and not to sinne good and better And therefore Hierome in his exposition of the Psal Homines et iumenta saluabis domine Per homines inquit intelliguntur solae virgines per iumenta reliqui omnes Him followes Albertus Magnus Continentia inquit habet fructum triplicem scilicet â—entesimâ—m in virginibus sexagesimum in viduis et tricesimum in coniugatis Continence saith he hath a threefolde degree or condition iâ— virgins it bringeth forth aâ— hundred in widdowes threescore and in the wedded thirtie Scripture runneth cleane and cleare on our side which the passages following demonstrate 1. Corinthians 7. 1. Kings 2. Wisedome the 3. Matth. 19. Esay 56. Syrach 26. But amongst all these places this one in the ReuelatioÌ„ is most of all to be noted And they sung as it were a new song before the throne and before the foure beasts and the elders and no man could learn that song but the hundreth forty and foure thousand which were bought from the earth These are they which are not defiled with women for they are virgins these followe the Lambe wheresoeuer he goeth these are bought from men beeing the first fruits to GOD and to the Lambe And in their moâ—ths was found no guile for they are without spot before the throne of God These are words that would inforce any sober soule to imbrace that single simple and sincere kinde of life approued by God Saints and Angels as beeing free from all vncleannesse and voide of all cankering cares Yet how many now-adaies would be ranked among virgins who indeede are ranke whoores how manie are courted who deserue to be carted Had Iob liued in our houres he neuer should haue needed to haue made a couenant with his eyes least at any time they should looke vpon a maide for he should scarce haue found any to looke vppon So farre is Chastitity exiled so much is shame empaired as that impudency and women are almost become Relatiues And the cause of this is vaine periured man who notvsing his tongue to glorifie him that made it imployes it to flatter deceiue dissemble And when hee hath obtained his purpose what is his victory That he hath seduced a woman A hot conquest surely to enter and ouercome a citty whose gates stand open day and night Yet barre I not anie man from admiring the Creatour in the creature nor from beholding beauty which as one saith is radius diâ—inae pulchritudinis a beâ—â—e darted into man from that diuine beautie The Platonians were so enamoured of this amiable goddess that they thought beautie to bee like a circle whose center they made goodness and they were of opinion that as a circle cannot bee without a center no more can a faire and comely bodie be without a maiesticall mind The Hebricians confound fairenesse with goodnesse in calling that faire which is good that good which is faire And therefore when it is said that Sara seemed very good in the eies of the Aegyptians the meaning of the text is that shee seemed very faire Neither did the Graecians separate this beautifull yoke but ioy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 August saith Consuetudo scripturae est etiam speciosos corpore bonos vocare It is an ordinary thing in the holie scripture saith he to call the faire of body good of minde Columella saith that the Bees choose the fairest and the best formed to be their king Pythagoras was led by beautie beyond reason so that he falsely imagined the frame of the bodie to represent the state of the minde and that the crookednesse of the body was a signe of a wracked conscience so that he could not be of an vpright minde who was not vpright of body and therefore hee caused to bee written ouer his schoole that no disproportioned fellow should enter there for he would not giue countenance to any deformed countenance Which sentence of his is wiselie and iudicially contradicted by S. Bernarde Est inquit nigredo quaedam foelix quae mentis candorem coniunctuÌ„ habet There is saith he a certaine foulenesse of complexion which is accompanied with fairenesse of disposition I I the gifts of the minde are able to shadowe the defects of the bodie but the perfection of the bodie is no way able to hide the imperfections of the minde Although I thinke obstinacie her selfe will confesse that that of virgill is most true Gratior est pulchro veniens è corpore virtus Yet as true it is that virtus et forma rarò coÌ„ueniunt vertue beauty seldom shake hands One onlie haue I seene since first I could see admirable for both in whome they so sweetly kissed each other as that it would make Hatred her selfe loue to see them When I first beheld this glorious Architecture this Natures choisest Art I straight concluded that heauens fairest Iewell was there locked vp in earths richest cabinet Now resteth it after a long digression that we examine the third property of a drunkard to weet Swearing This vice of all other carrieth the most detestation with it because it bringeth least delight of all other For all other vices a man may wring out some excuse from Nature to lessen their greatnesse but this admitteth no veile at all What a desperate case is it for a man in mirth to sweare by that bloud the remembraunce of which would strike sorrow to the most obdurate hearts that bloud I say the losse of which gained redemption to the whole world A good ChristiaÌ„ would shed teares to thinke that that bloud was shedde a drop whereof is able to clarifie an Ocean of disturbed sinne Mee thinkes relenting thoughts should wound the heart of a Christian in naming the wounds of Christ But where reuerence is laied aside there deuotion is cold God saith that if we doe not feare and dread his glorious and fearefull name Iehoua he will make our plagues wonderfull Hee saith also by his Prophet Malachy that he will be a swift witnesse against swearers The Prophet Zachary saith that the flying booke of Gods curse and vengeance shall enter into the house of the swearer and he shall be cut off Wee may well take vp the olde complaint of the Prophet Ieremy who saith that in his time the Land did mourn because of oathes The tongue alone of man is able to worke mans condemnation without any notorious action And let vs consider the ingratitude of man to God God blesseth man man curseth God God blesseth the earth to man man blasphemeth against God and heauen God reuealeth himselfe to man man reuileth the name of God in a word God made not man in vaine man taketh Gods name in vaine And yet these swearers when they haue searched the very entrailes of God for an oath they can hardly gaine beliefe except it be from some plaine meaning man or weake woman They may couzen all sorts of men with this their damned Art but one and him they cannot cheate Lett them
the mouthes of our youth Talassio becomes a watch-word And to put fier to this quick kindling fewell our poets haue put-to their helping hands who therefore are rightly taxed by that last euerlasting Worthie of the French diuine du Bartas Pâ—u te regretter oy la perte de leurâ— ans Si par ces vers pipeurs leur muse trop dâ—serte Se perdant ne tra notâ— des auditeurs la perte Sous les mielleus appasâ—s de leur doctesâ—scrits Ils cachent le venin qâ—e lesieunes esprits Aualent a longs traicts et du vin â—'amour yvres Leur mauuais estomach aime les mauvais viures In English thus Yet would I grieue their losse of time the lesse If by their guilefull verse their too much Art Made not their hearers share with them a part The sugred baits of those their learned writs Due shroude that poyson which the younger wits Quaffe downwith breathless draughtes loues hot wine Making them homage do at Bacchus shrine Distempereth so their stomachs that they feedâ— On such ill meates as no good humours breed But belike our Poets think by disguising their lasciuiousnesse vnder a veile of smooth running words to take awaie not onelie the inquination but the very essence of it which they cannot doe For as whether a man writeth with a coale with chaulke or inke it is neuerthelesse writing So is vice vice vnder what words soeuer it be conueied And these men saith Scaliger call vpon Phoebus Iupiter Pallas together with the Muses and inuoke diuels in stead of the true God And the same Scaliger dooth reprehend Bembus because in a certain verse which he made he called Iesus Christ Heroa That Bembus is also censured by I. Lipsius Ipse deus rarò in stilo aut animo sed prisco ritu dij immortales idque in seâ—ijs maximè sententijs aut rebus GOD himselfe saith Lipsius is seldome in his stile mouth or minde but according to the ancient rights of speech the immortall gods and this doth he in his most serious sentences If for everie idle for euery vnaduised word wee shall gine account what shall we answer for premeditated sin ouer which the heart a long time sitteth hoâ—ering as if it were vnwilling to hatch so vgly a monster To thinke euill is a sin that mortal to speak euill is yet a greater but to write euill is in it selfe both matchlesse and namelesse no word being fit to express so vnfit a worke O that so foule a matter should be left to posteritie in so faire characters or that a man should with his owne hand write a confession to condemne his own heart What should I say or rather what should I not saie in so hopelesse so haplesse a case onelie this then I will saie that for shame men should haue som feeling some remorse in eternising their owne shame as also consider that their bodies nay the faire frame of this spacious Rounde shall be subiect to ruine onlie the soule and her actions are eternall For the soule being eternall the actions proceeding from her participate of the same eternity The bodie being spotted is quickly mundified but the soule once branded with infamy euer keeps her mark and neuer becommeth immaculate O dangerous age thou seducest many to errour but reducest none to truth thou causest manie to fall but raisest vp none And indeede how should they stand firme when their footting is so slipperie How should they resolue when euerie thing giues them occasion of doubt What shal a man decree to bee truth when hee shall see Pontius Pilate washing his handes but not his heart Caiphas pretending blasphemie to rent his garments the new Scribes and Pharisies crying out to Iesus master thou art good though they thinke him to bee most had Simon Iudas selling Simon Magus buying GOD for money holding a trinitie of benefices in vnitie of person and these three are for the most part foure Those who should tell Israell of her sins and Iuda of her transgressions doe now sooth her vp in her iniquitie nay flatter the dead to please the liuing in so much that Durus de Pascalo makes it one of his precepts that the courtier ought to giue credit neither to funerall sermons nor to Gallobelgicus or other such idle fablers I must confesse that the worde lye is vndecent to giue to a minister but verie aptly applyed to Gallobelgicus who lyeth of set purpose and telleth truth at aduenture Sure I am he hath not learned or if learned not practised that first and chiefest lawe of a lawefull historian which is Vt ne quid falsi audeat nequid veri dicere non audeat But to my purpose it were to be wished that this abuse of preaching might bee reformed that so the laudable vse of it might bee with the more applause and profit continued Mercy should be in the Preachers mouth not flatterie he should pronounce pardon to others not craue it from others and pronounce nay denounce vengeance against those who renounce the ordained meanes of their saluation Flattery thou base creeping sinne thou seducer of Princes thou obseruer of noddes thou impudencie clad in modesty thou fawning diuell when shall thy dominion haue an ende I would my ende might procure thine But what should I talke of thine ende who art now in thy prime We haue our Clisophi who will imitate Philip whether hee halt in minde or in bodie neither want we Courtiers who though they see that Dionisius cannot see yet they counterfait the like infirmity Temporibusque Augusti dicendis they bee the words of Tacitus non defuere decora ingenia donec gliscente adulatione deterrerentur Neither wanted there saith he worthy and singular wits to deliuer Augustus exploits vntill they were by the ouerswarming of flatterers vtterly discouraged But what base meanes will not ambition vse where the proposed end is honour with her there is no impossibilitie no difficultie with her things to come are as present and what shee aspires to she makes no doubt to attaine to Thou mother of discontent thou Goddesse of mâ—tabilitie dwell still in the Courts of Princes but insinuate not thy selfe into the hearts of Prophets for if they be tainted all the worlde is deceiued Their tongues perswade where force cannot auaile if in a bad cause then mischiefe followeth From their tongues for the most part Princes frame their actions so that the former being bad the latter are worse in as much as a bad deede out-strippeth a bad word Yet shal they one daie answere both for the word deed of which they were procurers Is it possible that a man should looke vp to heauen not thinke who gouernes earth and heauen or who is so foolish as to thinke that God wil answere an eye of dissimulatioÌ„ with the eye of mercie No no a true God cannot awaie with a false heart Lord that a man should think with all his â—ratory
to perswade others 〈◊〉 that which hee cannot perswade himselfe to or who is such an idiot as to thinke to haue an army well gouerned or guided without a good conductor Why this is meere and absurde equiuocation as for example I say to another Follow me he straight obeyes when forthwith I tell him that he must noâ— trace my steps but my words These men are worse then the Scribes and Pharisies whom Christreprehended for saying and not doing for these men doe not onely saie and not doe but also doe and not say as being indeede ashamed to saie what they doe All other things they know onelie what is most worthie to be knowen they knowe not which is to knowe themselues Yet how is it possible they should not know themselues since they know that God knoweth searcheth both the heart and reines though some of them I feare would be content that God should search their hearts so hee would lett their reines alone Oh prophanenesse that the same hand which lifteth vp the Cupp in the Communion should lift vp pot after pot in an Alehouse and offer more sacrifice to Bacchus then to Iehoua a vice which whosoeuer giues him selfe ouer to God giues him ouer to execute the inuentions of a distâ—â—bed Intellect Which I think the Lowecountry men allude to in calling their strongest beere double Pharaoh their strong beere in a lower degree 〈◊〉 Pharâ—oâ— and their small beere Israel intimating thereby that the stronger the beere is the more it makes a man to rebell against God and the smaller it is the more it leaues the soule to her selfe and renders her freer from the senâ—ualitie of the bodie and makes a true child of Israell Looke how a passenger in a thicke darke mist is sad as doubtfull which waie to turn euen so Reason being blinded by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wines hot vapoâ—â—◠〈◊〉 pensiue and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 knowing whether she should â—ncline to vice o◠〈◊〉 till at length shee◠〈◊〉 from vertue to vice I haue heard a reuerend english Diuine often compare a drunk arde to Mare mortuâ—m for as no fish by report can liue in the one so no vertue in the other Amongst the very Turkes this vice is so odious that they reward it in whomesoeuer they finde it with 8o stripes making it the most detestable sinne of all next to adultery to which they a lot a hundred stripes If heathen people do this whom errour leades hood-winked in ignorance or rather ignorance in errour what should a Christian doe why should not hee leade a good and sober life whose name is written in the booke of life But alas for want of consideration this is not looked into Vpon this vice depend three other as vgly seruants vpon a deformed master to wit Quarelling Whooring and Swearing The first of which hath more by tongue then sworde purchased to it selfe the name of valour which indeeds is no neerer to valour then phrensie to wisedome True valour biddeth a man fight pro patria et patre patriae this bastarde courage incites a man to fight cum fratre cum patre the former perswadeth a man to be carefull not onelie that he take no iniury but euen religious that he doe none the latter saith that hee is worthy of iniury that offers none The one saith Fight being prouoked the other sayes Prouoke to fight And therefore I think that Seneca spake rather out of the greatnesse of his mind then the depth of his wisedome when he defined fortitude to bee Scientia periculorum repellendorum excipiendorum prouocandorum that is a Science of repelling of receiuing and prouoking dangers The latter of which is false seeing there is no man wisely valiant who will not rather inuoke helpe against danger then prouoke it Is it not a lamentable case to see two men christned with one Baptisme bought with one redemption for whom the blood of Christ was indifferentlie shedde vppon euerye slight and light occasion to shedde the bloud one of another Or is it not a harde case for one that proâ—esseth the name of Christ Iesus to digge for honour in the heart of a Christian And this forsooth they do for reputation What blemish is it to my reputation to denye that in sobrietie which I affirmed in drunkennes that is to recall that as a man which I spake as a beast Yet these roaring gentlemen whatsoeuer they speake be it neuer so bad will make it good Surelie I am of opinioÌ„ that the word duel is deriued from the French word dueil by reason that it makes so manie parents mourne for the vntimely death of their children and one friend lament the decease of another But by the way I will giue this caution that no man misconstrue mee and thinke that I perswade men to cowardise for I am so farre from that that I thinke a cowarde to be the basest of all creatures A Coward I call him who slauishlie feareth any thing but God For if my Prince allow me combate vpon dishonourable imputation of treason and I be drawen into the lifts with a chaine of foul disgracefull words linked together which will so sticke to my Familie Race that no time can raze them out the iniurie here becommeth more then priuate wherof only I take it Christ speaks when he saieth He that giueth thee a boxe on the one care turne to him the other c. For in this case the iniurie is publike and not mineowne and therefore I say standing vppon these tearmes God refuse mee if I refuse any man Wherefore I could not without much applause reade that Motto in the Scottish armes In defence For if a man be driuen to maintaine his honour and cleare his wronged name from perpetuall infamy let him then with an vndaunted spirit and alacrity of heart sing the Psalm of Dauid If ten thousand hemme me â—oâ—nde about yet will I not feare c. resting confident in this that hee hath God and so good â— cause on his side For this infamie neuer leaues a man insomuch that when his flesh forsaketh his bones this cleaues fast to them and the Sexton digging vp his scull saith This was the head of a Traitour a Cowarde But for a frowne the trippe of the tongue or the slip of a word to quarrell dominere and sweare oathes Que pulmo anima pralargâ—s anhelet this is far from valour for valour is an enemie to no vertue this to euery vertue and a friend to all vice Neither can I be indueed otherwise to belieue but that there are many gentlemen whose modest ingenuous faces are free from scouls and furrowes of wrath in whose hearts notwithstanding maiestical magnanimitie sitteth richlier clad then in those of your roaring angry boyes of London and peraduenture would giue them iust cause both to roare and houl too The second daughter to drunkennes is whooring the deflourer of many a virgin and defiler of many a wife a sinne