by them turne them from those vanities vnto him alone which made Heauen and Earth the Sea and all things that are therein But because they make England as before it masked vnder Poperie to be such a paterne of a happie Church I demand one question Wherein consisted that plentie which they so talke of certainly so wealthy it was not when the Pope termed it puteum inexhastum Matth. Paris pag. 683 423.626 a Well neuer drawne drie and yet saith Matthew Paris full often almost emptied to the bottome by his Procurations Prouisions and Taxes vpon the Clergie and Laytie To be briefe therefore plentie or cheapnesse can no way proue their Religion and I cannot but herein condemne them of an ouersight to make cheapnesse in the Market or things out of the Church to be a note of the true Religion and yet to require no cheapnes in things in the Church there Pardons Dispensations Masses Dirges Absolutions euery thing shall bee set at a racke Rent by his Holinesse and the Church must bee fayne to borrow its marke from the Market Bee not deceiued beloued though we may contend with any Nation for these out ward blessings yet we may not obtrude these to our Aduersaries but puritie in Doctrine and sanctitie in life It was not our Sauiours turning stones into Bread but vrging the Word written Matth. 4. which subdued Satan in the wildernes plentie and want are common both to good and bad and Saint Austin in his Booke de ciuitate Dei 8. chap. giues the reason Vt nec bona cupidiùs appetuntur quae mali quoque habere cernuntur nec mala turpiter euitentur quibus boni plerunque afficiuntur that neither these earthly goods should be greedily affected which wee see euen wicked men to possesse nor any euill vpon earth to be basely auoided wherewith we see euen the godliest full often to be afflicted But of this I spake somewhat in the former Part my purpose is to insist at this time especially vpon the â—â—ings mentioned in my Text the first whereof is as it were a generall cause effecting the rest which follow but yet exists without a man hee giues vs raine from heauen and fruitfull seasons the rest are effects of the former but yet exist within a man the one touching the body he fils our hearts with foode the other concerning the minde he fils our hearts with gladnesse Seeing therefore God witnesseth himselfe vnto vs both by giuing vs things which belong to vs internally and externally to our bodies and to our mindes we may well inferre this obseruation That whatsoeuer concernes the happinesse or felicitie of a man in this life is wholly deriued from God I will prosecute them as they lye in order in my Text first therefore for outward blessings which here are pointed out by the most eminent species of them raine from heauen and fruitfull seasons Paraphrastes Hierosolymitanus saith Paraphrast Hieros in c. 30. Gen. they are one of the Keyes which God deliuers neither to Angell nor to Seraphin how God effects them the Schooles much labour I list not to dispute with Fonseca and Suarez in their Metaphysicks Fonsec l. 5 Metaph. c. 2. q. 9. Suarez Tom. 1. pisp 22. whether the action wherby God produceth raine and fruitfull seasons be the same in number with the action of the Heauens and other secundarie causes it is sufficient that Gods prouidence hath a hand in all things wee attribute vnto it notwithstanding the ordinarie course of nature effection direction cohibition in a word God worketh not by second causes as Magistrates gouerne their CoÌ„mon wealths by inferior Officers for they so gouern by them that they doe nothing or very little themselues and peraduenture neuer know what is done God gouernes not the World so but in euery particular worke hath his particular stroke The Heauens indeed are the ordinarie instruments whereby hee effects these things but yet we must remember that they are but second Agents concerning which it is a memorable saying of the Philosopher in the second of his Metaphys and second chapter Omnia secunda agentia it a essentialiter subijciuntur primo agenti Arisâ—ot 2. Metaph. 2. vt primum agens in eorum actione magis agat quam ipsa agant all secundarie agents are so essentially subordinated to the first Agent that the first Agent doth more in their action then they themselues The chiefe end wherefore God ordayned the heauens was not for their owne sakes but for mans vse as therefore they conduce to execute his Decrees towards man so he either binds the sweet influences of the Pleyades or looses the bands of Orion Iob 38.31 It were long to recount how often the Lord promiseth in the Prophets to declare his fauour towards men by watering their Fields with dew and raine from Heauen and againe to testifie his indignation by making the Heauens to wax hard like Iron and yeeld no raine as it did in the time of Ahab 1. King 17. but one thing in the Law Prophets is worth our obseruing when God fore-tells either raine fruitfull seasons or times of scarcitie he lookes not vpon the starres aboue but vpon our sinnes he giues vs to vnderstand that the best Almanack which we should relye vpon is our obedience to him our loue towards our Neighbours and our care of our selues He tells vs not of the conjunctions and oppositions of the Starres nor the Eclipses of the greater Lights but what saith he If thou shalt hearken diligently vnto the voyce of the Lord thy God to obserue and doe all his Commandements the heauens shall giue the raine into thy land in his season but if thou wilt not hearken vnto the voice of the Lord thy God to obserue to doe all his commandements and his statutes the heauen that is ouer thy head shall be brasse and the earth that is vnder thee shall be iron the Lord shall make the raine of thy land powder and dust from heauen shall it come downe vpon thee vntill thou be destroyed Deuteron 28. O foolish Astrologers how is it that you looke vpwards towards heauen to descrie the seasons of succeeding yeeres you should looke downwards into your selues the constellations are on earth which produce these effects Wee are those wandring Starres which decline from the true Ecliptike of Gods Word Wee those more earthly Globes which stand in opposition or at least eclipse the light of the Sunne of righteousnesse Wee those irregular Planets which are stationarie or rather retrograde in the Sphere of Christianitie There is not Scorpio aboue nor Saturne with his maleuolent influence beleeue it they are below here are Lions and Beares and Dragons and Serpents and Serpentarius's and Hydraes and Dog-starres and I am almost of Copernicus his opinion that the Sunne stands still in the Centre and we mouing in a Lunatike Orbe with the Moone are the causes of such direfull and menacing aspects as are aboue The
the mysteries of iniquitie Weake impietie thou seest them perhaps commit folly but in the meane time seest not that thou thy selfe committest greater villanie thou mayest obserue them woshipping like these Athenians a god whom they know not but alas thou obseruest not that thou denyest a God which thou knowest thou mayest perhaps discrie in them some treacherie to thy state and yet discriest not that thou thy selfe art more treacherous to thy God thou mayest bee proud that thy papers are replenished with vanities of others and loe thy heart more blacke then thy inke is dyed with perfidiousnesse of thine owne In a word when thou art returned home thou hast a few sheets to shew of their absurdities and whole volumes were they written of thine owne impieties Mistake me not beloued I intend not by this discourse to condemne trauelling but to propose Saint Paul Ortel pereg D. Pauli whose peregrinations haue filled a Mappe of more then halfe the inhabired World to be a patterne to trauellers Ambroslib 1. Epist. ep 6. Ambrose vpon those words of Esay Vae ijs qui descendunt in Aegyptum Woe be to those which goe downe into Egypt Non vtique sayth hee transire in Aegyptum criminosum est sed transire in mores Egyptiorum transire in corum persidiam escae cupiditatem luxuriae defor mitatem qui eò transit descendit qui descendit cadit I English it It is not criminous or vnlawfull to goe into Egypt but to goe into the manners of the Egyptians to goe into their perfidiousnesse to lust after their Pepins and Onions hee which so goes thither doth descend Vid. Caluin opusc and who descends falls I am not ignorant how farre Diuines allow a Traueller to sute and conforme himselfe to the fashions of Idolaters as first in ciuill things which are common to their Nation not notes of their Idolatrie Tertull. lib. de idololat such as Tertullian termes Natiuitatis insignia non pietatis generis non honoris ordinis non superstitionis Distinctions of their births or families not of any idolatrous honour or authoritie and markes of their order not of superstition Secondly in things which though they be necessarily imposed vpon the conscience yet in themselues are indifferent as abstayning from certaine meats or obseruing of certaine dayes which the Apostle mentions in the 1. Corinth so that we giue no signe of agreement in subiecting the conscience to them but in these wee must goe ad aras vsque till our Faith interposeth her right when that is toucht or questioned no man may be still or silent he which hath a tongue to speake he must speake hee which hath eares to heare hee must heare hee that hath hands to lift vp he must lift them vp neither action voice nor gesture may bee deficient in a cause which so neerely concernes our Lord and Master Tertul. ibid. Quid refert sayth Tertullian Deos nationum dicendo Deos an audiendo confirmes What matters it whether thou confirmest the Gods of the Nations by speaking or by hearing The Lord might haue commanded his people as Baruch hath it when yee see in Babylon gods of siluer and of gold and of wood borne vpon mens shoulders which cause the Nations to feare say yee in your hearts O Lord wee must worship thee Ier. 10.11 But Ieremiah in his tenth Chapter and the eleuenth Verse tells the remnant of Iuda this must not serue the turne it is not enough that the heart speake but the tongue also must tell Babels Inhabitants The gods that haue not made the heauens and the earth euen they shall perish from the earth and from vnder these heauens In which words one thing is worth the obseruing that whereas all the rest of Ieremie is written in Hebrew this Verse alone is written in the Chaldaicke Tongue Caluin in loc to note say Interpreters that though the Israelites were now in captiuitie and bondage vnder the Babylonians yet the profession of their Faith should bee free and ingenuous still and they should boldly defie the Babylonians Idols euen in the language of Babel that these Idolaters might vnderstand it If therefore wee would as Saint Paul here in my Text did walke vp and downe Athens I meane any place giuen to Idolatrie if wee would as freely as hee take an inuentorie of their superstitions let vs make his constancie knowledge and prudencie companions to vs in our trauels the former lest wee hurt our selues the later lest wee offend our brethren Tertul. ib. What Tertullian spake of Heathens Licet conuiuere cum Ethnicis commori non licet I may say of any Idolaters it is lawfull to liue with them not to die with them Let vs liue with all men and reioyce with them in the communitie of Nature not of Superstition pares anima sumus non disciplina compossessores mundi non erroris wee are alike in soule not in discipline or doctrine ioynt possessors of the world but not of errour And so I come from the things hee beheld their deuotions to what in beholding he found an Altar with an inscription to the vnknowne god but first of the thing it selfe the Altar and afterwards of the Title I found an Altar c. That it was lawfull for the Gentiles to erect Altars and offer sacrifices needs no prouing for before the Lâ—uitical law were these in practice amongst the Patriarchs Abel and Cain before the Floud are mentioned to haue sacrificed though Altars are not there expressed but since the Floud Noah is said to haue offered sacrifices and also to haue built an Altar Gen. 8. Now though Altars and Sacrifices were of such antiquitie and generalitie amongst the Nations yet as Tostatus notes Tostat in 16. Leuit. the case betweene the Iewes and the Gentiles in offering them was differing for the Gentiles might sacrifice first where they would secondly with what liuing Creatures they listed so as cleane thirdly with what ceremonies they pleased so as decent whereas the Iewes were limited and restrayned for the Place to the Sanctuarie for the Oblations to certayne Creatures and for Rites to such as were prescribed in the Mount The mayne doubt is how the Gentiles which were ignorant of that immaculate sacrifice Christ Iesus of whose crosse the Altar was but a type and shadow should light and jumpe vpon so fit a ceremonie I am not ignorant that many men are of diuers minds and opinions concerning it but I take that the summe of all in briefe spoken by them may bee this Partly they might vse them by Tradition from those which had beene the first planters of Colonies in the World after the confusion of Babel and had themselues seene them obserued by Noah and other Patriarchs which then liued partly they might creepe in by the Deuils cunning who the sooner to cloake his deuices and to paint them ouer with faire colours turnes oftentimes Gods Ape and imitates him in his best actions
Hug. de Sancto Victore lib. 2. dearca c. 3. that euery thing speakes these three words vnto a man Accipe redde fuge take restore flee The first is vox famulantis the voice of a seruant accipe benesicium receiue a benefit of God The second is vox admonentis the voice of a monitor redde ô homo debitum Deo officium render O man the dutie thou owest to God for giuing vs vnto thee The third is vox comminantis the voice of a threatner fuge ô homo supplicium flee Oman the punishment which euen we shall inflict vpon thee if thou beest not gratefull for receiuing vs. Wee may not be so rigid Philosophers as to make our naturall Philosophie meerely speculatiue a Christian must ring it further and conuert it to a practicall vse In the booke of Nature we must thinke no page vnwritten on wee must suppose euery creature euen the basest to speake vnto vs the starres of the firmament to crie out and by their light to inuite vs to that eternall light which is aboue the winds in the aiery regions to crie out and admonish vs of the Spirit of the Lord which dwelleth in all things the flouds and streames of running water to crie out and summon vs to that crystall riuer and fountaine of liuing water which is in heauen the earth when it trembles and when its massie frame is shaken to crie out and put vs in mind of the ruine and dissolution of the world And for as much as God in this world can be discerned by vs but in his hinder parts that is in his workes and his effects him lest they which he hath now left vnto vs as witnesses to enforme vs hee one day produce against vs as witnesses to condemne vs. And so I passe from the Aphaeresis to the Epicurosis from the Assertion to the Confirmation which commeth in the next place to be handled In that he did good and gaue vs raine from heauen and fruitfull seasons silling our hearts with food and gladnesse The benefits of God which the Apostles doe here produce to confirme the former position are pointed out by them as before I shewed you either in generall or in particular In generall in that he did good in particular in that hee gaue them raine from heauen and fruitfull seasons filling their hearts with food and gladnesse As for the generall wee are to note that our Apostles proceed not heere with Aristotle Arist 8. Phys à motu ad primum motorem from motion to conclude a first mouer nor yet with Patricius Patrici Pan. aug lib. 1. à lumine ad lucis luminis patrem from light to proue the author and father of it but here they vse a straine of Christian Rhetoricke and to gaine the beneuolence of their auditors what arguments are most subiect to sense and greatliest doe affect the heart of man those they propose to allure them to acknowledge the true God to wit in that hee did good For howsoeuer wee vnderstand things as they are true or delight in them because they are faire yet whatsoeuer we affect we palpably feele it either good in it selfe or good for vs. What the Philosopher therefore pronounced in a solemne axiome as it is vndoubted in seculation so it is daily experimented in action bonum est quod omnia appetunt Arislot Ethic lib. 1. cap. 1. goodnesse is that which all things affect But although goodnesse be so desirable yet that goodnesse which is here meant in my Text is not the goodnesse that is in God but that goodnesse which is from God not goodnesse in the subiect but in the obiect not that which is tanquam lux in lucido but that which is tanquam lumen in diaphano From this good which is done our Apostles draw an argument to the Author which doth it for it cannot be but that so diuine an off-spring must argue a diuine Sire and that so generous an issue must insinuate vnto vs somewhat the image and pourtraiture of its noble Parent But how proceeds the argument can the trueth of it be discerned by those only which are purified from offences and are right beleeuers Because of Israel it is said he hath not done so to any Nation therefore powreth hee his treasures vpon none but such as in sincere effectuall and thirstie hearts seeke for him No no beloued his goodnesse no lesse extendeth her sphere then his omnipotencie her might what man euer liued and enioyed not the heat and light of this visible Sunne and who euer liued or continued life but by the beames of his inuisible goodnesse they were not Iewes but Gentiles which our Apostles here deale with not worshippers of the true God but a nation possest with ignorance and adorers of foule spirits which they contend with yet they obiecting Gods doing good as a forceable argument to conuince euen them of their blind superstition and grosse idolatrie doe direct vs to this plaine but most profitable obseruation That there are none if they duely considered it to whom God exhibites not euident tokens of his goodnesse Besides the speciall goodnesse wherewith God seemes in a more especiall manner to endue his elect the generall goodnesse which he conferres to all his creatures consists in twofold kind to wit creando sustentando in creating and in sustayning them being created The goodnesse which hee endowes them withall in their creation is either absolute or as the Metaphysickes termes it transcendentall by which things are good in themselues as it is said God saw euery thing that hee had made and behold it was very good Gen. 1.3 or else it is respectiue by which things are good and vsefull in respect of others Not that euery thing is bonum vniuersale vniuersally good for all things as the Schooles well distinguish but that at least it is bonum particulare contractum euery thing is good for something Hieâ—on de â—ed â—is in Thom. p. 1. q. 23. art 3. Vult Deus omnibus bonum sed non vult omnibus omne bonum Whence it comes to passe that that which stands in an antipathie with one thing sympathiseth with another and what is poison to one creature is wholsome food and nourishment to another For God composed the order and series of things like a verse of Antithetaes that so by coÌ„trarie the same ornaments might be in things which are in words The not obseruing of which gaue an aduantage to a Manichie to perswade an ignorant man as Saint Austin Aug. l. 5. de cruit Dei cap. 18. de Genesi contra Manichcos relates it to beleeue because flyes molested him quod diabolus fecit muscas that the Deuill made them The like doe the Manichies of our dayes I meane the inconsiderate valuers of Gods benefits conceiuing that whatsoeuer squares not with their humours is not good But what sayth Saint Austin to this If sayth he an ignorant man chance to enter the shop
Heauen when hee rolled away the stone from the mouth of our Sauiours Sepulchre Matth. 28. sometimes it is taken Metaphorically when one by manifesting himselfe in his actions resembleth a kind of descent in his person and so God may bee said to descend non mutatione loci sed patefactione sui not by changing his place but by declaring himselfe For though God being in his essence considered is euery where present yet if wee consider him in his effects and in his workes certi huius praesentiae gradus dandi sunt say the Schooles there be as it were certayne degrees of his presence to bee granted Greg. Com. in Ezech. hâ—m 8. Omnia tangit non tamen aequaliter omnia tangit saith Gregory so that hee is present in a seuerall manner to seuerall things Communiter omnibus specialiter aliquibus hee descends by his workes of Power to all his Creatures vpon Earth by his workes of Grace to his Seruants Elect alone by his workes of Confusion to the wicked and Reprobates and in this latter sense I take to be vnderstood the words of my Text goe to let vs goe downe Now this going downe against these haughtie builders is sufficiently expressed in my Text where God by the similitude of a King who minding to punish wicked and rebellious subiects sends not others but himselfe goes downe in person to doe Iustice notes out vnto vs his iust seueritie and vigilant care in rewarding head-strong and ambitious Miscreants but yet the reason hereof appeares better by the coherence of these words with the former Verse Delrâ—e ex Philon. Chrysost For wheras there God had thorowly scanned and sifted as it were the thoughts and imaginations of these wicked builders and by experience found that they were not now growne to an opinion alone or a longing to commence this prodigious action for the winning of a name but that Pride was by this time at her high tyde and that a resolute presumption had gotten the sole swage of their affections so that hee by way of communication with himselfe describing First their condition that they had not only imagined or in their brests alone conceiued this vanitie but had euen already begunne to doe it Secondly their resolution that vnlesse hee with his Omnipotent arme should interpose nothing would bee restrayned from them which they imagined to do he addeth immediatly these words Goe to let vs goe downe which beeing as it were a Decree grounded vpon the former communication may not vnfitly afford vs this obseruation That to bee bent vpon a vaine resolution of purchasing a name is a fearefull presage of Gods comming downe to worke confusion Fifthly no sinne is so hatefull to God as this pride and seeking of glory other sins hurt most our selues or our neighbours but this directly as it were opposeth it self vnto God by remembring our selues too much it vtterly makes vs forget our Creator God therefore is said to resist the proud 1. Pet. 5. to scatter them in the imaginations of their hearts Luke 1.51 To destroy euen their house Prou. 15. and whosoeuer is an exalter of himselfe to bring him low Matth. 23.12 Assyrias Monarch affects but a name from his strength and wisdome and is threatned to bee consumed like thornes with a flame Esay 10. Nebuchadnezzar but triumphs in his Maiestie and glory and that goodly Tree must bee hewne downe and exposed amongst the beasts of the Field Dan. 4. Looke vpon the Prince of Tyrus Ezech. 28. or the Israelites Amos 6. and wee shall find that the exalting of their owne name for blessings receiued of God was that which puld downe plagues and afflictions vpon them To omit many others we reade of Herod Acts 12. how immediately after the peoples shout terming his Oration the Voyce of God and not of Man the Angell of the Lord smote him and why not for any boasting of himselfe for ought we find but for not declining the too great applause of the people So sudden hath God beene in confounding those which eyther proudly haue sought or vainly imbraced a glorious Name But what will some obiect may no Fame bee affected or Name bee sought for Hath God enriched some with such admirable gifts and excellent endowments aboue others and must all these bee buryed in obscuritie without speaking of Beloue mistake me not it is not a good name neyther is it a great Name which I heere dislike but our owne inordinate seeking of it Things are of two sorts Thom. 2.2 q. 132. art 1. Valent. Tom. 3. disp 8. q. 3. punct 2. some are bona perâ—se good in themselues and these in themselues are to bee sought for as Faith Hope Charitie and the like Vertues others are not good but indifferent in themselues and are to bee hunted after only as they may bee instruments of what is good in it selfe and amongst these are reckoned Fame and humane Glory To seeke Glory therefore or a Name as they may bee Instruments of a farther good is no sinne a good Name being rather to bee desired then great riches Prou. 22. For first as it is meroeâ— des meritorum a reward of our deserts it stirres vp a desire of well doing in our selues and herein is to bee desired Secondly as it is signum virtutum a token of Vertues in vs it makes our good indeauours the more passable amongst others and herein is to bee disired Lastly as it is Argumentum cuiusdam excellentiae diuinae in nobis as Thomas speaketh it worketh an acknowledgement of Gods graces towards man in vs all and herein is to be desired And in these respects Saint Paul bids vs prouide honest things not in secret onely but in the sight of all men Rom. 12. And our Sauiour addes the reason Mat. 5. That men may see our good workes and glorifie our Father which is in heauen Whereupon saith Austen Aug aâ— frat in Eremo seâ—m 52. Iom 10. Tenete quod dixi atque distinguite Duae suntres conscientia fama Conscientia necessaria est tibi fama proximo tâ—â— But to seeke a name as these builders did without relation at all to any higher end therein consists the vanitie Our heauenly Father he knowes what we haue need of and hath in heauen rescrued a name for vs which he hath written in the Booke of Life to grudge because we want it in this world is to weepe for the extinguishing of a Candle when in stead thereof wee are assured of the light of the Sunne And indeed Saint Paul giues and excellent example to illustrate and confirme this doctrine for when some Corinthians began to make more account of the false Apostles that crept in amongst theÌ„ then of him he that he might by bringing them to esteeme of himselfe bring them also to esteeme of the Gospell which he preached stucke not to tell them that he was not a whit behind the chiefest of the Apostles and to boast that he had been in labors
haue I deriued the race of our Prophets and Prophets sonnes through the whole volume almost of sacred Writ I find yet farther a forme of a Scholasticall exercise and though not a Sylogisticall yet an Oratoricall disputation mentioned by Saint Paul 1. Cor. 14. together with the Lawes prescribed and the stile of Prophet retained still with it Let the Prophets speake two or three and let the other iudge which giues a glimpse at least if not an authentike warrant for a Christian Schoole Zanch. orat de conseru in Eccles puro Dei verbo thus much Zanchius bids mee say that wheresoeuer you find Catechizing mentioned by the Apostle you may affirme that there was training vp of Youth in this Discipline and such saith he was at Antioch whereof Barnabas was Teacher Acts 13. and this Schoole was extant in the time of Constantine the great And so hauing seene the Doctrinalls of this Prophet and Prophets sonne in my Text le ts see what vse and application wee may frame thereof vnto our selues You see beloued here in my Text an Vniuersity Charter dated from Heauen confirmed by the High Parliament of the sacred Trinitie and the wordes and stile of the foundation exprest by those most glorious titles of Prophets and Prophets Children Other dignities are borowed from the world and the world may challenge its owne againe but this one priuiledge to bee Prophets and Prophets Children is the phrase of the Court aboue it is the language of the Spirit of God and this none can take from vs. If we be religious in preseruing the Liberties and Immunities granted vs by the Princes of the earth we should be sacriligious in neglecting this which proceeds from the King of Heauen t is high impietie to haue one word of this raz'd or one tittle alter'd it must bee ingrost not with letters of inke but in the Characters of mans life our actions and professions that whosoeuer can vnderstand may reade and whosoeuer reade may find as it were engrauen in the liuing frontispiece of this our body prophetas prophetarum filios both Prophets and Prophets sonnes First Prophets and that is when in the Schooles wee haue no other Regents then the Prophets themselues and this libertie wee haue recouered againe which once was lost 1. Kin. 19.2 1. Ki. 18.13 when the Roman Iesabel forced Elias to flie and the Prophets to hide themselues to keep their Acts in Caues and confine their intertainement to bread and water they are now thanks bee to God returned from exile and possesse their ancient places and here I turne to those who lothing the beautie of their natiue Soyle vpbraide vs with defects and imperfections in our Nurseries extolling the superficiall and histrionical teaching of the Iesuits with the title of Methode and Expedition the barbarousnesse of the Friers with the appellation of solliditie and soundnesse and aske what are those ballances in which they weigh the ware of these men I am sure there neuer wanted on our side a Dauid to encounter the stoutest Goliah which they could bring into the field thus much my Text warrants me to say that where the oldway of which Ieremy speakes Ier. 6.16 is not stood vpon but via Thomae the way of Thomas as the Dominicans speake and via Scoti the way of Scotus as the Franciscans where the Masters of the Sentences are not the Prophets but Peter Lumbard growes to bee a Text where Moses lies as in Popish conuenticles at the Popes feete and he vsurpes his Chaire they may haue a trunke or case of an Accademy but the soule and life of it which are Moses and the Prophets is departed they haue forfeited the priuiledges giuen them by God and let them vsurp what Angelicall or sublimated titles they please the best of them can say of himselfe no otherwise then Amos heere whilest he was an Heardsman non sum propheta I am no Prophet And if the case stands so with the Master that hee hath this sacred name of a Prophet pind on his sleeue for a monitor how doth the Prophets sonne reflect vpon the Scholer Doubtlesse no otherwise then a picture doth vpon him that it represents I may almost say as a definition vpon that which it defines For not to speake with that rigor in Logick a sonne may analogically be the matter and a Prophet the forme the one the genus the other the differentia in the definition of a Scholer or Disciple Take the common qualities of a sonne with the restringent qualifications of a Prophet and they make that sweete harmonie which the Psalmist found in Brethren that dwell together in vnitie For as a naturall father begets the body of his sonne so a Prophet informes the soule of him and no lesse restores that life which Adam lost then the other that which it neuer had Againe as our earthly Parents communicate their worldly goods so these spirituall Parents the Prophets their spirituall treasures to their sonnes and make them heires not by halues as the Pope but of all that they haue And lastly as a naturall sonne is a part of his fathers family so whosoeuer is truly the sonne of a Prophet is incorporated into the family of a Prophet submits himselfe to liue in ranke and place and obedience of a sonne if otherwise he either takes the Cell and Hermitage he liues in to bee a Kings Palace and a Schoole of fashions or with cursed Esau contemnes his Birth-right Gen. 25.34 and sells his Fathers inheritance for pottage hee is no true sonne of a Prophet but an embrio an abortiue fruite a Changling or rather a Cucko hatcht in his neast making perhaps a ridiculous singing in the Spring and May-time of his life stammering for good reason before the Summer of it in the Autumne dumbe and when the Winter of old age approacheth taking no other thought then how to shroud his nakednesse in some obscure hole from the sight of the world The consideration hereof should rouse vp beloued euery one in his seuerall place to looke about him and see in what ranke he is ordered what is required of him and how strict an account of so high a Calling wee must make For if Vices once ascend Gibha the Hill of God where shall they not enter If Sathan plant ill manners in the most eminent place of the Church in the houses of Prophets what will he not doe in priuate Families Samuel the first builder wee reade of Colledges calleth his Colledge Naioth that is 1. Sam. 19. euen beautie itselfe now a small spot in beautie is a great blemish againe Colledges are Epitomes of the Common-wealth as Athens was of Greece and what a thing were it in an Epitome to find superfluitie Vniuersities are the Eyes of a Kingdome and a Mote in the eye is a great trouble briefly Ezech. 47. Barad in coâ—cord hist Fuang Tom 1. li. 2. cap. 6. they be Ezechiels Rockes or Bayes where Salt is
The Soule of euery one comes as naked into the world as his Bodie not hauing so much freedome as to set open Shop in the meanest Trade without seruing an apprentiship That which the Poets faigne of some that they became most learned solo Musaruni Apollinis afflatu hath a Poeticall licence for its Pasport it was the priuiledge of those Legats à latere in the new Testament the Apostles and the truely Apostolicall Nuncio's Matth. 10.19 the Euangelists when they were brought before Kings to speake their embassage without conning and though saith Austen August de doct Christ in proâ—og de doctr Christ it be reported that Saint Anthonie could without any knowledge of Letters repeate the whole Scriptures by heart and that a Christian bond-slaue obtained by three daies praiers to reade any booke at the first view yet vpon these relations should no man looke to bee rapt vp with S. Paul into the third Heauen or expect a parly with our Sauiour of his instruction No beloued God hath founded his Schoole on Earth and the Lecturers in Ordinarie to whom hee sends vs for our lessons are men Cornelius though an Angell certifies him his praiers found their acceptance with God yet to reade vnto him the Doctrine of his Redemption the Angell meddles not with the taske but refers him to Peter Act. 10. The Eunuch plods vpon the prophesies of Esay and God like a tender Master lookes vpon him with the eyes of compassion yet he neither speakes to him himselfe nor dispatcheth a winged Messenger from Heauen to informe him but sets Philip like a speaking Commentarie in the way to be his Guide Act. 8. Saint Paul found that grace to bee spoken vnto by Christ and to haue that sweet Oratorie of our blessed Sauiour sollicite him in his iourney but it was onely a generall summon if Paul thou wilt know particularly what thou must doe Get thee into the Citie and there Ananias shall tell thee Act. 9. The ends hereof are many to procure honour and respect to teaching to make vs the true Temples of the holy Ghost by deliuering his Oracles and lastly to open a doore for Charitie to diffuse and communicate the rich treasures of Knowledge to others This made the most excellent and most renowned in both testaments for learning both acquisite and infused to propose their owne education in this kind vnto others for a rule to imitate Ioshua vnder Moses Samuel vnder Eli Elisha vnder Elias Salomon vnder Nathan Baruch vnder Ieremie Timothy vnder Paul and the Apostles themselues as domestick Disciples vnder our Sauiour were first trained vp before they were sent out to preach Nay that most glorious Redeemer which is the sole founder of this propheticall Order that chiefe corner Stone vpon which wee build and to whose meritorius intercession vnto his Father we owe this sacred Charter in my Text made choice Luk. 2. of the Hierosolymitan Academie and of all times their Acts as it seemes to bee the entrance and presage of his future Ministerie there is hee found for his place in medio Doctorum in the midst of the Doctors for his gestures a true Academick a perfect Schooleman obseruing the formes of the Schooles in his Questions and Answeres Was it that hee would recommend vnto vs from his owne practice the trayning vp of youth in these exercises and in this method or that withall he gaue the World hereby to vnderstand that he offers himselfe first this being as it were the first fruits of his propheticall office to the Prophets and Prophets sonnes such as in the Schoole of pietie are industrious and vigilant in the purchase of Knowledge vnlesse this also may be added for the honour of the Prophets that he was first saluted God and Man Matth. 2. by the Wise-men of the East and presented in the Temple with the stile of Illuminate Doctor by Simeon Luc. 2.25 Galat. l. 1. c. 3. whom Galatinus makes to be the Diuinitie Reader in the Hierusolymitane Vniuersitie The Fathers in the primitiue Church who were the Guardians of Christian Religion in its None-age knew well the behoofe and necessitie of this Doctrine and therefore whom preferd they to the stern of the Church but such as had not onely beene sonnes of the Prophets but also were worthy in respect of their rare and excellent learning to be Prophets themselues For from whence was Polycarp aduanced to the See of Smyrna or Irenaeus to that of Lions Iren. aduer haeres l. 3. c. 3. Euseb l. 5. c. 19. Hieron Epist 29. Socrat. hist Eccles l. 4. c. 22. Nazian Orat 2 in Iulian. in laudem Basili but as Irenaeus himselfe tells vs from that flourishing Vniuersitie of Ephesus founded by Iohn the Apostle Whence Gregorius Neocaesariensis lifted to the Pontick Bishopricke but as Socrates recites from Caesarea that renowned Schoole of Palestina Whence Nazianzen set ouer the Sasimians or Basil ouer the Capadocians but from the Athenian Academie In a word whence were Pantenus Origen Clemens Alexandrinus and so many able and victorious Captaines in that desperate and forlorne state of the Church prest forth to stand in the Gap and in the fore-front of the Battaile but from the Seminarie and Source as Saint Hierome hath it of all good Literature Hieron Catolog scriptorum Ecclesiast erected by Saint Marke himselfe in Alexandria The reason is because when wee hope to know any thing by speciall and immediate reuelation from God wee vse not to betake our selues to studie and meditation but to prayer onely and other good works nor to the most learned but to the most zealous and deuout and therefore wee are not to bee steared by such as are onely more religious and deuout then others but such as are withall more learned the holy Ghost sending vs not now as in the old Testament 2. King 22.14 to Huldahs Amos his Women and Heardsmen but to the Prophets and Prophets sonnes for the Spirit which guideth the Church vnto the consummation of the World Speaks not of it selfe but whatsoeuer it heares that doth it speake Ioh. 16. A notable lesson beloued for these Fanaticall times of ours wherein a bastardly brood discended from the loines of Montanus and his prophecesses Priscilla and Maximilla haue multiplied and encreased aboue measure and as if reuelations were parcells of their Trade Heardsmen haue stept in to the Pulpit with Amos thinking this warrant sufficient that they can say with him Non Propheta eram neque filius Prophetae I was no Prophet neither was I the sonne of a Prophet I will passe by the Swinckfeldians and Libertines Sleidan Comment l. 10. Meshou Hist Anabaptist out of whose camps Storkius in Saxonie Shackerus in Heluetia and that Leiden Botcher in Munster laid siege to the very roote of Christian institution by fostering this opinatiue inspiration because with such Innouators as destroyed the Principles of Faith and tooke away the common Medium
open doores as we reade of the Elders of Israel They sate in the Gates of the City that so whosoeuer went in or out might haue their Causes determined and free accesse might bee giuen to all Commers least the complaint of Absolon against Dauid should bee verified 2. Sam. 15. See thy Matters are good and right but there is no man deputed of the King to heare thee But if wee consider priuate persons the reason is different for concerning these Thom. 2.2 q. 68. Thomas giues two rules The first that in matters which concerne the common good or common hurt the Law is open to euery man in particular to bee an Actor or Accuser And indeed in such Cases beside that as Ambrose saith qui indulget indigno ad prolapsionis contagium prouocat vniuersos in being pittifull to some one we may be cruell vnto many Achans stealth vnreuealed Eli and his sonnes defaults vnreformed cost the liues of many Israelites one Ionahs disobediece almost sunke a ship wherein were many Iâ—â—ocents and by the crime of some one person oftentimes the whole people are held defiled The second Rule of Thomas is that in matters which concerne not the common good or common hurt but onely some mens particulars there is a larger scope giuen Though the Gates of Iustice as I said before stand wide open yet before we may enter them in our priuate businesse we must consider first the End of our entrie that it bee not reuenge but either the repaire of our owne losses or to amend our aduersaries for in this latter Case saith Austen he which meditateth Iustice Eleemosynam facit quia misericordiam praeslat doth Almesdeeds in that he compassionately reclaimes his brother from an errour Secondly wee must weigh the qualitie of the businesse if it bee weightie and not trifling if necessarie and not friendly to be composed and lastly if such as is subiect to restitution As alwaies we must forgiue our Aduersaries in respect of hatred to their person and of priuate reuenge so some times in respect of Legall satisfaction He which will goe as farre in all points as the Law will giue him leaue must hope for an Aduocate to pleade his Cause at the last Day and be sure that Forfeitures and Aduantiges be as currant Law in Heauen as they are vpon Earth The drinke of Gheistians is the soft sliding Siloah not Esecke and Massa and Meribah the waters of Strife and Contention Wee may remember the Doome which lighted vpon the Seruant in the Gospell Mat. 18.29 that forgaue not his fellow Seruant the hundred pence which hee ought him when his Lord had a little before forgiuen vnto him ten thousand Talents All the while saith Chrysostome that hee had wasted the ten thousand Talents his Lord was mild vnto him Chrysost in Gen. hom 27. now when hee grew cruell vnto his fellow O thou wicked seruant saith he I forgaue thee all that debt those ten thousand Talents for a little lip seruice because thou desiredst mee shouldst not thou in so smal a matter as one hundred pence haue had coÌ„passion on an Equall of thine thy fellow seruant The application is easie we our selues aske pardon daily for talent sinnes as I may call them and ought not we to forgiue our brother peny offences But the Law is open saith my Text true that thou maist vse it when necessitie requireth it not when thy Auarice and Malice abett thee when Iustice hath absolued thine Aduersarie what is that to thee Wee say not forgiue vs our trespasses as the Iurie shall acquit them which trespasse against vs but as we forgiue them It were good that wee should marke this Clause more carefully least we be constrained to doe as Latimer reports of some in his daies 〈◊〉 who being not willing to forgiue their Enemies would not say their Pater noster at all but in stead thereof tooke our Ladies Psalter in hand because they were perswaded that by that they might obtaine such fauour as forgiuenesse of their sinnes at Gods hands without putting in of so hard a Condition as forgiuenesse of their enemies into their bargaine But I need not insist longer vpon the explication of our Towne Clerks meaning where he saith The Law is open if hee had done this to incite them to Law vnder fauour I might iustly thinke that hee had either spoken for his commoditie but I thinke hee could not expect large fees from a man so poore and honest as Saint Paul Act. 24.26 He which would not haue his Cause suspected by bribing Felix would not now haue sought fauour by feeing the Towne Clerke and therefore I leaue this phrase with its fauorable construction The second point with the Towne Clerke in this direction mentioneth was the Ministers of iustice specified here by the name of Deputies A double way of satisfaction is intimated in my Text the one priuate vsed at this time by Demetrius who suspecting perhaps the equitie of his Cause brought not the matter before the lawfull Magistrates but caused an vproare amongst the common sort and thought by their furie to be auenged vpon Saint Paul and his Companions These proceedings the Towne Clerke in my Text disswades them from for besides the danger which might accrue to the Citie being now subiect to the Romans from such commotions reason would confute these Anabaptisticall proiects of working Reformation without the authoritie of the Magistrate therefore the Towne Clerke tells them of another remedie for their griefs if they had ought against any man by making their complaints knowne in open Courts in a lawfull Assembly to the Deputies This course not the twelue Tables of Rome not the Edicts of the Emperors not the Plebiscites of the people not the Decrees of the Senate doe authorize but the Magna Charta euen the Acts of the blessed Trinitie doe warrant for authenticall I might here summon for confirmation those frequent admonitions ingeminated againe and againe in the Lawes of Moses Exod. 23.6 Exo. 18.21 to incite the Iudges to the due performance of their iudiciall authoritie Leuit. 19.15 I could fortifie it with the presence of the Almightie whom the Psalmist makes the President of the Bench Deus stat in medio Deorum God standeth or assisteth in the midst of the Iudges Psal 82. I might if it were not preiudiciall to the Pope adde that appeale of Saint Pauls to Caesar Act. 25. or that Patent which hee deliuers Magistrates from Heauen that their power is ordained of God Rom. 13. But I desire for vse sake to applie these directions in my Text concerning the deciding of Law Cases to this present Age. The World is compared to a Theater Let the Theater wherein our Towne-clerke is orating bee the Embleme of it Two sorts of Auditors he had the one which knew not wherefore they were come together and may not altogether bee vnlike to the Anabaptists and Trinitarians of our times they suffer
which wronged thee but thou bringest the greater repentance vpon thy selfe thou wouldest maintaine the credit of thy familie but thou stainest it with bloud vnchristian-like actions thou wouldest bee highly esteemed of by others but thou shewest a base esteeme of thy selfe who prizest thy life at so low a rate as a few rash speeches of an enemy Time is too precious to be wasted the pursute of such ignis fatui such braynes which conceiue nothing but phantasmes and apparant meteors of true Fortitude I know that they appeare outwardly like Sehons and Ogges or as the sonnes of Anake to affrighten Israel with their bigge words and loftie speeches yet I doubt not but many punies heere meanely grounded in the rudiments of Philosophie would with ease so abase their high looke in a iust disputation at this time that they should rather seeme the Grasse-hoppers of Aegypt or fained Pigmyes supposed by Geographers beyond Lapland Yet if thy constitution bee so vnproportionably tempered with the elements that nothing will satisfie thee but fighting and combating I will shew you another Duell which is behoofefull for thee to accept God hath set in hostill opposition two enemies the old man and the new the flesh and the spirit for as Saint Paul saith to the Galathians Gal. 5.17 the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh neither as in any other place hee saith shall any bee crowned vnlesse in this warfare hee haue fought lawfully Perhaps in this skirmish thou hast seene Widdowes and Orphans oppressed and not protected them the poore destitute and not shielded them Passions and Perturbations besiege Reason and not queld them Traitors to Christ and Religion harbour within thy breast and not expulsed them O shame and infamie to thy profession of Manhood that thou shouldst set at nought the glorie of these Prizes and make such rubbish as fillips and blasts the trophes of the conquest I know that generous Spirits are awaked and rouzed vp with the iust reward of Vertue Renowne and Glorie why thinke not that your actions are done in secret or obscured within the confines of Lime and Sand you are placed in a magnificent Theater for you are made a spectacle to God to Angels and to Men the Combat is not the turning of an Houre-glasse nor the Annuall course of one Sunne nor the period of one Olympiad lest this finished you should feed your gall with the imperfections of your brethren but it is the whole iournall of this life the Champions which doe enâ—â—r the Lists with you are not Thirsiteses or Turkish Asapies rather to tyre then to trye your prowesse lest you should not thinke them to be the subiect of praise and honour but the Apostle describes them to be Principalities and Powers and Rulers of the darknesse of this world Ephes 6.12 and spirituall wickednesses in high places Heere our Captaine and Fore-runner sends vs into an hard Fight but most honourable O let our furie and emulation be spent in this warfare as for other prouocations let vs seeke to the gods on Earth the Magistrates for iustice if here wee are not satisfied let vs appeale to God in Heauen Remember the saying of Saint Basil In rixa is inferior est qui victor est In priuate contentions he hath the worst that ouercomes it is the summum jus of a Christian in this life if they haue a matter against any man the law is open and there are Deputies they must implead one another which is the forme in my Text prescribed and commeth last to be handled Amongst all the Symbols of a iust Iudge that Character which our Sauiour fastened vpon those whom hee constituted for Iudges of the World hath not the least ranke Matth. 5.14 Vos estis lux mundi yee are the light of the World The light of the World is the Sunne seated in the midst of the Planets in Heauen equally communicating his beames to all inferiour vessels of illumination though some by reason of their vnequall densitie are lesse capable then others to receiue it in Earth equally diffusing his influence into all matters though some by reason of their imperfect composition doe resolue and putrifie whereas others doe purifie and enhanse as it were the prices of their worth and estimation So Soles hi Iustitiae these Sunnes of Iustice aâ—â—se alike vpon the good and the bad vpon the iust and the vniust they shine not vpon the one and appeare eclipsed to the other but as a Centre in a Circle doe protend equall Lines towards both sides yet because Vice is exorbitant and irregularly distant from this Centre the Lines drawne out make oftentimes sharper Angles in the one then in the other for that which the Soule and Heart is in the Bodie the same is the Magistrate in the Common-weale the Soule wee say in Philosophie is tota in toto tota in qualibet parte at least in respect of his operations and the Heart is in the midst of the Bodie likewise and disperseth his heat into all parts yet by the same operations of the one and vitall heat of the other are excrements and contagious humors expelled but pure and profitable nourishment refined so that Iustice which in conclusion seperates the Goats from the Sheepe with her all-discerning Touch-stone tryes drosse and sophisticat Gold as well as pure weighs Lead in her Ballances as well as Siluer and as some conceiue of the Needle of a Sea-compasse vnder the Aequator is alike affectioned to either Pole and till Reason conducts the Ship a Degree this way or that is fixt on neither Such is the indifferencie or Apathie if I should not seeme Stoike which the Oracles of Iustice should bee possest with towards the Accuser and Defendant till as my Text sayth they haue implended one another Ambros in Psal 118. serm 20. Nihil paratum meditatum domo differt sayth Ambrose speaking of such an one sed sicut audit ita judicat Hee brings no determinations or diuisions with him from home in his tables but as hee heares so he speakes The rudiments of this practice were first by God himselfe deliuered in the Arraignement of Adam and Eue he was neerer to the Offender then the Barke to the Tree by reason of the presence of his Godhead which filleth Heauen and Earth and therefore taking them in the fact might haue condemned them without further proceeding but to dictate a forme vnto Man-kind of executing Iustice from himselfe the Fountaine of Iustice he first cites Man to the Barre Vbi es Adam Gen. 3.9 Where art thou Adam there Man making his appearance God beginnes an inquirie but which in effect implies an Accusation against him and produceth Conscience for a Witnesse Hast thou eaten of that Tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eate Verdict might forthwith haue beene giuen vp where Conscience confessed the guilt but this mercifull Iudge would heare what the tongue could say
where Adam he first beginnes alas he could not denie the Fact but extenuates it by laying it vpon the Woman and shee vpon the Serpent What patience what mercie what indifferencie was here shewed by God to Man what should Man be to Man Brother to Brother Wee reade how after this Cain slue Abel Abel said nothing but his bloud accused Cain euery drop of innocent bloud hath a tongue and is not onely vocall but articulate yet God proffered the same law vnto him Where is thy Brother Abel though Cain at his enditement answered stubbornely and as hee had not grace to auoid his sinne for he had not then grace to confesse it God varies not in his workes of clemencie almost two thousand yeeres after this hee deales in the like kind with Miriam and Aaron when in Arabia's Desarts they murmured against Moses Numb 12. But hee hath not onely by example but by precept also established this forme of Iudiciall proceedings in the thirteenth of Deut. sayth Moses If thou shall heare say that certaine men of the children of Belial are gone out from amongst you and haue drawne the Inhabitants of their Citie saying let vs goe and serue other gods which yee haue not knowne were they presently to smite the Inhabitants of the Citie with the edge of the sword were they vpon this rumour to leuie an Armie and to raze their Walls leuell with the earth no the Text sayth and that with great Emphasis and weight of words Thou shall enquire and not so only but make search nor here rest but aske diligently if it be trueth and the thing certaine see the Staires and ascents to mature and ripe iudgement enquiring searching asking diligent asking words of industrious and sedulous inquisition glossed and expounded by Nicodemus in our Sauiours case Ioh. 7. doth our Law iudge any man before it heare him had Pharaoh and Potapher obserued this precept Ioseph innocent Ioseph had not so long felt the miseries of wrong imprisonment Gen. 39. Had Irijah Captaine of a Ward in Ierusalem vsed this preseruatiue poore Ieremiah the Prophet had not beene deliuered into the hands of his persecutors Ier. 37. Had the Magistrates of Philippi vsed this equitie towards Paul and Silas these Saints had felt the warmth of some iustice and not beene beaten vnheard and vncondemned Act. 16. The law of Reason therefore hath set this print of her foot in all well-founded Policies to giue free audience to both parties I must confesse that the manner is diuers for in the Areopage at Athens the Accuser might freely accuse but the Defendant only speake to what was obiected Vlpian in orat Demost de falsa legat but in the Forum of Rome whereas the Accuser had but sixe houres allotted him to accuse the guiltie had nine houres to make his answere which custome when it ceased I know not thus farre Festus declared the Roman fashion which my Text aymes at It is not the manner of the Romans to deliuer any man to die before that he which is accused haue the Accusers face to face and haue licence to answere for himselfe concerning the crime layd against him Act. 25. But whilest I presse the excellencie and equitie of this forme mistake me not beloued as if taxed heereby all those formes where the Magistrate proceeds against the Offender not by producing Witnesses to implead but ex Officio by vertue of his Office clearing the doubt by requiring an Oath of the Partie suspected for I take that this course is not contrarie but subordinate to that which I haue hitherto insisted vpon For in this case the Common-wealth whose person the Iudge represents as Valentia sayth is the Accuser Greg. de Valent. in Thom. tom 3. disp quast 13. and alleageth either an infamie or great suspicions or at least an imperfect testimonie against the Offender so that in an important businesse which concernes the good either of Church or Common-wealth let not the Partie questioned say that he is brought contrarie to the law of Nature to accuse himselfe or that hee shall bee condemned without impleading of Accusers for the Infamie the Suspicions or the Witnesse though perhaps not sufficient to condemne thee haue alreadie accused thee and the Common-wealth in the person of the Magistrate acts the Accuser doe thou see how thou canst purge thy selfe ho thou canst preserue that reputation of an honest man which if thou neuer hadst beene vrged by the Magistrate yet in Conscience thou hadst been bound to doe It is true that Writers doe giue some aduice for the administration of such Oathes as First that the person which is to purge himselfe thereby Vid. Coussin Apolog. determ Episc Winton Less de iust iur bee not such an one as is likely to forsweare himselfe that is such as are knowne to haue formerly perjured themselues Secondly that the cause be not Capitall for in such a case the Deuill who is the authour of perjurie hath taught Man his frailty Pellin pro pelle quicquid estâ—viri daturus est pro seipso Skin for skin and all that a man hath he will giue for his life Iob 2. Thirdly that the Crime be not wholly vnknowne vnlesse in two Cases the one when it doth hinder the execution of an Ecclesiastilall Function as Simonie and Irregularitie the other when some great scandallior damage will accrue to the Church or Common-wealth from the concealing of it as in Heresies and Treasons but that in other Cases it be semiplent cognita as they say halfe knowne at the least and that as before I told you either by an infamous report or manifest signes or some such witnesse which alone is not sufficient to conuince But where these Impleaders are present wee find the practice of Moses Law to warrant the lawfulnesse of these proceedings the Man suspected of stealth Exod. 22. the Woman of breach of Wedlocke Num. 5. were both to purge themselues by such an Oath where if in this the suspected of Stealth sware falsely the atonement by Sacrifice is set downe Leu. 6. and a Prayer of Salemons for the pardon of it 1. Kin. 8.31 So then you see let downe as it were from Heauen an Archtriumphant of Iustice whose pieces though they seeme not of the same making to the eye yet are they hewed out of the same Quarrie and raised vpon the same Foundation of mutuall impleadings It is a signe of a mercifull gouernment which in doubtfull matters goes not to Tortures of a Prudent which proceeds not by Lottories of a Religious which heedes not Deuinations nor tempts God for miraculous Reuelations Where impleadings faile as for crimes of higher nature I leaue for ordinarie let me say with Saint Austin Misericorditer corripiat homo quod potest August lib. 3. Cort. Parmen quod non potest patienter ferat Let Man mercifully correct that which he can that which he cannot let him patiently beare vntill God himselfe shall either reforme
partly they might bee entertayned by mens policie which the better to keepe the people in awe and to knit them the more firmely together did inuent certayne rites and ceremonies for that purpose amongst which these of Altars and Sacrifices seemed to worke more impression in mens minds then the rest Vt quos ratio non posset eos adofficium religio duceret saith the Orator that whom reason could not perswade those Religion might master partly they might receiue much furtherance from mens consciences which being guiltie of rebellion to God did questionlesse promote and aduance these Altars as who should say that by a Sacrifice on an Altar must the Maker of Heauen and Earth bee reconciled vnto his creatures But naturall reason could not direct them the way to find out the true scope and buit at which all the Sacrifices and Altars did tend Quamuis homo norit Deum esse esse optimum maximum non norit tamen patrem in filio reconciliatum say Diuines though man by the light of nature knowes that there is a God and that this God is Goodnesse it selfe yet the Father reconciled in the Sonne he knowes not No man knowes the Father but the Sonne nor the Sonne but he to whom hee hath reuealed him These things were wonders to the blessed Angels much more are they mysteries vnto naturall men Nature rather shewed the necessitie of a Sacrifice then what that Sacrifice should be it reade as it were a Lecture vnto man of his wretchednesse but bade him go to the Schooles of the Prophets to learne the remedie so that in conclusion of all it brought him vnto death something must die for him but there left him Whereupon it was that the Gentiles in this thick mist of ignorance being not able to see the marke at which their Altars did ayme fell foully short wide in applying them first in attributing to the Sacrifices which they offered vpon the Altar a vertue somewhat resembling the Papists opus operatum to pacifie the indignation of God Thure Deum placa appease God with Frankincense saith the Poet they considered not that from vs to God the way is vnpassable if God himselfe be not our way whereby to come thither Secondly they failed in the end in not respecting in all these things the death of Christ the Poets question should haue beene better canuassed by them Cum sis ipse nocens moritur cur victima pro te seeing that thou art guiltie tell mee why the Beast dies for thee this indeed should haue beene their protestation That whereas the silly innocent Beasts did suffer death it was they themselues which deserued it both in body and soule and therefore without a further reference then the shedding of the bloud of a Beast well might Lucian deride Iupiter for delighting in the smell of carkasses and it was truely said of Hierocles that their Sacrifices were to the fire but a feeding thereof with fuell and vapours and to the Priests a superfluous maintenance of butcherie I will adde and to their Altars an institution but of a new shambles Thus haue you briefly seene the lawfulnes of Altars amongst the Gentiles their originall and withall the abuse of them let vs now trauell from Athens into England from the World vnder the Law to the World vnder the Gospell and consider what it is wherein we are to imitate these Gentiles concerning their Altars and what it is wherein wee must leaue and forsake them Altars as they are properly so taken for those on which the typicall or supposed reall Sacrifices were offered are now ceased and taken away Our Sauiour when he was lifted vp vpon the Crosse bad Altars to bee beaten downs when hee rent the veile of the Temple the Earth-quake shooke their foundation when he died their parts were acted and went out The Papists that they may scrue the Pope farther into the mysterie of iniquitie will haue him maintayn one Lesson which themselues confesse to bee a note of Antichrist and that is that Iewish ceremonies are not yet ceased at the least in matters of Sacrifices and Altars But perhaps they had rather be beholding to the Gentiles for them For if wee would beleeue Cardinall Baronius Baron Annal ad ann Dom. 44. wee may see their lustrall water and sprinkling of Sepulchres in Iuuenals sixth Satyre Lights in Sepulchres in Suetonius's Octauius Lamps lighted on Saturday in Seneca's 96. Epist Distribution of Tapers amongst the people in Macrobius his Saturnals But more liuely may we see it in their Altars first in multiplying the number of them in euery Church God allowes but two Altars to the Temple Bruschius reckons 51. Bruschius de Monast Germaâ—o fol 129. Virgil. in one Church in Vlmes taking their pattern belike from Venus temple of which the Poet Vbi templum illi centumque Sabeo thure calent arae but God teacheth no such Arithmeticke as to multiply Altars Because Ephraim saith he hath made many Altars to sinne Altars shall bee vnto him to sinne Hos 8. Secondly they imitate the Gentiles in dedicating their Altars to such as it is vnknowne or at the least vncertayne if euer any such were in the World as to Saint George Saint Katharine and Saint Christopher doing no otherwise then did the Romans August de Ciuit Dei l. 3. c. 12. who consecrated Altars Dijs incertis to their vncertayne gods or these Athenians who built them Deo ignoto to their vnknowne god But wee need not much seeke to know whom they follow in these deuotions when as it is a mayne Argument vrged by Bellarmine Bell. lib. 1. de Mâ—ssa c. 20. that Altars and Sacrifices were vsed by the Gentiles therefore they must still be retayned by Christians I know not what antiquitie they pretend nor what they can find in the Primitiue Church to proue the lawfulnesse of them we denie not but that the Fathers might terme the Table of the Lords Supper an Altar and that first in respect of the similitude it hath to the Altars of the old Testament for that on it are placed the Sacraments of Christs Body which before was figuratiuely offered vp by the Priest vpon the Altar Secondly because on it were laid the Oblations Offerings which well disposed people were wont to bestow vpon the Poore and this wee will grant them but that there were any such Altars in vse in the Primitiue Church as they pretend we absolutly denie We haue an high Priest saith the Author to the Hebrewes who needeth not daily as those Priests to offer sacrifice Heb. 9.25 nor that he should offer himselfe often as the high Priest entreth into the holy place euery yeere with the bloud of others for then must he often haue suffered since the foundation of the World but now once in the end of the World hath he appeared to put away sinne by the sacrifice of himselfe Chap. 9. v. 25 28. Well then Altars of stone and metals are