TheEpif$leDedicatorit. withall,except a man bewell fenced: hardly can a man carry coals in his skirt,and not be fcorcht; andas hardly runne into wicked companie,and not be hurt. So is m, loue : the faithful! fpoufe of Chrift is his lose. So called becaufe, z.hemaketh tx rlouely:z.ac. countcth herfo:3.worketh a reciprocall loue inher heart towards him: 4.defircth mutual! coniundtionwith her,and cffeeteth it:5, his loue being liberali, he giucth herhimfelfe,and with himfelfe, all things which pertaine to life & godlines: euen grace here,and glory hereafter. Among thedaughters :notvirgins,as Cap.r.z.who makeup this loue ofChriíbut ali ocher affeinblies in the world, which profeffe themfelues daughters,by challenging the Catho_ like Church for their mother,and yet indeed cleaue unto it but in outward profeffion onely. From thisplace I gather two conclulons. Firfi,what is the e. (late of theChurch in refpeE1 ofit fclfe , it beeing asa Lillie among thornes. Secondly,whatit is in refpca ofGod,ro is his loue among the daughters: The. former theweth, that the condition of thepureft Church vponearth, is to be bcfet with dangerous and noyfome thornes,hurtfull and graceleffe men,who prick and annoiethelIl- /1er in theirgoods, names, liberties, and lines. For when there were but two perfons,borne into the world, onewas a li//ie , and the other a thorne,which trod downe the Lillie. Cain drewe his brother into the fetidand flew him. Afterwards, when onewould haue thought that all the thornel hadbin dearoied by the flood brought vpon the world to chispurpofe , yet was there a Cham . left, ofwhome quickely iprowted that turfed raceof the Cana- nites,who were euerpricks in the fides,and thorns in the eyes of Gods people. It is no new thing for Iacob to be ouettopped by anEfau:nor for Iofeph to be pricked and molefled both at home and abroad; neither his fathers houfe,norhis fathers eye can fafe- gard him. Nay, the fairefl Lillie that euer fawe the funne,was molt betet with thorns that euer was : all his innocencie, wifedome, meekaef e,purity,and loue,could not keep them offhim;but they prickedhim to the hearr,árdwounded him to the death,euen the fhamefuliand ignominious deathofthe croffe. How was this atebeet with thorns inEgypt, in the wildernes , in Babylon, in Iudea,
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