¶The fyrste Floure / called / vnfayned Humilite.

YOure fyrste floure is plucked out of the fyrste Epistle of S. Peter,i. Pet. v. & it is this, Haue Humilite and loulynes of mynde engraffed in you. For God resisteth the proude, but to the humble he gy­ueth grace.

This is a godly swete floure, & garnysshethe the lyfe of a christen man very muche.

The holy Apostle S. Peter ī this place exorteth all christen mē vnto humi­lite [Page] & lowlynes of mynde. And this is your flour that I call, Vnfayned humilite., euen that lowelynes whiche procedeth from a pure mynde with out ony Hypocrisye or doublenes.Pryde is [...] heade spring of all euyll And ī gyuīg vs exhortacion to enbrase humylyte, he also absterreth & frayethe vs from all arrogancy, pride, & elaciō of mīd, which is y^• hed sprynge of all euel, & he sheweth the cause why we ought to enhalse Humilite, and reiecte pryde. For God, sayth he, resisteth the proud, but to the humble he gyueth grace.What humilite is. I shal make this more euidente anone by examples and Histories of the holy Scriptures.

But I pray you before ye procede in this matter declare vnto vs, what Humilite is.De grad. Humilit.

Humilite, after the mynde of S. Bernarde, is a vertue, wherby euery one brought into the k [...]e­ledge of hymselfe, waxeth vyle and lothesome to hymselfe.

He that [Page] on this wyse is humble, can not norysh ony pryde in his herte.

Ye saye trueth.Why so much pryde reygnethe nowe a day­es.

I meruayle than how it cōmethe to passe, y^• so muche pryde reygneth now a dayes amōg vs.

Uerely bycause the people are not brought īto y^e true knowlege of thē selues. If they were, they would not stōd so much ī theyr own cōceate as they do, but rather be hū ble, lowly, gentle, & meke toward al men, euen the moost simple & inferiour. But in asmch as this knowe­ledge wanteth, therfore are they inflated & puffed vp withe pryde lyke vnto Lucifer, which so exalted himselfe, that he would haue bene lyke vnto the moost hygh God:Esa. xiiii. The mā of honour is proude of his promo­cion, the rytch man of his rytches, the stronge man of his strengthe, y^e learned man of his learnynge, the beautiful of theyr beauty. [...]. Cor. iiii. Iacob. i. &c. This cōmeth to passe, bycause they know [Page] not, what they are of them selues, & that all that they haue is the gyfte of God, as S. Paule & Iames testifye.

I praye you declare to vs, by what meanes we maye obtayne this celestiall gyfte of humllite.

That ye maye haue the more courage to desyre this moost preci­ous vertue, & to practyse it in your lyuynge, I wyl fyrst declare to you the excellency of it, and shew what great profyt ensuethe of it, & after­warde declare to you, by what meanes ye maye come by it.

Let it be so▪

The scripture shewethe y^e whan Adam & Eue had transgres­sed the commaundement of God in Paradyse thorowe the subtyle per­swasion of Satan,Gen. iii. & perceaued thē selues naked,Beholde what synne [...] doth. they ranne away frō the face of God & hyd themselues, that they myghte not be sene.

We remēber this well.

Behold nowe the Humilite of God, conioy­ned [Page] with vnmesurable mercye.The good­nes of God toward mā. He beyng God & such a LORDE, as at y^• presence of whome al thynges both in heauen, earth & hell trēble, shake & do reuerence, hūbly & lowly came & sought thē vp, sayeng, where arte thou Adā? And not onlye this, but whan they were ashamed of theyr nakednes, he made them garmen­tes of skynnes, & put them on them to couer theyr filthynes. Must not Humilite nowe be a vertue of wonderfull excellency, seyng that God hymselfe dyd fyrst of al practyse it? [...]ote wel. Who dare boste hym selfe to be the sonne of this celestiall father ▪ & yet not endewedde withe Humilite? GOD myghte haue suffered them to haue perysshedde, or elles taken vengeaunce on them streyghtwayes accordyng to theyr desertes but he woulde not, but rather gentyl­ly and lowly sought them vp, apparelled them, & by this meanes pre­serued [Page] them. O example worthy to be followed of all the faythfull.

Moreouer what Humilite and lowlynes was ther also ī his derely beloued sōne our lord & sauiour Iesus Christ? Who is able to expresse his humilite, lowlynes & mekenes? It is not without a cause sayde of hym, learne of me,Math. xi. for I am meke & lowly in herte. For what doth hys whole lyfe shew but humilite?Esay. ix. Was he not borne of a poore mayde, euen that blyssed virgyne Marye?Math. i. Dyd he not suffer his moost precious bo­dy to be wrapped ī vyle and simple cloutes?Luke. i.ii. Esay. i. Dydde he disdayne to be borne in a stable,Luke. ii. & to lye in a maū ­ger among brute bestes?Math. viii. Was not he subiecte & obedient to Ioseph & Mary his mother?Luke. ix. Math. ix. Was not he cir­cūcysed and baptized for our sake? Was not he so poore,Marke. ii. that he hadde not where to reste his heade? Dyd not he kepe company wyth Publi­cans, [Page] synners and harlottes,Luke. v. that he myghte brynge them to grace?Math. viii. whome other so greatly dyd abhor­re?Mark. i. Dyd not he touche the Lepers, whome other would scasely vouch­safe once to looke vpō?Luke. v. Math. iiii. Dyd not he frequent and vse the companye of al diseased,Math. ix. that he might heale thē? Dyd not he go,Mark. v. whyther so euer he was desyred?Math. xv. Dyd not he graunt y^e peticions of the faythful?Math. xxi Dyd not he come rydynge mekely into Ierusalem vpon an Asse withoute onye pompe or pryde?Marke. xi. Luke. xix. Dyd not he washe his Disciples feete?Ioan. xiii. Dyd not he beyng in the shape of God and equall with God make hym selfe of no re­putacion,Phil. ii. Mat. xxvii. & toke vpon hym y^e shape of a seruaunt,Mark. xv. became lyke another man, & was founde in his apparell as a manne? Dyd not he so humble hymselfe, that he became obediente vnto the deathe, euen the deathe of the Crosse? Dyd not he suffer hys [Page] moost spytefull enemies to renne & teare his moost blyssed body so cru­elly,Mar [...]. [...]v. Luk. xxiii. Ioan. xviii. so vnmercyfully, so without al pytie, that they also dyd shedde the moost precious bloud of his herte? O vnspeakable humilite. O lowlynes rather to be wondred at, than able of ony man to be followed. Neither wanteth this humilite in hym at this present.Roma. viii. Heb. vii. i. Tim. ii. i. Ioan. ii. Is he not euē nowe also content, althoughe glorified, & receaued īto y^e moost blyssed throne of hys celestiall father, to becomme our intercessoure, mediatour & ad­uocate?Ioan. vi. Mat. xxv. Acti [...]. i. i. Thes. iiii. At the daye of iudgemente also is not he contente to come and featche vnto glory both the bodyes & soules of so many as ī this world haue vnfaynedly beleued in hym, & studiously wroght his diuine wyl?

Al these thinges are true that ye haue spokē.

Were it not thā a thynge of much absurdite & very vnsyttynge for vs, whiche professe [Page] this our LORDE Christ to be moost alienated & estraunged from that vertue, which he in his quotidiane conuersacion moost principally ex­ercised?

Yies verelye. For S. Iohn̄ saythe, he that sayth, that he abydeth in Christ, [...]. Ioan. ii. ought to walke, euē as he hath walked.

Trueth it is, and Christ hymselfe saythe, I haue gyuē you an example, that as I haue done to you,Ioan. xiii. so ye lykewyse shoulde do.

Ryght well neygh­bours. Looke ye do nowe therfore accordynge to your knoweledge.

Act [...]m. ii.Furthermore what Humilite was this in y^• holy Ghoste, to come downe so manifestly vpon the Apostles of Christ at the feast of Pente­choste? to replenyshe them with all gyftes of grace & to enspire īto thē the knowledge of so many tonges? was not this a wonderful token of Humilite? Doth not that moost holy spirite, euen at this daye vouchesafe [Page] also to dwell in the hertes of y^e faythfull,i. Cor. iii. ii. Cor. vi. as S. Paule witnesseth Do not ye knowe, sayth he, that ye are the Tēple of God, & the spiryte of God dwelleth in you? Agayne do ye not knowe that youre members are the Temple of the holy Ghoste, whiche is in you, whome ye haue of god, and ye are not of your selues? Seynge than that this vertue Humilite was fyrst vsed & practised of God, & so styl remayneth, howe can it otherwise thā be a thīge of great excellency?

it is trueth. GOD graunt vs to remember these thinges, that we maye not only professe God by mouthe, but also lyuely ex­presse hym in our actes & dayly conuersacion.

Well as concernyng the vertue & strength of this youre floure, called, Vnfayned humilite, it shal appeare euidently vnto you by de­claring what great profyt ensueth therof.

This thyng is very necessary [Page] to be knowne. Let vs ther­fore heare it,The vertue & strēgth of humilite. I praye you.

Hu­milite maketh vs to be humble and lowly both ī herte & body. It expel­lethe the fowle vice of pryde, & cau­seth that Philantia, that is to say, the loue of our selues or the stōding in our owne conceate, reygneth not in vs. It maketh vs to abstaine frō dissolute laughing. It causeth that we speke nothyng vnaduisedly. It prouoketh vs to graūt that we are more vile than ony other, & vnworthy or vnprofitable vnto ony good thynge. It makethe vs lytyll to e­steme our selues, & all our enterprises, & hyghly to auaunce & set forth other. It makethe vs not to haue ony delectacion to fulfyll our owne wyll. It gyuethe vs an occasion to feare God, and to endeuour our selues to do that, which he requirethe of vs. It causeth vs to be obedient to our superiours, & to gyue them [Page] all reuerence & honour. It maketh vs paciently to sustayne all iniuri­es & wronges, that are done vnto vs. It engraffeth in vs all kynde of vertues. So that it maye ryghte well be named, the mother & nurse of al goodnes & honeste. Moreouer Humilite bringethe the grace & fa­uour of God to vs, as ye hearde before of S. Peter, which sayth,i. Petre. v. God resistethe the proude, but to the hū ­ble he gyuethe grace. It causethe y^e God hath a respecte vnto vs, as he sayth by the Prophet,Esaie. lxvi. vnto whome shall I looke, but to the hūble & broken in spirite, & vnto hym that fea­reth my wordes? It makethe that GOD heareth our prayers, as the Psalmograph sayth,Psal. [...]i. God doth be­holde the supplicacions of the humble, and he hathe not despised theyr prayers. Also the wise mā,Eccle. xxxv. the prayer of hym that humbleth himselfe, shall pearse the cloudes. It causeth [Page] vs to be exalted,Luke. i. as the moost blys­sed virgin syngeth, He hathe putte downe the mighty frō theyr seate, & exalted the humble. And Christe sayth:Luke. xiiii. euery one that exalteth him­selfe, shall be made low. And he that humbleth hymselfe, shall be exalted S▪ Peter also sayth, humble youre selues before God,i. Pet. v. that he maye ex­alte you.Mat. xviii. To be shorte, it bryngethe vs vnto the kyngedome of heauen. For Christ sayth:Marke. x. Luke. viii. Excepte ye turne & become as litle chyldrē ye shal not enter into the kyngedom of heauē, Who so euer therfore shall humble hymselfe, as this lytyl chylde, he is greatest in the kyngdome of heauē.

This vndoubtedly is an excel­lent vertue, and a floure of muche strength, & bryngethe to them that haue it, manye goodly pleasures & godly cōmodities.Gene. iiii.

Agen marke I praye you, what made the oblacion of Abel to be so acceptable in the [Page] syght of God, but Humilite? Agen, what was the cause, that y^e Sacri­fice of Caim was abhorred of God, but his arrogante & proude herte, stuffed full of rancour & malice to­warde his brother? What was the occasiō that Nohe wyth fewe other were saued from drowenynge,Gen. vii. but that they were humble in herte and feared god? Agayne, what was the cause,i. Petre. ii. that all the whole worlde be­sydes thē were drowned, but theyr pryde & volupteous manner of ly­uynge?Gen. xii.xv xvii xviii xxii what prouoked God so ofte to walke with Abrahā, but his Hu­milite & lowlynes of mynde? What moued God to saue Lothe and cer­tayne other for hys sake from that most greuous & terrible plage,Gen. ix ii. Pet. ii. that fell on Sodome & Gomorre, but y^e Humilite of him, conioyned with a reuerent feare toward god? Agen, what caused God to take vengeāce [Page] on the Sodomites and to consume them with fyre & brymstone frō heauen, but only theyr pryde coupled wyth all kynd of volupteous, beast lyke, yea vnnaturall pleasure? What preserued Abraham fromme sleaynge his Sonne Isaac,Gene. xxii. but his humble & obedient herte, redy to accomplysh the wyll of God in al thinges? What made Abraham, Isaac, Iacob, Ioseph, with al the holy Patriarches to be so gētylly dealte w^t al & fauoured both of god & mā, but theyr Humilite? What was y^e cause that Dauid was made of a Shep­pard a kynge▪ i. Reg. xvi. but Humilite. Agen, what abiected Saul frō his kinge­dome,i. Reg. xv. empire & dominiō, but his arrogant & proude herte, cōioyned w^t disobedience towarde the commaū ­dement of God? What caused kinge Asa,iii. Reg. xv. iii. Reg. xxii. Iosaphat, Ezechias, Iosias to worke that which was good in the sight of God, but theyr humilite, bicause [Page] they preferred y^e wyll of God before theyr owne carnall iudgemē tes? Agayne,iiii. Re. xviii [...]ix.xx. what was the cause y^t many kynges, as Roboam, Ieroboam, Abia, Nadab,iiii. Reg. xxi Eccl [...]. xlix. iii. Reg. xii. iii. Reg. xv. iii. Reg. xvi. iiii. Reg. i. iiii. Reg. xvi iiii. Reg. xxi. Daniel iiii. Luke. i. Achab Ochozias Achas, Manasses, Amō, Ioiachim, Sedechias, Nabuchodonosor. &c. dyd y^t which was euell before God, but theyr puffed vp hertes & proud myndes, castyng awaye all feare of God from theyr eyes? What exal­ted the moost glorious virgin Ma­ry so hygh, that she became the mother of Christe, & was alone founde worthy to beare the sonne of God, but her humilite, as she herselfe witnesseth: My soule magnifiethe the LORDE, sayth she. And my spirite, hath reioysed in GOD my Saui­our. For he hath looked vpon y^e Hu­milite of his hande mayd, beholde, bycause of this all generations shal call me blessed. Agayne,Esaie. xiiii. what dyd caste downe Lucifer from Heauen [Page] into hell,Mat. iiii. Iaco. ii. Math. xi. Luke. x. E [...]ai. xxix Abdō. i. Esa. xxxiii. [...]. Cor. i. from ioye into payne, but pryde? What prouoked Christe to chose poore fyssher mē & the vile people of this world to set forth the glory of his father, but theyr humili­te? How came it to passe, that those simple men, yea & euen the fooles of the worlde were replete with god­ly knowlege, & the proud Pharises the galant Bysshops, the huffe no­sed prestes, the lusty lawers, y^e saw­sy Scribes, with all the glisteryng sorte of Hypocrites, whiche lyued at that tyme, coulde not attayne vnto this science of the diuine mi­steries, whan not withestandynge they chalēged to them selues alone the knowlege of Gods lawe, and y^e true vnderstandynge of the same? Was not theyr pryde & arrogancy the cause of this theyr blyndenes? What is the cause in these our dayes,Mark wel. that the proude papisticall Ro­manistes can not perceyue y^e verite [Page] of Gods worde, & here in Englond & suche other lyke places euen y^e ve­rye poore & base sorte of people are godly learned & espy the truethe of Gods wyl? Is not pryde cause of y^e one, & Humilite occasiō of y^e other? As I maye returne vnto the holye Scriptures & make an ende,Luk. xviii what was the cause, that the Publicane went home more iustified than the Pharise, but that the one was hū ­ble, & the other proud? Ifwe marke diligently, we shall easely perceaue y^t all good thynges haue euer come to passe thorowe Humilite, & that pryde hath alway ben y^e original begynnynge of all wickednes & mys­chefe.

Uerelye this is easye to perceaue.

The excellency and vertue of this flour is so great, that it causethe S. Austen to crye oute on this manner,Ser. de su­per. O holye and wor­shypfull Humilite, thou madest the sonne of God to come downe into [Page] the wombe of holy Marye the vir­gine. Thou madest hym to be inuolued & wrapped in vile cloutes, that he myght clothe vs wyth the orna­mentes of vertues. Thou dyddest circumcyse hym in the flesh, that he shoulde circūcyse vs in the mynde. Thou dydest scourge hym corporally, that he myghte delyuer vs from the scourge of synne. Thou dyddest crowne hym with thornes, that he should crowne vs with his eternal Roses. Thou madest hī to be sycke which was the Phisicion of all mē, healyng all thynges with his word alone, that he myght heale thē that are sycke. Humilite, sayth Saynte Bernarde,De Cōsyd. Lib. v. is the stedfast foundaciō of vertues, whiche if it be omitted & let passe, the cōgregacion & gathe­rynge togither of vertues, is none other thynge, than a very ruine or decay of them.Epist. ad so­rorem. For it debelleth and valeauntly ouercōmeth the enemy [Page] of all grace, I meane pryde, whiche is the begynninge of all synne. S. Gregory sayth also,Lib. xvii. Moral. that Humilite is the beginnyng of vertues in vs, & that they which know not Humilite, that is the mother of vertues, loose y^e vse & profyt of theyr labour Agayne he sayth,Ibidem. he that gathereth togyther vertues without Humilite, maye well be compared to hym, that bringeth dust into the wynde. Thus haue I declared vnto you y^• excellency & great vertue of youre fyrst floure, & what cōmodities en­sue of it.

If these thynges hers taught were knowne vnto al men, it woulde vndoubtedly encourage them to reiecte P [...]ide & enbrase Humilite.

Alas dere neyghbours, wherfore or wherof shoulde we be proude? Of oure wisdome or ryt­ches?iii. Reg. x. Who amonge mortall menne was euer able to cōpare with Sa­lomō eyther in wisdome or rytches [Page] Yet for all that vnto what poynte came he?iii. Reg. xi. Dyd not he faull vnto all kynde of dissolute & volupteous ly­uynge? Dyd he not forsake y^• God of Israell, & fell vnto Idolatry? It is not withoute a cause sayde,Iere. xi. Let not the rytche mā glory in his rit­ches, nor the wyse man in his wys­dome. For what are rytches & wys­dome,Of rytches and wysdō Note. yf they be not godly & iustely vsed, but only instrumentes of ty­rāny & vnrighteousnes? The wyse man is indued wythe wyt for thys purpose, that with his wisdome he shoulde healpe the simple & playne people, which want the perfecte experience of thynges, or elles that haue no capacite to attayne vnto the knoweledge of suche trauaye­les, as are expediente for them, and not to deceaue them, to crafte with them, to poll & pyll them, & to make hauoke of them. The ritche man also hath rytches gyuē vnto him vn­to [Page] to this ende, that he should y^e more franckely noryshe the pouerte, and distribute them to the indigēt, and not that he shoulde hourd them vp in corners, glory in them, boast and crake of them, and thynke hymselfe better thā any other, bycause he excelleth in thaboundance of worldly goodes.Mark. Bothe rytches & wisdome encrease dampnacion to the posses­sours of them, yf they be not vsed, as God hath commaunded, that is, vnto the profyt of our neyghbour▪ What cause haue we than for to be prowde of them? If we vse thē wel, we do but our duty, yf we do other wyse, the greater is our damnaciō. Agen,Ofholynes & vertuous lyuyng. maye we be proud of our ho­lynes and vertuous lyuyng? Who was more holye thē Dauid? yet for all his holynes commytted he both manslaughter & whoredome.ii. Reg. [...]. Christ wyllethe vs to recount oure selues vnprofitable seruauntes,Luk. xvii. whan we [Page] haue done all that euer we canne. Shoulde we reioyse of worldly ho­nour,Ofworldly honour. Dani. iiii. & be proud of that? Who may be compared to Kynge Nabuchodonosor, whose glory & renowme ret­ched vp euen vnto Heauen for the fame of it? was not he deiected and caste downe so lowe, that he beynge expulsed from his empyre, became a brute beaste, & dyd eate grasse w^t the beastes of the felde? Rede the history.Of martial affaires. Maye we be proude of marti­all affayres, as of stronge Castelles sure holdes, myghtye Bulwarkes, greate Gunnes, sharpe Speares, swyfte arrowes, two edged swear­des, innumerable thousādes of va­leaūte Souldiours? Howe vnapte theise thinges are to haue ony per­fecte affiaunce or truste reposed in them, who so readeth the Histories of the holy Scripture, shall easelye perceaue.Iudith. xiii. Let this one History of y^e proud Tyraunt Holofernes suffice [Page] for this present, which conqueryng all the world, was at the laste moo [...]t miserably slayne of a woman, & all his men put to flyght. A kynge shal not be saued, saythe Dauid,Psal. xxxii. by hys owne great hoost, neyther shal a gyaunt be holpen in the abundans of his owne strength. A horse is but a deceauable thyng to saue a man, it is not y^• power of his strength, that can delyuer hym. Beholde, the eies of the LORDE are vpō them y^t feare hym, & put theyr trust in his mercy Uerely excepte the LORDE byld the house,Psal. cxxvi. he labourethe in vayne that bildeth it. Excepte the LORDE kepe the citie he watcheth in vayne that kepeth it.Of the fa­uour of gret menne. Hester. vii. What shall we saye of the fauour of great men? May we glory, boste, & be proud of that? Rede y^e History of Amon, which was so hye in his kynges fauoure, y^t he mighte do, what he lyst, kyll, saue, exalte, depresse, lyfte vp, plucke downe, and [Page] as we saye commonlye,Omnium rerum vicis situdo est. bynde bea­res, & yet was not he shortely after caste oute of fauoure on suche sorte that he was immediately hāged on y^e same gallowes, which he had newly prepared for another? Maye sūptuous mansions and delicate fare cause vs to be proude?Of sumptuous mansi­ons, & delicate fare. Na verely. For what other thyng is costly byldynge, than a great heape of stones gathered togyther,Note. pleasaunt for y^e tyme, but shortely returnyng agen vnto duste? As for the moost delici­ous meates that can be gotten, af­ter they be once chawed & digested, what is more vyle, more stynkyng, more vnsauery, lesse pleasaunt to y^e eyes,Of gorgi­ous apparel & goodly beutye. and more odious to the nose? shall I speake of gorgious apparel and goodly beuty? wherof so many nowe a dayes very vaynely and no lesse folyshly bost and glory? Is ony thynge in them, wherfore we maye lyft vp our brystles, & auaunce our [Page] selues before other, euen the moost vile & deformed? I praye you what other thynge is gaye and gorgious rayment than a very instrumēt of pryde, as a certen lerned mā sayth. They were gyuen vs of God to co­uer our fylthy nakednes,Lodouicus viues. and we a­buse them vnto pleasure & volupteousnes. O preposterous iudgemēt. O extreme blyndnes. Glory not in thyne apparell at ony tyme,Eccl. xi. saythe the wyse mā. As for the vanite and beautye, what nede I make many wordes?Mark well It is more britle thā glasse more transitorye than the floure, more inconstante than the wynde, more vayne then the smoke, & more flyttynge awaye then the tyme, to conclude, it is as the Poetes cal it, Fragile bonum, that is,Lib. ii. de arte amādi. Pro. xxxi. a frayle good thynge, so that it is not wythout a cause sayde of Salomon, fauour is deceytful, & beauty is a vayne thīg Howe doth one lytyll feuer, make y^e [Page] woman of the worlde, the fowlest & moost vnpleasaunt in aspecte? And to saye the trueth, is beauty any o­ther thynge,In Introd. adSap. than as Lodouicus Viues sayth, as lytyll thynne skynne well coloured. If the inwarde partes sayth he, coulde be sene, howe great fylthynes would there appeare, euē in the moost beautyful person. Neither is the fayreste body in y^e worlde any other thyng, than a donge hyll couered with a clothe of whyte and purple coloure.Menander. For this cause the wyse men of y^e Grekes were wonte to call a fayre & beautyfull woman Hyperiphainon cacon, that is, a plesaūt or glysterynge euell. What shall I saye vnto the Nobilite and gentyll bloude,Of nobilite and gentyll bloude. as they call it? Maye this be an occasion of exaltynge our sel­ues?Psal. xxix Kyng Dauid sayth: what profyt is there in my bloud, seyng I go downe vnto corrupcion? And the wyse man sayth, why arte y^u proude [Page] O thou earthe & asshes?Eccle. x. Gen. iii. we are all earth & asshes. We shall returne vnto corrupcion, & be so consumed, as concernyng our bodyes as though we had neuer ben. The Prophet al­so sayth, all flesshe is grasse,Esa. xl. Iacob. i. & all his glory is lyke a floure of the felde. O LORDE GOD, what cause haue we nowe to be proude of ony thyng in this worlde, seyng that all thynges are so vayne & transitory, nothing durable & perpetuall? Certes yf we cōsyder well the gyftes,Of y^e gyf­tes of god. wherwith God hath indewed vs, what soeuer they be, pertaynynge eyther to the body or to the soule, we shall easely fynde that we haue no cause to be proude of them, but rather y^e more hūble, takynge euer thought, howe we maye spende well the talent commytted vnto vs,Mat. xxv. vnlesse we be caste with that vnprofitable seruaunt of the Gospell into vtter darkenesse, where wepynge and gnasshynge oftethe [Page] shall be. The more that we do excell other in gyftes, the more daū gerous is oure state, and the more diligence ought we to gyue for the ryght bestowyng of thē. To whom muche is gyuē, much shallbe requi­red of hym.

O y^e vanite of this world. O y^e blīd iugemētes of y^e people, which so much glory ī vayn fraile & trāsitory thīges.

It is not w^t out a cause sayde of s. Iohn̄, loue not the worlde, [...]. Ioan. ii. nor those thynges y^• are in the world. If ony mā loueth theworlde, the loue of the father is not in hym. For all that is in the worlde, as the concupiscense of the flessh, and the luste of the eyes, & the the pryde of the lyfe, is not of the father, but it is of the worlde. And y^e worlde passeth awaye, and the con­cupiscēce therof. But he y^t doth the wyll of God, abydeth for euermore.

Nowe accordynge to your promyse, let vs heare I pray you, how [Page] we may come by this vertue Humilite, that we may enioye the commodities therof eniuing, & exchew the inconueniences that ryse of the cō ­trary.

I wyll do it, and that in fewe wordes.How humi­lite maye be obtayned.

Fyrst that ye maye vnfaynedly haue Humilite engraffed in youre breastes, it is expedient that we cō syder, what ye are of your selues. As towching your body, ye are mē. Nowe what other thyng is man cō cernyng his body, but only,Of y^e bodye as S. Bernard sayth,Libro de Mediat. What man is. a stynkyng sperme or seed, a sacke of dunge, & the meat of wormes. Consider this depely w^t youre selues, and it shall cause you to delyght but lytyll in your body, be it neuer so strōge, valeaūt, fayre, goodly, pleasaūt in aspecte, procere & tau [...]l. It is, sayth S. Bernarde, nothynge but a stynckynge sperme or seed, a sacke of donge, & the meat of wormes. What meane we than [Page] to be sumptuous in the adourning & garnysshyng of the body?Gen. iii. God to couer our nakednes at the begyn­nynge gaue vs cotes of Lether. S. Iohn̄ Baptiste also accordynge to the fyrst appoyntmēt of God,Mat. iii. Mark. i. went clad in a Camels skinne with a gyrdle of lether about his loynes,Agaynst vayne and sumptuous apparell. But lether & cloth both cā not suffice vs at thys tyme, be it neuer so fyne & costious, excepte we adde therto al kyndes of sylkes & veluettes. But what do I speke of these thinges? Golde, Syluer, Pearle, precious stones, Ouches & what not is now and dayes worne euen of inferiour persons, whan the poore members of Christ haue neyther wherwythe they may cloth themselues, nor yet conforte theyr hungry and thyrsty bodyes. O lamentable case. And what shall I saye of the manifold & straunge fasshions of the garmen­tes, that are vsed nowe a dayes? I [Page] thīke Satan studieth not so much to inuent newe fasshyons to bryng christen men into his snare,Mark wel. as the Taylours nowe a dayes are cōpel­led to excogitate, inuēt & ymagyne diuersities of fasshyōs for apparel, that they maye satisfy the foolyshe desyre of certayne lyghte braynes & wylde Otes, which are all togither gyuen to newe fanglenes. O moost vayne vanite. Some tyme we fol­lowe the fasshyō of the Frenche mē. Another time we wil haue a tricke of the Spanyyardes.Noua p [...]a­cent. Shortely after that begīneth to waxe nought, we must therfore nowe haue y^e Ita­lyon fasshyon. Within fewe dayes after we are werye of all the fasshy­ons that are vsed in Christendome, we wyll therfore nowe & God wyll, practyse the manner of goynge a­mong the Turkes & Saracennes, would God that with the Turkes apparell, we ware not also ryghte [Page] Turkes & Infidels ī our lyfe, cōuersaciō & māners. O y^e Englōd would once lerne to be ashamed of this vanite, & remember this saynge of the Apostle, hauinge meate & dryncke, and wherwith we maye be couered let vs be cōtented.i. Timo. vi. But surely this Hethenysh & vayne garnysshyng of our body engraffeth high Pryde in vs, wherby it cōmethe to passe, that Humilite is clene exiled & putte to-flyght. That ye may not be accombred with this Pestilence,Note thys councell. remem­ber the vtilite of your body, marke what fruytes it bryngeth forth, cō syder y^e state of it, ponder frō whēce it came, whyther it shall, and what shall become of it. If ye do this, it shall moue you not to glory, nor to be proud of ony external thing, but gladly to embrase Humilite & low­lynes of mynde.

Of y^e souleSecondly cōsyder also what ye are of your selues cōcerninge your [Page] inward man, I meane your soule.Roma. v. Ephe. ii. Ioan. iii. Gen. vi. ii. Cor. iii. Hathe not that thorowe Adam, be [...]fore it is regenerate by Christ, lost the fauour of God? Is it not a fyre brande of hell, bonde to eternal dā ­nacion, the chylde of wrath, all car­nall, breathynge wickednes, ymaginyng mischefe, bent vnto euell, and not able once for to thyncke a good thought?

Thyrdly after we be renewed by the mooste blyssed Sacramente of Baptisme & the holy Ghost,Of synne after Bap­tysme remember howe sone ye loose agayne that benefites thorow your owne sinne & wickednes, which before ye freely obtayned by Christ. This shall also moue you to cast awaye all pryde & to be humble, lowely & meke, in the syght of God, euer lamētynge your misery, & flyenge continually vnto God with youre feruēt prayers for grace, mercy, fauour & remission of your synnes, vnlesse ye be dampned [Page] for your iniquitie accordīg to your desertes.Of y^e pay­nes of hel. It shal also not a lytyl profyt, to remember the paynes of hel, whiche are prepared for them that are proud & disobedient to the wyll of God.Of vertues & qualities. Fourthly yf at ony tyme y^e desyre of vayne glory shall crepe in to your bosome for the excellencye of vertues and qualities wherew^t ye are endewedde, call streyght vn­to youre remembraunce thys say­enge of the Apostle, what hast thou that thou haste not taken? If thou haste taken it,i. Cor. iiii. why doste y^u reioyse, as though thou haddest not taken it? & this shall plucke downe youre combe, as they vse to saye. For who is so madde,Note. excepte he be lyke vnto the Crow of Esope, to bost himselfe of other mennes fethers? The gyf­tes that we haue, be they neuer so excellente, are not ours but Gods. He maye take them awaye agayne whā it pleseth hym. Thefore ought [Page] we not to be proud of them, but vse them vnto that ende, for the which they were gyuē vs, euer remēbring that yf we vse them well, there is a rewarde layde vp for vs in heauen yf we do not, we shall receaue y^e greter damnacion. So that we haue no cause to be proude of them, but rather the more humble, and lowly in herte.

Finally in all your workes, seme they neuer so good and perfecte, yet thyncke you, y^t they are nowe done w^t so much purite & clennes of hert as they ought, & therfore ye muste humbly graunt your imperfecciō, & desyre god to fulfil that which lackethe in you for hys Sonne Iesus Christes sake.

If on this wyse ye behaue your selues neyghbours in all your workes, ye muste nedes despyse pryde & enbrase humilite Yea if on this mā ner ye iudge of youre selues, as I [Page] haue here taught you, ye shal with out doubte be made vnfaynedly hū ble, meke and lowly. But withoute this knoledge of your selues, know that ye can do none otherwyse, but stond in your owne cōceate, bragge of your qualities, glory in your ac­tes, be proud of your gyftes, & euer vnthanckefull in the sight of God. S. Bernarde sayth,In Cant. Ser. iii.vii. I knowe that no man is saued without the knowledge of him selfe, wherof doubtles Humilite the mother of helth sprin­geth, and the feare of the LORDE. For as the one is the begynnynge of wisdome▪ so is the other of helth.

I pray God we may so knowe our selues, that we may deserue to haue this moost excellent vertu engraffed in our brestes.

Neygh­bours one worde wyth you, & than an ende of this your fyrst flour. Remember that your floure is called, Vnfayned humilite, bycause ye may not [Page] outwardely pretend humilite, and inwardely be inflated wythe Pha­rasaicall arrogancy, & puffed vp after the manner of the proud Hypo­crites, and supercibious Pharises,Mat. xxiii. whom Christ & his Apostles rebuke so oft in y^e holy scriptures for theyr fayned holynes. Be no paynted se­pulchres, outwardely fayre, and in­wardly full of rotten bones, and al fylthynes. For many,Ep. xxvii. as saynt Ie­rome sayth, followe the shadowe of Humilite, but fewe the trueth. Let all glosyng wordes be taken away, let all faynynge gestures cease. Pacience sheweth a mā to be truly hū ble. Let your humilite therfore not only be expressed wyth gesture and voyce, but also let it procede from y^e pure affecte of the herte. So maye ye be sure to haue God gracious & fauourable vnto you, & euer to prosper in all your honest trauayles & godlye affayres. Hytherto haue I [Page] spoken sufficientely of youre fyrste floure called,Wythoute humilite nothīg cōmeth wel to passe Vnfayned humilite, and I haue bene the longer aboute it, by­cause I would be glad to expell the poisonof Pryde out of your hertes which raygneth almoost vniuersally beyond al measure at this daye, and to engraffe in you this goodly herbe, which is so swete and whole­some, that wythout it no medicine can ryghtly be ministred. This be­ynge digested, all other are y^• more easye to receyue.

Neyghboure Philemon, thyncke not, but y^e your wordes are reposed euen in y^e lowest parte of our hertes, & we trust that ye haue not sowen this seed of Goddes worde in ony stony groūd,Math. xiii. Mar. iiii. Luk. viii. but in suche good earth, as shall brynge forth, some an hūdrethe folde, some syxty folde, and some thyrtye folde.

It doth me good to heare this, & to knowe your redy wyll vnto all goodnes & vertu. For in dede neighbours [Page] we had neuer more nede to worcke well, and to do good dedes,This tyme hath greate nede of good workes. than at this tyme. The christen re­ligion begynneth vtterly to decay. Alas we speke much of Christe, but manye lyue no part of Christ. Uice styl reygneth, vertu hath no place. Well, I wyl gyue you your second floure.

I praye you lette vs haue it.

¶The second floure / named Pure Innocency.

BEhold here is the second floure of your Nosegay.Gen. xvii. I am the almigh­ty GOD. VValke before me and be perfecte. And I vvyll make my couenaunte betvvene me and the, and vvyll multiplye the beyonde all measure.

Was not this the sayenge of God the father vnto Abra­hā?

Yies verely, & pertaynethe now vnto vs no lesse than it dyd at [Page] y^t tyme to hym.Rom. xv. For what so euer thynges are wrytten, are wrytten for our learnynge. Ye shall receaue moche pleasure of this your floure, yf ye marke the vertue of it well. Fyrst ye shall note that God calleth hymselfe the almyghty God, wher­by we maye easely discerne hym frō those gods,Psa. lxxxxv yea rather Idolles and dyuels, whome the Hethen dyd worshyp & call vpō. For our God is omnipotent, that is to say, almyghty, plenteous in power, aboundant, o [...] sufficient, ful of all good, nedy of nothynge. [...]iii. Reg. xix The Gods of the Gentiles are of no power, puissaūce & strēgth full of all imbecillite, weakenesse & misery. Our God made all thinges of nothing by y^e power of his word. The Gods of the Hethē make not,Baru [...]. vi. Psa. cxiiii. but they are made of other and are none other thynge than wood, stonnes, syluer, gold, or wicked spirites.Ioan. iiii. Oure God is able to helpe so many [Page] as call on hym in spirite & truethe. The Gods of the Gentiles are not able for to helpe thēselues, neyther do they heare ony man, that cal on them, as we maye perceaue by the prestes of Baal. Oure God lastethe for euer & euer euen worldes worl­des withoute ende.iii. Re. xviii Psal. [...]i. The Gods of y^e Hethen perysh and are more vayne than the smoke. Thus se ye, what a God we haue. None eyther in hea­uen,Note here well of god. earth or hel is able to compare w^t this our God. He alone is good, mercifull. gentle, pacient, long suf­ferynge, almyghty, ryghteous, omnisufficient, plenteous of power, & full of all good. In him all thinges abunde, nothinge wanteth. He is y^e omnisufficient protectour & valeāt defender for all them, that repose theyr affiaunce and truste in hym. Who therfore wyll not haue a pleasure to serue this God? Who is so madde to forsake this God, & to fo­lowe [Page] ony other? Who beynge godly mynded wyll not seake the glory of this God? euen frō the very harte? Who hauyng but a carnell of Chri­sten salte in his brest, wyl not hāge wholy on thys God, as alone alto­gyther sufficient for the faythefull abundantly in all thynges wherof they haue nede, eyther pertaynyng to the soule or to the bodye?Iere. xvii. Cursed be that mā, that putteth his truste in man, & that takethe fleshe for his arme, & he, whose herte departe the from the LORDE. For he shal be lyke the Heath, that groweth in the wildernes. As for the good thyng that is for to come, he shall not se it, but dwell in a drye place of the wylder­nes, euen in a salte & vnoccupyed londe. O but blyssed is the mā that putteth his truste in the LORDE, & whose hope the LORDE is hymselfe. For he shallbe as a tree that is plā ­ted by the waters syde, which spreadeth [Page] oute the roote vnto moystnes whom the heate can not hurte whē it cōmeth,Psal. i. but his leaues are grene & in the tyme of drowte shall he not be carefull, neyther shall he cease at ony tyme to bring forth his [...]ruite.

Secondely ye shall note, that after God hath described him selfe to be almyghtye, that is, passynge all other in power, it is so greate, infi­nite, & vnmeasurable, he expresseth the duety of so many as wyll serue hym, as they ought. VValKe before me, Our dutye toward god saythe he, and be perfecte. Loo here is your flour Pure Innocency. He that obserueth this precepte of god, canne not displease, erre or offende, butte worke pure innnocency before god. WalKe before me, sayth he, & be per­fecte.What it is to walke be before God

What meanethe God by that I praye you?

To walke before God is to serue hym according to his worde, so purely and innocētly, as though GOD hymselfe were [Page] euer present before oure eyes.

This is a hard thīge.

The yoke of Christ is swete, y^e burdē is lyght, neyther are his preceptes heauy.Math. xi. i. Ioan. v. Roma. viii. Ioan. viii. For where the spirite of the LORDE is, there is liberte. And if the sonne hath made you free, than are ye truly free. And yf ye be endewed wyth strēgth frō aboue, than is nothyng harde, but all thynges easy thorow the spirite, that worketh in you.

I praye you declare vnto vs, howe we may walke purely & inno­cētly before God. [...]ote

To walke be­fore God is on such sort to īstitute our lyfe, as he hath appointed ī his holy scripture, & not as carnal reasō imaginethe,Rom. x. or good zeale w^toute knowlege deuiseth cōtrary to y^e prescripte of Gods worde, as we haue sene here to fore in our mōstruous Mōckes, which laborīg to establish theyr own ryghteousnes, were not made obedient to y^e iustice of God. [Page] That ye may walke before god,Offayth cer­tayn thīges are to be obserued, first y^t ye haue a sure, cōstāt, stedfast, tru & lyuysh fayth, to beleue y^t, whiche y^e holy scriptures tech of god, & of his workes. Ye herd y^e God is oīpotēt, almighty, plenteous in power, abū dāt, o [...] sufficiēt, full of all good:Psal. xv. nedy of nothing. This must ye beleue vndoubtedlye, yf ye wyll walke before God. Ye herd also, y^t as God is able, so wyll he healpe so many as call on him in spirite & truethe. Thisalso must ye beleue w^toute ony hesitaciō or doutyng.Ioan. iiii. Heb. li. For w^toute thys fayth no man can please god, nor come vnto hym aryght. For this fayth is y^e foūdacion and grounde of the chri­sten religion. This fayth maketh a christen man.Ioan. xii. Thys fayth makethe vs the sonnes of lyght. This fayth prouoketh and callethe vnto God. This Faythe trustethe not in her owne ryghteousnes and good wor­kes, [Page] but on the promyses of God.i. Ioan. iiii. Thys fayth maketh vs to be borne of God. This fayth mitigatethe y^• wrath of God. Thys faythe obtay­neth al good thynges of God,Ioan. iii. as it is wryttē,Ioel. ii. Act. ii. Rom. x. he that beleueth on him hath euerlastynge lyfe. Beleue in y^• Lord, sayth the scripture, & ye shall be safe, & w^toute ony daunger. Agē, Euery one y^t calleth on y^e name of y^e lord, shalbe safe For ther is but one, LORDE of all,Gal. iii. Rom. vi. Ioan. i. sufficiently rytche for so many as call on him. This fayth maketh vs the sonnes of God, as y^e Apostle sayth, all ye are the sonnes of God, bycause ye haue beleued in Christ Iesus. Agayne So many as receaue hym, he gaue them power to be made the sonnes of God, in as much as they beleued in his name.Oze. ii. This fayth maryeth vs to God, as he hym selfe testifyethe, I wyll ma­rye the vnto me in faythe, and thou shalt knowe that I am the LORDE, Act. xiii. i. Pet. v. [Page] Thys fayth purifyeth our hartes. This fayth ouercommeth Satan.i. Ioan. v. This fayth vanquissheth y^e worlde.i. Cor. iii. This fayth makethe vs the Tēples of the lyuyng God.Esa. xxviii. This fayth wyl not suffer vs to be confounded.Rom. x. This fayth bringeth to vs the mercy of God in al our aduersite.Esa. lvii. This fayth is the fulfyllynge of Gods cō maūdemētes.Mat. xvi. Rom. v. This fayth makethe vs the enheritours of the earthe, & possessours of Goddes holy moun­tayne This fayth maketh vs to vnderstonde the truethe.Gal. ii. This faythe causeth that hell gates can not preuayle agaynst vs. This fayth iusti­fyeth vs. This Fayth bryngeth all good thynges vnto vs.De fide ad Petrum. This fayth as S. Austen saythe, is the begyn­nynge of mans helth,Libri. De caim et A­bel. without this no man can reach or come vnto the nomber of the sonnes of God wyth out this all the labour of manne is frustrate & voyde. This Faythe, as [Page] S. Ambrose saythe, is the roote of all vertues, and that thou byldeste on this foundacion, that alone profyteth vnto y^e reward, of thy worke fruyte & vertue. This fayth, sayth he, is rytcher thā all treasures, strō ger thē all corporall power,Libro de virginitate. & more healthful than all Phisicions. This faythe, as Chrisostome saythe, is a lampe. For a lampe lyghteneth the house,In mat. xxv In illū simb Credo in deum. so doth fayth the soule. This faythe of the Catholyke religion, is the lyght of y^e soule, the dore of lyfe the foundaciō of euerlastyng helth. Thus se ye, what an excellent trea­sure this christen fayth is, without the whyche by no meanes ye canne walke worthely before the LORDE our God.

Moreouer thys your fayth must be conioyned wyth a reuerēt feare towarde God.Of feare Prouer. i. Eccle. i. Prouer. ix. Psal. xiii. For the feare of the LORDE, saythe the wyse man, is the begynnynge of wisdome, and expel­leth [Page] synne.Note Psal. cxi. Psal. xxxii [...] Withoute this feare no man can purely walke before God. For he that feareth God truely, feareth also to displease hym, yea he se­kethe all meanes possible to accom­plysh the wyl of god, as the Psalmo graph sayth, blyssed is that man, y^t feareth y^e LORDE, for all his delight & pleasure shal be in his cōmaunde­mentes. Unto this feare of GOD dothe Dauid exhorte vs, sayenge, feare ye the LORDE all ye that are his seruauntes. For they shall ne­uer wante y^e feare hym. The sonne honoreth the father,Ma [...]a. i. & the seruaūte his Lord, yf I be your father,What feare we ought to haue to­ward god. wher is my honoure? And yf I be youre LORDE, where is my feare, saythe y^e LORDE of Hoostes? But this feare ought not to be a seruile and bonde feare, procedynge from an vnwyl­lynge harte, but a reuerent & gētle feare flowynge oute of loue.Of loue. Ther­fore wyth this your faythe & feare, [Page] must ye also haue a syncere & pure loue towarde God cōbyned, so that ye shall both truely beleue in God, reuerently feare hym, & vnfayned­ly loue hī.Deut. x. And this is it, that Mo­ses wryghteth, and now O Israel, sayth he, what doth the LORDE thy god require of the, but that y^u shouldest feare the LORDE thy God, and walke in his wayes, & loue hym, & serue the LORDE thy God in all thy herte & in all thy soule. Nowe haue ye herd partely what it is to walke before God.

I praye you, what remayneth there behynde?

Af­ter that ye haue conceaued in your hertes this faythe,We muste-e [...]presse our fayth, feare & loue to­warde God by external good wor­kes. feare & loue to­ward God thorow the operacion of the holy Ghoste, so that ye haue en­tred the pathe waye of oure LORDE god, nowe doth conueniēt tyme re­quire, that ye walke not only secretly but also openly before God, tha [...] is, that ye do not only inwardly in [Page] your hertes beleue in God, feare& loue god, but also that ye outwardly shew forth this your fayth, feare & loue buryed wythin you by externall workes,Math. v. that men seynge your godly conuersacion, maye then glorify your father, which is in heauē For this is to walke before god,Mark well euē to beleue ī god, to feare god, to loue God, and to lede an innocēt lyfe ac­cordynge to his holy worde. With­out thys innocēcy & purite of lyfe,Deut. xiii. I se not what al fayth, fear or loue profyt. Followe your LORDE God, sayth Moses, feare hym & kepe hys cōmaūdementes, & heare his voyce,Miche. vi. ye shall serue hym and cleaue vnto hī. The Prophet Miche also sayth, I wyll shewe the, O man, what is good, & what the LORDE requireth, of the, euen to do iudgement and to loue mercy, & studiously to walk w^t thy God. Here se you, y^t yf ye wyll walke before God, ye muste do good [Page] dedes, leade a pure & innocent lyfe, study to accomplyshe Gods wyll, & in all poyntes laboure to fasshyon your manners after the rule of goddes worde. Farewel they that bost so much of faythe,Agenste the vayne bo­sters of fayth. & yet are wicked in all theyr workes. They professe to knowe god, as the Apostle sayth but wythe theyr dedes they denye hym, seynge they are abhominable, disobedient and vnapte to all good workes.Tit. i. Such bosters of fayth do not only slaunder the true & christē fayth, whiche worketh by Charite, but also they deceaue them selues,Gal. v. seynge they hope frely & only to be iustified by thatfayth, which is barren, vnfruytfull & voyd of all good workes.Note here. Let them crake so muche as they lyste of theyr faythe & loue towarde God, yet are they wicked gosp [...]llers. For y^e loue of god, sayth saynt Gregory, is neuer ydle. For it worketh great thynges,Gregory. if it be the [Page] loue of god in dede, but if it ceaseth to worke, than it is no loue.Chrisostom Chry­sostome also saythe. The sonnes of GOD are not content to syt ydle, but the spirite prouokethe them to take some great and commendable worke in hand. Uerely as impossi­ble as it is for a good tre tobe w^tout a good fruyte, whā the tyme of the yeare cometh,Note thys similitude. so impossible is it for true fayth to be wythout good and christen workes. And as the spirite of God can none otherwyse but do those thynges, that are pleasaūt before God, so in lyke māner a fayth­ful mā, which is the son of god, can not cease frō workyng y^e wyl of god. Let these rude raylynge readers of the Gospell therfore be once asha­med of theyr fayth & spirite, wherof so greatly they crake, seynge they are altogyther vnfruytfull and w^t ­oute all good workes.ii. Cor. v. Ioan. xv. If ony man be in Christe, he is a newe creature. [Page] He that abydeth in me,Esa. xii. Ioan. vii. Math. vii. Luke. vi. & I in hym sayth Christ, bryngeth forth moche fruyte. And he that beleueth in me, as the scripture sayth, floudes of lyuysh water shall flow out of his be­ly. Euery good tree bryngeth forth good fruyte. He y^t hath not a lust & feruent desyre to worke the wyll of God, and to fasshon his lyfe in all partyes accordyng to the holy law of God, vndoubtedly he hath not y^• christen fayth, neyther pertayneth he vnto Christe, though he bablethe neuer so muche of faythe,i. Cor. iiii. of God, of Christ, & of all the diuine misteries. For the kyngdome of God is not in word,Mat. vii. Luke. vi. Luke. xiii. but in power. Not euery one that sayth vnto me, LORDE, LORDE sayth Christ, shall enter into y^e kingdome of heauen, but he that doth y^• wyll of my father, whiche is in hea­uen. Many shall saye vnto me, at y^• daye, LORDE, LORDE, haue not we prophecyed in thy name, & cast out [Page] dyuels by thy name,Psal. vi. Luke. vi. Ioan. xiiii. and wrought miracles by thy name? But than shal I saye vnto them I know you not. Departe from me ye workers of iniquite. He that hathe my com­maundementes & kepethe them, he it is y^t loueth me. If ony mā loueth me, he wyl kepe my worde, & my fa­ther wyll loue hym, & we wyl come vnto hym, & dwell with hym. But he that loueth me not, kepethe not my wordes. God hathe not shewed to vs his manifolde kyndnes, that we should lyue dissolutely and with oute all good order (for so were we vnworthy ony kyndenes at all) but that we should earnestly & wyth all diligence ēploy our selues to worke his wyl, to satisfy so much as lyeth in our power his godly mynd,i. Ioan. ii. Rom. viii. and to walke in all our conuersacion & lyuynge, as his derely beloued son w alked. If he dyd not spare his only begotten Sonne, but gaue hym [Page] for vs all euen vnto the death, how vnkynde creatures myght we righteously be recounted, if we shoulde not study with herty myndes to ac­complysshe his holy preceptes? Are they worthye to be called chyldren,Ioan. iii. which neglecte theyr fathers wyll, & so greatly dissent from theyr Fa­thers manners?Chyldren oughte to follow y^e mā ners of ther father. Oure celestiall fa­ther is holy, & shall we his chyldren be prophane and vnholy? Our cele­stiall father is good, godlye, mercy­full, pacient, & all spirite, & shall we his chyldren be euell, wycked, rygo­rous, impacient, & all flesshe? Be ye holy, saythe he, for I am holy. Cer­tes god hath not called vs vnto vn­cleannes,Leuit. ix. i. Thes. iiii. but vnto sanctificacion. Nether hath he delyuered vs from Satan & his army, that we should lyue wyckedly, but practyse pure ī ­nocency & true godlynes in all oure lyfe, as Zachary the Preste father to S. Iohn̄ Baptist sayth:Luke. i. He hath [Page] performed the othe, which he sware to our father Abraham, for to giue that we delyuered oute of the han­des of our enemies, myght serue hī without feare all the dayes of oure lyfe in such holines & righteousnes as are acceptable before hym.

Thus se ye that if we wyl walke before God,Tit. iii. we maye not onlye be­leue in God, feare & loue God, but also lead a pure & innocent lyfe, be plēteous in good workes, & altogi­ther studious of tru godlines.

But I pray you,Why the scripture vseth thys worde walk why doth y^e scrip­ture vse thys terme, VValKe, rather than ony other?

It is not with out a cause: Ye knowe, he that stondeth styl, moueth nothing forward nor hasteth not vnto the end of his iourney. But he that walketh is e­uer goynge, & draweth alwaye ne­rer and nerer vnto hys iourneyes ende. In consideracion wherof, the holy Scripture vsethe this worde, [Page] VValKe, Psa. lxxxiii Rom. ii. to put vs in remembraunce, that if we haue begun well, in oure professiō, we should not there cease & stonde styll, but go forthe frō ver­tue to vertue, from fayth to fayth, vntyll at the laste we attayne vnto y^e perfecciō of pure innocēcy.Mat. xxiiii. For he y^t cōtinueth vnto ende, sayth christ, shalbe saued. Agē, be faythfull vnto the death, and I shall gyue the the crowne of lyfe.Apoc. ii. This word we read in diuers places of the holy Scrip­tures, Christ sayth, walke whyle ye haue lyght,Ioan. xii. that the darkenes doth not ouerwhelme you. For he that walketh in darkenes, knoweth not whyther he goethe. S. Paule also sayth,Ephe. v. walke as the childrē of light, prouyng what is acceptable to the LORDE. Agayne, loke that ye walke circumspectly, not as vnwyse, but as wyse,Colos. iiii. redemynge the tyme, for y^• dayes are euell. Hytherto pertay­neth y^e sayenge of S. Iohn,i. Ioan. ii. he that sayeth [Page] leth in Christ, ought to walke euen as he hath walked. These places w^t all other suche lyke declare to vs y^t we ought so to walke in our profes­sion by encreasynge dayely in ver­tues, that at the last we may be perfecte, & as S. Paule sayth,Colos. i. make e­uery man perfecte in Christ Iesus. And this is it, that followeth ī the latter ende of the sentēce. And be per­fecte. For we ought so to walk,Gen. xvii. that is, encrease in all godlynes, vertu & honeste, that we might be perfecte, as Christe saythe, be ye perfecte,Mat. v. as youre heauenly father is perfecte. Also Saynte Paule,ii. Cor. xiii. Reioyse and be perfect.Degrees of perfeccion. It is one degre of vertu to loue my neyghbour, but it is an higher degre to loue myne enemy, but the moost excellēt degre aboue all, is so to loue oure verye enemy­es, that we can be contented not only to do them good, but also euē to gyue our lyues to wynne them vn­to [Page] Christ. It is a poynte of mercy [...] to helpe my poore neyghbour with my superfluous goodes, but it is a poynte of perfeccion to sel all that euer I haue, & to gyue it to y^e poore as Christe sayde to the rytche man, If thou wylte be perfecte,Mat. ix. Luke. xii. go, and sell all that thou haste, and gyue it to the poore, & thou shalte haue tre­asure in Heauen, and come on thy waye & followe me. It is a poynt of godlynes to beare an honeste herte towarde the worde of God, yet it is much more, openly to cōfesse it boldly before men, but the very perfecte poynte of godlynes is, not only to loue & confesse it,Mat. x. Mark. viii. Lu [...]e. xii. but also manly to abyde by it, euē vnto y^e very death, if nede so requireth. Nowe therfore euē vnto y^e moost & greatest perfeccion in all thynges ought we to con­tend & labour, that we maye walke before God, and be perfecte.

I thyncke there be but fewe, that at­tayne [Page] & come vnto this perfeccion.

This youre floure is in dede to the carnall man of a bytter and vnpleasaunt sauour,i. Cor. ii. but to the spirituall & truly regenerate, it smel­leth sweter thā ony rose.

God graunt, that we maye once be aun­cient in Christ.

Labour & God wyl helpe. Enter in at the streyght gate. For wyde is the gate,Math. vii. Luke. xiii. & broad is the waye, that leadethe vnto de­strucion, and many there be, which go in therat. But streyghte is the gate, & narowe is the waye, whiche leadethe vnto lyfe, & fewe there be, that fynde it.ii. Tim. ii. Mat. x.xvi. Luke. xiiii. i. Ioan. ii. Gala. v. If ye wyll lyue and reygne in glory with christ, ye must suffer with Christe, ye muste take y^• Crosse of Christ & followe hym. Ye must cast awaye all the vayne plea­sures and pompes of the world, the concupiscences & lustes of the fleshe ye must mortifye, Satan & all hys subtile suggestiōs ye must māfully [Page] resist. [...]. Petre. v. Iacob. iiii. Luke. xxiiii. Ye must dye vnto synne, and lyue vnto ryghteousnes. For christ dyd not enter into glory, before he had suffered, & thyncke ye the gates of heauen to be opēned for you, if ye lyue in this world in ioy, pleasure & after y^e flesh? Na verely ye maye be sure. For y^e Apostle sayth yf ye lyue after the flesh,Rom. viii. ye shal dy. But if ye mortify the dedes of y^e body in y^e spirite ye shal liue. And this is it, that remayneth of your flour.Gen. xvii. And I vvyll make my couenaunte betvvene me and the, and vvyll multiplye the beyonde all measure. God commaundynge Abraham to walke before hym, and to be perfect addeth this promyse aforefayde, & hath vndoutedly accōplyshed it. Let vs also work before God & be perfecte, and y^e promyse also shalbe fulfylled in vs. God wyll multiply vs beyond all measure both in this worlde, and in y^e worlde to come, as Christ sayth, ther is no man y^• hath [Page] forsaken house, or father & mother,Mat. xxix. Luke. xviii or brothers, or wyfe, or children for the kyngdome of heauē, but y^• shall receaue moche more in thys tyme, and in y^e world to come euerlastyng lyfe.

GOD graunte vs so to walke, that we maye be founde worthy this eternal lyfe.A brefe re­hersal of this floure.

wel neigh­bours, seynge that God is almygh­ty, plenteous in power, abundant, omnisufficient, ful of all good, nedy of nothynge, liberall, gentle, merci­full, redy to helpe at euery houre, & wholly bente to beatifye and make welthye so many as call on hym in spirite and verite,Ioan. iiii. whome would it not delyght to do seruyse vnto such a LORDE, & to walke before him and to be perfecte, seynge that for oure seruyse doynge he wyl encrease and multiplye vs, that is to saye, gyue vs in thys worlde abundans of all thynges necessary for this our lyfe, & in the worlde to come euerlastyng [Page] glorye?

This is a swete floure, that ye haue nowe gyuen vs.

I beseche God, that we maye smell well of it.

Yea and that the sa­uour maye longe continue in vs.

To that I say Amē. For if this cōe to passe, ye maye be sure to haue the fauour bothe of God and man, whiche of all treasures is the grea­test. And of this shall ye not fayle, if ye labour to walke before God and be perfect, which I cal, Pure Innocēcy, He that is pure from synne, and in­nocent or harmeles in his conuersaciō, he muste nedes fynde grace and fauour in the eyes both of god and of all men. Therfore dere brothers cleaue stedfastlye to this one verye God almyghty by true faythe,An exhorta­ [...]ion vnto true fayth & good wor­kes. as y^e onlye Author of all good thynges, feare him reuerently as a benefici­all LORDE, loue hym tenderlye as a gentle Father, and so walke accor­dynge to his moost diuine pleasure [Page] in clennes of lyfe and pure innocē ­cy without ony faynynge, dissimu­lacion or Hypocrisye, that ye maye in this worlde be gouerned of hym in al your Actes thorow his moost holy spirite, & in the worlde to come enioye the glory eternall.

Amē good LORDE.

Your duties learned towarde youre selues & god, I wil now declare how ye ought to be haue your selues toward our moost Christen & excelente Kynge, and all other rulers that are sent of hym. And this shall be the thyrde floure of your Nosegay.

Neuer in better tyme. It commeth wel in place. Let vs se it, I praye you.

¶ The thyrde floure / called / Faythfull Obe­dience.

YE remēber, I am sure, y^• name of your thyrde floure.

Ye named it, Faythfull Obedience.

Wel remembred. Hold here it is. Let euery soule be obediēt to the pouers that beare rule For ther is no povver but of God. Rom. xiii. Sap. vi. The povv­ers that be, are ordened of GOD. Therfore vvho so euer resistethe the povver, resistethe the ordinaunce of God. And they that resist, shall gette to them selues damnacion. &c. Howe doth the aspecte of this flour please your eies?

It is not on­ly pleasaunte to the eye, but it also gyueth a goodly odoriferous & con­fortable sauour to so many as smel on it with purged noses. For it she­weth howe we ought to behaue our selues bothe towarde our moost re­doubted Kynge, & all other rulers, which are sēt of hym vnto y^e prayse of them that do well, [...]. Pet. ii. but vnto the punishement of them that do euell. They therfore y^t are faythful subie­ctes [Page] must nedes reioyse ī this flour vnfaynedly.

Wel sayd. Althogh neighbours I do not doubte, but that in your conscience, ye are assu­redly perswaded, that the christen magistrates and hyghe powers do reygne, rule, & haue dominion, eue­ry one in theyr kyngedome, not of theyr owne tyrannye, cruell violence and extorte power, butte of the authorite of Gods worde, & the iust appoyntment of the hygh celestiall kyng for the great consolacion and cōforte of his people, and for the in­numerable cōmodities of the Chri­sten publique weale, which of theyr no lesse vertuous than ryghteous regiment & gouernaunce do ensue, yet for asmuch as in these our day­es there haue rysen vp wicked & vngodly spirites which deny the office of the magistrates & hyghe powers to be the ordinance of God,The Ana­baptistes. and af­firme y^t it can by no meanes stonde [Page] with the Gospell of Christe. I wyll fyrst declare vnto you & proue by y^e holy scriptures, that the hygh powers are ordined of GOD,The contentes of thys floure. and that theyr office agre and in all poyntes consent with the moost holy worde of God, yea and that it is so necessary that withoute this regimēt and gouernaunce of the hyghe powers, no publique weale can remayne in safe estate, no frendshyppe canne be mayntayned,Mark well. no fayth can be regarded, no order cā be kepte, no propri­ete of goodes can be saued, no ver­tu can reigne, no tranquilite cā cō ­sist, nor ony goodnes continue, but all must nedes growe out of order, and, as they saye, go to hauocke, vnto the great disquietnes and vtter destruccion of so many as dwell in suche wyld, rustical, brutall & beast lyke realme, wher no ciuilite of publique order in mundayne thynges is obserued. This once done, I wyll [Page] declare, what your duty is toward oure moost soueraygne LORDE the kyng, and all the other rulers that gouerne vnder his dominion, that ye maye lyue in thys mooste florys­shynge Realme lyke true and faythfull subiectes with obedient hertes and that not onlye for feare but for cōsciēce sake, that by this meanes ye maye both acquyre & get to your selues quietnes & rest, leadynge an honeste and peasable lyfe withoute ony disturbance, and also be an exā ple to other, that they w^t lyke obe­dience maye be subiecte & serue our moost christen Prince accordyng to the wyll of God.

To shewe that the authorite of y^e magistrates & common officers is the ordinaūce of God, wherof maye I rather take a begynnynge, than of the publique weale of the Israe­lites? Whan God by his extent pu­issaunce & stretched oute power had [Page] delyuered the people of Israel oute of theyr miserable seruitude, wher­with they were greuously oppressed of the cruel and lyonlyke Tyraunt Pharao, dyd he not appoynte Mo­ses to be theyr ruler,Exo. xiii. gyde, captaine & gouernour, that he hauynge the preeminence & rule ouer thē, should safe cōduite thē, rule & gouerne thē after the wyll of God? Woulde he haue done this, if it had bene a thīg vniust, vnmete & vnlawful? Would he not rather haue suffered his people to runne astraye as masterlesse hoūdes and as sheepe destitute of a sheppard or herdman without ony order? Dyd not Ietro also, a mā of great vertu,Exo. xviii. and replete with y^e ho­ly Ghoste, whan he sawe Moses a­lone take all the paynes in hearing the causes of the Israelites from mornynge vntyll euen, saye to hym these wordes? Looke out among al thy people suche as be wyse men, & [Page] that feare GOD, and suche as are true, and hate couetousnesse. Make these rulars ouer thē, some ouer thousandes, some ouer hūdre­des, ouer fyftye, and ouer ten, that they maye alway iudge the people. Moses so dyd, & God approued his acte. Here se we other magistrates & rulers appoynted also to serue in the publique weale besydes y^e heade officer, which they also beynge law­fully chosen and set in office, are ap­proued before God.Deu. xxviii After Moses were not Iosue, Othoniel, Aioth, Sāgar, Delbora, Gedeon, Abime­lech, Thola, Iayr, Iepte, Samson, & at the last Samuel, Iudges and rulers ouer the Israelites? Ware not all these approued to be y^e iuste and lawful ministers of God. Dyd not Moyses also before his deathe shewe to the people of Israell, that afterwarde God should gyue them a kinge of the nomber of theyr bro­thers, [Page] which should be theyr rulers as all nacions haue thorowe out al the worlde? Do we not here learne that all Nacions at that tyme had kynges, & that kynges are appoyn­ted & chosen by the eleccion of god? This is sufficient for ony faythful harte to proue, establysh, & corrobo­rate the authoritie of Kynges and other ciuile magistrates. But lette vs harken more to the Scripture.

1. Reg. viii.Whan Samuel waxed olde and coulde no more iudge the people for his age, he commēded that office to hys sonnes Ioel and Abia, whiche answered nothing to y^e godly disposicions of theyr father, nether ordered the publique weale aryght, but lyued dissolutely, volupteously and wickedly, receauynge gyftes, & per­uertinge iudgement, which caused the Elders & aunciēt of the people to assemble, & come vnto Samuel, that he myght appoynt thē a kinge [Page] to rule ouer thē as all naciōs had. And dyd not Samuel shortely af­ter at the appoyntment of God an noynte Saul kynge ouer▪ Israel?1. Reg. [...]. And frō that tyme in a manner vntyll the commynge of Christe were there not Kynges amonge the Is­raelites of theyr owne nacion accordynge to the prophecye of Iacob?Gen. xlix. & at Christes cōminge ded not kynge Herode although a straunger, reygne among y^e Iewes? Do not al thes histories manifestly proue & appro­ue y^e offyce of kynges & other magi­strates to be y^e ordinaunce of God?

Thos thynges are clerer than y^e lyghte.

I wyll nowe reherse vnto you certen manifest sētences & open textes of the holy Scripture, which shall euidently establysshe y^e authoryte of y^e hygh powers, that Satan hymselfe shal not be able to preuayle agaynst it, moch lesse hys impes, which now of late are sprōg [Page] oute of his diabolicall syde.

I pray you let vs heare them.

Salomon speakynge in the person of God,Pro. viii. sayth on this manner, tho­rowe me Kynges reygne, thorowe me Princes make iust lawes. Tho­rowe me Lordes beare rule, and all Iudges of the earth execute iudge­ment. Agayne the wyse man sayth, heare O ye Kynges & vnderstond,Sap. vi. gyue eare ye that rule the multitu­des. For the power is gyuen you of the LORDE, & the strength from the moost hygh god. Are not these wor­des playne ynoughe, to shewe that the power, whiche the ciuile magi­strates & head Officers haue, is of God? as that noble kyng Iosaphat sayde to thē, whome he appoynted iudges of the londe in all the cities of Iuda.ii. Par. ix. Take hede, sayth he, what ye do. For ye execute not the iudge­ment of man, but of the Lord, and he is with you in iudgement. Therfore [Page] lette the feare of the LORDE be w^t you, and do al thynge diligently For with the Lorde our God there is no vnryghteousnes, nor respecte of personnes, nor desyre of gyftes. god hī selfe also sayth by the mouth of Dauid, ye are Gods,Psal. lxxxi. ye are al the sonnes ot the moost hyghest. Dothe not god here playnly saye, that the magistrates are gods, that is, such as beare the offices of GOD, as to mayntayne peace, iustice and good order, to punysh synne & to defende the innocentes. If they be the offi­cers of God, & exercyse his offyce, so that he approueth & alloweth their state and manner of lyuinge, howe can any man righteously cōdemne & reiecte theyr autho [...]ite & power Cursed be they, that knowlege not frō the very herte the hygh powers to be ordened of God, and that ther fore they oughte to be obeyed & had in perpetual reuerence & honoure.

They graunt that in the olde lawe it was y^e ordinaunce of God to haue ciuile magistrates, as Iudges, Kynges, and other rulers, but nowe, saye they, in the newe Testa­ment it is not lawfull to haue ony preeminēce or superiorite For christ sayth,Mat. xxiii. be not ye called mayster. For ye haue but one master euē Christe. All ye are brothers.Luke. xxii. Agayne, y^e kyn­ges of the Hethen haue dominiō on thē, and they that beare rule ouer them, are called gracious Lordes. But ye shal not be so.The obiec­ [...]ions of y^e Anabapti­stes. But the grea­test among you, shall be as the yon­gest, and the cheffest as a seruaunt, Lo, saye they, here is all dominion and temporall power forbyddenne amonge Christen people, and equa­litie of power proponed & set forthe to all men.

And that we shoulde doubte no thynge hereof, we haue, saye they a manifest exāple of Christe the tea­cher [Page] of all verite, whiche, whan the people would haue made him king. fled awaye from them,Ioan. vi. & by no meanes would enioy y^e offyce, although beynge the very Messias and true annoynted kynge of y^e Lord Moreouer he sayde to Pylate,Ioan. xviii. my kyngedome is not of this worlde.

O blynde ignorancye, and ignorante blyndnes, with what eyes do those Owles loke on y^e holy scripture? w^t what spirite dothe that generacion of vipers searche and iudge y^e moost sacred word of God?The confu­tacion. With how fyl­thy & vnwasshed feete do those swynysh and beastlike parsonnes enter into the swete and pleasaunt foun­taynes of y^• moost pure scriptures? O Lorde GOD, what dareth not blynde Bayard attempte & take in hande?Mark well. Christe came not into thys worlde to reygne, but to serue, not to be a tēporall, but spiritual king, not to rule with the swerde, but w^t [Page] the breath of his mouth, not to ex­ecute iudgemente on other, but to be iudged hī selfe, not to lyue as an erthly Prynce, but as a ghostly mi­nister of Goddes worde, not to [...]lea, but to be slayne. Therfore was it conuenient, that he shoulde fulfyll his Fathers wyll, for the whiche he came downe, & that once done to ascende & go vp agayne vnto the glo­ry of his father. Which all these thī ges he dyd: lyuynge all the tyme y^t he was in this worlde humbly and mekely, shewynge euer obedience, reuerence & honour to the magistra­tes although Hethen, euen vnto y^e very deth. And as he came to serue and not to be serued, to obeye & not to be obeyed, so taught he his disci­ples whan they began to contende of superiorite, to be humble, lowly, meke, gentle, obediente, and not to go aboute ony temporall primacye, which only pertaineth to the ciuile [Page] magistrates, but to be contente w^t theyr offyce,The office of christes Apos [...]les. whiche was to preache Gods worde, to open the misteries of Christes kyngedome, to reproue the world of synne and vnfaythfulnes, to fyght with the swerd of goddes word, to vse not carnal but spi­rituall armours, to bryng a gayne suche as were gone astraye. To be shorte, wholly to be bent to enlarge the kyngedome of God, and the glory of Christes Gospel. This destroyeth not, but rather magnifieth the authorite of y^e hygh powers, seinge Christ wylled them not to take vpō them the office of temporal regimēt cōtrary to equite,i. Cor. iiii. but only to be as seruauntes & dispensatours of the misteries of GOD. And come of a good felawshyp, dyd Christe at ony tyme shewe hym selfe disobediente to the publique magistrates & head officers? Dyd not he confesse that y^e power, which Pylate y^e Iudge had [Page] ouer hym,Ioan. xix. was gyuen hym from a­boue. Note that well, I praye you, and beare it away.Math. xxii. Mark. xii. Luke. xx. Dyd not he also pay tribute to Cesar, & willed other to do so lykewyse? Dyd not y^e Apo­stles also shew themselues obedient to the hygh powers in all poyntes, yea and taught other mē so to do? Ther is no power,Rom. xiii. sayth S. Paule but of god. The powres that be, are ordenned of God. Therfore who so resisteth the power, resisteth the or­dinaunce of God. And they that resist,i. Pet. ii. get to thē selues dānaciō. s. Peter also cōmaundeth vs to honour the kyng & to be subiecte to hym as supreme head, & to the other rulers that are sent of him. For this is the wyll of y^e Lord,The newe testament also approue the authori­te of y^e Magistrates. sayth he. Are not al these authorities alleged out of the newe Testamēt? Haue we not here both manifest textes & also euident examples to approue the office and state of the hygh powers, so that it [Page] is nowe of no lesse authoritie, than euer it was before, but rather greater and stronger, seynge it is nowe also confirmed and establysshed by Christ & his Apostles? Let y^e aduer­saries of this ordinaunce of GOD learne to be ashamed, confesse theyr disobedience, become subiecte and giue reuerence & honour to all head officers as to the ministers of god, euen from the greatest to the least. For so is the wyll of God, sayth the scripture.

It wyll be obiected of these order destroyers: we wulde gladly heare by the scripture, if ony christē man, that had receaued the fayth of Christ, dyd euer beare rule & exercyse tēporall dominion ouer his Brothers.

What is this? What do I heare? May not a chri­sten man execute that offyce, wher­by vertue is mayntayned & vice exiled? Is he not more fitte to be a ruler that beleuethe in the true God, [Page] feareth him, seketh his glory, embraseth vertue, hateth vice, loueth his neyghbour, tendereth the common wealth, & seketh in al poyntes to be a father amonge his subiectes, thā suche one as beleueth in Idolles, feareth them, seketh th [...]yr glory, des­pyseth the alone true God, hate the vertue, embraceth vice, oppressethe his neyghbour, tearethe the cōmon welth ī peses, & sheweth hīselfe ī all thīges a cruel Tyraunt among his subiectes? What furious Erinnys hath inuaded and troubled y^e bray­nes of these vnresonable creatures to resist the publique Magistrates and to condemne theyr authoritie, which they haue receaued of God? But let these honest men, & GOD wyll, tell me, was not Abraham, Iosephe, Iudas, Moses, Iosue, Gedeō Samuel, Dauid, Ezechias, Iosa­phat, Iosias, w^t many other Chri­sten & faythfull men? Yet dyd they [Page] execute the office of Magistrates & were hygh powers, in dede allowed before God, workynge that, which was good in his syghte?

They were faythfull, [...]aye they we g [...]aūt, but not christen.

O monstures as though it were one thynge to be faythfull, and another to be christē. Difference is there none betwene them & vs, but this only, that they beleued in Christe to come, and we beleue that Christe is come, & hathe fulfylled the prophecies of the holy mē ghostly enspired. All, sayth S. Paule (he speketh of the fathers of the olde Testament) dyd eate al one spirituall meate,i. Cor. [...]. that is to saye w^t vs, & all dyd dryncke the very same drinke of the spiritual rocke, which accompanied them, & Christ was y^• rocke. It is a good cōsequence ther­fore, that it is all one chyrche bothe of them that beleued than in Christ & of them, whiche are nowe, whiche [Page] chyrch is gathered togyther ī one & the very same spirite, so y^t they be a lyke faythfull & christē, hauyng one fayth, one professiō, one religiō, one God, one Lorde, one sauioure, & one hope. But I wyl come to y^e new Testamēt. Was not Nichodemus, Io­seph, & y^e noble mā which was Chā ­berlayne & of great authorite w^tCā dace y^t quene of y^e lōde of y^e Moriās, which was baptized of Philip, & re­ceaued into Christes flocke, christē & faythful mē? Yet were they magistrates. Was not Cornelius which called Peter vnto him, & was baptized of hym, a christē mā? Yet dyd he vse publique offices. Was not Sergius Paulus, Erastus, w^t dyuers other christē mē? And yet officers in y^e cōmōwelth?

All these thīges are true.

Wel thā let vs cōclude if it were lawful at y^e time for a christēmāto bear rule ī y^e cōmō wele hou is it now become vnlawful, Is ony [Page] mā more fyt to reigne & rule amōg christē mē, thā he which is of y^e same profession, fayth & religiō? Is it cō ­ueniēt for the wicked & vnfaythful to haue dominiō ouer y^e ryghteous & christē, rather thā they, whiche desyre nothyng more thā the glory of god, & the helth of theyr Christē brothers? O extreme blindnes. If that should come to passe, who wuld not wish rather to be an vnfaythful painim thā a faythful christiā? Behold to what poynte these wycked order breakers bryng the Christen religi­on, whyle they wyll seme to fyghte moost chefelye for the glorious fur­theraunce of it? O foxysh Hypocri­tes. Who perceyueth not theyr subtylite? Who smellethe not theyre crafte? Who espyeth not theyr false hode? Whyle they go aboute to syn without punishmēt, to haue al thinges in cōmon, to lyue of the sweate of other mēnes browes, to lyue fre­ly [Page] in al kynde of beastlike pleasure, to defyle other mēnes wyues, may­dens, doughters & seruauntes. &c. beholde to what poynte these gross [...] Gospellers, these shamelesse Schis­matykes, these brutall bely Gods, brynge the publique wea [...]e of Chri­stendome. God moughte once root [...] suche Pestilences out of the earth, that we maye according to our du­ty withe all submission of mynde, & faythefull obedience, honoure and magnify y^• pyblique Magistrates.

Thus haue I neighbours, grossely but faythfully, rudely but true­ly proued to you by the īfallible ve­rite of Gods worde, that the hyghe powers are ordeyned of God, and y^t theyr office pleaseth God, & is agre­able in all poyntes w^t the holy scriptures both of the olde & new Testastament.

Now accordyng to my promyse wyl I in thre wordes, as they saye, [Page] declare howe necessarye the office o [...] the publique magistrates is for the ryght institucion & prosperous preseruacion of the common weale.

I praye you lette vs heare.

The office of the hyghe powers euidently declareth, what innume­rable cōmodities & pleasures y^• christē publique weale receueth by thē. Moses, whan he appoynted certen rulers ouer the Israelites,Deut. i. cōmaū ­ded thē that they should iudge righteouslye, & that they shoulde not be parciall in theyr iudgementes, but heare all indifferētly, not estemyng nor preferrynge the man of power and nobilite before the poore & base per [...]on, nor yet feare the persōne of ony man, for it is the iudgement o [...] GOD, sayth he. Agayne, that they should receaue no gyftes (for giftes do blynde the eies of the wyse,Deut. xvii. & de­praue the causes of the ryghteous) but alwaye pursewe & follow that, [Page] which is accordyng to iustice, hau [...] euer wyth them the boke of y^e lawe of the LORDE, reade it all the dayes of theyr lyfe, that they maye learne to feare the LORDE theyr God, and to kepe all the wordes of hys lawe, & ordinaūces therof, that they may do them.Ie xxi. xxii. Esa. i. za [...]ha. vii. The Prophet Ieremy al­so commaūdeth kynges & other ru­lers to minister righteousnes, to deliuer the oppressed from violent po­wer, to kepe equite not to greue nor oppresse the straunger, the father­les nor the wydowe, nor yet to shed innocent bloud. Here maye ye se in fewe wordes,Howe necessary y^e office of the ciuile Magistra­tes is. how necessary the of­fice of the publique magistrates is for the ryghte institucion & prospe­rous preseruacion of the common weale. Howe expedient is it, thinke you, in matters of cōtrauersy, that all thynges be iudged & reconciled accordyng to equite & iustice? How necessary is it, that y^e poore oppres­sed [Page] be delyuered frō y^• violent bloud soupers? How cōuenient is it, that the straunger, wydowe & fatherles be holpen & prouided for? How pro­fitable is it, that vnite, cōcord, loue beneuolence, frendshyppe, amite be mayntayned? and debate, discorde, stryfe, maleuolence, ire, wrath, con­tencion, hatred, emnite be exiled? How necessary is it, y^e vertue reyg­neth, & vice be banyshed? How semely is it, that an order be kepte, & confusion dryuen oute of the publique weale▪ By the godly office & autho­rite of y^• hygh powers al these good thynges are broughte to passe, and wythoute that, what can there re­mayne in ony publique weale ī safe estate & comely order?Prouer. x [...] As Salomō sayth, where ther is no gouernour, there the people must nedes decay. But wher as are many that canne gyue councell, there is wealthe, as Chrisostome sayth, If thou takeste [Page] awaye the iudicial seates & the offi­ces of the lawe,Hom. vi. ad Pop. de eo quod vtilis sit principū terror. so hast thou vtterly destroyed all the order of oure lyfe. And as if thou seperatest & pluckest away from the shyppe the mayster & stereman of it, thou hast drowned the shyp, & as if thou leadest awaye the captayne from the armye, thou haste made the Souldiours to be ouercome of theyr enemies. So like wyse if thou takest awaye y^e rulers oute of the Cyties, we shall leade a lyfe more vnreasonable thā the ve­ry brute bestes, euer snatchyng on [...] at another, bytynge & deuourynge one another, so that the man of the greater power shal subdue the poo­rer, & the bolder shall ouercome the meker spirited. They therfore that go about to take awaye the publi­que magistrates, maye iustely seme to be y^e moost exstreme pestilēces of y^e cōmō weale, & to destroy y^t, which is no lesse profitable for our preser­uacion, [Page] safegarde and health, than the sonne, fyre, or water is, or what so euer can be rekened moost neces­sary for this oure nedy lyfe.Behold what cōmodities we receaue by the high power▪ For by them is publique innocency, honest behauour, godly learnynge, vertu­ous knoweledge, syncer erudicion, necessary artes, fruytfull occupaci­ons, mayntayned. By thē we lyue in tranquilite & peace. By them we enioye our owne possessions w^toute ony disturbaunce. By them we are preserued from all iniuries & cruell oppressiōs. By them oure Realmes are defended frō the īuasion of cru­ell Tyrauntes. By them the glory of God floryssheth. By thē the Gos­pell of Christ triumpheth, & all sec­tes & heresies are extyrped & pluc­ked vp by the rootes. To conclude, by them God worketh his moost di­uine pleasure in his electe & fayth­full people, & all good thīges chaūse vnto vs. For theyr iudgynge place [Page] is the throne of God.Pro. xvi. Theyr mouth & sentence is the organ and instru­mēt of Gods trueth. They are the vicars of God. They are the lyuish Image of God. They are the mini­sters of God for oure wealth.Rom. xiii. Psal. xviii. Deut. i. They represent the parson of God. They exercyse the iudgemēt ofy^e LORDE. They are the fathers of the contre. They are the pastors of the people. They are the maynteners of peace. They are the rulers of iustice, and patrons of all true innocēcy. They therfore, whiche wyll not approue, commende and allowe the imperye, rule and dominion of the publique magistrates & heade officers, maye worthely be iudged twyse frātyke, & to much estraunged frō all kynde of humanite. Thus haue ye hearde in fewe wordes, howe necessary the hygh powers are for the right institucion & godly administracion of y^e publique weale.

We se nowe [Page] ryght well, that wythoute they re­giment & gouernaunce, nothyng y^t is godly & vertuous can stond, but all wicked thīges must nedes sprīg vp & aryse in those Realmes, where the publique Magistrates wante.

Trueth it is, that ye saye, well, nowe for the iust & perfecte accom­plysshement of my promyse hereto­fore made, I wyll declare cōsequēt­ly vnto you, what your duety is [...]owarde the hygh powers, I meane, our moost soueraygne Lord y^e king & all the other rulers, that gouerne vnder his mooste noble empyre and dominion.

I praye you hertely let it so be.

Ye remember wel, I am sure, that your flour, whiche I I gaue you laste, is this.Rom. xiii. Lette euery soule be obediente to the povvers, that beare rule. &c.

We remember it well.

Here is Faythfull obedience requi­red of you toward the high powers and rulers of the common weale.Of faythful obedience. [Page] For as it is theyr office to rule, so is it our duety to obey, & that not faynedly but with sincerite of cōsciēce & purenes of mynde wythoute ony dissimulacion or Hypocrysy.Note. For ther is no povver but of God. Rom. xiii. The povvers that be are ordined of God. Therfore VVho so euer resisteth the povver, resisteth the ordinaunce of God. And they that resist, shall gette tothē selues damnacion. Butte I praye you marke, what your floure sayth, Let euery soule be obedience to the povvers that beare rule. Note that it is sayd, Let euery soule be obediēt. Here se you, that no parson, be he spiritual or temporal, as they vse to call them, is excepted from obedience towarde the hyghe powers.No parson is excepted from obedi­ence vnto y^e powers. All are vnder subieccion. All owe obedience, feare, honoure & tribute to the rulers of the commō weale. None is free from this sub­ieccion. For euery soule is here takē after the Hebrew phrase for all mē, & for so many as are reasonable cre­atures, [Page] borne & appoynted to lyue vnder a law. So that the scripture here cōmaundeth all men both spi­rituall & temporall, both godly and vngodly, both wicked & righteous, both perfecte & imperfecte, to obey the magistrates & all such ordinaū ­ces & lawes, as are made of thē for the glorye of God, & the commodite of the publique weale, or els they accumulate & heape vp to thē selues great dānaciō, as S. Austen sayth,De correct. Donatist. ad bonifa [...]. capi. vi. who soeuer wyl not obey the lawes of the temporal gouernours, which are made for the establyshemen [...] of Goddes truethe, he getteth greate damnacion.The spiritu alte also must obeye.

Are the spirituall persons bounde to be obedient also to the hygh powers by the word of God?

Yea verelye, there is not one Bysshop nor preste within this Realme of Englonde, which oweth not so muche obedience to the kyn­ges graces maieste, as the moost inferiour [Page] subiecte and vile temporall man doth. Neither doth this name spirituall, Archbishop, Patriarche, Cardinall, Bysshop, Archedeacon, Suffragane, Preste, Decon, &c. de­lyuer them from subiecciō & obedi­ence, no more than this word, Tay­loure, Shoomaker, Draper, Mar­chaunt, Innekeper, water tākerde bearer, Dawber, Cobler▪ &c. dothe Let euery soule, saythe the Scripture [...] be obediente to the poVVers that beare rule, Here is none excepted, no not that Romyshe Porke, which chalengeth so great authorite ouer all parsons in the worlde,O abhomi­nacion. that he is not asha­med to suffer kinges & Emperours to kysse and lycke hys pockye feete. O shameles Antechriste. Theophi­lacte vpon the aforesayde place of Paule wrytethe on thys manner:Theophi­lacte. Here he teacheth all men, sayth he, that whyther he be Preste or mōke, or Apostle, they should be obedient [Page] to the Prynces and hyghe powers: Where is onye excepcion nowe, I praye you? where are the pryuyled­ges, immunities, fredoms, & liber­ties nowe become, which the But­cher of Rome was wonte to giue so bounteouslye to hys dere spirituall chyldren, that they might synne w^t out punyshment, be free from pay­enge tribute, exempte from all temporal iurisdiccion, [...]e Lordes & kin­ges within them selues, hange and drawe at theyr owne pleasure, and do what so euer theyr beastlyke lu­stes coueted? Howe well followed they this doctrine of y^e holy Ghost? Of what spirite, were they named spiritual, which so manifestly fight with the spirite of god? With what forheade durste they be bolde to cal thē selues the successours of y^e Apo­stles, seynge that contrary to y^e teachynge & practyse of all true Apo­stles, they were disobediente to the [Page] hygh powers, robbed them of theyr authorite, led them captiue & made thē to serue theyr voluptuous and beastlyke pleasures.

Undoub­tedly there hath ben great abusion in the Clergy concernyng the tem­porall rulars.

It can not be de­nyed but thankes be to our LORDE God, whiche hath in these our day­es brought it to passe by the reuelacion of his diuine verite, that oure moost christen Kynge, wyth certen other Prynces, hathe very tryum­phātely gotten agayne & recouered theyr authorite gyuē them of God, wherof so many yeres they haue vniustly be depriued by the furious tyranny of that moost cruel Romysh Bysshop and his bloudye whelpes.

The holy scripture, I am sure taught them no such disobedience.

No verely. It rather teachethe them obedience, as ye hearde befo­re. For it is wrytten, the kynge bea­reth [Page] rule ouer all,iii. Esd. iiii. & he hath dominion ouer them, so that what so euer he sayth to thē, they do it. Was not Aharon the hygh Preste obediēt to Moses,Exo. xxxii. whom God appoynted ru­lare ouer his people, & dyd what so­euer he commaūded hym. Wasnot the hygh Preste Achimelech and al the other Prestes obedient to kyng Saul,i. Reg. xxii. & called them selues his ser­uauntes, and him theyr Lorde, not once resistyng the fury of the king, but rather chosyng to suffer death paciently vnder so great a tyraūt, than once to resiste hym disobediēt­ly? What nede I speake of Dauid, Salamō, Ezechias, Iosaphat,ii. Pa. viii. ii. Pa. xix. ii. Par. xxix xxx.xxxi. Io­sias, Alexāder, Demetrius, Antio­chus. &c. whiche euerhad the Bys­shoppes, Prestes, Leuites, & other spirituall ministers in subiecion w^t oute ony resistence? Howe can oure spiritualte than be free from obedience & subiecciō?

Ye say trueth [Page] But all these hystories hytherto al­ledged,i. Math. x. xiiii. vii. you haue borowed of y^e olde Testamente. We woulde be glad to heare this thyng proued by the au­thorite of the newe Testament. For there haue bene,The Ana­baptistes. neyther yet want, which thyncke it a matter of absurdite and a thynge very vnsittyng, that tēporall rulars should reygne ouer the spiritualte.

O disobe­dient hertes.Luke. ii. Dyd not Mary y^e mo­ther of Christ & Ioseph obey the cō ­maundement of Augustus the Emperour, when y^e whole world should be taxed and went into theyr Cyte Bethleē?Math. xvii. Math. xxii. Mar. xiiii. Luke. xxii. Ioan. xviii. Act. xxiii. xxv. Dyd not Christe hymselfe teache obedience towarde the hygh powers? Dyd not he paye tribute? Was not he content to dye vnder y^e temporall rulers, & confesse y^t theyr power was gyuen them frō aboue? Dyd not the Apostles so in lyke mā ner both teache and do? Dydde not Paule wyllyngly euer obey y^e pub­lique [Page] magistrates Flestus & Faelix. &c? Dyd not all the Bysshops and mi­nisters of Gods word so lykewyse do & teach ī y^e primatiue Chirch,Dan. ix. Esa. xi. ii. Thes. ii. vntyl y^t wycked man y^e son of perdiciō came, which exalted him selfe aboue all that is called God, in so muche y^t he syttethe in the Temple of God, bostynge hym selfe to be God? But the LORDE shall slaye hym with the breath of his mouth, & shal put him to flyght wythe the clerenes of hys commynge. Let it come to passe, O LORDE, yea and that shortely.

Furthermore was not this the Commaūdement of Christ:Math. xxii. Paye y^t to the Emperour that is due to the Emperour, what is due to the Emperour, that is, to the temporal go­uernoure, but obedience, feare, ho­nour, tribute. &c. Howe than cann [...] any man be excepted from the obe­dience of the temporal power,Rom. xiii. be he called spirituall or otherwyse? Let [Page] euery soule, saythe S. Paule, as ye heard before, be obedient to the po­wers y^e beare rule. Agayne he sayth warne them that they submyt thē selues vnto Prynces & to the hygh­er authorite,Titus. ii. to obeye the Officers, S. Peter also sayth, submyt youre selues to all manner of ordinaunce of mē for the LORDES sake,i. Pet. ii. whyther it be vnto the kyng as vnto y^e chefe head, or vnto rulers, as vnto them that are sent of hym for the punyshment of euel doers, but for y^e prayse of thē that do wel. For so is the wyl of God. Are not all these authoriti­es selected oute of the newe Testa­ment sufficiēt to declare what obe­dience all kynd of people owe to the hygher powers?

Yies in good fayth, & that no man frō this true & faythfull obedience is excepted.

Uery well sayde. So here do ye nowe learne▪ what is one poynte of your dutye towarde oure moost re­doubted [Page] kyng,What oure dutye is to­ward y^e high powers. & other head officers

This is truely & faythfully w^t all humilite & submission of mynde to be obedient vnto them, & gladlye to execute, perfourme & do, y^e which they commaūde and requyre of vs.

Than do ye perceyue right wel that as it is the office of the publi­que magistrates for to rule, so is it your duetye to obeye.

We per­ceyue that righte well, and that we maye by no meanes resiste the high powers, in asmuche as they are ordened of GOD.Rom. xiii▪ For who so euer resistethe the power, resistethe the ordinaunce of GOD. And they that resiste, shall get to thē sel­ues damnacion.

It is wel sayd. But I wyll nowe go forthe to de­clare vnto you, what your dutye is more toward the high powers.

I praye you lette it so be.

It is not only required of vs by y^e worde of God,Offea [...] ▪ that we should be obedient [Page] to the head rulers, but also that we feare them. For Sayncte Paule amonge all other thynges, whiche we of very duty owe to the hygher powers, rehearseth feare. So that it is our dutye also to feare, vnlesse we attēpte ony thynge, that should derogate theyr pryncelyke authorite, or in ony poynte displease them. For the rulers are not feare,Rom. xiii sayth he, to them that do well, but to thē that do euell. Wilte thou not feare the power? Do that is good, & thou shalte receyue prayse of it. For he is the minister of god vnto thy welth. But if thou dost that which is euel than feare. For he bearet he not the swearde in vayne. He is y^e minister of God, a taker of vengeaūce to pu­nysh hym that doth euell. Wherfor [...] ye must nedes obey, not only for punyshmēt but also for cōscience sake.Pro. xx And this is it that Salomon sayth the Kynge ought to be feared as y^• [Page] roryng of a Lyō. Whoso prouoketh hym vnto anger, offendeth agenste hys owne soule. Agen he saythe, my sonne feare thou the LORDE & the kynge. Beholde how he ioyneth the feare of God & of the King togither bycause we shuld walke euer wyth a reuerēt feare toward hym,Pro. xxiiii Mark well. alway beynge afearde eyther to thyncke, breath, speake or do, that should be cōtrary to the Kinges graces plea­sure. Howe greuously they haue be punyshed that walked as sedicious parsons wythoute ony godly feare toward the publique magistrates,Numer. vi. iii. Reg. xvi. the Histories of Dathan & Abyron, of Zambry & Baasa shewe manifestly. Neyther haue we wāted experi­ence of thys thynge nowe a dayes. For what, I praye you,Experience of our time. hathe euer ben muttered or secretly conspired agaynst the kynges graces maieste at ony tyme eyther amonge men of nobilite, or yet of the baser sorte, y^t [Page] hath not come to lyght, & wrought destruccion to the Authors therof? This is vndoubtedly the prouision of God.God wat­cheth vpon hys mini­sters, y^t no euyl chaun­ce vnto thē. GOD defendeth his mini­sters, as a good master doth his seruauntes. God waytethe vpon the Kynges graces helth. He defendeth hym from his enemies. He kepethe all his bones,Psal. xxxiii. Math. x. Luke. xii. as the Psalmograhe sayth, that not one of them shall be broken. He hath nōbred the heares of his head, so that not one of them shall perysh wythout the good wyll of our heauenly father. He hath w^t oute doubte hytherto, & shall conti­nually preserue his moost gracious maieste from all the craftye conspi­raciōs & subtyle assaultes of all his enemies, so that they shal neuer preuayle agaynste hym, but hys grace shal euer be preserued in safe estate, & haue perpetually the tryūphant victory ouer all his enemies vnto y^• great glorye of God, the fruytefull [Page] promocion of Christes Gospell,Note this s [...]militude. and the prosperous tranquilite & welth of al vs his moost louing subiectes. For as it is impossible to hynder or let the course of y^e Sonne or moone so is it impossible for thē to escape, whiche imagyne or worke ony vio­lence or treason agaynst his grace. Certes there is no euasion nor way to escape, as the wyse manne sayth. For God alwaye preserueth his ministers,Eccl. vii. and wyll not suffer them to escape vnpunysshed, that cōtēne disobey, or laboure to destroye hys ordinaunce, Woulde God therfore that all men would remember this sayenge of the preacher: Wysshe the kynge no euell in thy thought,Eccl. x. and speake no hurte of the rytch in thy priuye chamber. For a byrde of the ayer shall betraye thy voyce, and w^t her fethers shal she bewray thy wordes. There is nothynge hyd, y^• shall not come to lyght, neyther is there [Page] ony secret,Math. x. Luke. xii. that shall not come to reuelacion.

If they would set be­fore the eyes of theyre mynde thys moost godlye & wyse sentence, than shoulde they neuer offend, but euer feare once to thinke ony thing that shoulde be preiudiciall to y^e kinges graces honour.

Ye saye trueth. Prouyde therfore that ye your sel­ues remember it well,What feare we ought to haue to­ward y^e high powers. & euer set be­fore your eyes this feare, and that not constraynte, seruyle, bonde or churlysh, but reuerent, gentle, obse­quious, wyllynge, yea & euen suche a louynge feare, as a deare Sonne hath toward his moost hertely beloued father, so that ye woulde feare to offend though ther were no law nor punyshment at all, euen for the loue that ye heare towarde vertue, true innocencye & purite of lyfe. If ye haue this fear, ye shal easly haue the true obedience & all other thin­ges, which moost of al become faythfull [Page] & louynge subiectes. And with out this feare knowe that ye canne none otherwyse but precipitate & throwe headlonge your selues into all kynde of mischefe, parell, daūger & destruccion.

God mought en grasfe in oure hertes thys reuerent feare towarde our moost excellente Prīce, that we by no meanes maye offende hī neither in thought, word nor dede.

Amen,Ofhonour. good LORD I beseche the.

Moreouer besydes this obedience and feare, we owe also to the hygh powers, honoure, as S. Paule wytnessethe in the afor­sayd texte.Rom. xiii▪ And S. Peter sayth,i. Pet. ii. honour all men, loue the brotherhead, feare God, honour the kynge. Here are we also commaūded to honoure the kynge.What it is to honoure the kynge.

What meaneth the scripture by that, I pray you?

To honoure the kynge, is not only to pretende & shewe an outward humilite & hūble obeysaunce towarde [Page] him, as by puttyng of our cappe to hym, reuerently to speake to hym, to knele vnto hym, to graunte hym freely & wyllyngly what so euer he requireth of vs, but also with herte & mynde to wysh well vnto hym, to desyre all good & prosperous thyn­ges vnto hym, to praye for hym, to desyre longe lyfe vnto hym, to pray that God maye rule & gouerne all his councelles, enterprises & affay­res, to watch diligētly y^t no harme, disturbance or incommodite chaūse vnto hym, and in all oure actes ey­ther publique or priuate, open or secret, to seake the honour of hym, as of oure mooste soueraygne LORDE. This honor shewed Dauid to kyng Saul,i. Reg. xxvi. which knowyng Saul to be his vtter enemy, & one that sought his lyfe, woulde notwithstondynge so much as once hurte hym, nor yet suffer ony other to do it, althoughe he had sufficiēt oportunite & occa­siō [Page] dyuers tymes to haue slayne hī, if he had bene so minded. The Lord forbyd me, sayth he, y^• I should laye mynhand on hym. Agen, kyl hī not. For who sayth he, shall laye handes on the LORDES annoynted, and be not gyltye? The LORDE lyuethe, he dyeth not, excepte the LORDE smite him, or that his day be come to dye,ii. Reg. i. or els go to battayle, & there perysh He also afterwarde commaunded y^e younge manne to be slayne, whiche came & tolde him, that he had kylled kynge Saul, thynckynge by thys menes to haue picked a great thāke or obtained some beneficial reward at Dauids hand.Note. Here was true honor. For it is not lawfull for any mā beynge a subiecte to aryse agēst hys Prynce, & to auenge hys owne quarell, be he neuer so muche a Ty­raunt, or sustayneth he at his hand neuer so great iniuries & wronges, but paciently to suffer all thynges, [Page] yea rather death,Deut. xxxii. Rom. xii. Heb. x. Rom. xiii. thā he should once resist, leauynge the vengeaunce vnto hym, which sayth, vengeaunce is myne, & I wyl reward. For he that resisteth the ordinaunce of God, getteth to hym selfe dampnacion. And they that dishonour the hygh pow­ers, shal fall into ignobilite, & proue a miserable end.

They therfore dishonour greatly the magistrates, which e [...]cite & store vppe sedicions, make cōmotions, & trouble the trā ­quilite of the common weale, wys­shing that there were no temporall gouernour ouer thē, but that they myght licēciously do what so thē lusteth.

Such sekers of carnal & best lyke liberte hitherto haue, & stil shal receaue a reward worthy theyr la­bour. But learne you (moost deare brothers) vtterly to reny & forsake the pestiferous & wicked māners of such sedicious Scismatykes & disobedient Rebellions, and study vn­faynedly [Page] to giue that true obediēce feare & honour to our moost christē & boūteous Prynce, y^t the scripture requireth of vs, as I haue taughte you before, and to so manye also as are appoynted of him to rule vnder his graces dominion. So shall ye both please God, and also leade a good and quiet lyfe in this worlde.

God forbyd that the contrarye shoulde be founde in vs.

Nowe remayneth the fourth thynge to be declared vnto you,Of tribute which all we subiectes from the hyghest to the low­est owe to our moost excellēt kynge.

What is that I pray you?

Uerely, trybute. For this causeal­so, sayth S. Paule,Rom. xiii. must ye pay tribute. For they are Gods ministers which mayntayne the same defēce. Gyue therfore to euery man his duty, trybute to whome tribute belō ­geth, custome to whome custome is due, feare to whom feare belōgeth, [Page] honoure to whome honour pertay­neth.

I pray you, what meane ye by this worde, tribute?

By tribute I vnderstand all paymen­tes that are due to the ciuile magi­strates,What is ment by this worde tribute. as tenthes, fyftenes, rētes, taskes, subsidies, customes. &c. All these are we bounde by Gods com­maundement to paye without ony tumulte or grudgynge, & that not wythout a cause.Note why we ought to paye tribute For seynge that y^• hygh powers take so great paynes for to defēde vs & to kepe al that we haue in safegarde agaynst the vio­lence of our enemies, agen to mayntayn vertu & to expulse vice, which thynge can not be brought to passe without prudēt, wyse & learned go­uernours, it is expedient that we, whiche receaue these cōmodities of them, do minister agayne vnto thē freely, aboundantly, and liberally, what soeuer they require of vs for y^• preseruacion of y^• publique weale [Page] and mayntenaunce of theyr digni­te. Neyther can we denye thē thys excepte we wyl transgresse Goddes precepte and fall into the daunger of damnacion, and shew that we be moost extreme enemies to oure sel­ues.Math. xvii. Math. xxii. For Christe wyllynge to gyue vs an example of this thyng, payd tribute hym selfe, and commaūded other so to do, sayenge: Paye that whiche is due to Cesar vnto Cesar, vnderstandynge by the name of Cesar euery magistrate and temporal power generally.

And that the kynges grace may lawefully withoute onye scruple or grudge of cōscience take such char­ges of vs as I rehearsed before, and that we oughte not once to mutter agaynst his graces pleasure & wyll ī this behalf, it is manifest by these wordes,i. Reg. viii. which god spake vnto Sa­muell: This shall be y^e lawe or right of y^• kyng, sayth he, that shall reigne [Page] ouer you. Your sonnes shall he take for his charettes & for horsemen to ronne before his Charettes, and to be rulers & Captaynes, to be plowe men to tyll his londe, & to be repers in his haruest, & to make hys harnesse, & such thynges as belong to hys Charettes As for your doughters, he shal take them to be Apoticaries Cookes & Bakers. Your best londe & vyneyardes, and oylegardēs shall he take, & gyue vnto his seruaūtes. Of youre seedes also & vineyardes shal he take the tythes, & gyue vnto his Chamberlaynes & seruauntes. And your seruauntes & your may­des & your best yonge men, & youre Asses shall he take, & do his busines w^t all. Of your flockes shall he take the tythes, & ye shal be his seruaun­tes. Are not theise wordes manifest and playne inough to declare what ryght, tytle, & power by the worde of God, our moost excellent Prynce [Page] hath to chalenge and require of vs suche costes & charges, as he sustay­nethe for the common weale, & that all that euer we haue, is at his commaundement, & that we oughte by no meanes to resist or say him nay.

They are more clere than the Sonne, & more open thē the lyght.

Yet haue I hearde some saye,An obiec [...]iō that we are made free by Christe, & ought to serue no manne, nor to be charged with paymētes to ony parson, but all thynges ought to be cō ­mon amonge christen men.

To aunswere vnto euery parte of thys your sentence,Theanswer requireth many wordes, & asketh much tyme. But to be short, know that who so euer mayntayneth that kynde of doctrine, dis­senteth muche from the christen re­ligion, corrupteth the word of God, soweth false teachynge,Our libert [...] is spirituall & not carnal huntethe a carnal liberte, and desyreth to lyue in al kynd of synne without punishmente. [Page] Trueth it is, y^• we are made free by Christ, but this oure liberte is spirituall and not temporal. By Christ we are delyuered from y^e dā ­nacion of the law,Rom. x. Gala. iii. i. Cor. xv. Ose. xiii. Heb. ii. Act. x. Ioan. viii. Gala. v. i. Pet. ii. but not from the obseruaūce ofit. By Christe we are made free from the power of Satā synne, deathe, desperacion and hell, but not from the power of y^• ciuile magistrates. By Christ haue we receaued our manumission & fredom [...] from the condemnacion of all those thinges, īto the which we were cast by the sīne of our fyrste father Adā. So that by Christ we are spiritually made free, if we abyde in his wordes, as we rede ī y^e Gospel of Iohn̄ & ī diuers other places of y^• holy scripture. But this spiritual liberte maketh vs not free from our obediēce & dutye towarde the temporal power, to whome we owe both oure sel­ues and al that euer we haue, as ye [...]eard before. For this were a thing [Page] of to much absurdite & contrary to all good order, & the teachyng both of Christe & of his Apostles. Yea so should God be the Author of confusion & not of order, of dissension and not of concorde. S. Austen saythe,In li [...]. ad Rom. prop [...] sit. lxxii. if ony man thyncketh, that because he is a christen mā, he ought to pay no custome or tribute, nor shew ony honour to the hygh powers, he fal­leth into a great erroure, & is very muche deceaued.Contra aux entium. xi. Quest. i. Canon, sitri­buti [...]n. S, Ambrose also sayth, yf the temporall gouernoure asketh tribute, we deny it not, lette the londes of the Chyrche paye tri­bute. If the rulare desireth the lon­des, he hath power to chalenge thē, let him therfore take thē, yf he wyl, I gyue them not to the Emperour but nether do I deny them. Agayn he sayth, it is a great & special docu­ment or poynt of teachyng, wherby christen men are taught to be sub­iecte to the higher powers, bycause [Page] that no man should thyncke that y^• constituciō or ordinaūce of an erth­ly kynge ought to be losoned or bro­ken.Ibidem. Cā magnū. Math. xvii. For yf the sonne of God payde Tribute, of what greate authorite arte thou, whiche thīkest that thou oughtest not to pay? Theophilacte also sayth,In Lucam. cap. xx. that we corporally obey hym, that hath power on our bodi­es, whyther he be kyng or Tyraūt, it hyndrethe vs no thynge, that we shoulde spirituallye well please the God of spirites.Math. xxii. For Christ saythe, paye vnto the Emperour, y^e whiche is the Emperours, & pay vnto god that, whiche is Gods. Marke that he sayth not, gyue, but paye. It is, saythe he, dette. Paye therfore thy dette. Thy Prynce kepethe the frō thyne enemies, & he causethe that y^u lyueste in quiet. Thou therfore for these thinges owest tribute to him.

Thus se you proued both by the holy Scripture & the aūcient Do­ctors, [Page] y^t they, which professe Christe,Mark well. are not so made free, but that they are bounde to be subiecte & obediēt to the high powers in al godly and decent matters. Agen, that al thin­ges ought not to be commō among them, or that they be excepted from such corporall charges, as y^e rulers require of thē, but that they ought to paye tribute, custome, taske, subsidye, or ony thynge els, that is re­quired of them by the temporal go­uernours, seyng chefely it make [...]he so greatly vnto theyr owne auaūcement, profit & cōmodite. They therfore, y^t denye these thīges or grudge to paye them, whan time requireth & occasion is gyuen, verely they are farre from true Christen men, and shall for theyr disobedience receaue damnaciō, excepte they repent and amende.

God forbyd, but that euery man should paye with a wyl­lynge harte, what so euer is requi­red [Page] of hym for the mayntaynaūce and conseruacion of the publique weale.

Certes we were vnworthy to lyue vnder the dominion of so puissaunte a Gouernoure, yf we should not in all poyntes satisfy e­uen vnto the vttermoost his godly and reasonable requestes, seyng we haue & styll dayly do receaue innu­merable cōmodities & pleasures at his graces hande.

The charges whiche the Kynges graces maieste sustayneth dayly for the welth of al vs his subiectes,The char­ges, whyche the kynges grace fu [...]tayneth for y^e comon weale. are infinite, & far exceade y^e vnexperte capacite of the rude simple people, as we may se before oure eyes, & learne by the con­stant fame & common reporte of all men (as I may leaue of to spea [...]e of y^• byldyng of many Castels, Blocke houses, strong holdes, Bulwarkes, fortresses. &c. & of men appoynted vnto the defence of the same, wythe all thynges pertaynyng thervnto, [Page] agayne of the common Scholes & the techers of thē, of sendyng forth Preachers into euery parte of hys Realme, of procurynge learned magistrates, of gyuynge exhibicion to many vertuous & lerned men, & of a thousande thynges mo, which his moost gracious maieste dothe for y^e wealth of vs, & for the conseruaciō of this his mooste florysshynge Re­alme) therfore ought we to suppeditate and minister agayne vnto him abundantly what so euer his grace requireth of vs at ony tyme, or els we greuously offende God, & walke not accordinge to the order of Cha­rite, but are manifest trāsgressours of Gods moost holy wyll, which cō ­maundeth vs & all that we haue to be subiecte to y^e Kinges graces ple­asure.

This is trueth, & nothīg more tru

I beleue verely, that what soeuer the subiectes haue, are the goodes of such a righteous and [Page] godly Prynce,Note. as we haue now rey­nynge amonge vs. Yea if the highe powers were very Tyrauntes, and altogyther vnmercifull, yet myght we deny them no thyng at al of our goodes if they required them of vs,Iob. xxxiiii. Pro. xxviii. but delyuer them vp into theyr hā ­des frely, to be vsed as it shal please them, beynge perswaded that it is for our synnes, that God suffereth such Tyrauntes to reygne ouer vs & therfore oughte they to be obeyed in all thynges,Esa. iii. Act. iiii.v. that fyght not with the worde of God, nor obscure the diuine glorye, thoughe they seme to be neuer so full of tyranny & vnmercifulnes. But seing we haue such a prīce as loueth his faythful subiectes nolesse, than a gētle father doth his natural sonne, cherisheth thē no lesse, than a nourse doth her chylde, preserueth them without daunger no lesse than a trusty shepparde sea­kethe to kepe his shepe from the ra­uenynge [Page] teth of the wolfe, & vtter­ly gyueth hym selfe altogyther vn­to vs & vnto our commodite & pro­fyt, what shoulde be the cause, that we myght deny any thynge to this our Emperour so mercyful, so gentle, so boūteous, so prudent, so wise, and so circumspecte in all thynges, that pertayne vnto our commodite & wealthe. To muche beastlyke are they, y^t consider not the bounte of so excellent a Prynce. Blyssed is that londe, sayth the wyse manne,Eccle. [...]. whose kynge is a man of nobilite, & whose Princes eat in due seasō for strēgth & not for lust. But wo be vnto that Realme, whose Kyng is but a chyld and whose Prynces are earelye at theyr Banckettes.

Thus neyghbours haue I declared vnto you accordynge to my promyse your duty toward our moost excellent king, & such as he appoynteth to be gouernours vnder hym. [Page] Loke therfore that ye be obediente vnto them, feare them, honour thē, & paye what so euer is required of you. For vnto all these thynges ye are bound by the holy Scripture, which yf ye do, the blessyng of God is vpon you: If ye do not, the curse & vēgeaūce of God wil fal on you, so that your ende shall be miserable bothe before God & man.

What soeuer ye haue hitherto taught vs, we wyll laboure to the vttermoost of our power to fulfyl it in our quotidiane & dayly conuersacion, that we may walke blameles bothbefore God and oure Prynce.

Nowe doth conueniēt order require, that I brynge forth your fourth floure to you, seyng that hitherto ye haue learned your dutye bothe toward [...] your selfe, GOD, and our Kynge.

I praye you let vs se it.

¶The fourth floure / called / Redy assistence.

BEholde here it is. Let euery manne looke not for his oVVne profit, Phil. i [...] ▪ but for the profit of other. Howe doth y^e sauour of this floure please you?

How so euer it pleaseth me, I thynke ve­rely, the ayer & breath of this flour is so strong, y^e few at this presēt ty­me can abyde the sauour of it.

Why so? It is the sayēge of Saynt Paule to the Philippians.

I knowe that well, but ye should ra­ther haue rehearsed this sayeng in y^e same Epistle. All seke theyr owne auaūtage, & not that, which is Ie­sus Christes. For this flour do men now a dayes beare chefely in theyr bosome, as we may se by dayly experiēce. Theyr noses are stopped, and they haue lost one of theyr fyue wittes, whan ony such floure is offred [Page] them for to smell vpon, as ye haue nowe gyuen vs. They haue rooted other herbes in theyr hertes, vpon whome they smell dayly,Eccl. x. Lato. lib. i. Menander. Inuenalis. euen such as theyse are. Pecuniae obediunt omnia. Bonus est odor lucri ex re qualibet. Semper tibi proximus esto. Tantū fidei, quā ­tum pecuniae. Nummi uirum faciunt. Virtus post nummos. Miser est, qui nūmos non habet. Quisquis habet nummos, secura nauiget aura Fortunam (que) suo temperet arbitrio. That is to saye, al thinges are obe­dient to mony. The sauour of lucre is good, how so euer a man come by it. Be euer nearest & moost frend to thy selfe. A man shal euē be so much trusted, as he hathe monye. Mony maketh the man. Fyrst monye, and afterwarde vertue. He is a wretch y^t hath no mony. Who soeuer hathe monye, maye go where he lyste, & do what so euer he wyll at hys owne pleasure.

The sauour of these floures, hath [Page] so infected the senses of many now a dayes, that they cā by no meanes smell on this floure, whiche ye haue nowe gyuen vs.

It is the more pytye. Not withstondynge neygh­bours, be not ye infected withe lyke pestiferous contagion. Remember your profession, and followe not the cōmon fasshion, vnlesse ye fall into damnacion, and lose the fauoure of GOD.

Smel wel on this your floure,Phil. ii. Redy assistence. Let euery man looke not for his owne profit, but for the pro­fyt of other. For seynge ye haue hy­therto learned your dutye both to­ward your selfe▪ God, & our kynge, ye must now learne also your office & duty toward youre neyghboure. For God hath also gyuen vs a commaūdemēt to loue our neyghbour.Leuit. x [...]x. Math. xxii. Rom. xiii. Thou shalt loue thy neyghbour as thy selfe, sayth the scripture. That thou wylte not a nother shoulde do [Page] to the,Iacob. ii i. Ioan. iiii. do thou not the same to him. And this cōmaundement haue we of God, that he, which loueth God, should also loue his neighbour. For he y^e loueth not his brother, whome he seethe, God, whome he hathe not sene, howe can he loue?

That ye myghte natiuely & vn­faynedlye on this sorte loue your [...] neyghbour, I haue selected this sē ­tēce of s. Paule to put you in remē ­brāce of your duty.Phil. ii. Let euery man loke not for his own profyt, but for the profit of other.Mat. .xxiiii

It is a very hard sayeng, & followed but of few iniquite doth so abound, & the loue of many abateth and waxeth cold.

Me thyncke, S: Paule would here haue no man prouyde for him selfe, but for other. And this is con­trary to his owne sayeng,i. Tim. v. wher he sayth, If ony mā doth not prouyde for thē that do pertayne vnto him he hath forsaken the faythe, andis, [Page] worse than an Infidell.

God forbyd that ony contrariete should be founde in the wordes of so noble & worthy Apostle. In your floure he doth not forbydde you, but that ye may with good conscience prouide for your selfe & for yours But to admonysh mē of thys so streyghtly as of the other, it was not nedeful nor expediēt.Mark well. For we are naturally bēt to seke our owne profyt, yea & that many tymes to the great hinderaū ce & vtter decay of our neyghbour, neyther nede we a spurre to prycke vs forwarde in this behalfe. Which thynge, S. Paule replete with goddes spirite consyderynge, exorteth men rather to seke for theyr neigh­bours profyt, than for theyr owne, meanynge that they shoulde not be so bent to seke theyr owne auaun­tage,Phil. ii. that they should vtterly neg­lecte the profyt of theyr christen brother. For y^e very same mynd ought [Page] to be in vs that was in Christ Iesu whiche beynge in the shape of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made hym selfe of no reputaciō, & toke vpō hym y^• shape of a seruaunt, became like a nother man, & was founde in his apparel, as a man. He humbled hym selfe, & became obediēt vnto the death, euē the death of y^• Crosse. Here is youre floure, Redy asistence. Here is an example that ye shoulde be redy to assist & helpe your neyghbour at al tymes. Howe dyd our moost blyssed Sauiour Christe vtterly neglecte & caste awaye, as I may so speke, his owne glory, honour and worshyp, to seke our health, conforte & saluacion? This redy assistence & helpe oughte also to be in vs, yf we pertayne vn­to Christ. For we oughte to haue y^• care for our neighbour, that Christ had for vs, or elles we walke not ac­cordynge to Charite. This redy as­sistence [Page] also se we in that Samari­tane of the Gospell,Luke. x. which seynge a certayne man spoyled, robbed, gre­uouslye wounded and halfe deade, had pytye on hym, came vnto hym, bounde vp his woundes, powred in oyle & wyne, & layenge hym on hys beaste brought hym vnto an Inne, & made prouision for hym. Here is a nother godlye example of redy as­sistence. Here is a myrrour for all menne to looke in. Here is a payre of spectacles for to shewe eue­ry man, what his dutye is toward his neyghbour.What oure duty is to­ward our neyghboure

As how I pray you for an example.

Certes as this Samaritane dyd. To be bent at all tymes to healpe so manye as hath nede of our helpe, & to procure no lesse the helthe & furtherance of other, than of our selues. As for an example. Arte y^u a Iudge,The duty of a iudge, Iustice of peace.. &c. a Iustice of peace, a Constable, a Baliffe, or ony other cōmō officer: So hast y^u y^e [Page] lawe in thy hande. Matters of contrauersye are broughte before the. Looke therfore, that thou iudgeste all thynges accordynge to equite. Be not parciall. Fauoure not one parte more than another. Shewe indifferency. Do as ryght require. Gyue no wronge sentence, neyther for feare nor loue of ony parsonne. Practise none iniquite: Condemne not the innocēt for lucres sake. Be not corrupt with gyftes. Eate not the poore mā, neyther deuour thou his substaūce, but helpe to sustayne hym in his ryght agaynste the vio­lence of the wicked Tyrantes and cruel oppressours accordyng to thy office, yf thou doste this, than haste thou this flour, Redy assistence. about the, & doste to thy neyghboure, as y^u arte bound by the commaundemēt of God. If thou doste this, that is, iudge contrary to equite, suffer the poore to be oppressed for fauoure or [Page] lucres sake, or els bycause thou bearest a cruell harte and spytefull sto­macke agaynst the parte, so gettest thou the great displeasure of God, & hepest vp to thy selfe euerlastinge damnacion.

Arte thou a Bysshop,The office of a Byshop prest or spi­ritual mini­ster. prest or spirituall minister of Goddes worde? looke than well to thy office. Remē ber that it is thy dutye reuerently to minister y^e moost blyssed Sacra­mentes of Christes Chyrche, and to preach the worde of God to y^• flocke vpon whome the holy Ghoste hath made the ouerseare, to gouerne the congregaciō of God, whome he purchased with his bloude.Act. x [...]. Ioan. xxi. Remember that it is sayd vnto the, Pasce, Pa­sce, Pasce, fede, fede, fede. Fede ther fore thy Paryshe with good exāple of vertuous lyuinge. Fede them w^t the pure Euāgelion & true Gospell of Christ. Fede thē also w^t corporall foode thorowe the mayntenaūce of [Page] hospitalite. Teache them to forsake all Idolatry & supersticion, & only to cleaue to the true & lyuing God, the alone and omnisufficient saui­our. Teache them to honoure & call on the name of theyr LORDE God in all theyr aduersities and troubles. Teach them faythful obedience to­ward theyr superiours. Teache thē to loue theyr wyues as theyr owne flesh, & to brynge vp theyr chyldren & familye in the feare & nourtoure of the Lord. Teach thē to labour for theyr lyuīg, & not to takeaway ony mans goodes vniustly. Teache thē to testify the truethe, & to beare no false witnes. Teache them to be no man [...]lears, but to loue al men with a pure harte. Teache them to lyue of theyr owne, & not to couyt that which pertayne to other mē. Teach them to walke streyght in the path wayes of the LORDE al the dayes of theyr lyfe, vnlesse the fearce plages [Page] & cruel vēgeaunce of God fall both vpon the & them.Esay. [...]viii. Crye, cease not. Shewe to the people theyr synnes, offenses, & wickednesses. Cōmaund the wicked to forsake hys iniquite. Exhorte the rytche man vnto the glad & redy distribucion of his goo­des to y^e poore people.i. Tim. vi. i. Pet. v▪ Fede y^e flocke of Christ, so muche as lyethe in thy power. Be an example of the fayth full in word, in cōuersacion, in loue in spirite, in fayth, in purite & clen­nes of lyfe. Gyue attendaunce to thy selfe & to doctrine, continew in these. Reproue them that synne opē ly before all men,i. Tim. iii▪ that y^• other may be afeard. Kepe thy selfe pure, clene & honest. Suffer afflicciō & trouble as a goodsouldiour ofIesus Christ Study to shewe thy selfe accepta­ble to God,i. Tim v. ii. Tim. ii. a workemā that nedeth not to be ashamed, deuydynge iust­ly the worde of trueth. Flye the lu­stes of yongthe,i. Tim. v [...]. followe righteous­nes, [Page] fayth charite peace with them that cal on the LORDE wyth a pure harte. Reproue the ennemyes of trueth fearsely, that they maye be whole in faythe. Speake y^u those thīges, that become wholesome do­ctrine, but aboue all thynges be an exāple to other of good workes. Be not absent from thy benefice.Zacha. xi. Liue not dissolutely at the vniuersite or els wher. Be not that Spheppard and Idol, that forsaketh his flocke, but gyue them meate in due tyme.Ioan. x. Suffer not y^e wolfe to deuour Christes shepe, whome he bought wythe no lesse pryce, than wythe his owne most precious bloud. Defēd the glorye of GOD, and not thyne owne dignite. Striue for the helth of thy flocke,Mark well. & not for thy rytchers & pos­sessions. The synful of thy flocke, exhorte vnto faythfull repentaunce. The desperate prouoke thou vnto y^• trust of Gods mercy. The weake [Page] make y^u stronge. The diseased looke thou heale. The bloudye wounded looke thou cure. The broken looke thou make whole. The imperfecte, loke thou make perfecte. The strōg in Christ, loke thou make aūciente. To conclude, if thou be a true Bis­shop, a faythful ouerseare, a diligēt Curate, a trusty shepparde, rather gyue thy lyfe, & spend all the bloud in thy body, than that one of y^e least of Christes flocke should perysh thorowe thy faute. So mayst thou be sure,i. Pet. v. whan that Prynce of sheppar­des shall appeare to receyue the immarcessible crown of glory, if y^u dost not these thynges, which hytherto I haue rehearsed, than looke thou for none other, but wythe that vn­profitable seruaunt to be cast into vtter darkenes, where wepynge & gnasshynge of teth shalbe.

Arte thou a ritch man?The dutye of a rytch man. So hath God set the in a perillous state, ex­cepte [Page] thou be ware. To auoyd ther fore all daūger, loke that with thy possessions & rytches, thou helpeste thē that haue nede. For vnto this ende hath God indewed the wyth y^• goodes of this world. Be not proud for thy rytches sake,Eccl xxxv. ii. Cor. ix. nor putte not thy truste in vncertayne rytches, but in the lyuynge God. Be rytche ī good workes. Be redy to minister vnto the necessite of other, y^t wante For God loueth a cherfull gyuer. Breake thy bread to the hongrye,Esa. lviii. & lead in the nedy & poore wayfaring into thy house, whā thou seest a na­ked man, couer hym, & thou shalte not despyse thy flesh.Luke. vi. Geue to euery one that askethe, & from hym, that wyll borowe, turne not awaye thy face,Psal. xiiii. Esa. v. but lende hym thy monye, yea & that without ony vsurye. Ioyne not house to house, nor lond to lond Couytte not to reygne alone in a towne. Suffer other mē to lyue by [Page] the, yea & that of theyr owne. Helpe them to make prouision for theyr family, y^t they may kepe the better hospitalite & be the more able to helpe the confortles. Let not oute thy lō ­des & houses on such price, that the fermers shall neuer be able to paye the, or els to do no good vpon them So let them hyer thy fermes, that they maye not be empoueryshed, as they are now a dayes for the moost parte, but rather enryched, y^t they maye be the more able vertuouslye to bryng vp theyr chyldren in good artes & godly sciēces, to helpe theyr poore neyghbours, to kepe hospita­lite, & to beare the charges of the cō mon weale for theyr porcion, whan tyme requireth. For this shal make a florysshynge & wealthye Realme, abundāt in al thynges. Thus shalt thou also greatlye please God, & he agayne for this thy boūteous libe­ralite shewed towarde thy neygh­boures, [Page] wyll open his hande, blysse the & all that pertayne vnto the, fauoure the, & make the to be plente­ous in all thynges.Deu. xxviii So that what so euer thou goest about, shall pros­per & come vnto a fortunate & good ende. Neyther shalte thou nede to doubte of theyse thynges.Titus. i. Psal. cxliiii For God hath so promised, which can not ly, but is faythefull in all his wordes. If thou doste contrary hereunto, & abusest the ritches, which god hath put into thy hande, & of whome he hath only made the his steward, so that thou art vnmercyful & hydest vp thy treasure, & knoweste not for whome, & wylte by no meanes be­stow them, as God hathe appoyn­ted the, than be thou certen & sure, that lyke an vnmercifull thefe and cruell bloudye Bocher, thou shalte be hanged in hell.Esa. lxvi. The fyre, wherw^t thou shalt be tormented, shal neuer be quenched. The worme, that shal [Page] gnawe thy conscience, shall neuer dye. The paynes shal be infinite, nether shalte thou at ony tyme be re­leued of thē, but with that vnmer­ciful rytche gloton in the Gospel of Luke,Luke. xvi. lyghe cryenge & waylyng in perpetual tormentes worldes with out end. Therfore beware betymes & saye not but y^t thou arte warned.

To be shorte, consider withe thy selfe in what state & condicion God hath set the, & vse that euer vnto y^e glory of God and the profyt of thy neyghboure. For knowe that what so euer God hath gyuē the, he hath gyuen it the for the profytte of thy neyghbour also. Hathe God gyuen the strength? than must thou helpe the weakenes of thy brother. Arte thou wyse, & eloquent? So muste thou make good, that whiche wan­teth of them in thy neyghbour Art thou rytche? So muste thou con­forte the nedy. Arte thou learned? [Page] So must thou instructe and teache the ignoraunt. Arte thou a rulare? So must thou be fauourable to thē of the inferioure sorte. Arte thou a mā of nobilite? So muste thou not despyse thē of ignobilite. Hast thou creditours and detters? So muste thou not draw thē cruelly streyght wayes into the lawe, but fauoure them, entreate them gentylly, and gyue thē respyte, vntyll they may [...] paye the conueniētly without daū ger or losse of theyr substaūce. Haste thou receaued ony talente or gyfte at all of God? Use that same to the profyt of thy neyghbour, & so shalt thou well please God. To make an ende, be the very same to thy neyghbour,A good lessō that God is to the. Consyder what kyndnes God sheweth to the, & shewe thou the very same agayne to thy Christē brother. And wylt y^u heare me? Be euen another Christe to thy neyghboure.

[Page]Thus much dere brothers, haue I spoken concernynge thys youre floure, Redy assistence. of the which ye maye easely learne to knowe youre duty toward your neyghbour, and howe ye ought to behaue youre sel­ues in all poyntes toward hym ac­cordynge to the wyll of God.

Undoubtedly neighbour Philemō ye haue gyuen vs many godlye les­sōs. I besech God, we may so walke in our conuersacion & in all our ac­tes towarde our neyghboure, that we maye in al thynges followe and practyse this your moost godly do­ctrine, & be redy at all tymes bothe in thoughte, worde & dede redely to assist & helpe oure neyghboures, no lesse thā we desire that god should assist, help & socoure vs, whā we haue nede.

It is very godly spokē. God gyueyou grace no lesse to do & work Nowe remayneth your laste floure to be gyuen to you.

I woulde [Page] very gladdely se it.

The verye same also do I desyre.

¶The fyfte floure / called / Christen Charite.

i. Ioan. iii.AT hande it is euen here redy▪ Take it I pray you. Let Vs not loue in vvorde nor tonge, but in vvoke and trueth.

This floure maye be cal­led Christen Charite in dede aright

It is not without a cause, that I haue gyuen you this floure. For the sauour of all your aforsayd floures profyteth without this but ly­tle.Behold y^• excellency of Charite. This floure is the very same to your Nosegay that a precious stone a costious pearle, a goodly owch, is to a ryng or ony other Iewel. With out this floure all y^e other wyll sone wyther awaye, & come to noughte. But so longe as the beauty of this your flour lasteth, so longe can not your Nosegaye decaye & perysh. Cā [Page] ony thynge be good & godly, where loue & Charite wantethe? And by­cause ye shoulde knowe, y^t I meane none vnfayned loue, I haue named your floure, Christen Charite. For our Charite & loue ought not to be carnall, fleshly, beastlyke, worldly,What loue we ought to haue amōge vs. fay­ned, vncleane & flyttynge, but spirituall, ghostly, christē, heauēly, true, pure, & abydyng for euermore. And this is that Christē Charite, wher­of your floure speketh,i. Ioan. iii. Let vs not loue in vvorde nor tonge, but in VVork & trueth. Withoute this Charite S. Paule affirmethe in his Epistle to the Co­rinthiās, that no worke,i. Cor. xiii. seme it ne­uer so good & godly, profyteth onye thynge at all.Rom. xiii. i. Tim. i. Rede y^• Chapter whā ye come home. Certes this Charite & christen loue must nedes be an ex­cellent thynge, seynge it is the ende of the Cōmaundement, & the fulfyllynge of all the law, seyng also that Christ in his last sermon, whiche he [Page] made to his Disciples a litle before his passhon exorteth vs with so many wordes vnto it. S. Iohn̄ fereth not so greatlye to auaūce and com­mende Charite,Ioan. xiiii.xv.xvi. i. Ioan. iiii. y^t he affirmeth God to be Charite, sayeng, God is Cha­rite, & he that abydethe in Charite, abydeth in God, & God in hym. Unto thys true and Christen Charite. S. Peter also mouethe vs on thys manner: [...]. Pet. iiii. Rom. xii. Co [...]. iii. Before all thynges, saythe he, haue feruēt charite among you. For Charite couereth y^• multitude of synnes. And S. Paule saythe, a­boue al thīges haue Charite, which is the bonde of perfeccion. For he y^• hath this christē Charite can none otherwyse but loue God wythe all his harte,What y^• loue of god doth. mynde, strength, power & soule. He can none otherwyse but forsake the worlde, the dyuell & the flesh, & cleue to God alone as a true and faythfull wyfe doth to her hus­bond. He wyl by no menes swere by [Page] y^• name of his lord god, but reuerēce honour, worship & prayse it. He wyl not breake the Sabbothe daye, but sanctify it accordyng to the worde of God. Agayne,what y^• loue of our neighbour doth. he that loueth his neyghbour sincerly, wyl by no meanes hurte hym, nor worke any euel agaynst hym. He wyll not disobeye his superiours. He wyl commyt no manslaughter, whoredome, thefte, nor beare ony false wytnes nor yet couyt that, which shoulde be hynderaūce to his neyghbour, but he wyl gladly & with a free spirite do vnto the vttermooste of his power, what so euer the Scripture requireth of hym, as Christ sayth, yf ony man loueth me, he wyll kepe my word, and my father shall loue hym, & we wyl come to hym & dwell with hym. He that loueth not me, kepeth not my wordes.Io [...]n. xiiii. He that hath my Commaū dementes & kepeth thē, he it is that loueth me, & he that loueth me, shall [Page] be loued of my father, & I wyl loue hym & shewe my selfe vnto hī. How dothe this youre floure please you?

I neuer smelled a sweter and more pleasaunt odoure in my lyfe.

I praye you rehearse it once agayne.i. Ioan. iii.

Let Vs not loue in vvord no [...] tonge, but in vvorke and trueth.

Is not this the sayenge of S. Iohn in his Epistle?

Yies verelye.

Me thynketh that he gyueth here a cōmaundemente that we shoulde not loue in worde nor tonge but in worke & trueth.

Ye saye trueth.

It is not lawefull than for vs to e [...]presse the loue that we beare in oure hartes towardes oure neygh­boure by manifeste, open & euident wordes? as to speake gentylly, to cō mon frendely, & to wysh wel with louynge wordes to all men?

S. Iohn in this place forbyddethe no more gentle speache & louynge communicacion,Phil. ii. thā S. Paule in your [Page] other flour dyd forbyd to make pro­uision for you and yours. But his mynd is this, they which wyl crake & boste by outwarde wordes, y^t they loue God & theyr neyghbour, & yet shew it not in workes and truethe, they are lyers, & haue not in thē the christen Charite, which the Scrip­ture cōmendeth so greatly in euery place. Such are lyke thē, of whome S. Paule speaketh on this māner, they saye they knowe God, but w^t theyr dedes they denye it playnely,Titus. i. seynge they are obhominable, diso­bedient and mynded vnto no good workes.i. Ioan. iii. He that hath the substance of the world, sayth S. Iohn, & seeth his brother haue nede, & is moued with no compassion towardes him, howe doth the loue of God abide in hym? As though he should say, albeit a mā craketh neuer so much y^t he loueth God,Mark well. yet yf he fulfylleth not that, which God cōmaundeth him, howe [Page] dare suche one boste that he louethe God? A man loueth so muche as he worketh. If he worketh no thynge, nother doth he loue any thing. For as S. Gregory sayth in a certayne homely,Gregorye. the loue of GOD is neuer idle. For he worketh great thinges, yf it be loue, but if it seaseth to worke,i. Cor. xiii. than is it no loue in dede. Loue, sayth S. Paule is pacient & curti­ous. Loue enuiethe not, loue dothe not frowardely. Loue is not puffed vp, dealeth not dishonestly, seaketh not her owne. Loue is not prouo­ked to anger, thynketh not euell, reioysethe not of iniquite, but reioy­seth in the trueth, suffereth al thin­ges, beleuethe all thynges, hopethe all thynges, abydethe all thynges. What a poynt is this of loue, to say that I loue God,Note thys well. & yet run a whore­huntynge after straunge Goddes?

Agayne what a poynte of loue is this to saye, that I honour y^e name [Page] of God, and yet blaspheme it withe mooste shamefull & abhominable o­thes? What loue is this toward my neyghbour to saye that I loue him and yet wyll do no thynge for hym, whan I se him in necessite? Is this loue? Peryshe moughte suche loue. Agaynste these wicked Hypocrites & open dissemblers dothe S. Iohn in this place thonder,i. Ioan. iii. whā he sayth let vs not loue in worde nor tonge, but in worke & trueth. There were in the tyme of the Apostles manye false Christians, whiche by wordes pretended muche loue both towar­des God and theyr neyghbour, and yet dyd they expresse & shew none at all by theyr outward dedes. Such haue we nowe a dayes also among vs, which styffely affyrme that they loue God & his worde, yet do theyr workes proue the contrarye. The scripture reiecteth that loue which is fayned, and is not in spirite and [Page] trueth, that is to say, fyrst engraf­fed in the harte, & afterwarde declared by manifeste & euident workes, worthy such a loue. Therfore neighbours, yf ye wyll smell aryght and to your conforte of this your floure Christen Charite, prouide that youre loue benot fayned. Let it not only be in worde and tonge, but also in worke and trueth.Ofloue to­ward God. Fyrst as concer­nynge youre loue towarde God, it shall appeare in nothynge more manifestly, than yf you laboure wythe all mayne in al your workes to seke the glory of God, the honour of his moost blyssed name & the promociō of his holy worde. Agayne as tow­chynge your neyghbour your loue shallnot be fayned towardes hym,Ofloue to­ward oure neyghbour. yf ye helpe hym in all such thynges as he hath nede of, as for an exam­ple. If ye perceyue hym ignoraunt in the lawe of God, teach hym Goddes worde, bryng hym vnto Christ, [Page] teache hym where, of whom and by what meanes he shal obtayne helth & saluacion? Declare to hym what y^• true & christē faythe is? & of what great strength, vertue, efficacy and power it is. Exhorte hym vnto the true good workes, which god approueth by his worde, & leueth not vn­rewarded.Psal. xlix. Charge hym to flye vn­to y^• name of God as vnto a strong Bulwarke in all his aduersite and trouble. Furthermore yf ye ꝑceyue that he is gyuen altogyther to wickednes and wyll not gladlye heare anye wholesome admonicion, yette cease not to praye for him,Gen. xvii▪ as Abra­ham dyd for the fylthy Sodomites and Moses for the disobedient Ie­wes.Exo. xxxii. Yea thogh he be your extreme enemye and seaketh youre lyfe,Luke. xxiii. Ac [...]. vii. yet wysh wel vnto hym, praye for him, and desyre God to forgyue him, as Christ and Steuen dyd. Agayne yf ye perceyue that he is poore & hath [Page] nede of your helpe, fayle not to suc­coure his miserye and to helpe hym in his nede euen to the vttermoost of youre power, to make an ende, yf ye perceyue that youre neyghboure hath nede of any thyng that ye are able to do for hym, I charge you in Goddes behalfe, that ye with al ex­pedicion, helpe and conforte hī. If ye do this, thā do ye smel aright on this your flour, Christē Charite, & shal receyue rewardes abūdāt for your good dedes, but if ye do it not know y^t though ye bost neuer so muche in word and tong of your loue towar­des god & your neyghbour,Note. yet shal ye go to the dyuel headlong lyke ab­hominable Hypocrites and wycked dissemblers, & shall receaue greater damnacion than they which neuer knewe truelye no parte of God, se­ing your loue is only in worde and tong, but not in spirite and trueth.

As concernynge oure loue to­warde [Page] God, we wyll employe al our industrye and laboure to haue that loue toward hym,Ioan. xxii. which Peter had whan he sayde vnto Christ, LORDE thou knoweste that I loue the, & as towchynge our neyghbour we wyll labour no lesse hartely to loue him, than Ionathas dyd Dauid,ii. Reg. xviii which as the Scripture sayth, loued him as his owne lyfe.

Theyse are goodly exāples vndoubtedly neighbours. Loke therfore that ye folow them. If ye bryng out of your loue suche dedes, as Peter dyd, thā may ye be bolde to say, that ye loue God vnfaynedly. Agayne, yf ye shew by youre outwarde workes suche loue towarde your neyghbour, as Ionathas dyd to Dauid thā nede ye not feare to saye, y^t ye loue youre neigh­bour in worke & truethe, & so are ye perfecte and true christen men, and maye be certayne after the depar­ture oute of this transitorye lyfe, [Page] yf ye so continue vnto the ende, for to receaue the crowne of life, which the LORDE hathe promised to them that loue hym,Iaco [...]. i. as S. Iames sayth.

Here is nowe your Nosegay perfecte. For I haue gyuē you al your fyue floures, as I promised you at your fyrst cōmynge.

We thāke you right hertely for this Nosegay

I thynke such a Nosegay was neuer gyuen before of onye man to his frende, as you haue nowe gyuē vs.

I beseche GOD gyue vs grace so to smell on this Nosegaye, that the sauoure of it maye euer a­byde in vs, & neuer departe nor go awaye from our hartes. So maye we be sure neyther at onye tyme to offende our selues, God, our Kyng, nor our neyghbour, but leade suche a lyfe, as wherwith bothe God and man shall be well pleased.

All this that ye haue hytherto spoken is true. For I haue taughte you no [Page] thyng of myne owne brayne & fan­tasye, but onelye the pure worde of God, & the sentences & myndes of y^e holy and catholyke Doctors. Ther­fore I pray you hertely good neyghbours be as diligent to obserue and kepe these floures as I haue ben studious to gather them togyther for you, so shall I both thyncke my la­boure well bestowed & ye also of all pleasures shall do me the greateste. Well I wyll nowe rehearse to you in fewe wordes, what youre whole Nosegaye contayneth in many.

Your fyrst floure is called Vnfay­ned Humilite. Hereof haue ye learned y^e true knowledge of youre selues,A brefe re­hersal of the Nose gaye. & that ye ought not to be proud of o­ny thynge, but enbrasynge Humi­lite & lowlines of mynd alwayes cō fesse that what so euer ye haue, be it neuer so good & precious, it is the gyfte of GOD commynge downe frō the father of lyghtes, and that [Page] therfore ye oughte studiously to la­boure aboue all thynges that it be bestowed accordynge to the wyll of God,Iaco▪ i. that is, vnto the glory of God the profitte of youre neyghboure & the saluacion of your owne soules.

Your seconde flour called, Pure Innocency. Of this ye haue lerned your duty toward God, & howe ye ought to walke before hym accordynge to his worde and be perfecte.

Of your thyrde floure, which is, Faythfull Obedience. Ye haue learned your duty toward our moost puis­saunt & excellent kynge, & all those ciuile magistrates & heade officers, which are appoynted to rule & go­uerne the matters of the publique weale vnder his graces maieste. Ye learned also, that by the worde of GOD ye owe to them obedience, feare, honour and tribute.

Your fourthe floure, called, Redy assistence ▪ taught you your dutye to­warde [Page] youre neyghbour, & howe ye oughte to serue hym accordynge to the rule of the Gospell, seakynge no lesse his profyt than your owne.

Your fyfte & laste floure, called, Christen Charite, declared to you that withoute this true, christen & pure loue, all youre other floures profyt but lytle, neyther can any worke beinge done of a malicious harte and out of Charite please God. Agayne ye hearde, that your loue bothe to­ward God & your neyghbour was declared to be vnfayned, yf ye dyd expresse it outwardly in suche wor­kes as are prescribed of God in the holy Scriptures, this is the whole summe of your Nosegaye.

Nowe deare brothers, I beseche you by the great mercyes of God, y^t ye wyl by no meanes suffer y^e smell, odoure & sauour of these herbes to faull oute of your brestes, but that you alwaye beare this youre Nose­gay [Page] about w^t you, & smel on it at al tymes w^tout ceasyng. For these are those floures, whiche shall preserue you from all pestiferous and contagious ayres, from all perelles and daungers, from al mischaūces and euell fortunes. They also shall en­spire and breath into you such con­fortable odoures & swete sauours, that ye shall by no meanes be so in­fected, that ye maye eyther offende your selues, God, the kyng, or your Neygheboure, but what so euer ye worke, shall be accceptable bothe to God and man. What wyll ye haue more? Thus muche haue I done nowe for you neyghbours, and am redy at al tymes to do, what soeuer lyethe in my power, whan occasion shall be gyuen, desiryng you fauourably to accepte this my good wyll towarde you, as of one, which wys­sheth no lesse well to you thā to him selfe, tendereth your health no lesse [Page] than his owne, seakethe youre true knoweledge in Christe Iesus euen as his owne, to conclude, whiche is redy at all tymes both to gyue him selfe and all that he hath, so that ye may be in the moost gloryous bow­els of oure Sauioure Christe, and therin continewe vntyl the daye o [...] his tryumphant apperyng. Which thynge (moost deare brothers) that it maye come to passe, I wyll not cease neyther night nor daye to po­wre oute my prayers to our LORDE god, that he maye be present alway with you by the assistence of the ho­ly Ghost in all your godly enterpri­ses, which thynge also I moost her­telye desyre you, that ye wyll lyke­wyse do for me.

To gyue you condygne and worthy thancke, for your manifolde gentletes towarde vs, we are not able. But thys dare I promyse you in y^e name of vs all, that what so euer shall lygh in oure [Page] powers to do for you at any tyme, we wyll be glad w^t all our hertes to do it. And to the vttermoost of our strengthes we wyll laboure to prac­tyse & fulfyl y^t in workes, whiche ye haue taught vs in wordes.

So doynge neyghbours, my good wyll shall not only cōtinue styll, as it is toward you, but also encrese dayly more & more. Wel, now before your departure, I wyl desire you to tak [...] y^• paynes [...]o dryncke with me after this our long talke & large cōmunicaciō, y^t ye may go home agayne frō me being fed both spiritually & cor­porally.

We thanke you neigh­bour Philimō

Praysed be god for this our goodly and pleasaunte Nosegay.

AMEN. For he alone is worthy all the honoure & prayse.