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<DATE>2014-03-24</DATE>
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<NAME>Olivia Bottum</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
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<P>A SERMON DELIVERED IN OXFORD. Concerning the Apo&s;tles Preaching and ours.</P>
<P><HI>By</HI> RICHARD IAMES <HI>Bachelor of</HI> Diuinitie and Fellow of <HI>C.C.C.</HI> in OXFORD.</P>
<Q><BIBL>HORAT,</BIBL> <HI>Non ego vento&s;ae plebis &s;uffragi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> venor.</HI></Q>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by WILLIAM STANSBY, for NATHANIEL BVTTER, 1630.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>TO My Noble Friend, Sir ROBERT COTTON.</HEAD>
<P>_DEare SIR <HI>Robert Cotton,</HI> this little <HI>Treati&s;e</HI> hath a long time, (according to HORACES aduice) layen in &s;ea&s;on with my owne iudgement. And now it de&s;ires to come forth into the Worlds v&s;e. from your acceptance. Pray Sir re|ceiue it kindly, as you haue done me for the &s;pace of more then foure yeares,
<PB REF="3">cheri&s;hing both my Life and Lear|ning. So, if Gods plea&s;ure bee to finde mee out a happie lea&s;ure, I &s;hall euer &s;triue to expre&s;&s;e greater thank|fulne&s;&s;e, and re&s;t,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your mo&s;t faithfull Seruant, RICH. IAMES.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
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<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB REF="3">
<HEAD>THE HISTORY OF LENT-FAST.</HEAD>
<P>_YOu mu&s;t not deeme it a tricke and affe|ctation of noueltie, if I now prefer<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e no Text vnto my Sermon. It might be from the example of <HI>Nazianzene,</HI> and <HI>Ambro&s;e,</HI> and <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome,</HI> in their Homilies, and Panegyricks, and Orations vnto the people. But indeed I could not finde any conuenient Text of Scripture from whence aptly to deriue my di&s;|cour&s;e vnto you, and therefore I haue propo&s;ed none. Yet I will not wander either in my &s;elfe or from the ex|pectation of this time. My di&s;cour&s;e &s;hall haue at lea&s;t &s;ome certaine title and name vnto a &s;en&s;e. It &s;hall bee concerning the pre&s;ent time of <HI>Lent.</HI> And as of &s;ubiect, &s;o of habit; <HI>Simplex munditijs.</HI> A plain <HI>Lent-Hi&s;tory,</HI> with|out varni&s;h and flori&s;h of words. I de&s;ire not &s;o to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">atch your applau&s;e; or with no memory and no Text to make my &s;elfe a fable of the towne. But if I may haue your fauour and patience, and ciuilitie. <HI>Tradam inprimit
<PB REF="4">vo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">is quod &amp; accepi.</HI> I will e&s;pecially and onely deliuer vnto you &s;uch things as I haue learnt either from experi|ence or reading.</P>
<P>And &s;o to begin without more tediou&s;ne&s;&s;e of pre|face; con&s;ider with me for <HI>Lent,</HI> fir&s;t of the authoritie by which it hath beene for &s;o many ages ordain'd and continued in the Church. Secondly, of the pra|ctice, and v&s;e and abu&s;e of <HI>Lent</HI> in the Chri&s;tian world. <HI>Lent</HI> in our Engli&s;h and mother tongue giues no eui|dence vnto the Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall nature and ceremonie of the time being deriued from a word which to the Dutch &s;ignifies either the Spring &s;ea&s;on, or longitude; be|cau&s;e our <HI>Lent</HI> falls in the &s;pring of the yeare, when the dayes doe more apparantly grow long of light and houres: but in other tongues the word is more concer|ning. In <HI>Slauonish, Lent</HI> is called <HI>Gouenia,</HI> the reuerend time, as in which the &s;tirre of dyet and luxurie &s;eemes &s;omewhat re&s;trained, and all gaine&s;&s;e of clothes, and pompe of maskes, and &s;ports, and triumphes faine to yeeld one while and &s;pace vnto the more mode&s;t be|hauiour and &s;implenes of Religion, <GAP DESC="foreign">, &s;aith Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome.</HI> There is in <HI>Lent</HI> a kinde of reuerend &s;olitude and calme of the yeare, <GAP DESC="foreign">. And the phanta&s;ie and conceipt of worldly things is &s;et apart, <GAP DESC="foreign">, when there is no gaping and raw|ling and hurrie, and currying vp and downe with cookes and &s;laughters of &s;heepe and beeues. Another word the <HI>Slauonians</HI> haue al&s;o to expre&s;&s;e the nature of the time, and that is <HI>Chetverodes atnit&s;a,</HI> in which they agree with many other moderne tongues, who call it in a like man|ner, <HI>Quare&s;me, Quare&s;ma, Quare&s;ima, Quadrage&s;ima,</HI>
<PB REF="4">in imitation of the Greeke originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifies the &s;pace or ceremonie of 40. dayes. 'Tis the ob&s;eruation of many, of <HI>Eu&s;ebius, Socrates, Zozo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e|ne, Ca&s;&s;iodorus, Nicephorus,</HI> that although in diuers coun|treyes the number of the dayes were in &s;ome places more, in others le&s;&s;e, yet all called the fa&s;t before Ea&s;ter, <GAP DESC="foreign">, The fa&s;t of 40. Some &s;aith <HI>Eu&s;ebius</HI> are of opi|nion, that we ought to fa&s;t but one day before <HI>Ea&s;ter,</HI> &s;ome will fa&s;t two, &s;ome more, many forty. They bee the words of <HI>Irenaeus</HI> vnto <HI>Victor</HI> Bi&s;hop of Rome. And becau&s;e the la&s;t are not fully tran&s;lated according to the &s;en&s;e of the Originall, receiue it thus. There is not &s;aith hee onely difference about the day of Ea&s;ter, but al&s;o for the manner of the fa&s;te. Some thinke they ought to fa&s;te but one day, &s;ome two, &s;ome more; &s;ome fa&s;ting but one, mea&s;ure their day by 40. houres of day and night together. <HI>Irenaeus</HI> &s;eems to intimate a manner a|mong&s;t the Chri&s;tians of fa&s;ting 40. houres in re&s;em|blance of Chri&s;ts 40. dayes; of which in place. Some &s;aith <HI>Sozomene</HI> reckon &s;ixe weekes for their fa&s;te, as the <HI>Illyrians,</HI> and the more <HI>We&s;terne</HI> people, with all <HI>Lybia</HI> and <HI>Egypt,</HI> and <HI>Pale&s;tina.</HI> Some number &s;euen, as the people of Con&s;tantinople, and the bordering Nations, &s;o farre as the <HI>Phenicians.</HI> Some fa&s;t 3. weeks of dayes in &s;ixe or &s;euen weeks; &s;ome three immediately before <HI>Ea&s;ter;</HI> &s;ome two, as the &s;ectaries of <HI>Montanus;</HI> and of the&s;e mens three annuall fa&s;tes we al&s;o reade in S. <HI>Ie|rome, Socrates</HI> againe repeates the like varietie. For tho&s;e &s;aith hee who are of <HI>Rome,</HI> Saturday and Sunday ex|cepted, doe fa&s;t three weekes before <HI>Ea&s;ter.</HI> Tho&s;e of <HI>Illyria</HI> and all <HI>Greece,</HI> and all that dwell at <HI>Alexandria,</HI> begin their <HI>Ea&s;ter-fa&s;t</HI> &s;ixe weekes before the day. Some
<PB REF="5">again<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> begin their fa&s;te &s;euen weekes before, though in tho&s;e they fa&s;t but 15. dayes at &s;euerall times. Now if concerning this difference of the ob&s;eruance, and yet &s;o generall agreement for the name of forty dayes, wee &s;earch a rea&s;on of antiquitie, peraduenture wee &s;hall better vnder&s;tand the nature, valew and authoritie of this in&s;titution, which hath giuen vnto vs the cu&s;to me of <HI>Lent,</HI> for &s;o nece&s;&s;ary di&s;cipline of the Church. Fir&s;t, 'tis not the an&s;were, but the wonder of <HI>Socrates</HI> in the fift booke of his Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall hi&s;tory, the 22. Chapter, <GAP DESC="foreign">. Diuers, &s;aith hee, &s;tirring vp their wits and braines curiou&s;ly, haue giuen diuers rea&s;ons, <GAP DESC="foreign">. But for my &s;elfe, I cannot choo&s;e but wonder, <HI>Ca&s;&s;ianus</HI> in his 21. Collation, although hee could bee well content, <HI>vt pia &s;implicitas huius rei amputaret quae&s;tionem.</HI> That a re|ligious &s;imple ignorance &s;hould relieue the hazard of a re&s;olution, and doth confe&s;&s;e, <HI>quod protecto rationem hu|ius rei humana obliterarit incuria.</HI> That indeed the heed|le&s;&s;e incuriou&s;ne&s;&s;e of times hath blurd the certaine and true an&s;were; And that no <HI>Lent</HI> at all was ob&s;eru'd in the fre&s;h Primitiue Church; and to &s;top a replie of di&s;|cerning men, hath &s;o begun his 20. Chapter. <HI>H&acirc;c igitur Quadrage&s;imae lege, huius exigui canonis &s;ubiectione qui iu|&s;tus atque perfectus e&s;t non tenetur,</HI> That good wi&s;e men are not bound vnder &s;o poore canonicall obedience: yet to &s;eeme ignorant of nothing altogether in a que&s;tion of lay people. <HI>Legi dee&s;t quicquid contigerit onorari,</HI> It &s;eemes no Law &s;aith S^t. <HI>A<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">&s;tin</HI> of which the Prie&s;t can giue no rea&s;on, to feed Lay beliefe, who&s;e guts were &s;ore|ly griped with this Religion, at la&s;t he &s;traines an an&s;were with <HI>forta&s;&s;e,</HI> peraduenture. <HI>Forta&s;&s;e vel propter hoc vi|&s;um
<PB REF="5">&s;it;</HI> peraduenture all haue thought good to call the <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">&s;ter-fa&s;t</HI> by the name of 40. dayes, becau&s;e wee read <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">at for forty dayes, <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Elias,</HI> and our Sauiour <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">pt an entire <HI>Fa&s;t</HI> in the old and new Te&s;tament; or <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">cau&s;e in dayes we may repre&s;ent tho&s;e yeares for the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">ace of which the re&s;idue of the Iewes wandered in a <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">lderne&s;&s;e betwixt <HI>Egypt</HI> and the Holy Land. The&s;e <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">d &s;uch like are the arguments of <HI>Lent,</HI> which I rehear&s;e <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">ther vnto your cen&s;ure then memorie. And two of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">e&s;e arguments and authorities for <HI>Lent,</HI> I finde to bee <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> credit with S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> in his 19. Epi&s;tle vnto <HI>Ianu|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">ius, Quadrage&s;ima &s;an&egrave; i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">iuniorum habet authoritatem, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">ent,</HI> &s;aith hee, hath authoritie for a <HI>Fa&s;te,</HI> in the old <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">e&s;tament from the <HI>Fa&s;t</HI> of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Elias;</HI> and in the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">ew, becau&s;e our Sauiour likewi&s;e fa&s;ted the &s;ame num|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">er; <HI>demon&s;trans Euangelium non di&s;tare &agrave; Lege &amp; Prophe|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">,</HI> &s;hwing by &s;uch example, that the Go&s;pell did not di<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">r from the Law and the Prophets. Another autho|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">tie for our <HI>Lent-fa&s;t</HI> of forty dayes, hee hath there gi|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">en al&s;o from &s;ome my&s;terie of the number, which I <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">ould willingly tran&s;late vnto you, were not the per|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">lexitie and riddle of his <HI>Pythogoricall Arithmeticke</HI> too <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">ard for a mixt auditorie. I thinke hee might &s;ay of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">hat in re&s;pect of mo&s;t men, as <HI>Petrarch</HI> did &s;ometimes <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">f an ob&s;cure Sonnet; <HI>Intenda mi chi puo, che m'intend <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">.</HI> Vnder&s;tand who can, I vnder&s;tand my &s;elfe, yet per|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">duenture this authority with S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> was of mo&s;t <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">rice by a rule which hee hath in the &s;ame Epi&s;tle. <HI>Sed <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">amenita &s;e habet.</HI> But it comes &s;o to pa&s;&s;e, that a thing <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">ntimated by allegoricall &s;ignification is more mouing and affecting, and &s;o more honoured, <HI>qu&agrave;m &s;i verbis <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">roprijs diceretur aperti&s;&s;im&egrave;,</HI> then if in proper cloquence
<PB REF="6">the &s;ame thing &s;hould bee vnfolded mo&s;t per&s;picu|ou&s;ly.</P>
<P>But how&s;oeuer, or at what rate &s;oeuer either hee or any other may &s;eeme to valew &s;uch my&s;teries, yet in his 86. Epi&s;tle to <HI>Ca&s;ulanus</HI> &s;peaking of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Elias,</HI> and the <HI>Fa&s;te</HI> of many other holy men in Scrip|ture, he concludes in the&s;e words. <HI>Haec exempla San|ctorum nec ad per&s;uadendum cuiu&s;cunque diei ieiunium valent.</HI> The examples of the&s;e holy men enforce not a <HI>Fa&s;te</HI> vpon any certaine time. And againe in the &s;ame Epi&s;tle towards the end, hee &s;peakes more plainly. <HI>Quibus autem diebus oporteat ieiunare praecepto Domini vel Apo&s;tolorum non inuenio definitum.</HI> I finde, &s;aith he, no precept either of our Sauiour or his Apo&s;tles de|termining on what dayes fa&s;ting ought to bee ob&s;er|ued. And to this agrees al&s;o S^t. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome,</HI> as we may reade in a Homelie of his in the 6. <HI>Tome</HI> of our edition, <HI>pag.</HI> 381. where he &s;ayes, <GAP DESC="foreign">, at the begin|ning and anciently men receiu'd the Sacrament when they pleas'd, but e&s;pecially at this time of his pa&s;&s;ion, which afterwards gaue occa&s;ion for an a&s;&s;embly of Fa|thers to de&s;igne the <HI>Fa&s;te</HI> of 40. dayes.</P>
<P>Now although there bee more alike trifling autho|rities for the e&s;tabli&s;hment of <HI>Lent,</HI> by &s;ome rela|ted, by others peremptorily enforced, it &s;uffices me in the&s;e two to giue you &s;ome &s;hort cen&s;ure and e&s;timate of the re&s;t. For the la&s;t it con&s;i&s;ts onely on a deuice of number, and how &s;mall proofe numbers are among&s;t men who will not &s;uffer their vnder&s;tanding to bee cou&s;ened with a phanta&s;ie is to me mo&s;t cleare and eui|dent. I know numbers are much made of by <HI>Hilarie,
<PB REF="6">Ierome</HI> in &s;ome places, a hundred times as <HI>Mirandula</HI> tels vs by <HI>Ba&s;ill, Nazianzene, Ambro&s;e, Origen, Au&s;tin,</HI> and others. The Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall Doctors are in this re|&s;pect bu&s;ie; <HI>v&s;&abque; ad curo&s;itatem &s;i dici pote&s;t,</HI> euen vnto curio&s;itie, if a man may haue leaue to &s;peake truth, who can read or heare with patience when they talke of per|fect happie numbers, as 3.9.4.12.50.7. and numbers vnluckie. as 40.20.2.8. <HI>credat Iudaeus,</HI> let the circum|ciz'd <HI>Cabali&s;t Iew,</HI> belieue them if hee plea&s;e, and the my&s;terious <HI>Pythagorean</HI> who feares to eate beans. For my &s;elfe I con&s;tantly auouch the rule of <HI>Melancthon. Quanti|tatum nulla e&s;t efficacia, Quantities</HI> and numbers haue not the vertue to effect in nature or commend in manners and cu&s;tomes, we may <GAP DESC="foreign"> as <HI>Iulian</HI> &s;peakes &s;port out a commendation of &s;ome things from numbers in a priuate familiar Epi&s;tle, &s;uch as his is vnto his friend <HI>Serapion,</HI> endeering a gift of Damaske-&s;igs, becau&s;e they were a hundred. For <HI>Iupiters</HI> buckler had in <HI>Homer</HI> a hundred ta&s;&s;els, &s;trong <HI>Briareus</HI> a hundred hands. <HI>A|pollo</HI> &s;lew the &s;erpent <HI>Python</HI> with a hundred &s;hafts. <HI>Crete</HI> had a hundred Cities. <HI>Thebes,</HI> a hundred Gates, and a Hecatombe is a magnificent Sacrifice. But articles of Creed and Chri&s;tianitie are not &s;o ea&s;ily to be taken <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nto reuerence. And S^t. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> hath giuen a iu&s;t cen&s;ure again&s;t all &s;uch wizards of Arithmeticke in his 24. Ho|melie vpon <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> at the 2. ver&s;e of the 6. Chapter Of euery cleane bea&s;t thou &s;halt take with the 7. and 7. but of vncleane cattell. 2. <GAP DESC="foreign">. Many finde out &s;trange Muthologies and fables vpon the&s;e words, <GAP DESC="foreign">, cunning notes of <HI>Num|bers:</HI> but as hee there goes forward, their labour was, <GAP DESC="foreign">, an vn&s;ea&s;onable curio&s;itie, from
<PB REF="7">which <GAP DESC="foreign">, mo&s;t here&s;ies haue had their birth and beginning. Concerning the former argument for <HI>Lent</HI> from <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Eliat</HI> and our Saui|our you haue already heard how S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> hath re|tracted and vn&s;aid him&s;elfe. And for my part I haue here|in more wonder then reproofe, were there no humane examples in the life of Chri&s;t, and the conner&s;ation of the&s;e two Prophets: But wee mu&s;t vainely follow their miraculous <HI>Fa&s;te</HI> with a dainty choyce of ab&s;tinence. I heare what S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> once &s;peakes, <HI>Nam ei ad ip&s;um quadragenarium numerum perueni&s;&s;e quendam &egrave; fratribus fide digni&s;&s;imis ob&s;eruatum e&s;t.</HI> For &s;aith hee, 'tis a&s;&s;ur'd vnto mee by men of credit that one man did fulfill with perfect ab&s;tinence the entire <HI>Fa&s;te</HI> of 40. dayes.</P>
<P>But con&s;ider, if the re&s;emblance of &s;uch <HI>Fa&s;te</HI> com|monly, and among&s;t the mo&s;t will not giue iu&s;t occa|&s;ion of laughter and contempt to <HI>Iewes</HI> and <HI>Painims?</HI> If we <HI>Fa&s;te</HI> at any time to bring our bodies vnder, ti's prai&s;e worthy. But how is it to <HI>Faste</HI> from fle&s;h onely, becau&s;e they did eate nothing? I &s;peake in re&s;pect of other Coun|treyes, where in fa&s;te and ab&s;tinence from fle&s;h, they eate all &s;orts of the mo&s;t lu&s;hious fi&s;h, Sturgeon and Sammon, and Turbet and Mullet, Crabs, Lob&s;ters, Oi&s;ters, Coc|kles, Caueare, Potargos, Anchouis, a thou&s;and varie|ties of candied and con&s;eru'd fruits, broths &s;piced with &s;o many co&s;tly ingredients, Pottage of Aemons, of Ma|carons, of Mu&s;hroms, v&s;e in &s;tead of Butter the cleere Rocke-oyles of <HI>Zante, Candie,</HI> or better grounds, and drinke all downe with the mo&s;t heating wines of <HI>Italie, Spaine, Greece,</HI> which &s;parkle lu&s;t in the gla&s;&s;e. How con|tracted and a&s;cheticall the Catholique diet is in fi&s;h, con&s;ider from a Bi&s;hop of their owne in a Booke which
<PB REF="7">I &s;hall againe name. Hee tels vs that <HI>Adrian</HI> the 6. was a man of heauie vnder&s;tanding, and mo&s;t clowni&s;h and in&s;ipide of his palate, becau&s;e hee delighted in a vulgar fi&s;h called <HI>Merluccia,</HI> and &s;o buying all vp made it come to bee of high price, <HI>ridente toto foro pi&s;cario,</HI> to the &s;corne of the whole fi&s;h-market. And againe hee tels vs from the ta&s;te of the learned <HI>Pogius</HI> &s;onne, a familiar pa|ra&s;ite and Critticke of the Pontificall Tables; that the Sturgeon was in compari&s;on an vn&s;auorie fi&s;h with ex|uberancie of glutinous brawnie &s;ub&s;tance, and &s;o fit|te&s;t for the &s;eruants, &s;o they &s;ent in the head &s;wimming in white-broth, whence the Lords might picke &s;ome few dainty bits. O what a glut would it be to your eares if I were a <HI>Platina,</HI> able as well to dre&s;&s;e the Popes Kit|chin as his con&s;i&s;torie. They that plea&s;e may read his Booke which hee hath written <HI>de ob&s;onijs &amp; pulmentis, quibus praecipue in Romana curia vtantur,</HI> of the meates and gellies, and &s;auces which are v&s;ed in the Papall Court.</P>
<P>How do's indignation &s;ometimes &s;truggle to get forth and giue cen&s;ure vpon his Ma&s;ters. <HI>Vidi ego plero&s;&abque;,</HI> &s;aith hee, <HI>non Romae modo.</HI> I haue &s;eene very many not at <HI>Rome</HI> onely, <HI>vbi mon&s;tra hominum magn&acirc; impen&s;a a|luntur,</HI> where mon&s;ters of men are maintain'd at mo&s;t exce&s;&s;iue charge, but euery where in the chiefe Cities of <HI>Italie,</HI> I haue &s;eene and knowne many, <HI>plero&s;&abque;</HI> more then a great many, who wearied out with gluttony and often change of dainties, haue &s;ent farre and neere to finde out and hire at any price Cookes that could de|ui&s;e a new di&s;h, to &s;purre vp their dul'd and &s;urfetted ap|petite. <HI>Quantum auri dij immortales.</HI> Good God, how much gold hath beene &s;pent in &s;uch abu&s;es: but ob|&s;erue
<PB REF="8">how he dares not &s;peake the whole truth, and yet &s;huts vp his di&s;cour&s;e in this di&s;daining manner, <HI>ve|rum ad in&s;tituta redire tutius e&s;t, quam hijs bilem irritare qui cum intemperantur viuant, parci tamen ac frugi videri volunt.</HI> But 'tis &s;afe&s;t &s;aith he to returne vnto our purpo&s;e and leaue prouoking the choller of tho&s;e men, that liue thus intemperate, and yet will needs be e&s;teemed &s;paring and thrifty in their diet. If they would indeed fa&s;te, and not deceiue the world with an o&s;tentation, let them heare S^t. <HI>Ierome. Forti&s;&s;imum ieiunium e&s;t aqua &amp; panis.</HI> The mo&s;t pining <HI>Fa&s;te</HI> is bread and water, and fitte&s;t to &s;ubdue the bodie. <HI>D&ugrave;m delicias &s;ectamur &agrave; regno coelorum retrahimur.</HI> We goe backe from Hea|uen to find out a dainty choyce of <HI>Fa&s;t</HI> in <HI>Merlucciaes</HI> and Sturgeons heads. Such things they may call <HI>Fa&s;te</HI> as the <HI>Spaniards</HI> in Prouerbe call Collops and Egges, <HI>duelos y quebrantos,</HI> griefes and complainings. Yet mil|lions of good men in the world would reioyce and ble&s;&s;e God for plentie of wor&s;e meate then the&s;e, though they neuer eate mutton in their life.</P>
<P>To &s;peake in <HI>Tertullians</HI> words in his &s;econd Booke again&s;t <HI>Marcion.</HI> Though the&s;e &s;pirituall Lordings of <HI>Rome</HI> pretend pennance, <HI>ciborum pretio&s;a ambitio non de|trahitur,</HI> an ambitious &s;eruice of high feede is nothing wanting; if it bee then for their commendation of eating no fle&s;h, I willingly againe be&s;tow on them one more authoritie to countenance their <HI>Fa&s;te,</HI> from S^t. <HI>Ierome,</HI> who &s;peakes thus, that hogs, and bores, and deere, and other &s;uch like Cattell were created to feed Wre&s;tlers, Soldiers, Marriners, Orators, Diggers in mines and other handicraft people, who want not a corpulent robu&s;tiou&s;ne&s;&s;e to labour and beate one an|other,
<PB REF="8">not for religious men, who &s;hould rather &s;ay with the Apo&s;tle, when I am weake then am I &s;trong. But as I haue before &s;aid, it can neuer enter into my be|leefe, that the Hierarchie of <HI>Rome</HI> doe not prai&s;e <HI>Fa&s;te</HI> with full &s;tomacks where Cooks are &s;o much valued; Poeticall, miraculous Cooks, with &s;pices and &s;ugars and cyles and a thou&s;and other delicacies are powerfull to force a Metamorpho&s;is of nature in a di&s;h. Heare one Storie out of <HI>Athenaeus</HI> in his fir&s;t booke. <HI>Nico|medes</HI> King of <HI>Bythinia,</HI> being in &s;ome expedition, as it &s;eemes again&s;t the <HI>Scythians</HI> twelue dayes iourney from the Sea, and in the mid&s;t of winter, <GAP DESC="foreign">. Hee long'd for a Pilchard or a Herring, or a Sprat, and pre&s;ently his Cooke got a Turnip, &s;hap'd it into fa&s;hion, and with oyle, &s;alt, and twelue graines of blacke poppie, &s;o deceiu'd his Lords ta&s;te, that hee prai&s;ed the roote vnto his Gue&s;ts for an excellent fi&s;h. If Cookes can make fi&s;h of rootes, certainly they can make fi&s;h a neerer counterfeit of fle&s;h, and neither fi&s;h nor fle&s;h nor rootes of what kinde &s;oeuer bee as otherwi&s;e <HI>Cyprian</HI> would call them <HI>&s;ibi innocentes,</HI> in|nocent vnprouoking meats in the Chargers of Popes, Cardinals, Bi&s;hops, Lords and Ladies of mona&s;ticall conuer&s;ation.</P>
<P>Let mee returne, and not ryot out my Di&s;cour&s;e. From the example of <HI>Mo&s;es, Elias,</HI> and Chri&s;t, wee might on both &s;ides learne more concerning beha|uiour then <HI>F<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;te.</HI> From Chri&s;t better then from the Stoique porch, we may learne, that no &s;hame is of any thing but vice. When hee made no method of <HI>Fa&s;te,</HI> as did the Phari&s;ees; was &s;ometimes in Com|panie and friend&s;hip with Publicans and drunkardes;
<PB REF="9">and hee and his Apo&s;tles did eate with vnwa&s;h't hands: neither fear'd to doe offices of nature and goodne&s;&s;e on the <HI>Iewes</HI> Sabbath. From <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> we may l<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">arne charity vnto men with whom we haue one faith, one God, one Bapti&s;me, a neerer alliance then of fle&s;h and con&s;anguinitie, when hee &s;ayes vnto God in the 32. of <HI>Exodus. Oh, this people haue &s;inned a great &s;inne, and haue made them Gods of gold, and now for|giue them their &s;inne; or if thou wilt not, wipe mee out of the Booke which thou ha&s;t written.</HI> And from <HI>Elias</HI> let vs learne to correct any imagination of our owne &s;o|litarie Religion, when in the 3. of the <HI>Kings</HI> the 9. Chap|ter; 'tis the an&s;were of God him&s;elfe vnto his &s;lender conceit of being left a good man alone, at the 18. ver&s;e. <HI>And I haue left me &s;euen thou&s;and in I&s;rael, of which neuer man bowed his knees vnto Idolatry.</HI> From this let our ra&s;h giddie puritans learne not to condemne all papi&s;ts, and the vehement Ie&s;uiticall Catholique not to hurle damna|tion againe vppon all that haue prote&s;ted again&s;t the in|finite abu&s;es of the <HI>Romane</HI> tyrannie, but reclaime that their bruiti&s;h a&s;&s;ertion. <HI>Eum qui credere au&s;it pertinacem proteflantem po&s;&s;e Saluari, hoc ip&s;o &agrave; Catholica fi deexcide|re.</HI> That hee who belieues the po&s;&s;ible &s;aluation of a confident Prote&s;tant is an Apo&s;tate of the Catholique faith. And thus much be &s;poken for the authoritie of <HI>Lent,</HI> Which being long &s;ince con&s;idered by the Au|thors of the <HI>Helueticke</HI> confe&s;&s;ion, made them deliuer their opinion in this briefe manner. <HI>Quadrage&s;imale ie|iunium vetu&s;tatis habet te&s;timonia, &s;ed nulia ex literis A|po&s;tolicis: ergo non debet nec pote&s;t imponi fidelibus.</HI> It fol|lowes now that wee al&s;o view the practi&s;e of this anci|ent yet vncertaine fa&s;ting ob&s;eruance.</P>
<PB REF="9">
<P> Beleeue me, no man in the world is more &s;paring of preiudice, and yet if I &s;hould &s;pare, truth and their owne hi&s;torie are a Libell again&s;t them&s;elues. I am &s;carce more then a relater, &s;ome &s;mall learning hath freed mee from affectation or enuy in any &s;ubiect of di&s;cour&s;e: but I mu&s;t not faine my &s;elfe blinde, to make other men proud of their eye-&s;ight. Neither doe I boa&s;t any pro|&s;pectiue gla&s;&s;e, to multiply and extend my owne rea&s;on. Ob&s;erue what I deliuer vnto you in antiquitie and ex|perience, and as in the authoritie &s;o in the practice, I be|gin from the Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall Hi&s;torie which may be ea&s;ily confirm'd by a hundred collations. 'Tis the ob&s;eruation of <HI>Socrates, Nicephorus,</HI> and <HI>Ca&s;&s;iedorus. Nicephorus</HI> hath the fulle&s;t relation, and therefore I fir&s;t cite out of his Hi|&s;tory in the mo&s;t eminent 34. Chapter of his 12. booke. And the world differs not onely &s;aith he about the num|ber of dayes, but euen about the qualitie of meates and manner of ab&s;tinence. Some <HI>ne animata quidem attin|gunt;</HI> they will not ta&s;te any thing that hath life. Some are bolder, but on fi&s;h onely, &s;ome eate birds al&s;o with fi&s;h, becau&s;e birds and fi&s;h in <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> Hi&s;torie of the crea|tion had their &s;ub&s;tance from the waters. Some will nei|ther eate nuts nor egges, nor berries; Some feed one|ly on the fruit of trees, &s;ome on drie bread onely, nei|ther doe all agree in the &s;ame time of taking &s;uch diet. Some eate not before the ninth houre, &s;ome after Sun|&s;et; &s;ome take their repa&s;tes onely euery &s;econd day; &s;ome ab&s;taine for three or foure or fiue or &s;euen dayes; <HI>pro eo at&abque; qui&s;&abque; cibo carere vel vult vel pote&s;t,</HI> according as euery man will or hath abilitie to endure without re|&s;tauration of nouri&s;hment.</P>
<P>Let me al&s;o ob&s;erue one thing more in this difference,
<PB REF="10">whereas of ancient in <HI>Lent</HI> the people did not with permi&s;&s;ion legall eate any thing vntill Supper; in la|ter times Suppers haue changed to bee onely irreligi|ous. That of ancient they did eate no dinners, it ap|peares from many in&s;tances; out of <HI>Ca&s;&s;ianus,</HI> where hee makes this que&s;tion, <HI>Quare per totam Quinqua|ge&s;imam ab&s;tinentiae rigerem prandijs relaxamus,</HI> why in the 50. dayes betwixt <HI>Ea&s;ter</HI> and <HI>Whit&s;ontide</HI> 'twas the cu&s;tome againe to refre&s;h the rigor of <HI>Lent-fa&s;te</HI> with dining, and as good <HI>Ca&s;&s;ander</HI> hath ob&s;eru'd vp|on the Hymmes of the Church; It was once a de|cree of the <HI>Cabiloon</HI> Coun&s;ell that none &s;hould dare eate any thing in <HI>Lent</HI> vntill euening prayer were en|ded. To performe which in &s;hew after-ward, as hee there tells vs, <HI>con&s;uetudo inoleuit,</HI> the cu&s;tome grew familiar, that in <HI>Lent</HI>-time pre&s;ently after <HI>Mattens,</HI> they did againe begin their <HI>Euening prayer,</HI> which by order of the Canon &s;hould not haue beene done vntill the 12. and la&s;t houre of the day. And &s;o by an in|dulgencie, or exigencie rather of peoples &s;tomacks they did in times following come to an order of dining on|ly, and 'twas deem'd a great &s;inne to make Suppers; whence <HI>Era&s;mus</HI> &s;peakes in the voyce of vulgar ap|prehen&s;ion. <HI>Et tamen toto pa&s;&s;im orbe coenatur affatim nullus offenditur;</HI> Though wee now eate no fle&s;h in <HI>Lent,</HI> yet euery where wee cate Suppers and there be none offended. <HI>In Anglia vulgus Quadrage&s;imae tem|pore caenam iu&s;tam apparatalternis diebu nemo miratur.</HI> In <HI>Lent</HI> time the people through <HI>England,</HI> euery other day prouide a &s;et meale at night and no man wonders at the here&s;ie. <HI>Si tentes idem extra Quadrage&s;imam nemo f<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ret;</HI> and yet none as hee there goes forwar'd by a cu&s;tome
<PB REF="10">of the Country would &s;eeme to endure &s;o great a wic|kedne&s;&s;e, as a Supper on Friday out of <HI>Lent.</HI> And a|gaine in the &s;ame dialogue putting on the habit of an Inqui&s;itor, hee &s;eemes much offended with the liberty of a Frier, who &s;hould &s;ay in a Sermon again&s;t the order of the Church; <HI>Nihil vereamini,</HI> Feare nothing, if at night you doe for the weakene&s;&s;e of your bodie eate one loafe, and drinke a pot of wine or ale. All the ridicu|lous delu&s;ions of fa&s;ting, and all the &s;uper&s;titions, are too many for the mea&s;ure of my time. I will heere repeate one hi&s;torie of manie.</P>
<P>In the time of <HI>Iu&s;tinian</HI> the Emperor, there had beene great Prodigies, and earth-quakes, and deluges of the Seas, and &s;o great famine; whereuppon at <HI>Con&s;tantino|ple</HI> the Emperour in the &s;econd weeke of the <HI>Fa&s;te</HI> made proclamation that it &s;hould bee lawfull to &s;ell and buy fle&s;h in the Market. <HI>Et hoc quidem &s;ic per vim factum.</HI> And this, &s;aith he, was done by force. <HI>Populus <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">utem,</HI> but the people re&s;olute in their Super&s;tition of p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">etie would neither eat nor buy fle&s;h, rather choo&s;ing to fami&s;h of hunger, then to change any whit from the tradition of their inueterate manners. Tho&s;e that plea&s;e may ima|gine the people prai&s;e-worthy for their &s;euere obedi|ence vnto the lawes of the Church; rather then to accept the care of a prouident Prince. But for my part, I mu&s;t hate the Bi&s;hops and Clergie then, who with their Ser|mons and threatnings, &s;eeme to haue kept the people ob|&s;tinate to famine and de&s;truction. I mu&s;t thinke of them as <HI>Iuuenall</HI> &s;peakes of Egypt, <HI>Horrida &s;ane Egyptus,</HI> indeed the Egyptians are euen vnto horror &s;uper&s;titious. They dare not kill a kid, nor bite a holy head of Leekes and onyons; <HI>Sed luxuria non cedit,</HI> but none more luxuri|ous
<PB REF="11">then they, when tho&s;e people could not bee &s;uppli|ed with herbes and fi&s;h, and not much &s;tore of fle&s;h, a little to relieue nature, I mu&s;t &s;ay againe in the language of the &s;ame Poet. <HI>Qui&s;nam hominum veniam dare, qui&s;ue deorum, viribus abnuerit dira atque immania pa&s;&s;is;</HI> would either God or man bee offended if &s;uch people did &s;aue their liues with the &s;laughter of bea&s;ts: And if you will farther ob&s;erue, 'tis no le&s;&s;e pittie or &s;ad &s;port to behold the carriage of the Chri&s;tian world in their preparation to this &s;taruing time. in <HI>Ru&s;land,</HI> and &s;o in the Greeke Church, the &s;econd weeke before this great <HI>Fa&s;te,</HI> they call <HI>pi&egrave;ga nedela</HI> the pied weeke, as it were the weeke of two colours, becau&s;e in that, they eate one day fle&s;h, and on the other butter, and chee&s;e, and white meates. The next weeke is called <HI>Ma&s;lanit&s;a,</HI> or <HI>Sirnou nedela,</HI> the butter-weeke, or chee&s;e-weeke, becau&s;e on euery day of that weeke, hauing left off fle&s;h, they feede on chee&s;e, and butter, and egges, and milke and their compounds. And in the&s;e weeks 'tis incredible of the ryots, and routs, and murders which I haue knowne. Scores of men with|in the walles of <HI>Mu&s;cow</HI> about this time two yeares were &s;tript and murder'd in their drunkenne&s;&s;e, and by an or|der of the countrey taken vp from the &s;teetes and carried in heapes on Carts, vnto publique view to bee &s;eene by &s;ome officers of the ca&s;tle, whether any of them did re|ceiue pay from the Emperor, to &s;trike out their names. Vpon the yeare following, a Bride and Bride&s;-groome, with Prie&s;t, and all their retinue of friends, in the eue|ning, as their manner is, were likewi&s;e &s;tript and turned aliue vnder the yce of a Riuer which runs through the Citie, by villaines, who make a harue&s;t from the luxu|rie and &s;ecuritie of the time. And if <HI>Greece</HI> and <HI>Ru&s;&s;ia</HI>
<PB REF="11">&s;eeme too farre from beliefe, the Latine Church will af|ford neerer infamie. In <HI>Guazzo</HI> of ciuill conuer&s;ation, you &s;hall read of tho&s;e who like the Pagan Prie&s;ts whip them&s;elues with vizzard-faces, but &s;o as they are proud to be knowne. In <HI>Ca&s;tilions</HI> Courtier, who hath beene therefore blur'd by the <HI>Index expurgatorius,</HI> you &s;hall likewi&s;e find a &s;trange iolly preparation to the demure|ne&s;&s;e of <HI>Lent, come &egrave; vzanza di Roma,</HI> according to the v&s;ance and cu&s;tome of <HI>Rome,</HI> you &s;hall finde &s;trange maskes and ba&s;e Pageants repre&s;ented with all &s;lutti&s;h|ne&s;&s;e, and rotten egges, to the plea&s;ing &s;pectacle of great. Counts and holy Cardinals &s;tanding to take the view in bay windowes. Were it not to moue laughter in a place of earne&s;t I would tran&s;late vnto you the whole Scene as 'tis there performed betwixt <HI>Bernardo Bibiena</HI> a gentleman worthily addicted to the &s;corne of Monkes, and a Quirie of the Cardinall of S. <HI>Peters</HI> &s;table in Monks habit.</P>
<P>In the Comment of <HI>Daniello</HI> vpon <HI>Dante,</HI> I reade al&s;o of one <HI>Vanni</HI> and his companions, how after their owne ryot in the common luxurious iollitie of this time in one <HI>Carnouall</HI> euening they rob'd the Church of <HI>Pi&s;toia,</HI> and got away all their trea&s;urie and rich Copes. If in &s;cat|ter'd places, and by the way, wee reade of &s;uch Sacriledge and Pagani&s;me and ryots in this preface of <HI>Lent,</HI> what abominations doe they know, who liue to &s;ee them? the &s;tuffing Bacchanals of France on Fat-Tue&s;day, the like <HI>carnes liendas</HI> or <HI>tollendas</HI> in <HI>Spaine,</HI> and tho&s;e <HI>Carnouals</HI> of <HI>Italie.</HI> Better &s;till to keepe fle&s;h then to make &s;uch foule <HI>Farewell,</HI> and that you imagine not any popi&s;h Land free from this &s;candall, they be the words of <HI>Bu&s;be|quius</HI> in his third Epi&s;tle. <HI>Quo tempore apud nos etiam.</HI>
<PB REF="12">In this time with vs al&s;o, euen in the be&s;t order'd Cities, not in Leaguers onely, <HI>omnia per&s;trepunt ludo,</HI> all are in a noy&s;e and hurly with playes and mori&s;coes, and &s;ongs and clamorous fea&s;ts, and drunkenne&s;&s;e and furious madne&s;&s;e. In &s;o much, &s;aith he, as in his returne from vs, it was the beleefe and a relation of a Turki&s;h Emba&s;|&s;ador vnto to the great Sultan, that on certaine dayes all the Chri&s;tians were euen as mad as <HI>Bacchus</HI> Prie&s;ts and as he thought on wedne&s;day they did againe recouer their wits and health, with a certaine kinde of a&s;hes &s;prinkled on their heads in the Church.</P>
<P>It forces me to &s;tay longer in this bogge and marra&s;&s;e of <HI>Lent.</HI> Tho&s;e who are better acquainted with Eccle&s;i|a&s;ticall antiquitie, &s;hall finde that th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e manners al&s;o haue beene an inueterate di&s;ea&s;e of the Chuch. I am &s;ure 'tis the complaint of S^t. <HI>Ba&s;ill.</HI> It being then the fa&s;hion not to fa&s;te the Saturdayes and Sundayes of <HI>Lent,</HI> &s;uch wordes hee v&s;es vnto his auditorie. <GAP DESC="foreign">, like trauailers, &s;aith hee, who pur|po&s;e a long iourney, to day they furni&s;h their bodies with wine, again&s;t the other fiue of fa&s;te, <GAP DESC="foreign">. In tho&s;e two they dranke as if they would take re|uenge of the other fiue before hand; and in the&s;e fiue they dranke water, that in the&s;e two againe they might carou&s;e with more capable &s;tomackes. <HI>Lent</HI> in his quar|ter and time was euen but a quarrel betwixt &s;taruing and drunkenne&s;&s;e. It will be nothing tedious, if I yet repeate his owne words, <GAP DESC="foreign">. Com|pare the euening of this day with to morrows worke. In one you may &s;ee the Citie like a &s;hip riding in a faire qui|et harbor, after a &s;torme at Sea: againe, <GAP DESC="foreign">. See the countenance of men to day;
<PB REF="12">&s;ee the &s;ame to morrow. Now they are &s;wel'd, &s;pringing forth a dew of faint &s;weate; their eyes are mo&s;t, promi|nent, almo&s;t depriued of &s;ight with a cloud of indige&s;ted humours ri&s;ing from their drown'd &s;tomacks. To mor|row you &s;hall &s;ee all countenances more compo&s;ed, graue, of naturall colour, promi&s;ing, con&s;iderate, of quicke apprehen&s;ion, hauing within nothing offen|&s;iue to trouble or darken the &s;ight and powers of the &s;oule. Such is the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e of <HI>Lent,</HI> of faint authoritie, of foule practice. And what &s;hall wee then &s;ay? I mu&s;t fir&s;t &s;ay that I haue not much beliefe in the many Pane|gyricks of <HI>Lent</HI> which I finde in ancient and moderne writers. If they be not exce&s;&s;iue, heare fir&s;t and then iudge as you plea&s;e.</P>
<P>In many Countreyes they haue clo&s;e roomes heated with ouens to make men &s;weat out all the filth of their bodies. They bee in <HI>Germany, Sweden, Poland, Ru&s;land, Turkey,</HI> and <HI>Barbery.</HI> They are called Bath-Stoues, <HI>bag|ni, bagnari.</HI> To them the married ri&s;e from their beds to wa&s;h of the night; to them the trauailer goes to refre&s;h the wearine&s;&s;e of his limmes, the &s;icke man for cure, and they that are wel for preuention of di&s;ea&s;es, and per|aduenture with &s;ome reference to this, they be the words of S^t. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;t.</HI> in his fir&s;t <HI>Lent-Homely,</HI> on <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, like a louing father God the vniuer&s;al father of all families, he hath appointed the Phy&s;ick of this <HI>Fa&s;t,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, the cure and remedie of <HI>Lent,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, by it as in a Bath|&s;toue to purge and wa&s;h of all the &s;pungy vncleanne&s;&s;e of tho&s;e &s;innes which in the whole cour&s;e of the yeare be|fore wee haue gather'd about our &s;oules, and bodies. Wherefore Saint <HI>Ba&s;ill</HI> al&s;o tels his Auditorie, that in all
<PB REF="13">Churches God hath appointed Angels to write vp the number of &s;o many heads as by their leanne&s;&s;e and pale|ne&s;&s;e of fa&s;ting may &s;eeme to yeeld them&s;elues his pa|tients.</P>
<P>The&s;e and many &s;uch like are the per&s;wa&s;ions con|cerning <HI>Lent</HI> in ancient times, and in ours there be al&s;o many who imagine no le&s;&s;e. Let one &s;peake for all. And verily, &s;aith he, I haue &s;undry times had this cogitation in <HI>Italie,</HI> that in great loo&s;ene&s;&s;e of life and decay of di&s;ci|pline in tho&s;e parts, it was the &s;peciall great mercy and grace of God, that the &s;eueritie of <HI>Lent</HI> &s;hould bee &s;till pre&s;erued, le&s;t otherwi&s;e the floods of &s;inne growing &s;o head&s;trong and out ragious, and hauing no where either bound, or banck to re&s;traine them, might plunge that whole nation into &s;uch a gulph of wickednes, and bring them to the la&s;t extremitie, which &s;hould leaue neither hope for better, nor place for wor&s;e; yea, and I was &s;o farre from thinking the in&s;titution of <HI>Lent</HI> &s;uperfluous, that I rather enclined to like the cu&s;tome of the Greeke Church, who haue be&s;ide their great <HI>Lent,</HI> three other <HI>Lents,</HI> euery yeare. But in&s;teed of &s;uch per&s;wa&s;ions and extaticall Elogies of <HI>Lent,</HI> I mu&s;t &s;ay, <HI>Non tant&igrave; emam poenitere.</HI> The repentance of <HI>Lent</HI> is not worth the loo&s;ene&s;&s;e of the <HI>Carnouall,</HI> and the &s;uper&s;ti|tion of it &s;elfe in any papi&s;ticall territorie; and I mu&s;t rather &s;ay and beleeue with <HI>Ca&s;&s;ianus</HI> and <HI>Socrates,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">. That the v&s;e and precept of <HI>Lent</HI> is not &s;o high as the age of Chri&s;t or his Apo&s;tles, and that a countrey frugall man|ner of life and dyet doth more piou&s;ly and innocent|ly prepare Chri&s;tians for the holy Sacrament of <HI>Ea&s;ter,</HI> then any Papall Mona&s;ticall Italian &s;adne&s;&s;e, as wee
<PB REF="13">may read at large in an Epi&s;tle of <HI>Budaeus</HI> to <HI>Germanus Brixius.</HI></P>
<P>Yet let no man mi&s;take an error from mee, who am rather a Scepticke in the greate&s;t part of Diuinitie, I pre&s;cribe no new Lawes to any Common-wealth. Tho&s;e who plea&s;e to retaine <HI>Lent,</HI> let them retaine it &s;till in Gods name vnto the end for which it may &s;eeme in elder times to haue been fir&s;t ordained, to pre|pare men through &s;obrietie ab&s;tinence, and prayer, for the great my&s;tery and &s;olemnitie of Chri&s;ts pa&s;&s;ion. I heare the voyce of the Apo&s;tle. What art thou that iudge&s;t another mans &s;eruant? <HI>Vnu&s;qui&s;que in &s;en&s;u &s;uo abundet.</HI> Let euery man be fully per&s;waded in his owne minde. If any Common-wealth for their owne good, with mature aduice and order, &s;hall, or haue thought fit to circumci&s;e the number of forty dayes, or abrogate other manners of <HI>Lent.</HI></P>
<P>I heare againe the Apo&s;tle <GAP DESC="foreign">. Let no man therefore iudge you in meate or drinke. Perad|uenture rea&s;on would bid me &s;ay with <HI>Era&s;mus, Cor|narius,</HI> and <HI>Fuch&s;ius</HI> that herrings and water are not healthy in the &s;pring &s;ea&s;on, and that if <HI>Wedne&s;day</HI> and <HI>Friday,</HI> or <HI>Friday</HI> and <HI>Saturday,</HI> which are many diffe|rences betwixt the <HI>Greeke</HI> and <HI>Latine</HI> Church were more &s;trictly ob&s;eru'd for <HI>Fa&s;te,</HI> the great <HI>Fa&s;t</HI> of <HI>Lent</HI> might bee of le&s;&s;e nece&s;&s;itie, although the due ob&s;er|uance of that and <HI>Ea&s;ter,</HI> according to the very time not rightly order'd be in the phanta&s;ie of <HI>O&s;waldus S<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">bricken|fuch&s;ius</HI> the maine cau&s;e of all the mi&s;eries and ca<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">amities of the Chri&s;tian world. But heedle&s;&s;e of the&s;e and the like cen&s;ures, let people in all places frame them&s;elues &s;o
<PB REF="14">neerely as they can in all Countreys vnto obedience of tho&s;e who &s;it in the chayre of the Church. <HI>Non placet ab i&s;tis &s;tare,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Era&s;mus;</HI> I will neuer range my &s;elfe in their oppo&s;ite &s;ide; who &s;corne all Cannons and Con&s;titutions of the Church, <HI>Ob hoc ip&s;um multa faciunt quia praeceptum e&s;t ne faciant.</HI> Many &s;uch crooked people there bee, who haue an enuious &s;pight again&s;t all order, and from euery hone&s;t in&s;titution learne one|ly to make a new Sinne of rebellious ob&s;tinacie. As <HI>Tacitus</HI> &s;peakes of the Iewes' <HI>Nouos citus contrario&s;&abque; ca|teris mortalibus,</HI> They haue euer new rites and cere|monies of their owne contrary to ours, <HI>Prophana illis omnia quae apud nos &s;acra.</HI> They &s;tubborn<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ly prophane all things that order and di&s;cipline do's any where keep holy. 'Tis v&s;efull for vs of Great <HI>Brittaine venerari cani|ciem Quadrage&s;imae,</HI> to reuerence the gray hayres of <HI>Lent</HI> in her Antiquitie, and by that meanes pre&s;erue a greater &s;tore of young cattle for a more large &s;upply of the following yeare, With vs the abu&s;es are not great, the &s;uper&s;tition and deadly con&s;cience is abated. And 'tis no impo&s;&s;ibilitie for willing men to eate fi&s;h and but|ter, and egges, and white-meats, and bacon in &s;ixe weekes of the &s;pring, and yet &s;ufficiently maintaine our health in a frugall and &s;paring dyet. Man liues not by bread onely. I may adde not by fle&s;h onely to &s;peake right in imitation of the Euangeli&s;t, but by the power &amp; efficacie of God in all his creatures. There bee many nations who feede not &s;o well, they haue no fle&s;h but fi&s;h for meate, and dryed fi&s;h for bread, and hor&s;e-fle&s;h without bread; and yet they liue in health. And if length of yeeres be a ble&s;&s;ing; they liue as aged as we and goe as lu&s;tie into their graues the period of all feed|ing,
<PB REF="14">the re&s;orte of any dyet by what&s;oeuer, which is not alwayes of the &s;ame delight and E&s;timation, As <HI>Iouius</HI> hath admoni&s;ht vs in his booke of the <HI>Romane</HI> fi&s;hes; whereas, &s;aith hee, the old <HI>Romane</HI> Luxurie &s;ought all creekes, and bankes, and coues of the &s;ea, with their hookes and nets, to furni&s;h their Tables with fi&s;h. <HI>Nos vero contra,</HI> our luxurie is growne &s;o different of ta&s;te, as if Law did not re&s;traine appetite wee would feed willingly on nothing but Capons, and Phea&s;ants, and partridge, after a foundation of beenes and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">ut|tons. <HI>Tantum abe&s;t,</HI> Wee are &s;o farre from a lu&s;t of fi&s;h, <HI>vt quadragenis illis verni ieiunij diebus, ne&abque; deorum me|tu ne&abque; infamia permoti, aliquando ad vorandas carnes dete&s;tanda cupiditate rapiamur.</HI> That in the 40. dayes of Spring fa&s;te, without all feare of God or men. We are often carried away with a dete&s;table lu&s;t of de|nouring fle&s;h.</P>
<P>It plea&s;es the Bi&s;hop to &s;peake as horribly of eating a little fle&s;h in <HI>Lent,</HI> as <HI>Lerius</HI> could not, and do's not more, nor any <HI>American</HI> hi&s;torie in de&s;cription of <HI>Bra|&s;ill</HI> or <HI>Caribana,</HI> in their inhabitants fea&s;ting and graw|ing lu&s;ciou&s;ly vpon the halfe-broyl'd armes and legs and paunches of their captiue enemies. We are not &s;o fierce of con&s;cience in &s;uch matters as <HI>Iouius</HI> and the <HI>Roman</HI> Con&s;i&s;tory. Onely let vs be mode&s;t and ciuill in our cu|&s;tome of <HI>Lent.</HI> Let vs labour to correct our &s;tomacks, if the Bodie will not otherwi&s;e reigne gently. <HI>Equo feroci|enti &s;ubtrahendum e&s;t paululum,</HI> &s;aith S^t. <HI>Ierome.</HI> The wilde vnquiet hor&s;e mu&s;t haue le&s;&s;e prouender. And let vs ble&s;&s;e God that we are borne and bred in a Land, where 'tis not equall danger to open an egge and murder a man. For the one, there is Sanctuary among&s;t them, and
<PB REF="15">many villanous cowards enioy the priuiledge in Spaine and Italy.</P>
<P>But I wonder much if a prophane <HI>Lent</HI> Egge-eater, &s;hould not bee haled from any reliefe either of Altar or Mona&s;terie. Nay, the Inqui&s;ition will per&s;ecute &s;uch crimes if they bee able, euen after death on the very gho&s;ts and &s;pirits of the offenders. <HI>Quid igitur qu&ograve;d audi|mus parochos no&s;tros. Era&s;mus</HI> is a wi&s;e butcher in his owne Dialogue. Why then, faith hee, doe wee heare our Pari&s;h-Vicars cry lowd from their pewes, <HI>Cras ieiu|nandum &s;ub poenae aeternae damnationis,</HI> To morrow the Church bids a <HI>Fa&s;te</HI> vnder paine of eternall damna|tion.</P>
<P>I will now quickly conclude. If wee eate, let vs eate &s;o as wee neither oppre&s;&s;e nor drowne all vertue in our bodies with gluttonie and drunkenne&s;&s;e. If wee fa&s;te, let vs &s;o fa&s;te that wee doe not pine and &s;tarue our vertue which requires an able and an actiue bodie. While Monkes, and Anchorites, and Eremites and the Diuell in a Ie&s;uite, doe boa&s;t peruer&s;ly of a mortifying <HI>Lent,</HI> of whipping them&s;elues, of looking fiercely like Ba&s;ilisks, of ki&s;&s;ing the earth thrice a day, of howling, of &s;igh|ing, of beating their brea&s;ts, of going bare-foote, of go|ing ragged, of lying like dogges vnder benches and tables, and licking their meate out of the du&s;t, of faining dumne&s;&s;e, deafne&s;&s;e, blindne&s;&s;e, of wormes and na&s;ti|ne&s;&s;e in their teeth with fa&s;ting, let vs liue and be &s;ober: for 'tis ea&s;ier &s;aith S^t. <HI>Ba&s;ill</HI> to per&s;wade fa&s;t then &s;obrie|tie, and they bee the &s;afe words of the Apo&s;tle. The Kingdome of God is not meate and drinke, but righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and peace, and ioy in the holy Gho&s;t; and againe, <GAP DESC="foreign">, an a&s;cheticall bringing of
<PB REF="15">the bodie vnder with Fa&s;te, <GAP DESC="foreign">, 'tis a little auailable, <GAP DESC="foreign">, but true pietie, true Religi|on, which, as S^t. <HI>Iames</HI> would expound it, con&s;i&s;ts in comforting the afflictions of widdowes and Orphanes in cleanne&s;&s;e and innocencie of life, <GAP DESC="foreign">, 'Tis an vniuer&s;all good, <GAP DESC="foreign">, It hath promi&s;e both of this world, &amp; the world to come. If it be Gods good plea&s;ure here on earth, to be|gin his mercies vnto vs in health and fortune of this world, 'tis happy to haue the fruition of both; yet the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">a&s;t will bee enough rewarde.</P>
<P>Wee &s;hall in the harbor of that world, quickly forget all the trauailes, and &s;tormes, and gu&s;ts and mi&s;eries of this poore mortalitie, which hoy&s;es vp fooles, and makes wi&s;e men mad with an ouer-pre&s;&s;ure of afflicti|on, <GAP DESC="foreign">, &s;aith <HI>Epiphanius.</HI> And then the gro&s;&s;enes of our bodies, which now mu&s;t bee &s;o often repair'd with meat, &s;hal be turned into a &s;ub&s;tance as pa&s;&s;ing and nimble as the Soule; without &s;urfet, without &s;taruing, as the Angels which are in Heauen incorruptible, vnchangeable, ble&s;&s;ed for all e|ternitie. And then I &s;hall want no art of memo|rie. This life God grant vs all. <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
