end. I pray you take pains, it is a day of penance, as we use to say, give me leave to make you weary this day. The Jews had him to Caiaphas and Annas, and there they whipped him, and beat him: they set a crown of sharp thorns upon his head, and nailed him to a tree. Yet all this was not so bitter, as the horror of death, and the agony that he suffered in the garden, in such a degree as is due to all the sins of the world, and not to one man's sins. Well, this passion is our remedy; it is the satisfaction for our sins. .

He descended into hell.. I see no inconvenience to say, that Christ suffered in soul in hell.* I singularly commend the exceeding great charity of Christ, who for our sakes would suffer in hell in his soul. It sets out the unspeakable hatred that God hath to sin. I perceive not that it derogates from the dignity of Christ's death; as in the garden, when he suffered, it derogates nothing from that which he suffered on the cross. Scripture speaks on this fashion; "He that believeth in me, hath life everlasting." Here he sets forth faith as the cause of our justification; in other places, as high commendation is given to works; and yet, are the works any derogation from that dignity of faith? No. And again, Scripture saith, “Christ died for our sins, and rose again for our justification." It attributeth here our justification to his resurrection; and doth this derogate any thing from his death? Not a whit. It is whole Christ. What with his nativity, what with his circumcision, what with his incarnation and the whole process of his life; what with his preaching, what with his ascending, descending, what with his death, it is all Christ that worketh our salvation. He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, and all for us. All this is the work of our salvation. I would be as loath to derogate any thing from Christ's death, as the best of you all. How inestimably are we bound to him! What thanks ought we to give him for it! We must have this continually in remembrance, "For thee we are in dying continually."

The life of a Christian man is nothing but a readiness to die, and a remembrance of death. If what I have spoken of Christ's suffering in the garden, and in hell, derogate any thing from Christ's death and passion, away

* Latimer here affixes a different sense to the words "He descended into hell" from that which they have generally been considered to bear.

with it, believe me not in this; if it do not, it commends and sets forth very well unto us the perfection of the sat isfaction that Christ made for us, and the work of redemption, not only before witness in this world, but in hell, in that terrible place; where, whether he suffered, or wrestled with the spirits, or comforted Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I will not desire to know. If you like not that which I have spoken of his sufferings, let it go, I will not strive in it; I will be a prejudice to nobody, weigh it as ye list; I do but offer it you to consider. It is likely his soul did somewhat the three days that his body lay in the grave. To say, he suffered in hell for us, derogates nothing from his death. For all things that Christ did before his suffering on the cross, and after, work our salvation. If he had not been incarnate, he had not died; he was beneficial to us with all things he did. Christian people should have his suffering for them in remembrance. Let your gardens admonish you, your pleasant gardens, what Christ suffered for you in the garden; and what benefit you have by his suffering. It is his will you should so do; he would be had in remembrance.

Mix your pleasures with the remembrance of his bitter passion. The whole passion is satisfaction for our sins; and not the bare death, considering it so nakedly by itself. The manner of speaking of Scripture, is to be considered. It attributes our salvation now to one thing, now to another that Christ did: whereas indeed it pertained to all. Our Saviour Christ has left behind him a remembrance of his passion, the blessed communion, the celebration of the Lord's Supper; alas! it hath been long abused, as the sacrifices were before in the old law. The patriarchs used sacrifice, in the faith of the seed of the woman, which should break the serpent's head. The patriarchs sacrificed in hope, and afterward the work was esteemed. There came others after, and they considered not the faith of Abraham and the patriarchs, but did their sacrifice according to their own imagination; even so it came to pass with our blessed communion. In the primitive church, in places when their friends were dead, they used to come together to the holy communion. What? to remedy them that were dead? No, not a straw; it was instituted for no such purpose. But then they would call to remembrance God's goodness, and his passion that he suffered for us, wherein they comforted much their faith.

Others came afterwards, and set up all these kinds of massings, all these kinds of iniquity. What an abomination is it! the foulest that ever was, to attribute to man's work our salvation! God be thanked that we have this blessed communion set forth so now, that we may comfort, increase, and fortify our faith at that blessed celebration. If he is guilty of the body of Christ, that takes it unworthily; he finds great comfort at it, that eats it worthily: he eats it worthily, that eats it in faith. In faith? in what

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faith? Not long ago a great man said openly, They babble much of faith, I will go on with my licentiousness, and have as good a faith as the best of them all." I think he never knew other than the whoremonger's faith. It is no such faith that will serve. It is no bribing judges or justices' faith, no rent-raiser's faith, no whoremonger's faith, no lease-monger's faith, nor the seller of benefices' faith; but the faith in the passion of our Saviour Christ. We must believe that our Saviour Christ hath taken us again to his favour, that he hath delivered us his own body and blood, to plead against the devil, and by merit of his own passion, of his own mere liberality. This is the faith, I tell you, that we must come to the communion with, and not the whoremonger's faith. Look where remission of sin is, there is acknowledging of sin also. Faith is a noble duchess, she ever hath her gentleman-usher going before her, the confessing of sins; she hath a train after her, the fruits of good works, the walking in the commandments of God. He that believeth will not be idle, he will walk, he will do his business. Have ever the gentleman-usher with you. So if you will try faith, remember this rule, consider whether the train is waiting upon her. If you have another faith than this, a whoremonger's faith, you are like to go to the bottomless pit, and there you shall have weeping and gnashing of teeth; much good do it you-you see your fare. If you will believe and acknowledge your sins, you shall come to the blessed communion of the bitter passion of Christ worthily, and so attain to everlasting life; to the which may the Father of heaven bring you and me. Amen.

ON COVETOUSNESS,

BEING

His last Sermon preached before King Edward, A. D. 1550.

TAKE heed and beware of covetousness:-take heed and beware of covetousness:- -take heed and beware of covetousness. And what and if I should say nothing else, these three or four hours (for I know it will be so long, in case I am not commanded to the contrary) but these words, "Take heed and beware of covetousness." It would be thought a strange sermon before a king, to say nothing else but Cavete ab avaritia, "Beware of covetousness. And yet as strange as it is, it would be like the sermon of Jonas, that he preached to the Ninevites; as to the shortness and fewness of the words. For his sermon was, "There is yet forty days to come, and Nineveh shall be destroyed." Thus he walked from street to street, and from place to place round about the city, and said nothing else; but "There is yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be destroyed." There is no great odds nor difference, at least in the number of words, nor yet in the sense or meaning between these two sermons; "There is yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be destroyed;" and these words which I have taken to speak of this day: "Take heed, and beware of covetousness. For Nineveh shall be destroyed for sin, and of their sins covetousness was one, and one of the greatest; so that it is all one in effect. And as they are alike concerning the shortness, the paucity of words, the brevity of words, and also the meaning and purpose; so I would

they might be alike in fruit and profit. For what came of Jonas's sermon? what was the fruit of it? "At the preaching of Jonas they believed God." Here was a great fruit, a great effect wrought. They believed God. They believed God's preacher, God's officer, God's minister, Jonas, and were converted from their sin. They believed that, as the preacher said, if they did not repent and amend their life, the city should be destroyed within forty days. This was a great fruit! for Jonas was but one man, and he preached but one sermon, and it was but a short sermon, as to the number of words: and yet he turned the whole city, great and small, rich and poor, king and all.

We are many preachers here in England, and we preach many long sermons, yet the people will not repent nor convert. This was the fruit, the effect, and the good that his sermon did, that all the whole city at his preaching converted, and amended their evil living, and did penance in sackcloth. And yet in this sermon of Jonas is no great curiousness, no great clerkliness,* no great affectation of words, nor painted eloquence; it was none other but, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be destroyed:" it was no more. This was no great curious sermon, but it was a nipping sermon, a pinching sermon, a biting sermon; it had a full bite, it was a nipping sermon, a rough sermon, and a sharp biting sermon. Do you not here marvel that these Ninevites cast not Jonas in prison, that they did not revile him, and rebuke him? They did not revile him, nor rebuke him; but God gave them grace to hear him, and to convert and amend at his preaching. A strange matter, for so noble a city to give place to one man's sermon! Now England cannot abide this, they cannot be content to hear God's minister, and his threatening for their sin, though the sermon be ever so good, though it be ever so true. It is,

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a naughty fellow, a seditious fellow, he maketh trouble and rebellion in the realm; he lacketh discretion." But the Ninevites rebuked not Jonas that he lacked discretion, or that he spake out of time-that his sermon was made out of season: but in England, if God's preacher, God's minister, is any thing quick, or do speak sharply, then he is a foolish fellow, he is rash, he lacketh discretion. Nowa-days if they cannot reprove the doctrine that is preached, then they will reprove the preacher, that he lacketh due

* Learning.