336 Ofthe vanitle ofworldly nobilitie. bienes ofworld' lime in force particular examples.Cain,as we know, was the tr nobds {y(hew- firflborne ofAdam, who hadhis defcent fromGod himfelf, íd by diners ex- andwas heire apparant to the whole world, but what did it amples. Luke 3.38. auaile him tohaue the moil excellentman for hisfather,and the foueraigneKing ofheaucnand earth,in force fort,for his °rand-father? Orwhat did.his great birth-right profit him, when as defiling his heart with rage and cruehie, and his hands with innocentblood, hemade himfelfe to become a bale vagabond vponthe earth ? What did it benefit Cham to be nobliedefcended ofthat great and 'righteous Patriarch Noah, the fecond mainerooteofrepaired mankind, when as byhis wickednes he becamefubie6l to the curie, and being free-borne, did by his viceand fin make himfelfe an abie6t feruät?What did it profit Ifmadl ro be thefirfi borneoffaith- full adrabam, or Pfauto be the eldeft fonne ofreligious lfaac,wh@ as the one becómingaderider ofGods promifes, wasas itwere excommunicate and call out ofthat family,to whichthe conpnant ofgracewas made & appropriated; and the other fhe(ving himfelfe aprophane contemner ofholy andheauEly things,lofl both the birth-right & the blefling? It were infinit tofland vpon fuchparticulars; and therefore for breuitiefake, contenting our felues with there few,let vs alto confiderthe truth hereofin awhole peopleor countrie. Whatnation in the world was euer comparable in nobilitie to the peopleofthe Iewes? whobeing defcendedfrom c.f- brotham the Fatherofthe faithfull, had the Lordhirnfelfe for the firfl and immediate founder oftheir common-wealth, yea for theirKing and Soueraigne, who iudged, ruled and gouerned them, as it were by his owne mouth in difficult caufes,holdingin his owne hand the royalllawes andprero- gatiues, till they vnthankefully defined another King, and would needsbe ruled like other nations. Againe,that which other people counterfeited,they trulyhad;namely,the Lord himiclfe for their Law-giuer, who proclaimed the chiefe fumme oftheir lawes byhis own glorious voice,and at large expounded them by his faithfull f.-ruant yli1ofs; all which were muchmoreexcellent then the lawesofany other nati- on. Moreouer,if we refpeól antiquitie, they were moll an- cient,
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