perfection should not only become an obiect to euery mans sense but accounted also as an abiect in euery mans sentence Lament O heauens your losse and earth ioy in your gaine if it bee to be iudged your gaine that he who was begotten a prince in heauen and in al points comparable to the mightiest Emperour should be borne in so poore an estate in earth at hee seemed a companion onely for the meanest begger Princes hauing choise of Pallaces remoue sometime from one vnto an other where they neither brooke the diminishing of their port nor abate the least portion of their pleasure but this Prince hath remooued himselfe from a large stately and a glorious pallace where hee had much companie most noble pure beautifull and sure vnto him vnto a narrow homely and base place where heâ— findeth small companie of such condition but for the most part poore impure deformed and false vnto him He remoued from a pallace at the building whereof was neither any noyse heard of any toole nor any noysomenesse complayned of for any toyle it was with one onely word made and made so firme that vnlesse that word be again vnsayde it is an eternall frame From hence hee remooued not to anie other Pallace any house no not to a poore mans cottage but to a caue not in Babilon not in Rome not in Hierusalem citties famous either for soueraintie or sanctitie no nor in Bethlehem which was the least of a thousande in Iudah but in a rocke without the towne walles â—either as if hee had meant to haue made an escape from the world or else if the world had made a scorne of him The Caruer was iudged passionate who wished his woorke transformed into his owne nature keeping the shape which hee had giuen it Runne Iewes and Gentiles beholde your creature who had power not onelie to wish but also for the loue of you to worke himselfe into your natures which argued a passion of more intention and also of more perfection in that the Caruer wished it more for his owne pleasure then for his workes preferment and what your Creator hath wrought was to his owne paine and onelie for his workes profite for the compassing of which he thought thâ—t this present condition place and companie so fit as hee woulde not haue accepted any other had it beene offered for a more wealthie condition woulde perchaunce haue obtained a more conuenient place and hauing a more conuenient place the virgin must haue had more companie or if she had refused them she would haue incurred a suspition either to haue offended by some shamefull fact or else in tended some crueltie against her selfe and her infant And companie being admitted vnto her labour the midwife at the least if not all the rest woulde haue beene priuie vnto this misterie which was as yet to be kept most secrete For the virgins labour was not such as other womens labourâ— are nor the childe in that maner borne that other childen are for neither did she feele anie pain in her deliuerie nor he leaue lesse integritie in her bodie then hee founde that kinde of paine beeing the rewarde onelie of sinne of which hee acquitte her and corruption of bodie not without concupiscence which neuer was acquainted with her so that in all poynts shee was as pure and perfect a virgin after this natiuitie as shee was the firste day after her owne Such a mother onelie became Gods sonne to haue and such a sonne was none but a uirgin worthie to conceiue So was the Oracle fulfilled which spake of a gate in the East which should euer bee shut through which no man shoulde passe because the Lorde God of Israel had entered by it and it shoulde remaine shut for the Prince who was therein to make his seate and to passe in and our thorow it So was the figure verified which being a bush flaming with fire and not consuming foreshewed a virgin should conceiue a childe in her wombe without any corruption So was the expectation both of heauen and earth in part satisfied because he now beganne to runne his race like a giant although hee seemed but a weake infant who tooke vpon him to right the earths wrongs and to repayre the heauens ruines But the higher powers the heauenly spirits not able to containe themselues from communicating the cause vnto the earth of her ioy which was not more sodaine then secret for no doubt al the world at this time reioyced although they knewe not whereat left theyr Princely pallace for a time and descended into a plaine neere vnto a tower whereabout Iacob once â—ed his sheepe a mile distant from Bethleem where they founde three poore shepheards verie prouidently watching ouer theyr flocke in a field where neither the cattell could lacke meate to fill them nor their keepers foode to refresh them beeing as fertile of Oliues to the ease of the one as it was of grasse to the vse of the other where one of the Princes saluted these shepheards but with a kinde of reuerence vnto that shape for their maister his sake who lately had vouchsafed it and was as perfect in a peasant as in a Prince beside that by their office and abilitie they made the representation of him the more liuely whom they entirely loued but the shepheards perceiuing a light beyond all their night obseruations to shine so bright and in the middest thereof a stately prince such as neither day nor night they had euer seâ—ne the like were so much affrighted therewith that the prince thought it high time to harten them againe and spake vnto in this manner Feare yee not for beholde I bring you newes of great ioy which shal be vnto all people for this day is borne vnto you in the cittie of Dauid a sauiour who is Christ our Lord this is your signe yee shall find the infant wrapped in clothes and laide in a maunger which said he ioyned himselfe vnto the rest of his company and for exceeding great ioy began to sing with them this or the like Canticle Chorus 1. All glorie and praise be to God on high 2. And peace on earth to men of a good will 1. Such glorie as endures eternally 2 Such peace as none but ill wild men can spill 1. Glorie to God the which shall neuer cease And vnto good wild men eternall peace 2. The heauens are full of glorie which is Gods The earth brings peace twixt those which were at ods 1. Glory peace the ornaments of heaueÌ„ The Lord of both to men in earth hath giuen 2. God will this glory shall continue still And peace twixt heauen earth if so meÌ„ wil Chor. 1-2 Glory be to him therfore who made this peace And blessed earth which gaue so good encrease The shepheardes when they had consulted vppon what they had hearde and leene they concluded to goe vnto Bethleem to trie the truth of those their gladde tidinges whether wheÌ„ they were come they
it which were not pure according vnto their Lawes To this Court were foure gates in the North side and foure in the South side◠couered with siluer and gold as also the posts ouer the gates and on which they hung but two gates which stood in the East one right before the other farre exceeded them all by the first whereof entred both men and women into the porch and from thence by two priuate doores into the place allotted to thēselues this was called the great gate of the Temple by the other onely men vsually did enter into their Court and this gate was of brasse called brasse of Corinth a confused mettal of gold siluer and other mettals of which they of Corinth framed their Idols and with which they adorned their temples melted altogether when the Romanes tooke the Citie and burnt it downe to the ground This gate for the woorth and curious workmanship aboue the rest was called the beautifull gate and was so great that 20. men could hardly shut it To this gate the men ascended by fifteene steps and entred into their court which was diuided from the court where the Priestes offred sacrifice as in the first Temple but although it were not lawfull for the women to passe through the beautifull gate yet they might come vnto it to deliuer vp what they offered Heere did Ioachim deliuer vp his charge and dedicate his childe to the seruice of God and Anna his wife was not a little proude when shee had wherewith to performe her promise wherefore with no lesse ioy then Ioachim shee fulfilled her vow and made a present vnto God of the first fruits of her wombe for many places were prepared in the Temple for such purpose seuerall from the Priests and Leuits who lay there while they performed theyr weekely function for whome during the time it was not lawfull to drinke any wine nor accompanie with their wiues much lesse might they bee in continuall daunger of committing sinne such puritie and sobrietie was required of those which ministred at theyr altar and in those places liued many both young maidens and graue matrons such no doubt as hauing forsaken the world and the pride thereof continued at the doore of the tabernacle before the Temple was built in fasting and prayer yet was this difference among them that the yonger sort might after their religious education bee giuen in marriage by the Priestes according to the accustomed manner but the elder women continued there vntill theyr dying day as appeareth by Anna the daughter of Phanuel It is manifest also that those places were not open indifferently to all commers because that Iosabe wife vnto Ioiada the high Priest and sister vnto Ochesias king of the Iewes stole away Ioas who was sonne to Ochesias and hidde him and his nurse for as yet hee was an infant sixe yeeres in the Temple lest that Athalia Ochesias his mother should also murther him as shee had many of the kings linage because shee would both bee sole Queene and rule the more securely But now the tēple is not a secret receptacle for Ioas who after should bee king of the Iewes but it is a stately habitacle for Marie who afterward should be the mother of God and therefore inferiour to none who was no better then a creature Both censors and sents altars and sacrifice golde siluer and setim and whatsoeuer was valued precious in the Temple was nothing woorth in comparison of this virgin A person worthie so noble a house and a most rich house enriched by the presence of so noble a personage A common thing it was among the Iewes to lay vp in their temple in a dangerous times their chiefest Iewels but now the temple is become Gods chiefest treasure-house and a defence for a more sacred temple That temple was built by Salomon and this by a greater then Salomon that was dayly ransacked yea and sometime raised to the earth This dayly rose vntill it reached aboue the heauens The treasure of that was such as it allured men to vice but the treasure of this was such as it prouoked all to vertue And it was so much more excellent in all poynts then the temple of Salomon by how much it is a more worthy thing to be Gods mother then his manour although also she wanted not this title of honour which euery faithfull soule is sayd to haue when it is called Gods temple for being pronounced full of grace no doubt she was accounted also the chiefest of Gods temples in that degtee In that temple was the arke wherin were kept the tables of the law which God deliuered to Moses but she was temple and arke wherein was the Law giuer himselfe to bee included There also was kept part of that Manna which fed the Israelites in the desart but now is she presented in the temple who was to keepe a bread of so much more perfection As Manna was but a shadow of bread in comparison of it and to counteruaile Aaron his rod a rod of more fauour then was that which King Ahasuerus held out to Queene Hester and which hath giuen more incouragement to demaund whatsoeuer wee want and hope to obtaine it She remained in the temple vntill shee was fourteene yeares of age in praier and meditation carrying as much lowlines in her mind as chastitie in her thoughts neuer lesse idle then when she was alone and yet neuer weary of her company for in that she seemed afterward to be troubled onely at the angels maner of salutation it appeareth she was as well acquainted with such a presence as others to whome as infallible true hystories affirme it was nothing so dainty as now to vs to see an angel otherwise no doubt he had manifested himselfe vnto her as before he had done elsewhere when he told Zacharias that he was Gabriel and one of those which stoode continually before God Nowe began the Priestes to thinke vpon the bestowing her but they could not thinke on any whō they iudged worthie to match with her shee made them acquainted with her vow to remaine perpetually a virgin and they were afraid to put her in daunger of breaking it The Scribes who were interpreters of the lawe and other of the same sect but of more subtile learning and therfore also differing from them in name and were called Pharisies vowed many times virginitie or chastitie for certaine yeares which they obserued most strictly and for that purpose as at all other times so especially at these they neither tooke much ease nor eate much meate but day and night applied themselues wholy to prayer Also some of the Esseni which were diuided into foure sects liued all their life time virgins but neuer vntil this time did any of the other sexe professe such a kinde of life which troubled the Priestes the more yet in the ende being resolued by diuine inspiration to bestow her they found out one of the same tribe of which shee was
king Dauids messenger when hee sent to demaund her consent vnto him in marriage shee sayde vnto this Prince Embassadour Behold the handmaid of my Lord bee it done to me according to thy word Her consent obtained the Embassadour gaue her a farewell mixed with such ioy and reuerence as if hee had beene loth to detract time to be gone with so great good newes and yet could not but stay a while to doe his dutie but being of that agility that hee could passe so much space in a moment as is betwixt heauen and earth dispatched himselfe wirh that speede that in a trice hee both encreased a ioy in the place where hee was began another in the place from whence hee came Whereupon Loue who is impatient of delaye caused him from whom as well as from his father proceed infinit loue with all his might to pursue this matter the wole Trinitie working miraculously in the wombe of the Virgin gathering of her most pure bloud together framed therof in one instant a perfect body no sooner could that body enioy the soule which was created for it then the emperor his son vnited the whole vnto him a work as worthy praise as wonder so wonderful as reason hauing tyeâ—d it selfe in discourse of this worke leaueth off beginneth to do nothing but wonder for which cause one among the rest being wearied with ouer much musing began to refresh himselfe a little with his Muses In this maner Whom earth the sea the heauens doe worship praise adore King of this threefolde frame the wombe of Marie bore To whom Moone sunne and all do seruice in their turnes Chast bowels be are with fall of grace which from heauen comes Blessed such a mother within whose wombe is closde Her heauenly maker holding from being losde With ease the world and blest for that she had receiude By angels mouth addrest a message she belieude That she conceiuing by the helpe of holy Ghost He should within her lie Whom Gentils wished most But although others lost themselues in the consideration of this diuine mysterie the Virgin no doubt was so perfectly instructed in it that shee sound as much knowledge as she had felt comfort and her comfort was the more because her knowledge was so great and remembring that the higher shee was in calling the more lowly best beseemed her to bee in her carriage shee did alwayes with most humble thoughts attend vpon high conceits neither thinking at any time too well of herselfe for that shee should mother so worthy a prince nor yet so vnwary as to giue any cause why from thence forth hee should disdaine her to bee his mother Among other her comforts she remembred what the Embassador had said vnto her of her cosen Elizabeth whome before shee loued but now she longed to see and if the wayes presented themselues in her imagination very long her desire looked to bee preferred which was in heart also very great and the time of the yeare being both fit and pleasant to trauel in enuited her ernestly to the iorney to a citie called Hebron in the mountaines of Iuda liing southward from Ierusalem 22. miles one of the most famous cities in Palestina for antiquitie and of greatest renown because it was sometime the kings seat The inhabitants of this place were sometime such men or rather monsters as neither eye coulde without horrour beholde nor eare without feare heare speake here was Dauid who slew Goliah the Giant in a single combat with his sling annointed king and ruled all Israell by the space of seauen yeares a place also for this cause had in reuerence by all the worlde for that Adam the first parent of all mankind here is said to haue forsooke the world here also was Iacob the great Patriarke buried his father Isaack who was miraculously in this place coÌ„ceiued by Sara when shee was by natures course past childbearing from hence Abraham issued with 318. of his men and ioyned with him the 3. brethreÌ„ maÌ„bre who gaue name to the valley ioyning vnto it Aner and Escoll pursuing 4. kings conquerors ouerthrew them neare vnto mount Libanus and broght back all the spoile which they had taken out of the richest part of the country and was here also afterward buried A place notoriously 〈◊〉 froÌ„ the beginning of the world with an oak which continued there 400. years after the incarnation of the young prince we spake of it was one of the 46. cities which were allotted vnto the priests to dwel in Hether hastened the virgin if not so well accompayned as noble welthie parents could send their only daughter aswel for her gard as theit own credite yet neither was it likely she wold caresly of her selfe haue strayed so far alone nor her parents suffer her to go without some company being so far froÌ„ the basest blood in Palestina as they were of the best none of the poorest who coulde spare vnto the temple one third part of what they had an other to relieue the poore but her chiefest gard was inuisible and therefore it was inuincible for if euer any princes with child trauelling was choisely attended on least any hurt should befal vnto her or vnto that shee wente with much more was shee and euery thing so well ordered as she neither felt any inconuenience in long vneasie wayes being a yong maiden nor found any 〈◊〉 in her iorney by her burden being lately become a mother for it is not to be thoght that he which came to bring ease for his enemies would breede any paine in his best friendes But no sooner had shee set fooâ—e into her cosens house and saluted her but the child within her cosens wombe be wrayed who shee was and Elizabeth by diuine instinct cried out with a loud voice beginning where the Prince Embassador had ended his salutation and saide vnto her Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy wombe whence is this to mee that the mother of my Lord doth come vnto mee for beholde as the voice of thy salutation sounded in myne eares the infant in my wombe did leape for ioy blessed art thou which didst belieue because those things shall be accomplished which were spoken vnto thee by our Lord. The sunne although it appeare vnto vs to bee in a cloude because there is a cloude betwixt it and vs is not altogether depriued of his power but giueth some light and by his light life where it lighteth and the sonne of iustice hauing builte his glorious throne in the wombe of a virgin where hee did as it were ascend vppon a thinne cloude shall he lease his vertue and not rather worke not of any necessitie as a natural cause of such like qualited effects but voluntarilie as a liberal and free agent of supernaturall graces How may wee thinke woulde hee draw vnto him if hee were once exalted who drewe so mightilie being imprisoned for
some say beside what 〈◊〉 ordinarie taxes were sometime exacted by the Emperour as his treasure wasted And most gladly would Ioseph at this time haue doubled the tax that he might haue stayed at Nazareth for Winter being but half gone and therefore at the sharpest and the virgin almost all gone out her time and therefore at the biggest it did not onely moue him to extreame melancholie but menaced also an irreparable miserie for Ioseph pitying as hee loued and louing without limit pitie caused that in him which because he enioyed his loue loue could not so that now he began to languish with thinking that she whom he so intirely loued should be subiect to so perilous an accident as not hauing many daies to reckon to her deliuerie she should be compelled to trauaile no few dayes iourney But shee who was alway aswell fraught with ioy as she was full of grace and assured that neither foule weather could wrong her nor long waies weary her to doe her any harme hauing him in her wombe who was to commaund both the earth and the heauens comforted her husbande in such sort as she both acquieted his minde and quickned againe his spirits that now he beganne to haue an assured hope hee should bring her happily to the ende of a hard iourney in which after that he had once set forward hee wayted more vpon her lookes then he looked vnto his owne wayes more then necessarie care commanded him for her easier trauaile thinking not any thing did more then dutie which either exhibited that which might ease her or prohibited that which might displease her Three dayes iourney was Nazareth from Hierâ—salem but all circumstances considered very likelie they made it aboue foure from whence they went to Bethleem for although that Hierusalem were the chiefe Citie and all the kings were of the tribe of Iuda after king Saul yet was Hierusalem in that portion of land which fell by lot to Benâ—amin Bethleem was a Citie sixe miles south from Hierusalem possessed by Caleb at the Iewes first entrance into Palestina he was a prince of the tribe of Iuda and one of the twelue Princes sent by Moyses from the desart to take view of Palestina and also one of the two which brought all glad tydings to enconragâ—â— the people wherefore he onely and Iosâ—â—e who was the other of all the Iewes who were aboue twentie yeeres of age when these two returned backe to Moyses entred into this land the rest being all dead in the wildernes for murmuring against God who had promised to bring them thither It was also the more famous for one called Abessan who liued in the time that the people were gouerned by Iudges himself was iudge 7. yeeres he married froÌ„ thence out of his house 30. daughters tooke home vnto him 30. wiues for his 30. sons This Citie was sometime called Ephrada and the whole countrey about it as some doe say because that Ephradâ— Caleb his wife was there buried but others doe shew that it was so called in Iacob the patriarch his time and it kept that name vntill a great plentie of corne came after that dearth which caused Noenn and her husband and houshold to goe and dwell in the countrie of the Moabites and after this plentifull time it beganne to bee called Bethleem which is as much to say as the house of bread but when as that king Dauid was their annoynted king of the Iewes for there was he first annoynted by Samuel and because he was there borne and brought vp as also his father grandfather and other his ancestors it was called after his name as the worthiest of them all the Citie of Dauid The soyleround about it was comparable vnto the most fruitfull part of Palestina the Citie stood vpon the top of a reasonable high hill which what it lacked in breadth it had in length the going vppe vnto it was only on the west side and that not werie easie because it was somewhat steepe Hither came Ioseph aâ—d Mary not so welcome as wearie yet not so hardly vsed as they were well contented they enquired from one end of the Citie to the other neither for loue nor mony could they bee entertained euerie house perchance in the Citie hauing some guest might also haue some colour for their discurtesie but any little corner in a house at such a pinch could not but haue beene accounted great hospitalltie they looked not for the best they sought a meane host but the verie worst cottage would not bee opened vnto them this fauour onely did they finde that being come in at the one gate they might without any trouble goe out at the other where by good fortune nature wrought that in beasts which nurture could not work in men A yong womaÌ„ tired with trauel for in mans conceit it had beene more fit to haue been with hir midwife in some house then to be wandering in the streets with her husband moued people to so little piâ—tie as the beastes were thereof ashamed and freely gaue them such house-roome as themselues enioied for not farre from the East gate of the Citie was an hollow place in a rocke either by nature or art made fit for the receite of cattell wherein was a maunger where stoode an Oxe and an Asse and into this rocke entered the wearied couple in the coldest time of Winter where they neither had other companie nor comfort then is alreadie shewed no bed was made to ease them no boord was spred to refresh them Some little what did poore Ioseph prouide in the towne to vittail theÌ„ and somwhat perchaunce had he from the beasts to lay vnder them he got some light that they might see aswel as feele what they wanted And when they perceiued the incoÌ„ueniencie of the place to be such as they knew not where to make any little fire they resolued themselues that patience and contentment must be their best fare with which after they had spent halfe the night and the virgin perceiued her houre was come to be deliuered she applied her self vnto her wonted deuotions Ioseph being warned thereof hastened to make ready such cloutes as he brought with him when in a moment did he appeare in the world who was before all worldes and his mother taking him in hiâ— armes swadled him in as good order as either her skill or her clothes would suffer her and laide him in the maunger betwixt the Oxe the Asse who with their breath qualified the coldnesse of the aire round about him her selfe also being readie to comfort him what she could least that he should suffer any inconuenience by taking cold Wonder O ye heauens be astonished O earth he who was prince both of heauen and earth seemeth to haue forsaken heauen to lyue in earth Was it euer heard since the beginning of the world that one of such a nature as neither any sense could discerne any portraiture nor any science discouer his least
maidenly chastitie and that at one and the selfe same time she was both a pure virgine and a perfect mother And thou diuine Ladie most happie of all to be his mother who was thy maker O how well did those wordes of the Angell fit thee when hee said thou wert ful of grace being presently to be fraught with God Behold now thy sweet infant borne into the world who was nine monethes borne in thy wombe Looke where hee lyeth for whose sight thou hast so much longed embrace him at libertie in thine armes whom thou haddest imprisoned in thy bowels O how well did he prouide for thy comfort who picked out so solitarie a place where thou wert not likely to haue much companie that thou mightest haue thy fill in looking on him embracing him and kissing him whom although thou seest lie crying in the manger thou knewest hee was thy Lord and maker and no lesse admirable in the sight of Angels then amiable in thine Thou neither needest to rise by night nor yet to range by day to seeke whom thy soule doeth loue nor to aske of any watchman whether they did see him for they which came through the citie vnto thee at night would without any demanding demonstrate vnto thee where thy loue did lie He sought thee he found thee he tooke such hold of thee as hee meaneth still to haue thee thy lappe must bee his board thy bosome his bed and betwixt thy breasts doth he resolue to build his nest Pouertie much hated by others ought to bee honoured by thee for that this meane estate hath brought thee more profite then could a princely port O happie want which compelleth thee vnto thy harts wish for now that he hath not where els to lie thy lest arme must be a boster vnder his head and thy right arme a border round about his bodie Now that hee hath not where els to liue thy cottage must bee his court thy company his comfort He is the center of thy thoughtes about which they rowle He is the loadstone of thine eies from which they cannot roue He is the rocke against which thy speeches breake driuen by a violent passion he is the rest which thy thoughts best brooke diuided by a new affection the which are as often supplyed by teares as thy wordes by them being neither able to speake that which thou couldest nor to thinke that which thou wouldest for thou wert both ouertaken in thy wordes with thine owne gladnesse and ouercharged in thy thoughtes with thy sonnes greatnesse yet speake what thou mayest thinke that which thou mayest not speake and in the ende let thy loue-teares witnesse that thou art as farre vnable to vtter thy thoughts as thou art from thinking the vttermost Proceed then blessed virgin to embrace thy princely babe presse him in thy bosome who hath pierst thy breast let him neuer passe from thy hand who hath possessed thy heart but seeing hee being thy Lord hath taken on him the person of a child and vouchsafed to be thy sonne thou being his maiden feare not to vse both the priuiledges of a nurse and the preheminence of a mother But O most sacred babe heauens blisse helles bane worthie of all praise because the worker of our peace shall wee congratulate thy comming into the worlde or grieue that thou art become so short a word the largest heauens were lately to little for thee and now a little hole can do more then lodge thee A short word but a sweet worth more of thine owne desire then of our desert for if thine owne loue driue thee it was thy goodnes if ours drew thee it was thy gift But tell vs sweet babe in whome affection hath fully supplyed the defect of thy tongue as yet an instrument onely of a lamentable sound as thine eyes were fountaines of sorrowfull teares tell vs why hast thou loosed from the right hande of Maiestie to arriue in a restlesse hauen of miserie Was it to recouer againe the right which once was passed by thee and inrolled in a most faythfull record The heauen of heauens to the Lorde but the earth hee hath giuen to the sonnes of men and therefore wouldest thou of an omnipotent God become an impotent man yea and contented to bee accounted and that in scome king of the Iewes who wert the true king both of the Iewes and of the Gentiles or rather was it to right the wrong done vnto the Ladie whō thy father adopted to his daughter thou tookest for thy sister and to redeeme her from her vnmercifull conquerour who had bereft her of her matchlesse beautie and whatsoeuer else nature and grace could bestow vpon her importunated other by her suit or rather inchaunted by thy selfe thy loue towarde her being without limit and her losse of thee being infinite Tell vs sweete babe who arte an eternall worde although nowe too young to speake tell vs what caused thee to descende from thine vnspeakeable dignitie in which thou wert the onely food of Angels vnto an irreparable infamie because thou art nowe become the meate of beastes for as an infallible truth hath reuealed vnto vs. All flesh is grasse and grasse is beasts feeding In my bedde by night I sought whom I loued I sought her but I could not find her Inough sweet babe since that loue hath no higher cause all this thou diddest because thou diddest loue 〈◊〉 thou diddest loue because thou diddest Well do I conceiue thee to haue beene in thy bed that is at thy quietest repose but what nightes were those where we supposed to haue bin one continuall day or what darkenes could grieue thee who art the brightnes of thy fathers glorie Care which contrarie to the nature thereof made thee looke many thousande yeeres yonger then thou art did perchaunce contrarie also to the nature of the place seeme to bring a night where the Sunne neuer vsed to goe downe or cause thee to bee hidden in a cloude who art the light of heauen that not without some cause thou mayest say in the night in thy bedde tho◠soughtest whom thou louedst but what when thou couldest not find her in thy bed I will rise and go round about the Citie through the streetes and open places will I seeke whome I loue I sought her but I could not find her But what among all those glorious companie couldest thou not finde thy loue If heauen bee not woorthie to holde thy loue howe shall the earth yeelde her vnto thee But it seemeth by thine intended course that hell it selfe shall not escape thy search But when thou couldest not finde her in the Citie The watch found me which kept the Citie sawe yee whom my soule doth loue And when I had a little passed them I founde whome I loued I helde her and will not let her goe vntill I haue brought her into my mothers house and into her chamber who bred me O worthie Citizens of the heauenly Hierusalem for whome did yee watch Or
with the effusion of farre more holy bloud then eyther was sprinckled in Moyses tabernacle or shed in Salomons temple for the eight day after the natiuitie according to the law of the Iews hee who was aboue all lawes was circumcised in this rocke and thereby made subiect vnto the law the parents not being commaunded by the lawe nor accustomed to carrie their infants to the temple for the receiuing of that sacrament at which time also hee had this name Iesus giuen vnto him as the Angell called him before and after that he was conceiued in his mothers wombe notwithstanding that long before many other names were assigned him by the diuine Oracle as Admirable the Counsellor God the Mightie the Father of the world to come the Prince of Peace with manie other correspondent either to his person or some propertie which is in him yet none was significant as this and whatsoeuer is obscurely contained in them is manifestly declared in this For the sinne which slew mankind being infinit in respect that the partie offended was infinitelie more excellent then the offender it required a satisfaction infinitely good which man was not able to make whose nature is within certaine limits of perfection wherefore it was necessarye either that God who is onely infinite should of his mercie satisfie himselfe or else in iustice the sinner was to haue an infinite punishment which because the offender could not in any limited time sustaine it was to be changed for a limited punishment which should endure without limit and because God his owne nature was so superexcellent that it was capable of nothing but happinesse hee was to take such a nature as wherein he might best accomplish his gratious designement and because man knewe of himselfe howe to sinne hee thought it best in the same nature to teach him also how to satisfie He chose therefore to become a man but in such sort as he would bee but one yet God and man for if there had beene two God and a man which also had not beene God condigne satisfaction could not haue beene made vnto God for the sinne for neither was a pure man able to satisfie nor God in his owne nature subiect to suffer Hauing therefore decreed to make himselfe admirable in this vnion of two so different natures without the confusion of them hee thought it an vnworthie thing for him to begin to be a man by a carnall generation as other men doe and therfore chose a virgin in whom hee was not without miracle conceiued nor of whom without as strang a miracle he was borne after that her time came to bee deliuered for shee remained as well for his honour as her owne as perfect a virgin after his birth as shee was before He was a true and faythfull counseller vnto vs enforming vs nothing but what himselfe before performed euen to the effusion of his owne most precious blood in following our cause for vs instructing vs by exhortation and his owne example that the meane for vs to win heauen was wholy to weane our selues from the world He was true God being the onely sonne of God equal vnto his father in power goodnes and authoritie from whence proceeded his mightines both in word and worke to the redeeming of mankind ransacking of hell and in the end the ouerthrowing of death which done he would make al things new and therefore rightly might hee be called the father of the world to come restoring by himselfe onely that which the whole Trinitie had before created and thereby creating a new by grace what was thorough sinne come to nought He was also a Prince of peace for the obtaining of which hee came into the world to performe a single and bloudy combat that not without cause hee was proclaimed by that name so soone as hee was borne and the eight day after to conclude all in one he was called Iesus that is a Sauiour A name neuer heard before although like sound hath beene heard as Iosue the sonne of Naue was called Iesus who brought the Israelites into the land of promise after fortie yeeres wandring in the Desart and the high Priest who returned with them from Babylon after seuentie yeeres captiuitie was also called Iesus but neither these nor any other whose name sounded after the same maner although either as chiefe priests or Princes they brought their people into the holy land were other thē figures of this prince and therefore neither were their names the right name which this prince had it being giuen him by one who knew verte well the propertie of euery thing and either gaue or ratified their names giuen vnto them accordingly But the name it selfe discloseth some secret mysterie For who is not deaf and hath not his eares filled with a most sweete sound when hee heareth this holy name Iesus Who is not dumbe and hath not his mouth flowing with a most sacred sweetnes when he soundeth this holy name Iesus who is not dead and hath not all his senses furnished with a straunge delight when hee apprehendeth the name of Iesus who is not damned and hath not his soule deified◠by an infinite goodnes when hee engraueth this holy name Iesus A holy name was before but it was holy and terrible because hee whose name it was was a consuming fire A holie name is nowe but it is holie and mercifull because hee whose name it is is a most gracious redeemer insomuch as there is no other name giuen to men by which they may bee saued then the holie name of Iesus so gloryous in heauen so gratious in earth so regarded in hell that at the sounde thereof euerie knee boweth in heauen earth and hell Glorious in heauen because heauens storer gracious in earth because earthes restorer regarded in hel because hels restrainer glorious in heauen because a maintainer of maiesty gracious in earth because a mone◠of miserie regarded in hell because a maisterer of tyrannie Heauens honor earthes myrror helles terror A most sweete and soueraigne oyle flowing from the heauens aboue vnto the lower partes of the earth and refreshing all who were either oppressed with darknesse or oppugned with ouermuch daunger most nourishing a wasted light and most necessarie for a wounded limme And verie fitly did this sacred oyle flow vpon such a day as wherein no one glimse appeared of the light of nature nor any sprake was seene of the least good nurture Many feastes did the Gentiles keepe to one or other false gods honour and many sportes did they make according to each one his frailest humor For although that some seemed to tende to the exercise onely of their strength and wits yet were such most attended as made them both weake and wantons The games of Olympus were moste famous in Greece so called because they were at the foot of the mountain Olympus which was so hie that it gaue name vnto the heauens for it reached so far aboue the middle region of