affected as well to the one as to the other then might wee claime according to the course and rule of iustice an equall ballance Suppose with the Maniches that there were two distinct principles one of good another of euill yet both of them should be alike bounded in power and should share alike in their actions for otherwise in time the one would deuoure and extinguish the other but considering that there is onely one fountaine from whence whole nature proceeds and that the fountaine onely of good without any mixture of euill certainly this malignitie of nature proceeds not from her first institution but from some after accidentall corruption Secondly if many snares were laid to intrap vs and many euils counterfait and disguised in the habite of goodnesse should assault vs it would then stand with the prouidence and perfection of nature that if shee could not vtterly abolish them yet to frustrate their attempts to decline from those euils and to make the creatures more warie and cautionate but it falles out farre otherwise cleane contrarie whereas being placed betweene generation and corruption shee should equally partake of both according to rule measure proportion obserue the disparitie there is but one way of production one manner of birth a framing and fashioning in the wombe but there are infinite by-waies which leade to destruction and ruine fire water sword famine diuers and seuerall mischances many moneths are required for the constitution of a body but in an instant it is suddenly dissolued Suppose that any part of man were rotted or consumed this part vnles incision be made will vndoubtedly corrupt the whole body but why should not the whole body being greater in quantity indued with that actiue and soueraigne quality of heate rather endeauour and striue to regaine this one corrupted member and to restore it to perfection One man infected with the plague is able to inflame the whole City why should not the whole City rather being perfect and sound recall this one infected member One beast tainted with the murren destroyes the whole flocke and all creatures finde it a rule in their actions that Facilius est destruere quà m componere it is easier to pull downe then to build it is easier to deface then to perfect See here nature discouers her selfe or at least seemes to complaine of her owne wants shee is corrupted she is corrupted and therefore no longer to be held as a louing mother or as an indifferent iudge but to be accounted as a partiall step-dame wholly tending and enclining to corruption Thirdly to descend more particularly to the seuerall parts of nature the heauens and the earth seeme to conspire the one against the other for the greatest part of the yeere these inferiour bodies seeme to be frozen and congealed with coldnesse in the Sunnes absence or else to be scorched and consumed with heate by his ill neighbourhood and nearer accesse the least part of the yeere is temperate as likewise the least part of the earth is temperate and habitable either in regard of the climate or in regard of the soyle barren heathes high mountaines stonieâ—ockes wast desarts and wildernes I speake not of the huge Ocean which with her armes seemes to imbrace the whole earth and farre to exceed it in quantity but I pra'y what might cause the vnseasonable weather excessiue drought in the spring excessiue moysture in haruest the spring alwaies annoyed with an East winde which nippes the tender â—ud and the Autumne alwaies molested with a 〈◊〉 Westerne winde which scattereth the 〈◊〉 before they are ripened it should seeme that in the beginning God did square and proportion the heauens for the earth vsing his rule leauell and compasse the earth as the center the heauens for the circumference the earth as an immoueable stocke still obserues the saâ—â— distance the same scituation and place Whence â—omes the diuersitie the stormes and the tempests the famine the pestilence and the like can Magistrates and Rulers conspire to ouerthrow the State can Princes commit a treasonable act or is there opposition and factions in heauen as well as in earth amongst those simple and pure bodies consisting of the same quinâ—essence and nature and therefore in reason should not admit contrariety in their actions The Starres in generall intend the earths fruitfulnesse each one in particular hath his seuerall office and dutie if vertue be added to vertue and their influence together concurre it should rather further and perfect the action certainly some ouer-ruling hand and prouidence stirres vp these vprores and thereby intimates the reciprocal opposition as of the earth to the heauens so of the heauens to the earth but the root of this dissention first bred and is still fastened in the earth from whence proceeds the first occasion of these tumults Fourthly I will leaue the heauens and come to these lower regions for we are fallen we are fallen from the heauens to the earth and heere I will take a suruey of nature What is it that preserues naturâ— in the same state wherein she consists the Philosopher will tell you Discors elementorum concordia is it possible that a well ordered and a well gouerned state should onely be vpheld and maintained with banding and factions this seemes to detract from the prouidence for it stands with the condition of creatures to bee finite and to receiue bounds and limitations as in their nature so in their actions and qualities neither can it stand with wisedome or iustice that creatures should thus trespasse vpon creatures and offend each other without any sufficient vmpire or indifferent iudge to take vp the controuersie Shall I tell you the reason Man who was principally ordained for Gods seruice as all other creatures for man man I say breaking his owne bounds being nexus naturae vinculum it must necessarily follow that all the rest of the creatures which were bound and knit together in man should likewise be inordinate ouerflow their owne banks if the Captaine and guide first breake the ranke no maruell if the souldiers fall to confusion But in the meane time how stands the Deity affected to this alteration and change Metit vbi non seminaâ—it hee had neither part nor portion in mans sinne yet like an excellent Alchemist hee drawes water out of the hard rocke he turnes this sinne to a further manifestation of his owne glory hee created not the elements thus rebellious but leauing them to themselues then began the insurrection Now God like a cunning States-man so fortifies each partie and faction and in a iust ballance weighes out their strength that being equally matched the combate is so doubtfull as it prolongs the battell and at length in a time best knowne to himselfe hee shall no longer interpose himselfe as an vmpire but vnbridle them and giue them free power to reuenge their owne wrongs and worke their owne wrath and then shall follow the dissolution of nature Thus
light yet his minde is in continuall motion climing vp from earth vnto heauen a strange and violent ascent I confesse whereunto he shal not attaine without great labour and difficulty not without great perill and danger For his body is dried vp and withered before the approch of his age as if he had passed through the element of fire now at length hauing fast hould on the sun and the heauens he is carried round about the world with their motion viewing whole nature sed caâ—eat prâ—cipitium let him take heede least with the violent turning he bring himselfe to a gidinesse and leese himselfe in his generall search of the whole world Thus that profession which the trades-man and plow-man suppose to be the idle loytering profession assuredly it is the most painfull and laborious The Lawyer in opening the cause and deciding the right as it were appointing the iust bounds of euery mans possession shall finde it a more difficult labour then doth the husband-man in hedging and ditching his sences The magistrat in his gouernmeÌ„t is not excluded from toyle no man can bee freed from the curse in sudâ—re vultus nature her selfe seemes to teach vs this principle and to infuse it in the heart of man for in our idlenesse we are alwaies most imployed but it is in ill doing Nihil agendo malè agere discimus 〈◊〉 seemes to rouse and inforce vs to action in so much that all our sports and pastimes are in veritie and truth labours howsoeuer we may repute theÌ„ for recreations sports And therefore our natural rest or sleepe we must esteeme it a death we are laide in our winding sheetes our senses fayle vs somno sepulti wee are couered with darkenesse here is our death and after death beholde our resurrection wee were sowne in weakenesse wee shall rise againe in power the decayed spirits renewed our bodies strengthened and then wee returne to our seuerall callings and professions and thus our rest tends to our labours nature is defined to bee the mother of motion motion is the companion of life and an inseparable accident to the creatures in generall But I will tie my selfe more strictly to speake of the curse see then the correspondencie of Gods iudgements to the creatures in generall but especially to man in particular for the whole curse must fall vpon man and therefore God hath appoynted that the earth should bring forth briers brambles that so maÌ„ might be tied to vse his own labour for his sustenance and foode see here the same wisdome and prouidence of God appeares in both now I would gladly aske why should the earth bring forth naturally fruite fit for the nourishment of beasts and yet mans body consisting of like flesh should bee destitute of like foode Why should not the earth as well bring forth of her selfe graine corne wheate barlie rie without the yearely labour tillage and husbandry of man as grasse Apricocks Pomegranates Cherries which seeme to be as rare in nature and as difficult in production how shall man onely intend the glorie of his Maker and returne due thankefulnesse to his God and Creator for all his blessings which was the scope and end of his creation if these base offices this kitchen-businesse and seruice shall giue him a sufficient taske and take vp his time with imployments certainely Gods seruice was the end of mans making and this after-drugerie proceedes from the corruption of nature an accessarie punishment accompaning our sinne But I pray' let vs examine why should not the earth bee as beneficiall to man for his foode as to the rest of the creatures at first the earth without plowshare or harrow brought forth these graines suppose Barlie or Wheate why should not the beneuolence of nature appeare as well in the preseruation of them as in other fruites You will say that it proceedes from the excellencie of the graine this is your error for at first there was no greater difficultie in their production for there was nothing and therefore there could be no resistance of Gods power as not in the least so not in the greatest as it was in the production so should it bee in the preseruation the blessing was equally imparted to all crescite multiplicamini if more be required nature as she affoords the excellencie so she should supplie the defects and in their owne proper places and wombes you shall finde as easie generation of the sweete Almond the delicious Date the wholesome Nutmeg as you see in our common hedges of Crabs Slowes Blackberies and the like if all places serue not for their plantation acknowledge natures defect which is the scope and marke that we shoot at That a perfect drugerie might appeare in man suppose that a poore mans childe were now borne into the world at first either with his fathers labour or at the parish charge together with the charitie of well disposed people he must bee kept and sustained now hee is in the forme of a Beads-man in his blew coate and his blew cap holding vp his innocent hands vnto Heauen to pull downe a blessing vpon the heads of all his good benefactors and founders O all yee rich men of the world if euer pittie and compassion could mooue your hearts looke vpon these sillie poore innocent babes who neuer offended either God or man but onely in the sinne of their conception heere your charitie bestowed shall bee without exception for they cannot counterfeite they are young beginners giue them a stocke and like seede sowne vpon good ground it shall againe returne vnto you with full measure and thankefulnesse when at length hee comes to the age of ten yeeres then hee beginnes his taske hee must worke to purchase his owne foode to buy his rayments to get his strength his growth and his nourishment for nature onely supplies life she laies onely the foundation and this life must bee continued and prolonged by such meanes which he himselfe hath bought with his own labours now no man can worke without tooles the plough the mattocke the spade and these tooles must first bee prouided with his owne labours hauing both strength and tooles there must be a skill and cunning to worke and this skill is gotten by experience learning and his owne labours now he is sufficiently prepared of himselfe but where will hee worke either hee must first purchase his timber his stuffe or his ground or else he must drudge for another to worke in his vineyeard as if he were to create a new world for himselfe before he could take the possession of this world Let vs with compassion descend to the lowest degree and state of men that a man might be a drudge not onely to other men of the same kinde in the nature of a seruant that he might haue worke to imploy himselfe that with his owne honest labours hee might get his owne liuing but I say that he might bee a drudge to the dumbe
must be watered and digged the earth mellowed and mended mettals purified and clensed and by whom shall all this bee performed if by a superiour agent then might it be done without disparagâ—ment but if a base and inferiour should vndertake to controwle and correct nature in her actions this were a high contempt and indignity Here are not second causes which require the concourse and influence of their first mouers but nature is to bee taught and instructed by her handmaid to receiue her last and finall perfection from her vassall and slaue that ill-fauoured ape mistrisse Arte forsooth the learned gossip which doth all things by imitation taking her grounds and principles of action from nature she must be sent for as a mid-wife to help the deliuerie and hence issues such numbers and troupes of Artes together with such infinite inuentions of men and among others the Chemicall Arte though it deserues high commendation being rare and wonderfull in her operations yet with her vaine-glory and ostentation shee hath greatly wronged and prouock't nature in so much that if nature were not wholly cast downe and deiected rather then she would endure the intolerable boasting and bragging of Mountebankes shee would attempt the vttermost of her power To conclude this one poynt considering first that nature so much aboundeth in euill secondly and is so much enclined vnto euill thirdly considering how the heauens stand affected to the earth fourthly how elements amongst themselues fifthly how mixt creatures one to another sixthly and in themselues what defects and imperfections there are seuenthly how Art serues like a cobler or tinker to peece vp the walles and to repaire the ruines of nature I hope it wil sufficiently appeare that she is corrupted and much declined from her first perfection which certainly was intended by the founder and by all probable coniecture was imparted to her in her first institution I could bee infinite in this point but indeed it is not so pertinent nor doth it so nearely concerne my text I haue already alleaged seauen arguments to this purpose seauen is a perfect number as I challenge a rest on the seauenth day so heere I will rest in my seauenth argument Now in this great vprore and tumult of nature when heauen and earth seeme to threaten a finall destruction giue me leaue with the Marriners of Ionas ship to cast lots and search out the first occasion of this euill Alas alas the lot falles vpon man man alone of all other creatures in regard of the freedome of his will and the choyce of his owne actions being onely capable of the transgression the rest of the creatures are wholly excluded from the offence the punishment I confesse appeares in them but chiefly and principally in man I will therefore descend from the great world to this little world which first set on fire and inflamed the whole for I should greatly wrong my selfe if I should loose so much time as to take a generall suruey of nature to wander in the desarts and caues of the creatures to search out their imperfections I will therefore tie my selfe to man and by man alone the fall corruption shall manifestly appeare My proofes and arguments I will dispose into three seuerall ranks first for such things which seeme to bee proper and peculiar to man in regard of his constitution whereof all nature cannot furnish vs with the like example and president and therefore wee may well suppose that they are the peculiar punishments of mans sinne Secondly I will speake of mans condition in generall and compare man with the beast of the field whereby it shall appeare that our misery is far greater then theirs contrary to the first intent and institution of nature wherein she gaue vs a greater dignitie and so consequently should impart a greater measure of happinesse Thirdly I will insist in those particular punishments of sinne which are related in Scripture to bee the punishments of the first sinne wherein I will shew the truth the certainty and I will examine them by the touchstone and light of our naturall reason Speaking of mans coâ—stitution it must be supposed that he consists of seuerall and different parts which appeares by his composition and dissolution the seuerall faculties resident in seuerall vessels the seuerall senses tied to their seuerall organs whereas if his nature were simple and not compounded it should admit no such variety of parts no such diuersity of functioâ—s but shall haue a state constant and stable homogeneall euery way like vnto it selfe If then man be compounded then assuredly nature requires the fewest principles as there appeares onely action or passion in man so more is not required in man saue onely the two seuerall fountaines of action or passion then let me spare my selfe a needlesse and vnprofitable labour for the whole world did euer acknowledge in man as in all other creatures matter and forme I will therefore lay downe this as a ground-worke or supposition that man consists of two parts a body sensible materiall corruptible and a soule intelligent spirituall and incorruptible for his body I will referre him to the triall of all your seâ—ses that hee is no shadow or phantasie but really consisting of a true body and such a body as tends to corruption if any man doubt of it I could wish that his pasport were made that with the whip and the scourge he might bee conueyed to Golgotha where he should finde sculles of all sizes For his soule that it is intelligent not guided or carried by the streame of nature as a dumb beast but able to discourse to gather one truth from another containing in it selfe the seedes of all knowledge If any man seeme to denie this I will not argue or conuince him by reason for hee is not capable of a reasonable discourse but for his punishment I will ranke him in the number of vnreasonable creatures among the bruit beasts c. Now if this soule bee intelligent then certainly spirituall as not consisting of any earthly matter which well appeares by the quicke apprehension the strange and admirable operations conceiuing things immateriall able to abstract things from their owne nature vnderstanding the grosse and earthly substance in a spirituall manner and howsoeuer the inclination of the flesh or the disposition of humours stand for these may moue and affect yet still shee retaiâ—es the Lordship and gouernment of her owne actions not violently carried by an instinct of nature but hauing a free-will in her owne choyce and election which vndoubtedly argues a higher descent a greater petegree and linage then these base elements can afford her or can proceed from a well tempered body That there should bee spirituall substances in generall let vs first flie aboue the conuexitie of the heauens where elements and elementarie bodies cannot ascend Can you conceiue that there should bee a vast wildernesse vnhabited vnpeopled lie naked and empty or rather
furnish't with heauenly and spirituall substances according to the condition of that place as is this elementarie world with bodies grosse and terrestriall the Philosophers shewing the worlds perfection by the diuersitie of creatures some materiall some spirituall c. as likewise by the various and strange motion of the heauens which being simple bodies should haue one simple motion and yet their motion being not simple not for the preseruation of themselues and that in their owne proper places where euery other creature hath rest peace and contentment doe hence vndoubtedly conclude that the heauens are moued by intelligences and in token hereof there are influences qualities not materiall the operation whereof cannot bee preuented by application of any other elementarie or contrary qualitie and such is the force of these influences as that the Moone being the weakest of all other planets in power yet is able to moue the huge Ocean without any corporall engine or instrument And surely the heauens can bee no otherwise moued then by intelligences which in effect are Angels for in nature no reason can bee assigned why they should moue not mouing for themselues but for others and therefore are moued by others or looking to them and to their outward forme no reason can be assigned why they might not as well moue from the West to the East as from the East to the West and the motion it selfe is so strange and so wonderfull that the minde of man being an intelligent spirit notwithstanding our studies our circles excentric concentric epicicle and the like yet wee cannot possibly describe the motion and trace out their paths but we must be inforced to vse impossible suppositiōs that the earth should turne vpon wheeles and moue with her owne weight or that there should be penetration of bodies which is a farre greater absurditie and therefore this strange and wonderfull motion must needs be effected by some intelligent spirits Thus the schoole of the Heathen did acknowledge as much in effect concerning the truth and certaintie of Angels as our Christian faith doth oblige vs for our beleefe Let vs descend from heauen vnto earth Consider how the elements themselues doe exceede each other in finenesse and rarietie and therein come neerer and neerer the nature of spirits insomuch that the fire and the aire are scarse sensible the sight not apprehending them Are there not motes which cannot be discerned but in the Sunne-beames and in euery dumbe creature is not the forme spirituall as being the more noble part of the creature though hidden and concealed hauing both wombe and tombe in the matter and therefore being impotent of her selfe wants a naturall instinct for her guide and direction If this forme were not spirituall then what penetration of bodies should be admitted how slowly should the actions proceed considering little wormes which in themselues and in their whole bodies are scarse sensible What should we thinke of their forme they haue varietie of senses of motion they haue varietie of parts of members of limbes and of ioynts or why should all qualitie bee immateriall were it not because they proceed from the forme which is immateriall as on the contrary quantitie is therefore extended and seemes to be grosse and terrestriall because it proceeds from the matter and i◠applied for dimēsions but of all qualities it doth more manifestly appeare in the obiects of our sight as colour and light which are diffused in a moment thorough the compasse of the whole world and finde no opposition in their passage Thus certainly the formes of things are substances immateriall but most especially for mans soule which is reasonable were it not freed and exempted from any elementarie composition it could neuer iudge aright of all bodies but according to her temperature thereafter should follow her censure thereafter her appetite and inclination so that the freedome of mans will should suffer violence If then you will suppose in man a true iudgement of things and a free libertie in his choice you must conceiue the soule as a spirit which is the ground and foundation of both whereby hauing onely the diuine concourse and assistance she is not carried with any naturall instinct as a dumbe instrument but is the roote and fountaine as of her faculties so of her actions If this soule bee spirituall then certainly immortall as being exempted freed from the opposition and contrarietie of elementarie qualities whichis the only motiue and inducement to corruption she comprehends and vnderstands things immortall some of them being bare and dumbe instruments ordained only for her vse and seruice suppose the Sunne the Moone and the Starres and therefore wee cannot thinke that she should be of lesse perfection as touching her time and continuance The desires of the soule are infinite shee intends nothing so much as eternitie this is naturally ingrafted in all of vs and nature cannot faile in her ends Consider the maine infusions which euery man findes in himselfe sometimes his minde either in dreames or in the strong apprehension of his owne thoughts seemes to presage euill and this euill vndoubtedly followes Seldome or neuer doe any great accidents befall vs but the minde seemes to prophecie and foretell such euents Consider againe the many visions and apparitions which from age to age haue bin discouered among the dead whereof the best authors the most learned and iudicious make mention For as I cannot excuse all superstition in this kinde so absolutely and simply to denie this truth were heathenisme and infidelitie The course and order of the whole vniuerse requires as much in effect For as the power of God hath alreadie appeared in the creation his wisedome in the disposing his prouidence in the preseruing of nature and so for the rest of his attributes c. so there must be a time when the iustice of God shall reueale it selfe which iustice as it is most commendable in man so is it much more eminent in God This iustice in respect of the whole world must onely bee exercised vpon man for all the rest of the creatures are carried with the violence and streame of their nature only man hath a discoursiue reason whereby he may consult of his owne actions and being once resolued he hath a free will for his owne choice and election and therfore man aboue all other creatures must be accomptable for his actiōs And to this end God hath giuen him this propertie that hauing once performed a worke he begins to reflect and examine things past that so it might serue either as a sampler for amendment or as a corosiue for repentance Vpon this due examination there followes either such a ioy and contentment as cannot arise from a sensitiue part nor cannot bee imparted to a dumbe beast or else such a terror such a feare such a sting of conscience as makes man aboue all other creatures the most miserable Now I confesse with the heathen that in the
retaining or expulsion of foode if the soule hath no power to apply them The perfectioÌ„ of nature especially consists within her most secret pauilions shall the soule bee able to moue the thigh the legge the arme the whole body and yet the least scruple of poyson lying in the ventricle shall she not be able to disgorge and expell it In other creatures I confesse there is an ordinarie course of nature as in all their actions an ordinary instinct of nature they haue a time of rising a period and time of setting they can no more order their steps or their waies then they can change their coÌ„plectioÌ„ or growth But it should be otherwise in man who as he is Lord of his outward actions so he should haue the full power and command of himselfe and of the most inward and secret operations of his own body for the same reason would sufficiently serue to direct both alike But see see whole man is corrupted and therefore neither body with soule nor soule with her faculties can together consist all is in an vprore since wee forsooke him who is the very bond of all peace and agreement If neither opposition betweene both nor want of subiection and right gouernment seemes strange then I will tell you a greater wonder The soule and the body though parts of one man and mutually subsisting together yet are they strangers one to another not any way acquainted with the counsels and secresies of each other Whatsoeuer is proper and peculiar to the soule for her faculties her nature and powers she doth not any way impart it to the whole man but only by way of reflection looking vpon the actions wee iudge of the substance and so wee might doe if wee liued among strangers and heathen though certainly the soule cannot be ignorant of her self Againe whatsoeuer is proper to the body as forme figure the vse and disposition of the inward parts notwithstanding that the soule first squared out the body and fashioned the members for her owne vse and seruice anima fabricatur sibi domicilium yet she knowes them not and therefore must learne them againe by inspection and dissection of mans body a cruell bloody and mercilesse spectacle I confesse yet such as must be admitted in schooles rather then wee should be ignorant of our owne bodies Thus farre as the soule and the body are the obiects of our knowledge now in their owne operations see how they are estranged from each other Parts as they cannot subsist without the whole so neither should they bee able to worke of themselues but in man you shall obserue actions which are appropriated to either part to the soule and to the body and cannot be imparted to both Though the present condition of man bee earthly made of the earth feeds on the earth and is dissolued to the earth and therfore the soule doth lesse discouer her selfe by her proper actions then doth the materiall body yet it is not vnknowne to Philosophie that there is an extasis of the soule wherein she is carried in a trance wholly and only intending the intellectuall functions while the body lies dead like a carkasse without breath sense motion or nourishment onely as a pledge to assure vs of the soules returne And vpon her returne hauing talked with God or been transfigured in the mount shee giues the body no such intelligence or message but deemes it as a dumbe beast not fit to bee acquainted with so high mysteries so that the whole man is ignorant what hath befalne the better part of himselfe Now see how the body requites this vnkindnesse and diseurtesie It is naturall to euery forme that if it be extant it should bee alwaies in action especially the more noble forme finds the greater imployment but obserue the difference in man for many yeeres after his birth he is like an vnreasonable creature feedes on the pappe and lies in the cradle intending only the actions of nature and giuing no outward appearance of his reasonable soule in so much that were it not for the feature and forme of his body you should hardly discerne his kinde whereas in all other creatures you shall instantly discerne in the first moment of their birth actions proper and peculiar to their state and condition But I will passe ouer our infancie we haue forgotten those daies being now arriued to our full age I will therfore make a second instance once within the compasse of a naturall day in the time of our rest and our sleepe where is there any appearance of a reasonable soule There is nourishment I confesse for nature will haue her course in the â—euerall concoctions there is sense I confesse for the body being easily toucht presently it awakens there is likewise an inward sense as appeares by our dreames and the renewing of our decaied spirits but for the reasonable soule there is a sleepe indeede a dead sleepe euen the true image of death without any shew or appearance of life Lest I should be thought a theefe or a coward thus to steale vpon man in the time of his sleepe to stop his winde to strangle and choke him in his naked bed that he should not be able to speake for himselfe and to denie his owne corruption I will therefore goe from his naked bed to Bedlam where you shall finde men naked out of their beds poore sillie wretches poore sillie wretches some of them with outragious fits arising from heate and from choler others with melancholie deepe impressions frame vnto themselues fancies of all kindes some with night watchings and studies hastening to bee wise lost their owne wits others in their loue-passions imparted themselues and now rest in their rage and their furie besides themselues how are they tormented tied to the stakes whipt with cords dieted with hunger tempered with coldnes The irons enter into their flesh they are vsed in the nature of wild beasts but their greatest miserie is that they haue no feeling of their owne miserie Thinke not this punishment to be casuall and accidentall to man for these are Lunatickes the heauens haue their actions and God hath his prouidence in them see how the rebellious flesh hath cleane vanquisht the spirit O what is man if man be left vnto himselfe Of all thy temporall blessings and graces O Lord I doe giue thee most humble thankes for the right vse of my wits and my senses I dare not long conuerse with mad men I confesse indeed that once they were sober and gaue some token of a reasonable soule I will now come vnto them who are of a milder constitution with whom I may more freely conuerse and to whom I may approch with lesse feare for these are innocents and ideots let vs heare how wisely they will answere for themselues But I will spare them that labour for if you can teach them to aske meate in their hunger drinke in their thirst to complain of
and of man himself appeares vnto man take our ordinarie salutations Wherefore should I in due respect to my superiour to signifie the honour and the reuerence which I beare him vncouer my head and bend my selfe my knees to the ground my body to my knees were 〈◊〉 not that therein I acknowledge the humblenesse of mine owne minde and doe prostrate my body accusing 〈…〉 roote and the fountaine of my pride and rebellion Do you yet require some further testimonie of my seruice Then in the salutation I kisse my hand as it were taking a corporall oath signifying and assuring you that whatsoeuer I shall promise you with my lips I shall be ready to execute and put in practise with my hands vsing the best meanes that I can to secure you of my seruice still supposing my inward falsehood and that you haue iust cause to distrust me considering my rebellious nature and inbred corruption Thus to honour God to honour our superiours we must dishonour our selues punish our owne flesh vncouer our parts bend our selues in subiection Which were it not mans voluntarie punishment of his owne disobedience and sinne it could not stand with the ordinarie iustice of nature or the high dignitie of his condition Now that I haue spoken of his shame and his punishment let his bondage and slauerie appeare and so at length I will end hauing first committed him to sure hold and safe custodie Our soule is imprisoned within our flesh why should she not bee at libertie for her flight and free passage out of this body that she might goe and returne at her pleasure as she is in all other her actions Is there any substance neither flesh nor spirit but betweene both which might serue to chaine and vnite in one linck these different natures together Or why should this priuiledge be denied man that in regard of his spirit he might conuerse with the Angels as in regard of his flesh he partakes with the beasts Is he not here abridged and barred of his good companie and societie Suppose man were dismembred and had lost some of his limbes seemes not the soule to be heere contracted within her selfe lodged in a lesse roome as it were kept close prisoner notwithstanding that she retaines all her faculties whole and entire in as large and ample manner as she did when the bodie was sound and perâ—it hauing not receiued them from the bodie and therefore not lost them together with the bodie which cannot bee said of the sensitiue soule To come to the materiall actions of his body all the honest vocations and callings of men what are they in veritie and truth but only seruices and slaueries Euery sea-faring man seemes to be a galley-slaue euery occupation seemes a meere drudgerie the very beasts themselues doe not suffer the like What a dangerous and painfull labour it is to worke in repairing of sea-bankes some are ouerwhelmed with waters others dye surfetted with cold the very night must giue no rest to their labours How many haue miscarried vnder vaults in working of mines in digging of coale-pits casting vp of sand or of grauell how many haue been buried vp quick and aliue How many haue falne from the tops of high buildings from scaffolds and ladders if some Carpenters and Masons proue old men yet how many shall you finde not decrepit or troubled with bruses with aches and sores How many trades are noysome vnfit for mans health I haue knowne a Student in Cambridge only in the course of his profession troubled with fiue dangerous diseases at once How many trades are base and ignoble not befitting the dignitie of mans condition as Coblers Tinkers Carters Chimney-sweepers But hearke hearke me thinkes all the Cries of London doe not so truly informe me what they sell or what I should buy as they doe proclaime and crie their owne miserie Consider consider whether any other creature could endure the like seruice and yet this is no prentiship that euer we should expect any better condition but the whole time of our life must bee spent in this slauerie It is a truth which will admit no exception and therefore I will forbeare to make any further complaint onely mans nature is corrupted mans nature is corrupted and therefore with patience we must endure the yoke no longer sonnes of a louing mother but seruants and slaues to a stepdame I could be infinite in these poynts but calling to minde that I haue proceeded in a legall course according to the forme of law I haue impaneld my Iurie consisting of twelâ—e reasons I will vse no shifts or delaies but referre my selfe to their verdict I will heere onely rehearse and briefly recapitulate the summe of my proofes considering that in the very constitution of man many things happen beyond the common course of nature without president or patterne such as could not stand with the diuine prouidence were it not that they are the particular punishments of mans sinne As for example 1. That parts of such different condition the spirit with the flesh mortall with immortall should together subsist 2. That the soule being coupled should finde such meane and base entertainment 3. That notwithstanding the contract there should be a continuall disagreement opposition between both 4. That there should be no manner of subordination or subiectioÌ„ such as were requisite in parts for the vnitie of one person 5. That being thus parts of one man yet they should not bee acquainted with each other but haue actions priuate and proper to themselues 6. That the bodie should hinder euery action of the soule the senses faliely informing and distracting the vnderstanding 7. The will deluded with showes vaine hopes false promises receiuing no manner of contentment 8. The body secretly and cunningly coâ—spires with the faculties of the soule to set a faction and opposition betweene them 9. That the comelinesse of parts the gifts of the body will not together accompanie the gifts of the minde but are estranged from each other and that all the actions of the bodie either betoken 10 shame 11 or punishment 12 or slauerie Let these allegations bee duly examined and I doe not feare to come to a triall for I doe here call heauen and earth to witnesse that these things cannot stand with the wisedome of nature the goodnesse of nature neither haue they conformitie to the rest of the workes of nature and therefore they serue as an extraordinary punishment for some offence vndoubtedly signifying the fall and corruption of man And thus much for the very person of man together with his parts and constitution Deo gratias THE FALL OF MAN THE SECOND PART AS in great buildings intended all things cannot easily bee discerned in the platforme it lieth not in the power of mans wisedome art or prouidence to preuent all errors some faults will escape which by vse and continuance of time will better appeare and discouer themselues so is it in
must of necessity borrow their information from others now here is an excellent point of wisdome when vnder colour of aduise and good counsell wherein they shall haue thankes for their labour and rewards for their good seruice their seruants shall so cunningly ouer-rule an action as that they may worke their owne ends No maruell if Princes be very tender in the point of their prerogatiue which indeed is so necessary and so essentiall to gouernment as that without it gouernment cannot subsist and therefore it were high presumption to examine this prerogatiue for as it is in the gouernment of nature so should it be in mans gouernment God indeed hath prescribed certaine bounds to the creatures datur maximuÌ„ minimum in vnoquoque genere but what these bounds should bee for the iust measure and limitation we are wholy ignorant there are giants there are dwarffs the Ocean sometimes incroacheth vpon the land and sometimes the land wins ground of the Ocean And thus it is in mans gouernment there are arcana imperij certaine hidden secrets of state which ought not to bee discussed or expostulated to prescribe a limitation of power would argue a kinde of subiection in a free Monarch If euer question be made of their power I will fall downe on my knees and desire God to preuent the first occasion that Princes in their gouernment may intend Gods glory the good of his Church the comfort of his people and that subiects knowing whose power and authority they haue may worship God in the Magistrate with all humility and obedience For if the parts should oppose themselues to the head if the hand or the foote should contend with the eye what a miserable distraction should you finde in the whole man Gouernment should rather tend to vnity then be an occasion of strife and disagreement let all parts rather striue to gaine each other and to preuent each other with mutuall kinde offices of loue then contending with needlesse questions to disquiet themselues before any iust cause be offered I say not to examine the prerogatiue of Princes or to what lawes they are subiect for I will easily yeeld that where they are not expresly mentioned and doe binde themselues by their owne royall assent there they are to be excluded according to the president and plotforme of nature semper excipiendum est primum in vnoquoque genere Yet sure I am that they are not exempted from the miseries and sorrowes of our nature which seeme to be incident and common to flesh and bloud for nature in making her lawes requires no royal assent and this shall appeare by this one instance I haue obserued this in my reading that most of the Princes and especially the greatest if they escaped the cursed attempts of cruell murtherers and traytors I say in most of them you shall finde that their death hath bin seasoned or rather hastened with a griefe of minde a deepe melancholy and a great discontentment That God might make it appeare that there is no true ioy in nature that God might let them vnderstand their owne pride who being flattered by their seruants and slaues did expect that the winde and the sea should obay them Hauing neuer learned true christian patience and humility though they conquered their enemies yet the least griefe did vanquish them though they subdued great nations and ruled great kingdomes yet could they not rule their owne passions It is impossible that a mortall man should be freed from all causeâ— of griefe though hee were an absolute Monarch of the whole world Princes must learne patience for amongst all their prerogatiues they shall finde none whereby they are exempted and excluded from sorrow which indeed is incident to the whole nature of man Thus heere I haue briefly runne thorough all the happy states of men that so I might say with the Apostle omnia factus sum omnibus vt aliquos lucrarer and truly I do finde that God hath inclosed all men in one common depth of misery For if ioy and true ioy could bee competent to this our corrupted nature then certainly God would neuer haue expelled man paradise for heere was the wisdome of God that whereas blessings and happinesse could not containe man within the bounds of obedience therefore man being thrust into a vaile of misery his owne sorrow might inforce him to crie for succour and releife That so the iustice of God might appeare in the iust punishment of sinne that so it might serue as a more forcible meanes for mans repentance and conuersion for in this sinfull state man is more moued with feare and sorrow then with thankfulnesse or hope Though I cannot peirce the clouds and open the heauens to shew the maiesty and glory of God for no man could euer see God and liue though I cannot allure and entice man with a true relation and discouerie of those heauenly ioyes though I cannot oblige and binde man vnto God in the chaines and linkes of true loue and thankfulneâ— by a serious and weighty meditation of all the blessings receiued from God which might concerne either body or soule this life or a better life his creation preseruation redemption sanctification c. Yet am I able in some sort to anatomize the state of man to lay open his miseries and griefe that being once out of the arke and seeing these turbulent waues hee might finde no resting place but againe returne to the arke taking a dislike and a distaste in nature he might be thinke himselfe of his flight and so finde safe refuge and shelter in Gods onely protection and comfort himselfe in the hope and expectation of a better world to succeed as all those run-agates which were discontented with the gouernment of Saul were very apt and easily inclined to flie vnto Dauids campe From the seuerall states of men let vs come to the seuerall dispositions of man in himselfe obserue the changes and reuolutions of our mindes for if you please we will trace them by degrees from the time of our inâ—ancy how they alter with the course of our age First wee begin to delight in crackers and toyes some little bable hung about the necke some corall with siluer bels or a little Christall but these seeme to be the proper implements belonging to the cradle they are indeed the Nurses ornaments and together with the cradle they must be left for succession We are no sooner hatched but presently wee must haue a feather in the cap a dagger at the backe then in stead of a true paradise we are brought into a fooles paradise wee are made to beleeue that all is ours the land is ours the house is ours the goods possessions all are ours seeme to take away any thing and the whole house shall not bee able to containe vs exclude but any one fruite it shal grieue vs more then the enioying of all the fruites of the garden can asswage vs. Now at length
contentment I suppose either 1. in his sweete conuenient dwelling and habitation 2. or in his apparell and clothing 3. or in his diet and foode 4. or in his goods and his substance 5. or lastly in the comelinesse of his own person These are the things wherein the mind of man seemes to delight which if you please to obserue you shall finde that the fansie doth ouerrule all and as men doe perswade themselues according to those ends which men doe propose vnto themselues thereafter they frame and fashion to themselues some kinde of contentment supposing that in the creature which indeed is bred in their fansie Certainly of al worldly contentments there is none like to the home-contentment wherein the Master disposeth all things to his best liking nothing can displease him all his seruants are bound to obey him he is as a Prince in his familie it were pettie treason to offer violence to his person his house is his castle if he takes the refuge of his house and his enemie pursues him he may lawfully kill him in his owne defence for heere is his last refuge This not only our law allowes but nature seemes to imprint it the least bird in his own nest the weakest creature at his own denne and in his own home will set vpon the greatest and strongest and put him to flight There is no contentment to the home-contentment and therefore those creatures which carrie their tents or houses about them these are supposed to be the happie creatures as Snailes Tortoyes Oysters c. But suppose that the Magistrate should inforce me to keepe mine own home that mine own house should proue mine owne prison Lord how I should be perplexed to lose mine own liberty all my places of pleasure should giue me no contentmēt my seruants would seeme to be my keepers and iaylors and mine owne doores would seeme to bee the prison gates then I should want elbow-roome complaine for want of fresh ayre what a torment it is to be incaged what a happinesse it is to conuerse and to liue in the societies of men See here there is no change or alteration in nature the house is the same the furniture the same the lodging and dwelling the same only the difference is in the minde and the fansie before we conceiued our state to be a libertie and now we thinke it a thraldome and slauerie here is the difference and all consists in the fansie Againe if I were a mercilesse Vsurer and that any one of my debtors for feare of an arrest should keepe his owne house I would gladly aske what difference there is betweene his condition and his imprisonment and truly this very thought should moue my hard heart to compassion Why should the laitie so much oppose themselues to Church-Sanctuaries which might still haue continued in a tolerable sort for what were the Sanctuaries but religious prisons where true penitentiaries in the thraldome of their bodies with mortification and sorrow might exercise the actions of pietie and deuotion On the contrarie side leauing the thraldome of prisons let vs come to the sumptuous and magnificent buildings If a King or a Nobleman shall commit the keeping of one of his best and fairest houses to the trust of his seruant the house cost many thousands in the building the seruant makes choice of his own roomes and takes al the delight that the house can affoord him the gardens well dressed the houses repaired all at his Masters charge and himselfe well paied for the keeping yet all this will not serue his life is a slauerie hee holds himselfe a drudge for another mans seruice and lookes vpon this beautifull building as his charge or his trouble but not as his pleasure Whereas the good old Master that liues in the Citie fansies to himselfe a pleasure in his countrie-dwelling and being merily disposed loues to discourse of the conuenient walkes and of the neate-contriued buildings it should seeme hee sees it with some strange opticke glasses for his gowte will not permit him to trauell and to enioy these pleasures or rather he conceiues the platforme and builds in his own fansie and imagination It were to be wished that rather he would looke vp to heauen and there conceiue an earnest of that ioy which by the speciall mercie of God shall be imparted vnto him in a full measure and consummation For our apparell see how the whole world runnes wandring and gadding in the strength of their owne imaginations euery moneth brings foorth a new fashion which for a time seemes to be the best I must not stay long vpon fashions which alwaies alter change lest I my selfe might proue out of fashion Let vs search out for some new stuffe euery nation though proud of her selfe and boasts of her selfe and esteemes her self aboue others yet she scornes to weare her owne natiue and home-bred commodities The English cloath which here we neglect at home when it hath inriched the Merchant discharged the custome and paied for the carriage then the Dutchman esteemes it at a high price while wee on the other side desire to clothe our selues with the Naple silke with farre fetcht and deare bought outlandish wares Thus other Countries like ours and we like theirs it may be we intend to deceiue each other in the sale sure I am though wee differ in iudgement yet wee agree in the vanitie and all of vs grow wanton in our owne dispositions As it is in our clothing so it is in our food for fooles must haue their ladles aswell as their partie-coloured coates When we liue in the Inland countries then we begin to long for sea-fish as is the scarsitie and price so is our longing and desire where there is plentie there we neglect it Me thinkes the Colchester Oysters neuer taste so well as when they are bought in Northampton fresh Salmon at Newcastle is meate for seruants and colliers for no man of worth will respect it the Phesant in Wales eates no better then a Pulle◠in London wee desire to feede vpon poultrie and in our countrie houses we thirst for a cup of neate wine wee temper our sweete meates with sowre sauces and thus we are growne wanton Sometimes when we haue not whereof to complaine we will long for fruites out of season a few cherries in May shall be sold for their weight siluer when in the latter end of Iune they shall not be worth the gathering And thus we desire a new course of nature and will not conforme our selues to Gods appointed good order For our goods or our substance what great varietie appeares in our choice and estimation Sometimes the siluer is raised sometimes the gold is inhaunced and both of them though otherwise the principall treasures yet they follow mans owne valuation if money were made of leather it would be as currant as if it were made of the most refined gold As in numbring we vse counters
sometimes for digets sometimes for hundreds sometimes for thousands so is it in mans valuation of his owne wealth In some parts of India copper is respected before gold and sometimes steele for their weapons and armour cannot be bought with the weight in siluer What strange difference and varietie haue I knowne in our estimation of Iewels and gemmes sometimes the Rubie sometimes the Pearle aswell as the Diamond growes in request for these must follow the course of the times And therefore generally he is reputed the wise man not who frames and fashions himselfe according to right reason but he that can square himselfe according to the condition of those times wherein hee liues for things are not accounted according to the truth and goodnesse of their nature neither are all things as they appeare but as they are esteemed among men And herein especially consists the regall power of man that as it is proper to Princes to make their own coynes and to proclaime them so as man himselfe accounts of the creatures or stands in want of the creatures thereafter they carrie their due valuation It is no marueile if we doe so much differ in our goods our substance and treasure for I do much more wonder how it is possible that man should so farre mistake himselfe in his owne person I meane concerning his comelinesse and beautie for I will not extend my speech at this time but onely to the sensible and materiall parts of man As for example with vs the sanguine and cleere complection the soft flaxen or browne haire the smooth skinne the blacke and quick eye are most commendable for the comelinesse of our parts but it should seeme that the greatest part of the world is not of our iudgement for the Aethiopians or Moores doe not esteeme him beautifull that hath not a blacke and sooty skinne a grislie hard-twisted and curld black haire great lips and albugineous eye from the Aethiopians if wee should visite the Indians there it should seeme the tawnie colour is most in request and the hard skinne tand with the Sunnes heate seemes to bee the faire and beautifull complection And thus we cannot agree vpon our owne colours the same fauour is not alike pleasing to all nations if wee should with a generall consent borrow our beautie from one common boxe then happily there would be some kinde of agreement but now in our naturall constitution see the great difference when euery man must fansie a set forme of beautie to himselfe and please himselfe with that beautie Thus I hope it hath appeared that whatsoeuer is best pleasing to man it is therefore best pleasing because man himselfe conceiues the greatest pleasure therein not because he is so naturally inclined not because he is moued with the truth of things according to their goodnesse for so all men should be alike affected reason is the same in all and euery other thing doth naturally incline to the best onely man hauing a free will to make his owne choice the libertie of his choice is not guided by nature or by reason but by his affection Otherwise we should not disagree in our fauour and comelinesse for the Owle will not boast of her beautie but is ashamed of her selfe We should not differ or vary in our goods or our substance but should iudge and esteeme all things according to the in-bred and naturall goodnesse for there are degrees in the creatures both in themselues and as they are fitted for mans present vse and occasions We should be all clothed alike as flowers and fruits of the same kinde haue alwaies the same colours our diet and food should be alike as it is to all other creatures whose nature is the same neither should wee so much dissent in our dwellings and habitations for birds in building their nests and beasts in making their caues seeme to obserue the same rules of art and proportion And therefore wee must either accuse nature of follie to iustifie our selues or else we must truly acknowledge that wee our selues are not carried according to the truth of things but in the strong apprehension of our owne fansie But heere is all the difficultie how I should weane man from these fansies I could wish that in all my dealings with men I might meet with reasonable creatures for then I should know vpon what grounds I might deale I might gesse how farre by all likelihood and probabilitie I should preuaile for wee are both squared to one rule the same reason would direct vs both But if I meete with vnreasonable men I know not what course to take being once out of the rode-way lost in the woods I know not where to make search for them and if by great chance I should ouertake them yet I cannot accompanie them thorough thickets and bushes but must reduce them againe to a great rode make them first capable of reason that so I might softly and leisurely proceede vpon my owne grounds To disswade the whole world from the pursuite of these vanities were a worke impossible for if I should speake with the tongue of men and Angels I should neuer preuaile they are so farre besotted inamoured made drunken with the immoderate loue of the creatures As if their stomackes were ouerlaid with new wine the fumes vapours and spirits ascending would choake vp the braine and hinder the right vse of their vnderstanding so is it outwardly with the creatures flesh bloud is wholly corrupted the world doth seduce them they behold nothing but vanitie but to him that shall recall himself I would vse these motiues First the meditation of God and his kingdome where God himselfe sits in perfect maiesty lucem inhabitat inaccessibilem gloriosus ante secula trinus vnus where all the hallowes of heauen sit vpon thrones clothed with glory hither send vp thy minde and thy spirit as Iosua sent forth his spies to discouer the promised land or as the Queene of Saba made a long iourney to see the magnificence of Salomons Court But heerein thou canst not bee ignorant of thine owne condition being indeed a pilgrime heere vpon earth in statu viae not in statu patriae thou mayest well mistake thy selfe in the meanes though otherwise thou desirest to attaine thine owne proper end If it were possible for man to behold God and truly to know him being indeed the very end of mans creation assuredly nothing should withhould him from the loue of his maker if the eye could behold the sunne we should neuer cast our eyes from the sunne as being the most beautifull obiect but this cannot stand with our weaknesse for now God is concealed as in the vaile of his manhood so thou seest not his hinder parts but onely his shadow in the creatures Secondly if for want of sufficient light being left to thy selfe thou still continue in darkenes and that the meditation of God together with all thy blessings receiued from God in the
deales with man deceitfully so God frames out his iustice according to measure and rule that man might bewaile his owne punishment for committing the like offence for assuredly many tongues doe much hinder the diligent search of the truth It were to bee wished that we might speake the language of Adam where names were imposed according to the nature of things but now it should seeme there is a great difference for the most pleasing speech adorned with Metaphors and Figures is not the fittest for the discouerie of a truth and on the contrarie all the schoole learning which indeed is the very touch-stone of all truth and in it selfe is most wise and farre transcending the ordinarie capacitie yet suffers the shamelesse and malicious reproch of barbarisme for want of the elegancie of stile and all the first parents and authors thereof who indeed were the lights and lampes of all true learning as Lumbard Sanctus Thomas Scotus Occam yet are contemned and neglected by this poeticall and phantasticall age which delights more in words then in substance To giue an euident proofe of this confusion of tongues how plentifull are the schooles and how doe they abound with multitudes of distinctions all answers must end with distinctions which assuredly wel argueth that if the branches must necessarily be diuided to serue the present turne and occasion yet still the roote is confounded a great iudgement of God that man hauing forsaken the first fruite and hauing associated himselfe to the beasts of the field therfore he proues a stranger to himselfe to his brethren and forgets his owne mother tongue Indeede I haue heard it reported by authors that if a man were taught no other language then hee should speake Hebrew the same language which Adam spake in the beginning but I should as easily beleeue that if a man wanted all possible meanes to sustaine life that then hee should instantly recouer Ierusalem from the hands of the Turks and that God should there call all the tribes together or raise vp Adam there to conuerse and talke with him in the Hebrew tongue as that he should speake naturally Hebrew for the curse was generall in the confusion of tongues though speech be proper and naturall to man yet this or that language followes the franke and free imposition of man and hath no ground-work in nature That which gaue occasion to this opinion was this what language men should speake in Paradise or after the last resurrection supposing that language to bee naturall to man and certainly of all the toâ—gues extant Hebrew is the likeliest for it was of Gods owne imposition and framing before sinne had defiled man it contained the greatest and highest mysteries and of all other tongues seemes to bee the fittest arke to containe them Christ and his Apostles were Hebrewes first sent to the Iewes and then to the Gentiles Vpon the Crosse Christ vsed his owne tongue Eloi eloi lamasabacthani notwithstanding the tongue was vnknowne to the souldiers And in the Apocalyps although the booke was first written in Greeke yet the Angels song in heauen is there recorded in Hebrew but when I consider that man shall haue a higher state then was the state of Paradise and that his bodie shall be much more spirituall and his vnderstanding more illuminated then euer before for we shall then be like the Angels of heauen who speake to each other by directing the edge of their vnderstanding to each other as it were opening the glasses and casting foorth a light to each other Considering I say the different condition of renewing to a better state and continuance in the same state they must pardon me if I doe not affirme this as an vndoubted truth in mine owne priuate opinion From this diuersitie and varietie of tongues you shall obserue a great disorder both in the State and in the Church whence proceedes the enmitie betweene nations and the first occasion of reproch where doe they first begin to discouer themselues but onely from the diuersitie of the garbe and the language To see a poore Northerne man with his gaping wide mouth vsing his broad and flat speech brought vpoÌ„ the stage heere is a subiect of laughter for the multitude but I feare that this hate and enmitie betweene nations doth nourish and adde fuell to the hot strife and contention of the Church in the point of her controuersies or at least I may truly say that infinite are the contentions of the Church about words all which proceed from that curse of man the confusion of tongues which we cannot auoide but seeme rather daily to increase our own shame we fight about shadowes wee contend about words many doubts in Christian religion seeme to be grounded vpon the signification of words and tearmes of art how many Sacraments hath Christ ordained in his Church a question of words doe Sacraments conferre grace ex opere operato a question of words is honour due to the Saints a question of words and such like infinite questions Sometimes in the very exposition or interpretation of words being simple and first notions as the schoole speakes and no tearmes of art there are many great controuersies in Christian religion whether Christ in his sole and humane nature did really and truly descend into hell if wee could agree vpon the exposition of the word it would sufficiently resolue the controuersie or will you see an infernal state here vpon earth whether presbyteri should signifie lay elders or not it hath been much disputed by some men whose zeale is not according to knowledge Thus the holy Ghost being the pen â— maÌ„ of Scripture giuing the stile the words the method as well as the sense if any one of these be altered or changed it loseth the streÌ„gth of the Canon and therefore he that shall take vpon him to interpret Scripture doth only giue his owne exposition of Scripture which exposition being priuate and proper to himselfe I will regard it no more then the opinion of one priuate man so that if in my reading of the Fathers I shall obserue some generall agreement together with their learned iudgements though Scripture be not instantly quoted to that purpose yet I will respect it as much as I will the Geneua translation Lest other professions should thinke much of our iarres I will therefore in the second place instance in the wisedome of the Law what infinite suites are daily commenced when as the whole doubt ariseth from the extent and signification of words A Lordship hauing faire demaines a beautifull house many tenants great seruices and homage sold at a valuable price yet now recald againe caâ—t vpon the heire at common law for want of sufficient words to conuay it As I haue remembred the iust punishment for our sinnes so giue me leaue in thankefulnesse of minde to consider Gods prouidence in this our confusion of tongues And that especially to vs for God in his mercy intending
to make the Church-yard fat with the oyle of his flesh and to paue the high wayes with the sculs and bones of dead men Consider this inferior world consisting of the same different and contrary elements yet still continuing in the same state assuredly it is no greater difficulty to preserue man from death then to preserue the whole world from corruption for the same causes appeare in both the elements and the elementarie qualities and once in euery mans age they are equally tempered as it were the Equinoctial of his age Then why should there not be a state of consistencie in man as well as in the whole world or at least why should not the periods and times of his age the spring of his infancie the summer of his youth the haruest of his riper yeares the winter of his old age goe and returne according to the reuolution of times seasons and changes of the yeere which seeme to bee therefore onely allotted for the continuance and preseruation of mankind Not to insist alone in this sublunarie world strange it is that the heauens themselues which were onely ordained for mans vse should so long continue without change or alteration and man himselfe in the whole course of his life should not be able to see a reuolution that the superiour causes preseruing mans life should moue by a most certaine and vnchangeable rule as the diuine prouidence hath appointed them and yet mans life to which all is ordained should be most subiect and lyable to the greatest hazard chance and vncâ—rtainty But most strange it is that the heauens beiâ—g Gods blessed instruments to continue life quicken sense stir vp motion yet with their malignant and dis-astrous aspects should cause the ouerthrow of man yea sometimes of whole nations and kingdomes consider the end of mans creation which was the praise and glory of his maker which end is eternall as God himselfe is eternall then why should not those things which are ordained only to this end be of like eternitie and continuance God is not like man that he should be altered and changed that he should repent himselfe of his own workes and restore againe that vnto nothing which he himselfe hath once made according to his owne image neither is God the God of the dead but of the liuing being life in himselfe shall the dust rise vp and praise him shall his iustice appeare in the graue or rather shall the prayers the voyces and harmony of men ioynd with the quire and sweet melody of Angels sing prayses vnto him and magnifie his holy name which indeed was the scope and end of our creation thus not onely Christian religion but euen reason it selfe and mans owne knowledge seeme to preach this lesson that the end of nature man to whom all nature is ordained and directed should not end in nature and therefore death it selfe especially to man is a punishment of nature and in it selfe is most vnnaturall to man Especially when I consider how the better part of man the soule is immortal and vnchangeable as in her selfe and in her owne substance so in her qualities and actions now the life of man being only the worke of his soule and the sweet influence of his quickning spirit into the dull flesh I do much maruaile how this immortall spirit should bee the cause of our mortality for it cannot bee denied but that the soule receiues some kinde of perfection from the flesh for without the ministery of the body were not our members the soules vessels and instruments she could neuer exercise those excellent powers of sense and vegetation therefore in her separation though her state may seeme to be more perfect then it was during the time of her mariage or couerture with our flesh our corrupted flesh wherein iars and contentions did daily arise to the great disquieting of both yet certainly the soule hauing these faculties desires the free vse and exercise of them Which desire that it might not be frustrat and vaine doth in some sort by a naturall sequell inforce a last resurrection when the soule shall be re-united to a spirituall body better befitting it selfe and in the interim concludes that either man is vnnaturally compounded or that the separation of his parts must be wholly vnnaturall which I rather suppose seeing it makes much for mans dignitie and natures perfection the soule no way desiring a separation for as the state now stands there is a kinde of correspondencie if the flesh be corrupted the soule is likewise tainted with sinne here is a proportion though an euill proportion between both The â—oule desiring the continuance of this vnion why should she not be able to effect it she frames and fashions in the wombe all the members of mans body for her owne vse and seruice anima fabricatur sibi domicilium though Gods power appeares in our making yet God vseth meanes and these meanes can bee none other then the actions of the soule it selfe a baser agent God would neuer imploy in such an excellent worke and a greater worke-man all nature could not afford him Now the soule hauing thus framed the body if she dislikes any thing she must blame none but her selfe if all things be perfect and sound in the first fabricke and architecture of man then in the succeeding actions of life the soule is the first fountaine and the onely actiâ—â— principle of all seuerall operations for I receiue my temper my constitution my colour my digestion my nourishment my strength my growth and all from my soule If there be an error or fault I must blame and cast the aspersion vpon my soule that notwithstanding her owne eternity yet she should lead me to the paths of mortality for herein I dare bouldly excuse mine owne flesh my flesh is innocent if not of my sinne yet of my bloud and the soule is the sole murtherer for the body is onely subiect to passion as it please the soule to worke so it must suffer as the soule receiues the praise and commendation in the goodnesse of her actions so let her take vnto her selfe the shame and reproch in the defects and imperfections Though there may be I confesse some little difference in the appetites and inclinations of both proceeding from the different natures yet is there no opposition betweene both in regard of destroying qualities both of them being substances of a diuers kinde not capable of contrariety and therefore a wonder it is how they should be ioyned together or being once coupled how they shuld be set a â—under Can the â—oule first build this goodly tabernacle of our bodies and can she not repaire and renew the workmanship decayed seemes it not a worke of lesse difficulty to repaire then to lay the first foundation Can she bring forth a seede to propagate her owne kinde and so giue lâ—fe vnto others yet cannot preserue her owne life is she so prodigall of her best substance
we conceiue them to be such simple men so fondly mistaken at their owne homes being neighbours and bordering vpon these hot climates where a few daies sayling would discouer the truth a truth so manifest and palpable as that they could not pretend any grosse ignorance let vs doe them no wrong but so esteeme of them as we desire our poâ—â—â—ritie may regarde vs. What a shame and dishonour were it to vs if future ages shall condemne vs for fooles and lyars and that our testimonie should be reiected in such things as concerne our times whereof triall and experience might informe vs without further reason or discourse Rather let vs wonder at the prouidence of God when the world was yet in her infancie and youth no maruell if heate did abound the earth as yet was vnpeopled and therefore men in those dayes had roome enough to make choice of their habitation and dwelling but now the world grones vnder the multitude and number of people the heauens doe likewise decay in their wonted strength And therefore now at length new Ilands appeare in the Ocean which before neuer were extant other Ilands and Continents are daylie discouered which were concealed from antiquitie places formerlie knowne to be excessiue in heate are made habitable by the weakenesse and olde age of the heauens the colde Zones are tempered either thorough thicke misty ayre or the stipation of coldnesse God preparing their bodies and giuing them food and clothing accordinglie Thus God in the beginning of the world out of his owne foresight and goodnesse did fit and temper himselfe according to the times and occasions giue mee leaue to speake after the manner of men though otherwise I know the immutabilitie of Gods nature as long as there was vse of Paradise so long it continued in state and perfection being once forsaken and destitute then followed the dissolution If the Ancients were strangers abroade and might easilie mistake yet in their owne dwellings and habitations their sense for want of reason would serue to informe them certaine it is that there was a great burning in Phaetons time though grounded I confesse vpon a fabulous historie yet for the truth of it signes and tokens thereof did appeare for many subsequent ages and strange it is among the heathen what preuention of fire did hereby insue inuenting a kinde of slate which might resist the violence of fire and therein reseruing and laying vp the hidden treasure of their writings and records against such a generall combustion whereas in these daies we neuer found the heate of the sunne to be such we neuer sustained any such dammage but that the coldnesse and moysture of the winter could easilie recompence our losse nay rather we haue iust cause to complaine of the sunnes weakenesse and that he is defectiue in heate notwithstanding that in this time of his olde age God hath appoynted that the sunne should enter into the hot signes yet both sunne and signes are defectiue in their power and cannot ripen our fruites in that manner which formerly the sunne alone did in the waterie constellations What a strange difference appeares in our seasons more then in ancient times we can not promise vnto our selues the like certaintie neither in our seede time nor in our haruest nor in the whole course of the yeere which they did for a wonder it is to heare the relation of old men in this kinde how they all seeme to agree in one complainte which certainely betokens a truth If you tell me of our corrupt computation of the yeere my answere is that the change is so insensible not a day in an age as that it makes no sensible difference yet herein I cannot excuse our selues for if the world should continue many ages our Christmas would fall out in haruest whereas certaine it is that the day was first appoynted according to Christs birth and Christ was borne neere solstitium brumale when the dayes were the shortest and then began to increase as Iohn Baptist was borne at Midsommer when the dayes were at the longest and then began to shorten to be a figure as Saint Ambrose obserueth that Christ should increase as Iohn Baptist decreased but now in these times our dayes are increased a full houre in length before the Natiuitie If still thou proouest wilfull and wilt not beleeue the Ancients but talkest onely of thine owne experience and particular knowledge it were to bee wished that thou shouldest trie all conclusions in Physicke vpon thine owne bodie that so thou mightest see onely with thine owne eyes and take nothing by relation from others if thou iudgest of times past by thine owne little experience thou canst not truely iudge of the workes of nature which haue in themselues insensible changes and alterations thou canst not see thy selfe growing yet at length thou perceiuest thine owne growth Suppose there were little alteration in this world it would then argue the newnesse of this world that it was created but this morning for as yet the Heauens haue not once seene their owne reuolutions it would likewise argue the excellencie of the workeman as in the framing so in the continuance of his worke for if the heauens should alwaies want some repayring and mending we might well thinke that the state of the Church triumphant were not vnlike the state of the Church militant alwaies requiring and calling for dilapidations yet in reason you shall easilie discerne the vndoubted tokens of the worlds ruine Now that I am falne to the generall dissolution of this world which shall bee performed by the rage and violence of fire according to the receiued tradition of the Ancients whereunto Scripture agrees and according to the opinion of the best learned Philosophers who ascribe the greatest actiuitie to fire and were it not for the situation as being aboue the rest of the elements and for that naturall inclination which it hath in it selfe arising out of an inbred pride as knowing his excellencie aboue the rest that being once out of his owne proper place it will not thus be supprest but will ascend with the greatest swiftnesse and expedition carrying the forme of a pyramise for the more easie penetration assuredly all the rest of the elements together conspiring could not incounter the fire Now fire hath this propertie congregare homegenea segregare heterogenea and therein doth figure out the last and finall iudgement wherein a separation shall be made of the Goates from the Lambes of the corne from the chaffe of the iust from the reprobate I cannot nor dare not prescribe the day and houre of that iudgement rather with patience I will waite on Gods leisure with my assured hope will expect to see my Redeemer in his flesh and in my flesh so descending as he ascended for herein we haue the testimonie of Angels This Iesus which is taken vp from you into Heauen shall so come as you haue seene him goe into Heauen Acts
been the first fountaines of euill and first to haue infected the world with corruption Here wee must consider the different condition of creatures some bodies some spirits as euery thing is compounded of matter and forme and the forme it is which giues the existencie and indiuiduation these seuerall degrees of creatures make much for the absolute perfection of nature especially when as all bodies seeme to bee contained and continued within the circumference of the first body what should we thinke is aboue the conuexitie of the heauens an infinite vacuum rather acknowledge a want in mans vnderstanding then that there should want inhabitants in such an excellent region where the heauens are their footstooles to tread and walke ouer our heads where they are freed from all annoyance of creatures and partake only of happinesse As in great buildings the meanest and basest offices are alwaies beneath suppose the Kitchin the Seller the Buttrie the Pantrie but for the stately and magnificent roomes for entertainment suppose the dining Chamber the Galleries the Turrets and places of pleasure these are aboue and thus it is with vs in respect of the Angels the truth and certaintie whereof I haue already proued in the first part Now supposing these spirits their condition must bee alike with ours who are in some sort and in the better part spirituall as they were made of nothing so they must â—aue a determinate goodnesse in their nature faculties actions being spirits they had a freedom of wil God did herein make them like vnto himselfe as he was able to create of nothing so they might will when as nothing should moue them to will and hauing a limited vnderstanding which might admit error and darknes through their own pride they might will nothing that is they might will sinne for sinne is a defect a priuation a kinde of nothing in this their willing although they could not will themselues to bee nothing to destroy their owne condition for this were to vndoe that which God alreadie hath done yet they could will or rather bewitch themselues to bee worse then nothing for sinne is nothing and to be the seruant of sinne it is to be worse then nothing Thus in the Angels as well as in man in regard of their limited goodnesse and the freedome of their willes there was a power and capacitie or rather a weakenesse and impotencie to sinne and to fall And many of them sinned accordingly God in his wisedome permitting the sinne and thereby teaching all creatures what they are in themselues for as in the same kind of spirits the best creatures are extant so the worst and most accursed should likewise be found that no creature might boast of an absolute perfection that euery one might know himselfe and suspect his owne fall and that all our righteousnâ—sse is tanquam pannus menstruatus like a spotted and defiled garment Nothing can endure Gods triall and touch-stone for the Angels are not acquitted in his sight c. Now their sin was a dislike of their present condition and the aspiring to be equall and like to their Maker made of nothing hauing nothing of themselues yet they must contest with their infinite Maker for dignitie and superioritie whether it were that they did consider that there were three persons in one most holy blessed and vndiuided Trinitie which being a mysterie farre transcending the reach of all creatures they could not comprehend for fully to comprehend God is indeed to be God but might happily conceiue that the Deitie would admit of more persons or whether by â—he excellencie of their owne knowledge they did fitly gaâ—ther that as the creation was a worke of Gods infinite loue and as God was existent euery where according to the infinite extent of his owne nature so as an infinite effect of that infinite loue God should tye vnto himselfe some creature by an infinite band namely by an hypostaticall vnion and therefore some of them did claime and challenge this high prerogatiue aboue other creatures by vertue of their birth-right But herein did appeare their ignorance and pride for the creature was not to aspire to the height and dignitie of the Creator but the Creator was to descend to the humilitie and basenes of the creature neither was God to bee vnited to the angelicall nature though otherwise highest in order and condition but to descend lower to giue a more vndoubted token of that infinit loue euen to the humane nature and manhood Mans nature being the center in the middest of the circumference a little Microcosme in whom all the creatures are vnited things sensible partake in his body the intelligent spirits are combinde in his soule and thus God taking the nature of man sits in the very middest of his creatures imparting himselfe infinitly to all so farre foorth as it may well stand with the truth of his Godhead and with the state and condition of the creature Thus they might mistake in iudgement supposing there might be some probabilitie to effect it but I must chiefly and principally condemne their vnthankfulnes their pride their presumption which gaue way and occasion to this their error but hauing once committed so great a coÌ„tempt such a foule indignitie against God it could not stand with his iustice freely to pardon their sinne or to intend the meanes of their redemption as in his mercie hee hath performed to man for the Angels were the first creatures highest in dignitie and condition the great measure of their knowledge and graces was such as that we doe not reade that God did euer appoint them lawes but that it might bee supposed that they of themselues should bee wholly conformable to God Againe they were not tempted by others and therefore as the sinne could no way bee cast vpon others so being impotent of themselues to make any recompence they could no way receiue benefit by the satisfaction of others the state of the Angels was created such as that they were not capable of repentance they cannot change their mindes or their willes whatsoeuer they see they see in an instant whatsoeuer they desire their will is confinde to the first motion that they cannot alter or change their desire so that if once they shall make choice of the worser part in vaine may we expect that euer they should returne to the better Whereas the condition of man is mutable and changeable as capable of sinne so capable of repentance as hee falles of himselfe so hee may rise againe by the assistance of grace for God hath giuen him a discoursiue reason proceeding by degrees if now hee mistakes himselfe hereafter hee may bee better informed As the inconstancie of his nature may cause the alteration of his will so God fitly vsing this his inconstancie as it were working in euery thing according to that manner which is most proper and naturall to the thing may make it a meanes for the amendment and conuersion of
receiue fit weapons from thy armorie to fight in thy battailes For the outward nakednesse of his bodie it should seeme that man is dismissed of Gods seruice hauing now lost his liuerie his badge and his cognizance or naked he is that thou O Lord mightest entertaine him to thy seruice naked hee is that hee might wholy distrust in his owne strength and hauing no shelter of himselfe he might desire the protection and shadow of thy wings naked hee is to shew his condition that whatsoeuer he hath he hath it by begging and therfore naked he is to moue thy pity and compassion hee is a pilgrime heere vpon earth and hath no permanent city and therefore naked he is and must hasten to runne his race and in another world must expect the change and variety of his garments for heere naked he is he is falne among theefes and is robd of his garments as he descended from Ierusalem to Ierico naked he is and therfore cannot conceale the spots of his nature naked he is and therefore fit to be washt fit to be dipt in the lauer of Baptisme or if he shall offend thee O Lord naked he is and may easily be scourged with the rod of thy vengeance naked hee is that being clad with the garments of dead creatures feeding on the carkasses of dead creatures he might call to minde his owne death and run a course of mortification and sorrow For naked he is and thus nature hath disposed him and yet he is ashamed of his owne nakednesse and therfore he must be ashamed of his owne nature and so consequently accuse the corruption of his nature Will you yet heare some further corruption which appeares in our nakednesse in stead of confessing our crimes loe heare our abuse whereas apparell was only ordained for the necessity of our bodies and for the decencie of our members now it serues as an occasion of our wantonnes pride Nature her selfe makes a difference betweene creatures of diuers regions and places but our curiosity is such that we must borrow from seuerall nations the variety and forme of their attires So nature hath fitted euery nation with garments best for their vse The English cloth is the only good shelter against the could Northern blast and the Camels haire yeelds a better shade in Sowthern regions but we cannot thus content our selues with natures appointment and whereas by the orderly course of nature there should appeare some difference of mens conditions in their outward habits for so the horse appointed for the seruice of war is better shaped then the hackney or cart-horse yet the abuse of man is such that whereas his clothing should only couer his shame now it must serue to discouer his pride and bee a token of his brauery and boasting so that considering the ould world and their homely attyres you would suppose in these dayes all men to be Princes were it not that if there be Princes then must there be slaues by a necessity of relation Nature hath appointed two seuerall features differing in quantitie lineaments beauty and proportion to the two seuerall sexes but strange it is among men how the one doth incroach vpon the other much against the leuitical law which forbad the like garments to both you shall finde viros molles effoeminatos as likewise woemen Viragines like Amazons men in their pouders perfumes false haires and paintings exceeding the wantonnesse of woemen and woemen in their habits and vestures seeme to exceede their owne sex to the strange confusion of nature Againe the garments should suppose a congruity to the foundation of mans body but I feare nature is somtimes inforced for heere she is pend vp and encaged to make the body seeme fine and straight and by and by with loose sailes wee seeme to make waste in the blessings of nature I shall not neede to spend much time in speaking of our abuse in this kinde it hath bin the common complaint of all ages but especially of ours which exceedes all former times and shewes her owne vanity from the costly attire of the head to the golden rose on the shooe though we can neither eate nor drinke gould with Midas yet we can wastfully spend it in wearing and sometimes our whole treasure appeares on the backe and thus man out of the poyson of his owne nature turnes that punishment which God inflicted for mans correction and amendment to be a further occasion of his sinne I will onely put him in minde that of himselfe he is naked his cloathes are but borrowed moâ—eat cornicula risum furtinis â—udata coloribus will he be proud of the feathers the silke or the wooll of dead creatures can he finde nothing in himselfe better then these dead reliques wherin he might glory if his plentie and abundance be such if his change of rayments be such then when he sees the naked poore man let him acknowledge his owne condition and learne pitie and compassion to others by the weaknesse and nakednesse of his owne flesh From his person let vs come to his office which as it should seeme is very fit and agreeable to his nature for naked he is and therefore you cannot expect any high dignitie and calling some plow-man or day-labourer heere is his profession That the same iudgements of God might appeare in all his workes whereas the earth according to his first institution should bring forth eâ—ery hear be that seedeth seed according to her kinds Gen. 1. 11. but now thorough the course it seemes to be ouergrowne with thornes and with thistles Gen. 3. 18. therefore Gods sentence is likewise past vpon man iâ— sudore vultus tui comedes pâ—neâ— tuum In the sweat of thy browes thou shalt eat thy bread Gen. 3. 19. Heere it should seeme that all trades and honest courses of life are erected for euery man is a labourer and should intend some course of life if his hand be not fitted to the plowe yet he must ouerlooke his owne seruants command them their taske and manage his owne priuat estate Heere is his carefulnesse heere is his husbandry and tillage and assuredly the seruâ—nt liues sometimes more at harts-ease then the master who sâ—emes to bee imployed in euery mans labour and to yeeld strength and vertue to their hands and actions Thus to be man it is to enter a seruice and to binde himselfe prentise to all drudgery while other creatures liue at harts ease they neither sowe not mowe but keep a continual holy-day they sit downe to eate and to drinke and rise vp to play only man must take care and thought both for them and himselfe and therin must giue an account of his steward-ship Not only the body must be clothed and fed but the minde must likewise bee taught and instructed and heere we seeme to run through an infinit course of our studies The Philosopher though his body rest though he sits in his study by a candle