SOVEREIGNTY OF CHRIST. 323 thought he must put in his sickle at the bottom, till he was told Domino meo non opus est stramine, modo aristee inhorrea colli- gantur,' 'My master needeth not straw ; gather but the ears, and it shall suffice.' Once more : I know I speak not to the parliament that should remedy it, but yet thatyou may be helpful in your places to ad- vance this work of Christ, let me tell you what is the thing in England that cries for reformation next our sins; even the fewness of overseers in great congregations,which maketh the greatest part of pastoral work to lie, undone, and none to watch over the people in private, because : they are scarce sufficient for the public work. It is pity that Musculus, that may be head of a society of students if he will continue a Papist, most weave and dig for his living if he will be a Protestant. It;is pity that even Luther's wife and chil- dren must wander destitute of maintenance when he is dead, when 1Esop, the stage-player, can leave his son one hundred and fifty thousand pounds ; . and Roscius have thirty pounds a-day for the same trade; and Aristotle be allowed eight hundred talents to further his search into the secrets of nature. But am I pleading that ministers may have more maintenance? No; be it just or unjust, it is none of my errand. But O that the church had more ministers, which, though at the present they cannot have for want of men, yet hereafterr they might have if it were not for want of maintenance. Alas ! then, what pity is it that every.reformation should diminish, the churches' patrimony ! If the men have offend- ed, or if the office of bishops or deans be unwarrantable, yet what have the revenues done? Is it not pity that one troop of an hun- dred men shall have seven commanding.officers allowed them, besides others, and ten thousand, or forty thousand, shall have but one or two overseers allowed them for their souls, when the min- isterial work, is more laborious, and of greater concernment than the Work of those commanders? I.tell you again, the great thing that dries for reformation in England, next to sin, is the paucity of ministers in great congregations. I tell you this, that you may know which way to improve your several interests for the advance- ment of the kingdomof Christ in England. Toyou, lawyers and jurors, my advice is this,"Kiss the Son." Remember the judgment is Christ's: every cause of truth and innocency doth he own, andwill call it his cause.. Woe, therefore, to him that shall oppose it! Remember every time you take a fee to plead against a cause that you know to be just, you take a fee against a cause of Christ.: Will you be of counsel against him that is your Counsellor and King? Dare you plead against him that you expect should plead for you? or desire judgment, as the Jews, against your Lord and Judge ? Bath he not told you that
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