2. I said before the iust man liues by faith So doe you Stirre vp your faith that it lye not idle in you without fruit Let vs liue by faith as louers liue by loue Their loue is life to their thoughts and fire to their affections They will doe nothing against lawes of loue they ply her with all the seruice and good offices they can the ground of their hopes is but a word or a good looke or halfe a promise from her Can we not doe thus to God It is but changing the subiect and it is done Keepe your loue still be enamored still That which was to a creature Let now bee to the creator then yee are right hold your selues there so it be to God If nothing can please you but riches and splendour make vse of your faith and ye shall haue all contentment in him that ye can desire If beauty delight you reflect vpon your faith and ye will neuer seeke other then what yee finde in him Your hope shall not be so weake as louers hopes vpon a word or halfe promise Euery leafe in the Bible is fraught with promises She is your owne what seeke you more and if ye haue faith she bringes all that is good with her Doe as louers doe Serue God and obserue him whatsoeuer ye haue in hand Let your loue be t 'one end of your thought Marke what God loues in you and doe it note what he hates in you auoide it Let him be alwaies master of your heart to gouerne it mistresse of your loue to command it a most bountifull rewarder ye shall finde him and a most beautifull mistresse yet none so meane in the world but may haue her none so great in the world but may goe without her How can a man be idle and haue so sweet a mistresse to serue night and day hee cannot sinne in thinking on her But I leaue all to your good practise ye haue heard worthy friends all that one body can say in so short a time in words so fewe and in a businesse so aboue all measure necessarie and I may not spoyle with tediousnesse a matter so repleate with all pleasantnesse Shall I aske you a question to make an end withall yee shall not need answer me in words but in thoughts Is there any vnbeleeuer in this place Can any man perswade himselfe he shall liue long or that heauen wil be had without much care or that worldly cares do not hinder it and hazzard it exceedingly Doe they thinke they haue no such inheritance in heauen as I speake off Locum nominatum dabit eis pater meus My father will giue them a place by name or thinke they that the least flower in heauen is not much more worth then the fairest bower on earth that one glimps at Gods brightnesse if we might see it would not dimme and damne the worldes greatest happinesse that one peepe into heauen would not make our gold shew like leade faire fields like a desert the bright sunne like a sparkle beauty like the white skull of adead body if any such be heere asbeleeue nothing but what they see delight in nothing but what the basest dullest and most vulgar delight in I shall most humbly intreate them for the passion of Christ and for the true loue they owe themselues to informe themselues better by them that be better learned Let them not be sicke so dangerously and seeke after no remedy But if it be so as I haue no doubt but ye all beleeue mee then tell me I pray whether yee neede a spurre thither that haue so faire a baite of it whether yee neede a whippe that haue so faire allurements to it whether yee neede inuiting to your owne house any bidding to your owne banquet any inforcing to your owne possession or proper inheritance which if yee neede I doe not maruell much in this great opposition of flesh and blood which keepes you from seeing your inward marke and which vntill yeesee more perfectly minde more readily and aime at more feruently as you doe at outward things sure it is not with you as it should bee and your present remedy is to make a patterne of outward things whereby to guide you to the inward Who stumbles at money-bagge and needes be bidden take it vp who hath a a good legacy giuen him and needes perswading to goe fetch it who is a hungred and needes inforcing to fill his belly hauing good meate before him Sence furthers him in all this And shall our faith be weaker then sence to further vs to the contrary Sence telles vs money is better then Gods mercy itching pleasure better then Paradice present momentaries better then future euerlastingnesse And shall our faith lye dead the whilest Take courage in God and let not sence so preuaile against it Let not idlenesse drowne it passion ouerthrowe it and filthy custome cut the throate of it Let faith rather goe before and other things come after When we follow one by night our eye is neuer off him for feare we misse our way euen so let vs looke to our faith-ward alwayes that our sence seduce vs not in the darke of our vnderstanding If at any time ye be feasting or sporting turne your eye now and then inward and remember the grand-feast preparing for yee aboue Are yee in sorrow or heauinesse stirre vp your faith a little remember heauen and sorrow will vanish like a bubble Are ye at a royall maske or other great entertainement Thinke it all nothing to that is ready for yee in heauen against ye come there Haue ye lost a friend or deare companion Take the glasse of faith in your hand and ye find an hundred for one more deare to you then any can be vpon earth Haue ye sweetes at your nose or dainties in your taste Dwell not on them too long but reflect them higher Are ye tempted with disloyaltie or other disobedience Raise an heauenly thought and it will vntempt you Are yee in delight of harmony the Waites perhaps at your windowe to giue you the time of the day Let this make worke for your faith and quicken it and make it eager after her heauenly harmony Are ye melancholy at misfortune discontent with distresse dazeled with gloomy weather afflicted with reproach or obliquie Repaire to your liuely faith and it will banish all discomfort Your field musicke and trumpets that make you couch your lances and your horses stampe vnder you let these be your alarums against your triple enemie that baricado the way betweene you and heauen Let your inward trumpet sound with your outward to spend your spirits and animate your soules against any proffer to beate you from heauen Doe ye know what heauen is that noble heauen that golden heauen that glorious and delightfull heauen that euerlasting heauen where Angels becken you and looke euery day for you and will yee bee beaten from it Doe yee know your right to it the
these things that I haue reckoned bee they neuer so fitte for vs yet are they all without vs. Cloathing is for the out-side weapons wings ladder almes or whatsoeuer els are all on the outside of vs and come not so neere our life as bread doth all other things doe no good without vnlesse we haue bread within Those things indeede doe furnish vs but bread doth nourish vs and therefore though other things be necessary yet bread is most necessary or necessary of necessaries and the word is vsed by the Prophet in a supereminent signification as a man would say this is locke and key this is all in all this the sinewes this the marrow of all our good and therefore all that intrinsically serueth to our euerlasting weale bee aptly called by this word euen this supereminent word Bread And as all our outward operations and actions are nothing without bread and inward sustentation of man whereby he hath strength and comfort in his doing and can doe nothing without it So if wee should deuise one word to call all things by that we need either in respect of the greatnesse of our neede or the multiplicity of them wee can finde no one word or name so fitte or so significant as this word Bread and for such is vsed and made choice of in our Pater noster by God himselfe where whatsoeuer we neede or pray for almost wee are bidden to aske it by the name of Bread giue vs this day our daily bread that is to say as holy fathers expound it giue vs whatsoeuer will nourish vs either body or soule Are wee to pray for patience we aske it heere by the name of Bread Aske we sorrow for sinne heere it is called bread Aske wee feruor and deuotion God vnderstands vs by the name of Bread Aske we chastity and mortification he giues it vs heere by the word bread Aske we comfort aske wee charity aske we grace constancy or perseuerance to the end all is included in this word Bread All is bread all is foode of soule all makes it fatte rich faire comely and beautifull worthy of saluation worthy of heauen worthy of God And therefore no maruell if the Prophet call these things Bread since God so vnderstands them in our daily forme of prayer which hee gaue vs from his blessed mouth giue vs this day our daily bread Now let no man aske me how is patience bread how are deuotion charity or any other vertue bread this reason shall serue for all reasons that Christ in effect hath called them so Let vs goe buy and bestowe our money freely on it Let vs be profuse and prodigall vpon it the more we spend this way the more we haue the more we wast the greater our store the more we wrestle and exercise the lesse weary the faster we runne the more in breath as all they that prooue shall assuredly finde And yet if wee shall seeke a reason also why these things or how or in what sence they are called bread we shall not goe far for a reason to satisfie them that be curious and it will not be vnfruitfull to vs neither when we vnderstand it Wee will go no further I say for a reason then to the very nature of bread and the properties thereof as I will declare now vnto yee We touched in the beginning some properties of bread and some others there are besides which are also found in this heauenly bread yea and much more in this then in that First bread feeds vs and keepes vs from perishing so doth our heauenly bread feed vs and preserue vs from perishing eternally I need not prooue it to you it is well enough knowne for as bread hath many alterations before it come to make flesh euen so it is with our ghostly bread The first alteration of bread is in the mouth by eating and chewing the mouth of the soule is hearing and reading The second alteration is in the stomacke where the meate is turned into a white substance called Chylus the stomacke of the soule is deepe consideration all pale and astonished to thinke of the horrible danger it was in a little before The third alteration is in the liuer where our foode turnes to blood and lookes redde the liuer of the soule is shame and confusion blushing redde as fire for that wee haue done wickedly The last alteration is into flesh and the flesh of our soule is our good estate to God-ward which hearing and reading consulted vpon consideration resolued vpon shame kindled and sends the blood of grace from part to part to consolidate Grace clarifies our reason giues life to our will blowes courage into our heart which is the seat of vertues The second qualitie of bread is to make purest blood Other meates haue more mixture in them of choller or melancholy that the blood is the worse for it other studies sciences and high questions of learning though they feede the soule also yet are they mixed lightly with elation or emulation as it is written Scientia inflat 1. Cor. 8 and therefore goe not so cleerely to the good of our soule as our ghostly food doth This bread our Prophet speakes of here hath no such mixture in it the word of God is wholy void of it like a christall fountaine of a most fluent streame Vertue were not vertue if it endeauoured not the same and the sacraments are the purest pipes from the side of our Sauiour and cannot make other then purest nourishment Will ye know what blood these make behold Gods Saints from Enoch to the Apostles and so downeward wee may know their food by their complexions that were so white and redde in Gods sight according to his owne heart the very pictures of vertue and grace looke vpon the blood of Martyrs how pretious it is in the sight of God from Abel hitherto and all ouer the world The seede of man is made of the purest blood said Pythagoras and God made choice of that blood to sowe the field his Church withall in due season The 3. property of bread is to be loued of al euery one loues not euery meat yet few or none loues not bread and so it is with our spiritual bread euery body loues it the very wicked loues it in a sort though they seek it not witnes themselues if we aske thē But there are 2. sorts of loue the one fruitful which sinners haue not but may haue the other vnfruitfull which sinners haue will do them no good imperfect loue it is I grant yet loue it is so much our Sauiour may seem to imply when he said loue God withall thy heart Mat 22.37 as who should say it is loue and they may loue God though they loue him not withall their whole heart Premium virtutis honor it is vertues due to be loued and honoured though it be not alwaies imbraced Our loue to vertue is commonly as childrens loue to bread or I would it
nine shillings eleuen pence And if it come in halfe yearely or quarterly it is more But this is his rate and rule or no bargaine with him Hee is not in neede himselfe and to'ther is and must haue it at any rate bee it neuer so vnconscionable Banish therefore this monster or common-wealths worme and twenty pound land wil be worth twenty years puchase I doubt not Where vice reigneth vertue sits without dores and land beares no price nor fishing to the sea shortly where vsury domineers The sellers fault is to take double for it if he can thinking euery thing so much worth as a man will giue for it Which is not so The price of land is certaine within a little ouer or vnder as I said before though it bee not so of stone and pearle But the iniustice of this is when I make a man pay for his commodity ouer and besides the highest price It is worth but twenty at the most and I make him pay thirty or fiue and twenty for it because it lyes handsomely within him or is so necessary for him that hee cannot bee without it all that I take aboue the highest ordinary they tell vs is vniust and subiect to restitution For I make him pay twice for it Once for the full value another for his commodity As if I should make a sicke body pay double for a partridge one for the value another for the wholesomnesse of it This must needes bee extorting and vicious proceeding alwaies of couetice or malice and yet is growne so common that men will not heare the contrary To this may bee added Monopolies or ingrocing of needefull commodities into one or a few mens hands to make them dearer Likewise to buy or sell with simple or vnexperienced persons who know not what they buy or sell yet are no fooles The rule is this They may buy for the least of the three and they may sell againe presently for the best of the three and make gaine of it but more then this will not bee warranted with good conscience The fault of both buyer and seller is this that they ioy and glory in their doings It is their daily study and they take a pride in it And what doe they glory in Euen that which will worke them a great deale of woe Happy is that man that buyes as hee will sell and sels as he will buy This is the glory a good body should take and not in pinching and pulling from his brother Psal 61. Mendaces filij hominum in statêris There is complaint made to God of vs what ill measure wee keepe to our brother King Dauid calles vs lyars in our weights We buy with one weight and sell with another Is this meant by none but bakers and butterwiues thinke yee and not much more by other matters that sinke mens estates and make them groane Why should the poore bee defrauded a penny of the full worth when if a rich man sell hee will haue more then hee by tenne or twenty in the hundred Aristides who for his singular iustnesse was called the Iust defined iustice thus not to desire any thing that was another mans So farre was hee from taking or seeking that he would not so much as couet another mans And how farre are wee from this who are coueting still euen when wee cannot haue Biblius was so afraide of this coueting humour that hee would not stoope at a purse or any thing else hee found for feare of beeing tempted In generall it is good in buying and selling to keepe euen betweene the pious or least price and the rigorous or highest price as your Aristides will aduise you if yee will aske I will not perswade you to do as Hermes Aegyptius did a great wise man both learned and rich Some thinke it was hee that apologied for Christians to the Emperour Adrian It is written of him that hee would neuer buy but he would giue too much rather and would not sell but hee would take somewhat vnder The like wee reade of Quintus Mutius long before him who although hee were heathen yet in compassion of the sellers neede hee gaue them more for their houses or lands which hee bought then they would aske If wee that professe Christianity were all of his minde wee would busie our heads no doubt with better matters and more worthy of our selues then how to make gaine still by anothers harme neither doe I speake this to put scruples in your heads which I am farre from and I omit them of purpose They be matters of great moment which I minde you of and as much as your soules are worth no lesse I say then the breach of one whole commandement the last of the ten Exod. 20.17 Thou shalt not so much as couet thy neighbours goods and this doth binde vs as much as the other nine Howbeit wee passe it ouer lightly as if it were nothing being in very deede the summe and ground of all Iustice betweene man and man In other precepts the act here the desire onely is forbidden as either to desire an other mans who is not willing to depart with it as Naboth was not 3 Reg. 21. or to haue it for lesse then it is worth as the Common case is at this day And both these are directly against the Commandement Thou shalt not couet And therefore he that drawes from his neighbour in this manner sinneth doubly that is to say in coueting which is a sinne alone by it selfe and also in acting which is against the eighth Commandement It is also against the generall precept of louing our neighbour as our selfe which euery man is bound vnto For Qui non diligit manet in morte It is damnation I say 1 Ioh. 3. not to loue our neighbour as our selues And who is he that thinkes he loues a man and doth what he can to pull him on his knees The learned tell vs there bee foure degrees of loue which if wee haue not or haue none of them it is a signe that wee haue no loue The first they say is liquefaction that is to say Aquinas 1. 2 ae q. 28.5 a melting or a relenting heart towards our brother The second is a delight we haue to be where we loue The third is a heauinesse to bee from our loue The fourth is feruour or a burning loue And although it be not giuen to euery man to haue these three last which are delight longing and feruency yet none can loue without the first or least degree which is a relenting or compassion ouer our brother when wee see him in distresse and sell for neede Surely if this bee loue it is a congealed or frozen loue which is contrary to melting loue It is a colde loue which is contrary to feruent loue Yea it is no loue at all or if it bee it is the diuels loue who loues vs to deuoure vs and swallow vs downe his throat What we giue
how good it was to dye betimes For when the good olde woman Argia was in haste to goe to the sacrifice as Tully telleth in his Tusculan questions and her Coach-horses were out of the way what did her two Sonnes Cleobis and Biton but went in presently to strip and annoint themselues and drewe her thither in stead of horses in very good time For which their act she besought God to blesse them with the greatest reward that could bee giuen to men And so hee did For the next morning after she had feasted them ouer night and sent them well to bedde shee found them both stone dead Their guerdon of their Piety was shortnesse of life as the greatest good thing that could betide them And this no doubt doth many a good mother amongst vs obtaine for her childe when shee prayes for him and thinks not that God will quit her so though God doth know it to bee best so Yea good king Dauid had not his prayers 2. Reg. 12. when hee prayed so earnestly for his childes life God saw it best to take him away And how much happier had it beene for Absolon also to haue dyed in his cradle then liue to bee a Rebell And to this purpose I haue heard a saying of Fredericke the third that worthy Emperour and it was much noted That beeing asked once what was the best thing God could bestow on vs in the world to be taken well out of the world said hee and yet hee tasted three and fifty yeares what it was to bee an Emperour and to abound in peace and in all good things O what a benefite is this of God What thankes doe we owe him for it If a man haue a long way home in a hard winter time and when hee comes to his Inne at night all moyled and weather-beaten and must haue many such dayes before hee get home shall finde himselfe on a suddaine in the middest of his owne yard his wife and family with lights at the doore to entertaine him a good fire within to warme him and change to shift him will hee not stand amazed and fall on his knees with wonder that his iourney prooues so short yet this can no man expect nor can it be done without miracle A Merchant likewise that sets out from the Indies with goods of great price the iourney long and tedious and no lesse perilous If he passe through safe hee is made for euer if hee miscarrie hee and his are vndone and euery day breeds new feares Howbeit in putting in at some Cape three thousand miles hence if hee should finde himselfe at that instant iust before Calis or Douer could any tongue expresse his ioy Yet this must bee also by miracle And these good happes bee neuer heard of though in our case it bee ordinary and daily done without miracle So bountifull is Gods goodnesse towards vs that trafficke here for Heauen Our selues bee this Merchant or Traueller that would so faine bee at home Wee trade heere for good habits and the grace of God more worth a great deale then golde of Ophir or Heuilah Our care is heere but for safe arriuall through a maine of miseries and contradictions in our way It is common with God to harbour vs at halfe way The better halfe as I said are not gone halfe way but they are at their long home first or if not yet is it all one to a man if hee bee of resolution Despare and faint hee will not but hold it out to the end We may not sticke in a slough still without stirring a foote because we haue a great way home Wee may not cast our goods ouer boord because we know not when wee shall make vse of them Wee shall serue God still feare him still loue him still and attend his good pleasure still in little and great in wealth and pouerty in faire weather and in foule Wee shall not value inward riches at lesse then outward Heauen at lesse then the world nor take more care for clods then for glory If wee looke but for an Executor-ship or to be some rich mans heire wee are willing to obserue him with all respect wee can no duty or seruice omitted if hee bee our better no kinde of kindnesse vnshewne if hee bee our equall and this not for a moneth or a yeare but many yeares And if it bee so that wee thinke it long yet waxe wee not weary streight or cease to be respectfull as long as wee haue hope And if it were so that a man should be weary in such a case or should neglect the inheritance that is so long in comming and should goe ioyne with an enemy or loose his possibility for a horse or a hawke in hand should wee not holde him vnwise Yet thus it is with most of vs in matters of Eternity Heauen wee would haue but wee will not tarry for it Wee holde it tedious to bee so long Vertuous and in the meane time wee giue heede to our passions and our humors beare all the sway with vs. On the one side of vs loue of Carnality loue of soft and sweete loue of money and momentaries on the other side choller pride enuy rancor and reuenge and what not besides that the Diuell will suggest I speake of many things but one of these is enough to damne vs and to turne Gods face from vs for euer and all for lacke of but a short whiles perseuerance And this may suffice for the neerenesse of reward I prooued it before to be great and nowe to bee neere what can wee aske more ⧠The Conclusion I haue beene much longer and I feare mee more troublesome to you then I intended But the matter wee handle is of greatest moment and is the onely thing we must relye vpon and sticke to for euer All other matters are humane and temporary this euerlasting and Angelicall This is the last dish we must feede on serued into our table with a couer that we may not see it nor taste it vntill the couer of our flesh be taken away What it is I cannot describe to you in other sort then I haue done Well I know it is the same that Angels feed on The selfe same that Cherubins and Seraphins delight in For as the damned haue the same food and fire in hell as our Sauiour telleth vs that was prepared for the diuell and his Angels Mat. 25. so haue the Saued also the same fare and are fedde with the same foode that was ordayned for Gods Angels and the Coelestiall hierarchy And although we knowe not yet how or in what sort or kinde this feeding nourishing or exceeding pleasure shall affect vs for as Leo saith nisi fides credat sermo non explicat it is better beleeued then expressed yet haue I opened vnto you after my poore manner and giuen you a scantling of it how great it is both by the visible things in the world that are all nothing to it and
of it thus There is honour without courage and that is harmelesse there is courage without iustice and that is honourlesse or honours ape and there is honour and courage together and that is true valiantnesse as I haue said sufficiently before and well becomes an honourable person They that haue breeding will choose the best of these I doubt not And as for righting verily in the law of armes and chiualry wee acknowledge no such lawes as your Duellors talke of but onely one which is to doe no creature wrong An other law we haue like to this neuer to be our owne Iudge For this we hold to bee childish and base Neither is it for a mans honour to bee so ill neighboured or ill friended that hee will not bee iudged by any but by himselfe Let these two lawes be well obserued and men will quickly doe right or be righted For it is not vnmanly for a man to aske pardon where hee hath wronged so it bee not for feare neither is it honourable for a man on the other side to aske vnreasonable satisfaction or to aske satisfaction where there needes none as if a blowe were but proffered onely and not giuen as Astyochus did by Hermocrates What is fit satisfaction for the lye giuen or what for other disgraces what is a iust repulse of a wrong and when the burthen of honour is truely cast vpon the iniurer your Marshals can tell best who are best acquainted with this new disease New maladies haue new medicines If a man haue the lye put vpon him and he strike him for it I thinke hee should bee satisfied If he take a blow and giue another what would hee haue more for this was Moses law Leuit. 24. Oculus pro oculo dens pro dente An eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth And must wee haue two for one No wee may not for what sayes the law more Qualem inflixerit maculam Vers 20. talem sustinere cogetur What contumely hee hath giuen the like hee shall bee made to vndergoe A disgrace for a disgrace a blowe for a blowe or an humble submission for an vnworthy aspersion And yet with vs these be no satisfactions We will haue more then the law we will haue his blood rather And where the law saies cogetur whereby the magistrate is appointed to right vs wee say no wee will right our selues What a presumption is this to teach God almighty what is iust Againe there is much quarrelling about women If two fall out about a corruptible mistresse they must goe fight for her loue and know not why Were it not much more honour to doe as Lester and Liques did of late The more they loued the selfe same mistresse the more they loued one an other Yea when Liques had obtained her and married her one morning and was taken by Lester the same day in a skirmish neere Saint Omers and shee sent vnto him to send him to her againe out of hand hee obeyed her voice as the voice of his generall and sent him away the same night with honour And why should not all men doe the like but snarle at one another like a couple of mungrels more for lust then for loue In a word If yee will haue of me any remedy I must speake out of Gods law or no law And then I say if one haue done me a despite that the law will not remedy yet by Gods law I may not bee his executioner Neither neede I salute him or speake to him or mooue cap to him vntill hee haue satisfied mee I may deny him all points of friendship though no point of charity Hee hath lost my good opinion of him which otherwise I owed him He hath lost my loue and good will and the loue of all that loue me Is not this reuenge enough thinke yee but yee will laugh at mee now all you that know not the worth of loue and good will I protest vnto you if I had wronged one in word or deede it would be to me the greatest paine that could be For both must I make him amends and also I am bound to seeke him if I haue any Christian blood in mee If thy Brother haue ought against thee that is to say be wronged or thinke him wronged by thee Mat. 5. goe thou and be reconciled to him Loe heere I must goe seeke him where hee is But I leaue this to preachers who tell vs and agree in this that the wrong doer is bound to seeke the wronged for his loue and that with all the good tearmes hee possibly can And wee haue many examples of Princes that haue done the like A Prince will not wilfully loose a subiects good will for a peece of his kingdome As we reade of Alcibiades the Athenian Duke who gaue to Hypponicus a Senatour a blowe on the eare in publique place But being come to himselfe he grieued at it much and went to seeke him next day at his house offered himselfe to be whipt beginning to strip and so insinuated into his fauour againe with due satisfaction that Hypponicus soone after made him his sonne in law King Agrippa likewise hearing of one that thought ill of him for somewhat was not quiet in minde vntill he had spoken with him and wonne him made him sit downe by him argued sweetely with him reconciled himselfe to him and so sent him away Who will holde these men for base or not truly honourable and not true esteemers of loue or good will Onely thus much I will adde Hee that is so rude or vnsociable as to wrong one and neither seekes reconcilement nor cares what any man thinkes of him like Mounsieur Orguiles whom we heard maintaine that hee had rather haue his neighbour to be his enemy then his friend such as these saith Morus haue more neede of pitty then reuenge they are halfe way poore soules in hell already Neither doe I weigh the common obiection that our enemy will set light by vs and double vpon vs iniuries in these maleuolus times if he feare no more but losse of our loue Whereunto I answer I will prouide my selfe against wrong as well as I can And yet if he feares me not it shall be to me no dishonour or harme no more then if a Beare doe not feare mee I will see to it that he shall not bite me But must I challenge or answere the fielde to euery one that baites mee or scornes mee So I might set vp a bulring and play the Bull my selfe when I haue done In a word I dare approoue no sauing of honour by fighting nor any remedy that way And as touching challenge I can allowe of none at all but to summon him to the court of honour if they be gentlemen and beare armes to answer it at their perill And the sentence there may be as great satisfaction to the wronged and disgrace to the iniurer as that of the Censour of Rome was Which
lost both valour and greatnesse together as is noted by good authors and they were no better then other men When they fell to gathering and heaping once equality was gone and the strength of the Comminaltie was dissolued with anguish and care For like as the streame of a riuer goes quietly away without noyse and seekes the leuell without murmure if it haue no shelues to trouble it vnderneath nor narrownesse of the bankes to stoppe the course of it euen soe it is with the streame of a common-wealth The channell are the commons or vulgar sort who are easily mooued and runne not euen towards their happinesse if the bankes on both sides which are lawes and magistrates stand not firme to them and haue not care to keepe them in their ancient boundes with paring and sewing them as they ought where golden sandes lye clottering in heapes to gull them vp Equality I must say had beene good amongst vs if it were possible to holde But it is indeede so like to heauen that earth cannot holde it long It hath such affinity with Angelicall perfection that it will not well relish with humane corruption And therefore in vaine they sought to establish it in any worldly Estate Saint Austine beganne a course of equality or community with some of his companions before hee was a perfect Christian but it helde not long his designe was dissolued Euen so those Law-makers they began well but it would not continue The sequell of subsequent ages tels vs that they consumed themselues the most part of those great wise men with vnprofitable labour If mindes bee contrary how can possessions bee agreeable If affections bee opposite how can effects conspire in equall tearmes And yet I holde well with their ground and most certaine it is equality there must be one way or other else no common-wealth can stand And this equality I seeke for which heathens could not and we must finde that are Christians or no people in the world A thing which our great master of conscience Saint Paul exhorted and directed the Corinthians vnto 2. Cor. 8. for disposing their abilities to them that were in neede vt sit equalitas that there may bee equality saith hee as vpon occasion I shall tell you anon when I shall speake of Superfluum For there is a rule of conscience which among the vertuous is instead of a law and in liew of equality and that is this to cut away Superfluum in all men Keepe your lands keepe your possessions to yee bee they neuer so great or more then others haue yet put your Superfluum out of your handes and others are euen with yee that haue lesse Put not away what yee neede but what yee neede not Doe but imploy it well what yee may nôt holde and all will be well This way and no other will soone make equality euen that which our Law-makers haue sought for and could not attaine The Spartans would haue all men bring in there money Plut. in Lycurgus and to deuide it amongst many But when rich men liked not that they banished money quite gold and siluer made no payment but lumpes of yron in liew of them fiue pound of ours in their new coyne was a horse load And as long as this held there was equalitie but when siluer came in againe equalitie went out and could tarrie no longer The Romanes to auoide inequalitie and extraordinary greatnesse in some ouer other some which they saw was by incroaching and buying vp all that others would sell Liuie lib. 6. whereby some grewe mightie and the greater part in misery they made this law that none should haue more then fiue hundred acres at once For so much was thought enough for the best man in Rome to spend in his house by the yeare The law was good but it held not And Licinius Stolo that made it brake it lib. 7. and was in premunire for hauing a thousand Their leges agrariae also were without number but their couetousnesse brake them By Caesars law a will was not good where nothing was giuen in common but this beeing forced and inuoluntarie it came to little purpose and the Emperour Antoninus was driuen to abolish it and left it altogether to mens good willes Other countries haue other lawes to fetch it away againe what others draw to them and hold so fast when they haue And those be to rate mens possessions for contribution to the poore and other publike charge as they did also in Rome Yet this doth but little good neither in most places Rich men fauour one another and conceale there estates and so hardly comes any thing from them and with so euill a will that it can haue no blessing and the poore especially haue little certaintie of it but chuse rather to trie their fortunes abroad with begging then like to attend an vncertaine curtesie at home Many lawes might be reckoned in this kind but none like the law of conscience for true working and benefite both to ones selfe and others and to conscience it must be left when all is done Which law because it cānot be done before it be knowne and is most necessarie to bee alwaies in vse and fresh in your memorie I will open it briefely vnto you and exhort you to it in the end crauing nothing of yee for it in liew of my paines but your best attention Diuines whom we ought to follow in matter of conscience Heb. 13. ipsi enim peruigilant these be they that watch for vs and haue charge of our soules that we may doe the best or not the worst for want of instruction they tell vs many things that are good for vs to know if we desire to bee secure of our safety and profitable to others They tell vs first we must loue God aboue all things and this not with loue composed of words but inward reall and effectuall breaking out per actum elicitum as they call it as fire out of a flint by expresse word or thought that may testifie to our selues our inward feeling Some such touch had the Heathen Philosopher Plato when he cryed out in a sweet admiration saying O ens entium miserere mei Haue mercy vpon mee ô thou maker of all things as if hee had seene what hee in in the Canticles saw Cant 4. when he said All faire art thou my loue there is no spotte in thee Or what King Dauid saw in Ionathas which is by interpretation the gift of God saying he was to be loued more then the loue of women 2. Reg. 1. Psal 6. Or when he saide in the Psalmes How admirable is thy name ouer all the earth And in another place 2. King 1. Psal 6. Psal 83. How inticing thy tabernacles ô my Lord my heart doth leape to thinke on thee and my flesh exults after my liuing God When shall J come and appeare before the face of my God and such like Some writers
holde that if a child doe dye after vse of reason and neuer raised to God-ward any act of loue either little or much he can hardly be saued And their breeders are infinitely to blame that put them not to it For if nothing on our part do bring vs to heauen but loue and this loue be so cold in a capable creature as neither inward eie of faith can mooue him nor howerly benfites can stirre him to loue the bestower how can such a spirit aspire where God hath to doe They tell vs next we must loue our selues next And in our selfe are two things conteined Our soule and our body Our soule we must esteeme aboue all creatures and we must not aduenture the losse of it for ten thousand soules Our third loue is to our neighbour both body and soule His soule I must loue more then my life and goods especially if I be his pastour and haue charge of him ex officio His life also I mây preferre before my owne out of friendship if not out of charity And so I may loose my life for him or in defence of the weake or innocentbody and this is a great vertue but we are not alwaies bound to it Wee are taught also how to loue our parents wife children which more if it come to be shewne as in case of necessitie There is a loue and care due to seruants that they want no necessaries to masters that wee faile them not in our duty or charge They teach vs to loue our benefactours both bodily and ghostly and which more if it may not be done to both alike There is a iustice and truth in all these And it is not idle to aske and know our duty in all And yet these latter may seeme more curious then necessary but I come to greater matters and more neere to our purpose They shew vs further our duty to the publique and where the common good is to bee preferred before priuate and where it is in our wils to preferre it or not And first for life or member if twenty doe assault mee I may kill them all rather then be killed so it be in my iust defence and not against lawfull authority And yet if a man be so charitable they doe not deny but he may suffer himselfe to bee killed rather then kill Whereof there haue beene noble examples though very few now adaies And therefore men are deceiued when they thinke they are bound to kill rather then be killed It is not so They may kill but they are not bound Yea on the other side if he that assaults mee vniustly bee a publique person as the king or any of his children I am bound to flye him as Dauid did Saul but if he follow me so hard that I must kill or be killed I am bound to loose my life and it lyes not in my choise So of a Bishop or some other eminent person whom the Common-wealth cannot spare if one boate will not holde both I am bound to slippe out and leaue my selfe to God Yea they say further if my life be sought maliciously in France and I flye into England for succour and there is like to be warres for mee or breach of amity betweene Princes although the State may not deliuer mee for that were tradere iustum sanguinem Yet am I bound to render my selfe to my enemies before publique peace should be broken or any league in hazzard for mee Such high regard must be had of publique good that a mans priuate is almost nothing to it And with this we see how the law of nature concurres Hesione was commended for it and so was Curtius the Romane for exposing themselues as they did the one to bee deuoured of a monster the other to be swallowed horse and man in a gashfull pit to stoppe the plague that was then in their citty They teach vs also touching goods and possessions or any worldly thing we haue that tendeth to our being or well being they be all either necessary or superfluous Necessaries a man must not be negligent to prouide And it is lawfull for vs to loue them so farre forth as we cannot bee without them no more then without life And these be in two sorts as either necessaries of life meate drinke warme cloathes which euery one must haue the poorest that is or necessaries of estate that a man was borne to or liueth in As if he be a yeoman thus if a knight or gentleman thus if a nobleman thus and the greater the persons are the more things are necessary which to the inferiour are excesse And all these may haue a proportion in our loues We loue a new hatte or garment a faire gowne or handsome cloake or what else is fitting for vs to weare within our compasse or degree Wee loue a good dish and competent fare proportionable to our meanes And euery man knowes what is meetest for him and best suting to his ability euen that the ciuilest sort of his ranke doth vse with decency and without ostentation or incroaching vpon the rankes aboue him eyther man or woman A great many delight yea too too many in excesse but such loue is naught and vicious The backe and belly haue made much worke for Parliaments and Lawyers euery where It is an old fault and the Lacedemonians so preuailed against it both for diet and wearing that the subiect neuer exceeded The Romanes likewise had many lawes about expences called sumptuarie as the Aemilian and Licinian lawes what they should spend ordinarily and what vpon Calends and festiuall dayes By the lawes fannia and didia principall men were bound to spend but so much in meate and no more besides hearbes bread and wine and that must be of the same country and no other To say nothing of the Anthian lawe that was made to barre suppers and other lawes without number which their outrage of excesse gaue occasion of There was also the law Oppia for apparrell especially for women that they might not exceede in their settings out nor be carried in litters Yet Solon would not haue them walke the streetes in solemnitie out of coach neither might they weare in their eare aboue seauenty graines Their excesse ye must thinke was very strange and monstrous that caused these lawes and there be many statutes in our daies for wearing but no reformation I know no good comes of them saue that they argue vs of our pride and giue vs a learning what is fitte for euery one to weare Other fruite I see none of them neither force I much I speake onely of the law that should be within vs the law of a good conscience which is to know and doe and to cutte off excesse in all It shewes a weakenesse of minde and poorenesse of soule that powres it selfe out so excessiuely vpon outward vanities and pride For what is it els they would be great and are not great they would bee Queenes and are not Queenes yet