same had being until the passion of Christ; before which time, and while Christ taught in the world, both the old and the new were in force. But after that the true sacrifice was offered upon the altar of the cross, then the Jewish sacrifices and ceremonies, which were types and figures of Christ, (Christ being the body of those shadows,) ceased to bind the consciences any longer; the mystery of our redemption being now by Christ, and in him finished. In token whereof the veil of the temple rent asunder; noting, that the ceremonial veils and shadows were now to be removed, not that the moral law of the commandments was hereby abolished, or weakened at all; otherwise than that it had not power to condemn according to the Jewish doctrine, as aforesaid. For the observing of the law was by Christ himself severely commanded; our love towards God being thereby to be witnessed. And herein David so much rejoiced, as he preferred the observation of the law before all that the world could yield: In via testimoniorum tuorum delectatus sum, sicut in omnibus divitiis; "I have "been delighted in thy law as in all manner of riches:" and again, The law of thy mouth is good for me above thousands of gold and silver. This is the love of God, saith St. John, 1 Ep. v. 3. that we keep his commandment. And that there is no excuse for the neglect of the things commanded in the law, God himself in Deuteronomy witnesseth; h This commandment, saith he, which I command thee this day, is not hid from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it us, and cause us to hear it, that we may do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it us? &c. But the word is very near unto thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart, for to do it. Behold, saith Moses, I have set before thee this day life and death, good and evil; in that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his ordinances, and his laws, that thou mayest live, &c. Neither is it said

h Deut. xxx. 11-14. Rom. x. 6, 7, 8.

in vain, in St. Matthew xix. 17. Si vis ad vitam ingredi, serva mandata; “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the com"mandments:" and in St. John xii. 50. Scio quia mandatum ejus vita æterna est; "I know that his commandment is "life everlasting." And if this be the charity of God, or of men towards God, as St. John hath taught, to wit, that we keep his commandments; certainly he is but a liar, that professeth to love God, and neglecteth to observe the word of his will with all his power. And though I confess it is not in man's ability, without the special grace of God, to fulfil the law, (Christ only as man excepted,) yet if we rightly consider the merciful care which God had of his people in those his commandments, we shall find in ourselves how we borrow liberty, and rather let slip our affections, and voluntarily loosen them from the chains of obedience, to which the word of God and divine reason hath fastened them, than that we are excusable by those difficulties and impossibilities, which our mind (greedy of liberty) proposeth to itself. For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous, 1 John v. 3. and if we examine every precept apart, and then weigh them each after other, in the balance of our consciences, it is not hard for any man to judge, by what easy persuasions we steal away from our own power, as unwilling to use it against our pleasing desires.

SECT. XIII.

Of the several commandments of the Decalogue; and that the difficulty is not in respect of the commandments, but by our default.

FOR by the first we are commanded to acknowledge, serve, and love one God. Now, whereby are we enticed to the breach of this precept? seeing every reasonable man may conceive and know, that infinite power cannot be divided into many infinites; and that it is of necessity that by this Almighty unity all things have been caused, and are continued. And if brute beasts had this knowledge of their Creator, and how in his providence he hath also provided

for every of them, which giveth to beasts their food, &c. there is no doubt but that they would also serve and love him only.

The second precept is the forbidding of idolatry, and worship of images; the making whereof, out of doubt, was not the invention of an ill intent in the beginning, seeing this is generally true: kOmnia mala exempla bonis initiis orta sunt; "All ill examples did spring and arise from "good beginnings." For their first erection was to keep the memory of men famous for their virtue; until, saith Lactantius, the Devil crept into them, and (having blotted out the first intent) working in weak and ignorant souls, changed the nature of the one, and the reason of the other, to serve himself thereby. For what reasonable man, if he be not forsaken of God, will call on those blind, deaf, dumb, and dead stocks, more worthless than the most worthless of those that, having life and reason, implore their help, which have neither; yea, of more vile prize and baser, than the basest of beasts, who have sense and estimation? for what do we thereby, saith the Wisdom of Solomon, but call to the weak for help, pray to the dead for life, require aid of him that hath no experience, assistance in our journeys of him that cannot go, and success in our affairs of him that hath no power? And whether the idolater, or the block to which he prayeth, be more senseless, David maketh a doubt: m For, saith he, they that make them are like unto them; and so are all the rest that trust in them.

The breach of the third commandment is neither persuaded by worldly pleasure nor worldly profit, the two greatest enchanters of mortal men. No, we are no way allured to this horrible disdain of God, unless the hate of good men, and God's curse, be accounted an advantage. For as our corruptest nature gives us nothing towards it, so can it satisfy no one appetite, except everlasting sorrow and hell dwell in our desire. And therefore this strange

i Psalm cxlvii. 9.

Glos. in verb. Calum.

I Wisd. xiii. 19.
m Psalm cxv. 8.

custom hath the Devil brought up among men, without all subtilty of argument, or cunning persuasion, taking thereby the greatest and most scornful advantage over us. For slaughter satisfieth hatred, theft gives satisfaction to need, adultery to lust, oppression to covetousness; but this contemptuous offence of blasphemy, and the irreverent abuse of God's name, as it giveth no help to any of our worldly affections, so the most savage nations of the world do not use it.

The fourth commandment, to keep the sabbath day holy, hath neither pain, burden, nor inconvenience. For it giveth rest to the labourer, and consolation to their masters. And that this law was imposed on man for his benefit, Moses teacheth in the reason of the law; as in Exod. xxiii. 12. and in the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy maid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

The first of the second table, to honour our parents, with whom we are one and the same, is a gratitude which nature itself hath taught us towards them, who after' God gave us life and being, have begotten us and borne us, cherished us in our weak and helpless infancy, and bestowed on us the harvest and profit of their labours and cares. Therefore in the temporal and judicial ordinances, cursing of parents, or the offering them violence, was made death.

The next is, that thou shalt not murder; that is, thou shalt not do the acts following the affections of hatred. For the law of God, and after it our own laws, and in effect the law of all nations, have made difference between slaughter casual and furious: Affectio enim tua, saith Bracton, imponit nomen operi tuo; "It is the affection and will that "makes the work such as it is." And certainly whosoever cannot forbear to commit murder, hath neither the grace of God, nor any use of his own will.

n

The third of the second table commands us from adultery. Now, if the preservation of a virginity have been possible for thousands of men and women, who in all ages have

n Nuptiæ replent terram, virginitas paradisum.

RALEGH, HIST. WORLD. VOL. II.

K

mastered their fleshly desires, and have returned chaste to the grave; it cannot be accounted a burden, to forbear the dishonour and injury which we offer to others by such a violation, seeing marriage is permitted by the laws of God and men, to all that affect it. And there is no man living, whom the desire of beauty and form hath so constrained, but he might with ease forbear the prosecution of this ill, did not himself give suck to this infant, and nourish warmth till it grow to strong heat, heat till it turn to fire, and fire to flame.

The fourth of the second table is, that we shall not steal. And if that kind of violent robbery had been used in Moses's time, which many ruffians practise nowadays in England, and, to the dishonour of our nation, more in England than in any region of the world among Christians, out of doubt he would have censured them by death, and not by restitution, though quadruple. For I speak not of the poor and miserable souls whom hunger and extreme necessity enforceth, but of those detested thieves, who, to maintain themselves lordlike, assault, rob, and wound the merchant, artificer, and labouring man, or break by violence into other men's houses, and spend in bravery, drunkenness, and upon harlots, in one day, what other men sometimes have laboured for all their lives; impoverishing whole families, and taking the bread and food from the mouths of their children. And that this commandment might easily be observed, it would soon appear, if princes would resolve but for a few years to pardon none. For it is the hope of life, and the argument of sparing the first offence, that encourageth these hell-hounds. And if every man may presume to be pardoned once, there is no state or commonwealth but these men would in a short time impoverish or destroy it.

The fifth commandment of this second table is, the prohibition of false witness; from which if men could not forbear, all surety of estate and life were taken away. And so much did God detest a false witness and a false accuser, especially in matters criminal, that the law ordained him to