<!DOCTYPE ETS PUBLIC "-//UMDLPS//DTD EEBOPROOF 2.0//EN">
<ETS>
<TEMPHEAD>
<REVDESCR>
<CHANGE>
<DATE>2014-05-08</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Lauren Proux</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
</RESPSTMT>
<ITEM>Checklist: x Add TEMPHEAD, change DATE, validate x Add DIV TYPEs, validate x Review structure, use BODY or rarely GROUP x Check PB placement and completeness, ensure sequence of N="" x Proof title page(s) x Check HEAD TRAILER ARGUMENT EPIGRAPH OPENER CLOSER SIGNED SALUTE BYLINE x Check ^, oe, abq (Esq;), italic I / J, _Initals, &amp;c. x Check # @ -- UNCLEAR LB FIGURE x Check q; startq endq Q&#62; x Correct illegibles from proofsheet x Check illegible page, para, line, span, word, dollar signs Final validate Corrected [ ] illegible groups out of [ ]. Converted [ ] illegible groups to GAP DESC="illegible". DONE</ITEM>
</CHANGE>
</REVDESCR>
</TEMPHEAD>
<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="B14216">
<STC T="S">14500</STC>
<STC T="C">S112183</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99847441</BIBNO>
<VID>177008</VID>
</IDG>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A COMMENTARY, UPON THE WHOLE BOOKE OF ECCLESIASTES OR THE PREACHER.</P>
<P>WHEREIN The originall Hebrew text is carefully examined, our owne Engli&s;h Tran&s;lation and others are duely viewed and compared, in which al&s;o The literall &s;en&s;e is chiefly con&s;idered, other &s;en&s;es as u&s;efull are not omitted.</P>
<P>The expo&s;ition of the ancient Fathers, and other ancient and cla&s;&s;icall Authours being diligently ob&s;erved: the whole Is al&s;o illu&s;trated with frequent pa&s;&s;ages and Sentences taken out of them.</P>
<Q><P>Ratio divina in medulla e&s;t, non in &s;uperficie, &amp; plerumque aemula mani|fe&s;tis. <BIBL><HI>Tertull.</HI> de Re&s;urrect. Carnis. c. <HI>3.</HI></BIBL></P>
<P>Search the Scriptures. <BIBL>John <HI>5.39.</HI></BIBL></P></Q>
<P>By MICHAEL JERMIN, D^r^. in Divinitie, and Rect. of S^t^. <HI>Martins Lud-gate.</HI> London.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON:</HI> Printed by <HI>Ric. Hodgkin&s;onne,</HI> for JOHN CLARK, and are to be &s;old at his &s;hop under Saint <HI>Peters</HI> Church in <HI>Corne-hill.</HI> 1639.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2" MS="y">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>TO THE SACRED MAJESTIE OF THE LADY ELIZABETH, QUEENE OF BOHEMIA.</HEAD>
<P>_MO&s;t Sacred Maje&s;tie, having be|fore made &s;ome expo&s;ition upon the Proverbs of King <HI>Solomon,</HI> I have now done the &s;ame upon his Preaching. For &s;eeing &s;o great a King was plea&s;ed to be a Prea|cher, I have brought the homage of a Preacher to him. My former labours received the honour of Patronage from your Royall Brother, my dread Soveraigne, to whom the God of mercy and glo|ry be a gratious Patron, and a &s;afe defender: the&s;e labours mo&s;t humbly be&s;eech the &s;ame from your Sacred Maje&s;tie. For &s;eeing, when I was your ordinary Chaplaine, I had long and often in ex|pounding other parts of Scripture, the gracious attention of your hearing, I de&s;ire that the world may read the&s;e with the favourable light of your Patronage. It is but a beame of that illu&s;trious and
<PB REF="3"> &s;plendent light &s;hining in you which I crave, and which though clouded with many trials, yet breaks out gloriou&s;ly in heavenly patience, &s;piri|tuall cheerfulne&s;&s;e, divine courage, noble courte|&s;ie. To put the&s;e, and many other graces in one, God hath made you, the onely Daughter of a fa|mous King decea&s;ed, the only Si&s;ter of a glorious King alive, that all might looke upon you to his greater glory. And he that hath made you the mir|ror of his prai&s;e for others to looke upon, vouch|&s;afe him&s;elfe to looke upon you as the object of his graciou&s;ne&s;&s;e. He that is the only wi&s;e God be your pretious comforter: he that is the only Sonne of God be your mercifull Saviour, and make you glorious in the happine&s;&s;e of heaven, who hath made you &s;o glorious in the troubles of the earth.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your Maje&s;ties in all devoted <HI>and obliged &s;erviceablene&s;&s;e of heart,</HI> MICHAEL JERMIN.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="3">
<HEAD>To the Chri&s;tian Reader.</HEAD>
<P>_CHri&s;tian Reader, to make a&s;hort commentary upon mine owne mind in publi&s;hing this commentary upon the Booke of <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tes:</HI> I de&s;ire that God may be glorified by the knowledge of his Word, and that the Church of God may be illightned in the knowledge of it, and that the di&s;charge of my duety to the Church might be in &s;ome &s;ort expre&s;&s;ed. For though the Scrip|tures be the firmament of the Church, in which the Sun of truth &s;hineth, the Moone of knowledge is in her full brightne&s;&s;e, and where there are a multitude of &s;tarres of mo&s;t excellent and divine light; yet &s;uch are the clouds of humane ignorance, &s;uch the mi&s;ts of our corrupted nature, that we perceive but darkly the beau|ty and glory of them. If therefore &s;uch means be u&s;ed, as that the&s;e clouds may be in &s;ome mea&s;ure cleared, and the thickne&s;&s;e of the&s;e mi&s;ts in &s;ome part le&s;ned, it is not a labour that needeth to be judged of, as needle&s;ly be|&s;towed. As for this booke of the Preacher, &s;uch is the blindne&s;&s;e of the eyes of many in the reading of it, that mi&s;taking utterly his heavenly meaning, from hence they frame pretences for their owne earthly and voluptuous living. But &s;uch al&s;o are many pa&s;&s;ages of this booke,
<PB REF="4"> that even they who have the &s;harpe&s;t &s;ight, mu&s;t ac|knowledge a dimne&s;&s;e of their eyes when they looke upon them. Where if my &s;mall candle hath given any light, the whole prai&s;e be given unto the Father of lights: if it hath ca&s;t a fal&s;e light, I pre&s;ume that they who di&s;cerne it, will not be mi&s;led by it, I hope that they who di&s;cerne it, &s;hall receive no hurt by it. For though we may not walke in the way of a right under&s;tanding, in all things, yet if we doe walke in the way of a right faith, and of a godly life, we &s;hall be &s;ure not to mi&s;&s;e the way unto eternall life, which God of his mercy grant to us all for his Sonne Je&s;us Chri&s;ts &s;ake. The faults of the printing had not been &s;o many and great, had mine health beene greater, that I could have lookd after it. But let thy courte&s;ie be the phy&s;icke to cure them, and for many of them there is a remedy &s;et downe in the end of the booke, where &s;eeing thou maye&s;t ea&s;ily correct them, be not ha|&s;ty to condemne them. Farewell</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><HI>Thine in CHRIST JESUS,</HI> Michael Jermin.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="imprimatur">
<P>REcen&s;ui Commenta haec in Eccle&s;ia&s;tem, nec in iis quicquam reperio qu&ograve; minus Im|primantur.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>SAMUEL BAKER.</SIGNED>
<DATELINE>Londini <DATE>December. 7. 1638.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="commentary on verse">
<PB N="1" REF="4">
<HEAD>A COMMENTARY VPON THE WHOLE BOOKE OF ECCLESIASTES.</HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="preface">
<HEAD>The Preface.</HEAD>
<P><HI>_GRegory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> writing up|on this booke, beginneth thus:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ny&s;|&s;en. in Eccle|&s;ia&s;t. Hom. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Nobis Eccle&s;ia&s;ten propo|nimus exponendum, qui magnitudini utilitatis ha|bet parem laborem con|templationis:</HI> Eccle&s;iastes is propo&s;ed to be expounded by us, which is a Booke, that to an&s;wer the great profit of it, requireth great paines in him that &s;hall goe about it, and not onely great paines, but al&s;o great abilities, to be able to reach the height, to fathome the depth of it: And what then can be expected, <HI>Hac qualicunque
<PB N="2" REF="5"> lucubratiuncula mea,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. Prae&s;at. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t.</NOTE> <HI>iter ad intelligentiam prae|eunte?</HI> From this my dimme light, &s;hewing the way for under&s;tanding of it? But &s;eeing <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> hath com|manded us to &s;earch the Scriptures, let me have leave to &s;earch this booke of Scripture as I can; tru&s;ting that He, <HI>Qui &s;crutandi dedit praeceptum, ad hoc eti|am omnino dabit vires,</HI> who hath given the com|mandement for &s;earching, will al&s;o give &s;trength in &s;ome mea&s;ure, for the doing of it.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="introduction">
<HEAD>The generall &s;cope of the Booke.</HEAD>
<P>_THe greate&s;t labour of Philo&s;ophers hath been to finde out the greate&s;t good of man; where|in what hath their labour been, but a laby|rinth, in which them&s;elves being lo&s;t, they were farre from finding that which they &s;ought? But this being the &s;cope of the Royall Philo&s;opher, the Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall King of I&s;rael in this Booke, he &s;hews where it is, by &s;hewing it not to be in the things of this world: he declareth what it is, by declaring what wee mu&s;t be in the feare of the Lord, and in keeping his Commandements. It is a mi&s;take, as &s;ome thinke,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Picolomine|us.</NOTE> of the meaning of <HI>Epicurus,</HI> to imagine that he placed the chiefe good of man in a &s;en&s;uall plea&s;ure; but that he intended the &s;weet delight of vertue, and therein the happy contentment of mans minde, to be the bed of re&s;t unto it. Now much more are they mi&s;|taken, who thinke that in this book a luxurious plea&s;ure is commended to us: &s;eeing it is from a di&s;commendation of worldly things, in re&s;pect of the vanitie of them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t.</NOTE> <HI>Et quae dum tenentur, intereunt,</HI> and which are &s;till in loo&s;ing even while they are kept, as S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh, that the Preacher laboureth to make us to deny the world: <GAP DESC="foreign">, and to &s;eate the minde above a &s;en&s;uall contentment, as a Greek Father expre&s;&s;eth the purpo&s;e of this booke. The things where|of the vanitie is here weighed unto us, are by <HI>Hugo de Sancto Victore</HI> re|duced unto three heads, as being, <HI>Aut quae propter homines facta &s;unt, aut quae ab hominibus facta &s;unt, aut quae in hominibus facta &s;unt,</HI> Either tho&s;e
<PB N="3" REF="5"> things which were made for men, or tho&s;e things which are made by men, or tho&s;e which are made in men.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sancto Vi|ctore in Ec|cle&s;ia&s;t. Ho|mil. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>In his quae ab hominibus facta &s;unt, vanitas e&s;t curio&s;itatis, in his quae propter homines facta &s;unt, vanitas e&s;t mutabilitatis, in his quae in hominibus facta &s;unt, vanitas e&s;t mortalitatis,</HI> In tho&s;e things that are made by men there is the vanitie of curio&s;itie, in tho&s;e things that are made for men, there is the vanitie of mutabili|tie, in tho&s;e things that are made in men, there is the vanitie of mortali|tie. The way which I &s;hall follow in tracing out the &s;en&s;e of what is here delivered, &s;hall be by walking in the &s;teps of a literall expo&s;ition, becau&s;e that it is to which the Preachers hand leadeth me. And yet be|cau&s;e there may be &s;ome things, as an ancient Writer noteth, <HI>Spiritua|liter intelligenda, non negligenter praetereunda,</HI> &s;piritually to be under&s;tood, and not to be omitted negligently, I &s;hall &s;ometimes turne a&s;ide to meet with a my&s;tery, that may bring profit with it: they being alike to be condemned, <HI>Qui my&s;ticam intelligentiam vel inquirendam pertinaciter negant, ubi e&s;t, vel apponendam &s;uper&s;titio&s;e contendunt, ubi non e&s;t,</HI> who wilfully refu&s;e to &s;eeke for a my&s;ticall &s;en&s;e, where it is to be had, and who &s;uper&s;titiou&s;ly &s;trive in &s;eeking for it, where it is not to be had, as the &s;ame Authour addeth.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAPTER I.</HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>VER. 1.</HI></BIBL> The words of the Preacher the Sonne of David King of Jeru&s;alem.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 1. _WE have here not onely the title of the Authour expre&s;&s;ed by three names, but al&s;o the office of a Governour &s;et forth by three duties. Fir&s;t, that he mu&s;t be a Preacher, in teaching tho&s;e that are un|der him: &s;econdly, that he mu&s;t be a Sonne, in being him&s;elfe obedient to that which hee teacheth: thirdly, that he mu&s;t be a King, in commanding and exacting that tho&s;e things be performed which are taught by him. But to con|&s;ider them as the titles of the Authour, &s;et downe to procure the bet|ter regard of what he writeth. Fir&s;t, he is called the Preacher: and if wee take the rea&s;on to be, becau&s;e the&s;e words were written by <HI>Solo|mon,</HI> to be read in the Church and Congregation;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ny&s;|&s;en. in Eccle|&s;ia&s;t. Hom. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> then <HI>Gregory Ny&s;|&s;ene</HI> asking the que&s;tion, why this booke rather then others &s;hould be called the <HI>words of the Preacher,</HI> &s;eeing that <HI>Moy&s;es</HI> and the Prophets were read in the Church and Congregation al&s;o; he giveth a good an|&s;wer to it: becau&s;e in other bookes, there are many things of Warres, and Cities, and Countries, and Mariages, which are not &s;o profitable
<PB N="4" REF="6"> for the Church of God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ny&s;|&s;ene in Eccle|&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Hujus autem libri doctrina ad &s;olam Eccle&s;ia&s;ticam conver&s;ationem pertinet, ut quae ea explicet, per quae quis rect&egrave; &amp; ex virtute vitam in&s;tituat,</HI> but the Doctrine of this booke belongeth onely to an Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall conver&s;ation, as &s;peaking of tho&s;e things by which any one may leade a vertuous and a godly life. Or el&s;e if we take this booke to be written by <HI>Solomon</HI> after his repentance, as the <HI>Iewes</HI> affirme, then we may conceive him to be called the Preacher or Eccle&s;ia&s;tes, as ma|king his repentance in the Church, to which by his repentance he was againe joyned, and as thereby teaching repentance unto others. And then the Hebrew word <GAP DESC="foreign"> rendred the Preacher, being of the femi|nine gender, in which regard &s;ome &s;ay, that <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>anima</HI> the &s;oule is to be added to it, filling up the place thus, <HI>The words of the preaching &s;oule,</HI> it very well agreeth to <HI>Solomons</HI> penitent &s;oule, grieved for the &s;infull plea&s;ures of his body. It may be noted al&s;o that it is &s;ayd, <HI>The words of the Preacher,</HI> becau&s;e in this booke he &s;peaketh with the words of di|ver&s;e, &s;ometimes of him&s;elfe, &s;ometimes of &s;ome other per&s;on. And therefore in the end of the booke, as it were &s;peaking unto all, in who&s;e words he had &s;poken, and &s;hutting up their many words in a few, but containing the whole truth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Eccle&s;.</HI> 12.13.</NOTE> he &s;ayth; <HI>Let us heare the conclu&s;ion of the whole matter, feare God and keepe his Commandements, for this is the whole dutie of man.</HI> Secondly, he is called the Sonne of <HI>David,</HI> as walking in the &s;teps of his Father <HI>David,</HI> both in the cour&s;e of his repentance, and in the wayes of godline&s;&s;e, which here he teacheth. Thirdly, he is cal|led the King of <HI>Ieru&s;alem,</HI> becau&s;e in <HI>Ieru&s;alem</HI> the glory of the world being chiefly &s;hewed, the vanities of the world being mo&s;t of all em|braced, it is to them more e&s;pecially that he writeth, to make them contemne the glory of worldly things, to make them to &s;ee the vanitie of them. But &s;eeing to the Sonne of <HI>David,</HI> to the King of <HI>Ieru&s;alem</HI> (or el&s;e the King in <HI>Ieru&s;alem,</HI> as the Originall more directly is) is added the Preacher; <HI>Forte ad ducem eccle&s;iae intuetur in&s;criptio,</HI> perhaps the in|&s;cription ca&s;teth an eye to him who is the Captaine and Leader of his Church, (as a Greeke Father &s;peaketh) to <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> who is indeede the Preacher of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, who is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tes, congregans coetum,</HI> gathering into one Church both Iewes and Gentiles, and calling toge|ther into one Congregation, tho&s;e who were &s;cattered in the errours of iniquitie. He is <HI>the Sonne of David,</HI> to whom the whole multitude &s;ang their Ho&s;anna. He is <HI>the King of Ieru&s;alem,</HI> of that <HI>Ieru&s;alem,</HI> which is the Citie of the great King. He was King in <HI>Ieru&s;alem,</HI> being there crowned with thornes, being there lifted up on the throne of his cro&s;&s;e. <HI>Non ad eum fit verbum Dei,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t.</NOTE> <HI>&s;icut ad caeteros prophetas, &s;ed ip&s;e e&s;t verbum, verba&abque; loquitur ad eccle&s;iae viros;</HI> The word of the Lord doth not come to him, as to the other Prophets, but he is the word, and he &s;peaketh words to the men of the Church, as S. <HI>Hierome</HI> hath it.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2-3" TYPE="verse">
<PB N="5" REF="6">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 2.</HI></BIBL> Vanitie of vanities, &s;ayth the Preacher, vanitie of vanities, all is vanitie.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 3.</HI></BIBL> What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the Sunne?</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 2. After the three titles of the Authour, <HI>Hugo de Sancto Victore</HI> conceiveth <HI>Solomon,</HI> to &s;et downe the &s;umme of the three parts of his book in the three following ver&s;es. In this ver&s;e the vanitie of mutabi|litie, which is handled from the fir&s;t ver&s;e unto the twelfth ver&s;e of this Chapter: in the next ver&s;e, the vanitie of curio&s;itie or de&s;ire, which is handled from the twelfth ver&s;e of this Chap. unto the twelfth Chapter: in the following ver&s;es, the vanitie of mortalitie, which is handled from the beginning of the twelfth Chapter to the end of it, and of the booke. The &s;ame Authour &s;peaking of the&s;e vanities &s;ayth;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t.</NOTE> <HI>Prima vanitas na|turalis e&s;t, &amp; apta &s;ive congrua: &s;ecunda vanitas culpabilis e&s;t quia perver&s;a: tertia vanitas poenalis &amp; mi&s;era. Prima cau&s;a e&s;t peccati; &s;ecunda peccatum; tertia poena peccati;</HI> The fir&s;t vanitie is naturall, and fit for the nature of worldly things; the &s;econd is &s;infull, becau&s;e perver&s;e and froward; the third penall and mi&s;erable. The fir&s;t is the occa&s;ion of &s;inne, the &s;e|cond is &s;inne, the third is the puni&s;hment of &s;inne. But to con&s;ider the ver&s;e in it &s;elfe. <HI>The Preacher</HI> which is the fir&s;t of the titles in the for|mer ver&s;e, is here the onely title of the Authour, as &s;hewing that to be his proper title as Authour of this booke. Or el&s;e it &s;heweth that in his repentance, he e&s;teemed this title above all: and that he thought this to be more glorious unto him, then that he was either the &s;onne of &s;o great a King, or el&s;e &s;o great a King him&s;elfe. An ancient Writer &s;ayth of this part of the ver&s;e, <HI>Sayth the Preacher, Cum pondere pronuntiandum e&s;t,</HI> that it is to be pronounced with a weighty empha&s;is. He &s;ayth it, who in his &s;infull folly did not con&s;ider it: he &s;ayth it, who hath &s;ayd &s;o much of &s;o many things: he &s;ayth it, who being the Sonne of a wi&s;e King, was him&s;elfe the wi&s;e&s;t King that ever was or &s;hall be. <HI>Quod ergo tantus, &amp; talis dixit, vanum e&s;&s;e non potuit, etiam&s;i de vanitate dixit,</HI> Wherefore that which one &s;o great, and &s;uch a one hath &s;ayd, cannot be vaine, al|though he hath &s;ayd it of vanitie. But if <HI>all things be vanitie,</HI> then him|&s;elfe al&s;o, who &s;pake this, is vanitie. And if vanitie &s;peake, what can it be but vaine that is &s;poken? To an&s;wer this: it was not him&s;elfe in &s;peak|ing this that &s;pake, it was the &s;pirit of God that gave him utterance. And therefore <HI>Hugo de Sancto Victore</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Vbi putatis mens erat hujus ho|minis, quum haec diceret? Homo erat, &s;ed &s;upra hominem erat. Quia ni&s;i homi|nem excederet, omnem hominem mendacem e&s;&s;e non videret?</HI> Where doe yee thinke was the minde of this man, when he &s;ayd the&s;e things? He was a man, but yet above a man: becau&s;e unle&s;&s;e he did exceed a man, he could not have &s;eene that all men are vanitie. But to con&s;ider what he
<PB N="6" REF="7"> &s;ayth, what the Spirit of God meaneth by <HI>vanitie,</HI> the Spirit of God can be&s;t tell us:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jere.</HI> 16.19.</NOTE> who doth him&s;elfe explane it, when the Prophet <HI>Ieremiah</HI> acknowledgeth, Surely our Fathers have inherited lyes, vanitie, and things wherein there is no profit. The <HI>vanitie</HI> then whereof the Prea|cher &s;peaketh, is the lying promi&s;es of contentment which worldly things make, and the no-profit which is made of them. <HI>Vanitie of vani|ties, &s;ayth the Preacher,</HI> that is, the vanitie of them, is even more then va|nitie: and as if he would &s;ay more, but could not, he &s;ayth the &s;ame a|gaine: and lea&s;t he &s;hould not have &s;ayd all, yet he addeth, <HI>All is vani|tie.</HI> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us, that in all tran&s;lations be&s;ides the Septuagint, the words are rendred <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>vapor vaporum,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> a vapour of vapours, as &s;hewing, that as a vapour being the extraction of the thinne&s;t part of any thing, if the thinne&s;t part of a vapour &s;hould be extracted al&s;o, the thinne&s;&s;e of that would be exceeding great: &s;o the vanitie of worldly things, which is a vanitie of vanities, to be exceeding great al&s;o. But doth not this redound to the di&s;honour of the Creatour, if all things created by him in this world be &s;o &s;trangely vaine? <HI>Clemens Alexandri|nus</HI> apprehendeth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Clemens A|lexan. &s;trom. l. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> that it was from a mi&s;take of the meaning of this ver&s;e, that <HI>Epicurus</HI> affirmed, <HI>Omnia temere ferri,</HI> All things to be caried lightly and vainely. Wherefore that wee may not mi&s;take al&s;o, Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> tels us the meaning to be,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregorius. M. in c. <HI>12.</HI> Pri. Samuel.</NOTE> <HI>In comparatione aeternorum bonorum va|na e&s;&s;e omnia, etiam bona temporalia,</HI> In compari&s;on of eternall good things, even all things to be vaine, yea, although they be good things temporally. Which is indeed mo&s;t true, but I conceive the Preachers &s;peech to intend rather the vanities of mans life, then to be uttered of the creatures generally. But having con&s;idered, who it is that &s;ayth it, what it is that is &s;ayd, I will &s;ay no more, but that which S. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;peaketh of this ver&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;ost. E|pi&s;tola ad Eutropium.</NOTE> <HI>Hunc ver&s;iculum &s;i &s;aperent, qui in pote&s;tate &s;unt, in parietibus omnibus &amp; in ve&s;tibus &s;criberent, in foro, in domo, in januis, in in|gre&s;&s;ibus, &amp; ante omnia in con&s;cientiis &s;uis, ut &s;emper eum oculis cernerent, &amp; corde &s;entirent.</HI> This ver&s;e, if they who are great in this world were wi&s;e, they would write on all their wals and garments, in their common meeting places, in their private hou&s;es, on their dores, in their entries, and above all in their con&s;ciences, that &s;o they might alwayes &s;ee it be|fore their eyes, alwayes con&s;ider it in their minds.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 3. The Originall word here u&s;ed is <GAP DESC="foreign">, which is well tran&s;la|ted, <HI>What profit:</HI> for &s;o the Syriac al&s;o reads it, <HI>Quae utilitas, filio hominis?</HI> What profit is there to the Sonne of man?<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aquin.</HI> 1. <HI>Q.</HI> 5. <HI>Ar.</HI> 6. <HI>ad</HI> 2^m.</NOTE> Now <HI>Aquinas</HI> tels us, <HI>Vtilia dicuntur, quae non habent in &s;e unde de&s;iderentur, &s;ed de&s;iderantur &s;olum ut &s;unt ducentia in alterum;</HI> Things are &s;ayd to be profitable, which have not in them&s;elves any thing for which they be de&s;ired, but only are de&s;ired as leading to &s;ome other thing. And what profit then hath a man of all his worldly labour, which neither in it &s;elfe is to be de&s;ired, nor yet to be de&s;ired for any other thing?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregorius Neocae&s;ar: in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> Wherefore <HI>Gregorius Neocae&s;arien&s;is</HI> af|firmeth boldly, <HI>Nemo e&s;t qui utilitatem ullam iis annexam dicere po&s;sit, quae homines humi reptantes perficere contendunt, rebus temporariis &amp; caducis ad|dicti;</HI>
<PB N="7" REF="7"> There is no one who can &s;ay, that there is any profit &s;o much as annexed unto tho&s;e things, which men crawling on the earth, and ad|dicted to vani&s;hing and temporary things doe &s;eeke to performe. This tran&s;lation doth well an&s;wer to the expo&s;ition of vanitie which in the former ver&s;e I gave. The Arabick doth reade the word, <HI>Quae prae&s;tantia homini?</HI> What excellency is there to a man in all his worldly labour? Wherein doth this make any man to excell another? And therefore <HI>Olympiodorus</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Quid homine homo amplius habet in eo labore,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Olympiodo|rus in Ca|tena.</NOTE> <HI>quod non &s;upra &s;olem, &s;ed laborat &s;ub &s;ole, quando omnes relicta prae&s;enti vita communem mortem &s;ubimus?</HI> What more then another man hath any man in that labour which he taketh under the Sunne, not above the Sunne, when all leaving this life doe undergoe a common death? The Septuagint doe render it, <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>Quid &s;upere&s;t?</HI> What remaineth &s;ayth, S^t. <HI>Hierome? Quid amplius habet?</HI> What hath he more? &s;aith the Vulgar latine? What remaineth to a man of all his worldly labour? What, be&s;ides the vanity whereof the former ver&s;e &s;peaketh? For as <HI>Hugo de Sancto Victore</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Si &s;ecundum aliquid vanum e&s;t quod Deus creavit, quomo|do non multo magis vanum e&s;t quod homo facit? Si temporale est quod fecit aeternuus, quod temporalis facit, quid est?</HI> If that bee in &s;ome re&s;pect vaine, which God hath created, how is not that much more vaine, which man maketh? If that be temporary which he hath made who is eternall, what is that which he maketh, who is him&s;elfe temporary? <HI>What hath he more?</HI> What more of all his labour, then the labour it &s;elfe, then his labour for his paines? St. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> and St. <HI>Au&s;t.</HI> doe reade it, <HI>Quae abundantia?</HI> What abundance is there to a man of all his worldly labour? yea although he be abundant in his labour: yea although it be not only the early labour of the morning, but that labour which endu|reth the heate of the day, and is <HI>under the Sunne:</HI> yea although wee con&s;ider not only that labour which a man hath taken, or &s;till taketh, but that al&s;o which hee &s;hall take (for &s;o the Originall is) even as long as the Sunne is up, and till the Sunne of his life be &s;et, even of all his labour, what great matter, and worthy to bee regarded ari&s;eth from it? The Originall in the Hebrew, and the Greeke word in the Septua|gint doe not reject any of the&s;e tran&s;lations. <HI>Which he taketh under the Sunne.</HI> The Sunne is the ma&s;ter-workman of the world, labouring continually, and labouring under his great ma&s;ter God, to mini&s;ter un|to the inferiour creatures of the world, as the Hebrew name of it <GAP DESC="foreign"> doth notifie unto us. Vnder this Ma&s;ter workeman are all other labou|rers, he calls them up to their labour, he over&s;ees their labour, he ap|points unto them their time of cea&s;ing from labour. But although we labour under him, yet unle&s;&s;e the end of our labour be for &s;omething above him, it will not profit us: unle&s;&s;e as he calls us to labour, &s;o we call upon God for a ble&s;&s;ing on our labour,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sancto Vi|ctore in Ec|cle&s;ia&s;t. Ho|mil. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> we &s;hall have no comfort in it. <HI>Hugo de Sancto Victore,</HI> here by labouring under the Sun, under&s;tand|eth our labouring under time, becau&s;e by the motion of the Sun times are di&s;tingui&s;hed. Whereupon his di&s;tinction is, <HI>Alia fiunt in tempore
<PB N="8" REF="8"> tantum, alia fiunt in tempore &amp; &s;ub tempore,</HI> &s;ome things are done in time only, &s;ome things are done in time and under time: in time onely they are done, which are begun in time, but end not in time: they are done in time, and under time, which begin and end in it. Againe hee &s;aith that of tho&s;e things which are done under time, <HI>Alia fiunt pro tempore, alia fiunt pro aeternitate,</HI> &s;ome things are done for time, and the&s;e are they that yeeld no profit to him that laboureth in them: other things are done for aeternity, and the&s;e alone are profitable. As for the re&s;t, what|&s;oever any one may now deeme of them, yet this &s;peech of <HI>Solomons, Cuju&s;vis e&s;t animae oratio, quando iis quae hic &s;unt &s;poliata, ad vitam quae &s;peratur migraverit,</HI> Is the &s;peech of every &s;oule, when being &s;poiled of tho&s;e things which are here,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor: Ny&s;&s;enus in Eccle&s;iast. Hom. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> &s;he goeth to that life, which is hoped for, as <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> hath it.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4-7" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 4.</HI></BIBL> One generation pa&s;&s;eth away, and another commeth, but the earth abideth for ever.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 5.</HI></BIBL> The Sunne al&s;o ari&s;eth, and the Sunne goeth downe, and ha&s;teth to the place, where it aro&s;e.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 6.</HI></BIBL> The wind goeth toward the South, and turneth about unto the North: it whir|leth about continually, and the wind re|turneth againe according to his cour&s;es.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 7.</HI></BIBL> All the rivers come into the Sea, yet the Sea is not full; unto the place from whence all the rivers come, thither they returne againe.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Clem: Alex. Stromat: <HI>5.</HI></NOTE><HI>Ver.</HI> 4. <HI>Clemens Alexandrinus</HI> who &s;heweth the theft of Philo&s;ophers from the &s;acred Scriptures, might ea&s;ily have &s;hewed, that <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> tooke from hence his principles, that <HI>Materia prima,</HI> The fir&s;t matter, which is as it were the earthly foundation of things abideth for ever, and that <HI>Cor|ruptio unius e&s;t generatio alterius,</HI> the corruption of one thing is the gene|ration of another, the pa&s;&s;ing away of one generation is the comming of another. But to view the words. <HI>A generation,</HI> is, the number of men, which at any time are living together upon the earth, according as the derivation of the Hebrew word <GAP DESC="foreign"> doth give us to under&s;tand, and &s;o long as any of them are alive, &s;o long doth that generation continue.
<PB N="9" REF="8"> Now ever &s;ince that the fir&s;t man pa&s;&s;ed away from his obedience unto GODS Law, and that &s;inne came into the world, thus it hath beene &s;till, that <HI>one pa&s;&s;eth away, and another commeth:</HI> one pa&s;|&s;eth away that the other may come, the other commeth to pa&s;&s;e away al&s;o, <HI>Et hanc viam omnes po&s;t ip&s;um per tran&s;eunt, qui ab ip&s;o per carnis nativitatem de&s;cendunt.</HI> And this way doe all pa&s;&s;e after him, who by the birth of the fle&s;h are come from him, as one &s;aith. The force of the ver&s;e, as it followeth the former, is this, If you cannot beleeve but that mans labour doth get him &s;ome profit, yet what profit is it, when it cannot bee enjoyed? And how can it bee enjoyed, when man him&s;elfe pa&s;&s;eth away? Or el&s;e the force is this, if you thinke it a thing not to bee regarded, that what you doe is vani|ty: is that al&s;o not to bee regarded, that yee your &s;elves are vanity? For yee <HI>pa&s;&s;e away.</HI> And were it but a few, or if many, were it not all, the mi&s;erable vanity were the le&s;&s;e, but it is the whole <HI>generation</HI> that pa&s;&s;eth away, and though <HI>another commeth,</HI> the other by pa&s;&s;ing away, hath &s;hewed it the way which it mu&s;t pa&s;&s;e likewi&s;e. But &s;eeing it pa&s;|&s;eth away, whither doth it pa&s;&s;e? When it commeth, from whence doth it come? Surely, this al&s;o &s;heweth the great vanity of men. For all can &s;ay, <HI>Hinc abeundum,</HI> Hence we mu&s;t: but <HI>qu&ograve; tran&s;eundum,</HI> whi|ther then, none can tell. All have a comming; but whence they come, none brings the newes with them. The Preacher therefore only &s;aith, <HI>One generation pa&s;&s;eth away, and another commeth.</HI> The originall doth expre&s;&s;e it &s;elfe by a participle, and thereby &s;heweth, that it doth not only pa&s;&s;e away, as it were when the time commeth, but is continually pa&s;&s;ing away, and never abideth, which as it maketh the vanity the more, &s;o it is &s;till made more, in that <HI>the earth abideth for ever.</HI> The ele|ment which is &s;o much beneath man, that element which a man trea|deth under his feete. (For as the latine word <HI>terra,</HI> is taken <HI>a terendo</HI> from breaking and wearing, &s;o the Hebrew word <GAP DESC="foreign"> is taken from <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifieth to breake and to weare al&s;o,) even the earth which is trampled on abideth, when man pa&s;&s;eth away. Man was made of the earth, yet man vani&s;heth, and the earth continueth: the earth was made for man, yet man pa&s;&s;eth away and the earth &s;tandeth &s;till. The earth &s;tandeth, and &s;tandeth <HI>in te&s;timonium &amp; poenam culpae hominis,</HI> for a mo|nument of mans &s;inne, and puni&s;hment, bringing forth bryars and thornes unto him. The earth &s;tandeth, and &s;tandeth up an accu&s;er a|gain&s;t man. For &s;o <HI>Olympiodorus</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Olympiodor. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t.</NOTE> <HI>Terra quidem in perpetuum &s;tat, accu&s;atrix ve&s;tra effecta, in qua nefaria opera purpetra&s;tis,</HI> The earth indeed &s;tandeth for ever, being made an accu&s;er again&s;t y, for the evill deeds which yee have committed in it. The earth &s;tandeth, <HI>Vt ve|nientes mittat, pertran&s;euntes portet, di&s;cedentes recipiat,</HI> to &s;end tho&s;e peo|ple that come, to beare tho&s;e that are pa&s;&s;ing away, to receive tho&s;e that are gone, as <HI>Hugo de Sancto Victore</HI> &s;peaketh.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Hom. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> But doth the earth &s;tand for ever? If we take it, in a my&s;tery for the Church, as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> doth, then mo&s;t true it is, that it abideth for ever, <HI>Quia &s;ancta
<PB N="10" REF="9"> eccle&s;ia in hoc &s;aeculo a catholica fide nequaquam deficiet, &amp; in futuro cum Deo aeterna &s;tabilitate permanebit,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. in <HI>7.</HI> P&s;almos Poe|nitentiales.</NOTE> Becau&s;e the holy Church in this world &s;hall never faile from the Catholike faith, in the next, &s;hall abide with God for ever &s;etled. And then wee may under&s;tand the generation which pa&s;&s;eth away to be the <HI>Iewes,</HI> the generation that commeth to be the <HI>Gentiles,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieron. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t.</NOTE> the Chri&s;tians, as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> doth. Or el&s;e if we may here under&s;tand a my&s;tery, wee may take the generation that pa&s;&s;eth away, for that which was made out of the earth, the generation that commeth for that which &s;hall be rai&s;ed out of the earth, and that the earth is &s;aid to abide for ever, becau&s;e it &s;hall continue untill this be done. But to keepe to the letter.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremellius in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> The earth is &s;aid <HI>to abide for ever,</HI> in re&s;pect of the vanity and &s;hortne&s;&s;e of mans life, which is &s;o quickly gone. Or el&s;e it is &s;aid <HI>to abide for ever,</HI> becau&s;e it is a thing unknowne to men, or Angels how long it &s;hall continue. For the originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> is taken from <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifieth to lye hid, and &s;peaketh of that con|tinuance, the continuance, and the cea&s;ing whereof is a thing unkowne and concealed. But what is it that maketh the earth to abide &s;o firmely? Surely let Philo&s;ophers &s;earch for a rea&s;on of it, let us abide &s;atisfied with that of Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. l. <HI>1.</HI> Exam. c. <HI>16.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Non fulcris &s;uis &s;tabilis per&s;everat, &s;ed Do|minus fundavit eam,</HI> They are not her owne pillars that doe beare it up, but the Lord hath founded it.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 5. The generall expo&s;ition among the Ancients given of this Ver&s;e, and of the two following, is, that by the vanity of the&s;e creatures is &s;et forth the vanity of man.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ny&s;. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Hom. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> And therefore <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> &s;aith, <HI>O homines qui univer&s;itatem a&s;picitis, ve&s;tram ip&s;orum naturam intelligite,</HI> O men who doe behold the univer&s;e, under&s;tand your owne nature in it, <HI>E&s;t ad &s;olis &s;imilitudinem no&s;trae quo&abque; naturae ortus &amp; occa&s;us: una e&s;t omnibus via, unus ingre&s;&s;us vitae circulus,</HI> There is of our nature a ri&s;ing, and a going downe, as of the Sunne: there is one way to all, wee all walke one circle of life. But as I conceive, this ari&s;eth not to the mea|ning of the place. For as in the Ver&s;e before the Preacher comparing man with the earth, &s;hewed the vanity of man to be greater than the earth is &s;ubject to: So in the&s;e following ver&s;es he compareth the va|nity of man with the Sunne, and wind, and waters, &s;hewing it to bee greater, than that which they have in them. This ver&s;e &s;peaketh of the Sunne,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Zanchius de operibus Dei.</NOTE> which though a glorious creature, and as <HI>Zanchius</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Glorio&s;ior quod alios illuminet, quam quod ip&s;e luceat,</HI> more glorious that it illightneth others, then that it is &s;o bright in it &s;elfe, yet much infe|riour is it unto mans beauty and glory. Notwith&s;tanding the Preacher &s;hewing the tran&s;itory vanity of man, preferreth the Sunne before it: which though in motion it pa&s;&s;eth on from ri&s;ing to going downe, yet pa&s;&s;eth not away, but returneth to his place, as <HI>Symmachus</HI> and <HI>Theodotio</HI> did tran&s;late the word: or <GAP DESC="foreign"> as <HI>Aquila</HI> tran&s;lated it, that is, &s;aith Saint <HI>Hierome a&s;pirat,</HI> and &s;o doth <HI>Tremellius</HI> tran&s;late it, attai|neth to his place. Our Engli&s;h &s;aith, ha&s;teth, the French very well, <HI>ahane,</HI> laboureth hard towards his place, as one that bloweth labouring:
<PB N="11" REF="9"> and which though labouring, yet laboureth not in vaine, but commeth to his place. <HI>Man pa&s;&s;eth away, and his place beholdeth him no more,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iob</HI> 20.9.</NOTE> as <HI>Zo|phar</HI> &s;peaketh in <HI>Iob:</HI> but the Sunne commeth to his place, that is, to the poynt where his circular motion is terminated and accompli&s;hed: for as the place of any thing is, that wherein it &s;tayeth; &s;o that is &s;ayd to be the place of the Sunne, becau&s;e there it &s;tayeth from going to any other poynt, wherein it hath not been before. The Sunne commeth to his place <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>&amp; oritur ip&s;e ibi,</HI> and it &s;elfe ari&s;eth there, as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> rightly tran&s;lateth the Hebrew; whereas man pa&s;&s;eth away, and another ari&s;eth in his place. Now this being the proper tran&s;lati|on of the Originall words, doth much confirme that to be the meaning of the ver&s;e which I have delivered. Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e,</HI> as al&s;o St. <HI>Hierome</HI> applying this ver&s;e in a my&s;tery to <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> &s;hew how that he is the Sunne, <HI>Qui oritur ju&s;tis, &amp; occidit inju&s;tis,</HI> which ri&s;eth to the righteous, and &s;hineth upon them, but goeth downe to the unrighteous, and leaveth them in darkne&s;&s;e: but then they doe al&s;o both of them reade the next words thus, <HI>Trahit ad locum &s;uum,</HI> draweth to his place,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in P&s;al. <HI>119.</HI> Octon. <HI>12.</HI></NOTE> and applying it to <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> &s;ay, that he being gone to heaven, doth draw the de&s;ires of all men unto him.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 6. The Septuagint doe make the fir&s;t part of this ver&s;e to belong to the former ver&s;e, as if the Preacher &s;pake it of the Sunne, That he goeth to the South, and returneth about to the North: and thereupon Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> applying it my&s;tically to <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> &s;ayth that he went fir&s;t to the South, fir&s;t to the <HI>Iewes, Ad nobiliorem plebem, quae erat genus electum, vendicans &s;ibi Patriarcharum pro&s;apiam,</HI> The more noble people, which was a cho&s;en Nation, challenging to them&s;elves their de&s;cent from the Patriarchs: but becau&s;e the&s;e per&s;i&s;ted in their wic|kedne&s;&s;e, he returned about to the North, <HI>Gyravit ad Gentes,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in P&s;al. <HI>119.</HI> Octon. <HI>12.</HI></NOTE> He came about to the Gentiles. But to take the words as a part of this ver&s;e, and as applyed to the winde, for &s;o the Originall doth apply them. Wee have here the vanitie of man compared to <HI>the winde:</HI> and though that may be conceived to be of all things mo&s;t vaine, mo&s;t light; yet here mans vanitie is &s;hewed to be greater. And whereas <HI>Iob</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iob</HI> 7.7.</NOTE> <HI>O remem|ber that my life is winde;</HI> the Preacher &s;ayth, that it is more vaine then winde. For though the winde pa&s;&s;e on &s;peedily, and pa&s;&s;e away quick|ly, though mo&s;t incon&s;tantly it pa&s;&s;e from place to place, and every way turneth it &s;elfe, which our Tran&s;lation hath, <HI>whirleth about continually,</HI> yet it returneth &s;till, and going from the North, it commeth backe to the North againe: but it is not &s;o with man: and that which <HI>Iob</HI> &s;pea|keth of him&s;elfe, is true of every man, <HI>When a few yeares are come,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iob</HI> 16.22.</NOTE> <HI>I &s;hall goe the way whence I &s;hall not returne.</HI> That this is the meaning of the ver&s;e, the Originall &s;heweth by the conclu&s;ion of it, where it is &s;ayd, <HI>Vadi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> ventus &amp; revertitur &s;uper circulos &s;uos,</HI> the winde goeth and returneth a|gaine upon his circles, <HI>Atque in &s;e &s;ua per ve&s;tigia volvitur,</HI> and is turned into it &s;elfe, by its owne &s;teps, as the Poet &s;peaketh: as if the Preacher did bid us to note, that although the winde goeth toward the South,
<PB N="12" REF="10"> and returneth unto the North, that though it turne never &s;o many wayes whirling continually, yet that the going of it hath his returnes in the circles of it: whereas the pa&s;&s;ing breath of mans life hath no returne. But though man being gone from his naturall life cannot returne, yet being gone from his &s;pirituall life, he may and &s;hould returne. In this it were good, if man were like the winde, and being gone to the South of &s;infull lu&s;ts and plea&s;ures, to the South of vaine and worldly content|ments, it were good that he would returne to the North of &s;orrow and repentance for his &s;innes, for his vanities; and having wandred here and there, and whirled about continually in the giddy mazes of ini|quitie, it were good that he would returne according to his circuits, and goe backe to God by the contrary cour&s;es of amendment. This is that which God calleth for &s;o earne&s;tly,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Cantic.</HI> 6.13.</NOTE> &s;aying, <HI>Returne, returne O Shu|lamite, returne, returne.</HI> Where the word <HI>returne</HI> being foure times re|peated, Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;ayth, that wee are called to returne from foure things,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bern. Par. Serm. <HI>58.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Prim&ograve; ab inepta laetitia, &s;ecund&ograve; ab inutili tri&s;titia, terti&ograve; ab inani glo|ria, quart&ograve; a latenti &s;uperbia,</HI> Fir&s;t, from a fooli&s;h mirth, &s;econdly, from an unprofitable &s;adne&s;&s;e, thirdly, from a vaine o&s;tentation, fourthly, from a hidden pride. For the&s;e being the vanities of the world, from the&s;e wee mu&s;t returne, to goe to God, to come to happine&s;&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 7. Here the vanitie of man is compared to <HI>the Rivers,</HI> which though they goe away likewi&s;e, yet it is but into <HI>the Sea:</HI> from whence as they come forth, &s;o thither their returne is, that from thence they may come forth againe. And therefore as one &s;peaketh, <HI>Dum mare &s;ine intermi&s;sione recipit quod effudit, &s;ine defectu effundit quod recipit, &amp; fit de|fectus &s;ine defectu,</HI> while the Sea without cea&s;ing receiveth that which it &s;endeth forth, it &s;endeth forth without cea&s;ing that which it receiveth, and &s;o the pa&s;&s;ing away of the Rivers is not a pa&s;&s;ing away. But the pa&s;|&s;ing away of men is into the bottomle&s;&s;e gulph of death, from whence is no i&s;&s;uing forth: that devoureth all, &s;endeth backe none, which &s;hew|eth the vanitie of men to be wor&s;e then of the Rivers. And that this is the meaning, appeareth from the words. For when it is &s;ayd, <HI>All the ri|vers run into the Sea, yet the Sea is not full,</HI> why is this added, but to &s;hew that the end why the Rivers goe into the Sea, is not to fill it, &s;eeing that is not filled, that is, is not filled the more by them. But what then is the end why the Rivers goe into the Sea? The Originall plainly &s;heweth, and as it is rightly tran&s;lated by the Septuagint, and by the Vulgar La|tine it cleerely appeareth. For &s;ay they, <HI>Ad locum unde exeunt flumina, revertuntur, ut iterum fluant,</HI> the Rivers returne to the place from whence they came, that they may flow againe. Wherefore in their flowing againe, they are not &s;o vaine as man, who in his flowing away hath no reflux allowed him. Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> in a morall &s;en&s;e applyeth this ver&s;e unto Preachers, who having &s;tudied and meditated of heaven|ly things, doe then &s;end them forth, for the watering of the Lords fields;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>30.</HI> c. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> and when they have done &s;o, doe then returne to &s;tudying and meditating againe. Becau&s;e unle&s;&s;e they doe this, <HI>Interna caecitas etiam
<PB N="13" REF="10"> externa praedicationis verba &s;iccabit,</HI> An inward ignorance, will dry up the outward words of their preaching. But by this meanes, <HI>Qua&s;i de|cur&s;ura foras flumina intus &s;emper oriuntur, quatenus illic amando &s;umunt, unde ad nos praedicando defluunt,</HI> the rivers which flow forth abroad, doe ari&s;e within continually, for as much as from them they take by a &s;tudi|ous love, tho&s;e things which by preaching flow forth to us. Or el&s;e in a morall &s;en&s;e, we may apply the ver&s;e another way.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cae&s;arius, Dialog. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> And as <HI>Cae&s;arius</HI> the brother of <HI>Nazianzene</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Pulchrum quo&abque; quod quum mare flu|minum &s;it mater, ip&s;um eadem rur&s;us &s;u&s;cipit; hinc quidem qua&s;i inlucem proferens, illinc vero recipiens qua&s;i ho&s;pites,</HI> This al&s;o is delightfull, that whereas the Sea is the mother of the rivers, it &s;elfe doth receive the &s;ame againe: now bringing them forth as it were into the light, then receaving them, as it were gue&s;ts unto her. So may we admire the Sea of Gods goodne&s;&s;e, who by his Holy Spirit having brought forth the children of grace, when by their holy obedience they doe returne unto him, doth entertaine them as welcome gue&s;ts with all re&s;pects of love. Now as all this ought to humble us; &s;o it mu&s;t &s;tirre us up to the &s;eek|ing of a better life, &s;eeing in this life &s;o many of the creatures doe ex|cell us.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="8" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>VER. 8.</HI></BIBL> All things are full of labour, man can|not utter it: the eye is not &s;atisfied with &s;eeing, nor the eare with hearing.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 8. The ver&s;e &s;aith, <HI>All things are full of labour,</HI> and it is not an ea&s;ie thing, it is not a little labour to find the meaning of the ver&s;e. How&s;oever the ancient expo&s;itours may have &s;atisfied them|&s;elves in the under&s;tanding of it, that which they &s;ay doth not &s;atisfie me. The Originall may be tran&s;lated, either <HI>Omnes res</HI> all things, and &s;o doe the &s;eptuagint and the vulgar latine read it, or el&s;e <HI>omnes &s;ermo|nes,</HI> all words, and &s;o doe <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> and Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> reade it. In that which followeth, the Originall &s;aith no more then this, <HI>Non pote&s;t homo eloqui,</HI> man cannot expre&s;&s;e. Our Engli&s;h applyeth it un|to labour, &s;aying, <HI>Man cannot utter it.</HI> The Ancients apply it ei|ther to the things, or to the words, &s;aying, Man cannot expre&s;&s;e them. As for the meaning of the Ver&s;e, the Ancients under&s;tood it of the knowledge of things, which it is laborious and difficult for man to get: and &s;eeing man doth not know what things are, much le&s;&s;e can hee expre&s;&s;e what they are. The eye is not &s;atisfied with &s;eeing, man cannot by his owne &s;tudy, find the knowledge of things: the eare is not filled with hearing, man cannot learne the knowledge of things by the hearing of others.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> Wherefore Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;aith that it is written <HI>Contra eos qui putant otio&s;is &s;ibi &amp; vota facientibus, venire noti|tiam &s;cripturarum,</HI> Who thinke that the knowledge of the Scriptures
<PB N="14" REF="11"> will come unto them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sancto Vict. Homil. <HI>1.</HI> in Eccle&s;ia&s;t.</NOTE> being idle and wi&s;hing for it only: <HI>Hugo de San|cto Victore</HI> under&s;tandeth the latter part of the ver&s;e thus, That although man doth not attaine to the knowledge of things, yet that which hee attaineth unto, doth give him that &s;weet delight, that hee &s;till &s;eeketh more, and that the eye is not &s;atisfied with &s;eeing, nor the eare filled with hearing. Wherefore hee &s;aith, <HI>Cor humanum toti mundo non &s;uf|ficit: &amp; totus mundus cordi humano non &s;ufficit,</HI> The heart of man is not &s;ufficient for the whole world, and the whole world is not &s;ufficient for the heart of man. The fir&s;t he &s;heweth, becau&s;e all things are hard to be under&s;tood, and man cannot expre&s;&s;e what they are: The &s;econd, becau&s;e the eye is not &s;atisfied, nor the eare filled with &s;eeing and hea|ring. <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> expounding the ver&s;e as being tran&s;lated, <HI>Omnes &s;ermones &s;unt laborio&s;i, All words are full of labour, man cannot utter them,</HI> tells us, that nothing is more ea&s;ie then to &s;peake, and therefore that we mu&s;t under&s;tand the Preacher of tho&s;e words, whereof the Apo&s;tle &s;peaking &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 5.17.</NOTE> That they are worthy of double honour who labour in the word. <HI>Sermones ergo &s;unt qui ver&egrave; &s;unt &s;ermones, qui fiunt ad ani|marum utilitatem.</HI> The words therefore (&s;aith he) are tho&s;e, which are truly words, and which are &s;poken to the profit of &s;oules. And &s;uch words (&s;aith he) are full of labour, becau&s;e they who teach them mu&s;t be carefull to follow them in their owne lives. But if a man cannot ex|pre&s;&s;e tho&s;e words, how can he utter that Aeternall word of God? The Father addeth truely,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ny&s;|&s;en. in Eccle|&s;ia&s;t. Hom. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Quaevis cert&egrave; quantumvis &s;ublimis oratio, &amp; vox quantumvis magna e&s;t ob&s;curitas quaedam &amp; &s;ilentium, &s;i ad veram ejus quod quaeritur judicetur &s;ignificationem,</HI> What&s;oever &s;peech it be, though never &s;o high, what&s;oever voice, though never &s;o great, it is but darke|ne&s;&s;e and &s;ilence, if compared with the true &s;ignification of that which is &s;ought. But to deliver mine apprehen&s;ion of the meaning of the ver&s;e: I conceive the Preacher to &s;ay, That all things de&s;ired by man are full of labour, full of wearine&s;&s;e in the &s;eeking of them, which is a mi&s;ery unto him: and that the mi&s;ery is made the greater, for as much as the de&s;ire of man is not full, not wearied in the &s;eeking of them. For as one well &s;peaketh, <HI>Magna e&s;t mi&s;eria &s;emper ad indigentiam accipere, &amp; nunquam indigenti&acirc; accipiendi po&s;&s;e carere,</HI> It is a great mi&s;ery, alwayes to receive for the &s;upplying of our want, and never to want the need of receiving. And yet this is the vaine condition of man in this world. So that as Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Bono mortis c. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Nullus finis laboris, nullus e&s;t fru|ctus abundantiae,</HI> there is no end of his labour, no fruit of his abundance to &s;atisfie his de&s;ire. Or el&s;e, I take the meaning of the Preacher thus: That all things being full of wearine&s;&s;e even when they are enjoyed, yet that man is not weary in the de&s;iring of them. And the things de&s;i|red or enjoyed by man belonging either to the body or to the &s;oule, the un&s;atisfied de&s;ire of things belonging to the body, is expre&s;&s;ed by <HI>the eye,</HI> of things belonging to the &s;oule is expre&s;&s;ed by <HI>the eare.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="9-11" TYPE="verse">
<PB N="15" REF="11">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 9.</HI></BIBL> The thing which hath beene, is that which &s;hall be, and that which is done, is that which &s;hall bee done, and there is no new thing under the Sunne.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 10.</HI></BIBL> Is there any thing whereof it may bee &s;aid, See this is new? It hath beene already of old time, which was be|fore us.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 11.</HI></BIBL> There is no remembrance of former things; neither &s;hall there be any re|membrance of things that are to come, with tho&s;e that &s;hall come after.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 9. Man, who&s;e fickle changeablene&s;&s;e cannot fa&s;ten upon the permanency of any thing, doth &s;eeke to &s;ettle his contentment in the newne&s;&s;e of things. But this al&s;o the Preacher declareth to be vaine, &s;hewing here that there is nothing new, neither that which &s;hall bee, nor that which is, becau&s;e <HI>that which &s;hall be, hath beene, that which is, &s;hall be.</HI> The kind of things is &s;till the &s;ame, the contentment which they yeeld is &s;till the &s;ame in the nature of it, the vanity of the things, and of the delight taken in them is &s;till the &s;ame, for <HI>there is nothing new under the Sunne.</HI> If we will have new things, we mu&s;t goe above the Sunne. There indeed are new things of another nature, things of eter|nity, things of true contentment, things in which there is no vanity. But that we may attaine to the&s;e, we mu&s;t be new creatures by amend|ment of our life: the old man mu&s;t be crucified in us, that we may be glorified in the&s;e new things. The Septuagint, Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> and the Vulgar Latin, doe read this ver&s;e by way of que&s;tion and an&s;wer, &s;ay|ing, <HI>Quid e&s;t quod fuit? Ip&s;um quod futurum e&s;t. Quid e&s;t quod factum e&s;t? Ip&s;um quod faciendum e&s;t,</HI> What is that which hath beene? The very &s;ame which &s;hall be. What is that which hath beene done? The very &s;ame which &s;hall bee done. And &s;urely in naturall things it is a thing mo&s;t evident, a certaine cour&s;e and con&s;tant order being &s;till ob|&s;erved in them. As for civill affaires, which are &s;wayed and caryed by the will of man, he that &s;hall duely marke them, even in the grea|te&s;t variety and incon&s;tancy thereof, &s;hall find a revolution, whereby they are turned about in one and the &s;ame circle. Wherefore hence it is that the knowledge of Hi&s;tories is accounted &s;o excellent, becau&s;e &s;etting things pa&s;t before our eyes, it &s;hewes us how to order the things
<PB N="16" REF="12"> that are pre&s;ent. So that they who are taken up with novelty and &s;tand &s;o much amazed at it, doe thereby but give the greater te&s;timony of their great ignorance in things that are pa&s;t, being indeed like children or rude Country people, by whom many things are received and ad|mired as new and &s;trange, which in the City and Court, are common, &s;tale, and of no regard. But &s;eeing there <HI>is nothing new,</HI> let this bridle our re&s;tle&s;&s;e de&s;ire in &s;eeking after new things, let us fa&s;ten our minds with this nayle, and make them contented with things that are pre&s;ent, lea&s;t skipping hither and thither, now after one thing, then another, we take away quietne&s;&s;e which is the only &s;olace of our life. <HI>Gregory Ny&s;|&s;ene</HI> having here a peculiar expo&s;ition of this pa&s;&s;age, let me have leave to &s;et it downe. He reading the ver&s;e by way of a que&s;tion, &s;uppo&s;eth that the Preacher having &s;hewed all things, that are, to be vaine, doth here aske the que&s;tion, What is to be conceived of tho&s;e things which have been? And that an&s;wering he telleth us, that as things &s;hall be, &s;o they were, that is, as they &s;hall be renued to a perfection in the re&s;ur|rection, &s;o they were made in perfection in the creation. And then we may take the following words to &s;ignifie: but that as yet <HI>there is nothing under the Sunne</HI> renued from the vanitie thereof. There mu&s;t be a new heaven,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ny&s;|&s;en. in Eccle|&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> and a new earth, when that &s;hall be. The &s;ame Father ob&s;er|ving the difference of phra&s;e that is u&s;ed, in, <HI>Hath been,</HI> and <HI>Hath been done,</HI> applyeth the one to the &s;oule, the other to the body. For (&s;ayth he) <HI>Fuit &s;eu orta e&s;t anima, &amp; corpus factum est,</HI> The &s;oule was or began to be; but the body was made. The &s;oule therefore which was with|out &s;inne, &s;hall be purged, and &s;hall be &s;o againe: the body as it was fir&s;t made, &s;o &s;hall it be made againe. <HI>Neque enim e&s;t aliquid aliud re&s;urrectio ni&s;i quae &s;it omnino in pri&s;tinum &s;tatum re&s;titutio,</HI> for (&s;ayth he) the re&s;ur|rection is nothing el&s;e but a re&s;titution into the former &s;tate and condi|tion.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 10. This ver&s;e is added, to expre&s;&s;e more fully, more force|ably the &s;en&s;e of the former: and becau&s;e worldly mindes imagine to them&s;elves, a newne&s;&s;e, a varietie of &s;ome things, wherewith their de|light is much taken; the Preacher therefore &s;ayth, what&s;oever any one may imagine to him&s;elfe, or others may admire; <HI>Is there any thing where|of it may be truely &s;ayd, See this is new?</HI> Or &s;eeing the Originall goes thus, <HI>E&s;tne verbum, quod dicat?</HI> Is there a word which may &s;ay? Wee may take it thus. Is there any new word to be invented, that may &s;et forth any new thing? The an&s;wer of the common &s;aying is, <HI>Nihil jam dictum, quod non &s;it dictum prius,</HI> there is nothing now &s;ayd, which was not &s;ayd before. And the an&s;wer of the Preacher is, that all things are &s;o farre from being new, that they are old, and have been already of old time. But becau&s;e the former ver&s;e may al&s;o have another meaning, that will give another &s;en&s;e unto this. When it is &s;ayd therefore, <HI>The thing which hath been, it is that which &s;hall be,</HI> wee may conceive the meaning to be, That as that which hath been, is not now, &s;o that which &s;hall be, is not yet, and &s;o both doe &s;hew their vanitie in their not being. When it is
<PB N="17" REF="12"> &s;ayd, <HI>That which is done, is that which &s;hall be done,</HI> we may take the &s;en&s;e to be, that al&s;o the thing which is, is much what the &s;ame with that which &s;hall be, becau&s;e it is &s;o little time untill that it &s;hall not be, and &s;o even no le&s;&s;e vaine. Wherefore an ancient writer &s;ayth, <HI>Quod e&s;t, dum e&s;t, pene nihil e&s;t,</HI> that which is, while it is, is almo&s;t nothing, &s;eeing the moments of the pre&s;ent time doe flie away &s;o fa&s;t. And when the Preacher addeth, <HI>Nihil e&s;t novum &s;ub &s;ole,</HI> Nothing is new under the Sunne, <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> expoundeth it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ny&s;|&s;en. in Eccle|&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> That which is new under the Sunne, is nothing indeed. Now if thus we take the meaning of the for|mer ver&s;e: then the force, which this ver&s;e addeth to it, is this, That &s;o vaine is the continuance of the thing, that is, that it doth not &s;tay, untill it can be &s;ayd, It is. And if it be asked, what it is? He that an&s;wereth mu&s;t tell, what it was, not what it is. And when it is added, <HI>It hath been already of old time, which was before:</HI> in a con&s;equent expo&s;ition, the mean|ing of that mu&s;t be, that nothing is truely &s;ayd to be but God onely, who hath been of old even from everla&s;ting, and before that wee ever were. For &s;eeing <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> expoundeth <HI>novum e&s;&s;e</HI> to be new, by <HI>revera &s;ub&s;i&s;tere,</HI> to be and to &s;ub&s;i&s;t indeed, and thereupon under&s;tand|eth nothing to be new, becau&s;e nothing in this world truely is; there|fore in like manner that which is &s;ayd to be of old, mu&s;t be under&s;tood of that which truely is, and that is God alone. But to apply this in a morall &s;en&s;e: it &s;erveth well to teach patience unto Gods &s;ervants, and if they be hated of the world, it is that which hath been alwayes in the world; if they &s;uffer reproach, &s;landers, per&s;ecution, it is that which &s;hall be done to Gods &s;ervants after them&s;elves be gone. <HI>The thing which hath been, it is that which &s;hall be; and that which is done, it is that which &s;hall be done.</HI> Neither let any &s;ay it is &s;trange, it is new that which I endure. For <HI>is there any thing of which it may be &s;ayd, &s;ee this is new?</HI> No,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ezek.</HI> 1.16.</NOTE> the &s;er|vants of God have of old endured the &s;ame, what&s;oever it be that is en|dured by any: and therefore let every one expect that to be done to him&s;elfe, which hath been done to them. In the vi&s;ion of the Prophet <HI>Ezechiel,</HI> wee reade of a wheele in the wheele,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Virg. l. <HI>3.</HI> circa finem.</NOTE> and this Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> expoundeth to be, <HI>Vitam intra vitam, quod Sanctorum vita &s;ibi non di&s;&s;o|net, &s;ed qualis fuerit &s;uperioris aetatis, talis &s;it &amp; &s;equentis,</HI> Life within life, becau&s;e the life of Gods Saints is not different the one from the other, but &s;uch as it was in the former ages, &s;uch it is in the ages that fol|low.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 11. It is &s;ome kinde of pre&s;ervation of things that are not, that they are not forgotten: and becau&s;e this might &s;eeme to mitigate the vanitie of worldly things, the Preacher &s;heweth that there is al&s;o <HI>no remembrance</HI> of things, neither <HI>of former things</HI> which goe before, that is, neither of things pa&s;t which are already gone, neither of things pre&s;ent when they &s;hall be gone al&s;o, neither &s;hall there be any remem|brance of things which &s;hall be, whether they &s;hall be &s;oone after,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. Homil. <HI>2.</HI> in Eccle&s;ia&s;t.</NOTE> or whether a long time after. So that as <HI>Hugo de Sancto Victore</HI> &s;peaketh; <HI>Non &s;olum prae&s;entia eorum interitu &s;ublata e&s;t, &s;ed memoria quo&abque; oblivione
<PB N="18" REF="13"> deleta e&s;t,</HI> not onely their pre&s;ence by peri&s;hing is taken away, but their memory al&s;o by oblivion is blotted out. Wherefore let this check the great minds of &s;ome, who thinke to doe &s;ome great thing by which they will be remembred, and let it make them to &s;eeke after righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Prov.</HI> 10.7.</NOTE> for it is the righteous, it is the memory of the righteous that is ble&s;&s;ed. Or el&s;e let me offer to con&s;ideration, this meaning of the Prea|cher: who to &s;hew the vanitie of worldly things, &s;ayth, that there is no remembrance <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>capitum &amp; primariorum,</HI> of tho&s;e who have been chiefe and highe&s;t in worldly e&s;teeme, of tho&s;e who by their famous deeds, their glorious works, have &s;triven to leave their memory behind them: <GAP DESC="foreign"> and much more that there is no remembrance of them, who have been inferiour in the worlds repute: and that they who &s;hall be, whether great ones or of meaner accompt, &s;hall not be remembred by them who follow after them. <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> taking here al&s;o the &s;ame way in expounding this ver&s;e, that he did in expounding the former, goes from the beginning to the end of the world, and conceiveth the Preachers meaning to be, That as now there is no memory of that hap|pine&s;&s;e wherein man was created; &s;o in the Re&s;urrection, there &s;hall be no remembrance of the mi&s;ery which man now &s;uffereth.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ny&s;|&s;en. in Eccle|&s;ia&s;t. Hom. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Quando enim ad vitium conver&s;a est natura, bonorum nobis &s;ubrep&s;it oblivio; quando autem ad bonum redierimus, rur&s;us malum oblivione tegetur;</HI> For when our na|ture turned unto &s;inne, then a forgetfulne&s;&s;e of good things came upon us; and when we &s;hall returne unto goodne&s;&s;e, then evils &s;hall be cove|red by forgetfulne&s;&s;e from us. The Chaldee doth here under&s;tand a my&s;tery, and &s;hewing the great happine&s;&s;e of the time of the Me&s;&s;iah, he &s;ayth;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chaldaeus Co&s;ti.</NOTE> <HI>Profecto praeteritarum nationum memoria non extat, ne&abque; earum quae po&s;t futurae &s;unt recordatio erit iis qui temporibus Regis Me&s;siae victuri &s;unt;</HI> Surely in re&s;pect of them who &s;hall live in the times of Me&s;&s;iah the King, the memory of pa&s;t Nations is not, the memory of them which &s;hall come after &s;hall not be: as if they onely were worthy not to be forgotten, and that time onely were worthy to be remembred. And indeed a mo&s;t happy time it was: but, if wee &s;o remember it, as to for|get our &s;innes.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="12-14" TYPE="verse">
<PB N="19" REF="13">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 12.</HI></BIBL> J the Preacher was King over I&s;rael in Jeru&s;alem.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 13.</HI></BIBL> And J gave my heart to &s;eeke and &s;earch out by wi&s;edome concerning all things that are done under heaven: this &s;ore travell hath God given to the &s;onnes of men to be exerci&s;ed therewith.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 14.</HI></BIBL> J have &s;eene all the workes that are done under the Sunne, and behold, all is va|nitie and vexation of &s;pirit.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 12. <HI>I the Preacher,</HI> that is, as an ancient writer &s;peaketh, <HI>Ego qui vos doceo, expertus &s;um univer&s;a, quae dico,</HI> I who teach you, have learnt in my &s;elfe all the&s;e things which I &s;ay unto you: and therefore as I &s;peake no more then I know, &s;o doe yee regard it the more becau&s;e I &s;peake it unto you. <HI>I was King.</HI> He had not yet put off his royall robes, he had not yet layd a&s;ide his crowne, and yet con&s;idering the vaine uncertaintie, and &s;peedy pa&s;&s;ing away of worldly greatne&s;&s;e, he rather affirmeth him&s;elfe to have been then to be.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hildebertus Epi&s;c. de contemptu rerum hu|manarum. Epi&s;t. <HI>56.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Hildebertus</HI> con&s;idering the &s;ame of all worldly things, &s;ayth of them; <HI>Haec aliena e&s;&s;e fuga ip&s;orum denuntiat. Bona vaga, bona pennata &s;unt haec omnia. Eorum e&s;t, nu&s;quam e&s;|&s;e diutius, eorum &s;tatus nemini &s;tatum praefigere certiorem,</HI> That the&s;e things doe not properly belong unto us, their flying away from us doth plainly declare. Gadding good things, winged good things are all the&s;e things. It is their propertie to be no where long, it is their condition to afford unto none a certaine condition. <HI>Hugo de Sancto Victore</HI> no|ting al&s;o that he &s;ayth, <HI>I was King,</HI> giveth it this touch; <HI>Fui inquit, qua|&s;i dicat, jam non &s;um, quia et&s;i &s;um, id ip&s;um jam nihil e&s;&s;e agno&s;co quod &s;um;</HI> He &s;ayth, I was, as if he had &s;ayd, I am not now; becau&s;e although I am, yet I know that to be nothing which now I am. Or el&s;e if we con|ceive this booke to have been written by <HI>Solomon</HI> after his repentance, wee may conceive him to &s;ay, <HI>I was King,</HI> as one that was come downe from his throne of glory, and lying on the ground, lamenting and be|wailing his former iniquities and vanities. But one &s;ayth very well; <HI>Vtinam tam certum de poenitentia illius, quam non dubium de culpa te&s;timoni|um haberemus,</HI> I would to God that the proofe of his repentance were as certaine, as that of his fault is undoubted. Or la&s;tly, in that he &s;ayth, <HI>I was,</HI> wee may note him to have been King a long time when that he wrote this Booke, and &s;o to have written it in his old age. <HI>King over I&s;|rael in Ieru&s;alem:</HI> and being &s;o, he wanted neither wealth nor power
<PB N="20" REF="14"> to get knowledge, both the more fully and the more ea&s;ily. Which therefore &s;hameth tho&s;e which being great and rich, yet are illiterate and idiots in knowledge. And &s;urely it is a great damage both to Church and State, that they are the poorer &s;ort onely who &s;eeke after knowledge, and who being de&s;titute of meanes, cannot make &s;o happy progre&s;&s;e in it. But the&s;e al&s;o are too often worthy of blame. For when by &s;ome degree of knowledge they have attained greatne&s;&s;e and wealth, and &s;o are made fit to &s;eeke more, then doe they lay a&s;ide their &s;eeking, as refu&s;ing to fight when they are well armed, and then one|ly being forward to the battell, when they are naked and without wea|pons. A Greeke Father applyeth the ver&s;e to <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> telling us, that as he is called the Phy&s;itian, the life, the re&s;urrection, the light, the way, the dore, the truth, &s;o here the Preacher, <HI>Omnia nomina humanitatis &amp; bene|volentiae in homines,</HI> all being names of his love and good will towards men. Wherefore he addeth, <HI>Nos alloquitur Eccle&s;ia&s;tes: audiam us ejus verba, qui &s;umus eccle&s;ia,</HI> The head of the Church &s;peaketh unto us: let us heare him, who are the Church.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 13. Behold here the royall Student, not given to his plea|&s;ures, but given to his Booke: and &s;ee the matter, the method, the man|ner, the diligence of his &s;tudying. The matter is <HI>all things that are done under heaven,</HI> as the Ethicks of the manners of men, the civill hi&s;tories of the deeds of men, the naturall hi&s;tory of the works of God. Or el&s;e to take the matter more largely, <HI>by all things under heaven,</HI> wee may un|der&s;tand all things under God,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Daniel</HI> 4.26.</NOTE> it being the phra&s;e of Scripture, &s;ome|times by the heavens the throne of God, to under&s;tand God him&s;elfe who &s;itteth on the throne: &s;o high his &s;tudy caryed him, but there it &s;tood amazed. The method of his &s;tudy we have, in that it is &s;ayd, <HI>by wi&s;edome,</HI> for that is the onely right method of well &s;eeking any thing. And therefore an ancient Writer maketh him to &s;ay, <HI>Si &s;ine &s;apientia quaererem, etiam&s;i &s;apientiam quaererem, in&s;ipienter quaererem,</HI> If I &s;ought without wi&s;edome, although I &s;ought wi&s;edome, I &s;hould unwi&s;ely &s;eeke. Method is the wi&s;e part of &s;tudy, but an unwi&s;e method, is a me|thodicall folly. The manner of his &s;tudying wee have in that <HI>he &s;ought and &s;earched. Quaerebat ignota, inve&s;tigabat profunda,</HI> he &s;ought things unknowne, he &s;earched deepe things, &s;ayth <HI>Hugo de Sancto Victore.</HI> Or el&s;e we may under&s;tand his &s;eeking, of &s;eeking the helpe, coun&s;ell, di|rection of others, for that the Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ignifieth, from whence is derived <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>commentarius</HI> a commentary. His &s;earching wee may under&s;tand to be his owne meditation. For both mu&s;t goe together to make a good Student: &s;eeking to &s;ee what others have found, &s;earching to try what him&s;elfe can finde. The diligence of his &s;tudying we have in that he gave his heart unto it; he went about it, not onely with a willingne&s;&s;e, but with a love, which lockt him up, and held him hard unto it. Againe, his diligence is &s;hewed, in that he did not &s;eeke and &s;earch all things, but <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>&s;uper omne</HI> concerning all things, as what the cau&s;es, the rea&s;ons, the u&s;es, the effects of them were
<PB N="21" REF="14"> as well as their natures. In the latter part of the ver&s;e, where we reade <HI>&s;ore travell,</HI> the Originall is <GAP DESC="foreign"> which the Septuagint and as S. <HI>Hie|rome</HI> tels us, <HI>Aquila</HI> and <HI>Theodotio</HI> tran&s;lated <GAP DESC="foreign">, that is, <HI>di&s;tentio &s;ive occupatio,</HI> a bu&s;ie occupying or di&s;tending of the minde with care. <HI>Symmachus</HI> as S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> al&s;o &s;heweth, did tran&s;late the word <GAP DESC="foreign">, a re&s;tle&s;&s;e troubling of the minde. The Hebrew word <GAP DESC="foreign"> properly &s;ignifieth evill, but as the Greeke <GAP DESC="foreign"> evill is taken <GAP DESC="foreign"> from labour, &s;o in Hebrew the word &s;ignifying <HI>evill,</HI> &s;ignifieth al&s;o the hardne&s;&s;e and &s;orene&s;&s;e of labour. The re&s;t of the ver&s;e I finde Inter|preters generally to render as our Engli&s;h hath it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>This &s;ore travaile hath God given to the &s;onnes of men, to be exerci&s;ed or afflicted therewith.</HI> And therefore S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> taking this &s;tudy of <HI>Solomon</HI> in an ill &s;en&s;e, as wind|ing up the &s;pring of his minde too high; in which re&s;pect,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sancto Vi|ctore in Ec|cle&s;ia&s;t. Ho|mil. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> <HI>H. de S. Vict.</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Magna &s;uperbia mortalem homine~ de tam multis prae&s;umere, &amp; rur&s;um magna curio&s;itas tam multa appetere,</HI> it was a great pride for a mortall man to pre&s;ume of &s;o many things, and a great curio&s;itie to &s;eeke &s;o many things. Saint <HI>Hierome,</HI> I &s;ay, accordingly under&s;tandeth the&s;e words, that God is &s;ayd to give <HI>this &s;ore travaile</HI> unto men, as a puni&s;hment of their curious and ambitious minde. But to adde to <HI>Solomons</HI> hard &s;tu|dy, this hard cen&s;ure, I doe not &s;ee any rea&s;on, &s;eeing it is &s;ayd, that he &s;ought by wi&s;edome. And if I may deliver mine apprehen&s;ion, I &s;hould tran&s;late the latter part of the ver&s;e thus. This &s;ore travaile hath God appointed unto man <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>ad re&s;pondendum in eo,</HI> or <HI>ad exorandum in eo,</HI> to an&s;wer thereto with his ble&s;&s;ing upon it, or to be intreated there|in for giving &s;ucce&s;&s;e unto it, for &s;o the Originall may well enough be rendred. For it is a diligent and painfull labour and &s;tudy, on which God be&s;toweth knowledge and the finding out of things. And yet he &s;tileth them the <HI>&s;onnes of men,</HI> that what&s;oever their knowledge may be, they might not be proud of it, but con&s;idering them&s;elves to be &s;ubject to infirmities, mi&s;ery, and death, might u&s;e their knowledge to gaine happine&s;&s;e and glory. And &s;urely this glory will be the greater unto them, who &s;tudying the knowledge of the creatures, and tho&s;e many miracles which are &s;hewed in them, doe thereby &s;et forth the glory of the Creatour. For there is nothing which though it have not words, yet hath not as it were a mouth to &s;peake his prai&s;e that made it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ny&s;&s;. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Hom. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> going on in his my&s;ticall &s;en&s;e telleth us, that here is &s;et downe the cau&s;e why <HI>Christ</HI> came in the fle&s;h, and conver&s;ed with men, <HI>Nempe ut dare<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> cor &s;uum ad con&s;iderandum in &s;apientia, de omnibus quae facta &s;unt &s;ub &s;ole,</HI> Namely, that he might give his heart to con&s;ider in his wi&s;edome of all things that are done <HI>under the Sunne;</HI> for the things above the Sun had no need of a Phy&s;itian: but under the Sunne he con&s;idered, how vanitie entred into the world, how it encrea&s;ed, how it prevailed, what the confu&s;ion of all things was.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 14. There is one word of the Originall in this ver&s;e not ea&s;ily tran|&s;lated, and that is <GAP DESC="foreign"> which the Septuagint tran&s;lated <GAP DESC="foreign">, &amp; which anciently was rendred in Latin <HI>prae&s;umptio</HI> pre&s;umption of &s;pirit; and
<PB N="22" REF="15"> S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> reading it &s;o, thereupon tels us that the things of this world, <HI>Elationis &amp; &s;uperbiae plena &s;unt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. de Serm. Dom. in Monte. Homil. <HI>1.</HI> Gregor. Neo|cae&s;ar.</NOTE> are full of pride and loftine&s;&s;e of &s;pirit. And to the &s;ame purpo&s;e <HI>Gregory Neocae&s;arien&s;is</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Spiritu prodigio&s;o &amp; execrando omnia haec inferiora plena &s;unt,</HI> All the&s;e inferiour things are full of a prodigious and execrable &s;pirit. A Greeke Father under&s;tan|ding the Greeke word <GAP DESC="foreign"> according to the proper &s;ignification of it, for the free election of mans will, conceiveth the Preacher to &s;hew here what is the cau&s;e of the vanitie of things, namely, the free will of mans &s;pirit. S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us, that his Hebrew Ma&s;ter taught him to take it <HI>pro afflictione &s;piritus,</HI> for the affliction of the &s;pirit. And to this effect mo&s;t Interpreters doe render it. For the radicall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ignifying <HI>pa&s;cere &amp; depa&s;cere,</HI> to feed, and to con&s;ume, they take the meaning of the derivative word here u&s;ed according to the latter &s;igni|fication. And therefore the French to expre&s;&s;e the force of the word renders it <HI>rougement,</HI> a gnawing and knipping of the &s;pirit. But as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Aquila</HI> did render it <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>Symmachus</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, that is, <HI>pa|&s;tio</HI> nouri&s;hment or feeding. And this being the mo&s;t proper &s;ignifica|tion of the radicall word, doth al&s;o exceeding well agree unto the place. For if we take <HI>the &s;pirit</HI> for the winde, and &s;o render it, how ex|cellently is the vanitie of worldly things expre&s;&s;ed, by faying that it is a feeding on the winde, and nouri&s;heth alike? In which re&s;pect, <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;ayth of them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernardus.</NOTE> <HI>Non e&s;urientes animas, &s;ed e&s;uriem ip&s;am pa&s;cunt animarum,</HI> They doe not feed our hungry &s;oules, but rather the hunger of our &s;oules. And here we may note the difference of the phra&s;e u&s;ed in this ver&s;e, from that in the former. For there &s;peaking of his &s;tudy, he &s;peaketh of all things <HI>under the heavens,</HI> under God: but here &s;peaking of the vanitie of things, he &s;peaketh of all things <HI>under the Sunne.</HI> Now if we doe referre <HI>the vexation of &s;pirit</HI> to his &s;tudy mentioned in the for|mer ver&s;e, and under&s;tand the &s;tudy to be a curious and pre&s;umptuous &s;tudy, then it is a great mercy that God is &s;ayd to give <HI>this &s;ore travaile, this vexation of &s;pirit unto the &s;onnes of men.</HI> For if this &s;tudy were not painfull and evill, who would &s;ee the evill of it? But now the affliction of it doth make it to be hatefull,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Et facilius quod praemittit, vanum e&s;&s;e agno&s;citur, dum id quod infert durum e&s;&s;e &s;entitur,</HI> And that which it pro|mi&s;eth is the more ea&s;ily acknowledged to be vaine, by how much that which it bringeth is found to be grievous, as <HI>Hugo</HI> &s;peaketh. Or el&s;e if we under&s;tand the &s;tudy to be a diligent and commendable &s;earch|ing for knowledge: then wee have here the ble&s;&s;ing of God upon it, bringing the Preacher &s;o to &s;ee all the workes done under the Sunne, as to &s;ee them <HI>all to be vanitie and vexation of &s;pirit;</HI> and &s;o to &s;hew them unto the &s;ight of others. Now they are &s;ayd to be vaine, <HI>Quia po&s;siden|tes non adjuvant,</HI> becau&s;e they doe not helpe the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ours of them; and are &s;ayd to be vexation of &s;pirit, <HI>Quia quaerentes affligunt,</HI> becau&s;e they afflict them that doe &s;eeke after thm,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ibid.</NOTE> as <HI>Hugo</HI> al&s;o &s;peaketh. Or el&s;e <HI>the vanitie and vexation of &s;pirit,</HI> may be referred unto his <HI>&s;eeing</HI> and <HI>knowing;</HI> the knowledge of man being &s;uch as is full of vanitie and un|quietne&s;&s;e,
<PB N="23" REF="15"> unquiet in the getting, unquiet being gotten, lea&s;t forget|fulne&s;&s;e &s;hould loo&s;e it againe, and vaine where it is greate&s;t, becau&s;e it is farre from the perfect di&s;covery of any thing. For this world and the things in it, are a booke of that largene&s;&s;e and greatne&s;&s;e, that none is able to reade it over.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="15" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>VER. 15.</HI></BIBL> That which is crooked, cannot be made &s;traight: and that which is wanting, cannot be numbred.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 15. The Septuagint, and according to them the Vulgar La|tin, reading this ver&s;e in a more morall &s;en&s;e, doe &s;et it downe thus; <HI>Perver&s;i difficil&egrave; corriguntur, &amp; &s;tultorum infinitus e&s;t numerus,</HI> The per|ver&s;e are hardly corrected, and of fooles the number is infinite. Now they are properly &s;ayd to be perver&s;e, who have been right, and how hardly they are amended, S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;heweth, &s;aying,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. E|pi&s;t. <HI>137.</HI> ad plebem Hip|ponen&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Quomodo difficil&egrave; expertus &s;um meliores, quam qui mona&s;teriis profecerunt, ita non &s;um exper|tus pejores quam qui in mona&s;teriis ceciderunt,</HI> As I have hardly found a|ny better then they who have profited in mona&s;teries; &s;o I have found none to be wor&s;e, then they who have fallen in mona&s;teries. For &s;uch are hardly amended. But as for fooles, as for tho&s;e who were never good, the number of them is infinite. It is a &s;mall matter,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cajetanus.</NOTE> which <HI>Caje|tane</HI> lamenteth, as &s;tanding amazed at the mi&s;erable condition of man|kinde, becau&s;e of ten Virgins, the one halfe even five were fooli&s;h: it is rather to be wondred at, that all are not fooli&s;h, &s;eeing &s;o many are. For as <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Non tam bene cum rebus humanis agitur,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca de vi|ta beata. c. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> <HI>ut meliora plu|ribus placeant: argumentum pe&s;&s;imi, turba e&s;t,</HI> It is not well with humane things, that the be&s;t things doe plea&s;e the mo&s;t, a multitude is an argu|ment of that which is wor&s;t. But to con&s;ider the words, as in them&s;elves they offer them&s;elves. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> and <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> doe reade the fir&s;t part of the ver&s;e thus, <HI>Perver&s;um non pote&s;t adornari,</HI> that which is perver&s;e cannot be adorned; and thereupon S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Qui per|ver&s;us ni&s;i ante corrigatur, non pote&s;t adornari. Recta ornatum reciptunt, &amp; curva correctionem,</HI> He that is perver&s;e, unle&s;&s;e he be fir&s;t corrected, cannot be adorned. Right things doe receive adorning, and crooked things correction. Our Engli&s;h &s;ayth, <HI>that which is crooked cannot be made &s;traight:</HI> or el&s;e it may be read thus; that which is out of order cannot be ordered, <HI>and that which is wanting cannot be numbred.</HI> And for the meaning of it, the Preacher having &s;ayd, that all things that are done <HI>are vanitie and vexation of &s;pirit,</HI> here he &s;heweth the vanitie of them, in that they are <HI>crooked,</HI> perver&s;e, and out of order: the vexation of &s;pirit that they bring, in that their crookedne&s;&s;e cannot be corrected. <HI>The vanitie</HI> he &s;heweth in the defects of them; <HI>the vexation of &s;pirit</HI> that they bring, in that their defects cannot be &s;upplyed. For not to be num|bred, is, not to be, becau&s;e of nothing there is no number, and there|fore
<PB N="24" REF="16"> that which cannot be numbred, cannot be made to be. <HI>Tremellius</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremellius.</NOTE> therefore reads it well, <HI>Non po&s;&s;e in numerum venire,</HI> that it cannot come into number, it cannot come into being, it cannot be &s;upplyed. Or el&s;e we may take the meaning to be, that the vanitie of things that are done under the Sunne is thus aggravated. Fir&s;t, that they <HI>are crooked</HI> and out of order, and &s;o crooked, &s;o out of order that they cannot be recti|fied <HI>and made &s;traight.</HI> Secondly, that they are full of defects, and that the defects are &s;o great, as not having &s;o much entitie or being in them, as that they can <HI>be numbred:</HI> for the lea&s;t thing that is admitteth nume|ration. Or el&s;e, that they are full of defects, and &s;o full, that they are infinite and <HI>cannot be numbred.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="16-18" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 16.</HI></BIBL> J communed with mine owne heart, &s;ay|ing, Loe J am come to great e&s;tate, and have gotten more wi&s;edome then all they that have been before me in Jeru&s;alem: yea, my heart had great experience of wi&s;edome and knowledge.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 17.</HI></BIBL> And I gave my heart to know wi&s;edome, and to know madne&s;&s;e and folly: I per|ceived that this al&s;o is vexation of &s;pirit.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 18.</HI></BIBL> For in much wi&s;edome is much griefe, and he that increa&s;eth knowledge increa|&s;eth &s;orrow.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 16. <HI>Hugo de Sancto Victore,</HI> who &s;till taketh <HI>Solomon</HI> in the wor&s;t &s;en&s;e, &s;uppo&s;eth him to &s;peake this of his former pride of life. And thereupon when the Preacher &s;ayth, <HI>In corde dixi,</HI> I &s;ayd in mine heart, he addeth, <HI>In corde dixi, de corde enim tumui,</HI> I &s;ayd in mine heart, for I &s;welled in mine heart. And then &s;hewing how a proud heart doth &s;till &s;well bigger, he noteth, that he, <HI>Qui primum de &s;e plus quam debuit, &s;en&s;it; deinde u&s;que ad aliorum contemptum venit,</HI> who fir&s;t thought of him&s;elfe more than he ought, next proceeded even to a contempt of others, &s;aying, <HI>that he had gotten more wi&s;edome, then all that were before him in Ieru&s;alem:</HI> So that he made him&s;elfe <HI>praecedentibus &s;ummum, &s;ub&s;equentibus primum,</HI> the highe&s;t to them that went before him, the fir&s;t to them that followed after him. But not to thinke &s;o ill of what <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;pake: if we looke with a milder eye upon him, wee may behold his humilitie here. For fir&s;t he did &s;peake <HI>in his owne heart</HI> of his great e&s;tate, he did not with great words &s;et it out to others.
<PB N="25" REF="16"> His heart &s;ayd it, that his heart might give thankes to God, who had made him &s;o great. Secondly, whereas God had &s;ayd of him that he &s;hould be wi&s;er then any that were before him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>King.</HI> 3.12.</NOTE> or any that &s;hould be af|ter him, he &s;peaketh onely of tho&s;e <HI>that were in Ieru&s;alem before him;</HI> &s;o that he doth not preferre him&s;elfe before <HI>Abraham,</HI> and <HI>Moy&s;es,</HI> and others that were not in <HI>Ieru&s;alem.</HI> Yea, whereas the Originall is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>ad facies meas,</HI> before me in <HI>Ieru&s;alem,</HI> as pre&s;ent there with me, I &s;up|po&s;e that he may be under&s;tood, onely to preferre him&s;elfe before them, which either him&s;elfe had &s;ent for to commune with; or which had come of them&s;elves to try him and his wi&s;edome; as the Queene of <HI>Sheba</HI> did. But to con&s;ider the meaning of the ver&s;e, as it &s;tandeth in the Chapter. Either we may take it thus, that <HI>Solomon</HI> from the vanitie of other things reflecting upon him&s;elfe, and &s;aying in his own heart, What &s;hall I &s;ay of my &s;elfe? <HI>I am become great,</HI> though other things be &s;mall and vaine; and though the wi&s;edome of others before me were vaine, <HI>I have gotten more wi&s;edome then all that were before me:</HI> yea, not onely is it more then others have gotten, but much al&s;o in it &s;elfe, much wi&s;edome, much knowledge. <HI>My heart hath &s;eene much,</HI> &s;ayth the Originall, and S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;ayth upon it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> that the eye of his heart had &s;eene more, then his tongue was able to utter. Or el&s;e wee may take the meaning thus: that <HI>Solomon</HI> being a&s;hamed in him&s;elfe of the vanitie which he &s;aw in worldly things, He communed with his owne heart, &s;aying, <HI>I am come to great e&s;tate,</HI> I am a great King, I have meanes to doe things in a better manner, &s;hall tho&s;e things which are done by me be vaine al&s;o? And that thereupon he &s;ayth, <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>adjeci</HI> I added, as S^t. <HI>Ierome</HI> and <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> doe reade it, I added to my great e&s;tate, great wi&s;edome by &s;tudy and paines, even greater then all they that have been before me in <HI>Ieru&s;alem:</HI> yea my heart looked into the depth of wi&s;edome, and knowledge. Where <HI>Clemens Alexandrinus</HI> noteth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Clemens A|lexand. Stro|matum <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> that fir&s;t it is &s;ayd wi&s;edome, then knowledge, <HI>Quoniam in multitudine &s;apientiae e&s;t multitudo cognitionis,</HI> becau&s;e in the greatne&s;&s;e of wi&s;edome, is the greatne&s;&s;e of knowledge. Or el&s;e as <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ny&s;|&s;en. in Eccle|&s;ia&s;t. Hom. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Quia ex &s;apientia con&s;tat cognitio,</HI> becau&s;e knowledge con&s;i&s;teth of wi&s;e|dome, the knowledge of humane things con&s;i&s;teth of the under&s;tanding of things divine.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 17. In this ver&s;e <HI>Hugo</HI> &s;uppo&s;eth <HI>Solomon</HI> to &s;et forth al&s;o his own former vanity. And therfore when he &s;aith, <HI>I gave mine heart to know,</HI> he noteth him, to &s;hew the pride of his heart, as if for him to know wi&s;e|dom, it were enough but to give his mind to know it. And when he &s;aith, that he &s;ought to know madne&s;&s;e and folly, he expoundeth it. <HI>Nequaqua ad hoc mala cogno&s;cere voluit, ut cognita vitaret,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;ed ut &s;e de malorum cogniti|one extolleret, &amp; alios de opere damnaret,</HI> that his will to know tho&s;e evils was not at all, that he might &s;hunne them being knowne, but that he might boa&s;t him&s;elfe of the knowledge of the evils, and might con|demne others for the doing of them. And la&s;tly, when he &s;aith, <HI>I per|ceived that this al&s;o is vexation of &s;pirit:</HI> he apprehendeth the affliction
<PB N="26" REF="17"> of labour to have quelled the pride of his &s;pirit, as before it did the cu|rio&s;ity of his &s;pirit: and that his vexation was, becau&s;e his knowledge, <HI>Iniquum per con&s;cientiam arguebat, quam elatus ad o&s;tentationem quaerebat,</HI> did prove him in his con&s;cience to bee wicked, &s;eeing in his pride hee &s;ought it for o&s;tentation. But to con&s;ider <HI>Solomon</HI> in a better minde. This ver&s;e &s;heweth, that having gotten more wi&s;edome then others be|fore him, yet he did not cea&s;e to get &s;till more, but <HI>giving his heart to it,</HI> he &s;till laboured to know wi&s;dome. And that he might the better know it, he laboured not only to know it in it &s;elfe, but to know it al&s;o by comparing it with <HI>madne&s;&s;e and folly,</HI> that the foulne&s;&s;e of the one might &s;et out the beauty and clearene&s;&s;e of the other. And fir&s;t hee &s;ought to know wi&s;dome, that knowing madne&s;&s;e and folly, he might as well hate them, as know them. The Originall word is plurall, and &s;peak|eth of <HI>madne&s;&s;es,</HI> as &s;hewing the many kinds which are of <HI>madne&s;&s;e.</HI> And becau&s;e <HI>madne&s;&s;e</HI> commonly is joyned with a conceit of wi&s;dome, he ad|deth <HI>folly</HI> to expre&s;&s;e it truly. But what&s;oever he was in greatne&s;&s;e, or how great &s;oever the wi&s;edome was which he had gotten, or how great paines &s;oever he tooke to get wi&s;dome, in conclu&s;ion, <HI>it was vexation of &s;pirit</HI> to him, to know, that him&s;elfe al&s;o was vanity, that his wi&s;dome was no better, and that he could not by all his wi&s;edome redre&s;&s;e the vanity of tho&s;e things which he did. In conclu&s;ion, by his wi&s;edome and knowledge he perceaved and came to know, that even <HI>this was vexa|tion of &s;pirit.</HI> The Originall word is <GAP DESC="foreign"> and by Pagnine according to the Chaldee &s;ignification of the word is tran&s;lated <HI>cogitatio &s;piritus,</HI> a thought of the &s;pirit: which well agreeth to the place. For <HI>Solomon</HI> having communed in his heart, and thought with him&s;elfe of this and that, he knew it at la&s;t to be but a vaine thought of his heart: having brought him&s;elfe to this perfection of knowledge, as to know him&s;elfe and his wi&s;dome to be as the vanity of a thought.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard in Serm. de <HI>7.</HI> donis Spir. Sanct.</NOTE> For as St. <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Vere &s;cientia e&s;t, &s;cire nos mortales &amp; fragiles, &amp; in hac peregri|natione dolendum &amp; lugendum e&s;&s;e,</HI> It is truly knowledge to know that we are mortall and fraile, and that in this pilgrimage it is &s;orrow and griefe and vexation of &s;pirit that is our portion.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 18. The Preacher from his own particular experience delivereth a generall rule, that wi&s;dome and griefe are made up in the &s;ame heape, that knowledge and &s;orrow doe grow upon the &s;ame &s;talke.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aristotle Ethic. <HI>10.</HI> cap. <HI>7.</HI> Aug. &s;olil. l. <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>12.</HI></NOTE> But how then doth the Philo&s;opher &s;ay, <HI>Quod maxima delectatio e&s;t, quae est &s;e|cundum operationem intelligentiae,</HI> That the greate&s;t delight is that which is according to the operation of wi&s;dome? How then doth St. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;ay, <HI>Videbatur mihi &s;i &s;e ille mentibus no&s;tris veritatis fulgor aperiret, aut non me &s;en&s;urum fui&s;&s;e illum dolorem, aut certe pro nihilo toleraturum,</HI> It &s;eemed to me, that if that light of truth would open it &s;elfe to our mindes, either I &s;hould not feele this paine, or el&s;e endure it as a thing of nothing?<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aquin.</HI> 1. 2<HI>ae. Quae&s;t.</HI> 38. <HI>An&s;.</HI> 4.</NOTE> The an&s;wer which <HI>Aquinas</HI> giveth is this, <HI>Quod ex parte rerum cognitarum &s;cientia dolorem cau&s;at, ex parte autem contemplationis veritatis delectationem,</HI> that in re&s;pect of the contemplation of truth
<PB N="27" REF="17"> knowledge cau&s;eth delight, but in re&s;pect of the things knowne, that it cau&s;eth &s;orrow. Now if they bee good things which are knowne, then the &s;orrow is from the great labour, which a man mu&s;t take to at|taine the knowledge of them; and from the little perfection of know|ledge to which his great paines hath brought him. If they bee evill things which are knowne, then his &s;orrow is, that he is &s;ubject to them. Thus Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> under&s;tandeth the latter part of the ver&s;e, &s;aying,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de &s;piritu &amp; Anima.</NOTE> <HI>Qui apponit &s;cientiam; apponit dolorem; quia quanto magis homo &s;ua mala intelligit, tanto amplius &s;u&s;pirat &amp; gemit,</HI> He that addeth knowledge, addeth griefe; becau&s;e by how much the more a man knoweth his evils, by &s;o much the more hee lamenteth and &s;orrow|eth. And to the &s;ame purpo&s;e Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> expoundeth it, &s;ay|ing, <HI>Qui apponit &s;cientiam, apponit dolorem;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Mo|ral. l. <HI>18.</HI> cap. <HI>24.</HI></NOTE> <HI>quia quanto plus homo coepit &s;cire quod perdidit, tanto plus lugere incipit corruptionis &s;uae &s;ententiam, quam invenit,</HI> He that increa&s;eth knowledge, increa&s;eth &s;orrow, becau&s;e by how much the more a man beginneth to know that which he hath lo&s;t, by &s;o much the more he beginneth to lament the &s;entence of his cor|ruption which he hath found. But as for the former part of the ver&s;e, that which our tran&s;lation readeth griefe, in the originall is <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifieth <HI>indignation,</HI> according as by the Septuagint it is tran&s;lated, and as the vulgar Latine readeth it. Now as it is &s;o read, the &s;en&s;e of it is well given by Saint <HI>Hierome, Quanto magis quis &s;apientiam fuerit con&s;e|cutus, tanto plus indignatur &s;ubjacere vitiis,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; procul e&s;&s;e a virtutibus quas requirit;</HI> By how much the more any one hath obtained wi&s;edome, by &s;o much the greater is his indignation, that he is &s;ubject to vices, and is &s;o farre from vertues which he &s;eeketh after. And this is that indigna|tion which,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 7.11.</NOTE> that the &s;orrow of repentance had cau&s;ed in the Corinthi|ans, was Saint <HI>Pauls</HI> joy. And therefore <HI>Salonius</HI> al&s;o &s;aith, <HI>Quanto qui&s;|que plus proficit in &s;apientia, tanto magis &s;ibi ira&s;citur de malis operibus quae ge&s;sit,</HI> By how much the more any one profiteth in wi&s;dome,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Salonius.</NOTE> by &s;o much the more is he angry with him&s;elfe for the evill workes which he hath done. But the indignation which is here &s;poken of, the <HI>Chaldee Para|phra&s;t</HI> under&s;tandeth not to be the indignation of man,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chald. Pa|raph.</NOTE> but the indigna|tion of God, and therefore expoundeth it, <HI>Vir qui multiplicat &s;cientiam, quando peccat &amp; non convertitur ad &s;apientiam, multiplicat indignationem &agrave; Domino,</HI> The man who multiplieth wi&s;dome, when he &s;inneth, and is not turned unto wi&s;dome, multiplieth indignation from the Lord Him|&s;elfe.</P>
<P>Now again&s;t this which <HI>Solomon</HI> here teacheth, perhaps it will be objected, that &s;ome there are, who &s;pend their whole time, and even grow old in the &s;tudy of Philo&s;ophy, Hi&s;tory and other le&s;&s;e u&s;efull matters, and therefore that they &s;eeme to find great delight in it, &s;eeing they cannot be drawne from it. But the rea&s;on of this is, not that they have attained to more than <HI>Solomon</HI> did, but that with <HI>Solomon</HI> they doe not take an account of their &s;tudy, to &s;ee what the true benefit of their paines and &s;tudy is, whereby they would &s;oone perceive the &s;mall com|fort
<PB N="28" REF="18"> and great trouble of it. Wherefore though there be not <GAP DESC="foreign">, &s;uch as over&s;ee our &s;tudies, and call us to a reckoning for them; yet it were very good that we would reckon with our &s;elves, to &s;ee how we imploy our time and abilities, that our care therein may make the trou|ble and &s;orrow of our paines the le&s;&s;e, by the greater good wee reape.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAPTER. II.</HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1-2" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 1.</HI></BIBL> J &s;ayd in my heart, Goe to now, I will proove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy plea&s;ure: and behold this al&s;o is vanitie.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 2.</HI></BIBL> I &s;ayd of laughter, it is mad: and of mirth, What doth it?</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 1. _THe &s;peech of the Preacher is not like the &s;peech of many, who have not that in their power, which is plea&s;ing to their heart;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ny&s;. Hom. <HI>2.</HI> in Eccle&s;ia&s;t.</NOTE> <HI>Adeo ut propterea fide &s;it indignus, ut qui illa accu&s;et, quae non e&s;t expertus,</HI> &s;o that he might be un|worthy of credit, as one condemning tho&s;e things whereof him&s;elfe had no experience. For he being the glorious King of <HI>I&s;rael, Non operam ponebat in iis quae non habebat acquirendis, &s;ed ut frueretur in quibus abun|dabat,</HI> he did not place his labour in getting tho&s;e things which he had not, but how he might enjoy tho&s;e things wherein he abounded. <HI>Nam cum cupiditate &s;imul extendebatur copia, &amp; ad fruendum laxum et liberu~ erat etium,</HI> For his plentie was extended as wide as his de&s;ire, and his lea&s;ure of enjoying both was loo&s;e and at libertie, as <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> &s;peaketh. He therefore could <HI>&s;ay in his heart, to his heart, Goe to now, I will proove thee with mirth.</HI> Our Engli&s;h phra&s;e, <HI>Goe to now,</HI> though in the words it an&s;wereth very well to the Originall, yet as our manner is of u&s;ing it, it doth not expre&s;&s;e the force of the Originall. That is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>vade nuns,</HI> Goe now. Fir&s;t, he &s;ayth it, as &s;peaking to a heart that was under authoritie, under the command of wi&s;edome, and that &s;tirred not, un|till leave and order was given. Secondly, he &s;ayth, <HI>Goe now,</HI> now (if we may take the Hebrew <GAP DESC="foreign"> for <GAP DESC="foreign"> as <HI>Aben Ezra</HI> &s;ayth that in the Scriptures it is alwayes taken) that I have fir&s;t &s;etled thee by wi&s;edome,
<PB N="29" REF="18"> that plea&s;ure doe not tran&s;port thee: now that I have fir&s;t tryed the &s;tu|dy of wi&s;edome and knowledge, and found that to be vanitie and vexa|tion, now goe, I will try thee with mirth. In our tran&s;lation it follow|eth, <HI>therefore enjoy plea&s;ure;</HI> but the Originall is <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>Et vide in bonum,</HI> And &s;ee into the good of it, &s;ee what thou can&s;t finde in it, which may be the good that is de&s;ired by thee, and which may give thee &s;atisfaction in the plea&s;ing of thee. <HI>Vatablus</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Vatablus.</NOTE> therefore doth well expre&s;&s;e the &s;en&s;e of the place, <HI>Experiar quantum in eo bonum &s;it,</HI> I will try how much good there may be in that. And to the &s;ame effect the Chaldee Paraphra&s;e &s;ayth, <HI>Videbo bona &s;aeculi hujus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chald. Para.</NOTE> I will &s;ee the good things of this world. But <HI>behold, all is vanitie.</HI> He quickly giveth his judgement of this: the folly of this was &s;o manife&s;t, that forthwith his heart de&s;cryeth it, and pronounceth the vanitie of it. For &s;eeing the ob|jects of worldly mirth, as <HI>Plato</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Inania &s;unt omnia,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Plato de Re|pub. <HI>9.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&amp; longius ab&s;int ab ente quam a nihilo, qu&icirc; fieri pote&s;t, ut vacuitates animi no&s;tri ex|pleant,</HI> are all of them emptie things, and farther di&s;tant from a true be|ing then they are from nothing, how can it be that they &s;hould fill the emptie capacities of our mindes? How truely therefore doth the Prea|cher pronounce them to be <HI>vanitie.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 2. The Originall mo&s;t directly maketh the Preacher to &s;peake to laughter, to mirth, not of laughter, of mirth, as &s;hewing that even in laughter, in mirth, he had that care of him&s;elfe, as that even then he was able to condemne it, able to reproove it. Now by <HI>laughter,</HI> wee may under&s;tand an exce&s;&s;ive mirth, becau&s;e it is commonly an exce&s;&s;ive mirth that breaketh forth into laughter: by <HI>mirth,</HI> we may under&s;tand a le&s;&s;er violent degree of worldly delight. Or el&s;e by <HI>laughter,</HI> we may under&s;tand an outward delight, becau&s;e that joy which lyeth hid with|in, by laughter, <HI>Ruptis qua&s;i modestiae clau&s;tris,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>8.</HI></NOTE> <HI>quadam levitate &amp; inconti|nentia lubricae mentis propalatur,</HI> the barres, as it were, of mode&s;tie being broken open by a kinde of lightne&s;&s;e and incontinency of an incon&s;tant minde, is made to be manife&s;t, as <HI>Hugo</HI> &s;peaketh. By <HI>mirth,</HI> wee may under&s;tand, an inward and &s;ecret delight, which &s;ometimes is the grea|ter from the &s;ecrecy of it. Or el&s;e we may under&s;tand the Preacher to mention <HI>laughter,</HI> thereby to &s;hew that he &s;peaketh of a carnall mirth. For a &s;pirituall mirth, doth &s;eldome or never di&s;&s;olve the minde into laughter. <HI>Sed ea tantum laetitia quae a carnis blandimento concipitur, etiam per carnis motum facile aperitur,</HI> but onely that mirth which is conceived by a flattering of the fle&s;h, is al&s;o manife&s;ted ea&s;ily by the motion of the fle&s;h, as <HI>Hugo</HI> al&s;o hath it. That which the Preacher &s;ayth of <HI>laughter,</HI> is, <HI>that it is madne&s;&s;e.</HI> The Hebrew word which we have is <GAP DESC="foreign"> and &s;ignifieth <HI>madne&s;&s;e:</HI> but Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us, that <HI>Aquila</HI> did reade it <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>errorem</HI> errour, as the Vulgar Latin al&s;o hath it; and &s;urely it is a great errour to take that for the true good of man: that <HI>Symmachus</HI> did reade it <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>tumultum,</HI> a tumult, and &s;urely it is a riotous di&s;or|derly tumult, that u&s;ually it maketh in the minde and under&s;tanding of man: that <HI>Theodotio</HI> did reade it as the Septuagint doe <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>circum|lationem,</HI>
<PB N="30" REF="19"> a giddine&s;&s;e, and &s;urely it is a giddine&s;&s;e of the head, a whir|ling lightne&s;&s;e of the minde that laughter cau&s;eth. <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> &s;pea|king of this reading, &s;ayth, <HI>Quod quidem &s;en&s;u idem e&s;t quod delirium &amp; amentia,</HI> which in the &s;en&s;e of it is the &s;ame with raving and madne&s;&s;e. Of <HI>mirth,</HI> that which the Preacher &s;ayth, is onely a que&s;tion, <HI>What doth it?</HI> As &s;hewing that him&s;elfe could not tell of any good that it doth. Or el&s;e it may be taken as implying, What doth it but cau&s;e that mad|ne&s;&s;e of laughter whereof I have &s;poken? Or el&s;e it may be taken as a challenge to all the mo&s;t cunning inventers of plea&s;ure, to tell if they can,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chald. Para.</NOTE> what true good it doth? The expo&s;ition which the Chaldee gi|veth of it, is this, <HI>Quid emolumenti e&s;t viro qui fecerit illud,</HI> What benefit is it to a man who hath been taken with it? And if you will know the an&s;wer which a Greeke Father giveth, he will tell you, what it doth, &s;aying, <HI>Naturae virtutem effoeminat, animi robur emollit, animae vires ener|vat, affert interitum rationi, cogitationum &s;erenarum puritati caliginis tene|bras immittit;</HI> It effeminateth the vertue of nature, it enfeebleth the &s;trength of the minde, it weakneth the forces of the &s;oule, it bringeth de&s;truction to rea&s;on, it ca&s;teth the mi&s;t of darkne&s;&s;e upon the puritie of &s;erene thoughts. The &s;ame Father apprehendeth the Preacher to &s;peake here of or to mirth as to a thiefe unawares crept into the hou&s;e of his &s;oule, and thereupon to &s;ay unto it, <HI>What do&s;t thou?</HI> What do&s;t thou here thou pernicious enemy, and doing me little or no good, what&s;oever contentment for the pre&s;ent thou pretende&s;t to bring unto me? La&s;tly, an ancient Writer noteth here, <HI>Quod gaudium tantum ar|guitur, ri&s;us vero omnino reprobatur: quia ri&s;us omnimodo malus e&s;t, gaudi|um ver&ograve; non &s;emper malum e&s;t, ni&s;i quando de malo e&s;t,</HI> That mirth is here onely reprooved, but that laughter is altogether rejected: becau&s;e that laughter is wholly evill, mirth is not alwayes evill, unle&s;&s;e it be in an evill thing. But then laughter mu&s;t be under&s;tood to be with indecen|cy.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Clemens A|lexand. Pae|dagogus. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> For as <HI>Clemens Alexandrinus</HI> &s;peaketh; <HI>Si quomodo oportet, proferatur, prae &s;e fert decorem &amp; hone&s;tatem; &s;in aliter prodeat, indicat intemperantiam,</HI> If laughter be u&s;ed as it ought, it &s;etteth out the comeline&s;&s;e and dig|nitie of man; but if it be u&s;ed otherwi&s;e, it &s;heweth an intemperancy in man.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>VER. 3.</HI></BIBL> J &s;ought in mine heart to give my &s;elfe unto Wine (yet acquainting mine heart with Wi&s;edome) and to lay hold on folly, till J might &s;ee, what was that good for the Sons of men, which they &s;hould doe under the heaven, all the dayes of their life.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 3. The fir&s;t part of this ver&s;e is rendred with great diver&s;itie.
<PB N="31" REF="19"> The Septuagint, and according to them the Vulgar Latin doe render it, <HI>Cogitavi in corde meo ab&s;trahere a vino carnem meam, ut animum meum transferrem ad &s;apientiam devitarem&abque; &s;tultitiam,</HI> I thought in mine heart to withdraw my fle&s;h from wine, that I might apply my minde to wi&s;e|dome, and might &s;hun folly. And this &s;ayth <HI>Aquinas,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aquin. <HI>2. 2</HI>^a^e. Q. <HI>188.</HI> A. <HI>5.</HI> Gregor. Mo|ral. l. <HI>6.</HI> c. <HI>26.</HI></NOTE> is &s;poken to teach us to avoyd needle&s;&s;e curio&s;itie in the &s;tudy and contemplation of di|vine things, &s;eeing as S^t. <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Nonnulli dum veritatis di&s;ci|pali e&s;&s;e humiliter negligunt, magi&s;tri errorum fiunt,</HI> Many while they neg|lect to be humbly the Schollers of truth, are made the Ma&s;ters of er|rours. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> renders it thus; <HI>Con&s;ideravi in corde meo,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> <HI>ut trahe|rem in vino carnem meam: &amp; cor meum deduxit me in&s;apientiam,</HI> I con&s;ide|red in mine heart, that I would &s;pend the time of my fle&s;h in wine: and mine heart lead me into wi&s;edome. Which he expoundeth thus; <HI>Volui vitam meam tradere delitiis,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; carnem meam ab omnibus curis libera|re, &amp; qua&s;i vino &s;ic voluptate &s;opire; &s;ed cogitatio mea &amp; ratio naturalis re|traxerunt me, &amp; deduxerunt ad &s;apientiam requirendam,</HI> I would have gi|ven my life to delights, and to have freed my fle&s;h from all cares, and as it were with wine, &s;o with plea&s;ure, to have brought it a&s;leepe; but mine owne thoughts and naturall rea&s;on drew me backe, and lead me to the &s;eeking of wi&s;edome. According whereunto the French tran&s;|lation doth al&s;o render it. <HI>I' ai recherche en mon caeur le moyen de me traitter delicatement,</HI> I &s;ought in mine heart the meanes to u&s;e my &s;elfe delicately. <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> doth reade it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ny&s;&s;. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Con&s;ideravi an cor meum car|nem meam tanquam vinum traheret, &amp; cor meum deduxit me in &s;apientia,</HI> I con&s;idered whether my heart could draw my fle&s;h as it were wine, and my heart lead me in wi&s;edome: which he expoundeth thus; As the thir&s;t of a man draweth the wine ea&s;ily and earne&s;tly unto it, &s;o I con&s;i|dered how my heart, how mine under&s;tanding might ea&s;ily draw the &s;en&s;itive parts of my &s;oule after it, and make them readily to be ruled by it: which being done, I went on without any hindrance in the way of wi&s;edome. As our tran&s;lation doth render it, &s;o we may note, that the folly of following wine, and the voluptuou&s;ne&s;&s;e of feeding and fea&s;ting thereby noted, was &s;o apparant without tryall, that it was not enough for him to &s;ay, <HI>I thought to give my &s;elfe to wine,</HI> but <HI>I &s;ought in my heart to doe it,</HI> it was a labour to him to bring his heart unto &s;o fooli&s;h a thing. Or el&s;e we may conceive the labour to be, becau&s;e he would both give him&s;elfe to wine and belly delight, and al&s;o <HI>acquaint his heart with wi&s;edome,</HI> which mu&s;t needs be very hard, &s;eeing that &s;o quickly de&s;troyeth the wi&s;edome of any one. But therefore it followeth, <HI>that he would lay hold on folly,</HI> he would not &s;uffer that to lay hold on him; becau&s;e then he &s;hould not be able to ca&s;t it off &s;o readily, as having it in his owne power he might doe. And if I might pre&s;ume to deliver mine apprehen&s;ion, I would render it thus: <HI>I &s;ought in my heart to bend eagerly my &s;en&s;uall appetite unto the drinking of wine, and I &s;ought al&s;o to draw my heart unto it, which leading me in wi&s;edome was aver&s;e from it, and that I might make it to take hold on folly.</HI> For though the Originall word &s;ignifie
<PB N="32" REF="20"> to draw, yet I render it to bend, the drawing of the appetite being like the drawing of a bow, which the more &s;trongly it is drawne, the more it is bent. In the rendring of the latter part of the ver&s;e, which &s;hew|eth the end for which he did the other, all doe agree. And becau&s;e it &s;peaketh <HI>of the good whieh men &s;hould doe all the dayes of their life:</HI> a Greeke Father noteth, that &s;ome things &s;eeme good to men, but it is only for a &s;hort time, there being &s;peedily a wearine&s;&s;e of them: and that there are &s;ome things which are good to men in their youth, other things that are good to them in their old age; but that the Preacher would &s;ee that good thing, <HI>Cujus cum participatione extenditur appetitus, &amp; ejus aetate qui de&s;iderat non circum&s;cribitur,</HI> the de&s;ire whereof is ex|tended with the enjoying of it, and which is not limited by his age, by whom it is de&s;ired. But the Originall goes thus, <HI>Numero dierum vitae eorum,</HI> in the number of the dayes of their life, as &s;hewing the fewne&s;&s;e of mans dayes, &s;o that they may be numbred. For as the Poet &s;peak|eth, <HI>Pauperis est numerare pecus,</HI> It is a &s;igne of a poore man to num|ber his Cattle, &s;o it is a proofe of the &s;cantne&s;&s;e of mans dayes, that number doth ea&s;ily mea&s;ure them.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4-11" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 4.</HI></BIBL> I made me great workes, I builded mee hou&s;es, J planted me Vineyards.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 5.</HI></BIBL> J made me Gardens and Orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 6.</HI></BIBL> I made me pooles of water, to water there|with the wood that bringeth forth trees.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 7.</HI></BIBL> J got me &s;ervants and maidens, and had &s;ervants borne in my hou&s;e, al&s;o I had great po&s;se&s;sions of great and &s;mall Cattell, above all that were in <HI>Ieru&s;a|lem</HI> before me.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 8.</HI></BIBL> J gathered mee al&s;o Silver and Gold, and the peculiar trea&s;ure of Kings, and of the provinces: J gate me men &s;ingers, and women &s;ingers, and the de|lights of the &s;ons of men, as mu&s;icall in+&s;truments; and that of all &s;orts.</P>
<PB N="33" REF="20">
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 9.</HI></BIBL> So J was great and increa&s;ed more than all that were before me in <HI>Ieru&s;alem;</HI> al&s;o my wi&s;edome remained with mee.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 10.</HI></BIBL> And what&s;oever mine eye de&s;ired I kept not from them, I withheld not mine heart from any ioy: for my heart reioyced in all my labour, and this was my portion of all my labour.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 11.</HI></BIBL> Then J looked on all my workes, that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that J had laboured to doe: and be|hold all was vanity and vexation of Spirit, and there was no profit under the Sunne.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 4. The true greatne&s;&s;e of man is to e&s;teeme little the vanities of this world, and as <HI>Maximus</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Maximus.</NOTE> &s;peaketh, <HI>Magnus e&s;t cui nihil magnum,</HI> he is truly great, to whom nothing in this world is great.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregorius.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> therefore &s;aith very well, Let any one be never &s;o great, <HI>Parvulus e&s;t qui terrena diligit,</HI> He is very little that loveth earthly things. And let any one be never &s;o little, <HI>Magnus e&s;t qui aeterna concupi&s;cit,</HI> He is indeed great, that &s;eeketh heavenly things. And to the &s;ame purpo&s;e <HI>Seneca</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca.</NOTE> &s;peakes worthily, <HI>Nihil magnum in rebus humanis, ni&s;i cor magna de&s;pici|ens,</HI> There is nothing great in humane things, but a heart de&s;pi&s;ing the things e&s;teemed great by men. But man having by &s;inne deprived him|&s;elfe of that inward greatne&s;&s;e, wherein by God he was made, <HI>Extra quaerit quod intus perdidit, &amp; in &s;emetip&s;o minoratus, magnificat opera &s;ua,</HI> He &s;eeketh without that which was lo&s;t within, and being made little in him&s;elfe, who was Gods worke, he &s;triveth to make his owne workes to be great, as <HI>Hugo</HI> &s;peaketh.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sancto Vict. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>9.</HI></NOTE> His owne <HI>workes</HI> he rai&s;eth to a mighty height, <HI>Et dolore propemodum afficitur, quod coelum in &s;uo tecto non fecerit,</HI> and is as it were grieved, that he hath not made the heaven to be the roofe of them. His owne <HI>workes</HI> he &s;etteth out with a glorious pompe, and as it were troubled, <HI>Quod ip&s;os &s;olis radios in eis fabricari non po&s;sit,</HI> That he cannot worke the very beames of the Sunne in them. His own <HI>workes</HI> he enlargeth to a va&s;t greatne&s;&s;e, <HI>Tanquam alium orbem terrae &s;ibi con&s;truens,</HI> as it were making to him&s;elfe upon the earth another earthly world, as <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> &s;peaketh. And then being as great in pride,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ny&s;|&s;en. in Eccle|&s;ia&s;t. Hom. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> as his workes are great, this is the delight that hee taketh in them. But
<PB N="34" REF="21"> <HI>Seneca</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca.</NOTE> &s;aith well, he is truly great, <HI>Qui magna facit, &amp; parva &s;entit, licet magna &s;ciat,</HI> Who doth great things and thinketh them to be little, al|though he know them to be great. <HI>I builded me hou&s;es;</HI> The weakne&s;&s;e of mans con&s;titution being not able to endure the inequalities of heate and cold, therefore an hou&s;e is both u&s;efull and needfull for man. But the plea&s;ure of man tran&s;cendeth the bounds of u&s;e and need, and hee mu&s;t build hou&s;es, many hou&s;es, many hou&s;es in one, for the greatne&s;&s;e of it, and many hou&s;es in diver&s;e places, to multiply his vanity. To adde yet unto it, the&s;e al&s;o mu&s;t be trimmed with much co&s;t, and more curio&s;ity. <HI>Aurum in aereas membranas di&s;&s;ectum ubi&abque; illinitur, ut avidos in &s;e oculos convertat: arbores ita formantur ex ligno, ut putentur ex caelaturis ramos, fructus &amp; folia producere;</HI> Gold being cut into ayrie skinnes and beaten into very thinne leaves, is every where be&s;meered on them, to turne the greedy eyes to looke upon them: trees are &s;o made out of the wood, that from the carving they may be thought to bring forth branches and leaves and fruit.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ny&s;&s;. in Eccle&s;. Homil. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> But as <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> very well addeth, <HI>In haec &s;tudium quod confertur, e&s;t reprehen&s;io &amp; in&s;imulatio negligentiae in iis quae &s;unt priora. Quo enim major fuerit &amp; multitudine &amp; materiae &s;umptu magnificentia in aedium &s;tructuris, eo magis arguitur inornatam e&s;&s;e animam,</HI> The care which is be&s;towed upon the&s;e things doth accu&s;e and reprove the negligence which is in things that are better. For how much the magnificence is greater in the &s;tructure of hou&s;es, either in re&s;pect of the multitude of them, or the co&s;t of the matter, by &s;o much the &s;hame is greater, that the &s;oule is not adorned. Let that be built up carefully; let humility be the pavement of it, let hope be the roofe of it, let faith be the pillars of it; on this &s;ide let Iu&s;tice be towards men, on that &s;ide devotion towards God, <HI>Et haec omnia praeclarus artifex, nempe charitas, apte inter &s;e conjungat,</HI> And let love an excellent Artificer neately joyne all the&s;e together, and then there will be a hou&s;e for wi&s;edome to dwell in. <HI>I planted me Vineyards.</HI> The Preacher having told us, that he made workes, built hou&s;es, even as great as mountaines, he &s;heweth al&s;o how hee planted the mountaines with Vineyards. Now a Greeke Father telleth us, <HI>Magnum affectionum catalogum comprehendit vinearum plan|tationis confe&s;sio,</HI> This his confe&s;&s;ion of the planting of Vineyards containeth a great catalogue of his vaine affections. For as the &s;ame addeth, Wine immoderately taken, <HI>E&s;t fomes intemperantiae, pernicies juventutis, probrum &s;enectutis, dedecus mulierum, in&s;aniae pharmacum,</HI> Is the nouri&s;hment of intemperancy, the bane of youth, the reproach of old age, the &s;hame of Women, the poi&s;on of madne&s;&s;e. But the Preacher &s;heweth, that he did not only u&s;e that Wine which was to be gotten, but provided al&s;o by planting many Vineyards, both for the abundance and delicacy of it. Surely where this mind is, there is commonly no mind to plant the Vineyard of the &s;oule, but there the plants of vertue are &s;uffered to dry up, and wither quite away. Whereas if it were well dre&s;&s;ed, well ordered, it would be a mo&s;t fruitfull Vineyard, &s;o that a man &s;hould brui&s;e his Grapes into the cup of wi&s;dome, and drinke that
<PB N="35" REF="21"> Wine which would indeed make his heart merry. La&s;tly, wee may note in the&s;e words, that the Preacher doth kindly expre&s;&s;e the nature of worldly plea&s;ure, which is to bee all for it &s;elfe. And therefore hee &s;aith, <HI>I made me great workes, I builded me hou&s;es, I planted me Vineyards.</HI> If the&s;e great workes had beene made for &s;ome great good ends; if the&s;e hou&s;es had beene built to lodge &s;trangers, the fatherle&s;&s;e and wid|dowes, if the&s;e Vineyards had beene planted to relieve and comfort tho&s;e; who&s;e Vineyards were &s;poyled and de&s;troyed, they had beene made, builded, planted for God, and he would have given a reward of ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e unto it. But that all was for him&s;elfe made all to be nothing though never &s;o great.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 5. From the plea&s;ures of the eye, the Preacher &s;heweth how hee lead him&s;elfe to the plea&s;ures of the ta&s;t and &s;mell. Or el&s;e as <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> noteth, from the plea&s;ures of the hou&s;e, he &s;heweth how he walked <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>ad &s;ubdiales voluptates,</HI> to the open plea|&s;ures of the ayre. He &s;aith, <HI>I made me Gardens and Orchards,</HI> as &s;hewing that there were none already made plea&s;ant enough for him, and that there were none made before him like unto his. Yea, it was his owne particular direction that gave order for the making of them. And he made not only Gardens, but Orchards <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;aith the Originall, <HI>Pa|radi&s;es</HI> Paradi&s;es, mo&s;t plea&s;ant and delicious Gardens and Orchards. It was not one, but many Paradi&s;es that he made, as if he would &s;trive to exceed that delight wherein at fir&s;t man was placed by God, who made but one Paradi&s;e for him. But let &s;en&s;uall hearts take heed how they &s;uffer them&s;elves to feed too much upon the&s;e plea&s;ures, lea&s;t at length, to u&s;e the words of the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;ai.</HI> 1.29. <HI>&amp;</HI> 30.</NOTE> they be confounded for the Gardens that they have cho&s;en, and that them&s;elves be as a Garden that hath no water. And let tho&s;e to whom God hath afforded the&s;e delights, have in their Gardens as <HI>Io&s;eph</HI> had, a Sepulcher, that is, let them in their plea&s;ures, remember their death, that will bee a good meanes to keepe away the &s;inne of plea&s;ure from them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Petrus Da|mianus E|pi&s;t. <HI>114.</HI></NOTE> For as <HI>Petrus Damianus</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Nullum libidini diver&s;orium, in qua ver&s;atur mente Sepulchrum,</HI> there is in that mind no lodging for the lu&s;t of &s;in, where the bed of the grave is already made. And as <HI>Io&s;ephs</HI> Sepulcher in his Garden was made the Sepulcher of Chri&s;t, &s;o it were good al&s;o, that &s;uch in their Gardens would thinke of Chri&s;ts Sepulcher, that is, in their delights would thinke of the mi&s;ery which he &s;uffered for them. For as Saint <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Benedicitur hortus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;ilius.</NOTE> <HI>in quo monumentum e&s;t quod temporariam excepit di&s;pen&s;ationem mortis in corpore Domini,</HI> Ble&s;&s;ed is that Garden, in which is the monument that hath received the tem|porary di&s;pen&s;ation of death in the body of the Lord. But to goe on with the Preacher. <HI>And I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruits. Adeo ut omni ex parte jucunda omnia in oculum incurrant,</HI> So that from all parts all plea&s;ant things might pre&s;ent them&s;elves to the eye:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ny&s;|&s;en. in Ec|cle&s;. Hom. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Et quolibet anni tempore videat quod e&s;t praeter anni tempus,</HI> and in every &s;ea|&s;on of the yeare might &s;ee that which was above the &s;ea&s;on, as <HI>Gregory
<PB N="36" REF="22"> Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> &s;peaketh.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chaldaeus Co&s;ti.</NOTE> The Chaldee Paraphra&s;t doth thus enlarge the &s;en&s;e of the words, <HI>Plantavi viridaria amoenitatis pleri&s;sima, ubi omnis generis olera &s;eminavi, quae ad victum et convivia, et ad &s;anitatem u&s;ui forent: her|bas quoque olfactu nobiles adjeci; item et arbores &s;teriles, et aromata ferentes, quas ad me daemones et nocentes angeli ex India detulerunt,</HI> I planted me or|chards full of delight, where I &s;owed herbs of all kinds, whether u&s;e|full for food and fea&s;ts, or health. I added al&s;o flowers excellent for &s;mell, and moreover trees that did beare no fruit, but were for &s;hadow onely, <HI>tecti vicem aeri praebentes,</HI> being as it were a roofe hanging in the ayre, <HI>Vt etiam quum &s;ub dio e&s;&s;em tanquam, in domo delicat&egrave; vitam agerem,</HI> that when I was in the open ayre, yet I might be for delicacy as it were in an hou&s;e, as a Greeke Father expre&s;&s;eth it. I had al&s;o trees bearing &s;pices, which the devils and hurtfull Angels brought from India unto mee.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cyprianus de di&s;cipl. &amp; habitu vir|gin.</NOTE> S^t. <HI>Cyprian</HI> al&s;o &s;peaking of other the like vanities, &s;ayth, <HI>Quae omnia peccatores &amp; apo&s;tatae angeli &s;uis artibus prodiderunt,</HI> All which things &s;inners and the apo&s;tate Angels have brought forth by their arts. But as <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> &s;peaketh &s;weetly, <HI>Quid multis opus e&s;t hortis ei qui ad unum intuetur? Si e&s;&s;em in Paradi&s;o non ad multorum hortorum de&s;ideri|um diffunderer,</HI> What need of many gardens unto him, who looketh un|to one? If I were in Paradi&s;e, my heart would not be &s;pread after ma|ny gardens. And that wee may come to this Paradi&s;e, we mu&s;t keepe well the garden of our &s;oules; that mu&s;t be <HI>hortus inclu&s;us</HI> a garden &s;hut up carefully, &s;o that the de&s;troying bea&s;ts come not into it, and that the malicious enemy &s;ow not weeds in it: that garden we mu&s;t plant with trees of all kindes of fruits, with all vertues, all graces: and as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> the chiefe plant mu&s;t be <HI>lignum &s;apientiae,</HI> the tree of wi&s;edome: <HI>Ni&s;i enim in medio illud plantetur, ligna caetera &s;iccabuntur,</HI> for unle&s;&s;e that be planted in the middle, the re&s;t of the trees will be dryed up. <HI>Nazianzene</HI> writeth of a Country called Ozyza, which was full of all &s;orts of mo&s;t plea&s;ant and curious flowers, but there was no corne in it: now &s;urely this part of the world &s;heweth what this world is, namely, a world full of flowers, full of vanities, and wherein worldly hearts doe make mo&s;t plea&s;ant gardens:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Na|zianzen.</NOTE> but in the&s;e gardens, in this world, there is no corne, no true comfort to be found: that is in hea|ven, where it is alwayes ripe, alwayes gathered, and yet alwayes grow|ing, alwayes &s;tanding. Thither therefore let us labour to come, that we may reape the harve&s;t of ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 6. Among <HI>Per tenta vanitatis,</HI> the &s;trange phanta&s;mes of va|nitie,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sancto Vict. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>9.</HI></NOTE> as <HI>Hugo</HI> &s;peaketh, wherein the world &s;till exceedeth, one is the invention of a wilderne&s;&s;e which often is adjoyned to great gardens belonging to great hou&s;es, and by a multitude of thick bu&s;hes and trees affecting an o&s;tentation of &s;olitarine&s;&s;e in the mid&s;t of worldly plea|&s;ures. And this it was as I conceive whereof <HI>Solomon</HI> in this ver&s;e &s;peak|eth, having made &s;uch a one for him&s;elfe, and for which he made pooles of water,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> that as S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Longius viror humore praepeti nutri|retur,</HI> the greenne&s;&s;e might be the longer continued and nouri&s;hed by
<PB N="37" REF="22"> moy&s;ture alwayes ready at hand. The Vulgar Latin doth reade it, <HI>Ex|truxi,</HI> I built me pooles of water, as implying the greatne&s;&s;e and neat|ne&s;&s;e of them. And &s;urely in that he &s;ayth, <HI>I made,</HI> wee may apprehend an intimation, as if they were to be pre&s;erved before tho&s;e which God had made.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ny&s;|&s;en. in Ec|cle&s;. Hom. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> In regard whereof <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> &s;tileth them <HI>Maria m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">nu facta,</HI> Seas made by the hand of man. But here al&s;o wee may note the method of the Kings plea&s;ures; and how from his eye, ta&s;te, and &s;mel|ling, he &s;wimmeth along to delight him&s;elfe and his touch, by bathing his body in the cold and &s;oft and playing waters. For though this end of making the pooles be not expre&s;&s;ed, yet that to this end they were al&s;o made, we may not ami&s;&s;e conceive, this being no little plea&s;ure, <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>iis qui exhilarani corpora,</HI> to them who refre&s;h and cheere up their bodies, as a Greeke Father &s;peaketh. Or el&s;e wee may ob&s;erve the method of his plea&s;ures to be; that pa&s;&s;ing from the earth, whereon he built hou&s;es and his great workes, and comming to the ayre, the &s;weetne&s;&s;e whereof he enjoyed in his gardens and or|chards, from thence he is caryed to the waters,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Vtpote quod oporteat in omnibus elementis &s;e explere delitiis,</HI> as &s;eeking to fill him&s;elfe with de|lights even in all the elements, as the &s;ame Father al&s;o hath it. But that from the&s;e pooles of water, wee may draw &s;omething that &s;hall be whole&s;ome for us: let us al&s;o make pooles of waters; let us make our eyes pooles of waters, that &s;o a &s;orrow for our &s;innes, <HI>Irriguo &s;uo diluat, &amp; fluento fontis &s;ui ab&s;tergat,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. lib. de I&s;aac &amp; anima.</NOTE> may wa&s;h them away with the watering of it, and clean&s;e us from them by the current of amendment in the cour&s;e of our life, as the words of S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> are. Or el&s;e let us make us pooles of charitie, therewith to water the decayed trees of mi&s;ery, therewith to moy&s;ten the dry ground of want and nece&s;&s;itie. For as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> againe &s;peaketh, <HI>Exuberat charitas, ut haurire eam cominus po&s;sis,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ibid.</NOTE> charitie overfloweth, &s;o that it is alwayes neare at hand for thee to draw out of it. Charitie is <HI>puteus Reboboth, puteus latitudinis,</HI> the well of bredth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 26.22.</NOTE> which name we reade to be given by <HI>I&s;aac</HI> to a Well which his &s;ervants digged: for charitie doth &s;pread abroad her waters where&s;oe|ver is need of them. Or la&s;tly, let us make us pooles by digging into the depth of heavenly knowledge. For as <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ny&s;|&s;en. in Eccle|&s;ia&s;t. Hom. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Nihil melius fonte divino per quem animae &s;iccitas irroratur, virtutes oriun|tur, &amp; nemus bonorum &s;tudiorum &amp; operum in no&s;tris germinet animis,</HI> There is nothing better then this divine fountaine, by which the dry|ne&s;&s;e and barrenne&s;&s;e of our &s;oules is made wet and moy&s;tned, by which vertues doe &s;pring up in us, &s;o that even a wood of good de&s;ires and works doth &s;prout forth in our lives.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 7. It is the folly of man, that he is not onely delighted in the vanitie of his owne eyes and of his owne imagination, but al&s;o in the vanitie of the eyes of others, and of the imagination that others have of him. The Preacher therefore having &s;hewed, how he tryed his heart with the delight of the one, here he &s;heweth how he tryed him|&s;elfe al&s;o with the delight of the other. For what is the plea&s;ure of a
<PB N="38" REF="23"> multitude of &s;ervants, of a greater multitude of cattell, but that others looke with admiration upon them, and by the great number of them, imagine a great deale of happine&s;&s;e in him that hath them? And this imagination in others, is that which much increa&s;eth his owne imagi|nation of his owne greatne&s;&s;e, which the Preacher here expre&s;&s;eth, &s;aying, <HI>that he had &s;ervants and cattell above all that were in Ieru&s;alem before him:</HI> Wherein the pride of man doth even exceed nature, making him to behold him&s;elfe, as if he were not of the &s;ame nature, but even of another from all that had foregone him. And in a particular reference to <HI>Solomon,</HI> we may conceive it as an imagination, that he was King not onely over tho&s;e that lived with him, but as it were a King over all that had been before him, being above them all in his great retinue of &s;ervants,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions of cattle. S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> readeth it, <HI>Mercatus &s;um &s;ervos &amp; ancillas,</HI> I bought me &s;ervants and maydens. But as a Greeke Father &s;peaketh, <HI>Quot nummis ae&s;tima&s;ti rationem? Quot obolos expendi&s;ti pro Dei imagine?</HI> At how many pence didde&s;t thou value rea&s;on? At how many halfe-pence didde&s;t thou rate the image of God? Plainly, as if the&s;e were vanities, glory in the buying of them. To the &s;ervants and maydens that were bought, the Preacher addeth tho&s;e which were borne in his hou&s;e; and as if they had been borne of his &s;mall and great cattell, &s;o doth he joyne them to his great and &s;mall cattell. It being the vaine pride of too many men, to reckon tho&s;e that are under them no better then bea&s;ts. But the Originall calleth them <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>filios domus,</HI> Sonnes of the hou&s;e, as &s;hewing, that though they be not &s;onnes of the body, yet that they are &s;onnes of the hou&s;e, and therefore in &s;ome &s;ort to be re&s;pected as &s;onnes. After his &s;ervants come his cattle, as &s;hewing al&s;o that he had his &s;ervants to this end, for to looke unto his cattle, and therein to be imployed. And here it may be noted, that it is not onely &s;ayd, that he <HI>had &s;ervants,</HI> but that he <HI>had much cattell,</HI> &s;o that his cattle were more than his &s;ervants, his imployment no le&s;&s;e than his &s;ervants were. Whereas it is the vanitie of many, to have many &s;er|vants, and few or no cattell, little or no bu&s;ine&s;&s;e for them, or el&s;e that bu&s;ine&s;&s;e which is wor&s;e then none.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca Epi&s;t. l. <HI>6.</HI> Epi&s;t. <HI>46.</HI></NOTE> This it is which <HI>Seneca</HI> condem|neth, who &s;ayth, <HI>Caenantem dominum &s;tantium &s;ervorum turba circumdedit, alius &s;puta detergit, alius reliquias temulentorum colligit, alius pretio&s;as aves &s;cindit, &amp; erudito manu fru&s;ta colligit, alius vini mini&s;ter, alius cui conviva|rum cen&s;ura commi&s;&s;a e&s;t, expectat quos revocet in cra&s;tinum,</HI> A troope of &s;ervants compa&s;&s;e their fea&s;ting Ma&s;ter, one wipeth away that which is &s;pitten, another taketh away the fowle trenchers, another carveth the co&s;tly birds, and with his artificiall hand divideth them into pieces, another filleth the wine, to another is committed the di&s;po&s;ing of the gue&s;ts,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 18.6. <HI>&amp;</HI> 7.</NOTE> and he expecteth whom he mu&s;t invite the next day. It is true, that <HI>Abraham</HI> had many &s;ervants, but that they were all imployed, it ap|peareth, becau&s;e when the three men came to his Tent, there was none at home, but him&s;elfe ran for a Kid, and his wife made ready the meale. And in <HI>Athenaeus</HI> it is related, that among the <HI>Trojans</HI> one man had a
<PB N="39" REF="23"> thou&s;and &s;ervants, and &s;ome, more; <HI>Ac eorum unumquem&abque; pacis tempore agros colere; belli vero, militiae nomen dare, &s;uo&s;que illis duces e&s;&s;e dominos,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Athenaeus. l. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> And that in time of peace they did dre&s;&s;e the ground, in time of warre they &s;erved in the warre, and had their Ma&s;ters for their Captaines. And &s;urely where there is not imployment for more, the judgement of S^t. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> is, <HI>Herum unum uno &s;ervo contentum e&s;&s;e decebit,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;. in <HI>1.</HI> ad Corinth. Homil. <HI>40.</HI></NOTE> <HI>imo uno &s;er|vo tres heros,</HI> It is meet that one Ma&s;ter be contented with one &s;ervant, yea three Ma&s;ters with one &s;ervant. It may &s;eeme in &s;ome &s;ort that God thought &s;o (though I take it for no argument) and therefore he &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Levit.</HI> 25.6.</NOTE> That the Sabbath of the Land &s;hall be meate for thee and for thy &s;ervant, and for thy mayd, As if God &s;uppo&s;ed that one Ma&s;ter &s;hould not have above one &s;ervant, one mayden.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> applying this ver&s;e in a my&s;tery to <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> the King of his Church: by <HI>the &s;ervants</HI> un|der&s;tandeth tho&s;e, <HI>Qui habent &s;piritum timoris in &s;ervitute, &amp; &s;piritualia magis de&s;iderant quam habent,</HI> who have in &s;ervitude the &s;pirit of feare, and doe rather de&s;ire &s;pirituall things then enjoy them: by <HI>the may|dens,</HI> he under&s;tandeth tho&s;e &s;oules, which are yet addicted to the world and fle&s;h: by <HI>tho&s;e borne in the hou&s;e,</HI> he under&s;tandeth tho&s;e who are members of the Church, and are before the &s;ervants and may|dens before mentioned, <HI>Necdum tamen libertate donati &s;unt nec nobilitate a Domino,</HI> but yet are not &s;et free or ennobled by their Ma&s;ter. Others he &s;ayth there are in this family of the Preacher, who for their igno|rance and &s;implicitie in divine things, are no better then Oxen or Sheepe, having not attayned, <HI>Vt homines e&s;&s;e mereantur, &amp; redeant ad imaginem conditoris,</HI> that they &s;hould be accounted men, as being re|turned to the image of their Maker.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 8. To make up the greatne&s;&s;e of his wealth, whereof he &s;pake in the end of the former ver&s;e, here he addeth, <HI>that he gathered &s;ilver and gold,</HI> whereby indeed he made up the greatne&s;&s;e of his vani|tie. For they are gold and &s;ilver, which are the wor&s;t riches, though mo&s;t e&s;teemed of, and which doe bring the greate&s;t evils unto men. Wherefore the Scripture declaring how hard it is for the rich to enter into heaven, and yet &s;hewing <HI>Abraham</HI> and <HI>Iob</HI> to be rich, who no doubt are po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed of heaven. Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. in Epi&s;t. ad Timoth. Homil. <HI>12.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Opes illis non in auri ar|gentique talentis erant, &s;ed in pecoribus: quae profecto divitiae &amp; innocuae &amp; divinitus permi&s;&s;ae &s;unt,</HI> Their riches were not in talents of gold and &s;il|ver, but in &s;tore of cattle: which are hurtle&s;&s;e riches, and allowed by God. Wherefore God hath placed the&s;e kindes of riches upon the face of the earth, as &s;hewing them to man, and offering them unto his paines and diligence: but gold and &s;ilver he hath hid in the bowels of the earth, to keepe men from &s;eeking of tho&s;e things which are &s;o per|nicious unto them. And indeed in &s;eeking of tho&s;e riches the greedi|ne&s;&s;e of mans de&s;ire is &s;ooner &s;atisfied, then in &s;eeking of gold and &s;ilver: in po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing of tho&s;e riches the uncharitablene&s;&s;e of mans heart is not &s;o hard, as in gold and &s;ilver: in keeping of tho&s;e riches the feare of mans minde is not &s;o trouble&s;ome as in keeping of gold and &s;ilver.
<PB N="40" REF="24"> For how is the money-rich man,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Sidonius A|pollinaris. E|pi&s;t. l. <HI>2.</HI> Epi&s;t. <HI>13.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Septus armis ac &s;atellitibus, ac ferro pre&s;|&s;us ut premat aurum?</HI> Hedged about with weapons and Guards, and pre&s;&s;ed downe with iron, that he may pre&s;&s;e under him and keepe clo&s;e his gold, as <HI>Sidonius Apollinaris</HI> &s;peaketh? But gold and &s;ilver being the common trea&s;ure of many, the Preacher &s;heweth that he had <HI>the pecu|liar trea&s;ure of Kings, and of the Provinces,</HI> that is, &s;ayth the French tran|&s;lation, The mo&s;t precious jewels which are found with Kings, and throughout the Provinces. And becau&s;e the gathering of gold and &s;il|ver depriveth men many times of other delights; the Preacher &s;hew|eth how in his wealth, and with his wealth, he &s;ought the delights of mu&s;icke, that &s;o he might finde if he could that good thing of mans life, wherein he might rejoyce. <HI>He got him men-&s;ingers, and women-&s;ingers;</HI> but the Originall is diver&s;ified onely by the ma&s;culine and feminine gender; and it being the manner of Scripture by that variation to ex|pre&s;&s;e a generalitie or univer&s;alitie of things, wee may here under&s;tand all kindes of &s;ingers, as in the end of the ver&s;e by the variation of the &s;ingular and plurall number, are expre&s;&s;ed all &s;orts of <HI>mu&s;icall in&s;tru|ments.</HI> Now the&s;e are called <HI>the delights of the Sonnes of men,</HI> becau&s;e the mu&s;icke of in&s;truments is proper unto men, whereas the mu&s;icke of the voyce is in birds al&s;o. Or el&s;e we may under&s;tand <HI>the delights of the Sonnes of men,</HI> of mu&s;ick generally, great being the power which the de|light of mu&s;ick hath upon men. Of which King <HI>Theodoric</HI> writing to <HI>Boetius</HI> in <HI>Ca&s;siodore</HI> &s;ayth;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;iodorus. l. <HI>2.</HI> var. <HI>41.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Haec quum de &s;ecreto naturae tanquam &s;en&s;uum regina, tropis &s;uis ornata proce&s;&s;erit, reliquae cogitationes exiliunt, omniaque facit ejici, ut ip&s;am &s;olummodo delectet audiri. Tri&s;titiam jucundat, furores at|tenuat, &s;aevitiam blandam efficit, ignaviam excitat, vigilantibus reddit re|quiem, vitiatam turpi amore revocat ad ca&s;titatem, &amp; quod beatum curatio|nis genus e&s;t per dulci&s;&s;imas voluptates expellit animi pa&s;&s;iones, &amp; per in&s;en&s;i|bilium ob&s;equium praevalet &s;en&s;uum exercere dominatum,</HI> When &s;hee com|meth from the &s;ecret of nature, as it were the Queene of the &s;en&s;es, a|dorned with her mu&s;icall figures, other thoughts skip away, and &s;hee cau&s;eth all things to be ca&s;t out, that there may be a delight onely of hearing her. Shee &s;weetneth griefe, mollifieth rage, mitigateth cruel|tie, quickneth lazine&s;&s;e, giveth re&s;t to the watchfull, maketh her cha&s;t who hath been defiled with uncleane love, and that which is a mo&s;t ble&s;&s;ed kinde of curing, by mo&s;t &s;weet plea&s;ures driveth away the pa&s;&s;ions of the minde, and by the &s;ubjection of things that are in&s;en&s;i|ble, obtaineth command over the &s;en&s;es. But though this be <HI>the delight of the &s;onnes of men,</HI> let the delight of the &s;onnes of God be the mu&s;icke and harmony of their lives unto Gods co~mandements: for as <HI>Ca&s;&s;iodore</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;iodorus, l. de Mu&s;ica.</NOTE> <HI>Quando iniquitates gerimus, mufica~ non habemus,</HI> when we com|mit wickedne&s;&s;e, we have not then mu&s;ick. Thus have we the end of the ver&s;e rendred in our tran&s;lation, becau&s;e as I conceive, the former words &s;peake of &s;inging. The Septuagint do render the latter part of the ver&s;e, <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>pocillatores &amp; pocillatrices,</HI> men cup-bearers and wo|men cup-bearers; or as S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> hath it, <HI>Mini&s;tros vini &amp; mini&s;tras,</HI>
<PB N="41" REF="24"> men-&s;ervers and women-&s;ervers of wine, and I &s;uppo&s;e it to be rendred &s;o, becau&s;e <HI>Solomon</HI> (as it appeareth) had &s;uch cup-bearers,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 9.4.</NOTE> as that the Queene of <HI>Sheba</HI> wondred at them. <HI>Arias Montanus</HI> doth render it <HI>cap|tivam &amp; captivas,</HI> that is, many captive women; and to the &s;ame effect <HI>Pagnine,</HI> &s;uppo&s;ing the Preacher to meane &s;uch delicate captive women as were taken in warre. Wherein as they have &s;ome furtherance from the roote of the Originall word, &s;o it may be they were plea&s;ed the rather with that tran&s;lation, becau&s;e of the words going immediately before. The delight of the &s;onnes of men. But how the Originall is here to be taken, he that is the originall of all languages and words knoweth be&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 9. The Preacher had before &s;hewed at the fourth ver&s;e, how he had made great works, and here he &s;heweth how he was made great by his works, and by his hou&s;es, by his vineyards, by his gardens, or|chards and trees of all kinds, and of all kindes of fruits, by his pooles of water, and by his watered woods, by his &s;ervants and maydens, and by his much cattle great and &s;mall, by his &s;ilver and gold and peculiar trea|&s;ure of Kings and Provinces, by his &s;ingers of all kindes, and mu&s;icall in&s;truments of all &s;orts: and from hence is &s;hewed that it was to make him&s;elfe great, that he made him&s;elfe great workes. For this it is which the heart of man &s;eeketh after in this world before all things.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luk.</HI> 12.18.</NOTE> The rich foole in the Go&s;pel &s;ayth, that he will build his barnes greater; he &s;peak|eth not of the &s;trength of his barnes, nor of the commodiou&s;ne&s;&s;e of them, but only of the greatne&s;&s;e of them, that by the greatne&s;&s;e of them his owne greatne&s;&s;e might be &s;et out. It is not without &s;ome my&s;tery that the blind man beginning to recover his &s;ight, &s;ayth, that he &s;aw men walking as trees.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mark.</HI> 8.24.</NOTE> For mans blindne&s;&s;e doth not otherwi&s;e looke upon men, then it looketh upon trees, e&s;teeming of them according to their talne&s;&s;e and greatne&s;&s;e. For &s;o it e&s;teemeth of men according to their greatne&s;&s;e and talne&s;&s;e in worldly e&s;tate and earthly vanities. But S^t. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> admoni&s;heth us, <HI>Si videris virum &s;pecio&s;um,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;. Ho|mil. in P&s;al. <HI>150.</HI></NOTE> <HI>ne admire|ris, nam &amp; arbores altitudine excel&s;ae,</HI> If thou &s;ee&s;t a goodly tall man, doe not admire him, for trees are of a great talne&s;&s;e al&s;o: and if thou &s;ee&s;t a man great in worldly e&s;tate, doe not gaze upon him, it is but a worldly greatne&s;&s;e that is in him. For though <HI>Solomon</HI> were great and encrea&s;ed, yet it was onely <HI>more then they that were in Ieru&s;alem before him:</HI> not more then they that were in the feare of God before him, not more then they that were in vertue and holine&s;&s;e before him. There is no compari&s;on betweene the greatne&s;&s;e of the world, and the greatne&s;&s;e of them. But <HI>Solomon</HI> al&s;o telleth us, <HI>that his wi&s;edome remained with him.</HI> And &s;urely he had need to tell us &s;o, for el&s;e it might have been feared much, lea&s;t the&s;e worldly delights had &s;poyled him of that: el&s;e it might have been thought, that while he followed after them, he had for&s;aken that, and while he filled him&s;elfe with the one, he emptied him&s;elfe of the other. Well al&s;o it is, that he calleth it <HI>my wi&s;edome,</HI> that is, the wi&s;dome which God gave him, divine and heavenly, for el&s;e it might have been doub|ted,
<PB N="42" REF="25"> lea&s;t he had beene deceived, and had thought that to be wi&s;edome, which hath a &s;hadow of wi&s;edome, but is none in truth. For there is a wi&s;edome in the &s;onnes of this world, a wi&s;edome which looketh to the plea&s;ing of the fle&s;h, regardeth not the hurting of the &s;oule; a wi&s;e|dome whereby they being fearefull where no feare is, they have no care where the greate&s;t danger is. But this was not the wi&s;edome which <HI>So|lomon</HI> received from heaven, and of which he &s;ayth, <HI>my wi&s;edome conti|nued with me.</HI> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> reads it, <HI>Ad &s;titit mihi,</HI> my wi&s;edome &s;tood by me. <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> reads it <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>&s;tetit mihi,</HI> &s;tood with me: and &s;o doe <HI>Pagnine</HI> and <HI>Arias Montanus</HI> render it. So that although he increa&s;ed in worldly greatne&s;&s;e, yet he did not in wi&s;edome: that &s;tood &s;till. The time and de&s;ire which he &s;pent upon worldly delights, left him no time, no de&s;ire to looke after the benefiting of him&s;elfe therein. All that he can &s;ay, is, and that is much con&s;idering his pre&s;ent di&s;po|&s;ition, that his wi&s;edome &s;tayd with him. That was at a &s;tay, while he went on from delight to delight. Or el&s;e wee may take his meaning, that be&s;ides all his other delights, al&s;o his wi&s;dome remained with him, as &s;hewing that to be his chiefe&s;t delight, and which made up the ful|ne&s;&s;e of all the re&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 10. After the matter and objects of the Preachers delight, wee have here the manner of his &s;eeking it, and the manner of his en|joying it. Fir&s;t, the manner of his &s;eeking it, and if we take the end of the former ver&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ny&s;&s;. in Eccle&s;. Homil. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> with reference to this, as <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> doth, then by the remaining of his wi&s;edome with him, he meaneth that his wi&s;e|dome &s;erved him, to &s;earch out delights for him, and to direct him to the greate&s;t of them, and in the greate&s;t to the greatne&s;&s;e of their de|light. To the wi&s;edome of his under&s;tanding, he added the helpe <HI>of his eye,</HI> which is a &s;en&s;e both eager and quicke in hunting after plea&s;ant de|lights. And he &s;ayth, that he gave it free and full &s;cope, it had all the play of the game: <HI>for what&s;oever his eyes de&s;ired, he kept not from them.</HI> Now certainly the eye is mo&s;t forward in de&s;iring, and if it may have for asking, it will aske often enough. Yea indeed too bold it is, and too often taketh leave where it is not granted, and yeeldeth to de&s;ire, when care laboureth to keepe it away. Wherefore take wee heed of giving this libertie, and let it be our care to keepe our eyes &s;hut from the delights of them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Paulinus Epi&s;t. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Paulinus</HI> doth well admoni&s;h us, <HI>Remini&s;camur qua pernicie illis in Paradi&s;o oculi &s;unt aperti: quos tamdiu habuerunt illu|minatos, quamdiu clau&s;os habuere peccato,</HI> Let us remember how unhap|pily their eyes were opened unto them, that were in Paradi&s;e: which they had illightned, &s;o long as they had them &s;hut unto &s;inne. Where we reade,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 6.22.</NOTE> the eye is the light of the body, the Greeke is, <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>lucerna corporis,</HI> the lampe, the candle of the body: for as a lampe burneth very well, and giveth good light &s;o long as it is &s;hut up and kept clo&s;e within &s;ome roome: but if it be &s;et open in the ayre, is &s;oone blowne out with the winde; &s;o the eye if it be kept &s;hut from va|nities by a watchfull carefulne&s;&s;e, then it giveth the be&s;t light to the
<PB N="43" REF="25"> body; but if it bee wantonly and negligently opened, then the good light of it is &s;oone put out. Of this the Poet &s;ingeth &s;weetly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Arator.</NOTE> <HI>Quum lumina claudit, Pectora tunc aperit, coeli&abque; cogno&s;citur autor: Di&s;cedente die, quantum meruere tenebrae,</HI> when the eyes are &s;hut, then the heart is opened, and then is God di&s;cerned: when the day goeth away, how great is the benefit which the night bringeth. But to returne to the Preacher, who when his wi&s;dome had &s;earched, and his eyes &s;ought for delight, then <HI>permitted his heart to make choice of what joy it would:</HI> hee u&s;ed no re&s;traint, but to the plea&s;ure of the joy added al&s;o the plea&s;ure of a free choice. For joy it is that the heart of man would have, and yet almo&s;t it would not have it, unle&s;&s;e it might have it in this manner, that it &s;elfe may have a freedome in the choo&s;ing of it. But what doth the Preacher &s;peake of not withholding his heart from any joy? Can there be any joy, where God is not? <HI>Philo</HI> tels us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo. l. Quod dete|rior potiori in&s;idietur.</NOTE> <HI>Opifex e&s;t Deus boni ri&s;us, &amp; gaudii, ideo&abque; I&s;aac non vulgariter genitus, &s;ed operante Deo cre|dendus e&s;t. Nam &s;i ri&s;us I&s;aac intelligitur, ri&s;us autem factor e&s;t Deus,</HI> The worker of good laughter is God, and therefore <HI>I&s;aac</HI> is not in a common manner borne, but by faith he is conceived. For if <HI>I&s;aac</HI> be under&s;tood laughter, it is God who is the cau&s;e of laughter and joy to the heart. But it was no true joy, it was a worldly joy wherof the Preacher &s;peak|eth, and that he &s;heweth by &s;peaking of the labour al&s;o which was joy|ned with it, &s;aying, <HI>My heart rejoyced in all my labour.</HI> Labour there was in the &s;eeking of it, labour in the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of it, and yet this is the All, which man &s;eeketh of all his labour: this is <HI>the portion</HI> which the Preacher &s;aith he de&s;ired to obtaine, and this he &s;aith he had, there be|ing no &s;ickne&s;&s;e, no enemy, no other cro&s;&s;e either in mind or body, at home or abroad, to di&s;turbe him in it, or deprive him of it. So that wee have here under the law, the Prodigall of the Go&s;pell,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luk.</HI> 15.</NOTE> asking his portion of his Father: which is devided to him, and &s;pent by him in the farre Country of this world upon worldly delights.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 11. Wee have here the Prodigall returned to him&s;elfe, and <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;aying as the Septuagint have it, <HI>Quum converti&s;sem me,</HI> when I had turned my &s;elfe to all my workes, I &s;aw the feeding of my plea|&s;ures to be, but the feeding of &s;wine, and the joy wherewith I would faine have fed my &s;elfe, to have beene but as huskes. And therefore now deviding all his plea&s;ures before particularly mentioned into two kinds, the outward workes of his hands, and the inward contentment of his phanta&s;y and &s;en&s;es, now looking upon them with the eye of his mind, he doth not call them joyes and plea&s;ures, but <HI>working</HI> only and <HI>labour.</HI> And whereas in the beginning of the former Chapter, hee had &s;aid, <HI>that all is vanity,</HI> he repeateth the &s;ame againe, as &s;hewing that he meant it of all the contentments of this life.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;ost. in P&s;al. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> Now Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> tell us, <HI>Vanum e&s;t quod e&s;t inane, quando nomen quidem fuerit, res nequa|quam. Nomen divitiarum, res autem minime, &amp; nomen gloriae, res vero mi|nime, nomen potentiae &amp; remanet nomen &s;olum. Quis e&s;t ergo adeo excors ut quaerat nomina, quae rebus defecta &s;unt, &amp; per&s;equatur inania, quae oportet
<PB N="44" REF="26"> fugere,</HI> That is vaine which is empty, when there is a name, but not any thing at all, a name of riches, but not the thing, a name of glory, but without the thing, a name of power, but the name is only to be found. Who is therefore &s;o voyd and empty of under&s;tanding, as to &s;eeke af|ter names which have not the things, and to follow after tho&s;e vaine things which &s;hould be &s;hunned. It &s;eemeth, that before <HI>Solomon</HI> did not <HI>looke</HI> upon the things, but only after the &s;atisfying of his de&s;ire: but now <HI>looking</HI> upon the things, and &s;eeing them the better, becau&s;e he had tryed them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Petrus Da|mian. Epi&s;t. l. <HI>2.</HI> Ep. <HI>17.</HI></NOTE> he pronounced them to be <HI>vanity,</HI> that is, &s;aith <HI>Petrus Da|mianus, Qui tot momentanearum rerum conge&s;sit exempla, non tam vile quid e&s;se omnem mundanam gloriam, quam nihil e&s;&s;e &s;ignavit,</HI> He that had gathered together the exemplary proofes of &s;o many momentany things, &s;heweth all worldly glory, not &s;o much to be a vile thing, as ra|ther to bee nothing. Wherefore a Greeke Father al&s;o &s;aith, <HI>Qui ad haec ad&s;picit, nihil a&s;picit,</HI> Hee that looketh on the&s;e things, beholdeth nothing. Yea not only doth the Preacher judge them to be nothing, but a vexation of &s;pirit: nothing in them&s;elves, and yet a vexation of Spirit to him that embraceth them: nothing, be&s;ides this one thing a vexation of mind. Wherefore he addeth, <HI>And there was</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Nihil amplius, no|thing more under the Sun.</HI> The Septuagint, and according to them the vulgar Latine doe render it, <HI>Et nihil permanere &s;ub &s;ole,</HI> and nothing to re|maine under the Sunne, nothing which he could lay hold of, nothing to which he could firmely adhere, and on which &s;ettle him&s;elfe, as &s;hewing this to bee the vanity of worldly things, and the vexation of them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ny&s;|&s;en. in Ec|cle&s;. Hom. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> under&s;tandeth it of the &s;hort continuance of &s;en|&s;uall delights, &s;o that, <HI>Quum ce&s;&s;averit operatio, deletur etiam &s;en&s;us vo|luptatis, ne&abque; ejus quicquam amplius reconditur,</HI> When the operation cea|&s;eth, the feeling of the plea&s;ure is al&s;o aboli&s;hed, and there is not any thing that is re&s;erved of it. Our tran&s;lation reads it, <HI>There was no profit.</HI> For what profit can there bee, when of all things there is one end, va|nity? Vnle&s;&s;e that any one can find profit in vexation of &s;pirit. La&s;tly, &s;eeing the Preacher u&s;eth &s;o often this phra&s;e <HI>under the Sun,</HI> perhaps hee con&s;idered,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 18.5.</NOTE> what his father &s;aid of God, <HI>Po&s;uit in &s;ole Tabernaculum &s;u|um,</HI> he hath &s;et his Tabernacle in the Sunne, as the Septuagint and the vulgar Latine have it: as &s;hewing that he &s;peaketh of all things in this world under God. Or el&s;e the meaning of the phra&s;e is, that as farre and wide as the Sunne &s;hineth there is no true profit to be found upon earth in earthly things. The <HI>in&s;ulae fortunatae,</HI> fortunate Ilands, which any one may talke of, are but meere dreames, not lying any where un|der the Sunnes light.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="12-17" TYPE="verse">
<PB N="45" REF="26">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 12.</HI></BIBL> And I turned my &s;elfe to behold wi&s;e|dome, and madne&s;&s;e, and folly; for what can the man doe that commeth af|ter the King? Even that which hath beene already done.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 13.</HI></BIBL> Then I &s;aw that wi&s;dome excelleth fol|ly, as farre as light excelleth darke|ne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 14.</HI></BIBL> The wi&s;e mans eyes are in his head, but the foole walketh in darkne&s;&s;e: and I my &s;elfe perceived al&s;o that one event hapneth to them all.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 15.</HI></BIBL> Then &s;aid J in my heart; as it hapneth to the foole, &s;o it hapneth even to me, and why was J then more wi&s;e? Then J &s;aid in my heart, That this al&s;o is vanity.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 16.</HI></BIBL> For there is no remembrance of the wi&s;e more than of the foole for ever, &s;eeing that which now is, in the dayes to come &s;hall bee forgotten: and how dyeth the wi&s;e man? as the foole.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 17.</HI></BIBL> Therefore I hated life, becau&s;e the worke that is wrought under the Sunne is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of &s;pirit.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 12. The Preacher having returned to him&s;elfe, and rightly judged of the vanity of all inferiour and &s;en&s;uall delights; he turneth him&s;elfe now to view and con&s;ider the things belonging to the mind. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> and <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> begin the ver&s;e thus, <HI>Re&s;pexi ut vide|rem,</HI>
<PB N="46" REF="27"> I looked that I might behold, that is, he carefully looked, that he might under&s;tand. For many there are that doe looke upon things, but it is not to behold, it is not to under&s;tand them, it is onely be|cau&s;e they &s;tand in their way, becau&s;e they offer them&s;elves to their &s;ight. But he that will judge of things, mu&s;t looke upon them, as here the wi&s;e man doth, he mu&s;t looke upon them, that hee may behold them, he mu&s;t looke upon them, that he may looke into them. To expre&s;&s;e the pa&s;&s;ing of the Preacher from one matter to another, the Septuagint, and the Vulgar Latine after them, begin the ver&s;e thus, <HI>Tran&s;ivi ad contemplandum,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sancto Vict. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> I pa&s;&s;ed to con&s;ider; and <HI>Hugo de Sancto Vi|ctore</HI> noteth upon it, that <HI>Hebraeus,</HI> and Hebrew in the Originall &s;ignifieth <HI>Tran&s;euntem</HI> one that pa&s;&s;eth along, as if the King were made a right Hebrew herein. For let the heathen boa&s;t of what they can, the He|brewes were the fir&s;t that attained to humane wi&s;dome, and knowledge. But to pa&s;&s;e on with the Preacher. <HI>To behold wi&s;edome and madne&s;&s;e and folly:</HI> by <HI>wi&s;dome</HI> I under&s;tand a Philo&s;ophicall prudence, by <HI>mad|ne&s;&s;e</HI> the curio&s;ity of men, either in pur&s;uing after things above their &s;trength, or in plea&s;ing them&s;elves with their owne toyes, by <HI>folly</HI> the &s;implicity of men in not perceaving or mi&s;apprehending the right cour&s;e of things. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;uppo&s;eth the&s;e two to be added to wi&s;dome, as noting the wi&s;dome to which man attaineth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Plus erroris &s;tultitiae&abque; habere quam verae certae&abque; prudentiae. Ita&abque; illa quae novimus, opinari nos potius quam tenere, &amp; ae&s;timare magis quam &s;cire quod verum e&s;t,</HI> To have in it more errour and folly, then true and certaine wi&s;dome. And therefore that even tho&s;e things which we doe know, wee doe rather imagine then apprehend, and doe &s;uppo&s;e rather then conceive that which is right. Now this doth well agree with that reading which a Greeke Father hath of the latter part of the ver&s;e, who &s;aith, <HI>Quis e&s;t ho|mo, qui ingredietur po&s;t con&s;ilium ea, quaecun&abque; ip&s;um fecit?</HI> Who is the man that will enter after coun&s;ell into all tho&s;e things, which coun&s;ell it &s;elfe hath made? To which the an&s;wer is implyed, it is madne&s;&s;e and folly to attempt it, it is madne&s;&s;e and folly that is attained by it. Where the Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> is tran&s;lated coun&s;ell, according to the Chaldee &s;ignification of it: and <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> telleth us, that by coun&s;ell in the latter part, is under&s;tood that wi&s;dome whereof the fir&s;t part of the ver&s;e &s;peaketh. But to take madne&s;&s;e and folly, as they are plainely oppo&s;ed to wi&s;dome, it is well noted by <HI>Hugo,</HI> that fir&s;t he looked up|on wi&s;dome,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE> as thereby comming to behold madne&s;&s;e and folly. For as he &s;peaketh, <HI>Nemo ad tenebras vadit ut videat tenebras, &s;ed ad lucem venit ut videat per lucem, non &s;olum lucem, &s;ed &amp; tenebras &amp; lucem,</HI> No one goeth to darkne&s;&s;e, that he may &s;ee darkne&s;&s;e; but he commeth to the light, that by the light he may &s;ee, not only light, but light and darkne&s;&s;e al&s;o. Fir&s;t therefore the Preacher &s;aith, that <HI>hee beheld wi&s;e|dome,</HI> that &s;o he might behold <HI>In ip&s;&acirc; quod ip&s;a e&s;t &s;apientia, &amp; per ip&s;am, errores &amp; &s;tultitiam, quod ip&s;a non e&s;t &s;apientia,</HI> In wi&s;edome it &s;elfe, what it &s;elfe is, and by it &s;elfe madne&s;&s;e and folly, which wi&s;edome it &s;elfe is
<PB N="47" REF="27"> not, as <HI>Hugo</HI> addeth. The la&s;t part of the ver&s;e the Septuagint doe read in a much different manner: and Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us, that from their reading, <HI>Multum in hoc loco &s;en&s;us diver&s;us e&s;t,</HI> much in this place is the &s;en&s;e different. But I doe not &s;ee, but that the &s;en&s;e al&s;o is as much dif|ferent from the reading which him&s;elfe bringeth. Our tran&s;lation a|greeth with <HI>Tremellius,</HI> but that it agreeth fully with the Originall is more than I perceive. I de&s;iring to come as neere to the Originall, as I could, &s;hould render it thus, for what is that man, who &s;hall attaine af|ter the King, to that which they have already made him? That is, to that which wi&s;dome, and the knowledge of madne&s;&s;e and folly have made him: thereby implying the perfection to which he had attained, &s;o that he was the better able to judge of the&s;e things. There is in this ver&s;e, and the former, and in &s;ome other ver&s;es, a kind of emphaticall u&s;e of the pronoune <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>ego,</HI> I turned my &s;elfe. And I conceive that it is &s;o u&s;ed by the Preacher; thereby to &s;hew unto us, that it was a thing, which he did of him&s;elfe, and of his owne &s;etled purpo&s;e; and that it was not done by the meanes of any other occa&s;ion.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 13. <HI>Then I &s;aw,</HI> That is, hee had no &s;ooner turned him&s;elfe to behold, but he &s;aw pre&s;ently the excellency of wi&s;dome above folly: it being &s;o great, &s;o manife&s;t, that it appeared forthwith, and was as clearely di&s;cerned as the excellency of light is above the darkne&s;&s;e. But yet he &s;aw, before he judged; he did not ra&s;hly deliver his &s;entence, as the manner of too many is, commending things and preferring them before others, before they &s;ee any good cau&s;e why to doe it. Of Al|mighty God Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Quae probat videt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. Hexam. l. <HI>1.</HI> cap. <HI>9.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&amp; quae videt pro|bat,</HI> Tho&s;e things which he approveth he &s;eeth, and tho&s;e things which he &s;eeth he approveth; and &s;o it is with tho&s;e that feare God, they doe not approve any thing but that which they &s;ee to be good, neither doe they delight to &s;ee any thing, but that which for the goodne&s;&s;e of it, they approve. And fitly is it &s;aid, that he &s;aw the excellency of wi&s;e|dome. For as Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> al&s;o &s;aith, <HI>Bonorum proprium e&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;us Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>ut exter|no commendatore non egeant, &s;ed gratiam &s;uam quum videntur ip&s;a te&s;tan|tur. Plus est quod probatur a&s;pectu, quam quod &s;ermone laudatur,</HI> It is the property of good things, that they doe not need an externall pray&s;er, but them&s;elves when they are &s;eene, doe te&s;tifie their grace. It is a greater excellency which is approved by &s;ight, then that is which is commen|ded by &s;peech. Againe by this phra&s;e hee doth properly &s;et out the nature of wi&s;dome, <HI>Quae videndo complacet, quoniam ip&s;a videndi offici|um &s;ubmini&s;trat,</HI> which plea&s;eth in being &s;eene, becau&s;e it is it &s;elfe which giveth ability of rightly &s;eeing things. <HI>Then I &s;aw that wi&s;dome excelleth folly:</HI> It is a humane wi&s;dome whereof I conceive him to &s;peake, which therefore though he could not free from vanity, yet doth he pre|ferre before folly, as <HI>much as light is to be preferred before darkne&s;&s;e.</HI> Now light hath God him&s;elfe for the prai&s;er of it, and it is the fir&s;t thing that God prai&s;ed. Let there bee light, is the fir&s;t word that God ever &s;pake, and that God &s;aw the light to be good, is the fir&s;t prai&s;e that God ever
<PB N="48" REF="28"> gave.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambr. Jbid.</NOTE> Wherefore Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Vnde vox Dei in divina Scrip|tura debuit inchoare, ni&s;i a lumine? Vnde mundi ornatus ni&s;i a luce exordi|um &s;umere?</HI> From whence ought the voice of God, in Scripture to be|gin, but from the light? From whence &s;hould the beauty of the world take his beginning, but from the lights excellency? A&s;&s;oone as God had made the light, hee divided the darkene&s;&s;e from it, as if he would not have the excellency thereof to be di&s;honoured by the company of it: or as &s;hewing the unworthine&s;&s;e of darkne&s;&s;e, as not being fit to be joyned with light. Let it therefore be our care al&s;o, to divide wi&s;dome from folly: the &s;ociety of the one doth much &s;hame the other, and indeed mo&s;t unworthy is folly, &s;o much as to be joyned in compari&s;on with wi&s;dome.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ny&s;&s;. in Eccle&s;.</NOTE><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 14. <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> &s;peaking of this ver&s;e &s;aith, <HI>E&s;tne ullum animal eorum qui caput habent, quod habaet oculos extra caput?</HI> Is there any living creature which hath a head, and hath not his eyes in his head? What is this therefore, that the Preacher &s;aith of a wi&s;eman, that he hath his eyes in his head? The an&s;wer which hee giveth is this. That Chri&s;t is the head of a wi&s;eman, and that his eyes are fixed upon Chri&s;t.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mag. Moral. l. <HI>17.</HI> cap. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> And &s;o doth Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> the great expound or rather apply the words &s;aying, <HI>Sapiens qui&s;que illum tota intentione con&s;iderat, cujus &s;e membrum per fidem pen&s;at,</HI> Every wi&s;e man thinketh upon him with the whole intention of his mind, a member of whom by faith he con&s;ide|reth him&s;elfe to be.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Olympiod. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Olympiodorus</HI> expounding the words, more large|ly &s;aith, That a <HI>Wi&s;e man hath his eyes in his head, Quia ad &s;uprema vi&s;um &amp; animum erectum habet, coele&s;tia meditatur, cogitat&abque; illa quae Dei &s;unt, non contemplante illo quae videntur, &s;ed quae non videntur,</HI> Becau&s;e he hath his &s;ight and his mind lifted up unto the highe&s;t things, he meditateth hea|venly things, he thinketh on the things of God, he mindeth not tho&s;e things which are &s;eene, but tho&s;e things which are not &s;eene. <HI>Gregor. Neocae&s;arien&s;is</HI> expounding tho&s;e words &s;aith, <HI>Sicut &s;apienter Deus cu&s;to|des oculos in capite collocavit ut longius pertingere vi&s;u po&s;sint; Sic &s;apiens in capite ponit vi&s;um, h. e. intellectum &s;uum (hic e&s;t oculus animae) h.e. ita ut quae &agrave; longe &s;unt pro&s;picere valeat,</HI> As God hath wi&s;ely placed tho&s;e keepers, the eyes in the head, from whence their &s;ight is able to reach farre; &s;o a wi&s;e man placeth his &s;ight, that is, his under&s;tanding (for that is the eye of the &s;oule) in his head, that is, &s;o, that hee may bee able to di&s;cerne tho&s;e things which are a farre of, as namely what &s;hall bee at death, what after death, what account hee &s;hall give to God, what in hell the damned &s;uffer, what in heaven the ble&s;&s;ed enjoy. And then going on and expounding the next words he &s;aith, <HI>But the foole walketh in darkne&s;&s;e,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Neo|cae&s;arien&s;is in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> that is, <HI>Ignorat haec omnia, &amp; qui haec ignorat, caecus &amp; &s;tul|tus e&s;t, quamvis omnes mundi &s;cientias norit,</HI> Is ignorant of all the&s;e things, and hee that is ignorant of the&s;e things is blind and a foole, al|though he have all the knowledge of the world. Wherefore a Greeke Father al&s;o &s;aith, <HI>Verae &s;unt tenebroe acer vi&s;us in &s;en&s;ibilibus,</HI> A &s;harp &s;ight in worldly things is indeed true darkene&s;&s;e. A foole then hath
<PB N="49" REF="28"> not his eyes in his head but in his heeles, <HI>Nam quando vis animae contem|plativa occupatur in rebus &s;en&s;ibilibus, in ejus calcaneos oculorum tran&s;it na|tura,</HI> For when the contemplative power of the &s;oule is bu&s;ied in world|ly things, the nature of the eyes pa&s;&s;eth to the heeles, which the Ser|pent pur&s;ueth, and biteth with his teeth, as <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> al&s;o hath it. But if we take the wi&s;e man here to be a humane wi&s;e man, we may un|der&s;tand <HI>his eyes to be in his head,</HI> becau&s;e he looketh <HI>in capita et principia rerum,</HI> into the cau&s;es and beginnings of things, and marketh what is chiefely to be regarded in them; <HI>whereas a foole walketh in darkne&s;&s;e,</HI> nei|ther con&s;idering from whence things come and ari&s;e, neither whither they goe, nor to what they tend. A wi&s;e man &s;eeth what is pa&s;t, fore|&s;eeth what is to come, and accordingly ordereth his wayes; whereas a foole, looketh no farther then the pre&s;ent, and when evill is pre&s;ent to &s;ei&s;e upon him, then onely &s;eeth it. A wi&s;e man is &s;harp-&s;ighted and circum&s;pect, marking all circum&s;tances for the right doing of any thing; wheras a foole goeth on in a confu&s;ed blind manner in all that he doth. But again&s;t this preferring of wi&s;edome before folly, as much as light is before darkne&s;&s;e: again&s;t this placing of a wi&s;e man above a foole, as much as the head is above the feete, the Preacher objecteth, <HI>That one event happeneth to them all:</HI> he &s;ayth not to them both, but to all of both; to all wi&s;e men, to all fooles. And this objection he &s;ayth that others need not to make, but that him&s;elfe al&s;o <HI>perceived it,</HI> him&s;elfe made it in his minde, and that thereupon he &s;ayd in his heart, as the next ver&s;e &s;heweth.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 15. I have not omitted to give &s;uch u&s;efull expo&s;itions of the former ver&s;es, as the words would beare. But the wi&s;edome wherof the twelfth ver&s;e &s;peaketh, being as I conceive to be under&s;tood of humane prudence and under&s;tanding: in the thirteenth ver&s;e, that is &s;ayd to give light to him that hath it, and therefore to preferre him before the ignorant who is in darkne&s;&s;e: in the fourteenth ver&s;e it is &s;ayd to be the eyes of the wi&s;e man, becau&s;e he &s;eeth farre into the natures, conditi|ons, cau&s;es, rea&s;ons, circum&s;tances, vertues, operations, events of things; whereas the foole walking in darkne&s;&s;e, &s;eeth not the things that are obvious unto him, and lie before his feete when he walketh. But again&s;t this the Preacher objecteth, that although the wi&s;e man &s;eeth &s;o farre into the nature and condition of things, and into the event of them, yet that one event happeneth to them all. And to this objection an&s;wering in this fifteenth ver&s;e; fir&s;t of all he granteth it; &s;econdly, he applyeth it; thirdly, he repineth at it; fourthly, he delivereth his &s;entence upon it. He granteth it in the&s;e words, <HI>Then &s;ayd I in my heart,</HI> I &s;ayd that it was &s;o, and in my heart confe&s;&s;ed it to be true. He applyeth it in the&s;e words, <HI>As it happeneth to the foole, &s;o it happeneth even to me,</HI> I cannot deny it in my &s;elfe, of whom it cannot be denyed, that my wi&s;edome is the greate&s;t of any. He repineth in the&s;e words, <HI>And why was I then more wi&s;e?</HI> Why did I take &s;o much paines to be wi&s;e? Why did I &s;o care|fully &s;earch into the nature and condition of things, foreca&s;t the events
<PB N="50" REF="29"> of things? He delivereth his &s;entence in the&s;e words, <HI>Then I &s;ayd in my heart, that this is al&s;o vanitie.</HI> Then I concluded of it, and &s;ayd in my heart, when I had con&s;idered of it, <HI>that this is al&s;o vanitie.</HI> And that we may not thinke it to be a &s;mall matter which he &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Abrah. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>10.</HI></NOTE> S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Quid deterius vanitate?</HI> What is wor&s;e then vanitie? The vanitie where|of this ver&s;e &s;peaketh, is this, That all the learning and wi&s;edome of man, is not able to di&s;po&s;e of the event of things, but that as they fall out to fooles, &s;o oftentimes to wi&s;e men. And therefore I may u&s;e the words of S. <HI>Au&s;tin,</HI> though not in his &s;en&s;e, <HI>Ambulat homo in imagine veritatis,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. de Temp. Serm. <HI>50.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&amp; conturbatur in con&s;ilio vanitatis,</HI> Man walketh in a &s;hadow of truth, and is di&s;quieted in the coun&s;ell of vanitie. This is that which the P&s;almi&s;t teacheth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 38.6.</NOTE> Surely every man walketh in a vaine &s;hew: &s;urely they are di&s;quieted in vaine: he heapeth up riches and knoweth not who &s;hall gather them. His wi&s;edome provideth that his &s;onne may gather them, that his &s;onne, a good husband, a wi&s;e man may enjoy them. But yet he knoweth not, what &s;hall be; perhaps it &s;hall be &s;o, per|haps not;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. Ibid.</NOTE> and as S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Inter forte fiet, forte non fiet; ne&s;cit quid fiet, &amp; vane conturbatur,</HI> betweene perhaps it &s;hall be done, perhaps it &s;hall not be done, he knoweth not what &s;hall be done, and di&s;quieteth him&s;elfe in vaine.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mo|ral. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>25.</HI></NOTE> S^t. <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;heweth this vanitie very well, &s;aying, <HI>Sae|p&egrave; dum cautus futurae praevidet, incautus damna prae&s;entia non videt: &s;aepe dum plus justo vigilantem &s;e in actione exhibet, ip&s;a actionis &s;uae inquietudine rebus &s;ubditis pejus nocet: plerumque tantis cogitationum voluminibus implicatur, ut ip&s;e ferre vix valeat, quae inter &s;e providus ver&s;at, et quum nihil opere fa|ciat, &s;ub magno cordis &s;ui pondere vehementer in&s;udet: plerumque qua&s;i ven|tura animus con&s;picit et fit plerumque ut nulla eveniant, quae praevidentur, totaque cogitatio illa quae diu plen&acirc; &s;e intentione paraverat, repente vacua re|quie&s;cit,</HI> Oftentimes while he is wary in fore&s;eeing things to come, unawares he doth not &s;ee pre&s;ent evils: oftentimes while he is too vigi|lant in his bu&s;ine&s;&s;e, his owne trouble&s;omne&s;&s;e doth mo&s;t hurt the bu|&s;ine&s;&s;e: not &s;eldome he is &s;o overwhelmed with the waves of his own thoughts, that he is unable to cary him&s;elfe up in tho&s;e things which his provident care to&s;&s;eth up and downe in his mind; and when he effecteth nothing, he &s;trugleth mightily under the burden of his owne heart: not &s;eldome his minde even beholdeth the things that are to come, and of|ten it commeth to pa&s;&s;e that none of them fall out; and all that imagi|nation which with a great deale of earne&s;tne&s;&s;e made it &s;elfe ready to entertaine what it looked for, re&s;teth at length emptie of what it ex|pected. What therefore &s;hould this teach man, but not to tru&s;t to his owne wi&s;edome? What therefore &s;hould man doe, but with the care and diligence of his owne wi&s;edome, &s;eeke to God for his ble&s;&s;ing up|on on his wi&s;edome, to whom the events of all things are knowne, and by whom they are di&s;po&s;ed? To God let every one commit the event of things, and let no one judge of a wi&s;e mans care by the event that fol|loweth it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ny&s;&s;. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE></P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 16. <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> taketh the objection of the fourteenth
<PB N="51" REF="29"> ver&s;e to be propo&s;ed by the Preacher in the per&s;on of &s;ome other, and that rejecting it him&s;elfe, he &s;ayth, <HI>This is al&s;o vanitie.</HI> Accordingly therefore in this ver&s;e, he conceiveth the Preacher to confirme his re|jecting of it. And when the Preacher &s;ayth, <HI>Non e&s;t memoria &s;apientis cum &s;tulto in aeternum,</HI> The remembrance of the wi&s;e man is not with the foole for ever (for &s;o the Originall goes) he conceiveth it, That the memory of the wi&s;e man is for ever, but the memory of the foole is not &s;o. And therefore that although both dye, yet the dying of both is not alike. For as <HI>Hugo</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Hom. <HI>12.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Sapientia quae vitae prae&s;enti mortalitatem non tollit, futurae vitae tribuit aeternitatem,</HI> Wi&s;edome which doth not take away the mortalitie of this pre&s;ent life, giveth eternitie to the life to come. And whereas the Preacher &s;ayth, <HI>The things which now are, in the dayes to come &s;hall be forgotten, Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> under&s;tandeth them of the things of a foole. La&s;tly, whereas the Preacher &s;ayth, <HI>How dyeth the wi&s;e man? as the foole.</HI> (For &s;o the Originall may be well rendred) he conceiveth it in this manner. How therefore doth any one &s;ay, that the one dyeth as the other? For as <HI>Hugo de Sancto Victore</HI> al&s;o &s;ayth, <HI>Quare un&acirc; vi&acirc; ab hac vita exeunt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>qui po&s;t hanc vitam ad unum prae|mium non pertingunt?</HI> Why doe they goe the &s;ame way out of this life, who after this life doe not come unto the &s;ame reward? But to under|&s;tand this pa&s;&s;age of the prudent and fooli&s;h, learned and unlearned; for &s;o in this place the Septuagint, and after them the Vulgar Latin doe reade it, &s;aying, <HI>Mo itur doctus &s;imiliter et indoctus,</HI> The learned dyeth as well as the unlearned. And to take <HI>Solomon</HI> as granting the objecti|on made in the fourteenth ver&s;e, here he confirmeth the truth of it by another argument; becau&s;e the memory of the wi&s;eman, as well as of the foole doth not abide for ever. They are the words of King <HI>Theodo|ric</HI> in <HI>Ca&s;siodore,</HI> though there uttered in another &s;en&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;iodoru<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">. var.</NOTE> <HI>Magnum benefi|cium, oblivionis ne&s;cire defectum, &amp; quaedam &s;imilitudo ver&egrave; coele&s;tium e&s;t,</HI> It is a great benefit, not to know the decay of forgetfulne&s;&s;e, and it is a kinde of &s;imilitude of true heavenly things. But it is the condition of a wi&s;e man as well as of a foole to be forgotten: and though a wi&s;e man may be remembred &s;omewhat longer then a foole; yet in re&s;pect of for ever, they are both forgotten alike. For in that, in eternitie, the <GAP DESC="foreign"> the <HI>Iam,</HI> the now <HI>dierum tran&s;euntium</HI> of dayes that pa&s;&s;e away is wholy &s;wallowed up, wholy forgotten; in which manner I conceive the Originall words to be mo&s;t fitly tran&s;lated. And though while the wi&s;e man and the foole live, there be &s;ome difference betweene them, yet when they are dead, in re&s;pect of the memory of them for ever there is no difference. For &s;o I under&s;tand the la&s;t part of the ver&s;e in refe|rence to the former, and doe not take it to be another argument, proo|ving the equalitie of them, <HI>in that they both dye.</HI> But yet &s;eeing the words may be &s;o taken, it may be con&s;idered, that though the learned man know many things, yet he knoweth not how to e&s;cape death, that is be|yond his skill. And as <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca.</NOTE> <HI>Errores fortunae mors inevitabilis reformat,</HI> inevitable death reformeth the errours of fortune, making the
<PB N="52" REF="30"> rich and poore, noble and ignoble alike; So it may be &s;ayd, <HI>Differenti|as &s;cientiae mors confundit,</HI> The differences of learning death confoundeth, and &s;huts up both learned and unlearned in the grave. <HI>Laertius</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Laertius.</NOTE> repor|teth, that <HI>Alexander</HI> &s;eeing <HI>Diogenes</HI> tumbling among dead bones, he a&s;|ked him what he &s;ought, to whom the other replyed, that which I can|not finde, the difference betweene the rich and the poore. And he that &s;hall &s;eeke there the difference betweene the learned and unlearned, &s;hall never finde it al&s;o. Wherefore this may well quell the pride of any ones wi&s;edome, any ones learning: and let this make every wi&s;e man, to &s;eeke that happine&s;&s;e, wherein not onely his memory but him|&s;elfe &s;hall be immortall.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 17. <HI>I hated life: I</HI> who abounded &s;o much with all things, which might make me to love it. <HI>I</HI> whom the delights of this life did even wooe, to winne mine affection. <HI>I hated.</HI> Indeed I had given mine heart to the plea&s;ures of this life, I had pur&s;ued them with the heate of mine affection: but finding my heart to be deceived, my de&s;ire fru&s;tra|ted, my love deluded, this hath turned it into hatred. <HI>I hated life,</HI> not onely the things of this life, but even life it &s;elfe which is &s;pent in &s;uch things, as being fooli&s;hly led on, &s;hamefully wa&s;ted, wretchedly im|ployed.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de bono mortis. c. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> For as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Quid e&s;t, quo haec vita delectet, in qua et multae mole&s;tiae, et multae lachrymae eorum, qui afflictantur mole&s;tiis, &amp; non e&s;t qui eos con&s;oletur?</HI> What is there in this life that may truely plea&s;e, in which there are many troubles, and many teares of tho&s;e that are troubled, and there is not at all wherewith to comfort them? <HI>Therefore I hated life,</HI> therefore, becau&s;e of the confu&s;ion of things before &s;poken of, <HI>Quum tota confu&s;ioni &s;it obnoxia, neque in bonis &s;uis dum &s;tare videtur, neque in malis &s;uis dum finitur, bonos a malis, vel dignos ab indignis &s;ecernit,</HI> Seeing it is all of it &s;ubject to confu&s;ion, and neither in the good things of it, while it &s;eemeth to continue, nor in the bad things of it, when it is ended, doth di&s;tingui&s;h the bad from the good, or the worthy from the unworthy, as an ancient Writer &s;peaketh. <HI>Therefore I hated life,</HI> which me &s;eemes <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;peaketh with &s;uch an indignation, as when <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Sene. Quae&s;t. Natur. l. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>O quam contempta res est homo, ni&s;i &s;upra humana &s;e erexerit,</HI> O how contemptible a thing is man, unle&s;&s;e he be lifted up above the things of men! But the Originall expre&s;&s;eth it &s;elfe more fully, then by <HI>life,</HI> that &s;ayth, <HI>I hated lives,</HI> not onely this kinde of life, or that kinde of life, not onely this time of life, or that time of life, not onely the life of this man, or of that man, but the lives of all men, of all kindes, of all times. I hated mine owne life as well as the life of others. Mine owne life, <HI>becau&s;e the worke that is wrought under the Sunne is grievous unto me:</HI> the life of others, <HI>becau&s;e all is vanitie and vexation of &s;pirit.</HI> That which our tran&s;lation hath <HI>is grievous unto me,</HI> the Originall delivereth thus <GAP DESC="foreign"> which S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> tran&s;lateth, <HI>Malum &s;upra me,</HI> evill above me, above my skill, my &s;trength, my command to make it good unto me by any meanes. <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> tran&s;lateth it, <HI>Malum adver&s;um me,</HI> evill a|gain&s;t me: for though it pretend the delight and plea&s;ing of me, yet in
<PB N="53" REF="30"> truth it is hurtfull and pernicious unto me.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. Epi&s;t. <HI>36.</HI> ad Licenti|um.</NOTE> For as S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaking of the things of this life &s;ayth, <HI>Habent a&s;peritatem veram, jucunditatem fal|&s;am, certum dolorem, incertam voluptatem, durum laborem, timidam quie|tem, rem plenam mi&s;eriae, &s;pem beatitudinis inanem,</HI> They have true bitter|ne&s;&s;e, fal&s;e contentment, certaine griefe, uncertaine plea&s;ure, hard la|bour, fearefull re&s;t, matter full of mi&s;ery, hope emptie of happine&s;&s;e. <HI>All is vanitie and vexation of &s;pirit.</HI> And therefore as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de bono mortis. c. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Quid mi&s;erius, quam ut cu&s;todia torqueat, quorum abundantia non profit?</HI> What more mi&s;erable, then that the keeping of tho&s;e things &s;hould torment by vexation of &s;pirit, the abundance whereof by the vanitie of them doth no way profit? The hatred therefore which the Preacher here &s;peaketh of, I conceive to be rather an elegant and forcible ex|pre&s;&s;ion of the mi&s;erable vanitie of mans life, little de&s;erving any love, then that the Preacher had any &s;uch affection in him&s;elfe of it.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="18-19" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 18.</HI></BIBL> Yea I hated all my labour, which I had ta|ken under the Sunne: becau&s;e J &s;hould leave it unto the man that &s;hould be af|ter me.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 19.</HI></BIBL> And who knoweth whether he &s;hall be a wi&s;e man, or a foole? Yet &s;hall he have rule over all my labour, wherein J have laboured, and wherein I have &s;hewed my &s;elfe wi&s;e under the Sunne. This is al&s;o vanitie.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 18. It is the commandement of God in the law of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Lev.</HI> 11.41.</NOTE> <HI>E|very creeping thing that creepeth on the earth, &s;hall be an abomination unto thee.</HI> And what is all mans labour concerning the things of this life, but a creeping thing on the earth? Wherefore <HI>Solomon</HI> might well &s;ay, <HI>I hated all my labour.</HI> But there are in this ver&s;e couched together &s;ix rea&s;ons of the Preachers hatred. Fir&s;t, becau&s;e it was <HI>labour</HI> and toyle|&s;ome unto him: &s;econdly, becau&s;e it was labour taken <HI>under the Sunne,</HI> and for things of ba&s;e unworthine&s;&s;e: thirdly, becau&s;e he mu&s;t <HI>leave it</HI> and pa&s;&s;e it over: for as a Father &s;peaketh, <HI>Tran&s;mi&s;&s;ores &s;umus, non po&s;&s;e&s;|&s;ores,</HI> wee are onely conveyers to others of the things of this life, not po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ours of them: fourthly, becau&s;e he mu&s;t leave them to <HI>the man</HI> he knoweth not who: and as S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh, perhaps to &s;ome thiefe,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. de Temp. Serm. <HI>50.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Qui una nocte venit, et tot diebus et noctibus congregatum invenit pa|ratum. Et multa quae congregavit inanis vanitas, parata invenit ho&s;tilis ini|quitas,</HI> who commeth in one night, and findeth that ready for him,
<PB N="54" REF="31"> which was gathered and laboured for, many dayes and nights. And tho&s;e things which an idle vanitie &s;craped together, an ho&s;tile crueltie taketh as ready prey: fifthly, becau&s;e him&s;elfe mu&s;t goe away, that the other may come <HI>after him,</HI> and enjoy his labours: la&s;tly, becau&s;e he doth leave his labours to tho&s;e, who &s;hall al&s;o goe away as him&s;elfe doth.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. Ibid.</NOTE> For they are as S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh, but <HI>&s;ucce&s;&s;uri non perman&s;uri,</HI> They are but &s;uch, as &s;hall come <HI>after him</HI> and &s;ucceed him, they are not &s;uch as &s;hall continue when he is gone. And therefore &s;uppo&s;e that a man leaveth his labours to his children, yet S^t. <HI>Austin</HI> doth hand&s;ome|ly mocke at it; &s;aying, <HI>Magna pietas, the&s;aurizat pater filiis, imo magna va|nitas, the&s;aurizat moriturus morituris,</HI> O great naturall affection, the Fa|ther laboureth and gathereth riches for his children; yea rather, O great vanitie, he that &s;hall dye him&s;elfe, laboureth for them that &s;hall dye al|&s;o. In the beginning of the ver&s;e, the Pronoune <HI>I,</HI> in the Originall is u&s;ed with an Empha&s;is, as noting that he was the &s;ame who now did hate, who before did love, and that as he had given him&s;elfe to delight in the things of this life, &s;o he could take away him&s;elfe againe, and make him&s;elfe to hate them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ni&s;. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> And <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> noting here, that he calleth his plea&s;ures <HI>labour,</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Per hoc quod laborem nominavit delitias, &s;ignificat, quod per vim veluti quoddam difficile certamen admi&s;it voluptatis participationem;</HI> by this that he termeth his delights labour, he &s;ignifi|eth, that he admitted the tryall of plea&s;ure, as putting him&s;elfe to &s;ome di&s;tre&s;&s;e, and as it were entring into a hard combat, that his wi&s;edome might both comply with him, and yet keepe a ruling and commanding hand over his delights. Now let the con&s;ideration of this ver&s;e, make us in our hearts to leave our worldly goods, before that we leave them in the world. And if any hatred ari&s;e in us by rea&s;on of this mi&s;ery, let it be again&s;t our &s;innes the cau&s;e of it, not again&s;t our labour, wherein we are by God appointed to imploy our time.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 19. From the more generall complaint, of not knowing who &s;hall come after, the Preacher de&s;cendeth to a more particular complaint, of not knowing, whether he that commeth after &s;hall <HI>be a wi&s;e man, or a foole.</HI> If he be a wi&s;e man, then he complaineth, that he &s;hall <HI>have rule over all his labour, wherein he hath laboured,</HI> and that when he hath taken the paines and care, another &s;hall enjoy the comfort and plea&s;ure of it: if he be a foole, then he complaineth, that he &s;hould have authoritie over his labour, <HI>wherein he hath &s;hewed him&s;elfe wi&s;e under the Sunne.</HI> Or el&s;e wee may &s;uppo&s;e the Preacher, to &s;peake onely of the foole, and to omit to &s;peake of the wi&s;e man, that &s;hould come after him, as being contented with his owne lo&s;&s;e, &s;o that a wi&s;e man might gaine his labour and &s;ucceed him in it. But that a foole &s;hould be ma|&s;ter of his labour, as if him&s;elfe had been a &s;ervant to him in it; this he &s;ayth <HI>is a great vanitie.</HI> For though our Engli&s;h <HI>Al&s;o</HI> doth not expre&s;&s;e this unto us, yet the Originall <GAP DESC="foreign"> doth import &s;o much. And there|fore the Septuagint, and after them the Vulgar Latin doe render it, <HI>Et e&s;t quicquam tam vanum?</HI> And is there any thing &s;o vaine? For as
<PB N="55" REF="31"> <HI>Hugo de S. Victore</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Si vana &s;unt haec omnia,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sancto Vict. in Eccle&s;. Homil. <HI>12.</HI></NOTE> <HI>etiam in no&s;tros u&s;us quae&s;ita &amp; retenta, quid erunt ad &s;tultorum voluptatem tran&s;mi&s;&s;a?</HI> If all the&s;e things be vaine, being gotten and kept to our owne u&s;e, what will they be being left to the plea&s;ure of a foole? If all the&s;e bee vaine be|ing left to a wi&s;e &s;onne, who as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. de Temp. Ser. <HI>50.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Servabit quod di|mi&s;i&s;ti, augebit quod &s;ervasti,</HI> will keepe that which thou ha&s;t left him, will encrea&s;e that which thou ha&s;t kept: what &s;hall they be being left to a foole, who will manife&s;t his folly in that wherein thou ha&s;t &s;hewed thy wi&s;dome, <HI>Et fluendo perdet quod tu laborando congrega&s;ti;</HI> and by a profu&s;ene&s;&s;e will wa&s;t that, which thou by labouring ha&s;t gathered? Saint <HI>Hierome,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> becau&s;e the Preacher &s;peaketh of <HI>&s;hewing his wi&s;dome</HI> will not have the ver&s;e to bee under&s;tood of worldly things, for &s;aith hee, what wi&s;edome is there in them? He therefore expoundeth the place of the labours of &s;pirituall wi&s;edome in writing of bookes, wherein a man having laboured night and day, yet they may come into the hands of fooles, who thence may take the &s;eeds of here&s;ie, and bring a &s;lander upon them. A Greeke Father marking tho&s;e words, hee expoun|deth them another way, and &s;aith, It is not the manner of every one, <HI>cognitionis cau&s;a dimittere &s;en&s;um, ad faciendum harum rerum peri|culum. Quod quidem ego inquit, per &s;apientiam feci,</HI> For experience &s;ake to let loo&s;e his &s;en&s;uall delight, thereby to get a tryall of the&s;e things, which I by wi&s;edome was able for to doe. For &s;uffering the de&s;ire of nature, as it were a young Colt, <HI>Libere in inferioribus parumper exultare animi motibus,</HI> A little while to &s;port it &s;elfe freely in the inferiour mo|tions of the &s;oule, I did againe reine it backe by rea&s;on, and made it &s;ubject to my power. But who can tell, whether hee that &s;hall have rule over my things, will not rather &s;erve his plea&s;ure, then keepe a ruling hand over it, and &s;o like a foole, make my riches and abundance the matter of his wickedne&s;&s;e. But the plaine&s;t &s;en&s;e is to under&s;tand here a humane wi&s;edome, which <HI>Solomon</HI> having &s;hewed in his great workes, &s;trong Ca&s;tles, &s;tately buildings which he had made, hee com|plaineth that they &s;hould come to a foole coming after him, who nei|ther would di&s;cerne the wi&s;dome of them, nor have wit how to u&s;e them. This therefore &s;hould make Parents carefull to bring up their children in knowledge, and the practi&s;e of godline&s;&s;e, that &s;o the hope of their religious and di&s;creete lives when them&s;elves are dead, may di|mini&s;h this mi&s;ery while they are yet alive.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="20-21" TYPE="verse">
<PB N="56" REF="32">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 20.</HI></BIBL> Therefore I went about to cau&s;e my heart to de&s;paire of the labour which I tooke under the Sunne.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 21.</HI></BIBL> For there is a man, who&s;e labour is in wi&s;edome, and in knowledge, and in equity: yet to a man that hath not la|boured therein, &s;hall hee leave it for his portion. This al&s;o is vanity, and a great evill.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 20. We have here <HI>Solomon</HI> turning another way, for &s;o the Originall mo&s;t directly &s;oundeth, &s;aying, <HI>Then I turned my &s;elfe to make my heart de&s;paire.</HI> For faine would his heart find contentment, and &s;ee|ing it could not be found in the vanity of his labour, he turned his heart to a carele&s;ne&s;&s;e of his labours, not regarding what did become of them: &s;eeing he could not find it in the vexation of his &s;pirit, he turned his heart to a &s;ecure de&s;paire of &s;pirit: there being &s;ome imaginary contentment in this,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. in P&s;al. <HI>129.</HI></NOTE> where none el&s;e is to bee had. But as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Fallax foelicitas, ip&s;a est major infoelicitas,</HI> a deceitfull happines is in it &s;elfe a greater unhappine&s;&s;e; and what&s;oever the ea&s;e of this cour&s;e may be to a di&s;tre&s;&s;ed mind, it is in it &s;elf the greater mi&s;ery. But <HI>Solomon</HI> would try all, and therfore here he &s;aith, <HI>that he made his heart de&s;paire, and that of all his labour which he took under the Sunne,</HI> as well of his better la|bour, as of his wor&s;er, as well of his labour of wi&s;dome, as of his labour to delight his &s;en&s;es, <HI>of all,</HI> becau&s;e where there is any hope, there is no de&s;paire. Now here wee have &s;et downe the two cau&s;es of de&s;paire, fir&s;t vanity, &s;econdly vexation. Vanity is a great cau&s;e of de&s;paire, for when men have laboured hard, and find no &s;ucce&s;&s;e, that makes them to de&s;paire of any &s;ucce&s;&s;e. Thus he that hath taken paines, and tryed many wayes to recall &s;ome one from his &s;infull cour&s;es, but cannot doe it, he de&s;paires of amendment. But as vanity is the cau&s;e of this de&s;paire, &s;o the de&s;paire is vanity.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. in P&s;al. <HI>55.</HI></NOTE> Wherefore Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Noli dicere, nunquid ecce talem hominem Deus correcturus e&s;t tam, malum tam perver|&s;um?</HI> Doe not &s;ay, what will God ever amend &s;uch a man, &s;o wicked, &s;o perver&s;e? <HI>Noli de&s;perare; quem rogas attende, non pro quo rogas: mag|nitudinem morbi vides, potentiam medici non vides,</HI> Doe not de&s;paire, look to him, to whom thou praye&s;t, doe not looke on him for whom thou praye&s;t: thou &s;ee&s;t the greatne&s;&s;e of the di&s;ea&s;e, thou do&s;t not &s;ee the power of the Phy&s;itian. Secondly, vexation of mind is a great cau&s;e of de&s;paire; for when the mind is vexed and cannot find comfort, then
<PB N="57" REF="32"> it &s;eeketh comfort in not &s;eeking of it. Thus when a haynous &s;inner is tortured in his Con&s;cience, and cannot get ea&s;e, then his ea&s;e is to de|&s;paire of pardon, then he &s;aith, <HI>Fruar hoc &s;aeculo in voluptate, in la&s;civia, in cupiditate nefaria: jam perdita &s;pe reparationis, vel habeam quod video, &s;i non po&s;&s;um habere quod credo,</HI> I will enjoy this life, in plea&s;ure, in wan|tonne&s;&s;e, and in the de&s;ires of &s;inne: now the hope of recovery being lo&s;t, yet let mee have that which I &s;ee, if I cannot have that which I beleeve. But as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>valde in profundo &s;unt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. in P&s;al. <HI>129.</HI></NOTE> <HI>qui nec clamant de profundo,</HI> they are &s;unke very deepe, who doe not cry out of the deepe. And to them <HI>David</HI> is &s;ent from God, as <HI>Nathan</HI> was to <HI>David,</HI> that from him they may learne to &s;eeke, and from his comfort, hope to find the mercy of God, though their &s;innes be very great. For as Saint <HI>Cyprian</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Nec quantitas criminis, nec brevitas temporis,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cypr. Serm. de Coena Do|mini.</NOTE> <HI>nec horae extremitas, nec vitae enormitas excludit &agrave; venia,</HI> Neither doth the greatne&s;&s;e of the fault, not the &s;hortne&s;&s;e of the time, neither the ex|tremity of the la&s;t houre, nor the enormity of the whole life exclude from pardon.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 1.</NOTE> When the <HI>Amalekite</HI> brought newes to <HI>David</HI> of King <HI>Sauls</HI> death, and that being de&s;ired by him&s;elfe, he &s;lew him, becau&s;e he &s;aw hee could not live: We read that <HI>David</HI> pre&s;ently commanded him to bee put to death, as one condemned by his owne mouth. But what was his offence here? One tels us, <HI>Illum David &s;tatim morte dam|navit, quum percu&s;&s;um ab ho&s;te de&s;pera&s;&s;et e&s;&s;e victurum, &amp; eum &s;ublata &s;pei fiducia jugula&s;&s;et,</HI> Therefore did <HI>David</HI> &s;lay him, becau&s;e when the King was wounded by the enemy, he de&s;paired of his life, and that having no confidence of hope he had killed the Lords annoynted. For he &s;hould have u&s;ed his be&s;t diligence to have pre&s;erved <HI>Saul,</HI> and not by de&s;paire of helpe, to &s;ay he could not live. And &s;urely whether the danger bee our owne, or the danger of any other, we mu&s;t never de&s;paire, that will make our owne ca&s;e the more dangerous, the ca&s;e of others the more remedile&s;&s;e: and what ea&s;e &s;o ever wee may finde in it, it may ea&s;ily bring evill upon us. But to returne to <HI>Solomon,</HI> and to his turning him|&s;elfe to a carele&s;&s;e negligence in de&s;paire of things, it &s;erveth to con|demne the never wearied covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e of &s;ome, the never tyred am|bition of others, who notwith&s;tanding the vanity, and vexation that the Preacher &s;heweth, yet have no &s;top nor &s;tay of them&s;elves.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 21. The Preacher giveth here the rea&s;on of his de&s;paire, be|cau&s;e neither wi&s;edome nor knowledge, nor equity were able to give hope to his labour, and what then could? That which our tran&s;lati|on and <HI>Tremellius</HI> reade <HI>equity,</HI> in the Originall is <GAP DESC="foreign">, and by the Septuagint is rendred <HI>&s;olicitudo</HI> carefulne&s;&s;e; by Saint <HI>Hierome virtus,</HI> vertue or power, by <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> it is read <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>animi magnitudo,</HI> a courage or greatne&s;&s;e of mind, by Pagnine and <HI>Arias Montanus, rectitudo</HI> a rightne&s;&s;e, but as I conceive, the French doth tran&s;late it ve|ry well, <HI>adre&s;&s;&egrave;,</HI> a right directing and ordering of things. <HI>There is</HI> (&s;aith the Preacher) <HI>a man,</HI> that is, though there be not many &s;uch, yet there is a man; and it may be &s;peaking of him&s;elfe and in commenda|tion
<PB N="58" REF="33"> of him&s;elfe, therefore hee &s;aith indefinitely there is a man, <HI>who&s;e labour is</HI> (and I take the Originall to note the labour with &s;ome empha|&s;is) <HI>in wi&s;dome knowledge and equity.</HI> Which may be under&s;tood two wayes, either that wi&s;edome knowledge and equity, were the things wherein hee laboured, or el&s;e that his labour was about other things, and that they were done in wi&s;edome, knowledge, and equity. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> will not have the ver&s;e by any meanes to be under&s;tood this lat|ter way, for &s;aith he, <HI>Quid ad opes terrae pertinent &s;apientia, &s;cientia, virtus, in quibus &s;e labora&s;&s;e te&s;tatus e&s;t, quum &s;apientiae, &s;cientiae, atque virtutis &s;it cal|care terrena,</HI> What doe wi&s;dome, and knowledge and vertue belong to the glorious things of the earth, wherein hee te&s;tifieth that hee labou|red? When as it belongeth to wi&s;dome, knowledge, and vertue to de|&s;pi&s;e earthly things. And becau&s;e the Preacher hath before &s;poken of his labour in wi&s;dome according to this &s;en&s;e, in the nineteenth ver&s;e, therefore I doe here rather conceive him to &s;peake in the former &s;en&s;e. And yet if any like better the other meaning, then he may di|&s;tingui&s;h, wi&s;edome, knowledge, rightne&s;&s;e in this &s;ort. Fir&s;t, that his labour was in wi&s;dome, becau&s;e he had layd a wi&s;e foundation for it, and for the beginning of it: Secondly, that it was in knowledge, be|cau&s;e he proceeded on according to knowledge: and, Thirdly, in right|ne&s;&s;e, becau&s;e he directed and ordered it to a right end; or el&s;e in equi|tie, becau&s;e it was without iniquity. According to the other meaning we may di&s;tingui&s;h them thus. Fir&s;t, that his labour was in wi&s;edome in re&s;pect of higher things: Secondly, in knowledge, in re&s;pect of in|feriour things: Thirdly, in rightne&s;&s;e, in re&s;pect of a right ordering and directing the affaires of this life, or el&s;e in equity, in re&s;pect of a ju&s;t ordering of them. Otherwi&s;e they may be di&s;tingui&s;hed thus. Fir&s;t, that his labour was in wi&s;dome for the matter of it: in knowledge for the manner of it; in rightne&s;&s;e for the end of it, or el&s;e in equity, in re|gard of an equall and indifferent judgement in the pur&s;uite of it. Hee addeth, <HI>Yet to a man that hath not laboured therein &s;hall he leave it for his portion.</HI> Now if we follow the latter meaning of the former words, then the Preachers complaint is, that he &s;hall leave his labour to one who hath not laboured with him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> and as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Su|dor mortui erunt delitiae viventis,</HI> the &s;weate of the dead &s;hall bee the baths of delight to the living. If wee embrace the former meaning of the former words, then the Preachers complaint is, that hee &s;hall leave his labour to him, who hath not laboured in wi&s;edome, know|ledge, rightne&s;&s;e: but being <HI>Otio&s;us</HI> an idle per&s;on, as the Septuagint have it, hath not taken the paines to bee acquainted with them. And therefore <HI>Hugo de Sancto Victore</HI> expounding it &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sancto Vict. in Eccle&s;. Homil. <HI>12.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Nonnunquam &s;ub|&s;equentium negligentia hoc paratum in u&s;um a&s;&s;umere re&s;puit, quod priorum &s;agax diligentia non &s;ine grandi labore ac cura acqui&s;ivit,</HI> Oftentimes the negligence of them that come after, refu&s;eth to make u&s;e of that which is made ready for them, and which the wi&s;e diligence of tho&s;e that went before, obtained with great labour and care. Our tran&s;lation
<PB N="59" REF="33"> &s;aith, <HI>leave it,</HI> but the Originall &s;aith <HI>give it.</HI> And perhaps that word is rather to bee u&s;ed, as &s;hewing that the Preacher &s;peaketh of leaving it to &s;ome, either child, or kin&s;man, or friend: and perhaps thereby the Preacher al&s;o aggravateth his complaint, as &s;hewing that it &s;hould be his owne deed, and that him&s;elfe &s;hould be&s;tow his labours of worth upon an unworthy per&s;on: which though he doth in love, yet hee is as it were &s;orry that hee &s;hould doe it. Wherefore hee concludeth. <HI>This al&s;o is vanity and a great evill.</HI> Fir&s;t it is <HI>vanity,</HI> becau&s;e it is as <HI>Hu|go</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>In cognitione veritatis laborare, ut in notitiam illorum venia|mus, qui veritatem nec propter &s;e &s;u&s;cipere volunt, nec in aliis &s;ciunt appro|bare,</HI> To labour in the knowledge of truth, that wee may come into their knowledge, who neither will embrace the truth for them&s;elves, nor know how to approve of it in others. Secondly, it is <HI>evill, Quae &s;i quaerenti labor e&s;t, &amp; accipienti utilitas non e&s;t,</HI> becau&s;e if it bee labour to the &s;eeker, and no profit to the receiver, how can it choo&s;e, as one &s;peaketh, but be evill? Thirdly, it is <HI>a great evill, Quia &amp; ille malo &s;uo colligit, &amp; i&s;te accipit in malum,</HI> Becau&s;e the one doth gather it with his evill of labour, the other doth receive it to his evill of &s;hame, as the &s;ame Author al&s;o goeth on. Or el&s;e wee may apply the vanity to the great labour lo&s;t, the evill to the idle not-labouring per&s;on, the great|ne&s;&s;e of the evill to this, that hee mu&s;t leave it, who could and would make u&s;e of it; that he &s;hall have it, who neither will be nor can bee the better for it. That which our tran&s;lation hath, <HI>for his portion,</HI> accor|ding to the Originall may bee under&s;tood of the labourer, as &s;hewing that to be his portion, the portion of his labour, which hee leaveth to another, that laboured not for it. And if wee under&s;tand it of the portion of his e&s;tate in this world, a good way to ea&s;e the great evill and vanity of it, is to give a good part of it, to GOD and to pious u&s;es, which &s;hall not want a reward. But &s;o cold is the devotion of many herein, that rather than they will give any thing to GOD of whom they have received all, even when they have no children, no kindred, they will give it to a &s;tranger for names &s;ake, or for &s;ome other as poore a rea&s;on.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="22-23" TYPE="verse">
<PB N="60" REF="34">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 22.</HI></BIBL> For what hath a man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart wherein hee hath laboured under the Sunne.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 23.</HI></BIBL> For all his dayes are &s;orrowes, and his travell griefe: yet his heart taketh no re&s;t in the night. This is al&s;o va|nity.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 22. The Preacher here laboureth to expre&s;&s;e the labour of man. For there is <HI>labour,</HI> but it is without <HI>vexation of heart,</HI> and though the body toyle, the head worke hard, yet the heart is at re&s;t. There is al&s;o <HI>vexation of &s;pirit,</HI> but it is without <HI>labour:</HI> and though the heart be di&s;|quieted with care, or feare, or de&s;ire un&s;atisfied, or &s;uch like pa&s;&s;ion; yet the body is at ea&s;e, the head is not troubled with &s;tudy to finde out knowledge. But both the&s;e are the condition of man, even <HI>labour</HI> to tire him, and <HI>vexation of heart</HI> to &s;pend him. But it is more al&s;o then the&s;e, which is mans burden. For he <HI>laboureth in the vexation of his heart,</HI> and it is his labour how to put his heart to the greate&s;t vexation, and his heart is even vexed that it is not more vexed. <HI>And all this is un|der the Sunne,</HI> all is for the vaine things of this world. For <HI>Quid prode|rit homini? What will it profit a man?</HI> &s;aith the Septuagint. What be|nefit hath hee to recompence this labour? <HI>Quid &s;upere&s;t? What is re|maining to a man?</HI> &s;aith <HI>Tremellius,</HI> What is remaining to a man when all this labour is ended? <HI>Quid fit homini? What is done for a man?</HI> &s;aith Saint <HI>Hierome,</HI> What is done for a man, when he hath done, and &s;uffered &s;o much? <HI>What hath a man?</HI> &s;aith our Engli&s;h, when he hath had &s;uch labour, &s;uch vexation of heart? Hee propo&s;eth it as a que|&s;tion, and as a wi&s;e man, thinking that though him&s;elfe might not bee able to tell, although hee had &s;ought much to know it, yet that &s;ome other might know. Hee therefore propo&s;eth it to any one to tell him|&s;elfe. Sometimes a que&s;tion is made, as importing that no an&s;wer can be made unto it: but here though the que&s;tion may expect an an&s;wer, yet it &s;uppo&s;eth the an&s;wer to be nothing. For when it is asked, <HI>What hath a man of all his labour?</HI> Perhaps &s;ome one may an&s;wer, as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> hath it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. in P&s;al. <HI>50.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Ecce &s;accos impleo, parietes mei vix capiunt quod acquiro: undique lucra confluunt, &amp; more fontium nummi fluunt,</HI> Behold I fill up &s;ackes, my wals doe hardly hold that which I get, my gaines doe flow out every way, and monies runne like a &s;treame into my pur&s;e. But Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> al&s;o &s;heweth this to be no an&s;wer, for &s;aith hee, <HI>Vt &s;accu|lus
<PB N="61" REF="34"> tuus impleatur nummis, anima tua febricitat curis, ut accedat aurum, perit fides, ut foris ve&s;tiaris, intus expoliaris,</HI> That thy &s;ack may be filled, thy &s;oule feavereth with cares, that thy gold may increa&s;e, thine hone&s;tie is dimini&s;hed, that thou maye&s;t be richly clothed without, thou art &s;poyled and left naked within. Or el&s;e let the be&s;t an&s;wer be made that can be made, it is nothing to the que&s;tion.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tinus. Ibid.</NOTE> For that is <HI>Quid</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Quid exi&s;tens?</HI> What is there that abideth and continueth to a man, in all his vexation of heart under the Sunne? For what things &s;oever they may be that are gotten, yet as S^t. <HI>Au&s;tins</HI> words againe are, <HI>Sine dubio tran&s;itoria &s;unt: aut per nos tran&s;eunt, aut nos per illa tran&s;imus,</HI> Without doubt they are tran&s;itory things: either they pa&s;&s;e away by us, or wee pa&s;&s;e away by them: either they pa&s;&s;e away while that we live, or el&s;e they are let goe when that we dye, either they pa&s;&s;e away by our &s;pend|ing of them, or in the u&s;ing of them we pa&s;&s;e away our &s;elves.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 23. It is the complaint of S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de fide Re&s;urre|ctionis.</NOTE> <HI>Quid in hac vita non experimur adver&s;i? Quas non procellas tempe&s;tat&eacute;&s;&abque; perpetimur? Quibus non exagitamur incommodis? Cujus parcitur meritis?</HI> What mi&s;ery doe wee not undergoe in this life? What &s;tormes and tempe&s;ts doe we not en|dure? With what troubles are wee not to&s;&s;ed? Who&s;e worth is &s;pa|red? Wherefore S^t. <HI>Austin</HI> al&s;o lamenteth, <HI>Dura cau&s;a e&s;t vita mortalis.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. in P&s;al. <HI>50.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Quid e&s;t aliud hic na&s;ci, ni&s;i ingredi laborio&s;am vitam?</HI> Mortall life is a hard condition. What is it el&s;e to be borne here, then to enter into a trou|ble&s;ome life? The Preacher therefore &s;ayth, <HI>That all mans dayes are &s;orrowes,</HI> his &s;orrowes begin when his dayes beginne, his &s;orrowes goe on, as his dayes goe on, as the <HI>travell</HI> of his journey proceedeth, &s;o his <HI>griefe</HI> proceedeth, as he pa&s;&s;eth from one bu&s;ine&s;&s;e to another, &s;o he pa&s;&s;eth from one griefe to another. Yea, many are the &s;orrowes of eve|ry day unto him, <HI>his travell is but one continued griefe;</HI> his bu&s;ine&s;&s;e is onely the worke of griefe. Sorrow is the Sunne that makes his dayes unto him: it is that which makes him to &s;ee him&s;elfe, to &s;ee his condi|tion. And when his Sunne is &s;o blacke, what are his dayes? <HI>In the night</HI> he doth not labour, but yet he <HI>doth not re&s;t:</HI> his body doth not labour, but his heart is not quiet. And therefore as <HI>Hugo</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Hom. <HI>12.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Multum mi|&s;er e&s;t qui nec illud tempus quod naturaliter quieti datum e&s;t, quietum habere pote&s;t,</HI> He is very mi&s;erable, who cannot have that time quiet, which e|ven naturally is given for quietne&s;&s;e. <HI>Per diem labore atteritur, per noctem cura laboris cruciatur,</HI> In the day he is worne with labour, in the night he is torne with the care of his labour. Or as S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. in P&s;al. <HI>50.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Per diem vexatur laboribus, per noctem agitatur timoribus,</HI> In the day he is vexed with labours, in the night he is to&s;&s;ed with feares. Or as S^t. <HI>Am|bro&s;e</HI> expre&s;&s;eth it, <HI>In nocte dies de&s;ideratur, in die nox quaeritur:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de bono mortis. c. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> <HI>ante e&s;eam gemitus, inter cibos fletus, nulla requies &agrave; perturbationibus, nulla &agrave; laboribus reclinatio,</HI> In the day the night is de&s;ired, in the night the day is fought for; before food &s;ighing, in feeding weeping, no re&s;t from troubles, no cea&s;ing from labours. The Originall is, that the heart of man <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>non jacet,</HI> doth not lye downe to re&s;t, &s;ayth S^t. <HI>Hierome,</HI> doth not ap|ply
<PB N="62" REF="35"> it &s;elfe to re&s;t;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ny&s;|&s;en. in Ec|cle&s;. Hom. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> but as <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Non tantum gaudet in iis quae habet, quantum tri&s;tatur ob ea quae de&s;unt,</HI> Is not &s;o much quie|ted in tho&s;e things which it hath, as it is tormented for tho&s;e things which it hath not. For covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e doth not onely bring forth thornes, wherewith godline&s;&s;e is choaked, but wherewith al&s;o it &s;elfe is pricked and gauled. And doth not the Preacher then well conclude, <HI>this is al&s;o vanitie?</HI> The heart of man is hardly per&s;waded that the things of this life are vanitie, and therefore it is, that the Preacher doth &s;o of|ten repeate it, to beate it into man. Yea, the heart of man doth hardly beleeve, that &s;orrow it &s;elfe, yea, and continuall &s;orrow, continuall griefe &s;uffered for the getting of worldly things are vanitie, and there|fore the Preacher doth a&s;&s;ure them that it is.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="24-26" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 24.</HI></BIBL> There is nothing better for a man, then that he &s;hould eate and drinke, and that he &s;hould make his &s;oule enjoy good in his labour. This al&s;o I &s;aw that it was from the hand of God.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 25.</HI></BIBL> For who can eate? or who el&s;e can ha&s;ten hereunto more then J?</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 26.</HI></BIBL> For God giveth to a man that is good in his &s;ight, wi&s;edome, and knowledge, and joy: but to the &s;inner he giveth travell, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This al&s;o is vanitie and vexation of &s;pirit.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 24. As our tran&s;lation readeth this ver&s;e, it may well be un|der&s;tood as the &s;peech of a voluptuous per&s;on: and whereas the Prea|cher had &s;hewed, the &s;orrow and labour of mans life, and the vanitie of both, in that another enjoyeth the content of it; thereupon it may be &s;uppo&s;ed that &s;uch a one &s;hould &s;ay, <HI>There is nothing better, then that a man &s;hould freely eate and drinke, and give him&s;elfe to plea&s;ure.</HI> And where|as it followes, as the Septuagint have it, <HI>Et hoc de manu Dei e&s;t,</HI> and this is from the hand of God: An ancient writer noteth, that there be &s;ome men who &s;ay, <HI>Devoremus &amp; inebriemur, &amp; benefaciamus nobis ex iis quae Deus dedit nobis, quia et hoc de manu Dei e&s;t, quia et haec ideo data &s;unt nobis, ut bene nobis faciamus,</HI> Let us devoure and be drunken, and doe unto our &s;elves good by tho&s;e things which God hath given us, for even this is from the hand of God, and therefore are the&s;e things given us,
<PB N="63" REF="35"> that we &s;hould doe good to our &s;elves with them. But as he addeth, <HI>Et &s;i Deus bona omnia ad u&s;um fecit, ad pravos tamen et inordinatos u&s;us nihil fecit,</HI> Although God hath made all things good for u&s;e, yet he hath made nothing for bad and inordinate u&s;es. But the Originall being, <HI>Non e&s;t bo|num homini quod comedat &amp; bibat,</HI> It is not the good that belongeth to man, to eate and to drinke, I conceive the Preachers meaning to be this, that having before &s;hewed the vanitie of mans life in the griefe and paines of it, and in providing for the contentment of others, here he &s;heweth the enjoying of a mans owne contentment, which he expre&s;|&s;eth by eating and drinking, becau&s;e therein it appeareth mo&s;t plainly, not to be the good of man, and in the la&s;t ver&s;e of this Chapter he pro|nounceth it to be vanitie. The not goodne&s;&s;e, in truth, of it, the Origi|nall declareth, in that it &s;ayth, <HI>Vt o&s;tendat animae &s;uae bonum in labore &s;uo,</HI> and that he &s;hew him&s;elfe good in his labour. For it is but a &s;hewing of good to the &s;oule, it is not a right enjoying of it. And yet the Preacher granteth, that this is <HI>from God.</HI> He &s;ayth that <HI>him&s;elfe &s;aw it</HI> to be &s;o, as noting, that he did not forget this, when yet he pronounced it not to be the good belonging unto man. For howbeit, as S. <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Siquidem Dei munus e&s;t, talem viro ju&s;to dari mentem,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>ut ea quae curis et vi|giliis comparavit, ip&s;e con&s;umat,</HI> it be indeed the gift of God, that &s;uch a minde be given unto a good man, as that him&s;elfe con&s;umeth tho&s;e things which by his cares and watchings he hath gotten. And howbeit, as <HI>Cyrillus</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Qui bene agere, et Dei mandata &s;ervare decreverint,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cyrillus in Catena Graeca.</NOTE> <HI>eos &s;equetur dives coele&s;tium bonorum di&s;tributio, et terre&s;trium bonorum parti|cipatio,</HI> there &s;hall follow them who are carefull to doe well, and to keepe Gods commandements, a rich di&s;tribution of cele&s;tiall good things, and a participation of terre&s;triall good things: notwith&s;tanding the enjoying of earthly good things, <HI>eating and drinking,</HI> are not the good of mans life upon the earth. <HI>Bonum e&s;t, veros cibos &amp; veram &s;umere potio|nem, quos de agni carne &amp; &s;anguine in divinis voluminibus invenimus,</HI> That good is, as S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh, to take true meate, and true drinke, which from the fle&s;h and bloud of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> wee finde in the &s;acred vo|lumes. It is not by bread onely that man liveth: <HI>hoc veri Verbi e&s;t ver|bum,</HI> This is the word of the true Word, &s;ayth a Greeke Father, <HI>Pane non alitur virtus, non carnibus vis animae fit bonae habitudinis, &amp; pingue&s;cit,</HI> It is not by bread that vertue is nouri&s;hed, it is not by fle&s;h that the powers of the &s;oule are made to be of a good liking, and to grow fat, as <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> addeth. By other eating and drinking it is that the good of man is enjoyed, and that is in the actions of ju&s;tice, tempe|rance, patience, and other vertues. And yet though to enjoy the good of a mans labour, be not the good of man, yet it is good for man to en|joy it.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 127.2.</NOTE> For this is that beloved &s;leepe which God giveth to his &s;er|vants. And when S^t <HI>Paul</HI> exhorteth to u&s;e this world as not abu&s;ing it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 7.31.</NOTE> his meaning is, that he would not have tho&s;e who are heyres of the world, &s;o to &s;erve the world, as if they were &s;laves unto it, but to u&s;e and enjoy the benefits of God with a quiet minde.</P>
<PB N="64" REF="36">
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 25. In the two la&s;t ver&s;es of this Chapter, the Preacher prooveth the two parts of the former ver&s;e. Fir&s;t, he proveth in this ver&s;e that a mans owne enjoying of the good of this life, is not the good of man: &s;econdly, he prooveth in the la&s;t ver&s;e that the en|joying of it, is from the Lord. The force of the proofe in this ver&s;e is thus &s;et downe by <HI>Lyra,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Experto credendum e&s;t: Ego autem &s;upra omnes ex|pertus &s;um, &amp; tamen dixi quod in hoc non con&s;i&s;tit bonum hominis, propter quod e&s;t mihi credendum,</HI> To him that hath tryed, beliefe is to be given: but I have tryed above all others, and yet I &s;ay that the good of man doth not con&s;i&s;t in this, wherefore I mu&s;t be beleeved. And <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> delivering the force of the proofe to the &s;ame effect, he &s;ets it downe thus,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ny&s;|&s;en. in Eccle&s;. Homil. <HI>5.</HI> Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Haec ego dixi voce mea,</HI> This have I &s;ayd with my voyce. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> makes this ver&s;e, to beginne the proofe of the latter part of the former ver&s;e, who reads it thus; <HI>Quis enim comedit, &amp; quis parcit &s;ine illo, qui homini bono coram &s;e dedit?</HI> For who eateth, and who for|beareth without him, who giveth to a man, that is good in his &s;ight? <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> doth reade it al&s;o, with &s;ome reference unto the &s;ame manner: So that the copies of the Originall may &s;eeme not to have been the &s;ame in this ver&s;e. The Septuagint may be thought rather to have delivered the &s;en&s;e of the place, then to have followed the &s;ignifi|cation of the words. For they &s;ay, <HI>Quis ita devorabit, &amp; delitiis affluet ut ego,</HI> Who &s;hall &s;o devoure, and abound with delights as I? Where|upon <HI>Hugo</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Hom. <HI>13.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Mala gloriatio i&s;ta, &amp; &s;unt tamen, qui in eju&s;modi glori|antur,</HI> This is a bad glorying, and yet there are that doe glory in the&s;e things. But as he addeth, <HI>Si nemo pote&s;t, quod tu potes; magnum e&s;t, &s;i bo|num potes. Si vero amplius in malo potes, quid gloriaris? Malum enim po&s;&s;e, pote&s;tas non e&s;t, &s;ed infirmitas,</HI> If none can doe that which thou can&s;t, it is a great matter, if it be good which thou can&s;t. But if thou can&s;t doe more in evill, why do&s;t thou then glory? To be able to doe evill, is not a power, but a weakne&s;&s;e. As the Originall words are now found, it is no ea&s;ie matter, according to the &s;ignification of them, to render the force of them. Our tran&s;lation is verball enough, but yet thereby not &s;o plaine. Let me with &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion offer mine apprehen&s;ion. I conceive the Preacher in this ver&s;e to &s;et forth his abundant enjoying of the good of this life, two wayes. Fir&s;t, by the lowd and free cry of his command and authoritie for it, &s;econdly, by the readine&s;&s;e and &s;peed that was u&s;ed in obedience unto it, for the &s;atisfying of his de&s;ire. And therefore I take the Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> here u&s;ed as it &s;ignifieth to cry, or to call aloud; and &s;o &s;hould render the ver&s;e according to this &s;en&s;e, Who can call for, more freely? Who can enjoy more &s;peedily, the good of this life then I can? And therefore who &s;hould al&s;o be be|leeved rather then I; who deny the enjoying of the good of this life to be the good of man? From hence we may take this le&s;&s;on, that no one doe promi&s;e to him&s;elfe, or take upon him&s;elfe tho&s;e things, which tho&s;e who have been farre more able then him&s;elfe, have not been able to performe. And for an in&s;tance, let not tho&s;e promi&s;e to them&s;elves
<PB N="65" REF="36"> heaven, who live carele&s;ly in religion, when it is hard for them who are very carefull to attaine thither.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 26. Where God &s;eeth goodne&s;&s;e, there he looketh graci|ou&s;ly; he hath a ble&s;&s;ing in his hand for him <HI>that is good in his &s;ight.</HI> It is not to him that is good in the &s;ight of men, but to him that is good <HI>in the &s;ight of God,</HI> that the Lord is good. <HI>He giveth to a man that is good,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ni&s;. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Bono, qui vivit ad boni &s;olius imaginem,</HI> To the good man who liveth ac|cording to the likene&s;&s;e of him who is good alone, as a Greeke Father &s;peaketh. And S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Pulchre homini bono Deus dat,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in Eccle&s;.</NOTE> Elegant|ly it is &s;ayd that God giveth to a good man, becau&s;e unle&s;&s;e he be good, God is not &s;o properly &s;ayd to give unto him. And therefore when af|terwards it is &s;ayd, to the &s;inner he giveth, <HI>Lyra</HI> expoundeth it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in Ec|cle&s;.</NOTE> <HI>i. e. dari permi&s;it,</HI> he permitted it to be given to him. <HI>Wi&s;edome and knowledge and joy.</HI> The Chaldee Paraphra&s;t doth di&s;tingui&s;h the&s;e three words thus,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chald. Para.</NOTE> <HI>Viro cujus opera &s;unt recta, coram Domino, dedit &s;apientiam &amp; &s;cientiam in hoc &s;aeculo, &amp; laetitiam cum ju&s;tis in &s;aeculo venturo,</HI> To the man who&s;e workes are right before the Lord, he giveth <HI>wi&s;edome and knowledge</HI> in this world, and <HI>joy</HI> with the righteous in the world to come. But to di|&s;tingui&s;h the words with a more particular reference to the place. By <HI>wi&s;edome</HI> we may under&s;tand a wi&s;e de&s;ire to enjoy the things which he hath; by <HI>knowledge,</HI> a di&s;cerning of the manner how to enjoy them a|right; and by <HI>joy</HI> the comfort of enjoying of them. All which none can have, but from God alone. <HI>But to the &s;inner he giveth:</HI> it is not added, to him that is a &s;inner in his &s;ight. For a &s;inner doth not tary in his &s;ight: and God al&s;o turneth away his eye from him, as he hath turned him|&s;elfe away from Gods law. Wherefore that which God giveth him, is but from the not giving of his mercy to him. And it is therefore tra|vell, not joy, it is a carking &s;olicitou&s;ne&s;&s;e, not wi&s;edome, to gather; not a contented wi&s;edome to u&s;e that which is gathered: it is a greedy knowledge how to heape up, not a delightfull knowledge how to im|ploy with comfort that which is heaped up: and <HI>the gathering the heaping</HI> is but to fill Gods hand, <HI>that he may give to him,</HI> who &s;hall u&s;e it, imploy it in a thankfull joy. And yet <HI>this,</HI> this which God giveth, this which a good man receiveth, <HI>this is al&s;o vanitie and vexation of &s;pirit.</HI> Wherefore <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Qui hoc e&s;&s;e bonum judicat,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ny&s;|&s;en. in Ec|cle&s;. Hom. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> <HI>ignorat &s;e bonum definire in eo quod vacuum e&s;t,</HI> He that judgeth this to be good, knoweth not that he defineth good in that which is vaine. <HI>Vanitie</HI> it is becau&s;e although God giveth it, yet he taketh it away againe: <HI>Vanitie</HI> it is, becau&s;e al|though a good man hath it, yet by that he is not made the better. <HI>Vexa|tion of &s;pirit it is,</HI> becau&s;e although wi&s;edome de&s;ire it, yet wi&s;edome &s;eeth no hope of keeping it: <HI>vexation it is,</HI> becau&s;e although knowledge di&s;cerne how to u&s;e it, yet it knoweth not how to continue the u&s;e of it: <HI>vexation it is,</HI> although it be joy, becau&s;e joy that is to be parted with, cannot but vex.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="66" REF="37">
<HEAD>CHAPTER. III.</HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1-8" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 1.</HI></BIBL> To every thing there is a &s;ea&s;on, and a time to every purpo&s;e under heaven.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 2.</HI></BIBL> A time to be borne, and a time to dye: a time to plant, and a time to plucke up that which is planted.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 3.</HI></BIBL> A time to kill, and a time to heale: a time to breake downe, and a time to build up.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 4.</HI></BIBL> A time to weepe, and a time to laugh: a time to mourne, and a time to dance.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 5.</HI></BIBL> A time to ca&s;t away &s;tones, and a time to gather &s;tones together: a time to embrace, and a time to refraine from embracing.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 6.</HI></BIBL> A time to get, and a time to loo&s;e: a time to keepe, and a time to ca&s;t away.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 7.</HI></BIBL> A time to rent, and a time to &s;ow: a time to keepe &s;ilence, and a time to &s;peake.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 8.</HI></BIBL> A time to love, and a time to hate: a time of warre, and a time of peace.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 1. _THE Preacher having ended the for|mer Chapter with the good enjoy|ing of the good things of this life, and with the vanitie which yet is therein: he beginneth this Chapter by &s;hewing how they may be well enjoyed, namely, by taking them <HI>in their time and &s;ea&s;on,</HI> and withall by &s;hewing their vanitie, in that they have but <HI>a time and &s;ea&s;on.</HI> More gene|rally wee may note, that the Preacher having before &s;hewed the va|nitie of humane things from his owne experience in him&s;elfe; here he goeth on to &s;hew it, from tho&s;e things which his experience had ob&s;er|ved
<PB N="67" REF="37"> in others: wherein wee are taught, fir&s;t to looke upon our &s;elves, and to marke our owne wayes, and then to ca&s;t our eye on tho&s;e things which are done by others. But to con&s;ider the ver&s;e. The Originall words here u&s;ed for <HI>time</HI> are in the fir&s;t place <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ignifying properly <HI>determinatum tempus,</HI> a &s;et appointed time, in the latter place <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;igni|fying properly <HI>opportunum tempus,</HI> an opportune time. And therefore it &s;eemeth to mee that the words may bee rather tran&s;po&s;ed thus, To every thing there is a time, and a &s;ea&s;on to every purpo&s;e under hea|ven. For &s;o al&s;o a Greeke Father doth read it, putting in the fir&s;t place <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifieth time, putting in the &s;econd place <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifieth the opportunity of time. But in expounding the meaning of the ver&s;e he putteth another difference betweene them. And becau&s;e time is the common mea&s;ure of all things, by <HI>time</HI> he under&s;tan|deth mea&s;ure, and &s;o conceiveth the Preacher to require two things in the well doing of every thing: <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>&s;ummetriam &amp; oppor|tunitatem,</HI> a fit mea&s;ure and a convenient opportunity. But he taketh his mea&s;ure of the ver&s;e &s;omewhat awry. To con&s;ider then the ver&s;e as we read it. The fir&s;t thing is <HI>the &s;ea&s;on</HI> of things, and that is of &s;uch u&s;e in the u&s;e of things, that as an Ancient Writer hath it, <HI>Quando tempus habet, bonum e&s;t ut &s;it, etiam&s;i bonum non est illud, quod bonum e&s;t ut &s;it,</HI> when it is in &s;ea&s;on, it is good that it &s;hould be, although that, which it is good that it &s;hould be, even be not good in it &s;elfe. The other thing is the time of all things: for every thing under heaven hath but a time, and &s;uch a time as is al&s;o allotted to it. So that as the &s;ame Author &s;peaketh, <HI>Omne quod est, aut aliud &s;ub&s;equitur, ut non ab initio veniat, aut praecurrit aliud ut u&s;que ad finem &s;e non extendat,</HI> Every thing that is, ei|ther goeth after another, &s;o that it was not from the beginning, or el&s;e goeth before another, &s;o that it doth not continue to the end. Now as the fir&s;t teacheth, that nothing in his time is to be rejected, and no|thing not in his time is to bee embraced, &s;o the other teacheth in &s;uch &s;ort to u&s;e things in their time, as to &s;ee the vanity of them in that they have but a time. But as every thing hath its &s;ea&s;on, &s;o one thing there is which hath every &s;ea&s;on, and that is the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e of our &s;alvation. Wherefore <HI>Nazianzene</HI> &s;aith; Sow when the time is of &s;owing,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Nazianzene Orati. in S. Bapti&s;mo.</NOTE> gather the fruits when the time is of gathering, &amp;c. <HI>At vero &s;alutis tuae nego|tium &s;emper age,</HI> But be alwayes doing the worke of thy &s;alvation. And lea&s;t this place might &s;eeme to oppo&s;e it, which appointeth a particu|lar &s;ea&s;on to every thing, Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> noteth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in P&s;al. <HI>118.</HI></NOTE> that it is &s;poken of every thing under heaven, <HI>Sed Dominus Ie&s;us &s;upra coelum e&s;t, nullo circum|&s;criptus tempore,</HI> but that the Lord Ie&s;us is above the heavens not being circum&s;cribed with any time. And &s;urely it mu&s;t be the care of every one &s;o to u&s;e the things of this world in their time, which have but a time, <HI>Vt tran&s;eunte tempore &s;ub coelo, &s;uccedat aeternitas quae e&s;t in coelo,</HI> That time pa&s;&s;ing away which is under heaven, eternity may &s;ucceed which is in heaven, as <HI>Hugo</HI> &s;peaketh.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 2. The Preacher here beginneth by diver&s;e particulars to
<PB N="68" REF="38"> &s;hew, how as there is a fit time for the enjoying of worldly things, &s;o the &s;ea&s;on is no le&s;&s;e fit, which taketh them away: and putting the&s;e two &s;ea&s;ons into the &s;cales, he teacheth how the vanity and vexation of &s;pirit in the parting with them, overweigheth the good that is found in the having of them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sancto Vict. in Eccle&s;. Homil. <HI>13.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Hugo de Sancto Victore</HI> in the enumeration of the&s;e particulars, noteth &s;everall things. As fir&s;t hee noteth, that good and bad things are &s;till joyned together: becau&s;e &s;uch is the condition of this life, <HI>Et mixta &s;unt omnia, quamdiu tempus e&s;t, ut omnia habeant tem|pus,</HI> and all things are mixed &s;o long as there is time, that all things may have time. Secondly, he noteth that the Preacher beginneth with pla|cing good things before evill, and afterwards commeth to place evill things before good; becau&s;e there are two lives to man, a carnall life, and a &s;pirituall life,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.46.</NOTE> and as the Apo&s;tle &s;peaketh, fir&s;t that which is car|nall, and them that which is &s;pirituall. Now in the carnall life the good things goe before, the evill follow after: in the &s;pirituall life the evill goe before, the good follow after. And therefore <HI>Hugo</HI> farther no|teth, that as the Preacher beginneth from good to evill, &s;aying, <HI>There is a time to be borne, and a time to dye;</HI> &s;o he endeth from evill to good, &s;aying, <HI>A time of Warre, and a time of peace, Quia prima vita, pri|mum bonum, &amp; ultim&ugrave;m malum: &s;ecunda vita prim&ugrave;m malum, &amp; ultimum bonum habet,</HI> Becau&s;e the fir&s;t life hath fir&s;t good, and afterwards that which is evill, the &s;econd life, hath fir&s;t evill and afterwards good. Thirdly, hee noteth how the Preacher confoundeth this order, and &s;ometimes putteth good things fir&s;t, &s;ometimes evill, as &s;hew|ing the confu&s;ion that is in the world, <HI>Quia nec malis u&s;&abque; ad finem bona, nec bonis u&s;&abque; ad finem mala,</HI> Becau&s;e neither the wicked have al|wayes good things, nor the good have alwayes evill things. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us how the <HI>Iewes</HI> doe apply all the&s;e to the people of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t.</NOTE> <HI>The time of being borne, and of planting to Gods</HI> choo&s;ing and making them his people: <HI>the time of dying and plucking up to</HI> their leading into captivity: <HI>the time of killing to their bondage</HI> in Aegypt; <HI>of healing</HI> to their deliverance from thence, <HI>the time of breaking downe</HI> to the de&s;truction of the Temple, <HI>of building up</HI> to the building of it againe: <HI>the time of wee|ping</HI> to the taking of the City, <HI>of laughing</HI> when it was againe re&s;tored: <HI>the time of ca&s;ting away &s;tones,</HI> to the &s;cattering and ca&s;ting away of them, <HI>the time of gathering &s;tones,</HI> to the gathering together of them againe: <HI>the time of embracing</HI> to the love of God,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ierem.</HI> 13.7. <HI>&amp;</HI> 9.</NOTE> which as a girdle compa&s;&s;ed his people: <HI>the time of refraining</HI> to the removing of Gods love, and their mi&s;ery in captivity, which God &s;hewed to <HI>Ieremiah</HI> by a girdle hid in a rocke and marred: <HI>the time of getting and keeping,</HI> to the time of ble&s;&s;ing and pre&s;erving them, <HI>the time of loo&s;ing and ca&s;ting away,</HI> to the time of rejecting them: <HI>the time of renting,</HI> to the time of renting them, <HI>the time of &s;owing,</HI> to the time of &s;owing them againe: <HI>the time of keep|ing &s;ilence,</HI> to the &s;ilence of their Prophets now, <HI>the time of &s;peaking,</HI> to the time when they &s;hall not want the comfort and &s;peech of GOD in their enemies land: <HI>the time of hatred,</HI> when they crucified Chri&s;t, <HI>the
<PB N="69" REF="38"> time of love,</HI> when God loved them in the time of the Patriarchs: <HI>the time of Warre,</HI> when yet they are impenitent, <HI>the time of peace,</HI> when the fulne&s;&s;e of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> being come in, <HI>I&s;rael</HI> &s;hall be &s;aved.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hierome in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> St. <HI>Hierome</HI> him&s;elfe giving a &s;pirituall &s;en&s;e to the&s;e words faith, that <HI>the time of be|ing borne is, Partus i&s;te qui de timore na&s;citur,</HI> That birth which commeth from feare: <HI>the time of dying is,</HI> when a man being perfect in godline&s;&s;e, feare is ca&s;t out. <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> al&s;o applyeth <HI>the time of being borne,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ny&s;. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> to that religious care, whereby <HI>Nobis ip&s;is quodammodo patres &s;umus,</HI> wee are as it were fathers to our &s;elves, and doe bring our &s;elves forth to bee children unto God: <HI>the time of dying,</HI> to a religious mortification of our &s;elves, whereby a man, <HI>Nunquam &s;ibi vivit, &s;ed viventem in &s;eip&s;o habet Chri&s;tum,</HI> doth never live to him&s;elfe, but hath Chri&s;t living in him. But in a literall &s;en&s;e the words import two things, fir&s;t that as there is a <HI>time of being borne, &s;o there is a time of dying.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Clemens A|lexand. Stro|matum l. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> For as <HI>Clemens Alexandrinus</HI> reporteth, <HI>Solome</HI> asking our Saviour Chri&s;t how long death &s;hould have power, the an&s;wer which our Saviour gave, was, &s;o long as you women bring forth. For as he addeth, <HI>Ortum omnino &s;e|quitur interitus,</HI> Dying is &s;ure to follow after being borne. The other thing which the words import is, that there <HI>is a fit time for being borne,</HI> namely when the &s;ea&s;on appointed by nature is accompli&s;hed, tho&s;e that come before being abortives: and that <HI>there is a fit time of dying,</HI> namely when the period &s;et by nature is come, tho&s;e that dye before &s;uffering a violent death. Wherefore a Greeke Father &s;aith, <HI>Venit tem|pus &amp; natus &s;um; veniet tempus &amp; moriar,</HI> The time came, and I was borne, the time &s;hall come, and I &s;hall dye. The la&s;t part of the ver&s;e, &s;heweth the &s;ame in things of a vegetable life, which was &s;hewed in things of a &s;en&s;itive life: or el&s;e &s;heweth the &s;ame in things that are brought forth by art and indu&s;try, which was &s;hewed in things brought forth by nature. In a &s;pirituall &s;en&s;e we know who is our husbandman: wee know who&s;e husbandry we are; the one we have from our Saviour Chri&s;t, the other from St. <HI>Paul</HI> the &s;ervant of Chri&s;t.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ioh.</HI> 15.6. 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3.9.</NOTE> The time of Gods <HI>planting</HI> is this life, for now he is ready to plant grace in the hearts of all: the time of <HI>his rooting up</HI> is the day of judgment, for then he will roote up the tares from his Corne. Or if we will apply the words to our &s;elves, there is a time <HI>to plant</HI> tho&s;e vertues in our &s;oules which are not growing in them, and there is a time <HI>to plucke up</HI> the weeds of vice which grow too fa&s;t in them. A time mu&s;t be allotted unto both; and a fit time ta|ken will make the worke both the more ea&s;ie, and the more &s;ucce&s;&s;efull.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 3. The Preacher in the former Ver&s;e having placed good be|fore evill; in this ver&s;e he placeth the evill before the good: for &s;o it is in the things of this world, <HI>Sub&s;equuntur quae praece&s;&s;erant, &amp; rur&s;us quae &s;equuta fuerunt praecedunt,</HI> Tho&s;e things follow which went before, and tho&s;e things goe before which followed. The ver&s;e we may con&s;ider in a threefold &s;en&s;e, either literall, morall, or &s;pirituall. As for the fir&s;t, the Preacher having &s;poken of the vanity of man, in his being and not being, from thence hee goeth on to &s;hew the vanity of tho&s;e things
<PB N="70" REF="39"> which &s;erve for the pre&s;ervation of his being; and having &s;hewed it in plants, here hee &s;heweth it fir&s;t in bea&s;ts, which in their fit time and when they are fit food for man, <HI>are killed</HI> for his u&s;e, and which at ano|ther time are kept alive and cheri&s;hed, and &s;o are as it were <HI>healed,</HI> that they may bee made fit for mans nouri&s;hment. Now as <HI>Cicero</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cicero.</NOTE> &s;peaketh, <HI>Quotidie mori docemur, qui mortuis nutrimur,</HI> We are continually taught to dye, who doe live by tho&s;e things which are made to dye for us; &s;o the Preacher doth farther &s;hew man his vanity, by the peri&s;hing of tho&s;e things which for his &s;ake are &s;ubject to vanity. Secondly, the Preacher having &s;poken of the inward meanes which &s;erve for the pre|&s;ervation of mans being, he &s;peaketh al&s;o of the outward meanes, as of hou&s;es and buildings, and which as in time growing old, have a fit time to be <HI>broken downe;</HI> &s;o when they <HI>are built in</HI> their time, have but a time of &s;tanding though built never &s;o &s;trongly. Much hath beene the labour, and great the co&s;t of men, <HI>Vt &s;tarent po&s;t ip&s;os monumenta jactan|tiae illorum, &amp; invaluerunt u&s;&abque; ad aliquid,</HI> That the monuments of their vaine glory might &s;tand after them, and &s;omething they have done, as one &s;peaketh: but what a vaine plea&s;ure is this, that their buildings &s;tand upon the earth, when them&s;elves are fallen into the earth? And what though their buildings out&s;tand them? They cannot &s;tand out again&s;t time, which will have a fit time to throw them down. And in this li|terall &s;en&s;e wee may marke, that the Preacher &s;aying, in the former ver&s;e, A time to plucke up, that which is planted, hee doth not here &s;peake in the &s;ame manner; becau&s;e that which is killed, is not healed, but another; that which is pulled downe is not built up, but another. In a morall &s;en&s;e we may under&s;tand the ver&s;e thus: that ju&s;tice hath a fit time of <HI>killing,</HI> where expectation of amendment is already killed; and mercy hath a fit time of <HI>healing</HI> by forgiving, where hope of do|ing good by it giveth vertue and force to the medicine: ju&s;tice hath a time of <HI>breaking downe</HI> by due puni&s;hment where it is needfull, and of <HI>building up</HI> by rewarding the well doers for their encourage|ment: ju&s;tice hath a time of <HI>killing</HI> and de&s;troying where wrong is done, and of <HI>healing</HI> and building up, where wrong is &s;uffered. La&s;tly, in a &s;pirituall &s;en&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ny&s;&s;. in Eccle&s;. Homil. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> telleth us, that there is a time of <HI>killing, Malam animi motuum aciem, &amp; hoc civile quod in nos per voluptates geri|tur bellum, &amp; nos captivos reddit legi peccati,</HI> That hurtfull army of the affections of the minde, and that civill warre which plea&s;ures make a|gain&s;t us, and which doth make us captive unto the law of &s;inne: and there is a time of <HI>healing</HI> the wounds which they have given us. There is a time of <HI>breaking downe</HI> the &s;trong holds of &s;inne, and there is a time of <HI>building up</HI> the Temple of God in our &s;elves. And here we may note the order that is u&s;ed: fir&s;t there mu&s;t be a <HI>killing</HI> before there can be <HI>a healing:</HI> fir&s;t there mu&s;t bee <HI>a breaking downe,</HI> before there can bee a <HI>building up.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jerem.</HI> 1.10.</NOTE> In the commi&s;&s;ion of the Prophet <HI>Ieremy</HI> the &s;ame order is ob&s;erved: where God &s;aith, I have &s;et thee this day, to roote out and to pull downe, to build and to plant. The &s;traw and the &s;tubble that is
<PB N="71" REF="39"> in us mu&s;t fir&s;t be taken away, before that we can build &s;ilver and gold, and pretious &s;tones. For as a Greeke Father &s;peaketh, <HI>Fieri non pote&s;t ut cum &s;tipula coale&s;cat argentum, vel foeno agglutinetur aurum, vel ligno margaritum,</HI> It cannot be that &s;ilver &s;hould agree with &s;tubble, or gold be joyned with &s;traw, or a Pearle with wood.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 4. The Preacher pa&s;&s;eth from man con&s;idered in his owne being, and from tho&s;e things that doe pre&s;erve him in his being, to other things that doe belong to them. And therefore <HI>Lyra</HI> briefly expoun|ding this ver&s;e &s;aith, that there is a time to <HI>weepe, in infortuniis</HI> in the mis|fortunes of this life, and a time <HI>to laugh, in eufortuniis</HI> in the good for|tunes of it: that there is a time to <HI>mourne in funeribus defunctorum</HI> in the funerals of the dead, and a time to <HI>dance, in nuptiis conjugatorum</HI> at the bridals of the maryed. But to marke the words a little more narrowly, The latter part of the ver&s;e, is but <HI>velut repetitio ejus quod prius dictum e&s;t,</HI> As it were a repetition of that which is before &s;poken,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ni&s;. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> &s;aith <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene.</HI> Only &s;aith he, it addeth &s;ome amplification unto it. For as by <HI>dancing</HI> is &s;ignified a greater mea&s;ure of rejoycing, &s;o <HI>planctu, by mour|ning,</HI> the Scripture u&s;eth to expre&s;&s;e a greater mea&s;ure of &s;orrowing. But <HI>Hugo</HI> farther noteth, that <HI>Fletus &amp; ri&s;us ad animum pertinent, planctus &amp; &s;altatio ad corpus,</HI> weeping and laughing doe belong to the minde,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;. Hom. <HI>15.</HI></NOTE> mourning and dancing to the body. And indeed the Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> which is here u&s;ed for mourning &s;ignifieth the outward cariage of the body in &s;orrow. Wherefore &s;aith he, in the fir&s;t place are &s;et downe the joy and &s;orrow of the mind: by mourning and dancing in the &s;econd place the &s;ame things are &s;ignified, but as they are &s;hewed in the motions of the body. For as a Greeke Father &s;aith, <HI>vulnerum ani|mi tanquam &s;anguis lachrymae &s;unt,</HI> Teares are as it were the bloud of the wounds of the &s;oule, which manife&s;t the greatne&s;&s;e of them, and &s;o the light skipping of the body in dancing, is but a &s;hadow of the light and lofty flying of the mind in joy. Now God hath blended the&s;e two in mans life for many rea&s;ons: but I will mention two only. The fir&s;t is to di&s;tingui&s;h this life from the next. For in the next life, either in heaven there will bee nothing but joy; or el&s;e in hell nothing but howling. If in this life there &s;hould bee nothing but joy, many would looke for no other heaven: if now there &s;hould be nothing but &s;orrow, many might &s;eeme to bee in hell before they come unto it. This life therefore which is the way to either, partaketh of both. Secondly, God hath mixed joy with &s;orrow in this life, thereby to keepe us in the right way. For if we &s;hould have nothing but joy, we &s;hould be quickly too much puffed up: if nothing but &s;orrow, wee &s;hould bee ea&s;ily too much ca&s;t downe. But the&s;e being mixed, the &s;orrowes of this world doe weane our affections from the vanities of it: the joyes of this life do make us long for the greater joyes of the next. Now &s;eeing there is in this life a fit time for both, <HI>Per haec di&s;cimus, quod ad rem prae&s;entem opor|teat etiam animum accommodare. Pro&s;pere res &s;uccedunt? Tempe&s;tivum e&s;t lae|tari: reducta e&s;t animi alacritas ad demi&s;sionem? converti etiam convenit
<PB N="72" REF="40"> in lachrymas,</HI> By this wee learne, that we mu&s;t apply our minds to the pre&s;ent occa&s;ion. Doe things &s;ucceed happily? It is a fit time to re|joyce. Is the cheerefulne&s;&s;e of our mind humbled? It is meete then that our &s;inging bee turned into weeping, as the &s;ame Father &s;peaketh. But more generally Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us, and out of him the ordinary Glo&s;&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Nunc tempus flendi e&s;t, &amp; in futuro ridendi: Beatienim flentes, quo|niam ip&s;i ridebunt,</HI> Now is the time of weeping, hereafter of laughing. For as our Saviour &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luk.</HI> 6.21.</NOTE> <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are yee that weepe now, for ye &s;hall laugh.</HI> And <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> al&s;o &s;hewing this life to be the time of mourning, in which there is &s;o much cau&s;e of mourning,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ny&s;|&s;en. in Eccle&s;. Homil. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> thereupon &s;aith, <HI>Omnia primas tenent in malorum excellentia, omnia parem praebent luctus occa&s;ionem,</HI> All things have the precedency in the excellency of evils, all things af|ford like matter of griefe: So that for which to lament mo&s;t it is hard to find.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 5. It is not ea&s;ie to enter into the&s;e &s;tones, and to di&s;cerne what is meant by them. An Ancient Writer taking them for men, ex|poundeth the ca&s;ting away of &s;tones to be ca&s;ting of men into bani&s;h|ment, the gathering of &s;tones to bee the recalling of them into their owne Countries and places.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Di|alog. l. <HI>3.</HI> c. <HI>37</HI> prope finem.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> the great taking them for good men, and reading the words <HI>tempus mittendi lapides,</HI> a time of &s;ending &s;tones, applyeth them to God, who in his good time &s;endeth good men into the world for a ble&s;&s;ing to it, and in his time gathereth them out of the world to deliver them from the evils of it. But that which I conceive to be the right veine, for finding the meaning of the &s;tones,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> is that which <HI>Lyra</HI> hath, who by &s;tones here under&s;tandeth <HI>for|tilicia,</HI> fortre&s;&s;es, as being anciently for their &s;trength made of &s;tone; and which have a time, when though never &s;o &s;trong they are demoli|&s;hed, and their &s;tones ca&s;t away: as on the other &s;ide, there was a time which &s;erved fitly for gathering the &s;tones together, and for the buil|ding of them. A Greek Father taketh the&s;e &s;tones for &s;tones of Warre, but applying them in a &s;pirituall manner hee &s;aith, <HI>E&s;t omnino intelligen|dum, quod quae vitium perimunt cogitationes, eae &s;unt lapides, qui ab Eccle|&s;ia&s;te fund&acirc; recte jaciuntur, quos &s;emper mitti oportet &amp; colligi. Mitti quidem ad eum evertendum, qui contra vitam no&s;tram erigitur: colligi autem ad hoc ut animae no&s;trae &s;inus plenus &s;it iis praeparatis, ut ad manum &s;it quod jaci po&s;sit in adver&s;arios,</HI> It is ab&s;olutely to be under&s;tood, that the medi|tations which de&s;troy vice are the &s;tones which by the Preacher are rightly ca&s;t from the &s;ling, which it is needfull alwayes to bee ca&s;t out, and alwayes to be gathered: to be ca&s;t out for the overthrowing of him, who ri&s;eth up again&s;t us; to be gathered for this end, that the bo&s;ome of our &s;oule, may bee filled with them in readine&s;&s;e, and may have at hand that which may bee throwne again&s;t the adver&s;aries. Of the&s;e &s;tones hee &s;aith, <HI>E&s;t adeo pulcher jactus, ut &amp; hostem interimant, et ab ejus qui jacit manu non &s;eparantur,</HI> The ca&s;ting is &s;o excellent, that they both kill the enemy, and are not put away from his hand that throweth them. The latter part of the ver&s;e I would al&s;o under&s;tand as pertaining
<PB N="73" REF="40"> to the &s;ame &s;en&s;e with the former, becau&s;e in this pa&s;&s;age of the Prea|cher, it is generally &s;o &s;et downe by him. And then by <HI>embracing,</HI> I &s;hould conceive the embracing of &s;afetie and defence in &s;trong For|tre&s;&s;es: according as I finde the word u&s;ed in <HI>Iob,</HI> where it is &s;ayd, They embrace the rocke for want of a &s;helter.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Job</HI> 24.8.</NOTE> Now there is a fit time when fortre&s;&s;es doe &s;erve for defence; and there is a fit time which &s;heweth the vanitie of them, and when he that flyeth unto them, is farre from embracing &s;afetie and defence by them. The literall mean|ing which the words pre&s;ent to the fir&s;t view, is to under&s;tand them of tho&s;e embracings which God hath ordained for the continuance of mankinde upon the earth. For as there is a time in which this em|bracing is to be u&s;ed, <HI>Vt reparetur mortalitas,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>15.</HI></NOTE> <HI>et excipiatur mortalium in|firmitas,</HI> that mortalitie may be repayred, and the infirmitie of mortall men may be &s;u&s;tained, as <HI>Hugo</HI> &s;peaketh: &s;o there is a time in which it is good to refraine from this embracing: and that is e&s;pecially in the time of Gods wrath and vi&s;itation. The ancient Fathers doe very much note the manner of <HI>Noahs</HI> going into the Arke, and how the Father and the &s;onnes went together, the Mother and her daughters in law went together: God him&s;elfe dividing at that time tho&s;e whom him&s;elfe had joyned together. Whereupon S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. l. de Noe &amp; Ar|ca. c. <HI>21.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Aperte et velut or|dine ip&s;o ingre&s;&s;ionis, vocem quandam justus emittit, tempus illud non e&s;&s;e delitiarum, quo omnibus imminet interitus: quam enim indecorum, ut quo tem|pore viventes morerentur, eo morituri generarentur?</HI> Plainely, and as it were by the order it &s;elfe of their going in, the righteous man pronounceth, that, not to be a time of delights in which de&s;truction hangeth over all: for how un&s;eemely is it, that at what time the living dye, at the &s;ame time they &s;hould be begotten who are to dye. Notwith&s;tanding Saint <HI>Chry&s;ostome</HI> conceiveth, that <HI>Cham</HI> even in the Arke did neglect this care: and this he gathereth from Scripture,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. in Gene&s;. Ho|mil. <HI>28.</HI></NOTE> becau&s;e when they came out of the Arke, it is &s;ayd, and the &s;onnes of <HI>Noah</HI> went forth of the Arke, <HI>Sem</HI> and <HI>Ham</HI> and <HI>Iaphet,</HI> and <HI>Ham</HI> is the Father of <HI>Canaan,</HI> as be|ing conceived in the Arke, and borne not long after their comming out. But unworthy is the example of cur&s;ed <HI>Cham</HI> to be followed.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 9.18.</NOTE> La&s;tly, <HI>Si voluerimus ad altiora a&s;cendere,</HI> if wee will a&s;cend unto higher matter, as S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh, there is (as he applyeth the words) a time of embracing by contemplation and &s;tudy the high things of wi&s;e|dome,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> and becau&s;e the minde of man cannot alwayes be lifted up &s;o high, there is a time of refraining from this embracing, that &s;o the bo|dy in his place may al&s;o be cared for.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 6. Man having deprived him&s;elfe of tho&s;e true good things wherein he was created, &s;eeketh now after tho&s;e things, <HI>In quibus e&s;t ve|re aliquid ad bonum, &s;ed non vera bona,</HI> in which there is truely &s;omething that may &s;erve for good, but they are not truely good things, as one &s;peaketh. And the&s;e God, <HI>In tempore &s;uo nunc tribuit acquirenda, nunc acqui&s;ita &s;ubtrahit,</HI> now giveth to be gotten, now taketh away being gotten, that man may both &s;ee the vaine contentment of them when he
<PB N="74" REF="41"> hath gotten them, and the great vanitie of them when they are lo&s;t. The Preacher therefore pa&s;&s;ing from the things belonging to man, to the u&s;ing of them by man, here he &s;peaketh of <HI>getting, loo&s;ing, keeping, and ca&s;ting them away.</HI> The Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> for the mo&s;t part is tran&s;lated by Interpreters to <HI>get,</HI> and the rea&s;on I &s;uppo&s;e to be, becau&s;e the next words &s;peake of loo&s;ing: but the &s;ignification of the word is to &s;eeke, and it may be that the Preacher doth u&s;e this word here, to &s;hew that all which man can attaine unto, is but a &s;eeking of the things of this world, for there is no true getting of tho&s;e things which are to be lo&s;t againe. And therefore as an ancient writer hath it, <HI>Agno&s;cat ho|mo, quod omnia quae invito tolli poterant fuerant, etiam quum po&s;sidebantur, extranea,</HI> Let man acknowledge, that all things which can be taken from a man again&s;t his will, even then when they were po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed, were not his owne. Yea they are not onely &s;uch things which may be and are taken away, but &s;uch as him&s;elfe al&s;o mu&s;t <HI>ca&s;t away.</HI> For as there is a fit time of keeping them, &s;o there is of ca&s;ting them away: becau&s;e as the &s;ame Authour &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ibid. Ho|mil. <HI>16.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Quae &s;uo tempore cu&s;todita po&s;sint &s;ervanti fer|re &s;ub&s;idium; rur&s;um ni&s;i tempore &s;uo abjiciantur po&s;sint facere detrimentum,</HI> Tho&s;e things which in their time being kept, may be helpfull to the keeper of them; againe, unle&s;&s;e in their time they be ca&s;t away, they will be hurtfull to him. Which therefore that we may doe, wee were be&s;t at all times to ca&s;t them away from the love of our hearts. <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ny&s;|&s;en. in Ec|cle&s;. Hom. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE> who readeth the fir&s;t part of this ver&s;e, <HI>Tempus e&s;t quaerendi,</HI> there is a time to &s;eeke, applyeth it to the &s;eeking of God, <HI>Cujus inventio e&s;t ip&s;um &s;emper quaerere,</HI> The finding of whom is alwayes to &s;eeke him. For as he addeth, <HI>Non e&s;t aliud quaerere, &amp; aliud invenire, &s;ed acquirendi lucrum e&s;t ip&s;um quaerere,</HI> It is not one thing to &s;eeke and another thing to finde, but the gaine of finding is the &s;eeking it &s;elfe. Now the time of &s;eeking God, he tels us briefly, is, the whole life of man. For as he addeth farther, <HI>In hoc &s;olo, &s;tudii tempus e&s;t totum &s;tudium,</HI> In this thing a|lone, the time of &s;eeking is the whole &s;eeking of man. The <HI>loo&s;ing</HI> here mentioned he applyeth to the loo&s;ing of &s;inne, <HI>Cujus ami&s;&s;io e&s;t lucrum,</HI> who&s;e loo&s;ing is indeed a gaining. Wherefore he &s;ayth, <HI>Mala po&s;&s;e&s;&s;io e&s;t avaritia, perdamus eam: malum depo&s;itum e&s;t acceptae injuriae recordatio, id aemittamus,</HI> Covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e is an ill po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, let us loo&s;e it: the re|membrance of a wrong received is a thing ill layd up, let us let it goe; for the loo&s;ing of that mu&s;t needs be a gaine, which being kept breedeth lo&s;&s;e. He expounding al&s;o the latter part of the ver&s;e, &s;ayth, <HI>Quid &s;er|vandi? Id &s;cilicet quod a nobis inventum e&s;t ex inqui&s;itione. Quid ejiciendi? Id &s;cilicet cujus ami&s;sionem exi&s;timatum e&s;t conferre,</HI> There is a time to keepe, what? Namely, that which by &s;eeking wee have gotten: and that being God, let us keepe him, for he it is that mu&s;t keepe us. There is a time to ca&s;t away, what? namely that, the loo&s;ing whereof is a be|nefit unto us; and that being &s;inne, let us by repentance &s;o ca&s;t it away, that wee never take it againe: for it is the ca&s;ting away of that, that keepeth God with us.</P>
<PB N="75" REF="41">
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 7. The condition of mans life taketh often much content|ment in the &s;owing together of a friendly &s;ocietie, and where it is done in a fit time, how &s;weet is it? But the vanitie of this appeareth in that the renting al&s;o of &s;ocietie is that which is needfull al&s;o to have content|ment, and which hath a fit time in which it mu&s;t be done. Wherefore <HI>Hugo</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Habet con&s;utionem &s;uam tempore &s;uo con&s;en&s;us &s;ocialis;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>16.</HI></NOTE> <HI>habet &amp; &s;ci&s;&s;ionem &s;uam in tempore &s;uo zelus ju&s;tae contradictionis,</HI> A &s;ociable agree|ment hath in its time his &s;owing together, and the zeale of a ju&s;t con|tradiction hath in his time his renting al&s;o. An&s;werably to this I take the latter part of the ver&s;e to &s;peake of a &s;ociable conferring and talking together, wherein the minde of man is much delighted, and when it is done in a fit time, how plea&s;ant is it? But yet the vanitie of it is mani|fe&s;t, in that the minde of man being wearyed with its owne content, &s;ilence is de&s;ired in the place of it, and hath a fit time that makes it mo&s;t agreeable. This I conceive to be the mo&s;t naturall meaning of the place. But if we &s;hall take <HI>the time of &s;ilence and &s;peaking</HI> in a generall ex|tent, then wee may fir&s;t note, that &s;ilence goeth before &s;peaking, and therefore as S. <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Di&s;camus prius non loqui,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>ut po&s;tmod&ugrave;m ad loquendum or a re&s;eramus: nihil nobis rectum e&s;&s;e videatur ni&s;i quod di&s;cimus, ut po&s;t multum &s;ilentium ex di&s;cipulis efficiamur magi&s;tri,</HI> Let us fir&s;t learne not to &s;peake, that afterwards wee may open our mouths to &s;peake: let nothing &s;eeme to be right unto us, but that which we learne, that af|ter long &s;ilence, of Schollers wee may be made Ma&s;ters. And indeed it is &s;ilence which is the chiefe thing. Wherefore <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca, E|pi&s;t. <HI>40.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Summa &s;ummarum haec e&s;t, tardiloquum te e&s;&s;e jubeo,</HI> In &s;umme, the &s;umme of all is this, I require thee to be &s;low in &s;peaking. And S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in P&s;al. <HI>38.</HI></NOTE> <HI>O va|lidum &s;cutum circum&s;pectae munitionis &s;ilentium! O fidi&s;simum &s;tabilitatis fundamentum! Multi enim etiam &s;tabili corde firmati, incauti tamen &s;ermo|nis fluctuantis errore ceciderunt,</HI> O the &s;trong buckler of a circum&s;pect defence, &s;ilence! O the mo&s;t faithfull foundation of &s;tabilitie! For many being well &s;etled with a &s;table heart, yet unawares have fallen by the errour of a wandering tongue. But yet there is a time to &s;peake al|&s;o, and as &s;ometimes, <HI>Dixi&s;&s;e culpa &s;it quae fuerant reti<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">enda,</HI> It may be a fault to have &s;poken tho&s;e things, which &s;hould not have been &s;poken; &s;o at another time, <HI>Tacui&s;&s;e noceat quae dicenda fuerant,</HI> It may be hurtfull not to have &s;poken tho&s;e things which &s;hould have been uttered. So that not onely the works, but the words of men are to&s;&s;ed with uncer|taintie, and vanitie po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth all. <HI>Saep&egrave; non po&s;&s;umus loqui quum volumus; &amp; &s;aep&egrave; non volumus, quum po&s;&s;umus; &s;aepius autem utrum&abque; non debemus, quum facimus,</HI> Often wee cannot &s;peake when we would; and often wee will not &s;peake, when we can, and more often we doe both, when we ought not. <HI>Sic jactatur homo de tempore ad tempus, &amp; non intelligit tempus &s;uum in omni opere &s;uo,</HI> So is man to&s;&s;ed from one time to another, and doth not know his owne time in any of his doings, as one &s;peaketh. Now to under&s;tand the former part of the ver&s;e in the &s;ame kinde; there is a time of <HI>renting,</HI> a time of renting open the lips, when undue
<PB N="76" REF="42"> feare of di&s;plea&s;ing, or unju&s;t bribing, or &s;loathfull negligence, may hold them hard together: and there is a time of <HI>&s;owing</HI> up the lips, when choler, or ra&s;hne&s;&s;e, or provoking &s;peeches doe &s;trive to open them too &s;peedily. Or el&s;e there is a time of <HI>renting</HI> the lips to reproove impudency: and there is a time of <HI>&s;owing</HI> up the lips, by pa&s;&s;ing by in &s;ilence the &s;lips of infirmitie. The impudent are &s;uch, that as S^t. <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Pa&s;t. Cu. Par. <HI>3.</HI> Adm. <HI>8.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Non ni&s;i increpatio dura illos compe&s;cit, &amp; &s;e delinquere ne&s;ciunt, ni&s;i a pluribus increpentur,</HI> That it mu&s;t be a &s;harpe reproofe, or el&s;e it doth not worke upon them; and they know not them&s;elves to have of|fended, unle&s;&s;e by many they be reprooved. But the weake are often &s;uch,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ibid. Adm. <HI>17.</HI></NOTE> that as the &s;ame Father &s;peaketh, <HI>Ad &s;e reducti tanto libentius ex|hortationis verba recipiunt, quanto &s;e tranquillius toleratos erube&s;cunt,</HI> That being brought unto them&s;elves, they doe the more willingly receive the words of exhortation, by how much the more quietly they have been borne with, being a&s;hamed of it. But to con&s;ider the words al&s;o in a more &s;pirituall &s;en&s;e; There is a time of <HI>renting</HI> our &s;elves from the devill, and of breaking from his &s;nares and bonds: and there is a time of uniting al&s;o, and as it were <HI>&s;owing</HI> our &s;elves to God, and of fa&s;tning our hearts to his commandements,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ny&s;|&s;en. in Eccle&s;. Homil. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Vt ab illo abrupti cui male adhae&s;imus, illi adhaereamus, cui bonum e&s;t adhaerere,</HI> That being rent from him to whom we have &s;tuck perniciou&s;ly, we may &s;tick to him, to whom it is good to &s;ticke, as <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> &s;peaketh. For as the P&s;almi&s;t &s;peaketh, It is good for me to hold me fa&s;t by the Lord;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 73.27.</NOTE> So &s;urely it is good for all to cleave fa&s;t to him. According to this application of the fir&s;t part of the ver&s;e, <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> applyeth al&s;o the latter part, &s;aying, That there is a time of <HI>keeping &s;ilence,</HI> when we thinke of God, who&s;e glory cannot be expre&s;&s;ed: and there is a time to &s;peake, namely, of &s;uch things, which concerne our dutie towards God and man, and may in|crea&s;e vertue in our &s;elves and others. An ancient writer doth hand|&s;omely apply the fir&s;t part of the ver&s;e in a &s;pirituall &s;en&s;e, and manner, to the fle&s;h and the &s;pirit: to the fle&s;h, the renting, for being made one with it by living according to the fle&s;h, we mu&s;t rent our &s;elves from it: to the Spirit, the &s;owing, becau&s;e by living godly it mu&s;t be our care to be joyned to him. Neither (&s;ayth he) is this to be omitted, that the things which are rent a&s;under are &s;ub&s;tantially one; but the things which are &s;owne together are &s;ub&s;tantially diver&s;e, being as it were ac|cidentally made one, by &s;omething that tyes them. For &s;o indeed man by his corrupted nature is made one with the corruption of the fle&s;h; but he is united to &s;pirituall things by the bond of grace. In this &s;ow|ing therefore to the Spirit, the needle is compunction, the threed is love. The needle maketh way and goeth through both, that &s;o the thread may hold both together. Fir&s;t then, the needle of compuncti|on goeth through the things of the fle&s;h, when it con&s;idereth our &s;innes, it goeth through the things of the Spirit, when it con&s;idereth the mer|cies of God: it goeth through humane things, when it con&s;idereth our duties towards God; it goeth through &s;pirituall things, when it con&s;i|dereth
<PB N="77" REF="42"> his gracious promi&s;es towards us. Then followeth the thread of love, for the &s;ight of Gods gracious promi&s;es in his mercy, maketh us to love him, and God &s;eeing our &s;orrow and repentance, he is in love reconciled to us, and &s;o wee are happily fa&s;t tyed the one to the o|ther.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 8. Time is a circle, and the Preacher &s;hutteth up this pa&s;&s;age of time in a circle: For having begunne with a time to be borne, and a time to dye: he endeth with a time of warre, which is a time of dy|ing, and with a time of peace, which is a time wherein people by bring|ing forth are multiplyed. But fir&s;t to con&s;ider the fir&s;t part of the ver&s;e, A Greeke Father defineth love and hatred thus: <HI>Amor e&s;t intrin&s;ecus in|&s;ita in id quod animo e&s;t jucundum, habitudo operans per voluptatem. Odium e&s;t alienatio ab eo quod e&s;t injucundum, et aver&s;io ab <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">o quod mole&s;ti&acirc; afficit,</HI> Love is an inward &s;eated inclination to that which is &s;weet to the mind working by plea&s;ure and delight. Hatred is an alienation from that which is unplea&s;ing, and a turning away from that which breedeth trouble. But how great &s;oever the plea&s;ure may be of enjoying that which is loved, how great &s;oever the contentment may be in &s;hunning that which is hated, yet let no man &s;et his heart upon them. For great is the vanitie of them: &s;eeing the &s;ame things, <HI>Quae &s;unt odio habita po&s;|&s;int iterum ju&s;te diligi, et dilecta rur&s;um juste odio haberi,</HI> which are accomp|ted worthy of hatred, may againe ju&s;tly be loved, and tho&s;e things which are loved, may againe ju&s;tly be hated, as one &s;peaketh. There is &s;ayth the Preacher, <HI>a time to love, and a time to hate:</HI> yea fit time for both. And therefore S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaking of the&s;e words &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in P&s;al. <HI>118.</HI> Octon. <HI>14.</HI></NOTE> <HI>De quo hoc dicit Eccle&s;ia&s;tes? Nonne de eo, quod ratione temporis fiat, ut pie &amp; amare &amp; odi&s;&s;e po&s;&s;imus: ut quos dilexeris odi&s;&s;e, &amp; quos oderis amare conveniat.</HI> To what purpo&s;e &s;peaketh the Preacher this? Is it not to &s;hew us, that ac|cording to the difference of time, wee may both hate and love: and that it may be fitting to hate tho&s;e whom thou love&s;t, and to love tho&s;e whom hate&s;t? While the time is, what love is &s;weeter then the love of a wife, who is as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Quaedam vitae cohaeres,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ibid.</NOTE> a kinde of coheire of the life of man? While the time is, what love is more plea|&s;ing then the love of a brother, who as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> al&s;o &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Eodem formatur naturae ho&s;pitio,</HI> Is formed in the &s;ame lodging of nature? Not|with&s;tanding it is not &s;eldome, that by the occa&s;ions of this world there is a time of ju&s;t di&s;like again&s;t them. And in religion our Saviour <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> &s;ayth, Who&s;oever for my &s;ake doth not hate wife and brethren,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luke</HI> 14.26.</NOTE> can|not be my Di&s;ciple. Vnto the times of love and hatred, agree the times of warre and peace: the times of hatred being times of warre, the times of love, being times of peace. And of the&s;e the changing of them in time, is enough to &s;hew the vanitie of them at any time.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;. Hom. <HI>16.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Non ergo exi&s;ti|met homo valde metuendum bellum, cui pote&s;t pax &s;uccedere: neque pacem il|lam veram, quam &s;ub&s;equens hellum pote&s;t perturbare,</HI> Let no man therefore thinke that warre much to be feared, to which peace may &s;ucceede: neither that peace to be true, which by a following warre may be di&s;|quieted,
<PB N="78" REF="43"> as <HI>Hugo</HI> &s;peaketh. <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> applying this ver&s;e in a &s;piri|tuall &s;en&s;e, tels us, <HI>E&s;t unum &s;olum</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>diligendum natura, id quod vere est,</HI> There is but one thing to be loved in the nature of it, that which truely is; and of which the Law &s;ayth, Thou &s;halt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, thy &s;trength, thy might. And there is but one thing againe <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Vere odio habendum,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ny&s;&s;. in Eccle&s;. Homil. <HI>8.</HI> Mat. <HI>5.43.</HI></NOTE> truely to bee ha|ted, namely, the Authour of vice, the enemy of our life; of whom the Law &s;ayth, <HI>Odio habebis inimicum tuum,</HI> thou &s;halt hate thine enemy. And accordingly applying the re&s;t of the ver&s;e, he &s;ayth; <HI>Si ergo amoris &amp; odii intelleximus opportunitatem, alterum quidem diligamus, cum altero vero bellum geramus,</HI> If therefore we have under&s;tood the fit time of love and hatred, let us be carefull to be at peace with the one, let us be con|tinually in warre with the other. An ancient writer applyeth this ver&s;e in a &s;pirituall &s;en&s;e unto the fle&s;h, of which the Apo&s;tle &s;aying in one place,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 5.29.</NOTE> No man hateth his owne fle&s;h: in another place he &s;ayth, Let no one take care of the fle&s;h.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 13.14.</NOTE> So that here is love and hatred, and that wee may know the times of it, the &s;ame Authour tels us, <HI>Diligenda est caro quantum pertinet ad compa&s;&s;ionem naturae; et rur&s;um quantum ad ca&s;tigatio|nem culpae &s;pectat odienda,</HI> For as much as pertaineth to a compa&s;&s;ion of nature, the fle&s;h is to be loved; but againe in re&s;pect of the cha&s;ti&s;ing of &s;inne, it is to be hated. Wherefore di&s;cretion is needfull, and the time of hatred and love is &s;et downe, that we may goe in a right cour&s;e, <HI>Neque &s;uffocemus naturam, dum culpam per&s;equimur, neque culpam nutria|mus, quando naturam fovemus,</HI> and may neither overthrow nature while we &s;uppre&s;&s;e &s;inne; neither yet nouri&s;h vice, while we cheri&s;h nature, as one &s;peaketh: But becau&s;e this cannot be done without great &s;tri|ving, much fighting, therefore it is added, <HI>a time of warre, and a time of peace, Vt &s;imul agno&s;cat homo, et quod nemo &s;ine pugna ad victoriam pervenit, et quod qui legitime certaverit, po&s;t adeptam victoriam in pace requie&s;cet,</HI> That &s;o a man may acknowledge, as well that no one obtaineth victory without fighting, as al&s;o that he who fighteth law|fully, after the victory obtained, re&s;teth in peace, as the &s;ame Father addeth.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="9-11" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 9.</HI></BIBL> What profit hath he that worketh, in that wherein he laboureth?</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 10.</HI></BIBL> I have &s;eene the travell which God hath given to the &s;onnes of men, to be exer|ci&s;ed in it.</P>
<PB N="79" REF="43">
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 11.</HI></BIBL> Hee hath made every thing beautifull in his time: al&s;o hee hath &s;et the world in their heart, &s;o that no man can finde out the worke that God maketh from the beginning to the end.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 9.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>17.</HI></NOTE> It is the wi&s;h of <HI>Hugo</HI> by occa&s;ion of this pa&s;&s;age of the Preacher, <HI>Modo de temporibus exivimus, &s;ed utinam perveni&s;&s;emus ad aeternitatem,</HI> wee have pa&s;&s;ed over the times, but I would to God, wee were come to eternity. And God grant that we may &s;o pa&s;&s;e the times of this life, that in his good time wee may come to eternall life. A Greeke Father maketh this ver&s;e, to be the &s;peech of con&s;cience, &s;peak|ing to the &s;oule of man, when this life is ended. Then con&s;cience &s;aith, Where are thy &s;tately hou&s;es? Where are thy &s;tuffed bagges? Thy brazen &s;tatues, the applau&s;e of thy flatterers? <HI>What profit hath he that worketh, in that wherein he laboureth?</HI> But though the words doe fit the mouth of con&s;cience, the application doth not fit the meaning of the place. The Preacher having &s;hewed in the vanities of time, the &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of evill after good, the precedency of evill before good, the mixture of evill with good, the fitne&s;&s;e of time for both, and therein the vanity of the things of this world, though being enjoyed in their time, there may be &s;ome good in the enjoying of them: here he &s;hew|eth that it is not all mans working, all his labour that can help this. He cannot effect that the time of dying, &s;hould not follow the time of being borne: hee cannot bring it to pa&s;&s;e, that a time of weeping &s;hould not goe before a time of laughing. He cannot prevaile, that a time of get|ting, and loo&s;ing &s;hould not be mixed together. <HI>The profit of all his la|bour</HI> is not the redre&s;&s;ing of this vanity in things. All his <HI>working</HI> can ne|ver find a fit time to remedy the&s;e fit times of changing, and wherein the vexation of mans &s;pirit is e&s;tabli&s;hed. The Hebrew therefore that was Saint <HI>Hieroms</HI> Ma&s;ter in expounding the Scriptures unto him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> did right|ly expound to him the meaning of this ver&s;e, <HI>Quum omnia &s;uo labantur tempore, &amp; &s;it tempus de&s;truendi &amp; aedificandi, flendi &amp; ridendi, &amp;c. Quid fru&s;tra conamur &amp; tendimus, &amp; brevis vitae labores putamus e&s;&s;e per|petuos?</HI> Seeing that all things doe pa&s;&s;e away in their time, and that there is a time of breaking downe, and of building up, a time of weeping and a time of laughing, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Why doe we in vaine worke, and labour, and thinke to make the workes of our &s;hort life to be of long continuance? For as Saint <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> bringing in <HI>Iob</HI> comforting his Wife in their calami|ties maketh him to &s;ay, <HI>Semper pro&s;pere agere &s;olius e&s;t Dei:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;ilius Ho|miliar. <HI>23.</HI> Cujus titu|lus e&s;t, Non e&s;&s;e adhaeren|dum rebus temporal.</NOTE> <HI>Bibisti li|quidum vitae laticem, &amp; turbidum iam toleranter bibe,</HI> It belongeth to God onely alwaies to enjoy contentment. Thou ha&s;t dranke of the cleare waters of this life, now drinke of them patiently when they are troub|led: &s;o mu&s;t every one be contented when the time commeth to mourne,
<PB N="80" REF="44"> who when time was, danced: when the time commeth, to have that pluckt up, which in his time he planted. There will be no profit in all his labour by &s;eeking to avoyd it.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 10. The Preachers <HI>Vidi</HI> here, I have &s;eene, is nothing el&s;e but an affirmation of that which he &s;aith. For when we &s;ee a thing, the eye doth as it were &s;ay, that this is &s;uch a thing, &s;o the Preacher &s;aying, <HI>I have &s;eene the travell,</HI> it is as if he &s;aid, This is the travell, this, that all things in this world have a contrariety of times; this, that man mu&s;t be &s;ubject to the&s;e times, and cannot by all his labour and working free him&s;elfe from it. This is that which <HI>God hath given,</HI> that is, this is that which God hath appointed and ordained, and which man cannot alter. For as an Ancient Writer &s;peaketh, <HI>Omnia nutum &s;equuntur di&s;po&s;itio|nis aeternae, ne&abque; arbitrio humano &s;ubduntur,</HI> All things doe follow the becke of the &s;upernaturall di&s;po&s;ing, neither are the changes of times &s;ubject to mans arbitrement. This therefore God hath given, God hath appointed <HI>to the &s;onnes of men,</HI> that is, to all generations, to all &s;ucce&s;|&s;ions of men. None &s;hall be able to &s;ay, things were better in the times of our fathers; none &s;hall bee able to thinke with them&s;elves, things may be better in the dayes of our children.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. in P&s;alm. <HI>30.</HI> conc. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> For as Saint <HI>Austin</HI> &s;peak|eth, <HI>Si interrogares parentes tuos, &s;imiliter tibi de diebus &s;uis murmurarent,</HI> If thou coulde&s;t aske thy fathers, their complaint of their dayes would be like to thine, and if thou could&s;t heare thy children, they would &s;ay as the Preacher doth, <HI>We have &s;eene this travell which God hath given to the &s;onnes of men.</HI> Now God hath given it to them <GAP DESC="foreign"> to bee humbled in it: for &s;o the &s;ignification of the word mo&s;t directly &s;oun|deth, and &s;o it agreeth not ami&s;&s;e to the &s;cope of the place. For by this travell God humbleth the &s;onnes of men, that &s;o they may not tru&s;t in their owne labour, that &s;o they may not hope in their owne workes, ei|ther to hinder that which God hath appointed, or to procure that which God hath not ordained. By this travell God humbleth the &s;onnes of men, that &s;o they may not be proud, but being dejected with the vanity of them, may become weary of this life, <HI>per quam mortales tran&s;eunt na&s;cendo &amp; moriendo,</HI> through which mortalls pa&s;&s;e away by being borne and dying:<NOTE PLACE="marg">August. de civita. Dei l. <HI>19.</HI> c. <HI>20.</HI> Aug. l. cui titul. &s;pecu|lum peccato|ris.</NOTE> and may de&s;ire that life, <HI>In qua immortales ma|nent, nihil adver&s;i omnino patiendo,</HI> In which they remaine immortall by &s;uffering nothing at all, that is offen&s;ive to them, as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peak|eth. And therefore doth God make the things of the earth &s;o trouble|&s;ome unto men, <HI>Vt quanto infoelicior mundus i&s;te con&s;picitur, tanto foelicius pro amore coele&s;tis patriae contemnatur,</HI> That by how much the more un|happy this world is found, by &s;o much the more happily it may be con|temned, in re&s;pect of our love to our heavenly Country, as the &s;ame Father &s;peaketh. Or el&s;e, God hath given this travell to the &s;onnes of men <HI>to be exerci&s;ed in it.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Origen. in Ioan. Homil. <HI>27.</HI></NOTE> For as <HI>Origen</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Duas Deus nobis vitas con&s;tituit, prae&s;entem &amp; futuram: prae&s;entem in certamen po&s;uit, futuram in certaminis praemium,</HI> God hath appointed two lives for us, the pre&s;ent, and the future: the pre&s;ent he hath ordained for our exerci&s;e of &s;triving,
<PB N="81" REF="44"> the future for the reward of our exerci&s;e. God hath appointed the changes of time, that man may be exerci&s;ed in them, <HI>&s;ive volens ad me|ritum, &s;ive nolens ad tormentum,</HI> either wi&s;ely and willingly to his prai&s;e, or el&s;e unwillingly and fooli&s;hly to his torment and vexation, as one &s;peaketh.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 11. That any thing is made in his time, is enough to make it beautifull. For as <HI>Hugo Victorinus</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Omnia tempus habent,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo &V;icto|rinus in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>q&ugrave;ia in tempore &s;uo omnia bene fieri habent, &amp; bona &s;unt, quum bene fiunt omnia,</HI> There is a time to all things, becau&s;e in their time all things are well done, and all things that are well done, are good being done. But when God who is the di&s;po&s;er of time, and the beauty of holine&s;&s;e, maketh any thing in his time, it mu&s;t needs be beautifull. Notwith&s;tanding the vaine heart of man, is too apt to blame the things which God hath made. A time of laughing hee liketh, but not a time of weeping, a time of dancing, but not a time of mourning. <HI>Et quum bene fit, &amp; ip&s;e male non vult, dicit male fieri, quum bene fiat, &amp; ip&s;e male velit,</HI> And when a thing is well done, but his evill will would not have it to be done, he &s;aith, that it is ill done, but the thing is well done, and it is his will that is evill, as one &s;peaketh. Now the rea&s;on why man is &s;o ready to blame the workes of God, is, <HI>becau&s;e the world is in his heart,</HI> and God is &s;aid <HI>to have &s;et it there,</HI> becau&s;e he hath permitted the world to be there. The love then of the world that is in mans heart, makes him to de&s;ire that all things in the world &s;hould pro&s;per alway. He is plea&s;ed with a building up, but di&s;plea&s;ed to heare of a breaking downe: he is well contented with planting, but di&s;contented to heare of plucking up. So that being blinded with this love, <HI>he cannot find out,</HI> the wi&s;e cau&s;es from which they doe proceed, which is <HI>the beginning of them:</HI> he cannot find out the good u&s;es to which they are ordained, which is <HI>the end of them.</HI> That which our tran&s;lation readeth, <HI>He hath &s;et the world in their heart,</HI> the Septuagint and according to them the Vulgar Latin render, <HI>Et mun|dum tradidit di&s;putationibus eorum,</HI> and hee hath delivered the world to their di&s;putation. For as an Ancient Writer &s;aith, <HI>Propo&s;uit Deus opus &s;u|um in oculis hominum, ut interrogaret corda ip&s;orum de eo,</HI> God hath &s;et his worke in the eyes of men, that hee might aske their hearts of it. And many are the an&s;wers which mens hearts have given, or rather <HI>multa fa|brefacta mendacia opinionum de judicio rerum,</HI> many lyes of opinions ar|tificially made of the judgement of things. <HI>Aliqui a&s;&s;erunt nihil e&s;&s;e, ni&s;i ip&s;um quod videtur, alii quod nihil e&s;t vere, ni&s;i ip&s;um quod non videtur,</HI> Some affirme, that nothing is, but that only which is &s;eene: others, that nothing truly is, but that onely which is not &s;eene. <HI>Et texunt rationes, &amp; qua&s;i rationes, &amp; e&s;t cui&abque; ratio exi&s;timatio &s;ua,</HI> And they frame rea&s;ons, and as it were rea&s;ons, and every ones opinion is to him a rea&s;on. But the booke which God hath given man to &s;tudy, con&s;i&s;teth of two vo|lumes, the one containeth the workes that he hath made, the other his providence over his workes: the one is larger, the other hath more hid|den and ab&s;tru&s;e matter: the one is read by more, the other by them who
<PB N="82" REF="45"> are more excellent, the one is under&s;tood by &s;harpne&s;&s;e of rea&s;on, the other by the illumination of Gods Holy Spirit. For God hath made it darke, and God hath done this to this end, that man not being able to find out the worke of God, he might &s;eeke to God, becau&s;e unle&s;&s;e God reveale it, man cannot know it. Or if man by the light of nature bee able to find out &s;ome of Gods workes, yet he cannot find out his work from the <HI>beginning to the end.</HI> Hee cannot find out the <HI>beginning</HI> of it, how God made all things by his word of nothing: he cannot find out <HI>the end</HI> of it, <HI>Si enim ad finem pervenire potui&s;&s;et, inveni&s;set uti&abque; Deum: quoniam a quo &s;unt, ibi finem habent omnia.</HI> For if he could have come to the end, he would have come to God, becau&s;e from whom all things are, there they have their end. But to know the&s;e things <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>Convenientem &s;ibi a&s;&s;cribit magi&s;trum, nempe Deum,</HI> requireth a fit matter for it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Clemens A|lexand. Ad|monit. ad Gentes.</NOTE> namely God, as <HI>Clemens Alexandrinus</HI> &s;peaketh. But the&s;e tran&s;lations doe not appeare to mee to ki&s;&s;e the Originall. The Hebrew word is <GAP DESC="foreign"> which doth not properly &s;ig|nifie the world, but <HI>Tempus ab&s;conditum</HI> a hidden time: and I thinke that the plaine &s;ignification of the word, will make the &s;en&s;e plaine&s;t, and be&s;t agreeable to the &s;cope of the place. It may bee therefore rendred thus, <HI>Hee hath made every thing beautifull in his time, al&s;o he hath &s;et a hidden time in the heart of them:</HI> that is, hee hath hidden from the heart of men the time for every thing which hee hath ap|pointed; <HI>&s;o that man cannot find out the worke which God maketh;</HI> the worke which God maketh in his time from the beginning to the end, from the beginning of the world to the end of it, or from the beginning of his life to the end of it. Hee cannot finde out what GOD will doe in the time of it: when it is done, hee cannot finde out, why God hath done it. <HI>Non invenit homo quo fine fiant haec om|nia, donec ip&s;e finem accipiat,</HI> Man findeth not out, to what end all tho&s;e things are done, untill him&s;elfe come to his end, as one &s;peak|eth. Then hee &s;hall under&s;tand it: then, either the mercy of God or his ju&s;tice will &s;hew it unto him. Wherefore the coun&s;ell is good which <HI>Hugo</HI> giveth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>13.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Sit paratus homo ad omne tempus, &s;ive bonum &s;ive malum &s;it, ut per bona &amp; mala probatus tran&s;eat ad bona glorificandus,</HI> Let a man bee ready for all times, whether good or bad, that being proved by good things and bad things, he may pa&s;&s;e to good things, to be glorified in them.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="12-13" TYPE="verse">
<PB N="83" REF="45">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 12.</HI></BIBL> I know that there is no good in them: but for a man to rejoyce, and to doe good in his life.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 13.</HI></BIBL> And al&s;o that every man &s;hould eate and drinke, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 12. The Preacher having &s;hewed, that no one can know the times of Gods workes, Yet &s;aith he, this <HI>I know,</HI> this I will take upon me to tell, that <HI>there is no good in them,</HI> that is, how&s;oever good, how&s;oever beautifull they may be in them&s;elves and in the &s;ea&s;onable|ne&s;&s;e of them, which are things that God maketh; yet there is in them no good for man, there is no other good which man is to doe in them, <HI>then to rejoyce, and to doe good in his life:</HI> that is,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Glo&s;&s;a minor.</NOTE> as the le&s;&s;er Glo&s;&s;e doth well expound it, <HI>Frui prae&s;entibus, &amp; facere quod in futuro pro&s;it to enioy</HI> the pre&s;ent things, and to doe that which may bee profitable in the time to come. The Originall here is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>in vitis &s;uis,</HI> in his lives, and though it be an Hebrai&s;me, yet by occa&s;ion of it, wee may note the two lives of man, either his life in pro&s;perity, or el&s;e his life in ad|ver&s;ity. And &s;urely that which is good for man, is to rejoyce in both, is to doe good in both. And therefore when our Saviour Chri&s;t &s;peak|ing of &s;ad times &s;aith, when the&s;e things begin to come to pa&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. <HI>21.28.</HI> Galfridus, apud Til|mannum.</NOTE> then looke up, and lift up your heads; thereupon <HI>Galfridus</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Dimitta|mus in pro&s;peris capita, ne vanitatis aura nos rapiat, Levemus in adver&s;is capita, ne nos torrentis mergat unda,</HI> Let us hold downe our heads in pro|&s;perity lea&s;t the ayre of vanity cary us away; in adver&s;ity let us lift up our heads, that the water of the torrent doe not drowne us. And in the times of adver&s;ity, let us doe good by &s;etting forth the good example of our patience, and by doing good to them who have beene the cau&s;es of our evils. But if it be the good of man to rejoyce in times of adver|&s;ity, and to do good in them, then much more in the times of pro&s;perity. When God &s;endeth man good things, let him with moderation, hu|mility, thankfulne&s;&s;e take the comfort of them. For what is more wret|ched, then as <HI>Plutarch</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Parare opes tanquam &s;plendidos,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Plutarch. l. de Cupid. Divitiarum.</NOTE> <HI>uti tan|quam &s;ordidos,</HI> To get the good things of this life as men that are in pro|&s;perity, to u&s;e them as men that are in mi&s;ery? What is more unrea&s;o|nable, then as Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Suis ab&s;tinere tanquam alienis,</HI> To ab&s;taine from a mans owne things, as if they were the things of ano|ther man? And indeed as the &s;ame Father goeth on,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Homil. <HI>2.</HI> ad Popul.</NOTE> What are the things that &s;uch a one hath, but the things of another rather than his owne? <HI>Quae enim ne&abque; aliis erogare, ne&abque; in nece&s;&s;ariis impendere audet, licet multas &s;ustineret poenas, quomodo propria &s;unt?</HI> For how are tho&s;e things
<PB N="84" REF="46"> his owne, which he dareth not although he &s;uffer much by it, either to extend unto others in charity, or el&s;e to expend upon his owne nece&s;&s;a|ry occa&s;ions. But as a man mu&s;t rejoyce and doe good to him&s;elfe in times of pro&s;perity, &s;o mu&s;t he doe it to others, by making them al&s;o to rejoyce through a partaking with him in the good, which God hath &s;ent him. In generall, it mu&s;t bee the care of every man in all times, to feare God, for that is the good of man, that it is which maketh all times to be good to man. And therefore hath God hidden, the times of his workes from man, <HI>Vt dum nec pro no&s;tro intellectu penetrare, nec pro no&s;tro arbitrio immutare po&s;simus, amplius timeamus,</HI> That &s;eeing wee are not able either by our under&s;tanding to pierce into them, or according to our minds to alter them, therefore we &s;hould feare him the more, as an Ancient Writer &s;peaketh. Had it beene &s;aid onely, it is good for a man to rejoyce, it would have beene entertained readily. But it is ad|ded al&s;o, that we mu&s;t doe good: and &s;urely that alone is true rejoycing, that alone it is which maketh all joy to be comfortable.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 13. It is not the gift of God to man, to know the times of things: that God hath re&s;erved to him&s;elfe: but <HI>that every man &s;hould eate and drinke,</HI> that is, that every man &s;hould enjoy health, and thereby enjoy the good of his labour, <HI>that is his gift unto them.</HI> For as the Poet &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Horatius.</NOTE> <HI>Valeat po&s;&s;e&s;&s;or oportet, Si comportatis rebus bene cogitat uti,</HI> Hee that hath gathered much together, if he thinke to enjoy it, it is need|full that he &s;hould enjoy health. And that he may enjoy health, it mu&s;t be the gift of God unto him. Wherefore when <HI>Iacob</HI> &s;aith, The God which fed me all my life unto this day,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. <HI>48.15.</HI> &amp; <HI>16.</HI> Philo Al|legoriar. l. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> the Angell which redeemed me from all evill, ble&s;&s;e the laddes: it is the note of <HI>Philo</HI> upon it, <HI>Sanita|tem meram, quam nullus morbus praece&s;sit, Deum per &s;emet &s;olum largiri opinor, liberationem autem &agrave; morbo etiam per artem &amp; medicinam,</HI> I thinke that God doth give by him&s;elfe alone, that which is meerely health, and hath not had any &s;ickne&s;&s;e going before it: but as for recovery from &s;ickne&s;&s;e, that he giveth al&s;o by art and the skill of the Phy&s;itian. And hee thinketh that <HI>Iacob</HI> did here &s;peake in this manner, as reproving <HI>Io&s;eph</HI> becau&s;e hee had before &s;ent a me&s;&s;age unto him by his brethren,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 45.9. <HI>&amp;</HI> 11.</NOTE> &s;aying, <HI>Come downe unto me into Aegypt, and there I will nouri&s;h thee.</HI> The Father therefore &s;eeing his &s;onne to be his mothers child in her infirmi|ty, and that as &s;he a&s;cribed too much to the Creature, &s;aying, <HI>Give mee children,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 30.1.</NOTE> <HI>or el&s;e I dye,</HI> &s;o did he likewi&s;e, &s;aying, <HI>I will nouri&s;h thee,</HI> this made him to tell his &s;on, that it is God who doth feed us, it is Gods gift unto us, that we eate and drinke, and &s;o enjoy health. And it is Gods gift that every man <HI>enjoyeth the good of all his labour.</HI> Where wee may fir&s;t note, that it is upon labour that Gods gift is be&s;towed. For Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> writing on tho&s;e words of our Saviour Chri&s;t, many Lea|pers were in <HI>I&s;rael</HI> in the time of <HI>Eli&s;aeus</HI> the Prophet, and none of them was clean&s;ed &s;aving <HI>Naaman</HI> the <HI>Syrian,</HI> there telleth us, <HI>evidenter hic &s;ermo Domini informat nos,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;e in c. <HI>4.</HI> Lucae.</NOTE> <HI>non dormientibus divina beneficia, &s;ed ob&s;ervanti|bus deferri,</HI> This &s;peech of Chri&s;t doth manife&s;tly teach us, the benefits
<PB N="85" REF="46"> of God to be be&s;towed not on them that &s;leepe, but on them who ob|&s;erve to doe what God requireth of them. Secondly, wee may note here, that Gods gift maketh man to enjoy the good of <HI>all</HI> his labour, not onely the good of his comfortable labour, but of his mi&s;erable la|bour al&s;o. And as an ancient Writer &s;peaketh, <HI>Non &s;olum quando bonis hujus mundi indu&s;tri&acirc; &s;u&acirc; acqui&s;itis cum gratiarum actione perfruitur; &s;ed tunc etiam, quando in adver&s;is con&s;titutus pro patientiae &s;uae labore &s;pe futurae con&s;olationis laetatur,</HI> Not onely when he enjoyeth with thankfulne&s;&s;e the good things of this world, which by his labour he hath gotten, but even then al&s;o when placed in adver&s;itie, he rejoyceth in the hope of future con&s;olation, as a reward for the labour of his patience. The evill that is in any of mans labour, that is, his own gift to him&s;elfe: but the good of it, that is Gods gift. For indeed evill cannot come from God. And therefore when <HI>Saul</HI> came into the cave where <HI>David</HI> was,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 24.4.</NOTE> and <HI>Davids</HI> men &s;ayd unto him, Behold the day, of which the Lord &s;ayd unto thee, behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand: This mentioning of the Lord could not make <HI>David</HI> to hurt <HI>Saul:</HI> be|cau&s;e as S^t. <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> noteth upon it; <HI>Hominis interemptio,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;ilius Se|leuc. Ora|tion. <HI>16.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Dei donum non e&s;t, neque oculus divinus arridet,</HI> The killing of a man is not Gods gift, neither is the &s;ight of God plea&s;ed with it. So al&s;o when it is &s;ayd in <HI>Iob,</HI> Sathan went forth from the pre&s;ence of the Lord,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Didymus, in Catena Grae|ca.</NOTE> <HI>Didymus</HI> there|upon writeth thus, <HI>Ni&s;i extra Deum diabolus fui&s;&s;et, contra Iobum nihil fui&s;&s;et moliturus,</HI> Vnle&s;&s;e the Devill had gone forth from God, he had never done any thing again&s;t <HI>Iob.</HI> God him&s;elfe minding no ill at all to man.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="14-15" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 14.</HI></BIBL> I know that what&s;oever God doth, it &s;hall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doth it that men &s;hould feare before him.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 15.</HI></BIBL> That which hath been is now, and that which is to be, hath already been, and God requireth that which is past.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 14. The Preacher here &s;aying, <HI>I know,</HI> &s;heweth that he refu|teth an objection of &s;ome, who doe not know the truth. For becau&s;e of the changeablene&s;&s;e of worldly things, from hence &s;ome would impute a changeablene&s;&s;e to God by whom they are made. And from the uncertaintie of events, &s;ome would inferre a neglect in Gods go|vernment. But the Preacher &s;ayth, <HI>I know,</HI> and let all know from him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. l. Quod Deus &s;it im|mutabilis.</NOTE> <HI>that what&s;oever God doth, it &s;hall be for ever. Philo</HI> therefore &s;ayth well, <GAP DESC="foreign">, what greater wickedne&s;&s;e can there be a|gain&s;t
<PB N="86" REF="47"> God, then to thinke him to be changed, who is unchangeable. And doubtle&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Salvian. De Guber. Dei. l. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> nothing is more true, then that God, as <HI>Salvianus</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Qua pote&s;tate et maje&s;tate cuncta condidit, etiam eadem providen|tia &amp; ratione moderatur,</HI> By what power and maje&s;tie he hath made all things, by the &s;ame providence and wi&s;edome doth he al&s;o governe all things. That change which is in worldly things, is from them|&s;elves, not from any change in God. Their being they have from God, <HI>Quod autem e&s;&s;e de&s;inunt, ex &s;emetip&s;is habent; &s;icut et hoc quod antequam e&s;&s;ent, nihil fuerunt, ex &s;emetip&s;is habuerunt,</HI> But that in any kinde they cea&s;e to be, they have it from them&s;elves, even as that they were no|thing before they were,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo Victo|rinus in Ec|cle&s;ia&s;t. Ho|mil. <HI>18.</HI></NOTE> they had from them&s;elves al&s;o, as <HI>Hugo Victo|rinus</HI> &s;peaketh. And if in the government of worldly things, God may &s;eeme &s;ometimes to alter his plea&s;ure, the &s;ame Authour &s;peaketh well, <HI>Di&s;pen&s;atio occulta e&s;t, qua non mutatur con&s;ilium, &s;ed opus variatur, &amp; judi|cium exercetur. Nam hoc ip&s;um judicium e&s;t, quod judicium differtur ali|quando, ut tempore &s;uo re&s;tauretur,</HI> It is a &s;ecret di&s;pen&s;ation, by which his coun&s;ell is not changed, but the worke is varied, and judgement is exerci&s;ed. For even this is judgement, that &s;ometimes judgement is differred, that in his time it may be recalled. And this is mo&s;t certaine, as <HI>Salvianus</HI> hath it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Salvian. de Guber. Dei. l. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Sicut omnipotentia Domini indeficiens, &s;ic cen&s;ura in|de mutabilis,</HI> That as the omnipotency of God is without defect, &s;o the coun&s;ell of God is without change. For how can there be any change in him, to whom nothing is pa&s;t or to come, but all things are pre&s;ent? As God filleth heaven and earth, and every where is pre&s;ent, &s;o doth he fill all time, and all things at once are pre&s;ent unto him. He is as <HI>Hilarius</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hilarius.</NOTE> &s;peaketh, <HI>Immen&s;ae virtutis vivens potestas, quae nu&s;quam non ad|e&s;t, non dee&s;t u&s;quam,</HI> A living power of infinite vertue, which no where is not pre&s;ent, and is not ab&s;ent any where. But not to &s;peake more of this:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Salvian. de Guber. Dei. l. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> So fooli&s;h are the&s;e and &s;uch like objections, that as <HI>Salvianus</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Cavendum e&s;t, quod ne id ip&s;um quod pro honore Dei dicitur, in|juria Dei e&s;&s;e videatur. Tanta quippe e&s;t Maje&s;tatis &s;acrae &amp; tam tremenda re|verentia, ut non &s;olum ea quae ab illis contra religionem dicuntur horrere, &s;ed aliam quae pro religione nos ip&s;i dicimus, cum grandi metu &amp; di&s;ciplina dicere debeamus,</HI> Care mu&s;t be had, lea&s;t that every thing which is &s;po|ken for the honour of God, may &s;eeme to be an injury unto him. For &s;o great and &s;o fearefull is the reverence due to the Divine Maje&s;tie, that wee ought not onely to abhorre tho&s;e things which are &s;poken again&s;t Religion, but al&s;o with feare and awfulne&s;&s;e to &s;peake tho&s;e things, which wee our &s;elves &s;peake for Religion. Let it &s;uffice therefore, as the Preacher &s;ayth, <HI>That what&s;oever God doth, it &s;hall abide for ever. And that nothing can be put to it</HI> in the ble&s;&s;ings of his providence: <HI>nothing can be taken from it</HI> in the judgements of his providence; nothing can be ei|ther put to it, or taken from it, in re&s;pect of the perfection of it. <HI>And that God doth it, that men &s;hould feare</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>&agrave; faciebus ejus,</HI> from his faces, to make &s;ome u&s;e of the verball tran&s;lation: that is, that men &s;hould feare from the face of his judgements, and tremble at his angry
<PB N="87" REF="47"> looke. For as the P&s;almi&s;t &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 34.16.</NOTE> <HI>The face of the Lord is again&s;t them that doe evill.</HI> And that men &s;hould reverence the face of his mercies, have their eyes towards it, and put their tru&s;t in it. For as the P&s;almi&s;t al&s;o &s;peaketh, <HI>The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 34.15.</NOTE> And that all men &s;hould hang downe their faces, and be a&s;hamed, who thinke to mend what God doth.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 15. It is true, that Gods pre&s;ervation of all things in the world, in their kindes and natures, though they be pa&s;&s;ed away and changed, in their particular beings, and individuall exi&s;tences, doth make that to be now, which hath been before, and that which is to be, to have been already, and God to recall that as it were which is driven away and pa&s;t, and &s;o the worke of God to abide continually. But I take the Preacher more e&s;pecially to &s;peake of the workes of Gods providence, and to &s;hew how they are immutable, and doe abide for ever, notwith&s;tand|ing the fluctuation and incon&s;tancy of worldly things. He tels us there|fore here, that with God there is no difference of times to him, that which <HI>hath been</HI> is now, and it is all one with him <HI>to be hereafter, and to have been already.</HI> He asketh that (for &s;o the Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> may well be rendred) <HI>which is gone</HI> he &s;peaketh to it, as if it were pre|&s;ent. For as the Apo&s;tle &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 4.17.</NOTE> He calleth tho&s;e things which are not, as if they were. And as S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augustinus.</NOTE> <HI>Non aliter &s;civit Deus crea|ta quam creanda,</HI> God did not know things otherwi&s;e when they were created, then he did when they were to be created. But as <HI>Boetius</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Boetius.</NOTE> hath it, <HI>Omnia futura praecurrit divinus intuitus, &amp; ad prae&s;entiam revocat, uno&abque; ictu &s;imul complectitur,</HI> The &s;ight of divine providence outgoeth all future things, and making them to be pre&s;ent, at once doth comprehend them. Wherefore when wee &s;peake of things pa&s;t, pre&s;ent, and to come, this is not to be under&s;tood in re&s;pect of God, <HI>Sed rerum quae fiunt, &amp; no&s;tri quibus patefiunt,</HI> but in re&s;pect of the things which are made, and in re|&s;pect of us to whom they are made knowne. And therefore the manner of &s;peaking in the Scripture, is not that God foreknoweth future things, but that he knoweth them as being pre&s;ent to him. So in S^t. <HI>Iohns</HI> Go|&s;pel it is &s;ayd of <HI>Chri&s;t, that he knew all things that &s;hould come unto him.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>John</HI> 18.4.</NOTE> And &s;o God &s;ayth of him&s;elfe,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Exod.</HI> 3.9.</NOTE> <HI>I know that the King of Aegypt will not let you goe.</HI> For &s;o according to the Originall it is to be read, although in the booke of Wi&s;edome it be &s;ayd, that God did foreknow it.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Wi&s;d.</HI> 19.1.</NOTE> It is the &s;aying therefore of <HI>Origen,</HI> That he is very wicked, who beleeveth not of God, <HI>Vt quod nos videmus in prae&s;enti, hoc ille videat in futuro,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Origenes. Augu&s;tin.</NOTE> That as we &s;ee things pre&s;ent, &s;o he &s;eeth things to come. And S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> al&s;o &s;ayth, God is within every thing, becau&s;e all things are in him, God is without all things, becau&s;e all things are under him, God is before all things, becau&s;e all things were made by him, God is after all things, becau&s;e all things to him are pre&s;ent before that they are. Now as the being of things when they are, and the certaintie of them that they are, while they are, doth not take away their uncertaintie of being be|fore that they were, nor their mutabilitie either to be or not to be;
<PB N="88" REF="48"> So neither doth God in his certaine government of the world, who re|&s;pecteth all things as pre&s;ent to him&s;elfe, either change the mutable nature of things, or take away the uncertaintie of humane events. And as our beholding of things when they are pre&s;ent doth not alter the in|&s;tabilitie of their condition, nor the contingency of their being, be|fore that they were; &s;o if there may be any compari&s;on betweene the &s;ight of God and man, the beholding of God, who looketh upon all things as pre&s;ent, doth neither conferre upon him any changeablene&s;&s;e from the changeablene&s;&s;e of humane things; nor yet from the immu|tabilitie of Gods beholding, inferre an immutabilitie in the things of mans life. But if in the difficultie of this point, I have not &s;poken fully enough, if in the darkne&s;&s;e of it I have not &s;poken cleerely enough; for the fir&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertull.</NOTE> my hope is, as <HI>Tertullian</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Difficilium facilis erit venia,</HI> that in hard things a pardon will be ea&s;ie; for the &s;econd, I con|fe&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t.</NOTE> as S^t. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Sicut multa intelligimus de Deo quae lo|qui non po&s;&s;umus, ita multa loquimur quae non &s;umus idonei intelligere,</HI> That as wee under&s;tand many things of God which we cannot utter, &s;o we utter many things which wee cannot under&s;tand.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="16-17" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 16.</HI></BIBL> And moreover, I &s;aw under the Sunne, the place of Judgement, that wickednes was there: and the place of righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e, that iniquitie was there.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 17.</HI></BIBL> J &s;ayd in my heart, God &s;hall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpo&s;e, and for e|very worke.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 16. The Preacher againe here &s;ayth, <HI>I &s;aw,</HI> as preventing the objection which he &s;aw &s;ome ready to make. For having &s;hewed the con&s;tant providence of God in ordering and governing the things of the world, he bringeth the objection that is made from the confu&s;ion of things in the world. And he giveth an in&s;tance in the confu&s;ion of judgement and ju&s;tice: becau&s;e if God did rule and governe the world, it might &s;eeme that above all things he &s;hould not &s;uffer that to be. This is the objection, which to confute <HI>Salvianus</HI> that devout and lear|ned Bi&s;hip of <HI>Mar&s;eiles,</HI> hath written eight mo&s;t excellent bookes: and who in the entrance of his booke, &s;etting downe the objection, &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Salvian. de Guber. Dei. l. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Incurio&s;us &agrave; quibu&s;dam, &amp; qua&s;i negligens, humanorum actuum, Deus dicitur, utpote nec bonos cu&s;todiens, nec coercens malos; quia boni mala omnia patiuntur, mali faciunt,</HI> God is by &s;ome &s;ayd to be carele&s;&s;e and negli|gent in the affayres of men, as neither pre&s;erving the good, nor re&s;trai|ning
<PB N="89" REF="48"> the bad: &s;eeing the righteous &s;uffer all evils, the wicked commit them. Thus is the heart of man moved again&s;t God, for that, for which he ought to be loved by man, and to be pray&s;ed.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;. Hom. <HI>18.</HI></NOTE> For as <HI>Hugo de Sancto Victore</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Conqueritur homo, quod malus homo &agrave; Deo toleratur, quum manife&s;tum &s;it quod nullus homo fui&s;&s;et bonus, &s;i nullus aliquando fui&s;|&s;et toleratus malus,</HI> Man complaineth that evill men are &s;uffered by God, when as it is manife&s;t that no man had been good, if no man that is evill had been &s;ometimes &s;uffered. But to con&s;ider the Preachers words. <HI>I &s;aw:</HI> he that had a di&s;cerning watchfull eye was able to &s;ee it; for commonly &s;uch wickedne&s;&s;e is hid, and the place of judgement is made to be a cover for it. <HI>I &s;aw under the Sunne.</HI> The wickedne&s;&s;e that is, is under the Sunne, and as the Preacher &s;ayth, <HI>I &s;aw,</HI> &s;o the Sunne &s;aw it al&s;o. It is by the light of the Sunne that &s;en&s;ible things are di&s;cerned, and it is by the light of the Sunne of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, that wickedne&s;&s;e is di&s;cerned. Vnder that Sunne therefore it was al&s;o that the Preacher &s;aw it. <HI>I &s;aw under the Sunne the place of Iudgement.</HI> The place of Iudge|ment is that which this world hath: the place where it &s;hould be, where it is ordained to be, where it is lookt for, where it is pretended to be, but where it is not. The Preacher &s;aw <HI>that wickedne&s;&s;e was there:</HI> there, where the place of it was never appointed, there, where the place doth no way agree unto it. And therefore the Preacher as not beleeving his eyes, he lookes againe to be &s;ure of it, as being a thing &s;o bad, &s;o &s;trange to be &s;o. But he finds that &s;o it is: and <HI>he &s;aw the place of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e that iniquitie was there.</HI> The throne which <HI>Solomon</HI> made,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>King</HI> 10.18.</NOTE> was overlayd with the be&s;t gold, <HI>auro puri&s;&s;imo,</HI> with the mo&s;t pure gold; and what did this &s;ignifie, but the e&s;teeme and price, in which God would have ju|&s;tice to be held; as al&s;o how pure the judgements &s;hould be that from thence are given. But too often, where the &s;eate is gold, he that &s;its on it is bra&s;&s;e; where the place is the place of judgement and righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e, wickedne&s;&s;e and iniquitie are found. Or if it &s;hall be thought better to di&s;tingui&s;h the&s;e two &s;entences. In the fir&s;t place, wee may under&s;tand the place of them, who are placed in authoritie: in the &s;e|cond place, wee may under&s;tand the place of them, who are placed un|der them. For as an ancient Writer &s;peaketh, <HI>Ni&s;i illi per impietatem, in|nocentiam opprimerent, i&s;ti per iniquitatem, ju&s;titiam non impugnarent. Propterea nam&abque; inferiores ad iniquitatem perpetrandam audaces &s;unt, quia &s;uperiores ad tuendam innocentiam non pii &s;unt,</HI> Vnle&s;&s;e they by wicked|ne&s;&s;e did oppre&s;&s;e innocency, the other by iniquitie would not oppo&s;e ju&s;tice. For therefore are inferiours bold to commit iniquitie, becau&s;e &s;uperiours are not religious in defending of innocency. Or el&s;e wee may di&s;tingui&s;h the &s;entences thus: <HI>the place of Iudgement,</HI> wee may un|der&s;tand to be the place of puni&s;hing the wicked, but that wickedne&s;&s;e was there. <HI>The place of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e,</HI> we may under&s;tand to be the place of rewarding and cheri&s;hing the righteous, but that iniquitie was there, and the righteous were di&s;graced and afflicted. Or la&s;tly, wee may un|der&s;tand, and di&s;tingui&s;h the &s;entences thus: <HI>in the place of Iudgement,</HI>
<PB N="90" REF="49"> wee may apprehend the Iudge as a Iudge, and as giving the judgement of wickedne&s;&s;e, when his place calleth for ju&s;tice: <HI>in the place of righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e,</HI> wee may under&s;tand the Iudge as a man, who in his owne life and conver&s;ation, more e&s;pecially then others, &s;hould &s;hew forth righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;iod. var. l. <HI>6.</HI> var. <HI>21.</HI></NOTE> For as <HI>Ca&s;&s;iodore</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Prima aequitas e&s;t, in &s;e prae&s;ules in|choare: ut debeant crimino&s;i metuere, quem non queunt &s;imilem reperire. Nullus enim in &s;e culpas timet reus quas habere con&s;pexerit cognitorem,</HI> The fir&s;t righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e is, that Governours beginne with them&s;elves, that &s;o they who are faultie may feare him, whom they cannot finde like un|to them&s;elves. For a guiltie per&s;on never feareth tho&s;e faults in him|&s;elfe, which he &s;eeth to be in his Iudge. But where this righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e &s;hould be, there is too often iniquitie. And the bad Iudge freeth ano|ther, becau&s;e he would not condemne him&s;elfe. For as <HI>Ca&s;&s;iodore</HI> al&s;o &s;peaketh, <HI>Sicos actus nullus damnat in altero: quia natura e&s;t humani animi, ut nitatur potius vindicare, quod &s;e cogno verit admi&s;i&s;&s;e,</HI> No one condem|neth his owne acts in another, becau&s;e the nature of mans minde is, that it endeavoureth rather to ju&s;tifie that which him&s;elfe practi&s;eth.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 17. The Preacher here an&s;wereth the objection, and to &s;hew that him&s;elfe quickly &s;aw the an&s;wer, as well as the objection, he &s;ayth with an empha&s;is, <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Dixi ego, I &s;ayd. I &s;ayd in my heart:</HI> to &s;hew that he was re&s;olved and firmely per&s;waded of it. And what he &s;ayd in his heart, he hath here &s;ayd openly, that all may heare, and all may be per&s;waded of it al&s;o. <HI>God &s;hall judge.</HI> Man now too often doth not judge, although he may &s;it upon the &s;eate of judgement: but God &s;hall judge, although his judgement &s;eate be not now &s;eene, be not now con&s;idered. <HI>God &s;hall judge:</HI> not but that he doth now judge al&s;o.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Salvian. de Gubern. Dei. l. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> For as <HI>Salvianus</HI> &s;peaketh very well, <HI>Ita in futuro judicatu|rum affirmemus, ut tamen &s;emper, etiam in hoc &s;aeculo judica&s;&s;e doceamus. Dum enim &s;emper gubernat Deus, &amp; &s;emper judicat: quia gubernatio ip&s;a e&s;t ip&s;um judicium,</HI> Let us &s;o affirme, that God will judge in the time to come, as that withall we teach, that God in this world doth al&s;o judge alwayes. For while God alwayes governeth, he alwayes judgeth; becau&s;e the governing is it &s;elfe a judgement. <HI>God &s;hall judge the righte|ous,</HI> the righteous &s;hall fir&s;t be judged, that they being in the comfort of &s;afetie, may not be terrified with the judgement of the wicked: and that the wicked being left out may &s;ee their judgement begun before it is begun. <HI>He &s;hall judge the righteous and the wicked.</HI> To the righteous, who is here wronged, he &s;hall give righteous judgement: the wicked, who&s;e iniquitie is here &s;pared, his judgement &s;hall not &s;pare. He &s;hall judge the wicked Iudge for his wickedne&s;&s;e: to the righteous Iudge his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e &s;hall adjudge a glorious reward. <HI>For there is a time there, for every purpo&s;e and for every worke:</HI> there is a time there for eve|ry thing:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Quia multa quae nunc videntur inordinata ad ordinem divinae ju|&s;titiae reducentur,</HI> Becau&s;e many things which now &s;eeme to be out of order, &s;hall there be brought into order by Gods divine ju&s;tice, as <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;peaketh. Then will be a fit time for all things, then they will be growne
<PB N="91" REF="49"> to a ripene&s;&s;e. For as <HI>Tertullian</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Nihil &s;ine aetate e&s;t:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertul. de veland. virg. l. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>omnia tempus expectant,</HI> There is nothing without a time of maturity: and as all things expect that time, &s;o this time of Gods Iudgement all things expect, as the time of maturity for all things. There is a time there for every thing, that is &s;aith Saint <HI>Hierome, Deus non judicat per partes,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; per &s;ingulos, &s;ed in futurum re&s;ervat judicium, ut omnes pariter judicen|tur,</HI> God doth not judge by parts, and by &s;ingulars, but re&s;erveth things unto the future judgement that all may be judged together. But that <HI>Salvianus</HI> and Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> may not &s;eeme to oppo&s;e one the other: There is a &s;ecret judgement, and there is a manife&s;t judgement: by his judgement that is &s;ecret, God judgeth every particular in this world, and every &s;ingular per&s;on when he goes out of the world: by his manife&s;t judgement hee will at la&s;t judge all together. <HI>For every purpo&s;e and for every worke:</HI> not only the works of men at that time &s;hall be judged, and of which alone man pa&s;&s;eth his judgement, but <HI>every purpo&s;e</HI> al&s;o &s;hall be judged, although it have not proceeded to the working of it. <HI>For every purpo&s;e:</HI> the Originall is <GAP DESC="foreign">, which mo&s;t directly is thus rendred, <HI>Tempus omni voluntati,</HI> A time for every will: a time for Gods will, as well as a time for mans will. And as man now doth what&s;o|ever he will, and too often followes the bent of his will, though it cary him to wickedne&s;&s;e; &s;o then God will have his will, then will be the fit time for it. And therefore whereas we read it in the Epi&s;tle to the <HI>Galatians,</HI> In due &s;ea&s;on we &s;hall reape if wee faint not, the Greeke is <GAP DESC="foreign"> in his time wee &s;hall reape,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertul. ad|ver&s;. Mar. l. <HI>5.</HI> c. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> and &s;o I find <HI>Tertullian</HI> to ren|der the words. The time of judgement is Gods time, his proper and peculiar time, the fit time for his will to be done upon tho&s;e who have not done his will: the fit time for his good will to be &s;hewed to tho&s;e, who have followed his will. The la&s;t part of the ver&s;e in the Originall is thus &s;et downe <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Et &s;uper omne opus ibi,</HI> and up|on every work there, that is and there God will &s;hew him&s;elfe to have had an eye and a regard upon every worke. Or el&s;e, and there God will give his judgement upon every worke. Or el&s;e, and hee that is above every worke will &s;hew him&s;elfe there. Or el&s;e, and he that is over the whole, there is, as <HI>Tremellius</HI> reads it: there is, that is, there is glori|ous in that glorious worke. So that the&s;e la&s;t words may bee referred, either to the time of the judgement, or to God who will be the Iudge. But let not therefore tho&s;e who are here wronged, be too much afflict|ed, God &s;hall there doe them right. Let not them who here unju&s;tly prevaile too much triumph, God &s;hall there confound them, and their prevailing here &s;hall be there their overthrow.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="18-22" TYPE="verse">
<PB N="92" REF="50">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 18.</HI></BIBL> I &s;aid in mine heart concerning the e&s;tate of the &s;onnes of men that God might manife&s;t them, and that they might &s;ee that they them&s;elves are bea&s;ts.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 19.</HI></BIBL> For that which befalleth the &s;ons of men, befalleth bea&s;ts, even one thing befal|leth them: as the one dieth, &s;o dyeth the other; yea, they have all one breath, &s;o that a man hath no preeminence above a bea&s;t, for all is vanity.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 20.</HI></BIBL> All goe unto one place, all are of the dust, and all turne to du&s;t againe.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 21.</HI></BIBL> Who knoweth the &s;pirit of man that go|eth upward, and the &s;pirit of the bea&s;t that goeth downeward to the earth?</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 22.</HI></BIBL> Wherefore I perceive that there is no|thing better, then that a man &s;hould rejoyce in his owne workes: for that is his portion: for who &s;hall bring him to &s;ee what &s;hall be after him?</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 18. The an&s;wer of the Preacher having two parts, he repea|teth againe his words, <HI>I &s;aid in mine heart:</HI> and having an&s;wered con|cerning God, and &s;hewed his ju&s;t providence, though things may &s;eeme to be neglected by him: here he an&s;wereth concerning man to whom the things of this world are &s;o full of di&s;order and confu&s;ion. And becau&s;e this an&s;wer concerneth either the righteous, or the wicked, I will con|&s;ider it both wayes. Fir&s;t then, the confu&s;ion of things in this world in re&s;pect of the righteous is, that God might <HI>manife&s;t them,</HI> and &s;ee whe|ther in the darkne&s;&s;e of this world they would looke after him. For when God &s;hewed him&s;elfe plainely unto man in his creation, then man departed from God, and turned away from him. God therfore tri|eth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>18.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Si requi&s;ierit ab&s;entem, &amp; ab&s;conditum de&s;ideraverit, &amp; &s;ciat e&s;&s;e quod non videtur,</HI> If he will &s;eeke him being ab&s;ent, and looke after him being hid, and may know him to be in governing and di&s;po&s;ing of the world,
<PB N="93" REF="50"> although he doe not &s;ee him. Or el&s;e it is <HI>to manife&s;t them</HI> to them&s;elves, that they may &s;ee how weake their judgement is, how darke their un|der&s;tanding, how &s;hallow their in&s;ight into the wayes of God, and that they are but <HI>bea&s;ts</HI> in re&s;pect of God.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 73.22.</NOTE> For &s;o the P&s;almi&s;t &s;peaking of tho&s;e things whereof the Preacher here doth, &s;ayth, <HI>So fooli&s;h was I and ignorant, I was as a beast before thee.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in P&s;al. <HI>72.</HI></NOTE> And Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> writing upon tho&s;e words of the P&s;almi&s;t &s;aith, <HI>Pulchre addidit, Apud te, quia, com|paratione coele&s;tium homo quid e&s;t, ni&s;i jumentum irrationale?</HI> Elegantly did he adde <HI>before thee,</HI> becau&s;e in re&s;pect of heavenly things, what is man but an unrea&s;onable bea&s;t? This therefore would God have man to ac|knowledge, and therefore the Originall addeth, <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>ip&s;i &s;ibi</HI> them&s;elves to them&s;elves, that is, that in re&s;pect of their own e&s;teeme of them&s;elves, and in their humble account of them&s;elves, they &s;hould &s;ee them&s;elves as bea&s;ts, and al&s;o as bea&s;ts &s;hould &s;ubmit them&s;elves to the yoake of Gods plea&s;ure, to the burden which Gods di&s;po&s;ing providence layeth upon them. Or el&s;e that they may &s;ee that them|&s;elves are bea&s;ts, in the mi&s;eries and calamities and changes of this world, which to them are common with bea&s;ts. And therefore as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Non mirandum e&s;&s;e inprae&s;enti vita inter ju&s;tum &amp; impium nullam e&s;&s;e di&s;crepantiam, quum etiam inter pecudes &amp; homines &s;e|cundum corporis qualitatem nihil differre videatur,</HI> It is not to be marvei|led, that there is no difference in this life betweene the righteous and the wicked, when as even betweene men and bea&s;ts in re&s;pect of the quali|ty of the body there may &s;eeme to be no difference. And God would have the righteous to &s;ee that they are &s;o bea&s;ts, <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>ip&s;i &s;ibi,</HI> them&s;elves to them&s;elves, that is, by their owne fall, by the ju&s;t pu|ni&s;hment which they have brought upon them&s;elves. Secondly, the confu&s;ion of worldly things in re&s;pect of the wicked is, that God <HI>might manife&s;t them,</HI> and &s;hew what the corruption of their heart is: and that they might &s;ee, or as Pagnine reads it, <HI>Vt o&s;tenderet,</HI> that God might &s;hew that <HI>them&s;elves are bea&s;ts,</HI> them&s;elves though men <HI>are bea&s;ts,</HI> bea&s;ts in minding nothing but earthly things, bea&s;ts in con&s;idering onely the things that are pre&s;ent, bea&s;ts in de&s;troying and oppre&s;&s;ing one the other. And that they are bea&s;ts <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>ip&s;i &s;ibi,</HI> indeed bea&s;ts to them&s;elves, in their owne apprehen&s;ion and imagination and per&s;wa&s;ion, as think|ing that after this life all is done with them, and that there is no more reckoning to be made, for that which is done here.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 19. If we take this ver&s;e as the &s;peech of the righteous, it is their humble confe&s;&s;ion, and is to be under&s;tood of the body only. If we take the words as the &s;peech of the wicked, it is their &s;infull con&s;o|lation, whereby they hearten them&s;elves in their wicked cour&s;es. But to con&s;ider the words, that is &s;aid properly to <HI>befall a man,</HI> of the com|ming whereof he doth not know, and of this it is that the ver&s;e &s;peak|eth: the &s;cope of the place ayming at tho&s;e events, whereof man is ignorant, as a bea&s;t is of tho&s;e events that doe befall a bea&s;t. <HI>That which befalleth the &s;onnes of men, befalleth bea&s;ts,</HI> and &s;eeing the event <HI>of dying</HI>
<PB N="94" REF="51"> followeth, in that the Preacher &s;aith, <HI>the &s;onnes of men,</HI> wee may un|der&s;tand the event of being borne; for that <HI>befalleth bea&s;ts, as it befal|leth men,</HI> as the one is conceived, &s;o is the other, as the one commeth into the world &s;o doth the other, even one thing befalleth them both. Vnle&s;&s;e the difference bee, that mans comming into the world is more wretched, pre&s;aging by his cryes, the mi&s;eries that doe expect him. For as <HI>Chry&s;ologus</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;ologus Serm. <HI>44.</HI></NOTE> <HI>In vit&acirc; quem laetitia tenebit, qui vitae &s;umit exordium de moerore?</HI> Whom &s;hall comfort entertaine in his life, who from &s;orrow beginneth his life? <HI>As the one dyeth, &s;o dyeth the other:</HI> As death is common to all bea&s;ts, &s;o is it to all men; as the one cannot &s;hunne it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;tom. Homil. de fi|da &amp; Spiritu Sancto.</NOTE> &s;o neither can the other. Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> taking notice, how in matrimoniall contracts, care is taken for children, and how if one dye the other &s;hall &s;ucceed him, thereupon &s;aith, <HI>Non &s;olum qui vivunt mortis &s;ententia feriuntur, &s;ed &amp; illi qui nondum nati &s;unt,</HI> Not on|ly they that live are &s;trucken with the &s;entence of death, but they al&s;o which are not yet borne, they are &s;ure to dye al&s;o, if ever they be borne. And as the time of their death is unknowne to bea&s;ts, &s;o is it to man al|&s;o.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 78.48.</NOTE> We read in the P&s;almes, Hee de&s;troyed their mulbery Trees with the fro&s;t: now the Mulberry Tree doth not put forth his blo&s;&s;omes, as other trees in the &s;pring, when often the cold doth nip them; but when the heate being growne &s;trong, le&s;&s;e danger appeareth; and &s;o many men are carefull in &s;hunning the occa&s;ions of &s;ickne&s;&s;e and the ayres contagion, and yet as the fro&s;t de&s;troyeth the Mulbery Trees, &s;o the fro&s;t of death de&s;troyeth them when it is not looked for. The coun|&s;ell therefore of <HI>Seneca</HI> is good,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca.</NOTE> <HI>Ne&s;cis quo loco te mors expectat, tu ita&abque; in omni loco mortem expecta,</HI> Thou knowe&s;t not in what place death expect|eth thee, doe thou therefore expect death in every place. But though <HI>as one dyeth,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo Victo|rinus in Ec|cle&s;. Hom. <HI>18.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;o dyeth the other,</HI> yet as <HI>Hugo Victorinus</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Quod &s;imi|liter habent ex &s;imili cau&s;a non habent: quia homo ut moriatur ex culpa ha|buit, jumentum vero ex natura quod moriatur accepit,</HI> That which they have alike, they have not from the like cau&s;e, becau&s;e that man dyeth, he hath from his offence, that the bea&s;t dyeth he hath from his nature. And let the wicked know, that death which is from their offence is the pa&s;&s;age to their puni&s;hment for all their offences: and let the godly know that death, which for their offence endeth their life, endeth al|&s;o their offences, that they &s;hall &s;in no more. <HI>Yea they have all one breath:</HI> the Originall word is <GAP DESC="foreign">, and if wee take the words as &s;poken by the righteous; it mu&s;t be rendred breath, it being but the breath of this tem|porall life, which they know to be the &s;ame in all. But if we take the words as &s;poken by the wicked, the word may perhaps rather bee ren|dred, &s;pirit: for they imagine, or at lea&s;t would imagine, the &s;pirit of man to bee mortall,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Dial. l. <HI>4.</HI> c. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> as is the &s;pirit of a bea&s;t. But Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> tels them, that God hath created three living &s;pirits, <HI>Vnum qui carne non tegitur: alium qui carne tegitur, &s;ed cum carne non moritur, tertium qui carne tegitur, &amp; cum carne moritur,</HI> One which is not covered with fle&s;h: another which is covered with the fle&s;h, but doth not dye with the fle&s;h,
<PB N="95" REF="51"> a third which is covered with the fle&s;h, and dyeth with the fle&s;h. Wherefore although the Spirit in man and bea&s;t bee one, in that it is covered in both with fle&s;h; yet it is not one in this, becau&s;e in the bea&s;t the Spirit dyeth, with the fle&s;h, in man it dyeth not. <HI>So that a man hath no praeeminence above a bea&s;t:</HI> No, in re&s;pect of giving up his breath, hee that hath both the greate&s;t praeeminence among men, hath no praeemi|nence above a bea&s;t: but in re&s;pect of giving up the Spirit, as the wicked are beneath the very bea&s;ts; &s;o the righteous are aequall to the Angels. <HI>For all is vanity:</HI> all is vanity and vani&s;heth in this mortall life: but after this life, the vanity to the wicked is turned into un&s;ufferable mi&s;ery; the vanity to the righteous is turned into unexpre&s;&s;able glory.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 20. <HI>All goe unto one place:</HI> All, for all in this journey are fellow travellers; all both men and bea&s;ts. The bea&s;t which caryeth man in his journey on the earth, is caryed in an equall condition with man in this journey to the earth. <HI>All goe:</HI> yea, all are alwayes go|ing: for there is no journey el&s;e, in which there is not &s;ome &s;taying, &s;ome re&s;ting for one occa&s;ion or other, but in this journey, there is no time of &s;tay. When once this journey is begun, and begun it is, as &s;oone as life beginneth, there is nothing but a continuall going on. <HI>Alexis</HI> the Poet, being asked what he did, made an&s;wer, <HI>Paulatim mo|rior,</HI> I dye by little and little. He was indeed an old man when he &s;pake it, but the younge&s;t may &s;ay the &s;ame. For as <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca.</NOTE> <HI>Paula|tim morimur, quia paulatim vita decre&s;cit, hoc autem decrementum, quid aliud e&s;t quam mors paulatim procedens?</HI> we dye by little and little, becau&s;e by little and little our life goeth away, and what el&s;e is this going away of life, but a going on by little and little unto death? <HI>All goe unto one place.</HI> It is but one place, there be no upper and lower places in death, but how different &s;oever, the places of men may be while they lived, when they dye, they are all in the &s;ame place: yea bea&s;ts are in the &s;ame place, with the wi&s;e&s;t, the riche&s;t, the greate&s;t men. They goe to one place, even to the earth. And there indeed is the place, where the bea&s;ts doe re&s;t, there is their journeys end. But the righteous and the wicked which hitherto keepe company, there are divided, and take their &s;everall wayes, the one to the place of endle&s;&s;e comfort, the other to the place of endle&s;&s;e torment. Wherefore an Ancient Writer &s;aith, <HI>Vna &s;orte involvuntur ju&s;ti cum impiis, donec pariter currunt in via, ut quum &s;imul exierint, di&s;cernantur, &amp; ordinentur di&s;pariter,</HI> The righteous and the wicked are wrapt up in one condition, while they goe on alike in the way, that when they are gone our together, they may be di&s;tingui&s;hed, and not alike rewarded. <HI>All are of the du&s;t.</HI> Saint <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;ilius.</NOTE> that when God made man of the du&s;t of the earth, hee tooke the du&s;t from the fower parts of the earth, that &s;o whither &s;oever men &s;hould goe, or where&s;oever men might bee, whether Ea&s;t, We&s;t, North or South, they might &s;till remember that they were made of that earth:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;olog. Serm. <HI>45.</HI></NOTE> And <HI>Chry&s;ologus</HI> puts us in mind of another thing, he tels us, <HI>Pulvere concreti,
<PB N="96" REF="52"> pla&s;mati luto calcamur vitiis,</HI> Being made of the du&s;t, formed of the clay, wee are trode upon by vices. This it is which maketh the earth it &s;elfe at la&s;t, to trample upon us all, <HI>when all turne to du&s;t againe.</HI> Now thus God hath appointed it, <HI>Vt per id quo vadit homo, agno&s;cat unde venerat,</HI> that by the place to which man goeth, he may acknowledge the place from whence he came, as an ancient Writer &s;peaketh: that by the grave wherein his body is laid, he may con&s;ider Paradi&s;e in which being made hee was &s;et by God; that by the ba&s;ene&s;&s;e to which he is brought, hee may con&s;ider the glory to which hee was created, and &s;o may &s;eeke carefully to returne thither, before that hee returne to the du&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 21. If we apprehend the&s;e words as &s;poken by the wicked, then it is a que&s;tion which implyeth an an&s;wer of denyall: as if though &s;ome doe talke of &s;uch a thing, yet that it was not &s;o, and therefore none could know it to be &s;o. If we apprehend the words as &s;poken by the righteous, then it is a que&s;tion that implyeth a difficulty in the affir|ming of it, though not an untruth: as if they were but few that knew it, and as if the frailty of mans condition, and the confu&s;ion of hu|mane things did deceive many in it. <HI>Who knoweth?</HI> Indeed none but they to whom God hath made it knowne.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertull. de Anima. c. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> For as <HI>Tertullian</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Cui veritas comperta &s;ine Deo, cui Deus cognitus &s;ine Christo, cui Chri&s;tus exploratus &s;ine &s;piritu Sancto, cui &s;piritus Sanctus accommodatus &s;ine fidei Sacramento?</HI> To whom is the truth di&s;covered without God, to whom is God knowne without Chri&s;t, to whom is Chri&s;t revealed without the Holy Gho&s;t, to whom is the Holy Gho&s;t given without the Sacra|ment of faith? The Philo&s;ophers were very bu&s;ie, and much turmoy|led in &s;eeking after the nature of the &s;oule, and to &s;peake of them in <HI>Tertullians</HI> words,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">tul. Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Non ignoro quanta &s;it &s;ylva materiae istius apud i&s;tos,</HI> I am not ignorant, what a wood and plenty there is of this matter among them. A wood it is, wherein if they &s;aw any light of the truth, it is only a glimp&s;e of it, through the thicke trees of ignorance and errours; and wherein if any &s;hall &s;eeke for the truth, he &s;hall &s;eeke it in a wood. <HI>Certe non alius potius animae demon&s;trator quam auctor,</HI> Surely there is no better manife&s;ter of the &s;oule, then he who is the maker of it, and that is God him&s;elfe.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Eccle&s;.</HI> 12.7.</NOTE> Wherefore the Preacher who &s;etteth downe this que|&s;tion here, who knoweth? did him&s;elfe know it from God, and telleth us that the &s;pirit returneth unto God who gave it. <HI>No&s;traita&abque; in&s;titutio &s;it de porticu Solomonis,</HI> Let our in&s;truction therefore be from the Schoole of <HI>Solomon,</HI> and let us know that <HI>the &s;pirit of man goeth upward.</HI> The Originall is the <HI>&s;pirit of the &s;onnes of men,</HI> not that they have it by gene|ration as being &s;onnes, but becau&s;e they have it together with their ge|neration from God be&s;towed on them. The Philo&s;ophers al&s;o talke much,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertul. ad|ver&s;. Haereti. de prae&s;crip. cap. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE> of the a&s;cending and going upward of the &s;oule: and as for the &s;oules of the wi&s;e, <HI>Plato</HI> affirmed them to a&s;cend unto the skie, the <HI>Stoicks</HI> affirmed them to be under the Moone, another affirmed them to a&s;cend only into the ayre. But the Preacher here comparing the &s;pirits of men
<PB N="97" REF="52"> with the &s;pirits of bea&s;ts, not the &s;pirits of wi&s;e men, with the &s;pirits of fooles: <HI>by going upward,</HI> under&s;tandeth the immortalitie of the &s;pirits of men; <HI>by going downward</HI> to the earth, the peri&s;hing of the &s;pirits of bea&s;ts. And by the manner of the Preachers phra&s;e, I apprehend him to compare the &s;pirit of man unto a purer exhalation, which a&s;cending upward, continueth in the ayre: the &s;pirit of a bea&s;t, unto a thicke and blacke vapour, which being di&s;&s;olved into raine, de&s;cendeth and fal|leth to the earth. The &s;pirit of man therefore dyeth not,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertull. de Anima. c. <HI>53</HI></NOTE> and as <HI>Tertul|lian</HI> &s;peaketh; <HI>Abducitur dum ab&s;umi videtur, opere decedens non vigore, actu languens non &s;tatu, comparere ce&s;&s;at, non e&s;&s;e,</HI> It is but caryed away when it &s;eemeth to vani&s;h away, and failing in his worke, not in his &s;trength, departing in re&s;pect of actuating the body, not in re&s;pect of its owne actuall exi&s;tence, cea&s;eth onely to appeare to be, not cea&s;eth to be. In a &s;pirituall &s;en&s;e S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> applyeth the&s;e words thus: and a&s;|keth, who knoweth, whether one of under&s;tanding and learned in the Scriptures, <HI>id e&s;t homo,</HI> that is a man, but not living religiou&s;ly and care|fully, as his knowledge directeth him, doth not goe downward to the place of mi&s;ery? And whether one of more &s;implicitie in under&s;tand|ing and plainne&s;&s;e in knowledge;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Qui jumentum hominis comparatione dicatur,</HI> who in compari&s;on of a man may be &s;ayd to be a bea&s;t, but yet living more vertuou&s;ly and godly, doth not goe upward, and to the place of joy.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 22. The Preacher having &s;eene the objections that were made by worldly minds, again&s;t the government of the world by Gods divine providence, and having made others to &s;ee the truth, by an&s;we|ring of them: he re&s;umeth his a&s;&s;ertion which he delivered before at the thirteenth ver&s;e, and concludeth, Wherefore I &s;ee <HI>and perceive that there is nothing better</HI> for man, who cannot &s;ee into Gods workes, and the rea&s;ons of them, then <HI>that he rejoyce in his owne workes:</HI> there is nothing better for man, who is often forced by the wrongfull doings of others to &s;uffer that wherein he hath no cau&s;e of rejoycing, then that he doe therefore rejoyce in tho&s;e things which he doth him&s;elfe. And &s;eeing that his portion is the &s;ame with bea&s;ts in that he dyeth, let him take his portion of living comfortably while that he liveth. Seeing he &s;hall not returne when he is gone, let him goe on with cheerefulne&s;&s;e and contentment while he continueth here. For <HI>that is the portion</HI> which God hath divided to him, that is the talent which God hath commit|ted to him. <HI>His owne works</HI> are they for which he &s;hall an&s;wer: and that he may rejoyce in them, let him be carefull that his workes be vertu|ous and good, for then he may &s;afely rejoyce in them, then he &s;hall be &s;ure to have comfort and joy from them. <HI>Lyra</HI> therefore in this place, expoundeth <HI>his owne works,</HI> to be the works of vertue,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Quae proprie di|cuntur humana, alia enim magis dicuntur be&s;tialia,</HI> which properly are &s;ayd to be the works of men, for other works are rather &s;ayd to be the works of bea&s;ts. <HI>For who &s;hall bring him to &s;ee, what &s;hall be after him?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us, <HI>Apertius interpretatus e&s;t Symmachus, dicens, ut videat
<PB N="98" REF="53"> quae futura &s;unt po&s;t haec,</HI> More plainely doth <HI>Symmachus</HI> tran&s;late the words, &s;aying, For who &s;hall bring him to &s;ee tho&s;e things which &s;hall be after the&s;e? And indeed the meaning &s;o is plainly this; There is no|thing better then that a man &s;hould rejoyce in his owne works, in tho&s;e which he is able to doe, and which he doth well, and that he &s;hould doe them with rejoycing and alacritie: for who &s;hall bring him to &s;ee the things that &s;hall be afterwards? How can he know whether he &s;hall be able to doe tho&s;e things, which now he is able to doe; whether he &s;hall doe tho&s;e things, which now he doth, whether the things that &s;hall be afterwards will be matter of rejoycing to him or no? But to take the generall reading of the words, <HI>Who &s;hall bring him to &s;ee what &s;hall be after him?</HI> that is, &s;ayth the French tran&s;lation, <HI>Qui le remane|ra?</HI> Who &s;hall bring him backe when he is gone out of this life, to en|joy the things of this life againe? Let him therefore rejoyce in the good u&s;e of them, while that he hath them. The Pythagoreans taught a returning of men to this life,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertull. de Anima. c. <HI>28</HI></NOTE> after they were departed. And <HI>Tertullian</HI> tels us, that <HI>Pythagoras</HI> to e&s;tabli&s;h this tenet among his Schollers, did hide him&s;elfe in a cave, and to di&s;&s;emble his feigned death, <HI>Septenni &s;e ille patientia damnabat,</HI> he condemned him&s;elfe to pri&s;on there by the &s;pace of &s;even yeares. Now none knew of this but his mother onely, who mini&s;tred unto him, and brought him notice &s;till of tho&s;e who dy|ed in the meane while, that &s;o by telling of their being dead, as if he had talked with them, he might a&s;&s;ure the imagination of his owne be|ing dead. At length appearing againe not unlike one that came out of a Sepulchre, for his cave had changed him, <HI>Ad mortui veteris horrorem,</HI> to the horridne&s;&s;e of a long dead man; he was received as one that was alive againe. For as <HI>Tertullian</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Quis non crederet revixi&s;&s;e, qui crediderat obii&s;&s;e?</HI> Who would not beleeve him to be alive againe, who had beleeved him to be dead? But how&s;oever, he lyed concerning his owne death, to make his tenet &s;eeme true, that the dead doe live a|gaine: <HI>Tertullian</HI> well concludeth, <HI>Mortuos quidem ex vivis effici con&s;tat, non ideo tamen ex mortuis vivos,</HI> It is mo&s;t true, that of living men all be|come dead, but that from the dead, men are made living, is not there|fore true. For as the Preacher &s;ayth, Who &s;hall bring them back?</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="99" REF="53">
<HEAD>CHAPTER. IIII.</HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1-3" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 1.</HI></BIBL> So J returned, and con&s;idered all the op|pre&s;sions that are done under the Sunne, and behold the teares of &s;uch as were op|pre&s;&s;ed, and they had no comforter: and on the &s;ide of their oppre&s;&s;ours there was power, but they had no comforter.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 2.</HI></BIBL> Wherefore I prai&s;ed the dead, which are already dead, more then the living which are yet alive.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 3.</HI></BIBL> Yea, better is he then, both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not &s;eene the evill worke that is done under the Sunne.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 1. _THE Preacher having wearied him|&s;elfe with the &s;ad con&s;ideration of the mi&s;eries and vanities of this world, gave &s;ome re&s;t unto his thoughts: but <HI>returning</HI> to his me|ditations, he pa&s;&s;ed from the con|&s;ideration of vaine and temporall things, to the con&s;ideration of vaine and &s;infull things. And fir&s;t he beheld <HI>all the oppre&s;&s;ions that are done under the Sunne.</HI> Wee reade it <HI>oppre&s;sions,</HI> and as I &s;uppo&s;e by rea&s;on of the Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> which followes, &s;ignifying <HI>fiunt</HI> are done, that agreeing be&s;t unto <HI>oppre&s;&s;ions.</HI> But the Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ignifieth <HI>Oppre&s;&s;os,</HI> them that are oppre&s;&s;ed: and the other Originall word &s;ignifieth as well <HI>&s;ubiguntur</HI> are brought under, as <HI>fiunt</HI> are done. So that the more direct reading may &s;eeme to be this, that he beheld all the oppre&s;&s;ed, which are brought under, under the Sunne. He &s;peakes of <HI>all the oppre&s;&s;ed,</HI> as being many. For as one &s;ayth well, <HI>Mundus ne&s;cit ira&s;ci ni&s;i in innocentes,</HI> the world knoweth not how to be angry but a|gain&s;t the innocent. Hence it is, that our Saviour <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> &s;ayth to his
<PB N="100" REF="54"> Di&s;ciples,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luk.</HI> 21.9.</NOTE> When yee heare of warres and commotions, be not terri|fied: he &s;ayth not, when yee heare of warres and commotions again&s;t your &s;elves: &s;uppo&s;ing that the&s;e things mu&s;t be under&s;tood to be a|gain&s;t the innocent. And therefore the Preacher al&s;o here &s;ayth, <HI>And behold the teares of the oppre&s;&s;ed,</HI> as if nothing were more common to be &s;eene.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Ho|mil. de Ab|&s;alom.</NOTE> So that S^t. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> cryeth out, <HI>O Innocentia, quantum apud reos periculi &s;u&s;cipis!</HI> O Innocency, how much do&s;t thou &s;uffer with them that are guiltie! <HI>Vnder the Sunne.</HI> It is the ob&s;ervation of <HI>Theodoret,</HI> that God appointed the vehement heate of the Sunne &s;ometimes to &s;corch the earth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Theodoret. l. <HI>3.</HI> de Diis &amp; Angelis.</NOTE> and to de&s;troy the fruits of it: <HI>Ne &s;olem vitae cau&s;am autorem&abque; opinemur,</HI> Lea&s;t wee &s;hould thinke the Sunne to be the cau&s;e and authour of life. And I &s;uppo&s;e the Preacher &s;hewing the vanities of the world, &s;o often to &s;peake of them as being <HI>under the Sunne,</HI> lea&s;t any &s;hould thinke the Sunne to be the God of the world. Or el&s;e wee may conceive him to make mention here of being <HI>under the Sunne,</HI> be|cau&s;e although the wrongs of the oppre&s;&s;ed were mo&s;t apparent and plaine, yet there was <HI>none to comfort them. And behold the teares:</HI> the O|riginall word is <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ignifying <HI>lachrymam, non lachrymas,</HI> a teare (ac|cording to the Hebrew tongue) not teares: as if the oppre&s;&s;ed had wept &s;o long for &s;orrow, or el&s;e had wept &s;o much to beg helpe, that they could weepe no longer, could weepe no more, but had <HI>onely a teare</HI> left them, (if I may in this manner borrow an expre&s;&s;ion of the greatne&s;&s;e of oppre&s;&s;ion, which the place intendeth) <HI>And on the &s;ide of the oppre&s;&s;ours there was power.</HI> The Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> here u&s;ed, &s;ignifieth to oppre&s;&s;e either by fraud or el&s;e by violence. Wherefore &s;eeing the oppre&s;&s;ion is here repeated: in the fir&s;t place wee may un|der&s;tand oppre&s;&s;ion by fraud: in this latter place, oppre&s;&s;ion by vio|lence; and the rather becau&s;e it is &s;ayd, <HI>that on the &s;ide of the oppre&s;&s;our there was power.</HI> Or el&s;e wee may under&s;tand it thus, that whereas the oppre&s;&s;ed had no comforter to relieve them; the oppre&s;&s;ours had friends and great ones to &s;upport them. <HI>But they had no comforter:</HI> none on earth, none from heaven, no man was their comforter, neither was God. For he doth re&s;erve comforts for them another where, and here doth &s;ometimes leave them without the comfort of any;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo Victo|rinus in Ec|cle&s;. Hom. <HI>19.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Ne in alieno con&s;o|lentur quod &s;uum non habent, &amp; minus de&s;iderent ejus con&s;olationem quam nondum habent,</HI> lea&s;t they &s;hould be comforted in the helpe of others, becau&s;e they have not his, and &s;hould the le&s;&s;e de&s;ire his comfort, which as yet they have not, as <HI>Hugo Victorinus</HI> &s;peaketh. Let therefore in this ca&s;e God be &s;ought unto, who&s;e power is above all power, in expecta|tion of him, let patience re&s;t, for he is and will &s;hew him&s;elfe the com|forter of the comfortle&s;&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 2. Indeed &s;o many, &s;o great are the mi&s;eries of this life, that in compari&s;on of them, even death it &s;elfe is to be preferred before life. For as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de fide Re&s;urre|ctionis.</NOTE> <HI>Quid nobis mi&s;erius, qui tanquam &s;poliati &amp; nudi projicimur in hanc vitam, corpore fragili, corde lubrico, imbecillo animo, anxii ad &s;olicitudinem, de&s;idio&s;i ad labores, proni ad voluptates?</HI> What is
<PB N="101" REF="54"> more mi&s;erable then wee are, who like men naked and &s;poyled are ca&s;t into this life, fraile of body, incon&s;tant of heart, weake of minde, full of cares, &s;loathfull to labours, prone to plea&s;ures. And therefore one &s;ayth well; <HI>Quomodo pote&s;t amari haec vita, tantas habens amaritudines?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Kempis. l. <HI>3.</HI> de Imitat. Chri&s;ti. c. <HI>20.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Quomodo etiam dicitur vita tot generans mortes?</HI> How can this life be lo|ved, which is &s;o full of loath&s;ome bitterne&s;&s;e? yea, how can it be cal|led a life, which bringeth forth &s;o many deaths? The re&s;olution there|fore of S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> is, <HI>Tantis malis haec vita repleta e&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. Serm. <HI>37.</HI> de Sanctis.</NOTE> <HI>ut comparatione ejus mors remedium putetur non poena,</HI> With &s;o great evils is this life &s;tuffed, that in compari&s;on thereof death may be thought a remedy, and not a puni&s;hment. For as the &s;ame Father el&s;ewhere &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Bono mortis. c. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Si plena oneris vita, utique finis ejus allevamentum,</HI> If this life be loaded with burdens, then the end of it mu&s;t needs be an ea&s;e. But I under&s;tand rather the Preacher in this place to preferre the dead before the living in re&s;pect of the evill of &s;inne. He &s;ayth therefore, <HI>I pray&s;ed the dead;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;ius de fide Re&s;urre|ctionis.</NOTE> he it is <HI>Qui &s;apientiam popo&s;cit &amp; impetravit,</HI> who asked wi&s;edome and obtained it, as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh. <HI>I prai&s;ed the dead more then the living:</HI> and mo&s;t ju&s;tly; for as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Quid e&s;t mors ni&s;i &s;epultura vitiorum?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Bono mortis. c. <HI>4.</HI> Luk. <HI>2.29.</HI></NOTE> What is death but the buriall of vices? And &s;eeing the death of &s;inne is better then the life of &s;inne, this mu&s;t needs make the dead more worthy to be prai&s;ed than the living. Wherefore doth not old <HI>Simeon</HI> &s;ay, Now lette&s;t thou thy &s;ervant depart in peace, <HI>Qua&s;i &agrave; vinculis qui|bu&s;dam ad libertatem fe&s;tinaret,</HI> as if he ha&s;ted from &s;ome bonds unto li|bertie? And indeed they were bonds that did hold him, even bonds that made him captive unto the law of &s;inne. Doth not <HI>Iacob</HI> &s;ay,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. <HI>47.9.</HI> Ambro&s;. I|bid.</NOTE> Few and evill have been my dayes? <HI>Mali, non quia dies mali, &s;ed quia nobis ac|ce&s;&s;u dierum incrementa malitiae cumulantur,</HI> Evill, not becau&s;e the dayes were evill, but becau&s;e in us the encrea&s;e of wickedne&s;&s;e is heaped up by the encrea&s;e of dayes. Doth not S^t. <HI>Paul</HI> &s;ay, It is gaine to dye?<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Phil.</HI> 1.21.</NOTE> <HI>Nam lucrum e&s;t eva&s;i&s;&s;e incrementa peccati,</HI> For it is gaine to have e&s;ca|ped the gaine and encrea&s;e of &s;inne, as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> al&s;o &s;peaketh. <HI>The dead which are already dead, more then the living which are yet alive:</HI> that is, &s;ayth <HI>Lyra, Qui &s;ublati &s;unt ex hac vita,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>antequam experientiam haberent tanti mali,</HI> Who are taken out of this life before they have experience of &s;o great an evill. He that is the Authour of the Commentaries upon the Epi&s;tle of S^t. <HI>Paul</HI> to the <HI>Ephe&s;ians,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hierome in Epist. ad E|phe&s;.</NOTE> which are among S^t. <HI>Hieromes</HI> workes, reads the words thus, <HI>Laudavi omnes mortuos, qui olim mortui &s;unt,</HI> I prai&s;ed all the dead, which are dead long &s;ince: as if to be dead any way were better then to be alive: or, as if they who were not onely dead but forgotten, not onely dead but turned into a&s;hes, and their a&s;hes lo&s;t, were better then the living. But &s;eeing the Originall word &s;peak|eth of a time pa&s;t, wee may well under&s;tand the Preacher to &s;peake of tho&s;e who are dead being young, and to preferre them before tho&s;e who live to elder yeares. For as S^t. <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. Meditat. c. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Cur tantopere vitam istam de&s;ideramus, in qua quanto amplius vivimus, tanto plus peccamus: quanto e&s;t vita longior, tanto culpa numero&s;ior?</HI> Why doe wee &s;o much de|&s;ire
<PB N="102" REF="55"> this life, in which by how much the longer wee live, by &s;o much the more wee &s;inne: by how much our yeares are more, by &s;o much our &s;innes are more.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. E|pi&s;t. ad He|liodorum.</NOTE> And S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Quod e&s;&s;e di&s;criminis putas inter eum qui moritur puer, &amp; eum qui demoritur &s;enex, ni&s;i quod hic peccatis abeat oneratior, &amp; plurium culparum coram Deo reus quam ille?</HI> What diffe|rence do&s;t thou thinke there is betweene him that dyeth a childe, and him that dyeth an old man, but that this goeth away more burdened with &s;innes, and guiltie of more faults before God then the other?</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 3. That the Preacher &s;peaketh of the evill of committing of &s;inne, this confirmeth me, becau&s;e here he &s;peaketh <HI>of the evill worke, and of the evill that is done. Better is he,</HI> that is not &s;o ill. For we are not &s;o to under&s;tand the Preacher, as if he that is not borne, hath any being before he is borne, and that he is the more happy, becau&s;e he is not yet encumbred with a body, which thing &s;ome have imagined: but becau&s;e it is better, or rather not &s;o ill, at all not to be, then either to be, or el&s;e to live unhappily, and wickedly. <HI>Better is he then both they,</HI> that is, &s;ayth <HI>Lyra</HI> well,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Malo homine mortuo, &amp; malo homine vivente,</HI> An evill man dead, and an evill man living. <HI>Better is he then both they, who hath not yet been:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. Serm. <HI>18.</HI> in P&s;al. <HI>118.</HI></NOTE> Wherefore S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Mortuus praefertur viventi, quia peccare de&s;init: mortuo praefertur qui nondum natus e&s;t, quia peccare ne&s;civit;</HI> He that is dead is preferred before the living, becau&s;e he cea&s;eth to &s;inne; and he that is not borne is preferred before the dead, becau&s;e he hath not knowne how to &s;inne. <HI>Who hath not &s;eene the evill worke that is done under the Sunne:</HI> if wee under&s;tand the words of the evill of mi&s;e|ry, it may &s;erve to expre&s;&s;e the greatne&s;&s;e of humane mi&s;ery, though in it &s;elfe it be not &s;o to be taken; and better is he that is not yet borne, then both they, either he that is already dead, or he that is yet living. For as S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;. Cicero in Tu&s;cul. <HI>1^a.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Alius mala adhuc patitur, alius quae&s;i nudus de naufragio eva&s;it,</HI> The one doth yet &s;uffer evils &s;till, the other is but e&s;ca|ped as one naked from &s;hipwracke. And therefore <HI>Cicero</HI> could &s;ay, <HI>Non na&s;ci longe optimum,</HI> not to be borne is the be&s;t of all. And howbe|it, <HI>Solomon</HI> alone hath expre&s;ly delivered this &s;entence, it is not the &s;en|tence of <HI>Solomon</HI> alone.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Iob <HI>3.3.</HI> Ambro&s;. de fide Re&s;ur|rect.</NOTE> For <HI>Iob</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Let the day peri&s;h wherein I was borne,</HI> and that he &s;ayth as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> expoundeth him, <HI>Quia cognoverat na&s;ci malorum omnium principium e&s;&s;e, &amp; ideo diem quo natus e&s;t perire opta|vit, ut tolleretur origo incommodorum,</HI> Becau&s;e he knew, that to be borne was the beginning of all evils; and therefore he wi&s;hed that the day of his birth might peri&s;h, that &s;o the beginning of evils and troubles might be taken away. But as I have &s;ayd, I under&s;tand the Preacher here ra|ther to &s;peake of the evill of &s;inne:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 26.24.</NOTE> and in that re&s;pect it is that our Sa|viour <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> &s;peaking of <HI>Iudas,</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>It had been good for that man if he had not been borne.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;. Hom, <HI>19.</HI></NOTE> For as one &s;ayth very well, <HI>Majus malum peccatum e&s;t, quam non e&s;&s;e, &amp; melius e&s;&s;et non e&s;&s;e quam pecca&s;&s;e,</HI> To &s;inne is a greater evill then not to be, and it is better not to be then to &s;inne. In generall, the rea&s;on is given by <HI>Hugo de Sancto Victore</HI> thus, <HI>Quod longius &agrave; malo e&s;t in bono, ip&s;um majus e&s;t bonum. Si ergo malum e&s;t e&s;&s;e, bonum utique e&s;t non
<PB N="103" REF="55"> e&s;&s;e, &amp; multo melius utro&abque; non fui&s;&s;e;</HI> That which in good things is far|the&s;t from evill, is the greater good. And therefore if it bee evill to bee, it is good not to be, and much better then both, not to have beene at all.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4-6" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 4.</HI></BIBL> Againe I con&s;idered all travaile, and every right worke, that for this a man is envyed of his neighbour? this is al|&s;o vanity and vexation of Spirit.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 5.</HI></BIBL> The foole foldeth his hands together, and eateth his owne fle&s;h.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 6.</HI></BIBL> Better is a handfull with quietne&s;&s;e, then both the hands full with travell and vexation of Spirit.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 4. The Preacher having con&s;idered the &s;infull vanity of ma|lice which oppre&s;&s;eth right, hee con&s;idereth next the &s;infull vanity of envy, which oppo&s;eth right doing, &s;aying, <HI>I con&s;idered all travaile and every right worke: Olympiodorus</HI> reads it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Olympiad.</NOTE> <HI>Omnem laborem &amp; omnem for|titudinem operis,</HI> all labour and all &s;trength of worke; as if the Preacher intended only the paines of labour, and a patient courage in the enduring of it. But the Originall is more large, and &s;peaketh of the generall rightne&s;&s;e of worke. And this rightne&s;&s;e may be taken either for the han&s;ome rightne&s;&s;e of a worke, as it is a worke, and &s;o the Vulgar Latin according to the Septuagint doe take it, rendring it <HI>Indu&s;trias,</HI> that is an aptne&s;&s;e in the doing of things: or el&s;e the rightne&s;&s;e may bee ta|ken more largely, either for the rightne&s;&s;e of a worke as it is a worke, or el&s;e for the rightne&s;&s;e of a worke according to the rules of vertue, and &s;o Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> may &s;eeme to take it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym.</NOTE> who renders it <HI>omnem vir|tutem operis,</HI> all vertue of worke. <HI>That for this a man is envied:</HI> When <HI>Abraham</HI> had re&s;cued <HI>Lot,</HI> and conquered tho&s;e Kings by whom he was taken pri&s;oner, afterwards the word of the Lord came unto him &s;ay|ing, <HI>Feare not Abraham, I am thy &s;hield.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 15.1.</NOTE> If this had beene &s;poken to him before the battle, it might have beene done to encourage him: but being &s;poken to him after the battle and victory, they &s;eeme to arme him again&s;t a new combat of envy which his valiant and well doing was ready to bring upon him. For this is the difference betweene envy and other vices: that they are cured by the good examples of others, but the goodnes of others is that from which this &s;in ari&s;eth. Old <HI>Iacob</HI> &s;peaking of his &s;onne <HI>Io&s;eph</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 49.23.</NOTE> that the Archers have &s;orely grieved him, and &s;hot at him, and hated him: and Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> expounding
<PB N="104" REF="56"> the words noteth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in Quastionib. Hebrae.</NOTE> <HI>Hic invidiam cum arcu &amp; &s;agittis introduci ad &s;agit|tandum quod immaculatum e&s;t,</HI> That here envy is brought in with bow and arrowes &s;hooting at that which is immaculate, and where there is no &s;pot to bee a marke for it. Or el&s;e, as an Archer doth &s;et up &s;ome white thing to be the marke at which he &s;hoots, &s;o it is the whitene&s;&s;e of &s;ome good thing, again&s;t which the height of envy is caryed. And therefore,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 37.33.</NOTE> when <HI>Iacob</HI> &s;aith, <HI>an evill bea&s;t hath devoured my &s;onne,</HI> hee may &s;eeme to prophe&s;ie, it being envy which had made him away, and which is &s;o evill a bea&s;t, that it is goodne&s;&s;e alwayes that is oppo&s;ed by it. The Preacher here &s;peaketh <HI>of all labour, and of every right worke:</HI> for if it be right, what&s;oever it be, though never &s;o &s;mall, it is by envy oppo&s;ed; that will &s;eeke to hinder the labour in the doing of it, that will &s;eeke to overthrow the rightne&s;&s;e of it when it is done. Yea it is the nature of envy to make little things appeare to be great. Wherefore it is reported by <HI>Panormitanus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Panormit.</NOTE> that a que&s;tion being moved before <HI>Fredericke</HI> the King, what was good for the eye &s;ight, and the Phy&s;i|tians an&s;wering &s;ome one thing, &s;ome another; <HI>Sannizarius</HI> an&s;wered that envy was very good: at which there being a &s;miling, he gave his rea&s;on for it; becau&s;e that doth make all things appeare bigger then they are. <HI>For this a man is envyed of his neighbour:</HI> nay of his Father in Law. For did not this make <HI>Saul</HI> to envy <HI>David,</HI> &s;o that <HI>David</HI> flying to <HI>Achi&s;h, Maluit ho&s;ti quam invidiae &s;ubjacere,</HI> he had rather be under an enemy,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. Epi&s;t. ad Eu|&s;tochium.</NOTE> then under envy, as St. <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh: Nay, of his brother, when there was but one brother in the world. For did not this make <HI>Cain</HI> to envy <HI>Abel, Vt e&s;&s;e &s;olum zeli livor faceret, quem primum fece|rat lex naturae,</HI> So that the rage of envy made him to be alone, whom the law of nature had made to bee the fir&s;t:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;olog. Serm. <HI>4.</HI> de du&oacute;bus filiis.</NOTE> as <HI>Chry&s;ologus</HI> &s;peaketh. For indeed there is nothing &s;o contrary to charity and affection, whe|ther of nature or grace, or the neighborhood of place as envy is. <HI>This is al&s;o vanity and vexation of &s;pirit.</HI> Fir&s;t vanity, for what is more vaine, then that as Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Aliena gloria plus offendant quam proprium damnum,</HI> Anothers honour &s;hould more offend a man, than his owne hurt? And yet was it not &s;o with envious <HI>Saul,</HI> who when <HI>David</HI> played on his harp to cure him of the evill &s;pirit, did throw his Speare at him, <HI>Malens a malo &s;piritu torqueri, quam Davidem vivere,</HI> choo&s;ing rather to bee tormented by an evill &s;pirit, then that <HI>David</HI> &s;hould live,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bern. de In|ter. domo. c. <HI>2.</HI> Cypr. de zelo &amp; livore.</NOTE> as Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;peaketh. For what is more vaine, then as St. <HI>Cyprian</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>In malum proprium convertere bona aliena, aliorum gloriam facere poenam &s;uam, &amp; nullius mag&igrave;s quam &s;uae &s;alutis ho&s;tem e&s;&s;e,</HI> To turne the good things of another to bee evill to him&s;elfe, to make the glory of another to be his puni&s;hment, and to bee an enemy to no|thing &s;o much, as to his owne welfare? Secondly, <HI>vexation of &s;pirit:</HI> in which re&s;pect Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;. in <HI>2.</HI> ad Corinth. Homil. <HI>19.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Prae&s;tat &s;erpentem provolutum in vi&s;ceribus habere quam invidiam,</HI> A man were better have a Serpent tumbling in his bowels then envy. For if a Serpent have food given it, it will not feed upon a man; but the more food is given to envy, the
<PB N="105" REF="56"> more it gnaweth him in who&s;e bowels it is.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;olog. Serm. <HI>172.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Chry&s;ologus</HI> therefore &s;peak|ing of envy &s;aith, that being <HI>Suorum carnifex, torquet animos, di&s;cruciat mentes, corrumpit corda, &amp; quid plura? hanc qui &s;u&s;cipit, &s;ua &s;u&s;tinet &s;ine fine &s;upplicia; nam quot &s;unt pro&s;peritates hominum, tot &s;unt tormenta in|vidorum,</HI> the executioner of them that entertaine it: it tortureth the af|fections, it vexeth the minde, it corrupteth the heart, and what need of more? who&s;oever receiveth it, endureth without end his owne puni&s;h|ment: for as many as are the pro&s;perities of men, &s;o many are the tor|ments of the envious. Such is the vexation of &s;pirit which envie cau|&s;eth, that it is one of the torments of hell. For our Saviour Chri&s;t &s;peak|ing of them &s;aith, There &s;hall be weeping and gna&s;hing of teeth, <HI>when yee &s;hall &s;ee Abraham and I&s;aac and Iacob and all the Prophets in the king|dome of God.</HI> For as <HI>Cajetan</HI> upon the words addeth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. <HI>13.28.</HI> Cajet. Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Nimis invidum torquet foelicitas aliorum,</HI> The happine&s;&s;e of others, doth extreamely torment the envious.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 5. This ver&s;e may be either referred to the ver&s;e before, or el&s;e con&s;idered as &s;peaking of another &s;infull vanity to which the Prea|cher pa&s;&s;eth. If it be referred to the former ver&s;e, then <HI>the foole</HI> here is the envious man; for what greater foole then he, who not looking in|to his owne evills to bee grieved for them, is vexed with the good of another. He it is <HI>who foldeth his hands together,</HI> as a man di&s;contented and heavy for the contentment which another hath and enjoyeth, and as &s;tudying and plotting with him&s;elfe how he may bereave him of it; and as de&s;iring to enwrap him within the traps of his envie as he enwrap|peth his owne hands. He it is that <HI>eateth his owne fle&s;h.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Nazi|anz. in Ora|tione de Seip.</NOTE> For as <HI>Gregory Nazianzene</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Invidia tabes e&s;t po&s;se&s;&s;oris, virus &amp; rubigo eorum qui ea exagitantur,</HI> Envie is the con&s;umption of the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;our of it, the poy&s;on and ru&s;t of them that are troubled with it. <HI>He eateth his own fle&s;h,</HI> not &s;paring to hurt him&s;elfe, that he may hurt him whom he envi|eth. To which purpo&s;e <HI>Lyra</HI> tels us a &s;tory, which is taken out of Ae&s;op, That in a certaine City there were two men, the one very covetous, the other, very envious: the Ruler therefore of the City &s;ent for them both, wi&s;hing them to de&s;ire what they would, and it &s;hould be granted them: adding withall, that he who did aske fir&s;t, &s;hould have his asking gran|ted, but the other &s;hould have the &s;ame doubled. Now hereupon the covetous man would not aske fir&s;t, becau&s;e he would have the reque&s;t doubled: the envious man would not aske fir&s;t, that his companion might not have more than him&s;elfe. But the Ruler pre&s;&s;ing them to aske,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in c. <HI>3.</HI> Gene&s;eos.</NOTE> the envious man asked that one of his owne eyes might be pulled out, that &s;o his companion might loo&s;e both of his eyes. But if this ver&s;e be con&s;idered as containing another &s;infull vanity, to which the Prea|cher pa&s;&s;eth, then <HI>the foole</HI> is the &s;loathfull per&s;on, the contrary to the laborious man of whom the former ver&s;e &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>19.</HI></NOTE> and who <HI>Reprehen|dit operantem, &amp; qua&s;i &s;olicitum arguit, ut ip&s;e &s;it di&s;&s;olutus,</HI> Blameth the painefull man, and reproveth him as too carefull, that him&s;elfe may be carele&s;&s;e, as <HI>Hugo de Sancto Victore</HI> &s;peaketh. Now hee is called a
<PB N="106" REF="57"> foole, becau&s;e there is nothing that doth more dull and be&s;ot the under|&s;tanding then idle and &s;luggi&s;h lazine&s;&s;e. And indeed what a foole is he, who thinketh not of providing for the time to come, who hopeth to fill his hands with things needfull when they are folded together. <HI>He foldeth his hands,</HI> that they may not be reached out to worke, and as it were making a covenant with idlene&s;&s;e and &s;loath. <HI>Hee eateth his owne fle&s;h:</HI> for having made him&s;elfe fat by ea&s;e, he con&s;umeth him&s;elfe af|terwards by want and mi&s;ery. <HI>He eateth his owne fle&s;h,</HI> that is, he wa&s;teth his e&s;tate to nothing, and brings him&s;elfe to wofull di&s;tre&s;&s;e. Where|fore, when <HI>Io&s;eph</HI> having bought the land of the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> gave it unto them againe to dre&s;&s;e it, and to till it, paying unto <HI>Pharaoh</HI> a great tribute out of it:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Offic. l. <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>16.</HI></NOTE> Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> conceiveth, that <HI>Io&s;eph</HI> did it in compa&s;&s;ion to|wards them: becau&s;e the land of <HI>Egypt</HI> being of it &s;elfe very fruitfull, that made them to be idle, the cau&s;e of much mi&s;ery: whereas the tri|but which they payd unto <HI>Pharaoh</HI> made them to be indu&s;trious, which kept them the freer from di&s;tre&s;&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;i. E|pi&s;tolarum. l. <HI>4.</HI> Epi&s;t. <HI>30.</HI></NOTE> But Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> giveth of this place another expo&s;ition, he &s;aith, <HI>Stultus complexus e&s;t manus &s;uas, &amp; de|voravit vi&s;cera &s;ua, id e&s;t, corporalibus &s;e implicavit negotiis, ut non invenerit vitam aeternam.</HI> The foole hath folded his hands, and devoured his own bowels, that is, he hath entangled him&s;elfe in bodily affaires, &s;o that he &s;hall not find eternall life.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in P&s;al. <HI>104.</HI></NOTE> So in another place he &s;aith, He hath embra|ced his hands, and devoured his owne bowels, <HI>Carnalia magis cogitans, quam &s;piritualia,</HI> thinking more of carnall things then of &s;pirituall. To the &s;ame purpo&s;e another Ancient Writer expounding the&s;e words &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Graecus in Catena Grae|ca. Glo&s;&s;a Ordi|nar.</NOTE> <HI>Otio&s;us actiones &s;uas infames amplexatur &amp; deglutit,</HI> The idle per|&s;on embraceth his own infamous actions and &s;walloweth them downe. And &s;o the ordinary Glo&s;&s;e expounding al&s;o this ver&s;e &s;aith, <HI>He eateth his owne fle&s;h, Carnalibus &s;cilicet de&s;ideriis tabe&s;cens donec con&s;umatur,</HI> namely, wa&s;ting away in carnall delights and lu&s;ts, untill hee bee con|&s;umed.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 6. If we under&s;tand the former ver&s;e, as &s;peaking of the envi|ous per&s;on, this ver&s;e giveth me occa&s;ion to apprehend another &s;en&s;e in it. And <HI>by the folding of his hands together,</HI> we may under&s;tand, his &s;cra|ping after worldly things, and his greedy cla&s;ping of them; <HI>by the ea|ting of his owne fle&s;h,</HI> we may under&s;tand his wa&s;ting of him&s;elfe with care and vexation in the &s;eeking and getting of them. For that is the nature of envie, it maketh men greedy after tho&s;e things which they envie at in another, and giveth them no quietne&s;&s;e by &s;triving to exceed another in them. But the Preacher framing his owne conclu&s;ion ac|cording to this whereof he had la&s;t &s;poken, &s;aith, that <HI>better is a handfull with quietne&s;&s;e,</HI> &amp;c. Where the compari&s;on is not only in re&s;pect of one handfull and two, as &s;hewing that one with quietne&s;&s;e is better than two with trouble. But in the fir&s;t place the Originall word &s;ignifieth the palme of the hand; in the &s;econd place it &s;ignifieth the whole hand clo|&s;ed together to hold any thing. So that the meaning al&s;o is, that a little, even no more than a man can hold in the hollow of his hand being
<PB N="107" REF="57"> &s;pread abroad, is better than much which a man holdeth in both his hands, bended and folded to hold as much as they can: if the little be with quietne&s;&s;e, the much with trouble and vexation of &s;pirit. But then the little mu&s;t be a fulne&s;&s;e al&s;o, it mu&s;t bee a handfull, it mu&s;t be <HI>pleni|tudo volae,</HI> a fulne&s;&s;e of the hollow of the hand, as the Hebrew is, it mu&s;t be fully &s;o much as &s;hall be &s;ufficient for his needefull and conveni|ent occa&s;ions that want and di&s;tre&s;&s;e do not di&s;quiet a man. For it is &s;uf|ficiency with quietne&s;&s;e that is better then abundance with trouble. One hand &s;erves to feed a man and it doth it better to his health, fee|ding on whole&s;ome meate, then two hands glutting him with &s;uper|fluous dainties, and breeding di&s;ea&s;es in him. In <HI>Ca&s;sian</HI> it is &s;et downe to be the tale of <HI>Abbot Macarius.</HI> That in a certaine City there was a Barber, who trimming men for 3. pence a peece had many cu&s;tomers, and found his e&s;tate to encrea&s;e well by it: but hearing that in a City a farre off, there was twelve pence given for trimming a man, he would needs goe thither: but when hee came and found it to bee &s;o, going to buy provi&s;ion of food, he found that to bee &s;o deare, that his great hire for trimming was all &s;pent in that, &s;o that he had nothing to lay up for his old age, which made him to thinke him&s;elfe better in the former City, though his hire was le&s;&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;ian. Col. <HI>24.</HI> c. <HI>13.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Ca&s;sian</HI> applyeth it to quietne&s;&s;e and trouble, though in another manner, then I have here occa&s;ion. But &s;urely a little gotten and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed where quietne&s;&s;e layeth up the com|fort of it, is better than much, <HI>Quod curae arrodunt, &s;olicitudines immi|nuunt;</HI> the comfort whereof cares gnaw away, and troubles dimini&s;h. When God had made man, wee read that the next day he re&s;ted, and why is this &s;et downe &s;aith <HI>An&s;elme, Ni&s;i per hoc vellet innuere,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">An&s;elm. in c. <HI>4.</HI> Epi&s;t. ad Roman.</NOTE> <HI>quod il|lum po&s;t cujus orationem requievit, adrequiem fecit?</HI> But that the Spirit of God would &s;hew unto us, that God made him for re&s;t, after the ma|king of whom God is &s;aid to have re&s;ted. It is re&s;t and quietne&s;&s;e, that is the proper gift of man by God be&s;towed upon him, and this it is which is the good of man. When <HI>Martha</HI> was bu&s;ied to entertaine our Saviour, he blamed her for it: but as <HI>Theophylact</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Theophylact.</NOTE> noteth, <HI>Non ho&s;pitalita|tem Dominus prohibet, &s;ed turbationem &amp; tumultum,</HI> It was not her ho|&s;pitality that our Saviour di&s;liked, but the trouble and tumult of her mind. This taketh away the comfort, the good of what any one hath, though there be much that might afford it. The Originall here is, <HI>Ple|nitudo volae quietis,</HI> The fulne&s;&s;e of the hand of quietne&s;&s;e: and let it be the hand of quietne&s;&s;e that doth reach it unto us, though it be but a lit|tle, that will make it to be a fulne&s;&s;e, and that little fulne&s;&s;e it will make to be better then much fulne&s;&s;e of the hands of trouble and vexation of &s;pirit, (for &s;o al&s;o the Originall is) that is, then much fulne&s;&s;e which travell reacheth with one hand, and vexation of &s;pirit with another hand. But the Septuagint doe adde unto the end of the former ver&s;e, <HI>Dicens,</HI> &s;aying: and <HI>Tremellius</HI> puts into this ver&s;e, <HI>Inquit,</HI> &s;aith he, as if the&s;e were the words of the foole in the former ver&s;e. And if wee take the foole to bee the &s;luggard, hee may be conceited to &s;ay &s;o, as applauding
<PB N="108" REF="58"> him&s;elfe in his owne lazine&s;&s;e, wherein he is at quiet, though he have but little, and therefore preferring him&s;elfe before tho&s;e, who though they get more, yet it is with more travell and vexation of &s;pirit. Wherein wee may note how idlene&s;&s;e would cloake it &s;elfe with the commendation of quietne&s;&s;e, and the idle per&s;on plea&s;e him&s;elfe with the comfort of wanting trouble, the like being the manner of other &s;innes al&s;o,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>19,</HI></NOTE> and of other &s;inners. But as <HI>Hugo de Sancto Victore</HI> noteth, the foole con&s;idereth him&s;elfe, <HI>Quando pugillum habet &amp; requiem habet,</HI> when he hath his handfull and hath re&s;t al&s;o, hee con&s;idereth not that when his handfull is emptyed, his re&s;t will be gone likewi&s;e. He now eateth of his handfull in quietne&s;&s;e, and commendeth his lazine&s;&s;e, not caring to fill his other hand by labour, that thereon he may feed, when the other is &s;pent. Wherefore when his handfull is con&s;umed, then he eateth his owne fle&s;h, and with hunger is whipt for his lazine&s;&s;e, the re&s;t whereof hee preferred before dew carefulne&s;&s;e. But I would not have &s;o worthy a &s;entence to bee lo&s;t in the mouth of a foole; for &s;urely better is a handfull, where quietne&s;&s;e filleth the heart, then both the hands full, where travell and vexation overwhelme the &s;pirit. And therefore to take it as the &s;peech of <HI>Solomon</HI> him&s;elfe, and yet to apply it unto the &s;lothfull foole, we may conceive that as in the ver&s;e before, he &s;heweth his mi&s;ery in his wa&s;ted e&s;tate; &s;o here he &s;heweth his mi&s;e|ry in a plentifull e&s;tate. For as much as then al&s;o idlene&s;&s;e maketh his life to be tedious and irk&s;ome unto him. So that he who laboureth and getteth but a little, yet by labour hath a quiet mind free from a burden|&s;ome tediou&s;ne&s;&s;e is to be preferred before him.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="7-8" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 7.</HI></BIBL> Then I returned, and I &s;aw vanity under the Sunne.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 8.</HI></BIBL> There is one alone, and there is not a &s;e|cond, yea, hee hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour: neither is his eye &s;atisfied with riches, neither &s;aith hee, For whom doe I labour, and bereave my &s;oule of good? this is al&s;o vanity, yea, it is a &s;ore travell.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 7. <HI>Then I returned:</HI> this &s;heweth that the Preacher had made &s;ome interruption in his thoughts from the con&s;idering of vanities, by interpo&s;ing that conclu&s;ion of &s;olid verity, which the former ver&s;e con|taineth. Or if wee take the former ver&s;e to appertaine to the &s;etting
<PB N="109" REF="58"> forth of vanitie: then wee may imagine the Preachers thoughts to have been &s;o fa&s;t in the depth of tho&s;e vanities, as one amazed with the folly of them, that he was faine to recall him&s;elfe, and to re|cover him&s;elfe as it were, that he might pa&s;&s;e unto another matter. <HI>And I &s;aw vanitie:</HI> it is from vanitie that wee fall into iniquitie, and as S^t. <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh; <HI>Dum per quaedam tran&s;itoria ducimur,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Mo|ral. l. <HI>10.</HI> c. <HI>9.</HI></NOTE> <HI>in quibu&s;dam noxi&egrave; ligamur, quum&abque; mens incommutabilitatis &s;tatum non te|net, &agrave; &s;eip&s;a defluens ad vitia prorumpit,</HI> While wee are caryed through tran&s;itory things, wee are held fa&s;t in &s;infull things, and while the minde doth not &s;tay &s;etled in an unchangeablene&s;&s;e, flying from it &s;elfe it ru&s;heth into wickedne&s;&s;e. The Preacher therefore in his method, having con&s;idered fir&s;t the tran&s;itory vanitie of worldly things, from thence he pa&s;&s;eth in this Chapter, to the iniquitie of the world, which is a vanitie al&s;o, for &s;o he calleth it. And indeed this vanitie it was which made <HI>Bel&s;hazzar</HI> to weigh &s;o light in the ballance:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dan.</HI> 5.27.</NOTE> it was his iniquitie which made him to be found wanting, wanting of any true worth, &s;o that his kingdome and his life vani&s;hed &s;o quickly from him. Wherefore one &s;ayth well, <HI>Qui&s;quiliae palearum, &amp; atomi fere invi&s;ibi|les majoris ponder is &s;unt quam peccata,</HI> The &s;weepings of chaffe, and the motes of the Sunne, almo&s;t invi&s;ible, are of more weight and &s;ub&s;tance then &s;innes are. Yea, &s;uch a vanitie is iniquitie, that as the &s;ame Wri|ter &s;peaketh, <HI>Inter aliquid quantumvis parum, &amp; nihil, nihil mediat ni&s;i peccat<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">r,</HI> Between &s;omething though never &s;o little, and that which is nothing, nothing doth mediate and middle, but a &s;inner onely, who is &s;o neere to nothing, that he may well be accounted to be nothing. The Prophet <HI>David</HI> &s;peaking of this vanitie, fayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 69.2.</NOTE> <HI>I &s;ink in deepe mire where there is no &s;tanding.</HI> Sinne is but a mire, and &s;uch is the vanitie of this mire, that there is no &s;tanding in it, nothing that is able to &s;upport it &s;elfe, or any one that is in it. <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> writing upon the&s;e words in the Canticles, <HI>My head is filled with dew,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ny&s;|&s;en. in Can|tica.</NOTE> <HI>and my lockes with the drops of the night;</HI> &s;uppo&s;eth <HI>Christ</HI> there to repre&s;ent him&s;elfe and his Church: and therefore by the head he under&s;tandeth <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> by the lockes the &s;ervants of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> the Prophets and Apo&s;tles. Now the hayre being on, it is an ornament, but being cut off, what is e&s;teemed more vaine? In like manner, the &s;ervants of God being joyned by obedience unto <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> their head, they are worthy of all honour, but being cut off by falling into &s;inne, what are they but vanitie, and of no value? <HI>Vnder the Sunne,</HI> that is, that it was a vanitie vi&s;ible and plainly to be &s;eene: for as S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Sub &s;ole vi&s;ibilia omnia, quicquid vi&s;ibile non est,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. in P&s;al. <HI>38.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;ub &s;ole non e&s;t,</HI> Vnder the Sunne all things are vi&s;ible: what&s;oever is not vi&s;ible, is not under the Sunne. Or el&s;e <HI>under the Sunne,</HI> as &s;hewing this vanitie to be &s;pread as farre as the Sunne &s;hineth. Or el&s;e the Preacher here expre&s;&s;eth the vanitie of &s;inne to be <HI>under the Sunne,</HI> as &s;hewing the unthankfulne&s;&s;e of &s;inne, in that it is <HI>under the Sunne,</HI> by which God af|fordeth &s;o many ble&s;&s;ings unto men. For in the Hewrew <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifieth the Sunne, is taken from <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifieth <HI>Mini&s;trare</HI>
<PB N="110" REF="59"> to mini&s;ter, becau&s;e it mini&s;treth to the world &s;o many benefits. That to let the Sunne therefore man &s;inneth again&s;t God, maketh him un|worthy to live under the Sunne.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 8. It is the &s;infull vanitie of covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e which here the Preacher &s;etteth forth, and which as it is commonly joyned in men with oppre&s;&s;ion and envie, &s;o here the Preacher joyneth them together. <HI>There is one alone:</HI> and it were well if there were one alone, but indeed there are many &s;uch in the world. And yet <HI>there is one alone,</HI> for every &s;uch a one would him&s;elfe have all alone: he would be one alone, &s;o that none el&s;e &s;hould have &s;hare or part in any thing with him. <HI>And there is not a &s;econd:</HI> this is the fir&s;t thing which a covetous man de&s;ireth, to have no body neere him, no body that may either borrow or beg or get any thing from him. Wherefore S^t. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> calleth a cove|tous man,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;ostom. in Matth. Homil. <HI>81.</HI> I&s;a. <HI>5.8.</HI> Ambro&s;. lib. de Naboth. c. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Communem omnium hominum ho&s;tem,</HI> The common enemy of all men. And when the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> &s;ayth, Woe to them that joyne hou&s;e to hou&s;e, field to field, untill there be no place; S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Arguit eos inefficacis avaritiae: fugiunt enim cohabitare hominibus, &amp; ideo excludunt vicinos,</HI> He reprooveth them of covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e which hath no vertue of doing any thing, for they &s;hun to dwell with men, and therefore they &s;hut out their neighbours. But as <HI>Eucherius</HI> &s;peaking of the Sodomites &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eucherius ad c. <HI>19.</HI> Gene|&s;eos.</NOTE> <HI>Clau&s;as domos ho&s;pitibus ingre&s;&s;us e&s;t ignis ad per|dendos peccatores,</HI> The hou&s;es that were &s;hut again&s;t &s;trangers fire en|tred, to de&s;troy the wicked; &s;o let &s;uch take heed, who &s;hun to have any neere them, lea&s;t that the fire of Gods wrath be a neighbour to them. S^t. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> therefore &s;peaking of covetous per&s;ons, and com|paring them to fruitle&s;&s;e trees,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. in Acta. Ho|mil. <HI>21.</HI></NOTE> &s;ayth, <HI>Tales &s;unt qui &s;olum con&s;iderant ea quae &s;ua &s;unt; imo nec tales &s;unt, nam hi ad incendium parati &s;unt, illae etiam ad ae|dificium,</HI> Such are they who looke after tho&s;e things onely which are their owne; yea rather they are not &s;uch: for they are prepared for bur|ning, the other for building al&s;o. <HI>Yea, he hath neither childe nor brother: nec filium quem genuit, nec fratrem cum quo genitus e&s;t,</HI> Neither &s;onne whom he hath begotten, neither brother with whom he was begot|ten,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. in Eccle&s;ia&s;t. Homil. <HI>19.</HI></NOTE> as <HI>Hugo</HI> &s;peaketh: yea, not any kin&s;man, for &s;o the word <HI>brother</HI> in the Hebrew is taken. Him&s;elfe is the &s;ucce&s;&s;our of his ance&s;tours, but him&s;elfe hath none to &s;ucceed him. <HI>Yet is there no end of all his la|bours:</HI> no end wherein his labour cea&s;eth, no <HI>All</HI> of all his labour. <HI>Nei|ther is his eye &s;atisfied with riches:</HI> much le&s;&s;e is his heart &s;atisfied. His pur&s;e is filled, his che&s;t is filled, his hou&s;e is filled, yet his eye is not filled. <HI>Neither &s;ayth he, for whom doe I labour?</HI> The Originall doth not expre&s;&s;e <HI>&s;ayth he,</HI> but onely implyes it, becau&s;e it is &s;uppo&s;ed to be, not an expre&s;&s;e &s;peaking, but onely in the heart, according as the Chal|dee Paraphra&s;t hath it; <HI>Non dicit in corde &s;uo,</HI> he &s;ayth not in his heart, <HI>For whom doe I labour?</HI> And &s;urely, <HI>Qui nec &s;ibi laborat, nec alii cui labo|rat, ni&s;i &s;oli vitio cui &s;ervit? Hic enim &s;oli vitio &s;ervitur, &amp; non e&s;t alius af|fectus, qui excu&s;et &s;olicitudinem vanam, cui igno&s;ci po&s;sit, ni&s;i &s;olus ille qui vi|tium genuit,</HI> He that laboureth neither for him&s;elfe, nor any other, for
<PB N="111" REF="59"> whom doth he labour, but for his vice whom he &s;erveth? For here he is a &s;ervant to his vice onely, and there is no other affection, which may excu&s;e his vaine carefulne&s;&s;e, and which might get &s;ome pardon for him, but onely that greedy affection which brought forth his vice, as an ancient Writer &s;peaketh. <HI>And bereave my &s;oule of good:</HI> the Chal|dee Paraphra&s;e here addeth as an expo&s;ition of it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chald. Para.</NOTE> <HI>Surgam &amp; faciam ex eo cleemo&s;ynam, &amp; laetabor in hoc &s;aeculo cum filiis hominum, &amp; in &s;aeculo ven|turo cum ju&s;tis,</HI> I will ari&s;e, and will doe works of charitie, and I will re|joyce in this world with the &s;onnes of men, and in the world to come with the righteous. This is the good whereof a covetous wretch be|reaveth his &s;oule. And plainely, were it not the minde of &s;uch a cove|tous wretch to de&s;ire no children, no brethren, no kinsfolke, he might finde enough. For as <HI>Olympiodorus</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Olympiodo|rus.</NOTE> &s;peaketh, <HI>Qui de&s;iderio illorum tene|tur, quamvis natur&acirc; nullos affines &amp; con&s;anguineos habeat, charitatem tamen habens, omnes homines quamvis externos, e&s;&s;e &s;ibi filiorum loco putat &amp; fra|trum,</HI> He that hath a de&s;ire of them, although by nature he hath no kinsfolke, no kindred, yet having charitie he accompteth all men, al|though &s;trangers, to be in the place of children and brethren unto him. Wherefore the <HI>Catena Graeca</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Si quis fratrem non habet,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Catena Grae|ca.</NOTE> <HI>ille procul|dubio &s;piritum adoptionis filiorum non accepit: et &s;i quis pater non e&s;t, is porro improbus e&s;t,</HI> If there be any one who hath not a brother, no doubt he hath not received the Spirit of adoption of the Sonnes of God: and if any one be not a Father, what is he but a wicked man? <HI>This is al&s;o va|nitie, yea it is a &s;ore travaile:</HI> for he that laboureth and enjoyeth his la|bour, receiveth &s;ome fruit from it; and he that laboureth but doth not u&s;e tho&s;e things, which by his labour he hath gotten, yet if he leave them to tho&s;e whom he loveth, <HI>Aliquod emolumentum capit laboris &s;ui, de&s;iderium et votum dilectionis &s;uae,</HI> He reapeth &s;ome profit of his labour, in the de&s;ire and contentment of his love, as one &s;ayth. But to labour, and thereby neither to enjoy comfort to a mans &s;elfe, nor to expre&s;&s;e love to others, what can be more vaine? What more &s;ore travaile can there be? The ancient Fathers tooke &s;uch joy in meditating upon <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> that where&s;oever they could finde any occa&s;ion, their learned skill made the words of Scripture to &s;ound this mu&s;ick. This ver&s;e therefore S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us, that &s;ome did apply to <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI> For he is <HI>one, and there is not a &s;econd,</HI> becau&s;e he came to &s;ave the world without any company: and though there be many <HI>Sonnes</HI> of God, many who by a|doption are called his <HI>brethren,</HI> yet there was none worthy in this worke to be joyned with him. Of his <HI>labour</HI> in bearing our &s;innes and in &s;uffe|ring for us, there is <HI>no end,</HI> mans under&s;tanding cannot reach to the end of the greatne&s;&s;e of them. <HI>His eye is not &s;atisfied</HI> with riches,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> alwayes de&s;iring and &s;eeking our &s;alvation: neither doth he &s;ay, <HI>for whom doe I labour?</HI> for though we de&s;pi&s;e his love, refu&s;e his mercies, yet doth he &s;till labour to bring us to repentance, to winne us to him&s;elfe. And in|deed I finde, that S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaking of the&s;e words, &s;ayth, <HI>Quis e&s;t i|&s;te, ni&s;i ille, de quo dictum e&s;t, magi&s;ter ve&s;ter unus e&s;t Chri&s;tus?</HI> Who is
<PB N="112" REF="60"> this,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 23.8. <HI>Job</HI> 9.8.</NOTE> but he, of whom it is &s;ayd, Your Ma&s;ter is one even <HI>Christ:</HI> of whom wee reade, Who alone &s;preadeth out the heavens. <HI>Hic non e&s;t &s;ecundus, quia primus e&s;t: huic non e&s;t &s;ecundus, quia unus e&s;t,</HI> He is not the &s;econd, becau&s;e he is fir&s;t: he hath not a &s;econd, becau&s;e he is one a|lone.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de In&s;tit. Vir|ginitatis. c. <HI>10.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Vnus e&s;t qui &s;ecundum non habet, quia unicus, &s;olus &s;ine peccato, &s;olus &s;ine adjutorio,</HI> He is one and hath not a &s;econd, becau&s;e he alone onely is without &s;inne, he alone is without a helper.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="9-12" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 9.</HI></BIBL> Two are better then one; becau&s;e they have a good reward for their labour.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 10.</HI></BIBL> For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to helpe him up.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 11.</HI></BIBL> Againe, if two lie together, then they have heate: but how can one be warme alone?</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 12.</HI></BIBL> And if one prevaile again&s;t him, two &s;hall with&s;tand him: and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 9. From the wretchedne&s;&s;e of a covetous &s;olitarine&s;&s;e, the Preacher pa&s;&s;eth to the commendation of a friendly &s;ocietie. Now <HI>A|quinas</HI> tels us,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aquin.</HI> 2.2^a^e. <HI>Q.</HI> 188. <HI>Ar.</HI> 8.</NOTE> <HI>Id quod e&s;t &s;olitarium debet e&s;&s;e &s;ibi per &s;e &s;ufficiens,</HI> That which is &s;olitary mu&s;t be in it &s;elfe &s;ufficient for it &s;elfe. But what is &s;o? When man was created in his perfection, then it was not good for man to be alone, much le&s;&s;e now, when his mi&s;eries are &s;o great, his infir|mities &s;o many, in regard whereof he hath need of &s;ocietie, that his mi|&s;eries may be &s;uccoured, his infirmities &s;upported. There is none &s;uf|ficient in him&s;elfe but God alone, and he is one and alone in his nature and e&s;&s;ence, though in his &s;ub&s;i&s;tence there be a Trinitie of per&s;ons, that from him&s;elfe he might commend a &s;ocietie to us. The Philo&s;o|pher therefore &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ari&s;toteles Politico. l. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Ille qui non communicat aliis est be&s;tia, aut Deus,</HI> He that doth not communicate with others, is either a bea&s;t in the &s;a|vage wildne&s;&s;e of his minde, or el&s;e a God in the tran&s;cendency of his nature. But to con&s;ider the Preachers words: <HI>two,</HI> &s;ayth he, <HI>are better then one,</HI> but then, though two, they mu&s;t be one likewi&s;e. So it was when God made fir&s;t two, he made them &s;o two, as that he made them one, and it is &s;till the being one of two, that maketh two to be better then one. One they mu&s;t be in peace, one in affection, one in a mutuall corre&s;pondency of the offices of &s;ocietie, or el&s;e much better one by
<PB N="113" REF="60"> him&s;elfe alone, then multiplyed into quarrels and di&s;contentments by another joyned with him. But in peace better are two then one eve|ry way. Better in Religion, for where two or three are gathered to|gether, there is God, and what is better then to have God with us? Better in the &s;tudy of knowledge, and therefore S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> writing to <HI>Ra&s;ticus</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Mihi placet, ut habeas Sanctorum contubernium,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. ad Ru&s;t. Mona|chum.</NOTE> <HI>nec ip&s;e te doceas,</HI> I like rather that thou &s;houlde&s;t u&s;e the familiaritie of religious men, and not teach thy &s;elfe. Better in the affayres of the world, for what is better then to take the advi&s;e of others, in that which a man go|eth about, &s;o that as <HI>Syne&s;ius</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Et omnium oculis videat,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Syne&s;ius. l. de regno.</NOTE> <HI>et om|nium auribus audiat, omniumque animis in unum con&s;entientibus con&s;ilium capiat,</HI> He may &s;ee with the eyes of all, he may heare with the eares of all, and with the minds of all agreeing in one, he may re&s;olve what to doe. Which yet is not &s;o generally true, but that it is better &s;ome|times to be alone: alone in the fervency of devotion, alone in the height of contemplation. But that wee may be alone for the better per|formance of the&s;e, wee mu&s;t be alone not onely from the company of men, but al&s;o from the company of di&s;tracting thoughts, of worldly con&s;iderations. Otherwi&s;e as S^t. <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Mo|ral. c. <HI>30.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Quid prode&s;t &s;olitudo corporis, &s;i non &s;it &s;olitudo cordis?</HI> What availeth the &s;olitarine&s;&s;e of the body, if there be not a &s;olitarine&s;&s;e of the minde? But for the mo&s;t part two are better then one, <HI>becau&s;e they have a good reward for their labour.</HI> One would thinke the Preacher &s;hould have &s;ayd, becau&s;e they have a good reward for or in their &s;ocietie. And indeed &s;o doe the Septua|gint reade it, <HI>Habent enim emolumentum &s;ocietatis &s;uae,</HI> for they have the benefit of their &s;ocietie. The very &s;ocietie it &s;elfe being a good re|ward unto them. And therefore S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augustin. l. de Amici|tia.</NOTE> <HI>Quid &s;it vera ami|citia nondum novit, qui vult aliam e&s;&s;e mercedem quam ip&s;am,</HI> What true friend&s;hip is he doth not as yet know, who de&s;ireth any other re|ward then it &s;elfe. But the originall word here u&s;ed is <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ignifying trouble or labour: and therefore the Preacher &s;eemeth to me here to &s;hew, that in the getting and keeping of good &s;ocietie, there is no little trouble and labour. For there is company enough to be had, but to get good company, good in it &s;elfe, good for our occa&s;ions and di&s;po&s;itions is no ea&s;ie matter. And when &s;uch company is gotten, he that will not endure trouble and labour through many occurrences that may and will fall out, &s;hall &s;oone loo&s;e it againe. But let this la|bour and trouble be endured, becau&s;e it hath a good reward which from &s;ocietie ari&s;eth. And it may farther be noted, that it is &s;ayd, <HI>Their labour,</HI> becau&s;e both mu&s;t labour for the e&s;tabli&s;hing and conti|nuing of a good &s;ocietie, or el&s;e it will not be. Or el&s;e the meaning of the words may be, they have a good reward for their labour, that is, in &s;ocietie they have a benefit, whereby to ea&s;e them&s;elves in their labour. Or el&s;e thus, that by &s;ocietie they have the benefit of enjoy|ing the more &s;weetly and comfortably tho&s;e things which they have gotten by their labour. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> goeth on in applying the&s;e words
<PB N="114" REF="61"> al&s;o unto <HI>Chri&s;t:</HI> Two &s;ayth he, are better then one, <HI>Melius e&s;t enim ha|bitantem in &s;e habere Chri&s;tum, quam &s;olum patere in&s;idiis adver&s;antis,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> For it is better to have <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> dwelling in us, then alone to lye open to the &s;nares of the enemy. And no doubt, there is a reward in the labour of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> and his &s;ervants. But as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Chri&s;tus ergo laborat?</HI> Doth <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> therefore labour?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in haec verba, Cohortatione ad Cleric.</NOTE> Yes, &s;ayth he, <HI>Laborat, &s;ed in nobis,</HI> He laboureth, but in us. He laboureth by making us to labour, by &s;uppor|ting us in our labour: and he that laboureth in us, giveth a reward of our labour to us.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 10. The Septuagint, S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e,</HI> S^t. <HI>Hierome, Pagnine, Arias Montanus,</HI> doe all reade it, <HI>Si ceciderit unus,</HI> If the one fall, as not &s;uppo|&s;ing that both &s;hould fall together. But though if the one &s;tand, the o|ther fall, he that &s;tandeth will the better be able to helpe up him that is fallen; yet if they both fall, they may al&s;o helpe one the other in ri|&s;ing, and therein al&s;o the mutuall helpe of &s;ocietie is the better &s;et forth. Now the Hebrew is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Si ceciderint,</HI> If they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. It is not &s;ayd he may doe it, but he will doe it: neither is it &s;ayd the one will lift up the other, but the one will lift up his fellow. For if there be a fellow&s;hip of love, and true &s;ocietie betweene them, he will doe what he can, he will not let his fellow lye being downe, but he will lift him up, and he will helpe up his fellow as well as him&s;elfe, if they be both downe. And it is for this rea&s;on gi|ven by the Preacher,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. E|pi&s;t. <HI>12.</HI> ad Abigaum.</NOTE> that S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaking of him&s;elfe &s;ayth, <HI>Vltra &s;oleo bonorum appetere nece&s;situdinem, &amp; me eorum ingerere charitati,</HI> I u&s;e to &s;eeke of my &s;elfe the friend&s;hip of tho&s;e that are good, and even to thru&s;t my &s;elfe into their affection. <HI>But woe to him that is alone when he falleth:</HI> woe becau&s;e he falleth, but a double woe, becau&s;e he falleth when he is alone. Perhaps he may not be alone, in re&s;pect of &s;ome o|ther that thru&s;teth him downe, and that may be &s;ome ea&s;e unto his woe, in regard that not falling of him&s;elfe, he may be able to helpe him&s;elfe up againe. But how&s;oever, another joyned with him, would helpe him up much better, and therefore woe unto him becau&s;e he hath not the helpe of &s;uch a one. The Originall is, woe unto him, be|cau&s;e he hath not <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>&s;ecundum,</HI> a &s;econd to helpe him up: and indeed this is the right u&s;e of a &s;econd. Not as the bloudy fa&s;hion of the world is, who &s;eeking to kill their enemy, de&s;ire to kill their friend al&s;o. Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> marking the woe here &s;et downe, thereupon fayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. de Amicit.</NOTE> <HI>At quae foelicitas, quae &s;ecuritas, quae jucunditas e&s;t habere cum quo aeque audeas loqui ac tibi, cui confiteri non timeas, &s;i quid deliqueris?</HI> But what happi|ne&s;&s;e, what &s;ecuritie, what &s;weetne&s;&s;e is it to have one with whom thou maye&s;t talke as to thy &s;elfe, to whom if thou ha&s;t offended thou maye&s;t be bold to confe&s;&s;e thy fault? And as it is a great happine&s;&s;e to have &s;uch a one to whom it may be done, &s;o it is often a great neglect of happine&s;&s;e not to doe it. For many times when the devill tempteth &s;ome one to wickedne&s;&s;e, the very di&s;covering of it to another, is a pre&s;ent remedy for the preventing of it: So that, as Abbot <HI>Moy&s;es</HI> &s;peak|eth
<PB N="115" REF="61"> in <HI>Ca&s;sian, Teterrimus &s;erpens,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;ian. Coll. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>10.</HI></NOTE> <HI>velut &agrave; tenebro&s;o ac &s;ubterraneo &s;pecu vir|tute confe&s;sionis fubte actus in lucem, &amp; traductus quodammodo &amp; dehone&s;ta|tus ab&s;cedit,</HI> The mo&s;t fowle &s;erpent, as it were drawne out into the light by the vertue of confe&s;&s;ion from his darke and &s;ubterranean hole, layd open as it were and &s;hamed, departeth away. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;till applyeth this unto our Saviour <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> &s;aying, <HI>Si unus ceciderit,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Chri&s;tus eriget participem &s;uum: &s;ed vae ei qui quum ruerit Chri&s;tum non habet erigen|tem,</HI> If one fall, <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> doth rai&s;e him up that is partaker of him; but woe to him, who when he falleth hath not <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> in him to rai&s;e him up againe. Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> al&s;o applying this to <HI>Chri&s;t;</HI> fir&s;t, he tels us that <HI>Chri&s;t, projecit &s;e, non cecidit,</HI> Did not fall, but did ca&s;t him&s;elfe downe;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in Cohortati. ad Clericos.</NOTE> he humbled him&s;elfe, that he might make us to be his fellowes. And then he noteth that he is &s;ayd to rai&s;e us up, not to be rai&s;ed up, be|cau&s;e when he was downe, he rai&s;ed up him&s;elfe. Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> more generally applying the&s;e words unto God, &s;ayth, <HI>Solus e&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. in cap. <HI>10. 1.</HI> Regum.</NOTE> <HI>quia Deo relinquitur; hunc certe cadentem nullus erigit,</HI> He is alone who is for&s;a|ken of God: &s;uch a one when he falleth no one rai&s;eth up. But &s;afe is he that feareth God, becau&s;e God is with him, and he is not alone. For as our Saviour <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> &s;ayth, I am not alone,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iohn</HI> 8.16.</NOTE> but I and my Father that &s;ent mee; &s;o his &s;ervants are not alone, but he is with them to the end of the world: and then they &s;hall be with him for ever|more.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 11. <HI>If two lye together</HI> in the cold night of &s;orrow and &s;ad|ne&s;&s;e, they have the <HI>heate</HI> of comfort, which mutually they yeeld one to the other, even by &s;triking together the hard flints of their mi&s;ery, by ea&s;ing their hearts, while their tongues talke of their di&s;tre&s;&s;e, by &s;upporting each other under their burdens, who cannot beare his owne, by doubling the light of coun&s;ell which may the better &s;hew them the way of getting out. <HI>If two lye together</HI> in the pri&s;on of afflicti|on, &s;ocietie gives <HI>heate</HI> unto their cold irons, &s;oftens the hardne&s;&s;e of them, and though it cannot breake them off, yet makes them to be borne with the more contentment. Not becau&s;e it is an ea&s;e to mi&s;e|ry to &s;ee another in mi&s;ery, which is the mi&s;erable comfort of bad mindes; but becau&s;e in each, the feeling of his owne mi&s;ery makes them the more ready to afford comfort one to the other. It is not &s;ayd, if two &s;leepe together, although the Septuagint, S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e,</HI> and S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> doe reade it &s;o, and although naturally &s;leeping together, as well as lying together bringeth heate: but it is &s;ayd, <HI>If two lye together,</HI> and in a morall &s;en&s;e, which is here intended by the Preacher, it mu&s;t be &s;o taken: becau&s;e if two lying together in mi&s;ery, &s;leepe carele&s;ly in it, the heate will be little, the comfort &s;mall which one &s;hall have from the other. And farther, this <HI>lying together,</HI> mu&s;t be al&s;o under|&s;tood, in the bed of good will and affection, otherwi&s;e though lying together they may be farre enough from the heate of mutuall comfort. Wherefore <HI>Lyra</HI> tels us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Per hoc intelligitur quietatio plurium in una di|lectione,</HI> By this is under&s;tood the re&s;ting of many in one affection,
<PB N="116" REF="62"> and love of charity. Now if two lye together in this bed of love, they will lye together in the &s;ame mi&s;ery, although but one be in it, by a fellow feeling of it, and by his care to give the heate of comfort unto him that &s;uffereth it. And thus to lye with another by a loving com|pa&s;&s;ion in his mi&s;ery and by a readine&s;&s;e to afford the heate of comfort unto him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 11.29.</NOTE> who &s;hould not be forward? Saint <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith, who is weake, and I am not weake? Who is offended, and I burne not? Where Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> noteth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;. Jbid.</NOTE> <HI>Non dicit, quis infirmatur, &amp; ego non compatior, &s;ed ego non infirmor, hoc e&s;t, tanquam ip&s;amet infirmitate circundatus ita excru|cior &amp; angor?</HI> He &s;aith not who is weake, and I have not compa&s;&s;ion on him, but who is weake, and I am not weake, that is, as if I were encom|pa&s;&s;ed with the &s;ame infirmity, &s;o am I pained, &s;o troubled: And <HI>An&s;elme</HI> expounding the latter words,<NOTE PLACE="marg">An&s;el. Ibid.</NOTE> who is offended, and I burne not? that is &s;aith he, <HI>Valde mens mea cruciatur igne amoris zeli;</HI> My mind is much tormented with the fire of the love of zeale. Here was heate indeed, ever burning heate which came from that lying together where|of the Preacher &s;peaks. But where is another &s;uch to be found? The Preacher &s;peaks but of two lying together, and they are very few, who do thus lye together in the bed of charity. <HI>Eu&s;ebius</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Eu&s;ebius.</NOTE> tels us that a Poppy is the embleme of a City. Now a Poppy is like unto a Pompegranate having many graines within it: but the difference is, that in a Pome|granate the graines are fa&s;tned together, whereas in the Poppy they are loo&s;e the one from the other. This therefore it is which maketh a Poppy to bee the embleme of a City, becau&s;e the affections of men are &s;evered and divided, and they lye not together to cau&s;e a heate of con&s;olation the one to the other. But not to under&s;tand the Preacher of mi&s;ery only, it is true of pro&s;perity likewi&s;e, and a lying together in love doth make the heate of joy therein to bee the greater. It is true al&s;o of the heate of devotion, and the &s;ociety of others doth make that heate to burne by much the &s;tronger.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca in Epist. <HI>96.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;peaking of the conver&s;ation of good men &s;aith, <HI>Frequenter audiri &amp; a&s;pici frequenter, imo occur&s;us ip&s;e bonorum juvat, &amp; e&s;t aliquid quod ex magno viro vel ta|cente proficias.</HI> Often to bee heard, and often to be &s;eene, yea the very meeting with good men furthereth, and there is &s;ome profit to be gotten from a worthy man even holding his peace. Wherefore if they <HI>lye to|gether,</HI> if they continue much together, how great a heate of good|ne&s;&s;e will be &s;tirred up in them? The lying together of the dead body of one, with the bones of the Prophet <HI>Eli&s;ha,</HI> wrought a miracle, and gave life unto it: and &s;urely the benefits of <HI>lying together</HI> in friendly love are even miraculous, by giving the heate of life to &s;orrow, the heate of a religious life to them, who are dead in &s;inne. <HI>But how can one be warme alone?</HI> Surely nothing &s;o well, nothing &s;o ea&s;ily. Yea, &s;aith <HI>Lyra,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;um. Greg. Mag. Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> how can one alone &s;hew the heate of charity to be in him? For as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Charitas &s;emper in alterum tendit, ut Cha|ritas e&s;&s;e po&s;&s;et,</HI> Charity alwayes tendeth towards another, that it may be charity. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> applying &s;till this ver&s;e to Chri&s;t, &s;aith, <HI>Si morte
<PB N="117" REF="62"> di&s;&s;olutus quis fuerit, &amp; &s;ecum Chri&s;tum habuerit, calefactus &amp; vivificatus citius revivi&s;cet,</HI> If any one &s;hall be di&s;&s;olved by death, and lye in his grave, yet if hee have Chri&s;t with him, he &s;hall be warmed, and being quickned &s;hall quickly live againe. Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Amb. Cohor|tatione ad Clericos.</NOTE> <HI>Commortui &s;u|mus Christo, &amp; ideo onvivimus: Chri&s;tus nobis commortuus e&s;t, ut nos ca|lefaceret,</HI> we are dead with Chri&s;t, and therefore doe we live with him: Chri&s;t is dead with us that he might heate us: <HI>Et qui in Chri&s;to moritur per Chri&s;tum calefactus vitae &amp; re&s;urrectionis vaporem accipit,</HI> And hee that dyeth in Chri&s;t, being warmed by Chri&s;t, receiveth the vapour of life and re&s;urrection. But as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> adddeth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Ni&s;i Chri&s;tus nobi&s;cum dormierit &amp; in morte quieverit, calorem aeternae vitae acoipere non valemus,</HI> Vnle&s;&s;e Chri&s;t doe &s;leepe, and re&s;t in death with us, we &s;hall never be able to receave the heate of eternall life.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 12. There are three things which concerne the life of man in this world, a weakene&s;&s;e in falling, a mi&s;ery in lying, a &s;trength in &s;tanding, and in all the&s;e the Preacher &s;heweth the benefit of &s;ociety. Wherefore having already &s;hewed it in the two former here he &s;hewes it in the la&s;t. And here he &s;hewes two things, fir&s;t how by &s;ociety an enemy is with&s;tood and re&s;i&s;ted, &s;econdly how by &s;ociety he is vanqui|&s;hed and lead captive as bound with a threefold cord. Fir&s;t, then hee &s;aith, <HI>And if one prevaile again&s;t him;</HI> that is, if one prevaile again&s;t one as being too &s;trong for him, <HI>two &s;hall with&s;tand him.</HI> For as the Proverb is, <HI>Ne Hercules contra duos,</HI> The &s;trength of <HI>Hercules</HI> is not able to prevaile again&s;t two united in their &s;trength. When the Red Sea was divided, the <HI>Aegyptians</HI> as not fearing either part by it &s;elfe, pre&s;|&s;ed after the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> as in&s;ulting over the weakene&s;&s;e of the waters; but when the two &s;ides meeting in &s;ociety joyned their &s;trength, how &s;oone were the <HI>Aegyptians</HI> de&s;troyed?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertull. ad|ver&s;. Mar|cion. l. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> So that as <HI>Tertullian</HI> &s;peaketh <HI>Egyptium exercitum concordia undarum obruit,</HI> the concord of the waters overwhelmed the Egyptian army. And &s;urely though the weakene&s;&s;e of one may bee as water in re&s;i&s;ting another, yet another though feeble as water al&s;o being joyned to him, they may bee able to with&s;tand a great might. And becau&s;e there is one common enemy of all, that is the devill, who &s;eeketh e&s;pecially to fight in diuels, and by &s;ingle com|bat again&s;t us, as knowing our weakene&s;&s;e, and his owne advantage therein, let it be the care of every one by the &s;ociety of coun&s;ell, and of prayer to with&s;tand him. Two doe often re&s;i&s;t him, when one can|not, <HI>and a threefold cord is not ea&s;ily broken.</HI> Much may be noted from the &s;acred Scriptures of the my&s;tery of three. And upon the&s;e words Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Vt cogno&s;cas &s;ecundum my&s;terium dictum,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambr. Co|horta. ad Clericos.</NOTE> <HI>non &s;e|cundum numerum, Optimi duo &s;uper unum, &s;ubjecit my&s;ticum, &amp; &s;partum triplex non facile rumpitur,</HI> That thou maye&s;t know that it is &s;poken in a my&s;tery, not for the number, Two are better than one, hee addeth a a my&s;ticall thing, A threefold cord is not &s;oone broken, <HI>Tria enim non compo&s;ita non rumpuntur,</HI> for three which are not compounded, are not broken, and the Trinity which is of an uncompounded nature, cannot
<PB N="118" REF="63"> be divided, becau&s;e God who is one and &s;imple is what&s;oever is. But not to dive beyond the bottome of the words, if in the number three wee will note a my&s;tery, the &s;trength of it, is that, to which the words point,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dan.</HI> 3.17.</NOTE> and wee may remember the three children united in Gods wor|&s;hip to have beene &s;o &s;trong, that they with&s;tood the force of the fiery furnace though made exceeding hot.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Zeno. Ser. <HI>4.</HI> de tribus pu|eris.</NOTE> Whereupon <HI>Zeno</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Sacra|mento Trinitatis tam potentis elementi &s;ubacta e&s;t natura: qui putabantur incendio extingui, emicant beatiores incen&s;i;</HI> By the my&s;tery of the Tri|nity was the might of that powerfull element &s;ubdued: they whom the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> thought by the fire to have extingui&s;hed appeare in the fire more glorious then before. But the plainer expo&s;ition is that which <HI>Lyra</HI> gives,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Quanto plures &amp; boni in amicitia conjuncti &s;unt, tanto &s;tatus eo|rum melioratur,</HI> By how many they are, the more and good, which are joyned in &s;ociety, by &s;o much is their condition the better. And in|deed &s;uch is the force of many, that it is able to with&s;tand the power of Gods provoked wrath. Wherefore when God &s;aith, &s;hould not I &s;pare <HI>Niniveh</HI> that great City, wherein are more than &s;ixe&s;core thou&s;and per&s;ons?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;. Hom. <HI>3.</HI> de Incom|preh. Dei na|tura.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;peaking of it, &s;aith, <HI>Non &s;ine re, amplum populi numerum ibi propo&s;uit, &s;ed ut intelligas plurim&ugrave;m eam pollere orationem quae cum con&s;en&s;u agitur &amp; jugi concordi&acirc;,</HI> It is not to no end, that God &s;etteth downe there the great number of the people, but that thou maye&s;t under&s;tand, that prayer to bee very prevalent, which is &s;ent forth with con&s;ent, and with the continuall concord of many people.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> applying the&s;e words likewi&s;e unto Chri&s;t, &s;aith, <HI>Et &s;i adver&s;us hominem robu&s;tior inexpugnando diabolus ex|titerit: &s;tabit homo, &s;tabit &amp; Chri&s;tus pro homine &s;uo, pro &s;odali &s;uo,</HI> And if the Devill a&s;&s;aulting man as &s;tronger &s;hall prevaile again&s;t him; man &s;hall &s;tand, and Chri&s;t &s;hall &s;tand for his man, for his fellow. But if I might have leave in this manner to apply this pa&s;&s;age of Scrip|ture: in the fir&s;t place, where man is fallen through the weakene&s;&s;e of our fir&s;t Parents, we may apprehend Chri&s;t rai&s;ing him up: in the &s;e|cond place where man lyeth in the mi&s;ery which &s;inne hath brought up|on him, we may apprehend God the Holy Gho&s;t warning and comfor|ting him, with &s;pirituall graces: in the third place, where we have the &s;trength of man with&s;tanding his enemies, we may apprehend the glo|rious Trinity, placing and e&s;tabli&s;hing man in glory where no enemy &s;hall be able to hurt him.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="13-16" TYPE="verse">
<PB N="119" REF="63">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 13.</HI></BIBL> Better is a poore and a wi&s;e child, then an old and fooli&s;h King, who will no more be admoni&s;hed.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 14.</HI></BIBL> For out of pri&s;on hee commeth to reigne, whereas al&s;o he that is borne in his king|dome becommeth poore.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 15.</HI></BIBL> I con&s;idered all the living which walke under the Sunne, with the &s;econd child that &s;hall &s;tand up in his &s;tead.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 16.</HI></BIBL> There is no end of all the people, even of all that have beene before them: they al&s;o that come after &s;hall not rejoyce in him: &s;urely this al&s;o is vanity and vexa|tion of &s;pirit.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 13. The Preacher having &s;hewed the good of &s;ociety in re|&s;pect of private per&s;ons, now &s;hewes it in re&s;pect of a publike per&s;on; not in regard of his authority and government, but in re&s;pect of the carefull manner of his governing: For which it is needfull that hee &s;hould have the helpfull &s;ociety of others in coun&s;ell and advi&s;e: and better is one though <HI>meane</HI> that followes coun&s;ell, then another though never <HI>&s;o great</HI> that is alone in the wilfulne&s;&s;e of his owne wayes. In this &s;en&s;e therefore to con&s;ider the Preachers words. Great is the prece|dency and excellency of age above childhood:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Clemens A|lexand. Pae|dag. l. <HI>3.</HI> c. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> Wherefore <HI>Clemens Alexandrinus</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Quo magis homo fe&s;tinat ad finem, tanto e&s;t vere ve|nerabilior, ut qui Deum &s;olum habeat &s;e &s;eniorem. Nam ille quo&abque; e&s;t aeter|nus &s;enex, qui e&s;t omnibus quae &s;unt antiquior,</HI> By how much man draw|eth neare to his end, by &s;o much he is truly more venerable, as having God alone elder then him&s;elfe. For hee is al&s;o the eternall old one, who is elder then all things that are. Great is the preeminency of a King above a poore man; and <HI>yet better is a poore and wi&s;e child,</HI> wi&s;e in being ready to heare and receive in&s;truction and coun&s;ell, wi&s;e in being carefull to follow it, for that is the proper wi&s;dome of a child. And well doth the Preacher joyne poverty with wi&s;dome, for as the Philo&s;opher &s;peaketh, <HI>Paupertas &s;apientiae reparatrix,</HI> Poverty is the repairer of wi&s;|dome, in that it puts men to it, and makes them more warily and dili|gently to looke into things. And indeed they are commonly the poo|rer children that are wi&s;e in this kind; the richer, either in pride not
<PB N="120" REF="64"> &s;uffering them&s;elves, or by the folly of their parents, not being &s;uffered to be ordered by coun&s;ell and in&s;truction: and therefore <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Delitios&egrave; nutriri,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> <HI>et in delitiis vivere, impedit acqui&s;itionem &s;apientiae,</HI> To be bred delicately, and to live in plea&s;ures, doth hinder the getting of wi&s;edome. <HI>Then an old fooli&s;h King:</HI> to be old is to adde honour and authoritie to a King; to be a King, is to adde honour and authoritie to old age: to be a fooli&s;h King, is to deprive both of their honour and authoritie. <HI>To be old,</HI> is a ble&s;&s;ing of nature; <HI>to be a King,</HI> is a preroga|tive of favour; to be <HI>a fooli&s;h King,</HI> is to be unworthy of both. <HI>To be old,</HI> is to be Gods image; to be <HI>a King,</HI> is to be Gods &s;ub&s;titute; to be <HI>a fooli&s;h King,</HI> is to be the Devils va&s;&s;all. <HI>Who will no more be admoni|&s;hed:</HI> to refu&s;e admonition, is in none a greater folly, than in a King, becau&s;e in none it is more pernicious, to none more dangerous: but to be growne old in wilfull &s;tubbornne&s;&s;e, and &s;elfe-conceited per|ver&s;ene&s;&s;e, as well as in yeares, <HI>&s;o that he will no more be admoni&s;hed,</HI> and not onely not follow it, but not heare it, as it is the extremitie of fol|ly, &s;o it is the &s;hame of honour, and maketh a poore wi&s;e childe better, better worthy of it. The Originall is, <HI>Qui ne&s;cit admoneri adhuc,</HI> Who knoweth not to be admoni&s;hed as yet; who hath not as yet learned, though growne old, to be admoni&s;hed; who hath not as yet learned the good of it in the affayres of a King. Surely &s;uch a one mu&s;t needs be wor&s;e then a childe, who is &s;o many yeares before him in the learn|ing of it; wor&s;e then a poore childe, who though never &s;o poore, by this is richer then &s;uch a King.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Act.</HI> 1.15. <HI>&amp;</HI> 23.</NOTE> When S^t. <HI>Peter</HI> &s;tood up in the midde&s;t of the Di&s;ciples, and moved them to appoint, that two might be na|med, out of whom one might be cho&s;en in the roome of <HI>Iudas:</HI> Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> asketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;tom. Homil. <HI>3.</HI> in Acta.</NOTE> <HI>Cur non &s;olus &agrave; Chri&s;to po&s;tulavit, ut ip&s;e daret aliquem &s;ub&s;tituendum?</HI> Why he did not alone pray unto <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> that him&s;elfe would a&s;&s;igne one to &s;ucceed? The an&s;wer which he giveth is, <HI>Iam Pe|trus erat &s;eip&s;o factus melior,</HI> Now <HI>Peter</HI> was made even better him&s;elfe in taking the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of others. And &s;urely as it makes a King even more then a King, to be willing to be admoni&s;hed; &s;o it makes him le&s;&s;e then a poore wi&s;e childe to refu&s;e it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. <HI>18.24.</HI> Orig. in <HI>18.</HI> Exod.</NOTE> <HI>Origen</HI> therefore &s;peaking of <HI>Moy&s;es</HI> embracing the coun&s;ell of his Father in Law, &s;ayth, <HI>Accepit con|&s;ilium inferioris ut formam humilitatis principibus populorum daret,</HI> He re|ceived the coun&s;ell of an inferiour, that he might leave to Princes over people, a patterne of humilitie. <HI>Amale&s;nentha</HI> Queene of Italy being deprived of her &s;onne and of her husband, and joyning her brother in the Kingdome with her, thus writeth of it, to the Senate of Rome; <HI>Exultate,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;iodorus. var. l. <HI>10.</HI> var. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> <HI>et factum no&s;trum &s;upernis commendate virtutibus. Nihil repre|hen&s;ibile de&s;ideramus agere, quae cum con&s;ilio alterius cuncta delegimus ordi|nare,</HI> Rejoyce, and commend our action to the divine powers. Wee de&s;ire to doe nothing that &s;hall de&s;erve reproofe, who have cho&s;en to order all things with the coun&s;ell of another. For there is nothing doth make the actions of any to de&s;erve reproofe &s;o much, as when them|&s;elves in their actions refu&s;e to be reprooved; at lea&s;twi&s;e by coun&s;ell, a reproofe not unfit for Kings.</P>
<PB N="121" REF="64">
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 14. The Septuagint and Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> doe reade the end of the former ver&s;e, <HI>Qui ne&s;cit providere in po&s;terum,</HI> Who knoweth not to provide for the time to come. And S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us that <HI>Symma|chus</HI> did reade it, <HI>Qui ne&s;cit praecavere vici&s;&s;itudinem,</HI> Who knoweth not how to prevent the interchangeable cour&s;e of things. Whereupon <HI>Gregorius Thaumaturgus</HI> expounding this ver&s;e, &s;ayth, That a poore and wi&s;e childe, is better then an old King and fooli&s;h;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Pon|ti Epi&s;c. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Cui in mentem non venit, fieri po&s;&s;e, ut qui&s;piam ex carcere &amp; erga&s;tulo ad regni gubernacula con|&s;tituatur, ip&s;e autem po&s;tea ab iniquo principatu exturbetur,</HI> Into who&s;e mind it commeth not, that it may come to pa&s;&s;e, that from pri&s;on and bonds, &s;ome one may be &s;et upon the throne of a Kingdome, and that him&s;elfe may be throwne downe from his wicked command. And &s;urely for an old King, who having lived long in this world mu&s;t needs have &s;eene the many changes of it, for him not to thinke of it, cannot but proove him fooli&s;h, and may &s;oone make him to finde that which he doth not thinke of. For as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Somnus est h&icirc;c vivendi u&s;us,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. E|pi&s;t. c. <HI>3,</HI> Epi&s;t. <HI>19.</HI></NOTE> <HI>in quo diver&s;ae commutationum vices tanquam ebriae, &amp; nihil &s;olidum, nihil firmum, &s;ed vacuae rerum &s;pecies di&s;per&s;ae &amp; circumfu&s;ae teneri videntur, &amp; non tenentur,</HI> The u&s;e of living here is but a &s;leepe, in which there are diver&s;e, and as it were drunken changes of things, nothing is &s;olid, nothing firme, but the emptie &s;hadowes of things di&s;per&s;ed and &s;catte|red up and downe, doe &s;eeme to be held fa&s;t, when they are not held. But to view the Preachers words as here we finde them. <HI>For out of pri|&s;on:</HI> the Hebrew is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>E domo vinctorum,</HI> From the hou&s;e of them that are bound, that is, as it may be taken from a &s;mall homely cottage, wherein the dwellers are bound and &s;hut up together: or el&s;e as it may be al&s;o taken, from &s;ome &s;trict Schoole wherein chil|dren are tyed hard to good orders, and held clo&s;e to &s;evere di&s;cipline: or el&s;e we may take it, from the pri&s;on of povertie, from the hou&s;e of them who are tyed and bound with many &s;trayts, many di&s;tre&s;&s;es. <HI>He commeth to reigne:</HI> either to reigne as a King, or to be great in a King|dome. And here for example,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Io&s;eph. Pa|triarcha. c. <HI>21.</HI></NOTE> wee may well take <HI>Io&s;eph</HI> to be this poore wi&s;e childe. For that he was a wi&s;e childe his Fathers love &s;hew|ed, who therein as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Non tam filium pater praetuli&s;|&s;e videatur, quam Propheta my&s;terium,</HI> May &s;eeme not &s;o much as a Fa|ther to have preferred his &s;onne before his other brethren, as a Pro|phet rather to have preferred a my&s;tery, in re&s;pect of that to which he fore&s;aw the wi&s;edome of his &s;onne would bring him&s;elfe. But that he was a poore childe al&s;o, the malice of his brethren, who &s;old him for a captive made to be true. The re&s;t God performed for him, and when he was in pri&s;on bringing him to the King of Aegypt, out of pri&s;on brought him to be the next in greatne&s;&s;e in the Kingdome. Yea, while he was in pri&s;on, what was he but even then a King?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. I|bid.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> comparing <HI>Io&s;eph</HI> in bondage, with <HI>Pharaoh</HI> on his throne, &s;ayth, <HI>Nonne videtur tibi i&s;te in &s;ervitute dominari, ille autem in libertate &s;ervire? Servi|ebat Io&s;eph, regnabat Pharaoh; beatior hujus &s;ervitus, quam regnum illius,</HI>
<PB N="122" REF="65"> Doth not the one &s;eeme unto thee in his &s;ervitude to reigne, the other in his freedome to &s;erve? <HI>Io&s;eph</HI> is in bondage, <HI>Pharaoh</HI> reigneth: more ble&s;&s;ed is his bondage, then the others Kingdome. <HI>Whereas he al&s;o that is borne in his Kingdome,</HI> borne in the largene&s;&s;e, in the plentie, in the freedome, in the greatne&s;&s;e of a Kings e&s;tate, and hath the right of in|heritance unto it, <HI>becommeth poore:</HI> for every one is not borne to that, in which he is borne, and he that is poore in under&s;tanding, though ne|ver &s;o rich,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> may ea&s;ily become poore in e&s;tate al&s;o. Here we may take <HI>Zedekiah,</HI> as <HI>Lyra</HI> doth, for an example of it, who being borne the Sonne of a King, and comming al&s;o to &s;it upon the throne of the King|dome, for the folly of his wickedne&s;&s;e became poore, a poore blind man, a poore fettered captive. Before I leave this ver&s;e, let mee al&s;o &s;hew the blindne&s;&s;e of the Church of <HI>Rome;</HI> who&s;e manner being to bring the Scripture to their Religion, not fo fetch their Religion from the Scripture, <HI>Cogunt hoc videri in Scriptura dictum, quod ante lectionem prae&s;ump&s;erunt credendum,</HI> Doe even force that to &s;eeme to be &s;poken in the Scripture, which before they read they have pre&s;umed that it mu&s;t be beleeved, as <HI>Hilarius</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hilarius.</NOTE> &s;peaketh. Thus doth one of them alledge this ver&s;e to proove Purgatory: &s;hewing him&s;elfe no le&s;&s;e fooli&s;h therein, then the fooli&s;h King here &s;poken of: and better is a poore wi&s;e childe that receiveth in&s;truction, then &s;uch an old Ma&s;ter that perverteth knowledge.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 15. The Preacher drawing his thoughts unto a pau&s;e, redu|ceth them to that which is his generall ayme in this booke, the vanitie of humane worldly things: and having in the ver&s;e before &s;poken of a King made poore, he &s;etteth downe in this ver&s;e the manner how &s;ome|times it comes to pa&s;&s;e: namely, by the defection of his people from him, by the rebellion of his Sonne again&s;t him. <HI>I have con&s;idered,</HI> &s;ayth the Preacher: it was a thing which came into the thoughts of King <HI>Solomon,</HI> though it come not into the thoughts of a fooli&s;h King. <HI>All the living which walke under the Sunne;</HI> that is, the common people; for living and walking under the Sunne is a thing common unto all; and that he &s;ayth, all the living is but to expre&s;&s;e the great number and multitude of them. <HI>With the &s;econd childe,</HI> that is, &s;ayth <HI>Lyra, Cum filio regis, qui e&s;t &s;ecundus ab eo, e&ograve; qu&ograve;d regnaturus e&s;t po&s;t eum,</HI> With the Sonne of the King, who is the &s;econd from him, becau&s;e he is to reigne af|ter him.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> And <HI>with</HI> him the people are &s;ayd to be, becau&s;e &s;ayth <HI>Lyra, Accidit quod &s;ene&s;cente rege, populus &amp; maxime juvenes adhaerent filio e|jus, qui pro eo e&s;t regnaturus, &amp; aliquando regnum u&s;urpat &s;ibi vivente pa|tre,</HI> It commeth to pa&s;&s;e, that the King growing old, the people and e&s;pecially the younger men (whom wee may conceive to be more e|&s;pecially meant here by the Preacher, when he &s;ayth, living and walking under the Sunne, becau&s;e they are mo&s;t lively, they are mo&s;t &s;tirring) doe adhere and cleave to his Sonne who is to reigne after him, and &s;ometimes he u&s;urpeth the Kingdome, his Father being a|live. This it was which <HI>Herod</HI> feared, whom <HI>Ege&s;ippus</HI> maketh to
<PB N="123" REF="65"> &s;peake thus, <HI>Si &s;upra modum quis liberos meos excolat, reus e&s;t mihi etiam pro liberis meis, quibus author e&s;t prolap&s;ionis: nimius enim cultus audaciae &s;umptus e&s;t. Nunquid invideo liberis me&iacute;s? Ab&s;it; &s;ed malo eos minus cum gratia po&s;&s;e, quam plurimum cum &s;editione. Quod enim &s;uperbiae vel rapinae e&s;t cito labitur, quod gratiae diu tenetur,</HI> If any one re&s;pect my children more then is fitting, he wrongeth me in my childrens hurt, to whom he is the cau&s;e of falling: for too much re&s;pect is the encouragement of boldne&s;&s;e. What then? Doe I envie my children? No way.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ege&s;ippus. l. <HI>1</HI> de Excid. Hieru&s;al. c. <HI>39.</HI></NOTE> But I had rather that they &s;hould be able to doe le&s;&s;e with favour, then much with &s;edition. For that which commeth from pride or violence &s;oone pa&s;&s;eth away; but that which commeth from favour continueth long. And that this is the meaning of the place, <HI>Tremellius</HI> is &s;o confident, as that he makes it the text in his tran&s;lation, &s;aying, <HI>Adjungentes &s;e puero illi &s;ecundo,</HI> Ioyning them&s;elves to the childe which is &s;econd unto him: or as the French tran&s;lation al&s;o hath it, <HI>Suivre le parte de l'en|fant &s;econd apres lui,</HI> to follow the partie of the childe that is &s;econd af|ter him. But yet I hope I &s;hall not offend to &s;et downe mine apprehen|&s;ion of the Preachers meaning: who recalling his thoughts to his prin|cipall &s;cope, the vanitie of worldly things, and having &s;poken im|mediately before of a King, con&s;idereth here the vanitie of Kings. And fir&s;t &s;etting forth the glory of them, he expre&s;&s;eth a King under the Embleme of <HI>the Sunne,</HI> &s;hewing that as the Sunne giveth life to all things, and motion to the cour&s;e of things; &s;o the King giveth life to the e&s;tates of his &s;ubjects, and motion to the proceeding of their af|fayres: &s;o that living and walking under the Sunne &s;hine of his go|vernment, they flouri&s;h in their wayes. And indeed a King &s;hould be as the Sunne, cheri&s;hing and comforting his people. Wherefore when the lengthning of the life of <HI>Hezekiah</HI> was confirmed unto him by the going backe of the Sunne in the diall of <HI>Ahaz;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augustin. de mirabil. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>28.</HI></NOTE> Saint <HI>Austin</HI> &s;ayth (if the booke be S^t. <HI>Au&s;tins) Convenienter tale &s;ignum regi in mortis expecta|tione po&s;ito apti&s;simum evenit, quod Dominus per &s;olem fieri di&s;po&s;uit,</HI> Con|veniently did &s;uch a mo&s;t fit &s;igne fall out to the King being neare unto death, that God did order it by the Sunne to be done: namely, as I conceive to teach the King, that he &s;hould be in his life as the Sunne to his people. <HI>With the &s;econd childe:</HI> that is, he con&s;idered together with the King &s;hining as the Sunne in his Kingdome, his &s;econd child, that is, his grand-childe e&s;tabli&s;hed al&s;o in the Kingdome, and the &s;uc|ce&s;&s;ion of it continued &s;o long, &s;o that his grand-child <HI>&s;hall &s;tand up in his &s;tead.</HI> By which phra&s;e we may note, that to be a King, is but to &s;tand up above the re&s;t, whereby he is higher then they are: as it is &s;ayd of <HI>Saul,</HI> that when he &s;tood among the people,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 10.23.</NOTE> he was higher then any of the people from the &s;houlders and upward. He &s;tandeth up on high, but yet at length another doth &s;tand up in his &s;tead: for him|&s;elfe to &s;tand will not alwayes la&s;t. Or el&s;e we may conceive the Prea|cher to u&s;e this phra&s;e, becau&s;e he that &s;ucceedeth, commeth to &s;tand in his Kingdome, by the fall of him that went before. I finde the an|cient
<PB N="124" REF="66"> Fathers to apply much this pa&s;&s;age unto <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI> Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;eemeth to be re&s;olved that <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> is meant in this ver&s;e: and therefore he &s;ayth, <HI>Hic e&s;t juvenis &s;ecundus, ut dicit Eccle&s;ia&s;tes, vidi univer&s;os qui vivunt &amp;c. De Chri&s;to dictum liquet,</HI> He is the &s;econd young man, as the Preacher &s;peaketh, I &s;aw all the living &amp;c: it is manife&s;t that it is &s;poken of <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;ius de In&s;tit. vir|ginis. c. <HI>12.</HI></NOTE> And adding farther, he &s;ayth, <HI>Primus e&s;t &s;ecundum dig|nitatem ante quem nullus; &s;ecundus autem &s;ecundum carnem quia po&s;t A|dam. Ego plus dico, non &s;olum &s;ecundum lego, &s;ed etiam novi&s;simum. Ip&s;e e&s;t &amp; primus &amp; novi&s;simus. Qui primus e&s;t, propter nos &s;e novi&s;&s;imum fecit. Primus quia per ip&s;um omnia: novi&s;&s;imus quia per ip&s;um re&s;urrectio,</HI> He is the fir&s;t according to his dignitie, before whom none is; but the &s;econd according to the fle&s;h, becau&s;e the &s;econd <HI>Adam.</HI> I &s;ay more, I reade, that he is not onely the &s;econd, but the la&s;t. He that is fir&s;t, for us made him&s;elfe the la&s;t. The fir&s;t he is, by whom are all things, the la&s;t, becau&s;e by him &s;hall be the re&s;urrection of all men.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremellius in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 16. <HI>There is no end of all the people:</HI> that is, &s;ayth <HI>Tremellius, Populares et &s;ubditos nunquam &s;ua &s;orte contentos e&s;&s;e, ac ne &s;apienti quidem regi plurimum acquie&s;cere: propterea non e&s;&s;e mirandum, &s;i male in&s;ipienti|bus accidat,</HI> People and &s;ubjects never to be contented with their con|dition; and not to re&s;t long plea&s;ed even with a wi&s;e King, and there|fore to be no mervaile, if that it fall out ami&s;&s;e to them who are foo|li&s;h. But how&s;oever, a foule &s;hame it is unto them, a foule &s;inne in them. The French tran&s;lation putteth this &s;en&s;e into the Text, &s;aying, <HI>N'on point trouve en qui s'arre&s;ter,</HI> They have found none in whom to re&s;t, taking the Originall word, which &s;ignifieth an end to import the end of re&s;t. But to follow rather the more naturall &s;ignification of the word: I conceive the Preacher who hath before &s;hewed the glory of a King in his owne happine&s;&s;e, and in the &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of his po&s;teritie, here to &s;hew it in the multitude of his people, as if there were no end of the number of them, that being a thing whereby in Scripture the great|ne&s;&s;e of a King is often &s;et forth. And this being &s;et downe here as the greatne&s;&s;e of the Father, childe, and grand-childe, it is &s;ayd, <HI>There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them.</HI> The Hebrew is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>ad facies eorum,</HI> before their faces, as not &s;ignifying &s;o much their being before in time, as rather their being with them and under them in their &s;everall times. But after this greatne&s;&s;e, what followes? <HI>They al&s;o that come after &s;hall not rejoyce in him:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> that is, &s;ayth <HI>Lyra, I&s;to filio &s;ene&s;cente parum curabunt de eo, &s;ed magis adhaerebunt filio ejus, ut dictum e&s;t,</HI> When that &s;onne is growne old, they that are young, and &s;o are likely to continue after him, will care little for him, but rather will &s;ticke unto his &s;onne,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Theodoret. Quaest. <HI>46.</HI> in Daniel.</NOTE> as before is &s;ayd. For as <HI>Theodoret</HI> writeth, ob|&s;erving how <HI>Baa&s;ha</HI> &s;lew the hou&s;e of <HI>Ieroboam,</HI> and how <HI>Zimri</HI> &s;lew the &s;onne of <HI>Baa&s;ha, Per haec docemur nos, quod eos qui vitam agunt in &s;celeribus &amp; flagitiis, Deus per &s;e invicem punit, &amp; &s;celeratum tradit &s;celeratiori, ijs u|tens tanquam quibu&s;dam lictoribus,</HI> By the&s;e things wee are taught that God doth puni&s;h them, who lead their lives in &s;inne and wickedne&s;&s;e
<PB N="125" REF="66"> by one the other, delivering up him that is wicked to him that is more wicked, and making u&s;e of them as executioners of his ju&s;tice. But if it &s;hall not be thought ami&s;&s;e to take the expo&s;ition which I have given of the former ver&s;e, wee may here under&s;tand the cutting off of that race and them from the Kingdome, &s;o that the people &s;hall no longer rejoyce in their pro&s;peritie, and under the pro&s;peritie of that &s;ucce&s;|&s;ion. And becau&s;e the Preacher u&s;eth this phra&s;e, <HI>Rejoyce in him,</HI> per|haps it may imply the departing of the people in di&s;content from him, in regard of his hard u&s;age, whereby he deprived the people of their joy under him. For &s;o it was with the Preachers &s;onne <HI>Rehoboam,</HI> who being as S^t. <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Aetate juvenis, mentis prudenti&acirc; adhuc junior,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;ilius Concio: de humilitate.</NOTE> <HI>populo mitius imperium urgenti graviter minatus e&s;t, &amp; per minas regnum a|mi&s;it: per quas regaliorem &s;e fore &s;perabat, per eas depo&s;itus &agrave; dignitate quam habebat,</HI> Young in yeares, and more young in the wi&s;edome of his mind, an&s;wered roughly to the people that &s;ought a milder government from him, and by his rough an&s;were lo&s;t his Kingdome: being by tho&s;e meanes depo&s;ed from the honour he had, by which he thought to make him&s;elfe more Kingly. <HI>Surely this is al&s;o vanitie and vexation of Spirit:</HI> this, even this greatne&s;&s;e of glory as the Sunne, this firmene&s;&s;e of &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, this numberle&s;&s;e multitude of people, even this is vani|tie, vani&s;hing all away to him that did enjoy it; and &s;ometimes vani|&s;hing away by the multitude of the people, which was a part of the glo|ry of it. <HI>This is vexation of &s;pirit,</HI> for what greater vexation then the lo&s;&s;e of a Kingdome? There is vexation in the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing and e&s;tabli|&s;hing of it, but to loo&s;e it being po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed and e&s;tabli&s;hed, is a vexation &s;urely. The Fathers doe here al&s;o looke upon <HI>Chri&s;t:</HI> Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Illud quoque ver&egrave; Chri&s;to convenit &s;oli, quod addidit:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Instit. vir|ginis. c. <HI>12.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Non e&s;t finis om|ni populo ejus, quia Chri&s;ti populus innumerabilis finem non habet,</HI> That al&s;o which he addeth agreeth truely unto <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> onely, There is no end of all his people: for the innumerable people of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> hath no end.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Johannis</HI> 14.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> al&s;o &s;ayth, <HI>Prae&s;ago &s;piritu vidit Eccle&s;ia&s;tes, vidit omnes viventes qui po&s;&s;unt adole&s;centis participes e&s;&s;e, dicentis ego &s;um vita,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>vetere &s;tulto rege dimi&s;&s;o &s;equi Chri&s;tum,</HI> The Preacher by a Propheticall &s;pirit, &s;aw all the living who can be partakers of the young man that &s;ayth, I am life, to follow <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> the old fooli&s;h King (that is the devill) being for|&s;aken.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="126" REF="67">
<HEAD>CHAPTER. V.</HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1-3" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 1.</HI></BIBL> Keepe thy foote when thou goest to the hou&s;e of God, and be more ready to heare, then to give the &s;acrifice of fooles: for they con&s;ider not that they doe evill.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 2.</HI></BIBL> Be not ra&s;h with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be ha&s;ty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 3.</HI></BIBL> For a dreame commeth through the mul|titude of bu&s;ine&s;&s;e, and a fooles voyce is knowne by multitude of words.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 1. _THE Preacher having &s;poken of the &s;infull vanities of men in them&s;elves, and of their &s;infull vanities towards other men; now commeth to &s;peake of the &s;infull vanities of men to|wards God: the vanitie of mans heart making Religion it &s;elfe to be vaine, which in it &s;elfe is the per|fection of a man. And this he handleth as a Preacher more e&s;pecially, &s;hewing what is to be done, what not to be done in it, rather then &s;et|ting forth the vanitie of it. <HI>Keepe thy foote:</HI> for the foote of man is weake in this ca&s;e, and if it be not well kept, will &s;oone &s;lip a&s;ide. <HI>Keepe thy foote</HI> from the durt of worldly matters, from the mire of &s;inne and vice. This <HI>Pythagoras</HI> taught, when he &s;ayth, <GAP DESC="foreign">, have not thy &s;hooes on when thou &s;acrifice&s;t and wor&s;hippe&s;t, and which he tooke from the Scriptures,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Exod.</HI> 3.5.</NOTE> it being &s;ayd to <HI>Moy&s;es, Put off thy &s;hooes from thy feete, for the place where thou &s;tande&s;t is holy ground. Keepe thy
<PB N="127" REF="67"> foote,</HI> and let not irreligious carele&s;ne&s;&s;e keepe it back from ha&s;tning unto Gods hou&s;e: bee there with the fir&s;t, be there at the beginning of di|vine &s;ervice. <HI>Ca&s;sian</HI> tels us, that in the Ancient times of the Church,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;ian. In|&s;tit. l. <HI>3.</HI> c. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE> he that did not come to prayers, <HI>Priu&s;quam P&s;almus coeptus finiretur,</HI> be|fore the fir&s;t P&s;alme was ended, he did not dare to enter into the hou&s;e of prayer, but &s;tanding at the dore untill the re&s;t came out, <HI>Submi&s;&s;a in terram poenitentia negligentiae &s;uae vel tarditatis impetrabat veniam,</HI> By a &s;ubmi&s;&s;e repentance even downe to the earth, obtained pardon for his tardy negligence. <HI>Keepe thy foote,</HI> and when thou art in Gods hou&s;e, keepe it there untill all the &s;ervice of God be ended. Diver&s;e of the Ancient Councels have &s;et downe cen&s;ures for them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Concil. A|gathen&s;. Can. <HI>47.</HI></NOTE> who were too forward to depart from Gods hou&s;e. In generall, keepe thy foote as cleane as thou can&s;t. In the law, the Prie&s;ts were commanded to wa&s;h the inwards and the feete in water; and this &s;aith <HI>Philo,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo de Vi|ctimis.</NOTE> was done <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ure|ly not without a my&s;tery, as to teach us to keepe our feete cleane when wee goe to Gods &s;ervice. <HI>Keepe thy foote:</HI> the Originall is <GAP DESC="foreign">, and <HI>Tremellius</HI> reads it not without cau&s;e <HI>utrum&abque; pedem tuum,</HI> both of thy feete, the foote of thy body, and the foote of thy &s;oule. The foote of thy body, and let thy foote be bowed, in an humble and decent and de|vout po&s;ture: the foote of thy &s;oule, that is either thy &s;en&s;es, for by them the &s;oule goeth as it were forth from it &s;elfe, and let them not gad, but be &s;etled and fixed in a &s;olemne mode&s;ty: or el&s;e taking the feete of the &s;oule for the affections, by which the &s;aile is caryed many wayes, let them be compo&s;ed and ordered to the advancement of Gods &s;ervice. <HI>Keepe thy foote when thou goest:</HI> when thou goe&s;t is the time of keeping thy foote, for when thou &s;itte&s;t or &s;tande&s;t, the danger of hurt being le&s;&s;e, the care of keeping it need not to be &s;o great. But when thou goe&s;t keepe it, for the way is very &s;lippery, and thou wilt quickly get a fall, if thy care be not the more: the way is very rough, and thou wilt never be able to goe on well, unle&s;&s;e thy diligence bee watchfull. Let thy feete therefore be &s;hod with the preparation of the Go&s;pell of peace:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 6.15.</NOTE> be thou well prepared for the worke which thou goe&s;t about, <HI>when thou goe&s;t to the hou&s;e of God.</HI> God hath re&s;erved of men &s;ome for him|&s;elfe, as his Mini&s;ters, of things &s;ome for him&s;elfe, as his tithes; of times &s;ome for him&s;elfe, as his holy dayes; of places &s;ome for him&s;elfe, as his hou&s;es, his Churches, his Oratories,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. E|pist. <HI>121.</HI> ad Probam.</NOTE> and in them as S^t. <HI>Austin</HI> &s;peak|keth, <HI>Praeter Dei cultum penitus nihil agatur, ut nomini huic et opera jugiter impen&s;a concordent,</HI> Be&s;ides the wor&s;hip of God, let nothing at all be done, that with the name, the works that are continually done in them may duely agree. That which the Preacher here cals Gods hou&s;e, the ancient Chri&s;tian Church did &s;ometimes call <HI>Dominicum,</HI> the Lords hou&s;e; as when S^t. <HI>Cyprian</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>In dominicum &s;ine &s;acrificio venis?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cyprian. lib. de Operib. et eleemo&s;.</NOTE> Do&s;t thou come into the Lords hou&s;e without a &s;acrifice? In Greeke it was al&s;o called <GAP DESC="foreign">, &s;ignifying the &s;ame that the former name doth, from whence our Engli&s;h name Church is derived;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Concilium Laodicen. c. <HI>28.</HI></NOTE> as in the Councell of <HI>Laodicea,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, The fea&s;ts of love mu&s;t
<PB N="128" REF="68"> not be made in the hou&s;es of the Lord. Sometimes the ancient Church did call it <HI>Ba&s;ilicam,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Amalarius. l. <HI>3.</HI> de Of|fic. c. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> the Kings hou&s;e, becau&s;e there as <HI>Amalarius</HI> &s;peak|eth, <HI>Regi omnium Deo, cultus et &s;acrificia offeruntur,</HI> To God the King of all, wor&s;hip and &s;acrifices are offered. And indeed, what is it but the palace of the Great King?<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 28.16.</NOTE> <HI>Iacob</HI> as one troubled &s;ayth, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not, as implying what he would have done in a holy reverence, if he had knowne it. But how many are there, that goe to Gods hou&s;e, and know it to be Gods hou&s;e, and yet cary|ing them&s;elves there in an irreligious manner, are not onely di&s;plea&s;ing to God, but trouble&s;ome to others that are pre&s;ent with them? It were better if &s;uch would keepe their feete from going thither. <HI>And be more readie to heare.</HI> The Originall word tran&s;lated <HI>ready,</HI> is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>propin|quum,</HI> &s;ignifying a neerene&s;&s;e, either in re&s;pect of time or place, as &s;hew|ing us that being in the place of hearing God, wee &s;hould there heare him diligently, and that the time of hearing God being then, we &s;hould then harken to him carefully. Wherefore the Septuagint and S^t. <HI>Hie|rome</HI> doe reade it, <HI>Appropinqua ut audias,</HI> Draw nigh that thou maye&s;t heare. Indeed to make up the &s;en&s;e in the Originall, there is &s;omething to be added. Our Tran&s;lation addeth, <HI>Be thou:</HI> but as I conceive, we may not ami&s;&s;e repeate the beginning of the ver&s;e, and &s;ay, <HI>Keepe thy foote neere that thou maye&s;t heare,</HI> that is, li&s;ten well and be continually at|tentive to heare: <HI>yea keepe thy foote neere to heare,</HI> and let that heare as well as thine eare, that is, walke carefully according as thou art taught, heare diligently what thou art to doe, and doe readily what thou hea|re&s;t: for this al&s;o the Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> here u&s;ed &s;ignifieth. The French tran&s;lation maketh up the &s;en&s;e thus; <HI>Approche-toy,</HI> draw thou neere to heare. When thou goe&s;t to Gods hou&s;e, let thy comming thither be, let thy drawing &s;o neare to God be to this end, namely, to heare him, to heare him with obedience, <HI>rather then to offer the &s;acrifice of fooles.</HI> The &s;acrifice of fooles is the outward formalitie of Religion; for what is it but the part of a foole, to thinke that God is plea&s;ed with &s;hews of godline&s;&s;e? The <HI>Iewes</HI> that offered &s;acrifices to God, and did not make them&s;elves a &s;acrifice of God, were but fooles: and they that goe to Church, and there &s;tay untill divine &s;ervice be ended, but doe not &s;erve God in their lives, are very fooles likewi&s;e. For as S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Non ingredi in domum Dei, &s;ed &s;ine offen&s;ione ingredi laudis e&s;t,</HI> Not to enter into Gods hou&s;e, but to enter in without offence is prai&s;e-worthy. <HI>For they con&s;ider not that they doe evill:</HI> they plea&s;e them|&s;elves as if they had done very well; but though it be a &s;acrifice offe|red to God, a &s;ervice done to God, they doe not plea&s;e him. And it is &s;o farre from being well done, that it is evill in his &s;ight, and will be e|vill to them in their condemnation.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 2. From hearing in Religion the Preacher pa&s;&s;eth unto &s;peak|ing; and he may be under&s;tood here either of &s;peaking of God, or el&s;e of &s;peaking to God.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> thinketh it be&s;t to under&s;tand the Preacher of a &s;peaking of God, and that we are here forbidden, either
<PB N="129" REF="68"> to &s;peake or thinke of God any thing ra&s;hly and ha&s;tily: but to con&s;ider our owne weakne&s;&s;e, and to remember, that as much as heaven is di|&s;tant from the earth, &s;o much is our under&s;tanding from the nature, glory, perfection of God. <HI>Iob</HI> &s;peaking of God, &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Job</HI> 26.14.</NOTE> How little a portion is heard of him? The thunder of his power who can under|&s;tand? It is but a portion, a little portion that we can conceive of him. The Hebrew is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>particulam,</HI> a little bit, nay, it is &s;ayd <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>particulam verbi,</HI> a little piece of a word, or, <HI>particulam alicujus,</HI> a little piece of &s;omething that wee doe heare of him. <HI>David</HI> &s;ayth, What is man that God &s;hould regard him? And we may well &s;ay, what is man that he &s;hould &s;peake or thinke of God? Take wee heed therefore that wee neither &s;peake nor thinke ra&s;hly or ha&s;tily of him. But to li&s;ten to the Preacher, as he teacheth us to &s;peake to God. <HI>Be not ra&s;h with thy mouth.</HI> The Preacher puts the mouth before the heart, when he for|bids the ra&s;hne&s;&s;e of them, becau&s;e he would not have thee to put it before the heart in the u&s;ing of it. And though he call it <HI>thy mouth,</HI> yet it is not &s;o thine, as if thou wert Lord of it, and when thou comme&s;t to &s;peake to the Lord in prayer, mighte&s;t u&s;e it at thy plea&s;ure: but as it is <HI>thy mouth,</HI> &s;o let it be thy care <HI>not to be ra&s;h</HI> with it. The Originall word here is <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ignifying <HI>turbari,</HI> to be troubled, and therefore noteth here &s;uch a ha&s;t as is in a troubled and confu&s;ed manner. Doe not therefore tumble out thy words when thou &s;peake&s;t to God, let thy words be di&s;tinctly dige&s;ted into order, under&s;tand well what thou &s;aye&s;t, and let others be able to under&s;tand thee. Doe not runne when thou reade&s;t, when thou praye&s;t. It is reported, that in the Mu&s;covy Churches, if the Mini&s;ter mi&s;take in reading, or &s;tammer in pronoun|cing his words, or &s;peake any word that is not well heard, the hearers doe much blame him, and are ready to take the booke from him as un|worthy to reade in it. And &s;urely, God is no le&s;&s;e offended with the giddy praying of many, who &s;end their petitions in po&s;t ha&s;t unto him. The Prophet <HI>David</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>At la&s;t I &s;pake with my tongue,</HI> his tongue came after his heart, his words came after long looking what he would &s;ay, what he &s;hould &s;ay. And the Preacher here would not have our mouth to be fir&s;t, to be fir&s;t opened before our under&s;tanding be opened for the directing of it. <HI>And let not thine heart be ha&s;ty to utter any thing:</HI> the heart and the mouth mu&s;t be joyned together, and as there is <HI>cla|mor in ore, ita debet e&s;&s;e amor in corde,</HI> an expre&s;&s;ion with the mouth, &s;o there mu&s;t be an impre&s;&s;ion of it in the heart: but yet they mu&s;t not be joyned in ra&s;hne&s;&s;e and ha&s;tine&s;&s;e. Now the heart is ha&s;ty many wayes, either when it taketh not faith with it in praying, for unle&s;&s;e faith be in the company of prayer, it will never be able to reach unto heaven: or el&s;e when it taketh not patience with it, as being contented to &s;tay Gods lea&s;ure, untill he grant our prayers: or el&s;e when it taketh not re|pentance with it, for God heareth not &s;inners:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>John</HI> 19.3. <HI>Mat.</HI> 6.33.</NOTE> or el&s;e when it prefer|reth worldly things before heavenly things, for, &s;eeke fir&s;t the King|dome of heaven: or el&s;e, if the heart utter any thing, before it hath
<PB N="130" REF="69"> words ready wherby to utter it:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Iohan. Clym.</NOTE> for as <HI>Clymachus</HI> &s;peaks, <HI>Mens ad inqui|&s;itionem verborum di&s;tentatur,</HI> the mind is racked, di&s;tracted, confounded, when being to utter it &s;elfe, it is then put to &s;eeke words. <HI>For God is in heaven,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Glo&s;&s;a ordi|naria in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>and thou upon the earth:</HI> that is, &s;aith the ordinary Glo&s;&s;e, <HI>De|us omnia audit &amp; videt, &amp; &s;tultitiam tuam arguit, quamvis ip&s;e in coelo, tu in terra,</HI> God heareth and &s;eeth all things, and reproveth thy folly, although he be in heaven, and thou upon the earth. Or el&s;e the force of the rea&s;on may be thus under&s;tood; <HI>for God is in heaven,</HI> a glorious Ma|je&s;ty, who&s;e throne is the glorious heaven, and as <HI>An&s;elme</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>quilibet reputat Deum, id quo majus e&s;&s;e vel excogitari non pote&s;t,</HI> every one doth reckon God to be that, then which there can be nothing greater, nothing devi&s;ed to be greater: if therefore to a great man thou woulde&s;t not &s;peake ha&s;tily, doe not to this great God. <HI>Thou art upon the earth:</HI> earth, made of earth, abiding upon the earth, and though thou maye&s;t have the &s;pirit of God, yet thou ha&s;t this trea&s;ure in an earthen ve&s;&s;ell, and ha&s;t, may &s;oone wrong an earthen ve&s;&s;ell. Be&s;ides the Spirit of God, is a &s;pirit of coun&s;ell, and wi&s;dome: &s;hew therefore the Spirit of God to be in thee, by being not ra&s;h with thy mouth, nor ha&s;ty in thy heart. <HI>Therefore let thy words be few:</HI> one &s;aith well, that the mouth is the <HI>Index</HI> of the heart, and as <HI>Indices</HI> and tables doe briefly &s;hew what is more largely handled in the bookes; &s;o the mouth in prayer &s;hould but briefly point out to God, what is more fully enlarged in the heart. And indeed where the heart is full, either it cannot, or it careth not to be full in &s;peaking unto God. It is a duty required, not to &s;peake more in pray|ing, then a man mindeth, and it is a thing well practi&s;ed in praying to mind more than a man &s;peaketh. The judgment of tho&s;e religious per|&s;ons was good,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;ian. In|&s;tit. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>10.</HI></NOTE> who as <HI>Ca&s;sian</HI> relateth, <HI>utilius cen&s;ent, breves quidem orationes &s;ed creberrimas fieri: illud quidem ut frequentius Dominum de|precantes, jugiter eidem adhaerere po&s;simus: hoc ver&ograve; ut in&s;idiantis diaboli jacula, quae infligere nobis tum praecipue quum oramus in&s;i&s;tit, &s;uccincta brevi|tate vitemus,</HI> they thinke it be&s;t, that our prayers be &s;hort but frequent: the one that praying to God we might continually be joyned unto him: the other that by &s;hortne&s;&s;e, we might avoyd the devils darts which he throweth e&s;pecially at us when we are praying. Which yet is not &s;o to be under&s;tood, as if length of praying were a thing wholly to be con|demned. For as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Sicut intentio orandi non e&s;t ob|tundenda &s;i perdurare non pote&s;t, ita &s;i perduraverit non cito e&s;t rumpenda,</HI> as the intention of the mind in praying is not to bee dulled and blunted if that it cannot continue; &s;o if it doe continue, it is not &s;uddenly to bee broken off. <HI>Ab&s;it enim ab oratione multa locutio, &s;ed non de&s;it multa pre|catio, &s;i fervens per&s;everat intentio. Nam multum loqui e&s;t in orando rem non nece&s;&s;ariam &s;uperfluis agere verbis:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. Epi&s;t. <HI>121.</HI> ad probam.</NOTE> <HI>multum autem precari, e&s;t ad eum quem precamur diuturna &amp; pia cordis excitatione pul&s;are, &amp; plaerum&abque; plus gemitibus quam &s;ermonibus agitur, plus fletu quam afflatu,</HI> farre be much talking from praying, but let not much praying be wanting, if an ear|ne&s;t devotion in prayer continue; For to talke much is to plead an unne|ce&s;&s;ary
<PB N="131" REF="69"> matter with &s;uperfluous words, but to pray much, is to knocke at his gates to whom we make our prayers, with a long and devout &s;tir|ring of our heart: and which is performed rather with &s;ighing then with &s;peaking, rather with weeping then with talking.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 3. The Preacher here compareth the folly of a bu&s;ie tounge to the dreames of a bu&s;ie mind, and that as the one ari&s;eth from multi|tude of bu&s;ine&s;&s;e; &s;o the other appeareth in multitude of words.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertull. de Anima. c. <HI>45.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Ter|tullian</HI> &s;heweth, that dreames are <HI>vacuae jactationes negotio&s;ae animae,</HI> the idle to&s;&s;ings of a mind full of bu&s;ine&s;&s;e: and in the idle to&s;&s;ing of many words, what can there be but a fulne&s;&s;e of folly? How many tautolo|gies, battologies are there: How many needle&s;&s;e words? How often are there irreverent, unmannerly, ridiculous, if not wor&s;e pa&s;&s;ages in them? In a multitude of words there is commonly no multitude of mat|ter. And therefore the Preacher &s;aith, <HI>that a fooles voyce is knowne by them:</HI> it is but a voyce that is heard, it is but a &s;ound that is made, it is like the uncertaine &s;ound of a Trumpet, &s;o that none can tell what it meaneth, what to make of it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertul. Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Tertullian</HI> expre&s;&s;ing the nature of dreames &s;aith, <HI>Con&s;pice gladiatorem &s;ine armis, vel aurigam &s;ine curriculis, ge&s;ticulan|tes omnem habitum artis &s;uae: pugnatur, certatur, &s;ed vacua jactatio e&s;t, ni|hilominus fieri videntur, quae fieri tamen non videntur. Actu enim fiunt, effectu vero non fiunt.</HI> Behold a Fencer without weapons, a Coach-driver without his running Chariot, acting and practi&s;ing all the po&s;tures and feats of his skill: there is a fighting, there is a &s;tirring, but it is an emp|ty moving and ge&s;turing, notwith&s;tanding tho&s;e things doe &s;eeme to be done, which are not &s;eene to bee done: they are done in the acting of them, but not in effecting any thing by them, &s;o it is in many words, there is often much fencing, but no weapons wherewith the enemy is wounded, there is much running, but no chariot that winneth the race, much &s;eemeth to be &s;aid, but it is to as much purpo&s;e as if nothing were &s;aid, all is an empty moving of the tongue. If there bee any worth of matter in the multitude of words, it is but by chance,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ari&s;tot. de Divin. per in&s;omnia.</NOTE> as <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> &s;aith that dreames doe foretell tho&s;e things which come to pa&s;&s;e. For &s;aith he, as when a blind man &s;hooteth many arrowes, perhaps one may bee neere the marke; &s;o &s;aith hee in the multitude of dreames which pa&s;&s;e through the head in &s;leepe, perhaps one may hit upon that which fal|leth out to be &s;o: and &s;o in the multitude of words, which pa&s;&s;e from the mouth of &s;ome, perhaps &s;ome there may be which cary &s;ome mat|ter with them. <HI>Homer,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Homer.</NOTE> <HI>Duas portas divi&s;it &s;omnii, corneam veritatis, eburneam fallaciae. Re&s;picere e&s;t enim inquiunt per cornu, ebur e&s;t caecum,</HI> ap|pointed unto dreames two dores, the one a dore of horne, which was the dore of truth, the other a dore of Ivory, which was the dore of deceit, for horne, as they &s;ay, may be look'd thorow, but ivory is thicke and darke. The&s;e dores may well be applyed unto the mouths of men, which are the dores of their minds and hearts. For to &s;ome it is a dore of gla&s;&s;e, which is &s;oone broken open and ea&s;ily giveth pa&s;&s;age to a mul|titude of words, wherein the folly of their hearts and minds is di&s;cer|ned:
<PB N="132" REF="70"> to others it is a dore of bra&s;&s;e, firme and &s;olid keeping in their words with more care and circum&s;pection, and &s;hewing the firme &s;oli|dity of their heart and mind. Wherefore when the Preacher here com|pareth the folly of many words to dreames, it is rather to be under&s;tood of the dreames of women then of men: becau&s;e as <HI>folly is made knowne by multitude of words,</HI> &s;o they are the dreames of women which are told and made knowne.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;. Hom. <HI>87.</HI> in Mat.</NOTE> And therefore Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> asking the que&s;tion why the innocency of our Saviour Chri&s;t was rather revealed in a dreame to Pilats wife, then unto Pilate, giveth this rea&s;on of it, <HI>Quia non edixi&s;&s;et Pilatus, &s;ed &s;ecum ip&s;e tenui&s;&s;et, idcirco ex di&s;pen&s;atione mulier vidit, ut omnibus notum fieret,</HI> becau&s;e Pilate would not have made it knowne, but would have kept it with him&s;elfe, therefore it was orde|red that a woman &s;hould &s;ee it, that &s;o it might be knowne abroad. And &s;urely a foole is like a woman in this, and as &s;hee will bee telling her dreames, &s;o will hee bee telling his folly by his many words. But as <HI>Tertullian</HI> &s;aith, that dreaming is <HI>amentiae in&s;tar,</HI> as it were a kind of mad|ne&s;&s;e;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertul. de Anima. c. <HI>45.</HI></NOTE> &s;o indeed is much talking a kind of fooli&s;h madne&s;&s;e; and as hee &s;aith, <HI>non compotes &s;omniamus,</HI> we are not our &s;elves when we dreame; &s;o how often doe men out talke them&s;elves by their many words? At be&s;t he that u&s;eth many words is but a waking dreamer, as he that drea|meth is as it were a &s;leeping mad man.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4-7" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 4.</HI></BIBL> When thou vowe&s;t a vow to God, deferre not to pay it; for hee hath no plea|&s;ure in fooles: pay that which thou ha&s;t vowed.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 5.</HI></BIBL> Better it is that thou &s;houldest not vow, then that thou &s;houldest vow and not pay.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 6.</HI></BIBL> Suffer not thy mouth to cau&s;e thy fle&s;h to &s;inne, neither &s;ay thou before the An|gell, that it was an errour: Wherefore &s;hould God be angry at thy voyce, and de&s;troy the worke of thine hands?</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 7.</HI></BIBL> For in the multitude of dreames, and ma|ny words, there are al&s;o divers vanities: but feare thou God.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<PB N="133" REF="70">
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 4. The Preacher from the generall of &s;peaking and praying unto God, de&s;cendeth more particularly to vowes made unto him. <HI>When thou vowe&s;t,</HI> be not ra&s;h and ha&s;ty in vowing, as <HI>Iepthe</HI> was, who &s;ayth, What&s;oever commeth forth of the doores of my hou&s;e to meete mee, &s;hall &s;urely be the Lords. For it might have been an a&s;&s;e or a dog as well as his daughter. And therefore as Divines note, God was not plea&s;ed to forbid him, as he did <HI>Abraham:</HI> but &s;uffered him to doe it, and to offer the &s;acrifice of fooles:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanct. Vict. de Jepthe &amp; ejus filia.</NOTE> <HI>Huju&s;modi patri poena ideo retri|buta ne impunitum talis voti relinqueretur exemplum,</HI> Such a puni&s;hment being therefore inflicted on the Father, that the example of &s;uch a vow might not be left unpuni&s;hed, as <HI>Hugo</HI> &s;peaketh. <HI>When thou vowe&s;t a vow to God:</HI> God it is to whom a vow belongeth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aquinas</HI> 2. 2^a^e. <HI>Q.</HI> 88. <HI>Ar.</HI> 5.</NOTE> and therefore <HI>Aquinas</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Qu&ograve;d votum &s;oli Deo fit, &s;ed promi&s;sio etiam pote&s;t fieri homini,</HI> A vow is onely made to God, but a promi&s;e may be al&s;o made to man; and therefore a vow is properly an act of religion and of divine wor&s;hip. <HI>When thou vowe&s;t a vow to God, deferre not to pay:</HI> deferre thou maye&s;t by due con&s;ideration before thou vowe&s;t, but having vowed deferre not to pay it. And fir&s;t, that thou maye&s;t not deferre, let it not be an un|lawfull or unworthy thing that thou vowe&s;t, that &s;hame doe not hold thee backe: let it not be above thy &s;trength which thou vowe&s;t, that impo&s;&s;ibilitie doe not &s;top thy way. Secondly, doe not deferre it, lea&s;t by deferring thou become le&s;&s;e able to pay it: for as <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> <HI>Ex tali tardatione fit homo plaerum&abque; impotens ad reddendum,</HI> By &s;uch de|laying a man is often made unable to performe it. Thirdly, doe not de|ferre, becau&s;e if thou be &s;peedy in paying thy vow to God, God will be &s;peedy in rewarding thee for it. <HI>Zachaeus</HI> came downe quickly and received <HI>Christ</HI> gladly, and therefore did <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> be&s;tow upon him a &s;peedy requitall, &s;aying, <HI>This day is &s;alvation come to thine hou&s;e.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. <HI>19.9.</HI> Ambro&s;. de Abel et Cain l. <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>8.</HI></NOTE> For as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Fe&s;tinavit Dominus ad beneficium &amp; non expectavit ut promitteret, &amp; po&s;tea impleret, &s;ed ant&egrave; fecit, po&s;tea declaravit. Dixit enim facta e&s;t &s;alus, quod utique praevenientis fuit, non promittentis.</HI> The Lord ha&s;tened his ble&s;&s;ing, and &s;tayd not to promi&s;e, that afterward he might performe; but fir&s;t did it and afterwards told him of it. For he &s;ayth, <HI>Salvation is come,</HI> which is &s;urely the voice of a preventing mercy, not of a promi&s;ing grace. It is &s;ayd of <HI>Cain, And in proce&s;&s;e of time,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 4.3.</NOTE> or at the end of dayes; but be not thou like him, and &s;tay not the end of dayes, untill thou have ended the paying of thy vow, proceed quickly to the performance of it, before that time proceed on farther. For as S^t. <HI>Am|bro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Prima voti gratia e&s;t celeritas &s;olutionis,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. I|bid.</NOTE> The chiefe grace of a vow is the celeritie of paying it. And therefore as he al&s;o addeth, <HI>Iu&s;tus celeritate &s;uum votum commendat,</HI> A ju&s;t man commendeth and &s;et|teth out his vow by the &s;peed of doing of it. Fourthly, <HI>deferre it not, for he hath no plea&s;ure in fooles:</HI> the Hebrew is directly as S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> doth reade it, <HI>Quia non est voluntas in in&s;ipientibus,</HI> Becau&s;e there is not a will in fooles: that is, as I thinke the &s;en&s;e may be taken, it is in fooles that there is not a will to pay it, it is the propertie of them to re|pent
<PB N="134" REF="71"> of what they have done in vowing, and to be unwilling to doe what they have vowed.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augustin. Epi&s;t. <HI>45.</HI> ad Armentari|um &amp; Pau|linam.</NOTE> But as S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Non te vovi&s;&s;e poeniteat, imo gaude jam tibi &s;ic non licere quod cum tuo damno licui&s;&s;et,</HI> Let it not repent thee to have vowed, yea, rejoyce, that now in this manner that is not lawfull for thee to doe, which would have been lawfull for thee to thy damage and detriment. Be not therefore &s;uch a foole, and deferre not to pay thy vow. But the common tran&s;lation and expo&s;iti|on of the words is to referre them to God, &s;aying, <HI>For he hath no plea|&s;ure in fooles:</HI> he hath no contentment in them, who have no more wit, then to thinke that he is honoured by making vowes unto him, when by deferring to pay them, they are as good as not payd. The P&s;almi&s;t &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 50.14.</NOTE> Offer unto God the &s;acrifice of prai&s;e, and pay thy vowes unto the mo&s;t High: it is the paying of vowes that is the &s;acrifice of prai&s;e unto him. He hath no plea&s;ure in &s;uch fooles, as regard not their owne good and benefit:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. I|bid.</NOTE> for as S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Benignus exactor e&s;t &amp; non egens, &amp; qui non cre&s;cit ex redditis, &s;ed in &s;e cre&s;cere faciat redditores: quia quod ei redditur, reddenti additur,</HI> He is a bountifull exactor, and not a needy one, him&s;elfe doth not encrea&s;e by tho&s;e things, which are payd him, but he maketh the payers of vowes to encrea&s;e in them&s;elves: that which is payd God, is added to his e&s;tate by whom it is payd, and maketh that the greater. <HI>Pay therefore that which thou ha&s;t vowed:</HI> the Preacher doubleth his exhortation, even thereby pre&s;&s;ing to a &s;pee|dy performing of our vowes. For when a Ma&s;ter doubleth his call, it is to make his &s;ervant come quickly unto him.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 5. Better it is to vow, then not to vow, and that for three rea&s;ons, as <HI>Aquinas</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aquinas.</NOTE> hath &s;et them downe. Fir&s;t, becau&s;e it is an act of divine wor&s;hip, <HI>quae e&s;t praecipua inter morales virtutes,</HI> which is the chie|fe&s;t among the morall vertues.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. de virgin. c. <HI>8.</HI></NOTE> And therefore S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Non virginitas ip&s;a, quia virginitas, &s;ed quia Deo dedita e&s;t honoratur,</HI> Virginitie it &s;elfe is not &s;o much honoured becau&s;e it is virginitie, as becau&s;e it is dedicated to God. Secondly, becau&s;e he that vowes &s;omething and doth it, doth the more &s;ubject him&s;elfe to God, then he that doth it onely. For he &s;ubjecteth him&s;elfe, <HI>Non &s;olum quantum ad actum, &s;ed e|tiam quantum ad pote&s;tatem,</HI> Not onely in re&s;pect of the act of doing, but al&s;o in re&s;pect of the power of doing, &s;o that after he hath vowed, he cannot doe otherwi&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">An&s;elm. l. de Similit. c. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> And therefore as <HI>An&s;elme</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Plus dat ho|mini qui dat arborem cum fructibus, quam qui dat fructus tantum,</HI> He gi|veth more to a man, that giveth him the tree with the fruits, then he that giveth the fruits onely; &s;o he giveth more to God that voweth, which is the tree, and doth it, which is the fruit, then he that doth it onely, which is the fruit onely. Thirdly, becau&s;e by vowing the will is more immovably e&s;tabli&s;hed in goodne&s;&s;e. For to doe a thing out of a &s;etled re&s;olution unto goodne&s;&s;e, belongeth to the perfection of ver|tue,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ari&s;tot. E|thic. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> as the Philo&s;opher &s;heweth. As on the contrary, it doth much ag|gravate a &s;inne, to commit it out of a &s;etled &s;tubbornne&s;&s;e. But though it be better to vow, then not to vow, yet it is better not to vow, then
<PB N="135" REF="71"> not to pay when thou ha&s;t vowed. And as S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Melius e&s;t non promittere, quam promi&s;&s;a non facere,</HI> It is better not to promi&s;e, then not to doe the things that thou ha&s;t promi&s;ed. It had been better that <HI>Pharaoh</HI> had never promi&s;ed to let the children of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> goe, then not to let them goe when he had promi&s;ed it. For becau&s;e <HI>Pharaohs</HI> words were but an emptie &s;ound, therefore by Gods judgement, as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> noteth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;ius.</NOTE> <HI>Ranis impletur Aegyptus &s;onum inanem rerum &amp; &s;tre|pitum vanum reddentibus,</HI> was <HI>Aegypt</HI> filled with frogs, which made a great croaking, and a va&s;t idle &s;ound that had nothing in it. It is better to be &s;low in vowing, then to be &s;low in paying;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> and as S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Melius e&s;t ancipitem diu deliberare &s;ententiam, qu&agrave;m in verbis facilem, in operibus e&s;&s;e difficilem,</HI> It is better to deliberate, and to hold long in &s;u&s;pen&s;e our doubtfull re&s;olution, then to be free and ea&s;ie in our words, but hard and difficult in our works. But yet it is better to pay &s;lowly, then not to pay at all. Although it be true as S. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Quum moramfacis, non reddis,</HI> When thou delaye&s;t to performe,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Abel et Cain l. <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE> thou do&s;t not performe, becau&s;e &s;o long as thou delaye&s;t to performe, &s;o long thou do&s;t not performe. But yet better late then never. And yet better never to vow, then never to pay it. S. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> tels us, <HI>Votum e&s;t po&s;tulatio bonorum &agrave; Deo, cum &s;olvendi muneris promi&s;sione. Et ideo quum impetraveris quod peti&s;ti, ingrati e&s;t tardare promi&s;&s;um,</HI> A vow is an asking of &s;ome good things, with a promi&s;e of performing &s;ome dutie. And therefore when thou ha&s;t obtained that which thou didde&s;t &s;ue for, it is an unthankfull part to delay thy promi&s;e. But how wicked then is it, not to performe thy promi&s;e at all? <HI>An ne&s;cis quam grave &s;it ibi contra|here peccatum, ubi &s;peras remedium?</HI> Do&s;t thou not know, how grievous a thing it is to make that thy &s;inne, which thou did&s;t hope &s;hould have been thy comfort again&s;t &s;inne? Certainly, it was no &s;mall cur&s;e which the Prophet intendeth, when he &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 109.7.</NOTE> Let his prayer be turned into &s;inne: and it is no little cur&s;e that thou bringe&s;t upon thy &s;elfe, when thou turne&s;t the religious vow which thou ha&s;t made into a fowle of|fence of an irreligious not paying of it. Good therefore it were that they who in &s;ickne&s;&s;e or any danger are ready to make vowes would con&s;ider this, that in their health and &s;afetie they might be ready to performe them. For better it is not to vow, then to vow and not to pay.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 6. <HI>Suffer not thy mouth to cau&s;e thy fle&s;h to &s;inne: Lyra</HI> expound|eth it thus, Suffer not thy mouth by full and dainty feeding, to kindle lu&s;t in thy fle&s;h, and to make thy fle&s;h to &s;inne.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertull. con|tra P&s;ychi|cos. Hieronym. ad Oceanum.</NOTE> For as <HI>Tertullian</HI> &s;peak|eth, <HI>Appendices gulae, la&s;civia, atque luxuria,</HI> wantonne&s;&s;e and lu&s;t are the appendants of gluttony. And Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Venter mero ae|&s;tuans cito de&s;pumat in libidines,</HI> The belly boyling with wine, doth quickly foame out into lu&s;t. The words al&s;o in them&s;elves may ad|mit this interpretation, Suffer not thy mouth, to give ill coun&s;ell unto thine owne children, and &s;o to cau&s;e thy fle&s;h to &s;inne. For this is a great wickedne&s;&s;e, and <HI>Cyrillus Alexandrinus</HI> &s;peaking of them that pra|cti&s;e
<PB N="136" REF="72"> it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cyrillus A|lexand.</NOTE> &s;ayth, <HI>Extrema &s;upplicia &s;u&s;tinebunt, ut qui &s;uos ip&s;i fructus cor|rumpunt,</HI> They &s;hall &s;uffer extreame puni&s;hment, as being &s;uch bad trees, as that they corrupt their owne fruites, and therefore are good for nothing but to be cut downe, and to be ca&s;t into the fire. But as the words &s;tand in this place, they are more plainely to be under&s;tood thus, that by occa&s;ion of the mouth we &s;hould not &s;uffer &s;inne to be commit|ted in our fle&s;h, whereof the mouth is a part. <HI>Suffer not,</HI> &s;ayth the Prea|cher,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;il. Homil. <HI>9.</HI> in P&s;al. <HI>33.</HI></NOTE> for if thou &s;halt but &s;uffer it, it will &s;oone be done: becau&s;e as <HI>Ba|&s;il</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Peccatum quod per linguam admittitur, omnium fere propen&s;i&s;|&s;imum, &s;ed &amp; idem multiforme,</HI> the &s;inne which is committed with the mouth, is of all mo&s;t ready, and withall it is of many kindes. The O|riginall is, <HI>Ne des,</HI> Give not thy mouth leave, which of it &s;elfe is &s;o much given to it, give it not the reynes, which is apt to runne &s;o head|long. <HI>To cau&s;e:</HI> the mouth is a great cau&s;e of &s;inne, and therefore S^t. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;tom. Homil. <HI>4.</HI> in|ter <HI>16.</HI> vari|as.</NOTE> <HI>Vndique nobis diabolus in&s;idias parare con&s;uevit, &s;ed fa|cilius ore peccante: nullum enim illi aeque congruum organum e&s;t in mini&s;te|rium interitus atque peccati,</HI> The devils manner is to lay traps for us e|very way, but no way &s;o much as by a &s;inning tongue; for there is no part of the body &s;o &s;it for the mini&s;tery of de&s;truction and &s;inne. <HI>Thy fle&s;h to &s;inne:</HI> that is, either thy &s;elfe, the part being taken for the whole, or el&s;e the bodily part of thy &s;elfe. For though thy mouth be prone to &s;inne, yet it cannot make thee to &s;inne, nor make thy body &s;infull, un|le&s;&s;e thou &s;uffer it. And though by thy former bad &s;ufferance, now in a manner thou can&s;t not choo&s;e but &s;inne with thy mouth, yet &s;uffer it not to be an ordinary cau&s;e of &s;inning unto thee. <HI>Neither &s;ay thou before the Angel:</HI> Saint <HI>Hieromes</HI> Ma&s;ter under&s;tood <HI>the Angel</HI> here, to be the particular Angel, which God hath appointed to waite upon every one, and the meaning to be, Doe not vow, and not performe, for thy words doe not pa&s;&s;e away into winde, but the Angel which is thy com|panion doth cary them forthwith unto God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> and God whom thou thinke&s;t to be ignorant of what thou ha&s;t &s;ayd, is provoked to anger by thee, &s;o that thy workes &s;hall be de&s;troyed. <HI>Tremellius</HI> under&s;tandeth here <HI>the Angel</HI> of the Covenant,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mala.</HI> 3.1.</NOTE> Chri&s;t our Lord, of whom God &s;ayth, <HI>Behold, I &s;end an Angel before thee to keepe thee in the way: beware of him, and obey his voice,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Exod.</HI> 23.20. <HI>&amp;</HI> 21.</NOTE> <HI>and provoke him not to anger.</HI> Others under&s;tand the&s;e words, <HI>before the Angel,</HI> to be the &s;ame with tho&s;e in the &s;econd ver&s;e of this Chapter, <HI>before God,</HI> and that the Angel is here put for God, as an Amba&s;&s;adour &s;tandeth for his Prince; the Angels being Gods u&s;u|&s;uall Emba&s;&s;adours. Wherefore the Septuagint doe al&s;o reade it &s;o, <GAP DESC="foreign">, before God. But if I may deliver mine apprehen&s;ion, I under&s;tand the Angel here to be the &s;oule of man, which is of an An|gelicall nature, and the meaning to be, When thou ha&s;t &s;inned in thy fle&s;h, &s;ay not in thy &s;oule, <HI>it is an errour:</HI> When thou ha&s;t &s;inned with thy mouth, either by thy ra&s;h praying, or by thy carele&s;&s;e vowing, either delaying to performe it, or not regarding to performe it at all, &s;ay not in thy minde, excu&s;e it not in thy &s;oule, an&s;wer not thy con|&s;cience
<PB N="137" REF="72"> which is Gods me&s;&s;enger to reproove thee for it, <HI>that it was an errour.</HI> The Originall word &s;ignifieth ignorance or errour, and Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us, that <HI>Symmachus</HI> did render the word <HI>Involuntarium,</HI> A thing unwillingly done: all which are excu&s;es, which men pretend for not keeping of their mouths from ra&s;hne&s;&s;e, and for not keeping of their vowes and promi&s;es. Fir&s;t, ignorance, and either they know not that they &s;ayd it, or el&s;e they &s;ayd they knew not what: &s;econdly, errour, and either them&s;elves were mi&s;taken in that which they &s;ayd, or el&s;e others are mi&s;taken in under&s;tanding that which was &s;poken: thirdly, unwillingne&s;&s;e, and either they were forced to &s;ay that which they uttered, or el&s;e they were tran&s;ported by &s;ome pa&s;&s;ion, &s;o that it was &s;poken again&s;t their will. The Septuagint doe reade it, <HI>Non e&s;t pro|videntia,</HI> &s;ay not, There is no providence: and though <HI>Tremellius</HI> doe not reade it &s;o, yet he giveth the &s;en&s;e of the place according to that reading; &s;hewing it to be thus, Say not with thy mouth, and &s;inne not with thy mouth, &s;ay not in thy thought before the Angel, who is the di&s;cerner of thy thoughts, that there is no providence, as if things did fall out by errour and chance. <HI>For why &s;hould God be angry at thy voyce?</HI> This wicked voyce of thine, either outwardly pronounced with thy mouth, or inwardly conceived in thine heart. Or el&s;e wherefore &s;hould God be angry with thy voyce? either thy fir&s;t voyce, whereby thou ha&s;t &s;poken ra&s;hly, or vowed untruly: or el&s;e thy &s;econd voyce, where|by thou adde&s;t &s;inne to &s;inne, and with more naughtie excu&s;ing &s;eeke&s;t to helpe and palliate thy former naughtie dealing. <HI>And de&s;troy the works of thy hands:</HI> de&s;troy thy works, becau&s;e thou ha&s;t de&s;troyed thy words; and make thine hands to erre in doing thy works ill, becau&s;e thou pretende&s;t errour for thine ill &s;peaking; and make thee ignorant in that which thou do&s;t, becau&s;e thou pleade&s;t ignorance in that which thou &s;ayd&s;t; and make thy works to peri&s;h again&s;t thy will, becau&s;e thou alleage&s;t thy words to have been again&s;t thy will.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 7. The mo&s;t direct and verball tran&s;lation of the words as I conceive is this, <HI>Nam in multitudine &s;omniorum, &amp; vanitatum, &amp; ver|borum, multum, ideo time Deum,</HI> For in the multitude of dreames, and vanities, and words, much, therefore feare God. To make up the &s;en&s;e, there mu&s;t be added to the word <HI>Much,</HI> much is he angry, the anger of God being that whereof the end of the former ver&s;e &s;peaketh. And this ver&s;e being a generall conclu&s;ion to the former pa&s;&s;age of the Chapter, wee may under&s;tand the Preacher, that many words which being full of ra&s;hne&s;&s;e and folly, are but as many dreames, many va|nities, are mo&s;t offen&s;ive to God, and therefore that the feare of Gods anger &s;hould make them to be &s;hunned. Or el&s;e in a neerene&s;&s;e to a verball tran&s;lation, the words may be read thus, as S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> hath them, <HI>In multitudine &s;omniorum, et vanitates et verba plurima, &s;ed time Deum,</HI> In the multitude of dreames, there are vanities and many words; but feare thou God: and then the &s;en&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> which as S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us the <HI>Iewes</HI> gave of it, is taken from the la&s;t words; and there being,
<PB N="138" REF="73"> &s;ay they, in dreames many vaine feares and many terrifying words, feare not them, but feare GOD who ruleth all things. Or el&s;e wee may under&s;tand the words with reference to the excu&s;es, which in the former ver&s;e are forbidden, and which being but as dreames are only full of vanities and many words, and will not profit any thing: and therefore that God who knoweth all things rightly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> and as <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Omnia errata ad lineam ju&s;titia reducet,</HI> will reduce all errours to the line of ju&s;tice, ought to be feared. But to give a tran&s;lation ac|cording to the &s;en&s;e which the words may receive, they may be rendred thus, <HI>In the multitude of dreames, there is al&s;o a multitude of vanities, and in many words there is al&s;o much vanity,</HI> which in effect is the &s;ame with the tran&s;lation which we read. To con&s;ider therefore this: <HI>Tertullian</HI> tels us, that <HI>Epicurus</HI> judged all dreames to be vaine, wherein diver&s;e particu|lar in&s;tances both of &s;acred and profane hi&s;tories,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertull. de Anima. c. <HI>46</HI></NOTE> to u&s;e <HI>Tertullians</HI> phra&s;e, <HI>Epicuro pudorem imperant,</HI> doe even force <HI>Epicurus</HI> to be a&s;hamed, and &s;hew the true praedictions which have beene in dreames. And as for the con&s;titution of mans body, dreames are oftentimes good &s;ymp|tomes of it, and in that re&s;pect may be called, <HI>peculiare &s;olatium natura|lis oraculi,</HI> the peculiar comfort of a naturall Oracle. On the other &s;ide the <HI>Telme&s;&s;en&s;es,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Clemens Alexandri. Stromat. l. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> or as <HI>Clemens Alexandrinus</HI> calleth them the <HI>Telmi&s;en&s;es</HI> and who as hee &s;aith invented the art of divining by dreames, they &s;aith <HI>Tertullian, Nulla &s;omnia evacuabant,</HI> made no dreames to be vaine. But the&s;e were as farre from the truth as <HI>Epicurus,</HI> and unle&s;&s;e that men doe dreame in their under&s;tanding, they cannot but acknowledge that <HI>in the multitude of dreames there are many vanities.</HI> And &s;o it is in the multitude of words. There may be &s;ome matter &s;ometimes in &s;ome of them, but in the multitude of them there are many vanities. Let therefore <HI>the feare</HI> of Gods anger who is di&s;plea&s;ed at them, keepe thee from them. And indeed <HI>the feare of God</HI> is a mo&s;t excellent meanes to doe it. For as Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;. Hom. <HI>15.</HI> ad popu|lum.</NOTE> <HI>Nihil tam peccata con&s;umit, virtutem ver&ograve; fa|cit cre&s;cere ac germinare, &s;icut timor,</HI> There is nothing that doth &s;o de|&s;troy &s;innes, and make vertue to encrea&s;e and grow, as the feare of Gods wrath doth. And therefore he addeth, <HI>Gehenna nihil gravius, &s;ed ejus metu nihil utilius,</HI> There is nothing more grievous then hell, but nothing more profitable then the feare of it. When our Saviour Chri&s;t was plea&s;ed to &s;hew his terrour in the Temple, he made all the buyers and &s;ellers to flye out of the Temple. Yea the Prie&s;ts fled al&s;o, and none remained in it, as <HI>Anacletus</HI> Bi&s;hop of Rome affirmeth: which thing Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> reckoneth among the chiefe&s;t of our Saviours miracles.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. uper cap. <HI>21.</HI> Matth.</NOTE> And &s;urely the terrour and feare of Gods wrath throughly apprehen|ded are able to worke miracles in calling men out of their &s;innes, and in &s;topping them from running into them.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="8" TYPE="verse">
<PB N="139" REF="73">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>VER. 8.</HI></BIBL> Jf thou &s;ee&s;t the oppre&s;sion of the poore, and violent perverting of Iudgement and Ju&s;tice in a Province, marvell not at the matter: for hee that is higher then the highe&s;t regardeth, and there be higher then they.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 8. The Preachers la&s;t words were, feare thou God, and from thence pa&s;&s;ing to tho&s;e who doe not feare God, hee &s;aith, <HI>If thou &s;ee&s;t</HI> others not to feare God, not to feare his anger, yet doe thou feare him, doe thou feare his wrath. If thou &s;ee&s;t the wickedne&s;&s;e of tho&s;e that are in authority, their <HI>oppre&s;sing the poore, there violent perverting of judge|ment and ju&s;tice,</HI> and &s;ee&s;t not the wrath of God upon them, <HI>mervaile not at the matter. For he that is high above the highe&s;t regardeth them,</HI> hee &s;eeth them and their doings as well as thou do&s;t. The Originall word here u&s;ed is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>cu&s;todit;</HI> as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> al&s;o rendreth it, he keepeth and pre&s;erveth. Hee keepeth the poore though they be oppre&s;&s;ed by them: he keepeth judgement and ju&s;tice, though it be by them viola|ted and perverted. Perhaps thou do&s;t <HI>mervaile</HI> that good and vertuous men &s;hould be &s;o u&s;ed, &s;o wronged. But <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;aith unto thee,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca de provid. l. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Quid miraris bonos viros ut confirmentur concuti? Non e&s;t arbor &s;olida ni&s;i frequens ventus incur&s;at, ip&s;a enim vexatione radices certius figit, fragiles &s;unt quae in aprica valle creverunt,</HI> Why do&s;t thou mervaile that good men are &s;haken that they may bee &s;etled? A tree is not firme in the ground un|le&s;&s;e the wind doe often beate upon it; the very &s;haking of it doth fa|&s;ten the roote mo&s;t &s;urely: they are weake that doe grow in the warme vally. Perhaps thou do&s;t <HI>mervaile</HI> that any &s;hould bee &s;o cruell as to oppre&s;&s;e the poore oppre&s;&s;ed with want and mi&s;ery: that they who have their authority to doe ju&s;tice and judgement, &s;hould pervert and de&s;troy it. But is it any <HI>mervaile</HI> that heate driveth away cold, or that moy&s;ture de&s;troyeth dryne&s;&s;e? They being contrary the one to the o|ther, the &s;tronger overcommeth the weaker. And therefore &s;eeing the bad mind of the ruler is oppo&s;ite to the good cau&s;e of the poore: and &s;eeing the unrighteous heart of the Iudge, is oppo&s;ite to the righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e of judgement, no mervaile though he oppre&s;&s;eth the one, perver|teth the other. Saint <HI>Iohn</HI> therefore &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Ioh.</HI> 3.13. <HI>&amp;</HI> 12.</NOTE> <HI>Doe not mervaile my brethren if the world hate you.</HI> The workes of <HI>Cain</HI> were evill, the workes of <HI>Abel</HI> good, therefore did <HI>Cain</HI> &s;lay his brother. And therefore it is that they who are elder with <HI>Cain</HI> in place and authority being more wicked with him al&s;o, doe wrong the righteous and godly. Perhaps thou do&s;t <HI>mervaile,</HI> why God who&s;e power <HI>is high</HI> and great above all, and who&s;e &s;eate of judgement is higher then the highe&s;t, why hee doth
<PB N="140" REF="74"> &s;uffer it and permit it to be &s;o.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. de Civit. Dei. l. <HI>11.</HI> c. <HI>8.</HI></NOTE> But <HI>mervaile</HI> not, for as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Non ullum Deus non dico angelorum &s;ed vel hominum crea&s;&s;et, quem malum futurum e&s;&s;e prae&s;ci&s;&s;et, ni&s;i pariter no&s;&s;et, quibus eos bonorum u&s;ibus commodaret,</HI> God would not have created any I &s;ay not of the An|gels, but of men, whom he fore&s;aw that they would bee wicked, un|le&s;&s;e he had foreknowne al&s;o to what good u&s;es he would apply them. Wherefore as in the art of Rhetoricke there is a pretty elgancy from the oppo&s;ition of &s;entences;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. Ibid.</NOTE> &s;o &s;aith the &s;ame father, <HI>Quadam non verbo|rum &s;ed rerum eloquenti&acirc;, contrariorum oppo&s;itione &s;aeculi pulchritudo compo|nitur,</HI> By a kind of eloquence not of words, but of things, from the op|po&s;ition of contraries the beauty of the world is made and &s;et forth: <HI>Origen</HI> therefore affirmeth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Origenes &s;u|per Numeros</NOTE> <HI>Di&s;po&s;itione divina &s;ic omnia in hoc mundo e&s;&s;e di&s;po&s;ita, ut pror&s;us nihil apud Deum &s;it otio&s;um, etiam&s;i malum illud &s;it,</HI> That &s;o are all things ordered in this world by the divine di&s;pen&s;ation, that nothing is to no purpo&s;e, although it be evill that is &s;uffered to bee. Now the word <HI>marvaile</HI> in this ver&s;e may be referred to any of the&s;e, either to the bad will and delight of the wicked in authority; or to the patient will and &s;ufferance of God though above them in authority; or to the greatne&s;&s;e and foulene&s;&s;e of the matter, and wickedne&s;&s;e. For the Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> here u&s;ed compri&s;eth all. <HI>And there be higher then they:</HI> there be al&s;o others which being higher in the world and greater in &s;trength, feare not, &s;pare not to oppre&s;&s;e them, as they have oppre&s;|&s;ed weaker and lower then them&s;elves.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;ost. in P&s;alm. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> For as St. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> noteth, the wicked in this world are like bea&s;ts in a theatre, and as the bea&s;t which hath killed one, is killed by another, &s;o they <HI>Alios quidem invadunt, ab aliis vero interficiuntur,</HI> prevaile over &s;ome by their oppre&s;&s;ion, but are by others brought under and oppre&s;&s;ed. God &s;ometimes being plea&s;ed in this world to make his judgements to be &s;eeme, in the perverting of judgement by the wicked. But how&s;oever God may &s;ee and &s;ay nothing now, he will at length let all &s;ee that the poore oppre&s;&s;ed &s;hall be relie|ved, that judgement and ju&s;tice perverted &s;hall bee rectified and e&s;tab|li&s;hed.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="9-12" TYPE="verse">
<PB N="141" REF="74">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 9.</HI></BIBL> Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the King him&s;elfe is &s;erved by the field.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 10.</HI></BIBL> Hee that loveth &s;ilver, &s;hall not bee &s;a|tisfied with &s;ilver, nor hee that loveth abundance, with increa&s;e: this is al&s;o vanity.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 11.</HI></BIBL> When goods increa&s;e; they are increa&s;ed that eate them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, &s;aving the behol|ding of them with their eyes?</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 12.</HI></BIBL> The &s;leepe of a labouring man is &s;weete, whether hee eate little or much: but the abundance of the rich, will not &s;uffer him to &s;leepe.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 9. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> reading this ver&s;e thus,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters"> hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Et amplius terrae in omnibus e&s;t rex in agro culto, And moreover in all things of the earth a King in a tilled field,</HI> and applying it to God, who in the ver&s;e before is &s;aid to be above all, in the&s;e words under&s;tandeth him, to be in all things of the earth as a King in a tilled field: and that this world being unto him as a field of corne, hee doth not now alwayes puni&s;h the wicked al|though hee &s;ee their wickedne&s;&s;e, but leaving the tares and the corne to grow together, hee letteth them alone untill the day of judgement, at which time he will gather the corne into his barne, and burne the tares with fire. The mo&s;t direct tran&s;lation as I conceive, is that of <HI>Arias Montanus, Et prae&s;tantia terrae in omnibus rex agro fit &s;ervus,</HI> And the ex|cellency of the earth is in all things; the King is made a &s;ervant to the field. For in the height of men it being the height of pride that maketh them to oppre&s;&s;e and wrong the poore, and tho&s;e that are under them: the Preacher having &s;hewed that there are higher then they by whom they are tamed, here hee addeth, that the earth it &s;elfe is higher, and more than all, though all doe tread it under their feete: <HI>So that the King him&s;elfe is &s;ervant, to the field.</HI> For doth he not receive his food and &s;u&s;tenance from the field as a &s;ervant from his ma&s;ter? Is not his body the livery of the earth which he weareth as a &s;ervant doth the live|ry of his ma&s;ter? Are not the workes of nature, the works of the earth,
<PB N="142" REF="75"> and doth not a King doe them, as a &s;ervant doth the workes of his ma|&s;ter? What are the revenues of his kingdome, but as it were wages which the field payeth him, as a ma&s;ter payeth wages to his &s;ervant? But generally that which is under&s;tood here by interpreters is the prai&s;e of husbandry, and that in Kings them&s;elves. The Septuagint there|fore read it, <HI>Et prae&s;tantia terrae in omnibus est rex agri culti;</HI> And the ex|cellency of the earth in all, is a King of a tilled field. The <HI>Syriack</HI> reads it, <HI>Haereditas terrae in omnibus e&s;t rex qui agrum colit,</HI> The inheritance of the earth in all things is a King who tilleth the ground. <HI>Olympiodorus</HI> reads it, <HI>Super omnes rex e&s;t dominus agrielaborati,</HI> Above all is the King, who is the ma&s;ter of a dre&s;&s;ed field. Others <HI>Abundantia terrae pro omnibus rex agri agricolati,</HI> The abundance of the earth for all is the King of a field husbanded. And it is to &s;hew the excellency of tillage that our Tran&s;lation reads it: <HI>Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the King him&s;elfe is &s;erved by the field.</HI> And indeed a great honour it is to Kings to have a care of tillage.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;ephus Hi|&s;tor. l. <HI>8.</HI> c. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Io&s;ephus</HI> &s;peaking of the raigne of <HI>Solo|mon</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Mirandum in modum per id tempus auctae &s;unt res Hebraeorum, &amp; tribus Iudae, populo ad agrorum colendorum &s;tudia conver&s;o,</HI> wonderfully in that time was the e&s;tate of the Hebrewes encrea&s;ed, and of the tribe of <HI>Iudah,</HI> the people being turned to the care of tilling the ground. <HI>Vale|rius Maximus</HI> &s;hewing that <HI>Ma&s;ani&s;&s;a</HI> King of <HI>Numidia</HI> lived above ninety yeares, &s;heweth al&s;o the benefit of his long life to have beene this,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Valer. Max|im. l. <HI>8.</HI> c. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Quod terram quam va&s;tam &amp; de&s;ertam acceperat perpetuo culturae &s;tu|dio frugiferam reliquit,</HI> That the ground which he found wa&s;t and bar|ren,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Nazianzene Epi&s;t. <HI>194.</HI></NOTE> by the perpetuall care of husbandry he left fruitfull. <HI>Nazianzene</HI> al&s;o &s;peaking of <HI>Caudicenus</HI> the Governour, and &s;etting forth the jollities of Countrie people when their harve&s;t was ended, &s;aith, <HI>Agriculturae nimirum haec fe&s;tiva &s;acra &s;unt, tuo beneficio rur&s;um ad homines rever&s;ae,</HI> The&s;e are the merry &s;olemnities of husbandry by thy favour returned againe unto men. And here let me commend the husbandry of the earth of our bodyes, then which nothing is more excellent either for Prince or people: Let the plow of Gods Word &s;ubdue it, let the &s;eeds of vertue bee &s;owne in it, and though our bodyes be earthy, let them bee made heavenly by the fruits of heavenly grace,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Clem. Alex. Admonitio ad Gentes.</NOTE> For as <HI>Clemens Alex|andrinus</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Terram in coelum mutat Dei agricola,</HI> The husband-man of God turneth earth into heaven. But yet being not &s;atisfied in the meaning of this ver&s;e, let mee propo&s;e to con&s;ideration one meaning more. For the Preacher having noted in the ver&s;e before, how the wick|ed are &s;uffered by God in their wicked doings, here taketh away the mer|vaile of it, becau&s;e it is but here upon <HI>the earth</HI> that they have their de|&s;ires, where all things are common unto all; and becau&s;e that though they bee on high, yet it is but in the favours of <HI>the earth;</HI> for <HI>the King him&s;elfe</HI> the highe&s;t of all, hath but the priviledge to bee <HI>in a field well dre&s;&s;ed and husbanded,</HI> whereas others are in more barren &s;oyles. But that the right which God will doe unto the poore oppre&s;&s;ed, and to the righteous wronged, is re&s;erved to bee in heaven: where they &s;hall bee
<PB N="143" REF="75"> Kings not as earthly Kings in a tilled field, but in a Kingdome of eter|nall glory. Some doe here take <HI>the earth</HI> for the people of the earth, <HI>the field</HI> for the inferiour &s;ort, becau&s;e they that dre&s;&s;e the field are of the inferiour &s;ort, and then whereas in the former ver&s;e is &s;hewed the evill of tho&s;e that are in higher place oppre&s;&s;ing tho&s;e that are under them, they conceive, that here an argument is given, whereby to worke contentment in it. For &s;eeing it is needfull for the generall profit of all that there &s;hould be &s;ome on high, &s;ome under them, therefore though they on high doe abu&s;e their places, yet that it may bee borne with, in re&s;pect of the generall benefit that ari&s;eth from inequality of per&s;ons, in which regard even the King &s;erveth the meane&s;t per&s;on as having need of him.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 10. The Preacher &s;hewing farther the commendation of husbandry, preferreth it before the other wealth of the world. Fir&s;t, becau&s;e the profit of the earth &s;atisfieth the appetite of nature feeding upon it, <HI>but &s;ilver doth not &s;atisfie the appetite of him that loveth it.</HI> Se|condly, becau&s;e there is <GAP DESC="foreign"> revenue, fruite from the earth, but he that loveth &s;ilver although he have much of it, yet hath he no fruit by it, hee enjoyeth no comfort from it. And therefore I &s;hould read the ver&s;e from the Originall thus. <HI>He that loveth &s;ilver &s;hall not bee &s;atisfied with &s;ilver, and he that loveth it in the multitude of it, &s;hall not have fruit.</HI> But to con&s;ider the ver&s;e as it is in it &s;elfe, here is a double love of mo|ny &s;et downe. Fir&s;t, a love in &s;eeking of it before it is gotten. Second|ly, a love of it when it is gotten. <HI>Hee that loveth &s;ilver, &amp;c.</HI> It is the love of &s;ilver which is the mi&s;chiefe of it, and that is to bee removed from the heart of man. Wherefore when Saint <HI>Peter</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 19.27.</NOTE> wee have for&s;aken all and followed thee: if we con&s;ider this All in it &s;elfe, what could it be in &s;uch poore men, who were but fi&s;her-men, and &s;u&s;tained them&s;elves by their daily labour? But S. <HI>Greg.</HI> &s;aith well,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Hom. in Matth.</NOTE> <HI>In hac re affe|ctum debemus potius pen&s;are quam cen&s;um. Multum relinquit qui quantum|libet parum totum de&s;eruit. Multum ergo Petrus &amp; Andreas reliquerunt, quando uterque etiam de&s;iderium habendi reliquit,</HI> In this thing we mu&s;t con&s;ider rather their mind then their wealth. For he leaveth much, who leaveth all though never &s;o little. And therefore <HI>Peter</HI> and <HI>Andrew</HI> did leave much becau&s;e both did leave the de&s;ire and love of having. <HI>He that loveth &s;ilver &s;hall not bee &s;atisfied with &s;ilver:</HI> hee that out of love &s;eeketh after it, &s;hall love &s;till to &s;eeke it, and never re&s;t &s;atisfied. For as Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> compareth &s;uch a one,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bern. Tract. de diligendo Deum c. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> he is like to one that being ve|ry hungry gapeth continually for wind, <HI>Quo inflari potest, &s;atiari non po|te&s;t,</HI> with which he may be puffed up, but cannot be filled; for &s;o, &s;uch are &s;wolne great in pride with their wealth, but are never &s;atisfied wi h it. The true happine&s;&s;e of man, &s;aith <HI>Boetius;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Boetius de con&s;ol. l. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Non in eo &s;ita e&s;t ut mul|ta po&s;sideat, &s;ed ut de&s;ideria &s;ua bene adimpleat,</HI> Is not placed in this, that a man po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth much, but that hee doe well &s;atisfie and fill his de&s;ires. And Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Beatus e&s;t qui habet quicquid vult,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. de Trin. l. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&amp; nihil mal&egrave; vult,</HI> Hee is happy who hath what&s;oever he will, and hath not his will
<PB N="144" REF="76"> bent ill unto any thing. But how wretched then is he, who&s;e will is ne|ver &s;atisfied, and hath his will alwayes bent and &s;et ami&s;&s;e? <HI>And he that loveth abundance:</HI> it is much ea&s;ier to put off the love of wealth, before a man hath it, then when hee hath it: becau&s;e that which a man hath not, is not &s;o much cared for, as being a thing not belonging to him; but when a man hath it, then it being his owne, that &s;ets his love upon it;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aquinas <HI>2. 2.</HI> Que&s;t. <HI>86.</HI> An&s;w. <HI>3.</HI> Aug. Epi&s;t. ad Paulin.</NOTE> and then as <HI>Aquinas</HI> &s;aith, it is like the cutting off of a member from h m, for a man to part with it. Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> therefore &s;aith, <HI>Terrena di|liguntur arctius adepta quam concupita,</HI> Earthly things are loved more ea|gerly being obtained then being de&s;ired and &s;ought for. Then it is that he loveth it as his God, &s;etting it up in his trea&s;ury as in a Temple, or in his che&s;t as in a &s;hrine, and not daring him&s;elfe to touch it as a &s;acred thing. So that not &s;atisfied with <HI>the encrea&s;e,</HI> he hath <HI>no fruit</HI> in the en|joying of it. The name onely and care of a rich man, is that which &s;uch a one hath, he hath no u&s;e of his riches. He may be &s;aid to have a rich pur&s;e, but a rich minde &s;uch a one cannot have, who will hardly &s;pare him&s;elfe that which hee &s;tandeth in need of. Wherefore <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca Epi&s;t. l. <HI>9.</HI> ep. <HI>109.</HI></NOTE> <HI>De&s;unt inopiae multa, avaritiae omnia: hinc avarus in nullum bonus e&s;t, in &s;eip&s;um pe&s;&s;imus; tam enim ei dee&s;t quod habet quam quod non habet,</HI> to poverty many things are wanting, but to covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e all things: hence it is that a covetous man who is good to none, is wor&s;t to him|&s;elfe; for he wanteth as well that which he hath, as that which he hath not. But e&s;pecially he is &s;aid to have <HI>no fruit of his abundance,</HI> becau&s;e it doth not bring forth the fruits of charity.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Pa&s;tor. Cur. Par. <HI>3.</HI> Adm. <HI>21.</HI></NOTE> For as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peak|eth, <HI>Fructus ex eis caperetur, &s;i eas bene &s;pargere non amando volui&s;&s;et. Qui vero eas diligendo retinet, hic uti&abque; &s;ine fructu relinquet.</HI> The fruit of benefit &s;hould bee gathered from riches, if hee that hath them by not loving of them would &s;catter them abroad. But hee that loving them doth keepe them &s;hall leave them without fruit. And no marvell if &s;il|ver and abundance of riches doe not &s;atisfie the &s;oule of man, for as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaking to God &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. Solil. c. <HI>30.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Facta e&s;t anima rationalis capax Do|mine maje&s;tatis tuae, ut &agrave; te &s;olo &amp; nullo alio po&s;sit impleri,</HI> The rea&s;onable &s;oule is made capable, O Lord of thy Maje&s;ty, that by thee alone and nothing el&s;e it may be filled.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bern. Hom. &s;uper Mat. <HI>19.27.</HI></NOTE> And Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> therefore &s;aith al&s;o well, <HI>Anima rationalis caeteris omnibus occupari pote&s;t, impleri non pote&s;t,</HI> The rea&s;onable &s;oule may be bu&s;ied about other things, but it cannot be filled with them. The Preacher therefore concludeth, <HI>This is al&s;o vanity.</HI> This is not the good of man, for to that two things are requi|red, fir&s;t <HI>Vt &s;it bonum habenti,</HI> That it be good unto him that hath it; &s;e|condly, <HI>Vt terminet ejus appetitum,</HI> That it terminate and &s;et an end unto his de&s;ire: but this riches doe not, being the care and torment of him that hath them, and without fruit of comfort, and leaving his de&s;ire un&s;atisfied,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> as if hee had them not. But this is therefore vanity, and though it bee <HI>&s;ilver,</HI> although it be <HI>abundance of &s;ilver,</HI> it is a thing of nothing.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 11. The Preacher having preferred the wealth of the field,
<PB N="145" REF="76"> before the wealth of money; yet here &s;heweth the wealth of the field to be vaine al&s;o, becau&s;e when the <HI>good fruits of the earth are encrea&s;ed, they are encrea&s;ed al&s;o that doe eate them.</HI> For more being needfull for the &s;owing, reaping, ordering of them, there are the more mouths to devoure them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Arabica ver&s;io.</NOTE> This &s;en&s;e the Arabick tran&s;lation makes to be mo&s;t proper, for that reads it, <HI>In multitudine panis, multi &amp; qui comedunt eum,</HI> In the multitude of bread, many there are al&s;o that doe eate it. And to &s;hew the vanitie of this, the Preacher addeth, <HI>What good is there to the owners thereof, &s;aving the beholding of them with their eyes?</HI> What good doth that doe the owners, which is eaten by others? What nouri&s;hment have they by it, &s;ave onely the feeding of their eyes? He that is the Ma&s;ter may plea&s;e his eyes in beholding many to be fed with his pro|vi&s;ion; but as S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> <HI>Plus quam unius hominis cibum ip&s;e capere non pote&s;t,</HI> More then the &s;u&s;tenance of one man him&s;elfe cannot receive. Or el&s;e wee may con&s;ider that the Preacher having &s;hewed the vanitie of riches in the covetous wretch that doth not u&s;e and enjoy them; here he &s;peaketh of them as they are made u&s;e of. And then we may take his words either in a good or in a bad &s;en&s;e. Fir&s;t, in a bad &s;en&s;e: <HI>When goods encrea&s;e,</HI> and men have much to &s;pend, <HI>they are encrea|&s;ed that eate them;</HI> they will have many about them, they will keepe a great retinue, and &s;hew the greatne&s;&s;e of their e&s;tates, by the great number that are fed by them. But what more vaine then this? For what good is there to the Ma&s;ters of them? What are they for the mo&s;t part, but as <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Inutiles &amp; ribaldi,</HI> u&s;ele&s;&s;e, needle&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;um. Nah. <HI>3.17.</HI></NOTE> and ribaldry fellows. Of whom wee may under&s;tand the Prophet <HI>Nahum</HI> to &s;peake, when he &s;ayth <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Coronantur,</HI> crowned they are as Lo|cu&s;ts, that is, tho&s;e by whom they are crowned and compa&s;&s;ed about are but as Locu&s;ts, and as Locu&s;ts doe onely devoure the fruits of the earth, &s;o doe they onely devoure meate and drinke. <HI>What good is there therefore to the Ma&s;ters of them, &s;ave the beholding of them with his eyes?</HI> The beholding of &s;o many to be their &s;ervants, to waite upon them, and to follow after them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Olympiodor. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> This &s;en&s;e the reading of <HI>Olympiodorus</HI> doth &s;eeme to countenance, who hath it thus, <HI>Principatus enim est illi ut videat oculis &s;uis,</HI> For it is a principalitie to his vaine minde, and he thinketh him&s;elfe a little King to behold it with his eyes. Or el&s;e the Preachers words may be taken in a good &s;en&s;e thus. Although &s;ome be &s;o ba&s;e, that they will not &s;pare a little out of their &s;uperfluitie to relieve others; yet they that are good, <HI>when their goods are encrea&s;ed,</HI> will doe good with them, and they whom their charitie feedeth, &s;hall <HI>be encrea&s;ed al&s;o.</HI> But then the latter part of the ver&s;e mu&s;t be read, either as the Syriack hath it, <HI>Et factum e&s;t, foelix po&s;&s;identibus &s;e,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Syriaca ver|&s;io.</NOTE> <HI>quoniam de capite meo vidiocu|lis meis,</HI> And it becommeth a happine&s;&s;e to them that enjoy them&s;elves, becau&s;e from mine head I have &s;eene it with mine eyes. Or el&s;e as the Venetian tran&s;lation hath it, <HI>Et quid gratius e&s;&s;e poteritidomino ejus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Veneta ver&s;io</NOTE> <HI>qu&agrave;m videre hoc ip&s;um oculis &s;uis,</HI> And what can be more acceptable to the owner of it, then to behold this very thing with his eyes? to behold
<PB N="146" REF="77"> &s;o many ble&s;&s;ing God, and praying for him, by whom they are relie|ved. But the Originall word which I finde in the Hebrew being <GAP DESC="foreign">, and which though tran&s;lated by diver&s;e, <HI>Quid prode&s;t?</HI> What profit? yet properly &s;ignifieth <HI>rectum,</HI> that which is right, and &s;o is u|&s;ed by the Preacher in the &s;econd Chapter, the one and twentieth ver&s;e; the meaning which I conceive of the Preachers words is this. <HI>When goods are encrea&s;ed</HI> by the ble&s;&s;ing of God, care and charge <HI>are encrea&s;ed</HI> with them, and they are more that eate them, becau&s;e there mu&s;t be more to looke unto them, to mannage, and to order them. Of <HI>Iob</HI> wee reade that his &s;ub&s;tance was &s;even thou&s;and &s;heepe,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iob</HI> 1.3.</NOTE> three thou&s;and Camels, five thou&s;and yoke of Oxen, five hundred &s;he a&s;&s;es, and a very great hou&s;ehold. His &s;ub&s;tance being &s;hewed to be great, the great number of his hou&s;ehold is &s;hewed al&s;o, as being needfull for it. But be&s;ides, <HI>Quid rectum dominis &s;uis,</HI> What is right to their Ma|&s;ters, then that with their eyes they behold and looke to their &s;ervants, and &s;ee that they governe them&s;elves well, and that they be not idle. <HI>Abraham</HI> had &s;o great a family,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 18.6. <HI>&amp;</HI> 7.</NOTE> that his owne &s;ervants made an army, wherewith at once he conquered diver&s;e Kings: yet he had them all &s;o employed, that when the three men came unto him, he ran to <HI>Sarah</HI> his wife to cau&s;e her to make ready three mea&s;ures of fine meale, and him&s;elfe ranne to the heard and fetcht a calfe tender and good. Now thus to looke to the well managing of a great e&s;tate, to the well go|verning of a great family, being no little toyle and vexation of &s;pirit, well &s;heweth the vanitie of worldly goods, even in them that have a|bundance,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernar. Ser. <HI>7.</HI> in P&s;al. Qui habitat.</NOTE> and doe u&s;e it well. The former part of this ver&s;e S^t. <HI>Ber|nard</HI> applying in a &s;pirituall &s;en&s;e, and comparing a religious man unto a fruitfull Vineyard, telleth us, <HI>Tali vineae nunquam infe&s;tationes, nunquam in&s;idiae deerunt, nempe ubi multae opes, multi &s;unt &amp; qui comedunt eas. Sa|piens ergo &s;olicitus &s;ervare vineam &s;uam, non minus quam excolere, nec &s;inet eam vorari &agrave; vulpibus,</HI> To &s;uch a vineyard there are never wanting an|noyances and &s;nares, for where are much riches, there are many al&s;o that eate them. A wi&s;e man therefore being carefull to keepe his vine|yard, no le&s;&s;e then to dre&s;&s;e it, will not &s;uffer it to be devoured by Foxes.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 12. The Preacher here joyneth the covetous wretch, and the voluptuous rich man together, &s;hewing a poore labourer to be in a better condition then both they are. For <HI>whether he eate little,</HI> as the covetous wretch doth: and though his povertie deny him that, which the others love of his riches will not grant him&s;elfe, yet hath he little care, little trouble of minde, &s;o that he enjoyeth his &s;leepe quietly, which is the wages that nature payeth him for his labour. Yea, <HI>it is a &s;weet &s;leepe unto him:</HI> his &s;leepe is to him as the &s;weet &s;ound of &s;till mu&s;ick, all his &s;en&s;es being joyned in an uni&s;on of re&s;t: his &s;leepe is to him a &s;weet moy&s;ture, which di&s;tilling from the hony-combe of la|bour, dulleth the appetite of watchfulne&s;&s;e, and withall nouri&s;heth his &s;trength, to make him able to watch the better. Whereas the abun|dance
<PB N="147" REF="77"> of the covetous wretch, <HI>will not &s;uffer him to &s;leepe;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Nabut. c. <HI>6</HI></NOTE> but as S^t. <HI>Am|bro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Excitat eum cupiditas, torquet invidia, &s;terilitas proventuum infoecunda perturbat, &s;olicitat abundantia,</HI> His covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e row&s;eth him, his envie tormenteth him, the barren unfruitfulne&s;&s;e of his revenues di&s;quieteth him, his abundance vexeth him. Yea, as the &s;ame Father noteth, <HI>Ne ip&s;e quidem Deus eum dormire permittit,</HI> even God him&s;elfe will not &s;uffer him to &s;leepe. For in the Go&s;pel, God him&s;elfe, <HI>Inter|pellat cogitantem, excitat dormientem,</HI> Interrupteth the rich wretch, while he is thinking, awakeneth him while he is &s;leeping, and &s;ayth unto him, Thou foole, this night &s;hall thy &s;oule be taken from thee.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luke</HI> 12.20.</NOTE> And as God doth not &s;uffer him to &s;leepe, &s;o neither doth he &s;uffer him&s;elfe to &s;leepe, but being full of trouble, <HI>In ubertate fructus vocem gementis e|mittit,</HI> In the plentie of his fruit he &s;endeth forth the voyce of &s;orrow, &s;aying, <HI>Quid &s;aciam?</HI> What &s;hall I doe? For is not this the voyce of a poore man, who hath not meanes to live? But the poore <HI>labourer</HI> who worketh hard to get his meanes of living, by his labour getteth <HI>&s;weet &s;leepe,</HI> whereby his life is by farre more happy and comfortable unto him. Or el&s;e whether the poore <HI>labourer eate much,</HI> as the voluptuous rich man, as having by his labour the better &s;tomacke to eate, and not wanting to &s;upply his &s;tomackes de&s;ire, yet it is <GAP DESC="foreign">, a plainne&s;&s;e of nouri&s;hment, which being not heavy of dige&s;tion, doth not burthen the body, and from which health,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Clem. Alex|and. Paedag. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>&amp; ju&s;tae vires,</HI> and ju&s;t &s;trength ari&s;eth, as <HI>Clemens Alexandrinus</HI> &s;peaketh; &s;o that he enjoyeth his due and ju&s;t &s;leepe, whereby he is &s;weetly refre|&s;hed, and made more able and fit for his labour. <HI>Whereas the abundance of the rich will not &s;uffer him to &s;leepe;</HI> and that &s;ayth <HI>Lyra,</HI> for two rea&s;ons.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Primo quia reformidat ire adlectum, donec per &s;patium temporis vigilaverit po&s;t cibum: &s;ecundo quia in lecto exi&s;tens ex nimio cibo &s;entit dy&s;cra&s;ias &s;om|num impedientes,</HI> Fir&s;t, becau&s;e he feareth to goe to his bed, untill for a time he hath watched after the eating of his meate; &s;econdly, becau&s;e being in his bed, from too much meate he findeth many di&s;tempers which hinder his &s;leepe. So that as <HI>Clemens Alexandrinus</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Clem. Alex|and. Paedag. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>9.</HI></NOTE> <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>ventrum in arctum compre&s;&s;orum murmura &amp; tumultus,</HI> The murmurings and tumults of his belly and &s;traitned guts, make &s;uch a noi&s;e as that he cannot &s;leepe. His lazine&s;&s;e al&s;o ma|king his &s;tomack to be dull, there is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>&s;tudium delitiarum</HI> an accurate &s;tudy of delicates to enti&s;e his &s;tomack to a full feeding: but this cannot enti&s;e &s;leepe to come unto him. And therefore although he doe invite it by his &s;oft downy bed, which on either &s;ide of his bo|dy ri&s;eth up <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>aggeris in&s;tar,</HI> like an high banck, as if it would keepe in by force the plea&s;ant &s;treames of &s;leepe, yet he cannot entertaine it. Whereas the poore <HI>labourer,</HI> who&s;e hard lodging is, <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>iners artificium quietis,</HI> the unartificiall art of re&s;t, huggeth his re&s;t mo&s;t &s;weetly, and findeth no di&s;turbance untill the time of ri&s;ing awakeneth him. It is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>plena &amp; perfecta dormitio,</HI> a full and perfect &s;leeping, which he enjoyeth: whereas though the other may have &s;ome
<PB N="148" REF="78"> imperfect unquiet &s;lumberings, yet his abundance of eating will not &s;uffer him <GAP DESC="foreign"> to &s;leepe &s;oundly, which are the Originall words here u&s;ed.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> applying this ver&s;e to a &s;pirituall &s;en&s;e, &s;ayth, <HI>Porro quia &s;omnus, communis de hac vita exitus appellatur: melior erit re|quies ejus qui operatur in prae&s;enti; &amp; &s;ecundum vires &s;uas in bonis operibus conver&s;atur, qu&agrave;m eorum divitum, de quibus &s;cribitur, vae vobis divitibus, quia recepi&s;tis con&s;olationem ve&s;tram,</HI> Moreover, becau&s;e the common pa&s;|&s;age out of this life is called a &s;leepe, better &s;hall be his re&s;t who work|eth in this pre&s;ent life, and according to his abilitie is conver&s;ant and bu&s;ied in good works, then of tho&s;e rich men of whom it is written, Woe unto you that are rich,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 6.24.</NOTE> for you have received your con&s;ola|tion.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="13-17" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 13.</HI></BIBL> There is a &s;ore evill which I have &s;eene under the Sunne, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 14.</HI></BIBL> But tho&s;e riches peri&s;h by evill travell; and he begetteth a Sonne, and there is nothing in his hand.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 15.</HI></BIBL> As he came forth of his Mothers wombe, naked &s;hall he returne to goe as he came, and &s;hall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 16.</HI></BIBL> And this al&s;o is a &s;ore evill, that in all points as he came, &s;o &s;hall he goe: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the winde?</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 17.</HI></BIBL> All his dayes al&s;o he eateth in darkne&s;&s;e, and hee hath much &s;orrow and wrath with his &s;ickne&s;&s;e.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 13. <HI>There is,</HI> &s;ayth the Preacher as pointing at it, and &s;hewing it unto us, and as de&s;irous that others &s;hould &s;ee it, and take notice of it, as well as him&s;elfe had &s;eene it and ob&s;erved it. <HI>There is a &s;ore evill:</HI> the Septuagint doe reade it, <HI>Infirmitas pe&s;sima,</HI> a &s;ore di&s;ea&s;e; S^t. <HI>Hierome Languor pe&s;simus,</HI> a &s;ore weakne&s;&s;e; <HI>Pagnine</HI> and <HI>Arias Montanus, Mala infirmitas,</HI> an evill di&s;ea&s;e; <HI>Tremellius, Malum afferens aegritudinem,</HI> an e|vill
<PB N="149" REF="78"> bringing &s;ickne&s;&s;e. And &s;urely, as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in P&s;al. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Malus e&s;t languor qui bonam quietem mentis aufert,</HI> It is an evill weakne&s;&s;e which ta|keth away the good quietne&s;&s;e of the minde: it is an evill &s;ickne&s;&s;e which taketh away the &s;weet &s;leepe of the body, whereof the former ver&s;e &s;peaketh. And what is this di&s;ea&s;e, but the drop&s;ie of the &s;oule? For <HI>di&s;tendunt divitiae, non implent,</HI> Riches doe but &s;tuffe out the &s;oule, they doe not fill it; even as in a drop&s;ie, drinking &s;wels the body, but doth not &s;tay the thir&s;t. What is this infirmitie, but the wolfe of the heart? For <HI>in&s;atiabilis edacitas cupiditatis est,</HI> The devouring of covetou&s;|ne&s;&s;e is in&s;atiable; even as the infirmitie of the wolfe devoureth con|tinually. What is this &s;ickne&s;&s;e, but to u&s;e the words of S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e, Quaedam animarum pe&s;tilentia, quae corrupto &s;alubrium cogitationum &s;pira|mine, gravi odore terrae illius ac flagitio&s;ae voraginis contrahitur, lues ae&s;tuan|tium pa&s;sionum mi&s;eranda gra&s;&s;atur,</HI> A kind of plague of the &s;oule, which the &s;pirits of whole&s;ome thoughts being corrupted, is gotten from the ill &s;ent of that earthly di&s;po&s;ition, and pernicious gulfe, a woefull pe&s;ti|lence of the boyling affections which &s;ei&s;eth upon them. But this tran|&s;lation &s;uppo&s;eth as I conceive the Originall word to be <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ig|nifieth &s;ickne&s;&s;e or infirmitie: whereas it is not that word which now wee finde, but <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>dolorificum,</HI> an evill bringing &s;orrow, as <HI>Buxtor|fius</HI> giveth the force of it. And &s;urely, what&s;oever the contentment of a covetous minde may be for the pre&s;ent, it will bring &s;orrow, or bring forth &s;orrow at the la&s;t. Yea, indeed it is an evill, which as <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;igni|fieth, from whence the Originall word here u&s;ed is derived, with &s;or|row bringeth forth &s;orrow, with the &s;orrow of care and wretchedne&s;&s;e, bringeth forth the &s;orrow of Gods wrath again&s;t it. Or el&s;e the radi|call word <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ignifying al&s;o <HI>permanere, re&s;idere,</HI> to remaine, to abide; the word here u&s;ed, may &s;ignifie &s;uch a &s;ore evill, as &s;ticketh clo&s;e, and is not ea&s;ily removed. <HI>Which I have &s;eene under the Sunne:</HI> that is, literally in this world, metaphorically it may be expounded, under the Sunne-&s;hine of plentie and abundance, under the light of knowledge and under&s;tanding. <HI>Riches kept for the owners thereof unto their hurt:</HI> Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> con&s;idering the words of the rich man in the Go&s;pel, when he &s;ayth to his &s;oule, Thou ha&s;t much goods layd up for many yeares; fir&s;t, he noteth, <HI>Ne&s;cit avarus bona, ni&s;i ea quae quae&s;tuo&s;a &s;unt nominare,</HI> A covetous man knoweth not how to call any thing goods, &s;ave tho&s;e things that are gainefull. But then permitting him to call them &s;o, he &s;ayth, <HI>Cur ergo de bonis facitis mala, quum de malis bona fa|cere debeatis?</HI> Why then doe yee make good things to be evill, when yee ought to make evill things to be good? <HI>Ei qui uti &s;cit,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. l. de Nabut. c. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE> <HI>multa bona &s;unt, ei qui ne&s;cit uti ver&egrave; mala,</HI> To him that knoweth how to u&s;e them, they are much good, to him that knoweth not how to u&s;e them, they are truely hurt and evill. Give them to the poore, thy righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e remaineth for ever, and what greater good can there be then this is? But while&s;t thou keepe&s;t them wretchedly, and as thou thinke&s;t, do&s;t keepe them for thy &s;elfe, who art the owner of them, Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI>
<PB N="150" REF="79"> telleth thee truely,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. I|bid.</NOTE> <HI>Non tibi re&s;ervas, &s;ed potius tibi ip&s;i adimis: magis e|nim &s;ervares tibi, &s;i di&s;pertires aliis,</HI> Thou doe&s;t not keepe them for thy &s;elfe, but rather take&s;t them away from thy &s;elfe: for thou &s;houl|de&s;t better keepe them for thy &s;elfe, if thou didde&s;t di&s;tribute them to others. The &s;ame Father marking the rich fooles words, when he &s;ayth, <HI>I will pull downe my barnes,</HI> addeth, Rightly doth he &s;ay, I will pull downe my barnes, <HI>De&s;truit enim horrea, qui non novit &s;ua frumenta dividere, &s;ed claudere,</HI> He pulleth downe his barnes, who doth not &s;end abroad his corne, but &s;hutteth it up. <HI>De&s;truit &s;ua dives, qui ne&s;cit aeter|na,</HI> That rich man de&s;troyeth his owne, his owne temporall things, who &s;eeketh not eternall. <HI>Rect&egrave; de&s;truit, qui &s;apienter aedificare non no|vit,</HI> He doth truely pull downe, who knoweth not how to build up wi&s;ely: he truly hurteth him&s;elfe, who keeping his riches for him&s;elfe, doth no good with them. But the words of the Text being, <HI>Kept for the owners thereof,</HI> or, <HI>Kept to the owners thereof,</HI> they may &s;eeme to im|ply, as if they were kept and pre&s;erved by &s;ome other for them. And indeed God doth pre&s;erve their riches for the&s;e covetous wretches, expecting when they will be&s;tow them to his glory, which he keepeth for their comfort: but they po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing them unprofitably, they are but kept for their hurt.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chald. Co&s;ti.</NOTE> Thus the Chaldee Paraphra&s;e doth give the &s;en&s;e of the place, &s;aying, <HI>E&s;t autem pernicio&s;um malum quod vidi &s;ub &s;ole, cui medicina non e&s;t: homo qui divitias congregat, ne&abque; eas ad pietatem confert, par&ugrave;m &s;ane praevidens dierum finem. Haec enim &s;ub&s;tantia illi in perniciem venturo &s;aeculo con&s;ervatur,</HI> There is a pernicious evill which I have &s;eene under the Sunne, for which there is no remedy, a man who ga|thereth riches, and doth not be&s;tow them upon the workes of devoti|on, little indeed fore&s;eeing the end of his dayes. For this &s;ub&s;tance is kept unto him, for his hurt and mi&s;chiefe in the world to come.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 14. From the peri&s;hing of the rich, the Preacher goeth on to the peri&s;hing of their riches:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Salvianus contra ava|ritiam. l. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> For &s;o <HI>Salvianus</HI> al&s;o under&s;tandeth the former ver&s;e: who citing the ver&s;e thus; <HI>Pe&s;simum ac ferali&s;simum morbi genus divitiae con&s;ervatae in malum domini &s;ui,</HI> A mo&s;t grievous and a mo&s;t lamentable kinde of &s;ickne&s;&s;e, are riches kept to the hurt of the owner; he addeth, <HI>Verum e&s;t: quid enim pejus aut quid mi&s;erius, quam &s;i quis prae&s;entia bona in mala futura convertat, &amp; quae ad hoc &agrave; Deo da|ta &s;unt ut pararetur ex iis vitae beatitudo perpetua, per hoc ip&s;a quaeratur mors &amp; damnatio &s;empiterna. In quo &amp; illud con&s;iderandum e&s;t, quod &s;i &s;ervatae divitiae ad malum hominis con&s;ervantur, quanto utique ad majus malum coa|cervantur?</HI> It is true: for what is wor&s;e or more mi&s;erable, then if any one doe turne the pre&s;ent good things into future evill things, and tho&s;e things which God hath given to this end, that from them may be gotten the eternall ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e of life, that thereby death it &s;elfe &s;hould be &s;ought, and everla&s;ting damnation. In which this al&s;o is to be con&s;i|dered, that if riches being kept, are kept to the hurt of man, then how much greater is the hurt to which they are heaped up? But to pa&s;&s;e to the riches them&s;elves, which pa&s;&s;e away &s;o &s;oone. The Preacher &s;ayth,
<PB N="151" REF="79"> <HI>But tho&s;e riches peri&s;h:</HI> hee &s;aith not they &s;hall peri&s;h, but to &s;hew how &s;uddenly how certainely they vani&s;h, in the pre&s;ent time hee &s;aith, they peri&s;h. The Originall therefore may not ami&s;&s;e be rendred. And the riches them&s;elves peri&s;h; our tran&s;lation hath it, <HI>But tho&s;e riches,</HI> that is, tho&s;e which a covetous minde hath gotten and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth. Wherefore <HI>Baldvinus</HI> applying to this purpo&s;e, the Manna of the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Baldvinus in Alleg. Til|manni.</NOTE> which kept unto the morning peri&s;hed, &s;aith of it, <HI>Hoc exemplo de manna dam|natur malum avaritiae, qua pecunia male parta, po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ori &s;uo in vermem ver|titur,</HI> By this example of the Manna the evill of covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e is con|demned, by which money ill gotten and kept peri&s;heth and is turned in|to wormes to the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;our of it. <HI>By evill travell:</HI> by the evill travell of tho&s;e who make a prey of them. For as <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Per hoc rap|tores &amp; cupidi in&s;idiantur illi;</HI> By the meanes of his wealth ravenous Catch-poles doe lay &s;nares for him. Or el&s;e it may be rendred, <HI>In evill travell:</HI> that is, even in the evill travell or his &s;olicitous and vexing care|fulne&s;&s;e to pre&s;erve them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Clem. Alex. &s;tromatum lib. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> For as <HI>Clemens Alexandrinus</HI> citeth out of <HI>Antiphanes</HI> the <HI>Comoedian, Pluto</HI> is lame when he commeth unto men; but when he goeth away he hath wings. Or el&s;e <HI>in evill travell,</HI> that is in an evill vexation and breaking of his heart for the peri&s;hing of them: and then as <HI>I&s;idore</HI> relateth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;idore Pelu|&s;iota lib. <HI>2.</HI> Epi&s;t. <HI>149.</HI></NOTE> that anciently the manner was after a fea&s;t to take the harp and to &s;ing unto it this &s;ong, <HI>O divitiae utinam nec in terra nec in mari videamini,</HI> O riches, I wi&s;h that ye might never be &s;eene either by Land or Sea; &s;o the &s;ame is the ditty of his pen&s;ive heart. <HI>And hee begetteth a &s;onne:</HI> the manner is of many, that to cover their covetou&s;|ne&s;&s;e they plead their care for their children, and their affection to them, <HI>Qua&s;i vero quicunque patres &s;unt, nequaquam aut po&s;&s;int aut debeant omnino e&s;&s;e, ni&s;i divites, &amp; amare liberos &s;uos &s;ine opum multiplicatione non valeant,</HI> As if who&s;oever are parents, either cannot or ought not to bee &s;o, un|le&s;&s;e they be rich; and that they could not love their children without abundance of wealth, as <HI>Salvianus</HI> &s;peaketh.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Salv. contra Avaritiam lib. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> But therefore it is &s;ome|times the ju&s;tice of God to take away their riches, and to leave them nothing to leave unto their children, for whom as they pretended their covetous &s;craping was. The mention <HI>of begetting a &s;onne</HI> is here &s;et downe after the peri&s;hing of his riches; as if the Preacher to &s;hew Gods wrath again&s;t &s;uch covetous wretches would imply unto us, that while they have their wealth, God doth not give them a &s;onne, that they might not have the comfort and hope of leaving it unto him; but when their wealth is gone, then they have a &s;onne, that their mi&s;ery may bee the greater by leaving him in mi&s;ery. <HI>And there is nothing in his hand:</HI> becau&s;e there was &s;o much covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e in the heart of the father, there is no &s;upport of &s;u&s;tenance in the hand of the &s;on. <HI>There is nothing in his hand,</HI> no not &s;o much as to labour; but as <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Bonis paternis privatus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> <HI>ad laborandum pro victu acquirendo non est a&s;&s;ue|tus,</HI> Being deprived of his fathers goods, he is not u&s;ed to labour, where|by to get his meate.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 15. Poverty is the porter of mans life, that lets him in, that
<PB N="152" REF="80"> lets him out: it lets him in <HI>naked</HI> as leaving him to him&s;elfe, it lets him out <HI>naked</HI> as making him to leave all that he hath behind him. Some it lets in, and followes &s;till through their whole life, even till it lets them out againe. And although &s;ome it leave for a time, yet oftentimes it meets with them againe. Yea even he doth &s;ometimes fall upon it, who is mo&s;t carefull to drive it away, and thinketh him&s;elfe to bee farthe&s;t from it. The be&s;t way therefore is &s;o to &s;hunne it, as not to be afraid to meet it: not by a carele&s;&s;e negligence to lye naked to the a&s;&s;aults of it, and yet not to bee di&s;quieted with vexing impatiency, if it &s;trip a man of all, and leave him naked, as he <HI>came forth of his mothers wombe.</HI> It is St. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tomes</HI> que&s;tion upon the like words of <HI>Iob. Sed cujus tandem uteri meminit?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Iob <HI>1.21.</HI> Chry&s;o&s;t. in Catena Gr.</NOTE> <HI>Nempe primi illius opificii, &s;uae &egrave; terra coagmentationis,</HI> But what wombe is it, that is &s;poken of? Namely the wombe of the earth, from whence man was framed in that fir&s;t working of God. And &s;urely as there, &s;o here, the <HI>returning</HI> that is added doth make it nece&s;&s;ary &s;o to be under&s;tod: for it is to the wombe of the earth that man returneth. Now from this wombe man came naked al&s;o, and then as Saint <HI>Chry|&s;o&s;tome</HI> al&s;o &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;. Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Nuditas donum fuit, munu&s;que imperatorium, ut adhibito &s;tudio videret homo quemadmodum imbres declinaret, quemadmo|dum &s;apienter frigus arceret, quemadmodum ad depellendos ictus muniretur,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>&amp; aliam &amp; aliam &s;olertiam nuditas genuit,</HI> Nakedne&s;&s;e was a gift and a royall bounty, that by &s;tudy and care man might find out, how to &s;helter him&s;elfe from raine, how wi&s;ely to keepe away cold, how to fence him&s;elfe for the re&s;i&s;ting of blowes, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and thus man being brought forth naked, his nakedne&s;&s;e brought forth one invention after another. But that man <HI>returneth naked</HI> this is the puni&s;hment of God for &s;in. And well it were if he that returnes naked for &s;in, did returne naked without &s;inne.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Origenes Hom. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Origen</HI> &s;peaking of <HI>Iob</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Nudus peculio &s;ed &amp; peccato, nudus &s;ub&s;tantia &s;ed &amp; inju&s;titia; nudus malis, bonis vero omnibus indutus, ju&s;titia ve&s;titus, &s;anctitate circundatus, charitate ornatus, mi&s;ericordia ac bonis operibus coronatus,</HI> Naked of Cattle, but naked al&s;o of &s;inne, naked of &s;ub&s;tance but naked al&s;o of wickedne&s;&s;e; naked of evils but having on all good things, clothed with righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, encompa&s;&s;ed with holi|ne&s;&s;e, adorned with charity, crowned with mercy and good workes. But the covetous wretch, as he <HI>returneth naked</HI> of his wealth, &s;o he re|turneth loaded with his &s;innes, loaded with the cryes of the poore that have not beene relieved by him, loaded with the cur&s;es of tho&s;e that have beene wronged by him. And whither doth he returne? Of <HI>Iob Cl. Alexandrinus</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Revertitur ad locum ubi Deus e&s;t verus pater &amp; ma|ter no&s;tra,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Clem. Alex. Catena Gr.</NOTE> He returneth to the place where God is, who is our true Father and Mother both. But the covetous wretch returneth to the Devill, who as he was the father of &s;inne in man, &s;o is the puni&s;her of man for &s;inne; and as he bringeth forth wealth to many by the devi&s;es which he teach|eth them, &s;o doth he bring forth for them torments in hell. <HI>To goe as hee came:</HI> it is the manner to &s;end away unwelcome gue&s;ts as they came, and a covetous wretch being a mo&s;t unwelcome gue&s;t to the world, as
<PB N="153" REF="80"> doing no good in it, hee is al&s;o &s;ent away as he came. Or as a bad &s;er|vant is u&s;ed, and turned away <HI>to goe as he came;</HI> &s;o a covetous wretch, who is &s;o bad a &s;ervant to God, neglecting his bu&s;ine&s;&s;e for which hee made him rich, and committed his talent to him, is by God turned away with &s;hame <HI>to goe as he came.</HI> So &s;hall he goe, and when perhaps he hath &s;tayd a good time and &s;pent the time carefully, in his owne wayes, and by his cate hath done much and laboured hard in his worldly bu&s;i|ne&s;&s;e; &s;o &s;hall he goe, as if he had done nothing, as if then he were to begin, and <HI>as when he first came, &s;o &s;hall he goe:</HI> this mu&s;t needs be a &s;ore evill: <HI>And &s;hall take nothing of his labour; Nihil attulit natus, nihil hinc auferet &s;ublatus,</HI> Hee brought nothing when he was borne and brought forth, and when he is taken away he &s;hall take away nothing,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Orig. in c. <HI>1.</HI> Iobi.</NOTE> &s;aith <HI>Ori|gen. Nothing of his labour:</HI> although it was his labour that did get it, that is not a &s;ufficient plea for the keeping of it. Hee that laboureth to get, mu&s;t labour to get well, and having well gotten by well labouring, he mu&s;t al&s;o u&s;e well that which he hath gotten, or el&s;e he may ju&s;tly feare, lea&s;t God in ju&s;tice deprive him of it. <HI>Which hee may carry in his hand:</HI> that is, which hee may give away when he dyeth. For the hand being the in&s;trument of giving, the Preacher u&s;eth this phra&s;e to expre&s;&s;e a giving. Nothing therfore hath he to give nothing to his children, nothing to give to his frinds, or kindred, nothing to give to the poore, that though at la&s;t, yet by &s;hewing mercy to the di&s;tre&s;&s;ed he might find mercy with God. Charity is mo&s;t acceptable to God, when it is &s;hewed to the poore in the time of health and life; but I will not deny it acceptance with God even in death al&s;o. How&s;oever let me &s;ay, as <HI>Salvianus</HI> doth, <HI>Licet offerat,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Salvianus contra Ava|ritiam. l. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> <HI>oret Deum ut lenta &s;ua placeat oblatio, plangens ad ip&s;um quod tarde offerat, plangens &amp; poenitens quod non prius,</HI> Although a man doe give, let him be|&s;eech God, that his &s;low giving may be plea&s;ing to him; lamenting this very thing that he giveth &s;o late, bewayling and repenting that hee did not give &s;ooner. But &s;ometimes it is the ju&s;tice of God that hee who&s;e wretched covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e in his life, would not give when he had it, &s;hall at his death have nothing in his hand to give, that being taken away which he would not give.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Fulgo&s;.</NOTE></P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 16. When <HI>Constantine</HI> the Emperour had &s;hewed the King of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> all the good and glorious things of Rome, then did the King &s;hew him <HI>this &s;ore evill</HI> whereof the Preacher &s;peakes here; for thereup|on he making an&s;wer &s;aid, <HI>Mira quidem haec, &s;ed ut video, &s;icut in Per&s;ia, &s;ic Romae homines moriuntur,</HI> The&s;e things are indeed wonderfull, but I &s;ee that as in Per&s;ia, &s;o at Rome men die al&s;o: thereby implying that where|&s;oever any one is, whether at Rome or in Per&s;ia, or how great &s;oever any one is, whether King of Per&s;ia or Emperour of Rome, when hee dyes, he mu&s;t goe as he came. <HI>In all points as he came:</HI> What? In all points? He came a child, &s;hall he goe away a child al&s;o? Yes,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;. Hom. <HI>47.</HI> ad Popul. Antioch.</NOTE> if he be &s;uch a covetous wretch as here the Preacher &s;peaketh of. For as Saint <HI>Chry&s;o|&s;tome</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Si nondum vilitatem rerum temporalium con&s;picimus, nondum viri facti &s;umus, &s;cientes quod haec &s;unt puerilia,</HI> If we doe not di&s;cerne
<PB N="154" REF="81"> the ba&s;ene&s;&s;e of temporall things, we are not yet become men, knowing that the&s;e are childi&s;h things. <HI>As he came &s;o he goeth:</HI> hee came from nothing,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Iob <HI>6.8.</HI> Greg. in c. <HI>6.</HI> Iobi.</NOTE> he goeth to nothing, &s;o <HI>Iob</HI> &s;peaking of &s;uch &s;aith, <HI>Their paths of their wayes are turned a&s;ide, they goe to nothing and peri&s;h.</HI> And Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> expounding tho&s;e words of <HI>Iob</HI> &s;aith, <HI>In vacuum ambulant qui nihil &s;ecum de fructu &s;ui laboris portant. Alius nam&abque; adipi&s;cendis hono|ribus de&s;udat, alius multiplicandis facultatibus ae&s;tuat, alius promerendis lau|dibus anhelat, &s;ed quia juncta haec qui&s;que moriens de&s;erit, labores in vacu|um perdit, quia &s;ecum ante Iudicem nihil tulit,</HI> They goe to nothing, be|cau&s;e they cary with them nothing of the fruit of their labour. One &s;weareth in getting of honours, another toyleth in multiplying riches, another is out of breath in hunting after plea&s;ures: but becau&s;e every one dying leaveth all the&s;e though joyned together, he loo&s;eth his la|bour for nothing, becau&s;e hee bringeth nothing with him before the Iudge.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. in Euangeli&s;. Hom. <HI>15.</HI></NOTE> <HI>And what profit hath he?</HI> Let Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> an&s;wer for riches, who &s;peaking of them &s;aith, <HI>In vita cruciant, in morte de&s;erunt, &amp; in di|vino tribunali divites ip&s;os accu&s;ant,</HI> In his life they torment him, at his death they for&s;ake him; and before the divine tribunall they are ready to accu&s;e him. Now being things of no <HI>profit,</HI> what u&s;age is fitter for them then to tread them under our feete? Doth not the Prophet <HI>David</HI> tell us,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;alm.</HI> 8.6. <HI>&amp;</HI> 8.</NOTE> <HI>That God hath put all worldly things under our feete, all &s;heepe and Oxen, yea and the bea&s;ts of the field, the foules of the ayre, and the fi&s;hes of the Sea? Nos ergo bona temporalia in eo loco teneamus, in quo Deus ea con|&s;tituit,</HI> Let us place temporall things in that manner as God hath &s;et them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eu&s;ebius Emi&s;&s;enus. Zach. <HI>6.1.</HI></NOTE> as <HI>Eu&s;ebius Emi&s;&s;enus</HI> &s;peaketh. Let not our hearts bee &s;et upon tho&s;e things, which God hath &s;et under our feete, and which for their profit de&s;erve no better regard of us. <HI>For what profit hath he that labou|reth for the wind?</HI> The vi&s;ion of the foure Chariots which the Prophet <HI>Zachary</HI> &s;aw,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Zach.</HI> 6.3. <HI>&amp;</HI> 4.</NOTE> is by the common opinion of all learned men both <HI>Iewes</HI> and Chri&s;tians, as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> and Saint <HI>Cyrill</HI> affirme, interpreted to bee under&s;tood of the foure Monarchs: but the Angell which talked with the Prophet being asked by him, what they were, hee an&s;wered, <HI>The&s;e are the foure winds of heaven.</HI> And indeed what is the greate&s;t glo|ry of this world, but a wind that pa&s;&s;eth away, and commeth not again? <HI>Philo</HI> therefore &s;peaking of the Kings of the earth concludeth rightly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo, in li|bro, quod Deus &s;it Jm|mutab.</NOTE> <HI>Nihil in humanis rebus praeter umbram &amp; levi&s;simam auram, &s;ine mora prae|tervolantem,</HI> That there is nothing in humane things be&s;ides a &s;hadow and a very light ayre, which without &s;taying flyeth away. And where|as <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Crede mihi levia &s;unt, propter quae non leviter excande&s;ci|mus,</HI> beleeve mee they are light things, for which wee are not light|ly moved; let us at lea&s;t beleeve the Preacher, who tels us they are wind.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 17. The life and death of a covetous wretch is here &s;et forth unto us: his death in the next two ver&s;es before, his life in this ver. <HI>All his dayes:</HI> he keepeth no fe&s;tivals, he ob&s;erveth no daies of joy and gladnes, but all his dayes are alike to him. And though they bee dayes to him,
<PB N="155" REF="81"> dayes of plenty and pro&s;perity, dayes of a &s;unne-&s;hining fortune, yet he maketh them nights to him&s;elfe, <HI>he eateth in darkne&s;&s;e,</HI> a&s;hamed ju&s;tly that any one &s;hould &s;ee how cour&s;ely, how &s;cantly he feedeth. He hath none that eareth with him; that would bee too much light to witne&s;&s;e his ba&s;ene&s;&s;e. Hee loveth <HI>to eate in darkne&s;&s;e</HI> &s;o much, that for want of meate his hand can &s;carce find the way to his mouth. Or el&s;e to take his <HI>eating</HI> whereby life is maintained to &s;ignifie his life, all the dayes of his life are &s;pent in darkene&s;&s;e, in a &s;trange darkene&s;&s;e of mind. And therefore Saint <HI>Cyprian</HI> &s;aith, <HI>O dete&s;tabilis cacitas mentium,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cyprianus, Epi&s;t. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&amp; cupiditatis in&s;anae profunda caligo, quum exonerare &s;e po&s;sit &amp; levare ponderibus, pergit magis fortunis augentibus incubare, pergit paenalibus cumulis pertinaciter ad|haerere,</HI> O the dete&s;table blindne&s;&s;e of minds, and the deepe darkne&s;&s;e of mad covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e, when that hee may unburthen him&s;elfe, and ea&s;e his weights, hee goes on to hugge more clo&s;ely his vexing riches, and cleaveth the fa&s;ter to his tormenting heapes. <HI>All his days are &s;pent in dark|ne&s;&s;e,</HI> he &s;eeth not the wants and mi&s;eries of others: for though he &s;ees them, he affordeth not help, as if he &s;aw them not.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;tom. Homil. <HI>14.</HI> in <HI>1^a^m</HI> ad Corinth.</NOTE> Wherefore S. <HI>Chry&s;o.</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Explica utriu&s;&abque; animam, &amp; ejus qui de&s;picit pecunias, &amp; ejus qui non de&s;picit: &amp; videbis quod hic quidem e&s;t &s;imilis furentibus, nihil volens videre nec audire, ille vero e&s;t &s;imilis portui liberato &agrave; fluctibus, &amp; e&s;t om|nium amicus,</HI> Vnfold the mindes of both, of him that de&s;pi&s;eth mo|nies, and of him that de&s;pi&s;eth them not; and thou &s;halt &s;ee that this man is like to them that are mad, and will &s;ee nothing, heare nothing; the other is like to a haven freed from to&s;&s;ing waves, and is a friend to all. <HI>All his dayes are &s;pent in darkene&s;&s;e,</HI> In ob&s;curity and ba&s;ene&s;&s;e of life, being of no e&s;teeme, no credit where he liveth: for &s;o the Origi|nall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> may al&s;o &s;ignifie. And yet hee hath <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>indignatio|nem</HI> indignation (which is the Originall word that followes and is tran&s;lated &s;orrow) becau&s;e he is no more regarded, no more reckoned of &s;eeing his wealth is &s;o great. But to follow the reading of our tran|&s;lation, wee may di&s;tingui&s;h the latter words of the ver&s;e thus, <HI>Hee hath much &s;orrow,</HI> by &s;trangers, much <HI>wrath</HI> by his owne hou&s;ehold, much <HI>&s;ickne&s;&s;e</HI> by him&s;elfe. Fir&s;t, much &s;orrow from &s;trangers: for as Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Qui pecunias diligit, innumeros habet &s;u&s;pectos,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. ad Populum.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; multos accu&s;atores, invides, calumniantes &amp; in&s;idiantes,</HI> He that loveth riches, &s;u&s;pecteth numberle&s;&s;e people, and hath many accu&s;ers, envy|ing him, &s;landering him, and laying &s;nares for him. Secondly, much <HI>wrath</HI> by his owne hou&s;ehold: for, as it is &s;aid that <HI>Ab&s;alom</HI> did,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;tom. Homil. <HI>13.</HI> in Epi&s;t. ad Ro|manos.</NOTE> hee weigheth the hayres of his head, <HI>Et jacturam &s;i faciat, ut vel obolum perdat, gravi&s;sime omnium &s;e affligit ac vitam ami&s;i&s;&s;e arbitratur,</HI> And if he &s;uffer any dammage, &s;o that he lo&s;e a farthing or a halfe penny, he thinketh him&s;elfe to be afflicted above all mea&s;ure, and even to have lo&s;t his life, as Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> al&s;o &s;peaketh. Thirdly, his owne much <HI>&s;ickne&s;se</HI> is the vexing malady of his owne tormenting care,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;. Hom. <HI>14.</HI> in <HI>1^a^m</HI> ad Corinth.</NOTE> and this is &s;uch a &s;ickne&s;&s;e, that Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;peaking of it &s;aith, <HI>Fugiamus ergo hunc morbum, fugiamus hanc gehennam, e&s;t enim gehenna cupiditas
<PB N="156" REF="82"> i&s;ta,</HI> Let us flye therefore from this di&s;ea&s;e, let us flye from this hell, for this covetous de&s;ire is a very hell. And it is &s;aid <HI>his &s;ickne&s;&s;e,</HI> be|cau&s;e hee puts it on him&s;elfe:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Sen. Ep. <HI>83.</HI></NOTE> for as <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Non habet ut puta|mus fortuna longas manus, neminem occupat ni&s;i haerentem &s;ibi,</HI> The mi|&s;ery of wealth, hath not as wee thinke long armes, it po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth none but them, who by love doe &s;ticke and adhere unto it. Or el&s;e to take all in reference to him&s;elfe only. His <HI>&s;orrow</HI> wee may &s;ee growing in the field of the rich man in the Go&s;pell,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Amb. Serm. <HI>81.</HI></NOTE> of which Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Video quod non tam redditus largiores, quam gemitus attulit gravi|ores,</HI> I &s;ee that it did not bring forth unto him, &s;o much larger revenues as more grievous &s;orrowes. His <HI>wrath</HI> again&s;t him&s;elfe is becau&s;e hee never gets fa&s;t enough, for to him, <HI>Major acqui&s;itio fit major acce&s;sio paupertatis,</HI> His greater gayning is but an encrea&s;e of his poverty. And when hee hath a hundred talents, hee is &s;till the poorer becau&s;e hee de&s;ireth a thou&s;and, when hee hath a thou&s;and he is &s;till the poorer be|cau&s;e he de&s;ireth tenne thou&s;and,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;. Hom. <HI>14.</HI> in <HI>1^a^m.</HI> ad Corinth. Bern. ep. <HI>113.</HI></NOTE> as Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;peaketh. La&s;tly, the feaver of his fretting carefulne&s;&s;e is &s;o continuall, that if hee have any re&s;pit of contentment, it is true as Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Praterit jocunditas non reditura, &amp; manet anxietas non relictura,</HI> The contentment pa&s;&s;eth away not to returne, the anxiety of his heart remaineth never to leave him. How well therefore doth &s;uch a one de&s;erve the &s;tile, which in the Go&s;pell is given him?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;il. Hom. in dite&s;centes.</NOTE> And of which S. <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> &s;peaking &s;aith, <HI>Audi mi&s;er te dignam appellationem, quam tibi nullus hominum, &s;ed ip&s;e Dominus indidit, &s;tulte hac nocte animam tuam &agrave; te repetent: &s;uperat aeternam paenam irri&s;io i&s;ta &s;tultitiae,</HI> Heare O wretch the appellation worthy of thee, and which no man, but the Lord him&s;elfe hath given thee, Thou foole this night &s;hall thy &s;oule be taken from thee, or required of thee: this &s;coff: of thy folly exceedeth thine eternall puni&s;hment.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="18-20" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 18.</HI></BIBL> Behold that which J have &s;eene: it is good and comely for one to eate and drinke, and to enioy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the Sunne, all the dayes of his life which God gi|veth him: for it is his portion.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 19.</HI></BIBL> Every man al&s;o to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eate thereof and to take his por|tion, and to reioyce in his labour, this is the gift of God</P>
<PB N="157" REF="82">
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 20.</HI></BIBL> For he &s;hall not much remember the dayes of his life, becau&s;e God an&s;we|reth him in the joy of his heart.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 18. This is the fourth time that the Preacher hath &s;et downe this &s;entence, and &s;eeing he repeateth it &s;o often, wee have rea&s;on to regard it the more. <HI>Behold:</HI> That which the Preacher had beheld in the world, he bids us to behold in this ver&s;e: that which he had &s;eene and looked into, and upon &s;ight, in his judgement approoved to be true, that he propo&s;eth to our &s;ight, judgement, and approbation.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mark.</HI> 9.5. <HI>&amp;</HI> 6.</NOTE> <HI>It is good:</HI> S^t. <HI>Peter</HI> &s;ayd, It is good to be here, when he was with <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> upon the mountaine, but the Spirit of God noteth, that he wi&s;t not what he &s;ayd. And <HI>Proclus</HI> &s;peaking of the &s;ame thing,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Proclus Ser. de Transfi|gura.</NOTE> thus &s;etteth out S^t. <HI>Peter</HI> by occa&s;ion of it, <HI>Petrus more &s;uo &s;emper praceps, Peter</HI> after his manner alwayes ha&s;ty. It is good therefore for every one to con&s;ider what he &s;ayth, and to &s;ee into it, as here the Preacher doth, before he &s;ay of it, It is good. <HI>It is good,</HI> good, but unto them that are good, be|cau&s;e they will doe it in a good manner. <HI>And comely:</HI> So that a man doth not de&s;troy his owne comeline&s;&s;e by it, doth not by eating and drinking make him&s;elfe a bea&s;t, doth not by rejoycing make him&s;elfe a foole, and make the devill &s;port. <HI>Comely</HI> it is,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. in Canti. Serm. <HI>24.</HI></NOTE> but as S^t. <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;peak|eth, <HI>Quid indecentius, qu&agrave;m curvum recto corpore gerere animum?</HI> What more uncomely, then in an upright body to have a crooked minde, bowed and bended downe like a bea&s;t to the&s;e &s;en&s;uall contentments onely? <HI>Comely</HI> it is, but as one well &s;peaketh, <HI>Indecens quidem e&s;t avem alas habentem non in altum evolare. Habemus autem alas excellentiores il|lis, intellectum &s;cilicet et voluntatem, quibus altius volare valemus,</HI> It is an uncomely thing for a bird that hath wings not to fly. But wee have wings more excellent then tho&s;e, namely, our under&s;tanding and will, by which wee can fly higher. Wee mu&s;t therefore make it our chiefe&s;t joy, to fly up to God, that &s;o wee may be able to &s;ay with the Prophet <HI>David, Thou ha&s;t put gladne&s;&s;e in my heart,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 4.7.</NOTE> <HI>more then in the time that their corne and wine encrea&s;ed. For one to eate and drinke:</HI> if he be one that can doe no more, let him doe that, let him take with comfort, that which God &s;endeth him, and cheerefully eate and drinke that which he hath: if he be one to whom the hand of Gods ble&s;&s;ing hath been more libe|rall, let him enjoy it with thankfulne&s;&s;e to God, and with fitting de|light to him&s;elfe. It is not a token of Gods di&s;plea&s;ure to enjoy the plea&s;ures of this life, nor is it a thing di&s;plea&s;ing to God, to rejoyce in them. Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;ayth very well,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor l. <HI>23.</HI> c. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Scit redemptor eccle&s;iae et in hoc itinere &s;olatia venienti tribuere, et pervenienti ad aeternam patriam &s;uper|na praemia re&s;ervare,</HI> The Redeemer of the Church knoweth how to give comforts in this journey unto him that travaileth, and how to re|&s;erve heavenly rewards for him that re&s;teth in his eternall Countrey.
<PB N="158" REF="83"> And &s;eeing the Preacher &s;ayth, <HI>It is good,</HI> I know not why any one &s;hould &s;ay,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>it is bad.</HI> The expo&s;ition of S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> upon the&s;e words is this, that it is good, <HI>Ad comparationem ejus, qui opibus &s;uis in cura|rum tenebris ve&s;citur,</HI> In compari&s;on of him, of whom the ver&s;e before &s;peaketh, that feedeth on his riches in the darkne&s;&s;e of cares. And the rea&s;on which he addeth, is very proper, <HI>Hic enim voluptas parva e&s;t in fruendo, ibi vero &s;olicitudinum tantummodo magnitudo,</HI> For here is &s;ome little plea&s;ure in enjoying, but there is onely a greatne&s;&s;e of cares. But to proove it al&s;o in it &s;elfe to be good, the Preacher addeth, <HI>It is good to enjoy the good:</HI> now it cannot but be good to enjoy good. Then <HI>good</HI> it is, the good of this life, but not the good of man, not the good for which man was created. The <HI>good</HI> it is which man may en|joy, but not the good on which man mu&s;t &s;et his heart: the <HI>good</HI> it is which the earth affordeth, but which in compari&s;on of heaven is ra|ther evill than good. <HI>Of all his labour:</HI> if the good be, but the hire of hard labour, let a man enjoy that, that he may be the better enabled to labour: if the good be the benefit of more gainefull labour, let a man be the more free in enjoying of it. <HI>All labour</HI> is not the &s;ame, nei|ther hath all labour the &s;ame &s;ucce&s;&s;e, but what the &s;ucce&s;&s;e is, that let a man enjoy. <HI>That he taketh under the Sunne:</HI> Let his life &s;ee the com|fort of that, which under the Sunne he hath &s;eene how to get; let o|thers al&s;o in a carefull and wi&s;e manner, &s;ee how God hath ble&s;&s;ed his labour under the Sunne: let him not eate in darkne&s;&s;e and &s;olitary &s;or|rowfulne&s;&s;e, that which he hath laboured for under the Sunne. <HI>All the dayes of his life:</HI> the Originall is, the number of the dayes of his lifes. Fir&s;t, <HI>the number of his dayes,</HI> for mans life is but a number, and as in number, there is a perfect end every where, in two as well as in three, in three as well as in foure; &s;o in mans life there may be a per|fect end every where, this day as well as to morrow, and to morrow as well as next day: and in all, man is but a day-labourer under the Sunne. Secondly, it is &s;ayd, of his <HI>lifes,</HI> (to make u&s;e of that though it be an Hebrai&s;me:) for there is the life of youth, the life of manhood, the life of age, and to every life there belongeth a different manner of enjoying the good of his labour, as well as a different kinde of labour is proper unto each of them. <HI>Which God giveth him:</HI> it is God which maketh up the number of mans dayes for him; &s;o long as he addeth his &s;upportance, they continue; when he &s;ubtracteth the &s;tay of his hand, they are ended pre&s;ently. If he give bountifully, our dayes are many; if he be &s;paring to give, our dayes are few and quickly gone. <HI>For it is his portion:</HI> his portion in this earthly <HI>Canaan,</HI> which GOD hath &s;et out for him: his portion which his labour hath gotten and po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ed. But it is but a portion, but a &s;mall portion onely of that which is provided for him; and therefore let every one &s;o enjoy this, as that he be carefull not to lo&s;e the other: let every one &s;o husband this por|tion, as that he may finde the encrea&s;e of it in the Kingdome of glory in Heaven.</P>
<PB N="159" REF="83">
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 19. When God commanded <HI>Moy&s;es</HI> to &s;trike the rocke,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Exod.</HI> 17.5. <HI>&amp;</HI> 6.</NOTE> he &s;ayth, <HI>Behold, I will &s;tand before thee there: Moy&s;es</HI> &s;triketh, but God &s;tandeth there; and it is the note of <HI>Lippomannus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lippoman|nus in Cate|na.</NOTE> <HI>Iubetur Moy&s;es a&s;tante Deo percutere petram, ne gratia tanti beneficii homini &amp; non Deo tribuatur, Moy&s;es</HI> is commanded, God being pre&s;ent, to &s;trike the rocke, lea&s;t the favour of &s;o great a benefit &s;hould be a&s;cribed to man and not to God. And &s;urely, God it is who maketh the &s;treame of wealth and riches to abound to every one: though the diligence and care of man be imployed, yet it is God who &s;tandeth by, and maketh the waters to flow. The rich therefore in e&s;tate mu&s;t be poore in &s;pirit; for &s;o <HI>Hi|larius</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hilarius.</NOTE> expoundeth the poore in &s;pirit, <HI>Qui nihil quicquam &s;uum e&s;&s;e, nihil proprium, &s;ed cuncta dono parentis unius tribui agno&s;cunt,</HI> Who acknow|ledge nothing at all to be theirs, nothing to be proper to them&s;elves, but all things to be given by one Father, even the Father of lights,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iames</HI> 1.17.</NOTE> from whom commeth every good and perfect gift, as S^t. <HI>Iames</HI> &s;peak|eth. This is that which the Preacher teacheth <HI>every man to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eate thereof.</HI> He that hath meate in his mouth, hath not power to eate it, unle&s;&s;e God doe give it unto him: without God wee are not able to doe any thing. The French tran&s;lation doth reade this very well, <HI>Dont il le fait mai|&s;tre pour en manger,</HI> whereof he is made Ma&s;ter to eate of it. For the co|vetous wretch is not ma&s;ter of his owne wealth;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Nabut. c. <HI>14.</HI></NOTE> but as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Non tam po&s;&s;e&s;&s;or e&s;t divitiarum quam ab eis po&s;&s;idetur,</HI> Is not &s;o much a po&s;&s;e&s;&s;our of his riches, as rather is po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed by them. He therefore doth not <HI>eate</HI> of his riches, that is, doth not make u&s;e of them for his nece&s;&s;ary occa&s;ions. And &s;urely, this is not done, unle&s;&s;e God doe <HI>give</HI> it, and <HI>give a power</HI> to doe it. For there be powers that doe re|&s;i&s;t men in it, even the powers of darkne&s;&s;e in their malice outwardly, and in the &s;trong power of mans owne corruption inwardly. <HI>And to take his portion:</HI> that is, &s;ayth <HI>Olympiodorus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Olympiodo|rus.</NOTE> <HI>Qui futurae foelicitatis partem hic aliquam fruitionemque accepit,</HI> Who here hath &s;ome part and fruition of his future happine&s;&s;e. And indeed to them who &s;erve God in their wealth, their riches are but the fir&s;t part, and the lea&s;t part of that ble&s;|&s;edne&s;&s;e which afterwards God will be&s;tow upon them. But <HI>to take his portion</HI> here, I under&s;tand to be, to take contentment in his portion, to be &s;atisfied with it, and not with greedine&s;&s;e of minde never to have enough. The Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> &s;peaking of the covetous <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> &s;ayth, Their land is full of &s;ilver and gold: their land, their pur&s;es, not them|&s;elves. And &s;o it is with many, to whom God doth not give a heart <HI>to take their portion</HI> with contentment. <HI>And to rejoyce in his labour.</HI> The Chaldee Paraphra&s;e applyeth this joy unto heaven, where it is,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chald. Pard.</NOTE> that true joy is to be had: and accordingly giving the &s;en&s;e of the whole ver&s;e it &s;elfe, <HI>Omnis quoque homo cui dedit Deus divitias &amp; &s;ub&s;tantiam, &amp; pote&s;tatem, dedit ei Deus ut comedat ex eo in hoc &s;aeculo, &amp; ut faciat ex eo eleemo&s;ynam, &amp; ut recipiat mercedem perfectam patris &s;ui in &s;aeculo venturo et gaudeat in labore &s;uo cum ju&s;tis,</HI> Every man al&s;o to whom God hath
<PB N="160" REF="84"> given riches and wealth, and God hath given him power that he may eate of it in this world, and that he may &s;hew charitie by it, and that he may receive a perfect reward from his Father in the world to come, and may rejoyce in his labour with the righteous. But to under&s;tand the joy of this life, <HI>to rejoyce in his labour,</HI> is beyond the &s;upplying of nece&s;&s;aries which nature requireth, even to delight him&s;elfe, and to give him&s;elfe a recompence of fitting plea&s;ure for the paines of his la|bour.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> <HI>This is the gift of God. Lyra</HI> tels us, that the gifts of God in this life, are of three degrees, <HI>Majora, media, minima,</HI> Greater, middle, le&s;&s;er; the greater are the gifts of grace and vertue, the middle are the gifts of health and &s;trength, and other bodily ble&s;&s;ings; the lea&s;t are riches and wealth. But &s;eeing the&s;e are the gift of God to man, it mu&s;t be mans care to give them to God againe.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Salvianus contrae Ava|ritiam. l. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> For as <HI>Salvianus</HI> &s;peaketh; <HI>Hoc dignior est ab&s;&abque; dubio largitate no&s;tra, quia nobis ip&s;e ante largitus e&s;t: hoc ju&s;tius ei officiis re&s;pondere tenemur quo beneficiis illius magis impares &s;u|mus,</HI> By &s;o much is he doubtle&s;&s;e more worthy of our bountie, by how much he hath been fir&s;t bountifull to us: and therefore are wee the more ju&s;tly bound to an&s;were him in our offices of dutie, becau&s;e wee are mo&s;t unable to an&s;were his favours. Many are ready to ac|knowledge their wealth to be Gods gift:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Salvianus contra Ava|ritiam. l. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> but the &s;ame Father tels us, <HI>Hoc e&s;t agno&s;cere munus Dei, ut datis &s;uis illum honoremus, &agrave; quo data ip&s;a accepimus,</HI> This is to acknowledge the gift of God, to honour him with his gifts, of whom wee have received the gifts them&s;elves.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 20. It is the &s;olicitous care of mans heart for the things of this life, that in a great mea&s;ure maketh his life mi&s;erable unto him. The Preacher therefore &s;peaking here of one that leadeth a comforta|ble life, &s;ayth, <HI>He &s;hall not much remember:</HI> not much, and yet &s;ome|thing; for he mu&s;t not be carele&s;&s;e, not wholy negligent in looking to the affayres of his life.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Mo|ral. l. <HI>9.</HI> c. <HI>40.</HI></NOTE> Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> therefore noteth well, <HI>Quia &s;olici|tos nos e&s;&s;e veritas in cra&s;tinum prohibet, habere utcunque curam in prae&s;enti|bus non negat,</HI> Becau&s;e the truth forbiddeth us to take care for to mor|row, he doth not deny but that wee may take care for the pre&s;ent. Not too little, as well as not much is the rule of Wi&s;edome and Religi|on. <HI>He &s;hall not much remember the dayes of his life:</HI> Sorrow &s;hall not make him thinke the dayes of his life to be too many, nor calling to minde how bad they have beene which he hath pa&s;t, to wi&s;h that they may be few which are to come, nor complaining as &s;hee doth in the Poet; <HI>Cur mortis adempta e&s;t conditio? Po&s;&s;em tantos finire dolores,</HI> Why is the condition of death taken away from me? I might make an end of the&s;e &s;o many griefes. But I rather take the meaning of the words to be this, He &s;hall not much thinke, nor be troubled in his minde, how to provide for the dayes of his life, he &s;hall not loo&s;e the comfort of the pre&s;ent dayes, by being &s;olicitous for the dayes to come. The foole in the Go&s;pel, who was much troubled with pulling downe and building up, <HI>Longos annorum ambitus, &s;pei vanitate in horreis &s;imul inclu|debat,</HI> Did &s;hut up all at once in his barnes, the long circuits of many
<PB N="161" REF="84"> yeares, as <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> &s;peaketh; but as the Father addeth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ny&s;|&s;en. de Ora|tione Domin.</NOTE> <HI>Annon una nox illam &s;omniatam &s;pem confutavit?</HI> Did not one night confute that dreamed hope? It is for this day, not for dayes, that our Saviour <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> doth teach us to pray. Doe not therefore <HI>much remember the dayes of thy life.</HI> Doe not take much care for many <HI>dayes:</HI> for as <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> &s;peaketh; <HI>Qui diem tibi dat, etiam ea quae ad diem pertinent dabit,</HI> He that giveth the day, will al&s;o give thee tho&s;e things which appertaine to the day: he that giveth thee many dayes, will al&s;o give thee that which &s;hall be &s;ufficient for many dayes. Who is it that maketh the Sunne to &s;hine? Who is it that maketh the darkne&s;&s;e of the night to vani&s;h away? Who is it that turneth and caryeth the heaven about, whereby he ma|keth day? Is it not God? <HI>Et qui haec tibi &amp; alia tanta dat, nunquid tuo eget auxilio, ut praestet carni tuae id quod nece&s;sitas requirit?</HI> He that giveth the&s;e, and other great things unto thee, doth he need thy helpe, that he may provide for thy &s;elfe that which nece&s;&s;itie requireth? <HI>Quae cor|vorum arva &s;unt? Quae aquilarum horrea? Annon una omnibus victum &s;uppeditat divina voluntas?</HI> What plowed fields have the crowes? What barnes have the Eagles? Doth not one divine will of God &s;up|ply food unto them all? So <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene. Becau&s;e God an&s;wereth him in the joy of his heart.</HI> This tran&s;lation &s;uppo&s;eth a que&s;tion to be made, and indeed it is a common que&s;tion in &s;olicitous worldly hearts, <HI>Quid faciam?</HI> What &s;hall I doe? What &s;hall I doe the next yeare? What &s;hall I doe in mine old age? What &s;hall I doe all the dayes of my life? The rich foole in the Go&s;pel, making this que&s;tion in the Go&s;pel, <HI>Chry&s;ologus</HI> would know who it is to whom he &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;ologus, Serm. <HI>104.</HI></NOTE> and of whom he asketh it, and &s;uppo&s;ing it to be &s;ome one within him, he conclu|deth it to be the devill, who po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth the hearts of &s;uch &s;olicitous worldly people. But here God an&s;wereth, and that the que&s;tion might not be asked, he an&s;wereth before hand, by giving a joyfulne&s;&s;e and cheerefulne&s;&s;e of heart, which relying upon Gods providence and goodne&s;&s;e, is not troubled with &s;uch vexation of thoughts. Where|fore <HI>Chry&s;ologus</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Noli homo inania providendo gemere,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;ologus, Serm. <HI>163.</HI></NOTE> <HI>noli caduca praeparando laborare, quia prandii tui &s;emper &amp; ubique Deus praeparator exi|&s;tit, et Creatoris ad prandium tota concurrit et advolat creatura,</HI> O man doe not &s;igh in providing vaine things, doe not labour in preparing fading things, becau&s;e God is the preparer of thy dinner, at all times, and e|very where, and to the dinner of the Creatour, even all the creatures run and fly together. <HI>Cajetane</HI> readeth the latter part of the ver&s;e thus, <HI>Quia Deus te&s;tificatus e&s;t in laetitia cordis ejus,</HI> Becau&s;e God hath te&s;tified in the joy of his heart: and this indeed is the mo&s;t direct and proper &s;ignification of the Hebrew, as <HI>Tremellius</HI> al&s;o noteth. The meaning of the words, as <HI>Cajetane</HI> tran&s;lateth them, him&s;elfe giveth to be this,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cajetan. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Quia Deus dando in corde divitis jugem laetitiam, e&s;t tanquam praebens te|&s;timonium foelicitatis ejus,</HI> Becau&s;e God giving in the heart of &s;uch a rich man a continuall cheerefulne&s;&s;e, doth as it were give te&s;timony and
<PB N="162" REF="85"> witne&s;&s;e of his happine&s;&s;e. The Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> here u&s;ed, may al&s;o be tran&s;lated, <HI>Canens,</HI> &s;inging, as if God him&s;elfe did &s;ing in the heart of &s;uch a one, and make mu&s;ick unto him, to make him merry, and cheerefull, and joyfull. But from any tran&s;lation, we may note that God is not onely in a &s;trict, rigid, &s;evere and &s;ower looking heart, but in a merry and light&s;ome and free heart al&s;o. The Ruler did &s;end for his gue&s;ts from the open wayes to come to his fea&s;t, and they that live in an open and &s;ociable freedome of life, may be as welcome to God, as they Who&s;e cariage is compo&s;ed of an au&s;tere &s;everitie and gravitie. Vpon tho&s;e words in the <HI>Canticles,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cant. <HI>3.2.</HI> Gilbertus in Cantica.</NOTE> In the broad wayes I will &s;eeke him whom my &s;oule loveth, <HI>Gilbertus</HI> noteth, <HI>Non dedignatur etiam ab his qui foris &s;unt qui nulla arctioris vitae regula con&s;tringuntur mutuari virtutis in&s;ignia, reputans ferventiorem ibi frequenter affectum, ubi inferior fuerit ordinis gradus,</HI> Shee di&s;daineth not even from them who are without, and who are not bound with the rule of a &s;trict life, to bor|row the ornaments of vertue, reckoning that oftentimes there is more ardent affection, where there is a lower degree of orderly au&s;teritie and &s;trictne&s;&s;e.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="163" REF="85">
<HEAD>CHAPTER. VI.</HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1-5" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 1.</HI></BIBL> There is an evill which J have &s;eene under the Sunne, and it is common among&s;t men.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 2.</HI></BIBL> A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth and honour, &s;o that he wanteth no|thing for his &s;oule of all that he de&s;ireth; yet God giveth him not power to eate ther|of, but a stranger eateth it: This is vani|ty, and it is an evill di&s;ea&s;e.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 3.</HI></BIBL> If a man beget an hundred children, and live many yeares, &s;o that the dayes of his yeeres bee many, and his &s;oule be not filled with good, and al&s;o that he hath no buriall, J &s;ay that an untimely birth is better then hee.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 4.</HI></BIBL> For he commeth in with vanity, and depar|teth in darkne&s;&s;e, and his name &s;hall bee covered with darkne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 5.</HI></BIBL> Moreover he hath not &s;eene the Sunne, nor knowne any thing: this hath more re&s;t then the other.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 1. _IN this life which is filled with evils, in which re&s;pect <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Nemo vitam eligeret &s;i &s;ci|enti daretur,</HI> No one would choo&s;e life, if it were propo&s;ed to one that did know it: ea&s;ie it is to him that looketh any way, to &s;ay, <HI>there is an evill,</HI> and there is an evill, and therefore no marvell it is that the
<PB N="164" REF="86"> Preacher doth &s;o often &s;ay it: When our Saviour wept, <HI>Lazarus</HI> being dead,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Doluit Lazarum non dormientum, &s;ed potius re|&s;urgentum, &amp; flebat quem cogebatur propter &s;alvandos alios ad &s;aeculum re|vocare, hanc vitam dans Dominus ingemi&s;cebat,</HI> He lamented <HI>Lazarus</HI> not &s;leeping, but rather ri&s;ing againe, and he wept for him, whom he was con&s;trained for the &s;alvation of others, to bring backe into the world, giving him this life he groaned.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Concilium <HI>4^m.</HI> Toleta|num.</NOTE> And &s;o the fourth Councell of <HI>Toledo, Non ploravit Lazarum mortuum, &s;ed ad hujus vitae aerumnas re&s;u&s;citandum,</HI> He wept not for <HI>Lazarus</HI> being dead, but becau&s;e he was to be rai&s;ed to the mi&s;eries of this life againe. And &s;urely, as it is ea&s;ie to &s;ee the evils of this life, &s;o it is not ea&s;ie to keepe the eyes from teares in the &s;eeing of them. <HI>Which I have &s;eene:</HI> the Preacher was diligent in looking into the evils of mans life: and &s;urely, it is good to &s;ee and con&s;ider them, that &s;o wee may the more rightly judge of this life, and may bee the more willing to leave it, and to goe to a better. Wherefore Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> writing to <HI>Heliodorus</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. Ep. <HI>3.</HI> quae est ad Helio|dorum.</NOTE> <HI>O &s;i po&s;&s;emus a&s;cendere in &s;p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">ulam, de qua uni|ver&s;am terram &s;ub no&s;tris pedibus cerneremus! jam tibi <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;tenderem orbis to|tius ruinas, gentes gentibus, &amp; regnis regna colli&s;a, alios tor<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">eri, alios necari, alios ab&s;orberi fluctibus, alios ad &s;ervitutem trahi,</HI> O that, we could a&s;cend &s;ome high watch Tower, from which we might behold the whole earth under our feete; I would even now &s;hew thee nation again&s;t nation, kingdome again&s;t kingdome buckling together, &s;ome to bee tortured, others to be killed, &s;ome to be &s;wallowed up in the Waves, others to be haled into bondage. It is one end for which God hath filled mans life with evils, that wee &s;eeing them might not mi&s;take our journey for our home. For travellers falling in their way upon &s;ome plea&s;ant pla|ces, it is not &s;eldome, <HI>Quod eorum gre&s;&s;us tardet pulchritudo itineris dum delectet,</HI> that the plea&s;ure of their journey hindereth their going on, while that it doth delight them. And therefore while we are journying to heaven, it is needfull to &s;ee and ob&s;erve the evils of the earth, <HI>Ne magis nos diu pergere quam citius pervenire delectet,</HI> Le&s;t we be more delighted to be long in going,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>11.</HI></NOTE> then quickly to come unto it, as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peak|eth. <HI>Vnder the Sunne:</HI> it is under the Sunne that all the evill is, above the Sunne there is nothing but good. There be as Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peak|eth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;ius.</NOTE> <HI>Omnia bona in uno bono,</HI> All good things in one that is good. <HI>Quid enim ibi dee&s;&s;e pote&s;t, ubi Deus e&s;t, cui nihil dee&s;t?</HI> For what can there bee wanting, where God is to whom nothing is wanting? There it is as Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernardus.</NOTE> <HI>Vbi nihil &s;it quod nolis, &amp; ubi totum &s;it quod velis,</HI> where there is nothing which thou woulde&s;t not, and where there is eve|ry thing which thou woulde&s;t. <HI>Ibi e&s;t quicquid expedit, quicquid delectat, omnes divitiae, omnis requies, omne &s;olatium,</HI> There is what&s;oever is need|full, what&s;oever is delightfull, all re&s;t, all comfort. There is <HI>Vita &s;ine morte, juventus &s;ine &s;enectute, lux &s;ine tenebris, gaudium &s;ine tri&s;titia, regnum &s;ine commutatione,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. Serm. <HI>49.</HI> ad fratres in cremo.</NOTE> life without death, youth without old age, light with|out darkne&s;&s;e, joy without &s;orrow, a kingdome without changing, as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh. There the brightne&s;&s;e of glory doth as farre
<PB N="165" REF="86"> exceed the Sunne, as the brightne&s;&s;e of the Sunne exceedeth all things that are under it. <HI>And it is common among men:</HI> to name man, is to name the &s;ubject of evill, and therefore St. <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> defineth man to be,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;ilius Homil. <HI>11.</HI> in Hexamer.</NOTE> <HI>Animal deciduum, ab ip&s;a mox effu&s;ione uteri materni ad extrema &s;enectae lineam ag|men &s;ecum trahens inexplicabilium malorum, veluti &s;entinam quandam ex|haurit,</HI> A living creature &s;ubject to falling, which in&s;tantly from his &s;hedding out from his mothers wombe even to the la&s;t line of his old age, drawing with him a troope of unexpre&s;&s;able evils doth as it were empty and draw out the &s;incke of them. Among men therefore who are the common &s;ubject of all evils, no marvell if one evill be common. One evill may be common among many, when many evils are &s;o com|monly upon one.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 2. In my meditations upon this pa&s;&s;age of the Preacher, the rich man in the Go&s;pell hath often come into my mind: but here mee thinkes the two Preachers doe handle the &s;ame Text, and that which here the Preacher of I&s;rael delivereth by way of doctrine, the Preacher of the Vniver&s;all Church doth there exemplifie by a parable. The rich man there, is here <HI>a man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour:</HI> which words <HI>Lyra</HI> doth thus di&s;tingui&s;h,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> by riches under|&s;tanding <HI>artificiales divitas, aurum &amp; argentum,</HI> artificiall riches, gold and &s;ilver, by wealth under&s;tanding <HI>naturales divitias,</HI> naturall riches, as corne and other fruits of the earth, by honour under&s;tanding, <HI>&s;tatum honorificum</HI> a great and glorious e&s;tate. But to take them altogether, it is God that giveth them. For as the P&s;almi&s;t &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 95.4.</NOTE> In his hand are all the deepe places of the earth, all the deepe mines of gold and &s;ilver are in his hand, and as <HI>Chry&s;ologus</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Quae in manu Dei &s;unt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;ologus Serm. <HI>46.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;ine Deo nequeunt obtineri,</HI> Tho&s;e things which are in Gods hand cannot bee obtained without God. Our Saviour Chri&s;t &s;peaketh al&s;o of the riches which the earth bringeth forth, and which in a more evident manner are the gift of God to man. <HI>So that he wanteth nothing for his &s;oule:</HI> that is, <HI>animae concupi&s;centi</HI> his de&s;iring &s;oule, for &s;o the Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ig|nifieth. <HI>Of all that hee de&s;ireth:</HI> this is to bee under&s;tood in his owne thoughts and imagination,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luk.</HI> 12.19.</NOTE> according as the rich foole in the Go&s;pell &s;aid to his &s;oule, &s;oule thou ha&s;t much goods layd up for many yeeres, take thine ea&s;e, eate, drinke, and be merry, <HI>Migraturae mox animae con|dita &s;atis longa praeparaus,</HI> providing for his &s;oule which was pre&s;ently to be gone away things laid up for a long time. And wee may marke in both places, how both are for their owne &s;ouls, for their own de&s;ires: they who have &s;o much for them&s;elves have nothing for the poore &s;oules of others. Others may begge and de&s;ire in their wants and nece&s;&s;ities, but nothing is granted, to &s;upply their wants, to &s;atisfie their de&s;ires. <HI>Humanus agerinhumanum dominum &s;u&s;tinebat,</HI> A kind and liberall field in bringing forth fruit,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;ologus Serm. <HI>104.</HI></NOTE> &s;u&s;tained an unkind and mi&s;erable ma&s;ter, &s;aith <HI>Chry&s;ologus</HI> of him in the Go&s;pell: and here a gracious and bountifull God giveth riches, and wealth and honour, to an ungracious and wretched man, who will give nothing to others that &s;tand in need
<PB N="166" REF="87"> of his helpe. But therefore <HI>God doth not give him power to eate of it,</HI> that is, his life is cut off, the powers of darkne&s;&s;e doe take away his &s;oule, according as in the Go&s;pell it is &s;aid,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. <HI>12.20.</HI> Chry&s;ologus Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Hac nocte repetunt animam tuam,</HI> This night they require thy &s;oule of thee. Where <HI>Chry&s;ologus</HI> noteth, <HI>Sanctorum animas Deus repetit, &amp; reducit; tartarei mini&s;tri repetunt &amp; pertrahunt animas impiorum,</HI> God requireth the &s;oules of the righteous, and taketh them backe to him&s;elfe who gave them; but the mini&s;ters of hell require the &s;oules of the wicked and dragge them away. Thus the rich foole <HI>horreorum &s;uorum &s;eras negando aliis, &s;ibi conclu&s;it;</HI> by barring up his barnes, and denying reliefe to others did &s;hut them up to him&s;elfe, and had not power to eate thereof: thus he who wanted as he thought nothing for his &s;oule that he could de&s;ire, wanted his &s;oule, and that was taken from him, when &s;o much wealth was given him. <HI>But a &s;tranger eateth it:</HI> and whereas it is &s;aid in the Go&s;pell, then who&s;e &s;hall the&s;e things bee,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> which thou ha&s;t provided? that is &s;aith <HI>Lyra, Qua&s;i diceret, alieni habebunt,</HI> As if he &s;hould &s;ay, &s;trangers &s;hall have them. So that as <HI>Chry&s;ologus</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>E&s;t alienorum cu&s;tos, qui e&s;&s;e &s;uorom noluit pro|rogator, ingratus Deo, &s;ibi nequam,</HI> He is but the keeper of the things of &s;trangers, who will not be a charitable di&s;pen&s;er of his own, unthankfull to God, pernicious to him&s;elfe. And is not this <HI>then a vanity and an evill di&s;ea&s;e?</HI> A vanity of the world, and an evill di&s;ea&s;e of humane nature. For though the man be dead, it is but an evill di&s;ea&s;e of the corrupted nature of man, to which it is &s;ubject, and whereof it is &s;icke. Many particular men are taken away by it: and they that are living, may there|in &s;ee the infirme frailty of humane condition. When men have plenty and flouri&s;h in abundance, they promi&s;e to them&s;elves long joy, much delight, even all that their &s;oule de&s;ireth; but then doth God take away their lifes,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;ologus Ibid.</NOTE> and as <HI>Chry&s;ologus</HI> &s;peaketh of him in the Go&s;pell, <HI>Sic praeven|tus e&s;t, ut magis cogitata perderet, quam bona,</HI> Hee was &s;o prevented, that he might rather loo&s;e his thoughts then his goods; in like manner then doth God cut off the lives of many, as well to &s;hew them the vanity of their thoughts, as to &s;hew them and others the vanity of mans e&s;tate on earth.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Olympiodo|rus in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> <HI>Olympiodorus</HI> applying this ver&s;e in a morall &s;en&s;e, tels us, <HI>Saepe accidit, ut aliquis magnas &s;ibi divitias in dicendi copia &amp; in &s;cientia Scriptura|rum comparavit, aliarum&abque; rerum cognitione, &s;ed quia deinde foeditas morum &agrave; verbis &s;uis di&s;sidet ac doctrina; hinc fit ut qui in libros illius traditione&s;&abque; incidunt, magnam inde ip&s;i quidem utilitatem capiant, nihil vero ip&s;e autor emolumenti perceperit,</HI> Oftentimes it commeth to pa&s;&s;e, that &s;ome one hath gotten to him&s;elfe a great fluency of &s;peech, and a great abun|dance in the knowledge of the Scriptures and of other things; but be|cau&s;e the lewdne&s;&s;e of his manners departeth and di&s;agreeth both from his words and doctrine, hence it is that they who meete with his books and in&s;tructions, doe gather from them much profit to them&s;elves, but the author him&s;elfe reapeth no benefit from them. One thing more let me note, which the earne&s;tne&s;&s;e of my thoughts pa&s;&s;ed by: and that is the difference betweene devouring or &s;wallowing, and eating: for
<PB N="167" REF="87"> none devoure or &s;wallow more then covetous wretches; <HI>but God doth not give them power to eate it,</HI> &s;o that it is not turned into the nouri&s;hment of any comfort to them. And what is that but a vanitie of feeding? What is that but an evill di&s;ea&s;e of an ill tempered and ordered &s;to|macke?</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 3. But put ca&s;e &s;ayth the Preacher, that <HI>a &s;tranger doth not eate of it,</HI> and that him&s;elfe <HI>beget an hundred children,</HI> whereof it is likely, that &s;ome will outlive him, to have his e&s;tate and wealth after him: and put ca&s;e that his life be not taken away, but that <HI>he liveth many yeares,</HI> even as many more as he begetteth children, and that <HI>the dayes of his yeares</HI> be exceeding many; yet if being filled with yeares, if being filled with children, <HI>his &s;oule be not filled with good,</HI> with the good of contentment in that which he hath, with the good of comfort in expecting a reward for that which he hath done: <HI>and al&s;o that he have no buriall:</HI> to take the&s;e words to &s;ignifie no more, then the reproach of not being bury|ed, which the Prophet <HI>Ieremiah</HI> denounced again&s;t <HI>Iehojakim,</HI> &s;aying, <HI>that he &s;hould be buryed with the buriall of an A&s;&s;e,</HI> that is,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iere.</HI> 22.19.</NOTE> &s;hould be ca&s;t forth to rot above ground, is to bury the force and worth of the Prea|chers meaning. And yet how to lay it open well, is not a thing of ea&s;ie worth. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> giveth diver&s;e interpretations of it; as, fir&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc. ver&s;.</NOTE> that he doth not thinke of his buriall, thinke of his death, but becau&s;e he hath lived many yeares, and hath much layd up for many yeares more, therefore hath no buriall in his minde, hath no remembrance of his death to be ready for it. Or &s;econdly, <HI>hath no buriall,</HI> that is, his covetous heart, which hath gathered &s;o much in his life, will not allow any thing at his death to be &s;pent upon his buriall, will not &s;pare any thing to the building of a Sepulchre for him&s;elfe. Or, thirdly, <HI>hath no buriall,</HI> be|cau&s;e being a&s;&s;aulted and murdered for his wealth, his wealth is taken from him, and no buriall is given to him. Or la&s;tly, which S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> approoveth be&s;t, becau&s;e he hath done no good nor worthy thing, whereby to pre&s;erve his memory among po&s;teritie, and not to &s;uffer his life to pa&s;&s;e away in &s;ilence as a bea&s;t, whereas he had enough, and might have done enough, whereby it might have appeared, that he had lived. To the&s;e let me adde &s;ome other expo&s;itions which I have thought upon. As fir&s;t, <HI>he hath no buriall,</HI> that is, there is no mour|ning nor lamentation for him, but as he did no good while he lived, &s;o no one is &s;orry that he is dead. Or &s;econdly, <HI>he hath no buriall,</HI> be|cau&s;e although dead, yet he is as it were not dead,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Salv. contr&agrave; Avaritiam lib. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Et quum Deus ju&s;|&s;erit viventem opibus renuntiare, ille eas cupit in liberis &amp; cognatis &s;uis etiam mortuus po&s;sidere,</HI> And when God commandeth the living to renounce his riches, he being dead de&s;ire &s;till to po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e them in his children and kindred, leaving all to them, as <HI>Salvianus</HI> &s;peaketh. But as the &s;ame Father al&s;o hath it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Salv. contra Avaritiam. l. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Propinqua vobis ve&s;tra pignora e&s;&s;e &amp; conjuncti&s;|&s;ima &s;atis certum e&s;t; &s;ed mihi credite, nemo vobis propinquior, nemo conjun|ctior, quam vos ip&s;i. Amate itaque, non ob&s;i&s;timus, amate filios ve&s;tros, &s;ed &s;ecundo gradu &agrave; vobis; ita illos diligite, ne vos odi&s;&s;e videamini. Incon|&s;ultus
<PB N="168" REF="88"> nam&abque; &amp; &s;tultus amor e&s;t, alterius memor, &amp; &s;ui immemor,</HI> That your children are neere and deare unto you is a certaine thing, but be|leeve me, there is none more neere and deare unto you then your &s;elves: love therefore, we forbid you not, love your children, but in a &s;econd degree to your &s;elves, doe you &s;o love them, as that you be not &s;eene to hate your &s;elves. It is an unadvi&s;ed and fooli&s;h love, which is mind|full of others,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Nazianzene Orat. <HI>2.</HI> in Pa&s;ch.</NOTE> but forgetfull of him&s;elfe. Wherefore as <HI>Nazianzene</HI> &s;peaketh, when yee goe out of Aegypt, take &s;omething with you, leave not all to them, who perhaps <HI>Scelerate quae&s;ita &s;celeratius con&s;ument,</HI> will con&s;ume more wickedly tho&s;e things which were wickedly gotten. Shew thy &s;elfe to be dead, by giving &s;omething to pious u&s;es, <HI>that &s;o thou mayst bee buried.</HI> Or el&s;e <HI>he hath no buriall,</HI> becau&s;e although men doe give him buriall, yet God doth not. God taketh care of the dead bo|dies of his &s;ervants, he taketh order for their buriall: and therefore hee &s;aith to <HI>Iacob</HI> going downe to Aegypt,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 46.4. <HI>Gen.</HI> 50.13.</NOTE> I will &s;urely bring thee up againe: which he did when <HI>Iacob</HI> was dead, bringing up his dead body to be bu|ryed in the Sepulcher of his fathers. But as for the wicked, God doth not bury them, he doth not lay them up in his Cabinet, untill hee &s;hall bring them forth againe in the glorious Re&s;urrection. The covetous wretch hath no buriall from God, for God is not left his heire, God is not left his executour, God is not made Over&s;eer of his will: it be|longeth to them to looke to that and to doe it, God was not remem|bred at all by him, God therefore looketh not after him. But what a wrong is this to God? Is not hee the true ma&s;ter of all mens e&s;tates? What are we all but <HI>po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ores u&s;ufructuarii,</HI> po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ours only of the u&s;e of that which we have?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Salvianus contra Ava|ritiam. l. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> Wherefore as <HI>Salv.</HI> &s;peakes, <HI>tenuimus quoad licuit, tenuimus quoad permi&s;it ille qui prae&s;titit, quid rectius? quid hone&s;tius? quam ut ubi res ab eo di&s;cedit, qui u&s;um habuit, revertatutr ad eum po&s;&s;e&s;sio, qui uten|dum conce&s;sit,</HI> we have had our e&s;tates as long as we could, we have had it, as long as he plea&s;ed who lent it unto us, what is more right? what more hone&s;t? then that whereas the e&s;tate goeth from him who had the u&s;e of it, the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion doe returne to him, who granted it to bee u&s;ed. But as for him who thus dying <HI>hath no buryall,</HI> hath not God to bu|ry him, the Preacher pronounceth of him, <HI>I &s;ay that an untimely birth is better than hee: I &s;ay,</HI> hee that gave his wi&s;e judgement of the two chil|dren the one living the other dead, doth here give his judgement of an untimely birth, and an untimely death. For death is alwaies untimely unto a covetous wretch, hee is alwayes unwilling to part with his riches, and hee is never ready and fit to depart out of the fle&s;h: Now ju&s;tly is the untimely birth preferred. For the one comming too &s;oone into the world comes not at all; the other being not fit to goe out of the world, when he is gone is fit only for torments in hell. The one delivered from the mi&s;eries of this life, commeth not nere the &s;orrowes of the next; the other having made this mi&s;erable life more mi&s;erable to him&s;elfe by his wretched covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e, doth make hell even covetous and greedy to devoure him. Where his puni&s;hment &s;hall never be filled up, as here
<PB N="169" REF="88"> his heart was not with the things of this world.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 4. Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;peaking unto man, &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. Ser. de primord. med. &amp; no|vi&s;&s;. Augu&s;tin. l. cui tit. Spe|culum pecca|to.</NOTE> <HI>Cogita unde veneris, &amp; erube&s;ce, ubi &s;is &amp; ingemi&s;ce, quo vaedis &amp; contremi&s;ce,</HI> Thinke from whence thou came&s;t, and be a&s;hamed, where thou art, and &s;igh for &s;orrow, whither thou goe&s;t, and tremble with angui&s;h. Saint <HI>Au|&s;tin</HI> al&s;o &s;peaking unto man, &s;ayth, <HI>Intelligar ergo in quantum &s;it ingre&s;&s;us tuus flebilis, progre&s;&s;us tuus debilis, et egre&s;&s;us tuus horribilis,</HI> Vnder&s;tand therefore how lamentable thy comming is, how feeble thy going on is, how terrible thy going out is. It is the like manner of expre&s;&s;ing him&s;elfe, and of &s;etting out mans mi&s;ery and condition which here the Preacher u&s;eth. <HI>He commeth in with vanitie:</HI> with the vanitie of Originall corruption, <HI>and departeth in darkne&s;&s;e,</HI> in the darkne&s;&s;e of his actuall tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions. For the&s;e are darkne&s;&s;e indeed, by which the light of Gods favour is darkened and kept from us, the light of know|ledge is darkned and &s;hut up in us, by which the darkne&s;&s;e of eternall mi&s;ery is brought upon us. Saint <HI>Austin</HI> noteth, <HI>Non dicit Deus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. in P&s;al. <HI>8.</HI></NOTE> <HI>fiant tenebrae, et factae &s;unt, et tamen tenebras ordinavit, et divi&s;it &agrave; luce tenebras,</HI> God did not &s;ay, Let there be darkne&s;&s;e, and there was darkne&s;&s;e, but yet God ordered the darkne&s;&s;e, and divided the darkne&s;&s;e from the light: it is &s;o with the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions of men, God never &s;ayd, Let them be, but having their being from man, he ordereth them, and by his ju&s;tice divideth them from the light of happine&s;&s;e. But here is no|thing &s;ayd of the covetous wretches life; his vaine comming in, his darke going out mentioned; wee reade nothing of his wretched life, as if that were not worthy to be remembred. And indeed, it followes, <HI>His name &s;hall be covered with darkne&s;&s;e.</HI> Whereby is not meant onely, that his name &s;hall be forgotten, for then it had been enough to have &s;ayd, <HI>his name &s;hall be covered.</HI> But &s;eeing it is added, that <HI>his name &s;hall be covered with darkne&s;&s;e,</HI> it is meant that the foulene&s;&s;e and blackne&s;&s;e of his actions, &s;hall make his name to be as a thing abhorred to be thought upon. And &s;urely, when vanitie lets him in, and darkne&s;&s;e &s;huts him out, what could it be but wretchedne&s;&s;e that kept him com|pany in the meane while? But it &s;eemeth to me that the Originall here may not ami&s;&s;e be tran&s;lated, <HI>He commeth into vanitie, and goeth into darkne&s;&s;e.</HI> Fir&s;t, he commeth into vanitie:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in P&s;al. <HI>118.</HI> Octon. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;hewing the vanitie of mans life, and that it is but a &s;hadow, telleth us, that when the Sonne of God was borne of the Virgin, it is &s;ayd, that the power of the highe&s;t over&s;hadowed her, <HI>Quia in umbram de&s;cendit, ab umbra in|cipiens operari &s;alutem hominis, et con&s;ummaturus claritate &s;olis aeterni,</HI> Be|cau&s;e he de&s;cended into a &s;hadow, from a &s;hadow beginning to worke the &s;alvation of man, which he will fini&s;h in the brightne&s;&s;e of the eternall Sunne.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. I|bid.</NOTE> And the &s;ame Father con&s;idering the words of <HI>Da|vid, I will live and keepe thy words;</HI> thereupon noteth, <HI>Vivam ait, qua&s;i nondum vivens; hic enim in umbra vivimus. Ergo vita i&s;ta in corpore, umbra e&s;t vitae, et imago, non veritas,</HI> He &s;ayth, I will live, as not living yet, for here wee live in a &s;hadow. This life there|fore
<PB N="170" REF="89"> in the body, is a &s;hadow and an image of life, not the truth of it. Secondly, <HI>He goeth into darkne&s;&s;e: &s;ed forte tales e&s;&s;e putet homo, quales pa|tiuntur in carceribus inclu&s;i. Vtinam tales e&s;&s;ent, tamen in talibus nemo vult e&s;&s;e. In his autem carcerum tenebris po&s;sint includi &amp; innocentes. In tali|bus enim tenebris &s;unt inclu&s;i martyres,</HI> But perhaps &s;ome one may thinke this darkne&s;&s;e to be &s;uch, as they &s;uffer who are &s;hut up in pri&s;on. I wi&s;h that it were &s;uch, but yet in this darkne&s;&s;e no one would willingly be. But in the darkne&s;&s;e of pri&s;ons, innocents may be &s;hut up: for in &s;uch darkne&s;&s;e Martyrs have beene impri&s;oned,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. Homil. <HI>40.</HI></NOTE> as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh. This therefore is another <HI>darkne&s;&s;e,</HI> this is that outer darkne&s;&s;e of which the Scripture &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augustin. in P&s;al. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> and into which he is ca&s;t, <HI>Qui extra Deum peni|tus e&s;t, quoniam dum tempus e&s;t corrigi noluerit,</HI> Who is without GOD wholy, becau&s;e when there was time, he would not be corrected, as S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. l. <HI>7.</HI> in Lucam.</NOTE> So doth S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> al&s;o expound the outer darkne&s;&s;e, &s;aying, <HI>Quicunque extra &s;unt promi&s;&s;a coele&s;tium mandatorum, in tenebris ex|terior<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">bus &s;unt: quia mandata Dei lumen &s;unt. Et quicunque &s;ine Chri&s;to est, in tenebris e&s;t, quia lumen in tenebris e&s;t Chri&s;tus,</HI> Who&s;oever are without the promi&s;es of the heavenly commandements, they are in outer dark|ne&s;&s;e, becau&s;e the commandements of God are light. Who&s;oever is without Chri&s;t, he is darkne&s;&s;e, becau&s;e Chri&s;t is a light in darkne&s;&s;e. And of this outer darkne&s;&s;e S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Penitus autem e&s;&s;e extra Deum, quid e&s;t ni&s;i e&s;&s;e in &s;umma caecitate?</HI> But to be wholy without God, what is it but to be in extreame darkne&s;&s;e? Into this darkne&s;&s;e there|fore it is that the &s;oule of a covetous wretch goeth, when the life into which he came is vani&s;hed away. And When his &s;oule thus lyeth in the darkne&s;&s;e of horrour, when his body lyeth in the darkne&s;&s;e of the grave, then is his name al&s;o covered, either with the darkne&s;&s;e of &s;i|lence, abhorring to mention it, or if it be mentioned, with the dark|ne&s;&s;e of reproaches that are ca&s;t upon it.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 5. The Preacher having &s;hewed in the former ver&s;e the con|dition of the covetous wretch, here he &s;heweth the condition of the a|bortive childe, and from the &s;ight of both confirmeth his &s;entence, that the abortive childe is in better condition. For as <HI>he hath not &s;eene the Sunne,</HI> &s;o neither hath he &s;een the mi&s;eries that are under the Sunne, neither hath the Sunne &s;eene his &s;orrow and labour in the enduring of them. His eye hath not beheld the glory of the Sunne, and the Sunne which is the eye of the world, hath not beheld the wretchedne&s;&s;e of his life.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. Hexam. l. <HI>4.</HI> c. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> It is true, that the Sunne is <HI>Iucunditas diei, coeli pulchritudo, na|turae gratia, prae&s;tantia creaturae,</HI> The &s;weetne&s;&s;e of the day, the beauty of heaven, the grace of nature, the excellency of the creature, as S^t. <HI>Am|bro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh: but yet as the &s;ame Father addeth, <HI>Non te tanto &s;plendori Solis temere committas,</HI> Commit not thy &s;elfe ra&s;hly to &s;o great a bright|ne&s;&s;e of the Sunne. I have read of &s;ome, who when the Sunne ri&s;eth, doe cur&s;e it alwayes, in re&s;pect of the &s;corching heate of it, and when it goeth downe,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. I|bid.</NOTE> then they rejoyce. And S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> tels us, <HI>In mari po|&s;itus illum nauta accu&s;at, in montibus illum pa&s;tor declinat,</HI> The mariner on
<PB N="171" REF="89"> the Sea accu&s;eth the hot beames of it, the &s;hepheard on the mountaines flyeth to the &s;hadow from it. Wherefore the good of the Sunne hath evils al&s;o with it; and &s;o many are the evils of mans life under it, that rather then to &s;uffer the darkne&s;&s;e of them, it is better not to enjoy the light of the Sunne. But if he that &s;hall &s;ee the Sunne of the heavens, &s;hall not have his eye upon the Sunne of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, to walke in his wayes: &s;urely much better were it for him, not to have &s;eene the Sunne at all. For as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;ius, Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Si caeco damnum e&s;t hujus &s;olis gratiam non videre, quantum peccatori damnum vero luminis munere defraudato, per|petuae noctis tenebras &s;u&s;tinere?</HI> If it be a lo&s;&s;e to a blind man not to &s;ee the comfort of this Sunne, how great a lo&s;&s;e is it to a &s;inner, being depri|ved of the favour of the true light, to &s;uffer the darkne&s;&s;e of an eternall night? <HI>Nor knowne any thing:</HI> but as he hath not knowne any thing that is good, &s;o hath he not knowne any thing that is evill; as he hath not knowne the world, &s;o he hath not knowne the &s;orrowes of the world, neither hath the world knowne him turmoyled and di&s;tre&s;&s;ed in them. It is true, as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh; <HI>Scire bonum, melius e&s;t quam ne&s;cire, &amp; ei qui bonum &s;cit, pulchrum e&s;t etiam &s;cire quod malum e&s;t; ut &s;ciat pravum vitare, &amp; ut prudens lubeat cu&s;todiae cautionem,</HI> It is better to know good, then not to know it, and to him that knoweth good, it is a gracefull thing to know al&s;o what is evill, that &s;o he may know to &s;hun the evill, and being wi&s;e may be cautelous to keepe him&s;elfe from it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Paradi&s;o. c. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE> But as the Father addeth; <HI>Ita debes &s;cire utrumque ut profunde noveris, et quod no|veris exequaris, actu&s;que &s;cientiae congruat. Alioquin tolerabiliorem &s;crip|tura judicat eum, qui utrumque ne&s;cit. Gravat enim &s;cire, quod vel exequi vel vitare non velis: gravat &s;cire quod vel exequi vel vitare non po&s;sis,</HI> Thou mu&s;t &s;o know both, as that thou know them &s;oundly, and do&s;t execute that which thou knowe&s;t, and that thine actions agree to thy know|ledge. Otherwi&s;e the Scripture judgeth him more tolerable (which word <HI>Tremellius</HI> u&s;eth in this ver&s;e,) who knoweth not either. For it is a burden to know that, which thou wilt not either performe being good, or avoyd being evill: it is a burden to know that which thou can&s;t not doe being good, or &s;hun being evill. And therefore more tolerable is the condition of the abortive, then of the covetous wretch. <HI>That hath more re&s;t then the other:</HI> What the re&s;t of the other is,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>16.</HI> c. <HI>29.</HI></NOTE> S^t. <HI>Gre|gory</HI> &s;heweth; <HI>Qui in hoc appetit mundo pro&s;perari, caeteros excedere rebus, &amp; honoribus tumere, huic n<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">mirum cura &s;aecularis in delectatione e&s;t, &amp; quies in labore, vald&egrave; enim fatigatur, &s;i de&s;it cura &s;aeculi qua fatigatur,</HI> He that de&s;ireth to flouri&s;h in this world, to exceede others in &s;ub&s;tance, and to &s;well in honours, to him the care of the world is a delight, and his re&s;t is in labour; For he is very weary, if that he want the care of the world which may make him weary. O what wretched re&s;t is this! Sure|ly, it is not in this world that re&s;t is to be found.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;ius in Euangel. Lu. c. <HI>9.</HI></NOTE> Wherefore S^t. <HI>Am|bro&s;e</HI> noteth, <HI>Sex diebus mundus est factus, &s;eptimo requietum e&s;t die: ultra mundum ergo e&s;t quies, ultra mundum etiam fructus quietis,</HI> In &s;ix dayes the world was made, on the &s;eventh day there was re&s;t; it is beyond this
<PB N="172" REF="90"> world therefore that re&s;t is, and it is beyond this world that the fruit of re&s;t is to be had. For what re&s;t can there be here, <HI>Vbi multa cautela cu&s;to|ditur &s;alus corporis, cu&s;todita etiam amittitur, ami&s;&s;a cum gravi labore repara|tur, et tamen reparata in dubio &s;emper e&s;t,</HI> Where the health of the body is pre&s;erved with much watchfulne&s;&s;e, being pre&s;erved is al&s;o lo&s;t, being lo&s;t is recovered with much labour, and yet being recovered is alwayes in danger &amp; doubtfulne&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>11.</HI> c. <HI>26.</HI></NOTE> what will become of it, as S^t. <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaks? What re&s;t is there in this world, <HI>Vbi amamus amicos &s;u&s;picati, ne offendi valeant, formidamus inimicos, atque &s;ecuri non &s;umus de iis quos formidamus, ubi plerum&abque; inimicis &s;ic confidenter qua&s;i amicis loquimur, et nonnunquam verba diligentium qua&s;i verba &s;u&s;cipimus inimicorum,</HI> Where we love our friends, and yet are &s;u&s;picious lea&s;t they &s;hould be offended with us, where wee feare our enemies, and yet are not &s;ecure of tho&s;e whom wee feare, where often we &s;peake to our enemies &s;o confidently as if we &s;pake to our friends, and not &s;eldome wee take the words of our friends, as if they were the words of our enemies? What re&s;t is there in this world? <HI>Fixum enim &s;tatum hic habere non po&s;&s;umus ubi tran&s;ituri venimus, atque hoc ip&s;um no&s;trum vivere tran&s;ire e&s;t,</HI> For here wee cannot have a fixed e&s;tate, whither wee come to pa&s;&s;e away, and where our very living is but a pa&s;&s;ing away, as S^t. <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh. Now the a|bortive re&s;teth, he goeth not this journey, as he hath no friends, &s;o he hath no enemies; as he hath not health, &s;o he hath not &s;ickne&s;&s;e. And that which maketh his re&s;t to be the more; <HI>Vt non videt, &s;ic non vadit,</HI> as he &s;eeth not the Sunne, &s;o he goeth not into darkne&s;&s;e; not into the darkne&s;&s;e of Gods wrath for &s;inne. The Originall word here is <GAP DESC="foreign"> and according to the naturall and proper forme of it, &s;ignifieth <HI>fercu|lum,</HI> a me&s;&s;e, or <HI>depo&s;itum,</HI> &s;omething committed to tru&s;t. Now al|though it be a &s;hort repa&s;t which the abortive hath, yet it is better then the gluttonus feeding of the covetous wretch: although it be very little which is committed to the abortive, yet it is the le&s;&s;e that he hath to an|&s;wer for, and that maketh his re&s;t to be more, then the re&s;t of the co|vetous wretch, who having received much, and done little good with it, hath a &s;ad accompt, a &s;ore reckoning to make for it.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="6-8" TYPE="verse">
<PB N="173" REF="90">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 6.</HI></BIBL> Yea, though he live a thou&s;and yeares twi&s;e told, yet hath he &s;eene no good. Doe not all goe to one place?</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 7.</HI></BIBL> All the labour of man is for his mouth; and yet the appetite is not filled.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 8.</HI></BIBL> For what hath the wi&s;e more then the foole? What hath the poore that know|eth to walke before the living?</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 6. <HI>Iob</HI> in few words hath fully told us what man is, &s;aying, Man is of few dayes and full of trouble: <HI>Et quod verum verbum hoc &s;it,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Job</HI> 14.1.</NOTE> <HI>non nos verba docuere &s;ed verbera,</HI> And that this is a true &s;aying, not words but &s;tripes have taught us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. Serm. Feria <HI>4.</HI> Hebdoma|dae poeno&s;ae. Greg. Mor. l. <HI>11.</HI> c. <HI>26.</HI></NOTE> the &s;tripes of many mi&s;eries &s;ayth S^t. <HI>Ber|nard.</HI> And S^t. <HI>Gregory</HI> briefly upon the &s;ame words &s;ayth, <HI>Augu&s;tatur ad vitam, dilatatur ad mi&s;eriam,</HI> Man is &s;traitned in re&s;pect of his life, and enlarged in re&s;pect of his mi&s;ery. But &s;uppo&s;e the life of man &s;hould be long, <HI>Nihil proficit &s;ibi, &s;ed officit,</HI> it would profit him nothing but hurt him rather, as <HI>Lyra</HI> hath it. <HI>Yea though he &s;hould live a thou&s;and yeares twi&s;e told: hyperbolice dicit,</HI> the Preacher &s;peaketh hyperbolically &s;ayth S^t. <HI>Hierome.</HI> For <HI>Adam</HI> lived not a thou&s;and yeares, and thereup|on a thou&s;and yeares with God being but as one day, as God had &s;ayd to <HI>Adam,</HI> In the day that thou eate&s;t of the forbidden tree, thou &s;halt &s;urely dye, &s;o he dyed accordingly before he came unto a thou&s;and yeares; that being the &s;ame day with God. But though he &s;hould live twi&s;e &s;o long as <HI>Adam</HI> did, and outlive that al&s;o, <HI>yet hath he &s;eene no good:</HI> Wherefore as S^t. <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Quomodo bonum e&s;t nos hic e&s;se?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. Ho|mil. <HI>6.</HI> In A&s;|cen&s;. Domin.</NOTE> <HI>Im|mo vero mole&s;tum e&s;t, grave e&s;t, periculo&s;um e&s;t. Nimirum ubi mali plurimum, &s;apientiae modicum, &s;i tamen vel modicum invenitur. Vbi vi&s;co&s;a omnia, omnia lubrica, operta tenebris, ob&s;e&s;&s;a laqueis. Vbi periclitantur animae, affliguntur &s;piritus,</HI> How is it good for us to be here? Nay, rather it is trouble&s;ome, it is grievous, it is dangerous. Namely, where there is much wickedne&s;&s;e, little wi&s;edome, if there be a little found to be there. Where all things are catching like birdlime, all things are &s;lippery, all things covered with darkne&s;&s;e, all things be&s;et with &s;nares. Where our &s;oules are endangered, our &s;pirits are di&s;quieted. There be many gay-good things that appeare in the world;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. de Con&s;id. l. <HI>2.</HI> prope finem.</NOTE> but as Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> writing to <HI>Eugenius,</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Cuncta haec veluti nubes quae&s;dam matutinales velociter tran&s;euntes ex&s;uffles &agrave; facie con&s;iderationis tuae, occurret tibi homo, dolens quod homo &s;it, erube&s;cens quod nudus &s;it, plorans quod natus e&s;t, mur|murans quod &s;it,</HI> If thou &s;halt blow away all the&s;e from the face of thy con&s;ideration, as a morning cloud, which &s;oone vani&s;heth away, there will meete thee a man lamenting that he is a man, blu&s;hing that he is
<PB N="174" REF="91"> naked, weeping that he is borne, repining that he is. He that &s;hould live a thou&s;and yeares twi&s;e told, might &s;eeke and looke long to finde &s;ome good, but where &s;hould he &s;ee it in mans life? <HI>Quid enim cala|mitate vacat, na&s;centi in peccato, fragili in corpore, &amp; mente &s;terili?</HI> For where is mi&s;ery wanting unto him, who is borne in &s;inne, fraile in bo|dy, barren in minde? as St. <HI>Bernard</HI> addeth in the &s;ame place. But as for the covetous wretch, <HI>Qui privatus interno lumine, tamen in hac vita diu vult perpeti caecitatem &s;uam,</HI> Who being deprived of the inward light of naturall under&s;tanding, yet de&s;ireth to lye long under his blindne&s;&s;e in this life, and with his owne hands addeth to the load of this mi&s;era|ble life, how is his life filled <HI>Multis &amp; multiplicibus mi&s;eriis?</HI> With many and manifold mi&s;eries? <HI>Mi&s;eriis corporis, mi&s;eriis cordis, mi&s;eriis quum dormit, mi&s;eriis dum vigilat, mi&s;eriis quaqua ver&s;um &s;e vertat,</HI> With mi&s;eries of body, with mi&s;eries of heart, with mi&s;eries while he &s;leep|eth, with mi&s;eries when he is awake, with mi&s;eries which way &s;oever he turneth him&s;elfe. How is he <HI>Appetitus in&s;idiis, interrogatus contume|liis, pul&s;atus injuriis, vexatus &s;uppliciis, convitiis lace&s;situs,</HI> A&s;&s;aulted with traps, accu&s;ed by reproaches, beaten with injuries, vexed with mulcts and puni&s;hments,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. Fe|ria <HI>4^a</HI> Heb|domadae poe|no&s;ae.</NOTE> provoked with &s;coffs? as S^t. <HI>Bernard</HI> el&s;ewhere &s;peak|eth. And where then is any good for him to &s;ee? <HI>Doe not all goe unto one place?</HI> Doth not he that liveth two thou&s;and yeares goe to the grave at la&s;t, as well as he that is an abortive? Nay, is not the re&s;t of the abor|tive more then of the other, &s;eeing he is at the place of their re&s;t by two thou&s;and yeares &s;ooner, then the other? Indeed man who is driven out of Paradi&s;e, is delighted in this his bani&s;hment, and faigne would &s;tay here;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregorius.</NOTE> but as S^t. <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Quamvis diu hic &s;tare de&s;iderat, ip&s;o tamen cur&s;u mortalis vitae impellitur ut egrediatur, ip&s;is &s;uis incrementis ad detrimenta tendit, &amp; inde &s;emper deficit, unde &s;e proficere in &s;patium vitae credit,</HI> Although he de&s;ire to &s;tay long here, yet by the very cour&s;e of this mortall life, he is driven on, and caryed to goe out; by the very encrea&s;ing of his life, he tendeth to decrea&s;ing, and thereby he alwayes decayeth, whereby he beleeveth that he proceedeth on in the &s;pace of his life. Vntill all <HI>come unto one place,</HI> the place which <HI>Adam</HI> provi|ded for all his po&s;teritie, and where him&s;elfe being layd, all &s;hall be brought unto him.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ma&s;ius in ult. cap. Io&s;h. ver&s;. <HI>32.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Ma&s;ius</HI> tels us, out of <HI>Iacob Edi&s;&s;enus Syrus,</HI> that when <HI>Noah</HI> went into the Arke, he tooke the bones of <HI>Adam</HI> with him, and that when he came out of the Arke, he divided them among his Sonnes, giving the head as the chiefe&s;t part unto his fir&s;t borne; and therein as it were &s;aying unto them, Let not this delivery from the flood make you &s;ecure, behold your fir&s;t parent, and the beginning of man|kind, you mu&s;t all, and all that come from you, goe unto the du&s;t to him.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 7. The Preacher here pa&s;&s;eth <HI>A bonis fortunae, ad bona naturae,</HI> from the goods of fortune, to the goods of nature, and having &s;hew|ed the vanitie of them, here &s;heweth the vanitie of the&s;e. And indeede great is the vanitie and mi&s;ery of mans life,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>11.</HI> c. <HI>26.</HI></NOTE> even in the&s;e al&s;o. Where|fore Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Si &s;ubtiliter con&s;ideretur, omne quod hic agitur,
<PB N="175" REF="91"> poena &amp; mi&s;eria e&s;t. Ip&s;i enim corruptioni carnis &s;ervire ad nece&s;&s;aria &amp; con|ce&s;&s;a, mi&s;eria e&s;t; ut contra frigus ve&s;timenta, contra famem alimenta, contra ae&s;tum frigora requirantur,</HI> If it be duely and exactly con&s;idered, every thing that is here done is a puni&s;hment and mi&s;ery. For even to &s;erve the frailty of the fle&s;h in things lawfull and nece&s;&s;ary, is a mi&s;ery: as that garments may be provided again&s;t cold, that food again&s;t hunger, that cold things again&s;t heate. The Preacher here that hee might not &s;peake of all, &s;peaketh of the chiefe&s;t for nece&s;&s;ity, <HI>All the labour of man is for the mouth:</HI> that is, though all the labour of man &s;hould bee for the mouth, <HI>yet the appetite is not filled. Tremellius</HI> reads it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremellius.</NOTE> <HI>Vt omnis labor hominis obveniatori,</HI> Although all the labour of man &s;hould meet his mouth: and he expoundeth it, that is, <HI>Velut &s;ponte ingerat &s;e in os, &amp; laboranti commodi&s;sime &s;uccedat, ex &s;ententia,</HI> Although it &s;hould even thru&s;t it &s;elfe into his mouth, and it &s;hould &s;ucceed to the labourer ac|cording to his de&s;ire, yet the appetite is not filled. For he that hath eaten is hungry again, and the food receaved being con&s;umed there is more re|quired, more needful to pre&s;erve life, and that death break not in through the weake wals. <HI>Zeno</HI> &s;peaking of the &s;inne of our fir&s;t Parents, &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Zeno l. <HI>1.</HI> Serm. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Vbi Adam &s;acrae arboris pomum male dulce delibavit, lachrymas repperit, dolo|res &amp; gemitus ultim&ograve;&abque; &s;udore turbatus, po&s;teris haereditatem indige&s;tae mortis dereliquit,</HI> when <HI>Adam</HI> had ta&s;ted of the fruit of the forbidden tree, which was bitter &s;weet unto him, hee found teares, griefes, &s;ighs, and la&s;tly being troubled with &s;weate, he left to his po&s;terity the inheritance of indige&s;ted death. What&s;oever food we take, it is &s;pent in &s;weats, in teares, in the &s;orrowes of labour, and though our nouri&s;hment be dige|&s;ted, death remaineth &s;till indige&s;ted and to with&s;tand that the appetite is never filled. But by the ancient Fathers this ver&s;e is much applyed in a morall &s;en&s;e, and that diver&s;e wayes.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> applyes it in a good &s;en&s;e, and he &s;aith, <HI>Melius e&s;t hoc intelligi de viro Eccle&s;ia&s;tico, qui in Scripturis eruditus omnem laborem habet in ore &s;uo, &amp; anima ejus non im|pletur, dum &s;emper cupit di&s;cere,</HI> It is be&s;t to under&s;tand this of an Eccle|&s;ia&s;ticall man, who being learned in the Scriptures hath alwayes his la|bour in his mouth, and his &s;oule is not filled, while he de&s;ireth alwayes to learne. So doth <HI>Salonius</HI> apply it, who &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Salonius in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> How can it bee that all things which a man laboureth for &s;hould be in his mouth? A wi&s;e and learned Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall man hath all his labour in his mouth, becau&s;e all things which he learneth in the Scriptures he daily con&s;idereth, preach|eth, teacheth, and his &s;oule is not filled: <HI>quia non &s;ufficit &s;ibi quod didicit, &s;ed magis &amp; magis &s;emper di&s;cere cupit &amp; &s;tudet,</HI> Becau&s;e that which hee hath learned doth not &s;uffice him, but hee de&s;ireth and &s;tudyeth &s;till to know more and more.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Hom. <HI>40.</HI></NOTE> Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> applies this ver&s;e morally in a bad &s;en&s;e, and he &s;aith, All the labour of a man is in his mouth, but his &s;oule is not filled, <HI>Quia qui&s;quis hoc laborat &s;olummodo, ut &s;ciat quid loqui debeat, ab ip&s;a refectione &s;cientiae &s;uae mente vacua jejunat,</HI> Becau&s;e who&s;oever doth labour for this only that he may know what to &s;peake, him&s;elfe fa&s;teth with an hungry mind from the refection of his owne knowledge. And
<PB N="176" REF="92"> u&s;ing to this purpo&s;e the &s;peech of the rich glutton who de&s;ired a drop of water to coole his tongue, he &s;aith, <HI>Infidelis populus verba legis in ore tenu|it, quae opere &s;ervare contemp&s;it: ibi ergo amplius ardebit, ubi &s;e o&s;tendit &s;cire quod facere noluit.</HI> The unfaithfull people had the words of the Law in their mouthes, which they de&s;pi&s;ed to ob&s;erve in their actions: there therefore &s;hall they burne the more, where they &s;hewed that they knew,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;ian Col|lat. <HI>14.</HI> c. <HI>9.</HI></NOTE> that which they would not doe. In <HI>Ca&s;sian Abbot Ne&s;teros</HI> ap|plies it by way of advi&s;e, and &s;peaking as it &s;eemeth to <HI>Ca&s;sian</HI> him&s;elfe hee &s;aith, <HI>Ob&s;ervate inprimis, &amp; tu maxime Ioannes, ut indicas &s;ummum ori tuo &s;ilentium, hic e&s;t enim primus actualis di&s;ciplinae ingre&s;&s;us. Omnis quip|pe labor hominis in ore ip&s;ius e&s;t, &amp; ut omnium &s;eniorum in&s;tituta at&abque; &s;ententi|as intento corde &amp; qua&s;i muto ore &s;u&s;cipias, ac diligenter in pectore tuo condens ad perficienda ea potius, quam ad docenda fe&s;tines,</HI> Ob&s;erve yee chiefely, and you <HI>Iohn</HI> e&s;pecially, that you injoyne great &s;ilence to thy mouth, for this is the fir&s;t entrance of an actuall di&s;cipline. All the labout tru|ly of a man is in his mouth, and that thou do&s;t receive all the in&s;tituti|ons and &s;entences of the elders, with an attentive heart, and as it were with a dumb mouth, and that laying them up diligently in thy heart, thou ha&s;ten rather to practi&s;e them, then to teach them.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 8. <HI>What hath the wi&s;e more than the foole?</HI> Much every way, even in the feeding of nature. For <HI>a wi&s;e</HI> man doth not make the fee|ding of the body, to be his &s;tudy and care, as knowing, <HI>Non no&s;trum e&s;&s;e manus nutritionem, &s;ed e&s;&s;e nutritionem propter no&s;tram hic man&s;ionem, quam ad incorruptionem ratio in&s;tituit,</HI> that the nouri&s;hing of the body is not our bu&s;ine&s;&s;e, but that the nouri&s;hing of the body, is for our con|tinuance here,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Clemens Alexander Paedag. lib. <HI>2.</HI> cap. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> which rea&s;on ordereth unto immortality, as <HI>Clemens Alex|andrinus</HI> &s;peaketh. <HI>A wi&s;e man</HI> affecteth not delicacy and daintine&s;&s;e of feeding, as knowing <HI>Deum para&s;&s;e opificio &s;uo, homini inquam, cibum &amp; po|tum, ut con&s;ervetur, non ut voluptate afficiatur,</HI> That God hath provided for his workman&s;hip, namely man, meate and drinke to pre&s;erve him, not to affect him with plea&s;ure. A wi&s;e man is moderate in his feeding, as knowing, <HI>Quae &s;unt &s;ecundum naturam appetitiones circum&s;cribi &s;uffici|entia,</HI> The appetites, which are according unto nature to bee bounded with &s;ufficiency: Whereas he that is <HI>a foole</HI> in feeding, and made a foole by feeding, <HI>Habet constupratum gu&s;tum mi&s;era &amp; infau&s;ta condiendi arte &amp; inani in faciendis bellariis artificio,</HI> Hath his ta&s;t adulterated with a wret|ched and unlucky art of &s;ea&s;oning, and with a vaine skill in making of junckets,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Clem. Alex. Ibid.</NOTE> as <HI>Clemens Alexandrinus</HI> &s;peaketh. Wherefore hee addeth, <HI>Mihi quidem morbi eorum mi&s;ereri lubet; ip&s;os autem non pudet &s;uas de|cantare delitias,</HI> I am moved to pitty their di&s;ea&s;e, although them&s;elves bee not a&s;hamed to extoll their delicates. <HI>A foole</HI> in feeding, <HI>Soli cibi devorationi blanditur,</HI> Doth only flatter his appetite with devouring of meate, and e&s;teemeth more of one cooke then of diver&s;e husbandmen. <HI>A foole</HI> in his feeding is ever immoderate, <HI>Intru&s;o in ventrem nutrimen|to, tanquam ad viaticum non ad dige&s;tionem edulia reponat,</HI> Thru&s;ting his meate into his &s;tomacke, as if hee laid up provi&s;ion for a journey,
<PB N="177" REF="92"> did not eate his meate for dige&s;tion. But though <HI>a wi&s;e man</HI> excell <HI>a foole</HI> &s;o farre, yet in the vanity of humane nature, which needeth &s;till new &s;upply of nouri&s;hment to pre&s;erve it, <HI>What hath the wi&s;e man more than the foole?</HI> When a wi&s;e man hath eaten, is he not againe hungry, as well as a foole? And mu&s;t not his hunger againe be &s;atisfied, or el&s;e hee can|not live as well as a fooles hunger? In this vanity of nature they agree, though not in the vanity of their feeding. <HI>What hath the poore that know|eth to walke before the living?</HI> It is the &s;aying of <HI>Clemens Alexandrinus, Nemo ad res nece&s;&s;arias pauper,</HI> No one is poore in nece&s;&s;ary things, and &s;urely he that knoweth any thing may know how to live. He that will but walke in the labour of any cour&s;e of life, may ea&s;ily bee able to walke before the living. But what hath the poore more in pre&s;erving of his life by food, or what hath he le&s;&s;e then any other? Hee may bee &s;tronger in dige&s;ting of his meate, and the &s;trength al&s;o of his body may be the greater by it, hee may be the healthier in his life, and his life al&s;o may continue the longer by it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Clem. Alex. Ibid.</NOTE> For as <HI>Clemens Alexandrinus</HI> &s;peak|eth, <HI>Qui e&s;cis utuntur vilioribus robu&s;tiores &s;unt &amp; &s;aniores,</HI> They that u&s;e the cour&s;e&s;t meats are the &s;tronger and the healthier. He may have le&s;&s;e to eate, and it may be, le&s;&s;e variety to eate of, he may have <HI>nullas appen|dices coenae,</HI> No labels of dainties hanging to his lips, no banquets, or after &s;ervices but in this vanity of humane nature, he is as weake as any, in this poverty of nature he is equall with any, and what&s;oever his food bee, his hunger againe afterwards is the &s;ame that is in the re&s;t of men. Now as it is in the bodily feeding of nature, &s;o it is in the &s;pirituall fee|ding of the &s;oule by grace: when we have eaten, there mu&s;t bee an ap|petite againe, and againe mu&s;t the appetite be &s;atisfied, or el&s;e a &s;pirituall life will not bee pre&s;erved in us. It is a fault in any to &s;ay or thinke that they are good enough, and thereby to bee negligent in &s;tirring up their appetite, and in &s;eeking after more. To be filled with Religion is to bee empty of it. Our Saviour Chri&s;t &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Matth.</HI> 6.6.</NOTE> <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are they that hunger and thir&s;t after righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, for they &s;hall bee filled:</HI> they &s;hall bee filled in heaven, they &s;hould not be on earth.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hierom. in Matth.</NOTE> And Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;aith upon the words, <HI>Aperti&s;sime nos redemptor in&s;tituit, nunquam nos &s;atis ju&s;tos ae&s;ti|mare debere, &s;ed quotidianum ju&s;titiae &s;emper amare profectum,</HI> Our Redee|mer doth evidently teach us, that we mu&s;t never thinke our &s;elves to be righteous enough, but alwayes to love a daily progre&s;&s;e in righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e. And <HI>Abbot Theodorus</HI> in <HI>Ca&s;sian</HI> tels us truly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;ian Col|lat. S. Ab|bot Theod. cap. <HI>14.</HI></NOTE> <HI>In uno mens eodem&abque; &s;tatu manere non praevalet, id est, ut nec augmentum virtutum capiat, nec de|trimentum &s;u&s;tineat: non acqui&s;i&s;&s;e enim minui&s;e e&s;t, quia de&s;inens profici|ciendi appetitus non aberit a periculo recedendi,</HI> The mind of man cannot abide in one and the &s;ame &s;tate, that is, as neither to receave increa&s;e of vertues, nor to &s;uffer lo&s;&s;e of them: for not to gaine more, is to grow le&s;&s;e, becau&s;e the appetite of going on failing, a danger of going back, will not be wanting.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bern. Epi&s;t. <HI>253.</HI> Ad Abba. G<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> Let therefore the &s;aying of Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> bee re|membred, <HI>Quid prode&s;t Chri&s;tum &s;equi, &s;i non contingat con&s;equi? Ibi tu Chri&s;tiane fige cur&s;us tui metam, ubi Chri&s;tus po&s;uit &s;uam! What doth it
<PB N="178" REF="93"> profit to</HI> goe after Chri&s;t, unle&s;&s;e wee come unto him? Doe thou O Chri&s;tian there &s;et downe an end to thy cour&s;e, where Chri&s;t did &s;et downe an end unto his. Hee was obedient unto death, and let not thy obedience, and growth in obedience, untill then come to an end.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="9-10" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 9.</HI></BIBL> Better is the &s;ight of the eyes, then the wandring of the de&s;ire: this is al&s;o vani|ty and vexation of &s;pirit.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 10.</HI></BIBL> That which hath beene is named already, and it is knowne that it is man: neither may hee contend with him that is migh|tier then he.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 9. The Septuagint in reading of this ver&s;e doe give a good and plaine &s;en&s;e of it, and not di&s;&s;enting from the force of Originall; they &s;ay, <HI>Melius e&s;t videre quod cupias, quam de&s;iderare quod ne&s;cias,</HI> It is better to &s;ee that which thou de&s;ire&s;t, then to de&s;ire that which thou knowe&s;t not. And although the &s;aying bee true in re&s;pect of the object de&s;ired, <HI>Ignoti nulla cupido,</HI> of a thing unknowne there is no de&s;ire, yet in re&s;pect of the effects which follow the thing de&s;ired, there are many who de&s;ire that, of which they know not, how it will prove unto them, nor what will be the con&s;equences of it. Wherefore it is wi&s;dome &s;o to rule the de&s;ire as that the eye of the under&s;tanding doe alwayes goe before it, to di&s;cover the way that it caryeth us, and to fore&s;ee to what it will bring us; le&s;t our de&s;ire be placed on &s;omething, which at la&s;t is mo&s;t unde&s;ired by us. But to take the &s;en&s;e of the words, as they follow the preceding argument of the Preacher; I &s;hould conceive their mea|ning thus. That in dainty and voluptuous varieties of meate, <HI>the &s;ight of the eyes is better then the wandring of the appetite,</HI> and it is better to bee plea&s;ed with looking upon them, then to plea&s;e the appetite with fee|ding on them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Clem. Alex. Paedag. lib. <HI>2.</HI> cap. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> For though as <HI>Clemens Alexandrinus</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>In&s;ipien|tis &s;it ea quae epulis apponuntur valde admirari ac &s;tupere,</HI> It be the part of a foole, much to admire, and with amazement to behold, tho&s;e things which at fea&s;ts are &s;et upon the table: notwith&s;tanding as hee addeth, <HI>In&s;ipientius e&s;t hominem &s;ervire ferculis, adeo ut eorum, ut ita dicam, in|temperantia una cum eis circumferatur &agrave; mini&s;tris,</HI> It is a more fooli&s;h thing for a man to be a &s;ervant to di&s;hes, &s;o that by intemperancy he bee as it were caryed by the &s;ervitors up and downe together with the di&s;hes, and that <HI>his de&s;ire doe wander</HI> and walke after them, and as it were waite upon them, as they are &s;et downe, or taken away, or el&s;e are removed from one place to another. For as the &s;ame Father &s;peaketh, <HI>Vt in cibos reg|num &amp; dominium obtineamus, non ut his &s;erviamus ordinati &s;umus,</HI> Wee
<PB N="179" REF="93"> are ordained by God to have command and authority over our meate and drinke, not to be enthralled and &s;ubjected to them. If thou over|looke them therefore comming where dainties are, it is a thing more &s;eemely and better for thee, then to overcharge thy &s;tomacke by feeding upon them, and by &s;uffering thine appetite to wander and walk too bold|ly and freely among them. For this is nothing el&s;e but as in <HI>Cl. Alex.</HI> it is called <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>in ventrem ve&s;ania,</HI> a belly madne&s;&s;e, <HI>Symmachus</HI> as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us did read the ver&s;e thus,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Melius e&s;t providere quam ambulare ut libet,</HI> It is better to provide, then to walke as it li&s;teth: and &s;urely it is better to provide for cleering of a mans way and for keeping of his way, then by walking and wandring as hee li&s;teth to meete with tho&s;e troubles, which may cro&s;&s;e his pa&s;&s;age, and whereby him&s;elfe may be lo&s;t in his way. It is better to provide for the end of our jour|ney, and for the accompt which then we are to make, that &s;o we may bee receaved into the re&s;t of joy; then by walking now as we will, to &s;uffer then what we will not: and when we come to our walke and to &s;eeke re&s;t, to finde the way of endle&s;&s;e torments to be opened unto us; &s;urely this will &s;hew our walking to have beene <HI>vanity,</HI> and to have brought us to nothing <HI>but vexation of Spirit.</HI> But to apply the conclu|&s;ion of the ver&s;e according to the &s;en&s;e, wherein I have under&s;tood the foregoing ver&s;es. What is the renewed hunger and appetite of man, though never &s;o often &s;atisfied, but a vanity of nature? What is it, but as St. <HI>Hier.</HI> tels us, that <HI>Aquila</HI> and <HI>Theodotio</HI> did render the words in this place, <HI>Pa&s;tio venti,</HI> a feeding on the wind? Seeing the &s;atisfaction by fee|ding pa&s;&s;eth away, and the appetite is as empty as if it had but fed on the wind. <HI>Cl. Al.</HI> tels us, <HI>Amygdalae dicuntur inanes, non in quibus nihil ine&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Clem. Alex. &s;tromatum lib. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;ed in quibus id quod ine&s;t e&s;t inutile,</HI> Almonds are &s;aid to be naught and emp|ty, not in which there is nothing found, but in which that which is found is u&s;ele&s;&s;e and unprofitable. In like manner the feeding of mans body is &s;aid to be a <HI>vanity,</HI> not becau&s;e it doth nothing, for the appetite is &s;atisfi|ed for the pre&s;ent by it; but becau&s;e to take away the continuall renuing of the appetite it is altogether unprofitable and of no u&s;e. Againe, what is the exce&s;&s;e of feeding and pampering the fle&s;h with voluptuous dain|ties, but <HI>a vanity</HI> of &s;in? What is it but a <HI>vexation of Spirit</HI> by tho&s;e paines and torments which from di&s;ea&s;es it breedeth? For as &s;uch feeding <GAP DESC="foreign"> dulleth and &s;tupifieth the mind and under&s;tanding, &s;o doth it quicken the &s;en&s;e to the greater mi&s;ery and vexing of the &s;pirit.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 10. <HI>That which hath beene:</HI> That is, that which hath beene the &s;ubject of this di&s;cour&s;e and who&s;e vanities have beene &s;hewed. For here the Preacher drawing to conclu&s;ion of this part of his trea|ti&s;e, repeateth briefly, what he hath &s;aid, and of what he hath &s;poken. <HI>Is named already,</HI> or his name is already proclaimed, even by this pro|clamation of the King of I&s;rael: namely in the beginning of this book;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Eccle&s;.</HI> 1. <HI>v.</HI> 2. <HI>&amp;</HI> 3.</NOTE> where having &s;aid, <HI>vanity of vanities, all is vanity,</HI> he addeth, <HI>What pro|fit hath a man of all his labour which hee taketh under the Sunne? And it is knowne that it is man:</HI> knowne to every man particularly by that which
<PB N="180" REF="94"> he feeleth in him&s;elfe, knowne to every one generally by that which is ea&s;ie to be &s;eene and ob&s;erved in the life of man. Now the whole crea|ture is &s;ometimes taken for man,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mar.</HI> 16.15.</NOTE> as when our Saviour Chri&s;t &s;aith, <HI>Goe ye into all the world</HI> and <HI>preach the Go&s;pell unto every creature.</HI> Vpon which words Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> noteth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>6.</HI> c. <HI>8.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Omnem videlicet creaturam &s;olum intelligi hominem voluit, cui commune aliquid cum omnibus creavit,</HI> By every crea|ture he would have man only to be under&s;tood, whom he hath made to have &s;omthing common with every creature. And though it be true that every creature is &s;ubject unto vanity, and the inferiour creatures e&s;peci|ally, and that for mans &s;ake; yet it is man of whom the Preacher &s;peaks. <HI>Man,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de fide l. <HI>5.</HI> c. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> that is as St. <HI>Amb.</HI> &s;peakes, <HI>Non una per&s;ona hominis, &s;ed una caro, &amp; una fragilitas generationis humanae,</HI> Not one per&s;on of a man, but one fle&s;h, and one frailty of humane generation.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Job</HI> 15.15. <HI>&amp;</HI> 16.</NOTE> <HI>Eliphas</HI> comparing man with the heavens &s;aith, that the heavens are not cleane in Gods &s;ight, but how much more abominable and filthy is man, that drinketh iniquity as water? Abominable in his originall corruption, filthy in his actuall tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions, and the more abominable, more filthy, in that he drink|eth iniquity like water. In eating there is &s;ome &s;tay made of the meate in the mouth, but in drinking that which is taken, is &s;wallowed downe pre&s;ently; &s;o that thereby is noted the ha&s;t of man to commit wicked|ne&s;&s;e;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>15.</HI></NOTE> and as St. <HI>Greg.</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Quia illicita &s;ine timore facit, qua&s;i potum inju&s;titiae &s;ine obstaculo bibit,</HI> becau&s;e he practi&s;eth unlawfull things with|out feare, therefore is he &s;aid to &s;wallow downe the drinke of iniquity without any &s;topping. This then being man, what mervaile is it that hee is the &s;ubject of &s;o much vanity? What mervaile though in his body he be &s;o many wayes di&s;tre&s;&s;ed, &s;o many wayes troubled and pai|ned? For indeed as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Ip&s;a haec no&s;tri corporis quae &s;alus vocatur, aegritudo e&s;t, &amp; quot &s;olatia ad vivendi u&s;um quaerimus, qua&s;i tot no&s;trae aegritudini medicamentis obviamus,</HI> This very e&s;tate of our bo|dy, which we call health, is but a &s;ickne&s;&s;e, and how many helpes wee &s;eeke for the u&s;e of life, by &s;o many medicines as it were doe we with|&s;tand our &s;ickne&s;&s;e. No mervaile al&s;o then though man in his minde &s;uffer &s;o many &s;tormes and tempe&s;ts of di&s;quietne&s;&s;e and &s;orrow. For as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> al&s;o &s;peaketh, <HI>Mod&ograve; &s;pe decipitur, mod&ograve; pavore vexatur, mod&ograve; dolore dejicitur, mod&ograve; fal&s;a hilaritate elevatur,</HI> Now is he deceived with hope, then vexed with feare, now dejected and ca&s;t downe with griefe, then lifted up and cheered with a fal&s;e mirth; it is mans owne &s;inne that is the cau&s;e of all this. And therefore let him not aske why God hath made him &s;o, <HI>neither may hee contend with him that is mightier then he.</HI> There is no entring of a &s;uite again&s;t God, for his cau&s;e is al|wayes right, and he is alwayes &s;ure to prevaile in it. God created man in perfection and happine&s;&s;e, and the fir&s;t man depriving him&s;elfe of it, in whom all were: <HI>hinc corporis corruptio, hinc animi ignorantia, hinc curae inutiles,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de voc. l. <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> <HI>illicitae cupiditates, timor vanus, amor noxius, inju&s;ta gaudia, poeni|tenda con&s;ilia &amp; non minor mi&s;eriarum mu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">itudo quam criminum,</HI> Hence is the corruption of the body, hence the ignorance of the mind, hence
<PB N="181" REF="94"> unprofitable cares, unlawfull de&s;ires, vaine feares, hurtfull love, un|due rejoycings, coun&s;els and re&s;olutions to be repented of, and no le&s;&s;e a multitude of mi&s;eries, then of &s;innes and offences. Be&s;ides, God is alwayes <HI>mightier</HI> then man, much above him in his wayes, coun&s;els, and judgements. Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;ayth very well,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>27.</HI> c. <HI>25.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Homo quum de Deo ta|cet, per rationem, in qua conditus e&s;t, e&s;&s;e aliquid videtur: &s;ed &s;i loqui de Deo coeperit, illico quam &s;it nihil o&s;tenditur,</HI> Man when he is &s;ilent concerning God, &s;eemeth to be &s;omething, by the rea&s;on in which he was crea|ted: but if he begin to &s;peake of God, forthwith it appeareth how plainely he is nothing. It is therefore rightly concluded by <HI>Salvianus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Salvianus de Guber. Dei. l. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Sicut plus e&s;t Deus quam omnis humana ratio, &s;ic plus mihi debet e&s;&s;e, quam ratio, quod &agrave; Deo cuncta agi cogno&s;co,</HI> As God is more then all humane rea&s;on, &s;o it ought to be more with me then rea&s;on, that I know all things to be ordered by God. On his &s;ide there is <HI>might,</HI> not to op|pre&s;&s;e, but to overcome any thing that can be pleaded again&s;t him: and it &s;hewes the vanitie of mans weakne&s;&s;e, that he would excu&s;e his owne weakne&s;&s;e by contending with God any way.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="11-12" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 11.</HI></BIBL> Seeing there be many things that increa&s;e vanitie, what is man the better?</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 12.</HI></BIBL> For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the dayes of his vaine life, which he &s;pendeth as a &s;hadow? For who can tell a man what &s;hall be after him vnder the Sunne?</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 11. Much and manifold is the vanitie of humane things, &s;o that it need not to be made more. But <HI>&s;eeing there be al&s;o many things that doe encrea&s;e it,</HI> why &s;hould any man labour to encrea&s;e it to him&s;elfe? Why &s;hould man by contending with God, and by &s;eeking to ca&s;t up|on him the blame of humane vanitie, thereby make him&s;elfe to &s;uffer the more in his di&s;contented and troubled thoughts, and by provo|king the anger of God, make him to heape the more vanities upon him, and then <HI>what is man the better?</HI> But among the many things that in|crea&s;e vanitie, there is one e&s;pecially, to whom all other things are but &s;erving in&s;truments, and that is the devill. He was the authour of mans vanitie and mi&s;ery, and he laboureth &s;till to be the increa&s;er of it. When the devill tempting our Saviour <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> &s;ayd,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cyprianus Serm. de Je|junio &amp; ten|tat. Chri&s;t.</NOTE> <HI>If thou be the Sonne of God, ca&s;t thy &s;elfe downe:</HI> Saint <HI>Cyprian</HI> asketh, why he did not rather &s;ay, If thou be the Sonne of God, a&s;cend into heaven, becau&s;e that agreeth rather unto the Sonnes of God. The an&s;were which the Father giveth is, <HI>Nec tentando vult a&s;cen&s;um per&s;uadere coele&s;tem,</HI> He will
<PB N="182" REF="95"> not, no not in tempting per&s;wade an heavenly a&s;cending. All his en|deavour is to ca&s;t men downe into earthly vanities.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Origen. l. <HI>1.</HI> in Job.</NOTE> <HI>Origen</HI> ob&s;erveth that if the devill had &s;mitten but one corner of the hou&s;e, wherein the children of <HI>Iob</HI> were fea&s;ting, it had been enough to have throwne it downe; and thereupon asketh, what made him to &s;mite the foure cor|ners of the hou&s;e? The an&s;were which he giveth is, that he did it, <HI>Vt o&s;tenderet ferociam, atque animum &s;uum homicidialem,</HI> That he might &s;hew his fiercene&s;&s;e and his cruell minde to worke mans mi&s;chiefe and ruine. For leave and permi&s;&s;ion being granted from God, it &s;eemeth &s;ayth the Father, that all the devils made ha&s;t to a&s;&s;ault the hou&s;e on every &s;ide, &s;triving as it were betweene them&s;elves, who &s;hould be the fir&s;t in cau&s;ing the hurt. And &s;urely, in &s;miting men with the winde of vani|tie, mo&s;t eager and violent is the devils malice, and to encrea&s;e that, they are encrea&s;ed in their number, where the goodne&s;&s;e of God doth not re&s;traine and curbe them. Wee reade in S^t. <HI>Marke,</HI> what the de|vils &s;ayd to our Saviour <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> when he ca&s;t them out of the man that was in the Synagogue,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mark. <HI>1.23.</HI> &amp; <HI>24.</HI> Theophylac. in Euang. Marci.</NOTE> Let us alone, what have wee to doe with thee thou <HI>Ie&s;us</HI> of Nazareth? Art thou come to de&s;troy us? What is this &s;ayth <HI>Theophylact,</HI> to de&s;troy us? The an&s;were which he giveth is, <HI>Hoc e&s;t, auferre &agrave; nobis pote&s;tatem, quam in homines habemus, ad torquendum &s;ci|licet eos,</HI> This is, to take away from us the power, which wee have over men for the tormenting of them. So that &s;uch is the greatne&s;&s;e of the devils de&s;ire to torment men, as that they accompt it their de&s;truction not to be &s;uffered to doe it. Wherefore al&s;o on the contrary, they ac|compt it their gaine, their plea&s;ure and delight, to vex and di&s;quiet men with the vanities of this life. Shall any then joyne hands with the de|vill, to encrea&s;e their owne vanitie? Shall any contend with God, and thereby be at peace with the devill, that he may the more ea&s;ily en|crea&s;e their mi&s;ery and trouble? What can man be <HI>the better for this?</HI> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> reads the fir&s;t part of this ver&s;e thus, <HI>Quia &s;unt verba mul|ta multiplicantia vanitatem,</HI> Becau&s;e they are many words multiplying vanitie: the words that are u&s;ed in contending with God, and in plea|ding again&s;t him, are but many words that doe multiply the vanitie and folly of &s;inne. <HI>Tremellius</HI> reads this ver&s;e thus; <HI>Quum ad&s;unt res mul|tae, multiplicat vanitatem; quid amplius i&s;ti homini e&s;t?</HI> When there is much wealth, that multiplyeth vanitie; what hath that man the more? And &s;o al&s;o doth the French tran&s;lation read it. Now the &s;en&s;e is good, and therefore let me con&s;ider it a little. One word whereby the La|tines doe expre&s;&s;e riches and wealth, is <HI>Facultates,</HI> Abilities, and the rea&s;on is given, <HI>Quia inde oritur hominibus facultas, multa licentios&egrave; a|gendi,</HI> Becau&s;e from thence many have power and abilitie, of living li|centiou&s;ly: as, of voluptuous feeding, profu&s;e drinking, wearing of gay and co&s;tly apparell, and other the like vanities, which thereby are multiplyed. Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> therefore &s;ayth, <HI>Aurum e&s;t materia laborum, periculum po&s;sidentium,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. de verb. Domin.</NOTE> enervatio virtutum, dominus malus, &s;ervus prodi|tor,</HI> Gold is the matter of labours, the danger of the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ours, the
<PB N="183" REF="95"> weakning of vertues, a naughtie ma&s;ter, a treacherous &s;ervant. And indeed, many are the cares and troubles, many the dangers and diffi|culties, much the decay of goodne&s;&s;e, cruell the commands, fal&s;e the &s;ervice, which proceed from wealth. Saint <HI>Bernard</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard.</NOTE> tels us, that a Camel hath but one burden onely, but that a rich man hath two, <HI>Al|terum terrenarum po&s;&s;e&s;sionum, alterum ver&ograve; peccatorum,</HI> The one of his earthly po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions, the other of his &s;infull vanities. The fir&s;t he mu&s;t lay downe at his death, whether he will or no; the la&s;t unle&s;&s;e he doe lay downe before his death, he &s;hall for ever cary and never be ea&s;ed of it. But to &s;hew, how much wealth multiplyeth vanities,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>33.</HI> c. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> St. <HI>Gregory</HI> no|teth, that they who doe po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e it, <HI>Tanto familiarius diabolo &s;erviunt, quanto hujus vitae &s;ucce&s;sibus apud &s;emetip&s;os altius intume&s;cunt. His nam&abque; cum gloria augetur elatio, cum elatione vero additur cura, huc illuc&abque; animus tenditur, quia &amp; de&s;ideria cum rebus cre&s;cunt,</HI> By &s;o much the more friend|ly and readily doe they &s;erve the devill, by how much within them|&s;elves they are &s;wolne higher by the &s;ucce&s;&s;es of this life. For by the&s;e with their glory, their pride is encrea&s;ed, with their pride al&s;o their care, this way and that way is their minde di&s;tracted, becau&s;e their vaine de&s;ires al&s;o are augmented with their wealth. And what then <HI>hath &s;uch a one more?</HI> Surely more troubles, more mi&s;eries, more &s;innes. And that he might have le&s;&s;e of the&s;e, it were farre better for him, if he had le&s;&s;e of the other.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 12. To contend, for I know not what, is a great &s;hame, but to contend with God, for I know not what, what greater &s;hame can there be? <HI>And who is there that knoweth what is good for man in this life?</HI> Who is there &s;o well learned in the knowledge of him&s;elfe? Who is &s;o well &s;tudied in the knowledge of another? What art, what skill, what my|&s;tery is there, that can teach any one to know it? Many thinke, that this or that is good for them&s;elves, or others. Many hope well, many are well per&s;waded of this thing or that thing, but who knoweth any thing? Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Leo aeger Simiam quarit ut devoret, quo po&s;sit &s;anari;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;ius Hexam. l. <HI>6.</HI> c. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> <HI>caprea vulnerata dictamum petit, &amp; de vulnere excludit Sagittas; ur&s;us aeger formicas devorat, ergo ferae norunt expetere ea quae &s;ibi pro&s;int, tu ignoras O homo remedia tua,</HI> The Lyon being &s;icke &s;eeketh an ape to devoure it, that thereby he may be healed; the goate being wounded &s;eeketh for dittany, and &s;o driveth out the arrow from the wound; the beare being &s;icke devoureth pi&s;mires: the bea&s;ts therefore doe know how to &s;eeke tho&s;e things which are profitable for them, but thou O man knowe&s;t not the remedies that are good for thee. Man de&s;ireth often that as good for him&s;elfe, which is indeed evill; and often &s;hunneth that as e|vill, which is indeed good for him. It is God onely that knoweth, as S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Quid nobis in hac vita expediat,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. l. cui titul. ex|po&s;. quarund. propo&s;it. ex Epi&s;t. ad Roman.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; quid po&s;t hanc vi|tam daturus e&s;t,</HI> Both what is good for us in this life, and what the good is which him&s;elfe will give us after this life. Man judgeth the troubles and mi&s;eries of this life to be evill for him, but God knoweth them to be good; and though in them&s;elves they be evill, God turneth them
<PB N="184" REF="96"> for his &s;ervants into good unto them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de fuga &s;aeculi. c. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Et non mirum &s;i convertit in bo|num, qui perfectae bonitatis e&s;t,</HI> And no mervaile if he turne them into good, who is him&s;elfe perfect goodne&s;&s;e, as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh. It is a great ignorance therefore, that any are vexed for the mi&s;eries of this life, or that any doe imagine the &s;ervants of God to be mi&s;erable if that they &s;uffer them: <HI>Quia quum flagella humiliter &s;u&s;cipiunt, po&s;t fla|gella ad requiem &s;ublimiter &s;u&s;cipiuntur;</HI> Becau&s;e while they receive the&s;e afflictions humbly, after the&s;e afflictions they are received into re&s;t gloriou&s;ly:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregorius in Euang. Ho|mil. <HI>15.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Et tanto mundior p&ograve;&s;t ad judicem venit, quanto nunc ejus rubi|ginem ignis tribulationis purgat,</HI> And afterwards he commeth by &s;o much the purer to the Iudge, by how much now the more the fire of tribula|tion doth purge him, as S^t. <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh. <HI>Who knoweth what is good for man in this life?</HI> In this life, not onely many are the evils that doe be&s;iege man, but man knoweth not what is good, and how then can he &s;eeke it, much le&s;&s;e finde it? But in the next life, there is nothing but good to be knowne; and though the good cannot be knowne as it is, yet as it is knowne, it &s;hall be the compleate and endle&s;&s;e good of man. There evill &s;hall be knowne as a thing not to be feared, and what&s;oever contentment may ari&s;e from the knowledge that others doe &s;uffer it, they that are in that life &s;hall never know it by any feeling of any in them&s;elves. O therefore that men who cannot know what is good for them in this life, would &s;eeke for that good in the next life! <HI>All the dayes of his vaine life, which he &s;pendeth as a &s;hadow:</HI> When <HI>Adam</HI> had &s;in|ned, he went to the bu&s;hes and trees, to hide him&s;elfe under their &s;ha|dow; and from that time it is, that man &s;pendeth all the dayes of his vaine life as a &s;hadow. Then his life became vaine, becau&s;e he was departed from the fountaine of life; then all his dayes became a &s;ha|dow,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>11.</HI> c. <HI>26.</HI></NOTE> and were turned into night: <HI>Quia ami&s;&s;o amore conditoris calorem cordis perdidit, &amp; in &s;olo iniquitatis &s;uae frigore perman&s;it,</HI> Becau&s;e the love of his Maker being lo&s;t, he lo&s;t the heate of his heart, and remained onely in the cold of his iniquitie, as S^t. <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh. But <HI>the &s;ha|dow</HI> here is mo&s;t directly the &s;hadow of ignorance, wherein man <HI>&s;pen|ding</HI> all his dayes, &s;eeth not, knoweth not what is good for him: but taking oftentimes &s;hadows for &s;ub&s;tances, or beholding things as they are &s;hadowed over by the &s;ubtiltie of Satan, by the vanitie of the world, by the blackne&s;&s;e of his owne fond affections, is commonly mi&s;taken in the truth of things. <HI>For who can tell a man, what &s;hall be after him?</HI> What &s;hall follow him, what &s;hall overtake him: Who can tell him what is clo&s;e behinde him, and may befall him the next day of his life? Wherefore though any one did know what were good for man, yet what were man the better? Seeing he could not tell him, whether he &s;hould enjoy it or no. The be&s;t way therefore for man, is to commit him&s;elfe to him, who knoweth what is good for him, and what &s;hall befall him: the be&s;t way is to &s;ubmit him&s;elfe to his plea&s;ure, who&s;e good plea&s;ure can make all things to be good unto him: the be&s;t way is to get under the &s;hadow of his wings, that there he may be pre&s;er|ved
<PB N="185" REF="96"> while he <HI>&s;pendeth his dayes as a &s;hadow. What &s;hall be after him un|der the Sunne:</HI> That is, briefly, in this world. Man was made under the Sunne, made to &s;ee and know the truth of things, ordained to &s;ee and know his owne good; but &s;inne comming as a cloud betweene the Sunne and him, and though he be under the Sunne, yet keeping the light thereof from him; hence it is that he &s;pendeth all his dayes as a &s;hadow, and in the darkne&s;&s;e of ignorance: hence it is that being de|prived of the heate of Gods favour, <HI>Sub umbra interni frigoris ab&s;con|ditur,</HI> He is hid under the &s;hadow of his inward coldne&s;&s;e and vanitie. Wee &s;ay &s;ometimes that the Sunne is under a cloud, but it is man, not the Sunne that is under the cloud: man who is under the Sunne, is under the cloud of his corrupted na|ture, and that makes him to lye under &s;o many mi&s;eries, not knowing what to doe, what is good for him, what &s;hall be after him.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="186" REF="97">
<HEAD>CHAPTER. VII.</HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1-6" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 1.</HI></BIBL> A good name is better then precious oyntment: and the day of death, than the day of ones birth.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 2.</HI></BIBL> It is better to goe to the hou&s;e of mourning, then to goe to the hou&s;e of feasting: for that is the end of all men, and the living will lay it to his heart.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 3.</HI></BIBL> Sorrow is better then laughter: for by the &s;adne&s;&s;e of the countenance the heart is made better.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 4.</HI></BIBL> The heart of the wi&s;e is in the hou&s;e of mourning: but the heart of fooles is in the hou&s;e of mirth.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 5.</HI></BIBL> It is better to heare the rebuke of the wi&s;e, then for a man to heare the &s;ong of fooles.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 6.</HI></BIBL> For as the crackling of thornes under a pot, &s;o is the laughter of a foole: this is al&s;o vanitie.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 1. _THE Preacher having manife&s;ted the vanity of a fal&s;e humane happine&s;&s;e in the former part of this Treati&s;e, proceedeth now to &s;hew what the true happine&s;&s;e of man is. And the happine&s;&s;e of man con&s;i&s;ting as <HI>Ly|ra</HI> noteth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> <HI>Objective in Deo &s;olo, for|maliter in clara ejus vi&s;ione &amp; frui|tione, di&s;po&s;itive vero in meritorio opere,</HI> For the object of it in God alone,
<PB N="187" REF="97"> for the forme of it, in a cleere vi&s;ion and fruition of God, and for a di&s;po&s;ition unto it in the works of a godly life. It is of the happine&s;&s;e of man in this la&s;t kinde con&s;idered that the Preacher &s;peaketh, <HI>Et quae e&s;t inchoatio quaedam perfectae beatitudinis, &s;icut di&s;po&s;itio e&s;t quaedam introdu|cendae formae inchoatio,</HI> And which is a kinde of beginning of perfect happine&s;&s;e, even as a di&s;po&s;ition to a forme, is a kinde of beginning of the forme, which is to be introduced. Now the works of a godly life being the actions of vertue and devotion; the Preacher beginneth with the actions of vertue. And fir&s;t, with the actions of prudence, which as the Philo&s;opher &s;heweth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ari&s;totel.</NOTE> <HI>Proprie &s;unt eligere ea quae &s;unt melio|ra,</HI> Properly are to choo&s;e tho&s;e things that are better. Wherefore in this ver&s;e he tels us, <HI>that a good name is better then precious oyntment,</HI> the one being but a perfume of the no&s;trils, the other a perfume of the heart. It is not &s;ayd, a great name, ari&s;ing from the greatne&s;&s;e of world|ly honour, worldly wealth, worldly glory in any kinde: but <HI>a good name,</HI> ari&s;ing from the goodne&s;&s;e of a mans workes and actions.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chald.</NOTE> The Chaldee therefore doth thus reade this ver&s;e, <HI>Melius e&s;t nomen bonum quod comparabunt ju&s;ti in hoc &s;aeculo, quam unguentum unctionis, quod fuerit inunctum &s;uper capita regum &amp; &s;acerdotum,</HI> Better is the good name which the ju&s;t &s;hall obtaine in this world, then the oyntment of anoyn|ting which was powred upon the heads of the Kings and Prie&s;ts. And <HI>Olympiodorus</HI> rightly &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Olympiodor. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> that the prai&s;e belonging to a name is due to that name, <HI>Non quod linguae &s;icut pictae tabellae efformant, &s;ed quod ex officio|&s;is actionibus viri ju&s;ti comparant,</HI> Not which the tongues of men as painted tables &s;et forth, but which righteous men procure by their ver|tuous actions. Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> con&s;idering tho&s;e words of the P&s;al|mi&s;t, <HI>They call their lands after their owne names,</HI> thereupon &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 49.11. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Ecce aliud genus amentiae, aedificiis, agris, balneis &s;ua nomina in&s;cribere. Ne nomen O homo aedificiis in&s;cribas, &s;ed trophaea recte factorum erigas, quae et in prae|&s;enti vita nomen tibi con&s;ervant, &amp; infutura vita, immortalem tibi requiem comparent. Nihil enim facit nomen adeo immortale, ut natura virtutum,</HI> Behold another kinde of madne&s;&s;e, to &s;et their names upon hou&s;es, lands, baths. But O man, doe not ingrave thy name on hou&s;es, but e|rect trophees of thy good workes, which will pre&s;erve thy name in this life, and in the next life will procure thee immortall re&s;t. There is no|thing that doth make a name &s;o immortall, as the nature of vertues. When <HI>Iacob</HI> asked to know the name of the Angel that had wre&s;tled with him; the reply of the Angel is,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 32.29.</NOTE> <HI>Wherefore is it that thou do&s;t aske after my name?</HI> And he ble&s;&s;ed him there. What is this? His name was de&s;ired, and he gave him a ble&s;&s;ing. It was not &s;ure &s;o much that the Angel would have his name concealed, as rather to &s;hew, that the true glory of a name doth not con&s;i&s;t in letters and &s;yllables, but &s;hi|neth from the actions of goodne&s;&s;e and vertue. <HI>And the day of death is better then the day of ones birth.</HI> It is &s;oone after the day of any ones birth, that anciently in the Church of the <HI>Iewes,</HI> and &s;till in the Church of Chri&s;tians, his name was and is given to him. And it is the day of
<PB N="188" REF="98"> death that maketh the name of any one to be good: for untill then what name hee will de&s;erve, it cannot be &s;aid. Hence it is that the Preacher joyneth the&s;e together, and even thereby prooving that the day of death is better than the day of ones birth, becau&s;e a good name is better than a name. It is true that <HI>in the day of death, peregrinamur &agrave; mundo,</HI> wee are ab&s;ent from the world; but in <HI>the day of birth peregrinamur &agrave; Domino,</HI> we are ab&s;ent from the Lord,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.6.</NOTE> as the Apo&s;tle &s;peaketh. It is true that <HI>the day of death</HI> depriveth us of the good things of this life, but it giveth us the better things of a better life, <HI>and is it not then better?</HI> It is true that <HI>the day of death</HI> taketh away the light of the Sunne from us, but it giveth us the light of God him&s;elfe: it takes us away from the earth, but it brings us to heaven, and how much better is that? It is true that <HI>the day of birth</HI> enters man into many mi&s;eries, but <HI>the day of death</HI> &s;ets an end to all. It is true that <HI>the day of birth</HI> brings forth a man unto ma|ny &s;innes, but at <HI>the day of death</HI> the time of &s;inning dyeth. It is true that <HI>the day of our birth,</HI> is the beginning of our journey to our Country, but <HI>the day of death</HI> leads us into it. And <HI>is it not better</HI> to be in our Coun|try then to bee travelling to it? <HI>Is it not better</HI> that &s;inne &s;hould dye in us, then we live to &s;inne? <HI>Is it not better</HI> to bee delivered from mi&s;eries then to be brought into them?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambr. de fide Re&s;ur|rect.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> therefore tels us, <HI>Fui&s;&s;e qui|dam feruntur populi, qui ortus hominum lugerent, obitu&s;&abque; celebrarent. Nec imprudenter: eos enim qui in hoc vitae &s;alum veni&s;&s;ent, moerendos putabant; eos vero qui ex i&s;tius mundi procellis &amp; fluctibus emer&s;i&s;&s;ent, non injusto gau|dio pro&s;equendos arbitrabantur,</HI> There are reported to have beene &s;ome, who lamented the births of men, celebrated their deaths. Nor unwi&s;e|ly: for they judged tho&s;e to bee lamented who came into the &s;alt Sea of this life; they accounted tho&s;e happy and to bee honoured with joy, who were e&s;caped from the waves and &s;tormes of this world. Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;peaking of him&s;elfe &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bern. de In|ter. Dom. cap. <HI>35.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Vivere erube&s;co, quia parum proficio: mori timeo, quia non &s;um paratus: malo tamen mori &amp; mi&s;ericordiae Dei me committere &amp; commendare, quia benignus &amp; mi&s;ericors e&s;t; quam de mala mea conver&s;atione alicui &s;candalum facere,</HI> I am a&s;hamed to live be|cau&s;e I am &s;o little bettered; I feare to dye, becau&s;e I am not ready: yet I had rather to dye; and to commit and commend my &s;elfe to the mercy of God, who is gracious and mercifull, then to give a &s;candall to any one by my &s;infull conver&s;ation.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cyprian. de Immortalit.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Cyprian</HI> relateth of a Bi|&s;hop, who being neere to his death, and unwilling to dye, and praying unto God for a longer life, an Angell appeared unto him, and with an angry countenance in reprooving him &s;aid, <HI>Pati timetis, exire de vita non vultis, quid faciam vobis?</HI> Yee feare to &s;uffer, yee will not goe out of this life, what &s;hall I doe unto you? All which &s;hewes <HI>the day of death to be better</HI> then the day of ones birth; but take it, as the Preacher &s;ets it downe: it is when a good name is joyned with it, which is better then a precious oyntment.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 2. The plague of &s;inne is that which alwayes raigneth; and therefore as in a time of the plague it is better to goe into a hou&s;e not
<PB N="189" REF="98"> infected, then into a hou&s;e that is infected; &s;o it is better to <HI>goe into the hou&s;e of mourning</HI> which is not infected with the plague of &s;inne, <HI>then in|to the hou&s;e of fea&s;ting,</HI> which is infected with it. The Originall word for fea&s;ting, is <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ignifying a drinking fea&s;t mo&s;t properly, and there it is that the infection of &s;inne is mo&s;t dangerous. What though <HI>in the hou&s;e of mourning</HI> one being dead, all are &s;orrowfull, and <HI>in the hou&s;e of fea&s;ting</HI> all bee merry and plea&s;ant? yet <HI>it is better</HI> to bee with the &s;or|rowfull, that the cau&s;e of &s;orrow for thy &s;innes may be the le&s;&s;e; then be|ing merry for a fit to fall into &s;ome &s;inne, for which it will be needfull for thee to be long &s;orrowfull;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Eccle&s;.</HI> 2.4. <HI>&amp;</HI> 5.</NOTE> The Preacher had built unto him&s;elfe plea&s;ant hou&s;es, Vineyards, Gardens, Orchards, and he it is that here pre|ferreth <HI>the hou&s;e of mourning before the hou&s;es</HI> of plea&s;ure and delight. God &s;aith unto the Prophet <HI>Ieremiah,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ier.</HI> 18.2.</NOTE> Ari&s;e and goe downe into the Potters hou&s;e, and there I will cau&s;e thee to heare my words. The Potters hou&s;e is <HI>the hou&s;e of mourning,</HI> wherein is the earthen ve&s;&s;ell broken, the ear|then ve&s;&s;ell of mans body broken by death. And if wee &s;hall goe downe thither, that will make us willing to heare the words of God, whereby to keepe our &s;oules from the infection of &s;inne. The very temper of &s;adne&s;&s;e is a friend to vertue; whereas the heart &s;et upon a merry pinne, is like one &s;tanding on the top of a Pinnacle, and in great danger of falling. Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> therefore &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;tome Hom. <HI>54.</HI> ad Popul.</NOTE> <HI>Sit aliquis gaudens &amp; laetus, effu&s;u&s;&abque;, quid turpius? Sit aliquis dolens &amp; maestus, quid hoc e&s;t &s;a|pientius? Non enim &s;tat anima firma &s;ede, &s;ed tanquam a quodam flumine tollitur, &amp; elevatur &agrave; voluptate, nihil habens &s;tabile,</HI> If any one be very joyfull and profu&s;e in mirth, what is more un&s;eemely? If any one be &s;ad and &s;orrowfull, what is more wi&s;e? For the &s;oule doth not &s;tand upon a firme &s;eate, but is caryed away as it were with a river, and is lif|ted up with plea&s;ure having nothing &s;etled in it. But <HI>in the hou&s;e of mour|ning</HI> there is a &s;peciall cordiall and Antidote again&s;t the pe&s;tilence of &s;inne, <HI>For that is the end of all:</HI> by going into that hou&s;e is &s;hewed to what we mu&s;t all goe; there the end of one &s;heweth, what is the end of all: for all mu&s;t dye. Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Ex quo na&s;cimur, nece&s;&s;e e&s;t ut moriamur: morbus hic nece&s;&s;e e&s;t ut ad mortem perducat,</HI> In that wee are borne, there is a nece&s;&s;ity that wee mu&s;t dye: this di&s;ea&s;e of nece&s;&s;ily doth bring men to their death. The Phy&s;itian &s;eeing one &s;icke of a drop&s;ie, another of a feaver, &s;aith, &s;ure they will dye, and yet often they dye not: but hee that is &s;icke of this di&s;ea&s;e, is &s;ure to dye without que&s;tion: And of this doth <HI>the hou&s;e of mourning</HI> put us in mind. An u&s;uall name whereby we call a Sepulcher is a monument: and the rea|&s;on of the name of a monument,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. Serm. <HI>1.</HI> in <HI>1.</HI> Dom. Qua|drag.</NOTE> is as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> giveth it <HI>mo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ens mentem,</HI> becau&s;e it admoni&s;heth the mind: and &s;o indeed the Septuagint doe read it here, <HI>In illa enim finis cunctorum admonetur hominum,</HI> For therein the end of all men is admoni&s;hed: the end of another doth ad|moni&s;h every one of his owne end. And how can it choo&s;e, but that this al&s;o &s;hould bee a meanes to re&s;traine him from &s;inne? It was the fir&s;t meanes which God u&s;ed to keepe man from &s;inne to tell him of this
<PB N="190" REF="99"> death,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gene&s;.</HI> 2.17.</NOTE> &s;aying, <HI>in the day that thou eate&s;t of the forbidden fruit thou &s;halt &s;urely dye:</HI> and it is &s;till a mo&s;t excellent meanes to keepe man from &s;inne to remember his death. <HI>I&s;ocrates</HI> hath a &s;aying; <HI>Si mortalis es, ut mortalis vive,</HI> If thou bee mortall, live as a mortall man; and &s;eeing wee mu&s;t all dye let us all &s;o live, as they who at our death mu&s;t give an accompt of what we have done.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>13.</HI> c. <HI>15.</HI></NOTE> Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Qui con&s;iderat qualis erit in morte, &s;emper fit timidus in operatione, &amp; paene mortuum &s;e putat, quia mo|riturum minime ignorat: perfecta enim vita e&s;t mortis imitatio, quam dum ju&s;ti &s;olicite peragunt, culparum laqueos evadunt,</HI> He that con&s;idereth what hee &s;hall bee in death, is fearefull in the works of his life, and thinketh him&s;elfe almo&s;t to be dead, becau&s;e he is not ignorant that hee &s;hall bee dead. For a perfect life is an imitation of death, which while the righ|teous are carefull to doe, they e&s;cape the &s;nares of offences. Wherefore we have here la&s;tly the applying of the cordiall to the hear. <HI>And the li|ving will lay it to his heart:</HI> the living, he to whom God hath given life to &s;ee another dead that is living, and not dead in a careles cour&s;e of wicked|ne&s;&s;e, he will lay it to his heart. <HI>Symmachus</HI> did read it, as S. <HI>Hier.</HI> tels us, <HI>Re&s;piciet ad mentem,</HI> will look unto his mind, and con&s;ider with him&s;elfe, whether he be ready for his death or no. <HI>Tren<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ell.</HI> reads it, <HI>Inditurus e&s;t il|lud animo &s;uo,</HI> He will put it on upon his mind; as if his body putting on a mourning garment for the death of his friend, his &s;oule al&s;o &s;hould put on a mourning garment by the &s;ad remembrance of his own death. Our Engli&s;h hath it very well according to the Originall, <HI>will lay it to heart,</HI> will bring it home to his own heart,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca epi&s;t. <HI>102.</HI></NOTE> telling his heart, how that al&s;o &s;hall be &s;trucken with death. <HI>Seneca</HI> ob&s;erveth well of death, <HI>Quod non cogita|tur ni&s;i ut aliena,</HI> That it is not thought upon, but as belonging to another. We can &s;ay, &s;uch a one is dead, and &s;uch another is dead, and yet we doe not think of our death. But let him that liveth in Gods feare, and look|eth to dye in his favour, <HI>lay it to his owne heart,</HI> to keepe him from the infe|ction of &s;in, that &s;o though his life may be &s;omewhat the more &s;ad, his death may be by much the more joyfull.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 3. A gravity of behaviour is better than a light wanton|ne&s;&s;e; and though it looke with the a&s;pect of &s;orrow, yet hee that can but looke into the heart &s;hall find that full of cheerefulne&s;&s;e. Laughing and &s;porting are often by carele&s;ne&s;&s;e en&s;nared in the traps of trouble, whereas a &s;ober &s;adne&s;&s;e being more vigilant doth ea&s;ily avoyd them, and give the heart more quietne&s;&s;e. But the generall reading of the fir&s;t part of this ver&s;e is, <HI>Ira melior ri&s;u,</HI> Anger is better than laughing. For though an affability of caryage,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;ian. In|&s;titut. lib. <HI>8.</HI> cap. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> or el&s;e as in <HI>Ca&s;sian</HI> it is &s;tiled, <HI>pla|ciditas,</HI> a plau&s;ibility of di&s;po&s;ition and behaviour be a thing acceptable to others, and that which giveth much contentment unto him that hath it; yet it is not &s;eldome that a more &s;terne countenance, a more &s;ower behaviour, though di&s;ta&s;ted by others, and cau&s;ing di&s;contentment un|to him that hath it, is rather required and better cho&s;en. Wicked <HI>Mar|cion</HI> framing to him&s;elfe one God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ter. contra Marcion. l. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> who was all mildne&s;&s;e, all &s;weetne&s;&s;e, and having no anger in him, <HI>Tertullian</HI> doth ju&s;tly refute him &s;aying,
<PB N="191" REF="99"> <HI>Hinc &s;ufficit perver&s;i&s;simum Deum o&s;tendi in ip&s;o praeconio &s;olitariae bonitatis,</HI> From hence it &s;ufficeth to &s;hew the perver&s;ene&s;&s;e of his God, even from the prai&s;e it &s;elfe of his &s;olitary goodne&s;&s;e. The meekene&s;&s;e of the Dove is indeed commendable, but yet &s;ometimes the &s;ting of the Ser|pent is more prai&s;eworthy. Now this <HI>anger</HI> is chiefely to be preferred in two re&s;pects. Fir&s;t, when others would enti&s;e us to &s;inne: &s;econdly, when by others we &s;ee &s;in practi&s;ed. As for the fir&s;t, how often hath an angry &s;adne&s;&s;e of countenance, driven away the tempters and &s;edu|cers unto wickedne&s;&s;e: whereas a courteous affability, a kind plau&s;ibili|ty hath made them the bolder to give an a&s;&s;ault, and hath made the a&s;|&s;ault &s;tronger in the &s;ucce&s;&s;e of it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ari&s;tot. Ethico. lib. <HI>4.</HI> cap. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> therefore &s;peaking of affa|bility &s;aith, <HI>Medium illud laudandum, quo qui&s;piam ea quae oportet accep|tabit &s;imiliter &amp; agre feret,</HI> That meane is to be prai&s;ed, whereby any one &s;hall both accept kindly, and reject with di&s;contentment tho&s;e things which he ought. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> reads it in the Proverbs,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. <HI>6.6.</HI> Amb. Hex|am. cap. <HI>21.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Goe to the Bee, O &s;luggard,</HI> But why unto the Bee? Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> giveth an an&s;wer, who telleth us, <HI>Inter mella fundunt apes venena, &s;i fuerint lace&s;|&s;itae,</HI> Among hony the Bees doe &s;end forth poy&s;on if that they bee pro|voked: and let him remember this, who is &s;o full of hony in his affabi|lity, all who&s;e caryage is nothing but a &s;weetne&s;&s;e of di&s;po&s;ition; and let him learne how to ca&s;t out the venime of his anger again&s;t the enticers and &s;educers unto wickedne&s;&s;e. Secondly, <HI>anger</HI> al&s;o is preferred, when wickedne&s;&s;e is committed by others, for how often hath a gentlene&s;&s;e of caryage encouraged in wickedne&s;&s;e, when a rough temper might ea|&s;ily have &s;topped it? This was the fault of <HI>Heli, Sed quo contra &s;ubditorum vitia tepuit, eo contra ip&s;um districtio aeterni Rectoris exar&s;it,</HI> But he being only mildly warme again&s;t their &s;ins that were under him, it made the wrath of the eternall Governour to burne again&s;t him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mo|ral. l. <HI>5.</HI> c. <HI>30.</HI></NOTE> as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh. But here as the &s;ame Father &s;peaketh, a double anger is to be con&s;idered, <HI>Nam alia e&s;t ira quam impatientia excitat, alia quam Zelus ju&s;ti|tiae format. Illa ex vitio, haec ex virtute generatur,</HI> For there is one anger which impatiency &s;tirreth up, another which the zeale of ju&s;tice fram|eth. That proceedeth from vice, this from vertue. But even in this al|&s;o a great care mu&s;t be had, that immoderatene&s;&s;e doe not tran&s;port it, and as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Excitata ip&s;o zelo rectitudinis longe a recti|tudine aberret,</HI> Being &s;tirred by a zeale of rightne&s;&s;e, it wander farre and erre from rightne&s;&s;e. It is needfull therefore as <HI>I&s;idore Pelu&s;iot<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> advi&s;eth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;ido. Pelu|&s;iota lib. <HI>2.</HI> Epi&s;t.</NOTE> that a man be angry even with his anger, <HI>Quia &s;i fractum &amp; di&s;&s;olutum inveniat, nullo negotio &s;uperat, &s;ui vigilantem ip&s;i ira&s;centem, quam primum di&s;cedit,</HI> Becau&s;e if it finde a man to bee remi&s;&s;e and &s;lacke, it &s;ubdueth him without any difficulty, but if it find him vigilant and angry with it &s;elfe, it quickly for&s;aketh him. The latter part of the ver&s;e by inter|preters is read diver&s;ly. And if wee apply the anger again&s;t tho&s;e who enti&s;e our &s;elves to wickedne&s;&s;e, it may well bee read as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> hath, <HI>Emendabitur cor,</HI> The heart will bee amended; or el&s;e as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us, that <HI>Symmachus</HI> did read it, <HI>Melior fiet animus,</HI> The
<PB N="192" REF="100"> mind will bee made better: which is the tran&s;lation that <HI>Tremellius</HI> al&s;o doth give it; becau&s;e anger again&s;t &s;uch corrupters doth pre&s;erve and encrea&s;e goodne&s;&s;e in the heart and mind. Or el&s;e if we apply <HI>the anger,</HI> again&s;t tho&s;e by whom wickedne&s;&s;e is committed, it may well be read as the Septuagint have it, <HI>corrigitur animus delinquentis,</HI> The minde of him that offendeth is corrected. Or el&s;e as I conceive it may not ami&s;&s;e bee rendred, <HI>Benignum fit cor,</HI> The heart is made loving and kind; it being a te&s;timony of a loving minde and heart towards him that is reproved, when an angry countenance reprooveth his faults.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 4. The wi&s;e being in the hou&s;e of mourning, the heart of them is there al&s;o: they are truly affected with it, they do indeed lament their decea&s;ed friend. <HI>Fooles</HI> being in the hou&s;e of mirth, the heart of them is there al&s;o, they are wholly po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed, tran&s;ported, ravi&s;hed with it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Olympiodor. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> and in their mirth are mo&s;t &s;erious. <HI>Olympiodorus</HI> therefore &s;peaking of the former part of the ver&s;e &s;aith, <HI>Vir &s;apiens funebri luctu &s;ecum ani|mo deputans &s;e natum de corruptibili carne brevi ex hac vita migraturum; mortales caeteros qui eadem &s;unt nati conditione affectu pio pro&s;equitur,</HI> A wi&s;e man by occa&s;ion of funerall &s;orrow con&s;idering in his mind that him|&s;elfe al&s;o being borne of corruptible fle&s;h, is &s;hortly to depart this life, &s;heweth a pious affection of &s;orrow towards others that are mortall and borne of the &s;ame condition. Whereas <HI>fooles</HI> being in the hou&s;e of &s;orrow, they are little moved with &s;orrow, but their heart is in the hou&s;e of mirth, &s;porting at lea&s;t within them&s;elves, when the outward occa|&s;ion pre&s;enteth matter of &s;orrow unto them. Otherwi&s;e was the car|riage of <HI>Pammachius,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Paulinus ad Pammach. Epi&s;t. <HI>35.</HI></NOTE> to whom <HI>Paulinus</HI> writing and commending him for his vertuous &s;orrow in the buryall of his wife &s;aith, <HI>Quam non va|cuam fletibus, nec vano pomparum inanium honore comitatus, debito ordine primum charo funeri ju&s;ta per&s;olvens, piis lachrymis, &amp; largo charitatis rore perfu&s;us religio&s;as exequias honora&s;ti;</HI> Whom following without the vaine o&s;tentation of empty pompe, but not without weeping, in a dew order fir&s;t paying the duties to her deare funerals by religious teares, thou did|e&s;t al&s;o honour her funerall &s;olemnities with a large dew of charity wherewith thou wert endued. The &s;ame Father in the &s;ame Epi&s;tle &s;peaking of &s;orrow for the dead, &s;aith, <HI>Bonae lachrymae charitatis, in qui|bus Pater Abraham matrem repromi&s;sionis eluxit: bonae lachrymae pietatis quas Io&s;eph ju&s;tus impendit patri. Sed quid Sanctorum mortalium praedicem fletus? Flevit &amp; Ie&s;us amicum, hanc etiam pa&s;sionem de no&s;tra infaelicitate dignatus, ut mortuo infunderet lachrymas,</HI> Good were the teares of af|fection, in which Father <HI>Abraham</HI> lamented the Mother of the pro|mi&s;e: good were the teares of devout duty which righteous <HI>Io&s;eph</HI> be|&s;towed on his father. But what doe I &s;et forth the weeping of holy mortall men? <HI>Ie&s;us</HI> al&s;o wept for his friend, and vouch&s;afing to take this pa&s;&s;ion al&s;o from our unhappine&s;&s;e, he powred out teares for the dead. The councell therefore of the &s;onne of <HI>Syrack</HI> is,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ecclus. c. <HI>38.</HI> v. <HI>16.</HI> &amp; <HI>17.</HI></NOTE> <HI>My &s;onne, let teares fall downe over the dead, weepe bitterly and make great moane and u&s;e lamentation, as hee is worthy.</HI> But to looke againe upon the words of the ver&s;e:
<PB N="193" REF="100"> <HI>The heart of the wi&s;e is in the hou&s;e of mourning:</HI> his body, in which his heart is &s;et, as it were in a hou&s;e, being a hou&s;e of mourning, as well in regard of the &s;ober and &s;ad demeanour of it, is in re&s;pect of the teares which he &s;heds, the &s;ighs that he makes, both for his owne &s;innes, and for the troubles of Gods Church, and the mi&s;eries of his people. <HI>But the heart of fooles is in a hou&s;e of mirth;</HI> their body being full of the ge&s;ticulations of mirth, as well in re&s;pect of their light behaviour, as in regard of the vaine talking, ridiculous laughing, both of and at their owne &s;innes, as al&s;o the di&s;tre&s;&s;e of Gods Church, the calamities of his people. <HI>Againe the heart of the wi&s;e is in the hou&s;e of mourning:</HI> the hear|tie mourning of the wi&s;e is in the hou&s;e, private, and unknowne; it is not in the &s;treets open to the view and notice of the world: for &s;o the command of our Saviour <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> is, <HI>When yee fa&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat</HI> 6.16. <HI>&amp;</HI> 17. <HI>&amp;</HI> 18.</NOTE> <HI>be not as the hypocrites of a &s;ad countenance, for they di&s;figure their faces, that they may appeare to men to fast. Verely, I &s;ay unto you, they have their reward. But when thou fa&s;test, anoynt thine head, and wa&s;h thy face, that thou appeare not unto men to fa&s;t, but unto thy Father, which is in &s;ecret; and thy Father which &s;eeth in &s;ecret, &s;hall reward thee openly. The heart of fooles is in the hou&s;e of mirth:</HI> they have all their mirth to them&s;elves, all is in the hou&s;e, to the feed|ing, fea&s;ting, delighting of them&s;elves, and their owne hearts. The heart of others is not made merry by them, either by the workes of charitie, or the good offices that they doe them. It is not abroad that their mirth is &s;eene, within the dores of their owne hou&s;e all is enjoy|ed. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> under&s;tanding this ver&s;e with reference unto that which followeth, giveth this &s;en&s;e of it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Cor &s;apientis vadat ad domum talis viri, qui &s;e corripiat delinquentem, ut adducat ad lachrymas, &amp; qui pro|vocet propria lugere peccata; &amp; non eat ad domum laetitiae, ubi doctor adula|tur &amp; decipit; ubi non conver&s;ionem audientium, &s;ed applau&s;us quaerit &amp; lau|dem. Talis praeceptor plangitur, dives in &s;ermone, non dives in opere,</HI> Let the heart of the wi&s;e goe to the hou&s;e of &s;uch a one, who may reproove him when he offendeth, that &s;o he may bring him to teares, and make him to lament his owne &s;innes: and let him not goe to the hou&s;e of mirth, where the teacher flattereth and deceiveth: where he doth not &s;eeke the conver&s;ion of the hearers, but his owne applau&s;e and prai&s;e. Such a teacher is to be lamented, being rich in &s;peech, but not in the worke of the mini&s;tery.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 5. <HI>It is better:</HI> it may not be &s;weeter, it may not be &s;o plea|&s;ing and delightfull, but &s;ure <HI>it is better,</HI> and there is le&s;&s;e hurt, more good that ari&s;eth from it. There is in <HI>rebuke</HI> a jarring and har&s;h mu&s;ick, becau&s;e it oppo&s;eth the fault that is committed, it di&s;agreeth with the minde of him that hath committed it: but yet it is a better mu&s;ick then the melodious &s;ongs of flattering para&s;ites, who leading on in wicked|ne&s;&s;e, doe bring on to de&s;truction. It is &s;toryed of <HI>Alexander</HI> the great, that having had a Philo&s;opher a long time with him, at length &s;ayd un|to him, <HI>Recede &agrave; me pror&s;us, con&s;ortium tuum nolo,</HI> Be gone from mee, I de&s;ire not thy company. And being asked why, made an&s;were, <HI>Quod
<PB N="194" REF="101"> quum tanto tempore mecum degeris, nunquam me de vitio aliquo increpa&s;ti,</HI> Becau&s;e having lived &s;o long time with me, thou ha&s;t not reprooved a|ny vice in mee. For either thou ha&s;t not ob&s;erved me to erre, which is a great argument of ignorance, becau&s;e being a man, I know my &s;elfe to be expo&s;ed to many errours. Or el&s;e thou ha&s;t knowne me to erre, and ha&s;t held thy peace, which is a proofe of thine unfaithfulne&s;&s;e. Surely, it was a great prai&s;e of that great Monarch thus to doe. But if he were put away, that did not reproove, then much more are <HI>fooles</HI> to be put away, who by their <HI>&s;ongs</HI> doe nouri&s;h men in their errours, and <HI>much better it is to heare the reproofe of the wi&s;e. Of the wi&s;e,</HI> who have wi&s;e|dome to know what it is that they <HI>rebuke,</HI> who have wi&s;edome to con|&s;ider whom they doe <HI>rebuke,</HI> who have wi&s;dome to under&s;tand how they doe <HI>rebuke,</HI> and that they doe it neither furiou&s;ly nor proudly. Fir&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;ian. In|&s;titut. l. <HI>8.</HI> c. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> not furiou&s;ly, and therefore <HI>Ca&s;sian</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Delinquentem fratrem &s;i nece&s;&s;e e&s;t, ita curare festinet, ut dum medelam leviori for&s;itan febricula labo|ranti procurat inferret, non &s;emetip&s;um iratus deteriori morbo caecitatis invol|vat,</HI> Let every one if it be needfull, &s;o ha&s;ten to cure his offending bro|ther, that while he &s;eeketh to apply a remedy to one who is &s;icke per|haps of a light feaver, being angry he doe not ca&s;t him&s;elfe into a wor&s;e di&s;ea&s;e of blindne&s;&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augustinus Serm. <HI>18.</HI> de verbis Dom.</NOTE> Secondly, not proudly, and therefore S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Neque con&s;entientes &s;itis malis, ut approbetis, neque negligentes ut non arguatis, neque &s;uperbientes ut in&s;ultantes arguatis,</HI> Neither be ye con|&s;enting unto evils, that ye &s;hould approove them, neither negligent that yee &s;hould not reproove them, neither proud that yee reproove them in an in&s;ulting manner. <HI>Then for a man to heare the &s;ong of fooles:</HI> a &s;ong made to the tune of fooles, who neither care what they &s;ing, nor con|&s;ider to whom they &s;ing it; but onely intend by &s;inging to plea&s;e, though by plea&s;ing they bring much hurt and mi&s;chiefe. Great is the power of &s;weet &s;inging; and as <HI>Theodorick</HI> &s;peaketh in <HI>Ca&s;&s;iodore, In hu|mana voce varias animi affectiones gravidametra pepererunt,</HI> The fruitfull mea&s;ures of the voice, have brought forth many affections of mans minde; and no le&s;&s;e is the power of flattering lips in their &s;trange work|ing upon mans heart. So that as in the &s;ame place <HI>Theodorick</HI> &s;peaketh of tho&s;e who heard the Syrens &s;inging; <HI>Eligebant &s;uaviter decepti Scopu|los incurrere, ne tantam paterentur dulcedinem praeterire,</HI> They did choo&s;e being &s;weetly deceived to runne upon the rockes, rather then to &s;uffer them&s;elves to pa&s;&s;e by &s;o great delight; in like manner, men doe rather &s;uffer them&s;elves to fall upon many evills, then not to content them|&s;elves with delightfull flatteries. But as there al&s;o it is &s;ayd of <HI>Vly&s;&s;es, Cogitavit foelici&s;&s;imam &s;urditatem, &amp; quam vincere intelligendo non poterant, melius non advertendo &s;uperabant,</HI> He invented a mo&s;t happie deafene&s;&s;e, and that which his Mariners could not overcome by intending to it, he made them to overcome better by not perceiving of it; &s;o to overcome the power of &s;uch deceitfull flatterers, the way is to neglect to heare their &s;ongs, and rather to li&s;ten to the more &s;olemne mu&s;icke of a grave and wi&s;e reproofe, then to the light and wanton &s;ongs of the&s;e enticing
<PB N="195" REF="101"> &s;educers. <HI>Gregorius Thaumaturgus</HI> noteth in this ver&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Thau|mat.</NOTE> that when the Preacher &s;ayth, <HI>It is better to heare the rebuke of the wi&s;e,</HI> the word is there &s;ingular, &s;peaking of one wi&s;e man, and him to be oppo&s;ed unto the &s;ong of many fooles, for there the word is plurall. Whereupon he &s;ayth, <HI>Multo magis optandum &s;apientis unius objurgationem excipere, quam totius chori improborum &amp; mi&s;erorum hominum cantantium auditorem fieri: ille quidem prodest dum corripit, isti vero bellum inferunt dum laudant,</HI> It is much rather to be wi&s;hed, to receive the reproofe of one wi&s;e man, then to be the hearer of the whole quire of wicked and mi&s;erable men &s;inging: for he doth benefit us while that he doth rebuke us, but they make warre again&s;t us, while that they prai&s;e us.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 6. Fooles them&s;elves are but <HI>thornes,</HI> their laughing is but as <HI>the crackling of thornes under a pot.</HI> Them&s;elves as thornes doe grow up to be burned; their laughing as the crackling of thornes under a pot, doth make a great noy&s;e for the time, but it is quickly gone. Yea, <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Cu&s;uc, the &s;porting of fooles;</HI> and as the French tran&s;lation hath it, <HI>La gaudi&s;&s;erie,</HI> the merriment of the wicked, all their plea&s;ant deligh|ting of them&s;elves, is &s;peedily vani&s;hed away, like the fla&s;hing of thornes. For as S^t. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Spinae dum arde<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">t &s;onant,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de hortat. ad virginita|tem.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; cito exuruntur, ut nullus caloris &s;it effectus,</HI> Thornes when they burne make a noy&s;e, and quickly are con&s;umed, &s;o that there is no effect of their heate; &s;o likewi&s;e <HI>fooles,</HI> when they are in pro&s;peritie make a noy&s;e of it, but it is &s;oone gone, and they have little fruit of any comfort by it. Be&s;ides, as <HI>the crackling of thornes is under the pot,</HI> &s;o that though the flame doe lift it &s;elfe up in an exulting bravery, yet it is kept downe and &s;uppre&s;&s;ed; in like manner, the laughing and merriment of the wicked is under the pot of manifold troubles and di&s;tre&s;&s;es of this life, by which it is &s;uppre&s;&s;ed, and whereby the gallantry of it is checked and ca&s;t downe.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> taketh <HI>the fooles laughing</HI> in this ver&s;e to be the fooles &s;inging in the former ver&s;e, and accordingly applyeth unto the plea&s;ing words of a flattering teacher; <HI>Vel ad curas &s;aeculi, quae &s;pinae interpretantur, auditores &s;uos cohortantis, vel futuro eos incendio praepa|rantis,</HI> Either exhorting his hearers to the cares of the world, which the thornes are interpreted to be; or el&s;e preparing them for the bur|ning which is to come: and who&s;e words though never &s;o &s;weet to his hearers, are in Gods eares but as <HI>In&s;uavis &s;trepitus &s;pinarum &s;ub olla ar|dentium,</HI> the har&s;h unplea&s;ant noy&s;e of thornes under a pot.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Lyra</HI> al&s;o taking the two ver&s;es to be of a con&s;ort, applyeth this ver&s;e al&s;o unto flatterers, and that as thornes <HI>Faciunt magnum &s;onum et inutilem, imo ad &s;ui con&s;umptionem, ita &s;tulti applau&s;us in malo alterius: nocet enim utrique, &s;cilicet adulatori, et ei cui adulatur,</HI> Doe make a great and unprofitable &s;ound, and that to the con&s;uming of them&s;elves; &s;o a fooles applau|ding of another in his wickedne&s;&s;e hath the like effect: for it hurteth both, as well the flatterer as him that is flattered. Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Spina culpa e&s;t, &s;pina poena e&s;t, &s;pina fal&s;us frater, &s;pina vicinus e&s;t malus,</HI> Sinne is a thorne, puni&s;hment is a thorne, a fal&s;e brother is a thorne,
<PB N="196" REF="102"> a bad neighbour is a thorne, and this fal&s;e brother, this bad neighbour is a flatterer, and therefore fitly here compared to a thorne. And of him it may be &s;ayd, as S^t. <HI>Bernard</HI> al&s;o &s;peaketh, <HI>Attende pe&s;&s;imum ger|men ejus cui maledictum e&s;t terrae no&s;trae: quum inquit colueris eam, &s;pinas &amp; tribulos germinabit tibi,</HI> Behold the wor&s;t fruite of that our earth to which the cur&s;e was given, <HI>When thou dre&s;&s;e&s;t it, it &s;hall bring forth bryars and thornes.</HI> Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> under&s;tandeth this ver&s;e <HI>of a fooles un&s;eemely laughing,</HI> and that as the crackling of thornes under a pot, <HI>Sic e&s;t ri&s;us &s;tultorum qui &s;ine gratia &s;onat, et ollam &s;ui corporis urit,</HI> So is the laughter of fooles which &s;oundeth without comeline&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de horta. ad vir|ginitatem.</NOTE> and burneth, di&s;figu|reth the pot of his body. The Father addeth, &s;aying, <HI>Merit&agrave; negabat Sarah quia ri&s;erat, ne videretur ridendo de effectu promi&s;&s;ionum dubita&s;&s;e coe|le&s;tium; et tamen ille ri&s;us plenus gravitatis et pudoris erat, quem nemo alius te&s;tis ni&s;i Deus &s;olus cogno&s;ceret, quem occulta non fallunt,</HI> Iu&s;tly did <HI>Sarah</HI> denie that &s;he laughed, that &s;hee might not &s;eeme by laughing to doubt of the efficacy of the heavenly promi&s;es; and yet that laughing was full of gravitie, full of mode&s;tie, which no other witne&s;&s;e knew but God alone, to whom no hidden things are &s;ecret. But how much then is the immode&s;t and unmea&s;urable <HI>laughing of fooles</HI> to be condemned? And who have as many witne&s;&s;es of their &s;hame as of their laughing. Their <HI>laughing</HI> is not &s;ecret, but maketh as great a noy&s;e <HI>as the crackling of thornes under a pot:</HI> the pot of their mouths boyling with a froth and &s;cum of their folly.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Clemens Alexandr. Paedag. lib. <HI>2.</HI> cap. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> So that their <HI>laughing</HI> is as <HI>Clemens Alexandrinus</HI> &s;peaketh, <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>Irridendus ri&s;us,</HI> A laughing to be laughed at. Let it therefore be the care of every one, &s;o to u&s;e laughter, &s;o to en|joy the merriment of this world; that it may not be the laughter, that it may not be the merriment of fooles, but of them that are wi&s;e; that &s;o God at length may fill their mouth with laughter, and their lips <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>jubilatione,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Iob <HI>8 21.</HI> Greg. Mor. l. <HI>8.</HI> c. <HI>32.</HI></NOTE> with &s;houting for joy, as <HI>Bildad</HI> &s;peaketh in <HI>Iob.</HI> For as S^t. <HI>Gregory</HI> noteth upon the words, <HI>Os ju&s;torum tunc ri&s;u implebitur, quum eorum corda finitis peregrinationum fletibus aeterna laetitiae exultatione &s;atiabuntur,</HI> The mouth of the righteous &s;hall then be filled with laugh|ter, when the teares of their pilgrimage being dryed up, their hearts &s;hall be &s;atisfied with exultation of joy. <HI>Non autem tunc erit ri&s;us corpo|ris, &s;ed cordis ri&s;us. Ri&s;us enim nunc corporis de la&s;civia di&s;&s;olutionis, &s;ed ri|&s;us cordis tunc de laetitiae na&s;cetur &s;ecuritatis,</HI> But then it &s;hall not be a laughing of the body, but a laughing of the heart. For now the laugh|ing of the body commeth from a wantonne&s;&s;e of loo&s;ene&s;&s;e; but the laughing of the heart &s;hall then ari&s;e from a joy of &s;ecuritie. When the &s;ervants of God being filled with the joy of a manife&s;t beholding of him, <HI>Qua&s;i ad hilaritatem ri&s;us exilient in ore mentis,</HI> Shall as it were breake forth into a cheerefulne&s;&s;e of laughing, in the mouth of their under&s;tanding. Then their laughter &s;hall not be as the crackling of thornes under a pot,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iob</HI> 38.7.</NOTE> but as the &s;inging together of the morning Starres, and as the &s;houting for joy of all the Sonnes of God. What weeping for our &s;innes can be &s;ufficient to come to this joy? As for the
<PB N="197" REF="102"> other, what is it but <HI>vanitie?</HI> Vanitie in all, but in a foole what is it but notorious vanitie? And as for flattery, what is it but a &s;illy vanitie in him that is plea&s;ed with it? What is it but a wicked vanitie in him that u&s;eth it?</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="7" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>VER. 7.</HI></BIBL> Surely, oppre&s;sion maketh a wi&s;e man mad: and a gift de&s;troyeth the heart.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 7. The French tran&s;lation doth reade here in&s;tead of oppre&s;|&s;ion, <HI>Ce qu' on e&s;t trompe,</HI> This that they are deceived; maketh a wi&s;e man mad; and &s;o the &s;en&s;e of the ver&s;e may &s;eeme to be referred unto flattery, whereof the former ver&s;es &s;peake, and by which when a wi&s;e man perceiveth him&s;elfe to have beene deluded, it maketh him even <HI>mad</HI> with anger again&s;t him&s;elfe. Our tran&s;lation of oppre&s;&s;ion may be referred unto the rebuke whereof before the Preacher &s;peaketh; which as comming from the wi&s;e, and being ju&s;t, is worthy to be heard, &s;o be|ing unju&s;t, is enough to make even <HI>a wi&s;e man mad</HI> in vexing of him&s;elfe. Or el&s;e wee may take the connexion thus, that the Preacher having &s;hewed the infirmities of fooles, here he &s;heweth the infirmities of wi&s;e men: and fir&s;t, &s;hewing the weakne&s;&s;e of a wi&s;e man oppre&s;&s;ed; &s;econd|ly, he &s;heweth the corruption of a wi&s;e man oppre&s;&s;ing: and of both he &s;heweth that their under&s;tanding is de&s;troyed. <HI>Surely, oppre&s;&s;ion maketh a wi&s;e man mad:</HI> a wound is there mo&s;t grievous, where the &s;en&s;e of fee|ling is mo&s;t perfect, and therefore a wi&s;e man being mo&s;t apprehen&s;ive of the wrong that is done him, and be&s;t able to looke into it, and to judge of every circum&s;tance of it, that makes him to be the more affe|cted with it. But yet he that &s;hall be &s;o much moved with the wrong of another, as to loo&s;e his owne under&s;tanding, mu&s;t needs be onely <HI>Sa|piens in profectu po&s;itus,</HI> a wi&s;e man that is tending to wi&s;edome, not one that hath attained to it, as S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> well noteth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;. Ba&s;ilius E|pi&s;t. <HI>86.</HI> quae e&s;t ad Bo&s;|phorum E|pi&s;cop.</NOTE> the wi&s;e man here to be. Saint <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> &s;peaking of him&s;elfe &s;ayth, <HI>Quo putas animum meum do|lore affecit fama calumniae illius, quam mihi offuderunt quidam; non metuentes judicem perditurum omnes loquentes mendacium? Tanto videlicet, ut prope totam noctem in&s;omnem duxerim; ita ip&s;a cordis mei penetralia concepta moe&s;ti|tia occupavit. At nece&s;&s;e e&s;t ut omnia feramus, omnia patienter toleremus, ultionem ip&s;orum Domino committentes, qui non de&s;piciet nos,</HI> With what griefe do&s;t thou thinke did that calumny oppre&s;&s;e my minde, which &s;ome not fearing the Iudge, who &s;hall de&s;troy all them that &s;peake lyes, did ca&s;t upon me? Even &s;o much, that I &s;lept not almo&s;t all the night, &s;o had the apprehended &s;adne&s;&s;e po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed the &s;ecrets of my heart. But it is nece&s;&s;ary, that wee beare all, that wee &s;uffer all patiently, commit|ting the revenge of them to the Lord, who will not de&s;pi&s;e us. This was a wi&s;e man indeed, feeling the force of oppre&s;&s;ion in making his heart &s;orrowfull, but yet overcomming it by the force of grace. Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> doth well compare a wi&s;e man wronged unto the &s;hip wherein
<PB N="198" REF="103"> our Saviour was a&s;leepe: he heareth him&s;elfe to be &s;landered, and ther|upon is much moved with anger, <HI>Convitium ventus e&s;t, iracundia fluctus,</HI> The &s;lander is the winde, the anger is the wave, and by them being to&s;|&s;ed, he is in &s;ome danger. But when he &s;tudyeth revenge, and the de|&s;ire of that oppre&s;&s;eth his minde, <HI>I am navis propinquat naufragio,</HI> then is the &s;hip neere to a &s;hipwracke. And all is becau&s;e <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> is a&s;leepe in the &s;hip; <HI>In corde enim hominis &s;omnus Chri&s;ti, oblivio fidei,</HI> For in the heart of man the &s;leepe of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> is the forgetfulne&s;&s;e of faith. Let the eye of faith be open,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augustin. l. <HI>3.</HI> contra literas Pe|til.</NOTE> and that will tell us, as S^t. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Non intuendum e&s;&s;e, quam &s;it amarum, &s;ed quam fal&s;um &s;it quod audio,</HI> That wee mu&s;t not looke how bitter that is which wee heare, but how fal&s;e it is. That will tell us, <HI>Qui&s; quis volens detrahit famae meae, nolens addit merce|di meae,</HI> Who&s;oever he be, that willingly detracteth from my credit, he unwillingly addeth to my reward.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Paulinus E|pi&s;t. <HI>14.</HI> ad Celantiam.</NOTE> Indeed, as <HI>Paulinus</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Beatus qui tam &s;ancte tamque graviter di&s;po&s;uit vitam &s;uam, ut de eo &s;ini&s;tri aliquid ne fingi quidem po&s;sit; dum adver&s;us obtrectatorum libidinem pug|nat meriti magnitudo,</HI> Happie is he who ordereth his life &s;o holily, &s;o wi&s;ely, that no wrong can be fayned of him; whiles that the greatne&s;&s;e of his worth, with&s;tandeth the malice of his &s;landerers. Or if wee be not &s;o happy, let us be carefull, <HI>Ne ex nobis &s;cintilla procedat, per quam ad|ver&s;us nos &s;ini&s;trae famae flamma confletur,</HI> That from our &s;elves a &s;parkle doe not proceed, from whence the flame of a wrong report, may be kindled again&s;t us. Or if wee be not &s;o carefull, <HI>Nos modo id agamus, ut male de nobis nemo loqui ab&s;que mendacio po&s;&s;it,</HI> Let us at lea&s;t doe this, that no one may &s;peake evill of us without a lye. And then if any will wrong us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;tom. Homil. <HI>26.</HI> in Acta A|po&s;tol.</NOTE> <HI>Rideamus, ploremus,</HI> Let us laugh, let us weepe, &s;ayth Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome.</HI> Let us laugh, in comforting our &s;elves in God; let us weepe, as lamenting our oppre&s;&s;ours woefull e&s;tate. This is the part of a true wi&s;e man. To have wi&s;edome to &s;ee the wrong that is done, and not to have wi&s;dome to &s;ee how to beare it, will indeed &s;oone <HI>make &s;uch a wi&s;e man mad. And a gift de&s;troyeth the heart:</HI> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us, that the <HI>Septuagint, Aquila, Theodotio,</HI> did reade this ver&s;e, as him|&s;elfe al&s;o reads it, <HI>Perdit cor <GAP DESC="foreign"> fortitudinis &s;ive vigoris ejus,</HI> De|&s;troyeth the heart of his &s;trength or vigour. Whereupon it &s;eemeth to me, that they derived the Originall word here u&s;ed from the roote <GAP DESC="foreign"> from whence is derived <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Cumbi,</HI> the loynes wherein the &s;trength of man lyeth. Now this tran&s;lation referreth this latter part of the ver&s;e to the former part, &s;hewing how oppre&s;&s;ion maketh a wi&s;e man mad, by taking away and de&s;troying the light of under&s;tan|ding, which is as it were the heart of it. But S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> al&s;o tels us that <HI>Symmachus</HI> did reade it, as the latter tran&s;latours doe, <HI>And a gift de|&s;troyeth the heart:</HI> that is, corrupteth it, and maketh it blind, even in a wi&s;e man.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. <HI>16.19.</HI> Cajetan. I|bid.</NOTE> So we reade in Deuteronomy, <HI>A gift doth blind the eyes of the wi&s;e, and perverteth the words of the righteous.</HI> Where <HI>Cajetane</HI> noteth, that Iudges are &s;ayd to be wi&s;e, and to be righteous, whereof the one declareth the perfection of the under&s;tanding; the other of the will,
<PB N="199" REF="103"> and yet that a gift is oppo&s;ed unto both, as de&s;troying both. Where|fore he &s;aith, <HI>Perpende vim munerum contra utram&abque; partem animi, intel|lectum &s;cilicet &amp; affectum, &amp; quod amplius e&s;t intellectum, perfectum &s;apientia, affectum praeditum ju&s;titia,</HI> Con&s;ider the force of gifts again&s;t both parts of the &s;oule, the under&s;tanding, and the will, and that which is more, the under&s;tanding perfected by wi&s;dome, the will endued with righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e. And indeed it is an excellent wi&s;dome which is not taken with the &s;hining countenance of a gift, and which knoweth how to take heed of gifts that are offered.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Thau|mat. Ser. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Gregorius Thaumaturgus</HI> doth teach us this wi&s;dome from a woman, but it is from the perfection of women, he ble&s;&s;ed Virgin Mary, to whom when the Angell had brought the me&s;|&s;age, that &s;he &s;hould conceive the Son of God, &s;he asketh how &s;hall this be? <HI>Ne&abque; prius Sancti&s;sima virgo donum admi&s;it, quam quis illud mitteret, &amp; quodnam donum e&s;&s;et, ac quis ferret addidici&s;&s;et,</HI> Neither did the mo&s;t holy Virgin admit of the gift, untill &s;hee had fir&s;t learned, who it was that &s;ent it, what the gift was, who it was that brought it &s;aying, as it were in her heart to the Angell, <HI>Vnde &s;ic nobis benedictionem a&s;porta&s;ti? Ex cujus the&s;auris verbi margarita emi&s;&s;a e&s;t? Vnde nobis promi&s;&s;um mate|riam paravit?</HI> From whence do&s;t thou &s;o bring a ble&s;&s;ing unto us? Out of who&s;e trea&s;ure is the pearle of this world &s;ent us? What ground hath this promi&s;e that it &s;hould be made to us? And &s;urely it is needfull that a wi&s;e man looke well into a gift, and examine it throughly, lea&s;t that it de&s;troy the heart of his wi&s;dome.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="8-9" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 8.</HI></BIBL> Better is the end of a thing then the beginning thereof: and the patient in &s;pirit, is better than the proud in &s;pirit.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 9.</HI></BIBL> Bee not ha&s;ty in thy &s;pirit to bee an|gry, for anger re&s;teth in the bo&s;ome of fooles.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 8. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> reading the fir&s;t part of this ver&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> as the Septuagint doe, <HI>Better is the end of a &s;peech then the beginning of it,</HI> giveth diver&s;e interpretations unto it; as fir&s;t, <HI>Meliores &s;unt in dicendo epilogi quam exordium, in his enim dicentis &s;olicitudo finitur, in illo incipit,</HI> Better is the conclu&s;ion of a &s;peech then the entrance of it, becau&s;e in that the care of the &s;peaker is ended, in this it beginneth. Againe, becau&s;e when a &s;peech is ended, the hearer con&s;idereth, of that which hath beene &s;aid; but when we begin to &s;peake, he hath not as yet gotten any benefit by it. Againe <HI>quia melius &s;it tacere quam loqui,</HI> Becau&s;e it is better to hold our peace, then to &s;peake. La&s;tly he &s;aith, that it may bee al&s;o under&s;tood
<PB N="200" REF="104"> thus, becau&s;e while we are in this world; <HI>Quod &s;cimus omne principium e&s;t,</HI> That which we know is all a beginning, but when that which is per|fect is come, we &s;hall in the end be made perfect. But to take it as our tran&s;lation hath it; many rea&s;ons al&s;o may bee given of it. <HI>As fir&s;t better is the end of a thing then the beginning:</HI> becau&s;e the beginning is for the end, the end is not for the beginning: againe becau&s;e the beginning of a thing is the imperfection of it, the end is the perfection: againe, becau&s;e the end giveth knowledge of a thing, what it is, the beginning doth not: la&s;tly becau&s;e the end goeth beyond the beginning by many degrees. From whence is to bee learnt, not to judge of things accor|ding to the beginning of them, but according to the end. For that may be much better then the beginning, at lea&s;t wi&s;e it will direct much bet|ter our judgement of it. And let us al&s;o learne not to &s;top or &s;tay our owne good cour&s;es in the beginning of them, but to proceed in them unto the end, becau&s;e to end well is much better then to begin well. And that we may practi&s;e the&s;e things which we learne, let us <HI>be &s;low or long in &s;pirit,</HI> taking time to weigh and con&s;ider all things before wee judge, and not <HI>proud in &s;pirit,</HI> as we know all things and could judge pre&s;ently. Let us be <HI>patient in &s;pirit,</HI> and contented to beare the burden of procee|ding on, and not proud in &s;pirit, as if in the beginning we were come to the top of perfection. But to con&s;ider the words, as they re&s;pect the foregoing pa&s;&s;age. The Preacher having &s;hewed the infirmity of wi&s;e men, when they are oppre&s;&s;ed, here pre&s;cribeth a remedy again&s;t it, by wi&s;hing them rather to looke to the end, and to the right which in the end God will doe them; then to the beginning, and to the wrong which therein is done them. For there is an end to be made, when God will judge all in righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and rewarding the patient, for the oppre&s;|&s;ion they have &s;uffered, will requite the oppre&s;&s;ours according to their de&s;erts. The vulgar Latin reading the fir&s;t part of the ver&s;e thus, <HI>Me|lior e&s;t finis orationis quam principium,</HI> Better is the end of a &s;peech, then the beginning,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> <HI>Lyra</HI> conceiveth it as if it were thus to be rendred, Bet|ter is the end of prayer, then the beginning, and thereupon wi&s;hing the oppre&s;&s;ed to goe to God for helpe, &s;aith, that the end of prayer is bet|ter than the beginning of it, <HI>Quia incipit a tri&s;titia propter illatam &s;ibi ca|lumniam, &amp; terminatur in con&s;olationem a Deo datam,</HI> Becau&s;e it begin|neth from &s;orrow for the wrong receaved, but is ended in con&s;olati|on which is by God granted. <HI>And the patient in &s;pirit is better than the proud in &s;pirit:</HI> the Originall is <HI>longus &s;piritu,</HI> long in &s;pirit, and &s;igni|fieth &s;uch a one who though he be long wronged, yet is &s;till patient. And this is more than to bee &s;low in &s;pirit. For &s;ome at the time when they are wronged, are quiet and patient, and being &s;low in &s;pirit, doe pa&s;&s;e it by commendably: but afterwards calling it to mind, and think|ing much upon it, they inflame them&s;elves with the fire of griefe, and &s;tudying for a meanes of revenge, <HI>Man&s;uetudinem quam tolerantes habu|erunt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Pa&s;tor. cu. Par. <HI>3.</HI> Adm. <HI>9.</HI></NOTE> <HI>retractantes in malitiam vertunt,</HI> Checking the meekne&s;&s;e, which in their &s;uffering they had, they turne it into malice, as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI>
<PB N="201" REF="104"> &s;peaketh. For it is the cunning of Satan, that being overcome at fir&s;t by the patient taking of wrong, he maketh his &s;econd a&s;&s;ault, and often times, <HI>Tanto mentem moerore conturbat, ut vir patiens illa &s;e aequanimite<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> tolera&s;&s;e post victoriam captivus crube&s;cat,</HI> Hee di&s;quieteth the mind with &s;o much &s;orrow, that a patient man captive after his victory is a&s;hamed to have taken things &s;o quietly, and is grieved that hee did not returne like for like, and &s;eeketh if occa&s;ion may bee offered to returne wor&s;e. But what is this el&s;e, then as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Per fortitudinem in campo victorem e&s;&s;e, &amp; per negligentiam po&s;t modum inter urbis clau&s;tra capi,</HI> In the field by courage to be victorious, and afterwards by negligence to be &s;urpri&s;ed within the fences of the City? But he that is <HI>longus &s;piritu,</HI> long in &s;pirit, will not only at fir&s;t be patient, but afterwards al&s;o, even &s;o long, untill he have forgotten the wrong. It may be noted al&s;o, that it is the <HI>patient in &s;pirit,</HI> that is here commended, inwardly patient, not only in outward appearance; for in vaine is rage, and clamour, and re|viling &s;uppre&s;&s;ed, if within, malice the mother of wickedne&s;&s;e beare &s;way, <HI>In ca&s;&s;um foras nequitia ex ramis inciditur, &s;i &s;urrectura mul<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">iplicius in|tus in radice &s;ervatur,</HI> In vaine are the boughs of wickedne&s;&s;e cut off with|out, if within it be kept in the roote to &s;pring up much more. This &s;aith Saint <HI>Gregory, Tanto deterior fit culpa in con&s;pectu Dei,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>quanto &s;ibi apud ho|mines virtutis &s;peciem vendicat,</HI> Is by &s;o much the greater fault in the &s;ight of God, by how much before men it challengeth to it &s;elfe the &s;hew of vertue. <HI>Is better than the proud in &s;pirit:</HI> the Originall is, <HI>Elatus &s;piritu,</HI> lifted up in &s;pirit, that is, then he, who is pre&s;ently flying in his face that doth him wrong, and will not be beneath him in any thing. Our Eng|li&s;h al&s;o doth well expre&s;&s;e it <HI>proud in &s;pirit:</HI> for indeed impatiency is no|thing but a pride of heart, which maketh men di&s;daigne to beare with any thing. Be&s;ides it maketh men al&s;o proud in a vaine glorious boa&s;ting, <HI>Quia dum de&s;pici in mundo hoc qui&s;&abque; non patitur, bona &s;i qua &s;ibi occulta &s;unt o&s;tentare conatur, &amp; &s;ic per impatientiam u&s;&abque; ad arrogantiam ducitur,</HI> Be|cau&s;e while every one cannot endure to be de&s;pi&s;ed in this world, if that there bee any good things hidden in him, hee &s;triveth to make them knowne, and &s;o by impatiency a man is brought to arrogancy, as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh. La&s;tly, <HI>the patient in &s;pirit is better than the proud in &s;pi|rit;</HI> Becau&s;e as hee po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth his &s;oule in quietne&s;&s;e and comfort, &s;o hee delivereth his &s;oule from many evils, and &s;hall receave a good reward of glory. Whereas the proud in &s;pirit being driven in his rage, whither his owne de&s;ire doth not cary him, <HI>Agit commotus velut ne&s;ciens, unde po&s;t doleat &s;ciens,</HI> Being moved doth that as it were ignorantly, for which he grieves when that he knowes it. Or el&s;e being caryed headlong, <HI>Quae|dam velut alienatus peragit, vix mala &s;ua po&s;tquam fuerint perpetrata cog|no&s;cens,</HI> &s;ome things hee doth as it were a mad man,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ibid.</NOTE> &s;carcely knowing his owne evils after that hee hath done them; as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;pea|keth.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 9. There is in anger a double ra&s;hne&s;&s;e, ha&s;t, and po&s;tha&s;te. Po&s;tha&s;te is when men run into anger, before they have cau&s;e. Ha&s;t
<PB N="202" REF="105"> is when they have cau&s;e to be angry, but they runne into it, before they have well con&s;idered of the cau&s;e, and before they have well ordered the pa&s;&s;ion of their anger. The fir&s;t is extremity of folly, the &s;econd is folly al&s;o.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca de Clement. l. <HI>2.</HI> cap. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> And as <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Illos crudeles vocabo, qui puniendi cau|&s;am habent, modum non habent,</HI> I will call them cruell, who have cau&s;e of puni&s;hing, but not mea&s;ure in puni&s;hing; &s;o they may well bee called <HI>fooles,</HI> who though they have cau&s;e to be angry, yet are ha&s;ty in running into it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de hortat. ad virginitatem</NOTE> And this it is, which Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> under&s;tandeth here to be meant, who &s;aith, <HI>Noli fe&s;tinare in &s;piritu tuo ira&s;ci; hoc e&s;t, cau&s;a &s;it quae moveat indignationem, non &s;it fe&s;tina vindicta, Be not ha&s;ty in thy &s;pirit to be angry:</HI> that is, although there be cau&s;e that moveth thine anger, yet let not thy revenge be ha&s;ty. <HI>Be not therefore ha&s;ty to be angry,</HI> but if thou bee angry bee ha&s;ty to put it away againe.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>5.</HI> c. <HI>30.</HI></NOTE> For as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> noteth, anger doth affect men foure wayes, <HI>Nonnullos ira citius accendit, facilius de&s;erit; citi&ugrave;s flammam faciunt, &s;ed protinus in favilla frige&s;cunt: non|nullos tard&egrave; quidem commovet, &s;ed diutius tenet; accen&s;ionem tarde &s;u&s;cipiunt, &s;ed accen&s;i &s;emel difficilius extinguuntur: alii citius iracundiae flammas accipi|unt, &amp; tardius deponunt: alii vero has &amp; tarde &s;u&s;cipiunt, &amp; citius amit|tunt;</HI> Some, anger doth quickly &s;et on fire, and it leaveth them ea&s;ily, they are &s;oone in a flame, and forthwith cooled into embers. Others, it moveth &s;lowly, but it holdeth them long, and they being hard to take fire are al&s;o hardly put out; Others doe flame in anger quickly, and are &s;low in foregoing of it: others are &s;low in taking it, and quicke in lea|ving it. In which foure kinds, <HI>Ad tranquillitaetis bonum ultimus plus quam primus appropinquat, &amp; in malo &s;ecundum tertius &s;uperat,</HI> The la&s;t commeth neerer to the good of quietne&s;&s;e then the fir&s;t, and in evill the third exceedeth the &s;econd. It is the apprehen&s;ion of the ju&s;t cau&s;e of anger,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. in Epi&s;t. <HI>149.</HI></NOTE> which maketh men too often to be too <HI>ha&s;ty</HI> in it: but Saint <HI>Au|&s;tin</HI> &s;aith very well, <HI>Multo melius nec ju&s;te cuiquam ira&s;cimur, quam velut ju&s;t&egrave; ira&s;cendo, in alicujus odium irae occulta facilitate dilabimur. In recipi|endis enim ho&s;pitibus ignotis i&s;ta &s;olemus dicere, multo melius e&s;&s;e malum ho&s;|pitem perpeti, quam for&s;itan per ignorantiam bonum excludi, dum cavemus ne recipiatur malus. Sed in affectibus animi contra e&s;t, nam incomparabiliter &s;alubrius e&s;t, etiam irae ju&s;tae pu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;anti non aperire penetrale cordis, quam ad|mittere non facile rece&s;&s;uram, &amp; perventuram de &s;urculo ad trabem, au|det quippe impudenter etiam cre&s;cere citius quam putatur,</HI> It is much better that we be not angry with any one ju&s;tly, then that by being angry, as it were ju&s;tly, we fall to the hatred of &s;ome one by the &s;ecret facility of anger. For in receaving of &s;trangers we u&s;e to &s;ay thus, that it is better to &s;uffer a bad gue&s;t, then that by ignorance, a good gue&s;t &s;hould bee excluded, while that we take heed that a bad one be not admitted. But in the affections of the mind it is quite contrary: for it is incomparably &s;afer not to open the inward dores of our hearts when anger knocketh, then to receave that which will not ea&s;ily depart, and which from a twigge will grow to a beame, for it dareth even impudently to encrea&s;e fa&s;ter then is thought. <HI>Be not ha&s;ty to be angry:</HI> the Originall word here
<PB N="203" REF="105"> u&s;ed doth mo&s;t properly &s;ignifie indignation: now indignation is, <HI>Qua is cui ira&s;cimur contemnitur &amp; vilependitur, qua&s;i indignus &agrave; qu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> tale quid patiamur. Huic conjunctus e&s;t timor mentis quo ira&s;cens &s;eip&s;um extollit, &amp; alteri praefert,</HI> That, by which he with whom we are angry is &s;leighted and contemned, as being one unworthy, from whom we &s;hould &s;uffer &s;uch a thing. And with this is joyned a &s;welling of mind whereby he that is angry lifteth up him&s;elfe, and preferreth him&s;elfe before the other. And thus are the two ver&s;es well joyned together. For the former ver&s;e endeth with the proud in Spirit.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ari&s;t. Rhe|tor. l. <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> But to take the word as it &s;ignifieth <HI>anger</HI> generally. Let no one imagine anger to be only a heate of pa&s;&s;ion, for that is only in the &s;en&s;itive part of the &s;oule, whereas anger is in the will e&s;pecially, and the definition of it is, <HI>Motus animi male volentis alteri ob injuriam acceptam, &amp; doloris ultionem expetens,</HI> A motion of the mind ill willed towards another for a wrong receaved, and through griefe de&s;iring revenge. In which re&s;pect the Philo&s;opher calleth it, <HI>Libidinem ulci&s;cendi,</HI> a lu&s;t of revenging. Wherefore when the Preacher &s;aith; <HI>be not ha&s;ty to be angry,</HI> it is not &s;o much, be not ha&s;ty to give way to the heate of pa&s;&s;ion, as be not ha&s;ty to give way to the de|&s;ire of revenge. Neither doth he &s;uppre&s;&s;e his anger, who &s;uppre&s;&s;eth the violence of his pa&s;&s;ion, unle&s;&s;e he al&s;o reject the &s;eeking of revenge when anger re&s;teth. The difference which S. <HI>Hier.</HI> maketh betweene fury and anger is this, <HI>Furor incipiens ira e&s;t, &amp; ferve&s;cens in animo indignatio;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym.</NOTE> <HI>ira autem quae furore re&s;tincto de &s;iderat ultionem, &amp; eum quem nocui&s;&s;e putat, vult laedere,</HI> Fury is anger beginning, and a boyling indignation in the mind; anger is that, which when the fury is extingui&s;hed, de&s;ireth revenge, and &s;eeketh to hurt him, by whom it thinketh hurt to have beene done. The Preacher therefore &s;aith, <HI>anger re&s;teth in the bo&s;ome of fooles:</HI> that is the bed wherein the watchfulne&s;&s;e of it &s;leepeth, and therefore <HI>Ca&s;sian</HI> &s;aith, that they who are tran&s;ported with anger,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;ian. In|&s;tit. l. <HI>8.</HI> c. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Sapientiae participes fieri non po&s;&s;unt, tamet&s;i &s;apientes omnium pronunciari opinione videantur,</HI> Can|not be partakers of wi&s;dome, although they may &s;eeme to be pronoun|ced wi&s;e by the opinion of all. And Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Quum tran|quillitatem mentis ira diverberat,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>5.</HI> c. <HI>30.</HI></NOTE> <HI>dilaniatam quodammodo &s;ci&s;&s;am&abque; pertur|bat, ut &s;ibimet ip&s;i non congruat, ac vim intimae &s;imilitudinis amittat,</HI> When anger beateth the quietne&s;&s;e of the mind, it doth &s;o di&s;turb it, as if it did teare and cut it, &s;o that it doth not agree with it &s;elfe, nor is like to it &s;elfe. Let him therefore that will not be <HI>a foole,</HI> ob&s;erve the Apo&s;tles directi|on, and let not the Sunne goe downe upon his wrath,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 4.20.</NOTE> let not the night of anger de&s;troy the light of wi&s;dome and rea&s;on in him. For as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> expounding tho&s;e words &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Quum menti iracundia confu&s;ionis tenebras incutit, huic Deus radium &s;uae cognitionis ab&s;condit,</HI> When anger ca&s;teth the darkne&s;&s;e of confu&s;ion upon the mind, God hideth the beame of his knowledge from it.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="10" TYPE="verse">
<PB N="204" REF="106">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>VER. 10.</HI></BIBL> Say not thou what is the cau&s;e that the former dayes were better than the&s;e, for thou do&s;t not enquire wi&s;ely concer|ning this thing.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 10. The Preacher having &s;hewed the impatiency of wi&s;e men and therein their infirmity for wrong receaved from particular per&s;ons: here hee &s;heweth and reformeth their impatiency again&s;t the generall times. For it is the manner and humour of too many, who would bee thought wi&s;e to condemne the times in an impatient di&s;contentment a|gain&s;t them, e&s;pecially if them&s;elves doe not thrive or be not favoured in the times as they de&s;ire or as they thinke they &s;hould be. To expre&s;&s;e the impatiency of &s;uch men, the Preacher maketh them to aske a que&s;ti|on, &s;aying: <HI>What is the cau&s;e that the former dayes were better?</HI> For it is the manner of impatiency to bee asking que&s;tions, as if no right nor good an&s;wer could bee given to them. But the an&s;wer which the Preacher giveth to this que&s;tion, is to forbid them to aske it, becau&s;e it being a que&s;tion that commeth not from wi&s;edome, it &s;hould not come from them, that would be accompted wi&s;e. And &s;urely it <HI>cannot bee a thing that is wi&s;ely enquired after.</HI> For though the que&s;tion &s;uppo&s;eth that the former dayes were better, yet how do&s;t thou know it? Had&s;t thou lived in the former dayes thou woulde&s;t have &s;aid the &s;ame of them. And &s;till thou woulde&s;t have commended that mo&s;t, which thou didde&s;t lea&s;t know.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. <HI>26.64.</HI> Matth. <HI>27.11.</HI> Hilarius in Matth. Can. <HI>32.</HI></NOTE> When our Saviour Chri&s;t was asked by the High Prie&s;t, whe|ther he were the Chri&s;t the Sonne of God, he an&s;wered, thou ha&s;t &s;aid: when Pilate asked him whether he were the King of the Iewes, hee an|&s;wered, thou &s;aye&s;t: whereupon <HI>Hilarius</HI> &s;aith that an&s;wer was given to the High Prie&s;t in the ten&s;e of the time pa&s;t, becau&s;e out of the law he had alwayes &s;aid, that Chri&s;t was to come; but to Pilate who was ignorant of the law, Chri&s;t an&s;wered in the ten&s;e of the time pre&s;ent, <HI>Quia per fidem prae&s;entis confe&s;sionis &s;alus gentium e&s;t,</HI> becau&s;e it is by the faith of the pre&s;ent confe&s;&s;ion, that &s;alvation is to the Gentiles. But I note it for this, to ob&s;erve how well &s;ighted the Iewes were in the times pa&s;t, and in the prophe&s;ies of Chri&s;t, and how blind they were in the pre&s;ent times, when Chri&s;t the Me&s;&s;iah was pre&s;ent among them. Not unlike to them are many malecontent and impatient &s;pirits, who &s;ee the goodne&s;&s;e of former times, and extoll them, but cannot &s;ee the good|ne&s;&s;e of God in the pre&s;ent times to prai&s;e him for it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> ex|pounding this ver&s;e &s;aith, <HI>Nec vetus &s;aeculum prae&s;enti praeferas: quia unus utriu&s;&abque; conditor e&s;t Deus, virtutes bonos dies viventi faciunt, vitia malos,</HI> Neither doe thou preferre the old world before the pre&s;ent, becau&s;e one God is the maker of them both; vertues doe make the times good to him that liveth in them, vices doe make them evill. And that it is not
<PB N="205" REF="106"> wi&s;ely &s;ayd to &s;peake &s;o, he &s;heweth in another place, &s;aying, <HI>Stul|tum e&s;t referre ad tempora, quum in no&s;tra &s;it pote&s;tate,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in c. <HI>6.</HI> Amos.</NOTE> <HI>vel bonum diem no|bis vel malum facere. Non dies ullus malus e&s;t, &s;ed unu&s;qui&s;que parat &s;ibi malum,</HI> It is a fooli&s;h thing to referre it to the times, when as it is in our owne power to make the day either good or evill to our &s;elves. For there is no day evill, but every one maketh the day evill to him|&s;elfe. Another expo&s;ition which Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> giveth of the words is this; <HI>Sic debes vivere, ut &s;emper prae&s;entes dies meliores tibi &s;int quam prae|teriti,</HI> Thou mu&s;t &s;o live, that alwayes the pre&s;ent dayes may be better to thee, then the pa&s;t were: lea&s;t it be &s;ayd to thee, as it was to the un|wi&s;e <HI>Galatians,</HI> Having begun in the Spirit,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Galat.</HI> 3.3. <HI>Iohn</HI> 12.35.</NOTE> are yee now made perfect in the fle&s;h? The &s;aying of our Saviour Chri&s;t is,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iohn</HI> 12.35.</NOTE> <HI>Walke while yee have the light, lea&s;t darkne&s;&s;e come upon you:</HI> and it is the note of Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> upon it, <HI>Non ambulantem,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. &s;u|per Cantic. Serm. <HI>49.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;ed &s;edentem &agrave; mortis tenebris compre|hendi periculum e&s;t,</HI> The danger is not of him that walketh, but of him that &s;itteth, lea&s;t the darkne&s;&s;e of death come upon him. He that walk|eth on, and maketh the pre&s;ent dayes &s;till to be better, he is &s;afe: but he of whom it may be &s;ayd, <HI>the former dayes were better,</HI> he it is that is in danger of comming to the evill day.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> <HI>Lyra</HI> out of <HI>Bonaventure</HI> giveth this expo&s;ition of the words; The time wherein the Law was given, was better than the former times wherein men lived after <HI>Adams</HI> fall, becau&s;e then many were the benefits which God be&s;towed on his Church. The time of grace al&s;o is much better than the time of the Law, and much greater are the benefits which therein God hath vouch&s;afed to his Church. And therefore he &s;ayth, that to aske why the former dayes were better, is unwi&s;ely inquired; <HI>Quia talis quae|&s;tio &s;upponit manife&s;t&egrave; fal&s;um,</HI> Becau&s;e &s;uch a que&s;tion doth &s;uppo&s;e that which is manife&s;tly fal&s;e. But taking the &s;en&s;e of the que&s;tion, which way any &s;hall thinke good, <HI>Lyra</HI> conceiveth the folly of it to be,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra, Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Quod illi &s;ic quarentes, propriam malitiam, &amp; &s;uae incon&s;tantiae defectum volebant retorquere in Deum qui e&s;t autor temporum,</HI> Becau&s;e they who doe thus enquire, de&s;ire to turne off their owne wickedne&s;&s;e, and the defect of their incon&s;tancy upon God, who is the authour of times: which be|ing a bla&s;phemy, the Preacher &s;ayth, <HI>Say not &amp;c.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="11-12" TYPE="verse">
<PB N="206" REF="107">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 11.</HI></BIBL> Wi&s;edome is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that &s;ee the Sunne.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 12.</HI></BIBL> For wi&s;edome is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of know|ledge is that wi&s;edome giveth life to them that have it.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 11. It is good that wi&s;edome and wealth are joyned toge|ther, both in re&s;pect of wi&s;edome, and in re&s;pect of wealth. In re|&s;pect of wi&s;edome it is good, becau&s;e thereby that is enabled to doe the more good, and to performe the functions of wi&s;edome with the more benefit: in re&s;pect of wealth it is good, becau&s;e thereby that is the better ordered, and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed the more happily. The fir&s;t thing which the devill de&s;ireth again&s;t <HI>Iob,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iob</HI> 1.11.</NOTE> is, that God would put forth his hand, and touch all that he had, and deprive him of it: the rea&s;on of it is given by S^t. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;tom. Homil. <HI>2.</HI> de Iacob.</NOTE> <HI>Diabolus quandoquidem eum dite&s;centem ei&s;|dem temporalibus divitiis vidit, atque ex ei&s;dem aeternas &s;ibi the&s;aurare divi|tias putavit, quoniam eo dite&s;cente dite&s;cebat ju&s;titia: tentat eum igitur pe|cuniis nudare, quod claris eum facinoribus nudet,</HI> The devill, for as much as he &s;aw him both rich with the &s;ame temporall riches, and al&s;o thought him with the &s;ame to trea&s;ure up for him&s;elfe eternall riches in heaven, becau&s;e he being rich, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e was rich al&s;o: he there|fore endeavoureth to &s;poyle him of his wealth, that al&s;o he might &s;poyle him of his worthy deeds, which his wi&s;edome joyned to his wealth performed.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Xenoph. de Cyro. c. <HI>8.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Xenophon</HI> hath a good pa&s;&s;age, who &s;ayth, <HI>Non eos qui plurimas pecunias po&s;sident &amp; cu&s;todiunt, foelices duco, nam hoc pacto qui muros cu&s;todiunt, foelici&s;simi forent, quippe qui omnia quae &s;unt in ur|bibus cu&s;todiunt; &s;ed qui parare quam plurimas ju&s;t&egrave; po&s;&s;unt, &amp; eis prae|clare uti, hunc foelicem arbitror, &amp; pecunias ejus etiam faelices,</HI> I doe not accompt them to be happy, who po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e much wealth and keepe it, for then they that keepe the wals &s;hould be mo&s;t happy, be|cau&s;e they keepe the wealth of the whole Citie; but I judge him to be happy, who can get much wealth hone&s;tly, and having got it can u&s;e it worthily; and his wealth I thinke to be happy al&s;o. Now this is he, who hath wi&s;edome and wealth joyned together, and in him it is that the good both of wi&s;edome and wealth is joyned together. Wi&s;edome where wealth doth not &s;et it out, is often de&s;pi&s;ed; wealth where wi&s;e|dome doth not direct it, is often the cau&s;e of much mi&s;chiefe unto ma|ny. <HI>Fulgentius</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Fulgentius.</NOTE> &s;peaking of Sodome, &s;ayth, <HI>In &s;aturitate cibi vivens So|doma cibus ignis effici meruit,</HI> Sodome living in the fulne&s;&s;e of food,
<PB N="207" REF="107"> was made to be the food of the fire of Gods wrath, and many living in the plentie of wealth, doe but heape up unto them&s;elves, a plenty of mi&s;ery. It is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdome of heaven: even as hard as for a Camel to goe through the eye of a needle, yet wi&s;edome can make a pa&s;&s;age for him. Wherefore <HI>Bonaventure</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bonavent.</NOTE> <HI>Zacheus quum e&s;&s;et Camelus, intravit per foramen acus; &amp; foramen dedit di|vitibus intrandi in coelum, Zacheus</HI> when he was a Camel, entred through the eye of a needle, and by his example made a hole for rich men to enter into heaven. Wi&s;edome it was which opened the way for him, and which will open the way for any other.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 31.27.</NOTE> When <HI>Laban</HI> had over|taken <HI>Iacob,</HI> being departed from him, he told him that he would have &s;ent him away with mirth and with &s;ongs, with tabret and with harpe: but Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> defending <HI>Iacob</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;ius Epist. l. <HI>1.</HI> Epi&s;t. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Non equidem talibus deducto|ribus ad Eccle&s;iam Dei pervenitur, ad quem tendebat Iacob,</HI> It is not by &s;uch leaders of worldly contentment that we come to the Church of God, to which <HI>Iacob</HI> went. And yet even by &s;uch leaders wee may come to God, if that wi&s;edome leade them. But then it mu&s;t be a true wi&s;edome, that is, an humble mode&s;t wi&s;edome, not a &s;el&s;e-conceited wi&s;edome; for rich men too often imagine them&s;elves to be filled with wi&s;edome, becau&s;e their bags are full,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 6.17.</NOTE> whereof Saint <HI>Paul</HI> &s;peak|ing &s;ayth, Charge them that are rich in this world, <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>non &s;ublime &s;apere,</HI> not to be wi&s;e above their capacitie. Let it be a true wi&s;edome, and that will teach them not to &s;et their heart upon their riches. And if their heart be not &s;et upon them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;iodorus in P&s;al. <HI>61.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Vt in ip&s;is &s;ingularis foe|licitas judicetur, profecto nece&s;&s;ariae divitiae &s;unt. Inde enim egentibus &s;ub|venitur, inde plures ad coelorum regna pervenerunt,</HI> &s;o that a &s;ingular hap|pine&s;&s;e be not accompted to be in them, riches are indeed nece&s;&s;ary. For thence much &s;uccour is given to the poore, and thence many have attained to the kingdome of heaven, &s;ayth <HI>Ca&s;siodore.</HI> Saint <HI>Ber|nard</HI> asking a rea&s;on, why the Sonne of God did give Saint <HI>Peter</HI> power to walke upon the &s;ea, whereas he divided the &s;ea, that the children of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> might walke upon the ground, him&s;elfe giveth this rea&s;on; becau&s;e Saint <HI>Peter</HI> was light, being poore, and not burdened with the wealth of the world,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. l. <HI>2.</HI> de Con&s;ider.</NOTE> whereas the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> were loaded with gold and &s;ilver, and the wealth of the <HI>Aegyptians;</HI> and that therefore God gave them a &s;tronger and firmer ground to &s;upport them. And &s;urely, it is true indeed, the wealth of the world hath need of the &s;olid ground of wi&s;edome to walke upon, or el&s;e it maketh men to fall into many temptations; but if that &s;upport it, though it pa&s;&s;e through a &s;ea, the way is &s;afe wherein it goeth. The <HI>Septuagint</HI> doe reade it in this place, <HI>Vtilior e&s;t &s;apientia cum divitiis,</HI> Wi&s;edome is more profitable with riches, and thereunto our Engli&s;h tran&s;lation accordeth in the following words, &s;aying, <HI>and by it there is profit.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;tius in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> Whereupon <HI>E&s;tius</HI> noteth, <HI>Dicit utilior, non melior: nam &s;apientia per hoc quod cum divitiis conjuncta e&s;t, proprie neque utilior efficitur, neque deterior, neque major, ne|que minor,</HI> The text &s;ayth, more profitable, not better: for wi&s;edome
<PB N="208" REF="108"> in that it is joyned with riches, is properly made neither the better nor the wor&s;e, neither the greater nor the le&s;&s;e, although by occa&s;ion it may be made either le&s;&s;e or more profitable. <HI>To them that &s;ee the Sunne:</HI> that is, to them that are living: for it is in this life onely that riches are profitable, in the next life they are of no u&s;e: here they are currant money, but there they goe for nothing. But though this be the plaine meaning of the words, yet it &s;eemeth to mee that the Preacher &s;hould meane &s;omewhat el&s;e in this phra&s;e, <HI>That &s;ee the Sunne.</HI> Wherefore the Hebrew word being <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>&amp; magis, And more to them that &s;ee the Sunne;</HI> I apprehend this meaning in the Preachers words, That as wi&s;edome is good with riches, &s;o it is yet more good to them that <HI>&s;ee the Sunne,</HI> that is, to them who enjoy the libertie of this life, as being neither re&s;trained from it by &s;ickne&s;&s;e, or any other hinderance: which, though wi&s;edome and wealth be joyned together, may much impayre the good of them. In a morall &s;en&s;e, the applica|tion which Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> maketh of this ver&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in c. <HI>2.</HI> Gene&s;. ad Sabin.</NOTE> is this. <HI>Bona e&s;t &s;apien|tia cum haereditate, id e&s;t, cum fide, quoniam e&s;t haereditas credentium in Do|minum,</HI> Good is wi&s;edome with an inheritance, that is, with faith, for that is the inheritance of them that beleeve in the Lord.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 12. That which is tran&s;lated <HI>a defence,</HI> in the Originall is <HI>a &s;hadow,</HI> but the meaning is a defence or protection, and therefore the Chaldee Paraphra&s;t explaineth this ver&s;e thus;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chald.</NOTE> <HI>Quemadmodum ho|mo prae&s;idio &amp; velut umbraculis &s;apientiae defenditur, &s;ic et umbra pecunia|rum incolumis degit, eo poti&s;simum tempore quo illas ad ju&s;titiam confert. Et &s;an&egrave; dignitas cognitionis &s;apientiae legis ab ip&s;o &s;epulchro ad futurum &s;aeculum po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ori vitam confert,</HI> As a man is defended by the &s;uc|cour and helpe of wi&s;edome, as it were by a comfortable &s;hadow, &s;o doth a man live &s;afely by the &s;hadow of money, e&s;pecially, when that he u&s;eth his money in the workes of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e. And indeed the excellency of the knowledge of the wi&s;edome of the Law, even from the grave, doth give life to the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;our of it in the world to come. But this ver&s;e depending upon the ver&s;e going before, and that ending with the&s;e words, <HI>To them that &s;ee the Sunne,</HI> the &s;hadow here giveth &s;ome light to the under&s;tanding of it. And therefore wee may take the <HI>&s;eeing of the Sunne,</HI> to be the heate of the troubles and mo|le&s;tations of this life, again&s;t which money and wi&s;edome are a &s;hadow of &s;helter and defence. Fir&s;t, <HI>Wi&s;edome is a &s;hadow, Vbi tutum e&s;t fu|gientibus refugium, gratum fe&s;sis refrigerium,</HI> Where there is a &s;afe re|fuge for them that flie unto it, and where there is an acceptable refre&s;h|ing to them that are weary.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> It is a defence, &s;ayth <HI>Lyra, Contra ho&s;tes vi&s;ibiles &amp; etiam invi&s;ibiles,</HI> again&s;t vi&s;ible enemies and al&s;o invi&s;ible. <HI>It is a &s;hadow, Et ab ae&s;tu carnalium de&s;ideriorum, &amp; &agrave; facie impiorum qui bonos affligunt,</HI> Both from the heate of carnall lu&s;ts and affections, and from the face of the wicked, who afflict the good. It was wi&s;edome that defended <HI>Daniel</HI> from death,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dan.</HI> 2.13.</NOTE> when <HI>Nebuchadnezzars</HI> decree went forth that the wi&s;e men &s;hould be &s;laine. A fal&s;e wi&s;edome was not a|ble
<PB N="209" REF="108"> to defend the Magitians and Chaldaeans, but the true wi&s;edome of <HI>Daniel</HI> defended him&s;elfe and them. Wi&s;edome therefore is a wall of defence, and money is a hedge.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 13.22.</NOTE> The thornes in the Go&s;pel which &s;prang up, and choaked the good &s;eed, are by our Saviour expounded to be the deceitfulne&s;&s;e of riches; but that is when the thornes doe grow among the corne, when the love of riches hath placed them in the heart, which is the field, where the &s;eed of &s;pirituall grace ought to grow. Let them be kept out of the heart, let them be e&s;teemed of as they are, outward things, and let them be placed without our af|fections, then they are as it were a fence, an hedge unto a man, where|by he is pre&s;erved from hurt. So they were to <HI>Iob,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iob</HI> 1.10.</NOTE> by Gods providence over them; of whom it is &s;ayd, <HI>That God had made a hedge about him, and about his hou&s;e, and about all that he had on every &s;ide: that God had ble&s;|&s;ed the workes of his hands, and had increa&s;ed his &s;ub&s;tance in the land.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. in P&s;al. <HI>103.</HI> Conc. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> Of which words Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaking &s;ayth, <HI>Repul&s;us e&s;t tentator, ob&s;er|vatum e&s;t caput ejus, penetrare non potuit ad cor. Muratam civitatem forin|&s;ecus oppugnavit, &s;ed non expugnavit,</HI> The tempter was repul&s;ed, his head was ob&s;erved, he could not pierce to the heart. He outwardly a&s;&s;aulted a walled Citie, but he could not enter it. Notwith&s;tanding the Originall word here being a &s;hadow,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> doth well note upon it, <HI>Omnis no&s;tra in hac terra protectio instar umbrae e&s;t, &s;ive &s;apientiae, &s;ive argenti,</HI> All our protection upon this earth, is but as it were a &s;ha|dow, whither it be, the protection of wi&s;edome, or el&s;e of money; untill the day breake, and the &s;hadows flie away,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. in Cantic. Ser. <HI>73.</HI></NOTE> and when <HI>Omnia oc|cupante luminis plenitudine, nulla pars &s;upere&s;&s;e poterit tenebrarum,</HI> A ful|ne&s;&s;e of light po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing all things, no part of darkne&s;&s;e &s;hall be able to remaine, as S. <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;peaketh. <HI>But the excellency of knowledge is, that wi&s;edome giveth life unto them that have it:</HI> lea&s;t that the joyning of wi&s;edome with money, might &s;eeme to be &s;ome di&s;paragement unto it, the Preacher here &s;etteth wi&s;edome alone, and giveth it this excel|lency, that <HI>it giveth life,</HI> that is, both the life of grace and glory. It is wi&s;edome that doth give it, not riches;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Thau|mat. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> &s;o &s;ayth <HI>Gregorius Thaumatur|gus, Vita hominis non ex caducarum &amp; fragilium opum collectione, &amp; po&s;|&s;e&s;sione, verum ex &s;apientia provenit,</HI> The life of man doth proceed not from the gathering and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing of fraile and fading riches, but it commeth from wi&s;edome. Or at lea&s;t, riches are no way able to give life, as wi&s;edome is able, &s;o &s;ayth <HI>Lyra,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> <HI>Sapientia enim &s;ine divitiis tri|buere, &s;ed divitiae non po&s;&s;unt hoc tribuere &s;ine &s;apientia,</HI> For wi&s;edome doth give it without riches, but riches are not able to give this with|out wi&s;edome. When God had ca&s;t man out of Paradi&s;e, that he might not eate of the tree of life, he placed at the entrance of it Cherubims, with a fiery &s;word, and therein not onely &s;hewed his anger again&s;t man, but his mercy to him, as not onely keeping him out, but &s;hewing him al&s;o how he might returne in. Wherefore <HI>Bachiarius</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Eou&s;que de ligno vitae, ide&s;t, Chri&s;ti participatione exules fimus, donec ad eum per romphaeam flammeam, id e&s;t, ignitam Martyrii pa&s;sionem, aut per Cherubim
<PB N="210" REF="109"> Domini,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bachiarius Epi&s;t. ad Ja|nuarium.</NOTE> <HI>qui interpretantur multitudo &s;cientia remeamus,</HI> So long are wee made exiles from the tree of life, that is, from the partaking of Chri&s;t, untill wee returne to him by a flaming &s;word, that is, by the fiery &s;uf|fering of martyrdome, or el&s;e by the Cherubims of the Lord, which are interpreted a multitude of knowledge. Doe but therefore labour for the knowledge of wi&s;edome, and be not wearyed in the &s;tudy of it; that will open paradi&s;e unto thee, that will bring thee to the tree of life, that <HI>giveth life unto him that hath it.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="13-14" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 13.</HI></BIBL> Con&s;ider the worke of God; for who can make that &s;traight, which he hath made crooked?</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 14.</HI></BIBL> In the day of pro&s;peritie be joyfull, but in the day of adver&s;itie, con&s;ider: God al&s;o hath &s;et the one over again&s;t the other, to the end that man &s;hould finde nothing after him.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 13. The Preacher here farther exhorteth unto patience from the perfection of Gods worke: which therefore he wi&s;heth us to <HI>con|&s;ider,</HI> that the con&s;ideration of it may be a meanes to quiet our minds. The anger of a wi&s;eman may be moved again&s;t the wrong that is done by man, his impatiency may be &s;tirred up again&s;t the imperfections of humane proceedings, which either he &s;eeth that he could amend, or el&s;e at lea&s;twi&s;e thinketh that he could doe it. But can any one a|mend that which God doth? Can any one truely &s;ay, that <HI>God hath made &s;uch a thing crooked, and that him&s;elfe will make it &s;traight?</HI> Now it is by Gods providence that all things are di&s;po&s;ed, it is under the govern|ment of God, that all things have their cour&s;e, and therefore let his plea&s;ure in all things make thee patient, who art di&s;plea&s;ed with that, which men doe. Men are often caryed in their wayes, either with love or hatred, but God is lead by neither. He is that good Iudge, who as <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca de I|ra. c. <HI>16.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Improbandos damnat, non odit,</HI> condemneth tho&s;e which are to be blamed, but doth not hate them. Wee reade in <HI>Daniel</HI> of di|ver&s;e thrones that were &s;et or lifted up, as <GAP DESC="foreign"> the Originall word there u&s;ed &s;ignifieth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dan.</HI> 7.9.</NOTE> but wee reade onely of one, the Ancient of dayes that did &s;it: and what may this &s;ignifie unto us, but that this Iudge is as much as all others are, in that he doth exceed all in equitie and righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. <HI>45.7.</HI> Ba&s;ilius I|bid.</NOTE> He is one <HI>that loveth righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and hateth iniquitie,</HI> as the P&s;almi&s;t &s;peaketh. Where <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> tels us, by the Originall word there u&s;ed, <HI>Non tam labore &amp; exercitatione partam dilectionem, quam in&s;itam &agrave; natura ju&s;titiae offectionem,</HI> Not &s;o much to be &s;ignified an acquired love
<PB N="211" REF="109"> by exerci&s;e and labour, as an affection to righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e ingrafted natu|rally. He therefore that loveth righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e will not him&s;elfe wrong thee, nor &s;ee thee wronged by another without revenging of thee: wherefore in him re&s;t quiet and contented. Doe not trouble thy &s;elfe with any thought of mending that which hee ordereth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Deut.</HI> 32.4.</NOTE> but con&s;ider his worke, for his worke is perfect, as in the &s;ong of <HI>Moy&s;es</HI> wee are taught. <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bern. Ser. <HI>3.</HI> in die Pente|co&s;t.</NOTE> <HI>Tria in magno hujus mundi opere cogitare debe|mus, quid, &amp; quomodo, &amp; ad quid &s;it con&s;titutus,</HI> There are three things which in the great worke of this world wee are to con&s;ider, what it is, how it is, and to what end it is. In the being of it is &s;et forth Gods ine&s;timable power, <HI>Quod tam multa tam magna tam magnifice tam multipliciter &s;unt creata,</HI> that &s;o many, &s;o great things, &s;o variou&s;ly, &s;o gloriou&s;ly are created: in the manner of their being his &s;ingular wi&s;dom &s;hineth forth, that the&s;e things are placed above, the&s;e below, the&s;e in the middle, all mo&s;t comely and orderly: and if thou con&s;ider to what end it is made, <HI>occurrit tibi tam utilis benignitas, tam benigna utilitas, quae etiam ingrati&s;simos quo&s;&abque; multitudine &amp; magnitudine beneficiorum po&s;|&s;it obruere,</HI> There meetes thy &s;ight &s;o profitable a bounty, &s;o boun|tifull a profitablene&s;&s;e, that it is able to overwhelme any though mo&s;t un|thankfull with the multitude and greatne&s;&s;e of the benefits. Now who can con&s;ider &s;o perfect power, &s;o perfect wi&s;dome, &s;o perfect goodne&s;&s;e in <HI>the worke of God,</HI> and yet trouble him&s;elfe with impatient thinking that he can better order any thing, then it is by God ordered? We read that God having made his worke, and looking upon it, hee &s;aw that all was good, for as Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> noteth, <HI>Quia humana natura imbecillis e&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. <HI>1.31.</HI> Chry&s;o&s;t. in Gen. Hom. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&amp; opera Dei digna laudare non &s;ufficit, divina Scriptura acceptam ab ip&s;o opifice laudem nos docet,</HI> Becau&s;e that humane nature is weake, and is not &s;ufficient to prai&s;e the worthy works of God, therefore the divine Scrip|ture teacheth us the prai&s;e that it had from the maker him&s;elfe. Now &s;hall any one thinke of correcting his works, or imagine him&s;elfe able to doe it, who&s;e worke hee is not able to prai&s;e? For as the &s;ame Father al&s;o &s;peaketh, <HI>Talem &s;ortitus e&s;t Dominum, qui talia facit, quae &agrave; nobis ne&abque; laudari &s;atis po&s;&s;unt,</HI> Thou ha&s;t &s;uch a Lord and ma&s;ter, who doth &s;uch things, as that by us they cannot be &s;ufficiently extolled. It is true that wicked people doe pervert the works of God to their owne &s;infull plea&s;ures and de&s;ires, but therein they cea&s;e to be Gods Workes. For as <HI>Tertullian</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Quid non Dei e&s;t, quod Deum offendit?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertul. l. de. Spectac. c. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Sed quum of|fondit, Dei e&s;&s;e de&s;iit, &amp; quum de&s;iit, offendit,</HI> What is there that is not Gods, which doth offend God? But when it offendeth it cea&s;eth to bee Gods, and when it cea&s;eth to bee Gods, it offendeth. But that which wicked men thus make crooked, God will one day make &s;traight. And as for God him&s;elfe, hee can make nothing crooked, and therefore none <HI>can make that &s;traight, which he hath made crooked.</HI> Men by their impati|ency doe but make them&s;elves more crooked, and make the &s;traight rule of Gods ju&s;tice the more to condemne them. The <HI>Septuagint,</HI> and ac|cordingly the vulgar Latine doe read the latter part of this ver&s;e thus,
<PB N="212" REF="110"> <HI>Quod nemo po&s;sit corrigere, quem ille de&s;pexerit,</HI> That no one can correct him whom God hath de&s;pi&s;ed, that is, whom God for the hardne&s;&s;e of his heart hath rejected.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> And therefore &s;aith <HI>Lyra, In tali ca&s;u ce&s;&s;andum &agrave; correctione,</HI> In &s;uch a ca&s;e there mu&s;t be a cea&s;ing from correction. Not but that the publike Magi&s;trate ought to correct &s;uch an one, <HI>Quia ejus correctio non &s;olum ordinatur ad emendationem fratris, &s;ed etiam ad bonum communitatis,</HI> Becau&s;e his correcting is ordayned not onely for the amendment of a brother, but for the common good of the &s;tate. But as for the private correction where it is in vaine be&s;towed, it may be bet|ter &s;pared.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 14. God hath made the <HI>dayes</HI> of mans life like the dayes of the yeare; &s;ome be faire, &s;ome fowle, &s;ome <HI>daies of adver&s;ity, &s;ome of pro&s;perity.</HI> And as there is no true Almanacke but this one, that after faire weather comes fowle, after fowle comes faire; &s;o it is in mans life, after pro&s;pe|rity comes adver&s;ity, after adver&s;ity followes pro&s;perity. How in either of the&s;e dayes we are to behave our &s;elves, the Preacher here &s;heweth. <HI>In the day of pro&s;perity be joyfull:</HI> joyfull in thankfulne&s;&s;e to God, and &s;ing with the Spou&s;e in the Canticles,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Cant.</HI> 2.16.</NOTE> <HI>My beloved is mine, and I am his, Ille mihi quia benignus &amp; mi&s;ericors e&s;t, ego illi, quia non &s;um ingrata. Ille mihi gratiam ex gratia, ego illi gratiam pro gratia. Ille meae liberationi, ego illius honori. Ille meae &s;aluti, ego illius voluntati;</HI> He is mine becau&s;e bountifull and mercifull unto me, I am his, becau&s;e not unthankfull unto him. He is mine, becau&s;e he hath &s;hewed me grace out of his grace, I am his be|cau&s;e I have returned grace and thankes for his grace. He is mine in gi|ving me freedome, I am his in giving him honour. He is mine in wor|king my &s;alvation,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. in Cant. Serm. <HI>68.</HI></NOTE> I am his in &s;erving his will, as Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> hath it. The Originall here is word for word <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>E&s;to in bono,</HI> Be thou in good, as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> renders it, that is, &s;aith the Glo&s;&s;e, <HI>In virtutibus &amp; operibus,</HI> In vertues, and vertuous workes, and let them &s;peake thy thankfulne&s;&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ny&s;&s;. de opific. ho|minis.</NOTE> For as <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> hath it, <HI>Manus datae &s;unt homini|bus ut melius loquerentur, &s;unt enim hominis manus quae pro illo re&s;pondent, &amp; rationem reddunt de illo; &amp; dum bruta pedibus re&s;pondent calces impin|gendo benefactori &s;uo, homo extollendo manus in &s;ancta, Domino vere re&s;pon|det,</HI> Hands are given unto men that they might &s;peake the better; for they are the hands of man which an&s;wer for him, and give an accompt of him; and while bruit bea&s;ts an&s;wer with their heeles, by kicking at him, who hath beene good to them, man by lifting up his hands unto holy things, doth truly an&s;wer the Lord. This therefore let us doe <HI>in the day of pro&s;perity,</HI> that it may not be &s;aid to us as it was to the I&s;raelites by the Prophet <HI>Ieremiah, yee &s;hall be a&s;hamed of your revenues, becau&s;e of the fierce anger of the Lord:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. <HI>12.13.</HI> Theod. Ibid.</NOTE> that is &s;aith <HI>Theodoret, Quae putatis illu&s;trare vos verbi gratia, opes, potentiam, haec vos pudore perfundent, dum cau&s;am agetis apud Deum,</HI> Tho&s;e things which you thinke doe make you glori|ous, namely your riches and your power, &s;hall make you a&s;hamed, when your cau&s;e &s;hall be handled before God.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>6.</HI> c. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE> <HI>In the day of adver&s;ity con&s;ider.</HI> Con&s;ider, for as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Qui accepta praditus &s;it ratione
<PB N="113" REF="110"> con&s;iderat, quod &s;ibi &s;it impo&s;sibile, ut haec peregrinationis &s;uae tempora &s;ine gemitu evadat,</HI> He that is endued with rea&s;on, con&s;idereth that it is im|po&s;&s;ible for him, that he &s;hould pa&s;&s;e the&s;e times of his pilgrimage with|out &s;ighing. Con&s;ider, <HI>Et &s;i peccator, agno&s;ce pro correctione tua e&s;&s;e quod caederis, &s;i autem ju&s;tus es ad gloriae tuae probationem intelligas evenire quod pa|teris,</HI> And if thou be a wicked man, acknowledge that it is for thy cor|rection, that thou art beaten, if thou be a righteous man, thou wilt un|der&s;tand, that what thou &s;uffere&s;t commeth to pa&s;&s;e for the proofe of thy glory, as <HI>Gaudentius</HI> hath it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gaudentius praefat. ad Benevol.</NOTE> <HI>Iob</HI> was knowne to bee a righteous man in pro&s;perity, but whether he would continue &s;o in adver&s;ity was a thing not knowne. He was therefore touched, <HI>Vt qui notus erat Omni|potenti Deo, notus per flagella fieret &amp; nobis &amp; &s;ibimetip&s;i,</HI> That hee who was knowne to Almighty God, by troubles might be knowne to us and to him&s;elfe, as <HI>Gregory</HI> hath it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Hom. <HI>19.</HI> in Ezek.</NOTE> <HI>Con&s;ider</HI> and behold the great wi&s;dome of God in thine adver&s;ity: <HI>Vt quum defecerit homo, &amp; &s;ubvenerit Deus, dum homo liberatur a Deo, Deus ab homine ut dignum e&s;t, honoretur,</HI> That when man faileth, and God helpeth; while man is delivered by God, God may be, as is mo&s;t due, by man honoured. <HI>Con&s;ider</HI> and remember, that Chri&s;t hath left us an example, that we &s;hould follow his &s;teps, as Saint <HI>Peter</HI> &s;peaketh. Hee walked <HI>&amp; in pulvere &amp; in &s;anguine,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2.21.</NOTE> both in du&s;t, and in bloud, and we mu&s;t follow him in the du&s;t of painefull la|bour, in the bloud of affliction and mi&s;ery. <HI>God al&s;o hath &s;et the one over again&s;t the other:</HI> it is the &s;aying of <HI>Nazianzene, Circulus quidem fratres,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Naz. orat. <HI>7.</HI> ad med.</NOTE> <HI>e&s;t in rebus humanis, Deus nos per contraria erudit,</HI> My brethren, there is a kind of circle in humane things, and God doth in&s;truct us by contraries, &s;ometimes by <HI>pro&s;perity,</HI> &s;ometimes by <HI>adver&s;ity,</HI> now by one, and then by the other. The&s;e two God hath &s;et as it were the two oppo&s;ite &s;cales of the ballance, whereby to keepe us upright in a due mea&s;ure. <HI>Pro&s;pe|rity</HI> doth ea&s;ily make mans heart too light, and then God by <HI>adver&s;ity</HI> addeth weight unto it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. <HI>8.8.</HI> Origen. Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Pharaoh</HI> in the pro&s;perity of his kingdome did forget God ea&s;ily, asking who is the Lord; but as <HI>Origene</HI> noteth, <HI>An|te verbera Dominum ne&s;cit, verberatus &s;upplicari pro &s;e Dominum rogat,</HI> Before he was &s;mitten, he knew not the Lord, being &s;mitten he de&s;ireth that the Lord may be intreated for him. <HI>Adver&s;ity</HI> doth &s;ome times make mens hearts too heavy, and then God doth ea&s;e it by &s;ending comfort, and taking away the weight of it: thus when God had &s;trucken the hardned and rocky hearts of the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> with extremity of thir&s;t, then hee commanded <HI>Moy&s;es</HI> to &s;trike the rocke, and made that to yeeld water unto them: thus when God had delivered them into captivity be|ing in the land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> yet he did it as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. in P&s;al. <HI>84.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Non ad interitum, &s;ed ad di&s;ciplinam, non damnante Patre, &s;ed flagellante,</HI> not to their de&s;truction, but to their in&s;truction, not as a rejecting, but as a correcting Father, and when they were oppre&s;&s;ed with the weight, he &s;ent them &s;till deliverers. <HI>To the end that man &s;hould finde nothing after him:</HI> but &s;hould be forced to acknowledge that God had &s;et all things before his eyes, which might be the meanes of his happine&s;&s;e. Where|fore
<PB N="213" REF="111"> <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;aith, &s;ee I have &s;et before thee this day life and death, good and evill.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. <HI>30.15.</HI> Chry&s;. Hom. Epi&s;t. ad Timoth.</NOTE> And Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Deus omnia facit, cuncta moli|tur, ut vota no&s;tra at&abque; de&s;ideria transferat ad coele&s;tia,</HI> God doth all things, worketh all things, that he may transfer and remove our de&s;ires and af|fections unto heavenly things. The French here to make the &s;en&s;e more plaine read it thus; that man might find nothing <HI>a redire apres luy,</HI> to &s;ay after him, or to returne as a plea again&s;t him. To which &s;en&s;e the Sep|tuagint and vulgar Latine doe al&s;o render it, <HI>Vt non inveniat homo contra cum ju&s;tas querimonias,</HI> that man may not finde again&s;t him ju&s;t com|plaints, which commeth in effect to the &s;ame &s;en&s;e which I have already given of it. Or el&s;e the meaning of the words is, to the end, that man &s;hould not know, what &s;hall be afterwards unto him, as whether adver|&s;ity or pro&s;perity, thereby to make him to commit him&s;elfe to God, and to depend upon his plea&s;ure.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="15-20" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 15.</HI></BIBL> All things have I &s;eene in the dayes of my vanitie: there is a ju&s;t man that pe|ri&s;heth in his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 16.</HI></BIBL> Bee not righteous over much, neither make thy &s;elfe over wi&s;e: Why &s;hould|e&s;t thou de&s;troy thy &s;elfe.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 17.</HI></BIBL> Bee not overmuch wicked: neither bee thou fooli&s;h: Why &s;houlde&s;t thou dye before thy time?</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 18.</HI></BIBL> It is good, that thou &s;houldest take hold of this, yea al&s;o from this withdraw not thine hand: for hee that feareth God &s;hall come forth of them all.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 19.</HI></BIBL> Wi&s;edome &s;trengtheneth the wi&s;e more than tenne mighty men which are in the City.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 20.</HI></BIBL> For there is not a iu&s;t man upon earth, that doth good and &s;inneth not.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<PB N="215" REF="111">
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 15. It was <HI>Salomon</HI> who &s;aw more then all that were before him, and all that were to be after him, and therefore it is not much that he &s;aith, <HI>I have &s;eene all things.</HI> And though he had not &s;eene all things in their particular exi&s;tence, yet in the generall vanity of them hee had &s;eene all things. But here it may bee propo&s;ed whether a Mini&s;ter in teaching, as here <HI>Salomon</HI> doth, may alleage his own experience. Where|unto to give an an&s;wer, I conceive that <GAP DESC="foreign"> a talking of him&s;elfe is by a Mini&s;ter to bee carefully u&s;ed, and not too frequently. And if he doe &s;peake of his owne experience, let it be that whereof hee is well a&s;&s;ured, and &s;o that if need be he confirme by Scripture, &s;eeing he is not in&s;pired as <HI>Salomon</HI> was. <HI>In the dayes of my vanity,</HI> hee &s;aith, not in the dayes of my life, but of my vanity, as acknowledging that though they were the dayes of &s;o glorious a King, yet not worthy to be accom|pted a life. <HI>Origen</HI> con&s;idering tho&s;e words &s;poken of <HI>Elizabeth,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. <HI>1.57.</HI> Origen. in Luc. Hom. <HI>9.</HI></NOTE> <HI>that when her full time came, that &s;hee &s;hould be delivered, &s;he brought forth a &s;onne,</HI> thereupon noteth, <HI>Vbicunque ju&s;tus na&s;citur, ibi complentur dies. Ortus ju&s;ti plenitudinem habet: peccatoris nativitas vanitatem atque inani|tatem,</HI> Where&s;oever a righteous man is borne there the dayes are fulfil|led: the birth of the ju&s;t hath a fulne&s;&s;e, but the nativity of &s;inners a va|cuity and vanity. But though the dayes of the wicked be more e&s;peci|ally <HI>vanity,</HI> yet the dayes of mortall men, even of the righteous are no better then <HI>vanity</HI> al&s;o. Wherefore St. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Dies qui hic &s;unt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. in P&s;al. <HI>89.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;unt dies qui non &s;unt. Illi autem anni &amp; dies non deficiunt, in quibus nec nos deficiemus, &s;ed &s;ine defectu reficiemur,</HI> The dayes which are here, are dayes which are not. Tho&s;e yeares and dayes doe not faile in which neither &s;hall wee faile, but without any defect &s;hall &s;till bee &s;upplyed. <HI>There is a ju&s;t man that peri&s;heth in his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e:</HI> there was one that did &s;o, even a&s;&s;oone as there were but three in the world.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. <HI>4.8.</HI> Philo. libro quod deterior in&s;idietur po|tiori.</NOTE> Although it be true as <HI>Philo</HI> noteth, that it was not <HI>Abel</HI> &s;o much that peri&s;hed, as <HI>Cain</HI> him&s;elfe. And therefore he rendreth the Hebrew word <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Et interfecit ip&s;um,</HI> and killed him&s;elfe, adding upon it, <HI>Prima quidem &s;pecie Abelem occi&s;um &s;ubindicat; &s;in autem diligentius rem expendas, ip&s;um Cain occi&s;um &agrave; &s;eip&s;o. Proinde &s;ic legendum, In&s;urrexit Cain &amp; occidit &s;e|pi&s;um &amp; non alium,</HI> At fir&s;t &s;ight it &s;eemeth to declare that <HI>Abel</HI> was &s;laine; but if thou con&s;ider the matter more diligently, it &s;heweth <HI>Cain</HI> him&s;elfe to be &s;laine by him&s;elfe. And therfore it is thus to be read. <HI>Cain</HI> aro&s;e and &s;lew him&s;elfe and not another. There was another that peri|&s;hed &s;o, even as &s;oone as the &s;econd <HI>Adam</HI> was made of a woman: and the Iewes putting <HI>Steven</HI> to death, Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aith of them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. Serm. <HI>92.</HI> de diver|&s;is.</NOTE> <HI>Quum ad lapides cucurri&s;&s;ent, duri ad duros, jactabant in illum pares &s;uos,</HI> when they ranne for &s;tones, hard went to hard, and they ca&s;t at him their owne peeres and aequals, being like to &s;tones in their hard hearts. For indeed &s;uch is the malice of the wicked again&s;t the righteous, that there is more mercy in bea&s;ts and &s;en&s;le&s;&s;e creatures then in men towards them. Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> noteth it in the three children ca&s;t into the fiery furnace,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. Serm. <HI>240.</HI> de Tem|pore.</NOTE> of whom he &s;aith, <HI>Dum vindicat flamma, impii necantur, &amp; ju&s;ti &s;al|vantur,</HI>
<PB N="216" REF="112"> when the flame puni&s;heth, the wicked are &s;laine, the ju&s;t are de|livered. <HI>Nilus</HI> notes it in <HI>Daniel</HI> ca&s;t into the <HI>Lions</HI> denne, and &s;hewing the inju&s;tice of men,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Nilus in A&s;|cetico.</NOTE> the ju&s;tice of the bea&s;ts &s;ayth, <HI>Hominis virtus apud homines invidiae &amp; contentionis, apud feras venerationis &amp; honoris occa&s;io fuit.</HI> The vertue of man with men was an occa&s;ion of envy and &s;trife, with the bea&s;ts of honour and reverence. <HI>There is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedne&s;&s;e:</HI> for though long life bee a ble&s;|&s;ing, yet as <HI>Eucherius</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Eucherius.</NOTE> &s;peaking of the ble&s;&s;ings of this life &s;aith, <HI>Prop|terea id Deus largitur etiam malis, ne magnum bonum videatur bonis,</HI> There|fore doth God al&s;o &s;ometimes grant it to the wicked, that it may not &s;eeme to the good, to be a great good thing. But that which I rather note here, is this, that the Preacher &s;aith, <HI>I have &s;eene,</HI> as &s;hewing it to be a thing which he &s;aw with no great wonder or trouble of mind. For what though he &s;aw the righteous to peri&s;h in his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e? he knew this world to the righteous to be like Aegypt to the I&s;raelites, and as <HI>Eu&s;ebius Gallicanus</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eu&s;ebius Gallican.</NOTE> <HI>Dum incolitur afflixit, dum relinquitur locupletavit,</HI> while it is inhabited it afflicteth them, when it is for&s;aken it enricheth them. He knew the very peri&s;hing of the righteous to bee better than the flouri&s;hing long life of the wicked. According as <HI>Chry|&s;ologus</HI> noteth upon that pa&s;&s;age in the Go&s;pell,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;ologus Serm. <HI>121.</HI></NOTE> that the Angels caryed away poore <HI>Lazarus,</HI> hell &s;wallowed the rich glutton, &s;aying, <HI>Ecce fra|tres, mors pauperis totam vitam divitis vicit, &amp; elatio &s;ola pauperis totam divitis pompam tran&s;cendit &amp; gloriam,</HI> Behold brethren, the very death of the poore man excelleth the whole life of the wicked, and the carying away only of the poore man tran&s;cendeth all the pompe and glory of the rich man. What though <HI>he &s;aw the life of the wicked prolonged in his wickedne&s;&s;e?</HI> Yet be knew that this length was but a little while, untill <HI>God</HI> would come to judge him for his wickedne&s;&s;e. According as the Pro|phet <HI>Zephaniah</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Zepha. <HI>1.14.</HI> Ruper. Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>The great day of the Lord, it is neere, it is neere and ha&s;teth greatly.</HI> Where <HI>Rupertus</HI> noteth, <HI>Nec &s;emel contentus dixi&s;&s;e juxta est dies Domini, repetivit juxta e&s;t &amp; velox nimis, &amp; vere &s;ecundum mag|nitudinem periculi,</HI> Not contented that he had &s;aid, it is neere, he repea|ted it, it is neere, and ha&s;teth greatly, and &s;o it is truly in re&s;pect of the greatne&s;&s;e of the danger. Hee knew that though the wicked live and flouri&s;h,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Minut. Fae|lix in Octa|vio &s;uo.</NOTE> yet that as <HI>Minutius Faelix</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Vt victimae ad &s;upplicium &s;aginantur, ut ho&s;tiae ad poenam coronantur,</HI> As &s;acrifices they are fatted for their puni&s;hment, as offerings they are crowned to their mi&s;ery. The Poet &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ovidius.</NOTE> <HI>Gramine pa&s;ta Phali&s;co, victima Tarpeios inficit jcata focos,</HI> The &s;acrifice fed with the gra&s;&s;e of the mountaine Pha&s;con, being &s;trucke coloureth the Tarpeian fire, &s;o the wicked being &s;trucke at length by death, colour with their bloud the fire of hell. Now the Preacher &s;ee|ing all this, he &s;aw in it the vanity of this world. But though this bee the plaine and more evident &s;en&s;e of the ver&s;e; yet to the fir&s;t part of it Saint <HI>Hierome,</HI> though not in his commentary upon this ver&s;e, yet el&s;e|where giveth another &s;en&s;e, there is &s;aith he, a ju&s;t man that peri&s;heth in his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, <HI>Non quo justus &s;it, &s;ed quo &s;ibi ju&s;tus videatur,</HI> Not
<PB N="217" REF="112"> that he is ju&s;t, but that he &s;eemeth to him&s;elfe to be ju&s;t, and therefore wee ought not to tru&s;t in our owne righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e. Now according to this &s;en&s;e of the former part, wee may al&s;o under&s;tand the latter; There is a wicked man, <HI>prolongans in iniquitate &s;ua,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym, in c. <HI>26.</HI> I&s;ai.</NOTE> continuing in his iniquitie (for &s;o the Originall is) not as if it were iniquitie, but as thinking it to be righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e in his owne &s;ight. Neither doth this &s;en&s;e unfitly agree with the following ver&s;es.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 16. From the vertues of prudence and patience, the Prea|cher pa&s;&s;eth unto ju&s;tice; and fir&s;t he removeth the exce&s;&s;e of it. <HI>Be not ju&s;t overmuch:</HI> Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Poeniten. Cont. No|vat. l. <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Si virtutum finis ille est maxi|mus, qui plurimorum &s;pectat profectum, moderatio prope omnium pulcherri|ma e&s;t,</HI> If that end of vertues be the greate&s;t, which re&s;pecteth the pro|fit of mo&s;t, then is a moderation of all things mo&s;t commendable. For that it is which doth not offend even tho&s;e whom it condemneth: that it is which the eares of men are willing to heare; that it is which their minds doe not abhorre; that it is which their hearts doe not feare. Certainly, he that de&s;ireth to redre&s;&s;e the vices or humane infirmitie, mu&s;t as it were cary and beare the infirmitie it &s;elfe upon his &s;houlders, and not ca&s;t it away in a rigid &s;everitie. The good Shepheard in the Go&s;pel is &s;ayd to have caryed the wandring &s;heepe, not to have driven it; and it is not &s;eldome that the cariage of a moderate reproofe, doth more good then the fierce driving of &s;evere au&s;teritie. For how &s;hould he commit him&s;elfe unto thee to be cured, whom thou ha&s;t in di&s;|daine, and who knoweth that he &s;hall be de&s;pi&s;ed and not pittied by thee? There is no vertue that doth not con&s;i&s;t in a mediocritie, and onely the love of God cannot be too much. For as <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. de dilige~do. Deo.</NOTE> <HI>Modus diligendi Deum e&s;t &s;ine modo,</HI> the mea&s;ure of loving God, is to love him without mea&s;ure. And as <HI>Aquinas</HI> &s;peaketh of prai&s;ing the Lord,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aquinas.</NOTE> <HI>Quantum potes, tantum aude, quia major omnibus Deus, nec laudare &s;ufficis,</HI> As much as thou can&s;t, be bold to doe, for God is greater then all prai&s;e, and thou art not &s;ufficient to prai&s;e him; &s;o it is true of loving the Lord, as much as thou can&s;t, thou maye&s;t be bold to doe, for he is greater than all love, and thou art not &s;ufficient to love him. But the love of God requireth of us, that we love our brethren al&s;o, and that our ju|&s;tice be not bitter again&s;t them. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronim. in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> <HI>Si quem rigidum &amp; trucem ad omnia fratrum peccata con&s;pexeris, ut nec in &s;ermone peccanti, nec propter naturalem interdum pigritiam moranti det veniam, hunc &s;cito plus ju&s;tum e&s;&s;e quam justum e&s;t,</HI> If thou beholde&s;t any one rigid and fierce again&s;t all the offences of his brethren, &s;o that he doth not pardon him that trippeth in his &s;peech, or him who &s;ometimes by rea&s;on of a na|turall &s;lowne&s;&s;e taryeth too long, know this man to be more ju&s;t than it is ju&s;t he &s;hould be. But as a man may be overmuch ju&s;t towards ano|ther, &s;o may he be overmuch ju&s;t in him&s;elfe al&s;o. He that will doe no more than the Law requireth of him, he that will goe no further than he is tyed and bound: he that will have all that the Law giveth him; he that will &s;pare and remit nothing of that which is due unto
<PB N="218" REF="113">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="219" REF="113">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="218" REF="114"> him, may well be &s;ometimes more &s;trict, mor ju&s;t than he &s;hould be. Wherefore <HI>I&s;idore Pelu&s;iota</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;idorus Pe|lu&s;iota Epi&s;t. l. <HI>3.</HI> Epi&s;t. <HI>320.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Noli jus tuum &s;evere ac rigide per&s;equi, verum per bonitatem id expura,</HI> Doe not exact thy right &s;everely and punctually, but by thy goodne&s;&s;e make it more cleere and manife&s;t. <HI>Neither make thy &s;elfe overwi&s;e:</HI> the&s;e two are commonly joyned toge|ther, and he that is overju&s;t, is u&s;ually too well conceited of his owne wi&s;edome; and he that makes him&s;elfe overwi&s;e, is for the mo&s;t part o|vermuch ju&s;t, either in &s;tanding upon his own right, or el&s;e in condem|ning that which is not right in others.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cyprianus.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Cyprian</HI> readeth this ver&s;e thus; <HI>Noli e&s;&s;e multum ju&s;tus, et noli argumentari plus quam oportet,</HI> Be not ju&s;t overmuch, and doe not argue and di&s;pute more than is meete. For that indeed is the manner of them that make them&s;elves overwi&s;e. They will alwayes oppo&s;e others by rea&s;oning and arguing, and never yeelding that them&s;elves are in the wrong, they have never done talk|ing and di&s;puting.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> reads this part of the ver&s;e thus, <HI>Ne quaeras amplius,</HI> &s;eeke not farther than is meete for thee. For that is al&s;o the fa&s;hion of them that make them&s;elves overwi&s;e, they are pry|ing into every thing, as if their wi&s;edome were able to judge of it, or were able to redre&s;&s;e any thing that might be ami&s;&s;e. But to con&s;ider the words as wee reade them.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;aiah</HI> 57.10</NOTE> The Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> fayth, <HI>Thou art wea|ried in the greatne&s;&s;e of thy way;</HI> and &s;urely, there are none more wearied, then they that walke in the &s;elfe-conceit of their owne great wi&s;e|dome. For there is nothing which they will not undertake, though it be a burden never too heavy for them. There is nothing which as they thinke they cannot goe through, though it be never &s;o farre from the reach of their abilitie.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in &amp; <HI>57.</HI> I&s;ai.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us, <HI>Via regia temperata est nec plus in &s;e habens nec minus: tunc plus &s;apimus quam oportet &s;apere, quando pro prudentia callidiatem diligimus,</HI> The Kings way is temperate way, neither having too much nor yet too litle: then are we wi&s;e more then wee &s;hould be wi&s;e, when that for wi&s;edome wee doe love craftine&s;&s;e. And indeed thus to make our &s;elves overwi&s;e, is to make our &s;elves as the Serpent was, more wi&s;e then any bea&s;t of the field. <HI>Why &s;houlde&s;t thou de&s;troy thy &s;elfe?</HI> One might thinke, that it were a more direct con|clu&s;ion for the precedent words, Why &s;houlde&s;t thou deceive thy &s;elfe, when thou thinke&s;t to be ju&s;t, in being ju&s;t over-much, when thou thinke&s;t to be wi&s;e in making thy &s;elfe over-wi&s;e? But the Prea|cher &s;ayth, <HI>Why &s;houlde&s;t thou de&s;troy thy &s;elfe?</HI> For indeed, overmuch ju&s;tice doth as it were of it &s;elfe call for ju&s;tice to de&s;troy it; and over|much wi&s;edome doth as it were &s;hew it &s;elfe to wi&s;edome to be puni|&s;hed. Be&s;ides, the Preacher u&s;eth this conclu&s;ion, to give the more force unto his admonition. For as <HI>Salvianus</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Nunquid po&s;te&s;t cuilibet quicquam &s;cip&s;o proprius, nunquid charius inveniri?</HI> Can there be found any thing neerer unto any one than is him&s;elfe? Can any thing be found dearer?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Salvian. con|tra Avariti|am. l. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> Wherefore the Preacher &s;ayth, <HI>Why &s;houlde&s;t thou de&s;troy thy &s;elfe?</HI> And as <HI>Salvianus</HI> addeth, <HI>Nihil plan&egrave; durius vobis, ni|hil inhumanius, nihil tam ferum, nihil tam impium dici pote&s;t, &agrave; quibus impe|trari
<PB N="219" REF="114"> omnino non pote&s;t, ut vos ip&s;os ametis,</HI> There is nothing more cruell, than you, nothing more inhumane, nothing &s;o wilde, nothing &s;o wic|ked, from whom it cannot bee obtained, that you would love your &s;elves; So the force of the Preachers conclu&s;ion is; There is nothing more barbarous and hard hearted then thou art, if I cannot per&s;wade thee not to de&s;troy thy &s;elfe. Thou who art &s;o wi&s;e, tell me why do&s;t thou doe it? Thou who art &s;o ju&s;t, tell me, why &s;houlde&s;t thou de&s;troy thy &s;elfe?</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 17. <HI>Be not wicked overmuch:</HI> if wee take the words to &s;peake of wickedne&s;&s;e in generall, Saint <HI>Hieromes</HI> expo&s;ition is very good,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Noli peccatis addere peccata, &s;emel pecca&s;&s;e &s;ufficiat, debemus erigere post rui|nam. Si enim juxta eos qui de Phy&s;icis di&s;putant, novit hirundo pullos de &s;uc|co oculare Chelidoniae, cur nos ignoramus medicinam poenitentiae propo&s;itam e&s;|&s;e peccantibus?</HI> Doe not adde &s;innes unto &s;innes: let it &s;uffice to have &s;in|ned once: when wee are fallen, wee ought to ari&s;e againe; when a building is ruinated, it ought to be repayred: for if, as they who write of naturall things relate, the &s;wallow know how to give &s;ight to her young ones with the juice of Salendine, why are we ignorant, that the medicine of repentance is propo&s;ed unto &s;inners? Or el&s;e wee may take the expo&s;ition of <HI>Cajetane, Be not wicked overmuch;</HI> that is,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cajetan. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> be not carele&s;&s;e to fall into any gro&s;&s;e &s;inne. He that &s;inneth lea&s;t, &s;inneth o|vermuch; but yet the goodne&s;&s;e of God, doth not thinke overmuch of it, unle&s;&s;e our negligence or wilfulne&s;&s;e cary us into &s;ome haynous offence. The words of <HI>Cajetane</HI> are, <HI>Ne mortale committas peccatum,</HI> commit not a mortall &s;inne. Now though all &s;innes bee mortall in them&s;elves, yet there be degrees in the mea&s;ure of them, and in the mea&s;ure of Gods di&s;plea&s;ure again&s;t them. Le&s;&s;e &s;innes may &s;tand to|gether both with the &s;tate of grace, and with the hope of glory; grea|ter &s;innes cannot, and therefore to fall into them is to be wicked over|much, &s;eeing the lo&s;&s;e by them is &s;o overgreat. Or el&s;e if we take the&s;e words with reference unto the former ver&s;e, and as carying an oppo|&s;ition unto the &s;en&s;e thereof, then <HI>to be wicked overmuch,</HI> is to be too lit|tle ju&s;t, or to be unju&s;t, which is indeed a great wickedne&s;&s;e, and ma|keth much overmuch wicked. In the Proverbs <HI>Solomon</HI> tels us,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Pro.</HI> 20.10.</NOTE> that diver&s;e weights are alike abomination to the Lord, or el&s;e as the He|brew is, a weight and a weight, a weight too little, as well as a weight too great, is abhorred by him. It is the ju&s;t ballance and weights that he appooveth: it is ju&s;tice in all things that he requireth. <HI>Neither be thou fooli&s;h:</HI> the words al&s;o may be taken either with reference to the words next before, and then they &s;hew onely the folly of being over|much wicked, which is indeed a greater folly by farre, then is in them who are the verie&s;t fooles naturally. For they doe fooli&s;hly, becau&s;e they &s;ee not how to doe better, but to &s;ee the greatne&s;&s;e of a wicked|ne&s;&s;e now the great danger of it, and to be admoni&s;hed to keepe our &s;elves from it, and yet to runne into it, this is a folly of all fol|lies. Or el&s;e the word may be taken in a reference and oppo&s;ition to
<PB N="220" REF="115"> tho&s;e words in the former ver&s;e, <HI>Neither make thy &s;elfe overwi&s;e;</HI> and then, <HI>neither be thou fooli&s;h,</HI> is, neither make thy &s;elfe to have too little wit, in not being able to di&s;cerne either what is thine owne right, and due to thy &s;elfe, or what is the right of others, that it may be given to them by thee. <HI>Why &s;houldest thou dye before thy time? Cajetane</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cajetan.</NOTE> &s;peaking of the&s;e words &s;ayth, that it is <HI>mira &s;ententia,</HI> a wonderfull &s;entence: and indeed, many are the expo&s;itions that may be given to it. The Hebrew is, <HI>Why &s;houlde&s;t thou dye in a time not thine;</HI> that is, before thine old age, for that is mans time of dying, when the time of living accor|ding to the cour&s;e of mans nature is expired. And this is that cur&s;e which God denounced upon the hou&s;e of <HI>Eli,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 2.32.</NOTE> That there &s;hould not be an old man in his hou&s;e for ever. To this purpo&s;e let me have leave to relate a &s;tory out of Saint <HI>Bernard,</HI> who reporteth that in a Citie of Catalonia neere to Valentia, in his time a young man of eighteene yeares of age being di&s;obedient to his parents, and as overmuch wic|ked and fooli&s;h falling into robberies, for which he came to be hanged: as he hung on the gallowes, on a &s;udden his beard grew out, and that together with the hayre of his head was changed to be white, and his face being turned to be full of wrincles, he appeared a man about nine|tie yeares of age, the people that were pre&s;ent looking on and behold|ing this change.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. Tom. <HI>2.</HI> Quadrage&s;. <HI>2.</HI> Dominic. quadrage&s;. Serm. <HI>17.</HI></NOTE> The meaning of it, the Bi&s;hop, as he &s;ayth, received by divine in&s;piration, and taught the people, that the young man &s;hould have lived &s;o long, if that he had lived in obedience to his parents. But to returne to the meaning of the words. <HI>The time for a man to die,</HI> is when he is ready for his death; even as when a Steward is ready for his accompt, then is the time for him to make his accompt; and there|fore <HI>be not wicked overmuch, neither be thou fooli&s;h,</HI> lea&s;t God take thee away in thy wickedne&s;&s;e, in thy folly, and thou be not ready to make thine accompt. Or el&s;e <HI>the time of mans dying</HI> and going hence is, when heaven is ready and open to receive him; till then he may well wi&s;h to tary here; and therefore take heed of wickedne&s;&s;e, lea&s;t God at once call thee hence, and &s;hut thee out from thence. Againe, <HI>E&s;t tem|pus morientis, &amp; tempus mortis,</HI> There is a time of him that dyeth, and a time of death, the time of death is, when&s;oever that commeth, the time of him that dyeth is, when that he hath time to con&s;ider of his death, to looke unto it, and to prepare him&s;elfe for it: beware there|fore lea&s;t for thine overmuch wickedne&s;&s;e and folly, God take thee a|way &s;uddenly in a time not thine, and give thee not time to thinke of thine end. Yet againe, that is a mans time in which he provideth, <HI>Sibi non &s;uis,</HI> for him&s;elfe and not for the things which he po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth: now many there are who &s;pend all their time in caring for the things of this world, and have little or no regard unto them&s;elves; wherefore if they dye in this time, what doe they but <HI>dye in a time not theirs?</HI> La&s;tly, when the wicked is in the height of his flouri&s;hing, and the greatne&s;&s;e of his bravery, then is his time that hee de&s;ireth mo&s;t of all to live, then hee would not dye by any meanes, and yet then doth God many times de|prive
<PB N="221" REF="115"> him of his pro&s;peritie, and of his life al&s;o. In <HI>Iob,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Job</HI> 18.10.</NOTE> <HI>Bildad</HI> &s;peaking of the wicked &s;ayth, <HI>A trap is layd for him in the way:</HI> where <HI>Catena Graeca</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Catena Grae|ca.</NOTE> noteth, <HI>Irruptiones &s;olitudinibus &amp; locis de&s;ertis fieri &s;olent; verum impius non inde&s;erta regione, &s;ed in media via comprehenditur, hoc e&s;t, in &s;um|mo fortunae &s;plendore &s;ubitam &s;ubver&s;ionem cogitur &s;ubire,</HI> A&s;&s;aults of rob|bers u&s;e to be made in &s;olitary places and de&s;erts, but a wicked man is &s;et upon, not in a de&s;ert region, but in the midway, that is, in his grea|te&s;t lu&s;tre and &s;plendour, he is enforced to &s;uffer a &s;udden overthrow. The que&s;tion of the Preacher in this place, <HI>Why &s;houldest thou dye before thy time?</HI> caryeth this force: As for God who hath the command of thy life and death, he doth not de&s;ire thy death, much le&s;&s;e doth he de&s;ire it before thy time; wherefore then by thine owne wilfulne&s;&s;e &s;houlde&s;t thou thy &s;elfe &s;horten thine owne time, and dying before thy time ha&s;ten thy mi&s;ery?</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 18. <HI>It is good: Aquinas</HI> tels us,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aquin.</HI> 1.22. <HI>Q.</HI> 64. <HI>A.</HI> 1.</NOTE> <HI>Bonum cuju&s;libet regulati &amp; men&s;urati con&s;i&s;tit in hoc quod conformetur &s;uae regulae,</HI> The good of every thing that is mea&s;ured and regulated, con&s;i&s;teth in this, that it doe agree unto his rule: even as in artificiall things, the good of them is, that they are an&s;werable to the rule of art: from whence it followeth, that the evill of them is, in that they differ from their rule. And that commeth to pa&s;&s;e two wayes, either when they come &s;hort of their rule, or el&s;e doe goe beyond it. Now the rule of ju&s;tice and wi&s;edome, and all the wayes of man, is the Law of God, and therefore unto this they mu&s;t be conformed, &s;o that they doe neither exceed it, nor yet come &s;hort of it. Wherefore &s;ayth the Preacher, <HI>It is good that thou &s;houlde&s;t take hold of this;</HI> that is, reach forth thy hand &s;o farre untill thou come unto it, but not to over-reach it. It is good to put forth thy care &s;o farre, as to take hold of ju&s;tice, as to take hold of wi&s;edome, but not to be over|much ju&s;t, not to make thy &s;elfe overwi&s;e. It is good al&s;o not to with|draw thine hand, or to pull it in too much, but to let it out &s;o farre, untill it come where it &s;hould be. It is good not to withdraw thy dili|gence in &s;uch manner, as that thou be too little ju&s;t, which is to be o|vermuch wicked; or el&s;e, as that thou have too little wit, which is to be fooli&s;h. The worke of God is &s;ayd to be perfect, and the Hebrew word <GAP DESC="foreign"> there u&s;ed &s;ignifieth &s;uch a perfection of things, as that when two things are joyned together, the one doth not exceed the o|ther. And therefore the worke of God is &s;ayd to be perfect,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Exod.</HI> 32.4.</NOTE> becau&s;e therein neither his power doth exceed his ju&s;tice, nor his ju&s;tice his power, neither his patience his wrath, nor his wrath his patience. It mu&s;t bee therefore the endeavour of men in their wayes to follow God, and neither to put forth their hand by any exce&s;&s;e, nor to pull it backe by any defect, but to make them equall to the rule of Gods law. The lea&s;t erring from the rule, taketh away the goodne&s;&s;e of the thing. Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaking of <HI>Adam,</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>In paradi&s;o mandavit Deus Adae ut cu&s;todiret mandata, &s;ed forta&s;&s;e non mandaverat cu&s;todire minis, et ideo lap&s;us e&s;t, ideo deceptus &agrave; &s;erpente, putans quod &s;i in parte aliqua recederet &agrave;
<PB N="222" REF="116"> mandato,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. Serm. <HI>1.</HI> in P&s;al. <HI>67.</HI></NOTE> <HI>non penitus errarat; &s;ed quia &agrave; &s;emita mandatorum rece&s;s<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">t, totam viam de&s;eruit,</HI> God commanded <HI>Adam</HI> in Paradi&s;e, that he &s;hould keepe his commandements, but perhaps he did not command him to keepe them exactly and diligently, and hence it was that he fell, hence it was that he was deceived by the &s;erpent, thinking that if he did in &s;ome part goe a&s;ide from the commandement, he &s;hould not altogether erre; but becau&s;e he departed from the path of the commandements, he left the whole way. The Hebrew here is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>apprehendas in hoc,</HI> as implying a thru&s;ting of the hand into it; and from thence it is as I conceive,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chald. Co|&s;ti.</NOTE> that the Chaldee giveth this expo&s;ition of it, <HI>Bonus est qui mundi hujus profundis et intimis implicatur, ut bona animo &s;uo rependat,</HI> He is good, who entreth into the depth and bottome of the things of this world, and not deceived with the outward &s;hew of them, di&s;|cerneth what in truth they are, and from thence gathereth good unto his &s;oule. Our manner of expre&s;&s;ing and tran&s;lating the Originall doth import a firmne&s;&s;e in goodne&s;&s;e, and not to leave it off or to goe back|ward in it. And indeed, we reade in the P&s;almes, <HI>That the righteous &s;hall flouri&s;h as a Palme tree;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo Victor. Mi&s;cellan. l. <HI>1.</HI> ti. <HI>95.</HI></NOTE> that is, &s;ayth <HI>Hugo Victorin. Iu&s;ti conver&s;atio tan|quam palma plus finiendo peragit quam inchoando propoint;</HI> The conver&s;a|tion of the righteous is like a palme tree, and in the end performeth more, than in the beginning it propo&s;eth; the palme having but a le&s;&s;e roote,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Laurentius Iu&s;tinia.</NOTE> and a great top. <HI>For he that feareth God: Laurentius Iu&s;tinianus</HI> &s;peaking of the feare of God, &s;ayth, <HI>Corona &s;apientiae, timor Domini: magna enim &s;alutis&s;pes, &amp; maxima in profectu virtutum cau&s;a est timor Domini;</HI> The feare of the Lord is the crowne of wi&s;edome, the dia|deme of ju&s;tice: it is the great hope of &s;alvation, and the greate&s;t cau&s;e in the proceeding of vertue is the feare of the Lord. Wherefore it fol|loweth here, <HI>He that feareth the Lord &s;hall come forth of them all</HI> of all tho&s;e &s;tops and impediments that would hinder his proceeding. Or el&s;e as the Hebrew word more directly is, <HI>Progredictur, egredteur ad omnia,</HI> Shall goe forward, or come forth unto all things, as S^t. <HI>Hierome</HI> reads it. The Septuagint, as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;ets it downe, and accor|dingly the Vulgar Latin doe reade it, <HI>Qui timet Deum nihil negligit,</HI> He that feareth God neglecteth nothing; he neglecteth not his care in not reaching forth too farre, he negleceth not his diligence in not withdrawing his hand a little too much, he con&s;idereth a little carele&s;&s;e erring to he the loo&s;ing of goodne&s;&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. in P&s;al. <HI>29.</HI></NOTE> Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Praecavi&s;ti magna, de minutis quid agis? Annon times minuta? Projeci&s;ti molem, vide ne arena obruaris,</HI> Thou ha&s;t been carefull of great things, what do&s;t thou in little things? Do&s;t thou not feare little things? Thou ha&s;t re|moved the great pile, take heed that thou be not overwhelmed with the &s;and.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. in Mat. Hom. <HI>83.</HI></NOTE> Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Mirabile quid et inauditum dicere au|deo: &s;olet mihi nonnunquam non tanto &s;tudio magna videri e&s;&s;e peccata vi|tanda, quam parva &amp; vilia. Illa enim ut aver&s;emur, ip&s;a peccati natura ef|ficit; haec autem hac ip&s;a re quia parva &s;unt, de&s;ides reddunt, &amp; dum con|temnuntur, non pote&s;t ad expul&s;ionem eorum animus genero&s;e in&s;urgere;
<PB N="223" REF="116"> unde cito ex parvis maxima fiunt negligentia no&s;tra,</HI> I am bold to delivera wonderfull and unheard of thing: it u&s;eth to &s;eeme to mee oftentimes, that great &s;innes are not to bee &s;hunned with &s;o much care as little and poore &s;ins: for that we &s;hunne them, the very nature of &s;inne cau&s;eth, but the&s;e even in that regard becau&s;e they are little, doe make us lazy and carele&s;&s;e, and while they are de&s;pi&s;ed, the mind cannot lift it &s;elfe up generou&s;ly to the expelling of them; from whence quickly by our negligence, of a little they are made very great. And this is that which Saint <HI>Bernard</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard.</NOTE> teacheth, <HI>A minimis incipiunt, qui in maxima proruunt,</HI> They begin with little things who breake out into great.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 19. The meaning which our tran&s;lation &s;eemeth to give to this ver&s;e, is to &s;hew the &s;trength of wi&s;dome, above the &s;trength of might, and that one wi&s;e man is &s;tronger then many mighty men, nay then tenne mighty men, that is very many, although they have al&s;o the &s;trength of a City joyned unto them. Wi&s;dome giveth &s;trength unto a foole, and a wi&s;e man by his good coun&s;ell is able to &s;upport a fooles weakene&s;&s;e, as that hee &s;hall re&s;i&s;t his enemies. But this excellency of <HI>&s;trength</HI> whereof the ver&s;e &s;peaketh <HI>is that which wi&s;dome giveth to the wi&s;e,</HI> to him that is capable of the force of it, to him that knoweth how to u&s;e the &s;trength of it, him it &s;trengthneth more then el&s;e the greate&s;t might is able.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in P&s;al. <HI>104.</HI></NOTE> Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> therefore de&s;cribing a wi&s;e man in the &s;trength of wi&s;dome &s;aith, <HI>In&s;urgit &s;apiens qua&s;i victor, debellatis &amp; tri|umphatis, libidine, timore, ignavia, ma&s;titudine, caeteri&s;&abque; vitiis, donec ea de po&s;&s;e&s;sione &s;uae mentis eliminet &amp; omnibus terminis finibu&s;&abque; &s;uis propul&s;et &amp; arceat: quoniam dux cautior novit excur&s;us cavere latrocinantium, &amp; quae|dam furta belli, quae iniqui&s;simi animae no&s;trae adver&s;arii ignitis &s;aepe perten|tant &s;piculis,</HI> A wi&s;e man lifteth him&s;elfe up as it were a conquerour, lu&s;t and feare, and &s;loth, and pen&s;ivene&s;&s;e, and the re&s;t of vices being &s;ubdued and triumphed over by him, untill that he force them and drive them even from all his borders and bounds; becau&s;e as a wary Captaine hee knoweth to looke unto the incur&s;ions of robbers, and to tho&s;e &s;tealths of Warre, which the mo&s;t wicked enemies of our &s;oule doe &s;ometimes make with fiery darts. But the Originall word tran&s;lated mighty men, being <GAP DESC="foreign"> which properly &s;ignifieth <HI>Dominatores</HI> Governours, according as al&s;o generally the word is tran&s;lated in this place by interpreters: it may &s;eeme that here by <HI>Governours in a City</HI> are under&s;tood men of humane and worldly wi&s;dome. For as S. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Incon&s;ultis populis &s;apientes qui&abque; adhibentur rectores,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in P&s;alm. <HI>104.</HI> Non longe ab initio.</NOTE> <HI>qui plebei|am in&s;ipientiam vigore propia regant,</HI> wi&s;e men commonly are &s;et for Governours over incon&s;iderate people, that by their owne &s;trength as it were, they may rule the plebeian folly. And then we may under&s;tand the meaning to be, that true godly wi&s;dome is of more &s;trength then the united force of that which is worldly, though in the kind of it very &s;trong. Behold this in Saint <HI>Steven,</HI> of whom we reade,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Acts</HI> 6.10.</NOTE> that they who di&s;puted with him were not able to with&s;tand the wi&s;dome and the &s;pi|rit whereby he &s;pake. <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> &s;etting downe the conflict doth
<PB N="224" REF="117"> thus expre&s;&s;e it;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ny&s;. Orat. de <HI>S.</HI> Stephen.</NOTE> <HI>Omnes quibus eruditionis &amp; &s;cientia non nihil in erat in &s;e&s;e convertebat, &amp; ex his qui caeteris prae&s;tare eruditione videbantur con&s;pi|ratione facta, veluti in phalangas qua&s;dam con&s;tipati, &s;ic impetum Stephani &s;u&s;tinere nitebantur. At ille omnibus pariter invictus erat, &s;ive cum multis &s;olus, &s;ive cum paucis congrederetur,</HI> All in whom there was any learning and knowledge, he turned upon him&s;elfe; and of them who &s;eemed to excell the re&s;t, there being as it were a foure&s;quare army &s;et thicke to|gether, &s;o did they endeavour to &s;u&s;taine the a&s;&s;ault of <HI>Steven:</HI> but he was alike unconquerable to them all, whether he encountred alone with many or el&s;e with few. But there is yet another meaning, which the re|ference of this ver&s;e to the following ver&s;e doth &s;eeme to approve; and that is to under&s;tand here a compari&s;on betweene God and &s;infull man; &s;o that the Preacher &s;heweth, that a wi&s;e man relying by his wi&s;dome upon God, hath farre more &s;trength, then as <HI>Lyra</HI> here &s;peaketh, <HI>Quae|libet pote&s;tas humana,</HI> any power of man is able to give him. This was the &s;trength on which <HI>Samp&s;on</HI> relyed when that hee pulled downe the hou&s;e upon the <HI>Phili&s;tines.</HI> For though his hayre was growne againe in which his &s;trength had lyen, yet as <HI>Cajetan</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cajetan.</NOTE> noteth, <HI>Non confide|bat in auctis capillis qui ob&s;ecrat &s;upplex pro robore hac vice,</HI> Hee did not tru&s;t in his growne hayre, who humbly be &s;ought the Lord to grant him &s;trength this one time.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. in Gene&s;. Hom. <HI>25.</HI></NOTE> Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;peaking of <HI>Noah</HI> in the Arke &s;aith, <HI>Ego &s;upra omnia admiror virtutem ju&s;ti, quod potuerit ver&s;ari in medio be&s;tiarum, leonum dico &amp; pardorum, &amp; aliarum immitium ferarum, &s;ed ob fidem in Deum omnia i&s;ti facilia videbantur,</HI> I above all things ad|mire the courage of the righteous man, that he could be conver&s;ant in the midde&s;t of bea&s;ts, as Lions, and Leopards and other untamed wild bea&s;ts. But by rea&s;on of his confidence in God all things did &s;eeme ea|&s;ie unto him.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>31.</HI> c. <HI>13.</HI></NOTE> Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> con&s;idering tho&s;e words in the Proverbs, <HI>The righteous is bold as a Lion,</HI> thereupon &s;aith, <HI>Iu&s;ti viri &s;ecuritas recte Leoni comparatur, quia contra &s;e quum quo&s;libet in&s;urgere con&s;picit, ad men|tis &s;uae confidentiam redit, &amp; &s;cit quod cunctos adver&s;arios &s;uperat,</HI> The &s;ecurity of a righteous man is well compared to a Lion, bau&s;e when he beholdeth any to ari&s;e again&s;t him, hee goeth to the confidence of his mind, and from thence knoweth that hee is &s;ure to overcome all his ad|ver&s;aries.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> One expo&s;ition which Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> giveth of this ver&s;e, is by <HI>the tenne men</HI> here <HI>qui habent pote&s;tatem &amp; in urbe con&s;i&s;tunt,</HI> who have power, and &s;tand in the City, to under&s;tand the Angels, <HI>Qui ad per|fectum numerum pervene denarium,</HI> who are come to the perfect num|ber of tenne, and doe &s;uccour mankind. But &s;aith hee, if any one con|&s;ider all the &s;uccours that are, the &s;uccour of wi&s;dome is greater, that is, of our Lord Ie&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 20. <HI>For there is not:</HI> The rea&s;on which maketh the wi&s;dome of man to be weake is &s;inne; and therefore all men being &s;inners, there can bee no true wi&s;dome in any of them, nor any &s;ound &s;trength from their wi&s;dome.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Mac.</HI> 1.21.</NOTE> We read in the <HI>Machabees,</HI> that when <HI>Antiochus</HI> went into the Sanctuary, he tooke away the light that was burning there; and
<PB N="225" REF="117"> &s;in entring into mans &s;oule the Sanctuary of God, that hath taken away the cleere light of wi&s;dome that was burning in it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Salvianus de Provid. l. <HI>5.</HI> P&s;al. <HI>139.7,</HI> Chry&s;. Hom. <HI>1.</HI> de poeni|tent. Ionae.</NOTE> Wherefore <HI>Salvi+anus</HI> &s;aith, <HI>exue nequitiam &s;i vis habere &s;apientiam,</HI> Put away wickedne&s;&s;e, if thou wilt have wi&s;dome. And Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;peaking to <HI>Ionah,</HI> when he fled away from God, &s;aith unto him, whither do&s;t thou flye? Ha&s;t thou not heard another Prophet &s;aying, <HI>whither &s;hall I goe from thy &s;pirit? Or whither &s;hall I flye from thy pre&s;ence?</HI> Who an&s;wering him&s;elfe &s;aith, <HI>Sed tale e&s;t peccatum, quod ad multam ignorantiam redigat animam,</HI> But &s;uch a thing is &s;inne, that it bringeth the &s;oule to a great deale of ignorance. <HI>Not a ju&s;t man:</HI> In Scripture a ju&s;t man is taken two wayes, either in re&s;pect of God, not imputing his unrighteou&s;ne&s;&s;e unto him, or el&s;e in re&s;pect of the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e that is inherent in him. By inherent righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e there is no man perfectly ju&s;t; by not having his unrighteou&s;ne&s;&s;e imputed unto him every child is ab&s;olutely a ju&s;t man. And therefore Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaking of Chri&s;t &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. cont. Iulian. lib. <HI>6.</HI> cap. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Sanat vi|tiatum &agrave; reatu &s;tatim, ab infirmitate paulatim,</HI> Hee healeth him that is corrupted from his guiltine&s;&s;e pre&s;ently, from his weakene&s;&s;e by little and little. Or el&s;e <HI>a just man</HI> is &s;aid to be &s;o in re&s;pect of the righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e unto which hee tendeth, not in re&s;pect of the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e to which he hath already attained. Wherefore Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> con&s;idering the words of the P&s;almi&s;t, <HI>Lead mee O Lord in thy righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. <HI>5.8.</HI> Aug. Ibid.</NOTE> there|upon noteth, <HI>Satis hic declaravit in profectione &s;e e&s;&s;e ad perfectionem, non in ip&s;a perfectione, quum ut deducatur exoptat,</HI> He declareth here &s;ufficient|ly that he was in journying to perfection, not in perfection it &s;elfe, &s;ee|ing hee prayeth that hee may bee lead. Wherefore his exhortation is good, <HI>Curramus, intendamus, in via &s;umus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. in P&s;alm. <HI>38.</HI></NOTE> <HI>nec tam &s;is &s;ecurus ex iis quae per|tran&s;i&s;ti, quam &s;olicitus pro eis ad quae nondum perveni&s;ti,</HI> Let us runne, let us be earne&s;t, we are yet but in the way, neither let us bee &s;ecure by tho&s;e things which wee have pa&s;&s;ed over, as rather carefull for tho&s;e things to which we have not attained. <HI>Not a ju&s;t man upon earth:</HI> S. <HI>Hier.</HI> noteth of the red heifer, who&s;e a&s;hes were an expiation for the &s;ins of the people,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in c. <HI>3.</HI> Lamen. Ierem.</NOTE> <HI>Quod non aliter immolari &amp; offerri ad altare po&s;sit, ni&s;i quae terrena opera non fecerit, jugum non traxerit,</HI> That it might not be &s;acrificed and offered up|on the Altar unto the Lord, unle&s;&s;e it were &s;uch a one which had not done the workes of the earth, and upon which never yoake had come; which was to &s;ignifie that workes of the earth are &s;infull, and <HI>that there is no man on the earth that &s;inneth not.</HI> While we are on the earth, we have &s;till enemies, <HI>Et qui pugnat, &amp; adhuc periclitatur, &amp; aliquando per|cutitur, etiam&s;i non &s;ternitur. Qui autem non habet adver&s;arium,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. l. de Natura &amp; gratia.</NOTE> <HI>plena pace laetatur, &amp; ip&s;e e&s;&s;e veri&s;sime &s;ine peccato dicitur,</HI> And hee that fighteth is both yet in danger, and al&s;o &s;ometimes &s;trucken and wounded al|though he be not ca&s;t downe and overthrown. But he that hath not an enemy rejoyceth in full peace, and hee it is who mo&s;t truly is &s;aid to be without &s;inne. It is in heaven therefore where full peace to enjoyed, that &s;in doth not annoy, it is not <HI>on the earth. That doth good and &s;inneth not:</HI> it is not a doing good that the Preacher here denyeth, but a doing
<PB N="226" REF="118"> good and &s;inning not to be joyned with it. And yet doth not the P&s;al|mi&s;t &s;ay,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 53.3.</NOTE> <HI>there is none that doth good, no not one?</HI> How then doth here the Preacher &s;peake of doing good?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. in P&s;al. <HI>52.</HI></NOTE> Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> giveth the an&s;wer in Gods name, &s;aying, <HI>Donavi hominibus bene facere, &s;ed ex me inquit, non ex &s;e, ex &s;e enim mali &s;unt. Filii hominum &s;unt quando male faciunt, filii Dei quando bene,</HI> I have given unto men to doe good, but it is from my &s;elfe, not from them&s;elves; for of them&s;elves they are evill. And they are the &s;onnes of men when they doe evill, the &s;ons of God when they doe good. It is therefore of the &s;ons of men that the P&s;almi&s;t &s;peaketh: for &s;o he &s;aith, God looked downe from heaven upon the &s;onnes of men, and &s;aw that none did good. But it is of the &s;ons of God that the Prea|cher &s;peaketh, &s;aying, <HI>There is not a ju&s;t man, that doth good and &s;inneth not.</HI> That &s;inneth not, even when hee doth good, by the imperfecti|on of his doing of it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. ad Bonifac. l. <HI>3.</HI> cap. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE> Wherefore Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aith, <HI>virtus quae nunc e&s;t in homine ju&s;to hactenus perfecta nominatur, ut ad ejus perfectionem perti|neat, etaim ip&s;ius imperfectionis, &amp; in veritate agnitio, &amp; in humilitate con|fe&s;sio,</HI> The vertue which is in a ju&s;t man, is &s;o farre &s;aid to be perfect, as that there appertained to the perfection of it, an acknowledgement in truth, and a confe&s;&s;ion in humility of the very imperfection of if. In which regard,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>29.</HI> c. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Quid in hac vita omnes qui vertitatem &s;equimur, ni&s;i aurora &s;umus? Aurora enim noctem praeteri&s;&s;e nunciat, nec ta|men diet claritatem illa o&s;tendit, &s;ed dum illam pellit, &amp; hanc &s;u&s;cipit, lucem tenebris permixtam tenet; &s;ic nos &amp; quaedam jam quae lucis &s;unt agimus, &amp; tamen in quibu&s;dam adhuc tenebrarum reliquiis non caremus,</HI> What in this life are we all who follow the truth, but as the morning? For the mor|ning &s;heweth the night to be pa&s;t, but yet it doth not &s;hew the cleerene&s;&s;e of the day; and whiles it driveth the one away, it receaveth the other, it po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth a light mixed with darkne&s;&s;e; &s;o wee now doe &s;ome things which are of the light, and yet wee doe not want in &s;ome things the re|liques of darkne&s;&s;e. The Preacher doth not here &s;ay that a ju&s;t man can|not but &s;inne, neither doth he &s;ay there cannot be a ju&s;t man; but there is not a ju&s;t man that &s;inneth not. It was the cavill wherewith the <HI>Pela|gians</HI> troubled Saint <HI>Au&s;tin,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. de peccatorum meritis lib. <HI>2.</HI> cap. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE> whether it were impo&s;&s;ible that by the ab|&s;olute power of God a ju&s;t man might not live on earth without &s;inne. But what have we to doe with the ab&s;olute power of God? Saint <HI>Au|&s;tin</HI> &s;aith well, <HI>Si quaeratur utrum in hac vita aliquis &s;it &s;ine peccato, e&s;&s;e non credo: magis enim credo Scripturae, ubi Sanctorum vox e&s;t, &s;i dicimus, &amp;c.</HI> If it be asked whether in this life any be without &s;in, I beleeve not: be|cau&s;e I beleeve rather the &s;acred Scriptures, wherat is the voice of the Saints: If we &s;ay, that we have no &s;in, we deceive our &s;elves, and there is no truth in us. The Originall word here u&s;ed is <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifieth to &s;in by erring and of ignorance, and therefore is fitly applyed to the ju&s;t man who &s;inneth not pre&s;umptuou&s;ly and &s;tubbornly. And it is as fit|ly u&s;ed to &s;hew the imperfection of humane wi&s;dome, for where there is an erring and ignorance, there mu&s;t needs be a defect and weakne&s;&s;e.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="21-22" TYPE="verse">
<PB N="227" REF="118">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 21.</HI></BIBL> Al&s;o take no heed unto all words that are &s;poken, le&s;t thou heare thy &s;ervant cur&s;e thee.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 22.</HI></BIBL> For oftentimes al&s;o thine owne heart knoweth, that thou thy &s;elfe likewi&s;e hast cur&s;ed others.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 21 As there is not a ju&s;t man that &s;inneth not, &s;o there is none &s;o ju&s;t, none that &s;inneeth &s;o little, but his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e by &s;lan|ders is dimini&s;hed, his &s;innes by fal&s;e reports are made more and greater than they are. Which partly ari&s;et;h from the envy which is &s;o gene|rally in men, and partly from the nature of &s;landering, which being done in the ab&s;ence of them whom it wrongeth, hath the le&s;&s;e &s;hame, and is the &s;ooner entertained. For as Saint <HI>B&s;ail</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;ilius Ep. <HI>75.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Quis in accu&s;ndis vitiis nemine contradicente defecit? Quis deferendo mendacii convictus e&s;t, non coram con&s;tituto eo quem fal&s;o detulit?</HI> Who ever was confuted in ac|cu&s;ing vices, when no one did contradict him? Who ever in reporting a lye was convicted, hee not being brought to an&s;wer if of whom it was fal&s;ly reported? It is again&s;t this therefore the the Precher here in|&s;tructeth a ju&s;t and wi&s;e man what to doe. <HI>Al&s;o take not heed:</HI> not to heare that which is &s;poken may not be in thy power: for the tongue of a &s;landerer though it be low in whi&s;pering at the fir&s;t broching of a fal&s;e report, yet it becommeth loud in &s;preading of it afterward; but though thou do&s;t heare, <HI>take not heed unto it.</HI> And as Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. in Acta Apo&s;t. Hom. <HI>26.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Nobis ne &s;it curae, quid multi de nobis &s;entiant. Deo vivimus, non homin|bus; in coelo cives &s;umus, non &s;uper terram: illic praemia no&s;trorum laborum jacent; illinc laudes expectemus; catenus curemus homines, ne illis offendi|culo &amp; damno &s;imus. Si ego quidem facio quod decet, &amp; alius bla&s;phemat, nihil ad me, &s;ed ad illum,</HI> Let us not be carefull what many thinke or &s;ay of us: we live to God, not to men; we are Citizens in heaven, not up|on the erth: there are laid up the rewards of our labours, from thence we expect prai&s;es: &s;o farre let us care for men, as that we doe not wrong them, nor tre&s;pa&s;&s;e again&s;t them. If I doe that which I ought, and ano|ther &s;lander me, it is nothing to me, but much to him. To the &s;ame pur|po&s;e Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Non curo vanum calumniatorem,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. l. cont. Manichae.</NOTE> <HI>quia idoneum tene promi&s;&s;orem,</HI> I doe not regard a vaine &s;landerer, becau&s;e I have an able promi&s;er. And accordingly therefore when the <HI>Manichees</HI> re|ported of him, that he for&s;ooke their &s;ect either for feare or de&s;ire, as one that tooke no heed unto it, he &s;aith, <HI>Quod de animo meo verum non &s;entis, facile contemno. Hoc enim &s;entis, quod et&s;i de me non agno&s;co, fieri tamen pote&s;t ut &s;it in homine. Ergo etiam &s;i in me erras, non tamen ita erras, ut me de numero hominum eximat tua opinio, quia id de me credis, quod fieri
<PB N="228" REF="119"> pote&s;t in animo humano, etiam &s;i non &s;it &s;anctum in animo meo. Nec igitur opus e&s;t ut tibi hanc &s;u&s;picionem magnopere coner auferre,</HI> That thou do&s;t not think the truth of my mind I ea&s;ily de&s;pi&s;e. For thou thinke&s;t that, which though I doe acknowledge to be in me, yet it is a thing which may be in a man. Wherefore although thou erre&s;t in me, yet thou do&s;t not &s;o erre, as that thine opinion &s;hould exempt me from the number of men; becau&s;e thou do&s;t beleeve that of me, which may bee in the mind of man, although it be not good in my mind. And therefore it is not needfull that I &s;hould much labour to take away this &s;u&s;picion from thee. <HI>Take not heed therefore unto &s;uch words:</HI> but though thou do&s;t heare them,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 38.13.</NOTE> yet be as <HI>David</HI> was, <HI>and as a deafe man that heareth not.</HI> Or if thou do&s;t take heed unto them, as there may be ju&s;t rea&s;on in many re|&s;pects to doe &s;o, yet then as the Originall here &s;aith, <HI>Ne apponas cor tuum,</HI> &s;et not thine heart upon them, let them not trouble and di&s;quiet thine heart.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. Ep. ad Ocea|num.</NOTE> For as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Si aequo animo pen&s;amus, id ip&s;um quod nobis quis detrahere videtur inju&s;te, laudari nos potius, quam accu&s;ari proba|mur,</HI> If wee rightly weigh it, even this that any one &s;eemeth unju&s;tly to &s;lander us, doth prove that we are prai&s;ed rather than accu&s;ed. Our Sa|viour Chri&s;t was &s;aid to have a Devill,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. in P&s;al. <HI>99.</HI></NOTE> and thereupon S. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Non opus erat ut Ie&s;u hoc audiret; &s;ed te monuit adver&s;us a&s;pera verba;</HI> There was no need that Chri&s;t &s;hould have this &s;poken of him; but it was to admoni&s;h us, that when we are evill &s;poken of, we take it not to heart. It is not I confe&s;&s;e, an ea&s;ie thing to doe it: the Prophet <HI>David</HI> was touched home with it,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;alm.</HI> 55.2. <HI>&amp;</HI> 3.</NOTE> who &s;aith, <HI>I mourne in my complaint and am &s;ore vexed, becau&s;e of the voice of the enemy.</HI> But let us know the Di&s;ciples not to be above the ma&s;ter, and let us prove our &s;elves to bee the Di&s;ci|ples of Chri&s;t by following bis example. <HI>Vnto all words that are &s;poken:</HI> regard not all words that are &s;poken, but con&s;ider who &s;peakes them. If they be the &s;ervants of God that &s;peake not well of thee, then re&s;pect what they &s;ay.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. in c. <HI>2.</HI> Ezek. Hom. <HI>9.</HI></NOTE> For as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Debent haberi in metu ac reverentia judicia ju&s;torum, quia membra Dei omnipotentis &s;unt, &amp; hoc ip&s;i in terra reprehendunt, quod Dominus redarguit &egrave; coelo,</HI> The judgements of the righteous ought to be had in an awfull reverence and e&s;teeme, becau&s;e they are members of Almighty God, and what they reproove on earth he condemneth in heaven. But if they be the words of the wicked, re|gard them not;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ibid.</NOTE> for as the &s;ame Father &s;peaketh, <HI>Stultum e&s;t valde, &s;i illis placere quaerimus, quos non placere Deo &s;cimus,</HI> It is a very wicked thing, if we &s;eeke to plea&s;e them, whom we know not to plea&s;e God. <HI>Lea&s;t thou heare thy &s;ervant to cur&s;e thee:</HI> this wickedne&s;&s;e of &s;landering is not &s;el|dome in tho&s;e who are neere unto a man, and if a &s;ervant doe it, perhaps others who are thought to be friends may be guilty of it. Wherefore becau&s;e this would bee a great trouble to a man that &s;uch &s;hould wrong him, and becau&s;e thereby he may al&s;o be caryed into many mi&s;chiefes, as of quarelling and breach of charity, therefore the Preacher advi|&s;eth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. in P&s;alm. <HI>99.</HI></NOTE> not to hearken after what is &s;aid, nor to bee willing to heare &s;uch things when they are brought unto us. Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> tels us, that when a
<PB N="229" REF="119"> nett is &s;pread for a bird, the manner is to throw &s;tones at the hedge.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augusti. in P&s;al. <HI>99.</HI></NOTE> Now &s;ayth he, tho&s;e &s;tones doe not hurt the bird, for who &s;triketh the bird that ca&s;teth them? But the bird fearing this vaine &s;ound fals into the nett. In like manner, &s;ayth he, men that feare and regard the vaine &s;ound of all words, what doe they but fall into the devils nett, whd thereby caryes them captive into much evill, many troubles, and in|conveniences? Or el&s;e by <HI>&s;ervants</HI> here, wee may under&s;tand, any inferiour and ba&s;e people, which are indeed too apt to &s;lander and wrong in their &s;peeches and reports their betters and &s;uperiours. But <HI>take no heed to all that is &s;poken,</HI> for &s;uch take little heed what they &s;peake, and if &s;uch things trouble thee, thou maye&s;t have trouble e|nough quickly.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 22. <HI>For oftentimes al&s;o thine owe heart knoweth:</HI> thine owne heart is thine owne con&s;cience; according to the &s;aying, <HI>Con&s;cientia e&s;t cordis &s;cientia,</HI> Con&s;cience is the knowledge of the heart. And indeed the Hebrew hath no other word to expre&s;&s;e the con&s;cience, but onely <GAP DESC="foreign"> which properly &s;ignifieth the heart. <HI>Thine owne con&s;cience therefore knoweth,</HI> for that is as <HI>Bernard</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard.</NOTE> &s;peaketh, <HI>Vox virtutis, &amp; radius lucis,</HI> a beame of light to di&s;cerne the truth, and a voyce of power to tell it plainly to thee. Thou needee&s;t not any other to &s;hew thee thine ill do|ing; there is one within, <HI>Qui &s;ecretam gannit in aurem,</HI> Who whi&s;pe|reth in thine eare what it is. Doe but turne thine hearing inward, doe but ca&s;t thine eyes upon thine owne brea&s;t; and from thence thou &s;halt be be&s;t informed of thy doings. There is no difficultie for thee there to know them. Indeed, as Saint <HI>Bernard</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard.</NOTE> al&s;o &s;peaketh, <HI>Labor e&s;t potius aures obturare, ne audias. Ip&s;a &s;e offert, ip&s;a &s;e ingerit,</HI> The labour rather is to &s;top thine eares, that thou doe not heare thy con&s;cience. Shee of|fereth her &s;elfe, &s;hee thru&s;teth her &s;elfe upon thee. Nay, &s;hee will be heard, doe thou what thou can&s;t, and make thee know thy &s;innes. <HI>Nero</HI> after his much bloud-&s;hed, may change his bed-chamber, but his fiends ever attend him, ever are with him, and are as parts of him&s;elfe. If a wicked man could &s;hift from him&s;elfe, he might have &s;ome hope not to heare of his &s;innes; but &s;o long as he hath him&s;elfe, he hath one that will tell him of his faults. Yea, what if a wicked mn in &s;ome &s;ort doe runne from him&s;elfe? His &s;oule may flie from his body, but his con&s;cience will not flie from his &s;oule, nor his &s;inne from his con&s;ci|ence, there he &s;hall &s;till have it brought unto his knowledge. <HI>That thou thy &s;elfe likewi&s;e ha&s;t cur&s;ed others:</HI> the force of this rea&s;on may be conceived three wayes. Fir&s;t thus, &s;eeing that thou thy &s;elfe, as thou knowe&s;t, ha&s;t cur&s;ed others, and woulde&s;t not that they &s;hould have heard it, or from others heard of it; be contented therefore in like manner, neither to heare nor to heare of the cur&s;ings and evill &s;peak|ings which others u&s;e of thee. So <HI>Lyra</HI> expoundeth it, &s;aying,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra, &amp; Glo&s;&s;a Or|din. in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> <HI>Sicut nol|les maledicta tua inve&s;tigari, &s;ic nee debes aliorum inve&s;tigare,</HI> As thou woulde&s;t not that others &s;hould &s;earch out thine evill &s;peakings, &s;o the evill &s;peakings of others ought not to be &s;earched out by thee. Thus
<PB N="230" REF="120"> al&s;o doth the Ordinary Glo&s;&s;e under&s;tand it, applying to this place that common &s;aying, <HI>Quod tibi non vis, alteri ne feceris: patere legem quam ip&s;e tuleris,</HI> That which thou woulde&s;t not have done unto thy &s;elfe, doe not unto another: &s;uffer the Law which thou thy &s;elfe ha&s;t made. Of which Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin.</NOTE> that it is a &s;entence, whereupon all nati|ons under heaven are agreed, and which if wee referre to the love of God, extingui&s;heth all haynous crimes; if wee referre unto the love of man, bani&s;heth all grievous wrongs. Secondly, wee may conceive the force of the rea&s;on thus; &s;eeing thou knowe&s;t thy &s;elfe to have &s;poken evill of others, and to have cur&s;ed them, for which thou maye&s;t ju&s;tly feare the wrath of God upon thee; therefore take not heed to the words of others that &s;peake evill of thee, but pa&s;&s;e them by, and forgive them mildly and quietly, that God may mercifully and graciou&s;ly forgive thee al&s;o:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> thus Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;eemeth to under&s;tand it, &s;aying, <HI>Quomo|do novit con&s;cientia tua, quod tu &s;aepe aliis detraxi&s;ti, &s;ic et aliis debes igno&s;|cere detrahentibus,</HI> As thou knowe&s;t thy &s;elfe often to have &s;landered others;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 18.34.</NOTE> &s;o thou mu&s;t forgive others when they &s;lander thee. He that in the Go&s;pell was ca&s;t into pri&s;on by his fellow-&s;ervant, had not com|plained of it to his Ma&s;ter, there was no end of that, but in&s;tantly the Ma&s;ters anger was incen&s;ed, and he that was &s;o courteous before, was then mo&s;t &s;evere. And &s;urely, there is nothing that doth more pro|voke the wrath of Almightie God, then when wee being ou r&s;elves &s;pared by him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in P&s;alm. <HI>118.</HI> Serm. <HI>20.</HI></NOTE> will not &s;pare others for the &s;ame things. Saint <HI>Am|bro&s;e</HI> therefore &s;ayth, <HI>Nece&s;&s;e e&s;t eam formam in te redire judicii quam in alium ip&s;e decernendam putaveris,</HI> There is a nece&s;&s;itie that the &s;ame forme of judgement &s;hould returne upon thee, which thou thy &s;elfe ha&s;t thought fit to be decreed again&s;t another. In the Lords prayer wee &s;ay, <HI>Forgive us our tre&s;pa&s;&s;es, as wee forgive them that tre&s;pa&s;&s;e again&s;t us:</HI> Where <HI>Chry&s;ologus</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;. Serm. <HI>71.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Homo penes te e&s;t pote&s;tas veniae, in te e&s;t indul|gentiae jus, tu tibi remi&s;sionis autor con&s;titutus. Gratis petis veniam qui tibi in alio indulgere contemnis. Homo tu tibi factus es ip&s;e mi&s;ericoridae men&s;ura, quantum quaris mi&s;ericordie, fac tantum,</HI> Man the power of pardon is in thine owne power, the right of indulgency is in thy &s;elfe, thou art made the authour of remi&s;&s;ion to thy &s;elfe. In vaine do&s;t thou &s;eeke pardon, who de&s;pi&s;e&s;t in another to give it to thy &s;elfe. Man thou thy &s;elfe are made the mea&s;ure of mercy to thy &s;elfe; as much mercy as thou &s;eeke&s;t for thy &s;elfe,<NOTE PLACE="marg">An&s;elmus.</NOTE> &s;o much &s;hew to others. <HI>An&s;elme</HI> therefore &s;peaketh well unto us, <HI>Debetis con&s;ervis non negare, quod &agrave; bono Domino gaudetis vos per|cepi&s;&s;e,</HI> Take heed, you mu&s;t not deny unto your fellow-&s;ervants, that which you rejoyce to have received from a good Ma&s;ter. And a good Writer &s;ayth al&s;o well, <HI>Cum hac obligatione Dei bona in te veniunt, ut &agrave; te in proximos profici&s;cantur,</HI> With this obligation doe the good things of God come unto thee, that from thee the like may proceed to others. Thirdly, as I under&s;tand, the force of the rea&s;on may be conceived thus: Seeing thine owne heart knoweth, that thou ha&s;t cur&s;ed others, and in thy &s;peeches detracted from them, thou maye&s;t be &s;ure al&s;o that
<PB N="231" REF="120"> others doe the &s;ame towards thee. For it is the ju&s;tice of God, even in this world, to requite men in the &s;ame kinde that their wickedne&s;&s;e was committed. His law is, <HI>Thou &s;halt doe to them,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Deut.</HI> 19.19 <HI>&amp;</HI> 21.</NOTE> <HI>as he had thought to have done to his brother, life for life, eye for eye, hand for hand.</HI> Although it were not done but intended onely by fal&s;e accu&s;ations, the Lord would have the &s;ame to be done to him. Wherefore when thou by fal&s;e reports wronge&s;t another, thou maye&s;t be a&s;&s;ured that God &s;uffereth the &s;ame to be done of thee. Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> noteth of the Aegyptians,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. de Temp. Serm. <HI>89.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Percutitur Aegyptus primogeniti affectu, ut ex eo cogno&s;cerent, quantus dolor &s;it filiorum, qui necaverunt filios Hebraeorum,</HI> Aegypt is &s;mitten with the affection of their fir&s;t borne, that from thence they might know the griefe for chil|dren de&s;troyed, who had de&s;troyed the children of the I&s;raelites. Wherefore &s;eeing thou who ha&s;t &s;poken ill of others, maye&s;t be &s;ure that others &s;peake ill of thee, to avoyd the vexation of it, doe not harken after it, doe not looke into it. For as <HI>Tertullian</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Nihil amarius quam id ip&s;um pati quod feceris,</HI> There is nothing more bitter than to &s;uffer that which thou ha&s;t done to others.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="23-24" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 23.</HI></BIBL> All this have prooved by wi&s;edome: J &s;ayd, J will be wi&s;e, but it was farre from me.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER 24.</HI></BIBL> That which is farre off, and exceeding deepe, who can finde it out?</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e.</HI> 23. <HI>All this have I proved by wi&s;edome:</HI> The Preacher had at|tained unto much wi&s;edome, <HI>all this he had prooved by it,</HI> and all this was nothing neere the <HI>all</HI> which he had prooved by it. Wherefore this it was which made him to &s;ee the imperfection of his wi&s;edome. For wi&s;e men as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Dum proximi luci fiunt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertul. Cont. Marcia. l. <HI>2.</HI> Greg. Mor. l. <HI>32.</HI> c. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>quicquid eos in &s;eip&s;is latebat inveniunt. Vnu&s;qui&s;que enim &s;ibi dum tactu veri luminis il|lustratur, o&s;tenditur, &amp; unde agno&s;cit, quid e&s;t ju&s;titia, inde eruditur, ut vi|deat quid &s;it culpa,</HI> While they are brought neere unto the light, doe find out what&s;oever was in them&s;elves hidden from them&s;elves. For every one when he is enlightned with the touch of the true light is &s;hewed un|to him&s;elfe, and from whence he perceiveth what is righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, from thence he is taught to &s;ee what is wickedne&s;&s;e; from whence he di&s;cerneth, what is wi&s;edome, from thence he is &s;hewed, what is folly. But they who have not attained to wi&s;edome, <HI>Tanto &s;e ei propinquos ae&s;ti|mant, quanto et ejus rectitudinis regulam ignorant, quia &s;iti in tenebris mira|ri lucis claritatem nece&s;iunt, quam nunquam viderunt,</HI> By &s;o much doe thinke them&s;elves neere unto it, by how much they doe not know the rule of the rightne&s;&s;e of it, becau&s;e being placed in darkne&s;&s;e, they know not how to admire the brightne&s;&s;e of the light which thay have never
<PB N="232" REF="121"> &s;eene.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;ilius tra|ctatu de fide.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> therefore al&s;o &s;peaking of the&s;e words, &s;ayth, that wi&s;edome is &s;ayd <HI>to be far off, Non quidem quod revera illa fugeret, &s;ed quod ii maxime intelligunt quod ea omnem cuju&s;vis ad ip&s;am comprehendendam captum exuperet, qui Dei beneficio ampliorem ip&s;i quam caeteri cognitionem &s;unt con&s;ecuti,</HI> Not that wi&s;edome it &s;elfe doth flie away, but becau&s;e they who by the favour of God have obtained a more ample knowledge of it than others, doe e&s;pecially under&s;tand that it exceedeth the capa|citie of any one to be able to comprehend it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>35.</HI> c. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> Wherefore Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> againe &s;peaking of wi&s;e men, &s;ayth, <HI>Quanto magis contemplando proficiunt, tanto amplius de&s;piciendo quod &s;unt, aut nihil aut prope, nihil &s;e e&s;&s;e cogno&s;cunt,</HI> By how much they profit in contemplation, by &s;o much de&s;pi&s;ing them|&s;elves in that which they are, they acknowledge them&s;elves to be no|thing, or neere unto nothing. He therefore that &s;hall &s;tudy wi&s;edome, &s;hall finde it to be true which <HI>Lyra</HI> noteth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Frequenter contingit, quod ho|mines &s;tudio&s;i circa divina credunt in principio acqui&s;ivi&s;&s;e demon&s;trationes, de quibus po&s;tea percipiunt quod &s;int magis topicae vel &s;ophi&s;ticae rationes,</HI> Of|tentimes it commeth to pa&s;&s;e, that men &s;tudious about divine things, doe beleeve in the beginning that they have gotten demon&s;trations, which afterwards they perceive to be onely topicall or &s;ophi&s;ticall arguments. And when they can &s;ay, <HI>all this I have prooved by wi&s;edome,</HI> then they are ready to &s;ay, all this which I know, I perceive to be no wi&s;edome. <HI>I &s;ayd I will be wi&s;e:</HI> he &s;ayth not, <HI>I am wi&s;e,</HI> but <HI>I will be wi&s;e;</HI> and as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>35.</HI> c. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Qui &s;apienter quidem locutus hominibus fuerat, &s;apientius &s;e cogno&s;cit, non e&s;&s;e &s;apientem,</HI> He that had &s;poken wi&s;ely unto men, more wi&s;ely doth know him&s;elfe not to be wi&s;e. But yet <HI>he &s;ayd, I will be wi&s;e,</HI> He had a de&s;ire to be, his minde was &s;tirred up to &s;eeke after it, and that re&s;olutely and earne&s;tly.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregorius in c. <HI>10. 1</HI> Re|gum.</NOTE> For as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> noteth, this is the difference betweene wi&s;edome in this life, and wi&s;edome in the next; <HI>I&s;ta quidem cognitio lucis electorum de&s;ideria &s;atiare non novit &s;ed ex|citare, illa vero &amp; &s;atiare &amp; excitare. Nam tam jucundares est, ut ince&s;&s;abi|liter concupi&s;catur, &amp; tam plena, ut qui jam &s;emper hanc in magno de&s;iderio viderunt, &s;emper ineffabili plenitudine &s;atientur,</HI> That knowledge of the light is able to &s;tirre up the de&s;ires of the elect, but not able to &s;atisfie them; but this will both &s;atisfie them, and &s;tirre them up al&s;o. For &s;o plea&s;ant a thing it is, that it may be unce&s;&s;antly de&s;ired, and &s;o full a thing, that they who alwayes &s;ee it in a great de&s;ire of it, are alwayes &s;atisfied with an ineffable fulne&s;&s;e of it. <HI>But it was farre from me:</HI> Wi&s;e|dome flyeth, and it flyeth upon the wings of the winde, that is, that I may u&s;e Saint <HI>Gregories</HI> words,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>17.</HI> c. <HI>15.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Volat, quia longe in altum ab intellectu no|&s;tro &s;e rapit: volat &s;uper pennas ventorum, quia tran&s;cendit &s;cientiam anima|rum,</HI> It flyeth becau&s;e it caryeth it &s;elfe on high farre away from our un|der&s;tanding: it flyeth upon the wings of the winde, becau&s;e it tran&s;cen|deth the knowledge of humane &s;oules. Man may &s;ay, <HI>I will be wi&s;e,</HI> and &s;o &s;eeke after wi&s;edome, and that with the &s;wifte&s;t and greate&s;t pur&s;uit of his endeavours;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> but as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Quanto plus quaefierit, santo minus reperiet, &s;ed &s;e in mediam demer&s;um caliginem, tenebri&s;que ig|norantiae
<PB N="233" REF="121"> circundatum agno&s;cet,</HI> By how much the more he &s;hall &s;eeke it, by &s;o much the le&s;&s;e he &s;hall finde it, but &s;hall acknowledge him&s;elfe to be drowned in the mid&s;t of darkne&s;&s;e, and to be encompa&s;&s;ed with blindne&s;&s;e and ignorance. <HI>Quanto plus &s;cire coeperit, tanto ei in his quoti|die orietur major ob&s;curitas,</HI> By how much he &s;hall begin to know the more, by &s;o much dayly in the&s;e things of wi&s;edome &s;hall the greater ob&s;curitie ari&s;e unto him. The Preacher had &s;ayd, <HI>I will be wi&s;e,</HI> he had &s;ayd it &s;ecretly in his owne heart and minde by his re&s;olute purpo&s;e of &s;triving to attaine it, but he doth as it were cry out, <HI>It was farre from mee.</HI> For as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>17.</HI> c. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Exclamare mens humana in admira|tione compellitur, dum altitudine con&s;iderationis in requi&s;itionibus &s;uis eo ip|&s;o quo latius extenditur, angu&s;tatur,</HI> The minde of man is forced in ad|miration to cry out, while that by the height of contemplation, it is even thereby the more &s;traitned in its &s;eeking and &s;earching, by how much it is the more enlarged. The more the Preacher &s;ought, the more he &s;aw that he had to &s;eeke, the farther he was gone, the farther he &s;aw that he had to goe, the farther he went, the farther he &s;aw that wi&s;edome was from him. Wherefore Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> expounding the&s;e words, &s;ayth, <HI>Quae&s;ita &s;apientia long&egrave; recedere dicitur,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>32.</HI> c. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>quia appropinquanti altior videtur,</HI> Wi&s;edome being fought for, is &s;ayd to be farre off; be|cau&s;e by him that commeth neere it, it is &s;eene to be higher &s;till, then he did or could perceive it to be.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 24. <HI>That which is farre off,</HI> even &s;o farre off that he who&s;e arme is able to breake even a bow of &s;teele, is not able to reach it: even &s;o farre off, that he who is able to make his ne&s;t with the Eagle, is not able to flie unto it: even &s;o farre off, that he who could &s;pan from Ea&s;t to We&s;t, could not comprehend it. That which is <HI>exceeding deepe,</HI> even &s;o exceeding deepe, that he who could follow the Leviathan, could not come unto it, that he who could &s;et out the center of the earth, is not able to finde it out, and who then is able to attaine unto it? Wi&s;edome it is that the Preacher &s;peaketh of, and the remotene&s;&s;e of it, the exceeding depth of it, &s;heweth it to be divine wi&s;edome. For that is <HI>&s;o farre off,</HI> that it is not knowne, from whence it commeth, nor where the place of it is;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iob.</HI> 28.20.</NOTE> according as <HI>Elihu</HI> &s;heweth in the booke of <HI>Iob,</HI> &s;aying, <HI>Whence commeth wi&s;edome, and where is the place of under&s;tan|ding?</HI> That is &s;o deepe, that the depth &s;ayth, it is not in me, and the &s;ea &s;ayth, it is not with mee. That is, <HI>&s;o farre,</HI> that the weakne&s;&s;e of mans under&s;tanding is overwearyed, before it can come unto it, that is,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iob</HI> 28.14.</NOTE> &s;o exceeding <HI>deepe,</HI> that the eye of mans under&s;tanding is dazeled to looke into it, and mans wit is endangered much by ventring into it, that is, <HI>deepe and deepe,</HI> as the Originall expre&s;&s;eth it &s;elfe; deepe to men, deepe to Angels, and exceeding the capacitie of both of them. Saint <HI>Austin</HI> asking the que&s;tion, what God is? giveth it this an&s;were,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. de fide Cont. Arrian. c. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Cer|t&egrave; hic e&s;t, de quo et quum dicitur non pote&s;t dici, quum ae&s;timatur, non pote&s;t ae&s;timari, quum comparatur non potest comparari, quum definitur, ip&s;e &s;ua de|finitione cre&s;cit,</HI> Surely, it is he, who when he is &s;poken of, cannot be
<PB N="234" REF="122"> &s;poken of, who when hee is con&s;idered of, cannot bee con&s;idered of, who when he is compared to any thing, cannot be compared, and when he is defined, groweth greater by defining of him. It was not the Lord which the Prophet <HI>Ezechiel</HI> &s;aw,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ezek.</HI> 1.28.</NOTE> it was only a vi&s;ion: in the vi&s;ion it was not the glory of the LORD which hee &s;aw, but the likene&s;&s;e of it; nay it was not the likene&s;&s;e of it, but the appearance of the like|ne&s;&s;e of the glory of the LORD, that made him to fall on his face, as not being able to behold it. But if this did &s;o a&s;toni&s;h the Prophet, who can behold the LORD him&s;elfe in his glory? In the P&s;almes,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. <HI>18.10.</HI> Greg. Mor. l. <HI>7.</HI> c. <HI>15.</HI></NOTE> <HI>the Lord is &s;aid to ride upon a Cherub:</HI> upon which words Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Cherub quippe plenitudo &s;cientiae dicitur, proin|de &s;uper plenitudinem &s;cientiae a&s;cendi&s;&s;e perhibetur, quia maje&s;tatis ejus pleni|tudinem &s;cientia nulla comprehendit,</HI> A Cherub is &s;o called as being a ful|ne&s;&s;e of knowledge: and therefore is God &s;aid to a&s;cend above the ful|ne&s;&s;e of knowledge, becau&s;e no knowledge comprehendeth the fulne&s;&s;e of his Maje&s;ty.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;aiah</HI> 6.2.</NOTE> When we read in the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> of the Seraphims &s;tanding above the throne of the Lord, that each of them had &s;ix wings, and that with twaine the Cherub covered his face, with twaine he co|vered his feete, and with twaine he did flye, <HI>Origen</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Origen.</NOTE> &s;aith, <HI>Duabus velabant faciem, non propriam &s;ed Dei, duabus alis velabant pedes, non proprios &s;ed Dei. Operiebant faciem Dei, exordium enim Dei ignotum e&s;t, &s;ed &amp; pedes: novi&s;|&s;imum enim quod in Deo no&s;tro e&s;t non comprehenditur: &s;ola media videntur, ex iis quae &s;unt intelligo Deum,</HI> With twaine they covered his face, the face of God, not their owne, with two wings they covered his feete, not their owne feete, but the feete of God. They covered the face of God, for the beginning of God is unknowne; but &s;o they did his feete al&s;o, for the la&s;t that is in our God is not comprehended: only the middle things are &s;eene, and from tho&s;e things which are, doe I under&s;tand God. Be|hold here the remotene&s;&s;e and depth of divine wi&s;edome whereof the Preacher here &s;peaketh: his face is covered, his beginning is unknowne there is wi&s;dome <HI>farre off:</HI> his feete are covered, the la&s;t that is in God is not comprehended, there is the exceeding <HI>depth</HI> of it. The Preacher here comprehendeth in two things,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Eph.</HI> 3.18.</NOTE> that which <HI>Saint Paul</HI> &s;etteth out in foure, <HI>the length, and bredth</HI> whereof <HI>S. Paul</HI> &s;peaks, is but the remote|ne&s;&s;e whereof the Preacher &s;peaketh; <HI>the depth and height</HI> which <HI>S. Paul</HI> di&s;tingui&s;heth, is but the depth of the Preacher doubled. Now upon <HI>S. Pauls</HI> words <HI>S. Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in Epi&s;t. ad Ephe&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Quum dicit latitudo &amp; longitudo &amp; alti|tudo &amp; profundum, hoc uti&abque; &s;ignificat, ut &s;icut in &s;phaera tanta longitudo e&s;t, quanta latitudo, &amp; tanta altitudo quantum profundum, ita &amp; in Deo omnia aequalia &s;unt immen&s;itate infinitatis,</HI> when he &s;aith, length &amp; bredth, height and depth, this it is which he &s;ignifieth, that as in a &s;pheare, the length is as great as the bredth, and the height as great as the depth, &s;o in God all things are equall by the immen&s;ity of an infinity. And this it is which the Preacher &s;ignifieth, for &s;hewing the extent of divine wi&s;dome to be as great in the depth as it is in the widene&s;&s;e, and both to be incom|prehen&s;ible, he asketh, <HI>who can finde it out?</HI> Surely as <HI>S. Ba&s;il</HI> &s;peaketh,
<PB N="235" REF="122"> <HI>Et&s;i omnes omnium mentes un&agrave; ad inve&s;tigandum coirent, item&abque; ad enunci|andum lingua concurrerent, tamen qui a&s;&s;equi po&s;sit nemo exi&s;teret,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;ilius tra|ctatu de fide.</NOTE> Although all the minds of all &s;hould joyne together to &s;earch after it, and al&s;o the tongues of all &s;hould joyne together to expre&s;&s;e it, there would bee none that could attaine unto it. But yet that wee be not di&s;couraged from the &s;eeking after it, <HI>S. Gregory</HI> tels us, <HI>Qui videri non pote&s;t per incir|cum&s;criptum lumen aeternitatis, videri pote&s;t per qua&s;dam circum&s;criptas ima|gines,</HI> He that cannot be &s;eene by the unlimited light of his eternity, yet can bee &s;eene by &s;ome limited &s;hadowes which hee ca&s;teth from him|&s;elfe. Wherefore when <HI>Elihu</HI> in <HI>Iob</HI> &s;aith, <HI>that wi&s;edome is hid from the eyes of all living; S. Gregory</HI> under&s;tandeth it, <HI>Nemo quippe eam videt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iob</HI> 28.21.</NOTE> <HI>qui adhuc carnaliter vivit, quia nemo pote&s;t Deum &s;imul amplecti &amp; &s;aecu|lum,</HI> No one truly &s;eeth it, who liveth carnally; becau&s;e no one can at once embrace God and the world.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 6.16.</NOTE> And when the Apo&s;tles &s;aith of God, <HI>that hee dwelleth in a light, which no man can approch unto, whom no man hath &s;eene nor can &s;ee,</HI> the &s;ame Father expounding it &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mor. l. <HI>18.</HI> c. <HI>28.</HI></NOTE> <HI>More &s;uo homines vocat omnes humana &s;apientes; quia qui divina &s;apiunt videli|cet &s;upra homines &s;unt,</HI> According to his manner he calleth men, all them who &s;avour the things of man, becau&s;e they who &s;avour divine things are above men. Let us therefore walke not after the fle&s;h, but after the &s;pirit, and though divine wi&s;dome bee <HI>a farre off,</HI> yet wee &s;hall come to &s;ome &s;ight of it; let us by our heavenly conver&s;ation be above men, and though it be exceeding <HI>deepe,</HI> yet we &s;hall come to &s;ome apprehen|&s;ion of it, and &s;hall at length be brought to drinke of the fountaine it &s;elfe, although we now but ta&s;t of &s;ome &s;treames of it.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="25-26" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 25.</HI></BIBL> I apply mine heart to know, and to &s;earch and to &s;eeke out wi&s;dome, and the rea&s;on of things, and to know the wickedne&s;&s;e of folly, even of fooli&s;h|ne&s;&s;e and madne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 26.</HI></BIBL> And J finde more bitter than death, the woman who&s;e heart is &s;nares and nets, and her hands are bands: who &s;o plea&s;eth God &s;hall e&s;cape from her, but the &s;inner &s;hall be taken by her.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 25. There is a threefold wi&s;dome, <HI>Sapientia carnis quae ini|mica est Deo, &s;apientia mundi quae &s;tultitia e&s;t apud Deum, &s;apientia vera quae e&s;t Dei,</HI> A wi&s;dome of the fle&s;h which is enmity to God, a wi&s;|dome of the world which is fooli&s;h with God, a true wi&s;dome which
<PB N="236" REF="123"> is the wi&s;dome of God, as S. <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;ets them downe. The Preacher therefore having &s;hewed how true wi&s;dome was too far from him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bern. Serm. <HI>9.</HI> inter par|vos.</NOTE> too deepe for him, as well beyond his &s;ight as his reach, hee &s;heweth how hee applyed and turned his minde unto the other two. The Hebrew is thus <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Circuivi ego &amp; cor meum, I and my heart tur|ned about or made a circle to know, &amp;c.</HI> And &s;urely it is well, when a man and his heart doe goe together. For too many goe to many places, whither their hearts goe not with them, to mind what they &s;ee, what they heare. Many goe to God, to the Church of God, but their hearts goe not with them, to con&s;ider and to apply to their heart, that which is &s;aid unto them. Many goe to the hou&s;e of mourning, to the buryall of the dead, but their hearts doe not goe with them, to remember their owne mortality in that which they &s;ee. Many goe many wayes, but they take not their hearts with them to make u&s;e of tho&s;e things which they meere with. But the Preacher tooke his heart with him, he and his heart turned about, he ob&s;erved things, and his heart looking into them con&s;idered of them. I, in the Originall is expre&s;&s;ed with an em|pha&s;y, as if it contained as much as I the King, and I the Preacher, and who both had but one heart, which &s;ought the good of his people. Or el&s;e we may take the Originall word, as it &s;ignifieth to make a circle; for in &s;eeking of knowledge there is a circle made, and as it proceedeth from the effect to the cau&s;e, &s;o it returneth from the cau&s;e to the effect. Or el&s;e in the Preacher we may conceive the circle to be, the contem|plation of his heart, how all things proceeded from the power of God as the efficient cau&s;e, and how all things returned to the glory of God as to the finall cau&s;e. <HI>To know and to &s;earch and to &s;eeke out wi&s;dome:</HI> in the placing of which words wee may either ob&s;erve the order of the Preachers intention, or el&s;e of his proceeding. If wee looke to the order of his intention, then knowledge is fir&s;t, and the other two follow, as being but the way to come to his intention. If we looke up|on the order of his proceeding, then knowledge is placed fir&s;t, as being that which lead him to &s;earch farther, to &s;eeke for more. And here we may con&s;ider the Preacher to &s;peake in Saint <HI>Bernards</HI> words,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bern. Serm. Beatus qui invenit &s;api|entiam.</NOTE> <HI>Vehemen|ter eam con&s;iderat anima mea, nec inveni&s;&s;e &s;ufficit &s;i contigerit invenire,</HI> My mind doth earne&s;tly &s;eeke and apply it, &s;elfe unto it neither doth it &s;uffice mee to have found it, even when I have found it. For even when he knoweth he &s;eeketh and &s;earcheth. Whereby al&s;o the Preacher tea|cheth us, that wi&s;dome is not gotten without &s;earching and &s;eeking. <HI>Fru&s;tra quaerit qui in lectulo &s;uo quaerit; non enim in terra &s;uaviter viven|tium &s;apientia invenitur,</HI> He &s;eeketh it in vaine, that &s;eeketh it in his bed, for wi&s;edome is not found in the land of them that live deliciou&s;ly as Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> al&s;o &s;peaketh. Wi&s;dome is a field, <HI>Fodiamus in eo, the|&s;aurus ab&s;conditus latet, effodiamus eum,</HI> Let us digge in it, the trea&s;ure lyeth hid, let us digge it out by &s;earching and &s;eeking. <HI>And the rea&s;on of things:</HI> for hee it is that knoweth a thing, that knoweth the rea&s;on of it; that is to know any thing cleerely, all knowledge el&s;e is darke
<PB N="237" REF="123"> and ob&s;cure. The Originall word here is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>&s;upputatio, ratioci|nium,</HI> a numbring or reckoning, and it may be taken to &s;ignifie the Preachers care to get the perfect and exact knowledge of humane wi&s;edome. For as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in Domi. Qua|drage&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Nemo numerat ni&s;i quod vult diligentius cu&s;todire, nemo ni&s;i qui veretur ne fraudem ab&s;que numero patiatur,</HI> No one numbreth any thing but that which he will keepe very diligently, no one numbreth but that he feareth lea&s;t he &s;hould be deceived, if that he doe not number. The Preacher therefore that he might not be deceived, that he might know things truely, did &s;earch and &s;eeke and ca&s;t up <HI>&s;upputationem,</HI> the accompt and rec|koning of things. <HI>And to know the wickedne&s;&s;e of folly:</HI> As I conceive, wee may not ami&s;&s;e under&s;tand this of the &s;infulne&s;&s;e that is in that folly of man, which is accompted to bee the wi&s;edome of man. For as there is no true wi&s;edome, but the wi&s;edome of GOD, &s;o the very vertues of humane wi&s;edome have a &s;infulne&s;&s;e of fol|ly in them. Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. Su|per. Cantic. Serm. <HI>23.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Fru&s;tra hujus &s;aeculi &s;apientes de qua|tuor virtutibus tam multa di&s;putaverunt, quas tamen apprehendere om|nino nequiverunt, quum illum ne&s;cierint qui factus e&s;t nobis &agrave; Deo &s;apien|tia docens prudentiam, &amp; ju&s;titia delicta donans, &amp; &s;anctificatio in ex|emplo temperantiae continenter vivens, &amp; redemptio in exemplum patien|tiae fortiter moriens,</HI> In vaine have the wi&s;e men of this world di&s;pu|ted &s;o much of foure principall vertues, which yet they could not apprehend, becau&s;e they knew not him who is made unto us of God, Wi&s;edome teaching us prudence, and ju&s;tice pardoning our &s;innes, and &s;anctification, living continently for an example of tem|perance, and redemption, dying patiently for an example to us of patience. What &s;ayth he, have yee to doe with vertues, who are ignorant of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> the power and vertue of God? Where is true wi&s;edome, but in the doctrine of <HI>Chri&s;t?</HI> Where true ju&s;tice, but in the mercy of <HI>Chri&s;t?</HI> Where the temperance, but in the life of <HI>Chri&s;t?</HI> Where true fortitude, but in the death of <HI>Chri&s;t?</HI> They onely who are endewed with his doctrine, are to be called prudent, they onely ju&s;t, who from his mercy have obtained pardon of their &s;innes, they onely temperate, who &s;tudy to imitate his life, they onely valiant, who in adver&s;itie doe hold fa&s;t the doctrine of his patience. In vaine doth any one labour in the getting of vertues, if he hope to have them any other way, then from the Lord of ver|tues, who&s;e doctrine is the &s;eminary of prudence, who&s;e mercy is the worke of ju&s;tice, who&s;e life is the gla&s;&s;e of temperance, who&s;e death is the en&s;igne of valour. <HI>Even of fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e and madne&s;&s;e:</HI> the Hebrew mo&s;t directly is, <HI>and the fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e of madne&s;&s;e,</HI> where|by, as I conceive, wee may not ami&s;&s;e under&s;tand the mad folly of wicked people, who yet thinke them&s;elves in plea&s;ing them&s;elves the wi&s;e&s;t of all.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. in P&s;al. <HI>39.</HI></NOTE> Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> therefore &s;peaking of the &s;infull con|tentments of this life, &s;ayth, <HI>Quae vides, bona putas, falleris, &s;anus
<PB N="238" REF="124"> non es, nimia febre phreneticus factus es,</HI> Tho&s;e things which thou &s;ee&s;t, thou thinke&s;t to be good things, thou art deceived, thou art not &s;ound in thy wits, thou art made mad with a &s;trong feaver. It is but <HI>a folly of madne&s;&s;e,</HI> which &s;uch accompt wi&s;edome. Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> readeth this ver&s;e thus;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de bono mortis. c. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Circuivit cor meum ut con&s;idera|rem &amp; quaererem &s;apientiam &amp; numerum &amp; ut &s;cirem impii laetitiam, &amp; mole&s;tiam &amp; jactationem, et inveni eam amariorem morte,</HI> My heart went about, that I might con&s;ider and &s;eeke wi&s;edome and number, and that I might know the joy of the wicked, and their trouble, and their boa&s;ting, and I found it more bitter than death. <HI>Non quia ama|ra &s;it mors, &s;ed quia impio amara; et tamen amarior vita quam mors. Gravius e&s;t enim ad peccatum vivere, quam in peccato mori: quia impius quam diu vivit peccatum auget; moriatur, peccare de&s;init,</HI> Not that death is bitter, but becau&s;e it is bitter to a wicked man; and yet life is more bitter than death. For it is more grievous, to live unto &s;inne, than to dye in &s;inne: becau&s;e a wicked man while hee liveth encrea&s;eth his &s;innes, but let him dye, hee cea&s;eth to &s;inne.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 26. <HI>And I finde:</HI> I here is I with a witne&s;&s;e. <HI>Quod exper|tus e&s;t loquitur,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;. Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> he &s;peaketh that which he had found by experience, &s;ayth Saint <HI>Hierome. More bitter then death:</HI> becau&s;e, &s;ayth <HI>Lyra, Se|parat animam &agrave; &s;uo creatore, mors autem &agrave; &s;olo corpore. Prior autem &s;epa|ratio amarior est, quia &s;eparat &agrave; bono infinito,</HI> It &s;eparateth the &s;oule from his Creatour, whereas death from the body onely. The fir&s;t &s;eparation therefore is the more bitter, becau&s;e it &s;eparateth from an infinite good. Another &s;ayth well, <HI>Nulla quidem mors e&s;t, quae tot amaritudines propinet, tot dedecora inferat, quot infert et propinat una libido,</HI> There is indeed no death which reacheth to a man &s;o ma|ny bitter draughts, which bringeth him to &s;o many di&s;graces, as that one wickedne&s;&s;e of &s;infull lu&s;t doth give and bring unto him. Or el&s;e wee may under&s;tand the words in a generall &s;en&s;e, as &s;et|ting forth the greatne&s;&s;e of the evill.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> So Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;eemeth to under&s;tand it, who writing upon this ver&s;e, &s;ayth, <HI>Nunc ait illud in &s;ua &s;e quae&s;i&s;&s;e &s;apientia, quod in rebus humanis malum univer&s;a antecedat mala, et quae res impietatis, &s;tultitiae, erroris, vecordiae teneat principa|tum,</HI> Now he &s;ayth that he &s;ought in his wi&s;edome, that which be|ing evill in the affayres of men, exceedeth all evils el&s;e, and which thing hath the precedency, of all impietie, folly, errour, mad|ne&s;&s;e. <HI>The woman:</HI> it is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Illa foemina,</HI> The woman, the &s;hame of women, the la&s;civious woman: And therefore Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>Non putemus temere hanc Solomonem de omni genere mulierum protuli&s;&s;e &s;ententiam,</HI> Let us not ra&s;hly thinke that <HI>Solo|mon</HI> did pronounce this &s;entence of all kinde of women. <HI>Who&s;e heart is as &s;nares:</HI> the Originall directly is, <HI>Quae ip&s;a decipulae,</HI> Who is her &s;elfe &s;nares: her &s;elfe is but the &s;nares of another. For in|deed,
<PB N="239" REF="124"> the Originall word is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Decipulae venantium,</HI> The &s;nares of hunters, and therefore both the Septuagint and Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> doe reade it &s;o, <HI>Quae laqueus venatorum e&s;t,</HI> Who is the &s;nare of the hunters. And what are the&s;e hunters but the devils? So &s;ayth <HI>Lyra, Laqueus venatorum, id e&s;t, daemonum qui venantur ani|mas, &amp; muliere qua&s;i laqueo utuntur ad eas capiendas,</HI> The &s;nare of the hunters, that is, of the devils, who hunt after &s;oules, and doe u&s;e a woman as it were a &s;nare to catch them. In the Proverbs, <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;peaking of this woman, &s;ayth, <HI>Remove thy way farre from her,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Proverbs</HI> 5.8. <HI>&amp;</HI> 9.</NOTE> <HI>and come not neere the dore of her hou&s;e: Least thou give thine honour unto others, and thy yeeres to the cruell:</HI> that is, &s;ayth Rabbi <HI>Solomon, Ne des annos tuos, principi gehennae,</HI> Lea&s;t thou give thine yeares to the Prince of hell. <HI>Theophylact</HI> al&s;o &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Theophyl. in c. <HI>15.</HI> Luca.</NOTE> <HI>Qui adhaeret Domino unus &s;pi|ritus fit cum illo, qui vero adhaeret &s;corto unum corpus fit cum natura dae|monum, atque fit totus caro,</HI> He that is joyned to the Lord is made one Spirit with him, he that is joyned to an harlot, is made one body with the nature of the devils, and is indeed made even all fle&s;h. Vpon this ver&s;e it is the note of him who is the Authour <HI>Catenae Graecae,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Autor Ca|tenae Graecae.</NOTE> <HI>Intellexit in&s;uper malum illud quod huju&s;modi omnia operaretur e&s;&s;e diabolum;</HI> He under&s;tood moreover that evill which wrought all the&s;e things to be the devill. <HI>And who&s;e heart is nets:</HI> So is the Originall mo&s;t directly: So that her &s;elfe is a hunter al&s;o as well as a &s;nare, and in her heart &s;hee &s;preadeth her nets, for there it is that her cunning plots and devi&s;es are framed, whereby &s;hee catcheth &s;imple &s;oules. It is not a net, but <HI>nets</HI> that her heart is, becau&s;e &s;hee is full of &s;ubtle projects, full of baytes to allure, and of ginnes to entrap. <HI>Lyra</HI> noteth that her heart is &s;ayd to be nets,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> <HI>Quia &s;icut &s;a|gana capiuntur pi&s;ces magni parvi et mediocres, &s;ic mulier de quolibet &s;tatu hominum decipit plures,</HI> Becau&s;e as in a nett are taken, great, little and middle fi&s;hes, &s;o &s;uch a woman deceiveth many of every &s;tate and condition of men. All is good fi&s;h that commeth to her nett. <HI>And her hands are bands:</HI> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in Epi&s;t. ad Fa|biolam.</NOTE> <HI>Duplicia &s;unt in Scripturis vincula,</HI> There are in the Scriptures two kindes of bands, the one are the bands of God, which are his commandements, the other are the bands of the devill, &s;uch as are the bands of this wic|ked woman. But upon this ver&s;e, Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us, that <HI>Aquila</HI> did render the&s;e words, <HI>Vinctae &s;unt manus ejus,</HI> Her hands are bound: and thereupon Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> notes, <HI>Suadere pote&s;t, vim facere non po|te&s;t, nec ad &s;e nolentes compellere,</HI> Shee may per&s;wade but &s;hee can|not enforce, neither can &s;hee compell unto her &s;elfe tho&s;e that are unwilling: <HI>Who &s;o plea&s;eth God &s;hall e&s;cape from her.</HI> The Originall is as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> doth render it, <HI>Bonus coram Deo eruetur ab ea,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> He that is good before God, that is, he that hath a good and hone&s;t heart, which is the thing that God lookes upon, he although hee may be in danger, yet &s;hall be delivered from the nets of her heart.
<PB N="240" REF="125"> Or el&s;e to take it as wee reade it, <HI>Who &s;o plea&s;eth God, &s;hall e&s;cape from her,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremellius in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> that is, &s;ayth <HI>Tremellius,</HI> as if he &s;ayd, <HI>Abs qua nemo &s;ine &s;ingulari ope gratiaque Dei integrum &s;e &s;ervare po&s;sit, adeo vafra e&s;t lenociniorum malorum artifex,</HI> From whom no one without the &s;ingular helpe and grace of God, can pre&s;erve him&s;elfe, &s;o &s;ubtle is &s;hee in fra|ming of plea&s;ant allurements, and mi&s;chiefes. <HI>But the &s;inner &s;hall be taken by her:</HI> and to be taken by her, what is it but to be taken by the devill? What is it but to be lead in triumph as a &s;lave to &s;inne?</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="27-29" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 27.</HI></BIBL> Behold this have I found (&s;ayth the Preacher) counting one by one to find out the account.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 28.</HI></BIBL> Which yet my &s;oule &s;eeketh, but J finde not: one man among a thou&s;and have I found, but a woman among all tho&s;e have J not found.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>VER. 29.</HI></BIBL> Loe this onely have J found, that God hath made man upright: but they have &s;ought out many inventions.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo &V;icto|rinus.</NOTE><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 27. It is the &s;aying of <HI>Hugo de Sancto Victore</HI> in his anno|tations upon &s;ome part of this Booke; <HI>Sermones &s;apientium &amp; anig|mata eorum &s;crutari, et eam quae intrin&s;ecus ab&s;condita e&s;t, &s;apientiae dul|cedinem ad gustum elicere, &s;peciemque ejus in lucem proferre, quis potens e&s;t? Quid ergo facimus nos? Tantum ip&s;is &s;ermonibus per&s;equamur eam, &amp; &s;i forte intentio differatur, pa&s;cat interim nos inqui&s;itio illius: Si in|ventam non po&s;&s;umus, tamen quae&s;itam doceamus;</HI> To &s;earch the words of the wi&s;e, and their darke &s;ayings, to bring forth to the ta&s;te that &s;weetne&s;&s;e which lyeth within hidden, and to &s;hew forth in the light the beautie of it, who is able? What therefore doe wee? Let us onely follow after it with our words, and if the finding of it be not obtained, let the &s;eeking of it content us: and if wee cannot &s;hew it found, let us &s;hew it &s;ought for. This therefore in this place, as it is &s;ome &s;atisfaction to my &s;elfe, &s;o let it be my excu&s;e to others. For that the meaning of this ver&s;e is not unworthy to be &s;ought for, me &s;eemes the Preacher tels us, both becau&s;e he &s;ayth, <HI>Behold,</HI> as pre&s;enting it to the view to be lookt upon; and becau&s;e he &s;ayth, <HI>I have found,</HI> as being a thing which him&s;elfe e&s;teemed of, and la&s;tly,
<PB N="241" REF="125"> becau&s;e he addeth, <HI>&s;ayth the Preacher,</HI> as putting his name more e|&s;pecially unto it. Our tran&s;lation &s;eemeth to import no more than the diligence of the Preacher in his carefull &s;eeking, and in his ex|act reckoning; and &s;o doth <HI>Lyra</HI> expound it, &s;aying, <HI>Id est,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>dili|genter inve&s;tigavi &s;ingulis applicando intellectum meum. Per talem mo|dum loquendi dicitur de diligenti inve&s;tigatore circa multa, talis inqui|&s;ivit haec &amp; illa,</HI> That is, I have &s;earched diligently by applying mine under&s;tanding unto every thing. According to this manner of &s;peak|ing, wee &s;ay of a diligent &s;earcher about many things, &s;uch a one hath &s;ought the&s;e and the&s;e things. And &s;urely, it is true,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. Prooem. in Luc.</NOTE> as Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Aperit &s;ibi diligentia januam veritatis,</HI> It is dili|gence that doth open to it &s;elfe the gate of truth. And therefore <HI>Qui &s;u&s;cipiet certamina veritatis,</HI> He that will take upon him&s;elfe to &s;trive for the victory in the exerci&s;e of truth, mu&s;t be anoynted with the oyle of diligence, <HI>Pa&s;tor ut &s;alvum gregem habeat eum, frequenter numerat,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in Dom. Qua|drage&s;.</NOTE> A &s;hepheard that he may not loo&s;e any of his flocke doth often num|ber them, &s;aith the &s;ame Father; and he that in &s;eeking will not loo&s;e the truth, mu&s;t diligently <HI>count one by one to finde out the account.</HI> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> giveth this good morall expo&s;ition of the ver&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Hoc inquit reperi univer&s;a diligenter eventilans, quod paulatim peccando, &amp; ad unum delictum aliud apponendo, grandem nobis &s;ummam efficimus,</HI> This &s;aith he, have I found &s;ifting all things diligently, that by going on in &s;in|ning by degrees, and by adding one &s;inne to another, we make unto our &s;elves a great &s;umme of &s;innes, even &s;o great that we can make no accompt unto God for them, we cannot an&s;wer him one for a thou&s;and. Now as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Quid interest ad naufragium,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. Epi&s;t. <HI>108.</HI> ad Se|leucia.</NOTE> <HI>utrum uno grandi fluctu navis obruatur &amp; operiatur, an paulatim &s;ubre|pente aqua in &s;entinam, &amp; per negligentiam derelicta at&abque; contempta im|pleat navem at&abque; &s;ubmergat?</HI> What difference is there in re&s;pect of the &s;hipwracke, whether the &s;hip be covered and overwhelmed with one great wave, or whether the water &s;inking by little and little into the bottome of the &s;hip, and being there left by negligence as a thing de&s;pi&s;ed doe come to fill it and drowne it? Take heed therefore of many littles, they make a great deale at la&s;t.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremel. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Tremellius</HI> who reads the ver&s;e thus, <HI>Vide, hoc inveni inquit Eccle&s;ia&s;tes &s;emel at&abque; iterum quae|rendo a&s;&s;equi ratiocinium,</HI> See this have I found, &s;aith the Preacher, by &s;eeking once and againe to finde out the accompt; referreth the thing found to that which the Preacher &s;aith of a naughty wo|man in the former ver&s;e: and of the accompt hee &s;aith, <HI>E&s;t ra|tiocinium improbitatis quae e&s;t in impura i&s;ta muliere,</HI> It is the ac|compt of the wickedne&s;&s;e which is in that impure woman. But the difficulty of the &s;en&s;e lying as I conceive in the Originall words <GAP DESC="foreign"> which our tran&s;lation rendreth counting one by one, but are directly tran&s;lated, as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> rendreth them, <HI>Vnam ad unam,</HI> One to one, or as <HI>Arias Montanus</HI> readeth them, <HI>Vnam ad
<PB N="242" REF="126"> alteram,</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ne to another; it &s;eemeth to mee that the ver&s;e may have this &s;en&s;e. <HI>This have I found, &s;aith the Preacher, that to find the ac|compt of things by wi&s;dome, one thing leadeth to another,</HI> and as the Phi|lo&s;opher &s;peaketh, <HI>Ex notioribus pervenitur ad ignotiora,</HI> From things that are more knowne, things unknowne are di&s;cerned. Or el&s;e the meaning of the ver&s;e may be taken thus, <HI>This have I found, &s;aith the Preacher, that to finde out the accompt of things in wi&s;edome, and know|ledge, contraries oppo&s;ed one to one, and compared one with the other doe o|pen well the way,</HI> and bring a man the better on toward it. Is it not &s;o even in the knowledge of vertue and wickedne&s;&s;e, whereof the Prea|cher here &s;peaketh? He that hath lived in wickedne&s;&s;e, and by Gods grace is called to an amendment of his life doth much the better know the ba&s;ene&s;&s;e and danger of the one, the comfort and happines of the other, and thereupon hateth the one more earne&s;tly, and em|braceth the other more eagerly.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregorius in Euang. Ho|mil. <HI>34.</HI></NOTE> Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> therefore &s;aith, <HI>Qui nullis &s;e oppre&s;&s;os peccatorum molibus &s;ciunt, &s;tant quidem in via ju&s;ti|tiae, &s;ed tamen ad coele&s;tem patriam anxi&egrave; non anhelant, tanto&abque; &s;ibi in re|bus licitis u&s;um praebent, quanto &s;e perpetra&s;&s;e nulla illicita meminerunt. Et plaerum&abque; pigri remanent ad exercenda bona pracipua, quia valde &s;ibi &s;e|curi &s;unt, quod nulla commi&s;erint mala graviora. At contra nonnun|quam hi qui &s;e aliqua illicita egi&s;&s;e meminerunt, ex ip&s;o illo dolore compun|cti inarde&s;cunt in amorem Dei, &s;e&s;e&abque; in magnis virtutibus exercent, &amp; quia &s;e erra&s;&s;e &agrave; Deo con&s;iderant, damna praecedentia lucris &s;equentibus re|compen&s;ant,</HI> They who know them&s;elves to be oppre&s;&s;ed with no weight of &s;innes, doe &s;tand indeed in the way of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, but they doe not &s;trive &s;o carefully towards their heavenly Countrey; and by &s;o much doe give them&s;elves the more liberty in lawfull things, by how much they know them&s;elves to have committed no unlawfull things: and oftentimes are indeed dull and &s;low to the exerci&s;e of the chiefe&s;t good things, becau&s;e they are very &s;ecure in them&s;elves, that they have committed no grievous &s;innes. On the other &s;ide, oftentimes, they who know them&s;elves to have done unlawfull things, being &s;tirred up from their owne griefe doe burne the more in the love of God, and doe exerci&s;e them&s;elves in great vertues, and becau&s;e they con&s;ider them&s;elves to have wandred from GOD, they recompence the former lo&s;&s;es with following gaines.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 28. <HI>Which yet my &s;oule &s;eeketh, &amp;c.</HI> The Preacher though he had found the way to find out the accompt of things, yet he had not found out the accompt. Or though he had &s;ought diligently, counting one by one, yet he was &s;till to &s;eeke. There is a place in Wilt&s;hire called Stonage, for diver&s;e great &s;tones lying and &s;tand|ing there together: of which &s;tones it is &s;aid, that though a man number them one by one never &s;o carefully, yet that hee cannot finde the true number of them, but that every time he numbers them,
<PB N="243" REF="126"> he findeth a different number, from that he found before. And this may well &s;hew the erring of mans labour in &s;eeking the accompt of wi&s;edome and knowledge. For though his diligence be never &s;o great in making the reckoning, he will be alwayes our, and not be able to finde it out. <HI>One man among a thou&s;and have I found:</HI> the Preacher in &s;eeking to finde wi&s;edome, &s;heweth what helpe he found, it was but one of a thou&s;and among the many thou&s;ands that were under him, among the thou&s;ands that attended upon him, it was but one of a thou&s;and that he found faithfull in true wi&s;edome to him. The re&s;t either feared to di&s;plea&s;e him, or de&s;ired to humour him, or regarded not either what hee &s;ought, or what hee found in it. Or el&s;e the <HI>man</HI> which the Preacher &s;peaketh of is to bee taken generally for a good man, and hee it is who is, <HI>dignus viri nomine,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hierom.</NOTE> worthy the name of a man, he it is who being one of a thou&s;and is worthy to be chiefe of the thou&s;and. But though <HI>Solomon</HI> found but one, yet it may be that God found more: for when <HI>Eliah</HI> &s;aid, <HI>I, even I onely am left;</HI> God told him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>King.</HI> 19.10. <HI>&amp;</HI> 18.</NOTE> <HI>I have left &s;even thou&s;and in I&s;rael which have not bowed the knees unto Baal.</HI> How&s;oever this is certaine, that the number of the good in re&s;pect of the bad, is very little, even as one to a thou&s;and. When the <HI>Syrians</HI> came up again&s;t I&s;rael in the time of <HI>Ahab,</HI> it is &s;aid,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>King.</HI> 20.27.</NOTE> that <HI>the children of I&s;rael pitched before them like two little flocks of kids, but the Syrians filled the Country,</HI> and &s;o indeed are the good, they are but like two little flockes of kids, but the wicked fill the world. The godly are but like the three hundred men of <HI>Gideon,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iudg.</HI> 7.</NOTE> the wicked are as the <HI>Midianites,</HI> and are upon the earth like Grashop|pers for multitude. <HI>But a woman among them all have I not found:</HI> among them hee had found none to helpe him in the finding of wi&s;e|dome, <HI>Omnes enim me ad luxuriam &amp; non ad virtutem deduxerunt,</HI> For all of them did draw me to wantonne&s;&s;e and not to vertues, as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> maketh him to expound his words. Or el&s;e more generally his meaning may bee taken thus, that having found out a very bad woman, he looked to finde a good woman al&s;o, but he could not finde any. Not that he did not &s;imply finde any good, but that hee found not any &s;o good as &s;hee was bad. Or el&s;e he &s;ayth, <HI>that he found none,</HI> becau&s;e &s;ayth <HI>Lyra,</HI> in re&s;pect of men, they were few:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> or el&s;e in re&s;pect of them&s;elves, they are &s;ayd to be none, becau&s;e they were &s;o very few. For as the Philo&s;opher &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ari&s;tot. <HI>2.</HI> Phy&s;icorum.</NOTE> <HI>Illud quod modicum e&s;t, qua&s;i nihil computatur,</HI> That which is little is e&s;teemed as nothing. Indeed a woman is in her&s;elfe the weaker ve&s;&s;el, and too often a &s;trong in&s;trument of the devill to entice men unto wicked|ne&s;&s;e. Wherefore Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> noteth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;tom. Homil. <HI>38.</HI> in Epi&s;tol. ad Corinth.</NOTE> that when the devill &s;poyled <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> of his &s;ub&s;tance, and children, and health, yet he left his wife un<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">o him, <HI>Quia putavit multum eam &s;ibi conferre ad Sanctum expugnandum,</HI> becau&s;e he thought that &s;hee would be a great furthe|rance unto him to conquer that Saint of God. The &s;ame Father is
<PB N="244" REF="127"> el&s;ewhere bitter in &s;peaking of women,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;tom. Homil. <HI>6.</HI> ex imperf. in Matth.</NOTE> as &s;aying, <HI>Quid e&s;t aliud mu|lier, ni&s;i ineffugabilis poena, nece&s;&s;arium malum, naturalis tentatio, de&s;e|derabilis calamitas, dome&s;ticum periculum, delectabile detrimentum, bo|ni colore dilecta?</HI> What is woman, but a puni&s;hment that cannot be driven away, a nece&s;&s;ary evill, a naturall temptation, a de&s;ireable calamitie, a dome&s;ticke danger, one beloved for a colour of good? But he tels us al&s;o,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;tom. Homil. <HI>15.</HI> ex variis in Matth.</NOTE> <HI>Sermo e&s;t de muliere mala, non de bona. Novi enim multas ad omne opus bonum promptas,</HI> My &s;peech is of a bad woman, not of a good. For I have knowne many ready to every good worke. Wherefore he al&s;o tels us, that though <HI>Iezabel</HI> was &s;o bad, that &s;hee would have taken away the life of <HI>Eliah,</HI> when he had re|&s;tored life to her and all I&s;rael, by taking away the famine, yet that the poore widow of <HI>Zarephah</HI> was &s;o good, as that &s;hee was rea|die to give him food, when &s;hee had no more left to feed her &s;elfe and her childe. The Scripture is full of the examples of good wo|men; and Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> having reckoned up diver&s;e of them, wri|ting to a Virgin,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. E|pi&s;t. ad Prin|cipiam virg.</NOTE> he concludeth, <HI>Haec breviter per&s;trinxi, ut nec te poeniteat &s;exus, nec viros nomen &s;uum erigeret, in quorum condemnatio|nem foeminarum in Scripturis &s;anctis vita laudatur,</HI> The&s;e have I briefly pa&s;&s;ed over, that neither thou mighte&s;t repent of thy &s;ex, neither might men be lifted up in regard of their &s;ex, to who&s;e con|demnation the life of women is prai&s;ed in the &s;acred Scriptures. Let it cau&s;e mode&s;tie in women, that &s;hee was the fir&s;t &s;inner, and who having ca&s;t man downe in Paradi&s;e, did ca&s;t him out of Para|di&s;e. Let her weakne&s;&s;e make her the more carefull in looking to her &s;elfe,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;ilius de vera virgin. ad Letorum Epi&s;copum.</NOTE> and the better to keepe her &s;elfe from danger. <HI>Longi&s;sime arcere illecebras mali, &amp; aurem quidem intus ca&s;ti&s;sima cogitatione, ocu|los ver&ograve; cauti&s;sima aver&s;ione munire,</HI> To drive away farre the allure|ments of evill, and to fence her eares with mo&s;t cha&s;te thoughts within, her eyes by a mo&s;t wary turning away from it, as Saint <HI>Ba|&s;il</HI> advi&s;eth. But in a tropologicall application of this ver&s;e; as the Italian &s;ayth, that words are women, and deeds are men; and there|fore that they mu&s;t be maryed together:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> So Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us, <HI>Po&s;&s;umus &amp; cogitatus pro viris accipere, mulieres pro operibus, &amp; dicere quod difficile cogitatio alicujus pura inveniri po&s;sit: opera vero quia per cor|pus exercentur, aliquo &s;emper errore commixta &s;unt,</HI> Wee may here take our thoughts for men, women for our workes, and &s;ay that hardly can the thought of any one be found pure: as for our workes, be|cau&s;e they are performed by the body, they are alwayes mixed with &s;ome errour.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 29. The Preacher having &s;poken much of the vanitie that is in men and women, and of the badne&s;&s;e of them, lea&s;t hereupon any blame might &s;eeme to accrew to God, who was the maker of them, here he wholy cleareth God. <HI>Loe this onely have I found:</HI> The Originall word here tran&s;lated <HI>onely,</HI> and &s;o generally by Interpre|ters
<PB N="245" REF="127"> is <GAP DESC="foreign"> and mo&s;t directly &s;ignifieth <HI>Seor&s;im,</HI> apart. So that it, &s;eemeth to mee, that the Preachers meaning may be, that he &s;eve|ring in the con&s;ideration of man, the workes of God, and the works of man, he found the workes of God to be right all, and that it was man him&s;elfe, who had made him&s;elfe and his works to be perver&s;e and crooked. And &s;urely, who &s;o ever will rightly judge of man and his wayes, he mu&s;t con&s;ider them apart, as they proceed from God, and apart, as they proceed from him&s;elfe, that &s;o in all things God may be ju&s;tified, and man him&s;elfe may beare his owne con|demnation. Or el&s;e to con&s;ider the words, as generally they are read. <HI>Loe this onely have I found:</HI> that is, this as a mo&s;t manife&s;t, mo&s;t &s;ure and undeniable truth. <HI>That God hath made man upright:</HI> Let a right line be extended never &s;o farre, let it be extended infinitely, it will be right &s;till; now God is rightne&s;&s;e it &s;elfe, and he being extended into his workes, they are right all. But of man who is the chiefe&s;t of his inferiour creatures, it is &s;ayd, that <HI>God made him in his image, and after his likene&s;&s;e.</HI> Now as Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Opor|tet id quod ad imaginem e&s;t, cum imagine convenire,</HI> It is nece&s;&s;ary that he who hath an image, &s;hould agree with his image. And therefore it being &s;ayd of God, <HI>Great is our Lord, and great is his power;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. <HI>147.5.</HI> P&s;al. <HI>92.15.</HI> Bern. Sup. Can. Serm. <HI>80.</HI></NOTE> <HI>the Lord is upright, and there is no unrighteou&s;ne&s;&s;e in him:</HI> Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> al&s;o addeth, <HI>Ab i&s;to recto &amp; magno Deo, habet imago ejus ut ip&s;a re|cta &amp; magna &s;it; Eo magna e&s;t quo capax aeternorum, eo recta quo appe|tens &s;upernorum,</HI> From that upright and great God, his image al&s;o hath it to be upright and great; great, in that it is capable of eternall things, right, in that it de&s;ireth heavenly things, and things that are above. <HI>Aquinas</HI> &s;peaking of the&s;e words, that <HI>God made man upright,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aquin.</HI> 1. <HI>Q.</HI> 95. <HI>Ar.</HI> 1.</NOTE> &s;ayth, <HI>Erat rectitudo &s;ecundum hoc quod ratio &s;ubdebatur Deo, rationi ve|ro inferiores vires, &amp; animae corpus. Prima autem &s;ubjectio erat cau&s;a &amp; &s;ecundae, et tertiae. Quamdiu enim ratio manebat Deo &s;ubjecta, inferiora ei &s;ubdebantur,</HI> The uprightne&s;&s;e was in this re&s;pect, that rea&s;on was &s;ubjected unto God, the inferiour powers unto rea&s;on, and the body to the &s;oule. The fir&s;t &s;ubjection was the cau&s;e of the &s;econd and of the third. For &s;o long as rea&s;on remained &s;ubjected unto God, the inferiour faculties were &s;ubject unto it. It is a que&s;tion propo&s;ed by <HI>Aquinas,</HI> and it is generally handled by the Schoolmen, <HI>Vtrum pri|mus homo fuerit creatus in gratia,</HI> Whether the fir&s;t man was crea|ted in grace, that is, whether in the act of creation there was given unto him onely a rightne&s;&s;e of nature, or el&s;e a rightne&s;&s;e of grace al&s;o. That a rightne&s;&s;e of grace was given to <HI>Adam</HI> before his fall, is a thing agreed upon, becau&s;e by his fall he was deprived of it, but whether at the in&s;tant of the fir&s;t creation it were given to man, that is their que&s;tion. But if it were given to man afterwards before his fall, why not at fir&s;t? And indeed what need of &s;uch que&s;tions? The reading of the latter part of this ver&s;e according to the Sep|tuagint
<PB N="246" REF="128"> and the Vulgar Latin, <HI>Et ip&s;e &s;e infinitis mi&s;cuit quae&s;tionibus,</HI> and he intangled him&s;elfe with numberle&s;&s;e que&s;tions, &s;hould teach them to avoyde &s;uch fruitle&s;&s;e &s;peculations. From this di&s;tinction of man, <HI>in puris naturalibus,</HI> in his pure naturall condition, and in the &s;tate of grace, &s;ome of the Schoolmen have looked too farre after <HI>Pelagius.</HI> Let it &s;uffice, as the Preacher &s;ayth, <HI>that God made man up|right;</HI> and <HI>Aquinas</HI> thinketh that this is &s;ufficient to proove, that man even in the fir&s;t in&s;tant of creation, was made in the &s;tate of grace. But the Originall word which the Preacher here u&s;eth in the end of the ver&s;e being the &s;ame which he hath u&s;ed before in the five and twentieth, and &s;even and twentieth ver&s;es <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ignifying <HI>computationes &amp; ratiocinia,</HI> reckonings and accompts: let mee con|&s;ider here God as a true and ju&s;t accomptant, and making all things &s;traight and right. When he made man he brought all things to a true accompt, he did ca&s;t up his body to a right temper, he did ca&s;t up his &s;en&s;es to a right obedience to rea&s;on, he did ca&s;t up his will to a right de&s;ire, he did ca&s;t up his minde to a right under&s;tanding; the generall &s;umme of all, he rightly made to be the true happine&s;&s;e of man. There was not the lea&s;t errour in all his accompt. But they, that is, men <HI>have &s;ought out many reckonings:</HI> which fir&s;t mu&s;t needs be wrong, becau&s;e many, &s;eeing the right in all things can be but one. And &s;econdly, they are wrong becau&s;e men have &s;ought them out, who going out of the way in wrong paths, can there never finde the right way. They ca&s;t up many reckonings, and many are the things which every one according to his humour and phan&s;ie maketh rec|koning of. In the body they reckon upon nothing but &s;en&s;ualitie, in the &s;en&s;es upon nothing but voluptuou&s;ne&s;&s;e, in the will upon no|thing but plea&s;ing it &s;elfe, in the under&s;tanding upon nothing but vanitie and folly. The generall &s;ummes, to which they reduce all their reckonings are three, either plea&s;ure, or profit, or honour. And whereas the P&s;almi&s;t &s;ayth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. <HI>20.7.</HI> Augu&s;tin. in P&s;al. <HI>19.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Some tru&s;t in hor&s;es, and &s;ome in Cha|riots,</HI> that is, &s;ayth Saint <HI>Au&s;tin, Hi volubili &s;ucce&s;sione temporalium bonorum, &amp; hi &s;uperis praeferuntur honoribus, &amp; in his exultant,</HI> Some are drawne with the voluble &s;ucce&s;&s;e of worldly benefits, others are &s;et above their fellowes in height of honours, and in them doe prance and rejoyce. But how&s;oever, men may now make their ac|compts, they &s;hall in the end &s;ee the fal&s;hood of them, when they &s;hall finde the fruit of them, no way to an&s;wer to the co&s;t and paines and time, which they have layd out upon them. But to con&s;ider the words al&s;o as wee doe reade them. <HI>But they have &s;ought out many in|ventions:</HI> mee &s;eemes that men herein are like unto &s;ome bu&s;y heads and working minds, which being left in a good e&s;tate, and having well to live, by their inventions and devi&s;es are not quiet untill they have brought all to nothing, and cannot at la&s;t devi&s;e how to helpe them&s;elves. For &s;o man being by God made in a good e&s;tate, it was
<PB N="247" REF="128"> the devils invention, to &s;et him on worke to finde out good and e|vill, and ever &s;ince his minde being &s;et upon inventions, the &s;eeking of them bringeth him to mi&s;ery. Wherefore Saint <HI>Bernard</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard.</NOTE> readeth the latter part of this ver&s;e thus, <HI>Ip&s;e autem &s;e implicuit doloribus mul|tis,</HI> but he hath involved him&s;elfe into many troubles. Or el&s;e wee may take <HI>the inventions of men</HI> to be fictions, like the invention of Poets: for indeed, what&s;oever men conceive of them, they are no better than imaginary fictions, having no realitie of truth and &s;ub|&s;tance in them. And therefore <HI>Philo</HI> &s;ayth well, <HI>Is qui fictus e&s;t homo,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo. l. <HI>1.</HI> Legis Alle|goriarum.</NOTE> <HI>differt ab eo quem Deus fecit,</HI> That man which is fayned diffe|reth from him which God made. Man is made of him|&s;elfe a fayned man, con&s;i&s;ting in the fayned in|ventions of his owne wayes, but as he was made by God, he was made in the truth of uprightne&s;&s;e.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="chapter">
<PB REF="129">
<PB N="265" REF="129">
<HEAD>CHAPTER VIII.</HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>VER. 1.</HI></BIBL> Who is as the wi&s;e man? And who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? A mans wi&s;dome maketh his face to &s;hine, and the boldne&s;&s;e of his face &s;hall bee changed.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;e</HI> 1. <HI>_PHilo</HI> &s;peaking of wi&s;dome &s;aith, <HI>Quis bo|num i&s;tud indagans inveniat? Quae maria tranans? Quas penetrans in&s;ulas? Quas terrarum oras adiens? Qua&s;nam apud gen|tes?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo de nomini mutatione.</NOTE> Who by &s;earching can find out that good? What &s;eas mu&s;t hee pa&s;&s;e over? What I&s;lands mu&s;t he pa&s;&s;e into? To what &s;hoares mu&s;t he go? With what nations is &s;hee to be found? And this the Preacher having &s;hewed in the latter part of the former Chapter, by &s;etting forth the difficulty of attaining wi&s;dome, the rarity of a wi&s;e man, hee beginneth this Chapter with the excellency of him, &s;aying, <HI>Who is as the wi&s;e man?</HI> Who, though never &s;o rich in e&s;tate, who though never &s;o great in power, who though never &s;o high in honor? Nay who is rich in e&s;tate, who is great in power, who is high in honor but a wi&s;e man onely? <HI>Philo</HI> therefore &s;peaking of wi&s;e men &s;aith, <HI>Qui &s;oli veri reges,</HI> who alone are the true Kings. And in another place &s;peaking of them hee &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo de Agri|cul.</NOTE> <HI>Sunt aliqui quos Deus altius promovet, &amp; evolantes &s;upr&agrave; omnes &s;pecies omniaque ge|nera prop&egrave; &s;eip&s;um collocat &s;icut Mo&s;i quoque dicit, tu ver&ograve; hic &s;ta mecum,</HI> There are &s;ome whom God promoteth highly, and the&s;e flying a+bove all degrees and ranks, hee placeth nere unto him&s;elfe,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. <HI>34.5.</HI> Philo de Sacri|fic. Abelis &amp; Caini.</NOTE> &s;aying unto them as hee &s;aid to <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> but doe thou &s;tand here by mee. Wherefore hee noteth that when <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was to dye, he did not dye as commonly others doe, but only left this world at the command of his word, by who&s;e word the world was made,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phili de nomini mutatione.</NOTE> <HI>&V;t di&s;cas quod &s;apien|tem illum eodem quo mundum honore Deus dignatus e&s;t,</HI> That thou maye&s;t learne, that God did grace that wi&s;e man with the &s;ame honour that hee did the world. The &s;ame authour therefore gives this honour to a wi&s;e man, &s;aying, <HI>Sapiens Dei comes e&s;t,</HI> A wi&s;e man is the companion of God. But to con&s;ider the manner of the Preachers words; they being &s;et downe as a que&s;tion do &s;hew as it were, that he could onely admire
<PB N="266" REF="130"> him, and could not judge of him; and is as if hee &s;aid, as <HI>Philo</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>De &s;apientia, quae non me tantum &s;ed toto mundo e&s;t antiquior, non e&s;t fas quenquam judicare ni&s;i Deum aut aliquem &s;incerum purum germanumque amatorem ip&s;ius &s;apientiae,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo de Chari|tate.</NOTE> To judge of wi&s;dome, which is more old not onely then my &s;elfe, but the whole world, it is not lawfull for any except God him&s;elfe to judge, or el&s;e &s;ome &s;incere pure and very true lover of wi&s;dome it &s;elfe. S. <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us, that the Septuagint did read the&s;e words thus, <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Quis novit &s;apientes?</HI> who hath knowen wi&s;e men? whereupon hee addeth, <HI>Et rever&acirc; quum multi &s;int qui &s;apientiam repromittant, difficile invenitur, qui di&s;cernere queat &s;a|pientem, ab his qui videntur e&s;&s;e &s;apientes. Et quum &s;int plurimi qui &s;crip|turarum occulta dicuntur po&s;&s;e &s;olvere, rarus qui veram inveniat &s;olutio|nem.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> And indeed &s;eeing there are many, who doe promi&s;e wi&s;dome, he is hardly found, who is able to di&s;cerne a true wi&s;e man from them who &s;eeme to bee wi&s;e. And whereas there are many who are &s;aid to be able to re&s;olve the hidden things of the Scriptures, hee is a rare man that findeth a true re&s;olution. <HI>And who knoweth the interpretation of a thing?</HI> The French readeth it, <HI>Et qui &s;cait que veulent dire les cho&s;es?</HI> And who knoweth what the things would &s;ay? For there is a &s;peaking by things as well as by words, and it is by them as well as by his word that God &s;peaketh to us, yea the things them&s;elves, doe &s;peak in their &s;ilent language; which he that is wi&s;e under&s;tandeth, and is able to give the interpretation of it. Wherefore when the Preacher &s;aith; <HI>and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing?</HI> hee meaneth, who but a wi&s;e man, of whom the words before &s;peake. The Septuagint and S. <HI>Hierome</HI> do read it, <HI>Quis novit &s;olutionem verbi?</HI> Who knoweth the &s;olution of a word, the an&s;weare of a quae&s;tion? And then it may bee noted, as S. <HI>Hierome</HI> hath it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Quod oblique de &s;e loquitur, quia nemo fuerit ita &s;apiens, &amp; nullus &s;ic fecerit problematum &s;olutiones,</HI> That the Preacher indi|rectly &s;peaketh of him&s;elfe, becau&s;e none was &s;o wi&s;e as hee was, none did an&s;weare and re&s;olve problemes and hard quae&s;tions as he did. <HI>Amans wi&s;dome maketh his face to &s;hine.</HI> That is, &s;aith <HI>Tremellius ip&s;um glorio&s;um &amp; illu&s;trem reddit, Synecdochic&egrave;,</HI> doth make him glorious and famous, the face being taken Synecdochi cally for the whole man. But to con|&s;ider the words as wee find them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremellius in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>in the face</HI> the wi&s;dome of man is not a little di&s;cerned, and well may it bee &s;aid to make <HI>the face to &s;hine;</HI> &s;eeing as <HI>Philo</HI> &s;peaketh <HI>Habent &s;apientes,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo quod da|ter. potiori in&s;i|dietur,</NOTE> <HI>purificatum vi&s;um, examinatum audi|tum, &amp; &s;ic caeteros &s;en&s;us. Habent &s;ermonem quoque immaculatum;</HI> Wi&s;e|men have their &s;eing purified, there hearing clean&s;ed, and &s;o their other &s;en&s;es. They have al&s;o a &s;potle&s;&s;e &s;peach. And here al&s;o S. <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us that the Preacher doth obliquely &s;peake of him &s;elfe, who&s;e wi&s;|dome, <HI>Non &s;olum intrin&s;ecus latebat, &s;ed &amp; in &s;uperficie corporis &amp; &s;peculo vultus elucebat, ultraque omnes homines prudentiam mentis in facie &s;u&acirc; pinxerat,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> Not only did lye hid within, but &s;hined al&s;o in the out&s;ide of his body, and in the gla&s;&s;e of his countenance, and above all men he had the wi&s;dome of his mynd painted in his very face. Or, if it &s;hall bee
<PB N="267" REF="130"> thought good, wi&s;dome may bee &s;ayd to make a wi&s;e mans <HI>face to &s;hine,</HI> becau&s;e his very countenance though hee &s;ay nothing giveth light, and directeth men in a right way. Or el&s;e wi&s;dome may bee &s;aid to make <HI>the face to &s;hine,</HI> becau&s;e from the face, and from the mouth placed in it, it ca&s;teth forth a light, which maketh the under&s;tanding of things to ap|peare. <HI>And the boldne&s;&s;e of his face &s;hall bee changed:</HI> interpreters here are troubled. The Originall word here u&s;ed and tran&s;lated boldne&s;&s;e is <GAP DESC="foreign">, which properly &s;ignifyeth &s;trength. S. <HI>Hierome</HI> reades it, <HI>Fortis faciem &s;uam mutabit.</HI> The &s;trong &s;hall change his face. The vulgar Latin al&s;o <HI>Potenti&s;&s;imus faciem &s;uam mutabit,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> The mo&s;t mighty &s;hall change his face, and then <HI>Lyra</HI> expoundeth it, <HI>In re&s;urrectione quando &s;ibi dabit glorio&s;am faciem,</HI> In the re&s;urrection, when God &s;hall give unto him a glorious face &s;hining as the Sunne in heaven. The French readeth it, <HI>Son regard farouche,</HI> His rough and wild a&s;pect; the Septuagint as our Engli&s;h did take it <HI>for boldne&s;&s;e,</HI> but then they read it as S. <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us, <HI>Et impudens vultu &s;uo odietur,</HI> And an impudent man &s;hall be hated by his countenance, as if the Preacher did &s;hew the difference betweene the countenance of a wi&s;e man, and of an impudent man, declaring how plea&s;ing the one was, how hatefull the other. And indeed as the coun|tenance of a wi&s;e man is never impudent, &s;o the countenance of an im|pudent man is hatefull to all that are wi&s;e. Or el&s;e to take boldne&s;&s;e in a good &s;en&s;e, there is nothing that doth beter &s;et the a&s;&s;ure, and make con|fident the countenance of a man then wi&s;dome doth. That giveth &s;uch boldne&s;&s;e unto it, that oftentimes the very countenance of a wi&s;e man &s;triketh terror into the wicked and fooli&s;h. But let mee have leave to give the words another meaning, and to referre <HI>the face</HI> here men|tioned not to the face of a wi&s;e man, but to the face of the thing, who&s;e interpretation a wi&s;e man findeth out. His wi&s;dome there|fore maketh <HI>the face of the thing to &s;hine,</HI> and to &s;hew it &s;elfe. For as <HI>Philo</HI> &s;peaketh <HI>Lumen animae &s;olari &s;imilimum e&s;t &s;cientia,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo de con|gre&s;&s;. quaerend. erudition. gratia</NOTE> Knowledge the light of the mind is mo&s;t like unto the &s;olar light; and as that maketh things to appeare to the eye what they are, &s;o doth the other make things appeare to the mind, and &s;heweth the interpretation of them. As the one taketh away the darke vi&s;age of things, &s;o the other taketh away, and changeth the hard vi&s;age of que&s;tions and problemes, and prevailing over the &s;trengh of them, maketh the meaning of things ea&s;ie to be &s;een.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2-5" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 2.</HI></BIBL> I coun&s;ell thee to keepe the Kings comman|dement, and that in regard of the oath of God.</P>
<PB N="268" REF="131">
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 3.</HI></BIBL> Bee not ha&s;ty to go out of his &s;ight, &s;tand not in an evill thing, for hee doth what&s;oever plea&s;eth him.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 4.</HI></BIBL> Where the word of a King is, there is power, and who may &s;ay unto him, what do&s;t thou?</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 5.</HI></BIBL> Who &s;o keepeth the commandement, &s;hall feele no evill thing and a wi&s;emans hart di&s;cer|neth, both tyme and judgment.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 2. <HI>I coun&s;ell thee:</HI> the Originall &s;ayth no more then I; and he that &s;hall find out the meaning of the place need to bee &s;uch a one as the for|mer ver&s;e &s;peaketh off, and that knowes <HI>&s;olutionem verbi,</HI> the re&s;olution of a probleme, the interpretation of a thing. Let my boldne&s;&s;e bee ex|cu&s;ed, and I will &s;hew my thoughts. It &s;eemeth to mee, that <HI>I</HI> &s;tandeth here, as it were an an&s;were to the quae&s;tions of the former ver&s;e, where|in the Preacher &s;peaketh as it were &s;oftly and with a &s;till voice, as if hee would not bee heard, &s;aying no more then <HI>I.</HI> And hee &s;peakes al&s;o in a darke ob&s;cure manner, as if his mode&s;tie did ca&s;t a veile over it. Nei|ther doth hee &s;peake it, untill that fir&s;t a&s;king the quae&s;tions, the an|&s;were of all men did in there harts prevent him, and &s;ay that it was hee. Our tran&s;lation to make up the &s;en&s;e followeth <HI>Pagnine,</HI> and as hee &s;aith, <HI>Ego moneo te,</HI> I admoni&s;h thee; &s;o that &s;aith, <HI>I coun&s;ell thee:</HI> I who have obtained wi&s;dome and am able to coun&s;ell thee, <HI>I coun&s;ell thee,</HI> I who require obedience from myne owne &s;ubjects, do coun&s;ell all &s;ub|jects to give obedience to their Kings, I who am unwilling to puni&s;h thee for not keeping the Kings commandement, do coun&s;ell thee to keepe it. <HI>To keepe the Kings commandement:</HI> The Hebrew is, to ob&s;erve the mouth of the King, which is but one and the &s;ame. For as <HI>Philo</HI> &s;peaketh; <HI>Regis officium e&s;t jubere quae oportet fieri, &amp; vetare a quibus ab|&s;tinere decet: caeterum ju&s;&s;io faciendorum, &amp; interdictio cavendorum pro|pri&egrave; ad legem pertinet. Atque ita con&s;equitur, ut Rex animata lex &s;it, lex vero &s;it rex ju&s;ti&s;&s;imus.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo de vita Moy&s;is.</NOTE> The office of a King is to command tho&s;e things which ought to bee done, and to forbid tho&s;e things which ought to be avoyded. But the command of things to be done, and the forbidding of things not to bee done properly belongeth to the law. And &s;o it foloweth, that a King is a living law, &amp; the law is a mo&s;t ju&s;t King. Now <HI>keepe the Kings commandement,</HI> as thou woulde&s;t the commandement of thy Father. For as <HI>Philo</HI> al&s;o &s;peaketh <HI>Parentis locum obtinet ac vici&s;&s;im, tanquam &agrave; germanis filiis reverentiam po&s;tulat. Sunt aute~ principes (ut ve|rum fatear) publici parentes civitatum &amp; gentium, quotquot boni &s;unt, nec cedunt pietati naturalium.</HI> For hee holdeth the place of a Father, and in a mutuall re&s;pect requireth reverence as from naturall children. For
<PB N="269" REF="131"> Princes, (that I may confe&s;&s;e the truth) are the publike Fathers of Citties and people, as many as are good,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo de crea|tione Principis.</NOTE> neither do they yeild in affe|ction to naturall Fathers. <HI>And that in regard of the oath of God. Tremel|lins</HI> reades it, <HI>&s;ed pro ratione juramenti Dei,</HI> but with regard unto the oath of God, as if the meaning were that the King is &s;o to bee obeyed, as that God is not to bee di&s;obeyed, and that the oath made to the King were &s;o to be kept, as that the oath made to God bee not broken. For there is nothing more &s;ure, then that God is rather to bee obeyed then man. But to con&s;ider our reading, by the oath of God, may bee under&s;tood the word of God: for as <HI>Philo</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Ip&s;a Dei verba &s;unt juramenta,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo l. <HI>2.</HI> Legis Allegoriarum.</NOTE> <HI>lege&s;que divinae &amp; jura &s;acrati&s;&s;ima;</HI> The very words of God are oaths and divine lawes, and mo&s;t &s;acred &s;tatutes. And then the meaning would bee no other then this; that we are to keepe the commandements of the King, becau&s;e God doth command it, and that wee are to do it not only for feare of wrath but al&s;o for con&s;cience &s;ake.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Roma.</HI> 13.1. <HI>&amp;</HI> 5</NOTE> But <HI>the oath of God</HI> here more directly is the oath which is taken in the name of God, and whereof God is made to bee a witne&s;&s;e. For &s;o an oath properly taken is by <HI>Philo</HI> defined to bee that,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo de Planta. Noe.</NOTE> <HI>Quod e&s;t fidei &s;ignum firmi&s;&s;imum conjun|ctum cum Dei te&s;timonio,</HI> which is the mo&s;t firme &s;igne of faithfulne&s;&s;e joyned with the te&s;timony of God. As for the beginning of an oath S. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;eemeth to conceive that untill after the dayes of <HI>Abra|ham,</HI> there was not any u&s;ed. For &s;aith hee, <HI>Qui fuerunt tempore Abrahae multa faedera fecerunt, victima&s;que mactarunt, &amp; obtulerunt &s;acrificia,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;. Homil. <HI>26.</HI> ad populum.</NOTE> <HI>necdum erat juramentum,</HI> They who were in <HI>Abrahams</HI> tyme made many covenants, killed many &s;acrifices, &s;acrificed many offerings, and as yet there was not an oath. Indeed the fir&s;t oath that wee read of was that betweene <HI>Abraham</HI> and <HI>Abimelech</HI> at <HI>Beer&s;heba,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gene&s;.</HI> 22.31.</NOTE> from whence the place had its name. But as for the oath of &s;ubjects taken to their King, and which wee call the oath of alleagance, as far as I know, this is the fir&s;t place that any mention is made of it. Among the heathens,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Plin. in Panegy. ad Trajan.</NOTE> I find in <HI>Pliny</HI> that it was a thing done in <HI>Trajans</HI> time, who did &s;ware unto his people, and had his people &s;worne unto him.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;iod. var. l. <HI>8.</HI> ver. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> And in <HI>Ca&s;&s;iodore</HI> I find that <HI>Athalicus King</HI> of <HI>Italy</HI> did likewi&s;e take an oath unto his people and tooke an oath from them. But that which here is to be noted is the regard of an oath, and which is called the oath of God as due to him to bee performed, as well as unto him to whom it is made. Accor|ding as our Saviour Chri&s;t &s;aith <HI>Performe thyne oath unto the Lord.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Matth.</HI> 5.33.</NOTE> It is &s;toryed of <HI>Alexander</HI> the great that being re&s;olved to de&s;troy <HI>Lamp|&s;acum,</HI> as hee was going about it, <HI>Anaximenes</HI> the Philo&s;opher and his Ma&s;ter came to meete him, and to intreat him for the Citty, which being for&s;een by <HI>Alexander</HI> hee &s;wore that hee would not doe, that which <HI>Anaximenes</HI> &s;hould a&s;ke him. Whereupon <HI>Anaximenes</HI> told him, that which I de&s;ire is that thou woulde&s;t de&s;troy <HI>Lamp&s;acum.</HI> Now <HI>Alexander</HI> being &s;o taken by his word, for the reverence of his oath did not de&s;troy the place. Mo&s;t Noble, it was in this King to keepe his oath, and mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary it is to keepe thy oath that is made to the King. For
<PB N="270" REF="132"> as Philo &s;peaketh: <HI>E&s;t jus-jurandum non exiguum negotium, tamet&s;i con|temnitur propter con&s;uetudinem,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ph<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">lo de Decal.</NOTE> <HI>videlicet te&s;timonium Dei de rebus dubiis Deum autem citare te&s;tem mendaci</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">. An oath is not a light bui&s;ine&s;&s;e, although it bee de&s;pi&s;ed becau&s;e men are accu&s;tomed here unto: namely being the te&s;timony of God concerning doubtfull things. Now to cite God as a witne&s;&s;e of a lye, is a foule wickedne&s;&s;e; would any one come unto his friend and &s;ay, I pray you do a wickedne&s;&s;e for mee, for my &s;ake doe &s;omething that is again&s;t right and rea&s;on? would not his friend abhorre him that &s;hould doe it? would hee not &s;uddenly breake off all friend&s;hip with him? <HI>Et quod non audes ab amico petere, ad id Deum vocas?</HI> And that which thou dare&s;t not to a&s;ke of a friend, do&s;t thou call God unto it &s;aith Philo? Do&s;t thou &s;ay to him give fal&s;e wit|ne&s;&s;e for me, be a partner with mee in my villany and treachery, <HI>Et quum &s;is Deus optimus &s;ervias &s;cele&s;to homini,</HI> &amp; when thou art God the perfecti|on of goodne&s;&s;e &s;erve the turne of a wicked man. What can this be but horrible iniquity? The &s;ame authour therefore giving direction for an oath, &s;aith, <HI>Juraturus debet omnes rei circum&s;tantias diligenter per&s;picere, quanta &s;it, quam vera, quam ben&egrave; &agrave; &s;e percepta, tum &s;eip&s;um con&s;iderare, num purus &s;it anim&acirc;, corpore, lingu&acirc;: nefas e&s;t enim per os quo profertur nomen illud &s;ancti&s;&s;imum, quicquam turpe progredi: quaeratur etiam tam loci quam temporis opportunitas.</HI> Hee that is to &s;weare ought diligently to looke into all the circum&s;tances of the thing, how great it is, how true, how well perceaved by him&s;elfe, then hee ought to con&s;ider him|&s;elfe, whether he be pure in mind, in body, in toung. For it is not well that any naughty thing &s;hould proceed from that mouth by which that mo&s;t holy name is uttered: let al&s;o a fit opportunity of time and place bee &s;ought for.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 3. The water here is not &s;o cleare, that it is ea&s;y for the &s;ight to peice into it. <HI>Be not ha&s;ty to go out of his &s;ight.</HI> The Hebrew is, <HI>Ne&s;is fe&s;tinus, &agrave; facie ejus abibis,</HI> Bee not ha&s;ty, thou &s;halt goe away from his face. Ac|cording to which reading let me propo&s;e what hath come into my mind. Fir&s;t then as I conceive the &s;en&s;e may bee taken thus. <HI>Bee not ha&s;ty,</HI> not ha&s;ty to come into the pre&s;ence of the King, that may bee the way to have thy &s;elfe put away quickly from it.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>1</HI> Sam. <HI>18.1.</HI> Gregor. Thau|mat. Oratione in Origen.</NOTE> Gregorius Thaumathurgus ob&s;erveth, that it is not &s;aid that the &s;oule of David was knit to the &s;oule of Jonathan, but that the &s;oule of Jonathan was knit to the &s;oule of Da|vid. And &s;urely it is better when the favour of a Prince doth call any one into his pre&s;ence, then when the ambitious de&s;ire of any one doth ha&s;tely thru&s;t him&s;elfe into it. <HI>Stand not in an evill thing,</HI> if thou do&s;t not goe away from the &s;ight of the King, but &s;tande&s;t before him, &s;tand not in an evill way, that will at lengh be thy fall, when the &s;ight of the King hath found it out. <HI>For hee doth what&s;oever plea&s;eth him:</HI> the Ori|ginall &s;aith onely <HI>what&s;oever plea&s;eth,</HI> and &s;eeing I conceive it to bee &s;poken of a good King, I under&s;tand the &s;en&s;e, as if it were &s;upplyed with <HI>what&s;oever plea&s;eth God.</HI> And therefore when a good King findeth thy wayes to di&s;plea&s;e God, they will di&s;plea&s;e him al&s;o, and thou &s;halt
<PB N="271" REF="132"> not &s;tand in his &s;ight. Or &s;econdly, the meaning of the ver&s;e may bee conceived thus. Bee not ha&s;ty in the &s;ight of the King, neither in thy words or actions, for &s;o thou maye&s;t ha&s;ten thy &s;elfe to bee gone out of his &s;ight. But if thou ha&s;t beene ha&s;ty and run into &s;ome errour, do not <HI>&s;tand</HI> nor per&s;i&s;t in it. For as S. Bernard &s;peaketh, <HI>Alioquin non erit hu|manum peccatum, &s;ed ob&s;tinatio diabolica. Nam per&s;everare in malo dia|bolicum e&s;t, &amp; digni &s;unt perire cum illo, quicunque in &s;imilitudinem ejus permanent in peccato,</HI> Otherwi&s;e it will not bee a humane &s;inne,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. de Advent. Dom. Serm. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> but a diveli&s;h ob&s;tinacy, and worthy are they to peri&s;h with him, who in a likene&s;&s;e to him per&s;i&s;t in any &s;in. <HI>For he doth what&s;oever plea&s;eth him:</HI> It &s;hall not bee as thou wilt, neither maye&s;t thou doe, what&s;oever thou plea&s;e&s;t, but it is he that is King, it is his plea&s;ure that is done in all things. But to con&s;ider the reading of our tran&s;lation. <HI>Be not ha&s;ty to goe out of his &s;ight,</HI> if thou ha&s;t offended him, bee not ha&s;ty to bee gone from him, doe not pre&s;ently for&s;ake his &s;ervice and attendance: &s;uch ha&s;t, may increa&s;e his di&s;plea&s;ure again&s;t thee. But if thou do&s;t &s;tay, <HI>&s;tand not in an evill thing,</HI> &s;tand not to ju&s;tify thy &s;elf if he will have it evill, thou mu&s;t not think to make it good, <HI>For he doth what&s;oever plea|&s;eth him:</HI> what&s;oever it bee which thou ha&s;t done, whether good or evil. He be&s;toweth his favours as his owne mind is, what&s;oever thou pleade&s;t for thy &s;elf. Or els <HI>bee not ha&s;ty to goe out of his &s;ight,</HI> that is &s;aith Tremel|lius, <HI>Ne ab ob&s;equio illius te &s;ubducito animo perturbato,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremel. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> Do not with|drawe thy &s;elf from thine allegance to him in a di&s;contented mind. <HI>Stand not in evil:</HI> that is <HI>perturbatione &amp; rebellione quae tibi malum allatura e&s;t;</HI> In di&s;content and rebellion, which will bring evill to thee. <HI>For he doth what&s;oever plea&s;eth him:</HI> God doth enable him to have his will upon &s;uch treacherous &s;ubjects in the de&s;truction of them: when Zede|kiah had rebelled again&s;t Nebuchadnezzar and broken his oath, the Ba|bylonian Monarch comming with his army and burning Jeru&s;alem, S. Chri&s;o&s;tome &s;aith of it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;tome Ho|mil. <HI>19.</HI> ad Po|pulum.</NOTE> <HI>ubique ignis gra&s;&s;abatur barbaricus juramento ignem ducente, &amp; flammam pa&s;&s;im circum agente.</HI> The barbarian fire e|verywhere &s;poiled, the violated oath leading the fire; and carrying the flame about from place to place. And &s;urely the fire of Gods wrath doth &s;till pur&s;ue rebellion, where&s;oever it be. It behooveth an hone&s;t heart &s;o to reverence a crown, as not to dare to touch it in any undutifull re&s;pect.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Damian. Ep. <HI>12.</HI></NOTE> The Amalekite who comming unto David told him that being de&s;ired by Saul he &s;tood upon him and &s;lew him, becau&s;e he was &s;ure that he could not live, and that he took the crowne that was upon his head, no &s;ooner had ended his &s;peach, then David commanded him to bee &s;laine, and ended his life al&s;o. But what was his offence? was it be|cau&s;e he yeilded to the Kings reque&s;t, and killed him who was already killed and could not live a very litle longer? Or was it becau&s;e he took away the crowne? <HI>Damianus</HI> &s;peaketh unto this purpo&s;e, &s;aying <HI>Amale|cites ille, qui gloriatur &s;eperemi&s;&s;e Saulum, dum non &s;e galeam,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Samuel.</HI> 7.</NOTE> <HI>&s;ed diadema bellantis ab&s;tuli&s;se confingit, gladio Davidis percu&s;&s;us occubuit,</HI> that Ama|lekite who gloried to have &s;laine Saul while he maketh a tale, that he
<PB N="272" REF="133"> tooke from the head of the warriour not his helmet but his crowne, fell downe &s;laine by the &s;word of <HI>David.</HI> As if there could bee no excu&s;e, no pretence, why any one &s;hould unpuni&s;hed offer violence to the crowne, or do wrong to the dignity of a King. <HI>Lippomannus</HI> well ob|&s;erveth, although Moy&s;es and Aaron had a commandement from God to deliver and free the I&s;raelites from the tyranny of Phaaroh, and that although Phaaroh were of all Kings the mo&s;t wicked, and condemned by the Lord in expre&s;&s;e words,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyppomannus in Exodum.</NOTE> yet they did not arme the I&s;raelites again&s;t the King the lawfull magi&s;trate over Aegypt, they did not kill the tyrant with the &s;word <HI>&s;ed continent &s;e&s;e, &amp; ob&s;ecrant Phaaronem obedienter,</HI> but they conteine them&s;elves and bee&s;eech the King obediently. S. Hierome applying this ver&s;e unto the King of heaven and earth, from who&s;e commandements wee mu&s;t not ha&s;tely depart, and in the breach of who&s;e law wee mu&s;t not per&s;i&s;t, expoundeth the la&s;t part of the ver&s;e thus,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronim. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Quod &s;i per&s;everaveris, rex vitiorum &amp; peccati diabolus operabitur perditionem in te, &amp; faciet quodcunque voluerit,</HI> If thou &s;halt per&s;evere, the King of vices and &s;in the Devill, will work perdition in thee, and he will do what&s;oever he plea&s;eth. Lyra who expoundeth al&s;o this ver&s;e of the heavenly King, &s;aith, <HI>Bee not ha&s;ty to go from his &s;ight, tran&s;grediendo praecepta affirmativa,</HI> by breaking his affirmative commandements: <HI>&s;tand not in an evill thing, tran&s;grediendo negativa,</HI> by tran&s;gre&s;&s;ing his negative praecepts. <HI>For he doth what&s;oever plea&s;eth him:</HI> that is, &s;aith he <HI>Quia tantae authoritatis &amp; pote&s;tatis e&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>quod non pote&s;t ei re&s;i&s;ti,</HI> becau&s;e he is of &s;o great power and authority that he cannot be re&s;i&s;ted.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 4. <HI>Where the word of a King is, there is power:</HI> the Venetian tran&s;lation expre&s;&s;ing the &s;en&s;e, &s;ome what more forcebly reads it thus, <HI>E&s;t in verbo regis potentia quaedam,</HI> There is in the word of a King a kind of power. Indeed it is mo&s;t true of God, <HI>voluntas opus efficit, &amp; praebet &s;ermo virtutem,</HI> His will effecteth his work, and his word giveth power; and God having Kings his deputies, in &s;ome &s;ort hath communicated the &s;ame unto them. The &s;aying is, that the reque&s;ts of Princes are com|mands, and one noting it upon that pa&s;&s;age of our Saviour, when en|tring into Symons &s;hip he prayed him to thru&s;t a little from the land there tels us,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Lu.</HI> 5.3.</NOTE> <HI>Quaelibet Je&s;u verba ex maje&s;tate per&s;onae in praecepta tran&s;i|bant,</HI> All the words of Je&s;us from the maje&s;tie of his per&s;on were made to bee commands. And &s;urely it is from the maje&s;tie which God hath given <HI>Kings,</HI> that all their <HI>words haue &s;o much power.</HI> Of <HI>David</HI> it is &s;aid when he was but elected to bee King,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 14.7.</NOTE> <HI>Confregit David viros &s;uos verbis David</HI> did break his men with his words, as <HI>Cajetane</HI> and <HI>Pagnine</HI> do tran&s;late the place: and therfore how powerfull are the words of tho&s;e who hold the &s;cepter, and &s;it upon the throne? The people of I&s;rael acknowledging and promi&s;ing their obedience to Jo&s;hua, do it in the&s;e words,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Io&s;h.</HI> 1.18.</NOTE> as the Originall hath it, <HI>Qui rebella verit ori tuo moriatur,</HI> He that &s;hall rebell again&s;t thy mouth, let him bee put to death, as if (&s;aith one upon it) <HI>Tanta e&s;&s;et authoritas hominis, ut vel labiorum ejus motus habea|tur ut praeceptum, cui contradici non pote&s;t &s;ine &s;upplicii metu,</HI> As if the
<PB N="273" REF="133"> authority of the man were &s;o great, that even the very motion of his lips &s;hould bee had for a command which might not bee oppo&s;ed, without feare of puni&s;hment. But how carefull therefore ought Princes to bee of their words, and that by them they do not give power to any thing to which God doth not give his approbation. Let there words command that which Gods word commandeth, and then it is a happy power, which from God is given them. Yea therein to make their words mo&s;t powerfull, let them adde their owne example al&s;o: For as <HI>Ca&s;&s;iodore</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Non pote&s;t authoritatem habere &s;ermo, qui non juvatur exemplo,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;iod. Var. l. <HI>11.</HI> Var. <HI>8.</HI></NOTE> <HI>dum iniquum &s;it bona jubere &amp; non eadem facere,</HI> Speaking cannot have &s;o much authority, which is not &s;trengthned by example: &s;eeing it is a &s;infull thing, to command good things, and not to do the &s;ame. <HI>And who may &s;ay unto him, what do&s;t thou?</HI> The &s;ame it is which <HI>Elihu</HI> &s;aith in <HI>Job, Is it fit to &s;ay to a King, thou art wicked,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Job.</HI> 34.18.</NOTE> <HI>and to Princes yee are un|godly? King Theodoric</HI> in <HI>Ca&s;&s;iodore</HI> &s;peaking of him&s;elf, and in him|&s;elf &s;hewing the right of Kings &s;aith, <HI>Hac &s;ola ratione di&s;creti,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;iod. Var. l. <HI>6.</HI> Var. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> <HI>quod alteri &s;ubdi non po&s;&s;umus, qui judices non habemus,</HI> In this re&s;pect are wee di|&s;tingui&s;hed from others, that wee cannot bee &s;ubject to another, who have no judges over us. Kings have no judge upon earth over them, they have there owne judg God alone in heaven. Wherefore <HI>Eucherius</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Quia rectores habent judicem &s;uum, magna cautela &s;ubditorum e&s;t non temer&egrave; vitam judicare regentium,</HI> Becau&s;e Governours have their owne Judg, it mu&s;t bee the great care of &s;ubjects not to judg ra&s;hly the lifes of them that do govern them. <HI>Ne&abque; enim fru&s;tra per &s;emetip&s;um aes nummulariorum effudit, &amp; cathedras vendentium columbas evertit; nimirum &s;ignificans, quia per magi&s;tros quidem vita judicatur plebum, &s;ed per &s;emetip&s;um exami|nat facta magi&s;trorum,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Eucher. lib. <HI>1.</HI> in lib. pag.</NOTE> For it was not without cau&s;e that the Lord by him&s;elfe did ca&s;t out the mony of the mony changers and overthrew the tables of them that &s;old doves, namely &s;ignifying thereby, that by the governours is judged the life of the people, but by him&s;elf he exa|mineth the doings of the governours. And indeed it was the fault of the Prie&s;ts, of the governours of the Temple, which by this action our Sa|viour Chri&s;t reprooved, and condemned. S. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> gathereth the &s;ame from the Ark of God, which beeing &s;haken by the oxen that drew it, &amp; <HI>&V;zzah</HI> putting forth his hand to hold it, he was there &s;mitten for his ra&s;hne&s;&s;e, and dyed by the Arke of God, whereupon he noteth, <HI>videre licet quomodo &s;ubditum procul a &s;acerdotum correptione abe&s;&s;e opor|tet. Nam quum aliquando arca reduceretur,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Samuel</HI> 6.7.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; &s;ubditorum aliqui ad lap|&s;um inclinantem videntes erigerent, eo ip&s;o loco paenam dederunt,</HI> It may bee con&s;idered how far it beehoveth a &s;ubject to bee from the reproofe of his &s;uperiours, For when &s;ometime the Arke was brought back,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;tomus Homil. in locum ex. cap. <HI>16.</HI> ad Rom. de colendi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;acerdot.</NOTE> and &s;ome of the &s;ubjects &s;eeing it inclining as likely to fall did but &s;et it up, they were puni&s;hed in the &s;ame place. There is no doubt but that as the Ark was &s;haken &amp; likely to fal, &s;o Kings &amp; governours are not only likely to fall, but do fall often. Notwith&s;tanding it is not for them that are under them, to &s;ay unto them, <HI>what do yee?</HI> For as S. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> al&s;o
<PB N="274" REF="134"> noteth <HI>In&s;urrexerunt adver&s;us Aaron po&s;t vituli formatam effigiem, Core, Dathan, &amp; Abiron, quid ergo? nonne illi periere?</HI> It was after that <HI>Aaron</HI> had &s;inned fooli&s;hly and hainou&s;ly in making the calf, that <HI>Corah, Da|than</HI> and <HI>Abiron</HI> rebelled again&s;t him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Homil. <HI>2.</HI> in Epi&s;t. <HI>2.</HI> ad Timot.</NOTE> but what then, did not they pe|ri&s;h? yes, they did, and that was to &s;hew, that although the governour might bee wicked, it was not for them who were under him, to take upon them to correct him. <HI>Philo</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo.</NOTE> &s;aith, <HI>Nihil mole&s;tius quam majores ab infe|rioribus &amp; magi&s;tratus a &s;ubditis accu&s;ari,</HI> There is nothing more grie|vous then for &s;uperiours to bee accu&s;ed by their inferiours and magi|&s;trats by them that are under them. God therfore is plea&s;ed to ea&s;e them of this grievance, and to forbid &s;ubjects to doe it. But let this there|fore make Princes and governours to bee the more carefull of doing well, lea&s;t God reproove them the more &s;harply, becau&s;e hee will not &s;uffer men to bee their reproovers. Let them heare God both in his word, and in their owne con&s;ciences &s;aying unto them, <HI>what do&s;t thou?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. <HI>2</HI> Apo|log. David c. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> although they doe not heare it from their &s;ubjects. The ill cariage of them that have command doth too much herein &s;hame them|&s;elves, and incen&s;e the wrath of God again&s;t them. And therefore <HI>S. Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Quem mihi in huju&s;modi reperias virum, qui in po|testate con&s;titutus id quod per ju&s;titiam non licet, per pote&s;tatem non li|cere agno&s;cat?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. <HI>2.</HI> Apo|log. David c. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> What man can&s;t thou find out among &s;uch, who being placed in authority, doth account that to bee unlawfull for him to doe by his power, which is unlawfull for him to doe by ju|&s;tice? And therefore how great cau&s;e have they to prai&s;e God, who&s;e graciou&s;ne&s;&s;e is plea&s;ed to &s;et &s;uch over them, as doe &s;et him in all their wayes before them? How great cau&s;e have they in all re&s;pects to honour them, who ruling them in goodne&s;&s;e doe rule them&s;elves by goodne&s;&s;e? Long may &s;uch live and rule with glory and re|nowne.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 5. The Preacher having &s;hewed that the plea&s;ure of a King in his di&s;plea&s;ure is not to be re&s;i&s;ted, &amp; that the faults of a King by his &s;ubjects are not to bee corrected, here in this ver&s;e gathering his di&s;cour&s;e, as his manner is to a head and conclu&s;ion, he giveth comfort for the one, and direction for the other. His comfort is in the&s;e words, <HI>who &s;o keepeth the commandement &s;hall feele no evill:</HI> his direction in the other words. <HI>Who &s;o keepeth the commandement,</HI> that is, is carefull to do that which he ought, for that is <HI>the commandement</HI> which &s;erveth for all men, of what rank or quality &s;oever, that is <HI>the commandement</HI> which re&s;pecteth all e&s;tates and conditions, that is <HI>the commandement</HI> which is to bee ob|&s;erved in all &s;ea&s;ons and occa&s;ions, who &s;o therefore keepeth the com|mandement and doth that which he ought, <HI>&s;hall feele no evill thing.</HI> Perhaps he may not keepe the favour of the King, but if he keepe the favour of God, he hath lo&s;t nothing. The Hebrewes <HI>&s;hall know no evil thing,</HI> and &s;urely how&s;oever he may know what is the di&s;plea|&s;ure of a Prince, yet knowing the good plea&s;ure of God to bee towards him, he need not to bee too much grieved for it. The Hebrew word <GAP DESC="foreign">
<PB N="275" REF="134"> here u&s;ed doth &s;ignifie a carefull knowledge, as when it is &s;aid the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, that is, is carefull to keepe and pre&s;erve them in it, and certanily he that knoweth this,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 1.6.</NOTE> though evill may come unto him, yet he &s;hall not &s;o know it, as too much to care for it. Our tran&s;lation readeth it very well, he &s;hall <HI>feele</HI> noe evill, for though he find it to bee evill, yet he &s;hall not much feele the evill of it. <HI>Baronius</HI> reporteth of <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI> the great, that beeing &s;poken to by many to puni&s;h &s;ome who had throwen &s;tones at his image, &s;aying, that with the &s;tones they had wounded all his face, he wiping his face with his hand &amp; &s;miling with his countenance, gave them this an&s;weare, <HI>Ego ver&ograve; nu&s;quam vulnus in fronte factum video, &s;ed &s;anum quidem caput,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Baron. Tom. <HI>3.</HI> Anno Chri&s;ti <HI>324.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;ana ver&ograve; &amp; facies tota,</HI> I doe not feele any where any hurt done mee or any wound made in my face, but my head is &s;ound, and all my face is well, and whole likewi&s;e; plainly &s;o it is with them that keepe the commandement, and the evill which is done them, is but like an evill done to their pictures, they <HI>feele it not.</HI> For how &s;hould they <HI>feele evill,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 8.28.</NOTE> to whom all things work together for their good? How &s;hould they <HI>feele</HI> evill to whom God is good: <HI>Sicut enim illo offen&s;o nihil e&s;t quod no|bis valeat &s;uffragari, ita eodem propitio nulla nobis nocebit adver&s;itas:</HI> For as he beeing offended, there is nothing that can favour us, &s;o he being gracious unto us, there is no adver&s;ity that can hurt us, as <HI>Leo</HI> &s;peaketh. The expo&s;ition which <HI>Lyra</HI> and the Glo&s;&s;e give of the&s;e words is this, <HI>They &s;hall feele no evill,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Leo Serm. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> <HI>in futuro</HI> in the time to come: and <HI>Lyra</HI> addeth, <HI>Minus dicit &amp; plus &s;ignificat,</HI> he &s;aith little and meaneth much for though he &s;aith he &s;hall <HI>feele</HI> no evill,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> he mea|neth that he &s;hall find much, good for the evill which he &s;uffereth. For the evill, as it is an exerci&s;e of his patience, &s;o it is the encrea&s;e of his glory. The Originall according to the words &s;oundeth thus, <HI>Non co|gno&s;cet verbum malum,</HI> &s;hall not know an evill word, or as <HI>S. Ambro&s;e</HI> readeth it <HI>verbum nequam</HI> a naughty word:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. Enarr. in P&s;al. <HI>41.</HI></NOTE> as if wee might take the meaning of the place to bee this, he that keepeth the commandement and feareth God, is &s;o farre from rebelling again&s;t his Prince, &s;o farr from taking upon him to correct him, that he knoweth not how to &s;peake an evill word, either of him or again&s;t him. <HI>And a wi&s;e mans hart:</HI> the opinion of the Jewes was, whereunto accordeth the phra&s;e of the &s;acred Scripture, that in the hart e&s;pecially the &s;oule did hold her re&s;idence and as it were her royall court, and that there, were prin|cipally exerci&s;ed the noble&s;t operations of the under&s;tanding, inven|tion, judgment, and other the like excellencies of mans mo&s;t glo|rious &s;oule. But the more received opinion in the world hath been to place the working of the&s;e chiefe&s;t faculties in the head rather, and to leave unto the hart the pa&s;&s;ions only and affections, as griefe, joy, anger, love, wherwith mans &s;oule aboundeth. In which diver&s;ity of opi|nions to make a reconciliation the matter is not difficult: for the Scrip|ture &s;peaketh not of tho&s;e fruitle&s;&s;e &s;peculations which trouble and racke the braine with di&s;cour&s;e or di&s;putation only, and which as the
<PB N="276" REF="135"> Philo&s;opher &s;peaketh may thrive in a wicked man as well as in a good, &s;eeing the pa&s;&s;ions have no power upon them. But the Scripture re|&s;pecteth the practicall actions of men, which te&s;tifie the goodne&s;&s;e or badne&s;&s;e of their lives, and which becau&s;e God commandeth to bee lively, burning, harty, and likewi&s;e becau&s;e in them the pa&s;&s;ions of the hart are of great force and &s;trength, either by hindering or hel|ping their vertue and efficacy (for experience daily teacheth, how much the moderation of our pa&s;&s;ions helpeth in good works, and how much the unruline&s;&s;e of them provoketh unto wickedne&s;&s;e, and &s;toppeth from goodne&s;&s;e) hereupon the Scripture a&s;cribeth to the hart al&s;o tho&s;e practicall operations, &s;eeing that by the pa&s;&s;ions of the hart they are either &s;poiled or bettered in man. <HI>Di&s;cerneth both time and judgment:</HI> It is not to bee conceived that Princes may not heare of their doing a|mi&s;&s;e, or that they may not bee told of their faults, but it mu&s;t bee done by one that hath <HI>a wi&s;e hart,</HI> and which is able <HI>to di&s;cerne his tyme</HI> when to doe it, and who knoweth how to do it with <HI>judgement. Et dum apert&acirc; invectione feriri nequeunt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral. <HI>13.</HI> c. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> <HI>qua&s;i honore tegminis velare,</HI> and wheras they may not bee &s;trucken at with open inveighing, as it were under the honour of a vaile to cover what he &s;aith, as <HI>S. Gregory</HI> &s;pea|keth. That which our tran&s;lation hath rightly according to the Ori|ginall, <HI>judgement,</HI> the French rendereth, <HI>Le moyen q'on doit tenir,</HI> the means and manner that ought to bee u&s;ed and ob&s;erved. For indeed the&s;e two things the time and the manner are principall things that ought to bee regarded in the office of reproving. And therefore a wi&s;e man as <HI>S. Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Aliquando malis &amp; qua&s;i parcens non par|cit, aliquando vero qua&s;i non parcens parcit,</HI> Sometimes in evils as it were &s;paring he doth not &s;pare them, and &s;ometimes as it were not &s;paring he doth &s;pare them. Sometimes he no &s;ooner &s;eeth evill done then he is ready to reprove it, and to reprove it &s;harply where he knoweth that he may be bold, and that his &s;peaking &s;hall bee wel|come. And what doth he then but &s;pare not &s;paring? <HI>Quia dum cor|reptionis verbum non di&s;tulit, citius hunc &agrave; culp&acirc; liberavit,</HI> Becau&s;e while he deferred not the word of reprofe, hee did the &s;ooner free him from his fault. <HI>Liber&egrave; enim arguens non pepercit, &s;ed in eo quod corre|xit, pepercerat:</HI> For in that he repooved freely he did not &s;pare, but in that he amended him, he did &s;pare him. At other times a wi&s;e man heareth or &s;eeth evill, and &s;aith nothing, but &s;eeketh and waiteth for a time, when he may be&s;t reprove it, as knowing <HI>Ni&s;i &s;ustineat, quando con|gru&egrave; proferre correptionem po&s;&s;it, auget in eo malum quod in&s;equitur.</HI> That unle&s;&s;e he tary for a time when he may be&s;t bring forth his reproofe, he doth encrea&s;e the evill in that he &s;eeketh to &s;uppre&s;&s;e it, as <HI>S. Gre|gory</HI> hath it. So likewi&s;e for the manner of reproving, a wi&s;e man di&s;cerneth, that &s;ometimes it may bee done in a particular manner, but that &s;ometimes it mu&s;t bee done generally in a common &s;peech of admonition, which he maketh for the good of all the hearers, and wherein he mentioneth tho&s;e faults, which he knoweth him to have
<PB N="277" REF="135"> committed who is pre&s;ent to heare them, though he may not bee pointed at or di&s;tinctly noted.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Et quum generaliter contra culpam in|vectio intenditur, correptionis verbum libenter ad mentem ducitur; quia potens pravus ignorat quod &s;ibi hoc &s;pecialiter dicatur,</HI> And when the inveighing is directed generally again&s;t the fault, the word of re|proofe is willingly admitted into the mind, becau&s;e the great per&s;on offending doth not know that this was &s;poken &s;pecially again&s;t him. And is not this by &s;paring not to &s;pare? <HI>Quum &s;pecialiter correptionis verba offendenti non intulit, ut tamen vulnus illius &s;ub communi admo|nitione percu&s;&s;it,</HI> when as the reprover doth not ca&s;t his words parti|cularly again&s;t him that hath &s;inned, and yet did &s;trike his wound un|der a common admonition as <HI>S. Gregory</HI> al&s;o &s;peaketh. The Originall word here u&s;ed is <GAP DESC="foreign"> and mo&s;t properly &s;ignifieth <HI>judgement,</HI> the judgement that is given by the judg, and if wee take it &s;o, wee may give the words this &s;en&s;e. That he who walking in Gods commande|ments meeteth with evill, doth as it were not regard it as not feeling it: and if it come from him, who hath not a judge upon the earth, &s;o that here he cannot looke for right, then as <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Attendit tempus judicii, ubi oportet de omnibus reddere rationem,</HI> A wi&s;e man ex|pecteth the time of judgement, when God comming to judge, all mu&s;t give an accompt of all that they have done.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="6-8" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 6.</HI></BIBL> Becau&s;e to every purpo&s;e there is time and judgement: therefore the mi&s;ery of man is great upon him.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 7.</HI></BIBL> For he knoweth not that which &s;hall bee: for who can tell him when it &s;hall bee.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 8.</HI></BIBL> There is no man that hath power over the &s;pirit, to retaine the &s;pirit; neither hath power in the day of death: and there is no di&s;charge in that war, neither &s;hall wickedne&s;&s;e deliver tho&s;e that are given to it.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 6. <HI>Becau&s;e there is:</HI> The rea&s;on why the heart of a wi&s;e man &s;eeketh after time and judgment, is, becau&s;e there is a time and judgement, that which is not, he &s;eeketh not for. A time there is, which judgment mu&s;t di&s;cerne, and a judgement mu&s;t fit and further time, both mu&s;t go together, to accompli&s;h every purpo&s;e. <HI>To every purpo&s;e,</HI> to the purpo&s;e of God, to the purpo&s;e of the Devill, to the purpo&s;e of the good Angels,
<PB N="278" REF="136"> to the purpo&s;e of men. God him&s;elfe ob&s;erveth time, who cannot bee without an exact and prefect judgement, wherefore God is &s;aid to bee <HI>adjutor in temporibus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 9.9.</NOTE> a helper in times, a refuge in times of trouble. Where Theodoret tels us, that Aquila did render it, <HI>In tempus opportu|num,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Theodoret. Ibi.</NOTE> at a fit time; and that Symmachus did render it, <HI>opportun&egrave;,</HI> fitly, op|portunely. And in deed it mu&s;t needs be under&s;tood of a fit time. For as <HI>Philo</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo.</NOTE> &s;peaketh, <HI>Quid aliud e&s;&s;e tempus pote&s;t, quam tempus rei bene geren|dae?</HI> What el&s;e can time be, then the time of well doing any thing? Be|&s;ides the Originall word is <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifyeth an opportune time. Againe what are the times of troubles, but Gods fit times? For mans ne|ce&s;&s;itie is Gods opportunity, and as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>&V;bi defecit hu|manum con&s;ilium,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. Serm. <HI>89.</HI> de Tempor.</NOTE> <HI>ibi intercedit divinum auxilium,</HI> where humane coun|&s;ell faileth, there commeth in the divine helpe. When our Saviour Chri&s;t him&s;elfe was apprehended, he &s;pake for his di&s;ciples, that they might be let goe,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>John</HI> 18.8. v. 9.</NOTE> that the &s;aying might be fulfilled, <HI>of them which thou gave&s;t me, have I lo&s;t none.</HI> But what doth this meane? Had they been lo&s;t, if they had been taken? Were they not afterwards taken and put to cruel deaths?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Philip. Abbas Epi&s;t. <HI>114.</HI></NOTE> An ancient writer an&s;wers it, <HI>Ex iis quos ad &s;alvandum ei pater dederat quempiam non ami&s;it, quia occidi eos tempore immaturo non permi&s;it,</HI> Of tho&s;e which his Father had given him, he did not loo&s;e any, becau&s;e he did not &s;uffer them to be &s;laine in a time that was not &s;ea&s;o|nable. When they had received the Holy Gho&s;t, and by that heavenly fire were brought unto a ripene&s;&s;e, then the time for it being ripe al&s;o, he feared not any death for them. Secondly to <HI>the purpo&s;e</HI> of the devill there is a time and judgement, and he hath his opportunities, his occa&s;i|ons to draw men unto wickedne&s;&s;e. And indeed great is the power of them upon men, and therefore it mu&s;t be our care to &s;hun and avoid them. When <HI>Eve</HI> had told the Serpent, the charge which God had gi|ven them,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 3.3.</NOTE> &s;hee delivers it thus, <HI>yee &s;hall not eate of it, neither &s;hall yee touch it, lea&s;t that ye die,</HI> but in Gods charge &s;et downe in the former chapter, wee doe not find the&s;e words,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 2.17.</NOTE> <HI>Ye &s;hall not touch it;</HI> wherefore <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;aith, that &s;he did adde the&s;e words out of a di&s;like which &s;he had of the pre|cept,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra. Ibid.</NOTE> becau&s;e he who di&s;liketh a precept, in relating of it, doth ea&s;ily add unto it, to make it &s;eem more grievous. But it may be well, as others conceive, that God al&s;o did u&s;e tho&s;e words, and that to this end, that the occa&s;ion of &s;inning might be avoided: for being once touched, it was not far to bring it to the mouth.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luke</HI> 9.59.</NOTE> When our Saviour Chri&s;t &s;aid to one,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. de verb. Dom. Serm. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> <HI>follow me,</HI> and he &s;aid, <HI>Suffer me fir&s;t to goe and bury my father.</HI> Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> a&s;keth, why our Sauiour Chri&s;t would not &s;uffer him to do it; the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e being &s;o good? The an&s;were which by &s;ome is given, is, that our Saviour did it to keep him from the occa&s;ions of being drawne away from him, becau&s;e going to his friends, they might have per&s;wa|ded him to follow &s;till the world.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Matth.</HI> 13.30.</NOTE> Thirdly <HI>to every purpo&s;e</HI> of the good Angels there is a time and judgement: in the Go&s;pel we read, that the &s;ervants are not forbidden to &s;ever the tares from the good corne, but they are commanded to expect the time of harve&s;t. Whereupon one
<PB N="279" REF="136"> &s;aith well, <HI>&V;bi &s;eges matura &s;it ad me&s;&s;em, nullum ibi malum timetur, licet tunc accedat a&s;peritas falcis, &s;ola immatura a&s;peritas nociva e&s;t, quae autem tempore opportuno exhibetur &s;emper &s;alutaris,</HI> For where the corne is ripe for harve&s;t, there no hurt is feared, although the &s;harpne&s;&s;e of the &s;ickle be u&s;ed, it is only an immature &s;harpne&s;&s;e that is hurtfull, that which in due time is u&s;ed, at all times is found profitable. La&s;tly,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Levitic.</HI> 16.21.</NOTE> <HI>to eve|ry purpo&s;e</HI> of men there is a time and judgement: the Scape-goat which was to be let goe into the wilderne&s;&s;e, was to be &s;ent away by the hand <HI>of a fit man,</HI> as we read in the law. The Venetian tran&s;lation reads it, <HI>Opportuni hominis;</HI> of an opportune man: the Tigurine tran&s;lation reads it, <HI>Tempe&s;tivi hominis,</HI> of a &s;ea&s;onable man, and it is &s;uch a man that right|ly ordereth his affaires in this life.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 12.11.</NOTE> In the Epi&s;tle to the <HI>Romanes</HI> where wee haue it, <HI>bee fervent in &s;pirit &s;erving the Lord;</HI> diver&s;e do read it, <HI>Ferventes &s;piritu, &s;ervientes tempori,</HI> Fervent in &s;pirit ob&s;erving the time, and S. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> reading it in that manner giveth this note upon it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambr. in Epi&s;t. ad Roman.</NOTE> <HI>Quoniam dixerat &s;piritu ferventes, ne hoc &s;ic acciperent, ut pa&s;&s;im &amp; im|portun&egrave; verba religionis ingererent tempore inimico, per quod for&s;an &s;canda|lum excitarent, &s;tatim &s;ubjecit tempori &s;ervientes, ut mode&s;t&egrave; &amp; cum hone|&s;tate &amp; locis &amp; per&s;onis, &amp; apto tempore religionis fidem loqueretur,</HI> Be|cau&s;e he had &s;aid fervent in Spirit, lea&s;t they &s;hould take this &s;o, that they &s;hould importunely thru&s;t the words of religion upon any in a con|trary &s;ea&s;on, whereby perhaps they might rai&s;e a &s;candall, he added forth|with, &s;erving the time, that mode&s;tly, and with due regard they &s;hould &s;peak the faith of Religion, in fit places, to fit per&s;ons, and in fit time. <HI>Therefore the mi&s;ery of man is great upon him:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> tells us that the Septuagint and <HI>Theodotio</HI> did read it, <HI>Becau&s;e the knowledge of man is great upon him;</HI> and he conceiveth the difference to ari&s;e from the like|ne&s;&s;e of the two Hebrew words <GAP DESC="foreign"> and <GAP DESC="foreign"> the one &s;ignifying mi|&s;ery, the other knowledge, e&s;pecially &s;eeing &vav; and &resh; which are the one|ly different letters in the&s;e two words, are &s;o very like al&s;o in the form of them. The reading of the Septuagint applyeth the words unto the wi&s;e man, who ob&s;erving time and judgement in things, &s;heweth his knowledge to be great. The reading, which we have, applyeth the words unto a fooli&s;h man, who not ob&s;erving time and judgment, which every purpo&s;e hath, thereupon doth bring much mi&s;ery upon him&s;elfe. For as <HI>Philo</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Sicut corporibus no&s;tris interitum morbus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo de Temu|lentia.</NOTE> <HI>incolumita|tem affert &s;anitas; itidem animas prudentia &s;ervat, quum &s;it ip&s;a mentis &s;anitas, imprudentia vero interimit, quum &s;it morbus earum in&s;anabilis,</HI> As &s;ickne&s;&s;e bringeth unto the body de&s;truction, health &s;afety; in like manner, wi&s;dome pre&s;erveth the &s;oul, &s;eeing that is the health of the &s;oule, but folly de&s;troyeth the &s;oule, being an uncurable di&s;ea&s;e of it.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 7. Although I conceive this ver&s;e to have reference to the former, yet I doe not take the Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> here to be cau&s;all, but as it were copulative only. <HI>For he knoweth not that which &s;hall bee.</HI> Great is the mi&s;ery of man in that he knoweth not the things that are to
<PB N="208" REF="137"> come upon him. For as the Poet &s;peaketh, <HI>Ne&s;cia mens hominum fati &s;orti&s;que futurae,</HI> Ignorant is the mind of man of that which &s;hall befall him, and of that condition which &s;hall come unto him. And as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> addeth, <HI>Aliud &s;perat, aliudque evenit, de altero loco expectat ho|&s;tem,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; alterius jaculo vulneratur,</HI> He hopeth for one thing, and another commeth to pa&s;&s;e, he expecteth an enemie in one place, and he is woun|ded with the dart of another. The Prophet <HI>David</HI> therefore, pray&s;ing God &s;aith, <HI>For thy words &s;ake, and according to thine own heart ha&s;t thou done all the&s;e things,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2. <HI>Samu.</HI> 7.21.</NOTE> <HI>to make thy &s;ervant to know them:</HI> where <HI>Cajetane</HI> no|teth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cajetan. Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Prius gratias egit de beneficio affirmato, modo gratias agit denotifica|tione tanti beneficii,</HI> Before he gave thanks for the benefit e&s;tabli&s;hed un|to him, now he thanketh God for making knowne unto him &s;o great a benefit. And &s;urely it was a great ble&s;&s;ing to the people of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> that God did &s;end Prophets among them, who did foretell things to come. The want of this ble&s;&s;ing the P&s;almi&s;t lamenteth, when he &s;aith, <HI>we &s;ee no &s;ignes,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 7.4.9.</NOTE> <HI>there is no more any Prophet,</HI> that is, &s;aith the Chaldee Para|phra&s;e, <HI>Non e&s;t Propheta Domini qui &s;ciat quod futurum e&s;t in homine,</HI> There is not a Prophet of the Lord who knoweth, what is to come in man.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>Kings.</HI> 18.</NOTE> It was the carefull goodne&s;&s;e of <HI>Obediah,</HI> that when <HI>Jezebel</HI> per&s;e|cuted the Prophets of the Lord, he hid a hundred of them by fifty and fifty in a cave, feeding them with bread and water: and <HI>Theodoret</HI> &s;pea|king of it, &s;aith, <HI>Prophetis &s;ufficientem cibum offerebat Abdias, illorum &s;a|lutem propriae &s;aluti praeferens, &amp; vitam quae &s;ine illis tran&s;igenda e&s;&s;et mortis loco duceus; Obediah</HI> mini&s;tred to the Prophets &s;ufficient nouri&s;h|ment,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Theodor. Ser. <HI>18</HI> de Provident.</NOTE> preferring their welfare before his owne &s;afety, and accounting that life which &s;hould be &s;pent without them, to be but as it were death. Whereby he &s;eemeth to &s;ignifie, that <HI>Obediah</HI> did &s;o e&s;teem of the know|ledge of things to come, which by the Prophets was enjoyed, that he thought it better not to live, then to live without it. Indeed wi&s;e men may, and doe, think and con&s;ider of things that are to come; <HI>David</HI> telleth <HI>Nabuchadnezzar, As for thee, O King, thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Theod. in Da|nielem.</NOTE> <HI>what &s;hould come to pa&s;&s;e hereafter,</HI> and as <HI>Theodoret</HI> expoun|ding it addeth, <HI>Cogitabas an e&s;&s;es victurus &s;emper, an vero humanae natu|rae lege moriturus,</HI> Thou didde&s;t think whether thou &s;houlde&s;t live al|wayes, or whether according to the law of humane nature thou wert to die al&s;o. Notwith&s;tanding, though wi&s;e men may, and doe think and con&s;ider of things that are to come, it is not the wi&s;e&s;t <HI>that knoweth that which &s;hall be, and who can tell him when it &s;hall be?</HI> But this ver&s;e may be referred either to a foole, or el&s;e to a wi&s;e man. Fir&s;t to a foole, who hath no purpo&s;e to looke unto the time and judgement that is for every purpo&s;e: but as the mi&s;ery of man is great, that he knoweth not, what is to come, &s;o he maketh his mi&s;ery much the greater, by not endeavour|ing to know it in &s;ome kind as he can, by thinking, foreca&s;ting and con|&s;idering of it. Wherefore <HI>Tremellius</HI> expounding the&s;e words. <HI>And who can tell him when it &s;hall be?</HI> &s;aith <HI>Quis ex in&s;ipiente facere po&s;&s;it &s;apien|tem?</HI> Who of a foole can make a wi&s;e man? It was the &s;candall that the
<PB N="281" REF="137"> devill would have put upon our Saviour Ghri&s;t, to whom they &s;aid,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Matt.</HI> 8.29.</NOTE> <HI>Art thou come to torment us before our time?</HI> But it was them&s;elves in truth who were doing before their time; for as <HI>Chry&s;ologus</HI> very well noteth, <HI>Sepelit vivos crudelitas immatura, &amp; de tempore, queritur, qua&s;i ant&egrave; tempus habere debuerit,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;olog. Serm. <HI>16.</HI></NOTE> Overha&s;ty cruelty buryeth among the graves of the dead them that were alive, and yet complaineth of time, as if it ought to have them before the time. This untimely proceeding is al&s;o in all &s;infull fooles. They are before time in making the vaine plea|&s;ures of this life to be the happine&s;&s;e of man, and in placing their re&s;t and contentment in them. They are after-times, as not thinking of the things that are to come afterwards, but as pa&s;&s;ing them over, as never to be, are &s;o gone beyond in them, in their little regard of them. When <HI>Goliah</HI> &s;aid to <HI>David, Am I a dogge, that thou comme&s;t to me with &s;taves?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>Sam.</HI> 17.43.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;hewing him to be wor&s;e then a dogge, &s;aith, <HI>Si canis fui&s;&s;es, nunquam dimicantem contr&acirc; te Dominum provoca&s;&s;es &s;ed ut canis interitum futurum, &amp; dignum &s;upplicium metui&s;&s;es. Pejores cane, qui nec virgam metuis, nec lapidem quo moriturus es,</HI> If thou had&s;t been a dogge, thou woulde&s;t never have provoked the Lord fighting again&s;t thee, but as a dogge thou would&s;t have feared thy de&s;truction, that was at hand to come, and thy de&s;erved puni&s;hment. Thou art wor&s;e then a dogge,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Homil. de David &amp; Gol.</NOTE> who neither feare&s;t the &s;taffe, nor yet art afraid of the &s;tone by which thou art to die. And &s;urely &s;infull fooles are wor&s;e then the very bea&s;ts, for they have &s;ome pre&s;age divers times of that which is to come. Se|condly this may be applyed unto a wi&s;e man, who lamenting the mi&s;ery of man in not knowing the things that <HI>are to come unto him,</HI> and finding no where any one <HI>that is able to tell him,</HI> is thereby &s;tirred up to look the more carefully into it, and by the circum&s;pection of his judgement &s;o to con&s;ider things, and the fit time of things, that as much as may be he may prevent the uncertainty of them. For as Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Il|lud ingenii, &s;i quis pote&s;t vigore mentis praevidere quae futura &s;unt, &amp; tan|quam ante oculos locare quid po&s;&s;it accidere; &amp; quid agere debeat &s;i ita ac|ciderit definire, interdum duo, &amp; tria &s;imul volvere animo, quae conjiciat,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Offic. l. <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>38.</HI></NOTE> <HI>aut &s;ingula conjuncta accidere po&s;&s;e, &amp; aut &s;ingulis aut conjunctis di&s;ponere actus quos intelligat profuturos,</HI> That is wi&s;dome, if any one can by the &s;trength of his mind fore&s;ee the things that are to come, and as it were &s;et before his eyes that which may happen to come to pa&s;&s;e, and can de|fine what he ought to doe, if that it happen &s;o to come to pa&s;&s;e. Some|times turning over two or three things in his mind together, of which conjecturing that either all may come to pa&s;&s;e joyntly, or this or that &s;e|verally, or whether they fall out joyntly or &s;everally, can by his under|&s;tanding &s;o order his actions, as that they &s;hall be profitable to him. Moreover a wi&s;e man con&s;idereth, that although divers things come to pa&s;&s;e, and that he cannot know what is to come to him, notwith&s;tan|ding that all things are by God made and done for the good of men, and that they are not di&s;po&s;ed without his Providence. For as <HI>Philo</HI> &s;pea|keth, <HI>Semper autor curam gerit operis &s;ui, communi nece&s;&s;ariaque lege na|turae;
<PB N="282" REF="138"> quemadmodum &amp; parentes curant &s;uam progeniem,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo de mundi Opificio, fine libri.</NOTE> Alwayes the author of any thing taketh care of his owne work by the common and nece&s;&s;ary law of nature, even as parents take care for their children. Now becau&s;e the Providence of God di&s;po&s;eth all things with judge|ment in their fit times; therefore doth a wi&s;e man by labouring to judg rightly of all things, and by endeavouring to find out the fit times of them in &s;ome &s;ort ea&s;e the mi&s;ery of mans condition, by getting &s;ome kind of knowledge of what is to come, and by being able in &s;ome mea|&s;ure to tell when it &s;hall bee.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 8. The Preacher having &s;hewed the power of a King, here he &s;heweth his weakne&s;&s;e al&s;o to him; thereby to make him the more care|full in u&s;ing of his power, thereby to make them the more patient that &s;hall be wronged by it. <HI>There is no one that hath power over the Spirit. A|quinas</HI> applies the&s;e words unto the Holy Spirit of God,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aquin.</HI> 2. 2. Q. 189. <HI>A.</HI> 1.</NOTE> to &s;hew his po|wer in man; and thereupon citeth Saint <HI>Gregory,</HI> who &s;peaking of the Holy Spirit, &s;aith, <HI>Implet citharaedum puerum &amp; P&s;almi&s;tam facit, im|plet pa&s;torem armentarium, &amp; prophetam facit, implet ab&s;tinentem pue|rum,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. in Evang. Homil.. <HI>30.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&amp; judicem &s;enum facit, &amp;c. O qualis e&s;t arti&s;ex i&s;te Spiritus, null&acirc; ad di&s;cendum mor&acirc; agitur in omne quod voluerit;</HI> He filleth a young man being a Harper, and maketh him a P&s;almi&s;t, he filleth a heardman and maketh him a Prophet, he filleth an ab&s;tinent child, and maketh him a Judge of old men, &amp;c. O what a workman is this Spirit! there is no de|lay in teaching any thing which he will have learned. But it is <HI>the Spi|rit</HI> of man, the Spirit of life in man, whereof the Preacher &s;peaketh, &s;hewing that he who hath power over many that are under him, hath not power over his owne &s;pirit, over his owne life. That is a thing which though he doe po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e, yet he is not ma&s;ter of it. <HI>Homo vitae com|modatus e&s;t non donatus,</HI> Man is but lent to his life, not given unto it, and the greate&s;t King being but a man, mu&s;t re&s;igne his po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion when the &s;pirit leaveth him. It is the property of the law of nature, that it is common unto all; cold &s;triketh all, heat troubleth all, griefe a&s;&s;aul|teth all, a power over the Spirit is denyed all. <HI>To retaine the Spirit,</HI> it was a fable among the auncients in former time, that God appointing unto every thing his office and function, he appointed unto death, to take away the lives of men, and that death refu&s;ed that imployment, be|cau&s;e it &s;hould be by every one accu&s;ed; but yet at length it did under|take it, becau&s;e God did promi&s;e that it &s;hould be by all excu&s;ed. For &s;o indeed it is: of one wee &s;ay that he dyed becau&s;e he was an old man, of another, becau&s;e he was intemperate in his diet, of a third, becau&s;e he was carele&s;&s;e of his health, and &s;o &s;eeking in all to excu&s;e death, wee do as it were clo&s;ely make &s;hew that we are able to pre&s;erve from death, to retaine the Spirit. But as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Nihil prode&s;t ora concludere, &amp; vitam retinere fugientem,</HI> It is to no purpo&s;e to &s;hut our mouth to keep in our breath, and to &s;tay life flying away from us. When the &s;pirit is to be gone, no hands can hold it, no force can &s;tay it, no per&s;wa&s;ion can prevaile to make it to tarry, no command can retaine it.
<PB N="283" REF="138"> He that can forbid things by laws in his kingdome, cannot forbid the Spirit to depart by any law hee can make. <HI>Neither hath he power in the day of death:</HI> it is &s;toryed of <HI>Alexander,</HI> that having heard of Paradi&s;e, and that it was upon the earth, he was very eager in &s;eeking of it out, and to that end comming into the Ea&s;t part of the earth, an old man meeting with &s;ome of his &s;ouldiers, bid them to tell <HI>Alexander,</HI> that he &s;ought Paradi&s;e in vaine, for the way to Paradi&s;e was the way of humili|ty, which he did not take. But &s;aith he, take this &s;tone, and carry it to <HI>Alexander,</HI> and tell him, that from this &s;tone, he &s;hall perceive what him&s;elfe is. Now the &s;tone was a pretious &s;tone, and of &s;uch a quality, that what&s;oever thing was weighed with it, that was &s;till the heavier, only if it were covered with du&s;t, then it was as light as a &s;traw. The meaning of the thing did ea&s;ily appeare, as &s;hewing <HI>Alexander</HI> and all Princes, that though in their lives they overweigh others, by the great|ne&s;&s;e of their power, yet that in death their power is nothing, and that then they weigh as light as any other. <HI>And there is no di&s;charge in that warre.</HI> The Originall word here tran&s;lated di&s;charge, &s;ignifyeth no|thing el&s;e but a &s;ending, and therefore in this place, which &s;peaketh of warre, it may imply either a &s;ending out of forces to with&s;tand death, or el&s;e a &s;ending forth of Amba&s;&s;adours to make peace with death. But all is bootle&s;&s;e in this warre. He that can &s;end out never &s;o great for|ces to with&s;tand his enemies, hath no forces that will re&s;i&s;t this enemie. The word which this warriour beares upon his &s;hield, is, <HI>Nemini parco,</HI> I &s;pare none. Poverty &s;pareth the rich, paine &s;pareth the healthy, &s;hame &s;pareth the honourable, death &s;pareth none, for no means that can be u&s;ed again&s;t it. And therefore there is al&s;o no peace to be made with it. The Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> &s;peaketh of &s;ome, who &s;aid,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;aiah.</HI> 28.15. ver&s;. 1.</NOTE> <HI>they had made a covenant with death:</HI> but in the beginning of the chapter, he &s;heweth who they are, namely the drunkards of Ephraim. For what is it but the voice of a drunken man, a foole, or a mad man; &s;o to &s;peake? And there|fore Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Quum interitus inimicus vitae no&s;trae advenerit,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>inducias accipere non po&s;&s;umus,</HI> When de&s;truction, the enemy of our life commeth, there is then no truce to be had. <HI>Neither &s;hall wickedne&s;&s;e deli|ver tho&s;e that are given to it:</HI> wee read in the P&s;almes; of violence and wickedne&s;&s;e that are in the citie, and that day and night they doe goe a|bout it, upon the walles thereof. Where Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> expoundeth it, <HI>Super muros ejus, id e&s;t &s;uper munimenta, &s;uper nobiles ejus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 55.9. v. 10.</NOTE> upon the walls thereof, that is, upon the fortre&s;&s;es thereof, upon the nobles thereof: and it is not &s;eldome &s;eene, that &s;uch doe make wickedne&s;&s;e to be their wall, whereby to defend them&s;elves. But what defence &s;oever this may be in their life, it &s;hall be none unto them at their death, it &s;hall not then deliver them. <HI>Lyra</HI> expoundeth the&s;e words, of tho&s;e wicked, <HI>Qui ali|quando morte~ differre per artem magicam vel aliqu&acirc; &s;uper&s;titione credunt,</HI> who hope to put off death by Magick art, or el&s;e by &s;ome other &s;uper&s;ti|tious way. But that which is rendred wickedne&s;&s;e, according to the O|riginall, may al&s;o be rendred <HI>inquietudo,</HI> unquietne&s;&s;e. For generally
<PB N="284" REF="139"> none are more unquiet then fierce and &s;waggering Princes are. What are they but tumbling &s;eas, who&s;e boyling, &s;welling, overflowing waves bring terrour and trouble to all that are neere them? But God hath &s;aid unto them all, Hither &s;hall ye come, and no further, and here &s;hall your proud waves be &s;taid,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Job</HI> 31.11.</NOTE> here death doth arre&s;t you. It is related of <HI>Alex|ander</HI> the Great, that as he went to his conque&s;t, comming neere &s;ome wi&s;e men, he called them unto him, and upon asking them &s;ome que&s;ti|ons, finding them to be wi&s;e men indeed, he bid them to a&s;ke &s;ome gifts of him, and they &s;hould have them. Whereupon the Philo&s;ophers &s;aid, Wee de&s;ire certaine immortality of thee: at which <HI>Alexander</HI> laughing, &s;aid, I accounted you to be wi&s;e men, but now I perceive you to be ignorant, I cannot give that to my &s;elfe, and how then can I grant it unto you? Are you mortal, then &s;ay they unto him? I am &s;aid he. Then replied they, Why then do&s;t thou di&s;turbe the whole world, &s;ee|king the dominion of it, as if thou wert immortall. La&s;tly, wee may take the <HI>unquietne&s;&s;e</HI> here &s;poken of, to be nothing el&s;e but the unwil|lingne&s;&s;e of people to die, e&s;pecially of great per&s;ons, and their much &s;triving with death, and the great adoe they make again&s;t it, all which is not able to deliver them from it.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="9-13" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 9.</HI></BIBL> All this have I &s;eene, and applyed my heart unto every worke that is done under the Sunne there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his owne hurt.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 10.</HI></BIBL> And &s;o I &s;aw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the Holy, and they were forgotten in the citie, where they had &s;o done: this is al&s;o vanity.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 11.</HI></BIBL> Becau&s;e &s;entence again&s;t an evil worke is not executed &s;peedily: therefore the hearts of the &s;onnes of men are fully &s;et in them to do evill.</P>
<PB N="285" REF="139">
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 12.</HI></BIBL> Though a &s;inner do evill an hundred times, and his dayes be prolonged; yet &s;ure|ly I know that it &s;hall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 13.</HI></BIBL> But it &s;hall not be well with the wicked, nei|ther &s;hall he prolong his dayes which are as a &s;hadow; becau&s;e he feareth not be|fore God.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 9. As in the creation of the world wee often read, that God &s;aw what he had done, and made; &s;o in the con&s;ideration of things which are done by men in the world, the Preacher often &s;aith, <HI>I &s;aw.</HI> But that which God &s;aw was alwayes good. For as Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. Hexa. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Fa|cit filius quod vult pater, laudat pater, quod facit filius,</HI> The Sonne doth that, which the Father will have done, the Father prai&s;eth that which the Sonne hath done: whereas that which the Preacher &s;aw was always vaine and naught. And as God is &s;aid to &s;ee the goodne&s;&s;e of his works to &s;et it forth the more; for as Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> al&s;o &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. Ibid. l. <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>9.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Plus e&s;t quod probetur a&s;pectu, quam quod &s;ermone laudetur: &s;uodeni&abque; utitur te&s;timonio, non alieno &s;uffragio,</HI> It is more that a thing is approved by &s;ight, then that it is prai&s;ed by &s;peech; becau&s;e it u&s;eth its owne te&s;timony, not the &s;uf|frage of another; &s;o it &s;etteth forth more the badne&s;&s;e of worldly hu|mane things, that the Preacher &s;aith he <HI>&s;aw</HI> them, as &s;hewing that upon &s;ight and con&s;ideration they manife&s;ted them&s;elves to be vain and naught unto him. <HI>He had applyed his heart</HI> unto them, to look neerly on them, that he might the better &s;ee and judge of them as they were. It is al&s;o to &s;et out the badne&s;&s;e of them, that he &s;aith, <HI>every work which is done under the &s;un:</HI> for <HI>Philo</HI> &s;peaking of the Sunne, &s;aith, <HI>Opino quod Sol &amp; Luna perpetuo lumen mini&s;trat: &s;emel ju&s;&s;i in rerum primordio, &amp; divinum mandatum inde&s;inenter faciunt, non aliam ob cau&s;am,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo de mundi Opificio.</NOTE> <HI>quam quia malitia procul terminis caeli exulat,</HI> I thinke that the Sunne and Moone doe alwayes give their light. and being once commanded in the begin|ning of the world, unce&s;&s;antly do keep the divine commandement, for no other rea&s;on, than becau&s;e wickedne&s;&s;e is farre banni&s;hed from the bounds of heaven. And for the &s;ame rea&s;on the Preacher here being to &s;peake of wickedne&s;&s;e, &s;aith, that he &s;aw it under the Sun. <HI>There is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his owne hurt:</HI> and when is this time? namely when being &s;et in the place of a ruler, he is not carefull for to rule well. For as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. in E|vang. Hom. <HI>17.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Ad paenam no&s;tram ut vi|deo epi&s;copi vocamur, qui honoris nomen, non virtutis tenemus,</HI> It is to our
<PB N="286" REF="140"> puni&s;hment I &s;ee that wee Bi&s;hops are called, when wee hold the name of the honour, but ob&s;erve not the duety. When is this time? name|ly, when he that is above another in command, is beneath him in good|ne&s;&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Regi&s;t. Epi&s;t.</NOTE> For as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> al&s;o &s;peaketh, <HI>Quum elevatur, dejicitur, qui honoribus proficit, &amp; moribus cadit,</HI> He is ca&s;t downe, that is lifted up, who ri&s;eth in honours, and falleth in manners. But as I conceive, the meaning of the Preacher doth mo&s;t directly ayme at the ruling of Kings. And &s;urely there is a time when they doe rule to their owne hurt, name|ly when by the wickedne&s;&s;e of their gouerment they provoke the wrath of God again&s;t them&s;elves. <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> notes it in the Kings of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> of whom he &s;aith, that for their iniquity and inju&s;tice, <HI>Alter &s;uper alterum irruentes multi parvo tempore perierunt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>1.</HI> King. <HI>15.</HI> Jo&s;eph. Antiq. l. <HI>8.</HI> c. <HI>12.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&amp; eorum genus exterminatum e&s;t,</HI> One ru&s;hing upon another, many in a &s;hort time peri&s;hed, and their race was rooted out: whereas <HI>A&s;a</HI> for his goodne&s;&s;e and godline&s;&s;e lived to a long and happy old age, and when he had reigned one and Forty yeeres, died a good death. When it is &s;aid of <HI>Elijah,</HI> the charet of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> and the hor&s;emen thereof,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. <HI>King.</HI> 2.12.</NOTE> <HI>Lyra</HI> noteth, <HI>Currus qui ducitur ponitur primo &amp; auriga qui ducit &s;ecundo, ad o&s;tendendum quod ille bene ducit regendo, qui prim&ograve; fuit ductilis in obediendo;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra. Ibid.</NOTE> The charret which is drawn is &s;et downe fir&s;t, and the hor&s;eman that drives it, is &s;et downe afterwards, to &s;hew that he doth well lead in ruling, who hath been fir&s;t ready and willing to be lead in obeying. And &s;urely he it is that doth rule for his owne good, as well as for the good of tho&s;e that are under him, who is ready to be ruled by obedience unto Gods law. Wherefore Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Prae&s;unt principatus &amp; regunt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard de con&s;iderat. l. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;ed reguntur &amp; ip&s;i; ita ut regere non no|runt, ubi regi de&s;ierint,</HI> They who are in authority are &s;et above others, and do rule over them; but &s;o as that them&s;elves are ruled al&s;o; and doe not then know what it is to rule, when that they cea&s;e to bee ruled. They may rule &s;till, but it is <HI>to their owne hurt,</HI> to the increa&s;ing of their puni&s;hment, which he will inflict, who ruleth all things. S. <HI>Hierome</HI> rea|deth the latter part of the vers thus, <HI>Dominatus e&s;t homo homini, ut afflige|ret eum,</HI> Man ruleth over man, that he might afflict him: and the reading is well enough admitted by the Originall; but though there be &s;uch a|mong inferiour rulers, yet it is farre from the name of a King that he &s;hould be &s;uch a one.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. <HI>47.2.</HI> Chry&s;o&s;t. Ibid.</NOTE> The P&s;almi&s;t having &s;aid, <HI>The Lord most high, is terrible, why</HI> doth he adde, <HI>Hee is a great King over all the earth?</HI> Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> an&s;wereth, <HI>Sic Propheta dicit orbis &s;alutem,</HI> So the Prophet &s;peaketh, &s;hewing the &s;alvation of the world, and as it were mitigating the terrour of the Lord with the name of a King. <HI>Pro&s;per</HI> &s;peaking of Queene <HI>He&s;ter,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro&s;per. Par. <HI>2.</HI> de Promi&s;&s;i. c. <HI>38</HI></NOTE> &s;aith, <HI>Sic &s;e pro &s;uis opponit periculis, &s;ic datis in mortem &s;uis laboribus vitam conferendo mini&s;trat, utpote regina,</HI> So doth &s;he op|po&s;e her &s;elfe to dangers for her people, &s;o doth &s;he mini&s;ter to them, who were appointed to die, by her labours giving life unto them, be|cau&s;e a Queene. It was emphatically &s;poken by the thiefe on the cro&s;&s;e, remember me when thou comme&s;t into thy kingdome; which <HI>Cyrillus Hiero&s;olomytanus</HI> thus expre&s;&s;eth, <HI>Non dico ut aliter mei memineris,
<PB N="287" REF="140"> quam quum veneris in regnum. Quae te virtus illuminavit &ocirc; latro?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cyril. Hiero&s;olo. Cap. <HI>13.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Ideo &amp; ju&s;te audit confide, non quod opera tua digna &s;int confidenti&acirc;; &s;ed quia rex ade&s;t qui gratiam confert;</HI> I &s;ay no otherwi&s;e that thou remember mee, then when thou comme&s;t into thy kingdome. O thiefe, what vertue hath inlightened thee? Wherefore he ju&s;tly heareth, be of good cheare, not that thine owne works are worthy to cheare thee, but becau&s;e a King is pre&s;ent, who &s;heweth grace and favour. The &s;peech of King <HI>Theodorus,</HI> as it is worthy of a King, &s;o it &s;heweth what belongeth to a King, Among the glorious cares of the common wealth, which by the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of God, our thoughts continually doe meditate upon,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;iodrr. var. <HI>3.</HI> var. <HI>30.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Cordi no&s;tro e&s;t levamen humilium;</HI> the relieving of the afflicted goes unto our hearts, that wee may &s;et up the ob&s;tacle of goodne&s;&s;e again&s;t the power of the proud, and that there may bee nothing done out of pre&s;umption upon us, who&s;e re&s;olution is to beat downe proud things.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 10. They are the words of <HI>Hugo de &s;ancto victore</HI> co~menting upon the beginning of this booke of the Preacher,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sancto vict. in Eccle&s;. Hom. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> and may be much more mine, <HI>Nos quid &s;umus tenebrae ad lucem, ut comprehendere cogitemus, quae ab&s;condit Deus ab oculis hominum?</HI> What are we darkne&s;&s;e to light, that wee &s;hould thinke to conceive tho&s;e things which God hath hid from the eyes of men? But &s;hall I not therefore meditate upon Gods word? Shall I not indeavour to find the meaning of it? When man meditateth, God inlightneth, and it is to mans endeavours, that God giveth his ble&s;&s;ing. Much ob&s;curity there is in this ver&s;e, and much variety in the tran&s;lating of it. But fir&s;t to con&s;ider to whom to apply it, by rea&s;on of the&s;e words, <HI>from the place of the holy ones,</HI> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> applyes it to Spirituall Magi&s;trates, <HI>Qui quum viverent putabantur digni e&s;&s;e eccle&s;iae principes &amp; templo Dei,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> Who when they lived were accounted worthy to be Princes of the Church, and worthy of the temple of God. <HI>Tremel|lius</HI> applyes the ver&s;e to the temporall Magi&s;trate, and to the throne of Judgement, <HI>Quae functio &amp; &s;edes Dei e&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremellius in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> which is the function and &s;eat of God: <HI>Lyra</HI> applyes it unto both, &s;aying, <HI>Sicut &s;acerdotes &amp; principes mali qui tenent in terris locum Dei, i&s;ti in &s;piri tualibus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; illi in tempo|ralibus,</HI> As evill Prie&s;ts and Princes, who on earth doe hold the place of God, the one in Spirituall things, the other in temporall things. Now for the tran&s;lation of it, the Septuagint, and accordingly the Uulgar Latine, read it thus, <HI>Vidi impios &s;epultos, qui etiam quum adhuc viverent in loco &s;ancto erant, laudabantur in civitate qua&s;i homines ju&s;torum ope|rum,</HI> I &s;aw the wicked buryed, who when they were yet alive, were in the holy place, and were prai&s;ed in the citie, as men of righteous works. Upon which reading S. <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral. l. <HI>25.</HI> c. <HI>30.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Multis enim pe&s;te propriae pravita|tis ob&s;e&s;&s;os &s;ub nomine Chri&s;tiano ip&s;ae tranquilitas Eccle&s;ia&s;ticae pacis ab|&s;condit, quos tamen &s;i levi per&s;ecutionis aur&acirc; pul&s;averit, mox extra are|am velut paleas tollit,</HI> for many who are encompa&s;&s;ed with the pe&s;tilence of their own wickedne&s;&s;e, the tranquillity of the peace of the Church hideth under the name of Chri&s;tians, upon whom if a &s;mall ayre of per|&s;ecution beat, it driveth them like chaffe out of the floore. <HI>Multi &s;unt
<PB N="288" REF="141"> qui rem virtutis intimae ad decorem &s;umunt vi&s;ionis externae;</HI> Many there are who take the matter of vertue, which is a mo&s;t inward thing, only for the beauty of an outward &s;hew. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> reads it thus, <HI>Et tunc vidi impios &s;epultos,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; venerunt, &amp; de loco &s;ancto egre&s;&s;i &s;unt, &amp; laudati &s;unt in civitate quia &s;ic fecerunt.</HI> And then I &s;aw the wicked buried, and they came and went forth from the holy place, and they were prai&s;ed in the citie, becau&s;e they had done &s;o: which him&s;elfe expoundeth thus, I have &s;een the wicked dead, and &s;o buried, with &s;uch an opinion of them, as that they were e&s;teemed holy on the earth. And the&s;e often after death are prai&s;ed in the Church; and publickly are commended, either by their &s;ucce&s;&s;ours, or by the people as ble&s;&s;ed in tho&s;e things, which in probability they have not done. Or el&s;e wee may take the meaning which <HI>Lyra</HI> giveth, who &s;aith, That when they were dead, then they were called wicked, but when they were living, were prai&s;ed either in flattery, or el&s;e for fear. Both the&s;e tran&s;lations doe &s;eeme to have read in the Originall <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifieth to prai&s;e, whereas the Ori|ginall word which now is read,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremel. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> is <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifieth <HI>oblivi&s;ci,</HI> to forget. Wherefore <HI>Tremellius</HI> reads it thus, <HI>For I ob&s;erved tho&s;e that had &s;o ruled, being wicked, to be buryed after that they were departed, and they departed from the place of the holy, and to be forgotten in the citie in which they did &s;o,</HI> As if the Preacher &s;hewed, that though they were on high while they lived on the earth, yet that being dead, they were laid under the earth, and that as if the place of their authority had been but a place of memory, to keep them in mind for the time, when they were gone from them, their memory was gone al&s;o in the citie. The french Tran|&s;lation hath it thus, <HI>And then I &s;aw the wicked buryed, and afterwards re|turned; and them who were gone and come from the place of the holy, who had well done to be forgotten in the City;</HI> as if the Preacher did compare together the wicked, and the righteous after death, as &s;hewing how the one though dead, yet did return and live as it were again in the me|mory that was retained of them, but that the other though they had li|ved holily, and done vertuou&s;ly, yet that they were forgotten quite and dead, in the memoryes of men, as well as in re&s;pect of their own lives. Our tran&s;lation hath it, as you have it &s;et down before; As if the Preacher did &s;et forth hypocrites in religion, who came to, and went from the Church of God with a great &s;hew of holine&s;&s;e: but that being dead they were forgotten, having left no workes of goodne&s;&s;e behind them whereby to be remembred. But to take the Originall as it &s;elf &s;peaketh directly thus, <HI>&amp; then I &s;aw the wicked buried, &amp; they came &amp; they went from the holy place, and they were forgotten in the citie that they had done &s;o;</HI> which is Saint <HI>Hieroms</HI> tran&s;lation, only that he &s;aith Prai&s;ed, where the Hebrew &s;aith now, forgotten. The &s;ence which I gather from the foregoing, and following ver&s;es, is this, that as the Preacher had &s;een the lives of wicked rulers and governers, &s;o he had &s;een and con&s;i|dered their deaths, and that though they had judged others with vio|lence and opre&s;&s;ion, yet that them&s;elves were then judged rightly, that
<PB N="289" REF="141"> they bcfore whom others came to be judged, <HI>came</HI> then them&s;elves be|fore God to be judged, and that he being a Judge, <HI>Cui tacendo qui&s;que &s;e non pote&s;t celare, quem negando non pote&s;t fallere,</HI> From whom no one by holding his peace can conceale him&s;elfe, whom no one by denying can deceive, as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh, by him being condemned for their wicked lives, <HI>they went away from the holy place,</HI> from the glory of heaven,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. in E|vangel. Hom. <HI>17</HI></NOTE> from that ble&s;&s;ed Sanctuary, into which no unclean thing can enter. This followed them with God after their death; with men after their death, that which followed them, was, <HI>that they were forgotten in the city,</HI> and that they who&s;e power and greatne&s;&s;e made them before to be tal|ked of, and feared by all, were then remembred by none. The Chaldee paraphra&s;e &s;peaking of the Preacher, as if he &s;pake of him&s;elfe, &s;aith, <HI>Ecquis quae&s;o vel in &s;ententi&acirc; legis vigilantior, vel circa &s;ummiillius judicis venturi diem &s;olicitus magis quam ego,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chald. in <HI>2.</HI> Ec|cle&s;iatis.</NOTE> Is there any I pray you more vigilantin the &s;entence of the Law, or more &s;olicitous concerning the day of that highe&s;t judge that is to come, then I am? And &s;urely if Princes and Governours, would be watchfull in the&s;e two things, it would make them to doe better in all things that belong unto them. If they would con&s;ider, <HI>Quanta illud edictum &s;equentur lamenta,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cyprian. Serm. de A&s;cen&s;.</NOTE> <HI>quomodo in proprio a|dipo frixae libidines ebullient:</HI> How great lamentations will follow that decree, how the lu&s;ts of men fried in their owne fat &s;hall then boile, they would not rule by opre&s;&s;ion, they would take heed how they did rule to their own hurt. <HI>This is al&s;o vanity</HI> this, to make the in|ward &s;ub&s;tance of vertue a&s;hadow of outward beauty. This, to have an opinion of holine&s;&s;e, and to be prai&s;ed for it, but not to de&s;erve it. This, to be flattered or feared alive, to bee hated being dead. This, beeing pre&s;ent to bee remembred, being ab&s;ent to be forgotten. This, that to be forgotten which &s;hould be remembed, that to be remem|bered which &s;hould be forgotten. This, to bee Church Chri&s;tians, the gue&s;ts of hell in life and conver&s;ation. This, for a while to rule in pride and oppre&s;&s;ion, and for ever to be &s;laves to mi&s;ery and tor|ments.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 11. <HI>Becau&s;e &s;entence again&s;t an evill worke is not executed &s;peedi|ly:</HI> Indeed the patience of Almighty God is exceding great, and the rea&s;on of it by <HI>Rupertus</HI> is &s;et downe to be twofold, <HI>&V;t omnis paenitens,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ruper. l. in Na|um.</NOTE> <HI>id quod &s;aluatur debere &s;e &s;ciat expectantis patientiae, &amp; nullus impaeni|tens in damnatione &s;u&acirc; derogare ei valeat qua&s;i fe&s;tinantis impatientiae.</HI> That every penitent,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hierony in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> might know that he owes it to Gods patience that he is &s;aved, that no impenitent in his damnation might derogate from him as if he were of an ha&s;ty impatiency. But the cheife end of Gods patience is to invite and draw men to repentance. And therefore S. <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Differt paenam dum expectat paenitentiam,</HI> he differeth the puni&s;hment while he expecteth repentance. Should God &s;trike as &s;oone as wickedne&s;&s;e is committed, who &s;hould go to heaven?<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Romans.</HI> 2.4.</NOTE> Where|fore by the Apo&s;tle God is &s;tiled to <HI>be rich in forbearing,</HI> that is (as we may &s;ay) his riches, becau&s;e indeed it is that which doth gaine &s;oules,
<PB N="290" REF="142"> it is that which doth make him rich in &s;oules, which is the riches that God de&s;ireth, that God laboureth for. <HI>Tertullian</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Erroneam ovem patientia pa&s;toris inquirit &amp; invenit:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertullian l. de patientia.</NOTE> <HI>nam impatientia unam facile con|temneret,</HI> It is the patience of the &s;hepheard that &s;eeketh the wandered &s;heepe, and by which it is found: for impatiency would ea&s;ily contemne one. But patience undertaketh the labour of &s;eeking, and moreo|ver as a patient bearer, he layes it on his &s;houlder, and &s;o brings home that which was lo&s;t. <HI>Illum quoque prodigum filium patientia patris &amp; recipit &amp; ve&s;tit &amp; pa&s;cit, &amp; apud impatientem fratrem excu&s;at:</HI> That prodigall Sonne al&s;o the patience of the Father, receiveth, cloatheth, fea&s;teth, and doth al&s;o excu&s;e him to his impatient brother, as <HI>Ter|tullian</HI> al&s;o addeth. But let it bee marked in the&s;e words, that it is the execution only that is deferred: the &s;entence again&s;t every evill worke is already given, and it is a &s;entence of condemnation. Neither is it a &s;ecret &s;entence which though given is concealed, but it is as the Ori|ginall here &s;peaketh <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>enarrata &s;ententia</HI> a publi&s;hed and decla|red &s;entence: So that it is only a repreive of mercy which a wicked man hath. But though the &s;entence of condemnation bee fully knowne, and though it bee only the patience of God that &s;pareth the execution, and that to this end that repentance may wholy prevent it, notwith|&s;tanding <HI>the heart of the Sonnes of men,</HI> that is &s;aith <HI>Lyra, Illorum qui &s;unt nutriti in carnalitate &amp; &s;unt filii hominum, non Dei,</HI> of them who are nou|ri&s;hed in carnall &s;en&s;uallity, and are the Sonnes of men, not of God, the heart of &s;uch turneth all to an encrea&s;e of wickedne&s;&s;e. <HI>Chry&s;ologus</HI> ob|&s;erving the plea of the Devils, who &s;ay <HI>why art thou come to torment us before our times?</HI> thereupon noteth <HI>Agno&s;cit Deum, judicem profitetur, clamat judicium e&s;&s;e debere, &amp; de tempore prae&s;cribit,</HI> He acknowledg|eth God, he confe&s;&s;eth the Judge, he cryeth out that judgment is due, but he pre&s;cribeth concerning the time.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> And &s;o it is with wicked men, who acknowledging the judge, and the &s;entence to be given, yet be|cau&s;e the execution of &s;entence is &s;o long delayd, from thence do plead as it were a pre&s;cription of impunity, and per&s;wading them&s;elves in a man|ner,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chri&s;alog. Serm. <HI>16.</HI></NOTE> that the execution which is &s;o long put off, will never be laid on them, from thence are emboldened and made wor&s;e in their &s;infull cour&s;es, <HI>and therefore their heart is fully &s;et to do evill,</HI> there full &s;trength is &s;et unto the doing of it. The Originall is <HI>their heart is full to do evil,</HI> full of evill purpo&s;es, full of evill de&s;ires imaginations, devi&s;es for the bringing forth of evill workes. Their heart is &s;o full, that there is no roome for the feare of Gods wrath, no roome for the con&s;ideration of their own danger no roome for the apprehen&s;ion of the fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e of wickedne&s;&s;e, whereby to retaine them in any mea&s;ure, but they runne with a full &s;treame into the workes of iniquity. The Catena Greca gi|veth this expo&s;ition of the words,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Catona Graeca.</NOTE> <HI>Quoniam Dei providentia propter im|men&s;am intolerandis malis clementiam non &s;tatim in improbos gra&s;&s;atur, nec paenas &s;celerum expetit, ideirco vir nequam qua&s;i impune laturus peccan|di &s;ibi licentiam diutius per&s;uadet,</HI> Becau&s;e the providence of God
<PB N="291" REF="142"> through infinite clemency in bearing with evils, doth not forthwith fall upon the wicked, nor pre&s;ently puni&s;h their wickedne&s;&s;e, there|fore a wicked man, as if he &s;hould go without puni&s;hment per&s;wadeth him&s;elfe that he &s;hall be longer licenced in &s;inning. As for the execu|tion of ju&s;tice which is to come they behold it as a thing that is afar off, &amp; that makes it to &s;eem a little thing unto them. For as the &s;tars though in them&s;elves very great, yet being &s;eene afarre off, &s;eeme to bee little; &s;o wicked people con&s;idering of the day of judgment as a time to come long hence, they are little moved by it.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ezek.</HI> 12.22.</NOTE> Thus it was with the I&s;ralites concerning their temporall de&s;truction, their proverb was, <HI>the dayes are prolonged,</HI> and the &s;ame is the thought of wicked people, it is a long time to the la&s;t day, and thereupon they &s;pend their dayes in wicked|ne&s;&s;e. But if God be &s;o patient, how then is God &s;aid,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 7.11.</NOTE> <HI>to be angry with the wicked every day,</HI> as the P&s;almi&s;t &s;peaketh? St. <HI>Hierome</HI> an|&s;wereth, <HI>Pulchre ait infrendens omni die qui enim propter patientiam &s;u|am ita delicta non punit, qua&s;i iratus &amp; comminatus diem ultionnis ex|pectat,</HI> wi&s;ely doth he &s;ay that God is angry every day;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym.</NOTE> for he who through his patience doth &s;o not puni&s;h offences, doth as it were threat|ning and angry expect a day of revenge. And therefore as St. <HI>Gregory</HI> hath it, <HI>Quos diu ut convertantur tolerat, non conver&s;os durius damnat,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Hom. <HI>13</HI></NOTE> Tho&s;e whom he &s;uffereth long that they may be converted, being not converted, he condemneth the more &s;everely. And yet &s;ometimes al|&s;o God puni&s;heth the wicked forthwith, that thereby others might feare lea&s;t he &s;hould do &s;o alwayes.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Levit.</HI> 10.12.</NOTE> The two Sonnes of <HI>Aaron</HI> offered &s;trange fire before the Lord, and there went out a fire from the Lord and devoured them; <HI>in quibus non judicium tantum &s;ed prae&s;ens judicium, Deus o&s;tendere voluit, nec prius peractum e&s;t facinus peccantium, quam ulci&s;citur paena peccatum,</HI> upon whom God was plea&s;ed to &s;hew not only judgment, but pre&s;ent judgment, neither was the &s;inne of the offenders &s;ooner commited, then puni&s;hment revenged the &s;inne,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Salvianus de Guber. Dei. l. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> as <HI>Salvianus</HI> &s;peaketh. And why may not the &s;ame ju&s;t and angry God, as &s;oone puni&s;h any wicked dooers as he did them? St. <HI>Heirome</HI> reads the fir&s;t part of the ver&s;e thus, <HI>Quia non e&s;t contradictio facientibus malum ci|t&ograve;,</HI> Becau&s;e there is not forthwith contradiction to them that do evill:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;ian. Coll. <HI>2.</HI> C. <HI>11.</HI></NOTE> and <HI>Ca&s;&s;ian</HI> al&s;o reading it in the &s;ame manner; <HI>Abbot Thuon</HI> giveth this expo&s;ition of it, becau&s;e wickedne&s;&s;e is not forthwith checked, bla|med, and oppo&s;ed in them that do evill, either by them&s;elves or others, <HI>therefore is the heart of the Sonnes of men filled in them, that they do evils.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 12. The Preacher having in the ver&s;e before &s;hewed the pa|tience of God not to be ha&s;ty here he &s;hewes it to be very &s;low, &s;o that although a &s;inner do evill <HI>an hundred times,</HI> that is, very much; yea al|though he do the &s;ame evill over <HI>a hundred times,</HI> yet he forbeareth him, and in the lengh of his patience <HI>prolongeth his dayes,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Exod.</HI> 34.9.</NOTE> it may be to an hun|dreth yeares. When <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;aith unto God, <HI>O Lord let my Lord I pray thee go among us, for it is a &s;tifnecked people, the</HI> expo&s;ition which &s;ome give of
<PB N="292" REF="143"> it is this, &s;uch is the perver&s;ne&s;&s;e and &s;tubbonrne&s;&s;e of this people, that thy patience, thy mercy, thy goodne&s;&s;e is needfull to go among them, and a long with them. For though <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> him&s;elf were a mo&s;t meeke man, as the Scripture te&s;tifieth, yet he acknowledgeth his owne pati|ence not to bee &s;ufficient, but it is Gods patience which he confe&s;&s;eth to be mo&s;t fit for them, which in the daily &s;ufferance of grievous &s;inners is continually manife&s;ted. But to give the meaning of the whole ver&s;e, that which our tran&s;lation as I conceive importeh, is this, that though the wicked who abound in &s;innes, are not puni&s;hed for them, but live at ea&s;e, and in pro&s;perity, whereas they who feare the Lord and &s;hunne iniquity are full of troubles and &s;orrows; notwith&s;tanding that it is not the wicked but the Godly who have cau&s;e of comfort and joy. Indeed the foole that looketh on the wicked thinketh him to bee hap|py,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Prov.</HI> 17.24.</NOTE> becau&s;e as a foole <HI>he hath his eyes in the ends of the earth,</HI> as in the Proverbs the Preacher &s;peaketh, his &s;ight reacheth not beyond the earth, to tho&s;e things which &s;hall bee after death. A foole looketh upon a godly man under trouble and &s;orrow, and thinketh him to bee unhappy,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. in P&s;al. <HI>91</HI></NOTE> becau&s;e as a foole, <HI>Attendit quid patitur, &amp; non attendit quid illi &s;ervetur,</HI> He attendeth what he &s;uffereth, and doth not at|tend what is re&s;erved for him as S. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh. Wherfore the &s;ame Father &s;ayth, <HI>Noli gaudere ad pi&s;cem, qui in e&s;ca &s;ua exultat, nondum traxit hamum pi&s;cator,</HI> Do not rejoyce at the fi&s;h, which rejoyceth at his bayte, the fi&s;her hath not yet pulled his hook: <HI>boni laborant quia flagellantur ut filii, mali exultant quia damnantur ut alieni,</HI> The good are troubled, becau&s;e they are cha&s;ti&s;ed as Sonnes, the wicked rejoice becau&s;e they are condemned as aliens and &s;trangers. The prayer ther|fore of Origen is,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Orig. Hom. <HI>8.</HI> in c. <HI>20.</HI> Exod.</NOTE> <HI>Oro te, flagella me quoque, &amp; nolime re&s;ervare cum his qui non flagellantur:</HI> I intreat thee O Lord, cha&s;tice mee al&s;o, and do not re&s;erve mee with them which are not cha&s;ti&s;ed. For as he al&s;o &s;ayth, <HI>Hoc e&s;t terrible, hoc extremum quum jam non corripimur pro pec|catis,</HI> This is terrible, this is extreame, when wee are not now corre|cted for our &s;innes. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> readeth this ver&s;e thus, <HI>Quia pec|cator facit malum centies, &amp; elongat ei Deus, ex hoc cogno&s;co ego, quod erit bonum timentibus Deum, qui timent a facie ejus,</HI> Becau&s;e a &s;inner doth evil an hundreth times, &amp; God doth lengthen his dayes unto him, from hence I know that it &s;hall be well with them that feare God, which feare before his face. And him&s;elfe giveth the meaning of it to be this; from hence that God giveth to him &s;pace of repentance who &s;inneth very much (for that doth an hundreth times &s;ignifie) and doth not forthwith punni&s;h him in his wikedne&s;&s;e, but taryeth that he may be turned from his wickedne&s;&s;e; I under&s;tand how mercifull and gracious God will be towards them, who have a feare of him, and tremble at his word. The &s;ame Father in the &s;ame place tels us that <HI>Symmachus</HI> did read the former part of the ver&s;e thus. <HI>Peccans enim malus mortuus e&s;t, longa aetate con|ce&s;&s;a ei,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;um.</NOTE> An evill man &s;inning is dead, a long age being granted to him, which as he &s;aith was expounded thus, That he who doth evil &amp; &s;inneth
<PB N="293" REF="143"> is dead, dead in &s;in, although his dayes be prolonged, and that he live to old age. And it &s;eemeth by Saint <HI>Hierome,</HI> that not onely <HI>Symmachus,</HI> but <HI>Aquila</HI> and <HI>Theodotio</HI> al&s;o did tran&s;late the Hebrew word <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>mortuus</HI> dead, as if it came from <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;igniffies to dye, wheras other tran&s;lations which render it <HI>centies</HI> a hundredfold do take it as if it came from <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifies <HI>centum.</HI> But according to the reading of <HI>Symmachus,</HI> I conceive the meaning to be, that though a wicked man be &s;pared long, yet at lengh he is dead, and at la&s;t is brought to judge|ment; and then he findeth, that his &s;paring &s;o long was not his good, but the cau&s;e of his greater evil, that it was not the favour of God, but his anger again&s;t him. Wherefore S. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aith, <HI>vis no&s;&s;e, nulla paena, quan|ta &s;it paena?</HI> wilt thou know, how great a punni&s;hment no punni&s;hment is, con&s;ider a wicked man not puni&s;hed, for it is the greatne&s;&s;e of Gods anger again&s;t him, that he doth not puni&s;h him: <HI>magna e&s;t ira ejus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. de verb. Dom. Serm. <HI>37.</HI></NOTE> <HI>par|cendo &s;aevit, &amp; ju&s;te &s;aevit,</HI> Great is the wrath of God, in &s;paring he is cruell, and ju&s;tly is he cruell. His &s;paring is in the life, but after death cruell are the torments, which his ju&s;tice inflicteth. On the contrary, he that feareth God, in this life &s;uffereth griefe and cares, but it is he that &s;hall be comforted after death, it is he that &s;hall be full of comfort, at the la&s;t judgement, <HI>then it &s;hall be well with him.</HI> When our Saviour Chri&s;t a&s;cended into heaven, and his Di&s;cipes amazed with &s;orrow &s;tood gazing after him, the Angels &s;ay unto them,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Acts.</HI> 1.11.</NOTE> <HI>why &s;tand yee gazing up into heaven? This &s;ame Je&s;us, which is taken up from you into heaven, &s;hall &s;o come in like manner, as yee have &s;ee him go into heaven:</HI> but is this the comfort which they gave to the Orphan Di&s;ciples? Is this the con|&s;olation which they have for his ab&s;ence, that he &s;hall come again to judgement? &s;hall not his comming to judgement be full of terrour and horrour? yes to the wicked. <HI>But to them that feare God,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Matt.</HI> 25.34.</NOTE> <HI>to them that feare before his face,</HI> it &s;hall be a day of gladne&s;&s;e, and joy, a day of lifting up their heads. For then they &s;hall &s;ee him face to face, <HI>before who&s;e face they have feared,</HI> then they &s;hall heare the joyfull &s;entence of, Come yee ble&s;&s;ed of my Father, inherit the Kingdome prepared for you from before the foundation of the world. Of this time <HI>Job</HI> &s;peaking, and of his reedemers comming at this time, &s;aith, <HI>Whom I &s;hall &s;ee for my &s;elfe and myne eyes &s;hall behold him; for my &s;elfe,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Job.</HI> 19.27.</NOTE> that is &s;aith <HI>Vatablus bono meo</HI> for my good, as &s;hewing the meaning to be, that he &s;hould &s;ee him for him &s;elfe, and not again&s;t him &s;elfe, for him&s;elfe to his un&s;peakable joy and comfort, not again&s;t him&s;elfe to his condemnation. <HI>Oh how well will it then be with him that feareth God?</HI> The doubling of the words in the end of the ver&s;e, <HI>With them that feare God, which feare before him;</HI> I conceive to &s;ignifie a double feare, the fir&s;t &s;ignifying that feare, <HI>Qui timet iram Dei,</HI> which feareth the wrath of God, the other that feare, <HI>qui timet offen&s;am Dei,</HI> which feareth the offending of God: the one feareth him, the other feareth before him, as being before him in the wayes of godline&s;&s;e, and fearing to depart from them. The Hebrew is, <HI>feareth before his face,</HI> that is, enjoying the gracious look of his favor
<PB N="295" REF="144"> and countenance feareth to loo&s;e it, and to be deprived of it. And though it be not &s;o well with the other, as it is with him that thus fea|reth, yet it &s;hall be well with him al&s;o, when by a &s;ervile feare he is brought from it into a filiall feare.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 13. Saint <HI>Hierome,</HI> and the Uulgar Latine begin the ver&s;e thus, <HI>Et bonum non &s;it impio,</HI> And let not good be unto the wicked: which Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> expoundeth to be an imprecation again&s;t them, who have not the feare of God, and that the Preacher wi&s;heth that they may not be delayed long in their puni&s;hment, but that being forthwith taken a|way by death,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> they may receive the torments which they have de&s;erved. And whereas Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> addeth, <HI>Quae quomodo clementer dicta &s;int re|quirendum e&s;t,</HI> which things, how they be mercifully &s;poken, is to be looked after;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;heweth, that the ha&s;tning of their puni&s;hment is a le&s;ning of it, becau&s;e thereby their &s;innes are the fewer, which by the de|lay of their puni&s;hment would be multiplied, and &s;o would multiply the greatne&s;&s;e thereof. Wherefore the mercy of the words is, that he de|&s;ireth a le&s;&s;e mea&s;ure of torments for them. And to view the words &s;o rendred, <HI>Let not good,</HI> that is, not the good of this life (&s;aith the Ordina|ry Glo&s;&s;e) becau&s;e it is no other good that they &s;eek for, <HI>Let not good be to the wicked,</HI> becau&s;e he doth abu&s;e it, &s;aith <HI>Lyra.</HI> But to follow rather our reading, which is according to the Originall, as al&s;o according to the Septuagint, <HI>It &s;hall not be well with the wicked:</HI> how well &s;oever ei|ther them&s;elves or others may imagine it to be now with them, <HI>it &s;hall not be well with them.</HI> Among tho&s;e things which Almightie God &s;hew|ed to the Prophet <HI>Ezekiel</HI> in the Temple,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ezek.</HI> 41.18. <HI>c.</HI> 19.</NOTE> wee read, <HI>and it was made with Cherubims and Palme trees, &s;o that a Palme tree was between a Cherub and a Cherub, and every Cherub had two faces, &s;o that the face of a man was to|wards the Palme tree on the one &s;ide, and the face of a young lyon towards the Palme tree on the other &s;ide,</HI> Now what doth a Cherub import, but a fulnes of knowledge? And is it not Chri&s;t, in whom are all the trea&s;ures of wi&s;dome and knowledge?<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Colo&s;.</HI> 2.3.</NOTE> Is not he the very wi&s;dome of God? He it is therefore, who hath two faces, the one like the face of a man, courte|teous and mild; the other of a lyon, fierce and terrible, with both it is &s;aid,<NOTE PLACE="marg">He&s;ychius &s;up. c. <HI>23.</HI> Levitici.</NOTE> That he beheld a Palme tree. Now a Palme tree in the Scriptures, as <HI>He&s;ychius</HI> tells us, u&s;eth to &s;ignifie ju&s;tice. Wherefore Chri&s;t behol|deth ju&s;tice, both with a mans face, and with a lyons face: with a mans face in this life, which is a time of mercy, and wherein he &s;pareth the wicked, expecting their amendment. But when the fulne&s;&s;e of the time of this life is come, and that the wicked are called to judgement, then he looketh upon ju&s;tice with the face of a lyon, with the fiercene&s;&s;e of his wrath, and then <HI>it &s;hall not be well with the wicked.</HI> Then as the Pro|phet <HI>E&s;aiah</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;ai.</HI> 30.27.</NOTE> <HI>his lips &s;hall be full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire,</HI> &s;ending the wicked by his &s;entence into that fire, of which Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaking,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin.</NOTE> &s;aith, <HI>Ignis i&s;te no&s;ter licet qualis fornacis Babyloniae &s;it, igni illi inferni comparatus, e&s;t velut ignis depictus,</HI> This fire of ours, although it be &s;uch as was in the furnace of Babylon, being
<PB N="296" REF="144"> compared with the fire of hell, is but a painted fire. <HI>Neither &s;hall he pro|long his dayes:</HI> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> expounding the&s;e words, &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Non enim hi qui multo tempore vivunt, prolongant dies &s;uos, &s;ed qui grandes eos faci|unt honorum operum magnitudine,</HI> For they who live a great while, doe not prolong their dayes, but they who make them to be great by the greatne&s;&s;e of their good works. Wherefore, &s;aith he,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gene.</HI> 47.9.</NOTE> <HI>Jacob</HI> confe&s;&s;ing his &s;innes, &s;aith, <HI>Few and evill have been my dayes.</HI> But the Preacher &s;pea|king of the time to come, meaneth, as I conceive, That though the dayes of the wicked may be long in this life, whereof in the ver&s;e before he &s;peaketh, yet that in re&s;pect of the next life, which &s;hall be endle&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 102.11.</NOTE> they &s;hall be very &s;hort. Wherefore when the Prophet <HI>David</HI> complay|neth, <HI>I am withered like gra&s;&s;e,</HI> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> expoundeth it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Non quod longam vitam quae&s;ierit in pre&s;enti, &s;ed quod de futuro timeat, ne longitudo vitae ip&s;ius, ubi vera e&s;t vita brevietur,</HI> Not that he de&s;ired a long life in this pre&s;ent world, but becau&s;e he feared of that which is to come, lea&s;t there the length of his life &s;hould be &s;hort, where true life is. Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> therefore &s;peaking to one who is troubled at the pro&s;perity of the wicked in this life, &s;aith, <HI>Attendis ad dies tuos paucos, &amp; diebus tuis pau|cis vis impleri omnia. Quae omnia? ut damnentur omnes impii, &amp; co|ronenter omnes ju&s;ti. I&s;tis diebus tuis vis haec omnia impleri? Implet ea Deus in tempore &s;uo. Quod tibi videtur longum, breve e&s;t, omnia i&s;ta cito tran&s;eunt, &amp; qui florent ad tempus intereunt in aeternum,</HI> Thou do&s;t at|tend unto thy few dayes, and in thy few dayes thou would&s;t have all things to be fulfilled. What all things? That all the wicked be con|demned, and all the godly be crowned. Woulde&s;t thou that all the&s;e things &s;hould be fulfilled in thy dayes, they &s;hall be fulfilled by God in his time. That which &s;eemeth long to thee, is but a little while: all tho&s;e things quickly pa&s;&s;e away, and they who flouri&s;h for a time,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. in P&s;al. <HI>91.</HI></NOTE> do peri&s;h for ever. <HI>Which are as a &s;hadow:</HI> the Hebrew is no more then, <HI>as a &s;hadow,</HI> and &s;o the words may be referred either to that which goeth before thus, Neither &s;hall he prolong his dayes, as a &s;hadow: for a &s;hadow is prolonged when the Sunne is going downe, and then is longe&s;t when the Sunne is lowe&s;t, and neere&s;t to a &s;etting; but &s;o &s;hall not the dayes of the wicked be prolonged. For when their Sunne commeth to &s;et, their temporal life to end, then the length of their eternall life &s;hall quite be cut off; and not a day of comfort for ever &s;hall be afforded to them. Or el&s;e the&s;e words, <HI>as a &s;hadow,</HI> may be referred unto that which fol|loweth, and &s;o <HI>Cajetane</HI> doth referre them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cajetanus in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> who expounding the&s;e words &s;aith, He compareth a man that doth not feare in the &s;ight of God, unto a &s;hadow, becau&s;e as a &s;hadow is not his true body, who&s;e &s;hadow it is, but only &s;ome repre&s;entation of it, <HI>Ita non timens con&s;pectum divi|num non e&s;t homo &s;ed hominis umbra,</HI> So he that feareth not the divine looke, is not a man, but the &s;hadow of a man. He is not I &s;ay a man ac|cording to the u&s;e of under&s;tanding, but a &s;hadow of a man: for the u&s;e of mans mind dependeth upon the feare of the divine &s;ight, as it were upon the fir&s;t rule. And indeed the Original &s;eemeth to favour this ex|po&s;ition,
<PB N="296" REF="145"> which &s;aith, <HI>Qui non ip&s;e timens a faciebus Dei,</HI> as if the &s;ence were, who being not him&s;elfe, feareth not before God, and that the negation did denie as well him&s;elfe as his feare. Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> therefore &s;peaking al&s;o of the wicked, &s;aith, <HI>Ide&ograve; pecca&s;&s;e &s;e ne&s;ciunt, quia homines &s;e non attendunt: nam &s;i con&s;iderarent &s;e homines, citius agno|&s;cerent,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral. l. <HI>24.</HI> c. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> <HI>quant&ograve; infr&agrave; homines peccando cecidi&s;&s;ent,</HI> Therefore doe they not know them&s;elves to have &s;inned, becau&s;e they doe not marke them|&s;elves to be men: for if they did con&s;ider them&s;elves to be men, they would acknowledg how far by &s;inning they had fallen below men. <HI>Be|cau&s;e he feareth not before God:</HI> that is, becau&s;e he feareth not to come be+fore God at the judgement day. But becau&s;e he feareth &s;o little now, when the time commeth, he &s;hall feare and tremble beyond all imagina|tion.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Matth.</HI> 24.29.</NOTE> Our Saviour in &s;ome &s;ort de&s;cribing that time, &s;aith, <HI>that then the powers of heaven &s;hall be &s;haken:</HI> and Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> expounding it &s;aith, <HI>De angelis hoc dicit, timor en. illos apprehendet, magnus timor;</HI> He &s;pea|keth this of the Angels, for trembling and great feare &s;hall &s;urpri&s;e them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin Serm. in Fer. <HI>6.</HI> Para&s;.</NOTE> But if the Angels &s;hall tremble at the horrour of that day, who being guilty of no &s;inne, &s;hall not then be judged, how &s;hall the wicked tremble, who&s;e judgement and condemnation &s;hall then be pronoun|ced. <HI>Holcot</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Holcot.</NOTE> telleth a &s;tory of two &s;ouldiers, that comming to the val|ley <HI>Jeho&s;aphat,</HI> in <HI>Judaea;</HI> and one &s;aying to the other here &s;hall be the generall judgment, wherefore I will now take up my place, where I will then &s;it, and &s;o taking up a &s;tone he &s;ate downe upon it, as taking po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ion before hand. But being &s;ate, and looking up to heaven, &s;uch a quaking and trembling fell upon him, that falling to the earth, he re|membred the day of judgement with trembling ever after. This feare may give &s;ome remon&s;trance of that which then &s;hall be felt; but the feeling of it will be greater then can be apprehended now.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="14-15" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 14.</HI></BIBL> There is a vanitie which is done upon the earth, that there be ju&s;t men unto whom it happeneth, according to the worke of the wicked; again there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I &s;aid that this al&s;o is vanity.</P>
<PB N="297" REF="145">
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 15.</HI></BIBL> Then I commended mirth, becau&s;e a man hath no better thing under the Sunne, then to eate, and drinke, and to be merry: for that &s;hall abide with him of his labour the dayes of his life, which God giveth him under the Sunne.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 14. This ver&s;e &s;peaketh of two things which fall out in the world, the mi&s;ery of the ju&s;t; the pro&s;perity of the wicked, and unto each the Preacher addeth a &s;everall vanity, to make it the better noted. <HI>This is &s;ayth he a vanity which is done upon the earth:</HI> for it is while the ju&s;t are upon the earth, that this vanity cleaveth unto them, and that they have &s;innes and corruptions in them, which by the evils of affliction are prevented and pared a way, that &s;o they may not dimini&s;h their glory in heaven.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chald. Poraph.</NOTE> The <HI>Chalde</HI> Parapha&s;e therefore writing upon the&s;e words expoundeth them thus, <HI>Vidi in Spiritu &s;ancto qu&ograve;d malum accidit ju&s;tis in hoc &s;aeculo ad removendam ex eis culpam levem ut, &s;it merces eorum integra in &s;aeculo venturo,</HI> I have &s;een by the holy Spirit that evill hap|peneth to the ju&s;t in this world, to remove from them le&s;&s;e faults, that &s;o their reward may be whole and perfect in the world to come. Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> con&s;idering that an&s;wer of the Spou&s;e, when her beloved cal|led her, <HI>I have put off my coate, how &s;hall I put it on?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Cant.</HI> 5.3.</NOTE> <HI>I have wa&s;hed my feet, how &s;hall I defile them?</HI> thereupon &s;aith, <HI>O grande mi&s;terium! ergone timet inquinare pedes remeando ad eum, qui di&s;cipulorum pedes lavit? Ti|met certe per quia terram venit,</HI> O great my&s;tery!<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tm. tract. <HI>57.</HI> in Johann.</NOTE> what doth &s;hee feare the fouling of her feete by going unto him, who wa&s;hed his di&s;ciples feet? Shee feared indeed, becau&s;e &s;hee goeth upon the earth. For while the righteous go upon the earth, though with great earne&s;tne&s;&s;e and &s;peed they even runne to God, yet &s;uch is the vanity of this life, that their feet are defiled, and affliction is needfull to wa&s;h the durt away. Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Nobis fratres &s;emper putationis e&s;t tempus, &s;icut e&s;t &s;em|per e&s;t opus: Scrutemur vias no&s;tras &amp; &s;tudia no&s;tra, &amp; eo &s;e judicet qui&s;que profeci&s;&s;e, non quum non invenerit quod reprehendat, &s;ed quum quod invenerit, reprehenderit,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. Ser. <HI>58.</HI> in Cant.</NOTE> Brethren there is to us alway a time of pruning as it is alwayes needfull: let us &s;earch our wayes and our en|deavours, and herein let every one judge him&s;elfe to have profited, not when he cannot find that which he may reprehend, but when he reprehendeth that which he findeth. The other vanity in this world whereof the Preacher &s;peaketh, is the pro&s;perity of the wicked, and whereof the Preacher &s;ayth, <HI>I &s;ayd this al&s;o is vanity.</HI> A vanity it is the world, and maketh oftentimes even the righteous vaine in their imaginations, when they think upon it. So that as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;pea|keth, &s;ome one in his troubled mind is even ready to &s;ay, <HI>Deus, puto
<PB N="298" REF="146"> mali tibi placent, &amp; bonos odi&s;ti; amas eos qui faciunt iniquitatem,</HI> O God I thinke that the wicked plea&s;e thee, and that thou hate&s;t the good, thou love&s;t tho&s;e that work iniquity. Another as the &s;ame Fa|ther &s;peaketh, con&s;idering him&s;elfe to be ca&s;t into pri&s;on, and there to be carefull to do the workes of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, while he that did ca&s;t him into pri&s;on, though living in wickedne&s;&s;e, rejoyceth and aboun|deth in the plea&s;ures of the earth, from hence his di&s;quieted heart is e|ven ready to &s;ay,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. p&s;al. <HI>91.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Deus quare tibi &s;ervio, quare obedio verbis tuis?</HI> O God why do I &s;erve thee, why do I obey thy words? Now indeede whereas the P&s;almi&s;t &s;aith, <HI>O Lord how great are thy workes? And thy thoughts are very deep,</HI> it is Saint <HI>Au&s;tins</HI> note upon it, <HI>Nullum mare e&s;t tam profundum quam e&s;t i&s;ta cogitatio Dei, ut mali floreant, &amp; boni laborent,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. Ibid.</NOTE> There is no &s;ea &s;o deepe as is this thought of God, that the wicked do flouri&s;h, and the good are troubled. And in this very place Saint <HI>Hierom</HI> tels us, that whereas we read it, <HI>There is a vanity which is done,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Symmachus</HI> did read it thus, <HI>e&s;t difficile cognitu quod &s;it &s;uper ter|ram,</HI> It is hard to be under&s;tood that which is done upon the earth. Hard it was to <HI>Solomon</HI> who therefore confe&s;&s;eth, <HI>I &s;ayd that this is al|&s;o vanity.</HI> Hard it is even to tho&s;e who living ju&s;tly, and knowing God to be ju&s;t, do thinke with them&s;elves, <HI>Decet eum meliora dare meliori|bus,</HI> It behooveth him to give the better things to them that are bet|ter. But let me &s;ay to every &s;uch one, as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> doth. <HI>E&s;to tran|quillus &amp; intelliges:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. in p&s;alm. <HI>91.</HI></NOTE> <HI>nam perturbaris &amp; in cubiculo tuo ob&s;curas tibi lu|cem. Radiare tibi vult Deus Aeternus, noli tibi facere nubilum de pertur|batione e&s;to tranquillus in te, &amp; vide quid tibi dicit,</HI> Bee pacified and thou &s;halt under&s;tand, for thou art troubled, and do&s;t darken the light to thy &s;elfe in thine own chamber. The ae|ternall God is willing to &s;hine in unto thee, do not make thy &s;elfe a cloud from thine own perturbation: be quiet in thy &s;elf, and &s;ee what he &s;aith unto thee: <HI>Quia Deus aeternus e&s;t modo parcit malis adducens e|os ad paenitentiam,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 92.132.</NOTE> <HI>flagellat bonos erudiens illos ad regnum coelorum,</HI> Be|cau&s;e God is aeternall, he &s;pareth the wicked leading them unto repen|tance, he cha&s;ti&s;eth the good bringing them up and in&s;tructing them to the kingdome of Heaven. It is good therfore in all things to prai&s;e the Lord, and to give thanks unto him, <HI>to &s;hew forth his loving kindne&s;&s;e in the morning, and his faithfulne&s;&s;e every night</HI> as the P&s;almi&s;t &s;peaketh. Now as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> hath it, <HI>the morning</HI> is, when it is well with us, when we have comfort:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. in p&s;al. <HI>91.</HI></NOTE> <HI>the night is,</HI> when we are in heavine&s;&s;e and &s;or|row: what therefore is it that wee are briefely taught? But in our pro|&s;perity to prai&s;e the mercy of God, in our adver&s;ity to prai&s;e the righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God, who layeth no more upon any, then while they are up|on the earth, their &s;innes do de&s;erve though they be ju&s;t and godly. For he prai&s;eth the righteou&s;nes of God, <HI>Qui non accu&s;at Deum, quia patitur aliquid mali, &s;ed tribuit illud peccatis &s;uis, &amp; emendationi ip&s;ius,</HI> who doth not accu&s;e God becau&s;e he &s;uffereth any evill, but a&s;cribeth it unto his owne &s;innes, and to God amending of him. As for the flouri&s;hing
<PB N="299" REF="146"> of the wicked, the &s;ame Father &s;peaketh al&s;o very well, <HI>Nolite &s;educi pro&s;peritate impiorum, nolite attendere florem faeni, nolite attendere ad tempus beatos, in aeternum mi&s;eros,</HI> Suffer not your &s;elves to be &s;educed with the felicity of the wicked, regard not the flower of the gra&s;&s;e; regard not them who are happy for a time, and eternally mi&s;era|ble.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 15. It is a common received opinion, that in this booke the Preacher often &s;peaketh under the per&s;on of others. And that he doth &s;o, Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> proveth, becau&s;e in the end of the book he &s;aith, <HI>Finem loquendi omnes pariter audiamus,</HI> let us all heare together the conclu|&s;ion, or as wee read it, <HI>let us heare the conclu&s;ion of the whole matter.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Dialog. l. <HI>4.</HI> c. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> For &s;aith he <HI>&s;i in libro eodem per locutionem &s;uam per&s;onas multorum non &s;u&s;ce|perat, cur ad audiendum loquendi finem &s;ecum pariter omnes admonebat,</HI> If in the &s;ame booke, by the manner of his &s;peach he had not taken up|on him the per&s;ons of many, why doth he admoni&s;h all together with him&s;elf to heare the end of the &s;peach. Wherefore going on he &s;aith, there are are &s;omethings in that booke which are moved by way of en|quiry: other things which give a rea&s;on by way of &s;atisfaction <HI>Alia quae ex tentati profert animo, &amp; adhuc hujus mundi delectationibus dediti: alia in quibus ea quae &s;unt rationis affert, atque animum &agrave; delectatione com|pe&s;cit,</HI> Other things which he produceth from the minde of one that is tempted, and as yet is given to the delights of the world: other things in which he di&s;cour&s;eth according unto rea&s;on, and withdraweth the mind from delight. <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> &s;peaketh doubtfully of this point and &s;ayth, <HI>Anne autem dicat, qua&s;i ea rever&agrave; feci&s;&s;et, an fingens propter utilitatem no&s;tram, ut con&s;equenter ad &s;copum ducat orationem &s;uam,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregory Ny&s;&s;en in Eccle&s;. Homil. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> <HI>non po&s;&s;um a&s;&s;erere: liceat volenti quam velit ea de re facere conjecturam,</HI> Whe|ther he &s;peaketh, as having done the&s;e things indeed, or el&s;e as fra|ming his &s;peach in this manner for our profit, that he might the better bring it to his propo&s;ed &s;cope, I cannot affirme: let it be lawfull for him that will, to conjecture of it as he will. The rea&s;on of this opinion is, becau&s;e that there are diver&s;e pa&s;&s;ages of this booke, <HI>Quae qui virtutem &s;ibi proponit non libenter ad&s;civerit,</HI> which he that propo&s;eth vertue to him&s;elfe would not willingly allow of as <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> &s;peaketh. But that is as things are under&s;tood. In this ver&s;e, when &s;ome do read it, <HI>Forte convivia meditantur, calices praeparant, tempus ro&s;arum expectant,</HI> They meditate of fea&s;ts, they prepare cups,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin in P&s;. <HI>99.</HI></NOTE> they expect the time of ro|&s;es, as Saint <HI>Au&s;tins</HI> words are upon the like occa&s;ion. And then the Preacher mu&s;t be concieved to &s;peake in the per&s;on of a carnall man, who mindeth onely the things of this life. But let it be free for me, to take the Preacher here as &s;peaking from him&s;elfe, and &s;o to &s;peak of a chearfulne&s;&s;e of heart, which is a thing not only plea&s;ing unto God, but gracefull in man. For the Preacher having &s;poken of the oppre&s;&s;i|on of the wicked, and of the troubles of the righteous, here he &s;hew|eth a good remedy again&s;t them, and an excellent carriage in them. <HI>Then I commended mirth;</HI> when he had con&s;idered the troubles of mans
<PB N="300" REF="147"> life, then he commended cheerefulne&s;&s;e, he commended it as a thing worthy of prai&s;e in it &s;elfe, he commended it unto men, as a thing bring|ing much good unto them. And this it is which the Prophet <HI>David</HI> com|mendeth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 100.2.</NOTE> &s;aying, <HI>Serve the Lord with gladne&s;&s;e, come before his pre&s;ence with &s;inging.</HI> Although it be a &s;ervice of mi&s;ery and labour, in which thou art, yet pa&s;&s;e through it with a merry and glad hart: doe not mur|mure at it, doe not fret, chafe, vex thy &s;elfe for it. <HI>Non id agunt mur|mura tua ut non &s;ervias,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. in P&s;al. <HI>99.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;ed ut malus &s;is &s;ervus,</HI> Thy murmurings doe not make thee not to &s;erve &s;till, but onely to be a bad &s;ervant in it, as S. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh. But mark al&s;o, what the Prophet addeth, <HI>Come before his pre&s;ence with cheerefulne&s;&s;e;</HI> for it is no great matter to be cheerefull outwardly, but doe thou bee cheerefull in the pre&s;ence of God, <HI>Non vald&egrave; lingua exultet, &s;ed con&s;cientia exultet,</HI> Let not thy toung be very merry, but let thy con&s;cience be cheerefull: be glad and merry in the &s;ight of the Lord, <HI>becau&s;e a man hath no better thing under the Sunne.</HI> But above the Sunne there is farre better, there is &s;uch mirth as here can not be conceived, <HI>Ibi totum negotium no&s;trum erit non ni&s;i laudare Deum &amp; frui Deo:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. in P&s;al. <HI>86.</HI></NOTE> <HI>hoc uno beati erimus otio&s;o negotio,</HI> There all our bu&s;ine&s;&s;e wil be nothing, but to prai&s;e God, and to enjoy God: by this one quiet bu&s;ine&s;&s;e we &s;hall be ble&s;&s;ed, as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh. While we are here there is nothing better then to be cheerefull, which maketh com|forts to be much more comfortable, and maketh troubles to be much le&s;&s;e trouble &s;ome. <HI>Then to eate and to drink and to be merry:</HI> although it be the bread of &s;orrow that thou eate&s;t, although it be the cup of afflicti|on that thou drinke&s;t, eate it, and drinke it merrily. Becau&s;e oppre&s;&s;ion eats thee, doe not thou forbeare to eate thy meate; becau&s;e afflictions &s;wallowes thee up, doe not thou forbeare to &s;wallow downe thy drinke, but doe both merrily, which will make thy meate and drinke to doe thee the more good. Or el&s;e we may take the&s;e words as an expre&s;&s;ion of inward cheerefulne&s;&s;e, by the outward manner of the world. Thus &s;aith S. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> was holy <HI>Cri&s;pina</HI> cheerefull,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. in P&s;al. <HI>137.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Gaudebat quum tenebatur, quum ad judicem ducebatur, quum in carcerem mittebatur, quum ligata produceba|tur, quum in cata&s;t&acirc; levebatur, quum audiebatur, quum damnabatur. In his omnibus gaudebat, &amp; eam mi&s;eri mi&s;eram putabant, quae coram Angelis gaudebat,</HI> She was merry when &s;he was apprehended, when &s;he was led to the Judge, when &s;he was &s;ent into pri&s;on, when being bound &s;he was brought forth, when &s;he was lifted up in the cage, when &s;he was heard, when &s;he was condemned. In all the&s;e things &s;he rejoyced, and they who were mi&s;erable thought her to be mi&s;erable, who rejoyced before the Angels. Of this cheerefulne&s;&s;e <HI>Gilbertus</HI> &s;peaking &s;aith, <HI>Quis dabit hortulo meo hanc aquam? Quis dabit, ut tota hortuli mei facies irigua &s;it laetitia, &amp; lucis rivulis nihil in eo aut &s;terile &s;it, aut quadam in|devotione tri&s;te? vicina &s;terilitati videtur operatio tri&s;tis, &amp; &s;piritualis gaudii carens irrigatione,</HI> Who will give into my little garden this wa|ter? who will cau&s;e that the whole face or plot of my garden may be watered with cheerefulne&s;&s;e, &s;o that by the rivers of light &s;omne&s;&s;e,
<PB N="301" REF="147"> there may be nothing in it either barren, or el&s;e &s;ad by a kind of indevo|tion. For a &s;ad working,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gilbert. Serm. <HI>34.</HI> in Cantu.</NOTE> and wanting the watering of a &s;pirituall cheere|fulne&s;&s;e, &s;eemeth to be nere unto barrene&s;&s;e. <HI>For that &s;hall a bide with him of his labour:</HI> and make him to abide and continue though troubles a&s;&s;ault him never &s;o much. <HI>Hoc comitabitur eum in labore,</HI> this &s;hall a bide with him, keepe him company in his labour, &s;aith <HI>Arrias Monta|nus,</HI> and make him able to a bide his labour: Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> addes, <HI>Et ip&s;um egredietur cum eo de labore &s;uo,</HI> And that &s;hall go with him out of his labour, as leading him al&s;o the &s;ooner and the better out of it. <HI>The dayes of his life.</HI> The Hebrew is <HI>the dayes of his lifes,</HI> and though it be an Hebrai&s;me yet we may take it, as &s;peaking of the two kinds of mans life, either in trouble or in comfort, and of his dayes in both. When the Prophet <HI>David</HI> &s;aith&punc; <HI>Every day will I ble&s;&s;e thee,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 145.2.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> noteth upon it, <HI>Non mirum e&s;t &s;i laeto die tuo benedicis Deum tuum,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. in P&s;al. <HI>144.</HI></NOTE> It is no mervaile if in thy cheerefull day thou do&s;t ble&s;&s;e thy God with cheere|fulne&s;&s;e: but if a &s;ad day come, if troubles fall upon thee, and then thou beare them with a cheerefull hart, then thou be cheerefull in prai&s;ing the Lord, this is that which <HI>David</HI> &s;aith that he would doe, this is that which the Sonne of <HI>David</HI> here would have thee to doe. <HI>Which God gi|veth him under the Sunne:</HI> The dayes of man being under the Sunne, their cour&s;e is like unto the Sunne, and as the Sunne &s;ometimes &s;hineth, &s;ometimes is clouded, &s;o the dayes of man are &s;ometimes cleare, &s;ome|times dark. <HI>&V;nder the Sunne</HI> they are, but yet given by God who is a+bove the Sunne: from his providence come both good and bad dayes unto us. There were three dayes before the Sunne was made, and that was to &s;hew, that God is the Authour, and not the Sunne, of the day unto us. And &s;urely he it that is the Author of the goodne&s;&s;e or badne&s;&s;e of our dayes unto us. And therefore let us &s;till be cheerefull, as thank|full for his favour, as re&s;ting in his providence, as contented in his will, as obedient to his plea&s;ure.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="16-17" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 16.</HI></BIBL> When I applyed mine heart to know wi&s;|dome, and to &s;ee the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e that is done upon the earth (for al&s;o there is that neither day nor night &s;eeth &s;leepe with his eyes.)</P>
<PB N="302" REF="148">
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 17.</HI></BIBL> Then I beheld all the worke of God, that a man cannot find out the worke that is done under the Sunne; becau&s;e though a man labour to &s;eeke it out, yea fur|ther though a wi&s;e man thinke to know it, yet &s;hall he not he be able to find it.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 1.2.</NOTE><HI>Ver.</HI> 16. The Prophet <HI>David</HI> &s;peaking of a ble&s;&s;ed man &s;aith, <HI>his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night:</HI> where there is fir&s;t a delight, there followeth &s;uch an earne&s;t meditation, as that it cea&s;eth not day nor night. And &s;o here where the <HI>hart to is applyed to know wi&s;dome,</HI> there is &s;uch a &s;eeking of it, <HI>as that nei|ther day nor night he &s;eeth &s;leep with his eyes.</HI> But as Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> noteth, that he meditateth day and night, <HI>In quo non t&agrave;m continua legendi po|&s;tulatur intentio, qu&agrave;m &s;ervandae legis affectus. Ille enim plen&egrave; meditatur, qui &s;ibi ip&s;i lex,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in P&s;. <HI>1</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;criptum in corde &s;uo opus legis intendens,</HI> In whom there is not required &s;o much a continuall eagerne&s;&s;e of reading, as an earne&s;t affection to the keeping of the law. For he meditateth fully, who is a law to him&s;elfe intending the work of the law written in his hart. In like manner, the &s;tudy of wi&s;dome night and day is not &s;o much to beate and break the braynes in the apprehen&s;ion of it, as rather to make a right u&s;e of it, by the application of the hart unto it. <HI>Meditetur ergo legem vita no&s;tra; meditetur conver&s;atio, meditetur actus,</HI> Let our life therefore &s;aith S. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> meditate the law, let our conver&s;ation meditate it, let our acti|ons meditate it; &amp; &s;o let me &s;ay, let the governement of our wayes &s;tudy wi&s;dom, let the framing of our works &s;tudy it, for that is to apply the hart to know wi&s;dome. But what is the wi&s;dome which the Preacher is &s;o earne&s;t to know? <HI>To &s;ee the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e that is done upon the earth,</HI> that is to &s;ee the wi&s;dom of Gods providence in ruling and ordering the affaires of the earth. And indeed as the glorious wi&s;dome of God doth therein &s;hine unto us, &s;o it is needfull to ob&s;erve it, and to looke into it. <HI>Seneca</HI> ob|&s;erveth it with wonder in the u&s;e of the winds, which &s;uffer not the ayre to wax muddy, <HI>&s;ed continu&acirc; vexatione utilem reddunt vitalemque tractu|ris,</HI> But by a continuall vexation to&s;&s;ing and taring of it, doe make it to be u&s;efull and vitall unto them that draw it in; which, that the fruits may be gathered, blow away tho&s;e &s;uperflous things which are mixed with them, <HI>Et latentem fructum, ruptis velamentis &s;uis (quae folliculos a|gricolae vocant) adaperit,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca l. <HI>5.</HI> Qu. Naturall c. <HI>18.</HI></NOTE> &amp; openeth the hidden fruit by breaking the co|verings of it, which hu&s;band-men call the hu&s;ck or ho&s;e of the corne,
<PB N="303" REF="148"> which nouri&s;h plants and trees, and by &s;haking of them &s;erve to ripen tho&s;e things which they beare, drawing up the nouri&s;hment unto the top, which el&s;e might &s;tay and be &s;topped: and which la&s;tly give commerce to people devided far a &s;under, and make man to know tho&s;e things, whereof his owne countty would have left him ignorant. <HI>Se|neca</HI> doth againe ob&s;erve it, in the mi&s;eries of &s;ome, the ea&s;e and quiet|ne&s;&s;e of others. For &s;aith he a fre&s;h Souldier feareth the &s;u&s;picion of a wound, but he that hath been long in the warres, boldly looketh on his blood, as knowing that often he hath won the victory, when he hath lo&s;t his blood; <HI>Hos ita&abque; quos Deus amat, probat, indurat, recogno&s;cit exercet,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Sene: l. de Di|vina Provident.</NOTE> <HI>eos autem quibus indulgere videtur molles ventuis malis &s;ervat,</HI> Tho&s;e there|fore whom he loveth, he proveth, he hardeneth, he knoweth, he trieth, but tho&s;e whom he &s;eemeth to &s;pare, he keepeth them tender, for evils to come. It is needfull al&s;o to looke into the wi&s;dome of Gods provi|dence, thereby to be the better able to an&s;wer fooles who make ob|jections again&s;t it. Some of them are propo&s;ed by Saint <HI>Au&s;tin,</HI> as <HI>Qua|lis inquiunt providentia, Getulia &s;itit, &amp; mare compluitur? Et quare ali|quando percutiunt montem fulmina, &amp; non percutiuut latronem?</HI> What a providence &s;ay they is this, <HI>Getulia</HI> is dry and thir&s;ty, and the &s;ea is rayned upon? And why &s;ometimes doe the lightenings &s;hrike the moun|taines, and not &s;trike the robbers which are upon them? As for the &s;ea, the Father an&s;wereth, that there are creatures living in it, which have need of of fre&s;h waters, and which therefore doe often come into the fre&s;h rivers for them. And whereas the objection going further &s;aith, <HI>Quare pi&s;ci pluit &amp; mihi non pluit aliquando?</HI> Why doth it raine for the fi&s;h and not for me &s;ometimes? The Father an&s;wereth; <HI>&V;t cogites te in regione e&s;&s;e de&s;erti, &amp; ut amare&s;cat tibi vita prae&s;ens, futu|ramque de&s;ideres,</HI> That thou maye&s;t con&s;ider thy &s;elfe to be in a de&s;ert region, and that this life being bitter to thee, thou maye&s;t de&s;ire that which is to come. As for <HI>Getulia</HI> he an&s;wereth, that in other places where corne can not be kept long, but is quickly corrupted,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. in P&s;al. <HI>148.</HI></NOTE> there it raineth every yeare, and every yeare corne groweth: <HI>ibi quia raro, &amp; multum datur, &amp; diu &s;ervatur,</HI> There where it raineth more &s;eldome, much corne is given at once, and it will al&s;o be kept a long time. La&s;tly as for the lightnings he &s;aith, <HI>Majores majora noverint, &amp; det vobis Deus plus &s;apere quam dico,</HI> They who are more learned know more, and God grant that you may under&s;tand more then I &s;ay: but let me &s;ay what I con&s;ider, <HI>Ideo aliquando percutitur mons, qui non timet, ut mu|tetur homo, qui timet, &amp; tu quum das di&s;ciplinam, terram feris, ut infans expave&s;cat,</HI> Therefore &s;ometimes is the mountaine &s;trucken, who can not feare, that man who feareth may be changed by it: thou thy &s;elfe al&s;o, when thou reprove&s;t thy child, do&s;t &s;ometimes &s;trike the ground that the child may feare. To conclude this meditation, it is needfull to looke into the providence of God, that &s;eeing his infinite maje&s;tie, good|ne&s;&s;e, love, power, wi&s;dome, we may know him the better, and be &s;tirred up to love him the more. For as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh in his
<PB N="304" REF="149"> meditations, <HI>Qui&s;quis Domine cogno&s;cit te, diligit te, oblivi&s;citur &s;e,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. in medita|tionibus.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; amat te pl&ugrave;s qu&agrave;m &s;e, relinquit &s;e, &amp; venit ad te, ut gau|deat de te,</HI> who&s;oever, O Lord, knoweth thee, he loveth thee, hee forgetteth him&s;elfe, and he re&s;pecteth thee more then him|&s;elfe; he for&s;aketh him&s;elfe, he commeth to thee, that he may re|joyce in thee.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 17. <HI>Then I beheld all the work of God:</HI> he beheld all to be the worke of God, all the world to have been made by him, all things in the world to be ordered by him. For as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Quicquid hic accidat contr&agrave; voluntatem no&s;tram,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. in P&s;al. <HI>148.</HI></NOTE> <HI>noveris non accidere ni&s;i de volunta|te Dei, de providenti&acirc; ip&s;ius, de ordine ip&s;ius, de nutu ip&s;ius, de legibus ip&s;i|us,</HI> What&s;oever here commeth to pa&s;&s;e, again&s;t thy will, know that it doth not come to pa&s;&s;e but from the will of God, from his Providence, from his di&s;po&s;ing, from his plea&s;ure, from his laws. <HI>That a man can|not find out the work that is done under the Sunne:</HI> where, <HI>to find out the worke,</HI> is to find out the rea&s;on of the worke, and the manner of it. For the work it &s;elfe is offered to the &s;ight, but the rea&s;on, the manner of it, is that which cannot be di&s;covered by man. Wherefore Saint <HI>Chry|&s;o&s;tome</HI> con&s;idering tho&s;e words of Saint <HI>Paul, When I was a child, &amp;c.</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>Cor.</HI> 13.11.</NOTE> <HI>Quamvis puer, plura videat, audiat, &amp; loquatur, &amp; &s;apiat quidem, nihil tamen integr&egrave;;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Hom l. de Incompreh. Dei natura.</NOTE> <HI>it&agrave; more pueri ego quoque &amp; &s;cio complura, modum tamen eorum ignoro,</HI> Although a child &s;ee, heare, and &s;peak many things, and be wi&s;e al&s;o, yet it is not perfectly; &s;o like a child, I know many things, but I am ignorant of the manner of them. For it is mo&s;t true,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cyprian de Car|d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">n. operibus Chri&s;ti.</NOTE> as Saint <HI>Cyprian</HI> &s;peaketh; <HI>Non patitur ad liquidum &s;e videri divi|nitas, quam uti&abque; inve&s;tigatio fidelis aliquo modo adorat vel &s;entit,</HI> The Divinity doth not &s;uffer it &s;elf to be di&s;cerned plainly, which yet a faith|full &s;earching in &s;ome mea&s;ure adoreth, or perceiveth. A faithfull &s;earching perceiveth &s;o much, as to adore God for that which man can|not perceive, and dareth not in any thing to blame that which is done by him. He that commeth into a workmans &s;hop, and &s;eeth many tooles there, <HI>Si non habeat peritiam artificis, &amp; habeat &s;altem con&s;idera|tionem hominis, quid &s;ibi dicit?</HI> If he have not the &s;kill of the artificer, yet if he have at lea&s;t the con&s;ideration of a man in him, what doth he &s;ay to him&s;elfe? Surely the&s;e things doe not without cau&s;e lie here: the work|man knoweth why, though I know not. <HI>In officin&acirc; non audet vitupera|re fabrum, &amp; audet in mundo reprehendere Deum,</HI> In the &s;hop he dareth not to reprehend a workman, and &s;hall any one dare in the world to re|prehend God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. in P&s;al. <HI>148.</HI></NOTE> &s;aith Saint <HI>Au&s;tin.</HI> But if a man <HI>know not the worke that is done under the Sunne,</HI> much more doth he not know that, which is done above the Sunne. The coun&s;els of God are much more hidden from him, if that which the Sunne &s;hews him yet be concealed from him. <HI>Becau&s;e though a man labour to &s;eek it out:</HI> the labour of man by &s;eeking findeth much, but this it cannot find; in this &s;aith Saint <HI>Hierome, Nihil aliud proficit, ni&s;i in &s;u&acirc; tant&ugrave;m quae&s;tione torqueri, &amp; di&s;putationem pro tormento habere, nec tamen invenire quod quaerit,</HI> It profiteth nothing
<PB N="305" REF="149"> el&s;e but to be tortured in its owne rack, to be tormented with its owne di&s;putation, <HI>and yet not to find that which it &s;eeketh.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Dei Incomp. Dei Nat. Hom. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> The Uulgar Latine reads it; <HI>Et quanto plus laboraverit ad quaerendum, tanto minus inveniet,</HI> And by how much the more it &s;hall be labour to &s;eek, by &s;o much the le&s;&s;e it &s;hall find it. For as <HI>Lyra</HI> noteth, <HI>ex tali curio&s;a inqui&s;itione, fre|quenter aliquis in errorem incidit,</HI> From &s;uch a curious &s;eeking often|times a man falleth into errour. Yea, indeed the wayes of God are &s;uch, that not onely being &s;ought they cannot be found, but that they cannot be &s;ought al&s;o. Wherefore when Saint <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith; <HI>that God dwelleth in light, which no man can approach unto,</HI> Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom</HI> noteth, <HI>Diligen|tiae Pauli attende, non dicit lucem incomprehen&s;ibilem, &s;ed lucem inacce&s;|&s;ibilem, quod longe amplius e&s;t. Quod en: inqui&s;itum &amp; investigatum comprehendi non pote&s;t, id dicimus incomprehen&s;ibile e&s;&s;e, quod autem neque inve&s;tigandi ullo modo operam patitur, &amp; ad quod nemo proprius accedere pote&s;t, id inacce&s;&s;ibile e&s;t,</HI> Ob&s;erve the diligence of <HI>Paul,</HI> he doth not &s;ay a light incomprehen&s;ible, but a light inacce&s;&s;ible, which is much more. For that which being &s;ought and &s;earched for, cannot he comprehended, we &s;ay is incomprehen&s;ible, but that which &s;uffereth not by any means the labour of &s;earching after, and which no one can come neere that is inacce&s;&s;ible. Yea, further, <HI>though a wi&s;e man think to know it, yet he &s;hall not be able to find it out:</HI> a wi&s;e man thinketh with him&s;elfe, that he can know much, and he re&s;olveth with him&s;elfe that he will know much, but let him think of him&s;elfe what he can, let him re&s;olve with him&s;elfe what he will, his thoughts in his kind are vaine, his re&s;olution fruitle&s;&s;e, he cannot find out the wayes of Gods Providence. But as Saint <HI>Cypri|an</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Quantumlibet ad cor altum homo a&s;cenderit, exaltatur Deus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cyprian de Car|din. Operib. Chri&s;ti.</NOTE> to how high a heart &s;oever a man a&s;cendeth, God is &s;till exalted above him. Saint <HI>Hierome,</HI> and the Vulgar Latin read it here, <HI>Etiam&s;i dixerit &s;apiens &s;e cogno&s;cere:</HI> Although a wi&s;e man &s;hall &s;ay that he knows it, yet it is but idle talke, for he cannot find it, that is, &s;aith <HI>Lyra, Non poterit verbis explicare, ex quo patet eum &s;e fal&s;o jacta&s;&s;e,</HI> He &s;hall not be able to expre&s;&s;e it in words, from whence it is evident,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> that he did fal&s;ly brag and boa&s;t of him&s;elfe. Yea, &s;aith Saint <HI>Hierome, Quum haec dixerit &s;e cogno|vi&s;&s;e; tunc ignorationis principium habet, &amp; in profundo ver&s;atur errore,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> When he &s;aith that he knoweth it, then hath he the beginning of igno|rance, and then is he fallen into a deepe errour. Wherefore &s;uch a wi&s;e man, can be but &s;uch a one as among men &s;eemeth to be a wi&s;e man. Notwith&s;tanding the words here imply, that there is a rea&s;on of the things that are done, and that there is a right way in the doing of them, although they be in &s;ecret, and cannot be found out by man. Where|fore let man be contented, and leave the works of God to God. For as Saint <HI>Cyprian</HI> con&s;idereth very well; If that I be ignorant of mine owne &s;oule, and am not &s;ufficient to under&s;tand what it is, <HI>Si ignota e&s;t mihi rati&ograve;, quare ip&s;a delectetur corpore per&s;ecutore &s;uo,</HI> if the rea&s;on be concealed, and unknowne unto me why my &s;oule is delighted to be in the body which is the per&s;ecutour of it, <HI>Patienter me ferre oportet, &s;i De|um
<PB N="306" REF="150"> operatorem &V;niver&s;i non intelligo, qui in minimis operarum ejus: par|ticulis meam profiteor ignorantiam,</HI> I ought to beare it patiently, that I under&s;tand not God the maker of the Univer&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. in P&s;al. <HI>148.</HI></NOTE> who in the &s;malle&s;t par|ticles of his works, doe profe&s;&s;e mine ignorance. Let us therefore con|clude with Saint <HI>Au&s;tin, Si nos non intelligimus; quid, quare fiat, debea|mus hoc providentiae quod non fiat &s;ine cau&s;&acirc;.</HI> If we under&s;tand not, what, why it is done, let us owe this duty to Gods Providence, to be a&s;&s;ured that it is not done without cau&s;e.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="307" REF="150">
<HEAD>CHAPTER IX.</HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1-3" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 1.</HI></BIBL> For all this I con&s;idered in mine heart, even to declare all this, that the righteous and the wi&s;e, and their works are in the hand of God, no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before him.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 2.</HI></BIBL> All things come alike to all there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good, and to the cleane, and to the unclean, to him that &s;acrificeth, and to him that &s;a|crificeth not; as is the good, &s;o is the &s;in|ner: and he that &s;weareth, as he that feareth an oath.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 3.</HI></BIBL> This is an evill among all things that are done under the Sunne, that there is one event unto all, yea, al&s;o the heart of the &s;onnes of men is full of evill, and madne&s;&s;e is in their heart while they live, and after that they goe to the dead.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 1. _THe method of the Preachers proceeding,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;etteth downe to be this: that having be|fore &s;hewed the happine&s;&s;e of man, as it is begun in this life by the exerci&s;e of vertues and good works, here he proceedeth to reproove the pride of mans heart, which of|tentimes ari&s;eth from vertue and goodne&s;&s;e. And this, &s;aith he, the Preacher doth two wayes, <HI>Primo ex incertitu|dine
<PB N="308" REF="151"> humani &s;tatus, &s;ecundo ex facilitate ca&s;us;</HI> fir&s;t from the uncertainty of mans &s;tanding, and that in this chapter, &s;econdly from the facility of mans falling, and that in the next chapter. In this chapter he concei|veth the Preacher to &s;et forth the uncertainty of humane &s;tanding foure wayes,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc Ver&s;i.</NOTE> <HI>primo circa bonum gratiae, &s;ecundo circa bonum fortunae, tertio circa bonum naturae, quarto circa bonum gratitudinis humanae,</HI> fir&s;t concerning the good of grace, from the fir&s;t ver&s;e unto the eleventh, &s;econdly con|cerning the good of fortune in the eleventh vers, thirdly co~cerning the good of nature from the eleventh ver&s;e unto the thirteenth, la&s;tly co~cer|ning the good of humane thankfulnes from thence to the end of the chap. The fir&s;t part beginneth thus, <HI>For all this I con&s;idered in mine heart:</HI> he that will rightly con&s;ider of any thing had need to con&s;ider of many things: all that doe concerne it, all that may give light unto it, had need to be looked into. <HI>All this</HI> therefore &s;aith the Preacher I con&s;i|dered in my mind, the Originall is, <HI>dedi in corde meo;</HI> I put in my hart,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro&s;per de Vo|ca. Gen. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>24.</HI></NOTE> or el&s;e as Pro&s;per hath it, <HI>dedi in cor meum,</HI> I put into my hart; to which purpo&s;e <HI>Tremellus</HI> al&s;o reads it <HI>Condidi in corde meo,</HI> I laid up in my hart, there often to con&s;ider it and to looke into it. <HI>Even to declare all this:</HI> it is a right end of &s;eeking wi&s;dome and knowledge, when any one &s;eeks it, that he may help others to find it, and when having found it him&s;elf he &s;hews it and declares it unto others, which doe not &s;ee it, nor perceave it. But yet I doe not think this to be the meaning of the Preacher in this place. For the Originall word here u&s;ed it <GAP DESC="foreign"> and &s;ignifieth, <HI>ad expurgandum ad purificandum,</HI> to clean&s;e, to purify; &s;o that the meaning is, that he con&s;idered all this to clean&s;e and purg his hart of doubts and difficulties, and to cleare and purify his mind in the right under&s;tanding of things. Wherefore <HI>S. Hierome</HI> tels us that <HI>Symmachus</HI> more plainly did tran&s;late it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hierony. in hunc ver&s;i.</NOTE> <HI>&V;t ventilarem haec univer&s;a,</HI> that I might &s;ift and winnow all the&s;e things: for it is not a little to&s;&s;ing, and tumbling, and turning of the thoughts, that is required to &s;earch out truth. <HI>That the righteous and the wi&s;e, and their works, are in the hand of God:</HI> the wi&s;e and the righteous are joyned to|gether, becau&s;e none is truly wi&s;e but he that is righteous, and he that is righteous is truly wi&s;e, what&s;oever the world may thinke of ei|ther of them. They and their works are joyned together, for they are both of them for the mo&s;t part working: they are their works al&s;o that doe bring them into <HI>Gods hand,</HI> and doe find a place there for them. By there works God weighs them in his hand, and accor|dingly judgeth of their weight and worth. The Originall woord here u&s;ed is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Servitia eorum,</HI> the offices of their &s;ervice and mini|&s;tring are in Gods hand, and they, who as the eyes of a mayden doe waite upon her mi&s;tre&s;&s;e, &s;o doe waite upon God in the obedience of their lives, they and their &s;ervices <HI>are in the hand of God.</HI> Neither they nor their &s;ervices are forgotten, but there they are kept &s;afe in the hand of God, and that hand which now keepeth them, will at la&s;t reach forth a glorious reward unto them. In the meane while, there they
<PB N="309" REF="151"> are, and by that hand are ruled, ordered, guided and di&s;po&s;ed of. <HI>Pro&s;per</HI> citeth this ver&s;e to prove that the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the righ|teous, the wi&s;dome of the wi&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro&s;per de vo|cat: Gen. l. <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>24.</HI></NOTE> they and their works are from Gods hand, and from his grace working in them: <HI>&amp; tantum in &s;tudiis &s;uis proficiunt, quantum ille donaverit,</HI> and &s;o much doe they profit in their endeavours as he giveth to them. <HI>S. Ambro&s;e</HI> citeth al&s;o the&s;e words to the &s;ame purpo&s;e, &s;aying, <HI>&V;nde in Eccle&s;ia&s;tae libro legimus, quod corda &amp; opera ju&s;torum in manu Dei &s;int, &amp; tantum in &s;tudiis &s;uis profi|ciant quantum ille provexerit:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. Epi&s;t. l. <HI>4.</HI> Si non &s;it etiam Pro&s;per, Epi&s;tola.</NOTE> From whence wee read in the book of the Preacher, that the harts and the works of the righteous are in the hand of God, and that &s;o farre doe they goe forward, as he doth ad|vance them, and cary them on. <HI>No man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before him: Aben-Ezra</HI> referreth this love and hatred unto men, and taking love for the thing loved by them, hatred for the thing hated by them, that is, for things of adver&s;ity, and things of pro&s;pe|rity, giveth this &s;en&s;e of it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aben Ezra.</NOTE> that no one knoweth which of the&s;e &s;hall befall him, and therefore that he &s;hould not vex and di&s;quiet him&s;elf about them, but to commit him&s;elf into the hand of God in who&s;e hand he is. But the more generall opinion is to referre this love and hatred unto God: in whom then, they are no way to be taken and un|der&s;tood as they are in man, pa&s;&s;ions of corruptio~. For as <HI>Tertullian</HI> &s;pea|keth, <HI>Corrumpi per haec homo pote&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertullian. de Trinita. c. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> <HI>quia corrumpi pote&s;t per haec Deus non pote&s;t, quia nec potest corrumpi.</HI> Man may be corrupted by the&s;e becau&s;e he can be corrupted, but God cannot be corrupted by the&s;e, becau&s;e he neither can be corrupted. If therefore wee under&s;tand them of God, wee mu&s;t under&s;tand them in a divine manner. The <HI>Papi&s;ts</HI> doe under&s;tand the&s;e words with reference unto God in this &s;ort, as if any one in this life could not tell whether he be in the favour or els in the di&s;plea&s;ure of God. But as <HI>Chemnicius</HI> well noteth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chemnici Ex|am. <HI>1.</HI> Concil. Trident. de fide ju&s;tifican.</NOTE> if a righteous man cannot tell whether he be in the favour of God, cannot a wicked man tell whether God be di&s;plea&s;ed with him or no. For it is both whereof the words &s;peak, and therefore that they have that meaning is more then I conceive. It may &s;eem that <HI>S. Bernard</HI> did &s;ometime under&s;tand them &s;o, who &s;peaking of this ver&s;e, &s;aith, <HI>Terribilis e&s;t i&s;te locus, &amp; totius expers quietis, totus inhorrui, &s;i quando in eum raptus &s;um, illam apud me replicans cum tremore &s;ententiam, ne&s;cit ho|mo utrum amore an odio &s;it dignus,</HI> It is a terrible place and voyd of all quietene&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernad. Ser. <HI>23.</HI> in Cant.</NOTE> I have bene ful of quaking when I have fallen upon it, repeating with my &s;elf that &s;entence, a man knoweth not whe|ther he be worthy of love or hatred. But in another place he gives it this expo&s;ition, &amp; &s;peaking of the&s;e words he &s;aith, <HI>Hic jam plan&egrave; fidem nobis &s;ubvenire nece&s;&s;e e&s;t: hic oportet &s;uccurrere veritatem, ut quod de nobis latet in corde patris, nobis per ip&s;ius Spiritum reveletur &amp; &s;piritus ejus te&s;tificans per&s;uadeat Spiritui no&s;tro quod filii Dei &s;umus.</HI> Here now it is needfull that faith doe come to helpe us:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. Ser. <HI>5.</HI> de dedication.</NOTE> here the truth mu&s;t &s;uccour us, that what lyeth hid concerning our &s;elves in the hart of the Fa|ther,
<PB N="310" REF="152"> may be revealed by his &s;pirit to us, and let his &s;pirit witne&s;&s;ing per&s;wade our &s;pirit that we are the Sonnes of God. The full te&s;timony of the &s;pirit herein is not alwayes granted to us: and in re&s;pect of that <HI>S. Bernard</HI> &s;aies al&s;o very well,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. &s;upra Cantic. &s;er. <HI>22.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Heu rara hora, &amp; parva mora.</HI> Alas it is a rare houre, and a &s;pare &s;tay. But yet the &s;ervants of God have that which is &s;ufficient for them, and though not a certanity of &s;ecurity, yet a certanity of confidance, whereby they rely upon the promi&s;es of God. To grant then the words to be referred to God, the meaning of them is be&s;t &s;hewed by him who hath delivered them. The next ver&s;e therefore he beginneth thus. <HI>All things come alike to all,</HI> and thereby declareth his meaning to be, that by the things of this life which come alike to all, no one knoweth either the love or hatred of God towards him. This our tran&s;lation expre&s;&s;eth, by reading the conclu&s;ion of the ver&s;e thus, <HI>by all that is before him;</HI> And though the word <HI>By,</HI> be added to the originall, yet take we the Originall words as they are, the &s;en&s;e is the &s;ame: <HI>All is before them,</HI> that is, both are before them, as well pro&s;perity which the world taketh for the love of God, as adver&s;ity which the world taketh for the hatred of God, all is before them, and they meete with both in this life.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 2. <HI>All things come alike to all:</HI> here &s;aith <HI>Lyra, praedictae incertitudinis ponitur ratio,</HI> the rea&s;on is &s;et down of the uncertainty, wherof the former ver&s;e &s;peaketh. For the unrighteous &s;ometimes pro&s;per in this life, &s;o do the righteous &s;ometimes, as the unrighteous &s;ometimes are afflicted in this life, &s;o are the righteous &s;ometimes, <HI>Et ideo non pote&s;t di&s;tingui accep|tus Deo, ab eo qui non e&s;t acceptus per aliquid quod contingat homini|bus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> And therefore he that is accepted of God cannot be di&s;tingui&s;hed from him that is not accepted of him, by any thing which happeneth unto men. So that from hence he was even forced to give the right mea|ning of the former ver&s;e; although in expounding of it he went the com|mon way of the Church of Rome: The following oppo&s;itions whereof the ver&s;e con&s;i&s;teth <HI>Lyra</HI> di&s;tingui&s;heth thus, <HI>To the righteous and to the wicked, quantum ad ea quae fiunt circa proximum,</HI> in re&s;pect of tho&s;e things which are done towards our neighbour: <HI>to the good and evill</HI> as the vulgar Latin addeth, in re&s;pect of that, <HI>Quod re&s;picit virtutem &amp; vitium,</HI> which re&s;pecteth vertue and vice: <HI>to the cleane and uncleane,</HI> in re&s;pect of that <HI>Quod re&s;picit hone&s;tatem &amp; inhone&s;tatem</HI> which re&s;pecteth hone&s;ty and di&s;hone&s;ty: <HI>to him that &s;acrificeth and to him that &s;acrificeth not,</HI> in re&s;pect of that, <HI>Quod re&s;picit erga Deum devotionem &amp; indevotione~,</HI> which re&s;pe|cteth devotion &amp; indevotion towards God. And &s;o <HI>Tremellius</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Co|lenti Deum, &amp; non colenti,</HI> to him that wor&s;hippeth God, and to him that doth not wor&s;hip him, a part of Gods wor&s;hip being u&s;ed for the whole. <HI>S. Hierome</HI> &s;aith that the&s;e are to be taken &s;piritually, as when it is &s;aid, <HI>The &s;acrifice of God is a broken &amp; contrite heart. As is the good, &s;o is the &s;in|ner:</HI> that is &s;aith <HI>Lyra, Quantum ad bonitatem &amp; malitiam operis generali|ter,</HI> In re&s;pect of the goodne&s;&s;e &amp; badne&s;&s;e of the work generally. <HI>And he that &s;weareth, as he that feareth an oath:</HI> in re&s;pect of the government of the
<PB N="311" REF="152"> mouth and &s;peach,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> which in u&s;ing and &s;hunning an oath is not a little &s;hewed. But note by the way, how by &s;wearing the wicked|nes of the mouth is &s;ignified,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 51.17.</NOTE> therby to teach us how great a wic|kedne&s;&s;e &s;wearing is. And note againe that the oppo&s;ite to this wic|kedne&s;&s;e is not not to &s;weare but to feare an oath. For &s;ome may not &s;weare by education as having been u&s;ed to the contrary or other the like occa&s;ion. But it is he that feareth an oath that &s;hunneth the wic|kedne&s;&s;e of it. And &s;o it is in other things al&s;o. But that it may be the better under&s;tood how the&s;e per&s;ons being &s;o different the one from the other, yet that all things &s;hould come a like unto them,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aquin.</HI> 1. 2. <HI>Qu.</HI> 114. <HI>Ar.</HI> 10</NOTE> <HI>Aquinas</HI> &s;aith well, <HI>omnia aequ&egrave; eveniunt bonis &amp; malis, quant&ugrave;m ad ip&s;am &s;ub&s;tantiam bonorum vel malorum temporalium, &s;ed non quant&ugrave;m ad finem, quia boni per huju&s;modi manu ducuntur ad beatitudinem, non autem mali,</HI> All things come alike unto the good and bad, in re&s;pect of the &s;ub&s;tance and matter it &s;elf of temporall good things, but not in re&s;pect of the end: becau&s;e by the&s;e things the good are led on to ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e, but the wicked are not. But is it not the property of a reward not to come a like to all?<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Exod.</HI> 1.21.</NOTE> And how then can the temporall good things of this life come to all a like, &s;eing in the Scriptures they are &s;et downe as a reward? For are not temporall good things promi&s;ed to the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> for a reward, as wee read in <HI>Deuteronomy?</HI> And is it not &s;aid of the <HI>Aegyptian</HI> midwifes,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Deuteron.</HI> 28.</NOTE> who &s;pared the male-children that were born to the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Exod.</HI> 1.21.</NOTE> contrary to <HI>Phaarohs</HI> commandement, <HI>and it came to pa&s;&s;e, that becau&s;e the midwifes feared God, that he made them hou&s;es?</HI> wherupon St. <HI>Gregory</HI> noteth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral. l. <HI>18.</HI> c. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Quod benignitatis earum merces, potuit in aetern&acirc; vit&acirc; retribui, &s;ed culpa mendacii terrenam mercedem accepit,</HI> That the reward of there kindne&s;&s;e might have been given them in eternall life, but the fault of their lying received a temporall recompence. To the fir&s;t, concerning the tem|porall promi&s;es made unto the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> St. <HI>Au&s;tin.</HI> an&s;wereth, that in them were the figures of tho&s;e future &s;pirituall ble&s;&s;ings, which in the Go&s;pel are accompli&s;hed. For a carnall people did &s;tick to the pro|mi&s;es of this temporall life, <HI>&amp; illorum non tantum lingua,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. cont. Fau&s;tum l. <HI>4.</HI> c. <HI>2</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;ed etiam vita prophetica fuit,</HI> And not only their toung, but their life was Pro|pheticall. To an&s;were the &s;econd, and generally to &s;hew a re&s;olution of the doubt, the nature of a reward containeth in it the con&s;ideration of &s;ome good thing, and therefore according to the good of man, &s;o is the reward of man. Now the good of man is twofold, either that which is &s;imply and ab&s;olutely good, or that which is good in &s;ome re|gard. That which is &s;imply the good of man, is only that which is the la&s;t end of all his de&s;ires, of which the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 73.28.</NOTE> <HI>it is good for me to draw neere to God.</HI> This therefore and con&s;equently all tho&s;e things which &s;erve and conduce to this end have &s;imply the nature of a reward in them. That which is the good of man not &s;imply but in &s;ome regard, is that which is good unto him now and then, and therefore is not al&s;o &s;imply but now and then a reward: wherefore then if temporall things be con&s;idered as they are &s;erviceable unto the works of vertue, by
<PB N="312" REF="153"> which we are brought unto eternall life, &s;o they have in them the na|ture of a reward; as the increa&s;e of grace after the fir&s;t grace be&s;towed upon us, and all other things by which we are helped on to attaine unto happine&s;&s;e: wherefore as temporall things are &s;o given unto men whether good or bad, &s;o they are a reward &s;imply: but as temporall things are con&s;idered in them&s;elves, &s;o as they are not the good of man &s;imply, but only in &s;ome re&s;pect, &s;o neither are they a reward &s;imply, but only in &s;ome re&s;pect, <HI>In quantum &s;cilicet homines moventur &agrave; Deo ad aliqua temporaliter agenda, in quibus &s;uum propo&s;itum con&s;equuntur Deo favente,</HI> namely &s;o far as men are moved by God,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aquin.</HI> 1. 2. <HI>Qu.</HI> 114. <HI>Ar.</HI> 10</NOTE> to doe &s;ome things tempo|rally, in which God favouring them, they obtaine that which is pro|po&s;ed and de&s;ired by them,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ezek.</HI> 29.18. <HI>v.</HI> 19.</NOTE> as <HI>Aquinas</HI> &s;peaketh. Thus <HI>Aegypt</HI> is &s;aid to be the wages of the army of the King of <HI>Babylon,</HI> and a reward to <HI>Nebuchadnezzar;</HI> not in regard of their proud and in&s;olent intention, but for as much as God was plea&s;ed to give &s;ucce&s;&s;e unto the army, and to make <HI>Nebucadnezzar</HI> victorius over that Kingdome. The re&s;olution then is, that as temporall things are a reward &s;imply, which maketh them to have the nature of a reward in them, &s;o they doe not come a like to all, but as temporall things are only a reward in &s;ome regard, &s;o although they be a reward, yet that they may come a like to good and bad.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 3. <HI>This is an evill among all things that are done under the Sunne:</HI> many are the evils which are done under the Sunne, many things which are &s;eene and knowne to be evill, but this is an evill the like whereunto is not &s;eene nor knowne among many, this is an evill the like unto which is not found among all. And therefore Saint <HI>Hierome,</HI> the Vul|gar Latin, <HI>Tremellius,</HI> doe all read it, <HI>hoc e&s;t pe&s;&s;imum,</HI> this is the wor&s;t evill. The adding of <HI>under the Sunne,</HI> &s;heweth that he &s;peaketh of an evill of vanity to which this life is &s;ubject. <HI>That there is one event to all:</HI> and &s;o it is often, &s;o it is in very many things, but yet not &s;o alwayes, not &s;o in all things. For in his Proverbs the Preacher telling us, <HI>the eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evill and the good,</HI> thereupon <HI>Salvianus</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Ecce habes prae&s;entem, ecce intuentem, ecce in omni loco cur&acirc; ac providenti&acirc; vigilantem. Idcirco enim &amp; bonos ab eo &amp; malos con|&s;iderari dixit, ut probaret &s;cilicet nihil ab eo negligi, quem o&s;tenderet uni|ver&s;a rimari,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Salvian. de Gub. Dei l. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> Behold thou ha&s;t God pre&s;ent, behold thou ha&s;t him looking on, behold in every place watching with care and providence. For he affirmeth the good and the bad to be con&s;idered by him, namely that hee might prove nothing to be neglected by him, whom he &s;heweth to &s;earch into every thing. And as God beholdeth them who are not a like,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 33.15. <HI>v.</HI> 16</NOTE> &s;o he beholdeth them in a manner not a like. For as the P&s;almi&s;t &s;peaketh, the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his eares open to their cry: and let me ad as <HI>Salvianus</HI> doth, <HI>quam beati e&s;&s;emus omnes, &s;i quam promptam erga nos Dei audientiam legimus, t&agrave;m prompt&egrave; ip&s;i Deum audire vellemus,</HI> how happy &s;hould we be, if we would heare God &s;o readily, as we read God to be ready in hearing of us. On the
<PB N="313" REF="153"> other &s;ide the P&s;almi&s;t in the &s;ame place tels us, <HI>the face of the Lord is a|gain&s;t them that doe evill, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Salvean. eod. liii.</NOTE> So that as <HI>Salvianus</HI> addeth, <HI>Intelligis generalem quidem e&s;&s;e in omnes Do|mini vi&s;ionem &s;ed meritorum fieri di&s;parilitate diver&s;am, boni quippe a&s;pi|ciuntur ut con&s;erventur, mali ut di&s;perdantur,</HI> Thou under&s;tande&s;t the &s;ight of God to be generall upon all, but to be made different by the diver&s;ity of their de&s;erts: for the good are beheld that they may be pre&s;erved, the wicked that they may be de&s;troyed. It is not therfore al|wayes <HI>that there is one event to all;</HI> was there one event to <HI>Lot</HI> and the <HI>Sodomites; Lot cum affectibus piis ab urbe educitur, urbs cum habitatori|bus impiis concrematur; Lot</HI> with his good affections was brought out of the citty, the citty and the wicked inhabitants of it are burned to|gether. Was there one event to <HI>Pharaoh</HI> &amp; the <HI>I&s;raelites? Pharaoh</HI> with his army pur&s;ueth them, <HI>ca&s;tris jungitur, tenebris &s;eparatur, &s;iccatur pelagus, I&s;rael graditur, officio&s;&acirc; undarum patienti&acirc; liberatur, Pharaoh &s;equitur, mare &s;uper eum volvitur, fluctu operiente deletur,</HI> his campe is joyned to them, by darkene&s;&s;e he is devided from them, the Sea is dryed, <HI>I&s;rael</HI> goeth on, and by an officious patience of the waters is delivered; <HI>Pharaoh</HI> followes, the Sea returneth upon him, the overflowing waters cover him. Was there one event to churli&s;h <HI>Nabal,</HI> and courteous <HI>David?</HI> Did not <HI>Nabal</HI> dye in the mid&s;t of his plenty? Did not God not only relieve <HI>Davids</HI> nece&s;&s;ity but revenge his injury? <HI>Et quia &s;e ip&s;e ul&s;ci&s;ci di&s;tulit, ultionem &s;tatim Deo executore percepit.</HI> And becam&s;e he de|ferred to revenge him&s;elf, he had God forthwith to execute revenge for him. But yet it is true, as the Preacher here hath it, that commonly <HI>under the Sunne there is one event to all, Quae quidem qu&acirc; ratione patiatur Deus, neque humanae e&s;t imbecillitatis plen&acirc; indagine cogno&s;cere, neque nunc tem|poris di&s;putare,</HI> which things for what rea&s;on God &s;uffereth to be &s;o,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Salvia. de Gub. Dei lib. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> neither is humane imbecillity able by a full &s;earch to know, neither is it now &s;ea&s;onable to di&s;cour&s;e of as <HI>Salvianus</HI> &s;peaketh. But from hence it commeth to pa&s;&s;e that <HI>the heart of the Sons of men is full of evill:</HI> from hence it is that from the heart of men <HI>velut fonte prorumpunt malarum pa&s;&s;ionum flumina, lateque exundant,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Noe &amp; Arca c. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> as it were from a fountaine rivers of evill pa&s;&s;ions doe break forth, and overflow every where. Hence it is <HI>that madn &s;&s;e is in their heart,</HI> that is, a mad running after the plea&s;ures of &s;inne, a re&s;tle&s;&s;e giddine&s;&s;e in the pur&s;uing of them. For as <HI>Philo</HI> noteth, <HI>voluptas non e&s;t quie&s;centium &amp; &s;tantium, &s;ed commotorum &amp; perturbatione plenorum; at &s;icut flamma continu&ograve; movetur, it&agrave; flammae more hic affectus in anim&acirc; excitus non &s;init eam quie&s;cere,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo Legis Alleg. lih. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> Plea&s;ure is not a thing belonging unto them who are quiet and &s;tand &s;till, but to tho&s;e who are to&s;&s;ed and tumbled and full of di&s;quietne&s;&s;e; and as a flame is continually moved, &s;o like unto a flame this affection being &s;tirred up in the &s;oule doth never &s;uffer it to re&s;t, but rather like a madne&s;&s;e caryes it unce&s;&s;antly from one thing to another. Far is the mind of voluptuous &s;inners from any con&s;ideration or knowledge of what they doe: for as <HI>Philo</HI> al&s;o &s;peaketh, <HI>Non &s;unt in rebus, duo t&agrave;m contraria qu&agrave;m voluptas
<PB N="314" REF="154"> carnalis &amp; &s;cientia,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. lib. quod Deus Immutab.</NOTE> There are not in things, two things &s;o contrary, as carnall plea&s;ure and knowledge are. <HI>While they live, and after that they goe to the dead:</HI> that is, they &s;ay within them&s;elves, Let us eate and drink, for to morrow we &s;hall die; while we live let us take our plea|&s;ures, death commeth, and there is an end of all. For becau&s;e they &s;ee the like event to come to all in this life, therefore they think that there is nothing to come after this life. But though under the Sunne things goe &s;o, yet when the Sunne &s;hall be darkned, and the Moone turned into blood, when the powers of heaven &s;hall be &s;haken, there will be then a righting of tho&s;e things, which in the vanity of this world are &s;o much out of order. And indeed there is nothing that doth prove more forcibly, that the event of things will be otherwi&s;e at la&s;t, then that now, <HI>there is one event to all,</HI> both to good and bad. Wherefore, &s;ee&s;t thou all things to fall out here alike, from hence be a&s;&s;ured, that there is another world to come, in which the wicked &s;hall have the re|ward of their wickedne&s;&s;e, the good of their righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and that things are here &s;uffered to be alike unto them. For as Saint <HI>Chry&s;ostome</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Si ju&s;tus e&s;t, dignis quod dignum e&s;t reddit, &s;i fortis, etiam po&s;t mortem reddit (hoc enim fortitudinis e&s;t) &s;i patiens e&s;t, ne tumul|tuemur, neque dicamus quare non hic invehitur?</HI> If God be ju&s;t, he giveth unto every one that which is due unto him, if &s;trong, he giveth it euen after death (for this is the part of &s;trength) if patient, let us not tumultuou&s;ly murmure, neither let us &s;ay, Why is not his ju&s;tice &s;hewed now?</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4-6" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 4.</HI></BIBL> For to him that is joyned to all the living, there is hope; &s;o a living dog is better then a dead lyon.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 5.</HI></BIBL> For the living know that they &s;hall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward: for the memory of them is forgotten.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 6.</HI></BIBL> Al&s;o their love and their hatred, and their en|vie is now peri&s;hed; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the Sunne.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 4. They of whom, the ver&s;e before &s;peaketh, namely the &s;onnes of men, who&s;e heart is full of evill, are they who here doe &s;peake, and in the two following ver&s;es. They who there are mad with the love of
<PB N="315" REF="154"> &s;inful plea&s;ures in this life, do here commend this life in regard of them. They &s;ay, <HI>to him that is joyned to all the living there is hope,</HI> or there is tru&s;t, that is, as <HI>Tremellius</HI> doth well expound it, <HI>Prae&s;entia &s;unt bona quibus homo confidenter utatur, ac non futurorum expectatione &s;eip&s;um lactet.</HI> They are the pre&s;ent good things, which a man may confi|dently u&s;e, and let him not feed him&s;elfe, let him not deceive him|&s;elfe with the expectation of things that are to come after death. And if I may note the words, in that it is &s;aid, <HI>joyned to all the living,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremell. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> it may be conceived that the Preacher &s;peaketh of a freedome of life, and a libertie to goe where he plea&s;eth, for he it is, who hath this, that en|joyeth the plea&s;ures of this life. But to con&s;ider the Originall Hebrew, there wee reade thus <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>Quis qui eligatur;</HI> Who is it that is cho&s;en to all the living? But the Ma&s;oreths tell us, that in &s;tead of <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Eligatur</HI> is cho&s;en, it mu&s;t be read <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>a&s;&s;ociatur,</HI> Who is it that is joyned to the living? This reading it is that our Engli&s;h tran&s;lation fol|loweth, only that it doth not read it as a que&s;tion. But if wee take that reading which we find in the Hebrew, who is it that &s;hould be cho&s;en to all the living? I &s;uppo&s;e that it may have this meaning, who is there that needeth to be cho&s;en into the number of all the living, and doth not ra|ther choo&s;e it and de&s;ire it of him&s;elfe? <HI>For a living dog is better then a dead lyon:</HI> that is, he that is alive, though in the wor&s;t condition, is bet|ter then he who hath beene of great account on the earth, but is now dead. For it is the manner of Scripture, by a dog to &s;ignifie a mo&s;t vile thing, and by a Lyon to expre&s;&s;e excellency. But though this be the judgement of voluptuous &s;inners living on the earth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Revel.</HI> 14.13.</NOTE> Saint <HI>John</HI> heard a voice from heaven, &s;aying, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are the dead that die in the Lord, they re&s;t from their labours, and their works doe follow them.</HI> Wherefore Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> comparing <HI>Vigilantius</HI> with Saint <HI>Paul,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. ad|ver&s;. vigilant. Epi&s;t. <HI>53.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Meliorque erit vigilantius canis vivens quam ille Leo mortuus?</HI> Shall <HI>Vigilantius,</HI> a living dog, be bet|ter then that Lyon which is dead? Nay the poore&s;t that is dead, and dead in the Lord, having lived in his feare, is better then the brave&s;t Lyon that is alive on earth. The la&s;t part of the ver&s;e being a Proverbiall &s;en|tence; there are many expo&s;itions that are applyed unto it. One which Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> giveth is this, <HI>Peccator vivens pote&s;t e&s;&s;e melior ju&s;to mortuo, &s;i voluerit in ejus tran&s;ire virtutes.</HI> A wicked man living may be better, then a righteous man dead, if that he will change him&s;elfe into his ver|tues. Another which he giveth is this, by the Lyon to under&s;tand the people of the <HI>Jewes,</HI> of whom <HI>Balaam</HI> prophe&s;ieth, He couched,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Numbers</HI> 24.9.</NOTE> he lay downe as a Lyon, and as a great Lyon, who &s;hall &s;tir him up? By the dog he under&s;tandeth the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> as our Saviour Ghri&s;t &s;peaking to the woman of <HI>Canaan</HI> &s;aith, <HI>It is not meet to take the childrens bread,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Matt.</HI> 15.26.</NOTE> <HI>and to ca&s;t it unto dogges:</HI> the application he maketh thus; that the people of the <HI>Jews</HI> being for&s;aken, and &s;o dead, the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> who are living, and enjoy the favours of God, are better then they. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> al&s;o tells us of another expo&s;ition, which his Hebrew ma&s;ter &s;aid that the <HI>Jews</HI> did give of it, which was by <HI>the dogge,</HI> to under&s;tand any ordinary tea|cher;
<PB N="316" REF="155"> by <HI>the Lyon,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieroni. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> or any other of the Prophets, and &s;o the ap|plication to bee. <HI>&V;tiliorem e&s;&s;e indoctum, &amp; eum qui adhuc vivat &amp; do|ceat, praeceptore perfecto, qui jam mortuus e&s;t,</HI> him to be more profi|table, although unlearned, who liveth and teacheth, then a perfect teacher, who is dead and gone. The expo&s;ition which <HI>Lyra</HI> giveth of it is this, <HI>Per canem mordacem, &amp; leonem voracem intelliguntur homines mali, &s;ecundum tamen magis &amp; minus, &s;icut Leo e&s;t cane magis nocibus; &amp; &s;ic</HI> Solomon <HI>hic loquitur metaphorice;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>&s;icut &amp; jam communi &s;ermone, homo iracundus canis dicitur: e&s;t igitur quod peccator vivens e&s;t melioris condi|tionis quam e&s;t mortuus.</HI> By a biting dogge, and a devourig Lyon, are under&s;tood wicked men; but yet with a difference of le&s;&s;e and more wicked, as a Lyon is more hurtfull then a dogge. And &s;o <HI>Solomon</HI> here &s;peaketh metaphorically, as al&s;o in common &s;peech wee &s;ay, that an angry man is a dogge: the &s;ence thereof is, that a &s;inner yet alive, is in better condition then a &s;inner that is dead. And the rea&s;on is given by Saint <HI>Hierome, Quia viventes metu mortis po&s;&s;int bona opera perpetra|re,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hierony. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>mortui autem nihil valent ad id adjicere, quod &s;ecum &s;emel tulerunt a vita,</HI> Becau&s;e they who are living, may by the feare of death be brought to doe good works, but they who are dead can adde nothing unto that which they have once taken away with them out of this life. The <HI>Ara|bian</HI> tran&s;lation doth read this proverbiall &s;entence thus, <HI>Canis ille vi|vas pre&s;tantior e&s;t leone mortuo,</HI> that living dogge is better then a dead Ly|on: as if the &s;entence did point at &s;ome dogge more e&s;pecially. And thereupon another expo&s;ition which I find applyed to the words, is this; by the dogge to under&s;tand &s;uch a one as barketh at &s;trangers, and being undaunted, reproveth boldly the enemies of vertue &amp; religion: by the Lyon to under&s;tand him, who though great in power, place and dig|nity, yet being &s;ilent and dumb, in not reproving the wickedne&s;&s;e of &s;uch as are great in the world, in that re&s;pect is as it were dead, and &s;o the living dogge, though of meaner condition, to be better then he; This is the prai&s;e which <HI>Nazianzene</HI> giveth to <HI>Hieron, Ade&s;dum canis, non impudentia,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Nazianz. Orat. <HI>23.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;udoris libertate, non ingluvie, &s;ed quia in diem vivis, non latratu, &s;ed bonis cu&s;todia, vigili&s;que pro animarum &s;alute &s;u&s;ceptis, atque etiam quia virtutis quidem familiares ac dome&s;ticos mulces, alienis autem oblatras,</HI> Come hither thou who art like a dogge, not in impuden|cie, but in the freene&s;&s;e of thy &s;peech, not in ravenous feeding, but becau&s;e thou take&s;t that which the day affordeth; not by barking, but by a keeping of the good, and by the watchings undergone for the &s;alva|tion of &s;oules, as al&s;o becau&s;e thou make&s;t much of tho&s;e who are the dome&s;tiks and familiars of vertue, but barke&s;t at &s;trangers. And &s;urely this doth &s;o commend a dog, who is thus alive, that in re&s;pect of him, a lyon is de&s;picable, who is &s;o dead as that he holdeth his peace when the &s;hame of wickedne&s;&s;e cryeth aloud.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 5. The de&s;cription of an <HI>Athei&s;t</HI> is here &s;et forth by foure marks. Fir&s;t by a carele&s;&s;e knowledg of death, &s;econdly by denying the immor|tality of the &s;oule, thirdly by denying the judgment to come, fourthly
<PB N="317" REF="155"> by denying God him&s;elfe. <HI>The living know that they &s;hall dye;</HI> here is their carele&s;&s;e knowledge, they know it mu&s;t be, and therefore care not though it &s;hall be: it is a thing &s;ay they, that doth befall all, and therefore need not to trouble any, wherefore though they know it, yet it is as if they know it not, for they think not of it, they do not con|&s;ider of it; to reape a benefit from that which they know. <HI>St. Ba&s;il</HI> &s;hewing the Devils policy, &s;aith of him, <HI>furtim demit mortis timorem,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;il. Seleuc. Orati. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> <HI>ut legis munimenta depraedetur,</HI> He &s;ecretly &s;tealeth away the terrour of death, that &s;o he may &s;poile the fortification of Gods law. For where that is lo&s;t, there is a headlong running on into all wickedne&s;&s;e. We ob&s;erve commonly in the recovery of King <HI>Hezekiah,</HI> the miracle that was wrought; but it is worthy the ob&s;erving that as God added to his life, &s;o he told him the time of his death. This <HI>Cyrillus Alexandrinus</HI> noteth &s;aying <HI>Terminos vitae adjectae de&s;ignat, ut finem intuens, &amp; &s;e pror&s;us penitu&s;que moriturum &s;entiens,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cyrillus Alex. l. <HI>3.</HI> in I&s;a.</NOTE> <HI>morbum &s;uperbiae non &s;ineret in animum introduci,</HI> God &s;etteth downe the tearme of his increa&s;ed life, that looking upon his end, and knowing that certainely he was to dye, he might not &s;uffer the &s;ickne&s;&s;e of pride to get into his mind. And in|deed the knowledge of death carefully and wi&s;ely apprehended is a &s;trong bulwark again&s;t the temptations of &s;in. But it is a &s;leight know|ledge of death which the wicked have, and becau&s;e there is in their &s;peech a kind of reproach which they ca&s;t upon humane nature, as it is the work of God,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 5.21.</NOTE> let mee tell them that their knowledge is not &s;o certaine as they take it to be. For the living that do live righteou&s;ly &s;hall not dye, though them&s;elves living wickedly do both dye and pe|ri&s;h. <HI>St. Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> con&s;idering tho&s;e words of <HI>St. Paul,</HI> that &s;in hath reigned unto death, thereupon tels us; that &s;in was as it were a King,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;t. Ihi. Homil. <HI>10.</HI></NOTE> and death as it were a &s;ouldier fighting in the army under &s;in, and being armed by it: wherefore &s;aith he, if &s;in arme death, then righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e, which commeth by grace and de&s;troyeth &s;in <HI>(non &s;olum mor|tem armis &s;poliat, &s;ed &amp; illam de medio tollit)</HI> doth not onely &s;poile death of his armes, but taketh them quite away al&s;o. And therefore <HI>St. Ba&s;il</HI> &s;peaking of the godly &s;aith, <HI>Non jam mortui &s;unt, plantata namque cruce &s;omnus mors e&s;t, ante crucem formidabilis, po&s;t crucem de&s;picabilis.</HI> They are not now dead; for the cro&s;&s;e being as it were planted,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;il. &s;eulenc. Orat. <HI>23.</HI></NOTE> death is a &s;leepe; that which was pretious fruite before the cro&s;&s;e formida|ble; after the cro&s;&s;e, is made to bee de&s;picable. The living therefore know, that they &s;hall not dye, and they know it to Gods glory, and their owne comfort, being the children of God as well as the living know that they &s;hall dye, and know it with carele&s;ne&s;&s;e in them&s;elves, with reproach to God, not being his &s;ervants. <HI>But the dead know not any thing:</HI> here they denye the immortality of the &s;oule; for as <HI>Aqui|nas</HI> proveth the immortality of the &s;oule from the knowledge of it, thus; every thing naturally de&s;ireth to be in his owne kind: now de|&s;ire in things that are indued with knowledge followeth their know|ledge: &s;en&s;e then knoweth the being of any thing, only as it is exi|&s;tent
<PB N="318" REF="156"> in this place, or at that time, but under&s;tanding apprehendeth the being of a thing ab&s;olutely and in re&s;pect of all time:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aquin.</HI> 1. <HI>Qu.</HI> 75. <HI>A</HI> 6.</NOTE> wherefore every thing that hath under&s;tanding naturally de&s;ireth alwayes to be: but a naturall de&s;ire cannot be in vaine, every &s;ub&s;tance therefore that is intellectuall, incorruptible. In like manner the <HI>Athei&s;t</HI> here prooveth the &s;oule not to be immortall, becau&s;e <HI>the dead do not know any thing.</HI> But though the dead do not know any thing that is done upon the earth them&s;elves being gone from the earth, for as <HI>St. Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh <HI>&s;icut hi qui adhuc viventes &s;unt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregorius.</NOTE> <HI>mortuorum animae quo loco habeantur igno|rant: ita mortui vitam in carne viventium po&s;tea qualiter di&s;ponatur ne|&s;ciunt, quia &amp; vita &s;piritus longe e&s;t &agrave; vita carnis, &amp; &s;icut corpora &amp; incorporea diver&s;a &s;unt genere, ita etiam di&s;tincta cognitione,</HI> As they who are yet living doe not know in what place and condition the &s;oules of the dead are &s;o the dead doe not know how they that are living in the fle&s;h are, di&s;po&s;ed of in there lives after them&s;elves are gone; be|cau&s;e the life of the &s;pirit is fare different from the life of the fle&s;h, and as coporeal and incorporeal things are diver&s;e in their kind and nature, &s;o are they in their knowledge. Notwith&s;tanding the wicked being dead doe know the torments which they &s;uffer for their mi&s;pent lives, they know the happine&s;&s;e which they have left by the ill &s;pending of them; they know how fal&s;e it is, that being alive they thought the dead not to know any thing. <HI>Neither have they any reward:</HI> here is their denyall of the la&s;t judgement, and that it is which becau&s;e they would not have to be, they &s;ay &s;hall never be, and this it is to which a cu&s;tome of &s;inning doth often bring wicked men at la&s;t. For as an an|cient writer noteth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cae&s;arius Arelat. Hom. <HI>29</HI></NOTE> <HI>habet hoc infelix peccandi con&s;uetudo, ut quant&ograve; amplius unu&s;qui&s;que peccaverit, tanta minus peccata ips&ograve; intelligat, &amp; tant&ograve; eum plus peccare delectet: &amp; quando &s;ubrepit peccandi delectatio, &s;tatim futuri judicii diem ab&s;condit oblivio,</HI> The unhappy cu&s;tome of &s;inning hath this in it, that by how much the more any one &s;inneth, by &s;o much the le&s;&s;e he under&s;tandeth his &s;ins, and by &s;o much the more is delighted in &s;inning: and when a delight of &s;inning is crept into any one, forthwith forgetfulne&s;&s;e hideth the day of judgement that is to come. But let every one take heed of this; for as <HI>St. Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Irremediable periculum e&s;t,</HI> it is a remedile&s;&s;e danger for any one &s;o to give the reines unto his vices and lu&s;ts, that he remembreth not that he mu&s;t give accompt to God.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. de Temp. Ser. <HI>120.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Puto quod magna &s;it jam peccati poena, metum ac memoriam futuri judicii perdidi&s;&s;e,</HI> I think that it is a great pu|ni&s;hment even now of wickedne&s;&s;e, to have lo&s;t the feare and the re|membrance of the judgement to come. <HI>For the memory of them is for|gotten:</HI> here they deny God him&s;elf to be, and becau&s;e the memory of the dead is forgotten with men, therefore they think that there is no God, by whom they are remembred. And this it is indeed, which incen&s;eth the wrath of God again&s;t the wicked, For as <HI>St. Bernard</HI> &s;pea|keth <HI>(wherein doth the wicked provoke God)</HI> wherein doth he make his anger to be bitter again&s;t him?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard.</NOTE> Not for his fornications, not for his
<PB N="319" REF="156"> ince&s;ts and &s;acriledges, but becau&s;e he hath &s;aid in his hart; <HI>Non requiret,</HI> he will not require it, and as the P&s;almi&s;t &s;etteth it down,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 10.13.11.</NOTE> <HI>God hath for|gotten it, he hideth his face, he will never &s;ee it?</HI> This it is which maketh God to make his arrowes drunken in their blood. For as <HI>Ruper|tus</HI> al&s;o &s;peaketh, <HI>Non ex quo qui&s;que peccat,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rupar. l. de vet. c. <HI>16.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;ed ex quo tibi re|&s;i&s;tit peccator, ira tua vim &s;uam exercet quae non pote&s;t portari,</HI> Not becau&s;e any one &s;inneth, but that he re&s;i&s;teth thee, therefore doth thy wrath &s;hew that force which cannot be born. It is true that God doth not &s;o remember the wicked when they are dead, as to have any com|pa&s;&s;ion on them, or to &s;end them any comfort. For as <HI>S. Hierome</HI> &s;pea|keth; <HI>quia neque ip&s;i meminerunt quae &s;cire debuerant,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym.</NOTE> <HI>neque illorum jam Dominus recordatus e&s;t.</HI> Becau&s;e they did not remember tho&s;e things which they ought to have known, therefore neither doth the Lord now remember them. In mercy he doth not, but to their torment and con|fu&s;ion, he will remember them for euer.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 6. <HI>S. Hierome</HI> applying the&s;e words unto the wicked,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc. ver&s;. P&s;alm <HI>139.12</HI></NOTE> under|&s;tandeth their <HI>love</HI> of their feigned love towards God, their <HI>hatred</HI> of their profe&s;&s;ed hatred again&s;t &s;in. So that they are ready to &s;ay with the P&s;almi&s;t, <HI>Doe I not hate them O Lord that hate thee? And am I not greived with tho&s;e that ri&s;e up again&s;t thee? I hate them with perfect ha|tred, I accompt them myne enemies.</HI> That which wee have tran&s;lated <HI>envy,</HI> he rendreth zeale, and under&s;tandeth it of their pretended zeale towards goodne&s;&s;e, as if it were as great as that of <HI>Phinehas. Lyra</HI> al&s;o applying the&s;e words unto the wicked, under&s;tandeth their <HI>love</HI> to be that, which they have towards the wicked, as beeing like them&s;elves their <HI>hatred and envy</HI> to be that which they beare again&s;t the good.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> But though the&s;e words be &s;poken by the wicked, yet are they &s;poken of all men generally, and is a farther de&s;cription of them when they are dead. For as the ver&s;e before &s;peaketh of them beeing dead in re&s;pect of them&s;elves, &s;o this ver&s;e &s;peaketh of them in re&s;pect of others, &s;he|wing how <HI>their love and hatred and envy</HI> are then peri&s;hed, in regard of which they have <HI>noe portion in any thing that is done under the &s;um.</HI> Now as for <HI>love</HI> it is that which is common unto every thing,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aquin.</HI> 1. <HI>Qu.</HI> 60. <HI>Ar.</HI> 1.</NOTE> for as <HI>Aquinas</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>est hoc commune omni naturae, ut habeat aliquam inclinatio|nem, quae est appetitus naturalis vel amor,</HI> This is common unto every nature, that it hath &s;ome inclination, which is a naturall appetite or love. But this inclination is diver&s;ely found in diver&s;e natures, and in every one according to the manner of it. Thus in the intellectuall nature is found a naturall inclination, according to the will, in the &s;en&s;itive nature according to the &s;en&s;itive apetite, in nature which is without knowledge, <HI>&s;ecundum &s;olum naturae ordinem in aliquid,</HI> accor|ding only to the order of nature unto &s;omething as <HI>Aquinas</HI> &s;peaketh. The <HI>love</HI> then of man is his will, and his will beeing guided by a right under&s;tanding as it ought to be, it is goodne&s;&s;e that &s;hould be loved as the means, and God as the end to which he is caryed. Secondly <HI>ha|tred</HI> is that which is contrary to love, <HI>&V;nde tantum habet odium de ra|tione
<PB N="320" REF="157"> mali,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aquinas</HI> 2.2. <HI>Qu.</HI> 34. <HI>Ar.</HI> 3.</NOTE> <HI>quantum amor habet de ratione boni;</HI> So that hatred hath &s;o much of evill in it, as love hath of goodne&s;&s;e, as <HI>Aquinas</HI> hath it. Now love is due unto God &s;imply, unto man it is due only according to na|ture and to grace. For in re&s;pect of that which a man hath either from him&s;elf, or from the devill, that is in re&s;pect of &s;in, and the defect of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, &s;o it is not due unto him. And therefore it is lawfull to hate &s;inne in man, and what&s;oever el&s;e appertaineth to the defect of divine righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e: But either the nature or the grace of any man, another cannot hate without &s;inne. Whereas this very thing that any one doth hate in another, either wickedne&s;&s;e or want of goodne&s;&s;e, is indeed rather a loving of him. For it is the &s;ame thing to de&s;ire the good of another, and to hate that which is evill for him. And there|fore to &s;peak &s;imply of the hatred of another, it is alwayes with &s;inne. Thirdly <HI>envy</HI> is a &s;orrow for the good of another as it is e&s;teemed to be his owne evill, and a dimini&s;hing of his good in whom it is. Where|fore when <HI>S. Paul</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 2.15.</NOTE> <HI>that he was unto God a &s;weete odour in Christ in them that are &s;aved, and in them that peri&s;h, An&s;elmus</HI> &s;aith of it, Some did love <HI>S. Paul,</HI> others did envy him, they who did love him did live by the &s;weete odour, they that did envy him did peri&s;h by the &s;weete odour;<NOTE PLACE="marg">An&s;elmus.</NOTE> <HI>Ideo pereuntibus non malus odor &s;ed bonus erat inde en: magis in|videbant quia tam bona gratia praevalebat,</HI> To them that did peri&s;h he was not a bad odour but a good: for therefore did they envy him the more, becau&s;e the good grace of God was &s;o &s;trong in him. But the good of one is apprehended to be the evill of another two wayes. Fir&s;t, when one is &s;orry for the good of another in re&s;pect of the danger of &s;ome hurt, which from thence hangeth over him&s;elf: as when a man is &s;orry for the advancement of his enemy, fearing lea&s;t he &s;hould doe him hurt.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ari&s;totel. Rhe|tor. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>9.</HI></NOTE> Now &s;uch a &s;adne&s;&s;e is not envy, but rather an effect of feare, as the Philo&s;opher &s;aith. Secondly the good of one is e&s;teemed to be anothers evill, in regard that it dimini&s;hed his glory and excel|lency: and thus is envy &s;orry for the good of another. And therefore men for the mo&s;t part doe envy tho&s;e good things, in which is glory, and in which men love to be honoured and reckoned of, as the Phi|lo&s;opher al&s;o &s;heweth. But that which wee may farther note in this ver&s;e, is that <HI>the love, hatred, and envy of wicked men doe not peri&s;h</HI> untill them&s;elves peri&s;h and dye: while them&s;elves have a part in any thing that is done under the Sun, the&s;e have &s;till a part in them. For indeed the&s;e things are of a tenacious nature. <HI>Love</HI> is <HI>pondus animae,</HI> the weight of the &s;oule, as one calleth it, and draweth not only the will, but the memory, the under&s;tanding of man to that which is loved: <HI>quia ni|hil aliud vel memini&s;&s;e vel cogitare valet, ni&s;i illud cujus amore ferve&s;cit,</HI> Becau&s;e he can neither remember nor think of any thing but only of that with the love whereof he is inflamed.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ezekiel.</HI> 32.27.</NOTE> <HI>Hatred</HI> al&s;o is &s;o hardly re|moved that it is &s;ometimes &s;poken of as continuing after death. The Prophet <HI>Ezekiel</HI> &s;peaketh of &s;ome, <HI>who are gone downe to hell with their weapons of warre, and they have laid their &s;words under their heads.</HI> And
<PB N="321" REF="157"> &s;urely &s;uch is the deadly hatred of &s;ome, that when they dye, they may &s;eeme to cary it with them. <HI>Chry&s;ologus</HI> noteth of the rich glutton who would have <HI>Lazarus</HI> to bee &s;ent unto him, that being &s;till cruell towards <HI>Lazarus,</HI> he would have him to be &s;ent,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;olog. Serm. <HI>122.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Ad infernum de gre|mio, de &s;olio &s;ublimi ad profundi&s;&s;imum chaos, ad tormentorum &s;tridorem, de Sancta quiete beatorum,</HI> to hell from the bo&s;ome of <HI>Abraham,</HI> to the bottomle&s;&s;e gulf, from the high throne of glory, to the gna&s;hing and grinding of tormens, from the holy re&s;t of the ble&s;&s;ed. La&s;tly <HI>envy</HI> &s;ticketh &s;o clo&s;e to the hearts of the wicked, that as <HI>Ca&s;sian</HI> noteth, <HI>&V;&s;|que adeo incurabilis est ista pernicies ut blandimentis exa&s;peretur, infletur ob&s;equiis, muneribus irritetur: quanto en: alius amplius aut humili|tatis &s;ubjectione, aut patientiae virtute, aut munificentiae laude profece|rit, tanto ille majoribus invidiae &s;timulis incitatur,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;ian. Collati <HI>18.</HI> c. <HI>12.</HI></NOTE> So incurable is that corruption, that by courte&s;ies it is provoked, by offices of re&s;pect it is blowen up, by gifts it is increa&s;ed: for by how much another pro|fiteth either in the lowline&s;&s;e of humility, or the vertue of patience, or the prai&s;e of bounty, by &s;o much the more is an envious man &s;tirred up with the &s;purs of envy. La&s;tly, as for the <HI>Phra&s;e, under the Sunne: Aqui|nas</HI> telleth us, <HI>Ea dicuntur e&s;&s;e &s;ub &s;ole, quae &s;ecundum motum &s;olis generan|tur &amp; corrumpuntur,</HI> tho&s;e things are &s;aid to be under the Sun,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aquinas</HI> 1. <HI>Qu.</HI> 103. <HI>Ar.</HI> 5.</NOTE> which are generated and corrupted according to the motion of the Sun; and therefore the dead having pa&s;t both the&s;e, are &s;aid to have no portion in the things under the Sun.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="7-10" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 7.</HI></BIBL> Goe thy way, eate thy bread with joy, and drinke thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy workes.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 8.</HI></BIBL> Let thy garments be alwayes white, and let thy head lack no oyntment.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 9.</HI></BIBL> Live joyfully with the wife whom thou love&s;t all the dayes of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the Sunne all the dayes of thy vanity&punc; for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou take&s;t under the Sunne.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 10.</HI></BIBL> What&s;oever thy hand findeth to doe, doe it with thy might; for there is no worke nor device, nor knowledge, nor wi&s;dome in the grave, whether thou goe&s;t.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<PB N="322" REF="158">
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 7. Some under&s;tand the&s;e words to be &s;till &s;poken by the wic|ked, and to be delivered by the Preacher in their per&s;on, and then to give the meaning of them in S. <HI>Hieromes</HI> words, it is as if they &s;aid, <HI>O homo quia ergo post mortem nihil es,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; mors ip&s;a nihil, audi con&s;ilium meum, dum vivis in h&acirc;c brevi vit&acirc; fruere voluptate, utere dapibus, vi|no curas opprime, &amp; intellige quoniam &agrave; Deo nobis data &s;unt ad utendum.</HI> O man becau&s;e therefore after death thou art nothing, and death it &s;elf is nothing, follow my coun&s;ell, enjoy thy plea&s;ure, u&s;e danity meats, drowne thy cares with wine, and under&s;tand that the things of this life are given us of God to be u&s;ed by us. But I conceive that the Preacher here doth rather re&s;ume the &s;peaking to him&s;elf, and therefore &s;o to con&s;ider the words, perhaps at a &s;udden view the words may &s;eeme to &s;ay no more then the common &s;aying hath, <HI>Inter caenandum hilaris e&s;to,</HI> be merry at meate. But doubtle&s;&s;e more &s;erious and deepe were the Preachers thoughts. Neither doe I think that it is only a moderation in eating and drinking that is here pre&s;cribed: although it be well no|ted by <HI>Saint Hierome,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Quod non habeat veram laetitiam &amp; cor bonum qui creaturis &s;upr&agrave; modum abutitur,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. Ibid.</NOTE> that he hath not true joy nor a good merry hart, who by exce&s;&s;e abu&s;eth the creatures. But this may be noted here, that it is not an eating to beget joy, nor a drinking of wine to breed a merry hart that is &s;poken of by the Preacher. For though ful|ne&s;&s;e of bread may &s;trengthen the &s;pirits, and though wine may cheere them; according as <HI>Clemens Alexandrinus</HI> &s;heweth, who &s;aith that wine being drunke maketh a man <HI>&s;ibi ip&s;i aequum &amp; clementem, convivis &s;ua|vem,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Clemens Alexa. Paedag. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> <HI>famulis mitiorem, amicis jucundiorem,</HI> favourable and gentle to him&s;elfe, delightfull to them that are with him, mild to his &s;ervants, plea&s;ant to his friends notwith&s;tanding it is but a poore mirth that is &s;o gotten; vani&s;hing with the fumes of the wine, and followed many times by &s;adne&s;&s;e that comes after it. That therefore which is here &s;poken of, is an eating with joy, a drinking of wine with a merry hart, &s;o that the joy and the mirth doe as it were prepare the &s;tomack, thereby to make the nouri&s;hment to doe the more good, and to make him that receiveth it, the more forward and hearty in ble&s;&s;ing and prai&s;ing God for it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> In a &s;pirituall &s;en&s;e, Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us, that the&s;e words, <HI>Goe thy way, eate thy bread with joy, and drinke thy wine with a merry hart. Ejus Eccle&s;ia&s;tae vox e&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>John.</HI> 7.37.</NOTE> is the voice of that Preacher, who in the Go&s;pell &s;aith, if any man thir&s;t, let him come to mee and drinke: and who in the <HI>Proverbs</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Proverbs</HI> 9.5.</NOTE> <HI>Come eate of my bread and drinke of the wine that I have mingled.</HI> It is al&s;o a good &s;pirituall meaning which <HI>Lyra</HI> giveth to the words, who taking them to be &s;poken to the righteous man &s;aith, goe thy way that is <HI>vade ju&s;te,</HI> Goe thy way thou righteous man, <HI>eate thy bread with joy and drinke thy wine with a merry hart,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> that is, <HI>vive in ju|cunditate mentis ex te&s;timonio bonae con&s;cientiae procedente,</HI> live in cheere|fulne&s;&s;e of mind proceeding from the te&s;timony of a good con&s;cience. But to give that meaning to the words which I apprehend them to carry. The Preacher having &s;poken much of the confu&s;ions and outrages that
<PB N="323" REF="158"> are in this world, and drawing this matter to a conclu&s;ion wi&s;heth us not trouble our minds with the care of tho&s;e things: but rather to u&s;e things pre&s;ent with cherefulne&s;&s;e and quietne&s;&s;e and as for tho&s;e things, which fall out in this life, to let them goe as they come. More parti|cularly to &s;hew the connexion of this ver&s;e, to that which is immedia|tely before it. The Preacher having before &s;hewed how wicked men from the con&s;ideration of death, did in rheir lives &s;et them&s;elves wholy to the enjoying of &s;en&s;uall and &s;infull delights, in a voluptuous u&s;ing of the creatures, here he &s;heweth that a cheerefull delight is not forbidden unto men, nor is a comfortable u&s;e of the creatures by God denyed them. And therefore he &s;aith <HI>Goe thy way,</HI> take the one, u&s;e the other, <HI>eate thy bread with joy, drinke thy wine with a merry hart.</HI> For &s;eeing <HI>that God accepteth thy works,</HI> there is nothing that needeth to trouble thee, or to make thee &s;ad. What though the world may &s;et it &s;elf a|gain&s;t thee? what though malitious enemies may be thy per&s;ecu|tors? what though the devill fighteth again&s;t thee? there &s;hall no hurt come unto thee: and therefore let not any thing make thee to eate thy bread with &s;adne&s;&s;e, or to drinke thy wine with heavine&s;&s;e. Let him refu&s;e his meate, or take it with care, let him drinke his wine with angui&s;h of hart, that liveth wickedly and who&s;e wayes doe not plea&s;e God: but let him who&s;e works are accepted by God, ever be merry, ever cherefull. It is the fa&s;hion of many to be merry and glad, when there works are accepted by men, and that by them they are well thought of: but this is a faint and not a &s;olid mirth. Then there is true joy and a harty mirth, when God accepteth the works that are done, and is well plea&s;ed with the doers of them. <HI>Moy&s;es</HI> putting his hand into his bo&s;ome took it out Leprous, putting it againe into his bo&s;ome he tooke it out cleane. This is a right embleme of that which befalleth man. For the hand is the in&s;trument of working, and the works of men are &s;ometimes Leprous and un&s;ound, &s;ometimes healthy and good. And this proceedeth from the bo&s;ome, from the hart of man. For if they proceed from a &s;incere and hone&s;t hart, which God approoveth, then are they &s;ound and healthy; if they come from a cor|rupt hart, and be done for the plea&s;ing of men, then are they Leprous and un&s;ound. Now it is an healthy and &s;ound body that is fitte&s;t for mirth and free&s;t in mirth, it is a healthy and &s;ound body that eateth and drinketh mo&s;t cheerefully. Wherefore &s;eeing where God accepteth thy works, there is health and &s;oundne&s;&s;e, let there al&s;o be freene&s;&s;e of joy and mirth. In the law the Prie&s;t was fir&s;t to flay the &s;acrifice, and to pull off the &s;kin of it, and then to wa&s;h the entrayles, and &s;o to offer it unto God. Now this did &s;hew,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Levit.</HI> 1.6.9.</NOTE> how man was to make him&s;elfe an ac|ceptable &s;acrifice to God, the &s;kin is fir&s;t to be pulled off, our &s;ins are fir&s;t to be confe&s;&s;ed and laid open unto God; and them the inwards are to be wa&s;hed, our harts are to be clean&s;ed from the foulne&s;&s;e of hypocri&s;y, our under&s;tanding our will and affections are to be wa&s;hed from tho&s;e &s;taines that &s;tick unto them; and &s;o they being offered to God, then
<PB N="324" REF="159"> may he eate his peace offering with joy, and drinke his wine with a merry heart, for now <HI>God accepteth his works,</HI> now God is plea&s;ed with his works of joy and mirth, when that the works of his life doe plea&s;e God. The Swan is of a white faire colour and a goodly bird to looke upon, being of no &s;mall accompt with men; but yet it was by Gods law to the Jewes forbidden to be eaten.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Levitic.</HI> 11.18.</NOTE> The rea&s;on of it is given to be, becau&s;e whereas the feathers are &s;o white and comely, the fle&s;h under them is black and hard. For &s;uch things were forbidden to the Jewes to &s;igni|fy unto them how they &s;hould keepe them&s;elves from &s;inne which tho&s;e things did repre&s;ent. Now &s;uch are they who in the outward &s;hew of their lives doe plea&s;e men, but are not in their works accepted by God. And &s;urely &s;uch as them&s;elves are, &s;uch is the joy and the mirth that they have, it doth but make a faire &s;hew; the bread that they eate, the wine that they drinke is but like the fle&s;h of a Swan in the &s;tomack, and hard to be dige&s;ted. There is a black &s;adne&s;&s;e within, though out|wardly the whitene&s;&s;e of mirth appeareth. He &s;ingeth the Swans &s;ong, his joy is &s;weete even when death appeareth, the inward &s;incerity of who&s;e heart maketh his works to be accepted by God: let him therefore while he liveth eate his bread with joy and drinke his wine with a cheerefull heart. This the wicked &s;eeke for, this they de&s;ire to doe, who have little rea&s;on for it: this is offered to the Godly, and none have &s;uch good cau&s;e to embrace it.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 8. Some doe al&s;o under&s;tand this ver&s;e to be delivered in the per&s;on of wicked voluptuous and carnall livers.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremell. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> And therefore <HI>Tre|mellius</HI> reads it, <HI>Sint ve&s;timenta tua nitida,</HI> let thy garments be neate and &s;prui&s;e and brave, and as he expoundeth it, <HI>Curato te molliter,</HI> be dainty in decking and trimming of thy &s;elfe. Or as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> ex|pre&s;&s;eth that &s;en&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Candidis ve&s;tibus ornatus incede, unguentis &s;piret caput tuum,</HI> walke up and downe adorned with gay and glittering ap|parel, and let thine head with oyntments breath out a &s;weete perfume. But to con&s;ider it, as I have the former ver&s;e, and as the Preachers owne coun&s;ell, <HI>Let thy garments be alwayes white:</HI> by the garments I under|&s;tand the affections of the &s;oule, which being ill ordered, Saint <HI>Paul</HI> bids us to put off, &s;aying, <HI>put off all the&s;e, anger, malice, wrath:</HI> which being well ordred the &s;ame Apo&s;tle bids us to put on &s;aying,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Calo&s;&s;.</HI> 3.8. <HI>v.</HI> 12</NOTE> <HI>put on therefore, as the elect of God holy and beloved, bowels of mercy, kindne&s;&s;e, humblene&s;&s;e of mind, meekene&s;&s;e, long &s;uffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another.</HI> The meaning therefore of the Preacher is, let thine affe|ctions be alwayes white, that is alwayes cheerefull, for white is a cheere|full colour: yea let them be &s;o alwayes, even when per&s;ecution is hotte&s;t upon thee, and mo&s;t cruell again&s;t thee. This was the di&s;po&s;ition of the Apo&s;tles,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Acts.</HI> 5.41.</NOTE> of whom being beaten wee read, that they departed from the pre&s;ence of the councill, rejoycing that they were counted worthy to &s;uffer &s;hame for the name of Je&s;us. And this hath been the di&s;po&s;i|tion of many glorious martyrs, who with cheerefulne&s;&s;e of affections have layd downe their lives for Chri&s;ts &s;ake: when their garments have
<PB N="325" REF="159"> been &s;tayned with their owne blood, they have &s;till kept white the gar|ment of cheerefulne&s;&s;e in their affections. Whereupon Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Quam bonus e&s;t Dominus pro quo dulces &amp; injuriae &amp; grata mors:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">r|tat. ad Virg.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; ben&egrave; grata quae acquirit immortalitatem,</HI> How good is the Lord for who&s;e &s;ake even wrongs are &s;weete, and death is acceptable: and well is it acceptable which obtaineth immortality. <HI>And let thine head lack no oyntment:</HI> they are the words of Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> upon occa&s;ion of an|other pa&s;&s;age of Scripture, where he mentioneth al&s;o the&s;e words, <HI>Quid per caput ni&s;i ea quae principale unius cuju&s;que actionis e&s;t mens ip&s;a &s;ignatur?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral. lib. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>26.</HI></NOTE> what by the head is &s;ignified but that which is the principall thing of every action, the mind it &s;elfe? wherefore as in the former part of the ver&s;e, by the garments I under&s;tood the affections, &s;o here by the head I under&s;tand the thoughts of the mind. As for the <HI>oyntment</HI> Saint <HI>Hierome,</HI> tels us, <HI>&s;ciendum e&s;t naturam hanc e&s;&s;e olei,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hierony. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>ut &amp; lu|men alat, &amp; fe&s;&s;orum re&s;olvat laborem.</HI> It is to be knowen that the na|ture of oyle is this, that it nouri&s;heth the light, and refre&s;heth, the la|bour of the wearyed. By oyntment therefore a cherefulne&s;&s;e al&s;o is &s;et forth unto us, for that is light&s;ome and giveth light to the mind, that refre&s;heth the mind wearyed with &s;tudy and meditation. So that the meaning of the Preacher is, let there be wanting no cheerefulne&s;&s;e in thy thoughts; but anoynt thy thoughts with a joyfull and thank|full remembrance of Gods mercies towards thee, anoynt thy thoughts with a glad con&s;ideration of the gracious promi&s;es of Gods goodne&s;&s;e, which in their good time &s;hall be accompli&s;hed. But becau&s;e the word <HI>alwayes</HI> may &s;eeme to be to generall it may be noted, that the Originall word is <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;o that it is <HI>in omni tempore opportuno,</HI> in every fit time, as often as fitly it may be let thy garments be white, let thy di&s;po&s;ition be cheerful, let thine head lack no oyntment, let not comfortable thoughts be wanting to thy mind. But the ver&s;e being delivered in <HI>Metaphoricall</HI> tearms, divers are the expo&s;itions that may be applyed unto it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hierony. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> As fir&s;t Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;aith, <HI>let thy garments be white,</HI> that is, <HI>habito corpus mundum</HI> have a cleane body. So &s;aith Saint <HI>Gregory, let thy garments be alwayes white,</HI> that is, <HI>&s;int membra corporis a &s;ordidis actibus munda,</HI> Let the members of thy body be cleane from &s;ordid and foule actions. For &s;aith he, <HI>Quid ve&s;timenti nomine ni&s;i hoc terrenum corpus exprimitur, quo induta anima tegitur, ne in &s;ubtilitatis &s;uae unda &s;ub&s;tanta videatur?</HI> what is expre&s;&s;ed by the name of a garment, but this earthybody,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral. lib. <HI>9.</HI> c. <HI>19.</HI></NOTE> where with the &s;oule being clothed is covered, that it be not &s;een in the naked &s;ub&s;tance of the &s;ubtility of it. In another place Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> ap|plyes <HI>this whitene&s;&s;e</HI> unto virginity, where &s;peaking of tho&s;e words he &s;aith, <HI>Candor ve&s;tium &s;empiternus virginitatis est puritas,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hierony. adver. Joviniani. l. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> the continuall whitene&s;&s;e of garments, is the purity of virginity. And &s;o doth Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> apply them, who having cited the&s;e words &s;aith, <HI>Quid candi|dius virginitate? Quid nitidius intacti ve&s;timento pudoris?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Amb. de hortat. ad virginitatem</NOTE> <HI>Bona quidem ca&s;titas conjugalis, &amp; ca&s;titas viduitatis, munda omnis ca&s;titas, &s;ed fort&egrave; non omnis candida, aut non candida in omni tempore. De virginitate
<PB N="326" REF="160"> ergo pulchre dicitur, in omni tempore &s;int ve&s;timenta tua candida,</HI> what more white then virginity? what more &s;hining then the garments of untouched cha&s;tity? wedlock cha&s;tity is good, and &s;o is the cha&s;tity of widowhood. All cha&s;tity it cleane: but perhaps all is not white, or el&s;e it is not white alwayes. Of virginity therefore it is well &s;aid, <HI>Let thy garments alwayes be white.</HI> Another application which Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> makes of this whitene&s;&s;e is, <HI>Non &s;it tempus in quo candida non habeas ve&s;timenta, cave nequando pollutis ve&s;tibus induaris: populus quippe peccator in fu&s;cis ve&s;tibus luxi&s;&s;e de&s;cribitur,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> Let there be no time in which thou ha&s;t not white garments, take heed that at any time thou be not clothed with polluted garments: for a &s;infull people is de|&s;cribed to mourne in dark and du&s;ky garment. <HI>Rabbi Salomon</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rabbi Solomon.</NOTE> &s;aith here; that this is like unto a King inviting one unto a fea&s;t, and not tel|ling him the &s;et time; and therefore that he who is invited, if he be wi&s;e doth &s;o fit and adorne him&s;elfe that at any time he may be ready. Now God calleth the elect to that fea&s;t, which is to come, and doth not tell them the certaine time, which is the time of death, then which nothing is more uncertaine, and therefore a man mu&s;t be alwayes ready that he may be admitted unto that fea&s;t.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> And this readine&s;&s;e is by a vertuous &amp; Godly life which is here &s;ignified by <HI>the white garments</HI> as <HI>Lyra</HI> addeth. The latter part of the ver&s;e;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>let thine head lack no oyntment,</HI> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> briefly applyeth thus, <HI>e&s;to mi&s;erecors</HI> be thou mercifull. And &s;o Saint <HI>Gregory, oleum in capite est charitas in mente, &amp; deficit oleum a capite, quum charitas di&s;cedit &agrave; mente,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral. lib. <HI>2.</HI> cap. <HI>29.</HI></NOTE> Oyntment on the head is charity in the mind, and there is oyntment lacking on the head, when charity de|parteth from the mind. Let therefore thine head, that is thy mind, (which is &s;aid to be the head, as <HI>Lyra</HI> noteth, <HI>quia caput est in viribus animae,</HI> becau&s;e it is the head and principall facultie among the facul|ties of the &s;oule,) let thy mind &s;tudy where help and charity may be wanting, let it &s;tudy how to &s;hew charity in the be&s;t manner, and for the mo&s;t good. For it is u&s;uall in Scripture by oyle or ointment to &s;igni|fie a mercifull charity, in re&s;pect of the &s;oftne&s;&s;e and the &s;weetne&s;&s;e of it. But how do the parts of the ver&s;e &s;tand together? how can the garment be white, if the head be anoynted with oyle? E&s;pecially if there be much oyle, as the words, <HI>lack no oyntment</HI> may &s;eeme to &s;ignify. For then it may well run down upon the garments, and running down it cannot choo&s;e but &s;taine them, for oyle or oyntment is a very &s;taining thing. It is true that a materiall oyle is &s;o; but the oyle of a mercifull charity is of another nature, that doth not &s;taine, but clean&s;eth and taketh away the &s;taines of our &s;inne. God being ready to give unto them, who are ready to give unto the poore, the graces of his Holy Spirit, whereby to make them penitent of their &s;innes, and to keepe them from &s;inne.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 9. Some doe likewi&s;e under&s;tand this ver&s;e, as if it were the carnall coun&s;ell of wicked voluptuous livers; and &s;o Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> rea|ding the words thus, <HI>Live joyfully with the woman whom thou love&s;t,</HI> ex|pre&s;&s;eth the &s;en&s;e thus, <HI>Quaecunque tibi placuerit faeminarum ejus gaude
<PB N="327" REF="160"> complexu, &amp; vanam hanc &amp; brevem vitam,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hierony. in hunc vrr&s;.</NOTE> <HI>vana &amp; brevi voluptate per|curre,</HI> Who&s;oever among women &s;hall plea&s;e thee, rejoyce in her embra|cing, and run over a &s;hort and vaine life, with a &s;hort and vaine plea&s;ure. But to take the words, as being the coun&s;ell of the Preacher him&s;elfe, they are a farther commendation of the cheerefull u&s;e of the comforts of this life, <HI>Live joyfully with the wife:</HI> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> reads it, <HI>vide vi|tam,</HI> See life with the wife; as if it were to be under&s;tood of a mans &s;ee|ing his life continued and pre&s;erved by the benefit of marriage, when him&s;elfe &s;hall be gone, in his children and po&s;terity: But the Vulgar La|tine reads it well, <HI>perfruere vita,</HI> enjoy life, for it is not an enjoying of life, where there is not a comfortable cheerefulne&s;&s;e, and it is not a lit|tle comfort which from a wife mans life receiveth. Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> ob&s;er|veth that when God had made man out of the earth, it is not added: as to other things, and God &s;aw that it was good, and he giveth the rea&s;on of it, <HI>Quia &s;i dixi&s;&s;et illic bonum e&s;&s;e,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> Pa|rad. c. <HI>10.</HI></NOTE> <HI>inveniretur e&s;&s;e contrarium quod po|&s;tea dixit, non e&s;t bonum &s;olum e&s;&s;e hominem,</HI> beeau&s;e if he had &s;aid there, that it was good, it would have beene found contrary, which afterwards he &s;aid, it is not good for a man to be alone. No, it was the joyning of woman to man that made up the good, the comfort, the joy of man. Wherefore the &s;ame Father, noting that God is &s;aid to have built the rib which he tooke out of man into a woman (for &s;o the He|brew is) thereupon &s;aith, It is well that the making of a woman is ex|pre&s;&s;ed by a building,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambr. ibid. c. <HI>11</HI></NOTE> <HI>Quia in viro &amp; muliere domus videtur quaedam plena e&s;&s;e perfectio,</HI> becau&s;e in a man and a woman there &s;eemeth to be, as it were, the full perfection of an hou&s;e. <HI>Qui &s;ine uxore e&s;t, qua&s;i &s;ine domo e&s;t,</HI> He that is without a wife, is, as it were, without a hou&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gene&s;.</HI> 2.24.</NOTE> <HI>Whom thou love&s;t:</HI> when God &s;aith, therefore &s;hall a man leave father and mother, and &s;hall cleave unto his wife, the word which there is u&s;ed in the Originall is <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifieth a cleaving,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gene&s;.</HI> 34.3.</NOTE> out of a mo&s;t ardent affection, &s;uch as that was of <HI>Sichem</HI> unto <HI>Dinah,</HI> where the &s;ame word is found. Properly the word is &s;aid to &s;ignifie the cleaving of the &s;kinne and fle&s;h, and bones together, as when <HI>Job</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iob.</HI> 19.20.</NOTE> <HI>My bone cleaveth to my skinne, and to my fle&s;h:</HI> In Greek the word is rendred unto us by <GAP DESC="foreign"> which is u&s;ed when two things being glued together, are made to be as it were one thing. How therefore &s;hould this &s;o great neerene&s;&s;e cau&s;e a great mea&s;ure of love and affection between them. And indeed it is the love of one to the other, that maketh their life to be joyfull: according to the mea&s;ure of the one, &s;o is the mea&s;ure of the other. <HI>All the dayes of the life of thy vanity:</HI> when man had fir&s;t life given him, it was then a life of &s;olidity, of &s;tabi|lity, and then his wife was given to him, as the Fathers &s;peake <HI>in of|ficium,</HI> for the office of nature; but afterwards by &s;inning, mans life be|ing made <HI>a life of vanity,</HI> then his wife was given to him, as the Fathers al&s;o &s;peake, <HI>in remedium,</HI> for a remedy. And this is that which Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aith of marriage, <HI>Quod &s;anis e&s;t ad officium, aegrotis ad remedium,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tinus.</NOTE> to them that are &s;ound, it is for a duety to be done, to them that are &s;ick,
<PB N="329" REF="161"> it is for a remedy to be received. The Preacher therfore would have this remedy to be u&s;ed with cheerfulnes. For as Phi&s;ick doth the more good where it meeteth with a cheerfull di&s;po&s;ition, &s;o this remedy is the more comfortable to man, where it is enjoyed with cherefulnes of heart. <HI>Which he hath given thee under the Sun:</HI> the word, <HI>which,</HI> as I conceive by the Ori|ginal, is to be referred unto wife, for it is God indeed, who was the <HI>Para|nymphus,</HI> the friend of the bridegrome, that gave the fir&s;t wife unto man, it was God who married them, and joyned them together, and it is God who &s;till giveth the wife unto her hu&s;band, It is added, <HI>under the Sun,</HI> be|cau&s;e the Sun being the co~mon cau&s;e of generation, under the Sun, the hu&s;band &amp; the wife are the immediate cau&s;es of it, according to the &s;ay|ing of the Philo&s;opher, <HI>Sol &amp; homo generant hominem,</HI> The Sun, and man do beget man.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Paradi&s;. c. <HI>11.</HI></NOTE> <HI>All the dayes of thy vanity:</HI> this &s;heweth that though there be a rejoycing in a wife, and a rejoycing not only allowed, but commen|ded unto man, yet it is but <HI>in the dayes of his vanity,</HI> and therefore but a vanity of rejoycing. S. <HI>Amb.</HI> con&s;idering tho&s;e words, that God did ca&s;t a &s;leep upon <HI>Adam,</HI> when he formed woman out of him; thereupon &s;aith, <HI>Quis e&s;t i&s;te &s;opor?</HI> What is that &s;leep? but that when the mind is intent to the work of marriage, we &s;eem, as it were to bend down our eyes to a kind of &s;leep of this world, <HI>&amp; pauli&s;per obdormire divinis,</HI> and for a time to be a&s;leep to heavenly things, while that we re&s;t in earthly and worldly things. But that which I gather from <HI>Adams</HI> being a&s;leep, is this, that it &s;hewed the rejoycing which is in the wife, to be but as a dream that plea|&s;eth, &amp; as a vanity, <HI>in the dayes of mans vanity. For that is thy portion in this life:</HI> but if that be the portion, the part of man in this life, the~ it is not the part of a man, at lea&s;t of a religious man, to &s;peak of marriage, &amp; to &s;light it, as &s;ome of the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> doe. One &s;aith, <HI>Moy&s;en quia conjux fuit non potui&s;&s;e ingredi terram promi&s;&s;ionis;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Marullus cita|tus a Chemnicio, Concil. Trident. Exam. p. <HI>3.</HI> &s;e&s;. <HI>8.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Jo&s;uae vero propterea quia caelebs fuit hoc datum fui&s;&s;e.</HI> That <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> becau&s;e he was a hu&s;band could not enter into the land of promi&s;e &amp; that therefore this was granted to <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> be|cau&s;e he was not married. In that which is not due the C. of <HI>Rome</HI> is very free in giving honor unto mariage, by making it a Sacrament; but in gi|ving it that honor which it &s;hould have, there it is mo&s;t &s;paring. As if they could not honor virginity unles they did di&s;honor marriage. But in this point <HI>Epiph.</HI> &s;peaketh very well, <HI>Sancta Eccle&s;ia virginitatem cum hu|militate admiratur &amp; glorificat, viduitatem laudat, &amp; nuptiarum ca&s;tum vinculum honorat &amp; &s;u&s;cipit,</HI> The holy Church with humility admireth and glorifieth virginity,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Epiphan. l. <HI>2.</HI> Haere. <HI>48.</HI></NOTE> prai&s;eth widowhood, <HI>honoreth,</HI> &amp; approoveth the cha&s;t bond of mariarge. <HI>And in thy labour which thou take&s;t under the &s;un:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>Cor.</HI> 7.28.</NOTE> as there is rejoycing in marriage, &s;o there is labour al&s;o. <HI>Saint Paul</HI> &s;peaking of married people &s;aith, <HI>&s;uch &s;hall have trouble in the fle&s;h.</HI> And it is therefore that the Preacher doth exhort thee the rather, to live joy|fully with thy wife, that the labour may be the le&s;&s;e irk&s;ome unto thee. But while thou art <HI>under the Sun,</HI> thou mu&s;t be under the burden of la|bour, and in marriage thou mu&s;t take care of breeding thy children, in governing thy &s;ervants, in ordering thine affaires. Of him that doth
<PB N="311" REF="161"> ab&s;taine from marriage to avoid the labours and troubles of it, <HI>Clemens Alexandrinus</HI> &s;aith, <HI>peccat contra charitatem,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Clemens Alexa. Strom. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> that he &s;inneth again&s;t charity. The <HI>Jews</HI> in this ver&s;e by the wife doe under&s;tand wi&s;edome, and &s;o likewi&s;e doth <HI>Saint Hierome</HI> apply it, who &s;aith, <HI>&s;equere &s;apien|tiam &amp; &s;cientiam Scripturarum, &amp; hanc tibi in conjugium copula,</HI> follow wi&s;edome and the knowledge of the Scriptures, and joyne that unto thee as it were in marriage. And well doth the Preacher admoni&s;h us, that <HI>in the dayes of the life of our vanity,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> we &s;hould &s;eek true life by the marriage of wi&s;edome. <HI>Haec enim pars no&s;tra e&s;t &amp; hic laboris fructus,</HI> for this is our portion, and the fruit of our labour, if in this &s;hadow of a life we be able to find out true life as <HI>Saint Hierome</HI> addeth. And in this application of the words to wi&s;edome, <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;aith al&s;o,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> that is thy por|tion, <HI>i&s;ta tecum portabis de prae&s;enti vit&acirc;, &amp; non temporalia bona,</HI> tho&s;e things &s;halt thou cary with thee out of this pre&s;ent life, and not thy tem|porall goods.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 10. This ver&s;e &s;ome doe take to be &s;et downe as the adver&s;e of carnall &s;infull men &amp; in that kind <HI>Saint Hierome</HI> expre&s;&s;eth the &s;en&s;e of it thus, <HI>Nihil extr&agrave; haec habebis amplius qu&agrave;m frui quodcunque delectare pote&s;t, fe&s;tinus carpe nepereat.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Neque enim frivola debes formidare com|menta, quod &s;ingulorum operum vel bonorum, vel malorum, apud inferos tibi reddenda e&s;t ratio. Non e&s;t enim in morte aliqua &s;apientia, nullus po&s;t di&s;&s;olutionem vitae hujus &s;en&s;us,</HI> There is nothing more to be had, then to enjoy what&s;oever may delight, take it quickly, lea&s;t it be lo&s;t. For thou mu&s;t not feare tho&s;e frivolous devi&s;es: that there is after death an accompt to be given of every work, whither good or bad. There is is not in death any wi&s;edome, after the di&s;&s;olution of this life there is no &s;en&s;e of any thing. But in this ver&s;e I conceive the Preacher, to &s;hew, that as the wicked from the con&s;ideration of death doe excite them|&s;elves to a diligent and earne&s;t pur&s;uing after the plea&s;ures of this life; &s;o from the &s;ame con&s;ideration the vertuous &s;hould be &s;tirred up to a carefull diligence in doing of that which is needfull to be done. <HI>What|&s;oever thy hand findeth to doe:</HI> the hand findeth that which is within the reach of it, or els within the gra&s;pe of it, and therefore what&s;oever thy hand findeth to doe, is what&s;oever thou art able, what&s;oever thou ha&s;t means to doe. <HI>Doe it with thy might:</HI> doe it according to thy might, thy &s;trengh and ability, and let the mea&s;ure and termination of thy working be the po&s;&s;ibility of that which is to be wrought by thee. <HI>Saint Gregory</HI> con&s;idering the&s;e words, &s;aith, <HI>quia ergo &amp; venturae mortis tempus ignoramus, &amp; po&s;t mortem operari non po&s;&s;umus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. in Evang. Homil. <HI>13.</HI> &s;ine.</NOTE> <HI>&s;upere&s;t ut ante mortem tempora indulta rapiamus. Sic enim, &s;ic mors ip&s;a quando venerit, vincetur, &s;i priu&s;quam veniat &s;emper timeatur,</HI> becau&s;e therefore we know not the time of death to come, and becau&s;e after death we &s;hall not be able to work, it remaineth that before death we &s;natch at the time that is allowed to us. For &s;o it is that death when it commeth &s;hall be conquered, if before it come it be alwayes feared. The diligence which the Father would have us to u&s;e, is to catch at every occa&s;ion, and
<PB N="330" REF="162"> to &s;natch at every opportunity of time which is continually lying before us, and not to let goe any thing that may be laid hold of. <HI>Saint Bernard</HI> therefore complayning of tho&s;e, who while they live are negligent in working, and who&s;e manner is to &s;ay, come let us talk together to pa&s;&s;e away the time, with griefe of &s;pirit &s;aith: <HI>O donec praetereat hora, O donec pertran&s;eat tempus, quod tibi ad agendam paenitentiam, ad obtinendam veniam,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. Serm. de tripl. cu&s;tod.</NOTE> <HI>ad acquirendam gratiam, ad gloriam promerendam mi&s;eratio conditoris indul&s;it,</HI> O untill the houre be gone, O untill the time be pa&s;t, which the mercy of thy maker hath be&s;towed upon thee to performe repentance, to procure pardon, to gaine grace, and to obtaine glory. <HI>For there is no work,</HI> no outward work to be done, no work of charity towards others. This is that which our &s;aviour &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>John</HI> 9.4</NOTE> <HI>the night commeth when no one worketh.</HI> It will be a time hereafter when every one &s;hall be judged according to his works; now is the time wherein we mu&s;t work to find mercy, wherfore when the P&s;almi&s;t &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 101.1.</NOTE> <HI>I will &s;ing of mercy and judgement, unto thee O Lord will I &s;ing, Saint Au&s;tin</HI> conceiveth that it may be not without cau&s;e that the words are &s;o ordered and placed, and that it is &s;aid mercy and judgement, and not judgement and mercy, for &s;aith he, <HI>Si per tempora distinguamus haec duo, fort&egrave; inveniemus modo e&s;&s;e tempus mi&s;ere|cordiae,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. in P&s;al. <HI>100.</HI></NOTE> <HI>futurum autem judicii,</HI> If wee &s;hould di&s;tingui&s;h the&s;e two ac|cording to &s;everall times, perhaps wee find now to be the time of mercy, but that which is to come to be the time of judgement. <HI>Nor device,</HI> no inward working of thy mind to accompli&s;h thy de&s;ire; or els as I conceive the Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign">, may here well be rendred, no bu&s;ine&s;&s;e of dealing reckoning, trading. For this life is as it were a Faire, and while the Faire la&s;teth there is to be bought in it any thing that is nece&s;&s;ary.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Nazianz. in Sentent.</NOTE> But as <HI>Nazianzene</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Quod &s;i nundinarum tempus fluere &s;inas, nullum aliud es habiturus,</HI> if thou &s;uffer the time of the Faire to &s;lip away, thou wilt not have any other. <HI>Nor wi&s;dome,</HI> whereby to make u&s;e of any divine comforts, which in Gods word are &s;et forth, in re&s;pect of Gods mercy. For as <HI>Saint Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Quem nequaquam modo mi&s;erecordia eripit ab ir&acirc;,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral. l. <HI>8.</HI> c. <HI>12.</HI></NOTE> <HI>post prae&s;ens &s;aeculum justitiae addicit,</HI> whom now mercy doth not deliver from wrath, af|ter this world ju&s;tice delivereth up to wrath. <HI>Nor knowledge,</HI> whereby to imploy any humane means for thy good. It is &s;toried of <HI>Alexander</HI> the great that when he came to be&s;iege any place, he cau&s;ed a burning light to be &s;et up, and by a cryer publi&s;hed, that &s;o long as the light burned, &s;o long he gave them time to &s;eek for mercy by &s;urrendring them&s;elves and the place; but if within that time they did it not, he made it known unto them, that the &s;word &s;hould de&s;troy them all. Now what is mans life but a burning light, and &s;o long as this light continueth to burne, God giveth us time of making our peace with him, and of providing for our &s;afety: but this light being once extin|gui&s;hed, there is no more any light of knowledge, which may afford any comfort to us. <HI>In the grave whither thou goest:</HI> the vulgar Latin
<PB N="331" REF="162"> reads it, <HI>Quo te properas,</HI> whither thou ha&s;tene&s;t, for indeed it is a &s;peedy going a ha&s;tening whereby mans life pa&s;&s;eth away. The exhor|tation of <HI>Saint Paul</HI> is, <HI>redeeme the time becau&s;e the dayes are evill:</HI> where they are &s;aid to be evill becau&s;e they are &s;hort,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 5.16.</NOTE> <HI>quum enim ens &amp; bonum convertuntur,</HI> for &s;eeing that to be and to be good are things conver|tible, and doe infer mutually one the other, by how much the le&s;&s;e time any thing continueth to be, by &s;o much the le&s;&s;e is the goodne&s;&s;e of it, wherefore redeeme the time becau&s;e the dayes are &s;hort, and &s;eeing the dayes doe quickly go away, make u&s;e of them before they be gone. <HI>Saint Gregory</HI> tels us that they who doe not con&s;ider the &s;oli|dity of an eternall life, <HI>exilium patriam, tenebras lucem,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregorius.</NOTE> <HI>cur&s;um &s;ta|tionem putant,</HI> doe think a place of banni&s;hment to be their country, darkne&s;&s;e to be light, a going or running to be a &s;tanding &s;till. But what|&s;oever &s;uch may think, they are all &s;till going on to their grave, &amp; being once lodged in it, there is no more time of thinking of any thing which may be for their good. While thou art going there is &s;till tyme for thee to e&s;tabli&s;h thy comfort, and now one day, one houre may doe that for thee, which afterwards eternity will not be able to procure thee.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="11-12" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 11.</HI></BIBL> I returned and &s;aw under the Sunne, that the race is not to the &s;wift, nor the battel to the &s;trong, neither yet bread to the wi&s;e, nor yet riches to men of under&s;tanding, nor yet favour to men of skill, but time and chance happeneth to them all.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 12.</HI></BIBL> For man al&s;o knoweth not his time, as the fi&s;hes that are taken in an evill net, and as the birds that are caught in a &s;nare; &s;o are the &s;onnes of men &s;na|red in an evill time, when it falleth &s;uddenly upon them.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 11. The Preacher keeping him&s;elf unto his maine argument, which is to &s;hew the vanity of the things of this world, &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>I retur|ned and &s;aw under the Sun,</HI> that is &s;aith Lyra <HI>in habitatione hominum,</HI> in the dwellings of men. For God is &s;aid to have placed his tabernacle in the Sun, but men have their tabernacles under the Sun. <HI>That the race is not to the &s;wift.</HI> Which in a fuller and plainer manner is well &s;et
<PB N="332" REF="163"> downe by <HI>Olympiodorus,</HI> who &s;aith, <HI>Aliud contemplatus &s;um, quod vincere in cur&s;u, non &s;it cuju&s;que levis &amp; expediti adcurrendum, neque omnium qui potentes &s;unt egregios ac invictos &s;e praestare in praelio, neque ad prudentes &s;apiente&s;que viros atque indu&s;trios divitiis devolvi, &s;ed nec eos qui multa noverint,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Olympiodor. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>gratiam con&s;equi,</HI> I con&s;idered another thing that to overcome in running is not the glory of every one, who is light and nimble in running, neither is it the triumph of all, who are mighty to make them&s;elves victorious and conquerours in war, neither is it the happine&s;&s;e of prudent wi&s;e and diligent men that riches are ca&s;t upon them, neither is it al&s;o the &s;ucce&s;&s;e of tho&s;e who know many things to find grace and favour. The drift of the Preacher is to &s;hew that all the providence of man is uncertaine, and that after all care taken, much watching u&s;ed, and all things made ready, yet when it comes to the point, even he that is mo&s;t mighty, he that is mo&s;t circum&s;pect findeth that he hath not &s;ome thing that is nece&s;&s;ary. And it is as if the Prea|cher had &s;aid, gather into one even all the gifts of humane nature, whe|ther &s;peed, or valour, or wi&s;dome, or indu&s;try, together with ability of all the arts and &s;ciences, all the&s;e will faile when there is occa&s;ion of them, all the&s;e will confe&s;&s;e that they have not that which they are. And when it &s;hould appeare, what they are, the mo&s;t &s;wift &s;hall not have the race, the mo&s;t valiant &s;hall not have valour, neither &s;hall art &s;cience or diligence have their u&s;e and benefit. Surely he is a foole, who in the providence of man doth not &s;ee even tho&s;e things which are mo&s;t certaine and mo&s;t ready to mi&s;&s;e of their mark. And indeed from hence e&s;pecially is &s;hewed the providence of God, and that it is that alone which hath at hand all things nece&s;&s;ary, and which therefore never faileth in the propo&s;ed end. When wee read of the <HI>Samaritane,</HI> who travelling by the way, and falling upon a wounded man, beeing mo|ved with compa&s;&s;ion bound up his wounds, and powred wine and oyle into them. Doth it not &s;eeme much that beeing but a traveller and pa&s;&s;ing on the way he &s;hould have wine and oyle in readine&s;&s;e with him?<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luc.</HI> 10.</NOTE> Suppo&s;e that he might cary wine with him, yet whence &s;hould he have oyle? Or &s;uppo&s;e he might al&s;o carry oyle with him, becau&s;e wee read that <HI>Jacob</HI> travelling by the way, and erecting a pillar powred oyle upon it: yet where had he things needfull for ligatures to bind up the wounds? Surely this <HI>Samaritane</HI> was not man but God, and that is plaine even from this alone that he had all things needfull for the cure prepared and in readine&s;&s;e: whereas in the pinch of time either all things or many things would have been wanting unto humane Provi|dence.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Origen. Homil. <HI>34.</HI> in Luc.</NOTE> Atlea&s;twi&s;e as <HI>Origene</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>&V;t &s;cias quod &s;ecundum pro|videntiam Dei Samaritus iste de&s;cendit ut curraret eum qui inciderat in latrones, manife&s;t&egrave; doceberis ex eo, quod &s;ecum habebat alligaturas, &s;e|cum oleum, &s;ecum vinum,</HI> that thou maye&s;t know that it was by Gods providence, that the <HI>Samaritane</HI> came downe for the curing of him who fell among theeves, thou &s;halt be taught it manife&s;tly from hence becau&s;e he had in readine&s;&s;e by him bindings, in readine&s;&s;e oyle, in
<PB N="333" REF="163"> readine&s;&s;e wine. <HI>But time and chance happeneth to them all:</HI> that is &s;aith <HI>Olympiodorus, incerti rerum eventus, nihilque e&s;t hominibus tanquam &s;atis, nihil undique perfectum, nihil aequale, omniaque fere di&s;&s;imili &s;ine terminantur,</HI> the events of things are uncertaine,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Olympiod in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> and there is nothing unto men that is as it were &s;ufficient, there is nothing every way per|fect, nothing that goeth on in an equall and like cour&s;e, but all things almo&s;t in the i&s;&s;ue have an end unan&s;werable to the beginnings &amp; pro|ceedings. But here <HI>Aquinas</HI> noteth two things, fir&s;t that this is not &s;o &s;poken, <HI>quod omnia quae in eis fiunt &s;int ca&s;ualia, &s;ed quia in quolibet eorum aliquid ca&s;uale inveniri pote&s;t,</HI> not that all things which are done in them doe happen by chance, but becau&s;e in every one of them there is &s;omthing of chance which may bee found. Secondly he noteth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aquinas</HI> 1. <HI>Qu.</HI> 103. <HI>Ar.</HI> 5.</NOTE> <HI>quod ad ostendendum ca&s;ualia &s;ecundum ordinem alicujus &s;uperioris cau&s;ae pro|venire non dicit &s;implicit er quod vidit ca&s;um in omnibus e&s;&s;e, &s;ed dicit tempus &amp; ca&s;um quia &s;cilicet &s;ecundum aliquem ordinem temporis ca&s;ua|les defectus inveniuntur in rebus,</HI> that to declare ca&s;uall things to come to pa&s;&s;e according to the ordering of &s;ome &s;uperiour cau&s;e, he doth not &s;imply &s;ay, that he &s;aw chance in all things but he &s;aith <HI>time and chance,</HI> namely becau&s;e it is according to &s;ome ordering of time, that ca&s;uall events are found to bee in things. And the rea&s;on al&s;o why ca&s;uall events are found in things is well given by <HI>Saint Hie|rome</HI> who &s;aith, <HI>Haec autem fiunt quia incerto &s;tatu feruntur omnia,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; non est in prae&s;enti retributio meritorum, &s;ed in futuro,</HI> but the&s;e things are done, becau&s;e all things are carryed on with an uncertaine condi|tion, and becau&s;e it is not in this world, but in that which is to come, that there &s;hall be a reward of worth and de&s;ert. So that by chance the Preacher intendeth nothing el&s;e but the di&s;po&s;ing of things by God, wherein man is uncertaine altogether and ignorant what they will be in a more hidden &s;en&s;e which <HI>Saint Hierome</HI> calleth, &s;ecundum <GAP DESC="foreign"> according to the anagogall meaning, the &s;ame Father explaineth the ver&s;e thus; he that is bound with chaines of iron, and loaded with weights of lead (for iniquity is a talent of lead) is not fit for the race of which the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>I have fini&s;hed my cour&s;e.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Zach.</HI> 5.7.</NOTE> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.7.</NOTE> <HI>I have keept the faith.</HI> But he that is light, and who&s;e &s;oule is not burdened, not|with&s;tanding he is not able without God his helper to attain to the goal. And whereas there is a battle to be fought again&s;t oppo&s;ing powers, even he that is &s;trong &s;hall not be able to overcome by his owne &s;tre~gth. He al&s;o that is perfect and wi&s;e among the Sons of men,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> yet cannot have the heavenly bread of life, unles it be by wi&s;dome exhorting and calling him, <HI>come eate of my bread.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Proverb.</HI> 9.5.</NOTE> And becau&s;e there be not riches wanting, of which the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;aith, <HI>be rich in good works;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Tim.</HI> 6.8.</NOTE> and els where, <HI>ye are rich in all uterance, and in all knowledge,</HI> it mu&s;t be known that a wi&s;e man cannot get the&s;e riches, unle&s;&s;e he receive them from the Lord, who&s;e riches they are. Favour al&s;o unle&s;&s;e it be accom|panyed with knowledge and granted by God, although he be a lear|ned man, he &s;hall not be able to find it. La&s;tly it is a thing unknown
<PB N="334" REF="164"> to man, when the time &s;hall come, in which the various event and end of all things &s;hall be.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 12. <HI>For man al&s;o knoweth not his time:</HI> the &s;eptuagint and the vulgar latin read it thus, <HI>Et quidem ne&s;cit homo finem &s;uum,</HI> and truely man knoweth not his end. Now that is a time indeed on which the welfare of man doth principally depend, and for which he ought care|fully to be alwayes ready, &s;eeing he doth not know the time when it &s;hall be. Wherefore <HI>Saint Bernand</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Mi&s;er quare omni hora te non di&s;ponis?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. Serm. <HI>26.</HI> in Cantic.</NOTE> <HI>Cogita te mortuum, quum &s;cis de nece&s;&s;itate te moriturum,</HI> O mi&s;erable man, wherefore do&s;t thou not di&s;po&s;e thy &s;elf every houre for thine end? Think thy &s;elf to be dead, who knowe&s;t that of ne|ce&s;&s;ity thou mu&s;t dye. And to &s;tirre up the &s;ame care in us <HI>Saint Gregory</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregorius.</NOTE> <HI>nemo in hujus vitae itinere torpeat; ne in patria locum perdat. Quod eum adhuc hodie licet bene agere &s;cimus, utrum cras liceat ignoramus,</HI> let no one be negligent in the journy of this life, lea&s;t he loo&s;e his place of abode in his country. For we know that we may doe good, while it is yet to day, but we know not whither we &s;hall be able to morrow. But to con&s;ider the reading of our tran&s;lation, which is according to the Originall. The ignorance of man in not knowing his time is more then of bea&s;ts.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jeremy.</HI> 8.7.</NOTE> For the Prophet <HI>Jeremy</HI> &s;aith, <HI>the &s;tork in the heaven knoweth his appointed times, and the turtle and the crane and the &s;wallow ob&s;erve there comming.</HI> In <HI>Ca&s;&s;iodore</HI> King <HI>Theodoric</HI> &s;hewing the &s;ame &s;aith, <HI>Mergi quibus nomen e&s;t ex facto, cohabitatores pi&s;cium, aquatiles volucres futuras tempe&s;tates naturaliter praevidentes &s;icca petunt, &s;tagna derelinquunt,</HI> The Mergi, (we take them for the Cormorant) who have their name from their deed, the cohabitants of fi&s;hes and water fowles; for &s;eeing naturally tempe&s;ts that are to come, leave the lakes and get to drye places.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;iodorus Var. l. <HI>3.</HI> Var. <HI>48.</HI></NOTE> He &s;peaketh al&s;o of the <HI>Echini:</HI> a kind of fi&s;h, who are as he de&s;cribeth them, <HI>mella carnalia, con&s;tatilis teneritudo, croceae delitiae divitis maris, dum futuras tempe&s;tates agnoverint loca mu|tare cupientes, quia illis prae levitate corporis nandi nulla fiducia e&s;t, la|pillos quibus pares e&s;&s;e po&s;sint complexi, quadam anchorarum pondera|tione librati; &s;copulos petunt, quos fluctibus vexandos e&s;&s;e non credunt,</HI> a fle&s;hy hony, a firm &s;oftne&s;&s;e, the &s;affron delights of the rich &s;ea, when they perceive tempe&s;ts to be comming, de&s;iring to chang their places, becau&s;e they tru&s;t not to their owne &s;wimming in regard of the light|ne&s;&s;e of their body, they take unto them little &s;tones, &s;uch as they may be able to rule and ma&s;ter, and being poi&s;ed by them as it were by the weight of anchors, they get unto the rocks, which they beleive the waves will not be able to di&s;quiet. Thus the&s;e creatures herein may &s;eeme to excell man, who is a creature far more excellent then they. But the rea&s;on why man knoweth not his time, is, that he may acknow|ledge God to be the ruler of his time, and may depend rather upon his providence then upon his owne &s;trengh and circum&s;pection.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 31.14.15.</NOTE> Wherefore the Prophet <HI>David</HI> &s;aith, <HI>I tru&s;ted in thee O Lord, I &s;aid thou art my God. My times are in thy hands.</HI> Which is as if he &s;aid, it is not in my care|fulne&s;&s;e,
<PB N="335" REF="164"> not in myne inventions, not in the projects of the di&s;cour&s;e of my mynd, that the event of myne affaires, my good and happine&s;&s;e are placed: but in thy hands O Lord, thy will, thy judgement for the&s;e are the hands of the Lord, by which he worketh. <HI>As the fi&s;hes that are taken in an evill net:</HI> fir&s;t the net is &s;aid to be evill, becau&s;e evill for them, as the French tran&s;lation addeth to make the &s;en&s;e plai|ner. And &s;o doth <HI>Tremellius</HI> expound it &s;aying, <HI>Damno&s;o &s;ibi &amp; ca|lamito&s;o,</HI> a net evill and hurtfull and dangerous to them&s;elves: But it may be al&s;o called an evill net, as being a net of deceipt and prey, and as &s;hewing tho&s;e things to be evill in men. Secondly by their &s;peach the Preacher hath reference to what he had &s;aid before in the former ver&s;: for fi&s;hes are &s;wift in their cour&s;e of &s;wimming, but meeting with a net are &s;topped in their way, &s;o that the &s;low paced worme doth often out goe them, even as he that is &s;wift in running meeting with &s;ome accident that he knew not of, leaveth the race to him that in &s;wiftne&s;&s;e came be|hind him. <HI>And as the birds that are caught in the &s;nare:</HI> this al&s;o hath reference unto the former ver&s;e. For as birds who&s;e wings are ready to carry them on high meeting with a &s;nare are kept below and hindred in their flight, &s;o that the butterfly gets up higher then they; even &s;o men of &s;kill are forward by their &s;kill to fly into favour, but meeting with &s;ome event not thought upon by them they are kept below and out of favour, when &s;ome others of le&s;&s;e &s;kill have more favour then then they. <HI>So are the &s;ons of men &s;nared in an evill time: Philo</HI> &s;hews it in them who are &s;trong and win not the battel &s;aying, <HI>athletae robore freti &amp; bona corporis habitudine, dum certam &s;ibi pollicentur victoriam, vel exclu&s;i &s;unt &egrave; certamine, vel victi ab adver&s;ariis: alii ne &s;ecundam quidem palmam &s;perantes primam coronam reportaverunt praemium</HI> wre|&s;tlers furni&s;hed with &s;trength and enjoying a good di&s;po&s;ition of body, while they promi&s;e them&s;elves a certaine victory, are either excluded from the game or conquered by there adver&s;aries:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo de Jo&s;eph.</NOTE> others who did not &s;o much as hope for the &s;econd garland, have carried away the fir&s;t crowne as their reward. He &s;hews al&s;o <HI>that riches are not to men of un|der&s;tanding, quidam negotiatores certa lucra &s;ibi proponunt, &s;ecuri de pe|riculis; alii de damno &s;oliciti magnum fecerunt operae pretium,</HI> Some merchandi&s;ing dealers propo&s;e unto them&s;elves by their under&s;tanding certaine gaines, and are &s;ecure of dangers, which yet they fall into: others are much troubled with feare of their lo&s;&s;es, who come to great gaines. <HI>When it falleth &s;uddenly upon them:</HI> that is unlookt for, un|thought of, unknowne altogether. For as <HI>Philo</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>qui vigi|lant, quantum ad incertam perceptionem attinet nihil a dorminentibus dif|ferunt, &s;eip&s;os fallendo, dum &s;eputant rerum naturas clare per&s;picere,</HI> they who are watchfull, for as much as pertaineth to an uncertaine ap|prehen&s;ion, doe not differ any thing from them that are a&s;leepe, by deceiving them&s;elves,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo. Ibid.</NOTE> while they think them&s;elves to perceive certainly the nature of things. Againe he &s;aith, <HI>proinde tanquam altum dormien|tes erramus, non valentes quicquam ratiocinatione vel penetrare vel certo
<PB N="336" REF="165"> comprehendere, quando cuncta umbris &s;pectri&s;que &s;unt &s;imilia,</HI> wee are therefore like tho&s;e that are a &s;leepe, not being able by rea&s;oning to peirce into any thing, or certainely to comprehend it, when all things are like to &s;hadows and phanta&s;ies. But this ignorance of man in not knowing his time, and this uncertanity of humane events, mu&s;t make him in wi&s;edome to provide even for tho&s;e things which he doth not feae nor look for.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;iodor. l. <HI>3.</HI> var. <HI>48.</HI></NOTE> Wherefore King <HI>Theodoric</HI> in <HI>Ca&s;&s;iodore</HI> &s;aith, <HI>pro|videntiae e&s;t cavere, etiam quae non putantur emergere. Munitio tractanda e&s;t &s;emper in otio. Quia tunc male quaeritur quando nece&s;&s;e indicitur,</HI> It is the part of providence to take heed of tho&s;e things which are not thought to come to pa&s;&s;e. Fortifying is to be done in quietne&s;&s;e. Becau&s;e it is then ill &s;ought for, when it is commanded as nece&s;&s;ary. And this it is al&s;o which <HI>Seneca</HI> advi&s;eth.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Senec. l. <HI>2.</HI> Epi&s;t. Epi&s;t. <HI>18.</HI></NOTE> <HI>In ip&s;&acirc; &s;ecuritate animus ad difficilia &s;e preparet, &amp; contra injurias fortunae inter beneficia firmetur,</HI> In &s;ecurity it &s;elfe let the mind prepare it &s;elfe for troubles, and again&s;t the injuries of fortune let it be &s;tengthned even in the midde&s;t of favours.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="13-18" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 13.</HI></BIBL> This wi&s;dome have I &s;eene al&s;o under the Sun, and it &s;eemed great unto me.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 14.</HI></BIBL> There was a little City, and few men with|in it, and there came a great King a|gain&s;t it, and be&s;eiged it, and built great bulwarkes again&s;t it.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 15.</HI></BIBL> Now there was found in it a poore wi&s;e man, and he by his wi&s;dome delivered the City, yet no man remembred that &s;ame poore man.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 16.</HI></BIBL> Then &s;aid I, wi&s;dome is better then &s;trength; never the le&s;&s;e, the poore mans wi&s;dome was de&s;pi&s;ed, and his words not heard.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 17.</HI></BIBL> The words of wi&s;e men are heard in quiet, more then the crye of him that ruleth over fooles.</P>
<PB N="337" REF="165">
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 18.</HI></BIBL> Wi&s;dome is better then weapons of warre: but one &s;inner di&s;troyeth much good.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 13. The Preacher having &s;hewed the in&s;ufficiency of humane wi&s;|dome, that thereby the providence of God might be the more glorified, &amp; thereby man might be made the more carefully to &s;eeke unto him, the more faithfully to tru&s;t in him. Lea&s;t hereupon there might be &s;ome di&s;e&s;teeme of the worth of wi&s;dome, or &s;ome neglect in the painfull getting of it: the Preacher here al&s;o &s;heweth, the excellent u&s;e and the glorious benefit of it, and with all the remarkable Providence of God in ble&s;&s;ing of it. <HI>This wi&s;dome have I &s;een al&s;o:</HI> he doth at once both &s;hew it to others, and look him&s;elfe upon it. He &s;hewes it to others as com|mending it to them, he lookes upon it him&s;elfe, as being a thing which he &s;ees with admiration. He both &s;hewes it and lookes upon it as being a rare thing in the world.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tes</HI> 1.</NOTE> For as the vulgar Latin hath it before in this booke, <HI>&s;tultorum infinitus e&s;t numerus,</HI> of fooles there is an infinite number. How many notorious fooles are there, who &s;pend all their time care paines in getting of riches, and neglect that one thing which is nece&s;&s;ary, the &s;alvation of their &s;oules? How many &s;hamefull fooles are there, who having great riches, and might with a litle of them laid out in charity purcha&s;e the glory of heaven, doe by their wicked|ne&s;&s;e &s;pend their means to &s;ell them&s;elves to de&s;truction? How many &s;illy fooles are there, who thinke a little crying, God pardon me, to be repentance enough, and that they can make their peace with God, when and how they will, as if the Father had left times and &s;ea&s;ons in their power and not in his owne? Indeed who can number the follies of men, and the fooles that are among men? One &s;aith, <HI>&s;i ad mores hominum re&s;picias, mundum univer&s;um &s;tultorum domum judicabis,</HI> if thou beholde&s;t the manners of men, thou wilt judge the whole world to be a hou&s;e of fooles. But to find a wi&s;e man, <HI>to &s;ee wi&s;dome</HI> is a rare thing and that maketh the Preacher to looke upon it. But what is wi&s;dome? <HI>Philo</HI> tels us <HI>vulgus prudentem ex&s;timat eum,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo legis Alleg. lib. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>qui mores ophi&s;tarum inven|tione &amp; locutione pollet plurimum,</HI> The mo&s;t part think him to be a wi&s;e man, who after the manner of <HI>Sophi&s;ters</HI> is, able to find out de|vi&s;es, and with fluency of words to &s;et out, what he would &s;ay. But him&s;elfe tels us, that wi&s;dome <HI>non e&s;t verbis &s;apere &s;ed opere &s;pectatum e&s;&s;e actionibu&s;que ad virtutem compo&s;itis,</HI> is not to be wi&s;e in words, but to be approved in deeds and in actions compo&s;ed to the rule of vertue. <HI>The wi&s;dome</HI> whereof the Preacher here &s;peaketh, is that which S. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> de&s;cribeth, <HI>vivacitate ingenii, mentis vigore atque autoritate po&s;&s;e prae|&s;entia &s;olvere pericula, pro&s;picere futura, denuntiare imminentia, argu|menta expedire, remedium ferre in tempore,</HI> by a lively quickne&s;&s;e of wit,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Offic. lib. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>8.</HI></NOTE> by a &s;trength and command of under&s;tanding, to be able di&s;pell pre&s;ent dangers, to fore&s;ee them when they are to come, to declare them when they are at hand, to di&s;patch bu&s;ine&s;&s;es, and in time to bring help. <HI>Have
<PB N="338" REF="166"> I &s;een under the Sun:</HI> wi&s;dome under the Sun, but it is from above the Sun,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>James</HI> 1.5.</NOTE> that it is gotten. Saint <HI>James</HI> therefore &s;aith, <HI>if any of you lack wi&s;dome, let him aske of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbray|deth not, and it &s;hall be given him.</HI> And <HI>Ca&s;&s;iodore</HI> &s;aith well, <HI>&s;apientia &agrave; Domino Deo e&s;t, &amp; cum ip&s;o fuit &s;emper &amp; permanet in aeternum: qua propter toto ni&s;u, toto labore, totis de&s;ideriis exquiramus, ut ad tale tan|tumque munus Domino largiente parvenire mereamur,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;iod. Divin. lection. c. <HI>28.</HI></NOTE> wi&s;dome is from the Lord God, it hath been with him alwayes, and remaynes with him for ever: wherefore with all our endeavour, with all our labour, with all our de&s;ires let us &s;trive and &s;eeke, that the Lord be&s;towing it upon us, wee may be thought worthy to obtaine &s;uch and &s;o great a gift. <HI>&V;nder the Sun</HI> the Preacher &s;aw this wi&s;dome, and it was as another Sun on earth, <HI>under the Sun</HI> of heaven. For as the Sun excelleth among the planets and &s;tarres of heaven, and is as it were the eye of the world; &s;o wi&s;dome excelleth among all the gifts of the &s;oule, and is as it were the inward eye of the little world man. For as <HI>Philo</HI> &s;peaketh <HI>vi&s;us mentis nihil aliud est quam prudentia,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo lib. de Abrahamo.</NOTE> the &s;ight of the mind is nothing el&s;e but wi&s;dome. <HI>And it &s;eemed great unto mee:</HI> the vulgar Latin &s;aith, <HI>maxima</HI> very great, even &s;o great is the beauty of it upon the earth, as the glory of the Sun in heaven. For as <HI>Philo</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Pretio&s;a pru|dentia,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo legis Alleg. lib. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&amp; inter opes divinas citra controver&s;iam pulcherrima,</HI> pretious is wi&s;dome and among the divine riches, without controver&s;ie the mo&s;t beautifull. Mo&s;t beautifull it is among the divine riches, mo&s;t need|full it is among humane ble&s;&s;ings. For as the &s;ame writer &s;peaketh, <HI>&s;icut no&s;tris corporibus interitum morbus, incolumitatem affert &s;anitas; it idem animas prudentia &s;ervat, quum ip&s;a &s;it mentis &s;anitas; imprudentia vero interimit quum &s;it morbus eorum in&s;anabilis,</HI> as &s;ickene&s;&s;e bringeth de&s;truction to our bodyes,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo de Temu|lentia.</NOTE> health &s;afety; in like manner wi&s;dome pre|&s;erveth our &s;oules, &s;eeing that is the health of the mind, but folly de|&s;troyeth them, &s;eeing it is the incurable di&s;ea&s;e of them. <HI>Moy&s;es</HI> &s;peaking to the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> concerning their going into the land of <HI>Ca|naan,</HI> and &s;aying when yee &s;hall come into the, land and &s;hall have planted all manner of trees for food,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Levitic.</HI> 19.23.</NOTE> thereupon <HI>Philo</HI> noteth, that while they &s;taid without that land, they were not able to plant &s;uch trees. And he according to his manner fetching out a my&s;ticall &s;en&s;e from it addeth upo~ it, <HI>donec enim in &s;apientiae via~ mens intrat non progreditur, &s;ed errabunda vagatur, &s;ylve&s;tres tantum modo curat arbores, quae vel in totum &s;teriles &s;unt, vel fructum ferunt ad cibos incommodum. Sed quando in|gre&s;&s;ae viam &s;apientiae, per decreta ejus a&s;cendit, &amp; incepit in his omnibus decurrere; tum mites &amp; mitium fructuum colit feraces pro illis &s;ylve&s;tri|bus, tranquillitatem pro perturbationibus pro ignorantia &s;cientiam, pro malis bona,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo de plan|tatione Noe.</NOTE> for untill the mind entreth into the way of wi&s;dome, it doth not go forward, but gadding wandreth up and downe, planteth only wild trees, which either are barren, or el&s;e bring forth that fruit which is not good to eate. But when it is come into the way of wi&s;|dome it a&s;cendeth up by the rules thereof, and beginneth to run a cour&s;e
<PB N="339" REF="166"> according to all the&s;e rules, then it planteth better trees, and &s;uch as bring forth better fruit, in&s;tead of tho&s;e wild trees, quietne&s;&s;e in&s;tead of perturbations, knowledg in&s;teed of ignorance, good things in&s;tead of evill. La&s;tly the Preacher &s;aith, <HI>unto mee</HI> it &s;eemed great: for it is the wi&s;dome of another that the Preacher &s;peaketh of, it is not his owne. <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;aith <HI>Omnis cui &s;apientia recta est, plurima non est,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Morab. lib. <HI>17.</HI> c. <HI>11.</HI></NOTE> every one who&s;e wi&s;dome is right, doth never thinke it to be great being his owne, if it be right, it never &s;eemeth to be great unto him; but the wi&s;dome of another he &s;eeth to be great. <HI>&V;nto mee</HI> &s;aith the Preacher <HI>it &s;eemed to be great;</HI> and as it &s;eemed to him, &s;o it &s;eemeth to every one that hath wi&s;dome and under&s;tanding, though perhaps others may &s;leight it, a foole may de&s;pi&s;e it.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 14. <HI>Rabbi Solomon</HI> &s;aith <HI>Lyra</HI> expoundeth this ver&s;e, <HI>tanquam &s;ic fuerit ad literam,</HI> as if there had been &s;ome &s;uch City on the earth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> and that it was &s;o be&s;ieged, &s;o delivered, as here it is &s;et downe; but he &s;heweth not either how the City was named or how the King was called. It matters not for the &s;cope of the Preacher, whether it were &s;o or no, there being Cities on the earth great and little, and enemies that doe be&s;eige them with great forces, this is &s;ufficient ground for that which is &s;aid. But when we &s;peake of Cities and of citizens, it is not ami&s;&s;e to remember, that this is only according to the &s;peach of man, and in re|&s;pect of them, of whom as they are compared one with another, &s;ome are &s;aid to be of one City, &s;ome of another, &s;ome are &s;aid to be citizens, &s;ome are not: whereas in truth as <HI>Philo</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Solus Dominus Deus civis e&s;t, omnis aute~ creatura inquilinus &amp; advena;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo lib. de Cherub.</NOTE> <HI>qui vero dicuntur cives per abu|&s;um nominis magis quam ver&egrave; &s;ic appellantur,</HI> the Lord God alone is a ci|tizen, every creature is a foreigner and &s;tranger, they that are called citi|zens are &s;o tearmed, rather by an abu&s;e of the name, then properly and truly. For indeed the whole world and all things therein, as they are the works of God, &s;o they are his po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions, which he lendeth unto men, becau&s;e him&s;elfe hath not need of them. But he that doth u&s;e them, doth not po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e them, becau&s;e there is one owner and ma&s;ter of all, who rightly &s;aith the whole earth is myne, and yee are &s;trangers and &s;ojourners in it. And this is not onely mo&s;t true, but mo&s;t u&s;efull for comfort. For becau&s;e men doe think the things of the earth to be their owne, therefore are they full of &s;orrow, when they are taken from them: whereas did they thinke them&s;elves to be &s;trangers to them, the lo&s;&s;e of them would be the lighter to them. But to con&s;ider the City here &s;poken of. This ver&s;e &s;heweth the great ods, that is betweene the defendants and the a&s;&s;ailants; for that is the ba&s;ene&s;&s;e of oppre&s;&s;ion, that it alwayes worketh upon great inequality. <HI>There was a little City, Et ideo poterat de facili ob&s;ideri,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> and therefore it might be be&s;ieged ea&s;ily: <HI>and few men in it, &amp; ideo male poterat defendi,</HI> and there|fore it could be hardly defended &s;aith <HI>Lyra;</HI> yea the few men that were in it, were but <GAP DESC="foreign"> weak &s;ickly men as the Originall is. For the word is derived from the roote <GAP DESC="foreign">, which &s;ignifieth <HI>aegrum e&s;&s;e</HI> to be
<PB N="340" REF="167"> &s;ick and di&s;ea&s;ed. <HI>And there came a great King again&s;t it,</HI> not only a King, but a great King, great in his dominions, and being a King of many countreys, he came again&s;t one, and that one a little citie. <HI>And be&s;ieged it,</HI> be&s;ieged a few men with a great armie, with very many men, and encompa&s;&s;ed them round, that at lea&s;t they might peri&s;h by famine. <HI>And built great bulwarks again&s;t it:</HI> bulwarks as great as the little citie, and even little cities in them&s;elves, being built as habitations for the &s;oul|diers to dwell in: The&s;e were the uneven tearms upon which the war was made, and what greater di&s;advantage could a poore little citie have. But taking the Preacher to &s;peak metaphorically, the application which the <HI>Jews</HI> make of it, is by <HI>the little citie,</HI> here to under&s;tand man as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> to under&s;tand the body of man, as <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;aith, By <HI>the few men in the citie,</HI> to under&s;tand, as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;aith, <HI>membra de quibus ip&s;e homo contexitur,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> the parts of which man is compo&s;ed; to under|&s;tand the members of the body, as <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;aith. By <HI>the great King that came again&s;t it,</HI> to under&s;tand, as <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Ip&s;um fomitem ad malum incli|nantem, qui rex magnus dicitur, eo quod multi obediunt ei,</HI> the corruption of man which inclineth him to evill, which is &s;aid to be a great King, be|cau&s;e many doe obey it. I have noted this difference betweene Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> and <HI>Lyra,</HI> in relating the expo&s;ition of the <HI>Jews,</HI> becau&s;e there|by is perceieved how <HI>Lyra</HI> would draw the <HI>Jews</HI> to maintaine the do|ctrine of the auncient School-men, who placed originall corruption principally in the depravation of the &s;en&s;itive part which is &s;eated in the body.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo de &s;acrif. Abel. &amp; Cain.</NOTE> But that Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> relateth the opinion of the <HI>Jews,</HI> more truly appeareth from <HI>Philo,</HI> from who&s;e ground, it may be that the expo&s;ition is taken; for hee &s;aith, <HI>in uniuscuju&s;que no&s;trum ci|vitate quae con&s;tat ex animo &amp; corpore, pro firmi&s;&s;imo propugnaculo &s;unt cogitationes amicae prudentiae,</HI> in the citie of every one of us, which con&s;i&s;teth of a &s;oule and a body, a mo&s;t firme and &s;trong tower are tho&s;e thoughts, which are the friends of wi&s;dome. The application, which Chri&s;tian writers make of the pa&s;&s;age of Scrip|ture metaphorically taken,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luk.</HI> 12.32.</NOTE> is, by <HI>this little citie</HI> here to under&s;tand the Church of Chri&s;t, which our Saviour him&s;elfe calleth a little flock. For as Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> noteth, in the Scripture a citie, a &s;pou&s;e, and &s;heepe doe &s;ignifie one and the &s;ame thing: and that the Church is &s;aid to be <HI>civitas propter collectionem, &s;pon&s;a propter dilectionem, oves propter man|&s;uetudinem,</HI> a citie in regard of their unitie and gathering together, a Spou&s;e in re&s;pect of the love of Chri&s;t towards her, and &s;heepe in regard of meekne&s;&s;e and mildne&s;&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. Sup. Cant. Ser. <HI>76.</HI></NOTE> And would&s;t thou know, &s;aith Saint <HI>Ber|nard,</HI> a city and a &s;pou&s;e to be the &s;ame thing? Behold what Saint <HI>John</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Revel.</HI> 21.26.</NOTE> <HI>and I &s;aw the holy citie, the new Jeru&s;alem comming downe from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.</HI> The Church then is the citie of God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. de Civit. Dei. l. <HI>11.</HI> princ.</NOTE> <HI>Cujus cives e&s;&s;e concupi&s;cimus illo amore quem nobis illius conditor in&s;piravit,</HI> Who&s;e citizens we de&s;ire to be by that love which the builder of it hath in&s;pired into us, as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;pea|keth. According to this expo&s;ition, by <HI>the few men in it,</HI> are under|&s;tood
<PB N="341" REF="167"> the faithfull members of Chri&s;t, which in re&s;pect of unbeleevers are indeed a very few. By <HI>the great King</HI> comming again&s;t it, and which be&s;ieged it, is under&s;tood the devill and his warfare again&s;t the Church of Chri&s;t. Who is &s;aid to be great, <HI>non quod magnus &s;it,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hierony. in hunc vrr&s;.</NOTE> <HI>&s;ed quod magnum &s;e e&s;&s;e jactitet,</HI> Not becau&s;e he is great, but becau&s;e he boa&s;teth him|&s;elfe to be great, as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh. But perhaps more agree|ably to the Preachers meaning in this place, we may apply <HI>this citie</HI> unto vertue, which though of great worth, yet is of <HI>litle</HI> command. This ci|tie it is, which as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh, doth not glory in it &s;elfe, but glorieth in the Lord: this citie it is, which doth not &s;eek her owne glo|ry, but who&s;e glory is God in the te&s;timony of a good con&s;cience; this citie it is, which doth not in glory lift up her owne head;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. de Civit. Dei. l. <HI>15.</HI></NOTE> but &s;aith unto God, Thou art my glory, and the lifter up of my head, this is that citie, <HI>quem non fecit amor &s;ui u&s;que ad contemptum Dei, &s;ed quem fecit amor Dei u&s;que ad contemptum &s;ui,</HI> Which is not built by a love of a mans &s;elf, even to the contempt of God, but by a love of God, even to a contempt of mans &s;elfe. <HI>The few</HI> within this citie, are the few lovers, and followers of vertue. <HI>The great King</HI> which commeth again&s;t it, is vice, the greatnes of who&s;e dominion is extended far and wide, and which be&s;iegeth vertue, with the bulworks of affronts &amp; te~ptations, which it rai&s;eth up again&s;t it.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 15. <HI>Now there was found in it a poore wi&s;e man:</HI> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> reads it, and &s;o the Hebrew is, <HI>et invenit in ea,</HI> and he found in it, as if it were to be referred to the great King, and did upbrayd him, that when he came with &s;o great an army again&s;t &s;o litle a citie, he found one man in it to be able to with&s;tand him, and to defend the citie a|gain&s;t him. The Originall word here u&s;ed for a poore man, is, <GAP DESC="foreign"> and &s;ignifieth him, who of his owne is &s;o unable to helpe others, that he needeth help from others: which is here elegantly u&s;ed, as &s;hewing, that he who was not able to helpe others with his riches, yet was able to helpe them with his wi&s;dome, and as implying, that though he needed the help of others for his reliefe, yet that they needed his helpe for their deliverance. For though he were <HI>a poore man,</HI> yet he was <HI>a wi&s;e man. Philo</HI> &s;hewing the judgement of the world, &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo de Nomi|num mutatione.</NOTE> <HI>Stultus omnis exi&s;ti|mat pecuniis abundantem, externi&s;que facultatibus affluentem, &s;tatim con|&s;pectum &amp; prudentem e&s;&s;e; atque ut &s;ummatim dicam, prudentiam in re fortuita collocat, quum contra fortuitum in prudentia &s;tatuendum e&s;&s;et. Aequum e&s;t enim ut quod in&s;tabile e&s;t a &s;tabili regatur,</HI> Every fool thinketh him who hath &s;tore of money, and aboundeth in outward e&s;tate, to be forthwith a prudent and a wi&s;e man: and that I may &s;peak briefly, pla|ceth wi&s;edome in that, which is a thing of chance, whereas things of chance ought to be placed in wi&s;edome. For it is ju&s;t that that which is uncertaine, &s;hould be ruled by that which is &s;etled. But indeed, there is none that can be a wi&s;e man, unle&s;&s;e he be a vertuous man: for all the vertues being linked together, and wi&s;edome being the bond in which they are tied, a wi&s;e man and a vertuous man cannot but be joyned al&s;o, wherefore that which Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;aith of the ju&s;t man, is true of the
<PB N="342" REF="168"> wi&s;e man,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Abel &amp; Cain. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> <HI>quam beata civitas quae plurimos ju&s;tos habet, quam celebrabilis ore omnium, quomodo benedicetur tota de parte, &amp; beatus atque perpetuus ejus &s;tatus exi&s;timatur?</HI> How ble&s;&s;ed is that citie which hath many righ|teous people in it, how famous is it in the mouthes of all, how is the whole ble&s;&s;ed from a part, and how happy and e&s;tabli&s;hed is the &s;tate of it accounted to bee? One &s;uch righteous man, one &s;uch wi&s;e man, is able in danger to deliver a City, for &s;o it followeth. <HI>And he by his wi&s;e|dome delivered the citie:</HI> In <HI>Plautus, Seragastio,</HI> a &s;ervant a&s;king another, <HI>ut munitum tibi vi&s;um e&s;t oppidum?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Plautus ex Per&s;a.</NOTE> How doth the towne &s;eeme to thee to be fortified: The an&s;were which is given, is, <HI>&s;i incolae bene &s;int morati pulchr&egrave; munitum arbitror,</HI> if the inhabitants be well governed and good, I thinke it to be well fortified: and then reckoning up many vices, hee concludeth, <HI>haec ni&s;i inde aberunt, centuplex murus parum e&s;t &s;ervandis rebus,</HI> unle&s;&s;e the&s;e things be ab&s;ent, a hundred walls are but little for the pre&s;ervation of it. And this it is which Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aith, who &s;peaking of the evills of mans mind, the evils of his life, the evills of his manners, addeth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. de Civita. Dei. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Quae ita magna &s;unt, ut his docti&s;&s;imi eorum viri etiam &s;tantibus urbibus re&s;publicas perire confirment,</HI> Which are &s;o great mi&s;chiefs, that by them the mo&s;t learned among the heathen doe prove common-wealths to be ruinated, even while the cities are &s;tanding. Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> al&s;o &s;aith, <HI>Periturae urbis, aut malorum iminentum, vel futurae labis hoc pri|mum indicium,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Abel &amp; Cain. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;i decedant viri con&s;ultores,</HI> the fir&s;t &s;igne of a citie ready to peri&s;h, or el&s;e of evils that doe hang over it, or of de&s;truction com|ming to it, is this, if wi&s;e men, who are able to give direction and coun|&s;ell doe leave it, and by death depart from it. But one wi&s;e man, though a poore man, remaining in it, is able by his wi&s;dome to deliver it; <HI>Yet no man remembred that &s;ame poore wi&s;e man:</HI> one would have thought that all &s;hould have rewarded him, yet &s;uch was their ingratitude, that there was <HI>no man that remembred him.</HI> No man that remembred the nece&s;&s;ities of his want and povertie, who in their nece&s;&s;ity had delivered the whole citie: no man that afforded him reliefe and &s;uccour out of that which he had, who by his wi&s;edome had pre&s;erved unto all, all that they had: no man that honoured him, and gave unto him his due re&s;pect for it. Now what could be more unworthily done? What could &s;hew people more &s;hamefully wicked? For as Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Nemo debet invidere alteri laudem,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>quae &s;ibi pro&s;it; utque improbus qui&s;que redemptorem &s;uum dum &s;u&s;picit frequenter imitatur: certe veneratur, plerumque diligit,</HI> No one ought to envie anothers prai&s;e, which is his owne profit, and every wicked per&s;on, while he re&s;pecteth his deliverer, often imitateth him; at lea&s;twi&s;e honoureth him, and oftentimes loveth him. But &s;ome as being more then wicked, are &s;o puft up in pride with the conceit of their owne wealth, that even their &s;afety be&s;towed upon them, by a poore man is not regarded; and &s;uch al&s;o is the hard condition of poverty, that the good, which a poore man doth, is not re|&s;pected, not remembred. To apply now the applications, which were made of the former ver&s;e, unto this ver&s;e al&s;o. They who ex|pound
<PB N="343" REF="168"> the city to be the body of man, expound <HI>this poore man</HI> to be <HI>&s;yndere&s;in &amp; dictamen rationis,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> the pre&s;cript and rule of rea&s;on incli|ning unto goodne&s;&s;e, as <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;etteth it downe, and which &s;aith he is &s;aid to be poore, <HI>quia pauca obediunt ei,</HI> becau&s;e they are few that doe obey it. They who expound the city to be the whole man, expound <HI>this poore man</HI> to be the inward man, who is indeed poore in &s;pirit. And he it is that is not remembred by the outward man,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>nec &s;ubdit &s;e con&s;iliis ejus, &s;ed rur&s;um fruitur &s;ua libera voluntate,</HI> neither doth &s;ubject him&s;elfe unto his coun&s;els, but taketh againe liberty to doe, as he will. They who expound the city to be the Church of Chri&s;t, under&s;tand <HI>the poore man</HI> to be Chri&s;t him&s;elf who for our &s;akes was made poore, and is not only wi&s;e but wi&s;edome it &s;elf. He it is who delivereth his city his Church by his wi&s;edome. How often &s;aith Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> have we &s;een the Lyon with the forces of the world comming again&s;t the Church, and &s;trongly be&s;ieging it, <HI>pauperis i&s;tius &s;apientia corrui&s;&s;e,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> by the wi&s;edome of that poore man to have failed in his enterpri&s;es, and to have been lo&s;t in them? But as the Father goeth on, when <HI>this poore man</HI> hath &s;o prevailed, and peace hath been re&s;tored to the city, <HI>vix aliquis ejus meminit, vix aliquis illius mandata con&s;iderat,</HI> there is &s;carcely any one that doth remember him, &s;carcely any one that con&s;idereth his comman|dements, but giving them&s;elves to plea&s;ures and luxury &s;eek after riches, which help not in the time of need, and in danger doe not deliver. La&s;tly if we expound the city to be vertue, we may expound al&s;o, <HI>the poore wi&s;e man</HI> to be wi&s;edome it &s;elf, which is indeed the pre&s;erver of the vertues, and which is &s;aid to be poore becau&s;e of the humility of it, whereby it &s;eemes to it &s;elf alwayes to be litle. This poore man among the vertues them&s;elves is many times forgotten when many, plea&s;ing them&s;elves with the good thing that is done, are not carefull to doe it wi&s;ely, whereby the goodne&s;&s;e of it is lo&s;t and overthrowne.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 16. <HI>Then &s;aid I:</HI> he that hath prooved any thing may be bold to affirme it, and therefore in the ver&s;e before, the Preacher having &s;hewed wi&s;edome to be better then &s;trength, here he is free to &s;ay it. But the Hebrew word (J) being &s;et downe with an empha&s;is it implyeth that what&s;oever others may or doe &s;ay, or what&s;oever their opinion and judgement may be, <HI>I &s;aid,</HI> wi&s;edome is better then &s;trength. The Ori|ginall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> tran&s;lated &s;trenght, may be taken either for courage as it is a vertue of the mynd, or els for the outward force of the body, and other outward might and power. In both acceptions it is true that wi&s;edome is better. For wi&s;edome is the chiefe of all the morall ver|tues, and whereas it is commonly &s;aid, that there are foure Cardinall or principall vertues <HI>Aquinas</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aquin.</HI> 1.2.</NOTE> <HI>quod prudentia &s;it &s;impliciter princi|pali omnibus, &s;ed aliae ponuntur principales, unaquaeque in &s;uo genere,</HI> that wi&s;edome is ab&s;olutely the more principall then all the re&s;t; and that the re&s;t are &s;et downe as principall in their kinds every one. The rea&s;on of it al&s;o is &s;et downe by him: for &s;eeing the good that is in hu|mane actions con&s;i&s;teth in this, that they are regulated and ordered by
<PB N="344" REF="169"> the due rule, it is therefore nece&s;&s;ary that humane vertue, which is the &s;pring of good actions be placed in a drawing neere unto the rule of hu|mane actions: Now the rule of humane actions is twofold, God and humane rea&s;on. God is the fir&s;t rule, and by him humane rea&s;on is al&s;o to be regulated. Hence therefore it is that the divine vertues, which con&s;i&s;t in attaining unto that fir&s;t rule, becau&s;e God him&s;elfe is the object of them, are more excellent then either morall or intellectuall ver|tues which con&s;i&s;t in attaining to the &s;econd rule of humane rea&s;on. Hence it is al&s;o that among the divine vertues, faith, hope, charity, the chiefe of the&s;e is charity becau&s;e that doth re&s;pect God in a neerer man|ner then the other doe. For faith and hope doe re&s;pect God, <HI>&s;ecundum quod ex illo provenit nobis vel cognitio veri vel adeptio boni,</HI> as from him proceedeth unto us either a knowledge of &s;ome truth, or el&s;e the obtai|ning of &s;ome good: but charity re&s;pecteth God, <HI>ut in ip&s;o &s;i&s;tat, non ut ex eo aliquid nobis proveniat,</HI> that it may re&s;t in God him&s;elfe, not as from him is derived any thing to us. Hence therefore it is al&s;o that wi&s;edome which re&s;pecteth humane rea&s;on, as in it &s;elf it is, is better then the re&s;t of the morall vertues, which re&s;pect rea&s;on as from thence is taken, that which is the meane in humane actions and affections. As for fortitude in particular, as Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;aith of it, <HI>quod fortitudo &s;ine ju&s;titia e&s;t iniquitatis materia, quo enim validior eo promptiore&s;t, ut inferiorem opprimat,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Offic. c. <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>35.</HI></NOTE> that fortitude without ju&s;tice is but the matter of iniquity, becau&s;e the &s;tronger it is, the more ready it is to oppre&s;&s;e infe|riors; &s;o it may be &s;aid that fortitude without wi&s;edome, is but the matter of folly; becau&s;e the &s;tronger it is the more apt it is by folly to run into mi&s;chiefe. But in this place I conceive to be under&s;tood ra|ther an outward force and might, then which, a vertuous wi&s;edome is by far better, and not &s;eldome prevaileth over it. That which is &s;aid to <HI>Rebecca</HI> concerning the twins that were in her wombe,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gene&s;.</HI> 25.23.</NOTE> according to the Originall may be taken that the greater &s;hould &s;erve the le&s;&s;e, and Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> taking it &s;o,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin.</NOTE> affirmeth it to be true in the ca&s;e of vertue. For though vertue appeare to be le&s;&s;e, more vile, and de&s;picable, at length it &s;hall triumph over the mo&s;t mighty, and &s;ubdue them under her command. How litle was <HI>David</HI> in power, when he fled from <HI>Hieru&s;alem?</HI> How great was the might of <HI>Ab&s;alom?</HI> What therefore was it that made <HI>Cu&s;hi</HI> rather to joyne him&s;elfe with <HI>David</HI> then with <HI>Ab&s;alom?</HI> Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;aith, that having con&s;idered both &s;ides in his mind, he found <HI>Davids</HI> &s;ide although litle yet to be &s;tronger, becau&s;e <HI>ju&s;tice</HI> was with it. <HI>Ab&s;aloms</HI> &s;ide though great, yet to be wea|ker becau&s;e it was unju&s;t.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;tm. in P&s;al. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE> And that therefore &s;tanding, <HI>non ubi mul|titudo hominum, &s;ed ubi virtutis prae&s;idium, opem Dei ad &s;e traxit,</HI> not where there was a multitude of men, but where was the defence of vertue, he drew unto him&s;elfe the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of God. The admoni|tion of the Father is, that we would doe the &s;ame, and alwayes &s;tand with them with whom &s;tandeth right, although they be never &s;o many that doe with&s;tand it. For as he concludeth, <HI>vitium et&s;i &s;ecum habeat
<PB N="345" REF="169"> univer&s;um orbem terrarum e&s;t omnium maxime imbecillum, virtus autem et&s;i &s;ola &s;it e&s;t omnium potenti&s;&s;ima,</HI> vice although it have the whole world with it, is of all things mo&s;t weak; vertue though it be alone is of all things the &s;tronge&s;t. <HI>Neverthele&s;&s;e the poore mans wi&s;edome is de&s;pi&s;ed, and his words are not heard:</HI> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> reads it according to the Originall mo&s;t directly thus, <HI>&amp; &s;apientia pauperis quae de&s;pecta e&s;t, &amp; verba ejus quae non &s;unt audita,</HI> and the wi&s;edome of the poore man which is de&s;pi&s;ed, and his words which are not heard. According to which reading the &s;en&s;e is; wi&s;edome is better then &s;trength, yea even the de&s;pi&s;ed wi&s;edome of the poore man, and his words which no man vouch&s;afeth to heare. The &s;eptuagint and the Vulgar Latin read it, <HI>Quomodo ergo &s;apientia pauperis contempta e&s;t, &amp; verba ejus non audita?</HI> How therefore is the wi&s;edome of the poore man de&s;pi&s;ed, and his words not heard? As making a wonder and a &s;trang thing of it. The French tran&s;lation readeth the latter part of the ver&s;e thus, <HI>The wi&s;edome of the poore man is de&s;pi&s;ed and there is nothing heard &s;poken of his deeds:</HI> which as the Hebrew admitteth, &s;o it an&s;wereth to the conclu&s;ion of the former ver&s;e, where it is &s;aid, and no man remembred that &s;ame poore man. To con&s;ider our tran&s;lation; it &s;eemeth to me to of a poore Prophet or mini&s;ter, for poverty is commonly the companion of &s;uch. And too often it is that his coun&s;el is de&s;pi&s;ed, although it be taken from Gods word, which is of &s;uch excellency, that as Saint <HI>Chry|&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Homil. <HI>2.</HI> ad populum.</NOTE> <HI>Multis &s;aepe unum verbum &s;ufficit hinc excerp&s;i&s;&s;e ut totius vitae principium habeant,</HI> oftentimes it &s;ufficeth to many to have taken one word from thence, that they might have a beginning for the ordering of their whole life. Too often it is, that his words are not heard? or if they be heard, it is only for the delight of them. Whereas Sainth <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Homil. <HI>2.</HI> ad populum.</NOTE> <HI>non e&s;t theatrum eccle&s;ia ut ad delectationem au|diamus, auditores hinc recedere oportet lucratos amplius,</HI> the Church is not a theater that we &s;hould heare for delight, the hearers mu&s;t goe hence as having gained &s;omething.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 17. <HI>Saint Hierome</HI> mo&s;t directly according to the Originall readeth the ver&s;e thus, <HI>Verba &s;apientium inquiete audiuntur, plu&s;quam clamor pote&s;tatem habentis in &s;tultis, The words of the wi&s;e in quietne&s;&s;e are heard rather, then the cry of one that hath power among fooles.</HI> And as for the meaning of them, I conceive the Preacher to go on &s;till in &s;hewing wi&s;dome to be better then &s;trength or power, and as before he &s;hewed it in the deeds of wi&s;dome, &s;o here he &s;hewes it in the words of wi&s;dome. For he &s;aith, <HI>that the words of wi&s;e men in quiet,</HI> that is beeing delivered in &s;oftne&s;&s;e and quietne&s;&s;e of voice, and comming from a quietne&s;&s;e and meekne&s;&s;e of Spirit, which is not di&s;turbed either with pride or fury, yea though they proceed from them, who live in the privatene&s;&s;e and quietne&s;&s;e of a low and meane condition, yet are heard &s;ooner, and being heard prevaile more, then <HI>in fooles words that are.</HI> uttered with a lowd crye of the voice, with a &s;trong pa&s;&s;ion of fury in the heart, with a domineering in&s;olency of &s;peach, yea though they
<PB N="346" REF="170"> come from one, who for his place hath command and authority over them to whom he &s;peaketh. The words of wi&s;e men are like the river <HI>Indus,</HI> of which <HI>Minutius Foelix</HI> &s;peaking &s;aith, <HI>Indus fluvius &amp; &s;erere Orientem dicitur &amp; rigare,</HI> the river <HI>Judus</HI> is &s;aid both to &s;ow the Ea&s;t and to water it; for &s;o it may be &s;aid of the words of the wi&s;e that they are both <HI>&s;emina &amp; flumina,</HI> both &s;eeds and rivers, &s;eeds becau&s;e they &s;ow goodne&s;&s;e in their hearers;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Minutus Foelix in Octavio.</NOTE> rivers becau&s;e they water that which is &s;owen and make it to grow in them. But the cry of fools is like a violent torrent, which wa&s;heth away that which it &s;oweth, and doth not &s;uffer it to continue in the ground. <HI>Saint Gregory</HI> &s;peaking of a perver&s;e Preacher &s;aith, <HI>fortitudo ejus est elata &s;cientia locutionis, qua inflatus caeteros de&s;picit, atque in contemptu omnium qua&s;i &s;ingulariter apud &s;e peritus intume&s;cit,</HI> his &s;trength is a lifted up knowledge of &s;pea|king,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral. lib. <HI>17.</HI> c. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> by which being exalted he de&s;pi&s;eth others, and &s;welleth in a contempt of all, as if in him&s;elf he were &s;ingularly learned. And what is <HI>the cry of fooles being in authority?</HI> What is the greatne&s;&s;e and power of their words, but the &s;ame vain glorious pride, and which is de&s;pi|&s;ed by the hearers, as much as they de&s;pi&s;e them to whom they &s;peak? By application wee may con&s;ider the truth of this in the Preachers of the Church whereof &s;ome, like wi&s;e men, deliver their words in quietne&s;&s;e, in the quietne&s;&s;e of a well compo&s;ed &s;peach and mind, and graced with the quietne&s;&s;e of a well ordered life. Now the&s;e are they who&s;e words are heard, for what is their voice but as <HI>Gillebertus</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>vox Do|mini,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gillebertus in Canti. Ser. <HI>14.</HI></NOTE> <HI>vox intimae in&s;pirationis mentis auribus &s;uaviter illata,</HI> the voice of the <HI>Lord,</HI> a voice of mo&s;t inward in&s;piration &s;weetly &s;liding into the ears of the mind? Of the&s;e <HI>Paulinus</HI> &s;peaking &s;aith, <HI>&V;bique ancupe|mur verbum Dei, de omnium fidelium ore pendeamus, quia in omnem fi|delem Spiritus Dei &s;pirat, &amp; nece&s;&s;e e&s;t &agrave; minimo Dei &s;ervo velguttam caele&s;tis &s;apientiae di&s;tillare, quae ariditatem mei cordis irroret, &amp; mihi &s;upra omnium &s;aeculi &s;apientum flumina, ad portum utilitatis exuberet,</HI> Let us &s;eek every where after the word of God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Paulin. Epi&s;t. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> let us hang upon the mouths of all his faithfull mini&s;ters, becau&s;e the Spirit of God brea|theth on every one that is faithfull, and it cannot be but that from the lea&s;t &s;ervant of God, &s;ome drop of heavenly wi&s;dome &s;hould di&s;till to bedew the dryne&s;&s;e of my heart and to abound unto me into the haven of my profit, above all the rivers of the wi&s;e men of the world. O|thers there are,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver.</NOTE> who as <HI>Saint Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>in clamore vocis &s;uae &amp; populi acclamantis,</HI> in the cry of their owne voice, and of the people applauding them, doe plea&s;e them&s;elves, and are plea&s;ing to the ears of others, but are not heard in their hearts, doe not work upon their con&s;ciences. For though their voice cry aloud, yet it is the cry of fooles, their lives being dumbe and them&s;elves not practi&s;ing that which they teach. Whereas <HI>Saint Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;aith, <HI>habeat vita tua claram vocem, &amp; licet os tuum ob&s;truxeris, vel tuba clarius per&s;onabis,</HI> let thy life have a cleare voice,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. in P&s;al. <HI>49.</HI></NOTE> and then though thou &s;top thy mouth, thou &s;halt &s;ound more clearly then a trumpet. And to the &s;ame effect
<PB N="347" REF="170"> <HI>Saint Gregory</HI> &s;aith, <HI>praedicator qui&s;que plus actibus quam vocibus in&s;o|net, &amp; bene vivendi ve&s;tigia &s;equentibus imprimat, ut potius agendo quam loquendo quo gradiatur offendat.</HI> Let every Preacher &s;ound aloud rather by his actions then by his words,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Pa&s;tor. Curae p. <HI>3.</HI> c. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> and by his well living let him imprint &s;teps for others to follow him: So that he &s;hew them rather by his living, then by his &s;peaking, whither they mu&s;t go. The Septua|gint and the vulgar Latin read the ver&s;e thus, <HI>Verba Sapientium audi|untur in &s;ilentio, plu&s;quam clamor principis inter&s;tultos,</HI> the words of the wi&s;e are heard in &s;ilence, more then the crye of a <HI>Prince</HI> among fooles, where <HI>Lyra</HI> noteth, that it is &s;aid in the plurall number, the words of the wi&s;e or of wi&s;emen, as &s;hewing tho&s;e words to be &s;poken of, <HI>quae procedentia ab ore &s;apientis propo&s;ita &s;unt &s;apientibus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> which comming fro~ the mouth of a wi&s;e man are delivered to wi&s;e hearers. For by them &s;aith he they are heard in &s;ilence that is, <HI>attente,</HI> attentively and carefully. Or el&s;e their words are &s;aid to be heard <HI>in &s;ilence,</HI> becau&s;e &s;aith the <HI>Glo&s;&s;e, in &s;ilentio audientium,</HI> in the &s;ilence of the hearers, which is the &s;ame in effect. So that according to this reading the mea|ning of the Preacher is: that the words of wi&s;e men have more com|mand over wi&s;e hearers then the proclamations of <HI>Princes</HI> have over fooles. Wherein is &s;hewed as well the folly of not obeying the com|mand of governours, as the power of wi&s;done in commanding wi&s;e hearers. And this &s;eemeth to be the meaning of our tran&s;lation.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremedus in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Tre|mellius</HI> read's the ver&s;e thus, <HI>verba Sapientium &s;ubmi&s;&s;orum audienda e&s;&s;e potius quam clamorem dominantis cum &s;tolidis &s;uis,</HI> the words of wi&s;e &s;ubmi&s;&s;e men are to be heard rather, then the crye of a fooli&s;h ruler, as he expoundeth him&s;elf. The <HI>French</HI> tran&s;lation reads it thus, <HI>the words of the wi&s;e ought to be heard more quietly, or as the margent varyeth it, the words of the wi&s;e who keep them&s;elves ought to be heard rather, then the crye of him that ruleth among fooles.</HI> The fir&s;t reading &s;upo&s;eth the meaning to be, that the words of the wi&s;e ought to cau&s;e more attention, then the crye of him who for his crying beareth rule among fooles. The latter reading &s;uppo&s;eth the meaning to be, that wi&s;e men, who keepe them&s;elves quiet from tumult &s;edition and faction, are rather to be heard, then they, who by their factions and tumultuous crying and &s;hrieking have great authority and power among fooles, whom they lead after them.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 18. <HI>Wi&s;dome is better then weapons of war:</HI> the Preacher here &s;eemeth to mee to an&s;were an objection. For though it would be granted, that wi&s;dome in war is better then &s;trength, in re&s;pect of fore &s;eeing dangers, and in regard of providing again&s;t them, and of preventing of them, yet it might be que&s;tioned, whether, when it came to the pu&s;h, when it came to the joying of the battle or combate, &s;trength then were not more to be prefered. For though in the di&s;po|&s;ing and ordering of things wi&s;dome might have the precedency, yet it might &s;eeme that in the acting and executing of them &s;trength &s;hould have the upper hand. To take away therefore this objection, the
<PB N="348" REF="171"> Preacher &s;aith <HI>that wi&s;dome is better then the in&s;truments of war,</HI> which &s;erve for the acting and executing of it. And indeed the Originall word here u&s;ed to &s;ignify war is <GAP DESC="foreign"> which properly &s;ignifieth <HI>congre&s;|&s;um &amp; conflictum,</HI> the joyning and conflict of a battel of fight: So that the Preacher &s;hewed even in this al&s;o wi&s;dome to be better then &s;trength.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Amhro&s;. de offic. lib. <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>35.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Saint Ambro&s;e</HI> noting of King <HI>David</HI> that in his war and fighting <HI>prudentiam fortitudinis comitem habuit,</HI> he had wi&s;dome the companion of his valour, &s;heweth it in this, that when he was to fight with <HI>Goliah</HI> in &s;ingle combat, he refu&s;ed the armour and weapons of war with which he was burdened: <HI>virtus enim &s;uis lacertis magis quam alienis integumentis nititur,</HI> for vertue relyeth more upon his owne-&s;trength then upon outward defence. Indeed <HI>Goliah</HI> as the &s;ame Fa|ther els were &s;peaketh, <HI>&s;ub munitionibus undique circum&s;eptus fuit,</HI> un|der the fortifications of his armour was every where walled in;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. Serm. pro Comm. mar|tyam.</NOTE> but <HI>Da|vid, nec operitur galea, nec praecingitur gladio, nec lancea utitur, &amp; forti&s;&s;imum illum armatum inermis occidit,</HI> is neither covered with an helmet, nor girded with a &s;word, nor u&s;eth a Speare, and beeing un|armed &s;layeth that mighty armed man: becau&s;e by his wi&s;dome <HI>which is better then weapons of war,</HI> he tru&s;ted in God who is the Lord of hoa&s;ts, what was it but a &s;tratagem of wi&s;dome which <HI>Gideon</HI> u&s;ed a|gain&s;t the <HI>Midianites?</HI> They were not weapons of warre wherewith he armed his &s;ouldiers, but a trumpet was in every mans hand, with empty pitchers and lamps within the pitchers, by which means, <HI>in tre|centis viris de ingenti populo &amp; acerbo ho&s;te revexit triumphum,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Offic. lib. <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>40.</HI></NOTE> even with three hundred men only he triumphed over a mighty people &amp; a cruell enemy, as <HI>S. Ambro&s;e</HI> al&s;o &s;peaketh, <HI>But one &s;inner de&s;troyeth much good:</HI> which <HI>S. Hierome</HI> expoundeth with reference to the former part of the ver&s;e thus, <HI>quod &s;i unus in&s;ipiens fuerit, quamvis parvus aut nihil &s;it, crebro tamen per illius &s;tultitiam opes magnas divitia&s;que &s;ubuerti,</HI> if there be one unwi&s;e man although he be meane and of little accompt yet often by his folly great wealth and riches be overthrowen. The vulgar Latin reads it as the Septuagint, <HI>Qui in uno peccaverit multa bona per|det;</HI> he that &s;inneth in one thing &s;hall loo&s;e many good things: accor|ding to which &s;en&s;e Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> al&s;o &s;aith that the Hebrew may be rendred. But then I conceine this one thing to be wi&s;dome, for he that tran&s;gre&s;&s;eth in wi&s;dome overthroweth what good &s;oever there is el&s;e in him.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. pe lib. arbit. lib. <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>13.</HI></NOTE> Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> defineth wi&s;dome thus, <HI>e&s;t appetendarum &amp; vitandarum rerum &s;cientia,</HI> it is the knowledge of things that are to be embraced, and that are to be &s;hunned: for indeed nothing can be em|braced, nothing &s;hunned as it ought to be unle&s;&s;e that wi&s;dome give direction in it. Wherefore the tenet of the &s;chooles is, that there can be no vertue in man without wi&s;dome, and hereupon it is that wi&s;dome is mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary in the life of man. <HI>Aquinas</HI> &s;heweth it thus, <HI>Bene vivere e&s;t bene operari,</HI> to live well &s;aith he is to doe well: now that any one may doe well, it is not only required that he doe what he &s;hould, but that he doe it as he &s;hould, which is to doe it out of a good con&s;i|deration,
<PB N="349" REF="171"> and not of pa&s;&s;ion only. The con&s;ideration then of choice is in tho&s;e things, which do re&s;pect the end, and therefore the rightne&s;&s;e of this con&s;ideration requireth two things. The fir&s;t is a due end, the &s;econd is that which is conveniently ordered for the due end. Now to the due end man is fitly di&s;po&s;ed by vertue, who&s;e object is a good end: but for that whereby a man is rightly di&s;po&s;ed towards the due end, this is done by the right ordering of rea&s;on, becau&s;e to con&s;ider and to choo&s;e are the actions of rea&s;on.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aquin.</HI> 1.2. <HI>Qu.</HI> 57. <HI>A.</HI> 5.</NOTE> Wherefore it is needfull that in rea&s;on there mu&s;t be &s;ome intellectuall vertue by which rea&s;on may be perfected in this regard, and this vertue is wi&s;dome, which is therefore mo&s;t need|full for to live well. In a more generall acception of the latter part of this ver&s;e, it may betaken to &s;hew the &s;ame unto us,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>James</HI> 2.10.</NOTE> which Saint <HI>James</HI> doth, who &s;aith, <HI>who&s;oever &s;hall keepe the whole law, and yet offend in one point he is guilty of all:</HI> that is &s;aith <HI>Aquinas,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aquinas.</NOTE> <HI>factus e&s;t omnium reus, quia pro uno ac &s;i pro omnibus peribit,</HI> he is made guilty of all, becau&s;e he &s;hall as well peri&s;h for one, as if he peri&s;hed for all. For though he &s;hall &s;uffer greater puni&s;hment, that comnitteth more and greater &s;ins, yet as for the loo&s;ing of the glory of heaven, and as for being ca&s;t into the torments of hell, he that breaketh one commande|ment &s;hall find this to be his portion, as well as he that breaketh all. This was &s;hewed in the law by a leper,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Levit.</HI> 1.3.</NOTE> for as he that had the &s;pot of lepro&s;ie in any one part of his body was accounted a leper, although all the re&s;t of his body were &s;ound and whole; &s;o he who hath the &s;pot of the lepro&s;y of &s;in in any one thing, therby is deprived of the &s;ociety of the Saints and of Gods people, though otherwi&s;e he may not be un|cleane. The &s;ame was al&s;o &s;hewed by the &s;acrifices: for that which was to be &s;acrificed to God, was to be without any blemi&s;h; becau&s;e the blemi&s;h of any one commandement broken, taketh away the accep|tance of all the re&s;t that is done, and maketh it to be unplea&s;ing to God, unprofitable to man. Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;tom.</NOTE> &s;hewes it in a harp thus: as in a harp to make the mu&s;ick good and harmonious, it is not enough that all the &s;trings be rightly tuned except one: &s;o, that the harmony of our life may be good mu&s;ick in the eares of God, it is not &s;ufficient, that nine of the &s;trings of the P&s;altery of Gods law be &s;ound and well, if that one &s;tring of obedience be wanting. The command therefore of our Saviour Chri&s;t is, <HI>take my yoak upon you;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Math.</HI> 11.29.</NOTE> it is not &s;ayd take it in your hands, or take it upon your &s;houlders, or el&s;e upon your head, but take it upon you, upon all of you, all over you. The words of this ver&s;e, <HI>Aquinas</HI> expoundeth thus, <HI>be that &s;inneth in one loo&s;eth many good things,</HI> that is,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aquinas.</NOTE> he that hath not charity which is the perfection of all vertues and graces, loo&s;eth them all, becau&s;e they are in&s;epara|bly united unto it. Wherefore Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;aith, <HI>&V;bi e&s;t charitas quid e&s;t quod po&s;&s;it abe&s;&s;e? ubi non e&s;t charitas quid e&s;t quod po&s;&s;it prode&s;&s;e?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym.</NOTE> Where there is charity, what is there that can be wanting? where there is not charity what is there that &s;hall not want the profit of it?</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="10" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="350" REF="172">
<HEAD>CHAPTER X.</HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Ver. 1.</HI></BIBL> Dead flyes cau&s;e the oyntment of the Apo|thecary to &s;end forth a &s;avour; &s;o doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wi&s;dome and honour.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 1. _THe Originall admitteth diver&s;e tran&s;la|tions, and accordingly diver&s;e &s;en&s;es: that which our tran&s;lation expre&s;&s;eth, as it is agreeable to the Hebrew text, &s;o it is pithy in it &s;elfe. <HI>Lyra</HI> giveth the &s;ame meaning to it, but he fetcheth it about another way: and telling us that <GAP DESC="foreign"> the Originall word here u&s;ed, and commonly &s;ignifying <HI>pre|tio&s;um</HI> pretious, doth &s;ometimes &s;ignifie <HI>pondero&s;um</HI> heavy, he reads the latter part of the ver&s;e thus,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>pondero&s;ior e&s;t quam &s;apientia &amp; gloria, &s;tultitia parva,</HI> a little folly is more weighty then wi&s;dome and glory. And he explaineth it, that a &s;mall defect in manners, which is here &s;ayd to be a little folly, is more weighty then wi&s;dome and glory: <HI>quia frequenter facit eam vile&s;cere in per&s;ona aliqua notabili,</HI> becau&s;e of|tentimes it maketh that to be de&s;pi&s;ed in &s;ome per&s;on of note. But whether it be a defect in manners, or otherwi&s;e, the truth is the &s;ame. Wherefore the &s;hunning of this hath been the cau&s;e of much mi&s;chiefe in the world. For hence hath ri&s;en the Popes infallibility, the impec|cancy of his judgement in matters of faith. For the Church of Rome being famous in the world and worthily glorious for tho&s;e ble&s;&s;ed lights of the Chri&s;tian Church which anciently had been Bi&s;hops in it, to prevent the blemi&s;h, or at lea&s;t to maintaine the credit of it again&s;t any occa&s;ion that might ari&s;e, this invention was &s;et up, that a Bi&s;hop of <HI>Rome</HI> by erring could not be blemi&s;hed. Hence it is al&s;o that many learned men have defended their owne errours, and that their fol|lowers have ju&s;tified their ma&s;ters in them. For that a &s;mall folly might not dimini&s;h the greatne&s;&s;e of their fame, they have laboured to make even folly to be wi&s;dome. Whereas this it is indeed which hath been
<PB N="351" REF="172"> the dead fly that hath made the oyntment of their renowne to &s;end forth a &s;tinking Savour. For as &s;aint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;aith, <HI>mu&s;ca nimis in&s;olens &amp; inquietum e&s;t animal: in qua quid aliud quam in&s;olentes curae de&s;ideriorum carnalium de&s;ignantur?</HI> A fly is a very in&s;olent and trouble&s;ome creature,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral. lib. <HI>18.</HI> cap. <HI>28:</HI></NOTE> in which what el&s;e is &s;ignified then the in&s;olent affections of carnall de|&s;ires. Let a fly be driven away many times he &s;till comes againe, and will not be kept away, he returneth to the oyntment untill he be drowned in it, and then makes it to give a &s;tinking &s;avour; even &s;o it is with the affections of men, which although their under&s;tanding &s;ee them to be placed ami&s;&s;e, and doth as it were drive them away, yet they pre&s;&s;ing upon them, untill they &s;ink into them and fa&s;ten in them, doe then make the credit even of learned and famous men to be defiled and blemi&s;hed. Wherefore the <HI>Chaldee</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chald.</NOTE> expounding this ver&s;e &s;aith, <HI>appetitus malus qui moratur ad portas cordis &s;icut mu&s;ca, adducit mortem in &s;aeculo, eo quod faetere facit &s;apientem in eo tempore quo peccat, &amp; di&s;perdit nomen bonum, quod &s;imile erat oleo unctionis, quod confe|ctum e&s;t aromatibus,</HI> an evill lu&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chald.</NOTE> which abideth as it were at the gates of the heart like unto a fly, bringeth death in this world, becau&s;e it maketh a wi&s;e man even to &s;tinck in that time wherein he &s;inneth, and de&s;troyeth his good name which was like unto the anoynting oyle that was made of &s;pices. But why &s;hould any man be a&s;hamed to acknow|ledge his errours, to confe&s;&s;e his imperfections, &s;eeing there is no man without errours, without imperfections?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. ad|ver&s;. Pelag. l. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> expoundeth the la&s;t part of this ver&s;e unto this &s;en&s;e, &s;aying, <HI>mu&s;cae mortuae demo|liuntur atque corrumpunt &s;uavitatem olei; quis mortalium aliquo errore non capitur?</HI> Dead flyes de&s;troy and corrupt the &s;weetne&s;&s;e of the oyle; what mortall man is there that is not taken with &s;ome errour?<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 7.18.</NOTE> And in his comment upon this ver&s;e &s;aith, <HI>mu&s;cae quae &s;ecundum</HI> I&s;aiam <HI>princi|pantur in parte fluminis Aegypti perdunt olei &s;uavitatem; in unoquoque credentium relinquentes immunditiae &s;uae adorem &amp; ve&s;tigia,</HI> the flyes which according to the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> abound in &s;ome part of the river of <HI>Aegypt</HI> de&s;troy the &s;weetne&s;&s;e of the oyle leaving in every beleever the &s;ent and foot&s;teps of their uncleane&s;&s;e. Another expo&s;ition which he giveth of the fir&s;t part of this ver&s;e is this;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>quod &s;ic malus commmix|tus bonis contaminet plurimos, quomodo mu&s;cae &s;i morantur in unguento perdant odorem illius &amp; &s;aporem,</HI> that a wicked man mixed among good defileth many, even as flyes, if they dye in oyntment, de&s;troy the &s;weetne&s;&s;e and the &s;avour of it. The la&s;t part of this ver&s;e Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> a greably al&s;o to the Hebrew readeth thus, <HI>pretio&s;a e&s;t &s;uper &s;apientiam &amp; gloriam &s;tultitia parva,</HI> a little folly is more pretious then wi&s;dome and glory; and he giveth it this meaning, that becau&s;e oftentimes wi&s;dome is joyned with craftine&s;&s;e, and prudence hath naughtine&s;&s;e in it, he exhorteth therefore that we &s;eeke after &s;imple wi&s;dome, which is joyned with the innocency of doves: let us be wi&s;e to that, which is good, and &s;imple to that which is evill. Or el&s;e the meaning may be expre&s;&s;ed thus, that a &s;imple and downe right wi&s;dome being no way crafty and
<PB N="352" REF="173"> vaine glorious, which generally in this world is accounted for fooli&s;h|ne&s;&s;e, is more pretious then wi&s;edome and glory, that is then a vaine-glorious and ambitious wi&s;edome, which is the wi&s;edome of this world, being impatient of injuries under pretence of credit and honour, and given to ambition under a &s;hew of vertue and of doing good. The Chaldee al&s;o reading this la&s;t part of this ver&s;e in the &s;ame manner, thus delivereth the &s;en&s;e of it, <HI>quam glorio&s;us &amp; decorus e&s;t magis quam &s;a|pientia &s;apientium,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chald.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; divitiae divitum, vir cujus in&s;ipientia e&s;t parva &amp; modica?</HI> how glorious and beautifull is that man above the wi&s;edome of the wi&s;e, and the riches of the rich, who&s;e folly is little and &s;mall? that is, as I conceive, the wi&s;edome of the wi&s;e in this world, being indeed no wi&s;edome, though in their owne apprehen&s;ion it may &s;eeme never &s;o great; and the glory of the rich being indeed no glory though in their owne eyes it &s;eeme very bright, and dazle the &s;ight of others: it is he who knowing that he cannot attaine unto true wi&s;edome laboreth to make his folly as little as he can, that excelleth them both. Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> reading the fir&s;t part of the ver&s;e as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> doth, <HI>mu&s;cae moriturae exterminant &s;uavitatem olei,</HI> dying flyes drive away the &s;weet|ne&s;&s;e of the oyntment, or which is indeed rather a mixture of the tran|&s;lation of Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> and of the vulgar Latin, by allu&s;ion he applyeth it unto the oyle of Chri&s;ts blood,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. Serm. Feriae <HI>4.</HI> Hebd. pano&s;ae.</NOTE> &s;aying, <HI>ab&s;it quod muc&s;ae moriturae ex|terminent &s;uavitatem unguenti; quod de corpore tuo fluit,</HI> God forbid that dying flyes &s;hould drive out the &s;weetne&s;&s;e of the oyntment, which floweth from thy body; becau&s;e in thy blood is mercy, and there is plenteous redemption. <HI>Dying flyes</HI> are the bla&s;phemies, <HI>dying flyes</HI> are the in&s;ulting mocks, which a wicked and provoking generation did ca&s;t upon thee: but thou didde&s;t pray for them, &s;aying, Father for|give them.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2-3" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 2.</HI></BIBL> A wi&s;e mans heart is at his right hand: but a fooles heart at is his left.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 3.</HI></BIBL> Yea al&s;o when he that is a foole walketh by the way, his wi&s;edome faileth him, and he &s;aith to every one that he is a foole.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 2. <HI>A wi&s;e mans heart is at his right hand:</HI> that is, in him things are placed and ordered contrary to the cour&s;e of depraved nature, he doth not make that, his guide to lead him in his wayes, he doth not fol|low the cour&s;es of it; his wi&s;edome &s;heweth the corruption of it. <HI>A fooles heart is at his left hand:</HI> that is, as nature inclineth him &s;o is he carryed, he doth not &s;trive again&s;t the corruption of it, that is his leader, after which he goes, and as a foole thinketh his way to be right becau&s;e he followes that. Or els thus, <HI>a wi&s;e mans heart is as his right
<PB N="353" REF="173"> hand,</HI> and he doth that in his actions, which his heart thinketh, his works and his heart are neere together: <HI>but a fools heart is at his left hand,</HI> he thinketh this and that, but he doth it not, or if he doe it, it is with the left hand very untowardly. Or els thus, <HI>a wi&s;e mans heart is at his right hand,</HI> that is, carried rightly unto the right object of it; for though the heart be placed at the left hand, yet in re&s;pect of the ob|ject which &s;tandeth as it were oppo&s;ite and contrary unto it, it may be &s;aid to be at the right hand. But a fooles heart is at his left; the object at which he loooketh is not placed right before him, and he looketh as it were a&s;ide and awry in his de&s;ire, by which he is carried to it. To this purpo&s;e <HI>Lyra</HI> expoundeth it, who &s;aith, <HI>the heart of the wi&s;e is at his right hand, quia dirigitur ad bonum moris per dextram de&s;ignatum,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> be|cau&s;e it is directed to that which is good in manners &s;ignified by the right hand: <HI>and the heart of a foole is at his left hand,</HI> becau&s;e he ten|deth always to evill, which is &s;ignified by the left hand. Or els thus, <HI>the heart of a wi&s;e man is at his right hand,</HI> that is, he worketh nothing but that which is right, his actions as they come from his heart, &s;o they come from a right heart intending good by them, and they are done in a right manner, a right heart being carefull &s;o to order them and to performe them. <HI>But a fooles heart is at his left hand,</HI> and though his action may be good in it &s;elf, his heart is not good from which it com|meth; or though his heart, his meaning may be good, yet that which he doth is &s;poiled and overthrowen in the handling and doing of it: or el&s;e his heart being naught, his hand, his works and actions are naught al&s;o. For according to the pattern in the heart, &s;o is the work of the hand made. To this purpo&s;e doth <HI>Tremellius</HI> expound it, &s;aying, <HI>Sa|pientem nihil ni&s;i cogitate agere, &amp; cum animo &s;uo prius expendere qu&agrave;m dextram adopus admoveat,</HI> a wi&s;e man doth not doe any thing without premeditation, but fir&s;t he con&s;idereth it in his mynd, before he putteth his hand unto any thing. But a foole is carried on without con&s;idera|tion, <HI>&amp; rationem &amp; &s;apientiam a &s;e depellere,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremell. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>ut quae aver&s;antur homi|nes fere &s;ini&s;tra depelluntur,</HI> and doth put away rea&s;on and wi&s;edome from him&s;elfe, as for the mo&s;t part tho&s;e things which men di&s;like are put away with the left hand. For &s;o the manner is of fencers, who with the right hand a&s;&s;ault there adver&s;aries, and with the left hand defend them&s;elves, and keepe off tho&s;e things which would hurt them. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> expoundeth it that <HI>the heart of a wi&s;e man</HI> is &s;aid to be <HI>at his right hand,</HI> becau&s;e he hath no left. For &s;aith he <HI>ju&s;tus &s;ini&s;tram non habet in &s;e, &s;ed totum in eo dextrum e&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Matt.</HI> 5.39.</NOTE> a righteous man hath nothing in him|&s;elfe that is left; but all in him is the right. And to confirme this he alleadgeth the &s;peach of our &s;aviour in the Go&s;pel who &s;aith, <HI>re&s;i&s;t not evill, but who&s;oever &s;hall &s;mite thee on the right cheek turn to him the other al&s;o.</HI> Where Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> noteth, <HI>non jubemur &s;ini&s;tram genam prae|bere percutienti, &s;ed alteram dextram,</HI> we are not commanded to yeeld to him that &s;miteth the left cheek, but the other right cheek. Or els Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> expoundeth it, <HI>that a wi&s;e mans heart</HI> is &s;aid to be <HI>at his
<PB N="354" REF="174"> right hand</HI> &amp;c. becau&s;e he that is wi&s;e doth alwayes think of the world to come,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieron. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> and which leadeth to the right hand, for there the &s;heep &s;hall be placed: whereas <HI>the foole</HI> myndeth the pre&s;ent world, which is pla|ced <HI>on the left hand</HI> for there the goats &s;hall &s;tand. To this purpo&s;e the Father alleadgeth the ver&s;e of the Poet, <HI>dextera, quae magni Duis &s;ub maenia ducit, hac iter Ely&s;ium nobis: at laeva malorum exercet poenas &amp; ad impia tartara mittit,</HI> there is the right hand which leadeth under the wals of great <HI>Pluto,</HI> this way we goe to the <HI>Ely&s;ian</HI> feilds: but the left hand bringeth to the torments of the wicked, and &s;endeth them into cruell hell. But to make u&s;e of the Originall, which may be tran&s;lated <HI>the right &s;ide</HI> as well as <HI>the right hand,</HI> then if we read it <HI>A wi&s;e mans heart is at his right &s;ide</HI> &amp;c, in re&s;pect that the &s;ide of a man is that whereon he re&s;teth, we may give it this &s;en&s;e, that the heart of a wi&s;e man re&s;teth on tho&s;e things, which are at the right &s;ide that is on better things, in them taketh delight, in them placeth his confidence: but that the heart of a foole re&s;te&s;t on tho&s;e things, which are at the left &s;ide, that is, on wor&s;er things, upon them &s;etteth his affections, in them placeth his affiance. Or la&s;tly we may conceive that <HI>a wi&s;e mans heart is &s;aid to be at his right &s;ide,</HI> becau&s;e it is joyned in affection to things that are ver|tuous, to heavenly and &s;pirituall things, but the heart of a foole is &s;aid to be at his left &s;ide, becau&s;e it is joyned in affection to things of plea|&s;ure, profit, honour and the earthly contentments of this life. But how few &s;uch wi&s;e men are there?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hiero. ad Deme|triad. Vig. Ep. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> how many &s;uch fooles? Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> complaineth, <HI>In omnibus mundi &s;tudiis profectu non &s;atiantur homines, in virtute tantum caepi&s;&s;e &s;ufficiet ferventi&s;&s;imi in terrenis, frigdi&s;&s;imi in caele&s;tibus &s;umus, &amp; &s;ummam in rebus parvis exhibemus alacritatem, ad majora torpe&s;cimus,</HI> in all the labours of the world men are never &s;atis|fyed with going on, in vertue it &s;hall &s;uffice to have begunne only: we are mo&s;t fervent in earthly things, mo&s;t cold in heavenly, and in the pro&s;ecution of &s;mall matters we &s;hew great alacrity, but unto greater things, and things of importance we are quite dull. Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> al&s;o complayneth of the &s;ame, &s;aying, <HI>piger es ad faciendum ante te opus bonum, &amp; &s;trenuus es ad tran&s;eundum mare: quia avaritia imperat, &s;ervis, quia Deus jubet,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. in P&s;al. <HI>128.</HI></NOTE> <HI>odi&s;ti;</HI> thou art &s;low to doe a good work which lyeth before thee, &s;o that thou maye&s;t reach forth thine hand unto it, but thou art valiant to pa&s;&s;e over the &s;ea, for thy profit: becau&s;e covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e commandeth, thou do&s;t &s;erve it, becau&s;e God commandeth thou do&s;t dis&s;like it. The rea&s;on of it is, becau&s;e <HI>the heart of men is not at their right &s;ide, as the heart of wi&s;e men is; but at their left &s;ide, as the heart of fooles is.</HI> For &s;o Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> telleth us <HI>vis de&s;ideriorum facit toleran|tiam laborum &amp; dolorum, &amp; nemo ni&s;i pro eo quod delectat, &s;ponte &s;u&s;ci|pit ferre quod cruciat,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. l. de patientia.</NOTE> it is the force of de&s;ires that breedeth a quiet &s;uffe|ring of labours and paines, and no man doth willingly endure that, which tormenteth, unle&s;&s;e it be for that which delighteth. But if we be &s;uch who have turned our heart to the right &s;ide, and are going on the way that leadeth to the right hand of glory, then as Saint <HI>Bernard</HI>
<PB N="355" REF="174"> &s;aith, <HI>Pudeat nunc negligentius in vitam, quam prius in morte~ ire, &amp; minori &s;tudio &s;alutis acquirere quam perditionis augmentum, nam ut omnino &s;imus in excu&s;abiles in via vitae, quo citius eo facilius curritur, &amp; leve &s;alvato|ris onus quo cre&s;cit amplius eo portabilius e&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bern. Epi&s;t. <HI>341</HI></NOTE> let us be a&s;hamed to goe on more negligently towards life, then before we went on towards death, and with le&s;&s;e care to &s;eek the increa&s;e of &s;alvation, then of perdition; for that we might be altogether in excu&s;able in the way of life, the fa&s;ter it is run, the more ea&s;ely it is gone, and the light burden of our &s;aviour by how much greater it grows, by &s;o much it is carried the more lightly, and is the le&s;&s;e trouble&s;ome. Thus the words being metaphoricall, they may be taken and expounded divers wayes.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 3. The fooles heart in the ver&s;e before is &s;aid to be at his left hand, either becau&s;e it is not carryed unto the right object, or el&s;e be|cau&s;e it proceedeth not from a right beginning of due con&s;ideration: and in both the&s;e re&s;pects it is, that <HI>when he walketh by the way, his wi&s;|dome faileth him.</HI> For fir&s;t when he is carryed to the wrong objects of this world, to the honors, profits, plea&s;ures thereof, either he doth not attaine them, and &s;o <HI>his wi&s;dome faileth him;</HI> or els if he doe attaine them, he doth not find that good, that contentment in them, which he propo&s;ed and promi&s;ed to him&s;elf, <HI>and &s;o his wi&s;dome failing him</HI> he <HI>&s;hewed him&s;elf to all to be a foole.</HI> Secondly when his heart doth not pro|ceed from the beginning of a due con&s;ideration, then al&s;o <HI>when he wal|keth by the way,</HI> when he is going on, <HI>his wi&s;dome faileth him,</HI> he is not able to bring to an end that which he hath begunne, he is not able to performe that which he hath taken upon him, <HI>and &s;o &s;aith to every one that he is a foole.</HI> This is that folly which our Saviour &s;peaketh of, &s;aying, <HI>which of you intending to build a tower, &s;itteth not downe fir&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luk.</HI> 14.28, 29.</NOTE> <HI>and counteth the co&s;t, whether he have &s;ufficient to fini&s;h it. Least happily, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to fini&s;h it, all that behold it, be|gin to mock him &s;aying, this man began to build, and was not able to make an end.</HI> Another way we may take the meaning of the ver&s;e thus: that a foole hath not &s;o much wit, as to conceale his folly, and &s;eeing he can|not &s;hew his under&s;tanding, to hide the want of it; but even <HI>when hee walketh by the way,</HI> when he is in publike, <HI>his wi&s;edome faileth him,</HI> and doth not keep him company, <HI>and he &s;aith to every one that he is a foole:</HI> He &s;aith it, and &s;peaks plainly, although he &s;ay nothing, by that which he doth. And though <HI>he &s;ayes it to every one,</HI> yet to him&s;elfe he &s;ayes it not, but thinketh him&s;elfe to be very wi&s;e, and much wi&s;er then they are, who &s;ee him to be a foole. <HI>Tremellius</HI> expoundeth the ver&s;e thus,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremell. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> that <HI>walking by the way,</HI> he is &s;aid <HI>to &s;ay to every one that he is a foole, Quia ip&s;o vultu, gre&s;&s;u, &amp; &s;ignis omnibus clamat &s;toliditatem &s;uam,</HI> becau&s;e by his very countenanc, gate, and all &s;ignes hee proclaimeth his &s;toliditie. But all the&s;e expo&s;itions referre <HI>He</HI> unto the foole him&s;elfe, when wee read, <HI>and he &s;aith to every one that he is a foole.</HI> Whereas according to the Originall, the word <HI>He</HI> may be referred al&s;o to every one. So doth Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> referre it, and therefore &s;aith, that this is the meaning of
<PB N="356" REF="175"> it, <HI>Stultus ut ip&s;e peccat, &s;perat omnes peccare &s;imiliter, atque ex &s;uo ingenio univer&s;os judiea,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> A foole, as he &s;inneth him&s;elfe, &s;o he hopeth that all o|thers doe &s;inne likewi&s;e, and he judgeth of every one according to his owne di&s;po&s;ition. And the father &s;hewes us; that <HI>Symachus</HI> did &s;o tran&s;late the ver&s;e, as that he made this to be the meaning plainly. Hee therefore reads the ver&s;e thus,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ari&s;tot. Polit. l. <HI>3.</HI> c. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Sed &amp; in via &s;tultus quum ambulat, ip&s;e in|&s;ipiens &s;u&s;picatur de omnibus, quod stulti &s;unt;</HI> but al&s;o a foole when he walketh in the way, being him&s;elfe unwi&s;e, thinketh of all others that they are fooles. For as the Philo&s;opher &s;aith, <HI>qualis qui&s;que e&s;t, tales exi&s;timat alios,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. in P&s;al. <HI>118.</HI> Conc. <HI>12.</HI></NOTE> &s;uch as every one is, the &s;ame he thinketh others to be; the la&s;civious man, thinketh others to be la&s;civious, the covetous per&s;on, thinketh others to be couetous, the foole thinketh others to be fooles. According as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> al&s;o &s;aith, <HI>hoc proclivius &s;u&s;picatur homo in alio quod &s;entit in &s;eip&s;o,</HI> that doth a man readily &s;u&s;pect of another, which he findeth in him&s;elfe:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Exod.</HI> 32.17. <HI>&amp;</HI> 18.</NOTE> When <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> were comming downe from the mountaine, and heard a noy&s;e in the campe, <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> &s;aid there is a noy&s;e of warre, but <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;aid, The noy&s;e of them that &s;ing do I heare. Here was great difference in their judgement: but the rea&s;on was, That <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> being a warre-like man, and addicted to armes, hee therefore judgeth the noy&s;e to be a noy&s;e of warre; but <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> being a man of peace, and given to peace, he judgeth the noy&s;e to be a noy&s;e of peace,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.12. <HI>Aug. in P&s;al.</HI> 118. <HI>Conc.</HI> 12.</NOTE> each judgeth according to his owne di&s;po&s;ition. To this purpo&s;e Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> al&s;o alleadgeth that place of Saint <HI>Paul,</HI> when he &s;aith, <HI>But they mea&s;uring them&s;elves by them&s;elves and comparing them&s;elves among them&s;elves are not wi&s;e.</HI> As if the meaning were, That they thinking others to be as them&s;elves, and &s;o mea&s;uring them&s;elves by them, and comparing them&s;elves with them, did therein &s;hew them&s;elves to be fooles both in their judgement of them&s;elves and others. Neither is this the manner of fooles only, but &s;ometimes of wi&s;e men al&s;o. <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> being him&s;elfe a &s;imple hone&s;t man; true in his words and deeds, hee thought the &s;ame of others, and &s;o was deceived by the <HI>Gibeonites.</HI> When the brethren of <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gene&s;.</HI> 37.32.</NOTE> having &s;old him to the <HI>I&s;hmaelites,</HI> brought his garment to their Father, &s;tayned with the blood of a kid; although <HI>Jacob</HI> knew the great hatred which his brethren did beare him, yet he never &s;u&s;pected what they had done unto him: for being him&s;elfe a vertuous godly man, he could not &s;uppo&s;e that any &s;uch villany &s;hould be committed by them. But that any one may not &s;u&s;pect evill of ano|ther, which is the too common fa&s;hion of people, it is good to ob&s;erve the rule which Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> giveth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. in P&s;al. <HI>118.</HI> Conc. <HI>12.</HI></NOTE> and that is, <HI>non videre quod latet, non invidere quod eminet,</HI> not to take upon us to &s;ee that which is hid, not to &s;ee that with an envious eye, which by the eminencie of it appeareth plainly. But as the word <HI>He</HI> in the la&s;t part of the ver&s;e is referred to every one, &s;o <HI>Lyra</HI> giveth another meaning of it: when a foole, &s;aith he, <HI>walketh by the way,</HI> that is in wickedne&s;&s;e and &s;inne, for that is his way, <HI>his wi&s;edome faileth him,</HI> being therein, in truth, a very foole. <HI>He &s;aith to every one,</HI> that goeth not in his way, that followeth not his cour&s;es,
<PB N="397" REF="175"> <HI>that he is a foole, quia non &s;equuntur delectabilia hujus mundi, quae &s;ola re|putat bona,</HI> becau&s;e they doe not follow the delightfull things of this world, which alone he e&s;teemeth to be good things. And this is indeed the judgement which carele&s;&s;e &s;inners have of them, that are religious and godly, they e&s;teem them no better then fooles, <HI>thinking it &s;trange that they run not with them into the &s;ame exce&s;&s;e of folly, &s;peaking evill of them.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>Pet.</HI> 4.4.</NOTE> And indeed this expo&s;ition agreeth well to the Originall, which &s;pea|keth of the way <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>&s;ecundum quod &s;tultus ambulat,</HI> according to which, or wherein a foole walketh, as &s;hewing that he gave his judgement in re&s;pect of the way. But it is <HI>in the way</HI> only that a foole hath this judgement, when he commeth to his journeys end, he will then be of another mind, and then he will confe&s;&s;e him&s;elfe, and all that fol|low him to be fooles, and them only, to be wi&s;e, whom he accounted fooles. For the end &s;hall teach even fooles wi&s;edome, and then they &s;hall wi&s;h that they had been wi&s;er, who when they might have been, de&s;pi&s;ed to imbrace it.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Ver. 4.</HI></BIBL> If the Spirit of the Ruler ri&s;e up again&s;t thee, leave not thy place, for yeelding pacifieth great offences.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 4. The Preacher having declared the nature of wi&s;edome and folly, he delivereth next the effects of wi&s;edome, and that in mo&s;t im|portant and nece&s;&s;ary things. <HI>If the &s;pirit of the ruler ri&s;e against thee:</HI> if the ruler be offended with thee, if angry at thee, if the flame of his wrath ri&s;e up high, as being great again&s;t thee, <HI>leave not thy place,</HI> that is, &s;aith <HI>Tremellius, mode&s;te te in &s;tatione tua teneto, nec rebellato,</HI> keepe thy &s;elfe mode&s;tly in thy &s;tation, and doe not rebell again&s;t him. Or el&s;e as I conceive, the Originall words <GAP DESC="foreign"> may be rendred, <HI>doe not per|&s;i&s;t in thy place,</HI> doe not &s;tand to make good, and to ju&s;tifie that wherein thou ha&s;t offended him: and unto this, the following word of yeilding agreeth very well. Wee read of <HI>Jacob,</HI> how he went into another coun|try, when his brother was angry with him, which Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;etteth downe thus, <HI>Jacob fratri indignanti pie ce&s;&s;it,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Offi. l. <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>21.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&amp; Rebecca id e&s;t patientiae in&s;tructus con&s;ilio abe&s;&s;e maluit &amp; peregrinari quam excitare fratris indig|nationem, &amp; tunc redire quum fratrem mitigatum putaret; Jacob</HI> reli|giou&s;ly gave way unto his brother, being angry, and in&s;tructed by the coun&s;ell of <HI>Rebecca,</HI> that is of patience, had rather be ab&s;ent, and in a &s;trange country, then to provoke his brothers wrath, and then to returne when he thought his brother to be pacified. And &s;urely it is wi&s;edome in &s;uch a ca&s;e not to &s;tand to affront anger, but to goe a&s;ide a litle out of &s;ight, or at lea&s;twi&s;e by yeelding to give place unto it. Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> reading the words as our tran&s;lation hath them, and as they are read generally, <HI>ne relinquas locum tuum,</HI> leave not thy place, thereupon
<PB N="358" REF="176"> &s;aith, <HI>Locus tuus patientia e&s;t, locus tuus &s;apientia e&s;t, locus tuus ratio e&s;t, locus tuus &s;edatio indignationis e&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. Ibid.</NOTE> thy place is patience, thy place is wi&s;|dome, thy place is rea&s;on, thy place is the pacifying of anger; leave not therefore the&s;e, in which thy welfare is placed. <HI>For yeelding paci|fieth great offences,</HI> concerning the Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> which is ren|dred yeelding in our tran&s;lation, Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> tells us, that generally in Greek it was tran&s;lated <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>curatio aut &s;anitas,</HI> curing or healing, and &s;o indeed it &s;ignifieth mo&s;t properly, him&s;elfe al&s;o therefore doth &s;o tran&s;late it. But he tells us that <HI>Symmachus</HI> did tran&s;late it, <HI>quia pudici|tia comprimit peccata multa,</HI> becau&s;e mode&s;ty appea&s;eth many offences. The French tran&s;lation reads it <HI>la douceur,</HI> meekne&s;&s;e and mildne&s;&s;e. But the word properly &s;ignifying healing or curing: I conceive that here it is u&s;ed as importing a de&s;ire to make amends, a care to redre&s;&s;e what hath been ill taken, or ill done, an indeavour to recover the favour that is lo&s;t. And this is &s;aid <HI>to pacifie, or to make to cea&s;e great offences,</HI> both in re&s;pect of him who is angry, and in re&s;pect of him with whom he is angry,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremel. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> as <HI>Tremellius</HI> noteth. Fir&s;t in re&s;pect of the Ruler that is angry, becau&s;e it &s;tayeth his anger from running into the &s;inne of revenge, or &s;ome other the like, according as we read, that the wi&s;e carriage of <HI>Abi|gail</HI> &s;tayed <HI>David,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>Sam.</HI> 25.18.</NOTE> when he was highly angry with <HI>Nabal.</HI> Secondly in re&s;pect of him with whom he is angry, becau&s;e it maketh his offences though great, to be pardoned, and freeth him from the hurt that hee feareth by them. But the ancient Fathers generally expound this ver&s;e in a &s;pirituall &s;en&s;e. And the beginning of the ver&s;e being read thus by them, <HI>Si &s;piritus pote&s;tatem habentis,</HI> if the &s;pirit of him that hath power, they under&s;tand this Spirit to be the devill, wherefore Saint <HI>Hie|rome</HI> &s;aith, the Scripture here &s;ignifieth the Prince of this world, and the ruler of this darkne&s;&s;e, the &s;pirit that now worketh in the children of di&s;obedience,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.2.</NOTE> as Saint <HI>Paul</HI> &s;peaketh of him. If he therefore a&s;cend into our heart, and that our mind have received the wound of an evill thought,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> wee mu&s;t not willingly give place, but wee mu&s;t fight again&s;t this evill thought, and &s;trive to be freed from this &s;inne, &s;o that the thought doe not proceed into action. And in another place, the &s;ame Father &s;peaking of this ver&s;e, &s;aith, <HI>Qua&s;i in procinctu, &amp; acie &s;tamus &s;emper ad pugnam,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieron. ad De|metr. Epi&s;t. <HI>8.</HI></NOTE> <HI>vult nos loco movere ho&s;tis &amp; de gradu recedere: &s;ed &s;oli|danda &s;unt ve&s;tigia &amp; dicendum, &s;tatuit &s;upra petram pedes meos,</HI> We are as it were ready, and &s;tand alwayes mar&s;halled in battell aray, the ene|mie would have us to leave our place,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 40.2.</NOTE> and to remove from our &s;tation, but our &s;teps mu&s;t be &s;etled, and wee mu&s;t &s;ay unro him, <HI>He hath &s;et my feet upon a rocke, and e&s;tabli&s;hed my goings.</HI> Thus Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaking al&s;o of this ver&s;e, it is, &s;aith he, <HI>ac &s;i aperte dicat, &s;i tentatoris &s;piritum con|tra te in aliquo praevalere con&s;ideras, humilitatem paenitentiae non derelin|quas. Qui quod locum no&s;trum humilitatem paenitentiae dixerit, verbis &s;e|quentibus o&s;tendit dicens, quia curatio faciet ce&s;&s;are peccata maxima. Quid e&s;t enim humilitas lamenti, ni&s;i medicina peccati?</HI> as if he plainly &s;aid, if thou perceive&s;t the Spirit of the tempter to prevaile in &s;omthing again&s;t
<PB N="359" REF="176"> thee, leave not the humility of repentance. For that he meaneth the humility of repentance to be our place, he &s;heweth by the following words &s;aying, that healing maketh great &s;ins to cea&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral. l. b. <HI>3.</HI> c. <HI>13.</HI></NOTE> For what el&s;e is the humility of lamenting, but the remedy of &s;inning? Wherefore in generall he &s;aith, <HI>malorum locus e&s;t &s;uperbia, &s;icut e&s;t contra humilitas locus bonorum,</HI> the place of &s;inners and evill men is pride, as on the the contrary the place of penitents and good men is humility. <HI>Beda</HI> al&s;o having cited this ver&s;e addeth, <HI>quod e&s;t aperte dicere, &s;i principis mundi id e&s;t diaboli tentatio tibi forte in&s;titerit, caveto &s;olcitus, ne &agrave; bona operatione cui in&s;udabas,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Beda in cap. <HI>27.</HI> Proverbiorum.</NOTE> <HI>de&s;i&s;tas</HI> if the temtation of the Prince of this world that is the devill &s;hall pre&s;&s;e upon thee, be diligently carefull that thou de&s;i&s;t not from that good working wherein thou didde&s;t painfully labour. <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;aith that the ver&s;e may be under&s;tood of the devill, but him&s;elfe applyeth it <HI>fomiti peccati,</HI> to the Originall cor|ruption of humane nature, &s;aying <HI>if the &s;pirit,</HI> that is <HI>impul&s;us</HI> the &s;trong inclination <HI>pote&s;tatem habentis, of that which hath power,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> that is of naturall corruption, which is &s;ayd to have power, becau&s;e many do obey it as ha|ving power over them, <HI>&s;hall ri&s;e up again&s;t thee,</HI> by pre&s;&s;ing thee to &s;in <HI>leave not thy place,</HI> leave not thy &s;tedfa&s;tne&s;&s;e in vertue, in which a man ought to remaine as in a firme place. The rea&s;on followes, <HI>becau&s;e healing will make great &s;ins to cea&s;e,</HI> for though by re&s;i&s;ting naturall corruption it be not wholy taken away in this pre&s;ent life, yet by &s;uch a re&s;i&s;tance the power of it is dimini&s;hed, &amp; vertue both &s;etled &amp; increa&s;ed, which is &s;aid to be a kind of health to the &s;oule, and therefore by con&s;equence a curing from infirnity. And this <HI>maketh &s;inne to cea&s;e,</HI> into which our naturall corruption would carry us, unle&s;&s;e there were this healing or curing. He that is the Author of the Commentary on the Epi&s;tle of Saint <HI>Paul</HI> to the <HI>Epe&s;ians,</HI> which is found among&s;t Saint <HI>Hieromes</HI> works, folowing the generall expo&s;ition of this ver&s;e, doth thus ex|pre&s;&s;e the meaning of it, <HI>Ille &s;uperbus &amp; temerarius vult a&s;cendere, &s;ed etiam&s;i te oppre&s;&s;um putaverit, &amp; &s;e extulerit, ne tu dederis locum, po|te&s;tas enim diaboli non in temeritate illius atque jactantia, &s;ed in tua e&s;t voluntate,</HI> he, that proud and bold &s;pirit, will ri&s;e up again&s;t thee,<NOTE PLACE="marg">In c. <HI>6.</HI> Epi&s;t. Ephe&s;.</NOTE> but though he thinke thee to be overcome, and doe lift up him&s;elfe, doe not thou give place, for the power of the devill is not in his boldne&s;&s;e and bragging, but in thy will. Another expo&s;ition which I meete with of this ver&s;e is this, <HI>Si dominandi cupiditas animum tuum inva&s;e|rit, locum prioremne facile de&s;erueris, qui enim compe&s;cit in huju&s;modi cupiditatibus animum &s;uum multa vitabit &amp; gravia peccata,</HI> if the de|&s;ire of having power and ruling,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chald. Paraphr.</NOTE> that is the &s;pirit of ambition &s;hall a&s;&s;ault thy mind, be not ha&s;ty in leaving thy former place and condition. For he that &s;ubdueth his mind in the&s;e de&s;ires &s;hall &s;hun many and great offences. For indeed they are many &s;ins into which this de&s;ire carryeth men, and it is not an ea&s;y matter to overcome it, when it ri&s;eth up.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. lib. <HI>4.</HI> in Lucam.</NOTE> Wherefore Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;aith, oftentimes tho&s;e, whom no vices lead a&s;ide, tho&s;e whom lu&s;t cannot move, whom covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e cannot
<PB N="360" REF="177"> overthrow, <HI>facit ambitio crimino&s;os</HI> ambition maketh to be great offenders.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5-7" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 5.</HI></BIBL> There is an evill which I have &s;eene under the Sun, as an error, which proceedeth from the ruler.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 6.</HI></BIBL> Folly is &s;et in great dignity, and the rich &s;it in low place.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 7.</HI></BIBL> I have &s;eene &s;ervants upon hor&s;es, and Princes walking as &s;ervants upon the earth.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 5. <HI>There is an evill which I have &s;een under the Sun:</HI> it is &s;till <HI>in hoc mundo &s;ub&s;olano</HI> in this world under the Sun that the Preacher &s;eeth evill,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in P&s;al. <HI>37.</HI></NOTE> it is where fraile man ruleth, it is not as Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Supra &s;olem ubi &s;anctitas caele&s;tium pote&s;tatum,</HI> above the Sun where is the holine&s;&s;e of the heavenly powers. <HI>As an errour:</HI> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> reads it <HI>qua&s;i ignorantia</HI> as it were ignorance, and he tels us that the Septuagint, <HI>Aquila,</HI> and <HI>Theodotio</HI> did read it <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>qua&s;i non &s;ponta|neum</HI> as a thing unwillingly done. <HI>Which proceedeth from the ruler:</HI> the ruler here &s;ome doe under&s;tand to be God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> who as <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;aith in truth can no way erre, but yet according to the judgement of fooli&s;h men he is &s;uppo&s;ed to erre: for they from the promotion of wicked men to dignities and honours doe not &s;eldome &s;ay that God is a &s;leepe, or is deceived for want of judgement: whereas it is according to the di&s;pen|&s;ation of his wi&s;dome and ju&s;tice concealed from us why he &s;ometimes &s;uffereth the wicked to be exalted, the good to be ca&s;t downe: <HI>&amp; ideo non hic dicitur per errorem principis ab&s;olut&egrave; &s;ed qua&s;i per errorem,</HI> and therefore it is not here &s;aid by the error of the Prince ab&s;olutely: but as it were by the error of the Prince becau&s;e it &s;eemeth &s;o to fooles and &s;imple ones. Others here under&s;tand <HI>the ruler</HI> to be the devill, who ruleth <HI>under the Sun,</HI> and thereupon they inferre this admonition as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;ets it downe, <HI>ne &s;imus itaque tri&s;tes &s;i in hoc &s;aeculo humi|les videamur, &s;cientes a facie diaboli &s;tultos &s;ublevari, &amp; divites dejici, &s;ervos in&s;ignia habere dominorum &amp; principes &s;ervorum ingredi vilitate,</HI> let us not therefore be &s;ad,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> if in this world we &s;eeme to be in low degree, as knowing that it is from the favour and countenance of the devill, that fooles are exalted, and they who are rich in wi&s;dome are ca&s;t downe, that &s;ervants doe enjoy the priviledges of ma&s;ters, and Princes for worth doe walke in the ba&s;ene&s;&s;e of &s;ervants. La&s;tly others by <HI>the ruler</HI> under|&s;tand them, who rule by autority and command in earthly government, and who have power and means to advance others to rule and com|mand.
<PB N="361" REF="177"> Now if &s;uch a one <HI>doe erre</HI> being a man, what mervaile can it be? <HI>Moy&s;es</HI> therefore being neere unto his end, and praying unto God, <HI>let the Lord the God of the &s;pirits of all fle&s;h &s;et a man over the congregation, Philo</HI> noteth upon it,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Numb.</HI> 27.16.</NOTE> that <HI>Moy&s;es</HI> him&s;elfe dur&s;t not to commit the go|vernment to another, lea&s;t perhaps he &s;hould be deceived in his judge|ment, and therefore not relying upon humane judgement and &s;o not tru&s;ting to him&s;elfe,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo l. de Charita&punc;</NOTE> he prayed unto God that he would choo&s;e a fit go|vernour for his people. And it may be farther noted how he prayeth, <HI>Let the God of the &s;pirits of all fle&s;h &amp;c.</HI> As if he had &s;aid, thou O Lord who peirce&s;t every man into the inwards of the &s;pirit, and who &s;ee&s;t not as man &s;eeth, looking only upon the outward appearance doe thou choo&s;e a man. But although the ruler as beeing a man be a &s;ubject to errour as well as other men, yet it mu&s;t be his care to erre as little as po&s;&s;ible he can. Saint <HI>Cyrill</HI> ob&s;erveth that in the law, whereas if others did &s;in God appointed a &s;acrifice and remedy for them, whether they &s;inned through ignorance or el&s;e with knowledge, in the &s;in of the high Prie&s;t there is not appointed any &s;acrifice for him if that he &s;inned by ignorance,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cyrill. l. <HI>2.</HI> in Levit.</NOTE> <HI>qua&s;i nullo modo in praelatis &s;it admittenda ignorantia aut de|fectus &s;apientiae ad &s;uum munus requi&s;itae,</HI> as if by no means there were to be admitted in them that doe rule, ignorance or defect of wi&s;edome re|quired to their place. Be&s;ides there had need to be a great care in the ruler, that &s;hall choo&s;e others to rule and command, becau&s;e it is a hard thing to di&s;charg it. <HI>Nazianzene</HI> &s;aith, <HI>difficile e&s;t homini imperare, dif|ficillimum homines in&s;truere &amp; docere.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Nazianz. Orat. <HI>1.</HI> Apolog.</NOTE> <HI>Ars quidem artium &amp; &s;cientia &s;cientiarum mihi e&s;&s;e videtur, hominem regere animal omnium maxime varium &amp; multiplex,</HI> it is a hard thing for a man to rule, a mo&s;t hard thing to in&s;truct and teach men. It &s;eemeth to me to be an art of arts, a &s;cience of &s;ciences to rule man who is of all creatures mo&s;t various and changeable. To the &s;ame purpo&s;e Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Homil. <HI>15.</HI> in <HI>2.</HI> ad Corint.</NOTE> <HI>imperium te|nere non dignitas tantum e&s;t, &s;ed ars etiam, &amp; quidem artium omnium prae&s;tanti&s;sima,</HI> to have rule and government is not only a dignity but an art al&s;o, and of all arts the highe&s;t and mo&s;t excellent. But that this care of not erring, by the ruler is not alwayes ob&s;erved <HI>Nazianzene</HI> al&s;o &s;heweth, who complayning &s;aith, <HI>&V;no die &s;anctos fingimus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Nazianz. Ora|tione. <HI>10.</HI></NOTE> <HI>eo&s;que eru|ditos &amp; &s;apientes e&s;&s;e jubemus, qui nihil didicerunt &amp; qui ad &s;acerdotium nihil prius tulerunt quam velle,</HI> in one day we make men holy, and com|mand them to be wi&s;e and learned, who have learned nothing, and who bring nothing before hand with them to the Prie&s;t hood, but a will only. And &s;urely it would be a great help to the ruler for not erring, if they who are unworthy would not ambitiou&s;ly &s;eek for authority and command, and by a violent importunity even thru&s;t them&s;elves into it. <HI>Cicero</HI> &s;aith well, <HI>Suum qui&s;que no&s;cat ingenium &amp; exactum &s;e judicem honorum &amp; vitiorum praebeat, ne &s;cenici plus quam nos videantur habere prudentiae, hic enim accommodati&s;simas &s;ibi eligunt fabulas,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cicer. Offi.</NOTE> let every one know his owne ability and faculties, let him make him&s;elf a &s;trict judge of honours and defects, of the honours that he &s;eeks, of the de|fects
<PB N="362" REF="178"> that he hath, lea&s;t that &s;tage players appeare to have more wi&s;e|dome then we, for they doe choo&s;e unto them&s;elves the fitte&s;t parts for them&s;elves.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 6. <HI>Folly is &s;et in great dignity:</HI> he &s;aith not that a foole, but that folly is &s;et in great dignity; either as &s;hewing how exceeding fooli&s;h they are, who &s;ometimes are advanced in worldly honour, even as foo|li&s;h as folly can make them; or el&s;e as &s;hewing, that when a foole is advanced, it is not &s;o much him&s;elf as his folly that is &s;et on high. For then his folly &s;hews it &s;elf, him&s;elf as a foole is de&s;pi&s;ed &s;till. Saint <HI>Ber|nard</HI> complayning of this promotion of fooles in the Church, &s;aith, <HI>&s;cho|lares pueri &amp; impuberes adole&s;centuli promoventur ad Eccle&s;ia&s;ticas digni|tates, &amp; de &s;ub ferula transferuntur ad principandum praesbiteris, laetio|res interim quod flagella eva&s;erint, quam quod meruerint principatum, nec tam illis blanditur adeptum quam ademptum magi&s;terium,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bern. Epi&s;t. <HI>42.</HI></NOTE> Schoole boyes, beardle&s;&s;e youths are advanced to <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall</HI> dignities, and from being under the rod they are translated to be over the clergy, in the mean while being more glad in them&s;elves that they have e&s;caped the whip, then that they are come to honour, and the ma&s;ter&s;hip that is taken from over them doth more plea&s;e them then that which is gotten by them. Saint <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> complaineth of the &s;ame in the common wealth, &s;aying, <HI>non item eum eligunt, qui e&s;t dignus, &s;ed dome&s;ticum ac familia|rem; neque ille eligitur qui &s;alutaris e&s;&s;e po&s;sit reipublicae, &s;ed qui in &s;ua gente ac familia vi facultatum praepollet,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;ilius in c. <HI>3.</HI> I&s;aiae.</NOTE> they doe not al&s;o choo&s;e him that is worthy but &s;ome one that is dome&s;tick to them, or familiar with them: neither is he cho&s;en who may be for the good of the common-wealth, but he who in his kindred and family aboundeth in po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions. And to this purpo&s;e he applyeth the words of the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> who &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;ai.</HI> 3.6.</NOTE> <HI>a man &s;hall take of his brother of the hou&s;e of his Father,</HI> &s;aying, <HI>thou ha&s;t clothing be thou ruler over us. And the rich &s;it in low places:</HI> the rich in this place expo&s;itours generally under&s;tand to be tho&s;e, <HI>qui divites &s;unt &s;ermone &amp; &s;apientia, divites etiam operibus bonis,</HI> who are rich in utterance and wi&s;edome rich al&s;o in good works as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> decla|reth them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> And indeed the&s;e are they who are truly rich. Saint <HI>Au&s;tin.</HI> marking tho&s;e words of Saint <HI>Paul,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Timot.</HI> 6.9.</NOTE> <HI>they that will be rich fall into temp|tation and a &s;nare, and into many fooli&s;h lu&s;ts which drowne them in de|&s;truction and perdition,</HI> thereupon noteth, <HI>qui volunt divites fieri, qui volunt non qui &s;unt, nam qui &s;unt, divites &s;unt in bonis operibus,</HI> they that will be rich,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. Serm. <HI>205.</HI> de Tempore</NOTE> they that will be, not they that are, for they that are, are rich in good works. Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> therefore &s;aith, <HI>filii Adam genus avarum &amp; ambitio&s;um audite, quid vobis cum terrenis divitiis &amp; glo|ria temporali, quae nec verae nec ve&s;trae &s;unt. Si enim ve&s;tra &s;unt haec tol|lite vobi&s;cum. Vere ergo divitiae non opes &s;unt &s;ed virtutes, quas &s;ecum con&s;cientia portat ut in perpetuum dives &s;it,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. Ser. <HI>4.</HI> adventus.</NOTE> yee Sons of Adam a cove|tous and ambitious generation heare this, what have ye to doe with earthly riches and temporall glory, which are neither true riches, nor your riches? For if they be your riches, take them with you when ye
<PB N="363" REF="178"> goe hence. Riches therefore truly, are not wealth but vertues, which the con&s;cience caryes with it, that it may be rich for ever.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Homil. <HI>11.</HI> in <HI>1.</HI> ad Tundli.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Chry|&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;peaking in the &s;ame manner, &s;aith, <HI>quid parva i&s;ta miraris? quid ad i&s;ta quae abjecti&s;sima &s;unt inhias? quamdiu inops eris? quamdiu pauper e&s;&s;e per&s;i&s;tes? in caelum animum intende coele&s;te&s;que divitias animo ver&s;a, aurum irride,</HI> why do&s;t thou &s;tand amazed at tho&s;e &s;mall things? why do&s;t thou look &s;o earne&s;tly after tho&s;e mo&s;t ba&s;e things? how long wilt thou be a beggar? how long wilt thou continue to be poore? fa&s;ten thine eyes upon heaven, and let thy mynd be bu&s;ied about heavenly riches, de&s;pi&s;e gold. The &s;pirit of God here calleth them rich, who abound with the&s;e riches. And Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. l. <HI>3.</HI> Epi&s;t. <HI>10.</HI> ad Simplic.</NOTE> <HI>&s;olum illum Deus divitem novit, qui &s;it dives aeternitati, qui non opum &s;ed virtutum fructus recondat,</HI> it is he only that God acknowledgeth for a rich man, who is rich unto eternity, and who layeth up the reveneus of vertues not of wealth. But to give &s;ome rea&s;on why the Preacher in this place expre&s;|&s;eth the worthy in wi&s;edome and vertue by this name <HI>rich,</HI> I conceive it to be, as &s;hewing that God did honour them, and e&s;teeme of them, though in the world they were not honoured nor e&s;teemed, and that he had advanced them in glorious riches, though in the world they did &s;it in low places. Saint <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;il. Se leuc. Oratione <HI>15.</HI></NOTE> <HI>placet &s;ibi Deus ab&s;tru&s;um in de&s;pecto corpore margaritum con&s;picatus,</HI> God plea&s;eth him&s;elf beholding a hid|den pearle in a de&s;pi&s;ed and disre&s;pected body. Or els the Preacher u&s;eth here this word, as &s;hewing, that although they did not receive from others honour and dignity, yet by their owne paines they had gotten to them&s;elves wi&s;dome and worth, and that although the other were kept from them; yet that this could not be taken from them. The French tran&s;lation doth read this word rich, <HI>ceu qui out de quoi</HI> they that have wherewith: as if the meaning were that fooles are &s;et in high places, in dignities and honours, who have not wherewith, and are not of ability either to order their places, or to order them&s;elves in their places: whereas they who have wherewith, who have wi&s;edome and knowledge, as well to honour high places and dignities by their well di&s;charging of them, as they &s;hould be honoured in them, are left to continue in a low ranke, Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;peaking of the Knight Templers &s;aith, <HI>per&s;ona inter eos non accipitur, defertur honor meliori,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. ad mi|lites Templi c. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> among them there is no accepting of per&s;ons, honour is given to him that is mo&s;t wor|thy of it. And where it is &s;o, in the temple and &s;tate, that time is come againe, of which <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;aith, <HI>aureum &s;aeculum erat, in quo honores melio|ribus dabantur,</HI> the golden age was,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca Epi&s;t. <HI>91</HI></NOTE> in which honours were be&s;towed on them, that be&s;t de&s;erved them. When a foole is <HI>&s;et in dignity,</HI> it is as when an handfull of hay is &s;et up to give light, which with &s;moake and &s;mell offendeth all that are nere it. <HI>When as the worthy &s;it in low place,</HI> it is as when a goodly candle, that on a table would give a comfortable and comely light, is put under a bu&s;hell.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 7. <HI>I have &s;een:</HI> and with what looke doe we imagine that the Preacher beheld it? how angry was his eye? how a&s;hamed his counte|nance?
<PB N="364" REF="179"> would it not be a &s;trange thing to &s;ee &s;ome bea&s;t ruling a man with a bridle, and at his plea&s;ure to turne him and guide him which way he would? Surely no le&s;&s;e &s;trange &s;ight it is, to &s;ee <HI>&s;ervants</HI> as Princes <HI>up|on hor&s;es,</HI> and to &s;ee <HI>Princes as &s;ervants walking</HI> upon the earth. The meaning of the ver&s;e, Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> delivereth thus, <HI>Equi nomine digni|tas temporalis accipitur, &amp; quum omnis qui peccat, &s;ervus e&s;t pecati; &s;ervi in equis &s;unt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral. lib. <HI>31.</HI> cap. <HI>10.</HI></NOTE> <HI>quum peccatores prae&s;entis vitae dignitatibus efferuntur. Principes vero qua&s;i &s;ervi ambulant, quum multos dignitate virtutum ple|nos nullus honor eriget, &s;ed &s;umma hic adver&s;itas velut indignos deor&s;um premet,</HI> by the name of a hor&s;e, is under&s;tood temporall dignity, and &s;ee|ing every one that &s;inneth is the &s;ervant of &s;inne, &s;ervants are up|on hor&s;es, when &s;inners are advanced in the dignities of this pre|&s;ent life. But Princes walke as &s;ervants, when no honour exalteth many who are full of the worth of vertues, but that great adver&s;ity doth pre&s;&s;e them downe, as if they were unworthy men. S. <HI>Hierome</HI> expre&s;|&s;eth the meaning of it thus,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>quod hi qui &s;ervi &s;unt vitiorum atque peccati, &s;ive tam humiles ut &s;ervi ab hominibus computentur, &s;ubita a diabolo digni|tate perflati vias publicas mannis terant, &amp; nobilis qui&s;que vel prudens pau|pertate oppre&s;&s;us gradiatur itinere officioque &s;ervorum,</HI> that they who are &s;ervants to vices, and &s;inne, or el&s;e are &s;o ba&s;e, that by men they are ac|counted of as &s;ervants, being blowne up by the devill, with &s;ome &s;ud|den dignity, doe weare out the &s;treets, and high wayes with their nags, &amp; he that is noble or wi&s;e, oppre&s;&s;ed with poverty, goeth along the way afoote, and waiteth as a &s;ervant. So that the difference not only is, that the one rideth, the other is afoot upon the earth; but al&s;o that the one &s;itteth at his ea&s;e, the other walketh with paine and labour. But though <HI>the fooli&s;h, the wicked be upon hor&s;es,</HI> they are &s;ervants &s;till: and though <HI>the vertuous and the wi&s;e walke upon the earth,</HI> they are Princes &s;till. Yea, how many &s;ervants are there more free then their ma&s;ters,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Jo&s;. Parariarcha. c: <HI>4</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;i in &s;ervitute po&s;iti a &s;ervilibus putent operibus ab&s;tinendum. Servile e&s;t omne peccatum, libera e&s;t innocentia,</HI> if being placed in &s;ervitude, they be carefull to ab&s;taine from &s;ervile works. Every &s;inne is &s;ervile, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e is free, as Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 105.22.</NOTE> <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> was &s;old into <HI>Aegypt</HI> for a &s;ervant; but how was he a &s;ervant, <HI>who did binde Princes at their plea&s;ure, and did teach Senators wi&s;edome?</HI> How was he a &s;ervant, who bought the whole land of <HI>Aegypt,</HI> and made all the <HI>Aegyptians</HI> &s;ervants unto <HI>Pharoah?</HI> Even when he was the &s;ervant of <HI>Potyphar,</HI> he di&s;dained not <HI>ob&s;equium &s;eduli|tatis,</HI> the obedient readine&s;&s;e of diligence, but he kept &s;till the height of vertue, he pre&s;erved &s;till the fredome of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, the authority of innocencie. The &s;elling of him could not take away this from him. Money is no prejudice unto this, which oftentimes hath bought ma&s;ters unto them, who have been the di&s;turbers of it: <HI>nihil tabulae auctionales,</HI> the deeds of bargaine and &s;ale doe no wayes hinder this, by which ma|ny times the buyer hath been condemned unto bondage. There have been many who have bought faire damo&s;ells, to whom by a lu&s;tfull af|fection, they have been &s;ubjected in a &s;hamefull thraldome. Wherefore
<PB N="365" REF="179"> as Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>non ille &s;olum liber qui dominum licitatorem non pertulit aut tollentem digitum non vidit, &s;ed ille magis liber qui intra &s;e liber e&s;t,</HI> It is not he only that is free, who hath not a ma&s;ter to &s;et a price upon him, who&s;e eye feareth not the finger that is lifted up again&s;t him, but he is rather free, that is free within him&s;elfe.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. in P&s;al. <HI>104.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Non i&s;ta e&s;t liber|tas quam manumi&s;&s;us accipit, &amp; palma lictoris donatus acquirit,</HI> that is not a liberty which he receiveth, upon who&s;e head, his ma&s;ter putting his hand, and therewith putting him away from him, hath &s;aid un|to him, <HI>Liber esto,</HI> be thou free: that is not a freedome which he hath obtained, to whom the Sargeant hath given a branch of the Palme tree; but that is freedome which vertue, which wi&s;edome be&s;toweth. He that is a foole, he that is wicked, though a Prince, is but a &s;ervant, he that is vertuous, he that is wi&s;e, though a &s;ervant, is a Prince. Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;heweth them both, who &s;peaking of the fir&s;t, &s;aith, <HI>Stulto &amp; imperare &s;ervitus e&s;t, &amp; quod pejus e&s;t, quum paucioribus prae&s;it, pluribus dominis &amp; gravioribus &s;ervit,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. Ibid.</NOTE> to a fool, even to reign is a bondage, and that which is wor&s;e, whereas he reigneth over a few, he &s;erveth many and mo&s;t grievous ma&s;ters. For he &s;erveth his pa&s;&s;ions, he &s;erveth his lu&s;ts, who&s;e dominion over him he is not able to &s;hun, neither night nor day: for he hath his ma&s;ters with him, and within him&s;elf &s;uffereth this un&s;ufferable &s;ervitude. Of the other, he &s;aith, he that wil be free, let him be a &s;ervant of the Lord, <HI>ea enim parte qua participamur &s;ervitute, participamur &amp; regno,</HI> for &s;o far as we are intere|&s;ted in this &s;ervice, &s;o far we are intere&s;ted in a kingdome: yea it is <HI>the Kingdome of heaven, which is within us,</HI> as our Saviour &s;peaketh.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luk.</HI> 17.21.</NOTE> There is no little &s;ervitude in the Princes of the earth, even as they are Princes, and therefore <HI>Philo</HI> noteth, that it is well &s;aid of <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> that he was &s;old into <HI>Egypt,</HI> becau&s;e he that a&s;cendeth into a place of dignity, of a free man, is made a &s;ervant,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo de Jo&s;eph.</NOTE> <HI>propter honores quos videtur accipere innumeris &s;e dominis &s;ubjiciens,</HI> for the honours which he &s;eemeth to receive &s;ubje|cting him&s;elfe unto numberle&s;&s;e ma&s;ters. For it is not one that is ma&s;ter of them, who rule in the government, but even the multitude of the peo|ple. But if unto this &s;ervitude, the &s;ervitude of wickedne&s;&s;e be joyned al&s;o, how grievous is it made? Now it were well, if they who con|demne the evill of the world, <HI>when &s;ervants be upon hor&s;es, and Princes walke upon the earth,</HI> would be but carefull not to &s;uffer the &s;ame in them|&s;elves. For when the fle&s;h ruleth over the &s;pirit, is not then a &s;ervant on hor&s;e-back? and lifted up in honour? Is not then a Prince &s;ubjected, and made to goe on foot? Saint <HI>Austin</HI> expre&s;&s;eth this perverted cour&s;e by a fit &s;imilitude, &s;aying, <HI>qualis e&s;t in oculis hominum,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. Serm. <HI>5.</HI> ad fratres in Eremo.</NOTE> <HI>qui inver&s;is pe|dibus &amp; capite deor&s;um ambulare videtur, talis e&s;t in oculis Angelorum cui propria caro dominatur,</HI> &s;uch a one as he is in the eyes of men, who is &s;een to walke with his feet turned upward, and his head downward, the &s;ame is he in the &s;ight of the Angels, who&s;e owne fle&s;h beareth rule in him. Who therefore &s;hould not be a&s;hamed of it?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca Epi&s;t. <HI>65.</HI></NOTE> And if <HI>Seneca</HI> perceiving the &s;hame of it, &s;aid of him&s;elfe, <HI>major &s;um &amp; ad majora genitus, quam ut
<PB N="366" REF="180"> mancipium &s;im mei corporis,</HI> I am of more worth, and borne to better things, then that I &s;hould be the &s;lave of my body, how much more &s;hould a Chri&s;tian be moved with the &s;hame <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">f it? How much more would his re&s;olution be the &s;ame, and how carefull &s;hould he be to per|forme it?</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="8-9" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 8.</HI></BIBL> He that diggeth a pit, &s;hall fall into it; and who&s;o breaketh an hedge, a &s;erpent &s;hall bite him.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 9.</HI></BIBL> Who&s;o removeth &s;tones, &s;hall be hurt there|with: and he that cleaveth wood, &s;hall be endangered thereby.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 8. The con&s;ideration of the former ver&s;es, wherein the Prea|cher &s;peaketh of the advancement of the unworthy, the low e&s;tate of them that are worthy, induceth me to under&s;tand this ver&s;e of him, who that he may exalt his owne unworthines, <HI>diggeth a pit</HI> by plots and devi|&s;es, and &s;ecret &s;ugge&s;tions, whereby to keep others down, and of him who&s;e ambitious de&s;ire, that he may get up on high, careth not <HI>to break down hedges,</HI> to leap over ditches, and where his owne worth findeth not a way open for him, to make a way by the force of importunitie, and other &s;ini&s;ter cour&s;es. And commonly where this violent de&s;ire is, it is a &s;igne of little worth that there is to be found.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Abu&s;en&s;is in <HI>2.</HI> Reg. c. <HI>15.</HI> v. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> For &s;o <HI>Abulen&s;is</HI> deli|vereth his judgement, &s;aying, <HI>Qui honorem de&s;iderat, non e&s;t dignus hono|re, &amp; qui de&s;iderat &s;tatum excellentem non pote&s;t eum convenienter &s;u&s;ti|nere,</HI> hee that de&s;ireth honor, is not worthy of honor, he that de&s;ireth a high place, is not a man able fitly to di&s;charge it. But to him that <HI>dig|geth this pit</HI> for others, the Preacher &s;aith, that <HI>he &s;hall fall into it:</HI> for many times him&s;elfe falleth from the height of his ambitious hope, who &s;eeketh to keep downe others from ri&s;ing. The Prince&s;&s;e of <HI>Babylon</HI> had digged a pit for <HI>Daniel,</HI> as low as the Lyons den, that by his fall them|&s;elves might be advanced in the Kings favour: but <HI>Daniel</HI> being pre&s;er|ved in it, and taken out of it, them&s;elves were ca&s;t into it, and there were con&s;umed, and peri&s;hed. To him that <HI>breaketh &s;o an hedge,</HI> the Prea|cher &s;aith that <HI>a &s;erpent &s;hall bite him:</HI> and indeed, what is ambition it &s;elfe,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. l. <HI>3.</HI> de con&s;iderat.</NOTE> but a biting &s;erpent? Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;aith of it, <HI>O ambitio ambienti|um! crux quomodo omnes torquens omnibus places? nihil acrius cruciat, nihil molestius inquietat, nihil tamen apud mi&s;eros mortales celebrius negotiis ejus:</HI> O the ambition of the ambitious! Being a cro&s;&s;e which tormenteth all, how do&s;t thou plea&s;e all? there is nothing that vexeth more bitterly, nothing that di&s;quieteth more grievou&s;ly, and yet there is nothing more famous with mi&s;erable men, then the bu&s;ine&s;&s;es of it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tinus.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaking of our fir&s;t parents <HI>Adam</HI> and <HI>Eve,</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Rapere voluerunt divinitatem, &amp; perdiderunt faelicitatem,</HI> they would needs get
<PB N="367" REF="180"> unto them&s;elves divinity, and lo&s;t their felicity. They break through <HI>the hedge</HI> of Gods commandement, to come to the forbidden tree, and how grievou&s;ly, how deadly did <HI>the &s;erpent bite them?</HI> And &s;urely oftentimes when ambitious heads <HI>breake through hedges,</HI> to get to high places, there <HI>is a &s;erpent</HI> lurking &s;ecretly, which bites them by the heele, and either &s;tops them from going on, or el&s;e bringeth by it &s;ome great mi&s;chiefe upon them. Or el&s;e <HI>the &s;erpent</HI> that biteth the&s;e ambitious &s;ubtile wor|kers, is &s;ome other more &s;ubtile then they, by whom they are undermi|ned in their plots. Indeed when ambition is &s;et upon it, <HI>no hedge,</HI> no wall is able to hold it, but it breaks through, it leaps over all. What <HI>hedges</HI> did <HI>Athaliah</HI> break, killing all the royall Progeny,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. <HI>King.</HI> 11.</NOTE> that her &s;elfe might reigne? What <HI>hedges</HI> did <HI>Abimelech</HI> break,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Judg.</HI> 9.</NOTE> killing &s;eventy of his brethren, that him&s;elfe might rule? What <HI>hedges</HI> did <HI>Ab&s;alom</HI> break, that he might be King in <HI>I&s;rael?</HI> But did not <HI>the &s;erpent</HI> bite them all?<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. <HI>King.</HI> 15.</NOTE> Was not to all of them, their greatne&s;&s;e their confu&s;ions? Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;peaking of <HI>Ab&s;alom,</HI> &s;aith, Where fathers and Parents ought to finde comfort, there they find death; and whereas bruit bea&s;ts ob&s;erve the lawes of piety toward them that breed them; whereas it is wickedne&s;&s;e to de&s;troy the innocent, great wickedne&s;&s;e to de&s;troy a father; <HI>ambitio docet id quod natura non novit, quod pietas ip&s;a hore&s;cit,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Homil. de Ab&s;olom.</NOTE> <HI>audet perficere quod Deus novo &s;upplicio cogatur vindicare,</HI> ambition teacheth that which nature knoweth not, which naturall affection abhorreth, and dareth to enterpri&s;e that, which God is compelled to puni&s;h with a &s;trange and new judgement. Or el&s;e if <HI>the &s;erpent bite</HI> not &s;o hard, it is not &s;eldome &s;een, that when the tree is ready to beare, it biteth off the bud, and when ambition &s;eeketh for the fruit of a long &s;ought-for greatne&s;&s;e, it findeth none in it. When the Lord &s;aith unto the Prophet <HI>Zachary,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Zachar.</HI> 11.15.</NOTE> <HI>take unto thee the in&s;truments of a fooli&s;h &s;heepheard:</HI> the in&s;truments of a &s;heepheard, being a bagge and a &s;taffe, Rabbi <HI>David</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rabbi David.</NOTE> and <HI>Vatablus</HI> &s;ay, that the bag of a fooli&s;h &s;heepheard is <HI>pera pertu&s;a,</HI> a bag that is broken thorow, and which holdeth nothing; according whereunto wee may &s;ay, that the &s;taffe of a fooli&s;h &s;heepheard is a broken &s;taffe, not able to &s;upport him. And plainly it is &s;o with many in the folly of ambition, they have broken through <HI>a hedge</HI> to come to greatne&s;&s;e, and thereby have broken the bagge of their greatne&s;&s;e, that it affordeth &s;mall benefit unto them: they haue leapt over a wall to get into honour, but the leap hath broken their &s;taffe, &s;o that they have little comfort to &s;upport them. <HI>A &s;erpent</HI> hath bitten them, and the poy&s;on thereof cannot be gotten out. Another expo&s;ition which <HI>Lyra</HI> giveth of this ver&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> is to under&s;tand here the hurt that commeth by the occa&s;ion of &s;inne, &s;o that he that doth not &s;hun the occa&s;ion of it, doth even fall into it, and he that being bold, doth runne into the occa&s;ion of &s;inne, doth even <HI>dig a pit,</HI> in which he is taken. To the &s;ame purpo&s;e he expoundeth the latter part of the ver&s;e, under&s;tanding <HI>the hedge</HI> to be the re&s;traint of di&s;cipline and government, which who&s;oever breaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. <HI>4.27.</HI> An&s;elm. Ibid.</NOTE> giving him&s;elfe more care|le&s;&s;e libertie in his cour&s;es, is ea&s;ily bitten by <HI>the &s;erpent,</HI> the devill. <HI>An|&s;elm</HI>
<PB N="368" REF="181"> con&s;idering the words of Saint <HI>Paul, Give no place to the devill,</HI> thereupon &s;aith, that if the dore be not &s;hut, or being &s;hut, if it be not &s;hut carefully, the devill, who is alwayes at the dore, will find &s;ome way of entrance into it. And he further tells us, that this dore hath two leafes, de&s;ire and feare, &s;o that if we open either leafe, whether it be a de&s;ire after &s;ome worldly thing, or a feare of &s;ome earthly thing, the devill is ready to get in; and that therefore to be &s;afe, wee mu&s;t keepe both fa&s;t &s;hut again&s;t him. When the holy things belonging to the San|ctuary were to be removed, all things were to be covered, lea&s;t in the journey,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Numb.</HI> 4.</NOTE> du&s;t &s;hould be a &s;oyling to them. In like manner therefore &s;ee|ing they who are Gods children, are ve&s;&s;ells of mercy, belonging to his Sanctuary, it mu&s;t be their care, while they are in the way of this life, that they be covered all over with a diligent watchfulne&s;&s;e, becau&s;e o|therwi&s;e the du&s;t of &s;inne, or the pollution of &s;ome uncleane&s;&s;e will ea|&s;ily fa&s;ten upon them. In the law, the <HI>Nazarite</HI> was not only comman|ded to ab&s;taine from wine and &s;trong drink,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Numb.</HI> 6.3. <HI>v.</HI> 4.</NOTE> but al&s;o he might not eate grapes, whether moy&s;t or drie, nor any thing that is made of the Vine tree, from the kernels, even to the hu&s;ke. But why not the&s;e &s;mall things, in which there could be no danger of drunkenne&s;&s;e? Surely lea&s;t by the contentment of the&s;e, he might be drawne to de&s;ire the wine, and &s;o be carryed on to &s;inne. This remote occa&s;ion was forbidden, to &s;hew how carefull every one &s;hould be in &s;hunning the occa&s;ion of wickedne&s;&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca Epi&s;t. <HI>117.</HI></NOTE> And indeed, as <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Quantum po&s;&s;umus a lubrico recedamus in&s;icco etiam parum fortiter &s;tamus,</HI> as much as we can let us keep our &s;elves from &s;lippery places, for even on dry ground it is not very &s;trongly that we &s;tand. The prayer therefore of the Prophet <HI>Da|vid,</HI> is, <HI>Remove from me the way of lying,</HI> by the way, meaning the occa|&s;ion of &s;inning. For as the way leadeth unto the journeys end, &s;o doth occa&s;ion lead unto &s;inne, which is the end of it. Let him therefore keep out of the way, that will not be carried on by it, let him not <HI>digge the pit,</HI> that will not fall into it,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 119.29.</NOTE> let him not <HI>break the hedge, that will not have the &s;erpent to bite him.</HI> Or el&s;e, we may conceive the Preacher, who hath before &s;hewed the benefit and excellency of true wi&s;edome, here to &s;hew the hurt &amp; reproach of crafty and &s;ubtill deceitfulne&s;&s;e, which &s;ee|king to doe harme to others, bringeth it upon the &s;eekers of it.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 9. The Preacher joyning this ver&s;e unto the former, I &s;hall con&s;ider it in the &s;ame manner; and fir&s;t to &s;peak of the unworthy, ambitiou&s;ly &s;eeking to be on high, and placed in greatne&s;&s;e; here the Preacher &s;heweth, that as he who taketh upon him to remove a &s;tone, which is too heavy for him, &s;hall be hurt with it; &s;o he that taketh upon him&s;elf &s;ome weighty place of dignity, which he is not able to di&s;charge &s;hall be oppre&s;&s;ed by it. As he that heweth wood which is too hard for him, is much endangered by it; &s;o he that putteth him&s;elf into a place of greatnes which is too hard for him to performe, putteth him&s;elf into great danger al&s;o.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca Epi&s;t. <HI>14.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;aith of trees planted in valleys, <HI>ubi ab incle|mentia temporum protecti &s;unt,</HI> where they are &s;heltred from the un|mercifulne&s;&s;e
<PB N="369" REF="181"> of &s;ea&s;ons oftentimes are &s;haken and peri&s;h with the force of winds and raines and lightnings, what may wee think of them who are placed on the top of the mountaines without any &s;helter?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. Sehm. de conver&s;. ad Cler. c. <HI>31.</HI></NOTE> And &s;u|rely if wi&s;e men who &s;it in a low place are not free from troubles and dangers, then certainly fooles being in great dignity cannot but be di&s;tre&s;&s;ed by them. But it is the nature of ambition, not to regard dan|gers, and therefore <HI>Saint Bernard</HI> &s;aith, <HI>paratos ambitio&s;os videas uni|ver&s;a pericula &s;ubire, &s;candala &s;u&s;citare, &s;ustinere odia, opprobria di&s;&s;i|mulare, negligere maledicta,</HI> thou maye&s;t &s;ee ambitious per&s;ons ready to undergo all dangers, to rai&s;e up &s;candals, to &s;u&s;taine hatreds, to di&s;&s;emble reproaches, to neglect cur&s;ings. And &s;urely being &s;o ready to undergo them, no mervaile if they fal into them, no mervaile if they peri&s;h by them. Secondly to under&s;tand the ver&s;e as &s;peaking of the occa&s;ions of &s;in: the Preacher in the ver&s;e before having &s;poken of occa&s;ions generally, and of le&s;&s;er occa&s;ions, here he &s;peaketh of great occa&s;ions, &s;hewing, that as he who thinketh to remove great &s;tones lying in his way, &s;hall hurt him&s;elf and not be able to doe it, &s;o he that thinketh to go on in a right cour&s;e, and thru&s;teth him&s;elf upon &s;trong occa&s;ions of beeing mi&s;led, pre&s;uming not to be hurt by them, &s;hall find him&s;elf to be deceived, when his hurt will be manife&s;t. For as <HI>Saint Bernard</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. in Cant. Serm. <HI>65.</HI></NOTE> <HI>majus e&s;t miraculum inter vehementes occa&s;iones non cadere, quam mortuos &s;u&s;citare,</HI> it is a greater miracle not to fall being among &s;trong occa&s;ions, then it is to rai&s;e up the dead. And as he who thinketh to make his axe go thorow very hard wood, is often|times not a little endangered by the rebound which is given to it, &s;o he who thinketh to make the edge of his care, to pa&s;&s;e thorow &s;trong occa|&s;ions of &s;inning to which he applyes him&s;elf, &s;hall find his great care to be not a little endangered. The Son of <HI>Syrach</HI> hath a true &s;aying,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;t.</HI> 3.26.</NOTE> he that loveth danger &s;hall peri&s;h therein: he that will not decline danger &s;hall not be able to decline de&s;truction by it. And therefore indeed what doth he but even love his owne peri&s;hing, that loveth to be in danger? What doth he but &s;hew a willingne&s;&s;e to &s;in, who is willing to run into &s;trong occa&s;ions of it? If wee take the ver&s;e by it &s;elf, it may admit this &s;en&s;e and meaning of it: that &s;eeing the removing of &s;tones, which is &s;o poore a thing hath labour and trouble and paine with it, for &s;o the Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> here u&s;ed properly &s;ignifyeth beeing by interpreters diver&s;ly rendred, and which the <HI>Syriack</HI> rendreth <HI>cruciabitur</HI> &s;hall be tormented: Seeing al&s;o that even cleaving of wood which is &s;o meane a thing hath al&s;o danger with it, why &s;hould not any one be contented to take paines, to &s;uffer trouble, to undergo dan|ger for vertuous and heavenly things, which are worthy of paines, trouble, danger, and which will yeild a good reward for it. He that brought back his talent to his Lord without any profit brougth it back <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>in Sudario</HI> in a napkin &s;aith our Engli&s;h,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luc.</HI> 19.20.</NOTE> but the word &s;igni|fyeth &s;uch a linnen cloth, a is u&s;ed to wipe away &s;wet, as &s;hewing that he had not bin idle, nor without labour and paine, though he
<PB N="370" REF="182"> had been idle in re&s;pect of the true u&s;e of it, and in re&s;pect of his Lords benefit.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luc.</HI> 19.20.</NOTE> Wherefore <HI>Eu&s;ebius Gallicanus</HI> &s;peaking of that pa&s;&s;age &s;aith, <HI>in &s;udario talentum reponit qui gratiam &s;ibi traditam,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Eu&s;eb. Gallic. in Homil. c. <HI>1.</HI> in natali unius confe&s;&s;ores.</NOTE> <HI>in hac carne laboribus &amp; fatigationibus impen&s;am torpe&s;cere &s;init,</HI> he layeth up his talent in a napkin, who imploying the graces which he hath receaveth in the wearyings and labours of the fle&s;h, doth &s;uffer it to ru&s;t for any true good, which he getteth by it. <HI>Saint Ba&s;il</HI> therefore con&s;idering the words of the rich foole in the Go&s;pell &s;aying, <HI>I will pull downe my barnes and build greater,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;ilius.</NOTE> a&s;keth him, <HI>&amp; &s;i haec impleveris, nunquid de|&s;trues illa? Quid &s;tultius quam in infinitum laborare?</HI> But if thou &s;halt have filled the&s;e al&s;o, wilt thou pull them downe likewi&s;e? What is there more fooli&s;h then to labour without end? And indeed what is there more fooli&s;h then to labour and &s;uffer paines trouble and danger for the ba&s;e things of this world, for chips of wood, for great &s;tones? If wee will doe &s;o, let us doe it for tho&s;e things that &s;hall bring us to heaven, and to eternall glory. <HI>Saint Cyprian</HI> readeth the latter part of the ver&s;e thus, <HI>Scindens ligna, periclitabitur in eo &s;i exciderit fer|rum;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cyprianus. Te&s;t. ad Quirinium. l. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> he that cutteth wood &s;hall be endangered thereby if that the iron fall off: and the meaning to which he applyeth it is this, <HI>Schi&s;ma non e&s;t faciendum, &s;i in una fide &amp; in eadem traditione permaneat, qui recedit,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hierony in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> a &s;chi&s;me is not to be made, if he that goeth away remaine in one faith, and in the &s;ame doctrine. <HI>Saint Hierome</HI> turning the words to a more hidden &s;ence, by the &s;tones which are &s;imply mentioned, he under&s;tandeth the godly or the wicked. Fir&s;t applying them to the godly,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Zachary.</HI> 9.16.</NOTE> which by the Prophet <HI>Zachary</HI> are &s;aid <HI>to be &s;tones of a crowne lif|ted up,</HI> he giveth this meaning, that they who doe remove them by per|&s;ecution, &s;hall be hurt therewith. <HI>Aquila</HI> and <HI>Symmachus</HI> did tran&s;late the place <HI>dilacerabuntur,</HI> &s;hall be torn in torments for it. Secondly applying the &s;tones to the wicked who are like leaprous &s;tones in the wall of an hou&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Levitic.</HI> 14.</NOTE> he giveth this &s;en&s;e, that when the Mini&s;ter accor|ding to the commandement doth put them out of the church, him&s;elf is hurt with &s;orrow thereby, for &s;o <HI>Saint Hierome</HI> doth read the place; <HI>dolebit in eis,</HI> he &s;hall be &s;orry for them. In the latter part of the ver&s;e by wood he under&s;tandeth hereticks as beeing unfruifull wood in the church of God, and unfit for the building of it: and thereupon &s;aith, <HI>quamvis &s;it prudens &amp; doctus vir qui gladio &s;ermonis &s;ui haec ligna con|&s;cindat, periclitabitur in eis ni&s;i diligenter attenderit,</HI> although he be a wi&s;e a learned man, who with the &s;word of his di&s;cour&s;e cutteth this wood, he will be endangered by it, unle&s;&s;e he attend di|diligently unto it.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 10. <HI>Saint Gregory</HI> writing upon a pa&s;&s;age of <HI>Job</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Per fer|rum virtus, per aes autem per&s;everantia exprimitur. Per ferrum homo enim: mala adver&s;antia penetrat,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral. c. <HI>34.</HI> c. <HI>8.</HI></NOTE> <HI>per aes bona quae propo&s;uit longanimiter &s;ervat. Aes enim rubigine nulla con&s;umitur,</HI> by iron vertue, by bra&s;&s;e per&s;eve|rance is expre&s;&s;ed. For by iron a man breaketh thorow evils that doe oppo&s;e him, by bra&s;&s;e he pre&s;erveth long the good things
<PB N="371" REF="182"> which him&s;elf hath propo&s;ed: for bra&s;&s;e is con&s;umed almo&s;t by no ru&s;t. By iron therefore here we may conceive to be meant under|&s;tanding the vertue of the mind, for that it is which peirceth into things. And the meaning, which our tran&s;lation yeildeth from the words, is this, that if the under&s;tanding be <HI>blunt</HI> and dull, and that <HI>the edge of it be not whetted</HI> with knowledge and learning, that then a man <HI>must put to more &s;trength,</HI> mu&s;t u&s;e the more paines and indu&s;try. And in|deed great is the benefit, great is the help of a painfull indu&s;try. <HI>Saint Bernard</HI> &s;peaking of it &s;aith, <HI>&V;t quid dormiet indu&s;tria? Grande profecto in vobis donum naturae ip&s;a est,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernardus &s;uper Cant. Serm. <HI>84.</HI></NOTE> <HI>quae &s;i minus &s;uas exequatur par|tes, nonne quod reliquum habet natura in vobis totum turbabitur?</HI> Why &s;hould indu&s;try be &s;uffered to &s;leep? Truly even that is a great gift of nature in you, which if it be wanting to performe its part, is not all the re&s;t which nature hath in you di&s;ordered and troubled? which if other things be wanting in it, doth make a good &s;upply for them. <HI>But wi&s;dome is profitable to direct:</HI> that is whether <HI>the iron be blunt or &s;harp.</HI> whether <HI>the edge be whetted or not whetted, whether more &s;trength be put to, or not put to,</HI> whether &s;harpening, whetting, adding of more &s;trength be needfull or not needfull wi&s;dome &s;erveth to direct in all. But the direct &s;peaking of the Originall is this, <HI>If the iron be blunt, and he doe not whet the edge, and he put to more &s;trength, but the benefit of rectifying is wi&s;dome.</HI> Now to con&s;ider the ver&s;e with reference to the former, it &s;eemeth to mee to give a rea&s;on, why he that cleaveth wood &s;hall be endangered thereby. For if the iron which he u&s;eth be blunt, and he doe not amend it by whetting, but thinketh by the greater &s;trength to make it to enter, he may ea&s;ily not onely loo&s;e his labour, but get &s;ome hurt by it. And then to apply it al&s;o to ambition, and to the occa&s;ion of &s;inning, as I have done the ver&s;es before, fir&s;t <HI>the bluntne&s;&s;e of the iron</HI> &s;ignifieth the unworthine&s;&s;e of him that &s;eeketh or enjoyeth greatne&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Contic.</HI> 1.6.</NOTE> <HI>the not whetting of the edge</HI> &s;ignifieth want of care and dili|gence to make him&s;elf worthy, <HI>the putting to more more &s;trength</HI> &s;igni|fieth the violence and boldne&s;&s;e, that notwith&s;tanding is u&s;ed in thru|&s;ting into it, and in po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing of it. And this it is which doth the hurt. In the <HI>Canticles</HI> the &s;pou&s;e complaineth <HI>my mothers children are angry with mee,</HI> the vulgar Latin reads it <HI>pugnaverunt contra me, they have fought again&s;t mee, they made mee keeper of the vineyards, but myne owne vineyard have I not kept.</HI> Why was this a &s;igne of anger or di&s;plea|&s;ure? was this any matter of hurt unto her, that &s;hee was advanced to be keeper of the vineyards? Yes this it was, &s;eeing thereby &s;hee had not kept her owne vineyard. And &s;urely not little is the hurt, which many receive by an unworthy greatne&s;&s;e. Not &s;eldome is it that they loo&s;e their credit, their good name, when they have gotten that,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Plutarch. l. de doctr. principum</NOTE> if they get not wor&s;e hurt. He that having made a little &s;tatue, doth &s;et it upon a great ba&s;e, thereby maketh the littlene&s;&s;e of it, the more to appeare, and when unworthine&s;&s;e is &s;et on high, then it is the more fully di&s;covered. If the ve&s;&s;ell be empty thou can&s;t not tell whether it
<PB N="372" REF="183"> be found, but fill it with liquour, and it will &s;o be &s;een. Many times the unworthine&s;&s;e of men is not found while they are in low condi|tion, but let them be advanced then it &s;hew's it &s;elf, then it flyes out into &s;ome &s;hame or other. Wherefore <HI>Plutarch</HI> &s;aith well, <HI>non in ha|bendis &s;ed in utendis magnitudo &s;ita e&s;t,</HI> that it is not in having but in u&s;ing, that greatne&s;&s;e con&s;i&s;teth. <HI>But the benefit of rectifying is wi&s;dome,</HI> either wi&s;dome in him that is unworthy to con&s;ider his unworthine&s;&s;e, and &s;o not to &s;eek for that for which he is not fit, or el&s;e in him that perceiveth the unworthine&s;&s;e, and &s;o doth not bring him to it. Se|condly to apply the ver&s;e unto occa&s;ion of &s;inning. <HI>The bluntne&s;&s;e of the iron</HI> is a dull carele&s;ne&s;&s;e in the wayes of a mans life, <HI>the not whetting of the edge</HI> is a want of admonition which &s;hould quicken the carele&s;ne&s;&s;e, <HI>the putting to of more &s;trength</HI> is the adding of force to the occa&s;ion, which thereby indeed is made the &s;tronger, and doth both the &s;ooner and the more dangerou&s;ly pull into mi&s;chiefe. <HI>But the benefit of rectifying is wi&s;dome.</HI> Wi&s;dome to &s;ee how the hurt is increa&s;ed, wi&s;dome to &s;ee how the occa&s;ion is &s;trengthned, wi&s;dome to &s;ee the fault of the dull carele&s;ne&s;&s;e. Or el&s;e wee may under&s;tand the ver&s;e as &s;hewing &s;everall remedies, how a defect may be &s;upplyed and &s;uccoured. As fir&s;t <HI>if the iron be blunt,</HI> one way to help it, is <HI>to whet the edge of it,</HI> and to redre&s;&s;e what is ami&s;&s;e. Or if that be not done, another way of helping, <HI>is to put to more &s;trength,</HI> and &s;o to make u&s;e of &s;ome other thing which may be in&s;teed of it. But for a generall help, there is none like <HI>wi&s;|dome.</HI> That is an help upon all occa&s;ions, that findeth help many wayes, and alwayes doth it in the be&s;t manner. <HI>Saint Hierome</HI> rea|deth the ver&s;e thus, <HI>Si retu&s;um fuerit ferrum, &amp; hoc non ut prius; &s;ed conturbatum fuerit, virtutibus corroborabitur, &amp; reliquum fortitudi|nis &s;apientia e&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym in. hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>if the iron be blunted, and it be not as it was before, but that it be troubled, it &s;hall be &s;trengthned by vertues, and the remainder of &s;trength is wi&s;dome.</HI> And the meaning, which he giveth of it is; if any one doe &s;ee that by negligence he hath lo&s;t the knowledge of the Scriptures, &s;o that beeing dull, he continueth not to be as he began. For oftentimes it commeth to pa&s;&s;e, that when &s;ome one hath gotten a &s;mack of knowledge, being lifted up by pride, he leaveth off to learne, and &s;o by little, becau&s;e nothing is added there grows a dimi|nution, and the mind remaineth void of knowledge, <HI>the iron is dulled,</HI> for &s;loth and idlene&s;&s;e are as it were a ru&s;t of wi&s;dome. If it be there|fore &s;o with any one let him not be out of heart, let him go to his teacher, and let him againe be in&s;tructed by him, and after labour and indu&s;try and much &s;weate, for this it is, which in the Hebrew is de|livered &s;ignificantly, <HI>fortitudinibus corroborabitur, by forces he &s;hall be &s;trengthned,</HI> that is by labour and indu&s;try and &s;weat and dayly reading, he &s;hall obtaine wi&s;dome and his &s;trength &s;hall have this end that he &s;hall get wi&s;dome. The Septuagint and the Vulgar Latin read the ver&s;e thus, <HI>Si retu&s;um fuerit ferrum, &amp; hoc non ut prius, &s;ed hebetatum fuerit, multo labore exacuetur, &amp; po&s;t indu&s;triam &s;equitur &s;apientia, if
<PB N="373" REF="183"> the iron be blunted, &s;o that it be not as it was, but that it be dulled, by much labour it may be &s;harpned,</HI> and after indu&s;try followeth wi&s;dome. And the meaning which <HI>Lyra</HI> giveth it is this, that the Preacher remo|veth a fal&s;e per&s;ua&s;ion which men have, who think that it is an ea&s;y matter to returne from wickedne&s;&s;e to vertue,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> and therefore care not to &s;eek after the occa&s;ions of &s;inning. But this the Preacher &s;heweth not to be &s;o by the example of iron which is &s;harp. For if it &s;mite upon a &s;harp &s;tone the edge of it is lo&s;t, neither is it recovered but with much whetting. And &s;o it is with him that declineth unto &s;in, for it is not ea&s;y for him, but a great difficulty to return into the right way, as experience confirmeth, and the Philo&s;opher &s;heweth to be true. Or el&s;e as the Preacher before &s;hewed the hurt of crafty deceit, &s;o we may conceive him here to &s;hew the hurt of open violence, and force.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ari&s;tot. <HI>1.</HI> Ethit.</NOTE> For when craft cannot prevaile, the way of many is to &s;eeke their ends by &s;trength of violence wherein them&s;elves often times doe receive the mi&s;chiefe of it. Wi&s;dome therefore it is which the Preacher prefe|reth before both.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="11-15" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 11.</HI></BIBL> Surely the &s;erpent will bite without en|chantment, and a babler is no bet|ter.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 12.</HI></BIBL> The words of a wi&s;e mans mouth are gra|cious: but the lips of a foole will &s;wal|low up him&s;elfe.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 13.</HI></BIBL> The beginning of the words of his mouth is fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e: and the end of his talke is mi&s;chievous madne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 14.</HI></BIBL> A foole al&s;o is full of words; and a man can|not tell what &s;hall be; and what &s;hall be after him, who can tell him?</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 15.</HI></BIBL> The labour of the fooli&s;h wearieth every one of them; becau&s;e he knoweth not how to goe to the citie.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 11. There are two or three words in the Hebrew, which doe cau&s;e this ver&s;e to be diver&s;ly rendred, the one is <GAP DESC="foreign"> which Saint <HI>Hie|rome</HI> and the Vulgar Latine render <HI>in &s;ilentio</HI> in &s;ilence; the Septuagint render <HI>non in &s;ibilo,</HI> not in a hi&s;&s;ing, or not in a noy&s;e which the Serpent
<PB N="374" REF="184"> makes. And the&s;e two readings in effect are the &s;ame. Our tran&s;lati|on, the French, and <HI>Tremellius</HI> do read it, <HI>without enchantment,</HI> for that al&s;o the Hebrew word doth &s;ignifie. The other words are <GAP DESC="foreign"> which S <HI>Hierome</HI> rendreth <HI>habens linguam,</HI> he that hath a tongue, <HI>Tremellius, tenens verba ejus,</HI> holding his words, and under&s;tandeth it of the enchanter, holding the biting of the &s;erpent. So that his meaning maketh his reading to be the &s;ame with the Septuagint, who render it <HI>in|cantans,</HI> he that enchanteth. The french &s;aith <HI>le languard,</HI> a long-tongued prating companion, and as our Engli&s;h hath it, a babler, wherein they differ not in meaning from the Vulgar Latin. For the &s;en&s;e is, that as the &s;erpent will bite without enchantment, &s;o a babler, a a fellow of many words, if he be not looked unto, is commonly a &s;lan|derer, and being no better then a &s;erpent, will by his detraction, even bite al&s;o. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> applyeth his reading both to the &s;en&s;e of the Vulgar Latine, and to the &s;en&s;e of the Septuagint. As he applieth his reading to the &s;en&s;e of the Vulgar Latine,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> he thus expoundeth it, <HI>Ser|pens &amp; detractor &s;unt aequales: quomodo enim ille &s;ecret&ograve; mordens venenum in&s;erit, &s;ic ille clam detrahens, virus pectoris &s;ui infundit in fratrem,</HI> a &s;er|pent and a &s;landerer are equall: for as the &s;erpent &s;ecretly getteth in his poy&s;on; &s;o he detracting clo&s;ely, infu&s;eth the venome of his bre&s;t into his brother. But further we may note, the likene&s;&s;e between a &s;landerer and a &s;erpent, in divers things. Fir&s;t, as all doe hate a &s;erpent, and flie from the &s;ight of it, &s;o all doe hate a &s;landerer, and flie from his com|pany. Secondly, a &s;erpent, as S. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aith, carrieth his poy&s;on in his mouth, ready to be ca&s;t out, and with one biting poy&s;oneth the whole body; &s;o the &s;landerer hath his poy&s;on in his mouth, ready to be vented, and with one word, as it were, with one biting, doth ea&s;ily wound the name, credit, &s;oule, the life of his brother. Thirdly as there is no o|ther creature to which the devill is likened &s;o much as a &s;erpent, for though he be called a Lyon, a Wolfe, a Fox, yet mo&s;t commonly he is called the old Serpent; &s;o there is no other &s;inner &s;o like the devill, as a &s;landerer is, he being as the devill is an accu&s;er of his brethren. La&s;tly as a Serpent feedeth upon nothing but upon the earth, &s;o that if a Par|tridg be &s;et before him, he careth not for it; in the like manner a &s;lan|derer feedeth upon the hurt of others, as for that which is good in them he &s;peaketh not of it. As S. <HI>Hierome</HI> applyeth his reading to the &s;en&s;e of the Septuagint he expoundeth it thus, if the Serpent the devill bite any one &s;ecretly and de&s;troy him with the poy&s;on of &s;inne, no other knowing of it; if he that is bitten hold his peace and do not betake him|&s;elfe unto repentance, neither is willing to confe&s;&s;e his wound unto his brother and teacher; his teacher who hath a toung for the curing of it cannot ea&s;ily be profitable unto him.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Si enim erube&s;cat aegrotus vul|uus medico confiteri, quod ignorat medicina non curat,</HI> for if he that is &s;ick be a&s;hamed to confe&s;&s;e his wound to the <HI>Phy&s;itian,</HI> that which he knoweth not,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;ian. Collat. <HI>1.2.</HI> c. <HI>11.</HI></NOTE> his Phy&s;ick cureth not. <HI>Ca&s;&s;ian</HI> who tran&s;lateth the Sep|tuagint thus, <HI>Si momorderit &s;erpens non in &s;ibilo, non e&s;t abundantia in|cantatori,</HI>
<PB N="375" REF="184"> if the Serpent bite without hi&s;&s;ing, there is no abundance in the enchanter, giveth the meaning of it to the &s;ame effect. The Preacher &s;heweth, &s;aith he, the biting of a &s;ilent Serpent to be pernici|ous, that is, if the &s;ugge&s;tion of the devill and his temptation be not made knowne unto &s;ome enchanter, unto &s;ome &s;pirituall per&s;on, who by the charms of the Sriptures u&s;eth for to heale the wound, and to draw out from the heart the poi&s;on of the Serpent, he will not be able to bring &s;uccour to him that is endangered and ready to peri&s;h. In the &s;ame kind <HI>Olympiodorus</HI> expoundeth the ver&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Olympiodor. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> if &s;aith he the Serpent of &s;inne doe bite in &s;ilence, that is, &s;o that the &s;inner will not confe&s;&s;e his of|fence committed, he that by holy enchantment hath taken upon him to be his helper, cannot be able to give any health unto him, untill he &s;hall be willing to confe&s;&s;e his &s;innes. And la&s;tly unto this agreeth <HI>Gre|gorius Neocae&s;arien&s;is,</HI> who thus openeth the meaning of the ver&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Neocae&s;. in &s;ua Metaphr.</NOTE> the hidden bitings of the Serpent the enchanters are not able to cure. For the hidden biting of the Serpent is &s;inne concealed by a &s;inner, which biting cannot be cured by the enchanters though never &s;o wi&s;e, that is, by &s;pirituall men and mini&s;ters, untill by confe&s;&s;ion it come to be mani|nife&s;ted. <HI>Tremellius</HI> readeth the ver&s;e thus, <HI>Si momorderit &s;erpens non adhibita incantatione, tum nullum e&s;t emolumentum incantationis te|nenti verba ejus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremell. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> if the Serpent bite when the enchantment is not yet applied, there is no benefit in the enchanting of him, who hath the words of enchanting: as if the meaning were, though him&s;elfe doe not &s;o expre&s;&s;e it, that it is vaine to u&s;e a remedy for the preventing of hurt, when the hurt is already received. But &s;eeing the Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> properly &s;ignifyeth <HI>mu&s;&s;itationem &amp; &s;ubmi&s;&s;am orationem,</HI> a muttering, a &s;oft and &s;till &s;peaking, &s;o that the words directly are to be rendred, <HI>&s;i Serpens momorderit non in mu&s;&s;itatione, if the Serpent &s;hall bite not in muttering,</HI> that is, not &s;ecretly, but openly and in view, let me propo&s;e it only, whether the ver&s;e may not admit this &s;en&s;e: if open detraction be practi&s;ed and permitted, he then that holdeth his toung to doe it in &s;ecret hath no benefit by it: as &s;hewing the impu|dency of &s;uch a wickedne&s;&s;e &s;o committed, which commonly as guilty to it &s;elfe of its owne foulne&s;&s;e, hideth it &s;elfe for &s;hame: or el&s;e as &s;hewing the badne&s;&s;e of tho&s;e, who give way to it, them&s;elves knowing it to be detraction and fal&s;hood, &s;eeing the benefit which a detractor &s;eeketh, is to doe it where it is not knowne to be fal&s;e, that &s;o it may be receeved.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 12. <HI>The words of a wi&s;e mans mouth are gracious:</HI> S. <HI>Hierome</HI> reads it <HI>verba oris &s;apientis gratia,</HI> the words of the mouth of a wi&s;e man are, grace for &s;o the originall is: and to expre&s;&s;e the force of it, the French tran&s;lation reads it, <HI>ne &s;ont que grace;</HI> the words of a wi&s;e mans mouth are nothing but grace, being &s;uch,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc v.</NOTE> that as <HI>Lyra</HI> expoun|deth it <HI>reddunt eum gratio&s;um coram Deo &amp; hominibus,</HI> they make him gracious both with God and man. When the dove which <HI>Noah</HI> &s;ent forth returned to the Ark, it brought an olive leafe in the mouth of it; which
<PB N="374" REF="185">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="375" REF="185">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="376" REF="186"> pa&s;&s;age of &s;cripture Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> con&s;idering &s;aith, <HI>in ore quoque non fru&s;tra ramulus oleae videtur e&s;&s;e delatus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gene&s;.</HI> 8.11.</NOTE> <HI>eo quod virtus &amp; &s;apientia in ore ju&s;ti habeant claritatem,</HI> it is al&s;o not without cau&s;e that a little olive branch was brought in the mouth of the dove, becau&s;e vertue and wi&s;e|dome in the mouth of a righteous man have brightne&s;&s;e and clearne&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Noe &amp; Arca c. <HI>19.</HI></NOTE> whereby as they give grace and beauty to the &s;peaker, &s;o they give light comfort and delight unto the hearers of them. Saint <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> therefore al&s;o &s;peaking of a wi&s;e righteous man &s;aith, <HI>lingua ju&s;ti &s;piritu &s;ancto eam movente cordibus credentium verba in&s;cribit vitae aeternae tincta quidem non atramento &s;ed &s;piritu Dei viventis,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;il. in P&s;. <HI>44.</HI> Ambro&s;. l. de</NOTE> the toung of the righteous being moved by the Holy Spirit writeth in the hearts of them that believe the words of eternall life,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Numb.</HI> 10.10.</NOTE> not dyed with ink, but with the &s;pirit of the li|ving God. The mouth of a wi&s;e man, is like unto the &s;ilver trumpets which &s;ounded to the Jews in the day of their gladne&s;&s;e, and in their &s;olemne dayes. <HI>Tuba e&s;t quae laetitiam &s;onat, non lites,</HI> it is a trumpet which &s;ounded joy not jarring. <HI>But the lips of a foole will &s;wallow up him&s;elf:</HI> the Hebrew is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>deglutiet eum</HI> will &s;wallow up him, that is, as our Engli&s;h translation and <HI>Tremellius</HI> read it <HI>him|&s;elf,</HI> For indeed the lips of a foole are but like a quagmire full of light|ne&s;&s;e and incon&s;tancy moving and &s;tirring upon any occa&s;ion, and into which him&s;elfe &s;inking is &s;wallowed up by it. The lips of a foole which make no end of talking are like a bottomle&s;&s;e gulf, in which him&s;elfe is drowned and peri&s;heth. The Prophet <HI>David</HI> &s;peaking of the fooli&s;h and wicked &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 5.9.</NOTE> <HI>their throate is an open &s;epulchre:</HI> open it is and ready even to devoure them&s;elves. Wherefore Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;aith upon the place, <HI>Ne &s;it ergo os tuum &s;epulchrum, &s;ed the&s;aurus,</HI> let therefore thy mouth not be a &s;epulchre, but a trea&s;ury, and as a trea&s;ury is &s;hut not open,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t.</NOTE> &s;o let thy mouth be, for &s;o the mourh of the wi&s;e is, then only opening when it i&s;&s;ueth forth &s;ome matter of moment worthy to be received. The mouth of a wi&s;e man is not like a devouring gulf, but like a plea&s;ant fountaine, <HI>ubi in modum naturalis antri ab&s;idis fabricata concavitate, inde latex tanta quiete defluit, tanta qua&s;i &s;tabilitate decur|rit, ut eum non putes cre&s;cere, ni&s;i quia inde aliquid rauco murmure &s;entis exire,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;iod. var. l. <HI>2.</HI> var. <HI>39.</HI> l. <HI>8.</HI> var. <HI>33.</HI></NOTE> where the hollowne&s;&s;e of the circled in&s;ide, being framed in the manner of a naturall cave, from thence the water floweth out with &s;o great quietne&s;&s;e, and runneth as it were with &s;o great &s;taidne&s;&s;e, that one would not think it to increa&s;e, but that he perceaveth &s;ome thing to goe out with a whi&s;tling noy&s;e, as <HI>Ca&s;&s;iodore</HI> de&s;cribeth a fountaine. Of <HI>Moy&s;es</HI> holy <HI>Ephraim</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephraim.</NOTE> con&s;idereth that though he were famous for many miracles,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Numb.</HI> 20.</NOTE> yet that offending a little with his toung at the waters of <HI>Meribah,</HI> thereby he lo&s;t his entrance into the Land of <HI>Canaan. Ma|gnum &amp; horrendum mare ei viam praecludere non potuit, &s;ed verbum uni|cum inique ab eo prolatum, velut murus aliquis ip&s;i ob&s;titit, ne ulterius pro|gedi po&s;sit,</HI> the great and horrid &s;ea was not able to &s;hut up his way, but one word ill &s;poken by him &s;tood up as it were a wall again&s;t him, that he could not goe on farther, Now if one word ill &s;poken did &s;o much
<PB N="377" REF="186"> prejudice him, how much mi&s;chiefe doe the lips of a foole bring unto him, how doe they &s;wallow him up? When our &s;aviour Chri&s;t cured the man that was deafe and dumbe, the Evangeli&s;t &s;aith that looking up to heaven he &s;ighed and &s;aid <HI>Ephata</HI> be opened.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mar.</HI> 7.34.</NOTE> But why did our &s;aviour Chri&s;t &s;igh? Was he unwilling to relieve the di&s;tre&s;&s;ed? Or was he loath to &s;hew the man this favour! Either this miracle was a thing ex|pedient to be done, or el&s;e it was not expedient to be done. If not ex|pedient to be done, why did our &s;aviour doe it? If it were expedient to be done, why did he &s;igh? Perhaps this &s;igh at this time was like that groane, which our &s;aviour gave when he rai&s;ed up Lazarus from the dead. And as there &s;ome give the rea&s;on of his groaning, becau&s;e he was to call back <HI>Lazarus</HI> into this mi&s;erable life, wherein he was to under goe many dangers; &s;o here our &s;aviour &s;ighed, becau&s;e he was to re&s;tore &s;peaking to the dumbe, and hearing to the deafe by which he &s;hould be &s;ubject to many evils and dangers, &s;eeing that the toung is a dange|rous thing, &s;o that many have peri&s;hed by it, and as the Preacher here &s;peaketh <HI>the lips of a foole will &s;wallow him up.</HI> But Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> doth not under&s;tand the mi&s;chiefe here &s;poken of to be referred to the foole him&s;elfe: he reading the la&s;t part of the ver&s;e thus, <HI>Labia in&s;ipientis praecipitabunt eum,</HI> the lips of a foole will overthrow him, referreth the word <HI>him</HI> unto the wi&s;e man &s;poken of in the fir&s;t part of the ver&s;e, &s;aying, <HI>&s;tultitia &s;i &s;ua e&s;&s;et ru&s;ticitate contenta minus aliquid haberet mali,</HI> if folly would be contented with its owne rudene&s;&s;e it would have the le&s;&s;e evill: but now it maketh war again&s;t wi&s;edome, and what&s;oever wi&s;edome it &s;eeth in a learned man, being provoked by envy it doth not approove it. For a wi&s;e man &s;peaketh the words of knowledge,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> the words of grace, which are able to bring profit to the hearers, but the ears of a foole doe not &s;o receive the things that are &s;aid as they are &s;po|ken, but on the contrary endeavoureth to &s;upplant a wi&s;e man, and to make him like unto him&s;elfe. <HI>Et revera praecipitatur &s;apiens quando in aurem loquitur imprudentis, &amp; verba ejus in profundo ut ita dicam gur|gite pereunt,</HI> and indeed a wi&s;e man is as it were tumbled downe, when he &s;peaketh in the eare of a foole, and his words doe peri&s;h, as I may &s;o &s;ay, in a deepe gulf. Wherefore happy is he that &s;peaketh in the ears of the wi&s;e. The <HI>Chaldee</HI> Paraphra&s;e &s;eemeth to referre the word <HI>him</HI> neither to the foole him&s;elfe, nor to the wi&s;e man &s;poken of in the fir&s;t part of the ver&s;e but unto man generally, which thus expre&s;&s;eth the &s;en&s;e of the la&s;t part of the ver&s;e, <HI>labia hominis &s;tulti increpationem invehunt atque adeo univer&s;o orbi interitum,</HI> the lips of a fooli&s;h man bring on threatnings, and &s;o de&s;truction to the whole world, as if the meaning were, that as the grace which is in the words of a wi&s;e mans mouth brin|geth good to many, and pre&s;erveth the world by the common benefit of it, even &s;o the lips of a foole bring mi&s;chiefe unto many, and as it were by a generall infection doe cau&s;e the de&s;truction of the world. It is the &s;ame meaning al&s;o, which another reading of the <HI>Chaldee Paraphra&s;e</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chald. Paraph.</NOTE> giveth unto it, where it is thus expre&s;&s;ed, <HI>labia &s;tulti viri plena &s;unt in|crepationibus,
<PB N="378" REF="187"> propterea con&s;umitur omne &s;aeculum,</HI> the lips of a fooli&s;h man are full of threatnings, therefore is the whole world con&s;umed: as &s;hewing the great mi&s;chiefe which every where and alwayes they doe in the world.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 13. We have here the Serpent, the babler &s;poken of in the ele|venth ver&s;e wreathed into a circle, his two ends, head and taile mee|ting together. And as at the one end he is a Serpent having his &s;ting in his head, &s;o at the other end he is a Scorpion having his &s;ting in his taile. <HI>Fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e in the beginning, mi&s;chievous madne&s;&s;e in the end.</HI> The Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 32.5.</NOTE> the vile per&s;on will &s;peak villany, where the vul|gar Latin reads it, and &s;o the Hebrew may be rendred, <HI>&s;tultus loquetur fatua,</HI> a foole will &s;peak fooli&s;h things or folly: whether he beginne or whether he make an end, it is folly &s;till. When <HI>Jacob</HI> went into <HI>Me&s;o|patamia</HI> the Lord appeared to him in the vi&s;ion of the Ladder,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gene&s;.</HI> 28.13. <HI>Gene&s;.</HI> 35.9.</NOTE> and when <HI>Jacob</HI> came out of <HI>Me&s;opotamia</HI> God appeared againe unto him. Not only when he began his journy, but when he ended it, did he find the favour and ble&s;&s;ing of God upon him. He was the &s;ame in his care to &s;erve to God, and the &s;ame was the goodne&s;&s;e of God towards him. But here we have <HI>a foole beginning</HI> his journy, and he begins it with folly; here we have him <HI>ending</HI> his journy, and he ends it in mi&s;chievous mad|ne&s;&s;e. The &s;ame that he was at fir&s;t, the &s;ame he is at la&s;t, &s;ave only that his going on makes him to be wor&s;e. And &s;urely it is mo&s;t need|full to take heed of the beginning of wickedne&s;&s;e and folly. For com|monly a beginning leads on farther, and that which is once began is not fortwith ended. Mo&s;t &s;afe it is to deny entrance unto folly, but if it be entred, thru&s;t it out quickly. The <HI>Aegyptians</HI> had endured many plagues and were &s;till hardened, but when they &s;aw their fir&s;t born to be &s;lain, then they gave the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> leave to depart. Whereupon <HI>Ni|cetas</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Nicetas.</NOTE> in <HI>Nazianzene</HI> meditating &s;aith, as the <HI>Aegyptians</HI> could not endure that plague but then permitted the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> to be gone, <HI>eodem modo dae|monibus quoque animarum no&s;trarum per&s;ecutoribus gravi&s;sima haec paena videtur, quando in animo primogenita peccati, hoc e&s;t prima vitii origo, &amp; principium extinguitur;</HI> in like manner unto the devils who are the per&s;ecutours of our &s;oules this puni&s;hment &s;eemeth to be mo&s;t grievous, when in the mynd the fir&s;t born of &s;in, that is the fir&s;t entring of vice, and the beginning of it is extingui&s;hed. But it is not the care of a foole to doe this, his fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e begins a&s;&s;oon as the words of his mouth be|gin,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in P&s;al. <HI>119.</HI> Octon. <HI>17.</HI></NOTE> Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaking of the Hebrew letter <HI>Phe</HI> &s;aith of it, <HI>Phe litera decima &s;eptima latine &s;igni&s;icat erravi, &s;ive os aperui,</HI> the letter <HI>Phe</HI> which is the &s;eventeenth, in Latin &s;ignifieth, I have erred, or el&s;e I have opened my mouth, as if it were but one and the &s;ame thing to open the mouth, and to run into errour. Plainely it is &s;o with a foole, the very opening of his mouth to &s;peak, openeth the way at which his folly com|meth forth. It is not &s;aid that the beginning of the words of his mouth is the beginning of fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e, but in the beginning of his words he &s;hews him&s;elfe an ab&s;olute foole, and although then he &s;hould leave off
<PB N="379" REF="187"> to &s;peak, he hath &s;aid enough to &s;peak out his folly. But he goes on and <HI>the end of his talke is mi&s;chievous madne&s;&s;e.</HI> To begin to &s;peak fooli&s;hly may be the fault of a wi&s;e man, but he when he &s;ees it, or hath it &s;hewed unto him, he will not per&s;i&s;t in it, or if he have &s;poken fooli&s;hly once, he will lay his hand upon his mouth, and will not doe &s;o againe. But a foole having began to &s;peak fooli&s;hly, he goes on in the &s;ame pace to the end, having once &s;poken like a foole, he will &s;peak &s;o againe and againe. The Prophet <HI>Ho&s;ea</HI> &s;aying <HI>Ephraim is an heifer, that is taught and loveth to tread out the corn,</HI> Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> con&s;idering the words, &s;aith, <HI>vitula triturae laboribus a&s;&s;ueta relaxata plaerumque ad eundem laboris u&s;um etiam non compul&s;a revertitur,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ho&s;.</HI> 10.11.</NOTE> the heifer being u&s;ed to the labour of treading out the corne, oftentimes being &s;et free, returneth againe even not compelled to the &s;ame work and labour.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral. l. <HI>20.</HI> c. <HI>16.</HI></NOTE> And &s;o the mynd of wicked men being addicted unto &s;uch &s;ervitude, and accu&s;tomed to the wea|ryings of temporall things, although it may be freed from them, yet ha|&s;teneth to be oppre&s;&s;ed with earthly cares and troubles. Surely &s;uch a heifer, &s;uch a calfe is a foole, and though he have &s;hamed him&s;elfe by his fooli&s;h talking, yet he will doe it more, extending his folly to the end of his talking which is <HI>mi&s;chievous madne&s;&s;e.</HI> Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Noe &amp; arca c. <HI>23.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&V;bi principium est, finis quaeritur,</HI> where there is a beginning an end is looked for; and if we look to the end of a fooles &s;peaking, it is not only like the beginning but far wor&s;e. It is true, which Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;heweth, <HI>quod intra principium &amp; finem clauditur breve e&s;t,</HI> that which is &s;hut up within a beginning and ending is &s;hort. but that in &s;o &s;hort a time, as betweene the beginning and end of a fooles words, the naugh|tine&s;&s;e of them &s;hould be &s;o much encrea&s;ed, might &s;eeme very &s;trang, were it not known that folly and wickedne&s;&s;e grow apace. He that be|gan with fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e only, <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>ut qui &s;tultitiae merum magnumque hau&s;erit calic&eacute;m,</HI> as he that hath drunk out the &s;imple and great cup of fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e as <HI>Philo</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo de temu|lentia.</NOTE> he procee|deth to end with mi&s;chievous madne&s;&s;e. Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> reading the place in the fourtieth P&s;alme at the fourth ver&s;e, <HI>beatus e&s;t vir qui non re&s;pexit in vanitates &amp; in&s;anias fal&s;as,</HI> ble&s;&s;ed is the man who hath not regarded vanities, and fal&s;e madne&s;&s;e: thereupon &s;aith, <HI>&s;unt ergo verae in&s;aniae, &amp; forfitan prophetarum, qui in exce&s;&s;u mentis po&s;iti prophetabant repleti Dei &s;piritu, ut quibu&s;dam in&s;ani viderentur, quum propriae &s;alutis immemo|res nudi plaerumque &amp; excalceati, &s;icut E&s;aias Sanctus per populos curre|rent, vociferantes non quae ip&s;i vellent, &s;ed quae a Domino juberentur,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in P&s;al. <HI>39.</HI></NOTE> there is therefore true madne&s;&s;e, and perhaps &s;uch was that of the Prophets, who prophe&s;ied in an exta&s;y of mynd being filled with the &s;pirit of God; &s;o that they might &s;eeme to &s;ome to be mad, when unmyndfull of their owne health, they did run naked oftentimes among the people and un|&s;hod, as the holy Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> did. But though the Hebrew in that place of the P&s;almes be not &s;o, yet in this ver&s;e here the Hebrew is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>in&s;ania mala</HI> and evill madne&s;&s;e, and &s;o may &s;eeme to inferre a good madne&s;&s;e, perhaps &s;uch as that was in the ancient Prophets which
<PB N="380" REF="188"> &s;eemed &s;ome times to the people to be a madne&s;&s;e. But to con&s;ider the words as our tran&s;lation hath them <HI>mi&s;chievous madne&s;&s;e.</HI> There is no|thing &s;o mi&s;chievous as a fooli&s;h and wicked toung is; wherefore <HI>Vale|rianus</HI> &s;aith, <HI>quid mihi aliquis in comparatione malitio&s;ae linguae artifi|cium veneficii increpet, &amp; noxias poculorum compo&s;itiones accu&s;et? Ex|ce&s;sit illa res omne genus veneni, quae non pote&s;t ni&s;i morte compe&s;ci,</HI> what &s;hould any one inveigh to me again&s;t the art of poy&s;oning,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Valentianus ho|mil. <HI>5.</HI> de oris in&s;olentia.</NOTE> or accu&s;e the compo&s;ition of pernicious cups in compari&s;on of a wicked, fooli&s;h &amp; malitious toung? This thing exceedeth all kind of poy&s;on, which can|not be pacified but by death only.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 14. The originall is not &s;o plaine but that it requireth the un|der&s;tanding to &s;earch into it. The meaning which I apprehend is this. <HI>A foole is full of words,</HI> as if he were full of matter, and multiplyeth &s;till his words, as if he wanted words to expre&s;&s;e that which the abundance of his knowledge hath to &s;ay: notwith&s;tanding a man that heareth him, <HI>cannot tell</HI> what it is at which he aymeth, what it is that he would have, to what his words will come, cannot tell what to make of them. <HI>And that which &s;hall be after him,</HI> that which &s;hall be &s;aid when he hath done, either to an&s;were his words, or to reforme his errours, or to in&s;truct him&s;elfe, who can declare unto him? who can teach and <HI>tell him?</HI> For being po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed with a &s;trong per&s;ua&s;ion of his owne knowledge, thin|king that to be as great as his words have been many, he di&s;daineth that any &s;hould be able to correct him. Or el&s;e the meaning may be con|ceived thus. <HI>A foole is &s;o full of words</HI> as if he knew all things, and could tell any thing; but a wi&s;e man cannot tell what &s;hall be, much le&s;&s;e a foole: there is none that can doe it, <HI>and what &s;hall be after him, who can tell?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in huuc ver&s;.</NOTE> As implying &s;aith <HI>Lyra,</HI> that God alone is able to doe it. <HI>Sed &s;tul|tus talis non e&s;t hac revelatione dignus,</HI> but &s;uch a foole is not worthy to receive this revelation from him. Or thirdly we may take the ver&s;e in this meaning. The Preacher having &s;hewed in the end of the ver&s;e be|fore, the end of a fooles talking to be mi&s;chievous madne&s;&s;e, here he gi|veth the rea&s;on of it: for as <HI>Lyra</HI> al&s;o &s;peaketh, <HI>qui multiplicat verba fatua finaliter venit ad verba pe&s;sima,</HI> he that multiplyeth fooli&s;h words, in the end commeth to very naughty words. And becau&s;e all evil pro|ceedeth from ignorance according as the <HI>Philo&s;opher</HI> &s;aith, <HI>ignorat omnis malus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ari&s;toteles.</NOTE> every evill body is ignorant, therefore he addeth that a man knoweth not, that is, &s;uch a fooli&s;h man knoweth not, that is con|&s;idereth not, doth not foreca&s;t, what is likely to en&s;ue, what may follow though it be not likely: neither will he heare or regard any one that &s;hall endeavour <HI>to tell him</HI> and to let him &s;ee it. The Originall is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>quid quod erit,</HI> a man knoweth not what that which &s;hall be, and <HI>Saint Hierome</HI> taking the future ten&s;e there to &s;i|gnify the time pa&s;t reads the ver&s;e thus, <HI>Et &s;tultus verba multiplicat; Ignorat homo quid &s;it, quod factum e&s;t, &amp; quod futurum e&s;t po&s;t eum, quis annunciabit ei? A foole al&s;o multiplieth words. Man knoweth not what that is which hath been, and that which &s;hall be after him, who &s;hall
<PB N="381" REF="188"> declare unto him?</HI> And the meaning which he giveth of the ver&s;e is this: <HI>quum &s;tulius nec praeteritorum meminerit, nec futura agno&s;cat, &amp; igno|rantiae tenebris volutetur, fal&s;am &s;ibi &s;cientiam repromittens, in eo do|ctum &s;e putat &amp; &s;apientem, &s;i verba multiplicat,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> when a foole neither remembreth the things that are pa&s;t, nor knoweth the things that are to come, but tumbleth and &s;tumbleth in the darkne&s;&s;e of ignorance, yet doth he promi&s;e him&s;elfe a fal&s;e knowledge, and therein thinketh him&s;elf to be learned and wi&s;e, becau&s;e he multiplyeth words. The Septuagint al&s;o and the vulgar Latin read it, <HI>ignorat homo quod ante &s;e fuerit,</HI> man knoweth not that which hath been before him, as if a foole were noted in that he neglected to con&s;ider the &s;ayings and doings of wi&s;e men that had gone before him, and which are good di|rections for man in his wayes. Another-meaning of the ver&s;e, which I meete with is this, that he who knoweth much and is able fully and elegantly to expre&s;&s;e him&s;elf yet hereby is not freed from the reputa|tion of a foole: it is not all his wi&s;dome, all his eloquence that is able to take this off from him. For this one thing that he knoweth not what &s;hall be, and that none can tell him, what &s;hall be after him ma|keth him to be a foole &s;till. To this purpo&s;e, <HI>Thuanus</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Thuanus.</NOTE> &s;peaketh very well, <HI>Stultus voces u&s;que deque effutit inanes, atque audire licet talia, blaterantem, laeti vivamus, quando humanum caligo futuri damnat ge|nus;</HI> A foole talketh of this thing and that thing, and many wayes turneth his idle di&s;cour&s;e, and one may heare him babling &s;uch like things as the&s;e, let us live merrily, &s;eeing that an ignorance of that which is to come blindeth the knowledge of man, and &s;hutteth his eyes that he cannot &s;ee it. But indeed &s;eeing a darkne&s;&s;e in re&s;pect of that which &s;hall be, oppre&s;&s;eth man, how &s;hould he lead a merry life? How can he freely enjoy his plea&s;ures? Suppo&s;e him to be in honour, how can he rejoice in his obtained dignity, not knowing whether in his ho|nour there doe not lye hid his future di&s;grace, and in his plea&s;ure his torment? There is no pre&s;ent good, which the ignorance of what is to come doth not de&s;troy. <HI>Samuel</HI> telleth <HI>Saul,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 10.5.</NOTE> <HI>when thou art come thither to the city, thou &s;halt meete a company of Prophets comming downe from the high place, with a p&s;altery, and a tabret, and a harp: and a pipe before them, and they &s;hall prophe&s;y.</HI> And &s;urely the in&s;truments of mirth could be found no where &s;o fitly as among the Prophets, and a|mong them who did fore know things to come, and being evill might be able to prevent them; being good might with comfort expect them. Wherefore could a wi&s;e man tell what was to be, he might &s;afely be merry in that which he had: but no man knowing this, he is but a foole that is tran&s;ported with the pre&s;ent joy of any earthly thing. This igno|rance is the mi&s;ery of man, and this mi&s;ery maketh the wi&s;e&s;t man a foole. <HI>Saint Hierome</HI> writing to <HI>Eu&s;tochium</HI> telleth her, the troubles of marriage, and the uncertainties of wedlock thou ha&s;t learned by a dome&s;tick example; when thy &s;i&s;ter <HI>Ble&s;illa aetate major,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. ad Eu&s;tochium.</NOTE> <HI>propo&s;ito mi|nor,</HI> above thee in yeares, but beneath thee in re&s;olution of mind, af|ter
<PB N="382" REF="189"> &s;he had marryed a hu&s;band, the &s;eventh moneth was made a wi|dow. <HI>O infaelix humana conditio &amp; futuri ne&s;cia!</HI> O unhappy condi|tion of mankind and ignorant of that which &s;hall be! She lo&s;t both the crowne of virginity and contentment of marriage. If we mark the Scriptures, wee &s;hall find few ju&s;t and righteous men mentioned that were not Prophets.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo. l. quis re|rum divinarum &s;it haeres.</NOTE> <HI>Philo</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Omnibus probis viris &s;acra Scriptura prophetiam tribuit. Proinde quotquot inter ju&s;tos cen&s;entur, inducuntur prophetae pleni caele&s;ti numine,</HI> unto all vertuous men the Scripture a&s;cri|beth, the gift of prophe&s;y. And therefore as many as are reckoned among the righteous, are brought in prophets filled with the heaven|ly Spirit. And as in religion the knowledge of that which &s;hall be in heaven, to them that feare God, doth very much &s;weeten the com|fort of it, and &s;tir them up the more earne&s;tly to walke in the paths of Gods commandements; &s;o in this life the ignorance of what &s;hall be af|ter death, doth much dimini&s;h the comfort of that which is enjoyed, &amp; maketh the wife&s;t man in humane under&s;tanding a foole, becau&s;e al|though he can &s;ay never &s;o much, yet he can &s;ay nothing of that.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 15. <HI>A fool</HI> may take pains, &amp; many times taketh more pains then he de&s;erveth thanks. For his <HI>talking wearyeth both him&s;elf, &amp; every one</HI> that heareth him. Perhaps they may &s;it &s;till, &amp; yet are more wearied then if they had gone a great journy, and him&s;elf having gone a great journey, is no with the farther on his way. <HI>Becau&s;e he knoweth not how to go to the city:</HI> he would go &s;ome whither, but he knows not how to come unto it: he talketh of a place whither he &s;hould go, but he cannot find the way thither. It is &s;ome great matter that he would &s;ay, it is &s;ome great place, <HI>a city</HI> that he would go unto, but he knoweth not how to doe it. He turneth this way, &amp; that way, he talketh of this thing &amp; that thing, but it is &s;till fro~ the matter it is &s;till from the city to which he &s;hould go. The point that he would &s;peak of, is &s;ome point that many learned men have handled, as in a city many doe dwell that are men of worth, &amp; he al&s;o would &s;hew him&s;elfe to be a man of worth, he al&s;o would &s;hew his learning, but he is lo&s;t in the way, he is &s;till out of it. <HI>Tremellius</HI> un|der&s;tandeth the la&s;t part of the ver&s;e, as &s;hewing the wonderfull &s;implicity of a foole, &s;o that he is not able <HI>vel movere pedem recte &amp; ur|bis &s;uae viam agno&s;cere,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremellus in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>quametiam caeci addi&s;cunt,</HI> even to move for|ward one foote aright, and to know the way of his owne city which even blind men doe learne. <HI>Ca&s;sian</HI> under&s;tandeth here, <HI>the labour of the fooli&s;h,</HI> to be the labour of carele&s;&s;e &s;inners, which doth indeed weary every one of them in their &s;infull cour&s;es. For as he &s;aith well, <HI>ip&s;ae nobis tormento &s;unt, quibus utimur voluptates,</HI> the very plea&s;ures which wee u&s;e are a torment unto us, and the very delights and con|tentments of the fle&s;h, become to be executioners of punni&s;hment upon the authours and inventors of them. <HI>By the city</HI> al&s;o he under&s;tan|deth that heavenly <HI>Hieru&s;alem</HI> which is the mother of us all, and &s;pea|king of the wicked &s;aith, <HI>ab itinere regio deviantes, ad illam metropo|lim civitatem, ubi no&s;ter cur&s;us indeclinabiliter debet e&s;&s;e directus non
<PB N="383" REF="189"> poterunt pervenire,</HI> that wandring from the high way of the King of heaven, they &s;hall never be able to get to that metropolitan city, whi|ther our cour&s;e without declining ought &s;till to be directed. And in|deed in the booke of wi&s;dome the wicked them&s;elves confe&s;&s;e, wee wearied our &s;elves in the way of wickedne&s;&s;e and de&s;truction,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Wi&s;dome</HI> 5.7.</NOTE> yea wee have gone thorow de&s;arts, where there lay no way, but as for the way of the Lord, wee have not knowne it. The way of the Lord which leadeth <HI>to the city</HI> of which the Prophet <HI>Ezekiel</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ezek.</HI> 48.34.</NOTE> <HI>the name of the city &s;hall be The Lord is there,</HI> that they have not knowne and &s;o they know not how to go to the city. <HI>Saint Hierome</HI> under&s;tandeth here <HI>the labour of the fooli&s;h</HI> to be, the &s;tudy of the heathen <HI>Philo&s;ophers, the city</HI> to be wi&s;dome. And therefore he &s;aith, <HI>lege Platonem,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Ari|&s;totelis revolve ver&s;utias, Zenonem &amp; Carneadem diligentius intuere, &amp; probabis verum e&s;&s;e quod dicitur labor &s;tultorum affligit eos, read Plato,</HI> turn over the &s;ubtleties of <HI>Ari&s;totle,</HI> looke diligently upon <HI>Zeno</HI> and <HI>Carneades,</HI> and thou wilt prove it to be true which is &s;aid,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 46.4.</NOTE> <HI>the labour of the fooli&s;h afflicteth and wearieth them.</HI> They indeed &s;ought for the truth with all care and indu&s;try, but becau&s;e they had not a guide, be|cau&s;e the word of God was not a lampe to their feete and a light to their paths, they thinking by humane under&s;tanding to be able to compre|hend wi&s;dome, they came not to the city of which the P&s;almi&s;t &s;aith, <HI>the &s;treams of the ryver make glad the city of our God.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 107.4.</NOTE> Or el&s;e <HI>S. Hierome</HI> under&s;tandeth <HI>the labour of the fooli&s;h</HI> to be the labour and &s;tudy of he|reticks, <HI>the city</HI> to be truth; for they labour and bu&s;y them&s;elves in the &s;tudy of the Scriptures, by which they onely tire and weary their minds, but cannot find the city, becau&s;e they walke in a de&s;art. To whom the Father applyeth that pa&s;&s;age of the P&s;almes, <HI>they wandred in the wilderne&s;&s;e, in a &s;olitary way, they found no city to dwell in.</HI> Or el&s;e we may take the labour of the fooli&s;h to be the labour of them who &s;eek after high &amp; hard &amp; hidde~ matters: whereas they know not the may into the city that is ordinary and common things, &s;uch as are knowne to all men, and much more needfull and u&s;efull for them&s;elves. The <HI>Chaldee Paraphra&s;e</HI> giving the expo&s;ition of the ver&s;e doth &s;et it downe thus, <HI>la|bor quo in &s;tultitia &s;ua excruciatur &s;tolidus, tantopere illum conficit &amp; fatigat, ut non &s;it edoctus plane ad eam civitatem receptum habere,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chald. Paraph.</NOTE> <HI>in qua &s;apientes habitant, a quibus doctrinam &s;ci&s;citetur,</HI> the la|bour by which a foole is tortured in his fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e doth &s;o much &s;pend him and weary him, that plainly he is not informed to have re|cour&s;e unto the city in which the wi&s;e doe dwell, from whom he may &s;eeke learning. And &s;urely he will fall into pernicions folly, who thin|king him&s;elfe excellent in divine gifts de&s;pi&s;eth the learning of other men. <HI>Saint Gregory</HI> &s;hewes it, when he &s;aith, <HI>inde fiet, ut dum unu&s;|qui&s;que &s;e &s;ancto Spiritu impletum prae&s;umat, di&s;cipulus hominis e&s;&s;e renuat, &amp; magister erroris fiat,</HI> from hence it will come to pa&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Dialog. l. <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> that while every one thinketh him&s;elfe filled with the Holy Spirit, refu&s;ing to be the di&s;ciple of man, he is made to be the ma&s;ter of er|rour.
<PB N="384" REF="190"> When our Saviour Chri&s;t had appeared to Saint <HI>Paul</HI> going to <HI>Dama&s;cus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Acts.</HI> 9.6.</NOTE> he &s;aith unto him, <HI>a ri&s;e and goe into the city, and it &s;hall be told thee there what thou mu&s;t doe.</HI> Whereupon Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;aith, <HI>O &s;apientia &s;uaviter ver&egrave; univer&s;a di&s;ponens!</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. Ser. in ea.</NOTE> <HI>Eum cui tu loqueris eru|diendum de voluntate tua mittis ad hominem,</HI> O wi&s;dome truly di&s;po|&s;ing all things &s;weetly! Him to whom thou thy &s;elfe &s;peake&s;t, thou &s;ende&s;t unto man to be in&s;tructed in thy will. Saint <HI>Paul</HI> is &s;ent into the city and is appointed by man to be taught, that even the gifts of God might be &s;een not to be be&s;towed without mans mini&s;tery. And &s;urely let him goe to the city of the wi&s;e, to the Univer&s;ities of learning and knowledge, let him &s;eeke the help and benefit of men, who|&s;oever will pre&s;erve the gifts of God &s;afe in him&s;elfe. Which al|though they may be great, u&s;e to vani&s;h in him, and to make his la|bour the wearying of a foole, by whom the furtherance of other men is de&s;pi&s;ed. In generall <HI>the labour of the fooli&s;h</HI> we may under&s;tand to be vaine and bootele&s;&s;e toyling: for &s;o fooles toyle them&s;elves grie|vou&s;ly and reape no profit, no benefit by it. To whom the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;ai</HI> 52.2.</NOTE> <HI>Wherefore doe yee &s;pend mony for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which &s;atisfieth not?</HI> Such a one may beate his wings much as if he would fly farre and high, but as <HI>Hugo de Sancto Victore</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Non volat in &s;ummis, &s;ed ambulat in imis, im&ograve; non ambulat, &s;ed &s;tat. Non autem jacet, &s;ed &s;lat, ut nunquam requie&s;cat. A&s;&s;idue ergo &s;tat, qui &s;ine intermi&s;&s;ione laborat. Pedes &s;ine ince&s;&s;u fati|gat, &s;ine fructu laborat,</HI> he doth not fly on high, but walketh be|low, yea he doth not walke but &s;tandeth &s;till. Stand he doth, not lye,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo de Sanc. vict. lib. <HI>3.</HI> de Erud. Homil. p. <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE> &s;o that he never re&s;teth. Continually therefore doth he &s;tand, who laboureth without cea&s;ing. He wearieth his feete without going, he laboureth without benefit. For how can he know, how to goe into the city that &s;tandeth and goeth not?</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="16-17" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 16.</HI></BIBL> Woe to thee O Land, when thy King is a Child, and thy Princes eate in the mor|ning.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 17.</HI></BIBL> Ble&s;&s;ed art thou O Land, when thy King is the Son of Nobles, and thy Princes eate in due &s;ea&s;on, for &s;trength and not for drunkenne&s;&s;e.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 16. The Originall word which is rendred woe is <GAP DESC="foreign"> and &s;igni|fieth not only <HI>vae</HI> woe, but <HI>regionem &amp; provinciam,</HI> a region and province, as if not only woe were to the Land, but the Land it &s;elfe were woe, or woe it &s;elfe the Land, when <HI>the King is a Child &amp;c.</HI> But the Preacher
<PB N="385" REF="190"> &s;peaking to the Land &s;aith, <HI>woe to thee o Land,</HI> as condoling with it, and groaning together with it, under the burden of the mi&s;ery. And &s;urely a publick calamity though belonging to a forreigne country ought to work a compa&s;&s;ionate &s;orrow, and make them to feele it in a commi&s;e|ration, who doe not feele it in the affliction. <HI>When thy King is a Child:</HI> a Child may be taken here three wayes, either in years and age, or el&s;e in wi&s;dome and government, or la&s;tly in a newne&s;&s;e and Childhood as it were of royall blood. If we under&s;tand a Child in years, it is true that &s;uch a King is often a woe to a Land, but it is not alwayes &s;o.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in c. <HI>3.</HI> I&s;a.</NOTE> <HI>Solomon</HI> him&s;elfe who as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> affirmeth, began to reigne at twelve yeers of age, though others make a que&s;tion of it, was a great ble&s;&s;ing to his Kingdome. But if <HI>Solomon</HI> did not begin, to reigne &s;o &s;oon,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 34.1.</NOTE> <HI>Jo&s;iah</HI> be|gan to reign &s;ooner, even at eight yeers of age, and he al&s;o was a great happine&s;&s;e to his Kingdome. The meaning therefore of the Preacher in this acception of the word is, that ordinarily the Child-hood of a King is the maturity of mi&s;ery to his Kingdome, though extraordi|narily by the goodne&s;&s;e of God it may be otherwi&s;e. Secondly if we under&s;tand a Child in wi&s;dome, &s;o he may be that is ancient in yeers, and being &s;o, he cannot but be <HI>a woe to to his Kingdome.</HI> The want of wi&s;dome in a Child by age is often &s;upplyed, by the wi&s;dome of his coun&s;ellers: the want of this in a man hath commonly a wilfulne&s;&s;e joyned with it that will not be &s;upplyed. The hand of a little Child may hold the &s;tern of a great &s;hip, when a greater &s;trength may guide it. But if he that hath &s;trength to guide it, have not &s;kill to doe it, but yet will doe it, becau&s;e it is in his hand, it cannot but be dangerous &s;ayling. This therefore is the judgement which God threatneth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 3.1. <HI>v.</HI> 4.</NOTE> that he would bring upon <HI>Iudah</HI> &s;aying, <HI>I will give them Children to be their Princes and babes &s;hall rule over them. The &s;tay and the &s;taf, the whole &s;tay of bread, and the whole &s;tay of water,</HI> the whole &s;tay of knowledge, the whole &s;tay of wi&s;dome, which is in a wi&s;e King he would take from them, and make children in wi&s;edom to be their Princes. Thirdly a King may be &s;ayd to be a child, when his de&s;cent is not from Kings; but being <GAP DESC="foreign"> as the Originall word here is, <HI>excu&s;&s;us</HI> one wrung out from inferiour condition is lept into a throne. The next ver&s;e which &s;aith, <HI>ble&s;&s;ed art thou O Land, when thy King is the Son of nobles may &s;eeme to</HI> approve this under&s;tanding of the words here. And according to this meaning doth the <HI>Chaldee</HI> Paraphra&s;e bring exam|ples, for the illu&s;trating of it, &s;aying,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chald. Paraph.</NOTE> <HI>Vae tibi terra I&s;rael in tempore quo regnaver it &s;uper te Ieroboam impius. Beata erit terra in tempore, quo negnaverit &s;uper te Ezechias filius Achas qui erit de genere domus Davidis,</HI> Woe be to thee O Land of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> when wicked <HI>Ieroboam</HI> &s;hall reigne over thee. Ble&s;&s;ed &s;hall the Land be in that time, when <HI>Hezekiah</HI> the Son of <HI>Ahas,</HI> and who &s;hall be of the hou&s;e of <HI>David</HI> &s;hall be thy King. The Spaniards u&s;e to call him that is not de&s;cended from Chri&s;tian parents <HI>novum Chri|&s;tianum,</HI> a new Chri&s;tian, as anciently the Romans called a noble man not de&s;cended from noble progenitours <HI>novum hominem</HI> a new man: and &s;o this expo&s;ition under&s;tandeth the Preacher, by a King that is a Child
<PB N="386" REF="191"> to meane him, <HI>qui e&s;t novus in regno,</HI> who is newly born in a Kingdome. And no doubt &s;uch a one in many re&s;pects may be <HI>a woe to a Land.</HI> Where|fore <HI>Thuanus</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Thuanus.</NOTE> &s;aith, happy is that country, <HI>in qua deducta numerans a &s;tirpe vetu&s;tos jactat avos princeps,</HI> in which a Prince with glory numbreth his ance&s;trous in a long continued race. <HI>And thy Princes eate in the morning</HI> which words may be taken thus, that the Princes are like unto the King, and that as he is a Child, &s;o they are children al&s;o: for it is the pro|perty of children to eate as &s;o on as they are awakened from &s;leepe, it is the condition of children to look after nothing &s;o much as after rheir food. Or el&s;e the words may be taken as &s;peaking of &s;uch Princes as are greedy of prey, and like ravenous wolfs devoure in the morning: as often it com|meth to pa&s;&s;e, where the King is a Child. But mo&s;t directly the words &s;eeme to &s;peech of tho&s;e, who make their owne benefit, for that the word <HI>eating</HI> noteth, to be the chiefe thing that they look after, and in their waies doe preferre that before the publicke good. Or el&s;e the words &s;peake of them, who make plea&s;ure to be the fir&s;t thing that they &s;eeke, and in a &s;econd place the affaires of the Kingdome and e&s;tate. Or la&s;tly the words way be under&s;tood to &s;peake of tho&s;e, who by early intempe|rancy make them&s;elves unfit for publick affaires and imployments. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Daniel.</HI> 7.9.</NOTE> <HI>verum mihi &s;acratius quid latere videtur in litera,</HI> but to me there &s;eemeth &s;omewhat more holy to lye hid in the letter. He there|fore by the King who is a Child under&s;tandeth the devill, a Child indeed in re&s;pect of God who is the ancient of dayes as in <HI>Daniel</HI> he is de&s;cribed; and &s;urely as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>Vaeterrae cujus e&s;t diabolus rex, qui &s;emper novarum rerum cupidus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>etiam in Ab&s;alon adver&s;us parentem rebellat,</HI> Woe to the Land who&s;e King is the devill, who being alwayes de&s;irous of new things, rebelleth in <HI>Ab&s;alon</HI> again&s;t his Father. And as the de|vill is the Prince of this world, &s;o by the Princes which feed in the mor|ning, he under&s;tandeth them, who feed on the delights of this world and nouri&s;h them&s;elves in them. Wherefore he &s;aith al&s;o, <HI>Woe to the Land, quae judices &amp; principes eos habet, qui amant hujus &s;eculi voluptates,</HI> which hath tho&s;e for judges and Princes, who love the plea&s;ures of this world, who before the day of death commeth, &s;ay, let us eate and drinke for to morrow we &s;hall dye. So doth Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> al&s;o expound the la&s;t part of the ver&s;e, &s;aying, <HI>Principes mane manducantes, ide&s;t, ante horam congruam, quia non expectant opportunam quae in futuro e&s;t faelicitatem, fe&s;tinanter beari hujus &s;aeculi faelicitate cupientes,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. de Civitate Dei l. <HI>17.</HI> c. <HI>20.</HI></NOTE> Princes eating in the morning, that is, before the due &s;ea&s;on, becau&s;e they doe not expect that &s;ea&s;onable happi|ne&s;&s;e which &s;hall be in the world to come, de&s;iring ha&s;tely to be ble&s;&s;ed with the happine&s;&s;e that is in this world. So likewi&s;e doth Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> give the meaning of it, who &s;aith, againe <HI>by the morning</HI> is &s;ignified the pro&s;perity of the pre&s;ent life, as when <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Woe to thee O Land, when thy King is a Child, and thy Princes eate in the morning, quia enim mane primum diei tempus e&s;t, &amp; ve&s;pera extremum, nequaquam reficiendi &s;umus de hujus vitae pro&s;peritate quae praevenit,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral. lib. <HI>16.</HI> c. <HI>25.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;ed de his, quae in fine diei, id e&s;t, in mundi termino &s;equuntur. Mane ergo comedunt, qui de mundi hujus pro&s;pe|ritatibus
<PB N="387" REF="191"> extolluntur, &amp; dum pre&s;entia vehementer curant, futura non cogi|tant,</HI> for becau&s;e the morning is the fir&s;t time of the day, and the evening the la&s;t, we are in no &s;ort to be refre&s;hed with the pro&s;perity of this world which goeth before, but with the things which are in the end of the day, that is, doe follow in the end of the world. They therefore doe eate in the morning who are lifted up with the pro&s;perity of this world, and while they earne&s;tly &s;eek after pre&s;ent things, they doe not think of tho&s;e which are to come. And &s;urely &s;eeing as Saint <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 8.22.</NOTE> <HI>the creature doth groane under the captivity of this world,</HI> then as Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>ne tu deterior creatura efficiare, nec tu prae&s;entibus rebus acquie&s;cas, non enim illas &s;olum non amplecti oportet, &s;ed ingemi&s;cere ob retardationum no&s;trae ab hoc orbe profectionis,</HI> be not thou made wor&s;e then the creature,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. ibi.</NOTE> neither doe thou &s;et up thy re&s;t upon things pre&s;ent. For not only ought we not to embrace them, but even to &s;igh and groane by rea&s;on of the delay of our going from this world.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 17. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed art thou O Land:</HI> the Originall is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>beati|tudines tuae O terra,</HI> thy ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e O Land, as wondering at the multi|tude and greatne&s;&s;e of them. And therefore the French tran&s;lation doth well exppre&s;&s;e the force of it, <HI>O que tu es bien-hereu&s;e O terre, O how happy art thou O Land,</HI> or, <HI>O that thou art happy O Land. When thy King is the Son of Nobles:</HI> the Septuagint and Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> read it, <HI>filius ingenuo|rum,</HI> the Son of them that were free born. <HI>Vatablus candidorum,</HI> the Son of them that have been fortunate, as deriving the Originall word from the roote <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>albe&s;cere</HI> to be white. <HI>Tremellius</HI> reads it <HI>natus cla|r &s;&s;imis,</HI> born of them that have been mo&s;t famous. The <HI>Venetian</HI> tran&s;la|tion reads it, as our Engli&s;h doth, <HI>filium nobilius,</HI> the Son of Nobles,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in ver&s;.</NOTE> and by the derivation of the Originall word from the roote <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifieth <HI>exu&s;tus</HI> burnt, it &s;etteth forth &s;uch a one in whom the dro&s;&s;e of ba&s;ene&s;&s;e is burnt out and purified, not only by the de&s;cent of Noble blood; but al&s;o by the care of vertuous education. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> there|fore expoundeth it, <HI>Princeps bonis moribus, &amp; liberaliter in&s;titutus,</HI> a Prince endued with vertues, and nobly trained up. Or el&s;e as <HI>Tremellius</HI> ex|planeth it, <HI>bene in&s;titutus &amp; informatus in admini&s;tratione regni,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremell. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> well in&s;tru|cted and taught in the governing of a Kingdome. So that in him&s;elfe he maketh good the nobility of his progenitors, this being the perfection of a glorious King. For as King <HI>Athalaricus</HI> in <HI>Ca&s;&s;iodore</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;iodor. var. l. <HI>9.</HI> var. <HI>23.</HI></NOTE> <HI>nul|lum melius pote&s;t e&s;&s;e compendium, quam laudibus &s;ucce&s;&s;i&s;&s;e majorum,</HI> there cannot be more &s;aid in few words to the honour of a King, then that his fame &s;ucceedeth to the fame of his ance&s;tors. But that which the words mo&s;t plainly and mo&s;t directly doe import, is to note &s;uch a King, who&s;e byrth is from the de&s;cent of nobles. And &s;urely this is a great ble&s;&s;ing to a Kingdome. For as <HI>Aquinas</HI> noteth out of <HI>Ari&s;totle, De vili loco a&s;&s;umpti ad principatum, ut pluries laedunt politiam, &amp; lae&s;erunt aliquando Calcedo|niam, juxta illud poetae a&s;perius nihil e&s;t humile quum &s;urgit in altum,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aquin. de reg. Princip. l. <HI>4.</HI> c. <HI>19</HI></NOTE> they that are taken from vile degree unto principality, doe oftentimes hurt the government, and &s;ometimes they did hurt the &s;tate of <HI>Calcedon,</HI> accor|ding
<PB N="388" REF="192"> to that of the Poet, there is nothing more &s;harp and hard then a ba&s;e per&s;on lifted up on high. In re&s;pect of a King, it is true which <HI>Chry&s;olo|gus</HI> hath, <HI>Major e&s;t innata gloria, quam quae&s;ita, praecedit quod venit ab ori|gine,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cry&s;o&s;tom.</NOTE> <HI>quod &s;equitur ex labore: gloriam beatius e&s;t habere, quam quaerere,</HI> that is a greater glory which is born with a King, then that which is gotten by him, that which commeth from de&s;cent goeth before that which fol|loweth from indu&s;try: it is more happy to have glory then to &s;eeke it. When <HI>Moy&s;es</HI> was put into the water, it was mo&s;t likely that &s;ome fi&s;her|man or &s;ome one dealing in the waters &s;hould have found him; but Gods providence brought thither the Kings daughter that by her he might be taken up. For as <HI>Macarius</HI> noteth, <HI>quum Deus Moy&s;em praeno&s;&s;et &amp; prae|ordina&s;&s;et futurum ducem &amp; redemptorem populi,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Macar. Homil. <HI>9</HI></NOTE> <HI>effecit ut adoptaretur &agrave; filia Pharaonis,</HI> when God had foreknowne and foreordayned <HI>Moy&s;es</HI> to be the Captaine and deliverer of his people, he brought it about that he &s;hould be adopted by <HI>Pharaohs</HI> daughter. As if God him&s;elfe would not that he &s;hould come to the Scepter of government, who was not fir&s;t ennobled. The &s;ame may be ob&s;erved of <HI>David,</HI> whom God having annointed to be King of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> before he placed him on the throne he ennobled him in being the Kings Son in law. When <HI>Abimelech</HI> had made him&s;elfe King, and <HI>Jotham</HI> the only Son of <HI>Gideon,</HI> which had e&s;caped from the &s;laughter of his brethren, &s;tanding upon the top of mount <HI>Gerizim</HI> &s;pake unto the men of <HI>Sichem,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Judg.</HI> 9.18.</NOTE> that which chiefly he objected again&s;t <HI>Abimelech</HI> was, <HI>that being the Son of a hand mayd he was made King.</HI> For though <HI>Abimelech</HI> were a mo&s;t cruell bloody man, and a foule murtherer of his brethren, yet this he omitterh, and &s;peaketh only of his ba&s;e birth, as if that were enough to prove, that he could not be a good King over them. <HI>And thy Princes eate in due &s;ea&s;on for &s;trength, and not for drunken|ne&s;&s;e:</HI> as before it was the mi&s;ery of a Kingdome, that the Princes were like to the King in want of wi&s;dome and goodne&s;&s;e; &s;o here it is the hap|pine&s;&s;e of a Kingdome, that the Princes are like unto the King in vertue and carefull government. And &s;urely as it is the ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e of a Land to have them to be &s;o, &s;o it is the great glory of a Noble King to make them to be &s;o. The <HI>eating</HI> here al&s;o as I &s;hewed in the former ver&s;e may be taken for a civill con&s;uming, as being &s;uch a one as con&s;umeth in the &s;trength and power of ju&s;tice, which alwayes ob&s;erveth due &s;ea&s;on, and not in the drunkenne&s;&s;e of pa&s;&s;ion, and corruption of lu&s;tfull de&s;ires. For &s;o the Hebrew is <HI>in &s;trength, in drunkenne&s;&s;e.</HI> Or el&s;e we may take the Prea|cher to &s;et forth tho&s;e Princes, who as Saint <HI>Hiorome</HI> expoundeth him, <HI>nequaquam voluptatem negotiis rivium praeferunt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>&s;ed po&s;t multum laborem &amp; admini&s;trationem reipublicae cibum capere qua&s;i nece&s;&s;itate cogantur,</HI> no &s;ort preferreth plea&s;ure before the bu&s;ines of the people, but after much labour and care in publicke affaires are as it were con&s;trained by nece&s;&s;ity to re|ceive nouri&s;hment. But that which mo&s;t plainly and mo&s;t directly the words doe declare, is the commendation of temperate feeding in Princes, and a &s;hunning of the exce&s;&s;e of a riotous and voluptuos gluttony: is a taking of &s;u&s;tenance in due &s;ea&s;on for pe&s;erving of nature, not for cor|rupting
<PB N="389" REF="192"> of it; For as God is &s;aid to give all their meate in due &s;ea&s;on, &s;o all mu&s;t take it in due &s;ea&s;on, and to a due end, in a due manner. To which purpo&s;e <HI>Tully</HI> hath a very good pa&s;&s;age in his Oration for King <HI>Delotarus.</HI> Did ever any one &s;ee <HI>Deiotarus</HI> dancing or drunken?<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;alm.</HI> 145.15.</NOTE> There are in him all Kingly vertues, which I think not to be unknowne unto thee O Cae&s;ar; but e&s;pecially a &s;ingular and wonderfull frugality; although I know that a King u&s;eth not to be commended by this word. To be &s;aid to be a frugall man, hath not much prai&s;e in a King: to be valiant,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cicero Orat. pro rege Deitaro</NOTE> to be ju&s;t, to be &s;trict, to be grave, to be magnanimous; to be boun|tifull, to be beneficiall, to be liberall, the&s;e are Kingly prai&s;es; that is private prai&s;e. But let every one take it as he will, notwith&s;tan|ding I judge frugality that is mode&s;tie and temperance to be a principall vertue. This it is therefore which <HI>Sidonius</HI> commendeth in <HI>Theodorie</HI> a King of Italy, of whom &s;peaking he &s;aith, <HI>Si in convivium petitur, non ibi impolitam congeriem argenti men&s;is cedentibus &s;u&s;pirio&s;us mini&s;ter imponit. Maximum tunc pondus in verbis e&s;t, quippe quum illic aut nulla narrantur, aut &s;eria, cibi arte placent non pretio, farcula nitore non pondere, Scyphorum raras oblationes facilius e&s;t ut accu&s;et &s;itis, quam recu&s;et ebrietas. Quid multis?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Sidomeus Apoll. l. <HI>1.</HI> Epi&s;t. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>vi|deas ibi elegantiam Graecam, abundantiam Gallicanam, celeritatem Italam, pu|blicam pompam, diligentiam, privatam, regiam di&s;ciplinam,</HI> When he is invited to a fea&s;t, there the blowing &s;hort winded &s;ervant doth not put a pile of unpoli&s;hed &s;ilver upon the yeilding tables. The greate&s;t weight is then in words, for there either nothing is &s;aid, or that which is &s;erious. The meate doth plea&s;e for the good dre&s;&s;ing of it, not for the co&s;tline&s;&s;e, the di&s;hes, for their cleanline&s;&s;e, not for their greatne&s;&s;e. The pre&s;enting of cups is not frequent, &s;o that thir&s;t doth rather blame the rarity of it, then drunkenne&s;&s;e refu&s;e it. What &s;hould I &s;ay much? There thou maye&s;t &s;ee the elegancy of Greece, the abundance of France the ready diligence of Italy, publick pompe, private diligence, royall di&s;cipline. La&s;tly not to omit the expo&s;ition which Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> mo&s;t approveth. <HI>The King here who is the Son of Nobles,</HI> he under&s;tandeth to be our Saviour Chri&s;t, the Son of <HI>Abraham I&s;aac</HI> and <HI>Iacob</HI> de&s;cended from the race of Pro|phets and holy men, in whom &s;in not reigning, in that re&s;pect they were <HI>ingenui,</HI> truly free and noble. <HI>By the Princes</HI> he under&s;tandeth thr Apo|&s;tles, and all the Godly, who have for their King this Sonne of Nobles, and who <HI>doe not eate in the morning</HI> nor ha&s;tily, who doe not &s;eeke plea|&s;ure in this world: <HI>but in due &s;ea&s;on</HI> &s;hall eate when the time of retribu|tion commeth; and then they &s;hall eate <HI>in &s;trength,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>and not in confu&s;ion</HI> as he readeth it. <HI>Omne bonum prae&s;entis &s;aeculi confu&s;io e&s;t futuri vero prepetua fortitudo,</HI> for every good thing of the pre&s;ent world is confu&s;ion, but the good of that which is to come is perpetuall &s;trength.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="18" TYPE="verse">
<PB N="390" REF="193">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Ver. 18.</HI></BIBL> By much &s;lothfulne&s;&s;e the building decay|eth; and through idlene&s;&s;e of the hands, the hou&s;e droppeth through.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 18. <HI>By much &s;lothfulne&s;&s;e:</HI> the Originall is <GAP DESC="foreign"> being a word of the duall number, and therefore may well be tran&s;lated, <HI>pigritia duplici</HI> by a double &s;lothfulne&s;&s;e as <HI>Buxtorfius</HI> renders it. <HI>Tremellius</HI> reads it <HI>pigritia ambarum,</HI> by the &s;lothfulne&s;&s;e of both. S. <HI>Hierome</HI> renders it, <HI>pi|gritiis,</HI> as if it did import no more then our Engli&s;h expre&s;&s;eth <HI>by much &s;lothfulne&s;&s;e.</HI> But I conceive the duall number to have reference not to the two hands of man, in which &s;lothfulne&s;&s;e appeareth, but to tho&s;e two of which the former ver&s;es &s;peake before, namely the King and Princes of a land. For here the Preacher by the &s;imilitude of an hou&s;e and decay thereof, &s;heweth the decay of a Kingdome and &s;tate. And indeed a King in his palace may &s;ee a pattern and model of his Kingdome. For what are his out hou&s;es, but as it were his commons, or his people? What is his Guard-chamber, but his Souldiers and men of warre? What is his Pre&s;ence-chamber, but his officers and magi&s;trates in whom his authority is alwayes pre&s;ent? What is his Privy-chamber, but his coun|cellers? What is his clo&s;et, but his nobles? who are admitted in more reti|redne&s;&s;e unto him, and who are commonly clo&s;e about him? What is his Chappel, but his clergy? What is his cabinet, wherein his jewels are kept, but his children? What is his Bed-chamber, but his Queene? What are the &s;everall roomes and parts of his hou&s;e, but the &s;everall coun|tryes of his kingdome? And in the decay of his Palace he may &s;ee the decay of his kingdome and &s;tate. For as <HI>&s;lothfulne&s;&s;e</HI> not looking to <HI>the build|ing,</HI> the raine makes it <HI>to decay,</HI> &s;o by carele&s;ne&s;&s;e and negligence in a King and his Princes, the Kingdome decayeth, groweth rotten and weake. If the King be <HI>a child,</HI> there cannot be but carele&s;ne&s;&s;e in him, for that is proper unto children; if the Princes be given to plea&s;ure, <HI>to eate in a mor|ning,</HI> there will be carele&s;ne&s;&s;e in them, for that a de&s;ire of plea&s;ure al|wayes bringeth. And where carele&s;ne&s;&s;e is, <HI>a decay</HI> is &s;ure to be. The Preacher al&s;o &s;heweth, where the decay beginneth. It is fir&s;t <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>contignatio</HI> the roofe of the hou&s;e that decayeth, fir&s;t the King decayeth in his honour and reverence, then the Princes decay in their e&s;tate and re|&s;pect, la&s;tly it breaks through and comes to the people, and they &s;uffer decay many wayes by it. <HI>For through idlene&s;&s;e of the hands, the hou&s;e droppeth through:</HI> the Originall is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>dimi&s;&s;ione manuum,</HI> by the hanging downe and letting fall of the hands. And therefore we may &s;o take the words, as to conceive the Preacher here to &s;peake of a double kind of idlene&s;&s;e and carele&s;ne&s;&s;e, the one in neglect of humane help, the other of divine help by not lifting up the hands in prayer unto God. For it is he that mu&s;t keepe the kingdome from decaying, or el&s;e the watch|man
<PB N="391" REF="193"> watcheth but in vaine. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> applyeth this ver&s;e two wayes. In a publick reference unto the Church,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>quod per negligentiam Principum omnis ejus corruat altitudo: &amp; ibi illecebrae vit<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">orum &s;unt, ubi tegmen putabatur e&s;&s;e virtutum,</HI> becau&s;e by the negligence of Princes all the height of it is ruinated, and the enti&s;ements of vices are there, where was thought to be the covering of vertues. In a particular reference he applies it unto that hou&s;e which is erected in the &s;tate of every man, and to that dwelling, which we have in heaven. For if we &s;hall be &s;lothfull, and &s;lowe to good works, that will decay and fall, <HI>&amp; omnis contignatio quae debet culmen por|tare in &s;ublime ad terram corruens habitatorem &s;uum opprimit,</HI> and all rafre|ring or rearing up which ought to have a top on high, falling to the earth oppre&s;&s;eth him, who is the dweller in it. When the labour of the hands, the &s;uccour of the vertues is grown idle, tempe&s;ts that come from above, and the &s;howres of raine doe breake in upon us. <HI>Gregory Ny&s;&s;ene</HI> al&s;o in a particular reference under&s;tandeth the hou&s;e to be the building of vertue in every particular man: for as, &s;aith he, if the tymber which keepes the hou&s;e together be weake and un&s;ound, and he that dwels in it be &s;lothfull in taking care of it, and looking unto it, the covering will be for no be|nefit, becau&s;e the raine will pierce in through it. For the roofe mu&s;t needs decays being open to the water, and the roofe being weakened it will not be able to beate the weight that is upon it;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ny&s;&s;en. in Cant. Homil. <HI>4</HI></NOTE> &s;o that all in time will goe to ruine. <HI>Ita nobis in aenigmate parabolae praecipit,</HI> &s;o he exhorteth us in the darkene&s;&s;e of the parable, that by he &s;trength and firmne&s;&s;e of ver|tues, we yeild not to the flowings of temptations, le&s;t being decayed by the inva&s;ions of the pa&s;&s;ions of our mind, <HI>Eju&s;modi aquarum extrin&s;ecus in cor influentium influxum admittamus intra penetralia, per quas nobis pereant, quae &s;unt r<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">po&s;ita,</HI> le&s;t by the influence of &s;uch waters, which come from with|out into the heart, we receive within the &s;ecreet clo&s;ets of our hou&s;es tho&s;e things by which the trea&s;ures that are laid up are lo&s;t unto us. <HI>Ca&s;|&s;ian</HI> noteth here the manner of the decay of this building; for as he &s;aith, <HI>Non &s;ubitaneo ad ruinam procumbit domus impul&s;a, &s;ed longa inhabitantium de&s;idia,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;ian. Coll. lib. c. <HI>17.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;tillicidiis primum parvi&s;&s;imis penetrantibus corrupta &s;en&s;im &s;unt mu|nimenta tectorum, quibus per vetu&s;tam negligentiam in majorem modum pate factis &amp; collap&s;is, ubertim po&s;t haec influit plaviarum maxima tempe&s;tas,</HI> it is not by any &s;udden violence that the hou&s;e is tumbled downe, but by the long &s;lothfulne&s;&s;e of the inhabitants, fir&s;t of all very little drops by little and little getting in, the &s;trength of the roofe by degrees is peri&s;hed, which by long continued negligence being more and more opened and ruinated at length the tempe&s;ts of raine and &s;tormes breake in every where. And &s;o it is both in the publick condition of any kingdome and Church, and in the private condition of every particular man. The mi&s;chiefe of carelesne&s;&s;e doth not forthwith appeare in a kingdome, that is not like the inva&s;ion of a mighty enemy, but yet in time the hurt, which it bringeth is as great, &amp; as S. <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Pa&s;t. Cu. p. <HI>3.</HI> Adm. <HI>34</HI></NOTE> <HI>hoc agit &s;entina latenter excre|&s;cens, quod patenter procella &s;aeviens,</HI> a &s;inke &s;ecreetly encrea&s;ing doth the &s;ame, which a tempe&s;t doth openly raging. A particular per&s;on doth not &s;ud|denly
<PB N="392" REF="194"> fall into extreame wickedne&s;&s;e, but as <HI>Ca&s;&s;ian</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>per longam mentis incuriam,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;ian. Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>paulatim virtute animi decidente, &amp; per hoc &s;en&s;im vitiis incre&s;centibus ca&s;u mi&s;erabili concidit,</HI> by a long continued carelesne&s;&s;e of mind, virtue decaying by little and little, and hence vices accordingly in|crea&s;ing falleth mi&s;erably quite away from goodne&s;&s;e. And therefore it is good to looke to little matters, to be wary of &s;maller &s;lips into &s;in, for as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh, often there is more hurt in a little then in a greater fault. <HI>Major enim qu&ograve; citius quod &s;it culpa agno&s;citu, eo etiam cele|rius emendatur: minor vero dum qua&s;i nulla creditur, eo pejus quo &amp; &s;ecurius inu&s;u retinetur,</HI> for a great offence by how much the &s;ooner it is acknow|ledged to be a fault,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ibid.</NOTE> by &s;o much the &s;ooner it is amended, a le&s;&s;e fault while that it is thought to be none, is thereupon the more, and the more &s;ecurely practi&s;ed. From whence it commeth to pa&s;&s;e, that the mind accu&s;tomed to le&s;&s;e offences is not troubled for great &s;innes, and being nouri&s;hed and trayned up in &s;inning, <HI>ad quandum authoritatem ne|quitiae pervenit,</HI> proceedeth to a boldne&s;&s;e and to a kind of authority and lawfulne&s;&s;e of wickedne&s;&s;e, <HI>&amp; tanto in majoribus contemnit pertime&s;cere, quanto in minimis didicit non timendo peccare,</HI> and by &s;o much contemneth in greater &s;ins to feare, by how much in le&s;&s;e &s;innes it hath learned to &s;in by not being afraid.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="19" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Ver. 19.</HI></BIBL> A fea&s;t is made for laughter, and wine maketh merrie but mony an&s;wereth all things.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 19. The Preacher having &s;hewed the hurt which commeth to a land, who&s;e King is a Child, and who&s;e Princes eate in the morning: here he &s;heweth the good which ari&s;eth to a land, who&s;e King is the Son of nobles, and who&s;e Princes doe eate in due &s;ea&s;on. So <HI>Cajetane</HI> joyneth this ver&s;e to the former, who &s;aith, tho&s;e things belong to that ble&s;&s;ed land &s;poken of before, namely abundance of bread wine and mony. For it is meete that a good King and temperate Princes doe govern the city or kingdome in abundance of bread wine and &s;ilver, <HI>&amp; abundantia panis de&s;cribitur perfacere panem ri&s;ui,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cajetauus in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> by making bread for laughter, for the Ori|ginall word, which is tran&s;lated fea&s;t in the fir&s;t place &s;ignifieth bread. Or el&s;e to referre this ver&s;e to that which goeth immediately before it, as there the Preacher &s;heweth the mi&s;chiefe of lazine&s;&s;e and &s;loth; &s;o here we may under&s;tand him to &s;hew the benefit of labour and paines, from whence commeth plenty noted by <HI>fea&s;ting and wine,</HI> plea&s;ure and delight noted by laughter, wealth and greatnes of e&s;tate noted by <HI>mony, which an|&s;wereth to all things.</HI> The la&s;t part of the ver&s;e, the Septuagint doe render, <HI>ar|gento humilitatione obediunt omnia,</HI> all things by &s;ubjection doe obey mony. And if it be referred unto tho&s;e Kings, who are the Sons of Nobles, the words &s;hew, how they by their humanity, alacrity liberality, doe bind their &s;ubjects to them. <HI>Ege&s;ippus</HI> writing of <HI>Antipater</HI> &s;aith that by nation
<PB N="393" REF="194"> he was an <HI>Idumaean,</HI> among his owne de&s;cended from nobles, <HI>non tenuis pecuniae, &amp; ideo praevalidae potentiae, arte mira factus ad contemnendam pecuniam propter conciliandam gratiam,</HI> not of &s;mall wealth and therefore of great power,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ege&s;ippus l. <HI>1.</HI> Excid. Hiero&s;o. c. <HI>14.</HI></NOTE> being a man compo&s;ed by a wonderfull art to contemne mony for the getting of love. <HI>Tremel|lius</HI> refers this ver&s;e to that which goes before, but he referreth the words to them, who voluptuo&s;ly eate in the morning, who&s;e buil|ding by &s;lothfulne&s;&s;e decayeth, and who&s;e hou&s;e droppeth through by idlene&s;&s;e, <HI>quum omnia in luxum profu&s;a &s;int,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremellius in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> &s;eeing all is &s;pent in luxu|rious living: and then he readeth the la&s;t part of the ver&s;e thus, <HI>quorum pecunia facit, ut i&s;ta omnia re&s;pondeant,</HI> who&s;e mony maketh that all tho&s;e things an&s;were unto their lu&s;tfull de&s;ires. <HI>Lyra</HI> al&s;o referreth the words in the &s;ame manner unto the &s;ame per&s;ons, and then expre&s;&s;ing their <HI>fea&s;ting</HI> jollity he &s;aith according to Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> and the vulgar Latin, <HI>in ri&s;u facient panem &amp; vinum,</HI> in laughter they make bread and wine: in laughter, that is in fooli&s;h idle mirth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> they make bread and wine, that is <HI>di&s;ponunt men&s;am,</HI> they furni&s;h and make ready their table. For he tels us that the Hebrew word <GAP DESC="foreign"> here u&s;ed and which &s;ignifieth <HI>facere</HI> to doe or make, is &s;ometimes u&s;ed to &s;ignifie <HI>di&s;ponere</HI> to order and di&s;po&s;e: as when it is commanded of the captive woman whom an <HI>I&s;rae|lite</HI> would have to be his wife, that &s;he &s;hall &s;have her head and pare her nailes, the Hebrew is <HI>faciet ungues,</HI> &s;he &s;hall make her nayles, that is,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Deuter.</HI> 21.12.</NOTE> or|der them by paring of them, and &s;o &s;aith he the word is here u&s;ed. Now becau&s;e where there is larg <HI>fea&s;ting</HI> and a plentifull table, there needeth much mony, therefore &s;aith he it follwoes according to Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> and the Vulgar Latine <HI>pecunia obediunt omnia,</HI> all things obey money, that is, to get money they are ready to do any thing, <HI>&amp; &s;ubvertunt judi|cium propter divitum munera,</HI> and they overthrow judgment for the gifts of the rich. Our tran&s;lation &s;ets downe the ver&s;e as if it were a &s;entence by it &s;elfe, and as &s;hewing that whereas <HI>a fea&s;t is made for laughter only, and wine is drunk to make merry only, that money &s;erveth for all things.</HI> The Preacher expre&s;&s;eth the force of money by a <HI>Pro&s;opopeia,</HI> and &s;up|po&s;ing the things to be endowed with &s;peech and under&s;tanding, affir|meth money to give a &s;atisfactory an&s;wer to what&s;oever is a&s;ked, de&s;i|red, commanded. Let that which &s;peaketh be a great way off, yet mo|ney heareth, and an&s;wereth unto it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca de Ira. l. <HI>3.</HI> c. <HI>32.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;aith <HI>circa pecuniam mul|tum vociferationis e&s;t,</HI> that about mony there is much noi&s;e great crying, but though never &s;o much, never &s;o great, money an&s;wereth all. To make the &s;en&s;e more plaine <HI>Pagnine</HI> reads it, <HI>Pecunia obtinet omnia,</HI> mo|ny obtaineth all things <HI>Symachus</HI> did read it, <HI>argentum utile e&s;t ad omnia,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tulli l. <HI>3.</HI> in veraem.</NOTE> money is profitable for all thing. And this was the judgment of <HI>Verres,</HI> as <HI>Tully</HI> &s;ets it downe <HI>omnia pecunia effici po&s;&s;e,</HI> that all things can be done by mony. The &s;ame it is, which the Poet delivereth, <HI>&amp; genus et formam regina pecunia donat,</HI> Queene mony giveth nobility of birth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Horati.</NOTE> and beau|ty of body. Wherefore the Prophet <HI>David</HI> that he might &s;hew his great e&s;teeme of God, &amp; his great affection towards him, compareth him
<PB N="394" REF="195"> with mony and riches, &s;aying <HI>I have rejoyced in the wayes of thy comman|dements as much as in all riches.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 119.14.</NOTE> Riches being that which is &s;o much re|garded, &s;o much loved, he &s;heweth his regard, his love of God to be much above it. But by whom is it that &s;o much it is honoured? with whom is it &s;o powerfull? <HI>Aquinas</HI> an&s;weareth, <HI>Omnia corporalia obedi|unt pecuniae quantum ad multitudinem &s;tultorum, qui &s;ola corporalia bona agno&s;cunt quae pecunia acquiri po&s;&s;unt judicium autem de bonis humanis non debet &s;umi a &s;tultis, &s;ed a &s;apientibus,</HI> all bodily things doe obey mony,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aquin.</HI> 1.2. E. 2. <HI>A.</HI> 1.</NOTE> according to the cour&s;e of things among the multitude of fooles, who know only bodily good things which by mony may begotten; but the judgement of the good things of man is not to be taken from fooles but from wi&s;e men. They are but fooles therefore over whom mony hath &s;o great command, they are but fooles, who are &s;o affected with it, that as <HI>Gregory Thaumaturgus</HI> expoundeth this part of the ver&s;e, <HI>ar|gento quovis trahuntur, vili pretio nihil non humile &amp; vile parati facere,</HI> by mony they are drawn any where,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Thau|mat. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> being ready for a ba&s;e price to doe any vile and ba&s;e thing. But in the la&s;t place not to omit Saint <HI>Hierome,</HI> who thinketh this ver&s;e to depend upon the former, and under&s;tanding the ver&s;e before of the &s;lothfulne&s;&s;e and carele&s;ne&s;&s;e of tho&s;e, who rule in the Church, here he conceiveth the Preacher to &s;peak of the &s;ame, and to condemne them, becau&s;e they teach and preach tho&s;e things, which may delight the people, which may nouri&s;h &s;inners in their &s;inful cour&s;es, and rai&s;e up unto them&s;elves an applau&s;e among their hearers. <HI>Nonne quando in Eccle&s;ia la&s;civit orator, &amp; beatitudinem &amp; regnum caelorum multitudini pollicetur,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>videtur tibi in ri&s;u facere panem, &amp; vinum ad lae|titiam mi&s;cere viventium,</HI> when the Preacher playeth the wanton ora|tour in the Church, and promi&s;eth to the multitude ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e and the kingdome of heaven, doth he not &s;eem unto thee to make bread in laugh|ter, and to mingle wine to the joy of the living? For &s;o he readeth the text. The la&s;t part of the ver&s;e, <HI>that to mony all things obey,</HI> he applyeth two wayes. Either that &s;uch teachers, being grown rich by their flat|tery and plau&s;ibility, <HI>regnum in populos exercent</HI> doe even reigne over the people. Or el&s;e becau&s;e &s;ilver in Scripture is often taken for &s;peech, he conceiveth the Preacher to meane, <HI>quod eloquentiae &amp; orationi, quae verborum &s;it fronde compo&s;ita, facile vulgus cedat ignobile,</HI> that the igno|ble common &s;ort of people, doe ea&s;ily yeild to eloquence and &s;peech which is compo&s;ed of the leaves of words.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="20" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Ver. 20.</HI></BIBL> Cur&s;e not the King, no not in thy thought: and cur&s;e not the rich in thy Bed-cham|ber: for a bird of the ayre &s;hall carrie the voice, and that which hath wings &s;hall tell the matter.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<PB N="395" REF="195">
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 20. The Preacher having &s;hewed the evill government of a King and his Princes, and the hurt which from thence the land &s;uffereth, lea&s;t hereupon any might be emboldned being moved by anger or fury to cur&s;e the King or the Princes he giveth direction here whereby to take heed of it: becau&s;e it commeth to pa&s;&s;e even beyond thought, that though it be done even <HI>in thought</HI> only or never &s;o &s;ecretly, yet it is made knowne to them who are cur&s;ed, and danger is incurred by it. <HI>Cur&s;e not the King:</HI> the originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> here u&s;ed &s;ignifieth any di&s;|re&s;pect or di&s;e&s;teeme of the King. For indeed great is the honour and reverence that is due unto them, and great regard and care there mu&s;t be had not to dimini&s;h it in the lea&s;t manner.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 6.19.</NOTE> We read that God &s;mote the men of <HI>Beth&s;heme&s;h</HI> becau&s;e they looked into the Ark, a &s;igne of authority: for when in the wilderne&s;&s;e the Ark moved, then the people went on their journey, when the Ark &s;tood &s;till then they re&s;ted, and it was the Ark that lead them into the land of <HI>Canaan.</HI> The note which <HI>Eucherius</HI> hath upon the place is this, <HI>ob hoc a Domino percu&s;si &s;unt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Numb.</HI> 10.33.</NOTE> <HI>quia non &s;olum appropinquaverunt ad arcam, &s;ed etiam ut alia tran&s;latio habet, de&s;pexerunt,</HI> for this were they &s;mitten by the Lord not only becau&s;e they came neere unto the Ark, but al&s;o as I take the meaning de&s;pi&s;ed it, as another tran&s;lation hath it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eucherius.</NOTE> For becau&s;e the Ark had been taken captive, therefore it may be that they did with contempt look into it; but God is &s;o di&s;plea&s;ed, when authority is contemned, that he &s;mote fifty thou&s;and for it. Saint <HI>Cyprian</HI> therefore ob&s;erving our &s;aviours caryage, when being &s;troken by the officer, it was &s;aid unto him, an|&s;were&s;t thou the High Prie&s;t &s;o?<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iohn.</HI> 8.22.23.</NOTE> noteth that our &s;aviour <HI>cu&s;todiens &amp; docens &s;acerdotalem honorem &s;ervari oportere, contra pontificem nihil dixit, &s;ed innocentiam &s;uam tantum modo purgavit,</HI> teaching and by his practi&s;e &s;hewing that the honour of the High Prie&s;t was to be per&s;erved, he &s;pake nothing again&s;t the High Prie&s;t, but only defended his owne innocency, &s;aying <HI>if I have done evill bare witne&s;&s;e of the evill, if well why &s;mite&s;t thou mee? No, not in thy thought:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cypria. Epi&s;t. <HI>69</HI></NOTE> the originall is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>non in &s;cientia tua</HI> not in thy knowledge, that is, though thou maye&s;t know the King to doe evill and the land to &s;uffer evill by it, yea though thou maye&s;t know it by thine owne &s;uffering of evill, yet let not thine heart cur&s;e him. But to take the reading as generally the word is rendred, <HI>not in thy thought.</HI> The thought of man is the bed-chamber of his &s;oule, there he is mo&s;t &s;ecret, there mo&s;t retired. But tru&s;t not to this &s;ecrecy: for as <HI>Lyra</HI> noteth, <HI>illa quae in cogitatione revolvuntur,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>de facili verbo proferuntur etiam praeter intentionem proferentis,</HI> the things which are turned up and downe in the thought, are ea&s;ily uttered in word, yea even beyond the intention of him that doth utter them. And indeed the earth is not a place of &s;ecrecy, it is not almo&s;t in the power of earthly frailty to keepe any thing &s;ecret and concealed. Wherefore Saint <HI>Paul</HI> was taken up into the third heaven,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Corint.</HI> 12.2.</NOTE> when he heard things that might not be uttered: according as Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> noteth upon it, who &s;aith <HI>Paulus audivit aliqua &s;ecreta &s;apientiae, quae
<PB N="396" REF="196"> prohibitus e&s;t aliis intimare, at ideo raptus e&s;t in paradi&s;um, raptus e&s;t u&s;|que ad tertium coelum,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de In|tepel. l <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>9.</HI></NOTE> <HI>ut ea audiret, Paul</HI> heard &s;ome &s;ecrets of wi&s;dom, which he was forbidden to make knowne to others, and therefore he was taken up into paradi&s;e, he was taken up into the third heaven, that he might heare them. <HI>And cur&s;e not the rich in thy bed-chamber:</HI> &s;leep de&s;ireth privatne&s;&s;e and quietne&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ovidius.</NOTE> according as the Poet de|&s;cribeth the hou&s;e of &s;leep to be in a cave, into which a long entry leadeth to give remotene&s;&s;e to it, and that it hath no dore lea&s;t the &s;tirring ther|of &s;hould make any noy&s;e, neither any watchfull bird or bea&s;t is &s;uffered to be nere it. Wherefore it is al&s;o the manner to make choice of that roome for a bed-chamber which is mo&s;t private; and hence it is that the Preacher here &s;peaketh of a bed-chamber, as noting the greate&s;t privatene&s;&s;e that may be, and where that which is &s;aid may be heard by no one. But tru&s;t not unto that: for as the Poet &s;heweth the deceipt of this confidence, <HI>O Coridon, Coridon, &s;ecretum divitis ullum e&s;&s;e putas? &s;ervi ut taceant, jumenta loquentur, &amp; canis &amp; po&s;tes &amp; marmora, claude fene&s;tras, vela tegant rimas, junge o&s;tia, tollite lumen &egrave; medio, clament omnes, prope nemo recumbat, quod tamen ad cantum galli facit ille &s;ecundum proximus ante dienc caupo &s;ciet,</HI> O <HI>Coridon, Coridon,</HI> thinke&s;t thou that any &s;ecret of a rich man can be kept &s;ecret, let the &s;ervants be &s;ilent, the bea&s;ts will &s;peak it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Iuvenalis Saty <HI>9</HI></NOTE> the dog, the po&s;tes, the marble: &s;hut too the win|dowes, let curtaines cover the chinks, make fa&s;t the dores, take away the light, let all cry, let no one lye nere; notwith&s;tanding that which he doth at the &s;econd crow of the cock, the next alehou&s;e &s;hall know before day; In like manner this it is which the Preacher here addeth, <HI>for a bird of the ayre &s;hall cary the voice, and that which hath wings &s;hall tell the matter,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> it &s;hall be quickly known. For &s;o Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;aith, <HI>hyper|bolice intelligendum,</HI> it is to be under&s;tood by way of an hyperbole, as when we &s;ay, the very wals which are witne&s;&s;es of what were &s;peak will not conceale it. So likewi&s;e <HI>Tremellius</HI> &s;aith, <HI>ratio hyperbolica pro eo quod e&s;t, principes &amp; potentiores &s;unt auriti&s;simi,</HI> an hyperbolicall man|ner of &s;peaking, as if he &s;hould have &s;aid, Princes and great men are very quick of hearing, &s;o that hardly any thing is done or &s;aid which commeth not to their knowledge. They have &s;ome <HI>birds</HI> that flye up and downe,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Daniel.</HI> 4.10. <HI>&amp;</HI> 12.</NOTE> they have &s;ome that have <HI>wings</HI> which quickly bring to their ears that which is thought to be mo&s;t &s;ecret. <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> in the vi|&s;ions of his head &s;aw him&s;elf to be a great tree, and the foules of heaven to dwell in the branches thereof: where <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;aith, <HI>per volucres intel|liguntur garruli &amp; mendaces ad alta tendentes quia tales &s;olent e&s;&s;e princi|pibus laterales,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra Ibid.</NOTE> by the foules are under&s;tood prating and lying fellows, &s;eeking to climbe on high, becau&s;e &s;uch u&s;e to be neere about Princes. And here in this place he &s;aith, that the birds of the ayre are <HI>relatores verborum</HI> talebearers, which are here &s;aid to be <HI>birds of the ayre,</HI> as in the parable of the &s;ower,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luc.</HI> 8.5. <HI>&amp;</HI> 12.</NOTE> the devils are &s;aid to be birds of the ayre. For &s;uch indeed chatter more them birds, and are alwayes flying thither from whence they may bring &s;omething, which they may reveale. Take
<PB N="397" REF="196"> heed therefore that thou cur&s;e not either King or Princes, &s;ecrecy can|not hide it, the voice will be carried, the matter will be told:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> for as <HI>Ly|ra</HI> noteth <HI>est repetitio eju&s;dem &s;ententiae ad majorem confirmatione~,</HI> the &s;en|tence is repeated for the &s;tronger confirmation of it. But Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> de&s;iring to make the words more profitable for us, he applyeth them unto Chri&s;t the King of his Church,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> and telleth us that we are forbid|den to &s;peak ra&s;hly again&s;t him even in the &s;ecret of our heart, although by manifold afflictions his hand may be upon us. And that not only we mu&s;t not &s;peak ill again&s;t Chri&s;t, but not again&s;t his &s;ervants neither, and that an evill toung mu&s;t not wrong them whom we &s;ee to be enri|ched with wi&s;edome and knowledge and heavenly vertues; becau&s;e the Angels which goe up and downe the earth will carry it to God. And if we take the Angels to be the wicked Angels, then <HI>Hugo</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo.</NOTE> noteth unto us the difference that is betwixt the good Angels and the bad;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rev.</HI> 8.3.</NOTE> that the good Angels are &s;aid to offer up the prayers of the Saints unto God, but the wicked Angels are &s;aid to carry the offences of men unto God.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="11" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAPTER XI.</HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1-6" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>VER. 1</HI></BIBL> Ca&s;t thy bread upon the waters: for thou &s;halt find it after many dayes.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 2.</HI></BIBL> Give a portion to &s;even, and al&s;o to eight: for thou knowe&s;t not what evill &s;hall be upon the earth.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 3.</HI></BIBL> If the clouds be full of raine, they empty them|&s;elves upon the earth: &amp; if the tree fall to|ward the South, or toward the North, in the place, where the tree falleth there it &s;hall be.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 4.</HI></BIBL> He that ob&s;erveth the wind &s;hall not &s;ow: and he that regardeth the clouds &s;hall not reape.</P>
<PB N="398" REF="197">
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 5.</HI></BIBL> As thou knowe&s;t not what is the way of the Spirit nor how the bones doe grow in the wombe of her that is with child: even &s;o thou knowe&s;t not the workes of God who maketh all.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 6.</HI></BIBL> In the morning &s;ow thy &s;eed, and in the eve|ning with hold not thine hand: for thou knowe&s;t not whether &s;hall pro&s;per, either this or that, or whether they both &s;hall be alike good.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 1. _THe Preacher having before exhorted generally unto the works of vertue, here he per&s;uadeth &s;pecially unto the works of charity, becau&s;e they in an e&s;peciall manner do advance man to his eternall good in heaven. According as our Sa|viour &s;peaking to the charitable &s;aith, <HI>come ye ble&s;&s;ed of my father inhreit the Kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of world.</HI> And the whole chapter is devided into three parts.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Matt.</HI> 25.34.</NOTE> Fir&s;t he exhorteth unto the works of charity, unto the &s;ixth ver&s;e. Secondly unto a &s;peedine&s;&s;e in the&s;e works, from the &s;ixth ver&s;e unto the ninth, and there la&s;tly he inferreth the conclu&s;ion of his purpo&s;e in the two la&s;t ver&s;es. The fir&s;t part is &s;ubdivided into two parts, and fir&s;t he exhorteth to the exerci&s;e of charity in the three fir&s;t ver&s;es.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hoc cap.</NOTE> Se|condly he removeth the impediment which might &s;top the &s;peed unto it in the fourth, and fifth ver&s;es: thus <HI>Lyra</HI> giveth the divi&s;ion of the chapter. <HI>Ca&s;t thy bread upon the waters,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>Saint Hierome</HI> directly according to the Originall reads it, <HI>mitte panem tuum &s;uper faciem a|quae,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremell. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>quia in multitudine dierum invenies illum,</HI> Send thy bread upon the &s;urface of the water, and in the multitude of dayes thou &s;halt find it. And &s;o mo&s;t literally the words &s;eeme to &s;ay, that as that which is carried by the water is at length found in the ocean, where the mul|titude of waters is gathered together; &s;o that which is given to the poore is carried into heaven, and there &s;hall be found in the endle&s;&s;e multitude of dayes, wherein &s;hall be gathered together the multitude of all good things. <HI>Ca&s;t thy bread,</HI> that is &s;aith <HI>Tremellius,</HI> thy &s;eed, the &s;eed of thy good works,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> the bread which is made of the &s;eed by a Synecdoche being u&s;ed for the &s;eed. But though he who &s;oweth his land doth &s;ow &s;eed, yet as <HI>Saint Hierome</HI> &s;aith, <HI>qui largitur egentibus
<PB N="399" REF="197"> non granum &s;eminis, &s;ed ip&s;um panem &s;erit,</HI> he that giveth to the poore &s;oweth bread and not the grains of &s;eed. Wherefore we may well enough take the word without a figure. <HI>Ca&s;t thy bread upon the waters:</HI> that is &s;aith <HI>Saint Hierome ad eleemo&s;ynam cohortatur,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremel. in hun<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>quod omni petenti &s;it dandum,</HI> he exhorteth &s;o unto works of charity, as that wee &s;hould give to every one that a&s;keth. The French tran&s;lation reads it, <HI>ca&s;t thy bread aval l'eau</HI> along as the waters go, and as occa&s;ion is offered unto thee &s;o be &s;till ca&s;ting thy bread, be &s;till &s;hewing thy charity. And to this &s;en&s;e as I conceive doth the vulgar Latin read it, ca&s;t thy bread <HI>&s;uper tran&s;euntes aquas</HI> upon the waters pa&s;&s;ing along, and as &s;till any occa|&s;ion pa&s;&s;eth by the, let it not pa&s;&s;e without thy bread ca&s;t upon it, thy charity &s;hewed &s;ome way or other. <HI>Tremellius</HI> reads it, ca&s;t they bread <HI>&s;ecundum aquam</HI> by the waters, and giveth it this meaning, that as they who &s;ow their &s;eed upon fertile ground, which is neere unto waters, by which it is watered, do expect a plentifull crop from it; &s;o the Preacher would have us to &s;ow the works of charity, from whence we may expect a plentifull reward. And indeed God being alwayes full, &s;o that his bounty cannot be exhau&s;ted, he loveth tho&s;e that doe &s;o carry them&s;elves, and &s;o di&s;po&s;e their wayes, as that their works may &s;till expect a great reward from him. He is not liked by God, that &s;pendeth his time &s;o, and &s;o con&s;umeth his means, as that he cannot look to reape any fruit by it. He is approoved by God that maketh every bit of bread to bring great gaine unto him. Wherefore <HI>Saint Bernard</HI> &s;aith, <HI>nunquam quum veniat Dominus, inveniat imparatos, &s;ed &s;emper vultus &s;u&s;pen&s;os expau&s;o&s;que &s;inus habentes,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. Ser. <HI>17</HI> in Canti.</NOTE> <HI>ad largam Domi|ni benedictionem,</HI> let the Lord when he commeth never find us unready, but alwayes with our faces looking up towards him, alwayes having our bo&s;omes open, our laps &s;pread abroad as looking to receive a large ble&s;&s;ing from him. For God de&s;ireth that we &s;hould be like unto them, who waite for their Lord when he will returne from the wed|ding, <HI>quod utique ab illis &s;upernae men&s;ae copio&s;is deliciis vacua nunquam revertitur manu,</HI> becau&s;e from the abundant danities of the heavenly ta|ble he never returneth with an empty hand.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Catena Graeca.</NOTE> Or el&s;e we are here bid <HI>to ca&s;t our bread upon the waters,</HI> as teaching us that when we give our almes, to the poore, we &s;hould al&s;o have a fellow feeling of their mi|&s;ery, and that as mi&s;ery wringeth teares from the poore, &s;o compa&s;&s;ion &s;hould wring the &s;ame from us. So doth the <HI>Catena Graeca</HI> expound the&s;e words &s;aying, <HI>Cum Sympathia &amp; lachrymis fac eleemo&s;ynam tuam omni tran&s;eunti;</HI> with teares and Sympathy of griefe be&s;tow thine al|mes on every one that pa&s;&s;eth by. <HI>Ca&s;siodore</HI> writing of &s;ome moun|taynes called <HI>Lactari montes</HI> the milky montaynes, on which the bea&s;ts that feed doe give &s;uch nori&s;hing milke, that mens bodyes pined and con&s;umed away doe thereby not onely receive &s;trength and health but fatne&s;&s;e al&s;o, whereas the bea&s;ts them&s;elves are exceeding leane, &s;o that as <HI>Ca&s;siodore</HI> expre&s;&s;eth it, <HI>mero modo herbis animalia non profi|ciunt, unde hominum membra pingue&s;cunt, exiles per dumeta excurrunt
<PB N="400" REF="198"> montium, tenues videntur, &amp; instar ejus cui medentur &s;u&s;tinent pa&s;sio|nes,</HI> after a wonderfull manner the bea&s;ts doe not profit by that gra&s;&s;e, by which the bodyes of men grow fat: they go up and downe neer the thickets of the mountaines leane and thin,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;idor. var. l. ver. <HI>10.</HI></NOTE> and as it were &s;u&s;tayning the condition of tho&s;e, who are healed by them. Like to the&s;e bea&s;ts &s;hould charity make us, and as we comfort the poore with the milke that we give them, &s;o we &s;hould as it were &s;u&s;taine their di&s;tre&s;&s;e by a fellow feeling &s;orrow with them. Or la&s;tly we are bid <HI>to cast our bread upon the waters,</HI> to teach us that our charity &s;hould be free and liberall and alwayes flowing as the waters are. <HI>For thou &s;halt find it after many dayes:</HI> that is although the waters may &s;eeme to carry thy bread away, and thou maye&s;t &s;eeme to be no whit the better for it; yet it &s;hall not be &s;o, but thou &s;halt find it againe, and find it to thy great comfort and benefit.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Tha|mat in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> Thus doth <HI>Gregorius Thaumaturgus</HI> expound the words &s;aying, <HI>quamvis id &s;tatim perdidi&s;&s;e videas quemadmodum &s;i panem in aquam conjeci&s;&s;es, tamen progre&s;&s;u temporis nequaquam infrugifera ap|parebit beneficentia,</HI> although thy charity may &s;eeme to &s;ome to be forthwith lo&s;t, as if thou had&s;t ca&s;t thy bread into the water, yet in proce&s;&s;e of time thy bounty &s;hall appeare not to be unfruitfull unto thee <HI>Or el&s;e, thou &s;halt find it after many dayes,</HI> that is although thou doe not find it pre&s;ently, yet be not impatient, di&s;tru&s;t not a reward, for though it be long before thou &s;ee the comfort of thy charity requited yet be &s;ure of it, for it &s;hall come at la&s;t, and make a large recompence for the delay of it. Let me therefore &s;ay unto thee as one doth, <HI>mitte panem tuum &s;uper aquas, &amp; in verbo Domini promitto tibi, quod post multa tempora invenies,</HI> ca&s;t thy bread upon the waters, and ca&s;t thy care upon mee, for in the word of the Lord I promi&s;e the, that after many dayes thou &s;halt finde it. Yea let it be but a piece of bread that thou ca&s;te&s;t, and thou &s;halt find it to be a tree of of life unto thee. For as <HI>Saint Bernard</HI> noteth, this is the difference betweene God and the devill,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard de gra|dib. &s;uperb. gra+du. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>ille obtulit pomum &amp; ab&s;tulit paradi&s;um, De|us offert paradi&s;um &amp; po&s;tulat pomum,</HI> He offered an apple, and took away paradi&s;e, God offereth paradi&s;e, and requireth but an apple.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 2. <HI>Give a portion: Saint Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaking of the&s;e words &s;aith, <HI>primum quaerendum nobis est, quid &s;it unde partes facere praecipi|mur. E&s;t namque quoddam bonum, &amp; ip&s;um e&s;t &s;ummum bonum, cha|ritas videlicet, quae ni&s;i partiatur perfectum bonum non est. Partitur enim in dilectione Dei, &amp; in dilectione proximi,</HI> the fir&s;t thing that wee are to &s;eeke for is, what that is of which wee are commanded to make <HI>a portion.</HI> For there is a certaine good, and it is the chiefe&s;t good, na|mely charity, which unle&s;&s;e it be devided is not a perfect good. It is devided therefore into the love of God, and into the love of our neigh|bour.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. m. c. <HI>2.</HI> Apocal.</NOTE> The charitable love of our neighbour is devided into as many parts, as are there per&s;ons that &s;tand in need of it. This therefore it is that the Preacher here &s;aith, <HI>give thy portion to &s;even and al&s;o unto eight.</HI> That
<PB N="401" REF="198"> is &s;aith <HI>Lyra da abundanter,</HI> give abundantly:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremell. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> that is &s;aith <HI>Tremellius di&s;tribue quam plurimis potes,</HI> give to as many as thou can&s;t. Cajetane telleth us that the old Jewes in honour of the &s;even fir&s;t dayes did give their almes unto &s;even per&s;ons as contented with that number.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cajetan. in haec verba.</NOTE> And that therefore the Spirit of God doth here admoni&s;h them to give a por|tion unto &s;even and unto eight al&s;o, as if it were &s;aid, doe not &s;et tho&s;e bounds unto thy charity,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Nazianz. Orat. <HI>16.</HI></NOTE> &s;o that if need be thou be not ready to go beyond them. But it &s;eemeth by <HI>Nazianzene</HI> that the <HI>Jews</HI> did take their cu&s;tome of giving unto &s;even from this pa&s;&s;age of Scripture, as if they were commanded to give to &s;even only, and that eight was added as a thing left unto their own plea&s;ure; he therefore &s;peaking of <HI>Porreus</HI> a Bi&s;hop &s;aith, <HI>pauperum inopiam quantum poterat &s;ublevans, partemque dans non &s;eptem duntaxat, velut Solomonis lex prae&s;cribit, verum &s;i octavus accederet, libentius &s;ua profunderet, quam alii acquirunt;</HI> re|lieving the wants of the poore, as much as he could, and giving a por|tion not only to &s;even, as the law of <HI>Solomon</HI> pre&s;cribeth, but if an eight did come, be&s;towing that which he had as willingly, as others doe get that which they have not. And indeed it is the glory of chari|tie, to di&s;per&s;e it &s;elfe to many, not only to tho&s;e, that are of our kin|dred, but to tho&s;e al&s;o that are not, not only to tho&s;e that we know, but to tho&s;e al&s;o that we know not, not only to tho&s;e of the &s;ame place with us, but to Strangers al&s;o, not only to tho&s;e that are of the &s;ame religion with us, but to them al&s;o that differ therein from us. The manner of the ancient Chri&s;tians, being to doe &s;o, and <HI>Julian</HI> the Apo|&s;tate envying them for it, he gave order to his Officers to build ho&s;pi|talls for travellers, <HI>Xenodochia,</HI> in which they &s;hould receive all, even Chri&s;tians al&s;o, who were hatefull to him without any difference, &s;ay|ing that by that bountifull means, the Di&s;ciples of Je&s;us had won the hearts of all. Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> con&s;idering that pa&s;&s;age of the women,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mark.</HI> 16.1.</NOTE> who had bought &s;pices, that they might embalme Je&s;us, thereupon, &s;aith, <HI>non ad ungendum tantum aliquam corporis partem, videlicet pedes aut ca|put, &s;ed ut venientes ungerent Je&s;um, quod e&s;t totius corporis complexio.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard.</NOTE> <HI>Tu quoque &s;i te induas vi&s;cera mi&s;ericordiae, liberalem benignumque te exhi|beas erga omnes,</HI> it was not to anoynt &s;ome one part of his body, namely his head or his feet, but that comming, they might anoynt Je&s;us,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Galat.</HI> 2.9. <HI>V.</HI> 10</NOTE> which comprehendeth the whole body of him. And doe thou al&s;o,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertull. adver&s;. Hermogen.</NOTE> if thou do&s;t put on the bowels of mercy, &s;hew thy &s;elfe liberall, and bountifull towards all. When Saint <HI>Paul</HI> came to <HI>Jeru&s;alem, Peter, James</HI> and <HI>John</HI> gave him the right hand of fellow&s;hip, and <HI>Tertullian</HI> &s;aith of it, <HI>de officii distributione pepigerunt,</HI> they made a covenant with him con|cerning the di&s;tribution of the mini&s;tery, that he and <HI>Barnabas</HI> &s;hould goe to the heathen, and they unto the circumci&s;ion, only they would that they &s;hould remember the poore. That was a thing to be done every where, that was to be done among the heathen, as well as among the circumci&s;ion, that was to be done to <HI>eight,</HI> the Gentiles, as well as to <HI>&s;even</HI> the Jewes. <HI>For thou knowe&s;t not what &s;hall be upon the earth,</HI> that
<PB N="402" REF="199"> is, thou knowe&s;t not what mi&s;ery, what calamity &s;hall come, wherein the charity which thou ha&s;t &s;hewed, may be a means to move God to pre&s;erve and to deliver thee. For <HI>godline&s;&s;e hath not only the promi&s;e of the life to come,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.8.</NOTE> <HI>but of this life al&s;o.</HI> Or el&s;e, as <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>forte eve|niet mortalitas hominum per pe&s;tilentiam aut gladium, in qua toleris de vi|ta prae&s;enti;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; tunc opera pietatis valebunt tibi, quia &s;ola pietas e&s;t comes defunctorum ut dicet Augu&s;tinus,</HI> perhaps a mortality of men &s;hall come either by the Pe&s;tilence, or el&s;e by the Sword, in which thou &s;halt be taken away from this pre&s;ent life, and then thy works of godline&s;&s;e will be profitable unto thee: for godline&s;&s;e onely is the companion of the dead, as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh. Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> expounding this ver&s;e, It is, &s;aith he, <HI>ac &s;i aperte diceretur, &s;ic di&s;pen&s;a temporalia, ut appetere non oblivi&s;caris aeterna. Oportet namque ut in po&s;terum bene agendo provideas, qui de venturo judicio quanta tribulatio &s;equatur ignoras. Hinc e&s;t quod quindecim gradibus templi a&s;cenditur, ut ex ip&s;a ejus a&s;cen&s;ione di&s;catur, quatenus per &s;eptem &amp; octo temporalis &s;olicite di&s;pen&s;etur actio, &amp; pro|vide man&s;io aeterna requiratur,</HI> as if it were plainly &s;aid, &s;o di&s;po&s;e of temporall things, that thou forget not to &s;eeke after eternall things. For it behoveth thee that by doing well, thou provide for the time to come, who knows not what calamity may follow in the judgement that is to come.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral. l. <HI>35.</HI> c. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE> Hence it is that the temple a&s;cended up by fifteene &s;teps, that by the very a&s;cending of it might be learned, how by &s;even and eight both our temporall actions might be ordered carefully, and our eternall man&s;ion might be &s;ought for providently. The ancient fathers are very much in finding out &s;ome my&s;tery in the fir&s;t part of this ver&s;e, and in the numbers &s;even and eight. Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Sancti itaque Dei par|tes &s;eptem dant amoris &s;ui,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in c. <HI>2.</HI> Apocalyp.</NOTE> <HI>quam in exercitiis vitae activae occupantur, vi|delicet quum curam proximo non &s;olum carnalem &s;ed &amp; &s;piritualem impen|dunt. Dant etiam partes octo quum eos amor Dei ad contemplationem ejus revocant,</HI> the Saints of God therefore doe give to &s;even, portions of their love, when they are bu&s;ied in the works of an active life, name|ly when they be&s;tow not only a carnall, but a &s;pirituall care upon their neighbour. They give al&s;o portions to eight, when the love of God calleth them back againe to a contemplation of him. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> fin|deth out here the my&s;terie of the two parts of the Scriptures, and in the number <HI>&s;even,</HI> the Old Te&s;tament, becau&s;e of the Sabbath of the Jewes, in the number <HI>eight</HI> the New Te&s;tament, becau&s;e of the re&s;urrection. And &s;hewing that the Jewes did give their faith only to the Old Te&s;ta|ment, to the number <HI>&s;even,</HI> that <HI>Marcion,</HI> the <HI>Manichees,</HI> and other here|ticks did give their faith only to the number <HI>eight,</HI> to the new Te&s;tament rejecting the old, he concludeth, <HI>nos utrique credamus in&s;trumento. Non enim po&s;&s;umus dignos cruciatus dignamque paenam jam nunc mente compre|hendere, quae repo&s;ita e&s;t his qui ver&s;antur in terra Judaeis atque haereticis e duobus alterum denegantibus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> let us therefore beleeve both in&s;truments. For we cannot now comprehend in our minds, the de&s;erved tor|ments, the de&s;erved puni&s;hment, which is laid up for tho&s;e that
<PB N="403" REF="199"> are upon the earth, Jewes and haereticks, that doe denie either of them.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 3. S. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;t.</HI> &s;hewing how in the condition of this life, we all &s;tand in need one of the other; &amp; that not only he that receiveth alms,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Homil. <HI>17.</HI> in <HI>2.</HI> ad Corinth.</NOTE> &s;tandeth in need of him that giveth it, but he that giveth it al&s;o &s;tandeth in need of him that receiveth it: giveth this rea&s;on of it, <HI>ni&s;i enim pauperes e&s;&s;ent, &s;a|lus no&s;tra magna ex parte profligata e&s;&s;et, ubi enim pecunias &s;erere po&s;&s;emus, non haberemus,</HI> becau&s;e unle&s;&s;e that there were poore, our &s;alvation would be in a great part hindred, becau&s;e we &s;hould not have where to &s;ow our money. Now with this metaphor, the Preacher having begun this chapter,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremell. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Tremellius</HI> conceiveth him to continue the &s;ame in this ver&s;e, and that here he &s;heweth, that as God ble&s;&s;eth the &s;eed that is &s;o|wen, and by <HI>the raine of the full clouds,</HI> maketh it to be fruitfull; &s;o he ble&s;&s;eth al&s;o the works of charity, and maketh them fruitfull in much comfort and happine&s;&s;e. Wherefore taking al&s;o the Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> here u&s;ed to &s;ignifie <HI>plantam,</HI> a plant, for &s;o him&s;elfe tran&s;lateth it, hee giveth this meaning of the latter part of the ver&s;e, that as where&s;oever the plant falls, there the owner of it is &s;ure to find it, and to receive fruit of it, &s;o he that doth the works of charity, &s;hall be &s;ure to find and receive the fruit and reward of them. Now this meaning is both reli|gious, and mo&s;t true. When <HI>Alexander</HI> &s;et forward unto his great ex|ploits, before he went from <HI>Macedonia,</HI> he devided to his captains and friends all that he po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed. For which, when one of his friends repro|ved him, &s;aying that he was prodigall, becau&s;e he had re&s;erved nothing for him&s;elfe: the an&s;were which <HI>Alexander</HI> gave, was this, that he had re&s;erved much unto him&s;elfe: namely, hope of the Monarchy of the world, which by his valour, and helpe of tho&s;e his captaines, and no|bles he hoped to attaine. And &s;urely, though to &s;ome, he that giveth unto the poore, may &s;eem to be prodigall, yet in re&s;pect of the hope, which he hath of profit, he is frugally wi&s;e. Neither is his hope &s;uch as <HI>Alexanders</HI> was, which depended on the uncertainty of warre, but it is grounded upon the certainty of Gods word. But as tho&s;e excellent and mo&s;t learned men doe many times fetch their tran&s;lation afarre off, &s;o it is not &s;eldome that they goe far to bring home the &s;en&s;e and mea|ning of it. It &s;eemeth to me, that wee may reach the Preachers mea|ning neerer hand. For having fir&s;t exhorted unto charity, in the fir&s;t ver&s;e, &s;econdly having commended to our charity, many per&s;ons in the &s;econd ver&s;e, here he proceedeth to the mea&s;ure of our charity, and would have it to be full. The P&s;almi&s;t &s;peaking of a good man, &s;aith, <HI>he hath di&s;per&s;ed, he hath given to the poore,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 112.9.</NOTE> <HI>his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e endureth for|ever, his horne &s;hall be exalted.</HI> And here the Preacher having exhorted us to di&s;per&s;e our charity to many; next he exhorteth us to give to them freely. <HI>For as the clouds being full of raine,</HI> doe readily <HI>empty them&s;elves upon the earth,</HI> which is under them; &s;o he would have them, who are full of abundance, freely to give to the poore, and to &s;atisfie the want of them, who by the meane&s;&s;e of their e&s;tate, are in a low condition.
<PB N="404" REF="200"> And this he would have them to doe, while they have time of doing good, and when now in their lives they may provide how it &s;hall be with them after death, becau&s;e <HI>as the tree falleth, either toward the North, or toward the South, there it &s;hall be.</HI> But there is al&s;o &s;omthing more to be noted in the words. For they may be rendred out of the Originall thus, <HI>if the clouds be full, they empty the raine upon the earth,</HI> for &s;o <HI>Pagnine, Arias Montanus,</HI> and the French tran&s;lation doe reade the words. Now the Originall word here u&s;ed for raine is, <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ig|nifieth a great and &s;trong raine, as Rabbi <HI>Kimchi</HI> affirmeth: &s;o that wee are taught, that as the clouds, being full, doe give great &s;tore of raine, &s;o they who are full of the ble&s;&s;ings of this life, &s;hould not be &s;cant in affording reliefe unto them that want it. If thou be an Olive tree, a fat tree, be al&s;o a greene Olive tree, as the Prophet &s;aith that he was, and bring forth much fruit in thy works of charity. For how can&s;t thou pray as the Prophet <HI>David</HI> doth, <HI>Have mercy upon me, O Lord, ac|cording to thy loving kindne&s;&s;e,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 52.8.</NOTE> <HI>according to the multitude of thy tender mer|cies blot out my tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions;</HI> If there be not in thee a loving kind|ne&s;&s;e toward the poore?<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 51.1.</NOTE> If there be not in thee tender mercies to|wards them, if it be a &s;cantne&s;&s;e, not a multitude of mercies that is in thee?<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Malachi.</HI> 1.14.</NOTE> Doth not the Prophet <HI>Malachy</HI> tell us, <HI>cur&s;ed is the deceiver, which hath in his flocke a male, and &s;acrificeth to the Lord a corrupt thing?</HI> Where he is called a deceiver, becau&s;e having wherewith to doe bet|ter, by his offering he maketh him&s;elfe, as it were, not able. But yet how many &s;uch are there in the world,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Homil. <HI>17.</HI> ad populum.</NOTE> and whereas Saint <HI>Chry&s;ostome</HI> &s;peaketh, they ride on hor&s;es with golden chains, and lie on &s;ilver beds, and u&s;e much more pompe, yet when they come to give to the poore, <HI>pauperrimis redduntur pauperiores,</HI> they are made more poore then the poore&s;t. <HI>Alexander Quintus,</HI> Pope of <HI>Rome</HI> &s;aid of him&s;elfe, That when he was a Bi&s;hop, he was rich, when he was a Cardinall, hee was poore, and when he was Pope, hee was a beggar; and plainly &s;o it is with many, who the richer they are, &s;till are the poorer, in re&s;pect of their giving to the poore. Now if we read the former part of the ver&s;e &s;o, and take it in this &s;en&s;e, then we may under&s;tand the latter part of the ver&s;e thus, that <HI>as the tree falling towards the South, lyeth there,</HI> &s;o when a worke of charity is done with a warme devotion, accordingly it is by God accepted: <HI>and as when a tree falleth towards the North, it ly|eth there,</HI> &s;o when a worke of charity is done with a cold devotion, it is accordingly by God e&s;teemed. But generally the ancient Fathers, and latter expo&s;itors doe under&s;tand, or at lea&s;t apply the latter part of the ver&s;e with reference unto death. Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Where the tree falls whether toward the North, or towards the South, there it &s;hall bee, in diem enim mortis &s;uae ju&s;tus ad au&s;trum cadit peccator ad aquilonem,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral. l. <HI>12.</HI> c. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> <HI>quia &amp; ju&s;tus per fervorem &s;piritus ad gaudia ducitur, &amp; peccator cum apo&s;tata angelo, qui dixit &s;edebo in lateribus aquilonis, in frigido &s;uo corde reproba|tur,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 14.13.</NOTE> for the righteous, in the day of death falleth towards the South, and by the fervour of the &s;pirit, is carryed unto joyes; the &s;inner with
<PB N="405" REF="200"> the apo&s;tate angel, who &s;aid, <HI>I will &s;it on the &s;ides of the north,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 14.13.</NOTE> in his cold heart is rejected. Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;aith, Man is a tree, which by death is cut downe, and where&s;oever he falleth, there hee &s;hall be, becau&s;e there God judgeth him, where death findeth him, and there he &s;hall be without any change. <HI>Videat ergo quo ca&s;ura &s;it, antequam cadat, quia po&s;tquam ceciderit, non adjiciet ut re&s;urgat, &s;ed ut nec &s;e vertat,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bern. Serm. <HI>49.</HI> ex parvis.</NOTE> let him therefore &s;ee where he falleth, before he falleth, becau&s;e when he is fal|len, he &s;hall not helpe him&s;elfe to ri&s;e, no, not &s;o much as to turne him&s;elfe. Now which way he &s;hall fall, if any one will know, let him marke his boughs, for where the boughs are mo&s;t and greate&s;t, on that &s;ide there is no doubt that his fall will be. Our boughs then are our love and our de&s;ires, and from them our actions, by which we are extended towards the South, if that we love &s;pirituall things chiefly: if carnall things be more weightie with us, then are wee extended towards the North, and accordingly, when we die will the&s;e make us to fall, make us to lie.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 4. For the under&s;tanding of this ver&s;e, wee may take a good light from <HI>Columella;</HI> who&s;e words are the&s;e, <HI>&V;bi paleis immixta &s;unt frumenta vento &s;eparentur. Ad eam rem favonius habetur eximius, quem tamen operiri lenti e&s;t agricolae, qui dum expectatur &s;aeva nos hyems oppri|mit. Itaque in area detrita frumenta &s;ic &s;unt aggerenda ut omni &s;tatim occa&s;ione po&s;&s;int excerni. Ac &s;i pluribus diebu undique &s;ilebit aura vannis expurgentur, ne po&s;t nimiam ventorum &s;egnitiem,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Columel. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>21</HI></NOTE> <HI>va&s;ta tempe&s;tas irritum faciat totius anni laborem,</HI> when the grains of corne are mixed with chaffe, let them be &s;evered by wind. A we&s;t wind is accounted ex|cellent for this bu&s;ine&s;&s;e: but yet to &s;tay for it, is a &s;igne of a lazy hu&s;|band-man, becau&s;e while it is expected, the hard winter overtaketh us. Wherefore the thre&s;hed corne is &s;o to be laid together in the barne|floore, that upon every occa&s;ion it may be winnowed. And if for ma|ny dayes, the wind be &s;till and quiet every way, let it be clean&s;ed with fannes, lea&s;t after too much dulne&s;&s;e and &s;lackne&s;&s;e of the winds, a grie|vous tempe&s;t overflow the labour of the whole yeere: To apply it to the ver&s;e. He that delayeth the works of his charity, expecting, as he &s;aith, the fitte&s;t occa&s;ion, as if the hu&s;band-man &s;hould &s;tay his win|nowing, expecting a we&s;terne favorian wind, &s;heweth his charity to be cold in him: and perhaps &s;ome tempe&s;t, &s;ome affliction &s;hall ari&s;e, which may deprive him of his means, and make him unable to &s;ow, unable to exerci&s;e his charity. In generall, the meaning of the ver&s;e is, that as he who &s;crupulou&s;ly <HI>ob&s;erveth the wind, regardeth the clouds,</HI> oftentimes overpa&s;&s;eth his &s;owing, loo&s;eth his reaping; &s;o he that &s;heweth not his charity, but in a curious ob&s;erving, how, when, and to whom he doth it, loo&s;eth the &s;owing of much &s;eed, loo&s;eth the reaping of much fruite. To con&s;ider the thing more particularly. And fir&s;t, as for him that curiou&s;ly con&s;idereth unto whom he giveth, Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>qui con&s;iderat cui tribuit, &s;aepe praeterit eum qui meretur accipere,</HI> he that con&s;idereth on whom he be&s;toweth his almes, oftentimes pa&s;&s;eth him
<PB N="406" REF="201"> by, who is worthy to receive them. The precept of our Saviour Chri&s;t is,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luc.</HI> 6.30.</NOTE> <HI>give to every man that asketh of thee:</HI> if his nece&s;&s;itie make him to a&s;ke, let thy charity make thee to give. What though he be an ill liver?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Conc. <HI>2.</HI> de Lazaro.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> tells us <HI>non moribus demus &s;ed homini, nec illius ob &s;uam virtutem nos mi&s;ereatur, &s;ed ob calamitatem,</HI> let us not give to the manners of the man, but to the man, neither let us have pitty of him in regard of his vertue, but of his mi&s;ery. The &s;ame Father tells us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Portus in nece&s;&s;itate con&s;titutorum homo mi&s;ericors,</HI> a mercifull man is the haven of them that are in di&s;tre&s;&s;e. Wherefore as in a tempe&s;t the haven receiveth all that flye unto it, whether good or bad, &s;o a mercifull man be&s;toweth his charity upon all, and though he rather helpeth them, that live well, yet all that be in want &s;hall have his reliefe. Secondly as for him that ob&s;erveth when he will give, and as the &s;crupulous hu&s;|bandman ob&s;erveth the wind, regardeth the clouds, &s;o he &s;tayeth untill the poore body &s;ue unto him, or untill &s;ome friend who&s;e favour he re|&s;pecteth, doe &s;peak for him, what doth he but loo&s;e the &s;owing of his charity? what doth he but loo&s;e much comfort which he might reape? For as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. l. Hom. <HI>50.</HI> Homil. <HI>39.</HI></NOTE> <HI>perfecta e&s;t mi&s;ericordia, ut ante occurrat e&s;urienti cibus, quam roget mendicus, quae precibus extorquetur non e&s;t per|fecta,</HI> perfect mercifulne&s;&s;e, is that the food doe meete the hungry, be|fore that the beggar a&s;ke for it, that which is extorted by begging is not perfect. Doth not &s;aith he the raine fal before thou a&s;ke&s;t for it? Doth not the &s;un ari&s;e while thou art in thy bed? Doe not the fruits &s;pring while thou thinke&s;t not of them? And do&s;t thou &ocirc; man &s;ell a little bread for much a&s;king? <HI>Magnum opus e&s;t eleemo&s;ynae, ut faciat homo, quod facit Deus,</HI> the great work of charity is that man doe as God doth. Thirdly as for him that curiou&s;ly ob&s;erveth how he giveth, and as he that ob&s;erveth the wind &s;oweth not lea&s;t the wind &s;hould blow away his &s;eed, as he that regardeth the clouds reapeth not fearing the frounes of the &s;kye, &s;o he feareth to &s;hew his charity in any great manner, lea&s;t him&s;elfe &s;hould come to want; let him heare, what <HI>David</HI> &s;aith <HI>he never &s;aw,</HI> &s;aying, <HI>I have been young,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 36.25. <HI>&amp;</HI> 26.</NOTE> <HI>and now am old, yet have I not &s;een the righteous for&s;aken, nor his &s;eed begging their bread.</HI> Perhaps it will be objected, that there have been many righteous men poore: but the place &s;peaketh of a righ|teous charitable man, for &s;o the following ver&s;e &s;heweth, which &s;aith, <HI>he is ever mercifull and lendeth, and his &s;eed is ble&s;&s;ed.</HI> And who hath &s;een &s;uch a one or his &s;eed to be brought to &s;uch poverty, as to beg his bread? When our Saviour Chri&s;t had fed foure thou&s;and with &s;even loaves and a five fi&s;hes,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin.</NOTE> all being filled, &s;even ba&s;kets full of fragments were ga|thered up: and it is Saint <HI>Au&s;tins</HI> note upon it, <HI>cre&s;cit dum impendi|tur victus, &s;ic eleemo&s;yna &s;i indigentibus erogetur,</HI> the victuals in &s;pending were augmented, and &s;o is the almes which is given to the poore. By allu&s;ion Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> applyeth this ver&s;e unto them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> who preach the word of God in that time only when the people are willing to heare: whereas &s;aith he, <HI>oportun&egrave; importun&egrave; &s;uo tenore Dei &s;ermo e&s;t praedican|dus, nec fidei tempore adver&s;ariarum nubium con&s;ideranda tempe&s;tas,</HI> the
<PB N="407" REF="201"> word of God is to be preached in &s;ea&s;on, out of Sea&s;on, in its owne te|nour, neither in a time of &s;aith, is the tempe&s;t of oppo&s;ing clouds to be regarded. Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> maketh another allu&s;ion, and he &s;aith, what is &s;ignified <HI>by wind</HI> but the tempting of the wicked &s;pirits?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Pa&s;t. Cu. p. <HI>3.</HI> Adm. <HI>16</HI></NOTE> What by the <HI>clouds</HI> which are moved by the wind but the oppo&s;ition of wicked men? For as the clouds are driven by the wind, &s;o wicked men are driven by the breath of the uncleane Spirits. He therefore <HI>that ob&s;erveth, the wind, &s;oweth not, and he that regardeth the clouds never reapeth, quia qui&s;quis tentationem malignorum Spirituum, qui&s;quis per&s;ecutionem malignorum hominum metuit, neque nunc grana boni operis &s;eminat, neque tunc mani|pulos &s;anctae retributionis &s;ecat,</HI> becau&s;e who&s;oever feareth the tempta|tions of the wicked &s;pirits, who&s;oever feareth the per&s;ecution of evill men, &s;hall neither &s;ow now the &s;eed of good works, nor hereafter reape the handfuls of a holy retribution.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 5. The Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ome doe tran&s;late <HI>ventum</HI> the wind, taking their direction as it &s;eemeth from the former ver&s;e, where the wind is &s;poken of. Others doe tran&s;late it <HI>Spiritum</HI> the &s;pirit, being guided as it &s;eemes by the latter part of this ver&s;e, which &s;peaketh of the forming of man in the wombe of his Mother. Thus our tran&s;lation readeth it, and therefore &s;o to con&s;ider it. I am fir&s;t of all moved to con|&s;ider why the Preacher &s;hould joyne this with the argument of charity, and it maketh me to thinke that the works of charity doe make God in a more e&s;peciall manner to ble&s;&s;e the fruite of the wombe,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Kings</HI> 14.8.</NOTE> and to give to them children, who doe give to his children in their di&s;tre&s;&s;e and want. I am &s;ure that it was &s;o with the <HI>Shunamite,</HI> and &s;he having provided a chamber and furni&s;hed it for the Prophet <HI>Eli&s;ha,</HI> God provided a cham|ber for her child, and furni&s;hed her with fruit of her wombe. Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> noting the &s;ame and &s;peaking of it, &s;aith, <HI>Sunamitis illa magna mulier in &s;uperioribus ho&s;pitium paravit, &amp; ibi concipiendae &s;obolis meruit praerogativam, ibidemque re&s;u&s;citati pignoris vidit miraculum,</HI> that great woman the <HI>Shunamite</HI> prepared an upper lodging for the Prophet, and there it was that &s;he obtained the prerogative of conceiving a child, there &s;he &s;aw the miracle of her &s;on re&s;tored unto life. But to con&s;ider the ver&s;e, what is more divine, what more admirable, what more &s;ecret then the forming of man in <HI>the wombe? Philo&s;ophers</HI> and <HI>Phy&s;itians</HI> may &s;tudy much about it, as which part fir&s;t liveth, which is fir&s;t formed, and whether all be formed together, but <HI>Galen</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Galen.</NOTE> &s;aid well, the que&s;tion is &s;o difficult and hard to be re&s;olved, as that it is known to none, but to God and nature. There may be much &s;aid of a formatiue faculty, and diver&s;e opinions may di&s;pute it diver&s;ly, at what time the formation is perfe|cted, to which <HI>Hypocrates</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hypocrat.</NOTE> pre&s;cribeth in male children thirty dayes as the longe&s;t time, in females two and forty: but let us &s;ay with the <HI>P&s;al|mi&s;t, I will prai&s;e thee O Lord, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 139.14. <HI>&amp;</HI> 15.</NOTE> <HI>mer|vailous are they workes: my &s;ub&s;tance was not hid from thee, when I was made in &s;ecret, and curiou&s;ly wrought in the lowe&s;t parts of the earth.</HI> As for <HI>the bones</HI> of man which the Preacher here more particularity mentio|neth,
<PB N="408" REF="202"> they are they, which as <HI>Hypocrates</HI> &s;aith doe give <GAP DESC="foreign"> to the body uprightne&s;&s;e &s;hape, &s;tablene&s;&s;e: becau&s;e they doe as it were defend it, again&s;t the force that a&s;|&s;aulteth it, and becau&s;e they uphold the body, as the foundation, wals and timber uphold the hou&s;e: uprightne&s;&s;e, becau&s;e unle&s;&s;e the crea|tures had bones, they would creepe upon the ground as wormes doe: &s;hape and figure becau&s;e from them the &s;tature and growth are limited and bounded. Moreover not one but many are the <HI>bones</HI> of mans body, and man being made to be apprehen&s;ive in under&s;tanding, &s;tirring in action, capable of the repre&s;entation of &s;en&s;itive things, and accordingly to follow diver&s;e objects to which his de&s;ire &s;hould carry him, therefore motion was be&s;towed upon him: whereas if he had con&s;i&s;ted but of one bone, how could he either have bowed any way, or any way reached out his body to any thing, either by going to it or taking of it? Al|mighty God therefore for the u&s;e of mans life, and for the exerci&s;e of the &s;everall motions of the body, hath &s;trangly compo&s;ed the body of a pack or &s;et of bones, of diver&s;e &s;ortes and manifold &s;hapes. Now this variety is likewi&s;e very u&s;efull, that when one bone receiveth any hurt, thereby the others might not be hindred in their offices. And yet though many be the bones of mans body, &s;uch is the connexion of them, and &s;o wonderfully are they fitted together, that all are as it were but one by that contiguity which is betweene them. The totall compage and &s;et of the bones is called a <HI>Syntaxe</HI> and the fabrick of the bones &s;o fitted to|gether is called a &s;celeton. Of which how they are made, how joyned together, how fitted &s;o, who can tell but <HI>he that maketh all?</HI> But to apply now the ver&s;e unto the Preachers argument in this place, I con|ceive thus of it. The Preacher here, in our charity would have us to imitate God in this great worke of his: <HI>for thou knowe&s;t not the way of God</HI> when he formeth the bodyes of children, and giveth &s;oules unto them of whom he fore knoweth that they will be wicked, and that they will imploy both unto his di&s;honour: <HI>thou knowe&s;t not the way of God,</HI> when he giveth &s;ub&s;tance and life to children of adultery and fornica|tion, as well as he doth to them who are born in wedlock, and of whom he foreknoweth that they will &s;erve him and feare him. Notwith&s;tan|ding this God doth, and doe thou &s;o likewi&s;e in thy workes of charity, although thy poore foreknowledge may think, that what thou give&s;t will be &s;pent in naughtine&s;&s;e. Againe he that is in the wombe knoweth not what is done for him, knoweth not who it is that doth it; he doth not a&s;ke it, he doth not de&s;ire it, God him&s;elf alone &s;eeth, what is need|full, and he doth all for him. And doe thou &s;o likewi&s;e, doe thou be|&s;tow thine almes on him that knowes thee not, on him that a&s;keth not of thee, and cannot tell from whence it commeth to him. To this Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> exhorting thee, &s;aith, <HI>videndus e&s;t ille, qui te non videt, requi|rendus e&s;t ille qui erube&s;cit videri: ille etiam clau&s;us in carcere occurrat tibi, ille affectus aegritudine mentem tuam per&s;onet, qui aures non potest,</HI> he is to be &s;een by thee, who doth not &s;ee thee, he is to be &s;ought out who is
<PB N="409" REF="202"> a&s;hamed to be &s;een by thee, let him meete thee who is &s;hut up in pri&s;on, and let his voice who lyeth &s;ick a bed &s;ound in thy mynd, which cannot &s;ound in thine eares. Againe that which God worketh in the wombe is all done in &s;ecret, and is hidden from the eyes of all: let thy workes of charity be done &s;o likewi&s;e, let them be done in &s;ecrecy, not in o&s;ten|tation, and let not thy left hand know, what thy right hand doth. La&s;tly thou knowe&s;t not how the Spirit comes into the child, how the bones are &s;et up and &s;trengthned, yet thou finde&s;t it to be done: wherefore give unto the poore and &s;pare not, and though thou knowe&s;t not how it commeth to pa&s;&s;e, yet thou &s;halt find thine e&s;tate to be &s;trengthned thy &s;ub&s;tance to be encrea&s;ed, the ble&s;&s;ings of God to be upon thee and multiplied towards thee. It were a vaine thing to feare, when a child is conceived lea&s;t the Spirit &s;hould not find the way into it, or lea&s;t the bones &s;hould not grow in him, and no le&s;&s;e vaine is their feare, who are troubled lea&s;t by giving to the poore, their e&s;tate &s;hould decay, and that either them&s;elves or theirs &s;hould be brought to mi&s;ery. <HI>Leo</HI> there|fore &s;aith, <HI>non timeatur in his expen&s;is defectio facultatum quoniam ip&s;a benignitas magna &s;ub&s;tantia e&s;t, nec pote&s;t charitati dee&s;&s;e materies,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Leo. Serm. <HI>10.</HI> de Quadrag.</NOTE> <HI>ubi Chri&s;tus pa&s;cit, &amp; pa&s;citur. In omni hoc opere illa intervenit manus, quae panem frangendo auget, &amp; erogando multiplicat;</HI> in the&s;e expences let not a failing of means be feared, becau&s;e bounty it &s;elf is great wealth, neither can the matter of bounty be wanting, where Chri&s;t him&s;elfe feedeth, and is fed. In every &s;uch worke that hand is a fellow worker, which encrea&s;eth bread by breaking it, and by giving multiplyeth. And &s;urely as God doth wonderfully by building up the hou&s;e of mans body in his mothers wombe, &s;o doth he oftentimes wonderfully build up their hou&s;es, who are free in the workes of charity. Wherefore Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;aith, <HI>in haec aedificia &s;tudeamus evacuare pecunias no&s;tras, nec fabris nec &s;tructoribus nec operariis opus habebimus: manus namque pauperum tales domos aedificant &amp; non mireris,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. in Epi&s;tol. ad Heb. Homil. <HI>15.</HI></NOTE> <HI>elemo&s;yna quippe artifex magna, &amp; auxiliatrix eorum, qui illam faciunt,</HI> upon the&s;e buildings let us &s;tudy to lay out our monyes, wee &s;hall not need either carpen|ters, or ma&s;ons, or labourers: the hands of the poore doe build &s;uch hou&s;es, and mervaile not at it, for charity is an artificer that doth great things, and is a great helper of them that u&s;e it.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 6. Great is the worke of God in framing of man, and it cannot but be a great admiration to man, to con&s;ider, how as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieron. in hoc caput.</NOTE> <HI>ex vili elemento corpus hominis in diver&s;as effigies artu&s;que variatur, &amp; de eodem &s;emine aliud molle&s;cat in carnibus, aliud dure&s;cat in o&s;&s;ibus, aliud in venis palpitet, aliud in nervis ligetur,</HI> from one vile matter and beginning, the body of man is divet&s;efied into diver&s;e &s;hapes and limbs, and of the &s;ame &s;eed, &s;ome is mollified into fle&s;h, &s;ome is hardened into bones, &s;ome beateth in the veines, &s;ome is bound up in the nerves and &s;inewes. And &s;urely wonderfull al&s;o is the worke of God to him that &s;hall con&s;ider it, how from one &s;mall graine, and that rotten in the earth, the blade &s;pringeth up, the blo&s;&s;ome flouri&s;heth,
<PB N="410" REF="203"> and many graines are brought forth and ripened. To this the Preacher here returneth, and goeth on by the &s;imilitude of &s;owing to exhort us to the workes of charity and godline&s;&s;e. Now good works are like unto &s;eed, becau&s;e as from one graine of &s;eed many &s;eeds are gathered, not at the time of &s;owing, but at the end of the yeere; &s;o from one good worke we &s;hall gather a great harve&s;t not forthwith perhaps when we do it, but at the end of our lives. But if thou &s;owe&s;t, let it be <HI>thy &s;eed,</HI> let it be thine owne, let it be of thine owne that which thou do&s;t, &s;ow not with the &s;eed of another man, for then thou &s;inne&s;t, thou &s;owe&s;t not. And indeed thou maye&s;t po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e much lawfully and ju&s;tly, yet it is that only which thou &s;owe&s;t, that is truly thine. The re&s;t of the good things of this life which thou ha&s;t, are not &s;o much thine as the worlds. And when thou leave&s;t thy great e&s;tate, which by much labour thou ha&s;t gotten to thine heires, to thy friends, it is their &s;eed which thou &s;owe&s;t not thine owne, for they reape the harve&s;t of thy paines and care. They are thy good works only, which the world &s;hall not keepe from thee, they are thy workes of charity, which thou &s;halt not leave to thine heires and freinds, but &s;halt carry with thee into heaven, and there thou thy &s;elfe &s;halt reape the endles and unconceivable comfort of them. <HI>Sow</HI> therefore <HI>thy &s;eed,</HI> and &s;ow <HI>in the morning, and in the evening with|hold not thine hand,</HI> begin betimes, and when thou ha&s;t begun make not an end at any time.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Matutinam ju&s;titiam ve&s;pertina inveniat, &amp; ve&s;peri mi&s;ericordiam &s;olis ortus accumulet,</HI> let the evening find thy morning righteou&s;nes, &amp; let the morning adde unto the evenings mercifulne&s;&s;e, as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh. And here note, that there is here no mention made of the night, no &s;owing then is to be u&s;ed, that being the time of death: wherin none can work. But while life continueth, &s;ow in the mor|ning and in the beginning of it, &s;ow in the evening &amp; the end of it, let no time be omitted. Againe note that the morning &amp; the evening make the whole life of ma~: it is but a day. To our under&s;tanding it &s;eemeth in &s;ome to be very long, if that it exceed an hundred years: but &s;o doth a groate &s;eeme a great deale of mony to him that is very poore, whereas by a rich man it is accompted as nothing. And let this &s;hortne&s;&s;e of our life make us to be the more diligent in &s;owing. If a great King &s;hould bring us to a great heape of gold, and &s;hould bid us for one day to take out of it as much as we could, would we not then be &s;ure to begin early <HI>in the morning, and in the evening would we withold our hand?</HI> Now thus God dealeth with us, he giveth to us one day to gather and to get as much as we can, not of fading earthly trea&s;ure, but of immortall hea|venly glory, and &s;hall we then loo&s;e any time? The rea&s;on which the Preacher further addeth to pre&s;&s;e us to a plentifull and diligent &s;owing, is this, <HI>becau&s;e thou knowe&s;t not whether &s;hall pro&s;per this or that or both:</HI> the word tran&s;lated <HI>pro&s;per</HI> in the Originall as <GAP DESC="foreign"> and mo&s;t directly &s;ignifieth to be right, as being directed a right to the marke of thy comfort and happine&s;&s;e. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> readeth it, <HI>ne&s;cis quid placeat,</HI> thou knowe&s;t not what may plea&s;e. The vulgar Latin according to
<PB N="311" REF="203"> the Septuagint <HI>ne&s;cis quod magis oriatur,</HI> thou knowe&s;t not which &s;hall rather &s;pring up. The French tran&s;lation hath it; <HI>lequel e&s;cherra mieux,</HI> which &s;hall fall out better whether that which is done at one time, or that which is done at another. In generall that which the rea&s;on &s;heweth, is this, that for &s;owing, for doing good, every time may be as good as any time. Indeed for reaping there is a &s;et time, and that time mu&s;t be tarryed for and ob&s;erved, which is the good time which God &s;eeth upon the earth, and the glorious time which he hath appointed in heaven; but for <HI>&s;owing</HI> for doing well every time &s;erveth, and who knoweth which &s;hall doe be&s;t in the acceptance of God, and in the advancing of our ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e. Be therefore diligent and &s;ow continually. It is not <HI>in &s;owing</HI> as it is in buying and &s;elling, in tho&s;e, things are done by weight and by mea&s;ure, but in &s;owing, there is a &s;cattering abroad in a free and full manner. Wherefore when it is &s;aid of the righteous man, he hath di&s;per&s;ed, he hath given to the poore, <HI>Theodoret</HI> noteth upon it, <HI>Imitatur &s;erentes large &s;emina &amp; di&s;&s;ipantes ab manipulorum &s;pem,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. <HI>112.9.</HI> Theodoret. Ibi.</NOTE> he imitateth tho&s;e that &s;ow their &s;eed abundant|ly, &s;cattering it about in hope of filling there hands againe. Such a one it &s;eemeth was <HI>Agnes</HI> the Empre&s;&s;e, of whom <HI>Damianus</HI> &s;peaking &s;aith, <HI>O beata &s;uperbia, O beata mentis elatio,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Damian. l. <HI>7.</HI> Epi&s;t. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> <HI>omnibus digna prae|coniis: Nullis parcitur rebus, &amp; hoc &s;olum indigentibus &amp; eccle&s;iis non datur, quod extra tui juris peculium reperitur,</HI> O ble&s;&s;ed pride, O happy loftine&s;&s;e of mind! worthy of all commendation! Nothing is &s;pared, and that only is not given the poore and to the Church, which is not thine to give. Such a one was King <HI>Theodoric,</HI> of whom <HI>Ca&s;&s;io|dore</HI> &s;aith, <HI>haec &s;unt regia dona quod &s;emina &s;par&s;a in &s;egetem coale&s;cunt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;iod. var. l. <HI>3.</HI> var. <HI>29.</HI></NOTE> <HI>in unum coacta depereunt. Optamus ergo munera multis collata dividere, ut po&s;&s;int ubique no&s;tra beneficia pullulare,</HI> royall gifts are the &s;ame with &s;eeds, being &s;cattered they grow into feilds of corne, being kept to|gether they peri&s;h and are lo&s;t. We de&s;ire therefore to di&s;per&s;e our gifts, and to be&s;tow them upon many, that &s;o the works of our bounty may every where &s;pring up.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="7-8" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 7.</HI></BIBL> Truly the light is &s;weete, and a plea&s;ant thing it is for the eyes to behold the Sun.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 8.</HI></BIBL> But if a man live many yeeres, and rejoyce in them all, yet let him remember the dayes of darkene&s;&s;e, for they &s;hall be many. All that commeth is vanitie.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 7. This ver&s;e may be con&s;idered either as having reference to that which goes before, or el&s;e as beginning &s;ome new matter. As it hath reference to that which goes before, &s;o it may al&s;o be con&s;idered
<PB N="412" REF="204"> diver&s;ly. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> taking it to have reference unto the former ver&s;e under&s;tandeth it, as &s;hewing the happine&s;&s;e, which &s;hall be to them, who are diligent to &s;ow their &s;eed in the morning, and con&s;tant in &s;owing untill the evening.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> And therefore he &s;aith, <HI>Si &s;emper bene|feceris, &amp; omni aetate aequalem cur&s;um habueris, videbis Deum Patrem dulci&s;&s;imum lumen, videbis Chri&s;tum &s;olem ju&s;titiae,</HI> if thou &s;halt be care|full alwayes to doe well, and in every age of thy life &s;halt hold an equall cour&s;e of Godline&s;&s;e, thou &s;halt &s;ee God the Father, who is a mo&s;t &s;weete light, thou &s;halt &s;ee Chri&s;t who is the Sun of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e. And applying the evening and the morning in the former ver&s;e by allu|&s;ion unto the old and new Te&s;tament, he thereupon exhorteth us &s;o to &s;eek &s;pirituall under&s;tanding in the old Te&s;tament, as that we doe not thinke that which we read to be contained in the Evangeli&s;ts and Apo|&s;tles only: <HI>ignoramus enim nos in quo magis &s;cientia nobis &agrave; Deo tribuatur &amp; gratia, faelicemque eum e&s;&s;e qui utrumque in commune &s;ociaverit, &amp; qua&s;i unum corpus effecerit: quod qui fuerit con&s;ecutus videbit lucem, vi|debit Chri&s;tum &s;olem ju&s;titiae,</HI> becau&s;e we know not in which rather knowledge and grace from the Lord may be given to us. So that he is happy who &s;hall have joyned both of them together, and &s;hall have made one body of them: which he that hath obtained, &s;hall &s;ee light, &s;hall &s;ee Chri&s;t the Sun of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e. But as the ver&s;e is referred to the former, and to the generall argument of charity, whereof the pre|ceeding part of the chapter &s;peaketh, it may be al&s;o taken and under|&s;tood as containing an impediment in the works of charity which the Preacher removeth, as <HI>Lyra</HI> conceiveth it: or as containing an obje|ction again&s;t the works of charity, which the Preacher an&s;wereth as <HI>Tremellius</HI> apprehendeth it. The objection conceived to be made may be thus expre&s;&s;ed, why &s;hould I &s;pend my means upon others, which I have gotten for my &s;elfe? Why &s;hould others have the fruit of my labours? I will my &s;elfe enjoy the <HI>&s;weete</HI> delight of it, I will my &s;elfe take plea&s;ure in it, and while I have <HI>the light</HI> I will cheare mine owne heart, while <HI>mine eyes behold the Sun,</HI> I will plea&s;e mine eyes with the objects of con|tentment. Or if I doe help others, I will fir&s;t &s;erve my &s;elfe, I will fir&s;t <HI>&s;weeten</HI> mine owne life <HI>in the &s;weete light,</HI> I will fir&s;t &s;hine in the plea&s;ures of mine owne wayes, <HI>while the Sun &s;hines upon mee.</HI> Where|fore Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;aith well,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Homil. de mi&s;ericordia &amp; duabus vi|duis.</NOTE> <HI>Tria &s;unt quae in mi&s;ericordiae opere op|tanda &s;unt Chri&s;tiano, ut po&s;&s;it facere, ut velit, ut compleat,</HI> there are three things which in the work of charity a Chri&s;tian ought to de&s;ire, that he may be able to doe it, that he may be willing to doe it, and that he may accompli&s;h his will and doe it. That he may be able, and that the means of doing may not be wanting, that he may be willing and that a mind of doing may accompany the means, that he may doe it, and that he may without delay accompli&s;h that which he can, and to which he is willing. For there are &s;aith he, which can and will not, which will but cannot, which can and will but doe not by delaying of it. Wherefore he concludeth, <HI>Qui pote&s;t facere, oret ut velit, &amp; qui vult
<PB N="413" REF="204"> oret ut po&s;&s;it, &amp; qui utrique paratus e&s;t det operam ut mi&s;ericordiam in|&s;tanter efficiat, ne quod vult &amp; pote&s;t differendo non compleat,</HI> Iet him therefore that can doe it, pray that he may be willing, Let him that is willing to doe it pray that he may be able, let him that is ready in both, be carefull that he doe it quickly and diligently, lea&s;t by deferring he doe not performe that which he is both able and willing to doe. Or el&s;e as the ver&s;e containeth an impediment to the works of charity it may be thus expre&s;&s;ed, <HI>the light</HI> of this life is a plea&s;ant thing, and it is a delightfull thing <HI>to behold the Sun</HI> in this world, let us therefore u&s;e that which we have for our comfort and delightfull contentment here. Why &s;hould we give away our means in hope of happine&s;&s;e and joy which is to be had hereafter? <HI>Ova in prae&s;enti &s;unt meliora pullis cras,</HI> egs for the pre&s;ent are better then chickens too morrow, let us rather reape now the plea&s;ures of the earth by &s;pending our means upon our &s;elves, then &s;ow in expectation of ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e by giving unto others. And I wi&s;h that this impediment could be removed out of the hearts of many, which is not &s;o much an impediment of the poores reliefe as of their owne &s;alvation. But to con&s;ider the ver&s;e al&s;o as the beginning of a new matter, and as our tran&s;latours have &s;et downe. The fir&s;t thing that ever was commended is <HI>the light,</HI> and as Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>jure prima laudatur,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambr. Hexam. l. <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> <HI>quoniam ip&s;a fecit ut etiam caetera mundi membra digna &s;int laudibus,</HI> ju&s;tly is that fir&s;t prai&s;ed becau&s;e that made all the other parts of the world to be worthy of prai&s;e. He that goes about to build an hou&s;e, before he lay the foundation con&s;idereth with him&s;elfe, where he &s;hall make windowes in it, that &s;o it may have light, that being the chiefe&s;t grace of the hou&s;e, and without which the hou&s;e hath neither comfort nor comeline&s;&s;e. By this therefore the Preacher here expre&s;&s;eth the comfort of this life. And when he addeth, <HI>it is a plea&s;ant thing for the eyes to behold the Sun,</HI> he doth not meane the direct fa&s;tning of the eyes upon the Sun, for that paineth the eyes and taketh away the &s;ight of them: but he &s;peaketh of beholding the brightne&s;&s;e of the Sun &s;hining upon us. And fitly doth he &s;peake of <HI>beholding</HI> this brightne&s;&s;e. For as Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> al&s;o noteth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambr. Hexam. l. <HI>4.</HI> c. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Lucis natura huju&s;mode e&s;t ut non in men&s;ura, non in pondere ut alia, &s;ed omnis ejus in a&s;pectu gratia e&s;t,</HI> for &s;uch is the nature of light, that not in number, not in mea&s;ure, not in weight as other things, but in beholding con&s;i&s;teth all the grace of it. And therefore al&s;o fitly doth he expre&s;&s;e the pro&s;perity of this world by it, which is all in &s;hew and in apperance to the eye, not in &s;ub&s;tance and worth. But if it be <HI>&s;o plea&s;ant to behold the Sun</HI> of this world, how plea&s;ant is it to behold the Sun of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e. If this <HI>Sun</HI> be &s;o &s;wift that by his &s;peedy cour&s;e he vieweth over all things in one day &amp; night, how great is he who is alwayes pre&s;ent every where? and who by his maje&s;tie filleth all things? If the <HI>Sun</HI> be wonderfull, who is com|manded to run his race, how wonderfull is he who &s;peaketh to the Sun and it &s;tirreth not? If this <HI>Sun</HI> be &s;o great which by the chang of time every day approacheth unto places, and goeth away from them
<PB N="414" REF="205"> againe, how great is he, who when he imptyed him&s;elfe that we might behold him, was that true light which enlightneth every one that com|meth into the world? If this <HI>Sun</HI> be &s;o glorious, which by the interpo|&s;ition of the earth is darkned,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Hagg.</HI> 2.6.</NOTE> how great is his maje&s;tie, who &s;haketh the heavens and the earth, the &s;ea and the dry land.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 8. The Preacher here removeth the impediment, an&s;weareth the objection, and to him that e&s;teemeth &s;o much of this pre&s;ent life he &s;aith, &s;uppo&s;e that thou <HI>&s;houlde&s;t live many years;</HI> to him that de&s;ireth to delight him&s;elf he &s;aith, &s;uppo&s;e that <HI>thou &s;houlde&s;t rejoice in them all;</HI> yet there are dayes to follow, dayes as long as now thy yeares are, <HI>dayes of darkne&s;&s;e,</HI> wherein the light of life &s;hall be quite put out, wherein the comfort of plea&s;ure &s;hall be quite lo&s;t. And they &s;hall be <HI>many</HI> in|deed, not many as thine years of life were, that is thy &s;mall accompt, but &s;o many as that they cannot be numbred, of which it can be &s;aid only that they are many, but it cannot be &s;aid how many they are. In the yeares of thy life therefore <HI>remember</HI> the&s;e dayes, in thy dayes of de|light remember the&s;e dayes of trouble and let the remembrance of them make thee to provide again&s;t them, by well ordering thy life, by well governing thy delight, by &s;paring &s;omething out of it to comfort tho&s;e who are in mi&s;ery. When <HI>Jo&s;ephs</HI> brethren making a relation unto him of their condition and family told him, thy &s;ervants are twelve bre|thren,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gene&s;.</HI> 42.13.</NOTE> the Sons of one man in the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> and behold the younge&s;t is this day with our Father and one is not, <HI>Philo</HI> notes upon it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo.</NOTE> <HI>haec de &s;eip&s;o loquentes audiens tanquam de mortuo, quid animi mali habere potuit?</HI> hearing them to &s;peak the&s;e things of him&s;elfe as of one dead, what revengfull and evill mind could he have again&s;t them? For indeed the remembrance that wee mu&s;t once be dead, cannot but &s;trike into us a care how we live. When <HI>Samuel</HI> had anoynted <HI>Saul</HI> to be King, to confirme unto him the truth of the joy, and withall to teach him how to be carefull in governing his joy, he gave him this &s;igne, when thou art departed from me to day, thou &s;halt find two men by <HI>Rachels</HI> &s;epulchre.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 10.2.</NOTE> For he that findeth in his mind a remem|brance of his grave and &s;epulchre, will not ea&s;ily be found exorbitant in his delights and joy. But though, as our tran&s;lation maketh the ver&s;e to belong unto a new argument (for &s;o the contents of the chap|ter &s;heweth) we may conceive it in this generall con&s;ideration, the &s;umme whereof <HI>Eu&s;ebius</HI> gives us &s;aying, <HI>per &s;alutiferas gradimur vias, quando anima damnatis voluptatibus cogitat quando &s;epo&s;itura &s;it taberna|culum hujus corporis,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Eu&s;eb. Gallic. Homil. <HI>1.</HI> de Epiphan.</NOTE> then doe we go on the wayes of &s;afety, when the &s;oule rejecting plea&s;ures doth rather thinke of that time, when it mu&s;t lay a&s;ide the tabernacle of this body. Notwith&s;tanding in regard of referring this ver&s;e unto the matter, whereof the Preacher before in this chapter &s;peaketh, we are to conceive his meaning, that he would have the remembrance of death to &s;tirre up men unto the works of cha|rity. And what can doe it more forcibly? For that being a time when we are to be brought unto the judgement &s;eate, that then we may find
<PB N="415" REF="205"> the judge to be mercifull, the way is to &s;hew our &s;elves mercifull unto the poore.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Homil. <HI>5.</HI> de Paeniten.</NOTE> Wherefore Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;peaking of pacifying the judge &s;aith, <HI>non pecunia, imo &s;i verum dicere oportet pecunia placabi|mus per inopes accepta, da pauperi, &amp; judicem mitigabis,</HI> it is not by mony to be done; or rather to &s;peake the truth, by mony receaved by the poore we &s;hall appea&s;e him, give to the poore and thou &s;halt pa|cifie the judge. That is a time when we would have Chri&s;t to acknow|ledge us, and when we are ready to acknowledge him: but is was by breaking of bread that our Saviour was made knowne unto tho&s;e men that went to <HI>Emaus:</HI> and thereupon Saint <HI>Austin</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luk.</HI> 24.30. <HI>&amp;</HI> 31.</NOTE> <HI>di&s;cite ubi Dominum quaeratis, di&s;cite ubi habeatis, di&s;cite ubi agno&s;catis; panem frangimus &amp; Dominum agno&s;cimus,</HI> learne where ye may &s;eek the Lord, learne where ye may have him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. &s;er. <HI>144.</HI></NOTE> learne where ye may acknow|ledge him, we break bread to the poore, and we know the Lord. That is a time, when we de&s;ire to be delivered from the torments of hell, and how ready is charity to keepe us from them? Wherefore S. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aith, <HI>ante fores gehennae &s;tat mi&s;ericordia,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Au&s;tin. Homil. <HI>39.</HI> Homil. <HI>50.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&amp; nullum mi&s;erecordem per|mittit in carcerem illum mitti,</HI> mercifulne&s;&s;e &s;tandeth before the gates of hell, and &s;uffereth no mercifull man to be ca&s;t into that pri&s;on, &s;o that as the flaming &s;word doth keepe us out of paradi&s;e, in like manner mercifulne&s;&s;e doth keepe us out of hell. But if the remembrance of death cannot make us to be charitable, at lea&s;twi&s;e let the neere ap|proaching of death bee able to doe it. And as Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;pea|keth, <HI>Si vivens non pavi&s;ti, &s;altem migrans, quum jam non es Domi|nus ultra, da tuorum bonorum partem,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Hom. <HI>25.</HI> ad populum.</NOTE> if living thou ha&s;t not fed the poore doe it when thou art dying, and when thou can&s;t no longer keepe thy goods, give &s;ome part to the poore. Then make him in part an heire together with thy frinds, who to make thee an heire of heaven was contented to lay downe his life for thee. It is be&s;t to doe the works of charity in thy life, but if thou ha&s;t not done them before, thou maie&s;t at the la&s;t moment of thy life make God to be gracious unto thee by them. The la&s;t part of the ver&s;e, <HI>all that commeth is vanity,</HI> is no|thing el&s;e but a confirmation of that which goeth before, and being thus to be conceived, all that commeth into this world, goeth away againe, and as a vanity vani&s;heth, &s;heweth that men, who come into this life, mu&s;t go out againe; that the things enjoyed in this life &s;hall againe be lo&s;t; and therefore that how &s;weete &s;oever the joy may be that by any is taken in them, it &s;hall at lenght pa&s;&s;e away and be &s;hut up in darkne&s;&s;e. For as Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. Ser. <HI>4.</HI> in octava Epipha.</NOTE> <HI>quum de tran&s;itoriis quis laetitiam quaerit, non poterit non tran&s;ire tran&s;euntibus his, de qui|bus erit,</HI> when any one &s;eeketh joy in tran&s;itory things, it cannot but pa&s;&s;e away, when the things pa&s;&s;e away in which it is. Wherefore &s;eeing the world pa&s;&s;eth away, and the lu&s;t thereof, it cannot be, but that all wordly joy doth &s;o likewi&s;e.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="9-10" TYPE="verse">
<PB N="416" REF="206">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 9.</HI></BIBL> Rejoyce o young man in thy youth, and let thy heart cheare thee in the dayes of thy youth, and walke in the wayes of thine heart and in the &s;ight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all the&s;e things God will bring thee into judgment.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 10.</HI></BIBL> Therefore remove &s;orrow from thine heart, and put away evill from thy fle&s;h; for childhood and youth are vanitie.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 9. Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> ob&s;erving that here the Preacher &s;aith, <HI>rejoice &ocirc; young man in thy youth,</HI> and that in the next ver&s;e he &s;aith, childhood and youth are vanity, or as he reads it <HI>adole&s;centia &amp; voluptas vana &s;unt,</HI> youth and plea&s;ure are vaine, thereupon &s;aith, <HI>quid e&s;t hoc, quod vel prius reprehendenda praecipit, vel po&s;t praecepta reprehendit? ni&s;i quod ip&s;is literae verbis innuit, ut qui difficultatem exterius patitur, ve|ritatis intelligentiam con&s;ideret, quam &s;equatur? Quae nimirum verita|tis intelligentia quum per cordis humilitatem quaeritur, a&s;&s;iduitate legen|di invenitur,</HI> what is this that either the Preacher doth fir&s;t command tho&s;e things, which are to be reprooved, or that afterwards he doth reproove tho&s;e things, which he hath commanded? unle&s;&s;e it be that by the very words of the letter he doth imply unto us, that he who findeth difficulty without, &s;hould con&s;ider the under&s;tanding of the truth, which he may follow. And &s;urely the under&s;tanding of the truth, when it is &s;ought for by humility is found by the earne&s;t dili|gence of reading. To con&s;ider therefore the under&s;tanding of this ver&s;e, Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> becau&s;e it &s;eemeth that it is delivered by way of command under&s;tandeth it in a religious &s;en&s;e, and thus expoundeth it, <HI>rejoyce &ocirc; young man in thy youth, non unius tibi dicit tempus aetatis, e&s;t qua&s;i quidam flos vitae bonor&uacute;mque aetas operum, de qua &s;criptum e&s;t, re|novabitur &s;icut aquilae juventus tua. Et oblectet inquit te cor tuum in diebus adole&s;centiae tuae, &amp; ambula in via cordis tui &s;ine macula &amp; in a|&s;pectu oculorum tuorum, &amp; non in audacia oculorum tuorum. In a&s;pe|ctu utique &s;pirituali, non audacia &s;aeculari. Et &s;cito quod &s;uper haec om|nia adducet te Deus in judicium,</HI> he doth not &s;peak unto thee of one time of thine age, it is as it were a certaine flower of life, and an age of good works,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de hort. ad virgi|nitat. P&s;al. <HI>103.5.</HI></NOTE> of which it is written, thine youth &s;hall be renewed as the youth of an eagle. And he &s;aith, <HI>let thine heart delight thee in the dayes of thy youth, and walke in the wayes of thine heart,</HI> without &s;pot, <HI>and in the &s;ight of thine eyes,</HI> not in the boldne&s;&s;e of thine eyes, namely in
<PB N="417" REF="206"> a &s;pirituall &s;ight non in wordly boldne&s;&s;e. <HI>And know that for all the&s;e things God will bring thee to judgment.</HI> Or els if wee under&s;tand the ver&s;e as a precept, wee may al&s;o conceive it in a literall &s;en&s;e thus; <HI>re|joyce o young man, and let thine heart cheare thee, and walke in the wayes of thine heart, and in the &s;ight of thine eyes,</HI> but doe it &s;o, as that thou know and con&s;ider; that for all the&s;e things God &s;hall bring thee into judge|ment. For as an ancient writer &s;aith, <HI>ita prae&s;entis temporis e&s;t agenda laeti|tia ut nunquam amaritudo &amp; timor &s;equentis judicii recedat a memoria,</HI> So is the rejoycing of this pre&s;ent time to be u&s;ed by us, as that the bitter|ne&s;&s;e and feare of judgement to come be never forgotten by us. But as he that &s;eeth evill will be done, may bid it to be done, when as he would forbid it much rather, if thereby he could &s;top the doing of it, &s;o it is here with the Preacher. He &s;aw that youth would be unruly, and that loving plea&s;ure it would walke in the wayes of &s;infull contentment and in the vanity of the &s;ight of the eyes: wherefore he bids them to doe it by way of an irony, as the Jews &s;ay, but yet &s;hewing al&s;o his meaning to be, that he would not have it to be done and that it ought not to be, he addeth, <HI>know thou that for all the&s;e things, the Lord will bring thee into judgement.</HI> Wherefore to view the words more particularly. <HI>Rejoyce o young man in thy youth &amp; let thy heart cheere thee in the dayes of thy youth,</HI> that is, doe thou cheere thine heart, and let thine heart cheere thee, by taking contentment in them, and by giving unto thee a light|ne&s;&s;e of &s;pirits and of jolity from them. In the &s;econd place where youth is mentioned againe the Hebrew word is not the &s;ame that it is in the fir&s;t place: there it is <GAP DESC="foreign"> which <HI>Arias Montanus</HI> tran&s;lateth <HI>in die|bus electionum tuarum</HI> in the dayes of thy choo&s;ings, that is when thou followe&s;t the choice of thine owne de&s;ires, and do&s;t what thou wilt.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>John.</HI> 21.11.</NOTE> According as our &s;aviour Chri&s;t &s;peaking to Saint <HI>Peter</HI> &s;aith, <HI>when thou wa&s;t young, thou girded&s;t thy &s;elf, and walked&s;t whither thou woulde&s;t. And walk in the way of thine heart, and in the &s;ight of thine eyes:</HI> that is, let thine heart choo&s;e the way, and let thine eyes guide thy heart in the choice of them: follow the conduct and leading of thy &s;en&s;es. Let not religion, let not rea&s;on direct thee, but as thy &s;en&s;e advi&s;eth thee, &s;o walk in the wayes of thine heart, and in the lu&s;t thereof. <HI>But know,</HI> for let mee teach thee this as a Preacher: <HI>know it,</HI> and let me tell thee of it, before thou find it to be &s;o, <HI>know</HI> that thou who rejoyce&s;t, and give&s;t thy &s;elf to plea&s;ures, and by them and in them art mo&s;t ready not to know this, at lea&s;twi&s;e not to know it, as to con&s;ider it, <HI>know</HI> thou and in thy rejoycing think upon it, <HI>that for all the&s;e things the Lord will bring thee into judgement.</HI> The bringing into judgement is a thing which is known by rea&s;on, and is cleare by the light of nature. Wherefore in <HI>Au&s;tria</HI> one of the nobles dying, who had lived four&s;core and thirteene years, and who had &s;pent all his life in plea&s;ures and delight,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aeneas Sylvius</NOTE> never being troubled with any infirmity, and this being told to <HI>Frederic</HI> the Empe|rour, from hence &s;aith he, we may conclude the &s;oules immortality, for if there bee a God who ruleth this world, as <HI>Divines</HI> and <HI>Philo&s;ophers</HI>
<PB N="418" REF="207"> doe teach and that he is ju&s;t no one denyeth, &s;urely there are other pla|ces, to which the &s;oules after death doe goe, and doe receive for their deeds, either reward or puni&s;hment for here we &s;ee that neither rewards are given to the good, nor puni&s;hments to the evill. <HI>Plutarch</HI> al&s;o &s;aith, <HI>&V;nus quidem e&s;t rex, &amp; princeps e&s;t Deus, principium medium &amp; finem univer&s;i tenens,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Plutarchus. l. de exilio.</NOTE> <HI>qui via recta peragit, quem ju&s;titia &s;equitur omnium ultrix, qui divinam legem de&s;eruerint,</HI> there is one King, and that King is God, who po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth the beginning middle, and end of all things, who goeth on in a right way, and whom ju&s;tice followeth revenging all that have for&s;aken the divine Law. But yet how few are there that doe know this?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. Ser. <HI>3.</HI> in Vigilia Na|talis Domini.</NOTE> Wherefore Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;aith, <HI>illuminemus nobis lumen &s;cientiae priu&s;quam de mundi hujus tenebris exeamus, ne de tenebris tran&s;eamus ad tenebras, &amp; tenebras &s;empiternas,</HI> Let us light unto our &s;elves the light of knowledge before that we pa&s;&s;e from the darkne&s;&s;e of this world, lea&s;t that we pa&s;&s;e from darkne&s;&s;e to darkne&s;&s;e and that eternall darkne&s;&s;e. But what knowledge &s;aith he is this? &s;urely to know that God will come, although we cannot know when he will come. But thou wilt &s;ay, that is the knowledge of all: for who knoweth not that hath but the name of a Chri&s;tian, that the Lord will come, who is to come and to judge the quick and the dead, and to render to every one according to his works? My brethren this is not the knowledge of all, neither of many, but of few only, becau&s;e they are but a few only, that &s;hall be &s;aved. Doe they who rejoyce when they have done evill, and take plea&s;ure in the wor&s;t things, doe they either know or con&s;ider, that the Lord will come to judgement?<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Zephan.</HI> 1.12.</NOTE> If they &s;ay &s;o, doe not beleeve them: for if they did either know it or feare it, they would watch, <HI>&amp; non &s;inerent tam gra|viter con&s;cientias &s;uas perfodi,</HI> and would not &s;uffer their con&s;ciences to be digged thorow &s;o grievou&s;ly. <HI>For all the&s;e things:</HI> for God is a &s;ear|cher, that &s;earcheth with candles, and as when we &s;earch for a thing diligently and warily, we &s;et up many candles, &s;o God will &s;earch with candles, that is, exactly find out all that thou ha&s;t done. <HI>The&s;e things:</HI> when we read in <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> that God created the heaven and the earth, the Hebrew word there u&s;ed is <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifyeth a judge, and <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;ephus.</NOTE> &s;peaking of that place &s;aith, therefore doth <HI>Moy&s;es</HI> in the crea|tion give unto God the name of a judge, that it might be known to all, that he who mercifully made the heaven and the earth, and all things therein for our benefit and comfort, will as a ju&s;t judge require an ac|compt of us, whether we have rightly or perver&s;ly u&s;ed all the&s;e things. <HI>God will bring thee into judgement:</HI> he that walketh freely and merrily in the wayes of his heart, &s;hall be brought and haled again&s;t his heart and with much bitterne&s;&s;e of &s;oule into judgement. And as for the judgement, what it &s;hall be God him&s;elfe &s;hewes it, &s;aying, <HI>judgement will I lay to the line, and righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e to the plummet, and the haile &s;hall &s;weepe away the refuge of lyes,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 28.17.</NOTE> <HI>and the waters &s;hall overflow the hiding place.</HI> Where what is the haile, but the multitude of accu&s;ations which &s;hall &s;weepe away the vaine hope that men have, that the infinite mercy of
<PB N="419" REF="207"> God will &s;ave them, how&s;oever they live? And what is the hiding place, but the multitude of excu&s;es, which men are ready to make for them&s;elves, and which the waters of Gods ju&s;tice, &s;hall quite de&s;troy and overflow?</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 10. <HI>Therefore remove &s;orrow from thine heart, &amp;c.</HI> The con|&s;ideration of the former ver&s;e would make one to thinke, that the Prea|cher &s;hould rather have &s;aid, therefore remove joy from thy heart,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca&s;&s;iador. var. l. <HI>4.</HI> var. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> e|&s;pecially, &s;eeing as <HI>Theodoric</HI> &s;peaketh in <HI>Ca&s;&s;iodore, gaudia &s;emper ani|mos inquietant. Modus enim raro laetis rebus imponitur, qui magis in tri|&s;tibus invenitur,</HI> joyes doe alwayes di&s;quiet the mind. For moderati|on is &s;eldome ob&s;erved upon joyfull occa&s;ions, which in &s;ad accidents more ea&s;ily is found. But &s;eeing our Engli&s;h tran&s;lation, and the French doe render the originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> u&s;ed in this place, &s;orrow, I &s;up|po&s;e that it is &s;o to be referred to the la&s;t part of the ver&s;e before, as to &s;peake of the <HI>&s;orrow</HI> which &s;hall be to carele&s;&s;e &s;inners, when God &s;hall bring them into judgement for all their doings. But then the evill al&s;o which followeth in the&s;e words, <HI>and put away evill from thy fle&s;h,</HI> is not to be under&s;tood not of the evill of &s;inne, but of the evill of puni&s;hment. So that the Preacher here may &s;eeme to &s;et forth, the puni&s;hment of hell; by the torments of the foule, in <HI>the &s;orrow of the heart,</HI> by the tor|ments of the body, <HI>in the evill of the fle&s;h.</HI> And &s;urely that di&s;tre&s;&s;e is indeed &s;orrow, that mi&s;ery is evill indeed. Our Saviour Chri&s;t &s;peaking of the judgement, &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Matt.</HI> 24.30.</NOTE> They &s;hall &s;ee the Sonne of man comming in the clouds of heaven, with power. And would you know, what this power is, and what the greatne&s;&s;e of it is? The man of God,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 90.11.</NOTE> <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;hew|eth both, &s;aying, who knoweth the power of thine anger? It is the po|wer of his anger, and &s;o great, that none knoweth it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. Ca&s;&s;iodor. P&s;al. <HI>76.7.</HI></NOTE> The Prophet <HI>David</HI> &s;peaking of the la&s;t judgement, as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> and <HI>Ca&s;&s;iodore</HI> ex|pound him, and &s;peaking unto God, he &s;aith, thou, even thou art to be feared, and who may &s;tand in thy &s;ight, when once thou art angry? God hath been angry often, and that hath made him to be feared, but when this once he &s;hall be angry, who &s;hall &s;tand in his &s;ight? The Ori|ginall, as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> reads it, is, <HI>ex tunc ira tua,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronim.</NOTE> from that time &s;hall thy wrath bee, that is, after that there is nothing in thee, but wrath a|gain&s;t the damned, and thy wrath being then begun, it &s;hall never be ended. When tho&s;e things were revealed to Saint <HI>John,</HI> which concer|ned the end of the world, it is &s;aid,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Revel.</HI> 10.3. <HI>V.</HI> 4</NOTE> that he heard &s;even thunders utte|ring their voices; and when he was about to write, he was commanded to &s;eale up tho&s;e things, which the thunders had uttered, and not to write them: where the terribelne&s;&s;e of that time is &s;et forth, not only by the voice of thunder, not only by the voices of &s;even thunders, but al|&s;o becau&s;e it is commanded to be concealed, as &s;hewing the terrour of that time to be &s;o great, as that the very hearing of it were not to be en|dured. There is a &s;tory of one, who being ri&s;en from the dead, and be|ing asked in what condition he was, he made an&s;were, no man doth beleeve, no man doth beleeve, no man doth beleeve. And that being
<PB N="420" REF="208"> further a&s;ked what he meant by that repititio~, he an&s;wered, no man doth beleeve how exactly God examineth, how &s;trictly God judgeth, how &s;e|verely he puni&s;heth. But let the &s;tory goe to &s;eek for truth, the thing is true, and no man beleeveth the &s;orrow, no man beleeveth the evill, which then &s;hall be. The Originall word <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Tremellius</HI> tran&s;lateth <HI>in|dignationem,</HI> indignation, and by a metaphor expoundeth it of remo|ving &s;inne from the heart, whereby the indignation of God is provo|ked.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieron. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> reads it <HI>repelle iram &agrave; corde tuo,</HI> drive away anger from thy heart, and under&s;tanding <HI>the evill</HI> in the next words to be the evill of &s;inne, which therefore he rendreth <HI>malitiam</HI> wickedne&s;&s;e, he giveth the meaning of it, <HI>in ira omnes perturbationes animi comprehendit: in carnis malitia univer&s;as &s;ignificat corporis voluptates. Sic ergo inquit bonis &s;aeculi hujus fruere, ne aut de&s;iderio aut carne delinquas,</HI> in anger he comprehendeth all the pa&s;&s;ions of the mind, by the wickedne&s;&s;e of the fle&s;h, he &s;ignifieth all the plea&s;ures of the body. So, therefore &s;aith the Preacher, enjoy the good things of this world, that thou &s;inne not ei|ther in thy de&s;ire, or in thy fle&s;h. The Septuagint, and the Vulgar La|tine doe al&s;o read it, <HI>aufer iram a corde tuo,</HI> take away anger from thy heart,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> and the expo&s;ition which <HI>Lyra</HI> giveth of it, is, by anger to under|&s;tand revenge, <HI>quam &s;olent juvenes magis quaerere quum &s;enes propter cali|ditatem naturae,</HI> of which yong men are more de&s;irous then old, by rea|&s;on of the heate of their nature. By <HI>evill</HI> in the following words, he un|der&s;tandeth luxury. But if wee read it indignation, as the Hebrew word mo&s;t properly doth &s;ignifie, I conceive that it may be under&s;tood of the angry fretting and cha&s;ing of the heart again&s;t the day of judgment, whereby &s;inners are checked in their plea&s;ures, and forced &s;ometimes to &s;adne&s;&s;e, when they would be merry. So that we may under&s;tand the Preachers meaning to bee; be not angry in thy mind again&s;t the judge|ment of God, for thou &s;halt not be able to avoid it; but put away evill from thee, and &s;o thou &s;halt e&s;cape the evill of it. Or el&s;e the <HI>anger</HI> may be under&s;tood of that anger which is in young men, when they are reprooved and blamed for their faults, which the Preacher would have them to <HI>remove from their hart,</HI> that good in&s;truction might be the better received. And then <HI>by the evill of the fle&s;h,</HI> wee may under&s;tand the cor|ruption of nature, which the Preacher would have to be put away in youth, that by the growth of years, it grow not unto too much perver&s;|ne&s;&s;e. <HI>For childhood and youth are vanity:</HI> the originall is, youth <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>et ortus aurorae,</HI> and the ri&s;ing of the morning, which Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> pephaps under&s;tanding to be infancy, and knowing that to be meere folly, therefore he rendreth it, <HI>adole&s;centia &amp; &s;tultitia,</HI> youth and folly are vanity. <HI>Tremellius</HI> reads it, <HI>juventus &amp; ortus ip&s;e,</HI> youth, and the very beginning of it. But the ri&s;ing of the morning being very delight|full and plea&s;ant, I &s;hould conceive the Preacher to meane that youth and delight are vanity. And &s;o doth the Septuagint and the Vulgar La|tine read it, &s;aying, <HI>adole&s;centia &amp; voluptas &s;unt vana,</HI> youth and plea|&s;ure are vaine things. Vaine they are in the vanitie of &s;inne, and vaine
<PB N="421" REF="208"> they are in the vanity of nature. Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;peaking of youth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Homil. <HI>1.</HI> ad populum.</NOTE> &s;tiles it, <HI>difficilem, jactabilem, fallibilem, vehementi&s;&s;imi&s;que egentem frae|mis,</HI> hard to be ruled, ea&s;y to be drawne away, apt to be deceived, and &s;tanding in need of very violent raines. In the parable of the hou&s;e|holder, who hired labourers for his vineyard, it is &s;aid of tho&s;e whom he hired about the third, &s;ixt, and ninth houre, that he only bid them to goe into his Vineyard, but of tho&s;e whom he hired early in the mor|ning, whereby are under&s;tood tho&s;e that are of younger yeers, it is &s;aid that he &s;ent them, and that he agreed with them for a peny, as &s;hewing it to be a hard thing to bring <HI>the vanity</HI> of youth unto the labour and care of goodne&s;&s;e and vertue. La&s;tly there is in youth, and in the plea|&s;ure thereof, <HI>a vanity</HI> of nature, becau&s;e, as <HI>Lyra</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Cito pertran&s;e|unt, &amp; ad malum finem perducunt,</HI> they &s;oone pa&s;&s;e away, and bring to a bad end.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="12" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAPTER XII.</HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1-4" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 1.</HI></BIBL> Remember now thy Creatour in the dayes of youth, while the evill dayes come not, nor the yeers draw nigh, when thou &s;halt &s;ay, I have no plea&s;ure in them.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 2.</HI></BIBL> While the &s;unne, or the light, or the Moone, or the &s;tarres be not darkned, nor the clouds returne after the raine.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 3.</HI></BIBL> In the day when the keepers of the hou&s;e &s;hall tremble, and the &s;trong men &s;hall bow them&s;elves, and the grinders cea&s;e, be|cau&s;e they are few, and tho&s;e that looke out at the windows be darkned.</P>
<PB N="422" REF="209">
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 4.</HI></BIBL> And the doores &s;hall be &s;hut in the &s;treets, when the &s;ound of the grinding is low, and hee &s;hall ri&s;e up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of mu&s;icke &s;hall be brought low.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 1. _SAint <HI>Austin</HI> beginneth one of his Sermons thus,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. de Tem|pore Serm. <HI>246.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Ad vos mihi &s;ermo, &ocirc; juvenes, flos aeta|tis, periculum mentis,</HI> To you is my &s;peech O young men, the flower of age, the dan|ger of the mind. And to them it is that the Preacher here directeth his &s;peech, it is to keep them from danger, it is to pre&s;erve them in the flower of Gods favour, that he &s;aith, <HI>Remember thy crea|tour, &amp;c.</HI> The memory of man is indeed a mo&s;t excellent faculty, being that thing whereby we pre&s;erve tho&s;e things which time hath &s;pent and wa&s;ted, whereby the things that are ab&s;ent, are &s;till pre&s;ent, and the things that are gone from us, doe abide with us. Indeed it is that with|out which the life of man would be mo&s;t wretched and mi&s;erable. <HI>Sene|ca</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Seneca.</NOTE> therefore &s;aith well, He that keeps not in memory the things that are pa&s;t, hath little better then lo&s;t his life given him in this world. Now if our memory be &s;o excellent a faculty, how great rea&s;on have wee to re|member our Creatour, by whom it hath been be&s;towed upon us? &s;hould not God remember us in his Providence and protection over us? &s;hould not he remember us in troubles and di&s;tre&s;&s;es, and when we have ca&s;t our &s;elves away in our &s;innes; what would become of us? But though God be mo&s;t graciou&s;ly mindfull of us, how little mind have we of him? Wee &s;ay of one that he hath a good memory, becau&s;e he keepeth firm|ly, and a long time, that which he hath received: we &s;ay of another, that he hath an excellent memory, becau&s;e he can repeate many things a&s;|&s;oone as they are propo&s;ed unto him. But he hath a good memory in|deed, that remembreth good things carefully, he hath an excellent memory, that remembreth God, who is good above all things. <HI>In the dayes of thy youth:</HI> a chiefe rea&s;on that makes young people, not to re|member God their creatour, is this, becau&s;e they thinke that they have a long time to live in the world, and though they forget him now, yet they will remember him hereafter. But to remove this, the Preacher &s;aith, not in the time, but <HI>in the dayes of thy youth,</HI> to &s;hew both to young and old, that our life is but for a few dayes. And <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;aith well, that though death be before the old mans face, yet he may be as neere to the young mans back, let him therefore, while he hath day, <HI>remember his Creatour in the dayes of his youth.</HI> Indeed the Creatour mu&s;t alwayes be remembred, not only in youth, but in old age, not only in the dayes of
<PB N="423" REF="209"> youth, but all the dayes of our life. For as <HI>Zachary</HI> &s;aith, <HI>That he re|deemed us, that we might &s;erve him in righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e and holine&s;&s;e,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luk.</HI> 1.75.</NOTE> <HI>all the dayes of our life;</HI> &s;o he hath created us, that we might remember him all the dayes of our life. It was the fault of <HI>Solomon</HI> who gave this good rule, and did him&s;elfe in his younger yeeres ob&s;erve it, that in his old age he forgot the Lord, who is alwayes to be remembred. But yet e&s;pe|cially <HI>in youth,</HI> becau&s;e then it is mo&s;t acceptable to God, then mo&s;t needfull in re&s;pect of man. God &s;hould not have the wor&s;t, but the be&s;t of our dayes, and when it is the wor&s;t of mans danger, then &s;hould he be mo&s;t carefull to looke unto him&s;elfe, by having his Creatour in his mind. <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> &s;hewing the prone&s;&s;e of youth unto vice,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ari&s;tot. Polit.</NOTE> giveth the&s;e particulars of it, that he is eager in de&s;ire, that he is bold in enter|pri&s;es, that he is changeable in mind, that he is confident in hope, that he is pre&s;uming upon his knowledge, that he is prone to anger, that he is ready to make knowne what&s;oever is in his heart. But if youth &s;hall re|member his creatour, he will remember to moderate his de&s;ires accor|ding to his creatours law; to feare the di&s;plea&s;ing of him, and therefore not to be bold in enterpri&s;es; to be &s;etled in a good cour&s;e, which he approveth, and then not to change it; to put his tru&s;t in his Creatours goodne&s;&s;e, and in his ble&s;&s;ing upon him, and not in his owne vaine hopes; to know that he knoweth nothing as he ought, and not to pre|&s;ume upon his owne knowledge; to be &s;low to anger, that he &s;inne not in his anger, and make his Creatour to be angry with him; la&s;tly to keepe his tongue with watch and ward, that his Creatour may keepe him &s;afe from his enemies. <HI>While the evill dayes come not:</HI> the evill dayes are the dayes of old age, becau&s;e many are the evills that old age brin|geth, according as the Poet &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Horatius.</NOTE> <HI>Multa &s;enem circumveniunt incom|moda,</HI> many are the inconveniences that doe encompa&s;&s;e an old man.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gene&s;.</HI> 15.15.</NOTE> And therefore when God promi&s;eth <HI>Abraham,</HI> that he &s;hould die in a good old age, <HI>Philo</HI> &s;aith, <HI>ne promi&s;&s;um intelligamus de &s;enectute quae apparet in corpore plena probro&s;is faeditatibus &s;ed deprudentia con&s;tantiaque animi dictum accipiendo; honestatem praedicemus de &s;enectute,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. l. quis rerum divina|rum haeres.</NOTE> <HI>aqua &s;eni|ores nominantur honoris gratia,</HI> let us not under&s;tand the promi&s;e of that old age, which appeareth in the body, full of reproachfull deformities, but by taking it to be &s;poken of wi&s;edome and con&s;tancy of mind, let us affirme hone&s;ty to be old age, from whence it is that we call them el|ders in an honour to them. But here we may al&s;o conceive <HI>the dayes</HI> to be called <HI>evill,</HI> becau&s;e when the dayes of youth are not well &s;pent, the dayes of old age are hardly brought to goodne&s;&s;e. Wherefore Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;peaking of old age, &s;aith, <HI>Stimulant eum peccata &s;ua,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;ius.</NOTE> <HI>exagitat con&s;cientiam con&s;uetudo peccandi &amp; u&s;us erroris in&s;tabilem facit. Lu|ctandum e&s;t huju&s;modi ut abolefaciat inveterata atque diuturna,</HI> his &s;innes doe &s;purre him on to &s;inne; the cu&s;tome of &s;inning mole&s;teth his con|&s;cience, and the u&s;e of going a&s;tray maketh him un&s;etled. Such a man mu&s;t &s;truggle very hard, that he may aboli&s;h things that are inveterate and of long continuance. <HI>Hilary</HI> al&s;o con&s;idering the words of the
<PB N="424" REF="210"> Prophet <HI>Ieremiah,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Lament.</HI> 3.27.</NOTE> it is good for a man to bare the in yoke his youth, ther|upon &s;aith, <HI>non expectat frige&s;centes &s;enectutis annos, nec emortuam jam per aetatem vitiorum con&s;uetudinem. Onus i&s;tud maturi ad obedien|dum anni aegre ferunt: caeterum aetas tenera gravis oneris mole&s;tiam per virtutis incrementa non &s;entit,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hilar. in P&s;. <HI>119</HI> Sub lit. Beih.</NOTE> that yoake doth not expect the cold yeeres of old age, nor the cu&s;tome of vice which is become even dead by age. That burden of obedience yeeres that are ripe doe hardly bare: but tender yeeres doe not feele the trouble of heavy weight, by the increa&s;e of vertue which is growing in them. <HI>Nor the yeeres draw nigh when thou &s;halt &s;ay I have no plea&s;ure in them:</HI> he &s;pake before of <HI>the dayes of old age,</HI> as &s;peaking of the beginning of it, when the evils being le&s;&s;e and fewer they are but dayes of evill: here he &s;peaketh of <HI>the yeeres of old age,</HI> as &s;peaking of the latter time of it, when the many and great evils of it, doe make a man to &s;ay, <HI>that he hath no plea&s;ure</HI> at all in them. This time Saint <HI>Cyprian</HI> de&s;cribing &s;aith, <HI>Capilli fluunt, facies in pallo|rem mutatur, dentes lap&s;i numero minuuntur, cutis are&s;cit, flatus non &s;uaviter olet, pectus &s;uffocatur, tu&s;&s;is cachinnat, talos &amp; pedes tumor in|flat, etiam interior homo qui non &s;ene&s;cit, his omnibus adgravatur,</HI> the hayre fals away,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cyprian. de abu&s;ionib. &s;aecul.</NOTE> the face is turned into palene&s;&s;e, the teeth &s;hedding are le&s;ned in their number, the &s;kin is dryed up, the breath &s;melleth not &s;weetly, the bre&s;t is &s;topped, the cough makes a great noi&s;e and laugheth as if were at mans infirmities, &s;welling pufs up the legs, ankles and feete, and the inward man, which cannot grow old, is oppre&s;&s;ed with all the&s;e. <HI>Plutarch</HI> relateth that it was the &s;aying of <HI>Cato</HI> the elder, that whereas with old age many reproches are joyned, and &s;eeing that it is affected with many evils, the reproch of the evill of wicked|nesis not to be added to it:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Plutarch. in A|pothegm. Rom.</NOTE> <HI>&s;olet enim &s;enectus e&s;&s;e deformis, infirma, obli|vio&s;a, edentula, lucro&s;a, indocilis, &amp; mole&s;ta,</HI> for old age u&s;eth to be deformed, weake, forgetfull, toothle&s;&s;e, covetous, unteachable, unquiet. Wherefore if vice come al&s;o, which being in all &s;hamefull, is mo&s;t &s;hamefull in an old man, what then will old age be? Surely &s;uch, as that man having no plea&s;ure in it, God &s;hall have no plea&s;ure in him.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 2. As the Preacher having fir&s;t exhorted unto vertue generally, doth more particularly exhort unto the vertue of charity in the chapter before; &s;o having fir&s;t &s;hewed the vanity of mans life generaly he doth here more particularly &s;hew the vanity and mi&s;ery of old age: which he having began to doe in the end of the former ver&s;e he proceedeth in it. Now the manner of his &s;peaking being metaphoricall, it may be taken diver&s;e wayes: and fir&s;t, as <HI>Tremellius</HI> doth, by <HI>the Sun, light, Moone and Stars,</HI> we may under&s;tand comfort, by the darkening of them &s;orrow, it being the u&s;uall manner of Sripture by light and darkene&s;&s;e to expre&s;&s;e con&s;olation and mi&s;ery. And then we may farther note that the <HI>Sun and the light</HI> doe &s;ignifie the comfort of the day, the Moone and the &s;tars the comfort of the night:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremell. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> &s;o that the Preacher &s;heweth, that old age hath comfort neither night, nor day: but when it is day it &s;aith, when will the night come, and when it is night it &s;aith, when
<PB N="325" REF="210"> will the day appeare? And old age &s;peaketh as ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Job</HI> doth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Job.</HI> 20.26. <HI>&amp;</HI> 27.</NOTE> <HI>the dayes of affliction have taken hold upon me, my bones are peirced in me in the night &s;ea&s;on, and my &s;inewes take no re&s;t.</HI> And againe it hath the &s;ame language, <HI>I am made to po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e months of vanity, and weari&s;ome nights are appoin|ted to me, when I lye downe, I &s;ay, when &s;hall I ari&s;e, and the night be|gone? I am full of to&s;&s;ings to and fro to the dawning of the day.</HI> And this continuall mi&s;ery it is; which the Preacher farther expre&s;&s;eth, when he &s;aith <HI>nor the clouds returne after the raine:</HI> that is &s;aith <HI>Tremellius, ne|que calamitates &s;ubinde &s;uccedunt aliae aliis, ut in &s;enectute fit,</HI> neither doe calamities follow one upon the neck of another, as in old age it commeth to pa&s;&s;e. Or el&s;e by the&s;e la&s;t words, we may under&s;tand the great mole&s;tation of rheume and fleame wherewith old age is trou|bled; the defluxion of the rheume and fleame being as it were <HI>the raine,</HI> the gathering of new matter, which continually di&s;tilleth being as it were <HI>the returning of the clouds after the raine.</HI> From this mi&s;ery of old age, &s;aith Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e,</HI> are they reprooved, who thinke this alone to be life, which is led in this world. <HI>Non intelligitis &s;enectutem hanc mi&s;eriarum e&s;&s;e veteranam, proce&s;&s;ionemque aetatis aerumnarum &s;tipendia, &amp; Scyllaeo quodam u&s;u, circum&s;onari nos quotidianis naufragiis, tundi fluctibus, &amp; in &s;copulo&s;ishabitaculis degere,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Abel &amp; Cain l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>10.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;icut illud non tam aeternum animal quam immortale malum?</HI> Doe ye not under&s;tand this old age to be as it where an old Souldier in the war of mi&s;eries, and the conti|nuance of yeeres to be the reward of troubles: and that then, after the manner of <HI>Scylla</HI> as it were, on every &s;ide we heare the &s;ound of dayly &s;hip wracks, that then we are beaten with waves, and have our abiding in rocky dwellings, as it were that living crearure which is not &s;o much eternall as an immortall evill. Wherefore &s;aith he, behold, ju&s;t, inno|cent, Godly <HI>Abel,</HI> and for the favour of his devotion incurring his brothers hatred <HI>immaturus adhuc aevi &s;ublatus e&s;t parricidio,</HI> unripe as yet in time and age is taken away by parricide: naughty, wicked, un|godly <HI>Cain</HI> and polluted al&s;o with his brothers murder, <HI>long aevam duxit aetatem,</HI> liveth to be an old man. <HI>Lyra</HI> under&s;tanding the ver&s;e more plainly taketh it to expre&s;&s;e the decay of the &s;ight in old age. Which is not able to &s;ee either by day the brightne&s;&s;e of <HI>the Sun</HI> when it &s;hineth, or <HI>the light</HI> of it, when it is clouded, nor by night either the weaker light of <HI>the Moone,</HI> or the le&s;&s;e light of <HI>the Stars.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>And the returning of the clouds after the rayn,</HI> he expoundeth <HI>e&s;&s;e tribulationem mortis &s;uper tri|bulationem &s;enectutis,</HI> to be the tribulation of death following the tri|bulation of old age. But becau&s;e this ver&s;e &s;eemeth to have a more ne|ce&s;&s;ary reference unto the beginning of the former ver&s;e, where the re|membrance of the creatour is called for, we may under&s;tand the words thus. Let him be remembred, while <HI>the Sun is not darkened,</HI> that is, while youth continueth, or if not &s;o, while <HI>the light</HI> of the Sun is not gone, that is, while thy manhood la&s;teth, or if not &s;o, while <HI>the Moone is not darkened,</HI> that is, while thine elders yeeres are not &s;pent, or if not &s;o, while <HI>the Stars</HI> are not &s;hut up, while the wor&s;t of old age hath not &s;ei&s;ed
<PB N="426" REF="211"> upon thee.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Philo de mundi opificio.</NOTE> For &s;o <HI>Philo</HI> di&s;tingui&s;heth betweene elder yeeres and old age, telling us, <HI>vir u&s;que ad quinquage&s;imum, &s;enior u&s;que ad &s;extum &s;u|pra quinquage&s;imum, quicquid vero deinceps &s;equitur ad &s;enium pertinet,</HI> manhood continueth unto fifty yeeres, from thence unto fifty &s;ix we are &s;aid to be elders, what&s;oever followes after that belongeth unto old age. To this care of early remembring the creatour betimes, Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> applyeth tho&s;e words of our Saviour, woe to them that are with child, and to them that give &s;uck in tho&s;e dayes, and thereupon &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. de Abel &amp; Cain l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>maturius igitur ab&s;olvatur hic partus, ut cogitationes no&s;trae bo|norum proce&s;&s;ionibus explicentur, ut nihil imperfectum finis no&s;ter inve|niat, nihil tanquam in incude po&s;itum u&s;us no&s;tri operis relinquat,</HI> let therefore this birth be perfected more &s;peedily, let our purpo&s;es of good workes be manife&s;ted by the proceedings of them, let our end find nothing imperfect, let the practi&s;e of our weldoing leave nothing upon the anvil as it were unfini&s;hed. Woe be to them that are with child of goodne&s;&s;e in their old age, or that then doe only give &s;ucke. And then we may under&s;tand the la&s;t words thus, <HI>nor the clouds returne after the rayne,</HI> that is a difficulty of doing well doe not follow the neglect of it. Or el&s;e by <HI>the Sun</HI> we may under&s;tand divine grace, by <HI>the light</HI> hu|mane underhanding, by <HI>the Moone</HI> the Church, by <HI>the Stars</HI> the teachers in the Church. For &s;ometimes &s;uch is the naughtine&s;&s;e of old age, that the checks of grace, the light of under&s;tanding, the authority of the Church, the in&s;truction of teachers are things darkened unregarded, unperceived by it. When, as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh; &s;ometime it is &s;o buryed in a delight of drinking, <HI>qua&s;i ad hoc arida vi&s;cera &amp; &s;ucco ex|hau&s;ta curventur, ad vigorem pri&s;tinum reparandum ebrietatis inundatione riganda &s;int,</HI> as if the dry entrailes and exhau&s;ted of moy&s;ture were to this end bowed and weakened,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. de Tem|pore Serm.</NOTE> that they might he watered with the overflowing of drunkene&s;&s;e for the recovery of their former vigour. Or el&s;e when &s;ometimes the gulf of covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e is &s;o un&s;atiable, that as the &s;ame Father &s;peaketh <HI>tanto ad acquirendum ferventius inarde&s;cit, quanto citius relictura e&s;t quod acquiritur, mirabili, in&s;ania</HI> it burneth by &s;o much the more fervently after getting, by how much the &s;ooner it is to loo&s;e that which is gotten, by a wonderfull madne&s;&s;e. And then we may under|&s;tand <HI>the returning of the clouds after the raine,</HI> to be the adding of one &s;in to another. Or la&s;tly by <HI>the Sun</HI> we may under&s;tand rea&s;on, by <HI>the light</HI> knowledge, by <HI>the Moone</HI> imagination, by <HI>the Stars</HI> the &s;en&s;es, and &s;o we may conceive the Preacher to &s;peake of the time, when death is at hand, and when all the&s;e commonly doe faile, &s;o that it is nere too late to remember the creatour. And then by <HI>returning of the clouds after the rayne,</HI> we may under&s;tand the returning of the body to the earth after the di&s;&s;olution of it from the &s;oule.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 3. <HI>In the day:</HI> it is to encrea&s;e the mi&s;ery, that the Preacher calleth it a day, as noting a continuance of life, when death is more de&s;ireable. <HI>When the keepers of the hou&s;e &s;hall tremble:</HI> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> tels us, that they who did refer this pa&s;&s;age of Scripture unto the body
<PB N="427" REF="211"> of man, did thinke that by <HI>the keepers</HI> here were under&s;tood the ribs,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>quod ab ip&s;is inte&s;tina vallentur, &amp; tota ventris mollitudo &s;ervetur;</HI> be|cau&s;e by them the entrailes are walled, and the whole &s;oftne&s;&s;e of the belly is pre&s;erved.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Lyra</HI> here by <HI>the keepers</HI> under&s;tandeth the &s;en&s;es which as he &s;aith, <HI>praecavent corpori a noxiis,</HI> watch to keepe the body from tho&s;e things that would be hurtfull to it. But &s;eing the word <HI>tremble</HI> doth not well agree unto either of the&s;e expo&s;itions, as I conceive, by <HI>the keepers</HI> here we may be&s;t under&s;tand the hands. For though man arrive into this world as from a &s;hipwrack, de&s;titute and naked, yet God hath furni&s;hed him with two excellent helps, which no other li|ving cteatures doe enjoy, rea&s;on and the hand. The hands therefore are &s;aid to be <HI>the keepers,</HI> becau&s;e they doe keepe of hurt from man, who by them is able to pre&s;erve and &s;afeguard him&s;elfe from all other creatures. And all other creatures, which enter into the world armed at point, challenging as it were the injuries of the earth to a&s;&s;ault them, how great &s;oever their &s;trength and feircene&s;&s;e may be, how able &s;oever they may be to endure any thing, yet are they not able to defend them|&s;elves again&s;t the hands of man. The teeth of the Lion, the pawes of the Beare, the &s;ting of the Serpent, the hornes of the Bull, yea what&s;oever el&s;e nature hath made &s;trong for her &s;elfe acknowledge a weakne&s;&s;e under mans hand, and yeeld the homage of &s;ubjection unto it. And to &s;hew further how fitly the hands are &s;aid to be <HI>keepers,</HI> a chiefe property of <HI>keepers</HI> is faithfulne&s;&s;e; now <HI>Numa Pompilius</HI> con|&s;ecrated the hands to faith, and the gnerall cour&s;e of the world is to make and e&s;tabli&s;h all bargains and covenants by the joyning of hand. And it is the u&s;e of &s;ome other countryes, that the oath of alleagiance is taken from the chiefe nobility in the hands of the Prince or his delegate. To &s;ay al&s;o &s;omething what is meant by the hands, the ancients doe under&s;tand all that which is from the &s;houlder to the fingers ends to be the hands. This part of the body <HI>Hypocrates</HI> and <HI>Galenus</HI> &s;ubdivide into three parts, <HI>brachium, cubitum, &amp; extremam manum,</HI> the arme, the cubit, and the outmo&s;t hand. The name of arme we have from <HI>Fe|&s;tus,</HI> who calleth it <HI>armus,</HI> and it is extended from the top of the &s;houlder to the next joynt, where is the bowing of the cubit, and which therefore in Engli&s;h is called the bow, all being but one bone, and next unto the thigh bone the greate&s;t in the whole body according to <HI>Galens</HI> mea&s;ure. The next part tearmed the cubit, is that which from the arme goeth a long unto the wre&s;t, being made of two bones, whereof the one lyeth upon the other. The lower of tho&s;e is the bigger, and is tearmed <HI>ulna</HI> the ell, the upper is the &s;horter and is called in Latin <HI>radius</HI> a rod, a wand. The la&s;t part which indeed properly and pecu|liarly is the hand, containeth three parts in it, the wre&s;t the afterwre&s;t and the fingers. But to leave the&s;e things to <HI>Anatomi&s;ts.</HI> That the hands might be the better keepers, God hath endued the hand with power to move it &s;elfe five wayes, forward toward the bre&s;t, backward toward the back, upward toward the neck and head, downeward
<PB N="428" REF="212"> toward the &s;ide of the che&s;t, and la&s;tly to turne it &s;elfe into a circle and compa&s;&s;e. But to the&s;e motions old age addeth one more <HI>motum trepi|dationis</HI> the motion of trembling, which &s;poileth and maketh u&s;ele&s;&s;e all the re&s;t. <HI>And the &s;trong men &s;hall bow them&s;elves:</HI> that which our Tran&s;lation reads &s;hall bow them&s;elves, Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> reads <HI>peribunt</HI> &s;hall peri&s;h, the vulgar Latin according to the &s;eptuagint <HI>nutabunt</HI> &s;hall nod or &s;tagger: <HI>Aquila</HI> as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;aith did read it <HI>errabunt</HI> &s;hall wander, and as the word mo&s;t directly &s;ignifieth, the place as I con|ceive may be rendred, &s;hall overthrow them&s;elves. Now by the&s;e <HI>&s;trong men</HI> are meant the feete, and the ancients doe meane by the foote all that which goeth from the hip joint to the farthe&s;t end, and extre|mity of the toes. But yet they make a di&s;tinction, and the foote pro|perly &s;o called they call the little foote, the other the great foote. The parts of the great foote are three, as the parts of the hand were, the thigh in Latin <HI>femur a ferendo</HI> becau&s;e it beareth and holdeth up the creature, and is that which goeth from the hip to the knee, the leg which goeth from the knee to the heele, the little foote which is a foote indeed as being the ba&s;e the ground and pedi&s;tall which &s;u&s;taineth the whole building of the body. This is the true organ and in&s;trument of going and walking and con&s;i&s;teth as the hand did of three parts, the wre&s;t, the afterwre&s;t, the toes. The &s;trength of the&s;e parts which is the thing the Preacher here &s;peaketh of e&s;pecially con&s;i&s;teth in the bones which are numbred by <HI>Anatomi&s;ts</HI> to be two and forty. But to touch only &s;ome of the principall: the longe&s;t bone in the whole body of man is the thigh bone, which in the length of it declineth &s;ome thing from an exact &s;trait|ne&s;&s;e, becau&s;e at the knee it boweth inward, thereby to give the more &s;tability and firmne&s;&s;e unto the running, walking and &s;tanding of man. And therefore &s;uch men as are tearmed vary, having their thighes more &s;traight then nature hath pre&s;cribed, are indeed <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>in eundo</HI> troubled in their going. The top of this bone is of a great largne&s;&s;e, and is fa&s;t|ned into a deepe hollow of the hip bone, thereby to give it the &s;tronger articulation, becau&s;e of the very great burden which lyeth and re&s;teth upon it. This &s;trength is al&s;o encrea&s;ed by a very &s;trong ligament, which ari&s;ing out of the bowing of the hip and placed under the top of this bone fa&s;tneth and bindeth the two bones together. The leg is made of two bones, the one called the &s;hin bone, in latin <HI>tibia</HI> a flute or pipe, either that being called &s;o becau&s;e it is like a flute, or el&s;e a flute being called &s;o, becau&s;e at fir&s;t it was made of that bone taken from the leg of a hart. This bone is the inner and thicker. The other thinner bone is called the brace bone, re&s;embling the braces of building, and joyning the mu&s;cles of the leg together, as they hold the beames of an hou&s;e to|gether. But the di&s;tinction which commonly is made, is to call the one the &s;hanke, the other the &s;hin-bone. Now that two bones were fitter to make up the leg then one, is by <HI>Galen</HI> prooved, for as much as the greatne&s;&s;e and heavine&s;&s;e of one would have been an impediment to the ready moving of it. But though the &s;trength of the&s;e &s;trong men
<PB N="429" REF="212"> bee &s;o great, and that &s;o well ordered, yet in old age it is enfeebled, when they bow under their burden, and are ready to overthrow them|&s;elves and the whole body. <HI>And the grinders cea&s;e becau&s;e they are few:</HI> the Preacher here &s;peaketh of the teeth, which both in Greek and Latin have their name from eating, being called <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>qua&s;i</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> and &s;o <HI>dentes qua&s;i edentes</HI> neither is our Engli&s;h word unlikely to be taken from thence. Now the teeth are the harde&s;t of the bones, if that they be bones, for <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> doth only account them to be bony, and to have &s;ome likene&s;&s;e with bones, at lea&s;t he is doubfull whether he &s;hould reckon them to be bones or noe. And the truth is that there are no other bones &s;o &s;olid and &s;o hard as they are,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ari&s;totel.</NOTE> neither doe they come much &s;hort of the hardne&s;&s;e of &s;tones, if they doe not equall &s;tones in the edges of them. To &s;hew that they are not bones, this evidence is brought, be|cau&s;e the &s;tone <HI>Sarcophagus</HI> &s;o called, becau&s;e it will con&s;ume fle&s;h, and which within the &s;pace of forty dayes con&s;umeth the whole body of man, yet doth not meddle with the teeth, whereas if they were bones they would be con&s;umed as well as the other bones. The teeth al&s;o alone doe continue to grow as long as mans life continueth: becau&s;e otherwi&s;e being worne out with dayly u&s;e of them, they would &s;oon become unfit for u&s;e. And therefore they doe only grow &s;o much after they are come to their full growth as they are worne away. This ma|keth <HI>Faloplus</HI> to affirme, that the formative faculty liveth in the teeth as long as man him&s;elfe liveth: as if thereby God would &s;hew that he hath not made man to dye, having provided that by nouri&s;hment he &s;hould be &s;till pre&s;erved. The &s;eate of the teeth are the jaws, where they have their &s;everall &s;ockets into which they are morti&s;ed. The comely order of them in their places <HI>Galen</HI> tearmeth the &s;eemly dance of nature. They are divided into three kinds, the foreteeth which &s;erve for cutting of the meate, the &s;harp teeth, which &s;erve for the breaking of that which the foreteeth cannot cut; and the grinders or cheeke teeth, which &s;erve for the chewing of the meate. The&s;e being the greate&s;t, the harde&s;t, the chiefe&s;t are here alone mentioned by the Preacher, and they are cal|led grinders, becau&s;e in the unequall roughne&s;&s;e and broad hardne&s;&s;e of them, they are like the grinding &s;tones of a mill, whereby as mil&s;tones, &s;o they, are fitter for comminution: for which cau&s;e it is, that millers when their &s;tones by continuall u&s;e are growne &s;mooth, by picking doe make them rough againe. To &s;et downe the number of the&s;e in man, is a thing uncertaine, becau&s;e &s;ome have five, others foure, others three, but the&s;e are very few, in each &s;ide of their jawes. The two hindmo&s;t grinders being both bred and placed after the re&s;t, <HI>Hypocrates</HI> tearmeth <HI>dentes &s;apientiae</HI> the teeth of wi&s;edome, becau&s;e they are bred about the twenty eight yeare of mans age, by which time men are &s;uppo&s;ed to have learned wi&s;edome for the ordering of their lives and wayes. But in old age the&s;e grinders al&s;o faile, and having been often repayred, they are at length decayed: their morti&s;ing is loo&s;ened, their &s;ockes ca&s;t them out, and though there be mo&s;t of them, they al&s;o at la&s;t <HI>are few</HI> or none
<PB N="428" REF="213">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="429" REF="213">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="430" REF="214"> <HI>And tho&s;e that looke out at the windowes bee darkned:</HI> they are the eyes which here the Preacher &s;hadoweth, and the eye in Greek is called <GAP DESC="foreign"> the bed of the &s;ight, in Latin <HI>oculus ab occulendo,</HI> either becau&s;e it hath a &s;ecret and hidden light in it, or el&s;e becau&s;e it is covered and hid with the eyelid. The u&s;e of the eyes, is to be as <HI>Galen</HI> &s;aith, as it where &s;pies, whereby to di&s;cover before hand tho&s;e things that would annoy us, that they may be &s;hunned, and to make way for us unto tho&s;e things which being good are de&s;ired by us. And here the Originall word which the Preacher u&s;eth <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>efene&s;tris</HI> out of the windows is taken from <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifieth <HI>in&s;idiari</HI> to lye in waite as a &s;pie. The windows here &s;poken of are the eyelids, which are areas it were falling dores and &s;hutting leafes to windowes. For the reception of the formes of things into the eyes requiring a &s;oftne&s;&s;e and a tender|ne&s;&s;e in the temper of them, and this &s;oftne&s;&s;e and tenderne&s;&s;e making them obnoxious many wayes to offence and hurt: therefore God hath &s;heilded them mo&s;t watchfully, the eyelids ever and anon thru&s;ting them&s;elves between danger and them. To which purpo&s;e God hath given to the upper eyelid a very nimble motion: and though it be doubted whether the under eyelid doe move at all, yet &s;omething it &s;tir|reth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ari&s;t. de partib. Anim. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>13.</HI></NOTE> although the &s;tirring of it be hardly di&s;cerned. But <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> noteth, that in birds it is the lower eyelid which mo&s;t of all is moved, and that in them the higher &s;tirreth little. The&s;e eyelids have haires &s;et in them, being &s;et there by God, before we come into the world, and that in &s;uch an exqui&s;ite order, with &s;uch an exact equality, for number and for magnitude, that by the addition or diminution of any thing their u&s;e as <HI>Gallen</HI> &s;aith is marred and &s;poiled, and the eye not &s;o well fenced nor &s;heltered. But though the dores be &s;hut &s;o carefully, the watch &s;et &s;o diligently, all things ordered &s;o punctually yet in old age darkne&s;&s;e get|teth in and dimmeth the &s;ight, which is at la&s;t extingui&s;hed and put out. Now let this admoni&s;h us, that while we have the u&s;e of the&s;e parts we be carefull to u&s;e them well, that when we want the u&s;e of them it may be a comfort to us to remember how well they have been u&s;ed by us. As when we cannot u&s;e our hands, let it be our comfort, in what good la|bour they have been imployed, when we cannot goe, let it be our com|fort, how diligent we have been in going to Gods hou&s;e, when we cannot &s;ee, let it be our comfort, how frequently our eyes have read the word of God, and other good bookes. Againe let this admoni&s;h us to live in Gods feare, while we enjoy the u&s;e of the&s;e parts, that when we doe not enjoy them, God may be our arme, God may be our &s;taff, and that then by the eye of faith, we may behold him looking in mercy upon us.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 4. <HI>And the doores &s;hall be &s;hut in the &s;treets:</HI> &s;ome take this to &s;ig|nifie no more then the weakne&s;&s;e of old men, in not being able to goe abroad, or the dulne&s;&s;e of them, in not caring to goe abroad. Saint <HI>Hie|rome</HI> &s;peaking of the fir&s;t, &s;aith, <HI>clau&s;as in plateis portas infirmos &s;enis gre&s;&s;us accipi volunt, quod &s;emper &s;edeat &amp; ambulare non po&s;&s;it,</HI> by the
<PB N="427" REF="214"> doores &s;hut in the &s;treets, they will have to be under&s;tood, the weak go|ing of an old man, becau&s;e he alwayes &s;itteth and cannot walke.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> Of the &s;econd <HI>Tremellius</HI> under&s;tandeth the words, &s;aying that they are &s;o &s;et downe, <HI>pro eo quod e&s;t &agrave; foro ab&s;tinere &amp; &agrave; frequentia,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremell. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>ubi delectatio|nem inventus percipit,</HI> for that which is plainly thus expre&s;&s;ed, to ab&s;taine from the market place, and from the entercour&s;e of people,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> where youth findeth delight. <HI>Lyra</HI> by the doores in the &s;treets, under&s;tandeth the lippes, which are &s;eated in the plaine of the face, and which &s;aith he, are &s;aid to be &s;hut, becau&s;e an old man cannot &s;peak well. But the Preacher &s;peaking here of the decay of the &s;en&s;es of man in old age, I conceive him in the&s;e words, to &s;ignifie the &s;en&s;e of &s;melling, by the &s;treets importing the no&s;trils, by the dores tho&s;e holes in the &s;pungie bone, into which the odours are received. Now for a little fuller ope|ning of the meaning of the words thus taken. The no&s;e, which is the in&s;trument of &s;melling, is either inward or outward: the outward no&s;e, which con&s;i&s;teth of the no&s;trils, addeth both beautie and maje&s;tie unto the face, and among the <HI>Aegyptians,</HI> it was an <HI>Hieroglyphick</HI> of a wi&s;e man; from whence it is al&s;o that <HI>na&s;utus</HI> is &s;ometimes u&s;ed to expre&s;&s;e one that is witty, becau&s;e witty men are able to &s;mell out the cunning devices of others. The rea&s;on of the Latine name for no&s;trills, which is <HI>nares,</HI> &s;ome give to be this, becau&s;e the odoriferous &s;pirits which are in the ayre doe <HI>in nare,</HI> &s;wim as it were continually up and downe in them. The inward no&s;e is made of the &s;pongie bone and mamillary proce&s;&s;es. The &s;pongie bone hath its name, from the crooked and ob|lique holes of it, being therein for the mo&s;t part like unto the crooked pores that are in a &s;ponge. The mamillary proce&s;&s;es have their name from the nipples of a dug, which in &s;ome &s;ort they doe re&s;emble, and which i&s;&s;uing from the lower part of the braine, are &s;eated in the upper part of the &s;pongie bone. Now the no&s;trils lead the ayre, as if it were through &s;treets, informed with the forms of odors, through the dores and holes of this &s;pongie bone, to the mamillary proce&s;&s;es, where the faculty of &s;melling principally re&s;ideth, and from whence the braine is refre&s;hed by them. But in old age the &s;pirits being decayed, &s;o that the mamillary proce&s;&s;es are not &s;o well furni&s;hed with them, though the &s;treets and doores be open &s;till, yet are they &s;hut in re&s;pect of &s;melling, that being either altogether, or well neere lo&s;t. <HI>When the &s;ound of the grinding is low:</HI> the&s;e words &s;peak of that time, when in old age the jaw bone is growne in &s;ome mea&s;ure &s;harpe, and the jaw in &s;uch &s;ort is har|dened, that it &s;upplyeth in &s;ome manner the want of teeth, for the chewing of meate. But then, as the Preacher here &s;peaketh, <HI>the &s;ound of the grinding is low,</HI> the &s;oftne&s;&s;e of the grinders maketh their noy&s;e not heard, and yet they &s;peak aloud to men, that their end is at hand. <HI>And he &s;hall ri&s;e up at the voice of the bird:</HI> the Preacher here pa&s;&s;eth unto the &s;en&s;e of hearing, and fir&s;t &s;hewing it to be quick in old age, afterwards &s;heweth the great dulne&s;&s;e of it. Fir&s;t, &s;o quick it is, that at the voice of a bird it is awakened: but this indeed is not the quickne&s;&s;e of the hea|ring,
<PB N="432" REF="215"> but in truth the badne&s;&s;e of the &s;leeping. For as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronim. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>frige&s;cente jam &s;anguine, &amp; humore &s;iccato quibus materiis &s;o|por alitur, ad levem &s;onitum evigilat, noti&s;que medio quum gallus cecinerit exurgit, nequaquam valens &s;trato &s;aepius membra convertere,</HI> the blood now growing cold, and the moy&s;ture being dryed up, by which mat|ters &s;leepe is nouri&s;hed, it awakeneth with a little &s;ound, and at mid|night, when the cock croweth, it ri&s;eth &s;peedily, being not able of|ten to turne its members in the bed. <HI>Tully</HI> &s;aith, that in &s;leeping, the &s;en&s;e of hearing is requi&s;ite,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tull. de Natu. Deor. l. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> and &s;erveth as an u&s;efull means to awaken us: but that which youth needeth, old age needeth not, that wanteth &s;leepe, it wanteth not means to awaken it. <HI>And all the daughters of mu&s;ick &s;hall be brought low:</HI> the daughters of mu&s;ick, are the many in&s;truments of hearing, which being joyned, and married as it were to the &s;ounds of the ayre, doe bring forth the delightfull hearing of mu&s;ick, and other the like things. A good writer, comming to &s;peake of the organs of hea|ring, addre&s;&s;eth him&s;elfe thus unto it; But here the difficulty of the ta&s;ke which I am to undergoe, putteth mee to &s;eek, and &s;o I doe, the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of Almighty God, that he would &s;et a edge upon my wit, to be able to pierce,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rauhinus.</NOTE> and to di&s;cover the wonders of his creation, the digni|tie of his wi&s;edome, and his infinite goodne&s;&s;e, wherewith he hath invi|roned us. And that he would furni&s;h me with abilitie cleerely to &s;et forth and manife&s;t to your apprehen&s;ions all tho&s;e things which &s;o vari|ou&s;ly and artificially are folded up, that it is hard for the eye to ob&s;erve and follow the traine of them. The organ of hearing, in Latin is called <HI>auris,</HI> and as <HI>Lactantius</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lactant.</NOTE> will have it, <HI>ab hauriendis vocibus,</HI> from draw|ing the voices and &s;ounds unto it. But the parts of the eare being ma|ny, they have al&s;o divers u&s;es and offices: &s;ome being made as nece&s;&s;ary to receive the &s;ound, others as fit both to receive it, and to apprehend it, others as conducing both to the better receiving and perceiving of it, others as &s;erving for the pre&s;ervation and &s;afety of all the re&s;t. Generally the eare is divided into the outward and inward eare. The outward eare, which is &s;pread abroad like unto a net, principally &s;erveth to catch as it were the formes of &s;ounds wandring through the ayre <HI>per vocalem undam,</HI> by a vocall wave, as <HI>Avicen</HI> &s;peaketh, that &s;o being there caught, they may from thence pa&s;&s;e into the hole of the eare, as the fi&s;hes doe in|to the narrow end of the net. The principall parts of the inward eare, are the drum, who&s;e head is covered with a membrance, as a piece of vellome covereth the head of a drum, and which hath al&s;o a cord that runs through the midde&s;t of it, like the cord of a drum, the hammer, the anvil, the &s;tirop, not like the &s;tirrops now u&s;ed, but like the old fa&s;hion of &s;tirrops, which re&s;embled the Greek letter &Dgr;, the ovall window, the labyrinth, the &s;naile &s;hell, the &s;tony bone, the inplanted ayre, which is cleare, thin, without motion, without &s;ound, of a good quantity, and not conjoyned to the outward ayre. But to leave the&s;e things to tho&s;e to whom they doe belong, and which indeed, as they cannot be found out exactly, &s;o &s;hould not be &s;ought after too curiou&s;ly. For it is fit
<PB N="433" REF="215"> that in Gods works, &s;omthing &s;hould be the admiration of our &s;ilence, e&s;pecially when our uncertaines conjecture do rather te&s;tifie a vaine de|&s;ire of &s;atisfying our audacious phanta&s;ies, then yeeld any matter of importance and profit. As for the generall u&s;e of hearing, <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> hath ob&s;erved it well, that by hearing, the things of others are made known to our &s;elves, as by our voice and tongue wee are able to make known our own things to another. But when old age commeth, the glory of this mo&s;t excellent worke is humbled, and <HI>brought low,</HI> the anvil is worne, the hammer is weake, the drum is unbraced, the pure ayre is growne thick, the mu&s;icke is marred, the dolefull toll of the pa&s;&s;ing-bell being ready to &s;ound, and to ring out. Let this admoni&s;h us to have God in our company when we cannot goe abroad to the company of others, to make our &s;elves a &s;weet &s;avor in the no&s;trills of God, when our no&s;trils cannot perceive the &s;weetne&s;&s;e of &s;avours, to be watchfull in the wayes of God, that when we cannot &s;leepe, yet wee may re&s;t in him, to at|tend carefully in hearing of Gods Word, that when we cannot heare outwardly, yet may inwardly heare him &s;peaking peace unto our hearts and con&s;ciences.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5-7" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 5.</HI></BIBL> Al&s;o when they &s;hall be afraid of that which is on high, and fears &s;hall be in the way, and the Almond tree &s;hall flouri&s;h, and the gra&s;hopper &s;hallbe a burden, and de|&s;ire &s;hall faile, becau&s;e man goeth to his long home, and the mourners goe about the &s;treets.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 6.</HI></BIBL> Or ever the &s;ilver coard be loo&s;ed, or the golden bowle be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountaine, or the wheele bro|ken at the ci&s;terne.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 7.</HI></BIBL> Then &s;hall the du&s;t returne to the earth as it was, and the &s;pirit &s;hall returne unto God who gave it.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 5. <HI>Al&s;o when they &s;hall be afraid of that which is on high:</HI> that is, &s;aith Saint <HI>Hierome, ardua ingredi non valebunt,</HI> they &s;hall not be able to goe up any high place: that is, &s;aith <HI>Tremellius, incedentes metuent ne in lapillum exuberantem offendant,</HI> as they goe, they &s;hall be afraid, lea&s;t that they &s;tumble at a little &s;tone &s;tanding up. <HI>And feares &s;hall be in their way,</HI> that is &s;aith Saint <HI>Hierome la&s;&s;is politibus &amp; trement ve&s;tigio,
<PB N="434" REF="216"> etiam in plano itinere fluctuantes offen&s;am gre&s;&s;uum formidabunt,</HI> their knees being wearied, and their &s;teps trembling, and being un&s;tedy even in plaine ground they &s;hall feare the &s;tumbling of their going. And to the &s;ame purpo&s;e <HI>Tremellius</HI> &s;aith, <HI>nullum erit tam aequabile &s;olum, ubi, non metuant ab offen&s;ione &amp; attritu pedis,</HI> there is no ground &s;o levell and even, where they may not feare the hurting and brui&s;ing of their foote. The originall word here here u&s;ed is <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ignifying <HI>attriti contriti,</HI> worn, wa&s;ted, as noting the weakne&s;&s;e of old age, not only to be unable to goe up any a&s;cent, but al&s;o to be quickly &s;pent and wearied in going a little upon the plaine ground. But the meaning al&s;o of the word may be taken another way, and the Originall &s;ounding thus, <HI>ab alto time|bunt,</HI> they &s;hall feare from on high, <HI>Lyra</HI> apprehendeth it thus, that that &s;hall be afraid, which is on high in man, and accordingly expoun|ding it, he &s;aith; <HI>id e&s;t, &s;uperior pars animae, quia omnes naturaliter ti|ment mortem propinquantem,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>etiam &s;ecundum partem &s;uperiorem cor|pori compatientem,</HI> that is, the &s;uperiour part of the &s;oule, becau&s;e all naturally doe feare death approching, even in the &s;uperiour part, which hath a fellow-feeling of the bodies corruption. Or el&s;e to follow our tran&s;lation, the words may well guide us unto this meaning, that men are then afraid of that which is on high, that is, of God, as be|ing &s;peedily to give an account to him of their lives, who will be a &s;trict examiner of them, and a &s;evere puni&s;her of all that is ami&s;&s;e. This which &s;hould be the feare of all our lives, cannot but be the feare of old age. And then accordingly to expound the following words, <HI>and feares &s;hall be in the way,</HI> that is, &s;aith <HI>Lyra, quia timent exire viam vitae prae|&s;entis,</HI> becau&s;e they feare to goe out of the way of this pre&s;ent life. Or el&s;e we may take it thus, <HI>feares &s;hall be in the way,</HI> that is, when they lie upon their death bed, where they are ga&s;ping for breath, and even go|ing away, they &s;hall be full of fears, whither they &s;hall goe, what &s;hall become of them. <HI>And the Almond tree &s;hall flouri&s;h,</HI> that is, as the com|mon expo&s;ition conceiveth it, and white haires &s;hall flouri&s;h. And the rea&s;on, as I conceive, why by the flouri&s;hing of the Almond tree the white haires of old age are &s;uppo&s;ed to be under&s;tood, is becau&s;e the Almond tree doth flouri&s;h, and is full of blo&s;&s;omes in the old age and winter of the yeare:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Plin. l. <HI>16.</HI> c. <HI>25.</HI></NOTE> for as <HI>Pliny</HI> relateth, the Almond tree doth blo&s;&s;ome in the moneth of January. But the originall word, which is tran&s;lated flouri&s;h, is, <GAP DESC="foreign"> which commeth from <GAP DESC="foreign"> &amp; &s;ignifyeth to de|&s;pi&s;e or reject: as it &s;ignifieth to flouri&s;h, it mu&s;t be derived from <GAP DESC="foreign"> and have the letter &alef; added unto it. Wherefore as I conceive, the word may here be taken, as &s;ignifying a refu&s;ing or contemning, and I take the Preacher to &s;hew the decay of the &s;ence of ta&s;ting in old age, as be|fore he hath &s;hewed it in the other &s;en&s;es. Fir&s;t then he &s;heweth it, in that the fruit of the Almond tree, which no doubt is much e&s;teemed where it groweth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Plin. Ibid.</NOTE> as being the fir&s;t that is ripe. For <HI>Pliny</HI> al&s;o relateth that it is ripe in the moneth of March, yet by old age is refu&s;ed and neg|lected. The mo&s;t delicious fruite, and that which is mo&s;t gratefull to
<PB N="435" REF="216"> the pallate, is not regarded by it. Secondly he &s;hews it, in that <HI>the gra|&s;hopper &s;hall be a burden:</HI> for though it may be taken, as &s;hewing the weakne&s;&s;e of old age, not being able to carry a very &s;mall burden, as it were no more then a gra&s;hopper: yet I conceive it rather to &s;hew the weakne&s;&s;e of dige&s;tion in old age, &s;o that the pe&s;tle of a larke, or as the Preacher &s;peaketh, no greater quantitie then a gra&s;hopper is a burden to it. And I the rather follow this meaning, becau&s;e the origi|nall word &s;ignifieth a locu&s;t, and it may bee, the &s;ame light and thin meate, which the Bapti&s;t did eate in the wilderne&s;&s;e, who is &s;aid to have eaten locu&s;ts and wild honey. <HI>Tremellius</HI> reads it,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Matth.</HI> 3.4.</NOTE> <HI>pinguefacien|tem &s;e locu&s;tam,</HI> the locu&s;t making him&s;elfe fat, and he taketh this pa&s;|&s;age and the former, as &s;etting forth the &s;pring-time,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremell. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> wherein the trees flouri&s;h, the living creatures rejoyce, which yet affecteth old age with no joy, no contentment. Saint <HI>Hierome,</HI> and the Vulgar Latine accor|ding to the Septuagint, doe read it, <HI>impinguabitur locu&s;ta,</HI> the locu&s;t &s;hall be made fat, and Saint <HI>Hierome</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronim.</NOTE> expoundeth it to &s;hew, <HI>&s;e|num crura tumentia, &amp; podagrae tumoribus pregravata,</HI> the &s;wel|ling legs of old men, oppre&s;&s;ed with the &s;wellings of the goute. <HI>Lyra</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra.</NOTE> expoundeth it to &s;ignifie <HI>ventrem tume&s;centem humoribus indige&s;tis,</HI> the belly &s;welling with humours indige&s;ted. Thirdly, I conceive the Preacher to &s;hew the decay of the &s;ence of ta&s;ting, in &s;hewing the ap|petite to be lo&s;t and gone, when he &s;aith, <HI>and de&s;ire &s;hall faile.</HI> The originall rendred <HI>de&s;ire,</HI> is <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ome render <HI>concupi&s;centia,</HI> lu&s;t or concupi&s;cence, others <HI>aviditas</HI> greedine&s;&s;e, others <HI>voluptas</HI> plea&s;ure, others <HI>&s;uperbia</HI> pride, others <HI>appetius</HI> appetite. Saint <HI>Hie|rome</HI> and the Vulgar Latine according to the Septuagint do reade it <HI>cap|paris,</HI> the fruite of capers, which <HI>Lyra</HI> expoundeth the concupi&s;cence of the fle&s;h, and &s;aith that it is &s;o called here, <HI>eo quod capparis e&s;t herba, quo luxuria excitatur,</HI> becau&s;e <HI>Capparis</HI> is a plant by which lu&s;t is &s;tir|red up. And indeed the Jewes doe under&s;tand the de&s;ire here &s;poken of to be the lu&s;t of the fle&s;h. But &s;aith <HI>E&s;tius, Non decet ca&s;titatem Scripturae &s;acrae hoc referre pro incommodo &s;enectutis, quod multi boni &amp; ca&s;titatis &s;tudio&s;i etiam in juventute exoptant,</HI> it doth not be&s;eeme the cha&s;tity of &s;acred Scriptures, to reckon that for an inconvenience of old age, which many that are vertuous and lovers of cha&s;titie,<NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;tius in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> doe in their youth wi&s;h for. To which purpo&s;e he alleadgeth <HI>Cicero,</HI> who a|mong the commodities and benefits of old age, reckons up this, <HI>quod hominem a libidinis ae&s;tu veluti a tyranno quodam liberet,</HI> that it freeth man from the fire of lu&s;t, as it were from a certaine tyrant. Where|fore &s;aith he, that interpretation doth rather plea&s;e, which under&s;tan|deth it of the failing of the appetite of feeeding, which capers doe pro|voke. And concerning the decay of the &s;en&s;e of ta&s;ting in old age, <HI>Barzillai</HI> &s;hews it, when he &s;aith to <HI>David,</HI> I am this day foure&s;core yeares old, and can I di&s;cerne betweene good and evill? Can thy &s;er|vant ta&s;te, what I eate, or what I drinke? <HI>Becau&s;e man goeth to his long home:</HI> the originall is <HI>in domum</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>temporis &s;ui ab&s;conditi,</HI> into the
<PB N="436" REF="217"> hou&s;e of his hidden time, as being under&s;tood of the grave, in which man lieth hid.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. <HI>Sam.</HI> 19.35.</NOTE> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> and the Vulgar Latine, according to the Septuagint render it, <HI>in domum aeternitatis &s;uae,</HI> into the hou&s;e of his eternity, becau&s;e &s;aith <HI>Lyra, nunquam revertetur in vitam prae&s;entem,</HI> he &s;hall never return into this pre&s;ent life. <HI>Pagnine, Arias Montanus,</HI> and <HI>Tremell.</HI> read it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>in domum &s;aeculi &s;ui,</HI> into the hou&s;e of his generation, the grave being the hou&s;e wherein all they doe meet together, who li|ved together. <HI>Cajetane</HI> reads it <HI>in domum mundi &s;ui,</HI> into the hou&s;e of his world,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cajetan.</NOTE> the grave being to the dead, as much as the whole world. And whereas nature provideth for man the hou&s;e of the wombe, the world provideth for him the hou&s;e of the grave. <HI>And the mourners goe about the &s;treets</HI> that is, &s;aith Saint <HI>Hierome, &s;epulchrum exequiis quaerat ce|lebratis,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieron. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>plangentiumque funus turba praecedat,</HI> in the performance of fu|nerall ob&s;equies, he &s;eeketh for his &s;epulchre, the company of mour|ners leading the way in the &s;treets. Let this then teach us, &s;o to walke in Gods feare, that when in old age wee walke with feare, God may be our &s;afety; let this make us to have our hearts on high, that when wee come to die, wee may not feare him who is on high, let our de&s;ire be after the be&s;t things, which &s;hall be then de&s;ireable, when our de&s;ire of other things &s;hall cea&s;e, let us flouri&s;h in good works, that when the Almond tree &s;hall flouri&s;h, wee may expect with comfort the reward of them, let us &s;o live, that dying wee may goe to happine&s;&s;e, and there|by ea&s;e the griefe of them that mourne for us.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronim. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 6. <HI>Or ever:</HI> The Preacher here, as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> ob&s;erveth, returneth unto his former &s;peech, of remembring the Creatour in the dayes of youth, <HI>et po&s;t grande hyperbaton interjectum nunc caeptam &s;en|tentiam &s;imili fine concludit,</HI> after a great tran&s;po&s;ing of his words a|bove the plaine and Grammaticall order of them concludeth his matter began by him, with the like end. <HI>The &s;ilver coard be loo&s;ed:</HI> Saint <HI>Hie|rome</HI> under&s;tandeth the &s;ilver coard to be nothing el&s;e but the thred of life, <HI>candidam hanc vitam &amp; &s;piramen, quod nobis de caelo tribuitur,</HI> this white life and breathing, which from heaven is granted to us. <HI>Lyra</HI> by &s;ilver cord under&s;tandeth the harmony of the elements, in which they are tempered,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> and mixed together in the body, and which by death is di&s;&s;olved. But as I conceive, the Preacher having done with the head of man, he de&s;cendeth here unto the lower parts, and fir&s;t, <HI>by the &s;ilver cord,</HI> I apprehend him to under&s;tand the &s;pine bone, which from the neck is extended downe through the length of the back, in the middle of it, like a wreathed cord, and being hollow all along, hath trea&s;u|red in it that marrow, from whence the &s;inews for the mo&s;t part are de|rived: and the better to pre&s;erve &s;o great a trea&s;ure, it is exa&s;perated with many proce&s;&s;es, which are as it were the flancks of the bulwarke to keepe it from hurt. This cord is made of divers &s;mall bones, as it were of divers wreaths, and in a generall divi&s;ion, containeth foure parts; the necke, the backe, the loynes, the holy bone. The racks (for &s;o the &s;mall bones are called) of the neck are &s;even, of
<PB N="437" REF="217"> the back twelve, of the loines five. The uppermo&s;t rack bone of the neck is called <HI>Atlas,</HI> becau&s;e as he was faigned to beare heave~ on his &s;houlders, &s;o this beareth up the head, the heaven of the little world of mans body. The rack bones of the back are the &s;ame in number with the ribs doub|led, every rack bone having two ribs, of each &s;ide one, joyned unto it: &amp; though commonly the rackes of the back be twelve, yet &s;ometimes they are but eleven, and &s;ometimes they are thirteene, though that be not &s;o often. The rack bones of the loynes are greater and thicker then any of the others. The holy bone hath its name, not for any holy my&s;tery that is in it, which is the fond conceite of &s;ome, but as <HI>Homer</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Homer.</NOTE> calleth great fi&s;hes <HI>pi&s;ces &s;acros</HI> holy fi&s;hes, the rea&s;on whereof may be, becau&s;e the greate&s;t bea&s;ts were u&s;ed to be offered in &s;acrifices; &s;o this is called the holy bone from the greatne&s;&s;e of it, as being greater then any other of the bones of the &s;pine. Or el&s;e, it may be, as the Apo&s;tle &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Corinth.</HI> 12.13.</NOTE> tho&s;e members of the body, which we thinke to be le&s;&s;e honorable, upon tho&s;e we be&s;tow more abundant honour. This &s;ilver coard is in a manner &s;tretched out directly &amp; &s;traightly, that it is bowed now inward, then outward. Fir&s;t the upper part called the neck is bowed inward, that the gullet might re&s;t the better upon it. The &s;econd part of it, which is called the back, boweth outward, that &s;o the organs of re&s;piration might have the more roome. The third part of it which are the loines, turn &amp; bend againe inward, that the trunke of the hollow veine &amp; the great artery might be the better upheld by it. But when old age commeth, this <HI>cord is loo&s;ned,</HI> which maketh the head to hang downe, the back to bow, the whole body to bend to the earth, whether it is going. <HI>Or the golden bowle be broken:</HI> by the golden bowle or cup, I conceive the Preacher to &s;ignifie the heart, the figure thereof being pyramidall with the ba&s;e of it upward, and the cone or pointe of it downeward not unlike unto a bowle cup, and having al&s;o two ears, one of each &s;ide of it, not unlike the ears of a cup, which are called the deafe ears of the heart, as not having any hearing vertue, but &s;erving to this end, that the ha&s;t of ayre and blood pre&s;&s;ing to come to the heart might by them be &s;tayd, and by degrees admitted to have acce&s;&s;e. Or el&s;e we may take the bowle to bee the cover of the heart, which being al&s;o formed like the heart, is hollow like a bowle, and which contai|neth a pretious liquor and water in it, by which the heate of the heart is danitily and &s;weetly cooled and refre&s;hed. For the heart being &s;o hot of it &s;elf, that the left ventricle of it will even &s;cald a mans finger put into it, and the continuall motion of it being a means to encrea&s;e the heate, this water &s;erveth for the tempering and moderating of it. It was this water, which at our &s;aviours pa&s;&s;ion, the percing &s;word made to i&s;&s;ue with blood out of his &s;ide. But to take the bowle for the heart it &s;elf, it is &s;aid to be <HI>a golden bowle</HI> in regard of the &s;ub&s;tance of the heart, which is a &s;olid, red, and a golden fle&s;h, the thicke&s;t part of the blood being the matter of it. It is a paler red then that which is in the fle&s;h of the Mu&s;cles, but more compact and firme, that the &s;pirits and native heate which are in the heart, and from thence are powred out of the
<PB N="438" REF="218"> bowle into all the parts of the body, might be there pre&s;erved, and that it might not be crackt or broken by the forcible moving of it, and as being continually either delated or drawen in. This fle&s;h is indeed a <HI>golden</HI> matter, as having the vegetative facultie &s;eated in it, and giving chiefly vertue to the heart to performe the offices of it, which depend principally upon the vitall <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">pirits and blood, and the making of them. But how well &s;oever this fle&s;h is compacted together, in old age the bowle getteth cracks, and at length by death is broken: at length the heart becommeth u&s;ele&s;&s;e, as a broken bowle or cup. <HI>Or the pitcher be broken at the fountaine:</HI> next to the heart in man is the liver, and from hence it hath in Latin the name of <HI>jecur qua&s;i juxta cor,</HI> as it were pla|ced neere unto the heart. Wherefore in the&s;e words I conceive the liver to be meant, that being the &s;hop of &s;anguification or bloodma|king, as one &s;peaketh, or rather as the Preacher here &s;peaketh, that being <HI>the fountaine</HI> of blood, from whence by the channels of the veines, it is carried over the &s;everall provinces of mans body. For here ari&s;e tho&s;e two great and long veines, the port or gate veine, and the hol|low veine, and which are multiplied into very many branches. The <HI>pitcher</HI> here is the body of the liver, which is not altogether unlike a pitcher, fir&s;t being of &s;everall formes as pitchers are, becau&s;e the u&s;e of it needeth rather a convenient bigne&s;&s;e, then any proper figure: and then having two &s;ides, wherof the outward is convex and turned round, the inward is hollow fit to receive &s;omething into it. The largene&s;&s;e of it in man is greater then in any other creature of his proportion, and in the greate&s;t men greate&s;t: for the operations of mans &s;oule being many, and in them many &s;pirits being wa&s;ted and &s;pent, and blood being the matter whereof the &s;pirits are made, the liver therefore of nece&s;&s;ity was to be the greater, that &s;o the more blood might be &s;up|plyed, the whole body al&s;o from thence being to be furni&s;hed with it. But yet at length in old age <HI>the pitcher is broken,</HI> and as a broken pitcher holdeth little or no water, &s;o that containeth little blood, from whence the veins being empty, way is made for death to enter in. <HI>Or the wheele bee broken at the ci&s;terne:</HI> by the&s;e words I conceive the Preacher to &s;i|gnify the bladder, of which a good <HI>Anatomi&s;t</HI> &s;peaking &s;aith, that it is a large ci&s;tern or ve&s;&s;ell. The Preacher here doth call it <HI>a wheele</HI> or orbe in re&s;pect of the roundne&s;&s;e of it, from whence &s;ome have likened it unto a &s;phere. And <HI>the wheele</HI> or orbe is here &s;aid to be <HI>broken,</HI> for as much as the weakene&s;&s;e of this part in old men maketh them unable to hold and keepe their water. The&s;e two latter pa&s;&s;ages the breaking of the pitcher,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieron. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> the breaking of the wheele, Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> under&s;tandeth to be nothing el&s;e, but <HI>aenigmata mortis</HI> dark expre&s;&s;ions of death, be|cau&s;e as when the&s;e are broken there is noe longer drawing of water, &s;o when death commeth there is no longer drawing of breath. <HI>Tremellius</HI> by all the&s;e under&s;tandeth nothing el&s;e, but the temporall goods of this world, as the chaines, the jewels, the hou&s;ehold-&s;tuff, which in this life are enjoyed and by death are taken away. For &s;o he expoundeth,
<PB N="439" REF="218"> <HI>the &s;ilver cord, the golden bowle, the pitcher, the wheele;</HI> La&s;tly to apply the Preachers words unto a more &s;pirituall u&s;e: <HI>remember thy creator,</HI> remem|ber his ju&s;tice to feare, his mercy to hope, his bounty to be thankfull, his greatne&s;&s;e to reverence him, his goodne&s;&s;e to love him, his &s;weetne&s;&s;e to hunger and thir&s;t after him. And remember him, while thou art drawen with <HI>the &s;ilver cord</HI> of the doctrine of faith, while thou ha&s;t the remem|brance of him in <HI>the golde~ cup</HI> filled with his blood, which he &s;hed for thy &s;ins. Run unto God, ha&s;te~ to the fountaine of wi&s;edome, be diligent to fil thy <HI>pitcher,</HI> &amp; to drink of it being filled, le&s;t the pitcher while it is empty be broke~ at <HI>the fou~taine,</HI> &amp; not the water but thy &s;elf be lo&s;t for evermore.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 7. When God made man, the originall, word for word &s;peaks not as commonly it is tran&s;lated, <HI>and the Lord God formed man of the du&s;t of the earth:</HI> but thus is &s;aith, <HI>the Lord God formed man du&s;t of the earth.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gene&s;.</HI> 2.7.</NOTE> So that man is but earth in re&s;pect of his body, although changed curiou&s;ly by the working of Gods hand, and although made of a different kind from the common earth. Wherefore the Preacher al&s;o here plainly cals it du&s;t, &s;aying, <HI>then &s;hall the du&s;t.</HI> And to con&s;ider this, &s;aith Saint <HI>Ba&s;il,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;il. Homil. <HI>11.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;alutare quoddam emolumentum e&s;t adver&s;us quod|cunque peccatum,</HI> is a profitable help again&s;t every &s;in. But as for pride e&s;pecially, what need of more to quell it, then to looke upon the earth from whence man was taken? &s;urely as Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>etiam&s;i &s;excenties &s;upercilia&punc; &s;urrigamus, ea reprimemus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Homil. <HI>12.</HI> in Gene&s;.</NOTE> although &s;ix hun|dred times we lift up our eye-browes, we cannot but ca&s;t them downe, by con&s;idering the condition of our fir&s;t beginning. Wherefore Saint <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> &s;aith very well, <HI>quid a&s;pernabilius e&s;&s;e po&s;&s;it quam nos ip&s;i? Quid nobis occurrat dignius, quam ut nos humili dilectione exinaniamus?</HI> What can be more unworthy then we our &s;elves are? What is more worthy in us, then that we di&s;e&s;teeme our&s;elves by a humble dejection? It had been nothing unto God to have made us of a finer and more excellent matter but as Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>materiae vilitas magis demon|&s;trat artis copiam</HI> the vilene&s;&s;e of the matter doth the more &s;et forth the abundance of his art, who to earth and du&s;t hath given &s;o much beauty, and with &s;uch variety of &s;en&s;es and feeling hath adorned it. Be&s;ides God hath made our body earthy, that we might make it heavenly. For as he hath made the heaven and the earth, &s;o he hath vouch&s;afed us this ho|nour, that we may make the earth to be heaven. Wherefore Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Corpus nobis finxit Deus ex terra,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. Homil. <HI>15.</HI> m. <HI>1.</HI> ad Tim.</NOTE> <HI>ut ip&s;um quoque &s;ub|vehamus in caelum; non ut per ip&s;um animam detrahamus in terram,</HI> God hath formed us a body out of the earth that we might carry it to heaven, not that by it we &s;hould pull downe the hou&s;e unto the earth. <HI>Return to the earth:</HI> and let not the journy of it thither,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieron. contra vigilant.</NOTE> the lodging of it there be di&s;turbed and di&s;quieted. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> arguing again&s;t <HI>Vigilantius</HI> &s;heweth that God him&s;elfe did honour the body of <HI>Mo&s;es, dum illud propriis manibus &s;epelivit,</HI> while that he buried him with his own hands.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Calcin. Comm. in c. <HI>8.</HI> Actor.</NOTE> <HI>Calein</HI> al&s;o &s;heweth <HI>&s;epulturam honorem e&s;&s;e debitum corporibus &s;anctorum,</HI> that buriall is an honour due to the bodyes of the Saints. <HI>Bellarmine</HI> &s;he|wing
<PB N="440" REF="219"> the benefits, which from buriall ari&s;e unto the dead, &s;etteth this downe for one, <HI>quod con&s;ulitur honori eorum adhuc in hominum memoriis viventium: non enim caret ignominia quadam, quod faeditas no&s;tri cor|poris aliorum con&s;pectibus pateat,</HI> that thereby is provided for the ho|nour of them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bellar. de Purg. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. ult.</NOTE> as yet living in the memories of men: for it is not with|out &s;ome reproach, that the loath&s;omne&s;&s;e of our body lye open to the &s;ight of others. But why then doe the Papi&s;ts take the bones of the Saints out of their graves? Why doe they keepe them in boxes to be &s;hewed to the people, to be handled by the clergy, to be carryed about in proce&s;&s;ion, to be &s;et upon the Altars? <HI>Era&s;mus</HI> &s;peaking of his travels, and relating the pa&s;&s;ages of it, of one place he &s;aith, <HI>dictumirum, quan|tum o&s;&s;ium illic prolatum &s;it,</HI> it is wonderfull to tell how many bones were brought forth there, &s;culs, chins, teeth, hands, fingers, whole armes all which we adored and ki&s;&s;ed;<NOTE PLACE="marg">In colloq. pereg. relig. ergo.</NOTE> <HI>nec erat futurus finis,</HI> neither would there have been end, unle&s;&s;e the companion of my travels, when their was brought unto him an arme, which had yet bloody fle&s;h on it, had been moved at it, and his countenance had manife&s;ted a kind of loathing of it. The Church of Rome may accompt this an honour done to the Saints, becau&s;e their bones are laid up in boxes of gold or &s;ilver, but to make the be&s;t of it, what is it but <HI>in&s;epulta &s;epultura,</HI> an unburied buriall,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cicero Phil. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> which <HI>Cicero</HI> e&s;teemed for a di&s;grace. Neither is it any &s;uch honour as in the Scriptures we find to have been given to the Saint. Suppo&s;e the bones of &s;ome dead Saint to have wrought a miracle, which is a thing, the Papi&s;ts talke much of, and which &s;eemeth in this point to have been the ground of their &s;uper&s;tition: the bones of the Pro|phet <HI>Eli&s;ha</HI> we are &s;ure wrought a great miracle,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Reg.</HI> 13.21.</NOTE> notwith&s;tanding we doe not find that his bones were taken out of his &s;epulchre. But rather as <HI>Jo&s;iah</HI> commanded concerning the bones of another Prophet,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Kings</HI> 13.18.</NOTE> let him alone, let no one move his bones, &s;o may we well thinke <HI>Eli&s;haes</HI> bones were left at re&s;t. Wherefore that <HI>Wiclevian</HI> no doubt was in the right,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Walden&s;. tom. <HI>3.</HI> tit. <HI>14.</HI> c. <HI>128.</HI></NOTE> who as <HI>Walden&s;is</HI> reporteth, <HI>judicialiter confe&s;&s;us e&s;t,</HI> confe&s;&s;ed openly at his tryall, that the fle&s;h and bones of dead men ought not to be wor&s;hipped by the people, nor to be taken out of their un&s;avory monuments, nor to be layd up in golden or &s;ilver boxes. <HI>And the &s;pi|rit &s;hall returne to God:</HI> the &s;pirit dyes not, and therefore that returneth to God the fountaine of life. Hence the auncient Church did call the dayes on which the Saints of God dyed, <HI>natalia ip&s;orum,</HI> the dayes of their birth, becau&s;e then they entred into that better life, which is in|deed true life, becau&s;e then they go into that heavenly country, which is truly called the land of the living. And though in common &s;peach we &s;ay of the Saints departed, that they are dead, that is only to put a difference betweene them, and the Saints which are not yet departed from the earth. For though the Church of Rome di&s;pute, that the Godly in this life are not called Saints,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 17. <HI>v.</HI> 8.28</NOTE> yet it is plaine that the Spirit of God calleth them &s;o, and their canonization and Saint making, is but a trick of their Church-merchandi&s;ing. Every Spirit of man depar|ting
<PB N="441" REF="219"> from his body, returneth unto God, but the Spirits of the wicked returne unto him to be &s;ent from him by his ju&s;t judgement into eter|nall torments, the Spirits of the righteous returne unto him to abide with him in endle&s;&s;e joy and happine&s;&s;e. <HI>They returne to God,</HI> but they doe not returne to be made God, to be prayed unto, to have vows made unto them, to have tru&s;t and confidence repo&s;ed in them. This is more then they looke for being in heaven, and much more then &s;hould be given them by us, being on earth. <HI>Who gave it:</HI> Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaking of the&s;e words &s;aith, <HI>ex quo &s;atis ridendi &s;unt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>qui putant animas cum corpore &s;eri &amp; non Deo &s;ed &agrave; corporum parentibus ge|nerari,</HI> from whence they are worthy to be laughed at, who think the &s;oules to be &s;owed and generated of the &s;eed together with the bodyes, and to be brought forth not by God, but by the parents of the bodyes. For &s;eeing it is &s;aid, that God gave the Spirit, he thinks it to be mani|fe&s;t that God is the Father of the &s;oules and not men. And indeed Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> writing of this argument, confe&s;&s;eth <HI>inter caetera te&s;timo|nia, hoc e&s;&s;e praecipuum,</HI> among other te&s;timonies for the proofe of it, this to be the chiefe. But yet Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> in him&s;elfe being doubtfull in this point, thinketh that the Preachers meaning may be, that as God made the fir&s;t man out of the earth in re&s;pect of his body, which afterward by generation was to be brought forth; &s;o that God him&s;elfe made the fir&s;t &s;oule, which afterward was from man to be propagated. The good Father is mo&s;t mode&s;t in writing of it, and whereas Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> had &s;ent &s;ome unto him to be in&s;tructed in it, he tels us that he wrote back unto him, <HI>con&s;ulens &amp; petens, ut prius ip&s;um doceret,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. ad Opat. de Origi. animarum.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; tunc ad illum mitteret quos doceat,</HI> advi&s;ing and de&s;iring that fir&s;t he would teach him&s;elfe, and then &s;end unto him tho&s;e that might be taught by him.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="8" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Ver. 8.</HI></BIBL> Vanity of vanityes (&s;aith the Preacher) all is vanity.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 8. Suppo&s;e a wi&s;e &amp; learned man to be travelling over the world for increa&s;ing of his knowledg, and hearing of a great Univer&s;ity to take his way unto it: but when he commeth thither, to find in one Schoole taught the manner and &s;kill of playing at cards, in another Schoole of playing at tables, in another of playing at bowles, and &s;o the &s;everall kinds of idle games and pa&s;times, how would he crye out folly of follyes all is folly; in like manner the Preacher having by his wi&s;dom and know|ledge travelled in his thoughts over the whole world, and having viewed in the things that are without man, the mutability, uncertainity, in&s;ufficiency of them to content mans heart; having beheld in man the blindne&s;&s;e, of his mind, the perver&s;ne&s;&s;e of his affections, the fading decay and corruption of his body, he cryeth out likewi&s;e <HI>vanity of vani|ties all is vanity:</HI> that is all is nothing. Now as Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;peaketh,
<PB N="442" REF="220"> <HI>mirandum, &s;ed magis dolendum quam mirandum, quod id quod nihil e&s;t amari pote&s;t,</HI> it is to be wondred at, but more to be lamented then wondred at, that that can be loved which is nothing. But as he ad|deth, <HI>hinc plane &s;entimus, unde, quo venimus, quid perdidimus, quid invenimus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernardus Epi&s;t. <HI>18.</HI></NOTE> hence we perceive plainly, whence, and whither we are come, what we have lo&s;t, what we have found. Him we have lo&s;t, in whom all things are contained: that we have found, in which all things that are contained are nothing: from him we are come, who alone truly is, thither we are come, where every thing that is, by vanity is not. And yet this we love him we de&s;pi&s;e. For as Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> al&s;o &s;peaketh, <HI>appetitus vanitatis, e&s;t contemptus veritatis,</HI> the li|king of vanity is the di&s;like of uerity. But as he likewi&s;e addeth, <HI>quid vanius quam diligere vanitatem? Quid iniquius quam contemnere ve|ritatem?</HI> What more vaine, then to love vanity? What more wicked, then to de&s;pi&s;e verity? Neither let the worldling thinke it to be &s;trang, that thus the Preacher maketh the things of this life, to be &s;o meerly vanity, to be &s;o plainly nothing. Fos as <HI>Clemens Alexandrinus</HI> noteth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Clemens Alex. Stromat. l. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE> <HI>quemadmodum amygdalae dicuntur inanes, non in quibus nihil e&s;t, &s;ed in quibus id quod ine&s;t e&s;t inutile,</HI> almonds are &s;aid to be empty, not becau&s;e there is nothing in them, but becau&s;e that which is in them is unprofitable and to no u&s;e; &s;o likewi&s;e the things of this world are &s;aid <HI>to be vanity,</HI> are &s;aid to be nothing, becau&s;e how great &s;oever they may be in their earthly magnitude, how glorious &s;oever in their tempo|rary bravery, yet they are of no u&s;e for the procuring of true good unto man, no way profitable for the e&s;tabli&s;hing of mans happine&s;&s;e. But who is it that thus &s;peaketh, <HI>vanity of vanities all is vanity?</HI> It is not man that &s;aith it, for in him a love of this world makes him to thinke too highly of the things of the world. It is not the King that &s;aith it, for in Kings the glory of the world maketh them unable to &s;ee the vanity of the things of the world. It is not <HI>Salomon</HI> that &s;aith it, for he was deceived by the things of the world, and could not di&s;cerne the vanity of them. It is <HI>the Preacher that &s;aith it,</HI> he that by &s;tudy and care had looked into the truth of things he that had unma&s;ked the out&s;ide of &s;hewes and apparences, and had &s;earched out, what the things of this life are, he &s;aw, and he &s;aith, <HI>that all is vanity,</HI> and what he &s;aith, truth it &s;elfe &s;aith. Great is the authority, which here is given unto Preachers. The Prophets to give authority unto their words, u&s;e to &s;ay; <HI>Thus &s;aith the Lord;</HI> but the Lord him&s;elfe, the Holy Spirit of God to give authority to his Preachers words, here &s;aith, <HI>Thus &s;aith the Preacher. David</HI> was a great King in <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> and he was a Prophet: but <HI>Salomon</HI> was a greater King, and he was a Preacher. He cho&s;e for his text this argument of the vanity of humane things, and &s;aying here, <HI>&s;aith the Preacher,</HI> &s;eemeth to mee, to have &s;et it downe, as one gene|rall and principall argument for Preachers to in&s;i&s;t upon. As for this Preacher him&s;elfe Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> tels us, <HI>in hac vanitate intimandum to|tum hunc librum vir &s;apienti&s;&s;imus deputavit, non utique ob aliud ni&s;i ut
<PB N="443" REF="220"> eam vitam de&s;ideremus quae vanitatem non habet &s;ub hoc &s;ole,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. de Civit. Dei l. <HI>20.</HI> c. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;ed veritatem &s;ub illo, qui fecit hunc &s;olem,</HI> in &s;etting forth this vanity the mo&s;t wi&s;e man hath imployed this whole booke, and that for no other end: but that we might de&s;ire that life which hath not vanity under this Sun, but truth under him who made this Sun. But if we &s;hall con&s;ider this ver&s;e not &s;o much as a &s;ummary repetition of the whole book, as rather in a particular reference to that which goeth before it, then we may conceive the Preachers meaning thus, that &s;eeing all the labour and care of man at length is brought to this,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>that the du&s;t returneth to the earth as it was, and the Spirit unto God that gave it,</HI> therefore it mu&s;t needs be as Saint <HI>Hierome,</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>magnae vanitatis in hoc &s;aeculo laborare, &amp; ni|hil profutura conquirere,</HI> a &s;igne of great vanity to labour in this world, &amp; to &s;eeke after tho&s;e things which cannot profit us. It is S. <HI>Au&s;tins</HI> &s;peach,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin. de Temp. Ser. <HI>50.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;i tibi diceret architectus ruituram domum tuam, nonne prius migrares quam murmurares,</HI> if a &s;kilfull builder &s;hould &s;ay unto hee, that thy hou&s;e would fall downe, woulde&s;t thou not rather make ha&s;t out of it then &s;tay in it to murmure again&s;t him? Now he that is the &s;kilfull buil|der of the world, he that hath builded the hou&s;e of thy body, he tels thee that thy hou&s;e will fall, that thy &s;trong &s;upporters will bow, that thy &s;afe keepers will faile, that thy firme cords will be broken, that thine honour will be layd in the du&s;t; he tels thee that the world will fall, and do&s;t thou not beleeve him? Surely if thou do&s;t, thou mu&s;t needs acknowledge, <HI>quam verum dixerat veritas, quam inaniter con|turbatur vanitas,</HI> how truly truth hath &s;aid, how vanily vainty is di&s;|quieted, as Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaketh: how truly <HI>the Preacher &s;aith vanity of vanities all is vanity.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="9-12" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 9.</HI></BIBL> And more over becau&s;e the Preacher was wi&s;e, he &s;till taught the people know|ledge, yea, he gave good heed, and &s;ought out, and &s;et in order many Pro|verbs.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 10.</HI></BIBL> The Preacher &s;ought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written, was upright, even words of truth.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 11.</HI></BIBL> The words of the wi&s;e are as goades, and as nailes fa&s;tened by the Ma&s;ters of a&s;&s;em|blies, which are given from one &s;hep|heard.</P>
<PB N="444" REF="221">
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 12.</HI></BIBL> And further by the&s;e my &s;onne be admoni|&s;hed: of making many bookes there is no end, and much &s;tudy is a wearine&s;&s;e of the fle&s;h.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 9. <HI>Moreover becau&s;e the Preacher was wi&s;e he &s;till taught,</HI> &amp;c. Wherein our tran&s;lation followeth the reading of Saint <HI>Hierome,</HI> and though <HI>Arias Montanus</HI> al&s;o u&s;e the &s;ame as being mo&s;t literall, yet as I conceive the force of the Originall is more kindly expre&s;&s;ed by the French tran&s;lation which readeth it thus, <HI>and by how much the Preacher was wi&s;e, by &s;o much the more he taught the people.</HI> In both, the &s;en&s;e is very little different, and as I conceive, the Preacher here by his owne example &s;heweth the duety and office of a Preacher. By the&s;e words he teacheth them that are to teach others two things. Fir&s;t that him&s;elfe mu&s;t be wi&s;e that &s;hall take upon him to teach others wi&s;dome. This Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> ob&s;erving upon that pa&s;&s;age of <HI>Ezekiel</HI> who &s;aith, <HI>and it came to pa&s;&s;e,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ezek.</HI> 3.16. <HI>&amp;</HI> 17</NOTE> <HI>at the end of &s;even dayes that the word of the Lord came unto mee &s;aying, Son of man I have made thee a watchman unto the hou&s;e of I&s;rael,</HI> thereupon noteth, <HI>qui &s;peculator futurus e&s;t, &amp; Dei verba po|pulo narraturus, multo tempore debet quie&s;cere, ut &s;cilicet &agrave; Deo accipiat &amp; di&s;cat,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronim. Ibi.</NOTE> <HI>quae po&s;tea di&s;tribuere po&s;&s;it,</HI> he that is to be a watchman, and to declare the words of God unto his people, mu&s;t be &s;till and quiet a long time, that &s;o he may receave and learne from God tho&s;e things which he may di&s;per&s;e abroad. There is no art that is pre&s;umed to be taught before that it be learned, and &s;hall any pre&s;ume to teach in this great art, who are not fir&s;t well learned? Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaking of Preachers &s;aith, <HI>oculi &s;unt qui in ip&s;a honoris &s;ummi facie po&s;iti provi|dendi itineris officium &s;u&s;cipiunt,</HI> they are eyes which are placed in the very face of the highe&s;t honour and take upon them the office of fore|&s;eeing the way,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Pa&s;t. Cu. p. <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> and &s;hall any thru&s;t them&s;elves into this place this office, which have not the cleare &s;ight of knowledge in them? Secondly the Preacher teacheth here that the abilities of teaching ought to cau&s;e every one to teach, and that the more ability he hath, the more paines he is to take in it. But as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> noteth, there are not a few, who being enriched with great gifts, <HI>dum &s;olis contemplationis &s;tudiis inarde&s;cunt, parere utilitati proximorum predicatione refuguunt,</HI> while they burne in the &s;tudies of contemplation, only, doe &s;hun to yeild in Preaching to the profit of their neighbours. Of whom he giveth this judgement, <HI>ex tantis proculdubo rei&s;unt, quantis venientes ad populum prode&s;&s;e potuerunt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Pa&s;ti. Cu. p. <HI>1.</HI> c. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> they are guilty no doubt of &s;o much evill, as by com|ming forth from their retiredne&s;&s;e into the world they might have done good. And is it not &s;ometimes the judgement of God upon them, as the &s;ame Father noteth, <HI>dum &s;ua &amp; non aliorum lucra cogitant, ip&s;i &s;e quae pri|vata habere appetunt,</HI> that they <HI>bonis privant,</HI> deprive them&s;elves of tho&s;e
<PB N="445" REF="221"> good things which they de&s;ire to have private to them&s;elves. <HI>Yea he gave good heed:</HI> Saint <HI>Hieorme</HI> reads it, <HI>&amp; audire eos fecit,</HI> and he made them to heare. <HI>Pagnine</HI> and <HI>Arias Montanus, &amp; au&s;cultare fecit,</HI> and he made them to hearken, as &s;hewing his de&s;ire to be the profit of the hearers: and let every one who de&s;ireth to plea&s;e God in this calling make this his chiefe de&s;ire. But to con&s;ider the words as our tran&s;la|tion hath them. <HI>He gave good heed,</HI> that is, he was carefull &s;o to teach,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.2.</NOTE> as to take his fitte&s;t opportunity for it. Indeed Saint <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Preach the word, be in&s;tant in &s;ea&s;on, out of &s;ea&s;on:</HI> but as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> noteth <HI>dicturus importun&egrave; praemi&s;it opportune, quia &s;cilicet apud auditoris men|tem ip&s;e &s;ua &s;e utilitate de&s;truit, &s;i habere importunitas opportunitatem ne&s;cit,</HI> being about to &s;ay out of &s;ea&s;on, he fir&s;t &s;aith in &s;ea&s;on, becau&s;e importunity if it know not how to u&s;e opportunity doth often de&s;troy it &s;elf by its owne profit. Yea not only is the vertue lo&s;t of that which is &s;aid when by an indi&s;creet un&s;ea&s;onablene&s;&s;e of loquacity, it is di&s;e&s;tee|med in the hearts of the hearers: but as the &s;ame Father &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. pa&s;t. cu. par. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> <HI>auto|rem &s;uum haec eadem loquacitas inquinat quae &s;ervire auditoribus ad u&s;um profectus ignorat,</HI> the &s;ame loquacity disgraceth the authour of it, when that it knoweth not to how to be &s;erviceable for the profit of the hea|rers. <HI>And &s;ought out:</HI> the Originall word is in <HI>Pihel</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, and as I &s;uppo&s;e may be tran&s;lated, as that before is tran&s;lated by Saint <HI>Hierome fecit inve&s;tigare</HI> he made them to &s;eek out, or to &s;earch into, as &s;hewing that the Preacher &s;o taught as that he made the people to under&s;tand what he taught, and to &s;ee into the truth of it. And &s;urely it mu&s;t be the care of a Preacher to apply his matter and &s;peach to the capacity of the hearers, that &s;o there attention may be able to &s;eek into it, and &s;o &s;earch it out. In the law of the Jews he that hath digged a pit was to cover it, lea&s;t an oxe or an a&s;&s;e &s;hould fall therein;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Exod.</HI> 21.33.</NOTE> and it mu&s;t be the care of him who by paines of &s;tudy &s;trength of under&s;tanding hath &s;earched into the &s;ecrets of religion not to utter them heedle&s;ly, lea&s;t that an oxe or a&s;&s;e &s;ome unlearned and &s;imple hearer fall into errour and hurt by it. The pit therefore is to be covered, and high knowledge before plaine heares is to be concealed, lea&s;t while the doctrine of the teacher is lifted up on high, the weakne&s;&s;e of the hearers &s;hould &s;tumble and da&s;h its foote below. In the Scripture it is ordinary by the clouds to &s;ignify Preachers, and Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> con&s;idering tho&s;e words of <HI>Job, he bindeth up his waters in the thick clouds,</HI> there upon he &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Job.</HI> 26.8.</NOTE> <HI>ut audi|tores rudes non inundatione &s;cientiae obruantur, &s;ed moderata praedicationis di&s;tillatione foveantur, ligat Deus aquas in nubibus: quia doctorum prae|dicationem temperat, ut auditorum infirmitas doctorum rore nutrita con|vale&s;cat,</HI> that plaine hearers may not be overwhelmed with an inunda|tion of knowledge, but that they may be cheri&s;hed with a moderate di&s;tillation, he bindeth the waters in the clouds;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral. l. <HI>17.</HI> c. <HI>14.</HI></NOTE> for he tempereth the preaching of the teachers, that the weakne&s;&s;e of the hearers being nou|ri&s;hed by their dew may grow &s;trong by it. Wherefore it is a good rule which the &s;ame Father giveth, <HI>dignum e&s;t ut qui praedicet audientis mo|dum
<PB N="446" REF="222"> con&s;ideret, quatenus &s;ua praedicatio cum auditoris &s;ui incrementis cre&s;cat,</HI> it is meete that the Preacher con&s;ider the condition of his hea|rers, that &s;o he may teach higher matters as his hearers are riper in un|der&s;tanding. But to under&s;tand the words, of the Preacher him&s;elfe alone, and as our tran&s;lation hath it, <HI>and &s;ought out,</HI> they &s;hew his &s;tudy and diligence to find out that, which he might teach the people. For a Preacher mu&s;t as well labour, and by meditation &s;eek what to teach, as reach, and deliver that which he hath found, he mu&s;t as well draw out of the fountaine, as powre out that which he hath drawn. Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> therefore &s;aith, <HI>perfectus doctor Dei e&s;t docibilis &amp; dum pa&s;cere cibo alios nititur, ip&s;e multiformium delitiarum &s;piritualium dulcedine &s;atiatur,</HI> he that is one of Gods carefull teachers,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. m. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> is him&s;elfe teachable, and whiles he endeavoureth to nouri&s;h others with food,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Sam. c. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> he is diligent to fill him|&s;elfe with the &s;weetne&s;&s;e of manifold &s;piritual delights. The &s;taves where|by the Ark was to be born were alwayes to be in the Ark, they were not to be taken out from it:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Exod.</HI> 25.15.</NOTE> and what are Preachers but as it were the &s;taves of the Ark, whereby the Church of God is born up? wherefore as the &s;taves were alwayes in the Ark, &s;o &s;aith Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> it behooveth teachers <HI>&s;emper in &s;uis cordibus eloquia &s;acra meditari, ut &s;i quicquid ne|ce&s;&s;e &s;it te&s;tamenti arcam &s;ine mora elevent,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Pa&s;t. Cit. p. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>11.</HI></NOTE> <HI>protinus doceant,</HI> alwayes in their hearts to meditate upon the &s;acred &s;criptures, that if need doe re|quire, they may without delay take up the Ark of the te&s;tament, they may fortwith teach. <HI>And &s;et in order many proverbs:</HI> to &s;et things well in order doth &s;et them out well, and in teaching it is therefore very needfull, becau&s;e it is very helpfull. It was a ladder which Jacob &s;aw reaching from earth to heaven, wherein by degrees the &s;teps do follow in order, one after the other. And &s;urely a good order in teaching doth be&s;t &s;erve to bring downe the graces of Gods &s;pirit from heaven, doth be&s;t &s;erve to lead up the lives of men, to have there conver&s;ation in heaven. And for the order of teaching, let me note one thing from <HI>Jacobs</HI> ladder,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gene&s;.</HI> 28.12.</NOTE> of which it is &s;aid, he &s;aw the Angels, of God a&s;cending &amp; de&s;cending on it. The Angels of God being in heaven, one would think that it &s;hould have been fir&s;t &s;aid de&s;cending and then a&s;cending: but &s;eeing it is fir&s;t &s;aid a&s;cend and then de&s;cend, let the Preachers of God who are his Angels &s;ent unto his people learn this order, that fir&s;t they a&s;cend by prayer unto God to beg his ble&s;&s;ing upon their labour, before that they de&s;cend by teaching to in&s;truct the people.</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 10. <HI>The Preacher &s;ought:</HI> this repetition of the Preachers &s;ee|king induceth me the rather to conceive the &s;eeking in the ver&s;e before of the peoples &s;eeking, to which the Preacher exhorted them. The ori|ginall word here al&s;o u&s;ed for &s;eeking is not the &s;ame, that in the ver&s;e before it is. Here it is <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifieth to &s;eek by &s;uing and praying, to &s;eek by a&s;king direction and coun&s;el of them who are able to give it. And &s;urely thus mu&s;t a Preacher &s;eek, he mu&s;t not be a&s;hamed to a&s;ke coun&s;el, where he &s;tandeth in need of it, and e&s;pecially he mu&s;t &s;ue and &s;eek to God for his a&s;&s;i&s;tance and ble&s;&s;ing. For as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;aith
<PB N="447" REF="222"> well, <HI>nece&s;&s;e e&s;t ut &s;i vere intendimus illuminata cernere, &s;tudeamus men|tis oculos ad ip&s;um illuminans lumen aperire,</HI> it is nece&s;&s;ary if we verily de|&s;ire to behold tho&s;e things, which are illuminated,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral. l. <HI>23.</HI> c. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> that we endeavor to lift up the eyes &amp; mind of our to open them unto the light it &s;elf by which they are illuminated. <HI>Sought to find out:</HI> there is &s;till &s;omthing to be &s;ought out by a Preacher, and &s;till mu&s;t a Preacher be &s;eeking to find. For that I may deliver the common &s;entence of the <HI>Philo&s;opher</HI> in Saint <HI>Gregoryes</HI> words, <HI>in hoc mundo dum vivimus, tunc perfect&egrave; quae &s;cienda &s;unt &s;cimus, quum proficientes per intelligentiam nihil nos perfect&egrave; &s;cire co|gno&s;cimus,</HI> while we live in this world, then doe we know perfectly tho&s;e things, which are to be known, when as profiting in under&s;tan|ding, we know that we know nothing perfectly. <HI>Acceptable words:</HI> Saint <HI>Au&s;tins</HI> direction is, <HI>agat vir eloquens, ut intelligenter,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. de doct. Chri&s;t. l. <HI>4.</HI> c. <HI>14.</HI></NOTE> <HI>ut obedien|ter audiatur,</HI> let it be the endeavour of an eloquent man, that he may be heard with under&s;tanding, with willingne&s;&s;e, with obedience. And to this end it is that a Preacher is to find out <HI>acceptable words,</HI> &s;uch words as may procure an under&s;tanding, willing, obedient attention. The originall is as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> reads it <HI>verba voluntatis,</HI> words of the will,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Sam:</HI> 2.26.</NOTE> that is &s;uch words as are agreable unto the will of God, and are of power to work upon the will of men for their good and benefit. Of <HI>Samuel</HI> it is &s;ayd that he was in favour both with the Lord and with men; and &s;uch mu&s;t be the words of a Preacher, as that they be <HI>acceptable</HI> to God and to men. Unworthy is it a Preachers pains to &s;eek to plea&s;e men only: and what is it but as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. in Ezek. l. <HI>2.</HI> Homil. <HI>21.</HI></NOTE> <HI>rem magnam vili pretio venundare</HI> to &s;ell a pretious thing for a vile price? He is worthy of that name who as the &s;ame Father &s;peaketh, <HI>ea quae dicit ideo placere ho|minibus appetit ut dum placet, quod dicitur, per eadem dicta non ip&s;e &s;ed Dominus ametur,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. in Evang. Hom. <HI>17</HI></NOTE> de&s;ireth that tho&s;e things which he &s;peaketh may be acceptable to men to this end, that while that is plea&s;ing which is &s;po|ken, not him&s;elfe but the Lord may be loved by the &s;peeches. <HI>And that which was written, was upright.</HI> Our tran&s;lation and the French al&s;o under&s;tand this part of the ver&s;e, as &s;peaking of that which is writ|ten here in this book, but the Originall &s;peaks no more, then the <HI>wri|ting of uprightne&s;&s;e,</HI> and &s;heweth the Preachers care and diligence not only by &s;peaking but by writing al&s;o to in&s;truct the people- And in|deed &s;peaking is but like a burning coale, which giveth heate and &s;ome light neere at hand, but writing is like a &s;hining lampe, which giveth light far off. But that which the Preacher principally intendeth, is that Preachers mu&s;t be carefull both in &s;peaking and writing to deliver the words of <HI>uprightne&s;&s;e the words of truth.</HI> The words of <HI>uprightne&s;&s;e</HI> in &s;hewing the right way to God, in di&s;covering the wrong wayes of &s;in. The words of truth, in &s;etting forth the truth of God, in refuting and rejecting the errours of men. Fir&s;t the words of <HI>uprightne&s;&s;e,</HI> they mu&s;t not &s;pare to &s;hew men their dueties, to tell men there faults. Where|fore the Preacher having mentioned <HI>acceptable words,</HI> he addeth words of <HI>uprightne&s;&s;e</HI> as &s;hewing that they mu&s;t be &s;o acceptable, as withall not
<PB N="448" REF="223"> neglecting to pre&s;&s;e unto <HI>uprightne&s;&s;e</HI> of life, and to blame what is a mi&s;&s;e therein. Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> therefore writing to <HI>Nepotian</HI> &s;aith, <HI>docente te in Eccle&s;ia non clamor populi, &s;ed gemitus &s;u&s;citetur, lachrymae auditorum laudes tuae &s;int,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. ad Nepotian.</NOTE> when thou teache&s;t in the Church, let not the applau&s;e of the people, but their &s;ighing be &s;tirred up by thee, let their tears be thy pray&s;es.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ho&s;ea.</HI> 4.8.</NOTE> The Prophet <HI>Ho&s;ea</HI> &s;peaking of bad teachers &s;aith, they eate of the &s;in of my people, which Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> expoundeth <HI>vivunt ex peccatis populi,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in Ho&s;eam.</NOTE> they live by the &s;ins of the people, they make the means of their living to be the greater by &s;uffering the people to live in their &s;ins without reproo&s;e. Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> expoundeth it, <HI>peccata de|linquentium fovent,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. in Evang. Hom. <HI>17</HI></NOTE> they nouri&s;h the &s;ins of offenders, and as them&s;elves are nouri&s;hed by the meate which they eate, &s;o by their carele&s;ne&s;&s;e, they nouri&s;h the people in there wickedne&s;&s;e, which &s;hould be de&s;troyed by them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Reg.</HI> 13.17.</NOTE> In which re&s;pect the words of Preachers &s;hould be arrows, peircing the &s;oule of &s;inners, and wounding them with griefe unto the heart, &s;o that it may be &s;ayd of them, as <HI>Eli&s;ha</HI> &s;aid of the arrow of <HI>Ioa&s;h, the arrow of the Lords</HI> deliverance. And &s;urely it were good, if hearers would even open their brea&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Origen. Homil. <HI>2.</HI> in Cantic.</NOTE> and as <HI>Origen</HI> &s;peaketh <HI>transfigen|dum praeberent huju&s;modi jaculis,</HI> would even offer it to be periced with the&s;e arrows. The wounds which the&s;e arrows make, are as <HI>Gre|gory Ny&s;&s;en</HI> calleth them, <HI>praeclara vulnera,</HI> excellent wounds: and in|deed what are they but even &s;weete wounds by which not death but life enters into their &s;ecret parts.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Ny&s;&s;en. Homil. <HI>4.</HI> in Can.</NOTE> But in &s;hooting the&s;e arrows let it be the ayme of Preachers to &s;hoote only at the vices of men, not at the men them&s;elves. The hi&s;tory is of <HI>Alcon</HI> the <HI>Cretian,</HI> that when a dra|gon hath taken away his &s;on, he killed the Dragon with his arrow, but did not hurt his Son and it was his naturall affection that put his art into him, of whom it is well &s;aid, <HI>ars erat e&s;&s;e patrem,</HI> it was his &s;kill that he was a father. And let Preachers &s;hew them&s;elves to be fathers in their great love, killing the brood of the Dragon, &s;in in the hearers, but not hurting them by any ill affection toward them. <HI>Words of truth:</HI> &s;econdly the Preacher here &s;heweth that it mu&s;t be the care of Preachers to in&s;truct the people in <HI>the words of truth,</HI> and that their words mu&s;t be &s;o acceptable, as that being true likewi&s;e, they may make the hea|rers to under&s;tand, what is the truth of religion. <HI>Lactantius</HI> noteth that the doctrine of <HI>Epicurus</HI> was chiefly followed,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lactant. Divin. In&s;titut. l. <HI>3.</HI> c. <HI>16</HI></NOTE> <HI>non quia veri aliquid afferebat, &s;ed quia multos ad populare nomen voluptatis invitabat,</HI> not becau&s;e it afforded any truth, but becau&s;e it invited many to the popular name of plea&s;ure: and &s;o it is with &s;ome Pteachers, who are much fol|lowed, not becau&s;e they deliver that which is truth, but becau&s;e that plea&s;eth the hearers which is delivered by them. Such a one Saint <HI>Gre|gory</HI> de&s;cribing &s;aith, <HI>qui magna de &s;e &s;entiens &s;ed vera de Domino igno|rans,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral. l. <HI>17.</HI> c. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> <HI>longe a fidei cognitione disjungitur, &amp; tamen videri fidei praedica|tor conatur,</HI> who thinking great things of him&s;elf, but not knowing the true things of the Lord, is far devided from the knowledge of faith, and yet de&s;ireth to &s;eeme a Preacher of the faith. But it mu&s;t be the
<PB N="449" REF="223"> care of good Preachers to with&s;tand &s;uch, to &s;hun their practi&s;e, to oppo&s;e their fal&s;hood, and to teach nothing but the words of truth. La&s;tly it may be noted here that the words <HI>of uprightne&s;&s;e, and the words of truth</HI> mu&s;t be joyned together: there mu&s;t be a diligence as well to illighten the under&s;tanding in the knowledge of truth, as to direct the will a right in the wayes of vertue. The Lord &s;aith in <HI>Jeremiah,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jerem.</HI> 23.29.</NOTE> <HI>is not my word as fire?</HI> whereupon <HI>Origen</HI> noteth that the words of Preachers mu&s;t be as fire: and as fire hath two properties to burn and to illighten, &s;o &s;aith he mu&s;t the words of Preachers have. If thou do&s;t only re|proove the vices of men, and labour to bring them to <HI>uprightne&s;&s;e</HI> of life,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Origen. in Exod. Homil. <HI>13.</HI></NOTE> but do&s;t not explaine unto them, that which is ob&s;cure in religion, thy fire burneth, but it doth not illighten. If thou expound the my&s;teries of religion unto them, but do&s;t not &s;trive to reforme their ill lives, thy fire illightneth, but it doth not burn. His words are the words of the Lord, who is carefull to ob&s;erve both.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 11. The words of the wi&s;e are as goades: that is, to admoni&s;h and tell them of their errours, that goe out of the way; to quicken and &s;tirre up tho&s;e that are &s;low and dull in the way. And as if the&s;e things were a marke &s;hewing, which are the words of the wi&s;e, Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Si cujus ergo &s;ermo non pungit, &s;ed oblectationem,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>facit audientibus, i&s;te non e&s;t &s;ermo &s;apientis: verba quippe &s;apientum pungunt, ut &s;timuli,</HI> if therefore the &s;peech of any one doe not prick, but cau&s;e delight unto the hearers, that is not the &s;peech of one that is wi&s;e: for the words of the wi&s;e doe pricke as goads. Saint <HI>Cyprian</HI> therefore &s;aith, <HI>accipe non di&s;erta &s;ed fortia,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cyprian. Epi&s;t. ad Donatum.</NOTE> take not tho&s;e things which are eloquent, and &s;erve to delight the ears, but tho&s;e that are &s;trong and powerfull, to work upon the heart, to wound and gall the con&s;ci|ence, to rou&s;e a carnall &s;ecurity. Such goads were the words of Saint <HI>Peter,</HI> when they that heard them, were pricked in their hearts, and cryed out to <HI>Peter,</HI> and the re&s;t of the Apo&s;tles, <HI>Men and brethren,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Acts.</HI> 2.37.</NOTE> <HI>what &s;hall we doe?</HI> Of the&s;e goads, that is true, which from heaven was &s;po|ken to <HI>Saul, It is hard</HI> for <HI>thee to kick again&s;t the pricks.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Acts.</HI> 9.5.</NOTE> <HI>And as nailes fa&s;tned by the ma&s;ters of the a&s;&s;emblies:</HI> the words of the wi&s;e being driven into the heart, are there fa&s;tned by the force of them. Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> therefore &s;peaking of the&s;e words, &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Matt.</HI> 3.7.</NOTE> <HI>an Joannis verba clavi non e|rant?</HI> were not the words of <HI>John</HI> the Bapti&s;t nailes, when he &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Acts.</HI> 7.51.</NOTE> <HI>O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?</HI> Were not the words of <HI>Stephen</HI> nailes, when he &s;aith, <HI>Yee doe alwayes re&s;i&s;t the Holy Gho&s;t?</HI> Were not the words of <HI>Paul</HI> nailes, when he &s;aith, <HI>O yee fooli&s;h Galatians, who hath bewitched you?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Galat.</HI> 3.1.</NOTE> But nayles are u&s;ed not only to pierce, but to adorne al&s;o, and this our tran&s;lation may &s;eem to imply, which addeth, <HI>by the ma&s;ters of a&s;&s;emblies.</HI> The Originall al&s;o doth imply the &s;ame, where the word which is tran&s;lated, fa&s;tned, properly &s;ignifieth, <HI>plantati,</HI> planted, there being in planting an ador|ning the ground, and that which &s;etteth forth the art of them that are ma&s;ters in their worke. Now indeed, what doth more adorne then the
<PB N="450" REF="224"> words of the wi&s;e?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. ex Hom. <HI>50.</HI> Homil. <HI>26.</HI></NOTE> Wherefore Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aith, <HI>quomodo terrenis orna|mentis caro luxurio&s;a parvo tempore ornatur, &s;ic anima &s;ancta divinis &s;er|monibus tanquam &s;piritualibus &amp; aeternis bonorum operum margaritis componitur,</HI> as with earthly ornaments, the wanton fle&s;h is adorned for a little time, &s;o the holy &s;oule is beautified by divine &s;peeches, as it were with &s;pirituall and eternall jewels of good works. The words of the wi&s;e are a trea&s;ure, out of which all kinds of ornaments may be ta|ken.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Acts.</HI> 15.32.</NOTE> Wherefore when it is &s;aid of <HI>Judas</HI> and <HI>Silas, that they exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them,</HI> the Syriack reads it not <HI>verbo plurimo,</HI> with many words, but <HI>verbo divite,</HI> with rich words, as if it would expre&s;&s;e the rich ornaments that were in the trea&s;ure of their words. But to con&s;ider the word, as here our tran&s;lation readeth it, <HI>fastned,</HI> it &s;heweth, that as the words of the wi&s;e, being goads, doe bring wanderers into the way, and ha&s;ten dullards in the way, &s;o they doe &s;ettle them al&s;o in the right way, that they doe not ea&s;ily loo&s;e the way againe. But the&s;e words whieh are rendred here, <HI>by the ma&s;ters of the a&s;&s;emblies,</HI> in the originall doe afford divers tran&s;lations. The <HI>Venetian</HI> tran&s;lation reads it thus, <HI>and like nayles firmly fa&s;tned, &s;u&s;tinen|tibus collectam &s;upellectilem,</HI> holding up the furniture that is gathered together, to adorne the hou&s;e, taking the &s;en&s;e of the words from the metaphor of the nailes which the Preacher u&s;eth. The French tran&s;la|tion reads it thus, <HI>les mai&s;tres qui ont fait des recueils, the masters who have made the gatherings, are as mailes fa&s;tned,</HI> as &s;hewing the &s;en&s;e to be, that the words of the wi&s;e having gathered and recalled men from wandring, and being them&s;elves as nailes fa&s;tened and e&s;tabli&s;hed in the right way of vertue, doe al&s;o by their example &s;trengthen and con|firm others in it. <HI>Tremellius</HI> reads it <HI>lecti&s;&s;ima</HI> mo&s;t choice words, as &s;hewing that the words of the wi&s;e are gathered out and cho&s;en and fit|ted for the occa&s;ion, for the matters, for the per&s;ons, when, whereof, to whom they are delivered. But as I conceive there are two things here not unworthy to be con&s;idered of: fir&s;t that the originall word here u&s;ed is <GAP DESC="foreign"> from the roote <GAP DESC="foreign"> which is di&s;tingui&s;hed from <GAP DESC="foreign"> a word like unto it in &s;ignification, in that <GAP DESC="foreign"> doth &s;ignify the gathering of tho&s;e things, which are di&s;per&s;ed: but <GAP DESC="foreign"> the gathering of tho&s;e things, which are not di&s;per&s;ed: wherefore it may &s;eeme here to import rather the gathering of men back from their &s;infull cour&s;es, by the words of the wi&s;e as goads pricking them, as nayles peircing them, and fa&s;tning upon them. The other thing to be con&s;idered is, that the&s;e words in the originall may be as well joyned with that which followeth after, as with that which goeth before. <HI>Arias Montanus</HI> pins them to the end of the ver&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Hebr.</HI> 13.20.</NOTE> and reads it thus <HI>auctores collectionum dati &s;unt a pa&s;tore uno,</HI> the authours of the gatherings are give~ <HI>from one &s;hepheard,</HI> as &s;hewing that it is from that great &s;hepheard of the &s;heepe, the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that all inferiour &s;hepheards are given to his Church &amp; people. But other tran&s;lations refer all to the beginning of the ver&s;e and give us to under|&s;tand, that the words of the wi&s;e are given <HI>from one &s;hepheard.</HI> Our tran|&s;lation
<PB N="451" REF="224"> leaves it at liberty, either to refer the end of the ver&s;e to the words of the wi&s;e, or to the ma&s;ters of the a&s;&s;emblyes.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>John.</HI> 10.16.</NOTE> If it be referred to the words of the wi&s;e, mo&s;t true it is, that there is one fold and one &s;hep|heard, and that from this one &s;hepheard, who is the wi&s;edome of his father, and wi&s;edome it &s;elf; all the words of the wi&s;e are given. Or el&s;e we may under&s;tand this one &s;hepheard to be the &s;acred word of God, which though con&s;i&s;ting of &s;everall parts, yet is but one book, and from which as from the foundation of them, as from the rule that mea&s;ureth them, all the words of the wi&s;e are given.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieron. in E&s;aiam. c. <HI>29.</HI></NOTE> Thus doth Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> expound the&s;e words. Or el&s;e if we de&s;ire to apply the words unto in|feriour &s;hepheards, it commeth &s;ometimes to pa&s;&s;e, that where there are many teachers, the one oppo&s;eth the other, and what the one liketh the other di&s;approoveth? &s;o that the words of the wi&s;e take not that good effect which otherwi&s;e they might. And therefore the Preacher may &s;eeme to commend tho&s;e words, which being delivered by one wi&s;e &s;hepheard, are not di&s;turbed by any other. <HI>Oecumenius</HI> con&s;i|dering the vi&s;ion that happened to Saint <HI>Paul</HI> at his conver&s;ion,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts. <HI>9.3.</HI> Oecumen. ibi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"></NOTE> noteth that it was not done in the city, but on the way, <HI>ne aliis liceret alio modo narrare quod circa ip&s;um contigi&s;&s;et, &s;ed ip&s;e fide dignus e&s;&s;et ad referendum qui vidi&s;&s;et,</HI> that &s;o diver&s;e might not relate diver&s;ly that which had be|fallen him, but that him&s;elfe might be worthy of credit in relating it, who had &s;een it. And doth it not &s;ometimes come to pa&s;&s;e that the words of wi&s;edome have more happy &s;ucce&s;&s;e when they are given un|der the credit of one faithfull &s;hepheard, then when divers &s;hepheards each &s;eeking his owne credit, dimini&s;h the vertue of that which they utter.</P>
<P><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 12. <HI>And further by the&s;e:</HI> by the&s;e heavenly and &s;pirituall in|&s;tructions, according as our <HI>Reinolds</HI> citing the&s;e words, expoundeth them, &s;aying, <HI>Sapienter nos adhortaiur, ut &s;tudia &s;alutaria,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Reinold. de Rom. Eccle&s;. idolola. praefa|tione.</NOTE> <HI>precepta fa|ciliora, fructu perennia iis anteponamus, quorum infinita e&s;t inve&s;tiga|tio, nec alius demum exitus quam labor &amp; aerumna,</HI> the Preacher doth wi&s;ely exhort us, that we preferre &s;aving &s;tudies, which are ea&s;ily per|ceived, everla&s;ting in their benefit, before tho&s;e the &s;earch where|of is infinite, and the end whereof at la&s;t is no other then wearine&s;&s;e and mi&s;ery. <HI>By the&s;e,</HI> the&s;e contained within this booke;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tremell. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> &s;o <HI>Tremel|lius,</HI> &s;aying, <HI>hi&s;ce documentis meis in&s;truitor potius, quam incumbas cog|no&s;cendae &amp; explorandae vanitati, quae ine&s;t aliis &s;tudiis omnibus,</HI> by the&s;e my in&s;tructions be admoni&s;hed rather, then bend thy paines to know and &s;earch out vanity, which is in all &s;tudies el&s;e. <HI>By the&s;e,</HI> the&s;e few words, this &s;hort booke be admoni&s;hed, <HI>qui quantum dilatatur in &s;en&s;ibus; tantum con&s;tringitur in &s;ermonihus,</HI> which by how much it is enlarged in the deep and copious &s;en&s;e and meaning of it, by &s;o much it is &s;traitned in the fewne&s;&s;e of the words, and brevity of the &s;peech,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieron. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> as teaching, &s;aith Saint <HI>Hierome, brevitati &s;tudendum, &amp; &s;en&s;um magis &s;ectandum e&s;&s;e quam verba,</HI> that brevitie is rather to be &s;tudied, and that &s;en&s;e and matter are rather to be &s;ought for, then many words; be|cau&s;e
<PB N="452" REF="225"> otherwi&s;e there will be <HI>no end of books,</HI> no end of writing. <HI>By the&s;e,</HI> that is by the&s;e bookes of the Sacred Scriptures, &s;aith Rabbi <HI>Salomon,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rabbi Salomon.</NOTE> which doe containe the &s;weete in&s;tructions and admonitions of happi|ne&s;&s;e and glory. But yet as <HI>Lyra</HI> well addeth, <HI>per hoc non excluduntur libri alii ad intellectum &s;acrae &s;cripturae nece&s;&s;arii, &s;ed illi qui non &s;unt ad &s;alutem nece&s;&s;arii,</HI> by this are not excluded other bookes, which are nece&s;&s;ary for the under&s;tanding of the &s;criptures, but tho&s;e, which are not nece&s;&s;ary unto &s;alvation, &amp; <HI>in making whereof there is no end,</HI> new difficulties ari&s;ing continually.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>By the&s;e,</HI> that is by the&s;e words, which are give~ from one &s;hep|heard, and which being referred to him, though delivered in many bookes, yet make but one booke. For &s;aith Saint <HI>Hierome,</HI> it is the man|ner of Scripture to cal many bookes one volume, if that they do not di&s;a|gree the one from the other, and that they be written of the &s;ame thing. Yea, &s;aith he, what&s;oever thou &s;halt &s;ay, if it be referred unto him, <HI>who in the beginning was with God,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>John.</HI> 1.1.</NOTE> <HI>and the word was God,</HI> it is one volume, and numberle&s;&s;e bookes are called one law, one Go&s;pel. But if thou &s;halt di&s;cour&s;e of divers and di&s;agreeing things, and by too much curio&s;i|ty &s;halt be carried hither and thither in thy mind, <HI>etiam in uno libro mul|ti libri &s;unt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> even in one booke there are many bookes. Of &s;uch bookes therefore <HI>there is no end. Bonum enim omne &amp; veritas certo fine concluditur, malitia autem atque mendacium &s;ine fine &s;unt,</HI> for all good and truth is contained within a certaine end, but wickedne&s;&s;e and un|truth are without end, and by how much the more they are &s;ought af|ter, by &s;o much the more they are to &s;eeke. In this matter therefore &s;aith Saint <HI>Hierome,</HI> &s;tudy and meditation, <HI>labor e&s;t carnis, is a labour of the fle&s;h.</HI> Of the fle&s;h, &s;aith he, not of the Spirit. For the &s;pirit hath his labour al&s;o,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Corinth.</HI> 15.10.</NOTE> according to that which the Apo&s;tle &s;aith, <HI>I have labou|red more then them all, yet not I, but the grace of God in me.</HI> This expo|&s;ition Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> for his owne part preferreth before others. But let me note al&s;o,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Timot.</HI> 1.2.</NOTE> how the Preacher here &s;peaketh, &s;aying, <HI>My Sonne:</HI> &s;o that when Saint <HI>Paul</HI> calleth <HI>Timothy</HI> his Sonne, and when he &s;aith of the <HI>Corinthians,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Corinth.</HI> 4.15.</NOTE> <HI>In Christ Je&s;us have I begotten you, through the Go&s;pel,</HI> it is no new manner of &s;peech. <HI>Clemens Alexandrinus</HI> noteth, <HI>apud bar|baros quoque Philo&s;ophos per auditum in&s;truere &amp; illuminare dicitur rege|nerare,</HI> among the heatheni&s;h Philo&s;ophers, by hearing to in&s;truct and to illuminate,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Clemens. Alex. &s;tromat. l. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> is &s;aid to regenerate. To which purpo&s;e he citeth <HI>Socrates,</HI> who &s;aith, <HI>Omnibus quidem e&s;&s;e immixtum naturalem amorem generandi &s;imile, &amp; hominibus quidem &s;olum homines, viro autem bono &s;i|milem &s;ibi</HI> that there is infu&s;ed into all a naturall love of begetting their like, into men of begetting men only, into a good man of begetting the like unto him&s;elfe, by in&s;tructing of tho&s;e that doe come unto him. But the phra&s;e of &s;peaking &s;o is more ancient then <HI>Socrates,</HI> we have it here in <HI>Salomon,</HI> who making him&s;elfe a Preacher, &s;tileth tho&s;e whom he in&s;tructeth his Sons. And let Preachers from hence learn, to carry them&s;elves as Fathers towards their hearers, and let their words proceed from the &s;weetnes of a Fatherly affection towards them.
<PB N="453" REF="225"> Saint <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> ob&s;erving that <HI>Moy&s;es</HI> intending to reproove the people of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> delivered a &s;ong unto them, and a&s;king the rea|&s;on, <HI>cur crimina objicit &s;ub cantici nomine,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t. in E&s;a. c. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> Why he objecteth their faults unto them under the name of a &s;ong? he &s;heweth it to be the care of his &s;pirituall wi&s;dome, that &s;o the mu&s;icke of the &s;ong might &s;teale away the di&s;like of the reprehen&s;ion. And indeed reproofe being har&s;h to humane nature, a har&s;h and fierce manner of u&s;ing it doth often much hinder the good &s;ucce&s;&s;e of it. Wherefore Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;aith, <HI>talis loquela non illuminat, non &s;anat, &s;ed magis occidit,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in Thren. c. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> <HI>atque in de&s;pera|tionem periclitantem mittit,</HI> &s;uch &s;peaking doth not illighten, doth not heale, but killeth rather, and ca&s;teth into de&s;paire him that is in danger. It is written of <HI>Domitian,</HI> that a boy holding for a mark a farre off his hand &s;pread a broad, with the fingers &s;evered, he &s;hot his arrows &s;o ar|tificially that every arrow did hit on the empty &s;paces betweene the fin|gers, and that not one finger received any hurt by them. It mu&s;t be the care of a Preacher to &s;hoot his arrows, his words in the &s;ame manner, &s;o that the empty &s;paces of &s;in, and which by &s;in are made empty of good+ne&s;&s;e may be hit and wounded, but that he leave the hand and fingers, that is, the mind and de&s;ire of working and doing well not wronged nor impaired.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="13-14" TYPE="verse">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 13.</HI></BIBL> Let us heare the conclu&s;ion of the whole mat|ter, feare God and keepe his comman|dements for this is the whole duety of man.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>Ver. 14.</HI></BIBL> For God &s;hall bring every worke into judge|ment, and every &s;ecret thing, whe|ther it be good, or whether it be evill.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 13. The <HI>Jewes</HI> &s;ay as Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> relateth, that whereas among other bookes of <HI>Solomon</HI> which are lo&s;t and antiquated, this booke al&s;o &s;hould have been put away, becau&s;e it affirmed the creatures of God to be vaine, and made all to be as it were nothing and preferred meate and drinke and fading delights before all things el&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> yet from this one ver&s;e it obtained authority to be placed in the number of divine bookes becau&s;e the Preacher &s;huts up his whole di&s;putation and all his di&s;cours, with this &s;ummary conclu&s;ion, that the end of all &s;peaking is this, <HI>to feare God and to keep his commandements. Let us heare the conclu&s;ion of the whol matter:</HI> the Originall word by word goeth thus, <HI>the end of the whol matter is heard:</HI> wherefore S. <HI>Hierome</HI> to expre&s;&s;e the force of it reads it thus, <HI>auditu perfacilis e&s;t,</HI> is ea&s;y to be heard. And indeed it &s;eemeth to imply, that he would &s;ay was very &s;hort and that it would quickly
<PB N="454" REF="226"> be heard, even &s;o quickly as if it were already heard before that it were &s;poken. So that the words may &s;eeme to carry this &s;en&s;e, you have heard me thus far, while that I have with many words &s;poken unto you, I will now ea&s;e your hearing, and end my &s;peaking, if I may but &s;ay one word more. <HI>Feare God:</HI> there are many kinds of feare, a wordly feare, when a man rather then to for&s;ake his owne contentment and ea&s;e, cares not to for&s;ake God by for&s;aking his commandements: again&s;t which our Saviour Chri&s;t exhorteth &s;aying, <HI>feare not them which kill the body,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 10.28.</NOTE> <HI>but are not able to kill the &s;oule: but rather feare him who is able to de&s;troy both body and &s;oule in hell.</HI> A naturall feare, which Saint <HI>Ba&s;il</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;il.</NOTE> &s;aith, is the gift of God, the ornament of nature, by which we are warned and in &s;ome &s;ort armed for the avoyding of evill, that may befall us.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t.</NOTE> A &s;ervile feare, which Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> defineth to be that, whereby goodne&s;&s;e is not loved, but punni&s;hment is only feared: and yet this is a good feare al&s;o. Wherefore Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;.</NOTE> &s;aith that the gloriours martyrs by this feare, the feare of hell torments where &s;tength|ned again&s;t the torments invented by man:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertull.</NOTE> and this feare &s;aith <HI>Tertul|lian</HI> is the in&s;trument of repentance, the bridle of lu&s;t. An initiall feare,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Prover.</HI> 1.7.</NOTE> to which we may apply tho&s;e words in the <HI>Proverbs,</HI> the feare of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: and which St. <HI>Ba&s;il</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;il.</NOTE> cals an in|troductory feare, to lead us on to the more religious &s;erving of God, &s;o that it is compo&s;ed partly of a &s;ervile partly of a filiall feare. La&s;tly there is a feare filial, a fear of God, as he is our Father, &amp; wherby we are &s;olicitous not to loo&s;e his favour, not to be deprived of his ble&s;&s;ing. This by &s;ome is called <HI>reventialis timor,</HI> a reverencing feare, by others a cha&s;t feare, becau&s;e it is like the feare of a cha&s;t wife, who feareth to loo&s;e her hu&s;|bands love:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieronym. in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> or el&s;e a cha&s;t and pure feare, as not mixed with a worldly and carnall feare. Now of this feare which Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> cals <HI>con&s;um|matum in virtutibus metum,</HI> a feare perfected in vertues, doth he un|der&s;tand this place, becau&s;e the Preacher &s;aith, that it is <HI>omnis homo</HI> the whole man. Or el&s;e he &s;eemeth to under&s;tand the place of a &s;ervile feare, becau&s;e it is &s;aid that this is <HI>omnis homo,</HI> that this is every man, this feare of God being inbred in every man. <HI>Feare God and keepe his commandements:</HI> man con&s;i&s;teth of two parts, his body and his &s;oule, the&s;e two make up a whole man in nature, and here are two parts that make up a whole man in grace. <HI>The feare of God</HI> is as it were the body, <HI>the keeping of his commandements</HI> is as it were the &s;oule. <HI>Lyra</HI> doth di|&s;tingui&s;h them thus,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>the feare of God</HI> &s;aith he, is to depart from evill, <HI>the keeping of his commandements</HI> is to be exerci&s;ed in doing good, and the&s;e two parts of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e doe make up a perfect man in vertue. Or el&s;e we may di&s;tingui&s;h them thus, <HI>to feare God,</HI> is in our hearts to &s;erve him and honour him, <HI>to keepe his commandements</HI> is the outward demon&s;tration of this inward devotion,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ludolphus de vita Chri&s;ti.</NOTE> in the conver&s;ation and actions of our lifes to &s;hew our &s;elves his &s;ervants. <HI>For this is the whole duety of man:</HI> the Originall is no more then this, <HI>hoc e&s;t omnis homo</HI> this is every man. Some make up the &s;en&s;e thus, <HI>hoc, id e&s;t ad hoc</HI> this, that is to this,
<PB N="455" REF="226"> to this end was every man made, doth every one live. Others make it up thus, <HI>hoc, id est per hoc,</HI> this, that is by this is every man, as concei|ving the Preacher to &s;hew, that this makes man <HI>to be,</HI> which is the pro|per glory of God. <HI>Quia quod Deus e&s;t per e&s;&s;entiam hoc etiam e&s;t obediens per participationem,</HI> becau&s;e that which God is by his e&s;&s;ence,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rupertus.</NOTE> he that is obedient is al&s;o made by participation and grace, by which we are made partakers of the divine nature. And as by obedience every man <HI>is,</HI> &s;o the di&s;obedient is one that is not. According as the Prophet <HI>Je|remy</HI> &s;heweth, who &s;peaking of the di&s;obedient &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jerem.</HI> 4.25.</NOTE> <HI>I looked and loe there was no man.</HI> Our tran&s;lation maketh up the &s;en&s;e thus, <HI>this is the whole duety of man:</HI> and &s;eeing the &s;cope and drift of the Preacher in this booke is to &s;hew the happine&s;&s;e and chiefe good of man, perhaps it may not ami&s;&s;e be made up thus, this is the whole happine&s;&s;e of man. But to take the words &s;imply as the Originall hath &s;et them downe, <HI>hoc e&s;t omnis homo,</HI> this is all man, that is &s;aith <HI>Lyra, hoc e&s;t totus &s;ive perfectus homo</HI> this is the whole or perfect man. For as the <HI>Philo&s;opher</HI> &s;peaketh,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lyra in hunc ver&s;.</NOTE> <HI>totum &amp; perfectum &s;unt idem,</HI> the whole and a thing perfect are one and the &s;ame thing. Wherefore &s;aith <HI>Lyra,</HI> the tearme of that which is univer|&s;ally whole, is u&s;ed here for that which is integrally whole, there being but one word in the Hebrew toung,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ari&s;t. Metaph. <HI>5</HI></NOTE> which is u&s;ed to &s;ignifie both of them. Or el&s;e if we will take it as yet more literally, and take the He|brew <GAP DESC="foreign"> for <HI>omnis</HI> as it &s;ignifieth <HI>all</HI> univer&s;ally, &s;o that we conceive the Preacher to import, that this is the very nature and e&s;&s;ence of man; even in this manner al&s;o it may be not improperly con&s;trued. For what is the nature of man, but to be <HI>animal rationale,</HI> a rea&s;onable living crea|ture? And what is more rea&s;onable then <HI>that God &s;hould be feared, and his commandements kept by man?</HI> what can be more unrea&s;onable, then that the creature &s;hould deny this reverence &amp; obededience to God his creatour?</P>
<P><HI>Ver.</HI> 14. <HI>For God:</HI> judgement belongeth unto God, man mu&s;t take heed how he meddle with it. Wherefore Saint <HI>Paul,</HI> &s;aith judge nothing before the time,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Corinth.</HI> 4.5.</NOTE> untill the Lord come who will bring to light the hidden things of darkene&s;&s;e, and will make manife&s;t the coun&s;els of the hearts, and then &s;hall every man have prai&s;e of God. For as Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;aith very well, upon tho&s;e words, <HI>injuria judicis e&s;t &s;i ante cognitio|nem ejus, &agrave; &s;ervo procedat judicium,</HI> it is a wrong to the judge,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;.</NOTE> if before he heare and know the cau&s;e, judgement be given by a &s;ervant. And being a wrong to the judge, it cannot but be a mi&s;chiefe to him that &s;hall doe it. Wherefore good is the coun&s;ell of <HI>Pa&s;cha&s;ius, declinemus ad prae&s;ens &s;ententiam, &s;ubtrahamus judicium, dicamus totum Deo,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Pa&s;cha&s;. l. <HI>2.</HI> Matthae.</NOTE> <HI>ne dum temere ge&s;timus definire &s;ententiam, nobis paremus ex di&s;crimine alieno rui|nam,</HI> for the pre&s;ent let us &s;hun to give &s;entence, let us forbear to judge, let us &s;ay, let God doe all, le&s;t while we ra&s;hly de&s;ire to give &s;entence, we bring upon our &s;elves ruine from anothers danger. <HI>God &s;hall bring:</HI> loath is guilty man to come into judgement, and therefore he cryeth to the hils to cover him to the mountaines to fall upon him: but moun|taines
<PB N="456" REF="227"> and hils and all &s;hall for&s;ake him and God &s;hall bring him to it. The be&s;t way therefore is, of our &s;elves before hand to goe unto his judgement, and in our owne hearts to arraigne our &s;elves before God for that it is which will make his judgement to be comfortable to us. The <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> &s;peaking of &s;ome &s;aith, <HI>they looked unto him and were light|ned, and their faces were not a&s;hamed.</HI> And &s;urely they who looke unto God,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 34.5.</NOTE> and doe now behold him &s;itting upon his judgement &s;eate, and con&s;ider them&s;elves as &s;tanding before him to give an accompt of their lives unto him, they are they who when God &s;hall bring them to judge|ment &s;hall be illigthned with joy, and &s;hall not have their faces con|founded. For as Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;peaketh, <HI>diligit Deus animam quae in con&s;pectu ejus, &s;ine intermi&s;&s;ione con&s;iderat, &amp; &s;ine di&s;&s;imulatione diju|dicat &s;eip&s;am,</HI> God loveth that &s;oule, which in his &s;ight as well with|out intermi&s;&s;ion con&s;idereth, as without di&s;&s;imulation judgeth it &s;elfe. <HI>God &s;hall bring every work:</HI> not only the bad works of the wicked, but the good works of the righteous, as from the la&s;t words of the ver&s;e may al&s;o be gathered. In the &s;eventy fifth P&s;alme the &s;econd ver&s;e we read it, <HI>when I &s;hall receive the congregation, I will judge rightly,</HI> but the Originall is <HI>rectitudines judicabo,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard. Serm. <HI>3.</HI> in Advent.</NOTE> I will judge the rightne&s;&s;e of things, and the vulgar Latin reads it <HI>ju&s;titias judicabo,</HI> I will judg the righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e of things. Whereupon <HI>Hugo Cardinalis</HI> &s;aith, <HI>terribile verbum, quod non tantum peccata &s;ed &amp; ju&s;titias judicabit, bona &s;cilicet opera exa|minabit,</HI> it is a terrible word,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 75.2.</NOTE> that he will not only judge &s;ins, but the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of things, and will examine the good works of men. <HI>Every work</HI> of every man will he bring to judgement, even tho&s;e which now &s;eeme to be little, and not worthy the taking notice of. Where|fore the Prophet <HI>David</HI> &s;aith, <HI>O Lord thou ha&s;t &s;earched me and knowne me, thou knowe&s;t my downe &s;itting and mine upri&s;ing.</HI> It is not &s;aid thou knowe&s;t me,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo Cardinal.</NOTE> whither I &s;it or whither I ri&s;e, but thou knowe&s;t my very downe &s;itting, and mine upri&s;ing: thou take&s;t notice how the&s;e are performed by me, whether my &s;itting be idle, or el&s;e profitable, whether my upri&s;ing be to the actio~s of goodnes or works of inquity: thou take&s;t notice what I doe ami&s;&s;e, even in the very doing of the&s;e: thou take&s;t notice, where, when, how, and to what end either I &s;it downe or el&s;e ari&s;e up. And the&s;e with every thing el&s;e <HI>will God bring to judgement.</HI> Wherefore in the Revelation when Chri&s;t is de&s;cribed &s;itting in judge|ment, he is &s;aid <HI>to have a &s;ickle in his hand:</HI> it is not &s;aid a &s;cepter, but a &s;ickle, that being a compa&s;&s;ing in&s;trument and gathering in every thing,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;.</HI> 139.1. <HI>&amp;</HI> 2.</NOTE> becau&s;e then no worke &s;hall be left out, but God &s;hall gather e|very work and bring it into judgment. <HI>Into Judgement</HI> with men there are diver&s;e judgements, and oftentimes very needfull that the latter may correct the errours of the former: but with God there is but one. The la&s;t is the fir&s;t, and the fir&s;t is the la&s;t: his judgement being perfect, and not &s;ubject to any errour. <HI>Tertullian,</HI> hath a &s;aying, <HI>Nihil plenius, quam quod extremius. Deus itaque judicabit plenius, quia extremius per &s;ententiam aeternam &s;upplicii,</HI> there is nothing more full, then that
<PB N="457" REF="227"> which is la&s;t. God therefore will judge fully, becau&s;e it will be his la&s;t judgement, by the eternall &s;entence of punni&s;hment.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertullian. de Anima.</NOTE> So that after this one judgement there is no hope of another, that &s;hall give ea&s;e of mercy to them that are condemned by it. <HI>With every &s;ecreet thing:</HI> the words which we read of Saint <HI>Pauls</HI> writing, <HI>we mu&s;t all appeare before the judgement &s;eate of Chri&s;t,</HI> doe not only import, that we mu&s;t ap|peare and be pre&s;ent: but that we mu&s;t there appeare plainly and fully what we are. For the Orginall Greeke is <GAP DESC="foreign">, which &s;igni|fieth to be made tran&s;parent, pellucid, and cleare like a <HI>Diaphanous</HI> body, which the light &amp; the eye can every where peirce thorow. No &s;in is now comitted &s;o covertly, &s;o cunningly, but then it &s;hall be evident and naked unto the &s;ight of all. Wherefore when <HI>God</HI> &s;aith to <HI>Cain,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Corinth.</HI> 5.10.</NOTE> <HI>if thou do&s;t not well &s;in lyeth at the dore, Hugo Victorinus</HI> expounding it &s;aith, <HI>peccatum quod e&s;t in foribus ut exeat, prava voluntas e&s;t, quae non pote&s;t celari quin aliquando exeat &amp; appareat aliquo &s;igno,</HI> &s;in which lyeth at the dore that it may go forth, is an evill will, which cannot be hid, but &s;ometime or other getteth out &amp; appeareth by &s;ome &s;igne or other. And &s;urely how &s;ecret &s;oever any wickedne&s;&s;e may be, it lyeth at the dore, &amp; &s;hall at la&s;t get out, if not in this world, yet at the judgement day of God, and then &s;hall &s;hew it &s;elfe to all. There are &s;ome &s;ecret &s;ins in the be&s;t of Gods &s;ervants, which them&s;elves cannot find out though they &s;earch never &s;o diligently. But at the judgement day every &s;ecret &s;in,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hugo Victorin.</NOTE> even the&s;e al&s;o &s;hall be manife&s;ted. Wherefore Saint <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith, I know nothing by my &s;elfe, yet am I not therefore ju&s;tified, but he that judgeth me is the Lord: and thereupon <HI>An&s;elme</HI> &s;aith, <HI>tanta e&s;t profunditas in homine ut lateat ip&s;um hominem in quo e&s;t, &s;ed Dominum latere non pote&s;t,</HI> &s;o great is the depth that is in man that it is hid from man in whom it is, but it cannot be hid from the Lord. <HI>Every &s;ecret thing</HI> containeth al&s;o the &s;ecret graces and vertues of men, which perhaps there owne humi|lity di&s;cerned not, nor were &s;een by others:<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Corith.</HI> 4.4.</NOTE> as al&s;o the &s;ecret workes of Religion and devotion which the &s;hunning of o&s;tentation and vaine-glory in the world concealed, al &s;hal then be brought forth to Gods glory &amp; their comfort who then &s;hal reape the fruit of them. <HI>Whether it be good or evill,</HI> that is, every thing &s;hall then be &s;hewed what it is, whether it be good, or whether it be evill, and by the &s;everall reward of the &s;e|verall kind of it &s;hall be fully declared. Wherefore in the <HI>Revelation</HI> al&s;o the &s;eate of the judge,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Revelat.</HI> 14.14.</NOTE> is not &s;aid to be a throne of &s;ilver or gold or pretious &s;tones, <HI>but a cloud:</HI> now in a cloud, as there is the de&s;ired raine which refre&s;heth the earth, and nouri&s;heth the fruits of it, &s;o there is hayle and lightning which hurt the ground, and de&s;troy the fruits thereof. In like manner therefore from this judgement &s;eate &s;hall pro|ceed both &s;weet &s;howers of endle&s;&s;e ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e upon the good, and lightning and tempe&s;t of eternall damnation upon the evill and wicked&punc;</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>L. D. A.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="note">
<PB REF="228">
<PB REF="228">
<HEAD>Coronis.</HEAD>
<P>_THE Preacher having in this Treati&s;e gone thorow the world, endeth it with the end of the world. And I having gone thorow this Treati&s;e of the Preacher by the favourable a&s;&s;i&s;tance of Gods mercy, let me end my labours with prai&s;e and glory to the God of the world, and who is to be prai&s;ed by the whole world. I am not a&s;hamed with <HI>P&s;ellus</HI> in <HI>Theodoret</HI> to aske pardon that I have expounded this Booke of <HI>So|lomon,</HI> as he doth for expounding the Canticles of <HI>So|lomon;</HI> I will not denie but that mine errours may be many in it: But <HI>difficilium facilis e&s;t venia,</HI> in hard things, the pardon is ea&s;ie; and hoping that I &s;hall find a favourable pardon, which we all &s;tand in need to &s;eek at the hands of God, I end all with that which was anci|ently the beginning of Epi&s;tles and Letters, <HI>gaudete in Domino,</HI> Rejoyce in the Lord.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>L. D. A.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="errata">
<PB REF="229">
<HEAD>Errata.</HEAD>
<P><TABLE>
<ROW>
<CELL ROLE="label"><HI>Errata.</HI></CELL>
<CELL ROLE="label"><HI>Correctiones.</HI></CELL>
<CELL ROLE="label"><HI>Pagina.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Well</CELL>
<CELL>So well.</CELL>
<CELL>23.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>per tenta</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>portenta.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>36.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>both</CELL>
<CELL>leave it out.</CELL>
<CELL>95.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>pre&s;erved</CELL>
<CELL>preferred.</CELL>
<CELL>37.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>aliam</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>etiam.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>86.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>conceited</CELL>
<CELL>conceived.</CELL>
<CELL>107.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>ever</CELL>
<CELL>even.</CELL>
<CELL>116.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>warning</CELL>
<CELL>warming.</CELL>
<CELL>118.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Saule</CELL>
<CELL>Soule.</CELL>
<CELL>127.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Job. 6.8.</CELL>
<CELL>Job. 6.18.</CELL>
<CELL>154.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>they</CELL>
<CELL>there.</CELL>
<CELL>182.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Cu&s;us</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>Lu&s;us.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>195.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>applyeth</CELL>
<CELL>applyeth it.</CELL>
<CELL>195.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Cumbi</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>L&uacute;mbi.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>198.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>world</CELL>
<CELL>word.</CELL>
<CELL>199.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>as we know</CELL>
<CELL>as if we knew.</CELL>
<CELL>200.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>rendred</CELL>
<CELL>under&s;tood.</CELL>
<CELL>200.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>confirme</CELL>
<CELL>confirme it.</CELL>
<CELL>215.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Stonage</CELL>
<CELL>Stone henge.</CELL>
<CELL>242.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>the a&s;&s;ure</CELL>
<CELL>and a&s;&s;ure.</CELL>
<CELL>267.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>e&s;t</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>et.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>297.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>mi&s;terium</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>my&s;terium.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>297.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>the world</CELL>
<CELL>in the world.</CELL>
<CELL>297.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>ventuis</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>venturis.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>303.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>be labour</CELL>
<CELL>&s;hall labour.</CELL>
<CELL>305.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><GAP DESC="foreign"></CELL>
<CELL><GAP DESC="foreign"></CELL>
<CELL>308.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>ab</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>ob.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>311.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>there is wanting</CELL>
<CELL>&s;aith.</CELL>
<CELL>315.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>notebus</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>nocivus.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>316.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>vivas</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>vivus.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>316.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Sudoris</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>Sed oris.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>316.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>pretious fruite</CELL>
<CELL>blot it out.</CELL>
<CELL>317.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>tanta ip&s;o</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>tanto ip&s;e.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>318.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>them</CELL>
<CELL>then.</CELL>
<CELL>323.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>adver&s;e</CELL>
<CELL>advi&s;e.</CELL>
<CELL>336.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>frini</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>frui.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>330.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>divitiis</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>divitias.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>332.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>cor cor</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>or or.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>332.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>anagogall</CELL>
<CELL>anagogicall.</CELL>
<CELL>333.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><GAP DESC="foreign"></CELL>
<CELL><GAP DESC="foreign"></CELL>
<CELL>341.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><GAP DESC="foreign"></CELL>
<CELL><GAP DESC="foreign"></CELL>
<CELL>343.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>in imo</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>in uno.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>348.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>to of</CELL>
<CELL>to &s;peake of</CELL>
<CELL>348.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Prince&s;&s;e</CELL>
<CELL>Princes.</CELL>
<CELL>366.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>di&s;turbers</CELL>
<CELL>disbur&s;ers.</CELL>
<CELL>364.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><GAP DESC="foreign"></CELL>
<CELL><GAP DESC="foreign"></CELL>
<CELL>369.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>&s;harp</CELL>
<CELL>hard.</CELL>
<CELL>373.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>the time</CELL>
<CELL>the time pa&s;t.</CELL>
<CELL>380.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>to leris</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>tolleris.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>402.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>quam</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>quum.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>402.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>attaine</CELL>
<CELL>obtaine.</CELL>
<CELL>403.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>whereas</CELL>
<CELL>whereas as</CELL>
<CELL>404.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>overflow</CELL>
<CELL>overthrow.</CELL>
<CELL>405.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>qui dum</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>quia dum.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>405.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>as</CELL>
<CELL>is.</CELL>
<CELL>410.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>that it is</CELL>
<CELL>yet &s;o that it is.</CELL>
<CELL>437.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>politibus</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>poplitibus.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>433.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>trement</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>tremente.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>433.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>is ripe.</CELL>
<CELL>is ripe,</CELL>
<CELL>434.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Calein</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>Calvin.</HI></CELL>
<CELL>439.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><GAP DESC="foreign"></CELL>
<CELL><GAP DESC="foreign"> &amp;c.</CELL>
<CELL>434.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>worth</CELL>
<CELL>worke.</CELL>
<CELL>167.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><GAP DESC="foreign"></CELL>
<CELL><GAP DESC="foreign"></CELL>
<CELL>450.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>no end</CELL>
<CELL>no need.</CELL>
<CELL>230.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><GAP DESC="foreign"></CELL>
<CELL><GAP DESC="foreign"></CELL>
<CELL>236.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>that he</CELL>
<CELL>he that.</CELL>
<CELL>237.</CELL>
</ROW>
</TABLE></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="index">
<PB REF="229">
<HEAD>THE TABLE. Read the whole extent of every Letter.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="A" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>A</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>THey who have beene good, growing bad are hardly a|mended. <HI>23.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Tho&s;e things are not to be attempted, which they who have beene better able, have not beene able to per|forme. <HI>64.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Ab&s;tinence from carnall embracings is &s;ometimes requi&s;ite. <HI>73.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Ambition is to be &s;hunned. <HI>349.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The advancement of the wicked in this world, is not to be regar|ded. <HI>360.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>An Athei&s;t is de&s;cribed. <HI>317.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The affections mu&s;t be chere|full. <HI>324.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The corrupt affections of men are like flies in oyntment. <HI>351.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>&V;nworthy advancement bringeth hurt. <HI>368.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The appetite of feeding mu&s;t be con|tinually &s;upplied. <HI>175.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Anger and de&s;ire are to be bride|led. <HI>420.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Anger again&s;t Gods judgement is vaine. <HI>420.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Youth is angry again&s;t them that re|prove it. <HI>420.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The differences of ages. <HI>426.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>What Anger is. <HI>203.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The difference between anger and fu|ry. <HI>203.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Anger de&s;troyeth wi&s;edome. <HI>203.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The refu&s;ing of admonition &s;hameth even a King. <HI>120.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Affability is &s;ubject to inconveni|ence. <HI>191.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Anger again&s;t inticers to &s;inne is profitable. <HI>191.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Anger is to be &s;hewed again&s;t wick|edne&s;&s;e. <HI>191.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Anger is to be moderated. <HI>191.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Ha&s;t in anger is to be &s;hunned. <HI>202.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Severall kinds of anger. <HI>202.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Anger is not to be yeelded unto ea&s;i|ly. <HI>202.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Adver&s;itie requireth con&s;iderati|on. <HI>213.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Adver&s;ity bringeth men to God. <HI>213.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The anger of a Prince is not to be af|fronted. <HI>357.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The unworthy are advanced in this world, the worthy are not. <HI>364.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Ambition is the cau&s;e of great evil and hurt. <HI>366.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Ambition cares not what it doth to get on high. <HI>367.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Ambition de&s;troyeth it &s;elfe. <HI>367.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The beginning of wickedne&s;&s;e is to
<PB REF="230"> be &s;hunned and re&s;i&s;ted. <HI>378.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="B" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>B</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>THe vanitie of buildings and hou&s;es. <HI>34. 70.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The plea&s;ure of bathing. <HI>37.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The ill u&s;e that is made of good bookes. <HI>55.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A &s;pirituall birth, and a &s;pirituall dying. <HI>69.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The Bookes of God by man to be &s;tu|died. <HI>82.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The body is to be pre&s;erved cleane from &s;inne. <HI>325.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The frame of mans body is an excel|lent worke. <HI>409.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>What is meant by having no buri|all. <HI>167.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God him&s;elfe burieth the righte|ous. <HI>168.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Concerning the bones of mans bo|dy. <HI>408.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Concerning the back bone. <HI>436, 437</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Concerning buriall. <HI>440.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The bones of the Saints are to be left in their graves. <HI>440.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="C" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>C</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>CHri&s;t may be taken for the Preacher. <HI>11.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Christ went fir&s;t to the Jewes. <HI>11.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Curio&s;ity in knowledge is to be &s;hun|ned. <HI>31.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The Crowne of a King is not to be medled with. <HI>271.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The countenance of the wi&s;e &s;heweth his worth. <HI>266. 267.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The commandments of Kings are to be kept. <HI>268.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Charity is a wide fountaine. <HI>37.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The over-carefulne&s;&s;e of men doth often hurt their bu&s;ine&s;&s;e. <HI>50.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>There is no certainty in the things of this life. <HI>68.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The wicked have not the comfort of worldly things. <HI>65.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The cha&s;ti&s;ements of the godly are for their good. <HI>292.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Contentment in the u&s;e of the things of this world is from God. <HI>63.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The mi&s;ery of covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e. <HI>62.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Cheerfulne&s;&s;e is commended. <HI>300.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Cheerfulne&s;&s;e in God is best. <HI>300. 323. 324.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Mans labour cannot change the changing cour&s;e of things. <HI>79.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>That <HI>Cham</HI> begot a child while he was in the Arke. <HI>73.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Reverence is required in the Church. <HI>128.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The flouri&s;hing of Chri&s;ts King|dome. <HI>125.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Not to keepe all the commandments is to break all. <HI>349.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A wi&s;e man con&s;idereth before hand. <HI>353.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Cheerfulne&s;&s;e is to be u&s;ed by Gods &s;ervants in u&s;ing his ble&s;|&s;ings. <HI>23.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Chri&s;t is the fir&s;t and the la&s;t. <HI>124.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Evill company hurt the good. <HI>351.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>What is meant by chance. <HI>333.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The changablene&s;&s;e of worldly things is to be con&s;idered. <HI>125.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A foole careth not to continue in wickedne&s;&s;e. <HI>378.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Confe&s;&s;ion is needfull for the curing of &s;inne. <HI>375.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Cheerefulne&s;&s;e is to be embra|ced. <HI>325.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Charity is carefully to be practi|&s;ed. <HI>326.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e is a grievous &s;ick|ne&s;&s;e. <HI>149.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e bringeth much &s;or|row. <HI>149.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The covetous wretch cannot &s;leepe quietly. <HI>147.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A Covetous wretch hath nothing left him at the time of his death. <HI>145.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Charity is be&s;t &s;hewed in the time of life. <HI>410.</HI></ITEM>
<PB REF="230">
<ITEM>Though not unacceptable at the time of death. <HI>153.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Charity delivereth from the evils of this life. <HI>402.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Charity is &s;ure of a reward. <HI>403.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Charity must bee free in gi|ving. <HI>409. 403. 404.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Charity is to be &s;hewed towards all. <HI>401.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The richer many are, the le&s;&s;e is their charity. <HI>404.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Cheerefulne&s;&s;e is by God appro|ved. <HI>162.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A compa&s;&s;ion and fellow-feeling in mi&s;ery is required. <HI>399. 400. 116.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A &s;mall charity &s;hall not want a re|ward. <HI>400.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Charity is a thing that is divi|ded. <HI>400.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Delay in charity is to be &s;hun|ned. <HI>405.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Per&s;ons in charity are not too much to be &s;tood upon. <HI>405.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Charity is to be &s;hewed without a&s;|king. <HI>406.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A charitable man commeth not to want. <HI>406.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Charity hath the ble&s;&s;ing of po&s;teri|tie. <HI>407.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Charity is rewarded in heaven. <HI>398.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>All occa&s;ions for charity are to be ta|ken. <HI>399.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Charity is to be &s;hewed frequent|ly. <HI>409.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Poverty by charity is not to be fea|red. <HI>410.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>In charity &s;ow thine owne &s;eed. <HI>410.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Impediments again&s;t charity. <HI>412. 413.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Three things belong to charity. <HI>412. 413.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Men condemne mo&s;t that which they know lea&s;t. <HI>204.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e &s;eeketh to be alone. <HI>110.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Charity never wanteth kindred. <HI>111.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>It is a great grace to be ruled by coun&s;ell. <HI>120.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Early comming to the Church of God is good. <HI>127.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Reverent carriage in the Church of God is required. <HI>127.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>By what name the Church hath been called. <HI>127.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Attention is required in the Church. <HI>128.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The covetous man hath no fruite of his riches. <HI>144.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The care of children is made a pre|tence for covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e. <HI>151.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is the darkne&s;&s;e of covetou&s;|ne&s;&s;e. <HI>155.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A covetous man hath great wrath. <HI>155.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is the mi&s;ery of covetou&s;nes. <HI>156.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Con&s;ideration is needfull before any one &s;peaketh. <HI>157.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Comfort is to be taken in the things of this life. <HI>157.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Publike correction is nece&s;&s;ary, though private be not u&s;efull. <HI>212.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is the confidence of a righteous man. <HI>224.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The cen&s;ures of the righteous are to be con&s;idered. <HI>228.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A man mu&s;t be cheerfull in troubles. <HI>301.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Gods &s;ervants have a certainty of Gods favour. <HI>309. 310.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>How the Church is a little citie. <HI>340.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A citie is pre&s;erved by vertue. <HI>342.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Chri&s;t is the defence of his church. <HI>343.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Charity mu&s;t be in &s;ecret. <HI>408.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Charity giveth to them, that know not who gives it. <HI>408.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Every time is fit for charity. <HI>411.</HI></ITEM>
<PB REF="231">
<ITEM>Charity is to be &s;hewed at lea&s;t at the time of death. <HI>415.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Con&s;cience will be heard. <HI>229.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Contraries give light one to the o|ther. <HI>242.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="D" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>D</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>DEath is to be remembred. <HI>35.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>True delight is from God. <HI>43.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Worldly delight hath labour joyned with it. <HI>43.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The contentment of worldly delight is &s;hort. <HI>44.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The di&s;plea&s;ure of man is not to be regarded, where God is plea&s;ed. <HI>274.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>In death there is no difference of men. <HI>52.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>De&s;paire is not to be yeelded un|to. <HI>56. 57.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The wi&s;e and the fooli&s;h die alike. <HI>51. 52.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Many being alive, are accounted worthy men, who being dead are not found &s;o. <HI>287.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Many being dead, are prai&s;ed for that which they have not done. <HI>288.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Many are prai&s;ed being alive, who being dead are not. <HI>288.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Many are honoured being alive, who being dead, are forgotten. <HI>288.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The delay of puni&s;hment maketh the wicked bold. <HI>290. 291.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>We are taught to die by tho&s;e things, by which we live. <HI>70.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>How long death is to continue. <HI>69.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Freindly di&s;cour&s;e, which at &s;ome|times is delightfull, at other times is not. <HI>75.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wee mu&s;t rent our &s;elves from the devill. <HI>76.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The vaine di&s;putes of men concer|ning the workes of God. <HI>81.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Delight maketh earne&s;t in following of things. <HI>302.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The devil is &s;till to be re&s;i&s;ted. <HI>358. 359.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Death is better then life. <HI>101. 315.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is the hurt of not con&s;idering death. <HI>317.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The Godly doe not die. <HI>317.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>What dreams are. <HI>131.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Women tell their dreames. <HI>132.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The difference of death in bea&s;ts and men. <HI>94. 95.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Man goes to dust. <HI>95. 96.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>There is no returning after death. <HI>98.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Some dreams, though not all have truth in them. <HI>138.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Open detraction is &s;hamefull. <HI>375.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Danger is to be prevented when there is no danger. <HI>336.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The Godly returne by death to God, the wicked to the devil. <HI>152.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>He &s;leepeth quietly in death, who worketh hard by good works in his life. <HI>148.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Death is common to all. <HI>153. 174.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>At death there is no profit in worldly things. <HI>154.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>As death leaveth a man, judgement findeth him. <HI>405.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Death maketh men afraid. <HI>434.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Something at death is to be given to pious u&s;es. <HI>168.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The devill is a chiefe drawer unto wickedne&s;&s;e. <HI>181.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The devils de&s;ire is to doe man mi&s;|chiefe. <HI>182.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The day of death is better then the day of birth. <HI>188.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Death is to be welcomed when it commeth. <HI>188.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The remembrance of death is a medi|cine again&s;t &s;inne. <HI>189. 190.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The death of others maketh a wi&s;e
<PB REF="231"> man to con&s;ider his owne death. <HI>192.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The dead are to be mourned for. <HI>192.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The dayes of man are vanity. <HI>215.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The naturall time of death is old age. <HI>220.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>What is the time for dying. <HI>220.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The unaequall but victorious encoun|ter of <HI>David</HI> with <HI>Goliah. 248.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The remembrance of death mu&s;t make men charitable. <HI>415.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The repentance of any &s;inner is not to be de&s;paired of. <HI>56.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Diligence findeth out truth. <HI>241.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="E" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>E</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>THe earth abideth &s;till. <HI>9. 10.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The knowledge of evil gotten to an ill end. <HI>25.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The eye is greedy after plea&s;ure. <HI>42.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The eye is to be kept carefully. <HI>42. 43.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>No evil is to them that feare God. <HI>275.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The events of things cannot be di&s;po|&s;ed of by wi&s;edome. <HI>50.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>There is one event to the wi&s;e and to the fooli&s;h. <HI>49.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Experience is to be beleeved. <HI>74.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>How there is one event to good and bad. <HI>311.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>What envie is. <HI>320.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Envie is hardly removed. <HI>321.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>No one without errour. <HI>351.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The events of things are uncer|taine. <HI>333.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Envie is again&s;t goodne&s;&s;e. <HI>103. 104.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The hurt of envie. <HI>104.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Envie hurteth the envious. <HI>105.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The event of things is not to them that are likely to obtaine them. <HI>335.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Concerning the eyes. <HI>430.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Concerning the eye-lids. <HI>430.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The end is better then the begin|ning. <HI>200.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The end is to be provided for. <HI>179.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Better is the end of a &s;peach, then the beginning of it. <HI>199.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Better is the end of prayer, then the beginning of it. <HI>200.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The end of the righteous is better then their beginning. <HI>222.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The eyes of the Lord are upon all things. <HI>312.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Concerning the eares and hearing. <HI>432.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="F" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>F</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>THey that are good are few. <HI>23.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A free choice in delights is that which the heart de&s;ireth. <HI>43.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The family of the Church de&s;cribed. <HI>39.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The folly of not fore-&s;eeing evil. <HI>281.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The mi&s;ery of not fore-&s;eeing things. <HI>208.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>It is wi&s;edome to fore-&s;ee things. <HI>281.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A double feare of God. <HI>293.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The strongest forts have but a time of &s;tanding, as they had of building. <HI>72.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>How the fle&s;h is to be loved, how to be hated. <HI>78.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God is alwayes to be feared. <HI>83.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Vertue is true freedome. <HI>365.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The fle&s;h mu&s;t not be &s;uffered to reigne. <HI>365.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The feare of Gods wrath is profitable to keep from &s;inne. <HI>138.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A fool knows not what he would &s;ay. <HI>380. 382.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>It is folly to &s;eek after high mat|ters,
<PB REF="232"> and not to know plaine things. <HI>383.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Exce&s;&s;e in food is to be &s;hunned. <HI>389.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Delicate feeding is condemned. <HI>176.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Cour&s;er feeding maketh &s;tronger and healthier. <HI>177.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Concerning the feete of man. <HI>428.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is the plea&s;ing of flattery. <HI>194.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Formality of Religion is not regar|ded by God. <HI>128.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Full feeding is the cau&s;e of lu&s;t. <HI>135.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The King him&s;elfe is &s;ervant to the field. <HI>141.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Flatterers are but as thornes. <HI>195.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The feare of God is the cau&s;e of good|ne&s;&s;e. <HI>222.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The world is full of fooles. <HI>337.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A fooles heart is at his left hand. <HI>353.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A foole doth not perfect what he be|ginneth. <HI>355.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A foole &s;hewes his folly ea&s;ily. <HI>355.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Vertue giveth freedome. <HI>365.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The fle&s;h mu&s;t not rule the &s;pirit <HI>365.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Fea&s;ting &s;pendeth money. <HI>393.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Many kinds of feare. <HI>454.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The godly are few in number. <HI>243.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="G" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>G</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>WHat a generation is. <HI>8.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>As we are borne of God, and come from him, &s;o we are received by him. <HI>13.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>That is good which is alwayes &s;o. <HI>32.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The vanity of gardens. <HI>35. 36.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God is good to the good <HI>65.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God doth not give to the wicked. <HI>65.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>There is a fit time for planting good|ne&s;&s;e, and for pulling up the weeds of &s;inne out of the &s;oule. <HI>63.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of glorying in doing evil. <HI>64.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wee must be joyned to God. <HI>76.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Man cannot find out the workes of God. <HI>304.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God is alwayes to be &s;ought. <HI>74.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A man mu&s;t doe good with that which he hath. <HI>83.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Why God &s;uffereth confu&s;ion in the world. <HI>92.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The hurt of proud government. <HI>125.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God remembreth not the wicked. <HI>319.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wee know little of God. <HI>129.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wee mu&s;t take heed how we &s;peake of God. <HI>129.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>It is the grace of God whereby wee can doe any thing. <HI>333.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The glorious are &s;ometime made mi|&s;erable. <HI>122.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God will be &s;ought by man. <HI>92.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God for good cau&s;e &s;uffereth the wicked to prevaile. <HI>140.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>What is given to God, is to the bene|fit of him that giveth it. <HI>134.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God mu&s;t be honoured with his gifts be&s;towed upon us. <HI>160.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>All good things are from God. <HI>159.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God giveth us power to enjoy what wee have. <HI>159.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Gluttony is condemned. <HI>178.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A wi&s;e man is grave in his carryage. <HI>193.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God is above mans reach. <HI>181.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A gift ea&s;ily corrupteth. <HI>198. 199.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God is ju&s;t in all his wayes. <HI>210.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Gods works are perfect. <HI>211.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God alone is a citizen. <HI>339.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Gluttony is a &s;hame in Princes. <HI>388.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>All things are by Gods di&s;po|&s;ing. <HI>80.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="H" TYPE="part">
<PB REF="232">
<HEAD>H</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>HEalth is needfull for the enjoy|ing of the things of this life. <HI>83.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>There mu&s;t be a carefull hearing of Gods word. <HI>128.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Humility is the place of good men. <HI>359.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>How a wi&s;e mans heart is at his right hand. <HI>353.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A wi&s;e man is all right hand. <HI>353.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>What is to be hated. <HI>320.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Hatred is hardly removed. <HI>320. 327.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Humility is to be learned from the fading of worldly things. <HI>19.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Greatne&s;&s;e is that which man de&s;i|reth. <HI>41.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Whether the heart or head be the chiefe re&s;idence of the &s;oule. <HI>275. 276.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>What is the happine&s;&s;e of man. <HI>187.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Concerning the heart. <HI>437.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>What hatred is. <HI>77.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God honoureth the vertuous, though man doe not. <HI>363.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Husbandry is to be preferred before other wealth. <HI>143.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Hereticks are wanderers out of the way. <HI>383.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The helpe of others is to be &s;ought. <HI>384.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is the &s;orrow of hell. <HI>319.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The &s;orrow of hell is to be prevented. <HI>319.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>What the hands are, and how keepers. <HI>427.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A man and his heart mu&s;t goe toge|ther. <HI>236.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="I" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>I</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>IMmortality is not to be had in this life. <HI>284.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The day of judgement will be terri|ble. <HI>296.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Ju&s;tice hath a &s;et time for k lling and for healing. <HI>70.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God is an excellent Judge. <HI>289.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The con&s;ideration of the last judge|ment is mo&s;t profitable. <HI>289.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Ju&s;tice mu&s;t be fir&s;t in the Judge. <HI>90.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God doth even now judge the world.</ITEM>
<ITEM>There is a double judgement. <HI>91.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wickedne&s;&s;e is in the place where ju|&s;tice &s;hould be. <HI>90.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is the hurt of not acknowledg|ing infirmities in men. <HI>350.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Men judge of others by them&s;elves. <HI>356.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The day of judgement prooved. <HI>314.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is the hurt of forgetting the day of judgement. <HI>318.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is the benefit of indu&s;try. <HI>371.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A foole thinketh his ignorance to bee knowledge. <HI>381.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The ignorance of what is to come maketh the life of man wretched. <HI>381.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A foole will not bee in&s;tructed. <HI>380.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Inequality in e&s;tates is beneficiall. <HI>243.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The day of judgement is not to be forgotten. <HI>417.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Concerning the jaw-teeth. <HI>429.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Iniquity is great vanity. <HI>109.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is mans ignorance concer|nings things to come. <HI>184.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A man mu&s;t not de&s;erve to be ill &s;po|ken of. <HI>198.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Impatiency is pride. <HI>201.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Ju&s;tice mu&s;t be without riged &s;everi|ty. <HI>217.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Judgement belongeth to God. <HI>455.</HI></ITEM>
<PB REF="233">
<ITEM>It is good to &s;et our &s;elves before the judgement &s;eat, before the time come. <HI>456.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Our goodne&s;&s;e &s;hall be judged as well as our &s;innes. <HI>456.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Every &s;mall thing &s;hall be judged. <HI>456.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="K" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>K</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>A</HI> King hath but a time of &s;tan|ding. <HI>123.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The Sun an embleme of a King. <HI>123.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Knowledge is hardly gotten. <HI>13.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Knowledge is delightfull. <HI>14.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Knowledg is a vexation of &s;pirit. <HI>26.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Increa&s;e of knowledge increa&s;eth &s;orrow. <HI>26. 27.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Knowledge maketh a man angry at his owne badne&s;&s;e. <HI>27.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Obedience is due to Kings, becau&s;e God commandeth it. <HI>269.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>It is not good to thru&s;t into the Kings &s;ervice. <HI>270.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A Kings plea&s;ure is not to be re&s;i&s;t|ed. <HI>271.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Kings are not to be re&s;i&s;ted violent|ly. <HI>272.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>There is great power in a Kings words. <HI>272.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Kings and Governours are not to be reprooved by their inferiours. <HI>273. 274.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Kings mu&s;t heare Gods reproofe, who are not to be reproved by inferi|ours. <HI>274.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The Hebrewes were the fir&s;t attai|ners of knowledge. <HI>40.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>How &s;ome take delight in the &s;tudy of humane learning. <HI>27. 28.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The commandements of Kings are to be kept. <HI>268.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God is the Judge of Kings. <HI>273.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A good man will not &s;peake evill of the King. <HI>275.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Kings may be reproved, but with wi&s;edome. <HI>276.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Worldly knowledge is blindne&s;&s;e. <HI>48.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Kings by ill ruling hurt them|&s;elves. <HI>286.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The name of a King importeth ru|ling well. <HI>286.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A land is happy in a King of noble de&s;cent, and vertuous life. <HI>385. 387.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A King childi&s;h in wi&s;edome, is a great mi&s;ery to a land. <HI>385.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A King a child in years is &s;ometimes not alwayes a mi&s;ery to a land. <HI>385.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great reverence and re&s;pect is due to a king. <HI>395.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Ill &s;peaking in &s;ecrecy again&s;t a King is revealed. <HI>395. 396.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Knowledge mu&s;t have doing joyned with it. <HI>471.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Knowne things give light to things unknowne. <HI>242.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="L" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>L</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>HOw love and hatred are in God. <HI>309.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The love of man is not to be &s;et upon worldly things. <HI>74.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>What love is. <HI>77. 319.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Mans life is a continuall dying. <HI>95.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The labour of man in worldly things is to no benefit. <HI>7. 60.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Labour for eternall things is indeed beneficiall. <HI>7. 8.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Labour is inflicted upon man as a puni&s;hment of curio&s;ity. <HI>21.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Labour is ble&s;&s;ed by God. <HI>21.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Laughter is a madne&s;&s;e, if indecent|ly u&s;ed. <HI>30.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The difference of laughter and mirth. <HI>29.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The prai&s;e of light. <HI>47, 48. 413.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Nothing in mans life, in this world to cau&s;e love. <HI>52. 53. 54.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>It is a vanity to thinke that the dead have profit from the labour of the
<PB REF="233"> living. <HI>58.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The labour is ill be&s;towed which com|meth to them who make no u&s;e of it. <HI>59.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>In this life fir&s;t good then evil, in re|&s;pect of the next life, fir&s;t evil then good. <HI>68.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The &s;horter the life of the wicked is, the le&s;&s;e is their puni&s;hment. <HI>295. 238.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The wicked &s;hall not find good in the next life. <HI>295.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Long life is in the next life. <HI>296.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>In the next life God righteth things. <HI>296.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The next life is joyous to the godly. <HI>293.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Many and great are the mi&s;eries of mans life. <HI>169. 173. 101.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The labour of fooles is fruitle&s;&s;e. <HI>84.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The poore labourer &s;leepeth quietly. <HI>147.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>An active and contemplative life are to be joyned together. <HI>402.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>It is God who lengtheneth the life of man. <HI>158.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>This life is not to be de&s;ired. <HI>443.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Labour cau&s;eth &s;weet &s;leepe. <HI>146.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>&V;ntimely birth is better then a wicked life. <HI>168.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The law of God is the rule of mans life. <HI>221.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Concerning the liver of mans body. <HI>438.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>There is a time for love, and a time for hatred. <HI>77.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The like is to be expected, as man doth. <HI>230.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Lu&s;t is the cau&s;e of many and great evils. <HI>238.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="M" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>M</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>MAn is more vaine then the Sunne. <HI>10.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The memory of things is vani|ty. <HI>17. 18.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Plea&s;ure and mirth are unprofitable. <HI>30.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is the delight and excellency of mu&s;icke. <HI>40.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The memory of the wi&s;e as well as of the fooli&s;h is lo&s;t. <HI>51.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Why good things and bad are mixed in this world. <HI>71.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is the mi&s;ery of tho&s;e who have riches, and enjoy not the u&s;e of them. <HI>83. 84.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Meditation mu&s;t have practi&s;e joyn|ed with it. <HI>302.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The honour of marriage. <HI>329.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The care of marriage. <HI>329.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The mi&s;erable are &s;ometimes made glorious. <HI>121.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Man is but as a bea&s;t. <HI>93.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Man is borne and dieth as a bea&s;t. <HI>94.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A fooles mouth quickly &s;heweth his folly. <HI>378.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The mouth of the wi&s;e and righteous man giveth light. <HI>376.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great hurt is from the mouth. <HI>25. 276.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The mi&s;ery of this life is to be &s;hun|ned, but not much to be cared for. <HI>152.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The power of money is great with fooles. <HI>324.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Mi&s;ery is common to man. <HI>165.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The forming of man in the wombe is wonderfull. <HI>407.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Mirth is hardly ruled by rea&s;on. <HI>419.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The mirth of fooles is to them&s;elves only. <HI>193.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The mouth ea&s;ily falleth into &s;inne. <HI>136.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Man knoweth not what is good for him&s;elfe. <HI>183.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The mi&s;eries of this life are for the good of Gods &s;ervants. <HI>184.</HI></ITEM>
<PB REF="234">
<ITEM>The hou&s;e of mourning is better then the hou&s;e of jollity. <HI>189.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The mirth of fooles is vaine. <HI>195.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>How farre a mini&s;ter may &s;peake of his owne experience. <HI>215.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The malice of the wicked again&s;t the righteous. <HI>215. 216.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Moderation is needfull in all things. <HI>217.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The meane is to be ob&s;erved. <HI>221.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A Mini&s;ters words are not regarded. <HI>345.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A loud crying in Mini&s;ters is not good. <HI>346.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The lives of Mini&s;ters mu&s;t &s;peake as well as their tongues. <HI>346.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Money prevaileth in all things. <HI>393.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The memory of man is an excellent gift. <HI>422.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>That is a good memory which re|membreth good things. <HI>422.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Man is but dust. <HI>439.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The two parts of a &s;pirituall man. <HI>454.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Godline&s;&s;e is that which maketh a man. <HI>455. 247.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The mi&s;ery of this life is to humble man. <HI>80.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>It is a madne&s;&s;e that maketh the things of this world to be &s;o high|ly e&s;teemed. <HI>237.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Man was made perfect, and uprigt by God. <HI>245. 246.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Man had the uprightne&s;&s;e of grace at the in&s;tant of his creation. <HI>245. 246.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="N" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>N</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>NOvelty of things not to be de|&s;ired. <HI>16.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Nothing is new. <HI>16.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>New things are to be &s;ought in heaven. <HI>15.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>That which cannot be numbred, is not. <HI>25.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Nakedne&s;&s;e at fir&s;t a benefit to man. <HI>142.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The nakedne&s;&s;e that is from &s;inne, a happine&s;&s;e to man. <HI>152.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A good name from vertue is preti|ous. <HI>187.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A worldly name is vaine. <HI>187.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="O" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>O</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>A</HI> Crooked thing mu&s;t be made &s;traight before it can have ornament. <HI>23.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>When an oath began. <HI>269.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>When the oath of &s;ubjects began. <HI>269.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>An oath is to be kept. <HI>270. 269.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>How an oath is to bee taken. <HI>270.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The breaking of an oath puni&s;hed. <HI>271.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>How carefully an oath is to be &s;hun|ned. <HI>311.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Occa&s;ion of &s;inning is to be &s;hunned. <HI>368.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The oppre&s;&s;ion of the innocent is common in the world. <HI>100.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Oppre&s;&s;ours are in the world &s;uppor|ted, not the oppre&s;&s;ed. <HI>100.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>No marvaile that the wicked opre&s;&s;e the godly. <HI>139.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Oppre&s;&s;ours are them&s;elves oppre&s;&s;ed by others. <HI>140.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Old age is ob&s;tinate in &s;inning. <HI>426.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is the wretchedne&s;&s;e of old age. <HI>414. 423.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Old age is unfit for vertues yoake. <HI>144.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>In oppre&s;&s;ion looke to the end. <HI>200.</HI></ITEM>
<PB REF="234">
<ITEM>Old age &s;ignified by the Almond tree. <HI>434.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>In old age the ta&s;t faileth. <HI>434. 435.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Oppre&s;&s;ion is grievous to a wi&s;e man. <HI>197.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wee mu&s;t not de&s;troy our &s;elves. <HI>218.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Many are the evils of old age. <HI>424. 425.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A good life mu&s;t make old age com|fortable. <HI>436.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="P" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>P</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>THere is no profit in worldly things. <HI>6. 7.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Why the booke is called the booke of the Preacher. <HI>3. 4.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is the vanity of man in pa&s;&s;ing away. <HI>9.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Plea&s;ure is not the Preachers mea|ning. <HI>1.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Patience is taught us. <HI>17.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Pride &s;till &s;welleth greater. <HI>24.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Worldly plea&s;ure is wholy for it &s;elfe. <HI>35.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>To per&s;i&s;t in evil is devilli&s;h. <HI>271.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Good things want not the prai&s;e of others. <HI>47.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The method of the Kings plea&s;ure. <HI>37.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>It is a puni&s;hment not to be puni&s;hed. <HI>293.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The patience of God him&s;elf is need|full for man. <HI>292.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Gods patience to &s;inners &s;heweth his goodne&s;&s;e to the godly. <HI>292.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Gods delaying puni&s;hment makes it the greater when it commeth. <HI>280. 291.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is Gods patience whereby hee winneth &s;oules. <HI>290.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Whether the Preacher &s;peaketh often in the per&s;on of others. <HI>299.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God planteth and plucketh up in man. <HI>69.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Gods patience expecteth amend|ment. <HI>289.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Man liketh the times of pro&s;perity, but not of adver&s;itie. <HI>81.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The Papi&s;ts erre in expounding the Scriptures. <HI>309.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Tho&s;e things which a man po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth, are not his owne. <HI>74.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The difference of Gods providence o|ver the good and bad. <HI>313.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The hurt of plea&s;ure. <HI>313.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>In prayer wee mu&s;t &s;peake di&s;tinctly. <HI>129.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>In prayer heart and mouth mu&s;t be joyned. <HI>129.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>What it is to be ha&s;ty in prayer. <HI>129. 130.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The glory of God mu&s;t make us reve|rent in Prayer. <HI>130.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Our owne frailty mu&s;t make us reve|rent in prayer. <HI>130.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Few words are to be u&s;ed in prayer. <HI>130.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Length of prayer is not to be condem|ned ab&s;olutly. <HI>130.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>In Gods providence nothing is wanting. <HI>332.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Man is &s;ubject to errour in preferring to honour the unworthy. <HI>361.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Care mu&s;t be had to preferre the wor|thy. <HI>361.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Promi&s;es and vows are to be kept. <HI>137.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The unworthy preferred in dignity, are hurt by it. <HI>371.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Sin is the puni&s;hment of &s;inners. <HI>382</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The &s;tudy of Philo&s;ophy is not the way to find the truth. <HI>383.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A Preacher flattering the people is to be blamed. <HI>394.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Princes given to plea&s;ure, or prey, or profit, or intempe|rancy, are a mi&s;ery to a land. <HI>386.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Princes have quick eares. <HI>396.</HI></ITEM>
<PB REF="235">
<ITEM>Gods providence is to be relyed on. <HI>161.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>We mu&s;t take heed that the plea&s;ures of this life doe not hinder our jour|ney to heaven. <HI>164.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The word of God is to be preached, though it be oppo&s;ed. <HI>407.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The per&s;ecution of evil men is not to be feared. <HI>407.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A Preacher mu&s;t be alwayes learning what to teach. <HI>175.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is the force of prayer in &s;ociety. <HI>118.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Parents mu&s;t not cau&s;e their chil|dren to &s;inne. <HI>136.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Patience mu&s;t continue to the end. <HI>201.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>There must be a proceeding in good|ne&s;&s;e. <HI>205.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>All our protection in this life is but a &s;hadow. <HI>209.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Gods plea&s;ure mu&s;t make us patient. <HI>210.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Pro&s;perity maketh God to be forgot|ten. <HI>213.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The wicked are taken away in the mid&s;t of their pro&s;perity. <HI>220.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Objections again&s;t Gods Providence are an&s;wered. <HI>303.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The wayes of Gods providence can|not be found out. <HI>305.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Vertue in a poore man is not regar|ded. <HI>342.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The honour of a Preacher. <HI>442.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Sea&s;onablene&s;&s;e is required in Prea|ching. <HI>445.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Preachers mu&s;t &s;peake to the under|&s;tanding of the hearers. <HI>445.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Order in preaching to be ob&s;erved. <HI>446.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A Preacher mu&s;t make his words ac|ceptable. <HI>447.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A Preacher mu&s;t &s;eeke the good, not the applau&s;e of his hearers. <HI>448.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A Preacher mu&s;t be angry with &s;in, not with the &s;inners. <HI>448.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>One faithfull Preacher is better &s;ometimes then many. <HI>457.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The words of Preachers must prick rather then plea&s;e. <HI>449.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="Q" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>Q</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>Q&V;ietne&s;&s;e a great comfort. <HI>107.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="R" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>R</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>WHat a reward propperly is. <HI>311.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A freene&s;&s;e of reprooving is commen|ded. <HI>316.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The rebellion of people again&s;t their King is noted. <HI>122.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Man hath no returne when once gone. <HI>11.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Man mu&s;t returne by repentance. <HI>12.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Man more vain then the rivers. <HI>12.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The vanity of tho&s;e who thinke to doe &s;ome great thing thereby to be re|membred. <HI>18.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The re&s;urrection &s;hall blot out all re|membrance of evil things. <HI>18.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The re&s;urrection &s;hall re&s;tore things to that perfection which at fir&s;t they had. <HI>16.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>There is a recour&s;e of the &s;ame things in all things. <HI>15. 16.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Gold and &s;ilver are the wor&s;t riches. <HI>39.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>In reprooving the time and manner are carefully to be ob&s;erved. <HI>276.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A clo&s;e reproving is commended. <HI>277.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>There is no certaine &s;ub&s;tance in worldly riches. <HI>61.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>It is good for man to rejoyce in his workes. <HI>97.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Vertue is true riches. <HI>363.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The righteous are oprre&s;&s;ed for their good. <HI>139.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A readine&s;&s;e for God is alwayes re|quired. <HI>326.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Riches good if well u&s;ed. <HI>149.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The rich &s;tand in need of the poore. <HI>403.</HI></ITEM>
<PB REF="235">
<ITEM>God would have us to expect a large reward from him. <HI>399.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The life of the rich is &s;uddainly taken away. <HI>166.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>There is no re&s;t in this world. <HI>171. 172.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Reproofe is rather to be heard then flattery. <HI>194.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Reproofe is to be u&s;ed wi&s;ely. <HI>199.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The rich refu&s;e in&s;truction. <HI>120.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Riches being gotten, are more loved then not gotten. <HI>144.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Riches doe not &s;atisfie the de&s;ire of man. <HI>144.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great riches require many to looke after them. <HI>146.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Riches kept covetou&s;ly hurt the own|ers. <HI>150. 151.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Riches the cau&s;e of licentiou&s;ne&s;&s;e. <HI>182. 183.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Riches well ordered are beneficiall. <HI>207.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Riches mu&s;t not po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e the heart. <HI>209.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The righteous peri&s;hing, are better then the wicked living. <HI>216.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Right is not to be stood upon too ex|actly. <HI>217.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>How temporall ble&s;&s;ings are a re|ward. <HI>311. 312.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The world accounteth rich men to be wi&s;e men. <HI>341.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Repentance is no ea&s;ie thing. <HI>373.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Reproofe mu&s;t be &s;oft and mild. <HI>453.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The reckonings that man maketh are fal&s;e. <HI>246.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="S" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>S</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>STudy mu&s;t be joyned to practi&s;e in preaching. <HI>12. 13.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>There is no &s;atisfaction in worldly things. <HI>22.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The hou&s;e of the &s;oule is to be built carefully. <HI>34.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The meaning of the phra&s;e under the Sunne. <HI>44.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Again&s;t the needle&s;&s;e multitude of &s;ervants. <HI>38. 39.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The vanity of many &s;ervants. <HI>308.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Again&s;t the buying of &s;ervants. <HI>38.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>&V;nder the Sun all things are vaine. <HI>285.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The vanity of Succe&s;&s;ours. <HI>58. 59.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Sea&s;onablenes maketh that good which in it &s;elfe is not. <HI>67.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The life of the wicked is not as a &s;ha|dow. <HI>296.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Sinners doe not con&s;ider them&s;elves to be men. <HI>296.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The be&s;t while they continue on the earth have &s;innes. <HI>297.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>This world is a time of &s;orrowing. <HI>72</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The &s;pirituall &s;tones of the mind are meditations. <HI>72.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Societie which at &s;ometimes is com|fortable, at other times is not. <HI>75.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Silence is fir&s;t to be learned. <HI>75.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The great prai&s;e of &s;ilence. <HI>75.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A &s;pirituall &s;owing. <HI>76.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The lo&s;&s;e of &s;inne is a gaine. <HI>74.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The immortality of the &s;oule proved. <HI>97. 318.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Softne&s;&s;e of carriage ea&s;eth great of|fences. <HI>358.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The &s;ucce&s;&s;e of things is not in mans abilities. <HI>332.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Severall kinds of &s;pirits. <HI>94.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The knowledge concerning mans &s;oul is from God. <HI>96.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A Schi&s;me is not to be made ha&s;tely. <HI>370.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The mi&s;chiefe of &s;loth. <HI>106.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Sufficiency with quietne&s;&s;e is better then much with trouble. <HI>107.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Ra&s;hne&s;&s;e in &s;peaking is to be &s;hun|ned. <HI>137.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Silver doth not &s;atisfie the de&s;ire. <HI>143.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A talker is commonly a &s;landerer. <HI>374.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A &s;landerer and a &s;erpent are alike many wayes. <HI>374.</HI></ITEM>
<PB REF="236">
<ITEM>Sin is not ea&s;ily returned from. <HI>384.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>An e&s;tate decayeth by &s;lothfull care|le&s;ne&s;&s;e. <HI>390.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Slothfulne&s;&s;e de&s;troyeth the e&s;tate of vertue. <HI>391.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Slothfulne&s;&s;e de&s;troyeth by little and little, but at length bringeth great mi&s;chiefe. <HI>391.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Small &s;innes are to be &s;hunned. <HI>392. 241.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Secrecy in this world is not to be trusted unto. <HI>396.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Comfortable is the light of the Sun of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e. <HI>171. 414.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Satietie in goodne&s;&s;e, is a &s;igne of emptine&s;&s;e. <HI>177.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The &s;ence of Scripture is to be look'd unto. <HI>416.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>There are many &s;heepheards that burt their flock. <HI>451.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Study is to be imployed upon the be&s;t things. <HI>451.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Shortne&s;&s;e in &s;peech is commended. <HI>451.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Society is needfull for man. <HI>112.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is the benefit of Society. <HI>113. 114.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Solitarine&s;&s;e is &s;ometimes good. <HI>113</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Society is not pre&s;erved without care. <HI>113.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Solitarine&s;&s; is hurtfull. <HI>114.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Society in mi&s;ery is a great ea&s;e. <HI>115</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Societie in pro&s;perity is u&s;efull. <HI>116.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is the &s;trength of &s;ociety. <HI>118.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Sen&s;uality is uncomely for a man. <HI>157.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>New &s;u&s;tenance is &s;till needfull for man. <HI>157.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Slander is not much to be regarded. <HI>198. 227. 228.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great &s;ins are chiefly to be &s;hunned. <HI>219.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Sinne is a great folly. <HI>219.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Small &s;ins are to be &s;hunned careful|ly. <HI>222. 223.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>No man upon earth is without &s;inne. <HI>225. 226.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Men are &s;trangers in this world. <HI>339.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Sinners thinke others who are not like them&s;elves to be fooles. <HI>357.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Sin maketh men to be &s;ervants. <HI>364.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Concerning the &s;en&s;e of &s;melling, and the no&s;e. <HI>431.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The &s;oule is given by God. <HI>441.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>They who are in&s;tructed and taught, are called Sons. <HI>452.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>He that &s;peaketh ill of others, is &s;po|ken ill of by others. <HI>230, 231.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="T" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>T</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>THe theft of the Philo&s;ophers out of the Scriptures. <HI>8.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>How time is con&s;idered in the doing of things. <HI>8.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A fit time is to be ob&s;erved. <HI>279.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A time there is for every purpo&s;e. <HI>278.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Many are in tranquility good, who in trouble are not found &s;o. <HI>287.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The application of the &s;everall times mentioned by the Preacher, by the Jews to them&s;elves. <HI>68.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Every thing hath but a time. <HI>67.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The ju&s;t &s;uffer trouble upon the earth. <HI>297.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Tears are the blood of the wounds of the &s;oule. <HI>71.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>There is a time to be borne, and a time to die. <HI>69.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>There is a time of &s;peaking, and a time of &s;ilence. <HI>76.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>What is done in due time is well done. <HI>81.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The purpo&s;es and thoughts of men &s;hall be judged. <HI>91.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wee mu&s;t worke while we have time. <HI>330. 334.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The ignorance of man in not know|ing his time, is more then of bea&s;ts. <HI>334.</HI></ITEM>
<PB REF="236">
<ITEM>Truth is knowne from God. <HI>96.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Tale-bearers are about Princes. <HI>396.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Both the te&s;taments are to be recei|ved. <HI>412. 402.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>To teach well, and not to live well doth the teacher no good. <HI>166.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Concerning the teeth. <HI>429.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Whether the teeth are bones or no. <HI>429.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A teacher must get knowledge before he teacheth. <HI>444.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>He that hath abilities to teach, mu&s;t u&s;e them. <HI>444.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The pre&s;ent times are not to be ex|claimed again&s;t. <HI>204.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The care of tillage is an honour to a King. <HI>142.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The tillage of mans body is a good &s;pirituall hu&s;bandry. <HI>142.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wee mu&s;t be thankefull in pro&s;perity. <HI>212.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The teaching of truth mu&s;t be joyned with the pre&s;&s;ing of vertue. <HI>449.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Truth is contained within a cer|taine end. <HI>452.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="U" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>U</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>SEverall kinds of vanitie. <HI>5.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>What vanitie is. <HI>6.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>How all things are vanitie. <HI>6.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Voluptuou&s;ne&s;&s;e is contrary to rea|&s;on. <HI>31.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Voluptuou&s;ne&s;&s;e and under&s;tanding are hardly joyned together. <HI>31.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Voluptuou&s;ne&s;&s;e is the de&s;ire of &s;ome. <HI>62.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Voluptuous men &s;eek pre&s;ent con|tentment. <HI>330.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Vows are to be payd &s;peedily. <HI>134.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Vowing is better then not vowing. <HI>134.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Virginity is prai&s;ed. <HI>325. 326.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The voluptuous feeder cannot &s;leepe quietly. <HI>147.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Ra&s;hne&s;&s;e in vowing is to be &s;hun|ned. <HI>133.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Vows belong to God only. <HI>133.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The paying of vows is not to be delay|ed. <HI>133.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Vowes mu&s;t be performed. <HI>135.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God taketh notice of vowes. <HI>136.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The &s;pirituall vineyard of a religi|ous man is kept carefully. <HI>146.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Vertue is &s;ought for by few. <HI>354.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Vanity is not to be loved. <HI>442.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Vanity mu&s;t not be laboured for. <HI>443.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>There is no true vertue but where is the knowledge of Chri&s;t. <HI>237.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="W" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>W</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>MAn is more vaine then the winde. <HI>11.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>They are good words that are to be re|garded. <HI>14.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The Eternall Word is not to be ex|pre&s;&s;ed. <HI>14.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Alwayes to be in want is a great mi|&s;ery. <HI>14.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The greatne&s;&s;e of man is to de&s;pi&s;e the great things of the world. <HI>33.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The vanity of man in making his works great. <HI>33.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Humane wi&s;edome is vaine. <HI>26.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The hurt of taking delight in wine. <HI>34.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>This world is but a garden of flowers. <HI>36.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The great wi&s;dome of <HI>Solomon. 25.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Worldly delights hinder wi&s;edome. <HI>42.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Worldly things are empty of all true good. <HI>44.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wi&s;edome giveth boldne&s;&s;e, though not impudency. <HI>267.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The difference of wi&s;edome, madnes, folly. <HI>46.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Humane wi&s;edome hath more errour then truth in it. <HI>46.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The way to &s;ee folly, is fir&s;t to &s;ee wi&s;edome. <HI>46.</HI></ITEM>
<PB REF="237">
<ITEM>None can judge of wi&s;edome, but a lover of wi&s;edome. <HI>266.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A wi&s;e man understandeth what things &s;peake. <HI>266.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wi&s;dome is hard to be attained. <HI>265</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The excellency of a wi&s;e man. <HI>265.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>How a wi&s;e man hath his eyes in his head. <HI>48.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A wi&s;e man meditateth heavenly things. <HI>48.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Shamefull is the unwearied de&s;ire of worldly things. <HI>57.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The trouble of worldly things. <HI>53.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>It is hard for a wi&s;e man to yeeld to worldly plea&s;ures. <HI>54.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The mi&s;ery of worldly things in re|&s;pect of &s;ucce&s;&s;ours. <HI>54. 55.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Worldly things are unworthy of wi&s;e|domes care. <HI>58.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>He that doth well careth not for evil. <HI>278.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wi&s;edome looketh into the cau&s;es of things. <HI>59.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A wi&s;e man marketh all circum&s;tan|ces in what he doth. <HI>59.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Man cannot find out the workes of God. <HI>82. 305.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wi&s;e and righteous men are joyned together. <HI>308.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>All wickednes is under the Sun. <HI>80.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The good u&s;e of the winds. <HI>302.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wi&s;dome is mo&s;t requi&s;ite in af|faires. <HI>349.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A &s;mall &s;pot blemi&s;heth a wi&s;e man. <HI>350.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wine maketh cherefull. <HI>322.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The benefit of a wife. <HI>327.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The love that ought to be to a wife. <HI>327.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>To what end a wife was given to man. <HI>328. 329.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Vaine is the comfort of a wife. <HI>329.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>No working after death. <HI>330.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The workes belonging to man are the works of vertue. <HI>97.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Better not to be, then to be wick|ed. <HI>102.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Worldly things unworthy of mans labour. <HI>370.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wi&s;edome rectifieth what is ami&s;&s;e. <HI>32.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The mi&s;chiefe of worldly content|ment. <HI>106.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wickedne&s;&s;e growes apace. <HI>379.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wicked people are wanderers out of the way. <HI>383.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The things of the world are not &s;o much to be de&s;ired, as things to come. <HI>387.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Worldly things are to be di&s;e&s;teemed by us. <HI>154.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Worldly things are but wind. <HI>154.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Worldly ble&s;&s;ings are le&s;&s;er good things. <HI>160.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Some care, though not a &s;olicitous care is to be had for worldly things. <HI>160.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God giveth worldly things. <HI>165.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Worldlings are all for them&s;elves. <HI>165.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The things of this world enjoyed are good. <HI>158.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>It is good to enjoy the good of the things of this world. <HI>158.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A mans good workes only are his owne. <HI>410.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Our good workes are to be done early. <HI>426.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The words of the wi&s;e are pretious and rich ornaments. <HI>450.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The wicked goe into darkne&s;&s;e. <HI>170.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is the wickedne&s;&s;e of man. <HI>180.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The wickedne&s;&s;e of man maketh him mi&s;erable. <HI>180.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wealth by wi&s;edome is well u&s;ed. <HI>206.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wealth by wi&s;edome findeth heaven. <HI>207.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wealth needeth wi&s;edome to direct it.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Wi&s;edome is a defence again&s;t the troubles of this life. <HI>208.</HI></ITEM>
<PB REF="237">
<ITEM>Wi&s;edome giveth life. <HI>269.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The wicked are fed for &s;laughter. <HI>210.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wee mu&s;t not be over-wi&s;e. <HI>218.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wi&s;edome is better then &s;trength. <HI>223. 343.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is the &s;trength of wi&s;edome. <HI>223.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Godly wi&s;edome is &s;tronger then worldly wi&s;edome. <HI>223.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wickedne&s;&s;e cannot be wi&s;e. <HI>224. 225.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The things of this world are common to the wicked and righteous. <HI>309. 310.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>What wi&s;edome is. <HI>337.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wi&s;edome is from God. <HI>338.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Great is the excellency of wi&s;edome. <HI>338.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A wi&s;e man doth not e&s;teem his owne wi&s;edome great. <HI>339.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The words of the wi&s;e are &s;ooner heard then the words of fooles. <HI>348.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>There is no vertue without wi&s;e|dome. <HI>348.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A little folly is great wi&s;edome. <HI>352.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A wi&s;e mans heart is at his right hand. <HI>353.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The words of the wi&s;e are ornaments to their hearers. <HI>449. 450.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wi&s;edome &s;heweth a man unto him|&s;elfe. <HI>231.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wi&s;edome &s;heweth the want of wi&s;e|dome. <HI>231.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wi&s;dome is hard to be atained. <HI>231. 233.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Divine wi&s;edome is above mans reach. <HI>233. 234.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Divine wi&s;edome is here in part at|tained. <HI>235.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>There is a threefold wi&s;edome. <HI>235.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Wi&s;edome is gotten by paines and di|ligence. <HI>236. 237.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Women are the devils &s;nare, where|by he intrappeth men. <HI>238.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Women are full of deceit in en&s;na|ring. <HI>239.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Women cannot doe hurt, unle&s;&s;e men yeeld unto them. <HI>239.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>They that feare God are delivered from naughty women. <HI>239. 240.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The badne&s;&s;e of women. <HI>244.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>There are many good women, though too many bad. <HI>244.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The weakne&s;&s;e of women mu&s;t make them carefull in looking to them|&s;elves. <HI>244.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="Y" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>Y</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>THe plea&s;ures of youth are vaine. <HI>420.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>There is an youth of godline&s;&s;e. <HI>416.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Youth is unruly. <HI>417.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God mu&s;t be &s;erved in youth. <HI>423.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="table of scripture">
<PB REF="238">
<HEAD>A Table of mo&s;t of tho&s;e places of Scripture which by occa&s;ion in this booke are explained or illu&s;trated.</HEAD>
<P><TABLE>
<ROW>
<CELL ROLE="label">Chap.</CELL>
<CELL ROLE="label">Ver.</CELL>
<CELL ROLE="label">Fol.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Gene&s;.</HI> 2.</CELL>
<CELL>7.</CELL>
<CELL>439.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>2.</CELL>
<CELL>17.</CELL>
<CELL>190.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>2.</CELL>
<CELL>24.</CELL>
<CELL>327.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>4.</CELL>
<CELL>8.</CELL>
<CELL>215.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>8.</CELL>
<CELL>11.</CELL>
<CELL>376.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>9.</CELL>
<CELL>18.</CELL>
<CELL>73.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>15.</CELL>
<CELL>1.</CELL>
<CELL>103.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>15.</CELL>
<CELL>15.</CELL>
<CELL>423.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>18.</CELL>
<CELL>6, 7.</CELL>
<CELL>38. 146.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>25.</CELL>
<CELL>23.</CELL>
<CELL>344.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>28.</CELL>
<CELL>12.</CELL>
<CELL>446.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>28.</CELL>
<CELL>13.</CELL>
<CELL>378.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>28.</CELL>
<CELL>16.</CELL>
<CELL>128.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>31.</CELL>
<CELL>27.</CELL>
<CELL>207.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>32.</CELL>
<CELL>29.</CELL>
<CELL>187.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>35.</CELL>
<CELL>9.</CELL>
<CELL>378.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>37.</CELL>
<CELL>33.</CELL>
<CELL>104</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>42.</CELL>
<CELL>13.</CELL>
<CELL>414.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>45.</CELL>
<CELL>9. &amp; 11.</CELL>
<CELL>84.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>46.</CELL>
<CELL>4.</CELL>
<CELL>168.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>48.</CELL>
<CELL>15. &amp; 16.</CELL>
<CELL>84.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>49.</CELL>
<CELL>23.</CELL>
<CELL>103.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Exod.</HI> 1.</CELL>
<CELL>21.</CELL>
<CELL>311.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>3.</CELL>
<CELL>5.</CELL>
<CELL>126.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>3.</CELL>
<CELL>9.</CELL>
<CELL>87.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>8.</CELL>
<CELL>8,</CELL>
<CELL>213.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>17.</CELL>
<CELL>5. &amp; 6.</CELL>
<CELL>159.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>21.</CELL>
<CELL>33.</CELL>
<CELL>445.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>32.</CELL>
<CELL>4.</CELL>
<CELL>221.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>32.</CELL>
<CELL>17. &amp; 18.</CELL>
<CELL>356.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>34.</CELL>
<CELL>5.</CELL>
<CELL>265.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>34.</CELL>
<CELL>9.</CELL>
<CELL>291.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Levit.</HI> 1.</CELL>
<CELL>3.</CELL>
<CELL>349.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>1.</CELL>
<CELL>6. &amp; 9.</CELL>
<CELL>323.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>11.</CELL>
<CELL>18.</CELL>
<CELL>324.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>19.</CELL>
<CELL>23.</CELL>
<CELL>338.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Numb.</HI> 6.</CELL>
<CELL>3. &amp; 4.</CELL>
<CELL>368.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>27.</CELL>
<CELL>16.</CELL>
<CELL>361.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Deuter.</HI> 19.</CELL>
<CELL>19. &amp; 21.</CELL>
<CELL>231.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>21.</CELL>
<CELL>12.</CELL>
<CELL>393.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Jo&s;h.</HI> 1.</CELL>
<CELL>18.</CELL>
<CELL>272.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Judg.</HI> 9.</CELL>
<CELL>18.</CELL>
<CELL>388.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>1. <HI>Sam.</HI> 6.</CELL>
<CELL>19.</CELL>
<CELL>395.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>10.</CELL>
<CELL>2.</CELL>
<CELL>414.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>10.</CELL>
<CELL>5.</CELL>
<CELL>381.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>10.</CELL>
<CELL>23,</CELL>
<CELL>123.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>14.</CELL>
<CELL>7.</CELL>
<CELL>272.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>17.</CELL>
<CELL>43.</CELL>
<CELL>281.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>18.</CELL>
<CELL>1.</CELL>
<CELL>270.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>24.</CELL>
<CELL>4.</CELL>
<CELL>85.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 1.</CELL>
<CELL>15.</CELL>
<CELL>57.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>6.</CELL>
<CELL>7.</CELL>
<CELL>273.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>7.</CELL>
<CELL>21.</CELL>
<CELL>271. &amp; 280.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>1. <HI>King.</HI> 10.</CELL>
<CELL>18.</CELL>
<CELL>89.</CELL>
</ROW>
<PB REF="238">
<ROW>
<CELL>2. <HI>King.</HI> 2.</CELL>
<CELL>12.</CELL>
<CELL>286.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>14.</CELL>
<CELL>8.</CELL>
<CELL>407.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Job.</HI> 1.</CELL>
<CELL>3.</CELL>
<CELL>146.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>1.</CELL>
<CELL>10.</CELL>
<CELL>209.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>1.</CELL>
<CELL>11.</CELL>
<CELL>206.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>1.</CELL>
<CELL>21.</CELL>
<CELL>152.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>3.</CELL>
<CELL>3.</CELL>
<CELL>102.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>6.</CELL>
<CELL>8.</CELL>
<CELL>157.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>8.</CELL>
<CELL>21.</CELL>
<CELL>196.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>14.</CELL>
<CELL>1.</CELL>
<CELL>173.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>15.</CELL>
<CELL>15. &amp; 16.</CELL>
<CELL>180.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>18.</CELL>
<CELL>10.</CELL>
<CELL>221.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>19.</CELL>
<CELL>2.</CELL>
<CELL>293.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>20.</CELL>
<CELL>14.</CELL>
<CELL>129.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>26.</CELL>
<CELL>8.</CELL>
<CELL>445.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>28.</CELL>
<CELL>20.</CELL>
<CELL>223.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>28.</CELL>
<CELL>21.</CELL>
<CELL>235.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 1.</CELL>
<CELL>2.</CELL>
<CELL>302.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>1.</CELL>
<CELL>6.</CELL>
<CELL>275.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>5.</CELL>
<CELL>8.</CELL>
<CELL>225.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>7.</CELL>
<CELL>11.</CELL>
<CELL>291.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>8.</CELL>
<CELL>6. &amp; 8.</CELL>
<CELL>154.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>9.</CELL>
<CELL>9.</CELL>
<CELL>279.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>18.</CELL>
<CELL>5.</CELL>
<CELL>44.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>18.</CELL>
<CELL>10.</CELL>
<CELL>234.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>20.</CELL>
<CELL>7.</CELL>
<CELL>246.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>31.</CELL>
<CELL>14. &amp; 15.</CELL>
<CELL>334.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>36.</CELL>
<CELL>25. &amp; 26.</CELL>
<CELL>406.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>38.</CELL>
<CELL>6.</CELL>
<CELL>50.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>47.</CELL>
<CELL>2.</CELL>
<CELL>286.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>49.</CELL>
<CELL>11.</CELL>
<CELL>187.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>50.</CELL>
<CELL>14.</CELL>
<CELL>134.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>53.</CELL>
<CELL>3.</CELL>
<CELL>216.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>55.</CELL>
<CELL>9. &amp; 10.</CELL>
<CELL>283.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>69.</CELL>
<CELL>2.</CELL>
<CELL>109.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>73.</CELL>
<CELL>22.</CELL>
<CELL>93.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>73.</CELL>
<CELL>28.</CELL>
<CELL>311.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>74.</CELL>
<CELL>9.</CELL>
<CELL>280.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>78.</CELL>
<CELL>48.</CELL>
<CELL>94.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>90.</CELL>
<CELL>11.</CELL>
<CELL>419.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>92.</CELL>
<CELL>15.</CELL>
<CELL>247.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>92.</CELL>
<CELL>132.</CELL>
<CELL>298.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>95.</CELL>
<CELL>4.</CELL>
<CELL>165.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>100.</CELL>
<CELL>2.</CELL>
<CELL>300.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>101.</CELL>
<CELL>1.</CELL>
<CELL>330.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>102.</CELL>
<CELL>1.</CELL>
<CELL>296.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>105.</CELL>
<CELL>22.</CELL>
<CELL>364.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>112.</CELL>
<CELL>9.</CELL>
<CELL>311.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>127.</CELL>
<CELL>2.</CELL>
<CELL>63.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>145.</CELL>
<CELL>2.</CELL>
<CELL>301.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>147.</CELL>
<CELL>5.</CELL>
<CELL>245.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Prov.</HI> 1.</CELL>
<CELL>7.</CELL>
<CELL>454.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>5.</CELL>
<CELL>8. &amp; 9.</CELL>
<CELL>239.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>17.</CELL>
<CELL>24.</CELL>
<CELL>292.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>20.</CELL>
<CELL>10.</CELL>
<CELL>219.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Cantic.</HI> 1.</CELL>
<CELL>6.</CELL>
<CELL>371.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>2.</CELL>
<CELL>16.</CELL>
<CELL>212.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>5.</CELL>
<CELL>3.</CELL>
<CELL>297.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>6.</CELL>
<CELL>13.</CELL>
<CELL>12.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>I&s;ai.</HI> 6.</CELL>
<CELL>2.</CELL>
<CELL>234.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>28.</CELL>
<CELL>15.</CELL>
<CELL>283.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>28.</CELL>
<CELL>17.</CELL>
<CELL>418.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>32.</CELL>
<CELL>5.</CELL>
<CELL>378.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>52.</CELL>
<CELL>10.</CELL>
<CELL>218.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Jerem.</HI> 12.</CELL>
<CELL>13.</CELL>
<CELL>212.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>13.</CELL>
<CELL>7. &amp; 9.</CELL>
<CELL>68.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>18.</CELL>
<CELL>2.</CELL>
<CELL>189.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>22.</CELL>
<CELL>19.</CELL>
<CELL>167.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>23.</CELL>
<CELL>29.</CELL>
<CELL>449.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Lament.</HI> 3.</CELL>
<CELL>27.</CELL>
<CELL>424.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Ezek.</HI> 1.</CELL>
<CELL>16.</CELL>
<CELL>17.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>1.</CELL>
<CELL>28.</CELL>
<CELL>234.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>3.</CELL>
<CELL>16 &amp; 17.</CELL>
<CELL>444.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>32.</CELL>
<CELL>27.</CELL>
<CELL>320.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>41.</CELL>
<CELL>18. &amp; 19.</CELL>
<CELL>295.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Daniel.</HI> 2.</CELL>
<CELL>13.</CELL>
<CELL>208.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>3.</CELL>
<CELL>17.</CELL>
<CELL>118.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>4.</CELL>
<CELL>10. &amp; 12.</CELL>
<CELL>396.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>4.</CELL>
<CELL>26.</CELL>
<CELL>20.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>5.</CELL>
<CELL>27.</CELL>
<CELL>109.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>7.</CELL>
<CELL>9.</CELL>
<CELL>210.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Ho&s;ea.</HI> 4.</CELL>
<CELL>8.</CELL>
<CELL>448.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>10.</CELL>
<CELL>11.</CELL>
<CELL>379.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Zeph.</HI> 1.</CELL>
<CELL>14.</CELL>
<CELL>216.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Zechar.</HI> 6.</CELL>
<CELL>3. &amp; 4.</CELL>
<CELL>158.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>11.</CELL>
<CELL>15.</CELL>
<CELL>367.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Malac.</HI> 1.</CELL>
<CELL>14.</CELL>
<CELL>404.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Matth.</HI> 5.</CELL>
<CELL>9.</CELL>
<CELL>376.</CELL>
</ROW>
<PB REF="239">
<ROW>
<CELL>5.</CELL>
<CELL>33.</CELL>
<CELL>269.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>5.</CELL>
<CELL>39.</CELL>
<CELL>353.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>6.</CELL>
<CELL>6.</CELL>
<CELL>177.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>6.</CELL>
<CELL>22.</CELL>
<CELL>42.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>8.</CELL>
<CELL>29.</CELL>
<CELL>281.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>11.</CELL>
<CELL>29.</CELL>
<CELL>349.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>18.</CELL>
<CELL>34.</CELL>
<CELL>230.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>19.</CELL>
<CELL>27.</CELL>
<CELL>143.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>24.</CELL>
<CELL>29.</CELL>
<CELL>269.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>24.</CELL>
<CELL>30.</CELL>
<CELL>419.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>26.</CELL>
<CELL>64.</CELL>
<CELL>204.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>27.</CELL>
<CELL>11.</CELL>
<CELL>204.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Mark.</HI> 7.</CELL>
<CELL>34.</CELL>
<CELL>377.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>8.</CELL>
<CELL>24.</CELL>
<CELL>41.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>9.</CELL>
<CELL>5. &amp; 6.</CELL>
<CELL>157.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>16.</CELL>
<CELL>1.</CELL>
<CELL>401.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>16.</CELL>
<CELL>15.</CELL>
<CELL>180.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Luke.</HI> 1.</CELL>
<CELL>57.</CELL>
<CELL>215.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>2.</CELL>
<CELL>29.</CELL>
<CELL>101.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>5.</CELL>
<CELL>3.</CELL>
<CELL>272.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>6.</CELL>
<CELL>30.</CELL>
<CELL>406.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>10.</CELL>
<CELL>34.</CELL>
<CELL>332.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>6.</CELL>
<CELL>30.</CELL>
<CELL>406.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>10.</CELL>
<CELL>34.</CELL>
<CELL>332.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>12.</CELL>
<CELL>18.</CELL>
<CELL>41.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>12.</CELL>
<CELL>19.</CELL>
<CELL>165.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>12.</CELL>
<CELL>20.</CELL>
<CELL>147. &amp; 166.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>13.</CELL>
<CELL>28.</CELL>
<CELL>105.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>19.</CELL>
<CELL>20.</CELL>
<CELL>369.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>21.</CELL>
<CELL>9.</CELL>
<CELL>100.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>21.</CELL>
<CELL>28.</CELL>
<CELL>83.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>24.</CELL>
<CELL>30. &amp; 31.</CELL>
<CELL>415.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>John.</HI> 8.</CELL>
<CELL>22. &amp; 23.</CELL>
<CELL>395.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>12.</CELL>
<CELL>35.</CELL>
<CELL>205.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>18</CELL>
<CELL>4.</CELL>
<CELL>87.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Actes.</HI> 1.</CELL>
<CELL>11.</CELL>
<CELL>293.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>1.</CELL>
<CELL>15. &amp; 23.</CELL>
<CELL>120.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>6.</CELL>
<CELL>10.</CELL>
<CELL>223.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>9.</CELL>
<CELL>3.</CELL>
<CELL>451.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>9.</CELL>
<CELL>6.</CELL>
<CELL>384.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>15.</CELL>
<CELL>32,</CELL>
<CELL>450.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Rom.</HI> 2.</CELL>
<CELL>4.</CELL>
<CELL>289.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>4.</CELL>
<CELL>17.</CELL>
<CELL>87.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>5.</CELL>
<CELL>21.</CELL>
<CELL>317.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>8.</CELL>
<CELL>22.</CELL>
<CELL>387.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>12.</CELL>
<CELL>11.</CELL>
<CELL>279.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>13.</CELL>
<CELL>14.</CELL>
<CELL>78.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>1. <HI>Cor.</HI> 7.</CELL>
<CELL>31.</CELL>
<CELL>63.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>13.</CELL>
<CELL>11.</CELL>
<CELL>304.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>15.</CELL>
<CELL>46.</CELL>
<CELL>68.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>2. <HI>Cor.</HI> 2.</CELL>
<CELL>15.</CELL>
<CELL>320.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>7.</CELL>
<CELL>11.</CELL>
<CELL>27.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>11.</CELL>
<CELL>29.</CELL>
<CELL>116.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>12.</CELL>
<CELL>2.</CELL>
<CELL>395.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Galat.</HI> 2.</CELL>
<CELL>9. &amp; 10.</CELL>
<CELL>401.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 3.</CELL>
<CELL>18.</CELL>
<CELL>234.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>4.</CELL>
<CELL>20.</CELL>
<CELL>203.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>5.</CELL>
<CELL>29.</CELL>
<CELL>78.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>5.</CELL>
<CELL>16.</CELL>
<CELL>331.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>6.</CELL>
<CELL>15.</CELL>
<CELL>127.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>1. <HI>Tim.</HI> 5.</CELL>
<CELL>17.</CELL>
<CELL>14.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>9.</CELL>
<CELL>9.</CELL>
<CELL>362.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>6.</CELL>
<CELL>16.</CELL>
<CELL>235.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>6.</CELL>
<CELL>17.</CELL>
<CELL>207.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>2. <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.</CELL>
<CELL>2.</CELL>
<CELL>445.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>James.</HI> 1.</CELL>
<CELL>5.</CELL>
<CELL>338.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>2.</CELL>
<CELL>10.</CELL>
<CELL>349.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>1. <HI>Pet.</HI> 2.</CELL>
<CELL>21.</CELL>
<CELL>213.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>4.</CELL>
<CELL>4.</CELL>
<CELL>37.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>1. <HI>Joh.</HI> 3.</CELL>
<CELL>12. &amp; 13.</CELL>
<CELL>139.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Revel.</HI> 8.</CELL>
<CELL>3.</CELL>
<CELL>397.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>10.</CELL>
<CELL>3. &amp; 4.</CELL>
<CELL>419.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>&nbsp;</CELL>
<CELL>Apocr.</CELL>
<CELL>&nbsp;</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Wi&s;d.</HI> 19.</CELL>
<CELL>1.</CELL>
<CELL>87.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Eccle.</HI> 3.</CELL>
<CELL>26.</CELL>
<CELL>369.</CELL>
</ROW>
</TABLE></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="239">
</DIV1>
</BACK>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
