Garland it is the only Ornament and chiefest glory of a Kingdome the main and principal preserver and upholder of a State or Nation next under Christ But on the other side as Solomon saith Where there is no Vision the people decay Prov. 29. Yea both Prince and People will soon rue it and goe to wrack if the Gospel of Christ have not free passage amongst us or if the sincere and faithful Preachers therrof by the divellish and malicious subtilty of some Popish Politick and Pestiferous Enemies of the Church be silenc'd and suppress'd O then consider I beseech you beloved how it behoveth us to pray unto God that he would be pleased to endow enrich and adorn the Kings most excellent Majesty with the undaunted Courage and Constancy of Nehemiah with the Zeal and Care of the good King Josiah for the reformation of Religion and with the stedfast and pious Resolution of King David which he professeth and protesteth that he would use and observe in the Goverment of his own House and Kingdome Psal 101.6 7 8. Who so leadeth a godly life he shall be my Servant there shall no deceitful person dwell in my house he that telleth Lies shall not tarry in my sight I will soon destroy all the ungodly that are in the Land that I may root out all wicked doers from the City of the Lord. To this end also wee had need alwayes to pray for him not only that the name of the mighty God of Jacob may defend him from all evil and from all his enemies O watch over him with the careful eye of thy special providence O prepare thy loving mercy and faithfulness that they may preserve him But also it behoveth us to pray that the Lord would be pleased to blesse and furnish assist his sacred Majesty with good and wise Counsellors O such as are faithful to God true to the State and loyal to their Soveraign Parva sunt foris arma nisi est consileum domi Where no Counsel is the people fall but where many Counsellors are there is health Prov 11.14 The wisdome of such is better than strength yea than weapons of war Eccl. 9.16 Here let us pray for our King as Abigail did for King David 1 Sam. 25.27 Let the Soul of my Lord the King be bound up in the bundle of Life with the Lord his God and as for the Souls of his enemies let them be flung out as out of the middle of a sting I will conclude this passage with that prayer of David Psal 72.1 GIve the King thy Iudgements O God c. Then shall He Judge the people according unto right and Defend the Poor the Mountains also shall bring Peace and the little Hills Righteousnesse unto the People He shall keep the simple Folk by their right and defend the Children of the Poor and punish the wrong doer They shall fear thee as long as the Sun and Moon endureth from one Generation to another He shall come down like the Rain into a Fleece of Wool even as the drops that water the Earth In His time shall the Righteous flourish yea and abundance of Peace so long as the Moon endureth Which Blessings the Lord grant unto Our King and to all his Loving and Loyal Subjects whatsoever and this let us all Humbly and Heartily Joyntly and Devoutly pray for and crave and beg at His Hands for His tender Mercy Sake in Christ Jesus Our Lord to whom with Thee O Heavenly Father and Thy Holy and Eternal Spirit Three in One and One in three one Immortal Invisible Indivisible Incomprehensible and only Ever-wise God be Rendred and Ascribed as of due belongeth all Honour and Glory Power and Praise Thanksgiving and Obedience both now and for Evermore Amen FINIS
Subjects but account the Riches of Your Subjects Your greatest or Your chiefest Treasure-Nullâ aliâ re propius ad Deum accidere possumus quà m Salutem hominibus dando Tully pro Ligar But I need not urge this much lesse insist upon it for the general voice and unanimous report of the Country is that You are rather too merciful Let me give a word concerning this Facilitas multa docet mala licentia sumus omnes deteriores You must therefore shew Your Self to be a just King I hope I need not to advertise You for so the wisest of Kings telleth You a wise King scattereth the wicked Pro. 20.26 and bringeth the wheel over them i. e. the wheel of Judgement and Vengeance for their evil deeds for it seems it was a kind of punishment which was then used to be inflicted on Malefactors for even as Solomons stately Throne of Ivory was supported with two Lyons 2 Chro. 9. on each side one So the Throne of every good and pious Prince is supported and stayed up with these two Magnanimous and Lyonlike Virtues Justice and Mercy Therefore God made Thee King said the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon to do justice and judgement 1 Kin. 10. and therefore Augustine said well to this purpose Ablatâ Justitiâ quid sunt Regna nisi magna Latrocinia And this Your discreet and mature Wisdom hath also done for in this respect I may say to you as the Widdow of Tekoah did to King David 2 Sam. 14. my Lord the King is even as an Angel of God to discern right from wrong This You have done by leaving it to those sage and grave and honourable Heroes of this Nation to make inquisition for blood and to bring Just and Condign punishment upon the heads of those Insolent and Rebellious Traytors who spild the Innocent Blood of Your dear Father and put Him to death wrongfully Even as David left a Charge with his Son Solomon concerning Joab and 〈◊〉 Do Thou according to Thy Wisdome 1 King 2. let not their hoary head go down to the grave in peace for why blood requires blood That great Judge of Heaven and Earth Gen. 9.6 made it a Statute-Law which was never yet repealed Neque enim Lex Justior ulla est Quam necis Artifices arte perire suâ If You do but serionsly consider as I confidently presume and both hope and trust that You do how graciously the Lord hath dealt with You taking a care of You even ab Incunabilis à primâ lanugine causing a Star to usher and attend Your Birth and to shine all the day long on the day of Your Nativity as a certain Chronologer related it in his Anniversary Ephemeris if I do not mistake or forget my self it was so and this I hope did not presage or prognosticate any ill Omen at all to Your Sacred Majesty If You do often ruminate and revolve or call to mind the very great Mercyes the manifold Gracious deliverances and miraculous preservations wherewith the Lord hath blessed You and compassed You about with his loving kindnesse as it were with a shield preserving and protecting You both in Bello in Exilo in Persecutione in proscriptione tuâ Defending You in the fight at Worcester from the peril of the Sword yea both from the Lyon and the Bear 1 Sam. 17. as David was delivered from the hands of that violent Man and from the snare of the Hunter from the traps and plot of that perfidious Traytor who intended to have betrayed You But the Lord being gracious unto You You escaped out of their hands as Lot out of the fire of Sodom or as David did out of the hands of the Philistines likewise in the pursute when those blood-thirsty men the men of Belial followed hard after You even as one followeth after a Partridge upon the mountains the Lord stretched forth his holy hand over You he kept You as the apple of his eye As an Eagle stireth up her nest fluttereth over her birds Deut. 32.11 12. stretcheth out her wings and beareth them on her wings So the Lord alone led You and guarded You and guided You and put it into Tour royal heart to fly to an hollow tree to make it Your Castle or rather Your Cave to hide and shroud Your self in till the storm of their wrath and indignation was overpast and this was nothing else but Digitus Dei et Virgula Divina nothing else but the immediate hand of God to deliver You. Afterwards when a convenient means and time for Your safe convoy and departing hence out of the Land by his providential disposition and dispensation was thought upon contrived and concluded through the help of Your Hand-maid that vertuous and fortunate Gentlewoman though You were then in the condition of a poor exile Esay 63.9 and banished man yet then the Lord made bare his holy arm again and sent the Angel of his presence before You Sicut â—eâ—unt diâ—unt aiâ—nt c. to conduct You safe away and transport You beyond Sea and when You could not stay in France by reason of the Implacable fiercenesse and threatning of Your deadly and damnable Persecutors You were it seems forc'd to go into Spain where You kept Your heart perfect and entire to our sincere Protestant Religion and Your Conscience pure and untainted with any popish leaven notwithstanding the many strong perswasions and the many great proffers and promises of those rich magnificent Spanish promotions and advancements belike You were of wise Cassandra's mind Timeo Danaos vel dona ferentes Virgil aenead 10. For behold Your heart was still firm and entire and upright with Your God constant and unmovable in that antient Catholick faith and sincere Protestant Religion wherein You were born and baptized much like the heart of Reverend and Renowned Cranmer Ecce Jnvicta Fides cor inviolabile Servat Nec mediis flammis corda perire sinit Cranmer amid the fiery flames Thy heart unscorcht was found For why behold undaunted Faith Preserv'd it safe and sound Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for Your undaunted Constancy and Perseverance in the faith And both my heart and the hearts of all Your true loving and loyal Subjects have great and just cause to rejoyce in that behalf and to bless God unfeignedly for You As also we are likewise even all of us bound to bless and praise and magnifie his holy name for Your happy return unto Your Crown viz. That it hath pleased Almighty God of his singular goodness and especial providence to reduce and restore Your sacred Majesty to be now Inaugurated and Invested with the Crown and Scepter of Your antient famous Progenitors and Predecessors And this hath been effected and brought to pass by the Sweet Celestial and Sanctified policy of an antient eminent and renowned Worthie of our Nation without the effusion of blood or without
the help of a strong and potent Army happy shall that man be call'd that our deliverance hath wrought O sing unto the Lord a new song Psal 137.8 for he hath done marvellous things with his own right hand and with his holy arm hath he gotten himself the victory The Lord hath declared his salvation His righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the Heathen Psal 98.1 2 3 4. He hath remembred his mercy and his truth towards his poor distressed and distracted Church of England And all the ends of the World have seen the salvation of our God Account I beseech You my poor service and this small present which I tender unto Your Majesty 1 Sam. 17.27 even as Old Barzillai did his Barley and his Beans and his parched Corn to King David when he was at Mahanaim Pliny writes that the people did offer to their Gods Milk when they had no Frankincense and Salt that had no Milk and were well accepted Namque erit ille mihi Semper Deus Great men give great gifts Sinetas a handful of Water the Scholar Books I such as I have The Lord hear You in the day of trouble The Name of the mighty God of Jacob defend You send you help from his Sanctuary and strengthen You out of Sion make Your dayes long upon the Earth and Eternal in the Heavens grant You according to Your heart and fullfil all Your mind Sic vovet Serenissimae Majestatis tuae humillimus Servus et Subditus Tho. Malpas Ex musaeo meo Primo Die Martij 1660. TEXT Prov. 25.1 2 3 4 5. 1. These are also Proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah King of Judah copied out 2. It is the glory of God to conceal a thing but the honour of Kings is to search out a matter 3. The Heaven for height and the earth for depth and the heart of Kings is unsearchable 4. Take away the drosse from the Silver and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer 5. Take away the wicked from before the King and his Throne shall be established in righteousnesse SERMON THAT peerlesse mirrour of wisdom King Solomon as he was the richest and wisest King that ever reigned in Jerusalem or in any part of the world beside and in this a true type and figure of Christ our blessed Saviour who is the uncreated and eternal wisdom of the Father in whom even as he is man are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge saith the Apostle Col. 2.3 The holy Ghost also giving this rare testimony and singular commendation of his excellent knowledge and incomparable wisdom in the Scripture namely that it was such and so excellent and transcendent and unparalleld as it exceeded and excelled the wisdom of all the children of the East and all the wisdom of Aegypt for he was Sans peer wiser than any man c. 1 Kings 4.29 He was famous for his wisdom indeed throughout all Nations round about him and he spake three thousand Proverbs and his songs were a thousand and five and he spake of trees from the Cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the Hysop that springeth out of the wall which manuscripts or writings of Solomon for the most part are thought to have perished and to have been lost in the captivity of Babylon and great pitty it was that such wise and worthy Sayings had not been preserved from the injury of times for the benefit and comfort of succeeding ages and for the generations of men that were to come after him now as he was thus copious judicious and sententious both in his sayings and writings which are both extant and continue current among other Canonical Scripture So amongst the rest of his writings and proverbial sayings he did not forget to set down some grave and prudent Rules and Precepts wise and worthy documents observations and Instructions touching the high and eminent place office and calling of Kings and Princes witnesse this 25th Chapter of his Book of Proverbs wherein he first affirmeth Honor Dei est abscondere rem honor autem Regum est pervestigare It is the glory of God to conceal a thing but it is the honour of Kings to search out a matter It is the glory of God to conceal a thing and why The Apostle renders a reason of it Quia inscrutabilia sunt ejus judicia viae ejus impervestigabiles incognita mens consilium ejus his judgements are unsearchable and his ways past finding out for who hath known the mind of the Lord or who hath been his Counsellour Rom. 11.33.34 verses Moses that man of God that was so familiar with God was permitted only to see his back-parts he was licensed to see him But how not â priori but a posteriori ex postico tergo licèt non ex anticâ facie My face thou shalt not see saith God Exod. 33. This is the right stamp and character of his Deity of his individual and incommunicable propertie and by this he will be differenced and distinguished from men and made known to be God thus it is the glory of God to conceal some things from man As first he doth the decree of Election and Predestination so saith Paul 2 Tim. 2.19 the foundation of God standeth sure having his Seal Dominus novit qui sunt sui the Lord knoweth them that are his For as it is reported by Herodotus Diodorus Sicolus and divers other Historiographers that the head of the River Nilus could never yet be found so the depth of that secret decree could never yet be faddom'd or found out which made the Apostle cry out with more than ordinary admiration and astonishment 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! Secondly he conceals the date and times of the execution and expiration of his judgements as our Saviour told his Disciples Acts 1.7 It is not for you to know the times and the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power Thirdly he conceals the hour of our death to make us every hour to prepare and make ready for that last hour It was then good counsel which a learned Jew gave to his Scholar be sure that ye repent one day before death when answer was made that the day of death was uncertain he replyed then repent this day yea repent every day Omnem crede diem tibi diluxisse supremum Fourthly and lastly he conceals from us the day of that last and great and general Assizes for of that day and hour knoweth no man no not the Angels of Heaven but my Father only saith Christ Math. 24.30 Namque ideò latet ultimus dies ut observetur omnes dies saith an ancient Father God would have us ignorant of the last day to the end we might be circumspect and vigilant every day and still to be provided like the five wise Virgins with Oyl in our Lamps i. e. with faith
and grace and true repentance in our hearts with joy in the Holy Ghost and the sincerity of a good Conscience as Carthusian glosseth that place in the Gospel Thus you see it is the glory of God to conceal a thing Honor autem Regum But it is the honour of a King to search out a matter namely to search out the causes and examine the controversies and differences betwixt man and man and also to administer true justice and judgement to the people This is the proper Office and Duty as I may so term it that belongs unto the Regal Scepter or Diadem yea this is the right honour and glory of Kings and I prove it thus First out of Humane Story Secondly by Divine Testimony First out of humane Story It is repotted That when Phillip the King of Macedonia did reject and cast off the earnest suit of a poor Widdow with this slender answer Goe thy way for I have no leasure to hear thee now She replyed thus and why then hast thou leasure to be a King as if she had said Hast thou leasure to be a King and hast thou not leasure to doe Justice and to hear the Complaint of a poor Widdow that comes before thee for Justice God hath given thee time to Raign and power to Rule and Govern that thou mightest Apply them and Imploy them both unto that Prov. 20.28 and wherefore they are given thee For Mercy and Truth preserveth a King and with loving kindness his Seat is upholden or his Throne is upholden by mercy as our last translation hath it Even as Solomons stately Throne of Ivory was supported with two Lyons on cach side one so the Throne of every good and pious Prince 2 Chron. 9. is supported and stayed up with those two Magnanimous and Lyon-like vertues Justice and Mercy Therefore God made thee King said the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon to doe Justice and Judgment 1 Kings 10. And therefore Augustine said well to this purpose Ablatâ Justitiâ quid sunt regna nisi magna latrocinia Now for divine Testimony We read in the 1 Kings 3. when Solomon prayed to God for an understanding heart that he might do Justice among Gods people it is said that his prayer pleased God passing well because Solomon asked wisdome rather than wealth and knowledge rather than honour for thereby he gave evidence that his heart was set upon righteousness For Ex abundantiâ cordis os loquitur Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh Math. 12.34 and did not his mouth speak righteous things did he not truly discern between good and bad when he judged the two Harlots that came before him when he wisely decided and determined the matter betwixt them and happily discovered and found out through his mature wisdome and judgment the right Mother of the Child which as soon as his wisedome was thus proved and perceived it was presently approved and applauded for when all Israel heard the Judgment which the King judged they feared the King for that they saw that the wisdome of God was in him to do Justice and Judgment 1 Kings 3.28 Lo here was his Honour and here was his Crown and Glory to pervestigate and search out the matter As it is reported of King James to his tare and singular and perpetual Commendation that he rightly interpreted those miscarried letters which discovered the Powder-Treason in a sense and construction differing and dissenting from the Capacity and Understanding of all his Nobles For as it is the honour and glory of Kings diligently to search out the truth of matters that come before them and uprightly and sincerely to administer Justice and Judgment to the people committed to their Charge and Government so may we be assured and perswaded likewise of this that no less shall it make for their Praise and Commendation to have hearts like the Heaven for height and the Earth for depth as it is in the next verse Hearts like the Heaven for height and the Earth c. i. e. Infinite boundless bottomless unsearchable namely in regard of their profound learning and knowledge their extraordinary wisdome and understanding It behoveth them to have a large heart like Solomons Even as the Sand that is on the Sea-shore c. For Solomon in saying here that no man can shew the Kings heart sheweth that it is too hard for man to attain to the reason of all the secret doings of the King even when he is upright and doth his duty God putteth many things into his heart which are unsearchable and past finding out by ordinary men which made David to admonish Kings and Judges thus saying Psal 2.10 Be wise now therefore O ye Kings be learned ye that are Judges of the Earth For as one saith wittily If the Judge or Magistrate be not Wise Judicious and Perspicacious to dive into the Matter and discern the Cause thoroughly that comes before him words may soon carry the matter away through the glozing tongue of some eloquent Tully or Tertullus some Colluding and praevaricating Lawyer who may be a Sophister in word and an Ambadexter in deed That Christian Poet Prudentius spake prudently against Symmachus in his first book Publica res inquit tunc fortunata satis si Vel Reges Saperent vel regnarent Sapientes That Common-wealth saith he cannot chuse but flourish when either Philosophers are Kings or Kings are Philosophers an admirable remarkable saying indeed and worthy to be written in letters of Gold and engraven with the pen or point of a Diamond upon the Thrones of Princes And the wisest of Kings speaketh to the same purpose Prov. 20.26 A wise King scattereth the wicked and bringeth the wheele over them i. e. the wheele of Judgment and Vengeance for their evil deeds Here note that this saying hath been partly fullfilled of late by finding out and bringing some Egregious and Notorious Malefactors to just and condigne punishment who lifted up their hands against the Lords Anointed K. C. the first and embrued them in his blood Ut paena ad unum sit terror ad omnes neque enim lex justior ulla est quam necis artifices c. And how necessary learning and understanding is for Kings and Princes may be easily gathered out of those words Eccles. 10.10 Woe to thee O Land when thy King is a Child i. e. Ignorant unlearned and unskilful in the affairs of State Woe to thee O Land when thy King is a Child and thy Princes eat in the morning i. e. when they rise up early to Ryot and to Revel it But as it followeth Blessed art thou O Land when thy King is the Son of Nobles and thy Princes eat in due season for strength and not for drunkenness Where by the Son of Nobles he meaneth one not only praeclara prosapiâ sive progenie oriundus that is one descended and born of antient and famous Progenitors and Predecessors but one vertuously
inrighteousnesse and this is also likened to a fit vessel for the Finer Take away the drosse from the silver and there shall come forth a vessel for the Finer So take away the wicked c. First by drosse is here signified and represented unto us the wicked in general i. e. all ungracious unregenerate and ungodly men whatsoever all the Sons of Belial as they are stiled in the old Testament all the Children of Disobedience as they are so called in the new especially all perfidious Servants to their Master all treacherous and rebellious Subjects to their Prince that either secretly revolt and subtilly withdraw their hearts from or openly lift up their hands against the Lord Anointed against their Liege and lawful King and Soveraign And touching this crimen capitale this crimen laesae Majestatis this hainous and capital sin of Treason the Wise man both warily and worthily admonisheth saying Eccles 10.20 Curse not the King no not in thy thought neither curse the rich in thy Bed-chamber for a bird of the air shall carry the voice and that which hath wings shall declare the matter these then with all other Mutherers Malefactors all Mischievous and Blood-thirsty persons must be abolished abandoned and taken away from before the King for they are but drosse so likewise David compareth them Psal 119.119 Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like drosse therefore I love thy testimonies Note here that some of these notes were preached in the late Kings time even in the beginning of that fatal and fearful and disasterous Insurrection some wondring at it how I durst Preach so when for the divisions of Reuben there were such great thoughts of heart But not to insist upon generalities for the times and the iniquity of the times requires us to instance in some sorts and kinds of wicked men though not to nominate or name the persons and patties for that is extra lineam praedicamentalem that are here compared to drosse as you know they are elsewhere compared to chaffe Psal 1.5 for David having spoken before of the blessed and prosperous estate of the godly man in the 5th verse he saith non sic Impijs non sic as for the ungodly it is not so with them but they are like the chaffe which the wind scattereth away from the face of the earth more particularly then false prophets in the first place may fitly be compared to drosse who are described in the 13th of Deut. to have this odious and damnable quality namely to draw and intice us to Idolatry and to go after other Gods or to worship the true ever-living God in a false erroneous idolatrous and superstitious way By the Law of Moses such as these were to be stoned to death and good reason because saith he they have sought to thrust thee away from the Lord the God which brought thee out of the land of Aegypt from the house of Bondage and all Israel shall hear and fear and shall do no more any such wickednesse as this is among you Secondly covetous and unjust Judges may likewise here be resembled to drosse with all corrupt bribe-taking Lawyers and inferiour Officers that are under them or any way depend upon them for these are like the Image which Nebuchadnezar saw in his dream whose head was of gold Deut. 2.31 his breasts and his arms of silver his belly and his thighs of brasse his legs of iron his feet part of iron and part of clay and so the lower you descend the more vile and corrupt and degenerate are they In the third place we may esteem wicked and seducing Counsellors no better than drosse and therefore are to be carefully sequestred weeded out removed and taken away from the King lest they should infect and poyson and possess his heart with base Tyrannical principles and Machiavilian pollicies Fourthly all fawning Sycophants and Parasites I mean all proud ambitious flattering and aspiring Courtiers therefore as Hamons face was covered when that great Monarch was offended and displeased with him Hest 7.8 so let these or such as these not have so much privilege or favour to behold the Kings face for they are no true friends of his I dare say it no good Subâ—ects to the State they eat like mothes into liberal mens coats they are the very bane and consumption of greatnesse they rob many a great man of his goodness and make him rob and deprive the Common-wealth of her happiness therefore let us banish and abandon them and away with them from before the King Fifthly all male-contented Humorists all factious and fanatick Sectaries Seditious Scismaticks and all hypocritical dissembling Professors whatsoever I mean those who dispise all kind of Ecclesiastical Discipline and Church Government and account our Liturgy to be meat Popery for never was any poor book so vilified and reviled as the book of Common-prayer hath been of late years and yet those milites emeriti that noble Army of Martyrs that composed it suffered death in Queen Maries dayes they dyed with it in their Arms and both loved and honored it and highly esteemed it some of them commending it as the best token of their loves to their dearest Wives and that late Reverend and Renowned Prideaux Bishop of this Diocess Dr. Boys in his Epistle Dedicatory to K. James before his exposition of the proper Psalms cum multis aliis commended it as a Legacy to his two Daughters and all antient Orthodoxal Ministers have ever priz'd it and prais'd it as a second Bible Sixthly all cruel treacherous and bloody-minded Papists and Anabaptists who speak evil of Dignities and do obstinately refuse to take the Oath of Allegiance who if they cannot prevail to bring their purpose to pass by secret Plots and Conspiracies they will not stick like the other to attempt it by open Hostility and Rebellion for these two the Catholick and the Scismatick are much alike in their faction howsoever they be different and disparent in their Faith they hold as the Jesuites do that fides hereticis non est servanda which is a strange Thesis and a dangerous opinion the hatcher and harbourer of Treason the fosterer and fomentor of Rebellion for as one saith ingeniously every Pope is an open Scismatick and every Scismatick a secret Pope these Foxes as Luther tells us in his Preface to his Comentary upon The Epistle to the Galathians are tyed together by the tayl though by their heads they seem to be contrary and what have they else in their tayls but fire-brands like Sampsons Foxes Judg. 15. ready to set the shocks of Corn yea the whole fields of Corn on fire and without some prudent and timely prevention to bring the whole Christian World into a most facal and final Combustion and Confusion Seventhly all politick subtle-headed Projectors insatiable greedy-minded Monopolists unreasonable and unconscionable Patentees for these have been proved sufficiently by woful experience to be meer Harpyes to the State
of divers false Prophets which have been heretofore as the Prophets of Baal 1 Kings 18. and of the Groves four hundred and fifty which fed at Jezabels table The lying Prophets which deceived Ahab 1 Kings 22. The Old Prophet Act. 5. Act. 8. that seduced the young Prophet that was slain by a Lyon 1 Kings 13. Theudas and Judas of Galile Simon the Sorcerer and that deceitful worker Mahomet which taught a Dove to feed at his Ear wherein he had put grains of Corn. And when he was in his fits of the Falling-sickness he told his wife and the rest of his followers that he was a Prophet that the spirit of God fell upon him and that the Angel Gabriel in the form of a Dove came to his Ear and revealed to him secrets from God whose presence he was not able to abide and therefore it was that he prostrated himself and lay in a trance Such a Prophet was one George David born in Freesland who boasted himself to be Gods Nephew and that he was sent from Heaven to chuse and to appoint who should be saved and who should be damned Mr. Smith in his works so reporteth of him Such a Prophet also was James Nayler Lang. Chron. that great ring-leader of the Quakers who gave out these horrible prodigious and blasphemous words that he was the everlasting Son of God Such Prophets were Knox and Buchaman in Scotland who were profest enemies and open opposers both of Monarchial and Episcopal Government Such a Prophet was Paraeus and John Sleidan or John a Leyden in Germany a Tayler-King as he is commonly reported an Arch-Anabaptist a meer effeminate licentious Nicolaitain for he kept many wives together Oh what havock desolation did he and his Disciples bring upon that Church by harboring and entertaining such grosse erronious fancies in their brain that a wicked and godless Magistrate might be deposed and made away For the ordinary preaching of Muncer was this God hath warranted me face to face he that cannot lye hath commanded me to attempt the change of those means even by killing the Magistrate and Phifer his lewd Companion did but dream in the night-time of the killing of many mice and presently interpreted or expounded his dream of murthering the Nobles But these Prophets even all of them came to naught as Theudas and Judas of Galile did in the dayes of the taxing of whom Josephus makes mertion Lib. 20. De Antiqu. Cap. 4. They all perished and as many as followed them or obeyed them were dispersed For the Lord both checketh Act. 5.37 and correcteth and rejecteth such Prophets as these saying Jer. 23.21 I have not sent these Prophets saith the Lord yet they ran I have not spoken to them yet they prophesied And he saith moreover The Prophet that hath a dream let him tell a dream and he that hath my word Ier. 23.28 29. let him speak my word faithfully What is the chaff to the wheat saith the Lord So what is the dross to the silver Is not my word like as a fire saith the Lord Thus the fire of Gods word doth soon prove and find out those false Prophets to be but dross and therefore you see how needful it is to seperate them and take them away from the silver Take away the dross from the silver so take away the wicked from before the King c. I fear I have held you overlong in talking of false Prophets and in taking off the mask and vizard from that dissembling hipocrite that white-skind Devils-face as Luther was used to term the Traytor Judas 2 Covetous and Unjust Iudges dross Wherefore I hasten to the second sort that I named viz. Covetous and Unjust Judges And whether they also may not well be compared to dross judge ye For as the Prophet Esay Sophoclaeo Cothurne in a lofty or in a Courtly stile Esay 1.21 cryeth out and complaineth on the corrupt and degenerate Judges of Judah that were in his time How is the faithful City become an Harlot It was full of Judgment Righteousness lodged in it but now Murderers Here was a strange alteration and a most wonderful Innovation indeed in respect of their life and manners When those that should execute Judgment and declare righteous things to the people did practice nothing else but the contrary Nothing else but mischeif and murder destruction and unhappiness were in their wayes and the way of Peace Truth and Justice they did not know Whereupon the Prophet further upbraideth and accuseth them thus by way of similitude and comparison saying Argentum tuum abijt in scorias merum tuum Inspurcatum est aquâ i. e. thy Silver is become dross thy wine mixt with water thy Princes are rebellious and Companions of Theives Unusquisque amat munus et sectetur retributiones Every one loveth gifts and followeth after rewards And that you may perceive he speaketh directly of coverous and unjust Judges the words following do intimate it unto us They judge not the Fatherless neither doth the Cause of the Widdow come unto them No it seems they were all for money and bribes no just and honest or upright dealing was amongst them no regard or pitty or Commiseration of the poor at all The weakest went to the wall as we say the poor Widdow was despised the Orphane and fatherless Children were set at nought Therefore saith the Lord the Lord of hosts even the mighty God of Israel Eheu ah saith he shaking his head as it were for grief at their great cruelty and oppression and deeply considering of it and laying it to heart Ah saith he I will ease me of mine Adversaies and avenge me of mine enemies And I will turn my hand upon thee Et defaecans scorias tuas Justae puritati restituam te Whereby the Prophets comparison the Lord takes upon him to be an artificial Finer and purifier of silver from dross as Tremelius tells us directly on the Text Ut manu meâ tanquam Artifex eos qui improbi sunt a probis separem refundendo totam Rempublicam velut Adulterinum nummum I will turn my hand upon thee and purely purge away thy dross and take away all thy tin Where by dross and tin he meaneth the wicked and ungodly which are indeed the grosser and the worser mettal and as it were the excrements of gold and silver Restituamque Judices tuos sicut primum And I will restore thy Judges as at the first and thy Counsellors as at the beginning Afterwards saith the Lord i. e. after all this when I have seperated the precious from the vile when I have thus purged thee from thy dross and taken away all thy tin then thy silver shall appear and give shine unto the world For thou shalt be called Civitas Justa et urbs Fidelis The City of Righteousness or the Faithful City Jezabel shall lay aside her witty crafts and her paintings Rohab shall believe and receive the