the doore and the way hath taught vs that through many afflictions wee must enter into heauen There is but one passage and that a strait one If with much pressure vvee can get through and leaue but our superfluous ragges as torne from vs in the crowd we are happy He that made heauen hath on purpose thus framed it wide when wee are entred and glorious narrow and hard in the entrance that after our paine our glory might be sweeter And if before-hand you can climbe vp thither in your thoughts looke about you you shall see no more Palmes then crosses you shall see none crowned but those that haue wrestled with crosses and sorrowes to sweat yea to blood and haue ouercome All runnes here to the ouer comer and ouercomming implyes both fighting and successe Gird vp your loynes therefore and strengthen your weake knees resolue to fight for heauen to suffer fighting to persist in suffering so persisting you shall ouercome and ouercomming you shall be crowned Oh reward truely great aboue desert yea aboue conceit A crowne for a few groanes An eternal crowne of life and glory for a short and momentany suffering How iust is Saint Pauls account that the afflictions of this present life are not worthy of the glory which shal be shewed vnto vs O Lord let me smart that I may reigne vphold thou mee in smarting that thou mayest hold me worthy of reigning It is no matter how vile I be so I may be glorious What say you would you not be afflicted Whether had you rather mourne for a vvhile or for euer One must be chosen the election is easie Whether had you rather reioyce for one fit or alwayes You would doe both Pardon me it is a fond couetousnesse and idle singularitie to affect it What That you alone may fare better then all Gods Saints That God should strew Carpets for your nice feet onely to walke into your heauen and make that way smooth for you which all Patriarkes Prophets Euangelists Confessors Christ himselfe haue found rugged and bloodie Away with this selfe-loue and come downe you ambitious sonnes of Zebedee and ere you thinke of sitting neere the Throne be content to be called vnto the Cup. Now is your tryall Let your Sauiour see how much of his bitter potion you can pledge then shall you see how much of his glory he can afford you Be content to drinke of his vineger and gall and you shall drinke new wine with him in his Kingdome To Mr PETER MOVLIN Preacher of the Church at PARIS EP. VI. Discoursing of the late French occurrents and what vse God expects to bee made of them SInce your trauels here with vs we haue not forgotten you but since that your vvittie and learned trauels in the common affaires of Religion haue made your memorie both fresh and blessed Behold whiles your hand vvas happily busie in the defence of our King the heads and hands of traitors vvere busie in the massacring of your owne God doth no memorable and publike act which hee would not haue talked of read construed of all the world How much more of neighbors whom scarce a sea seuereth from each other how much yet more of brethren whom neither land nor sea can seuer Your dangers and feares and griefes haue beene ours All the salt water that runnes betwixt vs cannot vvash off our interest in all your common causes The deadly blow of that miscreant vvhose name is iustly sentenced to forgetfulnesse pierced euen our sides Who hath not bled within himselfe to thinke that he which had so victoriously out liued the swords of enemies should fall by the knife of a villaine and that hee should die in the peaceable streets vvhom no fields could kill that all those honorable and happy triumphs should end in so base a violence But oh our idlenesse and impietie if we see not a diuine hand from aboue striking vvith this hand of disloyaltie Sparrowes fall not to the ground vvithout him much lesse Kings One dyes by a tyle-sheard another by the splinters of a Launce one by Lice another by a Fly one by poison another by a knife What are all these but the executioners of that great God vvhich hath said Ye are Gods but ye shal die like men Perhaps God saw that we may guesse modestly at the reasons of his acts you reposed too much in this arme of flesh or perhaps he saw this scourge would haue beene too early to those enemies whose sinne though great yet was not full or perhaps hee saw that if that great spirit had beene deliberately yeelded in his bed you should not haue slept in yours Or perhaps the ancient conniuence at those streames of blood from your too common Duels was now called to reckoning or it may be that weake reuolt from the truth He whos 's the rod vvas knowes why he strooke yet may it not passe without a note that he fell by that religion to vvhich he fell How many Ages might that great Monarch haue liued vvhatsoeuer the ripe head of your more then mellow Cotton could imagine ere his least finger should haue bled by the hand of an Huguenot All religions may haue some monsters but blessed bee the God of heauen ours shall neuer yeeld that good Iesuite either a Mariana to teach treason or a Rauillac to act it But vvhat is that we heare It is no maruell That holy societie is a fit Gardian for the hearts of Kings I dare say none more loues to see them none takes more care to purchase them How happy were that Chappell thinke they if it vvere full of such shrines I hope all Christian Princes haue long and vvell learned so great is the courtesie of these good Fathers that they shall neuer by their vvils need bee troubled with the charge of their owne hearts An heart of a King in a Iesuites hand is as proper as a wafer in a Priests Iustly was it vvritten of old vnder the picture of Ignatius Loyola Cauete vobis Principes Be vvise O ye Princes and learn to be the keepers of your owne hearts Yea rather O thou keeper of Israel that neither slumbrest nor sleepest keepe thou the hearts of all Christian Kings vvhether aliue or dead from the keeping of this traiterous generation whose very religion is holy rebellion and whose merits bloody Doubtlesse that murderer hoped to haue stabbed thousands vvith that blow and to haue let out the life of religion at the side of her collapsed Patron God did at once laugh and frowne at his proiect and suffered him to liue to see himselfe no lesse a foole then a villaine O the infinite goodnesse of the wise and holy gouernour of the world Who could haue looked for such a calme in the middest of a tempest who would haue thought that violence could beget peace Who durst haue conceiued that King Henry should die alone and that Religion should lose nothing but his person This is the Lords doing and it
seuerall members without distinction a substance without quantity and other accidents or substance and accidents that cannot bee seene felt perceiued So they make either a Monster of their Sauiour or nothing A Religion that vtterly ouerthrowes the perfection of Christs satisfaction If all be not paid how hath he satisfied If temporall punishments in Purgatory be yet due how is all paid and if these must be paid by vs how are they satisfied by him A Religion that makes more Scriptures than euer God and his ancient Church and those which it doth make so imperiously obtrudes vpon the world as if God himselfe should speake from heauen while it thunders out curses against all that will not add these Bookes to Gods regards not Gods Curse If any man shall add vnto these things God shall adde vnto him the plagues that are written in this Booke A Religion whose Patrons disgrace the true Scriptures of God with reprochfull termes odious comparisons imputations of corruption and imperfection and in fine pin their whole authority vpon the sleeues of men Papa facit protestationem ante Canonizationem se nihil intendere facire quod fit contra fidem aut Ecclesiam Catholicam Aliqui tamen clarissimi viri dicunt c. Quia Papâ— quodammodo cogebatur ad Canonizandum quendam contra suum voluntatem lib. Sacr. Ceremon A Religion that erects a throne in the Conscience to a meere man and giues him absolute power to make a sinne to dispense with it to create new Articles of Faith and to impose them vpon necessitie of saluation A Religion that baffoules all Temporall Princes making them stand bare-foot at their great Bishops gate lye at his foot hold his stirrup yea their owne Crownes at his Courtesie exempting all their Ecclesiasticall Subiects from their Iurisdiction and when they list all the rest from their Allegiance A Religion that hath made wicked men Saints and Saints Gods Euen by the confession of Papists lewd and vndeseruing men haue leapt into their Calendar Whence it is that the Pope before his Canonization of any Saint makes solemne protestation that he intends not in that businesse to doe ought preiudiciall to the glory of God or to the Catholike Faith and Church And once Sainted they haue the honour of Altars Temples Inuocations and some of them in a stile fit only for their Maker I know not whether that blessed Virgin receiue more indignitie from her enemies that deny her or these her flatterers that dâ—ifie her A Religion that robs the Christian heart of all sound comfort whiles it teacheth vs that we neither can nor ought to be assured of the remission of our sinnes and of present grace and future saluation That we can neuer know whether we haue receiued the true Sacraments of God because we cannot know the intention of the Minister without which they are no Sacraments A Religion that rackes the conscience with the needlesse torture of a necessary shrift wherein the vertue of absolution depends on the fulnesse of confession and that vpon examination and the sufficiencie of examination is so full of scruples besides those infinite cases of vnresolued doubts in this fained penance that the poore foule neuer knowes when it is deare A Religion that professes to be a 〈◊〉 of sinne whiles both in practise it tolerates open stâ—wes and preferres fornication in some cases to honourable Matrimonie and gently blanches ouer the breaches of Gods Law with the name of Venialls and fauourable titles of Diminution daring to affirme that Veniall sinnes are no hinderance to a mans cleannesse and perfection A Cruell Religion that sends poore Infants remedilesly vnto the eternall paines of Hell for want of that which they could not liue to desire and fâ—ighâ—s simple soules with expectation of fained torments in Purgatory not inferiour for the time to the flames of the damned How wretchedly and fearfully must their poore Layicks needs die for first they are not sure they shall not goe to Hell and secondly they are sure to be scorched if they shall goe to Heauen A Religion that makes nature namely proud in being ioyned by her as copartner with God in our Iustification in our Saluation and idlely puffed vp in a conceit of her perfection and abilitie to keepe more Lawes than God hath made A Religion that requires no other faith to iustification in Christians than may bee found in the Deuils themselues who besides a confused apprehension can assent vnto the Truth of Gods reuealed will Poperie requires no more A Religion that instead of the pure milke of the Gospell hath long fed her starued soules with such idle Legends as the Reporter can hardly deliuer without laughter and their Abettors not heare without shame and disclamation the wiser sort of the World read those Stories on winter Euenings for sport which the poore credulous multitude heares in their Churches with a deuout astonishment A Religion which lest ought should bee here wanting to the Doctrine of Deuils makes Religious Prohibitions of meat and difference of dyet superstitiously preferring Gods workmanship to it selfe and willingly polluting what he hath sanctified A Religion that requires nothing but meere formalitie in our deuotions the worke wrought suffices alone in Sacraments in Prayers So the number be found in the Chappelet there is no care of the affection as if God regarded not the heart but the tongue and hands and while he vnderstands vs cared little whether we vnderstand our selues A Religion that presumptuously dares to alter and mangle Christs last Institution and sacrilegiously rob Gods people of one halfe of that heauenly prouision which our Sauiour left for his last and dearest Legacie to his Church for euer as if Christs Ordinance were superfluous or any Shaueling could be wiser than his Redeemer A Religion that depends wholly vpon nice and poore vncertainties and vnproueable supposals that Peter was Bishop of Rome that hâ—e left any heires of his graces and spirit or if any but one in a perpetuall and vnfaileable succession at Rome That hee so bequeathed his infallibilitie to his chaire as that whosoeuer sits in it cannot but speake true that all which sit where he sate must by some secret instinct say as hee taught That what Christ said to him absolutely ere euer Rome was thought of must be referred yea tyed to that place alone and fulfilled in it That Linus or Clemens or Cletus the Schollers and supposed Successors of Peter must bee preferred in the Headship of the Church to Iohn the beloued Apostle then liuing That hee whose life whose pen whose iudgement whose keyes may erre yet in his Pontificall chaire cannot erre That the Golden Line of this Apostolicall Succession in the confusion of so many long desperate Schismes shamefully corrupt Vsurpations and Intrusions yeelded Heresies neither was nor can be broken Denie any of these and Poperie is no Religion Oh the lamentable hazard of so many Millions of poore soules that stand vpon these slipperie
blindnesse neither of his owne I haue heard those which haue had most corrupt lungs complaine of the vnsauoury breath of others The reason is because the minde casteth altogether outward and reflecteth not into it selfe Yet it is more shamefull to be either ignorant of or fauourable to our owne imperfections I will censure others vices fearefully my owne confidently because I know them and those I know not I will suspect 55 He is a very humble man that thinkes not himselfe better than some others and he is very meane whom some others doe not account better than themselues so that Vessell that seemed very small vpon the Maine seemes a tall ship vpon the Thames As there are many better for estate than my selfe so there are some worse and if I were yet worse yet would there be some lower and if I were so low that I accounted my selfe the worst of all yet some would account themselues in worse case A mans opinion is in others his being is in himselfe Let me know my selfe let others guesse at me Let others either enuy or pitie me I care not so long as I enioy my selfe 56 He can neuer wonder enough at Gods workmanship that knowes not the frame of the world for he can neuer else conceiue of the hugenesse and strange proportion of the creature And he that knowes this can neuer wonder more at any thing else I will learne to know that I may admire and by that little I know I will more wonder at that I know not 57 There is nothing below but toyling grieuing wishing hoping fearing and wearinesse in all these What fooles are we to be besotted with the loue of our owne trouble and to hate our libertie and rest The loue of misery is much worse than miserie it selfe We must first pray that God would make vs wise before we can wish he would make vs happy 58 If a man referre all things to himselfe nothing seemes enough If all things to God any measure will content him of earthly things but in grace he is insatiable Worldlings serue themselues altogether in God making Religion but to serue their turnes as a colour of their ambition and couetousnesse The Christian seekes God onely in seeking himselfe vsing all other things but as subordinately to him not caring whether himselfe win or lose so that God may win glory in both I will not suffer mine eies and minde to be bounded with these visible things but still looke through these matters at God which is the vtmost scope of them accounting them onely as a through-fare to passe by not as an habitation to rest in 59 He is wealthy enough that wanteth not He is great enough that is his owne master Hee is happy enough that liues to die well Other things I will not care for nor too much for these saue onely for the last which alone can admit of no immoderation 60 A man of extraordinary parts makes himselfe by strange and singular behauiour more admired which if a man of but common facultie doe imitate he makes himselfe ridiculous for that which is construed as naturall to the one is descried to be affected in the other And there is nothing forced by affectation can be comely I will euer striue to goe in the common road so while I am not notable I shall not be notorious 61 Gold is the best â—â—â—tall and for the puritie nor subiest râ—râ—â—t as all others and yet the best Gold hath some drosse I esteeme not that man that hath no faults I like him well that hath but a few and those not great 62 Many a man matres a good estate for want of skill to proportion his carriage answerably to his ability A little saile to a large vessell rids no way though the wind be faire A large saile to a little Barke drownes it A top-saile to a ship of meane burthen in a rough weather is dangerous A low saile in an easie gale yeelds little aduantage This disproportion causeth some to liue miserably in a good estate and some to make a good estate miserable I will first know what I may doe for safetie and then I will try what I can doe for speed 63 The rich man hath many friends although in truth riches haue them and not the man As the Asse that carried the Egyptian Goddesse had many bowed knees yet not to the beast but to the burthen For separate the riches from the person and thou shalt see friendship leaue the man and follow that which was euer her obiect while he may command and can either giue or controll he hath attendance proffer of loue at all hands but which of these dares acknowledge him when hee is going to prison for debt Then these Waspes that made such musicke about this Gally-pot shew plainly that they came onely for the honey that was in it This is the misery of the wealthy that they cannot know their friends whereas those that loue the poore man loue him for himselfe He that would chuse a true friend must search out one that is neither couetous nor ambitious for such a one loues but himselfe in thee And if it be rare to finde any not infected with these qualities the best is to entertaine all and trust few 64 That which the French Prouerbe hath of sicknesses is true of all euils That they come on horsebacke and goe away on foot We haue oft seene a sudden fall or one meales surfeit hath stucke by many to their graues whereas pleasures come like Oxen slow and heauily and goe away like Post-horses vpon the spur Sorrowes because they are lingring guests I will entertaine but moderately knowing that the more they are made of the longer they will continue and for pleasures because they stay not and doe but call to drinke at my doore I will vse them as passengers with slight respect He is his owne best friend that makes least of both of them 65 It is indeed more commendable to giue good example than to take it yet imitation how euer in ciuill matters it be condemned of seruilitie in Christian practice hath his due praise and though it be more naturall for beginners at their first imitation that cannot swim without bladders yet the best proficient shall see euer some higher steps of those that haue gone to heauen before him worthy of his tracing wherin much caution must be had that we follow good men and in good Good men for if we propound imperfect patterns to our selues we shall be constrained first to vnlearne those ill habits we haue got by their imitation before we can be capable of good so besides the losse of labour we are further off from our end In good for that a man should be so wedded to any mans person that he can make no separation from his infirmities is both absurdly seruile and vnchristian He therefore that would follow well must know to distinguish well betwixt good men and euill betwixt good
to your God the World and seek to please him with your base and seruile deuotions it shall be long enough ere such religion shall make you happy You shall at last forsake those altars emptie and sorrowfull How easie is it for vs Christians thus to insult ouer the worldling that thinkes himselfe worthy of enuie How easie to turne off the world with a scornfull repulse and when it makes vs the Deuils profer All these will I giue thee to returne Peters answer Thy siluer and thy gold perish with thee How easie to account none so miserable as those that are rich with iniurie and grow great by being conscious of secret euils Wealth and honor when it comes vpon the best tearmes is but vaine but when vpon ill conditions burdensome When they are at the best they are scarce friends but when at the worst tormentors Alas how ill agrees a gay coat and a festred heart What auailes an high title with an hell in the soule I admire the faith of Moses but presupposing his faith I wonder not at his choice He preferred the afflictions of Israel to the pleasures of Aegypt and chose rather to eate the Lamb with sowre hearbs than all their flesh-pots for how much better is it to be miserable than guilty and what comparison is there betwixt sorrow and sinne If it were possible let me rather be in hell without sinne than on earth wickedly glorious But how much are we bound to God that allowes vs earthly fauours without this opposition That God hath made you at once honourable and iust and your life pleasant and holy and hath giuen you an high estate with a good heart are fauours that looke for thanks These must be acknowledged not rested in They are yet higher thoughts that must perfect your contentment What God hath giuen you is nothing to that he meanes to giue He hath bin liberall but he will be munificent This is not so much as the taste of a full cup. Fasten your eyes vpon your future glory and see how meanly you shall esteeme these earthly graces Here you command but a little pittance of mould great indeed to vs little to the whole there whole heauen shall be yours Here you command but as a subiect there you shall reigne as a King Here you are obserued but sometimes with your iust distaste there you shall raigne with peace and ioy Here you are noble among men there glorious amongst Angels Here you want not honour but you want not crosses there is nothing but felicity Here you haue some short ioyes there is nothing but eternity You are a stranger here there at home Here Satan tempts you and men vexe you there Saints and Angels shall applaud you and God shall fill you with himselfe In a word you are onely blessed here for that you shall be These are thoughts worthy of greatnesse which if we suffer eyther imployments or pleasures to thrust out of our doores we doe wilfully make our selues comfortlesse Let these still season your mirth and sweeten your sorrowes and euer interpose themselues betwixt you and the world These onely can make your life happy and your death welcome To my Lord HAY H. and P. EP. III. Of true Honour MY Lord it is safe to complaine of Nature where Grace is and to magnifie Grace where it is at once had and affected It is a fault of Nature and not the least that as she hath dimme eyes so they are miss-placed She lookes still eyther forward or downeward forward to the obiect she desires or downeward to the meanes neuer turnes her eyes eyther backward to see what shee was or vpward to the cause of her good whence it is iust with God to with-hold what he would giue or to curse that which hee bestowes and to besot carnall minds with outward things in their value in their desire in their vse whereas true wisedome hath cleare eyes and right set and therefore sees an inuisible hand in all sensible euents effecting all things directing all things to their due end sees on whom to depend whom to thanke Earth is too low and too base to giue bounds vnto a spirituall sight No man then can truely know what belongs to wealth or honour but the gracious eyther how to compasse them or how to prize them or how to vse them I care not how many thousand wayes there are to seeming-honour besides this of vertue they all if more still lead to shame or what plots are deuised to improue it if they were as deepe as hell yet their end is losse As there is no counsell against God so there is no honour without him Heâ— inclines the hearts of Princes to fauour the hearts of inferiours to applause Without him the hand cannot moue to successe nor the tongue to praise And what is honour without these In vaine doth the world frowne vpon the man whom hee meanes to honour or smile where hee would disgrace Let mee then tell your Lordship who are fauourites in the Court of heauen euen whiles they wander on earth yea let the great King himselfe tell you Those that honour mee I will honour That men haue the grace to giue honour to God is an high fauour but because men giue honour to God as their dutie that therefore God should giue honour to men is to giue because hee hath giuen It is a fauour of God that man is honoured of man like himselfe but that God alloweth of our endeuours as honour to himselfe is a greater fauour than that wherewith hee requites it This is the goodnesse of our God The man that serues him honours him and whosoeuer honours him with his seruice is crowned with honour I challenge all times places persons Who euer honoured God and was neglected Who hath wilfully dishonoured him and prospered Turne ouer all Records and see how successe euer blessed the iust after many dangers after many stormes of resistance and left their conclusion glorious how all godlesse plots in their loose haue at once deceiued shamed punished their Author I goe no further Your owne brest knowes that your happy experience can herein iustifie God The world hath noted you for a follower of vertue and hath seene how fast Honour followed you Whiles you sought fauour with the God of heauen he hath giuen you fauour with his Deputy on earth Gods former actions are patternes of his future He teacheth you what he will doe by what hee hath done Vnlesse your hand be weary of offering seruice he cannot eyther pull in his hand from rewarding or hold it out empty Honour him still and God pawnes his honour on not failing you You cannot distruct him whom your proofe hath found faithfull And whiles you settle your heart in this right course of true glory laugh in secret scorne at the idle endeuours of those men whose policies would out-reach God and seize vpon honour without his leaue God laughes at them in heauen it is a safe and
Christian how shamefully is this latter vice especially growne vpon vs with time we knew it once in our ordinarie speech appropriated to beggers now gallants fight for it This beastlinesse had wont be bashful now it is impudent once children were wont to shout at a drunkard as some foule wonder now not to be drunke is quarrell enough among men among friends Those knees that we were wont to bow to the God of Heauen are now bent to Bacchus in a paganish bestiall diuellish deuotion To leaue the title of Christians for shame let vs be either men or beasts My speech hastens to their holy and wise strictnesse of cariage wherein I can neuer complaine enough of our inequality They hated the presence the fire the fashion the bookes of a Gentile of a Samaritane neither was there any hatred lost on the Samaritans part In aquam se cum vestibus immergunt vbi contigerent aliquem ex alia gente 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Epiph. for if he had but toucht a Iew he would haue throwne himselfe into the water clothes and all both of them equally sicke of a Noli me tangere Touch me not for I am holier Esay 65. Our Romish Samaritanes haunt our tables our closets our eares we frowne not we dislike not We match conuerse conferre consult with them carelesly as if it were come to the old stay of that indifferent Apelles in Eusebius Sat est credere in crucifixum but that which I most lament and yee Fathers and Brethren if my voyce may reach to any whom it concerneth in the bowels of Christ let me boldly tho most vnworthy moue your wisdomes your care to redresse it Our young students the hope of posterity newly crept out of the shell of Philosophy spend their first houres in the great Doctors of popish controuersies Bellarmine is next to Aristotle yea our very vngrounded Artizans young Gentlemen fraile Women buy read trauerse promiscuously the dangerous Writings of our subtilest Iesuites What is the issue Many of them haue taken poison ere they know what milke is and when they haue once tasted this bane they must drinke die Oh what pitty what vexation is it to a true heart to see vs thus rob'd of our hopes them of their soules I haue heard yea I haue seene and enuied the cautelous seuerity of our Aduersaries which vpon the deepest paines forbid the sale yea the sight of those Authors which they terme infectious where was euer Caluin publikely bought in one of their Church-yards where euer read without licence without security I censure not this as the peculiar fault of this place would God this open remissenesse were not a common euill and had not spred it selfe wide thorow all those Churches that are gone out of Babylon Barthol Brixensis Let no man tell mee of the distinction of that old Canonist Some things saith he we reade lest they should bee neglected as the Bible some lest they should be vnknowne as Arts and Philosophie some that they may bee reiected as Hereticall bookes True But let them read that can reiect that can confute we distrust not our cause but their weake iudgements A good Apothecarie can make a good medicine of a strong poison must children therefore be allowed that box I know how vnworthy I am to aduise onely I throw downe my selfe at your feet and beseech you that our losses and their examples may make vs no lesse wise in our generation Matth. 23.13 I follow the comparison They paid tithes of all they had not a pot-hearbe but they tithed it Heare this ye sacrilegious Patrons the merchants of soules the Pirats of the Church the enemies of religion they tithed al you nothing they paid to their Leuites your Leuites must pay to you Your cures must bee purchased your tithes abated or compounded for O the shame of Religion How too iustly may I vsurpe of you that of Seneca Petie sacrileges are punished while great ones ride in triumph Neuer excuse it with pretence of Ceremonie Moses neuer gaue so strict a charge for this as Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 communicate all thy goods with thy Teacher Gal. 6.6 All with an emphasis Welfare yet the honest Pharises whose rule was Decima vt diues fias Tithe and be rich If euer thou be the fatter for this grauell or the richer with that thou stealest from God let me come to beg at thy doore Woe to you spirituall robbers Our blinde fore-fathers clothed the Church you despoile it their ignorant deuotion shall rise in iudgement against your rauening couetousnesse If robbery simonie periurie will not carry you to hell hope still that you may bee saued They gaue plentifull almes to the poore we in stead of filling their bellies grinde their faces What excellent Lawes had we lately enacted that there should be no begger in Israel Let our streets wayes hedges witnesse the execution Thy liberality relieues some poore It is well But hath not thy oppression made more Thy vsury extorting racking inclosing hath wounded whole Villages and now thou befriendest two or three with the plaisters of thy bounty The mercies of the wicked are cruell They were precise in their Sabbath we so loose in our as if God had no day See whether our Tauerns streets hie-wayes descry any great difference These things I vowed in my selfe to reproue if too bitterly as you thinke pardon I beseech you this holy impatience and blame the foulenes of these vices not my iust vehemency And you Christian hearers than which no name can be dearer be perswaded to ransacke your secure hearts and if there be any of you whose awaked conscience strikes him for these sinnes and places him below these Iewes in this vnrighteousnesse if you wish or care to be saued thinke it high time as you would euer hope for entrance into Gods kingdom to strike your selues on the thigh and with amazement and indignation to say What haue I done to abandon your wicked courses to resolue to vow to striue vnto a Christian and conscionable reformation Paul a Pharise Phil. 6.3 was according to the righteousnes of the Law vnreproueable yet if Paul had not gone from Gamaliels feet to CHRISTS he had neuer beene saued Vnreproueable and yet reiected Alas my brethren what shal become of our gluttony drunkennesse pride oppression bribing cousenages adulteries blasphemies and our selues for them God and men reproue vs for these what shall become of vs If the ciuilly righteous shall not be saued where shall the notorious sinner appeare A Christian below a Iew For shame where are we where is our emulation Heauen is our goale we all runne loe the Scribes and Pharises are before thee what safety can it be to come short of those that come short of heauen Except your righteousnesse c. You haue seene these Scribes and Pharises their righteousnesse and our vnrighteousnesse See now with like patience their vnrighteousnesse that was and
garment that is but mended a new house that is repaired Blush if yee haue any shame who thus ignorantly and maliciously cast this in our teeth Goe to now my brethren wee are by Gods grace reformed Let vs take heed lest we be deformed againe by mutuall dissentions This is that which weakens and lames vs and which laies vs open to the insulting triumphs of our Aduersaries Yet lest wee should seeme to giue too much way to a spightfull slander these iarres of our 〈◊〉 so great as our enemies either desire or clamour Certainly what disconâ—â—â—ner hitherto haue troubled vs wee are beholding to none other for them but to these our kinde enemies who vpbraid vs with them For if they had but reacht forth vnto vs an helping hand in due time and ioyntly conferd their endeuours which then behooued them for the reforming of the Church all had run squarely on There had beene no iarres no grudgings no parts takings But they stifly refused and by their frowardnesse and pertinacy caused this so weighty a taske to be cast vpon some few and those both weak vnable and altogether vnfit for such a charge It could not therefore be otherwise but that the opinions of some single men not conferd together in such a businesse must needs somewhat differ But thankes be to thee O blessed God the Author of peace that hast vouchsafed by thy spirit so to bridle the distemperate affections of men that their busie spirits being stirred vp haue not boyled forth into more fearefull diuisions But what are these so great dissentions and blowes of bloudy warre which our aduersaries so cry out vpon Forsooth rather than want they can faine names of sects to themselues And where they can finde the least difference in the paper of any obscure Author of ours presently they cry out New schismes new sects What malice is this what eager desire of multiplying quarrels If it had been so of old so small hides had not serued to containe the volumes of Augustine Epiphanius Philastrius there had not beene fewer sects than teachers since the publishing of the Gospell But let vs passe ouer the number and come to the weight Let the malitious prattle what they will With some of ours the controuersie is not about any solid lims of Christian Faith but onely of the very skin with some others not about the skin but the garment rather nor about the garment it selfe neither but of the very hemme There are certaine scholasticall opinions of a middle ranck meere Theologicall Corollaries or perhaps some outward ceremonies wherein we dissent Principles of Christian Religion there are not And withall these controuersies are but such as that when the heat whether of zeale or anger shall abate and either part shall well vnderstand each other they will easily admit of a Reconciliation Neither haue these very Romanists lesser quarrels amongst themselues They can more hide their enmities not exercise them lesse If they bee more wise they are not more accordant Neither is there I dare say any head of Religion wherein they doe at once differ from vs and agree all with one another Finally our differences are no greater than were those of old among the holy Fathers of the Church whose quarrels notwithstanding are not so odiously blazoned by posterity I let passe the priuate scoldings of the Ancients not without some vnpleasing I had almost said misbeseeming tartnesse I had rather set before your eyes for good luck sake those publique altercations of the Churches and Fathers which afterward shut vp in a blessed concord What quarrels arose at the Councell of Ephesus betweene Cyril of Alexandria and Iohn of Antioch The Churches vnder both stuck not to counterthunder Anathemaes one against another Thereupon Theodoret thrust in his sickle into this haruest against whom Cyrillus by Enoptius instigation makes as strong opposition Theodoret accuseth Cyril of Apollinarisme Cyril accuses Theodoret of Nestorianisme The flame of their rage brake out more and more and almost drew the Christian world to parties so that afterwards when Theodoret would haue entred the Councell of Chalcedon the Egyptian and other reuerend Bishops cryed out We must cast out Cyril if we take in Theodoret The very Canons cast him forth God abhors him The like was done afterwards in the eighth Action The Bishops openly proclaiming He is an Heretick a Nestorian Away with the Heretick But when the matter was well scand and it was found that he willingly subscrib'd to the Orthodox Creeds and the Epistles of Leo The whole Synod with one accord cryed out Theodoret is well worthy of a See in the Church Let the Church receiue her Orthodox Pastor It is worthy of immortality that which Gregory Nazianzan â—â—t ordeth of holy Athanasius The Romans seem'd to the Easterne Churches to follow the heresies of Sobellius in denying three Hypostases The Easterne likewise seemed to the Romans to fauour too much of Arrius in denying three Persons The quarrell grew hot Then came that great dispenser of soules and hauing meekly and mildly calld forth both sides before him he so handled the businesse that granting them the free vse of their termes he tied them close to the matter and shewed them a light whereby they might behold one another vpon this without more adoe finding themselues both in the right they fall to mutuall embracements Neither would it speed otherwise with vs Brethren as I doe verily beleeue if some Athanasius from Heauen would but ioyne our hands together Oh if once the gates of intestine and horrid warres were shut vp and the religious Princes which are the Nursing-fathers of the reformed Churches would command by vertue of their authority a Synod to be assembled as Generall as it might wherein both parts freely and modestly might lay forth their opinions and such common termes might be agreed vpon as wherein both parts might freely rest without preiudice to either How easily then how happily might these grieuous stirs bee quietly pacified Let vs pray for this my brethren let vs pray deuoutly In the meane while let vs all sweetly incline our hearts to peace and vnity Let there be amongst vs as S. Augustine to Ierome pure brotherhood Neither let vs suffer our selues vpon euery slight quirke of opinion to be distracted or torne asunder Let vs forget that there were euer any such in respect of the deuotion of a Sect as Luther Melancton Caluin Zuinglius Arminius or if any other mortall name for what haue we to doe with man Let vs breathe nothing let vs affect nothing but Iesus Christ We Diuines are Pleyades as Gregory saith wittily Let vs therefore shine still together though not without some difference of place In a pomegranate are many graines vnder one rinde You know the mystery Let vs ioyne these pomegranates to our Bells Let vs be loud but consorted Let vs deuote for euer with one heart all our operations ministeries gifts to one God the Father Sonne and holy Ghost to
there are that lurke in secret and will not be confessed How loth would we bee after all exclamations that your busie Iesuites could rake out so many confessed quarrels out of all our Authors as I haue heere found in two of yours We want onely their cunning secrecy in the carriage of our quarrels Our few and slight differences are blazoned abroad with infamy and offence their hundreds are craftily smothered in silence Let your owne eyes satisfie you in this not my pen see now what you would neuer beleeue What is it then that could thus bewitch you to forsake the comely and heauenly Truth of God and to dote vpon this beastly Strumpet to change your Religion for a ridiculous sensuall cruell irreligious faction A Religion if wee must call it so that made sport to our plaine forefathers with the remembrance of her grauest deuotions How oft haue you seene them laugh at themselues whiles they haue told of their creeping-crouch kissing the Pax offering their Candles signing with Ashes partiall Shrifts merry Pilgrimages ridiculous Miracles and a thousand such May-games which now you begin after this long hissing at to looke vpon soberly and with admiration A Religion whose fooleries very Boyes may shout and laugh at if for no more but this that it teaches men to put confidence in Beades Medals Roses hallowed Swords Spels of the Gospell Agnes Dei and such like idle bables ascribing vnto them Diuine vertue yea so much as is due to the Sonne of God himselfe and his precious bloud I speake not of some rude Ignorants your very Booke of holy-ceremonies shall teach you what your holy-fathers doe and haue done That tels you first with great allowance and applause that Pope VRBAN the fift sent three Agnes Dei to the Greeke Emperor with these verses Balsam pure wax and Chrismes-liquor cleere Balsamus munda cerae cum Chrismatis vnda conficiunt AgnuÌ„ quod munus de tibi magnuÌ„ c. Fulgura de coelo c. Peccatum frangit vt Christi sanguis angit c. Sacr. Cerem lib. 1. Vt ea quae in hoc equaruÌ„ vesculo praeparato ad nominis tui gloriaÌ„ infundere decreuimê° benedicas quatenus ipsoruÌ„â— veneratione honore nobis famulis tuis crimina diluantur abster gentur maculae peccatorum iâ—petrentur veniae gratia conferantur vt tandem vna cum sanctis electis tuis vitam percipere mereaâ—ur aeternam Fran. a Victoria Ordin Praedicatorum Sum. Sacram art 184. p. 204. Sed quod faciet Confessor cum interrogatur de peccato c. Respondes secundum omnes quod sic Sed fac quod Index aut praelatus ex malitia exigat à me iuramentuÌ„ an sciam in Confessione Respondeo quod coactus iuret se nescire in confessura quia intelligitur senescire ad reuelandum aut taliter quod possit dicere Make vp this pretious Lambe I send thee heere All lightning it dispels and each ill spright Remedies stone and makes the heart contrite Euen as the bloud that Christ for vs did shed It helps the child-beds paine and giues good speed Vnto the birth Great gifts it still doth win To all that weare it and that worthy bin It quels the rage of fire and cleanely bore It brings from shipwracke safely to the shore And lest you should plead this to be the conceite of some one Phantasticall Pope heare and be ashamed out of the same Booke what by prescription euery Pope vseth to pray in the blessing of the water which serues for that Agnus Dei If you know not thus he prayeth That it would please thee O God to blesse those things which we purpose to powre into this Vessell of water prepared to the glory of thy Name so as by the worship and honour of them we thy seruants may haue our heynous offences done away the blemishes of our sinnes wip't off and thereby we may obtaine pardon and receiue grace from thee so that at the last with thy Saints and Elect Children we may merit to obtaine euerlasting life Amen How could you choose but be in loue with this Superstition Magicke Blasphemie practised and maintained by the heads of your Church A Religion that allowes iuggling Equiuocations and reserued senses euen in very oathes Besides all that hath bin shamelesly written by our Iesuites to this purpose Heare what Franciscus Victoria an ingenuous Papist and a learned Reader of Diuinitie in Salmantica writes in the name of all But what shall a Confessor doe saith he if he be askt of a sin that he hath heard in Confession May he say that he knowes not of it I answere according to all our Doctors that he may But what if hee be compelled to sweare I say that he may and ought to sweare that he knowes it not for that it is vnderstood that he knowes it not besides confession and so he sweares true But say that the Iudge or Prelate shall maliciously require of him vpon his oath whether he know it in confession or no I answer that a man thus vrged may still sweare that he knowes it not in confession for that it is vnderstood he knowes it not to reueale it or so as he may tell Who teach and doe thus in anothers case iudge what they would doe in their owne O wise cunning and holy periuries vnknowne to our fore-fathers A Religion that allowes the buying and selling of sins of Pardons of soules so as now Purgatory can haue no rich men in it but fooles and friendlesse Deuils are Tormenters there as themselues hold from many Reuelations of Bede Bernard Carthusian yet Men can command Deuils and money can command men A Religion that relies wholy vpon the infallibilitie of those whom yet they grant haue bin and may be monstrous in their liues and dispositions How many of those heyres of PETER by confession of their owne Records by Bribes by Whores by Deuils haue climed vp into that chaire Yet to say that those men which are confessed to haue giuen their soules to the Deuil that they might be Popes can erre while they are Popes is Heresie worthy of a stake and of Hell A Religion that hood-winks the poore Laitie in forced ignorance lest they should know Gods will or any way to Heauen but theirs so as millions of soules liue no lesse without Scripture than as if there were none that forbids spirituall food as poyson and fetches Gods Booke into the Inquisition A Religion that teaches men to worship stockes and stones with the same honour that is due to their Creator which practise lest it should apeare to her simple Clyents how palpably opposite it is to the second Commandement they haue discreetly left out those words of Gods Law as a needlesse illustration in their Catechismes and Prayer Bookes of the vulgar A Religion that vtterly ouerthrowes the true humanitie of Christ while they giue vnto it tenne thousand places at once and yet no place flesh and no flesh
parting now therefore he wisely prefers his own estate to Labans loue it is not good to regard too much the vniust discontentment of worldly men and to purchase vnprofitable fauour with too great losse Behold Laban followes Iacob with one troop Esau meets him with another both with hostile intentions both goe on till the vtmost point of their execution both are preuented ere the execution God makes fooles of the enemies of his Church he lets them proceed that they may be frustrate and when they are gone to the vtmost reach of their tether hee puls them backe to their taske with shame Loe now Laban leaues Iacob with a kisse Esau meets him with a kisse Of the one he hath an oath teares of the other peace with both Who shall need to feare man that is in league with God But what a wonder is this Iacob receiued not so much hurt from all his enemies as from his best friend Not one of his hairs perished by Laban or Esau yet he lost a ioint by the Angell and was sent halting to his graue He that knowes our strength yet wil wrestle with vs for our exercise and loues our violence and importunity O happy losse of Iacob he lost a ioynt and wonne a blessing It is a fauour to halt from God yet this fauour is seconded with a greater He is blessed because hee would rather halt then leaue ere he was blessed If he had left sooner he had not halted but hee had not prospered That man shall goe away sound but miserable that loues a limbe more then a blessing Surely if Iacob had not wrestled with God he had beene foyled with euills how many are the troubles of the righteous Not long after Rachel the comfort of his life dyeth And when but in her trauell and in his trauell to his Father When he had now before digested in his thoughts the ioy and gratulation of his aged Father for so welcome a burden His children the staffe of his age wound his soule to the death Reuben proues incestuous Iudah adulterous Dinah rauished Simeon and Leui murderous Er and Onan striken dead Ioseph lost Simeon imprisoned Beniamin the death of his Mother the Fathers right-hand indangered himselfe driuen by famine in his old age to die amongst the Aegyptians a people that held it abomination to eat with him If that Angell with whom hee stroue and who therefore stroue for him had not deliuered his soule out of all aduersity he had beene supplanted with euils and had beene so far from gaining the name of Israel that he had lost the name of Iacob now what sonne of Israel can hope for good daies when he heares his Fathers were so euill It is enough for vs if when wee are dead we can rest with him in the land of Promise If the Angell of the Couenant once blesse vs no paine no sorrowes can make vs miserable Of DINAH I Find but one onely daughter of Iacob who must needes therefore be a great darling to her Father and she so miscaries that she causes her Fathers griefe to be more then his loue As her mother Leah so she hath a fault in her eyes which was Curiosity She will needes see and be seene and whiles she doth vainely see shee is seene lustfully It is not enough for vs to looke to our owne thoughts except wee beware of the prouocations of others If wee once wander out of the lists that God hath set vs in our callings there is nothing but danger Her Virginity had been safe if she had kept home or if Sechem had forced her in her mothers tent this losse of her Virginity had been without her sin now she is not innocent that gaue the occasion Her eyes were guilty of the temptation Onely to see is an insufficient warrant to draw vs into places of spirituall hazard If Sechem had seen her busie at home his loue had beene free from out-rage now the lightnesse of her presence gaue incouragement to his inordinate desires Immodesty of behauior makes way to lust and giues life vnto wicked hopes yet Sechem be wrayes a good nature euen in filthinesse He loues Dinah after his sinne and will needs marry her whom he had defiled Commonly lust ends in loathing Ammon abhors Thamar as much after his act as before he loued her and beats her out of doores whom hee was sicke to bring in But Sechem would not let Dinah fare the worse for his sinne And now hee goes about to entertaine her with honest loue whom the rage of his lust had dishonestly abused Her deflouring shall bee no preiudice to her since her shame shall redound to none but him and he will hide her dishonour with the name of an husband What could hee now doe but sue to his Father to hers to her selfe to her brethren intreating that vvith humble submission which he might haue obtained by violence Those actions vvhich are ill begun can hardly be salued vp with late satisfactions whereas good entrances giue strength vnto the proceedings and successe to the end The yong mans father doth not only consent but sollicite and is ready to purchase a daughter either with substance or paine The two old men would haue ended the matter peaceably but youth commonly vndertakes rashly and performes with passion The sons of Iacob thinke of nothing but reuenge and which is worst of all begin their cruelty with craft and hide their craft with Religion A smiling malice is most deadly and hatred doth most rankle the heart when it is kept in and dissembled We cannot giue our sister to an vncircumcised man here was God in the mouth and Saran in the heart The bloodiest of all proiects haue euer wont to be coloured with Religion because the worse any thing is the better shew it desires to make and contrarily the better colour is put vpon any vice the more odious it is for as euery simulation addes to an euill so the best addes most euill themselues had taken the daughters and sisters of vncircumcised men yea Iacob himselfe did so why might not an vncircumcised man obtaine their sister Or if there be a difference of giuing and taking it had beene well if it had not beene onely pretended It had beene a happy Rauishment of Dinah that should haue drawne a whole Country into the bosome of the Church but here was a Sacrament intended not to the good of the soule but to murder of the body It was a hard taske for Hamor and Sechem not onely to put the knife to their owne foreskins but to perswade a multitude to so painfull a condition The sons of Iacob dissemble with them they with the people Shall not their flocks and substance be ours Common profit is pretended whereas onely Sechems pleasure is meant No motiue is so powerfull to the vulgar sort as the name of Commoditie The hope of this makes them prodigall of their skin and blood Not the loue to the Sacrament not the
and Iustice as therefore euill dispositions cannot be changed with ayres no more will good Now then he sits him downe by a Well in Midian There he might haue to drinke but where to eat he knew not The case was altred with Moses To come from the dainties of the Court of Aegypt to the hunger of the fields of Midian it is a lesson that al Gods childreÌ„ must learn to take out To want and to abound Who can think strange of penury when the great gouernor of Gods people once hath nothing Who would not haue thought in this case Moses should haue been heartlesse and sullen so cast downe with his owne coÌ„plaints that he should haue had no feeling of others yet how hot is he vpon iustice No aduersity can make a good man neglect good duties he sees the oppression of the Shepherds the image of that other he left behind him in Aegypt the Mayds daughters of so great a Peere draw water for their flocks the inhumane shepherds driue them away rudenesse hath no respect either to Sâ—â—â— or Condition if we liued not vnder lawes this were one case Might would be the measure of Iustice wee should not so much as 〈◊〉 our owne water vniust courses will not euer prosper Moses shall rather come from Aegypt to Midian to beat the shepheards then they shall vex the daughters of Iethro This act of â—ustice was not better done then taken Reuel requires it kindly with an hospitall entertainment A good nature is ready to answer courtesies we cannot doe 〈◊〉 much fore thankfull man And if a courteous Heathen reward the watring of a â—â—â—pe in this bountifull manner how shall our God recompence but a cup of cold water that is giuen to a Disciple This fauour hath won Moses who now consents to dwell with him though out of the Church Curiosity or whatsoeuer idle occasions may not draw vs for our residence out of the bounds of the Church of God danger of life may we loue not the Church if we easily leaue it if in a case of life we leaue it not vpon opportunity for a time of respit we loue not our selues The first part of Moses his requitall was his wife one of those whom he had formerly protected I doe not so much maruell that Iethro gaue him his daughter for hee saw him vallant wise learned nobly bred as that Moses would take her a stranger both in Blood and Religion I could plead for him necessity his own nation was shut vp to him if he would haue tried to fetch a daughter of Israel her had endangered to leaue himselfe behind I could plead some correspondence in common principles of Religion for doubtlesse Moses his zeale could not suffer him to smother the truth in himselfe hee should haue beene an vnfaithfull seruant if he had not beene his Masters teacher Yet neither of these can make this match either safe or good The euent bewrayes it dangerously inconuenient This choice had like to haue cost him deare she stood in his way for circumcision God stands in his way for reuenge Though hee was now in Gods message yet might he not be forborne in this neglect No circumstance either of the dearnesse of the Sollicitor or our owne ingagement can beare out a sinne with God Those which are vnequally yoked may not euer look to draw one way The loue to â—he person cannot long agree with dislike of the religion He had need to be more then a man that hath a Zipporaâ— in his bosome and would haue true zeale in his heart Al this while Moses his affection was not so tied to Midian that he could forget Aegypt Hee was a stranger in Midian what was he else in Aegypt Surely either Aegypt was not his home or a miserable one yet in reference to it he cals his son Gershom a stranger there Much better were it to be a stranger there then a dweller in Aegypt How hardly can we forget the place of our abode or education although neuer so homely And if he so thought of his Aegyptian home where was nothing but bondage and tyranny how should wee thinke of that home of ours aboue where is nothing but rest and blessednesse Of MOSES calling FOrty yeares was Moses a Courtier and forty yeares after that a Shepheard That great men may not bee ashamed of honest vocations the greatest that euer were haue beene content to take vp with meane trades The contempt of honest callings in those which are well borne argues pride without wit How constantly did Moses sticke to his hooke and yet a man of great spirits of excellent learning of curious education and if God had not after his forty yeares seruice called him off he had so ended his dayes Humble resolutions are so much more heroicall as they fall into higher subiects There can be no fitter disposition for a leader of Gods people then constancy in his vndertakings without either wearinesse or change How had he learned to subdue all ambitious desires and to rest content with his obscurity So he might haue the freedome of his thoughts and ful opportunity of holy meditations he willingly leaues the World to others and enuies not his proudest acquaintance of the Court of Pharaoh He that hath true world in himselfe and familiarity with God finds more pleasure in the Desarts of Midiâ—â— then others can doe in the Palaces of Kings Whiles he is tending his sheepe God appeared vnto him God neuer graces the idle with his visions when he finds vs in our callings we find him in the 〈◊〉 of his mercy Satan appeares to the idle man in manifold temptations or rather presents himselfe and appeares not God was euer with Moses yet was he not seene till now He is neuer absent from his but sometimes he makes their senses witnesses of his presence In small matters may be greater wonders That a bush should burne is no marueâ—â— but that it should not consume in burning is iustly miraculous God chuseth not euer great subiects wherin to exercise his power It is enough that his power is great in the smallest When I look vpon this burning bush with Moses me thinkes I can neuer see a worthier and more liuely Embleme of the Church that in Aegypt was in the furnace yet wasted not Since then how oft hath it beene flaming neuer consumed The same power that enlightens it preserues it and to none but his enemies is he a consuming fire Moses was a great Philosopher but small skill would haue serued to know the nature of fire and of the bush that fire meeting with combustible matter could not but consume If it had been some solid wood it would haue yeelded later to the flame but bushes are of so quicke dispatch that the ioy of the wicked is compared to a fire of thornes He noted a while saw it continued and beganne to wonder It was some maruell how it should come there but how it should continue without supply
or remoue our Patrimony to the Altar the Patterne of the Altar shall goe with vs not for sacrifice but for memoriall that both the posterity of the other Israelites may know we are no lesse deriued from them then this Altar from theirs and that our posterity may know they pertaine to that Altar whereof this is the resemblance There was no danger of the present but posterity might both offer and receiue preiudice if this Monument were not It is a wise and holy care to preuent the dangers of ensuing times and to settle religion vpon the succeeding generations As we affect to leaue a perpetuity of our bodily issue so much more to traduce piety with them Doe wee not see good husbands set and plant those trees whereof their grand-children shall receiue the first fruit and shade Why are wee lesse thrifty in leauing true religion intire to our childrens children EHVD and EGLON AS euery man is guilty of his owne sorrow these Isaelites bred mischiefe to themselues It was their mercy that plagued them with those Canaanites which their obedience should haue rooted out If foolish pitty be a more humane sinne yet it is no lesse dangerous then cruelty Cruelty kils others vniust pitty kils our selues They had been Lords alone of the promised Land if their commiseration had not ouer-swayed their iustice and now their enemies are too cruell to them in the iust reuenge of God because they were too mercifull That God which in his reuealed will had commanded all the Canaanites to the slaughter yet secretly giues ouer Israel to a toleration of some Canaanites for their owne punishment Hee hath bidden vs cleanse our hearts of all our corruptions yet hee will permit some of these thornes still in our sides for exercise for humiliation If we could lay violent hands vpon our sinnes our soules should haue peace now our indulgence costs vs many stripes and many teares what a continued circle is here of sinnes iudgements repentance deliuerances The conuersation with Idolaters taints them with sinne their sinne drawes on iudgements the smart of the iudgement moues them to repentance vpon their repentance followes speedy deliuerance vpon their peace and deliuerance they sinne againe Othniel Calebs nephew had rescued them from Idolatry and seruitude his life and their innocence and peace ended together How powerfull the presence of one good man is in a Church or State is best found in his losse A man that is at once eminent in place and goodnesse is like a stake in a hedge pull that vp and all the rest are but loose and rotten sticks easily remoued or like the piller of a vaulted roofe which either supports or ruines the building Who would not thinke Idolatry an absurd and vnnaturall sinne which as it hath the fewest inducements so had also the most direct inhibitions from God and yet after all these warnings Israel falls into it againe Neither affliction nor repentance can secure an Israelite from redoubling the worst sinne if he be left to his owne frailty It is no censuring of the truth of our present sorrow by the euent of a following miscarriage The former cryes of Israel to God were vnfained yet their present wickednesse is abominable Let him that thinkes he stands take heed lest he fall No sooner had he said Israel had rest but he addes They committed wickednesse The security of any people is the cause of their corruption standing waters soone grow noysome Whiles they were exercised with warre how scrupulous were they of the least intimation of Idolatry the newes of a bare Altar beyond Iordan drew them together for a reuenge now they are at peace with their enemies they are at variance with God It is both hard and happy not to be the worse with liberty The sendentary life is most subiect to diseases Rather then Israel shall want a scourge for their sinne God himselfe shall raise them vp an enemy Moab had no quarrell but his owne ambition but God meant by the ambition of the one part to punish the Idolatry of the other his iustice can make one sinne the executioner of another whiles neitheir shall look for any other measure from him but iudgement The euill of the City is so his that the instrument is not guiltlesse Before God had stirred vp the King of Syria against Israel now the King of Moab afterwards the King of Canaan Hee hath more variety of iudgements then there can be offences if we haue once made him our aduersary he shall be sure to make vs aduersaries enow which shall reuenge his quarrell whiles they prosecute their owne Euen those were Idolaters by whose hands God plagued the Idolatries of Israel In Moab the same wickednesse prospers which in Gods own people is punished the iustice of the Almighty can least brooke euill in his own the same heathen which prouoked Israel to sinne shall scourge them for sinning Our very profession hurts vs if we be not innocent No lesse then eighteene yeeres did the rod of Moab rest vpon the inheritance of God Israel seemes as borne to seruitude they came from their bondage in the Land of Egypt to serue in the Land of Promise They had neglected God now they are neglected of God their sinnes haue made them seruants whom the choyce of God had made free yea his first borne Worthy are they to serue those men whose false gods they had serued and to serue them alwaies in thraldome whom they haue once serued in Idolatry Wee may not measure the continuance of punishment by the time of the commission of sinne one minutes sinne deserues a torment beyond all time Doubtlesse Israel was not so insensible of their owne misery as not to complaine sooner then the end of eighteen yeers The first houre they sighed for themselues but now they cried vnto God The very purpose of affliction is to make vs importunate He that heares the secret murmurs of our griefe yet will not seeme to heare vs till our cries be loud and strong God sees it best to let the penitent dwell for the time vnder their sorrowes he sees vs sinking all the while yet he lets vs alone til we be at the bottome and when once we can say Out of the depths haue I cried to thee instantly followes The Lord heard me A vehement suter cannot but be heard of God whatsoeuer hee askes If our prayers want successe they want heart their blessing is according to their vigour Wee liue in bondage to these spirituall Moabites our owne corruptions It discontents vs but where are our strong cries vnto the God of heauen where are our teares If we could passionately bemoane our selues to him how soone should wee bee more then conquerours Some good motions wee haue to send vp to him but they faint in the way We may call long enough if wee cry not to him The same hand that raised vp Eglon against Israel raised vp also Ehud for Israel against Eglon When that Tyrant
strength of humane patience Oh what shall we then conceiue of that death which knowes no end As this life is no lesse fraile then the dody which it animates so that death is no lesse eternall then the soule which must endure it For vs to be dying so long as wee now haue leaue to liue is intollerable and yet one onely minute of that other tormenting death is worse then an age of this Oh the desperate infidelity of carlesse men that shrinke at the thought of a momentarry death and feare not eternall This is but a killing of the body that is a destruction of body and soule Who is so worthy to weare Crowne of Israel as hee that wonne the Crowne from Midian Their vsurpers were gone now they are headlesse It is a doubt whether they were better to haue had no Kings or Tyrants They sue to Gideon to accept of the Kingdome and are repulsed There is no greater ensample of modesty then Gideon When the Angell spake to him he abased himselfe below all Israel when the Ephraimites contended with him he prefers their gleanings to his vintage and casts his honour at their feete and now when Israel proffers him that Kingdome which he had merited he refuses it Hee that in ouercomming would allow them to cry The sword of the Lord and of Gideon in gouerning will haue none but The sword of the Lord. That which others plot and sue and sweare and bribe for Dignity and superiority he seriously reiects whether it were for that he knew God had not yet called them to a Monarchy or rather for that he saw the crowne among thornes What doe we ambitiously affect the commahd of these mole-hils of earth when wise men haue refused the proffers of kingdomes Why doe we not rather labour for that Kingdome which is free from all cares from all vncertainty Yet he that refuses their Crowne cals for their earings although not to enrich himselfe but religion So long had God been a stranger to Israel that now superstion goes currant for deuout worship It were pitty that good intentions should make any man wicked here they did so Neuer man meant beter then Gideon in his rich Ephod yet this very act set all Israel on whoring God had chosen a place and a seruice of his own When the wit of man will be ouer-pleasing God with better deuices then his own it turnes to madnesse and ends in mischiefe ABIMELECHS vsurpation GIdeon refused the Kingdome of Israel when it was offered his seuenty sons offered not to obtain that Scepter which their fathers victory had deserued to make hereditary onely Abimelec the concubines sonne sues and ambitiously plots for it What could Abimelec see in himselfe that hee should ouer-looke all his brethren If he lookt to his father they were his equals if to his mother they were his betters Those that are most vnworthy of honour are hottest in the chase of it whiles the conscience of better deserts bids men sit still and stay to bee either importuned or neglected There can bee no greater signe of vnfitnesse then vehement sute It is hard to say whether there bee more pride or ignorance in Ambition I haue noted this difference betwixt spirituall and earthly honour and the Clients of both wee cannot be worthy of the one without earnest prosecution nor with earnest prosecution worthy of the other The violent abtaine heauen onely the meeke are worthy to inherit the earth That which an aspiring heart hath proiected it will find both argument and meanes to effect If either bribes or fauour will carry it the proud man will not sit out The Shechemites are fit brokers for Abimelec That City which once betrayed it selfe to vtter depopulation in yeelding to the sute of Hamor now betraies it selfe and al Israel in yeelding to the request of Abimelec By them hath this Vsurper made himselfe a fair way to the Throne It was an easie question Whether wil ye admit of the sons of Gideon for your Rulers or of strangers If of the sons of Gideon whether of all or one If of one whether of your owne flesh and bloud or of others vnknowne To cast off the sonnes Gideon for strangers were vnthankfull To admit of seuenty Kings in one small Country were vnreasonable To admit of any other rather then their own kinsman were vnnaturall Gideons sonnes therefore must rule amongst all Israel One of his sonnes amongst those seuenty and who should be that one but Abimelec Naturall respects are the most dangerous corrupters of all elections What hope can there be of worthy Superiors in any free people where neerenesse of bloud carries it from fitnesse of disposition Whiles they say Hee is our brother they are enemies to themselues and Israel Faire words haue won his brethren they the Shechemites the Shechemites furnish him with money mony with men His men begin with murder and now Abimelec raignes alone Flattery bribes and bloud are the vsuall staires of the Ambitious The money of Baal is a fit hier for murderers that which Idolatry hath gathered is fitly spent vpon Treason One diuell is ready to helpe another in mischiefe seldome euer is ill gotten riches better imployed It is no wonder if he that hath Baal his Idol now make an Idoll of Honour There was neuer any man that worshipped but one Idol Woe be to them that lie in the way of the Aspiring Though they be brothers they shall bleed yea the neerer they are the more sure is their ruine Who would not now thinke that Abimelec should finde an hell in his breast after so barbarous and vnnaturall a massacre and yet behold he is a senslesse as the stone vpon which the bloud of his seuerity brethren was spilt Where Ambition hath possest it selfe throughly of the soule it turnes the heart into steele and makes it vncapeable of a conscience All sinnes will easily downe with the man that is resolued to rise Onely Iotham fell not at that fatall stone with his brethren It is an hard battell where none escapes He escapes not to raigne not to reuenge but to be a Prophet and a witnesse of the vengeance of God vpon the vsurper vpon the Abettors He liues to tel Abimelec that he was but a bramble a weed rather then a tree A right bramble indeed that grew but out of the base hedge-row of a Concubin that could not lift vp his head from the earth vnlesse he were supported by some bush or pale of Shechem that had laid hold of the fleece of Israel and had drawne bloud of all his brethren and lastly that had no substance in him but the sap vaine-glory and the pricks of cruelty It was better then a Kingdome to him out of his obscure Beere to see the fire out of his bramble to consume those tres The view of Gods reuenge is so much more pleasing to a good heart then his owne glory by how much it is more iust and full There was neuer
wicked spirits haue their wish The Swine are choked in the waues What ease is this to them Good God that there should bee any creature that seekes contentment in destroying in tormenting the good creatures of their Maker This is the diet of hell Those fiends feed vpon spight towards man so much more as hee doth more resemble his Creator Towards all other liuing substances so much more as they may be more vsefull to man The Swine ran downe violently what maruell is it if their Keepers fled that miraculous worke which should haue drawne them to Christ driues them from him They run with the newes the country comes in with clamour The whole multitude of the country about besought him to depart The multitude is a beast of many heads euery head hath a seuerall mouth and euery mouth with a seuerall tongue and euery tongue a seuerall accent Euery head hath a seuerall braine and euery braine thoughts of their owne so as it is hard to finde a multitude without some diuision At least seldome euer hath a good motion found a perfect accordance it is not not so infrequent for a multitude to conspire in euill Generalitie of assent is no warrant for any act Common errour caries away many who inquire not into the reason of ought but the practise The way to hell is a beaten road through the many feet that tread it when vice grows into fashion singularitie is a vertue There was not a Gadarene found that either dehorted their fellowes or opposed the motion it is a figne of people giuen vp to iudgment when no man makes head against proiects of euill Alas what can one strong man doe against a whole throng of wickednesse Yet this good comes of an vnpreuailing resistance that God forbeares to plague where he finds but a sprinkling of faith happy are they who like vnto the celestiall bodies which being caried about with the sway of the highest sphere yet creepe on their owne wayes keepe on the courses of their owne holinesse against the swinge of common corruptions They shall both deliuer their owne soules and helpe to withhold iudgement from others The Gadarenes sue to Christ for his departure It is too much fauour to attribute this to their modesty as if they held themselues vnworthy of so diuine a guest Why then did they fall vpon this suit in a time of their losse Why did they not taxe themselues and intimate a secret desire of that which they durst not begge It is too much rigour to attribute it to the loue of their hogges and an anger at their losse then they had not intreated but expelled him It was their feare that moued this harsh suit A seruile feare of danger to their persons to their goods Lest he that could so absolutely command the Deuils should haue set these tormentors vpon them Lest their other Demoniacks should be dispossessed with like losse I cannot blame these Gaderens that they feared This power was worthy of trembling at Their feare was vniust They should haue argued This man hath power ouer men beasts deuils it is good hauing him to our friend his presence is our safety and protection Now they contrarily mis-inferre Thus powerfull is he it is good he were further off What miserable and pernicious mis-constructions doe men make of God of diuine attributes and actions God is omnipotent able to take infinite vengeance of sinne Oh that he were not Hee is prouident I may be carelesse He is mercifull I may sinne He is holy Let him depart from me for I am a sinfull man How witty sophisters are naturall men to deceiue their owne soules to rob themselues of a God Oh Sauiour how worthy are they to want thee that wish to be rid of thee Thou hast iust cause to bee weary of vs euen whiles we sue to hold thee but when once our wretched vnthankfulnesse growes weary of thee who can pitie vs to bee punished with thy departure Who can say it is other then righteous that thou shouldest regest one day vpon vs Depart from me yee wicked Contemplations VPON THE HISTORIE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT The seuenth Volume In two Bookes By I.H. D.D. LONDON Printed for THO PAVIER MILES FLESHER and Iohn Haviland 1625. Contemplations VPON THE OLD TESTAMENT THE EIGHTEENTH BOOKE Wherein are REHOBOAM IEROBOAM The seduced Prophet IEROBOAMS Wife ASA ELIJAH with the Sareptan ELIJAH with the Baalites ELIJAH running before AHAB flying from IEzEBEL By IOS HALL D. of Diuinitie and Deane of WORCESTER TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE IAMES LORD HAYE BARON OF Saley Viscount Doncaster Earle of Carlile one of the Lords of his Maiesties most Honorable Priuie Councell RIGHT HONORABLE I Cannot but thus gratulate to you your happy returne from your many and noble imployments which haue made you some yeeres a stranger at home and sorenowned abroad that all the better parts of Europe know and honor your name no lesse then if you had beene borne theirs Neither is any of them so sauage as not to say when they heare mention of your worth that Vertue is a thousand Escuchions Jf now your short breathing-time may allow your Lordship the freedome of quiet and holy thoughts cast your eyes vpon Jsrael and Judah vpon the Kings and Prophets of both in such beneficiall varietie as prophane historie shall promise in vaine Your Lordship shall see Rehoboam following Salomon in nothing but his seat and his fall as much more wilfull then his father as lesse wise all head no heart losing those ten Tribes with a churlish breath whom he would and might not recouer with blood Ieroboam as crafty as wicked plotting a reuolt creating a religion to his state marring Jsraelites to make subiects branded in his name smitten in his hand in his loynes You shall see a faithfull messenger of God after miraculous proofe of his courage fidelity power good nature paying deare for a little circumstance of credulous disobedience The Lyon is sent to call for his blood as the price of his forbidden harbour You shall see the blinde Prophet descrying the disguise of a Queene the iudgement of the King the remouall of a Prince too good for Ieroboams heire You shall see the right stocke of Royal succession flourishing in Asa whiles that true heire of Dauid though not without some blemishes of infirmity inherits a perfect heart purges his Kingdome of Sodomy of Jdolatry not balking sinne euen where he honored nature You shall see the wonder of Prophets Elijah opening and shutting heauen as his priuate chest catored for by the Rauens nor lesse miraculously catoring for the Sareptan contesting with Ahab confronting the Baalites speaking both fire and water from heauen in one euening meekely lacquaying his Soueraigne weakely flying from Iezabel fed supernaturally by Angels hid in the rocke of Horeb confirmed by those dreadfull apparitions that had confounded some other casting his mantle vpon his homely successor and by the touch of that garment turning him from a ploughman to
subordinate rules of tranquillitie 92 R RAhab Of her 945 The Authors censure of her whether an harlot in respect of filthinesse ibid. Her house a token of the true Church 947 Her deliuery with the vse of it 953 Rarenesse It causeth wonder with the application of it 49 50 Rebels Vengeance against theÌ„ may sleepe but cannot dye 1263 Regeneration it must make way for our glorification 466 Rehoboam 1311 His taking counsell with the yong ones 1313 Reioyce How easily we can reioyce in that which we shall find the iust cause of our humiliation 1057 Relapse vide reuolting It is desperate 888 Religion Of the feeling of the power of it in our selues 37 Who is the greatest enemie to Religion 141 A discourse of the tryall and choyce of true religion 319 Dissentions in religion an insufficient motiue of vnsetlednesse in it What both a priuate publike person is compared vnto that is vnsetled in his religion 481 Nothing reputed so superfluous as religious duties 865 A reproofe of our not being willing to be at cost with religion 901 The pompous shewes of the false religion 936 The care of religioÌ„ must haue the first place 968 Religion gone humanity wil hardly stay long after 986 Where no respect is giuen to Gods Ministers there is no religion 1017 No measuring of religion by outward glory 1044 It is no small priuiledge to dwell where religion is 1054 Nothing worse then to make policy a stalking horse for religion 1121 The Princes first care to aduance religion 1127 If Ministers be meal-mouth'd in the scornes of religion they may not bee counted patient but zealelesse 1130 Religion makes not men vnciuill 1134 Want of religion is the way to disobedience 1314 Religion and policy how they must meet 1335 God hates nothing more then a neutrality in religion 1337 Remembrance the remembrance of former fauors how it heartens our faith 894 Reprehension that there must not be one vniforme in reprehension 24 Reprehension better then flattery ibid. Corruption checked growes mad with rage 865 A galled heart impatient of reprehension 868 What a wicked man lookes to in hearing reprehension ibid. Where sinne is not ashamed of light God loues not that reprehension should bee smothered 915 Reprehension makes way for consolation 975 It is signe of a horse galled that stirres too much when he is touched 1030 In vaine doe wee reprehend those sinnes abroad which we tolerate at home 1033 An easie reproofe doth but encourage wickednesse 1034 Of the choice of seasons for reproofe 1060 Reproouers should striue to be innocent ibid. Resolute wickednesse is impatient of reprehension 1318 Repentance an excellent inducement to it 68 The character of a true penitent 180 A vniuersall Antidote for all the iudgements of God 916 In vaine to professe repentance whilst wee continue in Idolatry 1051 Oâ— the maruellous power of repentance 1143 Repentance cannot alwaies turne a temporall iudgement 1248 Rephidim Its rocke 891 Reproaches Such as are cast vpon vs in the causes of God may safely be repayed 1130 Reubenites Of their Altar 967 Reprobation a fearfull signe of it 1110 Reuenge vide vengeance God alwaies takes his part that seekes not to reuenge himselfe 914 God can reuenge with ease 922 Euery creature reioyceth to execute Gods vengeance 929 There is no euasion where God intends reuenge 966 Reuolter vide Relapse much difference betweene him and a man trained vp in error 143 An Epistle to new reuolter a Minister 275 Reynolds commended 287 Riches vide Wealth Rich men are not Gods treasurers but his Stewards 26 How a vertuous man esteemes of riches 28 Hard to bee rich and righteous 33 A notable argument to draw yea dâ—iue men froÌ„ the desire of riches 35 The way to bee rich indeed 36 Rich mens misery in this that they cannot know their friends 59 A rich maÌ„ may go to heauen but hardly a couetous 137 The rich that speake with command must also be commanded 694 How rich man was in his innocency 695 Who is rich indeed 696 What wee should doe to bee rich 697 The strangenesse of a rich mans being proud and that in two respects 699 A rich man prettily descrybed ibid. The confidence that some put in riches 701 What riches cannot doe 702 A pretty rule how to vse riches ibid. Riches vncertaine ibid. c. What should bee the rich mans stay 704 A strait charge to rich men 707 Righteous righteousnesse of our iealosie of a mans being suddenly righteous 3 Rome vide Popery the state of the now Romane Church 633 The obstinate and auerse opposition of the Romanists 636 The impossibility of being reconciled with Rome 639 663 The Romish errour concerning Iustification 643 Freewill 645 Merits 647 Satisfaction 648 Purgatorie 650 Pardons 651 Mortall veniall sins 652 The Canon of the Scripture 653 The insufficiency of the Scripture 655 Transubstantion 656 The MultipreseÌ„ce of Christs body 657 The sacrifice of the Masse 658 The number of Mediators 659 Their ridiculous worship of Rome 661 Ruth and Naomi 1022 S SAcraments when they haue their true effect 954 Sacrifice A three-fold sacrifice acceptable to God First Poenitentiae Secondly Iustitiae Thirdly Laudis 456 Hearty sacrifices are the Angels feast 997 We must not dare to sacrifice vnsanctified 1078 Sacriledge The largenesse of its punishment 957 Saints of innouation of Saints 659 Salomon Of his beginning 1258 His dutifull cariage to his mother 1260 His choice and iudgement on the two harlots 1264 The experiment of Salomons wisedome in saying Diuide the child 1266 His building the Temple 1266 His defection 1273 Samaria Its famine 1394 Sampson Conceiued 994 His mariage 998 His victory 1002 His end 1005 A pretty passage about Sampsons leauing his wife 1002 Sampsons victory with the Iawbone of an Asse applied to a weake Christian 1005 Samuel vid. Saul His contestation 1059 Of Samuels harbouring Dauid 1090 Satisfaction The Papists errour concerning it 648 Saul and Samuel their meeting 1052 Samuels kinde entertainment of Saul 1055 Sauls faire beginnings 1056 Sauls Vnction ibid. Sauls inauguration 1057 Sauls sacrifice 1061 Hee reiected of God is no more a King but a Tyrant ibid. Sauls sacrifice prettily set out 1063 Sauls oath 1064 Saul and Agag 1073 An excellent expostulation on Sauls doings with the Amalekites 1075 Sauls reiection and Dauids choice 1076 Saul the very character of hypocrisie 1076 Sauls madnesse had not bereaued him of his craft 1087 Saul in Dauids caue 1099 Of him and the Witch of Endor 1109 Sauls hardinesse at the raising of Samuel prettily described 1111 Sauls death 1116 A pretty description of the messenger that brought tydings to Dauid of Sauls death 1117 1118 Scandall A good heart is no lesse afraid of scandall then of sinne 1027 Scribes Their name and sorts vid. Pharisees 408 Schismes how bred fostered and confirmed 29 30 Scriptures whether the Apocryphall bookes are to be receiued as scripture 614 Which of the translations are most to be adhered to 615 Whether
palmes chrisme garments roses swords water salt the Pontificall solemnities of your great Master and whateuer your new mother hath besides plausible before he should see ought in all these worthy of any other entertainment then contempt Who can but disdaine that these things should procure any wise proselyte Cannot your owne memory recount those truly religious spirits which hauing fought Rome as resolued Papists haue left the world as holy Martyrs dying for the detestation of that which they came to adore Whence this They heard and magnified that which they now saw and abhorred Their fire of zeale brought them to the flames of Martyrdome Their innocent hopes promised them Religion they found nothing but a pretence promised deuotion and behold idolatry they saw hated suffered and now raigne whiles you wilfully and vnbidden will lose your soule where others meant to lose and haue found it Your zeale dies where theirs began to liue you like to liue where they would but dye They shall comfort vs for you they shall once stand vp against you While they would rather die in the heat of that fire then liue in the darknesse of their errors you rather die in the Egyptian darknesse of errors then liue in the pleasant light of Truth yea I feare rather in another fire then this Light Alas what shall we looke for of you Too late repentance or obstinate error Both miserable A Spira or a Staphylus Your friends your selfe shall wish you rather vnborne then either O thou which art the great Shepheard great in power great in mercy which leauest the ninety and nine to reduce one fetch home if thy will bee this thy forlorne charge fetch him home driue him home to thy Fold though by shame though by death Let him once recouer thy Church thou him it is enough Our common Mother I know not whether more pities your losse or disdaines thus to be robb'd of a son not for the need of you but her owne piety her owne loue For how many troops of better informed soules hath she euery day returning into her lap now breathing from their late Antichristianisme and embracing her knees vpon their owne She laments you not for that shee feares shee shall misse you but for that shee knowes you shall want her See you her teares and doe but pitty your selfe as much as she you And from your Mother Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge to descend to your Nurse Is this the fruit of such education Was not your youth spent in a society of such comely order strict gouernment wise lawes religious care it was ours yet let me praise it to your shame as may iustly challenge after all bragges either RHEMES or DOVVAY or if your Iesuits haue any other denne more cleanly and more worthy of ostentation And could you come out fresh and vnseasoned from the middest of those salt waues Could all those heauenly showres fall beside you while you like a Gedeons fleece want moisture Shall none of those diuine principles which your youth seem'd to drinke in check you in your new errors Alas how vnlike are you to your selfe to your name Iacob wrestled with an Angell and preuailed you grapple but with a Iesuit and yeeld Iacob supplanted his brother and Esau hath supplanted you Iacob changed his name for a better by a valiant resistance you by your cowardly yeelding haue lost your owne Iacob stroue with God for a blessing I feare to say it you against him for a curse for no common measure of hatred or ordinary opposition can serue a reuolter Either you must be desperately violent or suspected The mighty One of Israel for hee can doe it raise you falne returne you wandred and giue you grace at last to shame the Deuill to forsake your stepmother to acknowledge your true Parent to satisfie the world to saue your owne soule If otherwise I will say of you as Ieremy of his Israelites if not rather with more indignation My soule shall weepe in secret for your reuolt and mine eyes shall drop downe teares because one of the Lords flocke is caried away captiue To my Lord and Patrone the Lord DENNY Baron of Waltham EPIST. II. Of the contempt of the World MY Lord my tongue my pen my heart are all your seruants when you cannot heare me through distāce you must see me in my Letters You are now in the Senate of the Kingdome or in the concourse of the city or perhaps though more rarely in the royall face of the Court. All of them places fit for your place From all these let me call off your minde to her home aboue and in the midst of businesse shew you rest If I may not rather commend then admonish and before-hand confesse my counsell superfluous because your holy forwardnesse hath preuented it You can afford these but halfe of your selfe The better part is better bestowed Your soule is still retired and reserued You haue learned to vouchsafe these worldly things vse without affection and know to distinguish wisely betwixt a Stoicall dulnesse and a Christian contempt and haue long made the world not your God but your slaue And in truth that I may loose my selfe into a bold and free discourse what other respect is it worthy of I would adore it on my face if I could see any Maiesty that might command veneration Perhaps it loues me not so much as to shew me his best I haue sought it enough and haue seene what others haue doated on and wondred at their madnesse So may I looke to see better things aboue as I neuer could see ought here but vanitie and vilenesse What is fame but smoake and mettall but drosse and pleasure but a pill in suger Let some Gallants condemne this as the voice of a Melancholike Scholler I speake that which they shall feele and shall confesse Though I neuer was so I haue seen some as happy as the world could make them and yet I neuer saw any more discontented Their life hath bin neither longer nor sweeter nor their heart lighter nor their meales heartier nor their nights quieter nor their cares fewer nor their complaints Yea we haue knowne some that haue lost their mirth when they haue found wealth and at once haue ceased to be merry and poore All these earthly delights if they were sound yet how short they are and if they could bee long yet how vnsound If they were sound they are but as a good day betweene two agues or a sunne-shine betwixt two tempest And if they were long their honie is exceeded by their gall This ground beares none but maples hollow and fruitlesse or like the banks of the dead Sea a faire apple which vnder a red side containes nothing but dust Euery flower in this garden either pricks or smels ill If it be sweet it hath thornes and if it haue no thornes it annoyes vs with an ill sent Goe then ye wise idolatrous Parasites and erect shrines and offer sacrifices