vppon all fléesh and your sons your daughters shal prophisie your old men shal dreame dreames and your young men shal sée visions yea in those dayes I wil poure out my spirit vppon seruantes and maydens I wil shewe wonders in heauen aboue and tokens in the earth be neath blood and fier and the vapour of smook the Son shalbe turnid into darknesse and the Moone into blood before that great and notable day of the Lord come And the tyme shall come that whosoeuer callith on the name of the Lord shalbe sauid And the Lorde sayd vnto Moyses speak vnto the children of Israel and say in any wise sée that you kepe my Sabboths for it is a Signe betwéen me and you in your generacions for to know that I the Lord am he that doth sanctifie you kéepe my Sabboths therfore for it is holy vnto me he that deâ—ileth it shalbe slayne for whosoeuer worketh therin the same soule shalbe rootid out from among his people Six dayes shall men work and in the seueÌ„th day is the Sabboth of the holy rest of the Lord whosoeuer doeth any work on the Sabboth day shall dye Wherefore let the children of Israel kéepe the Sabboth that they obserue it throughout their generacions that it bée an appoyntement for euer for it is a Signe betwéen me and the children of Israel for euer Such wonderous Signes hath the Lorde shewed from tyme to tyme to the end that euery Christian man should haue dew regard to this so holy a commauÌ„dement from Mount Sinai y e thundering voice was a signe of force which ought not to be brokeÌ„ not a rest for man only but also the whole familie and cattaile The obseruacion of the Sabboth had his originall beginning of that that is sayd written God blessed the seuenth day and sanctified it bicause that in it he rested from all his workes the Isralites gathered the vi day a double quantitie of Manna bicause that on the Sabboth they should rest to the intent that man should labour to get the true rest And on the Sabboth day ther wer offered two lambes vpon the other dayes but one except in solom feaâ—ts The man that was taken gathering of stickes vppon the Sabboth day was by gods commaundement stoned to death of Nehemias the Gentiles Iudas Machabeus Nichanor with others Concerning the obseruacion of the Sabboth for farther proofe réede the auctorities The Pharises said vnto the disciples of Christ that did pluck and eat the eares of corne ye do that which is not lawful to doo on the Sabboth day but the lord said vnto them haue ye not read what Dauid did c. Then foloweth the sonne of man is also Lord of the Sabboth day there are diuers insamples why it was lawfull for Christ to heale the diseased on the Sabboth day for that being perfect God and man he did not only heale the festerid or putrified bodies but also their sowles The Sabboth day for vs Christians is moste apte and conuenient to heare the word and law of God and the Prophets The which are red euery Sabboth day Likewise our sauiour Christ in fulfilling the law gaue vs this commaundement saying which of you hauing an Oxe or an Asse fallen into a pit and wil not pul him out on y e Sabboth day Num licet Sabbato sanare they to whoÌ„ Iesus spake which were y e Lawiers Pharises Answered nothing therfore as the sabboth ought to be kept holy from bodely workes so ought all men to eschue vicious thoughtes and craftie imaginacions And when any occasion of doing good by any maner of way ought to be shewed that then it be don with Christian endeuour and puritie of mind In which â—o doing the sabboth is both reuerently and holily obserued But the crabbed wayward natures of this time present haue so much presumed vpon this text and others that some hath and doth as blind baierâ—s not spared to labour and trauayle on the Sabboth day without any need or occasion at all aleaging notwithstanding that necessitie hath no law so that vnder the culler of necessitie they vse al daies a like Applying the text of the sacred scriptures not to the will and commaundement of god but after their owne carnall fancies for the which ther so great abusing of the reuerend Sabboth The Lord will show strang signes from heauen fier brimstone storme and tempest which shalbe the porcion for the wicked The Sonne and Moone shalbe darkenid and the starres shall withdraw their light the Lord shall rore out of Sion and crye out of Ierusalem that the heauens and the earth shall quake with all but the Lord shalbe a defence vnto his own people and a refuge for the children of Israel I haue rysen vp early I haue geuen you warning in season but you would not heare Behould therefore the words of the Lord that are at hand to plage vs as he hath plagid others and that euery obstinate shalbe scatterid as dong vppon the earth Pray therefore to God to blesse his preachers that the Gospell may flourrish as it ought or els we perish ¶ Prophecis by perticuler VVHen thou art in tribulacion and when all these things that be here spoken of are come to passe thou shalt retourne agayn to the Lord thy God and be obedient vnto his word THis is the word that was openid vnto Esaie the son of Amos vppon Iuda and Ierusalem it will be also in the last days that the hill where the house of the Lord is buldid shalbe the chéefe amoÌ„g hils and exaltid aboue all little hils and al nacions shall pray vnto him the multitude of people shall goe speaking thus one to an other let vs go to the hill of the Lord and to the house of the God of Iacob HHare the word of the Lord O ye children of Israel for the Lorde must punish them that dwell in the land And whyle ther is no truth ther is no mercy ther is no knowledge of God in the land but swearing lyeng manslaughter thefte athoultry haue gotten the vpper hand and one bloud gyltinesse foloweth an other Therfore shall the land â—e in a miserable case and all they that dwell therin shalbe rootid out IN the later days it wil come to passe that the hil of the Lords house shallbe set op hygher then any mountayns or hils yea the people shall prese vnto it and the multitude of the gentils shall hast them thither saying come let vs go vp to the hill of the Lord to the house of the God of Iacob that he may teach vs his ways and that we may walk in his pats for the Law shall come ont of Sion and the word of God from Ierusalem and shall geue sentence among the multitude of the heathen and reforme the people of far countris FOr mark the day cometh that shall bourn as an ouen and all the proud yea and all
¶ THE NEW ARIVAL OF the three Gracis into Anglia Lamenting the abusis of this present Age. ¶ Esay 58.34.24 ¶ Cry now as lowde as thou canst leaue not of list vp thy voyce like a Trumpet and show my people their offencis and the house of Iacob their sinnes To his moste Louing and frendly Father V. Villiam Beeston Brewer S.B. wisheth continuall health with end-lesse felicitie WHen and at such time beloued Father I had called to my remembrance the great good wil and wished benefites proceeding from you towardes me and on my part very slenderly deserued in comparison the acquiting of suche curtesie After many inuentions had by what meanes to shew forth some such occasion howe to gratifie you as a sure shewe of obedience thereby to occasion no lesse good will to folowe then formally by you was begon And calling to ininde one of the graue sentences of Seneca which sayeth That the remembrance of benefites ought not to be forgotten and that a smal thing geuen willingly is more acceptable then great riches with euell will And that the will of the geuer and not the value of the gift is to be regarded rhese documentes and such like vrged me to deuise some thing whereby you might perceiue in me not only my obedience to fatherly parentage but also to proue such a sonne good will being first preferred to be more worthy a benefite then to haue geuen which benefite that I looke for is your continuall societye and fatherly affection to abide wyth no lesse good will then hitherto it hath bene To that end therfore I haue taken vpon me to write this worke folowing for you to loke vpon And although it seeme barren for lacke of a more furniture and altogether pore like vnto the wryter Neuertheles I hope you wil except it with no les good wil in comparison of mortall fieshe then Iesus the sauioure of mankinde who excepted the two mites put into the treasury by a pore widow being all the substance that shee had so this small worke of mine being all the substance that I possesse as touching good will haue with no les imparted the same vnto you which woorke beareth the name of the three graces Thankfulnes Plenteousnes and Liberalitie which if you peruse thorowly I doubt not but it wil content your minde so as occasion may serue to further remembrance considering that to attain vertues we haue good desire but to obtaine vices we put to all oure workes such is our corruption for the which cause euery desiring minde to obtaine knowledge oughte to take heede where vertue is to be learned for the les time man hath to liue which may be perceiued from the day of birth to the houre of death with what spede it hasteneth and the time stayeth for none to be ready prepared to the hauen of peace to the ende our mortal enemy raigne not ouer vs the more earnestly ought man in vertues study to be proceding in my louing Father therfore ler this my worke be so accepted as good wil in his continuaunce may further a greater And as concerning this already finished there can nothing be amended or rightly corrected but by that which surmouÌ„teth and is better then it as vice by vertue falshode by truthe wrong by iustice folly by wisdome ignorance by learning and such like For the which cause euery perticular being considered I doute not but that you wil as fauourably receiue this my trauaile with no les good wil then I in presuming to dedicate the same vnto you whome I account moste worthiest not for affection but for your godly life and christian religion in the which the almighty father sonne and holy ghost strengthen with continuance that bothe father and sonne by the holy ghost with father sonne and holy ghost may praise the almight in the celestial heauens worlde without end Amen Your obedient sonne Steuen Batman THE EPISTLE TO THE READER WHen and at such tyme belouid as the miserable state and maners of men were espied the vntruthes the craftie imaginacions and wicked practises of peruersse and frowarde persons TheÌ„ by diuine sufferaÌ„ce diuers learned and auncient Fathers began no soner the euils perceiued to set foorth against such their abusis with the threatnings of gods vengance for y e same diuers and sundry ensamples to the withdrawinge of such as much as in them lay from the infernall pit prepared for offence to that ende that as carefull Parents perceuing their children to wander from the line of obedience mought in time by mesurid correction bring theÌ„ from such their disorder to a better passe In which so doing although some children by ouermuch sufferance in the beginning of their enterance through induranci hardnesse of heart not only neglect theyr tymes from such obedience but also as froward Imps continew in their vngodlynesse shall for their so doing reape no lesse infamy then the Zodomits dyd who refusing the intreaty of that auncient Father Lot were consumid with Fyer or as when Moyses rebuked him that wrongid y e Hebrwe very charitably but he tooke it ill and spake iniuriustye saying bout thou kill me as thou dyddest the Egiptian c. Not far unlike are the aunswers of sundry Scctarians in these dayes who for brotherly repprehensions geueth the like answers Note hâ—w discreetly Nathan y e prophet rebuked Dauid after he had committed adoultery murder he said not angerly thou hast don wickedly but with an apt â— meete â—militude he intrappid him by the wordz of his owne mouth Steuen being with the Iewes in couÌ„sail dyd boldly reprehende them sayinge among other things Dye stiffenecked and of vnuÌ„â—â—umcised heartes and eares ye haue alwayes resisted the holy ghost as your forefathers did so do ye a worthy note to such as will enter into iudgment in matters of religion before they know what it meaneth and although that among many some may haue iudgment yet after the maner of meÌ„ it is not iustice therfore most metest to be reformed when the Thessalonians walked vnquietly y e Apostle Paul with brotherly reprehension saide vnto them why walk ye in ordinaâ—ly working not at all but being curius and busibodies and therfore he rebuked them Many diuerz and sundry ensamples ther are which moueth brotherly affection to consider such substaunce for the which cause after many auctorities vewid and diuers historis redd being moâ—id not with a few griefes to see this present tyme so alterid from kinde deuised this slender and vnfurnished woork to the profit of my Countrey yet not altogither so vnfurnished but that by diligent perusing some good thing may be founde It was good will that forced me to write according to my skill yet considering w t my selfe how far vnable I was to frame that which affection monid after good will had inforcid In remembring the Bee with the same affection went forwarde For among the Bees such
such as do wickednes shalbe as straw and the day that is for to come shal bouâ—n them vp saieth the Lord of Hostes so that it shall not leaue them nether roote nor branch But vnto you that fear my name shall the Sonne of righteousnesse arise health shalbe vnder his wings IEsus went out and departid from the Temple And his Disciples came to him for to shew him the bulding of the Temple in Ierusalem and Iesus sayd vnto them sée ye not all these things Verely I say vnto you ther shall not be left here one stoue vppon an other that shal not be cast down And as he sat vppoÌ„ the mount Oliuet his Disciples came vnto him saying tell vs when these things shalbe and what signe shallbe of thy comming and of the ende of the world Iesus aunswerid sayd vnto them take head that no man deceyue you for many shall come in my name saying I am Christ and shall deceyue many and ye shal here of warres of the rumors of warres but sée that ye be not troublid for all these things must come to passe but the end is not yet For nacion shall rise against nacion and realm agaynst realm and ther shalbe Pestilence hunger and earthquaks in certeyn quarters all these are the beginning of sorows Then shall they put you to trouble and shall kill you and ye shalbe hated of all nacions for my names sake then shal many be offendid shall betraye one an other and shall hate one an other and many false Prophets shall aryse and shall diceyue many and because iniquite shall haue the vpper hand the loue of many shall abate but he that indureth vnto the ende the same shalbe safe MOreouer when ye sée the abhominacion of desolacion whereof is spoken by Daniel the Prophet Stand where it ought not let him that readeth vnderstand then let them that be in Iuery flée to the mountayns and let him that is on the house top not decend down into the house let him that is in the féeld not tourn back agayn vnto the things that he left behind him for to take his clothes with him wo shalbe to them that are with child and to them that geue luck in those dayes but pray that your flyght be not in the Winter for ther shalbe in those dayes such tribulacion as was not froÌ„ the beginning BUt before all these they shal lay their hands on you and persecute you deliuering you vp to the Sinagoges and into prisons bring you before Kings and Rulers for my name sake c. Yea ye shalbe betrayd of your fathers and mothers and of your brethren and kinesmen and friends and some of you shall they put to death and hated shall ye be of all men for my names sake yet ther shall not one heare of your heads perish by your paciens possesse your souls after these and other things ther shalbe signes in the Sonne and in the Moone and in the Starres and in the Earth the people shallbe in such perplexite that they shal not tell which way to tourne them selues the Sea and the waters shall rore and mens hearts shal fayle them for fear and for loking after those things which shall come on the earth for the powers of heauen shall moue and then shall they sée the sonne of man come in a cloud with power and great glory when these things beginne to come to passe then loke vp and lift vp your heads for your redempsion draweth neygh VErely verely I say vnto you hereafter shall ye sée heauen open And the Angels of God ascending and descending vnto the sonne of man These things haue I sayd vnto you because you should not be offendid They shall excoÌ„municate you yea the tyme shall come that whosoeuer killeth you wil think that he doeth God seruice and such things will they doo vnto you because they haue not knowen the father nether yet me but these things haue I told you that when that houre is come ye might remember them that I told you THe spirit speaketh euidently that in the later tymes some shall depart from the faith shal geue héede vnto the spirits of errour and diuelish doctrine of men which speak false through Ipochrisi c. THis vnderstand that in the last dayes shall come perelous times for meÌ„ shalbe louers of their owne selues couetous bostars proud cursed speakers disobedient to father and mother vnthankful vnholy vnkind trucebreakers stobberen false accusers riotous ferce dispisers of them which are good traytours heady hie minded gredy vppon volupteousnesse more then the louers of God hauing a similitude of godly lyuing but haue denyed the powre therof and such abhore THis first vnderstand that ther shal come in the laterdays mokers which will walk after their own lusts and say where is the promise of his coming for since the fathers died all things continue in the same estate wher in they were at the beginning for this they know not and that willengly how that the heauens a great while a goe were and the earth that was in the water aperid vp out of the water by the word of god by the which things the world that then was perished ouerflowid with y e water but the heauins verely the earth which are now are kéept by the same word in store reseruid vnto fier against the day of Iudgment perdicion of vngodly men BEhold the Lord shal come with thowsands of Saincts to geue iudgemeÌ„t against al men to rebuke al that are vngodly among theÌ„ of all their vngodly déeds which they haue vngodly committed of al their cruel speakings which vngodly sinners haue spokeÌ„ against him VNto him that louid vs and wasshid vs from sinnes in his own blood and made vs kings and prestes vnto god the father be glory and dominion for euer and euer Amen ¶ Ane aduised prophesie ¶ In Anno 1041. this picture was found in the temple of the Iacobines in Geneua against the wicked gouernement of papall dignite This picture was made by Iacobus Iaquiri de C ui tate Taurini 1041. Iudicabit iudices iudex generalis Hic mihi proderit dignitas papalis Siue sit Episcopus siue Cardinalis Reus coÌ„damnabitur nec dicetur quales Hic nibil proderit quinquam allegare Neque exciperere neque replicare Nec ad apostolicum sedem appellare Reus codamnabitur nec dicetur quare Cogitate miseri qui vel quales estis Quid in hoc iudicio dicere potestis Idem eâ—it dominus iudex actor testis The substance of the Latin hâ—rce THe mighty Ioue the iudge of all which fitteth in throne aboue Shall iudge each Papal dignite the rable whole remoue Such as the one the other is and Cardinals like wise For their deformid flattery the Lord wil them dispise And iudge of al both quick and dead wheÌ„ Popes shal boyle in bulles of lead AS from