vnderstanding being but a sparkle in respect of a world of fire failes me and as a candle at the flash of a strong lightning suddenly extinguisheth for in thine interminate vnderstanding there resides infinite wisdome omnipotency prouidence predestination true reason true knowledge and the representation of all thy workemanship If I enter into the speculation of thy gracious and inexhausted will I shall want words significant to expresse the singular proprieties which depend theron as comfortable grapes on one goodly clâ—ster or bunch Thy Charity thy Iustice Mercie Clemency Loue Patience Magnificence with other attributes which we doe not deserue to know attend on thy powerfull will O mighty Deity of vnsearchable worth as thy Prophet Dauid said Such knowledge is too wonderfull and excellent for me I cannot attaine vnto it Whither then shall I goe from thy Spirit or whither shall I goe from thy presence If I climbe vp to heauen thou art there If I goe downe into hell thou art there also Thou beholdest all our doings with exceeding patience Thou art wholly in the world as mans soule is wholly in the braine and body and dispersed through euery part of the same and seest as in a manifest map all the world ouer Thou art present with vs in our closest counsels in our closest closets Thou art deck't with light as it were with a garment Thou art most glorious in heauen as mans soule in the head is most conspicuous and therehence like the Sunne with his influence illuminatest all places and searchest the very secrets of our hearts and reines for the light dwelleth with thee Thou art a most pure perfect and actiue forme without any mixture or composition of matter or forme or distinction of parts Thou art the beginning and the end of all things the beginning without beginning and the end without end To end before I haue scant begun thou art al sight all hearing all vnderstanding all reason the origen of all goodnes Totus oculus totus auditus totus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 totus ratio fons omnium bonorum Thou art aboue all things and yet not elated Thou art in all things and yet not concluded Thou art vnder all things yet not restrained Thou art great without quantity good without quality iust without wrath All our ioyes al our pleasures al our profits all our welfare arise from thy fruitfull bounty as on the contrary all our losses all our crosses all our misfortunes proceed by our deserts from thy iust conceiued fury When thou sendest out thy Spirit we are recreated When thou hidest thy face we are troubled Whither then shall we miserable caytiues flie whither From our displeased God to our pleased God from our angry Father to our patient Father Where shall we finde goodnes but with the Author of goodnes Omne bonum à Deo profluit in eundemque tanquam in causam principem finem vltimum reflectitur Euery good springs from God againe the same returnes to him as to the soueraigne cause and last end He euen he it is that subsisteth aboue vs through his prouidence round about vs he substitutes his Angels as it were in fiery Chariots in vs he breathes his fiery Comforter He maketh his An gels spirits adhis Ministers a flaming fire LINEAMENT III. 1 The admirable incorporation of the three persons in Trinity 2 Their mystical operatioÌ„ vnfolded according to our resonable capacities 3 How God is said to be in heauen 4 After what manner the Trinity doe differ one from another eyther in Appellation or in Operation 5 That the Pagan Poets like Apes aymed at Gods mysteries by their darke Allegories IF Imeditate on the admirable Hypostasis of the Deity I am rauished with an extasie to behold their heauenly Harmony their consort their consonance and their proportion Goe said our Sauiour Christ to his disciples and teach all Nation s' baptizing them in the name of the Father of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost The Father vncreated the glorious Word begotten of his euer-being substance the holy Spirit of comfortable loue out of them both producted All three like wieke waxe and light incorporated in one glorious Torch as the beames and influence of one Sun or as waters of one fountaine or as Peter Paul and Barnabas all three building vpon one Rocke and preaching the same doctrine or as will vnderstanding and memorie the reflecting Image of the Deity in one soule equally partakers of one vndiuided Godhead one light one power one beginning one maiesty one glory and one authority Thus hath this One Diuine Spirit three peerelesse properties the hauing of euery which property is called a Person a terme which we giue to shew the peculiar being of a reasonable spirit which word Person also the Gramarians haue distinguished according to mens common conference into notorious appellations As when God speakes of himselfe to signifie his inexplicable essence he speakes in the first person singular Iehouah I am that I am I the Lord thy God When after deliberation he vtters out his determination then the whole Godhead with a cleere distinction of the personall functions speaks according to mans capacity in the plurall number Let vs make man that thereby we might note his deliberation before his determination then both of them made manifest by his omnipotent Word And forasmuch as a peron is nothing els but a body or a spirit seuerally singled out by himselfe forasmuch as euery thing in the Godhead consisteth substantially by it selfe without the helpe of any other therefore are his seuerall properties or functions to demonstrate the particular or personall orders and operations of Gods will and being In like sort there be two kindes of persons the person of his Spirits Essence and the person of his Spirits properties The person or being of his Essence is but one the persons or subsistences of the properties be three distinct euery one a Spirit by himselfe euery one a liuing God by himselfe and yet all one Spirit one liuing God The Father or the first speaker is God by himselfe and of himselfe and therefore the first being or person The Sonne or word is God by himselfe and not of himselfe but of the Father or speaker onely and therefore the second being The holy Ghost or holy loue is God by himselfe and not of himselfe but ioyntly of the Father and the Sonne and therefore the third being There is no difference at all betweene the Speaker the Word and this Loue but onely in the reciprocall relation of one to another for in respect of their being beginning which was coeternall before al worlds before all times or termes of times they are one essential one equall and one transcendent Person But in respect of order in their heawenly Hierarchies of their offices operations and effects ordayned among themselues by their owne diuine decrees and also in respect of the
silly soule what wilt thou doe if this glorious Spirit comes not neere thee Where then wilt thou expect forgiuenesse of thy blaspemies Nay how caust thou expect or aske forgiuenesse seeing that without his operation the fruites of repentance can no more spring in thy faithlesse heart then the Apples of Paradise could fall into the hands of Tantalus in hell All other sinnes are pardonable and therefore termed debts or trespasses Onely this sinne against the Holy Ghost is Treason in the highest degree against the whole Godhead his crowne and dignity by reason that his personall subsistence was produced both from the Father and the Sonne and propagated vnto vs euen from our Baptisme so that to sinne against his authoritie is to sinne against the whole Maiesty of the sacred Trinity and against our owne soules being created by the Father redeemed by the Sonne and sanctified by the Holy Ghost Chiefly those reprobates are guilty of this vnpardonable sinne which sometimes hauing had great feeling great vnderstanding of the word of God and perhaps especiall inspiration of the Holy Ghost as Ananias and Saphira had if such persons afterwards without neede do fall into malitious Apostasies causelesse Hypocrisies and contumacious blasphemies against the sanctified Church of Christ in their words works thoughts ending also their liues without repentance doubtlesse they incurre the penalty of this irremissible sinne for this their spirituall fornication But to discerne who they be particularly that offend in this height of sinne in my iudgement very few or none can vndertake that charge in these dayes because we haue not that gift of the Holy Ghost namely of discerning Spirits as apparantly as the Apostles had To conclude these excellent exorcismes against the spitefull spirit of Detraction O â—riumphant Trinity distinguished really and indistinct essentially not into three Gods as that holy Martyr protested nor into three incarnated but into three of the same degree of the same honour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whose powerfull Maiesty vnited and identified in one eternall Deity the celestial spirits loue to contemplate and we earthly Pilgrims long to see Here I your vnworthy seruant prostrating my soule in all humility doe craue remission in the dust and ashes for my simple speaking of your intellectuall substance O God of endlesse bounty direct my vnskilfull pen that it stray not too much from the rule of verity nor lay down any thing but with reuerend shame of my blinde and bluntish ignorance concerning thy Heauenly vertues thy blessed Guarde and holy Hoste let them which reade this Treatise beare nothing in their hearts away saue that which is conformable to the square of wholsome doctrine Inflame my spirit with true zeale the true seale of thy sacred Spirit that it may soare vp like an Eagle to the sunne of thy Grace with feruencie founded on Diuine discretion for feruency is but foolish fury without Diuine discretion LINEAMENT VI. 1 Their Heresies conuicted which detract from the seruice of God because they see him not with their corporall eyes 2 The knowledge of God proued by an instance of our carthly King who is knowne throughout great Britaine of all his subiects though not of all wito corporall sight 3 The excellency of his spirit aboue the rest of his subiects 4 Meanes to know God 5 Why mortall men cannot see God MAny of vs detract from the seruice of God because his Maiesty is not so familiar as to speake vnto vs visibly at conuenient seasons as though so high a Maiesty should debase himselfe with euery sinfull creature It is reported that the King of China will not be seene abroad among his ordinary subiects aboue once a yeare And yet we wanton worldlings would limit our great Creator to sight and daily conference God is a Spirit not bound to any bodily Organ but to compare his Greatnesse after flesh and bloud euen as mans soule when it is separated from his body his power is infinite immensiue incomprehensible and no more to be seene or sensibly vnderstood of flesh and blood then if a man should measure the waters in his fist or the heauens with his span or if he should weigh the mountaines in a ballance All people are in comparison of him but as a drop of a bucket-full or as Grashoppers or as nothing or as nothing lesse then nothing No earthly man can erect a statue or a carued Image according to his likenesse No Gold-smith can couer him with golde or cast him into a forme of siluer plates O Lord who is like vnto thee No man can enter into thy Counsell no man can finde out thy secrets or attaine vnto this perfection Thou art higher then heauen deeper then hell the measure of thee is longer then the earth and broader then the sea Though thou turne all things vp side downe closest them in and gatherest them together who will turne thee from thy purpose Worldly sight is one thing and Diuine knowledge another thing The one is subiect to insumities and errours the other is insallible certaine and can neuer saile cyther with olde age wounds or false specta cles The one is the instrumentall light of the body to guide a man in his worldly busines the other I meane mentall knowledge is the euerlasting Lampe of the soule This latter I pray God instill into vs. As for the other it cannot absolutely be termed perfect before it be first sowne in winters corruption and before like ripe corne growne with full and glorious eares it rise vp glorified in the summer of immortality At which time both lights and sights externall and internall being by the Diuine bounty become eternal we shall both see and know aright in all perfection almost euen as God himselfe seeeth and knoweth vs at this present Quid est quod non videant qui videntâ—m omnia vident What thing shall they not see and know which alwayes see and know the Authour of all sight and knowledge In the time of their visitation they shall shine they shall shine as amiable as the Sunne more admirably glorious then Moyses who was faine to put a vaile before his face by reason of his ouerbrightsome beauty though he saw God but for a moment and that imperfectly for all light proceedes from him In his light we shall see light But quoth the spirit of Detraction how can we know him whom we neuer saw O vaine Spirit if thou knowest his lawes and fulfillest them thou knowest God As for example let me instant in our earthly King for mine owne part I neuer spake with King IAMES nor euer saw his face yet notwithstanding I verily belecue that I doe know him I know him to be our King by publique Proclamation by his decrees by the vnifomâ—e consent of all his subiects My conscience perswades me that he is the Diuinest and deuoutest Prince that euer swayed the Diademe of this Monarchy and aboue all the rest
of his Kingdome that he is possessed with the gifts of the holy Ghost The reasons that thus moue me to conceiue so wonderfully of his worth are these first the obseruation of his life vnblemished by generall report and free from suspicion of vnseemely actes Then the consideration of his faith wisedome and milde spirit made vulgarly manifest by his learned Bookes and Speeches in the Parliament house whereof some are extant in Print settles my knowledge of his excellency of spirit Vt iâ—rem calaâ—â—o fulgur inesse suo That I would sweare his pen did lightning flash To these I adde his miraculous preseruation continually from his cradle he being the onely childe of his Parents in such tumultuous times vntill this golden time of the Gospell And to omit many garboiles of ciuill incendiaries for the subuersion of his life and state I will onely content my meditation at this time with the consideration of two principall Treasons inuented by Sathan against his annointed person The former Earle Gowry entended to effect The latter the Papists purposed to perfect In the former God suffered Sathan to lead him for a moment into his castle of calamity but presently he sent his Angell to deliuer him as Peter out of Herods prison In the latter God suffered Sathan to plot plant and place his Ordinance in order for the vtter suppressing and supplanting of his whole estate but suddenly the worlds great Watchman confounded his Boutefeux as the builders of Babeil In both I obserue that the Diuine Maiesty respects this innocent Prince in his loue vnto him vnexpectedly rips vp the very bowels of Treason euen when Sathan assures himselfe of his fatall haruest and is ready to reape his Hemlockes almost ripe then God prepares a feruent East winde in one night to destroy his poysonfull weedes like vnto Ionas his gourd O mighty God who can prie into the treasury of thy counsels What man purposeth thou disposest Thou reuealest the deepe and secret things Thou knowest the thing that lieth in darkenesse for the light dwelleth with thee We thanke thee we praise thee O thou God of our Fathers that hast giuen our King wisdome and strength and hast shewed him the thing that he desired of thee Thou hast declared his matter vnto him When his wisest Counsel ors missed to expound Tressams intricate letter more intricate then Sphynx his Riddle the Holy Ghost lent the King himselfe the key of knowledge the key on which millions of liues depended wherewith he vnlockt the memorable morall of the aenigmaticall letter memorable indeed vnto all posterities All which circumstances doe certainely argue the profoundnesse of his capacity and assuredly ascertaine my soule that the faculties of his soule are effectually inuested with some attributes of the Deity for the glory of God After the like manner let vs comprehend the knowledge of God who is our spirituall King and King of Kings for what signifieth this word God but an omnipotent spirituall King Creator of all things and we shall spiritually attaine to his Diuine knowledge though we see him not with our bodily eyes Let vs grope after him and we shall finde him for he is not farre from euery one of vs in him wee liue wee moue and haue our being When we endeauour with all our hearts and humble soules to keepe his commandements we may boldly say that we do know him When our mindes are sanctified through stedfast saith intentiuely on Iesus Christ as the diseased Israelites became healthfull with regarding the brasen Serpent we may assuredly affirme that we do know him Most happy are they which neuer saw Christ and yet beleeue in him Neyther doe we want other cuident meanes and motiues to stirre vs vp to the knowledge of the Godhead or spirituall power first naturall reason sheweth that some glorious soule full of perfection and power created the world and the creatures thereof for they could neuer make themselues which the Prophet Dauid confessed in these wordes The heauens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handy worke Next his Church or faithfull congregation of Adam Abell Seth Henock Noah Abraham and others transferred by successiue tradition his knowledge to their posterities Thirdly his knowledge hath beene reuealed by the Holy Ghost to Moyses Samuel the Prophets and lastly by the Messias himselfe through apparitions miracles lawes ceremonies and temporall blessings Fourthly to draw neerer vnto mans capacitie which depends most vpon sensible obiects mention is made by Moyses how God caused him to stand in the caue of a Rocke and putting his hand vpon him he did shew him his hinder parts not suffring him to see his face Whereby the secuced Saduces collect the Godhead to be corporall But the naturall man perceiues not the things of the spirit of God For by his hinder parts aâ— the picture of his spirituall substance is shadowed the glimpse of his glorious influence By his hand is figured his al-puissant power By his face the fulnesse of his sunny glory And where Eyes are ascribed vnto him what other sense is meant then his prouidence and knowledge Thus God sometimes speakes naturally according to our naturall apprehension In conclusion let it suffice our curious braines that God is a powerfull Spirit not to be felt palpably with mens hands nor seene with mens eyes I speake not of Christs glorified body being humane which Thomas Dydimus felt after his refurrection by reason that the light of his Spirit is too conspicuous glorious and ouer-bright for such weake terrestriall and brittle senses Neuerthelesse it pleased him to appeare vnto Ezechael in the similitude of fire from his loynes downewards and of brightnesse like vnto Amber from his loynes vpwards S. Iohn in the Iland of Pathmos on the Lords day rauished in spirit saw one like the Sonne of man with his head and haires as white as woolor snow with his eyes as flames of fire His feete were like vnto fire brasse burning in a fornace and his voice as the sound of many waters His face shone as bright as the Sunne in his strength Whereby we may gather that God is a spirit not able to be seene of dust and ashes vntill the same be better purified or purged from worldly concupiscence for flesh and bloud cannot enter into heauen and vntill our soules become refined and regenerated not with Purgatory flames but with the spirit of God the fiery Comfirter This is the reason that the Elect of God doe stoutly maintaine that his Diuine Maiesty being a spirit cannot rightly be worshipped but in spirite and minde which in truth fals out most rightly when the spirit through faith becomes eminent and when the body through fasting lieth vanquished LINEAMENT VII 1 The description of some of the good spirits which attend on their Creator in heauen 2 Their Offices 3 Names 4 Greatnesse LEauing aside Dionysius Areopagitaes nine orders of Heauenly Hierarchies which he
increaseth in a house and there-hence vvould breake into the next house and at last into the whole towne vnlesse at the first inflaming it be quencht with milke so the Spirit of Detraction being suffered to creepe into an honest mans house like Aesops vnthankfull Snake which the innocent husbandman saued from the chilling colde and there by negligence permitted to infect some of the household will at length not onely enuenome the head of the Family himselfe but also empoyson the vvhole neighbourhood except at the first his fiery force be extinguished with the milke of Taciturnitie and Patience Of this kinde of milke among other ingredients is that Oyntment made which the Apostle mentioned ye haue an oyntment of him that is holy ye know all things Though Truth hath taken off this false vizard yet vvee must apply the fruits of Truth for his further condemnation and that other wicked Spirits may likewise be kept backe from planting themselues in the little world With Taciturnitie the Spirit of Detraction is choakt with Patience the Detracted conquereth the Detractour vincit qui patitur In old time this kinde of Spirit vvas coniured vp by vnhallowed holy vvater by massemonging miracles now our Countrey-men rayse him vp by pots of good liquour and pipes of Tobacco therewith both day and night profaining their bodies which rather they ought to purifie vvith mortification as the Temples of the Holy Ghost for wanton flesh and bloud cannot inherit heauen In old time his malice was sometimes allayed by simplicitie and superstitious singlenesse of minde now hee can neuer be put downe and packt into hell without Taciturnitie and Patience both which if thou who readest this Circle dost obtaine at thy heauenly Fathers hand thou needest not doubt of thy soules saluation nor of silent sobrietie LINEAMENT III. 1 The discription of Taciturnitie 2 That the nature and qualitie of a man may be discerned by speach or writing 3 That wise men in priuate may descant of their neighbours faults so that the same tend to edification ALbeit that Taciturnitie be a kinde of milke farre more delicious then the Paracâ—lsians lac virginis or false Mahemets heauenly iunkets hard to come by knowne but of very few and those sons of Art vvhose chiefe Aphorisme is to keepe close their soueraigne receipts from vicious persons I will notwithstanding aduenture to disclose vvhat it is borrowing the discription thereof out of Monsieur du Chesue his Portraict de la sancte Taciturnity is to heare and premeditate a thing well and long to be briefe and short in his answeres that is to speake little or nothing Taciturnite est bien longuement oscouter premediter estre briese court on ses responses ascauoir dire peu ou rien This rare medicine makes the Patient which takes it to carry his mouth in his heart whereas Detraction causeth men to beare their hearts in their mouthes to deliuer dregs with drinke and to shoot their foolish boltes before that discretion wils them Which moued a certaine wise man that on a time vvas askt by his Prince at a banquet why hee alone sate still like a foole without parleying thus pithily to answeare A foole be it spoken vnder your Matesties correction can hardly hold his peace at a banquet for as Salomon saith the foole putteth forth all his spirit but a wise man deferreth it afterwards O diuine vertue O discreet Taciturnitie which resemblest the patient Deitie vvhich repellest hunger and thirst which neuer renderest griefe blame nor shame Surely the best coniecture vvhich may be made of mens inclinations is by speach or writing Loquere vt te videam speake that I may know thee quoth Socrates to a nouice of his as for example if thou hearest one discourse immoderately of faire women fine apparrell of hauking hunting and gaming or if thou hearest him vaunt ouer-gloriously of his owne vvorth or speaking in print in inck-horne termes thundring out sesquipedales and hornificabustulated metaphors verborum bullas ampullas wordes of his owne bubled or botled stampe or if thou seest him scribble disioynted phrases and lame Hyperboles then note him for a vaine-glorious fellow a phantasticall Parrot a golden Asse led too much with the imaginatiue facultie If his common talke be of law cases of lying Chronicles of old wiues fables or if he rips vp pedegrees repeating his owne or his Kinsmans genealogy to Cadwalader to Brutus to Saturne to Noah in all companies and at all times of honest mirth obserue him for an excellent memorie and vvithall for a notable foole If he waighs his vvords by the ounce if hee speakes seldome or not before a question be asked him and if he regardeth circumstances as the dignitie of the person vvith whom he talkes the place the time the nature of the hearers and the matter of speach alwayes vsing Gods name and authoritie vvith submissiue reuerence knowing that his omnipotent Maiesty heareth euery vvord hee speakes then marke him for a man of vnderstanding Hee that vvill learne to speake must first learne to be silent for as the Italian Prouerbe teacheth l'huomo parlando poco e ' annumerato fra i sauij The man vvhich speakes little is accounted among the vvise And as the French-man saith les foullies plus courtes sont les meilleures the briefest sheetes are the best Be a man neuer so vvitty yet if hee parleyes much his tongue cannot chuse but erre and trip in some principall points which as another Italiaen vvrites vvill trouble the stomacke more then ten graines of Antimoniâ— or Stibium Conturbano piu lo stomacho que farebbonâ—â—â—eci grani de Antimonio So that one vvord out of square may blemish a mans whole reputation and cause Zoylists to descant and sit vpon him perhaps vvhile hee liues Neyther can I excuse the wisest Clerkes that they likewise be not sometimes subiect vnto the spirit of Detraction as that Learned Lord demonstrates Men though otherwise graue and learned may erre eyther by mistaking principles or giuing too light eare vnto false informations which are rightly termed the spectacles of Errour for God onely searcheth the heart and raines But what censure will their owne inckpot Senate yeeld of such iesting and Iybing nicking and nipping Paedantes vvhich cannot bridle their vvide mouth'd hackneys namely that such persons be but parliamenting Parasites Pungitopian peeuish Momes ridiculous Readers Bacchanalian Parolistes super-ingenious Iayes superficiall flaunting fooles letting their tongues runne before their wits without rime or reason without matter or methode for as the Wise-man writeth In many words there cannot want iniquitie Notwithstanding all this I am not so seuere a Cynicke neque mihi cornea sibra est nor are my heart-stings so horny and hard-laced as to banish all manner of delightfull discourses to deceiue away the time vvithall for I graunt that a friend an alter ego may vvithout impeachment of Detraction or doubt of Libelling vnlocke the cabinet of
number of the iust and if these be condemned by iniurye the other shall one day be condemned by Iustice. The case thus depending thou oughtest to pitâ—ie the essentiall and eternall losse of their soules rather then to detract from the accidentall and momentary qualities of their bribed minds Thou oughtest rather to consider their future calamities then to commaculate their present fame with carping calumnies I am flesh and bloud thou sayest and cannot endure that the blacke Oxe shall alwayes tread on my tender foot They haue shamed me with committing mee to Newgate to Bridewell to Bocardo and to those lodges of infamie vvhich are fitter for Rogues then for Righteous men for Villaines then for vertuous persons O vvorldly creature vvherefore camest thou into this vvorld Camest thou hither to liue for euer or to liue a life of tryall or probation for a vvhile vntill thine owne merits in the merits and mercy of Christ had purchased thee a perpetuall place in Heauen Art thou in an earthly prison Giue God thankes that hee respects thy soule thy noblest part For nothing drawes man to meditate on his dutie towards God more then pinching paines more then the imprisonment of his body when the minde may waike at libertie and contemplate the rarest magazins of Truths secrets In my iudgement thou oughtest to glorifie God the more to gratifie thy foes the more if foes they be which send thee towards heauen now that thou feelest with thy body and soule the true crosse vvhich before thou did protest promise and professe as a Christian but in bare wordes to follow nay to embrace during thy probationship Thy detractions as thou againe alleadgest are not causelesse for thou art condemned causelesse and vnworthily to tortures to tormenting paines The pittilesse Iudges haue adiudged thee to iron bolts to pillories to be vsed like a Rogue to be made a spectacle vnto all the vvorld O true crosse true Christian Crosse which our righteous Sauiour hath borne before vs. Hee vvas buffetted hee was scourged his head was bloudyed with a crowne of pricking thornes yea and his precious body was pierced with a speare and nayled to the crosse with cruell curses mockes and sloutes and dost thou repine to imitate thy glorious Maister No seruant is greater then his Maister Thinke vpon Iosephs state how his body vvas vniustly captiuated how his innocent feet vvere galled vvith stockes and fetters therefore content thy selfe and God vvill release thee of thy smarting griefes Doe but examine aright the true course and occurrence of this world and thou shalt finde that thy tormentours themselues are not free from some casuall crosse or other and that alwayes as long as they liue When they were yong they complained of their parents rule ouer their vnrulinesse they complained of aches in their heads and teeth of itches of kibes and other infirmities They complained of their Schoolemasters scourge of his Fearuler of his checks and chidings When Nature clothed their chinnes with beards or hairie fleeces their false ioyes vvere daily salted vvith choller with enuy with melancholicke fittes Their bodyes vvere perplexed with maladies of sundry sorts vvith burning feauers or such like sicknesses Their mindes vvere assayled vvith multitudes of cares with discontentments or discourtisies of friends of followers or of their owne meniall people When their hoary age crept in which of it selfe is an incurable sicknes nullis medicabilis herbis then likewise a world of troubles pursues them hourely at their very heeles nay I vvould say at their backes in their backes in all the parts of their bodyes Now they grone and mone vvith dolour of the Chollicke the stone and vvith continuall aches in their decayed ioynts and as the Poet wrote tunc cum lapidosa chiragra Fregerit articulos veteris ramalia Fagi The knottie cramping Gout Their ioynts doe gripe about Which like old Beechen boughes It breakes with often throwes Another vvhile the Ptisicke caused through a long Catarre consumes their corrupted wind-pipes or else their filthy mouthes which sometimes spued vp most filthy speâ—ches doe now spit out whole gobbets of flegme like stincking Oysters Others againe haue not that benefit but languishing with wearied breath they faint vnder their long continued oppilations which the former Poet painted out in this most liuely verse Gutture sulphure as lâ—ntè exhalaâ—te mephitet Their throates exhaling lazily Sulphureous smels full lothsomely What shall I speake of Promooters of pettifogging Lawyers or of cauelling neighbours which like Caterpillers Rats and vile vermine molest them with wrongfull suites forcing them to trauell Testaque Lâ—tâ—que through thicke and thinne in great ieopardie of their liues to consume all their money to the very bottome of their puâ—ses and to â—râ—t them to the very bottome of their hearts I will passe ouer how Iudges themselues are also vexed one while their vnnaturall Sonnes disquiet them and how another while their owne Wiues vphold factions in their owne houses against them One while their credit is iustly called in question by their emulous companions another while they are slandered with those things which they neuer once thought no nor drearned of Thus God rewards them with the Talion law with like for like after the example of Adonibezeck who somtimes hauing threescore ten Kings vvith their thombes and great toes cut off and gathering their crums meat vnder his table was at the last apprehended himselfe by the Tribe of Iâ—da and had his owne thombes and great toes cut off worthily perishing by tortures of his owne inuention like as the Inuenter of the brazen Bull was adiudged by the Tyrant Phalaris first to try the torments Which also moued Adonibezeck to brust out into these complaints As I haue done so God hath done to me againe To what end serue thy detrâ—ctions when as thou seest them already tossed toiled and turmoiled with infinit vexations LINEAMENT XI 1 The Reply of the Spirit of Detraction to the premisses 2 An Answere to the said Reply out of the Rules of Policie fit to be obserued of pecuish Preachers 3 The benefit that comes to a true Christian by detracting tongues where the Spirit of Detraction is conuicted with his owne sorce THese words of mine replies another punie or pupill of the Detracting Spirit sauour of a Sermon stile fitter for the Pulpet then for Geometrical Circles for a Preacher then for a pryer into Spirits for the inward man which must prepare himselfe for the other world rather then for the outward man which must suite and sort himselfe to the humorous spirits of this present world Tread vpon a worme and the worme will turne againe Musca habet splenem Formicae sua bilis inâ—st The little Flie hath her spleene and the humour of choller is incident to the Emmet How can a man of reason brooke to be continually crossed by his Colltages and Fellow-officers in his zealous endeuours How can a man chuse but vvhet his tongue to
THE ARRAIGNMENT OF SLANDER PERIVRY Blasphemy and other malicious Sinnes shewing sundry examples of Gods Iudgements against the Ofenders Aswell by the Testimony of the Scriptures and of the Fathers of the primatiue Church as likewise out of the reportes of Sir Edward Dier Sir Edward Cooke and other famous Lawiers of this King dome Published by Sir William Vaughan Knight LONDON Printed for Francis Constable and are to be sold in Pauls Church yeard at the signe of the Crane 1630. TO THE LORDS OF HIS MAIESTIES most Honourable Priuie Counsell INImitation of that Burgundian Booâ—c that saluted the French King with a present of Radish rootes and also of the Persians who by reason of their countrey-custome durst not Ire salutatum Satrapes sine munerâ— magnos Greet their great Lords without some gratefull gift Right prudent â—â—dprâ—â—â—dent Lords I present a meane obiect to your indicious sights A meane obiect indeed if yee regard the worth of the person that presents it or the person whom it concernes being the spitefull Spirit of Detraction yet tollerable perhaps if yee receiue the presentours readie will with the reflection of your comfortable countenance but most noble and worthy to be ennobled with your patronage if yee respect the meanes and Circles as I know you doe whereby this Spirit is Coniured and Conuicted euen by the sword of Angels the mysticall sword the word of God and also by the sword of man Alexanders sword the decider of our Gordian doubts VVith the former sword Michea confuted the false Prophets of Samaria Michael coÌ„founded the detracting Dragon and Michaels followers here on earth the false Prophet of our Christian Church that dâ—ceiuer that deprauer of the holy Ghost and of his pretious properties With the latter sword men punish men malicious men With this sword a King plagued Midas for his doltish DetractioÌ„ a Queene plagued Niobe for her courtizan comparison VVhether these obiects be noble tollerable meane or as waste leaues good for nothing saue for Apothecaries to wrap about their drugs I submit them and compromit them together with my selfe to your Honors graue arbitrement in hope that yee will ascribe all imperfections to my want of perfections to the breuitie of time and to the sodainnesse of the accident For the worlds great Thunderer hauing lately taken vnto him my deare wife by a sulphureous dampe of lightning and shaken some part of my house with a thunder-clap hath likewise strooke me with such an amazement in mine vnderstanding with beholding out of my tabernacle of flesh and bloud the glorious gleames of his power that truly I must needs confesse my selfe to be somewhat backward in penning and painting out this handy-worke of his almost as ominous to me as his hand writing was to Balthasar in Babylon To this I may adioyne multitudes of impediments as well of publike causes and suites abroad as also of mine owne priuate affaires at home All which concurring vpon me in confused heapes some by importunitie of office some of necessitie and some by Sathans suggestion commmonly euery day since that fatall blast caused such vnpolished points as in the reading may occurre to your learned view And yet for all this Right honourable I had not so abruptly at this time hastened on mine abortiue worke to your presence were it not because I would stay betimes the forward steps of Sathan and also because I would stop the vnpure mouthes of pratling Momes and tatling Niobes who inter Bacchanalia amidst their pots of drinke their pipes of Tobacco and idle fits of iollity establishing the shallow foundation of their reports vpon the flying and lying rumours of licentious libellers doe blasphemously blaze abroad to the derogation and preiudice of the powerfull Lord of lightnings that the Diuell our spirituall Tempter acted this terrible tragedie Some other times they giue out that the same Diuell coniured vp at mortall mens commaunds tooke her away bodie and all or at leastwise some principall part of her bodie VVhich sacrilegious imputation as I know Gods elect do alreadie both loath and laugh to scorne so I doubt not but all others shall by this present Treatise learne to leaue it off as a poisoned paradoxe Againe there is not wanting a sort of suspicious Critickes who arrogating to themselues the gift of Prophesie or reuelation from aboue doe make a taunting table-talke of this heauenly visitation in lieu of a grace or salt to season their meates withall by attributing this vnexpected chance to some secret sinnes of hers VVhich Scrthian censure all her acquaintance will contradict and condemne of calumniation All her familiar acquaintance wil consent with one voyce with one mind in the scrutinie of her triall that she liued as innocently as industriously as honestly as humbly towards God and man as any whatsoeuer in all her country without deceit without Detraction And if this be a Demonstration infallible that out of sure premisses we inferre a sure conclusion that none dieth ill who hath liued well for a good tree euer beares good fruit and that we must iudge men by their liues and not by their deathes then dare I assuredly assume that she died as guiltlesse as those on whom the Tower of Siloc fell By the stayres of hell she swiftly climed aboue the starres of heauen By lightning flames as Elias in fiâ—ry Chariots her soule soared vp aloft into the Region of eternall light Othersome in mine owne countrey more passionate because I reforme disorders and would redresse certaine misdemeanures whereof they claime prescription as an hereditarie or necessarie euill doe euaporate these vncharitable speeches touching my proceedings that God sent these prodigious euents as prodromes and forerunners of his indignation conceiued against me for my seuerity of iustice Summum ius summa iniuria Extreme iustice extreme iniurie Which Detraction of theirs I will only countermine with that graue authoritie interpreting old Augustines honest minde Rash iudgement hurts not the person that is iudged but rather him that so rashly iudgeth Quia cuâ—nvolumus aliena per iram coercere grauiora committimus by reason that when we would correct the faults of other men in passion our selues commit more grieuous faults Another kind of Detractours measuring our actions by the ell of their owne guiltie consciences and vsurping the Popish partes of Ghostly Confessors doe parley in priuate among themselues that our iust Iehouah darted this lamentâ—ole mishap as a mysticall scourge for some silent sinnes of mine At which accusation I will â—â—t equiuocate nor endeuour to acquite my selfe â—hereof with the presumptuous Pharisee for I frankly acknowledge as one of Adams progeny that I am throughly tainted with the leprosie of sinne whereof I expect no deliuerance at all by any earthly Aesculaptus saue onely by the fiery Serpent which healed the Israelites I am carnall as S. Paul said and sold vnder sinne Yet notwithstanding if sinne present doe not please me I know that sinnes past shall neuer harme me But
in other in-mates worse spirits then himselfe specially the spirit of Detraction first gets in his head like a cunning Foxe and then by little and little enters in with his whole body to the vtter ouer throw of mans little world So that Christians fall out to be Antichristians Apostles Apostates and manly souldiers scoldes and scoffers To come neerer vnto you what is the reason that this renowned people who claime themselues from Brutus are become so brutish as to be addicted to gossip-ales Bride-ales and to bacchanales and consequently to Detractions and descanning of other mens destinies yea and otherwhiles to discourse of Gods secret iudgments Omne vitium habet patrocinium No vice without a clâ—ake no sinne without some apish Apologie These iolly fellowes being driuen to this exigent doe confesse that corrupted custome brought them to such vitious habites O cruell custome O hatefull habites which worke the fatall and finall ruine of soules and bodies Neuerthelesse as there is no custome but may be altered so for mine owne part I cannot beleeue that custome alone causeth man a creature enriched with Diuine reason and enfâ—offed with free-will and election in many things specially in naturall and humane things to carouse and then to reade stammering Lectures both on the sacred power of God and on their simple neighbours soules For some carouse of custome some of wantonnesse and company Some againe delight therein being sophistically perswaded that the excessiue vse thereof auailes much for their healths sake as a purger of superfluous rheumes Others fauour Tobacconisme because they would not seeme ouer-nice melancholicke or men by themselues in the singular number and also because Tobacco might serue them in stead of salt or drie leaders to drinking and consequently vnto Detracting but for the most part our Caualâ—ers and Gentles of the first head sucke in the smoakie vapour of Tobacco because they might counterfeit themselues gidâ—y or drunken for it is no shame to be drunke with Tobacco when they want copie of matter or store of discourse Then they fame themselues so long rauished as it were in an eâ—tasiâ— vntil after a thorough per ambulation of their barren wits and after long houghing halking and hacking they haue coined some strange accident worthy the rehersall among their boone companions Then as though they started out of an heauenly traunce and as the Satyrist writes Mobile colluerint liquido cùm plasmate guttur Hauing their throats wel washt with dreggish drugs They recount tales of Robin-hood of Rhodomonting rouers of Donzel del Phoebo of a new Anti-christ borne in Babylon of lying wonders blazing out most blasphemous newes how that the Diuell appeared at such a time with lightning and thundring Maiestie much about that horrible manner as the Glorious God appeared on mount Horeb raised tempests both on Sea and land not inferiour to those stormy Heteroclites of the West Indies called the Furicanoes shooke the foundation of the earth battered such Gentlemens houses and if they had not suddenly blessed themselues better he had carried away with him men women houses and all right into hell These or such like feeble fables doe they scatter abroad among their foolish Auditors while in the meane time the Diuell the Schoole-master of all lewdnesse appeares no where more forcibly then in the very midst of these vncharitable Readers yea and perhaps his spirituall pâ—yson or poysonous spirit is exhaled and exhausted with their Tobacco and draughts of drinke into their mustie mindes O Tongue how is thy perfection peruerted thy sense depraued thy sound degenerated How comes it to passe that the soules Embassadour is become a turne-coate Herald Expectaui legatum inueni Heraldum I expected an honourable Embassadour but haue found a huffe-cap Herald as our late Queene Elizabeth of famous memory sometime nickt a presumptuous Embassadour of Polonia I expected to heare nothing but truth out of the mouth of Gods similitude specially to his neighbour in Christ to Christ in his members But alas I finde nothing but lies and libels Omnis homo mendax I expected for reformation but haue met with ruinous relapses O Tongue tongue how miserable are the effects of thy motions Being made for a watchfull clapper to the Bell of Gods Temple to pray for Grace to comfort the sicke to confirme the penitent to confute the absurd to confound the Detractour why ringest thou out such paltry peales Why ragest thou against thy Masters will against thy selfe without iust cause or neede In thy youthfull time thou crakest and vauntest of thy vaine worth bursting thy lungs welnigh with windy bragges In thy more mellow or maturer age thou standest elated in thine owne conceit as though thy hoarie colour hath added vncontrouled trust and truth vnto thy stale assertions In all the progresse of thy wagging in all thy proceedings thou abusest thy proper function for which the Lord will not hold thee guiltlesse at that vniuersall Synod when the heauens shall be folded together like a booke when our consciences the true table-bookes of our soules shall lie open without lies against vs and we shall yeelde account for euery idle word These things expended and examined by me in the ballance of vnderstanding and fearing least I might participate with them in their derogatory crimes or encurre the penalty of trayterous Misprision towards our righteous Lord for my cowardly conccalements if according to that measure of spirit which he hath bestowed vpon me I reproued them not therefore haue I published this humble Treatise that therein as in a glasse or map they may behold the reflexion of their filthy faults extinguished and extirped What do I know whether the great God hath deliuered me from diuers dangers for these or such like purposes To this end was I bâ—râ—e that I should doe my best to glorifie God and edific my countrey To this end I wish with all the veynes of my heart that what ability of wel-saying and wel-doing is defectiue in mine owne person the same by the Diuine bounty may be liberally supplied to all others in this present booke And that the Readers hereof may learne in sparing speech to follow the examples of the holy Prophets and Apostles who for their honest admonitions and humble exhortations were ouercast with a cloude of scorne among the reprobates of this world or at least wise that they imitate some of the heathenish Philosophers namely Pythagoras who imposed Decennale silentium ten yeares silence on his schollers or Socrates who for many howers together would sit silently musing on the wonderfull workemanship of God or Arcesilas Solon and other enemies of Detraction To this end I heartily wish that all they which finde themselues subiect to this spirit of Detraction may be terrified from that idle vse with such magicall motiues of Michaels mysteries as I haue herein inserted like as if the Vtopian Syphograunts the Athenian Ostracisme the Romane Censors the Spanish Inquisition or as if the statute de scandalis
three records on earth or sacramentall types and mysteries of water the word and the Spirit there are said to be three the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost which beare record in heauen three persons distinguished really in respect of their personall properties but indistinct essentially in respect of their perpetuall power I say in respect of originall order of Christs mysticall marriage with the freckled or spotted Spouse the militant Church on earth in respect of his office in mediating for sinfull men an office too meane for the sacred maiesty of God and in respect of his humanity that was crucified for the Elect by Gods promise euer since Adams fall or perhaps before his fall lest the whole generation of mankind had beene vnder a iust Anathema or excommunication the Sonne was and is inferiour to the Father and submitteth his will to the Fathers will as himselfe protested Not as I will but as thou wilt O Father And so the holy Ghost is inferiour to them both in regard of his humble function of vice-gerencie or deputation in comforting and instructing the sinfull sonnes of Adam These seuerall assignements of offices they appointed to themselues in their owne praedestinated wisedomes wherein though they all conspire yet as I said before one of them hath the name of Primate in regard of order but in regard of their eternity and omnipotence none is greater or lesse then another For this cause it is written that the Father created the world the Sonne redeemed it and the holy Ghost sanctifieth it and yet they are but one in effect in their ends one God one omnipotent power communicating to three persons to three properties as one center to three lincs all in all and three in all As no man can come to the Father but by the Sonne so no man can come to the Son but by the holy Ghost for we are sanctified because we are redeemed and we are redeemed because we are elected Pater eligit Filius diligit Spiritus sanctus coniungit vnit The Father electeth the Sonne loueth and the holy Ghost conioynes cements and vnites together The Father eternall in the consubstantiall word the word in him both in the coessentiall Spirit and the Spirit in them both doe all three co-operate co-adiute and worke according to their own counsell for the good of their creatures for the honour of their heauenly Hierarchy The Father begetteth in loue and iustice the Sonne begotten in loue and righteousnes and the holy Ghost proceeding from them both in loue and grace doe mystically teach the inward man that sees with the spirituall eyes of faith what care the Godhead takes for the restoring and repayring of that breach and lapse which the imbecility of mans brittle condition together with Sathans subtilty caused vnto all posterities And thus God manifesteth this three-fold distinction vnto vs that his elect might apprehend the mysticall operation of their soules saluation in the effects of his Iustice Grace and Loue. Againe lest for all this I seeme obscure I will exemplifie the vnited substance of the Trinity more familiarly yet with this prouiso that the words of Zophar to Iob may be read as a preamble Canst thou by searching finde out God or canst thou finde out the Almighty to his perfection That surely were to scale the heauens or build another Babel In a Spirit there is neither part diuersity nor multiplication but wheresoeuer the spirit is there is the whole spirit as the soule of man is not part in the head and part in the foote but the same whole spirit which is in the head is vndiuided entire all and the same in the foote neuerthelesse it appeares more eminent in the head by reason of the soules more notable operation there mans head being the noblest obiect the noblest Organ of the body which the soule doth like So in this spirituall substance of God there is no part diuersity nor multiplication but euery thing in God is God and the whole and the same substance of his Spirit for where one of Gods vertues are there also himselfe and all his vertues are as the influence of the Sunne But we commonly say Our Father which art in heauen not that he is altogether locally circumscribed there secluded from all other places but because it pleaseth his glorious Maiesty for the honour of his power to impart his Diuinity there most cleerely among his vndefiled and vnspotted creatures which as like to like pure to pure doe answere and satisfie the pleasure of their mercifull Creator So that God is in heauen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the rarenesse and excellency of his operations in that purest place And surely God dealt like himselfe like a gracious Lord thus to communicate his soucraigne perfections to that choise place amidst his choysest creatures restrayning the same from vs poorepilgrims who for the brittlenesse of our eâ—rthly mould being clothed but with dust and ashes full of corruptions could no more then Phaeton or Icarus stand iustified before his sunny presence For when his heauenly Highnesse vouchsafed to guide and goe before the Israelites out of Egypt his magnanimous Spirit that could not brooke impurity was moued to such impatience against their sinnes that he was faine to withdraw his strong and powerfull presence from their weake complexions lest as himselfe said he should consume them in the way To returne and retire backe towards the entire essence of the Trinity I beleeue that Gods properties as I wrote before cannot be diuided into parts portions or parcels but that euery quality in God is God and the whole substance of his spirit and so the Speaker in Gods Spirit is Gods Spirit of the whole substance The Word in Gods Spirit is Gods Spirit of the whole substance But herein is their difference that the Father is the Speaker onely as begetting the Word the Sonne is the Word onely as the Word begotten And the holy Ghost is holy only as proceeding from the mutuall loue and from the mutuall wils of the Father or the Speaker begetting and of the Sonne or Word begotten So as the Speaker in God is God the Word in God is God and the holy Loue in God is God But yet the Speaker is not the Word nor the Word the Speaker if we regard the order and mysterie of their operatiue offices though both be God for the one is the Father begetting and the other I meane the Word is the Sonne begotten The propagatour or producer of Sanctification or holy Loue in God is loue which loue is God And loue produced in God is Loue and is God but the producer of loue is not loue produced I say the will of the Father and the Sonne being the producer of loue is not the loue proceeding or produced that is the holy Ghost though all be God in substance and power but differing in the manner of their operation for the Father is loue onely
the Protestants and hardening of the Papists conferre I say the conformity of the present state with the state past of the Church olde age being another infancy and yee shall see as cleere as at noone-tide the true meaning of darke places which no man that stands vpon his owne high minde and his owne merites can possibly perceiue In like manner doe ye desire to discerne the Antichrist Compare those things which are prophesied of him one with another and yee shall firret him out yee shall finde him cunningly crept into our Christian Church Euen as Christ was a mysterie to the Pharisies so Antichrist is a mysterie to the Papists I say a mystery a mysterie the mysterie of iniquity which cannot distinctly be discerned without the spirituall eyes of faith in the inward man Looke on him with your bodily eyes and this Alcimus will deceiue the very Elect if it were possible In outward shew an Angell of light a sanctimonious Elder but inwardly a sacrilegious Serpent or a Foxe in a Lambes skinne O Antichrist thy Dragon is destroyed by Daniels arte by the bloud of the Lambe thy beast is conquered O false Prophet thy Babylonian whore is become wrinckled her beauty is faded her wich-craft discouered her force decayed her superstitions defaced What remaines Thou art driuen to a narrow straight to thy neerest shifts Post ouer thy title to another Perswade thy subiects that a new Antichrist but no mysticall is euen now borne in Babylon Let Iohn Doleta with all expedition publish this in Print It is a point of policie to temporize and to beare thy credulous Catholikes in hand least suddenly they flinch from thy yoake and of Romanists fall to be Apostolickes By the mysticall allusion of Michea that saw the Lord putting a false and a lying spirit in the mouth of Ahabs Prophets that claymed themselues like the Pharisies and Papists to be within the Church yee shall gather with this and with the Reuelation of S. Iohn that these termes of Decemer salfe Prophet the worker of false miracles which set to sale the bodies and soules of men cannot bee applied more significantly to any other then to him who went out from vs but was not of vs. Would ye answere their obiection which alledge that the Pope cannot be that great Antichrist because his Holinesse denieth not the Father and the Sonne nor exalteth himselfe aboue that which is called God Turne them to the Etymology of these words Iesus Christ that is the Al-sufficient and annointed Saniour of the world and tell them that the entire and whole vertue of the Godhead is wounded it besides him they vse any Mediator to saluation Turne them to S. Paul and reade that the Antichrist must sit in the Temple of God The Pope sits not with Peters humility but with pompe and Maiesty in Peters chaire in the mother Church of the West being now become a cruell stepmother and a common harlot shewing that he hath authority to graunt Indulgences and Pardons to release the paines of Purgaâ—ory peremptorily to aduance his Standard aboue the Church which is to magnifie himselfe aboue the Holy Ghost by whom it is ruled vnder Christ to consecrate beades water crucifixes yea and the glorious body of Christ which is already consecrated in Heauen In which prerogatiues he extolleth himselfe aboue God doing those spirituall offices which are flat contrary to Gods word and law Likewise it is prodigious that such things be sanctified by sinfull man specially since the ceremoniall law and partition wall betwixt the Iewes and vs is broken downe after the resurrection of Christ. It is derogatory I say to his sacred Maiesty that a mortall man vsurpe that Promethean pre-eminence for hee that commits such sacriledge aboue mentioned doth vndoubtedly vsurpe the power of God in a high degree He that vsurpes after this manner detracts from faith only in Christ Iesus and from other gifts of the Holy Ghost He that detracts from these gifts of the Holy Ghost blasphemes and he that blasphemes so high a Maiesty sinnes irremissibly except the Lords mercy left out some other exception vnknowne vnto vs. Thus Christian Reader shalt thou ponder other points of the Bibles mysteries And now seeing I haue sore-armed my soule with sufficient exorcismes and methodically fished out the great Leuiathan let me anathomize the Monsters principall members LINEAMENT IX 1 The Conclusion of this second Circle shewing that the Spirit of Detraction can neuer confound vs while we meditate with saith on Christs passion 2 That we become guilty of his death when we detract from his name or workes 3 The Authors supplication against the spirit of Detractum SHut fast thy mouth from lies and vanity Shoot in thine eyes to loue and verity Thou soule of mine which euery day dost fall Through Sathans web into pollutions thrall Let faith inflame thy will to meditate Vpon that Flame in flesh incorporate To see those wounds which thou hast made so wide With dint of Speare in his bloud gored side Doues build in holes of rocks but thou my Doue In holes of bloudied Rocke must build thy loue For while thou look'st with faith and zealous feare How that his head a thorny crowne did weare How Pilates scourge his holy skinne did teare How his meeke soule both mockes and flouts did beare And how his hands and feete were nailed to the Crosse To ransome thee and to repaire the losse Which Lucifer with Adders sting did cause To thee when Eue first brake her Makers lawes While thou with faith dost view this mystery The fiery Serpent of Mount Caluary No wile no guile no blacke tongues archery Nor selfe-conceit of fancies flattery Can flesh and bloud the world or Sathan worke Against thy life Though Pope conspire with Turke Though Haman with his Counsellors combine Though Machiauell complot with Aretine To blow thee vp vet thy essentiall parts Shall stand vnshak't in spite of all their arts Wherefore yee winds of praise yee wings of pride Packe hence all sinnes which vertues sonnes deride Yee grinning dogs yee grunting hogs away The night is past and wel-come is the day The day is come to day without delay I must contemne such lust vile dust and clay The bell rings out the Drummer sounds Alarme I must rise vp for feare of future harme Teares and prayers are my armes I must pray And speake the truth without all faile to day All haile cleere day long may thy Sun-shine last Without eclipse or cloud or winters blast All haile cleere day through whose reflecting beames Broad waking I do see truths open glcames I see my Lord alas what doe I see My Lord and Sauiour hurt By whom By me By me he lies with thoughts misdecdes and words Wounded as with sharpe thornes or edged swords I crucified my Christ I rent his name I crowned thee with obloquie and shame O Lord of life when I should
threats from S. Michacls Mount to the furthest bounds of Calydone against all licentious and lying libellers against detractors of their neighbours names or at least wise against such prophane persons which presume to wound the Maiestie of their great Creatour by their malicious or wanton wordes To this end like vnto that Clowne of Danubius who spared not to speake the truth from his very heart before the Emperour Aurelius and the whole Senate of Rome an obedient and obsequious seruant of yours borne vnder Cambriaes climate doth here enforme your patient Highnesse that the Sunne can no longer shine in your Christian Kingdome vpon truth and blasphemy without a most terrible eclipse of discontentment Arise therefore O King and cause these noysome Foxes to be both slaine and slaine Let their habitation be desolate and no man dwelling therein For they that be Traytors to their Heauenly King can neuer be true to their earthly King They that wittingly and wilfully teare in pieces the Titles of the great Iehouah will also proue rayling Semeies and reuiling Sathans against your royall Highnesse Their tongues like sharpe pointed arrowes will passe and pierce through your hard steely armour your armour of proofe my Lords both spirituall and temporall Their throats like open Sepulchres doe threaten to bury your wounded bodies O yee Knights Burgesses and Commons Yea these Knights of the Post these common swearers and detractors will conspire some time or other to blow vs all vp one after another with the gun-powder of their blasphemies O then let not such Atheisticall Agags be spared but let them perish by the hands of Samuell let them perish in the pit of perdition as persons faire worse then murtherers for these kill but the body whereas the periured kill themselues totally both body and soule And as an auncient Father writes They that blaspheme Christ now reigning in heauen do sinne no lesse then they that crucified him here on earth When they forsweare themselues whether it be by compulsion or of custome or of some worldly respect all is one eyther by Gods body by his bloud or by his woundes they spiritually pierce his sides with their bloudy weapons for a wicked tongue is worse then any weapon and like pitilesse Pilate they scourge his sanctified body againe When they sweare by his head as our swaggering swil-bowles will sweare by any part they plaite another Crowne of thornes vppon his hallowed head When they sweare by his foote they naile his innocent feete to the Crosse anew When they sweare by Gods death by Gods heart they put him to death and being worse then Iudas Iscariot they plot to supplant the heart of life When they sweare by senseles blocks stocks by the Masse by Gog or magog they detract from Gods honour in attributing his due to dumbe and deafe Idols But when they wilfully sweare betwixt party and partie in iudiciall proceedings by Gods Sacraments or forsweare themselues vpon his louely Legates the Testament eyther olde or new they blasphemously detract from the Father the Word and the holy Ghost by reason that Gods word comprehended in those holy Oracles is the right record on earth resembling the word incarnate now in heauen who redeemed the penitent from Sathans thrall euen as the other two mysticall records of water the spirit or of Baptisme and the Lords Supper represent the Father the holy Ghost the one signifying our Election by Baptisme and repentance from the Father before all worlds and the other witnessing and sealing the same into our consciences and also breathing faith loue charity and other Diuine gifts into our barren wils as is most euidently testified in those Testaments so that wilfull periury and blasphemous Detraction either to the derogation of Gods honour or to the detriment of his creatures if without commission I may discerne of spirits may be termed a sinne against the holy Ghost or against the whole Maiestie of the sacred Trinity No lesse also sinne the suborners of periurie then Periurers themselues nay they encurre a farre greater punishment because they occasion the losse of other mens soules namely of the suborned persons besides the losse of their owne soules And to detaine them more surely and safely in hell the iniured parties against whom such periury was committed will continually craue and crie for vengeance In respect of which abhominable abuses and for that the Diuell is now-a-dayes most spiritually busie at the shutting vp of this last tragicall seene of the world may it please your Soueraignties to ioyne together as mystical members of one vndiuided and vnblemished corporation for the extirping out of such prophane sinnes which being begunne in youth continued in manhood and confirmed in olde age doe continually raigne among vs as it were by destiny so that likewise other blasphemies in manner of branches beginne to ouer-spread their leaues of lies and libels aboue the plants of truth onely by the slight and too too light stocking vp of that sinfull and saplesse tree of periury Or if your wisedomes iudge it not expedient to promulge and put out any new Acte against this manifolded spirit of malignant Detraction yet notwithstanding for the preuenting of periurie and for the protection of innocencie that Naboth may not sustaine damage by Iezabels false witnesses and that all other sincere subiects may walke dreadlesse in their vocations it were a worke of charity and very likely to hinder the future budding vp of innumerable inconueniences if you would but adde one materiall clause more to the Statue of periury viz. That none be admitted to beare witnes against honest men but honest men men of some sufficiency and substance vntouched vncorrupted and vnsuspected I meane not that they should be voyde of sinne for then we must goe out of this world to fetch in the Angels of heauen but I meane sober men vnattainted of notorious crimes those whom the common law termes probos legales so that common drunkards haunters of Alehouses hunters of whores Barretours beggars rogues and light persons whom the Londoners call Knights of the Post may be excluded from deposing against substantiall subiects For to what end requires the law to haue witnesses produced Is it not to trie the truth And what truth can there be found in such notorious lewd liuers whose thoughts are altogether dulled with sensuall pleasures What true proofe can there be expected from them who differ but very little from bruit beastes Therefore it were sit that Iudges and Iurours regard circumstances as well as witnesses Doth a common drunkard or a common whore-hunter depose such must haue meanes to maintaine their vices Doth a beggar or a prisoner sweare beleeue him not for pinching penuâ—ie will perswade persons to testifie that the crow is white Neede will make the olde wise trot Quid non mortalia pectora cogis Auri sacra fames Is a common Barretour produced to testifie his knowledge A Barretour is euer
and Elias in their soules and bodies vp into heauen Many good men haue died sodainly Abell Iosias Onias and others had no long warning to prepare themselues God knowes best what besits our humane natures It may be he causeth some to die suddenly because of their crazed braines lest in their lingring disease they fall according to the constitution of their bodies into despaire or to railing and reuiling whereby they might leaue behinde them in this world an infamous memoriall Therefore to case them of their torments and for auoyding of so soule a scandall he suddenly sends for his selected seruants Some others he send for suddenly and terribly to terrifie them which remaine behinde for if Gods seruants die such a fearefull death what hope hath the sinner In a word good men neuer pray against suddaine death but to the entent they might order their worldly businesse before their deathes as the said to Hezechias Set thy house in order for thou must die LINEAMENT XII 1 That we must not iudge by mens misfortunes or sudden death that they be forsaken of God 2 Charitable censures which a good Christian may yeeld touching those that die suddenly 3 The Spirit of Detraction conuicted for censuring ouer cruelly of the Authors wife who was striken dead with lightning the 〈◊〉 of Ianuary 160 0 where â—er commâ—ndation and assumption are moralized WHen the Lord is disposed extraordinarily to extend his glorious power why dost thou ô foolish man presume to enter into his hidden power Why dost thou labour like Lucifer to climbe vp into his chaire of secrets Shal the thing formed checke him that formed it Can the Pottervse his vessels as he thinkes good and shall not the Lord dispose of his owne creatures Who arâ— thou which iudgest another mans seruant What canst thou tel whether God hath predestinated them to saluation and accepted of their submission as of the thiefe which was crucified with him at the last gaspe and as they say betwixt the bridge and the brooke Betwixt the stirrop and the ground Mercy I thought mercy I found As one â—pitaphed vpon the tombe of him that fell dead sodainly from his horse Sometimes it pleaseth his Maiestie out of our errour to raise his owne honour and to make vertue perfect and complete by infirmity And therfore it is verie vncharitable for one sinner to iudge of another sinner Let him who is without sinne throw the first stone at him as Christ said â—â—et the sinner draw out the beame out of his owne eye before â—e remoue the mote out of his brothers eye It is Gods office onely to iudge the euent and end of things Therefore iudge nothing before the trâ—e vntill the Lord comes who will lighten the hidden things of darknesse and open the counsels of the hearts Saint Paul was made a gazing stoâ—ke vnto this world he was defamed yea he was made as the filihinesse of the world as the off-scouring of all things yet a chosen vessel and Apostle of Christ. When it was told our Sauiour that Pilate had massacred the Galilaeans euen as they sacrificed he willed vs not to iudge of their liues and sins but by their example to amend our liues For neither those poore Galilaeans nor yet these eighteene vpon whom the tower in Siloc fell were greater sinners then all ohers which dwelt at Ierusalem Iosias was one of the godliest kings that euer reigned in Iuda yet was he killed with dartes in the battell against the king of Aegypt Zachariah the Prophet Stephen the martyr with other seruants of God were tyrannously put to death Yea and Christ himselfe being without sinne endured worldly sorrowes without number and also died a most terrible death yet did they iudge him as though he were plagued and cast downe of God according to that which was prophesied of him The Lord is righteous in all his waies the Lord is holy in all his workes as the Prophet Dauid confessed and as Maurice the Emperour protested when he saw his wife and children murthered before his face by his seruant Phocas How then darest thou which art vnrighteous and vnholy sit and reade on the secret deeds of the righteous God and on the wondrous proceedings of the holy one of Israel Sometimes it pleaseth him to fulfill in our daies that Prophesie of his concerning the taking of the godly from among the wicked The righteous perisheth and no man regardeth it in his heart Good godly men are taken away and no man considereth it namely that the righteous is conueyed away from the wicked who heape vp treasures and pleasures for this world as the godly do for the world to come It may be also that his mercy is so great that respecting not our sinnes his aboundant grace will vouchsafe to pronounce that answere concerning Lazarus in our behalfe This sicknesse is not vnto death but for the glory of God Correspondent to which is likewise the satisfaction which our Sauiour Christ yeelded to his disciples demaund when they asked him about the blind man Master who did sinne this man or his parents that he was borne blind Iesus answered neither hath this man sinned nor his parents but that the works of God should be shewed in him Perhaps the Lord sends extraordinary accidents vpon his seruants to the intent that they should serue for a Parable or warning peece to the rest of his people in this countrey from whom he meanes shortly to take away their power the ioy of their honour the pleasure of their eyes and the desire of their hearts except out of hand they become watchfull and repentant with the Niniuites For if iudgement begin at the iust what shall be the end of them which obey not the Gospell of God And if the righteous be scarcely saued where shall the vngodly and sinner appeare If there be no difference betweene the innocent and reprrobate in the manner of their deathes and worldly crosses why doe we ioyne field to field land to land and make account to see long lasting daies in this transitory world or to die in our soft downe beds The word of the Lord came to Ezechiel Behold I take away from thee the pleasure of thine eyes with a plague yet shall thou neither mourne nor weepe So Ezechiel spake vnto the people in the morning and in the euening his wife died The Parable was this thus saith the Lord God behold I will pollute my sanctuary euen the pride of your power the pleasure of your eyes and your hearts desire And you shall doe as I haue done ye shall neither mourne nor weepe but ye shall pine away for your iniquities and mourne one towards another Thus Ezechiel is vnto you a signe And thus perhaps am I a signe vnto you O worldly wizards whose tongues are hired by the detracting spirit to blaspheme the powerful Lord of lightnings to curse God and die with Iobs wife and
closest counsels and secretly conferre vvith his friend about those matters vvhich to report openly vvere flat against the rules of Christian Charitie or Ciuill modestie Yea such is the sugred torture the sweet tormenting force the naturall influence of true Loue that the Husband cannot conceale from his vertuous Wife nor the wife from the vertuous Husband vvhat nouelties or rumors runne reuell and range abroad in their neighbourhood According to vvhich agrees that Italian saying Ilcaldo del letto dilegua souuente il ghiaccio della taciturnita the heate of the bed thawes oftentimes the ice of secrecie or Taciturnitie To conclude vvith this indented couenant I approue the secret scanning of other mens actions among vvise friends prouided that the same may redound to their mutuall example that it may serue them for a president or booke-case for the soules edifying and afterwards that such speaches lye priuily entombed within the coffin of their hearts LINEAMENT IIII. 1 That Patience is policie in Detractions 2 An exhortation to patience 3 An obiection of the Detracted 4 A confutation HE that is detracted can neuer anger his Detractour more then when he holds his peace with patience and answeres not againe his slanderous speeches Time weares out the greatest scandall Therefore wise politickes haue patiently dissembled backbitings making as though they heard them not For euen as fire vnder the ashes consumes away but being stirred it kindles and may doe harme as well as good so let the man vvhich is deepely and without cause back-bited by the spirit of Detraction and his lying crew take open notice and noyse abroad the vndeserued slander it may turne to his discredit as well as to his credit by reason that mens natures are so corrupt suspitious and guiltie in themselues that they will easily iudge the worst and imagine all others to be like vnto themselues but in processe of time they will be wearie of one mans obiect and therefore when other calumniations come in place the former are forgotten and as fire couered with ashes lie quite extinguished If an Asse or Colt kicke thee wilt thou recalcitrate and spurne him againe Or if another doth torment thee wilt thou torment thy selfe The remembrance of iniuries hurts a man more then the receiuing of iniuries Therefore let not the Sunne goe downe vpon thine impatience And though thou sufferest Sathan to looke in at the key-hole of thy heart yet keepe him out from lodging there Let vs then beare with mens infirmities if they be not too outragious let vs blesse them that curse vs and desire GOD to conuert their enmitie into amitie I say let vs endeauour to conuert them by conuerting their enmitie into a Chrisitan-like vse By this meanes we shal worke miracles and cause the vnbelieueds hardned heart to relent and receiue remorce in conscience A Spanish homilist relates out of another Authour whom he termes el gran Cassiano a notable example tending to this purpose An honest Hermite on a time being iniuried by an Infidell with this exprobration and blasphemous detraction against his Christian profession Que milagros extraordinaâ—ios hize esse tu Christo en el mundo What extraordinarie miracles did this thy Christ so in the world he answered no es harto milagro que tus blasfemias è iniurias no me offendan ni me alboreten tus amâ—naeas Is not this a sufficient miracle of his that thy blasphemies and iniurics doe not offend mee nor thy threatnings moue mee The vtility vvhich we get by meditating on our Sauiour Christ is so admirable that the remembrance of his miraculous patience enduce vs to tolerate with humility the infirmities of our fleshly brethren Wherefore let vs stop our itching eares from these Detractions euen at the first bound before they be throughly ingraffed in our hearts For as there would be no theeues if there vvere no receiuers so there would not be halfe so many chattering mouthcs to detract if there were not so many charmed eares to soke and suck them in But notwithstanding these pareneticall caueats of mine thou stumblest againe on the plaine exclaiming that it is impossible for flesh and bloud to endure such scandalous detractions Thou canst not tarrie the Lords leasure The clouds hide him that he cannot see he walketh in the circle of heauen O crazed soule vvhy deprauest thou his eternall knowledge If thou be railed vpon for the name of Christ blessed art thou for the time is come that punishment must begin at the house of God If thou sufferest detractions by reason of worldly crosses ' thou art worse then mad if thou settest those things by thy heart vvhich thou oughtest rather to set by thy heeles Thou art not thine owne man nor at liberty if thou makest such reckoning of transitorie accidents here on earth It is no meruaile that the dogges of this vvorld doe barke at thee for what are we in it but strangers and Pilgrimes expecting daily to be sent for Seges altera in herba est Here we haue no continuing â—itie but we looke for one to come We looke for an euerlasting Haruest for an heauenly Ierusalem the foundations of whose walls are garnished with precious stones whose gates are pearles whose street is pure gold as shining glasse which hath no neede of the Sunne neither of the Moone to shine in it for the greater light extinguisheth the lesser the glory of God for euer lightens it farre brighter then a thousand Sunnes a thousand Moones Into which euerlasting Citie no malicious Detractour no lier no impatient spirit nor any other vncleane thing shall enter LINEAMENT V. 1 That the Spirit of Detraction begins to shrinke through the influence of Taciturnitie and Patience 2 The Spirit of Detraction conuicted for broaching out questions of Princes Soueraignties 3 That priuate persons ought not to dispute of their Prince his dealings SEe how the Spirit of Detraction begins to shrinke and to sound a retraict like Socrates his scolding Wife now that the vertues of Taciturnitie and Patience doe barre thy graue mouth from answere letting his mallice to haue the last word See how hee stands mute shaking and quaking at the glimpse of these glorious Gifts His lightning is vanished into smoke his slanders on a sodaine slackned To detract from Iehouahs name vvith vaine swearing or from his workes with mens poysoned paradoxes he confesseth it Blasphemie worthy of his bottomlesse pit No misfortune can happen without our Creatours prouidence nor one haire from our heads without his predestination The Starres thou alone doest stint most mightie God euen by Sathans owne confession the meteours thou alone doest sway in ordering their effects as it pleaseth thy secret wisedome When thou sendest out thy thunder and lightning as harbingers of thy power who can controule thee When thou takest a prey who can enforce thee to restore it who shall say vnto thee why didst thou thus Where are yee
Wherein I haue promiscuously touched the principall branches of this Blaphemous sinne I haue taxed outragious and vaine swearing together with such foule faults as seeme derogatory to Gods titles attributes and workes to the scandal of our Christian liberty which seem also to confirme the reprobate in their hardnesse of heart Now in this present Circle I will proceed to such common vices that concerne our neighbours namely their railing their runnagate reports rash suspicions misconstructions ostentations and false verdicts And specially I will reproue publicke calumnies Aboue all things I exhort the Reformed Catholike that protesteth to fight against the Spirit of Detraction not to giue the least occasion of scandall to Schismatickes whether they be Tapists or Puritanes eyther by frumping speeches or by froward writing Rather pitie their obstinacy and pray for their conuersions specially spare to speake spitefully against these sicke Brethren of ours whom we nick-name Puritanes or holy Separatists as the Ancients vsed to call the impostors of Logicke Sophisters and as we call Papists Catholikes for what knowest thou whether God hath not separated them in their Mothers wombe to be his adopted seruants in their latter dayes notwithstanding their crabbed zeale What knowest thou whether the calme dew which awaiteth on the age of maturitie may by Gods grace coole that ouer-feruent humour of theirs if they suruiue to see that siluer-age of maturitie Or if their peruersnesse be such that they will not then relent to what end serues thy railing passion but to exasperate their peeuish mindes and to confirme them in their errours It is noted that Michael the Archangell in striuing for the body of Moses with the Diuel durst not detract nor dare him by exprobration Gods Spirit is meeke louing patient voide of temeritie and by these holy markes his seruants are discerned which Doctor Whitegift late Archbishop of Canterbury very discreetly obserued against Cartwright vrging thereby the nature of his impatient spirit Which infallible markes Antichrist himselfe out of the heard of swine is forced to confesse as Cardinall Baronius of late yeares verified when hee inuaighed against the petulance and factions of our English Seminaries at Rome They bragge much saith hee of Martyrdome but for ought I see they beare not the signes of Martyrs of obedience mildnesse and humilitie It is the part of a Brother to endeuour his Brothers conuersion into the vnitie of peace by gentle meanes as Abraham did to Lot let there be no strife betwixt thee and mee for wee be brethren Euen so likewise seeing that wee agree together in the pure and indiuisible essence of our Faith let not temporall Accidents disseuer the same which the holy Ghost hath ioyned together let vs not grieue this holy Spirit of God with our litigious speeches or writings in comparing those whom wee name Puritanes with Iesuites Christs members with the members of Antichrist nor let vs broach this late surmised Detraction that these our crazed brethren doe conspire with those of the Dragons Angels like Pilate and Herod reconciled for the coercion and dethroning of Kings for surely such venome neuer issued out of Caluins Schoole except they peruert and depraue the same as Saint Peter speakes of Saint Pauls Epistles Well it may be that some seditious sectaries to flatter their owne ambition during the present time to temporize and to bleare old Iacobs eyes haue dipped Iosephs coate in beasts bloud but I neuer heard that they euer imbrued their hands in Iosephs owne bloud Well it may be that they being flesh and bloud as well as others haue repined fretted and vttered some slanderous speaches in their malecontented moodes against their superiours in authoritie onely about Church-policie not sticking to affirme that notwithstanding their Canonicall constitutions they would still perseuer in their peeuish positions but I neuer heard that they complotted to commit any crying sinne to strangle a mans being in nature But what shall the Puritane then detract at his pleasure without contradiction No God forbid hee must conforme himselfe to the identitie of the Spirit to the vniforme harmony of Heauens Musicke least otherwise in following the self-opinion of his owne vnexperienced braine not gathering with his Maister Christ he scatter and sincke in the midst of his muddy pond To this end I beseech thee deere Christian Brother in the presence of God that gaue his Sonnes body among vs not peremptorily to be slaine againe nor to be diuided into parcels but spiritually heauenly and entire to communicate the same to the poorest as well as to the greatest that thou O diseased soule doe hearken vnto thy Physicians voyce that thou humble thy thoughts and words towards thy Brother in Christ not vsurping to thy selfe alone as a selfe-seeming Saint his vndiuided body which was also crucified for other Penitents God help vs the very best of vs all from the Prince to the Beggar is full of vncleannesse Yea the Angels of heauen are vncleane in his sight and in respect of his perfection The Worme of Conscience tels me that my puritie consists rather in the forgiuenesse of my sinnes then in the puritie of my vertues Submit therefore thy sturdy man vnto thy inward man Subdue thy Golias Calonem illum carnosum thy massie and proud tower of flesh vnto thy little Lord thy spirituall Dauid and then submit both of them in things Apocryphal and indifferent not concerning thy soules saluation vnto the Scepter of mens authoritie Offer vp thy soule vnto God by Faith as an holy priest-hood and a spirituall sacrifice in Iesus Christ. Offer vp thy body in temporall matters in ciuill policie to the Gods of the earth LINEAMENT VII 1 The Spirit of Detraction conuicted for repining at our Christian neighbours of Scotland 2 The said Spirit conuicted for detracting from our Countrey-men of Wales YEe noble Saxon spirites tell me what is the reason that yee beare some secret emulation in the closets of your hearts towardes your Christian brethren borne in the same Iland vnder the same Prince the same faith was it not inough for you to bereaue them of the fertile fieldes of Loegria and to banish them amidst the craggie mountes amidst the horride rockes of this Northren Zone but ye must deride and defame them with your ironicall items your ridiculous girdes Now all coniectures are winded to the bottome The Fatall Chaire of Scotland which your victorious Edward transported to the Abbey of Westminster is restored againe into the possession of a Scottish Prince nay of a Brittish Prince of a right Christian Prince and that with your consent with Gods assent Now there is no cause to reedifie that famous wall from sea to sea which the Romaine Emperour built vpon the frontiers of both kingdomes Applaud yee English this happie vnion Congratulate this luckie lot Henceforth ye need not keepe watch and ward at your posterne gate Detract not therefore from your Christian neighbours for his glorious sake whom the Father