Solomons Marriage, Part 1
THE FIRST PART OF THE DVTIE OF THE CHVRCH TO CHRIST, AND OF THE Wife to the Husband.
PSALM. 45. Vers. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.
10 Hearken O daughter, and see (or consider) incline thine eare: forget also thine owne people, and thy fathers house.
11 So shall the King delight in thy beautie, for he is thy Lord, and*Heb. Bowe thy selfe vntounto him. reuerence thou him.
TWo things are first brieflie to bee touched, before I descend to the content of these verses: of the author or writer of this Psalme, and of the matter: who speaketh here, and of what:In whose person the Psalmist speaketh. for the first, there are diuers opinions. 1. Some thinke that God the Father thus speaketh of his Sonne: my heart will vtter a good word: vers. 1. Which they vnderstand of the ineffable generation of the Son, the eternall word of God: soaExposit. in Psalm. 44. Augustine andbCont. Iudae…s lib. 1. c. 1. Isidore with other. 2. Some thinke that Christ speaketh here of himselfe: My tongue is the penne of a readie writer: whichcEx apolog. Pamphil. In Psalme 44. tom. 4. Origen vnderstandeth of the swift preaching of Christ, who taught but a short time in earth, & vniuersus orbit praedicatione eius impletur; and all the world is filled with his preaching: Hierome giueth this sense, Christus euangelij strictum sermonem exarauit in tabulis cordis, Christ did graue the compendious speach of the Gospel, in the tables of the hart▪ but neither of these opinions can stand, because of these words, vers. 7. God, euen thy God hath anointed thee with the oyle of gladnes aboue thy fellowes: for this neither the Father can vtter of his Son, nor Christ the Son of himselfe.Lib. 3. contr. Marcion. Lib. de. 2. natur. 3. Tertullian taketh Dauid to be the writer of this Psalme, accingere (inquit Dauid) ense, &c. be girded with a sword vponupon thy thigh, saith Dauid: so also Isychius: Dauid patrem vngentem dixit: Dauid calleth the Father the anointer, &c. But the Prophet speaketh of a Kings daughter which should be brought vntounto the King, vers. 14. now in Dauids time Salomon his son was not married to Pharaoh the King of Egypts daughter: and he speaketh not of himselfe, as the words shew. 4. Their opinion then is rather to bee receiued, that thinke this Psalme to hauehave been endited by the sonnes of Korah, or some one of them, as Lyranus: or some other Prophet that is not named, as diuers of the Psalmes are by such composed.
2. Now concerning the argument, and matter of the Psalme, the question is, whether it onelyonly speake of Christ, and of his spirituall marriage with the Church: as most of the ancient writers doe applie it, asdDialog. non Tryphon. Iustine Martyr, eExposit. in Psalm. 44.Augustine, fIn Psalm. 44. tom. 4.Hierome, and before themgLib. 4. cont. Marcion. Tertullian, hLib. 1. cont. Celsum.Origen with others: or whether it historically onelyonly describe the prosperitie of the Israelites vnderunder Dauid, when he tooke Bathsheba to wife, or vnderunder Salomon, whose mariage with Pharaohs daughter should be here solemnized: or vnderunder Assuerus the great King of Persia, when he maried Queene Ester: as diuers of the Rabbines entertaine these seuerall opinions: or whether this Psalme historicallie describe the marriage betweene Salomon and the King of Egypts daughter,The sense of this Psal Whether historicall onelyonly, or mysticall beside. but spiritually betweene Christ and his Church: which latter interpretation is to be preferred before the rest: for here is both somewhat typicall, which cannot be vnderstood but of Christ, as v. 6. Thy throne O God is for euer and euer: which place the Apostle onelyonly applieth to Christ, Heb. 1. 8. and somewhat also here is historically and literally to be vnderstood, as where mention is made v. 8. of Mirrh, Aloes, and Cassia, of the yuorie palaces, v. 12, or temples, of the daughter of Tyrus: so that here we may say with Tertulliā of the like place: Haec aut nega scripta, aut quis es vt non putes accipienda, quemadmodum scripta sunt, maxime, quae non in allegorijs, & parabolis, sed in definitionib. & certis & simplicib. habent sensum. aduers. prax. Either denie these things to be written, or who art thou, not to think that they are so to be taken as they are written, which hauehave a readie and plaine sense, not in allegories and parables, but in plaine definitions? Iun. Pellican. annot. Geneuens. Vatab…ns.So that this Psalme doth vnderunder the type of Salomons marriage, set foorth the spirituall coniunction betweene Christ and his Church,When allegories may be followed. as many of our orthodoxall expositors hauehave well obserued: so then, like as a foundation must first be placed, and then it must bee builded vponupon, and in a picture the ground is first laid, and then the other colours added: so in Scripture, the truth of the historie must first be supposed, and then the type of the allegorie supplied:Lib. 1. cont. Celsum. Non posse allegoriam suscipere istos sermones Celso videtur & Epicureis: cui (id est Marcioni) nihil per allegoriam placet exponi. Origen. We then neither with Celsus,Lib. 2. in epist. ad Roman. the Epicures, or wicked Marcion, reiect all allegories: Ne quis me vim facere scripturae putet, & sic amare Christum vt auferam historiae veritatem. Neither yet will I force the Scripture, and so bee thought to louelove Christ, as I should take away the truth of the history: as Hierome saith:De vest. sacerd. But I say and resolue with Origene: Manente prius historiae veritate, spiritualis etiam recipiendus est sensus: Ex apolog. pamphyl.Although these things hauehave a spirituall sense, yet the veritie of the historie remaining, the spirituall sense is to be reteined, &c.
3. This then is the order of the Psalme:The methode and order of the Psalme. beside the prologue or entrance into the Psalme contained in the first verse, and the epilogue or conclusion in the last verse. The bodie of the Psalme containeth an excellent description: first of the Bridegrome to vers. 10. and then of the Spouse and Bride, vers. 10. to vers. 16. the Bridegroome is set forth, first, by his beautie and eloquent speech, vers. 2. then by his power and good successe, vers. 3. 4. 5. thirdly, by the eternitie of his Kingdome, with the cause, the righteousnesse thereof, vers. 6. 7. fourthly, by his glorious vnction and inauguration, vers. 7. 8. fifthly, by his honourable companie and attendance, vers. 9.
In the second part, first, the dutie of the Bride is prescribed, vers. 10. 11. with the effect thereof, so shall the King hauehave pleasure in thy beauty. Secondly, her glory is described 1. by the subiection of some, and their presents, vers. 12. Secondly, by her apparrell, and ornaments, vers. 13. Thirdlie, by her companie and attendants, vers. 14. Fourthly, by her progresse, and other complements, vers. 15. Fifthly, by her issue and incrementes, vers. 16. The dutie of the Spouse here set foorth is threefold: her loyall obedience in harkening, vers. 10. her faithfull remembrance of her spouse in forgetting her fathers house, vers. 10. her seemely reuerence in doing obeysance vntounto her Lord, vers. 11.
Hearken O daughter, and consider, incline thine eare.
4. The first thing,Wiues obedidience to their husbands. which the wife must yeeld to her husband, is obedience, as the Apostle exhorteth, Wiues submit your selues vntounto your husbands, Ephes, 5. 22. it is their dutie, they must doe it, as to the Lord: and it is a comely thing as it is comely in the Lord, Coloss. 3. 18. it is both profitable and seemely, or pleasant, that there should bee amitie and concord betweene the man and wife: as it is in the Psalme: ecce quam bonum & iucundum: Behold how good and pleasant a thing it is brethren to dwell together in vnity, Psalm. 133. 1. many things are good and profitable, but not pleasant, as affliction and chasticement, which at the first seemeth not to be ioyous, but grieuous, but afterward it bringeth the quiet fruit of righteousnesse, Heb. 12. 11. But this domestical concord, is both fruitful & delightful, profitable and amiable, it bringeth gaine without paine. This was imposed as a perpetual law in the beginning vponupon we man, Thy desire shall be subiect to thine husband, and he shall rule ouer thee, Genes. 3. 16. Those women then inuert the order of nature, which denie subiection to their husbands.
5. Leah and Rachel were obediente vntounto Iacob, Examples of dutifull wiues.both in ciuill things, in that they went away with him, being sent for into the field, not returning to take their leaue of their father, Genes. 31. 3. and in spirituall, in giuing vntounto Iacob their images and strange gods with the rest of the familie, (as is most like) to be made away, Genes. 35. 2. Zipporah, though very loth, yet was content, by direction from her husband (as is most probable) to circumcise her child, Moses being weake, and not able himselfe to do it, Exod. 4. 25. But Iobs wife seemeth to hauehave been a peruerse and refractarie woman, who dispised his counsell in framing her selfe to patience, (wishing her husband to curse God and die) that he was faine to take her vp roundly, giuing her the terme of a foolish woman, Iob 2. 10.
6. The man is the womans head,How vnseemely a thing it is for wiues not to be obedient. 2. Cor. 11. 3. as if the bodie should spurne against the head, so is the opposition and gainesaying of a woman to her husband: as the Moone applieth it selfe, and turneth to the Sunne, and borroweth of his light; so should a woman be guided by her head: as the earth drinketh in the raine, that falleth from heauen; so should the wife receiue the good counsell of her gouernor. And as she is compared to a vine, Psalm. 128. 2. so should she shew her selfe as plyable and tractable, as the vine, which is apt to be bowed and turned eueryevery way:foreign. Plutartch. de praecept. coniug. as wine mingled with water, though the water be the greatest part, is called wine still: and as where two voices concurre together in singing, the tune or song is carried chiefly by the base and greater voice: so should the man in domesticall affaires beare the chiefest stroke,foreign Plutarch. ibid. and be most regarded: the man and wife should be as when two parts are sung in one, so should they accord, as a melodious harmonie together: Tertulliane speaking of the sweet exercises, which men and wiues among the Christians vsed together, saith: Sonant inter duos Psalmi & hymni & mutuo prouocant, Lib. …. ad vxor.quis melius Deo suo canet: Psalmes and Hymnes giuegive a sound betweene two, and they striue, who should sing best vntounto God. And againe, a little further to insist in this similitude, a woman should herein be like vntounto a Musitian, which not pleasing himselfe in his owne voice,foreign 1. Cor. 14. 35. soundeth out the harmony by the helpe of a pipe: so should a woman speake by an others (that is her husbands) tongue, as a piper by his instrument: which is the Apostles precept to women, not to speak in the congregation, that is in the presence of men.
7. But though obedience be required in wiues, yet it is with a double limitation: both for the matter, wherein, and the manner how this obedience should be performed:Wherein a wife ought to be obedient. for first a woman is bound but onelyonly in things lawfull: if any thing be commanded, either against charity or piety, this bond holdeth not: Abigaile is a president for the one, and Michol for the other: for the one sent releefe vntounto Dauid, against churlish Nabal her husbands mind, 1. Sam. 25. and the other saued her husbands life against her Father the Kings mind, 1. Sam. 19. 17. And the like case is, if the husband should enioyne his wife any thing against the worship of God: for if in the case of wilfull desertion, when the husband departeth from his wife, shee is no longer bound. 1. Cor. 7. 15. Much lesse is shee in subiection, when as the man manifestly forsaketh God: and so Hierome saith well, In coniugio constituta non solum conings placere debet, sed ei, qui indulsit coniugium: Ad Celantiam.She that is setled in the married state, must not so much please him that is married, as him that instituted marriage: Againe for the manner: the subiection of the wife must not be slauish, or seruile, as the Turkes and Moores at this day vse their wiues as their slaues, but it must be sociable and amiable. God made woman to bee helping vntounto man. Gen. 2. 18. not to be an vnderling, to be a guide in the house to saue, not to be a drudge and a slaue: Ambrose heereof writeth well: Mulier deferat non seruiat, regendam sepraebeat non co…rcen…m, indigna est coning to, quae digna est iurgio: What manner of subiection is to be performed by the wife.The woman must obserue, not serue; and yeeld her selfe to be ruled, not constrained, shee is not meet for marriage bedding, that hath neede of continuall chiding: Neither let the woman think, that in this manner to be in subiection is an hard condition, but it is rather a benefit for the weaker vessell to hauehave a stronger to defend her, and the more simple to hauehave a wiser to direct her:Plutarch in precept. coniug. foreign. and therefore the husband is called the guide of her youth, Prouerbs. 2. 17. Like as he obserueth well, that mothers louelove their sonnes best, as most able to helpe them, and Fathers their daughters, as most needing their helpe: So women should yeeld to their husbands obedience, because of their protection and defence. This kind of seruice is a freedome rather then a thraldome; a liberty, not a captiuity:De paradis. c. 14. as Ambrose obserueth wel. Haec seruitus Dei donum est, et in loco benedictionis Isaac eam dedit Esau. vt seruiret fratri suo, benedictionem enim poscebat a patre. This kinde of seruice, is the gift of God, and Isaac gaue this as a blessing to Esau, to serue his brother, for hee asked a blessing of his Father. Wiues then must not bee vsed as hirelings and mercenaries, but as fellowes & partners; nor commanded imperiously as seruants, but entreated louingly as ioynt tenants: Euen the heathen Romane Emperours thought it reasonable, that such a louing fellowship should be betweene man and wife, as may appeare by their fauourable Lawes made in that behalfe: as if a man married his maide,Non cogenda est tibioperas praestare Alexand…. …od. lib. 8. tit. 3. leg. the law saith, shee is not to bee compelled to doe thy drudgerie. And againe, against the wife of him that is dead, the heyres cannot hauehave an action for wasting of the inheritance, the reason of the law is, the wife is taken as a partner both of humane things, So…ia…ei humana, et diuinae domus suscipitur. lib. 9. tit. 32. l. 4. Gordian.and of the Diuine house: that is a partaker of humane society and fellowship, and of diuine community and worship.
8. Now further, as the wife is bound to listen to her husband, as her domestical instructer; so the husband is to giuegive care also to his wife as a mutuall comforter: true it is, that where the wife aduiseth yll, her speech is to bee reiected, as Iob put off his wife, that tempted him to blaspheme God, with the reproachfull terme of a foolish woman: as Origen bringeth in Iob thus speaking to his wife. Tu facta es deterior Eua in insipientia, When wiues should bee heard.sed ego non effectus sum Adam in stultitia. Thou art become worse then Eua in foolishnes, but thou hast not made me as Adam in sottishnes: Lib. 2. in. 2. cap. Iob.yet where the wiues counsel is wholesome and reasonable, it is fit the man should regard it as fit and seasonable: The Lord said vntounto Abraham, in all that Sara shall say vntounto thee, heare her voice, Gen. 21. 12. The Shunamites husband followed her aduice in making prouision to entertaine the Prophet, 2. Kings 4. 10. But the fashion of many vnwise and vnthrifty husbands is contrary in these daies, who if in time they would hauehave giuen eare to the friendly aduise of their wiues, which of a stubborne and wilfull mind they scorned, would hauehave salued their credite, saued their estate, and preserued their health: This then maketh a good medlye, and soundeth foorth a sweet melody,foreign. when man and wife doe one embrace the others louing counsell: it is like as bands being twist one about an other, are the stronger: so are they by their mutuall instructions strengthened.
9. But seeing that Pharaohs daughter heere being spoused to Salomon beareth a type & figure of the daughter the Church:The Church how the daughter of Christ, sister and mother. We must not dwell wholly in the literall sense, but leaue some place also for the spirituall: for as Tertullian well saith: Res in literis tenentur, vt literae in rebus legantur. lib. de resurrec. The things are conteyned in the letters that the letters may bring vsus to reade the things. The Church then is this daughter, heere spoken vntounto: shee is Christs daughter, as he is God the euerlasting Father, Isay. 9. 6. So Pharaohs daughter was as Salomons daughter in respect of his princely gouernment: she is also his sister. Cant. 5. 1. As he is man and tooke our nature, so hee is not ashamed also to call vsus brethren. Hebr. 2. 11. The Church also is a mother in respect of the faithfull which are begotten to the faith: so Ierusalem which is from aboue is the mother of vsus all. Galat. 4. 26. Now then the Church must heare Christs voice: Christs sheepe will heare his voice. Iohn. 10. 16. they wil neither heare nor follow a stranger. ver. 5. Christs voice is not to be heard but in the Scriptures: therefore other doctrine must not be receiued of the Church, then is taught and deliuered in the Scriptures.The scriptures containe all things necessary to saluation. This directly impugneth the popish opinion of vnwritten traditions: which they bring in beside, yea contrary to the scriptures, which they hold, not to conteyne all things necessary to saluation. But the Apostle saith otherwise, that the Scriptures are able to make one wi…e vntounto saluation: and to make the man of God perfectly prepared to eueryevery good worke, 2. Timoth. 3. 15. 17. If perfect wisedome then bee found in the scriptures, what need is there of any other additions: whatsoeuer is added to that which is perfect, sheweth a defect and is superfluous: Therefore Tertullian saith excellently, Nobis curiositate non est opus post Christum Iesum, nec inquisitione post Euangelium: Praescript. aduers. haeretie.Wee need no curious inuention after Christ, nor no inquisition after (or beside) the Gospell. If any will search further, he is like a way…aring man without a guide in a desert country, and as a shippe on the sea without a Pilot: to leaue the scripture is a way to error, not a stay from erring as he againe worthily saith. Credunt sine scripturit, vt credant aduersus scripturas: They beleeue without Scripture, that they may beleeue against Scripture.
10. Then to conclude where I began, the duetie of the wife, is to be directed by the husband, beeing a man of vnderstanding as in all other ciuill matters, so specially in religious exercises: Those wiues are to blame that refuse heerein to be guided, and those husbands more, which do not vse heerein to direct their wiues, but suffer them euen vnderunder their nose, as we say, to practise a contrary and the same a false religion: As many, themselues protestants (but cold ones, you may well thinke) doe suffer their wiues to be popish recusants: it is an excellent saying of Ambrose, In mulurum insolentia etiam mariti notantur. Ambrose in 1. Cor. 1. 14. Euen the husbands are noted in the insolent behauiour of their wiues. A wife suspected in religion, maketh also her husband to be suspected; Some women may bee so wilfully bent, and so frozen in their superstitious dregs, that they will not be remooued:Husbands should not suffer their wiues to bee of a strange religion. I therefore onelyonly speake against such carelesse husbands, as make no great conscience what religion their wiues bee of, neither take any great care to hauehave them better instructed. They remember not that saying of the Apostle: What concord hath Christ with Beliall, or what part hath the beleeuer with the Infidell. 2. Cor. 6. 11. And what true louelove can there be betweene a protestant and a Papist, a professor of the true faith, and a detester thereof.Lib. 2. ad vxor. Tertullian saith right, Domino non potest pro disciplina satisfacere, habens in latere diaboli seruum: One cannot satisfie the Lord for religion, hauing the diuels seruant lying by his side. That Heathen Moralist spake diuinely; That a woman should hauehave no friends, but such as are her husbands, Plutarch. foreignand because the Gods are the chiefest friends, the wife should acknowledge no other Gods but those which her husband worshippeth: and so hee concludeth; That no sacred dutie performed secretly and by stealth by the wife, is acceptable to any of the gods. But our ancient Christian writer much better; In Ecclesia Dei pariter, In connubio Dei pariter: Tertul. ibid.They must be in the Church of God together, and in Gods marriage bed together. Thus while they accord in religion, and the wife followeth her husbands pious direction, all other things shall prosper, and vnitie in religion will bring forth cheerfulnesse and alacrity in eueryevery action: Eleemosynae sine tormento, sacrificia sine scrupulo, cotidiana diligentia sine impedimento. Their almes shall be without grudging,Tertul. ibid. their spirituall sacrifice without offending, their daily diligence and endeauour without hindring, &c.
Forget also thine owne people, and thy fathers house
11 First touching the literall and historicall sense, here is expressed the fidelitie and neere coniunction of the wife to her husband, that in regard thereof euen the father and fathers house must bee forgotten: therefore at the very first institution of marriage this rule was giuen: For this cause shall a man leaue father and mother, The louelove of the husband greater then of the Parentsand clea…e to his wife, Gen. 2. 25. The wife must not for any others sake, forsake the guide of her youth; nor forget the couenant of God, Prou. 3. 17. Where two reasons are giuen; because her husband, though now olde, was somtime young, and a guide to his wife in her youth, when shee could not gouerne her selfe; as he pleased then so must he still: and the other reason is, because a couenant was made betweene them before God, which must not be broken. Thus Sarah first, and afterward Rebeccah; Leah also and Rachel, left their countrie, father, and fathers house, and did follow their husbands, Abraham, Isaac and Iacob.
12 Michol Sauls daughter hearkened not to her father, but against his minde preserued the life of Dauid her husband, 1. Sam. 19. 12. Yea the Heathen women by the light of nature were taught to preferre the louelove and life of their husbands before all other: as Cleopatra Antiochus daughter the great, being giuen in marriage to Ptolomeus Epiphanes, with an intent to make away her husband, yet tooke her husbands part against her father, which is thus briefly touched in Daniel, Heathen women faithfull toward their husbands.She shall not stand on his side, neither be for him, Dan. 11. 17. Diuers such examples of noble women, that were faithfull to their husbands, and kept continuall remembrance of them, are alleaged by Hierome, Lib. 1. aduers. Iouinian.as Bilia the wife of Duellius, when her husband being cast in the teeth, that he had a strong breath, and was angrie with her that she told him not of it, made this modest answere: Fecissem, nisi putassem omnibus viris sic os olere: I had done it, but that I thought eueryevery mans breath to smell so. Martia Cato his daughter mourning for her husband, being asked, Quem diem haberet luctus vltimum ait, quem & vitae: What day shall be the last of her griefe: the same saith shee, that shall be of my life. Valeria, the wife of Seruius, would not consent to marrie any other, saying, Seruium semper viuere: That her husband Seruius liued still.
13 For such is the ordinance of God, that man and wife are counted one flesh, Genes. 2. 24. To diuide then and sunder the affection betweene man and wife, were all one as to rent one member from another. Like as then in a picture, the first colours, which are drawne ouer with new, are forgotten,The reason why there should be such afirme coniunction betweene man and wife. and no more appeare: And as a plant graft into a new stocke, knoweth his former place no more, but is incorporated into the other: and as a piece of cloth taken to mend a garment, is now become a part of the same: so the neare coniunction of the woman with the man, doth obscure all other kindreds, euen as the sunne doth darken the starres: and as Abimelech said to Sarah of Abraham, that hee was the vaile of her eyes, Genes. 20. 16. that shee should not looke vponupon any other: so mutually the husband and wife are each to other, both a vaile to their eyes, and a couer to their affections, not with the eye to face or fancie, or with the heart to embrace any other. Among the Romans the custome was,Quaestion Rom. …. 29. Plutarch. that the Bride comming home was not suffered to goe ouer the threshold her selfe, but was carried ouer: and the Boetians had the like fashion, to burne the axeltree of the cart before the doore; to signifie, that the wife was to keepe home, not to gad abroad, or thinke of her remoue; but to settle her affection vponupon her husband, and house affaires: and the same may seeme to be the meaning of the word husband: as if you would say, an houseband: he is as a band to hold and keepe his wife at home.
14 But though the woman must forget her fathers house, in comparison of her new house and husband; yet her dutie to her parents must not bee forgotten: It is then spoken comparatiuely, as many like places are frequent in Scripture, not vttered simply & absolutely. Indeed it is the fault of many, that are preferred in marriage, who seeme to forget their poore parents:Parents not altogether to be neglected for the husband or wife. For which cause our blessed Sauiour findeth fault with the Iewes Corban, in giuing to the altar, and neglecting their parents, Marc. 7. 11. So did not Ioseph, who being married in Egypt, and aduanced to great honour, forgot not his aged father Iacob: nor yet was Dauid carelesse of his Parents, but in the middest of his troubles committed them to the custodie of the king of Moab, 1. Sam. 22. 4. Ambrose doth well taxe such forgetfulnesse in children of their parents: Non pudet te filia, si te ingrediente in ecclesiam, alienis manus, pretermissa filia, anus mater extendat, … Luc. c. 18.dum tu transeas sublimi callo, &c. Art not thou ashamed O thou daughter, that when thou entrest into the Church, thine aged mother should put forth her hand to an other, omitting her daughter, while thou passest by, with thy necke stretched out, wearing iew…ls and rings, &c. So then the husband must bee preferred, and yet the parent not neglected: the one in the first place must be remembred, but the other not altogether forgotten and reiected. So Hierome shall shut vp this place, who thus writeth: Seruite patribus futuri patres, seruite matribus vt & coni…ges vestrae mereantur matres nuncupari: Lib. de hon… ra…nd. … …ib.Obserue your fathers, you that hope to be fathers, and be seruiceable to your mothers, that your wiues also may be thought meet to be called mothers.
15 Now the spirituall sense of these words doth leade vsus to vnderstand it of the Church:How the Church m…st forget her father. shee must forget her people and fathers house: either the idols which she worshipped in the time of Pagan idolatrie; for so they called their idols their fathers, Ierem. 2. 27. saying vntounto a tree, thou art my father, Cat…ch…s. 7.and to a stone thou hast begotten me. Thus Cyril: or the diuell may bee vnderstood, who is the father of the wicked, as Augustine, Vndecunque venerunt gentes à patre diabole venerunt, sed patri renuntiauerunt: From whence soeuer the Gentiles came, Exposit. in Psal▪ 44.they came from their father the diuell, but they hauehave renounced their father: or the Iewish rites and ceremonies are here insinuated, which must be left and forgotten vnderunder the Gospell, as Lyranus, or generally, as Iustinus Martyr interpreteth, these words doe teach vsus to forget our oldcountries manners what soeuer: which sense is more full then the rest.foreign. Dial. cum Tryphon▪ The Church of God then is admonished, that being called from Iudaisme and Gentilisme, she should retaine neither, their superstitions in religion, nor errour of life & conuersation: here then the Pseudo-Christian Romanists may iustly bee taxed, who in their superstitious seruice, doe retaine many rites of the old Pagan Romans their predecessors: and maintaine many of their points of doctrine:The new Romanists retain the superstitious rites of the old Pagans. As in their fasts and abstinence from meate, their festiuals, idols, multitude of saints, censings, purgatorie, free will, and in many such like they reuiue the old Pagane fashions and opinions: And this their corrupt imitation of them is iustified by one of their owne Bishops, and not one of the meanest of them; namely, Gregorie the first, who giueth this aduice: Festa paganorum sensim in Christianae esse commutanda, & quaed…m ad eorum similitudinem facienda, vt facilius fides Christianae accederent; Lib. 9. Epist. 71.The Pagane feasts must bee by little and little changed into Christian festiuals, and some things must be done like vntounto them, that they may the more easily bee brought to the Christian faith. But S. Paul hath giuen vsus another rule, not to doe euill that good may come thereof, Rom. 3. 8. And herein I preferre Tertullians iudgement, who giueth this caueat touching the doctrine of the Heathen Philosophers. Quid Athenis & Hierosolymis, quid Academie & Ecclesiae, De prescript. aduers. haeret.quid h…reticis & Christians? What hath Ierusalem to doe with Athens, the Church with (Plato his) Academie, Christians with hereticks? And of Plato the best and most diuine of all the Philosophers,Lib. de anim. he saith: Doleo bona fide Platonem omnium haereticorum condimentarium factum: I am sorie in very deed, that Plato hath giuen the taste and assay to all heretickes. And concerning other Heathenish rites and fashions hee giueth this rule: Vt nihil dandum idolo, sic nec sumendum ab idolo: As nothing must be giuen to an idoll, so neither must any thing bee taken from an idoll.
16 And to returne to the duties of carnall marriage, as this last point concerneth the spiritual; as wiues are taught to hauehave their husbands bed in remembrance, and to keepe themselues true and faithfull vntounto them: so men must also to their wiues fidelity be answerable in the like chastitie againe: eueryevery man must keepe him to his wife, as the woman must hold her selfe to her husband,The man and wife equally bound the one to the other. according to the Apostles rule, 1. Cor. 7. 3. Augustine saith well to this purpose, Intactam quaeris, intactus esto, puram quaeris, noli esse impurus? &c. tu exigis hoc ab vxore, & non vis reddere hoc vxori; & vis vxorem tuam victricem esse, & tu victus iaces, Serm. 46. de verb. D…m. De decem chord. cap. 3▪&c. Dost thou seeke a wife vntouched of others, be not touched thy selfe: wouldest thou hauehave her pure, be not thou impure: And againe, Dost thou require this of thy wife, and wilt not thou render it to thy wife: wilt thou hauehave thy wife a conquerer, while thou art conquered? Whence then is it that men herein take vntounto themselues greater liberty then women? Among many Nations, as the Italians, Spaniards and Turkes, it is counted a capitall crime in the wife to tread awry,Men and their wiues must bee mutually content one with another. but in the husband it is vsuall and veniall: the Scriptures giuegive them no warrant thus to presume: they are both vnderunder the same law of wedlocke, and must both draw in the same yoke. Likewise women must learne here not to bee wearie of their husbands, he that pleased them being young, now must not dislike thē being old. Ambrose here writeth excellently, who shall speake in his owne words:Hexemer. lib. 5. cap. 7. Horrendus, & incultus est vir, semel placuit, nunquid vir est frequenter eligendus? comparem sui bos requirit, & equus diligit, & si mutetur alius, ingum trahere nescit compar alterius, tu iugalem tuum repudias? Is thy husband growne vnhandsome and vncomly, be once pleased thee, wouldest thou euer bee choosing of an husband? the Oxe and Horse like their mate, and if hee bee changed, they know not how to draw the yoke; and dost thou refuse thy yoakefellow?
Vers. 11. So shall the King hauehave pleasure in thy beautie.
17. As the wife must shew her selfe dutifull, so the husband must be regardeful: she must be louely, and he louing: she amiable, and he plyable vntounto her louelove. Thus the Preacher aduiseth, Reioyce with the wife, whom thou hast loued all the daies of the life of thy vanitie: Eccles. 9. 9. So also the Wise man in the Prouerbes, Reioyce with the wife of thy youth, let herbe as the louing Hind and pleasant Roe▪ LoueLove between man and wife must be mutuall and reciprocall.let her breasts satisfie thee at all times: Prou. 5. 19. Euen as the Roe Buck is noted to be most louing and fond vponupon his Hind; so should the husband bee addicted to his wife: as the infant is tied to his mother breastes; so the man should be wedded in affection to his wife. There should then be a reciprocall and mutuall louelove betweene them: as of the husband it is said: The heart of her husband trusteth in her: and of the wife, She will doe him good, and not euill all the daies of her life, Prou. 31. 11. 12. So Cantic. 2. 16. My welbeloued is mine and …am his.
18. So the Scripture giueth testimonie of Isaac, that he loued Rebeckah his louely wife, Genes. 24. 67. and Iacob was so affected to Rachel, that he was contented to serue for her seuen yeeres: and, they seemed vntounto him but a few daies, because he loued her, Genes. 29. 20. When Dauid heard that the Amalekites had burned Ziglag, aud carried away his two wiues: Ahinoam and Abigaile, hee was in great sorrow, and aduentured his life to encounter (hauing onelyonly foure hundred men) with all the hoast of the Amalekites to rescue and recouer his wiues, 1. Sam. 30. 6. 10. yea this entire affection of the man and wife is so agreeable to nature, that euen the Heathen, being but natural men, herein may make Christians ashamed:Examples among the Heathen of most louing husbands and wiues. Tiber. Gracchus was so affected to his wife, that two snakes being taken in his house, the male and the female, and being told by a southsaier, that if the he were let goe, his life were saued, if the shee, his wiues: he spared the female, and so preferred his wiues life before his owne.Ex Valer. Maxim. lib. 4. c. 6. But the Heathen could find no measure in their affections: Marcus Plautius hearing of the death of his wife Horestilla, ran vponupon his owne sword, and so died with her. So Portia, the wife of Brutus hearing that hee was killed, swallowed downe burning coales, and ended her life: Such immoderate passions of vnbeleeuers, at the least should teach Christians to hauehave moderate affections.
19. For where there is not a reflection of louelove, it cannot continue: the wise man saith, A man that will hauehave friends must shew himselfe friendly. Prouer. 18. 24. according to that saying, …t ameris, amabilis esto, Hee that would be loued, must shew himselfe louely: The spouse saith, Set me as a seale on thy heart, Cantic. 6. 6. like as a seale leaueth the like print to it selfe, where it is stamped: so the heart of two louers and friends must one answere another: Euen as the face answereth to the face in water: The sweet society betweene man and wife.so is the heart of man to man, Prou. 27. 19. As it is a bad looking glasse,foreign, &c. Plutarch. if it make a cheerefull countenance looke sad, and a sad cheerefull: so is it when the countenance of the man and wife are not alike one to the other, when the one smileth, the other frowneth, where as th… one should be as the looking glasse of the other: The Wise-man saith, drinke the water of thnie owne cisterne: Prou. 5. 15. As a man will delight in his owne springs, and solace himselfe in his owne house: so should the man be linked to his wife: the King is tied in the rafters: Cantic. 7. 5. where should a man sport and recreate himselfe, but in his owne garden of pleasure. So is it in the Canticles c. 5. 1. I am come into my garden, my sister, I gathered my mirrhe with my spice, I ate my honie combe with my honie, I dranke my wine with my milke: such pleasure and delight should the man take in the beautie and vertue of his wife.
20. But doth the Prophet here meane onelyonly externall beautie? no verilie: there is an inward beautie of the mind far surpassing the other: for outward fauour without good behauiour is nothing, and a comely face, that hath not a seemely grace is not to be set by.The inward beauty is to be preferred before the outward. We know what the Wise man saith, As a iewell of gold in a swines snout, so is a faire woman, which lacketh discretion, Prou. 11. 22. Some hauehave the outward, but not the inward beauty, as painted Iesabel, some hauehave the inward only, as Zipporah, Moses wife, that was an Ethiopisse: some hauehave both, as Sarah and Rebeckah: But vertue is more to be respected then feature, and faithfulnesse then finenesse, and good conditions, then goodie shewes and fashions:Valer. ad Ruff. as hee well saith: Nolo te sponsum Veneris fieri sed Palladis: I would not hauehave thee an husband to Venus, (whom the Poets made the goddesse of louelove) but of Pallas, to whom they attributed wisdome: beautie age decaieth, sicknesse wasteth, and care empaireth: but vertue none of these abateth. And louelove grounded vponupon that which fadeth, will soone fade, but setled vponupon vertue it neuer vanisheth. Let Hierome also here conclude: Amor formae, rationis obliuio est, & insaniae proximus; the affectiō to beautie is the obliuion of reason, and the occasion of madnesse.
21. The King shall take delight in thy beautie. This being in the spirituall sense applied to the Church sheweth, that God taketh pleasure in his Saints, being regenerated by grace, and washed white in the blood of the lambe: Reuel. 7. 14. And so wisdome saith, My delight is with the page missing dutifull carriage of the wife, both her obedience in action and endeuour, and her obeysance in fashion and behauiour toward her husband.A wife must be obseruant in word and deed. And to this purpose Saint Peter alleageth the example of Sarah, that vsed Abraham most respectiuely in speach, calling him foreign adonai, Lord, 1. Pet. 3. 6: as we reade, Genes. 18. 12. So did Bathsheba to King Dauid, calling him Lord, and bowing vntounto him: 1. King 1. 16. 17. And if it be here said, that she did this reuerence to him as King, not as her husband (though it were, I confesse so much the greater, because hee sustained both persons) yet that some honour is due vntounto the single person of the husband, looke vponupon Abigails example, who bowed her selfe to the ground, when Dauid sent to take her to his wife, being not yet King: 1. Sam. 25. 41.
24. For the man is the image and glorie of God, 1. Cor. 11. 7. and after a more speciall manner; and therfore to be reuerenced of the woman:How the man is the image of God. there is an image of God, common both to the man and woman: they were both created according to Gods image,Lib. de creat. cap. 23. Genes. 1. 27. whether wee vnderstand this image with Gregorie Nyssenus, of mans excellencie: Omnis boni factam esse participem humanum naturam. That mans nature is made partaker of eueryevery good thing, hauing a mortall bodie and an immortall soule. Or with Ambrose, of the mind and vnderstanding; wherin was man created according to the image of God, nisi in animae substantia, but in the substance of the mind? Or with Theodoret of the principality of man:Exhortat. ad virgin. he is created according to the image of God, quoad imperium & principatū; in respect of his dominion and principalitie ouer the creaures.In 11. cap. 1. Epi. ad Corinth. Or with Cyrillus of Alexandria, of righteousnes, and holines; Quod diuinan efficit effigiem, Lib. 6. dialog.vti que sanctificatio est: That which maketh the shape of God in man, is sanctification, &c. as the Apostle,Wherein the image of God in man consisteth. the best enterpreter of Moses expoundeth it, Ephes. 4. 24. This kind of image is common both to the man and woman. But there is a peculiar kind of image of God, which is more in the man, then the woman. Tertullian referreth it to the bodie: God, saith hee, Christum sermonem hominem intuens futurum, &c. foreseeing Christ the Word to be made man,Lib. 5. aduers. Marcian. said, Let vsus make man according to our image, &c. Ambrose vnderstandeth it thus: that as ex Deo omnia, Excitation. gloss ordin, in 1. Cor. 11. …. 7.all things are of God, so al men came of Adam, Augustine thus: Quia in homine plus viget ratio, reason beareth more sway in man, then woman; and therfore he is said more principally to bee made according to the image of God: But Theodorets exposition is most agreeable, mulier viro subiecta est, Ibid. vbi supra.& ei parere iussa: the woman is subiect to the man, and willed to obey him, &c. so man is appointed to bee her ruler, and therein is the liuely image of God, who ruleth all things.
25. The woman then must applie her selfe to her husband, seeking by her humble and meeke behauiour to content him: as the Wise man saith: A soft answer putteth away wrath: Prou. 15. 1. euen as soft things doe daunt the force of hard and violent, so doth gentlenesse asswage furie: euen as the soft water breaketh the hard stones, Iob 14. 19. as the bulrush by bending it selfe,How the wife ought to apply her selfe to her husband. scapeth the violence of the streame, Isay 58. 5, when the strong Cedars are broken: so should a woman by her discreet behauiour discerne how to calme domesticall stormes: as Abigaile did forbeare to speake to her husband till the drinke was ouer: 1. Sam. 25. 37. Women must not seeke to be crosse and contrarie to their husbands; to frowne when they fawne, and to bee merrie when they are heauie: but like as Physitians say, that the blowes on the left side are felt on the right: and they vse to let blood on the contrarie side, so should the man and wife be continually affected one with anothers griefe: They should each take heed of anothers offence, and specially beware that they prouoke not by hastie and vnaduised speech. Ambrose noteth well vponupon those words of the Psalme:foreign. I thought I will take heed to my waies, that I offend not in my toung; Aliae sunt viae, quas debemus sequi, aliae, quas custodire, sequi vias Domini, custodire nostras: There are some waies which we must follow, some that we must keepe; we must follow Gods waies, I… Psalm. 38.and obserue and keepe our owne, &c. So the way of the tongue must bee carefully kept, for in this way it is an easie matter to trippe and stumble.
26. Now whereas, as is before obserued, this incuruaton and bowing of the body was vsed both in religious adoration of God, and in the ciuill obseruation of men: as here this text first historically was verified in Salomons Queene, that shewed reuerence vntounto him, so is it spiritually performed in the Church, in adoring of Christ. Hence is it gathered, that there are two kinds of adoration, one that is ciuill yeelded to the creature, the other religious onelyonly peculiar to God the Creator: this distinction is taken out of the Scripture: for Peter, when Cornelius fell downe at his feet and worshipped him: Act. 10. 25. forbad him to doe it: But when the Shunamite tooke Elisha by the feet, falling downe before him,Of two kinds of worship religious and ciuill. 2. King. 4. 27. as Abigail did at Dauids feet, 1. Sam. 25. 24. hee did not forbid her so to doe, but checked his seruant for thrusting her away from his feete: the reason of this difference is, that the one was a religious worship, which is not to be accepted, the other ciuill, which cannot be excepted against, Gregorie noteth this difference well, vponupon those words, Genes. 49. 8. Thy fathers sonne shall worship thee. Iste sermo paulo durius refertur ad Iudam, nisi abusiue dicamus, adoratos esse quasi reges afratrib. This is somewhat harsh, if it be referred to Iuda, vnlesse wee say, Homil. 17. in Genes.that abusiuely, the Kings were adored of their brethren. Adoration then is either properly so called, and it belongeth onelyonly vntounto God, or it is so called by a certaine abuse of the word, and so it may be giuen vntounto men. These two kind of worships are distinguished three waies: by the conception of the vnderstanding, the intention of the will, and the disposition of the bodie: so in diuine worship, first, the iudgement is informed of some diuine presence,How the religious and ciuil worship are distinguished. as Ioshua was, after he vnderstood who it was that appeared vntounto him, Iosh. 5. 14. then he framed his affection to an humble kind of reuerence. And lastly his deuotion shewed it selfe in the outward action, he fell on his face to the ground. But they are not so well discerned, by the outward gesture of bowing, kneeling, falling downe, and such like, as by the other two: for these externall actions are indifferently vsed in both kinds of worship, sauing that in the diuine, the more deuout the mind is, the more lowly the bodie striueth to shew it selfe: as both S. Peter, Act. 10. and the Angell, Reuel. 21. knew by the outward preparation of the body, what Cornelius and Iohn intended to doe. This difference in the outward behauiour is well obserued by Origen out of the parable Mat. 17. how that the seruant that ought so many talents foreign, procidens adorauit; falling downe worshipped ver. 26.Tract. 7. in Mat. but the fellow seruant foreign, procidens rogauit, falling downe entreated onelyonly.
27. Heere then we refuse the popish curious distinction of religious worship,Bellar. lib. …. de Sanct. c. …2. the higher, and lower, that due onelyonly vntounto God, this giuen vntounto Saints: and the ciuill honour they make a third kind. But the Scripture acknowledgeth but one onelyonly kind of religious worship, and that due only to God:Religious worship onelyonly due to God. the Angel simply forbiddeth Iohn to worship him, and biddeth him to worship God. Reuel. 22. 9. The Angel would not simply hauehave refused religious worship, if any part of it had beene due vntounto him, vponupon the which place Ambrose thus inferreth:In 9. c. ad Rom. part. 3. Nec Dominus vtique se adorari pateretur, nisi quia Deus est. Neither the Lord would hauehave suffered himselfe to bee worshipped, but that he is God: Augustine also so vnderstādeth that place.De ver. relig. cap. 55. Recte scribitur hominem ab Angelo prohibitum, ne se adoraret, sed vnum Deum. It is well written, that man was forbidden by the Angell to worship but God onelyonly. And further the same father sheweth what manner of worship is due to Saints. Honoram…s eos charitate non seruitute &c. Wee honour them by charity, not by seruice: And againe as hee is cited in one of their owne Councels:Ibid. Eo societatis et dilectionis cultu (honoramus) quo in hac vita sancti homines a nobis colipossunt. Cited. Concil. Moguntin. c. 45.We honour them with that fellowship and louing reuerence (or worship) wherewith holy men may be worshipped in their life: What is that else but a ciuill kind of worship although in a higher degree, as the King and his counsellers are reuerenced with a ciuill honor, yet one more then another: the worship then which is giuen to the creatures admitteth diuers degrees, but not other kinds.Lib. 6. contr. Julian. And so Cyrill shall conclude this place: Sanct…s Martyres … adorare consuenimus: laudamus eos potius summis honoribus, quod proveritate strenue certarunt. Neither vse we to adore Saints, wee set them foorth rather with great honors, because they did striue valiantly for the truth:
28. But to adde somewhat of the spirituall sense: the Church is heere taught to adore Christ in his humanity, as being her most high and mighty Lord: the Apostle saith, alleaging a place out of the Psalmes: when hee bringeth in his first begotten sonne into the world, he saith, let all the Angells worship them, Hebr. 1. 6. Hee is worshipped with Diuine worship,One adoratiō due to Christ as God & man, against Bellarmine. as God and man: whereby the way I will giuegive a touch of that notable error of Bellarmine, who affirmeth directly, that the Diuine worship called latria is not due vntounto Christs humanity, but the inferior religious worship which is giuen vntounto creatures as Angels & Saints called dulia: Lib. 1. de sanct. c 12. ss…e…tia.but yet there is a higher degree called Hyperdulia, a Superseruice as we may call it; which hee saith their Diuines doe attribute, soli humanitati. Christi et matri eius, onelyonly to the humanity of Christ, and to his Mother &c. But if two kinds of adorations belong vntounto Christ, one, as he is God, an other as he is man, how farre will this be from the heresie of Nestorius, who affirmed two persons to bee in Christ, and so consequently two Christs: for adoration is a dutie giuen vntounto the whole person, if two adorations, two persons: and therefore the Fathers assembled in the Ephesine synode against Nestorius, did labour to prooue, that Christ God and Man was to bee worshipped with one entire adoration: as Cyrill prooueth it by that place, Iohn. 9. 33 37. De incarnat. vnigenit. c. 26.Vnum filium adorauit caecus à natiuitate: quis est Domine filius Dei, vt credam in eum, Christus vero seipsum cum corpore ostendebat, qui loquitur tecum ipsa est. The man which was blind from his birth did worship one sonne, who is the sonne of God, Lord saith he, that I should beleeue in him: but Christ sheweth himselfe with his body, hee that speaketh with thee, … hee, &c. And in the other place the same Cyril directly thus affirmeth with the rest of the Fathers of the Ephesine counsell:Epist. de Synod. Vnus intelligitur Christus vna seruitute cum carne adorandus. One Christ is vnderstood to be adored with one seruice together with his flesh: and heereupon they made this Canon, Si quis audet dicere assumptū hominē coadorandum Deo verbo et conglorisicandum—ac non potius vna supplicatione veneratur Emanuel, Ephesin synod. can. 8.vnam que glorificationem dependit anathema: &c. If any dare say, that the man assumed is to be worshipped and glorified together with the word, and dooth not rather with one supplication worship Emmanuel, and giuegive vntounto him one glorification, let him bee an anathema, that is, accursed. Now that deuise of Bellarmine cannot serue his turne, that this kinde of worship is to bee giuen to Christ. Si seorsim humanitas Christi consider…tur: If the humanity of Christ be considered apart: for this is a meere imaginarie supposition, for then is it not Christs humanity, if it should be seuered from him:The diuine & humane nature in Christ cannot be …euered. adoration is a thing in act: that also must be in act, to the which adoration is giuen: but such an humanity as Christs is, seuered, in Christ cannot be. I omit heere that other error, in that hee ioyneth Christs humanity, which is vnited in one person to his Godhead and the Virgin Marie to be fellows together in this kind of Worship: but I leaue this as impertinent to our purpose, onelyonly I send him away with that saying of Tertullian against Marcion: Non valebit blasphemiae surculus, Lib. 2. cont. Marcion.arescet cum suo artifice. This branch of blaspemy shall not prosper, it shall wither with the author.
29. Now to conclude, and to end, where I began, with the reciprocall and mutuall dutie, that ought to be between man & wife: as she is to obserue her husband, so he must be kind and louing: Husbands must not be bitter to their wiues. Coloss. 3. 19. They must dwell with, them as men of knowledge, and giuegive honour to women as vntounto the weaker vessell. 1. Pet. 3. 7. A brittle vessell, if it be not handled charily, will easily bee broken, and so a woman, not discreetly vsed may soone be spoyled: much may by gentlenesse bee obtained on each side,Married couples must one beare with another. which by rigor and churlishnes cannot be compassed. That fable hath heere a good vse: how the Sunne with his still heate caused the wayfaring man to lay aside his garments, which the wind with his boysterous blasts could not plucke from him. So married couples should seeke to win one another by lenitie, not to weary them by extremity. But as it is said of Cyrus souldiers,Plutarch de precept. coniugal. that they were charged, that if their enemies came vponupon them with clamour, they should receiue them with silence, and if they were silent to set vponupon them with noyse, so should man and wife, with comfortable speech, refresh one anothers sad silence: and they should obserue that rule which Ambrose prescribeth to be followed in friendship: Neque monitio aspera sit, neque obiurgatio contumeliosa: sicut enim adulationis expers amicitia, sic aliena insolentiae. Let not admonition be rigorous, nor reprehension contumelious: Lib. officior. 3. c. 16.for as friendship is void of flatterie, so is it farre off from insolencie.
30. Now for the shutting …p of all; to apply this to the present occasion, namely this honourable mariage now solemnized between the most noble Prince Lord Fredericke, and the most excellent princesse the Lady Elizabeth in this princely couple is now this Scripture verified: in her Highnes, this; Hearken O daughter and consider, forget thine owne people and thy Fathers house; The application of the text to the present marriage of these excellent Princes.the Lord hath prouided for her a comforter in steed of her worthie brother departed, hee shall be a solace vntounto her, and bring her to forget this hea…inesse of her Fathers house: she need not to complaine as he doth, that lost one of his friends: Ex duobus oculis vnum perdid…; Hieron, ad Ruffine.Innocentium enim partem animae meae repentinus febrium ardor abstraxit, nunc vno et toto mihi lumine Euagrio fruor; Of my two eies I hauehave lost one, Innocentius euen a part of my soule, a burning feuer hath suddenly taken him away, now I onelyonly enioy Euagrius my sole and onelyonly light: for although in like manner that cruell feuer did as it were put out one of her eies for the time, in the death of Prince Henry, yet is it renewed againe, in her noble spouse: that now shee seeth againe wt both her eies; Prince Charles, her deerest brother, and Prince Fredericke her amiable spouse: of this vertuous Princesse we may say in the words of Salomon: many daughters hauehave done vertuously, but thou surmountest them all: fauour is deceiptfull, and beauty is vanity, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Prou. 31. 29. 30. And on the other side, in this illustrious Prince, that other saying wee doubt not but is fulfilled: the King shall delight in thy beautie: God hath we trust so prouided, that they shall bee each to other a mutuall comforter. In consilijs fidel…s, in prosperis laeta, in tristibus masta. Ambr. lib. offic. 1. 34. Faithfull in counsell, to reioyce together, when things are happy, and greeue together, when matters fall out somewhat heauie. This louing coniunction and society is encreased by their consent in religion and piety. This knot shall surely hold, which not only a naturall affection, but a spirituall disposition hath tyed: Non vehementior est natura ad diligendum, quam gratia: For nature is not more forcible to beget louelove, then grace: where one of them is, there may be louelove, where the better, there is greater louelove, where both, there is a perfit louelove, as he again saith: Ad cumulandam spectat beneuolentiam necessitud… gratiae. A…b. l. 1. offic. c. 7. Where grace maketh affinity there is nothing contrary to louelove and amity. This double bond of matrimoniall affinitie and religious fidelity, so happely begun, God grant it may faithfully hold to their liues end, to Gods glorie, the Churches good, their own comfort, the wealth of both kingdomes: through the gracious benedicton, and mighty protection of our euer Blessed Sauior and redeemer Christ Iesus the spouse of his Church, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, to whom be praise for euer. Amen.
So endeth the first part.