16 fullnesse of ioye for there is nothing to abate our ioye as it is heere seeing the first things are past neyther shall there want any thing that may further our ioye there wee shall beholde more goodlye things then euer wee sawe not onelye the perfect beautye and excellencye of the Saints but the shyning glory and maiesty of God Wee shall heare more pleasant things then euer wee heard As the singing of prayse honour and glorye to God for his wisedome power trueth mercye and goodnesse shewed to the elect and for his wisedome power and iustice to the reprobate with such matter in such order and with such varyetie of voyces great and small of Angelles men women and children flowing from the perfection of that estate as to the which no harmonye in the worlde can bee compared and there are not onelye such comfortable things as the bodye is capable of but also those that shall fullye satisfie and delight the soule largenesse of vnderstanding plentifull remembrance notable and perfect holynesse and righteousnesse Neyther shall there bee any abatement of our comforte by feare of change for these shall bee euerlasting and vnchangeable One saith If a man did know him that should enioye this kingdome hee would kisse the grounde whereon hee treades and salute him with Happye man that thou arte who shalt enioye the presence of God the company of Angelles the fellowshippe of Saints and possesse infinite and euerlasting honour treasure and pleasure happye was the daye wherein thou wert borne and more happye shall bee the daye wherein thou shalt dye for then thou shalt be happy infinitely this is the estate that Lazarus was lifted vp vnto If hee had changed his former poore and base estate to bee like to the ritch man in his pompe and brauerie it had beene a great thing but when he is preferred imcomporably to this high estate of excellencie it passes all speech This is the glory that Paul saith Rom. 8. all the afflictions of this life are not worthy of Therefore our Sauiour Christ saith Blessed are yee when men reuile you persecute Mat. 5. you and falsely say all manner of euill against you for my sake reioyce and be glad for great is your rewarde in heauen which Moses saw by faith and therefore as the Apostle saith Heb. 11. refused to be called the sonne of Pharoes daughter and chose rather to suffer aduersitie with the people of God then to enioye the pleasures of sinne for a season esteeming the rebukes of Christ greater ritches then the treasures of Aegipt for hee had respect to the recompence of rewarde The ritch man also dyed Where we see the saying of the Prophet verified All flesh is grasse and the glorie thereof as the floure Esai 40. of the fielde Not some but all flesh not the flesh of the poore onelye but of the such also Dauid in the person of the Lorde speakes of great men saying I haue saide Psalm 82 yee are Gods but yee shall dye like men and fall like one of the Princes meaning that are gone the difference betweene men serues but for this life as in a cast of counters one hath the place of one thousand pound another of a halfe penny but shuffle them togeather and there is no difference and all of them are not worth a groate Nabuchadonazer Iulius Caesar Phillip of Spaine and all the great men that haue liued formerly in the worlde are dead And the Scripture saith There is not a man liuing that shall not see death this man in his life was like to a man that playes on a stage for an houre in kingly robes but when his part is played hee is turned into his Canuas dublet Now what did all his possessions auaile him when a little peece of ground of fiue foote must containe him what did his stately house profit him when a smale and base coffin of boordes must hould him what did his braue apparrell helpe him when a Linnen sheete must windo him what did the pampering of his bodye pleasure him when the Wormes must eate him and what did his delicate fare and sweete meate bring him but sharpe and sowre sawce weâ—l all his wealth could not buie of death for it is said he dyed Hee was buryed There is no mention made of the buriall of Lazarus it may be he was not buryed at all because hee was poore and loathsome but it is no matter to him for wheresoeuer the bodies of godly men are bestowed they shall bee found out at the resurrection and glorified in heauen But this man because he was ritch was buried and it is like in stately maner as the fashion is now with a Harrald of Armes mourning gownes and a painted Tombe but it is no matter for wheresoeuer the bodies of wicked men are bestowed they shall be called for againe at the last iudgement and be burned in hell But here is no mencion made of any thing hee gaue to the poore at his death neither some ritche men who will giue nothing while they liue yet when they dye will giue some small matter although the poore are beholding to death for that and not to them therefore it might bee wished that such ritche men would dye quickly that there might bee some good done at their death for they do hurt while they liue Yee see the last of him he is buried so many men flante it out in their brauerie and in their iniquitie but the next newes wee here of them they are in their graue But what became of his soule as Lazarus was carryed by the Angels into Abrahams bosome so he was carryed by the deuils into hell for it is sayd he was in hell in torments Wee see many dye and because wee here no more tidings of them wee doe not regarde it but the Scripture and this example telles vs what becomes of them namely that good men are in heauen and bad men are in hell Many men at their death do bequeath their land to such a one their goods to such a one and know not what shall become of themselues but afterwarde they knowe what is become of themselues but know not what is become of any thing else There bee manie like this man that neuer thinke seriouslie of hell till they come there some will say scoffinglie and desperately they will caste fire-brandes there but they shall bee tormented as this man was and crye out for paine and griefe with weeping and gnashing of teeth As his ritches could not buye of death so it could not buie of hell For riâ—ches auailes not in the day of vengeance saith Dauid for though the Prophet saith there bee some wicked men haue made a couenant with death a league with damnation yet he meanes not as if they could doe so indeed but in their owne imagination for it is saide this man was in hell in torments which is the place of all wicked men for saith one If
his first birth become vnlike to God and like to the deuill and therefore belongeth to hell so he must by a second birth be made vnlike the diuell and like to God or els he caÌ„not come to heauen there is no other way to heauen for any man but this some will grant that Heathens Papistes those that be out of the church are in a dangerous case but they thinke all those that be in the Church that haue bin baptised and doe professe religion are wel but as Nichodemus was in the Church among the Iewes so there be in the visible Church among vs bastards that haue the same mother with true children but not the same father as our Sauiour Christ said to some of the Iewes Yee call God father Iohn 8. but yee are of your father the deuill for his workes yee doe Therefore hee saith here Except a man be borne againe hee cannot see the kingdome of God It is much like the Mat. 1â— speech Christ vseth to his Desciples Except yee be conuerted and become as little children yee cannot enter into the kingdome of heauen Many that are naturalles in their olde birthe and vnregenerate will saye they hope to bee saued and to goe to heauen but seeing our Sauiour Christ sayth the contrarie what is their saying yea our Sauiour Christ dooth vse a double asseueration against their assercion â—erily verily I say vnto you except a man bee borne againe hee cannot see the kingdome of God Adam at the first was noblie borne the sonne of God and heyre of all the world but by his fall he tainted his bloud not onely to himselfe but to all his posteritie so that since his fall all that are begotten of him and his seede are base borne and illegitimate but as Princes haue regall authoritie to restore the posteritie of Traytors to their former and fathers first estate and to create Dukes Earles and Barons of those that were none so God hath much more power and authoritie to restore and recreate such as he will make noble Therefore those who are regenerate and borne againe are Gentlemen indeed of how base account soeuer they bee in the world as Peter speaking to the regenerated Christians that were afflicted and persecuted sayth Yee are a chosen generation 1. Pet. 2. a royall Priesthood a Kinglye nation But those that are not regenerate are base vnnoble and miserable howsoeuer accounted among men therefore except a man be borne againe it had beene better for him he had neuer beene borne or that he had died in his first birth that his sinnes might haue beene the fewer and his punishments the lesse Nichodemus said how can a man bee Verse 4. borne that is olde let vs marke he applies that which our Sauiour spake generally to himselfe perticularly as if he should say if a man must be borne againe then I must be borne againe that am an olde man this we are to imitate in him to apply generall doctrine to our selues perticulerly and this doctrine of regeneration especially for many haue liued 40. yea 60. yeare that are not an houre olde in Christianity Nichodemus speakes not this in scorne as some may thinke but indeede of ignorance as yee may see in the tenth verse It is as if he should say to Christ thou saiest a man must be borne againe but olde men their mothers are dead and if they were not how should they that are stiffe and vnwildesome enter into their mothers wombe and be borne againe Who would haue looked for such an answer as this from so great a clarke but the generation of the Papistes are as grosse as the generation of the Pharises who when our Sauiour Christ saith Except yee eate the flesh of the some of Iohn 6. man and drinke his bloud yee haue no life in you they vnderstand it carnally that men must eate him and not one y flesh and bloud but bones also in the sacrament which is as palpable as that conceit of Nichodemus that a man should enter into his mothers wombe againe and be borne and where they say God can do it that is turne the bread in the sacrament into the body of Christ so he can doe the other for as hee can make a Camell to goe thorow a needles eye so hee can make a man to enter into his mothers wombe but we must not onely looke what God can doe but what he will doe for men can doe many things that they will not doe so we must thinke of God but by this speech of Nichodemus and that of the Papistes we may see how true that saying of the Apostle is the naturall man perceiues not the things 1. Coâ— 2. that are of God because they are spiritually discerned but although Nichodemus did not vnderstand that which our Sauiour Christ spake yet he did well to aske a question about it some men if they doe not conceiue a thing that is taught them they will reiect it and say they will neuer beleeue it measuring the Preachers doctrine by their shallow vnderstanding and making that which they haue already conceiued a rule of all that is preached but we must beleeue that which the Scripture teacheth though wee cannot conceiue it as the misterie of the Trinitie the doctrine of the resurrection of the body and many other of Gods workes and words cannot be comprehended yet as one saith They may not be reprehended therefore we must not shutte the doore against instruction thorowe presumptuous imagination but thinke that there be other men especially our teachers which knows that that we knowe not and in this perswasion of our selues and others let vs aske questions about the things we vnderstand not especially those that we cannot be ignorant of and do well It cannot be but many hearers are ignorant of diuers things that are spoken by the Minister and that most are ignorant of some things and yet almost none will aske a question about any thing but as they were ignorant before so they continue ignorant still as if they did loue Iohn 3 darkenesse more then light curious questions for which God hath left no answer many will aske As what God did before he made the worlde why he made it no sooner How long the worlde shall continue with what fire it shall be destroyed whether wee shall knowe our kinsfolkes in heauen and such like as a foole may mooue moe such questions in an houre then the wisest man in the world can answere in seauen yeare Therefore one saith to him that asked such a question I cannot tell saith he that no man can tell if yee will knowe yee must tarrie till yee shall know as yee are knowne And captious questions such as one asked our Sauiour Christ tempting him Whether Mat. 22. it were lawfull to paye tribute to Caesar or noe some will aske which must be answered with silence or supposition but necessarye questions concerning regeneration faith repentance
come it is wofull to thinke how many we shall see then of this kinde of ground Some doe continue till the gowte layes holde of them as King Asa some till the worlde layes holde of them as Demas and some doe continue till persecution layes holde of them as Francis Spera some men are like the Snaile that put out a long paire of hornes but if yee doe but touch them in they goe others will stand out some small matters but the threatning of death is the death of their religion but our Sauiour Christ saith to the Church of Smirna continue faithfull to the death and I will giue thee a crowne of life our Sauiour Christ hauing tould his Disciples of warres of enemies and dangers saith he that continues to the end shal be saued and bids them not feare him that killes the body Mat. 24. for the feare of a thing is many times worse then the thing it selfe for though persecutioÌ„ be threatned we know not what the intent of it is We reade of Domicianus the Emperor of Rome who made a proclamation that all those that would not worship an image should be banished wherevpon many of his subiects because they would keepe good consciences fled the rest yeelded became idolaters Then the Emperor called againe those that fled and placed them next vnto him and those that worshipped the image he banished from him saying they that wil not be faithfull to God will not be faithfull to me But if there should be a ful purpose of the maiestrate to shed the bloud of the Saints they cannot doe it except vntil God will suffer them for Christ saith A haire of your head shall not perish without your fathers prouidence he can change the kings hart it may bee we shall suffer but a few lewd words as they caled the christians in queene Maries daies holy knaues holy whores but remember the seruant is not better then his maister it may be a little imprisonment yet he can giue vs fauour in the eyes of the keeper of the prison as he did Ioseph he can open the prison dores and loose our fetters as he did Peter and if God giue liberty to the persecuters Acts. 10. yet they can but kill the body and if Gods will be we should die why should wee haue a will to liue if Philemon did owe to Paul not onelye that which hee had but himselfe how much more doe wee owe our selues to God as one saith If God had but giuen mee my life Iowe it him againe but seeing he hath giuen for mee the life of his sonne what am I to that gift in the 11. to the Heb. we reade of many Martirs that were diuersely persecuted and would not bee deliuered it is reported of a French Martir who beeing offered this fauour to bee spared of his chaines and fetters as hee went to execution aunswered no but the more contemptible his death was the more honourable Remember whatsoeuer we suffer for Christ he suffered more for vs shall a fire of stickes that lastes but an houre daunt a Christian man that so many women yea so many children haue indured cannot he that caused the fire that it should not touch the three children make it burne thee quicklve cannot hee that caused the Lions that they should not touch Daniel cause them to crush thee softely let vs remember that the honour of Martyrs hath alwayes bin great in the Church and their reward is great in heauen therefore saith wise Salomon buy the trueth but sell it not no Mat. 5. not for thy life and on contrarywise let vs consider what an vnwise thing it is to deny the trueth for the company of friendes to loose the familiarity of God and his Angels for hope of preferment to loose the inheritance of heauen for feare of paine to throw our selues into the torments of hell for regarde of the body to cast awaye the soule besides that it may be a man that so saues his life shall loose it within a weeke after by some disease or mischance yet if he should liue twenty yeares he shall finde his life worse then death for better is a happy death then an vnhappy life for the torment of conscience that will follow the denying of the trueth is worse then persecution as yee may see in Dauid who found the torment of his sinne of adultery from which there was no escape a heauier thing to beare then all the persecutions of Saule how much more heauy thinke we will be the occasion of the sinne of Apostacie as yee may see in Francis Spera who beeing a professor of religion for feare of persecution fell to imbrace Popery then he cryed out of himselfe that he was a reprobate and wished that he might be ten thousand yeares in hell fire so that at length hee might be deliuered Seeing it is so let vs pray to God to soften our hartes that the worde may take deepe roote in vs that as we know professe it so we may beleeue and bring forth fruite of it for those that doe not beleeue and practise it will not dye for it those that will doe nothing for it will suffer nothing for it and let vs pray to God that we may cleaue vnto it not for a time but alwayes for our reward shall not be a reward of dayes and yeares but for euer Also they that receiue the seede among thornes Verse 18. There is a third sort of ground that were fitter to beare fruit then the two former but that there are thornes bryers and weedes in it vnpulled vp that springes higher branches further and spreds wider then the Corne and choake the seede that it cannot beare fruite to this kinde of ground our Sauiour Christ compares those men that haue wit reason and capacity enough and might become good men and doe good duties but other things which hee callâ—â— thornes takes vp the roome in their harts that they cannot Our Sauiour Christ shews also what these thornes be that chaoke the word that is to say the cares of the world deceitfulnesse of ritches Luke addeth voluptuousnesse in a word hee meanes by thornes the corrupt lustes of mens nature that doe carry them so egerly after the profits pleasures of the world that they neglect the duties of godlines that are prescribed in the word By cares of the world oâ—â— Sauiour Christ doth not meane moderate care for that the word doth command and may stand well with religion Salomon reprooues carelesnesse and telles vs that the Pro. 6. little Emit that wantes reason dooth prouide in Summer for winter much more should a man that hath reason and most of all a man that hath religion as Paul saith He that prouides not for his house and familye 1. Tim. 5. hath denied the faith and is worse then an infidell But by cares of the worlde heere our Sauiour Christ meaneth immoderate and excessiue cares that the worlde
preuaile against vs and to this end let vs know as our Sauiour Christ saith to his Disciples Yee haue neede of patience so wee haue neede of knowledge of faith of hope of loue and other graces of the spirit of God for Sathan will not onely assault vs but perhaps continue his siege battery a day a weeke a moneth and giue vs no respight and though he will sound the retreate and depart sometime for a season as Saint Luke Luk. 4. saith yet he will returne againe perhapes another way and set vpon vs by some other meanes therefore arme your selues saith the Apostle and resist him and if this battell seeme hard and tedious vnto vs remember in what cause we fight and for what crowne our Sauiour Christ saith in the Reuelation He that ouercometh shall inherite great and glorious things and Paul saith The Saintes shall iudge the Angelles that is the deuilles Paul saieth to 1. Cor. 6. Timothy I haue fought a good fight and then he addeth I looke for the Crowne the Saints in heauen that are now crowned haue come vnto it thorow many temptations and tribulations therefore let vs harken to the Apostles exhortation be strong in the Lorde put on the whole armour of God and resist in the euil day and the God of peace shall treade Rom. 16. downe sathan vnder ouâ— feete shortly ⧠The Houre-glasse of Mans life PSALME 90. 12. Teach vs so to number our dayes that we may apply our hartes to wisedome THIS whole booke is called the booke of Psalmes because it contayneth in it for the most part matter of praise and thankesgiuing though there be many other doctrines mingled therewithall They are called the Psalmes of Dauid because he compiled most of them not because he made them all for this was made by Moses as yee may see by the title of it We call this the 90. Psalme because it is bound with the Psalmes and standes in the place of that number but it is intituled and that more fitly agreeing with the matter of it A prayer of Moses In which Moses setteth forth the estate of mans life generally and perticulerly of the people of Israell in the wildernesse where he saw many thousands of them that came out of Egypt dye some by one meanes and some by another as it is more largely recorded in the booke of Numbers Now Moses considered that many of their forefathers liued almost a thousand yeares whereto hee hath respect in the 4. verse where he saith One thousand yeâ—res in thy sight is but as yesterday and the life of man was growne shorter and shorter and in his time ordinarily it was not one hundred yeares as appeares in the 10. verse The dayes of a man are threescore yeares and tenne or perhaps fourescore which was nothing to their fathers how much lesse when they were cut off by strange punishmentes in the middest of their course and dyed thicke and three-fould without warning Now after the mention of those things he breakes out into this speech Teach vs to know our dayes that we may apply our harts to wisedome In which words are two things to be considered first a petition secondly a reason of the petition The petition is in these first wordes Teach vs to number our dayes The reason is in these other wordes in the end of the verse that we may apply our hartes to wisedome Wherby we are taught first of al that there is a number of euery mans dayes for this difference to be considered betweene this life and the next life this life hath an end therefore it is called temporall the next life endes not therefore it is called eternall the certaine number of our daies is knowne Iob. 14. 5 to God and not to vs. But he doth not desire to know the certaine number of his dayes but rather the vncertaine number of them that is that God would teach them to know the breuity and shortnes of mans life Therefore he sets it downe by dayes not by yeares and this he desires not for himselfe only but for the people and therefore he saith not teach me but teach vs to number our dayes Now according to Moses prayer God hath taught vs this point in the Scripture that all men are mortall and must dye as the Lord saide to Adam In the day that thou eatest of the tree in the middest of the garden thou shalt die although the diuell who for that cause our Sauiour Christ saith Iohn 8. Was a lyer from the beginning spake contrary and said to Eue Thou shalt not die at all yet indeed Adam died for although he dyed not by by yet he was a dead man because sentence was passed vpon him and all his life afterward was but a dying life euerything then sauoring of death and euery day beeing a step vnto death If any will inquire what death is to speake generally it is a seperation from the condition of this mortall and temporall life but to speake more properlye it is a seperation of the soule and body as the ioyning togeather of the soule and body at the first was the cause of life as it is said God breathed into Adam the breath of life and Gen. 1. man was made a liuing soule so the seperation of the soule from the bodye is the cause of death as Christ saieth to the ritch man This night they shall fetch away thy soule thou shalt dye This Adam by his sinne brought not onelye vpon himselfe but vpon all his posteritye as Paul saieth Rom. 5. By man sinne entred into the worlde and death by sinne and death went ouer all men forasmuch as all men haue sinned therefore it is saide not onely of Adam himselfe but of dyuers of the fathers that were his posterity to shew the trueth of Gods threatning to Adam In the daye Gen. 5. thou doest eate of such a tree thou shalt dye And to shewe the falcehoode of the diuelles promise to Eue that though sâ—e did eate it she should not dye at all such and such a one liued thus many hundred yeares but he dyed for though the day be neuer so long at length comes euensong Heb. 9. the Apostle saith It is appointed to al men once to dye after that comes the iudgement when all men are dead then comes the general iudgemeÌ„t but when euery one dyes then comes his perticuler iudgement as appeares in the example of the ritch man and Lazarus for as the day of death leaues vs so the day of doome shall finde vs therfore Dauid when he laye sicke said I goe the waye of all the worlde for death is as an vnpartiall iudge that is indifferent to all poore and rich Iob speakes of some men that would seeke death either for the auoyding of present sorrow or procuring of future ioy but whether a man seekes it or no he shall be sure it will seeke him We read of a HeatheÌ„
vs that we may apply our harts to wisedome and not to folly Men are in extremities of euery side some all their desire is to dye and to be gone some all their desire is to liue and neuer to dye some againe know they must away and are content to tarrie their time but doe not seeke for wisdome and study to liue well while they bee heere There be some who although their liues be shorte and too shorte if they were best imployed to become so wise as they should yet by laying violent hands of themselues doe make them shorter but this is not wisedome but foolishnesse In the sixt commaundement it is said Thou shalt not kill one obserues vpon that because it is not added thy neighbour hee meanes also thy selfe If it be a great sinne for a man to kill another it is a greater sinne to kill himselfe againe life is a blessing of God and death is a part of the cursse Now a man may not thrust from him the blessing of God and pull vpon himselfe the cursse God and not we doth appoint the time of our birth so God and not wee must appoint the time of our death No good man that wee read of in the Scripture neither Iob Dauid Lazarus nor any other though they were in great extremitie did kill themselues but onely wicked men and reprobates as Saul Ahitophell and Iudas Cleombrotus a Heathen man hearing of the immortallity of the soule killed himselfe that hee might obtaine immortality beeing ignorant that there is immortalitie in hell aswell as in heauen and Lucretia and certaine Heathen women killed themselues that they might not be defiled with Souldiers not knowing that the bodye is not defiled if the minde bee chaste and yet if it were vncertaine adulterie should not haue been so much feared as certaine murder they should not so much haue feared a sinne that might bee repented as a sinne that could not bee repented because time was cut off homiside hath alwayes beene so detestable a thing in the Church that such haue beene denyed Christian buriall that where most men are with-houlden from sinne by the feare of death seeing they doe not feare death they might feare something after death that is the reproche of those that liue There was one sayde to his sonne who had often these wordes in his mouth I would I were dead I prethe saith hee learne first to knowe what it is to liue Some in crosses will say I would I were as deepe vnder the earth as I am high but waye first wherefore God hath placed you vppon the earth and caused you to growe so high as yee be and what hee dooth require of you and waye whether yee haue done it or no and what rewarde abideth for you if you haue not and then consider whether it be not fitter to learne to be wise and to liue better first Some againe as I sayde are in the other extremitie and would liue still and neuer dye many olde men that haue lyued long already would not dye as appeares by marrying young women and building new houses but such men haue neyther right reason to consider of the estate of this life nor true faith to consider of the estate of the life to come this is a life full of miserie the next to the children of God is a life full of felicitie It is said of Hereclitus that euery day hee wept and beeing asked the reason he answered Because the world was full of miserie The Thratians at the birthe of their children euer wepte their reason was because they were borne to miserie and at the death of their children euer reioysed because they were freed from misery as they thought Paul sayth of himselfe and the Church If our hope were onely in this life wee were of all other 1. Cor. 15 the most miserable All men are miserable in this life but those most miserable that haue most afflictions if there be not hope to sweeten them indeede no man liues one day wherein one griefe or danger or other dooth not waight vpon him in regarde of his soule or his bodye his goods or his name his wife his children his friends his Prince or countrie in regarde of the temptations of the deuill the worlde and the flesh wee see many dangers but wisemen doe foresee more From the Cradle to the graue wee are toste with troublesome things and if in our lyfe we meete with anye profitable or pleasante thinges they soone vanishe awaye at the least the pleasure of them As one saith When a Spider hath emptied euen her verie bowels to make one slender Webbe one puffe of winde blowes all awaye so when men with labour and trauell haue procured anye thing that they desire in the world they are soone blowne away But a good man that doth not only consider the misery of this life but the felicitie of the life to come dooth finde no such contentment in the best estate of his life that hee would desire alwayes to dwell in it and why should any man desire to continue in the world faithfulnes in the most is gone loue is gone so comfort in respect of men is gone seeing we must needs away why not now if we would not now when then will not the worlde bee vnto vs twenty yeares hence as it is now where is the longing of Paul to bee dissolued and to be with Christ where is the longing of Saint Augustine to see that head that was crowned with thornes and to see those handes that were pearsed with nailes As death takes vs from our friendes so it takes vs from our enemies as it takes vs from the delightes of the world so from the griefes and sorrowes of the world therefore why should men be vnwilling to die seeing Salomon Eccle. 7. saith which belongs to good men indeed The day of death is better then the day that a man is borne death indeed considered in it selfe is to be abhorted but considered as Christes death hath made it to vs hauing taken away the sting of it it is to be imbraced as the end of a miserable life and the beginning of a happy life As the Apostle saith of the seede It is not quickned except it â— Cor. 15 die So he saith of vs and as it is not the worse for the seede that it is plowed and harrowed into the ground so it is neuer the worse for vs that a little earth is throwne ouer vs when the Sunne of righteousnesse shall appeare wee shall spring more freshlve Therefore seeing Christ is to his both in life and in death aduantage let a good man or good woman say if I Phil. 4. liue I shall doe well and if I dye I shall do better How dooth a bride reioyce when her husband calles for her though her mother and friends doe weepe for her departure into another countrie yet if modestie would suffer it then shee could laugh
greatest part with this iniustice for those that spin Dutch worke do earne more thē they can in Blew worke for they that make Baies and Sayes some giue a penny for the spinning of six knots some a peny for seuen knots some a penny for eight knots we will take it in the middest that the poore haue a penny for seuen knots our Clothiers that put out their worke to bee spunne by the knot giue but a penny for nine knots now this is the difference betweene their knots the Bay men or Dutchmen they haue eighty yards spunne for a knot of their worke ready carded or cōbed our Clothiers haue forty elles spun for a knot vncarded now account the carding as it is ful halfe the worke waying the wearing of their cardes and count the two knots that Clothiers haue done more then the other and account forty quarters that makes tenne yardes in euery knot which is nine times ten yardes in euery penny which makes two knots more and then you may see that those that spinne for Clothiers doe foure knots in euery peny more then those that spinne Dutch worke If the Clothiers will say they may spin their worke faster I answere that is not alwayes so for some Clothiers sending their worke halfe broken and halfe seamed dooth much hinder them and yet if it were alwayes so the handsomenesse and cleanelinesse of the Dutch worke in comparison of their will recompence that differene besides when women spinne wooll for other men either to make stockings or such like they haue three pence for the worst foure pence and fiue pence a pound which is double Clothiers wages men that be Linnen Weauers can earne twelue pence in a day when their weauers cānot earne aboue six pence those that weaue coūtry worke as they call it or huswifes cloath can earne 12. pence in a day when if they weaue for clothiers they cannot earne sixe pence those that weaue Pouldauis can earne nine ten pence a day those that beate hemp such like in bridewell can earne ten pence 12. pence a day finding themselues yea if women childrē can finde any thing else to do they will not worke vnder the Clothier if they can haue either Crabs Slowes Pescodes gleaning broome birtch or rushes in the fieldes they will not doe their worke as themselues will confesse that in sometime of Summer they can get no spinning what is the reason but this they giue so little wages Clothiers obiect and say there can but few in comparison bee set a worke otherwise then vnder them grant that and grant withall that Clothiers haue the time cunning and strength as I said before of those multitude and that the more worke vnder them the more they gaine by them will either equity charity or humanity suffer that they should haue their worke without answerable wages Clothiers aske how the poore would liue if they did not set thē on worke aswell they might aske how Sailors would liue if marchants or owners of ships did not imploy thē or how any other whose liuelihood stands vpon their cunning labour would liue if they were not set a worke but woll as hath bin said being the chiefe commodity of our coūtry there must be cloath making to serue not only our own but other coūtries much people must be imploied that way as in France they be imploied in gathering of grapes and treading of wine-presses But as Clothiers aske how the poore would liue if they were not set a worke by them so I aske how the Clothiers would liue and haue their worke done without them they will answere they would keepe seruants in their houses to do it they could not haue the tenth part done that is now and yet it would be more then double the charge to them it is now Clothiers aleadge further for their defence it was thus before we were borne I answere it is like the saying that some vse in the case of Tithes there was neuer more paide saye they when their knowledge reaches but to yesterday in comparison of euer or neuer but if it were so as the Clothiers say prescription is no good plea in an euill thing yet though it might bee thought equall then when all things were at a lower rate it cannot be equall now when all things are doubled and some things trebled in price If the poore shall paye very deare for the things they must liue by as their come their white-meate their wood and the like and take very cheape for that they should liue by that is their worke tell mee what a harmony this will make And if it were so wil Clothiers holde the anciēt wages for the poores worke and not the ancient prices for their Cloath but Clothiers say their wooll and other commodities cost them dearer then in old time of their owne mouth we will condemne them for shall the price of all other things been increased and not the price of the poores worke is it equall that they should giue more for that they receiue of the ritch and not giue more for that they receaue of the poore They saye they followe the common course that all other Clothiers doe in this point true indeed if it were but the abuse of one or two I would haue thought it my dutie to rest in a priuate admonition but because it is so common a thing it requires a publike reprehention but the moe the worse as Moses saith Thou shalt not follow Exod. 23. 1 a multitude to doe euill they aleadge they can giue no more wages to liue thēselues Let Clothiers themselues answere this alegation some of them haue in other communication confessed that their gaine somtime haue beene too great when they haue doubled their stocke in one yeare other haue confessed they haue gained almost so much by making out one loade of Wooll as their wooll cost them others haue said if they meete with sure marchants it is the best trade vnder heauen Let the waight of this publike cause obtaine pardon for this rehersall of priuate speeches specially meaning no man further let the state of Clothiers answere this allegation who for their wealth may bee preferred before all other yeomen and compared to many if I may not say any Gentlemen Let the manner of their liuing answere this allegation besides that which they spare they spend some 300 some 200. some 100. pound some a hundred marke a yeare when their poore workefolke spare nothing but spend their cheekes Some clothiers say they giue a farthing or a halfe penny in a pound for spinning more then was wont to be giuen other deny this and say it was as much thirty yeare a goe but grant this that some doe so yet those that doe so their worke is not so well broken as is was wont therfore it is worse to carde it is not so well seimed as it was wont and therefore they haue not only more Wooll