfull and aboue all to be considered whether liuing in heauen fixed in the firmament swimming in the Sea growing within the bowels or moouing vpon the face of the earth For how should it otherwise be he being able by saying the word to perfect the whole worke of heauen and earth out of dust to create the body of man and with his breath to make him a lyuing soule what power can be greater or what is able to expresse the greatnes thereof If heauen and earth had a voyce if the birds of the ayre and the beasts of the field could speake they would open their mouthes and straine them selues to sound out the wonderfull might of their almighty God But sith they are not framed so as so they can doo let man which is fashioned for that vse to whom it chiefely doth belong neuer cease to pronounce and to proclaime how wonderfull that God is whose creature he is and by whom power is giuen vnto him not onely more then vnto all but ouer all the creatures of the world Surely it is the will of God it should be so for hauing made him his Lieuetenant vpon earth both to supply his place and to heare his voyce necessary it is that he should both know the power of him whose person he doth represent and acknowledge that aucthority where-vnto he is to be obedient Yet as in the first beginning such was the pride of the first mans hart that where eyes were giuen vnto him to cast them vpward to behold heauen and therein to glorifie as well the maker of him selfe as the Creator therof he looked downe vpon him selfe and lifted vp his mind into heauen desiring rather to be as God then to honour God as he should haue done so euer sithence the ofspring of his seede being lineally infected with the corruption of his attaynted blood hath offended in the proud conceite of it selfe and in forgetfulnes of the Lord God euery braunch drawing venom from that poysoned root though all bring not forth like bitter fruite All the children but not all like heires of Adam All are the children but not all alike the heires of Adam all are stayned with his sinfull inclination but such chiefely are defiled with his vndutifull rebellion as enioying the glory of the world giue eare to the alluring voyce of flesh and blood The glory of the world occasion of the greater sinne and follow after the false perswasion thereof Riches reputation and aucthority lift vp the mind giue boldnes and cause the hart to swell whereas pouerty deiecteth contempt causeth griefe and subiection is accompanied with feare Euery of those doth minister occasion of sinne which who so hath them cannot be freed from but not being of one nature they breede offences not of the same measure before the face of almighty God In time of necessity the poore mans tongue is hardly restrayned from blasphemie Hard in pouerty not to sinne when the sweat of his browes doth not gaine bread for his mouth when he laboureth with his hands and goeth naked without cloaths when notwithstanding that he rise early and sit vp late cold doth pinch his body and hunger his bellie so as he goeth to bed with heauy cheere and riseth with a greeued mind want standing before him and behind him ready on euery side to deuoure him VVhat is he which trusting in the Lord looketh vp to God and calleth on him as the young Rauens doo for their foode and doth not murmur or dispaire All are offenders No man can be thought so free from the corruption of nature which in that case doth not offend in word or in thought open ly before the world The greatest men the greatest sinners or secretly within him self But it is the rich and mighty man he whose eyes swell with fat and is clothed with purple and gold who feedeth daintily and liueth sumtuously in all aboundance not feeling want or fearing danger which beholding what he hath and not looking to him which gaue it is proud of his owne strength forgetteth the Lord God and in the middest of his happines is most vnhappy It is not to be doubted but that priuate men men of meane and base account sinne often against God both in thinking too well of them selues and in performing not well their duties towards God and man But it is to be obserued that the higher in place and greater of estate being not contented with that they haue but still aspiring and greedily seeking what is none of theirs soonest forget they are vnder the Lord of heauen and therein most greeuously prouoke his anger against them Rulers and Magistrates duly to be regarded Here I would not be thought to draw into question the liues or into hatred the names of those which are rulers and liue in cheefe place of aucthority vnder God of whom farre be it from my pen to write or from my hart to thinke otherwise then with all duty to theyr place and reuerence to their name Neither by taxing them doo I seeke to cleere those whose offences are held within compasse by
want of meanes and who sinne not because they cannot in so high a degree for in ill as in good voluisse sat est the mind makes the matter But as after the curse giuen the most fertile ground hath beene found to beare thistles and bryars most if it lye at rest and follow the nature of it selfe and yet the soyle not the worse though not manured it yeeld the worst fruite euen so if since the transgression the greatest ones haue brought forth the most greeuous sinnes out of that naturall corruption where-vnto they are subiect not being restrayned by force of lawes nor lacking meanes whereby to pursue their desires yet being graced with the place of aucthority they are and ought to be reuerenced of men accordingly the person High Magistrates the special images of God not the function deseruing blame They are called to be the speciall images of God which being they are lightned with knowledge indued with vnderstanding they subdue affection and follow reason they excell in vertue no lesse then they exceed in dignity all other of other sort how good and how great so euer For for a priuat man not to be an oppressor for a poore man not to be proud for him which is vnder law not to passe the compasse of law though it be not alwayes common yet euer as a common thing it is regarded but to haue power ouer all and to doo wrong to none to sit in the highest seate and not be puffed vp to be lawlesse and not to doo that which is vnlawfull is a vertue so diuine as aproacheth neere to the nature of God and cannot be found in any but in those which are next vnder God and as Gods are set in chiefest place of rule He sayed truly which sayed Est virtus placitis abstinuisse bonis Quid. Epist 16. From pleasing things t is vertue to abstaine And he againe Cicero pro Muraena Non Asiam nunquam vidisse sed in Asia continenter vixisse laudandum est Not neuer to haue seene Asia but in Asia temperatly to haue liued is to be commended But that vertue as many may seeme to haue as abstaine from pleasure for feare of payne and that praise all such to deserue as liue temperatly in the middest of delicacie against their will VVhich is not the case of Princes with whom no feare is of punishment all pleasures are present and nothing able to withstand the force of their desires VVherefore Good Princes truly sayed to be Gods all good Princes and rulers which rule their affections by the law of reason and gouerne them selues as they ought to doo being subiect to no earthly power are truly sayed to be Gods and ought accordingly of men to be reuerenced admired and not to be compared with VVhich sort I meane in no sort to touch neyther any as Kings for great is the name of a King and not rashly or presumptuously to be spoken of But if any as men offending against the maiesty of God through the pride of their harts or iniquity of their liues against whom the Lord God hath been pleased as against other sinners to stretch forth his arme that they with the rest might feele his strength and finde their owne weaknes and know that as out of dust he made and raysed them to be such as they are so not being as they ought to be he is able as dust with the breath of his nosthrils to blow them away Heereof if times and places be examined in all ages of all Nations examples sundry may be found to shew that so it is God from time to time hath aduanced the poore and pulled downe the rich and hath beene euer euer since there haue been men in the world So hath the Lord God from time to time as well aduanced the poore as pulled downe the rich and caused no lesse the weake to preuaile then the mighty to fall that both the poore might receaue comfort and the rich aduertisement the weake incouragement the mighty warning they to depend of the prouidence these to stand in awe of the power and all iustly to be occasioned to giue all glory to his name Adam the first man and the gretest Lord. that is almighty He that was the first was the richest and greatest Lord that euer was on earth with whom I thinke fit to begin because he began the fray whereof his successors haue felt the blowes his fall being their foyle and his punishment the patterne of their paine if not warned by his example they turne from the right way Genesis and tread in his wandring steps God of his power made him out of the earth and from his side tooke a woman without his greefe The power of God seen in the example of Adam which he gaue him for the comfort of his life And that God of his goodnes graunted vnto him being but a lump of earth rule and aucthority ouer all the earth whereby he was as great as he could wish and more happy then he did conceaue him selfe to be all things being ready to serue him and nothing able or apt to resist him But when rebelling against that good God his maker he shewed him selfe an vnthankfull creature and was not pleased to be a chiefe Soueraigne in bearing rule like vnto God ouer all the world but would be a very God on earth as God him selfe was in heauen hauing all knowledge of good and euill what followed He saw his owne nakednes whereof he was ashamed and durst not come foorth into Gods presence whom he had offended but finding him selfe to be stripped of all and that of that God who most frankly had giuen all euen all power and perfection perfection of his owne nature and power ouer euery creature vnto him he knew nothing more then the power of God and the weaknes of him selfe and that for his presumptuous desire to know both good and euill his knowledge then was of Gods former goodnes which iustly he was depriued of to his shame and of his present ill estate which to his greefe deseruedly he was entering into For his wife being punished in the sorrow of her birth and the earth cursed for his sake and for his woe out of Paradice his princely seate was throwne by the hand of his God and by the sword of the same God there drawne and shaken against him he was kept from euer comming in againe So being banished from his natiue blessed soyle and turned into the wide world where the earth yeelded thistles and bryars vnto him as testimonies of her rebellion towards him in regard of his presumption against God the present vse of a toilesom life and the perpetuall memory of his happines lost Gaue him aboundantly to vnderstand how bountifull and full of power the hand of God was vnto him at the first in giuing and forcing all to be vnder his rule and then how hard and heauy it was vpon him that
for maintenance of his life he was driuen to striue with the earth which though he trod vnder his feete he could not subdue without the strength of his hands and the sweate of his browes In the example of Adam the poure of God is to be seene of all sorts Heere of all sorts the power of the God omnipotent is to be seene the poorest are not of lesse value nor the basest of meaner account then dust which was raysed to the possession and commaundement of all worldly things the richest and greatest haue not more nor more aucthority then had he which was owner and ruler of all between heauen and earth from the vttermost bounds and round about the compasse of the same who notwithstanding became naked banished and forced to labour or not to liue After the sinnes of the world with the Sonnes of men growing to be infinite and infinitely to exceede in contempt of God and heighth of pride God to make knowne to all the people of the earth that he could both destroy and preserue both call together and scatter asunder Genes 7. at his pleasure he first opened the windowes of heauen The flood and brake vp the fountaines of the deepe whereby all the mountaynes vnder heauen were couered and the whole earth ouer-whelmed with water and none saued aliue but onely Noah with such few as in his arke by the commaundement of God were preserued and when being encreased and multiplied they went about to erect a Tower which standing on the earth should reach vp to heauen Gene. 11. as if they would clime vp to the highest and sit with him aboue he made their owne tongues the instrument of their owne punishment by confounding their owne language in such sort as speaking they were heard and not vnderstoode whereby they were scattered their weaknes appeared and the building was left vndone but standing high The Tower of Babilon a monumēt of mans vanity and Gods omnipotency as a monument of their vanity and of his omnipotencie farre and neere to be seene VVhat diuersity then was there betweene the rich and the poore the mighty and the weake when all of all sorts were drowned eight onely not for wealth or dignity but for iustice and vertue excepted Or what preheminence had any when all could speake and none deliuer his minde all heare and not one vnderstand The rich soyle about Sodom brought forth great sinners Gene. 13. It followed that the rich soyle about Sodom and Gomorra which was as the Garden of the Lord before it was destroyed brought forth wicked and exceeding sinnes against the Lord. But was their riches their raunsome their power their defence Gene. 18. Nothing lesse onely righteousnes might haue beene if amongst thousands it had beene found in tenne which not being and the cry of their sinnes ascending vp to heauen the Lord rayned fire and brimstone out of heauen vpon the two Citties wherby they were ouer-throwne and the inhabitants of them destroyed all saue onely iust Lot Gene. 19. with his wife and two daughters which immediatly before were by the Angels taken by the hands and set without the Citty Gen. 25 27 Though Iacob had gotten the birth-right and his Fathers blessing from Esau yet when he departed from his parents to goe to Laban it doth not appeare but that he went alone VVhen he slept Gen. 28.29 he layed a stone vnder his head and desired of God onely meate and apparrell and being come to Laban he serued twice seauen years for Rachell first vpon agreement secondly constrained by deceipt wherefore poore was his estate his condition base and paines with patience his onely meanes to recouer his right Gen. 30.32 Yet being contented and depending vpon the goodnes of God he became rich aboue measure and was named Israell because he had power with God and should preuaile with men Gen. 37.39 Ioseph stript out of his coate was by his brethren cast into a pit from which being lifted out he was first sold to the Ismalites after by them to Potiphar lastly being falsly accused of his Maisters wife Gene. 41. he was cast into prison But he fearing the Lord and the Lord being with him whatsoeuer he did did prosper till at length he became ruler ouer all Egipt Great was the pouerty and the miserie extreame Exod. 1 2 3 8 9 10. which the Israelites did suffer vnder Pharao a King but proud and hardned in hart against the great King of heauen and earth VVhile they poore soules were cruelly afflicted The misery of the Israelites vnder Pharao all manner of bondage being layed vpon them to make them weary of their liues Pharao affying in his owne strength scornfully asked who is the Lord that I should let Israell goe And seeing the miracles performed by his Sorcerers and vvise-men which were done by Moyses and Aron hee persisted in rebellion against God and cruelty ouer his people and albeit the Enchaunters perceauing their skill to fayle when they could not turne the dust into Lyce were enforced to say vnto him this is the finger of God and he saw the Lyce to be ouer his land vpon man and beast the morraine to fall vpon the cattell the plague of sores vpon the people and thunder and haile and lightning vpon the ground whereby men beasts hearbs and trees were smitten and broken to peeces and Grashoppers strange and innumerable to couer the ground and to deuoure whatsoeuer was left and darknes by the space of three dayes to be in all the land of Egipt that not a man during that time could see an other or rise vp from the place where he was yet God being willing to get honour of him he hardned his hart so as he still pursued Israel Exod. 14. But they flying and he pursuing The great power of God in deliuering Israell and punishing Pharaoh the Sea was diuided and brought together againe that Israell might escape and hee be drowned with all his Hoast VVhich variety of greeuous punishments partly by base and conetmptible creatures and partly by fearfull vnusuall meanes inflicted is an argument that God is able sondry wayes and can vse as well the least and most silly instruments as the greatest and most terrible weapons to punish the sinnes of men and amongst men to pull downe the pride of the highest and to ouerthrow the strength of the greatest and that he so doth to make it knowne that none is like vnto him in all the earth and where the Sea was made dry land and the same the bottome of the Sea againe it appeareth that both Sea and land are readie to execute his wil and serue to shew his power no lesse in destroying his enemies then in preseruing his chosen howe poore hovve weake how distressed soeuer VVherfore the Israelites being afraid when the Philistines went vp against them and hauing no hope by their owne strength to escape being
to quit the iniurie of Hasauaga nor chased beaten in the eye of her enemie as the Spanyards were by and before the forces of her Maiestie gaping after the spoile of her kingdome thirsting after the blood of her subiects For her strength is in the arme and and her hope in the help of the most mighty God whereby she is and may be assured that he in her will shew his power and shee through him shall gaine that honour for which as his most especiall image shee shall be throughout the world and to the worlds end renowned and admired So be it Amen Amen Chap. 6. That God is good to all but best to the best men VVIth God is power infinite and wisedome incomprehensible as hee is a God he cannot be but omnipotent but altogether and exceeding wise wise aboue the reach omnipotent beyond the iudgement of any mortal creature Yet in nothing is he to himselfe so like and to man so well known as in that he is good and therein both his power and his wisedome are excelled although from him neither the one nor the other can be deuided By his power hee made the world of nothing and by his wisedome he made it to be of all perfection The goodnes of God the cause of creation preseruation of the world and the same thorough both hee dooth daily rule order and preserue but it was his goodnesse which first caused him to make it and it is that which maketh him still to be carefull of it to the end all should be pertaker of that which of nothing but of it selfe can participate Other cause there could be none because beeing of all fulnesse he could feele no want nor any thing could be added vnto him Not excellencie wherein hee euer was aboue all that haue beene or could be incomparable Nor glory which filling heauen surmounted farre the measure of worldly honor his goodnesse onely was inlarged when it was communicated and so much the more by how much the lesse it was deserued VVhen he had framed the goodlie vaute of heauen and established the sure foundation of the earth Gene 2. and finished all the host of thē both he saw all that was made and all was good for nothing other then good from him could proceede but to man much more though not more worthie Man the end of gods creation that goodnes did abound Hee was the last of his creatures as the end of his creation all made for him and all represented in him the rest by his word commaunding whereas his bodie by his hand working his soule by his breath quickning Man the image of God became aliue whereby hee was the very Image of his Maker pure full of knowledge and a Lord ouer all And albeit hee fell wilfully to be ignorant being vnthankfully disobedient and vvas depriued of his lordly estate beeing thorough his owne default both in body and soule defiled yet would GOD because hee would be Goo as infinitly aboue measure so euerlastingly without end vouchsafe to restore him againe in clensing his thoughts instructing his hart holding all things in subiection vnto him What the state and condition of man were being fallen and not restored by god VVhich if he had not don and did not still continue to doe man should not differ frō a brute beast in vnderstanding his whole life should be filthy and corrupt and not a day nor an howre hee should liue in safetie His reason should be as the subtiltie of the Foxe his desire as the lust of the Horse his life soiled in vice as the swine wallowing in mire and soone ended should it be by the assault of deuouring beasts or furie of pestilent diseases Thys were the condition of man were it not for the goodnes of God God is euer working for the good of man generally and particularlie But for the good of man or rather for his owne goodnesse sake he is euer working both generally in the behalfe of all man-kinde and particularly for the benefite of euery one but especially for the preseruation of those which are his and repose their trust in him Sundry waies hee offereth instruction to their harts and giueth correction for their faults he striketh a naturall feare in the creatures wherby they become and remaine subiect vnto them and discouereth the vertue of whatsoeuer hath or wanteth life for their necessarie vse for the strength cōfort of their daies Let some instans be produced The Sea he holdeth within bankes to the good of all least they should bee ouer-whelmed drowned with the earth The Turke he boundeth within lymits to preserue the Christians that they may not bee ouer-runned deuoured of infidels The Sunne he causeth to shine vpon all the worlde for the health and comfort of all Nations and vvith his Gospell he lighteneth some speciall places for the spirituall comfort and soules health of his chosen So is he good to all The goodnes of God in withholding bestowing but in greater measure to some and good he is aswell in bestowing benefits as in with-holding mischiefes but chiefely good in that out of his owne meere goodnes without any the least their worthines he dooth whatsoeuer he doth for them For all being guiltie of the transgression and all vnder the sentence of condemnation alike no grace is of dutie nothing but punishment is due This the world cannot but see and euery one as hee receiueth most ought most to acknowledge the same Not a man liuing vpon the face of the earth but in that he liueth and is a man in that all the creatures are vnder his rule in that he knoweth how to rule them to make them serue his vse which for his vse are appointed is infinitely bound vnto God Euery man bound infinitely to God for his goodnes and to confesse howe good a God hee is therein For whatsoeuer man hee bee without hurt to God or wrong to him hee might haue beene a stone without life or with life a brute beast without reason So to haue made him was in the power of the Maker no cause in himselfe why of better condition he should be VVherfore in this the goodnesse of God is generally vpon all euen vpō the most barbarous people of the world that they liue and that in life they enioy many plesures and commodities through the commaundement they haue and good they receiue of the creatures knowing howe to ouercome the strongest to tame the wildest The goodnes of God specially is to those which haue knowledge of him and his seruice and to employ them all to some good vse or other But incomparably more is the blessing of God extended vnto those which ouer and aboue the common benefits of naturall life and humaine reason haue the true knowledge of God and of his Sonne reuealed vnto them vvhereby they liue a spirituall life and are in the way to
subiect to all danger and easily ouerthrowne Our neighbour Countries haue seene the sodaine fall of their Princes by the bloody hands of cruell murtherers euen of late in these last dayes of the world dayes of disobedience of treason of vnnaturall affection and of all sinne and iniquitie vnworthy to be graced with the light of heauen whose purenes if it were possible would be defiled with the noysome vapours of wickednes arising daily from the face of the earth The great power and goodnes of God in the preseruation of her Maiestie But yet notwithstanding all malitious conspiracies trayterous practises and dangerous attempts against the annoyted of the Lord our most excellent Soueraigne Queene Elizabeth she liueth and raigneth in safety and in glory to the glory of him by whose goodnes no lesse carefully then by his power miraculously she hath beene preserued her wicked enemies by the feruencie of his displeasure as stinking mists by the burning beames of the Sunne being dispersed consumed All Princes may seeme to haue meanes sufficient by their owne strength of their owne defence being furnished with strong guardes euer attending and many eyes still watching to fore-see what is intended against them so as nothing can be thought so subtill or secret which is not like to be discouered and preuented but all will not serue where GOD is vnwilling to preserue All meanes of meÌ„ without the help of God are vaine Psalm 127. If GOD doe not keepe the Cittie they labour in vaine that watch it their eyes are dimme and their eares deafe manifest daungers passe by their sight and neuer come to their vnderstanding So many are the deuises of mischiefe and so cunningly disguised vnder the colour of loue and pretence of friendship God onely searcheth and seeth the hart Iâ—ue Saetyr 1 that God alone who searcheth the hart and seeth the inward thought is able to discerne the malitious minde of a wicked man It was not said without cause fronti nulla fides no trust to the outward countenance and in animis hominum multae latebrae multi recessus in the minds of men there are many darke corners and secret places for there are not by many so many furrowes and wrinkles in the forehead to be seene as vnder the scull neere the braine there be priuy corners and close angles which the eyes of an Eagle are vnable to pearce into VVherefore when man through the corruption of his nature inclining more to ill then to good is not so ingenious in the deuise nor so industrious in the practise of good as of ill no meruaile it is if euill conspiracies ouercome good counsailes Faythfull counsellors the surest defence of the King and designes of mischiefe goe beyond all meanes of defence Faithfull counsailers louing truth and hating couetcousnes are the surest strength of the Kings life and best instruments of his safety for not being delighted with lyes they are not deluded by flatterers To loue truth be liberall fit for Counsailers to Kings nor by gifts or rewards are they blinded which are not coueteously disposed But truth possessing their harts and their hands being full of liberallity they aduise faithfully without feare and wisely without error and so cleere are their eyes that they see farre and neere For mony which often dazeleth The force of money and darkneth the eyes of the taker as often bringeth light sight to the giuer many secrets are made known many practises layd open from euery quarter aduertisements are giuen to such as will drawe theyr purses and are not sparing of rewards Doores and locks are easily had to keepe money in but to hold it out hardly can a locke or a doore strong enough be found Precium si grandefer as custodia victa est Tib. 2. Eleg 4. Nec prohibent claueis et canis ipse tacet Bring mony store the keepe is ouercome The keyes let in the barking dog is dombe VVherefore right happy is that Prince whose counsailers and seruants loue truth and hate couetousnes As without such it is impossible for a King to sit safe in his kingdome so by the meanes of such as great safetie is had as by the help of man can bee obtained for they are friends that flatter not and watchmen that sleepe not and such alone as for friends watchmen are to be esteemed But be they in all as they ought to be yet are they but men doe they what they can without the help of him that sitteth in heauen all is in vaine If God be not their guide they runne astray following theyr owne wayes they easily misse the path of truth fall into the pitte of error though greedilie they seeke and hunt after truth as a most precious iewel Yet truth being buried in the deepe Truth buried in the deepe and couered ouer with many pleasing vaines of right shewe but counterfaite substance they stick in the shallow fall in liking with the deceitful shadow of that they desire For by nature being slow to conceaue and dull to vnderstand we soone turne away from matter of difficultie lay easily holde on easie and ready things which euer-more are the worst both in respect of themselues in respect of the hurt they bring to the possessors of them Lyes errors vices are the smyling baytes whereby wee are quicklie caught and willingly carried away to mischiefe myserie The baites of mischiefe misery Lyes are ill tolde but well heard errors dangerous guests but entertained as deere friends vices the bane of al our happines but vsed fostered and delighted in as the only pleasure comfort of our liues All which being the seed of the Serpent our auncient and first enemy creepe into vs as hee dyd into our old beginning Parents whose posteritie we are and are deceiued as they were by the alluring face of ease and glory Men drawn to il by ease and glory An easie thing to eate an Apple and what more glorious then to be as God in the knowledge of good and euill But it was a lye that first was told and beeing beleeued ignoraunce was our vnderstanding and our knowledge error then vice gotte the possession of our harts and rule of our mindes so were wee of our selues not Gods but deuils in the world and so are we still if by the spirit of God we be not lightened and guided in the wayes of truth wisedom vertue wherewith who so is endued is in some measure enabled to discerne truth froÌ„ falshood knowledge from ignoraunce vertue from vice and by meanes thereof not beeing deceiued is deliuered from the malice of sathan and from all the practises of his wicked ministers be they neuer so secret subtile and mischiuous VVherfore it is the goodnesse of God which onely can and assuredly doth saue and protect as well Princes as others out of the hands of theyr enemies so as he which sayed Seneca Thebais
of no assurance and yet in all attempts whether of war or peace they pray for themselues The blindnes of men concerning Fortune and wish to their friends aboue all other thinges good fortune So blindly are men ledde to think all things to be ruled of that which of it selfe is nothing nothing but a false light giuē in the darknes of ignorance and neuer seene but when the true cause lyeth hidden Fortune in truth nothing which is that heauenly spirituall incomprehensible essence the Lord God of heauen earth wherby the whole world and euery part thereof is daily and continually gouerned and disposed of He it is and hee alone which lyfteth vp and pulleth downe which giueth wealth and causeth want which punisheth and rewardeth preserueth The benefits of God somtimes towards the wicked whē his rodde is vpon the godly and destroyeth when he will and where it pleaseth himselfe And although his benefits are often seene to bee heaped vpon wicked men when his hand of correction lieth heauie vpon his chosen and base cowardlie persons he suffereth to tryumph whē men of good mindes and great vertue are troden vnder foot yet in neither is his goodnes or his iustice to be taxed but both in both the more to be extolled if dulie as they ought to be they be considered of This may seeme strange in the eyes of men but his wayes are not the wayes of men neither dooth he tread in the steps of flesh blood It is more easie to see what he doth then to perceiue the secrecie and depth of his purpose which not being discouered his works may be thought voyd of iudgment when they are full of all wisedom and vnderstanding But why should he fauour the vngodly which are carelesse of him and frowne vpon those who giue themselues to his honour and seruice VVhy was Toby after many good works of mercie and charitie made blinde and Haman Toby 2. a man full of pride and crueltie Hest 3. God in the end blesseth the good punisheth the wicked extolled aboue all the Princes next after the King Surely good men haue no more cause to be grieued thereat then had Toby when his sight beeing restored he sawe his sonne and the sonnes of his sonne with ioy and gladnesse nor the wicked more to reioyce then had Haman when he was highest vpon the gallous which hee prouided for Mardocheus The Lord God the God of iustice mercie so dealeth with his chosen as a louing Father with his beloued chyldren he scourgeth them but hath pittie on them his hand is heauie but to keepe vnder theyr rebellion and his rodde sharpe but to cutte of their corruption that they may bee fit heyres of that heauenlie kingdome which no impure or defiled thing can enter into God both iust merciful to his in what sort So is he both iust and mercifull shevving mercy in iustice vnto them for sinning hee doth not spare them and punishing hee doth preserue them His iustice is great but his mercy doth exceed he correcteth and stayeth his hand for hee is not angry for euer Hee striketh strengtheneth to beare the stripes which neuer are out of measure nor aboue theyr power and at the last after that he hath drawne the blood and bound vp the wound the punishment being passed the paine ended endlesse is theyr ioy and their glory euerlasting In what order the mercy and iustice of GOD is toward the wicked VVith the other sorte farre otherwise it is though God be as he cannot but be the same that is both iust and mercifull euer-more yet dooth he not deale in the same manner with all with the wicked his mercy goeth before and his iustice cōmeth after whereby it commeth to passe that theyr end is farre worse then theyr beginning The sun shyneth the rayne falleth vpon them they grow in the fatte and are fedde with the sweete of the earth which is the singuler blessing and the great mercy of God for if he shoulde be towards them as they deserue the ayre should be darknes and the heauens brasse vnto them But beeing but weedes and still the more noysome the more they waxe haue continuance though God suffer them to grow and ouer-growe the corne at length vvhen haruest commeth the corne is layd vp and they as weedes are cast out and throwne into the fire So are they at last ouer-taken by his iustice which before by his mercy would not be taken which vvas the greater and sweeter towards them because theyr condemnation should be the iuster and his iudgement the sharper against them VVherfore when we see them flourish haue proude lookes what may we say and say truely tolluntur in altum Claud. in Ruff. lib. 1. vt lapsu grauiore ruant They are lifted vp on high that theyr fall may be the more heauie which they themselues seeme to see when they say quicquid in altum Sene. Agam. Fortuna tulit ruitura leuat VVhat Fortune hath exalted Shee lyfteth vp with mind to haue deiected For they cannot but see it so to bee beholding the variable course of the world and of the greatest worldlings the daily fall Though they wander which are not led and are blind which are not lightened by the spirit of God yet time teacheth them to say as experience forceth them to know that as of trees the highest growing so of men they which most are exalted are soonest ouerthrowne Agamemnon considering the destruction of Troy and his owne tryumphant estate sayd magna momento obrui Sene. Troas Vincendo didici That great things in a moment are ouer-whelmed So much by ouer-comming now haue I learned And fearing least his feete might slip from that high step where Troy stoode Tu me superbum Priamae tu timidum facis Idem Thou Priamus doost make me both proude a coward The ouerthrowe of Priamus made him proude but afrayd with all least thorow pryde as Priamus was hee might bee ouerthrowne Good it vvere that they which are proude of theyr good fortune would after the example of Agamemnon conceiue what they might bee by considering what others haue beene VVhereby they might shewe themselues the more temperate while they stand aloft and the lesse abiect when they are downe But much better it were both for themselues others that they were not proud at all So should they escape that iudgement which being proud by no feare they can auoyde for Prouer. 16. calamitatem praecedit superbu◠et ante ruinā cor extollitur It is pride which goeth before calamity and ruine which followeth after the hart puffed vp and Sene. Her Fur. sequitur superbu◠a tergo Deus A proud man God followeth at the heeles to be reuenged of him The folly of vaine glorious men VVell may a vaine glorious man out of the pride of his hart being dazeled with the glittering false shew of his