sorts of people whether they be Iewes Gentiles or the Churches of Christ. Let vs héedfully abstaine from all appearance of euill So shall the Lord God abundantly blesse vs so shall the Kings Maiestie most powerfully protect vs so shall our deare countriemen pray heartily for vs so shall not the land at any time hereafter vomit vs forth for filthie Amorites yea so shall we be sure to haue peace in our conscience with God and men Lo Sir this I assure you if the Lord God say amen to my purpose intended shall be the whole and the onely course that I will take with these kind of men Hydr. Surely Capnistus I do freely approue of this thy purposed course yea and I doubt not at all but that so many of them also as haue but one halfe dramme of Gods holy feare in their secret hearts as haue but one scruple of true honestie in their open foreheads yea as haue but one onely graine of common humanitie in their ordinarie courses will euery of them very conscionably most carefully accompt of the same As for those insatiable companions of whom thou didst speake euen now there is no hope at all to preuaile with any of them For can the blacke More change his skin or is it possible the Leopard should after his spots Then also may those men learne to do good who haue bene accustomed so long to do euill Otherwise howsoeuer they may be wise enough to do euill yet to do well they haue no wisdome within them at all But now shew me what course thou wilt take with the rest Capn. The course I intend to take with them shall be this Having first made throughly knowne to euery of thē this your present discourse I will then wish them withall for very shame to remember themselues in time to giue ouer all those their former carousing courses with spéede to forbeare now any longer to make such beastly swine of themselues by swillings in so superfluously the manifold blessings of God to abandon all their former vnnaturall dealings towards their owne wiues children towards their true hearted Tenants towards their honest poore neighbours and naturall countrie To take héede moreouer lest in pursuing such a superfluous supply to their insatiable gulling throats they do not procure a cleannesse of teeth throughout the whole kingdome lest in going about such an vnorderly augmentation of tillage they do not cause the whole earth to deceiue the dressers therof lest by this their inordinate swallowing downe of their filthy Tobacco fumes they do make their swéetest drinkes to be mingled with Myrrhe and to haue a most bitter fare-well to all the drinkes thereof lest by procuring such a néedlesse hauocke of wine ale and béere they themselues be constrained to drinke their owne water for monie lest instead of the harpe the violl the timbrell the pipe and the wine at their extraordinarie wanton feasts they be driuen to eate their owne bread with a trembling feare and to drinke their water with trouble and carefulnesse lest for their former most filthie abuse of the manifold blessings of God the Lord himselfe do shoote forth the arrowes of famine among them and breake the staffe of their bread in péeces lest for this their abundance of victuals now they be compelled to take wheate barley beanes lentils millet fitches with whatsoeuer else they can get in one vessel together to make them their bread thereof according to the number of daies wherein they must be faine to sléepe on their sides yea and to bake their said bread in the dung of men to eate it by weight and to drinke their water by measure Briefly lest they be enforced to heare a most horrible crie before and behinde them saying thus Awake you drunkards wéepe and houle you quaffers of wine because of the new wine for it shall finally be plucked away from your throats Whereas on the other side if they once soundly forsake their former most filthie waies and be heartily conuerted to God he will then so excéedingly blesse their basket and store as they shall not néede thus disorderly to run vpon any such desperate and dangerous attempts for the augmentation of tillage Because whensoeuer they do conscionably sow that selfe same portion of tillage which they haue at this present in their owne proper vse the Lord God of hoasts will euen then giue such a bountiful blessing vnto it as they shall be sure to find in one yeare an hundred fold more by due estimation For the Lord he will giue them the early and the latter raine and render them the yeares that the grashopper had eaten before Yea their very barnes shall be filled with wheate and their winepresses abound with wine and with oile And herein no maruell at all because the Lord in the day of this their holy conuersion will heare yea the Lord God of hosts will heare the heauens and the heauens they will heare the earth and the earth it will heare the corne wine and oile and the corne wine and oile will heare the people and the people shall sée the vallies stand so thicke with corne that they shall laugh and sing and say one to another Behold how the earth doth yéeld her increase and God euen our owne God hath giuen vs his blessing Lo Sir this is all the whole course I will take with that sort of men Hydr. This course I confesse is very conuenient were they men capable of it But alas Capnistus the wisedome of the word is a matter ouer loftie for such fantasticall fooles as do so insatiably affect their owne inordinate lusts they may by no possible meanes attaine to the height thereof Not because the words of wisedome are idlely bestowed among any the sonnes of mortall men for the feare of the Lord is the very beginning of wisdome but for that all such vnregenerate fooles do most disdainfully despite true wisdome it selfe and all holy instruction Neither yet hath the authenticall sound of such sacred knowledge bene hitherto held backe from any of them For behold Wisdome her selfe hath cried without she hath vttered her voyce in the open streets she hath called to them all in the publike assemblies yea euen in the very preasse of the people themselues as also in the middest of the Citie hath shee solemnely vttered her words saying thus Oh you foolish how long will you affect your owne foolishnesse and you scornfull take such pleasure in scorning Oh turne you at my correction for loe I will now euen powre out my mind vnto you at large and make you vnderstand my words to the full What I pray thee might Wisdome do more to the sonnes of men then shee hath hitherto done vnto euery of them But what behold how obstinately they do despise all her counsels and most
in the image of God hath he made man they were not put downe there for any such supposed confirmation of the magistrate his subordinate power as your selfe do séeme to affirme but as an amplification rather to aggrauate the sinne of such murder committed telling the murderer thus that not onely he hath bene most iniurious to the man whom he murdered but that also the Lord his supereminent Maiestie is mightily wronged thereby because his owne image in man by such an outragious murder is most monstrously mangled marred and in a manner defaced Hydr. Although this which those men affirme be in it owne selfe such a sanctified truth as proportionably consorteth with the analogie of faith yet is it not truly collected I verily thinke from that portion of Scripture if we more strictly consider the same according to the maine purpose of the Almightie himselfe Because these words the image of God they haue not any such reference there to the murdered man but rather to the magistrate himselfe so seuerely reuenging the murder committed The Lord very plainly declaring therby that not onely a iust reuenge must seuerely be executed vpon the outragious murderers but that also the said reuenge must onely be orderly vndertaken by a man authentically endued with the authoritie of God Yea and this sence of the place may yet more euidently breake forth to euery mans apprehension if we aduisedly consider first the seuerall significations of the image of God and then next if we examine more strictly the word gnasa it selfe put downe in the forenamed text Capn. Shew me first I beséech you the seuerall significations of the image of God Hydr. Touching the seuerall significations of that selfe-same image so frequent and ordinary in sacred Scriptures we haue here to obserue that a man is said to be made according to the image of God in a threefold respect namely first respecting the nature of his soule the same being a spirituall essence immortall eternall inuisible and very significantly resembling the immortalitie eternitie and inuisibilitie of his Lord and Creatour And in an especiall regard hereof each man so created is fitly called a liuing soule Secondly a man is not vnaptly said to be created also according to the image of God in an onely respect of the essentiall qualities of that his said soule namely righteousnesse and holinesse because man also was therein accordingly created after the image of God And thirdly a man may very well be said to be created also in the image of God in a more speciall respect of the holy attributes thereof bestowed vpon him namely dominion dignitie and glorie because man also himselfe euen by a more speciall dispensation from God obtained from God a most princely soueraigntie ouer all the inferiour creatures as also more specially concerning mankind Capn. This Sir I confesse is maruellous strange and more then euer I heard But what do you inferre from this thréefold signification of the image of God Hydr. Euen that which notably tendeth to the timely confirmation of our purpose concerning the true â—ence of this text For we may not in any wise vnderstand this portion of Scripture according to that primarie signification of the image of God namely according to the spirituall essence immortalitie eternitie and inuisibilitie of mans soule because therein the soule of man was made immortall and the Lord speaketh here precisely of that image of God in man wherin mans bloud may be spilt which cannot properly be said concerning mans soule Neither may we vnderstand this portion of Scripture according to that secondarie signification of the said image of God namely according to the essentiall qualities of that selfesame soule I meane true righteousnesse and holinesse because those the essential qualities appertaining to the soule of man as they were vtterly lost in our forefather Adam so surely being now eternally restored to a man in Christ they are no way subiected to any such outragious spilling of bloud And therefore we must necessarily vnderstand this making of man in the image of God according to the third signification of the image of God namely according to that diuine dominion power or soueraignetie which by y e speciall dispensation of God is more especially designed to some such speciall persons as are by his absolute authoritie to take a iust reuenge vpon all malefactours Capn. Surely Sir this thréefold signification of the image of God doth shew forth the true sence of that text by sundry degrées like the day-dawne in the morning But how may this sence be yet further confirmed from a more strict examination of the word gnasa put downe in that text Hydr. Exceedingly wel Because the word gnasa which is there translated made it may not properly be referred to that speciall worke of creation wherein Adam was primarily or secondarily made according to the said image of God concerning either the essentiall being or the essentiall qualities of that his said soule which are no way subiected to any such outragious spilling of bloud and therefore it cannot bee rightly referred to either of them Capn. Oh yes Sir maruellous fitly especially if the word gnasa be vsed indifferently for that thréefold signification of the image of God Hydr. It were certainly true as thou sayest if the word gnasa indeede were vsed indifferently for euery of those seuerall significations of the said image of God And therefore we haue here now to consider afresh that as the holy Ghost hath purposely distinguished those seuerall significations of the image of God the one from the other so hath he precisely obserued three seuerall words in the originall tongue to set forth the different degrees of those the said actions of God according to their different conditions Capn. What are those thrée seuerall words I beséech you Hydr. The first word is bara that is to create or to make and more properly it betokeneth the bringing out of something without any matter at all preexisting in nature And euen so accordingly this word bara it is vsed sometimes for creation sometimes againe for procreation or the bringing of one thing from out of another and sometimes also for recreation or making againe because euery of these three seuerall actions there appeareth a wonderfull inherent power in God who worketh whatsoeuer pleaseth himselfe in heauen and earth and calleth those things which are not as though they were Secondly the Lord sometimes vseth the word sarath which properly and naturally signifieth to burne vp to boyle to melt mettall to trie forth by fire and so metaphorically to trie out the children of men to search through their hearts and their waies also sometimes if signifieth to to forme or to fashion a thing and to bring it vnto that exact and absolute condition which doth proportionably consent with the primarie patterne thereof And thirdly the Lord sometime
haue sharpened their said tongues like a serpent that the poyson of Aspes is vnder their lips and that they delight in nothing at all but to shoote out their arrowes I meane most bitter and venimous words For I assure thee this on my credit that there was killed neither woman nor child neither yet any one creature weeding their corne was so much as once challenged at all It may be I confesse which yet I beleeue can neuer be proued that some one passenger carelesly crowding himselfe in the midst of the throng as they fled receiued some little hurt at vnawares but wittingly and willingly not touched at all and therefore those his Maiesties souldiers are most barbarously belied by these their beastly reports Howbeit the best remedie they haue against those deadly stroakes of the tongue is with good David to crie out to the Lord and say Deliuer vs oh Lord from the euill men preserue vs fro such pestilent persons and protect our harmelesse soules from all those lying lips which imagine but euill things in their rebellious hearts and stirre vp a deadly strife all the day long which do mischieuously furmize all manner of words that may do hurt oh false deceitfull tongues But thou oh Lord wilt shoote an arrow sodenly at euery of them yea their deadly stroaks they shal be at once They shall cause their own tongs to fall pat on their pates in so much as whosoeuer seeth them shall flee from them and say thus vnto euery of them What good haue those your deceiptfull tongues procured vnto you or what do those your venimous mouthes auaile you at all Hath not the Almightie Iehouah destroyed you for euer hath he not plucked you out from your tabernacles and made you a present terrour to those that passe by the way when they daily behold what monuments of mischiefe you are iustly become to all disobedient and rebellious raskals Euen so let all thine enemies perish oh Lord that shall any waies raise up themselves against thine annointed but let all those that loue thee and thy sauing health be euen as the Sunne when he ariseth in his strength So be it Lord Iesus Thus then thou seest now Capnistus that notwithstanding any their barbarous babblings abroad his Maiesties power is euery way freed from blame and those cursed Cains themselues are euery way guiltie of spilling their owne and their confederates bloud either then in the skirmish or at any time since in the orderly execution of iustice vpon them Capn. Good Sir I do not as yet perceiue how they themselues should be made guiltie of any mans bloud but their owne vnlesse haply they did most outragiously lay their violent hands vpon any their associates slaine Hydr. Thay they themselues became guiltie of their owne and their confedâ—rates bloud it is more then apparently euident Because howsoeuer it be necessary that offences should come yet woe be to that man whatsoever by whom the offence first cometh on foote Yea and the ciuill law telleth vs confidently y t whosoeuer administreth an occasion of hurt that man is accompted y e doer of the hurt it selfe Moreouer if their laying of violent hands vpon any of those their associats though otherwise neuer so worthie of death had vndoubtedly made them guiltie of that their bloud what a dangerous condition then are those wretches in thinkest thou before the Maiestie of the immortall God who so desperately combined themselues in one and with such bloudie and murdering resolutions made haste to murder his Maiesties authenticall power Yea and which more is by much what a fearefull case are those blind Cannibals in before God in their conscience who so causâ—lesly so cruelly so cursedly and with most rebellious minds to the King his excellent Maiestie did so villanously execute such a villanous merciles and monstrous massacre vpon that excellent Captaine who was the deputed conducter of his Maiesties power for the present whose experimented valour for seruice of weightie importance and whose admirable worth for the timely atchieuing of any notable exploit is famous throughout the whole world yea and whose wofull want for future imployments of trust is ten thousand times more then would be the want of an hundred thousand of such sillie fresh-water souldiers as rebelliously bare armour then against his said Maiesties authenticall power Well sith iâ— is now as it is let them praise God with all their hearts for his Maiesties exceeding great clemencie in so pardoning and sparing their liues for the present and let them in Gods holy name endeauour now to spend the remainder of their wofull daies in an earnest and heartie desire to be freed forthwith from that one bloud-guiltinesse aboue all the rest before the presence of God lest good Abel his innocent bloud do continually crie out for vengeance against them and themselues being iustly cast forth from the face of the earth begin with horrour of conscience to run hither and thither like runagate-vagabonds being hourely afraid to be cruelly killed of euery one that shall but happen to meete them Lo Capnistus this is the worst I wish to them all and this is the best I can do for them In the meane time thou maist now very plainly perceiue by that which is spoken what a pestilent crew of pernicious persons all those our disordered Tobacconists were for the present to the publike good of our State as also what further mischiefes might forthwith haue followed vpon those their mischiuous attempts had not our merciful God by the prouident care of those his Maiesties most prudent magistrates very mercifully met with the mischiefes in time Namely many mutinous broiles among our owne selues ciuill dissentions in euery coast the spending of our selues against our owne selues much spilling of English bloud a present spoile of all the good blessings of God the opening of a fearefull gap to forreine inuasions most cruell massacres on euery side with an extreme hazard of King of Queene of kingly of-spring of our happie estate yea of this our flourishing kingdome also without the more mercie of our mercifull God Capn. It is vndoubtedly true as you say And therefore the Lord of his infinite mercies forgiue all men their sins in deseruing and those men their sins in attempting such horrible beginnings of mischiefe Hydr. The Lord God say amen to the same for the merits of Iesus Christ. Now then to knit vp the second part of this our present discourse in a summarie speech sith those the disordered courses of our gracelesse Tobacconists are euery way so exceedingly hurtfull to their owne proper persons first by poysoning their bodies and soules and then next by procuring a prodigall dispending of their ancient patrimonies and other preserments sith they are so vnnaturally iniurious to their owne wiues children by causing their needlesse pouertie and wofull complaints sith they are so barbarously