the mercifull yea in this life with blessings favours and graces spirituall and temporall giving unto them a hundred times more then they have given to the poore and giving them consolation in their distresse as they also have suffered with their neighbour in his affliction But let us consider the third fruit of charitable workes which is the highest degree of honour unto which the mercifull shall ascend to wit eternall blessednesse and withall we will also examine the cause wherefore the faithfull receive graces spirituall temporall and eternall which doeth clearely enough appeare in our Text Blessed are the mercifull for they shall obtaine mercie The onely and perfect felicity of man both in this life and in that to come consisteth simply and soly in the possession of the favour of God which the wicked cruell and impious shall never be partakers of but only the Saints the bountifull and mercifull shall pitch their tents there the reason why the one are put backe from this infinite good and that the others shall bee received and cherished therein for ever is because the first have lived in crueltie rigour and tyrannie and shall therefore be thus punished but the second having beene gracious bountifuâ—l and meeke they shall obtaine mercy according to that saying of Christ With what measure you mete it shall be measured unto you againe In these words to obtaine mercie wee have many very remarkable circumstances for God will shew himselfe such unto us as wee shall shew our selues to our neighbours if wee give a crumme of bread to the poore languishing at our doores hee will call us into his royall Pallace hee will make us sit downe at his Table he will fill us with the dainties of his house and will make us drinke abundantly in the river of his delights if wee beare with griefe our neighbours affliction if wee dresse his wounds and powre oyle on them hee will comfort us in our sorrowes hee will wipe off the teares from our eyes and will fill our hearts with joy and gladnesse if wee forgive our brethren their offences when either maliciously or through infirmity they have offended us hee promiseth and assureth us to be so bountifull and mercifull to us that hee will drive our sinnes away from before his face hee will scatter our misdeedes like a cloud dispersed by the parching beames of the Sunne and in this part shall wee finde the center where the fulnesse of our felicitie resteth and resideth This forgivenesse of our sinnes is that which covereth us from the divine justice that giveth into our hands the shield of assurance which is impenetrable by the revenging shot of his just judgements that maketh us walke voyd of feare towards the throne of grace and that without the least doubting for since God is with us who shall be against us shall the world why it is vanquished shall hell why it is fettered and shackled Shall death why it is dead shall sinne why it is prevented and pardoned Finally shall the flesh why it is crucified Wee may therefore say and conclude with the Apostle Saint Paul O death where is thy sting O hell where is thy victory now thanks be to God that hath given us victory through his Sonne Iesus Christ From this word obtaine wee will also derive and draw this remarkable doctrine for he presupposeth asking seeing wee cannot obtaine a thing before wee have demaunded it which teacheth us our duties towards God acknowledging our selues poore weake and miserable both in body and soule subject in body to thousands of sicknesses weaknesses and necessities troubled in minde with a world of businesse crosses and afflictions and so laden in soule with sinnes misdeedes and iniquities that they are more in number then the sand that is on the Sea shore But the onely remedy to these sicknesses is to have our recourse to Gods mercie which is the sacred anchor of our hopes the haven of our salvation and the eternall residence of our incomparable and incomprehensible felicities Arid let us hold for certaine and infallible that wee shall never bee refused by his sacred goodnesse which calleth out aloud unto us Math. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that are troubled and heavie laden and I will ease you take my yoake upon you for it is light and ye shall finde rest to your soules his yoake is nothing else but the affliction weakenesse and necessity of the poore that is the yoake he commandeth us to beare that is to say we must take off the loade of misery and calamity from the poore to lade it upon our owne shoulders and wee shall finde that his yoake is easie and his burthen light because he will then augment our strength and will make us so able to beare it that we should be sorrowfull ever to cast it off againe As a King findeth the waight of a crowne but small when it is upon his head by reason of the wealth honour and power that follow the heavinesse of this burthen as hee would never leave his Kingdome his power and his Empire for the waight of a Scepter seeing they make him honourable to his Subjects and feared of Strangers so that faithfull man which hath compassed and environed his forehead with the crowne of love to his neighbour that hath adorned his hand with the Scepter of charity to the needy and miserable hee without doubt shall finde rest in his soule which is the fulnesse of all felicity Now since such great and admirable effects since so excellent profits and advantages proceede from our mercie charity and bounty to our neighbour since in the practise of it wee finde our felicity which consisteth in the love which God beareth unto us in the confirmation of the pardon for our offences since againe God assureth us that the charity which we give and exercise to our neighbours hee will accept as done to himselfe alas who would be so savage and hardened with rigour who would be so defiled with ingratitude that having received favours from a King would yet refuse to obey him and to serue him with all his power should not hee be worthy of the greatest torments of the most cruell punishments that have ever beene imagined would not the heaven the elements and all the creatures together rise up to judgement to aske punishment for so grievous a crime since it is most true that ingratitude is the basest and damnablest vice that can infect the soule of man Let us remember that we have nothing but what we haue received of our heavenly Father and if wee have received it from his favourable and fatherly hand why should wee be so ungratefull as to refuse him a small portion of it when hee asketh for it Now and at all times when we heare and see the poore praying and crying unto us in the streetes or at our doores it is the voyce of God himselfe that calleth us to acknowledge his benefits as often as wee see one afflicted
to this commandement are common both to the rebellious to their Prince and to the disobedient to their Father as on the contrary those that are obedient to both shall bee equally rewarded with the same blessing and the promise made to them by God who doe honour their parents is also to be extended to those who honour their Kings and Princes which promise is happinesse and length of dayes upon the land Which promise though it often seeme otherwise is alwayes fulfilled for when an obedient sonne to his father or a faithfull subject to his Prince dieth young and in the flower of his age God neverthelesse accomplisheth his word and fulfilleth truely his promise for if it bee good for the faithfull to remaine in the land GOD will make him abundantly to prosper therein but if his admirable and incomprehensible providence see that hee should be sundry wayes grievously afflicted he often times putteth him in safety and calleth him unto him in his mercy and yet hee is still as good as his word as if a man pomised mee a hundred pounds and should give me three hundred hee thereby breakes not his promise so God having promised us here belowe the possession of this world and seeing that our dwelling in it is not for our profit bereaving us of this hee admitteth us into the incorruptible Kingdome of glory more excellent without comparison then the first and so whether hee let us dwell here belowe or whether hee call us above to himselfe we shall alwayes be in a most happy condition if we obey his commandement in Honouring the King This word and dignity of a King is so knowne and familiar to all kinde of nations that we should seeme to light a candle at noone day to see the light of the Sunne if wee should exactly seeke out the definitions and Etymologies of it We will onely say with Saint Augustine in the Citie of God that the name of King is the auncientest title given to the Governours and Rulers of peoples yea when the earth devoyd of all ambition enjoyed the sweetnesse and felicity of an inestimable peace For as Non minor est virtus quà m quaerere parta tucri There is no lesse vertue in conserving then in purchasing so you see that the peaceablest of the Auncients have provided for their conservation in chusing Kings and Princes under whose shadowe they enjoyed quiet rest for the Kingdome being as a body the King must alwayes be the head which being seated on the top and elevated over the rest of the members hee fore-seeth the dangers to avoyd them and considereth the advantages to embrace them Now as in the head is seene the glory and beauty of man according to these auncient verses Pronaque cum spectent animalia caetera terram Os homini sublime dedit coelumque tueri Iussit erectos ad sydera tollere vultus All living creatures alwayes behold the earth but God hath made and erected mans face that he might behold the heaven and the starres even so must we consider the beauty of the subjects in the Kings face and Majestie as being the head thereof As you see that all the senses both internall and externall are seated and take their beginning from the head so all the counsells all the resolutions justice the lawes in a word all that is necessary for the Kingdomes conservation is all to be found in the King as in his center and in the place whence they take their beginning Let us then examine particularly since wee have a Royall subject in hand all the circumstances by which the King in comparison of his subjects is just as the head is over the rest of the members wherein reason holdeth her Assizes and Sessions the better to governe this Microcosme or little world The two chiefest and noblest faculties of the soule are the Vnderstanding and the Will the same which we note in the soule wee may also marke to be in the King which is as it were the soule of the people for as from the understanding proceede the counsels resolutions and enterprises needfull for the conservation of mans body even so from the King proceedes the meanes and inventions for the right and just government of his Realme As by the Will wee see that man accepteth those things which are good and rejecteth those that are hurtfull even so the King by his wonderfull prudence and wisedome seeketh what is good profitable to his subjects contrarily rejecteth and preventeth whatsoever is hurtfull and dangerous to them In a word as all the parts of the body and all the appetites of the soule stirre according to the motion of the will so the people should never have any other desire thought or intention but the desire thought and designe of their King who is the Lords anointed sent by God to administer Iustice and to governe his people in Equity as the Psalmist speaketh Psalm 46.10 The hands of Kings are like that divine river which compassed about the Garden of Eden and being divided into foure branches communicated to the hearbs and plants of that inclosure a continuall moysture and which was altogether most wonderfull and miraculous in that those foure brookes besides the excellent sweetnesse of their water were well stored some with fine gold and others with precious stones With infinite right and reason may we therefore compare the hands and actions of Kings to this undraynable spring and river of the earthly Paradise since they are imployed about nothing else but lovingly to cherish and tender their Subjects by liberally distributing and communicating to them the meanes of their subsistance and prosperity But least wee should be carried away by the swift streame of the many severall cogitations which arise from so royall a subject let us returne to our former discourse to wit that the King being to his people as the head is to the rest of the body all the rare and admirable parts contayned therein as the internall and externall senses ought justly to bee compared to him And first that Sense by precedencie and excellencie which the Philosophers call Common that is that which receives all the objects of the externall senses to bring the species of them to the phantasie and what is the King else but this common sense since he is profitable to all he receiveth the objects that is the wishes and petitions of all to convay them to the phantasie that is to his imaginative and mature deliberation there to consult and resolve what is good usefull honest needfull and profitable for his suppliants and people Let us now behold that golden head as Daniel expounding Nebuchadnezzars dream calleth him Let us I say see how all the fiue externall senses are very fitly and properly appliable to him First the King the head of the people hath in himselfe the Prince of the senses the sight he possesseth it in the highest degree of perfection he is like the Lyon that never shutteth his eye
their ignorance Let us see if Salomon like them beleeved that Kingdomes fall by chance into the hands of men and that Kings are not expresly called and ordained of God to governe his people Now then saith he O yee Kings hearken learne ye that are Iudges of the earth heare yee that governe the nations for power is given unto you by the Lord and principality by the most high And as we have already observed Rom. 13. the Apostle resolveth so perfectly this question that it is impossible to say or adde any thing after him unlesse one bee resolved to sinne against the holy Ghost in resisting the knowne truth There is saith he no power but from God and those powers that are be ordained of God therefore who so resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God ye must be subject to the Prince not for wrath onely but also for conscience sake Rom. 13.5 And as God sent such blindnesse on the Philistims thinking to overcome and destroy the Armies of Israel that every one turned his sword against his fellow and so slewe one another the people of God being at the most but beholders of their deliverance Even so our adversaries having marshalled a squadron of reasons against us before we thought upon our owne defence to enter into combat with them have cut one anothers throat and have left us their Armes to make trophees for this our victorie for thinking to make a buckler for their defence of that place of S. Peter wher he exhorteth us to beare the yoake and to submit our selves unto all manner of ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be to the King or Supreame 1. Pet. 2.13 This reason killeth them for if it be for the Lords sake that we must be subject it argueth that God liketh it delighteth in it and this order is by his command and speciall ordinance Although Nabuchadnezzer King of Babylon were one of the most wicked and impious men of the earth yet let us heare how the Prophet Daniel speaketh to him in the second Chapter of his Prophesies O King thou art the King of Kings for the God of heaven hath given thee a Kingdome power strength and glory But I would have these disturbers of the publique tranquillity these Adders swelled and suffocated with the venome of sedition and disorder tell me whether Moses the first Prince and Lawgiver of Israel the names change not the things for he was their King and Monarch since hee ruled them with an absolute power depending onely from God whether I say he entered by force by craft or by art into the government of the people and if it was not God himselfe that spake to him out of the middest of the burning bush and commanded him to goe deliver his people from the hands of Pharaoh Exod. 3.2 If Saul thought to adorne his head with a Crowne when hee sought about the fields the Asses of Kis his father if he made suit to Samuel to anoint him King over all Israel If David when he fed his flocke meditated how hee might change his Shepheards crooke into a regall Scepter If Solomon his sonne the King of wise men and the wisest of Kings hath deceived or corrupted the people to enter by the windowes or back gate into the kingly Pallace But rather is it not God himselfe who by his sacred mouth commanded Samuel in the 9. Chapter of his booke as soone as he had seene Saul that went to enquire of him about his Fathers Asses at the same time God said unto him This is the man of whom I spake unto thee he shall rule over my people And in the 16. Chapter of the same booke God commaunded him to goe to Bethlehem to anoint David whom hee chose among all his brethren the Lord saying unto him Arise and anoint him for this is he In the same booke God promiseth Davia to confirme his sonne upon his Throne And in the 1. of Kings Chap. 3. God appeared to Salomon in a dreame in Gabaon presently after his Coronation and said unto him Aske what then wilt that I give thee A sufficient testimonie that God was well pleased with his ascending to the Royall throne and Salomon asking of him onely wisedome to governe his people God said Because thou hast not asked of mee riches glory nor power I will give thee what thou askest me and other things besides Wee reade 2. Kings Chapter 9. that Heliseus sendeth one of the children of the Prophets to Iehu one of Ahabs Captaines to anoint him from the Lord King over Israel And Psal 75.7 To come to preferment is neither from the East nor from the West nor from the South but God is the Iudge he it is that humbleth and exalteth And Psalm 113.7 The Lord raiseth the needie out of the dust and lifteth up the poore out of the dung that hee may set him with the Princes even with the Princes of his people Wee might alledge many other examples and proofes out of Scripture but these are sufficient to proove our assertion It is an erronious and damnable opinion to hold that Kings come to the Crowne by fraud force or succession without the Divine providence and sacred decree for one haire of our head falleth not Luk. 12.74 without the providence of God much more a thing of so great a consequence as the establishing of a King over the Provinces of a Kingdome and over so many millions of men that are bound to sweare obedience to him I say not onely that his comming to the Crowne is ordered by Gods generall providence but moreover that it is his speciall intention and designe that made him ascend the Throne Let vs hearken to the wisedome of GOD Prov. Chapter 8. c. after wee shall see if it be fraud force or succession which are the causes and wayes by the which they ascend unto that dignity By me saith Christ true God coessentiall with his Father under the name of that wisedome Kings raigne and Princes decree justice By me Princes rule and the Nobles and all the Iudges of the earth The Prophet Isaiah speaketh very pertinently and manifestly upon this subject Chap. 45.1 Thus saith the Lord unto Cyrus his anointed whose right hand I have holden to subdue nations before him therefore will I weaken the loynes of Kings and shut I will goe before thee and make the crooked wayes streight I will breake the brasen doores and burst the iron barres I girded thee though thou hast not knowne me The Prophet Ieremiah Chap. 27. speaketh so openly that hee alone is sufficient to stop those prophane and seditious mouthes Thus saith the Lord of Hostes I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babel my servant and all nations shall serue him and his sonne and his sonnes sonne and the nation and Kingdome which will not serue the same Nebuchadnezzar King of Babel and that put not their necke under the yoake
the glorious throne of his beloved Sonne and the tabernacle which the holy Ghost hath chosen for his habitation where is then that heart of stone that soule so base and obstinately resolved to bee lost that knowing the happy and most honourable arrivall of the great King of Kings of the three divine persons of the ineffable and incomprehensible Trinity and trine-unity doth not sweepe and cleanse the house of his heart and doth not purifie it from all dirt and filthinesse who I say will not adorne it with the richest treasures and with the rich ornaments that holinesse justice and innocencie abundantly affords purposely to receive with honour and reverence so magnificent a King who promiseth us to come unto us when hee saith in the 14. Chap. of Saint Iohn If a man love me he will keepe my words and my Father will love him and we will come in unto him and make our abode with him Our good Master Jesus Christ the Saviour of our soules teacheth us in the 22. Chap. of Sai t Mathew how much and how dearely purenesse is acceptaâ—le before him saying That the Kingdome of heaven is like a certaine King which made a marriage for his sonne and having invited many the banquetting roome was filled and the King himselfe being come in to see the guests hee there sawe a man which had not a wedding garment and said unto him Friend how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment And hee was speechlesse Then said the King to the servants bind him hand and foote and cast him into utter darknesse where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth for many are called but fewe are chosen Can we desire a more lively representation or an example more formall to shew us that God delighteth in the sincerity and purenesse of our soules and contrariwise that he abhorreth and detesteth the filthinesse of sinne the inke and coales of iniquiry which blacks and defiles our consciences for it is impossible ever to tast of the dainty and delicious Viands served at the Lambs wedding at the sumptuous and magnificent feast of the onely Sonne of the great King of Kings before we have left off our working dayes cloathes the infected and stinking coate or our naturall corruption to put on the white roabe of holinesse purity and amendment of life and to use the very words of Scripture Colos 3. Wee must cast off the old man with his deedes and put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him And Ephes 4. concerning the former conversation Cast off the old man which is corrupted according to the deceitfull lusts of his heart and be renewed in the spirit of your minde and put on the new man which like unto God is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse And in Rom. 6.6 Our old man is crucified with Christ that the body of sinne might be destroyed that henceforth wee should serue sinne no more but walke before him in renovation and newnesse of life The clearest waters are alwayes the best and therefore commonly see that the excellentest springs are derived from the rockes and fetch'd from the highest hills because that the water distilling through many narrow passages and strait places the farther it goes the more it is purified the most subtill and clearest springs seeke the highest places as approaching nearer to the nature of the ayre whose nature and propriety is still to ascend And contrariwise you may observe and marke that the thick and heavie waters are alwayes filthy and stinking and are conserved in pitts and deepe sinkes as participating of the nature of the earth and therefore are fit for nothing but to breed serpents and Frogges whereof some kill us by their mortall venome and the other trouble us with their unsufferable croaking These cleare and pure waters doe lively prefigure and set forth unto us the faithfull servant of the Lord who hath purified and as it were distilled himselfe at the fire of the love of God thereby to leave off what was earthly ponderous and troublesome in him as hatred ambition sensuality and vaine glory purposely to soare aloft and to elevate himselfe to the holy mountaine of Syon towards heaven which is the center whither the circumference of his desires designes and thoughts tendeth These black and muddy waters may expresse and set forth hell unto us where there is nothing but horrible darknesse and fearefull obscurity where that old serpent is iustly banished for his deserts and where the damned gastly and frightfull soules doe nothing else but vexe themselves and curse But to apply it to the subject of our text these stinking and corrupted waters may very fitly be compared to the wicked and to the men of this world who have Woolfes or Lyons hearts under the shape and forme of men who wallowe like Hogges in the mire and dirt of carnall security who runne not after pietie and vertue but remaine fast chained and bound to sensualitie and vice casting all their affections on the earth whereof their body is made and composed never ayming nor levelling their thoughts at heaven whence their soule had their originall True serpents in malice hatred and envie that with mortall venome infect the Lillies and Roses of the best consciences Frogges in prating and slandering that never open their mouthes but to utter unsufferable blasphemies oathes lyes and detractions Take yet this farther conceit upon the purity of the heart to wit that as the eyes ore-vayled with clowds or with cataracts and webbs cannot clearely discerne the objects or colours which are exposed before them because their faculty is prevented and hindered by the interposition of these obstacles which are placed betweene the object and the sight whereas contrariwise good sound and well disposed eyes as are these of Eagles who though soaring in the highest clowds doe neverthelesse see very plainely in the thickest bushes in the remotest furrowes of the farre distant fields and which is most admirable is that her sight is so strong and powerfull that contrary to the nature and practise of other living creatures she can steddily behold and contemplate the Sunne without winking at all yea when shee is nearest him and standing on the highest branch of a tree planted on the top of the loftiest mountaine Now to appropriate this to our matter wee say That hee whose heart is incombred with the things of this world whose soule is ore-vayled with ambition with the clowds of vanity and vaine glory whose conscience is obscured and darkned with hatred envie and malice can never contemplate God nor see his face which is all the consolation all the joy and in a word the true center of our happinesse the fulnesse of all our felicity and the greatest delights which the faithfull can wish or desire But those that shall be carefull and diligent to keepe their soules pure and cleane from the filthinesse of sinne those like Eagles indeede alwaves soaring
worthy consideration like the inhabitants of Nilus wee will draw water in running We say then that this word heart is diversly taken in the Scripture First is taken for faith as Rom. 10. For with the heart man beleeveth unto righteousnesse and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation 2. It is taken for the thoughts and for the gift of regeneration as 1. Epist of Saint Peter Chap. 3. ver 4. The hidden man of the heart in that which is not corruptible even the ornament of a meeke and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price and estimation 3. For the understanding as Rom. 2. They shew the worke of the law written in their hearts 4. It is taken for the conscience as in the 1. of Sam. the 24. chap. 5. ver Davids heart smote him because he had cut off Sauls skirt And in the 1. to the Thessal chap. 3. To establish your hearts unblameable in holinesse before God Here is yet another very cleare passage in the 1. Epist of Saint Iohn chap. 3 ver 20. If our heart condemn us God is greater then our heart and knoweth all things and if our heart condemne us not wee have confidence towards God And in this last signification it is taken in our Text to wit for the Conscience as if Christ had said Blessed are those that possesse a holy pure and just soule a good cleane and spotlesse conscience David desirous to raise himselfe from his fall and to restore the temple of his body polluted by wicked adultery desired of God a new Altar praying him to create in him a cleane heart and to renew a right spirit within him Psal 51.12 Iudas Maccabeus having seene the Temple of Ierusalem prophaned by Antiochus his sacrilegious hands he purifieth it destroyes all the Altars where that Pagan had sacrificed to his Idols and called that the renewing of the Temple Our bodies are the living temples of the holy Ghost our hearts the Altars on the which having wickedly sacrificed to the Idols of our passions we must breake them and destroy them by our true repentance and conversion to God who despiseth not a broken and a contrite heart And afterward we must build new ones pure and clean on the which wee must offer to God Hecatombes of Iustice and solemne burnt offerings and sacrifices wherein hee delighteth The Etymologists hold that this word Cor is derived of Cura that is care because that part communicateth sendeth and doth distribute blood and life to the rest of the body Even so all our study all our exercise and occupation should be to seeke the meanes fit for the conservation of our soules for what will it profit a man if hee gaine the whole world and loose his soule Math. 16.26 As soone as the Embrion is conceived the first part which is formed is the heart being as it were the center whence the severall lines are drawne to the circumference of our bodies it is also the first member living and when the paines of death have compassed a man the blood from all parts retires to the heart as to a citadell so that it is also the last part that dieth in us according to that common saying Cor est primum vivens ultimum moriens So when the faithfull of the Lord resolveth to live piously he must cast for a sure and unmoveable foundation the righteousnesse of a pure and cleane conscience which must be the Ocean where all the rivers of his affections must runne and tend the corner and fundamentall stone on the which must be edified this his Pilgrimage All the building of this mortall and transitorie life must begin with the just mans beginning and never end till his death when it shall bee augmented and perfected in heaven It was Gods commandement under the law that all Israelites all the seed of Abraham should offer and consecrate to him the first borne both of man and beast now if wee unvayle the letter and consider what it therein figured unto us we may note among other things that God desired by this Decree whose letter and figure is abrogated though the truth and sence of it be eternall that wee should offer and consecrate unto him our hearts which are the first borne of our selues The greatest part of Physitians hold that the soule being generally all over the body hath her principall seat in the heart as the King hath in his Court although his power reach thorow all his Kingdome so that the soule being that very man which God requireth it is then not without reason that God demandeth our heart which is her throne My sonne give me thy heart The heart is knowne to bee the originall of naturall heat now God being a burning fire of love and affection towards his children wee ought to consecrate that part to him for his Tabernacle The heart is red and bloody to shew us the fervencie and zeale that should be in us to Gods service and glory and that our thoughts should alwayes burne with love to him and with charity to our neighbours It is little whence wee may learne not to puffe or swell it with pride but to keepe it alwayes humble and modest Vertues that seeke not after large and spacious Pallaces but are contented in the narrowest and remotest places His beating and panting is upwards so all our desires and thoughts should tend towards the end of our supernaturall vocation according to the Apostles advice Seeke the things that are above The heart is agitated by a continuall motion by reason of his vitall spirits that animate and nourish it So our thoughts should beare and conduct us to the actions of Iustice innocencie and godlinesse and to follow the steps of the Scripture Charity alwayes worketh and is never idle by reason of the spirit of grace dwelling in our soules who inspires continually in us holy and religious thoughts There is but one heart in man and yet his shape and forme is triangular a figure bearing proportion to his object that is God one in Essence and three in persons So our soules should bee adorned with these three beautifull vertues Faith hope and Charity He is open at the top and that way he receiveth his nourishment Which teacheth us that our soules should alwayes be open to proclaime the praises of our Creator and Redeemer that nourisheth them with the holy and wholsome meat of his sacred word sent downe from heaven The least angle or corner is turned downewards to shew us that our least care should bee for earthly things It is againe not hayrie to teach us that our soule which is his hostesse must be voyd of the foolish and light imaginations of the weake and unconstant considerations of this world that so she may hope and ayme at nothing but heaven her blessed Countrey wherein it is impossible to enter before our heart after Moses his example have pulled off the Shooes of our corruption and worldly
lids he seeth all his Kigdome he beholdeth all his subjects in a word hee hath eyes Eagles eyes which though soaring and flying in the highest clouds yet seeth clearely in the lowest places of the earth His eares are alwayes open to heare the cries and complaints of his subjects he delighteth in that pleasant harmony in that sweet consort and in those delightfull tones and Diapasons caused by the sweet union and concord of all his Provinces and Subjects Hee smelleth with an incredible content the delectable the delectable odours which embalme his spirits hee senteth with delight the perfumes proceeding from the vowes prayers and obedience which his faithfull subjects sweare to his service Hee tasteth what is good or evill what is sweet or bitter for the good and case of his people Hee himselfe feeleth hee sets his hand to the worke hee considereth what is hard and offensive to cut it off hee chooseth what is soft and easie to conserue it In a word the time would faile us sooner then our conceptions upon so royall a subject full of admirable considerations notwithstanding we will be contented onely with this As we see that all the members of the body take their nourishment and receive their sustenance by the mouth which sendeth the foode into the stomack as into a common storehouse thence to bee distributed according to every members neede from whence are first sent to the head by a very remarkable gratitude and acknowledgement the best and most subtill for the nourishment of the braine the seate of the understanding the spring of the senses and the cause of his subsistance so must the best and fairest of the Kingdome be reserved and dedicated to the Prince which is the head and first mover thereof The examples of it are yet now a dayes familiar that Kings and Princes give their particular possessions to their Subjects on condition of some yeerely acknowledgement which they are obliged to according to their agreement and conventions Againe there is no Kingdome in the world but hath beene sometimes conquered and consequently all the lands thereof are absolutely in the Conquerours hand to dispose of at his pleasure now it is the custome of a new and victorious Prince to bestowe them on whom he pleaseth alwayes reserving to himselfe some tribute or homage for it that the remembrance of his liberall favour may never be forgotten Againe we reade not that those which went to seeke new habitations did goe confusedly and disorderly and in equall authority but they went all under the colours and conduct of some chiefe which afterwards became the King and Prince of that land the which hee distributed according to the deserts or affection which hee bare to his souldiers So we reade Numb 34. Chapter that Eleazar and Ioshuah divided among the Israelites the land of Canaan which they had conquered by the sword and yet no mention is made that that valiant Captaine Ioshuah which had brought them into that land flowing with milk and honey reserved any portion thereof for his share for the which he had beene questionlesse blamed by the Israelites had they not sufficiently knowne that seeing hee had put them in possession of so large a territory they were at his command The Apostles had nothing and yet possessed all the riches of the faithfull of whom they were as Kings and Princes and therfore in signe of acknowledgement all the new Christians brought their goods to their feet Acts Chap. 5. for who would not despise all his wealth for love If a man should give all the substance of his house for love they would greatly contemne it saith Salomon Cantic 8.7 But what horrible ingratitude would that be in him that should doe otherwise seeing that paines care and unquietnesse follow commonly the Scepter and that there is no burthen so heavie as a Crowne and the reason hereof is manifest to wit that a private and particular man aymeth no further then to his houshold bufinesse but the King must embrace all the affaires of his Kingdome hee must care for all and provide for all which maketh Salust say That a great Empire is alwayes accompanied with great cares and troublesome labours and with much anxiety and vexation of minde Seleucus in Plutarke said That if men knew how troublesom a thing it is to governe a Kingdome they would scorne to reach and take up a Diadem from the ground this was the cause why Numa at the first refused the Kingdome offered unto him by the Romanes but in the end overcome by their importunity he accepted it with griefe saying That to raigne was greatly to serue the gods thinking to deserue much from them by taking upon him so heavie a burthen In a word let us say with Cassiodorus that Sub imperio boni principis omnium fortunae moresque proficiunt Vnder a good Princes government the goods of all encrease and their manners are augmented and enriched in civility Now as in a faire meadowe enamelled and beautified with a thousand different kindes of flowers one may finde Serpents Vipers and Toades which defile and infect by their mortall venome the rich and naturall Tapistry the beauty goodnesse and vertue of an infinite number of Simples and wholesome hearbs wherewith it is richly diapred So wee see to our griefe that in the bosome and middest of the fairest richest and most illustrious Kingdomes the corruption of the age aid the infection of vices are produced and propagated Some Ravens which goe about presaging and fore-telling their sinister and lamentable predictions who by their odious voyce to them at least that have good soules and generous hearts and affections cry out aloud That it is the facility weaknesse of men which hath brought in this ambition of mastering and governing the nations That it is more by usurpation then by election or by divine ordinance that they have taken the rule and Empire over Kingdomes and they alledge for proose of their saying that the first King that ever was in the world to wit Nimrod came to the Crowne by force and violence and not by the ordinance of God That all Empires for the most part were gotten by the sword by force of Armes by deceit by injustice by a foolish and desperate ambition that hath often covered the fields with slaughtered bodies and made them overflowe with blood when one Prince offended and angry with another sought to revenge himselfe with the lives of his miserable subjects That the establishing of Monarchs is simply humane alleging that of Saint Peter 1. Epistle 2. Chap. ver 13. Submit your selues unto all manner of ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be unto the King as unto the Superiour or unto Governours as unto them that are sent of him But these both ignorant malicious Loyolites and Anabaptists stop for the nonce their cares that they may not heare this lowd resounding voyce from heaven which convinceth them of malice and would recall them from
of the King of Babel the same nation will I visite saith the Lord with the sword and with the famine and with the pestilence therefore heare not your Prophets nor your Southsayers nor your dreamers nor your inchanters nor your Sorcerers which say unto you thus Ye shall not serue the King of Babel for they prophesie a lye unto you to cause you to goe farre from your land and that I should cast you out and you should perish but the nation that put their necks under the yoake of the King of Babel an serue him those will I let remaine still in their owne land saith the Lord and they shall occupie it and dwell therein Words worthy of a great and profound consideration and which totally desides and cuts off that question which we now have in hand for it is God himselfe that speaketh to his people that strictly chargeth them to obey the King of Babylon into whose hands he had delivered them and although hee was an Idolatrous and unfaithfull King yet they will obey him on paine of his curse and malediction what judgements what punishments should we much more cause to fall upon us if the least thought of rebellion or disobedience to the Lords anointed should enter into our mindes if we were not perfectly obedient to Kings who are good faithfull and zealous to further the glory of God if our hearts and our mouthes be not alwayes filled with prayers and vowes dedicated to their service But to the end that imitating Hercules wee may clense sweepe cleane this Augean stable wee will answere to that objection propounded touching Nimrod who hath been the first King of the earth who say they hath attained to the crowne by force and by violence words which we finde not in the Scripture but contrarily we read Genes 10.8 that Cush begat Nimrod who began to be mighty in the earth hee was a mighty Hunter before the Lord. These words will never oblige us to conclude that hee hath raised himselfe violently but wee may more truely expound the wordes Hee was mighty before the Lord that is he was lifted up to greatnesse by the most High hee walked in his wayes and followed his ordinances and when Moses saith that he began to be mighty in the earth he meaneth that hee was more feared then his predecessours who were also Kings Priests and soveraigne Princes of their families For after the generall deluge which overflowed the whole earth men lived commonly five or sixe hundred yeares and so one of his posterity might see aboue a hundred thousand persons over whom he was Prince and soveraigne Monarch because there was then no other forme of government in the earth so we reade Genes 23. Chap. that the Hittites of whom Abraham asked a Sepulchre to bury Sara these I say called him a Prince of God or a most excellent Prince which hee clearely manifested at the overthrow of the five Kings which had beaten the King of Sodome had pillaged the Towne and carried away his Nephew Lot prisoner for at the rumour of these sorrowfull newes hearmed three hundred and eighteene of his servants borne in his house and yet had no children Gen. 14. It is then in vaine to alledge that violence craft and hereditary succession are the onely meanes to attaine to Crowes for although some attaine to it by humane meanes and sometimes by dangerous wayes as Absalom who caused himselfe to be anointed King by expelling his Father as Abimelech by the death of 70 of his brethren upon the same stone yet for all these wayes to come to raigne are never brought to passe without a manifest fore-sight and providence of God permitting it sometimes to punish those peoples and sometimes for a punishment to the Kings that raigne over them yet whatsoever they be God commandeth us to obey and perfectly to honour them now cursed cursed be he that shall resist the will of God and that shall not obey his commaundements After we haue heard both Scripture and reason manifestly evincing the truth Let us now heare Saint Augustines opinion in this matter in his booke De civit Dei The cause saith he of the greatnesse of Empires is neither casuall nor fatall it commeth neither by chance nor by destinie By chance I understand saith he the things that happen we not being able to know the causes of them or that happen without any premeditated order of reason assisting their conception and birth By fatall things I understand as Pagans esteeme what happeneth without the will of God and men by the necessity of some particular order which opinion is greatly injurious to Gods divine providence but rather wee must certainely beleeve that Kingdomes are constituted and established simply and absolutely by the divine providence of God And in another place Let us not attribute the power of giving or disposing of an Empire but onely to the true God that giveth eternall happinesse in heaven to his children onely but for earthly Kingdomes he giveth them to good and bad as it seemeth good to him as it pleaseth him who is delighted in no unjust thing therefore this true and onely God that alwayes provideth mankinde both with ayde and counsell when he would and as long as he pleased hath given the governement and Empire to the people of Rome hee is the giver of all felicity that giveth earthly Kingdomes to whom hee pleaseth and yet alwayes with justice and reason though the meanes seeme to us oftentimes manifestly contrary to both I thinke we have employed too much time and too many good weapons to fight against this horrible monster and monstrous Hydra and therefore the shortest and surest way is to follow the example of that valiant Hercules and so to cut off this monster for hee that will not heare the Scripture so manifestly shewing unto us our duty to our Kings that so expresly commandeth us to yeeld unto them all obedience hee that stoppeth his eares to those sweet and most gracious invitations of reason and naturall inclination to honour and serue him whom the bounty and will of GOD hath established over us He who watcheth in labour to make us sleepe in rest Hee who sits on the throne to doe us right that to ease us beareth the burthen of all our affaires and in a word Hee whose minde is alwayes in trouble and anxiety to preserve the quietnesse of his people and to keepe off the invasion and tyrannie of Strangers those Subjects I say are worthy of all the misfortunes disasters and calamities which can happen through the privation of so good things But wee who by the grace of GOD are brought up in his Schoole that together with our mothers milke have sucked the honour service and obedience which wee owe to our Kings and Princes Let us not suffer those wicked and dangerous plagues to infect the purity of our hearts and let not the whitenesse of our soules be spotted and defiled by so blacke and