Vndoubtedly it was the purpose of Ionas to weigh his words to powder the whole speech delivered vvith as much honour towards the Lord as his heart could devise I feare 1. Iehovah a God in essence being yours in supposition 2. the God of heaven yours not the Gods of the poorest hālets in the earth 3. which hath made the sea the dry land as a litle monument of his surpassing art and strength yours not the garments of their owne backs The prophet keepeth the order of nature placing 1. the heavē then the sea afterwards the dry land as the principal parts whereof the whole consisteth for heaven is in nature positiō aboue the sea the sea aboue the dry land heaven as the roofe of that beautiful house wherein mā was placed the sea the dry land as the two floores or foundations vnto it But did not God make the heavens aswell as the sea the dry land doubtles yes It is plainly expressed Gen. 2. In the beginning God made heaven earth The beginning of the world is frō the beginning of al things whereto the name of the authour is first set as the seale God and vnder the names of the two extremities borders heaven earth all the rest is comprised quicquid mediū cum ipsis finibus exortum est whatsoeuer lieth midle betwixte the endes with the endes themselues Neither did the Lord only cause ordeine these creatures to bee formed but as the potter shapeth his vesselles so he fashioned and wrought them with his owne hands Totum coelum totamque tellurem ipsam inquam essentiam materiā simul cū forma non enim figurarū inventor est Deus sed ipsius naturae creator the whole heaven the whole earth I say the matter vvith the forme for God is not the deviser of shapes and features alone but the maker of nature it selfe And that God that hath made the heaven can fold it vp like a booke again role it togither like a skin of parchment he that hath made the sea at this time set the waues thereof in a rage caused it to boile like a pot of ointment can say to the flouds be yee dried vp hee that made the dry lande can cover it with waters as with a brest-plate or rocke it to fro vpō her foūdations as a drunkē man reeleth from place to place He can clothe the sun the moone in sackcloth and commaund the starres to fall downe to the earth and the mountaines of the land to remoue into the sea and it shal be fulfilled They all shall perish but the Lord their maker shall endure they all shall waxe olde as doth a garment as a vesture shall hee change them and they shal be changed but he is the same God for ever and ever and his yeares shall not faile The scope of the whole confession is briefly this the more to dilate his fall by how much the lesse he was able to plead ignorance as having the helpe of religion the knowledge of the true subsistent God able to giue a reckoning of every parcell of his creation Al excuse is taken away where the commandement is not vnknowne Peter lent the buckler of ignorance to the Iewes therewith in part to defende themselues against the weapons of Gods wrath even in the bloudiest fact that ever the sunne saw attempted I know that through ignoraunce you did it that is killed the Lord of life as did also your governours But least they should leane vpon the staffe of ignorance too much he biddeth them repent and reverte that their sinnes might bee done away This vvas the cloake that Paul cast over his blasphemies his tyrannies his vnmercifull persequutions of the Church I vvas received to mercy because I did it ignorantly through vnbeliefe So as ignorance in that place you see hath neede of mercie to forgiue it And if ignorance haue a tongue to pleade her owne innocencie why did the bloud of Christ cry to the father vpon the crosse father forgiue them they know not what they doe Is ignorance of the will of God sure to be beaten vvith rods shall not contempt of his will a carelesse vnprofitable knowledge of his hestes ordinances be scourged with scorpions Shal Tyre and Syd on burne like stubble in hell fire and the smoke of their tormente ascend for evermore wherein there was never vertue done that might haue reclaimed them shall Corazin Bethsaida go quit and not drinke down the dregs of destructiō it selfe whose streets haue beene sowen with the miracles of Christ and fatted vvith his doctrine Barbary shal wring her hands that she hath known so litle Christēdome rend her heart that she hath knowne so much to no better purpose It is no marvaile to see the wildernes lie wast deserte but if a ground wel husbāded manured yeeld not profit it deserveth cursing Lactantius saith that al the learning of philosophers vvas vvithout an heade because they knew not God therefore when they see they are blind when they heare they are deafe whē they speak they are speechles the sensens are in the head the eies eares tōgue We want not an heade for senses because when we see we perceaue when we heare we vnderstand and when we speake we can giue a reason wee want a heart onely for obedience And as our Saviour spake of the Scribes and Pharisees dicunt non faciunt they saie and doe not so it is true in vs wee see and heare and say and knowe but doe not as idle and idol Christians as those idol Gods in the Psalme to our greater both shame and condemnation So the Apostle enforceth it against the Galathians Nowe seeing you know God or rather are knowne of God howe turne you againe to impotente and beggerlie rudimentes To the like effect hee schooleth the Ephesians yee haue not so learned Christ. The nurture and discipline of this schoole is not like the institution of Gentility vvith whome it is vsuall to vvalke in the vanity of their mindes and in darke cogitations to bee strangers from the life of God through the ignoraunce that is in them and being past feeling to giue over themselues vnto vvantonnesse to worke all vncleanenesse even with greedinesse But if yee haue hearde Christ and if yee haue beene taught by him as the trueth is in Iesus not corrupting the text with cursed glosses nor perverting the scriptures to your owne overthrow then with your new learning you must leaue your olde conversation as the eagle casteth her bill and know that the kingdome of God commeth not by observation but by practise nor that practise is availeable vvith ease but vvith violence and that the hottest and most laborious spirite is fittest to catch it away It had beene better for vs never to haue knowne the vvay of righteousnesse then after wee
vsuall speech as hee there confesseth that the commination of hell fire doeth no lesse commende the providence of God towardes man then the promise of his kingdome the terrour of the one and sweetenesse of the other working togither like oile and wine to make man vvise to his salvation Niniveh had not stood a longer time if Ionas had not said before Niniveh shal be overthrowne The message of their overthrow overthrew the message the prophecie fell and the citie fell not because her fall was prophecied O new and admirable thing saith he in a homily to the people of Antioch The denunciation of death hath brought forth life the sentence of destruction hath made a nullitie in the sentence c. It was a snare it became their fortresse it was their gulfe it became their tower of defence they heard that their houses should fall and they forsooke not their houses but themselues and their ancient wicked waies Secondly he sendeth him to Niniveh to make the cōversiō therof as it were of his first fruits a figure type of the cōversion of other the Gentiles and to shew to the people a far off far from the seat of Iudea farther frō the covenant that the daies drew on wherein they should be called by the names of sons daughters though they vvere now strangers And as ten men in Niniveh tooke holde of the skirt of one Ionas an Hebrew and said wee will goe with thee for we nowe heare that God is with you so tenne and tenne millions of men out of all languages should ioine themselues to the Iewes in the worshippe of that Lord whom they adored A glimpse of this overspreading light had now and then opened it selfe in some singular persons aliens from the common wealth of Israel as in Melchizedech king of Salē Naaman the Syrian Iob in the land of Vz in Thamar Rahab and Ruth inserted into the pedegree of Christ to shew amongst other reasons that as he came of the Gentiles so for the Gentiles to and that the waters of life as Zachary tearmeth them shoulde flowe from Ierusalem farther then to the river of Tigris vvhereon Niniveh stoode halfe of them towardes the East sea and halfe of them towards the vttermost sea that both endes of the earth might bee watered therewith Thirdly he sendeth him to Niniveh as he sent Ioseph into Egypt to provide a remedy against a mischiefe not farre of Ioseph to prepare bread for his fathers house in the famine Ionas to prepare a place for the Lords exiles in the captivity This carefulnes of their weldoing herein appeareth vnto vs in a charge giuen to Moab in the prophesie of Esay Hide them that are chased out bewray not him that is fled let my banished dwell with thee Moab be thou their covert from the face of the destroier The time vvas to come when the sonnes of Iacob should go captiues into Assyria righteous and vnrighteous cleane and vncleane those vvhom hee tendered as the apple of his owne eie vvith their vngratefull and vngracious brethren yet such was his provident fore-sight tovvardes his little remnante grovving as thinne among the rest as oliue berries vpon the tree after the vintage a berrie heere and there in the outmost boughes that though they bare their parte of thraldome in a straunge lande yet they shoulde meete with some of milde and tractable spirits whose hearts had beene mollified before by the preaching of Ionas Lastlie hee sendeth him to Niniveh vvhich I rather fasten vpon to provoke his people of the Ievves with those that were not a people to vpbraide their contempte defie their frovvardnesse and to shevve that his soule loatheth abhorreth abhominateth their incorrigible rebellions Whom he had girt to himselfe as a girdle to ones raines and married in everlasting kindnesse to vvhome hee had risen earlie and stretched out his hande all the daie long and cryed vpon them all Harken O Israell and I vvill protest vnto thee Thou shalt bee my people and I will bee thy God whome hee had chidden and not chidden vvith so fatherlie a spirite and such obtesting protestations that they seeme to bee angrie without anger As I liue I woulde not your deathes VVhy will yee die O house of Israell wilt thou not bee made cleane VVhen shall it once bee lastlie to whome hee had appealed though men of vnaequall iudgementes yet not so farre from aequalitie as to condemne his vvaies wherein haue I grieved thee testifie against mee these hee giveth to vnderstande that at the preaching of one prophet when they had precept vpon precept a stranger amongst strangers a man of an vnknovvne tongue the whole people of Niniveh though heathenish and idolatrous shoulde bee wonne to repentaunce Arise Ionas goe to Niniveh Sanctifie a people vnto mee vvhere I had no people fetch mee sonnes and daughters from farre let the barren beare children and let the married bee barren I haue beene served vvith the sinnes of Israell a longe time I am wearie of their back-sliding let them henceforth lie and rotte in their iniquity Goe thou to Niniveh Manie the like angrie and opprobrious comparisons hath the mouth of the LORD vttered with much indignitie in other places in the eighteenth of Ieremy Aske nowe amongst the heathen who hath hearde such thinges The Virgin of Israell hath done verie filthilie Strumpets and brothels had done but their kinde but in the virgin of Israell vvho woulde haue thought it In the first of Hosea Goe take thee a vvife of fornication the meaning of the type is this I vvill finde more faithfulnesse in a lande inured to whoredomes then one vvhich I tenderly loved as mine owne vvife Christ in the gospell iustifieth this collection against the evill and adulterous generation of that time The men of Niniveh shall rise in iudgement with this generation and condemne it For they repented at the preaching of Ionas and beholde a greater then Ionas is heere And in the same Evangelist hee rateth them in parables for despising the doctrine of Iohn Publicanes and harlottes shall goe before you into the kingdome of GOD For they beleeved him and yee thoughe yee sawe it vvere not mooved to repentance The argumente brieflie thus standeth The people of Niniveh shall condemne the people of Israell For they vvill repente at the preaching of one Ionas the others repent not at the preaching of manie hundreds of Prophets It is a curse of all curses the verie bottome of the viall and dregges of the vengeaunce of God vvhen prophetes are vvilled to relinquish their accustomed flockes and their message is translated to forrainers and straungers the dust of vvhose feete but shaken against a citie or towne or the lappe of their garment emptied the least remembrance I meane and vvatchvvorde in the vvorlde betvveene GOD and his servauntes that heere or there they haue beene delivered their errande in his name and vvere not accepted shall vvitnesse
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
giue to it Thou art my confidence Do you not plant build purchase adde house to house ioine fielde to field put to vse grinde eate teare racke extort to the outtermost what meaneth such costlines in your houses delicacy at your tables stately habiliments vpon your wiues and daughters insolent neighbourhood against your brethren like the malignant aspect of vnluckie planets vpon them discountenancinges disturbings dispossessings of them but that you trust in riches Where is your trust in the living God meane time richnes in good workes readines to distribute and communicate which the Apostle preached to Timothy and willed him to giue in charge because such hard doctrine must bee driven in with hard hammers to those that are rich in this present worlde least they be deprived of those incorruptible riches which God hath stored vp where are your morsels of bread to feede the hungry your fleeces of woll to warme the loynes of the naked hospitality in your halles bounty at your gates liberality in your hands I thinke you keepe the rule of the gospell that the right hand knoweth not vvhat the left doth because neither right nor left doth any thing I like the advise of an heathen well Vse thy wealth as thou wouldest vse thy coate let it bee rather fit then too long A little may bee a burthen but in too much there is no question In the land of Havilah there is good gold In the land of the living in the land of promise in the land of heavenly Ierusalem there is good golde indeede golde tried in the fire in the third of the revelation where neither moth nor rust can corrupt nor theefe purloine it gold of more worth than all the mines of the earth can send vp O thirst after this gold if you must needes thirst be covetous after durable riches Lay vp treasures for your selues in heauen and of your vnrighteous Mammon neither well gained perhaps and ill kept and worse laide out make friends in time that they may receiue you into the heavenly tabernacles saue your shippes if it may be and saue your liues but saue your soules though you lose your wares your shippes and your lives to THE SIXT LECTVRE Chap. 1. ver 5. But Ionas was gonne downe into the sides of the shippe and he lay downe and was fast a sleepe THE marriners had throwen out their wares but the greatest burthen was behinde the sinne of Ionas for wickednes is as a talent of lead Zach. 5. the weight whereof cannot be expressed Salt and sande and a lumpe of iron is easier to beare then an vnwise foolish vngodly man We see by the proofe of this example that the sinne of one private person is likely to sinke a shippe in the middest of the sea and Peter thought it of force to overturne more then one Luke 5. For when the two shippes were so fraught with fish that they were ready to sinke he fell downe at the knees of Iesus and said goe from me Lorde for I am a sinfull man thinking that his sinne had so endaungered them They say no element is ponderous in the proper place of the element wee feele not the weight of the aire though we liue in the circle of it the water of the sea as much as the whole chaÌ„nel holdeth if we lay in the nethermost bottome therof would not offend vs with burthen though annoy vs otherwise so is it in the estimatioÌ„ of sin it seemeth not a burtheÌ„ in the wil of man wherein the region and elemente of sinne is because of that lust and appetite the will hath to commit sinne but bring it from the house and home where it dwelleth convent it before reason examine it with iudgment and vnderstanding consider what an infinit maiesty it offendeth and what infinit plagues it bringeth forth then shall wee know the weight of sinne No sooner had Ionas entered the ship but the sea which was at rest before feeling a burthen more then common came forth like a bride-groome out of his chamber and channell to ease it selfe and to shake his bones with an ague that troubled the quiet therof that we may learne saith Chrysost. vbi peccatum ibi procella where sinne is there will also bee a storme and if wee will saue our selues wee must drowne sinne as they drowned Ionas The sleepe of Ionas is as strange prodigious and brutisâ— kind of sleepe as ever I hearde of The windes rage the sea roareth the ship tottereth and groaneth the marriners feare and pray and cry euery soule in the ship so many persons vpon so many Gods it was as the howling of Baals Priestes or as the yelling of wolues they runne to and fro they ransacke all the corners of the ship vnbowell her in most celles throwe out commodities rende and rape downe tackles sailes all implementes Ionas in the meane time as a man possest with the deafe Divell Marke 7. or as one that had lost his soule as they write of Hermotimus that his soule would depart from the body at times and come home againe sleepeth If a theefe should come to robbe woulde hee not steale till hee had enough If grape-gatherers should come to a vine would they not leaue some grapes Obadiah 5. Beholde the customer of the life of man who taxeth halfe our daies to his owne vse commeth vpon Ionas and is not content with ordinary moderate fees but bereaveth him of all sense And no oratour in the world could better haue described this drowsines to the disgrace of Ionas than Ionas himseâ—fe 1 He descended Hee staid not vpon the hatches to visite the light of heaven to behold the waues of the sea his persecutours but removed as far from God and his anger as his heart could devise shewing that his workes were evill because he buried himselfe in darkenesse A sinner ever descendeth till hee commeth to the lowest that may bee his affections are down-wardes and I am sure his inheritance and hope is not aboue but as wee bury dead flesh vnder the ground so it is not vnlikely of deade soules and as the heaviest bodies draw to the center of the earth so the saddest and heaviest spirites which the mercy of God hath forsaken 2 He descended not into the bosome through fare of the ship where the passage of the marriners vp and downe might haue disturbed him but into the sides or thighes of it 3 He descended into the sides of the keele the veriest bottome that the vessell had I thinke if there had beene a vault in the shippe as deepe as hell and destruction it selfe hee woulde haue entered thereinto 4 Hee descended into the shippe not to bestow time in any serviceable imployment for the furtherance of the voiage but to lye downe 5 Not for the ease of his body alone to giue it some short repose but to sleepe 6 Nay he slept and slept Endimions sleepe Somno
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
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
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
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
Saviour praysed the living Iohn Baptist the Centurion Nathanael Though wisedome it selfe could not erre in iudgement yet it is safer for vs to praise the dead than the living the complement and periode of whose daies we haue seene expired quando nec laudantem adulatio movet nec lavdatum tentat elatio vvhen neither hee that praiseth is mooved with flattery nor he that is praised can be â—empted or swell with vaine glory Praise a sea-man when he is come to the haven and praise a warriour when he is brought to his triumph not before Such are the dead whome we should favour generally if there were none other cause tantùm quia praecesserunt onely because they haue ledde the way vnto vs but those who haue bene honourable in their life time we must follow with our amplest testimonies not of friendship and affection but of truth and fulfill the blessing of God vpoÌ„ them what in vs lyeth that the righteous may be had in everlasting remembrance For mine owne part I come not at this time to giue titles to any man either living or dead contrary to desert nor to pronounce a sentence with my lippes vvhich mine heart gaine-saith I know that the nature of praise is not benigna hominum verba sed iudicia the curteous speech of men but their sound iudgements and the seate of subiect therof is not the praiser for then the credit of the iust must stand to the mercy of flatterers but hee that is praised as Pindarus aunswered one who told him that he deserved thankes for coÌ„mending him Efficio vt vera dicas the cause is in mee not in thy selfe that thou speakest truth According therfore to these rules I haue thought it my duty to breake a boxe of spikenard amongst you to fill the house with some part of that sweete perfume which his good name memory hath left behind him In few wordes this honourable shadow presented vpon this stage of mortalitye and now concluding his laste acte vpon the face of the earth as hee was not great by parentage so it was his greater commendation that hee became great by vertues Stemmata quid faciunt Auncient and noble pedigrees are of little vvorth where the line of well-doing continueth not And it is much more glorye to a man to begin the honour of his howse than either to ende or not to encrease it VVhat did it profit Cham that hee vvas the sonne of Noah or hurt Abraham that Thara his father worshipped Gods of clay or disparage Timothee that hee was borne in Gentilitye Ingenuitas non recepit contumeliam honesty and vertuousnesse how base soever the birth bee is free from disgrace It vvas no preiudice to Socrates that his father wrought in Marble and that his mother was a mid-wife to Demosthenes that his father was a cutler or Euripides that his mother solde garden hearbs Tullus Hostilius spent his infancy in a cottage his youth in keeping sheepe his mans estate in governing the kingdome of Rome but his olde age vvas so beautified vvith most excellent giftes that it reached to the toppe of highest maiestye Moses though hee vvere hid in a basket of flagges and cast a side amongst bulrushes yet became a terrour to Princes Ioseph the sonne of Iacob vvho kept sheepe for wiues vvas exalted to bee the second ruler of Egypt Saul sought asses and David followed the ewes great with yonge yet the Lord hath lifted them both out of the dust and set them amongst the Kings of the earth It leaueth an encouradgement to those that are left behinde Summos posse viros magna exempla daturos c. that most rare men and able to bequeath to the world great examples both of vertue and learning may be borne of meane parents For the rest of his life as Cesar in three words abridged that service of his veni vidi vici I came I viewed I vanquished so three other words shall summe and comprehend the whole course of it Academta Aula Ecclesia the Vniversity the Court and the Church of God The Vniversity tried his learning The Court his manners the Church his wisedome Touching the first as Petrus Chrysologus said that if in this present life there be any where a paradise it is either in a Cloister or in the schoole so if there be any where a probation of learning it is amongst scholers For popular iudgemeÌ„t is very sufficient satis pauci satis vnus satis nullus A few are enough one enough none enough to heare and determine of such matters Therin how well he proved let the transplanting of him from colledge to colledge not by chaÌ„ce or suite of friends but advised choice and not onely his sittieg at the feete of Gamalael to heare but his sitting in a chaire to teach be arguments vnto vs. The manner of a court is rather to take than to make goodmen Therefore Bernard admonished Eugenius the Pope to choose men vnto him already approoved not to bee approoved after they were come I will not censure the court of England The Lord prosper both the roote and branches of it and cause the light of his countenance to shine vpon the sun and starres of that firmament But I am sure in that Court whilest he lived therin non fuit vnus é multis hee was not a common man for his deserts and yet for his paines fuit vnus é multis he made himselfe a common man in keeping as orderly and ordinary a course of preaching as whosoever was most bound to doe that service And as hee had an office therein besides to waite vppon so he dischardged it with fidelity not bearing the bag like a theefe but vvith such vprightnesse of conscience that in the sight of GOD and men hee might iustlye purdge himselfe vvitnesse against mee if you canne VVhome have I ever defrauded Lastly the Church had a long experience of his government He was thrice a Deane and because he was faithfull â—n a little he vvas made a ruler over much for he was thrice also Bishop In the menaging of which weighty chardges malice it selfe spared him Even that malice which blotted and blemished the names of most of the lights of this land never accused him But I call this the least credite of a thousand One told Menedemus that Alexâ—us praised him an evill man Mendemus aunswered but I will never be brought to praise Alexius Concerning his last service in these his ecclesiasticall prefectures As Paul told the elders of Ephesus Act. 20. You all know from the first houre that I came into Asia c. so from the first houre that he came into this province you know his behaviour amongst you at al seasons how he kept nothing backe that was profitable but taught you openly and throughout every Church witnessing both to Iewes and Grecians Protestants and Papists repentance towards God faith towards Iesus Christ. Shall I yet
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.