4.tó God will neuer fufferAdul- Von the Saturday after O I terietogoevnpuniRted. p Adultery how punned is former times. raau.ó. The foulnelle ofthis Gn,and how heinou. flytheSaints haue thought ofit. 1011.31. lud.ao.6. prochfhallnester beblottedout. Iknow not whence it comes to paffe, that the re- membrane thereofis fo fooneblotted out inman, and that it fhould ftickebya woman all thedayes ofher life. She mat taken now. Now,euen in thenick : it is not a fin ofanyancient ftanding, it cannot plead prescription, that it was fo many yeares fince, or timeas they fay out ofmind : for timedoth either couer or leffèn theoffence ; or it maybe plea ded,thatit was formerly punifhed.Butthisisnot aquarter ofanhours old,now, euen now did we take her in the manner, Inadulterio, in the verse a5t of adulte- rie. And herenotifying the famevnto our Sauiour Chrift, they fall a aggraua- ting theheinoufneffe of the offence ; and this is prooued vntovs byfoure forci- ble arguments. The firft, That there were punifhments ordained againft Adulterers by all Nations whatfoeuer. Some didburne themaliue,ifwe may beleeueLucian ; fo the Philiftines bur- nedSampfons Spoufe;and fo Judahgaueorder to haue his daughter in lawTamar burned. Some againe did vfetoquarter them; and Etudides makes mention ofaKing that executed this lawvpon his owne fonne. Others pluckt outtheir eyes, as Valeriuureporteth it. And others did whip them andcut off their nofes, as Skidoos Ltories it of the /Egyptians. Others(faitb C.el.us) did hang them. Others did ftonethem to death,andthat was Moles his Law. Others did tie them to two trees , which beeingbowed downebyviolence, letting them fuddenly goe, did with a jerke rent one limbe from another,&c. Hence may beearguedGodschafticetnent ; Per me Legam conditores iafla de- cernunt. Salomon faith, That as it is notpoffible thataman fhould carrie fire in his bofome, and hiscloathes not be burnt, or goe vponcoles, and his feet not be burnt ; no more is it poffrble, that a man fhould liewith another mans wife, and that the jufticeofGod fhould not take holdofhim.And therefore it isfayd, Non eri: mndue cum tetigerit eam,He that goerh in to his Neighbors wife fhal not be innocent,whofoeucrtouchethher : TheHebrew letter bath it, Innocent , in- demnis : The Septuagint render it,infons,impunitus. So that forother our fins, it may be Godwillletvsefcape vnpunifhed ; but in matter of ad Lawrie 1er no man expeét the like fiuour. And therefore hee commaunded, That in the Sa- crifice of the Adultereffethey fhould hauenoOyle; to frgnifie, thatit was a fault thasdeferued little or no mercie. The fecondArgument ofaggrauation is,that manyofthe Saints haue giuen to Adulterie the nameof the greateft and fouleft offence. Philon faythofit,ddal- Ceriummalifiorummaximum, ofallwickedneffi LAdalterieo the worfl. Cornelius Tacitas arñrmeth the likein his Annals. Pope Clement reporteth, That Saint Pe- ter was often woont tofay, uid in omnibuspeccato vldalterio grauius ? That amongft all the fumesthere was not any more heinous than Adulterie. Isb by wayof hyperbole breatheth out tlis, if.!hauefoughttobetraymyfriend ,andhaur layd wait atthe doreofmy neighbor, let my wifegrindveto anotherman,andlet other menbow downevpon her. In the Bookeof fudges it is called Magnum nefac, nun- quam tantumpiaculamfätlum eft in triad, vl villenie , the likewasneuer committed in ifraell. And a littlebefore, . Adulterie is fayd to bee iniquities maxima. And a great proofe of thistruth is, thecomparingof it withother finnes,and thehey- noufneffe wherewith theyqualifie it aboue the refl. The murdering ofYrias feemed
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