THERE be two things especially that commend a worke, Autor opus lau­dat. - Ovid. de pont. lib. 4. eleg. 9. the Author, and the Matter. Both of them conspire to commend this Booke, as in the Title of it they are both expressed.

Prov. 1. 1. The Prouerbs, or Parables of Sa­lomon, the Sonne of Dauid, King of Israel.

For the Author, (to omit the Principall, 2 Pet. 1. 21. Gods Spi­rit: Author. for, [...]. 2 Tim. 3. 16. All Scripture is inspired of God:) the Pen­man of it was Salomon, 2 Chron. 1. 12. 1 King. 3. 12. Matter. the wisest meere man that euer was in the world since Adam, by the testimonie euen of wisdome it selfe.

For the Matter; it is Prouerbs or Parables, (as the [Page 2] word in the Originall signifieth) [...] à [...] quod [...] & domina­ri significat. [...] sive dignitates, quae vi­tae Dominae & mo­deratrices esse di­bent. Cartwright in Prov. Coherence. Master-sentences, such as rule or sway, and are or may be of principall vse in mans Life.

Now consisting for the most part of such Apho­risms and short Sentences, from the beginning espe­cially of the tenth Chapter; it is not necessarie, that they should haue any coherence one with another; neither indeed for the most part haue they.

Yet this and the next before it, haue some con­nexion: Vers. 13. the former being of the inconuenience that commeth by a bad wife,

Vers. 14. This latter of the benefit that a good wife, that a wise and a discreet woman bringeth with her.

There Salomon compared two grand euils toge­ther, and made a bad wife the worse of the twaine:

Here he compareth two great benefits together, and maketh a good wife the better of the two.

For the former; Vers. 13. A foolish sonne, saith Salomon, is his Fathers sorrow: and a brawling wife is as a conti­nuall dropping.

[...]. Plut. de tranquill. Dolores eo acerbio­res, quo interiores. Aug. in Psal. 45. Mala intestina gravissima. Euils are the more grieuous, the neerer, and the more inward they are; as diseases in the entrailes. And Molestissimn̄ ma­lum intestinum & domesticū. Bern. in Cant. ser. 29. & 33. mala domestica, do­mesticall euils, vex a man most, when Matth. 10. 36. Mica 7. 6. a mans ene­mies, as our Sauiour speaketh, are those of his owne house.

[...]. He­siod. oper. Hinc The­mistocles [...]. Plut. apophth. Est vetns ver [...]m, [...]liquid maliessè propter vicinum malum. Plaut. Merc. act. 4. sc. 4. It is no small inconuenience to dwell neere a bad neighbour; were such a one further off vs, he would be lesse troublesome to vs. And surely if to haue good neighbours be a matter of no small mo­ment, [Page 3] then somewhat also it must needs be for a man to want such, and much more for a man to haue them that dwell neere him euill-affected to­ward him. An euill at the next doore may be bad enough, and may proue ouer troublesome; an euill within doores, at home, in a mans owne house much more.

But againe within doores there are degrees also: in a mans owne familie there are some neerer than others. A Iohn 8. 35. sonne is neerer than a seruant, and 1 Sam. 1. 8. a wife than a sonne. Quo [...] s [...]rui, [...] ­hostes. Sen. epist. 47. Macrob. Sat. lib. 1. c. 10. & Fest. lit. Q. Quot scrui, tot fu­res. Serv. ad Virg. eclog. 3. It is a sore crosse to be troubled, and it be but with bad seruants. It is no small vexation for a man to find vntoward & vnfaithful cariage toward him Psal. 41. 9. Iohn 13. 18. in those that eat his bread, that feed at his boord; much more to sustaine it at the hands of her, that ta­keth vp the same bed with him, Mica. 7. 5. that lieth in his bo­some. No euill to a bad bed-fellow, [...]. Aesopu [...] apud Gabriam. C [...] ­luber in sin [...]. to a bosome­euill, to that euill that lieth next the heart, either within or about the breast.

Againe, though true mercy and compassion in some measure extend it selfe vnto all those, whose miseries and calamities we are acquainted with: yet the misfortunes of our deare friends affect vs more than of meere strangers: And Qui ignotos l [...] ­dit, la [...]ro appella­tur; qui [...]micos, paulò minus quàm paricida. Petron. satyr. the wrongs and in­iuries offered vs by professed and pretended friends we are wont to take more to heart. Ps. 55. 12, 13, 14. It was not mine enemie, saith Dauid, that did me this wrong; for then I could haue borne it. But it was thou, ô man, my compa­nion, my guide, and my familiar friend.

But Brethren are neerer than Friends. And how­soeuer Salomon truly saith, that Prov. 18. 24. [...]. Dion. Chrysost. [...]rat. 3. a Friend sometime sticketh closer to a man than a Brother: yet in nature a [Page 4] [...]; (Psal 133. 1.) [...]. Me­nand. Vide Hier clē de amore frat [...]rn. & Muson. de lib. tollend. apud Stob. tom. 2. cap. 82. Hinc vetus verbum, [...]. Plato polit. 2. Brother is neerer than any Friend is or can be. There is a ciuill knot onely betweene Friend and Friend; there is a naturall band betweene Brother and Brother. And therefore, Prov. 18. 19. [...]. Euripid. apud Plut. de frat. [...]m. [...]. Aristot. p [...]lit. l. 7. c. 7. A brother offended is harder to win than a strong Citie; and their contenti­ons are as Vectes arcis: qui ferrei aut aenei esse solent. Psal. 107. 16. Esai. 45. 2. barres of brasse. [...]. Plut. defrat. amor. It is easier glewing againe of boards together, that haue beene vnglew­ed, than healing vp the flesh that is gashed and diui­ded: and the reason is, because Contiguum ibi, istic continuum solvitur. there was but an artificiall connexion before in the one, there was a naturall coniunction in the other: so it is easier re­conciling of Friends than of Brethren, there being a Ciuill bond onely broken in the disiunction of the one, a Naturall tiall violated in the dissentions of the other.

But Children they are yet neerer than either Friends or Brethren. They are Parsque tui latitat corpore clausa meo. Ovid. epist. 2. partes nostri, viscera nostra; they are as Pignora nostra, Vis [...]era nostra; potiùs quàm opes, [...] Ovid. ep. 1. 2 Sam. 16. 11. Philem. 12, 20. our very bowels, and part of our selues. And therefore no maruell if Salomon say, that Prov. 10. 1. A foolish sonne is a sorrow to his father, and an heauinesse to his mother. And, Prov. 17. 21. He that begetteth a foole, begetteth himselfe sorrow: and the father of a foole Nemo quis­quam ferè unquam fic dolet, ut non idem aliquando gaudeat. Sedenim qui omni momento dolet, is verè dicitur non gaudere. Drus. observ. lib. 1. cap. 22. Vise & Agell. noct. Attic. lib. 2. cap. 6. shall haue no ioy.

But behold here a further euill than any of the former. An euill wife, a contentious woman worse [Page 5] than any of them all. Husband and Wife are neerer than Friends, and Brethren; or than Parents and Children. Children, though they spring from their Parents, yet they abide not alwaies with them. They are as Prov. 5. 16, 1 [...]. riuers rising from one head, but taking seue­rall waies, making seuerall streames, and running apart in seuerall channels. But man and wife must bide by it. They are as two streames, that rising from seuerall heads, fall the one into the other, Prout Alpheu [...] Arethusae a [...]unt commis eri. mingle their waters together, and are not seuered againe till they are swallowed vp in the Sea. Chil­dren are as Genes. 49. 22. Psal. 128. 3. branches shooting out of one stem, di­uided and seuered either from other, or as grifts and siences cut off, or boughes and branches slip­ped off from their natiue stocke, and either planted or engraffed else-where. Man and Wife are as the stocke and sience, the one [...]. Rom. 11. 24. ingraffed into the other, and so fastned together, that they cannot againe be sundred; or as Ezech. 37. 17. Vno Vt siquis gemin [...]s conducat cortice ra­m [...]s, Crescendo iu [...] ­g [...], parite [...] (que) adole­scere ce [...]. Ovid. Metam. l. 4. those two peeces in the Prophets hand inclosed in one barke, and making both but one branch. And Gen [...]s. 2. 24. Therefore, saith the Holy Ghost, shall a man leaue father and mother, and [...] Ch [...]stus Mat. 19. 5. be glewed vnto, or [...] Moses. cleaue fast to his wife: and They Ita Mosen sup­plet Christus: quo­modo & Matth. 4. 10. ex Deut. 6. 13. & 10. 20. two shall be one flesh.

The neerer the bond then, the greater the euill, where it falleth out otherwise than it ought. Prov. 19. 14. A foolish sonne, saith Salomon, is the calamitie of his fa­ther. And how is he his calamite? He is [...] Prov. 105 & 17. 1. & 19. 16. & 29. 15. silius pudefaciens, such an one as shameth his Parents, and maketh them glad to hide their heads in the house. But Prov. 19. 13. an euill wife is as the raine dropping in thorow the tiles, that maketh him weary of the house, [Page 6] that vexeth him so that it driueth him out of doores.

Yea Prov. 27. 15. as a dropping in a rainie day, when it is foule without and it droppeth within. So that it maketh a man at his wits end, vncertaine whether it be better for him to be abroad in the raine, or to bide within doores in the dropping. And for this cause Augu­stine compareth an euill Conscience to a bad wife, (and it may seeme that he pleased himselfe somewhat in the similitude, August. in Psal. 33. & in Psal. 35. & in Psal. 45. & alibi. he maketh vse so oft of it:) which when a man hath many troubles and afflictions from without, and would looke home, hoping for some comfort from within, is much more trouble­some to him than any of those his outward crosses are; is as a rocke or a shelfe to Sea-men in a storme, where they hoped to haue found harbour and shel­ter against it.

Yea further, not as a dropping only that driueth a man from his house and home, and that when it raineth; but Prov. 19. 13. as a continuall dropping in such a day: So that [...]. Simonid. a bad wife is worse than a quartane ague, wherein a man hath two good daies for one euill. He that hath an euill wife, is as one that hath an euill soule, a guilty conscience, that euermore sticketh by him, that euery where accompanieth him, is a con­tinuall euill companion with him In cubi [...]ulo, in cubili ipso. Aug. in Psal. 45. at bed & boord, Quam nec su­gere, nec sugare li­ce [...]. Bern. in [...]ant. 33. & Lips. in poli­tic. Conscient [...]am [...]nim à Deo (comi­tem individu [...]m) accepimus, quae di­velli à nobis non po­test. Cic. pro Cl [...]nt. such as he cannot shift off or shun. And no mar­uell therefore if it be deemed the greatest temporall euill, because the most continuall, and the most in­ward, for a man to be matched with an euill wife, or a woman with an euill husband: For what is said of the one, is as true of the other, the relation be­tweene them being alike.

[Page 7] To draw all to an head then. An vnkinde Neigh­bour is a crosse: but [...]; Sopho [...]. Antigon. an vnfaithfull Friend is a great crosse; an vnnaturall Brother a greater; an vngra­tious Childe yet a greater: but a wicked, vnquiet, or disloyall wife is the [...]. Menand. Penus malerum est omniū mulier mala. greatest of all, and if we be­leeue Salomon, goeth beyond them all. In regard whereof he also els-where pronounceth, that Prov. 21. 9. & 25. 24. it is better to abide on a corner of the house top without, than to continue with such a one in a wide house: yea that Prov. 21. 19. Sirac. 25. 18, 22. [...]. Menand. Mala mul [...]er qua­vis s [...]ra tr [...]c [...]lca­tion. H. Steph. Summe. it is better to liue in the wildernesse with the wilde beasts, than with such.

But to leaue this that is without my Text, and yet next doore to it, (so neere here doe good and bad neighbour together) and to come neerer home: Some it may be hearing Salomon speake on this manner, might say, as our Sauiours Disciples some­time said, Matth. 19. 10. If the case so stand betweene man and wife, it is good then not to marry.

Now to such Salomon seemeth to answer in the words of my Text, that It is not euill to marry, but it is good to be warie: that it is not the abuse or badnesse of some, that ought to make Gods ordinance the lesse valued, or the lesse esteemed, being in it selfe and of it selfe a matter of great benefit: that as the inconueni­ence is great and grieuous that a bad wife bringeth with her; so the benefit on the other side is no lesse that com­meth by a good wife, by a wise and a discreet woman: who is therefore here commended as a speciall Gift, as a principall blessing of God, such as goeth be­yond any other temporall blessing whatsoeuer. And surely [...]. Hesi­od. [...]. Sim [...]nid. apud Clem. Alex. [...]rom. l. 6. Sorspotior mu­liere proba non [...]b­tigit unquam Vlla vno; [...] mala nil t [...]trius isquam est. Erasm. [...]. Menand. Salus & ex [...]ium muli [...]r est [...]. H. Steph. as there is no greater temporall crosse or curse than the one; so is there no greater tempo­rall blessing than the other.

[Page 8] Now this Salomon to shew, as Vers. 13. before he compa­red two great euils together, and found a bad wife to be the worse: so here hee compareth two great benefits together, and affirmeth a good wife to be the greater.

House and possessions, wealth and riches, land and liuing is Psal. 4. 6. [...]. Antiphanes. - [...]. Sophocles. [...]. Hesiod. Prima ferè vota & cunctis notissima templis, Divitiae ut crescant. - Iuven. sat. 10 Totus popu­lies in alijs d [...]s [...]ors, in hoc convenit: hoc suspiciunt; hoc sibi, hocsuis optant. Sen. epist. 115. Meaning. that, that most men regard, and looke after: yea men are wont to seeke wiues for wealth. But saith Salomon, as Prov. 22. 1. [...]. Menād. a good name, so a good wife, a wise and a discreet woman is better than wealth; Prov. 31. 10. her price is far aboue pearles: For House and possessions are the inheritance of the fathers; but a prudent wife is of the Lord.

Which yet we are not so to vnderstand; neither the former part, as if worldly wealth, and riches, and possessions were not Gods gifts: for Prov. 10. 22. [...]. Pindar. Pyth. 8. [...]. Aeschyl. Theb. It is the bles­sing of God that maketh a man rich: Psal. 127. 1, 2. vnlesse he build the house it will neuer be built: and Deut. 8. 18. [...]. P [...]d. Pyth. 8. it is he that gi­ueth men power to gather wealth together.

Nor yet againe the latter part; as if Parents had no hand, right or power in disposing of their chil­dren, or in aduising them and prouiding in that kinde for them. Iudg. 14. 2. Sampson requireth his Parents consent. And Deut. 7. 3. God chargeth his people not to make matches betweene their children and the Ca­naanites, either by giuing their daughters vnto the sonnes of the Canaanites, or by taking the Canaa­nites daughters vnto their sonnes: which he would not doe, were not they at all to deale in the dispo­sing of them. And many, no doubt, would they [Page 9] take aduice of their Parents, and not follow their owne fancies, and make their wanton eye, or their wandring lust, their choser and counsailer in such cases, might doe much better than for want hereof they doe.

But the meaning of Salomon is this only, that the one is a more speciall gift of God than the other; that there is a more speciall hand of God in the one than in the other. As that is a lesse benefit than this: so that is in mans power more than this.

So that two points then here in Solomons words Points 2. offer themselues vnto vs:

The former, that [...]. Greg Naz. Epit [...]p. Patr. Point 1. A good Wife is Gods gift.

The latter, that Gods prouidence is more speciall in a Wife than in Wealth.

For the former. A good wife is Gods gift. For a prudent wife, saith Solomon, is of the Lord. And Prov. 18. 22. He that findeth a wife, (that is, a good wife, as, a [...] Eccles. 7. 1. Prov. 22. 1. & Genes. 11. 4. [...]. lipsis, qual [...] est & Esai. 1. 18. & Mal. 1. 14. Vise Camium ibid. Reason 1. name for a good name, Tanquam uxor mala ne vxor qui­dem sit. D [...]us. See A Wife indeed. as if an euill wife were no wife, de­serued not the name of a wife:) hath found a good thing; and hath obtained a speciall fauour from God.

It was one of the first reall and royall gifts that Genes. 2. 22. God with his owne hand bestowed vpon Adam. And it must needs bee no small matter that God giueth with his owne hand. The Kings Almoner may cast small siluer about: but if the King giue a man somewhat with his owne hand out of his purse or pocket, it is expected it should be a peece of gold at least. The woman was Gods owne gift to Adam. And shee was Gods gift bestowed on him, Genes. 2. 18. to consummate and make vp his happinesse. Though he were at the first of himselfe happie, yet [Page 10] not so happie as hee might be, vntill hee had one to partake with him in his happinesse.

It was God that at first gaue Adam his wife; and it is God that giueth euerie man his wife to this Reason 2. day. Genes. 24. 7, 56. God, saith Abraham to his seruant, will send his Angell along with thee, and will prosper thee in thy iourney; when he sent him about a wife for his Son Isaak. And Matth. 19. 6. Those that God hath ioyned together, saith our Sauiour, let not man seuer. As Augustine saith, that Qui creauit [...]e­minem sine homine, procreat [...]ominem ex homine. Aug. de verb. Ap. 11. I [...]r. 1. 5. Hee that at the first created man without man, doth now procreate man by man: so he that gaue man a wife at the first immediately, doth still giue men wiues by meanes; Prov. 18. 22. good ones in mercie, [...]. 7. 26. euill ones in wrath; the one for solace and comfort, the other for triall, cure, correction, or punishment. [...]. Eurip. Menalip. No mariages are consummate on earth, that were not first concluded and made vp in heauen: and none are blest here, that were not in mercie made there.

For the latter; There is a more speciall prouidence of God in a Wife than in Wealth. Humane wisdome Point 2. and fore-cast, endeuour and industrie, may strike a greater stroke, and haue a more speciall hand in the one than in the other. Men of wealth may leaue their heires land and liuing; but [...]. Menād. Haud facile coniugem nanciscier bonam. H. Steph. Reason 1. they cannot so easily prouide fit wiues for them.

For first, they may bee deceiued in their choise. Many haue good skill in chusing of wares, in va­luing of lands, in beating a bargaine, in making a purchase, that are yet but blinde buzzards in the choise of a wife. Yea the wisest that are may bee soone here ouer-reached. Since all is not gold, as [Page 11] we say, that glistereth. Ierem. 17. 9. The heart of man, saith the Prophet, i [...] deceitfull aboue all things. And, 1 Cor. 2. 11. C [...]rd [...] humana alienis ocu­lis clausa sunt. Greg. Rom. mor. lib. 25. c. 9. Non est homini [...] scire quid sit in ho­mine, nis [...]s [...]rte qui [...] ad hoc ipsum fuerit vel spiritu Dei illu­minatus, vel angel [...] ­ca informatus indu­stria. Bern. in Cant. 65. Reason 2. None can tell what is in man or woman, but their owne spirit that is within them.

Secondly, they cannot lincke hearts as they list. A Father may finde out a fit wife, and thinke such a one a meet match for his Sonne: and her Parents may be also of the same minde with him, as willing to entertaine the motion as hee is to make it; and yet it may be, when they haue done all they can, they cannot fasten their affections. As Fides suadenda non imperanda. Ber. in Cant. 66. Religi­onem imperare non possumus: quia nemo cogitur vt credat invitus. Theodori­cus apud Cassiod. var. l. 2 ep. 27. Non est religion [...]s c [...]gere religion [...], quae sponte suscipi debet. Tertull. ad Scap. Quis enim imponat mihi necessita [...]om vel col [...] [...]uod no­lim, [...] velim [...] [...]? La­ctant. [...]. l. 5. cap. 13. credendi. L [...]psius polit. l. 4. c. 4. Faith, so Nescit a [...]r quo (non) libet cogi. Tertull. de pudic. Loue cannot bee constrained. Cant. 8. 6, 7. As there is no affe­ction more forcible; so there is Non extorquehis [...]m [...]ri. Cl [...]ud. Honor. Coss. 4. Non vt alia subiectis, ita a [...]r imp [...]ratur. Ne­que est vllus affectus tam erectus & liber, & d [...]minationis impatiens, nec qui magis vices exigat. Plin. P [...]neg. none freer from force and compulsion. The verie offer of enforce­ment turneth it oft into hatred. There are secret lincks of affection, that no reason can bee rendred of: as Non [...] te, Sabidi, nec passum dicerequare: Hoc vnum possum dicere, Non [...] te. Martial. ep. 33. lib. 1. there are inbred dislikes, that can neither be resolued, nor reconciled. When Parents haue a long [...]e beaten the bush, another oft, as wee say, c [...]th the bird: affections are set some other way, and cannot be remoued. And things fall out many times so vnexpectedly, such strong liking ta­ken to some suddenly not once thought on before, and such strange alienation of affections, where there hath been much labouring to lincke them, and that where outward inducements of person, estate, yeeres, &c. haue concurred, that euen a naturall mans dimme eye may easily see & discerne a more [Page 12] speciall prouidence of God oft carrying things in these cases: And the tongues euen of such are enforced sometime to confesse, as the Aegyptian Magitians of Moses his miracles, Exod. 8. 19. Digitus Dei hic est, There is a finger of God here; so with Rebekkaes prophane friends, in such Mariage matches; Genes. 24. 50. A Domino factum est istud; This is euen Gods owne do­ing; and there is no contradicting of it.

To make some Vse of these Points.

First, Is a good wife such a speciall gift of God? Vse 1. Then is Mariage questionles a blessing, and no small one, of it selfe: one of the greatest outward Blessings that in this world man enioyeth. Psalm. 128. 1, 2, 3, 4. Blessed is euerie one, saith the Psalmist, that feareth God, and that wal­keth in his wayes. For thou shalt eat of the labour of thine hands: happie art thou, and it shall goe well with thee. Thy wife [...]l be as the fruitfull vine by the sides of thine house: and thy Children like the Oliue plants round about thy table. Lo, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth God. In the first place commeth the Wife, as the first and principall blessing, and the Children in the next. And surely to reason back­ward to that the Apostle doth: Rom. 11. 16. If the root, saith hee, be holy, the branches also bee holy: and, If the branches, say I, be holy, then the root that beareth them much more. So here, If the branches bee blessed, the root that beareth them much more. If Children bee a Blessing, then [...]. Hierocles de nupt. apud Stob. [...]m. 2. cap. 65. the root whence they spring ought much more to bee so esteemed. Psal. 127. 3. Behold, Children and the fruit of the wombe, are the gift of God, saith Is enim ex titulo Autor videtur. Salomon. Children are the gift of God; but the Wife is a more speciall gift of God: shee commeth [Page 13] in the first place, they in the second: And gifts are vsually answerable to the greatnes of the giuer. It was a wittie answer of a great Prince, when he was disposed to be rid of a bold begging Philosopher: he asked a groat of him, and the King told him, [...]. Drachmam dare non est regium. It was too little for a Prince to giue; hee requested the King then to giue him a Talent, and the King told him, [...]. Tale [...] ­tum p [...]tere non est Cynicum. Antigo­nu [...] Thr [...]syll [...] apud Plut. in ap [...]phth. Et Sen. de benef. l. 2. c. 17. It was too much for a Begger to craue. And surely God indeed in his speciall gifts to vs, is wont Non qu [...]ro quid te accipere deceat, sed quid me dare. Alexand. apud Sen. de benef. lib. 2. c. 16. Idem Perillo amic [...] cū ad silias [...]l [...]can­d [...] taleta quinqua­ginta assignasset, is autem decem suffi­cere affirmasse [...]. [...]. Plut. in apophth. to regard not so much what is fit for vs to aske or to expect, as what standeth with his goodnesse and greatnesse to giue.

Genes. 1. 31. God, saith Moses, looked vpon all that he had made, and behold all was verie good. And [...]. 1 Tim. 4. 4. Euerie creature, or ordinance of God, saith the Apostle, (and hee had spoken of Meat and Mariage in the words before­going:) is good. All Gods Creatures and Ordi­nances are good then; but some are more excel­lent than others. And Mariage being of this latter sort, it is not holy onely, but euen honourable also. [...]. Heb. 13, 4. Vse 2. Mariage, saith the Apostle, is honourable among all men: and no disgrace then to any man. So are we to esteeme of it, and not to contemne what God hath graced, or to dishonour what hee hath honou­red. We shall but wrong the giuer in debasing his gift.

Againe, is a good Wife such a speciall gift of God? Then if we finde in mariage, inconueniences, hinde­rances, distractions, disturbances: Let vs learne what wee are to ascribe it vnto: Not to Gods gift or ordinance, but Si Dei benefici [...] vtentium prauitate perpendimus, nihil non nostro malo ac­cepimus. Nihil in­venies tam manife­s [...]ae vtilitatis, quod non in contrarium transferat culpa. Se [...]. quaest. natur. l. 5. c. 18. to mans corruption abusing Gods gift, peruerting Gods ordinance, and turning [Page 14] that to his owne euill, that God hath giuen him for his good. For Iam. 1. 17. Si Deu [...] bonus, Dia­bolu [...] malus, nec à bono quicquā mali, nec à malo quicquā boni potest proveni­re. Aug. there is nothing but is good as it commeth from God. But as pure water may take a taint from [...]. Aristot. de sens. c. 4. Cum [...]qua ipsa nec sapo­rem nec odorem ha­beat. Plin. hist. nat. l. 31. c. 3. Tales sunt [...]quae, qualis terra per quam fluunt, qualesque herbarū quas lauant succi. Ibid. c. 4. the earth that it runneth by, or Si turbid [...] & nebulos [...] fluunt a­qu [...], aluei culpa est, [...]on fontis: contra quā Hieron. in Apo­log. ad Pammach. the channell that it runneth thorow, or Vitiatur aqua per plumbeas fluens fi­ [...]ulas vitrum. Ar­c [...]it. l. 8. c. 7. Vide Mercurial. var. lect. l. 2. c. 8. the pipe that conueigheth it, and Tinguntur, eo­rumque trahunt si­ [...]ilitudinē, in quo­rum oram subeundo venere. Plin. gist. nat. l. 2. c. 18. the Sunne beames receiue a tincture from the coloured glasse that they passe thorow: so our foule hands and filthie fingers oft soile and sully Gods Ordinances, and our filth and corruption doth ost so taint and infect them, that they lose not onely much of their natiue grace, and are so strangely transformed, that Esai. 58. 5. & 1. 11, 12, 14. Secundum libidinem suam celebrando, sua iam, non Dei fecerant. Tertull. aduers. Marc. lib. 2. God himselfe can scarcely discerne his owne in them, but they misse also of their fruit and efficacie, and Improbo [...]ihil prodest; quia quicquid ad illum peruenit, pr [...]uo vsu corrumpitur. Senec. de benef. lib. 5. c. 21. Nihil potest ad malos pervenire, quod prosit, i [...]ò nihil quod non noceat. Ibid. of good and commodious, through our owne default, be­come euill and incommodious vnto vs. And as Potestas à De [...], abusus ab homine. Ant [...]. sum. part. 3. tit. 22. c. 2. Tyrannie in gouernment is not the fault of Gods Ordinance, but of mans corruption abusing it: so in these cases, the euill and inconuenience is not the fruit of Gods Ordinance, but of mans corruption accompanying it.

If wee shall finde then in the married estate trou­bles and distractions, &c. (as Qui non litigat coelebs est. Hieron. aduers. Io [...]. [...]. Me­ [...]and. Semper babet lites alternaque iurgia lectus, In quo nupta iacet, minimum dormitur in illo. Iu­ven. sat. 6. the single life is com­monly commended for quietnes;) Non quer [...]mur de autore nostri Deo, si beneficia ei [...] corrumpimus, & vt essent con­ [...]is, efficimus. Sen. quaest. [...]t. l. 5. c. 18. let vs not ac­cuse God; as Adam sometime closely did; Gen. 3. 12. The [Page 15] woman, saith hee, that Thou gauest mee; shee gaue me of the tree, and I ate: as if hee had said, If thou hadst not giuen mee the woman, shee had not giuen me of the fruit; and if shee had not giuen mee it, I had not eaten of it. [...]. Homer. Ili­ad. γ. Gods gifts are all good. But let vs lay the fault where it is; vpon our selues and our owne corruption, that Malus animus omnia in malū ver­tit; etiam quae op­timi specie vene­rant. Sen. epist. 98. turneth honey into gall, and good nutriment, Tit. 1. 15. Vis [...] Galen. de facult. ali­ment. lib. 1. Dulcia se in bilem vertent, stomacho (que) tumul­tum Versa ferent. Horat. sat. 2. lib. 2. Quemadmodū sto­machus morbo viti­atus & colligens bilem, quoscunnque accepit cibos mutat, & omne alimentū in causam doloris tra [...]it: ita animus caecus, quicquid illi commiseris, id onus suum & perniciem, & occasionem mi­seriae facit. Sen. de benef. l. 5. c. 12. as the foule stomacke into choller, or, Quaecunque illis co [...] [...]runt, in na­turam suam ver­tunt, & ex se speci­esa profuturaque, si meliori darentur, ill [...] pestifera sunt. ibid. as the spider and toad, into venom and poyson. Else shall we be like those of whom Salomon saith; Prov. 19. 3. The folly of a man peruerteth his way, and his foolish heart fretteth against God.

Secondly, Is a good wife Gods gift? then let those that want them, learne how and where to seeke them. Doest thou want a wife, and wouldest haue one, and such a one, as thou maist haue com­fort in? Seeke her of God, seeke her with God.

Seeke her, I say, first at Gods hands, seek her where shee is to bee had. Humble thy selfe in the sight of God, and betake thy selfe by prayer and supplicati­on vnto God. Vse 3. Iams. 1. 17. Euerie good gift, saith Iames, is of God from aboue: and to be sought therefore at his hands: and if euerie good gift, this more specially, that is so speciall a gift, and of so principall vse. And, [...]. 1 Tim. 4. 4. Euerie Creature or Ordinance, saith Paul, is to be sanctified by prayer. And if euerie Ordinance of God should be sanctified by prayer; and it ought [...]. Marc. regul. spirit. to vshier all our actions, be they ciuill or sacred: then this also among others, yea this aboue and before others, [...]. Menand. as that [Page 16] which (through the blessing of God vpon it) may proue a matter of the greatest benefit vnto vs, and without it a meanes of the greatest euill.

Yea, seeke her as of God, so with God. Aske counsell at the mouth of God, when thou goest a­bout Vse 4. any such businesse. 1 Tim. 4. 4. The Ordinances of God, saith the Apostle, are sanctified vnto vs, as well by the word of God, as by prayer. Then are they sanctified vnto vs by prayer, when wee craue leaue for the vse of them, and a blessing vpon the vse of them by prayer at Gods hands. Then are they sanctified vn­to vs by the word of God, when wee haue warrant, and take direction, for what we doe in them, out of Gods word, when we Io [...]. 9. 14. aske counsell at Gods mouth. Then wee seeke them with God, when wee seeke them by good meanes, when we seeke them in due manner.

For when it is said that a good wife is of God; wee are not so to conceiue it, that we are in such cases to vse no meanes at all; but that wee are to vse none but good and lawfull meanes, such as God hath ap­pointed, either prescribed or permitted. 1 Cor. 7. 39. The wife is bound, saith the Apostle, while her husband liueth: but if her husband bee dead, shee is at libertie to marrie where she will, but yet, [...]. in Domino, in the Lord.

Wherein they offend, either that goe too neere, matching within those degrees that Leuit. 18. God hath in­hibited: or that goe too farre off, matching Deut. 7. 3, 4. 1 King. 11. 1, 2. with such as for matter of religion they are prohibited to marrie; and so transgressing those rules and dire­ctions that the word of God giueth.

As also those that bee vnder the gouernment of [Page 17] others, or that desire those that bee in the power of others to dispose of; they then seeke in the Lord, when they aduise with, and are content to be dispo­sed of by those, whom God hath giuen power ouer them; or when they seeke not to them in the first place, but to those, by whom God will haue them to be disposed. That which not Gods people alone, but Genes. 34 6, 11. Virginitas non t [...]ta tua est: ex parte p [...] est; Altera pars patri, data par [...] est altera matri; Tertia sola tua est. Cat [...]ll. carm. nupt. Hinc Hermione a­pud Euripid. An­drom. [...]. Spons [...]lia judicium spectat parentum: Nec est virginali [...] pud [...]ris eligere ma­ritum. Ambr. de A [...]r. l. 1. [...]9. the Heathen also, by the light of Nature, saw to be equall and right. When they take other cour­ses, they seeke beside God, and cannot hope or ex­pect any blessing from God, whose order and ordi­nance therein they breake. In a word, wouldst thou be blessed in thy wooing, in thy wiuing; Take God with thee in wooing, inuite him to thy wedding. Hee, if hee bee pleased, will l. b. 2. 9. Vse 5. turne thy water into wine; if he be displeased, hee will turne thy wine into vineger.

Thirdly, learne hence what principally to aime at in the choise of a wise: to wit, at vertue and wis­dome, discretion and godlinesse; for that is indeed true wisdome.

Salomon saith not, a faire wife is the gift of God. And yet is [...]. Act 7. 20 de Mose. di [...] in [...] [...]. Beza & Pisc. beautie Gods gift; and [...]. Me­nand. [...]. Plat. po [...]. lib. 3. [...]ratior est pulchro zeniens in corpore virtus. Velvt Pincia [...]s, Gratio [...] & pul hro [...] [...] cor­pore virtus. Quod tamen taxat San. ep. 66. Hinc Aristoteles, [...]. Stob. tom. 2. c. 63. a gift of good regard. Neither saith he, a wealthie wife is the gift of God: And yet is 1 Chron 29. 12, 14. 2 Chron. 1. 12. wealth also Gods blessing, where it is accompanied with well-doing. But, a discrcet, or a wise woman is the gift of God.

[Page 18] Many indeed there are, that chuse their wife by the eye: Genes. 6. 3. The Sonnes of God saw the Daughters of Men to bee faire: and they tooke them wiues of them where they liked: as if they were to buy a pictùre or an image to hang vp in the house, or to stand some­where for a shew. But [...]. Nescio quis apud Eusiath. Beautie, saith the Heathen man, without vertue, is like a bait floating without an hooke; it hath a bait to entice, but no hooke to hold. And, Prov. 11. 12. [...]. Vet [...]res apud Eusiath. I [...]d. [...]. Eurip. Chrys. A faire woman, saith Salomon, without discre­tion, is like a gold ring in a swines snout. Prou. 31. 30. Co­lor terrae boni atis incertus est autor. Pallad. de re rust. lib. 1. cap. 6. Fauour is deceitfull, and beautie is but [...]. Clem. Alex. paedag. l. 3. c. 1. Res est [...]or­ [...]a fugax: quis sa­piens bono Consulat fragili? - Sen. Hip­pol. Florem dec [...] [...]inguli carpunt d [...]s. Sen. Octav. Forma bonum fragile est; quantumque acce­dit ad annos Fit minor, & spatio carpitur ipsa suo. Ovid. art. lib. 1. [...]. Isocr. ad Demon. [...]. Greg. Naz. orat. 31. vanitie: but a woman that feareth God is praise-worthie indeed.

Others againe regard wealth onely; as if they went about a purchase, as if they were to marrie not them but their money, [...]. Chrysost. tom. 8. serm. 15. as if they were to wed not the wife, but her wealth. But Salomon, when he saith, Houses and Riches are the inheritance of the Fathers: but a prudent Wife is of the Lord: hee implieth that these things may bee seuered, the one may be with­out the other. Lands may come by inheritance; when Virtus non est haereditaria. Non est res beneficiaria: non obvenit. Sen. epist. 90. vertue may not. Bona, vnde bonumfacias, non vnde bonus fias. Aug. de temp. 238. Goods they are where­with men may doe good, but not such as make those good that haue them. [...]. Themistocl. apud Plut. apophth. Malo virum qui pec [...]ia [...]g [...]at, quam pecuniam quae viro. Cic. offic. l. 2. Better it is, said the Heathen man, to haue a man without money, than to haue money without a man: so better it is to haue a wife without wealth, than to haue wealth without a wife. And surely, what comsort can a man haue of wealth with [Page 19] such a wife, that shall be as a corrosiue to his heart, Prov. 12. 4. Sicut in lig [...] v [...]m [...], [...] per [...] virum su [...] [...] [...] [...]. [...]on [...]. [...]. l. 1. Vse 6. as corruption and rottennesse in his bones?

Againe, let Parents learne here what to aime at in the education of their Children, whom they de­sire to dispose of, and to dispose of so as they may bee a blessing, not a crosse or a curse to those that shall haue them: Not studie onely how to prouide portions for them: though an honest care also is to bee had in that kinde. 2 Cor. 12. 12. Parents, saith the Apostle, ought to lay vp for their Children. And, 1 Tim. 5. 8. He that pro­uideth not for his issue, is worse than an Insidell. Nor how to trim them vp, and set them out, in whorish or garish manner, to make them baits to catch fooles with; but labour to traine them vp in true wisdome and discretion, in the feare of God, and such graces, as may make them truly amiable, as 1 Pet. 3. 3. [...]. Cl [...]. Alex. paed. l. 3. c. 1. well in Gods sight as in mans eyes; in houswifrie, and industry, and skill to manage houshold affaires: that so they may be helpers to their Husbands, (and not hinderers;) as Genes 2. 18. Vse 7. to that end they were made at first.

Yea hence let the wise learne what she is to striue to, and labour for, that the may be indeed a good gift of God: 1 Tim 2. 9, 10. 1 Pet. 3. 4, 5. Cultus magna cura tib. magna [...] tut [...] i [...]curia. Cato Cens. apud A [...]. b [...]st. l. 16. C [...] corpa­r [...] nimius & [...]r­mae cura prae [...] [...]rs animi defor [...] Sen. ben. l. 1. c 10. [...]. [...]rates. [...]. Sophocl. [...]. Ly­sander apud Plut. in praecept rupt. [...]. Clem. Alex. paed. l. 2. c. 12. [...]. Ibid. l. 3. c. [...]. [...]. Ibid c. 11. [...]. Ibid. lib. 2. cap. 9. Not so much to decke and tricke [Page 20] herselfe vp to the eye, as to haue her inner man ador­ned with holy skill and discretion, whereby to carrie herselfe wisely and discreetly in that place and con­dition that God hath called her vnto: That shee may with the wise woman, Prov. 14. 1. [...]. Menand. build vp the house; and be Prov. 12. 4. Digna suo coniux fida corona viro. a crowne, and Prov. 31. 23. a grace to him that hath her. That Prov. 31. 28. [...]. Clem. paed. l. 3. c. 11. her Husband and Children may haue cause to blesse her, and to blesse God for her; and count it a blessed time when they came first to­gether.

Let her consider what a fearefull thing it is to bee otherwise. For her that was Genes. 2. 18. made for a helpe, to proue not an helpe but an hurt: for her that was giuen for a blessing, to proue a crosse and a curse. As one saith of Eve, [...]. Basil. S [...]l. Vse 8. reaft from Adam as a rib, and shot by Satan at him as a shaft: bestowed on him by God to consummate his felicitie, but made by Sa­tans slight and her owne default, the meanes of his extreme miserie.

Fourthly, let men bee admonished hence, whom to ascribe it vnto, if ought haue beene done in this kinde for them: euen to God himselfe principally, whose speciall gift a good wife is. Let vs take heed how in this case Habba. 1. 16. we sacrifice to our yearne, or burne incense to our n [...]t. Ascribe not what is done for thee, to the mediation of friends, or to thine owne plots and policies, smoothnesse of language, faire­nesse of looke, or the like. No: acknowledge God to haue beene the principall agent in the businesse: regard man and thine owne means, but as his Instru­ments. Of him she is, saith Salomon: not Genes. 2. 22. & 1. 27. as a Crea­ture onely made of him, but as Genes. 2. 22. one matched vnto [Page 21] thee by him: nor [...]s knit to thee by his ordinance, but as [...]. Torus [...]ri at (que) [...]minae fa [...]al [...]t est. Aeschyl. Eumen. Haec s [...]cet res v­ [...]a, si vlla, sato gu­bernatur. Dun [...] ad Lys. Vse 9. assigned thee by his prouidence: For that is it, that Salomon here principally aimeth at.

Yea, let them hence learne what they owe vnto God, whom God hath vouchsafed such a blessing vnto. Hath God bestowed such a Wife on thee, as Salomon here speaketh of? It is a precious Iewell; such as thy Father could neuer leaue thee. It is a greater Treasure than the greatest Prince on earth, than the mightiest Monarch in the world is able to bequeath to his Heire. We see how Parents are oft troubled in making search for their Sonnes, and yet when they haue done their best endeuour, misse of that they desire. Wee might here rise by degrees on the better side, as we did before on the worse. As euils, so good things, the more inward the greater. A Prov. 17. 2. & 14. 35. Luk. 1 [...]. 4 [...]. [...]. Menand. [...] Eurip. Me­leagr. De beneficij [...] ac side servorum [...] Dominos, consule sis Senec. de benef. l. 3. c. 18-27. Et Valer. Max. l. [...]. c. 8. trustie seruant is no small blessing; a [...]. He [...]ed. Hinc de vicinis pro­sp. ci Cato praecipit, apud Plin. hist. nat. l. 18. c. 6. kinde neighbour is a great one; Prov. 17. 17. & 18. 24. [...]. Amicus alter ipse. Zeno apud Laert. l. 7. [...]. Anima [...] corp [...]r [...]m duorum in [...]ol [...]. Aristot. ibid. l. 5. [...]. Menand. [...] Pi [...]d. Nem. 8. a faithfull friend a grea­ter; Prov. 10. 1. & v. 20 & 17. 6. & 23. 15. [...]. -Menand. a wise sonne yet a greater; and a prudent wife the greatest of all: a greater blessing than any of the former, that yet for temporall blessings may seeme of the greatest. And how do maried persons then stand engaged to God aboue others, whom he hath blessed in their choise? A great measure of thankfulnesse owe they vnto him, proportionable in some sort to the blessing bestowed on them.

Yea, as there is a greater measure of thankfulnesse [Page 22] required of them, than of others whom God hath not blessed in that manner: so there is a peculiar kinde of thankfulnesse required on their part. All Gods fauours require thankfulnesse: and the more fauours the more thankfulnesse: but some speciall fauours require some peculiar kinde of acknow­ledgement, proportioned to the qualitie of the fauor receiued. Psal. [...]27. 3. Genes. 33. 5. Children are Gods gift: and our thank­fulnesse to him for them is to be shewed in such du­ties, as hee requireth of vs in the behalfe of them, Ephes. 6. 4. in the carefull education and training them vp in good courses. In like manner: Thy Wife thou hast of Gods gift: and thy thankfulnesse to him for her, must be shewed in the performance of such duties, as he requireth of thee in regard of her Ephes. 5. 25, 28, 29, 33. Coloss. 3. 19. Vse 10., as of loue, of kindnesse, of concord, counsell, contentment, &c.

Fiftly, Is the Wife giuen vnto her Husband by God? then must she resolue to giue herselfe wholly to him as her Owner, on whom God hath bestow­ed her, to whom hee hath assigned her. When Pa­rents haue put out their Children, the Children must bee content to bee guided by those to whom they commit them: and when God hath giuen a Daughter, she must be content to liue with him, and be guided by him, whom God hath giuen her vnto. Neither is she to forsake him. For Matth. 19. 5, 6. they are not to bee sundred, nor seuered, whom God hath conioy­ned and made one. And there is a foule brand ther­fore vpon her, Prov. 2. 17. that for saketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the Couenant of her God. Nor to refuse to be ruled by him: but Ephes. 5. 22. 1 Pet. 3. 1. submit and subiect herselfe vnto him, vnto whom God hath giuen her: for [Page 23] Col [...]. 3. [...]. [...]. that is comely, saith the Apostle, in the Lord: and to bee imbraced therefore of her, as her Lot by God assigned her.

Yea, is the Wife giuen the Husband by God? Vse 11. then should hee esteeme her as a gift of God: and 1 Pet. 3. 7. [...]. liue with her, as with one giuen him and bestowed vpon him by God. D [...]num quis aegr [...] despici non [...]er [...] suu [...]? Wee cannot abide to see any thing that wee haue giuen another euill-vsed. And it be but a dog, an [...]ound, or a whelp, if we see it neg­lected, where wee bestowed it, wee are wont to take it euill. But Brads [...]. Prep [...]. to Lords Sup. part. 1. c. 4. if we should see a Iewell of some value, bestowed by vs on a friend as a token of our loue toward him, set at light by him, or should find it cast aside in some corner, would we not much more be grieued at it, and iudge that hee set as light by our loue, as hee doth by our loue-token. And hath no [...] God then iust cause to take it euill at thy hands, when hee shall see his gift abused, euill entertained, and worse vsed; when hee shall see her mis-vsed of thee, whom hee hath as Pro [...]. [...]. 1 [...]. [...]. a speciall fauour bestowed on thee, and hath therefore giuen thee Ephes. 5. 33. Coloss. 3. 19. a speciall charge well and kindly to vse? How are wee wont to be grieued, when wee see matters fall out amisse, where we haue been meanes to make the match? If the wife be mis-vsed, that we haue holpen one to, we are wont to count it a wrong to our selues. And no maruell then, if God himselfe take to heart the wrongs done by vs, to those that he hath joyned to vs, if Malach. 2. 13, 14, 15. he haue a quarrell against him that shall trans­gresse against her, whom he hath inseparably joyned to him, to be his Companion and his wife by Pactum salis, pr [...] s [...]r [...]sanct [...] invi [...] ­ [...]bili. Numb. 1 [...]. 19. a Coue­nant of Salt.

[Page 24] Lastly, if a good Wife bee such a speciall gift of Vse 12. God, then a good Husband is no lesse. For [...]. Aristot. Eudem. l. 7. c. 5. the Husband is as needfull for the Wife, as the Wife is for the Husband. Genes. 3. 16. Thy desire, saith God, shall bee vnto him. And if the Husband then be so to esteeme of his Wife, and to bee thankfull to God for her; then is the Wife no lesse to esteeme so of her Hus­band, and to be thankfull likewise to God for him.

In a word, let both man and wife so esteeme ei­ther of other, as joyned by Gods counsell, as giuen by Gods hand; and so receiue either other as from God, bee thankfull either for other vnto God, seeke the good either of other in God; and then will God vndoubtedly with his blessing, ac­companie his gift to his owne glorie, and their mu­tuall good.

THis Booke of the Prouerbs is the Prouerbs. Christian Mans Ethicks: And it hath this preeminence aboue most, if not all, the Bookes in the Bible; that many of them are Sententious, Totus liber, quan­tus quantus est, ni­hil nisi graues & il­lus [...]res sententiae sunt. Th. Cartwr. in Prov. 1. this consisteth all of Sentences. For what are Diuine Prouerbs, but [...]. [...]. Caes. hom. 12. select and choise Sentences. So that we need not stand pick­ing or culling here: As hee said of Cyrus his Court, (and I wish might be said of ours) [...]. Xenoph. [...]yri paed. l. 8. though a man should seeke or chuse blindfold, hee could not misse of a good man; though wee goe here at aduenture, wee cannot doe amisse, wee are sure to meet with some choise matter or other. It is the manner of the Lear­ned in reading of Authors, to set Mittam ipses ti­bi l [...]b [...]os: & n [...] multum operae imp [...]nda [...], impon [...]m notas, vt ad ea ipsa protinus quae pr [...]b [...] & a [...]or, [...]. Sen. epist. 6. marks in the mar­gine, [Page 2] vpon such passages as are most remarkable. But there is Gods owne Marke set vpon euerie Sen­tence in this Booke, not by Salomon onely, but by the Spirit of God himselfe.

Among the rest of these select Sentences, there are some, and those not a few, that containe matter Matter, Generall: concerning Mariage, either the Praise and commen­dation of a good Wife, or the dispraise, discommen­dation, yea and detestation of a bad.

The Sentence contained in my Text, is concer­ning the former, though not wholly without some Speciall. secret intimation of the latter; as in the opening of it shall appeare.

And in it we may obserue these Particulars; Distribution. Branches 5.

• 1. The partie commended; a Wife:
• 2. The commendation giuen her; Good:
• 3. The meanes of compassing her, by seeking, implied in the word, Findeth:
• 4. The principall Doner or Giuer of her; God:
• 5. The nature and qualitie of the gift; a Fauour.

For the first of them: A Wife? may some say, What? Is euerie Wife, or euerie woman then such as Branch 1. Obiection. Salomon here saith? yea, doth not the same Salomon himselfe elsewhere say, that some Wife there is, Prov. 14. 1. that pulleth downe the house? that is, not as a corro­siue at her Husbands sides, but Prov. 12. 4. as corruption in his bones? or Prov. 19. 13. & 27. 15. like a continuall dropping in a rainie day, that maketh a man wearie of his home, and either driueth him out of doores, or will not suffer him to rest within? And that Prov. 21. 9. it is better for a man to dwell on the house top, exposed to wind and wea­ther; or Prov. 21. 19. to liue in the wildernesse Sirac. 25. 20. among wilde [Page 3] beasts, than to keepe house with such an one.

To this there are diuers answers giuen. Answer. Solution 1.

For first some say, that Vxor, quamdiu vxor, quamdiu non adultera, licet dif­ficilis morosa, con­tentiosa, rixosa, in bonis, in beneficij [...] est numeranda. T. Cartwr. in Prov. a Wife so long as she conti­nueth a Wife; that is, so long as she is not disloyall, but is honest, as we say, of her bodie, though shee bee neuer so contentious, vnquiet, or inconuenient o­therwise, is to be esteemed as a Benefit. As Malus etiam Princeps nullo me­lior. P. Martyr. i [...] Iud. 19. Reiection. Exception 1. a bad Magistrate, say they, is yet better than none: ( [...]. Aristoxen. apud Stob. c. 41. Et So­pocl. Antig [...]n. [...]. Exception 2. Bet­ter a Tyranie, than an Anarchie:) so a bad Wife is yet better than none at all.

But this seemeth scarce sound.

For first, it were but a verie sorrie commendation of a Wife, to say, Better such an one than none at all. Quale bonum, quod bonum non censetur nisi compa­ratione maioris ma­li? Suspecta est mihi bonitas eiu [...] rei, quam magnitu­do alterius mali malum esse c [...]gi [...] inferius. Hieron. in Iovin. l. 1. What manner of good call you that, saith Ierome, and before him Tertull. ad [...]xor. l. 1. Quale bonum est, quod mali comparatio commendat? Et in exhort. cast. Quale bonum, quod melius est poena? Tertullian, that is not deemed or ter­med good, but in comparison of some greater euill? That is not good, to speake properly, but Prout 2 Pet. 2. 21. Bonum ita est, si per se nomen hoc obtiet. Cae [...]erum si per mali collationem cogitur sic dici, non tam bonum est, qua [...] ge [...]s mali inferioris, quod à superiore malo obscuratum, ad nomen boni impell [...]tur. Vt cum d [...]itur, Melius est vno oculo carere quam duob [...]. Idem ibid. lesse euill onely.

Againe, when Salomon saith, that Prov. 21. 9. it is better to liue on the house-top, or abroad Prov. 21. 19. in the wilde wilder­nesse, than with such an one, hee plainely implieth, that (as [...]. Plut. ero [...]ic. Solution 2. Sophocles saith of some friends) it is much better to be without her than with her; to liue soli­tarie, than to liue with such.

Secondly, the answer of some others is, that M. Cope on the Prouerbs. Sa­lomon speaketh this in regard of the end for which the [Page 4] woman was made, and for which God gaue her, which was Genes. 2. 18. Reiection. Exception 1. for mans good.

But neither doth this satisfie.

For first, Salomon seemeth to speake here rather of the fruit and benefit that commeth by a Wife, where she is such as she should be, than of the bare end for which she was made, or is giuen: And greater is Exception 2. the euill, if being made and giuen for such an end, she proue contrarie thereunto.

Againe, howsoeuer Genes. 2. 1 [...]. the Woman was at first made for mans good: Yet is not euerie Wife giuen of God for good, but some, as Salomon saith, Eccles. 5. 13. of worldly wealth, In malum haben­tis. for the euill of him that is to haue her: as 1 Sam. 18. 21. Saul sometime gaue Micol his Daughter to Dauid, that shee might bee a snare to him. As Rulers are some­time giuen in wrath: Hosh. 13. 11. De [...] iratose [...]u [...]dum [...]e­rita nostrae rectores [...]pimus. Greg. moral. l. 25. c. 20. I gaue them, saith God, a King in my wrath: so are Wiues also sometimes giuen not in mercie, but in wrath. Eccles. 7. 28. & Prov. 22. 14. [...]. Menand. Stob. c. 70. Solution 3. The Sinner, saith Salomon, and he that God is angrie with, shall light vpon such.

Thirdly, others answer, (and their answer is more probable) that it is Piscat. in Proc. Synecdoche Gene­ris pro specie. a Synecdoche, a putting of the generall for the speciall; or Mercer in Prov. an Ellipsis, a defectiue speech; that there wanteth the word good: as Esai. 1. 11. wooll, for white wooll; and Malach. 1. 14. & R. Kimchi ibid. a Male for a sound M [...]le: so Leuat. in Prov. a Wife for a good Wife; which the vulgar Latine therefore hath put into Bonam Vxorem. Lat. vulgata. Exception. Solution 4. the T [...]xt.

This may well seeme somewhat: but yet this is not all: there seemeth somewhat yet more in it than so.

A Wife, saith Salomon; or, Absolute, Mulier dicitur. Lava [...]. a Woman: I need say no more; Tanquam vxor mala, nec vxor sit. Drus. in Prov. clas. 2. lib. 1. & in d [...]g. Ben-Syr. as if an euill Wife were not a Wife, an euill Woman were no Wife. As in the Iewish Tal­mud, [Page 5] an vngracious Sonn [...] is called [...] [...], [...] fili [...] pro filio perdu [...] & [...]gato. Drus. [...] Adag. Ben-Syr. a Sonne no Sonne; and in Scripture, a foolish People is called De [...]. 3 [...]. 21. a People no People. And in the Greeke Riddle, [...]. Pan [...]r. apud Athe [...]. [...]. o [...]. [...]. 10. ex Cl [...]. [...] de griph [...]. & Suid. post Platen. de re­pub. l. 5. an Eunuch, a Man no Man; and the B [...]t, or the Flitter-mouse, a Bird no Bird: and the Ferula, or Giant Fennell, a tree no tree; and the P [...]mice, a stone no stone: So a bad Wife in Salomons reckoning, a Wife no Wife.

It is like that of S. Iohn: 1 Iohn 2. 4. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his Commandements, lieth. But what then? Doth euerie one that knoweth God, keepe his Commandements? Doth not S. Paul say of some, that Rom. 1. 21. when they know God, they glorified him not as God? yea, but Hinc [...]r A­ [...]r [...]ae. Vbi non est p [...]a, non est [...]a. Drus. a­poph [...]h. l. 1. su [...]h knowledge, in S. Iohns account, is as no knowledge: it is at least 2 Pet. 2. 21. Rom. 1. 18. [...]. 12. 47. [...]m 4 14. as good as none. So, [...]sa [...]. 56. 1. Psal. 106. 3. M [...]a. 6. 8. Execute iudgement, saith God; and hee saith not, right iudgement; because Pervers [...] Iudi­c [...], [...]m est [...] ­cium sed vit. [...]. Aug. de [...]. p. 2 [...]6. Wrong iudgement is no iudgement, but mis iudgement, saith Augustine. And [...] [...], Iun. pro beno nomine. Mercer. [...]rus. Prov. cl. 2. l. 1. a Name, saith Salomon, (and hee saith not, a good Name; as if an euill Name were no Name) is [...]. [...]. 1. better than riches; or E cles. 7. 1. [...] [...] [...]. Mer [...]. than a good ointment. And those re­bellious builders of the Tower of Babel; [...]s 11. 4. Let vs get vs a Name: and those great ones before the Floud, [...] V [...] [...]. Gen. 11. 4. Men of Name, or renow [...]. And on the contrarie, we say of some, that they are N [...]. [...]. [...]. o [...]er. l. 1. & [...]omer. [...]. [...]. Men of no note, or no Name; that is, [...] [...], Eustath, [...]. D [...] [...]. [...]p. 4. of no great note, of no good Name; as it other than such were none. And in like sort here Salomon, He that findeth a Wife, meaning onely a good Wife; as if none but such deserued that Name.

So that the Point of Instruction which wee ob­serue hence is this, that [Page 6] She that is not a good Wife is as good as no Wife.

Non ego illam mihi duco dotem esse quae dos dicitur; Sed pudicitiam, & pudorem, & seda­tum cupidinem, Dei metū, parentum a­morem, & cogna­tum concordiam. Plaut. Amph. 2. 2. I count that no Dowrie, saith one that is com­monly Doctr. 1. so called; [...]. Nico­strat. Stob. c. 72. nor doth the Spirit of God count her a Wife, though she be vsually so recko­ned; where pietie, honesty, sobriety, modesty, and wisdome are wanting. Vxor mala, ne vxor quidem. Drus. Reason 1. A bad Wife is as no Wife in Gods account.

And that not without good Cause.

For she is but a Shadow without Substance; shee hath [...]. Plut. de Sen. polit. Titulum [...]e re. Nihil au­tem oportet esse sine causa, id est, sine re. Quia si sine causa [...]it, perinde est at­que si non sit, non habens rei causam rem ipsam. Tertull. in Marc l. 1. a Title without Truth: She beareth the Name; but doth not the Worke of a Wife. For what is a Wife, but Gen. 2. 18. a Woman giuen to Man to be an Helpe and a Comfort to him? But as Pater stulti non gaudebit. Prov. 17. [...]1. the Father of a foole shall haue no ioy of him: So the Husband of a bad or a foolish Wo­man, is like to haue little ioy, or helpe, or comfort of her. And how is she a Comforter, that yeeldeth no comfort? How an Helper, that affordeth no helpe? They are [...]. Euripid. Friends in Name, saith one, but not in deede, that sticke not by a man, but faile him, when he standeth in neede of them: So is she Quo­modo de musto, a [...] passo, [...]. Aristot. de meteor. l. 4. c. 9. videatur Macrob. Saturn. l. 7. c. 7. a Wife in Name, but not in Deed, that affordeth not her Hus­band that Helpe and Comfort that a Wife ought, and that at first she was intended for.

The Prophet stileth some [...] Zech. 11. 17. Pastors, Idol-Shepherds. And why so? Surely, because they are as Images or Idols, that Solent Ima­gines earum reru [...] nominibus appellari, quarum sunt Imagines. Aug. ad Simplic. l. 2. q. 3. & in Leuit. q. 57. & epist. 23. & 102. beare the Names, but haue not the Nature of that whereof they are Images; Dicuntur, & non sunt. 1 Cor. 8. 5. Iren. contr. Val. l. 3. c. 6. & Tertull. ad Marc. l. 5. c. 13. Non est id quod dicitur. 1 Cor. 10. 4. August. de verb. D [...]. 6. they are [Page 7] not in truth that that they are termed: Psal. 115. 5, 6, 7. & 135. 16, 17. they haue mouths, and speake not; eies, and see not; eares, and heare not; hands, and feele not; feet, and walke not: they haue the limmes and lineaments of a Man, but without motion and action: And so those; Esai. 56. 10. they are called Seers; but they see not; and Watchmen, but they watch not: Ezech. 34. 3. Lo­cum pastoris tenent, & non pascunt: praedicatores dicun­tur, & non praedi­cant: doctores, & non docent, Rad. Ardens in Vigil. Ascens. they beare the Name of Fee­ders; but they feed not; they haue the Titles of Tea­chers and Preachers indeed; but they neither preach, nor teach at all. In like manner well may shee bee tearmed an Idol-wife that beareth the Name of a Wife, and sitteth in the house as Quod de Marito sene decrepito ille, Plaut. Merc. 2. 2. Ta [...]tunde est quasi sit signum pictum in par [...]ete. Vnde & Vidua dicitur pu­ella juncta tali. Milit. glor. 4. 1. the Image of a Wife, but doth no part of the office or duty of such an one. Surely, as S^t. Iames saith, that Iam. 2. 26. Reason 2. Faith without Fruits is liuelesse and dead, as [...]. Sine balitu. Spiritus hîc non a­nima, sed balitus, seu [...]atus. Et aptè comparat opera fla­tui; non quasi ope­ra forma sint fidei, sed quia fidem co­mitantur, sicut ba­litus vitam corpo­ris. Vt enim corpu [...] animalis, si non spi­rat, mortuum e [...]; ita sid [...]s, si non pa­ritopera. Caietan. in [...]acoh. 2. a Body with­out Breath: such Faith is Cum fides mortua sit [...]ra opera, jam nec fides est: nam nec mortuus homo, homo est. D [...]dym. in [...]a [...]. 2. Ille verè credit, qui exercet operibus quod credit. Gal. 5. 6. Hieron. apud Thom. Angl. in [...]. 2. no Faith indeed, but a meere Cadaver fidei. Tuke ibid. Carcasse of Faith: So a Wife without Works, shee that beareth a Wiues Name, but doth not a Wiues worke, is no Wife indeed, but a liuelesse Image of a Wife, or (as [...] Vmbra ipsius. Gen. 4. 19. Lamechs second Wiues Name im­porteth) Quomodo Menand. [...] d [...]xit. P [...]. [...]. de [...]ic. a shadow onely of such an one.

And if she be so that performeth not the Office of a Wife; what is she then that doth the contrary? Who when she should be Genes. 2. 18. an Helper, prooueth [...]. Greg. Nazianz. epitaph. Patr. an Hinderer; in the best things especially: like Si­rac. 6. 9. the Friend, that prooueth a Foe, when he should shew himselfe a Friend? when she should be a com­sort, [Page 8] proueth a crosse, a curse, a discomfort? Shee that was made and ordained Genes. 2. 18. for Mans special good, [...] Basil. Sel. homil. 3. Quo­modò Hera [...]li [...]us dixit, [...]. Eustatb. Ili­ad. [...]. crossing the end of her owne Creation, and Gods Ordinance therein, proueth the meanes of his grea­test euill? Like the Scribes and Pharises, that Matth. 23. 2. sat in Moses Chaire, professing themselues and pretending to be [...]. Pastors of Gods People; but, as our Sauiour telleth them, were indeed Iohn 10. 8, 10. Reason 3. Theeues, and Robbers, and Zech. 11. 5. [...]. Basil. hom. 25. Dicimini pasto­res, cum sitis rapto­res. Sermo in Con­cil. Remens. Murtherers of them, Acts 20. 29. [...]. Epictet. apud [...]. c. 5. [...]. Basil. vbi sup. Non se lupis opponunt, sed lupos agunt. Cypr. nomine de dupl. Mart. Nen lupis gregem exponunt, sed lupos ipsi se exhibent. Bern. de convers. c. 13. Wolues either 2 Cor. 11. 14. in Shep­herds weeds, or Ma [...]th. 7. 15. Huic scitum illud Aug. deserm. in mont. l. 2. Non ideò debent oves [...]disse vestimentum suum, quia plerumque illo se occul [...]ant lupi. in Sheeps clothing, such as not only fed not, but Zech. 11. 5. Parum est nostris vigilibus, quod non servant nos, nisi & perdant. B [...]rn. in Cant. 77. Non instituunt, sed prostituunt; non pascunt, sed maciant & deverant. Ibid. killed and destroyed those, Ezech. 34. 2. whom they ought to haue fed and saued. And certainly the good Wife is not so great a Blessing, but the bad is as great a Crosse. Eccles. 9. 9. [...]. Simonid. ab Hesied [...] mutuatus. Clem. Alex. strom. l. 6. No greater Comfort vnder the Sunne than the one, [...]. Homer. ab Orphe [...] mutuatus, qui, [...]. &c. Clem. ibid. nor discomfort than the other.

Againe, A Wife is as [...]. Chrysost. t [...]m. 8. serm. 15. a part, or a limbe of her hus­band. As Children are said to be Parsque tui latitat corpore cl [...]usa meo. Phyllis Ovid. epill. 2. part of their Pa­rents; because they haue their being originally from them: So the Woman may well bee said to bee a part or limbe of Man, because shee had her be­ginning and her being originally from him. For 1 Cor. 11. 8. The Woman is of the Man, saith the Apostle; and [Page 9] not the Man of the Woman: as Children are of their Parents, and not their Parents of them. The Gen. 2. 22. Vnde [...]. l. 3. [...]. 5. Di [...]m p [...]r co [...] s [...] ad [...] Ad [...] mi ascend [...]. Wo­man was made of the Mans rib. She was at first Gen. 2. 23. Ide [...] [...] d [...]a ab [...] vti Vira a V [...]ro. F [...]minas e­nim antiqui Viras app [...]llaban. Fest. Pomp. Hinc Basil. Sel. h [...]m. 3. [...]. ta­ken out of man; and is therefore by Creation as a limbe reast from him. And the was afterward ioyned againe in Mariage with Man, that by Nuptiall coniun­ction becomming Genes. 2. 24. Matth. 19. 5, 6. one flesh with him, she might be as a limbe restored now and [...] Genes. 2. 24. [...]. Matth. 19. 5. Ephes. 5. 31. fastned againe to him.

Euerie Wife should bee then as a part of her Hus­band; as a limme of him that hath her. But the Wo­man that beareth the Name, and standeth in the roome of a Wife, but doth not the office and dutie of a Wife, is but as Ocu [...] exemptiles, quales Lamiae sin­guntur. Plu [...]. de [...]urios. Reason 4. an eye of glasse, or a siluer nose, or an i [...]orie tooth, or Qualis nuper de­pre [...]ensa fertur [...] m [...]lite ad Bergam Somianam caeso. an iron hand, or [...], qualis Arcadici Va­ [...]s apud Hero [...]. Plut d [...] srat. char. a woodden leg, that oc­cupieth the place indeed, and beareth the Name of a limbe or a member, but is not truly or properly any part of that bodie whereunto it is fastned; it is but [...]. Aristot. [...] equiuocally so called.

Yea, those artificiali and equiuoca [...] [...]imbs, though they bee not properly parts, nor stand the bodie in much stead: yet are they rather helpfull, than hurt­full or harmfull any way to it; they helpe to supply a place defectiue, that would otherwise stand vacant, and by supplying it, to conceale in part such Legatur [...]. de curt. ch [...]g. lib. 1. cap. 2, 3, 5. ble­mishes, as would otherwise lie more open to the eye of others.

But with a bad Wife, an vndiscreet woman, it is far worse. Shee not onely standeth her Husband in no stead, but thee is [...]. An [...]. a sore burden, and a foule blemish, [Page 10] and not an eye sore onely, but euen an heart-sore to him that hath her. Prov 13. 4. She [...] shameth him, saith Salo­mo [...], and is [...] S [...]ut de I [...], Pro. 14. 30. [...]. Greg. Naz in B [...]sil. as rottennesse in his bones. And she may therefore be compared rather to [...]. Plut. praece [...] [...]. a wart, or a wen, and that sited and seated in some conspicuous part; (for Prov 27. 16. she is as ointment in ones hand that cannot bee concealed) which as it is no benefit, so it is a burden and a blemish to the bodie; or to a wolfe, or a cancer, that [...], [...] o [...]er. l. 1. Plu [...]. de [...]irt & vit. & de [...]ua [...]it. consumeth the flesh, wasteth the vitall parts, and eateth euen to the verie heart. For [...]; So­phoel. Antig [...]. no sorer vlcer than a bad friend, in Sophocles his iudgement; than a bad wife, in Salomons account.

Well saith August. ad illud 1 Ioan. 2. 19. Exi­crunt à nobis, sed [...]on erant è [...]obis. Augustine of vngodly and bad-liued Christians, that Etiam quando in­ [...]er nos erant, ex nobis non cram. I­dem de corr [...]. & grat c. 9. though they bee in the bodie of the Church, yet are they no part of it: they are but as ex­crescencies, or as excrements, or Sic sunt in corpo­re Christi, q [...]do [...]umores mali Aut in m [...] sumus, aut in [...] hum [...] ­ri [...]us. Qu [...] se i [...] melius [...]. [...]. in corpore [...]e [...]brum est: qui in malitia permanet, humer m [...]lies est. Idem in 1 Iohn. [...]. 3. as bad humours in mans bodie: the Bodie is but the worse for them; and H [...]mores mal [...] cum cu [...]muntur, corpus rel [...]tur. Ibid. were better without them. And the like may be said of such Wiues as these are. The one are in the House, as the other are in the Church: (Such V [...]r in d [...]me, [...] in ligno. H [...]m. a [...]v. [...]vi [...]. l. 1. ex Graee. Vers. Prov. 12. 4. [...]. a Wife in the house, as a worme in wood, saith Ierome:) wasters and consumers both of the Husband and of it. And if the Wife be one, as Salomon telleth vs, that helpeth to Prov. 14. 1. [...]. Me [...]and. build vp the house: surely shee that hel­peth to pull downe that that the Wife buildeth, may well bee [...]uled, Prov. 14. 1. a foolish woman, if you will, but no Wife.

Augustus Caesar vsed to terme his three vntoward [Page 11] Children, his Tres vomicas, tria carcinomata. Sueton. Aug. c. 65. three materie impostumes, or his three vlcerous cancers. And if foolish and vngracious children may well be so termed, as Gen. 26. 34, 35. & 27. 46. [...]. Eu­rip. [...]; Sophocl. An­tigon. being no better to those that breed them: much more may a per­uerse Wife, being no better euen in Prov. 12. 4. Salomons iudge­ment than either of those to him that hath her; the rather since that as shee came from a part neerer the heart than they, so her peruersenesse may well goe neerer the heart with him, than their vntowardnesse with them.

As well therefore may a wart, or a wen, or a wolfe, or a cancer bee termed a part of the bodie, as that wo­man be termed a Wife, that is but a blemish, as a wart; or a burden, as a wen; or a continuall heart-sore, as a wolfe; or corruption and rottennesse, as a cancer or a gangreane, in the bones of him that hath her. And no maruell then, if a bad Wife bee not accounted with God as a Wife, when shee is (not onely as good as, but) farre worse than no Wife; when it is so much better to be without her, than with her.

Now this Point then may serue,

First for Examination for women hereby to exa­mine Vse 1. Examination. themselues, whether they be Wiues or no.

But, What needs that? may some say. Tis well Exception. enough knowne already, that wee are wiues and maried women. We were contracted before companie; and ma­ried openly in the face of the Congregation, all ceremo­nies and circumstances obserued that could bee required, or are vsuall in such cases. And the Church booke where we were maried, will testifie as much.

I answer. All this may bee, and yet thou no Wife Answer. for all that. A maried woman thou mayst be, and yet [Page 12] no Wife. For, though thou wert contracted Coram mille te­stibus. before a thousand Witnesses; and married publikely in the frequentest and most solemne assembly, not by the hand of an ordinarie Minister, but of a Bishop or an Archbishop, no rite or Ceremony omitted, either the Wedding Ring, (that Tertullian Annulus pronu­bus, Tertull. de Ido­lolatr, & in Apolog. Etiam nunc sponsae annul' ferreus mit­titur, id (que) sine gem­mâ, Plin. hist. nat. l. 33. c. 1. Atqui au­reus is Tertulliani tempore; prout & nobis nunc dierum. more than once mentioneth, and De nullius idoli honore descendit. Tertul. de Idolatr. freeth from taint of Superstiti­on) or any other: Yet art thou no Wife, if thou doest not the dutie of a Wife; if thine Husband haue not that good of thee that Gods Spirit here speaketh of.

Let me shew it thee by the like.

The Iewes were all circumcised; and yet God saith by Ieremie that Ierem. 9. 25, 26. he will visit all those that are vn­circumcised, and Futile enim com­mentum est quod Autor libri Aruch habet, de circumci­sis cum praeputio, hocest, gentibus quae circumcisae cum o­lim fuissent, iam ri­tum illum abiecis­sent; quod Drusius tamen amplexus est. Videndus Cunaeus de repub. Hebr. l. 3. c. 5. the Iewes among the rest. Why? might some men say; were not the Iewes circumci­sed then? No; saith the Prophet; Ier. 9. 26. Those other Nations are vncircumcised in the Flesh; and you Iewes, though circumcised in the Flesh, yet are vncircumci­sed in spirit. And Rom. 2. 28. that outward Circumcision of the Flesh, saith Saint Paul, it is nothing, without the in­ward Circumcision of the Spirit. And, [...]. Rom. 2. 25. Circum­cision is accounted no other than Vncircumcision, if a man be not a keeper of the Law. Or, to come neerer home: [...]. 1 Pet. 3. 21. Baptisme saueth; saith Saint Peter. But what then? might some thinke: Are all that are bap­tised sure to be saued? yea vndoubtedly, Marc. 16. 16. Si per [...]ectum est in cor­de, quod factum est in corpore. Aug. in 1 Ioan. 3. 9. Nec sane, hoc sensu, haereticum aut errone­um illud Iouiniani; Qui plena fide in baptismate renatus est, à Diabolo subverti non potest. all that are effectually baptised: But the Baptisme that I speake of, saith the Apostle, is 1 Pet. 3. 21. not the putting away of the filth of the Bodie, but 1 Pet. 1. 22. the purging and clensing of [Page 13] the Soule. As a man then, though he haue beene dipt ouer head and eares in the Font, may yet in Gods rec­koning remaine still vnbaptised, euen 1 Tim. [...]. 8. as much as any Infidell, Heathen or Pagan, that was neuer offered vnto Baptisme; In like manner may a Woman be ioyned to an Husband, yea and liue long with him as a Wife, and yet for all that be in Gods estimation as no Wife.

But how may a Woman know then whether shee Quest. be a Wife or no?

I answer: Reade ouer the Rules that [...]. 5. 22, 23, 24, 33. Colos. 3. [...]8. S. Paul Answ. and 1 Pet. 3. 1. 6. S. Peter prescribe Maried Women; and exa­mine thy selfe by them. Reade ouer [...]ou. 31. 10. the Descrip­tion that Salomons Mother maketh of a good Wife; and compare thy selfe with it. There is set downe a Paterne and a Precedent for thee. There is Iam. 1. 23, 25. In Scripturis quasi in speculo quodā homo considerare se potest, qualis [...]it, Aug. de temp. 112. Sit tibi tanquam Speculum Symbolum tuum, I­dem hom. 42. Man­data Dei, [...]ive cum leguntur, [...]ive cum memo. id r [...]n­tur, [...]am Spe­culum [...] est. Idem in Psal. 118. Euangelium Specu­lum veritatis nemi­ni [...]tur, neminem [...] it. Talem se in eo quisque rep [...]ri [...]t, qu [...] [...]erit. Nos autem sic in [...]o nos [...], ut ex [...]o p [...]siciam [...]s, & [...] [...]sam [...], siqua in nobis cor­rigenda deprehend m [...]s. Bern. de temp. 78. P [...] d [...] specula s [...]nt, [...] quibus se animae [...]ter [...], ex quibus [...]las su [...] cog [...]ant, vi [...] [...]. Idem de m [...]d. vi [...]. a Looking Glasse for thee (as S. Iames speaketh of Gods Word in generall) to see thy selfe in, and to shew thee what thou art. And it were to be wisht that as [...]. Socrates apud Laert. S [...] Socrates discipulis [...], [...] [...] in [...]lo [...] larentur, &c. Apul. apolog. Sed & [...], [...] Stob. c. 21. the Philo­sopher willed his followers to view themselues oft in a glasse, that if they found themselues faire and come­ly, they might be carefull to haue their cariage and courses correspondent, if otherwise, they might striue by morall abilities to make amends for and re­compence what were wanting that way: so that euery Maried Woman did, if not once a day, or once [Page 14] a weeke, yet once a month at least seriously looke her selfe in this Glasse. Which it is to be feared that too many are theresore very loth to looke into, be­cause they know how they shall finde themselues there before-hand: And as [...]. De Laide Plato. [...]. I [...]l [...]ā. An­thológ. l. 6. c. 8. that old withered Har­lot therefore cast away her looking Glasse, because she could not therein see her selfe such as she would; so they shunne this Glasse, not affecting it, because they cannot see themselues therein such as they should. But Scriptura sacra quasi Speculum mē ­tis oculis opponatur, ut in ea facies in­terna videatur. Ibi sentiemus, quantū profici [...]us, ibi, quā ­tum à profectu di­stamus. Greg. Mor. l. 2. c. 1. Speculum hoc habet splendorem non mēdacem. Formosus es? formosum ibi te vides. Foedus es? soedum. Sed cum foedus accesseris, & soedum ibi te videris, noli speculum accusare. Non te fallit speculum: tu no [...] te fallere. Red [...]adie, judica de te: contrif [...]are de foeditate tua, ut cum discesseris tristis foedus, correctus possis red [...] [...]. Aug. de temp. 235. Sed & idem epist. 205. Epistola haec tibi Specu­lum sit, ubi qualis sis [...]deas, vbi d [...]s qualis esse debe [...]s. Et Hieron. ad Occan. Speculum proponi­tur. Iam in potestate & consc [...] singuloru [...] est, quales ibise aspiciant, ut vel d [...]lere ad deformi­tatē, vel gaudere ad [...] [...] p [...]ssint. Et Bern. de Consid. lib. 2. Admovi Speculum. Foedus se in eo vultus agnoscat. S [...]d & [...] dissimilem inveniri se gaudet, in [...]ciat, ne forte & si sit [...]nde placeat sibi, etiam in quo debe [...] [...]cere, non desit. let vs set the Glasse before them that they may looke on it, and view themselues in it if they will: which if it shall shew them themselues farre other than they would seeme to be, it is not the fault of the Glasse, but their owne; let them blame them­selues, and not it.

A Wife then, say those Apostles, is one, that is Ephes. 5. 22, 23, 24. 1 Pet. 3. 1, 5, 6. subiect and obedient to her Husband, as her Head.

But many by this Rule, will hardly proue Wiues; being Non uxor, sed Do [...]. Hieron. adv. Iovin. l. 1. [...]. Chrysost. tom. 8. serm. 15. [...]. Epi­ctet. Enchir. c. 60. [...] Domina: celebrandus natalis. Theophr. de nupt. Hinc to [...]es O­vid. Nu [...]iet [...] [...] Domina [...] ven [...]sse. Trist. 3. 3. Inque [...] Dominae cons [...]sse meae. Ibidem 4. 8. Et, [...] [...] Dominae natalis honorem exig [...]. Ibidem 5. 5. Mistresses (as Ierome speaketh) rather than Wiues, to those that haue them, or rather Quemo­do Aristippus de La [...]de, [...]. Laide. & Athen. l. 12. Habeo La [...]dem, non habeor à Laide. Cic. ep. 26. l. 9. whom [Page 15] they haue; [...] [...] [...] Mar­ [...] [...] 1 [...]. l. 8. [...] quam ea quo ad Laert. [...]. being maried rather to them, then hauing maried them, as he speaketh. So that their Husbands (if they may so be termed that are so mated) may say, that Argentum acce­p [...], [...] 1. 1. [...] quidam [...] non acceper [...] de­ [...] libertatem [...] when they receiued their Wiues [...], (if they [...]ad ought at least with them; for euen [...] those that bring nothing oft are as [...] in this kinde, as those that bring most) ther sold away their owne libertie, and tooke in [...] a M [...]e in [...]d of a Wife; as the Cynickes Master d [...] [...] a Ma [...]r in stead of a Seruant; and Nazianzen sai [...]h that [...] some Wiues doe in stead of an Husband: One that will [...] rule and ouer-rule them, as he said that [...] Queenes, or [...] Queanes rather [...] of [...] condition, their Concubines did Kings; and of the Persian Monarks, when that State most flourished, it was a common by-word, that [...] ther were Ma [...]ers of the whole world, and their wiues their Ma [...], not vnlike Cato his complaint also sometime of his Countri [...]en; [Page 16] [...]. Cato. Plut. a­pophth. All Men rule their Wiues, we rule all Men; and our Wiues rule vs; One that will guide and gouerne him that should be Prov. 2. 17. her Guide, yea and, it may be, com­mand him Verum itaque hic illud A [...]brosij ex­hort. virg. Mcliori conditione Manci­pia, quam Coniugia comparantur. Et Pallad. anthol. l. 1. c. 19. [...]. more imperiously than many a Master would his Slaue. They are [...]. Plut. de virt. & vit. no Men, saith one, but Bond-men to their Wiues, or [...]. Idem paedagog. Vi­de & Aristot. E­thic. l. g. c. 10. [...]. to their Portions at least, that endure it. And they are no Wiues sure, but Mistresses, or more than Mistresses, that offer it.

Againe, she is a Wife, as Prov. 31. 10.- Salomons Mother de­scribeth her, that is not a good Houswife onely in the House, but a good Wife also to her Husband; that Prov. 31. 11. doth him good all his daies, all the daies, at least, that she liueth with him.

Shee is a Wife then indeed, and none but shee, in whom these two concurre, that shee is both a good Hous-wife, and a good Wife too to him that hath her. But how many Maried women are there, in whom neither of these are? how many in whom they meet not? How many are there not Hous-wiues, but [...]. Theophyl. epist. 42.) [...]. Simonid. [...], &c. Plut. de virt. & vit. Drones rather? liuing wholly on the sweat of their Husbands browes, as the Drone doth on the honey that the Bee maketh and bringeth in? How many though not Drones, yet Droiles rather than Wiues? that will toile and moile indeed about the house, as we say, like horses; but are withall [...]. Simonid. Stob. c. 71. of so crooked and crabbed a nature, of so currish, vnquiet, and contentious a disposition, that their Husbands can [Page 17] haue no ioy, nor comfort at all of them: there can be no comfortable cohabitation or conuersing with them.

There may be good cause therefore euen for mar­ried Women to examine themselues whether they be Wiues or no: since that if they answer not that, which Gods word and will, yea which the very Name giuen them, requireth of them, they are as no Wiues in Gods account.

But here a Question or two would be answered. Questions 2. Quest. 1.

For first, may some say: If such a Wife be no Wife, may a Man then lawfully put away such a Wife?

I answer; No: As the Rabbines speake, Os, quod in sorte tua cecidit, rodas. Drus [...]in Adag. Ben-Syrae. The Answ. bone thou must gnaw, that is fallen to thy Lot. There is Pactum Dei. Pro. 2. 17. a knot of God betweene you, that cannot be vn­knit. Matth. 19. 6. God hath ioyned her vnto thee either in mer­cie, or in wrath; to be, as he saith of Rulers, Bonus si fuerit, qui tibi prae [...]st, nu­tritor tuus est: ma­lus si fuerit, tenta­tor tuus est. Aug. de Verb. Dom. 6. Answ. ei­ther a Nurse to thee, or a Scourge. And Matth. 19 6. Those that God hath ioyned together, Man may not seuer.

Yea but, may not a Man forbeare to doe the Du­tie Quest. 2. of an Husband to such an one? For Ita legit Iun. ver­ba Domini, Ier. 31. 32. Et ego ill [...] Maritus essem? ut concil [...]et, cum Hebr. 8. 9. [...]. Sic Cic. Phil. 2. Non tr [...]ct [...]bo ut Consulem: ne ille m [...] quidem vt Consularem. Et Crassus Philippo, Non es m [...]hi, Philippe, Consul, quia noc ego quidem tibi Senator sum. Val. Max. lib. 6. cap. 2. & Cic. de Orat. lib. 3. Sed & Christiane parum. Iul. Scalig. de Eras [...]o Epist. 15. Si non est mihi Christianus, [...]ur ego illi sim? why should I, will some say, be an Husband to her, if shee be not a Wife to me?

I answer; No: [...]eb [...]s Deo. Thou owest it to God. And it is not default of dutie on her part, that can discharge thee of thy debt to him. As Basil saith of Rulers, [...]. Basil. Caesar. Rom. 13. 5. 1 Pet. 2. 13, 14. We must obey, the good as God, the bad for God. And [Page 18] S. Peter of Masters, that 1 Pet. 2. 18, 19. Seruants must for [...]. con­science sake be subiect to the froward as well as the cour­teous. So must thou doe the dutie of an Husband as well to a bad as to a good Wife, for conscience of Gods command. Doe thou thy dutie for God, and thou shalt haue thy reward from God. As our Sauiour saith Luk. 14. 14. of those that relieue the poore, though they cannot re­quite them, yet God will reward them; so though she doe not with kindnesse answer thee, God will requite thee, in the Resurrection of the Righteous.

And so much briefly for Answer to those two Questions.

Secondly, this Point may serue as for Examina­tion, so for Premonition, to those that are to enter in­to Vse 2. Premonition. this estate, that they consider seriously before­hand, what they vndertake, that they weigh well what they goe about: Not thinke as many doe, that they marrie for their ease, or they marrie to be maintai­ned; to be maintained in sloth and idlenesse, or in vanitie and pride: like those, who, as Bernard spea­keth, Tum demum si­ne curis victuros se sperant, postquā ad curas pervenerint. Bern. epist. 42. thinke to liue without Care, when they haue gotten a charge or a cure.. No: thou mariest to be a Wife; and that is not [...]. Greg. Naz. Apolog. Nu [...]ū nomē. Quo­modo Apul. in A­polog. Nuptiarum titulus falsus & imaginarius. a naked Name, or a bare title; it is the Name of an Office, that hath many Duties an­nexed to it. Gen. 2. 18. It is not good for man to be alone, saith God; I will make him an Helpe. He doth not say, I will make him a wife: or, I will make him a woman, that may be an Helpe to him: though hee meant so to doe: but, I will make him an Helpe. So that A wife is a Woman ioyned to Man to be an Helpe to him: And for a Woman to be a Wife, is to be an Help to her Hus­band. But wherein to be an Helpe? 1 Tim. 5. 14. Let the youn­ger [Page 19] Women, saith the Apostle, marrie, [...]. Quo loco [...] includit, quod & exprimitur, cap. 5. 10. quo modo & [...] etiam [...] cō. prehendit. cap. 2. 15. breed, (that is, beare, and bring vp) children, and gouerne the fa­milie. That is the end of their Mariage: and to doe that, is to be a Wife. And that therefore must euerie woman that intendeth to marrie, fore-thinke of, re­solue on, and make account of before hand, if euer she meane to be a Wife.

Hebr. 13. 4. Mariage is honourable, as the Apostle saith: And the Name of a Wife is an honourable Title. We are wont to giue them place before those that bee yet vnmaried, vnlesse they be farre vnequall other­wise. But Henos omnis & o [...] [...]um ha­bet. Bern. epist. 42. Nec datur benefi­cium nisi propter officium. Reg. Iur. Can. Et, Rationi congruit vt succe­d [...]t in onere, qui substituitur in ho­nore. Bonif. in 6^o. reg. jur. c. 77. Vse 3. Admonition. euerie dignitie hath some dutie annexed vnto it. And Non est dignum vt inde exigas ho­norem vnde refugi [...] laborem. Bernard. epist. 87. it is not equall that those that refuse the one, should expect euer to enioy the other. Yea, the greater the honour is, the greater is the dishonour, if the dutie be not done that that honour exacteth.

Thirdly, it may serue, as for Premonition, so for Ad­monition; for premonition to those that intend or desire to enter, for admonition to those that are en­tred already. Art thou a maried woman then? As Ie­rom saith to the Monk; Lege quod appel­laris; es [...]o quod di­ceris. Hieron ad Nepol. & ad Ru­s [...]ic. Cura esse quod audis. Horat. epist. 16. Read what thou art here called, and be that that thou art stilēd. Thou art stiled a Wife. But thou art no wife, if thou doest not a Wiues worke: no more than Zech. 11. 5. 16, 17. Non omnes Episco­pi Episcopi sunt. Hieron. ad Heliodor. Nec est verus sacerdos omnis qui sacerdos nominatur. Gratian. d [...]r. d. 40. c. 12. Nec Episc [...]pus enim aut presbyter est dicendus, cum non si, qui praeesse velit, prodesse nolit. Iuell. apolog. the Shepherd is a Shepherd if he feed not his flocke. Consider therefore well what the dutie of a Wife is, that thou mayest indeed faithfully and conscionably performe it; that thou mayest make good what in that Name is required of thee. Else as one saith well, that Ipsum rea [...] [...] est [...]ium non. en. Sal [...]ian. de prouident. l 4. the verie title of godli­nesse [Page 20] maketh the vngodly man guiltie: so Magis enim est damnabilis malitia, quam titulus boni­ta [...]is accusat. Ibid. the verie Title that thou art called by, will one day condemne thee. And it had better for thee neuer to haue taken that Name on thee, if thou doest not that that the Name importeth. For as it were no sinne for a man not to feed a Flocke, if Ezech. 34. 2, 3. Locum pastoris te­nent & non pa­scunt; stipendia prae­dicatoris accipiunt, & non praedicant: doctores vocari vo­lunt, & non docent: qui meritò securi aeternae damnatio­nis succid [...]nd [...] sunt, quia terram occu­pant, & fructum non faciunt. Rad. Ardens in Vigil. Ascens. he did not beare the Name, and take vp the place of a Pastor, if he were not called so to doe: So it were no sinne for a Woman, not to bee in this manner an Helper to Man, if shee did not beare the Name, and supply the place of a Wife, if she were not called to be such an one.

And this is a great fault, with much griefe to bee spoken of, among many Professors, that they seeme verie carefull of the obseruance of the generall duties of Christianitie; but are too too carelesse of perfor­mance of the speciall duties of their particular states and places: Forward Christians (to see to) in the ge­nerall; but failing fouly and fearefully, when it commeth to the particular; carelesse housholders, (and you know what 1 Tim. 5. 8. [...]. Autor. quaest. orthodox. apud Iu­stin. quaest. 3. the Apostle saith of such;) sond Parents; negligent and vndutifull seruants; no good Husband to Wife; no good Wife to Husband: like a blinde Eye in the bodie, that hath sense and mo­tion, the generall faculties, common to it with the other parts, but wanteth sight, that is Rom. 12. 4, 6. Singula suū mem­bra habent o [...]i [...]iū: [...]culus videt, & non audit; auris audit & non videt; ma­nus operatur, n [...]c audit, nec videt; p [...]s ambulat, nec audit, nec videt, n [...]c facit, quod facit manus. Aug. in Psal. 130. Videmus hominibus inspiratam velut aurig [...]m rectricemque m [...]mbrerum animam, sensusque inj [...]c [...]os ad ea dis [...]er [...]da, quae [...]actu, naribus, auribus (que) & oculis i [...]dagantur, pedes ad progressum compositos, brachia ad complexum, &c. nihil aures agere valent, quod oculorum est, nihil oculi, quod aurium. [...]m. d [...] re [...]ust. l. 3. c. 10. the proper function and office of it: or a lame hand, that is as sensible, yea more sensible it may be than any other [Page 21] part of the bodie, but either cannot, or doth not any worke. That which bringeth a foule scandall oft vpon Christian profession; when wee shall heare, as many complaine, that they haue found more faith­full and diligent seruice in such seruants as haue gi­uen little shew of sauing or sanctifying grace, than in such as haue made great profession of pietie; so others againe, that more louing and kinde cariage, and more dutifull demeanour towards their Hus­bands, is found in diuers women, though well na­tured, yet not religiously nurtured, than in many that would seeme to haue made great progresse in pietie: when many meere ciuill persons liue more lo­uingly, more comfortably, more contentedly toge­ther, than not a few of those doe, (wheresoeuer the fault be, sometime in the one partie, and sometime in both,) that are otherwise verie forward and eager professors. As Plus in bono va­lere vires ingeni Quam Gratiam, infirmat valorem gratiae. if Nature were able to doe more than Grace could doe: or as if true pietie and godli­nesse did not exact of Men and Women, a diligent, carefull, and conscionable performance of good Duties, Quaedam De [...] praecepta sunt com­munia omnium, non specialia aliquorum. Vt ergò audacem r [...]um temeritatis suae patenti objecti­one conueniat, non cum praecepta com­munia, sed propria & singularia con­temps [...]sse demon­strat. Greg. in illud 1 Sam. 13. 13. Non obseruas [...] manda [...] D [...]i, quod manda­uit tibi. Vse 4. Information. as well in the one kinde as in the other.

Fourthly, it may serue for Information, to informe vs how God esteemeth of such as are faultie or defe­ctiue this way. Art thou a Wife; but not a good Wife? God esteemeth thee as no Wise; yea, as no Woman; for [...] Hebr. [...]t & [...] Graec. the same word signifieth either.

I [...]rem. 5. 1. Search, saith God to Ieremie, all Ierusalem tho­row, if thou canst finde a Man; or if there be any one that dealeth vprightly: as if the rest, those that were not such, or did not so, were no Men. As Ab Olympi [...]s l [...] ­ [...]s reuersus, [...]t Laert. è [...]alnco pro­d [...]s, vt Hecato in Chrij [...]; [...]. the Cy­ [...]ick sometime said, that there was a great throng of [Page 22] folke where he had beene at a solemne meeting, but few Men; and hauing called Men to come to him, when many came flocking about him, hee beat them away, and said, [...]. Laert. he called Men, and not them; there­by implying that they were not such Men as hee meant. And surely, as such Men were no Men in his account: yea, bad Men are in truth no Men, how so­euer they seeme to be such: Erras, si istorum, qui occurrunt tibi, vultibꝰ credis. Ho­minum effigies ha­bent, animos sera­rum. Senec. Epist. 103. [...]. Ex Empeda [...]le Theoph. epist. 44. You are much mistaken, saith he, if you take them all for Men that you meet with. They are Men in shape, but beasts in minde; Omnes homines nati sumus: sed non omnes homines ho­mines sumus. Qui­dam homines non sunt homines. Est homo homo: & est homo non homo, ho­mo serpens, Matth. 3. 7. homo equus, Ier. 5. 8. homo ju­mentum, Psal. 49. 20. Secundum ex­teriorem hominem homo, s [...]c. interiorem non homo, sed serpens, &c. Origen. in Ezech. homil. 3. Men out­wardly, [...]; Luc. 13. 32. &c. Epictet. Arrian. l. 1. c. 3. Hos, vt ait Salustius, ventri obedientes, animalium loco numeremus non hominum. Sen. ep. 60. Beasts, if not Ierem. 10. 14. Ipsis [...]estijs b [...]lialior est homo ratione vigens, & ratione non viuens. Bern. de bon. deser. worse than beasts, inwardly. [...]. Lycurg. apud Stob. c. 2. All the difference, saith one, is, that the one goeth vp­right, (and yet O curuae in terras animae. Pers. sat. 2. & Lact. instit. l. 2. c. 2. In recto corpore curua est anima. Annon confunderis sursū caput habere, qui sursū cor nō habes? corpore recto stare, qu [...] corde repis in terra? An nō in terra est repere, carnē sapere? &c. Bern. de divers. 12. some will hardly grant that too) whereas the other groueleth vpon the ground. So bad Wiues are no Wiues in Gods account, nay, nor Wo­men; but wilde beasts, as [...]. Laert. Intrat bestia non puella: dis [...]urr [...]t fera, non foemina. Pet. Chrysolog. serm. 127. the Cynick sometime spake, in the likenesse of Women; yea worse rather than such, as Salomon also plainely implieth, when he saith, that Prov. 21. 19. Sirac. 25. 20. [...]. Pseudo-Chrysost. tom. 7. serm. 99. [...]. Greg. Naz. apud Anton. Meliss. l. 2. c. 34. [...]. Menand. [...]. Eurip. Ph [...]ni [...]. it is better to abide with wilde beasts in [Page 23] the wildernes, than to be tied to keep house with such.

And the like may and must bee said of the other partie. As the Wi [...]e is no Wife, i [...] shee bee not a Good Wife: so is the Husband no Husband, if hee bee not a good Husband. He is E [...] [...]. Chrys. in 1 Cor. hom. 26. Quomodò [...]us [...]. p [...]p [...]r. E­vang. l. 7. [...]. 8. [...]. no man, but a beast, saith Chryso­stome; a wilde beast rather than an Husband, that is not kinde and courteous, that i [...] ha [...]s [...] and currish to his wife. He is no husband, if he do not the duty of an hus­band; as she is no wife, if she do not the worke of a wife.

And Quod Aug. de a­lij [...] quibusdam; Si am [...] tal [...]s sunt, c [...] ­i [...]ges, [...] is vo­centur, non suat, de nupt. & concupisc. l. 1. c. 15. where both parties are herein faultie, and [...], uti scitè Themist. apud Stob. c. 67. [...]. Lycurg. ibid. c. 68. Vse 5. Caution. rather bide than liue vnquietly together, we may well say of them, [...] we vse to say, that they liue to­gether, as Dog and Cat; not as Man and Wife, but as bruit beasts, or not so well rather, as euen Ipsae ferae saevissi­ [...] genus proprium p [...]ce quadam custo­diunt, coeundo, gi­gnendo, partendo, [...]oetus [...]ov [...]ndo at (que) e [...]do, cum s [...]nt alioqui insociabiles, & s [...]livagae. Quae enim tigris non filijs suis [...]tis [...], & pa [...]ta [...] blanditur? Quis [...] us, qu [...] [...] [...] [...] circumvolet, non [...]gium [...] pulat, ni [...]m congerit, [...] cons [...]v [...]t, pull [...]s a [...]t, & quasi [...]um sua [...] [...]cie­tatem domesticam qu [...]ta potest pace conservat? Aug. [...] [...]. [...]. 19. c. 12. wilde beasts are wont to doe. They are no better at all in Gods sight than such: and they must looke one day to answer, not onely for the wrong that they doe either to other, but for the wrong also that they doe vnto God and his ordinance, by bringing through their fault a foule imputation vpon it.

Fiftly, this may serue for a Caueat to such as are yet to chuse. Doest thou want a Wife, and wouldest haue one? Make enquirie for a good Wife; else thou wert better haue no Wife; better without her, if she be a bad one, than with her.

Oh could I but get [...]. A [...]r. [...]. 46. Protinus ad cen­sum; de moribus vl [...]ma [...]iet Quaestio. Iuven. Sat. Ma [...]a cu [...]a, vbi dos est, facile nubitur: Du [...] dos si [...], nullum vitium vitio vortitur. Plaut. Pers. 3. 1. C [...] [...]d foemina, quaeritur pecu­nia. Iul. S [...]al. epido [...]p. l. 4. a rich Wife, a wealthie one, [Page 24] saith one; I were well, I were made for euer. And, Let mee haue Formosa virgo est, dotis dimidium vocant Isti, qui do­tes negligunt vxo­rias. Afran. Virgo sormosa, etsi sit op­pidò pauper, abun­de tamen dotata est. Apul. in apolog. a faire one, saith another, and I care for no more. Iudg. 14. 7. Giue me the woman, saith Sampson, for she pleaseth mine eye. But as that worthie Grecian once said, that hee would rather haue for his Daughter, [...]. Plut. vita Themisto [...]l. & in apophth. Malo virum, qui pecunia egeat, quam pecu­niam quae viro. Cic. offic. l. 2. [...]. Eurip. An­drom. a Man without money, than money without a Man: So better were it for thee to haue a wife without [...]. Diodor. Stob. c. 76. Dos est magna parentum virtus, & metuens alterius tori certo soedere castitas. Hor. carm. 3. 24. Dummodò morata rectè veniat, dotata est satis. Plaut. Aul. 1. 4. wealth or Prov. 11. 22. Mulier nequiequam exornata est b [...]nè, si morata est malè. Plaut. Most. 1. 3. Pulchrum ornatum tur­pes mores pe [...]s coeno collinunt: Lepid [...] mores turpem ornatum sacilè sactis comprobant. Idem. Poen. 1. 2. beautie, than to haue wealth or beautie without a wife; and so Quomodò Teles auaros dicit [...]. Stob. c. 95. bee as farre from hauing the comfort of a Wife, as if thou hadst no Wife at all. Multos tibi da­bo, qui non amicis, sed amicitia caruerunt. Senec. epist. 6. Multi more isto atque exemplo vivunt, quos cum [...]enseas Tibi amices, reperiuntur falsi falsimonijs, Lingua factiosi, ineries opera, sublesta fide. Plaut. Bacch. 3. 6. A man, saith one, may haue many Friends ( [...]. Plut. Symp. probl. 4. 1. Sic illum amicum vocasti, quo modo omnes candidatos bonos viros dicimus; quo modo obuios, si nomen non succurrit, Domi [...]os salu­tamus. Sen. epist. 3. Non de vulgari ego amicitia, sed de vera loquer, qualis eorum qui pauci nomi­nantur, suit. Cic. de Amic. such as we com­monly call friends) and yet among his many friends, hee may finde little friendship. And so may a man haue many a Wife, such as vsually beare the name of Wiues, and yet finde little enough of that good in any of them, that Salomon here intimateth to bee in a Wife.

If thou wouldest haue a Wife then, Vbi quaeret quis vxorem, videar an nuptias suas amet, an nihil pluris faciat marito, an misericors sit, an fortis sit, si quid viro inciderit mali, vna tolerare. Si his bonis fu­erit instructa, dotata est. Sen. contron. 6. seeke thee a good Wife; seeke thee a fit Wife. For if shee be not a good Wife, and a fit Wife; (and she is no good [...]fe for thee, if she be not fit for thee;) thou shalt haue no [Page 25] Wife of her. As a learned man said sometime of Rome hauing beene somewhile there, that a man might Spurcū cadau [...]t prist [...]ae venustatis: Ne [...] [...]oma Romae cōpot, & tamē Ro­ma: Sed Roma quae praestare non pote [...] Romam. Ius. Scalig. Vtpote vbi, Nec somnium, nec vm­bra, nec s [...]nus Ro­mae. Iul. Stalig. po [...]m. Et Ian. Vital. Qui Romam in media quaeris no­vus aduena Roma, Vt Romae in Roma nil reperis media [...] Roma siquidem Ro­ma non est, nihil h [...] ­bens praeter ruinas ruderaque, priscae calamitatis ci [...]atri­ces ac vestigia. E­rasm. [...]iceronian. Seeke Rome in Rome, and yet not finde her there; Rome was so much altred from that that it had beene: And the Orator of Sicilie, after Verres had gouerned there, that men Vt in vberrim [...] Siciliae parte Sici­ [...]am quaereremus. Cic. in Verr. 3. sought Sicilie in Sicilie, it was by him so impouerished: And a Reuerend Pre­late of ours, of Bellarmines latter works, that many Bellarm [...] quae­runt in Bellarmino. Lancel. iam w [...]nton. E [...] in desens. Reg. co [...]tr. Bell. apol. Ita H. Steph. de Pseu­d [...]-Gell. Titulis, Gellium se in Gellio desiderare. missed Bellarmine in Bellarmine; they were so much vnlike to, and came so far short of his former. So mayest thou finde much want, and misse of a wife in a wife, if thou makest thy choise amisse. And so consequently doe thy selfe exceeding great wrong, embracing, with [...]. Videndus Eus [...]ath. ad Iliad. [...]. Lucian. in De [...]r. dialog. & Serv. ad Aen. 6. Ixion, a cloud in stead of Iuno, or [...]. Eurip. Hel [...]n. [...]. Lycophr. Cass. i. [...], vt ex Stes [...] Tzetz. with Paris, [...]. Prov. Grae [...]. a shadow without substance, a sorrie helpe, [...]. -Lycophr. ibid. ex Sophocl. Antigon. [...]. - a cold comfort, a wife, and yet no wife, in re­gard of any ioy or comfort in her, in regard of any helpe or furtherance from her. And were it not much better for one to be altogether without? For what can be more miserable than to haue a Wife, as [...]. Bion apud Laert. Nec habendi fru [...]tu soelix, & cupiditate quaerendimiserrimus. Val. Max. l. 9. c. 4. Hinc 10. Parkust in epigr. Est asino simil [...]s, qui obs [...]nia portat, au [...]rus: Oneratur eis, non ve­scitur. Et Plut. de auar. [...]. couetous wretches haue wealth; to haue the bur­den of a Wife, and to want the benefit of her, to haue the care, and not the comfort? whereas the man that liueth single, as hee misseth of the one, so hee is yet withall freed from, and eased of the other.

[Page 26] Lastly, Is such a Wife in Gods account as no Wife? Let such then neuer looke for respect or regard with Vse 6. God, for any recompence or reward from God. If thou dost not a Wiues worke, neuer looke for a Wiues wages, neuer looke for a Wiues reward. There is no Christian Seruant, that serueth his master faithfully and conscionably, but [...]. 3. 23, 24. he shall for the same from God receiue a royall reward. And much more the Christian Wife, that doth carefully her dutie to him, whom God hath ioyned her vnto. Such as they be 1 Pet. 3 6. Daughters of faithfull Sara; so they shall haue their part and portion with her. But for the rest, since Avidus ad mer­c [...]de, piger ad lab [...] ­rem, qua fronte sp [...] ­ras quod promisit Deus, qui non facis quod iussit Deus? Prius audi monitio­nes, & sic exige re­promissiones. Prius audi iubontem, & sic exige poll [...]em. Aug. de sanct. 4. they refuse to doe the work, they haue no rea­son to expect or looke for the wages. Their wils they may haue with their Husbands while they liue here; but they are neuer like to haue any reward at Gods hands. How can they hope that he should reward them as Wiues, who reputeth them as no Wiues? yea Ideò d [...]ter. [...] sumus, quia [...] ­res esse d [...]. Saluia [...], de Provid. lib. 4. worse therefore than no Wiues, because they ought to haue beene Wiues, and did beare the Name of such.

In a word; wouldst thou be a Wife in Gods account? Thou must then be a Wife not in Name, but in Deed. For, Rom. 2. 28, 29. He is not a Iew, saith the Apostle, that is a Iew outwardly: [...], Oecum. s [...]h [...]. [...]d Phil. 3. 3. Cir­cumcidens cor, non metens carnē. Ter­tul. ad Marc. lib. 5. Illam enim non [...], s [...]d [...] Apostolus appellat: quo modo Diogenes Zen [...] [...], & E [...]dis [...] dixit. Laert. vide Ierem. 9. 25, 26. Nor is that Circumcision, that is out­ward in the Flesh. But he is a Iew, that is a Iew with­in: and that Circumcision that is in the heart and the Spirit is the Circumcision, whose praise is not of Man, but of God. So shee is not a Wife, that is, a Wife is Name; but she is a Wife, that is, a Wife in Deed: She [Page 27] is that Wife, Pr [...]u. 31. 31. whose praise and reward is both of Man and God; or if not of Man, yet doubtlesse of God: From whom, as shee doth the worke of a Wife, so shee is sure to receiue the reward of a wife, though Man should not yeeld it.

And so passe we on to the second Point; from the Branch 2. Partie Cōmended, to the Cōmendation here giuen her.

A Wife then (such an one as deserueth the Name Doctr. 2. of a Wife, as is a Wife not in Name only, but in Deed, not in Title barely, but in Truth) is [...]. Hip [...]. a­pud Sto. c. 65. [...]. Cle­ment. A [...]ex ex Eu­rip. Paedag. l. 3. c. 11. an exceeding great Benefit, a meanes of much good to him that hath her: He that findeth a Wife, findeth Good, saith Salo­mon. Good; that is, much good, exceeding great good: (For it is spoken [...]. by way of excellency or eminency;) as if hee could not well tell how to expresse how much good might by her accrue to the Husband of such an one. And, Prov. 31. 12. Shee will doe him good, saith Salomons Mother, and no euill, so long as euer they shall liue together. [...]. Menand. Benefits 6. An whole treasurie of good there is in a good Wife.

To point onely at some generall Heads of this Good, that such a Wife bringeth with her. For the Time will not suffer me to insist long on ought.

First, for Societie: Ad ineundam so­cietatem homo na­turae suae [...] sertur. August. de Civitat. lib. 19. cap. 12. Man naturally affecteth com­pany Benefit 1. Societie. and Societie; and Natur [...] s [...]l [...]ium n [...]il [...]mat. [...]ero. de A [...]. Quon [...]do [...]tudo in odio est; [...] in [...]titio s [...]cietatis. S [...]nec. E­pist. 9. shunneth Solitude. [...] potest [...] [...] socio vita [...]? ut ait [...]. Cic. de Amic. Solem [...]aque è [...] [...]ell [...]re [...]ntur, qui amicitiam è vita to [...]unt, qu [...] nihil à Deis [...] hab [...]us, nihil [...]. Ci [...]. ibidem. Sine qua vitae [...]ditatem sirmam ac [...]er [...]etuam [...]nere non po [...]. Idem de F [...]. lib. 1. Summus autem [...] [...] gradut est soedus coniugale. Mel [...]th. Loc. Co [...]mun. Societie is the very Soule and Life of Mans Life. Nullu [...]s b [...]m sine socio j [...]cunda possessio est. Sen. Epist. 6. Nihi [...] est [...]omini amicum [...] [...] [...]. A [...]g. Epist. 121. cap. 2. There is [Page 28] no comfortable fruition, or delightfull possession of ought without it. But Societate sublata, omnis est è vita sub­lata jucunditas. Cic. de amic. Sine hac enim nulla potest es­se jucunditas. Idem pro Planc. Solitude is vncomfortable: Eccles. 4. 11. There is no warmth in it, saith Salomon.

Gen. 2. 18. It is not good, saith God himselfe, for Man to be alone. For some other Creatures it may be; but for him it is not, being [...]. Hierocl. de nupt. of a sociable Nature, as [...]. Aristot. hist. animal. l. 1. c. 1. ma­ny of them are not: And yet euen those also, though waiuing others, yet Vide Aug. de Ci­vit. l. 19. c. 12. ad Vsum 4. Doct. 1. admit and affect some kinde of Societie, as that by name that wee now entreat of.

Eccles. 4. 9. Two therefore, saith Salomon, are better then One: in mankind especially naturally so made. And A­dam in Paradise, though he were truly happie, yet was he not fully Happie: his Happinesse was not compleat; he was nothing so well yet as he might be, while he was yet without a Mate. Yea Nec in coelo sine socio jucundè satis acturum se, Laelius apud Cic. de amic. [...]. Ari­stot. Ethic. l 8. c. 1. the Heathen man thought that though a Man were in Heauen, hee would haue little ioy or comfort, the lesse at least, of his being there, vnlesse he had some there like him­selfe to conuerse with.

There is [...]. Aristot. ad Eudem, lib. 7. cap. 1. much want of comfort then in Solitude; much Comfort in Societie. But [...]. Antipat. de nupt. there is no Socie­tie more neere, more entire, [...], &c. (Infra Benef. 3.) [...]; Muson. de coniug. Philos. more needfull, more kindly, more delightfull, more comfortable, more constant, more continuall, than the Societie of Man [Page 29] and Wife; the maine [...]. Hierecl. de nup. Prima naturalis humanae societatis capula vir & uxor est. Aug. de [...]on. coniug. c. 1. Prima societas in ipso fit conjugio, proxima in liberis. Cic. Offic. lib. 1. Coniugium principiū urbis est, & quasi seminari­um, Ibid. Benefit. 2. Assistance. Root, Source and Originall of all other Societies: [...]. Arist. Ethic. lib. 8. cap. 12. Which of all others therefore Man is naturally most enclined vnto: And without which therefore euen the Heathen held [...]. Arist. ibid. [...]. Hierocl. de nupt. the House and Family halfe vnfurnished and vnfinished; and [...]. Sophocl. apud. Stob. c. 65. not fully happie, but halfe happie, though otherwise neuer so happie, till therewith it became compleat.

Secondly for Assistance. Gen. 2. 18. It is not good, saith God, for Man to be alone: I will make him an Helpe, or an Assistant; not a Mate only, but an Helpe; not a Companion only, but an Assistant too. [...]. Aristot. histor. animal. lib. 1. cap. 1. [...]. Idem Polit. l. 1. c. 2. & l. 3. c. 4. [...]. Idem Ethic. l. 8. c. 12. Man being a Creature of the kinde, not of those that loue only to flocke, and feed, and bide, and liue together, as Dawes and Stares doe; but of those that desire to combine, and worke and labour also together, as the Bee and the Pismire; hee stood in need, as of Societie, so of Assistance. Ad­iutorium bonitas prosp [...]xit, [...]quid non boni. Tertull. advers. Marc. l. 2. God of his good­nesse therefore prouided such a Mate for him, as might also be Homo in adiutorium generatus est. Sen. d [...]ra. l. 1. c. 10. an Helpe and an Assistant vnto him. And if Man before his fall in the state of innocencie stood in need of helpe, when his labour was no toile to him, no paine, but a pleasure; then much more since his fall, now that his trauell is become toile­some vnto him, and the fruit of his sin hath brought so many burdens vpon him, which he was not be­fore, [Page 30] nor euer should haue beene encombred with, had he continued in his first estate.

Societa [...] nostra la­pidum fornicationi simillima. 1 est, que casura, m [...]invi. em obstarent, hoc ipse sustinetur. Sen. ep. 95. Quo enim alio tuti sumus, nisi quod mutuis j [...]vamur officijs? Fac nos sin­gul [...]s, quiasumus? praeda animalium. Caeteris animalium in tutel [...]m sui satis virium est: homi­nē imbecillitas cin­git: nudum & in­firmi [...] societas mu­nit. Haec nos res for­tes facit. Senec. de Benef. l. 4. c. 18. Much need therefore hath Man of helpe. And, Eccles. 4. 9. Vnde proverbium, [...]. Vnus homo pronul­lo est. Dion Chrys. orat. 48. [...]. Euripid. Heracl. Two therefore, saith Salomon, are better than one: not only because [...]. Ho­mer. Il. [...]. they impart comfort and courage mutually either to other: (for, Eccles. 4. 11. if two lie together, saith hee, they haue the more warmth:) but because they may helpe and assist either other: for Hinc diuerbium ex Hom. ibid. [...]. Aristot. Ethic. lib. 8. cap. 1. & Cic. samil. ep. l. 9. & ad Attic. l. 9. ep. 4. if two goe together, it giueth the more strength: Eccles. 4. 10. if the one fall, the other may helpe him vp againe: and Eccles. 4. 12. [...]. Nec Her­cules contraduos. Plato Phaed. two may stand, where one may faile; and Eccles. 4. 9. doing the more worke, they may earne the better wages. Now behold here a fit, and a readie Helpe. A fit Helpe, I say, for Man: For who fitter to helpe Man, than she, whom God himselfe hath fitted for man, and made for this very end to be a fit helpe for him? Gen. 2. 18. I will make him such an Helpe, saith God, as shall be [...] vide Drus. quaest. l. 1. q. 59. meet for him: one that shall be as his match, as Malac. 2. 14. his mate; one that being in all parts and abilities in a manner as him­selfe, shall furnish him with Ephes. 5. 28. Quod de amico ille, [...]. Alter idem, [...]ive, Alter ipse. Zeno apud Laert. a second selfe, that may better and more fitly steed him, than any other help in some kinde can; that being [...]. Matth. 19. 5. Ephes. 5. 31. glewed as it were to him, and so becomming Matth. 19. 6. one with him, may make him as two, who before was but one, as [...]. Antipat. de nupt. seeing, saith the Heathen Man, now with foure eies, working with [Page 31] foure hands, walking with 4. feet: whereof [...] the one paire [...] watch, while the other (if need be) take rest the one paire may work and walk, if the other [...]aint and f [...]ile.

Ye [...] an Help, as fit, so rea [...]ie at hand at all times, vpon all occasions at all assayes. [...] [...]. [...]. dipno­ [...]h. l. 4. Non sunt [...], [...] qui de­ [...] [...]. Sed & [...] fr [...] procul [...] [...] Hebraeorum [...]. Friends that dwell a farre off, saith the Greeke Prouerbe, are as good as no Friends: because they are out of the way when a man standeth in need of them, when he hath occa­sion to make vse of them; so that a man cannot haue their helpe, when he would. But here is Q [...] [...]e vete­ [...], praesto est: nul­lo loco exclud [...]ur. Nuquā [...], nunquam [...] est. Itaque non [...]qua, [...], non [...], ut [...], fre­quent [...] u [...]mur. Cic. [...]. Benefit. 3. an Helpe euer at hand; as readie at all times to attend thee, as the Hand is to helpe the Head, or any other part of the Bodie is to doe seruice vnto it. And certainly [...]. P [...]. [...]. ex H [...]m. O [...]. [...]. as there are offices not a few, that none can in many ca­ses so fitly performe about a Man, as a Wife may: So there is no helpe that he hath, or ordinarily can haue, so readie at hand at all times as this helpe, because none so continually conuersant with him as Shee.

Thirdly, for Comfort and Solace. Societie is at all times very pleasing and delightfull: But in times of griefe and heauinesse, as the more needfull, so the more gratefull because greater need and vse of com­fort Solace. then. [...] [...]. The very [...]t of a Friend is amiable, and his company acceptable at all times; but [...]. 17. 17. [...] & 88. 18. ne­uer more vsefull than in times of crosse and calami­tie, in times of danger and distresse. [...] [...]. 31. The accesse [Page 32] of a meere stranger is at such times oft vnwelcome: [...]. Menand. the presence of a Friend neuer more welcome than then. It putteth heart and courage into a man, when he is readie to sinke downe with despaire: [...] Philem. S [...]ob. c. 112. Hinc Socrat. dictū, [...]. It putteth life into him and reuiueth him, when he is in a manner as a dead man, to see a Friend at hand, one that may either helpe to releeue and release him, or beare part of his burden with him, or [...], Eurip. [...]. Idem apud Plut. de adul. & consol. ad Apollon. [...]. Menand. comfort and cheere him vp in the bearing of it, yea, or that may but bemoane him, and weepe together with him: For [...]. Menand. [...]. Greg. [...]az. in Caesar. [...]. Idem de Amor. Pauper. euen that also is no small comfort sometimes.

And of Helpe and Assistance the same may be said. Officijs vita humana constat mutuis. Omnis (que) ratio & institutio vitae adi [...]menta desiderat. Cic. Of­fic. l. 2. A man hath need of it at all times. Wee are as Rom. 12. 4. 1 Cor. 12. 20, 21, 22. limbes and members of one Bodie, that haue need one of another, and cannot so well at any time be without either other. But [...]. Pind. Nem. 8. [...]. Euripid. ap [...]d Plut. de adul [...]t. helpe is nothing so needfull when we are free from aduersitie and affli­ctions. Psal. 22. 11. & 38. 20, 21. It is neuer more necessarie than in time of trouble and distresse. V [...]se Aug. in Psal. 130. & [...]. 15. When a member is euill af­fected, it hath more need of aid from it fellow-mem­bers, both to ease it of that labour that it was wont to take, and to procure and apply what may bee needfull for it.

Here is then a third Benefit that a good Wife affor­deth. [Page 33] For [...]; M [...]son. de [...]. P [...]s. who is neerer at hand, or fitter to mi­nister comfort in such cases, to cheere vp a man in griefe and heauinesse▪ as 1 Sam. 16. 23. Dauids Harpe did Saul, [...]. [...]lem. Alex. S [...]r. l. 2. to accompanie him, and attend him in sicknesse and weaknesse, as 1 King. 1. 4. A [...]ish [...] did Dauid; to bee a [...] a Musitian to him in the one, as a Physitian in the o­ther: as [...]lip. 4 4. [...]nde [...], & Con­ [...] [...]; E [...] [...], Con [...]ugium. to draw in the same yoke with him, in his labours and trauels, so to beare part of the burden with him in his crosses and troubles, which if Ga [...]. 6. 2. [...]hil▪ 1. 7. [...]. 10. 3 [...]. all true Christians in generall doe mutually with their Christian bre [...]ren, Christian Man and Wife much more.

This vse of a Wife, Paradise was not acquainted withall. [...] nu [...]a est [...] ­s [...]o, vbi nulla est [...]o. B [...]r [...]. de [...]. 22. [...]m q [...]i [...] [...] [...]git, s [...]l [...] [...] [...]. [...]. [...]enefit 4. [...]. There is no Consolation, where there is no desolation; saith Bernard. There is Mis [...]ri [...]rdia [...]s [...] [...]. Bern. de temp. 35. At cess [...]t [...]. Aug. d [...] 10. [...]. no need of mer­cie, where there is no mi [...]r [...]e; nor vse of comfort, where no crosse is. And i [...] in Paradise then, a place all of delight, [...] Gen. 2. 8. & 13. 10. a garden of pleasure, there was yet need of he [...]pe and societie, and of the helpe and societie of such a one, whom yet there was not then this vse of: How much more then in this world, in this [...]. Sept. Ps [...]l. [...]4. 6. [...] ergastulo, [...]. Bern. d [...] don. S [...]r. [...]anct. vale of teares, where crosses are so rife, which there were not, and where the more crosses Man is encom­bred with, and hath to encounter withall, the more need of Comfort and A [...]istance he hath?

Fourthly, for I [...]ue. Psalm. 127. 3. [...]. H [...]. de nupt. Co [...] stor [...]s. [...]. l. 2. c. [...]. fru [...]us. [...]e [...]tull. ad [...]. Marc▪ l. 4. Children, saith the Psal­mist, and the fruit of the wombe, are an Inheritance of [Page 34] the Lord. Genes. 1. 28. God blessed them, saith Moses, when hee said, Encrease, and multiply; and by so saying con­ferred a power of propagation vpon them. For Deus cum bene­dicit, facit quod di­ [...]it. Aug. Dei bene­dicere nihil est aliud quam bene [...]acere. Thom. Aquin. in 2 Cor. 1. God▪ saith Augustine, when he blesseth, he doth what he saith. Genes. 9. 1. The power of propagation then is Gods blessing. And indeed what greater blessing could God bestow vpon Man? what greater honour & dignitie could he endow man withal▪ than this, to make him an able Instrument of procreating and producing one in all respects like himselfe, Psal. 8. 5, 6. [...]. Chrysost. in Gen. hom. 8. the chiefe of Gods works; of [...]. Ari­s [...]ot. Ethic. l. 8. c. 12. & l. 9 c. 2. giuing being to a Creature endowed with Gods Image, wherein himselfe had beene created?

It hath been held as great, if not a greater honour, [...]. Ditare re­gium mage quam dites [...]cre. P [...]olom. Lag. Plut. apsphth. Et Man. Curius Samnitibus, [...]. Plut. I­bid. Non aurum [...]abere pr [...]clarum; sed eis, qui aurum haberent, imperare. Cic. de sene [...]. Malle lecuple­ [...]ibus imperare, quam ipsum [...]i [...]ri locupletem. Valer. Max. l. 4. c. 3. to enrich, as to be rich; and Habere regnum cas [...] est, virtus dare. Sen. Thyest. 3. 2. to make a King, as to be one. It was Mans preheminence aboue the rest of Gods Creatures, that Gen. 1. 26, 27. & 9. 6. 1 Cor. 11. 7. he bare by Creation the Image of his Creator; which none of them did, (the Inane siquidem est quod Chrysost. in Col. hom. 3. & serm. de Trinit. [...]. Angels alone excepted) but he onely. It was a se­cond honour, little inferiour, if at all, to the former, (and Neque enim solidum est quod Greg. Nyss▪ tradit de Angelorum propagatione & multiplicatione. li [...]. de hom. opific. c. 17. In Ang [...]lis siquidem non est naturae propagatio. Me [...]anct [...]. loc. com. wherin Man outgoeth euen the Angels them­selues also) to be enabled by procreation to produce such another as God himselfe had created; and by so doing to come [...]. Basil. Sel. hom. 1. [...]. Clem. Alex. p [...]dag. l. 2. c. 10. [...]. Philo de decalog. to imitate and to resemble God [Page 35] Eccles. 12. 1. Genes. 9. 6. [...]is Creator, and Esai. 64. 8. Malac. 2. 10. Matth. 23. 9. Luke 3. 38. his Father, not in Name and Ti­tle onely, but in act, and in truth.

This was a great Be [...]e [...]t before Mans fall. In some respects it is farre greater since his fall. Man was then immortall: Psalm. 49. 20. & 89. 48. & 146. 4. Eccles. 3. 19. he is now become mortall and corrupti­ble. And want of issue is consequently now more vn­comfortable, when men are subiect to mortalitie, than it had then beene, when Man was himselfe, to haue liued alwayes. Genes. 15. 2. Good Lord, saith Abraham to God, what wilt thou giue me, when I goe childlesse? [...]. Pindar. Olymp. 10. Hee had little comfort of all his Genes. 13. 2. great wealth and store, ( [...]. M [...]nand. S [...]o [...]. c. 73. which is wont to make sterilitie the more vncom­fortable, the greater it is) so long as hee wanted an Heire to leaue it vnto, when hee should leaue this World himselfe. And it was that in all likelihood that made 2 King. 20. 1, 2. Esai. 38. 1, 3. the Prophet Esayes message so harsh and hea­uie to King Ezekiah, when hee brought him word that he should die; Fleuit fletu mag­ne, quia eo tempore [...]li [...]s non [...]abebat. Hiero [...]. i [...] [...]sai. because had he then died, hee had died without issue: For his Sonne Manasses that succeeded him, hauing 2 King. 20. 5. [...]sai. 38. 5. fifteene yeeres at least sur­uiued that fit of sicknesse, was but 2 King. 21. 1. 2 Chron. 33. 1 twelue yeeres old at the time of his Fathers decease. But by means of propagation Man attaineth to [...]. Pla [...]o Sympo [...]. [...]. Idem d [...] leg. l. 6. [...]. Aristot. O [...]conom. l. 1. c. 3. [...]. I [...] ­ [...]inian. apud Duaren. disput. l. 1. c. 40. Et ante illum Augustus apud Dion. l. 56. [...]. Quibꝰ gemina Pl [...]t [...]nis qu [...]dā apud [...]ē. Alex. leg [...]tur [...]. l. 2. a kinde of immor­talitie, [Page 36] to a kinde of eternitie; and [...]. Chry­sost tom. 5. serm. 49. In prole se rel [...]n­quit, se scrit parens. Iul. Scalig. ep [...]rp. l. 1. in his posteritie suruiueth himselfe. [...]. Ae­schyl. Chereph. Quae ta nen S [...]phocli tri­buit. Clem. Strom. l. 2. The Father, we say, is not dead, as long as the Sonne liueth. A Man is not vtterly ex­tinct, so long as any one remaineth of his race.

To haue issue then is a great Blessing. And it is [...]. Greg. Naz. de pace. 2. Benefit 5. Remedie. a greater honour, saith Gregorie Nazianzene, to bee Father of one Sonne, than to bee Master of a thousand seruants. And [...]. Clem. Alex. Strom. l. 2. if issue be such a blessing, what is the meanes of obtaining it? If the Psal. 127. 3. Fruit bee so blessed, what is the Psal. 128. 3. root then that beareth it, and without which it cannot with comfort be had? For [...]. Aristot. Oeconom. l. 1. c. 3. [...]. Isidor. Pelus. l. 3. ep. 12. [...]. Clem. Strom. l. 2. with­out a Woman, issue cannot at all, [...]. Muson. de napt. [...]. Clem. Alex. paedag. l. 2. c. 10. Hinc D [...]mosib. in Ne [...]r. [...]. without a Wife it cannot lawfully, without such a Wife it cannot com­fortably bee had. And indeed what comfort can a man haue either of such issue as is a fowle staine and a reproach to him, the sight whereof cannot but mini­ster continuall matter of remorse to him, and renue the memorie, so oft as hee seeth it or mindeth it, of his sinne and of his shame; or of issue by such an one, who when shee should be Prov. 5. 19. Ezek. 24. 16. the light of his eyes, and the ioy of his heart, is as a thorne continually in his eyes, and a sting at his verie heart?

Fiftly, for Remedie against Incontinencie. A bene­fit likewise that before Mans fall was not, because then there was no need of it. Matth. 9. 12. The whole, saith our [Page 37] Sauiour, need no Physitian. Nor needed Man there­fore [...]. Chrys [...]. [...]. 5. s [...]. [...] [...] [...] [...] ante l. p­s [...] [...]ni [...] adoss [...]; po [...] [...]sum aegrotis ad [...]um. Aug. de Gen. ad lit. l. 9. c. 7. & I. Lombard. [...]. l 4. d. 26. B. then this Physuke, while hee was yet in perfect health. It is now otherwise with him; And, 1 Cor. 7. 2. to auoid fornication therefore, saith the Apostle, let each Man haue his Wife, and each Woman her Husband.

[...]. Aristot. Ethic. l. 3. c. 11. Hoc est naturâ commu­ne omnium ani­ [...]tium, vt habe­a [...]t [...]em pro­ [...]. Cic. offi [...]. l 1. There is in most Men and Women naturally an inclination and propension to the [...]ll coniuncti­on. Requirit Vir co­stam suam: requi­rit Foemina sedem suam. Hinc Ruth. 3. 1, 9. An non q [...]m ti i re­q [...]? Et Aben­ [...]zra, Non est re­q [...] [...] [...] [...]. D [...]. ibid. The Man seeketh his rib, say the Rabbines; and the Woman the Mans side. The Man misseth his rib, and seeketh to recouer it againe: and the Woman would be in her old place againe, vnder the Mans arme or wing, Genes. 2. 21, 22. [...] [...]. 12. from whence at first thee was ta­ken. [...] Aug. nomine de bon. [...]. cap 8. Nor is this affection and disposition at all euil simply of it selfe. But since that sinne came in by the fall of our first Parents, Mankind hauing lost that power and command of it selfe that before it had; this affection is not only [...] [...]. 12. tainted and mixed gene­rally with much silth, but it is growne so [...]. [...]. Pelus. l. 3. epist. 12 Sed & Chrysost. & O [...]. ad 1 Cor. 7. 9. violent, impetuous and head-strong with the most, that it is readie to break forth into grieuous inconueniences, if some course be not taken for the repression and re­straint of it. Now [...]. Chrys [...]st. de Oz [...]. 3. [...] in Gen. ad lit. l. 9. c. 7. for remedie hereof in part hath God appointed this his Ordinance. Which cannot therefore but be esteemed as a singular Benefit and Blessing of all those that finde such infirmitie and 2 Cor. 7. 1. [Page 38] defect in themselues; and howsoeuer they may be able so to containe themselues that it shall neuer breake forth into any grosse impure act, yet desire to keepe themselues 2 Cor. 7. 1. vnspotted as well in soule as in bodie, and to approue themselues vnto God in all puritie, as farre as may be, euen there also, where 1 Sam. 16. 7. Corda enim aliena humanis oculis clau­sa sunt, 1 Cor. 2. 11. Greg. Mor. l. 25. c. 9. Benefit 6. Honour. none seeth but he himselfe.

Adde wee hereunto in the last place, that a wise Woman, a discreet Wife is no small Prou. 31. 23. grace and Honour to her Husband. And surely if any [...]er 5. 11. Esay 39. 2. outward thing may helpe to grace a Man, apparell, jewels, plate, hangings, house-furniture, attendants, followers, retinue, reuenew, issue, &c. then a worthie Wife as much as, yea much more than any such. Sirac. 26. 14. No grea­ter grace to a Man, than to haue a discreet Wife, as no greater [...] Prou. 12. 4. disgrace than to be matched to a foole.

[...]. Clem. Alex. Paedag. l. 2. c. 8. Vxor corus­ [...]t radijs mariti. Iu­stin. Authent. col­lat. [...]. tit. 3. The Husband, saith Clemens of Alexandria, is a Crowne to his Wife. And, [...] Prou. 12. 4. Digna suo coniux fid [...] co­r [...]n [...] viro. W. Cou­per. A worthy Woman, saith Salomon, is a Crowne to her Husband: Non annulus, non [...]rques aur [...]us, non [...]onile, sed corona. Tho. Cartwr. Not a gold­ring on his finger; (and yet Gen. 41. 42. [...]t. 3. 10. Luc. 15. 22. Hinc [...]. Iam. 2. 2. Ci­ [...]r [...]ni nemo ducentos Nunc dederit nummos, nisi fulserit [...]n [...]ulus ingens. - Ideò conducta Paulu [...] agebat Sard [...]nyche; at (que) ideò pluris quam Cossus agebat. Iuvenal. sat. 7. De iure annuli aur [...]i. Plin. hist. nat. l. 33. c. 1. that is accounted some grace too:) nor Prou. 1. 9. a Chaine of gold about his necke; (that is somewhat more in the eye, and is Genes. 41. 42. Hinc Manlius Torquatus à tor (que) aure [...] quem [...] superato detraxerat. Liv. hist. l. 7. Plin. hist. Nat. l. 33. c. 1 Et ex Cl. Quadrigari [...] Gell. [...]st. Attic. l. 9. c. 13. vsuall only with great ones:) nor a brouch in his Hat; but [...] vti Prou. 4. 9. [...]. Chrysost. tom. 8. serm. 15. a crowne vpon his Head: euen a crowne of gold vp­on the Head of her Husband, her Head: an ornament more conspicuous and eminent than any of the for­mer; [Page 39] the proper and peculiar [...] Psal. 21. 3. [...] 2 Sam. 12. 30. attire of Princes; the principall [...] Ester 1. 11. & 2. 17. & 6. 8. [...]. Gregor. Naz. pro pauper. ensigne of the highest Honour.

The Romane Ladie Cornelia Grac­chorum mater cum campana hospita ornamenta illi sua ostenderet, traxit eam sermone qu [...]us­que è schola redirēt liberi, & Haec, in­quit, ornamēta mea sunt. Ex Pompon. Rufi. collect. Val. Max. memorab. l. 4. c. 4. Cornelia counted her two worthy Sons her chiefest Iewels, whom shee shewed therefore to a stranger lodging with her, that desi­red to see what Iewels shee had: as of [...]. Ex Serini memorab. Stob. c. 73. a Spartan Woman also the like is reported. Her [...]. - Euripid. Meleagr. Maxi­ma ornamenta matr [...]is liberi. Val. Max. l. 4. c. 4. Children were the richest Iewels that shee had; She the pretiousest Iewell that her Husband had. They were her Crowne; as Prov. 17. 6. [...]. Clem. paedag. l. 2. c. 8. [...]; Sophocl. Antigon. Salomon also termeth them; Shee his. Well might Shee be termed her Husbands Crowne, who for his sake and her Childrens good, [...]. Plut. in Grach. refused a Crowne offered her after his decease. And well may the Husband of such a Wife esteeme her as his choisest Iewel, who by the testimony of Gods Spirit doth as much grace him that hath her, as a Crowne doth him that weareth it.

And thus you see some few Branches, and rude Conclusion. Lineaments of that goodnesse and beneficialnesse of this diuine Ordinance, which the Spirit of God by the Pen of Salomon here pointeth vs vnto. A good Wife being, as you haue heard,

In regard whereof euen [...]. Theogn. [...]. - Hesiod. apud Clem. Alex. Strom. l. 6. Greg. Naz. e­pitaph. Patr. & Stob. c. 65. [...]. A­pollonid. apud Cle­ment. paedag. l. 3. c. 11. [...]. - Euri­pid. Oedip. [...]. - Homer. Odyss. [...]. Hierocl. de nupt. & Plut. erotic. & Clem. Alex. Strom. l. 3. Vse 1. the very Heathen them­selues also, though led by the ba [...]e Light of Nature alone, yet haue admired the excellencie of this di­uine Ordinance, and haue worthily preferred it be­fore all other externall and temporal Blessings what­soeuer.

Now the due Consideration hereof may well serue;

First to controll those of the Church of Rome, who labour so by all meanes to vilifie, depresse and debase this Diuine Ordinance, as if they stroue who should cast most mucke, and durt, and dung, and filth in the face of it. Nothing is more odious and contumelious among them than the Name of a Wife, or a Wiued Person in some. The Name of a Concu­bine (as wee shall shew) is more acceptable with them, and more gratious in their Eyes.

Hebr. 13. 4. [...]. Mariage is Honourable (saith the Spirit of God by the Apostle) and that among all Men. Yea [...]. Chrysost. in Tit. hom. 2. so Honorable (saith Chrysostome) that a man may with it ascend to the Episcopall Chaire; the highest Honour in the Church. 1 Tim. 3. 2. Tit. 1. 6. Let a Bishop (saith the Apostle) be the [Page 41] Husband of one Wife. Which hee may well be, and yet [...]. 1 Tim. 3. 2. [...]. Tit. 1. 6. Vnblameable; as is there also implied. And, [...]. Heb. 13. 4. [...], in Synodo Nicena. Paphnutiꝰ asseruit. Sozom. hist. l. 1. c. 23. Socrat. hist. l. 1. c. 8. & Gelas. Cyz. act. Syn. Nic. c. 33. Ho­norabiles professus est nuptias, & Ca­s [...]tatem cum pro­pria coniuge concu­bitum. Cassi [...]d. h [...]st. Tri [...]rt. l. 2. c. 14. & Grat. d [...]t. 31. c. 12. C [...] bene utitur Ca­stitas coniuga [...]is. August. de Tri [...]. l. 13. c. 18. [...]. [...]. Clem. Alex. Paedag lib. 2. c. 10. Pud ci [...]ia est vnius scientia viri. Donat. in Ter. Sanct [...]mum [...] que [...]um coniugium, Eras [...]de Conscr. epist. The Mariage Bed (saith the same Apostle) is of it selfe free from filth. I [...] & inde surgen­ [...]es. [...] peccat. inde n [...]n tr [...]es. Prim [...]s & [...] in Hebr. Hinc Thea [...]o Pythagorae vxor interragata, e [...]q [...]ando [...], [...]. [...]. lib. 8. It is so; and they are so, that rise from it, saith Primasius: it is no Sinne or Blame; and consequently no blemish or staine to them. [...]. Chrysost. [...]. [...]. 12. What need they be ashamed (saith Chrysostome) of that that is honourable? What need they blush for that that defi­leth them not? As for H [...]br. 13 4. Whore-mongers and Adulte­rers; God indeed will [...], [...]. [...], vel his [...]is tempo­ralibus, vel in futuro [...]. Piscat. in Hebr. iudge, and Ephes. 5. 5, 6. [...]. Chrysost. in Hebr. hom. 33. be auenged on such.

But saith the Spirit of Satan speaking by these Men or Beasts rather; [...]: Nec quisqua [...] omni [...]ò ad S [...] in perpetuum vitam coelibem profiteatur. Gregor. 7. Pp. Lambert. S [...]. [...]n. 1079. Ide [...]que populo denunciat, ut Sacerdotes coniugat [...]s velut s [...]eleratos atque impi [...]s devi [...]: [...], coll [...]quia, sermones, convivia, haud aliter quam contagionem fugiant. Qu [...]s & Nicolaitas appellat, [...] condemnat, devovet, Curiasacerdotum movet, &c. Ioan. [...]. l. 5. Si p [...]st ord [...]ationem suam Ministr [...]s contigerit propriae uxoris cubile invadere, sacrar. j [...]on intreat limi [...]a, ne (que) sacrar [...] portitores s [...]t, ne (que) alta­re contingant, ne (que) oblationem suscipiant, ne (que) ad Domini [...]i corporis portionē accedant, ne (que) propinent, ne (que) urceum vel cal [...]cem ad altare sugg [...]t. Lucius Pp. Dist. 81. c. 19. Mariage is dishonourable: dis­abling men to holy Offices. For, Qui in carne sunt, D [...] placere nonpossunt. Syric. Pp. ep. 1. c. 7. & Innocent. Pp. ep. 3. c. 1. Those that be in the Flesh (so mis-apply they the Rom. 8. 8. Apostles words) can­not please God. And, Co [...] ­gium legitimum & copulam maritalem, co [...] [...] ­quinationem, contaminationem, immunditiam, [...], &c. [...] 1. c. 7. & ep. 4. c. 9. & apud Grat. Dist. 82. c. 3 4. I [...]. Pp. ep. 2. [...]. 9. & [...]p. 3. c. [...]. & [...] Gr [...]t [...] 3. The Mariage Bed is filth, luxu­rie, [Page 42] vncleannesse, pollution, obscenenesse, &c. (Albeit Ignatius saith, that they haue [...]. Ignat. ep. ad Philadelph. the Deuill in them that so say.) And, Coniugia quorun­dam esse Adulteria, ex Pseudo-Ambr. ad Virg. l [...]ps. A­dulterijs peiora, ex Pseudo-Aug. de Bon. vid. cap. 11. asse­runt Hosius Consess. Petric. cap. 26. & Harding contr. A­polog. p. 2. c. 8. Et Coster. Enchir. tr. de Caelib. c. 17. prop. 9. Sacerdos si fornice­tur, aut domi con­cubinam [...]veat, & si gravi sacrilegio se obstringat, gravius tamen pecca [...], si con­trahat matrimoniū. It is better for some men to com­mit Whoredome, than to contract Mariage. For it is not Minus malam. Harding ib. p. 4. c. 1. a lesse Sinne only (as some mince it) but Dicunt, honesti­us esse pluribus oc­culiè implicari, quā aperiè cum unâ [...]gari. Huldric. ep. ad Nicol. Pp. an ho­nester matter for them, to be naught with many secretly, yea Melius esse, si votarius continere non valens, centum habeat concubinas, ex ordine tamen & successiuè, quam si vnā uxorem ducat: Scriptor qui­dam Coloniensis teste Chemnit. exam. p. 3. tit. 2. c. 8. to keepe (as it were) an Hundred Whores one af­ter another, than to take openly one lawfull Wife. Gra [...]issima scortatoribus, quibus pro vna uxore sexcentas mulieres inire licet. Aventin. Anal. l. 5. A point (to vse Auentines words) well pleasing Whore­master Priests, who in stead of one Wife, might haue dealing with six hundred Harlots.

Againe, 1 Cor. 7. 9. It is better, saith the Apostle, to marrie, than to burne. And, Ibid. Eis qui se non continent, expedit nubere. Aug. ad Poll. l. 1. c. 15. Let those therefore marrie, (that haue not Ibid. 7. the gift of Continencie,) that cannot contain. Aut nubant, si non possunt continere; aut contineant, si nolunt nubere. Hieron. ad Demetr. Let them containe, saith Hierome of Virgins, if they will not marrie; or let them marrie, if they cannot con­taine. For that is Melius enim nuberent, quam vrerentur. Aug. de Virgin. c. 34. the better course for them, saith Augustine, and long before him Cyprian, Si perseuerare aut nolunt, aut non possunt, melius est ut nubant, quam in ignem delitijs suis cadant. Cyprian. l. 1. ep. 11. if either they cannot or will not continue as they are. Yea not of Virgins barely, but of Votaries Epiphanius, [...]. Epiphan. Haeres. 61. Bet­ter it is for one of them to take openly a lawfull Wife, than to be wounded daily (i. Quam occulta flamma concupiscentiae in ipsa conscientia vastarentur. Aug. de Virgin. c. 34. inwardly) with vnseene shafts.

[Page 43] Nay, say these Men, Vtrum (que) malum est, & nubere & vri. imò peius est nubere. Bellarm. de monach. c. 30. Both are bad, but the latter is the better: (as if they stroue directly herein t [...]op­pose the Apostle) Quae nubit post votum, aliquo mo­do magis peccat, quam quae fornica­tur: quia reddit se impotentem adser­uandum votū, quod quae fornicatur non facit. B [...]ll ibid. It is better for some to burne, than to marrie, yea to doe that that is farre worse. For by Mariage their Votaries, Monkes, Friers and Nunnes, are disabled, saith Bellarmine, to the keeping of their Vow, which by Fornication, yea or a worse matter they are not. And, Bigamia meta­phorica, vti Hier. Llamas appellat; si­militudinaria, vt Tole [...]us, irregulari­tatem induci. Llam. sum. part. 1. c. 12. §. 3. & Tolet. in­struct. sac. l. 1. c. 67. §. 7. by contracting Mariage, their Priests, they say, become Irregular: Whereas, as Plures concubi­nas habens non in­curr [...]t irregularita­tem bigam [...]ae. Inno­cent. Pp. decret. l. 1. 22. c. 6. by Whoredome, and Adulterie, yea or Excepto homici­dio v [...]luntario, nul­lum occultum cri­men, etiam omnium grauissimum, irre­g [...]m indu­cit, nec S [...]d [...]ia ip­sa vel Bestialitas. Llamas sum. part. 1. c. 12. §. 32. & Co [...]arr. in Clem. part. 1. §. 60. Sodomie and De qua Levit. 18. 23, 22. & 20. 15, 13. Bestialitie, though neuer so oft committed, if the fact be not notorious, they doe not. So that, Rhemists on 1 Cor. 7. 9. Mari­age in such, as our Rhemists say, is the very worst kinde of Incontinencie: worse belike indeed with them then either of those are. Novum prorsus conversionis ge­nus. Licita non faciunt; illicita commi [...]unt. Quid agis [...]ult [...] persuasio? Salv. de prouid. lib. 5. A foolish perswasion, (to vse Saluians words; yea a sottish superstition:) to for­beare, (nay, to condemne) that that is lawfull, and com­mit that that is vnlawfull: to abstaine from the mariage Remedie, and to runne out into all impuritie; as Ber­nard complaineth that Multi enim, non tamen omnes; sed tamen multi, cer [...] est; nec latere queunt prae multitudine, nec prae impudentia querunt; &c. abstinentes remedio [...], in omne deinde s [...]gitium effluentes. Bern. de convers. ad Cler. c. 29. so many of them in his time did, that neither for multitude they could be concealed, nor for shamelesnesse did they seeke to be vn­seene. Peccata interdixit Deus, non matrimonia. Salvian. de prouid. l. 5. It is not Mariage, saith he, but Adultery that God condemneth. And, Quid simile vxor & Scortum [...] Hieron. ad Ocean. what comparison is there betweene a Wife and an Whore or an Harlot? saith Ierome.

[Page 44] But thus they striue Quod de bostibus suis Dauid, Psalm. 62 4. Contraillud, Act. 10. 15. to dishonour that that God hath [...]onoured, to disgrace that that he hath graced; Hinc in Concil. Bru. Episcopi de Gregor. 7. Pp. Sua­uis homo int [...]r con­iuges diuortia fac [...]l: Sacerdo [...]s qui vx­ores habeant legi [...]i­mas Sacrisices esse pernegat. Interim tamen Scortatores, Adulieros, Incestu­ [...]sos aris admovet. Avent. annal. l. 5. Et in Concil. Wor­mat. Maritos ab Vxoribus separat: scorta pudicis con­ [...]ugibus; stupra, in­cestus, adulteria ca­sto praefrrt conne­bio. Ibid. preferring that before it (it is no new, butan old complaint) that Levit. 18. 24, 26, 30. God most of all detesteth and ab­horreth. In so much that the Glossers on their Canon Law confesse, (a Nota mirabile. strange matter, say they, and it is more than once in them:) that Quod plus [...]uris habet Luxuria▪ quā Castitas. Gloss. ad Grat. dist. 34. can. 7. Et ad D [...]cretal. l. 1. t. 22. c. 6. Luxurie hath more fauour than Chastitie in their Law.

And so indeed hath it; For, Cum secundas nuptias expertus nen suc­rit castitatem tamen cum priorinon servaverit coniugio, vt ad Diaconatus ordin [...]m possit provehi, [...]oncessimus. Pelag. Pp. Gratian. dist. 34 c. 7. He is admitted in­to the Ministerie, that hath had a Wife and an Harlot, when he that hath had two lawfull Wiues successiuely, is excluded. Where, Castus repelleretur, si convixisset cum s [...]cunda; [...]id foraicator non. Gloss. ibid. he that hath liued chastly (saith the Glosse) with a second Wife is refused, when a For­nicator is not. And, Cum plures habentes concubinas irregularitatem bigamia non in­currerint, cum eis tanquam si [...] plici fornicatione notatis, quoad executionem saccrd [...]tal [...] officij poterit dispensari. Innocent. 3. decret. Greg. l. 1. t. 22. c. 6. He may be dispensed with for continuance in his office, that hath kept many Quean [...]s, when he that hath maried a second wife may not. A­gaine, Videantur Greg. Syric. & Innocent. supr. A maried Priest may by no meanes be endu­red. For, Constitutus in sacris contrabens matrimonium ipso facto perdit beneficia. Abbas de Cler. Coniug. c. 1. num. 7. if any Priest either openly or priuately con­tract Mariage, he is ipso facto depriued; and there­fore Quicunque aut clam aut palam marrimonium contraxerunt, ab Ecclesia & Eccle­siastico benesicio sunt omninò removendi. Othon. constitut. de vxor. à ben. remov. c. 1. Omnibus modis submovendi sunt. Innocent. Pp. ep. 3. c. 1. must by all meanes be remoued. But, Episcopi [...]s non tenctur deponere Clericum Con­cubinarium. Abbas de cohab. cler. & mul. c. 6. num. 3. An Whore­master Priest the Bishop is not bound to depese. And though some Secundum Canones Apostolorum debet deponi. Grat. dist. 81. c. 12, 13. & d. 82. c. 5. Et Concil. Aurel. 5. ibid. d. 81. c. 10. Et Nicol. Pp. ibid. d. 50. c. 33. Old moth-eaten Canons will that [Page 45] such be deposed: yet those are now worne out of date; and Di [...]unt hodiè pro fornicatione nei [...] ­nem deponendum, nisi in [...] perdu [...] et: [...] qui [...] b [...]die fra­g [...] su [...] co [...]por [...] nost [...]a q [...] m [...]m e­ra [...]t Gl [...] ad Grat. d [...]st 82 c. 5. They say now adaies, (saith the Glosse, and they father it vpon Iuxta [...]utorita­tem B. Sylvestri. Grat. dist. 82. c. 5. Blessed Saint Syluester, though Hoc [...] haben▪ in c [...]rpore C [...]nonum B. Syle estri. Glass. ibid. a­mong his Canons it be not found) that no man is to be deposed for Fornication, vnlesse hee continue still in it; because mens bodies are more fraile now than formerly they haue beene. And, Communiter di­citur, qu [...]d pro sim­pl ci for [...]atione quis deponi non de­bet: cum pa [...]i si­ne illo vitio inveni­antur. Gloss. ad Grat. d [...]st 81. c. 6. It is commonly held, saith an­other Glosse, that for simple Fornication one ought [...]t to be deposed: since that few are found free from that vice. Indeed, Si concubinas publi. èdetincnt. O­thon. constit. de Cl [...]r. Com [...]bin. remov. if they keepe Harlots openly, (for here the Rule holdeth that the Glosse giueth, that Si non cas [...]e [...] caute. Gloss. ibid. if they liue not chastly, yet they must doe that they doe close­ly) or Captus & con­victus. Extra de Iudic. G [...]ss. ad Grat. d. 81. c. 12. he be caught in the manner, and euidently conuict of it, (but Sed qualiter Lai [...]i pr. babu [...] [...]ud es­se, cum non possint testari contra C [...]ricum. Gl [...]ss. ibid. how can that be, saith another Glosse; when no Lay-mans witnesse may be receiued, Non [...]r [...]ctur Laicis de [...]: quia La [...]i [...] ­pidò nobis infesti sunt. Iiud. nor may they bee beleeued deposing ought against a Priest, since they be their profest enemies; vnlesse they will themselues Per S [...]mentiam, vel consessionem propriam, &c. Ibid. confesse it?) Eas intra mensem à se removea [...]t p [...]nitus, aut ab ossi [...]ia & benefici [...] vsque ad condignam satis­factionem suspendantur. Othon. constit. de Cler. concub. then vnlesse with­in a months space (for some time of respite they must haue) they put their Queanes away from them, suspen­ded they may be from office and benefice, vntill they haue done due penance. And yet is that accounted Rig [...]rosa esset [...]c [...], nisi ess [...] pre ad [...]lterio v [...]l incestu, etia [...]: si Ep [...] esset [...] [...]bens. Gloss. ibid. too rigorous a course too, saith another Glosser, vnlesse it were for incest, or adulterie at least, albeit the delin­quent were (not a bare Priest, but) a Bishop. Againe, [...] v [...]o­rem, abjurare tene [...]ur: non qui co [...]cubi [...]am [...]. Abbas de Cier. coning. & Gloss. ad Othen. constit. The Maried Priest must be Quod [...] quam in co [...]jugium sibi copulavit, abjarare fecis [...]i Subdiaconum: pr [...] tiam [...]in commendamus. V [...]ban. Pp. C [...]m. Ep. Decretal. l. 4. l. 6. c. 2. compelled to abiure his [Page 46] Wife; but Clericos qui pub­licè tenent Concu­binas, ad eas abju­randas nolumus cō ­pell [...]. Alexand. Pp. decretal. l. 3. tit. 2. c. 3. the Whore-master Priest may by no meanes constrained to abiure his Whore: yea Non debet abju­rare. Gloss. ad Grat. caus. 35. q. 6. c. 9. hee ought not to abiure her. I might adde that those that haue beene principall enacters, eager vrgers, and seuere execu­ters of these their Canons against maried Priests, haue yet made no bones of liuing otherwise indeed loose­ly and filthily themselues. Witnesse Ioannes Cremen­sis Apostolicae sedis Cardinalis vbi in solemni apud Lon­donias Concilio de vxoribus Sacerdo­tum serenissimè tractasset, dicens summum esse scelus de latere surgere meretricis ad cor­pus Christi confici­endum; ipse cum die illa corpus Chri­sti consecrasset, cum meretrice post ve­speram interceptus est. Henric. Hun­ting. hist. l. 7. Koger. Hoveden annal. part. 1. Matth. Pa­ris. in Henric. 1. & Matth. Westmonast. Florib. bist. lib. 2. an. 1125. Pope Hono­rius his Legate, who in a Synode here at London, ha­uing inueighed most bitterly against Priests Mariage, and made a solemne Decree against it, was the very next night taken himselfe with a Whore. As also Bi­shop Hulderick, who telleth Pope Nicholas in an Epi­stle of his to him, that Cum quidam E­piscopi & Archidiaconi ita praecipites sint in libidinem, vt ne (que) adulteria, neque incaes [...]us, neque ma­sculorum turpissimos amplexus sciant abhorrere, tamen casta Clericorum conjugia dicunt sibi foelere, & ab eis jabent & cogunt clericos abstinere. Hulderic. epist. ad Nicol. Pp. their Bishops and Archdea­cons that make Priests mariage so vnsauourie, and com­pell them to leaue their Wiues, are yet so leacherously gi­uen themselues, that they neither abhorre or forbeare a­dulterie, no, nor incest, nor Sodomie. But one Instance more of their Iniquitie in this kinde shall suffice. They haue a Canon, that Bigamum censendum, nec ordinandum esse, qui vxorem vnam ante baptismum, alteram post baptismum habuerit, statuit Innocent. Pp. apud Grat. dist. 26. c. 3. epist. 2. c. 6. & ep. 22. c. 2. & ep. 24. c. 6. if a man shall haue had two Wiues successiuely, the one before Baptisme, the other af­ter he was baptised, he shall by the Apostles Rule, (as they Ne bina pariter aut trina conjugia sartiantur: sed vt singulas vno tempore vxores habeant. Hieron. ad Ocean. Ne (que) enim secundum reiecit Matrimonium, qui illud saepe iussit fieri. Theodoret. in 1 Tim. 3. mis-expound it;) 1 Tu [...]. 3. 2. Tit. 1. 6. The Husband of one Wife, be made vncapable of holy Orders: Which yet Posse fieri aiunt, si concubinam, non vxorem habuisset. Hieron. ad Ocean. hee should not haue beene, had hee before Baptisme in stead of taking that one Wife liued neuer so loosely [Page 47] otherwise. And the Reason they giue for it is, Quod peccatum non fuit, non est di­ [...] in bap. ibid. Et Inno▪ ēt. vbi sup. be­cause the one being Sinne, was in Baptisme done away, the other being no Sinne, was not. This when it was questioned in Ieromes time, what saith he (though one otherwise Durior in Ma­trimomū, & Nup­t [...]js iniquior. Erasm, prafat. in lib. contr. Iov [...]. not so equall to the Maried estate) to it? Rem nouam au­dio. Quia peccatum non fuit in peccatū reputabitur. Hierō. ad Oce [...]n. This is new learning, saith he, that something shall be reckoned therefore for sinne, because it is not sin. [...] s [...]orta, & publica colluvionis sordes, imp [...]etas in Deum, parricidiū, & incestus in pa­reutes, atque in ex­traordinarias vo­luptates vtriusque sexus m [...]ata natu­ra, Christi sonte purgantur? Vxoris [...]nbaerebunt macu­lae? Et lupanaria thalamis praefer [...] ­tur? Ibid. Are all Whoredomes, defilements with common Queanes, impieties, paricides, incests euen with parents, the vnnaturall pollutions of either sex by extraordina­rie lusts, washed off in Baptisme? And doe the staines of a lawfull Wife sticke on still? And are the Stewes then preferred before the Bride-chamber? That Praet [...]reunt quod non licet; & obji­ciunt quod conces­sum est. Ibid. they passe by that that is not lawfull, and obiect that that is. Or Tam ma [...]ulosum nomen vxoris non potest vlla nouitate deleri. Ibid. is the Name of a Wife so foule a matter, that no­thing can wipe it away? Belike Audiant Ethnici, &c. audiant Catechumeni, qui sunt fidei candidati: Ne vxores ducant ante baptisma, ne honesta jungant Matrimonia: sed promis [...]uas vx [...]res hab [...]ant, in▪ ò caeveant qual [...]cum­que vocabulum Coniugis; ne postquam in Christo crediderint, noceat eis, quod aliquandò non con [...] ­binas, nec meretrices, sed vxores habuerint. Ibid. Men had need to take heed how they take wiues before Baptisme, and contract honest Mariage; Yea they were better to liue as those that haue Wiues in common; or rather by all meanes a­uoid any Name of a wife whatsoeuer; lest that after they come to beleeue in Christ, it become preiudiciall vn­to them that they had not Queanes, or Harlots before­time, but Wiues. Vere Scribarum & Pharisaeorum similes: cu­licem liquantes, & camelum glutientes. Ibid. These are like the Scribes and Pha­risies indeed, straining a Gnat, and swallowing a Camel. Imputatur infoelicitas coniugis mortuae: & libido meretricia coronatur. Ibid. They punish Martage; and (not pardon onely, but euen) crowne Whoredome. Iu [...]scriptum est, Honorab [...]les Nuptiae, & cubile i [...]aculatum. Tibi Iegitur, F [...]rnicatores autem & Adult [...]ros iudicabit Deus. Ibid. Whereas of the one it is [Page 48] said, Mariage is Honourable, and the Mariage-bed is vn­defiled; of the other, Whore-mongers and Adulterers God will iudge. Quomodò tuae sordes lu [...]ae sunt, & meae munditiae sor­didatae? Si sordes [...]mundantur, quan­to magis munditiae non co [...]quinantur? Ibid. Sure, if that that is filthie be clean­sed in Baptisme, that that is cleane is not thereby defiled. And if for this one Particular Ierome charge them so deepely: how much more, all considered that before hath beene said, may they bee truly char­ged (as their owne Glossers being Canonists also themselues confesse of them) to shew more grace and sauour to Incontinencie, than to Chastitie, and to set lawfull Wiues behind Concubines and Queanes? So that if it were, as these men seeme to say, nay as they peremptorily auow, it were not onely no great good, (as being no furtherance, but a maine Sunt opera bona, quae tamen maiora bona impediunt vt ducere vxorem. Bel­larm. de Menach. c. 15. hinderance to greater good things;) but a grie­uous and a foule euill, that Gods Spirit by Salomon here so highly commendeth.

But herein indeed they are not alone; they tread in the steps of diuers old [...]. Nupti­as damnant, & a­versantur; paresque eas omn [...]. ò form­calionibus al [...]jsque corruptionibus faci­unt; Saturniani, G [...]os [...]ici, Adamia­ni, Tatiant, Encra­t [...]ae &c. Ir [...]n. adv. Valent. l. 1. c. 31. Cl [...]m. Alex. [...]. l. 3. Epiphan. haer [...]s. 23. & 46. & 47. Aug. de haeres c. 25. & 31. Conc [...]bitum spu [...]ci [...]iae nomine, vt in. pudi [...]ae negotium damnant Mar ionitae. Tertull ad. Marc. l. 1. Stupri assine est Matrimonium: Nupt [...]aeque exeo constant, quod est stuprum Tert. ipse Montanizans exhort. cast. Coniunctio maritalis malum est apud Deum: Et quantum ad natura reiipsius peccatū est. Autor oper. imperf. in Mat hom. 1. Non concubitum, sed nuptias probibent Manichaei. Aug. de mor. Man. l. 2. c. 13. Heretikes, long since con­demned, who then spake of it, as they now doe. And it is no maruell therefore if God iustly punish them for this their contempt of, and contumely offe­red to that his holy Ordinance, by giuing them vp, as did the Rom. 1. 24. 28. Heathen sometime for their vnthankful­nesse, and those ancient [...]. Epiphan. de Origenianis haer. 63. [...]. Idem de Gnosticis haer. 26. Qui & [...], a & [...] [...] Haeretic [...] antedictis p [...]ssim commen. orat. Herctikes, whom therein [Page 49] they concurre with, to the committing of such fil­thinesse Vse 2. and beastlinesse, as is Ephes. 5. 3, 4. scarce once to be na­med, that which euen their owne P [...]rro paucissimis Veneri bellum in­dicentib [...]s, quibus­dam castitatem ia­ctantiae quaestus er­gô simulantib [...], ma­xima pars sub hone­sto castimoniae no­mine stupra, ince­sius, adulteria pas­sim & impune com­ [...]ittunt. Ioan. A­vent. Annal. l. 5. Sa­cerdotes moderni per luxuriam sunt Daemones Incu [...]i, (quod & Chaucer noster, No other Incub [...] there was than he:) & sa­cerdotes Priapi. Rob. Holcet in Sap. Lect. 182. Episcopi & Sa [...]erdotes huius temporis, in repr [...] ­bum sensum traditi, faciunt quae [...]en conveniunt. Quae enim in occul [...]o siunt ab Episcopis turpe est dicere. Sed non verecundab [...]r dicere, quae ipsi non ver [...]cundantur facere: Masculi in masculo [...] turpitud [...] operantes. Sermoin [...]il. Rem [...]ns. Falsa specie continentiae a [...] hominibus place [...]e volunt, gravi [...]ra committunt, patrum vxores subagitant, masculorum ac pe [...]udum amplexus non abhorr [...]. Huldric. ep. ad Nicel. Pp. Ab Episiopis & Sacerdotibus nostris etiam in sacras aedes sit irruptio; ab illis etiam abiguntur faeminae ad [...]urum libidin [...]s oxplendas: sed & pueri meritorijà parentibus com­modantur & condo [...], qui & postea ad Sace [...]otierum gradus promoventur ae [...]is flore trans­acio iam exoleti. Ioan. Pi [...]ss ep. ad Leon. Pp. & Concil. Lateran. Petrid [...]mus polluta fluenti Marce­scit luxu [...]n [...]lla hic ar [...]ana revelo; Nenign [...]ta loq [...]or; liceat vulgata referre: Sanctus ager scurris, venerabilis ara Ci [...]dis Seivit, hon [...]randae Vivum Ganymedibus aed [...]s. Man [...]. de Mandi cala­mit. Authors them­selues, not a few, confesse of them.

Secondly, Is a Wife such a Benefit, where shee is such as shee should be? This may serue to put vs in minde of the great corruption of Mans Nature, what a miserable deprauation Sinne hath brought vpon Mankinde, euen to the inuerting and corrup­ting of the greatest Blessings of God both on vs and in vs.

For [...]; Anuphan. [...]. Epicharm. [...]. M [...]nand. [...]. Idem St [...]b. c. 66. what greater curse, or heauier crosse befal­leth a Man oft than a Wife? Or what one thing pro­duceth more mischiefes and miseries than Marriage doth, where the parties are mismatched? Many a one Sylla Foelix si non habuisset vxorem. Et Comi [...]us fortunatum putat, qui nunquam vxorem duxerit. Hteron. in Iovin. l. 1. Mitio [...]s Terentiani vox est. Anonymus quid [...] Graecus, [...]. neuer knew what miserie meant, till he came to know what a Wife was.

And whence commeth all this but from Mans [Page 50] corrupt Heart, that Apes ex herbis e­tiam acrioribus mel dulcissimum expri­mit. At quae apes in liquorem meili­sluum transfundit, aranea in venenum transmutat. Spinae. de provid. Pravo nihil prodest: quia quicquid ad illum pervenit, pravo vsu corrumpitur. Sic stomachus morbo vitiatus, quos [...]un­que accepit cibos mutat, atque omne alimentum in cau­sam doloris trahit. Sen. de benef. l. 5. c. 12. like a Toad or Viper, turneth all that it taketh, and the juice of all that it feedeth on, though neuer so good and wholesome of it selfe, in­to rancke poison? This their corrupt nature therefore must married folkes seeke to quell and to kill, if they desire to finde that fruit in, and reape that benefit by this Ordinance, that Salomon here speaketh of, and to enioy that sound comfort either in other, that Chri­stian Man and Wife ought to doe. And this their Cor­ruption must they ascribe it vnto, if they meete with the contrarie, and finde ought otherwise therein. In moribus culpa est, non in aetate; in senum stultitia, non in vitio sen [...]ctutis. Cic. de Senect. Vse 3. It is not old Age, saith he, but the solly of old Men that maketh Old Age so burdensom as it is vnto many: Nor is it Mariage it selfe, but [...]. Hierocl. de nupt. Vitium est hominum, non culpa nuptiarum. Aug. de hon. coniug. c. 6. Gratian. c. 32. q. 2. the folly of Maried Persons, that maketh the maried estate so comber­some to many: it is not the hauing of a Wife, but ei­ther thy Fault or hers that maketh her so burden­some vnto thee.

Thirdly, Is a Wife such a Benefit, where shee is a Wife indeed? No maruell then if we finde [...]. Eurip. [...]. so much euill, where it is otherwise. Optimi corruptio pes­sima. The best things become worst, when they are once corrupted. The strongest Wine maketh the sharpest Vineger. No Creature more loue­ly than Man, while he liueth: and none againe more gastly to looke on when life is once gone. Yea [...]. Aristot. polit. l. 1. c. 2. [...]. Ibid. Legatur Autor oper. imperf. apud Chrysost. bomil. 24. ad illud Christi Matth. 10. 17. C [...]vete ab [...]ominibas. no Crature more cruell or sauage than Man, when he de­generateth [Page 51] from his kinde: no Beast more beastly than Man, when he turneth Vnde [...] Aristol. Ethic. l. [...] c. 1, 5. Beast. No maruell there­fore if a Wife, [...]. Hesiod. & Simo­nid. Clem. Alex. as shee is one of the greatest goods while she so cōtinueth, proueth on the other side one of the grteuousest euils, when she ceaseth to be such.

Againe, all euills, as the Elementum in locosu [...] non ponde­rat. Simpl c. & Coelo l. 4. §. 46. Elements, are most com­bersome and burdensome, when they are out of their proper place; as Impietie in Professors, Iniustice in Iudges, because Criminosior est culpa, vbi honestior est status; & atro­cius sub sancti no­minis professione peccatur. Salvian. de Provid. l. 4. Impietie is in the proper place of Pietie in the one, Eccles. 3. 16. Vbi, qui sedet cri­mina vindicaturus, admittit. Cyprian. ad Donat. Iniquitie in the proper seat of Iustice in the other. In like manner from a Wife is matter of discomfort more grieuous, because dis­comfort there is in the proper place of comfort, a great euill in the natiue seat and soile of a great good. And what greater Iudgement can befall any Man, than to haue those very things turned to his euill, that were at first ordained for his good; those things especially conuerted, or peruerted rather to his grea­test euill, that were created for his chiefest good? To haue Psal. 69. 22. his Table made his snare, Buccella dominica fuit Iudae venenū. Aug. in Ioan. 26. his bread his bane, Psal. 73. 18. &. 102. 10. his raising his ruine, Prov. 1. 32. his delights his destruction; Ezra. 6. 11. the wood of his owne house a gibbet to hang him on; his wife, that should be Prov. 5. 19. Ezech. 24. 16. Vse 4. the light of his Eyes, and the ioy of his heart, to be such a continuall Eie-sore, such a perpetuall Heart-sore vnto him, as [...]. Lycurg. [...]. Homer. Odyss. [...]. Eurip. Orest. [...]. An­tiphan. neither he is able well to endure, nor by any meanes may be rid of.

Fourthly, Is a Wife such a Benefit, as is here im­plied. Then those that haue beene carefull in ma­king their choice, and haue in good likelihood com­passed u [...]. Menand. A [...]t tollendum, aut feren­dum vilium coniugis. Varro. Gell. 1. 17. [Page 52] such an one as is here intimated, they may with comfort, cheerefulnesse and confidence enter vpon this estate, [...]. Hipponax. with good hope and assurance of finding much good in it, of reaping and receiuing much benefit thereby.

It is the conceit of many that when Persons enter vpon Mariage, they doe but plunge themselues into [...]. Philippid. Tò [...]. Menand. I­taque Thales inter­rogatus cur non duceret, [...] Laert. [...]. Anaxandrid. Qui non litigat, coel [...]ls est. Var. Gemin. Hieron. in Iov. l. 1. Semper habet lites, alternaque iurgia lectus, In quo sponsa iacet: mini­mum dormitur in illa. Iuven. sat. 6. Lite sugant nuptaeque viros, nuptasque mariti. Et, dos est vxo­rialites. Ovid. art. l. 2. a world of cares, [...]. Theophyl. epist. 51. [...]. Aesehyl. Supp. an Ocean of troubles, an inextri­cable Labyrinth of inconueniences and annoiances. As if that estate like Genes. 3. 18. Hebr. 6. 8. a cursed soile, yeelded nothing, though neuer so well manured and managed, but thornes and thistles, but briers and brambles, but hemlocke and henbane, and the like noisome weeds. As if all the good and ioy of a mans life were gone, when he had once gotten this good; all the comfort of it were ouer, when this Comforter once came; and [...]. Simo [...]d. a man were neuer like to liue merrie day, yea or mer­rie houre after: And that [...]. M [...]nd. [...]. Philippid. [...]. Philet. if a man would liue merrily and comfortably therefore, he should ne­uer marrie.

To omit what might here be said, that [...]. Aphthon. Progy [...]. [...]. Nulla alauda sine crista. Simonid. apud Plut. in [...]imol. & de vb [...]l. ex inimic. no course † [...]. Isidor. Pelus. l. 2. ep. 136. [...]. Menand. Clem. Strom. l. 2. [Page 53] of Life is free from Crosses: and that [...] Aph­than. ibid. [...] ­torem non jugat à f [...]ro d [...]tor: Bost [...]fragium ma [...]a te [...]ur; post ma­l [...]m [...]liam segetem ser. tur. C [...]o [...]rti o [...]i [...] vita [...]pebit, si [...]nqu, [...] aut [...]m [...] est, quic­q [...] [...]dit. Se­ [...]. ep 81. men doe not yet therefore either shunne or abandon other cour­ses of Life in regard of those Crosses that either are incident vnto them, or that occurre in them.

It is true indeed that Mariage bringeth many more Cares, as more Charge, with it, then the single life is ordinarily encombred withall. But yet are † those Cares counter [...]ailed with many singular Comforts that the single life is berest of: and [...]. [...]. is [...]. Co [...] qua [...] [...]. [...]. [...]. such as may well weigh downe whatsoeuer of that kind may rise vp in opposition to cause discouragement in any that are to enter thereupon, [...]. Euripid. Orest. if they bee fitted either for other, that they may liue as Man and Wise should together. [...]. [...]. de [...]upt. From the want whereof the annoiances, inconueniences, mischiefes and mi­series against this estate obiected doe for the most part arise; either because the parties matched sort not well together, or want wisdome and discretion to carrie themselues as they ought, either toward other.

Not to adde, that in regard of some such cares and encombrances as necessarily accompany that estate, to abhorre and abandon Mariage, being o­therwise so beneficiall, and so excellent an ordinance of God, is as Clemens well obserueth, a note but of [Page 54] [...]. Clem. Alex. Strom. l. 2. a nice and effoeminate Disposition, [...]. Clem. Ibid. Vse 5. well besee­ming those Philosophers that referred all to ease and pleasure, and placed their whole felicitie and happi­nesse therein; who therefore aduised also their fol­lowers to forbeare Hinc illud, [...]. Magistracie and Mariage; but as misliked by Contra Plato, A­ristoteles, Peripate­tici, Stoici. others of them that were of a more generous disposition, so vnbeseeming Christian men that are, or should be of a farre other Spirit; and [...]. Clem. idem. ibid. l. 3. Vse 6. sauouring too much both of disreputation of that diuine Ordinance, and of vnthankfulnesse to the Au­thor of it.

Fiftly, let the maried Wife learne hence what to apply her selfe vnto, that she may be a Wife indeed. The more Prov. 31. 12. good shee doth her Husband, the more Comfort he receiueth from her, the more Be­nefit he reapeth by her; the more shee doth the of­fice of a Wife, the more shee answereth the Name shee beareth.

And on the other side [...]. Nico­strat. Stob. c. 72. shee ceaseth to be a Wife, yea to be a Woman, when shee ceaseth to be a meanes of good to Man: Since that the Woman was not made but 1 Cor. 11. 9. for Man, and Genes. 2. 18. for his good; and therefore shee answereth not her originall, if she be not so. And in vaine will it be for her to beare the Quid enim proderit appellari quod non es? Quid nomen prodest, vbires non est? Aug. in 1 Ioan. tr. 5. Name of that shee is not.

Lastly, hence may the Maried Man also learne his lesson. For how ought he to make much of her, that is a meane of so much good to him? Prov. 31. 31. Giue her, saith Salomon, of the Fruit of her Hands: requite her [Page 55] in the same kinde againe. If Prov. 31. 12. shee doe thee good all thy daies; then oughtest thou all thy daies by all meanes in all kinds to seeke her good, her temporal, her spirituall, her eternall good. For Ab alio officia pos [...]ens, promittit sua. Sen. de ben. l. 2. c. 18. In lusu est aliquid pilam scitè excipere; sed non dicitur bonus lusor, nisi qui apt è & ex­peditè remisit quam exceperat. Ibid. c. 32. good requi­reth good; and one good-turne, wee say, asketh an­other.

Otherwise if thou beest found failing herein, her goodnesse to thee shall one day witnesse against thee. And the better [...]he is to thee now, the worse it shall goe with thee then. Better it were for thee to haue no Wife, or one as good as none, if thou be not an Husband to her, as well as shee is a Wife to thee; if thou beest not an instrument of good vnto her, as well as shee is vnto thee. For looke Sunt partes ma­riti, sunt & vxo­ris-Invicem parem ista desiderant re­gulam. Sen. de ben. l. 2. c. 19. [...]. Isidor. Pelus. lib. 3. ep. 12. Branch 3. Question. what is required on her part toward thee, is required the same on thy part toward her: which vnlesse thou answer her with, thou art no more an Husband to her, than shee, if shee should faile therein, were a Wife vnto thee.

But how may a man come by such a Wife, as is here spoken of? may some say: such a one as shall be a meanes of so much good to him that hath her?

Shee must be sought; saith Salomon. For [...]. Sopho [...]l. fin­ding Answer. implieth seeking. And Luk. 11. 10. [...]. Sopho [...]l. Plut. de fortun. He that seeketh, fin­deth; saith our Sauiour. We must not thinke, be­couse Salomen elsewhere saith, that Houses and inhe­ritance are of the Fathers, but a good Wise is of God; that therefore no industrie is to be vsed on our part, but that men should lie still, or sit them downe, ex­pecting that God should drop Wiues downe out of the clouds for them, as Townes were said to come in­to [Page 56] Quē aemuli ipsi­us dormientem pin­ [...] [...]. Plut. Sylla. Vnde enatum Pro­verb. [...]. Prout Liv. hist. l. 7. Nihil agenti sibi de coelo devolaturam in si­num victoriam cen­set. Et Ter. Adelp. 4. 5. Quid? cre­debas dormienti ti­bi haec confecturos Deos. Doct. 3. Timotheus his toiles, while hee slept. No; vn­lesse we seeke, we are not like to finde. And if by see­king we may finde, if after much search made, wee may light on such an one, we are well.

Such a Wife then must be sought.

And so sent Genes. 24. Abraham his Seruant to seeke a Wife for his Sonne Isaak. So Ruth 3. 1, 9. Reason 1. Naomi telleth Ruth her Daughter in Law, that shee will seeke out some fit match for her.

There is good Reason to seeke such an one in two Respects:

First in regard of the Rarity, the Difficulty. Because such are not easily found. Genes. 41 38. Where may we finde such a Man? saith Pharao of Ioseph, implying that such an other as hee could very hardly bee found. And, Prov. 31. 10. Where may a Man finde such a Woman? saith Salo­mon. As he saith elsewhere of a faithfull Friend; Prov. 20. 6. [...]. Aristot. vt Laert. ex Favorin. comment. l. 2. Vbi tamen Casaubon. legit, [...]. In quam sententiam explicatius quidam ex Eudem. l. 7. c. 26. [...]. Sed Ethic. Nicom. l. 9. c. 10. [...]. Omnes ami [...]i & omnes i [...]imi [...]i: omnes necessa­rij, & omnes adversarij. Bern. in Cant. 33. Fidem plaeri (que) verbis ostentant, opere destruunt: quod genus nulli rei est nisi ad loquendum. Symmach. epist. 31. lib. 1. Many men will boast, each one of his honestie; but where shall a man finde a Friend truly Faithfull; Nimium di [...]cile est reperiri ami­cum ita vt nomen cluet, cui cum rem tuam credideris, sine omni curâ dormias. Plaut. Trinum. 3. 1. Homini amico, qui est amicus, ita uti nomen possidet, Nisi D [...]s e [...]nihil praestare.-Idem Bacch. 3. 2. one that indeed deserueth that name? So many Women may promise great matters of themselues, or others vndertake for them: But it is [...]. Diphil. no easie matter, for all that, to finde out a good Wife, one that answereth the Name shee beareth. Multi Sacerdotes, & pauci Sacerdotes: multi in nomine, pauci in opere. Chrysost. nomine Autor oper. imperf, hom. 43. Many Priests, and yet Few Priests too; saith one of the Ancients: many in Name, [Page 57] but few in effect. So many Women, and few Wiues, may one well say; few such, among many, as Salo­mon here entreateth of. Rara avis bona & suavis vxor. Theophr. Hieron. ad. Iovin. l. 2. Rara avis in terris nigro­qu [...] simillima cygno. Iuven. sat. 6. vel corvo rarior albo. Ibid. 7. Good Wiues are rare Crea­tures, as well as [...]. Plut. de amic, [...]. Theogn. [...]. Idem. Reason 2. trustie Friends are. And though I dare not say of them, as Elihu of Iob 33. 23. Vnu [...] è millibus. Vbi per­peram vulg. quem Greg. sequitur, V­nus è similibus. an able Pastor, Salomon of Eccles. 7. 30. a Wise Man, and some other of Arcanum tuum uns è millibus con­credas, licet pacem cum mul [...] colas. Ben Syr. & Sirac. 6. 6. Millibus è multis [...]us vix fi­du. [...]. Hic [...]lbo cor [...]o rarior esse solet. Drus. in Prov. [...]. Ammien. a true Friend; One such of a thousand. Yet may I well and safely say, that as well here as else-where, Majo [...] p [...]rs vin it meliorem. Rari quippe boni. Iuv [...]n. sat. 13. Nec [...] tam foe [...]ter actum est, ut meliora pluribus placerent. S [...]u. de beat. c. 2. The greater Part exceedeth the better: there is [...]sdr. 8. 2. more dros­sie matter than pure mettall; more pebles than pearles. As the Cynicke sometime [...]. de Diogene Laert. C [...] ille [...] ho­minom inven [...]re cupiebat, lucernam meridie cir [...]ens. Tertu [...]. adv. M [...]dr. fab. 58. Aesop [...], medi [...] Sole quid [...]um lumine? Hominem inquit, quaer [...]. sought for a Man in a mul­titude of Men: so may such a Wife as Salomon here speaketh of, be sought, yea and scarce found some­time, among a multitude of Women.

Secondly, In regard of the worth and dignitie. It is well worth a mans labour. Hee need not thinke much of his search, if he haue good successe in it. As the difficultie of finding requireth it; so the dignitie of the thing sought requiteth it. [...]ha­bere [...]gas: Et stultus labor est ineptiarum. Martial. l. 2. epig. 86. It is no wisdome indeed to seeke after toies and trifles, matters of no moment, that will not recompence a mans paines, when without much difficultie they cannot be had. But a worthy Woman is a matter of worth. She is well worthy the seeking. She is [...]. 19. 14 [...]. Nicostr. t. Stob. c. 72. a greater blessing than either House or Inheritance: and [...]. 31. 10. her price is abone [Page 58] Pearles. And if there be Psal. 4. 6. -itum est in visce­ra terrae: Effodi­ [...]ntur opes. Ovid. M [...]t [...]m. l. 1. Om­nes (que) terrae fibras exquirimus. Plin. hist. l. 33 Quin & maris etiam gurgi­tes omnes. Quest. Answ. Meanes 1. so much seeking generally on all hands after the one, much more may there iustly be as much after the other.

But how must shee be sought then?

I answer: First [...], &c. Antipat. de convict. [...]marit. [...]. Hesiod. oper. Meanes 2. by due and diligent considera­tion of, and carefull search and inquirie into the na­ture, qualitie, and disposition, and into the life, cour­ses and conueisation, of the partie motioned or af­fected for Mariage: whether shee bee so qualified as a Wife ought to be, and as is fit for one to be that should be thy Wife. For [...]. Callicra­tid. Stob. c. 68. [...]. Euripid. Antiop. [...]. Ettacus apud Laert. ex Callimach. & Plut. Paedag. Tu tibi sume parem. Quam malè inae­quales veniunt ad aratra juvenci? Si qua voles ap [...]è nubere, nube pari. Ovid. Epist. 9. [...]. Plut. nupt. praec. fitnesse in speciall, as well as goodnesse in generall, is one maine ground of the good and benefit that a Wife is to bring to him, whom shee is matched vnto.

Secondly, by vsing the helpe and taking the ad­uice of Friends. A course especially to be embraced and entertained of those that are themselues vnex­perienced, or that are yet vnder the power of others. So did Genes. 28. 2, 5. & 29. 18. Iacob herein follow his Father Isaacks ad­uice; contrarie to Genes. 26. 34. & 27. 46. the practise of his Brother E­sau And Ruth 3. Meanes 3. Ruth was content to be ruled by her Mother in Law Naomi, though hauing not the power ouer her of a naturall Parent.

Thirdly, by seeking vnto those that are the Pa­rents or Gouernours of such as they affect or desire, being yet vnder the power of such. So did Genes. 24. 48, 49. Abra­hams Seruant deale with the Friends of Rebekka. And [Page 59] Gen. 34. 4, 6, 8. Sichem (though Gen. 34. 2, 7. he had beene before indeed too forward) with the Brethren of Dinah, and with her Father Iacob, by his Father Hamor; the very light of Nature leading and directing them thereunto.

Fourthly and principally by Prayer to Meanes 4. God. As did Gen. 24. 12, 14. [...]. Chrysost. tom. 8. serm. 15. [...] Ibid. Abrahams Seruant, when hee was sent to seeke a Wife for his young Master: And as Gen. 28. 2, 3. Branch 4. Doct. 4. Isaak did when hee dismissed his Sonne Iacob with In­structions and charge what course to take concer­ning a Wife.

For (and so passe we to the next Point) God is the principall Doner here. He that will finde a Wife, saith Salomon, must obtaine her of God. And, Prov. 19. 14. House and inheritance are of the Fathers; but [...]. Simonid. Stob. c. 71. Reason 1. a prudent Wife is of God. From God therefore it is that a Good Wife must be had. And no maruell.

For first, [...]. Pindar. Nul­lum bonum quod non à summ [...] bono. Aug. de divers. 3. Quisons est & ori­go bonorum omniū. Salvian. de provid. lib. 4. All good is of God. Iam. 1. 17. Reason 2. Euery good Gift, saith S. Iames, is from aboue. And if euery good Gift, then this also among the rest doubtlesse, if not aboue the rest, being so principall a good.

Secondly, Psal. 127. 4. Children, saith the Psalmist, and the fruit of the wombe is Gods Gift. And, Iosh. 24. 3, 5. I gaue Abra­ham Isaak; and Isaak Iacob and Esau, saith God by Io­shua. And, Genes. 33. 5. Reason 3. They be the Children that God hath gi­uen me; saith Iacob to Esau. If Children be his gift, the Wife is much more. Neither can we haue them without her; not her without Him.

Thirdly, Euery good Woman is Gods Daughter: as Luke 3. 38. Adam is said to be Gods Sonne: 2 Cor. 6. 18. You shall be my Sonnes, and my Daughters; saith God. He hath a spe­ciall interest, more than ordinary, in them: and they cannot therefore be had without him.

[Page 60] Fourthly, Conjugium non facit sola copula car­nalis. Nuptias non concubitus, sed [...]con­sensus facit. Vlpian. reg. Iur. leg. 31. Ma­trimonium non fa­cit de floratio virgi­nitatis, sed pactio nuptialis. Ambr. in­stit. virg. c. 7. [...]. Aristot. anal. pri. l. 2. c. 22. Branch 5. Doct. 5. Mariage requireth a coniunction of Minds, of Affections, of Willes. And [...]; Muson. de nupt. scop. Stultum est, venatum ducere in­vitas canes. Hostis est vxor, invita quae ad virum nuptum datur. Plaut. Stich. 1. 2. better it were, Reason 4. that Men and Women should neuer come together, vnlesse they beare heartie affection either to other, vnlesse they ioine hearts as well as hands. But as Prov. 21. 1. the Kings Heart; so Solus Rex men­tium Deus. Aug. in Ioan. the hearts of all Men and Women are in Gods hand. As Psal. 33. 15. he made them all, and Acts 15. 9. & 1. 24. 1 King. 8. 39. hee alone knoweth and Psal. 33. 15. vnderstandeth them all; so Ezra 7. 27, 28. Nehem. 1. 11. Psal. 106. 46. he windeth and turneth them all which way he will, nor can any win or winde the Heart of any contrary to his will.

Now, as such a Wife is of God; so (which was the last Particular)

It is a speciall fauour of God for any Man to obtaine such an one.

As Prov. 8. 35. the Man that getteth Wisdome; so the Man that getteth a Wife, Prov. 19. 14. a wise Woman, (for there is [...] the same Phrase vsed in both places) hath obtained a speciall fauour (that is, Vnde sufficiam ad enarrandam soelicitatem [...]jus ma­trimonij, quod Ecclesia conciliat, oblatio confirmat, obfignatum angeli▪ renunciant, pater raro babet. Tertull. ad uxer. l. 2. a singular Blessing, and such as he is wont to conferre on such as hee specially fa­uoureth) at Gods hands. Psal. 128. 1. Blessed is the Man that feareth God, saith the Psalmist, and that walketh in his waies. And Psal. 128. 3. his Wife the fruitfull Vine, commeth in in the first place, as one of his chiefe Blessings; and his Children, the fruit of this precious plant, in the next. And, Sirac. 26. 1. [...]. Eurip. [...]. Idem. He is a blessed Man, saith the Son of [Page 61] Syrach, that hath lighted on a [...]ood Wife; and Sirac. 25. 8. Foe­lices ter & ampl [...]is, Quos irrupta ten [...]t. [...]opula; ne [...] m [...]is Divulsus qu [...] H [...] ­rat. [...]a. m. 1. [...]3. Reason 1. that liueth with an vnderstanding Woman.

Now this we may further and better conceiue by the Contrary.

It is an effect of Gods anger to light on a bad Wife: Prov. 22. 14. Syrac. 26. 24. [...]. Menand [...] Pal­lad antholog. l. 1. c. 17. Et ibid. 19. [...]. He that God is angrie with, shall fall (into that snare, or) into that pit. And Sirac. 26. 3, 14, 24. Reason 2. a truit therefore of Gods fa­uour to light on a good Wife.

Yea it is a speciall fauour of God to misse of the one. (Eccles. 7. 28. Vt contra Eur [...]p. Al­cest. [...]. Reason 3. He that is good in Gods eye, that is, is in fauour with God, shall escape her, saith Salomon) and a speciall fa­uour of God then to light on the other. There is a single Benefit in the one; [...]. quod Athenis in nup [...]s di [...]litum. Zenodot. Prov. a double Blessing in the other.

Againe, It is a speciall fauour of God: For as it is a fauour, that cannot be had without him: so it is a fa­uour, that [...]. Euripid. he doth not ordinarily vouchsafe vnto euery one, no not vnto euery godly one. Many a good 2 Sam. 6. 20. Dauid is matched with a scoffing Micol. Ma­ny Iob 2. 3, 10. & 19. 17. a iust and religious Iob, with a foolish and vn­kinde Woman (if Woman at least) rather than Wife. We see many daily mismatched, and [...]. 2 Cor. 6. 14. vnequally yoaked, [...]. Muson. de nupt. scap. to their great griefe. And our eares are too frequently filled with the complaints of such, as can shew where [...]. P. Aemil. ajud Plut. Soccus hic quem cerni [...]i [...], no [...]s & elegans: sed nemo s [...]itpraeter me ubi me premat. Hieron. [...]n Io [...]in. l. 1. the shooe wrings them, but neither can tell, nor be told which way to finde ease.

[Page 62] And as it is a fauour somewhat Quam sit rarum tales inventri, no­runt qui duxerint. Hieron. in Iovin. lib. 1. rare, that God vouchsafeth not euery one; so it is [...]. Euripid. Menalip. [...]. Sophocl. Phaed. Vses 6. Reprehension Vse 1. a Blessing of Reason 4. much moment, where he pleaseth to vouchsafe it. It is a Blessing that bringeth a kinde of Heauen vpon Earth; as the contrarie produceth a kinde of Hell here out of Hell: according to that which the Hea­then Man well saith, that [...]. Theodect. [...]. Me­nand. euery Man when he mar­rieth, bringeth either a good or an euill Spirit into his house; and so consequently maketh his House, to himselfe at least, either an Heauen or an Hell.

Now the Consideration of these Points may well serue,

• Partly for Reprehension, and
• Partly also for Admonition.

For the former; It may first serue to reproue the Practise of those that seeke not at all; make no search or enquirie; but take Wiues as they stumble on them hand ouer head, (as many doe [...]. I'lut. de amic. Friends, whom a pint of wine drunke together, or a game at tennis, or a set at Maw maketh Friends;) as if they drew cuts, or Sic Plato de repub. l. 5. & in Timaeo sorte dari praecipit civi­bus suis uxores. Et apud Plautum de Cosina ducenda servi duo sorti [...]ntur. Et sortc Martam Ios. phe obligisse Epiphanium tradidisse (sed falsus ipse) Interpres opinatus est. cast Lots for them, as some sometime haue done. [...]. Chrysoll. tom. 8. ser [...]. 15. If thou wert to take an house, or to hire but a ser­uant, saith Chrysostome, how carefull wouldest thou be to make diligent enquirie of the commodities and discommodities, conueniences and inconueni­ences, [Page 63] easements and annoiances of the one, who hath before dwelt in it, what neighbour-hood about it, and the like; and of the qualities and conditi­ons, vices or good parts of the other, whom he had formerly serued, how behaued himselfe in their ser­uice, how likely to proue fit for thy seruice, and the like. And [...]. Chrysost. ibid. hast thou not much more cause to be carefull, yea curious in thine enquirie concerning her, whom thou mayest chance to make thy Wife? That so Sirac. 6. 7. [...]. [...]he­ophr. apud Plut. de fratr. amor. Cum judicaveris dilige­re oportet, non cum dilexcris judicare. Ci [...]. de amic. Iudgement, as it should doe, may goe be­fore and lead Affection, and not follow and come after it. The rather since that [...]. Chrys [...]st. vbi sup. thine House if vpon triall thou mislike, thou maist leaue; or thy Seruant, if he please thee not, thou maist put off againe, vp­on a quarter, or halfe a yeeres warning at most. But Matth. 19. 5, 6. Rom. 7. 2. 1 Cor. 7. 10, 27. [...]. Plut. paedag. Vin­cu [...]um est conjugiū, quo alligatur nupta vir [...], quo nup [...]ae vir as [...]rin [...]itur. Eonum vinculum, sed vinculum tamen, de quo cum velit e [...]uere se nupta [...] possit. Ambr. ex [...]ort. virg. Tol [...]end [...] aut serendum vit [...]um conj. gis. Varro. Gell. n [...]ct. l. 1. c. 17. [...]t [...]que, D [...]l b [...]m est d [...]u, quod sta [...] dum est semel. thy Wife there is no casting off againe: she must all thy daies abide by thee, all hers at least, like enough to last as long as thou liuest. Nay there is [...]. Diegen. apud L [...]ert. Nulla est vx [...]ris electio. Eq [...]s, asi [...], bos, canis, & man ip [...]a, [...] qu [...]q [...]e & [...], sedueligne [...]m, c [...]x, & ur [...]eol [...] [...], probantur p [...] & si [...]: S [...] uxo [...] non ostenditur, ne ante displi [...]eat, quam da [...] atur. Th [...]. Hi [...]ro [...]. ad [...]. l. 1. Atqui ap [...]d Eut [...] [...] suos secus fieri sing [...] M [...]rus, quem [...]. no wo­man almost so vnwise or vnwarie, that will buy an earthen pitcher, or and it be but an halfe-peny pipkin, but she will view it well first, ring it, and trie it whe­ther it be sound and whole or no: much lesse will they put any pretious liquor into bottell or vessell, but they will first sound it and smell to it whether it be sweet or no, and [...]. [...]. de garr [...]l. trie it with water ere they trust [Page 64] it with wine. Whereas Husbands and Wiues, Men and Women take at aduenture, without any kinde of in­quirie; and they haue but a faire out-side, that is all they regard: It was Genes. 6. 2, 3. the fault of those before the Floud, and Foecunda culpae secula [...]p [...]ias Pri­mum inquinavere, & genus, & do [...]s: Hoc fonte derivata clades In patriam populumque fluxit. Horat carm. 3. 6. the root and ground of that excesse of euill that brought in that vniuersall Deluge. Nor is it to be maruelled, if such rash and hastie proceeding produce hastie repentance [...]. Philem. Et Socrates interroga­tus, [...]. Laert. & Stob. c. 66. Vse 2. in these cases as in matter of Ad poenitendum properat, caò qui judicat. P. Syr. iudicature, and Temerè consulta celerem poe [...]tentiā, sed eam seram & inu [...]ilems qut. Dae­mocritus Aetol. a­pud Liv. hist. l. 31. other affaires oft it doth: If affection soone alter, where it was neuer well roo­ted, or soundly setled: if Ita Eques quidā Komanus uxorem prid [...]è sortitione du­ctam postridiè repu­diavit. Su [...]ton. Ti­ber. c. 35. such as cast Lots for Wiues this day, be willing the next day to part with them againe.

Secondly, it serueth to reproue those, that seeke indeed, but seeke amisse; that seeke without light, yea that refuse to vse such light as would be lent them, and is tendred vnto them, and that, when they haue more need of it then they are, it may be, aware of. Such are they, the younger sort especially, that thinke scorne to take aduice of their Friends, imagi­ning themselues Cons [...]j satis est in me mihi. Ara [...]h­ne apud. Ovid. Metam lib 6. wise enough to aduise themselues, and to make their owne choise. [...]. Hierocl. de nupt. That that pro­ueth the very bane, and vtter ouerthrow of many an one, that might well haue done well, if they would haue beene ruled by those that wished them well, and were both able and willing well to aduise them: but refuse to hearken to any good aduice, till it bee too late, when they come to be scourged soundly with a rod of their owne making.

[Page 65] Thirdly, it serueth to reproue others that seeke Vse 3. amisse in another sort: they knocke at the wrong doore, they goe not the right way to worke; that seeke Genes. 34. 3. by indirect courses to ensnare the hearts and entangle the affections of those whom they de­sire, being vnder the power of others, passing by their Parents, or others vnder whose power they are; and whom as [...]. Hier [...]cl. deli­ber. offic. erg. par. [...] Ibid. Itaque Mand [...]t [...]m 5. de Parentibus ob­servandis Tabulae priori adjudicat Philo Iud. sacitque [...], uti est re­verá, [...]. Vse 4. God hath set in his place, so hee hath in part imparted to them his power of disposing. Such cannot expect any blessing from God on their seeking, seeking contrarie to his word and will.

Fourthly, those especially come here to be repro­ued, that passe wholly by God, neuer looke vp to him: vse their owne industrie, it may be, and take aduice of their Friends, but neuer thinke on or looke after him that ought to be their principall aduiser, their chiefe Counseller, their best Friend, either to craue his aduice or to aske his good will. And no maruell, if so much neglecting him, they speed ac­cordingly, they misse of that [...]. Eu­rip. Menalip. [...]. Aes [...]hyl. Eumen. that without him cannot be had. Nam nec interri [...] liberi sine consens [...] patrum rite & jure nubent. Tertull. ad uxorem l. 2. Verb [...] aureis literis seri­benda. Rhenan. in annot. Hinc piè vir­go orthodoxa a [...] Haeretic [...] solicitata, [...]. Clē. Alex. Stro. l. 3. Admonition. Vse 5. Thou wouldest take it euill, that any man should be a Suitor to thy Daughter, and ne­uer come to aske thee thy good-will. Much more may God take it euill that thou shouldest seek to win his Daughters loue without crauing his good leaue.

Fiftly, Is such a Wife a speciall Fauour of God? Then be carefull to reconcile thy selfe in the first place vnto God, if thou wouldest hope, or doest de­desire to haue such a speciall fauour at his hands. If thou desirest a Mans Daughter, thou wilt seeke to get her Fathers good-will: And if there haue beene any breach formerly betweene thee and him, thou wilt [Page 66] vse all good meanes of working an accord and a­greement betweene you, ere thou wilt come to make suit to him, to bestow his Daughter vpon thee. For little hope couldest thou haue to preuaile with him in a suit of that nature, Legantur quae de Scipionis filia Tib. Graccho desponsa Liv. hist. l. 18. Val. Max. l. 4. c. 2. & Gell. noct. Attic. l. 12. c. 8. Vse 6. so long as there were jarre and enmitie between you otherwise. And how canst thou hope to obtaine the like fauour at Gods hands, if there be enmitie and hostilitie betweene him and thee?

Lastly, let such maried persons as God hath bles­sed in this kinde, learne hence what cause they haue to be thankfull to God either for other. Yea let the jarres and discord that they see betweene other Men and Women mismatched, and the crosse and cursed cariage of them either toward other, together with the manifold annoiances and grieuous mischiefes and inconueniences that ensue ordinarily thereup­on, be a meanes to put them in mind of Gods great mercie and goodnesse to them, and of his speciall fa­uour towards them; and to make them the more thankfull vnto him for the same.

And since that they haue receiued either other from God, let them herein striue to shew their thank­fulnesse vnto God, by endeuouring to bring either other neerer vnto God, by Hebr. 12. 24. [...]. Greg. Naz in Basil & in Athenas. [...]. Idem in Maccab. helping either other forward in the good waies of God: Doe either with other, as Anna did with her Sonne Samuel, as 1 Sam. 1. 11, 27, 28. she had him of God, so she bestowed him on God againe; returne either other againe to God, and labour to re­turne them Ita Socrates Aes­ [...]hini, qui se ei dono dederat, Habebo curae, ut te melio­rem tibi reddam, quam ac [...]epi. Senec. de beni. l. 1. c. 8. better than they receiued them. The better they shall make either other, the better shall they enioy either other: and the nearer they shall [Page 67] bring either other to God, the more good, through Gods Goodnesse, shall they haue either of other. The more Man and Wife profit in the Feare of God, the more comfortably and conten­tedly shall they liue toge­ther, the better shall it be for them both.