good in this vale of misery is imperfect yet in continuall motion and progresse to perfection though the whole engine with all the furniture thereof man and euery condition and state of life ethike politike ecclesiastike groane vnder the burthen of vanity Here then is wisedome and worke for the curious Alchymist who surpasseth common capacities Here is the skill that extracteth gall out of hony and hony out of gall Here is the Phylosophers stone that turneth yron that base mettall into gold the purest mettall euen the soueraigne good that ouercommeth euill yea that turneth things in their natures cursed into blessings the beginnings of endlesse torments into eternall glory the light that expelleth darknesse the life that swalloweth vp death the spirit that weareth out the leprosie canker and rottennesse of the spirit of the vessell of the person of the outward state To omit the many learned dotages of the worldly wise and madnesses of selfe-willed Idiots some man thinketh himselfe happy if he knoweth the euils of this life and with all hath knowledge to auoid them and in procuring of good vnto himselfe for his bodily ease comfort and pleasure thinkes that by this wisedome he hath obtained the chiefe good and so kisseth his hand and sacrificeth to his net his subtle sound pate as he iudgeth Here is his vttermost extent in this sphere is he rowled as the Sow in the mire Secondly some man againe esteemeth such a one but brutishly subtle because he doth not good to others as well as to himselfe as the principle of humanity requireth Quod tibi vis fieri fac alijs Doe as thou wouldest be done to Therefore because he is cautelous and prouident for himselfe and communicateth to others also he iudgeth himselfe to be that happy man He excelleth indeed the former brute as he againe doth that vegetable one Eccles. 4. 8. euen as the ayre excelleth the water and that the earth But the wisedomes of these three conioyned by vnion into one indiuiduall are but as an excellent vessell or receptacle for this last Lastly another who is truly wise indeed excludeth this man from happinesse yet because he is but as a beautifull body without a quickning spirit which is pietie the soule or supernaturall spirit enlining the rest So that neither the wise vegetable nor the wise brutall or sensible nor the wise reasonable or humane but the wise spirituall organized with the rest as I may say is onely capable of this soueraigne good of Solomon This onely knoweth what is good in euill things and states what euill in good things and States what is good for himselfe in both in this vaine life according to that line and measure that God dealeth to man This wisedome ordereth and enliueth the other wisedomes being a supernaturall gift the diuine influence of the sanctifying Spirit For they being seuered from this are but an eye without the optike spirit which indeed is no eye but a dead member The like we see in the structure of mans vessell id est in the vegetable and brutall spirits but the reasonable soule enliueth moueth and ordereth them both or rather her selfe in and by them by vertue of her vnion with them whereby they become rationall The degrees of this good to be gathered out of Solomons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or positiue doctrine are briefly these 1. To be in a calling according to Gods generall decree Gen. 3. 19. Otherwise a man is a belial a sluggard a dissolute disperst incompact member out of fauour with God and man and his owne conscience and lyeth open to many miseries as he is the fittest subiect to be sentina malorum the sinke of euils 2. To labour in that lawfull calling to exercise his talent that his Lord may receiue his owne with aduantage 3. To labour with diligence Chapter 9. 10. of this booke Hereby many bodily miseries and occasions of spirituall temptations also are auoyded For a man to be negligent in his businesse is to be brother to a waster as Solomon saith else where 4. To comfort and solace the body with the fruits of our labours all the creatures from the highest heauen to the centre of the earth seruing to no other purpose then the reparation conseruation of the soules fraile corruptible vessell For the soule her self is enliued fed conserued by another World the Word of God effectuall by the spirit that speaketh therein The body is ex limo terrae of the slime or seede of the vniuerse but the soule is ex alia propagine progenie 5. As we haue receiued good so to be faithfull dispensers thereof viz. to communicate to others wherein the essence of charity consisteth Communicating of mutuall duties is the bond of ciuill or sociable life whereby a man in any condition of life in harmefull occurrences and vnfortunate accidents is preserued helped relieued and the beneuolous aspect of neighbours congratulating his prosperous state is a lightsome pleasant and comfortable thing Moreouer danti dabitur qua mensura metimini vobis metietur But this communicating is of all gifts and duties towards equals superiours and inferiours euen of euery one in their place and calling towards others in oeconomike ethike politike state Thus farre the Heathen man goeth but here he makes a stand he cannot transcend his Orbe All things are made for man saith Cicero and man is borne for man to be seruiceable and comfortable one to another in sociable life Therefore all these degrees doe but as it were constitute the vessell of the quickning spirit 6. The sixt and last degree therefore of felicity is piety towards God sincerity in diuine worship briefly shut vp in this word Feare God and keepe his Commandements It is totum hominis or totus homo the whole man without which he is but praestantissimum brutum What this feare and obedience is is set downe in the Law of Moses at large which is more largely and plainely expounded by the Prophets and they againe by the life and doctrine of our Sauiour Christ and that againe by the Apostles and they by Pastors and Teachers to the Worlds end This is that compleate soueraigne good of soule body and state positiuely taught in this Treatise Which in a word is this the wise demeanor of a man towards himselfe towards others towards God in things concerning his owne body and person concerning communicating or sympathising others concerning diuine worship according to the direction of Gods Word These degrees must not be sundered but kept intire of him that would be compleatly happy so farre forth as happinesse can be obtained in this confused enormous World Men being ignorant of this sixe-fold vnion fall into many errours run out into many extremities and plunge themselues into a gulfe of miseries yea and digladiate among themselues praysing dispraysing blaming excusing they know not what euen tossed in a labyrinth But he that builds on this ground and walketh in this light riddeth himselfe and others
as farre from contentation and peace of conscience as euer they were For no worldly thing can make a man happy So that although a man had all knowledge without Christ it is nothing Paul esteemed it but losse and dung Phil. 3. Of this wisedome I rather thinke the words to be vnderstood Verse 14. I haue seene all the workes that are done vnder the Sunne and behold all is vanity and vexation of spirit IN the former verse he propounded his counsell in the applying of himselfe to get knowledge and experience not of some things but of all things Here he declareth the successe or effect thereof I haue seene all the workes c. I haue indeede by the gift of God obtained that vnderstanding which I sought for For I haue seene it with mine eyes I haue read it in the Booke of Nature the holy Spirit of wisedome instructing and directing me God hath giuen me a right and true discerning of all that I haue seene and discoursed on by sanctified reason Euery man heareth and seeth as well as Solomon but no man rightly discerneth ought but by the reuelation of the Spirit For a man is a beast by his owne knowledge a foole darkely led deceiued by Satan and such like are his obseruations If a man looke on the fairest letters and cannot reade what is he the better Solomon attained not to this height of wisedome by reading of the naturall and morall Treatises of the Aegyptians Chaldeans Assyrians Gimnosophists discoursing by imagination vpon other mens workes and culling sentences out of them to make a shew of that which was not in him wherein indeede many excellent things are buried as in darke and confused Mines yet but wilde fruit proceeding from the wilde Oliue out of which notwithstanding a diuine and sanctified spirit can extract good matter and conuert it into the right nature and vse thereof as it may be Solomon did some may thinke but the Kings of Israel were to be exercised in the Booke of the Law onely not in Ethnicall vanities which commonly we call learning What their wisedome was the Prouerbes the Canticles the Sonne of Sirach the Booke of Wisedome make manifest which differ much from ethnicall morall Treatises which are the wilde fruits of wilde trees and wilde ones are most addicted to them such lippes such lettuce But Solomon saw with his eyes and rightly conceiued in minde what hee saw by the speciall illumination of the Spirit of God which gaue such a plentifull blessing to his holy endeauours that he became famous for his wisedome among all the wise men and Kings of the earth who were desirous to heare of the wisedome which God put in his heart 1 King 10. 24. So that euen his seruants were counted happy that attended on him and heard his wisedome Here wee note that there is twofold learning or knowledge in a man the one is obtained by reading of mens bookes the other by reading in the Bookes of God The former kinde of wisedome is imitation which we commonly call learning It is gotten by imagination and strength of memory It is a talkatiue learning which a man relateth from the mouth of another not from an vnderstanding heart A parable is harsh in a fooles mouth and so is learning He hath not as our Sauiour saith Radicem vel semen in sâ—ipso Roote or seede in himselfe hewants the seede or principles of that whereof he talketh in himselfe It is therefore but speculatiue and childish and as it were an artificiall or painted complexion whereof a man boasteth vainely pust vp in his ignorant minde Hi volunt se primos omnium rerum esse nec sunt but the other is modest and humble For it is gotten by reading in the Bookes of God Yet aâ— the Booke of the Word being sealed vp or clasped affoordeth no knowledge Esay 29. 11. no more doe the creatures when our eyes are held The creatures sound out the maiesty power wisedome iustice goodnesse mercy glory of God as also the corruption folly shame vanity and misery of man For in them he may see his nakednesse his curse But the foole perceiueth nothing of all that is before him Hee neither beholdeth the glory of God in them with praise and feare nor his owne nakednesse and brutishnesse with shame If God open our eyes and eares yea giue life vnto ouâ— dead senses vnfolding this booke vnto vs then shall we be able to reade in this booke the Spirit shall bring all things to our remembrance we heare and see confusedly in a slumber and vnperfectly as children and shall gine vs ripe vnderstanding in all things both to behold the reuerend and glorious wisedome of God in his workmanship as Dauid saith I am fearefully and wonderfully made and his secret counsell with his goodnesse in the vse of those his vessels and the effect and vse of that vanity that is in them In one generation may a man obserue and know euen by sight all things whatsoeuer haue beene taught by word or writing diuine or humane since the beginning of the world forasmuch as all things are the same in their circular courses But if a man be not guided by the Spirit his obseruations are but superstitious and false rules his readings erroneous yea though he hath read all Bookes and hath not roote or seede in himselfe he is but in a maze tossed too and fro hearing and seeing as in a dreame In a word he wants wisedome he hath no learning Wherefore men must not presume aboue their gift nor runne before they be called but worke according to their talent And behold all is vanity and vexation of spirit After that he had trauelled for knowledge and obtained knowledge now thirdly he taketh a reuiew or reflection in his minde thereof to consider what benefit or fruit redounded or might redound to him thereby and with all presently determineth the case most plaine and euident And when I had sought and searched and knowne what I could Behold marke consider and remember what I say All is vanity both knowledge and things knowne euery thing was empty of good full of euill I had nothing but labour for trauell After that Solomon had knowne all things not by their shadowes and pictures namely by reading bookes and relation of voice but seene with his owne eyes and things seene most affect and please yet he found no profit of this his labour no contentation no happy rest Why Because all was but vanity and vexation of spirit or the feeding of the soule with winde The Hebrew word signifieth either in differently He got nothing but labour for his trauaile and griefe for his care Contrarily he that drinketh the waters of life his thirst shall be quenched Iohn 4. and he that eateth the bread of life his hunger shall be satisfied Iohn 6. There is the true and euerlasting foode of the soule which onely giueth contentation that foolish man so greedily else-where seeketh for but neuer
signifieth order Psal 110. 4. and Barar signifieth to chuse to purge to declare whereof commeth Berurim choyce men set vp in dignity namely Princes Rulers Gouernours Officers ordained of God for peaceable honest and happy life which abusing themselues and their places are to mans reason as but stronger and more subtile beasts preying vpon the weaker and more simple harmelesse Againe they may be translated thus that they might cleere or iustifie God and see that they themselues are beasts and therefore vanity it selfe euen out of measure vaine Lastly thus that God had purged them id est created them pure holy and righteous in his owne image in the beginning yet to see to in this state of degeneration or corruption they are in themselues as beasts accordingly as he saith Chap. 7. 31. God hath made man righteous but they haue sought out many inuentions and Psal 49. 20. Man that is in honour and vnderstandeth not is like the beasts that perish Which of these interpretations is the most genuine and naturall I leaue to euery mans iudgement Verse 19. For that which befalleth the sonnes of men befalleth beasts euen one thing befalleth them all as the one dyeth so dyeth the other yea they haue all one breath so that a man hath no preheminence aboue a beast for all is vanity THe apt coherence of these three verses following with the former intimate that the last interpretation is the most proper For they are a reason prouing the corruption vanity vilenesse and misery of proud man by comparing him to beasts whose frailety corruption or vanity is Gods iudgement vpon man In them may hee behold his sinne and his corporall punishments for sinne before his eyes if otherwise he be insensible which are the fore-runners and beginning of eternal torments and sencelesnesse is a iudgement of God vpon the reprobate This like condition of man and beast to carnall iudgement is set downe in these three verses which similitude or likenesse made the Epicures to thinke that the estate and condition of them both was all one and consequently that to eate drinke and play was the chiefe good or onely felicity of man For wee see by daily experience that man and beast are subiect to the like casualties and misfortunes how men vexe deuoure lye in waite insnare kill c. one another as beasts doe how they die as beasts doe hauing the same causes of corruption in them with beasts They haue the same breath whereby they liue the same spirit whereby they moue the same senses the same inward and outward members and in bodily shape many beasts come neere vnto him and he is subiect to deformities and all infirmities in his kinde as much and more then they So that in outward state hee hath no preheminence aboue the beast For he cannot longer vse the things of this World nor carry any thing away with him more then the beast doth The reason is because all is vanity Therefore there is no difference Verse 20. All goe vnto one place all are of the dust and all turne to dust againe A Commoration All goe to one place that is both men and beast are dissolued againe into their elements For God created all things of the dust and all turne to dust againe There is the same matter of man and beast Some thinke that beast was made of the earth and man of the dust of the earth to wit either of mire or else of the dust that lyeth on the sur-face of the earth But that is an idle contention For mire and dust and earth are all one and the same in essence or substance When the raine falleth on the earth it is mire when the Sunne extracteth the moisture out of it it is dust So that the whole earth is nothing but dust or mire whether you will Therefore man was not made of baser matter then beast as some say but rather of better For Adam signifieth red earth or red dust or red mire All is one without any difference And Solomon saith here all are of the dust or earth which by the figure Synecdoche signifieth all the elements whereof earth in earthly things is predominant and water in the creatures thereof No element is simple or pure but it hath a mixture of other elements also to be the Chaos or nurse of their sundry creatures which in their purity they could not be So that earthly things are most earth especially the more particular or simpler creatures as mettals stones trees c. Yet water ayre and fire also with which the element of earth is mixed By vertue of which mixture man and beast are made of the other elements as well as of the earth Verse 21. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth vpward and the spirit of a beast that goeth downe-ward to the earth A Continuance of the commoration figured by the preuention of an obiection thus There is great difference betweene man and beast For mans brutall nature and spirit is but the plasme or vessell of his soule which is not compound or mixed with it but onely vnited to it Therefore when this fraile vessell is broken or dissolued the immortall spirit or soule ascendeth to God that gaue it and the vessell againe is absumed into the elements whereof it was formed But the spirit of a beast is nothing but the quintessence the purest and prime of his body or his life which consisteth in the harmony or vnion of the elements and so not being another essence separable from the body it dyeth with the body Ans This is indeed the holy and diuine truth but now speaking of the worldly outward and miserable state of man as it appeareth to humaine senses and reason who can by any signe or token or skill of Anatomy find out any differing wayes of these spirits What man can shew me the ascending of mans spirit into heauen or the descending of the beasts spirit into the earth namely the dispersing thereof into the elements If a man say that the spirit of man ascends vpwards into the firmament how can he let me see that but if it doe then doth the beasts so also For the firmament is but the quintessence or prime of the elements as the spirit is of the body according to Plato And be it that by humaine reason a man may easily demonstrate the immortality of the soule as the learned heathen haue all done yet what is that to the outward worldly state of man liuing Man whiles hee is man and of man we onely speake not of spirits is no better then beast So that to conclude Seeing that it is with man as with beast there is no profit no contentment no rest no durable prosperity no happinesse at all in this cursed confused brutall world but all is vanity Verse 22. Wherefore I perceiue that there is nothing better then that a man should reioyce in his owne workes for that is his portion for who shall bring him
the fountaine or the wheele broken at the Cisterne BY siluer coard is meant the marrow in the backe which is inclosed in a bright smoothe skinne like to siluer it is more properly called of the Arabians the Nuche of the backe whereof this word Eunuch is compounded For marrow is but the superfluity of nutriment arising from the bloud for the moistening and nourishment of the bones But the Nuche is of the nature of the braine engendred of seede created for sence and motion to wit to procreate the sinewes For from the braine and the Nuche proceed diuers combinations or couples of sinewes seruing for the sences as hearing seeing feeling and motion of the members For many sinewes are deriued thirty couples as the Anitomists write are sprung of this cord and deriued from the knuckles or turning-joynts of the chine or backe bone into all the body seruing for bodily motion from which againe small haires or threeds like those of the rootes of trees and leaues are dispersed When this cord is loosed the backe bendeth motion is slowe and feeling faileth Or the golden bowle be broken This golden bowle is the thinne membrane or sinewie skinne of yellow colour called Pia mater compassing the braine like a swathing cloth or inner thinde of a tree and entring within the diuers infoldings of the braine and as it were cloathing the sides of the three ventricles or hollowes wherein the imagination reason memory are formed It serues not only to inuolue and keep the braine whole and solide in his place as the shel or skin next the shell doth the egges but also to containe to gather together and sustaine the veins and arteries which are deriued from thence like small ramified channells or pipes or like a net All the braine within and without is enwrapped and incompassed with this veiny and arteriall or sinewy net The veines feede and nourish the braine with bloud the arteries bring heate and spirit to it from the heart to giue the sence of feeling vnto it For though it impart sence to all other parts yet it hath none of it selfe namely the narrowie white substance but conuerteth or digesteth the vitall spirits of the heart attracted by this sinewie pia mater or golden bowle into animall or sensible spirits In like case the sperme hath foture and sustenance in the matriâ—e by and from the chorion or secundine Or the pitcher be broken at the fountaine By the pitcher he meaneth the veines by the fountaine the liuer For the liuer is the shop of bloud conuerting the white chile which commeth of the meate digested in the stomacke into bloud The substance thereof is red and like clottered or curded bloud assimulating the chile to the qualitie of it selfe In the neather hollow part thereof is the portall veine called the great carrying veine which hath many branches venae mesaraicae like the small and threddie rootes of a tree by which the chile or iuyce of meaâ— concocted in the stomach is transported froÌ„ the stomach to the liuer And the portal vein hath issuing from it many small veines like a net throughout the whole body of the liuer that the chile being distributed into small parcels might be more perfectly concocted and conuerted into bloud And the bloud is ingendered and purified in the middle of the liuer which containeth the masse of the foure humours Now it being here purified and boyled the more heauie superfluitie which is seculent or dreggie settleth to the bottome and is carried by a veine into the spleene It is the earthly sowre or tart part of the chile and is called blacke choler or melancholy Againe the lighter superfluitie boyleth vpward which is the fiery bitter or sharpe part of the chile called yellow choler which is caried by a veine into the gall Vnderstand by melancholy and yellow choler not the purest thereof which is mixed with the bloud but the separate superfluitie or impuritie thereof Thirdly the waterish superfluitie is caried to the kidneys and passages of the vrine In the convexitie or vpper bowing part of the liuer is the hollow veine or bloudgate whose branches receiue the bloud purified in the middle of the liuer from the branches of the portall-veine From the bloudgate are innumerable veines ramified throughout all the body For as the bulke of a tree receiuing sap from the roote as that againe doth from the small spires is ramified into all the branches so doth the hollow veine being the greatest in all the body vehiculum alimenti distribute the bloud throughout the body by his other veines and first into the right ventricle of the heart to receiue his vital heate for the nutrition of the whole body Or the wheele be broken at the cisterre By wheele is meant the head by cisterne the heart from whence the vitall spirits are conueyed to the braine and there conuerted into animall to giue sence and motion to the body When the braine is weake the sinewes loosed and the head hanging downe the wheele beginneth to breake Verse 7. Then shall the dust returne to the earth as it was and the spirit shall returne to God who gaue it AS before he hath shewed the vnaptnesse and disabilitie of old age to performe such seruice as the Lord requireh to be performed of man hauing liuelily depainted it sorth before his eyes to the end that euery one may be stirred vp in youth and middle age to doe good workes euen with all diligence to practise the duties of pietie and charitie so here he putteth them in minde also of death and their account that they must make before their Iudge And the dust returne to the earth as it was By dust he meaneth the corpse made of the dust by a metonymie of the matter By earth he meaneth the elements whereof the body is compounded As the body was created of the earth so shall it returne thither againe euen into the first and simplest matter And the spirit shall returne to God that gaue it By spirit he meaneth the soule which is compared to winde or aire as the body is to dust or earth Because winde or aire being an inuisible substance is the fittest thing in nature to vnderstand the nature of the soule by For whiles we are in the flesh we vnderstand and conceiue of inuisible spiritual eternall things humano more by the phantasie per similitudines locos as Tully saith and that either affirmatiuely or negatilely To God that gaue it Hee doth not here define whither the spirit shall go but to whom namely to his Iudge who shall require a iust account of all the workes done in the flesh good or euill and shall accordingly giue sentence vpon it 2. Cor. 5. 10. Verse 8. Vanitie of vanities saith the Preacher all is vanitie A Conclusion which is twofold particular of this treatise of mortification to the 13. verse Generall of all Christian doctrine from thence to the end Vanitie of vanities He concludeth
that I might exhibite it to you as a New yeares gift the best that I haue in token of my sincere loue and duty and earnest desire of your prosperous and happie welfare who as you were studious your selfe when once you were Fellow of Queenes Colledge in Cambridge so were you a speciall fauourer and furtherer of the Studious whereby you purchased speciall loue both in your owne Colledge and abroad also and the same through your perseuerance and prudent gouernement is still continued amongst vs that liue vnder your Iurisdiction Another cause is that it might finde the better passage vnder your patronage and kinder entertainement vnder your name that though it be defectiue in selfe-desert yet for your sake the indifferent beneuolous and generous eye respecting the strong might ingenuously passe by the weâ—ke Moreouer being desirous to shew forth some testimony of my thankefull minde for your Lordships great fauour towards me I thought good to offer that which onely I am able to giue and which I know you are most ready and willing to receiue euen the fruits of my Ministeriall labours to you a speciall fauourer of faithfull Ministers Lastly as tokens of small weight but of great value are more acceptable then great Summes I trust that this small gaine of my one Talent which I present to your Lordship as a token of my sincere affection obedience and seruice shall counteruaile a ponderous volume And what I am lesse able this way to performe I shall recompence with my continuall and hearty prayers for your temporall and eternall happinesse London 1. Ian. 1621. Your Lordships in all humble obseruance TH. GR. TO THE RIGHT VVorshipfull and worthy-minded Gentlemen Sir Iames Fowlerton Sir Dauid Murray Sir Peter Osburne Knights Mr. Iohn Murray Mr. William Carâ—e Mr. Henry Gibbe of his Maiesties Bed-Chamber Mr. Emmanuel Giffard one of the Gentlemen of his Maiesties Priuy-chamber Esq Mr. James Douglasse Mr. Richard Jones Mr. Endymion Porter Mr. John Heron and Mr. John Parker Esquires Grace and Peace be multiplyed RIGHT WORSIPFVLL and worthy minded Gentlemen Hauing in the first place elected the diuine learned iudicious enriched with wisedome and piety for the patronage of this worke I haue also further bestowed the same on you nil minuit de lumine lumen to the end that being shielded with reuerend and pious grauity in the Van and guarded by generous and vnblemishable vertue in the Rere I may be safely protected from the snarling detraction of enuie on the one side and receiue a fauourable construction of what may be amisse on the other The vniuersality and excellency of the subiect hath enlarged my dedication It is Solomons Ethiks his tractate de summo bono of the chiefe and compleat felicity and the worlds vanity and therefore the very roote seede or kernell of all happy knowledge both of good and euill in all things naturall politicall ecclesiasticall Contraria iuxta se posita magis illucescunt say the Phylosophers and saith a Father Qui malum non nouit perfecte bonum non intelligit He that hath not knowne euill doth not perfectly vnderstand good As the earth so the Arts haue their weeds from which they are purged by their Physicion Truth is like Gold in the Mine Vprightnesse is sur rounded and clouded with calumnies Wisedome is darkened with sophistry Impurus spiritus se immiscit in omnibus The vncleane spirit intrudes himselfe into euery thing Solomon therefore doth not onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id est astruere positiuely auouch and lay downe the grounds of true felicitie but also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id est destruere destroy the false and counterfeit felicities of mans darke heart and that by euident arguments drawne from such grounds as the wise-men of the world could not finde groping like the Sodomites for Lots doore but could not finde it not so quicke-sighted as hee that saw men walking like trees For as they say Nullum elementum ponderat suo loco No element is ponderous in his place so they being in corruption felt no weight of corruption no more then the Fishes in the Sea and wormes of the Earth feele the weight of either Worldly wisedome is wearinesse both to the body and minde and a vexation of spirit For being it selfe crooked it cannot rectifie things crooked Mirth is madnesse Royall magnificence is transitorie and mâ—table The sagest aduisements depend on vncertaine issues Prosperitie and aduersitie are set one against another as hill against dale The restlesse Pole is immoueably fixed in his place as the grinding milstone so is the earth in her centre a masse of mutabilities Of the heauens there is a constant reuolution vp and downe to and fro they neuer haue the same face neuer hold the same countenance at least from the first motion till the end of times Here is the difficulty of prognostication Omnia versantur in perpetuo ascensu descensu There is a perpetuall ascending and descending of life and state Euery man euery state euery thing is a Planet whose sphericall reuolutions are some of longer some of shorter continuance Vulgar iudgements are variable their counsels groundlesse Scinditur incertum studia in contraria vulgus but the prudent designes of sage States are firme euen so are the imaginations of the wisest worldlings in all their wayes and enterprizes but the foundation of God remaineth sure Their wise sayings are applauded when they doe but dreame waking and raue like men in sicknesse thinking themselues to be in Dothan when they are in the middest of Samaria 2 Kings 6. When they are on the surest ground they walke on pinnacles againe when they are naked in the middest of their enemies Campâ— they are armed in the strongest fort For the hand of God doth all that men might feare before him and not leane to their owne wisedome Yet vaine man would be wise seeing he is but a wild Asses Colt saith Iob. He would be happy being but a masse of mortalities For being the most compound and vniuersall nature as concerning his plasme and so the most excellent by creation he is the most miserable by degeneration Nam bonum optimum corruptum fit pessimum And how much greater then is the corruption of his spirit That is to be seene by the corruption of the most excellent spirit Both haue their restraints and limitations yet hath not God left man in desperation but in his eternall wisedome prouided meanes of restauration which here is begun and there finished whence the Authour of corruption fell This restauration is first the renouation or change of the centre the roote of man I meane his heart or spirit of his minde then of his spirits vessell I meane the brutall nature or inferiour part which I take to be the sperme or quintessence of the vniuerse and then are all things renued with him 2 Cor. 5. 17. Felicity therefore is here to be had and by the holy endeauours of renewed wisedome to be obtained But this
out of many euen infinite errours and miseries of this vaine life One man will be very deuout and zealous but what inconueniences runneth he into when he neglests his particular calling and of the practise of how many duties and goods that by him might be done is he depriued Certâ— in quo peccaueris in eodem puniêris Wherein a man sinneth therein shall he be punished pouerty debt imprisonment c. shall fall vpon him and the obiecting of his profession to scandall is no small matter Sed peccat in tutiorem partem But I say what inforceth that offence at all He that saith Deum timè feare God saith also Mandata eius serua Keepe his commandements whereof diligent labour in a calling is one For want whereof a man omitteth much good and offers himselfe to many temptations and snares Another laboureth diligently and worshippeth God but neglects the duties of charity whereof in these dayes there are not a few Saint Iames complayneth of such Another insisting on duties of charity neglecteth the duties of piety But to reckon vp the extremities and errours of men in the breach of this vnion which yet would all be wise and seeme happy to themselues is an endlesse worke A sound and prudent spirit within a man is better then a World of Bookes Therefore Saint Iohn saith that those few leaues of the Gospell by him penned among a World of Bookes that might haue beene made of Christs sayings and doings are sufficient what needeth more Neither the whole Scriptures nor the Volumes of the Fathers nor what can be vttered by voyce can preuaile where an heart is wanting And who can giue man an vnderstanding heart but God onely yet are men presumptuous therefore they come not to the fountaine of wisedome and so liue and die in vanity Thus haue I briefly declared the very life and substance of this Treatise of the wise and aged King whose sentences though they seeme to be difficult and independent collected by some that haue taken them from his mouth vpon occasions vttered yet are they doubtlesse a continued speech purposely penned euery thing orderly cohearing and methodically colliming at the same obiect The more wise and aged most commonly the lesse discoursiue and much talking is tedious their sentences are briefe fundamentall and pithy and their words seeme oft times very independent Besides this Solomon without regard to artificiall structure vttereth his experiments and that from the heart to the heart not from the braine to the eare as common vse among many is in these heartlesse dayes and also as the sanctifying Spirit of God moued him Therefore are his words pure without tincture altogether of spirituall rellish and without any taste of the caske For his maine drift is to cast man wholly out of himselfe that he might be found in Christ alone or else be vtterly lost Cap. 12. 13. Phil. 3. 8. 9. 10. Now my earnest desire reuerend religious and learned Gentlemen louers of learning speciall fauourers and friends of the learned and vertuous is that you would iudge these labours of mine amongst others worthy your acceptation rather valuing the same in your generous spirits according to the mind of him that honoureth and loueth your vertues then respecting the dignity of the worke it selfe which notwithstanding shall be such like as it shall please you to accept and the Lord to worke by it in the hearts of the Readers without whose quickning Spirit the whole Scripture is but a dead letter but into whose nostrils the Lord shall breathe againe the breath of eternall life it is to them no nose of waxe as the Papists say but a plaine euen way a lanterne to the feete a light to the paths Howsoeuer we are vnto God the sweet sauour of Christ in them that are saued and in them that perish 2 Cor. 2. 15. And vnto you this publike testimony of my obseruance and loue for your loue to our gifts and calling I trust shall be acceptable which I shall recompence againe with my continuall and hearty prayers to Almighty God the Father of lights and fountaine of all good that the true felicity and chiefe good reuealed to and penned by Solomon and here explained may be plentifully conferred vpon you to your greatest comfort here in your spirits soules bodies states and perfect glory of all in the Kingdome of glory London 1. Ian. 1621. Your VVorships in the Lord to be commanded TH. GR. AN EXPOSITION OR COMMENTARIE ON ECCLESIASTES CHAPTER I. Verse 1. The words of the PREACHER the Sonne of DAVID King in Ierusalem IN this Treatise of Solomon two things are to be considered First the Title or Inscription layd downe in this Verse Secondly the Substance Subiect or Matter thereof from Verse 2. to the end of the Booke The Words of the Preacher The Author is not simply named but described I. By the person that hee taketh vpon him at this time the Preacher not the Politician not handling matter of mans outward state but of his spirituall state teaching Mortification or the abnegation of himselfe and the carnall consideration and vsage of all things on the one side and the subiection of himselfe and all things with him to God onely in feare and obedience on the other side This word Coheleth translated the Preacher is of the feminine gender signifying properly an Assembly or Congregation figuratiuely a Function or Office in the Church And it is translated of the Greekes ECCLESIASTES a Preacher or one speaking in the Church Or it may signifie as here it doth a person revnited or reconciled to the Church and soâ—t is a note of a penitentiarie teaching others out of his owne experience of standing falling rising This reconciled Penitent Church man or Preacher is notified by foure names in the Scripture viz Solomon that is Peaceable 1 Chron. 22. 9. Iedidiah that is Beloued of the Lord 2 Sam. 12. 25 Lemuel that is Him that appertayneth to God Prou. 31. 1. Coheleth in this place II. He is described by his relatiue or parentage Sonne of Dauid An argument to moue attention and more serious consideration of that which is spoken and to procure beneuolence For Dauid his father feared God and was beloued of God and the people whereof hee tooke his name III. By his dignity or office King An argument to moue docility and awfull regard drawne from the dignity and authority of the person and duty of the hearers His office is explicated by the obiect thereof vnderstood in the next word viz. the people of God in Ierusalem IIII. By the place of his habitation in Ierusalem Ierusalem the Sacrarie Chappell or Treasure-house of wisedome the Fountaine of wisedome the onely place of Gods worship and speciall presence And therefore a King excelling all other Kings of the earth which are but meere worldly politicians not sanctified not guided by diuine wisedome but ignorant of the glory of God which is the end that Kings should onely
neither in contemplation nor in experimentall knowledge found I any thing saue onely much affliction of the flesh and vexation of minde for contentation cannot be attained nor grieuances auoyded thereby Well then I purposed in my heart to proue what profit the vse of worldly things might bring vnto me And first of all t is before I subdued my body to the spirit of my minde supposing that the chiefe good wherein the soule resteth contented was to be traced out by that path whereby a man commeth neerest vnto God but found no contentment at all yea contrarily sorrow so now on the contrary I fell into a consideration of the vses of the manifold creatures of God for mans necessitie comfort and delight Therefore now I began to apply and exercise my wisedome in the cheering and pampering of the flesh in bathing my selfe in the pleasures and delights of the sonnes of men I with-held nothing from the desires of my heart but yeelding my selfe to all my bodily appetites as farre forth as lawfully I might to try what more profit and better contentment I or any other that is most delighted in this way might finde in this course of life But when I reflected my spirit vpon the consideration of this way also I saw that here was nothing but vanitie For there is no stedfastnesse in the things that consume away euen with the moderate vsing and the body together with them also and the immoderate vse thereof would be a greater burden to the flesh than the immoderate studyes of Learning Because immoderation in this kinde would bring a sure and sudden destruction both to body and soule Wherefore neither in the moderate nor immoderate vse thereof was there any felicitie but vanity Verse 2. I said of laughter it is mad and of mirth what doth it A Confirmation of the censure Mirth and pleasure are vanitie For when I had sought out and tryed what contentment epicurish and sensuall liuing could afford to him that is most addicted to it I saw that laughter was madde and mirth reasonlesse both vaine For indeede the matter of laughter is mans shame or nakednesse it is follie or brutalitie to be lamented not laughed at For let a man laugh at what he will and but smile at any thing when he returneth to sobriety of heart and to the prudent consideration of himselfe and the thing that he laughed at he shall finde it to be follie vanitie miserie I meane a slippe or defect of that wisedome prudence prouidence and reason in some saying deede or euent which is not in the perfect image of God nor in man as he is man to wit graue wise reuerend honourable perfect in this imperfect state that no light conceit of him his words actions euents in the mindes of men should moue laughter For what matter of laughter is there in the persons speaches deedes euents of reuerend Sages Kings Iudges of Christ and of God Our Sauiour Christ often sorrowed but we cannot learne that euer he laughed neither yet conceiue at what he should laugh It is recorded in stories that the Philosopher Heraclitus alwaies wept and sorrowed because he saw nothing but vanities and miserie yea bruitishnesse in all the dealings of men whether in their sobriety or laughter Contrarily Democritus alwaies laughed What was the matter or obiect of his laughter Euen the follie madnesse vanitie brutalitie of men which by laughter he neither reioyced at nor approued Finally whensoeuer a man laugheth at things great or small let him by gathering onething of another but diue to the ground of his laughter and he shall finde some matter of griefe and repentance both in the person or thing laughed at and in himselfe or at least in the one For if Adam had neuer fallen there should neuer haue beene laughter nor weeping but an heart possest with heauenly ioy euen ioyfull sobriety The epicurish and sensuall laughter therefore that Solomon here speaketh of is madnesse euen the corruption and intemperance of reason the froath of vaine imaginations the superfluity of the spleene corrupted by the fall and bewrayeth oft times much sinne in the soule which bringeth griefe and repentance And as laughter was madnesse so was mirth vnreasonablenesse or foolishnesse For it neither causaily bringeth out of it selfe nor yet accidentally occasioneth any profit It is short and vanishing dying with the action like the stroke of an instrument and the taste of honey The one whereof in the continuall vse groweth wearisome and is in the end the greatest toyle the other groweth bitter and is in the end very loathsome Neither affoord solide contentment For hee that maketh the time of this life but a play is as hee that maketh it but a market Both shall receiue the same iudgement the one for his Iouilâ—y as the leud Iauils of these dayes tearme it the other for his drudgery Both are their owne Idols opposite one to another and both to God Therefore are both the carefulnesse of the one and carefulnesse of the other a burden to the conscience So that in laughter and mirth wine and women dissolutenesse and luxury there is no felicity but vanity no contentation but desperation Yet notwithstanding all this we must put a difference betweene the common frailty of mans nature which God passeth by and the sinful laughter of the wicked Verse 3. I sought in mine heart to giue my selfe vnto wine yet acquainting mine heart with wisedome and to lay hold on folly till I might see what was that good for the sonnes of men which they should doe vnder heauen all the dayes of their life AN exposition or declaration of Solomons counsell concerning the finding out of the chiefe good by the tryall of another way which is the exercise of his wisedome in pompe and magnificence to the end of the tenth verse First he found no content in the studies of learning or speculations of the minde Secondly he found lesse comfort in the contrary course bodily pleasures Now thirdly hee will try the â—â—xt or middle course in the right vse of all worldly delights and bodily pleasures according to the direction of wisedome which is the glory of a King euen that thing which all men count happinesse And for the attainment of his intended purpose he fared still deliciously and by wisedome beheld the follies and vanities thereof Namely how Princes wanting wisedome abused themselues in the dissolute and immoderate vse of these delights all prerogatiues yea oft times transformed themselues into the natures of beasts that so he might behold the true and right vse thereof and consequently find out yea worke out a perfect contentation to himselfe in such an happy state during the time of life as many men haue dreamed of and aimed at but none for lacke of wisedome to enter into and keepe the right path haue attained As the Alâ—hymists hold a possibility of making their Philosophers stone to turne yron into gold so doe men imagine a possibilitie of
to see what shall be after him A Conclusion of the right consideration regard and vse of worldly things inferred as before ver 12. And Chap. 2. 24. Seeing that there is nothing but vanity and miserie I perceiued that it was but vanity and folly to seeke for any happinesse in any worldly state And that it was the point of true and solide wisdome for a man to reioyce his heart in the honest getting comfortable vsing and prudent disposing of things put into his hand by the prouidence of God while it is his euen in his hands For this is a mans portion yea all the good that can be found in them and by them For who can bring a man to see what shall be after him Chap. 2. 18. 19. The knowledge of after-times belongeth to God onely and when we are gone then is all out of our hands and none of ours but left to Gods disposing which how God vseth and bestoweth or what good is done therewith is no thankes no reward to vs. Therefore it is but folly for a man to depriue himselfe of the benefit of his workes and to disquiet his heart and minde in vaine with prouiding and plotting for after-times namely for his posterity whereof hee hath no certainty What greater folly is there then for a man to torment his body vexe his spirit torture his conscience lose his soule for those that come after him which either shall be wrested from their goods or die presently after him or wastfully spend them working out their damnation in the prodigall spending as he did in the couetous getting But if they doe enioy them and doe good with them yet is that nothing to him that is now in torment For it is not by vertue of the goods gotten and left by him but of Gods grace and that doth good as well without those goods as with them For it is not how much we doe but how well not what but what God accepteth For all is his owne wee can doe nothing for him nor giue any thing to him CHAPTER IIII. Verse 1. So I returned and considered all the oppressions that are done vnder the Sunne and behold the teares of such as were oppressed and they had no Comforter and on the side of their oppressours there was power but they had no Comforter A Second example of corruption in ciuill state is of the oppressed This is the second example of vanities obserued in outward things such things as outwardly come to a man These words haue dependance on verse 16. chap. 3. There he shewed how vanity was increased by corruption in place of Iudgement and Iustice here hee sheweth how vanity is increased by manifold oppressions euery where whereby almost euery man of wit and wealth oppresseth treadeth on insnareth and vexeth the inferiour and weaker after the manner of beasts And behold A graphicall or liuely description of oppressions in all ages and among all sorts of men continuall and common They are described First by the greatnesse thereof They are such as caused not onely griefe and complaining but also teares Secondly they are amplyfied by their want of remedy the incompassionatenesse of people which is the sinne of Sodome They had no Comforter There was none to deliuer them none to take their parts none to counsell them but euery one rather treading on him that falleth after the manner of brute beasts Thirdly by the persons oppressing which were men of authority and power that had the law in their owne hands Fourthly by the incompassionatenes of other great men which were mercilesse cruell and hard-hearted aboue the common sort of rude people as Ierem. 5. 26. 27. 28. complaineth Which persons though they were able to remedy wrongs yet they rather approued the same as Herod did Pilates and Pilate in some sort did the Priests and Pharises So farre were they from affording any comfort to the distressed The whole verse laboureth of a gradation Verse 2. Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more then the liuing which are yet aliue Verse 3. Yea better is be then both they which hath not yet been who hath not seene the euill worke that is done vnder the Sun AN amplification He amplifieth these grieuous euils both of the oppressours and the oppressed by a comparison from the Lesse to the Greater They that are dead hauing left their wiues and children lands and goods behind them which is a great cause of mourning and teares as contrarily life is ioy are notwithstanding more happy then these that are liuing and inioy the priuiledges of life This comparison is figured by a Râ—uâ—cation whereby he recalleth backe the former comparison as not sufficient to illustrate the vanities and miseries of life and bringeth in another more fit to expresse the greatnesse thereof Yea rather the condition of him that is not yet borne is better then they both because he hath not felt nor seene the calamities of the world Better it is not to be at all then to be in misery What profit then hath a man of all the labour that he taketh vnder the Sunne Mundus est inuolucrum â—iue Chaos miseriarum Verse 4. Againe I considered all trauell and euery right worke that for this a man is enuyed of his neighbour this is also vanity and vexation of spirit A Third example of vanities outwardly incident to man is enuy not actiue but passiue By enuy also is vanity greatly increased I considered all the honest and moderate labour of him that rightly earned his liuing without couetousnesse and wrong who depriued not his soule of comfort by hoarding them vp but reioyced in the work of his hands and extended the fruits of his labours to others also But euen this man was enuyed of his neighbour because he was good and did good Yea euen they that were pertakers of the benefit of his labours with him reioyced at his fall Wherefore did Cain hate his brother euen because his brothers deeds were good and his owne euill Wherefore should Labans house enuy Iacob through whose faithfulnes all things prospered well with them yet so it was and is Wherfore doth the righteous man make himselfe a prey Isa 59. 15. Because he speaketh the truth and departeth from euill Why did the sonnes of Iacob enuy their brother Ioseph because their father loued him What occasioned Ismael to mocke Isaac Gen. 21. 9. Euen because God had blessed him And Amos saith Chap. 5. 10. Hee that rebuketh in the gate is hated and he is abhorred that speaketh vprightly Why was our Sauiour Christ hated persecuted crucified because he was true holy righteous the holy one and the iust Because hee was good and his goodnesse extended wholly to others For in the world he had no prerogatiues of the world all was theirs and their childrens he tooke nothing but gaue himselfe for them he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 full of loue and fauour to man whatsoeuer he was it was for mans
out of euery place in the hearts of men as Iason 2 Macc. 5. 8. He dyeth in ignominy he is burled in forgetfulnesse his name is rotten before his body he hath neither done good nor enioyed good and how long soeuer he liued Doe not all goe to one place After that he hath had the experience of two thousand yeeres vanities he must descend into the graue of the abortiue and returne againe into dust with him Now when they are both dust whether dust is the better the former or later The dust of him that had the experience of common and personall vanities without number many yeeres and ended his dayes in shame and dishonour or of him that neuer knew any thing Verse 7. All the labour of man is for his mouth and yet the appetite is not filled THe second part of the Chapter which is a conclusion of the weakenesse and insufficiency of riches to satisfie the desire of man to the end of the Chapter Man consisteth of an immortall soule and corruptible body that is spirituall this is earthly yea that is a spirit and the body is but a vessell or instrument vnited to it without composition or mixture This vessell is the sperme of the World the dust of the earth that is to say an elementary matter or substance consisting of a mixture of the elements and therefore it is sustained and maintained by elementary foode So that the appetite to wit hunger and thirst is earthly also Now what is the end of all the labour of man wherein doth he labour what is the obiect or subiect whereon he worketh Is it not all to satisfie the bodily appetite Whence proceedeth and whether tendeth this appetite Nature it selfe declareth the matter The appetite of the Tree is the more simple moisture or rather iuyce of the earth and it cannot neither willeth to goe beyond his kinde For the appetite is limited to the kinde which onely desireth the perfection and propagation thereof And so of all creatures liuing and sensible according to their kindes But mans vessell being the most compound not that it hath more elements then other creatures but the most vniuersall nature hath an vniuersall appetite And the whole World with all the creatures therein serue onely for meate drinke and cloathing The whole Armies of heauen and earth are onely for these three seruices of mans body either immediately or mediately that is to say either foode or else preparatory vessels Ministers Officers or Trades men subordinate one to another for man who is the centre of them all Sheepe and Oxen eate the iuyce of the earth not immediately but by the preparatory vessell the greene hearbe by which it is transformed into foode agreeable to the nature of â—eaâ—ts and fowles So man eaâ—eth grasse and fodder prepared by the bodies of cattle also flies and wormes and vilest things are by subordinate vessels from one to another prepared to his mouth and for his mouth The most vniuersall instrument by whose foture the life of the World and of all his furniture is maintained is the light in the Sunne which God therefore created before any other creature Then the Starres nextly the matter of the firmament whereof the starres were formed These are subordinate So that the heauens are an vniuersall cause or vessell by whose foture the elements are sustained Againe the elements are an vniuersall cause of sustenance of their creatures produced out of their wombes and formed of them Lastly the mixt creatures are preparatory vessels one for another till at length all come to the belly and backe of man euen his body the centre of them all For all is meate and meate includeth medicine also Now euery man hath in him the nature of all men so that all men are but as one man this one man is the sperme or seede of the whole World superiour and inferiour nature as the kernell containes the tree with all his branches leaues colours vermiculations fruits c. as the sperme of the liuing creature containeth the members faculties qualities operations c. of the creature from whose body it is propagated and is by the vniuersall fotures of the light starres firmament elements c. produced into growth and perfection which are but the vniuersall preparatory instruments which this sperme vseth and applyeth for the building vp of it selfe with the next foode or matter which is apt to be adapted and incorporated into the nature of it selfe This matter or foode it onely desireth And so doth man also in his kinde Of the animall and spirituall foode and appetite it is impertinent here to speake Therefore all the labour of man is for his mouth The heauens the elements the creatures worke and prepare for him by their influences inclinations appetites for to satisfie and fill his appetite Their mouthes are made for his mouth their skinnes for his clothing and building also is but a cloathing or couering All things are for the necessities and delights of the body In this respect also is he the Image of God in that all things are for him and he is for himselfe as concerning the creatures For all are seruants to him but he is seruant to none If he be that is his degenerating his curse his fall his brutishnesse for he that serueth any thing body or bodily things is a beast in that respect But who almost now a dayes maketh not an Idoll of his body therefore when we would be as gods then are we euill beasts filthy beasts But bodily things are for the seruice of the body the body for the spirit and that for the Lord. Otherwise as Ieremy saith Euery man is a beast by his owne knowledge And yet the appetite is not filled Or as the Hebrew signifieth The soule is not filled What the extent of mans appetite is both personall and bodily may well appeare by that which is already spoken and also by the two examples following The first is sufficiently testified by the example of Alexander the Great who was not contented with the possession of the continent or Land nor yet of the Sea when he had heard Anaxagoras disputing of the plurality of Worlds and when he had conquered all hee must needs be a god pretending a title to heauen also The appetite of man is not limitted to the materiall World till he be transformed or degenerated into the nature of a beast which is when his light is fallen downe into the confused Chaos againe the lees of his concupiscence which is vtter darkenesse The second is testified by the example of Heliogabalus the monstrous glutton who was serued at one supper with seauen thousand fishes and fiue thousand fowles and had sixe hundred bawdes and harlots following him in chariots and gaue great rewards to him that could inuent any new pleasure Who is not an Alexander and an Heliogabalus if God suffer him to range God hath alwayes permitted some to runne out into extremities of vice as the
the spawne or beginning that hath ouer-spread all generations of the World Therefore God hath subiected all things to vanitie out of which a man can by no meanes extricate himselfe but rather by striuing runne further in But yet seeing that there is an happie state of man here begunne which a man is to desire and seeke for in God not in worldy things and euen that in this vaine life which in that respect is not vaine there are certaine salues for these sores and remedies for these vanities Solomon therefore that he might take away from men discontentment and dispaire of their estate doth here deliuer rules of direction and comfort that they may haue wherewith to arme themselues against the troubles and miseries of this vaine life and in some good measure be able to alay and mitigate the same which God laid vpon Adam and all his sonnes for a iust punishment of his fall The first rule or remedy is in this first verse A good man A good reputation or report being the testimony of good men of the vertuous life honest conuersation of a man is a speciallblessing of God arming the heart with great ioy and comfort against many yea all outward losses and want of bodily things The excellencie of a good name is illustrated by a comparison of the best and most delicious things signified by ointment by a Synecdoche of the Speciall The comparison is both of the qualitie and quantitie First concerning the qualitie euen as the pretious ointment hath a fragrant scent refreshing and delighting the spirits of the senses whereby the body and minde is cheered so a good name and deserued estimation is of all outward things the most pleasant possession comporting the heart in euery state of life For it originally proceedeth from a good conscience and is the perfume of a godly and faithfull heart yea hee that hauing a great measure of the annointing of God which is the graces of his spirit to be a patterne to the rude a light to the blinde a guide to them that know not the way doth also refresh encourage and cheare the spirits and hearts of all that loue God and his truth among the filthy sents of corrupt examples fleshly fashions and ethnicall behauiours that are noysome and grieuous to the eyes eares and mindes of men of gracious disposition and as a fresh gale of sweet ayre to him that laboureth in the earth that liueth among earthly men Concerning the quantity the argument is from the lesse to the greater A precious oyntment is of great value a chiefe treasure and esteemed with the most precious things but a good name is of more worth then it or any earthly substance For costly oyntments and other treasures are of times more plentifull among the wicked For the sensuall are all for their sences but this is peculiar to good men alone They may be bought for money but this is the gift of God not to be purchased with base mettall They are corruptible this is euerlasting They leaue a man in death and betake them to a new master but the praise of the iust man remaineth still and still his owne It both tarrieth behinde him on earth and goeth with him to heauen and will crowne him with glory at the last day For although it be darkened for a time amongst the goates as Naboth was as Pauls and Dauids yet shall it breake forth as the rayes of the Sunne from vnder a cloud It may be couered but it cannot be polluted with vnclean tongues yet it becommeth more bright as mettall rubbed with dust or myre Whereas contrarily the false and forced praise of sinners that are prone and ambitious turneth to their greater shame as that of Herod Senacherib and the Pharisees did And so shall Antichrists doe as did that of Antiochus And the day of death then the day of ones birth These words are a second rule to arme the man that feareth God against temporall miseries Concerning their dependence vpon the former they are an answere to an obiection framed thus A good report in this life affords little comfort seeing that death commeth after it which is the miserable end of all men Ans The day of death is better then the day that one is borne It is better then the time of life and the transitory things of life Yea it is better then a good report it selfe because it is a comfort to extenuate the afflictions of life but this vtterly abolisheth all vanities The birth-day is an entrance into all woe and misery but the day of death is a passage into life The body is but a prison and a racke to the soule but by death it is set at liberty For by death are all miseries ended all dangers paines aches diseases sorrowes teares and that grieuous warre and conflict of concupiscence or fleshly lusts 1 Pet. 2. 11. doubtings vnbeleefe feares pride ignorance couetousnesse ambition enuy hatred lust which fight against the soule are dead from which Paul so earnestly desired to be freed Romans 7. 24. 2 Cor. 12. 8. Againe by death a man is freed from euils to come Esay 57. 1. He is deliuered from the wearisome company of petulcus goates Psal 120. 5. 1 King 19. 4. and from the assaults of Sathan yea from all fightings within and without to rest and raigne in glory with Christ and the blessed company of heauen This of the rule or remedy principally aymed at Now for the sequele or collection concerning vanity the argument from hence is thus If the day of death which to carnall reason is miserable be better then the day of birth surely this life is a thing most vaine But so it is Verse 2. It is better to goe to the house of mourning then to goe to the house of feasting for that is the end of all men and the liuing will lay it to heart A Second rule or remedy whereby a man is armed against the vanities of life is mortification which is the suppressing of sinne and curbing of the motions of sinne in the heart simply because it displeaseth God and is the onely thing whereby he is dishonoured Other mortifications are but either philosophicall or ciuill or subtle the first whereof is of naturall conscience the second of vaine glorious disposition the third of a diuellish heart But this is wrought onely by the Spirit of God who is a purifying fire and purging soape Mal. 3. 2. 3. not onely restraining and bridling but consuming sinne This consumption beginneth at the heart Ier. 4. 4. Breake vp your fallow grounds circumcise the fore-skinne of your heart If mortification beginne not here it is guilefull Psal 32. 2. He is blessed whose spirit is not guilefull though he be subiect to many infirmities Now that this rule may be operatiue and of force Solomon setteth downe the meanes and courses that are to be taken whereby to produce and nourish it for the comfort of the soule in this vale of misery The
the body of a common wealth is as it were a mixture of all kindes or a Choas from whence euery spirit may gather matter of edification and corruption As the frame of his heart is so may he adapt matter of perfection or destruction But the wise heart vseth all things and turneth all things to the best But the heart of fooles is in the house of mirth An illustration of the former by the contrarie This heart is of a contrarie sappe of contrarie affection and disposition and as inwardly so outwardly contrarie Such soyles it loueth and such fotures as are agreeable to his kinde so doth euery beast euery weed euery plant Such lips such lettuce And wilde things accord not well with the tame And though they be tamed yet are they troublesome The spirit of policie curbeth and driueth the snaile into her shell but the spirit of God renueth The foole seeketh for nourishments of his follie such counsels such bookes such hearing examples and companies and ripeneth his follie The foole is but a body and his soule is but as saâ—t to keepe it aliue His sappe is bitter his fruits are no better If he be among the wise and heare the words of the wise the best things he reiecteth light is not comprehended of darkenesse other things he misconstrueth and conuerts into follie If hee heare or see infirmitie or vaniâ—ie that he browzeth on and catcheth vp as a sweet bit Pro. 15. 24. The mouth of the foolish is fed with foolishnesse and so is his eare The dainty tooth desireth delicates so doth the foole all things that may feed his beastly lusts Therefore let the wise be wary for giuing offence and abstaine from appearances of euill else will the foole by occasion of his follie runne mad Therefore saith Solomon answere a foole according to his foolishnesse and answere not a foole according to his foolishnesse Let thine answere curbe not cherish his follie Verse 5. It is better to heare the rebuke of the wise than for a man to heare the song of fooles THe fourth meanes of mortification which is the way to true felicity is the rebuke of the wise that is to say it is better for a man to submit himselfe to the admonitions and wholsome reproofes of the wise then to be praised and flattered of fooles Wisedome saith to the simple Pro. 1. 23. Turne you at my correction you that haue erred from the way of truth and prodigally wasted your selues But the foolish despise her counsels her admonitions her corrections the stubborne foole will abide no touch verse 25. The wise man will loue him that reproueth him but the foole is prouoked to wrath The wise childe is better than the old King that will not be admonished Dauid desired rather to be smitten of the righteous than to eate such things as please the wicked because the rebukes of the wise are as pretious balmes Better it is to be rebuked of the wise for a mans errors than to be praised of the wicked for pleasing their humours Than for a man to heare the song of fooles An illustration of the former by the contrarie The ieasting merrie conceits and flesh-pleasing talke of the vngodly corrupteth the mindes of the hearers and stealeth sober thoughts out of their hearts to settle them on their dregges at least for the present and is a meanes to quicken and reuiue those head-supprest reliques of concupiscence that are mortified in them as the fire reuiueth the snake that is almost dead with cold The foole footheth and flattereth a man in euill and to euill He extenuateth and vilifieth euery grace of God he excuseth madnesse and imbraceth follie which is ciuill wickednesse Yet he hath many good words and sheweth wit but all is to clothe vertue with the contemptible rags of vice and to clothe vice with the robes of vertue His good words are but as the scripture in the Deuils mouth Mat. 4. 6. he defileth them but they purifie not him Therefore whether a foole be merrie or sober angry or pleased hee is grieuous to the wise but the wise sheweth wisedome in both His words are seasoned with salt Hee is gracious and louely Verse 6. For as the crackling of thornes vnder a pet so is the laughter of the foole this also is vanitie A Reason of the comparison why that the rebuke of the wise is better than the song of fooles It is illustrated by a similitude of thornes crackling vnder a pot Euen as thornes vnder a pot make a loud noise and flash forth into a great flame but the noise suddenly ceaseth and the flame is presently quenched so vaine-glorious fooles and epicurish fooles enemies to sober wisedome and grace make a pompous shew for the time drawing all mouthes and eares and eyes after them as though they were the onely happie ones but it is but a noise and flash of vanitie Moreouer as the crackling of thornes is a vaine sound offensiue and harsh to the eare and of no regard so is the laughter of a foole laughing at his owne wicked fantasies grieuing the wise with his turbulent noise The sequele or collection concerning vanitie is this if rebukes and checks be better than mirth and pleasant companions and delicious and voluptuous life then is that pleasurable kinde of life but vaine c Verse 7. Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad and a gift destroyeth the heart A Third rule or remedy whereby a man is armed against the miseries or vanities of this life is patience Patience is a voluntary continuall sustaining bearing of euils and euill men the more freely to shew bring forth the fruits of the spirit for the comfort of our owne hearts and the increase of our assurance and for the conuersion of the wicked our enemies For in contending with the wicked in their kinde otherwise the righteous contendeth with them and reuenging of our wrongs wee shall obscure the graces of God and fall into the same mischiefe and condemnation with them which thing the enemies of grace desire This remedy is set downe in the foure next verses The Analysis whereof I take to be this Patience is first illustrated by a comparison of the contrary to wit impatience expressed by the fountaine or cause thereof pride of heart verse 8. Impatience is described first by the effects verse 7. Secondly by the euent verse 8. Moreouer patience is amplified by a dehortation verse 9. and figured by a prolâ—psis verse 10. This verse then is a description of impatience or the proud spirit by the effects thereof oppression and peruerting of the Law Oppression standeth in racking wronging reuenging Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad As a mad man is without the vse of reason being violently carried with a corrupt humour saying and doing nothing from any ground of good vnderstanding but according to the multitude of broken and confused phantasmes caused by the distemper of blood euen so the wise being carried with
of Gods appointment to tempt God If the Angels haue charge ouer thee cast thy selfe downe headlong When we doe without warrant or command we put our selues out of the Angels charge for they are faithfull attendants on God wholly depending on his will not on our disobedience and rebellion To proceed the foole hath not wit but will he will not be perswaded nor disswaded by sound reason but what he willeth he hopeth and what he hopeth shall not be to him impossible for he maketh all things chance and lucke And so deriding wisedome he dependeth on fortune Whereas fortune is nothing but our ignorance and improuidence The more wisedome and prouidence the lesse fortune but fooles terme those things the fortunes of the wise which they by wisedome foresaw and by counsell and right meanes brought to passe So the foole is wise but for ill lucks and ill haps which he saith none can be against Who then shall perswade him that he is a foole who shall disswade him from his folly For a foole hath examples pro contra for his owne lusts but the intendment and circumstances he regardeth not the differences and conueniences he discerneth not If his contrary and biasse courses produce not such effects as he seeth in the world then it is ill lucke but whether himselfe be a wise man or a foole that he discerneth not whether his lust and desires be opposite to Gods prouidence or no he knoweth no more then a beast but some haue hap and some sticke in the gap and giue a man lucke and cast him into the Sea The foole is so hopefull and chancefull that he careth not much what he saith how hee speaketh to whom hee speaketh when he speaketh or doth any thing How spake such a one How did such a one Why might not I say this or doe that so Esopes Asse immitated the Dogge fawning and leaping on his maister what can come on it It is as it is taken as it falleth out who can tell vntill hee trie What knew I whether this or that would haue followed who can tell any thing must not all be as God will The foole indeede stands all vpon trialls according to his lust but what the reuealed will and commandement of God is he regardeth not he is an enemy to that knowledge But the wise knoweth that there is a conuenient season and due time for all things in the appoynted time of God that euery season and euery conditure or condition of time produceth his owne words and deedes silence or surceasing But the foole obserueth nothing hee will say as others say I haue sayd and doe as others haue doone That which in it owne time is wisely spoken or done is at an other time flat follie and iniquitie So the foole in his best moode neyther imagineth well nor speaketh well nor doth any thing well For the good that is past he cannot apply well to the present For Nabal is his name and follie is with him Verse 15. The labour of the foolish wearieth euery one of them because he knoweth not how to goe to the Citie THirdly the foole will neuer be wise nor giue ouer his follie He is so proudly conceited of himselfe and so wilfull but wearieth himselfe in his crooked and disordered wayes and is wearied with the euils that his follies haue intangled him in He is full of troubles for as he wanteth wisedome and the feare of God so hee medleth in many matters that are aboue his reach whereof he knoweth neither beginning nor ending Why is the foole wearied in his manifold crooked and presumptuous businesses Because he knoweth not to goe to the Citie The plaine tract and euen path of wisedome the Kings high way the royall commandement Iam. 2. 8. he knoweth not being like to a blinde man or staggering drunkard that can not keepe the high way that leadeth directly to the City but wandereth in crooked and turning by lanes backward and forward to and fro being wearied with these his owne waies when he hath forsaken the right way as the men of Sodome were with seeking for Lots doore fooles are full of wit as they thinke and so full of businesse VVhat is meant by the wearinesse of fooles they themselues doe interpret Wised 4. 5 6 7 8. Wee haue wearied our selues in the way of wickednesse and destruction and we haue gone through dangerous wayes by wayes but we haue not knowne the way of the Lord that leades to the Citie What hath pride profited vs and pompe of riches brought vs These fooles loued wearinesse and wearinesse was their portion They loued to weary themselues and others also and they were and shall be filled with the fruit of their owne wayes Verse 16. Woe to thee O Land when thy King is a child and thy Princes eate in the morning A Reitteration or renewing of the former complaint vers 5 6. 7. shewing foorth the common discontent and griefe of the querulo us multitude who being impatient of afflictions which God hath laid vpon man siâ—ce the Fall but yet extenuateth the same in mercie or augmenteth the same in iustice accordingly as we obey or disobey him who being I say impatient and eagerly and erroneously pursuing a worldly felicition and ioyfull contentment murmure against Princes as causes of their afflictions or hinderers of their conceited phantasticall happinesse VVhereas they themselues are a wearinesse to princes and â—o themselues so euery contentious foole and wilfull foole curseth Lawyers and wisheth that there were none when his money is spent and his wicked will lost The Iewes expected such a kinde of Messias or Redeemer that should free them from the bondage of the Romans and vexations of their enemies amongst whom they had beene dispersed many yeares and therefore they followed Christ in such troupes and multitudes and many offered themselues to be his disciples in such worldly respects ayming at the aduauncement of their persons and estates in the world and the disciples being yet weake and rude hoped as much but Iudas especially therefore when both he and the people saw that their expectation should be frustrate as himselfe by many parables and plaine speeches reclaimed them from such vanitie hee betrayed him and they crucified him For they were afraid lest they should not onely haue no profite by him which they looked for but also by his meanes procure the displeasure of the Romans and so lose that small freedome which they had VVherein we may learne what the spirits of the vnsanctified common people are in such complaints and of those chiefly that talke so much of the goodnesse of the olde world They falsly imagine that the Pope much eased them of the burthen of Princes and Nobles whereas they were both body and soule the Popes and the Diuels vassalls excepting the Elect. And that is a thing which the naturall man who is filius gehennae desireth To conclude it is rebellion not religion They would faine enioy a carnall
Euery worke is full of griefe in it selfe and occasioneth griefe to others The workes of the brutish Epicure are grieuous the workes of the foolish that thinketh himselfe wise are grieuous and so are the workes of the wise seeing that he dyeth and his wisedome is forgotten as they and theirs are Moreouer hee confirmeth this reason againe by a Prossyllogisme or addition of another reason For all as well the best as the worst things is vanity and vexation of spirit Thus farre of his counsell in the reuiew of the two former wayes to happy contentment verse 12. Of his determination or censure of them verse 13. of the confirmation of his determination and the reuiew of the euent of wisedome and the wise verse 14. of his determination or conclusion vpon the reuiew verse 15. of the confirmation of his determination verse 16. and conclusion verse 17. Verse 18. Yea I hated all my labour which I had taken vnder the Sunne because I should leaue it vnto the men that shall be after mee THis verse hath relation to the reuiew and euent of his pompous magnificence verse 11. He looked on all his workes and labours but all was vanity and vexation Why because there was no profit vnder the Sunne Here is further set downe the consequent of that euent namely that he obtained not only no contentment by his great workes but also hated them The reason of his hatred is because hee should leaue them to the possession and vse of another man who should be heire to all his labours yet neuer tooke any paines for them Verse 19. And who knoweth whether hee shall be a wise man or a foole yet shall hee haue rule ouer all my labour wherein I haue laboured and wherein I haue shewed my selfe wise vnder the Sunne A Confirmation of the reason figured by the preuention of an obiection thus That a man shall leaue his labours to another is no cause of griefe For seeing that hee must not alwayes liue here for one generation passeth and another commeth it is a mans ioy and comfort rather yea the prosperous successe of them in their continuance to future generations giueth great contentment to the heart Ans That cannot be because it is impossible for me or any man to know whether he shall be a wise man or a foole It is figured by a communication to intimate the impossibility thereof And what manner of man soeuer hee shall be yet shall he haue the rule command and vse of all my labours at his pleasure wherein I haue so diligently exercised my wisedome If hee proue a foole what is the fruit of my labour and my wisedome euen to be the purueyour of another mans sensuality and to subminister matter for the execution and maintenance of his folly So all my labour is lost If he proue a wise man yet will he alter change and vse all my labours according to his owne minde and so shall they be transformed as a vesture into a new fashion Therefore in that a man must leaue his labours to another mans possession and disposition that is also vanity Verse 20. Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despaire of all the labour which I tooke vnder the Sunne A Conclusion of the reason confirmed in the verse before Seeing that my wisedome in my labour shall be either turned into folly or else translated into another fashion I iudged it better to despaire of getting contentment by my workes rather then to place any hope in such vncertainties that I might else-where seeke for the true happinesse that cannot be lost nor changed Therefore seeing that in the best things done here by wisedome wee haue more matter of despaire than hope and howsoeuer are held in continuall suspence they are meere vanity and vexation Verse 21. For there is a man whose labour is in wisedome and in knowledge and in equity yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leaue it for his portion This also is vanity and a great euill AN amplification of the conclusion conteined in the verse before Namely of the despaire and griefe of his labour by an obseruation of the common condition of men There is many a man that laboureth to attaine to an happy estate here and that by wisedome knowledge and equitie to which God also giueth a blessing that so his heart might reioyce without checke of conscience in the fruition thereof which is seldome incident to the rich yet shall he leaue his estate behinde him to be a portion for another that neuer tooke any paines for it And so be the prouident and true drudge of he knowes not whom and how it shall be vsed and imployed and blessed in the hands of him he altogether knoweth not Yea sometimes it falleth out that the heire curseth his patrimony because that if he had not had such a meanes and prouocation he should not haue committed so many euils Faelix necessitas quae ad meliora traâ—it For our Sauiour saith How hard is it for a rich man to enter into the kingdome of heauen This then is a vanity and not onely a prâ—uation of good or a nothing but also a great euill namely that a man should not onely be depriued of his goods by death but also that his goods should be depraued Verse 22. For what hath man of all his labour and of the vexation of his heart wherein he hath laboured vnder the Sunne THis verse hath reference to the 18. verse before containing a reason of the hatred of his dispairefull labours figured by a communication to giue more weight vnto it If a man see no profit of the labours of his body and minde then they haue nothing but matter of despaire and hatred in them but what profit or ioyfull contentment can any man finde in the laborious getting and carefull keeping of his gettings Therefore as I said at first so after many proofes I conclude What profit hath a man of all his labour that hee taketh vnder the Sunne Verse 23. For all his dayes are sorrow and his trauaile griefe yea his heart taketh not rest in the night This is also vanitie A Prossyllogisme or confirmation of the former reason He hath no profit of his labours no calme contentation Why For because all his dayes are full of paines and sorrowes trouble and anger His trauaile is full of care and anguish feares and doubts perplexitie and anxiety His heart is depriued of the naturall reft of night For then hee falleth to reuiew the labours of the time past and to dispose of the trauaile of the time following to bring all things aptly together without the interruption of manifold occurrences or chances for the accomplishment of his proiect Againe although he would take his rest yet the manifold businesses and exagitations of his thoughts on the day cause many broken dreames and fearefull phantasies which often disquiet the spirit and maketh the heart pensiue afterward So that a
man hath no profit of his paines but his labour for his trauaile and this also is vanity Verse 24. There is nothing better for a man then that hee should eate and drinke and that he should make his soule enioy the good of his labour This also I saw and that it was from the hand of God IN this verse Solomon setteth downe the right vse and onely good that is to be found in the things of this life for a remedy or mitigation of the vanities or miseries and declareth the same by the efficient cause His proposition is illustrated by a comparison of the Greater denyed And it is an answere to a secret obiection which is this If nothing but sorrow and griefe redound to man of all his labours to what purpose then should a man apply his minde to wisedome and his body to trauaile And if so be that a man must either depriue himselfe of life or else prolong his dayes in perpetuall sorrow then the world seemeth to be made for none other end then to be an engine of torture vnto men Ans Not so neither For though I haue already prooued that a man can obtaine no true profit or happy contentation by the things of the world nor by any thing that can be knowne or done by mans wisedome yet it followeth not therefore that there is no good in all things made for mans vse by which he may be inabled and helped both to liue and to order his life according to wisedome and vertue But there is a good in them for which cause God hath created them and imparted the same to euery one according to his owne pleasure And this good is not to depend or rest on them nor to trust in them for therefore hath God made them vncertaine and vaine nor yet by treasuring them vp to depriue a mans selfe or others of their vse nor to lauish them out as though they would neuer haue end but to feede cheere and comfort the body therewith with tranquility of minde resting on Gods mercy and so to passe the time of this life with ioyfull contentation in honest labor not in idlenesse sensualitie or drudgery He that looketh for more then this in them is vtterly deceiued seeing that in the best vse of them they are transitory and vanishing Lastly this good vse of them he declareth by the principall efficient cause Not onely the possession of these things but also their vertue to feed and refresh the body and mind is the gift of God Otherwise all wisedome is full of vanity and griefe They come neither by mans prouidence and endeuour originally nor by chance Deut. 8. 17. Therefore let vs returne all praise and thankes to him in the vsage of our selues and vse of all his gifts Verse 25. For who can eate or who else can hasten hereunto more then I A Confirmation of his proposition amplified by a comparison of the Greater denyed and figured by a communication Who could receiue more profit ioy and contentment of these transitory and fading things more then I and who can more speedily and easily obtaine and more securely possesse and vse them more then I what good thing soeuer could be had and what vse could be made of them for the pleasure of my body and delight of minde I had it in the perfection thereof yet this is all that I by experience found or could conceiue in heart to be found in them Verse 26. For God giueth to a man that is good in his fight wisedome and knowledge and ioy but to the sinner he giueth trauell to gather and to heape vp that he may giue to him that is good before God This also is vanity and vexation of spirit AN amplification of this right vse of worldly things by the efficient cause thereof both in himselfe and other men These men are described by their condition and quality good Goodnesse is illustrated by a distinction thereof in his sight that is truely good Psal 3â— 1 2. not in appearance before men or his owne deceitfull â—eaâ—t Ier. 17. 9. which is hypocrisie God who hath made the world and all things therein for mans vse hath giuen wisedome and knowledge to those that are accepted of him and feare him to get them rightly and to vse them comfortably This worke of Gods mercy is illustrated by the Antithesis or contrary worke of iudgement in the sinner Contrarily God withholdeth this wisedome knowledge and ioy from the sinner which feareth him not but turneth his eare from the Law and maketh no conscience of his doings and leaueth him in the power and bondage of his lusts to torment himselfe both night and day with carking caring and drudgery to gather riches and yet to depriue himselfe of all comfort meate drinke cloathing recreation c. This worke of Gods iudgement in the sinner is declared by the end Namely that after this faithlesse drudge hath treasured them vp God might giue them to them that feare him and are accepted of him Iob 27. 17. Againe God doth take them away from good men when he correcteth their faults and giueth them to the wicked that are both theirs and his enemies as the example of Ezechias doth manifest To conclude This also is vanity and vexation of spirit CHAPTER III. Verse 1. To euery thing there is a season and a time to euery purpose vnder heauen SOlomon hath hitherto discoursed and concluded the vanity of mans purposes and designes of happy contentment First by the common obseruation of things subiect to mans knowledge Secondly by his owne experimentall knowledge both of wisedome and of the vse of worldly things in the two former Chapters Now hee continueth still his obseruation shewing by the conuersion of times and particular examples pertaining to knowledge and vse that all things deedes counsels euents good and euill are known to God onely and in regard of vs doe fluctuate vpon vncertaine issues yea altogether vncertaine in their beginnings proceedings and endings which depend and attend vpon vnstable times whatsoeuer our aduisements deuices be either in attaining good or auoyding euill This is another maine argument or Prosepilogisme confirming the Epilogisme Cap. 1. 3. Whereby he proueth that a man hath no profit of all his labours First he propoundeth it generally in this verse and after confirmeth it by an induction of sundry particulars as hee did before And here is a liuely exposition of that which he spake Chap. 1. verse 8. of the mutability and corruptibility of all things All things are full of labour man cannot vtter it c. To euery thing there is a season No maruell is it if all mans wisedome and the vse of worldly things whether sensuall or magnificall be subiugated to vanity when as all things all counsels all deeds all euents so variable and repugnant in this vnquiet world are subiected to this instable course and recourse of times which God hath put in his own hand and in his secret