A Golden Chain

for he is taken and brought before the Judge and condemned on a sudden. Now as this was the practise of this council, so on the contrary the common complaint of these times is of the slow dispatch of matters in law, & of the long delay: insomuch that some be almost undone before their suits be ended; whereas judicial proceedings were ordained by God, not for mens undoing, but for the maintaining of the common peace, and liberty, and wealth. And therefore justice ought to be dispatched with such speed, as men thereby might be furthered, and not hindered.

for he is taken and brought before the Iudge and condemned on a sudden. Now as this was the practise of this councill, so on the contrarie the common complaint of these times is of the slow dispatch of matters in law, & of the long delay: in somuch that some be almost vndone before their suits be ended; whereas iudiciall proceedings were ordained by God, not for mens vndoing, but for the maintaining of the common peace, and libertie, and wealth. And therefore iustice ought to be dispatched with such speede, as men thereby might be furthered, and not hindred.

¹The end of Christs indictment was directly to kill him, and to put him to death. Here is no indifferent proceeding to be looked for, but plotting on every h•nd for the very blood of Christ. Where note, that in the hearts of all wicked men, there is an ingrafted hatred of Christ, and as it were bred in the bone: and the same affection the world carrieth to the members of Christ. This hatred is manifested in the first giving of the promise, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed. It appears in the hatred that Cain bare to his brother Abel, Ismael towards Isaac, Esau towards Jacob: and the Gentiles that were without the covenant, towards the Church of God at all times. And to come near to our selves, this ingrafted hatred that is in the heart of the wicked against Christ and his members, is as plentiful, and as evident as ever it was, even in these our days. For among all men none are more maligned and hated then those that profess Christ: and for none other cause, but because they profess Christ. And hereupon the very profession of religion is laden with nicknames and reproachful terms by all sorts of men.