the Assirians against the Jewes First that coÌ„mandement in the first verse of this second chapter seemeth very euidently to proue where the Prophet saith Blow vp the trumpet in Syon Syon is taken vsually for Christs church as we reade Esa 2. v. 3. Ps 87. 2. And the trumpet signifies the preaching of the Gospel as appeareth by those seneÌ„ Angels which did blow their trumpets from Jesus Christs ascension to his comming to iudgement No doubt as Syon is not heere to be ment literally so neither the trumpets But that which Ioel here saith Blow vp the trumpet in Syon for the day of the Lord is at hand is all one with that which our Sauiour saith in the Gospell The Gospell shall be preached and then shall the ende come Nay Saint Peter in the Acts applieth some part of Ioels prophesie to Christs first comming as the sending downe of the holy Ghost vpon the Apostles some part thereof to the day of iudgement when as the Sunne shall be darkned and the Moone turned to blood And shall we say that this prophesie concernes not vs Nay we in our fasts apply the turning to the Lord with fasting wéeping vnto our daies which is as as it were the medicine And shall we not apply the sinne and sore which Ioel there toucheth and that garden of Eden also to our daies Nay Saint Paul telleth vs plainely that all things chanced to the Iewes typically and are written for our learning on whom the ends of the world are come And will any man say then that this prophesie of Ioel concernes vs not Shall we not learne something thereby And also the same reason may be alleaged concerning the 13. Chap. of Esay which hereafter I also alleage And here let all the Lords watchmen giue these Inclosers and gardiners warning before while it is called to day least they repent to late with Diues in hell So their blood shall be vpon their owne heads for surely Gods word is truth And as the land shall be most assuredly a garden before the face of the Lord at that day so there shall be some gardiners The Gospell also condemnes this Inclosure Our Sauiour prophesieth that in the ende of the world the charitie of many shall waxe colde which argueth a precedent heate And may not these Inclosers fulfill this prophesie who haue some charitie in them but not the charitie of their ancestors But he that continues to the ende in the faith of the Gospell working through feruent and Christian charitie such charitie as Christ himselfe shewed towards vs and also commanded he shall be saued saith our Sauiour and none else Therefore let Inclosers take héede which haue not this charitie Saint Paul also prophesieth thus of the latter times that in the last daies shall be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is dogged times for as Gellius notes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is referred to the most keene and fierce nature of dogges And he willeth Timothie to know this as a thing most certaine And doth not this touch Inclosers who catch and snatch all they can from their brethren for their owne lucre sake But although this had béene enough to haue declared them vnto vs yet that which followes paints them vnto vs liuely for many shall be saith Saint Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is louers of themselues and louers of money By what two marks could he haue expressed Inclosers more manifestly these two loues raignes in them but the loue of their brethren is quite banished out of their harts Nay these Inclosers are as it followes also in the Apostle disobedient to their parents in not obeying after their deaths their charitable customes which they commaunded and in their liues obserued So did not the Rechabites The Apostle Saint Peter of the day of iudgement writeth thus The end of all things is at hand be yee therefore sober and pray not on the day time only but euen with our blessed Sauiour in the night but aboue all things haue feruent loue among you for Christian charitie as an effect of faith shall couer a multitude of sinnes For the faithful and mercifull mens sinnes are couered and not mentioned as appeareth in the Gospel But to goe on with our Apostle Let euery man as he hath receiued the gift so minister the same as good Stewards of the manyfold graces of God Why should Saint Peter here make mention of Stewards but that as sh 〈…〉 séeme he did foresée in the spirit that some at the ende of the world should forget themselues to be stewards and deale here with the earth and earthly things as though they were chiefe Lords of them whereas Saint Peter telleth them heere pâ—aâ—ely that they are but péere Stewards And Dauid himselfe though a king acknowledged the same That the earth is the Lords and all that therein is Nay Cyrus that great Persian Monark confesseth that the Lord God of heauen hath giuen him all the kingdomes of the earth as to a frée-holder or Steward Let all Landlords learne this lesson and remember it wel against the the day of Judgement and deale like stewards and not like Lords with Gods people God no doubt shall make enquirie at that day how they haue dealt with them But to conclude that of this sinne of depopulation of townes shall be especiall inquirie made at the day of iudgement The Prophet Esay speaking of that day writes thus Behold the day of the Lord commeth cruell with wrath and fierce anger to lay the earth waste And he shall destroy her sinners out of her What should the Prophet meane by those Chatteah her sinners but these Inclosers who are too much in loue with the earth Nay saith God I will cause the arrogancie of the proud to cease Gaauath Ngaritsim the pride of these terrible men that no man durst speake against or speake vnto And I will make a man saith God more precious than fine gold euen a man aboue the wedge of the gold of Ophir There shall be some at that day of iudgement as appeareth by this place that shall make no account of men which shal depopulate townes God telleth all such that he will make a man euen one man whereas they haue thought it a light matter to depopulate townes and to roote out many men more pretious than a wedge of gold And what is all their wooll-money to a wedge of gold One man is more worth than a wedge of gold much more then than all their wooll-money God himselfe hath spoken it Wherefore if Inclosers and depopulators of townes meane to be saued at the day of iudgement let them willingly cast open their closes againe and reedifie the farmes they haue decayed It makes no matter for the charge of hedging which they shall loose that they haue beene at And let them banish their shéepe out of their
haue broken the law of nature in not louing their like nay the euerlasting couenant of God in not louing their brethren as Iesus Christ our most blessed Sauiour hath loued vs. But if that Inclosers will here attribute the barrenuesse of the earth to other causes yet let them marke what goeth before Behold saith the Prophet the Lord will make emptie the earth Bokek and hee will vnhedge and vnwall it The nature of which word Mercerus declareth vnto vs thus Videtur ex locis in quibus inuenitur significare dissipare seu effringere quod clausum munitum erat vt omnium iniuâ—ijs pateat It seemes by the places wherein it is found to signifie to disperse and breake vp that which was inclosed and fenced that it may now lie open to the iniuries of all things And doth not this most manifestly touch Inclosers and their hedges Nay Esay addeth Vangiua Paneha he shall make crooked her face No doubt that was straight before For ngaua signifies to peruert or make a straight thing seeme crooked And may not this note also their straight chaine lines drawen on the face of the earth For otherwise the fare of the earth cannot bee made crooked And that the 24. Chapter of Esay concernes vs that liue in the ende of the world and not the Jewes onely but as types of vs these circumstances may seeme to prooue First because the Prophet speaketh of the earth and not of the land of Jewry Then that he saith that the earth shall deceiue the expectation of the Tillers thereof which I thinke was neuer more truely verified than now in our daies Then also because the Prophet teacheth That they shall breake in those daies the euerlasting couenant of God made to vs in Jesus Christ which couenant wee haue broken in not obseruing Christian charitie which is the onely lawe thereof Nay besides all these the Prophet addeth The Lord God of Israell shall be praised in the Isles of the sea And againe From the vttermost parts of the earth we haue heard praises euen glory to that iust And who is that iust but Iesus Christ whom Steuen also honoureth with that title and by that name describes vnto vs. The Prophet also saith That the earth shall reele too and fro like a drunken man And what is this else but that which Saint Luke teacheth vs That in the ende of the world men shall be at their wits ends not knowing what shall come to passe in the world And lastly The blâ—shing of the Sunne and Moone when the Lord of hosts shall raigne in Sion and in Ierusalem and glory shall be before his Auncients what doe all these meane but the comming of the true Sunne to iudgement And the glorie of the newe Moone that is of the Church triumphant at whose presence our Sunne and Moone shall blush And what meanes the raigning of God in Sion and in Ierusalem but that we all both Jewes and Gentiles shall be one sheepefold vnder one shéepheard Iesus Christ And glory before his ancients which they shall euer see what is it else but eternall glory Sibylla also séemes herein to agrée with the Prophet Esay and to point at our hedges now in the ende of the world who speaking of the day of iudgement and of the daies before it writes thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Doth not the plainely héere name hedges yea and that which Inclosers voe hope for that the ground so inclosed shall not yéeld more fruits Sibylla also prophesies most truly of Jesus Christ and of his Crosse and of his comming to iudgement in those her most famous Arrostick verses which she made concerning him as no man can deny and doe we thinke that the rest of her prophesies especially the remnant of those her Acrosticks concerning the state of the world before the day of iudgement not to be as true In those her verses of the condition and state of the world before that day she writes thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And here first let vs marke that she saith that the earth by sweating shall giue a token of the iudgement Let couetous Landlords and Inclosers which ouerburthen their tenants take héede that they be not the causes of this her sweating for otherwise the earth properly cannot be said to sweate of her own nature being of constitution the briest element nay drier than any dogge which as both Philosophie and experience teacheth doth neuer sweate And after she prophesieth thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And secondly whereas she saith That the world shall be a Thorne or Briar as Castalio translates it doth she not plainely signifie men who shall become like to thornes and briars which shall pricke mens handes that deale with them and shall catch vnto themselues all that they can get and shall euen pul mens coates from their backs For as concerning materiall briars and thornes the world was neuer so cleansed of them as at this day which euery man is carefull to roote vp for hurting their shéepe But those other spirituall briars which Sibylla meaneth growe in many places very plentifullie But let all such briars take héede that they be not burned in hell fire Nay to let Sibylla passe doth not our Sauiour himselfe prophesie of the daies of the sonne of man before the ende of the world And doth he not plainely teach vs That they shall bee like the daies of Noah and of Lot before the destruction of the olde world and the burning of Sodome How that they shall eate and drinke and marry and build and plant in those daies and the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Saint Mathew vseth teacheth vs that not the vse but the extraordinary abuse of all these things is héere signified And those words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which S. Luke vseth plainely prooue that according to these particulars and not a generall securitie onely as some would faine haue it is meant by all these And are not our hedges now extraordinary Now liued all our Ancestors without them And our Sauiour in this his doctrine may séeme to agrée with the Prophet Ioell who of the day of iudgement and of the estate of the world at that day most manifestly prophesieth thus The earth shall be as the garden of Eden before him but behinde him it shall be a desolate wildernes What doth thâ—â— garden signifie but that the earth then shall haue great cost bestowed vpon her and shall be hedged in as we vse to doe our gardens If the Lord when he comes shall destroy the garden let the gardiners take heede for their destruction shall be without all doubt the greater Let them willingly throwe open their gardens and closes againe that God doe not throw them into hell And that this prophesie of Ioel concernes vs our daies and not onely the comming of
passe not for that Let all such great sheepe-maisters that are decaiers of tillage take héede which will haue no seede furrowes nor haruests nor greatly passe not for them they contradict hoerein Gods ordinance as this place prooues And after we read of Noah as of an obedient subiect to God héerein thus And Noah began to be Ish Haadhmah that is a man wholy giuing himselfe to labour in the earth and he planted a vineyard To plant a vineyard is correspondent in some countries to our sowing of corne and an acre of Mines yeeldes better increase then an acre of our Corne as I haue heard Isaak also as heire of Noah did follow his steps and though a straunger in Aegypt yet we read of him thus And Isaak did sowe corne in that countrie and he found in that yeere an hundred measures and God blessed him Shall Isaak sowe being a stranger in Aegypt and not wée at home Did hée finde an hundred measures for one For so Munster saith that the Chalde Paraphrast doth erpound this And shall we say that we can finde no commoditie by tillage And it followes God blessed him a blessing of God followes tillage They shall not thriue that decay it as erperience teacheth God appeated to Gedeon as he was threshing and appointed him Iudge ouer Israel And doth not this commend threshing Elizeus also whom God did chuse to bee a Prophet in Eliah his roome was a great maintainer of tillage for thus we reade And Eliah departed thence and found Elishah the sonne of Shaphat who was plowing with twelue yoke of oxen before him and he was with the twelue And was not Elizeus a great husbandman who had twelue yoke of oxen and no doubt many plowes going together in his field and many plowmen among whom after hée deuided those two oxen which he killed And doe not all these so beloued of God and giuing themselues so greatly to tillage commend it vnto vs shall we prefer pasture and neglect this Master Camden writes that in England were the stately Palaces of Lady Ceres meaning great Barnes of corne Now we may see in some places some such great Barnes still and Inclosers makes them stande emptie I know whereas 1500. quarters of corne hath béene yéerely growing since inclosure hath beene practised there groweth not now 500. And againe he writes that England for corne was the onely storehouse of all the west Empire And that out of England yeerely the Romanes transported 400. shippes bigger then barkes laden with corne to relieue their souldiers that lay on the borders in Germany In those daies England was able to relieue other countries with corne but sometime now she is glad to buie corne of other countries her selfe Inclosers haue partlie brought this to passe who had rather haue their wooll-houses filled with wooll then their Barnes with corne O dishonorable children to their mother The Preacher also in his booke writes verie excellently in the commendation of tillage If in a countrie saith hée thou seest the oppression of the poore and the defrawding of iudgment and iustice be not afraide at the matter for hee that is higher then the highest regardeth and there be higher then they And the aboundance of the earth is ouer all the King also consists of the field that is tilled Salomon giueth an Item to all that deale hardly with the poore how that the God of heauen beholdeth Nay Shomer as it is in the Hebrew that is marketh and keepeth in memorie all their dealings And that the tillage of the earth surpasseth all and that euen the King thereby is maintained by the foode that it ministreth to strengthen his people and by the multitude of valiant souldiers it affordeth for his warres For as Plinie writes Most strong and valiant souldiers are made of husbandmen and come foorth of the countrie and which thinke no harme And shall wée deale hardly with those that must fight and aduenture their liues for vs And shall wée not maintaine tillage the honorable mother of chiualrie Lechem in Hebrew signifies bread and Lacham to fight They therfore which destroy bread destroy chiualry Nay how can any christian truly say the Lords prayer and pray Giue vs this day our daily bread that decaieth tillage Will he pray for bread and not vse the ordinary meanes to haue bread which is tillage This is plainely to tempt God Will he haue God feede vs miraculously with Manna as hee did Israel in the wildernes In Canaan God will haue plowing and sowing vsed And therefore after the children of Israel came into the lande of Canaan Manna ceased That historie also of the plague in King Dauids daies must teach vs some thing and therein that is especially to be marked to build an Altar in the threshing floore of Araunah It should seeme that God loues threshing flooers and there hée will be praised But Inclosure decaieth tillage and therefore God is not praised in our threshing flâ—oers This may be a cause of the plague amongst vs euen now Let vs erect Altars in the threshing flooers of Araunah and the plague shall cease Inclosers doe thinke that there are too manie men in this lande and that they may decaie townes by their Inclosure and that it is no great matter to â—eâ—aie a towne But God sâ—â—th their thoughts and now he beginneth to diminish the people of this land hee may diminish them as well as they and he beginneth at the very head first Couetousnesse which is the roote of all euill which our Sauiour describes in the Gospel and S. Paul to Timothie and pride which God hates and resists which Esay also paints out vnto vs in his third chapter at large the taking Gods name in vaine for filthy luâ—re For which God wil not hold vs guiltles c. And because deceite and guile goe not out of our streetes And for that by our wicked liues Gods word is euill spoken of These no doubt may séeme to bée the causes of the plague amongst vs God giue all men eies to see their sinnes and to amend them that the plague may cease and especially Citizens and such as inhabit in townes corporate amongst whom these sinnes commonly raigne A second reason against this Inclosure is that it dispeopleth townes THe people are called Gods inheritance Aske of me will giue thee the heathen for thine inheritance the ends of the earth for thy possession And again Behold saith Dauid childreÌ„ are the inheritance of the Lord a reward the fruite of the wombe He putteth behold before this his doctrine as though it were a strange thing and yet most true Secondly he addeth that children are a reward Inclosers manie times lacke this reward they loue the earth so wel that God wil not blesse them with many sonnes Nay Dauid addeth Like as the arrowes in the hand of the Gyant so are the children of
and liued here as a trauailer or pilgrime and not as a Citizen or as an inhabiter But how contrarie is this doctrine to the practise and very spéeches of these Inclosers who say Is it not lawfull for vs to vse the earth to the most aduantage This is their maxime and principle but Abraham and Saint Paul doe tell them that they should vse it as though they vsed it not That they should vse it as wise trauailers doe their Innes in their iourneis who séeke not for gaine or superfluitie there who care for no more then will serue their turnes Let the inhabitants of the earth séeke to make their most aduantage thereof But all Christians who dwell therein as Pilgrims séeke for no more then will serue their turnes let them goe out of their countries in hart and affection with Abraham their father and be Hebrues that is passengers with him as the Hebrue word signifies and not Canaanites that is marchants whose trade is in this life Thus much Abraham the father of the faithfull Iewes and the bery name of the Hebrues doth teach them a lesson worth the learning for this is the sinne of our age that we are too much in loue with this earth more than our forefathers nay more than Pagans haue béene The Jewes whose fields lay together did not inclose them as the field of Boaz which lay altogether and yet was not inclosed plainely proues Their Orchards and Vineyards were walled about their common fields were bounded with stones or mountaines But our righteousnesse must exceede theirs and therefore we ought not to inclose Among the Jewes also euery yeere the poore might gleane in their fields and they were commaunded not to rake them too cleane but to leaue somthing for the poore and not to gather in the outsides of their fields but to leaue them also for the poore Boaz did very notably fulfill this lawe Nay euery seuenth yeere what grew in their corne-fields of it owne accord they were commaunded to saue and to suffer the poore to gather and reape it And doth not this plainly commend and commaund tillage The poore must haue some thing left them euery yeere for to gleane and they must haue euery seuenth yeere all the whole croppe that grew of it owne accord And were not the Jewes then bound to sowe their fields so that the poore in Iewry had good and plentifull gleanings left them euery yeere and the whole croppe of rich mens lands euery seuenth yeere But Inclosers will cut short all this for neither will they sowe any thing at all and so bar them of their gleaning and reaping or if they sow any small quantitie they will rake so cleane that the poore shall get very little that commeth to gleane after their rakers The Prophet Ieremie doth prophesie of the returne of the Jewes from Babylon out of captiuitie and vnder the type of them of Christs Church thus O virgine Israel thou shalt be adorned with the Timbrell and thou shalt goe forth with the dance of them that be ioyfull Thou shalt yet plant vines on the mountaines of Samaria and the planters that plant them shall make them common As Christs Church hath a common Father and a common Sauiour and common Sacraments and a common countrey and a common inheritance in heauen so on earth she should also haue a brotherly communitie in her earthly affaires and she should make her grapes cōmon This did the Jewes in the shadow and shall not Christians doe thus much more in the cléere sunne-shine of the Gospell The fourth reason this Inclosure is against the estate of Christs Church and kingdome ESay thus prophesieth of it Violence and hard dealing shall no more be heard of in the land neither desolation nor destruction within thy borders but thou shalt call saluation thy wals of a word deriued of the name of Jesus and praise thy gates Our wals should taste of the loue of Jesus and should be like him they shuld all be built of frée stones and not of flint stones and all our gates should be praise we should neuer set foote out of doore but we should be merry and ioyfull And are Inclosers tenants of this kingdome Is not their hard dealing and violence almost in all places complained of Are not their desolations and pulling downe of farmes apparant in euery mans eyes Are the wals and dwelling houses of their Tenants built of frée stone and not rather of flint stone Doe their rents taste of Jesus Christ and not rather of worldly couetousnesse Are the doores of their Tenants houses praise and not rather lamentation sighing and mourning Add againe he describes vnto vs the estate of Christs Church thus The Wolfe shall dwell with the lambe c. And the Cow and the Beare shall feede their yong ones shall lye together c. This communitie of dwelling Inclosers do somtimes take away in Christs Church for they will haue no man almost dwell néere them We may sée many of their houses built alone like hauens nests no birds building néere them but especially this community of féeding they like not of They will eate their pastures by themselues they will haue none to enter common with them Geminianus a very learned man agreeing herein with the Prophet Esay writes thus very excellently Good men euer loue a common and sociable life and they flie singularities or solitarinesse by the example of Bees For Bees as Ambrose writes doe chuse vnto them a common mansion or dwelling and they are all shut vp with one doore and they all labour together their meate is common as also their worke as they worke together so also they eate together Their occupation as I may so tearme it is common and their gaine is common and their swarming is common And hath God giuen Bées these excellent vertues in vaine or for themselues only and not rather to teach men Christian charity and humane society Such angrie creatures doe thus loue and liue in common together and shal not much more men to whom God hath giuen no stings Nay Christians to whom he hath giuen that louing and sociable doue of his holy Spirit The Prophet Micah also thus describes vnto vs the estate of all Gods people in his Church But they shall sit euery man vnder his vine and vnder his Figge tree and none shall make them afraid for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it Where the Hebrewe word Charadh signifies to mooue one with thought and care All shall liue merily in Christs Church they shall neuer feare thought nor care much lesse taste of it And doe not Inclosers not onely make their Tenants feare thought and care but also fill their heads with it England hath béen famous throughout all Christendome by the name of merie England but couetous Inclosers haue taken this ioy and mirth away so that it may be now called sighing or sorrowfull
England In England we haue euer had thrée States Lords Spirituall Temporall and the Commons And these Commons are diuided againe into Gentlemen Yeomen and Husbandmen But in other Countreyes there is no Yeomanrie but only in England In France all are Gentlemen or Pesants In Denmarke all are Noblemen or Rustici as they tearme them And in High Lowe Germanie there are the Nobilitie and the Boores. So that Gentlemen which are Inclosers ouerthrowing the Yeomanrie and decaying the Communalty doe blotte out the ancient glory of England for no doubt by the strength and hands of these two haue béen heretofore euer obtained our admirable conquests and most famous victories throughout all Christendome So that now these Inclosers doe goe about to make England as barbarous and as weake in this respect as other nations Nay let them take héed that they prooue not themselues Egyptians for not the countrey but the conditions maners are wont to giue names As we may learne out of the Prophet Esay whereas he calles the Noblemen of Iewrie Princes of Sodome and the people the people of Gomorah though neither they nor their ancestors were borne there So I feare we haue some Landlords of Aegypt in England for Mitsraijm the name of Aegypt in our language is as much to say as an Afflicter or one that makes another sorrowfull and are not these Inclosers Egyptians then which pinch and vexe their brethren Let them take heede the name agrées vnto them let them feare the punishment God is the same God still He that heard the grones and sighes of his people in Aegypt and came downe to deliuer them will no doubt doe the same in England I haue heard of an olde prophesie that Horne and thorne shall make England forlorne Inclosers verifie this by their shéepe and hedges at this day They kill poore mens hearts by taking from them their auncient commons to make shéepe pasture of and by imposing vpon them great rents and by decaying tillage so that now they are forlorne hauing no ioy to liue in the world And according to these shadowes Saint Iohn describeth to vs the truth of Christs Church But if that we walke in light saith he as he is in light we haue fellowship one with another and the blood of Iesus Christ his Sonne cleanseth vs from all our sinnes Here is euen to force vs to the communicating of our vile earth one to another the communicating of Jesus Christs most pretious blood as though they which would not maintaine this christian communion and fellowship among themselues should not be partakers of that They are not children of God but children of the diuell that walke not in this light they are not of Gods familie and Church but of Sathans Synagogue that haue not this fellowship among themselues And Saint Paul commaunds Timothie and in him all ministers to teach rich men the same lesson Charge them that be rich in this world that they be not high minded c. but to be very ready to giue and to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 making common their talents among their brethren but Inclosers doe not so To conclude this point Esay in his prophesie may séeme to teach and touch vs also very narrowly that haue liued vnder the gratious raigne of Quéene Elizabeth and doe now liue vnder the happie and religious gouernment of King Iames for he also prophesied in the daies of godly Ezechias to whom both these may be compared And God there complaines that when as he had planted a most plesant vine in Iewrie and had hedged it from the hands of the enemie and had picked out of it stones that is many vnprofitable members and traytors and when he had planted a wine-presse in it that is a famous Schoole of the Prophets which should yéeld vnto them the most pleasant wine and also had built in the middest of it a stately tower of defence euen a most godly and mightie Prince and Magistrate yet for all these benefits when as he looked for swéete grapes at their hands they brought forth sower grapes And hath he not bestowed all these former benefits and blessings vpon vs in England He is very vnthankfull or starke blind that will not acknowledge this and yet for all these benefits these Inclosers with those vnkinde Jewes yéelde sower grapes And what these sower grapes are the Prophet Esay after most manifestly sheweth vs. Woe vnto them saith he that ioyne house to house and lay field to field till there be no place that you may be placed by your selues in the middest of the earth Is not this the marke that inclosers doe aime at to be placed alone by themselues on the earth But to such stragling shéepe from the holy fellowship of the Lords flocke the Prophet here cryeth woe And are not these plainely the grapes that Inclosers doe yéelde to ioyne field to field and these they account gainefull and pleasant grapes Oh men desperately sicke whose mouthes are thus out of taste And doe they thinke that God will take these grapes at their hands What talke they of the goodnesse of their land that it is worth this or that let them praise God that they enioy it If he had not hedged it about not long since the cruell Spaniard had deuoured vs all Oh remembring this let them offer swéete and most pleasant grapes vnto the Lord that is deale as mercifully with their poore Tenants as is possible All the mercy which they can shew is nothing to that mercie which God hath shewed to them already nay to that he must shew to them hereafter or else they shal be damned And let them take héede for with what measure they doe now meate shall be measured to them againe as it was done to that rich man who as he would not giue a crum or droppe here on earth so he could not haue one crumme or droppe of comfort then graunted him in hell though he could cry father Abraham neuer so loud his vncharitable and vnmercifull faith could doe him no good no more shall theirs profit them Let all men marke this well It is written for our learning And let them marke well what measure of mercie they now giue and let them be sure that they giue measure enough for without all doubt at that day they shall receiue the same againe And I pronounce vnto them that doe what they can they shall stand neede of it all Let them not flatter themselues in doing some small trifles and in giuing the paring of their nailes and those things which they may well spare for as Saint Peter tels vs at that day the iust man shall scarcely be saued and then what case shall vnmercifull men be in The fifth reason is that this Inclosure is against Christian charitie SAint Paul saith Charitie seeketh not her owne things but euery man also the things of other men But these Inclosers respect onely
a new forme of gouernment in townes wherein they are Lords They will haue no Common left at all And wheras there hath béene common Leas and Meadow which hath béen without memory of man yéerly letten and the profit thereof hath béen imployed towards the repaire of the Church and such other good and Christian vses they will now take them away as waste due to themselues except there can be good euidence in writing to shew for the same They alter change the ancient high waies so that trauellers and strangers sometimes without danger cannot come to their townes They will haue no common Neat-heards nor Hog-heards nor Pinder in their townes by which poore men haue liued had a stay and maintenance both for themselues and families though impotent and not able for other works Philarchus testifieth that the beanes of Aegypt were first sowen in Aegypt and that if so be they were sowen in any other countrey they would grow in none but there But after in a certaine Fenne of Epirus nigh vnto a riuer of Thesposia called Thyramnis in the daies of King Alexander Pyrrhus two yeeres together they grewe and brought foorth their fruit very pleasantly but when as King Alexander set a guard to keepe and watch them that none should take of them nor come into the Fenne the Fenne was dried vp neither brought they foorth any more fruit In Edipso also there appeared a certaine cold water running out of a spring not farre from the sea by the which they that were sicke were very much holpen Insomuch that many out of farre countreyes came thither to drinke of that water But whenas the captaines and gouernors of King Antiochus began to pinch them of this water and commaunded to giue them of another water to drinke quite contrarie from the other the spring by and by dryed vp In Troas it was lawfull for any man to fetch Salem Tragosoeum Troy salt but when as King Lisimachus made them pay for it straightway the sault vanished away but afterwards hee wondering at that strange alteration hee made the place free agame and the sault also increased againe Athenaeus lib. 3. cap. 1. reports all these histories And doe we not thinke then that God mislikes these couetous men that for their owne priuate lucre and gaine doe take Commons from men Nay if he plagued them that thus dealt with Pagans who were his enemies doe we thinke that he will allowe of them that deale so hardly with Christians and with his owne Children Tâ—llie by the light of nature could say Iustice vsed things common as common and things priuate as her owne and shall not we much more doe so But the men of our age account it wisedome to looke narrowly into Commons and if men cannot shew good euidence for them they take them away The earth is subiect to our vanities against her will as Saint Paul teacheth vs. And what is she now then doe we thinke at our vncharitable ditches and hedges made to the hurt of our brethren And what these vanities are Salomon may seeme to teach vs Eccles 2. 4. 5. 6. 11. Nay God himselfe may séeme by his secret prouidence which no doubt doth gouerne all things who contrarie to the manner of the Jewes fields hath entermingled our Lands together to haue forbidden this our inclosure No man almost can Inclose in Champian countries with out great exchange and doe we thinke that this intermingling our Lands thus together was done in vaine God also by that miraculous moouing of the ground at Kinnastone in Herefordshiere may séeme to haue condemned Inclosure no doubt it taught some thing The ground mooued from his own place carying sheepe sheepe-coats with it and trees and high waies it ouerthrew Kingston Chappell and changed Tillage into Pasture Howsoeuer some here will giue their naturall causes or make no account hereof héere was plainely the hand of God and his extraordinary working for our learning this thing chaunced not in vaine And the like strange alteration vpon the earth is wrought by Inclosers They change auncient and accustomed high waies they turne Tillage into pasture they carrie sheepe and Shéepeheards with them And Churches nowe in many places thorough depopulation may become Chappels Inclosers haue so greatly diminished Gods people Nay the Caterpillers which God sent not many yéeres since on thornes and hedges which did eate off all the leaues of them in summer may they not séeme to condemne Inclosers GOD hath by many miracles condemned the sinnes of our age As our couetousnesse by a childe that was borne with a golden tooth And why may he not condemne this our couetous inclosing and exchanging the auncient customes and vses of the earth euen by this miraculous and strange mouing thereof Sir Thomas Moore a great common-wealths man and very expert in the lawes of England writes thus of Inclosure Your sheepe I say which were wont to be milde and gentle and to be fed with so small cost now as it is reported haue begun to be so wild rauenous of late that they eate vp euen men and that they make waste and depopulate townes For in what parts of your Realme growes finer wooll and therefore of better price there Noblemen and Gentlemen yea and some Abbots holy men I assure you not being content with the yearely rents and commodities which were wont to be payed out of farmes vnto their ancestors and not content themselues to liue idlely and pleasantly and to doe no good to the common wealth vnlesse also that they should hinder and hurt it that they may leaue nothing but reape all commodities into their owne hands They inclose all their pastures they pull downe houses they ouerthrow townes leauing the Church onely for to croowe vp their sheepe in And as though your forrests and parkes had not spoyled ground enough amongst you these holy men turne into a wildernes all dwelling houses and whatsoeuer heretofore hath beene tilled And therefore one insatiable glutton and most pestilent plague to his Countrey ioyneth fields together that he may inclose within one hedge some thousand acres The husbandmen are either thrust out of their inheritances or else being by craft beguiled or by force oppressed or depriued of them or else wearied with iniuries and compelled to sell them Therefore howsoeuer these wretches doe flit men women husbands wiues blinde men and widowes fathers with their young children with a greater than a rich family for husbandrie stands in neede of many they flit I say from their knowne and accustomed dwellings and they can finde no place where to put in their heades They sell all their stuffe when as they must needes be thrust out which is not worth much if that they could tarry and get a good chapman for it they sell it I say almost for nothing And when as by wandring a while they haue spent that what must they needs doe then but either steale and iustly be