A godly and learned exposition vppon the Prouerbes of Solomon: written in French by Maister Michael Cope, minister of the woorde of God, at Geneua: and translated into English, by M.O.

3 A stone is heauie, and the sand weightie: but a fooles wrath is heauier then them both.

Wee naturally doe desire to bee exempted from offices, paine, labour, and trauaile, and to liue doing nothing, except a very little thing, for to seeme that wee woulde not bee ydle. And yet for to be at ease, and to liue delicately, wee seeke the acquaintance, and fami∣liaritie of the Lords of the earth, who for the greatest parte, are so voide of wisedome, and of modest affection, and of humble mind, that for a thing of nothing and without cause they wil become an∣gry, and wil storme against them that are about them, and wil great∣ly reuile them, and furiously oppresse them: so that it were better for them to helpe a mason or bricklayer, for to carry stones & mor∣ter, then to dwel with such fooles, with whom a man knoweth not howe to bee, except hee can abyde iniuries & wrongs, oppressions, & violences, euen to be weary of his life, when a man seeth that he cannot tel howe to auoide their furie, and that they rather looke for death, then for life. Albeit that the childrē of Israel being in Egypt, sought not to liue ydlely without doing any thing, yet it had beene more expediēt for thē to haue suffred more paine thē they did, then so to haue felt the wrath of the king which caused their sōnes to be slaine. Dauid also did not seeke to liue ydlely: but it had bene more necessarie for him in mans iudgement, to haue liued a priuate and a baselife, then to bee the sonne in lawe of Saule, who was a wic∣ked and cruel foole, and persecuted Dauid, in such wise, that hee knewe not where to hyde himselfe, but amongst the infidels. Ac∣cording to this experience Solomon saith nowe, A stone is heauy, &c. Wherein hee doeth admonish vs, not to bee delicate, but to folowe our vocation, though it be very harde. Let vs also learne,

that it is farre better to beare the yoake of Iesus Christ, which see∣meth troublesome and harde to the flesh, then to submitte a mans selfe and enclyne vnto the traditions and doctrines of men. For al∣beeit that at the first approche it seemeth that they are Angelles which teache them: yet doe they proceede with greate furie: first of all against them that wil not yeelde and obay: secondly they destroy for euer their soules which suffer themselues to be deceiued by thē. And further let vs note, that hee saieth not simply and absolutely, wrath, but the wrath of a foole: for it is profitable for vs that the wise become angry with vs, when we faile & erre, seeing they seeke not our destruction, but our profit, the which wee shal feele, if wee doe not rebel against them. And contrarily, the foole by his wrath seeketh nothing but destruction, for the which to auoide wee must take diligent heede from consenting vnto his folly: for thinking to eschue a temporal destruction, wee shal fal into an eternal damnati∣on: from the which the fooles shal not be exempted, for they waxe angry without cause, the which is equal to murther.