Diary of John Manningham Part 40

[Footnote 173: Aulus Gellius; Noct. Atticae, i. xiv.]

He that corrupts a Prince and perverts his government is like one that poisons the head of a conduit; all inquire after him to have him punished.

[Sidenote: 30.]

Three things which make others poore make Alderman Lee, nowe Maior,--riche, wine, women, and dice; he was fortunat in marrying riche wives, lucky in great gaming at dice, and prosperous in sale of his wines. (_Pemberton._)

[Sidenote: fo. 113^b.

27.]

At White Hall;

DR. THOMPSON, Deane of Windsore, whoe at thys tyme attendes still with Dr. Parry as Chaplein, was by course to have preached this day, but DR.

KING was appointed and performed that duty.

His text was the Gospell for this day, the xi. of Luke and the 14.

verse, and soe forward. He prayed for the King, that as G.o.d had given him an head of gold, soe hee would give him a golden brest, golden legs and feet alsoe; that as he had a peaceable and quiet entrance, soe he would graunt him a wise and happie goverment, and a blessed ending, whensoever he should take him from us. That it would please G.o.d to laye his roote soe deepe that he may flourishe a long tyme, and his braunches never fayle. The summe of his text in these parts; 1. A diuel cast out.

2. The dumb speake. 3. The mult.i.tude wonder. 4. The Scribes and Pharisees slander. 5. Christ confuteth. 6. A woman confesseth. The ende of Christs comming was to dissolve the workes of the diuel, whereof possession was not the meanest. Can there be a greater then to take the temple of the Holy Ghost, and make it the sell and shrine of the diuels image?

_Non requiritur intelligendi vivacitas, sed credendi simplicitas._

_Indocti coelum rapiunt, dum nos c.u.m doctrina nostra trudimur in infernum._

The workes of Christ, his miracles, were manifest, _posuit in sole tabernaculum_: he cast out a diuel, they sawe it, they could not deny it, but then, what malice could, they deprave the fact or diminishe and eclipse his glory.

_Judei signum quaerunt._ Julian cals it the rusticity of fayth, as though none but the simple rude mult.i.tude beleeve.

[Sidenote: fo. 114.

27 Mar. 1603.]

_Invidia non quaerit quid dicat, sed tantum ut dicat._

The envious and malitious live onely in contradiction, like the bettle in dung and filthines. They said not that Christ could not cast out a diuel, and soe denyed his power, which is a synn against the Holy Ghost, but they said himselfe was possessed, nay more that he was Belzeebub.

Beelzebub signifies an idoll of flyes: because there was soe much bloud spilt in sacrifice before it that many flyes bred and lived upon it.

Christ confuted them by four reasons: 1. From autority; a maxime and rule in all policy, that a kingdome divided against itselfe cannot stand. 2. From example. By whom doe your children, his apostles and disciples he meanes, cast them out? Yf they doe it by the finger of G.o.d, then must I, except the same thing be not the same, yf other persons doe it. Atticus and Ru ... (_idem non idem si non per eundem_) unles they will allowe the thing and condemne the person. But he said, _testes mei judices vestri_. 3. From a similitude of a stronge and a stronger man, two warlike men, yf one keepe possession, he must be stronger that puts him out: soe he must be greater than the diuel that can cast him out. 4.

From the contrary; the repugnancy betwixt Christ and the diuel.

[Sidenote: fo. 114^b.

27 Mar. 1603.]

He insisted most upon his first reason, of intestine discord: which he said is like a consumption; as yf the head should pull out the eye, or the mouth refuse to eate because the belly receives it, &c. This is that plague that Aegypt shall fight against Aegypt, brother against brother.

In the 11 of Zacharia there are two staves mentioned, the one of beauty, the other of bonds; it is a grevous plague which is there threatened, _dissolvam germanitatem eorum_, their brotherhood of Judah and Israel.

Ephraim against Mana.s.se and Mana.s.se against Ephraim, two tribes of the same family: the incomparable miseryes of Jerusalem by intestine sedicion. _Auxilia humana firma consensus facit._ Agesilaus shewed his armed men, a mind in consent for defence of the city, and said, _Hij sunt muri Spartae, scutum haerens scuto, galeae galea, atque viro vir_.

Friends at discord are most deadly enimyes, and those thinges which before were _ligamenta amoris_ became then _incitamenta furoris_. The greatest wrongs are most eagerly pursued; such are commonly the causes for which frends fall out. _Quasi musto inebrientur sanguine._

Even the diuel must have his due; it was commendable that a legion of them could dwell togither in one man without discord amongst themselves; sca.r.s.e a few in one house but some jar betwixt them. Yet their concord was not _ex amicitia, sed ex communi malitia_, like Herod and Pilat.

_Aliquod bonum absque malo, sed nullum malum absque aliquo bono_, even in the diuels their essence and their order is good.

There is a tyme to gather, said he, and a tyme to scatter, but he had scattered what he had scarce any tyme to gather; his comming up to this place being _tanquam fungus e terra_, an evening and a morning being the whole tyme allotted for meditacion, and disposicion.

[Sidenote: fo. 115.

27 Mar. 1603.]

Wee may not be unmindefull of our late Soverayne whom G.o.d hath called to his mercy, nor ought wee be unthankefull for our newe suffected joy, by the suddein peaceable succession of our worthy king.

The finger of the Spirit directed the Churche, and the order of [the]

Church leads me (said he) to the choise of this text, being the Gospell for this day. There are that have slandered, but they are Scribes and Pharisees; and that being the worst part of this text, he would pa.s.se over it. There were feares and foretellinges of miseries like to fall upon us at these times, but blessed be the G.o.d of peace, that hath settled peace amongst us. Blessed be the G.o.d of truth that his kingdome came unto us long since, and I hope shall continue even till the comming of Christ; and blessed be the father of lights, that wee see the truth, and be not scattered.

The miracle of dispossession. Wee have seene the exile of the diuel out of our country, his legends, his false miracles, exorcismes, superst.i.tions, &c. and lett him goe walking through dry places, wee are watered with heavenly deawe, and wee hope he shall never returne againe; but the favour of G.o.d towards us shall be like the kindenes of Ruth, more at the latter end than it was at the beginning.

[Sidenote: fo. 115^b.

27 Mar. 1603.]

Our State hath sustayned some division of late. "I meane not," sayd he, "of the myndes of great n.o.bles and counsellors, wherein to our good and comfort wee have found _idem velle et idem nolle_, but such a division as of the body and soule, of the vine and the branches, of the husband and the wife, of the head and the body. The prince and the land hath bin divided by hir death, a division without violence. This applying the axe to the roote made the tree bleed at the verry heart."

[Sidenote: fo. 116.

27 Mar. 1603.]

[Sidenote: fo. 116^b.

27 Mar. 1603.]

This Gospell makes mention of an excellent woman that sang not to hir selfe and hir muses, but went amongst the mult.i.tude, and blessed an other woman more excellent then hirselfe; yet soe blessed hir as a mother for hir babes sake. Soe there are two excellent women, one that bare Christ and an other that blessed Christ; to these may wee joyne a thrid that bare and blessed him both. Shee bare him in hir heart as a wombe, shee conceived him in fayth, shee brought him forth in aboundaunce of good workes, and nurst him with favors and protection: shee blessed him in the middest of a froward and wicked generacion, when the bulls of Bazan roared, and the unholie league, and bound themselves with oathes and cursings against the Lord and his annoynted. "And am I entred into hir prayses," said he; "and nowe is the tyme of prayse, for prayse none before their death; and then _gratissima laudis actio c.u.m nullus fingendi aut a.s.sentandi locus relinguitur_. Yet such prayses are but like a messe of meate sett upon a dead mans grave which he cannot tast, or like a light behind a mans back which cannot him direct." He would say little, _non quod ingratus, sed quod oppressus mult.i.tudine et magnitudine rerum dicendarum_. Onely he would say that hir government had bin soe clement, temperat and G.o.dly, that he may say _sic imbuti sumus, non possumus nisi optimum ferre_. Those which in Theodosius the Emperours tyme went to Rome called their travel _felix peregrinatio_, because they had seen Rome, they had seen Theodosius, they had seene Rome and Theodosius togither; soe have and may strangers that have bin to visit our kingdome thinke them selves happie that [they] had seene England and Queen Elizabeth, and England and Queene Elizabeth togither.

But there are panegyricks provided for hir, faythfully registred, and as she merited. Shee was _preteritis melior_, better then those which went before hir, and may be a precedent to those that shall followe hir; the taking hir from us was a great division, but G.o.d hath sowed it up againe; it was a grevious sore, but G.o.d hath healed it; he hath given us a worthy successor, a sonne of the n.o.bles; one that is fleshe of our fleshe. G.o.d seemes to say unto us, "Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it with aboundant blessing;" he may say as he did to his vine, "what should I have done that I have not done unto thee, O England?" Noe vacancy, noe interregnum, noe interruption of goverment, as in Rome an[d] other places, where in such tymes the prisons fly open, &c. but a quiet, a peaceable, and present succession of such a King, _quem populus et proceres voce petebant_; the best wished and the onely agreed upon.

The Lord from his holy sanctuary blesse him in his throne! It was noe shame for Solomon to walke in the wayes of his father David; neither can it be a dishonour for our King to walke in the steps of his mother and predecessor. Lett the foster-sonne and sonnes sonne continue their glory, grace, and dignity, and never lett him want one of his seede to sit upon his seate.

Then to the n.o.bles for their wise menaging those greate affayres, "_Utinam retribuat Dominus_," said he, "and, as Nehemias prayed for himselfe, 'Remember them, O G.o.d! in goodnes.' Your peace," said he, "continued ours, and long may you continue in firme alledgeance to doe your prince and country service in wisdome, honour, and piety." And this is noe _detractio, sed attractio; impius in tenebris latet_, he holds his peace, but Lord open thou our lips, and our mouth shall shewe forth thy prayse; _Paratum est cor meum_, My heart is ready, my heart is ready, &c.

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27 Marche.]

[Sidenote: 28.]

It was bruited that the Lord Beauchamp, the Earl of Hartfords sonne, is up in armes,[174] and some say 10,000 strong. Mr. Hadsor told me the Lords sate about it upon Satterday night, and have dispatcht a messenger to entreat him to come unto them, or els to be in danger of proclamacion of treason. An other bruit, that Portsmout is holden for him, that the Frenche purpose against us, that the Papists are like to rise with Beauchamp; they may trouble us, but I hope shall not prevaile.