yet gaue good gifts vnto their children Mat. 7. Yea the cruell beasts doe loue their own The Dragons draw out their breasts and giue sucke to their young Lament 4. and 2. Tim. 3. It is reckoned for one of the signs of the latter day that men shall bee without naturall affection Now the reason why men do naturally loue their children is not because they bee wittie or faire or forward though these things may encrease their loue but because they be theirs The reason why good men loue their children is not onely because they bee theirs but because as they thinke they bee heires begotten vnto God But the reasons why Kings doe loue their children are many more and more peculiar First because they see all the people loue them which Saul saw in Jonathan when they reskewed him out of his fathers hands and deliuered him from death 1. Sam. 14. Secondly because the royall seed and name is preserued in them which was promised to Dauid in this Salomon 2. Sam. 7. Thirdly because Kings of all men being subiect to plots and practises while they liue and also to ill fame and censure when they are gone their sons stand vp not only as heires to inherit their crownes and kingdomes but as Champions to maintaine their honours and to auenge their quarrels whereof the former was performed by Jotham the sonne of Gideon Iudg. 9.17 The latter by Amaziah the sonne of Joash 2. King 14.5 Fourthly the King loueth his sonne the more for a diuine mysterie hi him for as Kings themselues are Gods so is the sonne of the King as the sonne of God God ruleth he world by Christ his sonne Iohn 3.35 So did Dauid yet liuing set Salomon vpon his owne Mule yea vpon his owne Throne 1. Kin. 1. God pronounceth his sonne the onely mediator to himselfe 1. Tim. 2.5 He in whom he is well pleased Matth. 3.17 So did Dauid worke himselfe peace with Saul a while by the mediation of Jonathan his son 1. Sam. 19. 6. and as the sonne of God is the wisedome of the father 1. Cor. 1.24 So saith Salomon heere that his father taught him that is put wisedome to him and he did not only teach him but also prayed for him in that behalfe Giue thy iudgements to the king O God and thy righteousnesse to the kings son Psalm 72. and thus was Salomon his fathers sonne But to his mother what Tender and deare or as some translate it Tender and only in the sight of his mother To his father a sonne barely and without addition His fathers sonne but to his mother her tender son her deare her onely sonne So the father setteth downe the Substantiue but Tender and onely the Adiectiues or Epithetes come from the mother and why so because Salomon should shew that his father loued him but his mother loued him more euen as commonly wee say that men abound in reason but women in affection Thy loue to me was wonderfull passing the loue of women said Dauid to Jonathan 2. Sam. 1. A wonderfull loue no doubt which passeth the loue of women Or else Salomon would shew that his fathers loue was in discretion hid as in the text it is but vnderstood but his mothers loue was Tender and deare and onely flaming out like fire which hath no power to hide it selfe for Can a mother forget her child saith Esay yea can a mother hide her affection from her child yes iust as Salomons mother hideth hers VVhat my sonne and what the son of my wombe and what O sonne of my desires Prou. 31. See how shee hides her loue Her sonne and the sonne of her wombe and the sonne of her desires as if shee had said O thou my sonne whom once I bare in my wombe and whom I euer beare in my heart borne of my body by course of nature but still vnborne by strength of loue the father saith Sonne thou art euer with me Luk. 15. The mother saith Sonne thou art euer within me and so is it heere Tender and onely in the sight of his mother Tender in respect of his age as Chron. 1.29 Salomen my sonne young and tender but more in respect of her affection as mothers are euer tender that is fearefull and carefull of their children Samuel was not in his mothers keeping but in the custodie of the high Priest much better sure then in his mothers keeping yet see how mothers nature workes for though hee wanted neither meate nor clothes yet shee makes him and brings him euery yeere a little coat 1. Sam. 2.19 lest too much wind should blow vpon him and when the Shunamites sonne was sicke she set him on her knees till he died 2. King 4.20 but when Jeroboams son was sicke the Queene her selfe runs out to the Prophet for him 1. King 14.4 Againe Salomon was his mothers Onely sonne not onely begotten for shee had three sonnes beside 1. Chron. 3.5 but onely beloued or if not the onely beloued yet the onely beloued in that degree for though she loued them all well yet shee wisht and procured the kingdome to him and when she heard that Adonijah was vsurping it she steps in to Dauid 1. King 1. and makes sure worke for him And all this Jn her sight or before her Tender and onely in her sight for Vbi amor ibi oculus Loue is euer looking Samuels mother went vp euery yeere to Shiloh 1. Sam. 2. Yea true shee did so but that was to offer sacrifice yea and withall to sacrifice a little to her eyes that is to see Samuel too for if the sonne be but a little missing or out of sight Siseraes mother lookes and lookes out at a window and why tarrie the wheeles of his Chariots and why is his Chariot so long a comming Iud. 5. But if the son be dead or gone A voice is heard in Ramah Rachel weeping for her children and will not bee comforted Ier. 31. Now Lord that wee were but halfe so tender of our soules as our mothers are of our bodies But Salomons mother was tender of his soule too for she was a Prophet to teach him for so is the chapter 31. stiled The prophesie which his mother taught him She tels him what a King should doe To iudge righteously to iudge the afflicted and the poore and shee tels him what a King should not doe Not giue his strength to women not giue himselfe to wine euen as Monica the mother of Austin Toties parturiens filios c. So oft as she saw her son to do amisse so oft she was in pains of trauell with them And thus to loue is the tender deare and onely loue But this appeareth better in the next part of the text He taught me and said vnto mee c. Which followes out of the former not as oft in this booke of Prouerbs after a loose and independent manner but it followes with a speciall force as if hee had said Though I was my fathers sonne
dance and leape about him self yet shee as her owne pretty apt and actiue child might take him to her and kisse him and what of all this was there no other way but to take a pen and write a booke of these things To which I answere with the Apostle generally that whatsoeuer things are written they are written for our instruction Rom. 15.4 And that as the things which the holy Ghost hath concealed are therefore not fit to bee knowne so the most secret things as the drunkennesse yea the nakednesse of Noah when they any way make for publike edification they are iustly publisht and needfully made knowne The occasion of this report I take to be thus Salomon would perswade children or young men to learne what is the true wisedome or vnderstanding for so it appeares vers 1. of the chapter Heare O yee children the instruction of a father and giue eare to learne vnderstanding And to perswade that hee brings in himselfe for an instance For J was my fathers sonne c. As much as to say Thus was I taught thus did I learne when I was a child the tendernes of my yeers did not excuse me neither the loue of my parents nor yet my royal birth did priuiledge me to neglect these things therefore Heare ye children also and giue eare to learne vnderstanding That other mens children should learne by example of the Kings the consequence is very reasonable If the Kings sonne did learne and study these things then much more the sonnes of meaner men but the Antecedent that the Kings sonne did learne these things it is the very point of the text and it is a point of Princely consideration The strength of the reason lieth in Salomons own person For J was Heare ye and learne ye For J was thus and yet learned thus Salomon heere speaketh like a King and teacheth Kings likewise how to speake that is if they will perswade the people any thing to shew the experience of it first in themselues or if they will command the people any thing to shew the same thing first done by themselues For J was thus and yet learned thus that is to say hee layeth no other burthen on the people then he had first borne himselfe Kings and Priests in a common sense are both said to bee shepheards but the good shepheard goeth before saith Christ and then the sheepe follow after Iohn 10. It is said in the praise of Moses that hee was a man mighty both in word and deed Acts 7. Mighty in word as many gouernours are to command strongly but mighty also in deed to doe it accordingly Tully reports of Julius Caesar that hee was neuer heard saying to his souldiers Jteilluc Goe ye thither as if they should go forth vpon seruice and he to tarrie behinde in his tent but Venite huc Come ye hither as if hee had said Come on my hearts let vs giue the aduenture and aduenture our selues together for Participatus cum duce labor persuadetur militibus minor it shall bee an easie thing for the common souldiers to follow when they see the Captaine goe before but if a Magistrate shall exact of the people one thing and doe himselfe another they will say he is like a water-man which rowes one way and lookes another Philip King of Macedon was very curious and inquisitiue about the agreement of the Grecians among themselues and yet liuing in an horible diuision with his owne wife such a man though neuer so high yet is lookt at like one vpon a stage yea how can a King or Magistrate punish sin in another man when he is noted to be guiltie yea and notorious in the same sinne himselfe Alexander the great conqueror tooke one Dyonides a Pyrate vpon the sea and asked of him Quid sibi videretur vt mare infestum faceret what hee meant in that manner to trouble the sea the Pyrate answeres him boldly and truly againe yea rather what meane you thus to trouble the whole world but because I robbe and steale in a poore pinnace which you doe in a great and royall Nauie I goe for a Pyrate and you goe for an Emperour and when it is thus with the Magistrates in a kingdome though no man dare speake yet euery man will mutter and Socrates will laugh Quia video magnes latrones ducentes paruum latronem ad suspendium because he saw the great theeues leading the little theeues to hanging And so much for the personall point For J was Well what was he J was my fathers son Tender and deare in the sight of my mother that is to say he was his fathers and he was his mothers begotten of the one and born of the other and as the male and female of the doues doe hatch and feede their young by course euen so was hee diuided to them both But first Altera pars patri one peece goes to the father He was his fathers sonne his fathers sonne that must needs bee true in reason and yet it seemes triuial to write for euery child in Logique knowes the Relatiue predication Filius est patris filius and how can a man but bee his fathers sonne yet the Scripture vseth this phrase of speech either when the child doth much resemble the father as Ezech. 16. Thou art thy mothers daughter that is like mother like daughter an ill whelpe of an ill store and in that sense Christ denieth the lewes to be the sonnes because they did not the workes of Abraham Ioh 8.39 Or else the sonne is said to be the fathers when he is so respected and so accounted of the father and that is the meaning or Salomon heere J was my fathers sonne that is my father begat me and owned me and loued mee and saw himself in me It is said of the Ostrich that shee is cruell to her young as if the were not hers Iob 39. Such an Ostrich was Athaliah 2. King 11. that catcht vp her grand-children and killed them as shee catcht them as if they had not been the sonnes of her sonne And Augustus Caesar said of Herod that hee had rather bee Herods swine then his son for that being in part a lew hee forbare to kill swine and yet vpon a bare conceit hee killed two of his owne sonnes But Salomon was his fathers sonne and Dauid was to Salomon a kinde and louing father yet not taxed heere with indulgence neither nor doe we any where teach that naturall loue is a sinne or that religion doth forbid it but only bridle and gouerne it yea it came first from the Trinity and with a voice from heauen for the father to loue his sonne This is my beloued sonne saith God the father of Christ his sonne Mat. 3. And the best men were thus affected to their sons Take now thy son thy sonne whom thou louest saith God to Abraham Gen. 22. And so were the worst men affected to their sons for euen they which were euill
tender and deare vnto my mother yet they did not coker mee but taught me and said vnto me There is a loue in parents a doting loue which teacheth nothing and there is a gouernment in parents which looseneth all the raines and suffereth to riot and for biddeth nothing and there is a pitie in parents a foolish pitie which pardoneth all and punisheth nothing till God come with the sword as hee did to the sons of Eli and kill where the father leaues vncorrected a strange loue in parents to kill their children with too much kindnesse but Salomons father loued him to proue his loue hee taught him as thinking him much better vnborne then vntaught If it be demanded heere how Dauid taught his sonne the text it selfe sheweth that sometime he spake vnto him himselfe He taught mee and said vnto mee hee taught him by word of mouth as the Eagle teacheth her young to flie Deut. 32.10.11 And as Plutarch saith the Nightingale teacheth her young to sing and God knew that Abraham would teach his sonnes Genes 18 And carefull parents are euer whetting the law vpon their children Beside it is also like that Dauid taught him by an instructor by Abiathar by Zadok by Nathan or some other and it is a chiefe prerogatiue of Kings that they may chuse their Tutors and instructours throughout their kingdomes The father of the great Alexander professed that hee was not more glad that hee had a son then that he had such a schoolemaster as Aristotle to teach him And Alexander himselfe confessed that he had his naturall life from his father but to liue well and vertuously hee had it from his master And it is strange to tell what honour Theodosius the Emperour gaue to Arsenius his sonnes schoolemaster And thus did Dauid teach And consider on the passiue part that as none is so carefull to teach the sonne as the father so hath none of the sonnes so much neede of teaching as he who succecdeth in the kingdome of the father Bee wise ye Kings saith Dauid and bee learnedye that be Judges of the earth Psalm 2. It is true that Kings are Gods annointed yet not annointed onely with oyle but with speciall graces but what grace before wisdome and learning which leades the way to all other grace as Kings are leaders to all other men Let the Lord appoint a man ouer the congregation who may leade them out and in saith Moses Numb 27. But it was neuer intended by God that they should be blind and ignorant themselues who were appointed as leaders and lights to other men And what was Salomon admired for but chiefly for his learning and for his wisdome The Queene of Sheba came of purpose to heare and proue his wisedome And 1. King 4.34 There came of all people to heare his wisedome as commonly when the people enquire after the King they doe not listen so much whether hee bee rich for they thinke he may be too rich as Julian the Emperor said that a couetous king was like the Splen in a mans body which when it swelleth and groweth great all the rest of the members are in a consumption by it Nor doe they listen so much if he be a man of warre they like it well that hee bee martially minded and readie to encounter when the enemie giues cause but they like it not that hee haue Animum auersum a pace A minde hating peace or delighting in warre Psal â—8 30 yea cursed are the people which delight in warre saith Dauid himselfe euen one of the greatest souldiers that euer was in the world but the chief thing enquired of the subiects is if the King bee learned or wise for then they know that he wil carrie himselfe the state well in warre in peace in want in abundance in all conditions safely and well And that Salomon was thus wise it was not only his fathers teaching for men can but plant and water but first he had helpes from nature which had exceedingly fitted him besides he was studious and industrious of himselfe for as it is Eccles 1. Hee gaue his heart to search out wisedome and which is more then all humane helps when God appeared vnto him gaue him leaue to aske what he would 1. King 3. he asked not riches long life nor honour but hee asked wisedome and God gaue it him in great abundance for hee was seene in all wisedome yea he had considered all the workes that were done vnder the sunne Eccles 1. euen as Moses the gouernour of Israel was seene in all he wisedome of the Egyptians Act. 7. He spake three thousand Sentences or Prouerbs his Ethikes or morall Philosophy hee wrote Songs Psalmes or Poems a Poet among other learning He spake of trees plants euen from the Cedar to the Hysop his Physiques or naturall Phylosophie yea he spake euen of the beasts and creeping things A wonder to see a King come from his Throne an Iuorie Throne ouerlaid with gold mounted vpon steps for Maiesty and euery step with Lions on each side a wonder I say to see a King to come from thence to looke into the bowels vaines of a beast yea of a vermine the lowest steps of naturall learning what thought hee of learning which sought it thus And therefore they are deceiued which thinke learning to bee but a meere ornament to a King It is true there is facultie of ornament as playing singing dancing for as this learned Salomon saith There is a time to dance Eccles 3. and there is faculty of good vse as tilting running riding promised to the Kings of Judah Ierem. 22. If ye doe these things ye shall ride vpon Chariots and horses but learning and wisedome are essentiall to gouernment he was no mere scholer nor vulgar man but hee was a King which said it that Rex illiteratus est asinus coronatus Henry 1. King of England that a King without learning was an asse with a Crowne for to what end sits he vpon the iudgement seate which when hee comes there may sit and see and heare but hath no wit to iudge This Salomon himselfe sat in iudgement vpon the two harlots 1. King 3. and gaue such a sentence as all the kingdome applauded to heare it besides for knowledge of religion he was Ecclesiastes a professed Preacher as Eccl. 1. J the Preacher haue bin King ouer Jsrael c. and that knowledge is also needfull for a King for if a schisme or schismaticall fellow arise in the Church hee is a kinde of persecutor that onely punisheth him it is more kinde and kingly first by learning to controll him Constantine sat oft himselfe in iudgement and gaue sentence in causes Ecclesiastical especially in the faction and quarrels of the Donatists And I could speak of a King now vpon the stage which speaks and disputes and writes that Rome it selfe is enraged to reade it for the Romane Clergie doe with their kings as the late Queene