THE ARRAIGNMENT OF SLANDER PERIURY Blasphemy, and other malicious Sins, showing sundry examples of God's judgements against the Ofenders. Aswell by the Testimony of the Scriptures, and of the Fathers of the primative Church as likewise out of the reports of Sir Edward Dier, Sir Edward Cook, and other famous Lawyers of this King doom. Published by Sir William Vaughan Knight. LONDON. Printed for Francis Constable, and are to be sold in Paul's Church yard at the sign of the Crane. 1630. TO THE LORDS OF HIS MAJESTY'S most Honourable Privy Counsel. INImitation of that Burgundian Boo●c, that saluted the French King with a present of Radish roots, and also of the Persians, who by reason of their countrey-custome durst not Ire salutatum Satrapes sine muner● magnos, Greet their great Lords without some grateful gift: Right prudent ●●dpr●●●dent Lords, I present a mean object to your indicious sights. A mean object indeed, if ye regard the worth of the person that presents it, or the person whom it concerns, being the spiteful Spirit of Detraction, yet tolerable perhaps, if ye receive the presentours' ready will with the reflection of your comfortable countenance: but most noble, and worthy to be ennobled with your patronage, if ye respect the means and Circles, (as I know you do) whereby this Spirit is Conjured and Convicted, even by the sword of Angels, the mystical sword, the word of God: and also by the sword of man, Alexander's sword, the decider of our Gordian doubts. With the former sword Michea confuted the false Prophets of Samaria, Michael confounded the detracting Dragon, and Michael's followers here on earth the false Prophet of our Christian Church, that deceiver, that depraver of the holy Ghost, and of his precious properties. With the latter sword men punish men malicious men. With this sword a King plagued Midas for his doltish Detraction: & a Queen plagued Niobe for her courtesan comparison. Whether these objects be noble, tolerable, mean, or as waste leaves good for nothing, save for Apothecaries to wrap about their drugs, I submit them, and compromit them together with myself to your Honour's grave arbitrement, in hope that ye will ascribe all imperfections to my want of perfections, to the brevity of time, and to the suddenness of the accident. For the world's great Thunderer having lately taken unto him my dear wife by a sulphureous damp of lightning, and shaken some part of my house with a thunderclap, hath likewise struck me with such an amazement in mine understanding, with beholding out of my tabernacle of flesh and blood the glorious gleams of his power, that truly I must needs confess myself to be somewhat backward in penning and painting out this handiwork of his, almost as ominous to me, as his hand writing was to Balthasar in Babylon. To this I may adjoin multitudes of impediments as well of public causes and suits abroad, as also of mine own private affairs at home. All which concurring upon me in confused heaps, some by importunity of office, some of necessity, and some by Satan's suggestion commonly every day since that fatal blast, caused such unpolished points, as in the reading may occur to your learned view. And yet for all this, Right honourable, I had not so abruptly at this time hastened on mine abortive work to your presence, were it not, because I would stay betimes the forward steps of Satan, and also because I would stop the unpure mouths of prattling Momes, and tattling Niobes, who inter Bacchanalia amidst their pots of drink, their pipes of Tobacco, and idle fits of jollity establishing the shallow foundation of their reports upon the flying and lying rumours of licentious libelers, do blasphemously blaze abroad to the derogation and prejudice of the powerful Lord of lightnings, that the Devil our spiritual Tempter acted this terrible tragedy. Some other times they give out, that the same Devil conjured up at mortal men's commands, took her away body and all, or at leastwise some principal part of her body. Which sacrilegious imputation as I know Gods elect do already both loath and laugh to scorn: so I doubt not but all others shall by this present Treatise learn to leave it off as a poisoned paradox. Again, there is not wanting a sort of suspicious Critics, who arrogating to themselves the gift of Prophecy, or revelation from above, do make a taunting tabletalk of this heavenly visitation in lieu of a grace or salt to season their meats withal, by attributing this unexpected chance to some secret sins of hers. Which Scrthian censure all her acquaintance will contradict, and condemn of calumniation. All her familiar acquaintance will consent with one voice, with one mind in the scrutiny of her trial, that she lived as innocently, as industriously, as honestly, & as humbly towards God and man, as any whatsoever in all her country, without deceit, without Detraction. And if this be a Demonstration infallible, that out of sure premises we infer a sure conclusion, that none dieth ill, who hath lived well, (for a good tree ever bears good fruit) and that we must judge men by their lives, and not by their deaths, then dare I assuredly assume, that she died as guiltless as those, on whom the Tower of Siloc fell. By the stairs of hell she swiftly climbed above the stars of heaven. By lightning flames (as Elias in fi●ry Chariots) her soul soared up aloft into the Region of eternal light. Othersome in mine own country more passionate, because I reform disorders, and would redress certain misdemeanures whereof they claim prescription as an hereditary or necessary evil, do evaporate these uncharitable speeches touching my proceedings, that God sent these prodigious events, as prodromes and forerunners of his indignation conceived against me for my severity of justice. Summum ius, summa iniuria. Extreme justice, extreme injury. Which Detraction of theirs I will only countermine with that grave authority, interpreting old Augustine's honest mind; Rash judgement hurts not the person that is judged, but rather him, that so rashly judgeth, Quia cu●nvolumus aliena per iram coercere, graviora committimus, by reason that when we would correct the faults of other men in passion, ourselves commit more grievous faults. Another kind of Detractours measuring our actions by the ell of their own guilty consciences and usurping the Popish parts of Ghostly Confessors, do parley in private among themselves, that our just jehovah darted this lament●ole mishap, as a mystical scourge for some silent sins of mine. At which accusation I will ●●t equivocate, nor endeavour to acquit myself ●hereof with the presumptuous Pharisee, for I frankly acknowledge, as one of Adam's progeny, that I am throughly tainted with the leprosy of sin: whereof I expect no deliverance at all by any earthly Aesculaptus, save only by the fiery Serpent which healed the Israelites. I am carnal as S. Paul said, and sold under sin. Yet notwithstanding, if sin present do not please me, I know that sins past shall never harm me. But as there be differences and degrees in sins, wherein for the most part I shake hand with these Detractours, so dare I partly adventure to clear my soul from one particular sin, (like as Luther justified himself from avarice) that my nature ever abhorred injustice or partiality, though I might have hazarded the loves of my nearest kinsfolks. Let impious Ishmael, and envious Haman (whose words are swords) combine together, let them throw forth what Detractions they can, like stumbling blocks in my way: I pass not for them. On the contrary I will glory with that Gentile in Tacitus: Fulgorem bonorum à me nunquam praelatum, excubias ac labores ut unum ex militibus pro incolumitate Imperatoris malle. That I never preferred bright shining goods, but chose rather watchings and labours, as one of the common soldiers for the Emperor's safety, and for the wea●● of my Country. Such disgraceful libels spurging up from the stem of blasphemous Detraction were diwlged and dispersed abroad in all places far and nigh. Which when I had throughly ruminated and reuo●ued in my mind, looking withal into the depth of their cankered corruptions, how that our heavenly King is highly injured thereby, as also how that his Divine titles are daily dishonoured, despised, and detracted with their wilful, wanton, and unwise speeches, whereby that member or outward sheath wherein our thoughts are folded, which should be the faithful Interpreter ●the soul, Oraculum animae, speculum mentis, miraculum naturae, is commonly perverted from Christian purity to wilful blasphemy, so that Nazianzens saying is verified in our age, Linguamdimidiam humanorum vitiorum partem sibi vend●cat, half the vices, which we commit, are committed by the tongue. Nay, our whole life is full of the tongues wickedness: Tota vita nostra linguae delictis est referta, as Basil wrote. At this prodigious degeneration my spirit seemed to sparkle, as a blazing star within me, portending miseries to such mischievous wretches, yea, it burned as a blast of fire in the furnace of my body, incensing the principal powers thereof, (as kinds of green fuel ordained for this purpose) to consume some of those sapless shrubs, or at least (as smoking firebrands) to terrific children from playing too much with sacred mysteries, from laughing, like unnatural Cham at Noah's nakedness, from mocking at Elishaes' reverend head, and (to speak like a Poet) from plucking overlong at jupiter's beard, from polluting their father's ashes. These, these motives, Right noble Lords, enforced me to expose abroad mine untimely Embryo, not altogether shaped aswell as I intended, nor yet grown to that maturity, as the Satirist answeredin defence of Virgil's Aeneads. Vt ramale vetus vaegrandi subere coctum: Like an old bough full ripe with bark. But what perfect essence nature denies unto it, or what complete form Art conceals from it, I humbly crave that all may be construed in good part by your Honorsboundlesse bounties, whereto, as to a divine Oracle or discreet Rhadamanthes, I fly for verdict in the behalf of this worthless work, which once again I dedicate Dijs tutelaribus to your heroical virtues, either by them signed ominously with print of chalk, or with coal, or (according to the Greek custom) with the black letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 destinating death, to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. censured worthy of immortality and of everlasting Cedar, or else to be canceled in perpetual oblivion and Cymmerian darkness. To the Readers. REaders, whether ye be men or women, kind or cursed, friendly or frumping, all is one to me. I respect not your kinds, kindred or kindness; your kinds being but nature's instruments for propagation of mankind. And for other respects, which are worldly, I force not at all, for Truth is spiritual, essential, internal, and cares not for outward formalities. Only I weigh your tongues the Detracting instruments of Satan sor both your genders, to the pretudice of your dear souls. In your tongues I find no more distinction or denomination of male and female than I find of your souls, which likewise are ne●ther male nor female, but all one, all alike in both your sexes. I find this original accident coincident aswell to tongues as souls, that there be good Aesop's tongues, and evil Aesop's tongues; the good ordained to heavenly Hymns, to joyful jubilees, to Angelical Alleluiahes: the evil tongues to taunt, to detract, and with jobs wife, to curse God and die. Ye daughters of Eve, misconstrue not my simple speech. I tax not all your tongues in general. There are voices of Angels, voices of Men, and voices of Devils. The first are heavenly (as I said before) being sweet smelling sacrifices of Christian Choristers, or holy Oracles of the inward man. The second earthly, as sounding brass or tinkling Cymbals. The third hellish, as the roaring of a ravening Lion. The first I commend as the rare song of a black Swan. The second I mean to amend as the penitent cry of the prodigal child. The third and hellish voice of the spirit of Detraction I commit as the Parisians Matins, or Sicilian Evensong into the Dungeon of hell, where is weeping and gnashing of teeth. These diversities of tongues and voices sprang up from the same tree of good and evil. Out of the same Eve (like Lycurgus his whelps, or whelpish twins) came Cain and Abel. Virtuous Dames, let it suffice, that for your sakes I spare to play the Satirist against the Detracting Niobes of this age. Only I control them with a gentle check; and because you plead in their excuse, that they be the weaker vessels, and not enabled with such a noble courage as the man: therefore I give them the milder bridle, the golden snaffle. Courteous Readers, I speak not to you: for they that be whole, need no Physicians. Captious Readers, on you I call. Behold, here are bridling bits for your biting mouths. Readers, yield to your Riders, show yourselves pliable, peaceable, and ready to receive convenient chastisements. Let not your customary hold of feasting fellowship, of giddy gossiping, or of Tobacco taking, withhold your minds from our Cursory Lectures. Resist the Devil, and he will fly from you. But I pray, what fantasy draws your wit's astry, ●ee sharp tongued soldiers of the forlorn hope? Ye that were wont to daunt your foes bravely in the field, to conquer Kingdoms, and beat down the enemies of Christ in foreign soils, why become ye nowadays so effeminate, as to convert your swords into words, your powerful prowess into prattling parlance? Why degenerate ye from your famous Ancestors? Too true it is, that overmuch ease mars your generous spirits, welfare makes you wanton, and prou●nder pricks you forwards to turn deeds into Detractions, and in stead of Christian resolution, to wage war with your tongues, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to incline to swinish companying, carousing, and Tobacconizing: where many foul faults flock together, and (as the nature of sin is to multiply) according to our Saviour Christ's words, where one wicked spirit is suffered to inhabit, there he brings in other inmates, worse spirits than himself; specially the spirit of Detraction first gets in his head like a cunning Fox, and then by little and little enters in with his whole body, to the utter over throw of man's little world; So that Christians fall out to be Antichristians, Apostles Apostates, and manly soldiers scolds and scoffers. To come nearer unto you, what is the reason that this renowned people, who claim themselves from Brutus, are become so brutish, as to be addicted to gossip-ales, Brideales, and to bacchanales, and consequently to Detractions and descanning of other men's destinies; yea, and otherwhiles to discourse of God's secret judgements? Omne vitium habet patrocinium: No vice without a cleake: no sin without some apish Apology. These jolly fellows being driven to this exigent, do confess, that corrupted custom brought them to such vicious habits. O cruel custom! O hateful habits! which work the fatal and final ruin of souls and bodies! Nevertheless, as there is no custom but may be altered, so for mine own part I cannot believe, that custom alone causeth man (a creature enriched with Divine reason, and enfeoffed with freewill and election in many things, specially in natural and humane things) to carouse, and then to read stammering Lectures, both on the sacred power of God, and on their simple neighbours souls. For some carouse of custom, some of wantonness and company. Some again delight therein, being sophistically persuaded, that the excessive use thereof avails much for their health's sake, as a purger of superfluous rheums. Others favour Tobacconisme, because they would not seem overnice, melancholic, or men by themselves in the singular number, and also because Tobacco might serve them in stead of salt or dry leaders to drinking, and consequently unto Detracting: but for the most part our Cavaliers and Gentles of the first head suck in the smoky vapour of Tobacco, because they might counterfeit themselves giddy or drunken (for it is no shame to be drunk with Tobacco) when they want copy of matter or store of discourse. Then they fame themselves so long ravished as it were in an e●tasi●; until after a through per ambulation of their barren wits, and after long houghing, halking and hacking, they have coined some strange accident worthy the rehearsal among their boon companions. Then as though they started out of an heavenly trance, and as the Satirist writes: Mobile colluerint liquido cum plasmate guttur. Having their throats well washed with dreggish drugs: They recount tales of Robin-hood, of Rhodomonting rovers, of Donzel del Phoebo, of a new Anti-christ borne in Babylon, of lying wonders, blazing out most blasphemous news, how that the Devil appeared at such a time with lightning and thundering Majesty, much about that horrible manner, as the Glorious God appeared on mount Horeb, raised tempests both on Sea and land, not inferior to those stormy Heteroclites of the West Indies, called the Furicanoes, shook the foundation of the earth, battered such gentlemen's houses, and if they had not suddenly blessed themselves better, he had carried away with him men, women, houses, and all right into hell. These or such like feeble fables do they scatter abroad among their foolish Auditors, while in the mean time, the Devil, the Schoolmaster of all lewdness, appears no where more forcibly, then in the very midst of these uncharitable Readers, yea, and perhaps his spiritual pason or poisonous spirit is exhaled and exhausted with their Tobacco and draughts of drink into their musty minds. O Tongue, how is thy perfection perverted, thy sense depraved, thy sound degenerated! How comes it to pass that the soul's Ambassador is become a turncoat Herald! Expectavi legatum, inveni Heraldum, I expected an honourable Ambassador, but have found a huffecap Herald, as our late Queen Elizabeth of famous memory sometime nicked a presumptuous Ambassador of Polonia. I expected to hear nothing but truth out of the mouth of God's similitude, specially, to his neighbour in Christ, to Christ in his members. But (alas) I find nothing but lies and libels. Omnis homo mendax. I expected for reformation, but have met with ruinous relapses. O Tongue, tongue, how miserable are the effects of thy motions! Being made for a watchful clapper to the Bell of God's Temple, to pray for Grace, to comfort the sick, to confirm the penitent, to confute the absurd, to confound the Detractor, why ringest thou out such paltry peals? Why ragest thou against thy Master's will, against thyself without just cause or need? In thy youthful time thou crakest and vauntest of thy vain worth, bursting thy lungs well-nigh with windy brags. In thy more mellow or maturer age thou standest elated in thine own conceit, as though thy hoary colour hath added uncontrolled trust and truth unto thy stale assertions. In all the progress of thy wagging, in all thy proceedings, thou abusest thy proper function: for which the Lord will not hold thee guiltless at that universal Synod, when the heavens shall be folded together, like a book, when our consciences, the true table-books of our souls shall lie open without lies against us, and we shall yield account for every idle word. These things expended and examined by me in the balance of understanding, and fearing lest I might participate with them in their derogatory crimes, or incur the penalty of traitorous Misprision towards our righteous Lord for my cowardly conccalements, if according to that measure of spirit, which he hath bestowed upon me, I reproved them not: therefore have I published this humble Treatise, that therein, as in a glass or map, they may behold the reflection of their filthy faults extinguished and extirped. What do I know, whether the great God hath delivered me from diverse dangers for these or such like purposes? To this end was I b●r●e, that I should do my best to glorify God, and edific my country. To this end I wish with all the veins of my heart, that what ability of wel-saying and welldoing is defective in mine own person, the same by the Divine bounty may be liberally supplied to all others in this present book. And that the Readers hereof may learn in sparing speech to follow the examples of the holy Prophets and Apostles, who for their honest admonitions and humble exhortations were overcast with a cloud of scorn among the reprobates of this world; or at least wise, that they imitate some of the heathenish Philosophers, namely Pythagoras, who imposed Decennale silentium, ten years' silence on his scholars, or Socrates who for many hours together would sit silently musing on the wonderful workmanship of God, or Arcesilas, Solon, and other enemies of Detraction. To this end I heartily wish, that all they, which find themselves subject to this spirit of Detraction, may be terrified from that idle use with such magical motives of Michael's mysteries, as I have herein inserted, like as if the Utopian Syphograunts, the Athenian Ostracism, the Roman Censors, the Spanish Inquisition, or as if the statute de scandalis magnatum, being as it were naturalis feritatis mastix, the scourge of savage nature, had straightly bridled their lavish tongues within the precincts of their teeth and lips. Vos O Patricius sanguis, queis vivere fas est Occipiti coeco, posticae occurrite sannae. TO THE CURIOUS PAINTERS OF CIRCLES. IF these lines or leaves of my Circles drawn from the Centre to the circumference be not all equal, or if the points and pricks of every line answer not the Mathematical proportion of the Circle, thou knowest, that Veritas non quaerit angulos, truth respects not angles, triangles, quadrangles, nor artificial curiosity. I care not for the enticing words of worldlings wisdom, but I covet the Spirit of evidence and power. I covet matter more than method. And yet I labour so to link them, that the line of nature may stand coupled with the points of Art, that both from the Centre of truth be carried to a Christian circumference: for even as the gifts of the holy Ghost be distributed diversely, and in divers measures to God's children, some having but one grain of faith being converted in the evening of their lives, and yet by grace adopted & adjudged worthy to receive the like equal crown of glory, the like equal wages, as those, which laboured longer in the Lord's harvest: so (to compare little things with great) let thy Grace (Ingenuous Reader) or gracious construction countervail the unequal lines of my Circles. Where they exceed in their dimensive quantity, there oppose their distributive quality for a counterbalance, Et sic omnes lineae ductae à centro ad circumferentiam sunt aequales. THE FIRST CIRCLE OF THE SPIRIT OF DETRACTION, CONJURED AND CONVICTED. Divided into Lineaments. LINEAMENT. I. 1 To whose capacity the description of Spirits is difficult, and to whose it is easy. 2 The Author's invocation to the Godhead, through whose only operation the spirit of Detraction is to be conjured and convicted. THAT which is invisible, transcendent, and ● not to be understood in the land of mortal creatures, (such as is the description of Spirits) cannot distinctly be disposed according to the prescription of curious Artists: by reason that our knowledge here on earth is subject to mutations, vanity of vanities, varnished only to the outward man, and quickly vanished either through distemperature of the brain, old age, or death: and also, by reason that a spirit in substance & subsistence is supernaturally whole without Multiplication, Diversity, or Part, somewhat prodigious unto Nature's view. Yet notwithstanding these infirmities, we may confer about the metaphysical mystery of Spirits, contesting with the sword of the Spirit, the word of God; not for haughty ostentation, but for humble edification, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. The natural man perceives not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him neither 1. Cor. cap. 2. can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned: but he that is spiritual, discerneth all things. He that submits his knowledge to the touchstone of knowledge, to the highest power, scorning all Peacocke-plumes of Apocryphal tradition, and of old Adam's impurities, discerneth all things. The Clerks of China say, that themselves do see with two eyes, the Europeans with one eye; and that all the rest of the world are stark blind, not having any eyes at all. Even so the souls of the supernal China, the Church truly triumphant, by looking on him, which overlooketh all things, do spiritually discern all things, and do know as they are known. The regenerated Christian 1. Cor. cap. 13. discerneth (though glimmering wise, or winking through a dark glass with one eye) many things appertaining to the lowly works and lovely fruits of the new man, which is renewed into knowledge after the Image of him that made Col. cap. 3. him. But the natural man confined within nature's compass, can never discourse, no nor dream once of Divine affairs. While the flesh prevails against the Spirit, our knowledge is as it were stifled with a deadly earthly damp, and cannot appear in that conspicuous manner, as when our Epicurean natures become curbed or crucified. There is such justling and bustling, such strining & struggling betwixt the flesh and the soul, that God's peace is oftentimes to both their miseries infringed. The Mistress therefore must straightly correct her servant, and that betimes, before she attain unto her stubborn age, left then she choose rather to break, then to bow unto her wholesome will. The austere consideration of this our humane fragility, caused the Apostle to write after this manner: I tame 1. Cor. 9 my body, and bring it into subjection, lest while I preach to others, I myself become a castaway: For the soul that walloweth in sensuality, in fat, blood, and gross humours, can never enter into the speculation of spiritual comfort. The smoky vapours, which breathe from thence into the brain, do interpose a darksome mist of blockishness before her eyes of understanding; whereof let a fat paunch bear me instance. How cau'st thou (saith the Satirist) meditate on any thing praiseworthy, which hast such a large Ewer hanging forth a foot and a half from thy body? — Cum tibi, Calf, Pinguis aqualiculus propenso sesquipede extat? Persius' satire 1. Like as a Candle put in an earthen pot, enlighteneth only the pot, but being therhence removed into a Lantern, illuminates the whole room with a far greater splendour than before: so the understanding spirit of man, eclipsed with the foggy interposition of sensual pleasures, lies infatuated and besotted, like an Abbey-lubber, not once able to cry out, Abba, Father: but thence recalled by the holy Spirit of God, and refined with competent fasting at due times, with contrite humility and convenient meditations, it forgets the vanities of this cloudy world, and frames itself wholly to spiritual contemplation. And finally, separated and singled out from the body's prison, it shines brighter than any star. Then Reason shines without eclipse of error, Wisdom without ignorance, and Memory without oblivion. Then shall we be able to contemplate with the eye of Faith, the awful Majesty of the mighty Trinity, the in effable and inestimable felicity of our fellows Saints. Then shall we comprehend the mystical messages of the heavenly Spirits, ascending and descending in Chariots of sacred fire, to the behoof of our Christian brethren, and invisibly instructing the Church on earth; like as themselves are both instructed and inspired of their Prince of zeal. But what am I, that presume to weave a work of such wonderful forms in such a base and broken loom? How 2 dare I, with King Vzziah, burn incense unto the Lord, that am not sanctified, nor of the tribe of Levi? how dare I, that 2. Chron cap. 26. am in his presence more mean than the meanest moth or Atom, more abject than any Ant; how dare I, being so mean an abject, aspire to set forth the objects of his wondrous works? Retire, O my soul, to the Soul of thy soul, the Life of thy life, the Lord of life, as to the celestial centre of all perfections. The Sunshine of his mercy may dispel thy darksome scurf of Leprosy, & dispense with thy Bayards boldness. Behold them, most mighty Monarch, thy poor Publican afraid of thine anger, ashamed of his ignorance, converts himself unto thee. Correct by the inspiration of thy Spirit, this aspiring enterprise of mine, which I intent for the discerning of Spirits, and disabling of the malevolent Spirit of Detraction. O Lord of incomprehensible goodness, grant me my suit: & because I am a m●n of uncircumcised & polluted lips, let one of thy glorious winged Seraphines touch my mouth, that being Esa. cap. 6. purified, I may utter nothing but truth. The way of man is not in himself neither is it in man to walk and to direct his jere. cap. 6. steps Measure thou my steps o heavenly Spirit, mortify my voluptuous thoughts of flesh and blood, lighten mine internal eyes, that I may lift my lumpish spirit to spiritual cogitations, and apply my misty mind to thine eternal influence, which cannot be seen at all with mortal sight, but only with most pure intellectual minds, as thy servant Augustine confessed: Trinitas Diui●arum personarum non nisi purgatissimis mentius cernitur. The eye of sense Aug. lib. 1. Trin. and the eye of reason are both too dim for discerning thee. O illuminate my soul with the eye of faith; so that my flesh being yoked to my soul, my soul unto reason, my reason unto saith, I may courageously conquer and conjure down the Screech-owl of darkness into the dungeon of hell. Purge me with thy precious pills, lest in reprehending the Spirit of Detraction in others, myself do fall into the same trains, by the she suggestions of that Evil one, who watcheth hourly (like a wily wolf) to circumvent thy silly sheep. And thou my soul, praemonita praemunita, forewarned fore-armed, do thy best to charm this spiteful Spirit, with charitable Characters of deep Divinity: when he ascended up on high, he led captivity Ephe cap. 4. & Psal 6. 4. captive, and gave gifts unto men. By virtue of these glorious gifts, the gifts of the Spirit, by the cross of our Saviour Christ, conjure him up and down, that his cousenages and cheating craft may appear to his clawback Clients. To all other charms the Adder is deaf; he stoppeth his ears, and will not obey, charm we never so wisely. jesus he knows, and Paul he knows, but who Act. cap. 19 are we? It is impossible for any kingdom to continue long, which is at jar and war within itself. To what purpose then stands Medea's Magic in firreting out of Fiends? To what end seekest thou, O Sibyl, to conjure down Cerberus the hellhound of darkness? What avails your cunning, O Circe and Calypso? Can Degon stand before the Ark of God? No certainly. Therefore in vain do Medea, Circe, Calypso, and Sibilla labour to exercise their exorcisms and shallow sorceries within the Circle; nay within sight of that field, where one grain offaith is sown. In vain serve Witches wreathes where God is worshipped. In vain sings he, — Bacchare frontem Cingite, ne vati noceat mala lingua future. With Bacchar bind the Poet's brow, Lest wicked tongues him overthrow, Though men speak never so precisely, never so pregnantly, though they speak the words of Angels; yet if their speeches be not filled within the Circle of Divine wisdom, nor linked within the chain of Christian charity, the Church of God will never repute so catholic and so potent a Spirit as this of Detraction quite conjured & convicted. For (as that Roman Critic girded a vicious Senator, saying, Who can abide to hear thee judge like grave Cato, whom the world knows to be as greedy as Crassus, Platarch. and as gluttonous as Lucullus?) Truly, for my part, I cannot more fitly compare such glozing Scholars, then to a kind of glow-worms, which because they glive & shine in the nights, the weaker sort of people have mistaken for Spirits and Bugs. They therefore, that will rightly overthrow their spiritual foes, must not shoot outwardly into painted ceremonies, but into the source and spring of Goodness. Descend then, ye fiery pillars of faith, and quicken our incomposed Chaos. Disperse away our Egyptian darkness, that we may pass on our journey by night as well as day, not only through the red Seas of Detractions, but also through the dangerous deserts of this world, into the land of promise, the land that flows with milk and honey of eternal life; where our consciences shall for ever rest secured from all future furies. LINEAMENT II. 1. That the true means to convict the Spirit of Detraction, is the Meditation on Heavenly mysteries, and on the operation of goodness. 2. Man's curiosity in prying into God's nature, stinted by a non ultra. 3. The description of some of God's attributes. 4. That his description is too excellent ●or man's apprehension. 5. That Good or Evil cannot come to mankind without his will. BEfore I sound out the poisonous power of the Spirit of Detraction, it is necessary first, 1 that I begin with my homely talon to discourse somewhat of his immensive glory, who is Prima veritas in essendo, & dicendo, & primus omnium motor: the first verity in being and speaking, and the first mover of all; and so by degrees to descend into the numbers and attributes both of the good Spirits, which attend their Creator, and likewise of the bad spirits which beleaguer us with their spiritual suggestions out of darkness. In the mean time, I adjure and conjure thee, thou false spirit of Detraction, to be silent, and not to interrupt my consecrated speech. Avoid Satan, avaunt taunting Tempter. Avoid I charge thee, In the name of the great jehovah. Avaunt, again and again I charge thee, By the omnipotent Spirit of the Word Incarnate, by all the names and means, which are warranted unto us in holy Writ O blessed names! O blessed means, which prevail against the gates of Hell! O blessed Vicar of Christ's Church; God's Register of charitable Charters, which inrols within the book of my soul, I mean, within my conscience, this warrant of faith, that serious speculation on heavenly mysteries, and on the operation of goodness, (and that with admiration rather than with affectation) treads down the head of that old Enchanter, and quite tramples under foot his false faculties; whose spiritual spite sophisticate with subtle spells, with Sardonicall sports, and Sirenlike songs, I doubt more than all the Papists palpable Spirits and real Devils, devised for the most part to gull the simpler sort. O Father of all things visible and invisible, if I presumptuously pry into the maze of thy mystical nature (as sometimes 2 did a Philosopher of Greece) the more I muse, the more I stand amazed. I find those ancient Characters of Non ultra sometimes engraven on Hercules his pillars, firmly imprinted in my curious brain. My soul sees no other objects then infinite Entity, Eternity, Immensity, Immutability, Impassibility, Immortality, all life, all motion, all goodness, all truth, all unity, all perfection. O my Sovereign God, if I contemplate thine understanding, 3 my poor understanding being but a sparkle in respect of a world of fire, fails me, and, as a candle at the flash of a strong lightning, suddenly extinguisheth: for in thine interminate understanding there resides infinite wisdom, omnipotency, providence, predestination, true reason, true knowledge, and the representation of all thy workmanship. If I enter into the speculation of thy gracious and inexhausted will, I shall want words significant to express the singular proprieties which depend thereon, as comfortable grapes, on one goodly cl●ster or bunch. Thy Charity, thy justice, Mercy, Clemency Love, Patience, Magnificence, with other attributes which we do not deserve to know, attend on thy powerful will. O mighty Deity of unsearchable worth, as thy Prophet David said, Such knowledge is too wonderful and excellent 4 for me, I cannot attain unto it. Whither then shall I Psal. 139. go from thy Spirit, or whither shall I go from thy presence? If I climb up to heaven, thou art there: If I go down into hell, thou art there also. Thou beholdest all our doings with exceeding patience. Thou art wholly in the world (as man's soul is wholly in the brain and body, and dispersed through every part of the same) and seest as in a manifest map all the world over. Thou art present with us in our closest counsels, in our closest closerts. Thou art decked with light as it were with a garment. Thou art most Psal. 104. glorious in heaven, as man's soul in the head is most conspicuous, and therehence (like the Sun with his influence) illuminatest all places, and searchest the very secrets of our hearts and reins; for the light dwelleth with thee. Thou art a most pure, perfect, and active form, without any mixture or composition of matter or form, or distinction of parts. Thou art the beginning and the end of all things; the beginning without beginning, and the end without end. To end before I have scant begun, thou art all sight, all hearing, all understanding, all reason, the origen of all 5 goodness. Totus oculus, totus auditus, totus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, totus ratio, fons omnium bonorum. Thou art above all things, and Jran. l. 1. cap. 19 yet not elated. Thou art in all things, and yet not concluded. Thou art under all things, & yet not restrained. Thou art great without quantity, good without quality, just without wrath. All our joys, all our pleasures, all our profits, all our welfare arise from thy fruitful bounty: as on the contrary, all our losses, all our crosses, all our misfortunes proceed by our deserts, from thy just conceived fury When thou sendest out thy Spirit, we are recreated. When thou hidest thy face, we are troubled. Whither then shall Psal. 104. we, miserable caitiffs, fly? whither? From our displeased God, to our pleased God; from our angry Father, to our patient Father. Where shall we find goodness, but with the Author of goodness? Omne bonum à Deo profluit, in eundemque tanquam in causam principem & finem ultimum, Dionis. Areop. l. 1 de Hier. celest cap. 1. reflectitur. Every good springs from God, & again the same returns to him, as to the sovereign cause and last end. He, even he it is, that subsisteth above us through his providence; round about us he substitutes his Angels, as it were in fiery Chariots, in us he breathes his fiery Comforter. He maketh his An gels spirits, adhiss Ministers Psal. 104. a flaming fire. LINEAMENT III. 1 The admirable incorporation of the three persons in Trinity. 2 Their mystical operation unfolded according to our reasonable capacities 3 How God is said to be in heaven. 4 After what manner the Trinity do differ one from another, either in Appellation or in Operation. 5 That the Pagan Poets, like Apes, aimed at God's mysteries by their dark Allegories. IF Imeditate on the admirable Hypostasis of the Deity. I am ravished with an ecstasy, to behold 1. their heavenly Harmony, their consort, their consonance, and their proportion. Go, said our Saviour Christ to his disciples, and teach all Nation sh' baptising them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and Mat. cap. 28. of the holy Ghost. The Father uncreated, the glorious Word begotten of his ever-being substance, the holy Spirit of comfortable love out of them both producted. All three (like wieke, wax, and light) incorporated in one glorious Torch, as the beams and influence of one Sun, or as waters of one fountain, or as Peter, Paul, and Barnabas, all three building upon one Rock, and preaching the same doctrine: or as will, understanding, and memory, the reflecting Image of the Deity in one soul, equally partakers of one undivided Godhead, one light, one power, one beginning, one majesty, one glory, and one authority. Thus hath this One Divine Spirit three peerless properties; the having of every which property is called a 2 Person; a term, which we give to show the peculiar being of a reasonable spirit: which word Person also the Gramarians have distinguished according to men's common conference, into notorious appellations. As when God speaks of himself, to signify his inexplicable essence, he speaks in the first person singular, jehovah, I am that I am. I the Lord thy God. When after deliberation, he Exod. 3. utters out his determination: then the whole Godhead, with a clear distinction of the personal functions, speaks according to man's capacity in the plural number, Let us make man: that thereby we might note his deliberation Gen. 3. before his determination, & then both of them made manifest by his omnipotent Word. And forasmuch as a peron is nothing else but a body, or a spirit severally singled out by himself; & forasmuch as every thing in the Godhead consisteth substantially by itself, without the help of any other, therefore are his several properties or functions, to demonstrate the particular or personal orders and operations of Gods will and being. In like sort, there be two kinds of persons: the person of his Spirits Essence, and the person of his Spirits properties. The person or being of his Essence is but one, the persons or subsistences of the properties be three distinct, every one a Spirit by himself, every one a living God by himself, and yet all one Spirit, one living God. The Father, or the first speaker, is God by himself and of himself, and therefore the first being or person. The Son or word is God by himself, and not of himself, but of the Father or speaker only, and therefore the second being. The holy Ghost, or holy love, is God by himself and not of himself, but jointly of the Father and the Son, and therefore the third being. There is no difference at all between the Speaker, the Word, and this Love, but only in the reciprocal relation of one to another: for in respect of their being & beginning, which was coeternal before all worlds, before all times or terms of times, they are one essential, one equal, and one transcendent Person. But in respect of order in their heawenly Hierarchies, of their offices, operations, and effects, ordained among themselves by their own divine decrees, and also in respect of the three records on earth, or sacramental types and mysteries of water, the word, and the Spirit, there are said to be three, the Father, the Son, and the holy Ghost, which bear record in heaven: three persons distinguished really in respect of their personal properties, but indistinct essentially in respect of their perpetual power. I say in respect of original order, of Christ's mystical marriage with the freckled or spotted Spouse the militant Church on earth, in respect of his office in mediating for sinful men; an office too mean for the sacred majesty of God, and in respect of his humanity, that was crucified for the Elect by God's promise ever since Adam's fall, or perhaps before his fall, lest the whole generation of mankind had been under a just Anathema or excommunication, the Son was and is inferior to the Father, and submitteth his will to the Father's will, as himself protested: Not as I will, but as thou wilt, O Father. And so the holy Ghost is inferior to them both, in regard of his humble function of vicegerencie or deputation in comforting and instructing the sinful sons of Adam. These several assignments of offices they appointed to themselves in their own praedestinated wisdoms; wherein though they all conspire, yet (as I said before) one of them hath the name of Primate, in regard of order, but in regard of their eternity and omnipotence, none is greater or less than another. For this cause it is written, that the Father created the world, the Son redeemed it, and the holy Ghost sanctifieth it: and yet they are but one in effect, in their ends one God, one omnipotent power communicating to three persons, to three properties, as one centre to three lincs, all in all and three in all. As no man can come to the Father, but by the Son, so no man can come to the Son, joh. 18. but by the holy Ghost: for we are sanctified, because we are redeemed, and we are redeemed, because we are elected. Pater eligit, Filius diligit, Spiritus sanctus coniungit, & unit. The Father electeth, the Son loveth, and the Cyprian. in tract. de simplicitate pr●lator. holy Ghost conjoins, cements, and unites together. The Father eternal in the consubstantial word, the word in him, both in the coessential Spirit, and the Spirit in them both, do all three cooperate, coadiute, and work according to their own counsel for the good of their creatures, for the honour of their heavenly Hierarchy. The Father begetteth in love and justice, the Son begotten in love and righteousness, and the holy Ghost proceeding from them both in love and grace, do mystically teach the inward man that sees with the spiritual eyes of faith, what care the Godhead takes for the restoring and repairing of that breach and lapse, which the imbecility of man's brittle condition, together with Satan's subtlety, caused unto all posterities. And thus God manifesteth this threefold distinction unto us, that his elect might apprehend the mystical operation of their soul's salvation, in the effects of his justice, Grace, and Love.. Again, lest for all this I seem obscure, I will exemplify the united substance of the Trinity more familiarly: yet with this proviso; that the words of Zophar to job may be read job. 11. as a preamble: Canst thou by searching find out God? or canst thou find out the Almighty to his perfection? That surely were to scale the heavens, or build another Babel. In a Spirit there is neither part, diversity, nor multiplication, but wheresoever the spirit is, there is the whole 3 spirit; as the soul of man is not part in the head, and part in the foot, but the same whole spirit, which is in the head, is undivided, entire, all and the same in the foot; nevertheless it appears more eminent in the head, by reason of the souls more notable operation there, man's head being the noblest object, the noblest Organ of the body which the soul doth like. So in this spiritual substance of God, there is no part, diversity, nor multiplication, but every thing in God is God, and the whole and the same substance of his Spirit: for where one of God's virtues are, there also himself and all his virtues are, as the influence of the Sun. But we commonly say, Our Father which art in heaven: not that he is altogether locally circumscribed there & secluded from all other places, but because it pleaseth his glorious Majesty, for the honour of his power, to impart his Divinity there most clearly among his undefiled and unspotted creatures, which (as like to like, pure to pure) do answer and satisfy the pleasure of their merciful Creator. So that God is in heaven, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, for the rareness and excellency of his operations, in that purest place. And surely God dealt like himself, like a gracious Lord▪ thus to communicate his soucraigne perfections to that choice place amidst his choicest creatures, restraining the same from us poorepilgrims, who for the brittleness of our earthly mould, being clothed but with dust and ashes, full of corruptions, could no more than Phaeton or Icarus stand justified before his sunny presence. For when his heavenly Highness vouchsafed to guide and go before the Israelites out of Egypt, his magnanimous Spirit, that could not brook impurity, was moved to such impatience against their sins, that he was fain to withdraw his strong and powerful presence from their weak complexions, lest, as himself said, he should consume them in the way. Exod. 33. To return and retire back towards the entire essence of the Trinity, I believe that God's properties, as I 4 wrote before, cannot be divided into parts, portions, or parcels: but that every quality in God is God, and the whole substance of his spirit: and so the Speaker in God's Spirit, is God's Spirit, of the whole substance. The Word in God's Spirit, is God's Spirit of the whole substance. But herein is their difference, that the Father is the Speaker only, as begetting the Word: the Son is the Word only, as the Word begotten. And the holy Ghost is holy only, as proceeding from the mutual love, and from the mutual wills of the Father, or the Speaker begetting, and of the Son or Word begotten: So as the Speaker in God is God, the Word in God is God, and the holy Love in God is God. But yet the Speaker is not the Word, nor the Word the Speaker, if we regard the order and mystery of their operative offices, though both be God: for the one is the Father begetting, and the other, I mean, the Word, is the Son begotten. The propagatour or producer of Sanctification or holy Love in God is love, which love is God. And love produced in God, is Love, and is God; but the producer of love, is not love produced, I say, the will of the Father and the Son, being the producer of love, is not the love proceeding or produced, that is, the holy Ghost, though all be God in substance and power, but differing in the manner of their operation: for the Father is love only, as transferring love to the Son; the Son is love, as transferring love to the Father; and the holy Ghost love only, as it is transferred, produced, and proceeding from them both. Thus the whole Trinity according to the substance of love, agree all together in one: for every one of them partaking of one Godhead, partakes also of the attributes thereof, of love, of wisdom, and others; only they differ in the order and manner of their loves, or of their wisdom's productions. In like manner, the Father is wisdom ontly, as begetting or producing wisdom; the Son is wisdom only, as wisdom begotten or produced of the Father; and the holy Ghost is wisdom, as it is produced from the joint and mutual will of the Father and the Son; so that wisdom is not the Father as it is wisdom, but as it is wisdom begetting or producing; neither is wisdom the Son as it is wisdom, but as it is wisdom begotten and produced of the Father; nor is the holy Ghost wisdom, as it is wisdom, but as it is wisdom produced or proceeding from the Father and the Son. Whereby good Christians may note the manner of the difference, how that love producing, love produced of the Father, and love produced both from the Father and the Son, be three distinct things. And so are wisdom begetting, wisdom begotten, and wisdom proceeding, three personal properties, distinct in the relation of one to another, though indistinct in respect of their essence and eternity. To wind up this discourse in a word; when I pray to the Father, I pray with fear, fearing his justice; when I pray to the Son I pray with hope, hoping for mercy; when I pray to the holy Ghost, I pray with admiration, admiring God's love, in mitigating the severity of justice, with the sweet streams of mercy towards the penitent sinner, through the spiritual apprehension of jesus Christ crucified. This the Pagan Poets of elder ages (like guilty conscienced 5 Caiphas) were constrained to confess, when they painted out Minerva, their Goddess of wisdom, begotten in jupiter's brain, and when they feigned also, that Bellona, their warlike Goddess, was conceived and begotten in a Goddess fist; for indeed the origen and root of man's wisdom ariseth up at first out of the brain, and his strength out of his hand. Both which serve for instrumental agents, to display out those worthy virtues of Strength and Wisdom. Mark well my words, muse upon them, thou, that meanest to mortify the outward man, and to be converted into the inward man, into a new Christian soul. Marvel not at this distinction of mine touching Gods properties; for I distinguish them not, but into persons only for order sake, and that to the intent that thou mayest observe his manifold love towards mankind, whose reasonable capacity his sacred Majesty invites by such a plain distinction of personal functions, to the mysteries of our soul's salvation, namely, to know our Election by the Father; our Redemption by the Son; and our Sanctification equally breathed from them both in love and wisdom by the holy Ghost, who ingraves, as with a seal, these Divine mysteries in our converted consciences. And even as these Poets (like Apes) glanced at God's personal properties, by such Allegorical examples: so did they express their descending down to men, in varieties of shapes, after the imitation of the Scripture; where it is said, that jacob wrestled with an Angel, that Abraham feasted three Angels, under the habit of Pilgrims, and that the Holy Ghost descended like a Dove, at the Baptising of Christ. Sometimes those Poets brought in their Gods, disguised as men, to feast with Philemon; some other times as Heifers, Swans, and in a golden shower, as jupiter to Danae; so that this verse may wellbe his: Non frustra dictus Bos, Ouis, Imber, Olor. Courteous Reader, here is in explicable admiration, but no admirable explication, nor yet any application worthy the least glimpse of his glorious name: for the least syllable of this word jehovah, imports a more miraculous mystery than flesh and blood can possibly perceive. If his very name, which no man knows but himself, contains such hidden wonders, exceeding all the Anagrams, Arts, and Etymologies of the world; much more mystically ought we to conceive of his un-revealed essence; contenting ourselves only with the Scriptures phrase: for a godly ignorance concerning such deep matters, down poyzeth a world of Adam's knowledge in good and evil. LINEAMENT four 1 The description of our Saviour Christ's Incarnation. 2 In what manner he took upon him our infirmities. 3 His terrible passion and death. 4 His Resurrection and Ascension. 5 That he alone is our Mediator with the Father. 6 His coming to judgement. FRom the undistinct substance of this omnipotent 1 Godhead, (as fire from fire without diminution or waste) came the Light of life, the reasonable Word, which was ever with God before the beginning of joh. 1. the world, the Image of the invisible God, the first borne of all Creatures, in whom all things consist, Col. 1. by whom and for whom God made all things, the bright sun of our soul's Horizon, the giver of Counsel, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace, Esay 9 the divine Oracle, the Paschall Lamb, the Woman's seed, Exod. 12. Gen. 3. Ibid. 49. which must tread upon the Serpent's head, our heavenly Father's Ambassador to mortal men, the Lion of the tribe of juda, Jacob's Shiloh, which must gather the people to gether, the repairer of that breach, which was made by Adam's fall, betwixt the Angels and mankind, the Prophet Deut. 18. whom God promised to raise up like unto Moses, the Angel of the great Counsel, the root of less, which shall stand Act. cap. 3. Esay. 21. Psal. 118. Num. 21. & joh. 3. up for a sign to the people, and the nations shall seek unto it: the life of the living, the death of death: The head corner stone which the foolish builders rejected, the brazen Serpent, which the Lord commanded to be set up, as a sign to them that were slung with fiery Serpents in the Wilderness, for their recovery: The stone hewed out of the Dan. 2. Mountain without hands, which break in pieces Nabuchodonozor's glorious Image, representing the Monarchies of this world. The Virgin's son Emanuel, of whom Esay foretold King Ahaz. Esay. 7. This lightsome Word or Lord of peace, to fulfil his Father's predestinate counsel for the restitution of mankind, which fell from the state of innocency, to the intent that the savage Wolf might co-habitate and converse together with the silly Lamb, under the same roof of rest, that the parents hearts might be reconciled towards their children, and the children towards their parents, that the stony flinty heart might be taken away, and the tender fleshy heart restored to the second Adam; that the different and disproportioned tuncs or thoughts of our minds, moulded after the diverse and different motions of the Planets at our nativities, might at length, after the manifold crosles of this world, agree in one, in the unity or uniform harmony of the Spirit: to this end, I say, this Prince of peace, or peaceable Abel, the only wisdom of all Divine creatures, descended down from his Father's bosom, and was made flesh (by the al-quickning breath of Gods own essence, co-operating in the Virgin Maries womb, the second Eve, but refined and regenerated) at Bethlehem, the City of David, a poor City of jewry, in a vile beggarly stable, where he sucked the dugs, that ruled the stars, suxit ubera, qui rexit sidera; about that very time, when all the world was chalked, or rather charmed in the Circle of peace, by virtue of Augustus Caesar's sovereignty; in token whereof the Romans did shut janus his double porch, jani tanuam, (from whence the Month january is denominated) which lay open before in time of open or civil war. While he lived on earth (which, as some write, was 2 three and thirty years) he laboured (like a woman with child) with our infirmities, but after a Divine manner. He was ambitious: but how? Ambitious only to aspire up into the Theatre of the Crosse. He was affected with concupiscence: but with what concupiscence? Not with sinful, but with celestial concupiscence. He was affected, but not infected; for he only longed and lusted after man's salvation. O jerusalem, how willingly would he have gathered together thy strayed young ones, even like a careful hen, hadst thou repent! He was angry: but how? Not to revenge; for he requites good for evil, and prays for his very foes: Only he was angry without sin for zeal sake, ad detestationem peccati, non ad vindictam. He was envious; but in what sort? Not ex vitiata natura, of corrupt nature, but for conscience sake, that the Devil's kingdom became daily augmented. He was ignorant of some things; for he knew not of the day of Doom: but his ignorance was simple and not sinful; harmless and not erroneous, in desiring curiously to know those secrets, which did not befit the Son of man to know. He was troubled with fear in his agony: but with what kind of fear? Not with fear of death satisfactory, to repair that breach betwixt the Angels and us; but with natural fear, which impairs the animal faculties, according to the nature of man's sensitive appetite, which trembles at the sense of terrible torments. In this manner did he take upon him our infirmities, not by way of inherent spotting, but by way of necessary Esay. 53. influence, like unto that Prince of Stars, which pierceth and passeth into impure objects, and yet himself is not subject unto impurities. Besides these burdensome infirmities of ours, which he took upon him in his love and charity towards the 3 sons of Adam, let us review his painful Passion. Amidst the briers and brambles of sorrows, he showed himself as the Rose of patience, he shined as a lightning Cynosure among the thankless sailing jews. He carried our sorrows, sorrows without number, which our humane Esay. 53. natures could never bear. He suffered intolerable flouts, intolerable torments, intolerable death, beyond all the degrees of comparison; dura verba, duriora verbera, durissima fata. No torments were like his torments, for he suffered for all our sins. Whereunto I might add the tenderness, softness, and delicateness of his body; which being materially form only of a pure Virgin's nature, without conjunction of the male substance, could not but feel such tortures more grievously and gripingly then any other. What shall I speak of other sensible motives, of his agonies, the treachery of judas, whose feet he disdained not to wash but a little before, the jews ingratitude, and above all, his Father's anger in justice heaped upon him for our misdeeds, thoughts, and vain words? And because it was requisite, that God in his justice should punish sin in man, which man committed; therefore the Word of God, our merciful Messias, took on him man's shape (even as man in Paradise was shaped after his spiritual nature) to suffer for man what was due for man's transgression, even vile poverty, conflicts with the world, temptations of the Devil, fervent wrestling with sin, bloody sweats and agonies, opprobrious usages by the Devil's procurement, a drench of bitter gall, opposite to that fatal juice of Adam's apple, wounds in his side to the effusion of blood and water, the mystical seals of his last will to the Church, the one prefiguring Baptism, the other the Communion, both to bathe our sins; sorrows of death, a second death, hellish torments both in body and soul, an Eclipse of the Deity from his sunny soul. All these in humane pains (wherein the whole wrath of God, due to the sin of man, was for a while included) did our Saviour Christ in this world, before he gave up the Ghost, accomplish and consummate. And thus God to save the sons of God, like a loving Shepherd in the behalf of joh. 10. 10. Zaleucus. his sheep, or like that zealous Lawgiver, which drew out one of his own eyes, instead of one of his son's eyes, who by the law was condemned to that kind of punishment for his adultery; I say, thus God, voluntarily to sustain and support the manhood (which of itself was altogether impotent) for the vanquishing of death, and for our redemption, became man, and was put to shameful death under Pontius Pilate, Precedent of jury for Tiberius Caesar the Roman Emperor: according to that prophecy: After threescore and two weeks shall Messias be slain, yet not for himself. And as another recorded. Dan 9 jesus shall be openly declared within 400. years; and after the same years shall my Son Christ die, and all men 4. Esd. 7▪ that have life. He died for a while, that he in us, and we in him might live for ever. He died, or rather, as an ancient Father testifieth, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. He became a sacrifice for all sinners, justin. Martyr in Tryphon. Esay. 53. that were willing by repentance to reform themselves. And, as the Prophet foretold of him, He was wounded for our infirmities, and his soul was made an offering for sin, for our sins, whose burden he bore upon his Divine shoulders, which neither Samson, Goliath, Atlas, Hercules, Milo Cr●toniates, nor all the strong-backed Porters of the world, were all their forces conjoined together, could ever bear. So insupportable are the sins of our humane natures. The third day (as jonas out of the Whale's belly, or to speak Poetically, as Arion in the deep Seas on the Dolphms 4 back) he rose up invested with his immaculate soul by his appeased Father, who (as David prophesied) would not leave his soul in the grave, nor suffer his holy One to see corruption. And again in another place, He would, Psal. 16. like a loving shepherd, feed him in a green pasture, and Psal. 23. lead him forth besides to the waters of comfort, yea, though he walked through the valley of the shadow of death. He died as a Lamb, but rose as a Lyon. Heaviness endured for a night, but joy came in the morning. In the morning he rose; he rose as the morning sun, that like a Bridegroom marcheth out of his chamber. He rose to run a gallant race, as a Giant refreshed with wine. He that but a little before, as an abject among men, was crowned with a crown of thorns in a ridiculous manner, rose up in triumph the third day, crowned with a glorious garland, to reign for ever above all the Angels in heaven. And after that he had conversed with his Disciples forty days here on earth, and showed himself to more than five hundred brethren at once, making his resurrection manifest 1. Cor. 15. by many signs and tokens, and palpably opening himself unto them, and particularly unto Thomas Didymus, whom in the rest of the Apostles presence, he caused to put his hands into his sides, that thereby he might confute his incredulity: he than ascended up to heaven in their sight, where he sits in his humanity, preferred at the right hand of God, having all power given him of the Father over all things, far above all rule, power, might, and dominion, and above every name that is named, not Ephes. 1. only in this world, but also in the world to come, as thousand thousands of Angels and Saints proclaimed with a loud voice in heaven. Worthy is the Lamb that was killed to receive power, riches, wisdom▪ strength, honour, Apoc. cap. 5. glory, and praise. Without the intercession of this revived and rightly respected Lamb, the just Godhead will not accept the 5 prayers of flesh and blood, be they never so humble, never so urgent. On this mystical Lamb, on this sacred flaming Serpent, fix we our internal eyes, fix we our thoughts, that are so stung by the sinful Serpent, and our God is pleased. As chose, he is displeased, if we crave the assistance of any other Saint, or Angel, Power, or Principality. There is no health to man, save only by thy means and mediation, Lord jesus; that boughtest the same full dear with thy blood innocently shed. There is but one God, and one Mediator, as thy chosen vessel shows. It is far better to trust God's word, than 1. Tim. 2. the bonds of Saints, who indeed are but creatures, and no Creators. They are Gods members, the spiritual City and Temple, wherein his works of mercy shine, but they are not the Builders of this City or Temple, to whom Divine honour is only due. Who can prevail more with the Father then the Son? Who with the Son, than a penitent soul, whose conversion the whole Choir of Heaven's Inhabitants do likewise most joyfully applaud? O man, how deeply art thou indebted unto thy Creator, which for thy deliverance out of the dark dungeon of death and errors, hath appointed this great Angel, to be thy Redeemer, Mediator, and sovereign judge? We should blaspemously detract from thine omniscience, O Lord omnipotent, if we retained any other Attorney, any other Advocate, besides thy sovereign Majesty. Or if we were so credulous, as to use any such mediation, far be it from their submissive thoughts, to usurp thy puissant place; which alone hast the Father's key of favourable Grace, the same to open or to shut at thy sovereign pleasure. Divine honour belongeth only unto thee, which thy servant Peter well acknowledged, when as he would not suffer Cornelius the Captain to worship him; but took him up, saying, Stand up, myself am also a man. The like dissuasion used thine Angel Act. 10. to john: See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow servant, Apoc. 22. but worship God. Thou art jealous of thine honour, and limitest thy creatures to their convenient functions, for the glory of thy Name. Cultus & adoratio nulli creaturae concedi Orig. l. 1. contra Cels. possunt, sine Divinitatis iniuria. Worship and adoration cannot be granted to any creature, without wrong to the Godhead, as an ancient Father testified. And as another learned Doctor taught, Maledictus omnis homo, qui spem habet in homine, quamuis Sanctus sit, quamuis Hier. in Ez●. Propheta. Cursed is that man which putteth his trust in men, though they be Saints, though they be Prophets. Is it not then a wrong, a blasphemous wrong, to the whole Majesty of the sacred Trinity, for a man to distrust Christ's absolute Sovereignty over all Principalities, and his Divine knowledge over all the world? And do we not distrust these prerogatives of his, when with a blind zeal we devoutly suc unto inferior persons, as though our Saviour were otherwise occupied, or that he loved state and pomp? Do not we distrust, when we repeat over, as Persius his Parrots 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, often greetings to our Lady, yea, millions of Aue Maria's? when we read our Lady's Offices, our Lady's Psalter, or when we travel in pilgrimage for her sake, & for satisfaction of our sins, to Lorette, to Guardalupe, or to Montserrate? No doubt, but that herein we distrust his Divinity, and detract first from the Father, who sent his Son in person among his unthankful tenants, raised him from death, and set him on his right hand, inspiring him with his omniscience, whereby he might know the very secrets of all hearts, and refresh them that were laden with the burden of their crying sins. Then, we detract from jesus Christ, when we foolishly and fantastically despise his word, not only refusing to believe in his Cross, to be saved through his merits alone, through his saving Name alone, (for what else betokeneth the name of jesus, but an all-sufficient Saviour? O jesus esto mihi jesu) but also hoping by the Moonshine in the water, by other men's deserts to obtain remission. And lastly, we detract and wrong the holy Ghost, when we compel him with his spiritual gifts to depart away sorrowful from the mansion of our souls, being willing to perform and execute his office, in testifying and wittnessing to our consciences, our salvation through Christ's only merits. Let me do good works, let me (like Zaccheus) give half that I have to the poor, let me fast, let me repress the perturbations of my mind, by taming my body with discipline, or with whipping (as some Papists do,) or by lancing and wounding of my flesh, after the example of Baal's Priests: yet if I want faith and love, faith to believe only in Christ, and love to live as a member of his mystical body, rejecting all other helps whatsoever; I am an Anathema, an accursed Excommunicate out of his faithful family. Nevertheless, God forbid, that I should prove so ingrateful unto the Mother of my Saviour, that I should forbid honest-minded Christians to yield her memory that reverence and reverend regard, which is not repugnant to the Divine Majesty, or offensive to his jealous Spirit. For I hold it a very laudable custom, that the monuments of her name, virtues, and conception, be preserved from oblivion and extinction, by an anniversary or yearly renewing of them upon those festival days, as our Church hath destinated for the celebration thereof. As I defy those which Deify her memory and person, in saying unto her, O Saworesse, sawe moy: O my Saviouresse, sane me: so I defy those which defy her memory In the French Manuel. and person. This the Scripture warrants; This my earthly Sovereign witnesseth and confirmeth in these words: She is as she prophesied of herself, that is, she is King james in his Premonition. blessed among women, and all generations shall call her blessed. To steal more fire with Prometheus from God's Licutenant, I confess, that I dare not mock her, and blaspheme Luke 1. against God, in calling her, not only Diva but Dea, and praying her to command and control her Son, who is her God King I am. Ibid. and her Saviour. In he aven she is in eternal glory and joy, never to be interrupted with any worldly business. But to return unto mine own opinion, whereto I will not bind others (the same being no matter essential of faith) I am of the mind, that the Angels and Saints of Heaven, in the beholding of the Godhead, do know many things here on earth, especially, the estate of their elected fellows. For proof whereof, we read in the Revelation of St. john, that they glorified God for judging the great Whore: and as Christ himself said, There is joy in Apoc. 19 Heaven among them at the conversion of sinners. (So I daily see some mortal men from these Western parts of the world, extending their knowledge to the proprieties of sundry minerals enwombed within the centre of the earth, to both the Poles, to the Equinoctial line, to the Tropic of Capricorn, to the East, to the Indies: to the superior bodies, to their constellations, to prophesy of Eclipses, and to aim at men's silent imaginations, and at their secret inclinations.) Yea, and the Saints do pray for our repentance, though we cannot pray to them, without detraction and blasphemy against jesus Christ, who is the sole and only Master of God's Court of Requests. Therefore let it suffice, that I honour their memory, as the chief Elders and pillars of our Christian Corporation, as men inspired of the holy Ghost for our edification in our Redeemer; but in no wise will I pray unto them, for fear of that jealous ear, which heareth every word. They never died for the heavy burden of my coal-black sins, (themselves being Adam's sons, as well as I:) but thou, O Christ, thou, and none but thou alone, didst die for me. No man can come to the Father but by the Son: for none but thou alone, O Son of God, could conquer Job. 14. death. Besides thyself, O mighty Conqueror, I trust to find none other helper. To other helpers I may hopeless say with that Holy man; Silly comforters are ye all. Thy Godhead is never asleep, never so cumbered with business, job. but thy Grace will be ready at all times, day or night, to receive a Chancery bill from thy reformed Creature. This lively faith thy servant Chrysostome commended in the woman of Canaan: See (saith he) the wisdom of this woman: She requesteth not james, she goeth Chr. in Hom. 16. in Mat. not to john she beseecheth not Peter, she respecteth not the whole company of the Apostles, she seeketh no Mediator; but in stead of all these she takes patience for her companion, whom she chooseth to be her Advocate, and so she cometh directly to the first fountain. To conclude this Chapter or line of my Circle, hereafter 6 in the fullness of time, I know that thou wilt surely descend in the clouds, O humane God, with terrible Majesty, accompanied with multitudes of Angels, to sever the tares from the good seed, the reprobate from the Elect, the dead in faith from the quick in faith, and from those which thou shalt find living at thy coming: at which time the Triumphs Trumpet shall sound, and in the twinkling of an eye all men shall rise up with eternal bodies, bodies without maim, without deformity, without difficulty (which before were resolved from dust into the first elements, now new like verdant trees, revived Bees, or like the Phoenix that flourisheth out of his own ashes) and every one shall receive doom according to his own merits, in the mercy of Christ, without partiality; and that out of his mouth, who is a perfect man himself; I say, according to his own merits, not as merits, the Authors of his happiness, Non ut regnandi aut mercedis causam sed ut viam regni, retributionis regulam, Not as the proper causes of salvation, but analogically, as the way to Heaven, as Jacob's ladder, as the Ensign or evidence of faith. This uncorrupt judge will pronounce sentence of damnation against stubborn sinners; and their punishment shall be in Hell, which hath varieties of torments (even as Heaven hath many Mansions of delights) all of them above man's strength, above man's patience to endure. There, is the stinging worm, that never goeth out, unquenchable fire, fearful sights, and the absence of God's glory; where the rich glutton sought but a drop of cold water, and could not obtain it for the cooling of his scorched tongue: (And yet poor caitiff) nolens volens he must eternally endure more grievous pains, more griping pains, than Phalaris his brazen bull. O eternal time, without term or space of time. O eternal time, shall I term thee? which caused never be mesured, never circumscribed, never comprehended by the understanding of mortal man. O eternal Time, which after many millions of years, after an hundred thousand thousand years, will be to the damned soul but the beginning of his damnation. O what a terrible torment it is for a man to imagine, that he shall burn in the bottomless pit of fire and brimstone so huge a time, without end, without defect, without hope of redemption. O eternal time without end, whose final term we can as soon conceive, as the time before the world's creation, as the beginning of Gods being. O Lord grant us the grace to think on hel-torments lest we fall into hell torments. On the contrary, if we conform our lives according to our Master's life, endeavouring not only by fight, but also by flight to avoid the contagion of sinful nature, in stead of our ragged coat of corruptions, we shall be clothed in the robes of Angels, in long white robes, standing before the Lamb's Throne, in the heavenly paradise; where we shall shine in the same crown of dignities, where we shall sing sweet tuned songs, and salute one another in the same privilege of immortality. Thus will this triumphant judge reward the righteous with the presence of God's glory, with glorious happiness, with happy joys, and with a joyful perpetuity thereof for ever and ever, world without end. All these unspeakable hopes will he fulfil at his coming; which as yet the Father in his providence prolongs, until the just number of them which were sealed and predestinated to everlasting life be complete, until his foes be made his footstool, and until he hath subdued quite and trodden Heb. 1●. under foot the Devil and his rebellious Angels, whose poisonous power, ever since the first man's fall, possessed the soul of man, by man's own willing election. When all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son himself be subject to his Father, who did 1. Cor. cap. 15. put all things under him, that God may be all in all▪ Neither do I confound the undivisible substance of the Deity, or the subsistence of the person, though it seems divided to the outward man: for I confess the unity and identity in our Messias: Even as the reasonable soul and flesh is one Athanasius. man; so God and man is one 2 Athenagoras in Apologia pro Christian. Christ, by the unity and virtue of the holy Ghost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. All honour, laud, and glory be ascribed unto thee, O Father of providence, which hast made us meet to be partakers of this heavenly vision; by whose power our sinful souls in the blood of his Cross are regenerate and reconciled unto thee. LINEAMENT V. 1 The description of the Holy Ghost. 2 How the Catholic Church was preserved from utter ruin in time of Popery. 3 That the misprision and contempt of the Holy Ghost, wrought the ruin, first of the Eastern Church, and then of the Western. 4 Why this third person in Trinity is peculiarly termed Holy. 5 The manner to discern them that be possessed with the Holy Ghost, and why S. Paul in his Epistles salutes men in the name of the Father, and the Son, omitting the Holy Ghost. 6 What it is to sin against the holy Ghost. 7 The Authors supplication to the Trinity for his presumptuous discourse. Out of the incomprehensible Deity likewise issued the Spirit of spirits, the third person in Trinity, our holy jehovah, as the mean of the other two Divine persons, namely, of jehovah unbegotten, and of jehovah begotten: I say, the mean of the unbegotten and begotten in respect of the Elect produced, propagated, or rather proceeding from both their wills; the oil of gladness, the fiery Comforter, Psal. 45. the Messenger of zeal, the Schoolmaster of true love, the miraculous power of God, the finger of God, which Exod. 3. wrought miracles, and plagued the Egyptians, the Treasurer of sundry pretions jewels, as of Prophecy, Faith, Charity, diversities of tongues, and other divine gifts, the water of life, the well of water, springing up unto everlasting joh. 4. life: The mystical seal of love betwixt the Father and the Son; or to speak more naturally, the Sacramental influence of both their actions, immanent and transient. Even as it pleased God at Whitsuntide, about seven weeks after Easter, and after the redemption of the Israelites from Exod. 19 the bondage of Egypt, to give them the law of the ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, and that not privately, but publicly before all the Congregation; so it pleased his Divine Majesty at Whitsuntide, about seven weeks after Easter, being the time of our Redemption from the bondage of Hell, to inspire his Elect with his holy spirit openly, before many witnesses of Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and men of diverse Nations, as it is written, Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing and a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they Act. 2. sat. There appeared unto them cloven tongues like fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the spirit gave them utterance. But here is the difference worthy of observation, that even as there on Mount Sinai, jehovah the Son descended down to the Israelites with fearful thunder and lightning, to signify thereby the wrath of God the Father, for the breach of his laws: so here jehovah the Holy Ghost descends (as the Angel of Christ) not in fire of fury, but in fire of love and zeal; not with the loud voice of a Trumpet, but with the sound of wind, making a peaceable and still noise, because the Gospel comforts the dejected man. This is that spiritual Angel, which inspires the Angels of heaven to honour their Creator, which breathes into them the knowledge of all goodness, which sanctified the Virgin's womb, which revealed to the Prophet's mysteries, and things to come. This holy Spirit regenerates the inward man, quickeneth our dull minds, (like as the Sun with his vegetative heat nourisheth the barrenest earth) and insinuates himself into the zealous professors of the Gospel effectually, mystically, and miraculously. This is that Spirit of God, which moved at the creation of the Gen. 1. world upon the face of the waters. This is that Spirit of sanctification, which descended down from heaven in the likeness Mat. 3. of a Done, and sat upon our Saviour Christ. This is that spiritual Light, whose universal presence is never absent from the Lord's Spouse, the Catholic 2 Church: even as hitherunto ever since the Ascension of our Saviour, his pure power hath vouchsafed to preserve her from utter damnation in some Country or other. When Idolatry over-swayed these Western parts of the world, doubtless the Lord had his Spouse either in Moscovia, Greece, Armenia, Aethiopia, or some other Region: and perhaps in one or two households, as heretofore fell out in adam's, Noah's, and Abraham's time. This the Apostle in the apocalypse manifesteth, when as he prophesied, that 1 Apoc. 12. she should fly into a Wilderness, and sojourn therefore fear of the Dragon, or Antichristian deceit; 2 2. Thes. 2. while faith was departed, and 3 Apoc. 11. Gods two testimonies lay dead and despised. O ye that go under the naked name of Catholics, mark how well the concordance of these three places Prophetical answers your stentorean vociferation, on Priestly succession. It is dangerous to measure Illumination, or any other mental gift of the holy Ghost, according to mistaking times, or men's traditions: for the Goldsmith that softeneth, hardeneth, and tempeteth the mettle at his own free and secret pleasure, may cause his old jewels to be newly in request, and distributed again, as it were by degrees, or nurse's milk by little and little, for Our reconciliation to the Lord of life, the Lamb that leads to the living fountains of waters, or to Apoc. 7. these Royal Magazines and shops of the Spirit. Even as this Spirit speaks in the hearts of true Gospelers, without any noise of words, and moveth them 3 oestro miraculoso; so the misprision of this Al-quickning Spirit, made our forefather's subject to schisms, heresies, and superstition; and wrought the ruin of the Eastern Church, their chief Imperial City of Constantinople (as it is said) being taken on a Whitsunday, our festival time of the holy Ghost. And at this day, if we strictly examine our consciences, we shall find the original fountain of all our errors, Detractions, defamations, and other infinite pollutions, to arise from our hardness of hearts, in not glorifying our most glorious God, and seeking after this Spirit of consolation, who is the third person in Trinity. As our Saviour Christ said to his disciples, Go and teach alnations, baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son, Mat. 28. and of the holy Ghost. And as the Apostles taught, There are three which bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word 1. joh. 5. and the holy Ghost, and these three are one. But why is the third person in Trinity peculiarly termed the Holy Spirit? Is not the Father Holy, and the Son 4 Holy? God forbid that I should hold the contrary. The Father is a holy Spirit, and the Son a holy Spirit; yet notwithstanding, because Holiness or Sanctification towards mankind proceeds from love, which love is sent or produced from their mutual will; from the Father by election in love, and from the Son by his word and redemption in love, this Holiness, as a Tertian or third influence, proceeding out of two Divine respects towards, the salvation of mankind, is rightly attributed to the third person in Trinity, as to the Ambassador of both their wills: so that the whole Trinity partakes of the same. Holiness, of the same Love, of the same Will, of the same Spirit, of the same Godhead, of the same Unity; as S. Paul very manifestly expresseth in these words: Endevourye to keep the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace; one body Ephes. 4. and one Spirit, even as ye are called all in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism; one God and Father of all, which is above all, and through all, and in you all. So that whatsoever name or power is ascribed to anyone peculiar person of the Trinity, the same is meant of the whole Trinity. The Father is called the Spirit of God, the Son the Spirit of God, and the Holy Ghost the Spirit of God: yea, the Father is the Spirit of him (of whom S. Paul speaks) that raised up jesus from the dead; the Son is that Spirit that raised himself, and the Holy Ghost the Rom. 8. same Spirit. The Son is the Father, and the Holy Ghost is in the Father: the Son is the everlasting Father. This the Prophet witnesseth, when as he names Christ, the Esay. 9 mighty God, and everlasting Father. But when they are severally named or distinguished into persons, that sense or moral is to be understood parable-wise, as including the mysteries of our salvation, which our humane capacities cannot otherwise rightly apprehend. For even as a Prince in his prudence, love, an I wisdom; and for the more honourable establishment of his Monarchy or Kingdom, authorizeth his son, and some other as his Chancellor, to impart his laws unto his subjects, and to govern them in order, whereby their power becometh equal; so let us conceive, that the glorious Trinity is but one Divine and essential power, all alike, all equal, and of one authority; only for the glory of the Godhead, and for the mystery of our Redemption, the Trinity is really distinguished to the view of the inward man, whose will is stirred up to meditate upon the personal relation of their functions and offices, which they derive one to another. But how shall we discern who is possessed with the Holy Ghost▪ To be possessed with the Holy Ghost, is as 5 much to s●y, as to be possessed with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, namely, with saith, humility, and other Divine gifts. Of these his gifts some are visible, some invisible, some abundant some restrained. With the former the Apostles and Prophets were miraculously inspired; with the latter all we, who according to our Christian profession, do protest to fight in this life against the world, the flesh and the Devil do hope to be possessed through grace, according to the measure of Christ's gift. The branch that draws not juice and life out of this spiritual Vine, is adjudged Ephes. 4. dead: for what amity can there be betwixt light and darkness, betwixt life and death? The chiefest gift of the Holy Ghost is saith; which is a spiritual light, enlightening our lives with the Gospel, & with the beams of good works, causing us to love all men after his own example, who communicates his Sun to the just and unjust. And if we may lawfully boast of any gifts of the Holy Ghost, ingraffed by his powerful Majesty in our hearts, then surely may we glory of our Illummation, wherewith we are enlightened undeservedly in these days. Neither is it possible for us in these days to obtain a more visible measure of spiritual gifts, by reason that our minds are captivated unto covetousness, envy, and other unclean thoughts, by reason that our bodies are pampered with gluttony, drunkenness, eating and drinking without appetite or necessity: and by reason that we dare not, in respect of these pollutions, and of our unworthiness, communicate one with another the Lords holy Supper but very seldom; whereby the gifts of the Holy Ghost might be multiplied and increased in us. As long as we are carnal and worldly minded, our souls are far from these gifts of the Spirit, which the Apostle likewise calls the fruits of the Spirit, as love, joy, peace, long suffering, Gal. 5. gentleness goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. They that are Christ's, do endeavour to follow his Fathers will. And what is the will of the Father? Even our sanctification and union in the Spirit. For even as the carnal conjunction of man and wife makes of them one flesh; so the spiritual conjunction of Christ and the sanctified soul makes of them one spirit, so they that are united in the Spirit, are united in their wills; and they that are united in their wills, are united in their actions. They that follow Christ's actions, do labour in all humility, to attain unto these gifts of the Holy Ghost. But first, they must tame their bodies with fasting. And here I give you one note worthy the consideration, that whereas S. Paul in all his Epistles makes often mention▪ and sendeth often salutations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, not joining the Holy Ghost in plain literal words with them, he doth it, because it was the Holy Ghost himself that spoke through the mouth of Paul in those Epistles. And whatsoever he wrote, he wrote by commandment and inspiration of the Holy Ghost, whose office and function was to signify unto the Church the will of the other two persons in Trinity. So that the naming of the Holy Ghost was needless, while the Elect understand, that it was He which spoke, and that Paul was no other than as Moses to God, or as Baruch to jeremy, that is, the Notary or Scribe of the Spirit; and as it is elsewhere specified, a chosen vessel. This himself protested in these words; If any man think himself a 1. Cor. 14. Prophet or spiritual let him know, that the things which I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. There is no sin more detestable, nor more difficult 6 to be forgiven, than the sin against this Spirit of God. Dost thou wantonly detract from God the Father, and deny thine own and the world's creation by his omnipotent word? Search the Scriptures, repeal thy detractions, and upon thy recantation thou shalt receive remission. Dost thou blaspheme the Son of the everliving God, and belie his Incarnation, his Passion, his Resurrection? Read over the new Testament, remember to compare the same in an even balance, with the Prophecies of Esay, and the rest of the Lords holy Legates, and it may be, thine eyes will be opened, and thou wilt renounce thine errors by the bright light of the holy Spirit. But, silly soul, what wilt thou do, if this glorious Spirit comes not near thee? Where then wilt thou expect forgiveness of thy blasphemies? Nay, how caused thou expect, or ask forgiveness, seeing that without his operation the fruits of repentance can no more spring in thy faithless heart, than the Apples of Paradise could fall into the hands of Tantalus in hell? All other sins are pardonable, and therefore termed debts or trespasses: Only this sin against the Holy Ghost is Treason in the highest degree, against the whole Godhead his crown and dignity, by reason that his personal subsistence was produced both from the Father and the Son, and propagated unto us even from our Baptism; so that to sin against his authority, is to sin against the whole Majesty of the sacred Trinity, and against our own souls, being created by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and sanctified by the Holy Ghost. Chiefly, those reprobates are guilty of this unpardonable sin, which sometimes having had great feeling, great understanding of the word of God (and perhaps especial inspiration of the Holy Ghost, as Ananias and Saphira had) if such persons afterwards without need do fall into malicious Apostasies, causeless Hypocrisies, and contumacious blasphemies against the sanctified Church of Christ in their words, works, & thoughts, ending also their lives without repentance, doubtless they incur the penalty of this irremissible sin for this their spiritual fornication. But to discern who they be particularly that offend in this height of sin, in my judgement very few or none can undertake that charge in these days, because we have not that gift of the Holy Ghost, namely, of discerning Spirits, as apparently as the Apostles had. To conclude these excellent exorcisms against the spiteful spirit of Detraction, O triumphant Trinity▪ distinguished 7 really, and indistinct essentially, not into three Gods (as that holy Martyr protested) nor into three incarnated▪ but into three of the same degree, of the same honour, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Ignatius in Epist. ad Phi●ippenses. whose powerful Majesty united and identified in one eternal Deity, the celestial spirits love to contemplate, and we earthly Pilgrims long to see, Here I your unworthy servant, prostrating my soul in all humility, do crave remission in the dust and ashes for my simple speaking of your intellectual substance. O God of endless bounty, direct my unskilful pen, that it stray not too much from the rule of verity, nor lay down any thing but with reverend shame of my blind and bluntish ignorance, concerning thy Heavenly virtues, thy blessed Guard, and holy Host; let them which read this Treatise, bear nothing in their hearts away, save that, which is conformable to the square of wholesome doctrine. Inflame my spirit with true zeal, the true seal of thy sacred Spirit, that it may soar up like an Eagle, to the sun of thy Grace, with fervency founded on Divine discretion; for fervency is but foolish fury without Divine discretion. LINEAMENT VI. 1 Their Heresies convicted which detract from the service of God, because they see him not with their corporal eyes. 2 The knowledge of God proved by an instance of our carthly King, who is known throughout great Britain of all his subjects, though not of all wito corporal sight. 3 The excellency of his spirit above the rest of his subjects. 4 Means to know God. 5 Why mortal men cannot see God? MAny of us detract from the service of God, because his Majesty is not so familiar, 1 as to speak unto us visibly, at convenient seasons; as though so high a Majesty should debase himself with every sinful creature. It is reported, that the King of China will not be seen abroad among his ordinary subjects above once a year. And yet we wanton worldlings would limit our great Creator to sight and daily conference. God is a Spirit, not bound to any bodily Organ, but (to compare his Greatness after flesh and blood) even as man's soul when it is separated from his body: his power is infinite, immensive, incomprehensible, and no more to be seen, or sensibly understood of flesh and blood, then if a man should measure the waters in his fist, or the heavens with his span, or if he should Esa. 40. weigh the mountains in a balance. All people are in comparison of him, but as a drop of a bucketfull, or as Grasshoppers, or as nothing, or as nothing less than nothing. No earthly man can erect a statue, or a carved Image according to his likeness. No Goldsmith can cover him with Esa. ibid. gold, or cast him into a form of silver plates. O Lord, who is like unto thee? No man can enter into thy Counsel, no job 11. man can find out thy secrets, or attain unto this perfection. Thou art higher than heaven, deeper than hell, the measure of thee is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. Though thou turn all things up side down, closest them in, and gatherest them together, who will turn thee from thy purpose? Worldly sight is one thing, and Divine knowledge another thing. The one is subject to insumities and errors; the other is insallible, certain, and can never sail, cyther with old age, wounds, or false spectacles. The one is the instrumental light of the body, to guide a man in his worldly business: the other (I mean) mental knowledge, is the everlasting Lamp of the soul. This latter I pray God instill into us. As for the other, it cannot absolutely be termed perfect, before it be first sown in winter's corruption, and before (like ripe corn, grown with full and glorious ears) it rise up glorified in the summer of immortality At which time, both lights and sights, external and internal, being by the Divine bounty become eternal, we shall both see and know aright in all perfection, almost even as God himself seeth and knoweth us at this present. Quid est quod non videant qui vident●m omnia vident? What thing shall they not see and know, which always see and know the Author of all sight and knowledge? In the time of their visitation they shall shine, they shall shine as amiable as the Sapient. cap. 3. Sun, more admirably glorious than Moses, who was fain to put a veil before his face, by reason of his overbrightsome beauty, though he saw God but for a moment, and that imperfectly: for all light proceeds from him. In his light we shall see light. But (quoth the spirit of Detraction) how can we know Psal. 36. him whom we never saw? O vain Spirit, if thou knowest 2 his laws, and fulfilest them, thou knowest God. As for example, let me instant in our earthly King: for mine own part I never spoke with. King JAMES, nor ever saw his face; yet notwithstanding I verily believe▪ that I do know him: I know him to be our King by public Proclamation, by his decrees, by the vnifom●e consent of all his subjects. My conscience persuades me, that he is the Divinest and devoutest Prince, that ever swayed the Diadem of this Monarchy, and above all the rest of his Kingdom that he is possessed with the gifts of the holy Ghost. The reasons that thus move me to conceive so wonderfully of his worth, are these: first, the observation of his life unblemished by general report, and free from suspicion of unseemly acts. Then, the consideration of his faith, wisdom, and mild spirit, made vulgarly manifest by his learned Books and Speeches in the Parliament house, whereof some are extant in Print, settles my knowledge of his excellency of spirit: Vt i●rem cala●●o fulgur inesse suo. That I would swear his pen did lightning flash. To these I add his miraculous preservation continually from his cradle (he being the only child of his Parents) in such tumultuous times, until this golden time of the Gospel. And, to omit many garboils of civil incendiaries for the subversion of his life and state, I will only content my meditation at this time with the consideration of two principal Treasons, invented by Satan, against his anointed person. The former Earl Gowry intended to effect. The latter the Papists purposed to perfect. In the former God suffered Satan to lead him for a moment into his castle of calamity; but presently he sent his Angel to deliver him, as Peter out of Herod's prison. In the latter God suffered Satan to plot, plant, and place his Ordinance in order, for the utter suppressing and supplanting of his whole estate, but suddenly the world's great Watchman confounded his Boutefeux, as the builders of Babeil. In both I observe, that the Divine Majesty respects this innocent Prince, & in his love unto him unexpectedly rips up the very bowels of Treason, even when Satan assures himself of his fatal harvest, and is ready to reap his Hemlockes almost ripe: then God prepares a fervent East wind in one night to destroy his poisonful weeds, like unto jonas his gourd. jonas 3. O mighty God, who can pry into the treasury of thy counsels? What man purposeth thou disposest. Thou revealest 3 the deep and secret things. Thou knowest the thing Dan. 2. that lieth in darkness: for the light dwelleth with thee. We thank thee, we praise thee. O thou God of our Fathers, that hast given our King wisdom and strength, and hast showed him the thing that he desired of thee. Thou hast declared his matter unto him. When his wisest Counselors miss to expound Tressams' intricate letter, more intricate than Sphynx his Riddle, the Holy Ghost lent the King himself the key of knowledge, the key on which millions of lives depended, wherewith he unlocked the memorable moral of the enigmatical letter, memorable indeed unto all posterities. All which circumstances do certainly argue the profoundness of his capacity, and assuredly ascertain my soul, that the faculties of his soul are effectually invested with some attributes of the Deity, for the glory of God. After the like manner, let us comprehend the knowledge of God, who is our spiritual King, and King of 4 Kings, (for what signifieth this word God, but an omnipotent spiritual King, Creator of all things?) and we shall spiritually attain to his Divine knowledge, though we see him not with our bodily eyes. Let us grope after him and we shall find him, for he is not far from every Acts 17. one of us; in him we live, we move, and have our being. When we endeavour with all our hearts and humble souls, to keep his commandments, we may boldly say that we do know him. When our minds are sanctified through steadfast saith intentively on jesus Christ, as the diseased Israelites became healthful with regarding the brazen Serpent, we may assuredly affirm that we do know him. Most happy are they which never saw Christ, and yet believe in him. Neither do we want other cuident means, and motives to stir us up to the knowledge of the Godhead or spiritual power: first, natural reason showeth, that some glorious soul, full of perfection and power, created the world and the creatures thereof (for they could never make themselves) which the Prophet David confessed in these words: The heavens declare the glory of God, and Psal. 19 the firmament showeth his handy work. Next, his Church or faithful congregation, of Adam, Abel, Seth, Henock Noah, Abraham, and others, transferred by successive tradition his knowledge to their posterities. Thirdly, his knowledge hath been revealed by the Holy Ghost to Moses, Samuel, the Prophets, and lastly by the Messias himself, through apparitions, miracles, laws, ceremonies, and temporal blessings. Fourthly, to draw nearer unto man's capacity, which depends most upon sensible objects; mention is made by Moses, how God caused him to stand in the cave of a Rock, and putting his hand upon him he did show him his hinder parts, not suffering Exod. 33. him to see his face. Whereby the secuced Saducees collect the Godhead to be corporal. But the natural man perceives not the things of the spirit of God. For by his hinder parts, a● the picture of his spiritual substance, is shadowed the glimpse of his glorious influence. By his hand, is figured his al-puissant power. By his face, the fullness of his sunny glory. And where Eyes are ascribed unto him, what other sense is meant, than his providence and knowledge? Thus God sometimes speaks naturally according to our natural apprehension. In conclusion, let it suffice our curious brains, that God is a powerful Spirit, not to be felt palpably with 5 men's hands, nor seen with men's eyes (I speak not of Christ's glorified body being humane, which Thomas Dydimus felt after his resurrection) by reason that the light of his Spirit is too conspicuous, glorious, and over-bright for such weak, terrestrial, and brittle senses. Nevertheless it pleased him to appear unto Ezechael in the similitude of fire from his loins downwards, and of brightness Eze. ●. like unto Amber from his loins upwards. S. john in the Island of Pathmos on the Lord's day ravished in spirit, saw one like the Son of man, with his head and hairs as white as woolor snow, with his eyes as flames of fire. His feet were like unto fire brass, burning in a furnace, and his voice Apoc. 1. as the sound of many waters. His face shone as bright as the Sun in his strength. Whereby we may gather, that God is a spirit, not able to be seen of dust and ashes, until the same be better purified or purged from worldly concupiscence (for flesh and blood cannot enter into heaven) and until our souls become refined and regenerated, not with Purgatory flames, but with the spirit of God the fiery Comfirter. This is the reason, that the Elect of God do stoutly maintain, that his Divine Majesty being a spirit cannot rightly be worshipped but in spirit and mind, which in truth falls out most rightly, when the spirit through faith becomes eminent, and when the body through fasting lieth vanquished. LINEAMENT VII. 1 The description of some of the good spirits, which attend on their Creator in heaven. 2 Their Offices. 3 Names. 4 Greatness. Leaving aside Dionysius Areopagitaes nine orders of Heavenly Hierarchies, 1 which he terms 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as an overcurious work for our weak capacities, I will relate the differences of such good Spirits, as we find registered in the word of God, to the intent that the spirit of Detraction may tremble the more, when he hears their energy and efficacy expressed, their energy and efficacy which they possess by the sight and light of the heavenly Sun. Michael the Archangel is the great Prince which stands for the Lords people. Dan. 12. And, as St. john recordeth in his Divine mysteries, there was a battle in Heaven: Michael and his Angels Apoc. 12. fought against the Dragon, and his Angels, whom they overcame by the blood of the Lamb, that is, by Christ's innocency. This Michael (as many suppose) is no other than our Saviour Christ. For even as by the Dragon, the Archspirit of sin is parable-wise included: so by this Michael, the Archangel of salvation might very well be figured. By Michael's Angels I understand his glorious spirit, his Oracles comprehended in the Scripture, the intercessions of Saints for our conversions, zealous books published by many good men for our edification in Christ, besides our faithful hearts prepared to heaven by devout prayers, and necessary mortifications of our lustful bodies. By the Dragon the Serpent, or Devil I expound the contempt of the Holy Ghost, the depraving of his precious gifts, the spirit of Detraction, the spirit of envy, the spirit of uncleanness, and other sinful spirits repugnant to the pure spirit of God. For (as S. Paul confirms the self same) because they regarded not God, therefore God delivered them up into a reprobate mind, to do those Rom. 1. things which are not convenient being full of all unrighteousness, fornication, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, etc. In some places Angels are termed the stars of God: 2 for even as stars do show the light of Heaven unto us, Esay 14. shining only to our outward sight; so Angels signify to the inward man, the heavenly light of the sunshine of grace. Where mention is made of the Seraphins, we may conjecture, that for our weakness in nature and easy instruction, they appeared with wings to the Prophet, crying one to another, Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord of Hosts; The Esay. 6. whole world is full of his glory; as a prefigurative revelatition, that the word of God, the Gospel of Christ should fly over all the world, and fill the same with his glorious power. In like manner, their description with wings portends their celerity, and swift readiness to succour us in extremity. Another Prophet layeth down the form of the Cherubins in this manner; Every one of them had four faces, and every one four wings, and the likeness of a man's Eze. 10. hand was under their wings. Under which vision we may contain the similitude of the four Evangelists, with Christ's hand, or with his holy Spirit transported into the four quarters of the world, into the East, West, North, and South, according unto the four ages of the world, under Irenaeus l. 3. c. 11 Adam, Noah, Moses, and Christ, which is the last, and reneweth us to everlasting life. Among others of God's spiritual ministers, which his Majesty sent to mankind, one is named Gabriel, an Angel 3 that appeared first to Daniel, when he prayed to have that performed of God, which he had promised touching the return of the people from their captivity in Babylon. While he was speaking and praying, even the man Gabriel, whom he had seen before in a vision came flying and touched Dan. 9 him: The said Gabriel came afterwards to Zacharias the Priest, to show him the Nativity of S. john Baptist, and was also sent to Mary the mother of Christ. An Angel called Vriel reproved Esdras, because he seemed to enter into the profound judgements of: God. And there jeremiel an Archangel confirms the words 2. Esd. 4. of Vriel. Raphael one of the seven holy Angels, which go forth before the Lord, took the shape of a man, and fellowlike, conversed with young Tobias, until he brought Tob. lib. him home safely from his great journey; bound Asmodeus the lustful spirit, and restored to old Tobith his sight. Now it remains, that I show what Angels be: Angels are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for their sakes 4 Hebr. 1. which shall be heirs of salvation. The Holy Ghost in the Scripture expresseth their outward forms, particular names, and numbers in plain terms, to make their Embassages and messages of greater reckoning to our terrestrial senses and simple understanding. Their mansions be diverse, as our Saviour testified: My Father's house hath many Mansions. Their multitudes infinite: Thinkest thou (said Christ to his Disciple, which smote the High Priests servant) that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he will Mat. 26. give me moe than twelve legions of Angels? These be they, whose loud voices that profound Divine heard, saying, Praise, honour▪ glory, and power be unto him that s●teth upon the Throne, and to the Lamb for evermore. These be Apoc. 4. they, whom our Saviour Christ prophesied to send against the day of judgement, to gather together his Elect from the four winds, and from the one end of the Heaven to the other. These likewise be those divine Ministers, which at the end of the world shall go forth, and sever the bad from among the just, and shall cast them into a Furnace of fire, where there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. In the holy Scriptures we read, that holy men, such as Aaron, the Prophets, and Priests were called Gods or Angels, because they resembled them in proprieties and perfections: for even as it is the office of Angels to praise God in purity of mind and sanctification; so likewise it is the duty of Ministers to preach and teach the word of God without hypocrisy, negligence, or worldly craft. THE SECOND CIRCLE OF THE SPIRIT OF DETRACTION, CO NIURED AND CONVICTED. LINEAMENT I. 1. The true application of the abovesaid Conjurations: 2 That the names of other good spirits be manifold and diverfly taken in the holy Scripture. 3 After what manner Sin, the messenger of Satan stings us. 4 By what means we may repel the stings of Satan. 5 That it is hard to judge of our spiritual stings, and from whence they come. THe meditation of these 1 mysteries (I hope) will shake the power of our spiritual Tempter's, and shape our humane wills after the refined mould of the Inward man: so that we prostrate ourselves before our Heavenly Lord, humbly prying into our own unworthiness, and putting off our unclean shoes before we touch his holy Mount; so that we employ our knowledge, in testimonium veri, non in adiutorium falsi, for the glory of God, and T●rtul. in libr. de Resur. Carnis. not for the support of sin: so that also we apply our contemplation of his Saints, for admiration and not for adoration, applauding their happy estates, with the acknowledgement of our own unhappiness. For who can thrust Peter into God's Throne, were he ne'er so glorious a Saint, without apparent Treason? down then ye Detracting souls, into your earthly caves. Without the mediation of Christ, God is a consuming flame; wherefore approach not near this Flame, lest ye be consumed. Dive rather into your own weakness, and think on nothing so often, then on Christ lying in a vile manger, or on Christ crowned with a crown of thorns, or on his guiltless body nailed to the cross of infamy; and no doubt but the effects of Grace will follow. Where other good Spirits are mentioned in the word of God, and how one rested upon many, and many upon 2 one, I am not of the mind that they were real, corporal, and palpable spirits, but rather Divine gifts or supernatural virtues▪ conferred upon the souls of the Elect by the Lord for his glory. God took off the spirit that was upon Moses, and put it upon the seventy Elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. In sundry places of the Scripture we read, that the spirit of the Lord possessed many, where they became notable either for prophecies, valour, or other rare properties: which Spirits must not be balanced by proportionable quantity, but spiritually construed by operation and quality. Which exposition I have laid down (as I have some of the premises) of set purpose that the Reader may not be mistaken in conceiving the spirit of Detraction, and other sinful Spirits to possess mankind really. The holy Ghost fell at one time upon many of the Apostles and others; which is as much to say, that the precious Gifts of the holy Ghost, of prophecy, of diversities of tongues, of faith, patience, and other virtues inspired these servants of God, whom his Wisdom selected and sealed to that degree of sanctification, as the potter's vessels, for such honourable services. Contrariorum cadem est ratio. By the knowledge of Goodness, let us gather the knowledge of the opposite, 3 how the Devil by his spiritual Nuntioes of Sin, as by Detraction, malice, and such others, possesseth the negligent sons of Adam, not with real forms, but with spiritual suggestions and spiritual operations. God turns away the influence of his countenance from his degenerate children; then Satan embraceth that advantage of opportunity, and with his pestilent breath bloweth into the principal parts of man's body and soul. He empoisoneth the humours of melancholy, choler, and gail, enuenometh the lodge of imagination: then the possessed is sranticke or lunatic. The blood and seed he tickleth and tainteth with honeyed lechery, and hateful luxury: then the patient becomes passionate in his body, prodigal of his blood and seed, and proud of his supposed power. For how can it otherwise be, when the body is tempted to receive into it superabundance of juice, of immoderate meats and drinks? Must not consequently every natural body vent out what is supersluously gathered within it? But, O thou great Governor of the world, whose will is unsearchable! no mortal man can mortify his longing 4 conceits, his lustful concupiscence, without the mortification of his body by fasting, neither can he mortify his body by fasting, without pouring out many piteous petitions before the seat of thy mercy. Nor yet can man (O sinful man) pour out his petitions intentively before thee, except it were given him from above, and except he were in his conscience compelled by the operation of thy spirit, to crave daily for perscuetance in his prayers and petitions. To finish the abovesaid point of Satan's stinging, whether these plaguy temptations be verily, or figuratively, 5 the Devil's spiritual power, or the wrath of God enclosed in vials, as is allegorically specified in the apocalypse, it is hard for man to judge; for both might well be inflicted on us, seeing the ungodly is a sword of his, and Nabuchadonozor is termed his servant, or executioner to Psal. Jerem. revenge his just conceived anger against the Israelites. The wind blows, and with his furious force overturns a Forest of wood, and overthrows whatsoever it meets; yet no man knows whence it comes, or whither it goes. Even so it fares with these turbulent spirits: well may we aim at their mediate manner of infections; but it is a very difficult matter to discourse judicially of their immediate stinging. Sure we are, that none escape without them. LINEAMENT. II. 1 The original ro●te of Detractions and other pollutions; and whether the spirit of Detroction and other sinful spirits, which possess mankind, be real spirits or stings of the Devil? 2 The fight betwixt the knowledge of Good, and the knowledge of Evil. 3 That the Good gets the victory over the Evil. 4 That the Devil cannot harm a man really. IN the beginning God made all creatures I good and perfect, though afterwards through presumption, arrogancy, and Detraction they became sinful. His omnipotent Majesty being righteous, and dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous 2. Pet. 2. soul with their unlawful deeds; and at length finding no steadfastness in his servants, and laying folly in his Angels, job 4. most justly condemned them, & threw them down into 2. Pet. 2. hell, where he hath reserved them in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgement of the great day: Where, jud. 6. in stead of eternal glory, they live tortured with eternal infamy, in stead of happy light they see nothing but horrid night, in stead of holy knowledge they feel nothing but hellish ignorance, in stead of perpetual joys perpetual pains. How greatly then are our superstitious worldlings bewitched, that authorise Devils in multitudes, and with corporal shapes, that is, with bodies subject to handling, having of necessity longitude, latitude, & profundity, otherwise called thickness, presently to appear at the lure of mortal men, and to command the heavenly powers for satisfaction of their fantasies? Let it suffice, that we believe the Holy Ghost hath omitted nothing pertinent to our salvation; let it suffice, that we arm our souls with the spiritual Corcelets of faith and charity, against the most terrible encounters of Devilish sins, propagated unto the children of Adam, from the Archspirit of sin. Vt mures in muris, sic satellites Sathanae in cordibus nostris delite scunt: as Mice in walls, so lurk the messengers of Satan in our hearts. Let it suffice our curiosity, that sin is a roaring Lion, a spiritual Devil, and that a reprobate mind fraught with vile affections, like cankered poison, kills both body and soul. There Ecclus. 10. is a seed of man, which is an honourable seed: the honourable seed are they that fear the Lord. There is a seed of man which is without honour: the seed without honour are they that transgress the commandments of the Lord. This latter seed is the Devil's sting, spiritual temptation, spiritual Detraction springing of melancholy and corruption of humours, which can never possess us, while we observe that golden rule: Watch and pray, that is, praying always in all supplication, and watching for the same purpose Ephes. 6. with all instance for all Saints. The chiefest Devil on earth, Viceroy to the chief 2 Serpent of hell, is the knowledge of Evil, even as the chiefest God on earth Viceroy to the Archspirit of heaven is the knowledge of goodness; both which Good and Evil we know ever since the eating of the forbidden fruit, which man had not lusted, except God had commanded the contrary. Deteriora sequor: Sin took● occasion by the commandment, and deceived us. So that we left the tree of life, and took the worst. The knowledge of evil is sin, Rom. 7. or worldly craft. The knowledge of the good is the service of God or innocency. as soon as Adam had eaten the Apple in the garden of trial, his eyes were opened, and he knew the differences both of the Good and Evil, yea, he was made partaker of Evils and miseries, as well of equity, happiness, and innocency. O what a Divine mystery is this! Man's body and soul stands almost in suspense, in an equal balance betwixt God and the Serpent, betwixt innocency and sin. Or more mystically to compare our states; we stand in this world like our Saviour Christ, cruelly crucified betwixt two thieves, the one penitent, the other desperate; the one acknowledging his Deity, the other blasphemously detracting from his innocent life. Even so do we wade betwixt Good and Evil, betwixt the spirit and the flesh, betwixt peace and war, betwixt heaven and hell, betwixt life and death, betwixt virtue and vice (Xenophons' paths for Hercules in his youth) betwixt light and darkness, betwixt truth and falsehood, betwixt love and hatred, betwixt joy and sorrow, betwixt eternity and time. God's spirit of Goodness seeks to win us by infusing into our intellectual senses, faith, love, truth, and other underspirits of his. Our Ghostly tempter, wicked sin, the old Serpents sting inwardly pricks our souls to know evil as well as good (for malum cognitum facilius evitatur, evil being known is the more easily avoided) to permit wantonness, licentiousness, Detraction, and other petty petulant spirits of sin unto our children in their tender age, that they may leave them of the sooner in their riper years, according to the proverb, A wild colt will prove a good horse, a rude youth a good man, and a young Devil an old Saint. God labours to mortify the body, that the soul may see his Godhead. The Devil by sin his earthly substitute, deceitfully adviseth to pamper the body with daiaty delicacies, that the soul being stupefied may behold nothing but perpetual darkness. God pronounceth rigorousness unto them which fall, but towards thee kindness, if thou continue in kindness. The Devil Rom. 11. whispereth into thy heedless heart, Sisaluaberis, saluaberis, If thou shalt be saved, thou shalt be saved. If thou be reserved among the remnant of Baal's seven thousand, according to the election of Grace, what needest thou make this world thy hell, thy body thy cross, thy contentment thy discontentment? If thou be not predestinated unto salvation, wilt thou enjoy a double holy? Therefore while thou hast time, cherish up thy body with all kinds of sports and pleasures. Laugh and b●fat: I am veniet tacito curua sexecta pede. Anon old age with stealing pace will come. Ah poor soul, how art thou entangled, being created after the image of God composed for his Spouse, endowred 3 with his spirit, redeemed with his blood, accompanied with his Angels, capable of happiness, and partaker of reason, as a learned Spaniard in imitation of Father Bernard, broke out into admiration: O Alma hecha a laimagen de Dios, compucsta common para esposa, dotada consu Sanctiago sober Euang. espiritu, redimida consu sangre, accompanadae consus Angeles, capaz de bienaventuranza, participant derazon. Why dost thou follow thine enemy, and forsake thy Maker, O heavenly soul? Why dost thou offer unto the Devil the fairest, and the sartest of thy flock, and leavest unto God a lean and a lame sacrifice? Wilt thou draw unto the Devil thy sweetest drinks, and unto God thy sourest dregges? O careless creature! Say not, God hath Ecclus. 25. caused thee to err for he hath no need of the sinful man. He made thee from the beginning, and left thee in the hand of thy counsel, and gave thee his commandments and precepts. He hath set water and fire before thee stretch out thy ●and unto which thou wilt. Before thee was life and death, good and evil. What liked thee, was given. Which excellent doctrine another confirmed: Thus saith the Lord, Behold I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. Say not thou, I am besieged with Devils, with real spirits out of hell. For in thy centre, O intellectual soul, is imprinted the very character of Gods own essence and three persons 4 in Trinity; insomuch, that thou resemblest the Divine Hypostasis, and indivisible unity, and also possessest immortality from the Father, understanding from the Son, and sanctification from the Holy Ghost. All which concurring in one identified essential union, make thee a perfect soul, without blemish. Let not thy fall from that blessed state discomfort thee. The blood of Christ (if the fault be not thine own) doth (like a laver) purify thy sins, though they become as red as scarlet. These thieves of the Deity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as a very ancient Father terms Titianus in Oration. adversus gent. them, can never harm thee really, howsoever their spirit of Detraction, as false spectacles to multiply thy fears, lays down that humourous tradition before thy simple sight. Seest not thou, how those spirits, which dallied with the holy water, dare not once come near our reformed Church? As there be degrees of sins, so in my judgement these deluding spirits never appear but to the grossest sinner. Where a man hath but one honest man in his house, there that house prospereth better than if that one were absent; for that he terrifieth the rest from cousenages and conspiracies; so where one Godly man dwelleth, there the Devil dares not draw near. LINEAMENT III. 1 That all wicked Spirits ordinary and extraordinary do issue from the same head. 2 That they cannot harm a man really, without his own natural or wanton motion. 3 Their varieties proved out of the Scripture, where Saules lunacy is censured. 4 That the Spirit of Detraction attendeth on all the said spirits. EVen as good spirits or virtuous motions issue from the Godhead, as from the 1 clear fountain of goodness; so wicked spirits and unbridled affections, fetch their pedigree from the deceitful Serpent, w●h alured Eve to insring the Lords commandement. For his malicious spirit repining, that man, a new made creature, found more favour than himself (belike long afore an outcast from God's presence) turned about the weaker vessel, the simple woman, and makes her an instrument for all their overthrows together. They were all of them accursed, mankind destinated to death, the Serpent to darkness. Since which time, continual calamities and fantastical spirits, the black guard of sin pursue mankind, till death gets the upper hand, and looseth the soul out of her prison of flesh and blood. I say, until death, as God's Sergeant, do attach our bodies upon debt due unto nature, and our souls upon sins committed against the Author of nature. These sinful spirits like baits of sweet poison, or sugared galls, possess old Adam's progeny, according to the variable and voluble dispositions of the patient. These, not unlike to Mice, Lice, lawless Lawyers, or noisome vermin, by Satan's spiritual suggestion do endeavour to infest, molest, and sift us as wheat. They had their beginning at the fall of the Devil and his Angels, who are throughly possessed with all the said qualities, working diversely by the means of the same spirit. The spirit of Detraction, the spirit of Envy, the spirit of Pride, and such like vicious spirits, proceed from one root, from one Serpent, that old Impostor. I am settled in this opinion by the Apostle, who proved the identity of the Holy Spirit by the like reason. The body is one, and hath many members. And again, There are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit. 1. Cor. 12. To one is given by the spirit, the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same spirit. To another the operations of great works, to another prophecy, to another the discerning of spirits, to another the diversities of tongues. All these things worketh the same spirit, distributing to every man, as it pleaseth him. From one Tree came many branches of evil: by the enticement of one Serpent came all these spirits of errors, which (like venomous stings) incite us to ungodly acts. And yet for all this, I deny not, but there are malicious spirits as well as ministering spirits, Devils as well as Angels, the one attending on Lucifer the Prince of Devils, the other on Michael the Lords chief Angel, both invisibly attempting to work upon the Will of man vehemently, or by leisure, as God commands them, either for the knowledge of Goodness, or for the knowledge of Evil. Neither will I here omit to interpose another opinion of mine, concerning the Devil's force, which is, that God 2 the revenger of iniquity, commands the Devil, as his executioner, to pursue the reprobate sometimes by immediate causes, and sometimes by mediate and second causes; by immediate, when the faculties of the soul are by his spiritual spurs extraordinarily possessed with frenzy, fury, and such like; by mediate causes, when the instruments of the body are by his spiritual enticements tempted to receive into them more than suffice nature; so that the veins overflow with blood, the gall with choler adust, and the liver with lust. But in my judgement, with the former extraordinary or miraculous causes the Devil cannot harm a Christian man's body really, (howsoever I think of the souls immediate obsession) or harm the least part of his body. Surely I believe, that God reserves that palpable real power, as a prerogative to himself, to his own Angels, and to his second causes in this world; to himself, as when Pharaoh and his Egyptians were miraculously plagued with Lice, and other annoyances by the singer of God or when he caused his Angel for David's fault to smite the Israelites with pestilence. But thou wilt ask me, how can a Christian be frantic by the Devil's means, and yet not really hurt by him? By him, by the Devil's immediate real force? Nay, principally by themselves, and by their own filthy bodies, which suffered themselves at first, to be gluttonously carried by their own appetites, and by the Devil's spiritual suggestion. If they had eaten less, and drunk less, such corruption of humours could never taint them, neither could consequently frenzy possess them. And also if they had in time sought for grace by daily prayers (fasting being a coadiutour unto them) God would have harkened unto them, and healed their indispositions. But on the contrary it pleased his Majesty to harden some, to lead them into temptation because they might acknowledge his justice and omnipotency, and also serve for monuments to terrify the wavering minded. To return unto my former matter, as all wicked spirits and vicious purt●rbations sprung in mortal men, 3 by means of the said Archspirit of sin, so likewise by him they work many and sundry operations. Moses' made mention of the spirit of jealousy. Esay of the spirit of Error. The Lord permitted allying spirit to go out, and Num. 5. be in the mouth of all ahab's Prophets, to entice him into the battle against the Syrians. Another Prophet relateth Esay. 19 2. Reg. 10. Holea 4. Rom. 10. of the spirit of fornication. And as S. Paul records: God gave them the spirit of slumber. The spirit of God departed from Saeul, and an evil spirit was sent from God, to vex him. Therefore his servants advised him to seek a cunning player upon the Harp, whereby he might be refreshed and eased. What sense more natural to our capacities can we gather by this evil spirit, and the easy cure thereof, then that it was either a kind of Lunacy usual in that hot country, a fit of melancholy, or a falling sickness? For the cure whereof, his servants (by whom I understand his Phisittans') having experimented belike, that none other medicine than music could avail him, or perhaps not having such insight in Physic as we have, wished him only to comfort his heart with joys, and (as we vulgarly speak) to keep Doctor Merriman company. To this opinion of mine I adjoin another reason (whereof we must not descant over-curiously) that God predestinated purposely this extraordinary accident upon Saul for the advancement of David, who upon this occasion happily composed many of his Psalms, and confirmed the virtues of his spirit, and also by this access into the King's Palace, he gained unto him the minds of his chief Captains and Officers; besides he got by this familiar frequency in the Court his education, and experience in matters of civil policy, which otherwise he could hardly in humane probability obtain, by reason that he was brought up but simply among Shepherds. This I write not of any blasphemous purpose to restrain the Lords miraculous power, but that we may observe his providence in vouchsafing to work by ordinary and natural means. But admit, that the literal sense be admitted; what absurdity can ensue thereof? For the Devil in his fall having wholly lost the musical consent, and melodious concord which was ensused in his soul at his creation, could hardly digest David's Hymns and Harp, the same being quite disagreeable to his discording and disproportioned nature, I say such Divine music reduced the extravagant thoughts of Saules soul to such an excellent harmony and quiet tune, that the Devil durst not abide that sweet tempered sound. Over all the abovesaid wicked spirits, the spirit of Detraction awaiteth. Doth the Lord send his terrible thunder, 4 his glorious lightnings, as warlike alarms to rouse us up from our sleepy sins? Behold the spirit of Detraction at hand, and attributes those strange signs to the Prince of this world, his Lord and Master the Devil God (quoth he) is the Author of goodness, quiet, and never int●rmedles with thunderclaps, storms, or tempests. Non illi imperium pelagi sc●ptrumque tridentis, Sed mihi sort: datum— Virg. l. 1. Aencid. That great command with triple forked mace, By lot to me, and not to him be ell. As Neptune spoke of himself to Aeolus, Such Heretical paradoxes as these he inspires men's brains withal, and rams them, as with a strong beetle, into their shallow hearts. lives a man in love and charity with his neighbour? Again, the same spirit of Detraction appears, sows idle tales of dilgrace, whereby they may go together by the ears, and empty their virulen: galls with most violent revenge, the one against the other. Art thou chole●cke? Beware of Saules spirit of lunacy? Art thou merrily disposed at games and sports? Thou shalt be sure of Satan's spiritual sting, and be throughly possessed both with the spirits of blasphemy and Detraction, although thou perceivest them not visibly with mortal eyes. To be brief, he will never be spiritually wanting to any man. To a man in prosperity he sends his spirit of pride, to a sinner despair, to married soikes the spirit of jealousy, to children the spirit of disobedience, to Courtiers the gliving pomps or vanity, to Preachers the spirit of false prophecy, to the subject the spirit of rebellion, to friends the spirit of inconstancy, to servants the spirit of ingratitude, so that there be few men in the world, but their wills are possessed with some spirit or other. I pass over many other spirits, which bear dominion among us, as the spirit of lechery, the spirit of drunkenness, the spirit of gluttony, and the damnable spirit of avarice. All which as rotten branches, I know to be descended and derived from one tree the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, by the subtle temptations of the sneaking Snake of sin, the Angel of Perdition. LINEAMENT four 1 Why God gives us over to be tempted by Satan. 2 After what manner the Devil useth now adays to ensnare us. 3 The Devil's policy for the circumventing of souls. AMong us in this reformed Realm, the Devil dares not appear in outward forms of illusion (like the man in the Moon) 1 by reason that the Sunshine of God's word is too strong for his faithless spirit; yet notwithstanding, because we might call to memory our sraile natures, together with our soul's stupidity, overwhelmed with gross humours, overmastered with perturbations, winking and looking through carnal windows, and spectacles of error: and because we might implore our Creator's assistance according to our bounden duties, God permits Satan in respect of old Adam's transgression, spiritually to interfuse necessary pricks into our fleshly thoughts, yea, and to interrupt us in our most zealous offices. Which moved a reverend Elder of the Church to complain after this manner: In my prayers I repeat oftentimes what I gain, and oftentimes I am distracted with some filthy imagination, to do those things which I blush to speak. But, me thinks, Hier. in Dialog. contra Luciferia. here I hear one of his Disciples disputing, that God seeing he is the Author and Imparter of Goodness, will not suffer any of his adopted children to be enchanted and entrapped by Satan. For the solution of this presumptuous scruple; (which I take to be but a knot in a rush) I constantly aucrre, that God is all Goodness, and as he is most good and merciful, so is he most just. His unspotted Majesty could do no less then inflict punishment upon his new creature (albeit with anguish of spirit, like a pitiful earthly judge that pronounceth judgement with tears against malefactors) he could do no less because of his future glory, and because of his former commandment to Adam, then give verdict of death against them; which advisedly being referred to their own counsel, they being at that time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Theophil Antiochen. lib. 2. ad Antolycum. free, and at their own liberty, preferred death before life. God did well therefore to try man's faith betimes, before he graced him with further favours. The Procurer he more severely punished. And because the Devil's familiarity with the woman occasioned man's fall; for this cause did God set perpetual enmity and hatred, ever since the beginning till the world's end, betwixt the woman's seed and the Devil: yet with a limitation, that the Devil should continue his illusions towards us, that he should exhale his poisonful puissance against the reprobate, and with might and main pursue all excommunicated rebels. Thus the Devil according to God's curse rageth against us, and, as it were famished with hunger of our Damnation, like a roaring Lion, he lieth in wait to devour us. But as long as we endeavour to serve God in love and humility, he can but bruise our earthly heels, and sting us with necessary temptations for the souls edifying. Our Saviour Christ treads down his malicious head and hellish force, so that we shall at last prevail and triumph in the celestial Paradise, which is a thousand times more glorious than that Hortus conclusus, the Garden impaled, the Paradise of proof, where we were content to be bewitched in hope or worldly wisdom. Since Printing sprang up (which perhaps is a worldly 2 instrument of the fiery spirit of life, that after three days Apoc. 11. and a half came from God, and entered into the Lords two Martyrs, the old Testament and the new, I mean into their Preachers, whose bodies were laid in the streets of spiritual Sodom, and Egypt, and yet not quite buried nor abolished) and since we had the use of books, wherein man's manifold knowledge of good and evil is apparently deciphered, and the Devil's deceitful tricks discovered to persons of all condition: now, as a subtle Statesman, he works another course to bring our souls in thrall; by stratagems, by politic practices under hand he inspires indulgent parents to make their children free in their nonage, before they be powdered with heavenly prudence, that the Proverb might be verified of them; Soon ripe, soon rotten. Scilicet ingenium & rerum prudentia velox ante pilos venit.— Persius' in satire. 4. Too soon before their beards bud forth, They come to be Statesmen of worth. Having thus obtained the Parent's consent, he turns about his free-made youths, and trains them (as Sertorius 3 the children of the Portugal's) after his own mould to detract, to lash out fearful oaths at every other word, to read bawdy ballads, books of his own Apostles, even of Aretine, of Machiavelli, of Rabelais, and of our English castaways; and afterwards he confirms them with spiritual suggestions in all abominations to the loss of their souls and bodies. The best of us sometimes he possesseth, with Chymerizing pleddings, like airy castles, and ●●bbles (as a Mouse) on our malignant hearts, as●ertullian ●ertullian terms Martian. And although we have both Moses, the Prophets▪ & firmiorem sermonem Propheticum yet he rufsles among the robes, & inaudita fundu Oracula, as my L. of Northamp●on said of the Devil's pouder-plot. To continue my subject, seeing I have adventured in some places of these Circles to borrow Caesar's inimitable Muse to grace this worthless work of mine, l●nd also (Heroical Lord) your judicious The Earl of Northampton. spirit for a season to your deeply devoted Suppliant in his greatest need. Lo, how my poor Muse pants, eclipsed with your heavenly interposition; and bids me, as a daily Orator to the Rays of your Nobility, betimes to betake myself unto Epicharmus his ancient Oracle: — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is, To whom Dame nature doth deny To give her gifts abundantly, They out of hand to Auncestry, And to their noble Kin do fly. In the beginning of the Christian Church the very name of Christ was sufficient to make Satan pack, and to quite the possession of tormented men, but he learned a more cunning The Earl of Northampton. trick of late under the banner of Christ to fight against the Lieutenant of his Imperial Majesty. In one point I find no change, that is, in labouring and working by all means to draw men from their trust in God's directions to a tickle kind of confidence in themselves, and in their own weak knowledge of Good and Evil, which our first parents so greedily preferred, non ex necessitate & fato, sed ex libero eligentium proposito, not by necessity not by destiny, but by their own freedom of choice, as an ancient Father writes▪ LINEAMENT V. 1 Man's fall from the state of innocency is censured. 2 Curiosity kerbed for intermeddling with God's secrets. 3 The first reason why man was not left altogether persect and incapable of sin. 4 The latter reason. WHerehence it comes to pass, that in wicked 1 men there shines some goodness, and in Good men is found some wickedness. In pessimis invenitur aliquid boni, & in optimis aliquid pessimi. In the beginning Tertullian. in lib de Animá. God made us all good, he made us honest, simple, and pure, but through our over-scrupulous search after his secrets, through an overcurious ostentation of our own worth, and of our own righteousness, through our ingrateful negligence towards our heavenly Father, and also through our sliding and slippery carnal condition, which could not be like the Creator in glory, we followed our enemy's counsel, who likewise was created innocent, and an Angel of glory, though afterwards he became a Detracting Devil; so that God made him not a Devil, but an Angel. No more made he us sinful but simple. His al-secing Majesty foreknew these tragic events; and yet for his honour, for the behoof of elected souls, and for the replenishing of his Kingdom he form both Angels and men by Grace and nature, and endowed them with free will and election for his greater glory. How should the good be known, if there were no evil? What needs a Monarch prescribe jaws and commandments to his subjects, were it not for the avoiding of vice? By the fall of the wicked the Good take exemplary fears. The fall of the Devil and his associates caused the rest, that remained incorrupt to look more narrowly to their ways, even as the punish ments of some Traitors make others true, who otherwise might have erred in the like degree: yea, Good men are confirmed in goodness by observation of the contrary, which is, evil. No marvel then, that God in his omniscience created man, whom he knew would afterwards rebel: for (as I said before) every creature is corroborated in virtue, by noting the effects of the contrary, which is vice, Whereby we may gather, that no wicked thing was immediately created by God, and that we happened upon wickedness by the fragility and weakness of our natures; which is also signified by that ancient Father: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Tatian ᵛ in l. adversus gentes. For all this curious brains will not leave off plodding 2 and practising of profound problems. Why (say they) did God fashion man of such a brittle State? Wherefore made be not all men of the same manners and condition? Why did he create man so imperfect of such a tender ticklish form? O foolish foundlings, who are ye that presume to dispute with God? Was it not enough for your souls to be shaped after his Divinity, both in unity and in Trinity, with absolute and elective power to sly from the wrath to come? I tell you, there was no reason, that petulant children should possess all their Father's goods. Which of you I pray, will disrobe himself of his temporal glory, or divide it with your inferiors? Worldly Potentates can endure no corrivals, nor by their good wills any equals. And should God share with his creatures his most sovereign perfection, which they could aswell moderate, as Phaet on the chariot of the Sun? But to yield some satisfaction to your curiosities, I believe that God framed man after this manner for two respects: First, because that the creature might differ from his Creator, who alone is perfect. The soul therefore must 3 content herself with that vocation, which God hath limited unto her. Seeing that she knows her own weakness, she must not presume on her imperfect strength; seeing that she hath experience of errors, she must wholly with fear and trembling rely on the mercy of God, who like a tender mother, attendeth on his crazed creature, and like a mild Physician, out of her relapse worketh an Antidote to preserve her from falling. She may be shadowed because she is not God, but she can never be extinguished, because she came from God. Potest obumbrari, quia non est Deus, extinguinon potest quia est à Deo. Well may we stumble, but through the Grace Tertul. in. l. de Animá. of God we rise up quickly. We may be as black as jet, but as true as steel. We may be black, but yet comely, as the Tents of Cedar, and as the curtames of Solomon. Cant: 1. Though we be rebellious by nature, yet we may be regenerate by faith. Though we be excommunicated, we may be absolved by the mediation of our Saviour Christ, and obtain again our former simplicity and state of freewill, which in that first golden age, and time of famous memory we most wilfully lost. Though we be but babes, we may grow up to be perfect men in strength and understanding, and so at last to a greater measure of sanctification. Though we enjoy not perfection, we retoyce in our redemption. And though our minds in natural faculties do follow the temperature of our bodies, yet in supernatural speculations we abandon & abhor it. Another reason why God created man so imperfect (if I dare call him so) was, because that man's soul, like mortal 4 eyes, which cannot behold the Summer's Sun at noon; or like the Owl, which is bedazeled with the daylight; I say, because the soul being incarcerated and enchamed in the massy substance of the flesh, was not capable of that excellent perfection. Therefore we must not impute our imbecility and imperfection to Gods want of power or impotency, but to his unsearchable will (who after Adam's creation left him to himself, puris naturalibus, to the capacity of his own nature) and to our own earthly Tabernacles; which could not participate, by reason of our weakness and wantonness of flesh and blood all the glorious attributes of the Deity. For this cause did Christ descend into the flesh with lowliness of spirit, and not with lofty glory. So that his Kingdom, as himself answered Pilate, was not of this joh. 18. world. For this cause the Israelites could not away with the Lords lightning thunders, and glorious voice on Mount Sinai, but requested Moses to stand betwixt them. Let not God talk with us, said they, lest we die. Exod. 30. For this cause S. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: I gave you milk to drink and not meat, for you were not yet able 1. Cor. cap. 3. to bear it, neither yet now are ye able: ye are yet carnal; Nay such is our sottishness, that we endeavour not to attain unto a glimpse of the Lords glory: we presume upon delays: we procrastinate the time, and never care for mortifications of the flesh, being the ladder to heaven and chief means to obtain faith, love, and charity at the hands of God. A Preacher is but a bookish fellow: Sanctification is but curiosity: to do well or ill is alone. Thus do the sinful sons of Adam trust too much unto predestination, as though they were made privy of Gods investigable will. But to wind up the truth in a word, the preaching of Christ's cross is foolishness unto them that perish, but unto them, which are saved, it is the power of God, and wisdom. As there is no fool to the old 1. Cor. 1. fool: that is, to the worldly selfe-wise; so chose there is no wisdom comparable to Christian simplicity, which through faith thinks it enough, that God calls him to his Court, though not to his Council. LINEAMENT. VI 1 A meditation upon Satan's stings, occasioned by an unsoined dream of the Authors. 2 Whether the Dragon which S. john saw fight with the Ar●bangell, was real or spiritual. 3 Whether the Serpent which deceived Hue was real, or spiritual, or both; wherein the manner of her deceiving is laid down. THus are the very best, like beasts, subject unto these spiritual flings, some more, 1 some less, according to the quality of their fleshly vessels. To this purpose it will not be immaterial, if I insert a meditative conceit of mine, wherewith I was unfeignedly possessed of late: Upon Sunday night, being the fourteenth day of january last, 1609. I fell into a deep study concerning our knowledge of good and evil, procured by the Infernal Snake. I lamented mine own weakness of nature, that multitudes of sins should tread and trample down my Christian virtue. I sorrowed in spirit, that I could not free my soul from worldly concupiscence. At the last, after much striving and struggling, the Lords comfortable speech to St. Paul came into my mind, My grace is sufficient for thee. Whereupon considering my 2. Cor. 14. repenting heart, I resolved, that God suffered me to be thus buffeted and beaten with Sardonicall sins, because I might acknowledge mine own imbecility, and submit the same to the perfection of Christ, the propitiation for sins, who alone is Righteous and Holy. For the confirmation of this meditation, I was strongly assisted by this unfeigned dream. On that very night I dreamt, that I lay upon the floor without stockings or shoes, and suddenly me thought one warned me, that I should look unto myself, for a Snake lurked very near me; with which words being affrighted, I bestirred myself, and beheld the said Snake about a yard or more in length, almost crept under me; whereupon I vehemently cried for help to him, that warned me thereof: who presently, as it were in a moment, with a weapon, which he had in his hand, hewed the Snake in three or four pieces. For all that, I was not delivered from sear, I doubted his stinging part; but he which smote him willed me in any case not to fear, by reason that his sting was of no sense, now that he had chopped him in pieces. With that I might see a smoke or breath arising out of the Snakes divided body. At which strange sight, I prepared to hasten me away, lest this smoke being infectious, should (like a pesulence) empoison my body: But notwithstanding all this my preparation, before I could get together my stockings and shoes, which were the impediments of my remove, the smoke ceased on a sudden. Whereupon I bewailed somewhat with myself, that I went no sooner away from that poisonous smoke, or smoky exhalation, and because I preferred such trisling impediments before the security of my life; which I imagined to be in some hazard, by reason of that my small stay. Charitable Reader, pardon me, if in rehearsal of this dream I disquiet thy delicate mind; notwithstanding that our whole life is little better than a dream. No man living can attribute less credit, than I do, unto dreams: yet nevertheless, forasmuch as now and then it pleased God to reveal secrets and things to come unto his servants by dreams, as sometime he did unto joseph and Nabuchadonozor, we must not altogether neglect to make reasonable use of them. As for example, The man which admonished me, I compare to our Saviour Christ, who of his unspeakable mercy towards mankind defendeth us (while we prostrate ourselves in all humility, as in my dream I lay upon the floor) from the Hellish Snake, who watcheth daily to undermine our wills. And yet though his Godhead hath trodden upon Satan's head, he permits him for his glory, for our trial, and also for some satisfaction of his justice, to enuenom our humane wills, by reason of our tardity and remistnesse in his service, but certainly afterwards he embraceth his Elect again. And, like as I played loath to depart with my stockings and shoes, for all that I saw the imminent danger of the poisonous Snake; so doth mankind attend to the toyish babbles and trivial fables of this world, while Satan bruizeth our worldly heels, and casteth out of his mouth whole floods of spiritual venom, to surround and surprise our spiritual part with passions of envy, malice, fury, and other infections, whereof the smoky exhalation of my dreamt Snake, might well be the representing Image and Idea. And the rather I am inrooted in this opinion, because I know my reasonable will to be oftentimes tainted with the said spiritual smoky venom, as I supposed in my dream that I sucked the feeling, palpable, and sensible smoky poison of the mangled Snake into my corporal breath. But herein consists my comfort, that even as I sucked this last full sore against my will; so nol●ns volens, whether I will or no, I am constrained to suck into my humane soul the other smoky poison of the passionate Snake, which I pray the victorious Treader down of his malicious head, by virtue of his Crown of victory to convert into the best; so that my spotted spirit may be accepted in his presence for a contrite spirit. AMEN. As concerning that place of Genesis, where the Devil is said to appear in the similitude of a Serpent unto Eve, 2 and where in the Revelation of Saint john, the Dragon fought with Michael in heaven, we must not judge both of them to be real Serpents or Dragons, but we must think that this latter Dragon, which Saint john saw in a vision, might well be the spiritual sinful sting, which the Devilish Serpent left behind him, in our fore-parents memories (but there allegorically or mystically applied to the Antichrist) when we incurred the curse of God in that earthly Paradise, which (as I take it) was but the figurative touchstone of old Adam's faith. And the former Serpent in Genesis was a real Serpent, 3 the subtlest beast of the field, which God had made, abused by the Captain of subtlety, who not content himself to have transgressed in Heaven against his Creator, did also according to the corruption of his spiritual nature, device to draw mankind like unto himself, to be partaker of his knowledge in good and evil, that is, of his worldly craft, and of his v●nemous. subtlety, for he was double subtle, subtle as the subtlest beast of the field, and subtle in his Devilish nature, which in truth is the same which we call the maladies of the soul, or perturbations of the mind, by our Philosophers named Concupiscible and Irascible, whereof the reward or rather revenge was that threatening clause of God: Thou shalt die the death. To this dcuise of the Serpent the woman yielded body and soul with her Will she longed, the same being depraved by the creeping Tempter, who by this time had likewise won her understanding to incline; the attributes of her soul thus seduced, the senses of her body presently consented. For the tree being pleasant to the eyes, and the desire of wisdom another moving object, throughly persuaded poor Eve to follow the Serpent's counsel. O cursed Serpent, how subtle were thy practices! First, thou choosest the subtlest beast, which God created; then, thou creptst into his heart, spakest through his mouth, and seeing mankind too simple for this world, altogether innocent, holy, devour, having his thoughts intentive on his Maker, and also seeing him like a child newly borne, bedazeled with varieties of objects, and prospects, and admiring at the wonderful workmanship of God, which seemed the more strange unto his senses, in regard that he was then unexperienced, raw, and newly come into the world; thou settest upon the weaker vessel, knowing that the woman was as yet more simple than the man, as a creature form somewhat after the man, and consequently of less experience, and of less perfection. But what gainest thou? Thy spirit limited to thy former home of darkening errors, and thy fatal instrument metamorphozed into a sneaking Snake, to creep upon the earth, as thou didst creep into his wit, and into the woman's conscience. This is the right: reward of disobedience, which afterwards Lot's wife received, though in some different manner. For her bodily form was changed from a woman into a pillar of salt, like as the Serpent was converted from the comeliest shape among beasts, into the most contemptible creature which this world affords; I say, a creature, a monstrous creature in general words, for a special or specificqe name can no Logician rightly attribute unto a Serpent, which is fully grown. It is reported, that in the Indies he flies, in Nova Zembla he fisheth at Sea, and is there many yards in length. Whereby we must note, that the spiritual Serpent hovereth, fisheth, creepeth, compasseth the earth to and fro, and suiteth his power manifoldly; all to the intent, that he may circumvent man's heedless Will. LINEAMENT. VII. 1 That the Holy Ghost applies the Scripture unto man's capacity. 2 An admonition to the Readers of the Scripture. THus from the breach of the commandment came in the Devil, from the Devil 1 came sin, and from sin came Detraction, and other infinite errors. Thus it pleased the Holy Ghost to speak parables, intermixed with palpable subjects, to use metaphors and figures, to apply his key of knowledge towards the ward of man's crooked and crabbed lock. Thus it pleased God to permit mankind to fall, that some may rise again, and that in real and corporal forms after the manner of men, according to our weak capacities, which could not otherwise comprehend such mystical revelations, then by sensible apparitions and worldly examples. Let us then modestly content ourselves with such knowledge, as the Holy Ghost hath inserted in the Scripture for our admonishment, and not presume to enter into his spiritual secrets, no more than we would that our neighbours enter into the knowledge of our silent thoughts; or no more than we dare break into the privy chamber of our earthly King, except we be called. Howbeit for all this, I would not counsel you, that be 2 Preachers and seachers of Christ's flock, to misconstrue these speeches of mine, or to use them as ye use your stirrups, in shortening or lengthening them, according to your pleasures and fantasies, by collecting, that I dissuade you or yours from searching out the depth of such m●steries and parabies, as the Holy Ghost hath left in the Scripture●or ●or our monition in these latter days. In God's name, as he hath given utterance unto you, and revelations in your spirits, labour to reap that spiritual benefit, to the edification of your Churches. But above all things, before ye attempt such Divine Prophecies, humble your thoughts with sear and reverence, humble your bodies with abstinence and fasting at convenient seasons; seeing that bookish learning, self-conceit, and pampering cheer have been the chief obstacles, that carnal Courtiers, presumptuous Papists, and pompuous people could never attain to the right knowledge of the Scriptures, nor arrive aright at the haven of truth: that, that saying might be fulfilled: The simple o● foolish things 1. Cor. ●. of the world he hath chosen to confound the wise. Their hearts are indurate, their understanding darkened. LINEAMENT VIII. 1 The Election o● the Protestants after the imitation of S. Paul's graffing in of the Gentles. 2 Means to discern the Antichrist by Prophecies out of the Scripture. 3 Means to discern the Antichrist by his pompous manner of living, and also by his Detractions. But (ye beloved of the Lord) detract not from the word of God, neither descant I ye much upon the bare letter. For I would not, that ye Ministers, mistake this mystery; how blindness is partly happened in the Church of Rome 1 Rom. 11. until the fullness of the Elect be come in. And again, 2 Ibid. through their fall. salvation is come unto you to provoke them withal, 3 Ibid. Through their unbelief ye have obtained mercy. Thus hath God reserved you and your flocks as a remnant according to his own unsearchable pleasure, and election of grace, without any deserts of yours at all. Thus it hath pleased him, because he would have his power known, to take compassion upon some, and to harden Rom. 9 some. And all this happily, because the man of sin, the son of Detraction might be revealed in his time. Confer therefore one place of the Scripture with another (as I have done here for the calling and graffing in of the Protestants, and hardening of the Papists) confer, I say, the conformity of the present state with the state passed of the Church (old age being another infancy) and ye shall see, as clear as at noontide, the true meaning of dark places; which no man that stands upon his own high mind, and his own merits can possibly perceive. In like manner, do ye desire to discern the Antichrist? Compare those things which are prophesied of 2 him one with another, and ye shall ferret him out: ye shall find him cunningly crept into our Christian Church. Even as Christ was a mystery to the pharisees, so Antichrist is a mystery to the Papists; I say, a mystery, 2. Thess. 2. a mystery, the mystery of iniquity, which cannot distinctly be discerned, without the spiritual eyes of faith in the inward man. Look on him with your bodily eyes, and this Alcimus will deceive the very Elect, if it were possible. In outward show an Angel of light, a sanctimonious Elder, but inwardly a sacrilegious Serpent, or a Fox in a Lamb's skin. O Antichrist, thy Dragon is destroyed by daniel's art, by the blood of the Lamb thy beast is conquered. O false Prophet, thy Babylonian whore is become Apoc. wrinkled, her beauty is faded, her witchcraft discovered, her force decayed, her superstitions defaced. What remains? Thou art driven to a narrow strait, to thy nearest shifts. Post over thy title to another. Persuade thy subjects, that a new Antichrist (but no mystical) is even now borne in Babylon. Let john Doleta with all expedition publish this in Print. It is a point of policy to temporize, and to bear thy credulous Catholics in hand, least suddenly they flinch from thy yoke, and of Romanists fall to be apostolics. By the mystical allusion of Michea, that saw the Lord putting a false and a lying spirit in the mouth of ahab's 3 Prophets, that claimed themselves (like the pharisees and Papists) to be within the Church; ye shall gather with this, and with the Revelation of S. john, that these terms of Decemer, self Prophet, the worker of false miracles, Apoc. which set to sale the bodies and souls of men, cannot be applied more significantly to any other then to him, who 1. joh. 2. went out from us, but was not of us. Would ye answer their objection, which allege that the Pope cannot be that great Antichrist, because his Holiness denieth not the Father and the Son, nor exalteth himself above that 1. joh. 2. which is called God? Turn them to the Etymology of these words, jesus Christ, that is, the all-sufficient and anointed saviour of the world, and tell them that the entire and whole virtue of the Godhead is wounded, it besides him they use any Mediator to salvation. Turn them to S. Paul, and read that the Antichrist must sit in the Temple of God. The Pope sits (not with Peter's humility, 2. Thes. 2. but with pomp and Majesty) in Peter's chair, in the mother Church of the West▪ being now become a cruel stepmother, and a common harlot, showing that he hath authority to grant Indulgences and Pardons, to release the pains of Purgatory, peremptorily to advance his Standard above the Church, which is to magnify himself above the Holy Ghost, by whom it is ruled under Christ; to consecrate beads, water, crucifixes, yea and the glorious body of Christ, which is already consecrated in Heaven. In which prerogatives he extolleth himself above God, doing those spiritual offices which are flat contrary to God's word and law. Likewise it is prodigious that such things be sanctified by sinful man, specially since the ceremonial law and partition wall betwixt the jews and us, is broken down after the resurrection of Christ. It is derogatory (I say) to his sacred Majesty that a mortal man usurp that Promethean pre-eminence: for he that commits such sacrilege above mentioned, doth undoubtedly usurp the power of God in a high degree. He that usurps after this manner, detracts from faith only in Christ jesus and from other gifts of the Holy Ghost▪ He that detracts from these gifts of the Holy Ghost blasphemes, and he that blasphemes so high a Majesty, sins irremissibly, except the Lord's mercy left out some other exception, unknown unto us. Thus (Christian Reader) shalt thou ponder other points of the Bible's mysteries. And now seeing I have sore-armed my▪ soul with sufficient exorcisms, and methodically fished out the great Leviathan, let me anathomize the Monsters principal members. LINEAMENT IX. 1 The Conclusion of this second Circle, showing that the Spirit of Detraction can never confound us▪ while we meditate with saith on Christ's passion. 2 That we become guilty of his death, when we detract from his name or works. 3 The Author's supplication against the spirit of Detractum. SHut fast thy mouth from lies and vanity, Shoot in thine eyes to love and verity, 1 Thou soul of mine, which every day dost fall Through Satan's web into pollutions thrall. Let faith inflame thy will to meditate Upon that Flame in flesh incorporate, To see those wounds, which thou hast made so wide With dint of Spear in his blood▪ gored side. a Cantic. 2. Doves build in holes of rocks: but thou, my Dove, b Bernard super Cantic. Christ is the Rock, his wounds the holes, and the faithful soul the Dove, according to that Beye simple as Doves. In holes of bloodied Rock must build thy love. For while thou look'st with faith and zealous fear, How that his head a thorny crown did wear, How pilate's scourge his holy skin did tear▪ How his meek soul both mocks and flouts did bear, And how his hands and feet were nailed to the Cross To ransom▪ thou, and to repair the loss, Which Lucifer with Adder's sting did cause To thee, when Eve first broke her Maker's laws. While thou with faith dost view this mystery, The fiery Serpent of Mount Caluary No wile, no guile, no black tongues archery, Num 21. joh. 3. Nor self-conceit of fancy's flattery. Can flesh and blood, the world or Satan work Against thy life. Though Pope conspire with Turk, Though Haman with his Counsellors combine: Though Machiavelli complot with Aretine To blow thee up, vet thy essential parts Shall stand vnshaked in spite of all their arts. Wherefore ye winds of praise, ye wings of pride, 2 Pack hence, all sins, which virtues sons deride, Ye grinning dogs, ye grunting hogs away, Rom. 13. The night is past, and welcome is the day. The day is come, to day without delay I must contemn such lust, vile dust, and clay. The bell rings out, the Drummer sounds Alarm, I must rise up for fear of future harm. Ambros. in Oration. ad Mediolanens. Tears and prayers are my arms▪ I must pray, And speak the truth without all fail to day. All hail, clear day, long may thy Sunshine last Without eclipse, or cloud, or winter's blast. All hail clear day, through whose reflecting beams Broad waking I do see truths open glcames. I see my Lord (alas, what do I see?) My Lord and Saviour hurt. By whom? By me. By me he lies with thoughts, misdecdes, and words Wounded, as with sharp thorns, or edged swords. I crucified my Christ, I rend his name, I crowned thee with obloquy and shame, O Lord of life, when I should worship thee, But blessed art thou for all my blasphemy. All honour be to thee, O verity, 3 Bright light of love, one God in unity. And persons three in orders Trinity, Which canst me free from all such vanity, When it shall please thy gracious Majesty, My soul to veil with thy boundless bounty. Though speech be wind, and Schoolman's quantity, Arist in Categor de quantitate. Void of true sense, void of true quality: Yet when the same doth thy sweet laws transcend, Lord, let my babbling light on Babel's end. But for my soul, let no fond Oracles Her substance spill, nor stand as obstacles, Eternally to blind her spectacles, Which thou hast cleared by thy words miracles. THE THIRD CIRCLE OF THE SPIRIT OF DETRACTION, CONJURED AND CONVICTED. LINEAMENT. I. 1 The nature of the spirit of Detraction. 2 His objections. 3 The Authors answer. 4 The description of Detraction. 5 His Companions. 6 His Paradoxes. 7 Abriese consutation. AMong such troops of wicked spirits, which 1 beleaguer the sinful sons of Adam none of them is so pernicious as this viperous spirit of Detraction; for by this turbulent motion Pluto himself, being an Angel of glory, lost his former state, and likewise we worldly weaklings deserve our Creator's curse upon yourselves and posterities. Behold, ye brainsick blabs, licentious libertines, behold your famous familiar, your spirit of Detraction, conjured and connected in a Circle without crosses, without Masses, without holy water, without pots of good liquor, or pipes of Tobacco, (the only modern motive of malicious Detraction) and that by no meaner weapons, then by the mystical weapons of Michael and Michea, the powerful Oracles of the great God. O what an unaccustomed conjuration is this? New Lords new laws; massemonging manacled; Devils 2 discovered; And dare you convict the ancient spirit of Detraction, which by successive tradition descended unto us well nigh a thousand years ago, even about the very time, when the Pope and Mahomet bought their puissant patents this for the East from the detracting Dragon, the other for the West from his Eagles wing, the Emperor Phocas? Dare you vilify the sovereignty of Bacchus and Tobacco? and adventure to conjure up such an omnipotent Spirit as that of Detraction without these belching belly-Gods? Which our swintsh swaggerers extol now-a days on the behalf of this spirit, as chief purgers of superfluous rheums, preparatives of heavenly dreams, visions, oracles, and supernatural revelations? Then farewell kind neighbourhood, farewell good fellowship, farewell tabletalk, farewell descanning of destinies, farewell all trencher-knights, and readers of other men's actions. As the body is nourished with good liquor, the bones with marrow; so is the soul of man with the perfume of Divine Tobacco, and with the perfusion of Detracting taunts. Take away these two, the cause and the effect, the substance and the shadow: what is man's life but a dry discourse, a solitary Ghost, mortified with melancholy? Veritas non quaerit angulos. The way of truth is plain 3 without turnings. I fear not to lay down the truth, were my brother a Tobacconist, a Wine-bibber, or a false Prophet. Amicus Socrates, amicus Plato, sed magis amica veritas, Socrates is my friend, Plato is my friend; but Truth is my chiefest friend. The excessive taking of Tobacco, together with drunken fellowship, renew the forces of the Detracting spirit, and likewise do kindle the fire that was covertly raked afore under the ashes, for his malicious humour. Which (to describe) is an embezeling of another's glory, a wrongful withdrawing of another's power, and a 4 blasphemous censure invented and blazed abroad touching the Creator or his creature; which either may be termed a kind of scurrility, or knavish carping, carpendi effusa licentia, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or else a doubling of the Dog's letter Rout of their snarling nostrils. To this I might add, that they offend against the third Commandment, namely, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: and also against the ninth Commandment, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour; which subject themselves unto this kind of Spirit. In the company of this wicked spirit (as I said before) many other spirits consort, such as our Countrymen call 5 boon companions, yea more spirits than ever molested Mary Magdalen. The spirit of blasphemy (as the shadow upon the body) chiefly awaits upon him, and shares with him for the precious soul of man. So do the spirit of envy, the spirit of hatred, and sundry other poisonous messengers of the common enemy the Devil, all ready sophistically to prove the idle phantasics and imaginations of shallow brains. Would you coelo deducere Lunam, draw the Moon down from heaven, or the stars from the sky? The spirit 6 of Detraction with his mates make for you. The Moon is descended, and hath kissed Endymion, while he lay asleep. The stars be fallen, and a company of drunkards at their taking of Tobacco beheld them. According to that of the Poet: Cum bibitir conchiss hinc iam vertigine coelum— Ambulat, & geminis exurgit mensa lucernis. Iwenal. in satire When wines are drunk, than heaven whirleth round, And candles two on board for one abound. There are Incubi, which have lain with fair women, and tempted them ere now to plant Actaeon's badge on their husband's foreheads. Merlin your British Bardh, sometimes possested with the spirit of prophecy, was a bastard, begotten betwixt a goodly young Devil and a goodly young Gentlewoman At old Carmarthen Merlin's famous town. Drayton in Epist Heroic. Nay more, the Archdevil hath gotten the Pope's power, he hath gotten the keys of Heaven: he hath authority to bind, to lose, to diminish the pains of hell, to grant Indulgences and Pardons for one and twenty years of all manner of mortal sins: he poureth down rain amain at his pleasure: he terrifies the world with thunders, lightnings, and earthquakes: Cornelius Agrippa is a great man in his books, useth him for his familiar, and by conjurations commands the clouds, and makes the Planets executioners to plague his adversaries. O monstrous blasphemy! O preposterous absurdity! Will any man of understanding give credit to these Idolatrous 7 Detractions? God himself questioning with job out of the Whirlwind, utterly denies that Divine authority to any creature. Canst thou (said he) send the lightnings that they may walk, and say unto thee; Lo, here Job 38. 1. Reg. 18. we are? If Baal be God then go after him, but if the Lord be God, why tempt you his patient Spirit, in ascribing his dreadful power unto his Enemy, that darksome deadly Fiend, which cannot help himself, or act the least matter of importance? Elias in annulling of Baal's power, manifested him only to be God, which answered by heavenly fire. The Devil fighteth with none other weapons then with deceit. With deceitful malice he stung Christ, while he was on earth; and with the self same weapons he stings Christians. Christ in his members, now that he is in Heaven. With deceit he tempted Eve, and with deceit he persecuteth the woman of God, the Church of Christ: For even as Michael's weapons were the blood of the Lamb and righteous deeds; so the Dragon's weapons are lies and deceit. When lecherous Churchmen knew not how to cloak their lewd acts: & when noble Flora's, that went currant for Puritan Nuns, could no longer cover their impure debauchments and notorious baudries, then forsooth to salve their credits, they divulged abroad, either that the Devil (who repined at their chaste) blinded their sights with supposed bodies lives, much like unto their lovers, or else with surreptitious carcases out of graves, he committed carnal copulation with them. LINEAMENT. II. 1 Notes to discern the spirit of Detraction. 2 A limitation of speeches. EVen as the well manured earth brings forth seeds and grain for man's reiiefe; 1 and unmanured gathereth weeds, moss, and brambles: so the soul of man, if it be well erected towards God, and directed by his holy Spirit, becomes divinely disposed, but ill looked unto, and let as a restless rogue, to straggle abroad among Satan's sinful spirits, is quickly surprised with the witty workema●ship of the wily Serpent, and in a moment corrupted with the bane of heretic all doctrine. An Heretic I account him, who being a Christian, contumaciously maintains err●nceus opinions, or peremptory Paradoxes, contrary to the best part of the Church, as when you hear a creature abuse and abase his Creator's glory in fatl●ering his forcible works upon his enemy the Devil then expend and examine in the balance of even reason his unreasonable detracting sentence; and no doubt but the Spirit of spirits will open your eyes, that you may perceive the wicked spirit which haunteth him, and hunteth after his soul. Secondly, observe the quality of the person, which detracteth: seeing that it is a thing rare in a wise man to make the toyish tongue the Oracle of prejudicate conceit, who from his cradle is otherwise taught to smother up in silence both his own overcurious inventions conceived of supernatural operations, and also what he knows or hears exorbitant, frivolous, and redounding either to the dishonour of God's power, to the disparagement of his laws, or to the disgrace of his neighbours same. And for the vulgar sort, their judgement is crooked and confused, that they extol shows and shadows of truth, and cannot distinguish between necessary and superfluous speeches. Thirdly, ponder his manner of speaking, whether as a passionate person in his furious mood, or in the bitter and incited anguish of his soul: whether the spirit of Detraction tickles the possessed party at tableboord, at Tobacco-taking, at gossipping (for at those time's people wax giddy headed and fantastical, by reason of the moving of the blood and humours) or whether his speeches tend for his own utility and profit, or for revenge of supposed wrongs or emulous concurrence in worldly affairs. Ex abundantia cordis os loquitur. Out of the heart's abundance the tongue speaks. And as abundance of rain causeth rivers to overflow their natural meres, bounds, and banks, and to break with a violent deluge over into meadows and plain fields: so the heart boiling over with surious motions, will run quite out of course and temper, except it be suffered to cuaporate and vent out by the mouth (which stands like an open Sepulchre, or a roaring gulf) whatsoever is internally conceived and consopited. Yea, I have known some (like women with child) sick to the heart, till they were delivered of their suspicious Detractions or monstrous embryos. But thou, which art the Pupil of silence, note, that a reviler is a liar, and a liar is forgetful, as the Italian teacheth 2 thee: Maldicente è bugiardo, bugiardo, è smemorato. It is not my purpose by these observations, altogether to debar discourses, and neighbourly confabulations, but my meaning is to disclose some means, whereby we might discern the nature of this Spirit, which tempts our common readers to utter before God and man, such contemptuous contradictions derogatory to his Majesty, who hears with infinite patience every word they speak. As my soul cannot brook these false aspersions, and flying lies touching ones honour, ones honesty, ones life: so on the contrary, I cannot choose but approve Christian and civil conference sugared and seasoned with charity, love, and humility, tending to the glory of God, the weal of our Country, or the welfare of our neighbours. Nay, I applaud with both hands all such confabulations, which are relished Atticis aut Socraticis leporibus, with the savoury smack of pleasant conceits, not vitiated with the extremes of rude scurrility, or of rough austerity, but richly refined with the golden means, Urbanity or Civility, which the Grecians call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Let the distressed (in God's name) pour out his grecuances familiarly to his friend, for that easeth the mind, and by talking in counsel with a faithful friend, the Spirits recover Commin. l. 5. c. 5 their former virtue and strength. Let Preachers reprove their Parishioners infirmities in private, and in any case let them not reprehend particular men's faults openly in the Pulpit: for that place being general, requires general speeches. Let them not rebuke any, but exhort an Elder as a Father, the younger men as brethren: for there 1. Tim. 5. is difference betwixt exhortation and rebuking, and so there is difference betwixt rebuking men's persons, and rebuking men's vices; rebuking to edification, and rebuking to desperation; rebuking in patience, and rebuking in passion; rebuking in private, and rebuking in public: the one is proper to the temperate spirit of God, the other to the turbulent spirit of Satan. Wherefore dear Christian, refrain thy tongue as it were with a bridle; for to what use will thy house serve without a door, or thy purse without strings? LINEAMENT III. 1 That the imbecility of our natural dispositions tainted through the first Maits sin with curiosity, inconstancy, and negligence is the prime cause of the spirit of Detraction. 2 That our curious search after the supernatural beginning of time worketh our confusion. 3 Of our Curiosity. 4 Of our Inconstancy. 5 And of our Negligence. Our humane natures stained through original 1 concupiscence, cannot but be tossed and turmoiled with many impediments; first, with curiosity to pry into other men's actions, and in the mean space to neglect Aesop's hindermost wallet, wherein our own faults are registered. Secondly, we are spotted with fickleness to change our purposes, as the Chameleon at the sight of every glozing object. Lastly, through original wantonness we become infatuated and stupefied, that we forget what we read, or hear pertinent to our instruction in Christ. Here I could digress and show, that our philosophical scanning of times and seasons, is the prime point of curiosity, 2 and so the chief cause of our worldly sottishness. We run upon things imagined to be done before the beginning of time, of Adam's time, whereas in truth this computation of time is only humane, according to man's natural understanding, which otherwise could not comprehend this world's creation. Surely (in my judgement) there is no respect in the other world of time, by reason that the excess and abundance of heavenly joys drowns all the memory of time, like as a man that is spectator of a Comedy, with the extremity of delight thinks three hours no longer than one hour. The joys of heaven are infinite, and cannot be circumscribed by time. There, dwells the great Ichovah, who is Alpha, and Omega, the beginning and last, who will teach us to measure time after another manner; after a metaphysical manner. This moved the Angel to swear, that there should be no more time. This moved the Psalmist to say; A thousand years in thy sight, are but as yesterday. Go too then, ye Astrological Scribes, leave off your curious computations: the time will come (like Platees wonderful year) wherein mankind shall need none of your Almanacs. But in the mean time, ye complain (and this complaint will last as long as your Almanacs) that there be other Chronographers, or rather temporizers beside yourselves. I grant that there be two sorts of temporising companions, which abuse the natural quality of precious time; the one an hypocrite, which under the humble habit of a Lamb, for luere sake deceives his dearest friend, an intelligeneer, the disciple of Machiavelli, a jew that loves no man but for advantage, that detracts from him, who hath best befriended him in his need, an A theist, a dissembler, a neutral; that with the wind and time changeth his Religion, Amicus omnium, amicus nullorum, every man's friend and no man's friend, a busy meddler in other men's causes, a Polypragmon, an Apparitor that (like a judaes or Simoniake) lives by extortion, by the price of blood, by enquiring from time to time after the sins of the people. The other temporizer is a Philosophical dunce, this year a Thomist, the next year a Scotist, an earnest plodder of supernatural reasons, Obstipo capite, infigens & lumine terram, With downe-bent head, and eyes upon the ground, an observer of the least minute in horologie, and one that would fain intrude himself into the Lords privy Counsel. The former kind of Temporizers inhabit in public places about Princes Palaces, and (like false Achithophels') long to manage matters of policy. The latter, as people addicted to more melancholy, retire themselves to monastical habitations, where they meditate on their curious problems, grinding the world as it were into Oaten-meale in the Windmill of their brains. And now to reiterate Curiosity, the primary cause of Detraction, begotten by Original corruption, our incorrigible 3 natures being let at random, left arbitrary to do what seems good in our own eyes, tandem Custode romoto, without Orbilites our tutors crabbed countenance, without checks or correction, encourage us to wax lawless and licentious libertines, worse than the busie-headed French, at whose dissolute carriage and audacious Detraction I was much amazed, when in every town and village I heard them scot-free revile and rail at their chief Magistrates, with taikative Curiosity, scanning their honest deeds. From whom, even as we borrow new-fangled dresses, and courtly-complements, so do we (like curious Apes) receive their poisonous Adder of Detraction. We see motes in other men's eyes, but perceive not beams in our own eyes. We note acutely with Argus' sight, one sinister act perpetrated by another, but will not discern our own great and gross crrours, though all others discover them as easily, as huge, rocks or notorious shelves. Our own transgressions we compare to molehills, our neighbours to the Alpes or Pirenaean mountains. The reason is, because our muddy minds shoot altogether outward, and wind not inwardly into themselves, according to the Poet: Tecum habita & nóris quam sit tibi curta supellex. Dwell with thyself, and thou shalt know, Persius' in Sat. 4. How that thy store at home is low. Next, we wander up and down through our frailty in the Maze or Labyrinth of unsteadfastness, betwixt God 4 and his enemies, the pomps of this world and carnal pleasures. God seeks to win us by inspiring men to write books for our conversions, by sending zealous Preachers into sundry quarters of the world, as loud trumpets to awake us out of sin and pr●uarication, and likewise to live in louc and charity one with another. Our inconstancy defaceth all with forgetfulness, we return to our old vomit, and choose with foolish Gryllus to retain still the shapes of effeminate Epicures and Swine, rather than to be metamorphosed into men's forms, with the rest of Ulysses his companions. We are carried about in the voluble spheres of our own waucring imaginations. To day we praise a man, to morrow we dispraise him. To day we pray to God for grace, to morrow we blaspheme his power with words of disgrace. To day our souls are calm and temperate, to morrow overclouded with unruly passions. Nay more, we alter our opinions in one moment of an hour. Romae Tybur amo ventosus, Tybure Romam. At Rome I long old tybur's Town to see, Horat. And there I long again in Rome to be. Ouercloyed in towns by reason of the unwholesomnes and strictness of the air, we long to live in the delectable country, free from those inconveniences, which annoy the towns: But presently tired in the country for want of pleasant company, we retire and return back again into the town, where with doubts of some infectious sickness, with disgust and discontentment to see daily factions, seeds of dissension, and other dislikes common to company, we wish ourselves again in the country. How suddenly do our imaginations chop and change? How in the twinkling of an eye we suppose ourselves at London, at Oxford, at home, from home. Yea, in a short time we imagine ourselves safely arrived at the East Indies for spice, in Barbary for sugar, in China for silks, in France for wines and salts: and all these Merchandizes bought, brought home, and sold away in as small a space, as a man might repeat over the Lord's prayer. O fickle men, how are your brains and minds thus intoxicated? One while ye look as amiable, as if ye had swallowed up a hare, another while fleering, as if ye had swallowed up a gull; one while heavenly, another while earthly; one while devout, another while Detracting; not one day in one mood or mind, but as the wind, wavering both in words and thoughts. The last impediment, which the first Man's transgression subjected us unto, is a kind of dulness or negligence; 5 with which we are so besotted, that we cannot open our eyes to behold what arms our Saviour Christ left us, not only able to encounter this spirit of Detraction, but also the Arch spirit of all vicious spirits. By Baptism with future repentance he washed us from original corruption. By shedding his innocent blood he ransomed our souls from hell: only in recompense he expects thankful minds of us, with continual exercise of prayers, with often communicating his mystical Body in reverence, love, and charity one with another, after that moralising manner, which St. Paul himself quotes down to the quite confusion of poore-blinde Papists, namely, in remembrance of him, in remembrance of him, for as often as 1. Cor. 11. ye eat his bread and drink his cup, ye do show the Lords death till he comes; so that joining together, as loving members of one body, we might skirmish against our spiritual Enemy, and against his spirits of sin, which he hatcheth and fostereth for our bane, fall, and perdition. In a word, let us account it a foul sin for any man to be either ignorant or partial in his own infirmities. And let us censure other men's faults with fearful consciences, or rather suspend our hasty judgements, because we cannot distinctly discern of spirits; but let us dive into our own without doubts or scruples, because God gave us a mindful monitrix within to look our. LINEAMENT. four 1 That ill Education is another cause of malicious Detraction. 2 That want of maintenance in the Clergy is the cause of ill Education. 3 Certain modern abuses taxed in some remote angles of this Kingdom. THou mortal man, in thy young and tender years, being pliable and apt to receive 1 any impression, must out of hand be fashioned in the sharp turning wheel of instruction. Vdum & molle lutum es, nunc nunc properandus & acri Fingendus six fine rotâ— In youth thou art as moist and softened clay, Persius' in Sat. 5. And must by teacher's wheel make hast away. This counsell● direct to honest parents, my brethren in Christ, whereby they may beware how they cocker and dandle their children in licentious folly. Roses must needs wither, when they are overgrown with briers and thorns, and children that are assailed with whole legions of affections must fall at the last, if they be not accordingly succoured. Which likewise that Divine Philosopher ratifieth: A youth not as yet having fully and absolutely Plato Dialog. 7. the legib. disposed himself to goodness is a deceitful, cruel, and a most proud beast, unless he be bound betimes with a Schoolmaster, as with a streng bridle. Certainly good education is the chiefest ebstacle and bar to the devilish spirit of Detraction. For when have you heard any man ingenuously brought up to detract from his Creator, or from his neighbour? He that toucheth pitch cannot but be defiled therewith: one scabbed sheep may infect a whole flock. And as the Royal Prophet saith; With the Psam. clean thou shalt be clean, and with the froward thou shalt learn frowardness. As for you of the nobler and prouder sort, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Cousens to the Gods of the earth, you that stand upon fantastical Genealogies, bringing your pedigrees by a thousand lines and branches from Gog and Magog, measuring your deserts by descent, and not by virtue's worth, ye, I mean (queijs vinere fas est occipiti coeco, which persuade yourselves, that it is lawful for you to lead your Persius' Sat. 1. lives careless, and to speak what you please concerning God or man) ye are too high for my humble pen: I dare not admonish you for fear of an action on the case. Nay few that understand any thing must be admitted to your presence, and if any one be, yet dare he not instruct you for Commin. l. 5. c. 5 fear of displeasure, or if happily at any time he put you in mind thereof, no man will abide him. But why do I wish men in their prime, in their growing 2 time to be pruned with virtue, polished with learning, and strongly armed against the stormy spirit of Detraction? Seeing they lack profitable Teachers to edify their souls? Seeing our Ghostly Pastors in this remote place of the Kingdom be ignorant themselves? No other reason can be alleged of this their ignorance then pure penury; whereof the Clergy (especially) here in our Country languisheth. Let me look but in the neighbourhood, where I dwell, and I find within this one Hundred twelve parishes, whose tithes and emoluments amount to a deep sum in the year: Some parishes yield eight score or nine score pounds a year: yea, the tithes of the least parish arise yearly to one hundred pounds: and yet notwithstanding all this, the poor Curates receive not above twenty nobles a piece in the year: Out of which they be compelled to pay yearly fifteenthes, pro curations, and other exactions, as high as thirty shillings. So that the Ministers pension is little more than five pounds. Which beggarly annuity cannot maintain him, no nor supply him with necessary raiment. Neither will any Scholar of worth accept of such a mean rate. For who will rest content with dross, while he may have gold? Who will inhabit in a mudwall cottage, if he may have better? Nay, if some zealous men were willing to extend the talents of their spirits for our instruction, how can such poor pittances serve to keep soul and body together? Venture nec aures, neque linguam habet. It agreeth with reason, that the industrious Labourer, chiefly in the Lord's vineyard, should enjoy his competent hire: for if maintenance and reward of travel were taken away, learning must needs fall to ruin. Tacitus lib. 1. Annal. This certainly is the cause, which marreth nurture, and consequently leaves our minds barren, untilled, and unfurnished with true knowledge, insomuch that spacious room is left for our spiritual Enemy to enter, and to beleaguer with easy force the feeble forts of our souls. I will pass over with secret grief and silence, how that thousands within this our Country of Wales resort 3 not to Church above once a year, their towneships or hamlets being distant from the Church seven or eight English miles. I could likewise produce many parishes which were not partakers of Sermons in any man's memory, no nor, as far as I can learn, their Curates never graced them with one poor Homily or Catechism. But because this latter point is a matter out of my element, neither inquirable nor determinable by my Commission, and for fear lest these ecclesiastics of the positive degree procure the Thunderbolt of Excommunication against me, for intermeddling with their frothy dregges, and for putting my strange Oar into their Bark, though it be to save it from wrack, like unto zealous V●zza, who rashly touched God's Ark, to stay it from falling: I will surcease my pen, and suspend my censure of their dregges and lees, in hope that they will convert the same to better purposes, and distil their lees in the Limbeck of reformation, to a precious oil of Tartar, with which they being anointed and affected, may vent out godly doctrine, & goodly discipline, far better than with the holy water, wherewith our missopecunifices, our massmongers think to chase away the spirit of Detraction & other hellish spirits. To wind up this discontented discourse of my Country's Levites, I pray God that the French proverb, whereby they tax a thing hard to be brought about, fall not our just upon some of their heads, that is, Ily a plus de difficulte qu' a tirer un Prestre de la tavern, That's harder, then to draw a Priest from the Tavern. More yet could I insert concerning the impediments of Education in the land where I live, which because the curiosity of our hodiernall wits will sooner help to rebound with frumps, then to redress or pity, I will forbear them with a wary caution; lest the envious enueigh against my zealous Muse; lest also I seem to kick against the pricks, and strive against the Heavenly power, which perhaps hath decreed such fatal fortune upon these parts of the Island, for our fore-parents faults, and for our own filthy facts. LINEAMENT V. 1 That the secret and spiritual suggestion of the Devil is the third cause of the Spirit of Detraction. 2 The cunning reasons of the Devil to confirm fin. 3 There Consutation. THe Devil being a spirit invisible to any mortali eye, by close and cunning mean 1 blows with his pestilent breath into the foremost seat of our brains, when we be excommunicated from God's presence, and there wheeleth and circleth about our fantasies with a thousand colourable objects, able to entrap another Eue. Thence gradatim by degrees his virulent breath, like the Dragon's venom, steals into our hearts, where he moveth the blood, perverteth the humours, corrupteth them with sensuality, in such wise, that we detract (like unto wanton children) our best benefactors, we long and lust after innumerable toys, after varieties of women, wines, meats, apparel, cavaleering companions, and other worldly vanities, openly repugnant to the laws of God and true nature. Among many sly stratagems, which he daily invents to subdue our souls to his slavish yoke, this is not the meanest nor the slowest, that he enchants our wills with charms of selfe-liking, such as go beyond all the Magic spells of Medea, Circe, and Calypso. as soon as we attain unto years of discerning good from evil, by his spiritual insinuarions we flatter our fond selves with some imaginative excuse or other for every particular sin, which we commit. Are we swollen up with pride and ambition? Lo, Satan a friendly Sophister, an Advocate without fees, out of our mouths pleads, that the sons of Zebedee sought for seats of highest honour; and also shows, that familiarity breeds contempt, that it graceth much a Gentleman to show some stately port, or portly state, that every abject treads upon humilities back, and that men must behave themselves according to the times. Ambition is an honourable thought of high spirits, a point of magnanimity, a lofty step unto virtue's chair. Are we angry, choleric or frantic? Our bad Angel says, it is but heat of blood, a short vanishing vapour, a short fury. Ira furor brevis est. Patience is but a Poet's fancy to be practised by ignoble grooms, and dunghilled spirits. A choleric man hath an honest heart. Doth the spirit of fornication tempt thee to defile thy vessel with foreign seed, and to convert the temple of the holy Ghost into a den of devilish sports with venereous thoughts? Alas, poor brother, it is but a venial sin, a sin of flesh and blood, the least of a thousand sins, to which all the world is subject. Age will tame this sinful spirit. Is it possible for us to be chaste, when jacob, Samson, and other patriarchs could not live without their Paramours? Doth the Envious man pine away by reason of another's prosperity? Is he sick at the heart with grief to see his neighbour flourish like a Palm tree? Inuidus alterius rebus macrescit opimis? Horat in Epist. Behold a friend in a corner, a friend at need. Satan himself transformed into an Angel of light protesteth, that it would move a Saint, yea, another Cain to see his 2. Cor. 11. younger brothers oblation accepted, and his grave eldership rejected. We are all borne of one father, Terraesilij, all sons out of the same mould, all worthy to participate the like equal immunities, privileges, and fortunes job 33. one as well as the other. If thou delight in Company and dost wallow in pleasure, as the Sow in the mire: There's One within thee, which will wrestle alone with many bookish Preachers. He lays out in colours the sweetness of pleasure, the contentment of company, the avoiding of melancholy, the shortness of life, and therefore hang sorrow, kill care. Let the spirit of covetousness possess thee; and he will settle his possession (which is as strong as eleven points of law) by teaching thee Sophistry in stead of true Logic, by persuading thee that thou carriest an Atlantic burden upon thy poor shoulders. Euristeus never imposed half such a cumbersome charge on Hercules as God hath laid restless cares on thee, for an exceeding great household of wife, children, and lazy servants, how caused thou cherish thyself in thy old age, or arm thyself against worldly practices, without a large stock? Et genus & formam regina pecunia donat. Horat. in Epist. Queen coin doth give both kin and shape. Doth truth lay in their dish, that their Teachers are dumb dogs, their Preachers illiterate, or their companions detracting? Zachary was dumb, the Apostles unlearned, and Peter detracted in denying his Saviour. Doth thy Pylades, thy friend, thy second self reprove thee again for Detraction and calummation? Thou hast more friends than one. Thy genius, thy old familiar tells thee, that this other friend is malicious, he rebukes thee of hatred, and not of good will. A true friend will labour to conceal in the cap-case of silence the covert secrets of his friend, be thy just or unjust, lawful or unlawful, as that Italian Poet hath well advised: — vn' vero amico A dritto a torto dove esser preposto, Ariosto. Se tutto il mundo lui fosse opposto. A trusty friend must stand with wrong or right, Though all the world oppose his friend with might. Wherefore was the tongue given to man, but to vent out what the heart conceives? All men are not learned in Lullius his Art, that they can discourse of every extemporary matter. Each man hath his proper gift: some men be apt to invent, some other to control, some to speak, as if their tongues were on wheels, and some dare not speak, without precise deliberation: yea, some cannot find matter to speak, unless their wits were refined with Tobacco good sack▪ and sugar, or their senses rubbed over with other men's relations, tending to novelties and strange reports. Among which rank range thou thyself, deceitful Satan's darling, and believe it from the most experienced politic, that if a man disclose unto thee the secrets of his heart, it is a kind of morality or moral kindness in thee to pour out likewise the affects of thy heart, and to answer him in like proportionable measure. It is no wrong, while thou speakest by surmise, or by hearsay. Admit it were true, then how can these Critical Cato's bend their brows against thee? how can they m●●ly tax thee, or commence suit, de libellis famosis, de scanned alis magnatum, in the Star chamber, or recover damages by way of an action on the case at the Common law? It is not amiss to bruit and blaze abroad doubtful detracting news, for it may be thou mayest be the motive of his repentance and reformation. These spiteful spurious seeds of the Spirit of Detraction a devout School ●a● points out in this ma●er: Si paup●res vilem & ab●ectum ●e reputat; si D●ues ambit ●os●m, B●rnard. in Serm avarum & cupidum; si Affabilts dissolutum; si Praedicator vel Doctor ●●moris vel humani favoris quaesuorem: si 〈…〉 inu●●l●m; s●●cum us hypocritam: si comedens vrc●rem. Tha● is, if thou be poor, he reputes thee vile and object; if rich amb●tions a ●●ggard, or covetous; if affa●●e 〈…〉; if thou be a Preacher, or a Doctor than he accounts, thee a hunter after honour or popularity; if silent, unprofitable; if fasting, an hypocrite; if eating, a gl●tton. With these or such like mantles of subtleties the Devil useth to shrou● his inveterate malice towards mankind; so that we presuming on selfe-wit and self-will, care not what wickedness we contrive, nor what vanity we utter with our lips. Nor do we think that our most patient Lord beholdeth us, heareth us, yea, and knoweth the very cogitations of our hearts, before we have time to speak them. But because when we knew God. we glorify him not as God▪ neither are thankful, therefore God Rom. 1. gives us up to reprobate mind: That is he gives us over to our own lusts, to si●ne, tradimur Sathanae, we are delivered over to be tempted and seduced by Satan, we are excommunicated with Cain from God's lightsome presence, barred out of the doors of heaven, and banished from bl●sle. And if it were lawful for me to dive in the Lord's secrets, I would say, that the Archdivell, that old Serpent is let loose out of hell for a time to confirm us in our reprobate natures. LINEAMENT. VI 1 The natural manner, how the Spirit of Detraction enters into a man and possesseth him. 2 Another reason to confirm the premises. HOw so vile a spirit as this of Detraction can possess a man partaker of divine reason, 1 I cannot keep close from my friends the natural means: First, Will being Lady over the soul, over reason, over sense and imagination, loath to minister causes of discontentment to any of her subjects, lest her Dominion through civil discord might become enfeebled, resolves to please all hands, sometimes bearing with one, sometimes with another, at last she is glad herself to yield her suffrage unto the strongest party, in such wise that the spirit of Detraction gets footing with other spirits of error. Wherein she resembles the Machiavellian Princes of this world, who complot by their people's factions for their private gain; one while with the Gnelfes, another while with the Gibellines; one while with the white Rose, another while with the red Rose; one while with the Ursini, another while with the house of Columna: until at length themselves by the just judgement of God feel equal smart, their own estates turned topsy-turvy; and until the triple crowned Monarch be chased (like the Fox out of his hole) from Rome to Auinion. To add another natural reason for the enabling of the premises, the spirit of Detraction at the first by bribing of memory & sense hath access to the brain, which is the lodge of the Imaginative Lady, and by his double diligence insinuates himself into her amity. She a Princess of estimation and favour with the Heart, commends this spirit of Detraction to her protection, as a minion or playfellow to deceive the time (or rather herself) and to discover unto her the diversities of Spirits, which might harm her either in detracting her credit, or in disposing her subjects to insurrection. Here the spiritual Hermaphrodite is let in at first by secret convayances as a thief (for as yet he dares not openly enter into the heart's palace for fear of the envious Nobles). But in process of time having throughly (like Absalon or Sejanus) stolen away the good consent of the Heart, and now strongly befriended by her extraordinary favours in this microcosm of man, he enduceth other humorous spirits to regard him, and in fine enticeth unto him in the heart's metropoly, the greatest number of the purer vital spirits, where he besotteth them and bewitcheth them with melancholy, rage, choler, malice, and other disordinate passions: insomuch that the Soul, the heart's tutrix is likewise enforced nolens volens, will she nill she, to obey this unworthy Spirit. LINEAMENT VII. 1 Corollaries for the explanation of the premises. 2 Where wicked Spirits reside in man. WIcked Spirits inhabit both in the soul and body: some, as the spirit of malicious 1 Detraction, the spirit of hatred, the spirit of envy, lodge in the highest and chiefest part of the soul, called the reasonable will (which is seated between reason and sensuality, and apt to be applied to either) and these are spiritual, material, not knit to any corporal Organ or instrument. Other some there be that dwell in the inseriour part of the soul, now Will being altogether become sensual, as the spirit of gluttony, the spirit of lechery, and these are material, bodily, and apprendants to some corporal subject, as rightly belonging to the sensitive appetite. The former spirits are apprehended in the soul, before they descend to the body's appetite. The latter two are conceived with sensual appetite, before it be throughly scanned in the reasonable will or soul, whether the act committed be good or evil. This the ancient Philosophers harped upon, when they acknowledged in every man three several parts proceeding from spiritual and corporal fountains namely, the Intellectual, which issueth from the soul in the brain, the Irascible which issueth from the heart, and the Concupiscible or longing part, which flows from the liver. Of these the Intellectual while it remains incorrupted, may be termed celestial, being the little and lively looking-glasle of Gods own attributes. The other two being brutail may rightly be ascribed to the sensitive constitution; specially, when either through custom▪ complexion, or through some accidental course they become material members for the knowledge of Evil. In like manner both these spirits Irascible, and Concupiscible, linked in affinity with flesh and blood, may also 2 proportionably challenge one universal lodge in the body, as well as the soul apart unto themselves, I mean when they usurp a predominance over the rest of the passions; and this is the heart: for who calumniates his neighbours good name and same and hath not the heart burning? Who is possessed with the spirit of lust, and seeles not his heart consenting? Who hates his neighbour, and perceives not his heart panting for revenge? In the heart is the most concourse of humours, and there abounds much fiery heat, seeing that it digesteth the blood, which is sent from the liver; for even as the eyes of maids look up to the hands of their Mistress, and as the lesser wheels in the watch wait upon the greatest wheel: so all the members of the body depend upon the heart their punctual wheel and mistress. LINEAMENT VIII. 1 That the spirit of Detraction hath two principal instruments, the Hand and the tongue. 2 Their apish tricks: 3 Their monstrous effects. 4 A brief dehortation from Detraction. EVen as wise Philosophers by signs and effects do find out natural causes, by 1 properties they found out essences; and by leading spars do aim at leaden mines; so must we by some external operations apprehend the instrumental means, by which the frothy spirit of Detraction manageth whole rablements of wrangling and ●angling actions. And these are two, the Hand & the Tongue: with the hand Satan procures a man to wri●e infamous libels, invectives, Satyrs, and disgraceful letters and times (not inferior to the Pope's thundering Bulls) against his powerful. Maker's name, or at least wise against his honest neighbour's fame, yea though he be an hundred miles distant from him, with such violent and insupportable fury, that one knows not, which is more dreadful the pike o● the pen. Such a one might well be called a Calamoboas, that is, the lusty or lofty Crier with the pen, as Antipater in Plutarch termed Carneades the libeler. Some other times a dumb spirit possesseth our outlawed outcasts; so that with dumb shows, winking 2 eyes, wry mouths, bended brows, pointed fingers, touch of fee●e, and other apish tricks, they tempt the patience of the godliest man. Which beastlike usage a modern Poet thus painteth out: Me digitis monstant, subsannant dentibus omnes: Hic aures Asini, fingit & ille canem. With finger's point, with grinning teeth they flout me, Pauper Henric'. One Asses ears, he dog's tongue makes about me. The other and common instrument of The spirit of Detraction 3 is the Tongue, which being ill ordered and Tutourlesse may be termed a leprous sin, a contagious sin, spreading far and near the hyperbolical devices of the Devil by the mouth of the detracting spirit towards the credulous ears of mortal men. Wherein it is a thing remarkable, and worthy of graphical observation to see how this small member can work such turbulent tumults, throughout all the circuit of man's little world. The repercussion of it stirs the gall, inflameth the blood, netries the heart, and musters together all the mutinous powers of the body in revenge of the other opposite spirit. But when all comes to all: Truth is great and must prevail. In cold blood men of understanding will grow to this conclusion, that the tongue endamageth three souls, the absent whom it backebiteth, the present person which is attentive, and the Detractor himself, which bloweth the dust, and it reverteth back unto his own eyes. Evil words corrupt good manners, and also bewray the motions of the heart: for even as the tree of the field is known by his fruit, so is the thought of Ecclesiast. 27. man's heart known by his words. Where is Charity? Where is Taciturnity? While the 4 tongue becomes the Devil's Trumpeter, to sound out his malicious words of defiance? O imprudent age! O careless folk, which suffer themselves to be alured by hellish Nighting-galles! Fistula dulce canit, volucrem dum decipit auceps. The Fowler lures melodiously, Cato. While he takes birds deceitfully. In regard of which circumstances, Let thy words be Ecclesiast. ●. few, for as a dream comes by the multitude of business; so the voice of a fool is in the multitude of words. And l●t those golden sayings of the Apostle be firmly imprinted within the closet of thine heart: G●●ue not (quoth he) Ephes. 5. the holy spirit of God, by whom thou art sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all but ernesse, anger, and evil speaking be put away with all maliciousness. LINEAMENT. IX. 1 The Author's censure of certain English Pamphleteers, and Ballad writers, with an invocation to my L. of Canterbury for a reformation, not only of these abuses in writing, but also of other enormuus committed against the Church-Can●ts. 2 A Description of good and evil writers. 3 That there is a mixed moral kind of writing, serving as the lesser ●ight for the conversion of the natural man. HErein I cannot choose but somewhat touch the apish spleen of certain English Pamphleteers, 1 who to gain themselves windy applauses and popular praises among Satan's posterity (like unto Erostratus who fired Diana's famous Temple at Ephe, sus, to the intent he might be spoken of in after ages) do publish daily the puffed leaven of their fantasies, which the Poet otherwise calls Ingenij caprisicum, The wild Figtree of their green wits, or as we vulgarly Persius' in Sa●. 1. say, their wild seed Oates. These bastard Books, begotten in an evil hour upon the effeminate aspect of Venus and Mars, I could wish to be suddenly suppressed, as Monsters opposite to the sacred spirit of Regeneration. And for this purpose I humbly invocate on you (my judicious Lord, Great Britain's Metropolitan) entreating your further vigilancy in rooting out those vain Vines, which according to the nature of ill weeds will in time overgrow your pruned plants. But who am I, that dare admonish the Ambrose of our age, who with your heavenly food of Ambrosia, Manna, and Nectar, do nourish the souls of our Christian Church providing milk for their young ones, medicine for their sick, and meat for their strong. Right reverend Lord, I know it is presumption in me to discourse with so great and grave a Personage. Yet notwithstanding, because our English Adage taught me this uncontrolled rule, spare to speak and spare to speed; I will not spare to inform your Grace, what wicked weeds do overtop the grain of my native soil. Beside those rotten roots of writing, the neglect of your Constitutions and experimented Orders, whereby our Commissaries must not call to question the sincerer sort of people upon bare and naked fame, for every slight and slanderous imputation: whereby they are forbidden to provounce definitive sentence, without the advice of discreet Advocates: whereby our Proctors are charged not to frame their libels without the opinions and hands of Advocates: and whereby their wrangling noise in Court is stinted: I say, the contempts of these and other your Canonical commandments by your meaner Officials; which now in your first Visitation may more acutely be espied, are the principal causes, that they of the layer and lower sort become more careless in their carriage, more addicted unto Detraction. For surely there is nothing in this spacious Round or Universe of nature, which more resisteth the execution of laws, than the ordinary heap of frivolous and froward suits, than the disobedience and breach of civil customs in men of higher note. These, and many other enormous crimes enuring the popular rank to peremptory and peevish thoughts, deeds, and speeches, your providence may expel for a time, if not quite extinguish and extirp. Your fame eternised through your evershining books, through your never-spotted actions may work some miracles in the conversion of our Detractors. Yea, your noble Name, illustrious ABBOT, a Name (I confess) somewhat ominous among the adverse side, the admirers of ancient Abbeys, I say, your very Name etymologized from that Abba of Adoption, the sounding voice of a sighing spirit, may serve as an instrument of the holy Ghost, to transmute roaring Lions into lowly Lambs. By our Civil law we hold that all monsters may be freely slain. Among the ancient Romans they burned their Monsters with fire, composed of those woods commonly called unlucky, namely, with briars, brambles, thorns, hauthornes, and with others such like unfruitful and unfertile shrubs. After this manner ought our monstrous Books and Ballads to be used and interdicted, which licentiously detract from the evangelical gravity. For to what purpose did the Spirit of spirits, the spirit of eternal life enable us to regeneration? But only because we should show ourselves thankful for so sovereign a favour. And do we prove thankful unto him, when we abuse the talon which he hath lent us, as provident Oeconomickes or Stewards, to lay it out for his best behoof? No certainly, we are but loose and lavish Stewards, when we beget and bring up such monstrous embryos of Books, like unto our jolly hunters, which convert their children's portion to the use of dogs. Let industrious Inquisitors critickly examine over most of such books, as are yearly imprinted in this famous City of London, and they shall find them fitter for Vulcan's fiery furnace, then for Mercury's learned Library. For my part I have experimented, that when I laboured (like the Bee) to suck out some substantial juice out of many of these books, I could not get one drop to distil down my painful pen. When I would have gathered golden grains out of Chaerilus his dung, in stead of gold I collected dross. Such detracting and deluding Alchemists are our Pamphleteers. When I had employed the uttermost of my devoir analytically to draw the material points of a whole printed choir of paper into short springs and heads, in stead of matter I foundm alice, in stead of marrow detractions, in stead of method neither rhyme nor reason. In a word, I found Chaerilus to be a cursing Barretour, and a common brawler, more worthy to receive a thousand fillips or buffets, rather than one Phillippine or Rose noble of gold. There is a kind of writing unfolding the knowledge of Goodness, full of vivacity, full of vigour, full of that lively virtue, 2 which the Poets termed salem & leporem, salt and serious substance to season our wanton wits withal. This kind of writing is the reflecting Image of those two Testaments, into whose despised corpse the spirit of life after three days and a half entered, whose validity is so vehement, that they bring down floods of blood from heaven, yea, and many sorts of plagues and vengeance upon all malicious mortals. Likewise there is a profane kind of writing, serving only as the instrument of the knowledge of evil, for taunts and temptations fraught with Satirical scoffs, with scurrility, with Scogins sports, with amorous allurements, devised by the Devil for the replenishing of his Kingdom, and for open evidence of condemnation against the reprobate before the grand jury of Heaven at the latter day. The former kind of writing hath but small amity and alliance with flesh and blood; it is spiritual and proceeds from the inward man. He that reads a book of this stile and stamp, shall never hunger nor thirst: It heateth the heart, it healeth the passions, it quickeneth the spirit, and (like the Sun) disperseth the thickest clouds of sinful nature. The other kind of writing communicates with flesh and blood, causeth men (as malefactors) to shun the light, to live in the darksome valley of death and damnation; and being like brute beasts, bereaved of reason and Divine knowledge, it makes them alive to be enrowled in the Calendar of the Dead. Out of both these kinds there flows a mixed or moral manner of writing, inconstantly partaking of the indifferent 3 knowledge of good and evil. For man having lost his original happiness, was left here on earth to sojourn in a middle State betwixt heaven and hell. With this mixed morality, Plato, Plutarch, Pliny, Seneca, and other Pagan Philosophers were endowed, to the end that God's mercy might be the more glorified, and that the Gentiles should be inexcusable in their conversions, when they were confuted by their own rules. For even as his Omnipotent Majesty vouchsased out of his magnificence to bestow a special privilege and prerogative upon the 4 Israelites, to anoint them with oil of gladness above their fellows, to direct them by extraordinary means, to feed them with Manna, with the purest bread: So at length by reason of their hardness of hearts, out of his mere mercy sithence towards the Gentiles, he sent the Sunshine of his grace, to enlighten their Horizon by such ordinary and mixed moral means included in their own books to introduce them to the knowledge of Goodness, to the reading of the Scripture, which (as I said before) is the reflecting image and inferior light; so that the Gentiles enjoy the same at the second hand, as crumbs rejected and relicted by the luxurious Israelites. LINEAMENT X. 1 Certain Detractions of our common Stage players are taxed. 2 How God distributes his gifts diversely to every particular man. 3 The Authors brief Apology concerning his own imprinted works. But how comes it to pass in this flourishing 1 time of the Gospel, that our Nasones Nasuti, are permitted to publish in print their dreams, and shallow conceits, which tend to the dishonour of God's name, and to the disgrace of their neighbour's fame? Verily, the judgement is just: that they should be led into temptation, and become attentive to lies and libels, because they glorified not his hallowed name, nor listened to the words of truth, whereby they might be saved. Herein our common Stage-players and Comicke-writers have as many witnesses as the world hath eyes, that all kind of persons, without respect of sex or degree are nicked and nipped, railed and reviled by these snarling curre-dogs. For let a man endeavour to walk uprightly in the sight of God, separating himself as near as he can from tattling tosspots and Tobacconists, loath to sit in the seat of the scornful and unrighteous, lest he become like will to like, and especially loath to communicate in the Eucharist with such notorious and profane persons; presently these Gander's gagle, that such a one is an hypocrite, or a peevish puritan. Let a man be silent, putting the bar of discretion before his lips, lest his tongue trip, and procure hurt: according to that: — Null● tacuisse nocet, nocet esse locutum. No hurt by silence comes: but speech brings hurt: These muttering Momes paint out, that he is a meacock, a melancholic Mummer, or a simple sot. Let an ingenuous scholar salted with experience, seasoned with Christian doctrine, having his heart feared and sealed with zeal and charity, let him but broach forth the barrel of his wit, which God hath given him; they cry out that his brain is but an empty barrel, his wit but barren, his matter borrowed out of other men's books. At which last imputation, though I confess this ancient saying makes for them: nihil dictum, quod non est dictum prius: that nothing can be spoken, but what is spoken of before; yet notwichstanding I must needs tell them, that there be other circumstances also fit to be considered, as the importunity of the times, the multiplicity of novel inventions, the extraordinary gifts of the spirit, the nature of the Readers composed and disposed by measure, number, and weight, for the glory of the Giver, cven as the Holy Ghost hath given them utterance and capacity. Thus rageth Satan, raising up his instruments, and causing them to scatter abroad such scandalous rumours under hand against good men's credits for fear lest his customs quail, and lest his Mill, which hitherto never wanted moulture, should suddenly stand still without cmolument, or gain of souls. All men write not the same matter, nor after the same manner, after the same method, after the same mould. For 2 if all men manured the spacious field of Rhetoric, what should become of the succinct and material substance of Logic? If all men were Auditors, who should teach or preach? If the body of man were all Eye, what place were left for the rest of the senses? If the faculties of the soul were all Memory, where were the other Intellectual attributes? For these reasons it hath pleased God to distribute diversely his Divine virtues, as nuptial dowries to every particular man. Some he inspires with one kind of knowledge, some with another, and all for his honour. Some persons according to their knowledge of good and evil, are fitter to write Prose, rather than Verse, some to interpret, some artificially to invent out of their own brains, some other to collect cursorily or analytically out of other men's hives. And that I may instant in myself, as I derived a book of mine called Natural and Artificial Directions for health from Philosophers, as well modern as ancient: Which also I manifested in these verses, now of late omitted by the Printer in the third and last Edition of the said book: Furtivis olim varijsque superbijt Oscen Plumis; ex multis fit liber iste libris. Obiectio. Red cuique suum: vilescit protinus oscen, Hic sine Naturâ foetet & Arteliber. Ex herbis sit mell, hominis ce● simia T●x●n Aemula naturae est, Maeonidisque Maro. Sit licet exmultis opus hoc, tamen utile quovis Solutio. Teste, volummibus candidiusque tuis. As for my other works, which I set out in Prose and Verse, I confess they were composed by me as pueriles pupae as the frothy fruits of mine adolescency, and as one writes of Ramus his Logic, they were invented ardore i●uenili, upon a youthful spleen or sting. As there is nothing comprehended in them worthy of immortality, or of Homer's buskin, as they say: so I am sure there is no great harm in them, whereby Apothecaries or Fishmongers should challenge them for waste leaves to wrap about their drugs and Macarelles, pipero & scombris digna. Let them then be taken as St. john's herb, which (as our Cook's report) being put into the pot, will neither do good nor hurt to the pottage. But for this present book of mine, wherein the Spirit of Detraction is Conjured and Convicted, I dare invite the whole crew of Archilochian Cynics with their Satyrs, jambickes, and Libels, with their So and So, with their vies and revies, with their phi●fie upon it▪ sie upon it, to dash and blur it over, to taunt, to tear it, to fling their caps at it, to make Tennis-balles, and to bandy it away if they can. For I cannot do withal, if fools will be fools still, and so live and die in their foolish fantasies. LINEAMENT XI. 1 What kind of persons the spirit of Detraction doth soon possess: with a description of the common people. 2 That wise men and of resolution must not fear the Detractions of the common people. 3 That it is necessary for Envy to be the companion of virtue, and for the spirit of Detraction to follow Magistrates, as the shadow the body for the corroborating of their virtues. THe spirit of Detraction very seldom approacheth 1 nigh to learned men, I mean, to them whose lives differ not from the rules of learning. For hardly will they be infected with erroneous vices, whom learning Cassiodor. lib. 8. Epist. 18. hath purged. Commonly he watcheth about the ignorant and common sort of people, to inveigle their understanding, to so we vanity and malice in their hearts, that afterwards they may continually vary, and as rotten vapours disperse them for novelties into the open ears of their neighbours. These be they, whose first salutation in all meetings, is to ask, What news? These be they, which live by news as the Salamander by the fire. These jolly fellows, as if our government in Great Britain were a confused Anarchy, or a petulant Democracie do descant and deliberate on wise men's deeds; yea, and now and then on their lives. Whatsoever a wise man doth considerately or moderately, they argue it a kind of slothful cowardice. What is circumspectly forewarned, that they hold to be curiosity, but what soever is rash, hasty, and precipitate, Thucid. lib. 3. Histor. that is thought by them to be courageously determined. These monstrous Hydra's of many heads, Belluae multorum capitum, do ground their opinions upon sandy foundations: they are stout when dangers are a far off, and very irresolute when they are imminent and at hand. Unhappy is he, which reposeth any confidence in their assertions. Admit a man is by them justly extolled, what thing more augmenteth it to the conscience of a wise man, that measureth not his good by common rumours and reports, but by the infallible truth of the conscience? He that is praised unworthily, aught to be ashamed of his Boetius lib. 3. the consol. Philosoph. pros. 6. praise. On the contrary, suppose that the undiscreet multitude rageth against thee with book, bell, and candle for thy 2 vigilance, service, and pains taken in the behalf of the Weal public, what harm I pray thee, may redound thereof? Let the security of thy conscience mitigate thy grief. If thou were bad and like unto thy Detractors, thy company would be much more precious unto them. Every like loves his like: as a certain Athenian answeswered one that asked him, why he subscribed to the banishing of Aristides the just? for none other reason (quoth he) then because he is just. But thou that carest more for the precepts of the Lord then for the prescriptions of man, esteem none otherwise of the spirit of Detraction, then of an idle brain, or a talkative tongue. Tollat sua munera cerdo, let the popular sort keep their applauses and corruptions with themselves. While thou walkest uprightly in the sight of God, it is not their confused Detractions which can impair thy credit. justice shines on thy side with undefiled honours: she will patronise thy fame, and shelter thy good name under her virtuous wings. But for all this, thou murmurest, that the spirit of Detraction, provoke; many privy adversaries against thine innocence, whose chief study is to register thy daily speeches in folio with a misshapen tail, and to calendar thy proceedings, as if they were solemn acts and monuments, with an intent sometime or otherto rip up a whole volume or legend of transgressions against thee before the Higher powers. O simple animal, O liver-hearted man. An Heathenish Embasladour could answer great Alexander, that his Countrymen feared no earthly thing at all but only one, namely, lest the sky would fall. And yet thou a Christian, which knowest the uncertainty of this world, fearest (like a craven) every craking companion. Whereas chose thou oughtest to forearm thy spirit with an undaunted resolution, after the example of an elderly judge in this our Commonwealth, who being admonished by his friends not to go abroad so carelessly without company for fear of many enemies, whom he had stirred up through his severity, thus constantly answered: Alas, what can they do, unless they will shorten some few days of my life, whereof I expect daily to be rid by the hands of God? Let them ban, let them curse, let them yell, let them fume; for mine own part, were the case mine, I would retort and return back upon them none other counter-note, none other revenge, than mine humble prayers to God for their amendment. An honest man ought to rejoice that envy awaits 3 upon him, that the spirit of Detraction attends upon him: for how shall it be known that he is honest if he be without temptation? jobs patience had not beone so illustrious, if Satan had not repined at his godly living. Susannaes' chastity had not shined so conspicuous, if the two Elders had not urged her to villainy. Neither had the power of the great jehovah extended with such Majestical terror among his creatures, if he had not left some to be hardened and led astray. The light is most apparent in the darkest Chaos. Even so doth the Protestants faith appear most bright in respect of blind Papists. A fair woman's beauty shows never more gallant, then when she stands among deformed Dowdes, nor can a generous spirit be discerned more clearly then in temptations. In temptation, in adversity, a wise man shall quickly see of what mettle or stuff the tempted is composed. Surely it is requisite for the strengthening of our faith, and for the glory of God, that the Elect (like gold that is seven times purified in the fire) be purged from the frothy dregges of flesh and blood, either by sensible stings in their own persons, or else by exemplary animadversions of other men's errors. Even as that woman, whom her husband apprehends in adultery stands in greatest awe and subjection, and commonly from that time forwards esteems her husband's commandment most precious, as it were the legal rule of her life; so the sinful soul that acknowledgeth her own guiltiness, stands in greatest fear of God's judgements, and ever after her conversion watcheth, as it were with Lynceus eyes, lest Satan's messengers, namely, the spirit of Detraction, the spirit of malice, or such like fiends do find a hole in her coat, or a breach in her fort. St. Paul writes, that he had been exalted above measure with the abundance of revelations, if the messenger of Satan had not buffeted him, and given him a prick in the flesh, which I take to be adversity or persecution. And so likewise should we wax too proud with prosperity, if we never tasted of the cup of adversity. This moved the Samian Tyrant, to cast into the Sea an inestimable jewel, because he might seem to change his rich fortunes. Which superstitious custom the Venetians took up, their Duke throwing into the Sea a gold ring: though nowadays they allege that ceremony only at their Duke's installing, to be a foolish marriage betwixt their state and the Sea. Without doubt it is expedient that the spirit of Detraction attend on Magistrates as their shadow, lest their pompuous authority puff up their minds aloft to the highest altitude of the Zodiac, or lest, as the Lyric vaunteth: Sublimi feriant fidera vertice, With lofty heads they strike the starry sky; and so with ambitious Phaeton they forget God and themselves. These things considered, Magistrates must look somewhat nearer unto their ways, if not for the love of virtue, yet formidine poenae, for fear of punishment, for fear of Detraction. Nevertheless, I exhort wise men to make more account of them that be detracted and envied, and to countenance them in their authorities against such furious tempests; for they know that neither themselves, not yet their Prince are exempt from Satan's srownes and stings; and also they know that the multitude (who, as Lipsius' interprete, is verè vulgus faex & limus) have ever opposed themselves to the true passage of virtue. Which caused a great Lord of France thus to comfort Monsieur du Chesne, that complained unto him, how he was Detracted and envied by some in his country: You complain (quoth this Nobleman) of a matter, whereof you have cause rather to triumph, and to erect unto yourself a Trophy: for in that you are envied, it is a very certain token and argument, that there is some virtuous thing in you, which deserves to be praised: Vous vous plaignez d'vne chose, dont vous La Portract de la Sante. Sect. 1. cap. 1. deuriez fair trophy: car estant en●ié, c'●est un sign & argument trescertain, qu' il●y à quelque chose en vous de veriveux, qui merite d'estre loüe. LINEAMENT. XII. 1 Why mensoiourne with the spirit of Detraction, and will not be dislodged from him. 2 That no worldly causes ought to dispose a man unto Detractions. THat which is once inveterate in the bone will hardly out of the flesh: every creature 1 loves his natural home, be it never so homely, and will not depart therehence voluntarily, no more than our Northern Nations will be drawn to Virginia, Norimbega, or some other country in the West Indies, where abound far richer commodities, richer grounds, and ampler scope for the fruition thereof then they have in Europe. So that I may boldly say unto them, as once I said unto a worthy friend of mine, which preferred his mountainous lands before our fertile fields: O infoelix avis, qui nasceris in obscoeno loco. O wretched bird, which wert bred in a wretched place. Such is our folly, that we cannot exchange our barren solaecismes for refined syllogisms, our barbarous mumpsimus, for a reformed sumpsimus. We cannot leave off our cankered customs for a regenerous virtue. Our constitutions are queasy; and so enured to malicious Detractions, as a certain woman of India to strong poisons, that we cannot without a perilous distemperature reclaim ourselves from that poisoned usage. Yet notwithstanding all thy customs, O heedless man, thou art weighed in the balance, and found too 2 light. Better it is to dwell in Mesech, in the Tents of Cedar, nay in the strangest country among the Cannibals, then to sojourn among such cursed copiholders' or villainous vassals under the spirit of Detraction. Wherefore wean thy mind from Detractions, while thou hast store of time. Give every man his due, or hold thy peace, and let God's providence alone. If the world like thee not, detract not from the vilest wretch, but rather rejoice that others yet delight in charity, in distributing alms. Or doth thy neighbour disquiet thee, because he is not as bountiful as thyself? Look thou only to thine own talon. It may be, that of himself without thy carping, he will become a liberal convert, like that Terenan Demea: Though thou be strong, he may be more active: though thou be strong and active, he may be wiser or more pregnant in wit: though thou be nobly borne, he may have a better face: though thou hast an amiable face, he may be better bodied: yea and perhaps, though thou and he be as charitable as Tobias, as bountiful as Maecaenas, as strong as Hercules, as nimble as Asahel, as wise as Solomon, as well descended as Aiax, as beautiful as Absalon; there may come a gouty Crassus, and a greedy Croesus' only with earthy excrements to bereave you both of your heart's contentment, your amorous Saints. For this cause embrace patience and taciturnity, and never detract from Tobias his charity; from Maecaenas his bounty; from Hercules his strength; from Asahel his activity; from Solomon his wisdom; from A●ax his birthright; from Absalon his beauty; nor from misers their golden trash: though the want of them or of worldly pleasures discontent thy worldly thoughts. If one Sparrow cannot light upon the ground, if one hair cannot fall from our heads without the appointment of God; why dost thou, O simple man, sometimes swell with anger, sometimes scoff and scold, some other times pine away with envy, and at all times raise up a tumultuous hurly-burly, and a confused combustion within thine own body, against thine own soul, because this world sorts not altogether according to thy will and wish? Remember the fable of the foolish Frog, that maliciously repined at the Ox, because he drank more than himself, and so striving to match him, burst his own belly. After the same sort, Dum mendicantes plures videt, ore dicaci Persequitur mendicus, acri marcetque dolore. One beggar frets with railing and with woe Because he sees near him more beggars go. LINEAMENT. XIII. The Conclusion showing that all persons from the Prince his Sceptre to the Cobbler's naulc, are subject to Detracting tongues. WHat Prince ever flourished without Calumniation? What state ever stood without Envy's sting? What Trade without interruptions of malicious Sycophants? Figulus figulo. One Mechanical person repines at the other. One neighbour speaks ill of the other. Moses' had his Corah, David his Semei, Achilles his Thersites, Homer his Zoilus, Philip his Demades, Alexander his Clitus, Mardocheus his Haman, Socrates his Anitus, Cicero his Sallust. Neither lived our Saviour Christ without thousands of slanders. Did he cast out Devils out of unclean bodies? No, saith the jew, he could not cast out Devils, but by invocation on Baalzebub Prince of Devils. Did he cure the blind? Let us examine his Parents and try the truth. Did Father Abraham believe in Christ? That could not he, when Christ was not yet borne. Did Christ protest himself to be the Messias, the King of the jews? As false as the rest; Elias must first come; and he that names himself King, sins against Caesar. Such was the malice of this monstrous▪ Fiend▪ that he caused his Ministers to rail at Christ, to rend his Divinity in his last distress. Some yelled, If thou be the Son of God come down from the Crosse. Others mocked, He saved others, himself he cannot save. Others, Thou that destroyest the Temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself, Thus was the Son of God reviled as long as he lived; Yet opened he not his mouth, but sat still like a Lamb before the shearer. After his glorious resurrection, these ingrateful jews affirmed, Esay 53. that his disciples stole away his body, for all that their Centurion watched about his tomb. In like manner the Corinthians back-bited S. Paul for his charitable care on the behalf of the poor Saints at jerusalem: Though himself was not chargeable unto them: nevertheless, being crafty he caught them with guile. And again, his letters were sore and strong, but his bodily presence weak, and his 2. Cor. 12. 2. Cor. 10. speech nothing worth. Thus rageth Satan by his detracting deputy over persons of all conditions, over Nobles, and ignobles, over the Clergy and the Laity, from the Prince his Sceptre to the Cobbler's awl, from the crown to the foot, yea even from the King's crown to the poor man's spade. THE FOURTH CIRCLE OF THE SPIRIT OF DETRACTION, CONJURED AND CONVICTED. LINEAMENT I. 1 The felicity and infelicity of our Country of Great Britain. 2 The Authors supplication to the high and mighty Court of Parliament for suppressing of common Swearing, Blasphemies, Slannders, Perjuries, and other Detractions offensive to God and their Country's weal. 3 That they crucify Christ anew, which swear either wantonly or wilfully by his blood, etc. 4 The Author's motion for more Additions to the Statute of Perjury. 5 The necessity if these Additions, and of likely circumstances to lead our common jurours. O Noble Island, our native land, how happy art thou, that art so famous among 1 thy neighbours, among the nations, for thy faith unto thy spiritual Spouse, for the good and pleasant savour of thy most precious Cant. 1. Ibid. balms! O noble Island of great and gracious Britain, whose name is a sweet smelling ointment, when it is shed forth! How happy art thou that excellest all the Isles of the Ocean, Indian, and Mediterranean Seas as far as the light of life exceedeth dulness, death, and darkness! And how unhappy art thou, which notwithstanding this thy happiness, this exceeding excellency, and famous faith, that enlightens thy soul above the noontide Sun? How unhappy, I say, art thou, which being humane as well as Divine, partaker of Good and Evil knowledge, hast thy night as well as day, thy winter as well as Summer, thy darksome eclipses as well as the Deities glorious glimpses? How unhappy art thou, that holdest the Dragon's detracting stings, and the Eagles Esd●. horrible wings, as well as the Dove's simplicity and the Lamb's integrity! How unhappy art thou, that hidest within thee nests of nasty and noisome foul, Cages of every unclean and hateful birds, and that harbourest within Apoc. thy bosom Hypocrites, Blasphemers, Perjurers, and Antichristians, as vile venomous vermin, as Foxes in Lambs skins, Foxes that hurt thy Vines, Vines which bear blossoms. Thy Wolves are long sithence worn Cant. 2. and weeded out by the policy of a provident & prudent Prince. And why may not likewise thy Dragons, thy foul birds and filthy Foxes be rooted out of this united Realm, seeing that our present Prince surmounts all his Progenitors in policy, providence, and prudence? It is high time, my Sovereign Liege, that you bestir 2 your powerful Sceptre, proclaiming out strong thundering threats from S. Michacls' Mount, to the furthest bounds of Calydone, against all licentious and lying libelers, against detractors of their neighbour's names; or at least wise against such profane persons, which presume to wound the Majesty of their great Creator by their malicious or wanton words. To this end like unto that Clown of Danubius, who spared not to speak the truth from his very heart before the Emperor Aurelius, and the whole Senate of Rome, an obedient and obsequious servant of yours, borne under Cambria's climate, doth here inform your patient Highness, that the Sun can no longer shine in your Christian Kingdom upon truth and blasphemy, without a most terrible eclipse of discontentment. Psal. 69. Arise therefore, O King, and cause these noisome Foxes to be both slain and slain. Let their habitation Act. ●. be desolate, and no man dwelling therein. For they that be Traitors to their Heavenly King can never be true to their earthly King. They that wittingly and wilfully tear in pieces the Titles of the great jehovah, will also prove railing Semeies', and reviling Satan's against your royal Highness. Their tongues like sharp pointed arrows, will pass and pierce through your hard steely armour, your armour of proof, my Lords both spiritual and temporal. Their throats like open Sepulchers, do threaten to bury your wounded bodies, O ye Knights, Burgesses, and Commons. Yea, these Knights of the Post, these common swearers and detractors will conspire some time or other to blow us all up one after another with the gunpowder of their blasphemies. O then let not such Atheistical agag's be spared, but 3 let them perish by the hands of Samuel; let them perish in the pit of perdition, as persons fair worse than murderers: for these kill but the body, whereas the perjured kill themselves totally, both body and soul. And as an ancient Father writes, They that blaspheme Christ now reigning in heaven, do sin no less than they, that crucified Aug. in psath. him here on earth. When they forswear themselves, (whether it be by compulsion, or of custom, or of some worldly respect, all is one) either by God's body, by his blood, or by his wounds, they spiritually pierce his sides with their bloody weapons (for a wicked tongue is worse than any weapon) and like pitiless Pilate, they scourge his sanctified body again. When they swear by his head, as our swaggering swilbowles will swear by any part, they plaite another Crown of thorns upon his hallowed head. When they swear by his foot, they nail his innocent feet to the Cross anew. When they swear by God's death, by God's heart, they put him to death, and being worse than judas Iscariot, they plot to supplant the heart of life. When they swear by senseless blocks & stocks, by the Mass, by Gog or magog, they detract from God's honour, in attributing his due to dumb and deaf Idols. But when they wilfully swear betwixt party and party in judicial proceedings, by God's Sacraments, or forswear themselves upon his lovely Legates, the Testament either old or new, they blasphemously detract from the Father, the Word, and the holy Ghost, by reason that God's word comprehended in those holy Oracles is the right record on earth, resembling the word incarnate now in heaven, who redeemed the penitent from Satan's thrall; even as the other two mystical records of water & the spirit, or of Baptism and the Lords Supper, represent the Father & the holy Ghost, the one signifying our Election by Baptism and repentance from the Father before all worlds, and the other witnessing and sealing the same into our consciences, and also breathing faith, love, charity, and other Divine gifts into our barren wills, as is most evidently testified in those Testaments: so that wilful perjury and blasphemous Detraction, either to the derogation of God's honour, or to the detriment of his creatures (if without commission I may discern of spirits) may be termed a sin against the holy Ghost, or against the whole Majesty of the sacred Trinity. No less also sin the suborners of perjury, than Perjurers themselves: nay, they encurre a far greater punishment, because they occasion the loss of other men's souls, namely, of the suborned persons, besides the loss of their own souls. And to detain them more surely and safely in hell, the injured parties, against whom such perjury was committed, will continually crave and cry for vengeance. In respect of which abominable abuses, and for that the Devil is nowadays most spiritually busy at the 4 shutting up of this last tragical seen of the world, may it please your Sovereignties to join together, as mystical members of one undivided and unblemished corporation, for the extirping out of such profane sins, which being begun in youth, continued in manhood, and confirmed in old age, do continually reign among us (as it were by destiny): so that likewise other blasphemies in manner of branches begin to overspread their leaves of lies and libels, above the plants▪ of truth, only by the slight and too too light stocking up of that sinful and sapless tree of perjury. Or if your wisdoms judge it not expedient to promulge and put out any new Act against this manifolded spirit of malignant Detraction: yet notwithstanding, for the preventing of perjury, and for the protection of innocence, that Naboth may not sustain damage by jezabels' false witnesses, and that all other sincere subjects may walk dreadless in their vocations, it were a work of charity, and very likely to hinder the future budding up of innumerable inconveniences, if you would but add one material clause more to the Statue of perjury, viz. That none be admitted to bear witness against honest men, but honest men, men of some sufficiency and substance, untouched, uncorrupted, and unsuspected; I mean not, that they should be void of sin, for than we must go out of this world, to fetch in the Angels of heaven, but I mean, sober men, unattainted of notorious crimes, those whom the common law terms probos & legales; so that common drunkards, haunters of Alehouses, hunters of whores, Barretours, beggars, rogues, and light persons, whom the Londoners call Knights of the Post, may be excluded from deposing against substantial subjects. For to what end requires the law to have witnesses produced? Is it not to try the truth? And what truth can there be found in such notorious lewd livers, whose thoughts are altogether dulled with sensual pleasures? What true proof can there be expected from them, who differ but very little from bruit beasts? Therefore it were sit that judges and jurours regard circumstances as well as witnesses. Doth a common drunkard or a common whore-hunter depose? such must have means to maintain their vices. Doth a beggar or a prisoner swear? believe him not, for pinching penury will persuade persons to testify that the crow is white. Need will make the old wise trot. — Quid non mortalia pectora cogis, Auri sacra fames?— Is a common Barretour produced to testify his knowledge? A Barretour is ever malicious, litigious, and full of mischief. Is a a Rogue brought in to give evidence? His wit runs a woolgathering, and with the above named persons, he ought rather to be sent into Bridewell, then to stain the judicial proceedings of an honourable Court. But how is it possible for avoiding of confusion and delays in suits, to sound out the certainty and ability of the proofs and persons? Every man cannot equally discern of spirits; every man is not a Solomon, a Nathan, a Peter, a Paul? Therefore our jury men had need of further instruction, that they accept not witnesses of all sorts, tag and rag, without exception. It were good for the Commonwealth that Commissions were awarded to examine their carriage and behaviours. In the Ecclesiastical Court men may in some sort except against false and infamous witnesses: and so out of the Courts of Star-chamber, Chancery, and Council of the Marches, upon urgent motions there are granted extraordinary Commissions, with cross and witty articles, like daniel's Interrogatories to entrap suborned witnesses. But this course is costly, painful, and very seldom followed or allowed. Whether this latter motion do not deserve your furtherance, 3 I appeal to every subject in particular, even from the Bench of justice to the poor shepherd's Cottage. The Papists vaunt, that the reason of this falsehood of witnesses, proceeds through the contempt of their Romish Religion. For (say they) this special benefit fell out by their policy of auricular confession, that by means of it men's consciences were humbled and held in such severe subjection, that they durst not forswear themselves upon premeditation. But whosoever doth more deeply weigh their licentious dispensations, and our licentious education, shall find both Religions sick of the same disease. For indeed we had need in this declining and drooping age of the world, to observe circumstances as well as proofs, and to imitate the discreet Physician, who giving no credit to the rules of raw and rude Empirics for the sick man's health, betakes himself to a higher contemplation, to judiciary Astrology, observing the signs, constellations, and other remarkable accidents. LINEAMENT. II. 1 That Licentiousness is the cause of Detractions, defamations, perjuries, and blasphemies. 2 That Taverns are the causes of licentiousness; whereby the Author takes an occasion to admonish Magistrates of their duty in this importent case. WHen I sit silently musing with myself, what might be the reason that Detractions, 1 defamations, perjuries, and idle speeches become nowadays more rife then in former times, I protest unto thee, O ingenuous Reader, that my soul is sore disquieted within me. The zeal of God's glory, which these Titans, Encelades, and their monstrous factions go about to batter by their beastly behaviours, doth solicit this soul of mine to soldiourize in this exigent under the Archangels banner, conjuring and convicting the Detractours of our time, the depravers of precious time; whose tongues and voices declining from their souls reasonable faculties, from the spiritual similitude of the Deity, and perverted by the judgement of the just jehovah into brutish sounds, they are metamorphozed with Gryllus and the rest of Ulysses his companions into grinning dogs, grunting Hogs, grumbling Foxes, into squeaking apish Squaules, and into bellowing Bulls of Basan. Because that when they knew their God, they gave him not that honour, that thankful honour, that obedience, that dutiful obedience, with trembling reverence, as was convenient for so great a Majesty, so great a Saviour, so great a Lawgiver: And because that when they were enlightened with the fire of his spirit, according to the quality of their bodies, that could not receive a greater quantity of his grace, by reason of their gluttonous affections and earthly affectations; because, I say, they did not watch, fast, and pray in meekness and mildness of mind, for their crying and cruel sins: therefore hath that Righteous One delivered them over to their own natural dispose, to Satan, to sin, to bestial behaviours, to diversities of Detractions, and to all the contraries or adversaries of the knowledge of Goodness. In regard of all these Detractions, contempts, inconveniences and abuses, I will not spare to display out in colours the prime cause of such abominations, which in very deed is none other than Licentiousness. This is that unbridled vice, which beginning in youth, grows up to an habit in old age; which being once rooted in, cannot with all Hercules his labours be removed out. A Captain may sooner conquer the strongest Fort in Hungaria then conquer this wanton affection. What then, Experience, the grand and grave mother of worldly wisdom, art thou put to thy nonplus with all thy travels, with all thy trials? Hast thou no stratagem in store, no witty engine to expel this giddy headed gallant? Alas, the world's Oracle is suddenly dumb. But though heaven and earth do pass away, Truth is great, and must prevail, Truth is great, and will not quail. Me thinks, I here a voice descending down from the heavenly places: (Nec vox hominem sonat, o Dea certè, (Nor is this voice humane, a goddess sure thou art.) Take away (cries the truth) the cause, and take away 2 the effect; Get thee (quoth she) an exquisite map of all this Island, and view whether there be not ten Taverns for one Church, ten devils for one Saint, ten tosspots for one temperate. These pa●try Cottages be they, which minister matter and fuel to the fire of licentiousness. Here, breed conspiracies, combinations, common conjurations, detractions, defamations. here, a man shall meet at all times, day or night, yea, in the dawning, twilight, and midnight with drunken dissolutes, who for maintenance of their trade will be content to sell oaths at a prodigal rate. If you want means to vent and blaze out false news, blasphemous news, runagate reports, slanderous reports, tending to their God's dishonour, or to their neighbour's disgrace: here, you shall find many mercenaries ready to be pressed at your command. Thus do these alehouse knights, knights of the post, or posting knaves attend on the Spirit of Detraction, intending to set their tongues and souls to sale, to swear and forswear whatsoever the Devil or his adherentes will enjoin them, not only against their neighbour's name and fame, against their rights and livelyhoode, but also against their dearest lives, which, as Tenants at will, they hold of God himself. Thus like drunken men do these blasphemous wretches reel too and fro, as the Psalmist speaks, thus do they stagger, and are at their wit's end, not knowing the ways of the Lord, but inclining themselves that way where the staff falls, where hapless hazard leads them: so uncertain are our detractours in their thoughts, words, and works, even in their decrepit age, being then through their dissoluteness become crazed, without either head or foot, without hope of remorse, without hope of mercy. Heretosore (as we read in Chronicles) a King of this land was same to stop and stint his Danes, that they might not exceed a prescribed measure in their drinking. The like laudable custom did our present King impose by consent of his Parliament upon our lourdanes, or disguised travellers, which resorted to taverns, namely, that they should not drink above a quart at a meal, nor stay above an hour in these infamous houses. But, as those laws, which concern many, are commonly neglected of many: so notwithstanding his Majesty's wholesome laws, people now adays through licentiousness having almost gotten a habit of disobedience, few or none adventure to execute the same. Or if perhaps any one more forward than the rest fearing the shipwreck of his conscience, for waxing slothful in his charge against these Centauris, or for winking at such enormities of these his Countries Cyclops, should chance to extend the rod of his authority in suppressing them; presently Satan suggesteth some of his darlings, detracting Barretours, to countenance these lewd livers; and rather than fail, he suborns them to molest those zealous magistrates by hook or by crook to the Star Chamber, or to some other principal Court two or three hundred miles off, for trifling matters not worth the speaking: and all to the intent, to terrify and tyre them with tedious travelling too and fro; so that few officers dare put in execution what the law requireth them, being loath to hazard their goods and persons in so wearisome a journey, in so cumbersome a suit. These, these bull-beggars (I say) be the only obstacles, that justice is not executed against the malefactors of our country. Herehence it comes to pass that justices of mild and moderate spirits do swallow down many a bit of bitter injuries, rather than they will adventure their fortunes in law upon such vile vermin. Yet notwithstanding these crosses, which overthwart your honest purposes, it behoves you (my Masters) whom his Majestic or his Chancellor hath commissioned by jethroes' counsel as Rulers over hundreds, over fifties, to lay aside your panic fears, to look unto your places, and not to prefer your private weal before the public, in intending so nearly the temporal goods of blind fortune, whereof the Eye of justice in revenge of your remissness and perjuries will suddenly bereave you with a heavier scourge. For this cause I could wish, that this golden saying were firmly engraven in your thoughts: Qui non impedit facinus, cum possit, facinori consentit. He that hinders not a sin, when he may hinder it, consents unto the sin. For no doubt, but this saying is already verified in many of us, whom God forgive; specially, when we spare Gods enemies, of what nature soever they be, either for indulgence, importunate friendship, or for fear of the Devil, or of his detracting followers. Therefore be ye stout as Lions, fight the Lords battles. The cause is the Lords, the judgement is the Lords: and the Lord will be with you in the cause and judgement. Now show yourselves whose 2. Chron. cap. 19 champions ye are; and with your unpartial hands subscribe to pull and put down these licentious Brothelries, down with these Taverns, down with these Seminaries of corruption, down with the cause, and down with the effects, if ye have any spark of God's Spirit shining in you. The prodigious effects hatched and fostered in these drunken Cottages (as I said before) is licentiousness, the diabolical dame of detractions, perjuries, blasphemies, and of a number of other base brats. LINEAMENT III. That the Spirit of Detraction is sooner convicted through the bright light, and testimony of the Scripture then through men's real source or worldly devices. EVen as Aaron's rod in Pharaoh his presence consumed all the Magician's rods, that were put before it: so words grounded upon the touchstone of Truth, do at the last consume to nothing all the bubbling dregs of babbling Detraction. For by how much that Michael the Archangel is more mighty than the detracting Dragon, by so much doth the speech of Truth bear a greater sway over the misshapen monsters of falsehood; which like foolish Apes by their vain and uncharitable chattering would feign obtain the Christian surname of Truth. But the word of life, the light of understanding will not abide such derogations and detractions. And therefore he hath of his special and superabundant grace sent forth the spirit of his mouth, 2. Thess. cap. 2. the brightness of his coming to confute these hideous heresies and peremptory paradoxes, which with the Antichrist were conceived and begotten among us. Out of this light or lightsome word, out of the right resembling Image of the Father's eternal virtues, as his pledge to the Catholic Church, issued his written image, the sacred Scripture, whose efficacy is so excellent, that the testimonies thereof suffice to conjure down all the spirits of hell into their own bottomless home. Being an army of armed men against the spirit of Detraction, and he will entreat them wo●se then that possessed person did the seven sons of Scaeva the jew, against whom he Act. Apost. cap. 19 ran and prevailed, that they were forced to fly out of the house naked and wounded. Besprinkle him with whole buckets full of holy water, chant millions of masses unto him; his spiritual substance cares not for wetting; and for your masses, Surdo canis, he will not hear them for your good; but gladly hears them for your hurt and hindrance. Only a few material sentences extracted out of the heavenly book, and given in evidence by an humble-minded Christian with prayer and contrition, do certainly conjure, convince, and confound all his darts, stings, and forces. To this end I will repeat some proverbial lessons selected by me out of that Book of Life, with hope that their energy and vivacity will convert my countrymen, that are any thing towardly inclined to follow truth and integrity, to become virtuously forward, and not viciously froward. And first I will briefly rebuke and refute the use of idle speeches, before I descend to the reprehension of deeper Detractions. Wherein I will follow the example of expert Physicians, who are wont at first to prescribe gentle preparatives to attenuate and mollify the stubborn and inveterate humours of their patient's body, before they attempt to purge the same substantially. LINEAMENT. four The Spirit of Detraction conjured and convicted by the Prophet David's Testimony. THey talk of vanity every one with his Psal. 12. neighbour: they do but flatter with their lips, and dissemble with their heart. But the Lord shall root out all deceitful lips, & the tongue that speaketh proud things, which have said, with our tongue we will prevail: we are they that ought to speak, who is Lord over us? Their throat is an open Scpulchre, with their tongues have they deceived; the poison of Asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and Psal. 14. bitterness. Lord, who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle? Or who shall rest upon thy holy hill? Even he, that leadeth an incorrupt life; and doth the thing that is right, and Psal. 15. speaketh the truth from his heart. He that hath used no deceit in his tongue, nor done evil to his neighbour, and hath not slandered his neighbours. They are enclosed in their own fat: and their mouth speaketh proud things. Like as a Lion that is greedy of his prey; and as it were a Lion's whelp lurking Psal. 17. in secret places: Up Lord, disappoint them, and cast them down: deliver my soul from the ungodly, which is a sword of thine. Let the lying lips be put to silence, which cruelly, disdainfully, Psal. 31. and despitefully speak against the Righteous. The mouth of the righteous is exercised in wisdom, Psal. 37. and his tongue will be talking of judgement. Thy tongue imagineth wickedness, and with lies thou cuttest like a Razor: thou hast loved unrighteousness more than goodness, and to talk of lies more Psal. 62. than righteousness: thou hast loved to speak all words, that may do hurt, O thou false tongue. Therefore shall God destroy thee for ever: he shall take thee and pluck thee out of thy dwelling, and root thee out of the land of the living. Destroy their tongues, O Lord, and divide them, for I have espied unrighteousness and strife in the City. Psal. 55. God shall send forth his mercy and truth: my soul Psal. 57 is among Lions: and I lie among the children of men, that are set on fire, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. They go too and fro in the evening, they grin Psal. 59 like a dog, and run about through the City. Behold, they speak with their mouths, and swords are in their lips: for who doth hear? But thou, O Lord, shalt have them in derision, and thou shalt laugh all the Heathen to scorn. For the sin of their mouth, and for the words of Ibid. their lips they shall be taken in their pride. And why? their preaching is of cursing and lies. Hide me from the gathering together of the froward, and from the insurrection of wicked doers, which Psal. 64. have whet their tongues like a sword, and shot out their arrows, even bitter words; that they may privily shoot at him which is perfect. Suddenly do they hit and fear not. They corrupt others, and speak of wicked blasphemy; Psal. 73. their talking is against the most high: for they stretch forth their mouth unto the heavens, and their tongue goeth through the world. Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy hath rebuked, Psal. 74. and how the foolish people have blasphemed thy Name. As for the blasphemy wherewith our neighbours have blasphemed thee; reward thou them, O Lord, seven Psal 79. fold into their bosom. Who so privily slandereth his neighbour, him will Psal. 101. I destroy. Hold not thy tongue, O God of my praise: for the Psal. 109. mouth of the ungodly, yea and the mouth of the deceitful is opened upon me. They have spoken against me with false tongues: they compassed me about also with words of hatred, and fought against me without a cause. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceit full tongue. What reward shall be given or done unto thee, thou false tongue? Even might and sharp Psal. 120. arrows, with hot burning coals. They have sharpened their tongues like a Serpent: Adders poison is under their lips. Psal. 140. Let the mischief of their own lips fall upon the head of them, that compass me about. Let hot burning Ibid. coals fall upon them: let them be cast into the fire and into the pit, that they never rise again. A man full of words shall not prosper upon the earth. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, and keep the Psal. 141. door of my lips. LINEAMENT. V. The spirit of Detraction conjured and convicted by King Solomon's testimony. AS for the scornful, doth not the Lord laugh them to scorn? Cap. 3. Put away from thee a froward mouth; and let the lips of slander be far from thee. Prou. 4. These six things doth the Lord hate, and theseventh he utterly abhorreth: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that goeth about wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that bringeth up lies, and him that soweth discord among Brethren. cap. 6. ibid. He that winketh with his eye will cause sorrow, but he that hath a foolish mouth shall be beaten: the mouth of a righteous man is a well of life, but the mouth of the ungodly keepeth mischief in his heart. cap. 10. He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and that speaketh slander is a fool. ibid. Where much babbling is must needs be offence: but he that refraineth his lips is wise. Ibid. The mouth of the righteous will be talking of wisdom; but the mouth of the ungodly speaketh froward things. Ibid. A fool slandereth his neighbour, but a wise man holdeth his peace. A dissembling fellow will discover privy things; but he that is of a faithful heart, keepeth counsel. cap. 11. A fool uttereth his wrath in all haste, but a discreet man covereth his own shame. cap. 12. A slanderous person pricketh like a sword, but a wise man's tongue is wholesome. The lips of truth shall be stable for ever, but a dissembling tongue is soon changed. Ibid. The Lord abhorreth lying lips: but they that deal truly please him. Ibid. A discreet man doth hide knowledge: but the heart of fools babbleth out foolishness. Ibid. He that keepeth his mouth, keepeth his life; but who rashly openeth his lips, destroyeth himself. cap. 13 In the mouth of the foolish is the rod of pride, but the lips of the wise will preserve them. cap. 4. A faithful witness will not dissemble, but a false record will invent lies. Ibid. A faithful witness delivereth souls, but a deceitful witness bringeth forth lies. Ibid. A soft answer appeaseth wrath, but rough words stir up anger. cap. 15. A wholesome tongue is the tree of life, but the frowardness thereof doth make sad the spirit. Ibid. The heart of the righteous sludieth his answer before, but the wicked man's mouth spieth out mischief. Ibid. A wise heart ordereth his mouth wisely, and ministereth learning unto his lips. cap. 16. An ungodly person stirreth up evil, and in his lips is an hot burning fire. ibid. A froward body causeth strife, and he that is blab of his tongue maketh division among Princes. ibid. Speech of authority becometh not a fool; much less than doth a lying mouth beseem a Prince. cap. 17. A wise man useth few words, and a man of understanding is of a patient spirit; yea a very fool when he holdeth his peace is accounted wise, and he that stoppeth his lips is esteemed prudent. ibid. The words of a wise man's mouth are like deep waters. cap. 18. A sooles' lips come with brawling, and his mouth provoketh unto stripes. A fool's mouth is his own destruction, and his lips are the snare of his own soul ib. The words of a slanderer are very wounds, and go through the innermost parts of the body. ibid. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. ibid. A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish. cap. 19 A wicked witness mocketh at judgement, and the mouth of the ungodly devoureth wickedness. ibid. Cast out the scornful man, and so shall strife go out with him; yea variance and slander shall cease. ca 22. Be not a false witness against thy neighbour, and speak no falsehood with thy lips. cap. 24. The North wind drtueth away the rain, even so doth an angry countenance a backbiters tongue. cap. 25 Give not the fool an answer after his foolishness, lest thou become like unto him. cap. 6. As he that counterfeits himself mad, casteth firebrands, deadly arrows, and darts; so doth the dissembler with his neighbour, and saith, Am not I in sport? Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out; even so where the tale-bearer is taken away, there the strife ceaseth. As coals kindle heat, and wood the fire; even so doth a brawling fellow stir up variance. A tale-bearers words are like men that strike with hammers, and they pierce the inward parts of the body. Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a pot shared covered with silver dross. A lying tongue hateth the afflicted, and a flattering mouth worketh mischief. Ibid. in cap. 26. A brawling woman and the roof of a house dropping in a rainy day, may well be compared together, for he that stilleth her stilleth the wind, and stoppeth the smell of oinments in his hand. cap. 27. If a Prince delight in lies, all his servants are ungodly cap. 29. Seest thou a man that is hasty to speak unadvisedly? There is more hope in a foole then in him. ibid. Be not hasty with thy mouth, and let not thine heart speak any thing rashly before God, for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be few. Eccles. cap. 5. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin. ibid. The spirit of wisdom is loving, and will not absolve him that blasphemeth with his lips; for God is witness of his reynes, a true beholder of his heart, and an hearer of his tongue: for the spirit of the Lord that filleth the round compass of the world, and the same that upholdeth all things, hath knowledge also of the voice. Therefore he that speaketh unrighteous things cannot be hid, neither shall the judgement of reproof let him escape. And why? In quisition shall be made for the thoughts of the ungodly, and the sound of his words shall come unto God; so that his wickedness shall be punished. The ear of jealousy heareth all things, and the noise of grudging shall not be hid: therefore beware of murmuring, which is nothing worth; and refrain your tongue from slander, for there is no word so secret that it shall go for nought, and the mouth that speaketh lies slayeth the soul. Wisd. cap. 1. LINEAMENT VI. The spirit of Detraction conjured and convicted by jesus the son of Siraches' testimony. IN the tongue is wisdom known, so is understanding, knowledge, and learning in the talking of the wise, and steadfastness in the works of righteousness. In no wise speak against the words of truth, but be ashamed of the lies of thine own ignorance. Be not hasty in thy tongue, neither slack and negligent in thy works. cap 4. Be s●ift to hear, but slow and patient in giving answer. If thou hast understanding, shape thy neighbour an answer; if no, lay thy hand upon thy mouth, lest thou be trapped in an undiscreet word, and so confounded. Honour and shame is in the talk, but the tongue of the undiscreet is his own destruction. Be not a privy accuser as long as thou livest, and use no slander with thy tongue; for shame and sorrow goeth over the thief, and an evil name over him that is double tongued: but he that is a privy accuser of other men shall be hated, envied, and confounded. cap. 5. A man full of words is perilous in his City; and he that is rash in his talking shall be abhorred. cap. 9 Rehearse not a wicked and churlish word twice, and thou shalt not be hindered. If thou hast heard a word against thy neighbour, let it be dead within thee; and be sure thou shalt have no harm thereby. A fool traveleth with a word, like as a woman that is pained with bearing of a child. Like as an arrow shot in a thigh of flesh, so is a word in a fool's heart. Reprove thy neighbour, that he keep his tongue; and if he have spoken, that he say it no more. A man falleth with his tongue sometime, but not with his will: for what is he that hath not offended with his tongue? cap. 19 A wise man will hold his tongue till he see opportunity, but a wanton and undiscreet body shall regard no time. He that useth many words shall hurt his own soul, and he that taketh authority upon him unrighteously shall be hated. In the mouth of him that is untaught are many unconuenient and unmeet words. A lie is a wicked shame in a man, yet shall it be never in the mouth of the wise. A thief is better than a man that is accustomed to lie. The conditions of liars are unhonest, & their shame is ever with them. cap. 20. A fool lifteth up his voice with laughter, but a wise man shall scarce laugh secretly. The lips of the wise will be talking foolish things, but the words of such as have understanding, shall be weighed in the balance. The heart of fools is in their mouth, but the mouth of the wise is in his heart. A privy accuser of other men shall defile his own soul, and be hated of every man; but he that keepeth his tongue and is discreet, shall come to honour. cap. 21. If thou be among the discreet, keep thy words to a convenient time, but among such as be wise speak on hardly. The talking of fools is abomination, and their sport is voluptuousness and mis-nurture. The proud do blaspheme and are scornful, but vengeance lurketh for them as a Lion. cap. 27. An hasty browling kindleth fire, and an hasty strife sheddeth blood: a tongue also that beareth false witness bringeth death. If thou blow the spark it shall burn, if thou spit upon it, it shall go forth, and both these come out of the mouth. The slanderer and double tongued is cursed, for many one that be friends setteth he at variance. The stroke of the rod maketh prints in the skin, but the stroke of the tongue smiteth the bones in sunder. There be many that have perished with the sword, but many more through the tongue. Well is he that is kept from an evil tongue, and cometh not in the anger thereof, which draweth not the yoke of such, and is not bound in the bonds of it. For the yoke thereof is of iron, and the band of it of steel. The death of it is a very evil death, hell were better for one than such a tongue. But the fire of it may not oppress them that fear God, and the flame thereof may not burn them. Thou hedgest thy goods with thorns, why dost thou not rather make doors and bars for thy mouth? Thou waighest thy silver; why dost thou not weigh thy words also upon the balance, and make a door and abarre, and a sure bridle for thy mouth? Beware that thou slide not in thy tongue, and so fall before thine enemies that lay wait for thee, and thy fall be incurable, even unto death. cap. 28. Thou young man speak that becometh thee, and that is profitable; and yet scarce when thou art twice asked. Comprehend much with few words, in many things be as one that is ignorant: give care, and hold thy tongue withal. If thou be among men of high authority, desire not to compare thyself unto them; and when an elder speaketh, make not thou many words therein. cap. 32. Like as a wild horse that neigheth under every one that sitteth upon him, so is it with a scornful friend. cap. 33. LINEAMENT. VII. The spirit of Detraction and Perjury conjured and convicted by other testimonies of the Scripture. THou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord Exod. 20. will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain. Thou shalt not have to do with any Exod. 23. false report, neither shalt thou put thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. Thou shalt not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou defile the name of thy God: I am the Lord. Levit. 19 Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy hath rebuked, and how the foolish people have blasphemed thy Psal 74. Name. Thy Name is wonderful, O Lord, and only to had in reverence. I see a flying book of twenty cubits long, and ten cubits broad, which containeth the curse that goeth over Zach. 5. the whole earth: for all thieves shall be judged after this book, and all perjured persons shall be judged according to the same. And I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of Hosts, so that it shall enter into the house of a thief, and into the house of him that falsely sweareth by my name, and shall remain in the midst of his house, and consume it with the timber and stones thereof. Let none of you imagine evil in his heart against Ibidem. cap. 8 his neighbour, or love false oaths, for these are the things which I hate, saith the Lord. Let not thy mouth be accustomed to swearing, for n it there are many falls: let not the naming of God be Eecles. 23. icontinually in thy mouth, and meddle not with the names of Saints, for thou shalt not be excused of them. For like a servant which is oft punished, can not be without some sore: even so, what soever he be that sweareth, and nameth God, shall not be clean purged from sin. A man that useth much swearing, shall be filled with wickedness, and the plague shall never go from his house, if he beguile his brother, his fault shall be upon him, if he acknowledge not his sin he maketh a double offence, and if he swear in vain, he shall not be found righteous, for his house shall be full of plagues. The words of the swearer bring death, God grant that it be not found in the house of jacob; but they that fear God, eschew all such, and lie not weltering in sin. Use not thy mouth to unhonest and filthy talking, for in it is the word of sin. Ye have heard that it hath been said to them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shall perform Matth. 5. unto the Lord thine oaths. But I say unto you, Swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's seat, nor by the earth, for it is his foot stool, neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be yea, yea; nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. Woe be unto you ye blind guides, for ye say, Whosoever shall swear by the Temple it is nothing, but whosoever Matth 23. shall swear by the gold of the Temple he is a debtor. Ye fools and blind, for whether is greater, the gold or the Temple that sanctifieth the gold? And whosoever sweareth by the Altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon the Altar, he is a debtor. Ye fools and blind, for whether is greater the gift or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? Who so therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. And who so shall swear by the Temple, sweareth by it, and him that dwelleth therein. And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the seat of God, and him that sitteth thereon. Above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither James. 5. by heaven, neither by earth, nor by any other oath; Let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay; lest you fall into condemnation. These being deceived by dreams defile the flesh, despise Rulers, and speak evil of them which are in authority. jud. Epist. Yet Michael the Archangel, when he strove against the Devil, and disputed about the body of Moses, durst not give railing sentence, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. But these speak evil of those things which they know not. If a man sin not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle all the body: Behold we put jam 3. Bits in the horses mouths, that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the Ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whither soever the lust of the Governor will: even so the tongue is a little member also, and b●asteth great things. Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth. And the tongue is fire, ●u●n a world of wickedness; so is the tongue set among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell. All the nature of beasts, and of birds, and of Serpents, and things of the Sea is meeked and tamed by the nature of man; but the tongue can no man tame. it is an unruly evil, full of deadly person; therewith bless we our GOD and Father, and therewith curse we men which are made after the similitude of GOD: Out of one mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be: Doth a Fountain send forth at one hole, sweet water and bitter also? Can the Fig tree, my brethren, bear Olive berries? Or a Vine bear Figs? So can no Fountain give both salt water and also fresh. LINEAMENT. VIII. The Author's advice to jurymen, wishing them to proceed uprightly according to their oaths, and also to meditate on the future discourse. THE elder that the world grows, the more grow the corruptions thereof, by reason that Satan now towards the dissolution of the world's Chronicle, spiteth his spiritual spite and venomous vengeance in most abundant measure. And also because our stiff steely hearts will not relent nor receive remorse though the brightness of God's word, of his sacred word, which by his preachers and teachers hath been diffused supereminently amongst us. For this cause, and because we do not watch and pray, our Enemy doth watch to prey, to poll and pill, to spoil and spill the goodiiest harvest of our souls. No sooner can we convert our tongues to truth, but Satan diverts our thoughts from truth; so that now and then we speak the words of Angels, but within we conceal the fox's subtleties, & are as sounding brass or tinkling Cymbals. Our common jurors do both protest and contest upon the book of life, the book of eternal life, which brings blood and vengeance down from heaven on the blasphemers thereof, to present with effect, and without affection, the desects of their country. And yet with a mental reservation they go about to cloak them, so that it is to be doubted that this Royal Monarchy will in process of time receive a Cicatrix or an ugly scaire, by their petulance and democraticad looseness; not much unlike to those wanton Athenians, of whom it was said that their wise men propounded cases, & ignorant people resolved them. Generous Britain's, remember yourselves, remember your oaths, which are no compliments of Court, but sacramental words binding your consciences, engaging your souls, yea and obliging both your souls and bodies with such a strong and indissoluble chain, as can never be undone in this world, nor in the world to come. Say therefore with the faithful spouse; I have washed my feet, how shall I again defile them? Dear countrymen, ye are the temple Cantic. of the holy Ghost, which you must not deface, ye are hallowed unto God, and are not your own, ye are the children of light, and must not become eclipsed through the interposition of darksome perjury: Ye cannot spare your dearest friends, your kinsmen, nor yet yourselves, if there be testimony to accuse yourselves: ye cannot respect the quality of men's persons, nor regard him that weareth gay clothing (as the Apostle warned) nor say unto james cap. 2. him sit thou here in a good place: and on the other side ye ibid. cannot say to the poor stand thou there, lest, as the Apostle witnessed, ye prove partial in yourselves, and be made judges of evil thoughts. The eye of inquisition is so severely strait, that it must endict the very heart of man, and all his secret purposes, if men's mortal eyes or spiritual eyes could extend so far. But I would to God, that our jury men would consent (as I hope they will) to find out those things, which are palpable, and to be felt with hands, as the proverb is, and not to sit as Chancery judges, debating and deliberating on matters out of their element, which properly belong to judges, and not to jurors. If two substantial witnesses, or if one sufficient witness with inward-leading circumstances appear before your understanding sight, ye must conjoin, as with one mouth or Oracle, to subscribe him guilty. And this ye must perform as well for fear of God's law as of your country's laws, which have censured perjuries, and detractours in such a high degree, as I have already showed, and as again I will show in this subsequent discourse for the further satisfaction of your empanelled rank. LINEAMENT. IX. The Spirit of Detraction conjured and convicted by the Civil laws Constitutions. THE ancient Romans had a law, that he which was convicted of perjury should be flung down headlong from the Tarpeian rock. In the civil law books there is extant a constitution of justinian the Emperor, to the Citizens of Constantinople unto this effect: Forasmuch (saith he) as many among you do misuse with detestable oaths and speeches the holy name of God, through which his grievous indignation is kindled: We counsel you that ye refrain from railing and reviling, and from swearing either by your beard, by your hair, or by any such like oaths. For if wrongs and contumelies, perpetrated against man be not unrevenged and unpunished: much more deserveth he great punishment that dishonoureth the name of God. In revenge of such sins do famine, earthquakes, and plagues fall upon us. Wherefore we mildly advice you that ye abstain● from such heinous faults. But if any man will not be admonished by this our exhortation, as first he shall be sure to incur God's wrath, so certainly shall not he escape without punishment by us: for we have authorized the right honourable ruler of this our Royal City, that he shall cause such as offend against this law to be forthwith apprehended, and to suffer death; for fear lest God himself should plague both this City, and the whole Empire for letting such heinous crimes unpunished. A King of France commonly called S. Lewes, by chance hearing a Baron of his Realm at dice to blaspheme the reverend name of God in lashing out many fearful oaths, caused him presently to be taken, and his lips to be feared with a hot burning iron. LINEAMENT, X. The Spirit of blasphemous Detraction convicted by God's judgements executed on some of our own Country's inhabitants. ELfred a Duke of this Realm suspected of treason against his sovereign King Athelstan was urged to clear himself upon his oath. And therefore he went to Rome, where forswearing himself in S. Peter's Church, he suddenly fell down dead in the place, immediately as soon as he had perjured himself. Earl Goodwin sitting at dinner with his Prince King Edward at Windsor, and seeing a son of his that was the king's Cupbearer, in bringing a cup of wine towards the King, to trip on the one foot, and yet to recover by the help of the other foot, so that the wine was un-shed, laughed and said: How well hath the one brother assisted the other? Even so said the King should my brother Alphred have holpen me, had not Earl Goodwin been. At which words Goodwin to excuse himself falsely forswear the fact, and taking a morsel of bread in his hand, wished that that piece of bread might choke him, if he were guilty of that deed: but so soon as he had received the bread: forthwith he was choked and fell down dead: whereat, the King said, Have away this perjured Traitor. But because that these examples have happened so many years ago, that men's hardened hearts will except against them, I will rehearse some examples of perjury that chanced of late years, even such as will be justified by many yet living. One Richard Long at Caleis in France willing to vex one Smith and Brooke, took his oath upon a book that they did eat flesh together in Lent time at the said Brooks house, whereas the said Smith was not at the said Brooks house during the said Lent at all. After this perjury committed he drowned himself at the iutty end of the haven in Caleis. Grimwood of Hitcham in the County of Suffolk, against john Cooper of Watsam in the said County, at an Assize holden at Bury, wilfully forswear himself: at harvest after, feeling no pain, complaining of no disease, judging himself strong and able to labour, as he was stacking up a Goffe. of corn, suddenly his bowels fell out of his body, and immediately he died most miserably. In the time and reign of King Edward the sixth, there was in Cornwall, a lusty young Gentleman, who did ride together with other more Gentlemen, and their servants in number about twenty horsemen, amongst whom this lusty younker entering into talk began to swear most horribly: unto whom one of the company not able to abide such blasphemous abomination in gentle words said to him, that he should give account for every idle word. The Gentleman taking snuff thereat, why, quoth he, takest thou thought for me? Take thought for thy winding sheet. Well, quoth the other, amend for death giveth no warning: As soon cometh a Lamb's skin to the market as an old sheep. God's blood (said he) care not for me: raging still after this swearing manner worse and worse in words, till at length, passing on their journey, they came riding over a great bridge, which standeth over a piece of an arm of the Sea, upon which bridge this Gentleman swearer spurred his horse in such sort, as he sprang clean over the bridge with the man on his back: who as he was goingcried aloud, Horse, man and all to the devil. A woman commonly named the widow Barnes, to defeat an Orphan of some inheritance, forswear herself, and being therefore rebuked by some well disposed persons utterly refused their good admonitions. But within four days after she threw herself out at a window in Cornhill, and broke her neck. This was done at London in the year 1574. In the year 1575. one Arm Aueries widow, which at that time dwelled in Ducklane in London without Aldersgate ran to the shop of one Williamson in Woodstreet, and there having bought six pound of course towe forswear herself that she had paid for it, whereas she had paid none. And being very gently reprehended, for her said ungodly deed she still continued terribly swearing, and avouching the payment: But behold a miraculous thing that mouth of hers, with which she blasphemed the hallowed name of her glorious Maker, was put to a most vile office, she was forced presently to void at her mouth the self same filthiness which nature should have expelled downwards, and so most miserably died. One Father Lea a man aged about four score years, was hired for a small sum of money to forswear himself; but such was the privy pain and grievous griping of his groaning conscience, that like a festered wound it did so disquiet him, that he must needs discover it, and so at Foster Lane in London this Lea meeting the party against whom he forswear himself, very earnestly and humbly craved forgiveness of this said offence: but ten weeks after his said confession, so greatly did the power of the devil prevail over him, that with an old rusty knife he ripped his own belly, and embracing his guts with his own hands, he let them fall from him into an earthen vessel. But by the interruption of company that came in upon him, he was prevented from killing himself utterly at that time, yet the next day after his said desperate fact, showing some token of repentance he ended his life. To these perjuries I add one more, a Countryman of mine (& I would to God I could name none else of that impious consort) who having committed perjury in a cause depending in suit at the Counsel of the Marches, was presently and suddenly grieved in his great toe, so that the said grief becoming festered and worse and worse, he ever after halted and limped as long as he lived. I could likewise produce others, who notwithstanding that they were Gentlemen of sort & substance in their Country, did commonly suborn false witnesses. But such was the just judgement of God, who from his heavenly seat knoweth the secrets of all hearts, and whatsoever is done in the darkest place, such I say, was his just revenge, that themselves during their lives were never free from some casual cross or other. They always lived pestered and perplexed with some unexpected accidents, and their posterity after them are brought to that misery that they stand at men's devotion, for all that their said impious Fathers had left them some store of possessions: according to which agrees that ancient verse; De male quaesitis non gaudet tertius haeres. Ill gotten goods their heirs do seldom joy. LINEAMENT. XI. The Spirit of Detraction and Perjury convicted by sentence of our own laws executed on corrupted Jurours. diverse of the county of Middlesex took money to be favourable unto Lodowick Grevell then prisoner in the Tower upon suspicion of being accessary to murder, if it fortuned that they should be returned in the jury against him, and for this upon sufficient proofs they were convicted, and fined in the Star Chamber. Likewise three of them did wear papers from the Fleet unto Westminster hall, and there also back again to the Fleet. 31. Eliza. Crompton. Another took five Marks to be of the jury for the delivery of a thief that was indicted of felony, and was fined to the King. Vide sins pur contempt. Fitzherbert. 33. 43. Lib. Assis. 43. A jury of London who acquitted Sir Nicholas Throgmorton Knight about the first year of Queen Marie for high treason were called into the Star Chamber. Anno. 15 44. because that the matter was held to be sufficiently proved against him, whereof eight of them were fined to five hundred pounds a piece, and also awarded back again to prison there to continue, until further order would be taken for their punishment. Hollinshed. fol. 1759. Eleven of the jury which acquitted on Hodis of felony before Sir Roger Manwood chief Baron in his circuit of the County of Somerset against apparent evidence, were fined in the Star Chamber, and did wear papers in Westminster hall. circa. 22. Eliz. Report Crompton. One G. wrote his letter to a jurer to appear betwixt Lane and one G. D. and to do his conscience according to his evidence, and was fined in the Sarre Chamber to twenty pound, because he had nothing to do with the matter. Circa. 27. Eliz. Note this, that none ought to meddle in any matter depending in suit, wherewith he hath nothing to do. One G. of the county of Lancaster for the false and malicious procuring of one to be indicted for the death of another, was fined in the Star Chamber to a great sum. Circa. 31. Eliz. If perjury be committed by a jury in a Court Baron, he shall be punished in the Star chamber upon a bill there exhibited, for no attaint lieth in the base Court. But if any error be committed in that Court, the party shall have a writ of false judgement. And it seems that he may sue in the Star Chamber for a false verdict. A man takes money to give his verdict, he shall be punished, though he keeps not the said promise. Dier. 95. Fitzherb. na. bre.. 171. 21. H. 6. 2. jurors took money after they had given their verdict without any covenant before hand, whereof they were convicted, and every one of them fined. And this case is out of the statute of Decies Tantum. 39 L. Assis. 19 It seems that Embrasers shall be punished for taking money, and for labouring a jury to pass one way or other, although they do not give their verdict as they should. LINEAMENT XII. The Spirit of Detraction convicted by the statute De scandalis magnatum, and also by the Sovereign authority of the Court of Star Chamber. Here I doubt me, some nice stomaches overlarded with satiety and surfeit, (whose mildest censure after an Italian nod is but so and so) will condemn me for interlacing these modern models among sacred Relics. But these Critics I will cross with their own lessons: that variety delights: change of pastures makes fat cattle. And there is a time to prick Flies with Domitian. The Duke of Buckingham brought an action upon the Statute De scandalis magnatum against Lucas, for that he said, that the Duke had no more conscience than a Dog, and so that he might have goods, he cared not how he came by them: And recovered ten pounds. Michael. 4. H. 8. Rot. 659. He might well have sued him in the Star chamber upon the same words. Crompton reports that he saw the copy of the Record. The Lord of Abergue-venny brought an action upon the said statute against Cartwright, for that the defendant uttered, & novellement counterfeit falsa nova del plaintiff, to weet, that the Plaintiff would wind the defendants guts about his neck. The defendant pleaded none culp. and in evidence the Plaintiffs showed a matter written to one B. wherein the defendant said, that he understood by report, that the Lord spoke the above named words. Which was held for good evidence, and so it was found for the Plaintiff. Whereby we may note, that to speak and to write is all one, for it is public. Vide libr. intra. 13. that the fixing of a slanderous libel in an open place gives an action. Crompton report. If a man speaks slanderous words of the Prince, and is not punished within the time limited by the statute. 23 Eliz. cap. 2. he shall be punished by the statute of West. 1. viz. he shall be imprisoned until he finds the first Author that spoke them: according to W. 1. cap. 33. not according to the advice of the Council, for that is, when the slander toucheth Noblemen, and great officers expressed in the statutes made. 2. R. 2. cap. 5. 12. R. 2. cap. 11. and not the King, for he is a person exempt, and not implied within those words: Great men or Nobles. One who had reported in the Country, that certainly wars were towards, so that wool might not be transported over Sea that year, by which rumour the price of wool fell, and was sold at a less rate, was summoned to appear before the King's Council, and was fined and ransomed to the King. 43. libr. Ass. 38. If any makes a suggestion to the King himself, which is false, and some are thereby indemnified or hindered, they that make such false suggestions, shall be sent with the suggestion before the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Treasurer, and his chief Council, and shall find surety to prosecute the said suggestion. And if he cannot prove this intent against the defendant by process of law, he shall be imprisoned, and there remain, until he satisfy the party grieved his damages, and for the slander which he hath incurred through such occasion, and then he shall be fined to the King. Report ex 37. Edwardi 3. cap. 18. One O. who had spoken slanderous and horrible words of Queen Mary, was of them indicted, mentioning in the indictment, that he had spoken them contra formam diversorum statutorum, without touching any in specie, and without saying, unde scandalum in Regno inter Reg. & magnates vel populum suum oriri poterit, and was convicted of them upon his arraignment, and had judgement of imprisonment, and to be fined at the Queen's will, until he had found his Author, according to West. 1. cap. 34. One Smith of the County of Somerset Esquire, was fined in the Star-chamber for slanderous words, which he had spoken of one Sir john Young Knight, which touched his life, and which the said Smith could not prove, he was committed to the Fleet, and paid great damages unto the Knight: and yet notwithstanding he might have had an action upon the case at the Common law. Report Crompton. One L. of Kent Gentleman was punished in this Court, for falsely and maliciously going about to prove one that was his Cousin to be a Traitor; wherefore he was ordered to ride about Westminster hall, with his face at the Horse tail. Circa. 27. Elizab. A Knight of the County of North. was fined at a great sum in the Star-chamber, because he permitted a seditious book, called Martin Marreprelate to be imprinted in his house. 32. Eliz. If one speak scandalous words of an Archbishop or Bishop, he may sue him in this Court to have him punished; or else he may have an action upon the Statute de Scandalis Magnatum, as happened in Sands his case, Archbishop of York, betwixt him and one Sir Robert Stapleton Knight, in the Star-chamber. One parleyed of Dyer, Lord chief justice of the King's Bench, that he was a corrupt judge; for which he was convicted in this Court of Star-chamber, and adjudged to stand upon the Pillory. One had cast abroad slanderous libels of the Bishop of C. circa 20. Eliz. and was punished in the Star-chamber. The said Crompt on makes a Quaere, whether a man having spoken slanderous words of a Noblewoman may be sued upon the Statute de Scandalis Magnatum, but doubts not of his punishment in the Star-chamber. And I have heard it of credible persons, that in the last Queen's time of famous memory, a Master of Art, sometimes fellow of Martin College in Oxford, lost both his ears by order of the said Court of Star-chamber sor his percmptory speeches, that he had used his Mistress, a great Lady carnally, and was secretly contracted unto her. For proof whereof, he offered to disclose certain privy marks on her body. It was resolved by the whole Court of the King's Bench, that for any matter contained in any Bill, which was examinable in the Star-chamber, no action lay, although the matter was merely false, because it was done in the course of justice. But if one exhibites a Bill in the said Court, for matters not determinable there, as for murder, or piracy, which cannot be by English Bill, but by way of indictment in Latin, than he may be sued for the Detraction, and pay damages. Report. Cook. 34. Eliz. inter Sir Richard Buckley pl. & Owen Wood def. en Banke le Roy. LINEAMENT. XIII. 1 Of the jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Court, touching words of Detraction and defamation. 2 Where the Kings writ of Prohibition lies against such actions commenced in that Court. 3 That mixed actions belong to the Common law. NOw let me draw near to a more resplendent light, to your rich magazine of laws, Right learned Cook, England's admired Bartole, in whose profound intelligence concur the spirits of many famous wights, not after the Pythagorean transmigration, but after the transmutation of Elisha, which received the spirit of Elias. For who knows not, that the obscurest and doubtful Reports of Dier, Brooke, Plowden, and of many other sage Writers, are most plainly reconciled in your Reports, with mellifluous judgements of your own conceits? I will therefore adventure (like Noah's Dove) to crop some of your choicest O lives. Touching Defamations determinable in the Ecclesiastical Court, it was resolved in the King's Bench, betwixt Palmer and Thorpe, according to the right learned collections of Sir Edward Cook Knight, Lord chief justice of the common pleas, en le quart part de ses reports, that such defamations ought to have three things incident. First, that they concern matters merely spiritual and determinable in the Ecclesiastical Court, as to call a man Heretic, Schismatic, Aduowtrer, Fornicator, etc. Secondly, they must concern matters merely, and only spiritual; for if such defamations touch any or some thing determinable at the common Law, the Ecclesiastical judge shall not take knowledge thereof. Thirdly, although that such defamations be merely and only spiritual, yet notwithstanding he that is defamed cannot sue him there for amends and damages, but the suit ought to be only for the punishment of sin, pro salute animae, for the soul's health. And for the first and second, which is incident, the case en 2 2. Edward. 4. 20. was recited to this effect. The Abbot of S. Albon sent his servant for a woman covert to come and speak with him. The servant performed his Master's commandment. And thereupon the woman came with him to the Abbot. And when the Abbot and the woman were together (the servant which knew his Master's will) retired from them, and left them together in the chamber alone. Then the Abbot said unto the woman, that her apparel was gross and course; to which the woman answered, that her apparel was according to her ability, and according to her husband's ability. The Abbot knowing in what things women repose their delight, replied unto her, If she would be ruled by him, that she should have as good apparel as any woman in that Parish, and solicited her chastity. When the woman would not consent unto him, the Abbot assaulted her, and would have made her a lewd woman against her will; the which the woman would not suffer. Whereupon the Abbot detained her in his chamber against her will, to the intent, etc. The husband having notice of this abuse done to his wife, spoke of all this matter, and said, that he would have an action of false imprisonment against the Abbot, for that he had imprisoned his wife; upon which the Abbot adding one sin to another, sued the innocent & poor husband for defamation in Court Christian, because the husband had published that my Lord Abbot had solicited her chastity, and would have made her a naughty woman. But upon all this matter disclosed to the King's Court, the husband had a Prohibition, by reason that the husband might have had an action at the common law, for this affault and imprisonment of his wife; although then at the first he had not any action, nor peradventure at any time would have had. Yet because the scandal determinable in the Ecclesiastical Court, was upon all the matter being disclosed, mixed with a matter determinable at the common law; for this cause upon motion made by the Abbot's Council to have a consultation, in this case that was denied him by the Court. For the third point, which is incident, viz. That the Defamed cannot sue for amendes and damage in Court 3 Christian, though it be merely and only spiritual. It was enacted Articul. cleri. cap. 1. 2. & 3. that the King's Prohibition should hold place, if a Prelate enjoined a penance pecuniary to any man for his offence, and it were demanded. Notwithstanding if Prelate's enjoin a penance corporal, and the party will redeem such penance by money, if the money be demanded before a judge spiritual, Prohibition shall hold no place. But leaving the Statutes at large to be considered by the Reader, that desires to know them, I will return to the Reports of that rare Treasurer of the common law Sir Edward Cook, for words of detraction actionable, and forth explanation of the Ecclesiastical power in such cases. Anno 35. Eliz. Anne Davies plaintiff declared, that she was a Virgin of good fame, etc. Whereas one Anthony Elcocke, Citizen and Mercer of London, of the substance and value of three thousand pounds, desired her for his wife; and for that cause had communication with john Davies Father of the said Anne, and was ready to conclude it: john Gardiner defendant (premissorum non ignarus) to defame the said Anne, and to distaste the said Anthony from proceeding forward, uttered and published of the said Anne these words: I know Davies daughter well, mentioning the said Anne, she dwelled in Cheapside, and there was a Grocer that did get her with child. And being admonished by some that were present and heard him, that he should be advised what he spoke of the said Anne, he said further of her, I know very well what I say, I know her father, mother, and sister; and she is the youngest sister, and had the child by the Grocer. By reason of which words the plaintiff was greatly defamed, so that the said Anthony utterly refused to take her to his wife. To this the defendant pleaded not guilty, and by a Nisiprius in the County of Buckingham the jurors found for the plaintiff, and assessed damages to two hundred marks; Then it was moved in arrest of judgement by the Counsel of the defendant, that the said defamation of incontinency concerned the spiritual and not the temporal jurisdiction. And therefore as the offence should be punished in Court Christian; so the remedy for such defamation ought also to be there. For cognitio causae non spectat ad forum Regium. Even so, if a man be called a Bastard, an Heretic, a Miscreant or an Aduowterer (because they appertain to the Ecclesiastical jurisdiction) no action lies at the common law. But it was answered by the plaintiffs counsel, and resolved by the whole Court, that the action was main teynable for two causes: first because that she was punishable by the Statute, de 18. Eliz. cap. 3. if she had a bastard. And although that fornication or adultery be not examinable by the common law, for that they are done in secret, and peradventure are uncomely to be openly examined; yet nevertheless the having of a bastard is a thing apparent, examinable and punishable by the said act. Secondly it was resolved, that the action was maintainable if the defendant had charged the plaintiff but with bare incontinency. For in this case the ground of the action is temporal; that is, she was to be advanced in marriage, and that she was defeated of it, and the means whereby she was defeated, was the said slander, which means tending to such an end, should be tried by the country. So if a Divine be to be presented to a Benefice, & one to defeat him of it, saith to the Patron, that he is an Heretic or a Bastard, or that he is under excommunication; whereby the Patron refuseth to present (as he might very well, if the imputation were true) and, he loseth his preferment, he shall have an action upon the case for the scandals tending to such an end. Likewise if a woman be bound, that she shall live continent and chaste; or if a lease be made unto her, Quamdiu casta vixerit, as long as she remains chaste, in these cases incontinency shall be tried by the common law. P●pham chief justice said, that if one speaks of a woman, which is an Inneholder, that she hath a great and infectious disease, by which she loseth her guests, she shall have an action upon the case. In the King's Bench betwixt Banister and Banister, it was resolved, where the defendant speaks of the plaintiff (being son and heir to his father) that he is a Bastard, an action lies upon the case; for that tends to the disinheriting of the land, which descends unto him from his father: but it was resolved▪ if the defendant pretends, that the plaintiff is a bastard, and that himself is next heir, there no action lies; and that the defendant may show by way of bar, if the Plaintiff omits it in his bill. LINEAMENT. XVI. Observations concerning words of Detraction and Defamation fit to be perused of Sheriff's and Steward's, or of other judges of inferior Courts, extracted out of the Reports of Sir Edward Cook Knight, Lord chief justice of the common Pleas. SEnsus verborum est duplex, mitis & asper; & verba accipienda sunt in meliore sensu. 1 The meaning of words is twofold, mild and rough, or uncharitable: and words are always to be accepted in the milder sense. As for example, Edward Danney vicar of Northelingham sued upon the statute de scandalis magnatum by Henry Lord Cromwell Plaintiff, for his choleric answering him being a Baron of the Realm, in these words: It is no marvel that you like not of me; for you like of those, that maintain sedition against the Queen's proceeding. The defendant construed this word sedition, seditiosam doctrinam or factious Preachers, which by the said Lords countenance (as he supposed) inveighed against the book of common prayer established anno primo Eliz. though the strict sense of this word Seditio is as much to say, as seorsim itio magni populi, quando itur ad manus: Sedition properly is public and violent. But God forbid that the words of one being like unto wind should be taken by parcels against the intention of the party by such a strict & Grammatical construction, Quia quae ad unum sinem loqu●t a sunt non debent ad alium detorqueri, What are spoken to one end, ought not to be wrested to another end. Therefore a judge must enter into the consideration of all the precedent parlance and words, which import the true cause and occasion, and which manifest their true sense, According to that saying: Sensus verborum ex causa dicendi accipiendus est, & sermons semper accipiendi sunt secundum subiectam materiam. The meaning of words is to be taken out of the occasion of speech, and speeches are always to be taken according to the subject or matter in hand. In actions for scandalous detractions the Defendant may justify the words, or confess then, or show by special 2 matter, that the words be not actionable, and then the Defendant shall not be urged at any time to a general issue. For albeit he doth vary from the Plaintiff in the sense and quality of the words, yet notwithstanding that is no cause to chase him to a general issue. As for example, the Plaintiff chargeth the Defendant with unlawful maintenance, the Defendant may justify by way of lawful maintenance, and may plead the general issue. In like manner one chargeth a man with these words: Thou art a murderer. The Defendant may justify the words, and declare how that the Plaintiff told him, that he killed divers hares with certain engines: and thereupon the Defendant said unto him; Thou art a murderer, meaning the hares, which he killed. Out of these observations the Reporter Sir Edward Cook, that peerless Phoenix of the Common law, gives 3 us two excellent points of learning in actions of slanders. First, to observe the occasion and cause of their parlance, and how that may be pleaded in the Defendants excuse. Secondly, although your opinion be, that your Client's case is clear, and his matter in fact plain, yet hazard not the matter upon a demur, wherein perhaps, upon pleading or otherwise more matters will arise, than you knew before. But first take advantage of special matters in facto, by which the true sense and coherence of the words may be gathered in favour of the Defendant, and reserve matters de iure, which always arise upon matters in fact unto the last, and never demur at the first in law. Seeing that after the trial of matters in facto the matter de iure shall be safe unto you. It was adjudged en Bank le Roy enter Cutler et Dixon. 28. Eliz. that if one exhibits Articles to justices of peace 4 against a certain person containing great abuses and misdemeanures, not only touching the Petitioner himself, but many others, and all to the intent, that he might be bound to his good behaviour: In this case the party accused shall not have any action upon the case for any matter comprehended in those Articles; for in that case they pursued but the ordinary course of justice. And if actions were permitted in such cases, they who had good cuase of complaint durst not complain for fear of infinite vexations. Master Stanhope being a justice of Peace, and Surveyor of the Duchy of Lancaster was detracted with these 5 words: Master Stanhope hath but one Manor, and that he hath gotten by swearing and forswearing. It was adjudged, that these words were not actionable. First, because that they were too general; and those words, which shall charge any man with an action, on which damages shall be recovered, must have a convenient certainty. Secondly, the Defendant charged not the Plaintiff with swearing or forswearing, for he might obtain a Manor by swearing and forswearing, and yet he did not procure nor assent unto it. Also, words which maintain an action must be directly applied to the Plaintiff in regard of the damage, which he sustained by the scandal. If one impeach another, that he hath forsworn or perjured himself; that bears no action for two causes. First he 6 might be forsworn in usual communication, Quia benig nior sententia in rebus generalibus seu dubijs praeferenda est. A mild interpretation is to be preferred in general or doubtful matters. Secondly it is an usual word in our passion & choler for one to say to another, thou art▪ a Villain, a Rogue, or a Varlet, etc. These or the like words will not maintain an Action. For Boni judicis est lites dirimere. It is the part of a good judge to take away strife, and causes of strife. But if one speaks to another, that he is forsworn or perjured in such a case; for such words the Action is good, because that it appears by these words, that he hath forsworn himself in judicial proceedings. Sir Christopher Wray Lord Chief justice said, that although slanders and false imputations are to be repressed, 7 for that many times à verbis ad verbera perventum est, from words men come to blows; yet he said, that the judges have resolved, that Actions for scandals must not be maintained by any strained construction or argument, nor must they extend any favour for their support. Seeing they abound in these days more than in times past; and the intemperance together with men's malice increaseth. Et malicijs hominum est obuiandum. They must meet and prevent men's malice. Besides in our Law Books, Actions for scandals are very rare; And those which are reported are for words of eminent slander, and of great importance. This moved the Court of the King's Bench to deny a Procedendo to have an Action of slander for calling one 8 a whore, tried in London. For the Defendant had removed it thence by an Habeas Corpus into that Court. And it was affirmed by the whole Court of the King's Bench, that a custom to maintain actions for such brabbling speeches is against law. Licet consuetudo sit magnae authoritatis, nunquam tamen praeiudicat manifestae veritati. Although that custom be of great authority, notwithstanding it doth never prejudice manifest truth. To say, that a man is detected for perjury in any Court is not actionable: for an honest man may be detected, 9 but not convicted. And every man which hath a Bill of perjury against him exhibited, is detected. 37. Eliz. inter Weaver Plaintiff, & Cariden defendant. To report, that a man hath killed his wife, and she alive, 10 the Defendant may therefore demur and no action lies. But it is otherwise if she be dead. 39 Eliz. in common Banco inter Snag. arm. plaintiff, & Gee Attorney de mesme le Court, Defend. So one Allen having spoken these words of Eaton Plaintiff: He is a brabler and a quarrel, for he gave his champion counsel to make a deed of gift of his goods to kill me, and then to sly out of the country: but God preserved me. Upon great deliberation and advice, it was adjudged, that in this case the words were not actionable, for the purpose and intent of a man without an act is not punishable by law. Ubi non est lex ibi non est transgressio quo ad mundum. Where there is no law, there is no transgression in the sight of the world. And although that for such a Conspiracy a man may be punished in the Court of Star Chamber, that comes to pass by the absolute power of that Court, and not by the ordinary course of law. In every Action upon the case for slanderous words, two things are requisite: first, that the person which is 11 scandalised be certain. Secondly, that the scandal be apparent by the words themselves. And therefore if any one saith without any precedent communication, that one of the servants of I. S. (he having divers) is a notorious fellow or Traitor; there, for the uncertainty of the person, no action lies: and an innuendo an iteration or repetition of words cannot make him, certain. As he is sick of the pocks the French pocks, this innuendo and iterating of the same words makes not the proper office which it ought; for it contends to extend the general words being the Pocks to the French Pocks by an imagination of an intent, which is not apparent by any precedent words, whereto the iteration might be referred. And the words themselves must be construed in mitiore sensu, in the milder sense. To conclude, 42. Eliz. en Bank le Roy entre john james, Pl. & Alexander Rutlech Def. it was so resolved that the office of an innuendo a reiterating is to contain and design the person himself, or the very word which was certainly named before, and in effect was in place of a (predict) the aforesaid thing, or the above named person. But a reiterating or repeating cannot make a person certain, which was uncertain before, for it would be an inconvenience, if actions were maintained by an imagination of an intent, which appeareth not by the words, upon which the Action is founded, but all is uncertain, and subject to deceivable conjecture. The judge must note the very words of Detraction, whether they be Adictives or Substantives, for sometimes 12 adjectives will maintain actions, and sometimes not. They are actionable, first, when the adjective presumeth an act committed. Secondly, when they scandalise any in his office, function or trade, whereby he gets his living. As if one saith, that such a man is a perjured knave, there, it behoves an Act to have been committed, otherwise he could not be termed perjured. So if a man saith of an Officer or judge, that he is a corrupt Officer or judge, an action lies for both causes. First, because it implies an Act done. Secondly, it is slanderous unto him in respect of his Office. But if one calls another a seditious fellow, a thievish knave, there, no action lies, because the words import not, that he hath committed sedition or felony, but they are adjectives, which import an inclination thereto. Likewise, though the former words of a man's speech were actionable uttered alone, yet if there follow after, a subsequ n● explanation of the said words by the Defendant without delay or interlocution, they be not actionable, for the latter words extenuate and qualify the former, and also expound the speakers meaning, as thou art a thief, for thou hast stolen my Apples or Hops out of my orchard, which latter words mitigate the proper sense of this word thief, which of itself (though generally spoken) would maintain a brabbling action. And it is the office of judges upon consideration of all the words, to collect the true hope and intention of him that speaks them, without partiality or favour, Per Popham chiefe justice & totam curiam 44. Eliz. en Bank le Roy. Brittridge case. LINEAMENT. XV. Observations concerning detracting Libels given in the Star-chamber, and collected out of Sir Edward Cooks Reports. IN the case of L. P. in the Star-chamber Paschae. 3. Regis jacobi. against whom the King's Attorney, proceeded on his own confession, o'er tenus, for the composing and publishing of a certain Libel in meeter, wherein john then Archbishop of Canterbury, who was a Prelate of singular piety, gravity, and knowledge, and also Richard late Archbishop of Canterbury, were both of them traduced and scandalised by descriptions and circumlocutions, and not in express terms. In the said case these points were resolved. Every Libel which is called famosus libellus, or Infama●oria Scriptura, is made either against a private man or against a Magistrate, or public person. If it be made against a private person, that deserves a severe punishment. For though the Libel be made but against one, yet notwithstanding it incites all them of the same family, kindred, or society to revenge, and so tends consequently to quarrels, & to the breach of the peace, and may be the cause of effusion of blood, and of great inconveniences. If it be made against a Magistrate, or any other public person, that is a greater offence; for that concerns not only the breach of the peace, but the scandal of the government: for what greater scandal of the government can there be then to have corrupt or wicked Magistrates appointed and constituted by the King to govern his subjects under him? And there cannot be a greater imputation to the State, then to permit such corrupt fellows to sit in the sacred scate of justice, or to have any meddling in, or concerning the administration of justice. Albeit that the private man or Magistrate be dead at the time when the Libel was made, yet that is punishable: for in the one case it provokes others of the same family, blood, or society to revenge and to break the peace. And in the other case the Libeler traduceth and slandereth the State and Government, which dieth not at all. A Libeler that is called famosus defamator shall be punished either by indictment at the common law, or by Bill if he denies it, or o'er tenus by his confession, in the Star-chamber: and according to the quality of his offence he may be punished by fine or imprisonment, and if the case be exorbitant, by Pillory and less of his cares. It matters not, whether the Libel be true, or whether the party against whom it was made be of good report, or of ill report: for in a settled State of Government the party grieved aught to complain for every injury done unto him by ordinary course of law, and not by any means to revenge himself, either by the 〈◊〉 course of Libelling, or other ways. He that killeth a man with his sword in combat, is a great offender: but he is a greater offender, that poisoneth one; for in the one case h● that is openly ●slaulted can defend himself, he knows his adversary, and may dye his endeavour to pr●u●ut him: but poisoning may be done so secretly, that no man can defend himself against it. Wherefore the effence is more dangerous, by reason that the offender cannot be easily known. And of the same nature is Libelling. It is secret, and dispoiles a man of his fame, which ought to be more precious vn to him then his life: and it is very hard to find out the Author of an infamous writing. Difficillimum est inucnire Authorem infamatoriae scripturae; and therefore when the offender is known, he ought to be severely punished. Every in famous Libel is either written or unwritten, aut est in scriptis, aut sine scriptis. A scandalous Libel, which is written in scriptis, is when an Epigram, Rhyme, or other writing is composed or published, to the note or contumely of another, through which his same or dignity might be prejudiced. And such a Libel may be published. 1. verbis aut cantilenis, by words or songs, as when it is maliciously repeated or sung in the presence of others. 2. Traditione by delinerie, when the Libel or any copy of it is delivered over to scandalise the party. Famosius libellus sine scriptis, an unwritten Libel may be made first by pictures, as to paint the party out in any shameful and ignominious manner. Secondly by signs, signis, as to fasten a gallows or other reproachful signs at the party's door, or elsewhere. And it was resolved, Michael. 43. & 44 Elizabeth. in the Star-chamber in haly woods case, that if any one finds a Libel, and would preserve himself from danger, if it be composed against a private man, the finder ought either to burn it, or sorthwith to deliver it to a Magistrate: but if it concerns a Magistrate, or any other public person, the finder must cut of hand deliver it to a Magistrate, to the ●nt●nt that by examination and industry the Author may be sound and punished. Libelling and calumniation is an offence against the law of God. For it is written No● facies calumniam, proximo, thou 〈◊〉. 17. shalt not revile thy neighbour. Thou shalt not have to do with any false report. Exod. 23. Eccles.: 0. a In cogitation ●uane detrabas Regi, nee in secreto cubiculi tui diviti maledices, quia volucres coeli portabunt vocem tuam, & qui habet pennas anunciabit sententiam. b Psal. 68 13. Aduersus me loquebantur qui sedebant in porta & in me psallebant qui bibebant vinum. c job 30. Filij stultorum & ignobilium & in terra penitus non parents, nunc in eorum canticum versus sum, & factus sum eyes in proverbium. It is observed, that job was the mirror of patience, as appeareth by his intemperate words, and became Quodammodo, after a sort impatient, when Libels were made of him. Whereby it appears, how forcible they were to provoke impatience and contention. Likewise there are certain notes whereby a Libeler may be known, Quia tria sequuntur defamatorem famosum, because three things do follow a notorious Libeler. 1. Pravitatis incrementum, increase of lewdness. 2. Bursae de crementum, evacuation of the purse and beggary. 3. Conscientiae detrimentum, shipwreck of conscience. LINEAMENT. XVI. The conclusion of the fourth Circle, containing the Authors pareneticall Charge to common juries. COurteous countrymen, understanding spirits, whose hap it is to be enrankt into impanelles, according to the ancient laws and liberties of this our flourishing Commonwealth, ye have heard with your external cares (and I pray God that the same may be internally enrowled in your consciences with eternal characters) even Princes, judges, Prophets, Apostles, yea, and our Saviour Christ himself, all of them possessed with the powerful gifts of the holy Ghost, to proclaim, to declaim, and to denounce (as Gods Heralds with holy Trumpets) decrees of death and defiance, of damnation with everflaming vengeance against the Diabolical Detractors of the Heavenly Deity, and of his Divine similitude here on earth. Ye have likewise heard, nay, ye have been oculati testes, clear eye witnesses, that the modern laws of our Country have condemned perjuries and scandals with excommunication, the most grievous and greatest censure, that the Church can give, with mulcts and fines, with imprisonment, with pillories, with disgraces worse than death itself. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The fool becomes wise and wary after misery, or as our English proverb teacheth, The burnt child will take heed of the fire. Let the precedent examples of other men's falls and follies exhort you to remember your Christian duties, and specially now at this instant, since that ye are called and sworn as precise Patriots, as chosen vessels of honour, of an honourable corporation, to edify, to do your best endeavour towards the repairing of the Lords Temple, though it were but by tempering of Lime (whereto the Noblest is unfit) by transferring of stones, by carrying of clay, sand, hair, wool, or rather than nothing, in conveying of Oyster-shels: so that ye be industrious in your charge, it sufficeth for your discharge. But how is it possible for you to perform any such service without presumption, when as ye sacrilegiously conceal your Country's cockle, your darnel, your drones, your drunkards, and your Detractours? How is it possible for you to build up Solymi Rudera clara soli, the ruinous walls of the Church Militant, when as ye offend the Arch-builder of the world with disloyal thoughts, words, and works? with exercising Spiritualem nequitiam in coelestibus, Spiritual wickedness in heavenly matters? with committing spiritual fornication against the Majesty of God's spirit? How is it possible for you to escape unpunished, or not to be principal partakers of their faults and fines, of their fins and penalties, whom ye wantonly spare for worldly respects? Alas, It is pity▪ you say, to present poor silly wretches, who transgress of mere necessity. It is more noble to give then to take away, to spare then to spill. And sor the great Ones, ye pretend that your cobweb is too thin to cub them in. Foolish Pity Marres the City, It is a saying not so old as true. Beloved Christians, beware of this Alchemy, beware of this sophistry: for believe it as an Article of your Creed, that sin is damnable under what colour soever it be shrouded. Whether it be covered with clouts and rags, or with a golden robe, let the Mo●ster be unstript, let Achan be accused for his theft. let joab be indicted for his shedding of innocent blood, yea though he have taken Sanctuary, and caught hold on the horns of the Altar. Let Semei be brought coram nobis, for his ●ayling and reviling. Let Barrabas 1. Reg. 2. be found, as a notorious fellow. Inquire whether Bigthan and There's have committed treason against the Ester. 2. Lords Anointed, and whether the son of Salomith, the son of Dibry hath committed the like heinous crimo against the Lord himself in blaspheming his hallowed name. And of what nature soever the bills are, that men prefer unto you, follow your evidence, and find out the guilty, though they be proportioned as huge as Giants: let not their high nor huge statures dismay and defile your undefiled consciences. The cause is none of yours. The judgement is none of yours. But both belong unto him that made you. Ye can do no less than ●ndorce [BILLA VERA] upon evident misdemeanures, albeit with outward tears and inward bleeding griefs. For if Saul an Anointed King for sparing of Agag, a prisoner Prince, had his Kingdom of Israel rend from his posterity for ever, even by the Lords own verdict, what shall be the guerdon of your indulgence, of your cunning concealment? The reward of sin is death, and the reward of bloody or blasphemous sin (such as perjury is) can be no other than perpetual death. Non est bonum ludere cum Sanctis. There is no jesting with oaths, no dalliance with detracting from God's word. It is not Equivocation or mental reservation (jurani Imguâ mentem iniura tam gero, I swore an oath by tongue, but I bear a mind unsworne, as that young man Hippolytus in Euripedes protested): It is not the Pope's pardon or his detracting dispensation: it is not Indian gold; it is not a self flattering suggestion, nor all this world's commodity, which can justify the cursed blot of blasphemy, or rectify the cankered blossoms of blasphemous concealments. There is a sin venial, which we call trespass; and there is a sin unto death, a sin not to be forgiven. Such is the wilful and presumptuous sin of a man's own witting conscience, against the open face and illumination of the holy Ghost. And what if the sin of Perjury falls out to be this horrible and heavy sin? In what a plight are partial juries? Therefore my Masters, I could wish, that ye deliberate with Divine discretion, before ye determine your verdicts rashly in heat of flesh and blood. And to speak more plainly to the purpose, I could wish as long as ye enjoy this weighty place, in examining the defects and defaults of your Country, that ye proceed not, as many nowadays do, to censure presently after drinking, or Tobacco taking; but rather that ye begin, continue, and conclude your proceedings soberly, gravely, and advisedly without temerity, timorousness, or affection. But what man, quoth the spirit of Detraction, can be so void of passion or affection? Then farewell kindred, farewel love, nay, farewell life itself, if I cannot help my friend in necessity, or hurt my foe in opportunity. The Lord rebuke thee, thou foul spirit, that goest about to make Christians worse than Pagans; in whose books it is written, that justice hath neither father nor mother. Shall we regenerated Christians, that know justice to be one of the chiefest Attributes of the Godhead, and so highly regarded of his sacred Majesty, that he spared not his holy One, his own eternal Word, but gave him over for a while to cruel death in revenge of old Adam's sins: shall we respect flesh and blood more than God's Attribute? Shall we forfeit both our eyes to save one of theirs? Shall we lose our own souls and bodies to ransom other men's corruptible bodies, or temporary fortunes? Better it is to cut off one member, then that the whole body boil in hot scalding lead. He that loves his father and mother above me, is not worthy of me, saith our Saviour Christ. Shall we being put in trust, deceive the trust that is reposed in us? Shall we become our own carvers, and under colour of justice injury the innocent: Vengeance is Gods, and he will requite. It is better, O revengeful Spirit, to conceal the guilty, then to condemn the guiltless. But, ye beloved of the Lord, I hope will so judiciously behave yourselves in an equal balance, without inclining to the left hand or to the right hand, that the Right shall still take place, that the expectation of your judges conceived of your fidelity and integrity, shall not be void and frustrate. Ye will demean yourselves, I hope, so zealously, so sincerely in your proceedings, that the matter and not the man shall be the object of your internal eyes, your eyes of understanding; which I pray God to enlighten with his knowledge, to inspire with the sparks of his spirit; whereby ye may discern gold from copper, truth from perjury, sincerity from vanity, the sons of God from the sons of B●lial, to the glory of his heavenly Ma●●stie, to the comfort of his Deputy here on earth, & to the discharge of your own consciences, which ye pawn and pledge for the security of your duty and diligence. Discite justitiam moniti: & non temnite Diuo●. THE fifth CIRCLE OF THE SPIRIT OF DETRACTION, CONJURED AND CONVICTED. LINEAMENT. I. 1 The Author's scope in this Circle. 2 His invocation to the Godhead, against his Ghostly Enemies. IN the precedent Circles 1 I have afforded the Reader a taste of my present purpose: in it I have conjured the spirit of Detraction; forearming myself with the spirits of Goodness, or to speak Poetically, Aegide Palladia, with Mineru●es shield, and so by descent descried the tree of Good and Evil; wherein I have exercised my declining will, with excellent exorcisms of Michael's mysteries; and also I have therehence deseended, as it were by steps and degrees, to the pedigree of those degenerate spirits, which gape after man's damnation, ever since our dejection from that Paradise of freewill, being but the mystical means of old Adam's probation; and particularly I have canvased the said spirit of Detraction, that domineers it in all places, at Ordinaries, at Feasts, at Tobacchonizing, without curb or check; one while breathing forth blasphemies against his God, that will not hold him guiltless; another while possessing the souls of our reprobates (like unto those of ahab's false Prophets) so that they broach out whole pipes of poisonous perjuries, paradoxes, slanders, and ridiculous girds in the derogation, nay, in despite of the meek and mild spirit of God, whom they for●e to depart away out of their (quondam baptised) consciences, being very sorrowful to see their hardened hearts, and to see his holy gifts bestowed in vain. But our Father's determinate will be done, in earth as it is in heaven, that hath sealed up the certainty and number of the Elect, before this world was made by his word and wisdom. And now that the spirit of Detraction stands forth to be arraigned at the bar of understanding, let no man blame me, if I lay out Truth itself in evidence against him, as well to convince him present, as also to confound his absent adherents, acceslaries, and abertours, which together with the abovesaid devilish evils, make no conscience in this licentious age with the Giants of old time, to raise and roll up mounts against the Heavens, with Prometh●us to rob God of his ●ight, to father his works of highest honour upon the Father of lies (and according to the nature of base spirits (which cannot elevate themselves to the Sphere of speculation) to stand in greater fear of the Devil's supposed realty, then to become ravished with the lovely Majesty of the everliving God, who with one blast can tumble down such detracting Clinickes into the abysm of eternal night, where their Chemist God inhabits, without hope of redemption. In execution of which important charge, I doubt not 1 but Satan (whose miracles I annul) will conjure up many sulphureous wits of both sexes (nicking Momes and nipping Niobes) to scold and scoff, to rail and revile at this work of charity. Cadmus' with his Serpent's teeth grins many menaces. Medusa with her prodigious art threatens to bang me and to stone me, and all because I write the truth. O that I had Perseus his virtue to conquer this terrible Gorgon. But why interpose I the fictions of Paynime Poets among the sentences of holy Writ? O heavenly Spirit, be thou my Perseus, lend me thy David's sling, to encounter this Ghostly Goliath, and this grisly Giantess. Behold, how my spiritual Foe mounted on his jade of Detraction, dares me to the field: daunt thou him with thy potent Word, and his omnipotence will be impotent; cast forth thy Aaron's rod, and his arrows will be swallowed up. While thy Grace shines on me, I fear no Magic spells, no Serpents teeth, no Witches curse. Let them draw my picture by Pygmalion's skill in the purest Virgin wax, & revenge their wrath with sharp pointed needles, my heart shall never quail: let them burn the same for an Heretic (as those of Tholouza burned their Kings) I will not fear what man or Devil can do to me; not although they disgorge upon me their bane of Basilisks, nor though they discharge their jambicke volumes, or rather vollees of their Basilisco's; for the God of heaven is he that reigneth over all things, that ruleth all things, in all places, at all times. He, even he it is, that is All in all, the Glorious God that maketh the thunder, the only worker of powerful miracles; to whom all Principalities, all Dominions, all powers, and all creatures, as well incorporal as corporeal, invisible as, visible must kneel for mercy with honour, dread, and reverence. LINEAMENT, II. 1 How the Spirit of Detraction attributes the glorious works of God unto the Diu●ll. 2 That men's guilty consciences drive them to extol the Devil and his supposed power. IF men be guilty for blaspheming the name of God: If they be precisely forbidden to have any dealings with false reports: If they must account for every idle word, all which I have proved hithereunto, in what a grievous case are those wretches, which commit not only all these vanities together, but likewise diminish, derogate, and detract in peremptory, proud, and presumptuous manner from their great Creator his glorious appurtenances, his types of majesty, and his titles of heavenly honour? In what a forlorn estate are they, which live in the darksome dungeon of spiritual Egypt, and in the whorish brothelry of spiritual Sodom? How unhappy are they, which leave so superstitiously unto the leaven of our pharisaical Papists, walking a whorehunting after strange Gods both in body and soul? with both these the most part of the world observe the Spirit of Detraction; with the principal members of the body, with their tongues they detract, with their ears they lustfully listen, with their hearts they consent, sucking (like spungeous, or hydropicke bodies) all corruptions whatsoever: with the principal faculties of the soul, with their reasons, wills, & memories they hatch, foster and reiterate such blasphemous paradoxes; No cross nor loss can chance but the Devil sent it. No sign nor sigh can happen, but the Devil sent it. The Devil (say they) is the only Emperor of hell, king of the Planets, Stars, and Meteors, and also absolute Prince of this earthly world. These are the ordinary speeches diwlged at our Ordinaries. No Tavern burr is full of this hellish stuff. No conference but the Devil by stealth gets in his cursed name. What ears could not glow at these runagate reports? What heart would not burn at these uncharitable conceits? What scholar of worth would not set out his talon to advantage, his learning in print, in hearing the Archangels honour extenuated, and the Dragon's horn exalted? Truly for my part, (though inferior to many Phinehees in zeal and devotion) I cannot silently suffer these ignominious injuries against the Lord my Saviour. O men of little faith, nay rather of no faith! your difference and distrust in spiritual matters wrought and brought in all these fables and foolish fopperies. The more wicked ye be, the more ye fear, and the more ye fear, the more fantasies run to your headless brains. Your guilty consciences seared with the scorching fire of your iniquities become so appalled, that ye quake and shake, like aspen leaves; ye fear the moonshine in the water, ye fear your own shadows, and tremble with the Majesty of God's judgements, as malefactors going to execution, or as that Gentleman of Milan, who over night hearing that he should be put to death the next morning after, took such an inward conceit (though this was but a false alarm) that the next morning his youthful hair was suddenly committed into a silver colour. Spiritual courage descends from heaven: spiritual cowardice springs from flesh and blood corrupted with black melancholy, the Devil's breath thickened to a pestilent exhalation. Wherehence weak men begat that venefique verse: Flectere si nequcam superos Acheron a movebe. If heaven hears me not, I'll down to hell. LINEAMENT. III. Proved out of the Book of Wisdom, that men's guilty consciences caused them at first to fear Bugs and Spirits. TO confirm the premises, I will lay down before you the opinion of that wise man, which wrote the book of Wisdom, which likewise proves, that fear was the chiefest inventor of the Devil's miracles and strange sights. While they thought to be hid in the darkness of their sins, they were scattered abroad in the very midst of the Wisd. cap. 17. dark covering of forgetfulness, put to horrible fear and wondrously vexed. For the corner where they lay hid, might not keep them from fear, because sounds came round about them, and vexed them, yea many terrible and strange visions appeared unto them. They were sometimes chased with monstrous apparitions, and sometimes they swoooned as their own souls had betrayed them: for an hasty fear, and that was not looked for, came upon them. They were all bound with one chain of darkness: whether it were a blazing wind, or a sweet song of the birds among the thick branches of the trees, or the vehemency of hasty running water, or great noise of the falling down of stones, or the running of playing beasts, which they saw not, or the mighty noise of roaring wild beasts, or the sound that answered again in the hollowness of the mountains: which we call Echo, these terrible things made them swooone (for very fear.) LINEAMENT. two II. How men's guilty consciences made them to mistake the truth, and to become afraid of things merely natural. SOmetimes natural things (because they are unusual and seldom seen) do affright and astonish our weak consciences, as if we had seen a Spirit, specially, if they happen in the night time, when we sit darkling, or if we pass by any Churchyard, or where any man was lately killed or hanged. Sometime the very sudden talking about such strange apparitions in the nights doth produce a sudden alteration in our unsettled minds, and the rather, if we know ourselves guilty of some deadly sin, as of adultery, malice, or such like. Yea, Papists by reason of their superstitious legends, which their Confessors and grave Fathers have so firmly even with their nurse's milk imprinted in their thoughts, I say, these credulous people by God's justice are confounded with ridiculous toys, & otherwhiles with their own conceit, according to that, They feared where no fear was. Because they stop their ears from hearing the Gospel, and shut their eyes from reading the truth, therefore doth God send such light things to terrify their unrighteous hearts. When we pray unto our Creator, they pray unto Creatures. When we crave to be holpen by the only helper and Saviour of the world, jesus Christ, they pray unto them, that sometimes were sinners here on earth, trusting in Beads, Crucifixes and other stocks or Idols, rejecting spiritual light and spiritual comfort. As for example, I remember about eight years ago, in passing over the Pyrences betwixt France and Spain, when I and others then in company having lost our way, and also being benighted and fearing to be assaulted by wild beasts began to draw out our weapons for fear of the worst, a certain Seminary scholar newly come from Douai, armed himself with his Beads, putting them about his neck, and saying unto us, that he cared not for all the Bears of the world, as long as he had those Beads about him, which as he alleged, were consecrated by the Pope's own hands. Whereby a man may note to what superstition and follies this sect is drawn, that from the Spirit of God they betake themselves to earthly hopes. No marvel then that they are also blindfolded in attributing such belief to Goblins and Sprights. The simpler sort when they behold but a fire-drake, a flaming meteor, the shooting of the stars, or candles about dead men's sepulchres, (which indeed are no other than sulphureous exhalations.) Presently they give out that they saw Sprights or Devils. And if they had not suddenly crossed themselves, they had been taken tarde and slain. Others have been put to great fear by looking on shining worms, on bones of newland fish, or on a kind of rotten wood, which shine very bright in the night time. Some again have trembled in their beds at the sudden rumbling and noise, which Cats, Rats, or Mice have made in searching for their prey: or at the stir and coil which disguised sprights have caused. Many pageants have been practised with the benefit of the night to the great terror of them, that were not very wise: some have wrought wonders, by walking on the water upon stilts, I mean upon deep waters, as others have walked with large soles of cork. I have likewise heard of some Conicatchers that went currant for Conjurers, who to gain themselves estimation among fools, have purposely in the fields placed in a dark night crevices or tortoises alive with burning candles on their backs, only to make them believe that they were creeping Devils. Some have taken Echoes for Sprights, as he of whom it is reported, that a Goblin had well-nigh caused him to be drowned, whereas indeed it was no other than the rebounding or reflecting back of his own voice. For when he asked a far off: Can I pass over? the Echo answered▪ pass over. Many men have been abused by means of knaves voices entonneled in long reeds or canes, which altered the tune of their voices. If our judgement, understanding, and senses being sound and whole be thus deceived and deluded with such a deep apprehension of fear; much more must we think, that they will induce us to blab out prodigies and monstrous wonders, if they were depraved and hurt in their Organs, specially in their brains. LINEAMENT V. A merry story borrowed out of Peter de Loiers book of spectres, showing how a Traveller war frighted in passing by a gallows. IN the Country of Maine, there was a fellow, a notorious thief and murderer, well known unto all his neighbours, who by the sentence of the Lieutenant for criminal causes was committed at Mauns, and condemned to be hanged and strangled, and was sent from thence back to his own village wherein he dwelled to be executed, and there to be set on a Gibbet, standing upon the high way from Mauns. Some few days after his execution, a certain man travelling that way where his body hanged, found himself very sore wearied, and laid to rest under a tree not far from the Gibbet. But he was scarce well settled to his ease, when suddenly behold there cometh by another passenger that was going towards Mauns, and as he was right over against the gallows, where the dead body hanged, (whom the party knew well when he was alive) he called him by his name, and demanded of him, with an high and loud voice (as jesting at him) if he would go with him to Mauns. The man, that lay under the tree to rest himself, being to go to Mauns likewise, was very glad that he had sound company, and said to the other; Stay for me a little, and I will go with you. The other to whom he spoke, thinking it was the dead thief that spoke unto him, hasted him away as fast as he could possible. The man under the tree arising up, ran after him as fast, with a desire to overtake him, and still he cried, stay for me, stay for me. But the other had not the leisure, for his fear had set him in such a heat, thinking still that the dead thief followed him at the heels, that he never left posting till he was quite out of breath. But for a while I will leave off such conceited stories, lest some severe Censor suspect me for an Heretic in utterly denying the Devil's power, which our righteous Lord hath left unto him, as to the executioner of his judgements. LINEAMENT VI. 1 Whether in time of Popery the Devil appeared to Conjurers or Witches. 2 Why now adays the Devil's apparitions are ceased among the professors of the Gospel. 3 The Author's opinion touching his visible illusions. Nevertheless, if we may believe ancient Historiographers, the Devil commonly 1 haunted diverse simple wretches in times ●ast, when all the world wondered after the ●e●st of the Sea upon whose seven heads Apoc. cap. 13. was the name of blasphemis: I mean, when our fore-parents worshipped the high Priest of the seven hilled City by the Tyrrhene Sea. And as our Royal Phoenix recordeth, after diligent observations of seasons, days, and hewres by these reprobates, circles were made triangular, quadrangular, round, double, or single according to the form of apparition which they craved. Likewise King james in Demonolog. two principal things in that errand might not be spared: holy water, whereby the Devil deludes the Papists, and some present of a living thing unto him. here likewise (Right virtuous Prince, Great Britain's Beauclerke) like as the Moon derives her light from the resplendent Sun, and as the Macedonian soldier's security proceeded from their Monarch's safety, Ex Alexandri spiritu omnes suos spiritus ducebant: so presume I to fetch the true Lamp of this Treatise from your immortal book. For this cause I crave humble pardon of your Imperial Majesty for my ambition in borrowing (like Aesop's crow) some of your ingenious plumes to grace my ragged stile. In those days it sufficed not the Devil to have indirectly the rule, and to procure the perdition of so many souls, King james in Demonolog. by alluring men to vices, and to the following of their appetites, but also he abused these simple wretches, in making them directly to acknowledge him for their master. Every man over whom he had the rule, he tempted according to his complexion and knowledge; and so whom he found most simple, he plainliest discovered himself unto them. For he being the enemy of man's salvation, used all the means he could to entrap them so far in his snares, that they might not ever after (suppose they would) rid themselves out of the same. But nowadays Popery being unmarked and uncovered to the view of all the world, through the brightness of the Gospel, Satan is either cubed up really in hell in the bottomless pit for a time, or confined herehence for a while into other habitacles, as Lapland, Finland, or into the healthful coast of B●armia under the Northern pole, where people live in greatest Barbarism and simplicity. Even as Apollo's Oracles in Greece, ceased at the passion of Christ, by reason of the Apostles preaching in those parts: so doubtless in these days, the woman clothed with the Sun, the Catholic Church (that was fled into the Apoc. 12. wilderness, and persecuted with a long lasting war by the Dragon and his Angels) being now victoriously returned into these Northwest parts of the world, the Devil in despair is retired into his darksome Cell, or far from among us; where, notwithstanding that he lies malcontent, and perhaps fettered that he cannot really break forth, he transports sometimes his poisonous power, and casteth out of his mouth water after the woman, as Apoc. ibid. it were a flood to drown her: there, in hell he hath his capital residence, and overlookes by his spirits of sin into the souls of flesh and blood: like as the Antichrist residing in the great City, spiritually Sodom and Egypt, transfers by his jesuitical spirits, unclean spirits like Apoc. 11. Ibid. cap. 16. frogs out of the Dragon's mouth, and other messengers of false prophecy, clouds of wonders, supposed miracles, Bulls, Indulgences, and detracting lies for the confirmation of his forlorn flock in Equivocations, blasphemy, and blindness of understanding. For as the Reprobate and natural man cannot apprehend those things which are above nature, nor will he believe that there are any spirits good or evil: so the simple or superstitious person, partly with fear, partly with Popish policy is drawn to such sottish credulity and lightness of belief, that he takes Knaves for Devils, and Conicatchers for Conjurers. To end this Section of the Devil's appearance, I believe that some, yea that many things concerning his visible forms are but lies and fictions of men, invented either for some cause that moved them, or at least wise for their sports and pastimes. Othersome chose have been true, as appears by many examples and events, which none can deny; as that Spaniard allegeth: Algunas y aun muchas yo creo, que deven de ser mentiras Torquemada en jar din de flores curiosas. Colloquio tercero. y fictiones de gentes, inventadas o por alguna cosa▪ que les mueve o alo menos por su passatiempo. Otras' ay que son verdaderas, comoparece por muchos exemplos y successos, que no pueden negar se. No good Christian can deny, but that the Devil did possess those men, whose bodily humours by gourmandize or their perverse wills were depraved and infected, as is to be seen in the Scriptures, where likewise he was suffered by our Saviour Christ, to enter into the Herd of Swine. But my question at this time is, whether that power of his be suppressed, now that miracles are ceased? For then God caused such strange actions to ensue, whereby his Gospel might be confirmed. Surely in my judgement, where the Gospel flourisheth, there the Devil dares not draw nigh: and if he appeared according to the relation of such as wrote of his miracles, he never appeared but unto them (who like unto Cain utterly dispaired of God's grace) to simple wretches, and to gross headed folks. His chiefest plot and practice is to undermine the reasonable will, and to seduce men from the operation of Goodness. For this cause he is called the Accuser, the Prince of the air, the Prince of this world, that is, the great spiritual Tempter of Mankind, for whose sake this world, and all the creatures therein were made. LINEAMENT. VII. 1 How Popish Shaveling: invented the use of common Conjurations and fictions, in policy for the greater efficacy of their Jdols, Holy water, and Masse-mo●ging; wherein the weakness of their Holy water is showed. 2 That they cained lies of purpose to confirm their sect, namely, in Luther's life time, of Luther's death. 3 A note delivered by the Author touching the Devil's real power. BUT here our Popish miraclemongers will object, that the Devil cannot be conjured without Masses, Holy water, or charms of a consecrated person. The Devil (say they) will not obey any of our Religion. O generation of Vipers! Is not the fullness of your sacrilege come in before the Lord? Are not the Bulls of Basan so fat, that they cannot hold out any longer? Yea ever since Printing rose up by the mouths of babes and infants the Lord hath confounded your quirks, quillets, and transubstantiate quiddities. Your fat lieth in the fire, your Masses bring in but small masses of money. Your Holy water is become dead like a stinking strange. The glorious brightness of Christ's coming, the forerunning word of everlasting life hath almost abated all your lying wonders, your conjurations, yea, and your chief Patron of policy; only for the trial of the Elect, ye are permitted, dispensed, and tolerated to dwell among us, as the Chanaanites and Philistines amidst the Israelites. Ye are permitted, as the ministers of Satan to tempt Christ's flock, that the great judge may commend their constancy. Nevertheless I am sorry (I speak after flesh and blood) that your stings, according to our Acts of Parliament, voce populi Christiani, being voce Dei, are not quite abolished. This sting a grave and a great man of this Kingdom felt, when he was seduced to send over Sea his son, that lay possessed with the spirit of frenzy. The spirit of falsehood made him believe, that holy water and masse-hearing would chase away the Devil, if it were a Devil. At Pont y Musson in Lorraine it was my hap to meet with the said diseased Gentleman in an English Priests house, where he sojourned, his friends expecting his deliverance by the Spirit of illusion, by virtue of the Mass and of the sanctified water. But all the fat fell in the fire, and he poor Gentleman left still uncured, having formerly been bound in a cradle, besprinkled with holy water in time of Mass, and so continued bound for three days together in the Church. A most fearful usage, able to drive a whole man out of his wits. His friends hearing at length that the matter fell not out correspondent to their expectation, they sent him to Milan for the tempering of his brain, by the Physicians of the body, where I met him again with his Curator, who told me the whole business and circumstance, and how the spirit would not be dislodged for all their holy water. Now their general opinion was, that either it was a stubborn spirit, unremovable by exorcisms, or else the patient was sick with extreme choler or melancholy. Likewise to confirm their false doctrine with false miracles by the Devil's instinct, they coined many fictions, and such as the ears of the Elect would glow to hear. These fopperies, as treacherous spirits out of the wooden horse of Troy, our subtle Sinon's conjure up for worldly respects, and chiefly, lest their Pontificial purple robes or scarlet habits be altered to another colour of a base grain. Among many miracles in their lying Legends, they record, that a Religious woman having put a sanctified host into her hive of Bees to make them fruitful, in steed of increase found a little Chapel of Honey and Wax built in the hive, with doors and windows, with an Altar, with a Steeple of Bells, and also that the Bees had laid the host upon the Altar, with melodious noise flying round about it. Thus the Devil sometimes playeth the part of a Mountebank, venting out his counterfeit wares under the fair colour of sanctification, some othertimes he seems to raise up himself really at sinful men's commands, and all for the establishment of the scarlet coloured beast, the Pope and his Cardinals, whose Kingdom he wots well cannot choose but decline without such trash, tricks, and trumperies. And for their concealments he beats this ambitious lesson into our Canonists heads, that it is sacrilege to reason about the Pope's deeds, whose murders (say they) are excused like sampson's, whose thefts like the Hebrews, whose adulteries D. 40. Non nos Gloss. § quis enim. like Jacob's. After men's deaths the Devil either by himself, or 2 by his agents, wicked worldlings, seems to appear under the person of a Samuel, and will not be conjured back without such Popish babbles; thereby settling his Reprobates in their reprobate natures. But most of all I cannot but wonder what fantasy possesseth men, when they publish miraculous lies, derogatory to their credits, that be living, and able in their life's time to retort the whetstone upon them. Surely I can devose none other excuse on their behalf, then that such miracles of strange sights were invented by them of Devilish policy, to make their profession famous among the simple, and on the other side to withdraw the Protestant from the true worship of God. As for example; the Devil overseeing, that by Luther's preaching he was like to lose many of his guests, even in Luther's life time, soborned one of his false Prophets to set out a book in print of Luther's death. The same very day when Luther died (as this Homeromastix reported) many that were possessed of Devils in a town of Brabant (which lay distant from the place where he was supposed to die, above three hundred miles) were suddenly delivered, and not a long time after repossessed again. And when it was demanded of the Devils, where they had been? They answered, that by the appointment of their Prince they were called forth to Luther's Funcral. Which likewise was proved to be true, because a servant of Luther's, that was in his chamber when he died, opening the casement to take the air, saw a great number of ugly Spirits hard by the window, leaping and dancing. Afterwards when Luther's body was laid in his grave, presently there arose a tumultuous noise and terrible sound, that the earth seemed to move. The next night after they heard a louder noise than before about his Tomb. For which cause in the morning they opened his Tomb, where in stead of his corpse they found but a foul favour of brimstone. The copy of which Pamphlet, when Luther read, he subscribed these words: I am sorry that God is injuried by this fiction. Otherwise I can but smile at the Devil's malice, wherewith he and his complices the Papists pursue me. It is strange to see with what impudence these juggling Priests dare diwlge such a notorious lie of him, whom his own neighbours and Countrymen know better than they or any other foreigners. This I can testify, that throughout all Germany, where I traveled, his memory is blessed, his birthday solemnised, and himself reputed for a second Elias. But (as I said before) our Idolatrous Euchanters in policy invented this fable for the glory of their Hierarchy, which God pervert like Achitophel's devices. Hereby we gather, that most of our Countrations, lying miracles, and foolish fables were derived from the Papists for the corrupting of the simpler sort, and that of right Conicatchers are termed Conturers, and wizards witches. Only they differ in this, that the Cont-catcher and Wizard receive their knowledge by an enfolded or implicit suggestion in their brains from the Devil; and that the Conjurer and Wtich reap with the Devil's sickle more openly; yet both of them join in the effect, to deceive and to make a prey of our understanding. But here I must tell you one thing worthy the observation, 3 that even as the Papists will not see their mystical Antichrist, (though that which withheld his public reviling 2. Thes. 2. till this time be in a manner taken out of the way, to wit the glory of the Roman Empire) no more than the jews would see their Messias, (though likewise that which withheld his revealing till his destinated time was taken out of the way, to wit, that the Sceptre should not Gen 49. depart from juda, nor a Lawgiver from between his loins, until Shiloh came, which was Christ): so we o● the reformed Church besotted with childish credulity will not believe the truth, though it be felt with hands, (as they say) and showed us by demonstrations infallible, that Conjurers and Wiches' can act no miraculous matter of moment at all (their chief Master himself being but a liar and impostor) howsoever friar Bacon with his brazen head (which he purposed to set up in Salisbury-plaine for the eighth wonder of the world) and the Popish Idolaters with their Massemonging and Holy water went currant for grand Conjurers in old time: Because they received 2. Thess. 2. not the love of the truth, that they might be saved▪ therefore God sends them strong delusion, that they should believe lies. Wherefore let the faithful accept this for a caveat, that when the Devil takes upon him to become terrified with the besprinkling of Holy water, with steel, or with the thundering Bulls of a Masse-Priest, he doth it only of a politic stratagem to confirm his adherents in such vain fooleries, after the example of Tomyris, who feigned herself with all her troops to fly, that thereby she might entangle Cirus, and give him the greater foil. Whereto alludes that notable saying of our sage Solomon, He walked among the Papists by childish and affraying King james l. 2. D●monol. cap. 7. terrors, to mock and accuse their childish errors. Yea, he walked among them the more familiarly under the bastard names of Alarm, Lemu●um, Deorum Penatum, Laruarum, Dryadum, etc. outwardly seeming to care for their temporal profit, when as in truth his purpose was inwardly to work them harm in their souls and consciences, that their wills and spiritual natures might be perverted like unto his. LINEAMENT. VIII. 1 That true miracles were but lent by the Lord to the Primitive Church for confirmation of the Gospel which accompanied the said miracles. 2 How in their steed false miracles crept into the Church with the Antichrist in the time of the great Apostasy. 3 The Diveli synod for employments of his hellish spirits. 4 The Authors digression showing that the Devil's shape was not real but delusive to deceive the eye sight. 5 How men by his spiritual insinuations became his agents here on earth. 6 The Devil's craft to continue men in their Dettactions. MIracles were rife in the Apostles time at 1 the first preaching of the Gospel, yea and many years after, even as Revelations were also common at the first promulging and publishing of Moses law. But afterwards through men's curiosity, arrogancy, and negligence they ceased like as the urime ceased for a long time after josuahs' age. The chief end of Miracles was lent by the Redeemer of the world to reconcile men's minds unto the purity of the doctrine, which at the same time he sent to bear them company. Their end, I say, was that their energy and efficacy might move men's steely hearts to relent and repent them of their abominations; which prevailed in all those whom his provident Father had sealed up to be saved from the beginning. Whereby we may observe, that the virtue of true miracles sprang from the goodness of the doctrine, which then the Lords great Ambassador graffed towards the posterities of the elect. So that this godly doctrine separated such miracles from the Devil's deceits, from nature's operations, and from men's inventions. Their mutual concurrence confirmed the spectators in their resolution, namely, that their preaching and teaching proceeded from the glorious light. Sithence which golden age of the Gospel it pleased Apoc. cap. 2. the Lord according to his unsearchable will, and according to Saint john's and Saint Paul's prophecies to leave his Church sojourning in the solitary wilderness, persecuted by the detracting Dragon, to suffer his two witnesses the true records on earth of the lightsome word that was incarnate for our salvation, to be mangled, martyred, and massacred in the City of the spiritual whore, and so to permit a general defection and departure from 2. Thess. cap. 2. the faith at the entry of the Antichrist into the World (which continued well nigh eight hundred years) and then true doctrine failing, true miracles failed. Which when the Devil noted, he laid hold on that vile opportunity of Apostasy and general defection of faith, and in steed of those true miracles he hatched false miracles according to his own natural dispose, lying wonders, and brought in canonisation of Saints, whereof myself was an eye Apoc. cap. 18. witness in Milan in the year 1603. adoration of sinful men, masses for the dead, marchandizes of humane souls, Gods of golden beads, of holy water, of crucifixes, and also old wife's tales, whereof the Popish Legends are as full, as ever Diomedes his stable was of prodigious dung. Many miracles were fathered upon giddy headed people in their death beds, when good men through extremity of torments have spoken, they knew not what. They record, that the Virgin Mary descended dow from heaven, to give S. Fulbecke her breasts to suck, while he lay sick. Such another idle story old father Darbishire a jesuit sometimes Chancellor of London under Bishop Bonner told me in Lorraine of one Throgmorton, whom he perverted at Paris to the Romish Religion. False miracles thus grown in request, the Devil foreseeing, that his buzzards might break out of his snares, 3 except he found some other stratagem to entangle them, presently convocates a Synod or Council of Detracting Spirits, not much unlike to the Council of Trent or the Cardinal's consistory, and there enacteth parts for several spirits to act (yet so that the Spirit of Detraction attend on them all) some he appoints to play the parts of Hobgoblins, or Robbing goodfellows; some he chooseth to countenance the Clergy in their perking chairs, some to feast with the foolish peasants, who of the Italians were called glifarfarrellis, mazzapengoli, and of the English and Romans fairy folks, lares, Dryades, & Hamadryades; some to mock monks as horned Satyrs. Some he suborns with feigned shapes to appear unto gross headed folk. Whereas in very deed such shapes are no more real than Euridices Ghost, whom her husband Orpheus thought to apprehend, when in the end: Nilnisi cedentes infoelix arripit auras. Ouid. lib. 10. Metamorphi. Unhappy he on nothing meets, But on the air, which back resleet. When a man fortunes to see any such such strange 4 sights, let him call to mind that they be but decept to visus a colourable mist cast forth by the spiritual Dragon to bewitch his understanding, or that his sight is possessed with some suffusion after sleep figured and symbolised with false visions of small atoms manifoldly coloured, or else let him call to memory his own imbecility of nature, which might be misled either with an antipathy, or with excess of choler or melancholy, as when he is sick of a saffronlike jaundice, or when some gross glewy matter is gathered within the fleshy sinew of the eye. Do not we read in books of natural Sience, that the sensible object being more exceedingly excellent doth dull the sense which is less excellent? doth not snow sometimes grieve our sights? Doth not a candle of virgin wax mixed with oil of snakes alter the outward form of the lookers faces, and cause the whole room to appear in show of snakes? have not we in our time seen artificial looking glasses form by cunning Optickes representing many miraculous faces to one only object? Doth not a composition of Aqua vitae, Brimstone and Salt make the standers by to seem pale coloured. To this I add that we seem to see sometimes fiery Dragons, Bears, and monstrous meteoures in the clouds: when as in truth the same are but moist vapours mounted up from the earth into the air, not having any such shapes, but only such changeable impressions as the Chameleon-like air affords them. Let him also consider how divers honest men have mistaken known ways in a misty day. The reflection of the Sun beams have sundry times bedazeled our eye sights: So we see things which are near unto scarlet to shine red. Much more must we conceive of Satan's craft, who hath been experienced in policy ever since the beginning of the world. He cannot choose but exceed the wisest Philosopher in worldly skill, by reason that he is not clogged at all with a massy body of flesh and blood, as we are; for this cause I say Satan overlookes more easily into the secrets of nature, and practiseth them with greater promptitude and agility against us, when for our unworthiness or weakness God leaves our inward man naked, not vouchsafing to clothe him with the habiliments of grace. Howbeit, for all that the Devil's knowledge is great, yet we must deem it but conjectures and guesses, which God oftentimes overmastereth, checketh, and changeth, because we might know that he alone is powerful and true. To return where I have digressed, Satan (because that we might see how he hath more strings to his bow 5 then one, and knows more ways into the wood than one) employeth some others spiritually to seduce men's shallow imaginations: which agents of his he commissioneth with special errands and articles; some he inspires to tell fortunes, as lying Palmisters; some to observe the flying of fowl, the entrailes of fowl, which we term Augurs; some as Salamanders, to prophesy by fire, which we name Pyromancers, some to counterfeit the state of Geographers, as vain Geomancers; and some he en chanteth (like Chameleons) for spruce parasites, cunning courtiers to soothe every man in his humour, and then with a Sardonicall laughter to cut their neighbour's throats. These with many other functions of bastard arts he insinuates into fantastical persons, and also into them which build upon their own wisdoms. But the most detestable of all his faculties (which I tremble to write of) is the sacrilegious sin of Detraction against his Maker's majesty, wherewith he possesseth the most part of our country men, not only in causing them to overglut and overlade their bodies with meat, drink, and smoke of Tobacco, (two or three consuming in one day as much as would suffice twenty honester men than themselves) but also in the midst of those their Bacchanales to taunt the glory of God, to gibe at his glorious signs, and to impute the causes with the effects of thunders and lightnings unto his lying self. It is wonderful to mark how opinionated the most part of the world are in this poisonous paradox. They have been so long blinded in other superstitions, that they will hardly suffer themselves to be lifted up out of the gulf of ignorance. It may be likewise that the Devil, as he is an excellent engineer to gain himself that fulgurant fame and thundering name, hath sometimes appeared in varieties of false ugly forms, even then, when these natural creatures of God, followed their natural course and motion; and so by that juggling trick made the world believe that it was he, which played revel rex abroad in that terrible equipage. Parturiunt montes, nascctur ridiculus mus. He is with child of mounts and lofty things, But a poor mouse and trifles he forth brings. Well may the Dragon strive to fly, but his wings are clipped, and he according to God's curse must creep upon his belly, and eat the dust of the earth all the days of his life. Well may he arrogate unto himself another's operation, Gen. cap. 3. but, as a cursed cow hath short horns, so must he in the end go naked (like Aesop's crow) when the true Owner challengeth his own plumes of glory. God works all wonders, tulit alter honores, but the Devil bears the honour for a while. LINEAMENT. IX. 1 What is the craft of our common Wizards. 2 That Soldiers and men of courage have been daunted with disguised Angels. 3 Examples of ordinary witchcraft, Sorceries, and Conjurations. Our common witchcraft, soothsaying, consultation with spirits and Conjurations are nothing but cousenages, legierdemaines, 1 impostures, confederacy, or coney-catching craft in making folks believe, that they can prophesy, work miracles, tell fortunes, reveal stolen goods, heal sicknesses and griefs with charming rhymes: yea, these seducing spirits aver, that they walk every week with the Fairies, that they have secret conference with Familiars. But in the end their Familiars fall out to be a pack of knaves of their own families, resembling those ungodly familiars, whose dissembling forms the Spanish Inquisition useth as instrumental tortures, to wrest and wring out the consciences of supposed Heretics. Such cozening spirits have deluded and daunted many 2 of our worldlings, insomuch that their fame and feigned shapes terrified men of resolution and of great renome, far more vehemently, then if Goblins or Fairies had in very deed appeared unto them; though in truth they agree mutually together, both meeting in one meaning, both harping on one string of deceit. I knew a valorous young Gentleman, and one that sometimes behaved himself very resolutely in sold●ourizing both by Sea and land, and also would not fear to meet any man in a Monomachy or single combat, so terrified with a disguised Spirit in the night time, that he wanted but little of losing his understanding. Brutus that conspired against julius Caesar, otherwise encouraged himself, when his bad Angel appeared unto him the night before he was slain, to dishearten and discourage him from the battle, as I suppose. Such another familiar Angel wrote on the Duke of Norfolk's Tent the night before he was killed with King Richard the third at Bosworths' field, jack of Norsolke be not ●oo bold, For Dickin thy Master is bought and sold. Many stratagems we find in Histories to discourage and daunt men, like unto Hannibal's Bulls, which with fiery faggots tied to their horns he drove out at midnight among his enemies, to scatter them and scare them. But to return unto these Cunning men, who cousin our simple neighbours, I will exemplify their miracles. At London I heard one constantly affirm, that he would cure any infirmity whatsoever with a dry napkin and with imposition of hands. 3 Coppinger and Arthington worse than the foolish Galathians bewiched, took one Hacket for Christ, as many in London yet living can testify. At Verona in Italy, one of this bewiching rout, a deceitful Mountebank extolled so highly a counterfeit ointment of his, singular (as he said) against all outward griefs, that I could not dissuade a friend of mine then present with me, from buying some of it, when as after in the experiment the said balm became of no more force than Scoggins powder of an old rotten post. To these Sorcerers I may add another reputed one, a poor Devon-shire woman, dwelling in my neighbourhood, in Walsh called Swynwraig, in English a charming woman, who about three years suhence was brought before me, and accused for bewitching an honest man's daughter, in such sort that she languished, like to die. Evident proofs were not wanting, that she undertook in the behalf of a young man enamoured of the maid, either that she should be his wife, or else never be her own woman while she lived. After due examination, the poor woman confessed, that in regard of gain (quod dolosi spes refulserit nummi) she gulled the youth, and promised largely to bring his desire to pass. Being further demanded, how she cured with incantations her neighbours cattle (another surmise by her accusers) she answered, that she healed them not by any indirect means, but by drenches and medicinable herbs. Likewife to get her a name and money to supply her necessity, she confessed, that she led some ignorant persons into fool's Paradises by taking upon her matters of wonder. About May last (as I heard by credible report) a certain Gentleman of our Country, having miss by ●●urse of justice to find out the thief that had stolen some goods of his, repaired to one of these Wizards, earnestly requesting him to extend his cunning for the descrying of the said thief and goods. But all the comsort which he could obtain for his fee, was, that he had lent his book of knowledge unto a friend of his; so that he could not at that instant accomplish his desire, though in time, after restitution of his book he doubted not, but he would conjure out the thief. Whereby we may note the scarcity of true Witches, that in very deed indent with the Devil really. And Satan is so heedful, that we can hardly find out his assured adopted children. Another of this forlorn crew, a runagate Empiricke within thief few days arrived in this Country, undertook the cure of a diseased Gentleman; which he could as well perform as reveal stolen goods, which likewise he feigned to the simple Gentlewomen of the house: yet notwithstanding he led many, specially the weaker sort, into the Paradise of fools, and to esteem him for a rare Prophet, whereas in truth he was no other than a Coney-catcher; for he disclosed no stolen goods at all, saving those, which himself hid of set purpose to get him a name. Heretofore in time of Popery, masters of families invented, that the Fairies haunted Butteries and Cellars, only to make young people afraid of sitting up late in the night. Again servants themselves sometimes would counterfeit, that those Fairies used to sup in their Master's houses; under which colour they covered their own wanton thefts. Herehence rose that proverb in France, Ou sont filettes & bon vin, Cest la où hante le lut in. Where fair maids are, and store of wine, The Goblins there to haunt combine. Let a man confer with old women (for this sex is much addicted to novelties and lightness of belief) and he shall hear many strange fables of such Fairy folks. A Comic Poet introduceth such another knavish Plaut in Mostellar. prank, practised by a servant towards his Master: This servant the better to conceal and cover the loose and lavish life of the son from his father's knowledge, and to colour the sale of a certain house; which they had made in his absence, invented and told the old man at his return from his farm in the Country, that both his son and he were forced to sell the said house, by reason that Sprights in the nights used there to haunt and to molest them. Let this suffice for the discovery of our common witchcraft, and sorceries: Now I must show the validity of our ordinary conjurations, exercised only by learned men, which jump with the unlearned in the main, namely, in deceit. Two substantial Yeomen about twenty years since having lost plate & other movables, and desirous to be acquainted with the thief, resorted to a College in Oxford, where meeting at the gate with a needy scholar, they enquired of him for such a man's chamber, whom foolish fame had canonised in their credulous ears, for a notable Conjurer. The Scholar in outward appearance somewhat grave, after a few questions, circumstances, and verbal compliments, told them that he was the man. But for satisfaction of their requests, he took them privily aside, declared unto them the danger of the law, if it were known, and coyishly, like a cunning quean to her youthful novice, seemed to repel their suits. They loath or perhaps not daring to return homewards to their wives, without some notice touching the stolen goods, urged him more instantly to cast a figure, and rather than fail to conjure up a spirit, that they might learn who was the thief. At last with some ado, the scholar in respect of his poverty, resolved to make a purchase of these unlooked for guests, and to that end first requiring their oath of secrecy, like a true Chemist, willed them to resort within three hours of night, to a chamber remote from company. The honest men with pure protestations thanked his gravity, and went home to their Inn with gladsome hearts, judging each hour a day, till the prefixed time drew nigh. In the mean space the adulterate Conjurer calls unto him more good fellows, boon companions, confederates with them, that about such a time they should likewise repair to the designed chamber, with a whole Cutler's shop of weapons, as Proctors and Officers, to apprehend both the Conjurer and his mates. Well, the appointed time approached, the good Yeomen miss not to come thither, where also the Conjurer met them, locked fast the chamber door, and having prepared afore hand a great Cauldron full of hot scalding water on a good fire, caused them to cast their money therein, for fear lest the spirit might annoy them, by reason of such profane trash. His commandment stood for a law. as soon as he had fashioned his Circle, crossed it, and invocated on these terrible spirits: Barbara, Celarent, Darij, Ferio, Baralipton, Celantes, Dabitis, Fapesmo, Fricesonorum, Cesar●, Camestres, Festino, Baroco, Darapti, Felapton, Disamis, Datisi, Bocardo, Ferizon. In stead of spirits, the false Proctors bounced and knocked at the door, menacing to break it open, if out of hand they opened it not. The poor men not adventuring to budge one inch from the centre of the Circle, without their money, and now without hope of commiseration among strange Officers, stood amazed in a quandary, with great horror and dread, till the Proctors were let in by the Conjurer. Ah villain, have we taken thee in the manner, said these new Proctors: there is no way save one for thee, nor for these assistants of thine. And with that in a feigned vehement rage, charged them upon their allegiance to follow them towards the prison. The liver-hearted Yeomen very dutifully obeyed, went along with them, all the way begging for grace and favour, with large promises of golden mountains, and with faithful assurances of millions of prayers for their prosperity. The pitiful Proctors overcome at last with their important suits, and knowing their money to be lest behind safe in the hot Cauldron, let fall the reins of their rage. Their justice became mitigated, their authority relented, upon condition, that these honest men would assume on their credit to come again unto them the next morning, which they faithfully promised. But being arrived at their lodging, they took counsel together to give the Proctors the slip, and leave the Conjurer, to go to the gallows alone, without their fellowship. And so at midnight by the benefit of that dark time (as they thought) they left both Proctors and Conjurer in the lurch, posting away with great joy for their fortunate escape. LINEAMENT. X An example translated out of Monsieur du Ches●e his portrait de la sante, declaring how one Monsieur Poena, a Physician of Paris, conjured two spirits out of a possessed man's body. MOnsieur Uignier a Physician of Champain, and the King's Chonicler, had a cousin Sect. 1. du Pourtr de la sante. capult. of his that was a person well descended, and also learned, afflicted of such a spiritual sickness, that he imagined and firmly believed, that a certain fellow of his acquaintance newly come from Italy, had given him, and put within his body two spirits, which spoke unto him and taught him many things, which also threatened him either to cause his death, or else to vex him with some great mischief. After that he had discovered his malady to the said Vignier, he presently knew that it was a sickness of the spirit, and for that he loved very well this kinsman of his, he devised and advised with himself how to help him. For this purpose both of them resolved to go together to Paris: and there they addressed themselves unto Monsieur Poena, who immediately understood what sickness it was, to wit, that the patients imaginative faculty was hurt and depraved, and also counselled them that they should look for spiritual remedy for that spiritual sickness; which likewise the said Poena promised that he would endeavour to get for his recovery. Hereof the diseased party was very glad, and pressed on him very hard, that he should hasten him, telling him withal, that his said spirits continually menaced to kill him, or to torment him with some grievous sickness. Here the Physician was fain to use stratagems and subtleties to take away these wicked impressions out of the sick-man's fantasy, in regard that the party being learned, and very speculative (as all melancholic men are) would comprehend by reason the manner of his cure, which after many circumstances in brief was thus: The Physician took upon him to fashion in a little book certain characters and names of spirits, and to make as though he must conjure up a stronger spirit than those which were in his body; by whose forcible means the lesser spirits should be chased therehence. The remedy was plausible to the sick man. In the mean that all things were accommodating and making ready for the said exploit, the Physician ministered unto him purgations to tame and moderate the humour of melancholy. Atlength the time approached that this feat should be put in practice. There was a great Hall chosen out for the nonce, wherein this saigned conjuration should be made: for the effecting whereof, an honest Chirurgeon was appointed to act the person of the pretended spirit. All things thus prepared together with the Circle and other ceremonies, which Negromancers use in such a case, they came to the place, where the possessed party was seated in the midst of the Circle: and to blindfolde him the more, he was encouraged not to be astonished at what accident soever that should befall. After some counterfeit whispering, crossing, and invocations, the Spirit of the South was called up, who appeared not. Then the Spirit of the East was called, who likewise came not. In the end at the third call the Chirurgeon that lay hid in a certain place there for the nonce began to appear in this hall, that was somewhat dark. And then the Patient was again comforted and counselled more than before, not to be afraid, who answered, that he was resolved not to fear at all. So earnestly did he attend and repose confidence and hope in this illusion. At last the matter passed so finely and luckily, that the poor Patient believed that this spirit, which he took to be no feigned one, had power to overcome and chase out of his body the other two spirits, which he imagined to be there enclosed. So that this plot served to strengthen his imagination, and to weaken his former false persuasion. This was the principal remedy of his malady. Nevertheless the said Monsieur Poena desisted not for all that during the space of a month after, to minister unto him certain medicinable things to purge and assuage melancholy; insomuch that at the month's end being throughly purged and cured of his sickness, the party acknowledged himself abused, and was very much ashamed of this false imagination, which for a long time had possessed and troubled his spirit. LINEAMENT. XI. An excellent example of Conjuration, translated out of Erasmus his Exorcisms, fit to be observed of our superstitious Detractors. ERasmus in his Dialogue called Exorcismus reports a notable story, acted in King Henry the eights days; which because it is too prolix and tedious to be translated into English word by word, I will relate it as compendiously and briefly as the substance of the matter requires. Betwixt London and Richmond there dwelled one Pool a merry conceited Gentleman. He at many Ordinaries diwlged, that near to his house by the high way side a Spirit haunted commonly every night. And to make it the more famous, riding on a time towards Richmond with diverse Cavaliers in his company, the sky being clear without any clouds, Pool on a sudden crossed himself, and as one much astonished, spoke to himself in this sort: O immortal God, what do I see! His companions ask him what he saw, crossing himself yet more he said; I pray God, that this sight which I see may turn to good. When they lay hard upon him, desirous to know the matter, with his eyes fixed towards the sky, and pointing with his finger to a place in the Element, Do not you see there (quoth he) yonder cruel Dragon, armed with fiery horns and a wreathed tail? At first they denied that they saw any thing. But at length because Poole, belike a man of some reckoning, very earnestly pointed at it with his finger: and because he should not think but they were of as perfect sight as himself, they constantly affirmed, and said, that they also saw that wonderful strange sight. What needs many words? Within three or four days the rumour had passed almost over all England, that such a prodigious Monster frequented there, near Pools house. Yea, it is wonderful, how the common people added more novelties unto the fable. Neither wanted there some, that took upon them to presage the event. In the mean while a Canon one Hind, who also was a Priest of a neighbour parish, happily arrived at Pools house. This man had an overweening conceit of himself, and above all he thought himself well seen in Divinity. At supper they discoursed of the Spirit. When Poole perceived, that the Priest had not only heard of it, but likewise believed it to be true, he began to persuade him, that he being a learned man, and very well disposed would conjure the spirit therhence, and succour the poor soul in durance. And if you doubt any thing (quoth he) we will try. Walk you about ten of the clock anon by the bridge, and you shall hear a pitiful groaning. Take unto you what company you please, so you shall hear the safer and more certain. After supper Poole made as though he went on hunting. About the time mentioned, the Priest walking to the place, heard woeful lamentations, which Pool very cunningly feigned, being there hidden in a bush, complaining out of an earthen pot, broken for the nonce for that purpose. The Priest within a little while after returned homewards, longing to tell what he had seen and heard. There he told Poole (who came home somewhat before him a nearer way) what was done, and likewise some thing more of his own devising, because the matter might be the more wonderful. At the last (Poole egging him on) he undertakes to conjure the spirit therehence. All that night he slept not, with musing which way he might sasely bring the matter about, for he feared and doubted very sore of himself. Therefore he gathers together most prevalent Exorcisms, joining others unto them of his own invention, as, By the bowels of the blessed Virgin Mary. By the bones of Saint Winifrid. The next day he chooseth a place in the plain, near to the bush; from whence he heard the voice. There, he frames a very large Circle, with innumerable crosses and letters. By his side he sets a vessel full of Holy water. About his neck he wore a holy robe, at which hung the New Testament, besides an Agnus Dei, which was wont to be consecrated by the Pope once a year. With these he arms himself, for fear lest it might be a wicked Spirit that would assault him. Neither durst he commit himself alone to the Circle, but determined to join another Priest with him. Then Poole fearing lest the mystery might chance to be bewrayed, if he got unto him one craftier than himself, discloseth out of hand the whole story to a neighbour-Priest a friend of his, and joins him assistant to the simple Canon in the acting of his conceited Comedy. All things thus prepared, the Conjurer with the other Priest about ten of the clock enters into the circle. Poole that went before him, cried lamentably out of the bush. The Canon talls to his exorcisms. But Pool to have the more sport shifted him therehence, and by and by returns with afriend of his, but on two black steeds, throwing fire at the Canon to have him out of the circle. The next morning the Canon bragged how he prevailed against the spirits, who appeared on two black horses, how they were very like to draw him out of the circle, and how he sent them away with a vengeance by means of his forcible charms. The next night the Conjurer better encouraged returns into the circle, and Pool with his cópanion on their black horses showed themselves with a terrible noise, as though they would break into the circle, and with a long rope, which they brought with them, drawn along the ground, they overthrew both Priests with their vessel of holy water to the ground, and at last seeming to quail at the charms, they departed away for that night. This done, the Canon comes homes, tells Pool what great danger he escaped, and how valiantly he overcame both the wicked spirits; now he certainly persuades himself that no Devil is so cruel nor so impudent as to break into his Circle. Thus far proceeded the fable, when by chance Pools son in law a young man delighted with such kind of mirth came thither. Him Poole makes privy of their stage play, and appoints him the souls or spirits part to act. The young man apparrels himself with a sheet like a coarse, and carries with him quick coals in a pot, which through the sheet seemed as it were lightning. At night they go to the stage play, where the soul pitifully bemoans himself. The Canon dispatcheth all his forcible conjurations, like volees of Canon shot, until at length the soul by the bush shows itself, sometimes gliding with fire; sometimes miserably groaning. as soon as the Canon required the spirit to declare who he was, Poole suddenly in a devilish shape, and with a counterfeit roaring leapt out of the bush, saying to the Canon, Thou hast no right in this soul, it is mine, and with that runs to the very bounds of the circle, as if he were about to assault the Conjurer, who on the other side fought lustily with his exorcisms, and liberally besprinkled him with holy water. But here fell out a pretty jest. As the Conjurer busied himself in this manner, the Devil exclaimed, that he cared not a rush for all his charms, for thou hast dealt with a wench (quoth he) thou art mine: which words though Poole spoke but in merriment, yet it seemed that he hit the nail on the head, by reason that the Conjurer touched with that saying hastened out of hand into the centre of the circle, and whispered, I know not what confession into the other Priests ears. But Poole overheard the Priest enjoining him penance, namely, to repeat over three Pater nosters. Which accomplished, the Canon more fiercely and furiously returns towards the meres of the circle, and voluntarily dares and defies the Devil, who now feigning himself fearful fled back, saying, Thou hast beguiled me, if I had been wise, I had not forewarned thee. Then after the departure of the Devil, began a conference betwixt the Canon & the soul. The Canon conjures him upon pain of damnation) to tell him what he is, who readily answers him, that he is a Christian man's soul. After these and the like speeches the soul seeing him very in quisitive, and lest he should smell out the deceit, craved pardon for that night, with promise that he would return the next night after unto him. Thus the Canon and the soul for a few nights communed together, the sum grew to this pass. The Conjurer ask, whether there were any means for his deliverance from torments, the soul answered, that he might be delivered from torments, if the ill gotten money, which he left behind him, were restored back. What (said the Canon) if this money were dispursed by good men, and converted by them to godly uses? yea, that would avail me, quoth the soul. Here, the Conjurer exhilarated with joy, demanded, how much the sum amounted unto. The soul answered that the sum was great, and very profitable for him, that it was so. He named the place, but far distant thence, where the treasure lay hid under ground, withal he prescribed to what uses the said money should be employed, first, that there honest men undertake a pilgrimage, one to S. Peter's Church in Rome, the other to S. james of Compostella in Galicia, the third to Tr●uires to kiss our Saviour's comb there. Then his will was, that a great number of Psalms, Masses and Dirges be celebrated in certain monasteries pro salute animae for his soul's health. The overplus which remained, the Conjurer should defray, as he thought good. Now all the Canon's mind was occupied about the treasure, and the dispose thereof. All his thoughts ran upon this unexpected prey, he talked of no other subject in discouse. In all companies, at ordinaries he promised magnificent rewards to Monasteries, and spoke of no base matters at all. He went into the place, found the signs, yet durst he not dig for the treasure, because the soul had given him a knot in a rush to undo, that it might redound to his great peril, if he touched the treasure, before so many Masses were accomplished. Already many of the wiser sort smelled out the jest: Insomuch that sundry of the Canon's friends admonished him in secret to take heed, lest the world might conceive sinisterly of his worth, which had been generally reputed before for a very wise man. Nevertheless the Canon continued resolute in his belief, hoped as true as his Creed to see the matter sort out well to his liking. Which imagination so throughly possessed the man's mind, that beside sights and spirits he dreamt of nothing, he spoke of nothing. The habit of his mind appeared in his face, which became so pale, so extenuated, so directed, that a man would take him for a Ghost, and not a man. He wanted but little of being out of his wits. Poole and his son in law in their compassion towards the poor fool invented this slight to put him from his conceits. They counterfeited an Epistle with rare letters drawn, and that not in common paper, but in a Goldsmith's leaf with golden characters. The contents whereof were these: Faunus dudum captiws nunc liber, Fauno liberatori suo optimo salutem. Non est, amice cur te diutius in hoc negotio maceres. Respexit Deus piam animi tui voluntatem, & illus merito me liberavit à supplicijs. Ego nunc foeliciter ago inter Angelos. Te manet locus apud D. Augustinum, qui proximus est Apostolorum choro. Vbiveneris ad nos, agam tibi gratias coram. Interim cura ut valeas suaviter: Dat. è coelo Empiraeo sub sigillo annul● mei. Which to English is this: Faunus of late a prisoner, now free, to Faunus his best Redeemer greeting. There is no cause, my friend, why thou shouldest pine away thyself any longer. God hath respected the good will of thy mind, and by the merits thereof hath rid me from torments. I live now in happiness among the Angels. Thy place is here ready at S. Augustine's, which is next to the Apostles choir. When thou shalt come unto us, I will thank thee present. In the mean time have a care to live pleasantly. Dated out of the Imperial heaven under the seal of my ring. This letter was privily laid upon the Altar, as the Canon was celebrating the Mass. Now he caries with him abroad this letter, and boasts of it as a sacred thing, & believes more certainly, that it was transported unto him from heaven by an Angel. LINEAMENT. XII. 1 That the Devil's common drist is, spiritually to undermine the will of man. 2 That his scope and force is cozenage and deceit. IT is a foul shame for us reform ● Christians, that we stop not our ears with Ulysses from these cozening sirens, whose chief drift, shift, and scope is to make a prey of our understanding, and to draw us a whorehunting after strange Gods, which have ears and hear not, eyes and see not, mouths and speak not, and which are to be found in no other place, but where the Sophistical chemists dig the Philosopher's stone, the Elixir of life. Certainly the heathen will rise up against us at the day of judgement, and implead to be saved before us, for all our Baptism & holy rites, unless we seal up our lips betimes from uttering any idle positions contrary to God's Glory in the behalf of these enchanting hypocrites. For we derogate much from God's glory, and omnipotency when we say, He doth but give Satan leave to do it, which is to deride and mock God's justice, as that worthy man Master Caluine wrote. The Devil is not at his own liberty, nor can he (in the extremest censure) otherwise then a hangman act any thing without the restrictive commandment of the highest judge, I say, his permission must be authentically joined with commission from God. He is not in such favour or grace with our Almighty Lord. Only his Majesty permits his spiritual insinuating and ghostly temptations for his glory and our edification in Christ. He permits him as the spiritual instrument of justice for our hardness of hearts to entrap the chief part of man, the reasonable will, and by reason of our negligence in his service to accuse and relate our sins before him: not that God is ignorant of our closest sins, but perhaps because his Majesty is pleased to use ordinary means, judicial forms, and legal proceeding to condemn the guilty. Such as the Informer or Promoter is in our worldly Courts, such is the Devil in the heavenly Parliament. And such a one will he be at the great judgement day, when our Messias both God and man shall judge mankind. In the mean time let us persuade ourselves that the 2 Devil's meaning is to deceive us, whether he seems to appear in borrowed shapes, either of himself or by the command of wicked men. Besides this deluding force I know certainly he hath none other. With this weapon he was licenced by God in the beginning to sting us in our heels, that is, to tempt us with legions of sins, which by degrees brings death and perpetual darkness. Even as a man being stung in his heel or leg by reason of that infectious venom, which with deadly tumours or swellings creeps up by little and little into the heart, must needs did, except his leg that was so stung, had been chopped of in time, or cured by an extraordinary balsam; so the variable will of man being seduced by Satan, or by his substitute Sin, which by degrees increaseth to legions, and as it were uncurable and unrevokeable, must needs be condemned to hell, together with the soul her dear consort, except she were absolved of her sins upon her repentance, bathed in Christ's blood, and so healed by the balm of grace. With this weapon he assaulted Eve, with this weapon he wounded ahab's false Prophets. And in this sort shall he go out to Apoc. cap. 20. Ibid. deceive the people, which are in the four quarters of the world. This is he, the Dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan; I say, this is he, the great red Dragon, Apoc. cap. 12. which deceiveth all the world, which fought with Michael and his Angels, which makes spiritual war with the woman clothed with the Sun, the Church of Christ. This Ibid. is he, which gave the beast with the seven heads, that is, the Church of Rome, the seven hilled City by the Tyrrhene Apoc. cap. 13. Sea, his power, his throne, and great authority. So that great Babylon is now become an habitation of Devils, Ibid. the hold of all fowl spirits, and a cage of every unclean Apoc. cap. 18. and hateful bird: and as Stigelius writes: Imperij quondam sedes, nunc turpe lupanar, Vix umbram prisci Roma nitoris habet. Rome that was once an Empire's seat, is now A wolfe-stie, scarce of that brightness shadow. LINEAMENT. XIII. Aphrismes collected out of the first Fathers of the Primitive Church concerning the Devil's power. IUstine the Martyr in his Apology justin. in defence. Christ. ad senate. Rom. for the Christians to the Roman Senate, who among other seruples objected, that God would not suffer them to be persecuted if their doctrine were true; answered, that the Christians were persecuted for the confirmation of their faith by God's permission, and also by the instinct and incitement of wicked spirits, who at all times have persecuted the lovers of virtue, as Socrates, Heraclitus, and Musonius, but chiefly they moved persecutions against the Christians. The same Martyr speaking of the virtue of the name of jesus, which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, writes: At the powerful name of jesus Christ crucified under Pontius Pilate, the Devil's being Idem in Tryphon adjured, even at this day with horror and trembling do obey us Christians. The Devil is most busy against the light of the Gospel: he moveth the Infidels to detract Christ with Magic: he J●natius in Epist. ad Philippen. provoketh Heretic to falsify the truth, according to their own fantasies. Tatianus disputing with the Grecians, because they derided and despised the Christian Religion, said, that the motives of their derision were the spiritual suggestions Tatian. in Orat. adversus gents. of the Devil, which deceived them by undertaking cures of diseases, and by deluding them with witch craft, and Divinations; thereby to withdraw men from the true worship of God. Irenaeus the Disciple of Polycarpus, who likewise was the Disciple of S. john the Evangelist, proved that God Irenaeus in lib. 5. adversus Haereses. was to be worshipped, and not the Devil: first, because the Devil could not keep and observe any promises which he made; for himself possessed nothing: secondly, because that the Devil hath always been a liar, and is not to determine of any earthly Kingdom●s. Origen averreth, that charms and sorceries are d●risions of Devils, the dregs of Idolatry, and the besotting of Origen. in libr. 3. in Job. souls. Likewise he affirmeth, that our conflictand contention with evil spirits is spiritual. These be the opinions of Idem. in libr. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. cap. 2. the Greek Fathers, which flourished within three hundred years after Christ. Tertullian the first Latin Father testifieth, that the Devil is the Author of sin, even as God is the Author Tertul. lib. 2. adversus Martion. of the punishment of sin. That which is counterfeit is the business of the Devil, even as that which is natural is the work of God. Jdem in libr. de cultu Foemi●. Idem in lib. de sug● in 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉 lib. 2. de O●igine e●r●r. cap. 14 & 15. Persecution immediately is sent from God, and not from the Devil. Wicked spirits are the Authors of all wickedness, which is committed by man. They fill all things with deceits, craft, and errors. They infinuate themselves into men's bodies: but they cannot hurt any man, 〈◊〉 him, whom they have in their full power. They were t●● inventors of Astrology, soothsaying, Oracles, Negromancy, and Magic. Their chief endeavour is to avert men from the worship and knowledge of the Divine Majesty. God suffereth the Devil thus to delude mankind, to the intent that the eviil might fight with the good; that vices might be opposed to virtue; that God might have some to punish, and some to honour him. Augustine utterly denieth the Devil's real power over Aug. lib. 3. de sanci. Trinit. any of God's workmanship in these words: We must not think that this material substance of visible things do obey the Angels which transgressed, but that they obey God alone. Another reverend Elder of the Church, reasoning about ●thanas. in. lib. de Humanitat. Verbi. the cause of the desection of the Devil's illusion: writeth after this manner: Heretofore Devils in vain forms did ensuare men with deceits, hiding themselves in rivers, rocks, groves, and woods: but nowadays since that God's word hath been made manifest, those deceitful sights, spirits, and illusions of Images are quite ceased. Note this for the Devil's departure and defection from among the Protestants in these days. The Devil's slatteries hath done more hurt to the Bernard. in Ep. Church then his threats and menaces. The Devil's practice hath been to convey the poison Cyrill. contra ●ul. of his drift within a cloud of ambiguity. The Devil diverse ways infesteth mortal men: while they eat he enticeth them to gourmandize; while they Gregor. super job drink, to drunkenness; while they a wake, he tempteth them to idle thoughts; while they sleep, to unclean and filthy dreams; while they be merry, he incites them to wantonness; while they be sad, to melancholy. LINEAMENT. XIIII. 1 The Author's Debortation from such vain detracting studies. 2 The knowledge of Astrology stinted and censured. NOw that I have proved Diabolical dealings to be but dens of deceit, and that his apparitions are extinguished by the brightness and miraculous resurrection of the Lords two witnesses, being the old Testament and the new, which for many years lay dead, unburied, and ill savouring through the Apoc. 11. barbarism of our Popish Sodomites, and well nigh motheaten amidst their dark Libraries: Let us fix the eyes of our understanding upon this bright Meridian, let us acknowledge men's traditions for Apocrypha or indifferent. In this decrepit age of the world, since all prophecies are wound to the bottom, we must expect no other sign than the sign of jonas the Prophet, that is, our blessed Messias, who sits at the right hand of the power of God, and will shortly come in the clouds of heaven, to sever truth from falsehood. All other miracles for the most part, specially those, which are supposed to be done among the unbelieved, let us account for old wife's fables●, and write them up in the Woodcocks roll, namely, all such lying wonders, which the children of Belial have stamped concerning the Devil's real greatness, and the palpable validity of his profane creatures. Time is precious, and passeth away like a stream of water: spend not therefore your golden times in such unprofitable studies, but redeem the same before the latter day steal upon you. Know this, that the Devil is the Father of lies, and will be sure to leave you in the bog of perdition at your greatest need. If once he settle himself in the seat of your souls, all your artilleries of exorcisms will never conjure him therehence. For is it likely that he, which showed himself so peremptory against the Archangel in heaven will become ●ame unto a mortal man on earth? Can you trust him, whom God could not trust? Take heed (brethren) of this Sophistry, beware of this Alchymistry. It renders nothing but lies, vanity, mists, smoke, or false spectacles to dazzle and deceive your sight. Esteem our Conjurer no otherwise then Bull-beggars, as Devil's incarnate, coney-catching Mountebanks, crafty jugglers, cozening privadoes, insinuating Serpents Egyptian pickepurses. Who can be cleansed of the unclean? Or what truth can be spoken of a liar? soothsaying, Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Dreaming is but vain; like as when a woman traveleth Eccles. 34. with child, and hath many fantasies in her heart. Therefore beware of spiritual lies. Again and again I advice thee (Christian Reader) to look unto thy soul, that it be not surprised by the subtle Tempter, the Archsorcerer of the world, the grand worker of false miracles. Banish away from thee with Caligula stargazers, and Astronomers. With Cato contemn fantastical dreams, with Horace Laugh thou at dreams, at Magic fears, At Hobgoblins, night-Bugges, and Bears. Laugh also at false Witches sights, And at the shapes of Thessales sprights. Somnia, terrores magicos, miracula sagas, Nocturnos lemures, portentaque Thessala ride. I write not against honest Astrologers, while they contain themselves in compass of nature's reach, and within the Circle of their ancient rules. But I exhort them so to esteem nature, that they neglect not their Christian vocation, and distrust the Author of nature, by attributing his works of glory to natural creatures. I am the Lord (saith God) this is my name, and my glory will I not give to another. Our Saviour Christ himself Esay 42. disputed, that there is some reasonable conjecture to be gathered of the Meteores course: when he said to the people: When ye see a cloud rise out of the West, strait way ye say, a shower comes, and so it is: and when ye see the southwind blow, ye say, it will be hot, and it comes to pass: Luc. 12. Like as the proverb in French and English presageth unto us: Le rouge soir, & brun matin, Sont le desir du pellerin. An evening red, a morning grey, As Pilgrims say, foretell fair day. In like manner I approve the profound doctrine of the Spheres, with the constellations of stars and signs (a breviary whereof myself have published in Latin verse in my stripling years) I approve the observation of the moist Empress the Moon, which therehence out of her Orb, transports the operative virtue of the twelve constellations of stars and signs to all Elementary creatures, working innovations and alterations of humours and seasons; as we see by man's body, by the weather, by the ebbing and flowing of the Sea. All which now of late God hath diverted for our repentance. The Sea breaks over the ordinary bounds, and hath overflowed many parishes. Our bodies begin to change their temper. The weather beyond nature's knowledge varies with inconstant winds and storms. The Lords prophesy by Amos is fulfilled in our days: I caused it to rain upon one City, and I have not caused it to rain upon another City, yet have you not turned unto me, saith the Lord: Pestilence have I sent among you, yet have you not turned 〈◊〉. 4. unto me. I have overthrown you, as Sodom and Gomorre, and you were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning, yet have ye not turned unto me. LINEAMENT. XV. 1 That the Authors meaning is not to deny the Devil's real subsistence. 2 His charitable application of the statute against Witchcraft, made Anno primo jacobi. 3 That he only denieth his real power, and his palpable force over any of God's creatures. 4 The vanity and fondness of Wizards. 5 That the hand of God plagued job and other creatures of his. 6 That good men never detract from God's glory. IT is no part of my meaning heretically with the Sadduces to deny the eslentiall 1 subsistence of Devils; for in all my writings I affirm their being, I aver their fall from Angels s●ates, I avouch their captivity in hell. As on the other side, I think that Sin is meant by the Devil in most part of the Scripture: yet so, that I know the original to proceed from that Serpent, the great seducing spirit, in whom God found folly, as job said. By the Devil then, which commonly perverts mankind in these days, I understand a sinful Will arising from melancholy and corruption of flesh and blood, which the spiritual Tempter, the sneaking Snake, like a virulent infectious smoke breatheth upon us, when we be destitute of grace. I grant that in King james in his second book of Daemonolog. cap. 7. times past, in times of blind Papistry more Ghosts and Spirits were seen, than tongue can tell, whereas now chose a man shall scarcely all his life time hear once of such things. And if it were lawful for me to comment upon our 2 Act of Parliament in that case provided, Anno primo jacobi, where it is felony without benefit of Clergy in them, which exercise any conjuration of a wicked spirit for any man's corporal hurt, I would affirm, that this most sovereign Court enacted the said Statute, partly in imitation of the law of God, where Conjuration is termed sometimes the using of poison to men's corporal hurts, sometimes an uncharitable or inveterate malice of one neighbour to the other, which the Apostle names man slaughter; and sometimes a whoring after strange Gods (which is called spiritual fornication) such as the adoration of Dagon was among the Philistines, jeroboam's golden Calf (which he in Machiavellian policy made to keep the Israelites from going to worship in jerusalem) and such as Bel was in Babylon, all as senseless blocks and stones; partly the said Act against Conjurers was set out, to the end, that the inward man might be reform, that malicious devices being the causes of Treasons, Murders, and poison might be suppressed, and also that Idolatry, superstition, deceits, and cousenages, the impediments of love, unity, charity, and concord might be quite banished out of our united Realm. For is that man worthy to live in a civil society, which unjustly demeans himself towards God and his neighbours? Deserves he the title of a true subject, which invocates on a foreign Prince, which serves his Prince's enemy? The laws of Christianity condemns him. Let God have what belongs to God; and Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Better kill one rotten sheep rather than the whole flock miscarry. Better it is to chop off the hand, than the whole body perish. One leads astray this man, this man another, and at the last (as more sacks to the mill) whole multitudes become preys to the Devil. For further explanation of the said Statute it is inserted, that supposed Conjurers shall be punished, If they undertake by charms to find hidden treasure, to provoke unlawful love, etc. although the same be not effected and done. And well worthy, seeing by such indirect dealings and diabolical deceits they become Apostates, losing the privilege of Baptism, and consequently of Christianity, where they were bound by their pledges to renounce the Devil and all his works. They become guilty before God, though the Devil appears not at all really unto them, after that they once determine in their minds to raise him up. Nevertheless for all this, that I conceive so charitably of my Countrymen's freckled integrity, like unto that 3 Lawgiver of Greece, which decreed no Act against Parricides, because he thought that kind of sin would never happen: I wish my Readers not to make a strict Syntaxis or sophistical construction on my simple meaning, by their piecemeal collecting, that I go about to seclude the Author of sin by my construction of sin. For I acknowledge his false miracles, his illusions, his ambiguous riddles, and his Apparitions of shadows both immediate and mediate, overt and covert, explicit and implicit, ordinary and extraordinary, tending altogether to one main point, namely, to tempt with deceit old Adam's careless progeny; as chose I impugn his ommpotent greatness, supposed to be as well real as royal. I impugn his sacrilegious power of lightning and thundering Majesty. I impugn his real sword of authority, his paspable force of correction, and his sensible dart of death over any of Christ's members. God forbid that his divine Majesty should tolerate this cruel Tyrant (whose sovereign felicity is malicious envy) in that imperious manner: for then the life of man were in a most desperate plight. Then were we assured to be suddenly dispatched, even in our extremity of sin. When we were occupied about some wicked act (as the very best do sometimes fall) his remorseless spirit would not lose that great advantage, he would surely (like a ravening Lion) utterly devour us. Nay more, if God did wink at his tyranny, our whole estate by the mediation of the Papists, who take upon them to be the Arch-coniurers of the world, had been long sithence blown up with the Gunpowder of his treacherous soul; but, God be thanked, we have a gracious Lord, which hath limited this Leviathan (as Solomon limited Semei) to his narrow home? and as the Poet spoke of Aeolus his kingdom, Stricta dominatur in aulà, he Lordeth it in his strait Virgil. lib. 1. Aeneid. hall. And if it chance that he enter into a man, we may well doubt whether his entrance be in the soul or body, or rather whether his spiritual nature possesseth man's spiritual nature, that is, the soul or soul's faculties. Howsoever the body or soul become possessed by the permission of God, I certainly believe that he may be quickly dislodged by prayer and fasting, and holy exercise; for surely the holy Ghost, and God's ministering spirits loathe to guard our souls, as long as we live lewdly and licentiously. These things considered, I dare stand upon my Christian guard, and defy the Devil with all his trumperies, 4 and reputed realty. Let him do his worst, let him cause his cogging Conjurers to undertake false miracles, works of wonders, and tragical tempests. Our ears are stopped with Ulysses, that we can never be surprised, charm these Mearemaids never so melodiously. Let them feed their hopes with golden dreams, let them bury Sage till it be quite rotten, let them fling flint stones over their left shoulders towards the West, and when all comes to all they build upon the sand, and themselves are esteemed but for wizards, dizards, and dotards; howsoever that the Spirit of detraction proclaim them for foolosophers, or foolish flies, which sitting on a wain wheel, thought that themselves occasioned the great dust in the high way, which the moving of the wheel raised. Wherefore I exhort thee, that hast been guilty of such detractions, to addict thy cogitations to the power 5 of God, which indeed is only royal and real, infinite, and immensive; and also to imitate holy job, who imputed his calamities to the Lord, and not to the Devil; The Lord gave, the Lord taketh away: blessed be the name of the job. ca 1. Lord. And again, when his friends hit him in the teeth with his punishment deservedly for his sins, he protested in this manner: Know now that God hath overthrown job. cap. 19 Ibid. me, and compassed me with his net, and a little after: Have pity on me, O my friends, for the hand of God hath touched me. By which words of job it appears that the hand of God plagued him, and that the Devil exercised but the part of a Relator or Accuser (such as he is termed in the Revelation of S. john. when the Accuser of the brethren was cast down from heaven.) To this sense agreeth that motion of the Devil: Lay thine hand upon him, and he shall curse thee to thy face. Whereto though God answered: Lo he is in thine hand, yet we must not take that saying literally, job. 1. but parable-wise, or according to the Hebrew manner of speech. He is in thine hand, that is, he is in the case as thou wouldst have him, my hand shall plague him according to thy demand. Likewise we must understand, that the holy Ghost here, as in other places of the Scripture inserteth such familiar conserence, as is fitting for man's capacity, and for the usage of that language. When his Majesty is disposed really to plague offenders, commonly he employeth his own Angels, which S. john in the Revelation plainly manifesteth in these words: I saw another sign in heaven great and marvelous, seven Angels having Apoc. cap. 15. the last seven plagues, for by them is fulfilled the wrath of God. And again, I heard a great voice going out of the Temple saying to the seven Angels: Go your ways, & pour Ibid. cap. 16. out the seven golden vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. His own Angel God sent to destroy Sodom and Gomorra, to plague the Israclites when David caused the people to be numbered, and to overthrow Senacheribs' army. His own Angel he sent to smite ambitious Herode, Act. Apost. cap. 12. so that he was eaten up of worms. To conclude, this is a golden rule, and worthy to be engraven in Cedar, that Good men never detract from the 6 Lord, or from their neighbours. To the Lord they ascribe all glory, all causes, all effects. To Caesar they ascribe what is Caesar's, and honour to whom honour belongeth. Notwithstanding any natural notions, or idle imaginations imprinted in their brains by the Spirit of Detraction, good men will quickly break through such brittle cobwebs, and will pierce quite through such imaginations with their intellectual judgements, (as the beams of the Sun pierce and pass through the thickest clouds) inwardly building on this fort of faith, that the Devil's force, himself being spiritual, and oftentimes a prisoner, is not really revelling, but spiritually roguing or restrained even according to the pleasure of the Great jehovah, in whose power alone it consisteth to bruise his head, and to bring us safely out of his tempting snares. LINEAMENT. XVI. The Spirit of Detraction punished by the immediate power of God, proved by examples out of the Scripture. EVen as the Spirit of Detraction with all other sinful spirits, as the spirit of pride, the spirit of gluttony, the spirit of hatred and such others by the contagious craft of the devilish serpent, like an infectious leprosy possessed all souls since the first transgression of our foreparents (our Saviour only excepted) for in Adam we all lived: so likewise did this serpent first detract and deprave the Lords glory in heaven, when he arrogated to himself his immensive power. And afterwards when he seduced Eve to disobey her Creator touching the forbidden fruit, saying unto her, ye shall not die the death. And also when he made her believe that she should be as wise as God. At the building of Babel they desperately detracted, in distrusting God's providence, in fearing another Deluge, and in saying, Let us build us a tower, whose top may Genes. reach unto heaven, lest peradventure we be scattered abroad upon the face of the earht. Corah, Dathan, and Abiram were swallowed up of the earth, because they murmured against God, and spoke Numb. cap. 16. against his servant Moses. Miriam the sister of Moses was stricken by the Lord Numb. cap. 12. with leprosy, because she spoke against her brother, and against his authority which he had from God. The men, which Moses sent to search the land of Canaan, Ibid. cap. 14. and which when they came again made all the people to murmur against him, and brought up a slander upon the land, even those men, that did bring that slander upon it, as though it had been evil, died in a great plague before the Lord None of the Israelites, which came out of Egypt, except Caleb, lived to enjoy the land of promise, because Num. cap. 14. they murmured against their Redeemer, who brought them out of servitude, and tempted his patient spirit, therefore they perished in the wilderness. Saul despairing of God's mercy, and for that the Lord Samuel. cap. 28. vouchsafed not to answer him, by dreams, nor urim, nor yet by Prophets, sought to the cozening witch of Endor, who against her will (like to Baalam and Caiphas) prophesied the truth by a supposed Samuel, that the spirit of God had quite abandoned him, & that the next day after he should be slain by the Philistines. The Israelites discomfited the Syrians, and killed one hundred thousand of them in one day, according to the 1. Reg. cap. 20. speech of the Prophet, that was sent to the King of Israel with this message: Thus saith the Lord, because the Syrians have said: The Lord is God of the mountains, and not God of the valleys: therefore will I deliver this great multitude into thy hands, and you shall know that I am the Lord. Ahaziah King of juda being sick, sent messengers to 2. Reg. cap. 1. Baalzebub the God of Ekron concerning his discase, and his recovery. But Elias out of the Angel's mouth resolved him, saying, Is it because there is no God in Israel, that you go to inquire of Baalzebub the God of Ekron? Wherefore thus saith the Lord: Thou shalt not come down from the bed, on which thou art gone up, but thou shalt die the death. Amaziah Priest of Bethel bade the Prophet Amos prophesy no more at Bethel, because it was the king's Chapel, Amos cap. 7. and the kings Court. Wherefore, and for that he controlled the Lords messenger, thus said the Lord: Thy wife shall be an harlot in the City, and thy sons and daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line, and thou shalt die in a polluted land. Bears came out of the forest, and tore in pieces two and forty children, which mocked Elisha the Prophet, 2. Reg. cap. 2. and reviled him, with his bald head. Senacherib king of Assyria warring with Hezekias king of juda, sent a blasphemous embassage unto him, Isai cap. 27. signifying, that the Lord could no more save jerusalem from his victorious hand, than the counterfeit Gods or Idols of other nations, which he destroyed. But the word of the Lord came to Esay the Prophet against Senacherib in this manner: Whom hast thou railed on, and blasphemed? against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? Even against the Holy one of Israel. Because thou ragest against me, and thy tumult is come up into mine ears: therefore will I put my hook into thy nostrils, and my bridle in thy lips, and will bring thee back again the same way thou camest. So the Angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp one hundred, threescore, and five thousand men in one night. And Senacherib himself at his return home was slain by two of his sons. One Hananiab in the time of Zedekiah king of juda jerem. cap. 28. prophesied falsely among the jews at jerusalem, either of vain glory, for lucre sake, or of set purpose to please the king's humour. And the word of the Lord came to jeremy the Prophet, who thus said unto him: Hear now, Hananiah, the Lord hath not sent thee: but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold I will cast thee from off the earth: This year thou shalt die, because thou hast spoken rebelliously against the Lord. So Hananiah died the same year in the seventh month. Holophernes offended with Achior, because he said, that the Lord of heaven had no more power, than his judith cap. 6. king Nabuchodonozor, blasphemously detracted his eternal Majesty. Who is God (quoth he) but Nabuchodonozor? he will send his power, and will destroy them from the face of the earth, and their God shall not deliver them. Within a while after he was slain by a woman, and his army discomfited. Elymas the Sorcerer withstood Barnabas and Paul, and sought to turn away the deputy from the Christian Act. Apost. ca 13 faith. Then Paul being full of the holy Ghost set his eyes on him and said; O man full of all subtlety and all mischief, the child of the Devil, and enemy to all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the strait ways of the Lord? Now therefore behold the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, and not see the Sun for a season. Our Saviour Christ through the Spirit of God, through profound arguments confounded the Pharisees that detracted Matth. cap. 12. his glorious miracles, alleging, that he did cast out spirits no otherwise then through Baalzebub Prince of Devils. His arguments were these: Every kingdom (saith he) divided against itself shall be brought to nought: and every City or house divided against itself shall not stand. So if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then shall his kingdom endure? Whereby we may gather, that the chiefest fight against the Spirit of Detraction is the irrefragable word of God, seeing that our Master Christ himself used this kind of armour. Herod made an eloquent Oration to them of Tyre and Act. Apost. ca 12. Sidon, so that the people shouted, saying, It is the voice of God and not of man. But because he arrogated the same to his own worth, and gave not glory unto God, the Angel of the Lord smote him, that he was eaten of worms. Saint Paul the Apostle imputes men's mental punishments & infectious sicknesses with these pestilent sins, to our ingratitude and negligence in glorifying and serving God. When they knew God (saith he) they glorified him not as God, neithet were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was full of Rom. cap. 1. darkness. When they professed themselves to be wise, they became fools, for they turned the glory of the incorruptible God, to the similitude of the image of a corruptible man, of birds, of four footed beasts, and of creeping things. Wherefore God gave them up to their hearts lusts, unto uncleanness. They turned the truth into a lie, they served & worshipped the creature, forsaking the Creator: for which cause God gave them up unto vile affections. Rom. cap. 10. The same Apostle in showing the cause of the ruin of the jews, and the calling of the Gentiles ascribes the same unto their Detractions: for they going about to establish their own righteousness submitted not themselves to the righteousness of God. THE sixth CIRCLE OF THE SPIRIT OF DETRACTION, CONJURED AND CONVICTED. LINEAMENT. I. 1 The spirit of Detractions pleas and allegations on the behalf of his humouring and soothing men in their vanities. 2 The said spirit sharply rebuked for his Equivocation and dissimulation. 3 The Authors purpose in this subsequent Circle. He is no Politician (quoth Peter please-man) that will not pledge the world in the cup of Detraction, chiefly in these untoward times, when men shall sit by themselves, as forsaken and forlorn, unless they jump one with another in the self same vein of discourse: whether it be in derogating from God's omnipotence, or in diminishing of their neighbour's fame. How shall men otherwise consume away their times. Reading occasioneth bloudshot eyes, and moist migrims; silence engendereth melancholy, and sleep obstupefieth the lodge of imagination. But speeches, be they merry or malicious, jesting or gibing, do extend the windpipes, enlarge the heartstrings, exhilarate the soul's faculties, and induce all companies to admire a man's fluent tongue, and to extol his filled voice. Wilt thou be enroled in gentlemen's books for one of their principal favourites? strain thyself to humour them, scoff when they scoff, bite when they bite, and (like Hypocrates twins) laugh and weep together. If thou hearest them blaspheme, or blazing outnovelties, endeavour thou to verify the same, or to requite their familiar conference with some additions of thine own invention. By this means thou shalt make thy company precious unto them, & also pry (like an insinuating intelligencer) into the inward state of all thy country. By this means thou shalt learn their several and secret inclinations, who be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 corrupt Magistrates, who be carousers, fornicators, or who have encurred the danger of any penal statute. An Romule coe●es? Art thou a Britain a Christian, and dost thou faun and wag thy tail, like a spaniel? Dost thou preach the doctrine of Devils? Dost thou 2 teach men to equivocate, to dissemble, to detract, and to lash out lies? O son of Belial, thou art in the gall of hell, and hast no portion with us in our Christian business. How canst thou love God whom thou never sawest, seeing thou canst not love thy brother in Christ whom thouse●st daily? And how canst thou love thy Saviour Christ, when thou shamefully sharest his seamclefie coat with Satan's soldiers, or when thou tearest his members name & fame with thy taunting tongue? Words wound a man worse than swords. No deadly drugs of Arsenic or aconite are comparable to lying lips, no spirit more dangerous, than the spirit of Detraction. Let a man observe silence, and he shall never obtain harm; let him when he speaks, speak soberly, and all men will love him: or if that Ismaels' seed do taunt him, Isaac's seed will tender him. If the ungodly contemn him, the godly will comfort him. And will not the comfortable love of one godly man counterpoise the contempt of many ungodly? Let him seldom speak, or not before a question be asked him, and he shall never be indemnified. Let him follow the French man's counsel: Pibrac. Parlour beaucoup on ne peut sans mensonge, Ou pour le moins sans quelque vanity. Le parler brief convient à verity; Et l' autre est propre àla fable et au song. To prattle much one cannot without lies, Or at the least without some vanity, It well agrees with dreams and fooleries; But pithy words belong to verity. For this purpose that the talkative may be ashamed of their tattling tongues, for the public good, and for my 3 modest memorial towards her, that rests with the Lord of rest, have I composed and complotted this Circle, Whereby the world may conceive charitably of those runagate rumours which lately by Satan's long reeds (not unlike to those of Midas his barber) have passed & pierced into their Asses ears, which being remote from the Meridian of the climate, wherein I live, do believe nothing more certainly, then that the Devil in his real person hath reveled among us. These news exposed abroad with a smoky gloze have been so vented by the Inventor of false news, that our Aleknights, Alchemists, Tobacconists, and such like taunting spirits with general applause do magnify the Devil's majesty in their daily detractions, and want but little of canonising and consecrating him for their God, & his adherents for their Saints. Which blasting blasphemy because I have almost extinguished in the former Circle with divine dew, I will proceed in this present Circle to the conviction of other partial paralogismes, wherein his earthly Agents, our doting dolts with both hands do extol dumb creatures to the very skies, not much unlike to those idolatrous Indians, who adore the Orient Sun, the Moon, and other visible Stars. So when our ignorant countrymen hear but the clap of a thunder, or see but a flash of lightning, they arm themselues forthwith with outward shows, with crossing their profane bodies. Others again more wise in their own conceits believe, that God predestinates no man to perish by such heavenly means, saving wicked wretches: wherein they limit his providence, wisdom and glory, which otherwiles he manifesteth by such glorious accidents for our trials, or for some other notable effect. Some wade yet further, in attributing a powerful prerogative to such meteorie signs, namely, that they can harm a man of themselves without God's extraordinary ordinance. For (say they) he made an end of all his works in six days, and left order that every Star should move in his place, and bring forth suitable qualities according to men's complexions and constellations. All which prodigies of opinions, together with other contagious conceits of men's busy brains I will confound with the Sunshine of truth, interfusing discipline mutually with doctrine, and both of them with God's miracles, so that the right hand reciprocally supporting the left hand, they may contune and continue together as it were in a Diapazon, and afterwards serve for bridling precedents to lose and lavish tongues. As for the substance of the subject, I dare submit the same to the learnedst Lydian touch; whose critic carping I countermine with that Epigram. Cum tua non aedas, carpis mea opuscula Mome: Carpere vel noli nostra, vel aede tua. Thou puttest not out thy works, yet carp'st at mine: Leave off to carp at mine, or put out thine. LINEAMENT. II. 1 How the Spirit of Detraction goeth about to overthrow Predestination in attributing our misfortunes immediately to the Planets, thunder's, lightnings, or other natural creatures; where the Author excuseth himself for writing of such deep mysteries. 2 How God made the second causes and all other things in this world for man's sake. Our taunting Trojans finding no weighty 1 shifts to restore and repair up the Devil's ruinated reputation & real strength, do in their steed entertain other Hydra's of opinions: that the Planets, thunders, lightnings, or some other natural creatures, immediately occasioned our ill fortunes, our sudden losses, or death's violence. Whereby these detracting busibodies go about to overthrow predestination, to abolish from nature the light of nature, and to subject the first cause unto his second causes, the Creator to his creature, after the example of unnatural jupiter, which drove out his own Father Saturn from his kingdom of Crete. Oh unhappy men, that ascribe such prerogatives to weak and wounded nature. Is there not in the Lord's hand a cup, and the wine red? Are not our hairs numbered? But to confute this absurdity, I will briefly run over the springs of Predostination. And first I will search with submissive thoughts, under the accustomed patience of my most patient Lord the only Creator of the world, what were the patterns of his works, before the creation, and how he conferred his power upon the second means. Which over curious search I do willingly undertake for the better satisfaction of busy brains. In this Labyrinth I humbly desire his heavenly highness to dispense with my haughty purpose, for certainly (if it were possible) men should not question of such profound matters, but rather they should be drawn back to the humility of not thinking once thereon, lest that chance unto them which chanced to the presumptuous Angels, or lest the answer of that ancient Father jump just upon their fantastical pates, who being asked by a curious-headed fellow what God did before this world's creation, gave him this choking answer, he made (quoth he) Hell for such curious persons as you are. An humble ignorance (I confess) in such weighty mysteries is no way prejudicial; but the peremptory denial of any one of them is blame worthy. This world is a miraculous map or a table book, wherein the mysteries of God's nature are deciphered, so 2 that it is impossible for any man to know the particularities thereof. Therefore we must content ourselves with admiration, which is a thing most acceptable to the Spirit. To verify this, look O mortal man, upon the azured sky, and tell me what thou seest? Admiration. Descend into the earth, and take thy journey from the East unto the West, from the North unto the South, and after all thy travels, after all thy trials tell me what thou sayest, nay what thou sawest. Admiration. Well, seeing that the vastness of this world's circuit doth so confound thy weak and wearied senses, that the more thou musest, the more thou marvelest: then enter into thy little world into thyself, and comprehend thy thoughts within a certain circle. O quam durus est hic sermo. This is a heavier task. At the least and last, look down upon the little Ants, and learn what moves them to toil and take more care to live by their own labours then many a man. Surely, thou canst not but admire. And why? because this world and all the works therein are the Idea, the model, the map, the book, wherein the nature of the incomprehensible Godhead is written with capital letters of Admiration. In every thing both great and little, how little and light soever it be, his Divine Majesty hath imprinted his wisdom, goodness, and power. And even as in his substance he is all, so in his works he doth all. And now to declare what God did before the creation of the world, it is certain, that his purpose was to have a society of men as well as of Angels, and those good and evil Angels, that the one might serve as monuments of his mercy, the other as monuments of his justice, and that both together might serve as instruments of his glory; for his power is no less glorified in the one then in the other. After the determination of his purpose, for men's sake, that they might have a place correspondent to their natures, he drew the platform of this world. Wherein these principal things concurred, first his purpose, next his wisdom, thirdly his goodness, fourthly his power, five his general providence, sixthly, his particular predestination. To return back towards the first, which is his purpose or intent: There is the map of all the world, and of every thing to be done there throughly contrived in his mind before the beginning of his work. Then his wisdom, goodness, and power animated him to go forwards, and to provide for the building of his new place of plantation or world, for as then there wanted a mediate or second instrument to work upon. Wherefore he was driven to create all of nothing, that is, without any second means without the assistance or advice of any other. In this creation he used the help of his word only, that was his omnipotent self, whom the natural Philosophers otherwise termed the first mover or supreme cause of all things. There was no power in his Angels, for they were but creatures themselves, having their motions by his very motion. In the power of his only will and motion it consisted to create the essence of the material substance of the world. And so he made heaven and earth, and by virtue of his Spirit he breathed life, form, or motion into them, and into all the creatures thereof, so that all things were in the compass of six days enlightened, replenished, supported and sustained by the motion of his powerful spirit, yea all things, the firmament, the planets, stars, meteours, elements, and all other creatures whatsoever, were united with such a perfect union that they make up a perfect globe, map, or book, of his neverenough-admired nature; And which is most miraculous to man's capacity, ever since that he moved them, they continually move one another by different motions & do effect all things in this world either for generation, preservation, or destruction according to his supreme direction. Some move one another by necessary or fatal motions. Some by voluntary motions, some by casual motions, some by natural motions: either slow or swift. What good things come to pass, we are to attribute to himself, who is the first mover of all these motions. But what evil things come to pass, we must ascribe to the second motions, which are voluntary and uncompelled by him: I say, we are to ascribe evil things to second causes, that we detract not from his omnipotence in making him the immediate cause, or in affirming that they proceeded without his consent. For as goodness comes from his will: so evil cannot come against his will, but by his sufferance and permission it comes from secondary motions. LINEAMENT. III. The Spirit of Detraction convicted for measuring God's providence by their own humane providence. THose naturalists do greatly err which measure the divine providence by their own humane providence, or rather by their wanton affections. Little do they think that their natural computation of time causeth this unnatural imputation, for with God all times be one, and a thousand years in his sight are but as yesterday. With him who is the beginning and end of all things there is no time past, nor time to come, in respect of his foresight, by reason that his foresight is his present sight, so as he beholdeth at once, at one instant which instant with him is always and eternal, not only all things which ever happened or ever shall happen, but also every particular thing as then presently done; and looketh so earnestly, so clearly upon it, as though his eye were fixed intentively on that thing, and on nothing else. The reason is, because there is no distinct differences of time in the eternity, seeing that at one look he seeth all the world over. And his intent to do a thing, and his doing of a thing, is all one and the selfsame, in respect of his eternal knowledge, though it be otherwise in respect of man's natural knowledge. Let this suffice for God's general foresight or purpose of all things, which we call his Providence that extends universally to all the world, and to all the creatures thereof. Now it remains that I discourse somewhat of Predestination, which is not a thing severed from his Providence, but only that noble part thereof, which belongs to his noblest creature under the co●e of heaven, for whose sake he created all the world, making him his Deputy or Bailiff to use the same for his glory, and not to abuse the same for his own luxuriousness. LINEAMENT. four 1 The Author's censure of Predestination. 2 That all second causes do work their effects according to the first causes direction, which is God. 3 How God endowed some with free will through grace to enable them unto faith. 4 The Spirit of Detraction convicted for imputing the cause of men's damnation to God's decree. GOod and evil were certainly predestinated unto us in our several estates, ever since the beginning of the world by our Creator, not 1 according to any evil deserts, or virtuous motives of ours, but only according to his own free pleasure, according to the absolute counsel of his own sovereign will, and according to the universal power which his omnipotence hath over the workmanship of his hands. Neither yet constrains he any of his second causes to commit good or evil by any forcible operation or necessity of nature, but by disposing unto effects suitable to their several conditions: Whereby both good and evil actions shall flow out of the said second causes according to their own dispositions, even as a voluntary quality proceeds from a voluntary cause, and a casual quality from a casual cause. His omnipotent Majesty (I say) as the first mover, the first cause, is the immediate mover, and cause of all effects whatsoever the second cause brings forth, and also the cause of all their inclinations. Even as Deliberation (which is the chiefest act of our understanding in the knowledge of good and evil) and the 2 Gospel of Christ are the mediate and secondary causes in the first act of the conversion of our humane wills (now passive) towards the will of God being the first and supreme cause of our deliberation, of this Gospel, and of our wills; and even as these two causes (the second depending on the first) must join together before that we can resolve on any good or evil word, thought, or deed: so the Planets, Meteors, or other natural creatures of God, in respect of him being second causes, cannot produce any effect whatsoever good or evil for our benefit or harm, without his supreme direction. Both causes work naturally in this world, when both conjoin in a natural effect against a natural creature. And yet sometimes it pleaseth his sovereign Majesty to wound nature without any such second or natural causes which gulf because it is perilous to sail through, I will modestly content myself by the shore, or on this side of that great Sea, following Du Bartas his advice, having Faith for my sails, the holy Ghost for my P●lot, and the Bible for my star. Qui voudra seurement par ce goussre ramer Sage, n'atlie iamais cingler en haute mer. Ains costoye la rive, aiant la foy pour voile, L'Esp●it saint pour nocher, lafoy Bible pour estoile. But (quoth the reprobate) then may I do whatsoever my will enduceth me unto. It is all one whether I commit good or evil. For if goodness be already predestinated unto me, I shall surely light upon it; neither can all the provocations of the world, the flesh, or the devil, cause me to err. O curuae in terras animae, coelestiura inanes! O stooping souls to earthly trumperies, And quite devoid of heavenly mysteries! Though God foresaw before the ground work of the world was laid, that such and such might be saved: yet notwithstanding he knew in his wisdom that they could not by reason of their affections, and of themselves without his assistance, attain to that perfect state. And therefore he interpoled his mercy together with his justice, he sent his own spirit among them incarnated to ease them of that grievous yoke which flesh and blood found insupportable, whereby he foresaw that men might please him, if they were endowed with as much freewill, as they might choose for their enabling thereunto. To this end he inspired some with faith, and some he rejected: yet with this caveat and condition did he predestinate them to faith, that this faith should serve as a badge or cognizance to discern them from the reprobate; so that their election being conditional, they should not wax presumptuous, cowards, nor Apostates. Thus all our actions, all our goodness, all our misfortunes, yea and our lives, wills, and destinies are subordinate without coaction or constraint unto God's directions, whose supreme will being above our wills, and flowing into our wills, takes not away the judgements of our understanding, nor enforceth us, but so ruleth us, that we in choosing or refusing do somewhat follow our own reasonable wills. For he that made us, without us will not sanctify us without us, that is, without our cooperation and consent. Much less can the influence of the Stars or Meteours induce a necessity of destiny, and master our complexions without our consent. The very beginning of all our operations was infused by our Creator in ourselves with freedom of will. So that no constellations or meteours, if being corporal substances they triumph other while over our bodies by God's direction, yet cannot they sway our minds, because they are divine, spiritual, and of a purer substance than themselves. And surely they are strongly possessed with the spirit of Error, which ascribe the cause of their damnation immediately 4 unto God's inevitable decree, for the certainty of his decree doth no way force them of necessity to be saved or damned, as they please. And though the intent of God himself be certain and immutable, yet notwithstanding the means of bringing the effects of salvation or damnation to pass, do not proceed from necessary but from voluntary motions: for God's providence or foresight, which as I wrote in the former discourse, is always present, eternal, and at once, observing that such effects would follow, and seeing as it were at the same instant such to follow his commandments as lively, as if they had already fulfilled them, and contrariwise seeing such and such to commit sin, as if he had seen them then already committed, knew certainly who would be his elect, and who would be rebellious. Weercupon, he ordained eternal rewards and eternal punishments for them. As for example, a man sick of a Calentura or burning ague is charged by his Physician not to drink wine. The patient notwithstanding the strictness of his charge by reason of his continual custom, and former disordered life carouseth wine, and dieth. Which that Poet well remembered: Et tremor inter vina subit, calidumque trientem Excutit è manibus: dentes crepuere retecti. Persius' satire. 3. In drinking wine the pangs of death From him the cup do wrest: His members quake, his teeth do shake, His life can find no rest. Now the cause of this man's death was himself, for if he had obeyed the Physician he had recovered his health. After this fatal accident we cannot deny, but it might have otherwise happened, but the thing being once done, we certainly know it was done, and what was done must needs be done: for now it cannot be undone. Howbeit that in the doing or drinking of the wine, the sick party might have chosen whether he would drink it or no. So in our actions concerning salvation or damnation, there is no necessity or restraint, but we may choose in time whether we will be saved or no, neither aught we justly to accuse God for our damnation if we be damned, or blame his immutable and inevitable decree, but lay the fault where it ought. Seeing that God is content, that his will should concur with ours, let us lay the fault on our stubborn selves, who through a customary delight in sinning have wittingly and wilfully deserved it. For his divine Majesty to free himself, did tender his grace to all, & every man might by acceptance there of avoid the punishment, & fly from the wrath to come, if he would; so that it is not the necessity or constraint of God's decree, which inferred our damnation, but our contempt of God's commandments, which albeit we need not commit, unless we would: yet being once committed must needs be committed; which his provident Majesty perceiving thus to proceed and chance as already proceeded and chanced, decreed eternal reward for the righteous, and eternal punishment for the reprobate. Concerning this last point, we may justify the certainty of his decree. But to charge his Providence with the occasion of our sins, as by the necessity of his decree, is damnable; for it is one thing to inquire whether God knew that such and such would be damned; and another thing to inquire whether he forced them to sin, and so to work their own damnation. And it is another thing to affirm, that God knowing such and such would sin according to their natures did decree eternal punishment for them. LINEAMENT. V. That God is not the Author of Temptation, but an Actor therein. Neither tempteth God any man: but giveth the wicked man over to his own concupiscence, ja. cap. 1. and consequently to sin, and Satan's alluring baits. He tempteth no man immediately, but according to his unsearchable pleasure, he turneth away his countenance, withdraweth the influence of his grace from him, and then is man's heart hardened by reason of his own natural imbecility, lead into temptation, and left (as corpus opacum) either for a while eclipsed, or for ever enticed with the world, the flesh, and the Devil. And yet God is not the Author of our corruptions, though he be an Actor in corrupting. The doing of a thing proceeds from the Creator, and the evil doing from the Creature. That the harp soundeth, the harper is the cause, that it soundeth ●ll, the harp itself is the cause. In all natural bodies their own brittleness is the cause of their corruptions. Not the agents, but the patients work their ill savouring. That we talk, that we walk, God is the cause; that we talk amiss, & walk awry, our own wantonness with our weakness is the cause. Our tongues were made to glorify our Creator, our hearts to meditate before we talk, that both consenting and concurring together in a joyful embassage towards God, the soul may deserve a joyful welcome in heaven. In regard of which circumstances, O mortal men, Let your dead bodies be embalmed, your meats parboiled or powdered. Let your tongues, hearts, and steps be directed by the bridle, lamp, and line of God's holy word; For with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness, and with the Rom. cap. 10. mouth confession is made unto salvation, according to that divine Distich: Non vox, sed votum: non Musica chordula, sed cor: Non clamour, sed amor cantat in aure Dei. Not flattering words, but fervent vows of mind: Not Musics sound, but souls by faith refined: Not outward cries, but inward flaming zeal, Within God's ears ring out a pleasing peal. LINEAMENT. VI 1 How God predestinated some to be saved. 2 Why all men were not elected. 3 That men's own wills by God's sufferance occasion their reprobation and harm. 4 The Author's sentence concerning himself, whether he be one of the elect. 5 That Good and Evil cannot come without God's consent. OUR heavenly Father, whose providence or foresight is no other than his present sight, 1 before the beginning of the world seeing men at that time (though uncreated and unborn) all present in his sight, as if they were already created and borne, ready to receive doom or judgement, and seeing them at that instant to refuse his grace, as lively as if they had already refused the same, observing withal the corruption of their nature continued by custom, to produce corrupt fruits and effects accordingly, elected the purer moulded spirits apart from the rest, enabled them with his grace as with a special gift or pardon (for indeed the very purest had deserved death and damnation) and freely of mere favour gave them their lives at the mediation of their Redeemer, and also their liberty, which their first parents have since wittingly forfeited. The rest, as reprobates, refusing his charter of grace, and already in his foresight (which is eternal, and always present) condemned and standing before him in the state of damnation, he suffered still to persever and to be as he found and saw them. Cry for mercy they could not, because his justice required equality or satisfaction. Beg for liberty they could not, by reason that their sins had entangled and tonguetied them. And so for want of speaking and suing with remorse of conscience (which we call repentance) unto the Saviour of the world (by whom I understand God's mercy, which ●ince was made flesh & shined before his justice) they sustained the punishment, that was due unto them. Wherein they were not to blame God, but rather themselves, that foolishly delayed their suits. I heard that of late days a prisoner well lettered, after condemnation having gotten the benefit of his Clergy according to the laws of this land, and referred to his trial whether he could read or no, was suddenly so bed azeled and bereaved of his eye sight, that for want of reading he lost his life. Now who can blame the judge in this case? Surely no man. For he was justly hanged through his own default. The judge did what he could justify, yea and perhaps was forced to shed tears, when he pronounced the judgement. Much more fault are we to find with those sinners, which can read and beg for remission, and yet of set contumacy (like a cursed child wholly addicted to frowardness) will not be persuaded once to say Abba, Father. To return unto my former matter of Election, God 2 finds men evil, and leaves them so, for he is not tied to give them grace, except it please himself. To confirm this, I regard many creatures, and do find them all diversely disposed, some to good, some to evil, some to riches, some to poverty; I find this diversity in our very grounds. here, is good arable land, good pasture: there, grows neither corn nor pasture, but briers, brambles, tares, cockle, furs, heath, or stones. — Non omnis fert omnia tellus, Hic segetes, illic crescunt foelicuis vuae. All grounds bear not alike all kind of things: Here, grows grain, there the grape more fruitful springs. But why all grounds yield not the same commodities, we must leave that secrecy to God's unsearchable will. I like manner I see our earthly kings bestowing titles of honour upon diverse persons, and upon diverse occasions. Some they dub knights before the battle, and some after the battle. Some others they grace of their own sesecrete judgement, or for some cause unknown unto us. After the like manner (to compare great things with small) (O eternal Father) thou disposest of thy sinful creatures. Some thou callest, some thou electest, some thou reiectest. Of those which thou callest, some thou reservest for one purpose, some for another; and all for thy glory. Neither ought we to marvel or murmur at this, that we be not all called & chosen, considering what was our beginning, our fragility, our stubborn natures, and that we deserved no favour at all. Seeing our first Parents both man and woman tasted the fruit of good and evil, it is but discreet severity, or rather divine mercy, that thy sovereign Majesty electeth some (as good persons) of their seed to honour thee, and leavest the rest (as evil) to their own appetites in satisfaction of thy justice. To the one thou givest heaven for the honour of thy mercy, to the other hell for the honour of thy justice. And yet dare not I always justify the elect, in exempting them quite from the thraldom of sin, seeing that they are but brittle flesh and blood, who might commit follies in their youth being subject to the knowledge of evil, and nevertheless become reform in the midst of their age, as capable by the divine bounty of the knowledge of goodness. Now it remaineth, that I touch a little, as I sail by the shore of curiosity, wherefore God suffereth the 3 workmanship of his hands to be damned? For the solution of this trivial and idle question, it is written, that the Potter may ordain his own vessels to what use himself pleaseth. For no doubt, but God is glorified in the damnation of the reprobate (as in the Revelation he is honoured for judging the whore of Babylon) albeit that he be no cause of their wickedness. Commonly he suffereth evil to chance by that means as he bringeth goodness to pass, extolling his own glory out of their errors, and in effect his sufferance of evil is nothing else but his destination and decree of goodness. So that the cause of men's reprobation proceeded not from the ordinance of God's will, but from their own wills by God's sufferance. In a word, it is not good to be overbusie with this eternal purpose of God; for it is the mark of a Reprobate 4 to intrude himself overboldly into the secrets of his Maker. Let us then modestly content ourselves with the Apostles Counsel: I say (through the grace that is Rom. 12. given unto me) to every one that is among you, that no man presume to understand above that which is meet to be understood; but that he understand according to sobriety. Let us like infants content ourselves with milk, pap, and such tender meat, as serve fittest to nourish our tender constitutions. And let us not covet or rather wantonly long after any food of a stronger quality, able to overcome our weak natures, lest we be confounded. For they that gaze too long upon the Sun beams, will become blinded with the glory or majesty thereof. We must not pry into God's secrets; but pray unto God's Son, our all-sufficient Saviour. For do not we strictly censure him, that enters uncalled into a Great Man's chamber, upbraiding him, as an unmannerly saucy jack? What availeth it me to inquire whether another man be in the state of salvation or damnation, while myself have more need to pry into mine own state, to live Moss tenus propria, within mine own lot, and (for my further knowledge, quam sit mihicurta suppellex) like a snail, to shoot into mine own home? Is not he unwise that rogues abroad for strange and curious news, leaving his own house unsettled, and as a prey to his mortal enemy? God give me the grace to muse & meditate with myself from day to day, whether myself am in the state of salvation or no, and to do my best endeavour to please God, whereby I may become one of his elected number, leaving off such frivolous questions & foolish inquisitions. For although that the number of the Elect and Reprobate be certainly known in the eternal purpose of God: yet considering the causes of salvation and damnation to be incertain, variable, and voluble in mine own conscience, I am driven to submit myself with fear and trembling to God's mercy, hoping for the one, and fearing the other; lest his number of the elect in respect of me be not certain. For I find by experience, that sometimes being penitent and pensive for my sins, I am in the state of salvation, and that some other times seduced by Satan, the world, or the flesh, I am in a most doubtful and desperate estate, which I pray God to suspend and turn to the best for my Redeemers sake, that became a sacrifice for my sins. With this hope or faith I was fed ever since my baptism, that being thought worthy of so great a grace, and of many more blessings besides, I may believe & build upon it, that I am elected. Therefore I will not faint like a coward, but glory that I am a Christian, protesting to continue faithful; as one sometime gloried that he was borne a man, and not a beast, a Protestant and not a Papist. Thus far have I adventured to wade in the depth of Predestination, freewill, and Election: Whereupon, as 5 on a most sure foundation, I establish this Proposition: Psal. 75. that promotion comes neither from the East, nor from the West, nor from any where else, then from the first Cause, for he alone putteth down one, and setteth up another; and that no calamity, nor cross can chance without the Ibid. same first cause, the God of endless glory, power, strength, wisdom, mercy, and bounty, whose name be blessed and praised for ever and ever, world without end. Amen. LINEAMENT. VII. 1 The causes why God ordained thunder and lightning. 2 The natural nutriments of lightning. 3 Why thunder and lightning be most dangerous in Winter. 4 Where they work their operations more vehemently. 5 An admonition to build low. WE must leave unto nature her peculiar office, 1 because she effects nothing without the predestinate counsel of the eternal Mover. The Winter's dirt, the Summer's dust, the airy clouds, all of them spring from nature's motion. The airy Regions are moved, and thereupon stormy blasts of wind arise. The vapours turn and toss, then dusky clouds appear. At last both winds and clouds carried about in the wheel of violence engender tempests, thunders, and lightnings. All which though they issue from natural causes, yet we must note them, as tokens sent from the Author of nature, who being bound to no causes is himself the original cause of all causes. Like as the particoloured Rainbow prognosticates the divine league indented betwixt his supreme Majesty and sinful men: even so let us judge, that thunders be volees of Canon shot to rouse us up from our drowsy defiled dreams. To this end it lightens, that besides our sense of seeing, our other affrighted senses may solicit the sluggish Queen to save herself, and her snaily house before the general day of doom. Do out your candles, away with your oils, remove your Lard, take away the nutriment of lightnings, lest they 2 overthrow your weaker lights, yea and extinguish your chief delight, the light of your bodies, the image of everlasting light. Omne simile nutrit sibi simile. Every like nourisheth his like: no marvel then, if lightnings endowed with an unctuous substance approach naturally to oil, tallow, bacon, gross bodies, and to hot moistened wares. Thunder is most dangerous in Winter, according to those vulgar rhythms: 3 A foul Winter's thunder A fair Summer's wonder. Because the Ruler of nature at that unseasonable time is disposed to make his Deity manifest to miscreant Atheists, who limit such Meteory signs only to the Spring and Autumn, and also because his Majesty means to awake his rebellious children out of the Lethean Lethargy of carnal voluptuousness. The places where oftenest thunders strike, and lightnings' flash, be high trees, high houses, high hills, not 4 only because they are nearest to the Region of the air where fiery exhalations do always wrestle and war with congealed vapours (as every Agent works most fiercely upon his nearest matter) but likewise because the Lord would have us humble ourselves before him by such terrible admonitions: which the Satyriste also toucheth: Ignovisse putas? quia cum tonat, oeius Ilex Persius' in Sa. tyra 2. Sulphur discutitur sacro, quam tuque domusque? Thinkest thou, that God hath quite forgiven thee? Because thou seest the highest oaken tree Sooner, than thee or thy fair house, defa'st With thunder claps and sacred sulphurs blast? And as a more ancient Poet in more lively colours paints out the extremity of meteores against the loftiest seats: — Uentis agitatur ingens Pinus, & celsae graviore casu Horatius. Decidunt turres, feriuntque summos Fulgura montes. The hugest Pine with wind is shaken down; The highest tower is soon overthrown; The loftiest mount with lightning is o'rblowne. In respect of which inconveniences a wise Emperor 5 of Rome forbade (by an express decree) any Citizen in Rome to build a house above forty or fifty foot high. And thou dear Christian, which readest this humble book, I admonish thee to build low, to carry a low sail, to lay aside thy Peacock's plumes, to behold thy feet, I mean the earth, from whence thou camest; and lastly I warn thee to prostrate thy thoughts before thy heavenly Father, the world's great Thunderer, following the Poet's counsel: Vi●e tibi, quantumque potes praelustria vita: Saewm praelustri fulmen ab arce venit. Live to thyself, and shun the stateliest room; For thunder doth from highest Castle come. LINEAMENT. VIII. 1 How God sends thunder and lightning either for his glory, for men's trial, 〈◊〉 for their punishment. 2 Examples aswell modern as ancient of forcible thunders and lightning. IN all ages it pleased God to manifest his majestical power of thunder and lightnings 1 among mortal men either for his glory, or for monition sake, or for their punishment. At Mount Sina● to show the Israe●●●● is glorious strength and Majesty, he appeared Exod. cap. 19 Psal. 18. job. cap. 1. 1. Reg. cap. 18. with exceeding loud Trumpets, with terrible thunders and lightnings, which the Prophet David thus expressed: The Lord thundered out of heaven, and the most High gave out his voice, hailstones and coals of fi●e. Another time to try jobs faith, and to make the Devil a liar in impeaching his innocence and integrity, God caused his heavenly fire to descend, and to consume his servants and 1. Reg. cap. 1. Genes. cap. 19 flocks of sheep. Likewise for the conversion of the Israelites at the prayers of Elias he sent fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice. The like did he again at the prayer of the said Elias send down to destroy Ahaz●as men. And this very weapon of lightning and sulphureous fire used he against Sodom and Gomorrhe. Alladius an ancient King of the Latins (who reigned Dionys. Haliea. lib. 1. Anti. 2. before Romulus) had his Palace set on fire with lightning from heaven, and perished himself therein. A king of Clide was strike with a thunderbolt from heaven. D●odor. Sicu. lib. 4. A maid of Rome travelling to Apulis was killed with lightning (no harm outwardly appearing in her body) and at the same instant her garments were also shaken Eutropius. off without any rent, & her horse also killed, & his bridle and girths shaken off without any breach. It is reported of King Mithridates, when he was a very infant lying in his cradle, that the lightning caught the swaddling clothes, and set them on fire, but never touched or hurt his body, save only there remained a little Plutar. lib. 1. Sympos. quaest 6. mark of the fire upon his forehead, again when he was grown, it chanced that the lightning pierced into the bedchamber where he was asleep; and for his own person it was not so much as singed therewith, but it blasted a quiver of arrows that hung at his bed side, went through it, and burned the arrows within. There was at Rome a soldier, who keeping the Sentinel upon one of the temples of the City chanced to have a flash of lightning to fall very near unto him, Plutar. Sympos. lib. 4. quaeston. 3 which did him no hurt at all in his body, but only burnt the ●atchet of his shoes: and about the same time, whereas there were certain small boxes and cruets of silver within wooden cases, the silver within was found all melted unto a mass in the bottom, and the wood not injured at all, but continued entire and found. Many have died by reason of thunder or lightning without any mark or stroke, wound, scorch, or burning seen Jbid. upon them, whose life & soul for very fear hath flowed out of their bodies, like a bird out of a cage. Olympus an Arrian Bishop had his body suddenly burnt with lightning at Carthage: which judgement of God Paulus Diaconus fell upon him, as many thought, for blaspheming the blessed Trinity. One Prester the son of Hyppomenes for blaspheming God was stricken with a thunder, and perished. Sabelli. Anastasius the Emperor in the year of Christ 499. being addicted to Magic and the Manichean heresy, Zonar. tom. 2. Annal. did pierce cute such Christians as reproved his fins and wickedness. But at the last lightning came fearfully about his house called Tholotum, he crept from chamber to chamber to seek where he might be safest: but nothing would prevail. The flashes in the end overtook him, and he perished miserably. Hatto the Bishop of Mentz, when in the year of Christ 918, by the instigation of Conrade the Emperor, he endeavoured to murder Henry Duke of Saxony, was suddenly slain with a stroke of lightning. In the year of our Lord 653. at Frisazium a town of Saxony a great number both of houses and people were destroyed by lightnings. It is written, that the mother of Hierom Fracastorius (who afterwards became one of the most learned and famous Physicians of Christendom) having the said Hierome in her arms then an infant, was herself killed with lightning. But her child was not hurt at all. In the year of our Lord 15●4. the City of Claravalla in France, being stricken with lightning about noon days did so fiercely burn, that in three hours' space their town, castles, & Churches were utterly consumed. In the year of our Lord 1551. an honest Citizen of Gar●●us in met●orolog. Crentzburge standing by his table, and a dog lying by his feet, were both of them suddenly slain by a lightning: yet a young child, which stood hard by his Father, was preserved safe. It is not long since Paul's proudsteeple overcrowing all the spires in England felt the blows of divine justice with her sister Babel; the one by lightning, the other by confusion. One Wyman a Citizen of Gloucester, as many there yet living can testify, about forty years past, having a son called Arthur Wyman at the University in Oxford, very earnestly required another son of his, one William Wyman to carry some provision of victuals upon a Whitsonday to his said son in Oxford. This younger son, after many excuses, was at the last forced upon that high day nolens volens to go forwards on his journey to Oxford. But by the way in a thicket of wood he was found strike dead with lightning: yet his body in outward appearance was without any mark. The mare whereon he road was also smitted dead, and savoured very strong of brimstone. And the meat which he carried, as Kid, Lamb, etc. were so corrupted with blackish sent, and stunk so ill favouredly, that no man could abide the smell thereof. Mistress Lowbell a Gentlewoman of Colchester yet living, about two and twenty years ago or there abouts was suddenly stricken down with lightning, and so scorched and singed in her body with the sulphureous flame, that she could hardly be cured within a quarter of a year after. About the said time at a place called Croes-Askurne in the County of Carmarthen, upon the day of a Gentleman's marriage, as they were making merry there, a very strange accident happened. There came a thunderbolt, and pierced quite through the said house, and also a certain woman's head-tires were rend and torn from her head with a blast of lightning at that instant, without any other harm. Likewise about that time a whole household at a place called Talley in the said County, were burnt with wildfire. There perished at that time by report five or six little children in the said house. Whereby it appears, that the innocent is sometimes smitten with such strange ends aswell as nocents. There was a fearful lightning on the seventeenth day of November 1606. which in very short time burnt up the steeple of Bleachingley in Surrey, and in the same melted into infinite fragments a good ring of Bells. Which accident, because it was so lately done, I will rehearse the same more at large, according to the discourse of one Simon Harward, who wrote thereof compendiously and learnedly. When I came (quoth he) to visit the town of Bleachingley, I found their cause to be equal (if not worse) then the rumour or report, which was before published: I found that by the lightning (which came with the terrible thunder on Monday being the seventeenth of this instant November, about ten of the clock in the night) the spire steeple of the said Bleachingley, having been lately new covered to the great charges of the parish, in three hours' space was utterly consumed with fire. The steeple was about twelve fade me high above the battlements of the square stone work: but it was a steeple spreading downward very large in circumference. The same work which bore it (being also about twelve fathom high) is a long square of one and twenty feet one side, and eighteen feet the other side. It is thought by good workmen, that two hundred loads of timber will not suffice for the erecting of such a steeple, as that stoneworke did lately bear. I found also the bells (being before a sweet ring, and so large, that the Tenor weighed twenty hundred weight) partly melted into such fragments, and partly burnt into such cinders, or intermingled with such huge heaps of cinders, as it will never hereafter serve to the former uses thereof. This lightning did not only this harm in Surrey, but also it afflicted Sussex, and diverse other places about the very same time. It was very strange when it fired Bleachingley steeple, it entered also into the house of one Stephen L●gsford of Buckstead in Sussex almost twenmiles from Bleachingley, and melting the lead of his glass windows, did with great violence break through, and rend in sunder a strong brick chimney. What shall I write of mine own tragical events upon the third of january 1608. which are nothing inferior to any of the accidents here recited? But because I intent to set the same out more distinctly by itself, I will suspend the story only during the space of an hours reading from my Readers view. About the same time there happened in Dors●tshire at Winburne Minster a very strange accident. About four a clock in the afternoon, as they were at Evensong, the steeple spire being strongly built of lime, stone, and sand, and beset with iron bars, was suddenly stricken down with thunder and lightning, the leads were rend and torn, yea and which was most miraculous, the singing men's books were torn in their hands, and the seats before their faces likewise rend and broken. And this the glorious God hath done, because the mouths of the wicked may be stopped, who injuriously detract from his providence in imputing my misfortunes only singled out above all others; as though the same miraculous Mover, which moved these heavenly creatures of his against me, did not also extend his power in the like degree upon others in this Realm. Howsoever, welcome be his Angel unto me, whether he brings me tidings of peace, or of tribulation. LINEAMENT. IX. 1 That they detract from the glorious Majestic of God, which attribute his thunders, lightnings, and other mercory signs to the Devil or his adherents. 2 Proofs out of the word of God, that God alone sendeth forth such terrible signs. Servants must obey their masters aswell courteous 1 as cursed, Children must honour their Malachia cap. 1. & Exod. cap. 20. parents, though otherwhiles they chastise them severely, Subjects must pray for their Prince, and serve him, though he exceeds Covarru. 2. part. decret. cap. 3. 94. the limits of law. Even so ought we being the servants, children, and subjects of the Almighty, brook patiently all visitations whatsoever the Lord sendeth, either deservedly for our sins, or momentary for our trial to confirm our virtues, lest prosperity puff up our minds with pride. Upon our submission our gracious Lord will stay his hand as he did with the Ninivites; upon our repentance he will rebuke the wind, and say to the Sea, Peace and be still. But nowadays a contrary superstitious spirit possesseth many of our pharisaical Mar●. cap. 4. Critics. They are not content to detract one mortal man from the other, either their goods of body, their goods of mind, or their goods of fortune (though in this case they are inexcusable) but they must detract from the only glorious God his glorious appurtenances, and his goodly types of majestic. Yea, they go about by such absurd Detractions to annihilate his infinite authority, to abridge his incomprehensible motion, who at one beck can bar them of all motion. Romulides saturi inter poc●la, Our carping Trojans, whose GOD is their belly, amidst their Bacchannales and Tobachanales do blasphemously bruit abroad, that the Devil raiseth winds, tempests, thunders, lightnings, and earthquakes either immediately of himself, or else by the means and mediation of some omnipotent Conjurer. If sickness oppress them, out of hand, they post with Ahaziah to a cozening conjurer, or wizard as wise as themselves, to know whether they be bewitched, or whether they shall recover of their disease. This is their faithless wont, as though there were not a God in Israel. If the Lord sends his Angel, or descends 2. Reg. cap. 1. himself in glory, with thunder and lightning, as he did sometimes on Mount Sinai, they blasphemously impugn, saying, that God is locally circumscribed in heaven. None can work miracles in these latter days save the Devil. He, even he it is, that appears in varieties of shapes, more than are specified in Ovid's Metamorphosis, sometimes a Centaur, sometimes a black dog, some other times a winged fowl of the air. All this while (thou most merciful judge) grievest thy patient spirit at their perish, petulant, and proud assertions. Thou makest as though thou hearest them not, scorning to extend thy justice against such silly wretches, before the predestinated time; for thou art as void of perturbations as they are subject unto Detractions: yet will not they refrain their tongues, because that their runagate babbling, being not restrained with fear nor shame, wandereth up and down scotfree without punishment. Rise up O Lord, and let them pay the price of their Detractions, or let them know that thou canst not endure any competitour of thy glory. But what knowledge need they further? what other light expect they to illuminate their darksome minds? They have Moses, the Prophets, and the Gospel, as bright shining lanterns to guide their sensual understanding. They have ancient Fathers to expound them. Thy servant Augustine might satisfy their curious positions, who about twelve hundred years sithence wrote, Non est putandum istis transgressoribus Angelis seruire hanc rerum visibilium materiem, sed soli Deo, That is, we Aug. lib. 3. de Sanct. Trin. must not think, that the substance of these visible things in this world do obey the Angels, which fell, but that they obey God alone. Thou art a jealous God, and canst not abide that thy enemy should vaunt himself on thy Majesty; Thou art slow to anger, but great in power, thou Nahum. 1. hast thy way in the whirlwind and in the storm: the clouds are the dust of thy feet, the mountains tremble before thee, the hills melt, and the earth is burnt up at thy sight. O peerless Paragon of unsearchable worth, what nobler instance need I produce, than thine incomprehensible self for thine own immensive and inexhausted power. When thou communest with job, most profoundly thou bewrayest man's infirmity, and infallibly concludest, that no creature whatsoever can dive into the deep consideration of thy secret works. Out of the whirlwind thou spakest, and demandest of him, Hast thou entered into the treasures job. 38. of the Snow? Or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail? Who hath divided the spouts for the rame, or a way for the lightnings of the thunders? These questions surpass our capacities. Holy and wonderful is God in all his workmanship. The earth trembles at the presence of the Lord, at Psal. 114. the presence of the God of jacob. Let it snow, let it hail, let it thunder, let it lighten, let the earth move, I acknowledge no other supernatural cause then the first cause, the first mover, one God world without end. I do faithfully believe, that through his commandment the Lord makes Eccles. 43. the Snow to hasten, and sendeth forth swiftly the thunder of his lightning; also that he turneth the heavens about, that job. 37. they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the whole world, and that he causeth rain to come, whether it be for punishment, or for his land, or to do good to them that seek him. The heavens, the elements, and whatsoever is under the moon, attend the command of their great Creator: some for his glory, some for their trial, some others for their sins he scourgeth and smiteth. Against these he arms his natural creatures as piercing arrows. Then shall the thunderbolts go strait out of the lightnings, and shall fly to the mark, as to the bend bow of the clouds. Sometimes he smites us gently, expecting our Sapient. 5. conversions, as he spoke by the Prophet, I smote you with blasting, with mil dew, and with hail in all the labours of your hands, and yet you turned not unto me. Unto his Majesty Hag. 2. alone will I complain, when any hurt befalls me: O Lord unto thee will I cry, for the fire hath devoured the Io●l. 1. Pasture of the Wilderness, and the flame hath burnt up all the trees of the field. Vbi nunc facundus Ulysses? Where now is the wizard with the Devil's real force? Stand at your cause, and bring forth your strongest ground, saith the Isa. 41. Lord of Hosts, show us things to come, and tell us what shall be done hereafter, so shall we know that ye are Gods. But indeed your knowledge is vain, your power poor, not worth the speaking, Behold ye are Gods of nought, and your making is of nought: yea abominable is the man that Ibid. hath chosen you, and abominable is he, that ascribes the works of the glorious God unto his enemy the Devil. LINEAMENT. X. 1 Probable prosses out of Civil policy, that God is jealous of his glory, and glorious signs, and therefore not prebable that he would lend his real power to the Devil 2 Examples of worldly states, which could not endure usurpers of their transitory titles and prerogatives. 3 That God hates Conjurers, Witches, Antichristians, and other Detractors and 〈◊〉 worse than Atheists or ignorant Infidels. THough I proved out of holy writ, that the Lord is jealous of his inexplicable power, and cannot tolerate with everlasting patience, that any creature, specially a wicked creature, visible or invisible, Devil or man, Ph●●ton or Medea, Conjurer or Witch should pry into his secret treasury, or soar up into the Ecliptic line, and command the Sun and Moon to stand still with josuah, or cause fire to descend down from heaven with Elias, or dry the Sea with Moses, or rebuke the stormy winds with Christ: yet notwithstanding for the hardness of worldly hearts, I will illustrate the self same argument, with familiar and domestical examples of mortal states, who likewise cannot brook, that any other make use of their transitory incidents. Do not we see that earthly Potentates be more aggrieved 2 with their own subjects rebellions, with their injuries and usurpings, then with the dishonest attempts of their open foes? At whose hands they expect nothing but extremity of war and bloody massacres? Do not we find that the Pope and other Princes of his faction bear deeper hatred, rancour, and emulation towards the Protestants, then towards the Turks, mahometans, or jews, whose vicinity might work them far greater scathe and damage? Their malignant reason they ground upon the comparison of two corrivals in love whose wrath can never be appeased, but with the utter subversion of the opposite party. O what a disconsorted policy is this, that Christians agreeing together in the foundation of religion prosecute one another with such capital enmity, worse than ever the pharisees the Saducees, or both of them, like Pilate and Herod, combined together to put to death our Saviour Christ! The Pope at Rome, at Bologna, and at other Cities; the Emperor at Vienna, and at diverse imperial Cities in Germany; the Venetians at Venice, at Verona, and other places do tolerate jewish Synagogues, banks of usury, and noisome jakes of pocky bawdry, in respect of private interest. And yet they cannot suffer one Church of Protestants among them, no nor one single man of the same profession: or if they do but suspect a man addicted that way, they exclaim with the stiffnecked jews, Dimitte nobis Barabam, loose unto us Barabas, lose unto us thieves, usurers, jews and stews. Crucify these Lutherans, Lutherano all fuego, ad ignem, fire and faggot for these heretic dogs. Thus do they rage together and imagine vanity against the Lord and his An ointed. They like wise send away their posts, usurpers of the name of jesis, as the flies which issued out of the Dragon's mouth, to enuenome our Springs, to infect our minds, to kill our Kings, and to blow up at once our whole estates. This is their usual complot, while the common enemy of Christendom lies close by their noses, ready to dispossess them of their lives, living and liberty, as was likely of late days to fall out, when the Pope after the winning of Otranto by the Turks, doubting his safeguard, resolved once to translate the Papacy to Auinion in France, if that a certain Cardinal, wiser than himself had not dissuaded him. The original cause of all this hatred is jealousy, together with a false persuading humour, that our Church usurps his holy power, which sometimes he pretends from the Emperor Constantine, and some other times from S. Peter. Whether this exercising of another man's authority be legitimate or spurious; let them, who think themselves injured, redreste the injury how they can. In the mean time we perceive the mind of man impatient of usurpers and Detractors, to boil for revenge, as if an everflaming Torch were set under it. No marvel then if Princes punish forgery, and other detracting crimes. He that detracts his King's Prerogative with a malicious purpose, to attribute the same to himself, is Laesae Maiestatis r●●s guilty for wounding the Royal Majesty, and to be attainted of high treason. Will King JAMES our dread Sovereign suffer any subject of his to wear a crown of gold, to de● act his royal authority, to levy arms at pleasure, to encamp himself, to hang a man without due course of law, or to coin gold? No: it is against his prerogative, against his jurisdiction. The world abides not two Suns: No more can the united Empire of great Britain endure but one supreme Monarch. He that sueth into the Court of Rome detracts Prook. tit. Praemunire. from the Kingly glory, and therefore encuires the danger of Praemunire. Even so if a subject of this Realm bring in a Bull of Excommunication from Rome, against another subject, it is by the ancient common law, high treason against the King, his crown and dignity; as hath been adjudged in the Reign of Edward the first. For the King of England is the Vicar of the ●●ghest King. In a Leg. Sancti Edward. cap. 19 Constable or any other, it is forgery and detraction to write a warrant in a justice of Peace his name, without his consent. Yea, and a Justice himself was fined in the Star-chamber, circa. 30. Elizab. Reg. for sending his warrant upon suspicion of felony, with a blank or window to put in ones name, which he knew not, at his friends request without certainly acquainting him with the matter before. What a tedious quarrel continued with unsheathed swords between the Turkish Ottoman and the Persian Sophy, about the very colour of the Turban, which both were bound by their ceremonious law to wear? Such another frivolous iatre happened among the Friars touching the colour of their frizen weeds. One stood upon black, betokening mourning: another upon white, the displayed ensign of innocency. This busy body claimed it to be grey, that their weeds being like unto ashes might move them to repentance. That harebrained Scholar proved out of Schoolmen and profound Dunces, that all the rest of the Disputants were errand Heretics, for their sins being as red as Scarlet or as purple, they ought not to hold with any other colour. Many brawls, many factions, yea and bloudsheds arose about these Idly usurped colours; till after diverse commotions, decrees and orders on all sides infringed, a final end with much ado was established by the general Council of Christendom. There was a dangerous tumult in France, very like to chance betwixt a famous ancestor of mine out of Wales, and the Lord Norris concerning their arms. Both gave the Raven, both challenged it from the same house, from one Vrian Prince of Rheged, otherwise called Carict in Scotland, who either by conquest or marriage seated himself in our country of West-Wales. My said ancestor (as our Welsh nature relies overmuch upon Genealogies and Heraldry) and his Welsh company, being no less than fifteen hundred horsemen and footmen, could by no means be dissuaded from the quarrel, until the Duke of Nors●lke (whose daughter, sithence Countess of Bridgewater, was married unto his heir) solicited King Henry the eight then in camp, to take up the Controversy, and order the Lord Norris to give it flying, and the others as he did before. If men's mortal feuds conceived against their emulous concurrents for light occasions, and, as the Proverb 3 terms them, for a Goat's hair be so heinous, hereditary, so frequent, so customary in all Countries, why do we tempt the Lord our God, and doubt, that his eternal Majesty, in whom there is not the least spot of sinful perturbation, hates Detractours of his evershining glory, and also them, which attribute his miraculous deeds to his creatures or enemies; I say, why do we doubt that he detesteth them in a fair higher degree, then if they were profested Atheists blinded with ignorance? He that knows his Master's will and doth it not, is worthy of many stripes. Wherefore I constantly aver, that the Lord hateth Antichristians, Euchanters, Conjurers and Witches, for their detractions, forgeries, delusions, and false miracles, worse than the Heathen with all their Idolatries. To this end that ancient Father affirmeth, If any that went afore us either of ignorance or simplicity hath not observed that which the Lord commanded, his simplicity through the Cypr. Epist. 3. Lord's indulgence may be pardoned; but we, whom the Lord hath taught and instructed, cannot be pardoned. Where the Spiritual Steward lends one talon, there he looketh the interest of one again; but where he exposeth out twenty talents, there he justly expecteth the increase of twenty again. Like as a simple servant sent out in a darksome night, and misseth his way, deserves his pardon more freely than he, which purposely gads and goes out of his way in the clear day light, preferring his own wanton pleasures before his Master's profit: so the ignorant Christian, sinning of mere simplicity is far more tolerable than the enlightened gospeler, which afterwards dissembles and detracts upon a greedy or gaudic hope of golden mountains. LINEAMENT. XII. 1 Wherefore God diverteth his natural creatures against mankind. 2 That all crosses and misfortunes proceed only from God. 3 That in any wise we must not delay repentance. 4 An objection against sudden death by the spirit of Detraction out of the Litany, with a consutation thereof. THus the stars have their ordinary ● motions, the Elements their courses, and the Metcors their voluble dispositions: except otherwhiles it please their Arch-mover to divert some of them as terrible alarms for our admonishment. Then every thing fights against us: Our native air strangles our wearied winde-pipes: Our nourishment through gluttony works our latter end. Fire & water conspire against us: One dieth by fire, another by water. Thus arms he nature against nature, creature against creature, and man against man, either for his glory, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that mortal men may know his strength and acknowledge their own weakness: or for men's trial, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to try their integrity, to mollify their stony hearts, and to shape their inward man to regeneration. Others he smites 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 33 vessels of wrath, to perpetual punishment; though commonly he lets them flourish in this world like Palm trees, reserving them to damnation in the world to come; even as he lasheth some for their reformation, and not for their ruin, ad correctionem non ad ruinam, as Queen Elizabeth of famous memory spoke touching a subject of hers then in durance. This kind of punishment, called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Lord himself names the rod of men, the plagues of the children of men, such as the Father useth to his child, he likewise useth to his elected child, to the intent that man might not wax over-wanton in affections, or seem righteous in his own conceit, (for no flesh stands justified in his sight) and as that holy man alleged, that he might deliver him from pride, that he might keep his soul from the grave, and his life from the sword. Whereto job 33. agreeth that Proverb: Dulcia non meruit, qui non gustavit amara. Who tasted not the sour deserves not sweet. God foreseeing that some of his children might sin in many things, scourgeth them with infirinity of body, lest they should sin, Vt iis utilius sit frang● languoribus ad salutem, quam remanere incolumes ad damnationem. That Hugo libr. 2. de Ammâ. it might be more profitable for them to be broken with diseases for salvation, then to remain whole and in health for damnation. This another ancient Father confirms: Magis intus dolemus per hoc, quod foris patimur. We grieve in wardly the more for that, which we Greg. ●. parte curae pastor. submu. 13. suffer outwardly. And again, While we are outwardly strucken, we are secretly and woefully recalled to the remembrance of our sins. Our fleshly fathers corrected us, and we gave them reverence, and shall we not patiently endure our heavenly Father's scourge? They for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure: but he for our profit, Heb. 12. that we might be partakers of his holiness. When any Plague, Murren, loss, cross, or misfortune befalls us, that proceeds not from the devil, but 3 from our Father in heaven. It is he that created light and Esai. 45. darkness, that makes peace and trouble. It is he that ordereth this world's globe, and turns the wheel of all our fortunes. And again, as himself promiseth, If we will walk in his Ordinances, he will send peace in the land, but if Levit. 25. we despise his commandments he will send a sword upon us. His provident Majesty knows best what befits our frail natures. He will have mercy on them, who deserve mercy at his hands. And he will punish those that deserve punishment. Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and job 2. not receive evil? Shall we rejoice when the Sun shines, and when it lours, shall we lower and frown likewise? Know then, O worldly men, that no evil can chance unto you without the appointment of God. Out of his mouth goeth both evil and good, as the Prophet lamented. And as jere. in Lament. cap. 3. Amos 3. another Prophet testified, Shall there be evil, that is, calamity in a City, and the Lord hath not done it? Great reason it is, that he which sent us into this 4 world, should take us out of the world, after what manner soever it pleaseth him. Whether it be by ordinary or extraordinary means, by death natural or violent, lingering or sudden, welcome be death unto us that be borne to die. For this cause while we have time to repent, let us begin instantly out of hand, to amend our lives, before his darts do hit us, before the dark night of tribulation comes upon us. Repentance, which is done upon the la●● hour, is commonly done upon fear of future torments. Then it is hard by reason of our prrsumptuous delays to find grace and mercy, as a Spanish Divine very well observes. Malse hallan los remedios en el trabaio, que en●e descansoy paz no se buscaron, Ill do they find remedies in Hernando de Sanctiago sober Euang. time of trouble, when they sought for none in time of peace. In this case the counsel of the wise man is very good, Get thee righteousness, before thou come to judgement, and use Physic before thou be sick: Examine thyself before Eccl. 18. thou be judged, and in the day of destruction thou shalt find mercy: humble thyself before thou be sick, and while thou mayest yet sin show thy conversion. Most certain it is, that Satan tyrannizeth most furiously at the shutting up of our lives, when we are least able to resist by reason of our extreme pains and pangs both in body and mind. Then the very best have enough to do. A man hath not two souls, that he may adventure one of them. Therefore O Christian, stand to thy tackle, stand stout, always prepared to prevent all future evils, O limb haec meminisse iwabit. The time will come, when the remembrance of thy fore past crosses will avail the repeating. In the mean time, Mors tua, mors Christi-fraus mundi-gloria coeli, Et dolor Infor●i sunt meditanda tibi. Think on thine own, and Christ his death, And on false worldly trains. Think also on sweet heavens joys, And on Infernal pains. God help us, if we shall do nothing else in this world but live in continual care, pensiveness, and perplexity of mind, as in truth we must, if we live in fear of deaths suddaines. But the case is otherwise, for the Church hath provided in the Litany, that we pray God to deliver us from lightning and tempest from plague, pestilence, and famine, from battle and murder, and from sudden death. O man full of Detractions, how long wilt thou tempt the Lord thy God? This earthly world was not given thee for a Paradise, but for a Purgatory. It was not made thee to build in, but rather to pull down, to crucify and to mortify thy couet●ous thoughts, that in the other world thou mightst live for ever with Christ and his Angels. This world is indeed a place of trial, a warfare, a maze of troubles, and a seat to sojourn in for a time, for short time. Wherefore, and because this time later or sooner, serius aut citius is not limited by Patent to any mortal creature, whereby we might foreknow or prevent the brunts of nature, fortune, or destiny, (which three I hold to be the inevitable will of God) let us stand watchful against sudden death, seeing it is for a great prize, for a great purchase (that none can be greater) even for the salvation of our dear souls. I grant, that old Adam prayeth against the suddenness of death, but (alas poor man) it is for doubt of the worst. It is the nature of a sinful soul, to become so enamoured with this enchanting world, that it loathes, as the horror of hell, all sudden mischiefs, and chiefly a mischievous death. We would fain die the death of the righteous but in no wise would we live the lise of the righteous. And yet how dare we judge of them that die so suddenly? May not the ●ord dislodge his tenants at will specially, for their advancement without warning at any time? Did not he after this sudden manner, as it were in the twinkling of an eye, translate Henoch and Elias in their souls and bodies up into heaven? Many good men have died suddenly. Abel, josias, Onias, and others had no long warning to prepare themselves. God knows best what besits our humane natures. It may be, he causeth some to die suddenly, because of their crazed brains, lest in their lingering disease they fall according to the constitution of their bodies into despair, or to railing and reviling, whereby they might leave behind them in this world an infamous memorial. Therefore to case them of their torments, and for avoiding of so soul a scandal he suddenly sends for his selected servants. Some others he send for suddenly and terribly to terrify them which remain behind; for if God's servants die such a fearful death, what hope hath the sinner? In a word, good men never pray against sudden death, but to the intent they might order their worldly business before their deaths, as the said to Hezechias, Set thy house in order for thou must die. Esay. 38. LINEAMENT XII. 1 That we must not judge by men's misfortunes, or sudden death, that they be forsaken of God. 2 Charitable censures, which a good Christian may yield touching those that die suddenly. 3 The Spirit of Detraction convicted for censuring over cruelly of the Author's wife, who was stricken dead with lightning the 〈◊〉 of january, 1600 where ●er commendation and assumption are moralised. WHen the Lord is disposed extraordinarily to extend his glorious power, why dost 1 thou, o foolish man, presume to enter into his hidden power? Why dost thou labour (like Lucifer) to climb up into his chair of secrets? Shall the thing form check him that form it? Can the Potteruse his vessels as he thinks good? and shall not the Lord dispose of his own creatures? Who ar● thou which judgest another man's servant? Rom. 14. What canst thou tell, whether God hath predestinated them to salvation, and accepted of their submission, as of 2 the thief which was crucified with him, at the last gasp, and as they say, betwixt the bridge and the brook? Betwixt the stirrup and the ground, Mercy I thought, mercy I found: As one ●pitaphed upon the tomb of him, that fell dead suddenly from his horse. Sometimes it pleaseth his Majesty out of our error to raise his own honour, and to make virtue perfect and complete by infirmity. And therefore it is very uncharitable for one sinner to judge of another sinner. Let him who is without sin throw the first stone at him, as Christ said. ●●et the sinner draw out the beam out of his own eye, before ●e remove the mote out of his brother's eye. It is God's office only to judge the event and end of things. Therefore judge nothing before the tr●e, until the Lord comes who will lighten the hidden 1 C●●. 9 things of darkness, and open the counsels of the hearts. Saint Paul was made a gazing sto●ke unto this world, he was defamed, yea, he was made as the filihinesse of the world & as the offscouring of all things, yet a chosen vessel and Apostle of Christ. When it was told our Saviour, that Pilate had massacred the Galilaeans, even as they sacrificed, he willed us not to judge of their lives and sins, but by their example to amend our lives. For neither those poor Galilaeans, nor yet these eighteen upon whom Luke. 13. the tower in Siloc fell, were greater sinners than all ohers which dwelled at jerusalem. josias was one of the godliest kings, that ever reigned in juda, yet was he killed with darts in the battle against the king of Egypt. Zachariah the Prophet, Stephen the martyr, with other servants of God were tyrannously put to death. Yea, and Christ himself being without sin endured worldly sorrows without number, and also died a most terrible death: yet did they judge him as though he were plagued and cast down of God, according to that which was prophesied Esay. 53. of him. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, the Lord is holy in all his works, as the Prophet David confessed, and as Maurice the Emperor protested, when he saw his wife and children murdered before his face by his servant Phocas. How then darest thou which art unrighteous and unholy, sit and read on the secret deeds of the righteous God, and on the wondrous proceedings of the holy one of Israel? Sometimes it pleaseth him to fulfil in our days that Prophesy of his concerning the taking of the godly from among the wicked. The righteous perisheth, and no man regardeth it in his heart. Good godly Esay. 57 men are taken away, and no man considereth it, namely, that the righteous is conveyed away from the wicked who heap up treasures and pleasures for this world, as the godly do for the world to come. It may be also, that his mercy is so great, that respecting not our sins, his abundant grace will vouchsafe to pronounce that answer concerning Lazarus in our behalf: This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God. Correspondent to which is likewise the satisfaction, which our Saviour Christ yielded to his disciples demand, when they asked him about the blind man: Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was borne blind? jesus answered, neither john. cap. 9 hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be showed in him. Perhaps the Lord sends extraordinary accidents upon his servants to the intent, that they should serve for a Parable or warning piece to the rest of his people in this country, from whom he means shortly to take away their power, the joy of their honour, the pleasure of their eyes, and the desire of their hearts, except out of hand they become watchful and repentant with the Ninivites. For if judgement begin at the just what shall be the end of them, which obey not the Gospel 1. Pet. cap. 4. of God? And if the righteous be scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear? If there be no difference between the innocent and reprrobate in the manner of their deaths and worldly crosses, why do we join field to field, land to land, and make account to see long lasting days in this transitory world, or to die in our soft down beds? The word of the Lord came to Ezechiel: Behold, I take away from thee the pleasure Ezech. cap. 24. of thine eyes with a plague, yet shall thou neither mourn nor weep. So Ezechiel spoke unto the people in the morning, and in the evening his wife died. The Parable was this: thus saith the Lord God, behold, I will pollute my sanctuary, even the pride of your power, the pleasure of your eyes, and your hearts desire. And you shall do as I have done, ye shall neither mourn nor weep, but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one towards another. Thus Ezechiel is unto you a sign. And thus perhaps am I a sign unto you, O worldly wizards, whose tongues are hired by the detracting spirit to blaspheme the powerful Lord of lightnings, to curse God and die with jobs wife Job. cap. 2. and to lay an ambush for your neighbours good name, fame, and reputation. Learn by these exemplary crosses to be vigilant, for in the hour which you think not, as a thief in the night, will death steal upon you. It is high time for you to prepare yourselves, to prevent the Tempter. Already it begins to smoke, and as the Poet forewarns: Tunc tua res agitur, paries cum proximus ardet. Horace. When the next wall unto thy house doth burn, Look to thyself betimes, next is thy turn. These reasons considered, I dare boldly avouch (for no earthly creature can judge her conscience more freely than myself) that my well-beloved wife, whom God of late hath taken to his mercy by an unexpected accident, by the lightning power of his fearful thunder resteth in the Lord as concerning her soul, and resteth on earth as concerning her memory: both which, (I trust) by the divine bounty scorn all the bravadoes, scaladoes, and engines, which either envy, or Satan can invent for their assaults. This is the chiefest solace I embrace after so great a cross. This Christian hope richer than any temporal or golden harvest I reap to myself after my fatal loss. For my light affliction which is but momentary, causeth unto me a far more excellent 2. Cor. cap. 4. and eternal weight of glory, while I look not on the things which are seen, but on the things which are not seen I look not so scrupulously on the manner of her death as I look on the manner of her life, which God received as a burnt offering. Pack hence therefore ye Enthusians, and be not like unto Curdogs, that bark at a dead Lyon. Though she fell she shall rise again, though she sat in darkness, the Lord will be a light unto her. MY tongue is no hireling Herald, to coin her a new pedigree, nor yet a merc●nari● Advocate to extol her shadow in steed of substance; only in steed of Popish pos●humes or Purgatory trentals, I will sacrifice this cacomtasticall oblation, as seralem coe●am, a funeral banquet to her well deserving memory. Holy Augustine never conceived more divinely of his mother Monica, than I do of thy felicity. O happy soul, partaker of celestial joys, thou needest no praise of mine, seeing that thy God hath transported thee in the year of lubily to this port of tranquillity and converted thy pilgrimage to the haven, or rather heaven of everlasting health: Where though thou abound with unspeakable pleasures, yet pardon me if I strive to canonize thy peerless fame. The pleasant sounds of thy verdant virtues (like so many resounding Echoes) shall never vanish from mine insatiable ears. Thy extraardinary love, the lively Jdaea of a spotless life shall always dwell within the mansion of my restless mind. At all times whether it be morning or evening, noontide or midnight, while I sojourn in this house of clay, I will congratulate thy high fortunes. All hail immortal spirit, thou spouse of Christ, wrapped up in his holy arms, full of transcendent grace, full of transeendent glory. All hail, full of health, full of happiness, which art translated from mortal men to immortal Saints, from sorrow to solace. Yesterday thou goest entangled with the thorny cares of this world, now thou triumphest among the Angels of heaven. Yesterday thou wert here, where job himself complained, that he was placed as a But to be shot at, where Gods envenomed arrows stuck in him, where the Prophet David's bones were consumed, that he roared all day long. Now thou florishest in the harmony of God's Spirit, minding on nothing but on divine virtues, on spiritual melody. Yesterday thou goest drooping in an earthen cote, shaken with the frowns of Envy, with the frumps of Detraction: to day thou walkest (and this day shines alway, never sets) in a temple not built with hands, in the line of the living God, without Envy, without Deraction. Here is thy habitation assigned thee, thy lot is fallen in a fair ground. Live for ever. And this as a looking glass shall glister unto thy friends on earth: Dorcadis hic dotes, miti cum ment Rebecchae, Priscillaeque fides: mens tam●n una tribus. Corpus humas, mundus laudes, tenet igneus Eliae, Elisias tua mens, Elizabetha, rotas. Here Dorcas deeds (as stars) do shine, Priscilla's faith here doth combine With mild and kind Rebecca●s mind, Yet but one soul to three assigned. Thy body earth, the world thy name, Thy soul by faith Elysian fame. Elizabeth eternised gains. Elias-like in lightning wanes. LINEAMENT. XIII. 1 The Authors gratulation for his late fortunate deliverance. 2 His description of the Lightning tragedy, the third day of januarie, 1608. at what time God took away his wife. 3 His description of other Crosses at the very same time. 4 How God foreshowed by mysteries the said crosses before they happened unto the Author: wherein his censure of Dreams is interlaced. 5 His description of his miraculous escape out of the Sea, wherein he fell by force of a cruel tempest on a Christmas day. 1602. GOD forbid that I should charge all 1 my Countrymen with the branded mark of blasphemy: for there be many good men which never kneeled unto Baal, which never worshipped the spirit of Detraction, all ready viva voce, as the Proverb saith, with both hands to hold up the roof of my opinion. They allege simply and charitably that this great Accident upon my wife and house came from God, as a fair warning for me and them to prepare ourselves for his heavenly kingdom: which charitable conceit, I cannot cancel with oblivion or ingratitude, but rather confirm the same with an applauding Alleluiah. The Lord gave, job 1. the Lord taketh away: blessed be the name of the Lord. No man alive this day stands more indebted than myself for matters of life, unto the Author of life. Daniel was wonderfully delivered from the Lion's claws; Ananias, Azarias and Misael from the fiery furnace; jonas in the Whale's belly, from the stormy sea; and Paul with his Pilots, Mariners and Companions from perishing in the Mediterranean seas: but what am I vile wretched sinner, whom thou hast saved as strangely from fire and water? O glorious God, is it because thy provident majesty hath predestinated me to some worthy service tending to thy glory. O bountiful Lord, of unsearchable wisdom, grant that my faith may be signed with the seal of thy mercy. Let my spirit become regenerated and renewed, as the Potter's vessel, marked to an honest purpose. Whatsoever I am, whether tolerably toward or untoward, tolerably clean or unclean, I wholly submit myself at the feet of thy mercy, altogether depending on thy Son's merits, from whence I will not depart, though I were sure with Asahel to be slain by Abner, and as job protested, if thou wouldst kill me, yet will I trust in thee. On the third of januarie 1608. about the third hour of the night, or thereabouts, as I lay solitary 2 upon my bed, what with torment of a sudden toothache, and what with an extraordinary pensiveness of mind, presaging (as afterwards ehanced) some future evils; and also somewhat terrified with the great lightning, which then flashed most extremely: Behold, a forcible lightning in form of a fiery pillar, extinguished the Candle-light burning before me, and with that, as it were in the twinkling of an eye, strikes me with a most violent blast, that I verily thought my brains had been dashed out, and that I was at death's door. To confirm this imagination of mine, in the self same instant it thundered in such impetuous and extreme manner, that the earth moved (as sithence appeared in sundry other parts of this Realm) my house shook, in so much that I am persuaded no canon no basilisk, nor any other artillery could make the like terrible report. With this fearful volee together with the former lightning flash, I fell into a kind of trance or confused thought, and (as Saint Paul speaks of his assumption into paradise: if it be lawful for me so to say) whether I were in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell, God knoweth; but I verily supposed to have 2 Corinth. 12. seen in spirit the warning-piece shot off for this world's dissolution, or final alteration against the general day of doom. Within half a quarter of an hour or thereabouts (as I conjecture) I returned to myself, and to my troubled senses at the loud cry, which two of my household, then being newly awaked out of their senseless trance raised, in seeing my wife fall'n on the ground and dead among them. At this noise which they made, changing my thoughts, I made full account, that my house had been thrown down with the thunder clap or earthquake, & therefore astonished as I was, to save my life, (being as I imagined, in that great jeopardy,) I rose up, and hastened me down into the lower room or kitchen, where I had heard the cry. By the way, her daughter, being one of the two, whose cry I had heard in my chamber, met me, and told me that her mother was suddenly stricken dead. At my coming thither into the kitchen, I found my wife quite deprived of life, in a blackish sweat, strongly savouring of brimstone, which the Poets call, sacrum Sulphur, holy Sulphur, yet notwithstanding, lest it might be a faint or swowne, I called for help to my servants to have her body bend forewards: but at the first, none directly understood me, excepting the two abovenamed, until afterwards upon our vehement lamentations and cries, the other three (for there were in all, five, two men and three maids, besides my wife, in that room,) began by little and little to come unto themselves, having been all in one instant thrown down to the ground as dead with the lightning and thunder. Two of these three last, at my first call and coming down, revived: but the other, being a servingman of mine, lay longer in the trance. All of them stood as deaf and distracted, not able for their lives a long while to lift up her dead body. Some of them could neither hear nor understand what I spoke, nor what I would have them do: their brains were so confusedly shaken in their heads, that they could not for a long time answer me in reason. When this fatal blow was given, my wife sat on a stool, over-seeing her maids melting of tallow. And for this purpose, the Servingman of whom I spoke before, stood by her with a candle in his hand. The Kettle of tallow lay very near unto her. Above the place where she sat, just above her head, hung Bacon in the roof of the house. All which being natural nutriments of lightnings, by reason of their unctuous substances, increased the virtue thereof, and doubtless by the predestinate will of our heavenly Father, occasioned this foreible damp, and perhaps augmented the earthquake. Her body was entire and whole without diminution of any part, saving a little of her hair, which was rend or snatched off with the attires of her head, & her fillet, which were likewise somewhat burnt, and also savoured of brimstone. In like manner her stomacher, her whale-bone bodies, and her smock near about her heart, where there was a small mark somewhat black, were burnt, rend, and torn with the heavenly flame. Perhaps her corpulence (she being very gross) caused her thus to be singled and selected out from among the rest of the company. But leaving that Philosophical opinion alone to the unsearchable knowledge of God, without whose providence one hair cannot fall from our heads, I will proceed further in declaring the tragical events which we found the next morning inflicted by the lightning, thunder and earthquake. The next morning (for all that night we durst not budge from the same room, so greatly had fear 3 seized on us) we saw all the tiles fallen for the most part from the house, and some dispersed in heaps upon the house. We found the chimney top of the chamber where I lay, quite cast down: part of the weightier stones tumbled through the chimney down into my chamber, yea, and round about the bed where I lay at the time of this fatal blast, to the great astonishment of all that saw it: and surely it is miraculous how I escaped alive, unhurt, or unscorcht in this terrible time of horror. Two glass-windows were also burnt with the lightning, whereof the one was a window by my beds feet: the other on the loft right above my chamber, and above my bed. Besides, three other glass-windows were battered and bruised with the thunder or earthquake. Above a dozen breaches or rents were found pierced through the walls of the house, being almost four foot thick, and as strongly built, as could be of lime and stone. Also one of the beams was somewhat removed from the place. And that which seems as strange, a fat Cow amidst many other Kine in the stable, was culled out and killed, or rather stifled with the Lightning: which induceth me (as I said before) to think, that this damp took strength and power according to the nature thereof, from such fat, liquid, and oily substances or bodies. This opinion herself verified unto me about a fortnight before she died, when she caused all the candles in her house to be done out, for fear lest the lightning, which at that time was somewhat fearful, should increase and receive force from the candle light. Yet with this limitation do I attribute such matter of unctuosity and virtue to lightnings from these inferior bodies, that God who works by measure, number, and weight, sends these or such like kinds of fate upon us to admonish us not to make reckoning of this world, as of a perpetual Paradise, nor to sleep overlong in the voluptuous bosom of careless negligence. Neither ought I (seeing I have gone so far) to 4 conceal another wonder, to wit, that she foretold in her life time, as well to diverse others, as to myself the shortness of her life in this world: for this was an usual speech of hers sundry times within the same quarter of the year that she died: I know very well (quoth she) I cannot live till the first of March. Another time, being (as I remember) not above three weeks before her death, descending down from her chamber, where then she had been at prayers, she came smiling unto me with these words: Husband, I bring you good tidings, you shall be rid of me, and you shall have another wife: for I am fully assured, that I shall dye very shortly, and that before the first of March. And I thank God, I am prepared; let him send when he will. Which words of hers being by me accepted in jest; she replied, as if she had seen a vision, or felt some extraordinary motion in her spirit: you think I speak in jest, but mark the end. Neither did the Lord (I speak it to his glory) send this glorious alarm unto me without an implicit or mystical premonition, for about two Months before, or thereabouts (as far as I remember) in a dream I saw the very like accident. Me thought I was at a Knight my brother's house, and there lying upon my bed, I imagined to have seen and heard upon the sudden in the night time a most terrible lightning and thunder, in such wise, that I made full account the whole house had been burnt or cast down, and therefore to save my life, with much ado I hastened out of doors, where I supposed to have beheld the inner part of the house terribly flaming with fire, and presently after I might see one conveying out of doors a Chest; whereupon I bewailed, that a black Trunk of mine, stored with money was left behind, consumed with the flame. This dream I related to my said Brother, being at my house about three weeks before the accident, & wished him in my brotherly love to look somewhat more warily to his house, lest night fires might endanger him, by reason of the height of his house (the same not inferior for height to any house which I have seen) and likewise by reason of the partitions being timberwork Nevertheless for all this, I advice not the Reader to embrace this dream of mine for an infallible precedent, because that dreams sort our commonly according to the diet, temperate, or intemperate, sparing, or gluttonous, which men use. And yet I believe, God seldom useth to inflict any notable accident upon a charitable Christian, that mortifies his body with competent fasting, and moderates his soul with contemplation of heavenly mysteries, without some secret prodrome, or forerunning glimpse of his powerful purpose. Nor do I advise my Reader to surmise, that I conceive over credulously or superstitiously of Morph●us or Phobetor, the Poetical Gods of dreams, as necessary causes of notorious effects. For my sentence is none otherwise of dreams, then of Comets, and Eclipses, which likewise are not the causes of remarkable events; but only such signs and tokens are as smoke at the top of a chimney, or as an ivy bush, put forth at a vintrie, the one prognosticating fire within, the other the sale of wine. Thus it pleased the glorious Lord of lightnings, to extend his miraculous mercy towards me, and perhaps 5. to leave me (as a firebrand taken out of the burning, or as Ezechiels' sign) for a testimony of his lightning glory Am●s 4. to hardened hearts. This is the second miracle, whereby as a virbius or Rediuiu●s, I acknowledge myself twice restored from death to life, within the compass of seven years, even about the self same season of the year, when our Saviour Christ became flesh for the salvation of flesh. The first time of my deliverance was upon a Christmas day, 1602. This latter time on the third of januarie, 1608. and both upon a Tuesday. In France betwixt Tremblado and Marena, a passage of two leagues over, it was my chance, on a Christmas day to be stricken into the surging Sea with the boisterous force of a cruel tempest, where I had no sooner fall'n, and cried to the Lord for help but suddenly beyond all expectation I found an Oar between my hands to defend, or rather defer my life. And to this hour I cannot devose wherehence the said Oar should chance unto me. In this doleful sort I floated almost a quarter of an hour very often tossed and overturned with the furious rolling of the stormy waves: until it pleased God at length of his exceeding bounty in that rough tempestuous weather, when the proudest ship became humbled as the weakest reed, to direct the course of that small Bark from whence I fell, towards me, and to guide the Mariners hands (as a man would say against wind and weather, against Oars and Sails) for the haling me up in a manner dead and ready to forsake the Oar. So that I may boldly say, that I have been miraculously preserved both from fire and water. Sic coniurati veniunt ad classica venti. Claudian. detertio Consulatu Honorij. So winds conjured descended to our sails. And if it were lawful for me to apply those Metres in the Psalter destinated to our Saviour Christ's resurrection, I would sound out with joyful cheer: Thus from above the Lord sent down to fetch me from below: Psalm. 18. And pluck● me out of waters great, which would me overflow. I would also with jonas the Prophet, exhibit my submissive petition unto the Lord my Saviour: Thou didst jona. 3. cast me down into the deep, into the midst of the sea, and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and waves passed over mec. And I said, I am cast away out of thy sight, yet will I look again towards thine holy Temple. Here, I could lay down how his omnipotent Majesty respected me in all my travails both by land and water. Twice I passed the Pyrenaean Mountains betwixt France and Spain, and that in the dead of Winter. Twice I travailed over the Alpes, I escaped the Banditi in Italy, robberies in Hungary, and in other foreign Countries. All which deliverances Per varios casus, per to● discrimina r●rum. Virg. Aenaeid. 1. Through diverse straits, through dangers infinite. Ordinary and extraordinary I ascribe to no other destiny or fortune, then to the great Redeemer of the Exod. 24. world, the mighite Lord, strong, merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abundant in goodness and truth, reserving mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. From whom I confess this last lightning Tragedy to be sent, as a preparative for me and others. In like manner I confess, it was profitable for my soul's health, that God after this dreadful fashion, roused me up out of my Tent of security. For indeed I lived almost as careless, as Sardanapalus, bewitched with worldly ease; but now I thank my gracious Lord, mine eyes begin to open, my soul begins to see her faults. God give me grace to persever in this acknowledgement, and to ascribe the glory unto him alone. LINEAMENT. XIIII. 1 The spirit of Detraction connicted for censuring the Lords secret judgements. 2 The Author's imperfections acknowledged. 3 His meditation on his late crosses. NOtwithstanding the premises, the spirit of Detraction is ready to read a cruel 1 lecture to prattling Momes and tattling Niobes, that doubtless the punished party was either very vicious himself, or else his wife or parents had offended God in the highest degree. O my Friends, be not so curious in your censures. In that ye judge others ye condemn yourselves, for ye that judge do the same Rom. 2. things. judge not lest ye be judged. And as for the scornful, doth not the Lord laugh them to s●●rne? Why Proverb. 3. then do ye scorn and scoff at your neighbour's harms, whereof God is the Author? who is he that blesseth, that curseth, that rewardeth, that punisheth? Is it not he the Lord? why then detract ye from his unsearchable secrets? Why endeavour ye to usurp his peculiar prerogative? We are persecuted, but not forsaken, 2 Corinth. 4. we are cast down, but we perish not. Our mortal bodies for a time return to dust, but our soul's rest in Abraham's bosom. It pleased the Lord to smite his righteous Esai. 53. 54. servant with infirmity, to forsake him, and to be angry with him for a little season: but at last he pardoned him, as the Prophet forespoke of Christ. For all this my defence, the spiteful spirit of Detraction 2 relents not at all. By reason of another's extraordinary judgement, he chargeth me strictly with impiety. Is not (quoth he) thy wickedness great, and thine iniquities job 22. innumerable? Therefore snares are round about thee, fear suddenly troubles thee. Doth not God revenge the Father's sins upon the children to the third and fourth descent? O menstruous or rather monstrous absurdity! Though my talk be this day in bitterness, and my plagues job 23. greater than my groaning: yet will I undertake to control thine error, and confute thine heresy. All souls Ezechiel 18. are mine, saith the Lord, both the soul of the Father and the soul of the Son. The same soul that sinneth shall dye, The Son shall not bear the iniquities of the Father, neither shall the Father bear the iniquity of the Son. For Ibid. mine own part, I confess myself to be chief among sinners, but yet much wronged to become subject unto your detracting judgements. Ye are none of my judges: I appeal to Caesar's judgement seat. I appeal to the King of Kings, the King of Mercy, who will reverse by a writ of error your false usurped judgements. Psal. 130. If thou Lord wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss: O Lord who may abide it? Woe be unto us, August. lib. 9 Confess. cap. 13. Proverb. 20. woe, W●e, be to the most laudable life that we lead, if thou O Lord, setting thy mercy aside shouldst examine it. Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from many sins? Doth the blind accuse the blind? Doth an old senex fornicator accuse another fornicator? Num Luscus accusat Luscum, Clod●us M●●chum? And doth the spirit of Detraction the most sinful spirit of all spirits, detect me for sinning? Well, my confession is not auricular, but openly reiterated: If I wash myself in snow water, and purge my hands most clean, yet shalt thou job 9 plaegue me in the pit, and mine own clothes will make me silihie. Mine own fleshly weeds being tainted with longing thoughts, must sing a sorrowful peccavi, to the tune of stoop gallant. And unfeignedly to use Saint Paul's words: I allow not that which I do, for what I would, that Rom. 7. I do not, but what I hate that do I. Albeit that oftentimes I have a will to do well, yet the nature of my flesh not any wise able to be expelled with the fork of mine own naked reason, confounds this ready will of mine, and causeth me to commit more sins in number then the sands of the sea. All which with a contrite mind I submit to the mercy of God, craving most humbly on the knees of my heart in the lowest degree of reverence, my Redeemers merits as the veil of grace, to stand betwixt his divine justice, and their gorebloud guiltiness. But certainly in my poor judgement God took away mine innocent wife after the abovesaid manner (for 3 though I say it, & all her acquaintance will say as much as I, that she lived as godly & as honestly as any whatsoever in all her Country) not so much for my sins, though the same might be grievous, as for that all others might prepare themselves against their nuptials with Christ jesus, remembering that prophecy concerning Babylon, who said in her heart: I shall be a Lady for ever, I am, and none else, I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the Esai. 47. loss of Children. But thus said the Lord, These two things shall come unto thee suddenly in one day, the loss of children and widowhood. O Lord of infinite judgement, widowhood is suddenly come unto me, thou hast justly visited me, and bercaved me of my chiefest comfort. Thou knewest she was too good for me. Thy will be done, O mighty Lord. Let the infusion of thy grace into mine untoward soul recompense my grief and loss. Thy grace is sufficient for me, thy power is made perfect through weakness. When we are most 2 Corinth. 14. perplexed with worldly crosses, then is thy spirit strongest in us. And even as the soul's virtue is strengthened with infirmity, so certainly it is necessary for our licentious natures now and then to be kerbed with infirmities. It is necessary for us, that sin the messenger of Satan, do other while buffet us, and bruise our earthly heels. It is necessary that malice bridle or rather prick, as with sharp pointed Needles, our detracting wanton thoughts: whereby we might remember our own weak condition, and turn to God, who alone is without infirmity. Let me do what good I can, let me endeavour as much as is possible for flesh and blood to endeavour, yet I shall prove but an unprofitable servant, I am black like an Aethiopian, nay I am more black, my very teeth are black; My soul is all spotted, all guilty of uncleanness. Only my belief is that thy Grace is more abundant than tongue can speak, or heart can think, or pen can paint. LINEAMENT. XV. The Authors gratulatory Prayer unto the Lord for the abovesaid wondrous effects. O Lovely Light, O Lord of Majesty, how over-late do I begin to know thee? My well-beloved put in his hand by the Cant. 5. hole of my door, offering to breath faith into my soul. But such was my dulness, such my drowsiness, that I could not once sigh, sob, nor say, Abba Father, O my Father, Rom. 8. I have sinned against heaven and against thee. Yea, thou wert in the superior part of my heart, and I neglected thee. Thou didst call me both within and without, and I rejected thee. I rejected the Wellspring of living water, and resorted to noisome cisterns of puddle wort, full of wormwood comforts, full of tickling hopes, which were speedily spent: for all worldly comforts and vain hopes do vanish away like wind. And yet, it pleased thy lightsome Spirit, O Lord of life, after many a scorching Summers' attendance, after many a frozen Winters watching, expecting my conversion, to knock again most patiently at the door of my soul, and thus to call unto her while she slept so carelessly: Open unto me, my sister, my love, my dove: for my head is full Cant. 5. of d●●r, and my locks with the drops of the night. Again, and again, it pleased thee to invite me after this manner: Return, O thou rebellious child, and I will heal thy jerem. 3. rebellions: for even as a woman hath rebelled against her jerem 20. husband, so hast thou rebelled against me. How dease is he that hears not such a voice? A voice more vehement than the sound of many waters. How deeply sleeps he, Apot. 11. that is not wakened with such a morning watch, with such a melody? A melody more musical than ever Tubal, Amphion, or Arion could possibly conceive, When all thy creatures combined against me, in revenge of my disloyalty towards thy sacred sovereignty, thou didst temper their fiery fury, thou didst moderate their biting bitterness. The four Elements, which thou madest for my conservation, conspired all to root my being out of the Land of the living. The Air threatened to taint my breathing with contagious smells, with Stygian stinks. The Fire assayed to burn my brutish body. The Water strove with might and main to overwhelm me utterly. The Earth endeavoured before her time to abridge my luxurious life; And all because I had offended their great Creator. But thou more merciful than thy creatures, for the love of thy Name, and for the love of thy Son, didst control all their practices, and confound the devices of the Devil himself. How happy am I, that thou prolongst my days? how kind art thou that sparest to spill the blood of thy very foes? O kindness without desert! O courtesy without comparison! Behold behold, ye mortals all, how the Lord hath delivered me from the danger, nay, from the dungeon of death, from sudden death. The God of glory hath defended me from Thunder and Lightning, from water and fire. O what oblation can the poor Samaritan● sacrifice unto his sacred Majesty, for these his wondrous works? Ille magis gratae laetatur mentis odour Quam consecrato sanguine mille boum: Nam prece non alio gaudet honore Deus. God better loves a thankful mind, than many Oxens' blood: For poor men's prayers he prefers before the rich and proud. Seeing thankfulness is such a sweet smelling odour in his sacred no strils, let me proclaim his glorious Name, Alleluiah, Osanna in the Highest. Blessed be the name of his heavenly Highness, blessed in heaven, blessed on earth, and blessed throughout all ages. The Lord be blessed for evermore, which hath enlightened me in the darksome shadow of errors, which hath enlarged me from a world of perils, which hath recalled me failing, which hath raised me falling, which hath recovered me running almost out of breath, from falling and fainting. Let all Nations perform their duties, let them praise the Lord: for it is he, that commandeth Psaime 29. the waters: It is the glorious God that maketh the Thunder: It is the Lord that ruleth the sea: The voice of the Psalm 77. Lord is a glorious voice: the voice of the Lord breaketh the Cedar trees; yea, the voice of his thunder was heard round about, the lightning shone upon the ground. The Earth was moved and shook withal: his way is in the sea, and his paths in the great waters. Applaud him, O my soul, applaud his magnificent Majesty. Let his laud be ever in thy thoughts. Let all thy faculties, all thy attributes and operations spread themselves as blooming Vines round about my heart, my brain, my tongue, that the same may become as the pen of a ready writer, to sound out and resound his most puissant power. Others according to the altitude of his judgements, he cutteth off by untimely death: but me he spares alive, as a monument of his living mercy. O what had become of me, if thou hadst cited me likewise at that horrible hour before thy tribunal throne of justice? O my Saviour, I thank thee for thy peerless patience, I praise thee, though basely and barely in respect of thy benefits, I adore thee, I honour thee, I humble myself before thee all the days of my life: I return, I repair unto thee, not haltingly, not hollowly, but holily (I would I could say wholly) all the days of my life. O give me grace, help my weakness heal mine unbelief. LINEAMENT. XVI. 1 The Conclusion of this present Circle, consecrated by the Author to his Wife's memory. 2 The Application of her memorable death. 3 The Authors Apology against the Spirit of Detraction, on the because of this present Circle, where his Wife's memory is saluted with a Christian Farewell. INgenuous Reader, hitherto after the example of Antimachus, who composed a Book in the commendations of his wife Lydia, have I laboured to eternize my dear wife's memory, to the end & intent that when the Spirit of ' Detraction (as the Sorcerers rod was swallowed up by Aaron's rod) is consumed to nothing, and when his lying mates do dye, and lie ingloriously in rotten earth, the world shall find, that she lives for ever among the living invita invidia, in despite of envy, that she flourisheth like a Palm tree, which the more it is suppressed, the more returneth upwards, consonant to that of the Wiseman; The memorial of the just shall be blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot. Her memorable end anatomised and Proverbs 10. embalmed in this my bookish coffin, shall yield odoriferous perfumes of her mild, meek, and modest life, to the sence-pleasing comfort of the elected innocent. And that I may record the memory of her end Allegorically with the Poet: Etumulo vi●lae, fortunate àque favillâ Nascentur, cippusque, levis sua cont●get ossa. Out of her grave fine Violets shall bloom, And a light stone shall her sweet bones entomb. Thus out of my miseries, as out of the ashes of a burnt Phoenix, is built a beacon of living miracles, which I humbly pray his heavenly Highness, among other suppliants of his, that they may effect in me, what a more radiant light effected in Saint Paul, namely, the illumination of a dark conscience. For when my body (like a bowl) was carried about with the bias of concupiscence & my soul rocked a sleep in the cradle of worldly security, by Satan's enchanting lullabies, than my Lord, that saw me so misled, like unto Salomon's fool, laughing, when indeed I had more cause to weep: then my loving Lord, I say, took compassion on my foolish falls, and gave me a sound pinch, or prick in the flesh, that started and stirred up all my reasonable faculties to consider more judiciously, in what a case I stood both body and soul. What better use of this temptation can I produce, then that thy death dear wife, like Elishaes' bones, which revived a dead corpse, hath wrought a double miracle; the one in thy translation, the other in my conversion? then that this lightning Accident hath enlightened both our souls. Thine it preferred into Paradise; mine it prepareth for Paradise: thy soul (as a type of zeals flame,) it purified actually, secundum passionem; mine it purifieth potentially, secundum propassionem. Thus both of us do stand as monuments to the Church here on earth; the one as a relic richer than Mausolus his Tomb, the other as a public notary, reserved to sound out the wonders of the great God, and to transcribe unto after-ages thy extraordinary end. If the Spirit of Detraction reply, that I intent a needless labour to embalm a dead carcase with such costly 3 ointment; saying, what needed this waste? Lo, I return his envious demand this unparalleled answer of our Saviour: I did it to bury her. It is to perform the last obsequies of her funeral: that wheresoever the Gospel is sincerely preached throughout this Land, there also these Circles of mine (whereof her memory, next under God, was the motive) may be read, as a mirror of God's miracles, as a memorial of her living virtues, and as a monument towards her of my kind affection. It is the last solemnity, the last precious ointment which I can pour upon her head, the last Adieu, the last office of good will, which I can accomplish for her sake. This kind of Epitaphs in honour of the dead, an holy Father highly commendeth: It is piety (saith he) to publish the deceaseds virtues, yea, it is a means to increase grace in our Nazian. in monod. Basil. own selves. Therefore let no man blame me, because I erect these paper-statues to the glory of my deceased wife, seeing that many others of nobler endowments have endeavoured to illustrate their dead friends. It is not long since that famous Gentleman, Philip Mornay Lord of Plessis, mourned in the like manner for the death of his only son, who of late was slain with a musket-shot at the siege of the City Geldre, under Grave Maurice: which doleful Catastrophe he set out in a little book called Du Plessis tears, written to his wife Charlotte Baliste; why then should I fear thy shadowy prickles, O spiteful Spirit? In praising her, from whom have I detracted? down therefore, down with thy malicious stings, and interrupt me not in my zealous offices; while I betake myself to the mournful accents of a voice almost stopped with throbs of grief, while also I sacrifice my last gratuities unto her sacred spirit, interrupt me not: Adieu thou servant of Christ, thou pattern of piety. Adieu thou map of God's miracles. Adieu my love, my joy, my comfort. Adieu, and rest thee henceforth among the heavenly roses, rest in peace for ever free from the thorns of malice. Adieu again and again. Adieu Elizabeth my wife for a while, and welcome sweet jesus my Saviour for ever. THE SEAVENTH CIRCLE OF THE SPIRIT OF DETRACTION, CONJURED AND CONVICTED. LINEAMENT. I. 1 That the spirit of Detraction can never annoy us, while the Majesty of justice shines upon us. 2 The Authors supplication to the Lord Chancellor of England, the Lord Precedent of Wales, and to all other his majestics judges of Record within this Monarchy of Great Britain, for the extirping out of notorious Blasphemics. 3 The Spirit of Detractions craft in molesting his Majesty's inferior Officers. 4 His diabolical craft in wronging of private persons. 5 The Authors Conclusion to the abovesayd Lords, for reformation of the said abuses. HOW amiable shows thy face (O Queen of Virtue's) when the 1 light of Majesty shines upon thee! Even as amiable shows thy face as the face of an Angel, as the face of Moses, which he was fain to veil by reason of his bright-shining beauty, after he had seen a glimpse of God's glory. When thou sittest equally in thy throne of state, with the balance in one hand, and the sword in the other hand: how worthy then to beadored, being so adorned, so transfigured in glory, with the three Apostles on Mount Tabor! While this balance lasteth even the Lamb may dwell with the Wolf without dread or doubt. While this sword of justice hangs over Cain's head, as it sometimes hung over Damocles his head by a slender thread, his younger brother Abel may walk innocent in his vocation, and cheerfully sacrifice his oblation of thanksgiving, sounding out this ditty of the princely Psalmist: I will sing of Mercy and judgement, unto thee, O Lord, will I sing. The careful Magistrate need not fear the sword Psal. 101. of Ishmael, which is a reviling tongue. jacob after his three apprenticeships under Laban, may travel upon the King's highway towards his native home, secured from his eldest brother Esau's sword. Moses may exercise his office with alacrity and courage, notwithstanding the rebellious muttering of Corah, Dathan, and Abiram. In this golden age of justice, ‛ David may manifest his zeal, and joyfully dance before the Lord's Ark for all the scornful flouts of Michol, or the scolding speeches of Semci. Now he cares not for his emulous and envious adversaries, who to some out the dregs of their minds subborned false witnesses, laying to his charge those Psal. 35. things which he never knew. In this flourishing time Mephibosheth triumphs over his servant Zibaes' scandalous accusation. While this thy balance, O sacred justice, or this thy sword, the one as a cause indented to lead the use of thy fine, the other as a final concomitance or statute staple to establish thy ever-stable judgements, or while both of them together, as Causa & Causatum, two friendly Correlatives do follow the strict contents of their Commission of Oier and Terminer, the injurious imputations of Potiphars' wife can never impeach chaste joseph; nor can the snarling and doggish letter R, redoubled out of Doegs' nostrils impair the credit of Abimelech. Neither can jezabels' letter produce seduced testimony against Naboth, nor can the Rulers of Babylon work the ruin of Daniel. Rejoice, thou daughter of Israel, renowned Susanna, for the Elders which accused thee are overtaken in their own snares; they are found in contrary tales. While this seat of justice stands sincere, without stain, without sickleness, Stephen may boldly reprove the sins of our lawless Libertines without fear of forged witnesses, or clamorous suggestions, that he blasphemed God and Moses. So full of efficacy is the influence of justice, when her bright beauteous body is countenanced with the glorious aspects of Prudence and Magnanimity, the attributes of the Eternal Majesty, that presently the Spirit of Detraction with all his black Guard of sin will disperse themselves to nothing, as a company of bragging Wasps at the violence of Northern wind. There flocked sometimes out of this fluttering swarm innumerable, to bear down the reputation of jonathas with his Prince: but what became of them, and of their runagate slanders? as soon as they heard the sound of King Alexander's Trumpet, proclaiming jonathas to be the King's friend, and him for this cause to be clothed in purple, and to wear a collar of gold, they vanished away, like Wasps or Bees, leaving not so much as one of their stings behind to offend that renowned Maccabee. Right Honourable, and prudent Senators, (to whom the Sun of this mighty Monarchy hath imparted 2 part of his powerful authority, to judge the Tribes thereof) I have purposely framed this preface towards your patient spirits, that thereby your Honours may discern the anguish of my sick soul, which labours (like a woman intravaile) to discharge her long and toilsome load. Non quaero quod mih● utile, sed quod multis. I sue not only for myself, though (perhaps) my particular grief is such that it may cry for vengeance unto the highest heaven, but on the behalf of many thousands, who moan and groan under the weight of a little Devil, the Tongue of Sinne. In what measure this Tyrant lavisheth and lordeth, I am not able to express in words significant, seeing that it passeth the power of any one modest Writer to comprehend the sway and swing of spiritual monsters. Amidst the incessant complaints of so many Subjects, who continually (like jobs messengers) solicit your wisdoms with their frequent informations, besides your own trials, your Honours may inquire from one to one, and observe from day to day, how many zealous persons find themselves aggrieved out of Court, and in Court, even from his Majesty's starry Court, to the least and base Court. Out of Court at Ordinaries, at gossipping, at Taverns, at Tobacco-taking, a man shall hear nothing but Detractions, nothing but contumelies and lies, nothing but captious and carping speeches. When they are wantonly weary with iearing, with jesting one at another, with tearing their neighbours good name and fame with their taunting tongues, like unto Delphic swords, and with diversities of scandals worse than the prints of scourges: then they fall to swearing, to swaggering, and to blaspheming of their Lord and Father in Heaven, in stead of hallowing his holy name. O times! O iniquity! If God be their Father, where is his honour? If he be their Lord, where is his reverence? To you (judicious Lords) as the watchful Sentinels, or rather the wise Surgeons of our State, it belongs betimes, even before the darkest night of errors steals upon us, to provide for corrosives and cauterismes against these ugly ulcers, which rankle within the body of our Commonweal. Sith it hath pleased his Royal Highness to communicate part of his light unto you, whereby every one of you might move in his place, not naturally ab oriente ad occasum, but supernaturally from Nature to the Author of Nature, I beseech your Lordships in the lowest degree of reverence, by virtue of this your heavenly motion, your virtual Influence, and irradiation, to dissolve such clouds of Detractions, into dismal showers upon the Detractours heads, according to that of the Princely Prophet: they have digged a pit for others, and have fall'n into the m●ast of it themselves. They sought to bemire & bewray their honest neighbours with their legends nay, with their legions of lies, intending to set them upon the stage of scorn on the scaffold of scurrility, and there to clothe them with reproach and shame, not unlike those spiteful jews, which plaited on our Saviour's head a Crown of thorns, crown to delude him, thorny prickles to torment him. By virtue of your authorities, your starry motions, let such clouds and vapours be dispersed into whole floods of vengeance upon the Spirit of Detraction. Let their bodies feel the smart of your sword, whose wilful Wills will not relent with the weight of your balance. If other men's examples serve not to bridle their untoward tongues, let their own estates pay the ransom of their contempts. While such monstruous sins bear dominion among us, never let your wisdoms think, that your Officers 3 of inferior ranks dare execute in that proportionable expectation your monitory directions, your wholesome rules for the repressing of riots, for the restraining of unruliness, as otherwise they would, were they assured of protection. While Perjurers and pettifogging Promootors range up and down at their pleasure, never let your Honours look but for unequal proceedings, and unjust presentments at our neighbour's hands. But some one will object, that the Courts of justice lie open as well for the basest as for the noblest Subject; neither will our laws permit a private person to lay violent hands on an Outlaw, or on him which is attainted of Praemunire: so equal a reference bears justice towards subjects of all conditions. By these reason's Perjury fortifies itself against the open face of Truth. Yet notwithstanding, whosoever ponders more pregnantly the present state of our public weal, comparing the same with that of the old world, shall find that our present policy had need of further muniments to underprop it; lest also your Atlantic shoulders become weary, or to speak more properly, lest your vp-streatched hands (like those of Moses) might fail at length in their important charge. Though God (I confess) hath ordained the Sun to shine upon the ungodly, as upon the Godly, and as the Preacher wrote, All things come alike to all. The same condition is to the Ecclesiast. 9 just and the wicked, to the pure and impure, to him that sacrificeth, and to him that doth not sacrifice. Though the Lord created them all alike, in respect of outward endowments or accidental means, yet notwithstanding he hath severed them, specially in the second life, entitling the Innocent as Lambs, & the reprobate as Goats, the one as good seed, the other as tares, the one for Heaven, the other for Hell. The like distinction I could wish to be practised among those judges, which either take or hope themselves to be partakers of that second life; so that all notorious lewd members might be excluded (if it were possible) from molesting of quiet spirits. To this purpose, after a sort our late Parliament provided a countermining order for the speedy dispatch and trial of suits commenced against Officers at the Common law. But so it is (Right Honourable) that these Caterpillars implead a bar in this final concordance: for if your Officers come accompanied with honest neighbours, to search or suppress suspicious people, or else to apprehend disturbers of his Majesty's peace: these wicked ones apparel themselves in the robes of subtlety, and with the help of mercenary tongues, laying an ambush for justice, they surmise with Aesop's Wolf, that the poor Lamb in forcible and riotous manner mudded the Well, where water was usually drawn for their Lordly mouths. This offence by their Satanical inventions being exorbitant, and beyond the capacity of the Common law, they frame their suggestions before your Honours, in hope that their suits by reason of the manifold affairs, which distract your diligent minds, shall hang unheard for two or three years' space; within which term they will work means to compromit their said frivolous suits, or else by tossing and tiring their Adversaries too and fro with tedious travailing, to end them at home for their credit and advantage. If an honest man hath a sum of money due unto him by Obligation, the Party indebted not able to 4 spare it by reason of his ouer-lau●sh expenses in apparel, wenches, and such inordinate vanities, and seeing no shift at the Common law to avoid the payment, confederates with two or three of the Devil's consort, bare legged vagrants (those whom Homer termed houselesse and Tribelesse) and useth the forfeit of their souls for his temporal advantage, and for the hindrance of his Creditors in his Majesty's Court of Chancery. Doth a Landlord demand the occupation of his own and native freehold, requiring the Tenant either to compound for a longer term, or to leave it unto his dispose? Presently these wrangling wretches with bread and cheese in their scrips run headlong to the Counsel of the Marches, where upon affidavit of their three years' possession, and afterwards upon proof by some of these damned crew, that they contracted with their Landlord for a lease paroll, though such an Act was never done, or perhaps done for some other consideration of import, they procure either orders to continue their possessions for the said supposed & deposed term, or until they be expulsed by virtue of verdict at the Common law: where also by reason of these vilipendious varlets testimonies, they win the garland of their forged suits. O the perfidiousness of false & faithless hearts, that thus rashly run into the lake of fire and brimstone! These inconveniences happen daily, to the impairing and impeaching of our temporal fortunes. Yea and which is most detestable among Christians, these treacherous judasses and impious Imps of Satan combine together against our credits, which some of us value beyond Craessus his treasury, and some other times against our lives, which as Tenants in capite we hold from the King of Kings. These abominations of my native Country here I 5 submit before your eyes of justice, that the same may serve as additions of examples unto your manifold experience, whereby your Honours may conceive or rather recall to memory, what terrible tempests do daily encounter your inferior Ministers and others his Majesty's well disposed subjects; notwithstanding that you know already better than a thousand such as I am, that there is no sign more certain, that men are virtuous, then to see them hated of the vicious; for imminent envy ever persecutes eminent virtue. Good my Lords, employ your uttermost endeavours for the extirping of these accursed actions. The more pains ye take in this weighty business, the more conspicuous crown of Honour shall you wear in the Heavenly City, even by His appointment, who (though invisible to the eyes of flesh and blood) stands in the assembly of the Gods, and Psal. 82. judgeth among the Gods, that is, in the midst of you, O earthly judges, which likewise that Holy man protested, saying, that his eyes are with Kings and Princes in the job 36. throne. And another confirmeth the same with a reason: for ye execute not the judgements of man, but of God. 2 Chr●n. To this end, that the laws of this land may not further be injured by the Spirit of Detraction, let his counterfeit Castor and Pollux be crushed in the egg, his rancour repelled, and his rage repressed in the beginning of his reign: for if Satan's surmised suits were blasted in the blossom, the rest of his snaky Spirits would presently sneak away into their bottomless home. If the lips of our Satyrciall Semeies' were seared as a subjects lips in France were seared with a hot Iron for his petulant speeches, when they transgress, and transcend the bounds of obedience, then surely would they yield their hearts with greater awe and civility to the Balance and Sword of justice. If their tongues were tempered towards your subordinate Ministers, they would with greater reverence respect your higher authorities, as the resemblance of his Majesty's person, yea, of God himself. But some will say, that these sons of Detraction, cannot so soon cashier their blasphemies, perjuries, & slanderous suggestions, by reason of a continual cankered custom, which they derive into their wills ever from their cradle in their education & conversation. For confirmation of this fallacy, they insist on the Locrensian law, on the state of our bodies, which may not brook innovation nor breach of custom, the same being (as Physicians hold) another nature. With the sophistry of this untempered mortar (Right prudent Lords) our Momists use to daub over their gross errors as though the conversion of a corrupted custom were the perversion of an authentic Law. The alteration of our customary diet (I confess) seems raw and rough at first unto our crabbed natures, but within a while after, it turns to the benefit of the Patient, where the custom is refined or reduced into a better; for what is Custom without Truth? none other than as meat without salt; an old wife's fable, and an old doting sin. Whatsoever savours not of Faith is sin. The word of God admits not of wrangling policy; neither may we wrest it according to our worldly devices. It is primitive, and contemns mixture; it is pure, and hates hypocrisy. The Lord hath spoken, and his speeches shall stand for ever: Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but the word of God shall never pass. Yea, one day tells another, & one night certifieth another, that his spotless Spirit abhors those refractaryes, which blaspheme his hallowed Name, which bear false testimonies against their neighbours. But what am I that thus audaciously go about to confront your experience, whose books of judgements I am not worthy to open? What am I that seem (as sus Mineruam) to instruct nathan's in justice, Nestor's in Counsels? Pardon my trespass (virtuous judges) as the Highest judge hath pardoned yours. As many pieces of flesh (I speak it under your accustomed patience) do better the pottage: so these advisoes of mine, though ambitiously elated, (I know) cannot hinder your grave proceedings. Let them go then, as little looking glasses for Abcedarie novices, whose ability perhaps in wit or purse will not serve to get them mirroirs of a firmer substance. LINEAMENT. II. 1 That after Controlment Instruction is necessary for them, that be possessed with the Spirit of Detraction. 2 That Taciturnity and Patience do conjure him down into hell. FOrasmuch as the Detracting Spirit, and his 1 false feathered Eagles are unmasked, and discovered through the wind of God's Word, which before in this age of ours was (like an infortunate Planet) predominant over the Horoscope of our nativities: it is high time that I minister an Antidote or preservative against the precedent mischiefs, and after controlment that I adjoin instruction▪ seeing both together are as necessary for the variable will of man, as Phlebotomy for a Pleurisy or Calenture. Every evil at the first budding is quickly extirped, but being suffered for a while to run a lawless race uncurbed or uncorrected, it becometh past cure. Even as wildfire or lightning having received nourishment or matter to work upon by candlelight, tallow, or oily substances, increaseth in a house, and there-hence would break into the next house, and at last into the whole town, unless at the first inflaming it be quenched with milk: so the Spirit of Detraction being suffered to creep into an honest man's house (like Aesop's unthankful Snake, which the innocent husbandman saved from the chilling cold) and there, by negligence permitted to infect some of the household, will at length not only enuenome the head of the Family himself, but also empoison the whole neighbourhood, except at the first his fiery force be extinguished with the milk of Taciturnity and Patience. Of this kind of milk, among other ingredients, is that Ointment made, which the Apostle mentioned: ye have an ointment of him that is holy, & ye know all things. Though 1 john 2. Truth hath taken off this false vizard, yet we must apply the fruits of Truth for his further condemnation, and that other wicked Spirits may likewise be kept back from planting themselves in the little world. With Taciturnity the Spirit of Detraction is choked: with Patience the Detracted conquereth the Detractor. 2 vincit qui patitur. In old time this kind of Spirit was conjured up by unhallowed holy water, by massemonging miracles: now our Countrymen raise him up by pots of good liquor, and pipes of Tobacco, therewith both day and night profaning their bodies, which rather they ought to purify with mortification, as the Temples of the Holy Ghost: for wanton flesh and blood cannot inherit heaven. In old time his malice was sometimes allayed by simplicity and superstitious singleness of mind: now he can never be put down, and packed into hell without Taciturnity and Patience: both which, if thou. who readest this Circle, dost obtain at thy heavenly Father's hand, thou needest not doubt of thy soul's salvation, nor of silent sobriety. LINEAMENT. III. 1 The description of Taciturnity. 2 That the nature and quality of a man may be discerned by speech or writing. 3 That wise men in private may descant of their neighbour's faults, so that the same tend to edification. ALbeit that Taciturnity be a kind of 1 milk far more delicious than the Parac●lsians lac virgins, or false Mahemets heavenly junkets hard to come by, known but of very few, and those sons of Art, whose chief Aphorism is to keep close their sovereign receipts from vicious persons; I will notwithstanding adventure to disclose what it is, borrowing the description thereof, out of Monsieur du Chesue his Portrait de la sancte. Taciturnity is to hear and premeditate a thing well and long, to be brief and short in his answers, that is, to speak little or nothing. Taciturnite est bien & longuement oscouter, & premediter, estre briese & court on ses responses, ascavoir, dire peu ou rien. This rare medicine makes the Patient which takes it, to carry his mouth in his heart, whereas Detraction causeth men to bear their hearts in their mouths, to deliver dregs with drink and to shoot their foolish bolts before that discretion wils them. Which moved a certain wise man, that on a time was asked by his Prince at a banquet, why he alone sat still like a fool without parleying, thus pithily to answer: A fool (be it spoken under your Matesties' correction) can hardly hold his peace at a banquet: for as Solomon saith, the fool putteth forth all his spirit, but a wise man deferreth Proverbs 29. it afterwards. O divine virtue! O discreet Taciturnity! which resemblest the patient Deity, which repellest hunger and thirst, which never renderest grief, blame, nor shame. Surely the best conjecture, which may be made of men's inclinations is by speech or writing. Loquere ut te videam, speak that I may know thee, quoth Socrates to a novice of his: as for example, if thou hearest one discourse immoderately of fair women, fine apparel, of hawking, hunting and gaming; or if thou hearest him vaunt over-gloriously of his own worth, or speaking in print, in inkhorn terms, thundering out sesquipedales, and hornificabustulated metaphors, verborum bullas & ampullas, words of his own bubbled, or bottled stamp; or if thou seest him scribble disjointed phrases, and lame Hyperboles, then note him for a vainglorious fellow, a fantastical Parrot, a golden Ass, led too much with the imaginative faculty. If his common talk be of law cases, of lying Chronicles, of old wife's fables, or if he rips up pedigrees, repeating his own or his Kinsman's genealogy to Cadwallader, to Brutus, to Saturn, to Noah, in all companies, and at all times of honest mirth, observe him for an excellent memory, and withal for a notable fool. If he weighs his words by the ounce, if he speaks seldom, or not before a question be asked him, and if he regardeth circumstances, as the dignity of the person with whom he talks, the place, the time, the nature of the hearers, and the matter of speech, always using God's name and authority with submissive reverence, knowing that his omnipotent Majesty heareth every word he speaks, then mark him for a man of understanding. He that will learn to speak, must first learn to be silent: for as the Italian Proverb teacheth, l'huomo parlando poco e ' annumerato fra i savij. The man which speaks little▪ is accounted among the wise. And as the Frenchman saith, les foullies plus courtes sont les meilleures, the briefest sheets are the best. Be a man never so witty, yet if he parleyes much, his tongue cannot choose but err, and trip in some principal points: which (as another Italiaen writes) will trouble the stomach more than ten grains of Antimonic or Stibium. Conturbano piu lo stomacho que farebbon●●●eci grani de Antimonio. So that one word out of square may blemish a man's whole reputation, and cause Zoylist's to descant and sit upon him perhaps while he lives. Neither can I excuse the wisest Clerks, that they likewise be not sometimes subject unto the spirit of Detraction, as that Learned Lord demonstrates: Men though otherwise grave and learned, may err, either by mistaking principles, The Earl of North-hampton. or giving too light ear unto false informations, which are rightly termed the spectacles of Error: for God only searcheth the heart and reins. But what censure will their own inckpot Senate yield of such jesting and jybing, nicking and nipping Paedantes, which cannot bridle their wide mouthed hackneys, namely, that such persons be but parliamenting Parasites, Pungitopian peevish Momes, ridiculous Readers, Bacchanalian Parolistes, superingenious jays, superficial flaunting fools, letting their tongues run before their wits, without rhyme or reason, without matter or method: for as the Wiseman writeth, In many words there cannot Proverbs 10. want iniquity. Notwithstanding all this, I am not so severe a Cynic, neque mihi cornea sibra est, nor are Persius' in satire 1. my heart-stings so horny and hard-laced, as to banish all manner of delightful discourses, to deceive away the time withal, for I grant that a friend, an alter ego, may without impeachment of Detraction, or doubt of Libelling, unlock the cabinet of closest counsels, and secretly confer with his friend about those matters, which to report openly were flat against the rules of Christian Charity, or Civil modesty. Yea, such is the sugared torture, the sweet tormenting force, the natural influence of true Love, that the Husband cannot conceal from his virtuous Wife, nor the wife from the virtuous Husband, what novelties or rumours run, revel, and range abroad in their neighbourhood. According to which agrees that Italian saying; Ilcaldo del letto dilegua sowente il ghiaccio della taciturnita, the heat of the bed thaws oftentimes the ice of secrecy or Taciturnity. To conclude, with this indented covenant I approve the secret scanning of other men's actions among 3 wise friends, provided that the same may redound to their mutual example, that it may serve them for a precedent or bookcase for the souls edifying, and afterwards that such speeches lie privily entombed within the coffin of their hearts. LINEAMENT. four 1 That Patience is policy in Detractions. 2 An exhortation to patience. 3 An objection of the Detracted. 4 A confutation. HE that is detracted can never anger his Detractor more, than when he holds 1 his peace with patience, and answers not again his slanderous speeches. Time wears out the greatest scandal. Therefore wise politickes have patiently dissembled backbitings, making as though they heard them not. For even as fire under the ashes consumes away, but being stirred it kindles, and may do harm as well as good: so let the man which is deeply and without cause back-bited by the spirit of Detraction, and his lying crew take open notice, and noise abroad the undeserved slander, it may turn to his discredit, as well as to his credit, by reason that men's natures are so corrupt, suspicious, and guilty in themselves, that they will easily judge the worst, and imagine all others to be like unto themselves; but in process of time they will be weary of one man's object, and therefore when other calumniations come in place the former are forgotten, and: (as fire covered with ashes) lie quite extinguished. If an Ass or Colt kick thee, wilt thou recalcitrate and spurn him again? Or if another doth torment thee, wilt thou torment thyself? The remembrance of injuries hurts a man more than the receiving of injuries. Therefore let not the Sun go down upon thine impatience. And though thou sufferest Satan to look in at the keyhole of thy heart, yet keep him out from lodging there. Let us then bear with men's infirmities, if they be 2 not too outrageous, let us bless them that curse us, and desire GOD to convert their enmity into amity. I say, let us endeavour to convert them by converting their enmity into a Chrisitan-like use. By this means, we shall work miracles, and cause the unbelieveds hardened heart to relent and receive remorse in conscience. A Spanish homilist relates out of another Author, whom he terms el gran Cassiano, a notable example tending to this purpose. An honest Hermit on a time being injuried by an Infidel with this exprobration and blasphemous detraction against his Christian profession: Que milagroes extraordina●ios hize esse tu Christo en el mundo? What extraordinary miracles did this thy Hernando Sanctiago sober Euangelios. Christ so in the world? he answered, no es harto milagro, que tus blasfemias è iniurias no me offendan, ni me alboreten tus am●naeas? Is not this a sufficient miracle of his, that thy blasphemies and iniurics do not offend me, nor thy threatenings move me? The utility which we get by meditating on our Saviour Christ is so admirable, that the remembrance of his miraculous patience induce us to tolerate with humility the infirmities of our fleshly brethren. Wherefore let us stop our itching ears from these Detractions, even at the first bound, before they be throughly ingraffed in our hearts. For as there would be no thieves, if there were no receivers: so there would not be half so many chattering mouthcs to detract, if there were not so many charmed ears to soak and suck them in. But notwithstanding these pareneticall caveats of mine, thou stumblest again on the plain, exclaiming, 3 that it is impossible for flesh and blood to endure such scandalous detractions. Thou canst not tarry the Lords leisure. The clouds hide him, that he cannot see, he walketh in the circle of heaven. job 22. O crazed soul, why depravest thou his eternal 4 knowledge? If thou be railed upon for the name of Christ, Peter 4. blessed art thou: for the time is come, that punishment must begin at the house of God. If thou sufferest detractions by Ibid. reason of worldly crosses ', thou art worse than mad, if thou settest those things by thy heart, which thou oughtest rather to set by thy heels. Thou art not thine own man nor at liberty, if thou makest such reckoning of transitory accidents here on earth. It is no marvel, that the dogs of this world do bark at thee, for what are we in it but strangers and Pilgrims, expecting daily to be sent for. Sedges altera in herba est. Here we have no continuing ●itie, but we look for one to come. We look Heb. 13. for an everlasting Harvest, for an heavenly jerusalem, the foundations of whose walls are garnished with precious Apocap. 21. stones, whose gates are pearls, whose street is pure gold, as shining glass, which hath no need of the Sun, neither of the Moon to shine in it, for the greater light extinguisheth the lesser; the glory of God for ever lightens it, far brighter than a thousand Suns & a thousand Moons. Into which everlasting City no malicious Detractor, no liar, no impatient spirit, nor any other unclean thing shall enter. LINEAMENT. V. 1 That the Spirit of Detraction begins to shrink through the influence of Taciturnity and Patience. 2 The Spirit of Detraction convicted for broaching out questions of Princes Sovereignties. 3 That private persons ought not to dispute of their Prince his dealings. SEe, how the Spirit of Detraction begins 1 to shrink and to sound a retreat (like Socrates his scolding Wife, now that the virtues of Taciturnity and Patience do bar thy grave mouth from answer, letting his malice to have the last word. See, how he stands mute, shaking and quaking at the glimpse of these glorious Gifts. His lightning is vanished into smoke, & his slanders on a sudden slackened. To detract from jehovahs' name with vain swearing, or from his works with men's poisoned paradoxes, he confesseth it Blasphemy worthy of his bottomless pit. No misfortune can happen without our Creators' providence, nor one hair from our heads without his predestination. The Stars thou alone dost stint, most mighty God, even by Satan's own confession: the meteours thou alone dost sway, in ordering their effects, as it pleaseth thy secret wisdom. When thou sendest out thy thunder and lightning, as harbingers of thy power, who can control thee? When thou takest a prey: who can enforce thee to restore it? who shall say job 9 unto thee, why didst thou thus? Where are ye Wizards now, with your witless wonders? while ye aver some of your Constellations and Meteours to be kind unto us, and some unkind, ye open your mouths against heaven itself, according to that of Origen: Dum alij stellas beneficas faciunt, alij maleficas, os suum in coelum aperiunt. For all this, our spiteful Spirit hovers in the Air over the heads of our malcontents, and as yet will not descend into his dark home, pretending himself privileged by the Devil's sanctuary until the great Day, to tempt the flexible souls of flesh and blood. True, Satan, true, thou art licenced (I grant) to pervert our faith for a while, but not to subvert the same for ever. Thy perverting is but momentany, as a corrosive to convert and to cure the dead rankled flesh. But if this seducing Serpent persist to eat into the bone, resist his biting bitterness, ye servants of the Highest, resist his power, though his words seem coloured and covered with the purest gold of Ophir, though he come disguised unto you (like jeroboam's wife) to entrap you by reason of your blindness. If he insinuates into you slanderous suggestions concerning your Prince his sovereignty, advising you to 2 vent them out at your mouths, least wanting vent, they burst your straight-laced hearts, like unto the embotteled Air; conjure him in your Saviour's name, and boldly say unto him, Avoid Satan: We must not rail at our Superiors, for there is no power but of God, & the powers that be are ordained of God. Cursed be he which curseth the Lords anointed. Cursed be he which detracteth from Gods Lientenant. But Mariana, and his detracting jesuits' do laugh at these positions. It is lawful (say they) to curse and curb our Princes, if private men's acts be warranted by public judgement, that is, if Ipse dixit my Lord the Pope, that cannot err, do lock them out of the doors of heaven. O heathenish infidelity! Laugh on ye Kingkillars, laugh on for a little while in this earthly world, and ye shall surely weep in the world to come. David's heart smote within him, because he cut but the lap of King Saul's garment. And yet our mortified Schoolmen, our Ghostly Romish Fathers make no conscience to cut off the heads of our anointed Kings, to compare these Regicides with renowned judith. If reucrent Bede were living in these days, how deadly would he defy their profane deeds, separating himself from their Communion? This action of David (quoth this honest Clerk) doth morally instruct us, that we must Bed. libr. 4. Ex. posit. in Samuel. not smite our Princes (though they wrong us) with the sword of our lips, that we must not in detracting-wise adventure to tear the hem of their superfluous deeds. If we approve not the holiness of their lives, let us applaud the holiness of their unctions. But in my judgement such questions of Princes Sceptres ought not to be disputed nor called into controversy, 3 no more than the Eternal purpose of God, which is inscrutable, & incomprehensible by mortal men. Chiefly, we of the Reformed Church, to whom God hath sent an unparalleled Prince, ought not once to conceive amiss of his Royal purpose. Or if it otherwise chance, must not we brook his spots with the like patience, as we brook an unseasonable shower of rain, a storm, or an abortive birth? The dishonourable things, which a Prince doth must be esteemed honourable, or else observed Plautus. but with half an eye. If we had any just cause of such complaints, we ought rather to have recourse to lacobs ladder, to the Spirit of Prayer, and so by repentance to rectify our depraved wills, that God may take away his scourge, according to that Schoolemans' counsel: Tollenda est culpa, ut cesset Tyrannorum plaga. In a peaceable Thomas Aquin. de Regimin. Princip. lib. 1. Commonwealth to set out problems of this muddy nature, argues no profound policy; specially, it becomes not mean Ministers, or utopian Chymerizing Scholars, to busy their brains with Princes matters, whose ears and hands are stretched out at the longest size: Auriculas Asini Mida Rex habet— Persius' in satire. 1. Ouidius in Epist. An nescis longas Regibus esse manus? In this case, as in many other, Theodore Beza ought to be highly magnified, for that being seriously consulted by some seditious Sectaries, whether inferior Officers might not lawfully raise Arms against their Prince, that violates his Oath made unto his Subjects, that infringeth their liberties & immunities, that turns Tyrant unto them, he teturned this circumspect demur unto them: We must demur upon this point, not only because it is dangerous, specially in this age, to lay open such Beza in Epistol. 24. a window, but also because that we may not determine the state of this question simply as you propose it; but herein we must consider many weighty circumstances: And therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we defer our full answer unto your demand at this instant. But this grave answer sufficeth not the spirit of ' Detraction. He broacheth it further: what if such things come to pass? what if the Prince becomes an Apostate? Which is as much to say, what if Atlas his shoulders should wax weary of supporting the Sky? Capi●mis alaudas. Then we shall have our labour for our pains. O vanity of vanities! Doth our Heavenly Father for his Son's Righteousness deliver private persons from Satan's slavery, and shall we distrust his divine providence, that he will not defend his Church both from Satan, and all his Instruments, visible and invisible? Or if our sins be so grievous in his sight, that his wisdom judgeth it expedient to chastise our wanton wills, to season our luxurious natures with sour sauce, and by tribulations to prepare room for the Holy Ghost in the Temple of our Souls, shall we grudge or grieve at his discreet corrections? Is it not his own saying, that through the briars of troubles we must pass into his heavenly world? Let us therefore content ourselves with sober knowledge, and not cavil and travel about such mutinous arguments, which, were they in actual presence, we may sooner wish to avoid, then salve it any other way but by tears and prayers. Man proposeth, but God disposeth. He, even he it is, that treads and tramples down all tyrannies, that ordereth them for his own glory: he that abridged Queen Mary's life for the propagation of his Gospel: that sithence confounded so many attempts of Jesuits & Traitors, and that now of late suddenly and miraculously discovered the transcendent Pouder-plor; no doubt but he will still continue his care over us in the midst of our worldly waves, in the heat of our worldly warfare. Amen. LINEAMENT. VI 1 The Authors scope in this subsequent discourse. 2 The Spirit of Detraction convicted in Protestants, for exasperating of Puritans in their perverse humours. 3 The Spirit of Detraction convicted in Puritans, for their obstinacy against our Ecclesiastical Canons. IN the former Circles I have conjured 1 and convicted the Spirit of Detraction for the breach of the third commandment: thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Wherein I have promiscuously touched the principal branches of this Blaphemous sin, I have taxed outrageous and vain swearing, together with such foul faults, as seem derogatory to God's titles, attributes, and works; to the scandal of our Christian liberty: which seem also to confirm the reprobate in their hardness of heart. Now in this present Circle I will proceed to such common vices, that concern our neighbours, namely, their railing, their runagate reports, rash suspicions, misconstructions, ostentations, and false verdicts. And specially, I will reprove public calumnies. Above all things, I exhort the Reformed Catholic, 2 that protesteth to fight against the Spirit of Detraction, not to give the least occasion of scandal to schismatics, whether they be Tapists or Puritans, either by frumping speeches, or by froward writing. Rather pity their obstinacy, and pray for their conversions: specially, spare to speak spitefully against these sick Brethren of ours, whom we nickname Puritans, or holy Separatists (as the Ancients used to call the impostors of Logic, Sophisters, and as we call Papists, Catholics) for what knowest thou, whether God hath not separated them in their Mother's womb to be his adopted servants in their latter days, notwithstanding their crabbed zeal? What knowest thou, whether the calm dew, which awaiteth on the age of maturity, may by God's grace cool that over-feruent humour of theirs, if they survive to see that siluerage of maturity? Or if their perverseness be such, that they will not then relent, to what end serves thy railing passion, but to exasperate their peevish minds, and to confirm them in their errors? It is noted, that Michael the Archangel in striving for the body of Moses with the Devil, durst not detract nor dare him by exprobration. God's Spirit is meek, loving, patient, void of temereity, and by these holy marks his servants are discerned: which Doctor Whitegift, late Archbishop of Canterbury very discreetly observed against Cartwright, urging thereby the nature of his impatient spirit. Which infallible marks Antichrist himself out of the heard of swine is forced to confess, as Cardinal Baronius of late years verified, when he invaighed against the petulance and factions of our English Seminaries at Rome: They brag much (saith he) of Martyrdom, but for aught I see, they bear not the signs of Martyrs, of obedience, mildness, and humility. It is the part of a Brother to endeavour his Brother's conversion into the unity of peace by gentle means, as Abraham did to Lot; let there be no strife betwixt thee and me, for we be brethren. Even so likewise, seeing that we agree together in the pure and indivisible essence of our Faith, let not temporal Accidents dissever the same which the holy Ghost hath joined together; let us not grieve this holy Spirit of God with our litigious speeches or writings, in comparing those, whom we name Puritans with Jesuits, Christ's members with the members of Antichrist; nor let us broach this late surmised Detraction, that these our crazed brethren do conspire with those of the Dragon's Angels, like Pilate and Herod reconciled, for the coercion and dethroning of Kings: for surely such venom never issued out of Calvin's School, except they pervert and deprave the same as Saint Peter speaks of Saint Paul's Epistles. Well it may be, that some seditious sectaries to flatter their own ambition, during the present time, to temporize, and to blear old Jacob's eyes, have dipped joseph's coat in beasts blood, but I never heard, that they ever imbrued their hands in joseph's own blood. Well it may be, that they being flesh and blood as well as others, have repined, fretted and uttered some slanderous speeches in their malcontented moods against their superiors in authority, only about church-policy, not sticking to affirm, that notwithstanding their Canonical constitutions, they would still persever in their peevish positions: but I never heard, that they complotted to commit any crying sin, to strangle a man's being in nature. But what? shall the Puritan then detract at his pleasure without contradiction? No, God forbid: he must 3 conform himself to the identity of the Spirit, to the uniform harmony of Heaven's Music, lest otherwise in following the self-opinion of his own unexperienced brain, not gathering with his Master Christ, he scatter, and sink in the midst of his muddy pond. To this end I beseech thee (dear Christian Brother) in the presence of God that gave his Son's body among us, not peremptorily to be slain again, nor to be divided into parcels, but spiritually, heavenly, and entire to communicate the same to the poorest as well as to the greatest: that thou, O diseased soul, do hearken unto thy Physician's voice, that thou humble thy thoughts and words towards thy Brother in Christ, not usurping to thyself alone, as a selfe-seeming Saint, his undivided body, which was also crucified for other Penitents. God help us, the very best of us all, from the Prince to the Beggar is full of uncleanness. Yea, the Angels of heaven are unclean in his sight, and in respect of his perfection. The Worm of Conscience tells me, that my purity consists rather in the forgiveness of my sins, then in the purity of my virtues. Submit therefore thy sturdy man unto thy inward man. Subdue thy Goliath, Calonem illum carnosum, thy massy and proud tower of flesh unto thy little Lord, thy spiritual David; and then submit both of them in things Apocryphal and indifferent, not concerning thy soul's salvation, unto the Sceptre of men's authority. Offer up thy soul unto God by Faith, as an holy priesthood, and a spiritual sacrifice in jesus 1 Pet. 2. Christ. Offer up thy body in temporal matters, in civil policy to the Gods of the earth. LINEAMENT. VII. 1 The Spirit of Detraction convicted for repining at our Christian neighbours of Scotland. 2 The said Spirit convicted for detracting from our Countrymen of Wales. Ye noble Saxon spirits tell me, what is the reason, that ye bear some secret emulation 1 in the closerts of your hearts towards your Christian brethren, borne in the same Island, under the same Prince, the same faith? was it not enough for you to bereave them of the fertile fields of Loegria, and to banish them amidst the craggy mounts, amidst the horrid rocks of this Northern Zone, but ye must deride and defame them with your ironical items, your ridiculous girds? Now all conjectures are wound to the bottom. The Fatal Chair of Scotland, which your victorious Edward transported to the Abbey of Westminster is restored again into the possession of a Scottish Prince, nay of a British Prince, of a right Christian Prince, and that with your consent, with God's assent. Now there is no cause to re-edify that famous wall from sea to sea, which the Roman Emperor built upon the frontiers of both kingdoms. Applaud, ye English, this happy union. Congratulate this lucky lot. Henceforth ye need not keep watch and ward at your postern gate. Detract not therefore from your Christian neighbours for his glorious sake, whom the Father hath appointed to be the head of your Corporation Whether they be jews or Gentiles, Scottish, Welsh, or Irish, bond or free, so that they concur with you in the same Religion, see that ye love them as yourselves; and let not the Devil separate those, whom God hath joined together. Perhaps the Idiom of their speech their thick pronounciation displeaseth your delicate cares, because (like Ephramites) they cannot so distinctly utter your filled shibboleths, because they cannot run away with their words so glibe, so smooth, nor so elegantly as yourselves. After this manner did the Athenians invaigh against Anacharsis that famous Scythian: but what answer did he retort them? Speeches ought not to be termed bad, while they comprehended good counsels, while honest deeds accompanied their words. This also the Apostle corroborates, requiring Preachers not to come with excellency of words, to show the testimony of God unto the people. And this he proves by 2 Corinth. 2 a divine reason, intimating, that the word of God consisteth not in the enticing words of men's wised●me, but in the evidence of the spirit and of power. But these scruples are too trivial for men of understanding. Away then with such idle fantasies: Away with such Panic peevish doubts. Bless we the Author of our Union, which hath incorporated two Christian Kingdoms, constituting an eternal league of amity betwixt us by his own personal presence, by the Majesty of his birth: so that we may boldly bid S. George, S. Andrew, S. David, S. ‛ Patrick to avaunt. Avaunt, Adieu ye sinful Saints, and in their stead, come, come thou the only true and sacred Saint, Lord jesus, to whom all other Saints do crouch and kneel for mercy. Our Cambrian cause comes next. For the same reason 2 embrace our plain society; speak well of us, the poor remnants of the ancient Britain's: and let not the Prophecies of our Bardhs dismay your generous minds, that we one day shall Lord it in Troy-novant, measuring your silken Stuffs upon our warlike ' Pikes: that we shall work our full revenge, for that dismal and bloody long-kniued day. These Prophecies are already expired, but in a mystical manner. Have not diverse of our Nation been elected Mayors in your chief Cities, and so triumphed for their due deserts? I will not say, how Austen the Monk subjected your Ancestors to the Romis● yoke; how Swain with his Danes, and William with his normans swayed over your persons, goods, and lands; how your own members have been torn among yourselves through civil discord, when York and Lancaster set up their flags of red and white Roses: Ambo pares rosulas, & pila minantia pilis. Though these misfortunes of yours might well satisfy a revengeful spirit, yet will not I insist on such cruel Augurismes; but rather rejoice, that under the same Prince, under the same Laws, the same Liberties, we join together in our spiritual offices: I rejoice, that the memorial of Offaes' Ditch is extinguished with love and Charity; that our green Leeks, sometimes offensive to your dainty nostrils, are now tempered with your fragrant Roses: that (like the Gibeonites) we are united and graffed into Israel. God give us grace to dwell together without envy, without Detractions. LINEAMENT. VIII. 1 The Spirit of Detraction convicted in Advocates and Counselors at Law, for putting on a good face on bad causes. 2 The Authors resolution on the behalf of honest Lawyers. IT is no small slander in our Christian Corporation, when our Advocates and Counselors 1 at Law, for the greediness of a little worldly muck, do put their tongues to sale, and polish their wits, purposely to colour a foul cause with fair speeches, to make that seem tolerable before the Tribunal seat of justice, which they in their Consciences know to be intolerable. This in very deed is a scandal to the Weal-public, to the Spirit of God, which through the Prophet's mouth thundered out this terrible curse against such lewd practisers, Cursed be ye which speak good of evil, and evil of good. Esay 5. This kind of dealing is likewise rebuked by the Wiseman: He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth Prou. 17. the just; they both are abominable unto God. For certainly, were it not, that these Instruments of Satan did patronise our envious adversaries by backing them in their base projects, they durst not beard the Sons of justice so long as they doe●nay, were it not that they so boldly bolster and bear out ill matters, the reverend judges of this Land need not lose half so many nights of sleep, turmoiling their brains in the search of truth, lest they wrong the party innocent. Whereto I might add, how these wainescot Lawyers in concealing and covering the carriage of such lewd members, do aggravate and augment the nature of their sins, which otherwise through the prickles of flesh & blood, through the smart of shame they would forgo, submitting themselves to the rod of correction. For there is no better remedy to kill sin and cure the soul, then to suffer the sinner to sustain for his sin some punishment by shame, grief, or other means. What avails it me to gain a world of wealth, and within a short while after to leave behind me both my 2 wealth and this world? Better it is to sup a mess of pottage with security, then to feed on the daintiest cates with hazard. Admit that Clients load me with golden fees for setting out a brazen face on damned causes: Admit that all my life time I have glutted my gut with fruit of Paradise: yet if I dare not appear in the presence of God, but am forced to hide myself (as, where can I hide myself from his All seeing Majesty) and to howl for very fear and anguish ye mountains fall upon me, ye Rocks cover me, what shall my fees and fruit then profit me? what good shall I get by them, when Death dogs me at the heels? when my pulses shall faintly beat, my senses fail, and my eyelids shut, never more to open, until they shall see the gates of new jerusalem shut fast against their wretched Master? O remember this, all ye, that lean to Mamm●n, all ye, that love shadows better than substance, and falsehood better than Truth. For mine own part, though I am but young, yet I have observed somewhat; I know as many tricks and quillets to entangle men, as another doth; I know diverse means to circumvent them, that happily think themselves as wise as myself, like unto that Italian, which boasted he knew so many devices to get money, as there be days in the year; but I protest before him that made me, I would choose to be murdered, rather than to use them in my greatest need. Such is the resolution of my soul, or as a friend of mine lately termed it, the tenderness of my Conscience, that I foully scorn to play the part of a mercenary Mechanic with my brother in Christ. I foully scorn to nourish contentions for mine own advantage. For how dare I claim myself to be of the same fraternity, within the Circle of charity, within the union of the Holy Ghost, if I deal not plainly with my neighbour, if I speak not the truth from my heart without equivocation; nay, if I mean not plainly unto him? Let this resolution of mine serve as an Apology, to excuse my retiredness for not exercising that profession, in whose titles I sometimes gloried, though most unworthily. LINEAMENT IX. 1 The Authors invocation to the Deity for pardoning the p●●alance of his spleen in this present Lineament. 2 That judges and Executioners of justice of all others, are most wanton'y detracted by our swaggering Libertines; wherein their vanity is censured by the Author; and also their craking genealogies are controlled. 3 The carriage of judges towards such detracting Sycophants. 4 An admonition to judges, not to respect taunting tongues. 5 Another admonition unto them not to rail and revile at their inferiors. OThers galled to the quick with the multiplicity of their own enormities, 1 by the instigation of this spirit of Detraction, do in their merriment scatter abroad many Alehouse-iests, and gibes, against the Fathers of their Country, which spare no pains in the foulest night, to keep watch and ward (as vigilant Sentinels) for their safety and success. These detestable Detractions destilling from the stream of their unruly passions, I will moderately taunt and attaint of empoisoned malice, mixtis veneno sontibus, all their Well-springs being already tainted with noisome venom. Wherein if I exceed after the manner of flesh and blood, bar thou the inundation of my running brain, bridle the mouth of mine understanding, and manacle my swift-offending hand, O fiery Influence of the incomprehensible Deity, by whose impulsive inspiration all humble wits are moved to raise up their stumbling neighbours out of the bogs and mire, yea though they were fall'n up to their very necks. Time out of memory they claim prescription of 2 swinish shapes. Why may not they do that which seems good in their own eyes? Being borne free, true Trojans, true Gentlemen, lineally descended without disparagement from great Garagantua, whose old ancestor (as that Lucian of France scoffing Rabelais reported) was the first that ever played at Dice with spectacles on his nose. Why should these Puritan justices direct forth their Warrants for men as good as themselves every day of the week, as well working days as Sundays? It is a strange case to hear how the spirit of Detraction domineers it like a Braggadochian Cavaleere, and how his foolish followers swagger it through the whole cloth with swearing and forswearing by no beggars brats, that if they had some store of coin, they would shoulder half a dozen justices out of the Commission. Their lips are their own, they say, and they may use their tongues to many purposes, like the Papists spirit of Aequinocation, or like the Delphic sword, to cut, to hack, to file, to saw, to wound a man, and again to heal the same wound, conformable to that: Lingua canis medicus, the dog's tongue is a Surgeon. It is a strange case to hear these roisting Ruffians amidst their Tobachanales, and bidale banquets, boasting of their greasy Gentry without controlment or contradiction: when as (perhaps) they cannot name one Knight, Esquire, or any Gentleman of degree in their petty pedigree to the third or fourth generation. At the period of which time (even by the consent of Clarentius, or of any other Prince at Arms) their imaginary or Chymerizing patent of gentility wears out of date, like unto guilt spurs, unless the same be renewed, regilt, varnished, or enamelled for some virtuous cause by the King; from whom, as the Moon and Stars become enlightened from the Sun, as the Sun from God: so receive they their original, confirmation, and comprobation of Nobility from the Prince of their Country. But this is certain, no man whatsoever builds or babbles of such outward ornaments of nature or fortune, which indeed are none of his, but his Ancestors, as Sir Philip Sidneyes Moat implied out of Ovid: Vix ea nostra voco, I say no man boasts of such temporal he●reloomes, but only he, which lacks the inward man in his heart, or some moral motion in his soul. Or put the case they could by some reputed record of an hireling Herald, derive themselves by so many lines and branches, as there be days in the year, to La●celot du Lake, King Arthur's famous Champion, to Roderick the great, or to some noble British Prince before the Roman, Saxon, or Norman conquest: What other additions among the sons of virtue, deserve such detracting Daws of Aesop, then ofscald Squires, or of plain Gentlemen in the positive degree without either welt or guard, cross or pile. True Gentry scorns to brag, to bark, to backbite, to brave it out in time of peace, when Cloaks do yield to Gowns, when civil conference is expected, and cruel vaunts exiled into Satan's cell, there to rest, until the warlike Drums summon them to try their quarrels in the open field against their Country's enemies, with hands and not with tongues, with swords and not with words, with pikes and not with pens. A Gentleman is discerned by his gentle manners, and a wise man by his sparing speech. Noble is that French saying, La vert● seulement sait la noblesse, car il y a de nobles v●laines, ●t de villains nobles. Virtue only makes nobility, for there are noble Clowns and clownish Nobles. There is no beggar but he is descended from some Prince, nor any Prince but he is descended from some beggar or ploughman. For When Adam delude and Eve span, Where was then the Gentleman? God gave to all men one and the same beginning, and the same end, dust in their creation, dust in their graves, frailty in the womb, frailty in the tomb. To make a complete conclusion to these gentlemen Detractours (for you must understand, that the spirit of Detraction stands very much upon his gentry) it may be also, that within these two or three hundred years one▪ of their great Ancestors, whom by the way they repeat in their Genealogies from their Demigorgons', I would say Demigods, might come in at the window indirectly: for many gross and grievous alterations have happened within the compass of that time unto great Potentates and states, much more to private families. And this is very likely to be true, when Antichrist and infidelity usurped throughout all this Country, that Baal Priests being flesh and blood▪ as other men, and also having men's consciences superstitiously at command, might likewise have the body of Cambrian Candaules his wife at their unchaste command, as well as that holy-seeming Hermit, who under the colour and opportunity of auricular confession, compelled his own Prince and the chiefest Nobles of his Court, to sing and sound out the old Cuckoos note to all the world's hearing. Therefore let Christians contemn such childish comparisons of Gentilities. And let them glory in nothing more than in the cross of their Redemption, whereto the nearer that they be, the nobler is their birth, as men newly borne and partakers of love, charity, faith, and of other spiritual ornaments, that go beyond all the symbolised ensigns of temporal Heralds. Out of which circumstances collect, O Christian soul, this one Emblem divinely embellished: The nearer to true Charity, The nearer to Nobility. Howsoever these fly-blows of the spirit of Detraction 3 be allowed or disallowed to blazon arms, it is the part of a Magistrate to bear a Lion's heart, that he shrink not in just causes, nor respect the magnifical thunders of the spirit of Detraction, more than the prostrate petitions of the spirit of humility. Be he Midas, or be he Codrus, be he noble or be he base, justice must take place. Therefore the Poet's record, that justice hath neither father nor mother: likewise, they report, that juno through her wealth, Venus through her beauty, Mars through his threats, and Mercury through his eloquence, having all of them conspired against jupiter, and yet not able to thrust him out of heaven, implied no other sense or moral thereby, then that a man of virtue could by no means, either for wealth, beauty, threats, or eloquence, be diverted or turned aside from justice. It is the part of a Magistrate to use that Royal virtue Magnanimity for his chiefest support against detracting haman's, and depraving Semeies', and as a learned Bishop of Portugal describes, a magnanimous man Osorius lib. 3. Christian. nobilitat. though he see all the world eagerly bend against him, and though he see every thing round about set on fire, yet he through an assured confidence will continue constant. It is the part of a Magistrate to imitate that resolute judge in Henry the fourth's time, which feared not to commit into the King's Bench victorious Henry Prince of Wales, rather than those Officers of injustice, whom, another King of England upon his return from outlandish Countries, displaced from their high commands, after their examinations by virtuous Earls; or then these corrupt judges, whom Cambyses caused to be flayed, and their skins, as monuments of terror to be hanged up in the forefront of his Palace. It is the part of a Magistrate to esteem the windy detractions of licentious Libertines, who with presumptuous language dare brute abroad, that they can by their supposed familiarity with noble personages uncommission (or to use their own words unsaddle) any justice of his justice's ship, I say it is his part to esteem such derogatory speeches, no otherwise then for bravadoes of a bribed brain, or bragging vaunts of upstart grooms, only to daunt pusillanimous Meacocks, which never saw the Lions in the Tower, nor understand the truescope, at which the state of England aims. Even as I never knew any man in all my life despised for his silence and sparing speech: so likewise I never knew any man degraded of his authority for his zealous endeavours on the King's behalf. 4 Wherefore let this stand for a watchword to our Country justices, that they be not terrified from well-doing, with the swaggering onsets of craking Crocodiles. Let them put on the armour of patience, and the spirit of Detraction will in time burst asunder like the babylonians God. Let them but for a while stand still, and these Thrasonical Rhodomontes', will voluntarily surrender up the cudgels. Their nature is to begin as men, and to end as women, to come in as thunder, and to go out as smoke to boast of lofty things at first, and to faint at last under their own burden. For truth is great and will prevail. Then fear not ye proud haman's wrath, for ye execute not the judgements of man, but of God, as King 2 Chron. 19 jehosaphat encouraged his judges. Ye need not doubt of your Priace his countenance, as long as ye walk uprightly, and as long as Fame the world's great Trumpetour sounds out that noble distich in your commendations: Nec prece, nec pretio, nec pondere divitis aur●, Nec quicquam tumidis flectitur ille minis. Nor with fair words, nor with rich bribing gold, They moved are, nor yet with threatenings bold. Wherein then can they harm you? In uncharitable lectures, in railing, in reviling, in revealing their own dregs, and as the Apostle writes: In foaming out their own shame, like the raging waves of the sea? Let this be the upshot Iust. Epist. of all your thoughts, as I said before, that no man whatsoever can escape the tempests of detracting tongues. It is an ancient adage, that a barking dog seldom bites, and that the deepest rivers run with least noise, why will ye therefore doubt these clattering clappers? Above all things I could wish, that those whom the King's majesty by the recommendation of his grave 5 Counsel, golden mouthed Nestor's, and sage Chrysostom's, hath nominated to sit in the tribunal throne of justice, that they behave themselves with more civility in their ordinary speeches towards the inferior family of Christ's Church not nick-naming the vilest wretch, seeing that such deserve rather to be pitied or else punished after some other way. Michael the Archangel reviled not the Devil, albeit that he was worthy of millions of curses, and of a world of taunts. If we be Tyrants towards our inferiors. what savours aught we to expect at the hands of our chief Superior, which regardeth an humble contrite mind, more than all the sacrifices in the world and which confounds all haughty hot-spurres in their own imaginations and vain devices? To be short, imprint ye this lesson firmly in your hearts: Cum sueris judex, miti sis corde mem●nto: Dicito quae possint dicta decereseneim. Be mild and meek in judgement seat, And speak no words in Passions heat; But, as a grave and ancient judge, Speak without wrath, speak without grudge. LINEAMENT. X. 1 That a true Christian ought not to detract from the judges of his Country, though they wrong him. 2 That no mortal man lives exempted from man fold crosses. 3 What vexations besal to judges themselves. DEtract not from the judges of thy 1 Country, though they behave themselves not so cleanly in their offices as they ought. But persuade thy quiet conscience, that the highest judge beholdeth their corruptions from his heavenly Pharos or Watch-towre of knowledge, and that sometime or other, when it shall seem best unto his provident Majesty, he will either plague them by immediate judgements from heaven, or else he will raise up some sinister fortune here on earth, in revenge of their enormous lives: for this is a principal maxim in Divinity, that every Creature is offended with us, when our Creator is offended with us. Offenso Creatore, offenditur omnis Creatura. As long as thou sweepest and keepest thine own closet neat and clean, and carriest thy conscience without guilt or guile, what matters it to thee, how other men demean themselves? Cannot rich men wear what new-fangled apparel best likes their frantic fancy? thou must only account for thine own Bailiwick. The number of the unjust have ever exceeded the number of the just; and if these be condemned by injury, the other shall one day be condemned by justice. The case thus depending, thou oughtest to pity the essential and eternal loss of their souls, rather than to detract from the accidental and momentary qualities of their bribed minds Thou oughtest rather to consider their future calamities, then to commaculate their present fame with carping calumnies I am flesh and blood, thou sayest, and cannot endure that the black Ox shall always tread on my tender foot. They have shamed me with committing me to Newgate, to Bridewell, to Bocardo, and to those lodges of infamy, which are fitter for Rogues, then for Righteous men, for Villains, then for virtuous persons. O worldly creature! wherefore camest thou into this world? Camest thou hither to live for ever, or to live a life of trial or probation for a while, until thine own merits in the merits and mercy of Christ, had purchased thee a perpetual place in Heaven? Art thou in an earthly prison? Give God thanks, that he respects thy soul, thy noblest part. For nothing draws man to meditate on his duty towards God more than pinching pains, more than the imprisonment of his body, when the mind may waike at liberty, and contemplate the rarest magazines of Truth's secrets. In my judgement, thou oughtest to glorify God the more, to gratify thy foes the more (if foes they be, which send thee towards heaven) now that thou feelest with thy body and soul the true cross, which before thou did protest, promise and profess as a Christian, but in bare words, to follow, nay to embrace during thy probationship. Thy detractions (as thou again allegest) are not causeless: for thou art condemned causeless and unworthily to tortures, to tormenting pains. The pitiless 2 judges, have adjudged thee to iron bolts, to pillories, to be used like a Rogue, to be made a spectacle unto all the world. O true cross, true Christian Cross, which our righteous Saviour hath borne before us. He was buffeted, he was scourged, his head was bloudyed with a crown of pricking thorns; yea, and his precious body was pierced with a spear, and nailed to the cross with cruel curses, mocks, and sloutes, and dost thou repine to imitate thy glorious Master? No servant is greater than his Master. Think upon joseph's state, how his body was unjustly captivated, how his innocent feet were galled with stocks and fetters therefore content thyself, and God will release thee of thy smarting griefs. Do but examine aright the true course and occurrence of this world, and thou shalt find that thy tormentors themselves are not free from some casual cross or other, and that always as long as they live. When they were young, they complained of their parents rule over their unruliness, they complained of aches in their heads and teeth, of itches, of kibes, and other infirmities: They complained of their Schoolmasters scourge, of his Fearuler, of his checks and chide. When Nature clothed their chins with beards, or hairy fleeces, their false joys were daily salted with choler, with envy, with melancholic fits. Their bodies were perplexed with maladies of sundry sorts, with burning fevers, or such like sicknesses. Their minds were assailed with multitudes of cares, with discontentments or discourtisies of friends, of followers, or of their own menial people. When their hoary age crept in, which of itself is an incurable sickness nullis medicabilis herbis, then likewise a world of troubles pursues them hourly at their very heels, nay I would say at their backs, in their backs, in all the parts of their bodies. Now they groan and moan with dolour of the Colic, the stone, and with continual aches in their decayed joints, and as the Poet wrote: Persius' satire. 5. — tunc cum lapidosa chiragra Fregerit articulos, veteris ramalia Fagi. The knotty cramping Gout Their joints do gripe about: Which like old Beechen boughs, It breaks with often throws. Another while the Phthisic caused through a long Catarrh consumes their corrupted windpipes, or else their filthy mouths, which sometimes spewed up most filthy spe●ches, do now spit out whole gobbets of phlegm, like stinking Oysters. Others again have not that benefit, but languishing with wearied breath, they faint under their long continued oppilations, which the former Poet painted out in this most lively verse: Gutture sulphur as l●ntè exhala●te mephitet. Persius' Saetyr. 3. Their throats exhaling lazily Sulphureous smells full loathsomely. What shall I speak of Promoters of perifogging Lawyers, or of cavilling neighbours, which like Caterpillars, Rats, and vile vermin, molest them with wrongful suits, forcing them to travel Testaque L●t●que, through thick and thin, in great jeopardy of their lives, to consume all their money to the very bottom of their pu●ses, and to ●r●t them to the very bottom of their hearts. I will pass over, how judges themselves are also vexed; one while their unnatural Sons disquiet them; 3 and how another while their own Wives uphold factions in their own houses against them. One while their credit is justly called in question by their emulous companions, another while they are slandered with those things which they never once thought, no nor drearned of. Thus God rewards them with the Talion law, with like for like, after the example of Adonibezeck who sometimes having threescore & ten Kings with their thumbs and great toes cut off, and gathering their crumbs & meat under his table, was at the last apprehended himself by the Tribe of I●da, and had his own thumbs and great toes cut off, worthily perishing by tortures of his own invention, like as the Inventer of the brazen Bull was adjudged by the Tyrant Phalaris first to try the torments. Which also moved Adonibezeck to burst out into these complaints; Iudi●. 1. As I have done, so God hath done to me again. To what end serve thy detr●ctions, when as thou seest them already tossed, toiled and turmoiled with infinite vexations? LINEAMENT. XI. 1 The Reply of the Spirit of Detraction, to the premises. 2 An Answer to the said Reply out of the Rules of Policy fit to be observed of peevish Preachers. 3 The benefit that comes to a true Christian by detracting tongues, where the Spirit of Detraction is convicted with his own source. THese words of mine, replies another 1 puny or pupil of the Detracting Spirit, savour of a Sermon stile, fitter for the Pulpit then for Geometrical Circles; for a Preacher then for a pryer into Spirits; for the inward man, which must prepare himself for the other world, rather than for the outward man, which must suit and sort himself to the humorous spirits of this present world. Tread upon a worm and the worm will turn again. Musca habet splenem, & Formicae sua bilis in●st. The little Fly hath her spleen, and the humour of choler is incident to the Emmet. How can a man of reason brook to be continually crossed by his Colltages and Fellow-officers in his zealous endeavours? How can a man choose but whet his tongue to taunt their partial actions? These Allegations, I confess, are somewhat sensible: 2 yet nevertheless Leo non capit Muscam, the Lion scorns the Fly with her silly spleen. Men of reason must not altogether imitate Creatures without reason, chiefly in matters of no import. Sometimes we must (whether we will or no) gaze upon a painted brickwall, as Paul termed Ananias. Sometimes we must play the Arichmeticians, employing the help of cyphers to make up our number. Sometimes we must dally with children to still them from whining and weeping. And so sometimes must the wisest man conceal his wisdom, he must change his speech (as David did before the King 1 Sam. 21. of Gath, he must feign himself mad, he must scrabble on the doors, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. Stultitiam simulare loco prudentia summa est. Sometimes we must obey the importunity of the time: yet so that we commit not pernicious evil, to the intent that good may ensue thereof. We must seem to yield at first in the lesser causes unto this spirit of contradiction, that men may yield to us in matters of greater consequence. As for example, if thou goest about to convert a jew, thou must not begin with detractions and invectives against Circumcision, against his weak conscience for abstaining from Swine's flesh or black Puddings. If thou labourest to turn a Papist from his superstitious Heresies, rebuke not his Sect for the Divine virtue of continence, for their vow of chastity, for the monastical or single lives of Hermit's, Monks, Friars, Nuns, and other religious votaries. Oppose not thy speech against his abstinence from meats, seeing he that feeds only on salads, roots, or fruit, may be saved and justified, as well as he, which only eateth flesh or fish. In fine, cross not his gored mind with carping at the sign of the Cross, or at any things indifferent, while they redound not to deadly sins against his patient Majesty. Herein some Jesuits deserve to ride in the Chariot of ovation, of a little Triumph, namely for their humiliation & prudent care in wearing the robes and habits of the Pagan Priests of China, whom they term Bunzies, without which no foreigner whatsoever might sojourn in that politic Country. But under this venerable and unsuspected habit Father Riceius, and others may certainly reduce many of that populous Nation to the Christian religion, as long as they seek to edify without idolatry, and not to intermeddle with points of state, as they pretend in Europe. In like manner, thou that grievest thyself, for that thy fellows in office do hinder thy just proceedings, for countenancing litigious & lewd livers against thee, if thou canst not otherwise then by passionate speeches redress thy wrongs, be sure not to gainsay them in light or in indifferent causes. In so doing, thy very foes will admire thy patience, and (perhaps) at length they will join with thee to suppress common vices, which are such eyesores unto thy zealous conscience. Do not we daily see, that the peevishness of a few raw, and unexperienced Ministers do scandalise the state wherein they live, & minister an advantage to the Enemy of insulting, and also fall themselves into greater Labyrinths, than they are able to wind themselves out again? Their obstinate standing out against their Elders and Superiors for wearing of the Surplice, the outward cognisance or badge of innocence, to separate the milk-white Lambs from the rude, rough, and unruly Goats, what profit have they reaped by these and such like refractory murmurs? None at all, but confusion and opprobrious shame. There is nothing more dangerous then to be self opinionated against the experimented rules of the Churches reverend shepherds whose grave and grey locks have won authentic authority and canonical obedience to their constitutions, customs, and wholesome documents. There is nothing more discommodious then to build upon a man's own knowledge, as upon a Demonstration infallible, and to gainsay an humorous spirit in the time of his fit. For these causes, O thou whose conscience groans under a Country's weight, let thy virtue domineer over their lukewarm labours, thy patience over their passions, and thy taciturnity over their Detractions, that the world and common voice may canonize thy well-doing, and adjudge them thy inferiors in justice, though they be thine equals in office; that whatsoever is uprightly done, they may ascribe to thee, and what is injuriously done, they may imputet their insolent contradictions. Is it not then lawful to beat and bear down the spirit of Detraction with his own envenomed weapons? 3 May not a man repel force with force, words with words, checks with checks, chiding with chiding? If they backbite, cannot I return the like? It is impossible, but that the mildest natured man should become somewhat impatient, seeing himself punished with obloquys, ignominies, and reproaches without cause. Immerito veniens pana d●lenda venit. O sick soul how bitter are thy words, more bitter than wormwood and gall! Canst thou not for a while, for a little while, attend the Lords leisure? Though Toads do croak in Summer, yet they will lie still and silent in the Winter. Though these Rhodomontes' do crack this year, they will be glad to live at rest the next year. For those slanders, that are purchased for virtue's sake, can never last long, or ever blemish a virtuous man; nay, rather they deserve the title of honour, chiefly, if they proceed from wicked mouths. Regium est male audire. It is a Royal thing to be ill spoken of. Howbeit, I confess it is burdensome to the conscience, if the slander be derived by ungodly occasions. It is momentary, if it spring by casualty. But it is joyous and welcome, if it comes for justice sake. All hail then, O glorious slander, right welcome be thy blazing blast unto the sons of virtue. Welcome be thy footsteps unto the threshold of justice. O necessary curb of correction, which art purchased at the dearest price. For what dearer price can there be then the loss of a good name? That, which fools repute an infamy, reckon thou for reputation: for what nobler reputation can you reap, then to resemble the Apostle Saint Paul, who being slandered, did nevertheless rejoice in the testimony of his own guiltless conscience? Thy ears are vexed with the clacking noise of a tickling tongue. And do not often ringing of bells, of passing bells, sometimes disquiet that sense of thine? Thy heart is wounded and stabbed with a tormenting tongue. But what wound, what stab with steel the soul can kill? such wounds, such stabs can never harm but humble thee. Mark how the proudest man alive becomes humbled after that he receiveth wounds. The like benefit comes by Detraction. By the stings thereof the haughtiness of our natures is humbled. By the venom thereof, as by the spear of that warlike Heros, which healed the self same wound it gave, our spiritual wounds are cured and abated. Through the consideration of these Antidotes against Detractions, temper the manifold malapertness of thy tongue, of thy tempting tongue, of thy tickling tongue, of thy tattling tongue, thy taunting tongue, thy vaunting tongue. thy jesting tongue, thy gibing tongue, thy jarring tongue, thy warring tongue, thy checking tongue, thy chiding tongue, thy clattering tongue, thy clacking tongue, thy carping tongue, thy babbling tongue, thy boasting tongue, thy blazing tongue, thy blaspheming tongue, thy rai●ing tongue, thy reviling tongue, thy scoffing tongue, thy scolding tongue, thy nicking tongue, thy nipping tongue, thy quipping tongue thy tripping tongue, thy defaming tongue, thy detracting tongue; temper the phrenetical fury of this little Tyrant, of what other inclination so ever it be; and whet it not against thy neighbour, whom Baptism hath regenerated and adopted to the self same heritage, as well as thyself. Say with that noble French man: Du mesdisant la langue venimeuse Pibrac. Et du flateur les propos ●mmielez, Et du mocqueur les brocardes enfielez, Et du maling la pursuite animeuse. From Sycop● an●s, and their foul poisoned quips, From Flatterers, and their smooth-honied lips, From Democrites, and their gall-stinging books, From Hypocrites, and their dissembling looks, Good Lord deliver us. LINEAMENT. XII. The spirit of Detraction convicted for censuring men for their 1 Poucrtie. 2 Birth. 3 Bodily imperfections. DEride no man for his poverty, for a man of faith is only rich. He that is 1 poor in worldly wealth, hath no superfluous cares to withhold his mind from spiritual exercises. While thou gluttest with gourmandize, stalkest with state, walkest with wantoness, swaggerest with swashbucklers, swearest with swaggerers, and detractest with Detractours, the poor man fasteth and prayeth, yields every man his due, he lives not in fear of thieves, nor of oppression for his goods Cantabit vacuus coram Latrone viator. The same God that made him poor, may make thee poor: for it is his Sun that shines upon poor● and rich. He, even he it is, that exalteth the humble and meek, and scattereth the proud in the imaginations of their hearts. If thy neighbour be not as well descended as thyself. but basely borne, contemn him not with contumelious 2 speeches in charging his birth with contagious sin. The very best of us all (as the Prophet David testified) was conceived in sin and borne in sin. But through our cleansing by Baptism, our souls become purified, and so doth the basest borne bastard. Better it is for a man to be the head of his kin, as cicero was, then to be the last of his kin, as Catiline was. Better it is to be the virtuous son of a vicious father, then to be the vicious son of a virtuous father: for a man is not accountable for his birth but for his behaviour and conversation in hi●liuing. Therefore that uncharitable detracting distich deserves the faggot: Spurns ille puer nullum suadebit honestum: Pauper Henricus Na●us adulterio, semper adulter erit. When thou beholdest one that is crumpshouldred, lame, or otherwise distorted and deformed in his body, 3 laugh him not to scorn, nor jest at his infirmities. For he that is deformed in his body, may conceal a generous spirit within, like unto a tottered ship, which contains within it more goods than ten such ships are worth. Consilio pollet cui vim natura negavit. Cato. Observe the contrary subject, and tell me how many proper bodies hast thou scene without defects in their minds? In my judgement, none but fools ever gloried in their body's constitutions, strength, or power; wherein the horse the Ass, and other beasts go far beyond mankind. The regard whereof causeth us to require bodily force in a labourer, and wisdom of the mind in a Commander. The body is earthly, carnal, frail. the house, nay rather the prison of the soul, which indeed is heavenly, noble, permanent, and created after Gods own likeness both in the essential union and in the trinarie subsistence. A body is not to be termed crooked or crazed, as long as it lodgeth an upright soul, and harboureth an honest heart. Aesop was crooke-backt, and yet admirable for his wit. Tyrtaeus the Poet was lame and yet chosen General of the Lacedæmonians. Innumerable persons there are whose bodily deformity God doth recompense with large measure of spiritual gifts, supplying that place one way, which wanteth in another way: so that this saying is true, Deus nihil fecit frustra. God created nothing in vain, no not the craggiest mountain made he without some profitable use for man's good. Perhaps there lurks a goodly mine, or at the worst millstones or quarries of tile, lime, or such like. Others again have imperfections in their eye-sights, whom the spirit of Detraction follows with girds and flouts: wherein who can but smile? Spectatum admiss● risum teneatis amici? In hearing blinde-minded people mocking at blindebodied people? A man in Divinity is not held to be blind, except he live in darkness of errors, which altogether blindfold the understanding, and deprive the soul of the eternal light, the knowledge of the living God. unbiased folks commonly shoot inward into contemplation, the noblest operation of the soul, and whiles the quicksighted, I mean quick of their corporal sights, do gaze on every idle object, either in judging of beauties, or in marking at the skipping of Grasshoppers, or in seeing the goodly combat betwixt the Mouse and the Frog; The other by the benefit of his spiritual nature, wanting such obstacles and impediments, do wholly addict themselves to reading or to musing. From which no Spider sport, no trifling toys may withdraw their intentive minds. And why? because their Creator hath converted the infirmity of their bodily eyes into their eyes of memory and understanding, whereby they become sagacissimi in coniecturis, ingenious, and very studious. LINEAMENT. XIII. 1 The Spirit of Detraction convicted for blabbing out tales concerning women's credits. 2 Wherefore it is not lawful to speak abroad of women's causes. LIkewise take heed how thou talk est (like a tattling tell-tale) about women's credits, by suspicion and suppositions 1 cracked: or if in deed and evidence thy neighbour's wife plays false, in violating herfaith, in vitiating her chastity towards her honest Husband: or if his Daughter waxeth more lustily wanton than becometh a Christian virgin; let not thy tongue be traduced, or produced as a reviling runagate in noysing abroad such ribauldries and baudries, if true; or else such surmised secret things, which no earthly creature besides themselves can prove. It is always incident to Roisters and Ruffians to read suspicious lectures on the carriage and behaviour of the most beautiful. Some judge the worst fatally, because themselves are guilty of adultery, and so according to the often wishes, the shrewd and lewd nores of their own perverted fantasies, they condemn the pure with the impure. Some again, do but gather by presumptions 2 and circumstances, that chaste women prostitute their bodies, because they go gallantly attired in the fashion, with strange Periwigs, with false bodies, trunk sleeves, verdingales, and with costly jewels belike beyond their Husband's means: because they paint their faces with artificial drugs, and also because they gad to stageplayss, to public dances, and shows upon Sundays and Holidays, in stead of hallowing and sanctifying their souls with thankful prayers. And in truth their reasons fall out many times currant; for that such things being devised by Devilish people, as allurements to spiritual fornication after the pompous gods of the earth, be likewise the forerunners of fleshly fornication even as Pride is the mother of all mischief. Oath s again blab out scandalous impea●hments of honest women's fame, because they would not seem alone to wear Actae●ns badge, and therefore they see verily censure of other men's wives. Many blaze out such detracting speeches, because they want matters of discourse to humour other men. But cursed might they be that begin these slanderous accusations, whereby man and wise do vary, 2 after that God hath joined them both together. Cursed might they be, who being partial towards themselves do nevertheless pronounce sentence of damnation against other men's incontinency, as though themselves had never tripped: yea and cursed be those Sycophants, who with their runagate rumours and reports do hinder Gentlewomen from their promotion in honest marriage. This arrogant imputation our Sautour Christ himself refuted, when he willed those presumptuous jews, who invaighed against the poor delinquent woman, that the purest of them being void of sin, should fling the first stone at her Though this sex (I confess) be weak, the weaker vessel, and may become seduced with fair protestations of golden mountains as well as men, the impotence of whose disposition is thus described by a Spaniard: La muger hermosa es cemo la mancana De dentro podrida y de sucra galana. Like as thou findest an Apple foul within, And fair without; such shalt thou beauty find. Yet notwithstanding be thou the last that bruits abroad such tales, calling to mind these grave rules: En bonne part ce qu'on dit tu dots prendre, Et imperfait du prochain supporter: Cowrir sa faute, & ne la rapporter, ‛ Prompt a lover et tardif a reprendre. What men do speak in earnest or in jest, take in good part: and if thy neighbour halt, Excuse her slips, report them not at least, be swift to salve, and slow to blame her fault. For who can tell the end and use of our temptations? it may be that God suffers some to go awry like Mary Magdalene for a little while, because the lowly minded sinner may not despair of his ever-during mercy, and because their own rod of experience may chastise their jasciviousnesse. Of this nature is some woman's fall, that she might rise again, when her guilty heart submits itself to justice: for otherwise her conscience would not care for any thing, if it were not once deeply wounded for some heinous thing, and that with an ever feeling dint: whereby her contrite spirit might daily pour out this true confession before his throne of mercy: I doc know mine own wickedness, and my sins are always before me. I could unfold many other Detractions against men's bodies, minds, and fortunes, deu●sed by Devilish persons in these latter days, to ransack the reputation of the best disposed were it not that I fear the censure of the wise in noting my discourse to be too prolix and tedious. Within this very place I will therefore fasten the Anchor of the said discourse with this memorable lesson, Aud●, vide, tac●, ●ivis v●uere in pace. Hear and see, and say but the best, If thou dost love to live in rest. LINEAMENT IX. 1 The reasons why men speak ill of learned books. 2 That superstitious persons cannot rightly connict the Spirit of detraction. 3 That the true conviction of the Spirit of Detraction consists in the mysteries of God's word. TO draw now at last, to the last Scene of ● this Comick-tragedie, I will convert my speech towards the Detractours of learned Books, which worthy Wits by the Holy Spirits motion do daily transcribe, as monuments of God's glory, to all posterities. It is fatal unto good men that their literate works be vilified in their life's time, chiefly among their own acquaintance; for a Prophet was never as yet esteemed in his own Country Seeing that Christ himself came among his own nation, and was both despised and derided, what marvel is it then, that wise men are dispraised of the present age? that the Spirit of Detraction pursues them until their dying day? that he defiles their works with his stale and stinking urine? What marvel is it, that Laudamus veteres, & nostros carpimus annos, We praise the old, and hate the present time? What marvel, what novelty is it nowadays, that wicked men carp at their wits whose Disciples or Apprentices they are not worthy to be, much less to usurp the place of Aristarches or Censorian Cato's, over such industrious wights? Ye celestial Spirits, which expose abroad your sacred talents for your Master's profit, loath to lurk in the Laechaeen cave of oblivion, fear not this manifolded Monster. Though he assails your younglings, the fruits of your sanctified souls, with the wild Boars tusks, with the Bear's claws, with the Serpent's sting; his beastly force can never enter through your enchanted armour. His envy will be abated through your modesty; his hatred, through your kindness; his Detractions, through your perfections; his scorns, through your virtuous influence Some kind of Al●mists their ignorance inciteth to despise the works of the Learned, as confirms that old Rule: Scientia non habet inimicum praeter ignorantem: Learning hath no greater enemy than the ignorant. Some detract from other men's Books, disgorging their gall upon the absent Authors, for no other reason, then because they would seem wiser to the standers by, than they are indeed. Some spit out infectious spite and rage against them of very rank and mere malevolence, for that it frets them to the heart, that their coequals in the goods of Fortune, should become their betters through the goods of Virtue; that the radiant rays of their Corrivals name and fame eternised to the highest orb by a bookish monument or Colossos', should eclipse their temporal transparence, and quite confound the memorial of their former factions. Some for argument or cavillation sake seek a hole where no hole is, reprehending those mysteries, which they cannot apprehend nor comprehend. The greatest part do jeer at their neighbour's books, because they prefer worldly profit before their souls, not able to spare one hour in the day for holy exercise; though they can spare whole months for gain, jests, pleasures, fooleries, or in debasing of noble spirits. Others discommend men's writings, because they cannot disprove them, and yet nevertheless, by reason that Ipse dixit, the Pythagorean, or rather Pythonicall I doll of their consciences hath prohibited them by an express Canon, not to believe the positions of Protestants, though they issue out of Truths own mouth, therefore because He which cannot err nor lie, no more than Socrates, if we may credit Plato for the one, and Antichristians for the other; because his seeming Holiness by virtue of his Eagles feathered force indictes me for an horned beast, and my books for Heresies, I must not traverse the indictment, nor appeal to Caesar, nor to the general Council, but I must rest contented with my doom, that the spirit of Detraction stands as yet stout, unconiured and unconuicted. Ascend than ye spirits of ever-darkning night, advance yourselves on high, ye spiteful spirits of Contradiction, 2 extend your stings, intent your Circles, and convict your fellow spirits, if ye can. But why do I imagine reail Castles in the skies? why reverberate I the fleeting Air? The Aethiopian can as soon change his black skin, as ye drive out the spirit of Detraction. Thou hast loved liars, O usurping Eagle, and thy blasphemy is come up unto the highest. Therefore appear no more 2 Esdras. 11 thou Eagle with thy horrible wings, with thy wicked feathers, thy ungracious heads, thy sinful claws, and all thy vain body. At the least, presume not to take in hand this important task, to confound this powerful Pantagruell, the limb of that mighty Leu●athan, lest your winged members (as Satan's subjects) do contrary one another, and so divided through civil discord they occasion the final subversion of your whole dominion. One grain of Faith prevails more than a mass of Masses, than millions of Ceremonies, of men's Inventions, for the convicting of Spiritual Monsters. Go thy way then O detracting spirit, notwithstanding all these stings, tusks, claws, contradictions, carpings, 3 calumnations, and cavillations of savage people, of Aristarches, of Cato's, of Momistes, of Monsters, and Usurpers; go thy way, (I say) convicted, I adjure and conjure thee in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, the ternall and Eternal Unity, (who for the mystery of man's salvation is really distinguished in appellation, operation, and personal function, but indistinct in Essence, Omnipotence, and Eternity;) and venture not hereafter to possess the sanctified souls of our newborn Britons, nor attempt to tempt the Author of this adventurous Ark, fraught by him but with simple Circles in steed of Noah's necessary implements: whose spiritual faculties I finally pray our Heavenly Lord, the Lord of Hierarchies, to fence and fortify with the shining shield of his sunny spirit, not only against thy spiritual spite, O blast of Blasphemy, but also against all other aspiring spirits whatsoever, whether they dwell in the flesh, or out of the flesh. Amen. FINIS. THE CONTENTS OF THE LINEAMENTS AND CIRCLES CONTAINED IN THIS WORK. The first Circle. Lineament I. TO whose capacity the description of Spirits is difficult, & to whose it is easy. 2 The Author's invocation to the Godhead, through whose only operation the spirit of Detraction is to be conjured and convicted. Lineament II. 1 That the true means to convict the Spirit of Detraction, is the Meditate on Heavenly mysteries, and on the operation of goodness. 2 Man's curiosity in prying into God's nature, stinted by a non ultra. 3 The description of some of God's attributes. 4 That his a●seription is too excellent for man's apprehension. 5 That Good or Evil cannot come to mankind without his will. Lineament III. 1 The admirable incorporation of the three persons in Trinity. 2 Their mystical operation unfolded according to our reasonable capacities. 3 How God is said to be in heaven. 4 After what manner the Trinity do differ one from another, either in Appellation or in Operation. 5 That the Pagan Poets, like Apes, aimed at God's mysteries by their dark Allegories. Lineament four 1 The description of our Saviour Christ's Incarnation. 2 In what manner he took upon him our infirmities. 3 His terrible passion and death. 4 His Resurrection and Ascension. 5 That he alone is our Medigtor with the Father. 6 His coming to judgement. Lineament V. 1 The description of the Holy Ghost. 2 How the Catholic Church was preserved from utter ruin in time of Popery. 3 That the misprision and contempt of the Holy Ghost, wrought the ruin, first of the Eastern Church, and then of the Western. 4 Why this third person in Trinity is peculiarly termed Holy. 5 The manner to discern them that be possessed with the Holy Ghost, and why S. Paul in his Epistles salutes men in the name of the Father, and the Son, omitting the Holy Ghost. 6 What it is to sin against the Holy Ghost. 7 The Authors supplication to the Trinity for his presumptuous discourse. Lineament VI. 1 Their Heresies convicted which detract from the service of God, because they see him not with their corporal eyes. 2 The knowledge of God proved by an instance of our earthly King, who is known throughout great Britain of all his subjects, though not of all with corporal sight. 3 The excellency of his spirit above the rest of his subjects. 4 Means to know God. 5 Why mortal men cannot see God. Lineament VII. 1 The description of some of the good spirits, which attend on their Creator in heaven. 2 Their Offices. 4 Greatness. The second Circle. Lineament I. 1 THe true application of the above said Conjurations. 2 That the names of other good spirits be manifold and diversely taken in the holy Scripture. 3 After what manner Sin, the messenger of Satan stings us. 4 By what means we may repel the stings of Satan. 5 That it is hard to judge of our spiritual stings, and from whence they come. Lineament II. 1 The original root of Detractions and other pollutions; and whether the spirit of Detraction and other sinful spirits, which possess mankind, be real spirits or stings of the Devil? 2 The sight betwixt the knowledge of Good, and the knowledge of Evil. 3 That the Good gets the victory over the Evil. 4 That the Devil cannot harm a man really. Lineament III. 1 That all wicked Spirit: ordinary and extraordinary do issue from the same head. 2 That they cannot harm a man really, without his own natural or wanton motion. 3 Their varieties proved out of the Scripture, where Saul's lunacy is censured. 4 That the Spirit of Detraction attendeth on all the said spirits. Lineament four 1 Why God gives us over to be tempted by Satan. 2 After what manner the Devil useth now adays to ensnare us. 3 The Devil's policy for the circumventing of souls. Lineament V. 1 Man's fall from the state of innocence is censured. 2 Curiosity kerbed for intermeddling with God's secrets. 3 The first reason why man was not left altogether perfect and incapable of sin. 4 The latter reason. Lineament VI. 1 A meditation upon Satan's stings, occasioned by an unfeigned dream of the Authors. 2 Whether the Dragon which S. john saw fight with the Archangel, was real or spiritual. 3 Whether the Serpent which deceived Eve was real, or spiritual, or both; wherein the manner of her deceiving is laid down. Lineament VII. 1 That the Holy Ghost applies the Scripture unto man's capacity. 2 An admonition to the Readers of the Scripture. Lineament VIII. 1 The Election of the Protestants after the imitation of S. Paul's graffing in of the Gentiles. 2 Means to discern the Antichrist by Prophecies out of the Scripture. 3 M●anes to discern the Antichrist by his pompous manner of living, and also by his Detractions. The third Circle. Lineament I. 1 THe nature of the spirit of Detraction. 2 His objections. 3 The Authors answer. 4 The description of Detraction. 5 His Companions. 6 His Paradoxes. 7 A brief Confutation. Lineament II. 1 Notes to discern the spirit of Detraction. 2 A limitation of speeches. Lineament III. 1 That the imbecility of our natural dispositions tainted through the first Man's sin with curiosity, inconstancy, and negligence, is the prime cause of the spirit of Detraction. 2 That our curious search after the supernatural beginning of time, worketh our confusion. 3 Of our Curiosity. 4 Of our Inconstancy. 5 And of cur Negligence. Lineament four 1 That ill Education is another cause of malicious Detraction. 2 That want of maintenance in the Clergy, is the cause of ill Education. 3 Certain modern abuses taxed in some remote angles of this Kingdom. Lineament V. 1 That the secret and spiritual suggestion of the Devil, is the third cause of the Spirit of Detraction. 2 The cunning reasons of the Devil to confirm sin. 3 Their Confutation. Lineament VI. 1 The natural manner, how the Spirit of Detraction enters into a man and possesseth him. 2 Another reason to confirm the premises. Lineament VII. 1 Corollaries for the explanation of the premises. 2 Where wicked Spirits reside in man. Lineament VIII. 1 That the spirit of Detraction hath two principal instruments, the Hand and the Tongue. 2 Their apish tricks. 3 Their monstrous effects. 4 A brief dehortation from Detraction. Lineament IX. 1 The Author's censure of certain English Pamphleteers, and Ballad-writers, with an invocation to my Lord of Canterbury for a reformation, not only of these abuses in writing, but also of other enormities committed against the Church-Canons. 2 A Description of good and evil Writers. 3 That there is a mixed moral kind of writing, serving as the lesser light for the conversion of the natural man. Lineament X. 1 Certain Detractions of our common Stage-players are taxed. 2 How God distributes his gifts diversely to every particular man. 3 The Authors brief Apology concerning his own imprinted works. Lineament XI. 1 What kind of persons the spirit of Detraction doth soon possess: with a description of the common people. 2 That wise men and of resolution must not fear the Detractions of the common people. 3 That it is necessary for Envy to be the companion of Virtue, and for the spirit of Detraction to follow Magistrates, as the shadow the body for the corroborating of their virtues. Lineament XII. 1 Why men sojourn with the spirit of Detraction, and will not be dislodged from him. 2 That no worldly causes ought to dispose a man unto Detraction. Lineament XIII. 1 The Conclusion, showing that all persons from the Prince his Sceptre, to the Cobbler's awl, are subject to Detracting tongues. The fourth Circle. Lineament I. 1 THe felicity and infelicity of our Country of Great Britain. 2 The Authors supplication to the high and mighty Court of Parliament for suppressing of common Swearing, Blasphemies, Slanders, Per●urtes, and other Detractions offensive to God and their Country's weal. 3 That they crucify Christ anew, which swear either want only or wilfully by his blood, etc. 4 The Authors motion for more Additions to the Statute of Perjury. 5 The necessity of these Additions, and of likely circumstances to lead our common jurours. Lineament II. 1 That Licentiousness is the cause of Detractions, defamations, perjuries, and blasphemies. 2 That Taverns are the causes of licentiousness; whereby the Author taketh an occasion to admonish Magistrates of their duty in this important case. Lineament III. That the Spirit of Detraction is sooner convicted through the bright light and testimony of the Scripture, then through men's real force or worldly devices. Lineament four The Spirit of Detraction conjured and convicted by the Prophet David's testimony. Lineament V. The spirit of Detraction conjured and convicted by King Salomon's testimony. Lineament VI. The spirit of Detraction conjured and convicted by jesus the son of Syraches' testimony. Lineament VII. The spirit of Detraction and Perjury conjured and convicted by other testimonies of the Scripture. Lineament VIII. The Authors advice to lury-men, wishing them to proceed uprightly according to their oaths, and also to meditate on the future discourse. Lineament IX. The Spirit of Detraction conjured and convicted by the Civil laws Constitutions. Lineament X. The Spirit of blasphemous Detraction convicted by God's judgements executed on some of our own Country's inhabitants. Lineament XI. The Spirit of Detraction and Perturie convicted by sentence of our own laws executed on corrupted lurours. Lineament XII. The Spirit of Detraction convicted by the statute De scandalis magnatum, and also by the Sovereign authority of the Court of Star-chamber. Lineament XIII. 1 Of the jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Court, touching words of Detraction and defamation. 2 Where the Kings writ of Prohibition lies against such actions commenced in that Court. 3 That mixed actions belong to the Common law. Lineament XIIII. Observations concerning words of Detraction and Defamation, fit to be perused of Sheriffs and Stewards, or of other judges of inferior Courts, extracted out of the Reports of Sir Edward Cook Knight, Lord chief justice of the common Pleas. Lineament XV. Observations concerning detracting Libels given in the Star-chamber, and collected out of Sir Edward Cooks Reports. Lineament XVI. The conclusion of the fourth Circle, containing the Authors pareneticall Charge to common juries. The fifth Circle. Lineament I. 1 THe Authors scope in this Circle. 2 His invocation to the Godhead, against his Ghostly Enemies. Lineament II. 1 How the Spirit of Detraction attributes the glorious works of God unto the Devil. 2 That men's guilty consciences drive them to ex●o●● the Devil and his supposed power. Lineament III. Proved out of the Book of Wisdom, that men's guilty consciences caused them at first to fear Bugs and Spirits. Lineament four How men's guilty consciences made them to mistake the truth, and to become afraid of things merely natural. Lineament V. A merry story borrowed out of Peter de Loiers book of Spectres, showing how a Traveller was frighted in passing by a Gallows. Lineament VI. 1 Whether in time of Popery the Devil appeared to Conjurers or Witches. 2 Why now adays the Devil's apparitions are ceased among the professors of the Gospel. 3 The Author's opinion touching his visible illusions. Lineament VII. 1 How Popish Shavelings invented the use of common Conjurations and fictions, in policy for the greater efficacy of their Idols, Holywater, and Massemonging; wherein the weakness of their Holy-water is showed. 2 That they coined lies of purpose to confirm their sect, namely, in Luther's life time, of Luther's death. 3 A note delivered by the Author touching the Devil's real power. Lineament VIII. 1 That true miracles were but lent by the Lord to the Primitive Church, for confirmation of the Gospel which accompanied the said miracles. 2 How in their stead false miracles crept into the Church with the Antichrist in the time of the great Apostasy. 3 The Devil's Synod for employments of his hellish spirits. 4 The Authors digression, showing that the Devil's shape was not real, but delusive to deceive the eyesight. 5 How men by his spiritual insinuations bec●me his agents here on earth. 6 The Devil's craft to continue men in their Detractions. Lineament IX. 1 What is the craft of our common Wizards. 2 That Soldiers and men of courage have been daunted with disguised Angels. 3 Examples of ordinary Witchcraft, Sorceries, and Conjurations. Lineament X. An example translated out of Monsieur du Chesne his pourtait de la sante, declaring how one Monsieur Poena, a Physician of Paris, coniared two spirits out of a possessed man's body. Lineament XI. An excellent example of Conjuration, translated out of Erasmus his Exorcisines, fit to be observed of our superstitious Detractors. Lineament XII. 1 That the Devil's common dr●ft is, spiritually to undermine the will of man. 2 That his scope and force is cozenage and deceit. Lineament XIII. Apborismes collected out of the first Fathers of the Primitive Church concerning the Devil's power. Lineament XIIII. 1 The Authors Dehortation from such vain detracting studies. 2 The knowledge of Astrology stinted and censured. Lineament XV. 1 That the Authors meaning is not to deny the Devil's real subsistence. 2 His charitable application of the statute against Witchcraft, made Anno primo jacobi. 3 That he only denieth his real power, and his palpable force over any of God's creatures. 4 The vanity and fondness of Wizards. 5 That the hand of God plagued job and other creatures of his. 6 That good men never detract from God's glory. Lineament XVI. The Spirit of Detraction punished by the immediate power of God, proved by examples out of the Scripture. The sixth Circle. Lineament I. 1 THe spirit of Detractions pleas and allegations on the behalf of his humouring and soothing men in their vanities. 2 The said spirit sharply rebuked for his Equivocation and dissimulation. 3 The Authors purpose in this subsequent Circle. Lineament II. 1 How the Spirit of Detraction goeth about to overthrow Predestination in attributing our misfortunes immediately to the Planets, thunders, lightnings, or other natural creatures; where the Author excuseth himself for writing of such deep mysteries. 2 How God made the second causes and all other things in this world for man's sake. Lineament III. The Spirit of Detraction convicted for measuring God's providence by their own humane providence. Lineament four 1 The Author's censure of Predestination. 2 That all second causes do work their effects according to the first causes direction, which is God. 3 How God endowed some with freewill through grace to enable them unto faith. 4 The Spirit of Detraction con●●cted for imputing the cause of men's damnation to God's decree. Lineament V. That God is not the Author of Temptation, but an Actor therein. Lineament VI. 1 How God predestinated some to be saved. 2 Why all men were not elected. 3 That men's own wills by God's sufferance occasion their reprobation and harm. 4 The Author's sentence concerning himself, whether he be one of the elect. 5 That Good and Evil cannot come without God's consent. Lineament VII. 1 The causes why God ordained thunder and lightning. 2 The natural nutriments of lightning. 3 Why thunder and lightning be most dangerous in Winter. 4 Where they work their operations more vehemently. 5 An admonition to build low. Lineament VIII. 1 How God sends thunder and lightning either for his glory, for men's trial, or for their punishment. 2 Examples as well modern as ancient offorcible thunders and lightning. Lineament IX. 1 That they detract from the glorious Majesty of God, which attribute his thunders, lightnings, and other meteorly signs to the Devil or his adherents. 2 Proofs out of the word of God, that God alone sendeth forth such terrible sign. Lineament X. 1 Probable proofs out of Civil policy, that God is jealous of his glory, and glorious signs, and therefore not probable that he would lend his real power to the Devil. 2 Examples of worldly states, which could not endure usurpers of their transitory titles and prerogatives. 3 That God hates Conjurers, Witches, Antichristians, and other Detractors and usurpers, worse than Atheists or ignorant Infidel's. Lineament XI. 1 Wherefore God diverteth his natural creatures against mankind. 2 That all crosses & misfortunes proceed only from God. 3 That in any wise we must not delay repentance. 4 An objection against sudden death by the spirit of Detraction out of the Litany, with a confutation thereof. Lineament XII. 1 That we must not judge by men's misfortunes, or sudden death, that they be forsaken of God. 2 Charitable censures, which a good Christian may yield touching those that die suddenly. 3 The Spirit of Detraction convicted for censuring overcruelly of the Author's wife, who was sticken dead with lightning the third of january, 1603. where her commendation and assumption are moralised. Lineament XIII. 1 The Authors gratulation for his late fortunate deliverance. 2 His description of the lightning tragedy, the third day of january, 1608. at what time God ●ooke away his wife. 3 His description of other crosses at the very same time. 4 How God foreshowed by mysteries the said crosses before they happened unto the Author: wherein his censure of Dreams is interlaced. 5 His description of his miraculous escape out of the Sea, wherein he fell by force of a cruel tempest on a Christmas day, 1602. Lineament XIIII. 1 The spirit of Detraction convicted for censuring the Lords secret judgements. 2 The Authors imperfections acknowledged. 3 His meditation on his late crosses. Lineament XV. The Authors gratulatory Prayer unto the Lord for the abovesaid wondrous effects. Lineament XVI. 1 The Conclusion of this present Circle, consecrated by the Author to his Wife's memory. 2 The Application of her memorable death. 3 The Authors Apology against the Spirit of Detraction, on the behalf of this present Circle, where his Wife's memory is saluted with a Christian farewell. The seaventh Circle. Lincament I. 1 THat the spirit of Detraction can never annoy us, while the Majesty of justice shines upon us. 2 The Authors supplication to the Lord Chancellor of England, the Lord Precedent of Wales, and to all other his Majesty's judges of Record within this Monarchy of Great Britain, for the ex●●rping out of notorious blasphemies. 3 The Spirit of Detractions craft in molesting his Majesty's inferior Officers. 4 His diabolical craft in wronging of private persons. 5 The Authors Conclusion to the abovesaid Lords, for reformation of the said abuses. Lineament II. 1 That after Controlment, Instruction is necessary for them, that be possessed with the Spirit of Detraction. 2 That Taciturnity and Patience do conjure him down into hell. Lineament III. 1 The description of Taciturnity. 2 That the nature and quality of a man may be discerned by speech or writing. 3 That wise men in private may descant of their neighbour's faults, so that the same tend to edification. Lineament four 1 That Patience is policy in Detractions. 2 An exhortation to patience. 3 An objection of the Detracted. 4 A confutation. Lineament V. 1 That the Spirit of Detraction begins to shrink through the influence of Taciturnity and Patience. 2 The Spirit of Detraction convicted for broaching out questions of Princes Sovereignties. 3 That private persons ought not to dispute of their Prince his dealings. Lineament VI. 1 The Authors scope in this subsequent discourse. 2 The Spirit of Detraction convicted in Protestants, for exasperating of Puritans in their perverse humours. 3 The Spirit of Detraction convicted in Puritans, for their obstinacy against our Ecclesiastical Canons. Lineament VII. 1 The Spirit of Detraction convicted for repining at our Christian neighbours of Scotland. 2 ●he said Spirit convicted for detracting from our Countrymen of Wales. Lineament VIII. 1 The Spirit of Detraction convicted in Advocates and Counselors at Law, for putting on a goodface on bad causes. 2 The Authors resolution on the behalf of honest Lawyers. Lineament IX. 1 The Authors invocation to the Deity for pardoning the petulance of his spleen in this present Lineament. 2 That judges and Executioners of justice of all others, are most wan● only detracted by our swaggering Libertines; wherein their vanity is censured by the Author; and also their cr●●ing G●●ealogics are controlled. 3 The cartage of judges towards such detracting Sycophants. 4 An admonition to judges, not to respect taunting tongues. 5 Another admonition unto them not to rail and revile at their inferiors. Lineament X. 1 That a true Christian ought not to detract from the judges of his Country, though they wrong 〈◊〉. 2 That no mortal man lives exempted from manifold crosses. 3 What vexations befall to judges themselves. Lineament XI. 1 The Reply of the Spirit of Detraction, to the premises. 2 An Answer to the said Reply out of the Rules of Policy, fit to be observed of peevish Preachers. 3 The benefit that comes to a true Christian by detracting tongues, where the Spirit of Detraction is convicted with his own force. Lineament XII. The spirit of Detraction convicted for censuring men for their 1 Poverty. 2 Birth. 3 Bodily imperfections. Lineament XIII. 1 The Spirit of Detraction convicted for blabbing out tales concerning women credits. 2 Wherefore it is not lawful to speak abroad of women's causes. Lineament XIIII. 1 The reasons why men speak ●ll 〈◊〉 learned books. 2 That superstitious persons cannot rightly con●ict the Spirit of detraction. 3 That the true conviction of the Spirit of Detraction consists in the mysteries of God's word. FINIS.