voyces are our owne that therefore wee may bestow them as wee list neither must wee suffer our selues in a matter of this nature to bee carryed by fauour faction spight hope feare importunity or any other corrupt and partiall respect from those Rules which ought to leuell our choyce But wee must conferre our voyces and our best furtherance otherwise vpon those whom all things duly considered we conceiue to bee the fittest and the greater the place is and the more the power is wee giue vnto them and from our selues the greater ought our care in voycing to bee It is true indeed when wee haue vsed all our best care and proceeded with the greatest caution wee can wee may be deceiued and make an vnworthy choyce For wee cannot iudge of mens fitnesse by any demonstratiue certaintie all we can doe is to goe vpon probabilities which can yeeld at the most but a coniecturall certainty full of vncertainty Men ferè maxima pars morem hunc homines habēt quod sibi volunt Dum id impetrant boni sunt sed id vbi iam penes sese habent Ex bonis pessimi fraudulentissimi sunt Plaut in Capt. 2.1 Omnes candidatos bonos viros dicimus Senec. Epist. 3. ambitious and in appetite till they haue obtained their desires vse to dissemble those vices which might make a stop in their preferments which hauing once gotten what they fished for they bewray with greater freedome and they vse likewise to make a shew of that zeale and forwardnesse in them to doe good which afterwards commeth to iust nothing Absolon to steale away the hearts of the people though hee were euen then most vnnaturally vniust in his purposes against a father and such a father yet hee made shew of much compassion to the iniured and of a great desire to doe iustice d 2 Sam. 15.4 O saith hee that I were made a Iudge in the Land that euery man that hath any suite or cause might come vnto mee and I would doe him iustice And yet I doubt not but if things had so come to passe he would haue beene as bad as the worst When the Roman Souldiers had in a tumult proclaimed Galba Emperour they thought they had done a good dayes worke euery man promised himselfe so much good of the new Emperour But when he was in he proued no better than those that had beene before him One giueth this censure of him e Tacit. lib. 1. histor Omnium consensu capax imperij nisi imperasset he had beene a man in euery mans iudgement worthy to haue beene Emperour if he had not beene Emperour and so shewed himselfe vnworthy f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dictum Biantis apud Aristot. 5. Ethic 3. Magistratus indicat virum is a common saying and a true Wee may ghesse vpon likelihoods what they will bee when wee choose them but the thing it selfe after they are chosen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plutarch in Cicerone sheweth the certainty what they are But this vncertainty should bee so farre from making vs carelesse in our choyce that it should rather adde so much the more to our care to put things so hazzardous as neere as we can out of hazzard Now those very Rules §. 23. according to the said foure Properties that must direct them to gouerne must direct vs also to choose And namely an eye would be had to the foure Properties specified in my Text. The First a Zeale of Iustice and a Delight therein Seest thou a man carelesse of the common good one that palpably preferreth his owne before the publique weale one that loueth his a nec vulgi cura tyranni Dum sua sit modò tuta salus Valer. Flace 5. Argonant ease so well that hee careth not which way things goe backward or forward so hee may sit still and not be troubled one that would diuide honorem ab onere bee proud of the honour and title and yet loath to vndergoe the enuie and burthen that attendeth them set him aside Neuer thinke that mans roabes will doe well vpon him A Iusticeship or other office would sit vpon such a mans backe as handsomely as b 1 Sam. 17.39 Sauls armour did vpon Dauids vnweildy and sagging about his shoulders so as he could not tell how to stirre and turne himselfe vnder it Hee is a fit man to make a Magistrate of that will put on righteousnesse as a garment and cloath himselfe with iudgement as with a Robe and a Diadem The second Property is Compassion on the poore Seest thou a man destitute of counsell and vnderstanding a man of forlorne hopes or estate and in whom there is no helpe or one that hauing either counsell or helpe in him is yet a churle of either but especially one that is sore in his bargaines cruell in his dealings hard to his Tenants or an Oppressour in any kinde Take none of him Sooner commit a flocke of sheepe to a c O praeclarum custodem ouium vt aiunt lupum custosue vrbis an direptor vexator esset Antonius Cic. Philipp 3. Wolfe than a Magistracie or office of iustice to an d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iamblich apud Stob. Serm. 41. Oppressour Such a man is more likely to put out the eyes of him that seeth than to be eyes to the blinde and to breake the bones of the strong than to be legges to the lame and to turne the fatherlesse a begging than to be a father to the poore The third Property is Diligence to search out the truth Seest thou a man hasty and rash and heady in his owne businesses a man impatient of delay or paines one that cannot e Prou. 29 11. conceale what is meet till it be seasonable to vtter it but poureth out all his heart at once and before the time one that is easily possest with what is first told him or being once possest will not with any reason bee perswaded to the contrary one that lendeth eare so much to some particular friend or follower as to belieue any information from him not any but from him one that to be counted a man of dispatch loueth to make an end of a businesse before it be ripe suspect him Hee will scarce haue the Conscience or if that yet not the wit or not the patience to search out the cause which hee knoweth not The last Property is Courage to execute Seest thou a man first of a f degeneres animos timor arguit Virgil. 4. Aeneid timorous nature and cowardly disposition or secondly of a wauering and fickle minde as we say of children wonne with an apple and lost with a nut or thirdly that is apt to be wrought vpon or moulded into any forme with faire words friendly inuitations or complementall gloses or fourthly that dependeth vpon some great man whose vassall or creature hee is or fiftly a taker and one that may bee dealt withall for that is now the
seemeth to doe the counterfeit humiliation of such a wretched Hypocrite as we now suppose Ahab to be For the clearing of this difficultie §. 23. and how it may consist with the holinesse of God first let it be granted which I take to be a certaine truth and for anie thing I know neuer yet gaine said by any that Ahab not onely before and after but euen in the act and at the instant of this humiliation was an Hypocrite Let it be granted secondly which is the thing vrged in the doubt that this humiliation of his being performed but in hypocrisie was not acceptable to God as a good worke but abominable before him as a foule sinne But yet withall it must be granted thirdly that although Ahab did not well in not being humbled with an vpright heart yet he had done much worse if he had not bin humbled at all and that therefore there was though no true spirituall goodnesse yet some outward morall goodnesse in Ahabs humiliation at least so farre forth as a thing lesse euil may in comparison of a worser thing be termed good And then are we to know fourthly that it may stand with Gods holinesse as it doth with his goodnesse and iustice to reward outward good things with outward good things and morall and temporary graces with worldly and temporall blessings as here he rewardeth Ahabs temporarie and external humiliation with an outward temporall fauour viz. the adiourning of an outward temporall judgement That which hence we would obserue is §. 24 Obseru 3. concerning the reward of common graces That God rewardeth sometimes common graces with common favours temporary obedience with temporall beneficence This is proued vnto vs first from the generall course of Gods justice and his promise grounded vpon that justice to reward euery man according to his workes To which iustice of his and to which promise of his it is agreable as to recompence Spirituall good things with eternall so to recompence a Quibus non erat Deus daturas vita naeternam si neque hanc eis terrenam gloriam concederet non redderetur merces bonis ar tibus corum id est virtutibus quibus Augustin 5. de Ciuit. 15. Morall good things with temporall rewards Secondly from speciall expresse warrant of Scripture In Matth. 6. Christ saith of Hypocrites more than once that b Math. 6.25.16 they haue their reward As in the doing of their seeming good workes they ayme especially at the vaine prayse and commendation of men so they haue the full reward of those workes in the vaine prayse commendation of men Though they haue no right vnto nor reason to looke for a reward hereafter in heauen yet they haue their reward such as it is and all they are like to haue here vpon earth Thirdly from particular examples of such as haue bin temporally rewarded for temporall graces To omit c intelligimus etiam Ethnicos si quid boni fecerint non absque mercede Dei judiciâ— praeterriri Hieron in Ezek 29. God euen among the Heaâ—hen haâ—h often rewarded morall honesty with outward happinesse W. Ral. hist of World lib. 2. cap. 8. §. 3. Heathens as viz. Aristides Cyrus c. for Iustice Bias Diogenes c. for contempt of the world Codrus Regulus c. for loue of their countrey and zeale to the common good and sundry others for other good things whose morall vertues are herein amply rewarded if there were nothing else but this that their names and memories haue bin preserued in histories and renowned throughout the world in all succeeding generations I say to omit these Heathens we haue examples in Scripture of Ahab here of d 4 Kin. 10.30 Iehu of the e Ion. 3.10 Nineuites of others elsewhere who for their temporary obedience zeale repentance the like were rewarded partly by temporall blessings vpon themselues and their posteritie partly by the remoueal or adiournall of temporall punishments which otherwise had speedily ouertaken them Fourthly from the greater to the lesse God sometimes temporally rewardeth the seruices of such men as are but bruta instrumenta brute instruments of his will and prouidence such as are imployed by him for the bringing about of his most holy and secret purposes Citra rationem finis aut eorum quae ad finem in the doing of such things as they doe without the least mixture in their owne purpose and intent of any respect at all to God or his ends but meerely for the satisfying of their owne corrupt lusts and the atchieuing of their owne priuate ends A notable example whereof we haue in Gods dealing with Nabuchadnezzar in Ezek. 29. where the word of the Lord commeth to Ezekiel saying f Ezek. 29.18 19.20 Son of man Nabuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serue a great seruice against Tyrus euery head was made bald and euery shoulder was peeled yet had he no wages nor his army for Tyrus for the seruice that he had serued against it Therefore thus saith the Lord God behold I will giue the land of Egypt to Nabuchadnezzar king of Babylon and he shall take her multitude and it shall be wages for his army I haue giuen him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he serued against Tyrus because they wrought for me saith the Lord God In which place we see Egypt is giuen to Nabuchadnezzar as a reward for the seruice he did against Tyrus because therein though he neither intended any such thing nor so much as knew it he yet was the instrument to worke Gods purpose vpon and against Tyrus And then how much more will God reward temporally the seruices and obedience of such as purposely and knowingly endeauour an outward conformity vnto the holy will and pleasure of God though with strong and predominant mixture of their owne corrupt appetites and ends therwithall §. 25. with sundry Reasons therof Now the Reasons why God should thus outwardly reward the outward workes of Hypocrites are First the manifestation of his owne Goodnesse that wee might know how willing hee is to cherish the least sparke of any goodnesse in any man be it naturall or morall or what euer other goodnesse it be that he might thereby encourage vs so to labour the improuement of those good things in vs as to make our selues capable of greater rewards Secondly his Iustice and equity in measuring vnto sinners and Hypocrites exactly according to the measure they mete vnto him They serue him with graces which are not true graces indeede he rewardeth them with blessings which are indeede not true blessings Somewhat they must doe to God and therefore they affoord him a little temporary obedience and there is all the seruice he shall haue from them Somewhat God will doe for them and in requitall alloweth them a little temporary fauour and there is all the reward they must looke for from him Here is Quid pro Quo They giue God the outward
next after it All which fiue Psalmes together as they agree in the same generall argument the magnifying of Gods holy name so they differ euery one from other in the choyce of those speciall and topicall arguments whereby the praises of God are set forth therein In the rest the Psalmist draweth his argument from other considerations in this from the consideration of Gods mercifull remouall of those iudgements hee had in his iust wrath brought vpon his owne people Israel for their sins vpon their repentance For this purpose there are sundry instances giuen in the Psalme §. 2. and matter of this Psalme taken out of the Histories of former times out of which there is framed as it were a Catalogue though not of all yet of sundry the most famous rebellions of that people against their God and of Gods both iustice and mercy abundantly manifested in his proceedings with them thereupon In all which wee may obserue the passages betwixt God and them in the ordinarie course of things euer to haue stood in this order First hee preuenteth them with vndeserued fauours they vnmindefull of his benefits prouoke him by their rebellions hee in his iust wrath chasticeth them with heauy plagues they humbled vnder the rod seeke to him for ease hee vpon their submission withdraweth his iudgements from them The Psalmist hath wrapped all these fiue together in Vers. 43.44 Many times did hee deliuer them but they prouoked him with their counsells and were brought low for their iniquitie the three first Neuerthelesse hee regarded their affliction when hee heard their cry the other two The particular rebellions of the people in this Psalme instanced in §. 3. The Coherence scepe are many some before and some after the verse of my Text. For breuitie sake those that are in the following verses I wholly omit and but name the rest Which are their wretched infidelity and cowardise vpon the first approach of danger at the Red sea verse 7. Their tempting of God in the desert when loathing Manna they lusted for flesh verse 13. Their seditious conspiracy vnder Corah and his confederates against Moses verse 16. Their grosse Idolatrie at Horeb in making and worshipping the golden calfe verse 19. Their distrustfull murmuring at their portion in thinking scorne of the promised pleasant land vers 24. Their fornicating both bodily with the daughters and spiritually with the Idols of Moab and of Midian ver 28. To the prosecution of which last mentioned story the words of my Text do appertaine The origine story it selfe whereto this part of the Psalme referreth is written at full by Moses in Numb 25. and here by Dauid but a Breuiter totum dixit quia non hic nescientes docet sed commemorat scientes Augustin hîc briefly touched as the present purpose and occasion led him Yet so as that the most obseruable passages of the History are here remembred in three verses three speciall things The Sinne the Plague the Deliuerance The Sinne with the Aggrauation thereof vers 28. They ioyned themselues also vnto Baal-Peor and ate the sacrifices of the dead The Plague with the Efficient cause thereof both Impulsiue and Principall vers 29. Thus they prouoked him to anger with their Inuentions and the Plague brake in vpon them The Deliuerance with the speciall meanes and Instrument thereof in this 30. verse Then stood vp Phinehaz and executed iudgement and the plague was stayed In which words are three things especially considerable The Person the Action of that Person §. 4. and Diuision of the Text. and the Successe of that Action The Person Phinehaz His Action twofold the one preparatory hee stood vp the other completory hee executed iudgement The Successe and issue of both the plague was stayed The person holy the action zealous the successe happy Of each of these I shall endeauour to speake something appliably to the present condition of these heauy times and the present occasion of this frequent assembly But because the argument of the whole verse is a Deliuerance and that Deliuerance supposeth a Plague and euery Plague supposeth a Sinne I must take leaue before I enter vpon the Particulars now proposed from the Text first a little to vnfold the originall story that so we may haue some more distinct knowledge both what Israels sin was and how they were plagued and vpon what occasion and by what meanes Phinehaz wrought their deliuerance When Israel trauailing from the land of Bondage to the land of Promise through the Wildernes §. 5. Balacs plotte were now come as far as a Num. 22.1 the plaines of Moab and there encamped Balac the then King of Moab not b Ibid. 2.3 daring to encounter with that people before whom c Sihon K. of the Amorites and Og. K. of Basan Numb 21. two of his greatest neighbour Princes had lately fallen d Ascitos seniores Madiani qui proximi regno eius erant amici consuluit quid facto opus esset Hist Scholast iâ— Num. c. â—2 consulted with the Midianites his neighbours and allies and after some aduice resolued vpon this conclusion to hire e Num. 22.5 7. Balaam a famous Sorcerer in those times and quarters to lend them his assistance plotting with all their might and his art by all possible meanes to withdraw Gods protection from them wherein they thought and they thought right the strength and safety of that people lay But there is no Counsell against the Lord nor f Num. 23.23 inchantment against his people Where hee will blesse and hee will blesse where he is faithfully obeyed and depended vpon neither power nor pollicy can preuaile for a Curse Balaam the wicked wretch though hee g 2 Pet. 2.15 loued the wayes of vnrighteousnesse with his heart yet God not suffering him hee could not pronounce a Curse with his lips against Israel but instead of cursing them h Num. 2â— 11 24.10 blessed them altogether §. 6. and Balaams pollicy against Israel But angry at Israel whom when faine hee would hee could not curse yea and angry at God himselfe who by restraining his tongue had voyded his hopes and a Num. 24.11 with held him from pay and honour the wretched couetous Hypocrite as if he would at once be auenged both of him and them imagineth a mischieuous deuice against them full of cursed villany Hee giueth the Moabites and the Midianites b Num. 31.16 Reuel 2.14 See also Ioseph 4. Antiquit. Iud. 5. counsell to smother their hatred with pretensions of peace and by sending the fairest of their daughters among them to enuâ—igle them with their beauty and to entice them first to corporall and after by that to spirituall whoredome That so Israel shrinking from the Loue and Feare and Obedience of their God might forfeit the interest they had in his Protection and by sinne bring themselues vnder that wrath and curse of God which neither those great Princes
with any corrupt respect whatsoeuer by thy word or oath to strengthen a false and vnrighteous report When thou commest to lay thy hand vpon the booke lay the second Rule in that Text to thy heart Put not thy hand with the wicked to bee an vnrighteous witnesse Though hand ioyne in hand d Prou. 19.5 9. the false Witnesse shall not be vnpunished §. 33. the Iurer If thou commest hither thirdly to serue for the King vpon Graund Inquest or betweene party and party in any cause whatsoeuer like those a deinde praetores vrbani qui juraâ—i debent optimum quemque in selectos judices referre Cic. pro Cluent Vnum ex selectis judicibus obijciebat Horat. 1. Serm. sat 4. selecti judices among the Romanes whom the Praetor for the yeare being was to nominate and that vpon oath out of the most able and seruiceable men in his judgement both for estate vnderstanding and integrity or to serue vpon the Tales perhaps at thine owne suite to get something toward bearing charges for thy iourney or yoaked with a craftie or a wilfull foreman that is made beforehand and a messe of tame after-men withall that dare not thinke of being wiser than their leader or vnwilling to stickle against a maior part whether they goe right or wrong or resolued already vpon the Verdict no matter what the Euidence be Consider what is the waight and religion of an Oath Remember that he sinneth not lesse that sinneth with company Whatsoeuer the rest doe resolue thou to doe no otherwise than as God shall put into thy heart and as the euidence shall leade the. The third Rule in that Text must be thy rule Thou shalt not follow a multitude to doe euill They are silly that in point either of Religion or Iustice would teach vs to measure either Truth or Right by multitudes If thou commest hither fourthly as to thine haruest §. 34 the Pleader to reape some fruite of thy long and expencefull study in the Lawes and to assist thy Client and his Cause with thy Counsell Learning and Eloquence thinke not because thou speakest for thy Fee that therefore thy tongue is not thine owne but thou must speake what thy Client will haue thee speake be it true or false neither thinke because thou hast the liberty of the Court and perhaps the fauour of the Iudge that therefore thy tongue is thine owne and thou mayest speake thy pleasure to the preiudice of the Aduersaries person or cause Seeke not preposterously to winne the name of a good Lawyer by wresting and peruerting good Lawes or the opinion of the best Counsellour by giuing the worst and the shrewdest counsell Count it not as Protagoras did the glory of thy profession by subtilty of wit and volubility of tongue to a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A. Gell. 5. Noct. Att. 3. make the worse cause the better but like a b Vir bonus dicendi peritut Cicero good man as well as good Oratour vse the power of thy tongue and wit to shame impudence and protect innocency to crush oppressours and succour the afflicted to aduance Iustice and Equity and to helpe them to right that suffer wrong Let it be as a ruled case to thee in all thy pleadings Not to speake in any cause to wrest iudgement §. 35. the Officer If lastly thou art in any place or office of seruice or trust or command or attendance about the Courts reioyce not as if it were now in thy power to doe a friend a courtesie or a foe a spite Doe not shew a cast of thy office for the promise or hope of a reward in helping a great offender out of the Bryars Compell not men that haue beene long weather-beaten in the Maine and are now arriued at the hauen of their businesse to wither for their pasports vntill they haue offered some sacrifice to that great Diana Expedition Let no feare or hope or bribe or letter or enuy or fauour no not charitie it selfe and compassion to the pouerty or distressednesse of any make you partiall for the Person to disregard the Cause If you would bee charitable to the poore giue them from your owne but doe not carue them from anothers trencher To relieue a poore man in his wants is the proper office of Charity but Iustice must haue no eyes to see nor bowels to yearne at the wants of any man Be hee rich or poore that bringeth his cause hither Currat lex Let him finde such as he bringeth let him haue as his cause deserueth The last of those Rules must be thine Thou shalt not countenance no not a poore man in his Cause §. 36. and the Iudge If any of these to whom I haue now spoken Accusers Witnesses Iurers Pleaders Officers shall transgresse these rules to the peruerting of Iustice our refuge must be next vnder God to you that are the Magistrates of Iustice and sit vpon the Bench of Iudicature At your grauity and authority wee must take sanctuary against them that pursue vs wrongfully as at the hornes of the Altar It is your Duty or if it be as to most men it is a more pleasing thing to be remembred of their Power than of their Duty it is in your power if not to reforme all the abuses and corruptions of these persons yet to curbe their open insolencies and to containe them at least within modest bounds Nay since I haue begun to magnifie your power let me speake it with all due reuerence to God and the King there is no power so great ouer which in a qualified sense you haue not a greater power It is in your power to a Psal. 75.2.3 beare vp the pillars of the State when the land is euen dissolued and the pillars thereof growne weake for that is done by iudgeing the Congregation according to right Psal. 75. In yours to make this yet flourishing Countrie and Kingdome glorious or despicable for b Prou. 14.34 righteousnesse exalteth a Nation but sinne is a reproach to any people Prou. 14. In yours to settle the throne vpon the King and to entaile it by a kinde of perpetuity vnto the right heire for many succeeding generations for c Prou. 16.11 the Throne is established by Iustice Prou. 16. In yours to discharge Gods punishing Angell who now destroyeth vs with a grieuous destruction and by vnsheathing your sword to make him sheathe his as here in my Text Phinehes stood vp and executed iudgement and the plague ceased In yours though you be but Gods on earth and in these Courts mortall and petty gods yet to send Prohibitions into the Court of Heauen and there to stop the iudgements of the great and Eternall God before they come forth yea and when the decree is gone forth to stay execution In a word as it was said to Ieremy but in another sense You are d Ierem. 1.10 set ouer Nations and ouer Kingdomes to roote out and
desire endeauour of performing that Obedience we haue couenanted yet are they to be embraced euen by such of vs with a reuerend feare and trembling at our owne vnworthinesse But as for the vncleane and filthy and polluted those b Math. 6.6 Swine and Dogs that delight in sinne and disobedience and euery abomination they may set their hearts at rest for these matters they haue neither part nor fellowship in any of the sweet promises of God Let dirty c 2. Pet. 2.22 Swine wallow in their owne filth these rich d Math. 6.6 pearles are not for them they are too precious let hungry e 2 Pet. 2.2 Dogs glut themselues with their owne vomite the f Math. 15.26 Childrens bread is not for them it is too delicious Let him that will be filthy g Reu. 22.11 be filthy still the promises of God are holy things and belong to none but those that are holy and desire to be holy still For our selues in a word let vs hope that a promise being left vs if with faith and obedience and patience we waite for it we shall in due time receiue it but withall h Heb. 4.1 let vs feare as the Apostle exhorteth Heb. 4. lest a promise being left vs through disobedience or vnbeliefe any of vs should seeme to come short of it §. 19. The opening of the Thus much of the former thing proposed the mignifying of Gods Mercy and the clearing of his Truth in the reuocation and suspension of of threatned iudgements by occasion of these words I will not bring the Evill There is yet a Circumstance remaining of this generall part of my Text which would not be forgotten it is the extent of time for the suspending of the iudge I will not bring the Euill in his dayes Something I would speake of it too by your patience it shall not be much because the season is sharpe I haue not much sand to spend I will not bring the evill in his dayes The iudgement denounced against Ahabs house was in the end executed vpon it as appeareth in the sequele of the story and especially from those words of Iehu who was himselfe the instrument raised vp by the Lord and vsed for that execution in 4. King 10. a 4 King 10.10 know that there shal fall to the earth nothing of the word of the Lord which the Lord spake concerning the house of Ahab for the Lord hath done that which he spake by his seruant Eliah Which were enough if there were nothing else to be said to iustifie Gods Truth in this one particular That which Ahab gained by his humiliation was only the deferring of it for his time I will not bring the euill in his dayes As if God had said This wretched king hath prouoked me and pulled down a curse from me vpon his house which it were but iust to bring vpon him and it without farther delay yet because he made not a scoffe at my Prophet but tooke my words something to heart and was humbled by them he shall not say but I will deale mercifully with him and beyond his merit as ill as he deserueth it I will doe him this fauour I will not bring the euill that is determined against his house in his dayes The thing I would obserue hence is That § 20. 5. Obseruation that though it be some griefe to foresee the euils to come when God hath determined a iudgement vpon any people family or place it is his great mercy to vs if he doe not let vs liue to see it It cannot but be a great griefe I say not now to a religious but euen to any soule that hath not quite cast off all naturall affection to forethinke and foreknow the future calamities of his countrey and kindred a Herodot in Polyh Valer. Max. 9.13 Xerxes could not forbeare weeping beholding his huge army that followed him onely to thinke that within some few scores of yeares so many thousands of proper men would be all dead and rotten and yet that a thing that must needes haue happened by the necessitie of nature if no sad accident or common calamitie should hasten the accomplishment of it The declination of a Common-wealth and the funerall of a Kingdome foreseene in the generall corruption of manners and decay of discipline the most certaine symptomes of a tottering State haue fetched teares from the eyes and bloud from the hearts of heathen men zealously affected to their Countrey How much more griefe then must it needes be to them that acknowledge the true God not onely to foreknow the extraordinary plagues and miseries and calamities which shall befall their posteritie but also to fore-read in them Gods fierce wrath and heauie displeasure and bitter vengeance against their owne sinnes and the sinnes of their posterity Our blessed Sauiour though himselfe without sinne and so no way accessory to the procuring of the euills that should ensue could not yet but b Luk. 19.41 weepe ouer the City of Ierusalem when he beheld the present securitie and the future ruine thereof §. 21. yet it is some happinesse to be taken away before they come A griefe it is then to know these things shall happen but some happinesse withall and to be acknowledged as a great fauour from God to be assured that we shall neuer see them It is no small Mercy in him it is no small Comfort to vs if either hee take vs away before his iudgements come or keepe his iudgements away till we be gone When God had told Abraham in Gen. 15. that his a Gen. 15.13 15. seede should be a stranger in a land that was not theirs meaning Egypt where they should be kept vnder and afflicted 400. yeares lest the good Patriarch should haue beene swallowed vp with griefe at it hee comforteth him as with a promise of their glorious deliuerance at the last so with a promise also of prosperitie to his owne person and for his owne time But thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace shalt be buryed in a good old age vers 15. In Esay 39. when Hezekiah heard from the mouth of the Prophet Esaiah that all the b Esay 39 6.-8 treasures in the Lords house in the Kings house should be carried into Babylon and that his sonnes whom he should beget should be taken away and made Eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon he submitted himself as it became him to do to the sentence of God and comforted himselfe with this that yet there should be peace and truth in his dayes vers 8. In 4. King 22. when Huldah had prophesied of the c 4. King 2.16 20. euill that God would bring vpon the City of Ierusalem and the whole land of Iudah in the name of the Lord shee pronounceth this as a courtesie from the Lord vnto good King Iosiah Because thy heart was tender and thou hast humbled thy selfe Behold therefore
sin Deut. 24 If Israel take vp a Prouerbe of their owne heads d Ezek 18.2 c. Ier. 31.29 The fathers haue eaten sowre grapes and the childrens teeth are set on edge they doe it without cause and they are checked for it The soule that sinneth it shall dye and if any man eate sowre grapes his owne teeth and not anothers for him shall bee set on edge thereby For indeed how can it bee otherwise or who can reasonably thinke that our most gracious God who is so ready to take from vs the guilt of our owne should yet lay vpon vs the guilt of other mens sinnes The only exception to be made in this kinde is that alone satisfactory punishment of our blessed Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ not at all for his owne sinnes farre be the impietie from vs so to imagine for e 1. Pet. 2.22 hee did no sinne neither was there any guile found in his mouth but for ours He f Psal. 69.4 Non rapui exsolvebam non peccaui poenas dabam Aug. ibi paied that which he neuer tooke it was g Esay 53.5 for our transgressions that he was wounded and the chasticement of our peace was laid vpon him Yet euen those meritorious sufferings of his may be said in a qualified sense to haue been for his own sinnes although in my iudgement it bee farre better to abstaine from such like speeches as are of ill and suspicious sound though they may bee in some sort defended But how for his owne sins His owne by Commission By no meanes God forbid any man should teach any man should conceiue so the least thought of this were blasphemy but his owne by Imputation Not that hee had sinned and so deserued punishment but that he had h delictorum susceptor non commissor Aug. in Psal. â—8 taken vpon him our sinnes which deserued that punishment As he that vndertaketh for another mans debt maketh it his owne and standeth chargeable with it as if it were his owne personall debt so Christ becomming surety for our sinnes made them i delicta nostra sua delicta secit vt iustitiam suam nostram iustitiam faceret Aug. exp 2. in Psal. 21. his owne and so was punishable for them as if they had beene his owne personall sins k 1. Pet. 2.24 who his owne selfe bare our sinnes in his owne body vpon the tree 1. Pet. 2. That hee was punished for vs who himselfe deserued no punishment it was because l 2. Cor. 5.21 he was made sinne for vs who himself knew no sinne So that I say in some sense the assertion may bee defended vniuersally and without exception but yet I desire rather it might bee thus Christs onely excepted all the Paines and Euills of men are brought vpon them for their owne sinnes These three points then are certaine and it is needfull they should bee well vnderstood and remembred §. 10. The fathers sinnes punished in their children because nothing can be obiected against Gods Iustice in the punishing of sinne which may not bee easily remoued if wee haue recourse to some one or other of these three Certainties and rightly apply them All the three doubts proposed in the beginning haue one and the same resolution answer one and answer all Ahab here sinneth by Oppression and yet the euill must light though not all of it for some part of it fell and was performed vpon Ahab himselfe yet the main of it vpon his sonne Iehoram I will not bring the Euill in his daies but in his sonnes daies will I bring the Euill vpon his house It is not Iehorams case alone it is a thing that often hath and daily doth befall many others In Gen. 9. when Noahs vngracious sonne Ham had discouered his Fathers nakednesse the old man no doubt by Gods speciall inspiration laieth the curse not vpon Ham himselfe but vpon his sonne Canaan a Gen. 9.25 Cursed bee Canaan c. And God ratified the curse by rooting out the posteritie of Canaan first out of the pleasant Land wherein they were seated and then afterwards from the face of the whole earth Ieroboams b 3. King 15.19.30 Idolatrie cut off his posterity from the Kingdome and the c 1. Sam. 2.33 35. wickednesse of Ely his sonnes theirs from the Priesthood of Israel Gehasi with the bribe he took purchased a d 4. King 5.27 leprosie in fee-simple to him and his heires for euer The Iewes for stoning the Prophets of God but most of all for crucifying the Sonne of God brought bloud-guiltinesse not onely vpon themselues but vpon their children also e Mat. 27.25 His bloud be vpon vs and vpon our children The wrath of God therefore comming vpon them f 1. Thes. 2.16 to the vtmost and the curse of God abiding vpon their posterity euen vnto this day wherin they still remaine and God knoweth how long they shall a base and despised people scattered almost euery where and euery where hated Instances might bee endlesse both in priuate persons and families and in whole Kingdomes and Countries But it is a needlesse labour to multiply instances in so confessed a point especially God Almighty hauing thus farre declared himselfe and his pleasure herein in the second commandement of the Law that hee will not spare in his g Exod. 20.5 iealousie sometimes to visit the sinnes of fathers vpon the children vnto the third and fourth generation There is no question then de facto but so it is § 11. and how this may stand with the Iustice of God the sinnes of the fathers are visited vpon the children but de jure with what right and equity it is so it is as S. Chrysostome speaketh a Chrysost. in Gen hom 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a question famous and much debated The considerations which I finde giuen-in for the resolution of this question b Augustin qu. 42. in Deuter Theophylact in Ioh. 9. Peter 14. in Gen disp 4. Aquin. 1.2 qu. 87.8 Sasb quodlib 3. by those that haue purposely handled it are very many But multitude breedeth confusion and therefore I purpose no more but two only vnto which so many of the rest as are materiall may bee reduced and those two grounded vpon the certainties already declared The former concerneth the Nature of those Punishments which are inflicted vpon the children for the fathers sinnes the later the condition of those children vpon whom such punishments are inflicted As to the first The punishments which God bringeth vsually vpon the children for the fathers sinnes are only temporall and outward punishments §. 12. Consid. 1. such punishments are only temporall not spirituall Some haue beene plagued with infectious diseases as a 4 King 5.27 Gehazies posterity and b 2 Sam. 3.29 Ioabs also if that curse which Dauid pronounced against him tooke effect as it is like it did Some haue come to vntimely and vncomfortable
b Exod. 20.5 third scarce euer the fourth generation passe before God visit the sinnes of the fathers vpon the children if hee doe not in the very next generation In his sonnes dayes will I bring the euill vpon his house §. 34. The second Secondly if not onely our owne but our fathers sinnes too may be shall be visited vpon vs how concerneth it vs as to repent for our owne so to lament also the sinnes of our forefathers and in our confessions and supplications to God sometimes to remember them that he may forget them and to set them before his face that hee may cast them behind his backe Wee haue a good precedent for it in our publike Letany Remember not Lord our offences nor the offences of our forefathers A good and a profitable and a needefull prayer it is and those men haue not done well nor justly that haue cauilled at it O that men would be wise according to sobriety and allow but iust interpretations to things aduisedly established rather than busie themselues nodum in scirpo to picke needelesse quarrels where they should not What vnity would it bring to brethren what peace to the Church what ioy to all good and wise men As to this particular God requireth of the Israelites in Leuit. 26. that they should a Leuit. 26.39.40 confesse their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers b Psal. 106.6 Dauid did so and c Ierem. 3.15 Ieremy did so and d Dan. 9.5 Daniel did so in Psal. 106. in Ierem. 3. in Dan. 9. And if Dauid thought it a fit curse to pronounce against Iudas and such as he was in Psal. 109. e Psal. 109.14 Let the wickednesse of his fathers be had in remembrance in the sight of the Lord and let not the sin of his mother be done away why may we not nay how ought we not to pray for the remoueall of this very curse from vs as well as of any other curses The present age is riâ—e of many enormous crying sinnes which call loud for a iudgement vpon the land and if God should bring vpon vs a right heauie one whereat all eares should tingle could wee say other but that it were most iust euen for the sinnes of this present generation But if vnto our owne so many so great God should also adde the sins of our forefathers the bloudshed and tyranny grieuous vnnaturall butcheries in the long times of the ciuill warres and the vniuersall idolatries and superstitions couering the whole land in the longer and darker times of Popery and if as hee sometimes threatned to bring vpon the Iewes of f Math. 23.35.36 that one generation all the righteous bloud that euer was shed vpon the earth from the bloud of the righteous Abel vnto the bloud of Zacharias the sonne of Barachias so hee should bring the sinnes of our Ancestors for many generations past vpon this generation of ours who could be able to abide it Now when the security of the times giue vs but too much cause to feare it and the regions begin to looke white towards the haruest is it not time for vs with all humiliation of Soule and Body to cast downe our selues and with all contention of voyce and spirit to lift vp our prayers and to say Remember not Lord our offences nor the offences of our forefathers neither take thou vengeance of our sinnes Spare vs good Lord spare the people whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious bloud and be not angry with vs for euer Spare vs good Lord. §. 35. the third inference Thirdly Since not onely our fathers sinnes and our owne but our Neighbours sinnes too aliquid malum propter vicinum malum but especially the sinnes of Princes and Gouernours a Morat 1. Episâ— 2. delirant reges plectuntur Achiui may bring iudgements vpon vs and enwrap vs in their punishments it should teach euery one of vs to seeke his owne priuate in the common and publike good and to endeauour if but for our owne security from punishment to awaken other from their security in sinne How should wee send vp b â— Tim. 2.1 2. supplications and prayers and intercessions for Kings and for all that are in authority that God would encline their hearts vnto righteous courses and open their eares to wholesome counsells and strengthen their hands to just actions when but a sinfull ouersight in one of them may proue the ouerthrow of many thousands of vs as Dauid but by once numbring his people in the pride of his heart lessened their number at one clap c 2 Sam. 24.15 threescore and ten thousand If d Ios. â—8 10.25 Israel turne their backs vpon their enemies vp Iosuah and make search for the troubler of Israel firret out the thiefe and doe execution vpon him one Achan if but suffered is able to vndoe the whole hoast of Israel what mischiefe might he do if countenanced if allowed The houre I see hath ouertaken me and I must end To wrappe vp all in a word then and conclude Thou that hast power ouer others suffer no sin in them by base conniuence but punish it thou that hast charge of others suffer no sin in them by dull silence but rebuke it thou that hast any interest in or dealing with others suffer no sinne vpon them by easie allowance but distast it thou that hast nothing else yet by thy charitable prayers for them and by constant example to them stop the course of sin in others further the growth of grace in others labour by all meanes as much as in thee lyeth to draw others vnto God lest their sinnes draw Gods iudgements vpon themselues and thee This that thou mayst doe and that I may do and that euery one of vs that feareth God and wisheth well to the Israel of God may doe faithfully and discreetely in our seuerall stations and callings let vs all humbly beseech the Lord the God of all grace and wisedome for his Sonne Iesus sake by his holy spirit to enable vs. To which blessed Trinity one only wise immortall inuisible almighty most gracious and most glorious Lord and God be ascribed by euery one of vs the kingdome the power and the glory both now and for euer Amen THE FOVRTH SERMON In S. Pauls Church London 4. Nov. 1621. 1. COR. 7.24 Brethren let euery man wherein he is called therein abide with God IF flesh and bloud be suffered to make the Glosse §. 1. The Occasion and scope of the Text. it is able to corrupt a right good Text. It easily turneth the doctrine of Gods grace into a Iude 4. wantonnesse and as easily the doctrine of Christian libertie into licenciousnesse These Corinthians being yet but b 1. Cor. 3.1.3.4 Carnall for the point of Liberty consulted it seemeth but too much with this cursed glosse Which taught them to interpret their Calling to the Christian faith as an Exemption
Patric 1. de Rep. 8. Cassan. 11. Catal. glor consid 1. Historians relate and I omit It were to be wished that Christian Common-wealths would take some greater care if but from their example to rid themselues of such vnnecessary burdens as are good for nothing but to deuoure the fruites of the land and either force these i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hesiod in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plat. Polit 8. droanes to take paynes for their liuing or else thrust them out of the hiues for their Idlenesse Which course if it were taken §. 15. A just reproofe of idle what would become of many thousands in the world quibus anima pro sale who like Swine liue in such sensuall and vnprofitable sort as we might well doubt whether they had any liuing soules in their bodies at all or no were it not barely for this one argument that their bodies are a degree sweeter than carrion I meane all such of what ranke and condition soeuer they be as for want of a Calling mispend their precious time bury their masters talent waste Gods good creatures and weare away themselues in idlenesse without doing good to themselues to their friends to humane society Infinite is the number of such a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Homer Iliad 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plat. in Theat vnprofitable burdens of the earth but there are amongst other three sorts of them especially whereof the world ringeth and such as a man that hath to speake of this argument can scare balke without some guilt of vnfaithfulnesse It is no matter how you ranke them for there is neuer a better of the three And therefore take them hand ouer head as they come they are Monkes Gallants and Roagues First those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Tit. 1. â—â— Euill beasts slow bellyes stall-fed Monkes and priers §. 16. 1. Monkes with the limitation who 〈◊〉 mâ—ed vp in their Cell and Cloystere like Beares in a frâ—nâ—e pining themselue into Laâ—d and beating downe their bodies till their girdles crackâ— I quarrell not the first institution and Originall of these kind of men which was then eâ—cusably good the condition of those 〈◊〉 considered and might yet bee tolerably followed euen in these times if those grosse superstition and foule abuses which in processe of time haue adhered and are by long and vniuersall custome growne almost essentiall thereunto could be fairely remoued But Monkery was not then that thing which it is now There was not then that opinion of sanctity and perfection in the choyse that imposition of vnlâ—wfull vnnaturall and to some men impossible vowes in the Entrance that clogge of ridiculous habits and ceremonies and regular irregular obseruances in the vse that heauie not of Apostacy vpon such as altered their course in the loose all which now there are Those by their fastings and watchings and deuotions and charity and learning and industrie and temporance and vnaffected austeritie and strictnesse of life wonne from many of the ancient Fathers as appeareth in their writings ample and large testimonies of their vertue and pietie And that most deseruedly although their willingnesse out of a zealous desire to excite others to the imitation of their vertues to set forth their praises in the highest Panegyrick straines they could drew from their pens now and then such hyperbolicall â—xcesses in maâ—s loqâ—enaâ— as gaâ—â— occasion to those 〈◊〉 in after ages which they then neuer dreamed of 〈…〉 those Manâ—eâ— of oldâ— so good so godâ—y Whereas these 〈…〉 of 〈…〉 by their affected 〈◊〉 habits and gestures and ruleâ— by â—â—eir grosse and dull ignorance by their in 〈…〉 though pretending humilitie and their more â—â—an Pharisaâ—call ouerlooking of others by tâ—eir insaâ—iable aâ—arice and palpable art of getting iâ—to their hands the farrest of the earth and thâ— vnder colour of Religion and pretences of pouerty by their sensuall wallowing in all ease and idleneâ—â—e and fulnesse of bread and the fruites of these in abominable and prodigeous filthinesse and luxury became as Prouerbs and as by-words in the moâ—ths and pens of men of all sorts No sober writer almost of any note euen in those darker times but noted and bewailed the corrupt estâ—â—e of the Church and Clergy in that behalfe for by this time you must know these droanes had thrâ—st themselues against all reason and common sense into the ranke of Church-men and shrouded themselues vnder the title of the Clergy Diâ—ers godly and learned men 〈…〉 wrote against the abuseâ— desired a reformation laboured to haue monâ—ery reduced if not to their first institution there seemed to be little hope of that things were so farre out of course yet at leastwise to some tolerable expression of it The Poet wanted no sport the while who made themselues bitterly merry with descanting vpon the leane 〈◊〉 and the d O Monachi vestri stomachi sunt amphora Bacchi c. fat paunches of these lasie gullings there was flesh-hould enough for the riming Satyrists the wits of those times whereon to fasten the sorest and the strongest teeth they had §. 17. and explication Not to insist vpon other differences that which concerneth the point we haue in hand argueth a manifest and wide declination in these kind of men from their primitiue puritie The ancient Monks liued vpon the labour of their hands thereby not only maintained themselues which they might doe with a verie little in that course of abstinence and austeritie wherein they liued but relieued manie others and did manie pious and charitable workes out of that they had earned with their fingers And when about S. Augustines and S. Hieroms times Monkes began to relish ease and vnder pretence of reading prayer to leaue off working and to liue vpon the sweate of other mens browes both those good Fathers misliked it S. Hierome to a Aegyptiorum monasteria hunc ordinem teneat vt nullum absque operis labore suscipiant Hieron Tom. 1. Epist. 4 Rusticus alleaging the laudable custome of the Monasteries in Aegypt which admitted none to be Monkes but with expresse condition of labour and S. Augustine in a iust b Tom. 3. libro de opere Monachorum Treatise opposing it not without some bitternesse rebuking them as contumacious peeuishly c Qui autem se dicunt vacare lectioni nonne illic inueniunt quod praecipit Apostolus Quae est ista ergo peruersitas lectioni nolle obtemperare dum vult ei vacare vt quod bonum est diutiùs legatur ideo facere nolle quod legitur c. 17. ibi peruerse who reading in the Scriptures that he that will not labour should not eate do yet resist the Apostles admonition and vnder pretence that they may haue leisure to reade refuse to obey what they doe reade But ease is d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eurip. in Hipp. coron pleasing to flesh and bloud and will not bee easily wrung from
left no Choyce at all but this onely euen to get vp and be doing to put our selues speedily into that way whereunto he did point vs. But since the wisedome of God hath thought it better for vs to take counsell from his written word which he hath left vs for our ordinary direction in this all other difficulties rather than to depend vpon immediate and extraordinary inspirations it will be very profitable for vs to draw thence some few Rules whereby to make reasonable judgement concerning any course of life whether that it be whereunto God hath called vs or no. The Rules as I haue partly intimated already may be reduced to three heads according as the Enquiries wee are to make in this businesse are of three sorts For they either concerne the Course it self or else our selues that should vse it or else thirdly those that haue right power ouer vs in it If there be a faile in any of these as if either the Course it selfe be not lawfull or we not competently fit for it or our superiours will not allow of vs or it we may well think God hath not called vs thither God is just and will not call any man to that which is not honest and good God is all-sufficient and will not call any man to that which is aboue the proportion of his strength God is wonderfull in his Prouidence and will not call any man to that whereto he will not open him a faire and orderly passage Somewhat by your patience of each of these And first of the Course wee intend §. 27. Three Conditions requisit in euery lawfull calling 1. as considered in it selfe Wherein let these be our Enquiries First whether the thing be simply and in it selfe lawfull or no Secondly whether it be lawfull so as to be made a Calling or no Thirdly whether it will be profitable or rather hurtfull to the Common-wealth Now obserue the Rules The first Rule this Aduenture not on any course without good assurance that it be in it selfe lawfull The ground of this Rule is plaine and euident For it cannot be that God who hateth and forbiddeth and punisheth euery sin in euery man should call any man to the practice of any sinne a Eph. 4.28 Let him that stole steale no more saith S. Paul but rather let him labour with his hands the thing that is good Eph 4. If it be not something that is good it is good for him to hold his hands off let him be sure God neuer called him to labour in that and he were as good hold to his old trade and steale still as labour with his hands the thing that is not good If b Act. 19.25 27. Diana of Ephesus be an Idol Demetrius his occupation must downe hee must make no more siluer shrines for Diana though by that craft hee haue his wealth Tertullian excellently enlargeth himselfe in this argument in his c praesertim cap. 5 8. booke de Idololatriae strongly disapprouing their practice who being Christians yet got their liuing by making Statues and Images and other ornaments to sell to heathen Idolaters Offenders against this Rule are not only such as liue by Stealing and Robbing and Piracy and Persecuting and Witch-craft and other such like vngodly practices as are made capitall euen by the Lawes of men and punishable by death but all such also as maintaine themselues by or get their liuing in any course absolutely condemned by the Law of God howsoeuer they may finde amongst men either expresse allowance as Whores and Baudes doe in the holy Mother Church of Rome or at least some kind of toleration by conniuence as Charmers and Fortune-tellers and Wisards doe amongst vs. Which sort of people it is scarce credible how generally and miserably our common ignorants are besotted with the opinion of their skill and how pitifully they are gulled by their damnable impostures through their owne foolish credulity These superstitions helped to roote out the d Deut. 18.10 12. Amorites out of the land of Canaan and it may passe among Sauls best Acts that hee rooted out these e 1. Sam. 28.9 superstitions out of the land of Israel And great pitie it is that such as make a trade of these superstitions are not by some seuere prouisions rooted out of this and euery other Christian Land Let this first Rule be remembred of vs in euery choice and tryall of our Callings No vnlawfull thing can be a lawfull Calling No nor yet euery lawfull thing neither For many things may be lawfull in the priuate vse which yet may not lawfully be made a Calling §. 28. 2. Considered as a Calling or trade of life Who can reasonably deny the lawfulnesse of many disports and recreations as bowling or shooting or euen Cardes and Dice and yet who can a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist. 8. Polit. 3. reasonably thinke it should be a commendable Calling for any man to be a profest Bowler or Archer or Gamster and nothing else Therefore take a second Rule Make not a Calling of that which was not made to be a Calling If you shall aske how you shall know a thing to be such I answer generally all such things are of this nature as are indifferent for men of all sorts and callings to vse with due caution and circumstances and more especially matters of delight and recreations are such And the reasons are good The b hîc vers 17. ground of particular Calling is some c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vers 7. peculiar gift of God according to the differences that are to be found in particular men in regard either of the soule or of the body or of outward things wheras such things as these whereof we now speake become of Lawfull and commendable vse not so much from any speciall ability receiued from God which should be exercised therein as from the common necessity of our weak nature which is to be refreshed therby And the End also for which God permitteth vs these things is not to employ our strength and time in them but to giue vs some d Vâ—i quidem illis licet sed sicut somno quietibus coeteris tum cum grauibus serijsque rebus satisfecerimus Cic. 1. Offic. refreshing when we are wearied with former labour and so to fit vs for fresh and future employment The workes of our Callings they are as our Meates and Drinkes these of Delight as Sauces or as e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist. 8. Polit. 3 Physicke and as sauces or Physicke they are to be vsed and not otherwise As absurd then as it would be for a man to accustome himselfe to no other dyet but slabber-sauces and Druggs so absurd a thing is it for a man to haue no other Calling but Dicing and Carding and Gaming Amongst offenders against this Rule that I reckon not Iuglers and Fidlers and Tumblers and Bearewards and Rope-dancers and Rymers and the