that the Spaniard who is the strong Atlas that beares vp the same can aboue any Christian King establish the assurednesse of his affaires vpon the ruines thereof Fourthly all the orders of the Papall Clergy are bent to ouerthrow the Iesuites who are the onely cunning craftsmen who build and vphold this Babilonian tower Fiftly the meanes which God seemeth to put into the person of his Maiesty our gracious Soueraigne to sway the world to peace and vnity in Christian Religion as well by the weight of his power as by the vertue of his temperate wisedome and solid learning which hath procured vnto his Maiestie authority not onely with all Protestant people but with the best of the Opponents Sixtly the absolute credit giuen vnto the primitiue Church against which there is no side of Christian Clergy that taketh exception All which things well considered what I pray you is wanting heere to reforme the holy Church but these two Courage to vndertake it and this one word from the mouth of God Benedicamus And seeing the world pointeth at your Maiesty as the onely man to whom that courage doeth belong it compelleth mee to turne my speech vnto you O great and mighty Monarch As they haue seene how God hath made your Maiesty like Hereules able to ouercome the Gigantine forces of these Kingdomes dispairefully disseuered by inueterate and implacable emulations placing your Maiesty in a triumphant Throne ouer this fortunate Isle that Cyrus-like your Maiesty hath your foot vpon the midst of the hyde that no side thereof can reuolt and hath giuen your Maiesty ample dominions without and that in a miraculous sort hauing no concurrance of humane helpe making your Maiesty alone both the Actor and the Instrument Therefore doe they looke that your Maiesty should in like manner cry with Cyrus The Lord God of heauen hath giuen me the Kingdomes of the earth and hath commanded mee to restore Ierusalem and to deliuer his people from captiuity because they see how almighty God hath furnished your Maiesty with prudence and power like armed Pallas to execute the same your Maiesty hath hitherto well followed the example of the powerfull Moses in this toilesome gouernment whereunto the Lord hath brought you but the chiefest praise of Moses was his perseuerance non coronabitur nisi qui legitime certauerit when hee came vp to the mountaine hee was commanded to put off his shooes to shew plainely that hee might make himselfe light and able to walke to shew figuratiuely that hee must shake off all fleshly desires and affections which burden our mindes and pull them downeward from a familiar conuersation with God O what a laborious thing it is to come vnto this mount the vallies bee rich full of sensuall pleasures and of easie passage and therefore they are inhabited of the multitude of the world the mountaines are steepe and precipitious and it is hard to clime vp into them and yet there it is where the Lord hath euer almost shewen himselfe as mount Sinai mount Horeb mount Tabor mount Oliuet mount Caluarie and diuers others declare to signifie how difficult a thing it is to exalt our selues aboue the sensuality of the world and how few are worthy to come into the familiar mount of God onely Iosuah was found worthy to ascend with Moses all the rest were commanded to remaine at the foote of the mountaine with Aaron and Hur which made his charge to bee the greater for not onely did God command him to come vp but sayd the Lord ascende in montem esto ibi Come vp and see thou be there by which words hee would stirre him vp from lazines to think that he must not only be there but be watchfull there as it is sayd Non dicitur vemsse qui non steterit who standeth straight in the mountaine he seeth euerie thing which passeth by below him but to him who wearieth and lieth himselfe down to repose all the things which are vnder him be hidden and if the enemies come to spoyle the vallies he can neuer discouer it As your Maiestie hath beene most watchfull hitherto So let your Highnesse thinke that the worke of God doth but begin in you and that he hath called your Ma to come vp to the Mount not like a fainting Eliah who in his voiage to the mountaine to talke with God tired or delighted with the beauty or freshure of the tree fell asleepe vnder the Ginobre but like vnto a vigilant Moses who stood vpright fortie dayes in the Mountaine without refreshment not like vnto a timorous Eliah who was afrayd at the voyce of a woman but still like a couragious Moses who being of his owne nature the most milde among men yet when he found the people in Idolatry of the Calfe at his returning from the Mount he was enraged and commanded the Leuites to be armed and stood in the gates of the Campe till punishment was executed Let your Maiestie therefore haue watchfull eies to penetrate the latent things of your popular vallies that no distemper grow among them which may renuerse your Maiesties former cares Doe specially Sr. ouerwatch these two things First that this lurking Gangrene of pretended Puritanisme doe spred no further nor lie in waite to trouble the settled order of your Maiesties gouernment But to the end your Maieiesty and your Royall posterity may euer hit surely in that marke which your Maiestie hath so long shot at to reestablish into this Isle the primitiue and orthodoxall policie of the Church Imitate the skilfull Archer by chusing your arrowes of that wood which is most proper for your Maiesties aime by receiuing into Episcopall dignities those who bee most religious and sincere rather the best then the most learned considering how many men in these daies doe carry Letters as Uria did to cut his owne throat like vnto those vnhappy Carpenters who builded an Arke for the safety of Noah and his family while they themselues did miserably perish in the flood Since your Maiestie hath now store of men both of conscience and learning who are resolued enough in the Question of the Church Policy let them see how your Maiesty thinketh no man so worthy of the Episcopall chaire as he who commeth vnto it after the sort of that tradition which we haue of Gregorius Magnus who being chosen for his meere vertue was sayd to flie into the wildeines til he was discerned by a piller of fire which kithed aboue him Let the light of their learning their zeale integtity of their life shining aboue them where they are be their onely recommendations to Ecclesiasticall preferment to the effect that your Maiestie may in that manner stoppe malignant mouthes and take away all pretext of discontentment or disconformity from these who say that your Maiestie doth not preferre the vertuous So that the treacherous lesuite who like the crafty fish conueyeth himselfe into troubled waters may want a couert to hide his head which is
Scripture to signifie the Pagan gods which were things false and so nothing Esay saith of the gods of the Gentiles Behold you are nothing and your workes are of no worth Vnto the which Saint Paul alluding Wee know said he that an Idol is nothing in the world because howsoeuer it bee made of mettall timber or stone yet because the falshood which it representeth is nothing it is said to be nothing Now so ielous is God of his honour and worship That hee hath not only forbidden materiall images to bow down to them but there is also spirituall Idolatry forbidden whereof there is two sorts The first is of these who directly or indirectly haue society and company with the Diuell and trust in him as Sorterers Magitians Witches Consulters The second is of those who mainetaine any erronious opinion concerning the worship of God or against the word of God or who doe cherish and defend any great and odious vice by a displayed banner against God as the Prophet Samuel speaking of the disobedience of Saul Your rebellion saith he is the sinne of Witchcraft and your trangression Idolatry the reason is because hee who doth obey God after his own fantacie and not after Gods expresse Commandement he doth prefer his own conceipt and make an Idol thereof as Saint Ierome in this same sense shewes how there was oftentimes Idolatry among the Iewes when they had no materiall Idoles as the Gentiles saith he worship corporall Idoles so the Iewes hold for gods those Idoles which they haue forged in their soules and therefore they are Pagans and Idolaters Saint Austen expounding the meaning of Iosua when he exhorted the Iewes newly entred in Palestina to put away their strange gods It is not to be thought that in this time the Iewes had any Pagan god said hee because immediatly before he did praise their obedience neither is it to bee thought that hee spake these wordes without cause so it was said he that the holy Prophet vnderstanding them to haue in their hearts erroneous opinions of God contrarie to his honour hee desired them to leaue them Saint Paul doth cleerely testifie that the auaricious man and the glutton be Idolaters the one of his gold the other of his belly Quorum Deus venter est Many were among the Phylosophers whose wisdome did neuer suffer them to worship Creatures as Idoles yet were they spirituall Idolaters by denying of the Resurrection and of the immortality of the Soule in that true eternity which God hath appointed for it The Iewes and Turkes this day doe not worship any materiall Idol yea they worship the same God whom we doe yet they are Idolaters because they doe not acknowledge him as he is a Diuine Essence distinguished in three persons but after a fantasie deuised by Mahomet here and there be the Cabbalists of whom and of of all such Saint Basil saith Cursed be the men who forge false imaginatione in their owne braines and carry spirituall Idolatrie in their hearts And Gregorie Nazianzene more plainely How is it come saith hee euen to this that euery wicked man doth make a God of his wickednesse his filthy passions his wrath his murthers his lust and drunkennesse and other abominable excesse And Saint Ierome writing vpon Isay and Hosea in diuers places and Augustine in the City of God doth reckon monstrons numbers of false gods whom poore Gentility had forged to themselues aswell in their fantasies as in their Temples both which sorts of Iolatrie God hath very well forseene and very strictly forbidden by his precept of no grauen image in heauen aboue nor in the earth beneath wherein no doubt by the heauen are meant not onely the Planeticall bodies but imaginations of Angelicall figures to be counted of vs for gods and all intellectuall phantasies and falsehoods contriued by humane braine in matters of Gods worship that they shall haue no place in our mindes which point your Lo sees how cleare it is It being so then that the poore blinded Pagans who are strangers to doctrine of holy Scripture and kept backe from it by the lawes of Tyrants they are thus conuicted by the Doctors of the Church not onely for materiall Idolatrie but euen for spirituall through the excesse of euery predominant vice or erroneous phantasie which did transport them and that Saint Augustine introduces Iosua as we haue heard exhorting the Iewes to quit their Idolatry of wrongfull opinions I wil in like manner appeale to the diuine light of your Lo conscience how vigilant you thinke a good Christian must be about the points of Gods worship or what warrant there is this description of Idolatry admitted first to erect and maintain such number of images in the Popish Church Secondly what warrant to equall with God the power of the blessed Virgin And lastly and aboue all what warrant presumptuously to affirme that any elementarie thing is really the person of God himselfe I vnderstand that from such grounds as bee in the Romane Church your Lo will giue pretended reason enough but that is contrary to my protestation whereby I haue tyed your Lo. to that which the Diuine instinct of your conscience doth say to you in fauours of the meanest of those superstitions as for the last two of them I need not insist much because I thinke they bee extra controuersiam Idolatries But vnderstanding well how your Lordshippe will holde for the Images by reason of the good meaning and vse which is had of them and from the common ground ab abusu ad non vsum non est argumentum Certainely such fearefull abuses haue I seene which make me to say alas wee doe not remember what a peremptorie terrible and Iealous God hee is in the whole order and in the smallest circumstances of his worship he hath said hee is a Spirit and will be worshipped in spirit and no other will content him Let vs exhauste our whole meanes let vs distill our braines from neuer so good a meaning to worship him if our doing goe not with his owne rule it is hatefull abomination in his eyes and chiefly where any thing is added or altered to the substance and Essence of Gods word giuen out by himselfe it is Idolatry and which is more in the highest degree whereof that one instance of King Saul his disobedience might suffice for a thousand examples who could haue doubted of his extraordinary good meaning in sparing the fat beastes to sacrifice vnto the Lord more who would not haue imagined it should approue his thankefulnesse towards God and yet the Prophet Samuel called it the sinne of Witchcrafte which is Idolatry in the Superlatiue degree and for it had denounced the renting and transferring of his kingdome why because the Lord who knowes the heart of man he did see that Saul by his addition to his Commandement did preferre his owne inuention thereunto hunting thereby after a reputation of zeale in Gods seruice and so honour
his pontificate Finally if we come to speake of the confirmations of councels and canons which is the last point of Ecclesiasticall Iurisdiction we also finde that nothing was solid vntill the imperiall approbation was conioyned to the spirituall The Rolles of the decrees of the counsell of Nice and Constantinople were presented to Constantine and Theodosius to be subscribed and authorised by them against which foresaide policie of the primitiue Church so farre depending vpon the Emperour I know not what we can pretend vnlesse we will be like those ignorant Gnostickes of whom Irenaeus doth make mention in the fourth Chapter of his third booke who held this opinion that while God did commaund vs to obey superior powers he did accommodat that command to the condition of persons and tymes and that the Church is not now in minoribus as she was then but out of Pagerie and able to commaund her selfe Certayne the lawe of God is immutable and eternall and doeth not suffer ecclipse nor is subiect to the measure of our fantasies If one will say the dealing of Arrian Kings with the church vnder the crosse is not to be drawne in example what shall we say to the Iurisdiction of Constantine the greate the first patron of the Church who tooke vpon him in his tyme to establish Bishops and had at his death Athanasius vnder his Iudicature and what shall we answere to Charlemaine a great fauourer of the Church to his son Lues Debonaire who sent to Rome to iudge a Pope for the murther of Theodore a Romane Senatour of the French deuotion wherein the Pope was forced to cleere himself by the kings owne appointment as the letters of Pope Leon to Lues to that effect doth import Thus if we haue done any thing out of purposse in that processe we are readie to amend it by your owne officers whom weâ—…treate you to send outwell disposed men to take triall of that matter The ecclesiasticall histories and the liues of Popes where they are written besoful of such testimonies and so plaine into them I thought it not necessarie to quote them particularlie So concluding this generall Theme in fauours of the lawfull authoritie of Kings I say the primitiue Church had neuer a Bishop nor Pope who did refuse to submit himselfe to the imperiall Iurisdiction after the example and doctrine of Christ in such manner that we are to esteeme all this contrary clergie of Papall parasites to be a false and bastard Theologie of ambitious monsters who striue to vsurpe that power which God hath reserued to himselfe of disposing of Kings and Diadems of the world after the way of his secret and diuine prouidence which power is so alone to him that no mortall flesh may participate of it as Daniel doth approoue in the Dreame of Nebuccadnezar Altissimus habet Potestatem super Regna hominum dat illa cuivult constituit super illa homines vilissimos The most High hath power ouer the Kingdomes of men hee giueth them to whom hee will and placeth in them most vile men And the Prophet Esay in this point in the person of the Ethnicke Cyrus he doth prophesie his victories hee calleth him the Lords Anoynted of whom God did say Whose right hand I haue holden to subdue Nations before him he ordayned him to be obeyed saying Uae ei qui litigauerit contra factorem suum Woe bee to him who doth question with his Maker Numquid lutum dicet factori suo quid facis Shall the Clay say to the Potter What dost thou make Then hee concludeth saying I haue raysed him and he shall let my people goe not for money but freely When God commanded Nolite tangere vnâ—…s meos hee did not except Saul more then Dauid Balthasar more then good King Iosias what then shall these miserable and wretched potshrads of these times reason with their Maker when he saith Dedi eis Regem in furore meo regnare facit hypocritam propter peccata Populi What shal they haue a count of him or how doe they not heare the voyce of the Prophets of Christ himselfe of the Apostles of the Fathers of the primitiue Church all consentient and contrary to that poysoned doctrine of Rome inuented and maintayned by the Iesuites where in place of these sacred priuiledges yeelded vnto Christian Princes as is said consisting in foure or fiue points of Soueraignity in the Ecclesiasticall gouernment wee shall heare foure or fiue such Maximes as these To Christ is giuen all power in Heauen and Earth and Christ hath giuen the keyes of all to Saint Peter therefore the Pope his successor hath all power also of Heauen and Earth hee is aboue Kings and may translate and destroy their authoritie he is aboue generall Councells and may inhibit them hauing all power in his owne person In place of Christian Apostolike and reuerent speeches of Monarchs Kings there is to be heard fastuous contemptible inuectiues against them serpentine insinuations to cut the throat of their Royall power to depose them spoyle their estates and inuade their liues and these by exoterick or publike writtes and who will be curious of their acroamaticke or hidden and cloysterall doctrine shall bee taught to vnderstand this ground for all that after the raigne of the Antichrist all Nations are to be collected vnder one Pastor and to obey him and to that effect God doth establish and raise some puissant Christian authoritie which should be in the occident as some Rabbins and Iewish Doctors who became thereafter Christians haue obserued by these mysticall wordes of our Sauiour vpon the Crosse Vouch chi hammassiah chesche uitlash bannesthimneth hu daieth roscho daiphen nalt sarphat dareth rachen nalcha That is to say Et erit postquam Messias suspensus fuerit in ligno ecce ipse inclinabit caput suum prespiciens ad occidentem dixit miserebor tui The French say they doth expound this mysterie of the Grandor of the French Crowne because their Princes were myraculously brought vnto the Christian faith receiuing the Flower-de-Luce sent from heauen as their Stories record with a supernaturall power to heale the Ecruelles by touching which Flower is holden sacred and in holy Scripture is recommended aboue all other Flowers being imployed in the worke of the great Candlesticke made by Moses and after vsed by Salomon who built the Temple whereof Moses drew the figure so that they esteeme this Flower to be the true hyerogliphicke of their faith and hold it yet for their Armories they haue beene mightie promoters of Gods Church by destroying flouds of Arrians Gots and Visigotti in Spaine in the daies of Carollo Martello and Pipino his sonne by their expulsion of Longobards and succouring of the seat Apostolicall vnder Carolus Magnus by their exploits in the Orient about the conquest of Ierusalem vnder the Armes of Godfred de Bullion and his partners and by their Christian enterprises against the Saracenes vnder Lodouicus sanctus
In nequissimo pane murmurabit ciuitas The mouthes of many shall blesse him who is liberall of his bread and the City shall murmure against him who doth it not and they shall call his wretched conquest Panem nequissimum A knauish bread If a Bishop study to bee rich hee is neither Starre nor Angell nor no matter heauenly Si terram cogitas terraes If a mans minde be muddy hee is mudde himselfe riches are indeed a blessing of God but wee finde seldome mention in the Scripture of a rich man in good termes but with hard title Salomon saith Alia infirmitas sub sole Diuitiae conseruatae in malum Domini Riches heaped vp for the mischiefe of their Master and the Euangelist speaking of a rich man Mortuus est Diues sepultus in Inferno The rich man died and was buried in Hell Againe our Sauiour saith It is as impossible for a rich man to enter into heauen as for a Camell to passe thorow the eye of a needle and the holy Spirit speaking by Saint Iohn in the second of the Apocalips to the Angell or Bishop of Laodicea Dicis quia Diues sum nullius egeo ecce miser pauper caecut nudus Thou sayest thou art rich and needest nothing behold thou art miserable poor blinde naked Wherby wee see that earthly desires in a Bishop be wretched nakednesse terra inanis erat vacua saith the Scripture The earth was empty and barren so be all the Prelates who delight in riches and earthly pleasures Againe Bishops must resemble the heauens being cleane in their very hearts they must not say Placet quicquid licet That uery thing doth please them which is lawfull but they must forbeare many pleasures lawfull to others that being cleane they may clense others Non valet tergere sordes manus quâ—… lutum tenet The hand which is spotted with clay it cannot purge filthinesse They must be well and perfectly ordered in their behauiours hauing them seasoned with wisedome and discretion as Christ faith to his Apostles habeto in vibis salem That they should haue salt whereof we see if there be too much in meat it makes it bitter if too little vnsauoury if a discreet measure it makes it pleasant and delicate to the Taste they must be round as the heauens we know that a circle is figura capacissima simplicima a most simple and capable figure which hath no Angle crooke point nor diuision shewing how euill lasinesse rest duplicity or crooked wayes become a Prelate Finally they must still moue as the heauens doe going from vertue to vertue from good to better for the common good of those who be vnder them Woe were vnto the infeiour world if the Celestiall spheares should intermit their course and stand stil euen as the round wheele when it beginneth to stand presently it goeth backe so In via Domini non progredi regredi est not to goe forward in the way of the Lord is to goe backward because in that circular and continuall motion which should be in pastorall piety there is no station nor repose Hec fuit iniquitas Sodoinae abundantia otium Therefore finally they must like vnto the heauens make continuall influxion of life and light in the inferiour members of Christ Church seeing it hath pleased God to let vnto them his Vineyard they are to remember the saying of our Sauiour Omnis arbor quae non facit fructum bonum excidâ—… per ignem mittetur Euery tree which brings not forth good fruit shall be cut downe and cast into the fire It is neither the blossome the flower nor the leafe which will please God but the fruit neither shewes of piety nor learned preachings but the edification of Christian soules will content God Exemplum dedi vobit vt quemadmodum egofeci ita vos faciatis saith Christ I haue giuen you example that as I haue done so might you doe The first Adam did feed vpon the fruits of the trees in Paradise but the second Adam vpon the fruits of his Saints who are the mysticall trees of this Vineyard as may be marked out of that answere giuen to his Apostles saying to him Rabbi manduca ego habeo alium cibum manducare quem vos nescitis I haue other meat to eat which you doe not knowe and this was the fruits of the Garden of Israel euen then transplanted for example the conuersion of the Samaritan woman was his thirst and vpon the Crosse he cryed sitio langushing for the like wing-grapes seeing Bishops are the chiefest trees in the Vineyard they must striue to produce the most excellent fruits of Christian vertues specially that euery one of their actions bee witnesses of their humility The tree the more it hath the roote humble and deepe in the earth it makes the fairer fruit the Prophet Esay doth affirme it Mittet radices deorsum faciet fructus sursum And the Wise-man saith Odibilis Deo hominibus superbia Pride is hatefull to God and man The Prelates be as is said before the head the heart and the stomacke of the spirituall body which being in good and wholesome constitution the members haue also their full vigour and strength The Prophet Ieremy speaking of the reformation of the people beginneth at the heads Si feceritis iudicium inter virum proximum eius aduenae viduae pupillo If you will iudge betwixt a man and his neighbour iustly and if you doe iustly to the stranger widdow and Orphane Therfore if Prelates would haue people purged from those damnable vices of ambition auarice pride and Atheisme they must keepe themselues reformed summarily they may cast backe their eyes a little to looke vpon the ruines of their Predecessours the late Bishops of Scotland who because they fell away from vprightnesse and sincerity and did abandon themselues to publike vices the Lord did spew them out Malos male perdidiâ—… loâ—…uit vineam suam alijs he made the wicked to perish wickedly and did let his Vine-yard to others CHAP. XI Why the Organs Glericall Vestiments and ancient Ceremonies which be vsed in the Church of England are againe to be receiued of vs in Scotland IT followes now for the happinesse of our domesticke vnion to speake of the ceremonies of the Church of England which as they are no many in number that I will heere treate of so they require no ouer long and tedious discourse They are conuersant about our two principall sences the one as Aristotle calleth it the sence of science and discipline the eare The other as Horace sheweth the conduit and inlet of the most deepe and firme impressions our eyes Segnius irritant animos demissaper aures quamqua sunt oculis subiecta sidelibus Vpon the first the admirable and diuine gifts of Musique doth worke vpon the second the graue and Maiestique yet plaine and sober habite of vestments both haue three operations on vs
I demand what it is that shall make that lawfull and conuenient for Gods seruice Is it the signification of the words or the melodie of the tune and symphonie If the first then singing is not recommended as it is singing but rather as saying and then it were better such psalmes or hymnes were barely pronounced or read for so their sence and signification is best vnderstood If the second then instrumentall musique must likewise be admitted wherein the same sounds for tune and concord of parts are by the same rules of art practised and expressed But it may be oueradded that the musique of the voice is passable as hauing both these together and performing them with one breath Most true and therein is the chiefe excellency of that guift of God that in one and the same sound it edifieth both the vnderstanding and the affections Yet the other which cannot act but one of his properties is not therefore to bee condemned or contemned In physique some ingredients worke attrahende by their searching and vigorous quality of attraction others only adiuuando by diffusing the stronger simples and so helping the operation of them and without these the other would be lesse actiue and profitable Euen so in sacred musique the chiefe vigour of our praiers and adoration commeth from the ditty which worketh immediately vpon our vnderstanding but that is much helped and quickened by adding thereto a proportionable temper of artificiall harmony which shall make it penetrate the deeper into our affections As the Church militant in the three forenamd estates and seuerall times so and much more the Church triumphant in eternity doth out of the Scriptures supplie vs with proofe of the conueniency of setting foorth the praise of God with mellodious harmony For when in reading the Scriptures I view that little yet sufficient for our knowlepge which God hath reuealed concerning the state of the blessed Angels Saints in heauen mee thinkes it must needes bee great rashnesse to condemne that as superstitious or superfluous if imitated heere on earth which the spirit of God testifieth to bee the endlesse imployment of those that see God face to face in heauen Is not the Ierusalem which is aboue the mother of vs all into whose bosome we hope to be gathered Is it not that which wee hope and grone for in the vale of this flesh to become once 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like to the Angells Is it not that which we daily pray for that Gods will may be done on earth as it is in heauen why then may wee not why ought we not euen now to imitate the worke of the Angells in their adoring the most High and as farre as we can performe that in our Churches the type of the euerlasting Temple which we shall when we are hereafter cloathed with immortalitie intend in heauen perpetually If we will open the booke of God the very window of heauen wee shall there see heare the blessed Seraphins thus blessing and adoring him that sitteth on an high throne crying to one another saying Holy holy holy Lord of hosts The whole world is full of his glory If we looke in further we may see the foure Euangelists figured out by the foure beasts full of eyes encompassing the throne without ceasing day and night singing the like Antiphone Holy holy Lord God Almighty which was and which is and which is to come If wee will yet view to the vtmost end we may behold Gods champions after their conquest ouer the beast holding in their hand as banners of that victory displaied more audibly then visibly the harpes of God The melody of which instruments they doe animate by singing the song of Moses the seruant of God and the song of the Lambe saying Great and maruellous are thy workes Lord God Almighty c. Apo. 19. 6. The voyce of a great multitude as the voyce of manie waters and as the voice of strong thundrings saying Halleluiah verse 3. And againe they sayd Halleluiah Loe here we haue plainly represented vnto vs not only singing and that by repetition againe againe but interchangeable chaunting in the Seraphins in that they are sayd to cry one to another holy holy holy which three sacred words the embleme of the euer-blessed Trinitie when I heare in the Te Deum in the vulgar tongue with a point of maiesticall correspondence grauely and reuerently sung in the Cathedrall Churches of England how others are affected I know not but for my selfe me thinks the very Celestiall Temple of God is brought downe among vs or we in these bodies rapt vp among the Seraphims and bearing parts in the Quyre of heauenly souldiers More ouer vnto such vocall singing here is distinctly added the other helpe of adoring and adorning the heauenly Maiestie by instrumentall harmonie the harpes and they honoured with an attribute euen the Harpes of God so styled either in regard of the subiect to whose praise they are vsed or of the Author by whose gift that and the like blessings are afforded to the best of the creatures both wayes designing one and the same fountaine GOD. I will not heere lest I should lose my selfe intrude into the search of hidden secrets treasured vp in heauen how and in what sense Angels and blessed Saints in heauen are to be vnderstood to sing before the throne of the Almightie whether this be in the Scripture described in a sensible forme onely for our capacity but to bee interpreted in a spirituall and allegoricall allusion surely if the substance of Angels and soules of men be not meerely incorporall it is not absurd to maintaine that they may immediately ex iunatis principijs similitudine substantiae in the most pure body or space of the heauen of heauens the seat of the blessed both raise such reall and corporeall voyces also be affected with the sweet harmonie and proportions of such sounds And when after the resurrection the soules of the faithfull shall bee clothed againe with their bodies it is not amisse to thinke that the bodie shall partake with the soule as of fullnesse of ioy so of the act and exercise of perpetuall adoration And as our naturall eyes shall then really and corporally behold the most beautifull obiect of our Sauiours glorified humanitie oculis meis videbo Redemptorē meū saith Iob so it is not against the analogie of faith to thinke that our tongues and mouthes may then employ them selues in endlesse vocall hymnes and songs of thanksgiuing of glory and worship to him that sitteth vpon the throne and to the Lambe who by his bloud hath redeemed vs out of euery kindred and tongue people and nation and hath made vs Kings and Priests vnto God his Father And sithence I haue been comforted from probable sweet and reuerend contemplations of the more learned to thinke that some sympathie may be betwixt the musicall Harmonie and the Angelicall nature it maketh me to presume a
be could not be admitted to the sacred mysteries of his goddesse Iâ—… if he had not changed himselfe out of a Phylosopher into an humble Asse further to let these fine fellowes know how in this a sinnâ—…â—…ge of mine I haue been â—…urious 〈◊〉 â—…orneelie 〈◊〉 wâ—…th pertaineth to the Asse The People Dâ—…d saith Nolita fieri sicus Equus Mulus qâ—…bus none 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but of the Asse the Prophet Esay wonderfully noting perhaps the particular circumstances of our Sauiour as somethinke in a Propheticaâ—…ision hath said Cogâ—…nit Bâ—… pâ—…rem suunt 〈◊〉 prâ—…sepe Dâ—… It is manifestly seene that by naturall goodnesse the Asse hath those properties which euery Christiane is commanded to follow so patient of iniuties that being â—…ten of any other beast it taketh no offence so painefull and obedient that the greater burthen maketh it to trauell more willingly so simple that it requires no attendance as horses and other seruiceable beasts so temperate and soberat food that while it â—…eth the most percious fruits oyles coines spices it putteth downe the mouth to pâ—…re vpon thâ—…les as it were a figure of that simplicity and aâ—…ty which â—…ght to bee vnder the Crosse as some â—…o imagine it hath the marke of a Crossâ—…pon the backe Tertullian in his daies did glory in this That in the Priâ—…e Churcâ—… the Pagans and prophane 〈◊〉 his 〈◊〉 did all the Christians Asinaâ—… 〈◊〉 holding in theâ—… those Aâ—…e qualities Finally that asse whospake to Balâ—…m as hee carried him to curse Gods people 〈◊〉 and to impugnents Will So went I beyond Seas â—…ying my headâ—…ll of false and error â—…pinione and 〈◊〉 fraughted with desires to sed and 〈◊〉 super 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pleased God of his mercy to open my eyes 〈◊〉 old to that beast that I did see such odious 〈◊〉 of his worship the iudgements which 〈◊〉 the â—…tned against it it pleaseth him whole â—…ded 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 to loose me from the bands of ignorante The Prophet Dâ—…d saith Dâ—…mint â—…iamea apâ—…es 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 annaâ—… laudeâ—…â—…uam doâ—… iâ—…iquos viâ—… 〈◊〉 impâ—… ad to connuertentur Since he who opened the mouth of the Asse hath also for his glorie opened my mouth I must not neither be silent although I â—…o Doctor nor doe not presume to instruct your Lâ—… conscience yet must I remember that commandement of our Sauiour giuen to one whom he disâ—…ssed of many Diuels â—…euertere in domum tuam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quanta tibâ—… fecer at Dominus Returne homeward and now become a simple Asse in Christian knowledge That which the Lord hath done to mee I shall preach it to others for his glorie and their edification and so I preceede to tell your Lâ—… how I was tranformed into â—…his Asse of Balaam CHAP. II. A Discourse of our naturall light and diuine instinct of our Conscience A true definition of Idolatry for the better triall of superstitious worship and preuarication in Gods seruice THe Scripture records that the Asse of Balaam went on a pace before he did see the Angel and that the Angel was diuers times seene before obedience was done vnto him so was it with mee all the while of my being in France I did professe the Popish Religion and as sincerely obey the discipline of that Church as any man could doe of my weakenesse and that from vpright zeale and not from designe whereof I could my selfe giue many great proofes which be not pertment here onely this farre I say That many times I haue heard in one weeke more then twenty Masses and that for the greatest part there where I knew no man nor yet was knowne my selfe of any Whereof also your Lo selfe may beare witnesse by diuers of my Letters written to you in those times chiefly by one if it please you to remember from Paris immediatly before my going into Italy in the which I did play the Paranymphe to my selfe by praising the resolution of my comming foorth from the example of Abrahams calling who was comanded by God to goe forth of his owne Country that he might worship the Lord truely and he blessed of him in a strange land In such sort that for the time I could haue been content to remaine a Transfuga to my liues end In this Letter I did allude to the greater light of the Southerne Sunne and to the Aquilonar darkenesse founded vpon that Thalmudicall fable which we read in the writs of Rabbi Eleazer in his booke called Zoar that in the creation of the heauens God did leaue a hole in the Northerne parts thereof that in the beginning the Sunne had his first point of motion in the Southeast that about Damascus in the Southeast God tooke that Terra virgo that most perfect Earth whereof he formed Adam that the garden of Eden and mount Sion were planted in the South-east that God chose the Patriarckes and his peculiar people in the South-east remote significations of Gods truth to remaine for euer in the Climats of the Southeast according to that in the Canticles Vbi habitabit dilectus 〈◊〉 in meridie vbicubabit in meridie And that the Northerne parts of the earth were the seate naturally of darkenesse and iniquity as being subiect to the imperfect parts of the heauen and to the aforesaid hole whereout Lucifer and his companions did fall according to that vision of the Prophet who heard him saying Sedebo in montibus Aquilonis fimilis ero altissimo alleaging this Scripture Omne malum pandetur ab Aquilone and the text of Moses of the seuen Candlestickes of the Arke looking from the North towards the South as if the North were sinistra Mundi and the proper habitation of vncleane spirits like as we see the Aquilo to be a tempesteous and destroying winde whereas by the wholesome and nourishing Auster is meant the sweete and peaceable spirit of God incalled in the Canticles Ueni Auster perfla hortum meum And whereof Abacuc saith Deus ab Austro veniet So that the seuen Candlestickes looking to the South were signes of the perpetuity of the spirituall light there neuer to bee extinguished by any tempest of Northerne heresies These and such like fond fantasies which were then infused into mee and which haue beene inuented by curious braines to poyson simple wits did I introduce in that Letter And they were arguments good enough both of my zeale and of my ignorance as if the garden of Eden were not many thousands of yeeres agoe depriued of true light and consumed with the fire of Gods wrath as if that holy mount Sion and that mother City Ierusalem who had fairer promises of perpetultie made by God then Rome and all the Cities in the world because shee was like vnto Naâ—…h who preached to two worlds the mother not onely of Iewish but of Christian Religion as the Apostle saith The law went out of Sion euen the law Euangelicall the perfection of all lawes the Lord Iesus Christ declared to Moses obscurely in Sinai but
be as he is which none doe denie creatour of all men master and monarke of all the World the World then must be one familie one City one kingdome of God no earthly Prince will willingly haue diuers Lawes in one kingdome then shall we thinke that God who is wiser then men and wisedome it selfe would giue seuerall lawes for the word no sure enough all those three be but one Law the light whereof doth shine into the conscience of the Iew and Gentile Turke and Pagan Philosopher and of the stupide multitude signatum est super omnes lumen vultus Domini whereupon it must follow that this light is inextinguishable it is that which we call our neuer dying conscience when a man doth apprehend the knowledge of any thing by the vertue of his intellectuall minde it is science and he is said Scire to haue knowledge the conscience againe is the right application and imployment of this knowledge it is a medium a midst betwixt God and man and the rule whereby we know if any thing be in the counsels of our mind or actions of our will contrary to this naturall light and diuine instinct of reason which God hath placed in our hearts like a cleere lampe to illuminate our intellectuall spirit that it might see and discerne right from wrong and truth from falsehood which is a thing so manifest that the Ethnicke Philosophers and the word of God doe iump vpon it The naturallitie of Cicero and the Theologie of Saint Paul concurre to proue it almost in the same termes Cicero in the third Tusculan Question writing to Brutus sunt enim ingenijs nostris semina innata virtutum quae si adolescere liceret neque illa celeriter malis moribus opinionibusque deprauatis extingueremus ipsa nos natura ad beatam vitam perduceret And the Apostle Paul writing also to the Romanes Quū Gentes quae legem non habent naturaliter ca quae legis sunt faciunt eiusmodi legem non habentes ipsi sibi sunt Lex qui ostendunt opus legis scriptum in cordibus suis It is so plaine for the light of nature excepting alwaies the last clause of Cicero concerning beatitude as if Paul Cicero had conferred vpon it which ground for the first being set down in truth as your Lo sees I craue that you will be content to examine all the points of this Treatise by the touchstone of the diuine light instinct of your conscience where your Lo finde those which as is said are inspirations from heauen contradictory to your opinions that in that case you will suffer your conscience to be directed by this light which God hath giuē you to guide it by that your Lo wil forbeare your pretence of deuote ignorance implicita fides things that do meerely extinguish this light of nature if it please you to do so not to smother vnder a bushel this cleere candle which God hath illuminate in your heart there is no doubt but as Cicero saith that same Natura Dux the very light of Nature which hath a Diuine stampe in your conscience shall shew you an outgate from the childish Labyrinths of superstition that doe inuolue your Lo for if any should say to me seeing there is such power in the instinct of naturall reason flowing from this diuine light how is it that so many millions of those who be indued with the same are induced to idolatrie I can giue no other answere then the wise man hath giuen stultorum infinitus numerus est the number of fooles and those who are mistaken in their owne light is infinite Now I will take my first aduantage of this ground to appeale to the diuine light of your Lo conscience how you do iudge of that which already from so many Texts of Scripture I haue spoken touching the plainenesse and perfection of Gods word since on the one part the spirit of God doth testifie that it is eternall incorruptible and inspired from Heauen able to make the man of God perfect and on the other part this intellectual light of nature seruing as eyes to receiue in our conscience the brightnesse of this word it is so powerfull that very Gentiles haue cleerely knowne it and seeing it is sufficient to conuict the conscience of Turkes and Pagans of contempt and ignorance of this word I aske your Lo how shall it be with vs who beside the hauing of this light haue beene brought vp in Christian Religion haue beene taught Gods word can reade it in seuerall languages and vnderstand it when we shall refuse to beleeue for our faith this word preached in puritie when we shall hold it insufficient for our Saluation embracing in place thereof what an implicita fides an implicite faith the colliers beliefe and what is that I beleeue with the Church and how beleeues shee she doth beleeue with the collier is not this ambulare in circuitu impij as the Scripture saith to walke in the about-gates of the wicked well let vs remember how it shall be worse in that day with Corazim and Bethsaida then with Sodom because they had greater light and did despice it They say ignorance is the mother of Deuotion And the Apostle saith Qui ignorat ignorabitur if ignorance cannot excuse a Turke because of that light of Gods face which is stamped in his heart let any man tell me what it can auaile a Christian to bragge of his deuout ignorance affected ignorance is neuer a whit better then knowledge without beliefe or well doing Let vs heere the Prophet Isay my people is carried captiue because they had no knowledge neither is now a daies any other reason of idolatrous captiuitie then this pretended holy ignorance so that for a Christian man to glorie in it it is to become sicut equus mulus quibus non est intellectus Therefore let your Lo remember you are sealed with this Lumen vultus Dei and that he hath blessed you with knowledge to vnderstand that the holy Scriptures are a perfect and neuer perishing word The second ground I would haue your Lo to condescend vpon with me for preparation of your more indifferent iudgement is a certaine definition of idolatrie which may content your Lo and me both to the end we may the better reason of idolatrous worship For as concerning abuse in religion and impietie in manners they be triuiall points that there can be no mysterie in a suruey of the same Idolon is a Greeke word which literally signifieth as much as a litle Forme or Figure formed or figured but taken as it is spoken in Christian Shooles and according to the best Doctors it is a representation of a false God and a false Deitie or a Creature taken and honoured for God As to say the Statue of Moloch of Iupiter the Sunne or Moone the Hebrew word Elil as I read haue very right this same signification of Idol and is vsed in holy
with such personages did grauut him Indulgences very large and bountifull that one would haue thought the ports of hell was not able to preuaile against them and when the Dukes Medalls and Beads came to be blessed vpon the Popes Altar according to the forme there was no famous Whore in Rome who had not also numbers put in for her saying which I haue heard with mine eares The French Indulgences should procure them both English and Spanish money This kinde of Marchandise and publike sale of sinnes is vsed in so lewd and vile a manner that the most simple man in the world would count it to bee a scuruie ridiculous inuention of insatiable auarice During my being at Rome there hapned to dye there a rich Venetian Merchant who left in Legacy a good summe of money to that Church standing vpon the Monte di Trinita for celebration of his Funeralls and seruices for his soule the same day which was appointed for those Funerall Offices I did finde my selfe soone in the morning vpon that Mount because it is a fresh and delectable walke when a number of Fryers with great Torches comming to enter into the Church was demanded of a Gentleman of Rome who was beside me whither they did goe to whom one of them did answere Andiamo cauare del purgatorio Láâ—…ima di quel mercadante Venetiano chi morse láltro iorno which is to say translated sincerely we go to hale out of Purgatory the soule of that Venecian Merchant who died the last day The GentlemaÌ„ replied in bitter speech against the Pope calling him Cuillione Morbidotto which be ignominious conteÌ„ptible words because saith hee hee doth not keepe in Purgatory to the worlds end all those wretched soules of Uenice who doe so disturbe the Apostolike Seat for it was in the meane time of those late broyles betwixt the Pope and the Venetians Can any iest in the world be more worthy of derision then this or any thing more like the pittifull Idolatry of the Gentiles where the Priests made the sensles people to thinke there was no way to make their gods propitious but by their rich Offerings This sort of doing is so frequent there that we see no other businesse and if it be true which they hold Quel che fa sua santita è fatto that which the Popes Holinesse doth is done certaine all those of those Countries must bee in heauen before their feete be cold as wee say because the most wicked and godlesse among them neuer departeh this life but laden with Pardons And this farre I thinke is enough to prooue that the abuse is not onely authorised but as it were married with Religion seeing vpon the meanes thereof they doe found Cloystrall societies And this onely speaking de facto for to reason Quo iure these are practised it is Theologicall alwaies the most learned among them haue said to me touching the Popes power Ilnostro signore è dio sopta la terra Our Lord the Pope he is God vpon earth hee may dispence what hee will Yea say they if the question were to marry the King of Spaine to an hereticall Princesse the Pope will first dispense him to marry his owne Sister Is not this to go aboue the power of God who hath said of his holy Law that a jot thereof shall not perish not be changed Well to vrge Theologicall Arguments I will not but I remit your Lordship to search-the Scriptures to see who it is there that doth sit in the Church of God and exalt himselfe aboue all that is called God And now I appeale to the diuine light of your Lordships conscience whether you doe not thinke that the contemplation of so grosse things first such Ethnicke Idolatry that while Paul and Barnabas being aliue did teare their cloathes and runne vpon the people because they would haue adored them saying they were but men like vnto themselues Now so much adoration must bee done to the Statues of their dead bodies that one shall not enter within Saint Peters Church at Rome but we must kneele to salute him where hee sits in brasse we must lay our head vnder his feete and kisse euery one of his toes seuerally Then such impious and base auarice in this trade of Purgatory and Indulgences that in their Camera de Componendis there sitteth Simon Magus vnder the name of Simon Peter making sale of the Spirit of God for money of the mercies of God of remission of sinnes and the Kingdome of heauen and that with such insatiable hands that if euer I who came from a remote Countrey to honour the Apostolicall Seat would giue him largely for dispensation hee would willingly embrace it as who knowes what I did pretend to bee the more assured I appeale to your Lordships conscience whether you thinke those were not sufficient to breede doubts of Religion in any man in whom God hath left a sparke of his feare or one graine of right knowledge Assuredly they mooued me to great iealousie and they were to me as the first sight of the Angell was to the poore Asse of Balaam terror albeit I confesse sincerely the strong opinion which I had drunken so long before the plausible shew of things did for a while violently hold me into the same way as Balaam did force his Asse to goe on after the first sight of the Angell But when I begun to looke vpon the manners of the people and to consider what were the faults which were so ordinarily and easily pardoned which is the third thing in number of those which I most narrowly obserued what shall I say I know not how to speake the trueth and therewith to prouide that my penne be not slandered for contumelies and Philippicke passions alwayes I shall so limitate my selfe that I shall not blot so graue a purpose with an humour of rayling or shamelesnesse In the day of visitation and punishment I shall beginne at my sanctuary saith the Lord and wherefore is this because Regis ad exemplum totus componitur orbis as the Prelates be so are the people the example of the Rulers makes the manners of the multitude as the Spirit of God doth testifie by the Prophet Daniel Egressa est iniquitas à Senioribus ab ijs qui videbantur regere populum Iniquitie hath gon out from the Elders and those who seemed to gouerne the people For this cause in a iust censure of the manners of Rome it cannot be auoided first to looke vpon the Court wherein is to bee seene such fastuous and intollerable pompe and such a degree of glory as hath neuer beene vsurped by any earthly Monarch to behold the maiestie of the Papall carriage borne one mens shoulders auro fulgens smaragdis shining amidst gold and Iewels those who beare him treading vpon fine cloth wherewith the Church pauement is couered accompanied with a fearefull guard the thundering of Canons the sound of trumpets and all
sorts of musicall instruments at whose presence numbers of Princes stately Embassadours great parsonages and multitudes of people doe fall to the ground saluting him holy holy as if he would not onely be Christs Vicar vpon earth but also emulator of his diuine glory in the Heauens and be worshipped like that glorious Lambe before whom numbers doe fall downe to crie holy holy holy that vpon the sight thereof I was indeed amased as if it had beene a vision and demaunding a French Gentleman who had newly also arriued with me and was a zealous Papist how he did esteeme of that which he had seene he answered me in the termes of be God that he thought it farre different from the carriage of him who said Regnum meum non est de hoc mundo and who said to his Disciples Exemplum de di vobis vt quemadmodum ego feci ita vos faciatis which answer I haue many times since thought to be as pertinent as if the holy Spirit had inspired it into him For if the kingdome of the world be called the kingdome of sinne and of darkenes then it is likely that the kingdom of Satan is at Rome and not the kingdome of Christ but that the kingdome of the world is called the kingdom of sin the Scripture doth shew The Spirit of God in the Euangell compriseth the world vnder the name of sin hath diuided it in three Whatsoeuer saith Iohn is in this world it is either concupiscence of the eye concupiscence of the flesh or pride of life we may behold the wonderfull harmony and correspondence of the same spirit of God throughout the whole Scriptures in old and new Testament as I said before he hath made this diuision of the world and of sinne heere equall with that diuersitie of sinne which did enter into the world with Eua in the beginning of the booke of God The text of Moses saith and the woman saw that the Tree was pleasant to the eie there is concupiscence of the eye that it was good for meate concupiscence of the flesh and that it was to be desired for knowledge pride of life emulation with God so that the enioying of these three concupiscences is the enioying of the kingdome of the world as Iohn saith and that againe to bee contrarie to the kingdome of Christ no man can denie For Christ had the offer made vnto him of the kingdomes of the world from Satan as we know and did refuse it Haec omnia tibi dabo si cadens adoraneris me Now whither or not the Popes haue taken this dominion of Rome from Christ who said to their predecessor S. Peter Exemplum tibi dedi vt quemadmodum ego feci ita faciastu or from the diuell who is prince of the world it must bee tried from those concupiscences The Spirit of God bath said in the Scripture Haec fuit iniquit as Sodomae abundautia otium I will not rashly say that Rome is Sodom vnlesse I shew reason but I will aske if euer any towne state or people had more abundance and idlenesse then haue the Pope Cardinals and Consistory of Rome and all their togall Clergie who doe more truely proclaime Cedant arma Togae then euer did their predecessor Cicero For he was ouerthrowne by armes and the seate of Rome amidst neighbor combustions what doth she Circundata Marte quiescit For concupiscence of the eye I would know who they be in the world that may match with Rome of whose magnificent Palaces sumptuous vineyards with their royall fountaines volaries picsaries walkes vmbrages and all sort of most princely pleasures one may make such a description as Ouid did of Regia solis after he had made the materials to bee most rare and precious then he saith Materiam superabat opus Which is a sure argument that they haue store of that eye concupiscence which standeth in infinite Treasures of golde and siluer most easilie gotten by them for they lie in the center of the richest countries in the world of those a great part be vnder their subiection and then they sit aboue the neckes of their people as the sunne is aboue the inhabitants of the burnt clymate they doe exhaust their fogges and that with such dexteritie that they can mooue them to quite their very earerings for making of the golden Calse There is no trauaylour who doth not know that for beautie of buildings for gold and siluer either in money or in plate for store of Iewels they goe beyond the greatest Kings that are or euer haue beene As for concupiscence of the flesh speaking generally either of the Court or of the Cloyster of the Priests or of the people Eloquar an siliam But what is spoken to the glory of God ought not to be blamed of any man I doe thinke that as they haue more abundance and more idlenesse then euer was in Sodom so there be among them villanous lustes neuer knowen in Sodome as for that sinne which we call Sodomie God helpe vs it is indeede thought a veniall transgression yea a man shall heare it maintained in reasoning by persons carrying religious dignities that as they haue followed the Idolatrie of the Gentiles they haue also followed their pollution and filthinesse And to iustifie by speeches and admonitions against such thingâ—… it is thought an idle curiositie thère and such also as a stanger would find dangerous while as it is a familiarthing there to know that the Cardinals Illustrissima Signoria hath in the retyred place of his Vignia his Suirginata that is to say his gallant wench of braue fresh blood brought perhaps from the farthest part of Germanie to be defloured by him and hath his Ganimedes at home to shew that his monstrous Religion hath made a monster of himselfe one day to obey nature in the actions of his luste an other day to be contrary to heue And whither their Curâ—…isanes haue learned this Mâ—…ngiar in tondo as they call it it is well enough vnderstood of those who haue beene any while among them While those be the practises of the Court and of the Cloyster to aske what is among the popular it is not necessarie nor to defile oliaste and vertnouâ—… cares with vncleane speeches of Bordels and Bardasches which bee there as ordinarily frequented as the Church but for the manners of their multitude otherwise they are fearefull to a heart which feareth God to heare their more then blasphemous oathes that one cannot say whither they smell more of iâ—…pletie or of Atheisme their secret practises of mutuall deceipts their diuelish artes to execute their malice not forbearing clan destine murthers amongst neerest kinsfolkes and their filthie trade of Purgatory founded vpon Indulgences of these abhominable vilanies To come to the third concupiscence which is pride of life VVas there euer a pride like vnto this pride a company of pretended Priests to sit at Rome and presume to subiect to them
hoode to couer their hypocrisie or what Saint Dominicke against the beastlie pride of his successors and what holie Saint Augustine against idle pretenders of his profession which was to be Flagellum hareticorum infidelitatis to plague heresie and infidelitie Now to finde among them one of the true succession of those noble Macharij Hillarij Antonij Pauli Ignatij Tertulliani Hieronimij Cyprianij Augustini or such like of that trewe christian race it is a dreame for nothing is to be seene there but those sometime sacred mountaynes and those holie solitudes of retyred sanctitie become the desertes of Iericho the darknes of Egypt the tower of Gyantes the Furnace of Babilon the shippe of Tarsus that beleeue me it did almost moue me to teares and make me to say with the Prophet Super montes assumpsi fletum lamentum super speciosa deserti Planctum Aime Domine clamabo speciosa deserti consunipsit ignis The fire alas hath consumed the beautie of the deserts those prophane fiers of Nadab and Abihu which burne at the daylie Sacrifice that destroying fire of ambition auarice and Lecherie which is neuer furnished with fuell sufficient that fire of the loue of the flesh whereat while S. Peter stood to warme him he denyed his master It doth still burne in the hal of Calphas O oursed fire which is not on ly cōtent to burne in the coūtrey in the citie in the court in the Palaces of Prelats and rulers of the Church but it hath also spoyled the holie deserts and destroyed the beauty of the Cloyster speciosa deserti consumpsit ignis making our christian religion the opprobrie and scandall of Turkish impietie as if there were no veritie in Gods word Corruit in plat◅is veritas saith the prophet Equitas non potuit ingredi facta est vdritas in obliuionem O poore and neglected veritie now are come to passe thought I the visions of leremie Quid vides Ieremia ficus bonas bonas valde quid vides Ieremia ficus malas malas valde quae comedi non possunt So to close also this point of fleshlie concupiscence or kingdome of the world I doe appeale to the diuine light of your Lordships conscience whether you doe not thinke things being as I haue related That the Pope hath holden the bargaine which our Sauiour did refuse in accepting from Satan this worldlie kingdome whether your Lo doe not thinke that the Rulers of Rome be of such as the Lord God spake of to his people Israel by his prophet Esai My people the Rulers haue corrupted the way of thy footesteps It is they who haue burnt vp my vineyard saying againe thereafter I shall enter in iudgement with you Rulers whether your Lord doe not thinke that God is entered in iudgment alreadie with them and as it was pronounced against the Scribes and Pharises auferetur a vobis Regnum Dei dabitur Genti facienti fructum Hath he not taken from them his kingdome by remoouing the candlestick which keeps the true light the Lamp which keeps the liuelie oyle the libertie of the Gospell and hath giuen them ouer to induration which of all chastisments is the most fearefull vt credant mendacio qui non crediderunt veritati as he also no question some day shall dissipat destroy their worldly kingdome according as he hath done to the Iewes if they doe not repent Now for the last of abuses whereof I will speake I go to treate of the papall Soueraignitie as it is wickedlie and iniustlie vsurped ouer temporall kingdomes CHAP. V. The Orthodoxall authority of Christian Princes in the Primatiue Church The Papall Soueraignetie The Iesuiticall trade The opinion of the French Church concerning Princely authoritie Detection of the Iesuiticall ambition THe pernitious Doctrine of this Tyrannicall Supremacie vnknowen to antiquitie lately conceiued in the bosome of the treacherous Iesuite tending to a monstrous ambition as we shal see to the ouerthrow of good Princes and people and dissolution of all Christian discipline and obedience it doth enuenome the mindes of men with diuelish errours and armeth their hearts with odious and treasonable attempts It is that wormewood whereof the Prophet of the Gospel Saint Iohn maketh mention in his visions of the Apocalips Cecidit de coelo stella magna ardens tanquam fauilla nomen stellae dicitur absinthium facta est tertia pars aquarum in absinthium plarimi mortui sunt de acquis quia amarae factae sunt saith he there fell from the heauen a great starre burning like a flame and the name of the starre was Wormewood and multitudes died by the waters because they were become bitter It was no true starre which the Prophet did see because the true starres bee fixed and doe not fall Stell◅ manentes in ordine suo cursu aduersus Siseram pugnauerunt saith the Scripture the holy Spirit in the word of God doth compare Prelates Pastors and Rulers of Gods people to starres Qui ad iustitiam erudiunt multos quasi stellae ad perpetuas aternitates saith Daniel They who instruct and teach many righteousnesse and godlinesse be like vnto starres fixed to perpetuity As for those which appeare to be falling starres as this vision of Saint Iohn they are but grosse vapours lightned by agitation of the ayre which do quickly vanish and keepe no true light So the Iesuites lately bred in the distemperate and tempestuous ayre of the Papall tyranny they appeare to be but are not true starres in Gods Church they bee but filthie vapours which shall disappeare within short time as the whole Clergie almost of the Romane Church it selfe doth hold after the example and fortune of the famous order of the Knights Templarij whose insolencie and pride was abhorred of Christian Princes and Prelates But in the meane time they haue poysoned by the wormwood of this diabolicall doctrine the puritie of our waters euen the waters of life the word of the Gospel the Lord Iesus Christ who calleth himselfe so of which poyson who would know how many millions haue died let him read the Histories of the holy League and the Histories of France and the Netherlands for these yeeres passed and because it is so pregnant and perilous an error I will insist in it at greater length to deduce it from the fountaines of sacred and primitiue veritie For your Lordships information and many others of your profession who if you will not quit this ground to beleeue as the Church of Rome doth command you cannot want a scruple in your conscience for hauing so absolutely taken the oath of obedience seeing the contrarie is strongly maintained in Rome in meeretermes of a point Doctrinall which albeit your Lo would not credit vpon my reletion after my comming from thence where I was both care eye witnes and brought with me a true transcript of the ordinance it selfe yet now all the world doth know it since the
these iniquities and idolatrie that wee may call it like vnto that monstrous Minotaure kept in the Labyrinth of Daedalus Alter a parte hominem alter a parte bouem when the mother of this monster went in to see it her naturall affection did neuer suffer her to behold the beastly part of it It is iust so with many men when they are brought where they may haue a perfect discouerie of this forged and monstrous worship their naturall inclination to superstition will neuer permit them to behold the wicked and impious parts of it and therefore as multitudes who entred within that Labyrinth were deuoured of that monster because they knew not the way to returne till Theseus did deuise a meanes of retreat by tying a thread to the entire by the one end and carrying the other with him he did come backe by the same Euen so who doth eter within the mysticall Labyrinth of these cunning and craftie superstitions deuised by many Dedalean artificers he is neuer able to make recourse nor to saue himselfe vndeuoured of that monster without he be tyed to the thread of Gods word And he who is so shall not onely passe most securely through the most secret places thereof but as Dauid got out of the hands of Goliah that speare wherwith he slew him so shall he bring as many arguments from that which he shall see among them as shall suffice to confound themselues wee slide into errors peece and peece and peece and peece we must recoile from them we are not to looke for suddaine and miraculous conuersions for that blow comming from heauen which strooke S. Paul to the ground suddainely draue the diuell out of him for that diuine light which in an instant remoued the darkenesse of his soule and made him crie Lord what wilt thou I am heere The dayes of miracles are past we haue Moses the Prophets and Apostles we must follow the rule of Christ Scrutamini Scripturas search the Scriprures because they giue testimonie of me The way of conuersion to Gods truth is by diligent Reading of his word by diligent hearing of the preachers of the same by diligent prayer who doth hold the bookes of holie Scripture insufficient hee reades in vaine who prayeth with the Church of Rome which thinkes she cannot erre she hath no need of reformation such Pharisaicall prayers are also in vaine And therefore I meane now to giue your Lordship a Christian aduise first by telling your Lordship by what naturall defects many men lie ouer in this blindnesse Secondly by shewing vnto your Lo that which happened vnto my selfe and by what meanes and degrees I was freed from those errors wherein you are And thirdly by pointing vnto your Lordship out of these a way which I would wish you to follow in particular for your helpe for the first I say that the diuell seekes craftily to ouerthrow vs with our owne weapons also hee worketh vpon the infirmities of our nature he maketh aduantage of our naturall weakenesse he assalteth the walles of our minds there where the breach is likeliest as he wil sooner tempt a man of a fierce and tygrish disposition to commit murther then him who is naturally milde modest and meeke so I hold this ignorance of men giuen ouer to Idolatrie to proceede from one of those two faults in themselues either it is a naturall inclination to superstion that while they will not beleeue the holy Scriptures to be sufficient they will giue faith enough to the most ridiculous Aniles fabulae of the legendaries to the relation of a Straw miracle pretended to bee done heere or there in which kinde of foolishnesse I must say some of our Catholicke Romanes within this kingdome bee the poorest men vnder the heauen Well Pharaoh did see in the myracles of Moses the finger of God working Ego te constituam Deum Pharaonis but he gaue more credit to the Magicall miracles of his Sorcerers and why because his heart was hardned Let vs beware of this fearefull Iudgement therefore which I haue told your Lordship doth follow vpon Idolatrie to be abandoned of the Lord vt credant mendacio qui non crediderunt veritati that they may beleeue lyes and follies who would not beleeue the truth Indura cor populi huius occoeca occulos claude aures c. Obdurate the heart of this people close their cares blinde their eyes that they doe not heare see nor vnderstand lest they turne to me and I heale them saith God to the Prophet Or next this obstinate and wilfull ignorance wherein men cannot be broken no not from one point of most grosse things it proceedes as we haue obserued in many forbearing to iudge so of your Lordship from a secret selfe-loue glorying to be called constant and inflexible Surely constancie and good resolution it is a Cardinall vertue and perseuerance in faith is the height of all Christian vertues but beleeue me this sort of constancie is a despightfull pride it is to haue that which all the herefiarches haue had hereticum ingenium an hereticall inflexible and rebellious ingenie of Nature such were Manicheus Marcion Arrius Pelagius c. Such an heretike was not the good Father Augustine who fell but Timide and Languide into the Manichean opinion and was easily againe reformed by his good and toward nature by the inspiration of Gods Spirit willingly to heare the Sermons disputes and conferences of the holy Saint Ambrose Secondly I will tell your Lordship syncerely by what steps it pleased God to grant me retreait foorth of this fearefull Labyrinth of Idolatrie your Lordship hath heard how I already did distast these things which I did see in Italy but that did not serue the turne it was indeede a good beginning vpon my backe comming to France and new conference with that famous Protestant Mounsieur Causabon resident then at Paris in the seruice of the late King with whom I was familiar before who now finding me somewhat better disposed hee did farre second those beginnings of mine saying to mee that howseeuer it was the tricke of the Consistorie of Rome to deny any cause of reformation on their side and to disclaime generall Councells yet if it pleased God to inspire the hearts of Princes to challenge that auhoritie ouer Ecclesiasticall gouernment which was due to their Predecessors in the primitiue Church that the body of the Catholike Church might be easily reformed he told me that designe of Charl. 5. as I haue relared it vnto your Lordship he told me that two Emperours his successors Ferdinand Maximilian did much labour for the same In token whereof there be yet extant numbers of their letters sollicitatory to that most graue and profound Doctor of the Romane Church George Cassander most zealously entreating him touching his opinion of the deciding of Christian Controuersies which Booke with diuers other learned Treatises of other pacificators he gaue me to read as also these Theames written De auferibilitate
Papae ab Ecclesia as I haue shewen your Lordship already He told mee that the seat of Rome was like vnto one who hauing made vnlawfull purchase of many neighbour Lands doe so curiously maintaine their march stones that they will not haue them to be remooued halfe a foote quia vno dato incommodo multa sequuntur because that one graunted with the like equitie much more were to bee demaunded They doe well remember saith he that Embleme of Sylurus the Scythian vnto his eyghtie sonnes for the knot of their vnitie A sheafe of Arrowes hardly bound out of the which if one could bee taken out it would quickly make the rest to scatter The reformation of any one poynt might possibly they feare dissolue the whole Masse of that superstitibus trade These speeches did in like sort further my better iudgement Next againe vpon my arriuall at the Court of England vnto the which I brought the Commission of some aduertisements of this kinde from the same Mounsieur Causabon and others to the Kings Maiestie where my hearing his Maiesties learned discourses sometimes at his Maiesties Table I confesse did also much shorten my way seeing all the world doe talke of his rare and singular wit and of the sanctified knowledge which God hath giuen him in the holy Scriptures I hope I may without suspition of flatterie say of his Maiestie that which one of the first Order of wise men in the Land spake to my selfe while hee liued the late Earle of Salisbury that his Maiesties knowledge was supernaturall that he was the highest Spheare and neerest to God which did receiue the first influence of wisedome that hee was like to Salomon of whom it was said Beatiserui tui qui coram testant audiūt sapientiam tuam Happy are thy seruants who stand before thee and heare thy wisedome That his Maiestie did bestow vpon his seruants riches and knowledge and that himselfe did professe to haue gotten more encrease of good knowledge then of Estate since his Maiesties exaltation to the Crowne Thereafter comming to Scotland vpon the occasion of your Lordships transportation from the Castle of Edingburgh vnto Saint Iohns towne where you was confined I did oftentimes heare as your Lordship did that great and diuine Preacher now the Bishop of Galoway who for your instruction did expressely choose his Thesis against those fallacious and false grounds of the antiquitie vniuersalitie and succession of the Romane Church which bee the points that most entangle your Lordships witte and which hee did so learnedly cleere that for my part I doe acknowledge they helped greatly to disintangle my selfe After this I went to dwell in Dundie for the space of two whole yeeres where I did most diligently heare that excellent Preacher Master Dauid Lyndesay and his fellow labourers in the Church of that citie in whose worth I thinke doth consiste no small parte of the happinesse thereof I had my priuat conference with him to my great comfort as he can beare me record I had my solitarie exersices in diuers subiects of Theologie whereof I prayse the Lord I haue extant as manie testimonies as will suffice to shew my painfulnes to study the trueth of his worship till now in the ende it hath pleased him of his mercie to giue me by faith a sure holde of the thread of his word which is our onely guyde through this misticall pilgrimage of humane follies of which threade our great Theseus Lord Iesus Christ hath left thee on ende heere with vs vpon earth in his word and hath tyed the other vpon the gate of heauen which he did first open called for that by the spirit of God the first borne among the dead So that there is no meanes to ariue safelie vnto that porte but to keepe our eyes fixt vpon the course of this thread as our vndoubted Loadstarre Thus I doe ingenuously confesse my owne weakenesse to the glorie of God yea if it should be to my shame my vncertayne wandering in the wildernesse of my owne ignorance brought vp in my infancie in the simple profession of Gods word at home and then contemning it to goe a whooring after strange Gods beyonde seas like in that wise to the swyne in the Gospell before whome the pretious pearle should not haue beene caste And returning homeward to much a Cassandrist halting betwixt two that at my being at courte the kings Maiest in perceauing me thus to wander in matters of religion tolde me that I should take heede least I did imitate a certayne English gentleman who in his youth was a protestant in his trauayling beyonde seas a papist and in his returning a Cassandrist and now finally a most obdured Papist which word did wound my heart and spurre me to craue of God a happie Resolution which of his grace he hath so farre granted me as I haue sound it by experience that these who be of the number of his Saints and of the houshold of faith they are chosen of him in the same manner that he called their father Abraham to whom he spakesaying thou shalt get thee out of thy owne countrie that I may blessetheo in an other which words besides the litterall sense hath also this interpretation by remote theologie that he should not onely leaue his natiue countrie which was an Idolatrous land but that he should leaue his owne Idolatrous disposition he should quit the wisedome of the flesh and doctrine of humanity and so goe out of himselfe to beleeue Gods word absolutely which he did not vpon an instant for the spirit of God telles vs that when the Lord did first promise to him the comming of Isaac that the knowledge of the flesh tolde him that it had ceased to be with Sara after the manner of women Therefore he in his distrust layde himselfe vpon his face and laughed at God saying would to God that Ismael may liue but in the ende he did abiure humane wisedome and himselfe to beleeue Gods word so farre that when he had gotten Isaacs he went to sacrifice him willingly notwithstanding so manie promises giuen him of his succession wherevpon it was said of him by the holie spirit That Abraham beleeued God and it was imputed vnto him for righteousnes Euen so the Lord hath made me to quite the Idolatrous land the doctrine of Idolatry peece and peece the traditiones of humanitie to quite my owne weake and darke vnderstanding and abiuring all other things whatsoeuer to betake my selfe to the incorruptible trueth of his eternall word which doth so shine in my conscience praysed be his holy name that I confes it ioyfully the more I fled it to follow superstition and the more I did practise these damones meridionales the more I lost out of sight the pole-starre of the right course to the kingdome of heauen Now thirdly I come to giue your Lordship my counsell how to extricat◅ your selfe foorth of this labirinth wherein you are and it shall consist of three
of nationall Churches cannot bee lawfull Bishops vnlesse they bee vnited vnder one Hierarchie which cannot bee in any one person but in Iesus Christ the second person of the Trinity And as wee see in nature the more excellent creatures tied by a wonderfull simpathie to their inferiours that they are rather fathers to them then Dominatours ouer them as the supernall spheares make perpetuall influctions in the body of the Moone to maintaine her operation and as the Element of the fire doth purge the aire below it and nourish the earth with continuall heate So we see a vertuous Prince vnder the name of a Monarch he doth infuse his power into the chiefest of his members and maketh his Rule in effect Aristocraticke euen so in the Church vnder predominate names of Bishop Archbishop Metropolitane the gouernment is Monarchall in Christ the head Aristocraticke in the Bishops and Democraticke in the Presbyters and laye Elders by their mutuall harmonie as is hereafter more aâ—…ply declared Thus is nature the Fountaine of knowledge vnder God and the fittest schoole to rectifie our iudgements chiefly in matter of Policie because the Lord hath manifested himselfe in his workes letting vs see how one miraculous hand and not two hath framed them by one miraculous Artifice and not two to one end and not to two breathing motion in them from one spirit and not from two subiecting them to one law and not to two and to one sort of gouernment and not to two as he is God One and vnited in himselfe so hath he vnited them Symbolically among themselues all conioyned to be the Symbal of his glory power and wisedome So that what naturall instinction we find among brute beasts for order or for subiection and commandement it is a type to vs of that rule which is among the Elements the Elementall gouernement is a figure of that which is among the Celestiall Spheares and that againe doth represent the Angelicall policie and all those considered coniunctly are a shadow of that rule which God hath ouer the vniuerse Regis ad exemplum totus componitur orbis To proceed for the vertue of the Monarchie I found my first argument for it in this sort These Creatures which are neerest to God are of most noble and perfect of nature for example That Spheare which is next vnto the throne of God called by the Cabbalists the great Metatron which receiueth the tenne seuerall emanations of God to be distributed among the tenne Spheares called of them Decem Zephiroth to make from them seuerall influences into the inferiour world who doth doubt but that Spheare and the great Archangel who moueth it are more excellent creatures then the Spheare of the Moone or the manner thereof which is called of the Philosophers Coelum terrestre terra coelestis a heauenly earth and a terrestriall heauen because it is a mediate Creature betwixt coelestiall and Elementar things for as the fire is the Masculine Element or the Agent which giueth life to inferiour things and the earth Feminine or patient who doth receiue this life so the globe of the Moone is the Feminine of that high Spheare who receiueth in her bellie these celestiall influxions and as pregnant of them doth deliuer them monethly as wee see being in that sort farre inferiour to the excellence of the other and as it is in Creatures that the neerest to God is most excellent so it is in the order of Creatures that action which doth resemble the action of God is most perfect Now for the Hypothesis I subsume that there is not so noble a Creature of God as is the holy vniuerse and therefore no gouernment is more excellent then that whereby the world is gouerned which is the Monarchiall power of God himselfe who is Lord ouer all for to those who will hold that the rule of God is Aristocraticke by reason of the Trinitie I answere that the works of God which be Ad extra as the Theologes speake They proceede à Deo tanquam vno non tanquam Trino Vnder this supreme rule of God we do obserue Monarchiall gouernment both in the constitutions seuerall of the vniuerse and in the administrations seuerall of the vniuerse In the constitutions this way all the seuerall Creatures of the world are vnder the vnity and common instinction of generall nature one mother of all All the accidents of one subiect vnder one vnitie thereof things many in number be vnder the vnitie of vna species All men vnder the Species of mankind all horses vnder the Species of that kind and so foorth Things that bee many in kind againe bee all vnder one gender Man Beast and Plant are Animalia and feele a common instinct of that Genus In the seuerall administrations wee doe obserue it thus The seuerall persons of the glorious Trinitie be in one Godhead All these tenne Zephiroth receiue their vertues from the supreme Metatron and all the Spheares doe obey the motion of one Primum mobile so that we haue the supreme Archangel Michael ouer the powers and orders Angelicall who is Christ because he is called the Angell of the Great Counsell Et vocabitur mâ—…gni Consilij Angelus And he is called the Angell of the Testament Statim veniet ad Templum Angelus Testamenti quem vos vultis saith Malachie We haue the sunne among the Planets the fire among the Elements Man ouer liuing Creatures the Lyon ouer foure-footed beasts the Eagle ouer fowles the Whale ouer fishes the Diamond among the Iewels the Gold among the mettals the Balme among the Gummes the Cedar among the Plants the Rose among the flowers the Wheate among cornes the Bees haue their King the Cranes haue their leader the Herring of the sea and the creeping Ants haue the same among the Vines one is Masculine and one Feminine so it is among the Trees Herbes Iewels mettals one Archidiable is ouer vnclean spirits one head being the seat of all the senses ruleth all the members of the body one reason sitteth as a king ouer all the sensual affections In Sciences Ethicall Architectonica is aboue the rest in these which becoÌ„templatiue the metaphisicke hath the place of Mistresse and Theologie as Queene ruleth ouer all Reliquae tanquam ancillae famulantur the rest be as her seruing mayds There you see a short Anatomy of the vniuersall and particular rule of nature in all which we marke nothing but Monarcall and harmonicall soueraignity without any type or Symball of these Democraticall Consistorian Presbyterian or other sorts of popular and confused gouernments whatsoeuer which corruption of time and the ambition of men haue introduced in the world as all light is deriued from one Sunne all humours from one Moone all waters from one Ocean so doe all lawfull and solid gouernments flow from God in one Nature and in one Architype It rests to consider these gouernements which bee among men and they are either Spirituall or Temporall Temporall is either
my Palinodie The better and worse condition of things earthly standeth in comparison because there is no perfect condition here and the trueth of our pleasures and displeasures standeth in the fortitude or weakenesse of our apprehension therefore to know surely what a Prince and what a state wee haue wee are to remember our selues what may bee in Princes as they are Prnces and what also is commonly found in them and in their rule What may be in a Soueraigne King Looke to the holy Story of Sauls Creation Hee shall appoint your sonnes for his Chariots and for caring of his ground hee shall take your daughters and make them Cookes hee shall take your fields vineyards and best Oliue trees and giue them to his seruants saith the Lord. Out of this you shall truely obserue what a state it is you liue in next to vnderstand what oftentimes is in Princes I might in this argument send you to contemplate the cruell domination of Nero the exorbitant gouernement of Caligula the auaricious raigne of Galba the treacherous Empire of Tiberius c. But because it hath no kind of Decorum to bring those in ballance with a most vertuous most Christian Monarch I will wish you to call to memorie what was your condition during the Ciuill calamities of your neighbour Countries of France and of the Netherlands for a whole age when vnder the â—…adow of your Princes winges you was couered from those miseries while you stood securely on the shore and behelde the troubled Ocean of those tempests doe not you confesse that those countries haue felt more afflictions in one moneth then wee in all our time Or if his Maiestie by violent and vnlawfull ambition should bring such armies vpon our neckes whither would you then make any great reckoning of a light Subsidie or would you cry that his Maiesty should make a bridge of gold for your enemies to goe forth Is there any marke of a Prince approued of God and happie among men so infallible as to become a great Monarch by iust and peaceable meanes as to enioy long and introubled tranquilitie Is there any happinesse comparable with it Besides the priuate ioyes which peace doth yeeld vnto vs it is the nourse of good letters and good policies and of whatsoeuer is good As for riches it is true indeed that the accumulation of treasures is both lawfull and necessarie for Princes because they are the Gardians of people and states And Pecunia est neruus Belli but speaking of subiects remember when great Kings be most mechanicke there the people are most gouerned Sub virga ferrea whereof we haue seene examples enough not farre from our coastes How is it then we should so lightly esteeme two such rare benefits of a constant peace and of a glorious Monarchie reserued for many yeeres to be the most conspicuous blessing of this age certainly peace is so heauenly and extraordinary a good that the spirit of God hath allowed we know the Church to pray for Infidell and wicked Princes that they might haue peace vnder them seeing our peace then and prosperitie is matchlesse as no man can denie it is wicked ingratitude in vs that we should not thanke God and cry Quis poterit similiter gloriari nobis If it were not that our ignorance doth parly excuse our ingratitude for how can he valew the sweetnesse of hony who hath neuertasted of tartnesse and acerbitie the lightnesse of his yoake compared with the pride and insolence of many great dominators and the serenitie of his raigne to speake so hath bene without any intermission that how could you know what a thing is the waight and austerity of domination and if it should not be that our owne follies and euill gouernment should breede vnto vs more discontents and aggrauations then the misgouernment of the state doth we were apparantly the most fortunate subiects vnder the sunne And if any should grudge in the court I will speake thus farre vnto you with humble reuerence because you are the most excellent Creatures that of all the grudges which be within the kingdome that is most pernitious such a malignant and proud spirit made Lucifer to be put to the doore ' when the court of Heauen was first established hee is not worthy to liue at a Princes elbow who knowes not that as godly and Orthodoxall Kings beare the liuely image of God vpon earth so their Courts must resemble the seat of God in the heauens replenished with innocent Maiestie vertuous glory noble and actiue creatures subiect to perpetuall sympathie and loue tranquilitie obedience and order you haue the place of the Spheares which are neerest vnto God Imaque telluris ventos tractusque coruscos Nimborum accipiunt nubes exedit Olympus Pacem summatenent So should you be free of those clouds which are bred in the inferiour ayre of popular distemper and discontentments yea by your serenitie and secret influence you should purge them and make the multitude to admire the close harmonie of the Court euen as wee are astonished to behold the silent murmure and musicke of these celestiall orbes which are aboue the troublesome elements The Lord God hath not found it good to make all his Creatures equally capable of his graces the Angels are not of like degree yet all of them take sacrety of Gods countenance the inferiour Planets haue not bodies sufficient to containe the whole splendor of the Sunne yet they are all saciate of light to illuminate their owne spheares God did vouchsafe vnto Miriam a propheticall spirit but not in that measure as he did to Moses therefore she was strucken with leprosie for her grudging remember that if the sunne shine of his Maiesties bounty bee remoued from you for your murmuring you should bee plagued with a sort of Leprosies to desend againe into the inferiour world carrying in your faces the visible impressions of consuming and contemptible enuy shall the potsheard say to the Potter what dost thou make certainely no And you who may happen to be principall Planet of the Court or first moouer of the Courtly spheares if it should please you to learne the right lesson of your motion in the common schoole of Nature it should hardly fall forth to you to become an errant Planet wherfore hath the Lord God made the huge bosom of the great Ocean to be so spacious and receptible of waters not that shee should acquiesce in her selfe and bee delighted in the largenesse of her fountaines but that by secret channells shee should continually communicate the vse thereof to those riuers which bee appointed to water the earth and as a common seruant in the house of Nature render to the Sunne her ordinary moystures to furnish raine for the fruites of the earth wherefore hath God planted this glorious Lampe in the Sunne not that he should pride himselfe in his owne splendour for that was a Luciferian tricke but that hee should illustrate and beautifie inferiour Planets