A forme of Christian pollicie drawne out of French by Geffray Fenton. A worke very necessary to al sorts of people generally, as wherein is contayned doctrine, both vniuersall, and special touching the institution of al Christian profession: and also conuenient perticularly for all magistrates and gouernours of common weales, for their more happy regiment according to God.

❧ Let none glorifie him selfe, but in his pouerty, necessitie, and affliction: such as glorfie them selues in goodes, scienses, &c. are vaine: but much more do they offende vvho vaunt of their euyll doing: the euyls that come by intemperance: what great faults are cōmitted by glut∣tons, and people geuē to delicacy. ¶ Chap. 3.

IT is declared before, that man ought not to glory in his riches, in his power, nor in his wisedome, but rather in affliction, & as S. Paul saith,* 1.1 vnder the Crosse of Iesus Christ: taking specially his glory in god, in that he know∣eth him, feareth him, and lo∣ueth him: for all other things are to the fleshly man ra∣ther occasion of perdicion then saluatiō, and are the very stipends, rewardes, & effect of the reprobate: We haue now somewhat to vnfolde the vices in intemperaunce & excesse of eating and drinking: in this many do lay vp their glory, and sometimes in thinges more wretched (béeing one of the sinnes of Sodome and Gomorrhe, as Esay saieth) Wherein they commit sinne of his owne nature irremisible,* 1.2 for that it procéedes of

a sence reprobate, neither séeing nor feelyng his proper euyll, to the ende to searche for cure, euen as doth the Letargie in his mortall sléepe, out of the which much lesse, that he wyll be awaked, but hateth and striketh him that goeth about to helpe him. And as when medi∣cine is refused to be geuē to a sicke man, and Phisitions turne him ouer to his owne desires, it is a signe that hée is abandoned, and his life in extreme peryll: So when God puts into the hande of man, the Bridle & libertie of his owne pleasures, & suffreth him to prosper in worldly delytes, it is then he hath least care of him, expressing by that a daungerous signe of his saluation. I meane not here intemperaunce by gluttony onely (the very Nurse of whoredome) where is excesse of meate and Wine, which the Lorde warneth vs to take béede of,* 1.3 lest we be taken in his iudgement (as in déede we haue perfection neither of reason nor sence to consider of our conscience if we be guilty in any sinne) And of this gluttony spea∣keth Ezechiel, Beholde O Ierusalem saith he, the iniqui∣tie of thy sister Sodome, the pride, the fulnesse of bread, and victuels, and abundaunce of idlenesse: but I com∣prehend also all epicurity of belly cheare, where mē fol∣lowe the affection of their delytes, and wallowe in the contentment of the flesh: Of which intemperaunce Sa∣lomon noteth the great Lordes and riche men of the worlde when he saith, that region is miserable, whose King is a childe,* 1.4 not so much for yeres as for sence, and whose principall states and Magistrates, eate early in the morning, that is to say, according to the exposition of Esay, wretchednesse wyll alwayes hang ouer that king∣dome, whose gouernours rise early in the morning to drinke and be dronke, taking so great pleasure in ban∣quets, meates, & dilicious Wines, that laying vp there all their humaine felicitie, they make their God of their bellyes: They are like to those wretches that say, there is no life but to make good cheare, against whom Amos

cryeth out,* 1.5 Wretchednesse vpon you O riche men in Syon, who sléepe in beds of Iuory, and take your plea∣sures therein: who eate the best Muttons of the flocke, and deuour the fat Veales, who sing to the voyce of the Psalter, or haue Musitions at your Tables, drincke swéete Wines in gorgeous Cuppes, and annoynt your selues with precious oyntments, as if he had sayd, You that surfet of your owne pleasures and delytes, & féele no compassion of the sorowe & misery of Ioseph repre∣senting the state of the poore sort.* 1.6 Esay rebuketh them for that they regarde not the worke of God, and seeke out howe he ioynes his wyll and commaundement to our duety: So that this intemperaunce is not the glut∣tony of villaynes, (whose maner is to engorge them selues like Woolues, & be dronke as beastes, yea euen as Swine that are soyled in the filthyest myre) but in this is expressed the epicuritie of the most delicate, such as are more skilfull in delicious fare, and swéete wines, then in vertue and learning: such as corrupting iustice, haue also no care of it, for that they are altogether par∣tiall to their bellyes, without all regarde to God, yea the time which they shoulde apply to the cause and com∣passion of the poore, and such as liue in teares, sorrowe, and want, they abuse in dissolute Musicke, & Masques, making cheare to Curtysanes, A common vice of our time, & famylyar euen with the greatest, who notwith∣standing, do take more glory therin, then in actes of Chy∣ualrie. Is it not a great offence to eate & drinke, more for pleasure, thē for necessitie, not to restore the strength of the body, but by abundaunce & variety of meates and Wines, to procure debility? to abuse the Creature, a∣gainst the wyll & honour of the Creator? Lastly, by that excesse, to bring diuers diseases to the body, wherby men are made vnprofitable to their common weale, & often times passe by vntimely death. He wylleth vs to do all thinges to his honour, that he may be glorified therein:

But in this intemperaunce, much lesse that men haue remembraunce of him, séeing of the contrary there is no exercise but of scoffing, railing, speache of the throte and belly in al vnchastnes, setting the tongue at liberty to al sclaunder, blasphemy, & impudency: what glory doth this behauiour to God, whose benefite is so abused, contrary to his wyll and commaundement?

We eate, we drinke at his charges, we liue by his benefites, and we sit at his Table, and yet we are not ashamed to offend him vnreuerentlye: He commaun∣deth vs to liue soberly, to pray vnto him, to praise him, to breake our bread to the hungrye,* 1.7 and to call the poore to our eatinges and drinkinges: but what care is re∣reserued to this cōmaundement, when the rich wil close their gates against the cryes of the poore, and they them selues wallow in the excesse of eating?* 1.8 much lesse is he honored of such people, whē he is disobeyed in this com∣maundement, to haue compassion on the afflicted, & that we shoulde wéepe with them that wéepe.

Many are the poore about them, to whose teares they ioyne no compassion.

Many are the widdowes that sigh, Orphants that la∣ment, with others whom they sée to languishe in their miseries: whose estate by how much they know to bée harde and sorowfull, by so much are they slowe in pittie, but as men resolued whollye in forgetfulnesse of GOD, they reioyce, they laugh, they sing at their Tables, and passe their time in enterchaunge of wan∣ton companies.

If this abuse be reprooued vnto them, they aunswere, Malencollye is hurtfull to their health, not remem∣bring the warning of Iesus Christe against them:

* 1.9O wretchednesse (saith he) vppon you that laugh, for you shall wéepe and lamente: And miserye also vpon you O ye riche men, which take your pleasures here, and haue your consolations:

And no lesse vnhappye are all your others, which fyll your bellyes, for you shall endure eternall hun∣ger. In this are most to be reprehended, Magistrates and gouernours, to whose prouidence are committed so many poore people in their common weale, that haue so manye desolate soules to comfort, kepe so many sorowfull persons in delay of iustice, and yet wil geue them neither hope in their causes, nor helpe in their necessities. And as they stande guiltye in the same vice with those intemperate sort, if they cor∣rect not their conuersation with fines & paynes, and pu∣nish their bodyes, to whom the Scripture pronounceth malediction: Euen so, they stande subiect to fall with them (but much more gréeuouslye) if they vse not dili∣gence to take away the cause of this wretchednesse.

At Rome in the time of the Pagans there was a Law coherciue against excessiue and extraordinary expenses, Much more then, in the common wealth of Christen∣dome, should there be Statutes and seuere cohercions, against superfluities and damnable delytes. Let those epicures and belly gods of this worlde, looke vp to the warning of Iesus Christ,* 1.10 and prediction of Iob. They leade (saith he) their liues in good cheare and pleasures, and vpon the point of death they fall into hell.

The riche man in the Gospell is not punished, but because he helde sumptuous feastes,* 1.11 put on gorgeous attire, and despised the poore: And when in hell he cryeth to refresh his tongue with one drop of water, Abraham aunswered him, My sonne, thou hast receiued in thy lyfe thy benefites, meanyng, thou hast had richesse, thou hast taken thy pleasures, and made great cheare: and this Lazarus felt nothing but miseries: therfore con∣tent thy selfe, thou canst not haue thy felicities twise, neither he his perplexities againe.

Who in life tastes of pleasure, after death shall be recompensed with displeasure, as of the contrarye,

for him that suffreth euil for the honor of God, is laid vp in heauen euerlasting good. Other gluttons & dronkards in general haue their sentence to be shut out of the king∣dome of God: (wherein to auoide tediousnes) I will not nowe medle with the examples of miseries hapned to glottons, as to the Sodomites, Israelites, & Holofernes, to al which the sinne of epicurity, brought miserable death. Heare may bée resolued the question of some, whether it bée lawfull to make banquets, and whether they may be made to Ritche men: wheren, is to be considered, that if the ende bée good, and grounded vppon some office of Ciuill honestye, they are not reproued.

Abraham made a godly banquet the same day his sōne was wained or taken from the nourse, but it was an in∣vitement to thanke God with his houshold & friends for geuing him a sonne in his olde age: Lot banqueted An∣gels, whome hée tooke to bée certaine poore passangers. Isaac banqueted with Abimilech for confederation of a∣mity: Ioseph congratulated the cōming of his Brethren with a sumptuous feast, expressing only his feruent and natural loue to them.

The scripture geues much mention of Banquets, Ma∣riages, and feastes of Kings, & such as were made on the solempne daies of sacrifices to God, into the which were receiued the poore Leuites or ministers of the Temple & other needy people, as also in the new Testament speci∣allye on those daies when the communion was mini∣stred, the poore, with the rest, for the societye of christian Loue, being made partakers of the Banquet, whereof it tooke the name Agape, that is, charitye.

Christ him selfe was often at Banquets & Mariages: But whosoeuer made banquets to maintaine gluttony, for which S. Iames reproues the Ritchmen of his time, or for vaine glorye, they haue theyr share, with the wic∣ked Ritche man in the Gospell, in the tormentes of hell.

Touching mockers and scoffers, let them thinke they

are in the warning of Salomon: That as their sinne is gréeuous, so the iudgementes of God are prepared for them: For séeing they ought to loue theyr neighbour as them selues, they ought not onelye to bée sorye for the faulte which they reprehend and scoffe at in another, but to haue compassion of it, to correct it, and to pray to God for him that hath the errour: Repulse them farre from you sayeth the wise man, for in them is nourished the causes of many contencions, and therfore, besides their condemnacion, they shalbe sure to be scoffed of o∣thers, for that Gods iustice keepes his course.

Notes

• * 1.1

  2. Cor. 11. Galath. 6. Iere. 9.
• * 1.2

  Luk. 16.
• * 1.3

  Luk. 21.
• * 1.4

  Eccle. 10. Esai. 5.
• * 1.5

  Amos. 6.
• * 1.6

  Esai. 5.
• * 1.7

  Esai. 58.
• * 1.8

  Rom. 12.
• * 1.9

  Luk. 6.
• * 1.10

  Iob. 2••.
• * 1.11

  Luk. 16.