how wanton and luxurious wee are in destroying the life one of an other not content alone to wishe the death of an enimy as they cried in the Psalme When shall he die and his name perish but wee will be actours with our owne handes and approovers with our owne eies and heartes deserving therby a more bloud-red commendation than he in the history bis parricida consilio priùs iterum spectaculo twice a murtherer first in counselling afterwardes in beholding the fact for wee are thrice murtherers 1. for invention and devise afterwardes for act lastly for taking pleasure either to view or to recorde the same Murther with the favorablest tearmes vnlesse it be plentifully washt away with a floude of teares from a bleeding and broken heart and died into an other colour by the bloud of Christ is likely to haue ruth inough There is not a drop of bloud spilt vpon the earth from the daies of righteous Abell to this present houre but swelling as bigge as the Ocean sea in the eies of God and neither heate of the sunne nor drought of the grounde shall ever drinke it vp till it be revenged But murther with pride delight triumph with affectation of glory thereby as if it were manhoode and credite to haue beene in the fielde and slaine a man to make it an occupation as some doe when they haue once committed it to be so farre from remorse that they are the readier to commit it againe till bloud toucheth bloud Woe worth it it is the vnnaturalest nature vnder the heavens I would tearme it by a name if there were any to expresse it Caligula the Romane Emperour whome for his filthy and sanguinary conditions I may tearme as they tearmed his predecessour dirt soken with bloude vvished that the people of Rome had all but one neck that at one blow he might cut them of Who would ever imagine that a man of one hearte shoulde so much multiply his cruelties by conceipt against a multitude Seneca writeth that Messala Proconsull of Asia beeheaded three hundred in one day and when he had made an end of his tyranny as if hee had done some noble exploite walked with his armes behinde him cried O royall act Lucius Sylla at one pâ—oscription having slaine 4700. men caused it bee entered of recorde ne memoria tam praeclarae rei dilueretur least the memory of so honorable a thing should be worne away Valerius setting downe the rest of his truculent murthers confesseth against himselfe I am scarsely perswaded that I vvrite probably hee killed a gentleman of Rome without stirring of his foote for not induring the sight of one murthered before his face Novus punitor misericordiae never was it seene before that pitty it selfe should be punished and that it should be helde as capitall an offence to beholde a murther with griefe as if himselfe had done it Notvvithstanding saith hee the envie of Marius did mitigate the cruelties of Sylla whose name shall bee striked with the blackest cole of infamie in all the ages of the vvorlde vvhen they shall but heare that an innocent citizeÌ„ dranke a draught of burning coales to escape his tyrannous tortures Sabellicus thinketh that the factious citties of Italie in his and his forefathers daies vvere stored vvith more pregnant examples of crueltie than all these When the princes of the factions falling into the handes of their enemies some were burnte aliue their children killed in their cradâ—lles the mothers vvith childe their bellies ript vp themselues and their fruite both destroyed some throwne downe headlong some had their garbish pulled out their heartes to their further disgrace hung vp and beaten vvith stripes You may easilie ghesse sayeth hee vvhat butcherie there vvas vvhen hanging and beheading vvere accounted clemency Endlesse are the histories vvhich reporte the cruelties that haue beene committed by man vpon man But of all that ever I red or hearde the most vncredible to mine eares are those that vvere practised by the Spanish nation vpon the West Indians of whome it fs thought they haue slaine at times more millions of men than all the countreis of the East are able to furnish againe You may iudge of the Lyon by his clawes In one of their Islandes called Hispaniola of tvventye hundreth thousandes when the people stoode vntoucht the authour did not thinke at the penning of his historie that there vvere an hundred and fiftie soules lefte Hee had reason to exclame as hee did O quot Nerones quot Domitiani quot Commodâ— quot Bassiani quot immites Dyonisij eas terras pâ—ragravêre O howe many Neroes how many Domitians with other the like egregious infamous tyrauntes haue harrowed those countries Iustus Lipsius iustifieth the complainte that no age in the worlde coulde match some examples by him alleaged but onely our owne howbeit in an other world A few Spanish saith he about fourescore yeares since sayling into these west and new founde landes good God what murthers and slaughters committed they I reason not of the causes or righte of their vvarre but onely of the eventes I see that huge space of grounde vvhich to haue seene I say not to haue vanquished had beene a greate matter overrunne by twenty or thirtie souldiours and those naked flockes every vvhere laide alonge as corne by a sickle What is become of thee O Cuba the greatest of Islandes of thee Hayti of you the Iukatans which sometimes stored and environed with fiue or sixe hundreth thousandes of men haue scarcely retayned fifteene in some places to raise vp issue againe Stande forth thou region of Peru a little shew thy selfe and thou of Mexico O vvonderfull and lamentable face of things That vnmeasurable tracte and in trueth another vvorlde is wasted and vvorne avvay as if it had perished by fire from heaven One of their kinges in the province of Iukatan spake to Montegius the Lieuetenaunt governour after this manner I remember when I vvas younge wee had a plague or mortalitie amongst vs so sore and vnaccustomed that infinite numbers of vvormes issued out of our bodies Moreover vvee had tvvo battailes vvith the inhabitauntes of Mexico vvherein were slaine an hundreth and fiftye thousande men But these thinges are trifles in comparison of those intolerable examples of crueltye and oppression which thou and thy company haue vsed amongst vs. They had named themselues for credite and authoritie the sonnes of God but when the people sawe their vile behaviour they gaue this iudgement vpon them Qualis malum Deus iste est quâ— tam impuros ex se filios sceleratos genuit si pater filiorum similis minimè profectò bonum esse oportet VVhat kinde of GOD with a mischiefe is this that hath begotten such impure and vvicked sonnes if the fathers bee like the children there can be no goodnesse in him Extremities of tyrannie practised in such measure that nothinge coulde bee added thereunto by the witte of man vvrunge out greate
vvhich are not vvilling to redeeme the liues of their brethren shall I say vvith the hazarde of their owne liues no nor with the losse of their shoe-latchets with the hazarde I meane of transitory and fading commodities vvhich never are touched with the afflictions of Ioseph and though a number be greeued and pinched as if they belonged to a forreine bodie neuer vouchsafe to partake the smart with them vvith whome it is a common speech that that dieth let it die that they may knovve at length they were not borne to singe or say laugh or ioy to themselues not to eate and drinke thriue or liue to their priuate families but that others which stand in neede by very prerogatiue of mankinde haue also an interest in their succour and seruice I noted the humanity of the marriners by occasion of some circuÌ„stances before past and I woulde now haue spared you in the repetition of the same argument but that my texte spareth you not I vvere vvorthy of much blame if when my guide shewed mee the way I would purposedly forsake it neither caÌ„ I iustly make mine excuse if when the scripture taketh me by the hand biddeth me commend humanity once againe I then neglect it You may perceiue hovve vvell they affected Ionas both by the continuance and by the excesse of their paines I make it a further proofe that it is saide in the text The men rovved as if hee had saide they vvere meere straungers vnto mee I cannot say they are Grecians or Cilicians I knowe not their countries or dwelling places I knowe not their private generations and kindreds much lesse their proper names and conditions I know them no more then to be men after the name commonly belonging to all mankinde It is an vsuall manner amongst vs when we know not men by their other differences and proprieties to tearme them by that generall appellation which apperteineth equally to vs all When Paul was disposed to conceale his person as touching the visions and revelations which were sent vnto him I knovve saith he a man in Christ whether in the bodie or out of the body c. I say not that he was an Hebrewe I name no Apostle I name not Paul I knovve a man of such a man I vvill reioice of my selfe I vvill not excepte it bee of mine infirmities They asked the young man vvhose sight vvas restored Iohn 6. Hovve his eies were opened who because hee knew not Christ in the propriety either of his nature or office to be the sonne of God or the Messias that shoulde come he answered thus for himselfe The man that is called Iesus made clay and anointed mine eies Concerning whom he afterwardes bevvraieth his ignoraunce whether a sinner or no I cannot tel but one thing I know that I was blinde and now I see Is it not thinke you a vvonderfull blemish and maime to Christianity that those vvho were but men even straungers vnto Ionas aliens in countrey aliens in religion but that they beganne a litle to bee seasoned with the knowledge of the true God shoulde thus bee minded vnto him vvee that are ioyned and builte togither not onely in the frame of our common kinde but in a new building that came from heauen vvee that are men and more than men men of an other birth than vvee tooke from Adam men of a better family than our fathers house regenerate sanctified sealed by the spirite of God against the day of redemption men that are concorporate vnder one heade Iesus Christ knitte and vnited by nature grace by fleshe faith humanity Christianitie shoulde be estranged in affection Christians towards Christians protestantes towards protestants more than ever were Iewes and Samaritanes of whom we read in the gospel that they might not converse Doubtlesse there are many thinges that haue an attractiue vertue to winne and gaine the opinions of men vnto them The vnestimable vvisedome of Salomon drevve a vvoman a Queene from a farre countrey that shee might but heare and question with him The admirable learning of Origen caused vngracious and wicked Porphyrie to go froÌ„ his natiue land â—o the citty of Alexandria to see him and Mammaea the Empresse to send for him into her presence It never wanteth honor that is excellent The voice of friendship where it is firmely plight is this as Ambrose observeth in his offices Tuus sum totus I am wholy thine What difference was there betwixte Alexander Hephestion Marriage by the ordinaÌ„ce of God knoweth no other methode but composition of two it maketh one as God of one before made two by resolution The first day of marriage soleÌ„nized amongst the heathens the bride challenged of the bridegrome Vbi tu Caius ego Caia where you are master I will be mistresse But the onely load-stone attractiue vpon the earth to draw heauen and earth men angels East West Iewes Barbarians sea and lande landes and Islandes togither and to make one of two of thousands of all is religion by which they are coupled and compacted vnder the government of one Lord tied and conglutinate by the sinewes of one faith washed from their sinnes by the same laâ—er of new birth nourished by the milke of the same word feasted at the supper of the same Lambe and assumed by the same spirit of adoption to the vndoubted inheritance of one and the same kingdome And I cannot mislike their iudgement who thinke that the little knowledge of God but elementary learning which Ionas preached when he made his graue confession of the true God laide the foundation of all this kindnes which proceeded from these marriners How hath religion bin a band vnto Christendome the discordes dissensions whereof like a fire in the midst of the house consuming both timber stones haue laide more countries to the dition of the Turke than ever his bow shield could haue purchased Wee maie truely say as they in Athens sometimes we of Athens our selues haue amplified strengthned Philip our enimy It was prudeÌ„tly espied by Cortugal one of the Turkish princes in his oration perswasiue to his Lord to besiege Rhodes Christianus occasus discordijs intestinis corroboratur the fal of Christendome is set forward by civil disagreemeÌ„t In the daies of Mahomet the second they had gleaned out of Christendome I mean those polluted Saracens like scattered eares of corne neglected by the owners 200. cities 12. kingdomes 2. empires What an harvest they haue reaped since that time or rather wee reaped for them who knoweth not yet the canker runneth on fretting and eating into Christendome because the whole neglecteth the partes seeketh not to preserue them VVho is not mooved with that lamentable description which AEneas Silvius maketh of Greece in his oration against the Turkes for the composing and attoneing of Christened kingdomes O noble Greece beholde nowe thine ende thou art deade and buried If vvee seeke for
two singular and almost despaired deliverances first of their bodies from a raging and roaring sea a benefite not to be contemned for even the Apostles of Christâ— cried in the like kind of distresse vpon the waters helpe Lorde wee perish secondlye of their soules from that idolatrous blindnes wherein they were drowned and stifled a destruction equall to the former and indeed far exceeding The horrour of this destruction was never more faithfully laid out in colours than in the eighth of Amos. Where after repetition of sorrowes enough if they were not burnt with hote irons past sense as that the songes of the teÌ„ple shoulde be turned into howlinges feastes into mourning laughter into lamentation that there should be many dead bodies in every place even the nuÌ„ber so great that they should cast them forth in silence without obsequies the sunne going downe at noone and the earth darkened in the cleare day that is their greatest woe in the greatest prosperity yet he threatneth a scourge beyoÌ„d al these Behold saith the Lord I have not yet made your eies dazell nor your eares tingle with my iudgements though your eies have beheld sufficient misery to make them faile yet behold more The daies come I give you warning of vnhappier times the plagues you have endured already are but the beginnings of sorrow the daies come that I will send a famine in the land if the mouth of the Lord had here stayed famem immittam I will send a famine had it not sufficed Can a greater crosse thinke you be imagined than wheÌ„ a wofull mother of her wofull children shall be driven to say As the Lorde liveth I have but a little meale left in a barrell and a little oile in a cruise and beholde I am gathering two stickes to go in and dresse it for me and my sonne that wee may eate and die and much rather if it come to that extremity that an other mother felt when shee cried vnto the king Helpe my Lord O King This woman saide vnto mee give thy sonne that wee may eate him to day and wee will eate my sonne to morrowe so we sodde my sonne and did eate him c. yet hee addeth to the former by a correction not a famine of bread nor a thirst of water but of hearing the word of God and they shall wonder not as the sonnes of Iacob who went but out of Israell into Egypt but from sea to sea and from the North to the East shall they runne to and fro to seeke the worde of the Lorde and shall not finde it This was the case of these men before a prophet spake vnto them and the wonders of the lawe were shewed amoÌ„gst them And this was the case of our countrey when either it fared with vs as with the church of Ierusalem signa non videmus non est ampliùs propheta wee see no tokens there is no prophet lefte or if we had prophets they were such as Ezechiell nameth they saw vanities and divined lies and the booke of the law of the Lorde though it were not hid in a corner as in the raigne of Iosias nor cut with a penknife and cast into the fire as in the daies of Iehoiakim yet the comfortable vse of it was interdicted the people of God vvhen either they could not reade because it was sealed vp in an vnknowne tongue or vnder the paine of a curse they might not and such as hungred and thirsted after the righteousnes of Iesus Christ were driven into Germany and other countries of Europe to enquire after it But blessed be the Lord God of Israell for hee hath long since visited and redeemed vs his people If our many deliverances besides either by sea from the invasion of the grande pirate of Christendome or from other rebellions and conspiracies by land had beene in nuÌ„mber as the dust of our grounde this one deliverance of our soules froÌ„ the kingdome and power of darkenesse the very shadowe and borders of death wherein we sate before the sending of prophets amongst vs to prophecie right things to preach the acceptable yeare of the Lord and the tidings of salvation had far surpassed them Let vs therfore with these mariners sing a song of thanksgiving not onely with our spirites My soule blesse thou the Lorde and all that is within mee praise his holy name but with sacrifices and vowes also as audible sermons and proclamations to the world let vs make it knowne that great is the mercy of Iehovah to our little nation THE XXII LECTVRE The last verse of the 1. Chap. Or after some the first of the second Now the Lorde had prepared a great fish to swallow vp Ionas and Ionas was in the bellye of the fishe three daies and three nightes WEE are now come to the second section of the prophesie wherin the mercy of God towardes Ionas is illustrated It beginneth at my text and parteth it selfe into three members 1. The absorption or buriall 2. the song 3. the delivery of the Prophet Isiodore in three wordes summeth the contentes of it Cetus obiectum voratum orantem revomuit The whale cast vp Ionas first cast forth then devoured afterwards making his moue to God Ionas is swallowed in this present sentence The iustice and mercy of God runne togither in this history as those that runne for the maisterie in a race And it is harde a long time for Ionas to discerne whither his iustice will overcome his mercie or his mercy triumph over iustice They labour in contention as the twinnes in Rebecca's wombe And although Esau bee first borne red and hairy all over like a rough garment yet Iacob holdeth him by the heele and is not farre behinde him I meane though the iudgment of God against Ionas bearing a rigorous and bloudy countenance and satiate with nothing in likelyhode but his death that most straÌ„ge vnaccustomed seemeth to have the first place yet mercy speedeth her selfe to the rescue and in the end is fulfilled that which God prophecied of the other paire The elder shall serue the yonger For when iustice had her course and borne the preeminence a greate space mercy at lengh putteth in and getteth the vpper hande To vs that haue seene and perused the historie who haue as it were the table of it before our eies and know both the first and the last of it it is apparant that I say that although he were tossed in the ship cast forth into the sea deuoured yet God had a purpose prevised herein to worke the glorie of his name the others miraculous preservation But Ionas himselfe who all the while was the patient and set as a marke for the arrowes of heavenlye displeasure to be spent at and knew no more what the end would be than a child his right hand from the left what could he thâ—â—ke but that heaven and earth land and sea life and death all 〈◊〉
Tarsus in Cilicia which was harde at hande and the Cilician sea the first hee past by But Ionas is borne from the Cilician to the Aegean from thence to Propontis and so to the rode where his landing vvas A iust iudgement of God vpon him that because he would flie from the presence of the Lord he shoulde be made to flie indeed God threatneth Sobna the treasurer Esaie the 22. that hee woulde carry him into captivity and tosse him as a ball in a large country that he would driue him from his station and destroy him from out his dwelling place So is Ionas carried into captivity a prisoner to a whale and tost as a bal in a large country from sea to sea driven from his station vvhere hee mente to haue setled himselfe and destroyed from out his dwelling place from the land of the living as Cain was a runnagate vpon the land so is Ionas vpon the waters and till the Lord giue a charge for his discharge manumission no land dareth receiue him The floudes compassed mee aboute c. His thirde perill is from the accidentes of the sea For being in the bottome and in the middest of the bottome not of the sea but of the seas is he at rest there No. There is no agony nor passion of the sea but Ionas feeleth it The disquietmentes of that element are either the meetinge of the fresh and salte vvaters togither or the ebbing and flowing of it or the waues and surges that arise either by vvindes in the aire or by flawes and expirations from the cavernes of the earth vvith all these is Ionas acquainted There is no question but all rivers runne into the sea according to the proverbe Qui nescit viam ad mare quaerat sibi amnem comitem hee that knoweth not the vvay to the sea let him get some river to be his guide Now it must needes breede a vexation and tumulte vvhen these contrary waters meete there is a fight and contention helde betwixt them for the time It is an other disturbaunce vvhich the continuall agitation the fluxe and refluxe of the waters maketh For when the course of that mighty body of waters is turned backe againe whither by the moone as they holde in Philosophy or by other disposition which al the instrumentes and engines in the worlde cannot bring to passe wee cannot imagine that so reciprocall a motion is done in peace but that the whole heape of the sea is molested thereby There be the floudes vvhich encircle him and compasse him aboute vvhich either the confluence of the waters diversly qualified or the ebbing and flowing of the sea procured vnto him As who should say I laye not in a calme but looke where the waters were most vnpeaceable and vnquiet even there was I compassed about and had no waye to passe forth The sea is otherwise disquieted when either the windes in the aire or flawes from the vawtes and breaches of the ground raise vp the waues thereof For the earth hath aire oftentimes imprisoned in the hollownes of it which being inwardly choked and labouring to get out sometimes shaketh the ioyntes of the land with earth-quakes sometimes setteth the people of the sea in a rage and bringeth a furious commotion vpon the face of the waters Wherefore Ionas being carryed through the Mid-land sea having the land on both sides of it must needes bee troubled the more by reason the waters haue not so free a passage as in the patent Ocean therefore make a way with sorer impatience Giue them streame at will and there is lesse daunger of travaile but straighten their course and they breake a passage by force and shewe what indignation they can against the barres that hinder them By common experience at home in lockes and mill-dammes wee see what catarrhactes and downe-falles there are by the rage of the water what hast it maketh to passe how vnpatiently it roreth because her liberty is denied her But those that ever passed the Magellan straightes or entred the mouth of the Gaditan sea betwixt Europe and Africke where Spaine and Barbary is devided to make a voiage into Barbary or any other coast within the Mid-land sea know it to be most true not by easie experience alone but by the adventure both of their vesselles and their liues also So as you see the very nature of these seas where the propinquity enclosure of the continent did so much annoye them on every side partly by breathing vpon them out of manye holes and ruptures thereof partly by lessening their channell besides the ordinary windes which raised vp their billowes and the extraordinary providence of God which delt more strongly than al these did the more afflict Ionas The wordes are very significant All thy surges and all thy vvaves passed over mee 1. They are not simplie waues as all confesse but waues with irruption and violent assault Our English well interpreteth them surges which is the meeting and breaking of vvaters in such sorte that the one encountreth the other as if they were at war The Poet notably expresseth them in the shipwracke of Caeix that they plaide vpon the shippe as engines and brakes of warre play vpon castles and as a Lion runneth with all his mighte vpon the weapons of man or as in the siege and skaling of a wall though many haue assailed it before yet one of a thousand at length surpriseth it so when many volumes of waues had before beaten and tried themselues vpon the sides of the shippe yet the tenth vvaue commeth further and fiercer than all the rest They were not inferiour to those that shooke and battered the shippe of Ionas when the sides thereof groned and it thought to bee rent in peeces 2. They are not the surges of the dead and senlesse sea such as the winde and wether onely mighte excite but they are the waues of God chosen and appointed by him to bee his ministers to execute vvrath against disobedient Ionas Thy waves 3. Their number is so infinite and past comprehension that hee speaketh in the largest number All thy waues as if they had beene levied from the endes of the sea and had assembled their forces into one place 4. They lay not aboute him as the floudes before mentioned but they passe quite over him and are a burthen to his head to keepe him vnder still they are on his right hande and on his lefte vpwardes and downewardes forwardes and backewardes and leaue him no hope of evasion The severing of the particulars weakeneth the force of the words But take a summary view of all in one and make a single sentence of the vvhole togither and you shall finde them beyonde exception 1. Hee is in the bottome the lowest and basest part far from the top of the waters 2. in the heart and entralles far from the shore 3. not of one singular sea which had some
followed all these incoÌ„veniences of falsifying my message of bringing thy truth into question had beene avoided Was not this my word his word that is his thought the worde that his soule spake for the tongue is but servant and messenger from the soule in this action When Iesus healed the man sicke of the palsey Mat. 9. willing him to bee of good comfort and adding moreover that his sinnes were forgiven him Behold certaine of the Scribes not thought but said within themselues this man blasphemeth They thought there vvere no witnesses present to their speach but when Iesus saw their thoughts hee saide vvherefore thinke yee evill thinges in your heartes That which the Gospell sayeth they saide Christ calleth thoughtes because the tongue is but the instrumente it is the soule that speaketh and Christ is as neare to the speach of the one as the voice of the other I touch it in a worde The thoughtes of our heartes vvee thinke as the Scribes did are close and private to our selues but the Lord hath spies and watchmen over them The birdes of the aire shall bewray the counsailes and conspiracies of thy bed-chamber but the God of heaven beholdeth thy thoughtes in the midst of thy bosome Say not within thy selfe I did it not I spake it not I onely thought it in my heart and vvhat more free than thought mistake not Thy thoughtes are not onely thoughtes they giue their sounde without they goe for words and actions to in the sight of God The speach of Ionas in every part thereof savoureth of much presumption 1. He demandeth was not this my saying which is the manner of checking and controlling for the most parte Art thou a maister in Israell and knowest not these thinges aunswerest thou the high Priest thus knowest thou not that I haue power to kill thee and povver to let thee goe thou sittest to iudge according to the lawe and smitest thou me contrary to the law I spare the rest My meaning is but to let you vnderstande that it had beene a milder maner of speach thus to haue delivered it this was my saying c. 2 He magnifieth his worde as if there were more than winde in it Was not this my worde What is the worde of Ionas or of any mortall man what vertue what power what trueth what edge what authority what spirite vvhat life hath it in it By the vvorde of GOD the heavens vvere formed and they are reserved for fire by the power of the same vvord By the word of God is man turned to destruction by the power of the same word is it commanded returne yee sonnes of Adam By the word of God Niniveh is warned and Niniveh is spared by the power of the same word but as touching the word of Ionas vnlesse he obserue the rule that Balaam did the word that God putteth into my mouth that shall I speake it is as weake as water and as easie to be dispersed as the mist in the aire 3 He bringeth in a kalender of the time and place amplifying his complaint against God by singular circumstances vvhen I vvas in my countrey I told thee this He saith not in Iury but in mine owne countrey as who should say what needed my travaile and paines into Assyria a country vnknowne vnto me the going from mine own home wher I was best at ease and the compassing of seas and landes to lose the fruites of my labours 4 VVhen I was yet in Iudaea if I had spoken to late I had spent my speech in vaine but I spake in season when I was first called before ever I stirred my foot when all these troubles mishaps might haue beene eschewed Therefore as if he had wonne the field and evicted it by plaine argument and proofe Thus he insolently disputeth and concludeth against God as if he reasoned with his neighbour yet God is not as man that vvee should answere him And he doth not only resist but prevent as if the wisedome and providence of the most High were inferiour to his and not by staying in Israell but by going to Tharsis nay by flying to Tharsis as one that meant to leaue the Lord behinde him by the swiftnesse of his pace If this bee not sinne and sinnes presumptuous high minded high speaking sinnes I know not what sin is and those that labour to assoile the Prophet from sinne in this his disobedience what doe they else but cover a naked body with figge leaues which either the heate of the day will vvither or the least blast of winde pull from it If we wash his faulte with snow-water and purdge his handes and his heart never so cleane by our charitable defence of him yet hee hath plunged himselfe in the pit and his owne cloathes his owne wordes haue laid open his imperfections vnto vs. The remembrance of his natiue countrey I doubt not was sweete vnto him It was one of Iacobs conditions in his vowe to God when he was sent to Haran that if God vvoulde bee vvith him in iourney which hee wente and giue him bread to eate and cloathes to put on so that he came againe to his fathers house in safetye then should the LORDE bee his God It was also a greate probation and triall of Abrahams obedience vvhen God sent him word to goe from his owne countrey and from his fathers house And it seemeth vnto mee by this speach of Ionas that hee had some longing after the lande of Israell and thus spake to himselfe O that I were as in the monthes past when I stoode vpon mine owne grounde that corner of the world best pleased me there I was in the midst of my friendes and companions heere I am a stranger to strangers with men of a forraine tongue and forraine condititions But he remembreth that with pride and ostentation of himselfe and to iustifie a fault which without griefe of hearte and shame of face and stammering of tongue hee should not haue remembred VVere those thy vvords in thine owne countrey the more thy sinne and thy shame to thou spakest against thy life if God had not favoured thee if his mercy had not helde the bridle of thy tongue when it was in motion insteede of speaking folly thou wouldest haue proceeded to meere blasphemy Canst thou remember the time and the place vvithout blushing vvithout smiting thy selfe vpon thy thigh and asking forgiuenesâ— wretched man that I am what haue I done thou shouldest rather haue cursed the grounde in thine heart which thou then stoodest vpon than remembred it vvith vaunting and bitterly condemned thy tongue for sending out such wordes of folly and indiscretion But so â—s the manner of vs all wee sinne as we breath sinne as we eate and drinke as daily and with asmuch delight Wee commit sinne with greedines we are drunke with sinne and againe thirst after it yet wee will iustifie our selues whether God be iustified
I to doe with thee get thee to the Prophets of thy father and to the prophets of thy mother c. see his further protestation Had he nothing to doe with the king when the king had so much to doe with him did hee not feare the wrath of the Lyon who could haue said to the basest minister that ate the salte of his courte take his head from his shoulders and hee would haue taken it But his commission was his brazen wall to secure him and that Iehoshaphat the King of Iuda witnessed saying The word of the Lord is with him This is the fortres and rocke that Ieremy standeth vpon before the priests prophets and people of Iuda If ye put me to death ye shall bring innocent bloud vpon your selues for of a truth the Lord hath sent me vnto you to speake all these words in your eares Yea the princes and people vpon that ground made his apologie This man is not worthy to die for he hath spoken vnto vs in the name of the Lord our God To spare my paines in examples fearefull are the woes and not milder then wormewoode and the water of gall for vnder these tearmes I finde them shadowed but shadowed by the prophets which he denounceth in the course of that prophecie against false prophets that spake the visions of their owne harts and said The Lord said thus and thus that were not sent yet ran were not spoken vnto yet prophecied that cryed I haue dreamed I haue dreamed when they were but dreames indeede They are given to vnderstand that their sweete tongues will bring them a sowre recōpense and that the Lord will come against them for their lies flatteries chaffe stealth of his worde as they are tearmed and other such impieties Their cuppe is tempered by Ezechiel with no lesse bitternesse for follovving their ovvne spirites playing the foxes seeing of vanity divining of lies building and daubing vp vvalles with vntempered morter The heade and foote of their curse are both full of vnhappinesse Their first entertainement is a vvoe Vae prophetis and their farevvell an Anathema a cursed excommunication They shall not be accompted in the assembly of my people neither shall they be written in the writings of the house of Isarell To ende this pointe let their commission bee vvell scanned that come from the Seminaries of Rome and Rhemes to sovve seedes in this fielde of ours vvhether as Ionas had a vvoorde for Niniveh so these for Englande and other nations yea or no whether from the Lord for that they pretend as Ehud did to Eglon or from Balaak of Rome who hath hired them to curse the people of God whether to cry openly against sinne or to lay their mouthes in the dust and to murmure rebellion whether of zeale to the God of the Hebrewes or to the greate idoll of the Romanes as they to the greate Diana of the Ephesians to continue their crafte as Demetrius there did and lest their state shoulde bee subverted whether to come like prophets vvith their open faces or in disguised attire strange apparrell in regarde of their profession a rough garment to deceaue with as the false prophet in Zachary whether their sweete tongues haue not the venime of Aspes vnder them and in their colourable and plausible notes of peace peace there bee any peace either to the vveale publike amidst their nefarious and bloudie conspiracies or to the private conscience of any man in his reconciliation to their vnreconciled church formall and counterfeite absolution of sinnes hearing or rather seeing histrionicall masses visitinge the shrines and reliques of the deade numbering of Pater nosters invocation of saintes adoration of images and a thousand such forgeries whether they builde vp the walles of GODS house with the well tempered morter of his vvritten ordinances or daube vp the vvalles of their Antichristian synagogue vvith the vntempered morter of vnvvritten traditions vvhether they come Embassadours from GOD and in steede of Christ seeke a reconciliation beetweene GOD and vs and not rather to set the marke of the beaste in our foreheades to make vs their Proselytes and the children of errour as deepelye as themselues If this bee the vvoorde they bringe a dispensation from a forreigne povver to resiste the povvers that GOD hath ordeined and in steede of planting faith and allegiance to sovve sedition and not to convert our countrey to the trueth but to subvert the pollycie and state heereof to poyson our soules and to digge graues for our bodies against their expected day to invade the Dominions alienate the crovvnes assaulte the liues of lavvefull and naturall princes to blovve the trumpet of Sheba in our lande yee haue no parte in David nor inheritance in the sonne of Ishai no parte in Elizabeth nor inheritance in the daughter of Kinge Henrye everye man to your tentes O Englande let them reape the vvages of false Prophets even to the death as the lavve hath designed and let that eye vvant sight that pittieth them and that hart bee destitute of comfortes that crieth at their downefall Alas for those men Their bloudy and peremptory practises call for greater torture then they vsually endure and deserue that their flesh should be grated and their bones rent asunder vvith sawes and harrowes of yron as Rabbah was dealt with for their traiterous and vnnaturall stratagemes I know they iustifie their cause and calling as if innocency it selfe came to the barre to pleade her vprightnesse and they are vvilling to make the vvorlde beleeue that they come amongst their ovvne people and nation not onelie lambes amongst vvolues but lambes of the meekest spirite amongst vvolues of the fiercest disposition vvhose delighte is in bloudsheade making vs odious for more then Scythian cruelty as farre as our names are hearde of and stretching the ioyntes of our English persecutions vppon the racke of excessiue speech more then ever they felte in the ioyntes of their ovvne bodyes They remember not the meane-vvhile hovve much more iustlye they fill the mouthes of men vvith argumentes against themselues for raysing a farre sorer persecution then they haue cause to complaine of They persecute the libertie of the Gospell amongst vs and labour to bringe it into bondes againe they persecute our peace and tranquillitye vvhich by a prescription of manye yeares vvee beginne to challenge for our ovvne they persecute the VVOMAN with the crowne vppon her head whome they haue wished and watched to destroy and longe agoe had they vndonne her life but that a cunning hande aboue hath bounde it vp in the boundell of life and enclosed it in a maze of his mercyes past their finding out vvhome because they coulde not reach vvith their hande of mischiefe they haue soughte to overtake vvith floudes of vvaters floudes of excommunications floudes of intestine rebellions forreigne invasions practised conspiracies imprinted defamatory libels that one waye or other they might doe her harme So
the martyrings of Iob for the other for though the circuit of Sathan be very large even to the coÌ„passing of the whole earth to fro yet he hath his daies assigned him to staÌ„d before the presence of the Lord for the renewing of his commission And besides Oviculam vnam auferre non potuit c. he could not take one poore sheepe from Iob till the Lorde had given him leaue put forth thine hande nor enter into the heard of swine Mat. 8. without Christs permission And so to conclude whether men or devilles be ministerial workers in these actions all coÌ„meth from him as from the higher supreme cause whose iudgments executed thereby no man can either fully comprehend or reprehend iustly God professeth no lesse of himselfe Esay 45. I forme the light and create darkenesse I make peace and create evill I the Lord do all these thinges And in the 54. of the same prophecie Beholde I haue created the smith that â—loweth the coales in the fire and him that bringeth foâ—th an instrument for his worke I haue created the destroyer to destroy destruction commeth from the instrument the instrument from the smith the smith and all from God In the 10 of the same booke Asshur is called the rod of his wrath and the staffe in his hands was the Lords indignation And the prophet praieth in the 17. Psalme to the same effect vp Lord disapoint him cast him downe deliver my soule from the wicked which is a sword of thine We neede not farther instructioÌ„s in this point but whatsoever it is that outwardly troubleth vs let vs larne to feare him therin froÌ„ whose secret disposition it procedeth who hath a voice to alay the winds the seas a finger to confound sorcerers coÌ„iurers an hooke for the nostrels of Senacharib a chain for the divell himselfe the prince of darkenes In the 2. person which were the marriners we are directed by the hand of the scripture to consider three effects which the horrour of the tempest wrought vpon them For 1. they were afraid 2. they cried vp on their Gods 3. they cast out their wares the 1. an affection of nature the 2. an action of religion the 3. a worke of necessity Some of the Rabbines held that the marriners in this ship had more cause to be astonished and perplexed then all that travailed in these seas besides for when other ships were safe and had a prosperous voiage theirs only as the marke wherat the vengance of God aimed was endaungered But because it appeareth not in the booke I let this passe with many other vnwritteÌ„ collections as namely that they were nere the shore laboured with all their force to tough their ships to land but could not do it which happily may be true and as likely otherwise therfore I leaue it indiffereÌ„t am conteÌ„t to see no more theÌ„ the eie of my text hath descried for me But this I am sure of Affliction beginneth to schoole theÌ„ driue theÌ„ to a better haven then they erst found It evet worketh good for the most part and although the better sort of men are corrected by loue yet the greater are directed by feare As the wind the seas so the feare of the wrath of God in this imminent danger of shipwrack appearing shaketh perturbeth their heartes though they had hardened them by vse against all casualties by sea like the hardest adamantes All the works of the Lord to a coÌ„siderate mind are very wonderful his mercy reacheth to the heavens and his faithfulnes is aboue the cloudes his wisdome goeth from end to end his righteousnes is as the highest mountaines his iudgmentes like a great deepe whatsoever proceedeth from him because that artificer excelleth is must needes be excellent But it is as true a position perseverantia consuetudinis amisit admirationeÌ„ the assiduity continuance of things bringeth theÌ„ into coÌ„tempt QuaÌ„ multa vsitata calcaÌ„ tur quae coÌ„siderata stupeÌ„tur how many things doth custome make vile which consideratioÌ„ would make admirable because the nature of maÌ„ is such to be carried away rather with new theÌ„ with great things The creatioÌ„ of man who maketh accompt of because it is coÌ„mon But would we ponder in our harts as David did that we are wonderfully fearfully made that our bones were not hid from the Lord though they were shaped in a secret place and fashioned beneath in the earth that he possessed our raines in our generation covered vs in our mothers wombes that his eies did see vs when we were yet vnperfect all things were written in his booke when before they were not it would enforce vs to giue acclamation to the workemanship of our maker as the sweet singer of Israell there did marveilous are thy workes o Lord that my soule knoweth right well A tempest to marriners is nothing because they haue seene and felt and overlived so many tempestes As David because he had killed a lion and a beare at his folde perswaded himselfe that he also could kill Golias So these having past already so many dreadefull occurrents begin to entertaine a credulous perswasion of security no evill shall approach vs. They make their harts as fat as brawne to withstand mishaps It fareth with theÌ„ as with souldiers beaten to the field they haue seene hundreds fall at their right hand and thousands at their left and therefore are not moved and though they beare their liues in their hands they feare not death wherevpon grew that iudgmeÌ„t of the world vpon them Armatis divum nullus pudor souldiers the greater part feare not God himselfe Vndoubtedly our sea-men drinke downe digest their dangers with as much facility felicity to as some their wine in bowles yet notwithstaÌ„ding the marriners here spokeÌ„ of even the maister of the ship with the vulgar sort having such iron sinews in their brests giaÌ„ts by sea and if I may tearme them so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men that fight with God being in their proper element the region and grounde where their arte lieth having fought with the waues and windes a thousand times before they are all striken with feare and their heartes fall asunder within them like drops of water David Psal. 107. setteth downe foure kindes of men vvhich are most indebted to God for deliveraunce from perilles the first of those that haue escaped a dearth the second prisoners enlarged the third such as are freed from a mortall sicknes the last sea-faring men of whome hee writeth thus They that go downe into the sea in shippes and occupie their marchandize by greate waters they see the worke of the Lorde and his wonders in the deepe For hee commaundeth and raiseth vp the stormie winde and it lifteth vp the waues thereof they mount vp to the heaven and descende againe to the deepe so that their soule melteth for trouble They are tossed too and
their owne confessions Tell vs. Whereunto we may adde that the lottery against Achan was both occasioned by an vnexpected overthrow taken at Ai by the direction of God himselfe in the whole maner thereof prescribed and as for Ionas he was a figure of Christ whose vesture was to be parted by lots and therefore the deprehension of his offence not to be brought into ordinary practise What is thine occupation If Ionas had confessed and opened his fact other likelihoodes helpes to finde it out had beene needlesse but it seemeth that before he could shape his answere to the 1. questioÌ„ they thrust an other vpoÌ„ him without intermission a third yet more like a peale of ordinance thundring about his eares that by the vnited strength of so many probabilities wound togither like a foure-folde corde Ionas may be entangled This first of the foure probabilities is of great moment to skan the life of man What is thine occupation thy art thy calling for 1. some haue no art or trade at all 2. some wicked vnlawful arts 3. others such artes as haue an easie provocation to iniustice and vngodlinesse Those that haue no arte are errand vagabond wandring persons as the planets in the Zodiacke never keeping a fixed place rather vsing their feete then their hands or whether they slitt abroad or gad at home their calling art is idlenes for Otium negotium Idlenes is a busines They are more troubled I doubt not how to spend the day then these that haue a trade wherin to be exercised they liue by the sweat of other mens browes will not disquiet the temples of their owne heades Let me freely speake without the offence of governours there are a number in this citty numerus tantuÌ„ a number onelie very artificial in this idle art those that can pleade their age impotencie necessary necessities I am their advocate I speake of pure and voluntary beggers who if they would worke haue it not it is pitty that you haue your wealth that your talent is not taken froÌ„ you giveÌ„ to others who would better vse it to Gods behoofe they should be Ditis examen domuâ— the bees that swarm in rich mens houses much more in opulent and wealthy cities many inferiour townes are superiour vnto you in the provision thereof but if they haue worke and wil not vndergoe it why are they suffered spontanea lassitudo a willing profered lazines in the body of a man is an introduction and argument of greater diseases these willing or wilfull rogues are not vnapt if ever occasioÌ„ be ministred to pilfer your goods cut your throtes fire your citty for their better advantage of maintenaunce When Iephtah was cast out of the house by his brethren because he was the sonne of a strange woman hee fled and dwelte in the lande of Tob and there gathered idle fellowes vnto him they went out with him The vnbeleeving Iewes in the Actes tooke vnto theÌ„ a coÌ„pany of waÌ„dring companions such as stand idle in the market place wicked men and gathered a multitude made an vprore in the whole citie and came to the house of Iason to fetch out Paul and Silas You see how readie they are to serue such turne to raise a tumult to make a conspiracie or rebellioÌ„ to associate theÌ„selues to any that will but leade them It were your wisest part to deale with such lewde and vnordinate vvalkers standers sitters in the vvaies of idlenesse as Philippe of Macedon dealt with 2. of his subiects in whome there was litle hope of grace he made one of them runne out of the countrey and the other driue him So his people was ridde of both Now there be other artes vtterly vnlawfull to be followed the very naming whereof doth condemne them as Coniurers charmers moone-prophets tellers of fortune our english Aegyptians robbers by lande pirates by sea cosenours harlottes bawdes vsurers which presently censure a man as soone as they are but hearde of to be wickedly disposed There are many besides vvhich though they haue vse lawfull enough in a common wealth yet there is but a narrow path betwixt fire and water as Esdras speaketh and one may easilie misse to do his duety there You looke perhappes that I shoulde rehearse them Though some are become more odious by reason of grosser abuses in them yet I will cover their face and keepe them from the light as they covered the face of Haman to keepe him from the eies of men because there is too much abuse to be espied in all our artes Monye hath marred them all they are all set to sale as Iugurthe spake of Rome and want but a chap-man Divines sell the liberty of a good conscience for favour and preferment Lawiers sell not onely their labours but the lawes and iustice it selfe Physitians sell ignoraunce vnskilfulnesse wordes vnsufficient drugges All men of all kindes of trades for the most part sell honesty trueth conscience othes soules for mony Our artes are artes indeede that is cosenages impostures fraudes circumventions Our English tongue doth well expresse the nature of the word vvee call them craftes and those that professe them craftes-men vvee may as well tearme them foxes as Christ tearmed Herode they are so bent to deceipt Others not content with so vulgar a name call them mysteries indeede the mysterie of iniquitie is in them misty obscure darke handling which God shall bring to light in due time Call we these callings sure they are such whereof the sentence shal be verified Many are called vnto them but few elected to partake the mercies of God O harken to the counsell which the Apostle giveth that ye may iustifie and warrant your vocations before God and man Let everie one abide in the same calling wherein hee was called and to make it significant let every one wherein he was called therein abide with God Let him not stay lâ—ke a passenger for a night but continue and hold himselfe not onely in the name but in the nature and vse of his calling that is let him walke worthy of it as in the sight of God who is a witnesse and iudge to all his proceedinges Let him not adde vnto the challinges and constitutions of God the callinges of the Devill as simony bribery forgery hypocrisie periuries for these are the Devilles challinges and let not those artes and professions which were given for the ornamentes and helpes of our life bee turned into snares and ginnes to entrappe our brethren In the audite of our Lorde and maister so farre shall wee bee from giving the accountes of faithfull servauntes Lorde thy piece hath gained other ten which we haue so falsified and defaced with the sleights of Sathan that wee cannot discharge our selues as the vnfaithfull reprobate servant did Beholde thou hast thine owne Our lawfull and honest vocations wherein wee were first placed wee haue
so disguised with our owne corrupt additions THE XI LECTVRE Chap. 1. verse 8. Whence commest thou which is thy country and of vvhat people art thou THese three questions now rehearsed though in seeming not much different yet I distinguished a parte making the first to enquire of his iourney and travaile for confirmation whereof some a little change the stile quo vadis whither goest thou askinge not the place from which hee set forth but to which hee was bounde or of the society wherewith hee had combined himselfe the seconde of his natiue countrey the thirde of his dwelling place For the countrey and citty may differre in the one wee may bee borne and liue in the other as for example a man may be borne in Scotlande dwell in England or borne at Bristow dwell at Yorke Wherein that of Tully in his bookes of lawes taketh place I verily thinke that both Cato and all free denisens haue two countreyes the one of nativity the other of habitation as Cato being borne at Tusculum was receaved into the people of the citty of Rome Therefore beeing a Tusculan by birth by citty a Romane hee had one countrey by place another by law For we tearme that our country where wee were borne and whereinto wee are admitted So there is some oddes betweene the two latter questions There was greate reason to demaunde both from whence hee came and whither hee would because the travelles of men are not alwaies to good endes For the Scribes and Pharises travaile farre if not by their bodilie pases yet by the affections of their heartes they compasse sea and land to an evill purpose to make proselytes children of death worse then themselues As the Pope and the king of Spaine send into India they pretende to saue soules indeede to destroy the breede of that people as Pharaoh the males of the Hebrewes and to wast their countries They walke that walke in the counsell of the vngodlie and in the waies of sinners but destruction and vnhappinesse is in all their waies They walke that walke in the waies of an harlot but her house tendeth to death and her pathes to the deade they that goe vnto her returne not againe neither take holde of the waies of life Theeues haue their ranges and walkes Surgunt de nocte latrones they rise in the nighte time they goe or ride farre from home that they may bee farre from suspicion but their feete are swifte to shed bloude and they bestowe their paines to worke a mischiefe Alexander iournied so farre in the conquest of the worlde that a souldier tolde him we haue doone as much as mortalitie was capable of thou preparest to goe into an other worlde and thou seekest for an India vnknowne to the Indians themselues that thou mayest illustrate more regions by thy conquest then the sunne ever saw To what other ende I knowe not but to feede his ambition to enlarge his desire as hell and to adde more titles to his tombe They haue their travailes and peregrinations that walke on their bare feete with a staffe in their hand and a scrip about their necke to Saint Iames of Compostella our Lady of Loretto the dust of the holy land What to doe the dead to visit the deade to honour stockes and to come home stockes to chaunge the aire and to retaine their former behaviour to doe penaunce for sinne and to returne laden with a greater sinne of most irreligious superstition meeter to bee repented if they knew their sinne Of such I may say as Socrates sometime aunswered one who marveiled that hee reaped so litle profit by his trauell Thou art well enough served saith he because thou didest travell by thy selfe for it is not mountaines and seas but the conference of wisemen that giveth vvisedome neither can monumentes and graues but the spirit of the Lord vvhich goeth not with those gadders put holinesse into them They haue their walkes and excursions which go from their natiue countrey to Rome the first time to see naught the second to be naught the third to die naught was the olde proverbe The first last now a daies are not much different they go to learne naught they drinke vp poison there like a restoratiue vvhich they keepe in their stomacks along Italy France other nations not minding to disgordge it till they come to their mothers house where they seek to vnlade it in her bosome to end her happy daies Ionas for ought these knew might haue come from his countrey a robber murtherer traitor or any the like transgressor therfore haue ran frō thence as Onesimus from his master Philemō to escape iustice wherevpon they aske him whence commest thou that they may learne both the occasion scope of his iourney And if you obserue it well there is not one question here moued though questions only cōiecturall but setteth his conscience vpon the racke and woundeth him at the hart by every circumstance whereby his crime might be aggravated Such is the wisdome that God inspireth into the harts of men for the triall of his truth in the honor of iustice to fit their demands to the conscience of the transgressours in such sort that they shall even feele themselues to be touched and so closely rounded in the eare as they cannot deny their offence There are diverse administrations yet but one spirit Warriours haue a spirit of courage to fight counsellors to direct prevent magistrates to governe iudges to discerne examine convince and to do right vnto all people For the questions here propoūded were in effect as if they had told him thou dishonourest thy calling thou breakest thy commission thou shamest thy country thou condemnest thy people in that thou hast committed this evill They aske him first What is thine art that bethinking himselfe to be a prophet not a marriner as these were not a master in the ship but a master in Israell set over kingdomes Empires to builde pull downe plant roote vp he might remember himselfe and call his soule to account Wretched man that I am how ingloriously haue I neglected my vocation They aske him next whēce cōmest thou that it mighte bee as goades prickles at his breasts to recount in his minde I was called on lande I am escaped to sea I was sent to Assyria I am going to Cilicia I was directed to Niniveh I am bending my face towardes Tharsis that is I am flying frō the presence of my Lord following mine own crooked waies Thirdly they aske him of his coūtry that hee might say to himselfe What are the deeds of Babylō better then the deeds of Sion was I borne brought vp instructed an instructor in the lande of Iurie in the garden of the worlde the roiallest peculiarest nation that the Lord hath and haue I not grace to keepe his commaundemente Lastly they enquire of his people a people that had al things but flexible
this was a feare beyond that as may appeare by the epithet Timnerunt timore magno They were exceedingly afraide Nowe why they feared I cannot so vvell explicate It may be in regarde they bare to the person of Ionas knowing what hee was not knowing how to release him They vnderstande him to be an holy man and of an holie nation therefore vvere they brought into streightes they haue not hearte to deliver him they haue not meanes to conceale him hee is greate that flyeth he is greater that seeketh after him That is Hieromes coniecture vpon their feare It may bee in regarde of their sinnes For if a prophet of God and a righteous soule to theirs were so persecuted they could not for their owne partes but feare a much sorer punishment For if iudgement beganne at the house of God what shal be the ende of them which obey not the gospell of God And if the righteous shall skarse bee saved where shall the vngodlie and sinner appeare The Apostle maketh the comparison but it is as sensible and easie to the eie of nature to see so much as the high way is ready to the passenger God speaketh to the heathen nations with a zealous and disdainfull contention betwixte them and his people Lo I beginne to plague the citie vvherein my name was called vpon and shall you goe free It maie bee the maiestie of Gods name did astonish them and bruise them as a maule of iron having beene vsed but to puppets and skar-crowes before in comparison They were not acquainted with Gods of that nature and power till this time they never had dreamed that there was a Lorde whose name was Iehovah whose throne was the heaven of heavens and the sea his floore to walke in and the earth his foote-stoole to treade vpon who hath a chaire in the conscience and sitteth in the heart of man possessing his secret reines dividing betwixt his skinne and his flesh and shaking his inmost powers as the thunder shaketh the wildernes of Cades It is a testimony to that which I say that when the Arke was brought into the campe of Israell and the people gaue a shoute the Philistines were afraide at it and saide God is come into the hoste therefore they cried wo wo vnto vs for it hath not bene so heretofore wo be vnto vs who shall deliver vs out of the handes of these mighty Gods These are the Gods which smote the Aegyptians with all the plagues in the wildernes Wherein it is a wōderful thing to consider that the sight of the tēpest drinking vp their substance before their eies and opening as it were a throate to swallow their liues vp did not so much astonishe them as to heare but the Maiesty of God delivered by relation Alas what did they heare to that which he is indeede It was the least parte of his waies to heare of his creation of heaven and the sea and the dry land he is infinite and incomprehensible besides all that thou seest and all that thou seest not that in some sort God is And it is not a thing to bee omitted that the speech of the prophet made a deeper penetration and entrance into them than if a number besides not having the tongue of the learned had spent their wordes For consider the case The windes were murmuring about their eares the waters roaring the soule of their ship sobbing their commodities floating the hope of their liues hanging vpon a small twine yet though their feare were greate it was not so greate as when a prophet preached declared vnto them the almightinesse of the sacred godhead They haue not onely wordes but swordes even two edged swordes in their mouthes whome God hath armed to his service they are able to cut an hearte as hard as adamant they rest not in the iointes of the bodie nor in the marrow of the bones but pearce the very soule and the spirite and part the very thoughtes and intentions of the heart that are most secret The weapons of their warfare wherewith they fight are not carnall but mighty through God to cast downe holdes and munitions and destroying imaginations disceptations reasonings and every sublimity that is exalted against the knowledge of God and captivating every thought to the obedience of Christ. So there is neither munition for strength nor disputation for subtility nor heighth for superiority nor thought in the minde for secrecy that can holde their estate against the armour of Gods prophets Haue they not chaines in their tongues for the kinges of the earth and fetters of yron for their nobles did not Pharaoh often entreate Moses and Aaron to pray to the Lord for him did not the charme of Elias so sinke into the eares of Ahab that hee rent his clothes and put sacke-cloth vpon his flesh fasted and lay in sacke-cloath and went softlie Did not Iohn Baptist so hew the eares of the Iewes vvith the axe of Gods iudgements that they asked him as the physitian of their diseased soules by severall companies and in their severall callings the people though as brutish for the most part as the beastes of the fielde What shall wee doe then the publicanes though the hatred of the world and publique notorious sinners And vvhat shall wee doe the souldiours though they had the law in their swordes pointes And what shall wee doe Hath not Peter preached at Ierusalem to an audience of every nation vnder heauen of what number you may gesse in part when those that were gained to the Church of Christ were not fewer then three thousande soules and was not the pointe of his sworde so deepely impressed into them that they were pricked in their harts and asked as Iohn Baptists auditours before Viri fratres quid faciemus men and brethren what shall wee doe It is not a word alone the vehemency and sounde whereof commeth from the loines and sides that is able to do this but a puissant and powerfull worde strengthened with the arme of God a vvord vvith authoritie as they witnessed of Christ a vvorde vvith evidence and demonstration of the Spirit smiting vpon the conscience more then the hammers of the smith vpon his stithie a word that draue a feare into Herodes heart for he feared Iohn Baptist both aliue deade that bet the breath of Ananias and Saphira from out their bodies stroke Elymas ' the sorcerer into a blindnes and sent an extraordinary terrour into the hartes of these marriners So then the reason of their feare as I suppose was a narration of the maiesty of God so much the more encreased because it was handled by the tongue of a prophet vvho hath a speciall grace to quicken and enliue his speech whose soule was as a well of vnderstāding and every sentence that sprang from thence as a quicke streame to beate them downe And that this was the reason of their feare I rather perswade my selfe
in the world had sworne and conspired his immortall misery First he was driven to forgoe his natiue countrey the land of his fathers sepulchers and take the sea When he had shipt himselfe the vessell that bare him stackered like a drunken man to and fro never was at rest till she had cast forth her burthen Being cast forth the sea that did a kinde of favour to Pharaoh and his host in giving them a speedy death is but in manner of a iaylour to Ionas to deliver him vp to a further torture Thus from his mothers house and lap wherin he dwelt in safety to a shippe to seeke a forreine countrey from the ship into the sea and from the sea into a monsters belly incomposiâ—um navigium an incomposed mishapen ship therein shall I say to his death that had bene his happines he would haue wisht for death as others wisht for treasure There are the prisoners at rest and heare not the voice of the oppressour there are the small and the great and the servaunt is free from his maister So then there is a comfort in death to a comfortlesse soule if hee could atchieve it But Ionas cannot die the sea that swalloweth downe volumes of slime and sandes is not grave enough to bury him hee may rather perswade himselfe that he is reserved for a thousand deathes whome the waters of the Ocean refuse to drowne giving over their pray to an other creature My thoughtes are not your thoughtes saith the LORDE by his prophet Esaye neither are your waies my waies For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my waies higher than your waies and my thoughtes above your thoughtes It is most true When wee thinke one thing GOD thinketh an other hee safety and deliverance vvhen in the reason of man there is inevitable destruction We must not therefore iudge the actions of the Lorde till wee see the last acte of them We must not say in our hast all men are liers the pen of the scribes is vaine the bookes false the promises vncertaine Moses and Samuell prophets and apostles are like rivers dried vp have deceived vs. We must tarry the end and know that the vision is for an apointed time but at the last it shall speake according to the wishes of our owne harts and shal not lie Though our soules faint for his salvation yet must we wait for his worde Though our eies faile for his promise saying O when wilt thou comfort vs and we are as bottels in the smoke the sap of our hope dryed vp yet we must not forget his statutes When we see the fortunate succeeding of things we shall sing with the righteous prophet Wee know O Lord that thy iudgements are right though deepe secret and that thou of very faithfulnes hast caused vâ— to be tried that howsoever our troubles seemed to be without either number or end yet thy faithfulnesse higher than the highest heavens failed vs not To set come order in the sentence propounded I commende these circumstances vnto you First the disposer and ruler of the action the Lorde Secondly the manner of doing it hee provided or prepared Thirdly the instrument a fish togither with the praise and exornation of the instrument a great fish Fourthly the end to swallow vp Ionas Lastly the state of Ionas and how it fared with him after he was swallowed vp And first that you may see the difference betwixte inspired spirites and the conceiptes of prophane men vvho as if the nature of thinges bare them to their ende without further disposition as when the clowde is full they saie it giveth her raine and going no higher than to seconde and subordinate causes never consider that high hande that wrought them it may please you to obserue that thorough the whole body of this prophecie vvhatsoever befell Ionas rare and infrequent is lifted aboue the spheares of inferiour thinges and ascribed to the Lord himselfe A great winde vvas sent into the sea to raise a tempest It is not disputed there what the winde is by nature a drie exhalation drawne vp from the earth and carryed betweene it and the middle region of the aire aslant fit to engender a tempest but the LORDE sent it Ionas vvas afterwardes cast into the sea It is not then considered so much vvho tooke him in their armes and vvere the ministers of that execution but thou LORDE hast done as it pleased thee Ionas is heere devoured by a fish It is not related that the greedinesse and appetite of the fish brought him to his praie but the LORDE prepared him Ionas againe is delivered from the belly of the fish It mighte bee alleadged in reason perhappes that the fish was not able to concoct him but it is saide the Lorde spake to the fish and it cast him vp Towardes the ende of the prophecie Ionas maketh him a booth abroade and sitteth vnder the shaddow of a gourde the Lorde provided it A worme came and consumed the gourde that it perished the Lorde provided it The sunne arose and a fervent east-winde bet vpon the heade of Ionas the Lorde also provided it Who is he then that saith and it commeth to passe if the Lorde commaunde it not Out of the mouth of the most high commeth there not evill and good Thus whensoever we finde in any of the creatures of God either man or beast from the greatest whale to the smallest worme or in the vnsensible things the sun the windes the waters the plantes of the earth either pleasure or hurt to vs the Lord is the worker and disposer of both these conditions The Lorde prepared That yee may know it came not by chaunce brought thither by the tide of the sea but by especiall providence For it is not saide that God created but that he ordeined and provided the fish for such a purpose There is nothing in the workes of God but admirable art and skilfulnesse O Lord saith David how manifolde are thy workes in wisedome hast thou made them all Salomon giveth a rule well beseeming the rashnes and vnadvisednesse of man who without deliberate forecast entereth vpon actions first to prepare the worke without and to make all things ready in the field and after to builde the house God keepeth the order himselfe having his spirite of counsaile and provision alwaies at hande to prepare as it were the vvaie before his face to make his pathes straight and to remooue all impedimentes to levell mountaines to exalt vallies to turne vvaters into drie grounde and drie grounde into water-pooles and to change the whole nature of things rather than any worke of his shal be interrupted He had a purpose in his heart not to destroy Ionas yet Ionas was thrown into the mouth of destructioÌ„ A maÌ„ would haue thought that the couÌ„saile of God if ever should now haue been frustrated that salvation it selfe could not
al posterity to come that I will not meane-while forget to looke vp to the mountaines from whence my helpe was It is the parte of an honest ingenious minde to confesse vvho they are by whome thou hast profited but on the other side the marke of a most vngratious amd vnhappy nature rather to be taken in the theft than to returne like for like And what doe they else but steale and embezell the graces of God which either dissembling their authour assume them to themselves or confessing the authour extenuate their worth as if they were not meete to bee accounted for These are the theeves robbers indeede capitall malefactours sure to bee cut of on the right hand and on the left and not to inherite the kingdome of God as the Apostle threatneth The stealing of temporall things may bee acquited againe either with single or double foure-folde or seven-folde resolution But the filching and purloming of the glory of God can never bee aunswered Others steale of necessity to satisfie their soules because they are hungrie and but equall from equall man from man But these of pleasure and pride breake through heaven which though it bee free from violent theeves yet these by a wile and insidiation enter into it and steale away the honour of God which is most precious vnto him When Iohn Baptist was borne the neighbours and cousins vpon the eighth day at the circumcising of the childe called him Zacharias after the name of his father Elizabeth aunswered them not so but hee shal bee called Iohn though it were a mervaile to them all and none of his kinred were so named and Zachary wrote in his tables that Iohn should be his name They knew that hee was the gift of God which his mother in her olde age and in the state of her barrennes had conceaved and therfore called him Iohn that is the gift of God in remembrance of natures vnfuitfulnesse and their vndeserved sonne whome neither father nor mother nor kinred I meane not ordinary and carnall generation could haue given vnto them· such are the children of our wombes a gift that commeth from the Lorde And such are our children and fruit otherwise whatsoever wee possesse outwarde or inwarde wee holde it in Capite even in the Lorde of Lordes who is the giver of every good perfit gifte as Iames writeth Scipio Africanus the elder had made the citty of Rome being in a consumption and readie to giue vp the ghost Lady of Africke At length being banished into a base country towne his will was that his tombe should haue this inscription vpon it Ingrata patria ne ossa quidem mea habes vnthankefull country thou hast not so much as my bones Many and mightye deliverances haue risen from the Lorde to this lande of ours to make provocation of our thankefulnesse For not to goe by a kalender but to speake in 2. wordes wee haue lien in ignorance as in the belly of the whale or rather the belly of hell for blindnesse of heart is the very brimme and introduction into the hell of the damned the Lorde hath pulled vs thence Wee haue also lien in the heart of our enemies as in the belly of the fishe Gebal and Ammon and Amelek and the Philistines with those of Tyre haue combined themselues and cried a confoederacy a confoederacy against vs the Lorde hath also delivered vs to make some proofe of our gratefull spirites For this a rule in beneficence Ingratus est adversus unum beneficium is a man vnthankefull for one benefite for a seconde hee will not Hath hee forgotten two the third will reduce to his memory those that are slipt thence God hath liberally tried vs with one and an other and a third and yet ceaseth not But what becommeth of our gratitude It hath bene our manner for the time to haue pamphlets and formes of thankesgiving in our churches our heartes haue burnt within vs for the present as of the two disciples that went to Emaus to assemble our selues at praiers preachings breaking of bread and to give an howre or two more than vsuall from our worldly affaires as a recompense of Gods goodnes Our mouthes have beene filled with laughter and our tonges with ioy and wee have bene content to say the Lord hath done greate thinges for vs wherof wee reioyce But how quickly forget wee all againe Ingrata Anglia ne ossa quidam habes Vngratefull England thou hast not so much as the bones of thy patrone and deliverer thou hast exiled him from thy thoughtes buried him in oblivion there is not one remnant or footeprint left to witnesse to the worlde that thou hast bene protected What others have testified in former times by building of altars pitching of huge stones raysinge of pillers dedication of feastes vvriting of bookes that their childrens children might aske a reason and bee instructed in GODS auncient mercies thou haste not lefte to thy race to come by one stone one turfe one post one paper or schrole of continuaunce in remembraunce vnto them of thy ampler benefites It deserveth the protestation of GOD 1. Esay Heare O men and harken O Angels no. A greater auditorie is required Heare ô heavens and harken ô earth I have brought vp preferred and exalted sonnes and they have despised me If servauntes and bond-men the sonnes of Agar of whome it was saide Cast out the bond-man it mighte lesse have beene marvayled at but sonnes of mine owne education adopted by speciall grace these have despised mee They had an action in Athens against vnthankefull persons The more their blame Qui cum aequissima iura sed iniquissima haberent ingenia moribus suis quà m legibus vti maluerunt vvho having good lavves ill natures had rather vse their manners than their lawes For if some of those excellent men which Athens despightfully and basely required Theseus who was buried in a rock Miltiades who dyed in prison and the sonne of Miltiades vvho inherited nothinge amongst them but his fathers bandes Solon Aristides Phocion who lived in banishmente shoulde bring their action against Athens in the courte of some other cittye vvere it able to aunswere their iust exprobrations O Athens thy wals thy people thy trophees and triumphes farre and neare by lande and sea are thus and thus multiplyed Horum authores vbi vixerint vbi iaceant responde But put in thine aunsvvere and shevve vvhere the authours of those thinges lived and vvhere they are buryed God hath an action of ingratitude against his sonnes and bringeth them into lawe not before citty or nation but to note the horror of the vice before heaven and earth that all the corners and creatures of the vvorlde may both knowe and detest it And surelye it was well marked by a learned man No man wondreth at dogs or wolues because they are common but centaures and satyres such monsters of nature al gaze vpon It may be drunkennes
kill and eate And the first time he denyed it plainely Not so Lorde Afterwardes hee was better advised and harkened to the voice of the Lorde VVhen the angell of Sathan was sent to buffet Paule least his visions shoulde lifte him vp too high hee besought the Lorde thrise that it mighte departe and then the Lord aunswered him My grace is sufficient for thee It may bee according to the signe vvhich God gaue Ezechias that the first yeare hee shoulde eate of such thinges as came vp of themselues the seconde such as sprange againe vvithout sowing the thirde they shoulde sowe and reape and plante vine-yardes c. So for the first and seconde time that we heare the doctrine of salvation wee heare vvithout profit we breed no cogitations within vs but such as growe of themselues naturall worldlye corrupte and such as accompanie flesh and bloud fitter to cast vs downe than to helpe vs vp but at the thirde time when the wordes of God with often falling shall haue pearsed our heartes as raine the marble-stones vvee then apply our mindes to a more industrious and profitable meditation of such heavenly comfortes Let it not grieue you then if I speake vnto you againe the same thinges and as Paule disputed at Thessalonica three sabbath dayes of the passion and resurrection of Christ so I three sabbath dayes amongst you of our hope in Christ. Let it bee true of vanities and pleasures that the lesse they are vsed the more commendable but in the most accepted and blessed thinges that belong to our happiest peace bee it faire otherwise Our dayly breade though it bee daily received wee are as ready to craue still neither can the perpetuall vse of it ever offende vs. The light of the sun woulde displease no body but some lover of darknesse if it never wente downe in our coastes The nature of such thinges for their necessary vse must needes bee welcome vnto vs though they never shoulde forsake vs. And can the doctrine of saith and affiaunce in the mercies of God the light of our dimme eies the staffe of our infirmities our soules restoratiue when it lyeth sicke to death and as Chrysostome well compared it a chaine let downe from heaven which hee that taketh holde on is presentely pulled vppe from the hande of destruction and set in a large place to enioy the peace of conscience can it ever displease vs wee were content to heare it once and I doe not doubte but it will bee as welcome being repeated tenne times I make no question but as vvhen Paule had preached at Antioche in the synagogue of the Iewes one day the gentiles besought him that hee woulde preach the same vvordes to them againe the nexte sabbath so though it were the last worke that I did amongst you to cut the throate of desperation which hath cut the throate of many a wretched man and woman to set the piller of hope vnder all fainting and declining consciences yet because it is our last refuge in adversitie and standeth vnmooueable like the Northerne pole when our soules are most distracted with doubtes and fullest of scruples to giue vs aime and direction whither to bend our course if I shall once againe repeate vnto you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the selfe-same wordes that before in substance and sense though not in syllables I trust I shall finde your acceptaunce as good as when I first began it The wordes propounded are the last of the whole narration and drawe into a narrower compasse of speech all that hath beene saide before For whatsoever you haue hearde of the boâ—tome of the sea floudes and surges vvith all those other disturbances already reckoned vp they are now concluded in a little roume My soule fainted The partes the same vvhich I haue observed before for I neede not to acquainte you againe that hee hangeth and devideth the whole song betweene feare and hope And as the feete to that image in Daniell were parte of yron parte of clay which the prophet expoundeth partely stronge partely broken so are the feete if I may so call them which Ionas through all this travaile goeth vpon the one of clay weake impotent alwaies shivering and sinking downewarde I meane his feare and distrust the other of yron strong stable and firme keeping him vpright his hope and confidence in the mercies of God His feare is in the former member of the senteÌ„ce When my soule fainted within mee his hope in the nexte I remembred the Lord c. Wherein to shew that it was not in vaine for him to remember the Lorde and withall how hee remembred him he telleth vs that his praier came vnto him into his holie temple Concerning his feare wee haue to consider first what person or part he notifieth to haue beene assaulted his soule Secondly the plight or perturbation of his soule it fainted Thirdly the application of the place within himselfe The daunger is much augmented from that which before it was Then the vvaters but came to his soule heere they had fought against him so long that his soule plainely fainted Then the perill but imminent and hard at hand heere it had taken handfast Then was he but threatned or beaten by the waters heere he seemeâ—h to bee vanquished Al that vvente before might concerne the body alone and the losse of his temporall life whereof hee was yet in possession As when he pronounced against himselfe I am cast away out of thy sighte it mighte bee no more in effecte than vvhat Ezechiell spake I saide I shall not see the LORDE even the LORDE in the lande of the living I shall see man no more amongest the inhabitauntes of the vvorlde mine habitation is departed and remooved from mee like a shepheardes tente and as a vveaver cutteth of his threade so is my life ended But heere hee confesseth in open tearmes that his very soule that invvarde immortall heavenly substaunce vvhich when the bodye fainteth is sometimes most in health and liveth vvhen the bodye dyeth that this parte fayleth him and leaveth no hope of better thinges Saint Augustine very vvell defineth the soule to be the vvhole invvard man wherewith this masse of clay is quickened governed and helde togither changing her names according to the sundry offices vvhich shee beareth in the bodye For when shee quickneth the bodie shee is called the soule when shee hath appetite or desire to any thing the vvill for knowledge the minde for recordation memory for iudging and discerning reason for giving breath spirite lastly for apprehending or perceiving outwardly sense so as the fainting of the soule is the decay of all these faculties Nowe if the lighte that is in vs bee darke howe great is the darkenesse if the life bee death howe greate is the death if the soule fainte howe greate the defections The infirmities and disablementes of his bodye I knowe vvere very great in the whole service and ministery
as never were more rare in the rarest Queene and in the sex of woman-hode carry admiration Why doe I saye woman-hode Vertue is tied neither to revenew nor kinde Iulita a vvoman one that witnessed a good confession for the name of Christ as shee was going to the stake to be burnt exhorted womeÌ„ that they should not complaine of the weakenes of nature because first they were made of the same matter whereof man was finished Secondly to the image of the same God Thirdly as fit and as capable to receive any goodnes Fourthly invested into the like honour Why not saith shee Seeing vvee are kinned vnto men in all respectes For not their flesh alone was taken for the creation of women but wee are bones of their bones for which cause vvee are endebted to God for courage patience virility aswell as men And Basile addeth his owne advise that setting excuse of their sexe aside they shoulde set vpon piety and see vvhither nature hath debarred them of any thing that was common to men I note it the rather because I know it greeveth Abimelech at the heart that a vvoman shoulde cast downe a milstone vpon his head to kill him and therefore hee calleth his page to thrust him thorough that men might not say A woman slew him It greeveth Abimelech of Rome and his whole faction that the church of England and the whole estate of our land vnder the government of a woman shoulde bee better able to defend it selfe against his tyranny than any country in Christendome Their heartes breake with envy hereat their tongues and pennes dissemble not their grudge at the foeminine primacie that a woman should bee the head vnder Christ of the church of Englande But as Chrisostome sometimes spake of Herodias and Iohn Baptist so by a contrary application of their manners may I of two as vnlike as ever fire and water the one to Herodias the other to Iohn Baptist Mulier totius mundi caâ—ut truncavit A woman hath beheaded within her realmes and dominions the falsely vsurpinge and surmised heade of the whole worlde Her father and brother of most famous memory had broken his leggs before as they brake the leggs of the theeues vpon the crosse the one his right legge of rentes and revenewes the milke and hony of our lande the other his left legge of idolatrous worshippes the doctrine of men false and erronious opinions wherewith the children of this realme had beene poisoned a longe time Queene Elizabeth hath bruised his heade for though his legges were broken hee began to gather strengh againe Hee now commaundeth not liveth not within our land saving in a few disordered and luxate members which as the parts of an adder cutte a sunder retaine some life for a time but never I trust shall growe into a body againe neither ever is hee likely to revive amongst vs vnlesse the Lord shall raise him vp for a plague to our vnthankefulnesse And therefore as they saide of Tarquinius Priscus in Rome a Corinthian borne and a straunger to their city hee hath vvell deserved by his vertues that our city shall never repent it of chusing a straunger to the king so by her gracious and religious government amongst vs hath her most excellent Maiesty worthily purchased that England shall never be sory that a woman was the Queene thereof When shee came to her crowne shee found the country as Augustus the city of Rome of bricke shee turned it into marble Shee founde it in the sandes she set it vpon a rocke the foundation of prophets and apostles shee founde it a lande of images ignorances corruptions vanities lies shee hath hitherto preserved it and I hope shall leave it to posterity a lande possest of the truth and seasoned with the gospell of Christ crucified This this is the savingest salvation that the Lorde hath this the blessing and happinesse that we enioy vnder her gracious government besides our peace such as our fathers never presumed to hope for plenty prosperity corporall benefites in that we lend and borrowe not not onely our milke but our bloud mony and men too to those that want and when wee ringe our belles for ioy and give eare to the noise of timbrelles and tabrets others are frighted with other kindes of soundes the neying of horses roaring of great ordinance howling of women and children to see their orbities and miseries before their eies I say this is the blessing vvee reape that the gospell is free by her procurement our consciences not enthralled to the ordinances of men our zeale rectified by knowledge and our religion reformed by the statutes of the highest God Now as we have great reason to singe merily vnto the Lorde and vvith a good courage Salvation is the Lordes for these graces so vvhat was the cause of her owne so many miraculous deliverances both before and since shee sate vpon the seate of her fathers but the same Salvation that by saving her saved vs I am sure shee was in daunger either of vvolves or of butchers when her rightuous soule cried Tanquam ovis and as a sheepe was shee led to the slaughter or not far from it When her innocency coulde not be her shield but though shee were free from crime and God and man might iustly have cleared her yet shee was not free from suspicion When she feared that the scaffolde of the Lady Iane stood for an other tragedie wherein her selfe should haue plaide the wofullest part Since which almost despaired escapes but that her time as David spake and her soule was in the handes of that Lord who deposeth and setteth vp Princes how it hath fared vvith her both at home and abroade we al know partly from trayterous and false-hearted Achitophels which haue served her with an hearte and an hearte partely from the bloudy bishops of Rome and their pernicious seminaries as full of mischiefe to Christendome as ever the Troian horse to the inhabitants of Troy partly from the king of Spaine whose study long hath beene to bee the Monarke of Europe of whom it is true that they spake of another Philippe of Macedon that hee bought the more part of Greece before hee conquered it so he buyeth countries before he winneth them and would doe that by his Indian gold which will be little ease for him to doe by men They haue long maliced her and I trust long shall and malice shall doe the nature of malice that is drinke out the marrowe and moysture of those that foster it and bring their devises vpon their owne heades as Nadab and Abihu were consumed with the fire of their owne censors So long as Salus Iehovae endureth which is as long as Iehovâ—h himselfe our hope shall not perish He hath even sworne by his holinesse as he did to David his servaunt not to faile Queene Elizabeth He that prevented her with liberall blessings before shee tooke the scepter into
table to that that followeth Wherein the repentance of Niniveh is first rough hewen and afterwardes revised and gone over againe with more speciall explication For thus it hangeth togither If you will knowe vvhat the people of Niniveh did vpon this strange and vnexpected newes they doubted nothing either of the word or of his calling that brought it but from the greatest to the least olde and young princes and inferiours all orders and states of men they both beleeved the reporte and became spectacles to God and men and angels of admirable contrition condemning themselues in those two thinges especially whereof the whole world might iustly haue condemned them luxuriousnes of meates and drinkes and costlinesse of garmentes But if you will know their order of proceeding more particularly thus it was 1. Worde came vnto the king as to the most excellent power and authority amongst them 2. the king calleth a councell of the princes and peeres as being the pillars of his governement for where there are many counsellors there is strength 3. the king and his counsaile make an acte touching fasting and praier and renouncement of sinne 4. they cause it to bee proclaimed in manner and forme as afterwarde followeth 5. for encouragemente and example to the rest the Kinge is the first man that humbleth himselfe So that in trueth their soveraigne and liege-Lord is first made privie to their service intended wherein for mine own parte simply to speake my minde as one that must giue accompt what I haue built vpon my maisters foundation whether golde silver hay stubble or the like for both my workes and my words must be tryed by fire though I make no question if the prince shoulde be backewarde and carelesse in the worshippe of God but God must be served and so I would wish it yet in a common cause concerning the weale and well-fare of the whole common wealth where it lyeth vpon all sortes of men alike to doe some extraordinary worship to God as the case of Niniveh heere required I holde it a point of disorder and confusion that the foot should run without the head the people or inferiours doe any thing in publique wherevnto the knowledge and authorizement of the prince is not first had Giue vnto Caesar the thinges that belong to Caesar and giue him this for one amongst the rest if Caesar bee willing and ready to ioine with thee in the honor of God leaue him not out I would not open this gate of libertie to any subiect or people in the worlde with whome Christ and his kingdome are harboured that in a common daunger of a country when God is to bee pacified and the land purdged in generall the private members thereof may enter into the action without the vvarrant of the prince both to commaunde and direct the same If such were the king as Darius was Daniell 6. and such his rulers and officers as woulde make a decree to defraude God of his worshippe that whosoever shoulde make a petition to anie either God or man â—n thirtie daies saue onelie to the kinge shoulde bee cast into the denne of the Lyons then be thou also as Daniell was enter into thine house and open thy vvindowes towardes Ierusalem and pray or enter into the house of God and set open the dores and pray or goe into the corners of the streetes or into the market place or climbe vp to the house toppes and pray stay not till the king or his councel release thee therto and if every haire of thy head were a life redeeme thy dutye to God with adventure and losse thereof rather then neglect it and if thou hap to be alone in that action as Elias was yet forgoe it not But if such be the king as Iosias was or the like and such his Princes and officers as make decrees for the worshippe of God and are more wise then thy selfe to knowe the dandger of the state and as zealous to prevent it whatsoeuer thou doest in private betwixt thy selfe and thine owne spirite thy selfe and thine owne houshold yet gather no open assembly sanctifie no publique fast call not to sacke-cloath and mourning before the magistrate haue decreed it It may be a presumption of thine owne zeale an affectation of singularitye a commending and preaching of thy selfe vnto the people but sure I am it is a censure by consequence and a iudgement vnder hande against the rest of thy brethren that they are over-colde in religion a preiudice against the magistrate that he is to slacke a breach of obedience to the powers that God hath ordained and the mother of Anarchie and confusion which within a christian common wealth must carefully be shunned In many the daungers of our lande both at home and abroade many the members and subiects thereof as if our countrey had no more oratours and there were none to stande in the gappe but themselues haue assembled togither either in townes or in hamlets and sometimes in a private house to fast and pray before the Lorde Their humbling of themselues in such sorte confessing of sinnes offering of their heartes in devout supplication singing of Psalmes prophecying in course from morning till evening as they are plausible exercises in the sight of men so I vvill not saye the contrary but full of Godlinesse and Christianity But vnder correction of better knovvledge and iudgemente I thinke that obedience and loue had beene better then all this sacrifice and that thus to minishe the authority of the magistrate by preventing his decree and controlling as it were his governement and to giue sentence against all the children of the lande besides of negligence and vnmindefulnesse in Gods affaires may more offende then their service or devotion can doe good otherwise Much more seemely it vvere that as the Apostle exhorteth the Corinthians not the one to prevent the other vvhen they come to the supper of the Lorde vvhich is a sacrament of communion and fellowshippe so in a calamitie of the realme when all the iointes thereof are disquieted and haue neede to bee salved and holpen by the saving-health of GOD that all mighte concurre and agree for seeking that remedie that the people might stay for the magistrates magistrates lead the people the prophets preach and denounce the king and his counsaile enact and all put in practise that a whole burnt offering might bee made vnto the Lorde from the highest to the lowest a solemne dedication of every person and state that the land hath And as Ierusalem was commended for her building so we for our praying and fasting a people at vnity within our selues vvhere neither the greatest nor the least are excluded But of the nature of a publique fast hereafter Meane-while the dangerous conclusions that haue and might haue ensued out of this maxime to weete that in matters belonging to God wee are not bounde to expect or respect the magistrate make me the more warie and scrupulous in handling this point
death is I cannot bee daunted by the malignitye of anye disease VVherefore as Christ admonished the church of Thyatira so I in the name of Christ exhort you that vvhich you haue alreadye holde fast till hee come Let not your hope and consolations in the mercies of GOD bee taken from you let others for their pleasure and for want of better groundes because they leane vpon a staffe of reede masses merites indulgences the like make shipwracke of this sweete article and bee carued away as the windes and seaes of their owne opinions shall driue them till they finde some other haven to rest in But shall ever raigne and beare the scepter in our consciences as an article of that price without the which our liues are not deare vnto vs· The sunne may bee vnder a cloude at times but feare not it vvill shine againe the may fire be buried vnder ashes but it vvill breake forth the arke may bee taken by the Philistines but it shall bee restored to Israell and these heavenlye perswasions may sometimes bee assaulted and battered but they shall eftsoones returne vnto vs. I dare affirme that there was never elect soule vpon the earth redeemed by the bloud and sanctified by the spirit of God but hath drunke largelye of these comfortes wherof I speake and then their largest draught when they haue most thirsted after it that howsoever their life hath beene tempered of good bad daies and good againe as those that are helde with agues of honour and dishonour health and sicknesse warre and peace ioy and heavinesse yet the betrer of these two conditions hath ever had the later and the vpper hand and to haue ended their liues I say not in their beddes but vnder a showre of stones as Steven did or by the sworde of a tyrant or amongst the teeth of wilde beastes hath beene no more vnto them than if a ripe figge had beene pluckte from the tree which it grewe vpon For they haue gone avvaye with a sentence of peace in their lippes as the doue came backe to the arke with an oliue branch Christ is my life death mine advantage Thus much of the Phrase who knoweth if God will returne The matter which they hope for in a worde and to conclude is the mercy of God In the explication whereof they vse an order of wordes 1. that God must returne as if hee were nowe absente and had withdrawen himselfe from them 2. that God must repent not by changing his minde but by callinge in the decree vvhich vvas gone forth 3. that the furie of his wrath must be pacified Lastly to this ende that destruction may bee averted from them as much as to say if God vouchsafe not his presence vnto vs or if hee holde his former intendment or if the heate of his fierce wrath be not quenched wee are sure to perish And so it fareth vvith vs all that except the Lorde doe illighten vs with his favourable and gracious countenance except hee apply himselfe with his whole heart and with all his soule as it is in Ieremy to doe vs good and vnlesse the fire of his anger bee drowned in the bowelles of compassion and his rage burning downe to hell bee swallowed vp into pitty aboue the cloudes what else can follow but the wracke of our bodyes and soules the eversion of our houses and families and vtter desolation to townes citties and entire countries Therefore let vs beseech God that hee ever vouchsafe to dwell with vs as he sometimes dwelt in the bush to change his cursing into blessings to quench his deserved wrath kindled like a whole river of brimstone with his streames of grace that it may bee well with vs and our children our whole land and our last end may be that which is the end and conclusion of the kings edict that wee perish not THE XXXIX LECTVRE Chap. 3. vers 10. And God saw their workes that they turned from their evill waies THE grounde which the people of Niniveh tooke for repentance was faith which although it appeareth by their manner of speech having scruple vncerteinty in it to have beene an vnperfect faith not throughly strengthned and fighting as yet against the horrour of their owne sinnes and terrour of Gods iudgements yet an vnperfect faith is faith more or lesse and the best that ever were have not escaped such distractions and disquietinges of their soules and when they have wrastled a time against the adversarye powers they have returned with the victory and have set vp their banners of triumph in the name and vertue of the Lord of hostes their foundations are in the holy hilles not in the vallies of their owne infirmities for then they must despaire but in the might and mercye of almightye God which stande for ever The matter of their faith consisting of foure members three of them appertaining to God his returne repentance and leaving of his fierce wrath the fourth and last to themselves I went over in hast and will briefly repeate vnto you 1. They beleeved that God might returne and vouchsafe them his presence and company againe taken from the manner of men who in their anger and displeasure forsake the verye place where their eye-sore lyeth and being reconciled vse it for an argument of their revived frendshippe to returne to those houses which they had forsaken So saith God Ose◠5. I vvill goe and returne to my place till they acknowledge their faultes and seeke mee In their affliction they will seeke mee diligently and say come let vs returne vnto the Lorde So they depart from God and God from them They withdraw their obedience hee his blessinges and although he bee in the middest of them nearer than their flesh to their spirites yet by any demonstration of love they cannot perceave his presence God was ever in Niniveh no doubt by his essence his power his overlooking providence for in him they lived mooved and alvvaies had their being but hee vvas not in Niniveh by grace by the guiding and goverment of his holy spirit neither by speciall favour assistance hee had fotsaken their citty and consciences as thorny vnprofitable ground fitter for idols and abominations than for himselfe to dwell in 2. They beleeved that God might repent which is also borrowed from the affections of men whose māner is to be sory in their harts for their former displeasure conceived and to wish it had never bin and asmuch as possible they may to revoke vvhatsoever in the heat thereof they had determined The 3. is consequent to the former for if he returne and repent his anger must needes bee remooved Al these motions either of the body in going from place to place or of the soule in altering her passions are attributed vnto vs truly but vnto God in no other māner than may stand with the nature and honour of his vnmooueable maiesty Now lastly where God is departed and
draw my speech into a narrower coÌ„passe As Paul witnesseth of himselfe 2. Cor. 12. so he both spent and was spent amongst you You caÌ„nnot truly say of him Ditavimus Abrahamum we haue made Abraham rich he hath not a shoe-thread more thaÌ„ he brought at his first comming P. Scipio being called by the Senate to giue an account of his administration in Afâ—icke made aunswere thus for himselfe Whereas I haue subdued all Africke to your government I haue brought away nothing therehence that may bee called mine but onely a sirname What hath this reverend Prelate gained and carried away vvith him by continuing amongst you these many yeares saue onely the name of an Archbishope In the consideration of whose estate I cannot but remember a speech that Cato vsed in A. Gellius I haue neither house nor plate nor any garment of price in mine handes If I have any thinge I vse it if not I know who I am The worlde blameth mee for wantinge manye thinges and I them that they know not hovv to want I neede not apply the speech But vvill you haue the reason of all this Nepotianus noster aurum calcans schedulas consectatur Our Nepotian conteÌ„ned gold and wholy gaue himselfe to follow his study And I am sure the commendation is that which Bernard gaue to Martin in his 4. of consideration Nonne alterius secâ—res est transire per terram auri sine auro Is it not an heavenly disposition and fit for the other vvorld to liue in a countrey where a man may be rich and not gather riches Now touching the other member of my speech his travaile and paines in his function hee delt both the gospell of Christ and himselfe amongst you whose saying ever was that which hee also tooke from a famous light of this land One that was Iulium sydus a Iewell of his age vvhere shoulde a preacher die but in the pulpit Oporteâ— imperatorâ—m in acie stantem mori a Generall must die in the field vpon his feete and surely hee thoroughly perfourmed it For when the infirmity of his body was such that the least moving and stirring thereof by travaile drew his bloud from him even then he drew out his breasts and fed you with the milke of Gods most holye vvorde whereas the Dragons of the vvildernesse are cruell in their best health and regard not their young ones Lastly which is the last of all because the end is both triall and perfection and in this sense Vnus dies par omni One day is as much as all the rest for it is aterninatalis the birth day of eternity and as the tree falleth so it lyeth and as we goe out of this life so wee shal bee restored to that other that you may not thinke he did as the manner of feastes is at the beginning set forth good wine and then that which is worse or that he kept one hoofe backe from the full sacrifice I will shortly repeat vnto you what his end was Wherein I must vse that protestation before that Seneca somwhere vsed Nunquam par fuit imitator authori There is no equality betwixt one that imitateth and the author himselfe and a thing done by way of repetition and rememoration must needes come short of the truth Notwithstanding this I can constantly affirme in generall that all other cares and consultations which the world might haue drawne him vnto laid aside and not so much as named he only applied himselfe to make some profession promulgation of his faith Which he rathest chose to doe as the Apostle speaketh Act. 10. not to all the people but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to vs witnesses then Chaplaines in his house chosen of God to the same dispensation of the faith wherein himselfe had beene His speach was to this effect I haue sent for you to this end that before my departure I might giue some testimony of that faith wherein I haue hitherto lived and am now to die What I haue received of the Lord that I haue ever delivered I haue red much written much often disputed preached often yet never could I finde in the booke of God any grouÌ„d for Popery neither haue I knowne any point of doctrine received in the church of England that is not consonant vnto the word of God VVherefore he exhorted me my colleague beeing then absent to continue in that building wherein I had already laide my foundation and because I was nowe his ghostly father which was the vnworthy name a father bestowed vpon me a childe in comparison required that I would not neglect to repaire vnto him twise or thrise before his ending I told him that having often in his life ministred so good comfortes to others he could not want comfort to himselfe He graÌ„ted it but because omnis homo mendax wherein we tooke his meaning to be that a man might flatter and beguile himselfe therefore he a gaine required my resort vnto him I replied that I thought it the best and I feared would be the last service that ever I shoulde doe vnto him Howbeit the comfortes which I had to giue I coulde but powre into the outwarde eares and that it must be the spirit of God which inwardly comforteth the conscience To this his auÌ„swere was The spirit of God doth assure my spirit that I am the childe of God I yet proceeded You haue seene long peace and many good daies in Israell I hope also shall depart in peace and leaue peace behinde you Neither know I any thing in the world wherewith your conscience should be troubled He finally concluded I die in perfite peace of conscience both with God and man So he licensed me to depart not willing he said to trouble me any more at that time Indeede it was the last trouble that ever in breath he put me vnto For the next entraÌ„ce I made was iustly to receiue his last and deepest gaspe Of whome what concerneth mine owne private estate I say no more but as Phillip said of Hipparchus being gone He died in good time for himselfe but to me to soone Thus he that was ever honourable in the vvhole race of his life was not without honour at his death For as Sophocles commeÌ„ded Philoctetes at what time he was killed himselfe he killed others gloriously Hee fought a good fight both in defence of the faith and in expugnation of heresies schismes seditions which infest the Church I call that labour of his because hee made none other at that time his last will and testament Wherein the particular legacies which he bequeathed were these 1. To my selfe which I holde more precious than the finest gold fatherly exhortation to go forward in plaÌ„ting the gospel of Christ which I had begun 2. To the Papists wholsoÌ„e admonitioÌ„ to relinquish their errours having no grouÌ„d in the scriptures And let theÌ„ wel advise theÌ„selues that at such a time when there is no cause to suspect
of a fierce countenance and vnknowne language all the commoâ—ions and perturbations of kingdomes invasions of kings one vpon the others dominions rebellions of subiectes and so much of Christendome at this day buried in the very bowels of Turcisme and infidelity yea the extirpation of the Iews and planting of the Gentiles vpon their stocke and hereafter the casting out of the Gentiles and filling of the Iewes againe they are al rightly and orderly derived from the former cause For the sins of the people the princes the people themselues the government the policy the religion the peace the plenty of the land shal often be chandged We haue long and faithfully preached against your sinnes the dissolvers you see of kingdomes common weales that if it were possible we might bring them also to their periode and set some number and end of them VVill you not be made cleane when shall it once be But if our preachings cannot mooue you he that in times past at sundry times and in sundry manners spake vnto our fathers hath also sundry voices and sundry kindes of preachers to speake vnto you You heare that the chandge of a Prince is one of his Preachers It shall preach more sorrow vnto you more wringing of your hands rending of your harts than ever erst you were acquainted with Remember the vision that Michaeas saw all Israell scattered like sheepe because their king was taken from them and thinke how wofull a day it will bee when this faithfull shepheard of ours which hath fed her Iacob with a true heart Formosi pecoris Custos formâ—sior ipsa an happy Queene of an happy people the Lord yet saving both her vs with the healthfull power of his right hand shall be pulled from vs. Wee haue hitherto lived in peace equall to that in the daies of Augustus such as our fathers never sawe the like and vvhen wee shall tell our childrens children to come thereof they will not beleeue it VVe haue sitten at ease vnder the shaddowe of our vines nay vnder the shaddow of this vine wee haue shaded solaced our selues and lived by her sweetnes But it may fall out that as when the Emperour Pertinax was dead they cried with redoubled showtes into the aire till they were able to cry no longer while Pertinax lived and governed wee lived in safety and feared no man so wee may send our late and helpelesse complaintes into heaven O well were wee in the daies of Queene Elizabeth when perfite peace was the walles of our country and the malice of the enemy prevailed not against vs. The sword of a forrein foe bandes and captivitye is an other of his preachers Will you not feele the warnings of Gods wrath till the yron haue entred into your soules and drawne bloud after it you knovv vvho it is that hangeth over your heades of vvhome and other princes I may say as they said in Athens of Demades and Demosthenes their oratours Demosthenes is meete for Athens iustly assised and fitted to the city Demades over-great so vvhen other kinges holde themselues contended vvith their kingdomes he is too greate for Spaine and many other kingdomes and Dukedomes cannot suffice him but he yet devoureth in hope all the dominions of Christendome and drinketh downe with vnsatiable thirst the conceipt of a Monarch and for this cause there is a busye spirite gone forth in the mouthes of all his Prophets Vnus Deus vnus Papa vnus rex Christianismi Magnus rex Catholicus vniversalis There is but one God one Poâ—e one King of Christendome the greate and Catholicke and vniversall Kinge Hee hath once already buckled his harnesse vnto him with ioye and assured presumption of victory But they that pulled it of by out-stretched arme of one more mighty than himselfe more reioyced God graunt that they bee not found in England vvho haue saide vpon that happye and miraculous event in discomfiting his forces vvee vvill trust in our bovves and our svvordes and speares shall heereafter deliver vs. There touching of late in Cornevvale the vtmost skirt of our lande no doubt vvas some little vvarning from God But it vvas no more vnto vs than if the skirt of our cloake had beene cutte avvay as it vvas to Saule vvee say our skinne is not yet rased The commotion in Irelande thoughe a quicker and more sensible admonition is but a dagger held to our side and till the pointe thereof sticke in our heart till there bee firing of our tovvnes ransackinge of our houses dashinge of our infants against the stones in the streetes vvee vvill not regarde O cease to incense the iealous God of heaven Turne not his grace and mercie into wantonnes Let not his strength bee an occasion vnto you to make you vainely confident nor his peace licenciouslye secure nor the abundance of his goodnesse abundant and intolerable in transgressing his lawes And if there were no other reason to make you tremble before his face yet do it for your owne politicke good because you are threatned by a deadly enimy vvho accompteth himselfe the cedar and vs but the thistle in Libanon and whose povver is not contemptible though God hath often cast him downe Neveuiant Romani auferant regnum à nobis at least that the Romanes and Spaniardes for they are brethren in this case come not vpon vs by the righteous sufferaunce of our God and take away our kingdome Surely our sinnes call for a skourdge and they shall receaue one For they even whip and torment the patience of God The arrowes of death are prepared against vs and they shall shine with our gall if with humble repentance we prevent them not Our pride calleth for humiliation shee is ascended on high and asketh who shall fetch me downe yet I haue red of those whose wimples and calles and perewigges haue beene turned into nakednes and baldnes and they haue run too and fro smiting their breastes and tearing the haire of their heades suffering it to be blowne about their eares with the wind and not regarding to bind it vp so much as with an haire-lace Our clocks are not vvell kept nor our chimneyes good which I haue heard to be two signes of a well ordered common wealth that is our hours are mispent our callings not followed and the breathing of the chimneies is choked vp hospitalitie and reliefe to the poore almost banished The poorer haue had their plagues already skarsitie of bread within these few yeares often renewed Their teeth haue beene cleanâ— and white through want of food when yours haue beene furred with excesse of meats and drinkes But rich men gentlemen looke also for your draught in the cup of the Lord either some mortal sickenes to your bodies to eate vp your flesh as you haue eaten others and then whose shall these thinges bee which with so much sweat of your browes carefulnes of heart wracke of conscience breach of charitie wrong to humane
societies you haue laid togither â—or some barbarous and vnmercifull souldior to lay open your hedges reape your fields rifle your coffers levell your houses with the ground and empty you and yours out of all your possessions as you haue emptied your poore neighbours Your mercilesse mony exactions you the infamous vsurers of the North of England you the Iewes Iudases of our land that would sell Christ for mony if hee were amongst you you the engrossers of graine in this time of death and withall the engrossers of your owne woes on whom the curse of the poore lighteth ratified in heaven for not bringing forth your corne you that adde affliction to affliction and strengthen the hand of penury amongst vs vse the talents of the Lord not your owne pounds to the honourable advauntage of your maister and the durable gaine of your soules least ye become the vsurers of his vengance and receiue the wages of your vnfaithfulnesse an hundreth-fold The land mourneth because of other and they shall mourne that cause her heavinesse ConteÌ„pt of God will take away our Gods of the earth atheisme anarchy confusion of all estates mingling of heade and foote will goe togither O pray for the peace of Ierusalem Pray for the peace of England Let praiers and supplications be made for all people especially for Christian kings most especiallie for our soveraigne Lady and Mistresse Let vs feare God and all the enemies of the world even the kingdome of darknes shall feare vs. Let not our sinnes reigne and our Queene shall long reigne over vs. Buy the length of her life with your silver and gold you that are rich in this world rich in this lande distribute to the poore scatter for Gods sake God that seeth from aboue will be mindfull of your good deedes and prolong her Maiesties daies Humble your selues in time you high-minded and high-lookt that her horne may be exalted and her roote flourish amongst vs yet manie yeares Traitours forbeare at length to plot your treasons which haue long bred never brought forth The Lord is king and his hand-maide is Queene bee the earth never so impatient Time-serving hypocrites lay downe your dissimulations How long will you halt betweene Rome and England Rebels forsake and resigne your vnlawfull armes Say not as those seditious did vvhat parte haue we in the sonne of David the sonne of David shall prevaile the daughter of King Henry prosper in all her waies vvhen your heades shall lie low enough and your swordes shall haue drunke their fill of your owne flesh Let it suffice you the vntamed broode of our lande to haue blotted your memories with none other censure than that which is written in the booke of God that a band of souldiours follovved Saul whose harts the Lorde had touched but they were wicked that cried howe shall he save vs And you my beloved brethren and the true children of England knit your soules and tongues togither as if you were one man say with a strong vnited cry a perfite heart that God may regard it from aboue O Lord preserue Queene Elizabeth And let AMEN even the faithfull witnes of heaven the worde truth of his father say Amen vnto it Even so Lord Iesu AmeÌ„ Amen harken to the praiers of they servants that goe not our from fained lippes let her ever be as neam vnto thee as the signet vpon thy finger as deare as the apple of thine eie as tender as thine owne bowels water her with theÌ„ deaw of heaven as the goodliest plant that ever our country bare hide her like a chosen shafte in the quiver of thy carefullest providence and giue her a long life ever for ever and ever Amen Vix totâ vitâ indices Senec. Oâ—erat discentem turba non instruit Jd. Eccles. Vlâ— Eccles. 1. Scribimus indocti doctique Pers. Poscimus indocti doctique Act. 17. Chap. 13. Soles acceptior esse sermo vivus quà m scriptus Bernard A mortuâ pelle ad hominem vivum recurre Gregor Laudare se vani vitu perare stulti Aristot. apud Valer. Max. Lib. 7. Ca. 2. Nihil egi sine Theseis Nihil nostrum omnia Iuvenal Cantic vlt. Quid sinâ— dicant qui possunt duÌ„modo quod dicunt probare valeaÌ„t August enchirid cap. 38. 1. Chro. 12. 1. Sam. 18. Vnus Cato mihi pro ceÌ„tum millibus Plato instar omnium Luke 5. Aul. Gell. noct Attic. 13.5 Revel 4. Revel 21. Proverb 8. Psal. 119. Math. 23. Verba innumerabilia vnum tantùm verbum omnia Hugo de arca Noe. Seneca Gregor 〈…〉 Gregor in moral Hieron The argumeÌ„t of the prophecie Psal. 145. Onmis latitudo scripturaâ—um Non tantùm auri massas tollunt veâ—ùm bracteolas parâ—as Chrys. hom 1. ad pop Antio Chap. 1. Praeco mittitur missus contemnit contemnens fugio fugiâ—â— dormis c. Jsidor lib. de patrib veâ— testamen The text And The word Psal. 119. Of the Lorde Luke 1. Came. Zach. 1. Nee verbum ab intentione quia veritas nec factum à verbo quia virtus est Bern. homil 4. super Missus est 2 Pet. 1. Rom. 11. 1 The commission 1. King 1â— Revel 2. Zach. 13. Revel 2. Rom. 10. Heb. 5. Esai 6. Actes 19. 1. King 22. 2 King â— Ier. 2â— Ier. 23. Ezech. 1â— Iud. 3. Actes 19. Zeph. 1. Zach. 13. 2. Sam. 20. Deut. 18. 2. Sam. 12. Revel 12. 2. The persoÌ„ charged 2 King 14. 1 King 17. Ier. 44. Esai 4â— Luke 4. 1. Sam. 19. Jn Moriae encomio Subtilitates plusquam Chrysippea et ultra-muÌ„danae Id. Loc. Theol. 12.5 Iob 5. 3 The matter of the commissioÌ„ Ier. 1. Ezech. 2. Genes 4. Nah. 3. Arise and goe Iob. 7. Gen. 47. Wisd. 15. Mat. 20. Vulgo dictuÌ„ precio ac pecuniis datis brachiae effracta sunt Zach. 1. 1 Thes. 5. Ezech. 38. Eccle. 33. Gen. 3. 2. Thes. 3. Ioh. 4. Gen. 2. Gen. 3â— Prou. 26. 1. Sam. 3. Prov. 24. To Niniveh Gualter in Ion. 2. King 19. Ar. Mont. 1. Reason Deut. 20. 2. Sam. 20. Luke 10 Homil 15. Nisi gehenna intentata esset omnes in gehennaÌ„ laberemur Non ergo minus quod semper dico dei provideÌ„tiam gehenna commendat quà m promissio regni Homil. 5. ad pop Antioch 2. Reason Zach. 8. Math. 1. Zach. 14. 3. Reason Esai 16. 4 Reason Math. 12. Math. 21. ConclusioÌ„ Luke 10. Act. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luc. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 20. Psal. 68. That great city Chap. 1â— Anius vpoÌ„ Berosus Raph. Volâ—â—â—ter 6. Natur. hist 13. Ar. Mont. Iun. Trii Diodor. Siâ— Strabo Paulus de Palatio vpoÌ„ Ionas Two reasoÌ„s why Niniveh is so commenâ—ded Chap. 20. Affectum inquirit non factum exigit Ambros. de patriarch Chap. 2. Math. 12. Act. 12. Act. 21. 1. Pet. 4. 2. Pet. 1. Num. 1â— Esai 40. Chap. 3. Ibid. August 8. dâ— civi dei 23. Chap. 18. Vrbâ— aeterna Lament 2. Ibid. 4. Ierem.