better have gone to Jerusalem, and considered the passion of Christ, and much better would it be for thee, if, instead of voluptuous youngsters, thou hadst some grave ancient man about thee, whether secular or ecclesiastical; but such men must be fools among you. Gen. iii. When Adam and Eve, out of pride, affected to be like God, they were cast out from the presence of God. The Sodomites were proud, Ezek. xvi. 49. This was the sin of thy sister Sodom, pride and idleness, and fulness of bread. XIV. Ye officers, colonels, and great men, how do you live? When a country minister dies, to whom goes the parsonage? To him that brings most money. Ye ask not, Have you studied hard? Do you live a good life? Are you a good preacher upon trial? Only the man saith, here is my purse, and that is enough. The deceased parson hath a son, it is true, that is a scholar, but he hath no money, or he is too young. The widow hath divers children. Thus he pleads: And is not this a most lamentable thing? Ye generals and colonels, where are your camp-preachers? I do not ask you about quarter-masters, belonging either to generals or regiments; those you do not want, for they fill your purses: And what religion are they of? Why of this, to take all they can get. Who knows how long it will last? Sometimes you carry your camp-preachers, or ar my-chaplains, in your pockets? O, how do you rob God of his honour, and your neighbours of their souls! He that serves, let him serve faithfully, that he may be worthy of his salary: he, that hath none, needs not trouble himself about entering into service. Ye generals, colonels, and commanders (when you are in your march, or form a camp, and are either besieging, or besieged) pray remember to exercise brotherly love to the meanest, as well as the greatest. Ye commissaries, where is the provision ye are to make for the army? Three parts of it are in your pockets; and then you give the general a present, but the poor sheep may go to grass. You countrymen (that is the word) you must pay; give what you have, and the rest you may keep; such a great man, or friend of the general, must have a safeguard. The poor widows and orphans run about like amazed people, with their children in their arms, their hair dishevelled, and tears running down their cheeks like pease, and you shall not find one in an hundred, that will give them one penny, though you great ones have, it may be, taken possession of their cows, calves, and sheep. Your soldiers, in their march, must at least have gifts brought them; sometimes the money is drawn out of people's purses by dreadful oaths. In another place, you let the poor soldiers lie, as it were, on a heap, and plague the whole country; then the poor must run to the rich, to borrow money of them to treat and entertain the soldiers. You great ones have abundance brought in to you by your officers, whereas the poor soldier must content himself with an empty house. You cause the poor people's oxen and cows to be driven away, and then sell them; but the meaner sort must eat dry bread. XV. Ye gentlemen, burgomasters, aldermen, and grand bailiffs, pity the poor in your exacting contributions. Take heed ye oppress not the widow and orphan, nor take their goods away for your private use, nor corrupt yourselves with bribes. Do you understand the Latin phrase, Quid juris? Or the other, Da pecuniam? To make your own cause good, you make feasts at the publick cost; and this happens often, when you are to sit as judges, either in matters of blood, or in civil causes. Before you do so, pray the Lord's prayer, and consider the import of that place, John xiii. 34. Hereby shall all men know, that ye are my disciples, if ye love one another, i. e. ` do justice one to another. There are many good christians among you, but, alas! far more of the other sort. XVI. My lords, ye bishops, abbots, deans, if it be so, that, in the town or country you live in, you have, either for money, or kindred-sake, placed any ministers, or schoolmasters, which are not capable to look to their charge, or to instruct youth, you will have a very great account to give. Ye great ones, you should at least visit your clergy once a year; but I do not understand to what purpose you put the poor parson to the charge of a banquet, which takes off, at least, a fourth part of his income the first year, if his parishioners in the country do not help him. You should preach, and examine the children, this your office requires. If the minister hath good drink in his house, he is commended; and those, that love the good liquor, will commend his sermon; sometimes there is one that will give him a silver cup for his pains, and that is the humour of the world. XVII. Ye merchants, ye know it is written, with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again. Live up to this rule, put not out your money to usury; content yourselves with honest gain, for all depends upon the blessing of God; unjust gains descend not to the third generation. Let every man, in his own station, take care to mind his calling, and do what he is commanded. Do not sit down and write two for one, and then lay the fault upon your man. Take heed of cursing and imprecations, whereby you endeavour to make old commodities new, especially where the buyer hath no great skill, whence he must needs be cheated; you give it him upon your word, though it is not worth a straw. XVIII. Ye seamen and skippers, how do you live at sea? Take up your anchors in the name of God, and in the same name you ought to spread your sails. When the merchants grow rich, presently they must have great gardens, with delicate houses for pleasure, where they may treat their rich acquaintance: If they give at any time something to the poor, in their houses, or in the hospitals, it is not much. When they begin to be merry at their feasts, then the next discourse is about their incomes: I have a ship at sea, saith one, so much I get by this voyage. Wretched man! Thou talkest of thy gain, but dost not pray to God; thou mindest thy pleasure; thou dealest with the great ones in the country; sometimes thou goest abroad thyself, and courtiers do cheat thee; then, then thou cursest, because thou canst not recover it. In travelling, men meet with variety of people. Sometimes thou hast an old mistress, her thou goest to visit, and after that hast the confidence to ask, Why thy ship was lost at sea? (he that hath an honest wife, let him make much of her, for she is a rare jewel.) The seamen, when they come to shore any where, nothing but drinking and carousing all night will serve them, and the glass must go round, and that is their way of living; and from hence come those many misfortunes at sea. XIX. Ye doctors of the civil law, proctors, and advocates, it is needless to expound any thing to you out of the scripture, you are better scholars than I. Psal. xvi. it is written, I have set the Lord always before me: This is worth your thinking of; for there may be men among you, who love to shear the sheep, so long as there is any wool upon them; many of you are squint-eyed, looking for the hand that comes with a bribe; which is a thing that doth more with you, than the greatest justice of the cause that is before yon. May be, there is one in fifty who contents himself with half so much as another man takes. The Holy Ghost direct your hearts, that you may mind your neighbour's good and welfare more, for that is to act like christians. XX. Ye drunkards, ranters, and blasphemers, and underminers of your neighbours, who give ill counsel to their ruin. Ye whoremasters and gamesters, ye haughty and wrathful men, I pray God send you some sparks of his grace, that you may smite your breasts, as the publican in the temple. I hope you will consider the text we read in the holy scriptures, Rev. xviii. 7; where it is said of Baby-· lon, how much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her. From hence, divines do infer, that every sin will meet with a peculiar punishment in hell, and, consequently, a proud and haughty man will have the honour of be. ing tormented first, or before others, or will be trampled on by others. The voluptuous will have a cup of gall given him; a drunk. ard be plagued with an infinite thirst, Luke xvi. 24. The unchaste person, with putrefaction and worms, which shall break forth at the members whereby he hath sinned, Eccl. xix. 3. A slanderer, with serpents and scorpions. There were some comfort in it, if there might be an end of this, but, as the tree falls, so it will lie, whether it fall towards the south, or towards the north, saith Solomon, Eccl. xi. 3. so that no change of their torment is to be expected. The damned can get no comfort, no ease, no mitigation of their pain: If they could but have hopes of a drop of water hanging at a finger's end, Luke xvi. 24, this might yet refresh them. Rev. xiv. 11, it is said, They have no rest day nor night, but their shame and pain shall last for ever. The smoke of their torment shall rise for ever; read the aforesaid place, though you never read or considered it before; the door of grace is yet open. Ye drunkards and whoremongers, ye cry, Let us be merry, for who knows how long we are to live? When thou readest, Prov. vi. 11. So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man; do not take in thy meat and drink like beasts, but with consideration of the superabundant : and almighty goodness and mercy of God. Tit. i. 15. 1 Tim. iv. 4, 5. Prov, iv. 17. Ecclesiastious xxxi. 21. Luke xxi. 34. For God's sake read these chapters, and you will see what hazard you run in living in the world, as if there were neither heaven uor hell. There are too many, God knows, that believe all things alike. Let us confess our sins, and say, Help, Lord and Father, who art good to all, and givest to all, that we may walk in newness of life, and be zealous of good works, to thy glory, and the joy of angels, the love and edification of our neighbour, and the devil's envy, that we may, at last, obtain the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls; and hear the chearful voice, Matth. xxv. 21, Well done, good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things, enter thou into thy master's joy. Great healer of the wounds sin makes Jonah iii. 6, 7. The king of Nineveh, and all his people, humbled themselves, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Let us put on the garment of love, of true repentance, and sorrow for our manifold sins which we have committed, and, through the grace of God, we shall obtain deliverance from all our sins; for which deliverance I praise him. I do already feel the Almighty God in my soul, and, though I had the sins of the whole world upon my back, yet that good, that gracious God, would not let me sink under that burden,, Psalm cxxx. Though our sins are multiplied, yet God's mercy is far greater; his helping hand is not limited. Let the hurt that hath been done be never so great, still he is the good shepherd, who will redeem Israel from all his troubles and transgressions. I bless God, who hath brought me to a sense of my sins; nay, I am so well satisfied, praised be his name, that, though I might have half the world's goods, I would not desire to live longer. I have had little comfort in this world: now and then a body is upon the water, by and by in a storm; even by land the journies are long and tedious. How soon doth sickness oppress us? no man is se cure of this life. Though a man be above an enemy, yet there is no rest. Emperors and kings rise in the morning fresh and sound, but the least change of air throws them down, and they must wait for the help of God as well as beggars. Let us therefore say, with Jesus Syrach, Man, think of thy end, and thou wilt neter sin; and, to do so, the Lord Jesus grant us his grace, for in this I have failed frequently. XXI. Ye tradesmen and artificers, I will make but this simple remonstrance to you. Many of you complain, that you labour day and night, yet you can get nothing: it is not your labour altogether, but God's blessing that is to be regarded. For Christ saith, Thou shalt sanctify the Sabbath; and, on that day, go diligently to the house of God. Thou shalt not swear or curse, neither thou, not thy wife, nor children, nor family. You should not spend so much time as you do in taverns, for there you ordinarily stay till midnight. And ye bakers, brewers, and butchers, sell as you mean to answer it to God; for the magistrates are apt to connive at you upon the account of friendship, or some other relation, but this should not be. On Sunday morning, instead of your cups of brandy, you should take a prayer-book in your hands, and out of that instruct your children: Look into Psal. cxxii. I was glad, saith David, when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O thou house of God! If any of you fall into poverty or sickness, you that are their neighbours set them up again; you need not fear that this brotherly love will make you Anabaptists. Cloath yourselves and children, according to your state and condition; give to the poor according to your abi. lity, and that is your blessing; for, by this means, you will want nothing that is necessary here on earth. XXII. And now, ye prisoners, how do you behave yourselves in prison? Keep close to the word of God, and you will receive peace and comfort: Do not you read, Isa. liii. 4. He hath surely born our griefs, and carried our sorrows: He was stricken, and smitten of God, and afflicted: See what he saith, Mark xiv. 34. My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. This, said Christ, at that time, when, for the sins of the whole world, he suffered himself to be imprisoned and bound. Was not that an exceeding great love, which Christ hath expressed to all mankind? Greater love he could not shew. And this he did, that we might think of him, when any of us are taken prisoners. Let such a one examine himself, for what reason he is imprisoned; if he find himself innocent, let him have patience, let him not curse; if he find himself guilty, let him pray diligently; if the crime be great and heinous, let him pray the oftener, and send up his sighs every moment to God, and he will turn all things to his advantage. Christ, our Lord, when he was taken prisoner (though we are not to be compared with him) said, Matth. xxvi. 42, Abba, Father, not what I will, but what thou wilt. Behold here his mighty love, wherewith he hath loved us, when we were yet his enemies! He suffered himself to be imprisoned; this is no small comfort for you when you lie in a prison; for which reason, consider seriously of it; but take heed you do not curse in pri. son; do not break forth into wrath and anger; be patient, confide in God, who will support you in all things, if you call upon him. Use no threatenings, that, in case you come off, you will remember the persons that have been the cause of your imprisonment. This makes your case but worse: commit revenge to God, for thou art not permitted to be thine own revenger: for he that judges shall be judged. The law of God and man condemns these things; he that sins much must repent much; this is God's order, who can truly say of himself, as it is in John xiv, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And, if he be the way. we cannot possibly err if we follow him; if he be the truth, we cannot pos |