HE that said the whole life of man was no­thing else but a time of temptation, hee sayd very fearefullie, and yet very truelie; for we are tempted in old age, and in our cradles wee are not free; If any euil stand before vs, we are prouoked to do it, and when at any time we haue done well, we are euen tempted in it; if wee abound as Adam [Page] did in Paradise, there be intismentes in that, or if we want as Christ did in the wildernes, there may be death in that; so expert is the enemy whom God hath sent to exercise vs, that according to time and place, & to each mans state & nature, he hath wherin to allure vs, and serueth himself of al occasions. And be­cause we are fallen into a time, wherein pouerty without patience hath much disordred vs, I haue therfore chosen to speake of the hungry temptation, & yet not of the temptation neither, each mā being apt enough to tempt himselfe, but rather of the answer to it; for the di­uel finding Christ of late, first fasting, & then hungry in a desolate & barren wil­dernesse where nothing was to be had, aduiseth him not to looke vp to heauē, (frō whence in extreme want all help is to be waited for) but rather to take the way that was next at hand, & by a new kind of Alchimy, of stones to make him­selfe bread, & vnto this Christ answe­reth him with the text I haue read, man liueth not by bread onely, &c. and there is nothing in this whole story so sutable, or so aptly speaking to the occasion & season of the time as this; for it is said [Page] before, that Christ fasted, meaning a reli­gious fast, as few do now; and it is saide likewise, that he was hungry, and no mar­uell, for he was in a place, where was neither bred nor corn, as may be now; & it is said likewise, that thē the tempter came, that is, the Diuell came, as all the world seeth he is vp and abroad now; & some he tempteth to turne bread into stones, that is, to decay the plenty of the earth, as many rich & greedy minded mē do now; & some he tempteth to turne stones into bread, that is, to vse vnlawful means for their own releife, as the mad & rebelious multitude doth now; but in this verse Christ sheweth a bettet way for mens reliefe, that is, by resting thē ­selues in the pleasure & prouidence of God, which is for all men an apt & god­ly answer, to such a diuilish & vngodlie temptation. In which answer 3. things may bee considered; first, that Christ would answer the Diuill, next the man­ner of his answer, which is by scriptū est, & then lastly the substāce of his answer, which is, that man liueth not by bread one­ly, but by euery word which commeth out of the mouth of God. For the first, a question may be mooued, why Christ would vouchsafe to giue the diuil any answer [Page] at all; why did hee not rather answer him with silence, as sometimes he an­swered Caiphas and Pilate? to which I answer, that as hee was therefore lead into the wildernesse, that he might bee tempted, so was he therefore tempted that he might giue answer, and that partly to auouch his owne wisedome by his answer, and also to instruct vs, that we in the like case must bee able likewise to make answer; Respondit ten­tatori docens te respondere tentatori, saith Saint Austin; Christ did answer the tempter to teach thee, that thou must answer the tempter also; that as Gedeon sayd to his souldiers, VVhat yee see mee doe, do yee also. Iudg. 7. 17. So wee because wee see our Captaine to an­swer, might also learne not Implicitam fidem, a faith folded vp in the faith of our fathers, or to beleeue as the Church beleeueth, but be armed with reason to answer also: In the field it is lamentable when the defendors of a iust and lawfull cause are foyled & put to flight; O Lord, what shall I say (sayth Ioshua) when Israel turne their backes vp­on their enemies? Ioshu. 7. In the Church it is shamefull when men shall main­taine [Page] a good cause as Iob did, and yet being opposed cannot find an answer: and God forbid we should auouch any things in points of faith, for which be­ing opposed we cannot answer. But in the breast of man it is most fearefull, when Satan shall come to tempt or te­rifie, and we like Cain or Iudas are o­uercome and cannot answer: for if we be bound to answer euery man that asketh a reason of the hope that is in vs. 1. Pet. 3. How much more to answer this temp­ting and destroying Serpent, from whose temptatiō no man can promise himselfe freedom or imunity. But say, Christ would answer the Diuell, yet why after so milde and gentle a fa­shion; why rather did hee not bid him be packing, as he did somtime to Peter? Get thee behind me Sathan, thou art an of­fence vnto me. Mat. 16. Yea why did he not torment him for his pride & pre­sumption in tempting him? why did he not throw him into the deepe for laying vnholy hands, & for breathing those impure blasts vpon him? & thus we imagin God like our selues; for Michael the Archangell though hee stroue against the Diuell, yet would [Page] not reuile him. Iud. 9. nor would Christ call for fire from heauen to consume the Samaritans, albeit they shut their dores vpon him. Luc. 9. for he came not now to iudge, but to saue; he came not (as one day he shall) with fire before him, but he came like a Lambe, lowly to his inferiors, gentle to his enemies, and affable to all; which first addeth strength to the faith of man, in the act of Inuocatiō, for if the enemy receiued a gentle answer, euen when he came to destroy, much more shall they that de­uoutly seeke vnto him; beside, it giueth to great personages, Iudges and Magi­strates in their places, an honorable patterne of piety, cheerfully to accept, & gently to answer, the cries, petitions & iust complaints of the poore, which stand in need of them, as they stand in need of God, & come kneeling to them as they kneele to God; & when at any time they grow weary of this, they may doubt they haue forgotten him who exalted thē for this, & feare least they be forgottē whē they faile in this. Now for the maner of Christs answer to the diuill; ye see, he doth not teach vs to repell or chase him away (as they do at Rome, with Tapers, & holy water, [Page] or with hanging out a crucifix, but by scriptum est, the written word of God; for what cares the diuill for a candle, or for holy water, or what cares he for a Crucifix, which is but an image of Christ, who according to some of their own doctors did not feare to lay foule Hugo Cardin. sup. Math 4. Assumpsit eum bracchijs suis. hands vpon the sacred body of Christ: but as when Ioshua fained to run away from the men of Ai, hee did by that meanes disranke them, & bring a grea­ter slaughter on them. Iohn 8. so when the diuill faineth to be afraide of such things, it is but a slie deuise, to wrappe men more deeply in the snares of su­perstition. Neither yet doth Christ an­swer the Diuill by Factum est, by doing the thing required, that is, turning stones into bread, but hee answereth him by scriptū est, by shewing him what is written; no doubt Christ could haue turned the stones, and the stones being commanded must haue obeied him, for when the Prophet cryed out against Ieroboams altar, the ashes fell out, and the Altar rent in sunder. 1. King. 13. but be­hold a greater then the Prophet was here, who when himselfe cryed out his last crye vpon the Crosse, the vale of the Temple rent, the earth did [Page] quake, & the stones did cleaue in sunder Math. 27. yea surely hee that of water made wine, could also (if it had so plea­sed him) of stones haue made bread; yea he could of stones haue made men, euen of stones to raise vp children vn­to Abraham, Math. 3. but why then did he not? surely the Friers tell vs a prety reason; That Christ would not turne stones into bread at the diuels request, Royard. Dominica. 1. Quadra­gesimae. but rather stay a yeare longer to turne water into wine, at his Mothers re­quest, that so to her, to the Virgin Mary, and not to the Diuill, might be dedicated the first fruites of his mira­cles, as if Christ had dedicated mira­cles to his Mother, or had in the mira­cle of water turned to wine, intended the magnifying of his Mother, who when shee mooued vnto him the want of wine, receaued an answer some-thing regardlesse of her; VVo­man what haue I to doe with thee? Ioh. 2. 4. but a better reason of that miracle is gathered out of the eleuenth verse, where it is sayde, the miracle being done, that his Disciples beleeued on him; but how? Nunquid crediturus erat dia­bolus? saith Saint Austin, would the [Page] Diuill haue beleeued if Christ had turned stones into bread? surely no; and therefore as he would shew no miracle to Herod, be­cause he asked it idly and curiously, Luc. 23. so neither is any miracle to bee shewed to the Diuill, nor any Pearle to be cast before such Swine, as there is no hope to conuert or edifie; or say there were hope, yet Scriptum est, the Law and the Prophets are more effectuall (saith Abraham) then if one should rise from the dead; yea if they will not heare Moses and the Prophets, neither will they bee perswaded, though one rise from the dead. Luc. 16. and generally by ex­ample of Christ, it is so much better to contend with authority of scriptures, then with powre of miracles, by how much Christ preferred Scriptum est, before tur­ning stones into bread. Neither yet doth Christ answer the Diuill by vnwritten ve­rities, as they do who thrust vpon the faith of men, dreames, and fables, and meere tra­ditions, which is (saith Theodoret) like the Theodoret. quest. 9. in Leuit. sinne of Araons sonnes, to bring strange fire vpon the Altar. Leuit. 10. but he answereth him by Scriptū est, It is written; & if it be not written, it is sure no matter of faith, but men may choose whether they wil beleeue it or no: but if it be written, men must be­leeue it, and build their faith, their soules, [Page] and saluation vpon it; for therefore yee erre (saith Christ) because yee know not the scrip­tures. Mat. 22. but he that knoweth them, knoweth also all needful wisdom in them; for speake we of matters of faith; Fidem Imperator queris; saith Hilary to Constance Hilar: ad Constant: the Emperor, Seeke yee to know the faith; then must ye vnderstand it, not by any new or late writings, but by the bookes of God. Or seeke yee to know which is the true & catholique church? Nullo modo cognoscitur, nisi tantummodo per scripturas, there is no Chrisost. homil. su­per Math. & 46. way to know it saith S. Chrysost. but only by the scriptures: or groweth ther any doubt or controuersie of opinion in the church? we may say to one another, as S. Austin to Aug. contra Maximin. lib. 3. ca. 14. Maximinus the Arrian, Nec ego Nicenū tibi, nec tu mihi Ariminense debes proferre conci­liū, &c. neither wil I obiect to you the coū ­cell of Nice, nor shall you to me the coun­cell of Ariminū, but let the Scriptures end it; for (euē our enemies being iudges) whē it is in question whether such a thing bee lawfull or no, Ad sacram paginā recurrendū est, we must haue recourse to th'holy scrip­tures, saith Stella sup: Luc. 6. 3. because in them we may find, Sufficienter et veraciter, both sufficiently & truly, Omnia que ad sa­lutem sunt necessaria, euen al things whatso­euer are needfull to saluation, saith Bona­uentura [Page] de profectu religiosor. lib. 1. cap. 6. both these men being Friers and fautors of the church of Rome, and yet against the church of Rome, maintaining sincerely the suffici­encie of the scriptures; Therefore these are the weapons of our warfare; scriptum est: the word of God (saith S. Paul) is the sword of the spirit. Ephes. 6. yea this is the sword of the Lord and of Gedeon.

The substance of this answer is, that Man liueth not by bread only, but by euery word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. The place is found. Deut. 8. 3. where Moses exhorting the Israelits in al their wants to depend vp­on the prouidence of God, putteth them in mind, how that being in the wildernes, where was neither bread nor water, yet were they neither famisht with want, nor yet compelled to vse vnlawfull means for their reliefe, but they had a bread which they knew not, euen Manna sent from hea­uen, as in a tipe to shew, that mans life is maintained not by the means of bread, nor by the fruitfulnesse of the earth, but from the house of Prouidence, that is, from hea­uen: and this doth Christ oppose as an an­swer to the Diuil, wherin 2. things may be distinctly considered, First that man liueth by bread, and then secondly that he liueth not by bread onely, that is, that God hath appointed man to liue by means, & yet he [Page] hath not tied his life vnto the meanes. That man liueth by bread, is inferred out of the very text; for euen where he saith, Not by bread onely, it followeth of necessitie, that amongst other meanes, yet by bread for one & there be in these words three things likewise to be considered; First the subiect of God; prouidence, which is Man second­ly the e [...]d of Gods prouidence, that man must liue: and thirdly the meanes of his prouidence, that he must liue by bread.

For the first, the diuil indeed propounded very cunningly a question concerning the sonne of God; If thou bee the sonne of God, command, &c: which yet Christ neither de­nieth, nor affirmeth himselfe to bee, but cleane beside the matter, answereth of man; mā liueth not; & sure Christ was not bound to giue direct answer to such an aduersary, who came not to bee satisfied, but to de­ceiue, and therfore to dazell and amaze him the more, he answereth him at randome, & where he asked him of the sonne of God, he answere [...]h him of man, and to let him see withal, what account God did make of mā, whom he in tempting the sonne of God, sought fundamentally to ouerthrow. And surely man is a great marke in Gods eie, for God made man, & printed his owne image in mā, & made the world for man, & ordai­ned [Page] the Angels to gard man, was borne for man, and in the end dyed for man, that Da­uid breakes out into admiration, VVhat is man, that thou art so mindfull of him, or the Sonne of man that thou regardest him. Psal. 8. Onely man to man is vile and of no ac­count, & man is Anthropomastix, one man the greatest scourge & plague of another. Man liueth, sayth Christ; therefore pro­uision is here made for man, which may su­staine in this place a two-fold opposition, first with the beasts and brute creatures, before which in Gods prouidence Man is euer preferred, & then secondly with par­ticular men, for Man is not here taken for this or that man, but for Humanum genus, Man for all mankind, & so it standeth with reason that the whole kinde be evermore preferred before any one or a few cormo­rants in their kinde.

If yee speak of the beasts; surely to that question of S. Paul, Doth God take care for Oxen. 1. Cor. 9. We may answer affirmatiue­ly, yes sure euen for Oxen, and for sheep, for so saith Dauid. Psal. 36. Thou Lord dost saue Man and Beast; yea and for little birds too, whereof two are sold for a farthing, Deut. 22. 6 euen the great God hath made protectiue lawes, that man should not deale vnmer­cifully with them: yet we must take this [Page] withall, that whatsoeuer God hath done for the beasts, yet is it not for their owne sakes principally, but for mans, for whose vse and seruice they were created, & not for them selues; and is it not then vnnatu­rall (thinke ye) to see a man put out, to put in a beast, and men turned out to bring in sheepe, whereas God created the earth for men, and not for sheepe; therefore if ye will maintaine large pastures and stock them with sheepe, then remember what God saith by the mouth of Ezechiel, The sheepe of my pasture are men. Eze. 34. 31. yea and we are his people and the sheepe of his pa­sture. Psal. 100. and the image of God in one man is more worth then all the sheep in the world: and it is time, yea high time to speake of this, the text of it already being written in bloud; and no maruell if they which feele it, runne madde and wild vpon it, since wee which but see it are so much amazed at it; for a stranger which coasteth these countries, and fin­deth heere and there so many thousands and thousands of sheepe, & nihil humani generis, in so many miles not a thing like a Man, might take vp a wonder, & say with himselfe; what? hath there bin some Sor­ceresse, or some Circe heere that hath transformed men into beasts? or is it so, [Page] that men and beasts haue waged warre to­gether! but how was this battell fought, that sheepe got the field? or what men were these that ranne away from sheepe? yea rather what sheepe were these that throw down houses, townes, & churches? oh no: these were no sheepe, they were hogges by their rooting, ye forget him that made the world for man.

Or be it that in this depopulation the beasts did not ouergo man, yet whatsoe­uer is done to the wasting of mankind for the benefit of a few in the kind, is against the prouidence of God too: for God said not to Adam and to Eue at the first, Increase, but Increase and multiply, yea & fill the earth. Gen. 1. 28. Fill it: how? not with clamors and with cries, with teares and with bloud, with mutinies and implacable re­bellion as these men doe; but fill it with men, with the image of God, with the precious seede of the diuine generati­on: and seeke not (as the Prophet sayth) by ioyning house to house, and land to land to bee alone vpon the earth. Esay. 5. Nor let your shepheardes say to you as Diogines sometime said to Timon, O that there were none but thou & I in the land; for in the end Timon will say to Diogines a­gaine, I like the wish well, so as when Diogines [Page] thy brother, that thy brother may liue with thee. Not meaning that vsury did kill men, but that it doth vndoe men, and vndoing is a wofull kinde of dying; for when a man dies, he is bu­ryed, and when he is buryed perhaps he is la­mented, yet they that lamented him suruiue still, but when a man is vndon, hee dies in his estate, he dies in his reputation, he dies in his wife and children, & his whole house is like hell, euen a heape of misery, his cattell looke poorely like Pharaos leane Kine; his Cartes driue heauilie like Pharaohs Chariots with­out wheeles; and his creditors follow him, as Pharao followed the Isralites at their backs; so as such a mā may seeme to liue in Aegipt; nay it were better by farre, to sit downe & make bricks in Aegipt; for this is not liuing, but lingring death, & many to auoid this, choose rather to die. Therfore marke I beseech you; yee, to whom God hath giuen the Earth in possessiō, & learne to be mercifull as your heauē ­lie Father is mercifull. For when God at the Luke. 6. 36 beginning made man, first he breathed in his face the breath of life, and then immediatlie he put him into the Garden which he had made Genes. 2. 7. 8. as much as to say, that first God gaue man life, and then presently gaue him liuing; yea Paradise was planted first, and Man created after; so carefull was God, not onely of Mans life, but also of his liuing, [Page] that the thing which maintained him was made before him, for if hee had giuen him life before liuing, the Father of prouidence should haue seemed to deale vnprouidently, but if he had giuen him life without liuing, the father of mercy should haue created his children vnto misery. And if ye thinke it no sin to take away the liuing where God hath giuen life, ye may think it a lesse sin to take a­way life, when ye haue taken away the liuing. And let it be a lesson for all states generally, not to grind the faces of the poore: but the ma­ster Esa. 3. so to wage his seruant that he may liue; & the work-master so to wage the laborer, that he may liue, & the land-lord not to rack, but so to rate his tenant that he may liue, not miserably, for so it were better to die, but as thēselues liue plentifully vnder God, so they sufficiently & contentedly vnder them; For let men be so oppressed, that they cānot liue, & then they come to the cry of the Steward, when hee was put out off his Steward-ship; What shall I do! Luk. 16. and it is fearefull to thinke, what men will doe in the end. His Maister puttes him out off the Steward-shippe, and how then? I cannot digge (saith hee) and yet now yee see men can digge when they bee put out: and to begge I am asha­med; yet Men are now ashamed of nothing yea affrayd of nothing, but desperate estates breed [Page] they haue turned not stones into bread, but corne into grasse, and done for a practise that which God threatned for a plague, To take away the staffe of bread; yea they haue tur­ned as Achab did with Micaiah, the bread of food, into the bread of affliction. 1. King. 22. and worse then so, they haue turned men into beasts, and made them wilde and rebellious, which before were tame and obedient; yea & worse then so, they haue turned liuing bodies into dead carkases, which though they haue iustly perisht in their rebellion; yet as Christ saith, Luc. 17. Woe be to them by whom the offence commeth.

The next point of the answer is, that though God haue appointed man to liue by bread, yet not by bread onely. Commonly wee are thus affected to the outward meanes, that if at any time they faile vs, we are ready to curse, and finally to renounce them, as the Israelites for the sinew that shranke in Iacobs thigh, Gen. 32. vowed neuer to eate of the sinew any more: but when they stand vs in steed, and doe their seuerall offices to vs, we are ready, as the Ae­giptians did with their Sheepe and Oxen, to deifie and make gods of them, & euen to say, as Exod. 32. These are thy Gods which brought thee, &c. Therefore to draw men from immo­derate admiration of these inferior meanes, Christ telleth vs, that though by bread, yet [Page] not by bread onely; for to effect things alone is proper to GOD onely, who onely can say, as Esa. 63. I haue troden the Wine-presse alone, and of all the people there was none with me: and if man should liue by bread onely, then were bread his God; and therefore euen the same mouth which commendeth to vs the labours of our hands, condemneth like­wise all confidence in our owne endeuours; for euen in the Church where Gods owne worke is done, yet planting of it selfe, and wa­tering of it selfe is nothing; In policies, and in the common-wealth, Except the Lord keepe the Citty, the watch-man watcheth but in vaine: and they which asked a King to gouerne them, yet were no whit better, but rather in worse case when they had him; Like­wise in the field, A Horse is a vaine thing to saue a man; and though a Bowe and a Sworde bee mighty weapons in the hands of the mightie, yet I will not trust in my Psal. 44. Bowe, nor shall my Sworde saue mee, saith the Psalmist.

Againe, in priuate Families, and in domesti­call affaires, It is in vaine for men to rise ear­lie, and goe to bedde late: yea and in the very body of man, The Israelites which so lusted for meate, yet when they had meate, dyed with meate in their mouthes. Number. 11. yea and many, the more they haue, the [Page] worse they thriue, like Pharaohs leane Kine which did eate vp the fatte, and yet were ne­uer the fatter when they had done; and ther­fore though much may be done by bread, yet nothing by bread onely.

Well then; If not by bread onely, by what then? By euery word that proceedeth out off the mouth of God; where because mention is made of euery word, wee are to consider, that the word of God is manifold whereby wee liue, for first there is Verbum scriptum: the written word of God, which feedes vs with wisdom, secondly there is the word of his blessing, which strengthneth with goodnesse; thirdly the word of especiall power which mayn­taineth by miracle; fourthly the word of pro­mise which supporteth by faith; & lastly euen the word of deniall which vpholdeth vs in patience.

1 If we speake of the written word or of the Scripture, it is true that man liueth not by bread onely, but by that too; for Search the scriptures (saith Christ) for they are they which testifie of me, and in them yee shall haue life euer­lasting. Iohn. 5. And it is a good barre against the Diuells temptation, when hee telleth vs of bread, and turning stones into bread, and all for bread, to tell him againe, that there is somewhat else to be cared for beside bread, that because God hath giuen vs a soule to [Page] saue, as well as a body to feed, and a belly to fill, that wee therefore should rather care to feed and instruct the soule, then to pamper the body; especially to instruct the soule thus farre against the body, that we may learne to do no vnlawfull thing for natures necessity, nor to hazard an immortall soule, for a mor­tall and dying body; And had many of vs beene as well instructed in the word of God, and in their duty to God, the King & Coun­try, as they haue beene in the word of the di­uill, and in vnlawfull meanes of recouering bread, I thinke want of bread could neuer haue raised such wicked tumults as it hath; but a man may truly say to the most hungry soule of this tumultuous company, that whē he was most oppressed, and most hungry, yet euen then he was better fed then taught.

2 Secondly if ye speake of, Verbum benedictio­nis, the word of his blessing; it is true, that man liueth not by bread onely, but chiefelie by the blessing of God, for euery creature (saith S. Paul) is sanctified by the word of God. 1. Tim. 4. that is by the blessing of God, as Ambrose and Theodoret expound it. And this appeareth to vs three wayes, First because the very same thing blessed and not blessed, doth shew forth powre accordingly, as Exod. 16. when against the commandement of God they reserued of the Mannah till the morning, it putrified and [Page] stanke, yet the very same Mannah being kept by the commandement of God, was sweet & good many yeares in the Arke; the reason of which difference was because God did giue his blessing to the one, and denied it to the other; Secondly, whereas we by proportion feed our families, as Dauid when he feasted the people, gaue to euery one a peece of flesh, & a Cake of bread; 2. Sam. 6. that is, so many Cakes of bread to so many people, yet God when hee pleaseth, without all proportion feedeth man; for Math. 15. with seauen loues he fed 4000. which was much, but Math. 14. with 5. loaues he fed 5000. which was much more; the miracle was great when it was at the least, but with the lesse prouision to feede the greater number maketh it much greater; but the strangest miracle is in the fragments, yea in the fragments three great miracles ap­peared; first that out of so small a portion fee­ding so many, there should come any frag­ments at al, next that out of the fewer loaues and the greater number to be fed, there did a­rise the more fragments; & lastly that the re­dundance of the fragments was more then the first stock or principall store of bread; & what is all this, but the blessing of God? Thirdly, (which the diuill here acknowledgeth) God cā when it pleaseth him, put the very strength of bread into a stone, yea he that cā make a mā [Page] of a stone, can feed him with a stone, & nou­rish him more with meate of lesse nourish­ment, then with the more, as Daniel & the rest, which liued with water & pulse, had their fa­ces not so faire, but fairer then they which liued of the Kings owne table. Dan. 1. and what is this likewise but the blessing of God: And had we not tied our life to bread, and thought God could not haue blessed vs, but by filling our bellyes, wee should neuer haue forsaken the blessing of God, to haue falne into the curse of those conspiring brethren, Cursed be their wrath, for it was fierce, &c. Gē. 49. but it seemeth that these mē when they had bread, they had it without the blessing of God, & wanted grace to vse it, and therefore now hauing no bread, they want another blessing, & know not how to want it.

3 Thirdly, if yee speake of verbum potentiae, the word of his powre; that word whereof it is said, he spake the word, and it was done, it is true likewise that man liueth not by bread onely but many times by the special powre of God; which appeareth also three waies; first by rai­sing vp of extraordinary meanes, as when the Israelites were in the wildernesse where the earth did yeeld no bread, the Lord did cause euen the heauen to do the office of the earth, & to raine downe bread. Secondly, as he doth strangely prouide bread, so when it pleaseth him hee can preserue life without bread, for Moses [Page] of faith; for to him that beleeueth all things are possible. Mark. 9. Therefore if yee will haue bread, conspire not in mutinies, but conspire in mutuall prayers; roote not vp harmelesse hedges, nor rend vp the bowells of the earth; but looke vp to heauen from whence yee shall haue bread; and though yee see no meanes how, yea though yee see reason to despayre, yet yee shall haue bread; for hee hath said it who cannot deceiue, that hee will not affamish the soule of the righteous. Pro. 10.

5 Fiftly and lastly as there is Verbum promit­tens, a word of promise to rest vpon, and euery man of ordinary faith can stay him­selfe on that, so is there likewise Verbum de­negans, a word of deniall, whereby God saith sometimes, ye shall haue no bread at all, and (which is the highest point of religion) we must learne to stand fast euen in that too; Thus stood Dauid in that great distresse by Absolon, If I shall finde fauour in the eies of the Lord, hee will bring me againe, but if he say thus I haue no delight in thee, behold heere I am, let him doe as seemeth him good. 2. Sam. 15. 25. 26. Thus affected likewise stood the three chil­dren in their fiery tryall, Our God whom we serue is able, yea and will deliuer vs out off thy handes, but if not, yet bee it knowne vnto thee, that wee will not serue thy Gods &c. Dan. 3, 17. 18. And Iob in the highest stile and [Page] strength of patience, Though hee kill mee, yet will I trust in him. Iob. 13. 15. For though God bee alwayes mercifull to giue, yet in his wisedome hee will not giue alwayes, but sometime hee will suffer, yea hee will send men to take it from vs, for the exer­cise of our patience, the tryall of our fayth and for the consummating the sinnes of the cruell; and no maruell if it be thus now, that the cruell and tyrannos, or as Eliphas sayth, The mighty, and men of authority haue the earth in possession. Iob. 22. 8. For thus it hath beene euer, and thus it will be alwayes; and as the the Apostle sayth of the Church Oportet esse haereses, there must bee heresies. 1. Cor. 11. so saith Christ of the world, Vae mun­do a scandalis, wo to the world because of offences, yet can it not bee auoyded but that offences will come. Mat. 18. yea it were rather to be maruailed at, if offences should not come, or that the world should bee in better state then it is, the Diuell beeing the God, and gouernor of it; But how then? shall wee therefore shake off patience, and renounce obedience, and take the sword into our owne handes, because GOD will not plant another paradise heere, and make the world as wee would haue it? Now sure it is an easie thing to hope when we haue it at hand, and to bee patient and quiet [Page] when we lacke nothing, and euery man hath thus much religion, when God giueth him a­ny thing, to blesse him for it: but to say with Iob, The Lord giueth, and the Lord taketh, and then Blessed be the name of the Lord: This is the perfection of religion, euen patience it selfe: and we must in pacience possesse our soules. Luke. 21. and if we be not patient in our triall, all other our Religion is nothing. Neither yet do famine and nakednes seperate vs from Christ. Rom. 8. 35. But they bring vs neerer vnto Christ, and death neerest of all, since it is the necessary office of Christian loue for Christs sake to be killed. vers. 36. and when wee are killed, yet are we more then conquerors, vers. 37. It was truely sayd, non sunt hoc tem­pore finita, sed mutata martyria, martyrdome is not now ended, but onely changed, for in time past men were martyred for profession of faith: but now they may bee martyrs in the preseruation of their charitie, yea wee may be Martyrs saith (S. Gregorie) sine ferro & sanguine, though neither sword touch vs, nor bloud come from vs: & how is that? Si pati­entiā veraciter in animo custodimus, if faithful­ly we keepe patience in our mindes: and we may say to the oppressors of our time, as Ci­prian said to the tyrants and persecutors of his time, Nobis ignominia non est pati a fratri­bus &c. It is no shame to vs to suffer of our [Page] bretheren what Christ suffered, nor glory to you to play that part which Iudas played; yea rather with Tertullian, Crudelitas vestra gloria nostra, the more cruelly yee afflict vs, the more yee honor vs.

Therefore marke (good people) what honor God had offered to vs, if patiently wee had borne the oppression which is put vpon vs, for by this reckoning depopulators are perse­cutors, & oppression is persecution, & we by oppression had come to martyrdome, if pati­ently we had borne it. But heauen & earth are witnesses how farre we are from bearing; yea bearing is come to bearding, and because of a little want, men haue buried their patience as they buried hedges. Yea we are come to ban­ding, Ephraim against Manasses, & Manasses a­gainst Ephraim; & now at last we are come to flat resisting; The Thistle that is in Lebanon, to the Cedar that is in Lebanon; Come let vs see one another in the face; And as if brambles had bin annointed Kings, an inferiour Magistrate is now too meane, but the great King must come to compound himselfe; or if he will not come, yet he must send A latere, a messenger from his royall side; or if a Harold come, It is an easie matter to send a painted coate; and when a Proclamation came, as good made vnder a hedge; and that which is horrible to speake; A King of three great kingdomes [Page] must capitulate with a Tinker, whether by Proclamation or by priuy Seale hee shall manifest his will and pleasure: and yet all this is called Reforming; but such Rephaims are Zanzummims, which as Plato told Diogi­nes, he did tread vpon his pride, Sed maiori cum fastu, but with a greater pride, so these men reformed wickednes, but with far grea­ter wickednes; & whereas Rehoboam threat­ned his little finger to be bigger then his Fa­thers loynes, surely these mens little finger would haue bin bigger in the end thē Rehobo­ams loines, for tyranny indeed is heauy in the hands of a King, but it is intollerable in times of cōmotion, when euery vile & base cōpani­on is a King; & to speak indifferently, I think the sin of these men by many degrees to ex­ceed the other, for Pasture-mē indeed do hor­rible mischiefe, but they do it by degrees; first one breaks the law; and then an other is bold to break it by example; now euils of such pas­sage are more easily preuented; but that which growes by mutinies being sodaine & violent, is lesse resistible. Pasture-men indeed destroy a few townes, but mutiners by ciuill cōmotion depopulate whole kingdoms, and that partly by making way to forraine ene­mies, who vsually increase their dominions by such aduantage, but chiefely by sacking & harrying their owne country with their own [Page] hands. And let men set what pretence & co­lour they will, yet this hath bin from time to time the cōmon proceeding of popular mu­tinies; first to murmure vpon some iust cause, as the Isralites did at Moses when he brought them where was neither water to drinke, nor bread to eat. Ex. 15. 24. & Ex. 16. 3. Afterward when they had both to eate & to drinke, yet (Nū. 11.) they murmured, not for wāt, but for wantōnes, viz. for fish, & for flesh, for apples, & for cowcumbers &c. Euen as many of our malecōtents do now, who want not to drink, but want to make them dayly drunk. But Nōb. 14. their murmuring came to that, that they would change the state, they would put off Moses, and haue an other to guide them: But Nomb. 16. in Coraths conspiracy they came to that, that all the congregation was holy, they were all Iacobs sonnes, and they would haue no head at all; right as in the daies of the Iudges, wherein there was no King in Israell, but euery mā did what was right in his owne eyes. Iud. 17. 6. Thus we find in Scriptures, thus in sto­ries, yea and thus in our owne English stories, and I do not thinke it would haue bin other­wise now, vnlesse it had bin worse; For marke I beseech ye, the course of this creeping con­spiracie; first they begā in the night, as checkt with feare & conscience of a crime, but after­ward they cāe forth in the broad day, as flesht and [Page] in this conspiracie some one quarrell had ceased, yet the rest had run riot still; and then they which arose only to fill vp ditches, must perhaps haue beene compelled to entrench themselues a new from other conspirators: Nay let me say more as Eliseus to his man, Is this a time to take bribes? to speake simply, 2. Kin. 5. there was no time at all for such a worke, but at that time it was worst of all, when some hope was offred of bringing home an idola­tour to the Church; so let me aske of these good people; Was this a time of all times to disturbe the peace of the land; now that King and state were so earnest in hand to vnite two kingdoms into one, now to attempt the ren­ding of one kingdome into two? into two? nay into ten; into ten thousand; and to bring it, not as Ierem. 2. 28. So many Citties so many Gods, but so many men so many Kings, and to make confusion of all; but as the saying is, Melius est vt pereat vnus, quam vnitas; better one or a few to be punisht, thē a whole king­dome hazarded; and if in this proceeding any haue miscaried, they haue perished right, as Saint Iude saith, euen in the gaine-saying of Core. Iud. 11. and they haue left this behind them, that they were not killed, but as they killed themselues, the sword after a strange maner asking peace of naked men, and mercy which should be sought, yet seeking for admission [Page] with Cap in hand, and as it were creeping on her knees; and so for the rest we leaue them to God. And if any yet remaine whom the poison of this conspiracie hath infected; I will not vse many reasons to diswade him; onely let him take this for one, that if the bleeding bodies of these slaughtered men did acknowledge, euen as they lay bleeding and groning their last vpon the ground, that they neuer felt they had offended God in the pre­sent act till then, but then they did; and some vpon the gallowes asked pardon of God, and confessed themselues penitent for that they had done: what a fearefull thing were it for vs to liue in that sinne, which these poore wret­ches detested when they dyed? therefore let vs not tie knots which we must vntie againe, nor commit that euill wherof we must againe repent vs, but rather bee thankfull for those good things we haue, & waite with patience for those which yet wee haue not, and say in all things with Christ, Thy will be done, that so at the last his kingdome may come, euen the kingdome of righteousnesse and grace in this life, and that of glory in the next.

Amen.

Pax in Christo.