IN this Chapter we meete with an Assize held, wherein God is the Iudge, the parties arraigned are the men of Iudah and Ben­iamin, the offence Sacriledge or theft of holy things, the witnes­ses both their owne consciences though strumpet like, they denie it with their tongues, as also the too too visible neg­lect of the Lords service in the Priests and Levites, and that through want of maintenance, and lastly the sentence of condemnation which lies in the words of the text, Yee are cursed with a curse. In which sen­tence you may fitly take notice of these distinct parts;

First of a Curse inflicted, maledicendo maledicti, yee are cursed with a curse.

Secondly of the parties on whome the curse lights, and these lie in the vos, Yee, and these yee, are the tribe of Iudah.

Thirdly of the reason of this curse, quia spoliastis me, for yee haue robbed me.

Lastly of the vniversality of this sinne, gens omnis ipsa, even the whole Nation, of each of which, in its order, as God shall enable and the time permit.

Before we can well knowe the quid, what it is to be cursed, wee must first find out the quis, who it is that curseth. Now both God and man are said to curse, Man curses when hee prayes or wishes for any ill to befall him with whom hee is offended, whose curses haue no necessitating power of causing and induceing the evill which he wishes and prayes for, but may fall out to bee but as Arrowes shote against a stone wall which sends them back vpon him that shott them. As for God, hee curses other wise, his curse is an actu­all inflicting of some smarting punnishment the force of which none can resist, it hitts and misses not, as soone as it is decreed, As Gods benedicere his blessing of a man is no verball thing, no contingent future act, but a present conferring of some good; So this male­dicere, his cursing, is not a bare speaking ill of a man, though it sounds no more in grammer, but it is a true reall inflicting of somthing ill to flesh and bloud; So that here when the Prophet tells Iudath they are cur­sed, wee are to vnderstand some present calamity laid on them by the Lord, Namely, that of pale-cheeked and cleane-teetht famine, for so the vulgar renders the originall, in penuriâ maledicti estis, yee are cursed with penury and want, The reason of which transla­tion is because as blessing imports multiplication and encrease, so malidiction implyes diminution and de­fect, [Page 3] to which as a further Commentary, may be ad­ded, that curse which God laid on Cain, maledictus es a terrâ, thou art cursed from the earth, even by fee­ling a want of that fruite, which otherwise the earth would have yeelded thee; Where, by the way, you may take notice of this Conclusion, A want of neces­saries, especially those prime necessaries, food and ray­ment is a heauy curse. But I passe this, and come to the examining of the reason why God tells the men of Iudah, they are cursed, A man would thinke the pre­sent want vnder which the groned, was sufficient to make them apprehensiue of a Curse; why then doth God in direct words tell them they are cursed?

Two reasons may bee rendred of it,

One is that thereby they might bee put in minde that he had a hand in their misery, that it came not by vncertaine chance and peradventure, but by his setled determinate will and pleasure, that it came so from him, as without him they had still swomme in a full sea of plenty, without feeling the least ebbe of scar­city:

The other, and it is the chiefest, is, that they beeing infallibly assured they were punished by him for their Sacriledge, they might be stirred vp so to hate that sinne, as to abandon it for the time to come, yea so to detest it as to deale by every the least thought of committing it hereafter, what God commanded to bee done to the Children of the Canaanites, even to destroy all not to speare an infant, the least tempting thought vnto it. O altitudinem misericordiarum Dei, O the fathomlesse depth of the mercies of God [Page 4] to sinnfull man! what Rhetorique doth hee vse to call him backe from sinning, that so he may cease from smiting? what inexpressable art doth hee show to make him sensible of the danger hee is in, how hee is environed with troopes of curses, Curses for his bodie curses for his estate, and curses (which is worst of all) for his soule, and those too, not to bee shunned or a­voided, by any other meanes (which can possibly fall, within the sphere of his actiuitie) but only by a heart breaking and renting amendment.

Why then are wee the Ambassedors of Christ Ie­sus, men sent for the salvation of your soules, if you will practically heare and receiue our arrands, why (I say) are we blamed, why thought hardlie of, yea blas­phemed, as if wee speake from private spirits, when wee tell you, that as your sinnes bee the same with Iudahs, so your punishments in all likelihood will bee the same, That as you stik not to robb God an his Priests with them, and that with a like impudent browe of deniall, so you are already, & will hereafter more bee cursed, if you continue that your theft; For shame make not good that proverbe Plaine dealing is a Iewell, but hee that vseth it shall die a beg­ger. I have often dealt plainly with you in many things which are amisse amongst you. but chiefly in that wherein you are growne old and rooted, I meane your theft by pleading vniust customes in satisfaction of tithes; O doe not (I beseech you) make mee to die a begger, by gaining few or none of your soules, to the embraceing and kissing of these faire Ladies Truth and Equitie I saie Begger, For truly the winning of [Page 5] your hearts from that bewitching Siren of Sacriledge is the riches I most desire, full baggs and lardge yard lands shall not so much glad mee, as your growth in grace; Vntill the time then I shall gather from you, (who are now allmost dead trees, the livelie sweete fruits of amendment: bee not displeased at my lopping & pruning of you by sharpe and keene re­proofes, as long as your mouthes are accustomed to plead for customes, and your hearts secretlie to say, O blessed Customes because fillers of our purses, so long expect: I follow the never-erring stepps of my Maker in proclaiming Iudgments against you for so doing, saying vnto you in the words of my text, yee are cursed with a curse,

Even yee; which is my second circumstance. yee; who are a chosen generation, a Roiall Priesthood, a peculiar people, from whence this observation will naturallie arise.

No outward temporall favour or prerogative can priviledge or protect a Sinner from the punishing hand of God. you see the (yee) in the Text lye open to a curse, though they were of the noble stock of Abraham, though Lords of a land flowed with milk and honie, a land which was as the diamond in the ring, as the Apple in the eye, and as the heart in the bodie of the world, A land so full of goodly men, as if the clouds had showred them downe; It is a true saying, Noxa caput sequitur, punishments are to sin­ners what shaddowes are to bodies, As there is no bodie without it's shadowe, so is there no vnrepen­tant sinner without some punishment or other wai­ting [Page 6] on him.

The Carthaginians hate to Rome was not so surelie entailed on their Children, as whipps are on trans­gressors;

These are twynnes, on following the other at the heeles, yea two maine linkes in the sure chaine of Gods providence; The Poet could say,

Which I English in these words of God to Cain in the 4^th of Genesis, if thou doest not well, sinne lieth at the dore; whereby sinne is by the figure Metalep­sin, meant the punishment of sinne, Vbi peccatum ibi procella where sin is, there will be a punishing storme, a Sea of Iniquitie will surelie drawe after it a hell of torments; Vengance is a doge, which lies ever readie when leaue shalbee given him, to take a Sinner by the throate, and though this dog bee for a time musled and layed asleepe, through Gods long suffering pati­ence yet shall this Cerberus at length bee let loose vp­on willfull sinners; Punishments are as bailiffs, or as Seriants, ever readie at Gods commaund to seaze on his Debters, Sinners; And though some bad Li­vers doe for many yeares together, through the long­long conniving mercie of God, escape their Arrests, yet questionles they will at length lay hands on them, yea at last there shall bee no place of sanctuarie, no priviledge or protection to bee obtained, Gods re­vengfull hand will not be kept out of a castle of brasse, the sea is not so deepe but vengeance can fathome it, nor the world so wide but Iudgment can quickly sur­round [Page 7] and compasse it. Quod differtur non aufertur, Delayes are not exemptions, a Reprivall and a Par­don are two things, Gods mercifull expectation is not a perpetuall protection; Though God created the Angels with so great care and loue, as to make them allmost Gods, by the manifold perfections they were endued withall, yet when they sinned against him, there was nothing could saue them from the heavie stroke of his wrath: Though God crowned had Adam with manie rare blessings, as namelie,

First with a happie place of abode, Paradise.

Secondly with a sweete Companion and readie helper Eue;

Thirdlie with princelie power and authoritie over all other Creatures, yet loe when hee neglects his Makers Command, nothing is of force to protect him frō the curse of a mortem morieris, thou shalt die the death, what did ever either beautie, witt, or policy, or large and full barnes, or the loud wide applause of the people, saue a Sinner from the wihp of Di­vine Iustice; The vnnaturally ambitious Absolon the treacherousse politique Achitophel, the vngrate­full perplexed rich man, togeather with the vaineglo­rious selfe Deifying Herod the king, can and will tell you, Nay; Tremble then, O thou man whosoever thou art, though a darling of fortune, if thy conscience once tels thee thou hast any sinne lying hid in thy heart, as that Babilonish garment and wedg of gold did in Achans tent, tremble I say, for feare of some judgment which may speedily seaze on thee for it. Knowe there is a hand-writing gone out against thee, [Page 8] as there was against Baltasar, to blott out which, thou hast no other way or meanes: then to shed the bitter sharp teares of a repentant heart; These indeed, though thy judgment were written in steele or brasse, may eate and weare it out. Knowe thou hast severall curses following, and dogging thee at the heeles, from which thou can'st not bee delivered but by de­livering thy selfe from thy sinne, renounce that, and all curses shall forsake thee. As when the bodie dies, the shadow vanishes so when the cause is removed, the effect ceases. what did not Israells sinne take from her those titles of high honor, Ammi and Ruhama, my people, and the obiect of mercie, and left her in­steed thereof, onlie those of disgrace feare and horror, Loammi and Loruhama, not my people, and not wor­thie of a looke of mercie; Did not sinne christon her a new, as it were by these names of miserie [...] forsaken and desolate, who formerlie was called Hephzebah Gods delight, and Beulah his wed­ded land, Esay the 62. vers. 4^th yea might shee not o­therwise haue still bene a Crowne of glorie in the hand of the Lord, and a roiall diademe in the hand of her God, as it is in the former verse of that Chapter.

Did not sinne (notwithstanding all her priuiledges and prerogatives,) twice carrie Iudah into Captivi­tie, twice destroie her temples; shall wee then (be­loved) looke to escape the like fatall Iudgments, if wee runne on still in a resolution of living as wee list, of putting the Almighties mercie as it were on the tenter hookes; Surelie it will at length breake forth into furie, The date of it will ere long bee expired,

Iustice will another while rule & sway the Scepter, if wee will not with Nineveh repent whilest our 40 daies last, then shall wee feele the truth of what ma­nie a Ionas haue preached vnto vs, even a floud of cur­ses falling on our heads, and that which is worst of all, wee may feele them when least wee dreame of them; So was the case of Nadab and Abihu, so of Dathan, Corah, and Abiram, so of Lots wife, so of Herod, of Ananias, and Zaphirah, so of Zimri, and of Cosbi, and so likewise of a thousand others; And what likelihood is there, ours shall not likewise so be? what­soever befalls one, may befall all, Iudgments may bee fruitfull as well as sinnes; For conclusion of the point, I can say but this, Let one sodainnesse beget another, the sodainnesse of Gods Iudgmēts worke in each of vs sodaine and speedie determination of amending his owne waies, of hearkening to the checks and con­troules of his owne Conscience, by which course wee shall avoid the like accusation, which here is laide to Iudahs charge, namelie of beeing Robbers which is my third generall.

Yee have robbed mee: So reads our last English translation, which comes nearer to the originall then either the vulgars Configitis yee crucifie or fasten, or the Septuagints supplantatis yee supplant, or Suma­chus his defraudatis yee defraude, or our former En­glish translation, yee spoile, Though each of those may well stand and bring a man with in compasse of robberie; from which accusation there is offered vn­to your thoughts this plaine note or conclusion.

In Gods account hee is a theefe and a Robber, who [Page 10] any wayes withholds Tithes or offerings from the Priest the right owner; I say any way, because hee not onlie offends against the eight Commandement thou shalt not steale, who violentlie takes from a man, either the whole or any part of his goods, as high-way theeues and open oppressors vse to doe, but hee like­wise who by any close vnder hand dealing or cunning taking of advantage possesses himselfe of what bee­longs to another, yea though it bee but in thought wish or desire, At quid ad nos? But what's this to vs, you'le aske? yea you'le say, though it cannot bee de­nied, but that the non paiment of Tithes First-fruits, and other offerings, was theft in graine amongst the Iewes and that by vertue either of their Ceremoniall or Iudiciall Law, yet followes it not the case should bee the same with vs, who are onlie bound to the obser­vation of the Morall lawe; As for the ceremoniall and iudiciall they now tye no farther then Civill humane authoritie, reviues and ratifies them, For Answere, It is confessed, it hath heretosore and still is questio­ned by some, whether the paiements of tithes fall vn­der the morall Law, though I must tell you, that some hath bin made vp partly by such as have studied more the defence of the Popes vniust actions, then truthes oracles, and partlie by others, who out of ig­norance or malice, or both togeather, have taken e­verie thing almost which is related, either in the booke of Exodus or Leviticus, to belong onlie to the ceremoniall or iudiciall lawes; But however, I shall (God willing) make it appeare vnto you, and that by away, which as yet was never questioned by any of [Page 11] the learned, That those lay-men are grand theeues, who at any time with hold or take vnto themselves, Decimam Sacram, tithes once giuen for maintenance of any holie or Religious worke, which that I may the more fullie make good vnto you, Let mee lay downe two Theoremes or propositions, the one this,

Tithes are in the number of those things which are sacred; By tithes I vnderstand the tenth part of what­soever encrease comes to a man in his temporall e­state, and by Sacred is meant such things as are devo­ted, dedicated, given, and consecrated to the worship and service of the Lord, the consecration beeing a ho­lying of them, when before they were of prophane, civill, and ordinarie vse; Thus both Gramarians, as al­so Divines. The other proposition this,

Whatsoever is once dedicated and freelie bestowed to a holie vse, can never, with out the guilt of sinne, bee taken a way or imployed to any other vse then what is holy.

To prove the first, I shall offer vnto you foure rea­sons;

The first is taken from the parties to whome tithes from the infant cradle-age of the world have still bnee payd, namelie to men consecrated and set apart from others, I say cradle-age of the world, For albeit wee heare of some though not of a sacred function who haue enjoyed tithes, yet you are to knowe that Histo­ries the best Interpreters of the actions of fore-past times tell vs, they possessed, but either as wages from houses of Religion, for some care and paines taken in [Page 12] securing vnto them theire peace and saftie, or as Sa­crifices from affrighted and perplexed men, who fear­ing they should not bee able to defend their right a­gainst tirannicall Princes and other great ones sacri­ficed vnto them part of their estates, which was also Sayi [...] Lib. 9. Cap. 12. n. 4. the verie case of the Abbies and Monasteries here in England, at the dissolution, the Possessors of which places were enforced to resigne vp all their right ti­tle and interest in them into the Kings hands: for feare they should otherwise haue lost all, even their future liuelyhood. A second is drawne from the name which is given to the tithes which Lay men possesse, they are called Impropriations, signifying thereby, they are improperlie placed, that they are to speake in the phrase of old, tanquam pissis in arido, vel monachus in oppido, As much out of their place, as a fish is on dry land, or a monke in a faire or market, yea I may add, as a Crowne would bee richer on a Iack Cades, or a Wat Tilers head, naie more, as a Saint would bee in Hell, or a Divell in Heaven; A third reason is fetcht from that Act of the 32. of Hen. 8. which was made Cap. 7. to enable laymen to sue for tithes, when as before, (saith the preface to that statute) they could haue no proceedings either in the Ecclesiasticall or Common Law for the recoverie of them from those who re­fused to pay them; Whereby it evidentlie appeares, the State (till then) tooke laymen to bee no fit pos­sessors of such consecrated endowments, yea doth not laymen's suing for them at this day in spirituall Courts, publish to the vnderstanding of anie ordina­rie man, that tithes are a Spirituall Income and ap­pertain [Page 13] to none but such as are of a spirituall function. The fourth an last lies in that welknowne rule or Ca­non of Vincentius Lirinensis in the third Chapter of his booke contra haerices We are greatlie to take care, saith hee, wee hold that for a truth which in all places at all times, and by all persons hath beene received and entertained, which is all one allmost with that of Cice­ro the Romane orator, in omnire consensio omnium gentium lex naturae putanda est & instar mille demon­strationum talis consensio apud bonos esse debet; The Consent of all nations about any one thing is to be ta­ken (saith hee) for the law of nature, and to bee of more authoritie with the good and vertuous, then a thousand demonstrations. Now to bring home these rules to the Busines in hand, Let me aske, was there e­ver Nation, if once it had but the outward face of Reli­gion, which hath not consecrated her tithes to some God Did not Abraham long before the lawe was given dedicate his tithes to the true God in Malchisi­dech the Priest? Did not likewise Iacob stronglie bind himselfe to the performance of the same dutie by a sollemne vowe? Did not our forefathers in this king­dome manie hundreds of yeares since, freelie resigne them vp to the propagation of Gods worship and ser­vice; And read wee not of tithes vowed to Hercules, to Iupiter, to Apollo and to severall other of the hea­then Deities? The learned Antiquarie M^r Seldon ac­knowledgeth thus much; May I not, yea must I not, then drawe this conclusion out of such premisses, Er­go tithes haue in all ages been in the Inventory of con­secrated goods, and accounted of as a sacred tribute [Page 14] to the King of heaven, And so I hasten to my second theorem or proposition; Namelie this.

Whatsoever is once dedicated, and freely bestowed to a holy vse, can never without the guilt of sinne, bee taken away and imployed to any vse which is not holy.

The truth of which is proved by three arguments, the first stands in some texts of Scripture, the second in the deffinition of Sacriledge, And the third in the opinion of those verie men who haue declared them selues against the ius divinum the divine right of tithes.

The Texts bee chieflie sixe, Foure in the old testa­ment, and two in the new; The first is that of Leviti­cus the last, where there is an expresse Act of heavens Parliament, That whatsoever is once devoted or made holy by guift vnto the Lord, cannot bee recalled or re­sumed, but vpon termes of disadvantage to him who recalles it. The second, that of Genesis the 47. where wee reade how Ioseph would not meddle with the gleabes of the Egyptian Priests, and that for no other reason but because they were consecrated lands, the propertie of which was not to bee changed, The third is that of Proverbs the 20. and 25. where the holie Ghost tells vs plainelie, It is a snare to the man, Who devoureth that which is holy. The fourth, that of Dani­ell the 5. where wee read, God dislikes of Baltasars drinking in the sacred vessells of the temple, written in the capitall red Letters of his distruction. The fifth is that of Iohn the 2. where wee meete with our Savi­our whipping and scourging men out of the Temple, his fathers house, and that for no other reason, but be­cause [Page 15] sometimes they fold such cattell & doues there, as were of vse for sacrifice; which our Saviours zeale in behalfe of that consecrated place stops the months of all those who shall say that that Decree in the last of Leviticus was but ceremoniall, for though so much bee granted, yet cannot hee bee excused, who in those dayes of the gospell shall convert to a common and prophane vse, either a holy place or a holy revenue, And that for as much as it is a rule approved of by the suffrage of the best Divines, that whatsoever branch either of the ceremoniall or iudiciall law wee finde put in practice by our Saviour or his Apostles, even that straight way became morall and ties for e­ver. The last text is that of Acts the 5. where Ananias and Zaphira his wife are both stricken with sodaine and vnexpected death, for committing sacriledge though in the least degree, I say least degree, because they did but with draw vnder hand part of that mony which in showe they had formerlie devoted and con­secrated to a pious and religious vse, even the rescu­ing of the Apostles from the arrest of beggerie, And so much for the first argument to proue, that whatsoever is once consecrated to any religious vse, cannot quite bee taken away from that or the like vse.

The second lies in the deffinition of Sacriledge, which is this Sacrilegium est rei sacrae violatio, It is an a busing and perverting of the right vse of holy things: so Aquinas, where by holie things hee vnderstands 22 Q. Act. any thing which is set apart to a holie vse, and by a­buse, hee meanes the imploiment of such things to a­ny [Page 16] civill common and prophane vse. whence also that derivation. Sacrilegium quasi sacrilaedium; so called because it prophanes holy things, To which let mee add that full description made of it by that Protestant Schooleman Hieronymus Zanchius, It is in his first booke de externo cultu and 17. Chapter, hee commits sacriledge (saith hee) who any way gets into his pos­session holie things such as haue been consecrated and given to any religious and holie vse whatsoever, Nei­ther find I anie other diffinition, description, or Eti­mologie which in effect is not the same; It followes therefore of necessitie, that Hee is a theefe who med­dles with holie things, beeing no consecrated person;

Now my third and last argument stands in the opi­nion of those men, who though enimies to the ius morale divinum, the divine morall right of tithes, yet allow they not any converting of things consecrated to ordinary and prophane vse. In the first place I shall produce him, whose memorie I knowe is to all those who are Canaanites to the Church, like the compo­sition of the perfume that is made by the art of the A­pothecary, I meane M. Cartwright, who in his Com­mentary on those words of the Proverbs the 20. and 25. (It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy) will tell you at large: First how that may be called holy which either by Gods appointment, or by mās volūtary gift, is addicted & devoted to holy vses: 2^ly, that by holy vses is meant whatsoever is bestow­ed towards the maintenance either of the Ministers of the Gospell, or of Schooles, or Hospitalls: 3^ly, that however tithes and offerings be not now due by ver­tue [Page 17] of Gods immediate constitution, yet are they due by vertue of humane constitutions, and guifts of men, yea so due, as that hee makes himselfe a Robber of God, who withdrawes them from those vses for which they were given. Lastly hee'le there shew you, that the transferring and converting of consecrated things to a mans private ordinary vse, is like that booke in the 10. of the Revelation, which was sweete in the mouth but bitter in the belly, for though Sacri­ledge be sweete and pleasant in the mouth, that is at the beginning, yet will it be bitter in the belly, that is at the latter end, as also, that it falls out to such carnall men, as it doth to fish and birds, who with one bitt of the desired baite, loose their liues, yea with Esau they forfeite their birth-right heaven for a trifle, a messe as it were of pottage. In a second place I might send you to one who is likewise neare you both in affection and place of abode, but I hold it needlesse seeing he is but the formers Eccho, turn'd into English. In a third let M. Cleaver. him speake, whome the tithe Cormorants of this land hoped should haue proued ere this, such an one, as of whome they might haue trivmphantly said: Behold the man who is set vp for the throwing downe of a rich and learned Church, that a beggerly ignorant pentionary one, may come in the steed of it. It is M. Seldon who so farr frustrates their expectation, as in the sixt Chapter of his Reviewe to say, It is a grosse error to thinke that therefore tithes may now be pos­sessed by lay-men with a good conscience, because it is questioned whether the Minister can demand them iure divino morali by devine morall right. For albeit [Page 18] (saith he) they be not so due, yet are they due by the free and now irrevocable consecration of those who were once Lords of them; In a fourth place, take Peter Marti [...]s iudgment, which is that notwithstanding it was in the power of the supreme Magistrate to de­solue and breake vp the societies of Abbies and Mo­nasteries, yet should he then haue converted their houses and revenewes to some other holy and religi­ous vses, A thinge indeed, which Hen: the 8. solemne­ly promised to doe, vpon which condition that vast graunt of all religious houses was made him, yea, a Foxe▪ thing which other places that emdraced reformati­on as well as we, carefully did performe, for so I reade of the state of Wittenbergh, in one Christopherus Bin­derus quoted by M. Selden, in his Reviewe of the 9. and 10. Chapters of his history, as also of other parts of Germany, if wee may beleeue M. Brightman, either on the 2^d of the Revelation, or the 11^h; In a fift roome let judicious Calvin bee, who is in the same note, when on the first of Hose, and 3^d verse, he stiles Hen: the 8^h Homo belluinus, a beastly man, because as Iehu hee converted to his owne priuate prophane vse, those things which formerly had bin consecrated to holy ones. In the 7. take in the opinion of those Divines who wrott those Scolia and compendious notes wee haue in our English Bibles, which they fully declare on severall texts, but chiefly in that one the 6. of Iosuah and the 19. as also that of Proverbs the 20. and the 25. To those I might adde great Abulensis in severall places of his workes, together with severall others, who though no friends to the ius divinum of tithes, [Page 19] because the Popes vassalls doe yet with one consent dogmatize them for robbers who in any degree pro­phane holy things. But I forbeare, fearing the time will outrunne my tongue; yet forasmuch as I haue in my Catalogue of authority mentioned but one of the Laity, to witt M. Selden, wherevpon you may per­adventure imagine there is no more of that feather and so no summer of advantage thence to be expe­cted, let me succenturiate and add another, yea and he too a man of the sword, by name S^r Henry Spelman who hath written fullie to the same purpose in that his most learned, acute and zealous tract entituled de non temerandis ecclesiis, an Enchiridion written of purpose to perswade an Vncle of his to the abando­ning of an Appropriation; And thus as briesly as I could, haue I made good both the propositions I laid downe. Now in the next place let me cleare such quae­res as are proposed for the better vailing and pullia­ting of the Laities detayning of consecrated goods. The one is made by the Lay Appropriator, and that thus, seeing I haue nothing but what at first I bought and now hold vnder the protection of an Act of Par­liament, tell me, may I not with a quiet cōscience pos­sesse what is so backt and warranted, To whome I readily answere, No, For wouldest thou thinke thy selfe free from adultery, though an Act of Parliament should allow thee foure or fiue wiues at once, or from the breach of the Lords day, though it should licence thee to worke or sport thy selfe, as much on that as on any other of the weeke, or from theft, though it should conniue at thy pilfering, as some states of old [Page 20] haue done, If not then how can a state iustly counte­nance thee in thy doing that, by which thou commit­test spirituall adultery, causest the day of sanctified rest to bee prophaned, and those who through the preach­ing of the word, might become Gods faithfull ser­vants, still through ignorance to remaine Sathans slaues; O, let no man hood-winke himselfe with a conceit of the infallibility of a state mett in a Parlia­ment, as if their decrees were Sybillae folia meere ora­cles, especially when feare and covetuousnesse are the speakers, as they vsually were in Henry the 8. his Par­liaments: For if generall councells haue erred, and may againe in matters of faith, doubtlesse the state repre­sentatiue hath, and may againe in matters of fact, And to put this out of all doubt, let me giue you a list of what fowle errors I haue obserued to haue bin committed by the publique meetings of this king­dome, and that since the daies of William the Conque­ror, wherein Religion hath most flourished.

First I finde that William Rufus was admitted to the Imperiall Crowne of this Land, though Robert his elder Brother was living, and claymed his right.

Secondly I finde, that Rufus being dead, the septer was put into the hand of Henry the youngest Sonne of the Conqueror, though Robert the eldest was not yet departed this life, thereby adding one wrong to another, a new to an old;

Thirdly I finde that when Henry deceased, the state receiued Stephen, and put by the Sonne of Henry the right heire.

Fourthly, it appeares there was a joynt consent of [Page 21] both houses for the deposing of Richard the second, their true Soveraigne, and for the choosing into his roome Henry Duke of Lancaster.

Fiftly wee reade how Richard Duke of Lancaster, was Crowned supreame of this Land, with the free consent and applause of both houses, though he were a Murtherer of his Nepheues, and so a plaine vsurper, yea the Parliament did entaile the Crowne on the sonne of that Murtherer, though the two Daughters of Edward the fourth were living.

Sixtly it is manifest, that Henry the eights divorce from Queene Katherine was allowed and ratified by Parliament as being an incestuous marriage; and yet afterwards wee see the daughter of that Queene Ka­therine preferred to the royall throne before blessed Elizabeth, the daughter of his lawfull wife.

Lastly as a Parliament vnder Edward the sixt bani­shed Popery, so a Parliament within 6 yeares after, vn­der Q. Mary, brought it in againe with triumph. To which I might annex many the like, if these were not abundantly sufficient to make good my assertion, that Parliamentary decrees are many times lame and defectiue.

O let then no lay person hereafter fly to that vaine fig-leafe excuse, the statute of the 31. of Hen. 8. where­by Abby lands and all tithes belonging vnto them Chap. 13. where conferrd on the King, when for certeine, there was never yet any learned Divine, whether Papist, Protestant or Nonconformitant, who de industria held it in the power of a state to alienate and convert that to a temporall vse, which was before devoted [Page 22] and made over to a religious! Nay more I never yet heard of a iuditious layman who vpon mature consi­deration of the point, thought otherwise, Sure I am, Sir Thomas Smith, who wrote the Common wealth of England, sayes, a Parliament hath onlie power to change the right and possession of private men; Vpon the hearing of which, if any Appropriator shall say vnto mee, togeather with other Pastors, as those Iewes did to S. Peter and the rest of the Aposttles, when reprooued for their sinnes, men and bretheren what shall I and others who are in the same case doe? Acts 2. how shall wee escape the curse you say attends on vs? Would you haue vs render vp our tithes, and so set our gates wide open to beggery? Surely not as yet vntill all other meanes of redresse faile, I should ad­vise you to another course which is farre easier, It is, that you and others who hold tithes would imitate those Philistins of Ashdod after they became sensi­ble of their vniust deteining the Arke of the God of Israell, for as they said to the Princes of the Philistines, what shall wee doe with the Arke of God? the first of Samuell the 5. So would I haue you to repaire to the Princes of this Land, when ever met together about the Kingdomes waightie affaires, and say vnto them, what shall wee doe with the maintenance of Gods Arke the Church? As by an Act of this great Assem­bly wee possesse tithes, so let vs bee quit of them by an act of yours also, and yet let your wisedomes so provide for Gods glorie, as not vtterly to impoverish our families;

I but what if the eares of both houses bee shut vp a­gainst [Page 23] our iterated importunate petitions, what shall wee then doe? Truly, rather then to keepe Gods curse still with you. I would advise you to doe by your grants and patents, as Iudas did by the thirtie peices of silver hee received of the chiefe Priests and elders for betraying of Christ, even to cast them downe in these Churches and Oratories from whence they were first taken; Nor want I a patterne for this my counsell. In the second of Cronicles and the 25. you may read, that when Amaziah king of Iudah had hi­red a hundred thousand men of Israel to increase his Armie, there came a man of God vnto him saying, O King let not the Armie of Israel goe with thee, for the Lord is not with Israel, as having beene vniustly rent from the house of Dauid, So say I from the Lord, vnto all that haue purchased tithes for the increase of their estates, O Brethren let not these tithes abide with you, for the Lord is not with them, because misplac'd, be­cause rent from the true Proprietaries the Lords Priests, and when the king said vnto the Prorhet vpon the hearing of this message, what shall I doe for the hundred talents I haue giuen to the Army of Israell? the Prophet replyed, the Lord is able to giue thee much more then this. So if any Impropriator shall say vnto mee in his owne and his felowes behalfe, But what I pray shall wee doe for the money wee haue payd for our patents? My Answere must bee as the Prophets was Let not the losse of your money bee a remora a hold-back vnto you For the Lord is able to giue you much more then those summes. And thus much in answer vnto the first Quaere made in defence [Page 24] of those laymen who possesse sacred tithes such as were at first consecrated to Gods glory in the reward of the Churches Pastors.

A second now followes, & it is fram'd by those who are fellonious vniust detainers of tithes by customes; What (say they) doe you stampe the letter R. on our fore-heads aswell as on the Impropriators? Doe you make vs theeues and robbers too? Yes verily, you likewise fall within the verge of the same censure, As for your allegation, that you pay somethinge in lieu of your tithes, two pence peradventure for two shilling, it is no better an excuse then his might bee, who having stolne a Goose, should say, I brought backe the wings and feathers, or his, who after hee hath conveyed away the body of a fatt Wether, should plead, O but I left the skinne behind for the right owner; Nay it would be a worse excuse then that of Dionisius of Syracusa, when he tooke from the statue of Iupiter Olympus a Cloake of gold, and left one of Cloath, saying that of gold was too heauy for sommer, and cold for winter; it is an axiome, Gradus non variant species, though one theft be greater then another, yet the least is still theft. I must confesse if two things were once well proved, neither of which is possible to be done, no not by the helpe of those cun­ning Tutors of Sacriledge, the Divells of Hell, then Custom-pleaders and Enioyers, might goe free from the guilt of Church-robbery, the one, that tithes are not due to the Priest-hood of the Gospell iure diuino morali, the other that Patrons who at first endowed the Churches with tithes, appointed lesse to be payed [Page 25] then the tenth of all increase; As for the last, if you consult our supposed adversary, M. Selden in the 8. Chapter of his History, you shall finde there a conge­ries, and heape of Donations and Graunts of all tithes in kinde in this kingdome, as also edicts of state for due performance, according to those consecrati­ons and Graunts; And yet least you might imagine I goe too much alone in this path, let me here acquaint you with what the whole current of Casuists & Cano­nists say concerning this poynt of customes; In briese when the question is made whether custome may iustly carry with it the force and strength of a law; I find they distinguish of Customes, and tell the Rea­ders there is one which is vicious and naught, as bee­ing contrary to reason, which though vnconsionable men will pleade, yet doth it not excuse, much lesse obteyne the force of a law which is according to that no lesse true then common saying, multitudo er­rantium nonfacit patrocinium, the multitude of those who erre is no patronage of the error nisi consuetudo ratione munita sit, non est consuetudo, sed corruptela vnlesse Custome bee backt by reason it is not custome, but a crept in abuse or corruption; Agreeable to which, is likewise that of S. Cyprian, they doe in vaine cry Custome Custome who are ouercome & cōuinced by reason, otherwise saith hee Custome would bee greater then truth. Another Custome there is (say they) which is laudable and no way repugnant to the rectitude of Reason, and such an on they allow to bee of as much force and vertue as a law, if not repeald by the supreme Magistrate, yea to differ from a law [Page] only in modo in the manner of its being A law be­ing deliuered by writing, but Custome only by vse, And in this sense is that of Iulianus the Civlian to bee taken, inueterata consuetudo pro lege non immerito custoditur, Now to apply this distinction to the busi­nesse in hand, tell mee, can any one of you who heares mee this day, say, without giuing the lye to his Con­science, that a Custome of paying a peny for a shil­ling falls vnder the head of a good and laudable on? you heard even now, that custome is only good, which is reasonable; Answere mee then, doth it stand with reason, any man should enforce his brother, nay more his father) for so each Pastor is to his flocck) to take either nothing, or but a peny in lieu of that which is well worth a shilling? Is this (I pray) a reasonable & an honest satisfaction? Nor can any man without put­ting on the vizard of impudencie, produce here the Statute either of the 27. or the 32. of Hcn. the 8. or the 2. of Edward the 6. For albeit those at the first blush may seeme to ratify and make good all customes in payment of tithes, yet for certeyne they say no more then what I haue already told you from an vnanimous consent of Classique Authors. Namely that no other Customes are to bee allowed in discharge of tithes, then what are laudable and lawfull, which Epithites you shalbee fure to meete withall, in those Statutes, whereby it euidently appeares, they approue not of all those Customes, which in case of tithes the despe­rate corruption of this Mammon-seruing age, calles and cryes for,

Blessed then is the Councell of Isiodor (hee was a [Page 27] father of the Church in his time) consuetudo authori­tati cedat, prauum vsum lex et ratio vincat. Let cu­stome (saith hee) giue place to authority, and let law and reason conquer a bad vse, where by law hee meanes (saith Aquinas) that of nature, that which preacheth to euery sonne of Adam, doe as thou would­est bee done by; That which in substance is all on with the Decalogue, that lastly the transgression whereof God complaynes of in the verse before the text, and that with a kind of admiration. Will a man rob his God? this being a fact almost incredible because it slatly goes against the very light of nature. And so much in answere to the Second Quaere.

A third apologizing on is this; What is it not a sufficient reason for a state to alienate tithes and offe­rings because consecrated vnder superstition and Ido­latry?

Surely no, nor will the Appropriator, (I knowe) vpon due balanceing of the businesse bee of another opinion; For if the donations of tithes, may de iure of right bee disannulled by a State, because made vnder Superstition, then why may not the same power by the same right now make void all their grants and pa­tents of Tithes and other Church reuenewes, because conueyed vnto them when superstition no lesse ruled & raigned, yea to lay such a foundatiō for Hen: the 8. his confiscation of Tithes, glebes and the like sacred Incomes, were to bring into question at this day the right of most mens possessions, and so by consequent turne the Common wealth into a wofull Chaos of confusion: And yet least this pretext against Tithes [Page] should for all this, receiue a glad welcome amongest many, let mee further giue you to vnderstand, that to suppose tithes as consecrated vnder Romish supersti­tion in this Kingdome, is to build an Eutopia, to lay a foundation in ipso vacuo; For tithes were generally dedicated to the worship of God when first the glo­rious vncorrupted light of the Gospell did shine a­mongst vs, before ever true popery was in rerum na­tura, before those times came, which lost the primi­tiue faith of Rome.

Mr Selden may serue as a spectacle to help the dimme ignorance of most men in this point, Nor is yet the Impropriator quiet, hee hath on obiection more, by which hee hopes to set the broad seale of the worlds wide applause, to that of their patents from Hen. the 8. It is thus proposed.

But may not those things bee iustly confiscated which were giuen as supporting pillers to superstition, might not those tithes bee ad placitum Senatus at the disposition of a Parliament, which were found to haue been imployed to superstition, euen to the main­tenance of Masses for the quick and dead?

I say confidently No, And that for two reasons chiefely; The one is drawne from that precept which God gaue concerning the Censers of those 250. Rebells in the 16. of Numbers, which was, they should bee beaten into Plates for the Alter, though they had lately been abusd to his dishonor. If then the all-wise God thought it fit that those Censers should bee im­ployed to a holy vse which now had been deuoted to rebellion, shall our ignorance bee so proud as to [Page 29] inuent a newe plat forme of disposing abused tithes? shall wee deeme it fit to alienate them for ever from all holy and pious vses? Doubtlesse a stander by, on not engaged in the quarrell will call this by no better name then a mishapen brat, framed partly of coue. tousnesse, and partly fond selfe conceite;

The other lyes in that reason which transcendent­ly iudicious Austine gaue in this very point, It is in his 15. Epistle to Publicula, where speaking of the euer­sion of Idolls, and their Groues and Temples, iudged they were not to bee conuerted to priuate vses, but to publique, and that (saith hee) least it should seeme to haue been done rather by auarice then deuotion; Nor doth that Imperiall decree any way make good a Kingdomes transposing of holy places and Reuenues, The words of it bee these.

Omnia loca &c. Wee command that all places Lib. 1. de Paga [...] & sacrifi tit. 14. which the error of the Antients assigned to Sacrifices to bee appropriated to our estate, which assertion of mine wil easily be receiued for a truth by al those who will be pleased to consider what places the Emperors willed to bee appropriated, Namly such only as were assigned to the Idolatrous sacrifices of Heathens and Pagans. Now who is there so bat-sighted, as not to discerne what difference there is betweene houses and lands dedicated to Pagan superstition, and tithes which were at first deuoted as a salary of the spirituall Pastors paines, and afterwards only through the boundlesse authority of the Pope to superstition. And what more euident demonstration can there bee, that those very Emperors Honorius and Theodosius, put a [Page] great Chasme of difference betweene things dedica­ted vnto paganisme, & those which had beene amisse consecrated vnro Christianisme, then that they are so farre from confiscating both kinds, as to decree the conuerting of the on to holy vses though not the o­ther.

In the Code of Theodotius it is thus enacted. Let Lib. 16. tit. 44. Contra Dona­tistas. those possessions where direfull superstition hath hi­therto raigned bee annexed to the venerable Catho­lique Church, and in the same place wee find a Decree of those Emperors against the Montanists in these words If there bee any of their edifices standing which are rather to bee termed the dennes of wild beasts then Churches let them with their reuenues bee appropriated to the sacred Churches of the orthodox faith: And for ampler proofe that godly Emperors when they expelld the hereticall party did not spoile their Churches of theire possessions, but restored them to the true Professors, I call S. Austine to wit­nesse in his 50. Epistle to Bonifacius a Souldiour; his words bee these; Quicquid ergo nomine ecclesiarum partis donati posside batur, Christiani Imperatores legi­bus religiosis cum ipsis Fcclesiis, ad Catholicam transi­re iusserunt. And who needs spectacles to see how it was only filthy auarice which made this state to doe otherwise at that great day of dissolution of religi­ous houses? For if it had been sanctified zeale, why did they not at the same time pull downe an dispose of the very stones and timber of their Churches, whenas they had been as fully dedicated and more abused to superstition then ever the tithes which belonged vnto [Page 31] them? But in promtu ratio, the reason is playne, be­cause then their purses must haue prouided new ones without a dispensation from Amsterdam freely to vse their Barnes or other roomes in their priuat hou­ses instead of temples, To summe vp then my an­swere to this quaere, Wee ought not so much to loocke to the prophanition of tithes as to their first donation, which was to a pious end, euen to the re­ward of the sacred ministery of the Church. So that when the superstitious & idolatrous vse was abolish­ed, they ought to haue been returnd to their primi­tiue and lawfull vse. A leading paterne to which dis­creete Act, wee haue in the practice of the Iewes,

First towards the Arke, which though it had beene taken and abused by the Philistins did not, after it was sent home, imagine the former consecration to bee expired and lost, but honored and reuerenced it as much as euer they did before;

And secondly towards the vessells and ornaments of the Temple, which though they had bin carried by Nebuchadnezzar to Babilon and there abused by be­ing put into the Temple of his Gods, yet were they afterwards admitted to the same holy vse as they were before in the seruice of their true God;

Nor as yet haue I done with this Accusation of God, the pronoune (me) yee haue robbed mee, offers on note more worthy your attentiue obseruation, and thats this,

God reckons of all as of theeues and Robbers of himselfe, who any way rob and spoile his Priests, the word Priest I rather vse then any other, both because [Page] it is a name which properly belongs to none but those who serue at Gods Alter, when as that of Mini­ster without some additiō is cōmon to vs with Cob­lers, Tinkers, or men of any other inferiour office, As also, because it is that name whose very sound works as strange an effect on the Sacrilegist his guilty con­science, as that which stories tell vs the sound of a drumme couered with a woulfes skinne doth on silly sheepe, euen the distemper of feare and horror. The note cannot bee though lesse then legitinate as long as the (mee) stands in the Text. Neither wants there pressing and vrgent reason to beleeue that the Lord is so tender of the wronges which are done to vs the Pastors of soules,

First wee are his Ambassadours, and therefore hee takes whatsoeuer positiue disgraces, or but priuatiue neglects are showne vnto vs, to reflect and redound directly on his sacred Magiestie.

Secondly seeing tithes & offerings are all the wa­ges hee hath allotted vs for the paines wee take in his vineyard, how can hee account it lesse then an affront to him selfe, when we are robed of those his pensions.

Thirdly seing hee by the cleare perspectiue of his omniscient wisedome lookes into mens hearts, and there finds the chiefe cause of their hard measure to vs to arrise from our faithfull execution of his roiall Commissions, how can so iust a Iudge but take those iniuries to heart?

Many parralells to this zeale of Gods, wee meete withall in the Scriptures, witnes that [...] why persecutest thou mee? Acts the 9. where our Sauiour [Page 33] accounts himselfe as persecuted, though in Heauen, when his Church is so on earth.

Againe witnesse that his bill of inditement against the wicked at the last day Mathew the 25. I was hun­gry, and yee gaue mee not to eate, I was thirsty and yee gaue mee not to drinke, To which when the wicked shall tremblingly reply [...] when Lord did wee see thee so? hee shall plainly tell them, [...], In as much as yee haue not done it to my poore members, yee haue not done it vnto mee.

Witnesse lastly that of Iudges the 5. Where the Angell of the Lord commands the Citty of Merosh to bee cursed bitterly, and that because they came not [...] Iehovah, to the help of the Lord where the Lord takes their flinty hard heartednesse towards their brethren as showne to himselfe, Tell mee then, O thou who makest thy selfe an embleme of wretch­ednesse by defrauding any Pastor through Customes or otherwise, Are not thy thoughts troubled? Are not the ioynts of thy loynes loosened? And doe not thy knees smite on against another at the hearing of this.

The Prophet Daniell sets before vs Baltaser in that wofull plight inflicted as a due reward of his propha­ning the consecrated vessells of the temple, how then canst thou bee free from an earthquake of feare and dread, who daily deuourest that which is holy, who daily conuerts that to thine owne vse, which thy bles­sed forefathers frely deuoted to God in the perpetuall mayntenance of his seruice? And so I hasten to my last generall circumstance, which is the vniuersality of [Page] the sinne, Gens tota, euen the whole Nation,

That is saith Ribera, your Princes and rich men are Robbers, of mee aswell as your poore & priuate ons, yea it is as much as if he had said in more words thus, It is true O yee men of Iudah the Lord blames you by me for many sins, for adultery sorcery, false swearing, & diuers others yet not so, as if all these were commit­ted by you all, but for the sin of sacriledge he cōdemns you all, being generally the Act of you all; So Vata­blas, whence I may well inferre this conclusion.

It is possible that a whole Nation may at once make a defection from God by some one transgressi­on, that that sin which heretofore hath bin but perso­nall or at most but cōmon to fewe, may at length be­come Nationall, Experience prompts vnto vs that the sonne which now is ecclepsed but in part, may at ano­ther time be wholy, That a sound member of the true Church of God may ere long become a synagogue of Sathan; May not Conspiracy and treason at length possesse the brests of those who are now most faithfull and loyall subiects? May it not befall a Kingdome in respect of spirituall fruitfullnesse, as it did Sodom and Gomorrah in respect of earthly? For as that tract of ground became from on of the worlds paradises, the Center as it were of desolate barrennesse, so may not a Kingdome which now is another Alcinous garden full of herbs of grace, and fruits of pleasure, become a wildernesse of nothing but stincking weeds, and hurt­full briars and brambles? If the old world did wholly fall frō God, may not one little territory of the new? And if the whole Christian vniuerse did once lye [Page 35] groueling vnder the cursed apostasy of Arianisme, & thereby did seeme (as Reuerend Hooker speakes) to haue giuen vp the very ghost of true beleefe, then why may not one part of it lye bedridden (as it were) with the Cramp of Sacriledge? Surely the defection of one Kingdome in point of fact, is farre more easy then a Christian worlds in point of tenent and beleefe.

But here some one may demand of mee was there none in the populous tribe of Iudah who made a con­science of following the very dictate of nature in pay­ing God tithes and offerings in his Priests? Did each wilfully put out that light of Knoledge the seeds whereof they brought into the world with them? Sure­ly no, Charity teaches mee to enterpret this Gens tota the whole Nation by that distinction of the Scholes, made by reason of the word omnes all. This all (say they) is put sometimes to signify singula generum. each of euery Kind: and sometimes genera tantum singulo­rum only the seuerall Kinds and species, and so, though this gens tota make some of euery Kind and state of Iudah guilty, yet doth it not each in euery kinde. Such phrases are but hyperboles, involuing the most and not all; It is sufficient the denomination is after the greater part, Hee that makes Italy the Nurse­ry of villaines, drunkennesse the badge of a Dutch­man, and pride the shadowe of a Spaniard, sayes not each in these places is so qualified, at the most, his words can bee screwed no higher then that the grea­ter part is so.

Or yet if you will you may take this gens tota to bee meant as it sounds, euen to includ each particular [Page] in Iudah, and to inferre that the leauen of Sacriledge was found vnder euery ones roofe, and that thus, The most of them might bee delinquents in Act, the re­mainder in desire and wish, the most by the theft of the hand and heart, the rest by the theft of the heart only. you well know all the Commandements are as well broken by secret wishes and purposes, as by visi­ble and open Acts, feare of incurring some temporall punishment might hold back some from doing of that which conscience could not; yea the hope of some ad­uantage which might arrise, might make those iust in payment of their tithes, who otherwise would haue had as deep a hand in robbery as the worst, God the maker, and therfore searcher of the heart condemnes or iustifies by the workes of the heart, Abishai is ioyn­ed with his brother in killing of Abner though wee find Ioab only stroke him, and that because his heart stroke him aswell as Ioabs hand; Cain (saith Philo Iu­daeus) was not only cursed afrer hee had murdered his brother but before, euen as soone as euer hee had hatched such a thought he giues the reason voluntate profacto aestimata his will and purpose being taken for the deede,

It was a grosse error of Iosephus the Iewe, when hee reprehended Polibius the heathen, for saying Antio­cus died miserably because hee had resolu'd with him­selfe to haue spoiled the temple of Diana;

Excellent to this purpose is that of Austine, nemo inuitus benefacit, etiamsi bonum est quod facit. No man who is vnwilling doth good though the thing bee good which hee doth; To which let mee add that [Page 37] of Seneca to Serenus, Potest aliquis nocens fieri, quam­uis non nocuerit, A man may bee a nocent when hee hurts not; hee proues it by instances, A man saith hee though hee lyes with his owne wife cōmits adultery, if hee take her to bee another, and hee is guilty of murther who runnes a sword against his brest, who by chance hath a coate of Male on, so doubtles may they bee well stiled Robbers, who in heart contriue and plot how to embeazell those tithes and offerings which yet peraduenture they still misse of compassing And thus haue I Ionas-like passed through the streets and quarters of the text, and yet haue I not finished my intended taske; I should now parralell this our Iudah of England with that of the Iewes, and shew you that as wee haue been made like to them in en­ioying showers of fauours beyond other Nations, so haue wee already with them, and shall hereafter farre more bee cursed, if wee like them continue [...] greedy deuourers & cunning Substractors of spiritu­all goods; Say I but like them, yea farr more then euer they, and that in that gens tota diminisheth our tithes by vnlawfull (because vnconscionable) customes, a thing neuer dreamd of amongst the Iewes, much lesse made good by seting false and counterfeit glosses on the lawes iust intents, But I perceiue your patience is so farre spent, that the worke of my tongue must proue a lame Giles by falling short of the intention of my heart, only let mee add one word of exhortation, and so an end.

I beseech all you beloued who haue heard mee this day, and that in the name of Iesus Christ that you [Page] deale not by what you haue heard as you vse to do by your old apparrell when worne to ragges, that is not to lay it aside with a purpose neuer more to think of it, but meditate and ponder on it with resolution of preferring heauens euerlasting ioyes before this worlds vanishing trifles, And thou O Omnipotent Lord who gauest such power and efficacy to one Ser­mon of S^t Peters, as thereby to add about three thou­sand soules to the visible number of the faithfull, add (I most humbly beseech thee) by my this dayes ministery, at least one soule to thy inuisible flock, and that for thy sonne Iesus Christ his sake &c.