Todoe good to the poore, a fpcciall motiue veto praife. Soiday inLent. Ser.iS. thefe praifes of our Sauiour, but thatmany others alfo beeino takenwith the ftrangeneffe of this miracle, fellinto anextraordinarie commendation ofhim. But if the Gofpell makementionofone only, it maybe vnderftood,that Mar- cella was the firft that fung in that tune, and thatmanyothers followed on, and boreapart therein. And thisfuteswell with that of Saint Luke , They gigrifted him, flying, titgreatProphetisrifenvpamongf1 vs : One whileconfeffing him to beGod,another while, the c Mefias. Of this applaufe andcommendationofour Sauiour, weehaue two forcible reafons, Theone Thatgeneral] good which Chrift didhere vpon earth , and more particularly that which hedid to thispooremiferable man : For, to doe good, but efpecially to the Poore,isa powerful motiueofpraife.Conftebor Dominoui- misinore meo,inmediomultori lauda6oeum,quia f itit adextrispauperis,I toilacknow- ledge Godwitha loudvoice ; in the middef ofmany willIpraife himwhofloodat the right handofthe Poore : This doth that phrafe(as Saint (iAuguflinebath noted it) inferre,of Nimisinoremeo : not betweenethe teeth, nor in fomeby-corner,but inmedio Multorum,in themiddefl of theCongregation. And therefore faith Ecclef. Splendidum inpanibusbenedicent labiamultorum : He that fuccoureth the poore,he that flaketh hunger,all theWorld fhallring ofhis praife, and thoufandsofblef- fings (hall be throwne vpon him. All Nations of the earth did euermorecele- brate andhonour thofe that were publikebenefatStors to the Commonwealth ; and the Citifensthereof,by ere&ing Statues vnto them,that there might remain aneternall memorieand immortall fameoftheir noble a&ions : As Pliny repor- tethof Athens ; Plutarch , ofLacedemonia ; aradmany Hiftoriographers , of Rome. Leo thetenth didbringdowne theprice of fait ; for the which Rome thought themfelues fo much boundvnto him that they did fet vp his Statue in the Capitoll,with amotto that fpake thus, Optimi liberaltfrmique Pontifrcis memoria. But your Kings and Princesnow a dayes, doemake fuch a common praetife ofpilling andpolling the Commonwealth, thatto fee anygood corne fromthem, may be heldas great amiracleas that we haue now in hand. Ephra- im isanHeifar vfedtodelight in threfhing. Now to threfh, is takenoftentimes in Scripture,to rulewith tyrannie andoppreffion. Arife,ô themdaughterofSyon, and fall athreThing. For in thismountain (hall thehandofthe Lordref], and otteab fhiall bethre/bedveder him,euenarfiraw is threfhedin c.2mndmenah. The proportion of thecomparifon holds in this,That asyour heifersdo tread thecorne vnderneath their feet,till it betroadall out ofthe eare ; fo your Princes trample upontheir Subie&s, tillthey haue drawne from them the greater partof their goods : and if hereand thereanBareefcapehim, andgoc awaywhole, beemay crie, Goda- merciegood lucke ; Princepcpeflulat, c- index in reddendo eft. The Prince, hee will haue Come ftrange taxeor new impofition laydvpon theSubie& ; your re- uerend ludgesthey will inuenta wayto do it, and fay,Thereis good law for it ; and euer after it (hallbe aPrefident or aruled Cafe. And whence doth this arife t' Marry from this , That the one is a thorn in theSubie&s fides, and the other are brambles. And for this caufe,in that Fableofthe Trees,none didde- fire tobeKing, fauethe Bramble. And this is the reafonwhyPrinces are foo- thed vpbytheir Flatterers,and Cufhion-fowing Courtiers underKings elbows; butthefe Earewigs,howfoeuertheir Prince mayaffe& them,Iam fure theyarc neitherefreemednor applaudedby the People.Andif thefe Flatterersgrow fat and full, the Commonshaue poore commons,andare poore andhungerftarued. But becaufe this King ofHeauen did good vntohis People,heewas praifed and corn- 307 0.10 tr. To threfh,in Scripture, is t rule withty- ranny. zs. 7o.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=