in the middest of miserie O blessed curse that leades thee the right and only way to happinesse for except thou labourest heere thou canst not liue heere and this doth teach thee that except thou labourest spiritually and workest the workes of grace thou shalt not liue eternally the life of glorie In vvorking thou maist obteyne but thou doest not yet merit thy daily bread thou beggest it thou hast it by gift by Gods blessing And this will teach thee that if all thy sweat be not able to purchase a crum of bread all thy holinesse cannot merit Heauen worke yet thou must first to shew thy penitencie and how well thou wouldest behaue thy selfe if now thou wert in possession of Paradise as thou hast beene secondly to shew thy obedience to that commandement of his which thou hast broken when it vvas in thy power to keepe it thirdly to shew thy faith in the assurance of that promise which he that made neuer fayles to performe fourthly to shew thy thankefulnesse to that God who notwithstanding thy sinne hath not done execution vpon thee but left thee meanes to liue heere and to assure a better life hereafter then that vvhich thou hast lost If thou diest not temporally thou canst not liue eternally O therfore happie transgression which procurest this blessed curse O happie sinne that art incountred with so much grace O joyfull and pleasant miserie that hast mette vvith such abundant and ouerflowing mercie Consider Paradise was not thine by nature but grace at the first God made thee without he brought thee thither he put thee into possession vpon condition of thy good behauiour thou didst forfeit thy right by ill desert which at first was giuen thee freely without desert thou canst much lesse lay claime to it now by merit or hope to get it againe that way since grace brought thee in at the first and the same grace only can and will bring thee in againe if thou wilt worke for in the sweat of thy browes thou shalt eate both thy temporall and spirituall bread Now if thou hast forgotten how to worke O thou great gouernor of all creatures thou man that wert made their schoolemaster to teach them their lessons doe not thinke scorne to refresh thy memorie by their examples but now humble thy selfe to be taught of them as doating fathers of their obedient children behold the holy Ghost sends thee to learne of a most contemptible creature a worme a pismire Goe to the Pismire O Sluggard consider her waies and be wise Goe for thou hast a body and legs Consider for thou hast a soule and reason Goe and consider vse both joyne both in this businesse stirre vp the faculties of the foule and body that thou maist attaine by industrie that which this silly worme retaines by nature and learne to be wise for thy selfe seasonably wise wise to sobrietie procuring thy selfe timely sufficiencie both for this life and a better The wordes are exhortatorie wherein wee behold 1. the Admonitor 2. the Admonished 3. the Admonition 1. The Admonitor is Salomon 1. a King 2. a Preacher 3. the Preacher 1. A king and therefore deseruing reuerence and attention for the dignitie of his person for counsell partakes authoritie with the person that giues it and is respected or sleighted accordingly Eccl. 13.24 When the rich man speakes saith Siracides euery one holdeth his tongue and looke what he saith they praise it vnto the clouds but if a poore man speake they say what fellow is this Eccl. 9 16. and Salomon saith The wisdome of the poore is despised and his words are not heard Regis ad exemplum totus componitur orbis whether he speake or no they will doe as he doth And therefore it is enough for such persons with Gideon to say Looke on mee and doe as you see mee doe Iudg. 7.17 But besides the dignitie and authoritie annexed to his person and the force and sway of his example he hath likwise power to compell and command and therefore speakes in the imparatiue moode Vade Go to the Pismire O sluggard who dares but goe when Salomon the king commands him And yet if you had rather vnderstand this as an advise and counsell then as a law or command because vvisdome perswades but layes not violent hands vpon man to compell him to benefit himselfe against his will then heare the Preacher perswading since you will not heare the King commanding and goe to the Pismire O Sluggard consider her wayes and be wise 2 A Preacher therefore deserving reverence attention that being a King he would descend to take paines to instruct his people by way of exhortation as a Preacher Ioan. 21.19 was admirable they should doe ill not to hearken and obey such a Pastor This is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to feed and rule indeed not as the Pope doth but as Christ did Art thou not ashamed O Antichrist whilst Salomon painfully and carefully acts the Princes part and the Pastors part ruling and teaching his people aright that thou whose profession it is to teach and to preach doest scorne to be Christs Vicar as he was a Prophet and wilt vsurpe authoritie to be his Vicar as he was a king only Art thou not ashamed to say that Salomon is damned notwithstanding his diligent discharge of his duty and thou art saued nay hast the power of Salvation in thine owne hand whilest thou neglectest thine And are ye not ashamed O all yee Wolues in sheepes cloathing to neglect the flocke ouer which the Holy Ghost hath made you ouerseers to become Courtiers and leaue the care of the Church to others Pro. 27.23 whilst you heare Salomon say Be diligent to know the state of your flocks and take heed to the herds And whilst you see him leaue the Court and apply himselfe like a Preacher to instruct his people in all necessarie knowledge Eccles 12.9.10 The more wise the Preacher was the more he taught the people knowledge and caused them to heare and searched forth and prepared many parables The Preacher sought to finde out pleasant wordes and an vpright writing euen the wordes of truth But the lesse you teach the people the more wise you thinke your selues and the more you know the lesse ye labour to profit other men especially the people You studie indeed to finde out pleasant wordes and parables as Apothecaries picke sallads euery Spring These you vent once euery yeere out of the hearing of your owne Cures the Court only must pertake your parables which are farre more precious if rare things be so then euer was Salomons But Salomon heere applyes his wisedome to countrie capacities he speakes and sings in their key 1. Reg. 4 34. therefore he deserues serious attention and he had it 3. The Preacher by way of excellencie for so he beginnes his booke called Ecclesiastes or the Preacher The words of the Preacher the sonne of David the King and after in the
men are excited and incouraged to sow mault brew and to seeke to supply the Common-wealth vvithin it selfe vvithout borrowing abroad And vvhilst I consider this I can but sometime vvonder perhaps in my ignorance at our restraints about the out-lading of Corne and Beere euen vvhen there is no dearâ—h but plenty if men vvere forced to bring out their store Assuredly if in the time of scarcity vvhen God seemes to call vs to fasting and humiliation as at this present fasting vvere enjoyned and strictly obserued and the Alehouses daily and duly visited for auoyding of idlenes drunkennesse and excessiue ryot there needed no other prouision against famine But this is the plague these Statutes being penall are beg'd aforehand or left to the pursuite of beggars and base Promoters who compound the forfeiture and coosen the Lawe or committed to the ouersight of such as are Ingrossers themselues vvho desire to haue all things deere that they may vent their owne commodities at the best rate and so grow rich though the Common-wealth waxe poore 3. Thirdly from this Excise of forraine Beere and other commodities the State makes more gaine towards the maintenance of the vvarres and other publique vvorkes then all the rest that deale in them For in Beere especially they double the price and haue clearely as much for the Excise as the Merchant paid to the Bruer Now in this they do the parts of prouident fathers vvho seeing their prodigall children waste their portions they vnderhand lend money vvhich their children know not of and so preserue their Lands from sale and their pawnes from forfeiture returning them againe vvhen the haue more vvit to keepe them and vse them And in my conceit this vvere a good Toile to take out frugall Foxes and a sure trap for our negligent drunkards and prodigall heires vvho being only niggardly in publique vvorks where they should freely giue vvill grutch to disburse six pence towardes the maintenance of the Minister and reliefe of the poore or twelue pence towardes a Subsedy for defence of the State or for the Kings and kingdomes honour vvhen they will at that very time willingly spend ten times so much in ryot and excesse neuer feeling or complaining of the matter though they continued this course euery day and cannot by perswasions of reason or the force and authoritie of the lawes of God or man be diuerted and drawne from it such a basenesse there is in man such a dull and beastly sottishnesse in nature to contrary Religion and reason especially being seconded in any euill by company and confirmed therein by custome past reclaiming Now if the vnited Provinces had peace vvith Spaine as other Countries haue or vvere in subjection to Spaine as not onely the Spanyards but some of their owne infected members and some others perhaps of Ours inconsiderately as I suppose seeme to desire then neither should they be secure of their owne lives estates and liberties nor their neighbors safe by them For assuredly howsoever men flatter themselves as the Catholike King would be King of all Catholike subjects so most of theÌ„ seeme to desire him for their head But should they be so vnhappy as to haue their desires what were they but slaves since vvhere the Spaniard comes he sets himselfe downe like an absolute and tyrannicall Lord silencing all Lawes but his owne vvhich are as those of the Medes and Persians yea as those of Draco written in blood Never did the Lurdanes more Lord it in England then they vvhere they conquer or be let in vpon any tearmes tell me Naples Milan Antwerpe if this be not true And though Religion be made the stalking-horse to infatuate and bewitch the mindes of men and make them betray themselues and their Countries to slaverie yet the Larke beeing dared and the Woodcocke in the Net that maske is cast away and there is as much trust to their promises as to the Moores their Kinsmen and late Countrimen So that because of this feare as long as the contrariety of Religion lasteth the innocent party cannot be safe vvithout armour nor secure then Shew mee in any part of Christendome vvhere any person professing the reformed Religion hath beene spared vvere hee friend neighbour or kinsman if That side had strength enough to reach his throat and notwithstanding our advantages let slip in mercy and none of them pursued bloudily how haue they in all places by all meanes waded in bloud vp to the chinne for the accomplishment of their designes And this will continue as long as Antichrist raignes for the Wolfe is bloudy and the Lambe simple his Fleece warme and his Bloud and Flesh sweet But if the peaceable Gospel had free passage and free operation then indeed there were not only hope but security that wee should liue in peace one by another and that the strength and riches of one King should not be terrible to another vvhilst God would teach every one to be contented with their own to attend with conscience the charge they haue in hand the peaceable governement of the States committed to them and as brothers to joyne their powers against the common enemie of the Christian Religion not so much seeking his subversion as conversion nor ambitiously thirsting after the enlargement of their owne Kingdomes as piously desiring the enlargement of Christes Kingdome For as a covetous rich man if he seriously thought to vvhat end his goods vvere giuen him and what a strict account he must make for them would not so greedily hunt after his owne hurt and others losse so assuredly if ambitious Princes did vvell consider their charge and conscionably study vpon the workes and duties of their Callings knowing that as the people are giuen to be their seruants so they interchangeably are giuen to serue the people Antigonus Rex Maced dixit Regnum esse splendidam servitutem that all may serue God they vvould not with so much hate and hazard of God and man of soule and body of their Kingdomes heere on earth and the Kingdome of heauen expose their subjects liues to certaine ruine for the accomplishment of their inordinate and importunate desires especially Christian against Christian brother against brothes neither would they vsurpe such a tyrannicall and heathenish authority ouer their flockes as with the Great Turke to make their owne wils limits and lawes to the wils of all other men Hoc est deglubere pecus non tondere But as the Pope that spirituall Tyrant that Antichrist hath gotten Church-Courtiers to vphold his Regaltie with impudent foreheades and artificiall falsehoods so these haue gotten Court Clergie-men to become their Champions who being full of winde themselues haue blowne these bladders with flatterie and forgerie euen to forget their owne vanitie to which they are subject and to which they shal be subjected in the end whilst they imagine all other men to be made for their pleasures and their wils to be a more just law to their subjects then
so many new fashions that haue floated amongst vs in their seasons the principall clothing vsed amongst vs is both forraine and beyond the ability of the vvearer if either his estate and calling or the Lawes of the Land were looked vpon vvith respect But wee are more led in these things by the example of our present superiors then the Lawes of our wiser predecessors It vvere braverie therefore indeed worthy of a Courtier knowing others would imitate and follow him in the heade of the fashion to adorne himselfe vvith domestique ornaments banishing those Dorres and Butterflies from his eares and elbowes who durst buzze about him contrarie perswasions and whilst hee seeth the Italian French and Spaniard come in silkes to incounter these with scarlet cloth those English braueries as our Ancestors had vvont and our vviser neigbors vse to doe What aduantage hath an imbrodered coate of a plaine modest habit in treatie or counsell Only this that the more sober person knowes there may be a sudden sharpnesse of vvit or a reserved formality no soliditie where there is so much vanitie And now I pray vvhen Gallants know that this is the generall opinion of the vvorld and their outward habits is one of the principall marks whereby men guesse at the inward vvhat haue they gotten by their affected brauerie nay how much rather if they be vvise haue they lost to buy the opinion of folly at so deare a rate doubtles if in these kindes wee could be so happily vvise as to moderate our selues either by Lawes or example vvee should soone abate much of our neighbors pride vvho for lacke of vent for their vanities vvould be forced to spend them within themselues and so our broad-clothes vvould in short time fret out their silkes and veluets and vvee should learne by the frugall example of the wise Pismire to make profit of them as they now make profit of vs. The like may be said of that ambitious disposition or humor of ours to hunt after titles as if the Calenture of Spaine had infected our more temperate climate and so intoxicated our judgements that like persons giddy vvith high climbing or high looking vvee haâ—â— forgot our owne standing insomuch as the Yeomandrie aspires to Gentilitie the Gentilitie to Nobilitie the Nobilitie to Principalitie Euery one vvith Lucifer saying Esai 14.14 Ero similis altissimo And thus confusion mixeth all and marres all There are Lawes to preuent all these disorders and to keepe every man in his rancke But they lye dead vvhilst these vices often liue in the persons that should execute them So that the offence is lawfull the lawe is sinfull vice hath gotten the vpper-hand of vertue and the Law now either serues to no end or only serues to shew vs our trangressions and how apt vvee are to do vvhatsoeuer Iustice prohibits though therein wee contradict both the will of God and the King Would God that heereafter whosoeuer durst presume to beg the penaltie of a Statute ordayned for preuenting or remouing these and the like common annoyances thereby to make the Lawe voide for his priuate benefite despensing vvith a generall offence done to the Common-wealth might be counted a traytor as truly he is no better and so punished for his treason that others might heare and feare and doe no more so Deu. 17.13 I might adde fitly in this place the severitie of the Magistrates in the vnited Provinces in taking all mulcts of this kinde where the transgression is common and imploying such forfeitures to the generall good of the State making with the blood of one Scorpion an Antidote against the poyson of others Likewise I might speake of their Mercy in that vvhich concernes life insomuch as though fellony be death by their Lawe yet few die for the first offence but haue two or three admonitions by whipping and branding before they be cut off as dead members But indeed their generall diligence so takes them vp and prouides so vvell for their imployment as there are very few theeves amongst them in comparison of other Countries where idlenesse is more permitted I must likewise tell you how not only Robbery but euen that close kinde of theft vsurie vvhich eats vp all trading and picks the pocket of euery profession is no free-denizen in their Land but a meere stranger or sojourner and that a very poore one And how by this meanes Land is bought and sold at good rates and the stocke of euery man kept stirring in some kinde or other which quickens the Common-vvealth and keepes the backe of the Marchant from breaking And I could wish by the way with all my heart that it vvere banished England also or at least muzled for biting so deepe Or if neither of these yet that the bandes and assurances might be publiquely recorded and a part of the interest kept backe to the vse of his Majestie and the Church towards the redeeming of Impropriations And great reason for this since now offending against God and the King they pay nothing of their increase to either but by this meanes might be restrained or at least constrained to do his Majestie service and to recover to the Church their ancient right vvhich to performe I doubt not from the tenths of the vse-money in England a summe sufficient might speedily be raised I might likewise shew their equity not onely in deciding controversies and cutting off delayes in Lawe with expedition but also in providing for the poore Debtor who hath not to pay his Creditor For if it appeare that either fire sea suretiship trust or some such crosse or as we say casualty hath impoverished him and that his wants arise not either from prodigality or slouth or some personall defect in his Calling he shal be inabled and set vp againe at least if hee be cast into prison the mercilesse man who with vs sayth He will make Dice of his bones shall be forced to keepe him there at his owne charge And so it is if the suite smell of vexation in the Plaintife or if the Defendant ought and be able but fraudulently denies or delayes to satisfie the Plaintife a quicke and speedy tryall manifesteth the truth and cuts off those demurres vvhich vvith vs had vvont to occasion greater losse of time and money then the losse of the debt or thing in question could haue beene to either party at first without suite though now to the honour of the Clergie Conscience begins to finde the right end to vnwinde that infinite bottome of controversies which the confused variety of opinions had made in the determination of Right and Wrong Yet whether that course of theirs where the imprisoned lyes at the charge of the Actor vvould doe well or no with vs I doubt though there I am assured it neither makes any man the lesse wary of his estate or the lesse carefull to pay his debts neither is dealing any thing the more dead every man so honestly and directly aymes to doe what he