The Consolations of David Applied to Queen Elizabeth, Title page – Dedication
THE CONSOLATIONS OF DAVID, BREEFLY APPLIED TO QVEENE ELIZABETH: IN A Sermon preached in Oxford the 17. of Nouember.
By IOHN PRIME, 1588.
PSALM. 23. ver. 1.
The Lord is my Sheepheard, I ſhall not want.
¶ IMPRINTED AT OXFORD by Ioſeph Barnes, and are to be ſold in Paules Church-yeard, at the ſigne of the Tygres head, 1588.
¶ TO THE RIGHT REuerend, Vigilant and Learned father in God, Thomas Cooper the Biſhop of Wincheſter.
POEMES, RIMES, and Verſes, ſome of them hauehave their delight, ſuch as it is being ſung to the Lute, or Harpe, and weltuned inſtrument, but beeing read & duly cōſidered proue litle worth: with the Songs in ſcripture, and Pſalmes of Dauid it is neuer ſo. If wee ſing them they affect the conſcience, and when wee reade them they inſtruct the ſoule, as the other partes of the Bible.
To theſe two endes, I hauehave dealte in a verſe out of the Kingly Prophet, amongſt your Lordſhips countrimen and mine, the Cittizens of Oxforde. I knowe you wiſhe them well in Chriſt Ieſu with a ſpeciall affection, and for my ſelfe, I hauehave ſufficient experience of your good louelove to mee ward. The conſiderations whereof hauehave mooued me the rather to make bold, to deliuer forth vntounto thē in writing this ſermon vnderunder your L. name right wel reputed of & deſeruedly in this place, notwithſtāding, that his late moſt falſe, ſhameles, & vnchriſtiā libelling wherof (I doubt not no kind of Sanardrin wil allow,Martine Marpr. & which I am aſſured, the beſt & beſt learned in the vniuerſity, in no degree do affect, but gretly lament, to ſee ſuch intēperācy of tongs, and ſcorching fierbrandes to entermeddle, at the altar of the lord in his holy temple. Were all thinges amiſſe, is this the way to reforme, by lying, libelling and comparatiue reproches?
Nay, it may be if al his condicions were cō diſcēded vntounto, yet conſidering his immoderat behauiour immediatly enſuing vpō the ſame, it may be thought ſuch natures would neuer be quiet. So hard a matter it is (as the prouerbe is) to make a bed for a dog: for he wil alwaies hauehave it of his own making and faſſion. Cōtentious men wil contend and will neuer be contented.
The corruptions of Patrons, the inabilitie of Miniſters, their requiſite diligence and ſome like matters of importaunce to be looked into and prouided for, by ſtrength of beſt authority, for mine owne part I doo greatly deſire. But this Gentlemans humor hath, I know not what other vagarant and hungrie conceites. I craue pardon in reſpecting this man as he came in my way, I hauehave ſtept a ſide.
Truly a Prophet commonly is not accepted where he is born and brought vp, & for that cauſe Origen ſaith (but whence he had it I doo not know) that Paule neuer preached at Tharſis. But Oxford in this reſpect is no Tharſis, & you ioy to heare of their ſome more towardnes then heretofore.
At the vttering this matter, me thought God mooued their harts, and I ſawe it in their faces. Yet becauſe that warmth or heate taken at the fire within, may bee ſoone cooled abroad in the winde I hauehave yeelded to the ordinary meane, in cōmitting that external cauſe of their warmth to the preſſe, whereby they may carie as it were in their bozom a fier about with them: Firſt as a ſignification or effect of my harts deſire to doo them this good at this time principally, and then alſo as an intimation of a greater dutye to your Lordſhip.
Some yeres ſence I conferred Salomon who was Dauids ſonne, his eſtate with Queene Elizabeths raigne before the Vniuerſity, and they hauehave it printed and reprinted, becauſe ſome very fewe at their pleaſure, muſt needes hauehave it ſo.
Here before the towne I hauehave aſſaied with like breuity to doo the like, in applying Salomons fathers comforts towarde vsus and our Qeene, praying God from my very hart that his bleſſinges toward father and ſonne, to Dauid and vntounto Salomon, may intirely and ioyntly be and cō tinue moſt longe with her, and with her realmes to the worldes end, and namely in our proportion with vsus, both Vniuerſity and Towne, and generally ſo withall the whole Iſraell of God.
From New Colledge in Oxford. Decemb. 7. 1588.