I Will not striue to attire my Text in any other fa­shion; the plaine naturall dresse it now weares, will best sute it, and my in­tendment.

The parts shall be, as the Propositi­ons, Diuision. Three;

I. Is monitory, and as it were an 1 [...]. Introduction, or Preface to the rest, Remember the word I said vnto you.

II. Is a Principle, a ground of infal­lible 2 truth, both in Ethick and Oecono­mick [Page 2] rules, in Humanitie and Diuinitie; The seruant is not greater then the Lord.

III. Is an Inference vpon an Hypo­thesis; If they haue persecuted me, they will 3 also persecute you.

I begin in order.

Remember.] I know not what better First Part. {Remember.} exordium a Preacher can make, or from what foundation the frame of his speech can more happily arise then from this, which is the first stone in this pile, Re­member. It is the best charge the Priest can giue, and the first lesson the People should learne; else, like children, that read only by rote, they shall spend much time and vnderstand nothing. It is a taske can neuer be vrged too often, Manda re­manda: nor can it euer be learned too per­fectly; Nunquam satis dici, quia nunquam satis disci potest. An age is not enough for this precept, but when seuen yeeres are run out, they may begin againe, and finish an apprentiship long as life, yet misse that freedome and perfection they seeke; Ars longa vitabreuis.

[Page 3] Since therefore much is to be learned, and either we want time, or capacity, or memory to comprehend it, the right way to profit an Auditory, & not cloy, is to let them digest what they haue bin taught, and not heare new lessons be­fore the old are remembred. For as eating much meate, and not keeping it, argues a better appetite then concocti­on; so hearing much, and retaining none, shewes a quicke eare, but a dull deuo­tion.

There are many now adaies who ne­uer thinke they haue preaching enough: but as exquisite gluttons lay all markets for fare, so doe they lay all Churches where there is any suspicion of a Ser­mon, and all is [...], to glut their Gregor. Nazian. Epitaph. Caesar. eares; nay, the same Father speaks them more fully, [...] they goe Ibid. not so much to feed, as delight their eares, and to satisfie that wanton itch of hearing, which like a Tetter, the more it is rubbed, the more it spreads. I wish there were more practising, on conditiō [Page 4] there were lesse preaching. A man may heare so much that hee may ston the sense, and bee like the Catadupes, whom the continuall fall of Nile makes deafe. Cisternes that haue more powred into them then they can hold, must needs run to wast; and men that affect to learne more then they haue braine to compre­hend, waste their Pastors labour, and their owne patience. It is good counsell for one to eate no more then his stomacke can beare, for too full feeding engenders nothing but surfets; and I thinke as good counsell will it be, to heare no more then hee can carry away. For were the retention good, the nourishment would be more solid, and Christianitie acquire that full growth, for want of which wee are but Impes and Zanies, in respect of those that liued in the Primitiue Church.

No wonder then, if Preaching may breed surfets, that so many Crudities lie in the stomacke of this Citty; that so many Fumes and giddy vapours flie vp into the head, to the no small disturbance [Page 5] of the Churches quiet; that so many hot spirits, like Canons ouercharged, recoyle against all Discipline, breake into diuers factions, and with the splints of those crackt opinions doe more mis­chiefe then deliberation or Iustice can suddenly salue. I speake no new vnheard language. This communitie of Preach­ing hath brought it into such cheape contempt, with many, that, as if the gift of tongues were prostitute to Idiots and Trades, you shall haue a sort of Lay Mechanicke Presbiters of both sexes (Praedicatores, and Praedicantissae) presume so far vpon their acquaintance with the Pulpit, that they will venter vp­on an Exposition, or vndertake to ma­nage a long vnweildy prayer conceiued on the sudden, though not so suddenly vttered; nay, they are so desperate, they will torment a Text, and in their resty Conuenticles teach as boldly, as if they were as well able to become Iourney­men to the Pulpit, as to their owne Trades. I cannot but thinke of the story [Page 6] of the poore Asse that carryed the god­desse Isis so long to and from the Tem­ple, that at last hee began to take state vpon him, and would needs play the goddesse. So these creatures haue so long trauelled betwixt the Temple, Por­tantes mysteria, and conuersed with the sacred mysteries of Religion, that they begin to flatter themselues in an opini­on of worth, which none would suspect; and forgetting their former condition, will needs turne Teachers. If this be the fruit of so much preaching, it is high time that command bee now reuersed, Son of man, Lift vp thy voyce like a Trum­pet: Isa. 58. 1. rather, Son of man, sound a retreit, and be dumb, in admiration, to see Cob­lers & Artizans vsurpe that holy Office.

Let none thinke my meaning is to finde fault with the multitude of Prea­chers, who (without enuie) were neuer more, nor better: neither to taxe the de­uotion [Page 7] of such who frequent those exer­cises; far be it from me. I onely strike at the abuse. I pitty that Pastor, who is put to plough the rocks, when the eare is too hard for his aduice to enter; and is tasked, like Belus his daughters, to fill [...], Siues and Pitchers without bottome; for such are our hollow For­malists. And I blame that people, who like thirsty lands still gape for raine, yet no signe of softening; or, as men sicke of an Atrophy, eat much, but thriue not. When Manna shall grow stale and com­mon, and stinke in their nostrils, it is time to diet such mis-gouerned feeders, and stint them to their measure, as Israel was to an Omer. I wish they would heare no more then their memory could ma­ster. A little lesse preaching, and some more praying would doe well: For so they might gaine more time, and obtain a better faculty for the remembring of what they learne.

The roome is now prepared, wants onely the Ghest to fill it, who followes [Page 8] in the next place, [The word that I said vnto you.] {The word that I said.}

Wisedome is its own Herald, and the words of worthy persons need no way­makers to prepare attention, saue them­selues. But when both these concurre, and the name of the Authour presents it selfe in the front, to credit the errand, it must needs take strong hold in the hea­rer.

In both these respects doth Christ plead for regard. First, in respect of his own person, [J said.] That Ego sum, vtte­red 1 by him in the Garden, strucke such {I said.} awe & terror into his enemies, that they Iohn 18. 6. did homage to the sound of his voyce, by falling flat to the ground. It is to bee hoped then, that when his discourse knockt at the eares of his Disciples, like the Spouse in the Canticles, Open vnto Cant. 5. me, it is I, his owne would both know, and obey his voice: especially since that now like one preparing to leaue the world, he begā to giue his latest charge, and to bequeath such lessons to them, as [Page 9] might both warne them of what should befal, and comfort them in their suffer­ings.

The words of dying men are preci­ous euen to strangers; but when the voyce of one we loue, cals to vs from the death-bed, O what a conflict doe his words raise! how strongly doth griefe and affection striue to inclose them! knowing that in a short space that tongue, the organs whereof yet speake, was to be eternally tyed vp in silence; nor should the sound of his words sa­lute our eares any more. Secondly, in 2 respect of the words themselues.

Remember [the word that I told you.] If {The word, &c.} rarenesse and opinion make Iewels pre­cious, what value shall we put vpon our Sauiours words, who spake as neuer man spake? within whose lips the mines of knowledge were included: The words of the Lord are pure as siluer seuen times tryed, Psal. 12. 6. Prou. 8. 11. Psal. 119. 127. better then Rubies; nay, [...], more precious then gold or Iewels. Now if they be of such high esteeme, where should Iew­els [Page 10] bee put but in a Cabinet; or where should gold be disposed but in a Trea­surie? Both these is Memory. First, it is a Cabinet, placed in the closet and bed­chamber of the soule, the Braine; the safest Keepe in mans Cittadell: one Key it hath, Reminiscentia, which opens it, and without that, it still remaines locked. Secondly, it is Aerarium animae, the soules Exchequer, like that [...], the Treasurie in the Temple, into which the mites of knowledge and learning are cast: vnto this doe all the Arts and Sciences, humane and diuine offer; the precepts of the Law, the golden rules of the Gospell are in this coffered vp. And as the Temple in Ierusalem was main­tained in repaire by the Treasurie; so are the decayes of the temple of mans body repaired at the cost of the Memory. When tentation hath shaken the buil­ding, when sorrowes and despaires, like tempestuous drifts of raine, haue beaten thorow vs; lo from this Store-house do we fetch props to vpbeare our declining [Page 11] faith, by calling to minde the gracious promises of Christ. Here finde we com­forts collected from the Gospell, to cast off the stormes which beate vpon vs.

If then such riches lie here in banke, no maruell if our Sauiour wish his Disci­ples to locke it vp sure, [Remember the word I told you:] knowing that the place is not built of brasse, but fraile and brit­tle; and that there is a thiefe still lurking about the doore, euen that great Thiefe who at first robbed man of his Innocen­cy, and vpon the least aduantage would spoyle vs of those comforts, and carry the words away, as in the Parable. Be­sides, Matth. 13. 19. it hath many Pick-lockes which oft times wrench it open. First, wine, whose subtile fumes vnriuet each ioynt of it, and loosen the cement which held it fast; for you shall note, that deepe drinkers haue but shallow memories. Secondly, women: I seeke no further instance then Samson, into whose besotted affection Iudg. 16. Dalila crept so farre, she made him for­get [Page 12] his safety; weake though shee was, she forced a secret from him, which all the Philistims could not wring out: which lost, he lost himselfe, eyes, liberty, life and all. Thirdly, ingratitude: this is a witch indeed, a sorceresse, whose drow­zie inchantments make vs euen forget God. If thē we be apt to forget him; how shall wee bee able to retaine his words? or how remember what he hath said, when we cannot remember the good hee hath done for vs? It is a crime none can ac­quite vs of; what is become of all his wonders? whither is the memory of his great deliuerances fled? May I not aske of them as of things worne out, or as he did of the Kings of the Nations? VVhere 2 King. 19. 13. is the King of Emath, and the King of Ar­phad? surely they are gone, all lye ex­tinct and lost. And as the graue of Pom­pey had not so much as an inscription, to distinguish the dust that couered his vi­ctorious body from ignoble slaues and cowards, or to shew, Here lyes Pompey: No more haue those once glorious dayes, [Page 13] now any difference in our memory or esteeme. They lie promiscuously raked vp in the dust of time, without any mo­nument set ouer them, to tell they once were: no Rubrick, or capitall letter in­serted, to distinguish them from the common heape of dayes piled vp in the Almanacke.

I know your City-feasts keepe their annuall circuit; the inauguration of Officers, and choice of Wardens to each Company want no ceremonious forme to set them forth: for the better solem­nizing wherof, Samson is brought vnto the feast, and the first dish must be a Ser­mon. An Italian Atheist scoffingly said, he was wont to goe to Church, that hee might returne with better deuotion to his dinner: be the thought of my apply­ing it to you far from me, as I know the intent is from you. The piety of many graue and good men in those societies, fully resolues me that it is deuotion, not forme, which makes them desirous of that act: Yet none can deny, but some [Page 14] there be, and those not a few, who sup­pose Sermons at such times are rather for conuenience then otherwise: that as Moses siluer Trumpets serued to call the people together, so they to assemble the ghests; as if there were no difference be­twixt a Sermon, and a Wake; or preach­ing were become as necessary a com­plement to a Feast, as wine or musicke. But those times, whose memory should be precious, passe by without Sermon, or so much as the courtesie of the day; no Annals or yeerely feasts to keepe them vp, but in stead of a mention, there is a blanke, and solemne silence, in stead of an Anniuerse.

Pardon my plaine language. I pro­fesse ingeniously, I speake not against the practise, but comparatiuely. Let their Elections and meetings want no grace the Pulpit can aflord them: let them (in the name of God) performe those lesser rites, but so, that they omit not greater duties: for to bee diligent in things in­different or needlesse, and neglect neces­sary [Page 15] seruices, is at best but a precise kinde of Poperie; to value Tradition aboue Scripture, and set more by mans institu­tion then Gods. When we shall see shal­low customes out-face Religion, and the shadow haue more honour then the sub­stance, blame none for speaking;

When the two Sunnes appeared in the firmament, before the great famine and Holinshed vita Rub. 1. in fine. plague in the time of Richard the first, that apparition eternized the day to all posteritie; nor is the fame of it yet dead. Our times haue seene as great a wonder, yet so short-liu'd, that it hath not worne out the age of a man, before it selfe is al­most worne out; as if the Chronicle thereof had been writ in the same ele­ment the deliuerance was wrought on, Water, where no tracke of the storie, nor character of the hand that wrote it could abide. That time I meane, when two Moones appeared in our Hemisphaere at once, the one in the skie, the other in the [Page 16] Sea: a fatall prodigious Crescent, the hornes whereof, like the Hornes of the Dan. 8. 3, 4. Ram, which stood before the riuer, were high, pushing VVestward, and Northward, and Southward, so that none might stand before him. Yet by the furie of the Goate that en­countered Uers. 7. him vpon the floods, were those Hornes broken, and that threatning Cres­cent, like a Meteor, wain'd, and went out; A Meteor indeed, for it had iust the fate of a Meteor, the matter of which it was compacted being blowne asunder, and by the windes scattered vpon each ad­ioyning shore. Heere was enough to giue life to a story so long as the world should last; but we are drowned in Le­thargie, whom neither mercies can al­lure, nor prodigies awake.

I will not seeke an instance beyond this, though I could many: and I would to God our vnthankfulnesse were boun­ded here, that though we are vnmindfull of deliuerances, which are without vs, and concerne our bodies peace, yet we might be more apprehensiue of such as [Page 17] by neerer relation concerne our soules good. But not the greatest blessings that euer befell mankinde, are free from this canker of obliuion, the Death and Passion of our Sauiour, and the Re­demption which by that act was pur­chased. For how is it possible, if wee re­member that Christ already dyed for vs, we should still crucifie him afresh, and by our sinnes (each whereof is a new crosse and burthen to him) adde afflicti­ons to his former sorrowes? that wee should wound him daily with our blas­phemies; and with serpentine tongues, sharpened with othes and swearings, fetch new streames of blood from him? Or can it be beleeued we retaine the me­mory of our Redemption, and the deare ransome Christ paid for our soules, when we set so low a rate on life, as to lay it to stake for each brawle be­got of wine and choler? apt to hazard our owne, and others soules for reuenge of the lye giuen, and (Facili redimunt qui sanguine famam) to spend our too cheap Martial. Epigr. [Page 18] blood in fetching back that thing which wise men neuer lost, Reputation? O yee sonnes of men, when will ye be wise? or when desist from being authors of your owne wretchednesse? You haue bin long put in mind of these faults, it is now time you should remember to amend them. Be but you willing, and you need not to despaire of remedy: the cure is easie, and the balme familiar, if applyed, Tantùm recordare, onely [Remember.] Remember what Christ hath said, and you will the better remember what he hath done for you. This is the right method, the pro­bation which Christ requires from his; If ye loue me, keepe my sayings; and if you Ioh. 4. 13. will perfectly remember me, first remem­ber what I told you.

But is this all that Christ requires, on­ly to remember his Word? No, there is a farther scope, Ne sufficere tibi putes man­data Hieron. epist. Dei memoriâ tenere, & operibus obli­uisci: thinke not the duty of a Christian is discharged by hearing onely, vnlesse thou doe what thou art taught. For to [Page 19] keepe the Commandements in memo­ry, and to breake them in thy course of life; to remember Christ in thy words, and forget him in thy deeds, is to mocke God, and foole away thy saluation.

Briefly thus: Let the people know it is no speculatiue, but a practick memory Christ lookes for; and to remember his words is to practise them. What shall it auaile if thou haue memory beyond Cy­rus, who could call euery souldier in his armie by name? What good, though the euidence of Time were recorded in thy braine? though thou keepe a Chro­nicle of all occurences since Adam, and couldest remember more history then Baronius wrote? surely if thou retaine all, yet practise none, if it be for theory and not vse, thou art but like a Grana­ry locked vp in the time of dearth, or a sword sleeping in the scabbard when it should bee drawne. Such knowledge doth but Animam praegrauare, comber the soule, as Sauls armour did Dauid; and is only like the Persians glittering muni­tion, [Page 20] which Alexander said was for Spoile, not Fight. So this knowledge doth spoyle the owners, and make their con­demnation the greater, when they shall know the right way, yet hold the wrong; heare so much, yet doe so little. Let no man thinke it enough to spend the day in hearing, or by frequenting a multi­tude of Sermons to aduantage himselfe; for though he count his Lectures as the Papists their Pater-nosters, by the beads, yet if he be An hearer of the Law, and not Iam. 1. 22. a doer of it, hee prosecutes against his owne soule: each Pulpit is to him a Tri­bunall, and euery Preacher a Iudge to pronounce sentence against him. Such as these are lyable to the woe, which Christ denounced, Woe vnto you Scribes and Pharises hypocrites, that impose such heauie loads vpon your Preachers, but touch them not with the least of your acti­ons. Nay they are guilty of the blood of their Preachers, as Jerusalem of her Prophets; O Ierusalem, Ierusalem, that Mat. 23. 37. slayest the Prophets which were sent vn­to [Page 21] thee! For, with tasking them to too much paines, they weare them out, and make Martyrs of them when there is no time of persecution.

Againe, let the Preachers know here is a Memento for them too, they must not onely tell the people what they should doe, but by their examples shew them the way, Oues ipsum sequuntur, the sheepe Iohn 10. 4. follow him; therefore it is presumed the Shepheards must goe before. Quis Chrysost. Hom. in Mat. audiet illum docentem, qui seipsum non au­dit? Who shall heare him, who heares not himselfe? Or, Domine quis credet au­ditui? Esa. 53. 1. Who shall beleeue his report, who by a life vnsutable to his words discre­dits his owne errand? It is Isidore Pelu­siota Isidor. Pelus. lib. 4. epist. 21. his counsell, [...]; that life and doctrine may consent: for he prea­ches best, Qui dicit non linguâ sed vitâ, Aug. Ser. 18. de Uerb. Dom. who liues as well as he speakes. There­fore Ne simus strepentes vocibus, & muti Id. ib. moribus: Let not their hearts & tongues iarre, but let their actions bee interpre­ters and comments to their words, and [Page 22] their liues the counterparts of their doctrine. For if their faces stand to Je­rusalem, and their hearts to Ashdod; teach others well, but follow not their owne lessons, they doe but (as Nazian­zen speakes) build vp with one hand, and plucke downe with the other. What shall I say of them? They are as Guar­dians that haue other mens soules in wardship, but neglect their owne: or like whetstones they set an edge on o­thers deuotion, yet themselues are dull and cut not at all; Funguntur vice cotis, Horat. de arte poet. acutum Reddere quae ferrum valet, exors ipsa secundi: or lastly, they are like Con­ueyances of land, instruments to seate others in the Kingdome of heauen, yet themselues haue no part in the state they conuey. They stand in the Pulpit like Moses on the Mount Abarim, and onely Num. 27. 12. shew the people a Land of promise, which themselues must neuer set foot in.

I haue bin long in the passage to my Text, the copious matter would not dis­misse me sooner. One note and I passe it.

[Page 23] Of all faculties in man, Memory is the weakest, first waxeth olde, and decayes sooner then Strength or Beautie. Of all powers in man it is least at commaund, the will not so little. A man may be ma­ster of his inuention and of his tongue, but who could euer boast himselfe the master of his memorie, or promise to himselfe that would not fayle? Which makes God and his Prophets, Christ and his Apostles strengthen it with so many admonitions, Remember and forget not. Deut. 9 7. Remember thy Creator in the dayes of thy Eccles. 12. 1. youth; and many the like both in the old and new Testament. Now as generally in all things we are forgetfull, so in no­thing more then in things belonging to our woes: Either we dare not, or cannot remember miseries which must befall vs. The Mariner loues not to heare of stormes; nor states rockt in securitie, of warres; nor can wanton youth endure the tidings of sicknesse, or age that must surprize it. Naturally all hate reproofe, nor haue we patience to heare of iudge­ments [Page 24] that must follow: for all these God shall bring thee to iudgement. To such re­membrances Eccles. 11. 9. wee are deafe and auerse, Monitoribus asperi: and their preachings Iuuenal. wee banish from our eares, as Amaziah Amos 7. 12. did the words of Amos, when hee fore­told Jeroboams death, and Israels capti­uit [...]e; Gradere, fuge in terrā Judah: O thou Seer, goe flie away into the land of Judah, and prophecy there, but prophecy no more at Bethel. They that will please these times must steepe their words in oyle, footh and flatter, Qui dicunt videntibus, Nolite Esa. 30. 10. videre; though they see they must say nothing, or if they doe, Loquimini nobis placentia, they must speake plausibly. Ibid. We loue to heare of faire dayes, which no misfortune clouds, and crie with He­zekiah, that Nothing but peace may sound in our eares: for sorrowes and persecuti­ons wee abhorre to thinke on; and, like those in the Prophet, Put farre away the euill day. Hunc voluit nescire diem: such blacke crosse dayes as these we curse out Lucan. of the Ephemerides, and excommuni­cate [Page 25] them from all societie with the yere, as Job did his birth-day: Let the day pe­rish Job 3. 3, 5. to all memory, let darkenesse, and the sha­dow of death staine it, and let forgetfulnesse like a cloud dwell vpon it.

Iust cause then had our Sauiour, be­ing to warne his Disciples of calamities and persecutions that should ensue, to stirre them vp to Remember: that, as the wise man aduised, their end might be in their sight: [Remember the word I said vnto you, The seruant is not greater then his Lord.]

THere is nothing so much sets out Second part. {The seruant is not greater then his Lord.} the Vniuerse as Order, to see how subordinate causes depend of their Superiours, and this sublunary Globe of the Celestiall. Were not this method, what could hinder a second Chaos? For in the Worlds beginning all lay in one common wombe of darkenes, it was onely order and that Method Gods fiat brought a long, which gaue distinction and visibility to things. A [Page 26] heauen aboue the earth, and light to se­parate day from night. Man as Lord to rule the Creatures, and God himselfe Lord ouer all. Should all haue been e­quall, what had man beene better then the beasts, saue only his shape? Or what the Serpent worse then other Creatures, saue onely for his malice? What actiue predominance should Fire haue had a­boue the other Elements? Or what pri­uiledge could that Sire of generati­on, Heate, challenge aboue vnactiue Drought, or Moysture? Grant equall force to the Elements, that the qualities of the one should not bee more opera­tiue then another, like a Mare mortuum, stupid to all motion would the World be, and Nature so be calm'd that the sea­sons of the yeere would bee lost. Heate should not name the Summer, nor Cold the Winter: instead of VVinter and Sum­mer a blended mixture of the qualities, a lazy luke-warme season would last all the yeere. Vnisons yeeld no Musicke, for Harmony consists of variety in [Page 27] stops higher and lower, and equality a­mongst men would breed nought but confusion: Siquidem aqualia non habent per se ordinem. Looke vp to heauen and reade ouer that bright booke, you shall see an inequality of light in those cele­stiall bodies [...] One starre 1. Cor. 15. 41. differeth from another in glory: so was it allowed by God, who at the reuiew of his worke found all to be valde bona, ve­ry good. And one man differeth from another in glory, in honour, in riches, in abilities of the minde; which Disparit as perfectionis magis ornat vniuersum, dispa­rity in worth makes the world more beautifull. All were not borne to be rich, nor all to be wise, nor all to teach, nor all to rule, but some for Disciples, some for Masters, some for the Throne, some for the Mill, some for Seruants, some for Lords. Which distinction we owe vnto these two Relata disquiparantiae (as Lo­gicians terme them) Dominus and Ser­uus. These were the two differences which in the Heraldry of Nature were [Page 28] first put to blazon the coates of all mor­tality, and make a distinction betwixt the elder and younger house, the Infe­riour and Superiour: for (saith Saint Au­gustine) Aug. Domini & serui diuersa sunt no­mina, sed Homines & homines paria sunt nomina. As men, all are alike: but these re­spects of Lord and Seruant make a diffe­rence amongst them.

To make it more plaine, looke once more backe and see the host of heauen gouerned by these rules of subiection and superiority; fecit Deus duo luminaria Gen. 1. magna, God made two great lights, vnto which the lesser are seruants and tribu­taries, borrowing their lustre from them. And as in heauen so in earth hath he ordained Luminaria magna, greater lights, and higher powers to goe before his people. Though I am not of opinion with that insolent Spaniard Juan Puente, that Gods meaning or the Text is to be restrained to those two Catholique Lights set vp by him, in the front of his Tomo primero de la conuenien­cia de las dos Monarquias Ca­tolicas la de la Iglesia Romana y la del Imperio Espanol, &c. Author el M ^ro fr. Iuan de la Puente, de la orden de Praedicadores, Chronista de la Mag ^d Catolica, &c. En Ma­drid en la Im­prenta Real. 161 n. Lor mandado del Roy. booke, in which hee hath taken vpon him to [Page 29] adde new deuices and Mottoes to the Shields and Scutchions of them both vnder one, the word Luminare maius vt praesit vrbi, & dominetur Orbi: vnder the other, Luminare minus, vt subdatur vrbi, & dominetur Orbi. But let him passe for a profound Sycophant. I hope the Kings of the earth shall neuer come to that no­nage, to make them Guardians of their Crownes. Those lights are well where they are, and best shine in their owne Orbes. I feare they will bee too dim to giue light to al the nations of the world; I am sure too hot and scorching for our Climate. Thankes be to God wee need no addition, wee haue one Luminaria magna of Religion and State, shining like Lampes in the great assembly of Parlia­ment; and a Julium sydus, an imperiall Starre, whose peacefull influence hath many yeeres blest our Land. May it bee long ere this Sunne goe downe, or by his set, leaue vs in darknesse and mour­ning! Nor may there want a succeed­ing Ray, a Beame of that light to shine [Page 30] in the circle of this Throne, so long as those Duo luminaria magna in Heauen, the Sunne and the Moone shall runne their course!

Since then it is established per leges v­niuersitatis, by the law of God and Na­tions that the Lord must rule, and the seruant obey, it were preposterous, nay monstrous, that the [seruant should bee greater then his Lord.] Let no man whom Fortune hath subiected and made a ser­uant, be grieued at his lot, or thinke too meanely of that vocation. To serue is no base office, nor is slauery the badge of seruants, but obedience, Seruants obey 1. Pet. 2. 18. your Masters: It is no neglected title of drudgery that alters man from his crea­tion, but a title of dependance that still referres to a superiour, and as man should doe, lookes vpwards. Men and seruants are names neere a kin. There was but one Authour that made Man, and the same made Seruants, euen God himselfe, whose decree was, That euery Rom. 13. 1. 2. soule should bee subiect to the higher power. [Page 31] He then that is stubborn resists notmans but Gods ordinance.

Serui are not slaues, but humiles amici, Sen. ep. 47. inferiour friends. Ye are my friends saith Ioh. 15. 14. Christ to his Disciples; they are Fellowes, Immo conserut, si cogitauerts tantundem in Sen. ibid. vtrosque licere fortunae; nay they are Bre­thren, Non dedignetur fratrem habere ser­uum Aug. Hom. 42. in orat. Dominic. suum Dominus eius, quem fratrem vo­luit habere Dominus Christus.

There are no slaues but such as serue either their owne or other mens crimes. Serui nomen culpa meruit, sinne brought Aug. in the first thraldome; but since the glad tidings of liberty & release was brought by Christ, who cancelled the Chirogra­phum lethale, the deadly Indenture, that none may thinke it an abiect duty to serue, he the Lord hath dignified the cal­ling by taking vpon himselfe [...], the forme of a Seruant. Phil. 2. 7.

Againe, let not the Lords of the earth, whom soueraignty hath lifted aboue the common ranke of men thinke so highly of themselues that they con­temne [Page 32] all below them, since that Lord or Master are not onely stiles of preemi­nence but of care. For this cause a Ma­ster is called the Father of his family, and the King is Pater Patriae, the father of his Countrey. In the Prophet you shall finde Dominus and Pater ioyned. Mal. 1. 6. If I be a father where is my honour, if a Ma­ster where is my feare? Let them remember that as they haue many below them, so they haue one that is farre aboue them, a Master and Lord Paramount, euen Do­minus Colos. 4. 1. dominantium: that though they be gods on earth (dixi quod diiestis) yet still Psal. 82. 6. but men, and breathe one common aire: that though fashioned ex meliore luto, of better clay, yet lutum, still but clay: and are eiusdem farinae, of the selfe same grane, though sifted by birth and fortune from the branne of vulgar men: For when all the sheafes in the field did homage to Josephs sheafe, all were but sheafes linkt in Gen. 37. 7. one band of brotherhood from earth and from the wombe.

But whither doe I presse this poynt? [Page 33] My Text is no plea of Iurisdiction, no Charter to proue only the Masters pre­rogatiue aboue the seruant: which though it naturally arise from hence, yet is not this all. That is a granted Maxime: our Sauiours meaning is lar­ger and implies that his Disciples being but seruants must not expect better mea­sure at the hands of men then their Lord had found. Non potest placere seruus cui Gloss. displicet Dominus, so the Glosse; and therefore as they might not scorne or thinke much to runne those courses of hazard and reproch which hee himselfe had past, so neither take vpon them out of pride to do more then he. Thus doth he expresse himselfe, If I your Lord and Master haue washed your feet, ye ought to Ioh. 13. 16. wash one anothers feet: there hee giues them an example of Humility; heere of Patience, [If they haue persecuted me, they will also persecute you.] To strengthen which perswasion he argues from this Axiome; [The seruant is not greater then the Lord.]

[Page 34] A iust truth and not to bee contradi­cted; but Rome denies it, and that great Heteroclite in Religion, the Pope, thinkes it too scant for him to be circumscribed by presidents, either of the Apostles, though he calls himselfe Peters successor, or of Christ himselfe whose Uicar hee is proclaimed.

Hee will ducke and complement as low as may be, stile himselfe Minimus A­postolorum, and seruus; yea lower yet, ser­uus seruorum, a seruant of seruants. Yea, and yet the Fox wants attributes deepe enough to earth his pride in. You know what in another case Saint Augustine Aug. Ser. 10. de Verb. Dom. sayes, Fabrica ante celsitudinem humiliatur, & fastigium post humiliationem erigitur: it is true in this, those that will build high, lay deepest foundations. Nor euer was insolence so high flowne, but before it tooke wing, it raised it selfe from the ground. Brutus will kisse the earth, though his thoughts aime at the go­uernment of Rome; so will the Pope les­sen himselfe, and contract his greatnesse [Page 35] into short titles, (as the Snake hides her length by folding her selfe vp into many gyres, and doubles) kisse the ground, e­uen Obad. 1. 4. when he meanes to build his nest in the Starres; when he aimes not at Romes alone, but the worlds supremacy.

Thus like a Falcon he stoopes lowest, when he meanes to soare highest, and his ambition like a bullet spit from the mouth of a Cannon, first grazes and then mounts. For behold, from these low foundations, from this flat and bottome of dissembled humility, he hath built a Tower loftier then Babel, on the highest pinnacle whereof, as on a Pha­ros, the Banner and Flag of his Supremacy is hung out; hath cast vp a Mount e­quall to Olympus, on the top whereof himselfe stands like the Tempter vpon Mat. 4. 8. that [...] exceeding high hill, from whence he shewed Christ all the King­domes of the earth. Loe, from hence doth he ouerlooke the world, and the Kingdomes of it, and to maintaine the Idoll of his supremacie, with an Omnia [Page 36] dabo, sets them all to sale, proclaiming vnto the Kings of the Nations, All these Vers 9. will I giue, if ye will fall downe and worship me. But amongst them if there bee any that refuse to adore this Golden Calfe, or question his vsurped supremacie, Res fisei Iuuenal. est, straight hee seazeth their Crownes, and, as due to him by forfeit, bestowes them most bountifully vpon any who by force of Armes can get them.

It is not long since he gaue away our Land vpon the same quarrell (that I may name no Germane examples, not of ye­sterday but to day) yet (thankes bee to God) the Title proued so difficult, and the possession so hard to get, that he who thought it already his, was faine to dis­claime the suit, and with losse of fame and costs returne home. Thus doth hee sit in Templo Dei, opposing himselfe a­gainst, 2. Thes. 2. and exalting himselfe aboue all that is called God, that is, all Kings of the earth (who are stiled Gods (Dixi quod Dii, and Christi Dei, Christs, the Lords A­noynted) Psal. 82. 6. which will not acknowledge [Page 37] him their Head, as being impatient to heare of any Deity equall or greater then himselfe. Nor against these onely doth he aduance himselfe, but he doth [...] fight against the God of heauen, and his Christ. Take a short suruey of his pra­ctice, and you will finde no greater op­position betwixt the sides of the Diame­ter, nor larger distance betwixt the two poynts of heauen, North and South, nor more enmity betwixt the words Christ and Antichrist thē their persons. Our Sa­uiour Math. 21. 5. Christ, when he entred Ierusalem, came riding meekly vpon an Asse, no atten­dants but his Disciples, and a few poore Villagers; but Kings haue walkt afoote Frederick. 1. waited on Pope Adrians stir­rop. whilest the Pope hath rode, and Emperors, like Querries, waited on the stirrop. Christ washed his Disciples feet and wi­ped Ioh. 13. 16. them: but the Pope hath caused Em­perours to kisse his feet. Christ taught vs to giue vnto Caesar, Reddite Caesari: The Math. 22. 21. Pope bids take from Caesar the things which are Caesars; not the Tribute, but Crowne, and life too. Christ refused to [Page 38] be called good, [...] as holding it a Math. 19. 17. stile fit for God alone; but the Pope is patient of a stile so farre aboue it, as su­perlatiues can stretch him, Optimus Maximus; and Dominus Deus noster Pa­pa, Bzouius Annal. Tom. 13. Extra. Verbo Significasti. Tit. 14. cap. 4. our Lord God the Pope.

Christ instituted a [...], Imposition of hands; but the Pope hath practised [...], an imposition of feet: For Caelestine the fourth, crowned the Emperour Henrie the Sixth with his foot, and spurned it off againe with his foot, dismissing him with a curse of Excommunication: So as Christ laid his hands vpon them and blessed them; the Pope laid his feet vpon the Emperour and cursed him. Now iudge their contra­riety, and see if this seruus seruorum, ser­uant of seruants, the Pope, take not more vpon him then euer Christ the Lord of Lords did. Finally the Popes (that I may omit the impiety of their owne persons, some whereof haue been Arians as Libe­rius; some Nestorians, as Anastasius II. some Heretickes, as Syricius, Caelestinus, Platina. &c. some Sorcerers, as Alexander VI, [Page 39] Sergius IIII. and 17. besides: some Atheists, as Leo X. who called the Gospell Fabulam de Christo, a fable of Christ) The Popes (I say) for these many Centuries of yeeres haue beene such profest enemies to Christ, that there haue beene no persecutions, Massacres, Invasions, Pow­der-plots, but they haue come out in a sort, cum Priuilegio, with their allowance, their encouragement, their priuity. At their feet haue the garments of all those Jesuiticall Assassinates beene layd down, as Stephens executioners layd theirs at Sauls. Nor doe we yet finde better mea­sure Act. 7. 58. (looke but to the other side of the sea, and then iudge:) Nor can we hope better, but the voyce of the Ancient Churches by them persecuted, cries vn­to vs in the words of my Text, as Christ to his Apostles, [If they haue persecuted me, they will also persecute you.]

[Page 40] I Am arriued at my last point, which Third part. {If they haue persecuted me, they will also persecute you.} Calui. Harmon. Matth. 10. 24. needs no long discourse. Haec medita­tione potius quam expositione indigent. It is a matter fit rather for meditation then proofe: and is a story acted, and no sup­position: so that our Sauiours [Si perse­cuti, If they haue persecuted me] is now tur­ned to an assertion, They haue persecuted me. Since the quarrell in the garden be­twixt the VVoman and the Serpent, the de­uill Gen. 3. neuer wanted Seconds to take vp his weapons against the promised Seed. God told her, Ponam inimicitias, I wil put enmi­tie betwixt you; And did hee not keepe Verse 15. tutch? Marke the whole passage of our Sauiours life, & tell me what day was not to him a Persecution. So soone as he sa­luted the light, to auoyd Herods bloo­dy Inquisition, which pursued him, hee Matth. 2. 13. was constrained to flie the land, and like a banished soiourner make Egypt his a­biding place. When Herod deceased, and he vocatus ex Egypto, reuok't, was he yet secure? No, but in the house of his friends (as Zacharias) so vsed, that Barbarians Zach. 13. 6. [Page 41] would haue dealt more mercifully. A­mongst his own countreymen the Iewes vnacknowledged and vnregarded, scor­ned, reuiled, belyed. Hee hath a Deuill, He is mad, He blasphemes; sometimes con­spiracy to throw him headlong from a Cliffe, sometimes to stone him. Thus was hee shuffled vp and downe from coast to coast, from the City to the field, from the Gaderenes to Samaria, from dry land to sea, yet no sayles able to make speed from his Persecutions. but Mare nos repellit ad Barbaros, each shore hee tutch't at, was an enemie, nor found his wearines the benefit of a resting place, whereon to lay his head. As a Partridge from the fowlers, so fled he from the cru­ell 1. Sam. 26. 20. Priests and Scribes, who were [They] in my Text, the Actors in this persecuti­on: and like a Roe in the wildernesse was Cant. 2. 17. he pursued. Many darts throwne after him. Many toyles pitched for him, for they sought [...], how to take him in the snare: all which though hee long a­uoyded, yet neuer did they giue ouer [Page 42] the furious chase, till faint and wearie on the top of Caluary their cruelty ouer­tooke him, where with nailes, and speare they goard his harmelesse body, and be­reaued that Just one of the life they long had hunted after.

When the Principall is slaine, parta­kers must looke to bleed: nor can the Armie hope for mercy when the Gene­rall is put to the sword. One life sacrifi­ced cannot appease an incensed enemy, nor could the life of Christ, though the best among the sonnes of men, quench the bloody thirst of the Jewes, but be­ing flesht vpon the Leader, they are ea­ger after the Heard, and hauing rent this Lambe from the fold, they seeke to wor­ry the whole Flocke. For the diuels com­mission was not like the command of the King of Syria, Fight neither with small 1. King. 22. 31. nor great, saue onely against the King of Is­rael: but as that in Zachary, Arise O Zach. 13. 7. sword and smite the shepheard, and not him alone, but let the sheepe be scattered: spare none, neither Lord nor Seruant, Ma­ster [Page 43] or Disciple, but extirpate all, downe with the glorious Temple of Christs bo­dy: Downe with it euen to the ground, and Psal. 136. 7. let not one stone of that building, one Dis­ciple suruiue to reedifie the demolished Church. You see the sad Patrimony of the Apostles, and that (as Hugo Cardinalis Hugo Card. hath it) Uenit bellum tanquam ad haeredes & imitatores eius; the warre descended to them by inheritance, and persecution was their lot and portion. For so was the will of the Testator; [Jf they haue persecuted me, they will also persecute you.]

Sinne is a fruitfull parent, and neuer yet wanted issue, but as poyson runnes successiuely thorow the veines, so haue her agents drained thorow al successions of time. The tyrannies of Gods ene­mies towards his Church neuer ended where they began, and though the per­sons changed, the malice did not. As in a Campe the word goes from Centi­nell to Centinell: so in this, Abyssus a­byssum vocat, one misery called vp ano­ther: Psal. 42. 7. and as the Carthaginians hate to [Page 44] Rome was by the Fathers assigned ouer and intailed to the sonnes; so was the cruell tradition of shedding the blood of Saints deliuered ouer by predecessors to their following generations, Finis v­nius Sen. Trag. mali gradus futuri: one persecution hath trod vpon the heele of another, and where the old went off, new Scenes of mischiefe haue taken their Cues. The Monarchies of the world haue not shifted oftener their se [...]s, then the Em­pires of death and Persecution. The first persecution began in Egypt in the time of Pharaoh; from thence it was de­riued to the Iewes; when they failed, the Arians and Easterne Heretickes went for­ward with the Chase; & Vbi desinit philo­sophus, incipit medicus, where these wrang­ling Sophisters of the diuell left, the Je­suites began. Those onely the great Pa­racelsians of the world, whose practice is Phlebotomy, to let States blood Uenâ basilicá. in the Heart-veine, and deale altogether in metals and minerals, Steele and Gun­powder: Creatures so prodigiously [Page 45] dexterous in their art, that they are now become the onely Inuentories of mis­chiefe. All the shallow elementary ex­amples of trechery formerly practised, seruing to them, but as a garden of sim­ples, from whose composition they haue extracted Quintessence of such speeding operation, that it is able to make an Earthquake greater then Nature euer durst owne; and in a moment purge a whole Kingdome into nothing. Thus hath the diuell his Infantry belonging to his Campe, and where the old Garri­sons were worne out, new supplies to make good their places, [They shall also persecute you.]

Persecution heere is no single appella­tion of misery, but a compound of all cruelty; I cannot giue a fitter Embleme to expresse it then that possest man, Mark. 5. who dwelt among the Tombes, bound with fetters and chaines: so mad Mark. 5. and raging doth it runne about the world, keeps its court amidst the graues, and her pauillion hung about with the [Page 46] trophees of death, fetters, and whips, rackes and strappadoes, halters and swords, stakes, and fire. Besides, this hath a name as numerous as his, My name is Vers. 9. Legion (saith the possest) for we are ma­ny: so is Persecution Nomen multitudinis, a collectiue name of Multitude, in it many Legions of ills, the Burse of Tyran­ny, and (which speakes all) a full Inqui­sition is included: Persecution of the body, and affliction of the mind, persecution at home, persecution abroad, and not on­ly Persecutio manus, violence offered to the body, but to the Good Name by slanders and calumnies; For Non mar­tyrium Augustin. sola effusio sanguinis consummat, nec sola dat palmam exustio illa flammarum: it is not the sword alone, nor the fire which makes a Martyr. There is Marty­rium famae, Martyrdome of fame, as well as vitae, of life. A man may bee a Martyr without blood-shed; and siccâ morte, by a dry death attaine the Crown of a Confessor; euen by suffering persecu­tion in his fame and honour, which is [Page 47] (as Anselme calls it) Persecutio oris, the persecution of the mouth. Neither is this lesse grieuous then the former, it rather exceeds it, as farre as the price of fame is aboue life. Feare not those which kill the body (saith Christ,) this is more Math. 10. 28. exquisite, and kils, if not the soule, that which is next in value, the Good name.

One of these two mischiefes, Os gla­dii, or gladius oris, either the materiall sword of the executioner, or (if not so) the sword of a two-edged lying tongue hath runne thorow all the ancient Apo­stles, and most of those Haereditarios Dis­cipulos, Tertullian. & Apostolici seminis frutices, later Apostles, who in their seuerall ages haue succeeded in the Church. Christ him­selfe was not free from it; was not hee branded with the name of an Impostour Math. 27. 63. after his death? and the Disciples were Heb. 10. 33. [...], made Theaters of misery in their liues, of scorne and infamy in their deathes.

Thus did the Arrians scandalize the great Athanasius.

[Page 48] And, as executors vnto them, the Ro­mish Priests & Iesuits with their frontlesse imputations, haue striued to darken the glorious truth of our Church and Reli­gion, by traducing the Professors, and on their ruined credits sought to build vp their owne rotten cause.

Luther was defamed for lewd life, and Bozius de signis Ecclesiae l. 23. c. 3. conuersing with the diuell, and that he had hanged himselfe. Bucer, for denying Christ Lindan Dialog. at his death. Oecolampadius, for dying Cochleus. suddenly, when hee was sixteene dayes sicke in his bed. Caluin, for dying distra­cted Hieron. Bolseic. in eius vitâ. and desperate; an aspersion which my Author saith, Bolsecke himselfe recan­ted in the Synod with teares.

Beza giuen out for a Conuert, and a reuolter from the Protestant Church to theirs. All which so grosse and false, that some with their owne pens confu­ted the calumniations cast vpon them, and amongst the rest, Beza, after the re­port of his death and conuersion, pub­lished his owne defence, and their periu­rious falshood, in a tract called Beza [Page 49] rediuiuus, Beza reuiued.

I haue yet one instance of the selfesame quality, as false as that, though not so well confuted. One indeed too many by that, and so deare, that I could haue wished He had not so soone been added to this catalogue of wronged Worthies: But that wish is vaine, and like Him, lost: and by that losse am I furnished with what most willingly I would haue wan­ted, a sad example. Your conceit alrea­dy lookes thorow me, and my meaning is articulated in your apprehensions, before vttered in words.

One he was, knowne to all enough, to me more neerly, as being tyed to him in double bonds of Canon and of Nature; Sometimes the Bishop of this See, or to vse the phrase of Saint John, the Angell Apoc. 2. of this Church, though now taken vp in­to a better Hierarchy, the society of An­gels in heauen. I had cause to thinke hee now was out of the reach of detraction, and too high fixed to be traduced, but I see flouds of reproche throwne after [Page 50] him by the Papists, as after the woman in the Wildernesse.

For my owne part, I thought once not to haue meddled at all in this subiect, knowing that Rerum irrecuperabilium foe­lieissima est obliuio, vnhappy losses are happily forgot; much lesse with the slander raised after him, supposing it too light vpon the Ballance, to poyze or sway any wise mans beliefe.

Againe, I could not iudge it but as very ridiculous, or malicious: if ridicu­lous, I hoped, like a fume it would haue vanished; For mendacia diù non fallunt; Cyprian. and, hauing arriued at nine dayes, the age of a wonder died in laughter. If ma­licious, I held best not to take notice of it. For iniury is no iniury, if not appre­hended. Omnis iniuria in sensu patientis (saith one:) to own a scandall, crownes the reuenge of the Authour, whereas, neglected, it quickly findes its owne graue.

But I see, this spurious Brat hath found too many Nurses, since it was ex­posed, [Page 51] and like a Snow-ball by rolling is growne greater: Longa aetate non infrin­gitur, Minut. Felix. sed augetur, and as it hath acquired more age, so also with those that wish it so, more credit. Therefore because im­pudent auouchings make wise men som­times doubt, and the ignorant stumble; and for that I would not with a guilty silence seeme to betray a Truth, or con­firme their errour, who take all for gran­ted which is not contradicted; I haue at last aduentured to speake: Not that I hold my selfe fit or able for this taske at any time, much lesse now; but onely for that I hoped what I should say might win more beliefe, as hauing been an eare witnesse, and which is more, Oculatus te­stis, an eye-witnes of all his last passages, and could beare record against his Ac­cusers falshood, as Saint John did of the truth, Quod vidimus, quod audiuimus, 1. Ioh. 1. &c? Yet alas what can I say! what pro­portion will words hold against per­emptory assertions? I haue nothing to conuince them but a plaine vnglost de­niall, [Page 52] Petilianus dicit, Ego nego; They say Aug. it is so, I know it is not, and in a iust case it is Rhetoricke enough. Let bad causes shrowd themselues in suspected apolo­gies, Trueth needs no clothing, but as a principle scornes proofe or demonstra­tion. Besides it were difficult to prooue a Negatiue, much harder to refute an vntruth by the tracke: you may as well descrie the Eagles path, or define that which is a twinne of the same litter, non ens. Neither finde I any such President from that Incarnate Truth, Christ Jesus, who being accused by clouds of false witnesses, answered either nothing at all, or very little, according to his owne prescript, Let your communication bee yea, and nay. And yet if I would seeke eui­dence Math. 5. 37. to cast them, I would looke no further then their owne Iurors, but ex ore ipsorum, from themselues fetch cir­cumstance to confute them. For I ne­uer yet knew any Lye so close built, but there was some loope-light for the Truth to discouer it. This is mendacium [Page 53] fenestratum, hath many wide windowes for you to behold it.

First (you know) Hee, whose con­uersion they now vrge, had been long an eye-sore to them, railed on by many of their Pamphleters, Parsons especial­ly, and that other vnchristened Jesuite, (for he hath no name, or else shames to put it to his booke) who thought it would be credit to his worke, if he could bring in the name of Doctor King, thogh but in the Rere and Post-script. Iudge then how can this Report cohere? to detest him liuing, to defame him sicke, yet claime him dead? Were it true, there is little policy to trust a reconciled enemy: But being so false, it is most impious and diabolicall to belie the dead. For insidia­ri Gen. 3. 15. calcaneo, which Gregory expounds to be Finem vitae, is the diuels proper pas­sion.

Secondly, for the Authour of his con­uersion they alleage such a one, who sure vttered words which no man euer heard, and acted feats which none could [Page 54] see. For had he been a Substantiue visi­ble, or to be vnderstood, and no Iugler, nor dreame, nor aire, nor meere meta­physicall noiton, we, who were scarce e­uer absent, should at one time or other haue descryed him. But peraduenture it was a night-piece, and not fit to bee per­used by euery light. Well then, apply their owne Ignis fatuus to it, and grant them as much as they can suppose, and marke if it appeare not farre worse.

You must presume first Mutes onely for the Actors in this Scene, thoughts or wishes to haue been Embassadours in this parley; for what Mercury flew on this errand? what seruant or friend imploy­ed to disclose the purpose of his Conuer­sion to the Confessor? did he by inspirati­on know his minde, or venter to him vn­sent for? that were strange, vnlesse some walking Frier or Fairy from Saint Omers, or Doway gaue him intelligence; or else some whirle-wind rapt him and bare him to the house, as the Angell tooke vp Habakkuk by the haire of the head, [Page 55] and set him in Babylon.

Next, a prison doore opened at all houres of the night, either by corruptiō of the keeper, or by miracle, as it opened to Saint Peter: Free passage thorow Act. 12. each ward, accesse without impediment into the house, nay bed-chamber of this sicke Patient; attendants either none, (which were vnlikely) or sleeping; Be­like such as garded the Sepulcher, whilest our Sauiours body was stolne away by his Disciples. Whether the seruants slept or no, I will not dispute: sure I am, the Tares are sowne by Seeds-men, enuious and dangerous, Seminaries and Priests.

Thus you see, like Mathematicians, they draw a great many idle lines, haue many concessions to bring their conclu­sion about, and when all comes to issue, their maine Agent proues Corpus Mathe­maticum, a meere imagination next to, yea iust nothing.

Nothing indeed, for bearing any part in this designe: a man first (by their confession) so vnfit to reconcile any to [Page 56] their Church, that hee is by them disa­uowed for a Sonne, or Member of the Catholike Church; Thomae Preston Appellatio. p. 8. Neque authorem il­lius disputationis aut Ecclesiae filium aesti­mare. Besides, they make him no lesse then a Persecutor, worse then Luther or Caluin, or then a Reprobate. And second­ly, such a one, who for his owne parti­cular had professed to many, and often, that He had neuer set foot within the gates: yea and disclaimed it vtterly with a Non noui hominem, he did not know the face of his suggested Conuert. The foulest mouth of them al cannot disproue this Personatus ille Schulkenius ex­tra omnis mode­stiae, & charita­tis Christianae li­mites, tam hor­renda crimina VViddringtono imponit, illum (que) tam inuerecun­dè calumniatur, vt eum, quan­tumuis Ecclesiae Catholicae Roma nae se filium esse syncerè prositea­tur, ipso tamen Luthero, Calui no, aut alio quo­uis perditissimo, & in reprobum sensum dato ho­muncione dete­riorem faciat, illumque praeter manifestae haere­seos crime, quod illi falsissimè ob­ijcit etiā impijs. simis Christi Do­mini Apostolo­rum, omnium (que) Christi Marty­rum persequu­toribus, & Ec­clesiae Romanae sedisque Aposto­licae hostibus iu­ratis aequiparare non perhorres­cat. Id. pag. 6.. But they thinke belike all gaine-sayings are fruitlesse, since it is already entertai­ned at Doway for Orthodox, and by them licensed to the Presse. So that what be­fore was onely Fama volans a flying re­port, is now liber volans a flying booke. I confesse it, and withall know the disad­uantage, that there now stands a whole Impression against mee: yet let them know a Truth, though but breathed in­to the aire, carries more power then a [Page 57] printed Lye. If euer any, this is one, and of the grossest edition. I now perceiue, their intelligence is as false as their quo­tations, and both as equiuocall as them­selues. The best is, this is not the first Libell which hath flowne from their presse, witnesse the three Conuersions, the life of Saint Francis, the story of Garnets strawe, and of our Lady of Loretto, Caluino-Turcismus, and that which outstrides the largest fable in Ouid, the Golden Legend.

Yet I would be glad to do the Author al right; one thing I must cōmend him for, that, in setting down the Conuersion of this our Bishop, he is so briefe, following that rule of the Poet,— Breue sit quod Juuenal. turpiter audes; short stiles best suite op­probrious and vniustifiable subiects. For, like the Dogge at Nile, he laps but fearefully, & straight flies off. Neither do I so much blame him, he did but there, as in all other parts of his booke besides, shew his skill in Poetrie, and that he was a Graduate in that eighth science which they beyond Seas haue added to the se­uen [Page 58] others, Arte calumniandi, the art of slander; that hee had studied Saunders, Parsons, Cochlaeus, and Bolseca, better perhaps then Saint Augustine, or the Scriptures.

Besides, being now inuested a Priest, (and I know not whether Arch-priest) it is not vnlikely but as Philosophers are bound to study Aristotle, so he to reade ouer and study Caiphas the high Priest, and by custome to let loose some Barra­bas, some pestilent Pamphlet to humour the Synagogue of Rome, and aduan­tage their cause: all which considerati­ons doe somewhat extenuate his fault. But for the Surueyour of his booke, Mat­thew Kellison, that would faine haue the world take him for a politicke wise man, and a solid Criticke, as hauing measured out Religion by the Acre, and taken a Geometricall Suruey of it, I know not how to excuse him: certainly if hee had been halfe so carefull to search the truth, as he was busie to suruey Religions, he would neuer haue suffered himselfe [Page 59] to be so grosly guld with euery fabulous Gazette, and idle Corante that posts betwixt England and Doway.

I desire not to bee mistaken; I come not hither to pleade against them, nor to pleade for Him, whom they haue so pal­pably iniured. Let obscure names hire a Panegyricke to varnish them ouer: faire and perspicuous Texts need no dictio­nary or glosse to construe them; such I take Him to be. That He suffers vnder their mis-report, hurts not him; it ra­ther giues foyle and lustre to him. It was the honour of dead Patroclus, that two Homer. Iliad. armies fought for his Corps: and it was the glory of Moses, that an Arch-angell Iude Ep. vers. 9. stroue with the diuell for his body: and if two Religions striue for him, as the Councell did for Paul, or that Vrbs septi­collis, Act. 23. 9. seuen-headed City contends for the new birth of his faith, as the seuen Cities did for Homers birth, can it lesse be then an honour, and such a one which Christ vouchsafes not to all? Many haue died, but Frustra peritura cadauera, as sub­iects [Page 60] not worth a contending for, past in silence. Therefore the Apostles, when they were conuented and imprisoned, Ibant gaudentes, they went in triumph, Act. 5. 41. greatly reioycing that they were held worthy to suffer reproch for the name of Christ, and for his Gospell. So that it is not his hurt; the hurt is, as Rome meant it, yours, if you beleeue it; for by be­leeuing it, you make your selues Au­thors of it. Qui ista credis, potes & facere. Tertullian. If any should labour to perswade that Snow were black, his foule report could not fully it; and though you might thinke him shamelesse that would auerre it, you would take him to bee mad that should beleeue it. Thus is his case more miserable that is rashly credulous to de­prauations of other men, then hee that first forged them The deuiser of them knowes they are false, nor can he by tel­ling make them true; but hee who be­leeues them, alters the property, and dogmatizes them for truth. And as the Artizan, who casts or carues the Image, [Page 61] is not the Idolater, but he that worships it when it is made,— Qui colit ille facit; so neither is hee so much the lyer that Martial. tells the lye, as he that beleeues it being told. It is Saint Hieroms aduice, Ne ob­trectatoribus Hieron. epist. ad Celantiam. authoritatem de consensu tri­buas, ne eorum vicium nutrias annuendo: Doe not thou authorize slanders, by gi­uing credit to them, lest thou make the crime thine. It shall bee my aduice to all that heare me, and to such as heare mee not, for Opprobrium non accipere aduersus proximos suos, not to receiue or credit Psal. 14. opprobrious calumniations cast out a­gainst our brethren, is one of the de­grees of innocence and happinesse re­cited by the Psalmist. Do but remember, that if God hath denounced a wo against Psal. 14. those that speake euill of Good, Et iusti­tiam iusti auferunt ab eo, and rob the righte­ous of their good names, he hath also a woe for them, Qui furem vident & consentiunt, who consent vnto the theft.

But my perswasion is misplaced: you are not such before whom I need to [Page 62] cleare him of this defamation. I hope with modesty I may vse Saint Hieroms Hieron. Ep. ad Celant. words, Aduersus obtrectatorum libidinem pugnat meriti magnitudo; he had deserued better ranke in your estimations then so. For did he so long runne his course tho­row this Churches Zodiack, and as a true Diocesan visit each Pulpit within your City (some of them oftner) & not onely taught within it, but [...], Luk. 4. 14. in all the adioyning villages where hee liued; neuer allowing his numerous af­faires so much as a Sabbath or Sundayes rest, whilest he was able? So; by his vn­wearied industry, telling the world, that they which for gaine, or ease, or for am­bition aimed at Bishopricks, mistooke that waighty calling, since that (as Theo­phylact Theophylact. in Ioh. 26. speakes) Ministerium affert, non facit Dominum; when Christ made his Apostles Bishops and Superintendents of his Church, he appoynted thē not so much to Lord the flocke, as to feed it. Did he all this, and with that zealous care, that as a Torch hee consumed himselfe [Page 63] to light others? and, when Himselfe should faile, prouided, so farre as in him lay, for a succession in his Blood, to set hand to the same plough; hauing dedica­ted (in his desire) all his Sonnes (in act Two) to the Ministery of this Church, and by no meanes willing to heare of any other course (though otherwise in­uited by Gracious offers for some of them in particular) to be vndertaken by them, saue that function alone? And can it be conceiued he should, after all this, turne a shifter of his Religion? Let me aske with better right then did Zedekia, 1. King. 22. 24. When went that Spirit of God, which had accompanied him thorow all the passa­ges of life, from him? Great buildings, before they fall, giue warning of their ruine, by inclining some way or other; what argument did hee euer giue of his Reuolt? or that like Ephraim, hauing bin so long harnessed, so long militant in Gods battels, so long a Captaine in the Armie, he should in the last day of bat­tell turne backe, when hee had now but [Page 64] one enemie to incounter, Death? that he should forsake his Colours, or like a [...] and Renegado, recant that faith which with much contention, and with losse of Spirits he so long had maintai­ned? Had his resolution wauered this way, how could he haue disguized so ap­parant a relapse from those reuerend B. of Couentry and Lichfield. B. of Bath and VVelles. B. of Ely. Bishops who were his familiar and fre­quent visitants; and especially his most honoured friend the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, who was with him on the Wednesday before his decease? [...], is the old rule; the end of life euer answeres the beginning. If so, who can imagine that One, who began in opposition to the Church of Rome, should end in Apostasie and reconcile­ment to it? Nay, that good Father is confident, Mors mala putanda non est, August. Ciuit. Dei. lib. 1. cap. 11. quam bona vita praecesserit: It is incredi­ble he that liued so well, should make so inglorious an end.

Nor was this confidence in him any way abused; neither his end dispropor­tionate [Page 65] to his beginning. Hee that had so long taught others how to liue, was by his owne infirmities tutord in the art of dying. It is not strange he should bee perfit in this lesson, since for a long time (to vse the Apostles words) He dyed daily; 1. Cor. 16. 31. his sharpe agonies hauing made his life but [...] no better then a liuing death: vnto this wholly doth hee addresse his thoughts, and admonished by his in­creasing paines, as from the tongue of the Prophet, sent from God to summon Ezekiah, he sets his house in order. Where first he resolues himself into his principia naturalia, bequeathing his Soule to God that gaue it, his Body to the dust from whence it was taken: and not onely so, but In principia fortunae, hee resolues his fortunes into their beginnings; acknow­ledging with all thankfull duty, that vn­der God, our gracious Soueraigne had been the maker of them. I will not con­ceale his owne words dictated in his last Testament. First, I bequeath my soule into the hands of Almighty God, beseeching him [Page 66] for Christ Jesus sake, my most blessed Saui­our, that as it hath pleased him, euen from my mothers wombe, to take mee into his speci­all fauour and protection, and to continue the same vnto me thorowout all the passages of my life, especially vnder my most gracious Ma [...]ter and Soueraigne, the Instrument of his goodnesse and bounty to me and mine, for these eighteene y'eres; and hath vouchsafed me, though the vnworthiest of many, to bee a Minister of his holy Word and Sacraments: so it would please him in this my time of sick­nesse and grieuous infirmity, to hold mee vp by his right hand, and to vouchsafe mee the comfort of his holy Spirit, that I may pati­ently indure this crosse and affliction which he hath laid vpon me. A Petition as soone granted as desired: nay I may say as it is in the Prophet, Antequā clament, ego exau­diam. Esa. 65. 24. God heard his prayer long before it was framed in this place. For from the first beginning of his sicknesse, hee was indued with such a spartana patientia, well knit patience, that some of his Reuerend brethren comming purposely to com­fort [Page 67] him, professed they found more comfort from him, then they could bring: and though hee might truly say with Dauid, I am weary of my groning, and Psalm. 6. Euery night wash I my bed with teares; Yet neuer did any impatient murmure (it was a religious boast in the Lord, vttred by himselfe) breake from his lips against that high hand which had so long hum­bled him: neither did that Petra, rocke­stony disease grow so fast within him, but his Christian resolution hardened as fast, and his faith built as firmely on the true Rocke of his Saluation Christ Jesus; with the Inuocation of which Name hee be­gan and ended the day, vsing most fre­quently those words of Saint Paul, Cupio Phil. 1. 23. dissolui, & esse cum Christo, I desire to bee dissolued.

But before he loosed from this shore, considering hee was bound for a long voyage, he was not vnmindfull, first to take in Uiaticum animae, the holy sacra­ment; which hee professed in the pre­sence of some Sir Henry Martin his Chancelor. M. Matthias Cal licot. M. Philip King his Brother, Iohn King his second Sonne, and myself, &c. especiall friends, his [Page 68] wife, children, and family appoynted by his owne inuitation to accompany him to that feast, as Christ to his Disciples, Luk. 22. 15. [...]; his soule had greatly longed to eate that last sup­per, and to performe that supreme Chri­stian duty before he left them. Yea, hee so hungred and thirsted after that Bread of life, and that Cup of saluation, that though all solid sustenance was become odious to his palate, now quite disabled from taking it downe, yet he professed, duty and Religion should preuaile aboue his weaknesse, and he would force himselfe to eate that sacred Bread, which as it was the first he had in many dayes before tasted, so was it the last. His Chaplaine Doctor Cluet, Archdeacon of Middlesex. ministred to him, who (let me not omit) hauing read the Confession, for that purpose, was by him commanded to reade it ouer againe. Hauing happily accomplished this seruice in all our hea­rings, he gaue thankes to God, that hee had liued to finish that blessed worke, (it was his owne speech) and after a short prayer, [Page 69] conceiued by himselfe, hee dismissed the company.

Such was his deuout preparation, and so long did he obserue the tedious Vi­gils before the festiuall of his dismission; his day of Rest was now come, which, as if reserued by Gods fauour, was that ve­ry day his Sauiour dyde on, Good Friday: & that time of the day when our whole Church was exercised in prayer, accor­ding to the custome of that Day (neere eleuen of the clocke in the fore-noone) as if he had stayed to take the helpe and aduantage of good mens deuotion to set him forward: a day, which might in­cite Prophets and Patriarkes to desire to end on, being truly Dies meus (as Christ said) My Day: a good and blessed day, Iohn 8. 56. and of all others most proper to crown and dignifie the end of good men. Drawing now fast to his end, and ready to hoyse saile for another World, he re­quests the valediction of our prayers at the parting. Our obedience forthwith actuated his wil; straight was his bed in­compassed [Page 70] with mournefull Clients, rea­dy to offer vp a religious Uiolence to heauen for his sake. First, he expresly cau­seth his Chaplaine, now his ghostly Fa­ther, to reade the Confession and Abso­lution, according to the ordinary for me of Common prayer in our Liturgie. Which ended, and our prayers hauing taken a short truce, as awaiting some­what now from him, he bids the curtains to be quite throwne open, and whilest we kneeled, not vnmindfull of his Epis­copall office, to shew hee was not so ex­hausted, but hee had yet One Blessing in store, hee distributes a benediction round about, to euery one of vs there present; so that his Bed was now like the Mount Garrizim, from each corner Deut. 11. 29. whereof a Blessing resounded.

His speech here felt a stop; but nei­ther our Prayers, nor His vnderstanding; for testimony whereof, desired by his Chaplaine to make some signe, his heart went along with vs, and tooke the same course our Prayers poynted out, [Page 71] with a most speedy hasted eleuation of Hands he expressed that his Heart, like Elias before the Charriot, yet kept pace with vs, though his tongue could not: and though he wanted Organs to eiacu­late his Prayers, the eiaculation of his eyes darted vp to Heauen now supplied that want. There they yet fixt, as if ey­ther he had with Stephen beheld the Hea­uens Acts 7. opening for his admittance, or meant to marke that place whither his Soule now bended, or else that his Body was emulous to haue gone along with it: For we might perceiue, that like the two Disciples that ranne to the Sepulcher, they Joh. 20. 4. both ranne to seeke Christ, but that Other Disciple outranne Peter; Anima antecessit corporis moram, the Soule too swift for the Bodie, left it behinde. And yet that fol­lowed Ioh. 19. 40. with the best speed it could make, and ligatum linteis, wound vp in a bare winding sheete (as far from superstitious Pompe, after it wanted breath, as him­selfe euer was whilest he had breath to reprooue it in others, or to He commanded in his VVill, his body to be buri­ed in the Cathe­drall Church of S. Paul, without any Pompe or solemnities, onely with a Tombe­stone with this Inscription, Resurgam. forbid it in [Page 72] himselfe) Introiuit monumentum, came vnto it's Sepulchre, his corps being borne thither by men of eminent de­gree [...] Act. 8. 2. and worth in our Church, like those who carried Stephen to his graue, Act. 8. 2. the very euen before that blessed morning wherein those two Disciples came to Christs: This difference betwixt their Epitaphs; on Christs Graue, Resurrexit, hee is risen; on this Seruant of Christs, Resurgam, I shall rise, and in the meane, rest in assured hope to bee partaker of the Resurrection of the iust. There now committed to the Earth by that Reue­rend and most Orthodox Prelate, in Re­ligion and learning equally absolute, my Lord Bishop of Couentrie and Lich­field, VVhere also was present the Lord Bishop of Ely. (who concluded the last Act of the intire affection mutually borne betwixt them liuing, by honouring his dead Corpes with rites of Buriall) doth it peaceably rest: and let me heere rest. For in my owne particular it must euer be a part of my Prayer (and it is a wish I would not be so vnthriftie to venter but [Page 73] vpon good assurance, nor settle it else­where) Sic mihi contingat viuere, sicque mori: May my course of life be such, and may my end be like his. Or, if it be too much ambition for me to craue Eliah's 2. King. 2. spirit, that is, to liue like Him, an humbler Boone shall content me, to possesse his Mantle; that is, to Dye in the profession of that Protestant Faith in which he did.

I haue touched vpon a sad string; a subiect to which affection and sense is quicke; I could not lesse in pietie then [...], as Telemachus to his Father; Homer. Odyss. or as the Latines haue it, Parent alia per­ficere, performe my last Parentall Dutie, and act these Justa, Rites; though not Exequias, Funeralls to His memorie, which will longer suruiue in the brests of good men. Nor could I more, then in this sort Parentare iniuriis (out of so iust a prouocation as wrong done to a Father) take that temperate Reuenge of a Slanderer, as to disprooue him. My Speech heere findes a Deliquium, and Cupit dissolui, labours in the period: Suf­fer [Page 74] it to gaspe a few minutes, and it sud­dainely expires.

Let no man doubt, or wauer, or think the worse of Religion, for that so noted a Professor is traduced. These are stale tricks with our Aduersaries, since it hath been long their practice, like the Luna­ticke in Athenaeus, euer wont to stand vp on the Key of the Cittie, if any fayre Shippe of rich burthen (any noted [...], vessell fraught with knowledge Acts 9. 15. and true profession of the Gospell) had made to the Hauen, to crie, It is theirs, it is theirs. Againe, let no man be confir­med, that this Scandall is true, because they so peremptorily beleeue it. Such is their impious Credulitie, that it is grown a Maxime among them to beleeue any thing, were it neuer so false, were it Con­tradiction, so it made any way for them: For those very tongues, which out of malice gaue out in time of his sicknesse, That through impatience he had offred violence to himselfe; those very same, after his death, out of the abundance of [Page 75] their Romish charitie, would perswade the world, he died Reconciled vnto their Synagogue: for I may not call it Church, vnlesse it be Ecclesia malignantium, Eccle­sia maledicentium. Nor let this Lye prooue more authenticke because Printed; that rather discredits and weakens it, and you haue now more cause to suspect it then before. It is a ground in their Re­ligion, that Vnwritten traditions haue Ad confutandos haereticos ma­tor vis in tradi­tione quàm in Scriptura. Canus Loc. lib. 3. cap. 3. more authority then written Scriptures. And if so, why should not we take them at their word, and make as slight and scornefull reckoning of their writings, as they of Gods?

Lastly, that none may wonder, or be perplexed, or through a nice misprision suspect there could not but bee some ground for this farre-blowne Calumnie, let him but [Remember the word that Christ sayd,] and what He Suffered, and then all wonder will end in satisfaction. For who can thinke it strange that Christs Seruants are slandered, when Hee their Lord and Master could not auoyd the poysoned [Page 76] breath of Slander? If His Innocence had no protection, but that He on no ground at all was belyed by malicious tongues, surely on as little ground will they belie any Disciple of His; [For the Seruant is not greater then his Lord:] And (saith Christ) If they haue persecuted me, they will also persecute you.]

Why then, Sufficit Discipulo vt sit sicut Magister eius: Let it satisfie all the world Matth. 10. 25. and his owne fame, that this (now dead) Disciple hath had but the same fate and vsage his Master had.

It is the glory of Imitation to coun­terfeit the life; and Art is most proper, when it most resembles Nature. The Apostles were but Copies drawne from Christ; their perfection therefore must needs be greatest, who come neerest to the Originall: And that Disciple is a true Disciple, who learnes not the Lesson, but the Master, not only suffers for Him, but in degree and qualitie as like as may be to Him. This is truly Discere Christum, to learne Christ; this is Induere Dominum [Page 77] Jesum, to put on the Lord Iesus; this is to Partake the sufferings of Christ. They who durst partake his sorrowes, shall share with Him in ioyes: they that are sicut in terra, shall be also sicut in coelis: For so hath the Spirit assured vs. It was the Motto of his Episcopall Scale. Si compatimur, conregnabimus; If wee suffer with him in earth, we shall raigne with him in Heauen. Behold, a voyce hath bid me write, Bles­sed Matth. 5. 11, 12 are ye, when men reuile and persecute you, and say all manner of euill for my Names sake falsely; Reioyce and be glad, great is your reward in Heauen.

BEing asked, Whether he hath not heard by report and bruite abroad, that it hath been said of him, that hee was with Doctor King, late Lo. Bishop of London, a little before his death, and that he reconciled the said Bishop to the Church of Rome, and therein perfor­med vnto him the office and function of a Priest.

And being further asked, Whether he hath not heard of a Book not long since published, which is intituled, Protestants [Page] Plea, and Petition for Priests and Papists, and that in the same Booke it is said, that the fore-named Bishop did hum­bly at the feet of a Priest confesse his sinnes, receiue Sacramentall absolution at his hands, and was reconciled to the Catholike Roman Church; And being hereupon charged vpon his consci­ence, and his Priesthood, to speake the truth, whether hee were the person spo­ken of by report, or designed by the said booke to performe such an of­fice.

Hee answereth, That it is true, that hee hath often heard, that such a Re­port was spredde abroad concerning him, and many both Protestants and Catholikes haue come vnto him to in­quire, whether that report and bruit were true or no.

And that hee hath heard, that in the booke before named, some such thing is deliuered, and vpon the day of this his examination hee was shewed the booke by the Lord Archbishop of [Page] Canterbury, wherein hee found those things afore mentioned to bee contai­ned.

For the declaring of truth in all which, he protesteth before God, and vpon his conscience, as he shall answere at the dreadfull Day of Iudgement, that the said Bishop of London did neuer confesse himselfe vnto this Examinate, nor euer receiued Sacramentall absoluti­on at his hands, nor was euer by him re­conciled vnto the Church of Rome, neither did renounce before him the Religion professed and established in the Church of England, nor did per­forme any other circumstance tending that way, as is in the said booke of the Protestants Plea deliuered.

Yea he addeth further, that as he hath hope to be saued by Christ Jesus, he this Examinate, to his knowledge, was neuer in company where the said Doctor King late Lord Bishop of London was, nei­ther did he euer receiue letter from him, nor did write letter vnto him; neither [Page] did he euer (to his knowledge) see the said Bishop in any place whatsoeuer, nor could haue knowne him from ano­ther man, and therefore affirmeth, that this bruit and report is raised concer­ning this Examinate, and the said late Bishop, without any true ground and foundation.

Being asked what hee should thinke to bee the cause wherefore any person should raise this fame or report, hee saith, that from the beginning hee did conceiue it to be nothing else, but that some, who did maligne him, were willing to disgrace him, or vndoe him, by bring­ing him in obloquy with the King or State, where he remaines a prisoner.

Being demanded, whether euer hee hath probably or credibly heard that any other Priest did repaire to the said late Bishop, did take his Confession, gaue him absolution, or reconciled him to the Roman Church, hee protesteth, that he did neuer credibly or probably heare of any such thing.

[Page] Being asked whether he hath heard, that Masse hath been said for the said Bishop, in any part beyond the seas: hee answereth, that he hath heard such a re­port, but doth not know any thing of certainty concerning the same.

Recognit. coram nobis 28. Decemb. 1621.

In praesentia mei