QVATERNIO OR A FOVREFOLD WAY TO A HAPPIE Life; set forth in a Dialogue betweene a Countryman and a Citizen, a Divine and a Lawyer.
Per THO. NASH Philopolitem.
LONDON, Printed by IOHN DAVVSON. 1633.
TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE MY VERY GOOD LORD, THOMAS, LORD COVENTREE, BARON OF AYLSBOROVGH, LORD KEEPER OF THE Great Seale of ENGLAND, and one of his MAIESTIES most honorable privy Councell.
AFter that I had duely weighed, and considered the different natures and conditions of men, and saw every one walking a severall way, delighting himselfe in Velle suum [...] nec voto vivitur vno. Pers: Sat. 5. a severall thing, according to his phantasie and inclination; one in one [Page] thing, another in another; the Grammarian in his Etymologies, the Poet in his Poetrie, the Rhetoritian in his Elocution, the Sophister in his Aequivocations, the Logitian in his syllogisticall Demonstrations, the Musitian in the varietie of his notes, the Geometritian in his Triangles and Quadrangles, the Architect in his Labyrinthes, the Mercibus hic Italis, mutat sub sole recenti Rugosum piper, & pallentis grana Cumini. Apothecary in his Drugges, the Anatomist in his Dissecations, the foolish Oneiropolus in his Exposition of Dreames, the Cynicke in his privacie, the Hic satur, irriguo mavult turgescere somno. Epicure in his taste, the Stoicke in his dulnesse, the Huntsman in his dog, the Hic Campo indulget; nunc alea decoquit; ille In venerem est putris. Pers: ibid. Faulkner in his Hawke, the Artificer in his toole: how some are taken with Antiquities, some with Novelties, some with Tragedies, others with Comedies, some with invectiue Satyres, others with smooth Encomiums; and how generally the most are Censorious, and are ever pulling the Scribe by the Quoties dicimus, toties de nobis iudicatur; nec quicquā est tam insigne, nec tam ad diuturnitatem memoriae stabile, quàm id quo deliqueris: adest enim serè nemo, qui non acuriùs at (que) acriùs vitia in dicente, quàm recta videat. Cicero. haire, [Page] Cùm ipsi quidem ne pilum habent, nec ingenij nec judicij. These things, I say, after that I had duly weighed, & withall considered, how difficult a thing it is for the most curious Cooke and Cater, to please the severall palates of so Tres mihi Convivae propè dissentire videntur, Polcentes vario multùm diversa palato. Horat. lib. 2. Epist. disagreeing a multitude; I began to withdraw my pen from my paper, and in the midst of my journey Palinodiam canere; but when I called to minde what I learnt in my minoritie Simul ista mundi Conditor posuit Deus, Odium at (que) regnum. Senec. in Tbeb. quòd regium est audire malè, cùm facias benè; and how Neptune, Vulcan, and Minerva, together with the most noble Princes, Peeres, and Potentates, haue not beene free from the censure of Fabulatisunt de Momo, quòd cùm Iudexinter Neptunum, Vulcanum et Minervam electus erat, eos ommes reprehendebat; nam cùm Neptunus Taurum, Vulcanus hominem, Minerva domum effinxisset; Neptunum reprehendebat, quòd cornua in capite, & non ante oculos vel in humeris posuit; Vulcanum, quia non fenestratum pectus hominis fecit, vt sciri possit, quot doli essent in pectore: Minervam quia domus non effet trusaulis quae potest facilè circumagi, si aliquid mali accidexit. Momus, and the iniurious calumnies of ignominious persons, I went on with a greater alacritie, & thought it no disparagement to beare my part with such good Company in such a Consort. The calumnies of Momus are as the prayses of Mecaenas: Diog: Lac [...]ti in Antist. Antisthenes [Page] did never more suspect himselfe, than when he had an ignominious man applaud him, then, then did he vse to enquire what evill he had committed. Simile gaudet suo simili: every thing delighteth it selfe in that, with which it hath a sympathie in qualitie and condition. Sues margaritam non curant, gallus Aesopi escam magis quàm hyacinthum invenire desiderat; spernit bos muscas: it is the nature of swine to wallow in the mire, of Cocks to preferre a graine of Corne before the richest Diademe, of Oxen and Asses to ha [...]e the Muses. Sucton: in Caligula. Caligula hated Virgil and Livie, and would haue banisht them out of all Libraries, but he had his reward for it, he dyed like a Qui equos potiùs & canes alere malunt quàm eruditos, talis erit corum obitus, qualis equorum et canum. Nee post mortem malus eritipsorum nomé, quàm vrsi et Leonis. Aeneas Silv. Epist. 111. beast, & had not so much as a pen to remember him, but with detestation and hatred. De amore Alexandri erga Homerum, de Archilao in Euripidem, de African [...] in [...], de Lysandro in Sophocleus. Vid. ibid. Alexander loved Homer, Archilaus Euripides, Africanus Ennius, Lysander Sophocles, and they [Page] lost nothing by it, their noble acts and atchievements haue bin well set forth, with deserved Encomiums to all succeeding ages. Let the dogs barke then, I know it is the nature of them so to doe, and they cannot live but they must doe it; let the Asses kicke, it is hereditary to them.
Let the envious man split himselfe with Calumnies; it is as naturall to him as for the Salamander to liue in the fire, or the Camelion by the ayre. I Moverer, si de me Marcus Cato, si Lalius sapiens, si alter Cato, si duo Scipiones malè loquerentur: sed malis displicere, laudariest, non potest enim authoritatē habere sententia, vbi qui damnandus est damnat: Seneca Vnde Poëta; Contemni à itulto dedecus. este nego. envie him not, but pittie him, and wish him not to hurt himselfe, but to remember what befell to Phoebus his Crow; let me haue the loue of Mecaenas onely, which I shall esteeme like vnto Ajax his Buckler & Achilles his Speare, to defend me against the Caligulaes of our time, and the hydra-like [Page] multitude. Vnto you therefore (right Honorable) (seeing that I find it hath beene a Custome of olde to dedicate Churches to God, and Bookes vnto good men) as vnto a true Mecaenas fuit inter doctos nobilissimus, inter nobilissimos doctissimus, inter vtrós (que) optimus. Mecaenas doe I present these my Miscellanea. The malefactor betakes himselfe to the Sanctuarie for refuge, because he hath offended; the Colit hic reges, calcet vt omnes; Tantúm vt noceat cupit esse potens. Senec. in Hercule Octaeo. oppressor shrowds himselfe vnder the wings of Greatnes, that he may the more freely exercise his crueltie. Innocencie onely seekes refuge, that shee may be free from oppression. The hearbes haue no greater enemies than the weeds, nor Art than ignorance, which is ever fraught with malice and detraction. Against these enemies onely these intellectuall fruits desire shelter; whilest the Shepheard is at hand, the sheepe are in safetie; whilest the Chickens are vner the wing, the Vulture will not proffer to make a stoope; but [Page] when the Shepheard is carelesse, and the Henne leaves her Chickens, then doe the Wolues and Vultures tyrannize, and sport themselues in the ruines of those harmelesse Creatures.
These fruits of mine would wander in the world, as sheepe without a Shepheard, subject to the Vide Concionem leporinam in apologo, quo ostenditur, fortem orationem, nisi viribus sit suffulta, à potentioribus derideri. blasting of every carping Zoilus and Momus, did not some vigilant eye watch and defend them. Wherefore I haue Commended them to your Lordships safe protection, and tuition. I must ingenuously confesse, when I had fully finished this Discourse; and weighed it in the ballance of judgement, and found it a little too light, I felt some reluctation in my selfe, whether I should present so worthy a Peere with so vnworthy a present; but when I considered; In minutissimis gemmis nonnunquam esse maximum [Page] pretium, that with noble mindes small things are highly valued and esteemed; and how I had often found, In maximis personis mel [...]itam quandam morum suavitatem, summa cum dignitate copulatam elucere; I resolved to runne the adventure of it. Receiue it then (Right Honorable) with the same hand with the which it is delivered, and accept of it as a small pledge of his service, who may perhaps sometimes present your Lorp. with some Ni Satyram sapiat, nil Epigramma juvat. Owen. Si me posthac jugem et sedulum lectorem vis efficere, quaeso vt Satyricè, potiùs quàm lyricè mecum agas. Petrarch. Qui corripit hominem, gratiá consequitur, potiùs quàm qui blanditur linguâ. Prov. 23. Nihil peccat, nisi quòd nihil peccat (dixit Plinius de quodam Oratore suiseculi) debet enim orator erigi, attolli, interdū etiam estervescere, efferri, ac saepè accedete ad praeceps. Plinius epist. 26. I Iuvenal thy ierking hand is good, Net gently laying on but fet-bloud: So Surgeon-like thou doest with launcing heale, Where nought but launcing can the wound avayle: O suffer me amongst so many men, To tread aright the traces of thy pen! Pernassus. sharpe and soure things, but never with malicious venemous things; So shall you more and more oblige him that presumes to offer this toy and trifle vnto you, that if any more serious thing happen in future times to come within his thoughts, to make your Lorp. partaker of it, and at all times to desire vnto your Lorp: health and prosperitie, accumulated with yeares and honors, the [Page] proper fruits and effects of so noble, just, and generally approved and applauded proceedings.
Interlocutores.
- Rusticus. Agriculturâ nihil honestius.
- Vrbanus. Mercaturâ nihil vtilius.
- Theologus. Theologiâ nihil sanctius.
- Iurisperitus. Iurisprudentiâ nihil honorabilius.
ERRATA in the Booke.
FOl. 14. line 24 for fennes reade fumes. fol. 21. l. 12 for Citie parish r. little parish fol. 35. for Martin r. Marlin. fol. 67. l. 32. for from the line of r. to the line. fol 103 for Cufiters r. Curfiters, ibid. for Rust, r. Iurisp. the last line but one▪ fol. 332. l. r. for lying r. begg [...]ng, and for lye r. beg. fol. 230 for Adelstace r. Adelstane. l. 15. fol. 240. for Hen. the 4th r Edwithe 4th.
ERRATA in the Margine.
In the Epistle for vellesuum est, cui (que) r. velle suum cui (que) est, for had r. heard. fol. 9 for nuptae r. innuptae, and for innuptae. r. nuptae. fol. 30. for Olympia r. Olympiaca. fol. 32. for Hibernus r. cum Hibernus, fol. 55 for mutatur r mutantur, fol. 39. for praeter r. propter. pag. 88. for lanam r. lenam, p. 106. for ostendere r ascendere, fol. 134. for de Temps r. de tempore, fol. 132. for nescit r. noscit, fol. 162. for senem revidi r. senem sanum revidi, and for addicasset r. abdicasset, fol. 169. for superbia r superbiam, fol. 244. for argenium r. bominem, p. 274. for proliveret r. prohiberet, p. 278. for quo (que) r. quasi.
These faults haue I espied, peradventure some others haue escaped me, (Bernardus enim non vidit omne) which whosoever shall finde, if he will in a friendly manner make them knowne vnto me, I will thanke him, and if ever it be my fortune to meete him at the Presse, I will endevour to require him.
A DISCOVRSE BETVVEENE A COVNTRY-MAN And a CITIZEN: a Divine and a Lawyer. VVherein the Commodities of the Countrey and the Citie; together with the excellency of Divinitie, and the Law are set forth.
THese foure meeting accidentally together, having heretofore beene Schollers together in a Grammar-Schoole, and bred vp vnder one Common Schoolemaster, after some kinde Salutations on each part had, it was desired that some place might be appointed where they might renew their old acquaintance: vnto which all of them most willingly condescended, and accordingly met together, where after repetition of many wittie pranks and sleights committed during [Page 2] the time whilest each of them was vnder the rod, they fell at last to a more serious Discourse, each of other demanding severally, what motiues might induce them to betake themselues vnto those severall courses of life. The first Conference being betweene the Citizen and the Countryman: the Citizen beginning as followeth.
Indeede SIR, I must acknowledge that vpon the first view of you seeing you in your Countrey habit, I did much vnder-value you (for which I craue pardon) fearing that some misfortunes had befallen you, and so povertie had driven you into that meane habite, and attire, but when I vnderstood, after some conference had with you, what course of life you tooke vpon you, and that your habite did suite with your Countrey and condition, being much different from our City-fashions, I then wisht to my selfe to haue had some opportunity, having knowne you from your Cradle vntill the time that wee shooke hands at the Schoole-dore, and observed that docile and sweete disposition in you more fit for the Court and Citie, to know the motiues that induced you to apply your selfe wholly to the affayres of the Countrey, which at this time hating I shall desire you to impartit freely vnto me.
I shall in this your request, giue you what satisfaction I can. The motiues that induced me to take vpon me this Course of life, were many, but chiefly my health, which I preferre before all earthly treasure; for I found that after I left the Grammar-Schoole, that the smoky fumes, and noysome vapors of the Citie did much offend me, sometimes driving me into a shaking Ague, sometimes into a Burning-Feaver, and continually distempering me, so that during the whole time I made my abode therein, there was scant a weeke together at any time that I perfectly enjoyed my selfe. Whereupon by the advise of the most learned Physitians, I tooke my flight into the Country, being by them perswaded [Page 3] that the sweete and subtile ayre would best accord and suite with my Constitution: and this was one of the principall Causes that induced me to take vpon me this Course of life: other motiues there were, amongst the rest this was not the least, that I had often heard, and experience hath since verified vnto me that the Beatus ille, qui procul negot [...]is, Vt prisca gens mortaliū, Paterna rura bobus exercet suis. Horat. Tempus in agrorum culta consumere dulce est. Ovid. Inter omnes acquirendi modos est agricultura inprimis justa è matre terrae quaestuan pariens, corpora non enervans, vt artes sordidae plerae (que), sed ad labores et pericula subeunda roborans. Arist lib. 1. Oeconom. Omnium rerum ex quib [...]s aliquid acquiritur, nihil agriculturâ melius, aut libero homine dignius. Cirero. O fortunatos nimiùm, sua se bona norint. Agricolas, quibus, ipsa, procul discordibus armis, Fundit humo facilem victum justissima tellus. Virg. lib. 2. Georg. Virum bonium cum majores nostri Iaudabant [...] i [...]a laud [...] bant, bonum agricol [...]m, bonúm (que) Colonum; amplissimè laudiriexistimabatur qui ita laudabatur, inquit Cato. Cato dere rustica; mitio. Cum mercatorum▪ quaestus sit periculosus et calamitosus, cum faen [...]ratorū inhonestus et dedecorosus, cum opificum sordilus et illiberalis: sola est agricultura, ex qua quaestus stabilissimus honestissimús (que) consequitur, minimé (que) dolosus. Arist. Countrymans life is the most innocent, harmlesse, and most pleasing to God of any professiō or state of life in the world. For that he doth not raise himselfe by the ruines of any: he oppresseth no fatherlesse, nor wrongs no widowes: his Commerce is for the most part with the earth, and although he grow rich, shee growes not poore, or if she doe, conceales and buries it in her selfe. He never heares of her cryes at his dores, complaints in the streets, or Petitions in the Courts against him; all his actions are exposed to the eye of the world, he doth nothing in obscuritie or secrecie, the places of his Commerce are either the fields or the Markets; the Sunne is his light, and the Standard his measure, false lights and measures are odious and hatefull vnto him: He keepes his course as constantly as the Moone: if riches fall in his way, he stoopes and gathers them vp: if not, he vseth no sleights or tricks, or by-paths to come to them. Gaine he counteth goods when it is well gotten, otherwise wrong and robbery. Ambitious indeede he is, but it is to doe his King and Countrey service; and Covetous he is, receiving more than ten for a hundred, yea a hundred for ten; yet keepes himselfe out of the reach and danger of the Law, so legall is his vsury, so harmelesse his ambition. These were motiues likewise that induced me to take this Course of life vpon me. Others there were many, and this was not the least, for that it was the most vsefull and most necessary course and condition of life of any life in the world, without which no man can continue and subsist: for who is he that feeds vs, or who is he that cloths vs? is it not the Countryman? doth Corne [Page 4] grow in the streets, or are sheepe bred in the Markets? Are not the fields our Seminaries? and doth he not play the part of the Alchumist? are they not his labours that produceth and extracteth them? therefore although I attribute as much to the Citie as any man, yet so long as a man may be as honest, as just, as good a Christian, and a better Common-wealths man, I must ever preferre the Countrey. These were motiues likewise that induced me to take this course of life vpon me: yet these were not all, others there were, for that many Haud Moses, haud ipse Noemus et Abram, Has curas humilés (que) bo [...] sprevere labores: Sed studium colere arva fuit, vel pascere pingues, Balant [...]m per rura greges & bucerasecla. Great Kings and Consuls haue oft for blades, And glittering Scepters, handled bookes and spades. Bartas. Numa Pompilius from the Plow was called to be the King of the Romanes, and Quintius to be a Dictator of Rome. Gordius being called from the Plow to be King of the Phrygians, gaue for his Armes the Plow, with a knot of [...]aces & ropes, with which his horses did draw, which his posteritie did vse as the most honorable Emblems, being a profession without which a Kingdome cannot subsist. Ferne in Lacyes Nobilitie. The Plow is held an excellent bearing in Armes. Boswell. Kings and Princes haue taken this profession vpon them, and many Priests and Prelates haue taken speciall notice of the good service the Country-man doth in the Common-wealth, and therefore haue honoured him with divers priviledges which they haue denied to other professors. The Emperors by the Imperiall lawes haue appointed that no Lachesse of suite, or not demaunding his patrimonie after the death of his Father within the time prefixt, shall prejudice him: also that he may lay any exception peremptorie after sentence given, wherein he hath equall power with the Knight or Souldier. The Kings & Queenes of England likewise well weighing the good service that these men did in the Commō wealth vpon all occasions, haue had a speciall care of them; and therefore haue ordained that their See the Statute of West. 2 [...]. Cap. 20. 4 [...] H. the 7. cap. 19. Plowes and Cattell belonging vnto them, shall not be taken in execution for a distresse. King Henry the seventh much tendring their good and welfare, did by a Statute made in the fourth yeare of his Raigne, which passeth by the name of the good Statute, specially provide, that every person of what degree or estate soever that had any house at any time for three yeares then last past, or that then was or that afterwards should be letten to farme with twentie Acres or more, lying in tillage or husbandrie should maintaine the said house vpon the same, for maintenance of tillage and husbandry.
[Page 5]King Henry the eight likewise by two severall Statutes, 7. H. 8. Cap. 1. the one made in the seventh yeare of his Raigne, the other made in the twenty-seventh yeare,27. H. 8. Cap. 22. reciting the Statute of King Henry the seventh, by the name of the good Statute, doth confirme what had beene graunted in his Fathers time, and further graunts as in the said Statute it may appeare.5. Edw. 6. Cap. 5. King Edward the sixth by an Act of Parliament made in the fift yeare of his Raigne doth doe the like. Queene Elizabeth likewise in severall Acts of Parliament, made during the time of her Raigne, was not forgetfull of them. And Pope Vide Statuta nobilis arti [...] agricultura vrbis Roma. Pius the fifth well weighing and considering how necessary a member the husbandman is in the Common-wealth in the Preamble to the Charter of Priviledges which he graunts vnto them, thus speaketh of them, considering how by the diligent care and paines of our deare Children, our Citie which in times past was environed with the Sea, and wanted provision of Corne to relieue her selfe, Nostris faelicibus temporibus in these halcyone dayes of ours is not onely free from wants, but is able to relieue her neighbours, and which is not the least benefit, we haue the ayre about our Citie which in times past was foggie and vnhealthfull by reason of the waterish and marshie grounds which did environ it, is by the drayning and plowing of it, become pure and healthfull: and considering againe that they which doe apply themselues to follow tillage and husbandry, ought not to be drawne from their businesse to attend the Courts of Iustice, least thereby tillage should grow into decay. Wee of our speciall grace do confirme vnto them all priviledges which haue been graunted vnto them by any of our predecessors, by any former Lawes or Statutes; and further graunt, that whosoever shall come vnto our Citie with any Corne or graine, that he shall be free from the Vt faciliùs commodiús (que) omnes postint, ad vrbē hanc nostram frumenta liberè cō vehere, ad vrbem accedentes ab omni onere quocū (que) p [...]o dictis frumentis immunes esse perpetuò declaramus. payment of all manner of Toll whatsoever, and that all they which inhabite within fortie miles of our Citie, and vse [Page 6] the laudable art of Tillage and husbandry, shall not be disturbed and molested either in seede or harvest time, but shall haue free libertie as well to gather in their Corne as to sow it; and that their Oxen belonging to their Plowe Tanquam commoditatis immò necessitatis publicae instrumentis, Boves aratorios, ommiá (que) instrumenta ad agriculturam, necessaria, non supradictis temporibus tantùm, sed perpetuò pro quavis civili obligatione anferri prohibemus. shall be free from any distresse for any Civill dutie or obligation, not onely at the times aforesaid, but also at all other times. And whatsoever priviledges haue beene graunted in the best and most flourishing times, wee doe most willingly graunt and confirme. So carefull and vigilant haue the Civill and Ecclesiasticall Magistrates both Prince and Prelate beene to vphold and maintaine the husbandmans profession, as the chiefe pillar of a State, and welfare of a Kingdome. For they wisely foresaw that if there were not a speciall eye and regard had vnto it, that those houses which were vsed to be receptacles of many honest Farmers and good livers, would in a short time come to ruine and destruction; that those arable Lands belonging vnto them, which formerly had maintained whole families, would be turned into pasture. Those Villages which consisted of many families, and that did send forth vpon all occasions the most Ex agricolis et viri fortissimi et milites strenuissimi gignū tur, maximé (que) pius quaestus stabilissimús (que) consequitur, minimé (que) invidiosus, minimé (que) malè cogitantes sunt, qui in eo studio occupati sunt. Cato de re rustica, initio, Piscatores, aucupes, dulciarios, linte ones, omnes (que) qui aliquid tractâsse videbuntur ad gynaeceà pertinens, longè arbitror pellendos a Castris, agricolas, fabros ferrarios, car pētarios, macellarios et Cervorum aprortum (que) venatores convenit sociare militiae. Veget. ablest men of a Kingdome to doe their King and Country service, would be depopulated. Yea those Churches, Steeples, Bels, and all consecrated to divine service, would be raced and demolished and turned into a Sheep-coate, and all to maintaine one familie a Shepheard and his dog. So that by this meanes, idlenes the destruction of many flourishing Kingdomes and Common-weales would haue a free passage into a Kingdome, and those many men that were vsed formerly to haue a liuelihood out of those lands, would be sent into the high wayes to seeke their fortunes; for what els can be expected when the Country is enclosed and no admittance to be had there, but that they must roue at randome and worke out a fortune [Page 7] though with the adventure of their liues, where they can finde it. The Citie will not entertaine them, and if they would, they are not fit to doe them service, having ever beene bred in the Country. So that I may safely conclude, that the originall and first moving causes of many of those What inconveniences doe ensue by the turning of Tillage into pasture. See in the latter end of Tirringams Case, reported by Sr Edw: Cooke, in his fourth Booke, and in the beginning of the Stat. 4to H. 7. felonies, robberies, burglaries and murthers which are now adayes committed, proceede from the Arch-enemy to our Plowe the Enclosing depopulator, yet you in the Citie are not altogether to be excused, you are Accessaries after the fact to these misdemeanors, you harbour and resette those men that otherwayes must of necessitie liue in the Countrey, they come vnto you vpon pretence to saue some Charges, which they suppose are wastfully spent vpon knaues in the Countrey, but their accounts being cast vp at the yeares end, they fayle in their Conclusions. I my selfe haue knowne some of those saving frugall men, and haue heard of many more, but never heard of any that thrived by it, it may be something may be saved in hospitalitie by lessening of a familie, and by changing of a stately Country-house for a few roomes in a poore Shop-keepers Cell. A sufficient colour sure to blind some dasled eyes, when there is fiue times as much spent another way, in Clothes and Coaches, in sights and shewes, which might haue beene saved if they had lived in the Countrey. For there are so many bewitching attractiues in the Citie, and Ladies so much given to longing, that no sooner doe they open their Casements in the morning, but they see something in another, though perhaps Gay golden clothes and garments pounce dout, Silke laid on silke, and stitched o're the same: Great losse and play and keeping revell rout, With grosser knackes, I list no [...] now to name; Hath by abuse brought world quite out of frame. Churchyard. anticke which they doe want, which if they cannot forsooth haue, they are either sicke or melancholy, and nothing will cure them but a receipt of that sight which they then saw, which must forthwith he had, though with the expence of treble the value of it: so that I haue often heard of some of those saying wise men, that haue come to your Cities for such [Page 8] Physicke, haue beene brought so low by such receipts, that at length they would haue gone home, if they might, but the The Gent. is seldome well as ease, T [...]ll that he ride to London all in post; And vp and downe the Dice and Cards be [...]ost. When he a while about the streets doth [...], He borrowed pence at length to bring him home. Coach, Coach-horses and all were gone. Your selues had taken possession of the Enclosures, and the Gentleman was eased of the knaues that so much troubled him and his familie.
Sir, why doe you make vs Accessaries to these misdemeanors? we seldome invite you or send vnto you to come vnto vs. We are men of mysteries and liue by our trades and occupations; our shops are open to all Commers, and our houses to our friends and Customers, and it were inhumanitie and discurtesie in vs, when your Ladies send vnto vs to lodge and lye with vs, to deny them such a Curtesie, when as wee get our livings by them and such as they are. Or why doe you lay any blame vpon your Ladies, as though they were any cause of your ruine and overthrow. They poore Ladies, desire but Clothes, and those in fashion (being all the riches that they can justly challenge as their owne) and a little meat and drinke in lieu of those great portions which they brought vnto you, and when they haue them they keepe them as carefully as they doe their eyes, and how can they be the causes of your ruine and destruction?
I would I could say so too, and justly excuse them, but alas I cannot, for it is too true they are our wiues that first sollicite & perswade vs to come to your Cities, and so the first moving Causes of our ruine oftentimes: and when we are there wee cannot want instruments that will put to a helping hand, the Vbi quaeso nisi in vrbibus voluptates faedae habitant? vbi lenocinia et prostrata passim pudititia? vbi stupra et adulteria, et incaestus at (que) omnis generis corruptelae? vbi luxus et gula inexplebilis? vbi mons superbiarum? vallis formidinum? palus libidinum, et mare mise [...]iarū? vbi patētes in mititiae et occultae fraudum tendiculae? vbi demùm virtutum fuga, & imperium peccati omnis? insid: notarij, voracissimum saenum, et qui [...]cquid malihomo in horminē molitur. Qui haecet q [...]ae sunt hujusmodi [...]eine [...]e expetit vel aud [...]e, non longa est via, proxim [...]m vrbem petat, quaecun (que) illa sit, quam vis angusta plenam [...]al um inven et Horū nam (que) malo um fons est Civi [...]a, a [...]deò vt quae ad tut [...]lam homin [...]s facta erat, ad ejusdem [...]xcidium versa est. Petrarch. Stewes, the Ordinaries, the Play-houses, the Tavernes, and rather than we shall fayle the Brokers will helpe vs to a Commoditie of browne Paper to helpe vs forward; So that I wondred at the first how a Gentleman of our Countrey confining himselfe within the precincts of foure or fiue roomes for the most part of his time, could consume [Page 9] an estate of a thousand pound by the yeare within a dozen yeares or lesse; but when I heard what Courses he tooke, what Company he frequented, I wondred then how he could continue so long. Our old Chronicles tell vs, and so doe our Bookes of the Lawes and 16. R. 2. Cap. 4. 20. R. 2. Cap. 2. Statutes of the Kingdome of ENGLAND, that
It was anciently the honour of the English Nation to keepe good His Table dormant in his Hall alway, Stood ready covered all that liue-long day; Without bakemeate was never his house; Of fish & flesh and that so plenteous: As Chaucer obserues of the Frankline the noble Housekeeper of England. Nobilitatis Anglicae decus olim fuit rure vivere, hospitalitatem colere [...]ex his super caeteras gentes famam meruer [...]mus, sed nunc viri generosi, quibus in vrbe nihil rei est, faeminarum ambitione eò trahuntur, mariti vt vxoribus, parentes vt filiabus gratificentur, nec enim nisi Londini novam et transmarinam vestium formam invenire est: at Londini si nuptae sunt, nuptia [...]um spem evertunt, si [...]nuptae, famam et maritalem censum. Mos Italorum obtinuit vt viri generosi alij (que) permulti relictis agris in vrbes migrent. Obsecro (inquit Serenissimus nuper Rex in oratione 5.) peregrina haec cò relegemus vnde orta sunt, et antiquum Anglia morem postliminio revocemus. Hospitalitie, and to be well attended; and men were so much addicted thereunto, that diverse [Page 10] Lawes and Statutes were made to prohibite them from drawing such long tayles after them; but they were not then so forward, but now they are as backward: that which our fore-fathers bestowed vpon the necessary feeding of many bellies in the Country, we bestow vpon our backs in the Citie; and that which they bestowed on many blew Coats with Cognisances, we bestow on a Coach and avant-Courrier; yet they kept their estates, we spend them, they lived and dyed rich, we miserable. These were motiues likewise that made me leaue your Cities, and betake my selfe to a poore Cottage in the Country. Yet these were not all. Other reasons there were that did much prevaile with me; and this was one. For that it pleased the great In Sin [...]i veniunt, montis (que) cacumina Moses Conscendit, Dominus faedera sancta novat. Ex [...]d. 19.20. Iehovah God Almightie in the Countrey to distribute his sacred Lawes and Ordinances to his servant Moses, as being the most convenient and proper place for it; for that is one of the chiefest reasons that I finde to haue beene given wherefore God went out into the Quaerentibus, quae causa sir, cur deus non in Civitate, sed in vasta solitudine, leges condiderit, respondendum, censeo, (inquit Philo) quod Civitates complures, malis, (de quibus dicere reformidat oratio) impierate erga deum, injustitiâ erga se mutuò redundabant. Philo Iud. d [...] 10. Praecept. remote places to deliver those sacred mysteries; because he found in your Cities you were given to pride, to selfe-loue, to detraction, to envie, and inclinable to arrogate the invention of those sacred Lawes vnto your selues: and therefore to giue you no occasion to glory in those things wherein you had no hand, he went out from you, he left your Cities and betooke himselfe into the Countrey. In the Mount did God deliver those holy Lawes and Statutes. Thus not onely the Kings and Emperours, but even the King of Kings hath honored the Countrey with many extraordinary graces and favours aboue the Cities. These were motiues, I say, that did much prevaile with me. Yet others there were, as when I called to minde the happinesse generally which the Country-man enjoyes; how he is not much troubled with cares of building, nor terrified with Non illum insidiae, non spes, non pallida torquet, Suspitio, non ille dolos, aut crimina versat. Sed tectas avibus pedicas molitur, etauc [...]ps Decipit, aut Cervis varas, et retia figit. No fallow feare doth day, or night affright him. Vnto no fraud doth night or day addict him: Or if he muse on guile, it is but to get Beast, Bird, or Fish in toyle, in snare, or not. Bartas. feares of loosing what he hath builded. He hath little Commerce [Page 11] with Commodities subject to the fury of fire and water. He seldome adventures vpon the O fortunatum, mare quitam flebile nunquam, Navigat, experto credens, No other Seas he knowes, no other torrens, Then that which waters with his silver-current. His natiue meadowes. Bart. Seas or builds stately Towers vpon the Land: his Rents are his Revenues which the fire and water may wash and purifie, but hardly take from him. And if it chance a suddaine fire and inundation to happen, a small matter will repaire his ruines and losses: his Si luxus, si vestis abest, fi Charasupellex, Pista nec aureolo sub tegmine purpuraludit; Nec picti rident postes, & laevia eburneîs Tesserulis tabulata nitent, nec sutilis arca Clausas caelatopes, et avarae pondera lamnae, Nativâ at proprios lanâ sibi nevit amictus: Fontibus antra madent; at (que) horna onerantur inemptis Vina Cadis, plenó (que) greges numerantur ovili. roomes are not hanged with the rich Tapistry of Flaunders, neither is his house furnished with the fine linnen of Holland: he drinkes not in silver-vessels, neither are his garments fringed or imbroydered; he is seldome troubled with his Coach, Coach-horses, or a disordered Coachman, but in stead of them he hath a competent quantitie of household-stuffe, enough and no more; one plaine Table-bord with Chaires and stooles sutable; he drinkes in earthen vessels, or in vessels made of Tynne or Copper, in which his drinke rellisheth as well as in bowles made vp of the purest metall: his bedsteds are plaine, his beds are of Flox, which though they are hard, yet they are wholesome, especially in the Summer season: and his Curtaines are made of the wooll of his What though hit Wardrope be not stately stuft, With sumptuous silkes, pincht and pounst and puft▪ He is warme wrapt in his owne growne wooll, Of vubought Wines his Cellar's ever full, Avaritiae rarò sunt addicti rustici, hi curant solùm abscondere paupertatem, vt Rusticus apud Tibullum de se loquitur. Non ego divitias patrum, fructús (que) requiro, Quos culitantiquo condita messisavo. Patva seges satis aestivo securus ac [...]rvo. owne sheepe. Two garments he hath and no more, one for the Winterseason, the other for the Summer, and as many servants, one of the masculine, the other of the feminine sexe, and one horse well vnder-laid to carry him and his Commodities through the dirt to the Market, and this is his for-fortune: so that if a misfortune doe befall him, his friends and acquaitance can easily set him vp againe. Againe when I considered how that the Country-man hath more Libet jacere modò sub antiqua ilice, modò in tenaci gramine. Horat. Augustus Casar de quodam Romano negotiatote mortuo dicebat, miror, cùm tempus illum desecerit ad negotiandum, quomodò moriendi tempus reperire potuerit. Vide apologum de luscinia, & hirundine: quo ostenditur, melius foris vivere quiete, quàm in vrbibus molestia. O semideum certè qui rure commoratur, vbi quis quotidiè cum vicinis suis ante portam implatta, velper ipsam quo (que) fenestram confabulari possit. freedome and libertie than you in the Citie, if he be addicted to his studie, he hath more time to [Page 12] looke over his bookes, if to his pleasures and delights, he hath more time to hawke and hunt: if he desire to visite his friends, he hath more time to laugh and be merry with them: if to refresh and recreate himselfe at his meales, he hath more time to sit by it: if he haue a desire to walke into the shady groues, or by the silent rivers, he may doe it without Domino nullo stragulo, nullo servo opus est, sed vnusquis (que) solus, ex vna vicinia in aliam animi causâ, sese confert, sic vt nemini de honore suo detrahatur. attendance, and no man will taxe him of not keeping state. If he desire to goe in a plaine habite, no man will condemne him, for that it was the old fashion of England. Againe, when I considered that the Country-man hath not so many causes of In celso, & humililoco viventes discrepant in eo, quòd is qui vivit in humili, pauperes quorum misereatur, sibi multos obsersari videt: sed is qui degit in illustri multos opulentos contemplatur, vt ob invidiam macie contabescat. discontent and disquietnes, as you in the Citie haue; for if he at any time chance to walke abroad, he meetes with few or none but poore Cottagers, poore Carters, diggers and delvers, and in conversing with them is put in minde of his own happinesse, how much he is bound. with Moribundus Plato, naturae gratias egit, quòd homo, non brutum, quòd mas non faemina, quòd Gracus non barbarus. Vide fabulam de asino, simia & talpa, quae significat illo: qui se judicant infaelicissimos, comparatione aliorum faelices esse. A sinus infaelicē se putabat, quod nulli animali esset tertibilis: Simia, non tanta est turpitudo tua quanta mea, qui sum sine cauda. Talpa, quid querimini? cum sciatis me captum oculis, et sempiternas in tenebras à natura procreatum fuisse. Plato to prayse God, who hath placed him in degree so farre aboue those poore men, who might haue made him a bruit beast, or a Barbarian, or as meane as the meanest. In one place he beholds a poore Cottage, that hath no other windowes than serue to let out the smoke, no other hangings, than what the Spider affords, no other bedsteds, or Table-bords, than the bare earth, no other bedding than plaine strawe, or such as the barne affoords, no other Cowches, or Chaires, or stooles, or fourmes, or benches, or Carpets, or Cushions, than what Nature hath wrought with her owne hands, the ground worke being the earth, and the greene grasse, the Cowselap, the Primrose, the Honisuckle, the workenmanship, sweete and sightly enough, but quite and cleane out of fashion, and not in that request as the curious workes of Art are. In another place he beholds one digging and delving in dirt and mire, either in making of ditches or scowring of trenches. In another place, one standing vp to the knees in stinking excrements, lading his Tumbrell to manure his Land. Here [Page 13] he beholds one comming from the Market with his Candles in one hand, his Canne in the other, his Wallet on his backe, and his Tarbox at his girdle: there another comming from the Wood with fuell on his backe to warme him when he comes home. In a third place, a poore Shepheard sitting on the side of a hill, or on a playne in a colde Winters day, shivering and shaking as if an Ague had taken him, and dropping at the heeles, as if he had beene taken out of a River. All of them being clad in Patres nostri oberraverunt cum ovillis et Caprinis pellibus. 11. Heb. 37. Our Fathers wore good Frees, to keepe them warme. And Kendall-greene in Summer for a shew. Churchyard. Sheepskins, like vnto our forefathers, having no more clothes than they haue backs, no more provision laid vp in store than wil serue them for a few daies, and no other revenue than their daily labour; in conversing with whom, I say, he's put in minde of his owne happinesse. Whereas you in the Citie seldome walke abroad, but you meete with objects which offend and discontent you. Sometime you meete with an Alderman, and repine (though you be rich) that you are not so rich as he; sometimes you meete with a Baron, and repine, though you haue an Aldermans estate, that you haue not an estate of a Baron, and are never pleased, vnlesse you meete with a How the Knights of our time, degenerate from the order of Knighthood, it may thus appeare. Gerrard Leigh writing of Olybion, who was the first & most auncient Knight, being Knighted with Iaphets fauchion, which Tubal made before the Floud, affirmes Hospitalitie to be one of the nine vertues, belonging to Knighthood: Now what Hospitalitie many of our Knights keeper, the nine ninepenny-Ordinaries doe sufficiently manifest. The nine vertues belonging to Chivalry are, 1. to worship God, 2. to honour father and mother. 3. to be mercifull. 4. not to wrong the poore. 5. not to turne thy backe to thine enemy. 6. to keepe thy promise. 7. to keepe Hospitalitie. 8. to do maydens right. 9. not to wrong the widow. Leigh. Knight, and then you glory that they walke the streets like Citizens, and you like Knights. Againe, when I considered how in the Country every man is valued according to his worth and merit, and not according to his riches and estate. If he be a good man, every one there will loue him, and honour him; if he be a dishonest man, every man will hate and despise him. They will not suffer goodnesse to be trampled vpon, nor knaverie to be applauded. Whereas amongst you in the Citie, no man is honoured ob id quod valet, sed ob id quod habet. If he be rich, there he shall be had in authoritie and renowne, be he never so bad. And if he be poore, there he shall be had in contempt, be he never so good. Againe, when I considered how in the Countrey▪ men are more faithfull to their friends, [Page 14] more Non locat infami steriles in faenore nummos, Et super insontem munera nulla capit Rusticus — honest in their Conversations, and more loyall to their Soveraignes. It was an observation long agoe that never in a poore Plutarch in Lycurgo. Countrey Cottage was there any treason hatched. Againe, when I considered how that the Country-man is better provided with things necessary for the life of man, than you in the Citie; he never troubles himselfe to send to the Shambles for his Beefe or Mutton, nor to the Poulterer for his Poultry: he hath verveces, capreolas, et boves, beefe and mutton of his owne store, and wants nothing that the season of the yeare can afford him: if Pigeons are in season, he hath Columbos domesticos, Pigeons at his dore in his owne Doue-house: if Pullets, Capons, or Conies are in season, he hath Pullastros, Capones, & Cunicalos, in his owne Warren, and of his owne breeding: if Partridges, Cocks, or Pheasants be in season, he hath perdices, palumbos, & phasianos in his owne fields or Woods not farre from him: if he want wooll to cloth him, he hath the wooll of his owne sheepe ad vestiendum: if he want Bacon, he hath Porkes of his owne ad salliendum: if he wants horses, he hath Colts of his owne breeding ad opera sua exequendum. So that he wants nothing which doth conduce to the vse of man. Againe, when I considered how that in the Country there are no Non animae tabes, tectis (que) inclusa sub arctis Tarda lues, purum lento faetore cruorem Inficit, at caelifacies, et aperta, serena, Semina languorum discussa tulêre per auras. Never grosse ayre poysoned in stinking streetes, To choake his spirits his tender nostrils meetes: But the open ayre whereat full breath he liues, Still keepes him found, and still new stomacks giues. Bartas. foggie fennes or stinking vapours, no young Physitians, no old diseases, no man there knowes what Venerealues, or Morbus Gallicus is called by the Frenchmen the evill of Naples; by the Italians, the disease of France: which how it began and when in those parts, see Gwicciard in the latter end of his second Booke of his Historie of Italie. Morbus Gallicus is, Paralysis & Podagra are never heard of there, they were long agoe banisht by In the fields both Greekes & Romaines built their Temples to Aesculapius, amongst the Cottages of the Plowmen, and not in the Citie amongst the pe [...]red habitations of Artificers. Ferne. Aesculapius, and never returned to this day. Iuluba, Bolus, Syrupus, and Apozema are strange words amongst them. Plaine Kitchin physicke is their physicke, and they know no other: no man there knows quid lapides sunt, nor is at any time troubled with any such thing, vnlesse at such times as they haue occasion to carry them in mapaliorum erigendorum gratiâ, for building and reedifying of their Cottages. Whereas in the Cities let a man divide his estate in three parts, a [Page 15] third part is spent in pharmacopolas, et medicos, Medice non vivendum. vpon Apothecaries and Physitians, Cyrum apud Xenophontem Ca [...]byses docet, vt fugiat medicos, qui veluti amictuum fractorū resarcinatores, cùm aliqui aegrotârunt, tunc medentur. Et Plato pharmacorum vsum negligit damnát (que) sola nam (que) victus ratio, ad sanationem morborū, multò magis ad corporis constitutionem firmandam aut sustentandam, vtille pu [...]at, sufficit. Tiberius, medicorum artes, at (que) eos qui post trigesimum aetatis annum ad internoscenda corporis sui vtilia vel noxia, alieni consilij indigerent, ridere solebat. whom Cambyses would haue Cyrus by all meanes to avoyde. Thus haue I shewed you briefly according to my promise, the motiues which induced me to betake my selfe vnto the Country, and judge you whether that I had not just cause so to doe.
Sir, I am fully satisfied by your relation, that the Country-life is both a necessary, and a harmelesse course of life, and that there is no life to be compared vnto it, if we respect the health of our bodies onely; but what say you to the health of the soule, that may languish and pine away whilest you are caring for your body, wanting those meanes which we partake of in the Cities.
Certainly, in both respects I dare be bold to say, that the Country is the place (if to any place preheminence may be given) wherein God is most delighted, and which is most pleasing vnto him, of any place in the world. Let vs examine the matter a little, to what place was it, I pray you, that our blessed Saviour in his greatest extremities alwayes betooke himselfe to seeke for comfort and reliefe, to the Cities? No; In monte pernoctavit orans, in montetransfiguratus, in montem moriturus ascendit, on the mountaine he prayed, on the mountaine transfigured, on the mountaine he dyed. Where was it that the holy Turbis et vrbibus derelictis, polentis aegrestibus victitantes, casulas sibi prope fluenta maris aedificabant prophetae. Patriarks and Prophets of old time lived? in the Cities? No; they left the Cities and betooke themselues vnto solitary places; it was in the Country neere vnto the River Iordan where they built their houses. Where was it that Abraham did so familiarly talke with God? was it among the sumptuous buildings of the Cities? No; in tabernaculis et Convallibus collocutorem Deum meruit, non in palatijs intér (que) delicias vrbanas; it was among the poore Cottages in the Country; not among the high towring buildings [Page 16] of the Cities: where was it that he entertained the Angels? it was vnder a Sub quercus vmbra glandiferae convivium celebratum erat, non sub auratis laquearibus tectorum. Petrarch. shadie Oake in the Country where those happie festivals were celebrated, not in any stately Towne or Citie. Where was Elisaeus when the spirit of Elias was doubled vpon him, and when he wrought those strange miracles which he did? He was either in the Desert of Vbi erat Helizeus quando geminum rapti ducis consecutus est spiritum, quando ferrum contra naturā et consuetudinē suam natans flenti restituit amico; quando tribus regibus totidém (que) regijs exercit: bus, ne perirēt fiti, repleto sine vllis imbribus torrente, subvenit? Petrarch. Idumea, or neare vnto the River Iordan. Of what place did Isaac make choyse to meditate on heaven and heavenly things? Egressus est ad meditandum in agro: he went forth into the Country to meditate. Where was Iacob when he saw the Angels ascending and descending? Was the lying on a soft featherbed in the Citie? No; he was lying on a Impositâ saxo Iacob cervice quiescens, Aligeros scalas vidit inire Choros. Genes. 28. stony-bed in the Country. To leaue the Prophets and Apostles: in what place did the reverend Fathers of the Church most desire to spend their dayes in? in the Cities? No; difficile est in turba invenire Ihesum; it is a hard thing (as S. Austin was vsed to say) in a Crowde to finde the Lord. And therefore he betooke himselfe to the Country ad montem Pisani, to finde him out. From whose breasts did that holy Father Saint Bernard sucke that abundant measure of knowledge that did liue and dwell in him? Solebat ille dicere omnes, se quas sciret litter as in sylvis & agris didicisse. Non hominum disciplinis, sed meditando & orando, nec se vllos magistros habuisse praeter quercus & fagos: He was vsed to say, that all the learning that ever he had, he got it in the woods and fields by praying and meditating, and that he never had any other tutor than the Oakes and Beeches. Where did that golden Father Saint Chrysostome liue? did he not in his youth abandon the Vitavit turbam & raro conspectus est in populo. Cities, and the intricate studies there read & taught, and betake himselfe to the Country, to the companie of old Cyrus? Nay, to what places did many Princes, Potentates, & wise-men of old time retyre themselues? Did not Petrarcha. Charles the great resigne all his interest in Austria, the portion of his inheritance to his younger brother [Page 17] Pepin, and betakes himselfe ad latibulum in monte Socratis, to a little Caue in the mountaine of Socrates. Of what place did Numa make choyse to deliver his Lawes vnto his people, of the Citie of Rome? no, but of a Mountaine neare vnto Aritia, neare ten myles distant from the Metropolis. Where was it that Scipio Africanus betooke himselfe after that he overcame Hanniball, subdued Africa, and warred a long time in Spaine and Asia, vnto Rome? no, he went from thence and betooke himselfe to a little Village in Campania, lying betweene Put [...]olus and Capua, where he spent eleven yeares, and neither came either to Rome or Capua. Where was Gueverra. Dioclesian when the Romaine Ambassadours came vnto him with Letters from the Senate to entreate him to take vpon him the Empire againe? he was inter lactucas in his Country-garden, planting & watering of herbes; there was he when he returned this Answer vnto them: Expertus ego sum quid in aula sit imperare, quid item in agro laborare, sinite me quaeso in pace vivere, ego nam (que) multis omninò modis hic è manuum mearum labore vitam degere, quàns magna cum sollicitudine imperare malo. I know what belongs to both fortunes, I know what it is to rule, and what it is to labour. I pray you suffer me to liue in peace, for I had rather liue quietly by the sweate of my browes, than rule and governe with cares and feares. Where was Lucullus, who alone of all the Romane Captains is said to haue enjoyed in peace that which he had got in time of warre, when he feasted and entertained all men of qualitie that came a-neare him: was he at Rome? No; after the warres betweene the Romaines and the Parthians, which continued sixteene yeares were ended, comming vnto Rome and finding it in a combustion, by reason of the two factions of Scylla and Marius, he left it and betooke himselfe to a Countrey-house, which he built neare vnto Neapolis; there it was where he peaceably enjoyed full twentie yeares that which with a great [Page 18] deale of perill and danger he had gotten and obtained. To what place did Cato Censorius (who was in his speech eloquent, in his conversation sober, in his chastisements severe, in his rewards liberall, in his dyet sparing, in his promises constant, in execution of justice inexorable) betake himselfe in the fiue and fiftith yeare of his age? he forsooke Rome, and betooke himselfe to a little village not farre from Pysa, Et ibi reliquum vitae tempus, libris pro socijs vtendo tranquillè consumebat. There, there this inscriptiō was found written vpon his dore-porch; O faelix Cato; tu solus scis vivere, tu solus bene beate (que) vivendi rationem elegisti! Where was it that Pericles wrot this inscription vpon the porch of his dore; Inveni portum, spes & fortuna valete; I haue found that which I lookt for, my hopes are at an end, was it in Athens? No; after he had governed there full forty yeares in the sixtith yeare of his Age he left it, and betooke himselfe to a Country life, and vpon his dore-porch in his Countryhouse there it was found. What reward did Alexandrinus Crassus his Maister desire of him, for all his labour and paines in instructing him full two & twenty yeares together? certainely no other then this, that he would giue him leaue to betake himselfe to a poore Country life. Where was it that Seneca wrote most of his books, was it in the Court of Nero? No; it was at his Country Apud pradium suum, propè Nolam, Seneca libros suos de officijs, de ira, de bono viro, de adversa fortuna scripsit. Farme which lay neare vnto Nola a Towne in the middle of Campania. Where lived Plato, divine Plato, when he wrote the greatest part of his Workes, in Athens? No; he went from thence to a little village two myles distant from it, where he dyed, which the Auncients in honour of him called his Academie. Nay, what places did the Poets most affect, the Cities? No; What should they doe there, there was no place for them to repose themselues, to write the Battailes of The battell of Cressey was [...]ought the 26. of August, Anno Domini 1346. See the manner of it in the French Historie, in Philip of Valois. The battell of Poytiers was fought the 19. of Sept. 1356. See the French Historie in K. Iohn. The battell of Lepanto was fought the 6. of Octob. 1571. in which were slaine 30000. Mahumetists, besides those that were taken prisoners. See Iohn Stow in Q. Elizabeth. Cressey, Poyctiers, Agincourt, Lepanto, or any other memorable atchieuement. For besides the hideous disquieting [Page 19] cryes of kitching-stuffe, maribones, old shooes and boores, old dublets, trayes, boules, dishes, bellowes, glasses, kettles to mend, and the tumbling & rumbling of Carres and Coaches, Pride, —Romae ne me poemata censes Scribere posse, inter tot curas, tot (que) labores. luxuric, and Covetousnes for themselues, and the black-gard their followers and attendants, had engrossed and taken vp every corner there; wherefore the poore Poets were faine to betake themselues to Horatius Flaccus non jam sibi regiam Romam placere palàm praedicat, sed vacuum Tibu, raut imbella Tarentum. Petrarch. Rura sacros vates, gelidae (que) in vallibus vmbrae, Blandá (que) graminei cespitis herba juvant. The shadie groues the Poets most affected, The woods as friends, as foes they Cities deemed. Tibur or Tarentum, to the shady groves, or silent Rivers, or dispeopled Cities.
So that the Country hath ever beene esteemed the most necessary and convenient place for the Muses to inhabite, and for the health as well of the soule as of the body. The end of warre is peace, and the end of all our labour and travaile is Otium est solamen praesentium laborum, praeteritorum merces, venturi tēporis spes. Petrarch. In rerum Civilium versari fluctibus, carere somno, cibum non sumere in tempore, mortifera res est at Rusticati [...] vitam qui [...]am, liberam, [...] nestam, & fragalitatom convenientem praebee. Aenass Sylvius. rest & tranquillitie, which can no where so conveniently be found as in the Countrey. But to come home a little neare vnto you: you will say, that in your City you haue more cōduits ten for one to cōvey comfort to the soule, than we haue in the Countrey: I grant it, but take this with you, that as one good horse is to be preferred before ten restie jades, one good hawke before ten bangling buzzards, one true hunting dog, before ten stragling curres; so one learned painefull Pastor before ten ignorant careles ones. It is true, in our great Parish wee haue but one, but such a one, as I dare compare to ten of yours, being learned, sober, and honest, and which doth adde a lustre to them all, as hospitable as his meanes will giue him leaue, yet hating tipling, as the bane of religion: he preacheth duely once a weeke, every Sabbaoth in the morning, Catechiseth in the after-noone. Yea, indeede he preacheth every day in the weeke, yea every houre in the day, every Qui Evangelium sanctificat, curare omnimodò debet, ne quae in praedicando macula, ne quod in dicendo vitium, ne quae in magisterio culpa nascatur; sed si fieri potest (vrita dixerim) semetipsū primò immolet, se primum vitijs jugulet, et sua priùs peccato membra mortificet, vt non solùm doctrinâ, sed et vitae exemplo discipulorum salutem, oblationem suam acceptam faciat deo. Origen. Doctorē oportet sive loquatur, sive sileat, sive vbicun (que) locurú fuerit, omnibus alijs hominibus excellere, adeò vt aspectu, incessu, habitu, et alijs caeteris praestantior videatur. Chrysostome. Oculi, et den [...]s, praedicato [...]es sunt sanctae Ecclesiae, qui ei et recta itinera praevidere, et alimenta spiritualia suggerere solent. Hierome. Action of his being a precept vnto vs, every word an Oracle, [Page 20] what he saith at the Table we beleeue, as if we heard him in the Pulpit; so faithfull is he in his words, so honest and just in his conversation, once a yeare he taketh an occasion to performe his filiall rights vnto his Father, and to absent himselfe from vs for the space of some few weekes, during all which time, every houre seemes a day, and every day a moneth to vs his Parishioners, no man enjoying himselfe, because they cannot enjoy him, and at his returne happie is the man that can haue the honour first to entertaine him. And indeede I dare say, there is no loue lost, and that our longing is not so much after him, as his is after vs: so happie are wee in him for our soules health. So that wee finde it verified in him, that it is not the multitude of Shepheards which make the sheepe thriue, but the diligence of the Shepheards to whom the flocke are committed, and the more sensible are wee of this our happines in this our Pastor; by reason we see in what Sicat acetum deatibus, et fumus contrarius est oculis, ita sacerdos in Ecclesia pravus per acedinem peccati, fidelium sensus obtundere solet. Hierowe. discontentments our neighbouring Parishioners liue in, what suits and contentions are between their Pastor and them; how often he comes and sends for an egge or an apple, and will rather loose the best of his Parish than loose one of them, vpon this pretence, that he hath a familie, and he that provides not for it is worse than an Infidell: though indeede the provisiō be for the Patron, who did not giue but grant, (beshrow him for it) that which he should haue givē, of which they his Parishioners are too sensible, and grone vnder the burthen of it, having the same measure measured vnto them, as the Patron measured vnto him. Whereas we never heare of any such thing, those poore tythes of Mynt and Cummin our Pastor lookes not after, onely desires an acknowledgement of his right vnto them, which we most willingly condescend vnto, and thereby he looseth nothing, for wheras there is but one often due to him, wee doe requite him for those small curtesies ten for one, and more wee would doe if be [Page 21] would accept it, so doth he winne vs by his sweete and affable Conversation among vs. Marry I know not what he would doe if he had such a familie, or Patron as our neighbouring Parishioners say their Pastor hath. But indeede he hath no other Spouse then the Church, nor other Children then, the poore, for whom hee doth as carefully provide, as if shee lay in his bosome, and were the naturall begotten children of his own body. And as for our Church, I dare compare it with your Mother-Church in your Metropolis, that shee is not so beautified without, nor adorned within as our Citie-Parish-Church is; no sooner can a storme deface any part of it, but every one runs as readily to repayre it, as to extinguish a fire: no sooner can age seize vpon it, but every one addes to a pillar to support it: no sooner can a mote come into her glassie eyes, but every man is readie to pull it out: we deferre not the time vntill it be too late. When sight is gone, there is no neede of an Occulist, when death hath levelled the body with the dust, no vse of the Quum semel occideris, et dete splendida Minos Fecerit arbitria: Non, Torquate, genus, non te facundia non te Restituet piet [...]s. Infernis ne (que) enim tenebris Diana pudicum, Liberat Hippolytum. Nec Lethaea valet Thes [...] abrumpere ch [...]ro. Vincula Pirithoo. Horat. lib. 4. Carm. Od. 7. ad Tonquatum. Vide apologum de medico et agro, Nunc mihi naufragio quid prodest dicere facto, Quâ mea debuerat currere Cymba viâ? Physitian. Wherefore wee kill the Cocatrice whilest it is but an egge, and quench the Est aliquid primam scintillam extinguere, sed cùm Altiùs in flammam creverit, est aliud. flame whilest it is but a sparke; we suffer not her dores at all houres in the day to lye open, neither will we admit her to be a throw-fare for every man to passe: it was not instituted for the Peripateticke to measure his pases in, nor for the Broker to make it his Renduvous; if they come there at the time of divine service, and tread vpon it as vpon holy ground, there they are admitted, if not, there is no place for them. So carefull are wee of our little Parish-Church.
But how doe you weare out the long Summers days, and the tedious Winters night, having little or no company, or at least not sit for your society in the parts you liue in.
Sir, I will giue you a true Accompt of it, in Excubitor lucem praenunclatales, Ac somni, ac operum justas disterminat horas; Compellons residem spectacula ad inelyta florum, Quos lachtymis aurora nitens rorantibus implet. The crested Cock sing, hunts vp to him, Limits his rest and makes him stirre betime; To walke the Mountaines and the flowrie meades, Impearld with teares which sweete Aurora breedes. the Morning as soone as ever I heare the Cocke, I rise [Page 22] out of my bed, and then after that I haue sent vp some prayers and prayses to my Creator, and given to every of my servants his particular Charge in the businesse committed vnto his care for that day. If the businesses of my Country will permit me, which I preferre before all other whatsoever, I take my progresse towards the high towring Manè peto momes, post caenam, flumina, fontes. mountaines to take a survey of my little fleeced flocke: where I spend about an houre or two, admiring to see nature so wittie and prevalent in those profitable silly creatures, as that they should be able amongst a thousand of the same age, colour, and feature to know and single out their owne darling, which the most skilfullest swayne will not vndertake to doe. That being done, for that is ever my first worke, I take my progresse further to the top of the hill, where I suck in the sweete and wholesome ayre, behold Phoebus surmounting himselfe vpon his Chariot, displaying his beames: throughout the whole Horizon. I heare the Numeros meditantur [...]ves, et cantibus auras Mulcen [...]es, grato mala taedia murmure fallunt. The cheerefull birds, chirping vs sweet good morrowes, With natures musicke not beguile out sorrowes. The pretrie Larke clyming the w [...]lking tree, Chaunts with a cheere, bere peere I weare my deare. Bartas. prettie Larke, sweetly singing aboue me; the little Wren, to do the like beneath me, As the Moone the eye doth please, With gentle beames not hurting sight: Yet hath Sr. Sunne the chiefest praise, Because from him proceeds the light. So if my man must prayses haue, What then must I that keepe the knaue? See the Aread lib. 1. Dorus & Dametas melodiously singing their rounde laies round about me, each of them contending in their kinde to giue content vnto me: at last when I haue fully glutted my selfe with those delightfull objects, I take my flight thorow the flowrie meades and pastures home againe: and as I passe, I take a survey of my Cattell of all sorts both for In reducta valle mugientium Prospectat errantes greges. Horat. paile and plowe; and if I finde them well, all is well, if not, I take a strict account of him to whose care they are committed, and if I finde him carelesly faultie, having beene twice or thrice seriously premonished, I ease my selfe of him. Thus doe I weare out the time vntill about the houres of eleven or twelue of the Clocke. At which time vsually I returne home againe, being the houres appointed for eating with vs. Where I finde such provision as the Countrey affords ever readie, being for the most part, solide, substantiall foode, Beefe and Mutton, Castameae molles, et pres [...]i Copialacti [...], Edurae (que) nuces adsunt, at (que) insita poma Condita stant subitis incondita fercula caenis. Milke, cheese and fruits, fruits of our owne endevour, Diest without dressing haue we readie ever. Bartas. Butter and Cheese, [Page 23] or the like; as for Quaile and Partridge, Cocke or Pheasant, I touch not, nor taste of, but leaue those for such as are weake and sicke, Children and old folkes to feede vpon: Wine I vse none, other than such as I beare about me, having a stomacke that needs no fuell to adde heate vnto it: and sawce I vfe none other than hunger, and such as naturally I gather in travailing to and fro: neither indeed need I any; for ordinarily our stomacks are passing good, yet we make no great vse of them, we seldome eate to please the palate, or satisfie the appetite; onely eate to liue, giue Primùm operam do ne v [...] quam salurer, idem grave est, dein verò, vt per laborem ingesta consumam. Xenophon Socrates dicere solebat quosdam vivere vt comederent, et biberent: se autem comedere et bibere, vt natura saetis faceret, or excursum vitae fragilis sustentaret. nature her due, not overburthen her; for we hate to be accounted any of Epicurus Schollers. And this is the course of life wee leade; and thus doe we spend the morning all the yeare, if the weather will permit it. And having thus refreshed my selfe, sometimes I betake my selfe to the fayres and markets, where Art and Nature were vsed to vent their choycest Wares and Commodities, I meane the Orchards and Gardens of the The Hesperides were the three daughters of Atlas, who had an Orchard of golden Apples kept by a Dragon which Hercules slew. Hesperides, those liuely resemblances of the Elysian fields, where I finde every hedge bespangled with roses of all kinds; here the Province, there the white and red rose: here a bed beset with violets and straw-berries, there another with lyllies and jelli-flowers: here a Tanta raritas et novitas vndiqua (que), vt videatur in exiguum hunc locum naturam conclusisse, quicquid eximium habet noster et alter orbis. knot drawne out more curiously than Daedalus his labyrinth, there another with as great skill and cunning: here the bower where Venus and Adonis were vsed to sport and play; there another where See Chawcer in his Marchants tale. It is a good observation of a learned Armorist, as the Knights in auncient time did make choyce of the trefoyle & cinquefoyle for their bearing in their Armes that grew in the fields; because in the field they should purchase their honour▪ So the Ladyes of the Rose, and the flowers of the Gardens, because that in the Gardēs they should take most delight. Ianuary and May did recreate themselues: here a pleasant streame abounding with the choycest fish; there a shadie groue beset with fruits of all kinds: here the tree on which Damian abused his old Maister; there another on which grew those golden Apples, for which Hercules, adventured himselfe against the Dragon: here a high Mount to sucke in the sweete and wholesome ayre; there a greene walke to stretch and stirre my aged lims, every corner being be dewed with the Finxerunt poetae flores pleros (que) natos è succo et sanguine d [...]orum. juice and water of [Page 24] the gods, and every step that I tread putting me in mind how man is aptly compared to a Omni [...] care v [...]lu [...] graemen, & omnis gloria hominis veluti flos gramm [...]s, exaruitgramē, & flos decidit. Esay 40.6. 1 Pet. 1.24. flower of the field. For if I cast mine eyes into one corner of it, I behold the flowers budding, if into another I see them blossoming, if into a third, in Full gay was all the ground and quaint, And powdred as men had it paint; With many a fresh and sundry flower, That [...]sten vp full good [...]avour Chawcer. fall maturitie, if into a fourth, declining, if into a fifth, quite withered and falne away. If I beholde them againe in their colours; I see one of one colour, another of another, a third of another, a fourth of another: if I chance to smell vnto them, I finde one to smell sweetly, and to delight the sence, another as gay, but of an ill smelling savour. If I cast mine eyes aboue me, I see one vpon the Mount suddenly parcht with the Sunne, or Homo vt [...]to [...]e [...]lus evanescit, [...] hunc pruin [...] peruffert, levit hunc aura decusserit, subitò, vel inimicae manus vngue decerpitur, vel praetereuntis caloe deptiminus. Petrarch nipt with the winde: if, beneath me, another subject to be trodden & trampled vnder-foote by every childe and babe. Whereby I am put in minde of the true estate of humane frailtie, that there is a time for all things, a time to bud in the wombe, a time to blossome afterwards, a time or come to full maturitie, a time to decline, and a time to fade and fall away. How one man is of one complexion, another of another, a third of another, a fourth of another, one sanguine, another flegmaticke, another cholericke, another melancholic [...]e, how one man by a vertuous and honest life smells sweetly in the nostrils of all men, how another by his dishonest courses savours strongly: how he that is Infima cal [...]ritur, summa repentè ruunt. Precatio Mori. Dent Superi, vt sim Nec nimiùm felix, nec niserandus ego. an high is subject to the stormes of envie & malice: how he that is below is subject to be grieved and oppressed, and how generally there is no stabilitie or permanencie in humane frailtie; but as the As [...]ades the Rose, so speedes our youth away, It growes, it bloues, it spreads, it she [...], her beautie in a day. flowers of the field, we bud, we blossome, we grow, we decline, and then fade and vanish away. Thus doe I spend an houre sometimes in musing and meditating: sometimes againe I take a walke into the meades and pastures, taking along with me one, two, or more Companions; sometimes Vegetius Frontinus, and Aelianus, of whom I learne how a Souldier should be qualified, and what exercises [Page 25] he should vse when he is not in the warres: how he should be of a good Quem metuūt stillae, non est bonus armiger ille. Courage, readie wit, & Non licet in bello bis peccare. sound judgement, to be able to know when to giue an enemy battell: how to take advantage of the winde and weather, of the Sunne, but especially of the Bonum ducem convenit nosse magnam partem victoriae, ipsum locum, in quo dimicandum est, possidere: qui tanto vtilior judicatur, quanto superior. Veget. lib. 3. ground wheron he is to giue his enemy battell; how if he thinke to overcome a troupe of horse with a band of foote, then to make choyce of some vneven, hilly, waterish, rockie and woodie place; if with his horse to overcome the foote, then of some plaine, even and open ground where his horse may haue accesse and rush freely vpon the enemie. How againe with Caesar Germanos suos est desperatione fortius pugnātes emitti jussit, fugientés (que) aggressus est; nam ex desperatione crescit audacia, et cùm spei nihil est, sumit armaformido. Libenter cupit cōmori qui sine dubio scit se moriturum. Veges. lib. 3. cap. 21. & Front. lib. 2. cap. 6. Caesar to giue an enemy passage having him in a straite and pitfolde, that he may take the more advantage of him in pursuit, how to saue himselfe with Trygon Syriae rex victu [...] per totum iter fugiens, pecuniam sparsit & hoc modo effugit. Frontin. lib. 2. cap. 13. Trygon by flight when he hath no other meanes to doe it: how to surprise a besieged Citie by a Strategem with Domitius, when other meanes cannot prevaile: and how with Frontin. lib. 3. Tarquinius Superbus by fraud to overcome an enemy, when as force can doe no good. How his exercises should be riding of his horse, vaulting to make him apt to mount him, trayling of his pike, charging and discharging of his Musket, throwing of the barre and stone with hand and foote, wrastling, swimming, and generally all Oportet milites solis patientes esse, vmbrae negligē tes, balnearum nescios, delici [...]rum ignaros, parvocontentos, dura [...]is ad omnium laborum tolerantiam membris. Veget. lib. 1 [...]. warlike and manly exercises. How he should be alwayes vigilant, but then especially when any office of trust is committed vnto him, bearing alwayes in his minde how Iphicrates served one of his Souldiers, who finding him asleepe being a Sentinell, fastned him to the ground with his sword, and being taxed for his crueltie, answered, that he did him no wrong, Qualem inveni, talem reliqui, as I found him so I left him. How he should enure himselfe to all kinde of hardnesse, and abandon all manner of Nil valet in bello, qui vivit deliciose; Nec sine duritia bellica palma datur. delicacies, which will effeminate the most manlike & warlike spirits: these things and many other I learne of them. Sometimes I take along with the Plutarchus Chaeronaeus, [Page 26] Lampridius, and Philippus Comminaeus, of whom I learne what Demetrius Phaleraeus was vsed to tell King Ptolomie, and what Severus and Alphonsus had often in their mouthes, that there are no such bookes for Princes to looke over as are Reading of Historie very profitable vnto Princes. See Phil Com. lib. cap. 6 [...]0. See more in Sucklift▪ Epistle to his booke of the lawes of armes. Iulius Caesar ferè quotidianus erat in Historijs legendis et scribendis, tantá (que) elegan [...]â scripsit: (teste Plutarcho) vt nemo posterorum ad ampliandas ejus historias ausus est manum admovere. Et Basilius Graecorum Imperator, in libello ad filium Leonem [...]ic commendat historiam: historias veteres percurrere ne pigeat, ibi e [...]im reperies fine labore, quae alij cum labore collegerūt; at (que) illi [...]c hauries vitae humanae varias mutationes, malorum paenas et bonorum praemia, quorum illa fugies, haec amplectêris. Guev [...]rra. historicall bookes, and the bookes which are written de regno et re militari. No such Counsellors for them to consult wit [...]all, as they who haue no tongues to flatter and dissemble: no sort of men more to be esteemed by them then Alexander had not beene so famous, had [...]e not so highly esteemed Pindarus & Homer, when he sacked Thebes, and put all to the sword, he saved Pindarus and his kindred, for his sake; & finding of Homers Iliads amongst the spoyles of Darius, put it in a Cabinet, and said, with Homer will I sle [...]pe, with Homer will I wake, Homer is a fit companion for Alexander. Sola scri [...]ta sunt, quae mortales quadam famae immortalitate perpetuant [...]plus Caesaris laudibus addiderunt scripta Virgilij, et Lucani, quàm omnes divitiae de diversis provincijs acquisitae; ideó (que) principibus et his qui res arduas mundo gerunt, nihil ad laudis acquisitionem possit commodius inveniri, quàm eos familiares et amicos habere, quiscribendo scirent, et possent res gestas ad posteros derivare. Bles: Epist. 77. Praecipere qualis debeat esse Princeps, planè superbum est (vtinquit Plinius) laudare verò principem, ac per hoc posteris, velut èspeculo lumen, quod sequantur oftendere, idem vtilitatis habet, arrogantiae nihil. Plin. lib. 3. Epist. 18. wise and discreete men, whose words and workes can found their praises and noble atchievements to all succeeding ages. Sometimes I take along with me Caius Suetonius, of whom I learne in fiue of the Caesars, to wit, in Iulius, Augustus, Claudius, Vespasian, and Titus, how good Princes are deified for their vertues, and smell sweetly in the nostrils of all posteritie. And in the other seaven (to wit) in Tiberius, Nero, Caligula, Galba, Otho, De Aula Vit [...]lli [...] dictum est, quòd vnum ad potentiam iter prodigis epulis, et sumptu, saginá (que) satiare inexplebiles Vitellij libidines. Tacitus lib. 2. Id é (que) Luconus lib. 8. [...] exeat aula, Quivokt esse pius. Vitellius, and Domitian; How evill Princes are branded for their vices, and savour strongly in the nostrils of all succeeding ages. And when I am disposed to spend an houre merrily, I take along with me, either Guzman the Spaniard, or Bocchas the Italian, or old Ieffrey Chawcer the English-man, in whose Company I take much delight, being full of wit and merry Conceits, without offence. And one while I draw out of him his Summers-tale; by which I learne how an honest Farmer rewarded a cousening Fryar with a Legacie, and how he was I trow the Divell put in his minde, In all Arseme [...]ricke there shall no man finde; Before this day of such question, Who should make a demonstration; That every man should make like his part, Of a sowne or savour of afart. Chawcer. perplexed about the division of it. Sometimes his Plow-mans tale, wherein I see the pride, covetousnesse, hypocrisie, and dissimulation [Page 27] of the Abbots and Priors, Monkes and Fryars of former ages. Sometimes his Marchants-tale, by which I learne what inconveniences doe ensue when crooked age and youth, Ianuary and May, are linked in marriage together. Sometimes his Manciples-tale, where I behold the punishment due to tale-tellers and newes-mōgers, pictured to the life in Phoebus his Crow. Sometimes his pardoners tale, wherein I see the fruits and effects of covetousnesse, drunkennesse, dice, swearing and ryot. And sometimes his Nunnes Priests tale, by which I am taught to beware of Taecitae magis et occultae inimicitiae timēdae sunt quàm indictae et apertae; nullae enim magis sunt periculosae insidiae, quàm quae latent in simulatione officij, aut in aliquo necessitudinis nomin [...]. Cicero.. flatterers, smooth-tongu'd dissemblers, frothy Complementers, windie bladders, that vent out nothing els but smooth dissimulations, and hypocriticall delusions, that with their capring wits can delude the vnderstanding with as much dexteritie, as the jugling Mountebanke or deluding Mimicke can the outward sences, that can put a good dye vpon any hue, make blacke seeme to be white, & white to be blacke, fowle to be faire, and faire to be fowle, good to be bad, & bad to be good, having tongues like to The Pope never did wha [...] he said. The Duke never spoke what be meant. Guicciard. Pope Alexander 6. and Duke Valentine his sonne, running Counter alwayes to their thoughts, and are never more to be suspected than when they professe the greatest Fistula dules can [...]t volucrem dum decipit aucep [...]. Sicue finis Oratoris, est persualisse dictione, medici curâsse medicina; Sic adulatoris sinis, est suaeviloquio decepisse. loue and familiaritie. Sometimes I take along with me merry Michael and Luscinius, of whom I learne how one of our Country-men entertained his sonne at his returne from Paris. A Country-man having one onely sonne, sent him to Paris, Vt imbibitis iHic litteris, gloriam sibi & omni familiae afferret. That he might better his knowledge, and be a comfort to him & his whole family, who after he had spent some yeares there, at last returned home. His father being desirous to haue him put forth himselfe, & to giue the world some testimony of his learning; his answer ever was, that what was read and taught at Paris, was extra captam vulgi, out of the reach of vulgar Capacities. But it so happened that sitting [Page 28] at the Table one day with his Father, seeing but three egges in a dish, and fiue persons at the Table, which he thought to be a kinde of Solaecisme, he tooke that occasion to shew his Father some of his art, and demaunded of him, An in tota hac vicinia sit aliquis, qui apertis argumentis docere queat, in tribus ovis quin (que) sontineri? Whether there were any one in all that neighbourhood, that would vndertake to proue that in three egges there could be fiue contained? To whom his Father answered, it was a thing impossible. Marry, quoth the Sonne, I my selfe will vndertake to doe it, and thus I will make it to appeare; Cui tria sunt ova, eidem sunt & duo, et qui habet tria et duo, habet quin (que) [...]ergo qui habet tria ova habet quin (que). What doe you say Father? Marry son, I say he lyes that sayes there are fiue egges in the dish. O but Father, you must answere Syllogisticè, and deny some proposition: and so I will sonne; Tu duobus ovis vescere quae ars tibi peperit, ergo tribus his quae edidit gallina famem solabar. And so that Controversie was decided. Anone after Cheese being brought to the Table, which the mouse had tasted of, his Father being angry that he should be served with mouse-eaten Cheese; the sonne to pacifie him, vndertooke to proue out of Seneca, that the mowse never touched it. And this was his Argument; Seneca epist. 48. Mus est syllaba, sed syllaba caseum non rodit, ergo mus caseum non rodit. What doe you say Father? Marry (quoth he) I say he lyes that saith the mouse hath not touched this Cheese: the sonne endevouring to proue it; the Father told him, that the best way to proue it is to eate it, which he might well doe if the mouse had not beene there before; for other Cheese he was not like to haue. And so ended that Controversie. Anone after it fell out, that all sitting mute at the Table, the sonne willing to feede them with some discourse, told his Father that he had spent some houres in the study of Physiognomie, and that if this art fayled [Page 29] him not, the Gentleman that sate by him had hornes on his head; the Gentleman frowning vpon him would needs know what he meant by hornes: to whom he answered, that I leaue to you to interpret, but that you haue so, I will proue it by the testimony of Mt. Seneca, who expressely saith: Quod Seneca epist. 49. non perdidisti habes, sed cornua non perdidisti, ergo cornua habes. The Gentleman moved somewhat with the argument of the yong man, in some choler rose from the Table, and posted home to his wife, and told her in plaine termes that one Mr. Seneca reports that he had hornes on his head, which he could not haue but shee must graft them there: Whereupon the good-woman repaires to the young man, to enquire after Mr. Seneca, and meeting with his Father, told him how shee had beene abused by his sonne, who calling him vnto him, asked him what he meant by hornes; no harme, quoth he to the Gentlewoman, but onely vsed it as an Argument to try the Gentlemans patience. Well, well sonne, I did not send you to Paris to learne to equivocate, or to be instructed in the fallacies, to abuse my neighbours, and to make division betweene me and them, but I am well enough served, I finde now by experience, how great a fault it is to send our Children abroad, as soone as they are out of their Plato instituit quòd nemo ante quinquagesimum annum peregrinari debet, cum (que) redierint, in caetum aliorum ne admitterentur; nisi probati fuerint innoxij, et incorrupti. Plato lib. 12▪ de legibus. Et Lycurgus non modo eives suos vagari prohibuit, verum etiam advenas in vrbe residentes abegit; illos, ne diversos mores inveheré [...], hos, ne alicuius noxae doctores forent. swadling Clowts, and so the Gentlewoman went home well satisfied. Such merry fellowes as there are fraught with such merry tales, I take along with me sometimes, and for want of these I finde every creature that I meete withall to afford me matter of discourse. If I cast mine eyes aboue me, I behold the Sunne, Moone, and Starres, reading vnto me excellent lessons of moralitie. If beneath me, the birds, the beasts, the trees, the plants, all creatures generally both sensitiue and vegetatiue to doe the like. All of them performing those solemne rites to God and nature that was first enjoyned them, no way swarving from their first institution. [Page 30] The little Vulgariter Philosoph [...]ntes ex minutorum animalculorum contemplatione, non minus voluptatis, et scien [...]iae, quàm ex abditissimorum, arduorum (que) perscrutatione acquirunt. Bee and Vade ad formicam, ô piger, et disce vias ejus (inquit Solomon.) Proverb 6. vnde Poeta. Cuitorpent ad cūcta manus, (ignave) magistram Consule formicam; monitorem consule Echinum. Hic Autumnales praedatur tergore fructus, —Aestivosilla. In (que) hyemem memores ambo quaesita reponunt: Illa Cavum replet, hic hirti munimina tecti. Thou fluggard, if thou list to learne thy part; Goe learne the Emmots, and the Vrchins art: In Sūmer th'one, in Autumne th'osther takes The seasons fruits, and thence provision makes. Each in his lodging laying vp a herd, Against cold Winter, which doth nought afford. Bartas. Non ad mollitiem, nec blandimenta prophana, Non ad delicias, nec ad otia stulta creavit Nos pater omnipotens, sed sudori at (que) labori Perpetuò addixit, duro & damnavit aratro. Emmot, to reade vnto me excellent lessons of good husbandrie, putting me in minde in Summer to provide for Winter; in youth to provide for age; the seasons of the yeare to doe the like for divinitie: the Winter demonstrating death and mortalitie, the Spring the Resurrection, and the harvest the day of Iudgement. So that I can truely say, I am never lesse alone, than when I am alone. These and the like contemplations, for want of other bookes, are my recreations. Sometimes I betake my selfe to the Olympia certamina fuere discus, caeus, cursus, saltus & palaestra; & fuerunt solenniter observata quolibet quinto anno, in honorem Herculis. Olympian, Pythian, Nemaean, and Isthmaean Games; and as Vide Ovid. in Epist, quae inscribitur; Ocnone Paridi. Iuno, Minerva, and Venus contended for the golden Apple; so doe wee contend for triumph and victorie. Sometimes, the throwing of the stone is our sport and pastime, at which It is reported of Milo, that he slew a Bull at the Olympicke Games, with his bare hand; carried it a furlong; and eate it every bit. Miloes brawnie armes alwayes carries away the palme, and the glory of the day. Sometimes, leaping is our exercise, at which he that can most handsomely rise, and convey himselfe furthest, be it at the Iumpe, the Almon, or the Beare-leape, carryes away the glorie of the day. Sometimes, running is our pastime, at which he that can come first vnto the goale, be it by slight and cunning, as Hippomenes overcame Atalanta by throwing out apples of gold which staid her. Hippomenes out-run Atalanta, or by swift and nimble footing, as Atalanta out-run her affectionate followers, obtaines the glory of the day. Sometimes, wrastling is our exercise, at which that Pancratiasten Graeci esse volunt, qui est et luctator, et pugil. Pancratiastes, that can most handsomely cast his Antagoniste on his backe, be it with the Cornish hugge, or Norfolke twitch, and trippet, obtaynes the victorie and glory of the day. Sometimes, Fencing is our delight, and exercise, at which he that can most warily defend himselfe, and most skilfully offend his enemy, be it at the single sword, or sword and dagger, single [Page 31] rapier, or rapier and dagger, long staffe, or two handed sword, obtaines the glory of the day. Sometimes againe, in the merrie moneth of May, I betake my selfe to our Common-greene, where I behold Tib and Tom, Iug and Iohn, Dicke and Doll, Will and Moll, dauncing a measure about the Pole. Sometimes, riding is our exercise, in which in my youthfull dayes, I tooke much delight, and still commend it as a manly and Benè equitare, et equorum studio detineri, est quidem vtile, et nobilitatis insigne. Petrarcha. warlike exercise; to see a young Gentleman at the age of fifteene, to be able with his skill & cunning, by his voyce, rod, and spurre, better to manage, and commaund the great Bucephalus, than the strongest Milo with all his strength: one while to see him make him One while he trottes the Ring; Another while hee doth him backward bring: Then of all foure be makes him lightly bound; And to each hand to mann [...]g [...] lightly round: To stoope, to stop, to Caper, and to swimme, To daunce, to leapt, to hold vp any limme. Bartas tread, trot, and gallop the Ring; anone after to see him make him gather vp roundly, to beare his head steadily, to runne a full Carrere swiftly, and to stop on a sudden lightly; anone after, to see him make him advance, to yorke, to goe backe, and side-long, to turne on either hand, to gallop the gallop-galliard, to doe the Capriole, the Chambetta, and daunce the Curvetty. I haue thought an houre to passe in a moment, when I was young, wee thought it a kinde of solaecisme, and to favour of effeminacie, for a young Gentleman in the flourishing time of his age to creepe into a Coach, and to shrowd himselfe there from winde and weather. Our delight was to out-braue the blustring Boreas vpon a great Horse, to arme and prepare our selues to goe with Mars and Bellona into the field, was our sport and pastime, Coaches and Caroches we left vnto them for whom they were first invented, for Ladies and Gentlewomen, and decrepit, aged, and impotent people. The Sticklers at the Olympicke games never looke after them. When first I came vnto your Cities, after I had long discontinued them, and beheld a farre off the streets barrocaded vp with Coaches, it much troubled me to thinke they should abound with so many aged and impotent people, [Page 32] for in those Tartarian-houses I expected none other; but when I came nearer, and lookt into them, and saw youth to sit where age & impotency were vsed to doe, and shop-keepers and Artizans of all kindes to haue vsurpt the roomes of Ladies and Gentlewomen, it troubled me a great deale more; So that oftentimes I wisht in my choler, that those tottering moveables were dealt withall as Vespasian set an imposition vpon vrine. Sueton: in Vespasian. Vespasian dealt with vrine, to the end to reduce them to their right course againe; and that the owners of them, injuriously vsurping the roomes of Ladies, might be deprived of Caesars friendship, which Tacitus lib. 3. cap. 5. Sylanus in Tacitus interpreted to be a banishment: these and the like are our sports and pastimes. Sometimes againe, I betake my selfe to the brooks and rivers, and there beguile the poore harmeles fishes, presenting vnto them food and nutriment, when indeede it is lined with ruine and destruction. Sometimes to the Hibernus advenit annus, et nubes nivés (que) dominantur; aut apros cane in obstantes detrudit plagas rusticus, aut levē amitē, seufureā contra edaces turdos suspendit, aut pavidum leporem, et advenam gruem laqueo captat; interdum etiam ramos inutiles falce resecat, et faliciores inferit. Aenaeas Sylv. Woods and Groves to entrap the silly birds, burying them aliue in the place where they sought for succour and reliefe. Sometimes to planting, grafting, and enoculating, for the benefit of posteritie, that future ages might reade in the trees, in the hedges, and high-wayes, as in a story, that such a one had beene there. Sometimes I take my bow and arrowes, and in memoriall of the famous battaile of The battaile of Agincourt was fought the 20. of Octob. 1415. and it was wonne by Archers; every Archer having a sharpe stake placed before him. See the generall History of France in Charles 6. Haec est perpetuo victoria digna triumpho, The Bow and the black Bill were Hercules weapons; and when as English-men fought with Hercules weapons, they fought victoriously (as one obserues) with Hercules successe. Agincourt, and other noble atchieuements, I shoot from this bush to that, from this marke to that. Sometimes I take my bowles, and goe vnto our Common-greene, and there one while I foyle a Competitor vpon plaine and even ground with an vpright bowle; another while I take advantage of the hilly ground with a biasbowle: yet ever out of these recreations I learne something: by the hooke and baite, to beware of Non is tam laedit, liquidè qui dixerit, odi, Quàm qui syncerani fingit amicitiam. Vitabis certè quem noveris esse nocentem; Ast illum nunquam, qui tibi dixit, amo. Morus. Cùm Alexāder ab amico suo Parmenione suavissimè reprehenderetur, quòd in bello nimiùm cōfidens esset; (Parmenio, inquit, amice mi) cō tra amicos meos fucatos, si potes, securum praesta; ego enim eos, qui mihi ex professo inimici sunt, facilè cavebo. Alcibiades, Agesilaus, Pyrrhus, Antigonus, Lucullus, Iulius Caesar, hac in re sic fuerunt cauti, et consulti, vt cum s [...]mper ab hoste victoriam reportavissent, inter amicorum suorum manus, viram cum morte commutarent. friendly foes, the greatest enemies to a Common-wealth; by the marke we shoote at, to be put in minde of the precepts of the Moralists; to begin at the end, to haue vertue ever in our intention, as a marke, with all our might and [Page 33] power to shoot at it, and as our arrowes in our quivers, to vnite our affections to the friends & favourers of it, and to disbandon them against the enemies and haters of it: by the ground which is shewed vs at the bowling exercise; to learne to doe nothing Diù deliberandum, quod semel facendum est; Seneca, Plutarchus Sartorij vitam describens, insigniter illum laudat, adeò, quòd ad consultandum [...]ardus, ad suscipiendum gravis, et promptus esset. Et Suetonius de Augusto Caesare affirmat, quòd amicitias ne (que) facilè ad nisit, et constantissimè constitutas tenust. Et cum Agelilaus vrgeretur, vt Thebanorum legatis respō deret; an nescitis (inquit) ô Thebani, quod ad rei magni cujusdam momenti deliberationem, melius nihil est, quàm de eo longo tempore cogitare? rashly and vnadvisedly, but to know that he that bowles looseth his labour, if he bowle out of the way; as he that sailes, if he saile not by the Compasse, is subject to fall into Scylla and Charybdis; So it is in the whole course of our liues; if providence be not the guide, and God direct not our hand, in (*) vaine doe we labour and toyle, carke and care, pine and macerate our selues. So doe we recreate our selues in our Contemplations, and make good vse of our recreations. As for those Venationi deditos fuisse ol [...]m heroas, nobilés (que) et ingenuos homines, ad seminariū omnium malorum, otiū declinandum, docet Seneca in Hippol. Lacaedemonij secundum leges Lycurgi, aut militiae, aut venationi vacabant; teste Plutarcho, in Lycurg. Et Alexāder magnus pomeridianum tempus venatu consumpsit. Solen [...]e quo (que) fuit opt [...]mis quibus (que) Romanorum Imperatoribus, venandistudiū, teste Lamprid vnde Poeta. Sive voluptatem, seu vitae commodaspectes, Sollicitus magno est dignus amore canis. Princely delights of hawking and hunting, though I loue them not so well as some haue done, yet I loath them not so much as others haue done; though I delight not so much in hunting, as a Bishop of Rochester sometimes did, yet I am not so much out of loue with it as a Chauncelor of Canterbury sometime was; who in an Epistle to that reverend man, as Non dece [...] (amantissime pater) virum octogenarium, s [...] talibus miscere, nedū Episcopū; quem nec etiam juventus a talibus excusaret. Legimus, quòd Nicolaus Pap [...] Excommunicationis sententiam in Laufr [...]dū Episcopū ferri censuit, quiavenaticam ariem exerceret. Ab exordio mundi percurrite sanctorū pat [...]um seriem; venite ad Patriar [...]ha [...]; ad Du [...]es; [...]d ludices; nullum (que) eorum invenietis, venationistudiū impendisse Piscatorem sanctum legi (dicit Hietonmus) venatorēnon legi Nimrod robustus venator crat: Et Esau dum officiū venationis exequutus, deprimogenitura etpaterna benedictiono [...]fraudatus; Si curratur ad inventionē artis venatica [...]; ab ipsa inventione damnabilis. Hujus enim artificij, vel potius maleficij, legitur fuisse gens Thebana; faeda parricidijs detest anda incaestibus, insignis fraude, not a perjurijs. Sanè aliud venationis genus nobis ex officio incumbit, in qua subjectorū est salus. Dicitenim Dominus per prophetam Ierem. 16. Ecce ego mitto venatore [...] et venabuntur in omni monte Praelati Ecclesiae venātur in omni monte, dum animas aberrantes ad Ecclesiam Christi rapiunt, in eminentiam scientiae, et doctrinae. Vtinam huic venationi velitis operam dare, longí (que) temporis jacturam, quod in vanitates evanuit, fructuvitae melioris, et eruditione populi, compensetis▪ Petr. Bles. Cantuaricus: Canceli in epist. 56. ad Roffens. Episcop. sharply reproues him for it, as if it had beene a sinne against the holy Ghost▪ for I must confesse, I haue been glad to heare a Huntsman discourse by what wiles the harmles Hare that never had any other Mistris than Nature, escaped her bloudy persecutors; how at the first, vpon the first vncowpling of the dogs, and the hearing of the horne, shee forsooke her fourme, being many furlongs off, betooke her selfe vnto a River, and tooke vp her seate on the further side thereof, how [Page 34] from thence being driven, shee betooke her selfe to a long stone-wall, what worke shee there made, how shee past along the one side, and downe againe the other, and at last recovered the top of it, and tooke vp her seate in it a full yard from the ground; from thence being driven, how then shee betooke her selfe vnto the sheepe; sometimes sheltring her selfe in one flocke, sometimes in another; how from thence shee betooke her selfe to a hard stony way; how shee there doubled and redoubled, jumpt in and out, here and there, againe & againe, and how the young whelpes went gazing on, and overshut her, whilest the old stickers, Ringwood & Rockwood found out her sleights; how in the whole course of this her progresse, shee ever tooke advantage of the winde and weather; in dry weather never comming neare the water, but keeping her selfe vpon the hilles, and in the woods, and in fowle weather never comming neare the woods and bushie places, but keeping her selfe in the moorish ground; and how at last, finding no safetie or protection in any of those places, shee betooke her selfe vnto the Conies in a Coni-greene, and there with them as one of them, tooke vp her lodging all night. These things I can be content to heare and see sometimes, but care not much to be a Maister of the Game; for I never held the pleasure abroad could countervaile the annoyance that those ravenous Harpyias fuisse Iovis Caenes, memorant Poetae, ac rapaces daemones, habētes aures v [...]sorum, corpora vulturum, ac faciem virginum. Harpeyes put the owners to at home. And as for Hawking, I commend it in some, condemne it in others; in men of qualitie, whose estates will well support it, I commend it as a generous & noble qualitie; but in men of meane ranke and Hos eleganter taxat Petrarcha. Saepè legere possumus Homerun Poetantem, & Platonem Philosophantem, et Tullium Orantem, venantem (puto) non legimus. Petrarch. Non benè conveniunt cilicium, et accipiter; afflictio carnis et exercitatio voluptatis. Bles. religious men, I condemne it with Blesensis, as an idle and foolish vanitie; for I haue ever thought it a kinde of madnesse for such men, to bestow ten pounds in feathers, which at one blast might be blowne away, and to buy a momentary monethly pleasure (if to see one bird torture another may be so called) with the Hujus aucupij genus, sumptus quos exigit suorum successuum cōmoditate non redimit. Bles. 161. labours and expence [Page 35] of a whole yeare. Yet I must acknowledge, I haue in my youthfull dayes with Dicitur Machabaus domesticâsse accipitres, in aviú capturam: sed hâc vanitate omninò abjectâ; se bellis exposuit, vt paternas leges erigeret, etsuae genti amis [...]am libertatem restitueret. ibid. Machabaeus beene guiltie of this vanitie, & haue beene as glad as ever I was to come from Schoole, to see a little Martin in the dead time of the yeare, when the Winter had put on her whitest coat, and the frosts had sealed vp the Brookes and Rivers, to make her way through the midst of a multitude of fowle-mouth'd ravenous Crows and Kites, which pursued her with more hydeous cryes and clamors, than did Chawcer in his Nunnet Priests tale. Coll the dog, and Malkin the Maide, the Foxin the Apologue.
And maugre all thier oppositions pulled downe her prey, bigger than her selfe, being mounted aloft, steeplehigh, downe to the ground. And to heare an Accipitrary relate againe, how he went forth in a cleare, calme, & Sun-shine Evening, about an houre before the Sunne did vsually maske himselfe, vnto the River, where finding of a Mallard, he whistled off his Faulcon, and how shee flew from him as if shee would never haue turned head againe, yet presently vpon a shoote came in, how then by degrees, by little and little, by flying about and about, shee mounted so high, vntill shee had lessened her selfe to the view of the beholder, to the shape of a Pigeon or Partridge, and had made the height of the Moone the place of her flight, how presently vopn the landing of the fowle, shee came downe like a stone and enewed it, and suddenly got vp againe, and suddenly vpon a second landing came downe againe, and missing of it, in the downe come recovered it, beyond expectation, to the admiration of the beholder at a long flight: And to heare him tell a third time, how he went forth early in a Winters morning, to the wooddy fields and [Page 36] pastures to flie the Cocke, where having by the little white feather in his tayle discovered him in a brake, he cast of a taste gentle, and how he never ceased in his circular motiō, vntill he had recovered his place, how suddenly vpon the flushing of the Cocke he came downe, & missing of it in the downecome, what working there was on both sides, how the Cocke mounted, as if he would haue pierced the skies; how the Hawke flew a contrary way, vntill he had made the winde his friend, how then by degrees he got vp, yet never offered to come in, vntill he had got the advantage of the higher ground, how then he made in, what speed the Cocke made to saue himselfe, & what hasty pursuit the Hawke made, and how after two long miles flight killed it, yet in killing of it killed himselfe. These discourses I loue to heare, and can well be content to be an eye-witnesse of the sport, when my occasions will permit, but to see one of these faeminine birds, who like some wiues of our time keepe vnder Accipitres, quadam degeneris naturae corruptela, hoc habent, vt fortior sit inijs sexus muliebris, quam masculinus. the masculine, I meane a swift winged Goshawke, or high flying Iurkin, whose proper Game is the Pheasant, Crane, or Bittorne, in the moneth of August to pull downe a little Partridge, or a pot-hunting-Corydon, or hungry Gentlemā if you will, to let slip a brase or lease of long tayled ravenous Curres at a poore, little, harmeles Hare, and to kill her suddenly, without giving her law, or any advantage of ground, contrary to the lawes of the Forrest, and the Decretalls of Actaeon, made and agreed vpon at Knavestocke by a swearing Companie of mad men, in the habit of wood-men, no, but by a sober assembly of true wood-men indeede, the thirtith of February in the first yeare of Pope Ione: or when the earth hath put on her fairest robes, and clothed her selfe in a habite as white as wooll, to trace & tracke her to her fourme, and against the lawes and No person of what degree soever shall kill any Hare in the snow; vpon a penaltie to forfeite 6 s. viij. d. for every Hare so kil [...]ed. See the Statute of 14. H. 8. Statutes of the Kingdome, there to surprise and kill her suddenly, I must confesse, it hath often gone against [Page 37] my stomacke, and I could haue beene as well content with Cum Marcellus nepos Augusti, sollicitè versaretur in avibus capiendis, quaesivitab co Virgil. vtrum mallet avē armari in avium praedationē, aut muscam in exterminationem muscarum: relata ad Avunculum quaestione, praelegitmuscam, quae a Neapoli abigeret muscas vniversas. ‘Vide Petr. Bles in epist. 61. ad R. Archiadiaconū, qua dehortatur illum a vanitate aucupij; quia ratione officij, non avium, sed ovium curam susceperit.’ Augustus, to haue seene one flie kill another: yet I must likewise confesse, I haue beene sometimes for societies sake, a spectator of such a Tragedie, but I beheld it with as much delight, as the Citizens of Rome did to see Sueton. in Nerone. Nero clap his hands, and in his Fidlers habit to sing the destruction of Troy, when their Citie was on fire, or as the poore oppressed people vnder Gladius et pugio: wherein were written the names of such as were appointed to dye.— Sueton in Calig. Caligula did, to see their names written in his two Bookes, which he called his sword and dagger; or as once I did to heare the night-bird sing, whose song ever prognosticates some dismall strange Si forsan cantet ferali carmine bubo; Tristia venturae docet infortunia pestis. disaster and event. To see a little Mastiue to make the strongest Bull that walkes vpon Taurus is a mountaine whereof Caucasus is apart. Taurus, or the stourest Bore in Arcadia is a Countrey of Greece, set in the middle of Peloponēsus; in which Country is the Fenne Lerna, where Hercules slew the mōster Hydra. Arcadia to stoope: to hunt the Fox, the Wolfe, the Tygre that liue vpō the spoyle, with bloud of our Ewes & Lambs, our Cocks and Hennes, I take much We take delight in hūting braue to kill the brisled Bore; That doth annoy with gastly aread the husbādmanfull sore. The nimble heel'd Hart likewise in Candie we doe chase, And [...]he the Buck with brāched horns, that trips ore plain apace. At breake of day, the fearefull Hare vnto her fourme to pricke, While in the dewy, slabby groūd the prick of clay doth sticke. And there to kill her su [...]denly against Actaeons Lawes: With Curs and ravenous long-tayld-dogs, we leaut to Clownes and bores. delight; but to heare the dolefull ditty of the death of the sportfull Hare, by the ravenous long-tayl'd Curres, I could never yet endure. Neither can I endure to heare of the expensiue delight of keeping of Imberbisiuvenis, tandē Custode remoto, Gaudet equis. Horat. running horses, it sounds more harsh in my eares than the croaking of a Toad, or Iupiters thundring musicke, or the howling of one of Actaeons whelpes, or the cryes of Charon in a long pestilentiall sicknes. A strange vanitie that a horse naturally made for burthen, should be so indulgently lookt vnto, that two of his best servants that owne him shall not haue so much attendance when they are sicke, as this horse hath when he is well, and oftentimes to no other end & purpose, than to carry his Maister out of the Countrey. Thus haue I freely shewed you, both the pleasures and profit of the Countrey, and the motiues that induced me to leaue the Citie, and how wee doe weare out the long Summers day; as for the tedious Winters night, wee spend a great part of that before a fire; discoursing of our Country-affayres, and the best [Page 38] course of husbandry to thriue by. In which discourse the Baily of our husbandry beares a great part, for he is vsually summoned every night before we sleepe to giue an account how he hath bestowed himselfe that day. Yet sometimes we breake out, and if we happen to entertaine a stranger that crossed the Seas of late: wee are so bold as to enquire of him, what occurrences haue happened in those parts from whence he came, how our Ships doe at Sea, and how the Havens are fortified, and if he can but tell vs that the Ships are well rigd and mand, the Havens well fortified, and the people at Quod de oppido Poeta, destatu omni verè possumus dicere. Si incola benè sunt moraii, pulchrè [...]unitum arbitror: sin aliter, centuplex murus rebus servandis parùm est. Plandus in Persa. vnitie amongst themselues, he is a welcome guest, wee eate and drinke merrily, and sleepe securely, for we know we are safe enough. And thus doe we weare out the tedious Winters night. And now I shall be so bold as to entreate you to deale as freely with me as I haue done with you, and to acquaint me what should be the motiues that should worke that contrarietie in our dispositions, to draw your affections to the Citie, & mine from it.
Sir, as it is the nature of an ingenuous disposition to deale freely, so I shall deale with you. The motiues that first induced me thereunto were these. I was a Younger brothers are differenced by Armorists in their armes, by Martleas, which haue little vse of their legs by reason of the shortnes of them; & therefore by the Graecians those birds are called [...], quasi sine pedibus: not because they want legs, but because they want the vse of them. And this difference is given to younger brothers, to put them in minde that having nothing, that is, Lands to relie vpon, they must raise themselues by the wings of vertue and merit. younger brother, the sonne of a Father that had many Children, who left me but little, but what I could worke out by my labours and endevours, so that I presently bethought my selfe, though I were young, yet I might be old, and having no more to maintaine me than was left me, I must either be a burthen to my friends, or to my Country, which before I would be, I resolved to vndergoe any labour, adventure vpon any exploit, though with the hazard of my life, that did not savour of basenesse, or vnworthinesse: so that after long agitatiō with my selfe to what course I should encline, having purposed to my selfe diverse. As first the life of a Souldier, to which in the beginning I did much incline, [Page 39] when I cast mine eyes vpon the Tamerlanes Scytharum Imperator, qui praeter inauditam animi teritatêm, portentosás (que) vires, orbis terror, & clades Orien [...] appellatus est: ex humili militiae loco, per omnes honorum gradus, ad eximiam bellicae virtutis opinionem, et deni (que) adsúmum imperium ascendit; insigni praesertim applaudentium militum studïo, quum adulatione quadam Temir Cuihlus appellaretur: quae vox Tartaricè fortunatum ferrum significat. Paulus lov. lib. 2. debellica virtute viror, illustrium. liues of many famous men, that had raised themselues out of the dust by their valour and worth, to great honour and preferment. But when I reflected mine eyes vpon my selfe, and found in my selfe a Constitution not able to endure stormes and tempests, I beganne to weane my selfe, and to decline (though with griefe) that resolution. Then I thought to goe & search out some vn-inhabited Country of the world, where I might haue elbow-roome enough, and walke freely out of the reach of envie, and the troubles and turmoiles of the world, but from this I was likewise disswaded, when I considered, that man sequestred into a wildernes, would in a short time differ little from a beast, and therefore resolved rather to vndergoe any labour in a Country, where I might haue the benefit of societie, than to enjoy the whole world with Timon alone, then it came into my thoughts to shrowd my selfe vnder the wings of some man of qualitie. In which course likewise I was dismaide, seeing that I haue often heard, that many yeares Vt oculus parvâ festucâ turbatur: ita Magnatū gratia, offensiunculâ velminimâ cadit; interdum etiam nullo crimine perditur. Clitonem suae nutricis filium, qui Philippi patris laudes magnificare vol [...]isset, Alexan [...]er sua manuinteremit. Si quid benefacias, levior plumâ est gratia. Si quid peccatum est, plumbeas iras gerit. Plantus. painefull labours and attendance were oftentimes requited with frownes, vpon a conceit of a thing ill done, when indeede there was no such matter. Then I fell vpon the liberall Sciences, and did consider, that although I had not spent my time so well as I might haue done, when I was a Grammarian, which time if I might haue redeemed, I would haue gone as a pilgrime to the holy Land vpon my bare feet, yet I might attaine to so much knowledge in some laudable Science, that when I grew in yeares, I might make my selfe capable to procure something to maintaine me withall; but my selfe accusing my selfe, that neglecting knowledge, the meanes to preferment, when I was young, I was not fit for it when I was olde, and that the Concepta semel opinio, vix deponitur. Cicero. opinion of ignorance being once setled in the multitude, would hardly be removed. So that I did decline that resolution. Then it came into my thoughts, to raise my selfe by inveigling [Page 40] of some tender Orphane, whose portion would afford me some good meanes of liuelihood, or to beguile some young widdow, by suffering of such who had most interest in her to share with me in the purchase; which I had often heard was the ordinary meanes to effect and bring to passe such a designe. But when I considered how such marriages are directly repugnant to the law of Matrimonium factum sine Consensu parentū, pugnat cum lege naturae, cum lege Moysis, cum doctrina Apostolorū, cum legibus Romanis, cūjure Canonico, et cum judicijs patrum, vt eruditè Zanch. lib. 4. de conjugio Adam & Eva. Inter decreta Eucharistae Papa invenimus; conjugia facta sine Consensu, non esse conjugia, sed adulteria, contubernia, aut fornicationes: et in Concilio Lateranensi sub innocent: 30, talia conjugia pronunciari illegitima. Nature, to the law of God, to the Civill and Canon Lawes, and to the traditions of the Fathers of the primitiue Church, and how in the sight of God my offence would be so much the greater, than if I should depriue him to whose Custodie such an Orphane should be committed, of his personall possessions; for the acting whereof I should endanger my life, by how much his flesh and bloud is more neare and deare vnto him than his goods and Chattles, and how I should subject my selfe to be deprived of my libertie, and to be fined with a greater fine than her estate perhaps would well satisfie, by a publicke Censure. And how such marriages seldome prosper in the world, but as they are begun in treacherie and falsehood, so they are continued in strife & contention, and end for the most part in beggery and misery. I resolved rather to spend all my dayes in penury and povertie, than to raise my selfe by such vnlawfull treacherie and knavery. Then I bent my thoughts to follow some Doctor, Proctor, Atturney, or some Apprentise of the Law: whereby I might gaine so much knowledge, as to make my selfe able to execute the office of an Vnder-sheriffe, Feodary, Escheator, or some other office of note in the Cōmon-wealth; vnto which course of life I did much encline, especially, when I cast mine eyes about me, and beheld some in that way, Qui culmen ascenderunt, priusquam gradus inferiores transiluerant; and from Dupondij, to be exalted aboue the Lytae and prolytae. But when I considered how contemptible those kinde of people haue made themselues by abusing [Page 41] their places, and how difficult a thing it is for a petifactor to rayse himselfe, without a great deale of jugling and false-dealing, I began to be discouraged from that course of life. Then I raysed my thoughts so high as to thinke vpon the Hunc lapidem, quidam ob excellentiam, vocârunt Pandorum, seu vniversale & magnum dei donum; quia non modò corpus humanum validum in suo vigore conservat; sed etiam metalla imperfecta depurando, ad surunt, finem, quem natura ibi intendit, brevi temporis spatio inducit. Iohannes Rhenan: de lapide Philosoph. Philosophers stone, and so to aspire speedily vnto greatnesse, but after that I had consulted with some learned, aged Fathers, who told me that they had lived fortie yeares twice told, and that during all that time they never knew any to attaine vnto it, though many learned men had attempted it, I thought it would be deemed a vaine thing in me, being ignorant, after so many learned men to busie my selfe in so endlesse a worke; so that I quite and cleane banisht that conceit out of my minde. Then I fell vpon divers projects, thinking thereby to raise my selfe, one while the Tipler and Ale-seller came into my thoughts, and how I might share with him in his winnings, was my first project; anone after the Vintner came into my thoughts, and how I might share with him was my second project. A while after the Coachmaker came into my thoughts, and how I might share with him, who had enhaunsed the prices of bootes and shooes in wasting of much Leather in superfluous moveables, was my third project. Then I fell vpon the Tobacco seller, and how I might share with him in his gaines (who had oftentimes caused the staple Commodities of our Nation to be exported, and in stead of them Drugges and Indian ▪ weedes to be brought home againe) was my last project; with these and the like fond conceits and imaginations, did I flatter my selfe for a time, and made no doubt to effect what I went about, for that I conceived most of those courses of life to be ex diametro, repugnant to all honest trades and occupations. But when I called to minde what befell to divers persons, whose memory savours strong as yet in our nostrilles; how some haue beene banisht, and remaine as a scandall vpon [Page 42] record vnto all posteritie; how others haue beene degraded from the order of After publication of his offence, his guilt spurres were [...]ewen from his heeks, his sword taken from him, and broken & every piece of his Armour beaten, bruised, and cast aside. In auncient time, the forme of degradation of a Knight was after this manner; The Knight was led vp to a stage made in a Church, for that purpose; where 30. Priests sung such Psalmes as were vsed at funeralles, as though the Knight had beene dead; then was he des [...]oyled of his Helmet, and Gauntlet, and by degrees of all his Armes both offensiue & defensiue; then was he proclaimed a Traytor, or otherwise, as the Case required; then was he tyed to a rope and throwne off the stage, with the greatest ignominie that might be; then was he dragd to the Altar, where groveling vpon the ground, certaine Psalmes, full of curses were read vnto him. Innovatores, in repub: sunt odiosi. Chivalrie for attempting to doe the like: and how such kind of people are Mos inter Locrenses [...]uit; vt si quis novum quidprā inducere vellet, collo in laquaum inserto, id facere cogatur. Loniterus. Plutarchus Graecum quendam sacerdotē, quideae Berecynthiae modo quàm Cōsuetudo serret alio sacrificâslet, in Campo Martio lapidibus obrui se quondā vidisse scribit; serunt etiam, quod eo tē pore, quo M. Porcius Cōsulatu fūgebatur, excellens quidam Musicus, et omnibus instrumentis ludendi peritus, è Graecia, Romā veniebat, qui, quòd in cythara sua chordu pluribus, quam c [...]nsuetudinereceptū est, vteretur; cytharâ torius populi consensu combustâ proscriptus est. odious in the sight of all good and well disposed persons. I thought the worse of my selfe a whole yeare after for having once a thought in my minde to be a projector, and so quite and cleane did abandon all those foolish conceits and imaginations. Then it came into my thoughts to launch out into the depth to see what fish the Ocean would afford me, to apply my selfe vnto Caesars Court, but when I consulted with Phil. Cōmittes tasted of both fortunes; in prosperitie, he gaue this Motto; Qui fugit molam fugit farinam: in ad [...]sit [...]e this; In profundū navigavi, et mare me absorbuit Philip Commines who had beene beaten with stormes and tempests in the Seas, & learnt of him how difficult a thing it is to ballance a ship so equally, that the winds and waues might haue no power over it; I resolved to giue them leaue to try conclusions in the Seas that loved to fish in troubled waters, but as for my selfe to spend my few dayes on the Sea Stet quicun (que) volet potens, Aula culmine lubrico; Me dulcis saturet quies. Seneca in Thyeste. shore in safetie and securitie. At last I tooke into my consideration the life of a Citizen, and resolved with a constant and setled resolution to performe all the duties of a true and faithfull apprentise for the space of seaven yeares, projecting to my selfe, during that time to attaine to so much knowledge in some laudable mysterie, and gaine so much acquaintance, that when I grew into riper yeares I might gaine something, to keepe and maintaine me withall. Which resolution I constantly pursued, though I was often disswaded by my friends from it; they putting me in minde, that the concourse of Company, which did abound in the Citie would overthrow me. But this moved me not. Societie I considered was the very marrow and comfort of life; and that it was not Company, but indiscretion that could not make choyce of Companie that overthrew them, and therefore I desired to know all, to eate and drinke with such [Page 43] whom I conceived to be honest, and for life and conversation without exception: but to make such my Cum quidam in foro sapientiā venalem exposuerit, emptoribus filum perlōgum dedit, jussit (que) ne stultis et dementibus ejusce longitudinis spacio appropinquarent, sed cum vivis bonis at (que) corda [...] potissimùm agerent consuetudinem. Vide Apologum de Carbonario et fullone; quo ostenditur; pares cum paribus facilè congregari. Noscitur ex socijs, qui non cognoscitur ex se. Est amiciti [...]rum, ac familiaritatum fere omnium causa, nexús (que) similitudo quaedam morum. Diligens in amicitiarū initijs adhibēda est cautio; nan [...] quisquis alterum amicorum cognoverit, alterum cōtinuò ex eodem dijudicet; adeò vt qui cū inscijs et improbis vivit, eundē malum existimamus: contrà, qui cum bonis et sapientibus versatur, talis etipse quo (que) habetur. Castil. lib. 2. Carondas Cives suos à familiaritate et consuerudine perditorum lege prohibuit, actioném (que) pravae cōsuetudinis constitu [...]t; gravi (que) ejus delicti reis impositâ mulciâ licentiam coercuit. D [...]od. Sic. Companions onely whom I found to be honest, able, and discreete, such as in cases of difficultie were able to direct and instruct me, and when any slips and errors were committed, were able and willing to rectifie and reforme me. And thus I haue shewed you the principall motiues that induced me to the Citie: other motiues there were, as when I called to minde the saying of Nero, when he forsooke his diademe and betooke himselfe to his Fidlers habit, Si fidibus tantùm audisset te Roma canentem, Detestande Nero; non tanta intendia tectis, Non caedes vidisset humo, nec funere natum Materno insignem. (in which had the Romane State first invested him, it had beene happie) which experience hath verified vnto me.
Againe when I tooke into my consideration the inconveniences of the Country-life, which you so much magnifie: how many myles you travell to doe his Majestie service at the grand Assizes and Sessions, and vpon all other occasions, as often as his service shall require you, to your great charge and expence; whereas in the Citie, we goe no further than from our houses to our common Hall, confined within the precincts of our Cities. Againe, when I called to minde, what cares you vndergoe in plowing and sowing, in reaping and mowing, in breeding and rearing, in buying and selling, before you can reape the fruits of your labours. Whereas wee goe no further than the Markets within our walles, and in an instant reape the fruits of those labours, for which you haue taken so great care and paines: againe when I considered that the Citie is the place where all the Nobilitie and Gentrie of the Land receiue their education, where the Vniversities are seated, where the Lawes of the Kingdome are read and taught, and indeede the proper place in most parts of the Christian [Page 44] world, where the Nobilitie and Gentrie make their residence & abode. For although in these our parts your Country is honoured with the personall residence of many of the Peeres and Nobilitie of the Kingdome; in other parts of the Christian world it is not so, they leaue that as a forlorne Wildernesse to Boores and Peasants, whilest they in the Cities eate the fruits of their labours: it may be some few weekes they start out for their healths sake, or for pleasure, or in Vintage time to see their fruits seasonably gathered, & that being done, they seldome goe forth all the yeare after. Againe when I considered how in times of danger, we are more secure than you in the Country: if either a forraine enemy happen to invade vs, or any Civill discord arise betweene vs, having walles and bulwarkes to defend vs: whereas you lye exposed and open to danger. Againe when I considered how we out-strip you concerning the health of the best part of vs: whereas you are enforced vpon the Sabbath day to goe a myle or two to heare divine service, and two or three myles to heare a Lecture; wee haue divine service at our dores, and three or foure Lectures within a quarter of a myle. Againe when I considered how we haue divers other Lectures, Anatomie, Astronomy, Geometry, whereby we reape much good, which you haue not. Sometimes wee heare a learned Physitian reade vpon all the parts both Homogenean and Heterogenean of the dead Corps of a malefactor, one while of the head, shewing how from the Cerebrum non solùm [...] vorum sedes, et motuum artifex; sed et sapientiae, memoriae, et cogitationum est domicilium. braine the nerves haue their essence and being, and that from thence a power to the eye is given to see; a power to rast to the tongue; to heare to the eare; to smell to the nostrill; and see him single out with his silver instrument the organes themselues, by which this power is so conveyed, and relating that when these organes are stopt or any way distempered, that the sence vnto which they haue relation is out of order. Anone shewing how admirably [Page 45] this speciall peece of the bodie of man is hedged in and environed: how next vnto it there is Pia mater est membrana t [...]nuissima, proximum & immediatū cerebri velamen; dura mater est membraua exterior, super piam cranio alligatam, cerebrum cingens, & vndi (que) muniens. the Pia mater, a little thinne skinne which compasseth it about, how further off there is the Dura mater, a covering more firme and fleshie, how yet more remote, there is the Cranium, the scull it selfe. Another while we heare him discourse of the Epar est pars organica infimi ventris, constans carne rubra, sanguini nuper coagulato simillima, in dextro hypochondrio sita, et sanguinis officina. Liver, poynting out in what part of the bodie it is seated, of what materialls it is composed, what office it beares in the Microcosme, and from whence the veynes haue their essence & being, how it is seated in the lower part of the stomacke, vnder the Hypochondria, on the right side of the bodie, that it is nothing els but bloud coagulated, of the forme and figure of a semicircle, the one side standing out like a bunch, the other side hollow: that the proper office of it is to assimilate the Chyle, & waterish matter wrought by the first Concoction into his owne nature, and similitude; and what part thereof is nutrimentiue, to send it away by her secret conveyances to all the rest of the vitall parts, but what is excrementitious and hurtfull, to send it another way to be cast out at the Common-sinke; another while we heare him relate where the heart is seated, of what forme it is, how it is severed from the naturall parts of the body, and from whence the arteries haue their originall & being; that the proper place of the heart is neare vnto the middle part of the brest-plate, enclining to the left side; that it is in forme like vnto a Cor est pars principalis ventris medij, dura, densa, et solida carne constans; figurae Pyramidali, et nucipineae non dissimilis: facultatis vitalis domicilium: quo vigente, vigēt omnia, quo languente, languescunt, intereunte, intereunt. Nut-kernell, that it is severed from the naturall parts by the Diaphragma, which crosseth the breast; and that from the lower part thereof the great arterie, by which the vitall spirits are transferred to all the parts of the body, hath its originall and being: at other times we heare him discourse of the stomacke, of the spleene, of the longs, of the reynes and kidneyes, of the guts, and of all the rest of the parts of the bodie from the head to the foote. These things and many more are we taught out of these Lectures. Sometimes [Page 46] againe, we betake our selues to the Astronomie Lecture, where we learne how the Spheres are placed in degree one aboue another; and how one starre differs from another in greatnesse and glory. Sometimes againe to the Geometry Lecture, where we are taught the vsefull art of Surveying; how to measure out the circle of the Earth, to know what Compasse it beareth about, and what distance is betweene the Center and the Circumference. Sometimes to the Arithmeticke-Lecture, where we learne to better our knowledge in the casting vp of our reckonings and accounts, by being taught the rules of Addition, of Subtraction, of Multiplication, Division, Reduction, and the golden-Rule. Sometimes to the Physicke & naturall Philosophy-Lecture, where we learne the naturall causes of the foure seasons of the yeare, of Summer and Winter, Spring and Autumne, of the winds and earth-quakes, of the Comets and Meteors, of thunder and lightning, hayle and snow, & how it commeth to passe that the Inclusum loculis intactis ebibit aurum, Aurum abit, at plagae vestigia nulla supersunt. Quin nitidum sugiens afflatu dissipat ensem Vaginâ in columi, vinúm (que) è vasibus haurit Integris. Quin tenerum faetum matri [...] praegnantis in alvo Strangulat. Dura resistunt; porosa fulmini transit [...] praebent. Of the admirable effects of lightning, see Bart. in his second dayes worke. Lightning should kill the childe in the wombe, yet neuer hurt the mother: how the Springs do mount to the tops of hils, and are more cold in Summer than Winter: how the The reason thereof is well set forth by Bartas thus: —The Sunne and windes withall, Sweeping the surface of the bri [...]e ba [...]l, Extract as much still of her humors thin, As weeping ayre, and waterish earth powres in. Seas never exceede their bounds, though all the Chanels of the earth doe emptie themselues into them: how the Clouds composed of heavie materials, doe hang in the middle Region of the ayre; and why the earth is by many degrees more cold than the water. The naturall causes of these effects there we learne. Sometimes to the Musicke Lecture, where I never come but admire, that out of the greatest discords, should arise the sweetest harmony & concord, that a Base and Treble, Tenor and Counter-tenor, high and low, should cause a Diapason. In these, I say, which doe better our best part, our knowledge and vnderstanding, doe wee out-strip and goe beyond you likewise; neither doe wee come short of you in the exercises in which you glory so much, the exercises of the bodie, in [Page 47] which we take much delight, and at vacant times recreate our selues. Sometimes ringing is our sport and pastime, to run division vpon the bels, and to make them eccho out as many severall Changes as the prettie —Nunc illa gravene, nunc erisp at acutum; Nunc summos medijs, medios nunc temperat imis Ipsa sonos, variát (que) vices, nemorís (que) per altos Secessus, arguta modos ciet ore canoro. At breake of day in a delitious song, She sets the Gamut to an hundred young: And when as fit for higher notes shee sees them, Then learnedly, she harder [...] sons giues them. One while shee beares the base: anone the tenor; Anone the treble, then the Counter-tenor. Bariat. Nightingale doth when she is disposed to warble forth her severall notes and tunes, we take delight. Sometimes dauncing is our exercise, which in my youthfull dayes, after I had past my servile yeares, and came to be mine owne man, I did much affect, and in dauncing of the French galliard, the Spanish paven, or Scottish Iigge, I did often recreate my selfe. But when I grew into riper yeares I began to consider, that as to youth it was an ornament, so to Indecorum quidem et ridiculosum est, hominem videre aetate confectum, capillis niveis, dentibus patridis, automninò nullis, plenum rugis, es sulcis, tripudiare & saltitare. Castil, lib, 2. age it was a blemish and a badge of lightnes, and so did abandon that kinde of recreation. In vaulting likewise on the horse, being a recreation vsed in the Schooles, I tooke much delight, and haue often repented my selfe that I did not vse it more, for that I found it alwayes vsefull vnto me as often as I had occasion to take any long progresse into the Country; for when others haue stucke in their stirrops and could not get into their saddles without heaving on the one side, and holding on the other; I haue on a sudden mounted into it without the assistance or advātage of the ground or stirrop, and though crooked age, which tops the tallest Cedars, haue bereaved me of that strength and abilitie of bodie, which lustie youth did affoord vnto me; so that I cannot doe the Pomadoes with that agilitie as formerly I could, yet still I finde a difference betweene my selfe & others that never vsed that delight. A Campus Martius, Artillerie, and military yards likewise wee haue, whither sometimes I doe resort, and one while behold the Pikemen trayling and shouldering of their Pikes; another while the Muskettiers sloping of their Muskets, and by often observing of them, haue borrowed so much of their skill and cunning, that with a very little practise, I dare vndertake to lead on an Army [Page 48] as well as he that had beene trained from his childhood vnder Mars in the field. Cockpits, Bearegardens, Tiltyards, and Theaters likewise we haue neare vnto vs: and one while we goe vnto the Cockpit, where we behold two The Cocke by some Armorists, is called the Knight of the birds, because he will rather repell daunger by fight than by flight, being alwayes prepared for battailes having his combe for an helmet, his bill for a fauchion, and as a compleat souldier, armed from head to foote, he hath his legges armed with spurres. little Creatures so stoutly behaue themselves in a single Combate, as never did Aenaeas and Diomedes, nor Hector and Ajax (whom Homer so highly commends for noble Duellists) play their parts, nor performe the same with greater naturall vigor and strength: another while to the Beare-garden to see a Molossus one while to adventure vpon a Lyon of Nemaea, another while vpon a Bore of Arcadia, another while vpon a Hydra of Lerna, yea sometimes vpon death it selfe, as couragiously as vpon safetie and securitie,: the which as often as I behold especially the skirmishes of the watchfull creatures, I cannot but admire the innated strength which is in them, to see them when they haue received as many Caesar received twentie-three wounds; and in the receiving of all th [...]se never vsed more words than these; Et [...] fili; seeing Brutus to be one whose life he had saved at the battaile of Pharsalia. Sueton: in Caesare. wounds as Caesar did in the Senate-house, then even then, when they lye gasping for breath, by signes and tokens, by pecking and nodding, to shew signes of vnvanquished spirits, and will rather dye than cry, or yeeld to a crowing and insulting enemy. Sometimes wee betake our selues vnto Caesars Court, where we beholde the lustie lads of the Olympicke games, stickling for the palme, at Tilt, Tourney, and Ioco di Canni, and practising to hit an enemy in the eye by running at the Ring vpon steeds richly Cooparised, & as serviceable as were the proud warlike steeds of De Bucephalo dicitur, quòd neminé vnquam praeter domìnum vehere dignatus est: & quòd è durissimis certaminibus Alexandrum sospitē extulit: quo mortuo, Alexander vrbem condidit, et in nominis ejus memoriam, Bucephalum non inavit. Solinus in collectaneis rerum memorab. Alexander, Equus Caesaris nullum praeter dominum dorso vnquam recepit. ibid. Caesar, Interfecto Nicomede rege; equus ejus vitam inedià expulit. Solinus. Nicomedes, and the King of Cum tegem Scytharum in singulari certamine interemptum advers [...]riu: ejus victor poliare veller, ab equo eju [...] calcibus, mor [...]ù (que) [...]niatus est. Ibid. Scythia, the which likewise as often as I beholde, especially the warlike Tilting exercise, I cannot but thinke of the deplorable death of the French King, King Henry the second, who at that time when he thought himselfe most happie, and gaue himselfe a new title which he never had before, Le treshenreux roy, by reasō of the marriage of the Lady Elizabeth his daughter to Philip King of Spaine, in honour whereof those solemnities [Page 49] were vsed, after all sports and delights were in a sort ended, the Tilters dismounted, and the sp [...]ctators departed, was by the splinter of a Launce which Mountgomery broke vpon his Cuirasse, being then the Captaine of the Guard, and who runne against him by his owne Commaund, brought vnto his death. As for the Theaters, I seldome come there, vnlesse I heare well of the Plot and Poet, that he hath lived at Pernassus is a hill in Gree [...]e, where the nine Muses did dwell. Peruassus, conversed with the Muses at Helicon, is a hill of Baeotia, by Thebes, dedicated to Apollo and the Muses. Helicon, and is able in a smooth, cleare, and well composed style to magnifie vertue, and in as harsh and rigide a style to suppresse her enemies, that can extract teares out of the Adamant, in presenting Iocasta ye poore distressed mother to the view of the beholder, Tutimes illum, & illete, Ego vtrúm (que) sed pro vtró (que) locasta de Eteocle et l'olynice in tragaedia. Seneca in Thebard. In me arma ig [...]és (que) vertite: in me omnis ruat vnū juvē tus, civis et hostis simule, hunc petire ventrem, qui dedlofyatres viro; me [...] membra s [...]a [...] sim spargite, ac divellite, ego vtrúm (que) peperi. —Le [...] [...]e [...]ber friend nor foe, Refraine a whit his blondie blade at this my wombe to throw. This wombe, this wombe, wherein I bare these wilfull brethren here; Begot by him that was my s [...]n and eke my weaded peere. Seneca in Thebaid. distracted to see the vnnaturall Contention betweene her two Twinnes Eteocles and Polynices: of such passages when I vnderstand, they haue my company; but when I heare them in stead thereof to send forth nothing els but idle, irreligious execrations, scurrilities, and obscaenities, such as were not heard of in the times of Seneca, Plautus, and those Socraticall Philosophers, who for their witty Apophthegmes & inventions, haue deserved the Olim Poetae post editum opus, sicut Imperatores post victoriam triumphare, curru magnifico per vrbem duci, et l [...]ureâ; vt communi dignitatis insigni, coronari solebant. Aenaeas Sylvius. Lawrell, then I am gone and come no more at them. Thus briefly haue I shewed you both the profits and the pleasures of the Cities: and whereas you attribute much vnto the Country, as being the place where many Princes, Patriarkes, Prelates and Poets haue desired to spend their dayes in: beleeue me Sir, I thinke there was more goodnesse and integritie to be found there in the dayes of our fore-fathers, than there is in our dayes. For as for mine owne part, I could never finde any such pleasure there. Shadie groves, greene pastures, and pleasant streames you haue in abundance, things that affoord content and delight to the eye and smelling, but what advantage they the vnderstanding, the best part of man, that which enricheth and enobleth, that part must proceede from hearing, [Page 50] Lectione perficitur animus. Alexander ex Homero vtilitatem multam cepit: Scipio ex Cyropadia Xenopbontis; et Sol [...]nus Imperator Turcarum ex [...]asaris Commentarijs; conspiciendū est igitur vt ne simus similes militibus illis, qui expugnatae vrbis inter alia etiam pharm [...]co olium diripientes, pretiosa et delicata multa, quae diversis pixidibus repererant, ingurgitabant: quibus illectis, venenatandē pro dulciarijs n [...]autè devotantes, pertêrunt. Nam boni libri lectores suos meliores dimittunt, m [...]liverò pejores. Bell: lib. 2. reading, and conferring: and what can you heare there, but the vncertaine sound of the chirping of birds, the bleating of sheepe, or the dolefull tunes of Crowes or Kites, or an Vrbem quam dicunt Romam (Melibet) putavi Stultus ego huic nostrae similem, quò saepè solemus Pastores ovium teneros depellere faetus. ignorant Corydon that never out-went the bounds of his Ship-walkes, in his Canting language talking of Rome, as of some forlorne, depopulated, pastorall Arcadia, or See the rude discourse of Dametas in the Arcadia. Dametas Courting of Zelmane in so homely a straine, that it would make a man sicke to heare him, or [...] [...]he 2. Book of the Arcad: the song of Basilius in prayse of old age. Basilius singing like a Accipiter gemit non canit. Hawke, or Night-bird in prayse of old age. With these things you may solace your selues, if you take pleasure in them, or what can you reade there? publicke Libraries you haue none, nor bookes or other Hic vbise recreet Romana inventa, nec vrbes, Nec Circi, nec sunt Amphitheatra fori. delights, than what you finde in the woods, high-wayes, and hedge-rowes, vnlesse you are beholding to vs for them, or with whom can you confer? certainly with few or none that can delight you, vnlesse you be well versed in the Art of Hawking and Hunting, & can endure to heare a huntsman discourse of Exiguum leporem vidi jugulâsse leonem; Vidi barbigeras volitare per aëra Capras In media vidi nube volare Bo [...]es. Vidi Balaenam, cujus crescebat in alvo Sylva ingens. Vidi qui traheret turres & maenia vermem; Occurrit testudo mihi velocior [...]uris. Pervert [...]ns vlmos cornibus aë [...]. Hares killing of Lyons, of (f) Goates flying in the ayre, of Fishes having great woods in their bellies, of Wormes drawing Castles after them, of Snailes that went more swift than the winde, and threw downe trees with their hornes as they past, of Vidi apud Aethiopes hominum qui gutture [...]rgus, Quingentas vno dente voravit [...]. a man that devoured fiue hundred sheepe at a bit, of walls in Vidi compactis maenia cafe [...]tis Wales made vp of Kaus-bobbie Cannon proofe, and of the like incredible occurrences, common in the discourses of Huntsmen, with these things perhaps you may solace your selfe, if you take pleasure in them: but if you desire to converse with the Muses, you must repaire to the Citie; for that is the place certainly where they doe inhabite. Wherefore, Seneca in plaine termes tels them, they Menuuntur (inquit S [...]neca) qui sibi obstare ad studia liberalia iurbam negoriorum videri volunt; vaco (mi Lucili) vaco, & vbicún (que) sum, meus sum. Seneca ad Lucil: Epist. 62 [...]. lye that say the businesses of the Cities are hinderances and impediments to [Page 51] the studies and meditations of the Muses; for that a Sapiens et ludendo, et feriò discet; Socrates jocans, militans, obambulans, convivans, philosophabatur; et quidem nihil faeliciùs discitur, quam quod inter studiosos lud [...]do, et aliud quasi agendo discitur. studious and working mind will draw Conclusions out of every thing in every place: wheresoever I am (saith he) I am alwayes at leasure, whether in the Countrey or in the Citie, it is all one to me, I am the same man wheresoever I am. In statu regio, Devidus bonus erat; Saulus ma [...]us: in statu prophetico, Daniel bonus, Balaus malus; inter pastores Abelu [...] bonus, Abimelechus m [...]lus; inter viduas, Iuditha bona, Isabella mala; inter opulentos, Iobus bonus, Nabalus malus; inter Apostolos, Potrus bonus, Iudas malus. Exeadem rosa apes suum mel, aranea suum fel sugit at (que) venenum, out of the same place that the spider sucks poyson, the Bee sucks honey; in the same place where the drone and sluggard perisheth, the industrious and laborious man thriveth and prospereth. Socrates concurres with Seneca in opinion: the Countrey, sayth he, for woods and groves, meadowes and pastures, fountaines and rivers, fowles & fishes, Corne and fruit, oxen and sheepe, and generally for all sensitiue & vegetatiue Creatures, but the City for reasonable Creatures, for old men and matrons, young men and maidens is to be preferred. And Aristotle in his first booke of liuing Creatures implicitly agrees with them, where he darkely, but sharply condemneth the solitaire Country life, the Aves solitariae sunt avitum rapacissimae: bestiae Solivagae sunt bestiarum ferocissimae; quibus omnibus natura latibula, tri [...]éo (que) at (que) horridā vitam dedit Arist lib. 1. de hist. animal. birds (saith he) that flie alone, and the beasts that walke alone, are of all others most devouring: the man that liues alone, he compareth to these birds and beasts: wherefore then you should preferre the solitary Country, I know not, vnlesse it be in this respect, that it vndoes what the Citie hath done; it makes him to be a rude and miserable Creature, whom the Citie had before made to be [...], a Quid magis sociale quàm homo? profecto ne (que) apes, ne (que) form cae, ne (que) grues, ne (que) grega [...]iū aliud animal. Arist. lib. 1. polit. cap. 2. milde and sociable Creature.
Sir, you haue with Eagles eyes pryed into our Country, and searcht out the discommodities of it. I pray you now giue me leaue to expostulate a little with you, and to crave an answere to two or three questions, which I shall moue vnto you. First, whether the Commodities of your Cities are not equally ballanced with discommodities? Whether flatterers, whisperers, vndermining-pioners, and fraudulent ministers, doe not [Page 52] flourish, and prosper there: or whether there is any ill propertie in any of the wilde beasts of the Countrey, that is not to be found in the Rogatus Diogenes qua permiciosissimè moederet bellua; ex feris inquit, obtrectator ex cicuribus adulator. Diog: Later: in Diog: tame beasts, such as beare the shape of reasonable men in the Vrbes humanarum cladium, et queritant um hominum consepta miseranda, dixit Solon. Citie? whether there be not some as cruell as the Tyger; others as proud as the Horse; some as greedie as the Wolfe, others as deceitfull as the Fox; some as biting as the Dog; others as scurrilous as the Ape; some as wanton as the Goat; others as vncleane as the Sow? Whether there are not furious Centaures, pernicious Chimaeraes, raging Satyres, filthy Harpies, wicked Syrens, detestable Ostriches, devouring Gryphins, and greedie Dragons? In more plaine termes, whether Sycophants, Cheaters, rogues, vagabonds, and the worst of men, doe not inhabite and dwell amongst you?
Sir, I must acknowledge it is with vs, as with the purest mettall, the choycest garden, the fayrest field, and the soundest bodie; as the purest Iln' a chose si belle quel, N' ait ascun vic' en el. gold is not without some drosse, the choycest garden not without some weeds, the fayrest field not without some thornes, and the soundest body not without some ill humors: So it is with vs, our Cities are not without some ill members; Sycophants wee haue in them as well as in the Courts and in your Country, but every childe can discover them by their base insinuation; for there cannot a young Gentleman haue a patrimony befall him, but they fawne vpon him, and adore no other god for the present; whatsoever he saith, they admire, and with elevation of eyes and hands cry, Faelix illa dies, totúm (que) canenda per orbem, Quae tibi vitales cùm primú truderit horas. Vox dei non hominis; whatsoever he doth they applaud with an opus plus quā hominum, they deifie the Fortunata puto saecundae viscera matris, Gui tam div no licuit sobolescere partu. wombe that bare him, and the paps that gaue him sucke; and protest that never woman bare so perfect a Creature; all their studie is to Assetatores ab assentiendo disti; quòd corum consilia in id solùm intendunt, secundum Ter [...]nt [...]nu [...] illud. ‘Ais, aio, negas, nego; Adversum quos meritò & dentes a [...]uunt, et gladios stringút Satyrarū scriptores.’ winde themselues into his bosome, to finde out his disposition, and to sympathise with his affections; if he be given to women, they will maintaine it is an Epidemicall disease, [Page 53] the Common-roade, the generall case of all the world, a tricke of youth, a naturall infirmitie; vnto which the most An scelus esse putas? crede, est opus Hercule digmim. noble spirits haue beene subject, if he be given to Comperio vinum succo jucundius omni. Wine, they magnifie the grape aboue all the fruits which grow vpon the ground, commend him for a Ioviall boy, a merry grig, a Companion for a Prince; and one who is never angry but when any one drawes his purse in his Company: if he be given to brawling and quarrelling, they will commend him for a man of spirit, a tryd man, one who hath often Encountred his enemy in the field, and hath put him to the worse: whereas in truth he never drew his sword in anger but once, and that was at a dog, when as the owner came forth with a Cudgell, and beate him handsomely, and made him put it vp againe: if he be Musicall, and can beare a part in a Consort, though never so meanely, they will preferre him before Tomkins the Organist, and Dowland the Lutenist, and will not sticke to say, that Pan silet, et cytharam refugit Lesbous Arion. Pan and Arion will not touch their tooles in his presence: if he haue but the least skill in limming & paynting, yet they will preferre him before Apelles, and will maintaine, that had he lived at that time when Apelles paynted out one part of Venus so to the life, that no man after him durst adventure to perfit his worke, that he would haue gone as farre beyond Apelles in paynting of what he left vnperfitted, as Apelles did beyond all the paynters of his time. So doe these men (Omnes Gnathones, scortatores, palpatores, alcatores, Thersitas, Philoxenos, et ejusmodi nugandi artifices, homunculorúm (que) portenta, qui gregatio solent in benè númatos i [...]ruere; quos rec [...]è fures temporis dixerimus, procul, ô procul fugiant adolescentes! of whom I wish all men to beware) lull these young novices asleepe, and lead them hud-winkt to destruction, who never know where they are vntill adversitie hath opened their eyes. Guzmans and Picaroes likewise we haue many, or in our English phrase Cheaters, whose study is to beguile young & raw novices at their first arrivall in our Cities; a fraternitie that complaine of nothing more than nature, that she hath denied them those gifts which she hath given to many others, to finde out the many sleights and tricks which are vsed at play [Page 54] and gaming; that admire The game at Chests is held a Princely game, because therein are contained all the stratagems of warre, or [...]lots of [...] state. A game wherein William the Conqueror tooke much delight, and lost whole Lor [...]ships in Lincolneshire at it. Leighe See in Chawcers dreame, who was the first inventor of Chests. Chests and To play at Irish doth not befit the female sex, lest thereby they learne to beare a man more than they should. Gwillam. Attalus Asiacus, si gentilium historijs creditur, hanc ludē di lasciviam, scilicèt, vsum alearum dicitur inveniste: cui meritò ab antiquis hoc Encomium tribuitur; vt quan [...]ò quis (que) in eo sit doctior, tantò nequior; nam mendaciorum, et perjuriorum mater est alea. Iohannes Salisb. lib. 1. de nugis Curial: Ars aleatoria, tota infamis, et omnium gentium legibus interidicta; Cobilon Lacedaemonius, societatis causa Corinthum legarus missus, cùm duces et seniores Corinthiorum invenisset in alea ludentes, infecto negotio redijt, dicens nolle se Spartanorum gloriam hac infam â maculare, vt dicerentur cum aleatoribus societatem contraxisse. Corn: Agripp: Irish, as deepe mysteries, into which their shallow wits cannot dive: Games they say, invented at first for great personages, whose thoughts are aspiring; as for themselues they looke not after the surprisall of Kings and Queenes, little Pawnes are their play-fellowes; their thoughts are bent onely vpon plaine Country recreations, Novum, Passage, or the like, and they trade in no other merchandise, than in plaine bar quater-troys, cuts and fullomes. In these little bones doe they finde the sweetest marrow, and in these harmeles sports doe they most delight. Others there are of the same kinde, who run a greater adventure than the former, who like their great Lord & Maister, can transforme themselues into any shape, to bring to passe their mischivous designes and purposes. Sometimes in the similitude of innocencie, being clad all in white, in the habit of a Porter, will adventure vpon any Fortresse, play fast and loose vpon any Locke, breake open any dore with as much boldnesse as the lawfull owner & possessor can doe, take what serues their turne, make all fast againe, and at noone day when the Sunne is at the highest, out-brave the multitude with their adventures vpon their backes. Others in the similitude of a furie, all blacke, being clad in the habit of Vulcan, will performe the like feats of activitie with such dexteritie, that had they lived in the dayes of the Spanish Picaroe, he would haue beene a meere novice vnto them: many of these tame beasts, which beare the shape of reasonable men, we haue amongst vs. And women we haue of all sorts both good and bad, whom we doe value according to their worth and merit; those which are good we doe in a sort adore, for their puritie, and chastitie; and study how to doe them service; those which are not, we spurne, and spit, and hisse at as they passe, and sometimes crowne them with vrine; sometimes with a more base excrement, and studie how to ease our selues of [Page 55] them, every childe can distinguish them by their Meretrices, congerronet, et gigantes in satellitium libenter assumunt, et tales fibi gaudēt efle ante ambulones, et spectatores, quorū virtus est in humeris, in lacertis, in tergo, et in cauda. Theologus, Medicos, Philosophos, et generaliter omnes cujuscún (que) generis quorum vigor est in capite, odio habent & contemnunt Petrarch. companions, habit, and attire; for if they be honest, they are clad in the habit of modestie and civilitie, and weare their Cloths to cover their nakednesse; if they be otherwise, they are clad in a strange, disguised, anticke habit, and weare their Cloths doe discover it, being as loose within as without, to whom our common sort of people will allow no other father than Proteus, no other mother than the Vide Lunae preces in Apologo. Lunam matrem orâsse fertur, vt convenientem sibi vestem faceret: cui illa respondebat; quòd praestare nequeat; quia modò globosa, modò in orbem dimid ari modò in circuitu extenuari, modò evanescere solet. Moone, no other name than Changeling; vnto whom our wiser sort doe ascribe the invention of all new-fangled Vnde haec habituum indies mira simul ac ridenda varietas, nunc pedes contegens, nunc pudend [...] nudans vestis, nunc terram tergentes, nunc cubitum arct inte [...] manicae, nunc maminillas conterens, nunc sub Inguine fluens Zona? nisi ab impudici [...]; quomodò enim fieri potest vt vivendi tenor [...]dem m [...]neathis, quae non se virtuti aut suo judic [...]o, led alienae denientiae sese tra [...]unt? Deni (que) quae patrios mores sic ab [...]jeiunt, vt nil nisi pereg [...]nu [...] venerantur, et toties mutatur, quoties a [...]quid occurrerit quod mirentur. Petrarch. fashions which are vsed in our Cities, and say it is haereditary, and entayled vpon them from the Stewes, who were vsed to change their fashions as often as Proteus did his shape, and to no other end & purpose, than malefactors do their names, because they would not be discovered to be what in truth they are, Mountebanks, Hermaphrodites, anticks, bawds, strumpets, or any thing that is repugnant to modestie and civilitie. Ordinaries likewise we haue, but wee seldome come there; for we account it a disparagement for any man that hath an habitation to be seene in them, when I was young I lookt into them, and if I liked the Companie, I adventured some small summe of money with them, but never at any time could gaine any thing there, yet never could know who gained by me, for every man complained of losse; at length vpon diligent search, we found out the theefe, there was a Heluo stood by vs, that said nothing, yet by little and little robd vs all: which when I found, I resolved never to come there againe; and so since I haue beene as good as my word. These things haue I shewed you in answer to your question, that you may be assured that there is no perfect bodie, but hath some ill humors in it.
Sir, you haue given me good satisfaction to my first question; I pray let me aske you a question or two more, and so I will take my leaue for this time. [Page 56] How commeth it to passe, that the course of life you leade, being attended with so many Commodities, is had in such contempt by the Neapolitan Gentry, & was so much neglected by the old Romanes.
I cannot giue you a more satisfactory answer than by asking you the like question; How commeth it to passe, that the Neapolitan-Gentry are so poore and needie, and the Venetian-Gentry are so rich & wealthy? The reason is easily given; the Venetians follow and affect our course of life, and are industrious and painfull, and the Neapolitans contemne it, and are hautie and idle. I must confesse, it hath beene a continued custome amongst the Neapolitans, that they will rather marry their daughters to the sonnes of Gentlemen, be they never so poore and needy, than to the sole heires of Marchants, be they never so rich and wealthy; for they haue a foolish conceit, and an opinion amongst them, contrary to the opinion of all Learned Armorists make no doubt, if a Gentleman of a coate-armour, marry with a woman that hath none, and hath issue by her, that the issue is an absolute Gentleman, and may giue his Fathers coate: yea they hold, if a Gentlewomā by birth marry with a man that hath no coate-armour, & hath issue a sonne, by the curtesie of armes the sonne may beare her coate-armour during his life with a difference Cinquefoyle. wise men, that if a Gentleman of their Country doe marry with the daughter of a Marchant, or a Plebeian, the issue begotten betweene them, are but Gentlemen of the halfe bloud; but the Venetians are of a cleane contrary opinion, & so are the Genowayes, who hold it an addirament and encrease of honour, to deale in the way of Marchandise; to liue in Venice, and not to doe as the Venetians doe, they hold it as dishonourable as it was for the Lacedaemonians to deriue themselues from the loynes of Hercules, and not endevour to be like vnto Hercules: Valentinian, Agathocles, Telephantes, and Hyperbolus, they haue in perpetuall remembrance: who being Petifactors themselues, or the sonnes of them, became to be Emperours and Kings, and to governe the people. (*) Vertue they account the chiefest Nobilitie; and suppose it never casts a better lustre, than when it shewes it selfe in men professing the trade of Marchandizing: to descend from the loynes of noble progenitors with Catiline, and to be a [Page 57] villaine; or with Hermodius to pull an ancient house vpon his head, and to be the last of it; or with Salust to relye wholy vpon dead mens bones, they accounted the greatest Non tam infamis esset Catilina, nisi tam famosâ familià prognatus esset. Petrarch. dishonour: but by good husbandry, and thriftie course of Apud veteres tantae aestimationis fuit olim mercatura, vt ad hanc exercendam contulerūt se philosophi, nec infimae tantùm classis, sed primae, et qui inter eos fuerunt celeberrimi: certissimū enim est, Solonem illum, qui ob singularem prudentiam inter 7. sapientes numerabatur, hanc exercuisse. Leand. Trading to raise themselues from meane estates, and from Gentlemen of low degree, to be potent and mightie, (as Cato did in another course of life from a poore Cottage in Tuscanie;) that they held the chiefest glory. So that in the flourishing state of Venice, there is not a Gentleman of note or qualitie, but hath a stocke going in the trade of Marchandizing. It is true, I must confesse, there was a Law amongst the old Romanes, which did prohibit Senators and men in authoritie, to deale by way of Trade; but the reason of that was not because it was a disparagement for a great man to Trade, but because Senators were set apart for another end and purpose; that is, to looke to the affaires of the Common-wealth; and therefore they were not to busie themselues about private matters. It is true likewise, it is a received opinion amongst the learned Armorists and Heralds, Mercatura non competit viro generoso, that it is a base & dishonorable part for any man of qualitie to deale by way of Marchandizing, but you must vnderstand it to be meant of Merchandizing in poore and meane Commodities, as in monopolizing of Mercatura si tenuis, sordida putanda est, si magna, & copiosa, multa vndi (que) necessaria reipub: apportans, non est vituperanda. C [...]cero, lib. 1. officisub titulo: quae artes & qui quastus sordidi, qui cōtrà liberales. Pinnes, Cards, and Glasses, or such poore Commodities, not beseeming a Gentleman, or in exporting the bullion of the Kingdome, the iron and lead, the hydes and skins, the Corne and graine, and in stead of them to bring home leaues, Indian-weeds, feathers, drugs, and spices, Oranges and Lemmons, and the juice of grapes, and things of the like nature, rather hurtfull than profitable to the Common-wealth: but to adventure for the gold of Ophyr, and the vsefull and necessary Commodities of Cyprus abounds with wood to make Masts, and with Flax and Pitch to make sailes. Ortellius. Cyprus, and Persia abounds with iron and steele to make Armour. Persia hath beene an imployment not vnworthy the adventure of Sir Francis Drake in the yeare 1572. surprised Numbre de Dios, and between Panama and it, tooke two Companies of Mule [...] laden with gold and silver: in the yeare 1578. He tooke the C [...]gafugo, furnished with [...] treasure. Candish in the yeare 1587. tooke the greatship called Saint Anna, of the [...]u [...]then of 700. tunnes fraught with exceeding rich Marchandise. Drake, of Frobusher, [Page 58] of Candish, and the noble spirits of former times. So that without doubt Pegins was in the right, when he affirmed, that it may well stand with the degree of Knighthood, to deale in the way of trade and Marchandizing.
Sir, let me craue your answer to one question more, and so I will take my leave of you. I haue often heard, that if a Gentleman by discent take vpon him the profession of a Mechanicke, his Gentilitie is quite and cleane extinguished.
You haue heard in your time likewise of Goates flying in the ayre, of snailes going faster than the winde, and throwing downe Steeples with their hornes as they past; but did you ever heare any, that were versed in the Law of Armes, seriously affirme it. The best Gentlemen in Venice, I am sure, and amongst the Gen [...]wayes, are the best Marchants, and in most of the flourishing Kingdomes where I haue had to doe. The Pertinax Augustus non aliter quàm privatus, mercaturam exercuit; idem traditur de Rodulpho Bohemia rege, & de Laurentio medices reipub: Florentinae Principe. Apud Graecos, nec Graecos solùm, sed apud omniù nationum populos mercatura fuit maximè in pretio, et quò celebriores et humaniores fuere populi, apud eos magis fuit negotiatio frequentata; et hi maximè barbarie fuere notati, apud quos Mercatores non erant admissi. Leand: Nobilitie haue thought it no disparagement to vse the Trade of Marchandizing. Gentry is not easily lost, it is a Character which nothing can deface, but misdemeanors and abuses; indeede it is true, if during the time of our servile yeares, we wastfully and riotously consume the goods of our Maisters, or when wee come to be Agents for our selues, we carelesly neglect to pay our bils of Exchange, we loose our credit and reputation, which we account our best Gentry: the Acts and Armes, so called, because that in auncient time they were painted vpon the shields, helmets, and armours of the beaters. Armes of our Auncestors we extoll and magnifie, but relie vpon our owne endevours, as vpon the pillars vpon which our thoughts are fixed, to raise some trophies for the benefit of posteritie.
Alas; What Trophies can you raise for the benefit of posteritie out of mechanicall trades and occupations, if you had beene so happie as to haue betaken your selues to the studie of the liberall Sciences, you might haue had good encouragement to haue left [Page 59] some memorials behinde you. For I haue heard from the Heralds, Nulli docto, nulli in scientijs liberalibus excellenti, honoris insignia sunt deneganda, to men deserving in the liberall Sciences, Ensignes of honour cannot be denyed: but it is hard thing in the course which you are in to deserue any thing worthy of memory.
No; Admit we should performe some of Hercules labours; admit with Iason we should fetch the golden-fleece from Colchos; or bring home the Spanish-fleete fraught with gold and silver from the Indies. Admit with Titus Manlius we overcome an enemy to King and State in a Duell, and take his Chaine from him; and thereby purchase to our selues the title of Torquatus, and Equites aurati were so called, because that they alone were allowed to beautifie their armour, and the coperisons of their horses with gold, and to weare a chaine of gold, which had beginning from Titus Manlius, who for that he overcame an en [...]my to the State in a duell, and tooke his chaine from him, was called Torquatus. The forme whereof is represented in the coller of SS, which no man may weare vnder the degree of a Knight; by the Stat. of 24. H. 8. Equites aurati: Admit with Frobusher made three severall voyages for the discovery of the North-west passage to the Indies: the first in the yeare 1576. the second in the year 1577 the third 1578. Columbus in the dayes of K. Henry the 7. discovered the West Indies for the Spaniard, having before tendred his service to the King of England, who (vnhappily) did not entertaine him. Frobusher, or with that valourous, adventrous Gentleman Captaine Iames, we should launch into the ycie Seas and approach the Articke pole, to discover a Northwest passage to Iapan; or with Columbus discover some terra incognita, full fraught with mines of gold and silver: Admit we should build Colledges, Hospitals, Almes-houses, erect or amend the decayed walles of a Citie; repayre high-wayes, or make bridges for the ease of passengers, or for the good service we haue done to our Countries, we are honored with the degree of Knights, or Barons, or Viscounts, doe you thinke posteritie shall not reape the benefit of these things, though wee haue our originall from the Citie?
Without doubt they shall, but if you doe nothing els, but heape vp stones together, build faire houses, and compasse them about with a little earth, and so leaue them, and thinke thereby to reape honour to your posteritie; you are much Tales qui merâ Principis gratiâ nobilitatem acquirūt, licet in matricula nobilium sunt descripti: sit: men non agunt nobilium actus, non gaudebunt nobilium privilegijs, nec comprehenduntur in Statuto mentionem faciente de nobilibus: was the saying of Sigismund the Emper [...]ur. Ferne. mistaken; perhaps you may be honorable in so doing; ratione fendi, and to vse the language of Pegius, you may passe for Knights made vp of paper and wax, but you shall never be verè Militia a militiae; cùm ex strenua et continuata militia tantus adip seitur honos. Honoris augmentum non ambitione, sed labore ad vnumquein (que) convenit pervenire. milites, nor partake of the priviledges of such as be honorable.
Well I am glad you doe agree so farre with vs, that we may be Gentlemen and truely noble, though we take vpon vs the profession of Marchants, or any other mechanicall trade or occupation. I pray you now being that we are fallen into a discourse of the titles of honour, to tell me (though it savour a little of extravagancy) whether the Ladies of your Countrey (if they marry with Citizens) doe not loose their titles & their places. It comes into my minde, for that being the last night at our chiefe officers house, where there were met many Ladies and Gentlewomen, there arose a great cō troversie betweene them about it: the Ladies confidently affirming, that they did not loose it: the Gentlewomen as confidently that they did: the Ladies giving this reason, they did not Quando ratio est idem cum dicto, vana et faeminea esse tenetur inter ju [...]ise ō sulros: vt Interrogat [...] cur possideat, responsurus, quia possideos quod eleganter exprimit Martial: his versibus. Non amo te (Sabidi) nec possum dicere quare; Hoc tantùm poflum dicere, non amo te. because they did not: and the Gentlewomen giving this reason, that they did because they did: and whose reasons were the better reasons; you being a man of judgement, and can judge betweene raysons and raysons, I craue your opinion.
Truely in my opinion the reasons which the Ladies gaue, were the better reasons, because they were the better women; but yet I shall tell you what I haue heard my Father say, who had seene Paris and Padua, and knew well what did belong to Gentry and Nobilitie, and had good skill likewise in the Lawes of his Country, that vnlesse they were Ladies of the bloud-royall, or descended from the loynes of noble progenitors; or otherwise had their titles conferred vpon them by speciall grace from Soveraigne power and authoritie, though they were as deserving as those nine worthy Ladies, whom some haue parallelled for their noble acts and atchievements, with the nine worthies of the world; that is to say, Minerva governed the Lybians, and obtained many victories: she lived in the dayes of Isaack the Patriarch. Semyramis, Queene of the Assyrians cōquered Aethiopiae. Tomyris, Queene of Scythia conquered Cyrus. Iahel delivered her Countrey by killing of Sisar. Deborah governed Israel fortie yeares in peace. Iudith delivered the besieged Citie of Bethulia from the Assyrians, by cutting off Holofernes head. Mawde the daughter of King Henry the 1. being first married to the Emperour Henry the fifth, and so had the title of Empresse, and afterward to Geffry Plantagenet, Earle of Anjou, and so had the title of Countesse of Anjou, never desisted from the field, vntill shee had caused Stephen of Blois to condescend to her sons right. Minerva, Semyramis, and Tomyris amongst the Heathens; Iahel, Deborah, and Iudith amongst the Iewes; and the most renowned Lady and Empresse Mawde, the daughter of King Henry the first of [Page 61] England, Of the magnanimitie of Elizabeth, Queene of Spaine, see Gwicciardine in his sixth Booke of his Historie of Italie. Iohanna Queene of Naples, defended her Countrie both against the invasions of the Saracens, and the warres of Arragon. Elizabeth Queene of Spaine, wife to King Ferdinand of Arragon; and Iohanna Queene of Naples amongst the Christians; yet they shall haue no other place but according to the Quando faemina nobilis nupserit ignobili, desinit esse nobilis. Ferne. degrees of their husbands, & the reason thereof is as I haue heard him say, for that it should be a mōstrous thing in nature, that they whom the Lawes of God haue conjoyned, and made an vndivided bodie, the Lawes of man should sever and place in degree, the foote aboue the head, the inferior aboue the superior, the wife aboue the husband.
But what if she marry with a Gentleman or Esquier?
It is all one, Abijt madam, her Ladiship is gone.
I am glad to heare your Father was of that opinion, he was a learned man, and one that was well seene in Armes and Heraldry. The reason wherefore I desire to be satisfied therein is, because there is a Lady, or a reputed Lady in our Citie, that was the daughter of a meane man, and afterwards married with a Knight, and buried him, and since hath married with a man of meane degree; and because she was sometimes a Lady, there is not a Gentlewoman, be she the wife of the best Gentleman in the Citie, but she will step before her, and take place of her, and why forsooth, marry because the Custome of the Countrey doth giue it her, as shee saith. But when I shall tell our Citie Dames, that the Custome of the Countrey is contrary to the Lawes of Armes, and the Lawes of the Kingdome; I am sure they will not accustome her to doe as she hath done.
Sir, I thanke you; you haue given me good satisfaction to all my questions: and now I cannot but acknowledge, that I am much taken by your relation, with many of the delights of your City: especially with your Anatomie Lecture, and Vaulting exercise, and if I may be beholding to you, to tell me what dayes your [Page 62] Schooles are open, I will make a journey to Towne, of purpose to see some feats of activitie vpon the horse, and to heare your Anatomie Lecture.
Sir, our Schooles are open every day in the weeke (one day excepted which is set apart for another purpose) and admittance you may haue at all houres in the day, but we seldome come there, vnlesse it be in the Quod [...] in anno; quod adolescentia in atatibus; id [...] dici, in ipso die est. Ideó (que) musis inter omnes horas diluculum et auroram gratissimam, proverbium esse testatur. Exoriens nam (que) sol, vigorem, et alacritatem assert omnibus, discutit (que) nebulas e ventriculo, exhala i consuetas, quae mentis domicilium solent obnubilare. morning, for that is the time that the Muses tooke to recreate themselues, and then stay no longer at our bodily exercises, but vntill wee haue rowsed vp the naturall heate which was asleepe in vs, and prepared our selues to vndergoe better Actions, for that is the end wherefore wee vse those bodily recreations, in which we covet not to Saltatio curiosa generosū non decet. excell, (that we leaue to the professors thereof) onely desire to attaine to so much skill, that when we meete with the Olympicke Lads, and be put to shew our selues, we become not ridiculous to the spectators.
But doe you never come thither after dinner?
Never vpon a full stomacke: I must confesse, when I was young, I was so keene vpon some violent exercises, that no sooner was I out of my bed in a morning, but presently I was in the Schooles; and no sooner was the meate in my belly, but I was there againe; such a desire I had vnto them; but I paid dearely for it. Those violent motions begat such crudities, and such oppilations, that to this day I could never be free from head-ach, of which I never tasted vntill that time.
It should seeme then, that your exercises are more hurtfull than profitable to the body of man.
It is very true; if they be vsed at vnseasonable times: the best things may be Nil prodest quod non laedere possit idem. Igne quid vtilius? si quis tamen vtere tecta Comparat, audaces instruit igne manus. Ovid. abused; you know there is nothing more commodious for the life of man than fire and water, yet if we vse the one to the burning of houses, and the other to the drowning of our neighbours, there is nothing more incommodious: there is [Page 63] nothing more necessary for the maintenance of life than meate and drinke, yet if we vse to eate our meate vnseasonably, before we come out of our beds in a morning, a thing too common amongst Ladies, or drinke our drinke vnseasonably, then when we are going to bed in the evening, a thing too common amongst Lords, there is nothing that will breed more crudities, or bring vs sooner to vntimely death. There is nothing more necessary for our soules health, than the studie of divinitie: nor for the well ordering of our liues, than the studie of morall Philosophy; nor a better ornament to a man, than to be well versed in Poetry: yet we know the greatest Constat famofot Théologos haereticos magnos fuisse, et morales Philosophos pessimis moribus imbutos fuisse, sed haec non artium, sed artibus malè vtentium culpa est. Divines haue beene the greatest hereticks, and the greatest Moralists and Daemonum cibus, secundùm Hieronimum, est ser [...] Poeticus, sed hoc Poëtis, non Poeticae tribuendum est. Petrarch. Poëticarum quaestionum exercitationes eruditorum hominum secundas mensas nominant aliqui, ideó (que) vt condimentis, non vt cibis vti debemus. Poets, haue had the greatest blemishes & imperfections. There is nothing more necessary, nor conduceth more to the preservation of health, than the exercise of the body; yet if wee vse to ride our horses with Caligula so soone as the meate is in our bellies, it cannot but breed in vs as it did in him the Vid: Annot. in Caligulam in Sueton [...] Cardiacus, that will quickly bring vs to our ends. Wherefore we seldom vse any violent exercise but in the morning, or in the evening when our stomacks are emptie, and our meate fully concocted, and therefore if you come at those times, you shall be sure to haue admittance, and finde vs there. And thus ended the discourse betweene Rustico and Vrbano. ‘No sooner had Vrbano thus ended his discourse; but Rustico goes vnto Theologo, and as he and Vrbano had questioned each other, so he demaunds of Theologo, the motiues that might induce him to take that sacred profession of Divinitie vpon him; beginning as followeth.’
Sir, when you were young (as I remember) you were more inclinable to the life of a Souldier, than [Page 64] to take that sacred profession of Divinitie vpon you; what might be the motiues then I pray you that induced you vnto it?
I shall therein giue you satisfaction, I must acknowledge, I was in my youth of an actiue spirit, and more inclinable to any profession than to the life of a Scholler, whose profession is to be Cloystred vp in a Colledge, and as it were buried aliue in a studie, but it fell out in those my youthfull times, there was a generall peace throughout all Christendome, and so no imployment for such spirits as I was of. Whereupon I resolved to spend some yeares abroad in Peregrinatio ad prudentiam multū valet, et penè magis quàm vlla praecepta. Homerus Vlysseae prudentiae causam decantaturus, hanc potissimùm allegat. Multorum mores hominum conspexit et vrbes. Et Plutarchus prudentiam Lycurgi ostensurus, allegat expeditionē suam in Cretam, et conversationem in Thaelete. ‘Plutarch. in Lycurgo.’ Sic Germanicum Caesarem legimus incredibili cupiditate veteres locos et celebres visendi, Graeciam, Thraciam, oram Asiae, ipsas demùm Armexias pera [...]râsse. ‘Bellus. lib. 2.’ Sic Cicero Syracusis investigatam & inventam a se sphaeram Archimedis gloriatur. travaile, that at my returne I might doe my King and Countrey the better service; yet before I would crosse the Seas, I resolved to take a Survey of mine own Country at home, which that I might the better doe, I tooke some paines in Maister Cambdens Britannia, acquainting my selfe thereby with most of the famous Cities, Townes, and Villages of the Kingdome, together with the Shires, the nature of the soyle, and the disposition of the people, and not willing to content my selfe with a bare speculatiue knowledge, a great part of the Summer for three or foure yeares together, I tooke my journey into one part of the Kingdome or other, to the intent that I might be the better assured, and that mine eyes might testifie those things which I had onely heard and read of before: so that after I had fully satisfied my selfe, by an exquisite Survey taken of all the Shires, Cities, Townes, Villages, and Hamlets of note, together with the dispositions of the people, and the severall kinde of speeches, much differing, though but one language, I tooke my flight at last over the Seas into Fraunce, where I must confesse, I was a little daunted and disanimated at my first arrivall, when I saw others make themselues merry with discourse, and I stood by like the picture of Erasmus in Roterodame, or of Gresham in [Page 65] the Exchange, staring vpon them, not able to answere a word; and one while I did envie the Invidebam Neronianis illorúm (que) temporum Chironomis et saltatoribus qui digitis loquebantur, et integras historias fabulás (que) saltabant. Bellus. ages of our forefathers, to see them so wittie, as to be able in Moris-daunces with their feete and fingers, to expresse whole Histories, and I not able with all my art, without a great deale of difficultie, to make my selfe to be vnderstood; another while in some bitternes I fell vpon O quoties ille Babylonicae turris Architectus, tantae cō fusionis autor, et nebulo Nimrod peregrinātibus detestandus! Bellus. Then Finland-folke might visit Africa, The Spaniard Indy, and ours America; Without a trutch man; now the banks that bound Our Townes about, our tongues doe also mound. For who from home but halfe a furlong goes, A [...] dumbe alas his reasons toole doth lose; Or if wee talke but with our neere confines, Wee borrow mouthes, or else wee worke by signes. Nimrod, for (it came into my thoughts) had he not beene, I should not haue needed being growne in yeares to become a childe againe, to haue gone to Schoole to learne to speake; the language of Fraunce would haue beene as familiar vnto me, as the language of mine owne Country, there would haue bin no Miscellania, no confusion of tongues: the Vna priùs lingua suit, omnibus vna loquela. French and the English, the Graecian and Hebritian, the Romane and Italian, the Spanyard and the Sclavonian, should haue vsed but one and the same language. Sometimes againe I condemned my selfe, that had lived so long at home, and had cast away so many houres in hawking and hunting, in dicing and carding, in bowling & sporting, and neglected to learne the language of my neighbour-Country; so that I was much perplexed in my thoughts, whether I should goe forward or backward, to returne so suddenly I thought it would be deemed Vacillatio est certum signum incertae mentis. inconstancy in me, which is a sure and certaine signe of a giddie head and incertaine minde; and to goe forward, being that I knew not how to speak, I thought it would much Quae major molestia quàm non intelligi, cum interrogamus; cum interrogamur obstupescere, quasi torpedo marina tetige [...]it? Petrarch. trouble me, but at last when I had duely considered, that it was not my case alone, but the case of most young fresh-water travellers, I resolved as soone as ever I had run over Ortellius, and his Mappes, as I had done before Maister Cambdens Britannia, and thereby acquainted my selfe by a speculatiue knowledge, with all the parts of that Country, to take my flight into those parts which were most vsefull for the obteyning of the Mother-tongue thereof; which resolution I pursued, and tooke my voyage accordingly. Where I resided so [Page 66] long, vntill I became so good a proficient in the knowledge of the language of that Country, as to vnderstand and to make my selfe to be vnderstood in any manner of discourse, that was offered vnto me in the language thereof. So that after I had taken a full Survey of that Country, and the people thereof, and borrowed some of their language to conduct me (being indeede an excellent guide) at length I past into Italy, taking Ortellius still with me for a companion, and demeaning my selfe in those parts as I had done before in Fraunce: and after I had spent some time there, I past further into other Christian Kingdomes, and out of them as farre as Constantinople, and after I had glutted my selfe with a full view and sight of those parts, and acquainted my selfe with the Occurrences that fell out during the time that I made my abode therein, and obtained the severall languages of the Countryes, I returned at length home againe, being by this time neare thirtie yeares of age: and now being at home in my mothers lap, mine owne natiue Country, I was much perplext in what Course of life I should weare out the rest of my dayes, and after that I had long tumbled and tost my thoughts over and over, at length I resolved to betake my selfe to the Vniversitie, to become a childe againe; and there first to instruct my selfe in the grounds & principles of Logicke, Philosophie, and Physicke, but vpon Physicke to settle my affections, as vpon her from whom I did expect some liuelihood and preferment. Whereunto partly I was inclined by reason of mine owne weake constitution of bodie, and partly out of a covetous desire I had to raise some Trophies for the benefit of posteritie, but when I considered the Humana conditio apprimè depingitur per Phil: Commin: in Ludovice 11. in Carolo duce Burgundiae in Ed. 4. rege Angliae, in rege Hungariae, et in Ottom: Imperatore Turcarū. Phil: Com: lib. 6. c. 13. —Vnder heaven no race Perpetually possesseth any place: But a [...] all Tenants at the high Lords will: He hold a field, a forrest, o [...] a hill. Bartas. incertaintie and mutabilitie of all those goods, by the Philosophers stiled the goods of fortune and the bodie. How the greatest Empires, Kingdomes, Cities, haue had their periods, their rising and their setting: How the famous Monarchie of the Assyrians [Page 67] devolved to the Medes and Persians, how that againe to the Graecians, and how that againe to the Romanes. And how at this day Constantinople, the auncient seate of the Christian Emperours, and all those Greeke Churches of which mention is made so often in the sacred Scriptures, of Munsterus in Cosmograph [...] Peloponnesus, Epirus, Armenia, Macedonia, and Verticem omnium Civitatū vocat Alexandriam Ammianus Marcellinus lib. 220. Ibi aertrāquillus, et serenus, et nullo paenè die incolentes hanc Civitatem solem serenum non vident. Alexandria, that was so famous throughout the world for the scituation of it, that wee may say of it for the scituation (as Philip Cōmines doth of Of all the Seignories of the world, the Realme of England is the Countrie where the Common-wealth is best governed, the people lest oppressed. Phil: Com: lib. 5. c. 18. England for the government of it:) are become the Territories of the Turke. How Rhodes was lost in the yeare 1522. Chios in the yeare 1566. Famagosta in the yeare 1572. Rhodes the key of Christendome, which for a long time by the valiant prowesse & magnanimitie of the Knights stoutly withstood him & hindred the passage of his treasure out of Aegypt into Constantinople, together with Chios and Famagosta, a chiefe hold in Cyprus, are vnder his dominion: how these foureteene auncient Christian Kingdomes, of Castile, Leon, Arragon, Catalonia, Navarre, Astruria, Granado, Valentia, Toledo, Galatia, Myrcia, Portugall, and Algarbe, are all swallowed vp in the Spanish Monarchie. How in Italie, Millaine and Naples haue lost their stations, and are likewise swallowed vp in that insatiable gulfe: how in Fraunce the Crowne hath beene devolved from the Merovingians to the Charlovingians, from the Charlovingians to the Capovingians, and in them from the house of Valois to the house of Bourbon, and all by the meanes of a Nihil tam firmum est cui periculū non sit ab invalido. Curt. lib. 7. Leo ipse aliquando minimarum avium pabulū sit, et ferrū rubigo consumit. Curt. Vidi cruen [...]os carcere includi duces; et impotentis terga plebeia mann scindi tyranni. Seneca in Hercule furen [...]e. meane Iacobin Fryar. To come home to our selues, how this our Nation hath beene altered and changed: how at the first it was the portion of Samothes, one of the sonnes of Iaphet, and from him received the name of Samothea: how afterwards it came from the line of Cham, and so develoved from the posteritie of Iaphet to the See Chawcer in his second booke of the Testament of loue; where he lawenteth that Cains children should inherit Iaphets possessions. How this Kingdome hath bin tumbled and tost of later times, in the warres betweene the two houses of Yorke & Lancaster. See Phil: Commin: lib. 3. cap. 4.5.6. & 7 [...]. posteritie of Cham: how afterwards Brute invaded it, and named it after his owne name Britaine, and in time became a Pentarchie: How afterwards the Romanes invaded it and made it a tributarie [Page 68] Kingdome, being before absolute; how afterwards the Saxons invaded it, and in processe of time divided the spoyle and made it an Heptarchie; how afterwards the Danes invaded it, and most barbarously demolished & spoyled it; how afterwards the Normans invaded it, which was the last invasion that prevailed, and the last, I hope, that ever shall doe. To descend to families within our selues; how the name and familie of the Henry de Bohun was in the right of his grand-mother, daughter and heire of Milo Earle of Hereford, made Earle of Hereford and Constable of England, the first yeare of K. Iohn; which honours with many more continued in the name of the Bohuns vntill the dayes of K. Edw: the 3. and then for want of issue-male of Humfrey the seventh Earle of Hereford they came to Thomas Duke of Gloucester, and K Henry the fourth who married the daughters and heires of the Bohuns Elianor and Mary. Bohuns that flourished from the time of King Iohn to the dayes of King Edward the third, being Earles of Hereford and Essex, Lords of Brecknocke, and Constables of England, six or seaven one after another; how the noble name and familie of the Vnto William the first Earle of Warw: of that name, with others King Edw: the first graunted the iutelage of Edw: the 2. he dyed at Elmelie and was būried at Worcester; vnto Guy Earle of Warw: King Edw: the first granted the Castle of Barnard in the Bishoprick of Durham; he caused Peter Gaveston Earle of Cornwall, an enemy to the State, to be beheaded not farre from Warwicke. Thomas Earle of Warwick did strange things at Hogs in Normandie vnder Edw: the 3. as Walfinghā reports, in scandondo terram apud Hogs (vt inquit Walsing:) Tho: Beauch: cum vno Armigero et sex Architenē tibus contra centū homines de armis audacter manum erexit, et hostili hastiludio obvium quenquā prostravit. Walfing: in Vpodigm. Newst [...] ▪ Henry the last of that name, King Henry the 6. so much honoured, that he made him Duke of Warwicke, with this addition of honour, that in all [...]eetings he should fit next the Duke of Norfolke, about the Duke of Buckingham [...] he dyed about the age of twentie-two yeares as Henly not far from Worcester, where he was borne, and was buried at Tewxburie. Beauchamps, Earles of Warwicke, and Barons of Elmelie in Worcestershire, that flourished from the dayes of King Edward the first vntill the dayes of King Henry the sixt, and were highly honoured by their Soveraignes for the good service they did both at home and abroad, are quite and cleane extinguished: how the Mortimers, Earles of March, in whose veynes the Edmond the third Earle of March, married Anne the daughter and heire of [...]: Duke of Clarence, one of the sonnes of King Edward the third, and Edmond the fifth Earle of that name married Anne the daughter of Edmond Earle of Scafford, and Anne his wife, who was daughter to Thomas of Woodstocke Duke of Gloucester, another of the sonnes of King Edward the third. royall bloud ran so plentifully, and that flourished from the dayes of King Edward the second, fiue severall descents together, even vntill the time of King Henry the sixth: how the de la Poles, Dukes of Suffolke that flourished from the dayes of King Edward the third, vntill the time of King Henry the eighth. To omit the auncient familie of the Staffords, now much ecclipsed, noble even from the Conquest, Earles from the time of K. Edward the third vntill the time of King Henry the sixth, six together one after another, and Dukes from that time vntill the raigne of King Henry the eighth. How the very name of the Plantagenets, that flourished thirteene severall [Page 69] descents, especially in the dayes of King Iean de Seres tellement par la d'Edw [...]le 3 et de sonarme [...]', qu' il est prince de coeur magnanimè de prompt erresolve vivacitē et que Parme' Angloise navoit pas taunt ne de homes ne de personages fignales, mes l'experience monstra per tout qu'il ne cedoit a le Francoise n' in courage n' en valour. Edward the third and King Henry the fifth, who for their incomparable victories, obtained in a strange Country, were honored by their very enemies, are now cleane extinguished. To leaue Kingdomes and Principalities, and private families, and to come to wonders, how the stately Pyramides in Memphis, built by the Kings of Aegypt; which cost three thousand and sixtie men twentie yeares worke. How the Tower of Omnia quae manu hominum facta sunt, vel manu hominum evertuntur, vel stando et durando deficiunt. Vbi est nime Troianorū illud Ilion superb [...] vbi bursa Carthaginis? vbi turr [...] & maeniae Babylonis? Belluarū nunc habitatio et serpentum. Vbi est illa Neron [...] domus aurea, quae tantum defatigaverit Architectos? vbi sunt Th [...]mae Dioclesianae & ba [...]ne [...]m Antoman [...]m? vbi tot operatantis impensis aedificata? certe aut nulla, aut peregrina tantorū operum relinq [...]ūturvestigia. Petrarch. Perpetuum nihil esb ex sublunaribus, at quod In pretio est hodiè, cras redit in nihilum; Numē ab aeternis distinguēs vs (que) caduca, Hunc velit humanis rebus ineste statum. Sublunarē & terrenum hunc locum Circes este diversorium dicit Solon; vbi perpetuò retum facies mutantur; vbi verbum nunc fulguris instar evanescit, & ictu oculi diffipatur; vbi vigent appellationes hae, prius, & posterius, fuit, erit. Pharos, built by Ptolomie, the walles of Babylon by Semiramis; the Temple of Diana at Ephesus by the Nobilitie of Asia; the Colossus in Rhodes by Lindius; the Tombe of Mausolus by his Queene Artemisia, and the costly Image of Iupiter by Phidias, being the seaven wonders of the world. How Sparta and Corinth, the costly bathes of Anthonie and Dioclesian, and the golden house of Nero are all of them at this day overwhelmed in the dust. And how as Kingdomes and Principalities: so the sinewes & strength of Kingdomes, the Scalig [...] in exposit: [...] mism. Constant. Coyne of them hath beene altered and changed: how in the Coynes of most auncient times, there is no similitude of man to be found; how in the Coynes of more latter times, the Emperours haue beene pleased to cause their owne pictures to be stamped; how afterwards both in the Coynes of the Easterne & Westerne Churches, the picture of the Crosse was to be seene, yet differenced thus; in the Coynes of the Easterne Church, there was alwayes on the top of the Crosse a Crowne with a palme, to signifie triumph and victorie over the world. How after the Councell of Nice, where the Arrian-heresie was condemned, there was generally in all Coynes the mysterie of the sacred Trinitie, God the Father speaking out of a Cloud thus, Hic est filius meus dilectus, God the sonne ponraitured in the shape of a Lambe, God the holy Ghost in ye shape of a Doue. And how at this day they are as they were neere vnto the beginning, with the similitude of the Prince stamped [Page 70] vpon them. To leaue the things below and to ascend higher, how the Aeterna lex a principio dicta omni huic mundo nosci, denasci, ortri, aboriri, nec quicquam stabile aut firmū arbiter ille rerum esse voluit praeter ipsum. Exclamat tragicus vates. Omnia ista quae miraris, aut pereunt, aut mutātur. Solem vides, desicit; Lunam, laborat & tabescit; sydera labantur et cadunt Varro asserit Hosperum colorem mutâste, magnitudinē, figurā et cursū. Sunne and Moone haue lost much of their wonted power, and doe daily faint and fall away. How the Evening Starre by the Auncients called Vesperugo and Hesperus, hath changed his colour, forme and course; how the Elements leaue their stations, and are all at oddes and warre one with another; how the ayre creepes into the holes of the Earth, and makes her vast bodie to reele and totter; and sometimes throws downe Townes by the Vnus sub Tiberio terraemotus duodecim celebres Asiae vrbes subvertit, totidē Campaniae oppida: alius sub Constantino. Lips: lib. 1. de Constan: dozens; how the Earth and Water in revenge climbe vp vnto the skies and there occasion lightning and thunder, stormes and tempests, hayle and snow; how the The greedy Ocean breaking his wonted bounds, Vsurpes his heardi, his wealthy Iles and Townes. —The greedie earth againe Swallowes whole Countries, and the ayrie tops Of Princes Towers in her vast wombe wraps. water exceeds her wonted chanels, and makes anavigable Sea where firme land stood before: how the Ilands. Earth againe in revenge gathers her forces together, and mounts vp her selfe aboue the waters, and takes vp her lodging in the midst of her dwelling. These things when I considered, as also what the Earth was, that it was the Center of the Vniverse, not equallizing the Sunne in magnitude to the hundred degree: and that he that had the most and greatest share therein, had in respect of it but little, and for a Vita quid est nisi res fragilis nisi bulla vel aura? Punctum est quod vivimus et adhuc puncto minus. Seneca. Quis est quamvis adolescens, cui sit exploratum se ad vesperum esse victurum. Cicero. short time; and yet subject to change and alteration. Againe, when I considered, with what materials these bodies of ours are framed, and how they are still patcht and pieced out, and into what corruptible materials they must be dissolved: how the curious Venetian Dames, who whilest they liue, will not endure to haue Boreas to blow vpon them, nor Phaebus to shine vpon them, within a few dayes after they haue shooke hands with the world, become so contemptible, that even the meanest reasonable servile Creature, who whilest they lived, would in a manner haue adored thē, will not endure to come a neare them. Againe, when I considered, how we come Principium vitae dolor est, dolor exitus ingens, Sic medium dolor est; vivere quid libeat? Flebilis ingres [...]us, status difficilis, egressus horribilis. Bles. Cum semel est infans gravida resolutus ab alvo. Ortus prima sui munera sunt ge [...]itus. Clamant E. vel A. quotquot nascuntur ab Eva. whyning into the world, and when we are there, how we are made the sport of time, banded to and fro like a ball, sometimes vp [Page 71] and sometimes downe; how Parlus Iovius, lib. 2. de bellicavi [...]tu [...]e virorū illustrium in vita Tamerl. et Ba [...]acet. Bajacet in the morning was the great magnificent Emperour of the Turkes, in the evening a footstoole to Tamerlane; how Iustiniani justis excacatus Bellizarius tuguriolum prope viam cōstitui fecit in quo reliquum vitae transige [...]it, victū quaeritans, et hoc praetereuntibus dictitans. Da obo [...]ū Bellizario, quem rerum prosperè gestarum magnitudo extulis, invidia excacavit. Aegid: Per: in vita Iustin: Bellizarius that in his time was the most victorious Commander of the world, before he dyed was brought to that misery, that he did beg for livelihood; how Sejanus and Apud Tiberium Neronem et Claudium, tam potens erat Seianus, vt solus hic imperiū administrabat. Aeneas Sylvius. Cum aquam turbidam et cadaveribus inquinatam bibisset Darius, negat se vnquam bibi [...]le jucundius. Sleid lib. 1. de 4. Monarch. Gloria regnandi quàm fluxa sit, & brevis, hic est Cernere, Rex hodiè, cra [...] vapor, vmbra, nihil. Miserabile spectaculū a praefectis et cognatis, Beslo, & Nabarzano capitur Darius. Iustin: lib. 11. Quos faelices Cynthia vidit, Vidit miseros abitura dies. Quem dies vidit veniens supernum, Hunc dies vidit fugiens jacentem. Momento mare convertitur; eodem die vbi luserunt navigia, sorbentur. Seneca. Darius, the one of them the onely minion of three great Princes, and so powerfull, that (as Aenaeas Sylvius obserues) solus ille imperium administrabat, was ignominiously dragged with a hooke through the streets to his death, and all his Statues cast out of the Capitoll, the other a great King of Persia, was brought to that misery, that he was glad to drinke puddle-water begd from an enemie, and which was worse than all, was betrayed, scorned and derided of his owne flesh and bloud whom he had raysed. Againe, when I beheld the severall conditions of men, and saw in one place a man that laboured in wisedome, knowledge, and honest-dealing, to leave an inheritāce to him that had neither Salomons foole. wisedome, knowledge, nor honestie: in another place, a man that had neither sonne, childe, or brother, labouring and toyling to heape vp gold and silver together, as if there had beene no other way to purchase heaven, but by getting of it: in another place, a man to whom God had given abundance of all things, and denyed him nothing that his heart could wish and desire, yet gaue him not Divitias locupletis habes, animam sed egeni; Haeredi [...] dives, sed tibi solus egens. Morus. —Hic vt apes, Sudat in alveolo, mella alij comedunt. power to eate thereof, but suffered strangers to enjoy it. These things when I considered, as also when I beheld the great bodie of the sublunarie world, and saw how one Observa (inquit Seneca) orbem rerum in se remeantium; vides in hoc mundo nihil extingui, sed vicibus descendere ac resurgere: aestas abit, sed alter annus illam adducit; hyems cecidit, referent illam surmenses; solem nox obruit, sed ipsam statim dies abigit: stellarum discursus quicquid praeterijt, repetit. Seneca Epist. 36. generation passed and another came, how the Sunne riseth and setteth againe, and returneth to the place where it arose; how the Rivers come from the Seas, and returne to the place from whence they came; how the wind goeth toward [Page 72] the South, and returneth to the North, and whirleth about towards his Circuits; how man riseth and goeth to bed, shuts vp the windowes of his bodie, falles into a dead sleepe, and so passeth away; how the seasons of the yeare come and goe; and how that which now is, hath beene in times past, and how that which hath beene alreadie, shall be againe in time to come; and how there is no new thing vnder the Sunne; and how all the glory of this vaine world is like vnto the comming in of Intravit vt exiret Plut. in Cat. Cato vpon the stage, or the Soveraigntie of the Pyrrhus seeing a man dead-drunke in the streets, being willing to sport himselfe, caused him to be brought to his Pallace, and there to be lodged, clothed, [...]easted, and attended like a Prince; who waking, over-ioyed with so suddaine an alteration, drunke himselfe as he was before, who then caused him to be stript and put into his rags againe, and to be brought where he was first found. drunkard, whom Pyrrhus tooke vp in the streets, or the Consulship of Cùm Caninius vno et eodem die quo Cōsulatū inijffet, depositus erat: Iocatus est in illum Cicero; vigilantem (inquit) habemus Consulem Caninium, qui Consulatu suo non admisit somnum: et in Vatinium, qui paucis diebus Consulatum gessit, jocatus est, quòd eo Cōsule nec bruma, nec astas, nec ver, nec autumnus fuit. Caninius and Vatinius, short and momentany: how in it there is no joy without some perturbation, no peace without dissention, no loue without suspition, no rest without feare, no fulnesse without defect and penury, no honour without some blot or staine, no state or condition which hath not somewhat in it worthy of reprehension; how in it dissemblers are rewarded, plaine dealers punished, those that loue peace are annoyed, those that stirre vp sedition are beloved, notorious offenders dismissed, innocents condemned, Vidi (inquit Salomon) servos in equos, et principes ambulantes super terrā quasi servos. Eccles. 10. Vidi nec velociū esse cursum, nec fortium bellum, nec doctorum divitias, nec artificum gratiam, sed tempus casūm (que) in omnibus. Eccles. 9. wise-men neglected, fooles made much of, Et quilibet ex parte contra id quod vult, omninò verò contra id quod debet, praeposterè facit, every man doth that which he should not, & neglects that which he should doe. How in it he that is rash is taken for valiant, he that is troublesome and importunate for diligent, he that is sad for peaceable, he that is prodigall for a brave fellow, he that is covetous for a good husband; he that can prate much for eloquent, he that is ignorant for a man of few words; he that is dissolute and careles pro amasio a man in loue, he that is modest for a simple and silly animall, he that is greedie of revenge for a Courtier; & how generally injuria projure, et jus pro injuria appellatur: how in it we spend our childhood in oblivion, we know not how, our tender age in feare vnder Governors and Tutors, our youthfull age [Page 73] in vice, our manly age in troubles, and turmoiles, our old age in sorrowes & complaints how one man wants his Sunt qui nare n [...]h [...], sunt qui nil aure inventur; Sunt etiam quorum lumina luce carent. Owenus. eyes, and cannot see, another his eares, and cannot heare, another his nose and cannot smell. How one hath his forhead furrowed, another hath the gowt in his legges, another hath the stone in his reines, another the Hemicrania, the Meg [...]im in his head, another the winde in his belly; how some are diseased with the leprosie, some with the French-scurffe, some with the Sciatica, some with feavers, some with cramps and palsies, and all men generally with one disease or other; how he that is now tall and straight, anone bowes like a bow; he that hath now a gracefull countenance, sparkling eyes, sound teeth, and a firme bodie, anone after corrugatur, edentatur, infirmatur, becomes ill favoured, toothlesse, and weake, not able to goe. How some are taken away in their Non servat methodum logicae mors nescia nostrae, Occidit ante patrem [...]us, avum (que) nepos. youth, some in their age; some die for want of foode, some by surfets and drunkennesse, some taken suddenly in their beds, some walking in the streets, how before our faces the earth opens and swallowes vs vp; the The great Leviathan Turnes vpside downe the boyling Ocean: And on the suddaine saedly doth entombe Our floting Castle in deepe Thetis wombe. Water drownes vs, the fire burnes vs, the ayre infects vs, how in the Winter the cold annoyes vs, in the Summer the heate parcheth vs, the dogs bite vs, the Spider poysons vs, the Gnats sting vs, and the Besides, the Lyon and the Leopard, Bore, Beare, and Wolfe, to death pursue vs hard: And ther's no flie so small but now dare bring, Her little wrath against her quonda [...] King. Bartas. flyes trouble vs▪ how the Beare is at oddes with the Lyon, the Rhinoceros with the Elephant, the Eagle with the Vulture, the Hawke with the Kite, the Bull with the Beare, Quae tam festa dies vt cestet prodere fure [...] Persidiam, fraudes, at (que) omni ex cri [...]ne lucrum Quaesitum, & glad [...]o pravo [...] & pixide nummos. [...]. man with man, and all creatures with death. These things when I considered, as also how the Auncients haue aptly compared the world to a prison orden, wherein are divers roomes and partitions, and all full fraught with Dic [...]tur vni [...]ersum agerehistrioniam. Vt (que) vulgo dicitur; Stullorum e [...]e caveam, ca [...]otis plurimis dispertitam, eos verò cae [...]e [...] is stultiores [...], qui prudentiolam nacti s [...]pientiores sibi omnibus videntur. Bellus. fooles and ide [...]ts, some searching after things which are impossible to be obtained, some seeking after things, which being gotten, become hurtfull vnto them; some Et semper juris, et cundis (Atne) minaris, Vis scire v [...]litas quae venit inde tibi Sic juras vt nemo tibi jam deni (que) [...]: Sic minitatis, vt has nemo minas metuat. Morus in Arnum minitantem & jurantem. threatning so much that no man feares them, some swearing so much, that no man beleeues [Page 74] them: some giving so much, that they leaue nothing for themselues; some neglecting to helpe themselues, having nobodie els to helpe them, and some indeede who haue taken vp the chiefest roome in this fooles paradise, who having attained to some small degree and measure of wisedome, flatter themselues, to haue espoused Minerva the Goddesse of wisedome; whereas shee never vouchsafed so much honour to any mortall wight as to haue any inward acquaintāce or familiarity with them, but keepes her selfe a Virgin sole and vnmarried. These things when I considered likewise, as also how in this Damnati & morituri in terrae claudimur omnes Carcere, in hoc mortem carcere nemo fugit. Carceris in multas describitur area partes, In (que) alijs alij partibus aedificant. Non aliter quàm de regno, de carcere certant, In caeco cupidus carcere condit opes. Carcere obambulat hic vagus, hic vincitur in antre. Hic servit, regit hic, hic canit, ille gemit. Iam quo (que) dum Carcer, non tanquam carcer, amatur, Hinc alijs alij mortibus extrahimur. Morus de vanitate hujus vitae. Prison some are bound to a post, some wandring abroad, some in the dungeon, some in the vpper-ward, some weeping, some laughing, some labouring, some playing, some singing, some chiding, vntill death without respect of age, of sexe, or estate, seize vpon all, and casts vs out, either to the wormes to be devoured vnder ground, or to Crowes or dogs aboue ground, and how every Captiue in this prison stands attainted and condemned of high treason, and is lyable to be dragd every houre to execution. And how all the armes, titles, and honours of our forefathers and progenitors, are of no better account, than are the armes of a theefe hanged vp in Newgate, after that he hath beene executed at Tyburne for some notorious offence. These considerations blunted the edge of my affections, and disheartned me to make the studie of Salubre consilium cujuscun (que) fuit Cum vita mortalium sit fluxa quaedam & momentanea ad futuram vitam in aeternitatem duratura peregrinatio: terrena calcanda, sitienda caelestia. Physicke my profession, and made me to sequester my selfe from the affaires of the world: and to take into my consideration some more noble divine studie; and so vpon mature deliberation, I betooke my selfe to the studie of Rhetorica a Demofibene, Physica a Gal [...], are Poetica ab Homero, Philosophia ab Aristotele, Geometria ab Euclide, militia a Vegetio, Theologia solùm a Deo immortali originem sumosit. Divinitie. Thus haue I vnfolded vnto you briefly the Causes wherefore I made the studie of divinitie my profession.
I must acknowledge you haue grounded your resolution vpon a good foundation, and must yeeld vnto your choice; but I pray you giue me leaue to expostulate [Page 75] a little with you: how commeth it to passe, being that you of your professiō haue devoted your selues wholy vnto God, that you doe so much trouble your selues with the affaires of the world as you vsually doe, being so much differing from your profession?
It is a fault I must acknowledge, but wee are men as you are, and subject to the same infirmities, so long as we carry about vs these bodies of ours: we haue wiues and children and families, and competent provision must be made for them, which cannot be had without some care and trouble.
It is a thing I haue often heard objected against you.
I know it is a common objection, that vnder colour of providing for our families, we rob the poore and the Church of God, impropriating that to a few which belongs to many, and that we haue altered the formes of the deeds of purchase, of our predecessors; in stead of to haue and to hold to vs and our successors, we haue caused to be inserted, to vs and to our heires; But who are they that doe thus vpbraide vs? They are those wandring Quid non absurdum hi, quivocantur Monachi, aliquā do declamant? ipsi nihil experti rident fora; rident leges, non n [...]vigare, non equitare per illos licet, p [...]o, non cacare; & quae maxima pestis est cōiugia quo (que) vt rem frivolam detestantor, & humane and generis propagationi operam dandam non [...]utant. Hu [...]enus. Empyricks, that come into our Countrie to see and not be seene; who if they cannot haue the Moone to barke at, will barke at their Quibusdam canibus sic innatum est, vt non pro feritate, sed pro confuetudine l [...] crent. Seneca. shadowes: who whilest we doe but that which is commended and commanded, they doe that which is condemned and prohibited, yet are ever bawling and exclaiming against vs. We haue wiues; It is true, and haue the sacred Scripture to warrant vs; they haue none, but erect Stewes, and haue the Scripture to condemne them; a fault it is I must acknowledge in them that haue the gift of Continencie, to ensnare themselues with the Cares of wedlocke, in hope of profit or prefermēt. But a greater fault it is for such as haue it not to resolve to spend all their dayes in filthinesse and vncleannesse. No life without question is more pleasing and acceptable vnto GOD [Page 76] than a Quandiu solus erat Adam nemo faelicior; mox vt comitatus, nemo miserior, solus beatus civis patriae, cōl [...]atus, infaelicis exilij peregrinus, solu [...] fletit, comitatus ruit, solus in requie & gaudio, comitatus in laboribus & doloribus multis, solus immortalis, ju [...]ge sociam, mortalis. Petrarch. Vae nobis, inquit, Coniux, at vae mihi [...]aelebs, Vae nostrum s [...]mp [...]ex, ergo tuúm (que) duplex. single life for him that hath the gift of Continencie, and no offence more damnable than to vow Chastitie, and to performe nothing lesse, better it were for such a one to marry with deformitie it selfe. Continencie is a deepe mysterie, and every one cannot dive into it: it is a word vpon which every one cannot lay hold; which made a Reverend Charitas deus meus, accenderre; continentiā jubes; Da domine quod jubes, & jube quod vis. August lib. 10. confission: Cap. 29. Father of the Church often to pray: O Lord giue what thou Commandest, and then Commaund me what thou wilt.
Sir, I shall therein giue you all satisfaction; many indeede were the motiues that gaue me encoucourgement vnto it, but these chiefly. First, I haue often heard, and experience hath since verified it vnto me, that it is good wisedome and discretion wheresoever a man converseth and weareth out that time that is allotted him to spend vpon the earth, to know and finde out as nigh as he can the Ad invidiae tela declinanda plurimū valet, fi omni hominum generi, & consuetudini, facetè & jucunde quispiam se accōn. odet; dum tamen rationis & modestiae fines non transeat, ne cum facetus esse velit, ridiculus appareat. Castil. lib. 2. Inter leges Graecorum symposiac [...], scu. convivales, haec fuit vna; aut bibe, aut abi, qua docemur, aut observare mo [...]es & consuetudines illorum cum quibus vivimus, aut discedere. nature and disposition of the people with whom he is to converse, and to frame all his thoughts, words, and actions vnto theirs, so long as they doe not savour of basenes, superstition, or vnworthinesse. As for example, if it had beene my fortune to haue lived at Rome, to haue put on a resolution to haue lived after the manner and custome of the Romanes: if in Italy, Germany, or any other of our Christian Kingdomes, to haue done the like; and if it had so fallen out, that the Religiō which I profest [Page 77] had not suited with the Religion profest in these Countries, or my dispositiō with the nature of the people, to haue made choyce of some other climate where both our Religion and dispositions would haue more nearely sympathised, for that which mooveth others, prevaileth not with me, for though it were mine owne natiue Country, which I must acknowledge I preferre before all others; and desire (if there be any worth in me) to communicate it vnto it. Yet if my Conscience would not permit me to obserue the Lawes there read and taught, and the Religion there professed, I would seeke and search out some other Corner abroad where I might enjoy that libertie, which I could not doe at home. For I haue ever held it for a positive Rule, that he deserves not to liue within the confines of a Kingdome, that will not submit himselfe to the Vnica gens sit; et vnic [...] mens, rex vnicus, & sit Vnica lex, vnum faedus, & vna fides. Patrios ritus violare vbi (que) gentium nefarium habetur. Lips. — Vir bonus est quis? Qui consulta patrum qui leges jurá (que) servat. Lawes of that Kingdome, nor to deserue the name of a Subject, that will not submit himselfe to the Lawes of his Soveraigne. And as the Canonists haue ever held him for a schismaticall person, that will not conforme himselfe to the Ecclesiasticall orders agreed vpon in solemne assemblies by the Reverend Fathers and Doctors of the Church, but out of a selfe-conceit, will seeme to be more wise than the generall Councells and Assemblies. So haue I ever thought him to deserue the name of an Out-law, and to be exempt from the benefit of the Law, that will not submit himselfe vnto the Lawes. Now because it is a hard thing, yea indeede impossible almost for a man to obserue those Lawes which he knoweth not; therefore did I desire to know the Non invtile consilium serenissi [...] nuper regis ad Henricum nuper principem. Operam da patrijs legibus; nam quomodo juxta illas dices sententiam, si tibi fuerint ignotae. Proprium est sapientiae nosse leges secūdum quas vivimus. Keck: lib. 2. Ethic. Lawes of the Kingdome wherein I lived, and thereby as a rule to frame and fashion all my actions by. And because every good thing the more common it is, a greater measure of vertue it containes in it: therefore was this one principall motiue wherefore I made the studie thereof my profession; vnto which I was the rather induced, because that I had [Page 78] often heard, and vpon inquiry I haue found it to be true, that all Lawes politicall are meere derivatives out of the primitive Law of God and Nature.
Sir, if you could but make that appeare vnto me, I should commend your choice, and preferre your profession before all other professions, the sacred profession of divinitie onely excepted.
To giue you satisfaction in this poynt, I will first shew vnto you what the Law of Nature is; then what the Law of God is: and lastly, how all Lawes are derived out of both those Lawes, and so conclude my Discourse. The Law of Nature, or rather the vnwritten Law of God, is a divine knowledge, to wit, reason and vnderstanding planted in the soule of man, whereby he hath Ratio perfecta proprium hominis bonum est: caetera illi cum animalibus satis (que) communia sunt Valet? et leoues: formosus est? & pavones: velox est? & equi: corpus habet? & arbores. Habet impetum et motum voluntarium? & vermes, & bestiae: habet vocem? quantò dulciorem, mobiliorém (que) lusciniae? Seneca epist. 76. dominion over the beasts of the field, the fowles of the ayre, and fishes of the Sea. For had those Hydra's, Lyons and Bulles, in spilling of whose bloud Hercules got so much honour, beene endowed and made partaker of this Law, Hercules could not haue gloried and triumphed in those his Victories and Conquests over them. The Law of nature to procreate and engender, they had in as ample manner dwelling and abiding in them, but because they wanted this supereminent facultie of the soule, they were as Sampson without his haire, and had no power to resist him. It is by the vnderstanding alone, that we haue dominiō not onely over those Buls, Beares and Tygers, that are without vs, but over our domesticke enemies, those Tygers, Wolues, and Affectus nostrisunt quidam Cacodaemones, & appellantur amentes Consiliarij. Plato in convivio amorem, magnum Daemonem, & vehementissimam omnium perturbationum nuncup ivit. Cacodaemones, our vnruly lusts and affections that are within vs. It is this that allayes the hot, fierie, cholericke humour, distilling into it most soveraigne coole receipts of patience and forbearance; it is this that exhilarates our dull and drowsie spirits, infusing into them her quickning precious Cordials and restoratives; that in the midst of miseries giues vs cause of joy and merriment, and in the midst of joy puts vs in minde of our miseries, so as in [Page 79] the former we be not so much grieved as to neglect our selues, & so grow into despaire; or in the latter so much joyed as to forget our selues, and so grow proud; it is this that moderates those greedy desires of rapacity and tenacitie, teaching vs with what we haue to be contented, not to loose the benefit of what wee Vide apologum de Phil [...]melà & accipilrei quo significatur eos esse inconsultos, qui [...]pe majorum quae incerta sunt, quae in manibus habent, amittunt. haue, in coveting that with Aesops dog we haue not; not to envie that which another hath, because he hath too much, but to content our selues with what we haue, because we haue enough, if we haue meate, Victus & vestitus sunt divitiae Christianorum. Hieronimus. drinke, and cloathing, to learne to be therewith contented, and to know that he that hath so much hath enough, and he that hath more, hath more than enough, not to envie our neighbour because he feedes more daintily vpon more varietie of dishes, but rather to pittie him to see him expose himselfe to so great Vide fabulam de muscis; quae significat multis gulam multorum malorum causam esse. daunger for so little profit, to hazard his health, his life, and all for a little pleasure, which vanisheth even in the throat: not to repine at his costly garments, but rather to smile at them, to see him as much as in him lyes, to invert the seasons of the yeare, to weare such thinne, cut and carved suits in the midst of Winter, more fit for the heate of Summer, and to let thee know, that though thine be not so rich, yet they are as warme, and lined it may be with farre more contentment; and that those which he weares artificially, the beasts wore before naturally; not to murmur at his large Territories, but to consider that as he hath more Corne and fruit, so he hath more Semper habet miser [...] immensa potentia curas, Anxia perpetuis sollicitudinibus. De potentum vita Morus. Scirū est illud Lyrici Poëtae; Saepiùs ventis agitatur ingēs Pinus, & celsae graviore casu Decidunt turres, feriúnt (que) summos Fulgura montes. Vide Apologum de Abiete & D [...]eto. thornes and briars. Not to grudge at his honours and preferments, for he hath paid dearely for them, and still groanes vnder the burthen of them; for many are the cares that accompany greatnesse: the tall Cedar is subject to stormes and tempests on the mountaines, when the poore shrub lyes securely in the vallyes; it is this alone that instructeth vs to carry our selues vprightly and honestly towards all men, to giue vnto Superiors honour and reverence, to [Page 80] Inferiors due respect, to equals mutuall loue and societie; not to deifie the rich because they are rich, nor to oppresse the poore because they are poore; but to esteeme of povertie clad with honestie aboue Omne tempus feret Clodius, non omne Catones. Catili [...] Quocún (que) in populo videas, quocún (que) sub axe, Sed nec Brutus erit, Bruti nec av [...]culus vs (que) Pulchra haec laudatio ô virum [...]ctum; sed illa melior, ô vir [...] sapientem, et illa optima, ô virum bonum. Si quicquid rarum charum est pretium (que) meretur; Crede mihi, res est, vir, pretiosa, bonus. dishonestie clad in gold and braverie: it is this that reades vnto vs those golden lessons of moralitie Hoc adeò Ethnico Alexandro Severo Imperatori placuise dicitur, vt in palatijs praescribi juberet, quò omnium oculis expositum eslet, & cum aliquem castigaret, per prae conem edici iubebat; Quod tibi fieri non vis alteri nefeceris. to deale with all men as we would be dealt withall, to take no advantage of simplicite, nor to suffer our selues to be missed by subtiltie; to be as wise as serpents, yet as innocent as Doues. It is this that restraines the appetite from wandring after those fading pleasures, which are let in by the casements of the bodie, the eyes, the eares, and the rest of the sences: so long as the eye listens vnto her commands it is free from those allurements and temptations by which it is so often deceived: she can picture out what beautie is, that it is a Est mel internâ concludens parte venenum; sugred poyson, a Est flos arcano portans in cortice verm [...]n; Wormeeaten rose, an Est Syren capiens verbis fallacibus aures; inchanting Syren, a Est fallax blandam praetendens Scorpio candam. Formosus ille Domitianus amico scribens, ita scr [...]psit: scias, nec gr [...]tius quicquam decore, nec levius, ne (que) tantum gaudij vemen tuht quā rum fugiens [...]e [...]t coloris. venemous scorpion, a bewitching Circe, a fading vanitie subject vnto age and sicknesse, and not worthie the looking after, an ornament onely when Gratior est virtus ve [...]iens è corp [...]re pulchro. vertue is seated in the midst of it; and no worth in it, but to adde a lustre vnto it; shee can tell it likewise that those heapes of stones so methodically piled together, the sumptuous buildings of the world, after which it so much gazeth, are but Me proprium nunc isto putat, propriū ille putabat, Ast ego nullius sum nisi sortis ager Mocus. transitories, now yours, anone his, presently after anothers, good onely for recreation, evill for habitation, good to secreate our selues withall, while we wander as Pilgrimes vpon the face of the earth, evill to settle our affections vpon, instruments of good Gold guilds the vertuous, and it le [...]ds them wings, To raise their thoughts vnto the rarest things. But with the sa [...]e the wicked [...] mell, But to doe service [...]o the hags of hell. Bartas. Crates olim divitlas multorum ass [...]ndavit ijs ficubus quae in altis montibus nascuntur, è quibus homo fructum non accepit, sed corvi & [...]. to those that are good, but instruments of evill to those that are evill,scortaiores & adulatores. Liys: lib. 4 poli [...]. producing in the one the effects of liberalities, hospitalitie, and bountie in the other of ambition, oppression, and all manner of licentiousnesse, therefore not to be neglected as if there [Page 81] were no worth in thē, yet not to be regarded as though there were no worth without them, but to esteeme them as good servants when they meete with good Maisters. So long as the eare listens vnto her Commaunds, yet is free from those inticing Qui fronse politi Aslutam vapido servant sub pectore vulpem. Pers: Introrsum turpes, speciosi pelle decorâ. Sycophants that doe so often applaud when there is just cause of reproofe, proclaime peace and safetie when the enemy is at hand, friendly foes the greatest enemies to a Common wealth. So long as the Vide fabulam de muscis. In cella quadam, melle effuso muscae advolantes comedebant; implicitis autem earum pedibus evolare non poterant; quùm verò suffocarentur, dicebant, miserae nos, quia ob medicum cibum perimus. taste listens vnto her Commaunds, it is free from those allurements by which she is so often beguiled, she can tell it that the purchase is but small, the price great, the pleasure appearing in the palate, and vanishing in the throte, the paine oftentimes throughout every part and member of the bodie; So long as the smell listens vnto her Commaunds, it is free from the tortures and torments of the head, she can tell it that those many sweet odors that it so sucks in, doe not so much content the nostrill as offend the braine. So long likewise as the touch listens vnto her Commaunds, shee can tell it that the dumbe Creatures, the Buls, the Beares, the Apes farre surpasse it in the delight thereof; it is this that hath a cure for every maladie, that can in all degrees and conditions of life, administer matter of joy and comfort vnto thee; if thou be of meane ranke and degree in the place where thou livest, this can tell thee that they who haue had the most glorious and specious titles of honour, haue beene blurred with the most ignominious blots and staines of dishonour, and although thou hast not that respect which they had, yet thou hast not those defects which they had, if thou live in a poore estate, this can tell thee that the riches of many a man haue beene the ruines of many a man, & that it matters not though thou be not so rich as Croesus, if thou be not so poore as Lazarus: if thou hast had many losses and Crosses, this can tell thee, that they who haue governed Kingdomes in the morning, haue beene foot-stooles in the evening, [Page 82] and that such as haue maintained thousands, haue beene glad to Philip Commines saith, that he once saw a Duke of Exet. beg his bread from dore to dore in the Duke of Burgundies Court. Phil. Commin: lib. 3. cap. 4. This Duke married the Lady Anne, the daughter of Richard Plant. Duke of Yorke, and sister to King Edw: the fourth: his Father was Earle of Huntingd: and Duke of Exet. Earle of Ibery in Normandie, and Lord de la Spar, Admirall of England and Ireland, and Constable of the Tower of London. Sapienter Demetrius Phaleraeus vitam securam, & sine vllis fortunae incursionibus mare mortuū vocabat: ne (que) desunt, qui fortunatiorem Alexandrum putârunt, si fortunae saciem saeviétis aliquando vidislet: Et Scipio extinctis Carrhaginensibus, rempublicam Romanam majore in discrimine fore adversus Catonem contendebat. Ad hoc sacramentum adactisumus (ait Seneca) ferre mortalia, nec perturbari his quae vitare nostrae potestatis non est: in regno natisumus, deo parece libertas. beg for livelihood: if thou be troubled with weaknesse and infirmitie of bodie, this can tell thee that it is the best Schoolmaister to teach thee to know thy selfe, and the best perspective to discover vnto thee the way to eternall blisse and happinesse, which the interposition of pleasures and delights would keepe from thee. If thou be troubled with a froward wife, or disobedient childe, this can tell thee that Socrates had his Xantippe, and Sit faelix & magnus Caesar & verè Augustus, sed filiam tamen Iu [...]iam habet, & vxorem & neptem, & borum taedio quotidianâ inediâmori vellet, nec poslet. Lips: lib. 1. de Caustan [...] Augustus his Iuliae, the one a froward wife, the other a disobedient childe: if thou liue in a kinde of exile and banishment, and art compelled for thy Conscience sake to forsake thy Country, thy wife and children, and the possessions which thou and thy forefathers for many yeares enjoyed, this can tell thee that Perijssemus nisi perijssemus, fuit dictum Them [...]s [...]o [...]l [...]s, cum munera exul à rege magnifica cōsequutus est. Themistocles banishment and degradation was a preferment and exaltation vnto him, and that he had beene vndone, if he had not beene vndone: if thou hast not that abundant measure of knowledge which others haue, this can tell thee that wisedome consisteth not in Contemplation but in action, not in disputation but in conversation, not in much knowledge, but in an honest and vertuous life. If thou haue not that outward comely feature in thy lims and lineaments of thy body, which others haue, this can tell thee, that God gives not to every one Pro Dodonaeo oraculo habendum est quod Arist [...]t. dixit; vbi mensplurima & ratio, ibi fortuna minima; & vbi plurima fortuna, ibi mens pereaeigua. Arist. lib. 1. Metaph. Non datur vt rebus percellat in omnibus vnus. Vide fabulam de pavone. Angelus in penna, pedelatro, v [...]ce gehenna. Non omnes Catones, aut Scipiones, aut Lelis possumus esse. Cicero. everything, though the Peacocke be the fairest, and most beautiful of birds, yet the little Nightingale farre surpasseth her in her tunes and notes; though the Asse, the Elephant, and the Cammell, are the strongest of beasts for burthen, yet the little Fox surpasseth them in wilinesse and subtiltie; though the Altera me in terris non est facundior ales, Tu me plus loqueri [...] plus ego scribo tamen; de Cornicula & Ansere. Owenus. Crow [Page 83] and Parrat prate most, yet the Goose and Gander write most; so that where there is crookednesse in the bodie, there may be vprightnesse in the heart, where there is weaknesse in the body, there may be strength in the braine, and where there is a defect in the tongue to speake, there may be a dexterity in the hand to write. If thou be come of meane parentage, this can tell thee how that the most luvenalis cuidam glorianti de sua origine sic ait. Majorum primus quisquis fuit ille tuorum, Aut pastor fuit, aut illud, quod dicere nolo; Malo pater tibi sit Thersites, dummodò tu sis Aeacida similis, vulcaniá (que) arma capessas, Quàm te Thersiti similem producat Achilles. Iuveni Noble Princes haue sprung from meane beginnings. How Tamerlaine from a hogheard became to be King of the Scythians: how Theodosius from an Inholder, Bonosus from the sonne of a Schoolemaister, and Valentinian from the sonne of a Rope-maker to be Emperours. How Telephantes from a Chariot-maker to rule over the Lydians. How Agathocles from the shop of a Potter to governe over the Sicilians. How Hiberbolus from the sonne of a Chaundler to governe the Athenians. How Virgill from the plow, Horace from a Cryer in the Citie, and Cato from a poore Cottage in Tuscaine, to purchase their Princes favour: and that they who now stand so much vpon their pedigrees, and vpon termes of honour, were sometimes as Origo cunctorum vna est, vnus parens humani generis, vnus fons vniversorum, qui vicissim modò turbidus, modò nitidus, ad vnumquém (que) nostrûm pervenit: hinc est vt qui heri clarus hod è obscurus fiat; et qui herì permedias vrbes strenuum Cornipedē, aureis habenis inceflerat; hodiè per squalērem campū, pigros bove [...] humil [...] pug one sollicitet. Petrarch. meane as thou art, and may in the next age end where they began. If the plague and pestilence hath made thy Countrey desolate, this will tell thee that thou oughtest not to murmur and repine, but to thanke God that he hath dealt more mildly with thee, than he did with the Israelites in the dayes of King David, or with the Graecians in the dayes of Michael Duca, when the living were scant able to bury the dead, or with the Romanes in the dayes of Iustinian, or with the Italians in the dayes of Petrarch, when (as he affirmeth being that Country-man) amongst a thousand there lived not ten. If an enemy hath made an invasion and inrode into thy Country, this will tell thee, that thou oughtest not to complaine of the miseries of the time, but to thanke God that he hath not permitted him to triumph over thee as Plutan in Catone. Caesar fatetur & quidem gloians, vndecies centena & nonaginta duo mi [...]lia hominum praelijs a se occisa. Qumtum Fabium ferunt centum decem Gallorum millia. Caium Mariun ducenta Cymbr [...]orum occidisse. Lips: lib. [...] de Const: Cato did sometimes [Page 84] in Spaine, when he boasted that he woon more Cities, than he had beene dayes there, nor to kill and destroy, as Caesar and Pompey, Quintus Fabius, and Caius Marius sometimes did. If a famine hath over-spread thy Country, this can tell thee, that thou oughtest not to repine, but to thanke God that thy wants are not so great as were the wants of the Sub Honorio Imperatore Roma [...] raritas & caritas annonae omnis, vt homines hom [...]nibus jam imm [...]nerent, & in Circo palàm aud [...]ta est haec vox: pone pretium humanae carni. Lips: Romaines vnder Honorius, when as the flesh of man was set to sale, as if it had beene the flesh of Sheepe and Oxen: or was the scarcitie in Italie in the dayes of Iustinian, when as in the Country of Pysa fiftie thousand perished for want of food, and when as the excrements of men were thought to be good food and nourishment. So that it is the vnderstanding that is all in all, that can as well search into things remote and placed in the It is this that in the twinkling of an eye, Through all the heavenly Provinces doth flie. furthest parts of the world, as of things present and at hand. That can in an instant climbe vp into heaven and behold Orion and the Pleiades, Aquilo and Boreas, Phosphorus, and Vesper, much distant one from another. That can on a suddaine descend into the Center of the earth, and in an instant walke the Circumference, passe through the foure parts of the world, discover the qualitie and the condition of the people together, with their severall Lawes, Customes, and manner of Government; tell vs by what meanes the great and flourishing Nations of the world haue attained vnto so much growth and stature, and by what meanes againe they haue come to ruine and destruction; how this man atchieved vnto so much honour, how that to so much detestation and hatred. How Rome became so rich, How Carthage so poore: how Caesar so great; how Pompey so meane: by the example of the one to follow and pursue, by the example of the other to flie and avoyde.
How commeth it to passe, that nature having so excellent a servant, that shee cannot haue her rights and Ceremonies more duely performed vnto her; that [Page 85] the bodie in stead of soundnes in every part, should produce nothing els but Apoplexies, Gowts, Dropsies, racking diseases of the stone, and infinite other infirmities: and that the minde in stead of firme and setled resolutions, should yeeld nothing els but wavering and wandring conceits and imaginations.
Sir, your question cannot be better answered than by the sollicitation of the two women, the one chast, the other a strumpet, that set vpon Hercules. Hercules in the prime of his youth intending some noble atchievements, and thereby to raise an Stat sua cui (que) dies, breve & irreparabile tempus Omnibus est vitae: sed famā extendere factis Hoc virtutis opus. Virg. Exiguum nobis vitae curriculum natura circumscripsit, immensum gloria: nam si memoria benè redditae vitae non esset longior, quàm haec vita, quis eslet tam amens, qui maximis laboribus et periculis ad summam laudem gloriám (que) contenderet? Cicero. Xenophon de factis & dictis Socratis. lib. 2. immortall fame vnto himselfe, was set vpon by a harlot, who sollicited him in manner following. Sir, it doth not become a man of your qualitie to vndergoe adventures, to be ever climing the steepie craggie Mountaines, and never come to the top of them, to be by Boreas tost to and fro both by Sea and Land in continuall daunger of death, advētures fit for such as haue nothing els but their lives to loose, but as for you that haue a paradise bequeathed vnto you vpon earth, to be rolling Sisyphus-stone, to be climing vp the steepie mountains, when you may walke in the greene pastures, to expose your selfe to the heate of Summer, & cold of Winter, when you may be walking in your shady groves, or in your warme house, to be an Atropos to your selfe, to pull ruine and destruction vpon your owne head, when you may sleepe securely, shot-free, environed with the loue of your friends; it is a wilfull vanitie in my opinion: which the chast woman hearing, thus replyes; Nulla fides veneri, levi [...] est, intér (que) planetas Ponitur, haud inter sydera fixa venus. Beware of her, and of her Counsels, I haue knowne her long & many of her friends and favourites, but never knew any but ruine and destruction was the end of them; they were not like other people, but monsters in nature, Qui sunt in tuo sodalitio invenes quidem debili corpore, senes stulto animo; quos vt pudet anteactae vitae, ita praesentibus onusti malis gravantur. Xenoph: Nequities vitae non sinit esse senem. Libidinosa & intemperans adolescentia effaetum corpus tradit senectuti. Cicero. old when they should haue beene young, and young when they should haue been old; tortured with old weake and crasie bodies in the midst of their youth, and troubled with idle, vaine, and childish imaginations [Page 86] in the declining time of age. And as for you and your progenitors, I haue knowne you and them long also, they were sober, learned, and wise, and the world hath taken speciall notice of them for all these, and for you to make your selfe a bastard, that was so truely borne, the Fabula vos estis juvenúm (que) senúm (que) tabernis Et trivijs, & vos garrula ludit anus. Poets would descant and make rymes vpon you; not to excell them would be some disparagement, but not parallell them, would be an infamie vnto you. Sir, you know, that there is nothing to be had vpon earth, but by labour and Nulla fine difficultatibus gloria, nulla non virt [...] in excelso habitat, haud facilè adeunda, confragosum huic durúm (que) est iter. Labor Romul [...]os duces, Scipiadas, & Camillum; labor Fabios; labor Curios; labor Fabritium, & Metellos; labor magnú Pompeium; labor Ha [...]mibalem; labor Iulium Casarem quo (que) illustravit. Petrarch. industrie, these are the keyes that open the gate to fame and renowne, and the only coyne that passeth currant there. If Caesar had slept and beene ruled by her precepts, his name had beene extinguisht with his Carkasse long before this time. And the Romanes would haue had no cause to haue trivmphed in this their valiant Champion for his noble atchievemēts against Pompey in the Pharsalian fields. If Alexander had done the like, the world would haue had more Monarkes than one, and the Macedonians had no cause to glory in him, it was his industry that raised him, his securitie that overthrew him. Experience teacheth vs, that if wee doe expect any thing from our friends, that it is fit that wee doe endeare them vnto vs by some noble Est commune proverbium Anglicanum. First deserue, then desire. Nihil eorum quae bona sunt dant hominibus dij fine labore & cura, verùm si deos tibi propitios esse velis, colendi sunt v [...] (que) dij: [...]si ab amicis diligi optes, amicis est benefaciendum: si à quapiam civitate honorari desideres; civitati aliqua vtilitas adferenda est: si à tota Graecia ob virtutem in admiratione esse velis; conaber [...]s toti G [...]aeciae benefacere: si vt tibi terra fructus producat; terra tibi colenda est: si iumentis divitias acquirere an [...]us tibi sit; iumentorum tibi cura adhibēda est: si rebus in bello gestis clarus haberi cupias, amicos quidem à servitute liberando, inimicos verò in servitutem redigendo animum intendere oportet; si velles corporis valere robore, corpus a [...]uefieri oport [...]t, vt animi consilio pareat, vt (que) laboribus & sudoribus exerceatur. Hercules labores. D [...]od. Sicul lib. 4. rerum antiquaru [...]. Penelopem semper praestes, modò tempore vinces, Gubernator in tempestate digno [...]citur E [...]tes in medi [...]s crudentia certa per [...]clis. Mille inter lethi facies; fine sanguine parta, In deepest perills sinneth wisedomes prime, —Conquest yeelds but little honour, Xenoph: lib. 2. de factis & dictis Socratis. Non iuvat ex facili le [...]a corona iugo. Capta vides serò P [...]rgama, capta tamen. In acie miles probatur. Et sequitur claras virtus animosa coronas. D [...]ctori sterilem properat victoria laude [...]. Through thousand deaths, true valour seekes to climbe. If bloudy danger doe not waite vpon her. Bartas. engagements from them, if from our Country, that wee should deserve something of our Country; gold is not tryed but by fire, nor valour discovered but by daunger; it is action which produceth vertue, the standing water savours strongly, when the running water smels sweetly; the earth tilled brings forth Corne, when as lying barren, it brings forth nothing but nettles and brambles. It is not sufficient for you to eate, drinke, and sleepe, [Page 87] and so passe away. Such Lectures Epicurus read many yeares agoe to his Bacchanalian-belly-gods, not fit for Hercules the sonne of Iupiter to learne. You were borne to greater matters, there is a Lyon in Nemaea, a Hydra in the fennes of Lerna, a Bore in Arcadia, Centaures, Harts to be vanquisht, Stymphalides to be killed, Augaea hath an Oxestall, Creta hath a Bull, Thracia hath a Diomedes, Spaine a Ceryon, Theseus and Pirithous are to be rescued from Cerberus; and golden Apples are to be fetcht out of the garden of the Hesperides, and the Dragon to be surprised. These are labours fit for you to adventure vpon; besides these, you haue Children, to whom God and nature enjoyneth you to giue good ensample by a vertuous life and conversation. You haue friends, kindred, & acquaintance, whose eyes are much vpon you, and expect from you in some degree labours to surmount the ordinarie pitch of common people: lastly, you haue a soule composed of a divine, pure and immortall substance, and now is the time to furnish it, to behave your selfe like the sonne of so great a Father; that when age, and sicknesse, and death approach, and friends and kindred and acquaintance faile, the sweete Dulce quidem est nonnunquam amara recordari. Nam demulcent animum transmissa pericula. Haec olim meminisse iuvabi [...] —luvat evasis [...]e tot vrbet Argolicas, medió [...] (que) fugam tenuisle per hostes. Virg. remembrance of those many noble victories, which you in your youth haue atchieved vnto, may then solace and revive you, and waite vpon you to the Tibullu [...] Poëticâ quadam suavitate Camporum Elysior [...] voluptates sic describit. Hîc Chorea, cantús (que) vigent, passim (que) vagantes Dulce sonant tenui gutture carmen aves. Fert Casiam non culta seges, totós (que) per agro [...] Floret odoriferis terra benigna ros [...]. Ac juvenum series teneris immista puellis Ludit, et assiduè praelia miscet amor. Elysian fields, there to receive your reward with the Captaines, Souldiers, and noble Heroicke spirits of the world. With these and the like prevalent perswasions, the chast woman at last prevailed. So that aptly may I compare the vnderstanding vnto the Chast woman: vnto whose Commaunds so long as the sences are obsequious, so long God and nature haue their rites and ceremonies duely performed, but when they are directed and guided by the will and appetite, then they are excluded and debarred of the things which belong vnto them: wherefore may the will and appetite fitly be compared to a [Page 88] L [...]nam non potuit, potuit superare leanam; Quem fera non valuit vincere, vicit hera. Owen: de Hercule. bawde or strumpet, who by seeming pleasures and tickling delights, which appeare and vanish in an instant, withdraw the affections of the best affected husbands from their beloved bosome bed [...]fellowes.
But how commeth it to passe, that the will and appetite should so much covet and thirst after those things which tend to ruine and destruction.
Sir, your question hath beene much Controverted amongst the auncient Academicks of natures Schoole, and the Doctors haue beene much distracted about it; some haue beene so presumptuous as to lay the fault vpon Iupiter himselfe, and to say that he hath two Tubs, the one a Cabinet for vertues, the other a cage for vncleannes, and that when it seemes good vnto him, he doth distribute vnto one, justice, wisedome, temperance, and fortitude, and to another folly, pusillanimitie and intemperance; but the most wise and discreete among them, haue acccused and condemned this as a fault of high presumption, and haue affirmed, that as well might they maintain that the Lyons might produce Elephants, Elephants Beares & Wolves; the earth that which is proper to the heavens, and the heavens that which is proper to the earth, as that the fountaine and source of goodnesse should produce any thing, but that which is good. Others haue imputed it to the Constellatiōs & Planets vnder which they were borne, but this hath beene rejected likewise as a paradoxe: for as well might they maintaine that order might produce confusion, as the Sunne, Moone, and Starres, that keepe their constant courses any such effect: others to their naturall temper and inclination, but this the whole body of nature hath cōdemned as erroneous, for as it is in the great sublunary world, consisting of reasonable, sensitiue, and vegetative Creatures, the inferior readily submit themselues to the superior, the vegetative to the sensitive, the sensitive to the rationall, and all to maintaine [Page 89] and vphold that great bodie; So it is in the Epitome or Dicitur h [...]mo [...], quia est vn versi orbis Epitome, seu abbreviata mundi tabella; nam continet in se quatuor elementa et omnes mundi virtutes. little world comprehended in man, the Duo sunt or [...] precipue vsus; vnus, vt perillud cibus sumatur, alter vt teratur, & in ventriculū ad vitam sustentandam traijciatur; in hunc finem duobus dentium ordinibus, quasi duabus molis munitur, quibus cibus teratur. Nam vt in molendino a duabus molis granum cōtentur, ita est in homine; nisi quod in m [...]lendino inferior stat, superior movetur, contrarium in homine. mouth readily performes her office, becomes the gate to let in food and sustenance, the palate the instrument to try & touch it, the stomacke to chilifie it, the mesuraicke veines to waft it to the Liver, the Liver to die it into sanguine, and through the great and maine Ocean, the Vena Cava to convey the vertue thereof to the rest of the parts of the bodie: so readie is every part and member of this little world to doe their rites and services to each other. So that in the naturall inclination it cannot be, for that Scaliger reports of a Tree growing in a Province called Pudefaramia, that if a man come anecre [...]t, it will pull in her boughes, and as soone as he goes away, it will put them forth againe; and therefore is called the shamefast tree. And Arist. reports of the Spongier, that if a man put forth his hand to take them, they shrinke together on a heape and vnite their forces; which are evidēt proofes of that natural ingrafted desire in all things to preserue their being. nature doth ever incline to that which tends to the preservation of it, and the will to destruction, others to nurture and education, but this likewise hath beene rejected; for although these great Doctors did attribute much to education, and knew well that with what liquor theQuo semel est imbu [...]a recens servabit odorem Testa diu. Horat. vessell is first seasoned, it will ever rellish thereof; that the earth brings forth fruit according to the nature of the Est in juvencies, est in equis, patrum Virtus, ne (que) imbe [...]lē feroces Progener [...]t aquilae Columbam. seede; that we gather not grapes of thornes or figs of thistles; yet because there was not the best Aristotelian, Platonist, or best proficient in natures Schoole, that could performe and pay vnto her what of right did belong vnto her, therefore it could not be for want of nurture and education. Thus did the Philosophers long weary themselues in searching after this mysterie, vntill at last they found it out, they found that Adam by his fall lost both forme and fashion: His rosie cheekes are changed to earthen hewe, His teare drownd eyes, a night of Clouds bedyms, His faynting knees with feeblenesse are humble, His dying bodie drops an icie dewe: About his eares a buzzing horror swims: His faultring feete doe slide away and stumble. Bartas. nature was corrupted, that the light of knowledge which shined in them more cleare then Hesperus was eclipsed, ignorance and errour was induced, and by a custome made another nature: which made some of them both to admire and pittie the nature and condition of man, when they saw how the Os homini sublime dedit. Ovid. eyes whose proper objects are the heavēs [Page 90] lye groveling vpon the earth: how the eares listen after nothing more than enchaunting charmes of Syrens: how the Bonus odor lucri ex re qualibet. nostrils savour nothing more than turpie lucre: how the touch and taste nothing more than what is prohibited; how the tongue whose vsuall tune and tone was to warble out prayses and prayers, spues and vomits out nothing but oaths, execrations, and blasphemies, how the hands the instruments of charitie, are become the instruments of extortion & oppression, how the very vitall parts are corrupted, how the heart the receptacle of honestie and integritie, is become a cage of vncleannes: how the Liver that was vsed to send forth nothing but pure, cleare, & sanguine bloud, distills nothing but waterish, cholericke, and melancholicke bloud: how the spirits sometimes agile, nimble and quicke, are become dead, and dull, and voyde of life: how every part of man is altered and changed from that which sometimes it was: how after the example of their great Lord and Maister, the inanimate Creatures haue revolted, how the ayre forsakes her proper station, and vnnaturally descends into the Cranies of the earth, and causeth a generall ague in the whole body of the sublunarie world; how the fire breakes out in rebellion, wasts & consumes the very dwelling of her great Lord and Maister; how the -The sullen en [...]i [...] earth From blackest cells of her [...]oule brest, sends forth A thousand foggie fumes, which every where, With cloudie [...]sts heavens cristall front besmeare. Bartas. earth instead of fruit brings forth thornes and thistles, and a thousand filthy foggie fumes and vapours; how the foure Rivers Ganges, Tygris, Euphrates, and Nilus, instead of watering and refreshing the garden of their Maister, drowne and overwhelme it; how all things generally haue lost much of their worth and goodnesse, which sometimes they had. So that the Heathens by the glimmering light of nature which remained in them, did poynt in a manner at the fall of man. So much satisfaction doe they that had no other Academie than natures Schoole giue vnto you, but he that is the meanest Disciple in the Schoole of [Page 91] Christ, that had not onely nature for his guide which they had, but grace which they wanted, can fully resolve you: that in the beginning it pleased the Creator of heaven and earth to stampe in man his owne image and picture, to giue vnto him which was denyed to all other Creatures, a divine, pure, and immortall essence, a soule endowed with many rare and admirable faculties; heaven and earth to hold at will, together with a free vse of all the Creatures, both of the fowles of the ayre, and fishes of the sea, and of all the Creatures that walke vpon the face of the earth, both sensitive and vegetative, onely amongst the vegetative reserving vnto himselfe a little Tree, enjoyning him vpon a strict penaltie, that he should not dare to adventure vpon it, being a fruit provided for his owne palate; but he not contented with those things, which were so freely granted him, coveted after those things which were excepted; wherefore God in justice for his disobedience entred vpon the whole, yet dealt not with him as he had deserved, but out of his abundant goodnes and favour vnto him regrants the same, but vpon other termes and conditions than before; for whereas before the earth of her selfe yeelded her encrease without any plowing or sowing; whereas before he had an Antequàm peccâsset Adam, a [...]ma erat rationalis, perfecta & beata, corpus hab [...]ns, no [...] quale nos habemus f [...]agil [...], ac mort [...]le, sed q [...]ale cōgr [...]ebat tal [...] animae, qu [...]rnondum in se Dei si [...] litudinem corruperat; posteà verò cum peccavit, anana rationalis cupiditate corrupta est, corpus habens quale nunc habemus. August. O too too happie had that fall of [...]hine, Not cancelled so the Character divine. Bartas. Knowledge was then the soules soule sorligh, The spirits [...]ort, and lanthorne shining bright: But now our knowledge hath for tedious traine, A drooping life, an over-racking braine. A face forlorne, a sad, a sullen fashion, A restlesse toyle, and carelesse pining passion. Bartas. The mightie world did seeme an instrument, True-strung, well tuned, and handled excellent. — But now for melodie Of warbling charmes, it yeelds most hydeously. vnderstanding more cleare than the morning starre, whereby he was able to discerne in himselfe the summe and scope of all those sacred Bookes which haue beene since written of the knowledge of Arts and Sciences, of the heaven and of the earth, of naturall and morall Philosophie by the holy Prophets, Apostles, and Evangelists, by the reverend Fathers and Doctors of the Church, and by the learned Sages and Moralists of the world; whereas his will before was guided by his vnderstanding, and the appetite and the rest of the affections never exceeded the rules of reason, the case is now altered, the earth will no more yeeld her encrease of her selfe; he must not now eat before [Page 92] he hath sweat for it, labour and paines must now be his rent, or els he cannot enjoy the enheritance; the vnderstanding which was sometimes like Argus, Eagle-ey'd and cleare sighted, is now become like Polyphemus, darke and obscure; the will and the Our affections are aptly cōpared to the sword which Hector gaue Ajax; which so long as h [...] vsed against his enemies, served for his defence, but when he began to abuse it to the hurt of harmelesse creatures, then it turned into his owne bowels. affections, which sometimes were as obedient as a servant, are now become as disobedient as a rebell: all things are now out of order: and all by reason of the fall and transgression of our first Parents. So you may see the reason plainely wherefore the will and appetite doe so much desire that which tends to ruine and destruction.
Sir, it should seeme then that man by his fall is in worse case than the bruit Creatures, the birds of the ayre, and the beasts of the field; for they naturally desire nothing which tends to their ruine and destruction.
It is true. If God out of his abundant grace and favour towards him had not had compassiō of him, he had beene in worse case indeede, for that he had subjected himselfe by his fall to an eternall death and punishment, from which the bruit Creatures are exempt; but it pleased the Almightie to send his onely begotten Sonne to helpe him vp againe, and to Epitomise the first vnwritten Lawes that were in his Quis scribit in cordibus hominum naturalem legem nisi deus? De qua Apostolus ait; cùm enim genies quae legem non habent, naturaliter, qua legis sunt, faciunt; hi legem non habentes sibi sunt lex, qui ostendunt opus legis scriptū in cordibus fuis, contestante conscientia eorum, & inter seinvicem excusante vel accusante in die quo judicabit deus occulta hominum. Augustin. Et idem August ▪ manu formatoris in cordibus nostris veritas scripsit. Quod tibifieri non vis, alteri ne feceris. Hoc & antequā lex daretur, nemo ignorare permissus est, vt esset vnde judicaretur; etiam et quibus lex non est data, sed ne sibi homines aliquid defuisse quererentur, scriptum est etiam in tabulis. Creation planted in his soule, which he by his fall had slubbered and defaced, and to deliver them vnto him by his servant Moses, to the intent that he might lay hold of them, and reprint them in his soule againe, and so be raised and remitted to his former inheritance.
What were those Lawes which were delivered vnto Moses?
You may partly know what they are, by telling you what they are not; they are not those Canonicall Bookes of Law which were sent from Nihil al [...]ud in Concilio Pontifici Romano credibile est in tot congetendis legū cen [...]onibus, quam vt plurimos Canonici [...] suis articulis irretitosteneret, quò vberior fructus ei ex dispensationibus accresceret. Vide in proaemio ad reformationē legū Ecclesiasticarū ▪ Rome, like those of Dionysius Syracusa as gyns to entrap the world, nor the Ceremoniall Leviticall Lawes, for those are abrogated, [Page 93] but the divine morall Lawes which God was pleased to deliver vpon the Mount vnto Moses, short, perspicuous, and pithie, Ten words, comprehending Ten Commandements.
Were the Lawes that were first infused into the soule of man so much defaced, that he should neede a remembrancer to put him in minde of his Creator? or was any man ever so sottish and stupide as not to beleeve and acknowledge the true and ever-living GOD to be his God and Creator.
The wisest of the Heathens did by the Invisibilia dei à condito mundo ex rebus factis cognoscuntur; aeterna (viz.) ejus potentia, tum aeternitas. Rom. 1.20. Hîc liber est cuius spatiosa volumina claris Ostentant impressa notis praeclara magistri. Pagina quae (que) gemis rerum est, & prim [...] character Orsa refert; pulchrā sortitus ab vngue figuram. The world's a booke in folio printed all, With Gods great workes in letters capitall; Each creature is a page, and each effect, A faire Character, voyde of all defect. Ba [...]tas. Non est muta (secundum Socratem) sed animadvertentibus, vndiquá (que); loquax est rerū natura; et multa docetur eius contemplator, si attentè perlegerit rerum creatarum librū, cuius characteres sunt sydera, elementa, & quae miscentur ex ijs, sive perfecta, sive imperfecta, vegetantes, sentientes, et rationales animae: quae (que) ancipitia sunt quae (que) amphibia dicuntur. Natura vox est quocún (que) occulos, animúm (que) convertas, mortalia, immortalia, sublimia, terrena, animata et inanimata clamant clarè et loquuntur, quiddam super nos esse, quod haec tam mira, tam multa, tam magna creârit, et fecerit, et creata conservat. Lipsi Creatures in the sublunarie world, which Antonius Eremita called his Bookes, readily know and acknowledge that it could not be, but there must be some predominant power that did guide and governe them. All the Sibylls did acknowledge one absolute God; the Turkes doe the like; and Pythagoras in derision and defiance of Idoll-Gods, was vsed to say, that if there be any one that dare presume to say, that he is God besides one, let him build such another world and I will beleeue him. Nay the Sibylls waded so farre, that they beleeved the resurrection, and could say, that if in a Si in ave rationis experte resurrectio apparet, quid natura in aniter calumniatur? Vide Binium inter Apostolicas constitutiones. Mira de Phanice ave scribuntur. Partim a Plinio, lib. 10. Partim ab Aeliano, l [...]b. 6. bird voyde of reason the same doth so manifestly appeare; if the Phoenix did so constantly every fiue hundred yeares flie into Aegypt, and there voluntarily burne her selfe into ashes, became a worme, and after tooke vpon her, her owne shape againe, and flew into Arabia, why should man make any doubt or scruple of his? Yet notwithstanding, I finde there were some that worshipped and adored the Creature in stead of the Creator; erecting according to their imaginations and phantasies, Gods as they pleased. I finde the Ammonites and Moabites running after Moloch; the Shekemites after Baal Berith; the Chaldeans after the God of Nabor; others after Baal Peor, Baal Tsephon, Baalzebub, and all but one Baal; others after Iupiter Capitolinus, Iupiter Pluvius, Iupiter Lucretius, Iupiter [Page 94] Altitonans, and all but one Idoll. Every man crying as the Mariners in Ionah. 1.5. Ionahs Ship did in the tempest, every man to his God. I finde the Arabians dedicating their Altars to a God which they knew not, ingraving an inscription like to the Acts. 17.32. inscription which St. Paul found vpon the Altar at Athens, to the vnknowne God, thereby declaring that there was a God which they knew not, that had a predominant power over those Gods which they knew: some againe I finde framing vnto themselues divers other Gods, attributing vnto some power over the Natal. Comes. lib. 1. cap. 7. greater Nations, to some power over the lesse, to some over this Citie, to some over that. I finde the Tyrians tying their God Hercules with a Chaine, to the intent that he might not leave them nor forsake them. I finde the Romanes concealing the true name of Rome, lest by the knowledge thereof, the God of it might be knowne, and so prevailed with to come forth of it, and the Citie come to ruine. I finde Plutarchus in Bruto. Brutus relating the storie of his Genias. I finde others erecting vnto themselues divers other Gods, some Natalis Comes. lib. 1. cap. 7. caelestiall, as the Sunne, Moone, and Starres; some terrestriall, and they of the Mountaines, vallies, and woods;De dijs gentium. Quicquid humus, pelagus, caelum mirabile gignit, Id dixere deos; colles, freta, flumina, fontes. some aquaticall, and those of the Seas, Rivers, and Fountaines; some running after the Oxe, the Dog, and the Cat, some after the Hawke, some after the Sheepe, and some so foolish, that they doted vpon the very hearbes in their Gardens; whom the Poets in after times fell vpon, and vpbraided thus;
Yea so superstitiously foolish I finde them in offering vp their sacrifices to these their phantasticall Idols, that no sacrifice must be offered, especially to the supernall [Page 95] Gods, but where there were varietie of Lampes, no place admitted, but vpon Mos fuit antiquorum altissimo deo in loco sublimi sacrificare; ideó (que) altare quasi alta area vocata erat apud Latinos. Altars built vpon Mountaines; no time permitted, but the morning; no Priests but such as were Per novem dies noctés (que) oportebat ab omni libidine sacerdotes abstinere, et similiter mulieres aedituas, aut initiaturas. Vnde Poëta; Pér (que) novem noctes, venerem, tactús (que) virorum In vetitis memorant. Chast; no garment but of such a colour, no wood but of such a nature; no man to dare to approach vnto them with Non decet illotis manibus libare superno Vina Iovi. Nam cum deus purus sit & ab omni prorsus, sorde immunis non cōvenire crediderint illi ministro quiad ejus altare accederet, manus aut aliquā corporis partem habere inquinatam, aut impuram: quare si quis neglectâ purgatione, ad sacrificia acc [...]ssiflet, illius preces deos né (que) audire, né (que) respicere arbitrabantur. vnwashen hands: these phantasticall imaginations, and superstitious adorations, when the Lord saw, he was pleased to expresse himselfe in the two first Commandements.
1. I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt haue no other Gods but me.
2. Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any graven image, or the likenesse of any thing that is in heaven aboue, or in the earth beneath, or in the water vnder the earth.
Thou shalt not bow downe thy selfe to them, nor worship them: For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the sinnes of the Fathers vpon the children, vnto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me:
And shew mercy vnto thousands of them that loue me and keepe my Commandements.
When the Lord saw man vpon all occasions, as his vnruly passions and affections led him, to take his holy Name in vaine: sometimes bathing his polluted hands in his most precious bloud; sometimes rubbing of his exulcerate wounds, and more often calling vpon him to damne him than to saue him, was pleased to expresse himselfe thus.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vaine; for the Lord will not hold him guiltlesse that taketh his Name in vaine.
When he saw him prophaning of his Sabbath, making no difference of dayes, when either pleasure or profit, [Page 96] or preferment was before him, was pleased to put him in minde; saying,
4. Remember the Sabbath day to keepe it holy.
Sixe dayes shalt thou labour and doe all thy worke.
But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt doe no manner of worke, thou nor thy sonne, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maide, thy cattell, nor the stranger that is within thy gates.
For in six dayes the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that therein is, and rested the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
When he saw him carelesly neglecting them that brought him into the world, that had vndergone many pangs, and sighes, and grones for him, that had nurtured and educated him, that had laboured and toyled all the dayes of their life, vndergone the heate of the day, and coole of the night, risen early and gone to bed late, and all to gaine an inheritance for him, he was pleased to put him in minde; saying,
5. Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy dayes may be long in the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
When he saw him likewise valuing the bloud of man▪ no more than of a beast provided for the slaughter, vpon all occasions, without any Commission from him taking the sword into his owne hands, and revenging a word fallen in heate, and oftentimes drawne out of the speaker with death, yea suddaine death, was pleased to put him in minde; saying,
6. Thou shalt doe no murther.
[Page 97] When he saw him likewise wandring after beautie, sacrificing to his lusts as to his God, voluntarily divorcing himselfe from his legitimate spouse, and bed-fellow, and all to please his sensuall appetite, was pleased to put him in minde; saying,
7. Thou shalt not commit adulterie.
When he saw him sometimes with a strong hand openly invading the possessions of his neighbour, sometimes by fraud secretly vndermining them, and sometimes surreptitiously and feloniously entring into them, was pleased to put him in minde, saying,
8. Thou shalt not steale.
When he saw him likewise so presūptuously prophane, as to dare to call him to witnesse that which his conscience before told him, was most false and vnjust, was pleased to put him in minde; saying,
9. Thou shalt not beare false witnesse against thy neighbour.
When he saw him likewise lōging after his neighbours house, neighing after his neighbours wife, and taking more pleasure to compasse that which was his, than he did to enjoy that which was his owne; was pleased to put him in minde; saying,
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbours wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his oxe, nor his asse, nor any thing that is thy neighbours.
Are these the Lawes out of which all humane Lawes are derived?
Yes certainely.
How doth it appeare?
By the testimony of the most ablest men in their generations.
What doe they say of them?
Positively, that they are the fountaine of all humane Lawes, and shew Herbach. Primum praeceptum sūmam earum legum quae ad Monarchiam spectat, continet: istae commonstrant vnum mundi authorem esie, principem ac regem vnum, qui salutaritèr gubernat omnia, qui (que) Oligarchiam & Democratiam è caelo penitùs exegit. Secundum, summa est omnium quae de simulachris manufactis sancitae sunt, quae né (que) simulachra, né (que) signa, aut statuas fabricari, né (que) fabularum commenta, né (que) deorú nuptias ortúsve permittút. Tertio subijciuntur tum ea quae sub infu [...]randum cadere non debent, tum de quibus jurandum est, et quo tempore, et quo loco. Quartum, est summa festorum et earum rerum quae ad singulorum dierum expiationem pertinent. Quintum, est summa earum legum quae de senibus & iuvenibus de principibus, et subiectis, de servis et Dominis scriptae sunt. Sextum, est summa earum quae homines qui vitam lasciviâ et luxuriâ diffluentem degunt, corrigunt. Septimum, est summa earum quae deviet cōtumelia, de plagis et vulneribus, de membris mutilatis latae sunt. Octavum, est summa earum quae de fraudendis Creditoribus de societate improba, de rapinis, et breviter de omniavaritiae genere decretae sunt. Nonum, summa est earum quae factae sunt versus illos qui fiaem tanquam involucrum persidiae faciunt. Decimum, summa earū quae factae sunt versus cupiditatem, quasi fontem malorum. Philo Iud. de 10. Praeceptis. precisely how, they say, that out of the Lawes of the first Table are derived all those Lawes which doe concerne our duties towards God; and out of the Lawes of the second Table are derived those which concerne our neighbour. Againe, more punctually they say, that out of the first precept of the second Table, being the fifth in order of the decalogue, all those Lawes which doe concerne that part of Iustice, which the Iusticiaries haue named Distributive Iustice; and out of the fourth precept of the second Table, being the eight in order of the Decalogue, all those Lawes which doe concerne that part of Iustice, which the Iusticiaries haue named Commutative Iustice, are derived: and out of the fifth Law of the second Table the Lawes of Actiōs. Yet more punctually, those Lawes which doe concerne the persons of men are borrowed from the first of the second Table: and those which cō cerne their estates are borrowed out of the fourth of the second Table; and those which decide Controversies, are borrowed out of the fifth of the second Table. Vnder which titles, persons, estates, and actions, all Lawes are comprehended. Againe, yet more punctually they shew what Lawes are derived out of every precept, vnto which, as the Springs to the Fountaine, all humane Lawes haue relation one way or other.
You doe not number the Lawes of the Heathens amongst these Lawes, which you will haue to be derived out of these sacred Lawes.
Yes certainely.
I pray you, how could they that never knew God, know his Lawes?
Though they had no perfect knowledge, yet they had a glimmering notion of them by traditiō from the Patriarks, and by some reliques which they left behinde them; though Herbach. [...], by a false worship they abused and corrupted them, giving the honour due vnto the true God, vnto their false and imaginary Idols; it was in imitation of those sacred Lawes, that the old Romanes made the Lawes of the Ten Tables, and set vp their Decemviri, Ten men to see those Lawes duely executed, vnto which Numa added two, and so they passed by the Lawes of the twelue Tables. It was from those Lawes likewise that Lycurgus framed his Lawes, vnto which the Lacedemonians tooke such liking and affectiō, that they resolved so long as he continued absent from them, to keepe them inviolably; who to the intent his Lawes might not be violated, willingly banisht himselfe from his owne Countrey, and dyed in Delos, by which meanes his Lawes, according to the Oracle of Apollo continued in force by the space of 500. yeares. Out of these likewise Solon framed his, which among the Athenians were of like repute & estimation, though Anacharsis was pleased to compare them vnto Spiders webbes: and out of these Minos framed his, though the Athenians and Citizens of Megaera for that he sought revenge for the cruell murther of his sonne, were pleased to terme him the chiefe Iudge of hell: & from these Numa borrowed his, though he gaue the honour thereof to the Idoll goddesse Aegaeria.
How can you say that Lycurgus and the rest of the Heathens had an eye vnto those sacred Lawes in the making of theirs, when as many of their Lawes are ex diametro repugnant vnto them? Plutarchus in Lycurg [...]. Lycurgus made a Law, that if a childe were not strong, well proportioned, and like to doe his Country service, he should be throwne into the Apothetes, the common-house of office: and Aristotle hath the like Law, Nihil Arist. lib 7. cap. 16. polit. debilitatum educandum esto, [Page 100] which Lawes of theirs, not onely the Lawes of GOD & nature, but even the Heathens themselues condemne as barbarous.
Saith the Poet, the weakest bodies haue the strongest wits: and Seneca hath many sayings to this purpose, Ex casa vir magnus exire potest, & ex deformi humili (que) corpusculo formosus animus & magnus, out of a poore Cottage oftentimes proceedes greatnesse, and out of a deformed and mishapen bodie a good and honest heart. Who more deformed then Richard the third, King of England, yet who more Couragious, and had not his vnjust vsurpation of the Crowne, and the monstrous vnnaturall murthers of his two Nephewes, eclypsed all the worth that was in him, he might well haue had a place in Paulus Iovius among the magnanimous spirits of the world? Who more Ingenium aliquando malè habitat vt M. Lo [...]i [...] soleret jocari in Galbam qui fuit egregi [...] eruditus, deformi [...] tamen. Aesopus fuit omnium suae aetatis hominū deformosissimus, acuto capite pressis naribus, depresso collo, prominentibus labris, niger, vnde nomen adeptus est: idē enim Aesopus, quod Aethiops, ventrosus, valgus et jucurvus, & Homericum Thersitem turpitudine formae superans. Vide vitam Aesopià Planude conscriptā. crooked then Aesop, yet who more wittie than Aesop? Who more deformed than the William Malmesburie de gesti [...] regum Anglia, lib. 2. Bishop of Collen, of whom William of Malmesbury makes mention, yet who more holy than he? There was (saith William of Malmesburie) in this Citie, which heretofore was called Agrippina from Agrippa, but afterwards of Trajan the Emperor Colonia, a poore parish Church, into which there came an Emperour of Germanie one Sunday morning from hunting in the habit of a Souldier, and when he saw a Priest deformis sanè & planè portentum naturae, deformed and crooked saying of divine service, he wondred with himselfe; Quare deus a quo cuncta formosa procedunt tam deformem hominem sacramenta sua perficere permitteret, wherefore God from whom all beautie proceeds, would suffer so deformed a creature to serue him in so high a place. But as he was thus excogitating with himselfe, it happened, that the Priest read those words which were in the Psalmes appoynted [Page 101] for that day; Know you not that the Lord is God, and it is he which hath made vs and not we our selues: which words when the Emperour heard, he tooke them as Oracles sent from God to giue him satisfaction. Wherefore having fully informed himselfe of the condition of the man, and finding him to be both a learned and good man, made him afterwards Bishop of Collen. How can these Lawes be derived, I say, out of those sacred Lawes when as they doe directly impugne them. Againe, Plutarch in Lycurgo. Lycurgus made a Law, that if a man disabled by nature to procreate, being an impotent man, should for covetousnesse sake marry with an inheritrix, she might make choice of any of her husbands kindred to beget Children of her: which Law of his is directly repugnant to the Law of God. Againe, Plato made a Law, that young men and women should at certaine times of the yeare, in certaine places appointed for that purpose, which he calleth Gymnasia, for the exercise of their bodies, encrease of their strength, and to make women more hardy to bring forth their children, dance, runne and ride naked in the presence both of young and olde people. Againe, Eadem lex apud Aegyptios. Furta apud veteres Aegyptios omnia fuisse licita, & impunita, apud Lacedamonios laudata refert. Gell. lib. 11. ca. 18. Lycurgus made a Law, that it should be lawfull for boyes to steale and prole pettie things, so that they did it handsomely, vpon pretence to enable them to be more fit for pillage when they came to be Souldiers, and make them more quicke of spirit, and others more carefull to keepe that which they haue; how can these Lawes by any meanes be said to be derived out of the Lawes of God, seeing that they doe directly impugne them.
Certainly, these were not the Lawes but the errors and extravagant opinions of these men; Nam lex est sanctio jubens honesta, & prohibens contraria, Lawes doe commaund things that are honest to be done, and prohibit the contrary. Lycurgus, Plato and Aristotle were men, and had their —Vitijs nemo sine nascitur Optimus ille qui [...]nis vrgetur. Horas. errours, though they were [Page 102] the oracles of their times; and the wonders of the world, and it is no wonder; for the reverend Fathers of the Church had theirs; Saint Augustin writ two bookes of Retractions; and of Saint Origen it is said, Vbi benè nemo meliùs, vbi malè nemo pejùs, where he did well no man did better, but where he did ill no man did worse.
What are the Lawes then that are derived out of those sacred Lawes?
Generally such as haue a correspondency with the Law of God, that doe as they doe command things honest to be done, and prohibit the contrary; such indeed as were the Lawes of King Allured, who made the Law of God his Vide praefationē ad leges Allured in priscis Anglorum legibus. Master-peece in making of his Lawes to governe his people, and set it in the frontispice of them.
I pray you acquaint me more particularly, what are the Canonicall and other Lawes now in force that are derived out of those sacred Lawes?
Sir, if I should giue you a particular account of all the Lawes that are derived thence, a mightie volume would not containe them. Wherefore I will onely shew vnto you the titles and heads of those Lawes which are derived out of every Law. And first I will shew you what Lawes are derived out of the Lawes of the first Table; and so of the rest as they fall in my way. The Lawes which are derived out of the Lawes of the first Table are those, viz. De summa Trinitate, de fide catholica, de sacrosanctis ecclesijs, de haereticis de Apostatis, de blasphemijs, de juramentis et similia, which punish as well those that attribute the honour due to the true God to false and imaginary Idols; as they which live without God in the World.
What kinde of persons, I pray you, are they that doe so?
In the first place is the Atheist that monster of nature, whom the heathen Orator long agoe condemned, [Page 103] affirming, that no Omnibus innatū est, & quasi insculptum, esse deum. Cicero lib 2 de [...]at. deorum. Nulla gens est, né (que) tam i [...] māsuet [...], né (que) tam ferrea quae deum non agnosc [...]. Cicero. Nation was ever so barbarous or inhumane, but acknowledged one God or other. In the second place, the Arrian, denying the divinitie of our blessed Lord and Saviour, whom the Tempore Constantini Imperatoris Arriana haeresis exorta, quae corruptò orbe toto, Britanniam etiam extra orbem tam longè remotam veneno sui infecit erroris; sed in Nicena synodo delecta at (que) damnata fuit. Btd Eccles hist. lib. 1. Nicene Councell long agoe condemned. In the third place is the selfe-conceited, and opinionated hereticke and schismaticke, who out of his singularitie, will draw other Conclusions out of the sacred Scriptures, which the spirit of God and the holy Church never meant and intended. In the fourth place, are all those Idolaters, lying vndertakers, Cum Diogenes intueretur in vita gubernatores, medicos at (que) Philosophos, animalium omnium sapientissimum hominem este dicebat; cùm autem inspiceret somniorum conlectores, vates, vel hujusmodi caeteros, tunc nihil stult [...]us existimare homine dicebat. Diog. Laert. in Diog. Planetarìes, Starre-gazers, who draw Conclusions out of their own observations from the event of things; who because a Cloud moved this way, or was of that colour, or a Hare crossed his way, the Salt fell towards him, a Serpent passed on his right hand, or a Fox on his left; Iulius Caesar nulla superstitione aut augurio deterreri potuit ab incaeptis; dum in Africam proficisceretur, in egressu navis prolapsus in terrā; sed in melius omine cō mutato, teneo te (inquit) Africa, eám (que) obtinuit. Sueton [...] in Caesar. Et Guliel: Conq: cū primo terrae ingressu, equum quem ascenderat, incitavit ad cursum, ab equo lapius, & prostratus in terram, terra (inquit) mea est, quod eventus ostendit. things in the iudgement of the wise not to be regarded;) therefore this or that thing must not be done on this day. Againe, those Necromancers, Witches, and Enchanters, who are in a kinde of league and confederacie with vncleane spirits. Such as was the Witch of Endor, possessed with the spirit of Python, with whom Saul cōsulted to raise vp Samuel when he went to warre against the Philistims. Againe, those Iuglers, Charmers, Compounders of medicines, and complexion-makers, who dasle and beguile the sences, presenting objects in other shapes and formes than in truth they are. Such as were the Aegyptian 2 Timoth. 3.8. Sorcerers, Iannes and Iambres, who resisted Moses, whom Saint Paul compareth to false teachers, who vnder shew and colour of godlines, leade captive silly women. Againe, those cunning Wizards now adayes called wise Suggestione quidem diaboli (vt inquit Bles.) quaedam mulieres sunt, quae cereas sive luteas formant imagines vt sic hostes, vel ama [...]os torqueant et incendant juxta illud Virgil. Limus vt hic durescit, et haec vt cera liquescit Vno eodém (que) igni: sic nostro Daphnis amore. Et quaedam multeres habent oculos fascinātes juxta illud. Virg. Nescio quis teneros oculus mihi fascinat agnos. Non inutile est consilium; Sit sententia Christiana nihil de futuris inquirere, sed illius dispositioni obedire. Qui disponit omnia suavitèr. women, but indeede are meere impostors, who in ancient time were said to attaine to their knowledge, subtiltie, and craft, by eating the principall part and members of some beast, in which they conceived to reside some speciall and singular vertue, and so by a kinde of [...] or transmigration, [Page 104] what vertue was in them, must be conveyed over, and so they become as wife as those beasts. Againe, such as Prognosticate things by the Calculating of nativities, or by Chyromancie, or Meteoroposcopie, or by any Witchcraft whatsoever. These and many more of those various shaped monsters, are within the meaning of the Lawes borrowed from the Lawes of the first Table. Nay, not those alone, but even they also who seeke for helpe and succour in any other, though of Acts 4.12. Memoriae divorum, quorum spiritus apud deum vivunt, reverenter habendae propter imitationē, non autem aedovanda propter religionem. Augustin. the Saints, than in our blessed Lord and Saviour, a reverend opinion as examples and patternes of imitation the reverend Fathers haue ever had of them, and no Christian so barbarous as to conceive otherwise of them; but a divine worship and adoration, the Fathers haue denyed them, and no Christian (vnlesse he will come within the penaltie of those Lawes) must giue vnto them.
What is the penaltie of those Lawes I pray you?
It is in some degree aequivalent to the nature of the offence; the offences being Crimina laesae majestatis, the punishments which the Lawes of God and of all Nations haue ordeined are Capitall. The Levit. 20.6. Deut. 18.10. soule that turneth after such as haue familiar spirits, and after Wizards, to goe a whoring after them, I will set my face against, saith the Lord, and will cut him off from the people. And againe, that man or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or is a Wizard, shall surely be put to death, and their bloud shall be vpon them; such punishments haue the Lawes of God provided for such malefactors. Agreeable with those Lawes were those Vide Concilium Carthaginense 5ca•. Canonicall Lawes which were made about the yeare of our Lord 398. at a generall Councell held vnder Arcadius and Honorius: by which Lawes all the drugs and reliques of Idolatry were vtterly abolisht & extinguisht. Which said Lawes were made vpon this occasion; The Heathens had long before given forth, that in the yeare of our Lord 398. [Page 105] the Christians and Christian Religion should be vtterly extirpated & abolished; to the intent therefore that this their vanitie and vaine ostentation might appeare to the world, it was desired by the Christians that what they had given forth of the Christian Religion, might be manifested in extirpating of Idolatry; which request being thought reasonable, it was decreed accordingly; in pursuit of which decree, it was decreed in a generall Councell held at Ratisbone in the yeare of our Lord 742. that every Bishop within his Diocesse should haue a vigilant eye and care, that none of those Paganish Ceremonies, by which the silly people had beene long deluded, should ever be vsed amongst Christians. Agreeable likewise to those Lawes were the Lawes of Constantine the Emperour, who provided fire for such malefactors. Agreeable likewise vnto them are the Brit. lib. 1. cap. 9. fundamentall Lawes of this our Nation: and a speciall Writ framed by the Cusitors of auncient time, reciting the Law of God as the platforme, by which the Lawes that punish deliquents in this kinde are formed; the forme whereof we may see in Fitzh: nat. brev: pag. 269.
I pray you goe on as you haue begun, and as you haue shewed me what lawes are derived out of the first and second Law of the first Table: so now shew me what Lawes are derived out of the third Law of the same Table.
I will satisfie you therein, and shew you some thing more; I will first shew vnto you, what it is to take the name of God in vaine: secondly, I will shew you what are the Lawes which punish such offences: and lastly, I will shew you what punishments some haue vndergone that haue incurred the danger of those Lawes, that by their examples, you may be warned and admonished.
You shall vnderstand that the name of God is then taken in vaine, either when with the little instrument [Page 106] of the body the tongue, whose proper office is truely to expresse to the world the secret cogitations and imaginations of the heart, and to glorifie GOD, we belye the heart, and make the world by her report beleeue one thing, when the heart intends another; as when we dissemble and lye, sweare and forsweare, taking the holy Name of God in our mouthes to confirme what is said: or otherwise, when we doe in our actions silently prophane the name of God, when being Disciples of Christ, and taking denomination of Christians from him, wee doe commit those offences, which the Heathen Moralists, when they were vpon the face of the earth would haue beene ashamed to haue done, which many of the Turkes, and Mahumetans doe abhorre to doe, and which are not heard of among the most barbarous Indians: as when Sic vivunt homines, tanquam mors nulla sequatur, Aut velut infernus fabula vana foret. Non redit in mentem, his olim motibus Caelo cecidi [...]le L [...]ciferum, quibus nos caelum hodiè speramus [...]ndere. Petrarch. we spend our dayes and yeares, and times in all manner of licentiousnesse, in riotting and drunkennesse, in chambering and wantonnesse, in strife and envying, in oppression and extortion, and the like. What doe we els in doing of these things but prophane the Name of God, and bring the name of Christ into contempt? How can he be said to be a Scholler of Pythagoras, that never followed him in any of his footsteps, nor observed and kept any of his rules and precepts? How can he properly be said to serve vnder such a Generall, that was never with him in the field, or followed him a foote to any skirmish? How can he be said to be a Christian, that runs a contrary course to the life of Christ in all his actions? Certainely, he beareth the name of Christ in vaine, and the name of Arrius or Atheist would better become him. Christ whilest he was vpon the face of the earth, was just and vpright in all his actions, free from oppression and doing of wrong to any; he was meeke and lowly, free from pride and ambitious thoughts, he was loving & peaceabl [...] free from strife and contention; he fasted and prayed often, free [Page 107] from riotting and drunkennesse, or a licentious course of life. If therefore we will be the Disciples of Christ, and heires of the inheritance which he hath purchased for vs, we must tread in the pathes which he hath beaten out vnto vs; and imitate him in the whole course of our liues and conversations, it is to doe well, which giues life and being to a Christian; for in vaine doe we terme our selues Christians, when as we doe the works of the Gentiles; it is but dissembled sanctitie, double iniquitie; God will not be Vide fabulam de Adolescente & Coquo; qua ostenditur nihil mali non manifestū esse deo. Si quid turpe facis mortales forte latebis, Nemo deum latuit turpia mente putans. mocked▪ nor cannot be beguiled, he is able to discover our hypocrisies and dissimulations; when as we make his Name but a cloake to free vs from the danger of the Lawes of temporall Princes, and professe our selues to be Christians, because we dare not acknowledge our selues to be Heathens, though in the whole course of our liues we follow and imitate them. Plato lib. 11. Plato takes notice of three sorts of Atheists. Of one who with his tongue acknowledgeth there is a God, but denyeth him in his actions, and lives as if there were none, whom he thinketh worthy not of one, but of more deaths. A second, that liues as if there were a God, yet with his tongue professeth there is none, to whom he enjoyneth fiue yeares imprisonment, and if that during that time he doth not decline his opinion, then to dye the death. A third, that acknowledgeth there is a God, yet denyeth his providence on earth, to whom he enjoyneth perpetuall imprisonment, and no free-man ever to haue accesse vnto him: and when he dyeth his bones to be carried out of the Country, and to be left vnburied. So with Plato the man that Non vox, sed votu [...] nō musica chorduli, sed cor, Non clamor, sed amor, clamat in aure dei. liues like an Atheist is the most detestable Atheist, the non sic indectere sensus Humanos edicta valēt, quàm vita regentis. Caudian. life of a man prevailes and perswades more than a great deale of smooth Rhetoricke: Sic loquere vt videam, was a wise speech of a Heathen. It is said of Tacit. lib. 3. cap. 12. Vespasian in Tacitus, that his example prevailed more with the multitude, than a multitude of Lawes could haue done in the redressing of diverse abuses. [Page 108] If we will be Christians, then let vs shew our selues in our Conversations to be so: let vs set before our eyes the example of Barlet: lib. 2. de vlta & gestis Scanderbegi. Scanderbeg, who for the Catholike Faith, in the behalfe of his blessed Saviour and Redeemer, exposed himselfe during the whole course of his life, to continuall perils and dangers against the Turkes. Let vs set before our eyes likewise the examples of the blessed Martyrs, that are now Saints in heaven, that suffered such persecutions for his sake alone: and if we cannot doe as they did, yet let vs Cùm Athenas Pisistratus occupâsset, & Solon videbat conatū omnem frustrà esse, prolibertate scutum & arma ante fores Curiae ponens, oo patria (inquit) tibi & dictis & factis opitulatu [...] sum. with Solon doe what we can.
Even good endevours are acceptable vnto God. Let vs seriously take into our considerations the shortnesse of this life, and the durable estate of the life to come. Let vs assure our selues what a This, or to this effect haue I seene written with the Queenes owne hand, and her name to it subscribed, with this perswasiue intreatie; Good Madam for my sake remember this. It is to be seene in a Manuscript sometimes Prince Henries, given to the Vniversity-Library in Oxonf. by Mr. Connock, and remaineth in the Custodie of my good friend Mr. Rous. Queene of England once writ to one of her maidens of honour, is most true:
Let vs know, that two wayes are set before vs, the one wherein our blessed Saviour walked, whose pathes are thorny and slippery in the beginning, but greene and pleasant in the ending: the other wherein his enemies walked, plaine and even at the first setting out, but full of bogs and quagmires and gulfs in the ending; the one leading vnto life, the other to death and destruction. Let vs with Mary choose the better part, and while Da dum tempus habes, tibi propria sit manus haeres. A [...]feret hoc nemo, quod dabis ipse Deo. we haue time, doe some deedes of Charitie, and not deferre the doing thereof vntill the houre of our death; for when the gloomie night of death and sicknesse approach, [Page 109] it is too late to offer vp those sicke sacrifices, for then we cannot properly be said to giue but to leaue those things behinde vs which we could not carry with vs. God will not be so served, it is vaine and idle to thinke, that when we haue lived in all manner of licentiousnes, robd the fatherlesse and widowes, that by giuing of those sicke sacrifices, to pray for our soules, we should saue our soules, no, those good deeds which doe open heaven-gate when we die, must be such as doe attend an innocent, harmelesse, and well led life. Let vs therefore, I say, doe good while we may; sheede a few Quanta jucunditas, pro paucis lachtymis interminabilem risum, pro temporalibus jejunijs aeterna cōvivia, pro volūtaria paupertate inaestimabiles divitias; pro incolatu sylvarum jus Civitatis aethereae; pro fumoso tugurio stellantia Christi palatia; pro agresti silētio cantus Angelicos, et caelestis dulcedinē harmoniae, quae (que) omne melos excesserit! Petrarch. penitentiall teares here, that we may enjoy eternall blisse and happinesse hereafter. Let these contemplations take vp our serious thoughts and meditations; and let the practise hereof be our professions, so shall we deserue the name of Christians, and avoyde the penaltie of the Lawes derived out of this third Law of the first Table.
You haue sufficiently shewed me what it is to take the Name of God in vaine. In the next place, I shall put you in mind of your promise, to shew vnto me what are the Lawes which punish such as presumptuously abuse the Name of God.
I shall therein satisfie you likewise. The Lawes which punish such offenders, are comprehended by the Canonists vnder these titles, De blasphemijs, de diris execrationibus, & de vero vsu nominis Dei, & similibus.
But what is the penaltie of those Lawes?
That part I will leaue to the Canonists, as being their proper office to shew vnto you. Onely I will acquaint you what punishments some haue vndergone and suffered by the immediate hand of God, for transgressing of them: and for your satisfaction therein, looke into the booke of God, and Ecclesiasticall Histories, and you may satisfie your selfe. You shall there behold how Numb. 16. Corah, Dathan, and Abiram went in perfect [Page 110] health to their graves, the earth opened and swallowed them vp, because they abused the Name of God, and presumptuously rebelled against him. Daniel 4. How Nebuchadnezar was turned out into the field to gra [...]e like an Asse, because he did the like: how Esay 37. Senacherib with his whole Armie, being a hundred fourescore and fiue thousand perished for reproaches which he vsed towards the living God. Ioseph. lib. 12. cap. 2o. de antiquitate Iudaeor. Iosephus reports of Theopompus a Philosopher, that because he did presume to insert among his prophane Writings, certaine things which were delivered by Moses to the Children of Israel, by speciall revelation from God, that he was on a suddaine bereaved of his sences. It is reported likewise in the Ecclesiasticall Histories, of a certaine scoffer that falling into argument with his Pot-Companions in a taphouse of the immortalitie of the soule, maintained that there was no such thing as the soule, but that it was a meere illusion & invention of the Priests to terrifie the people, and to get a liuing by. Which his Companion hearing, being desirous to beat him from that Atheisticall opinion, told him, that the Patriarkes, the Prophets, and Evangelists, and the Fathers in all the generall Councels, nay the very Heathens themselues generally did all maintaine the immortalitie of the soule. To whom the Atheist replyed; that at all adventures he would sell his for a cup of Wine, and in the end the Devill in humane shape appeares and gaue him his demaund: and (as the Storie saith) animam per aerem avehit Satanas; tooke away his soule with him.Ioseph. ibid. It is reported likewise of Theodactes a Tragicall Poet, that in a certaine Tragedie of his having taken certaine things out of the sacred Scripture, and inserted them among his owne prophane Writings, he was strucke blind, (and as the Storie saith, Glancomate suffusus.) It is reported likewise of Aelian. lib. 4 de varijs historij [...]. Pherecides, a Tragicall Poet, that he was vsed to say, that he never offered Hecatombas, sacrifices to God, yet he led a more quiet life, [Page 111] and had all things in more abundance, than they which continually attended and served at the Altar: but this his blasphemous babling escaped not vnpunished, for not long after he was sore troubled with a continuall sweat; which bred such store of wormes and lice in his bodie, that (as the Story saith) he dyed dephthiriasi of a loathsome lowsie disease. Such were the punishments that these Atheisticall blasphemous bablers vnderwent for abusing Gods holy Name. God is a jealous God and will not suffer his name to be traduced: and no marvaile; for if an Artificer shall be so carefull of his reputation, that he will not suffer himselfe to be defamed, but that he will haue satisfaction for the wrong done vnto him, for that his credit is his livelihood. If a Peere of the Realme shall be so tender of his honour, that he will not admit of the least aspersion, but he will right himselfe, and take advantage of the Lawes de scandalis Magnatum. If the sacred Majestie of a King will not endure to haue any rumors raised, whereby his government may be scandalized, and dissention grow betweene him and his people, but he will haue a strict account of it; much more the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Heathen Cicero lib. 1o. Officior. — Tristia maestum Vultum, verba decent, iratum, plena minarum, Ludentem lasciva, severum serra dicta. Horat [...] in Arte Poët. Faminam aulicam diligenter oportet excubare (vtinquit Castilio) ne sever is in rebus ridiculis scateat, ne gravia ludicris misceat; nec laudem ex eo quaera [...] quod omninò ignorat: deni (que) astectata omnia tanquá Scyllam et Charyb [...]im evitet: Castilio. lib. 3. Orators did ever hold it for a most vnseemely and absurd thing, either in re seriajocari, or in rejocosa serium esse. Sophocles did never more forget himselfe, than he did at that time when as he being Praetor with Pericles, and they with others in a serious consultation of the affayres of the Common-wealth, cryed out, O puerum pulchrum Pericle, seeing a faire boy comming by him. And certainely, Comaedians doe never more transgresse the Rules of Poetry, nor commit greater solaecismes, than they doe at those times when in their sports and pastimes they carelesly invocate the divine power. Comedies haue ever beene allowed in all ages, and necessary it is they should be for the trayning vp of youth to exercise their wits, and inventions, and [Page 112] to embolden them, to make them fit for imployment when they come to riper yeares. It is the abuse which makes the French-man in the Courtier terme them Castilio lib. 2. Buffones; and Iustinian to ranke them with them, Qui notantur infamiâ, as when they doe enterlace prophane things with divine, Scripture with vaine and idle inventions. What can be more absurd, then when Cato is giving a Charge in the Senate-house, to induce a fidler or jugler? What can be more grosse, than when Iocasta with her two twins Eteocles and Polynices lye wallowing in their bloud, comming to their ends by vntimely deaths, & all the spectators mourning in sables, and lamenting those vnfortunate accidents, to induce a Mimicke to shew some tricks vnto them? What can be more incongruous on the other side, than for a Comaedian in his sports and pastimes prophanely to vse the sacred and reverend Name of God? The Orators in former ages did sometimes breake forth out of serious discourses into witty Apophthegmes, but what was ye end of it? it was to revive and exhilarate the spirits of their Auditors, whom they had wearied with a Prolixita [...] ex rebus non ex literis judicatur. Homerum aut Virgilium cum versuum millia scripserant, nemo hactenus multiloquos aut longos dixit. Vnde Martial. Nonsunt longa quidem, nihil est quod demere possis, Sed tu (Cosconi) distica longa facis. long discourse before, but never vsed any direfull oaths and execrations. Learne you Comaedians, and beware by the examples of Theodactes, Theopompus and Pherecides. God is the same God, his hand is not shortened, nor his power abated: the Story of Quid fuit vt tutus agitaret Daedalus alas, Icarus immensas nomine secit aquas. Nempe quod hic aliè, demissiùs ille volabat. Ovid. Icarus moralised will tell you, that it is not safe to sport and play with things which are aboue you And the sacred Scripture will tell you, that it is not safe to dally with Crede mihi, sapere est non nimiùm sapere. Plato. Vide Apologum de Astr [...]logo & viatore. Admonet haec Nemesis, ne quis nimis alta requirat, Est aliquid parvâ posse habitare casâ. Quisquis mediū desugit iter Stabili nūquā [...] amite curret. Senec. in Herc. Oet [...]o. holy things, the Name of God is a sacred thing, and we are commanded not to take it into our mouthes, but with feare and reverence. Thou shalt not take my Name in vaine.
You haue shewed sufficiently what Lawes are derived out of the three first Lawes of the first Table. I pray you goe on as you haue begunne vnto the rest.
In the next place I will shew you what is meant by the word Sabbath. Secondly, how many Sabbaths the Iewes observed. Thirdly, how they came to be altered and changed. Fourthly, what Lawes haue beene derived out of this Law, for the observation of the Sabbath of dayes, and what care and provision hath beene taken for the due execution of them. You shall vnderstand, that the word Sabbath, properly signifieth a Cessation and rest from our labours: so that the Iewes named all their festivall dayes by the name of Sabbath, because y• vpon those dayes they did no manner of labour: yet they ever preferred three Sabbaths before the rest: the first whereof was the Sabbath of dayes, which is the seaventh day: the second was the Sabbath of yeares, which was every Levit. 25. seaventh yeare, in which there was no planting nor grafting, no lopping nor topping; all mountaines and vallies, and all the trees of the Forrest from the Cedar to the shrub, being in some sort sequestred from the vse of the owner for that yeare; for as the Lord appointed the seaventh day for man to rest, so he appointed the seaventh yeare for the Land to rest. The third was the Sabbath of Levit. 25. seaven times seaven yeares, which was their great Sabbath, and therefore called the Sabbath of Sabbaths; in which as there was nothing put in execution, that was prohibited on the Sabbath of yeares, all Lands being freed from agriculture as they then were: so there were divers other priviledges and prerogatiues incident to this yeare, which were not to the former. If any man had morgaged or sold his land, it was this yeare to returne home againe, vnlesse they had beene houses within some walled Townes, & they likewise, if they had beene the houses of God, of the Church, and of the Levites. If any had beene bound this yeare, he with his familie were to be free, and to returne to his owne possessions; wherefore this yeare was called the yeare of Iubile, or the yeare of mirth and jollitie. [Page 114] By which they accounted all their yeares, as the Graecians did by their Olympiades. Which custome continued in vse long amongst them, even vntill the comming of our blessed Lord and Saviour.
How came they to be altered and changed?
I will briefly shew vnto you, and first how the Sabbath of dayes was altered. The Iewes were growne to that height of impietie, that if the Romanes had not vanquisht them when they did, Ioseph. de bello Iudaico. lib. 6. Iosephus thought the very earth would haue opened & swallowed them vp; and Ammianus Marcellinus reports of them, that wheresoever they came they were called faetentes Iudaei, stinking Iewes. The Christians therefore that they might be distinguished from them, vtterly abolisht their day and their Ceremonies.
How came it to passe, that the Iewes should be so odious, seeing that among all Natiōs of the world none were more strict than they in the due observation of the Sabbath, they would not admit of a bit of meate to be baked or boyled, nor a sparke of fire to be kinled on that day, because they supposed the doing thereof to be a worke repugnant to their Lawes? Nay, they would not in defence of their lives wage any battell on that day, vntill Matthias one of their Captaines made a Proclamation that in defence of their lives and liberties it was lawfull for them to fight on the Sabbath day. Antiochus and Pompey could not so easily haue prevailed against them, had they not knowne their resolutiōs to haue beene to die rather than to fight vpon that day. How I pray you became the Iewes so odious, seeing they were so observant of the Sabbath day?
It is true; the Iewes did forbeare all manner of bodily labour on the Sabbath day; but this forbearance was not to a good end, that is, to glorifie GOD, as they should haue done. If they had beene sensitive Creatures onely, such as had a meere sensitiue being in [Page 115] the world, as Oxen or Horses, they had done well, and satisfied the Law punctually, but they were reasonable Creatures, God had stamped his owne image in them, and made them little inferior to the Angels in degree; wherefore there was more required at their hands, they were not to sit still and sleepe, but to glorifie him with hymnes, songs, musicke, and melodie. Deeds of Charitie and necessitie are allowed by God to be done on that day. God that allowed man to leade his Oxe and Asse to water on that day, alloweth him to kindle a fire to dresse his meate on that day. Indeede to kindle a fire to adde furtherance to the building of the Tabernacle was not permitted. God that created all Creatures for the vse of man, alloweth him in case his sheepe or cattell doe fall into a ditch, to pull him forth on that day. God who is abundant in mercie, alloweth vs to relieue our brethren in miserie and necessitie on that day.Math. 12.12. Bonum est benefacere in Sabbatho, Christ that healed the sicke on the Sabbath day, alloweth the Physitian on that day. Almesdeeds, deeds of Charitie, and holy recreations, which enable vs to goe on more chearefully in the duties of our Callings, are at all times acceptable both before God and man. Wherefore as it is prophane to thinke, that there is no time to be allotted for divine and holy meditations,Initio mundi dies naturales distincti fuerunt in festos & profestos; profesti erant sex dies septimanae, in quibus volebat deus vt homines operarentur, id (que) suo exemplo; festus erat septimus dies in septimana in qua volebat homines feriari à rebus profanis & vacare cultui divino. Apud Romanos fuerunt tria dierum genera, festi, profesti, & intercisi, qui dei, & hominum erant communes; hoc est, quorum vna pars cultui divino, altera negotijs humanis impendebatur. Zench [...] lib 6. de luminaribus caeli. so it is Iewish to conceiue there is no time to be allowed for holy and necessary recreations. The Wise-man tels vs, that there is a time for all things, as there is a time to sow in, so there is a time to reape in, as there is a time of mourning, so there is a time of rejoycing; as there are six dayes to worke in, so there is one day sequestred to glorifie God in: so sweetly hath the Almightie disposed of the times & seasons for the vse of man. Plutarch hath a prettie tale in the life of Themistocles, of the falling out of ye Working-dayes & Holy-dayes; Vpon a time the Working-dayes brawled with the Holy-dayes, and repined that what they carefully [Page 116] got, they wastfully spent; vnto whom the Holy-dayes answered, Where had you beene, if I had not beene before you, and if I were not, alas, what would you be. Indeede the one without the other could not well be; for as the Working-dayes giue a being to the Holy-dayes, so the Holy-dayes reciprocally yeeld a well-being comfort and solace vnto them. We ought not therefore so to spend our dayes, as if there were no nights, nor yet the nights as if there were no dayes, not so to labour, as if there were no time to rest, nor yet so to rest, as if there were no time to labour; but as the night succeeds the day, and as the seaventh day doth the six dayes of the weeke, so to mingle societie with retirednesse, Actio & contemplatio disjungi nolunt; neutra enim sine altera perficitur; sit ergo vnusquis (que) vt gladius ille delphieus vtrin (que) secans, ad agendum & contemplandum paratus. Sic Alexander non minùs in re litteraria, quàm orbis Imperio principatum ambivit. Sic Cyrus Xenophontis libros nunquam de manibus ponere solebat; cùm verò in Africam trajecturus, et quadraginta quin (que) tantùm dies ad fabricandam et instruendam aciem insumpsisset, tot etiam inter consultationes in gymnasio libellis etiam operam dabat. Contemplation with action, that one night giue comfort vnto the other, and both to vs, to this onely end, to glorifie God our blessed Lord and Saviour. The which because the Iewes did not, but went no further than the bare letter of the Law, the out-side onely, they rested, but not to glorifie God, therefore did God abhorre their Sabbaths: and the Christians that they might be distinguished from them, set vp a new day, the next day following; yet made vse of the morall part thereof, as a handmaide in the institution of the Lords day.
Was this foolish superstition of the Iewes the onely cause wherefore the Christians did alter the day?
It was one, but not the onely cause, for among many other reasons, in a generall Councell held at Paris vnder the Emperours Lewis & Lotharius, these are alledged; that vpon the day next following the Sabbath of the Iewes our blessed Saviour arose from death to life, and Manna was sent from Heaven▪ see the Biniusgenerall Councell for your further satisfaction. So you see how the Sabbath of dayes in vse among the Iewes came to be altered and changed.
But how came the great Sabbath the Iubile to be altered?
How came Rome to be changed, she was sometimes the Mistris of the world, a virgin pure and immaculate, vnto whom all Christian Princes did yeeld obeysance, and adore her for her innocency and puritie; but afterwards shee became a strumpet, a mercenary strumpet, exposed her selfe for a little profit to all sorts of suitors: which when the Princes saw, they scorned and neglected her. The Iubile was sometimes a yeare of mirth and jollitie, of libertie and freedome; and for that purpose was it instituted in the Common-wealth of the Iewes, & ordeined to be solemnized every fiftith yeare. For that purpose likewise was it that Pope Plat. in vita Bonif. 8. Onuph. in Bonif. Boniface the eighth instituted the same at Rome, and commanded it to be solēnised every hundred yeare, in the yeare 1300. For that purpose likewise was it that Pope Plat. in vit. Clem. 6. Onuph. in Clem. Clement the sixt ordeined it to be celebrated every fiftith yeare, according to the manner and custome of the Iewes, in the yeare 1350. But for another purpose was it, that is to say, for profit and Commoditie that Pope Plat. in vit. Bonif. 9. Onuph. in Bonif. Boniface the ninth, did cause it to be celebrated and solemnized in the yeare of our Lord 1400. for he made it a meere market and faire for pardons and indulgences. For profit and Commoditie likewise was it that Pope Plat. in vit. Xisti 4 [...]. Onuph. in Xisto. Xistus the fourth reduced the solemnization thereof in the yeare of our Lord 1475. to every fiue and twentith yeare, for he knew well that if it were contracted into fewer yeares, greater profit would arise, and therefore changed the time of the solemnization thereof from the fiftith to the fiue and twentith. For profit and commoditie likewise was it that Pope Plat. in vit. Alexand. 6. Onuph. in Alexand. Alexander the sixt gaue licence and authoritie in the yeare 1500. that the same might be solemnized and celebrated in certaine Provinces, wherein his end was, as one hath well observed, that fewer people and more money might come to Rome. So that I may well [Page 118] conclude vpon these premisses, that as the olde Comaedians were vsed to end all their Comedies in musicke, marriages, mirth and jollitie: so the end and scope in solemnising of this, in these latter times, hath beene profit and commoditie. Old Geffry Chawcer seeing these abuses, being a Contemporanean with Pope Boniface the ninth, and being well acquainted with the occurrences of the time as well Chawcer was in his youth of Merton Colledge in Oxonf. and of the Inner Temple, as it is conceived; afterwards he was imployed as Embassadour. See his life. abroad as at home, who died in the same yeare that Pope Boniface the ninth solemnized his Iubile, being in the yeare of our Lord 1400. in some indignation falls vpon him in manner following.
And so goes on bitterly. And William of Malmesburie, a Monke, who lived in the dayes of King Henry the first, and dyed about the beginning of the raigne of K Henry the second, in a mournefull kinde of Elegie with teares bewayling the miserable estate of Rome as it then stood, and I feare in no better case at this day; amongst many other Verses of Hildebertus an Archbishop, hath these following.
Romani olim rerum domini, nunc dicuntur homines inertissimi, auro trutinantes justitiam, pretio vendirantes Canonum regulas.
Mathew Paris, a Monke of Saint Alban, is full of such [Page 119] complaints in every corner of him. Gwicciardine in his Historie of Italie tels vs, that Pope Leo granted Gwicci [...]d. lib. 13. Anno. 1520. Indulgences without respect of time or place, and that his Ministers did set to sale vpon a game at Tables power to redeeme soules out of Purgatorie. Iohn Rosse in the Ghost of Chadwallader thus complaineth.
Petrarch. lib. 9. rerum sonilium patheticè exprobrat sordidissimos mores Ecclesiasticorum sui temporis.
Tota ferè hominum virtus vmbra est; verba, Ceremoniae, modus vestium, pedum morus, gestus corporis, oculorum flexus, [...]rons, coma, supercilium, singula haecleniuntur, interna animi forma negligitur.
Which in English is as followeth. What, what is Rome become a Sanctuary for murtherers, a schoole to teach how to kill Kings and Princes; to Ihesuitae tenent Romanum Pontificem, si necessitas exigat, subdi [...]os Catholicos solvere a juramento fidelitatis, si princeps tyrannicè illos tractet; tenent vltrà quòd excommunicato principe, subditi non tenentur juramento fidelitatis, nam excommunicatus non potest jurisdictionis actum exercere; tenent etiam quod quodcún (que) sub sigillo cōfessionis manifestum fit ijs, nullo modò debent revelare. Nam (vt ait Bellar [...]) cur Henricus Garneitus vir doctrina omnis generis, et vitae sanctirate incōparabilis, vltimo supplicio affectus est? nisi quia revelare noluit, quod salvâ conscientiâ revelare non potuit; tenent etiam quod Papa potest mutare regna, & a [...]ferre, & conferre, tanquam summus Princops spiritualis. seduce the people from their alleagiance to their Soveraignes? to betray their Countries, to delude the world with equivocations and mentall reservations? O Rome, Rome, how much art thou departed from thy first station? thou wast sometimes a guide & light vnto other Nations, of justice, pietie and Religion; but now thou art become a sinke of vncleannesse, and with thy filthinesse doest annoy and infect the whole world. Thy ambition, thy ambition is the cause of all, being blinded and bewitched with a greedie desire of filthy lucre: thou respectest neither Law nor honestie, nor the good of thy Country. Doe the Iesuites thus perswade thee, doe they thus instruct thee? I feare they doe, for that now adayes he scarce deserues the name of a Romane, that dare not vndertake to betray his Country; alas, alas! all things are out of order, wickednesse sits where honestie was vsed to doe, and what thy forefathers wrought by intreaties and gentle perswasions, now adayes is wrought with fire and fagot. Religion [Page 122] which bindeth the Conscience, is made a meere scarecrow and instrument of delusion, & the handmaid of Tyrannie. Let him in the name of God that desires to gaine sheepe vnto his flocke, vse his best meanes to doe it: but let him doe it as he should doe it, with perswasions and intreaties, not with force and violence. O Rome, Rome, how art thou fallen, I say, from thy first station! thy Senators in former times caused that Runnagate that offered himselfe to kill their enemy Pyrrhus, to be bound hand and foote, and to be turned out of the Citie. When Caesar overcame Pompey in the Pharsalian fields, and Pompey betooke himselfe for refuge vnto the Coasts of Nilus, where Achillas in stead of protecting him, slew him, and presented his head vnto Caesar, thinking thereby to winne Caesars loue and favour. But Caesar disdaining so base and ignoble an act, would not endure to looke vpon him, or his present. When Apophroditus had killed Nero, though he were the monster of men, a tyrant, and stood condemned according to the Lawes and Customes of the Romanes, and though he slew him at the earnest request and sollicitation of Nero himselfe, yet as soone as ever the Senate heard he made his vaunts in publicke of what he had done, they caused him to be put to death. Such, such was the goodnesse, vertue, and prowesse of the Romanes in times past. But how vnlike are you vnto them: if your forefathers that were Heathens, were so tender of the lives of their enemies; how much more tender ought you to be that fight vnder the banner of Christ, of the liues of your Kings and Princes; it was a merry and golden world in those dayes; but alas the times are now altered; now Simonie beares the bell in the Church; now either frozen ignorance, or ignorant fiery zeale sets the Church at variance in it selfe. It is sufficient now if a man haue a forme of godlinesse, and make a good shew of Religion, let him liue never so vitiously, it is no matter; now [Page 123] in Court ambition, luxurie, envie, faction, flattery, lying are the onely things in request, and he that cannot lye or dissemble must forsake that course of life, or not thrive by it. The Nobilitie themselues hunt after profit, and neglect their honour; for these two, filthy lucre and true honour, are incompatible, and cannot inhabit in one and the selfe same place together; yea the very Courts of Iustice, which should be kept more pure and cleane than other places, are not without spots and blemishes, and the places of judicature bought and sold, and how then can a man expect justice to be duely administred; if the egge be rotten, the chicken will stinke and putrifie a great deale more without doubt. Hence it is that suits, debates, and contentions continually arise. Hence it is that the rich man goes to Law with greedines, whilest the poore man faints vnder the burden; the cause of the one being ended with all expedition, and the cause of the other hanging in suspence: so that the rich man ever prevailes with his money, and the poore man ever goes to the ground. If a man cast his eyes vpon the Citizens & Cities, there he shall finde nothing but fraud, perjurie, vsury, whoredome, treacherie, drunkennesse, luxurie, wantonnesse. Amongst whom to deceiue is accounted the chiefest wisedome, and to be wise the greatest folly. An ill conditioned people, that rellish nothing well but filthy lucre. To conclude, the whole world is nothing els but a meere masse of wickednes: here enemies spoyle, there theeves kill: here the Atheist makes a meere mockery of the sacred Word: here the Father sets snares to entrap the sonne, there the sonne to entrap the Father. So that here we may see the world grows to an end, and every thing worse and worse. Wherefore things standing as they doe, what should I stay here any longer; more content I find in my Stygian houses, wherefore I take my leaue, and bid you farewell, and so the Ghost departed. So [Page 124] much hath Rosse of the abuses of the Court of Rome at this day.Of the abuses at Rome, see more in Bocchas, in the first day of his Decameron and second Novell.
You haue said enough of Rome to make a man loath and detest her, if it be true which you haue said.
Of the truth thereof I make no doubt, for though I saw it not with mine eyes, yet I speake from the months of such as were eye-witnesses, & were men of credit and reputation.
I pray you yet satisfie me this one doubt, whether in the time of Gregorie the great, Indulgences, or as Peter de Valentia termes them, godly deceits, were bought and sold as they haue beene since?
No certainely, in his time there was no such thing vsed, nor for many yeares after, vntill the time of Plat. in Bonif. 9. Boniface the ninth, which was eight hundred & odde yeares after; but then Ita passim vendebantur vt jam vilescere clavium & litterarum Apostolicarum authoritas, they flew out so fast, and at such rates, that the authoritie of Letters Apostolicall, began to grow into Contempt.
How came it to passe, that he did not graunt them as freely in his Iubile as his predecessors had done?
The pompe and retinue of the Popes was growne so Tanta est hodiè ambitio & superbia Pontificis, vt in processione Caesaris & Pontificis per vrbem Caesar tenet flaphā Pontificis quoad Pontifex equum ascenderat, & deinde accepto equi fraeno, per aliquos passus ducit equum Pontificis. Vid. lib 1. sacrar. ceremoniarum Roman: Eccles. Cap. 4. Sect. 5. Chawcer. great, and they so swolne with pride and aspiring thoughts, that the ordinary revenue could not support it, wherefore needful it was that they should thinke of some new projects and inventions. It was not in the dayes of Boniface the ninth, as it was in the dayes of Peter, or when Gregorie the first lived. It was now an ignominie to say, Gold and silver haue I none, and to ride vpon an Asse.
[Page 125] As Chawcer observes, was the pride and ambition of the Popes. For maintenance whereof, all things became vendible, Parsonages, Prebendaries, and Cardinalships, and what not.
Plutarch speaking of Plut. in Marco Cat [...]. Marcus Cato saith, that not onely Cato himselfe, but his Officers were free from briberie and corruption. And Chawcer speaking of the Popes, saith, that not onely the Bishops themselues, but their officers doe pill and pole the people, and the Church of God.
Which gaue him occasion confidently to affirme, that there was more goodnes in Nero and Maximian, two of those ten bloudy persecutors that occasioned the spilling of so much Christian bloud, in the time of the primitiue Church,
Sir, you haue given me good satisfaction concerning the alteration of the Iubile, and the changing of the times for the solemnizatiō thereof. I pray you shew me now what are the Lawes which haue beene derived out of this fourth Law of the first Table, for the due celebration of those dayes and times, and what care and provision hath beene taken for the due observation of those Lawes, especially for the Lawes made for the keeping of the Lords day.
You shall vnderstand, that the Lawes hence [Page 126] derived, are comprehended vnder those titles de ferijs et Ceremonijs, de festis locis (que) deo dicatis, de sacrilegijs, de ministris Ecclesiae, Episcopis & Clericis.
What care hath beene taken for the observation of those Lawes?
Marry this Care; that no servile worke was ever to be done and performed vpon this day, because it was a day which God had set apart for himselfe; and therefore in the time of the primitiue Church they did disburden themselues of worldly cares, which did glue and fasten them to the earth; and tooke into their considerations, those sweet and holy meditations of the birth of our blessed Lord and Saviour, of his passion and resurrection. Againe, this Care hath beene taken, that vpon this day divine service is to be celebrated, whither Vide in reformatione legum Ecclesiasticarum ab H. [...]. & Ed. 6. provecta; cap. 2 [...]. de divinis officijs. every one is to come, vnlesse he haue some lawfull excuse: and for default to be punished by the head of the Church, or his Substitute, by infllicting on them a certaine mulct, as he or they in their discretions shall thinke fit. Againe, vpon this day the Supper of the Lord is to be administred, and no man to dare to come vnto it Ad sacrosanctā Domini mensam nemo debet assumi, cujus fides omnibus partibus perfecta non sit. vnpreparedly; and therefore this care hath beene taken, that every one that is to be a Communicant, is to resort the day before vnto him, vnto whom the Care of Soules is Committed, to the intent that he may try and examine him, and if he find him either ignorant, or contumacious, or wavering, to instruct, to correct, and to confirme them. Likewise this care hath beene taken, that this great Supper of the Lord is not to be administred, but where there is a Si mensae Domini legitimus Convivarumnumerus defuerit, nullam potiùs quàm solitariam esse volumus; sed Minister ingratā et impiam populi negligentiam a criter objurgabit, quòd ab vsu celeberrimi pretio sissimí (que) sacramenti se removeant ibid. C. 8. Competent number of Communicants. For this great feast hath a kinde of resemblance to our vsuall feasts, where the worth and multitude of the guests, are the glory & honour of the feasts. So carefull hath the Church beene in the due observation of this holy day. In pursuite whereof, the Kings and Queenes of England haue beene no lesse carefull of [Page 127] it. King Edward the sixth by an Act of Parliament made in the fifth and sixth yeare of his raigne, and Queene Elizabeth by an Act of Parliament made in the first yeare of her raigne, did in a manner confirme what ye Church had before agreed vpon in their severall Synods and Convocations, in the dayes of King Henry the eight and King Edward the sixth: and in those severall Acts of Parliament, gaue speciall Charge and Commaund to the Arch-bishops, Bishops, and other Ordinaries to see the Lawes made touching the same, to be duely put in execution, as they would answere before God for such evils, wherewith Almightie God may justly punish his people for neglecting such good & wholesome Lawes; giving authoritie likewise to the Iustices of peace at the quarter Sessions to enquire of the same, and to punish the delinquents, by such wayes & meanes as in the said Acts are limited and appointed. So carefull were those Princes to make Lawes for the due observation of this day. And in this they did but imitate their forefathers: for I finde in the Vide Lambert de priscis Anglorum legibus, inter leges Inae. Saxon Lawes amongst the Lawes of Ina before the Conquest, that if a servant had done any worke by his Maisters commaund, he was presently to be made free, and the Maister was to pay 30. s. If he did it without warrant from his Maister, he was to be whipt. If he were a free-man that had done it, he was to be a bondman, and to pay 60. s. If he were a Minister, and did serue at the Altar, the punishment was double as much as was to be inflicted vpon other transgressors. In the dayes of King Vide Lambert inter loges Edw: Edward before the Conquest, there was another Law made to prohibit Marchandizing and Trading vpon that day. By which if a Dane had bought or sold any thing vpon that day he was to pay so much; if an Englishman a great deale more. The Lawes likewise now in force, are very tender of the observation of this day, and will not allow of any Iudices seculares non possunt jurisdictionem suam, ne (que) placita aut judicia quaecún (que) exercere diebus ab Ecclesia indictis, & in quibus populus feriari et cessare solet ab omni opere, sub paena nullitatis corum omnium actuum qui his diebus facti sunt. judiciall act to be done vpon the same; so that if a fyne be levyed, and Proclamation [Page 128] made vpon this Diet Dominicus non est juridicus 2. Eliz. Dyer, Fish and Brockets Case. day, the Proclamation is voyde for that cause, and why, because it is a day exempt; and instituted for another purpose, and not to be numbred among the Law-dayes. Such care and provision hath beene taken for the due observatiō and solemnization of this day.
Sir, I doe not wonder that our forefathers were so carefull in the making of Lawes for the due celebration of the Lords day: for that I finde divers of the Heathens, in the celebration of their dayes set apart for the performance of their superstitious Rites and Ceremonies, to haue come very little short of them. For did not the old Graecians, before they received the faith of Christ, or were honoured with the title of that Church of which the Erasmus Chrysostomum concionatorem mellitissimū Christi (que) praeconem indefatigabilem appellat, cui jure optimo (vt ait ille) ob sapientissimam eloquentiam, & eloquentissimam sapientiam oris aurei cognomen tribuitur. golden Father Saint Chrysostome, Saint Origen, Gregory Nazianzen, Theophylact, Athanasius were principall members, being the Greeke and Easterne Church, observe for their Sabbath the first day of the moneth, and called it Neomaenia or Novilunium? and did not the old Romanes before they knew Christ, or were honoured with the title of that Church of which Saint Austin, Saint Ambrose, Saint Hierome, Saint Bernard, Saint Cyprian, and Tertullian were pillars, being the Latin and Westerne Church, strictly obserue for their Sabbath the Nonae dicuntur in Martio, Mai [...], Iunio & Octob. sex illi dies qui primum sequuntur; in reliquis verò mensibus quatuor tantùm illi dies primum sequentes. Nones and Ides? And did not the Macedonians strictly obserue the day on which Alexander was borne, on which Philip got two victories; the one by his Mares at the games of Olympus; the other by his men of Armes in Thracia? And did not the Persians obserue strictly the day on which their rebellious Magi were subdued? And did not the most barbarous Nations of the Heathens, set apart some time for the adoration of their foolish and phantasticall Idols, and strictly obserue the same?
It is most true. And certainely those Heathens that were a Law vnto themselues, knowing not [Page 129] the Law, shall one day giue in evidence against the professors of the Law and Gospell, for the breach of those Lawes, which haue beene made for the due observation of their Sabbath.
I am well satisfied touching the Lawes of the first Table; I pray you goe on vnto the second Table.
As out of the Lawes of the first Table, you haue seene what Lawes haue beene made concerning divine duties. So out of the Lawes of the second Table, you shall now see what Lawes haue beene made concerning Distributiva justitia est personarū & officiorum ordinatio in omni vita publica & privata. Hemming. Vt aedificaturus domum non lignum quodlibet quod casu oflertur, substernit, sed quod est necessarium: ita in repub: non cuivis munus magistratus imponitur, sed idon [...]o, & vbiliaec justitia non servatur, actum est de salute reipub. Hemming. Distributiue and Commutative Iustice: and first I will shew you the heads of the lawes which haue beene made out of the first Law of the second Table; then what persons are comprehended within those Lawes; then what duties are enjoyned by those Lawes; then what punishments some haue vndergone for transgressing of those Lawes; then how carefull many of the Heathens haue beene in informing their Children in those duties; and lastly, of what antiquitie these Lawes are. You shall vnderstand, that the Lawes hence derived, are comprehended vnder these heads; de jure personarum de statu hominum, de officijs magistrat [...]um, de officio praesulis & proconsulis, de liberis agnoscendis, de adoptionibus, de tutela &c. and the persons which are comprehended within them, are as well superior as inferior persons, as well Maisters as servants, Tutors as Pupils, Fathers as Children; for the word Father is taken in a diverse sence: there is as well a politicke as a naturall father; Kings and Princes, subordinate Magistrates and Governours, Maisters of families, Tutors & guardians, and generally all other as haue any power over inferior and subordinate persons, are said to be Fathers as well as those our naturall parents that beget, breed, and cloth vs: and that all Lawes which doe binde Subjects in loyall obedience to their Soveraignes, servants to their [Page 130] Maisters, Pupils to their Tutors, are hence propagated and derived, as well as those Lawes which doe binde Children to their Parents. And as concerning the duties which are here enjoyned by these Lawes, they are these specially. First, they doe enjoyne See the dutie of Princes, servants, and followers, well set forth by Philip Commin: in his third booke and twelfth Chapter. Principibus placuisse viris non vltima laus est. Horat. Potentes oportet adora [...]e qui paradisum vult intrare; vt est in proverbio. Omnium somnos regis vigilantia defendit: omnium otium illius labor; omnium vacationem illius industria. Seneca de Clementia. inferiors to giue all honour and reverence vnto superiors, especially vnto those that sit in the Capitoll, & vndergoe the * storms and tempests in the Ocean, whilest they sit and sleepe securely in the har [...]our: they enjoyne superiors likewise to haue a vigilant care and respect of those over whom they haue authoritie; not to place age where youth should sit, nor yet youth where age should sit; Officia homin b [...]s notae prudentiae, probitatis & earum rerum quas tractaturi sunt in primis peritis, & ab omni factione partiúm (que) studio alienis; sed ante omnia, adulatione vacius, reterrīmâ illâ regum et rerúpub: peste, sunt committenda: vt inquit Sereniss: nuper Rex in lib. 2. ad Henr: nuper Principem. Mars where Mercurie should sit, nor yet Mercurie where Mars should sit, for that were to put the Gyants habit vpon the little Pigmee, and the Pigmees habit vpon the great Garagantua: they enjoyne Maisters to haue a due respect of them over whom they haue power and commaund, not to carry themselues so high, as to bring themselues into contempt, nor yet so Quatuor numerantur bonae matres, quae malos par [...]uriunt filios: familiaritas contemptum: prosperitas superbiam, veritas odium; securitas periculum. Petrarch. low as to bring themselues into neglect; not ever to be frowning, as if there were no time to reward, nor yet ever to be flering, as if there were no time to punish: but to know that wages is as due to the servant, as a whip to the Asse: they enjoyne servants to giue all due respect vnto their Maisters, yet not to be so In famulis laudatur industria, vituperatur praecipitantia. obsequious as to obey them in all their commaunds, but when they commaund those things which are honest, and tend to their credit and reputation, to shew their obedience by a readie Vt semel est dictum, semel est res ipsa peracta. Quod jubeat citis quadrigis citiùs properet exequi. Plautus. Otho's souldiers are condemned in Tacitus, qui jussa ducum interpretari, quàm exequi malebant. Tacit. lib. 2. cap. 10 Hist. Servo vtilius est parere dicto quàm afferre consilium. Curtius. forwardnesse, and forward willingnesse. When they commaund those things which are neither fit to be commaunded nor obeyed, to expresse themselues by a silent backwardnes; not to be a Ne principem societate scelerum cum Tigeslino obstringere debemus. Taecit. lib. 14. cap. 15. Annal. pander to the greatest for favour or commoditie; yet not to be faint-hearted with the Plutarch in Phocione. Coward in Plutarch, when their Maisters honour is iniuriously defamed, or [Page 131] their Mistresse chastitie called in question, but with the Tacit. lib 14. cap 16. Annal. poore servant in Tacitus, to stand out in their defence even against Tigellinus, who did not forbeare to tell him, questioning Octaviaes her Mistresse Chastitie, that Octaviaes secret parts were chaster than his mouth: at no time to make vse of their favours to Glorior hoc vnto quòd nunquam vidimus vllum. Nec potuisse magis, nec nocuisse minùs, Was the saying of K. Henry the 8. of Charles Brandon. It is a rare commendatiō which Sir Thomas More gave of Iane Shore, that shee never made vse of the Kings favours to wrong any one, but to relieve many a one. Sir Th: More in Rich. 3. p 57. wrong or oppresse any; yet at no time to neglect it to doe right vnto any; ever to behaue themselues like good and faithfull servants, bearing in minde alwayes, that he never deserved the name of a Non convenit talem alijs praefici in magisterium, qui nondū se novit esse discipulum. Vt magister dignu [...] sis, obsequentem humilém (que) [...]e praebueris oporter, alioqum aberrâsti à via quae ad magisterium ducit. Petrarch. Captaine, that was never trayned vp as a Souldier; and that he can never commaund well, that never knew how to obey well: they enjoyne husbands to giue all due respect vnto their wiues, as to the members of their owne bodies, not so to vndervalue them, as to make them their slaues and vassals, nor yet so to overvalue them, as to suffer them to be their Lords and Masters, but so to carry themselues towards them, as to goe hand in hand with them, as being members of one bodie: they enjoyne wiues likewise to giue all honour and reverence to their husbands, as vnto their superiors, to frame and fashion their wils & affections vnto theirs in all honest and necessary things; not then to be frowning when they are disposed in a friendly and hospitable manner to be free and merry; nor then to be laughing and dallying, when vpon just ground they are full of heavinesse and sorrow, but so to behaue themselues, that there may be but one mind in two bodies: to haue ever in their hearts the true affection of the good wiues of Lacedaemonia, who to ransome their husbands, became hostages themselues, and to set them at libertie became Valerius Maximus lib 4. cap. 6. bound themselues: and to endevour by all meanes possible, to withdraw their affections, from that which all women naturallie affect See the wife of Bathes tale in Chawcer. Soveraigntie; and to know that the French Proverbe is most true:
[Page 132] The house is never in worse plight than when Pertlot there, sings a higher note than Chaunteclere: they enjoyne Fathers to haue a fatherly care of their children, not to be so vnnaturall as Herod caused his two sonnes Alexander and Aristobulus, to be strangled. Ioseph. lib. 1. de bello Iudaico. Herod was vnto his, of whom Augustus was vsed to say, that it was better to be a sow in Herods Country, than a sonne in Herods Court: nor yet to be so fond of them as the Plutarch in Themistocle ▪ wife of Themistocles was of hers, of whom Themistocles was vsed to say, that his sonne was able to doe more than any man in all Greece; for that the Athenians commaunded the Graecians, he commanded the Athenians, his wife commanded him, and his sonne commanded her; but so to ballance both his meanes and affections, that the one may be knowne to be a father, the other to be a sonne: they enjoyne Non arguendi mores patrum, sed ferendi sunt, & de parre vel gloriosè loquendum, vel tacendum; nullum in terris justius imperium quàm patris, nulla honestior [...]ervitus quàm filij, nihil tam fuum cui (que) est quàm filius patris, nihil cui (que) indignius eripiatur. Petrarch. Children to honour age, as they would haue youth, when age shall haue seized vpon them, and haue dyed their sable haires into a silver tincture, to honour them. To tread in the footsteps of Sustulit hic matrem: sustulit ille patrem; vt de Aen [...]a [...]e & Nerone Poeta. Aenaeas, who for that he rescued the good old man Anchises his aged father from the fire, hath purchased to himselfe for ever the name of a good Sonne; to loath and detest the brutishnesse of Nero, who for that he slew his Sanguinis humani bibitor Nero, cuius & ortus, Solis & occasus noscit Homicidia. Quis nescit tenerae se dissecuisse parentis viscera? Mother to see the place where once he lay, is deservedly registred for an impe of Sathan, an vnnaturall sonne and a bloudie tyrant. To beare in minde the strength of nature in the sonne of Croesus, who being dumbe from his birth, when he saw one readie to lay violent hands vpon his Father, cryed out with a lowd distinct voyce, Hold thy hand, it is the King my Father; and so the strength of naturall affection vntyed the strings of his tongue, and made him speake that never spake before. To abandon the wanton vnchast thoughts of Sueton: in Augusto. Iulia the daughter of Augustus, who by her lewd and dishonest course of life, so perplexed her aged Father, that as often as shee came into his minde, he vsed to fetch a deepe sigh and grone, and to breake out into these speeches.
To take into their Considerations the nature of the birds▪ called Solinus in Collect. rerum memorabilium. Non invtile Consilium cujuscún (que) fuit. Inprimis venerate Deum, venerare parentes, Et quos ipsa loco tibi da [...] natura parentum. Ciconiae, whose condition being old is to be take themselues to their nests, and as they fed their young ones, when they were not able to feede themselues, so doe they againe relieue and succour them. To beare alwayes in their mindes, what punishments haue beene inflicted vpon disobedient Children euen from the beginning. These and the like are the duties which these Lawes enforce and command.
But what is the penaltie, if a man faile in performance of these duties in obedience to these Lawes▪
That is the next thing which I promised to shew vnto you, and for your satisfactio [...], I would haue you looke into the Histories of the Heathens, and see what befell vnto Plu [...]. in Pausan ▪ Pausanias ▪ his render hearted mother that would haue beene the first that would haue rewarded him, if he had done well, was the first that punisht him, because he did ill. Pausanias having conspired with the Persians against his Country, being discovered, betooke himselfe to the Temple of Pall [...]s, thinking to haue found safetie and protection in the Sanctuary. But Iustice whose hands are long, and will not suffer such offences to escape vnpunished, surprised him there, for the Ephori after some Consultation had did agree, that although they could not in justice take him out, yet they might in justice keepe him in: and therefore decreed that the dores should be barrocaded, and that he should suffer for want of sustenance; of which his Mother being given to vnderstand, shee was the first that rolled the first stone vnto the dore. Looke into Lugdune [...]sis, and there you shall see this Storie in effect, though delivered in other termes. A tender-hearted Father, tendring more the welfare of his sonne [Page 134] than himselfe, voluntarily yeelded vp his whole estate vnto him, desiring no more but a convenient lodging, with necessary food and rayment; the sonne for a time suffered his Father to want nothing that was necessary; but ere long it so fell out, that he married with a young Gentlewoman, who was so tender-eyed and eared, that she could not endure the spitting and coughing of an aged man, and being often troubled with queames (a thing incident to new married wives) she ever imputed the cause thereof to the spitting and spawling of her aged father in law, and tooke that occasion to remoue him from her Table, and to haue him incorporated into the societie of Dicke and Will, and the rest of the ragged regimēt, amongst whom it was designed that he should spend the remainder of his dayes, the old Gentleman having now no better cloths than such fripperie as the Hangmans wandrope doth vsually afford, nor better a lodging than the dogs did vsually kennell in, no better companions than the brothershood of the black-guard and the ragged regiment, he beganne to grow lowsie, whereof notice being given to my young Maister, he called order [...] to be bought for him to make him shi [...]s, but so course as they that be held them did rather thinke them enjoyned him as alpenance for some offence com [...]d than for ordinarie wearing shirts, the which comming to the view of his little grandchild (for by that time my young Maister had a sonne of a prettiest [...] privily conveyed two of the ells of Cloth away, and being demaunded what he meant to doe within, answered that he meant to keepe it for his Father against he came to the yeares of his grandfather. So is the [...] ingratitude and disobedience of Children generally required by their Children. The like Storie hath Discipulus, Discipul. de temp [...] Serm. xxiiij. prope finem. where he shews how God doth take the [...] of a father into his hands, and miraculously punisheth a sonne for his disobedience, & it was as followeth.
[Page 135]A tender-hearted Father having dispossessed himselfe of his estate, and made his sonne Maister of it; the sonne in requitall caused him with his Mother to be removed into a house to live by themselves, where wanting necessary food vpon a Sunday to dinner, he with his wife invited themselues to his sonnes house, whither comming, and finding the doores fast shut, he knocked to come in, but the sonne being given to vnderstand, that his Father and Mother were come to dyne with him, he caused assaturam the meate to be taken off the Table, and instead of a dinner, staid their stomacks with a paire of single pence, and so dismist them; who no sooner were departed, but the meate was set on the Table againe, and (as the Storie saith) the first morsell that the sonne did eate, was turned into bufonem, qui sic ei adhaesit vt pedes superiores cum duabus maxillis vna caro fierent, into an vglie Toad; whose forefeete were so fastned to his jawes, as if they had beene incorporated into them whilst the body of the toad did hang out of his mouth; to the beholding of which fearefull spectacle, a Priest being called, he openly declared, that it was the just judgement of God vpon him for his disobedience and carelesse neglect of his Father, & forthwith caused him to besent to the Arch-bishop, before whom confessing his offence, he enjoyned him to be carried throughout all the chiefe Cities and Villages of note in France, and the young men in every Village being called together to be made acquainted how miraculously GOD hath punished this sonne for his disobedience; to the end that beholding the punishmēt, they might be deterred from committing the like offence. Thus miraculously hath God in times past punished vnnaturall and disobedient Children. Looke into the sacred Scriptures, and reade over the stories of Cham, of Reuben, of Absalom, and of the sonnes of Heli, & in them you shall behold, set forth to the life, the punishments due to disobedient children: [Page 136] Whosoever curseth his Father or Mother, shall dye the death, Levit. 20. Nay, whosoever obeyeth not his Father and Mother, him shall the people stone, Deut. 21.
But doe temporall Lawes punish those delinquents with death?
No, not immediately. Yet generally ruine and destruction is the end of them; for when they fayle in performance of these duties, and forsake their fathers God forsakes them, and leaves them over to their vnruly lusts and affections, which leade them vnto ruine and destruction. So that though these offences be not immediately punisht with death, yet vntimely deaths generally waite vpon them.
I doe not wonder then the duties being so needfull, and the punishments so great, that many of the Heathens were so carefull in instructing of their Children in the knowledge of these duties.
Nor I. In my opinion they might haue passed for good Christians as concerning the observation of those duties, had not their dij deae (que) discovered them to be Heathens. What people in the world was ever more carefull than the Lycurgus praecipiebat vt ne liberos suos vlli in vlla disciplina formandos committerent, antequam annos quatuordecim plenos exegissent, vt ex aetate de indole judicium fieri; et quò ipsi de sua sponte magis inclinarent explorati poterit. Lacedaemonians in trayning vp of youth? amongst whom there was a Custome that when their Children came to certaine yeares, they were to be brought forth to a certaine place, where instruments of all trades and occupations, and Bookes of all Arts and Sciences were to be set before them, to this end, to finde out their naturall dispositions and inclinations, and if they found them to be addicted to their See more of this in that wittie Treatise, intituled Examen de ingenios. 1. & 8. cap. bookes, they made Schollers of them, if to mechanicall instruments, they sent them to the Cities: if to the instruments of the Country, then they sent them thither; they knew well, that it is a hard thing to make a good Non poteris rectum Cancris inducere cursum. Vide fabulam de Aethiope. Let take a Cal and foster hec with milke, And tender flesh, and make the couch of silke; And let her see a mouse goe by the wall, Anon shee wey veth milke and flesh and couch and all Chawcer. Hawke of a Buzzard; and that a Cat will doe her kinde: and therefore according to the naturall inclination of their Children, did they finde out fit mysteries [Page 137] for them. Againe, what people in the world were more wittie to finde out inventions to reclaime their Children addicted to any notorious crime and vice; amongst whom this was a Custome, that if their Children were addicted to drunkennesse, to cause one of their Rogatus Anacharsis quo pacto quis abstemius fieret; si turpes (inquit) ebriosorū mores ante oculos ponat. Diog. Laert. in Anachars: Generosus animus faciliùs ducitur quàm trahitur, A Lyon will be led more easily than drawne. It is observed of the Lyon, that he will not couch for any Chastisement; but whip a young Lyon before him, he presently humbleth himselfe. slaues being drunke to be whipt naked in their presence, that they seeing the fowlenesse of the offence, and the punishment due vnto it, might be deterred from it; if they were addicted to idlenesse, then they caused the Lawes of Bocchoris to be read vnto them, who amongst his Lawes made speciall provision, that all such as lived vpon the spoyle, & had no meanes or profession to live by, should giue an account how they lived, and write downe their names in a scrowle, to the end, their Diodorus Siculus lib. 1. rerum antiquarum. Similem legem promulgavit Charondas. Si quis novercam filijs proprijs superinduxisset, eum censuit à Concilio senatú (que) patriae penitù [...] submovendum: nunquam ab eo existimans patriae cō silia recta & salubria sperari posse, qui liberis olim proprijs malè consuluisset. Diod. Sicul. lib 12. Biblioth. Vide fabulam de Canibus domesticis & venaticis; qua ostenditur juvenes qui nihil sciunt haud esse reprehendē dos, quin eorum parentes qui sic educaverunt. parents might be knowne, and so be debarred to vndergoe any publicke office in the Common-weale: for they held him vnworthy to governe abroad, that could not governe at home, and that he would never haue care of strangers, that was so carelesse of his children. If they saw them to neglect knowledge, then they caused the life of Philip of Macedon, or of Agamemnon to be read vnto them, the one glorying that it was his sonnes happinesse to be borne in Aristotles time, the other wishing for the Trojans sake, that he had but tenne more in his Kingdome, such as Pluris facienda est parva Veterano [...]ū manus, quàm indoctorū multitudo. Veget. Old Souldiers are the beautie of a State. Old Doctors can deepe matters well debate: Where graue men rule, the Countrie still is glad, And where they lacke, the fortune is but sad. As all things doe to skill and knowledge yeeld; Old wood inflamed doth yeeld the bravest fire, So old men beare the honour of the field. When younger doth in smoke his vertue spend. Nestor was, not doubting then but easily to subdue them. If they were addicted to effeminate ribaldrie, or vnseemely dalliance, then they caused the life of Caeto the Censor to be read vnto them, where they might behold how he removed Manlius for kissing his wife in the presence of his daughter; or the storie of Hieron, how he punished Epicharmus for reading some Aristotle forbiddeth not onely wanton talke, but lascivious Pictures. Aristot. lib. 7. polit. light verses before some yong people: if they saw them to neglect their Tutors, and Governors, [Page 138] then they sent them to Schoole to What loue Xantippus his dog bore vnto him, see Plutarch in Themistocle. Xantippus his dog, or Alexanders What loue Alexand: Buceph: bore to him, vide antea. fol. 48. Frequenter Christus & Apostolus mittunt nos ad bruta animalia, vt distamus e [...] ijs quid agendum, & quid sirgiendum: & ideò apud Iobum dicitur, interroga quaeso pecus & docebit te, et avem caeli & annuneiabit tibi. Bucephalus, that were most tender and respective of their Maisters. So that I say, had not their dij deae (que) discovered them to be Heathens, they might well haue passed for good Christians, as concerning the trayning vp of their Children in the duties enjoyned by these Lawes.
Sir, hitherto you haue given me good satisfaction, I pray you let me craue an answere vnto one question, and so I will forbeare to trouble you any further at this time touching these Lawes of soveraigntie and subjection; whether the Lawes derived out of those sacred Lawes, which doe enjoyne the duties before mentioned, had their originall from auncient or from moderne times, or no?
Certainely, they had their originall from the beginning of times, long before the Lawes of Moses were written, even from the Law of nature; for no sooner had God reared vp the great fabricke of the world, but in the chiefest place thereof he placed the Sunne, and gaue it a dominion over the rest of the Planets; no sooner had he created the sublunary world, but he gaue dominion to the Lyon over the beasts of the field, to the Eagle over the fowles of the ayre, to the Whale over the fishes of the Sea, to the Cedar over the Trees of the Forrest: yea, no sooner did Adam begin to encrease and multiplie vpon the face of the earth, but he gaue to every father of a familie power and authoritie over his familie, yea no sooner did the waters in the dayes of Noah betake themselues to their wonted Chanels, and [...]he Children of Noah to spread themselues vpon the [...]ace of the earth, but he gaue power and authoritie to [...]he sonnes of Iuphet and Sem, to governe and rule over the posteritie of Cham, a (d) servant of servants was he vnto his brethren. So that you see that from the beginning, long before the dayes of Moses, there was soveraigntie [Page 139] and subjection, not onely among the reasonable, but even among the inanimate sensitive and vegetative Creatures.
You haue given me good satisfaction, I pray you goe on, and shew me what Lawes are derived out of the second Law of the second Table.
I will therein satisfie you; but first I will shew whence this word murther is derived, and what it is; then how the Civill and Common Law doe differ in setting froth the divers kindes of Homicide; then the Lawes that punish those offences, and lastly, the punishments that those Lawes haue provided. You shall vnderstand, that some will haue the word Murther, to be derived from the Latines of Mors dira, dira being an Epithet which they did cōmonly vse when they would set forth any thing to haue happened in any extreame manner, being borrowed from Dirae the furies or implacable spirits of hell, as dirae depraecationes, detestatio dira, naufragia dira, mors dira, aconita dira, lues or fames dira; others will haue it to proceede from the Saxon word Mordren, which is a wilfull killing of a man vpon malice afore thought: others from the French word Meurtre, which is Homicide or killing. Homicide being then committed cum homo occiditur: others wayving the Etimologies, as Bracton, Bracton lib. 3. who lived in the dayes of King Henry the third, and Britton, Britton Cap. 6. who lived in the dayes of King Edward the first, will haue murther to be that kinde of Homicide, Quod nullo sciente, nullo praesence, nullo vidente, nullo audiente, clàm perpetratur: that was done so secretly that no man was present at the doing of it, no man knew of it, no man saw it, no man heard of it; so that it should seeme by their descriptions, that no Homicide was sald to be a murtherer, vnlesse he had done it closely and secretly, eyther by poysoning or some magicall Enchantments in invocating of some damned spirits, or by some other secret meanes, of which no publike [Page 140] testimonie could be given. But in after times it was manifestly expressed, that not onely they whom Bracton and Britton make mention of, but all other Homicides, who vpon malice fore-thought, doe bereaue any of the Kings Subjects, whether natives or aliens, vnder the Kings protection, of their lives, are said to be murtherers. Murther being a wilfull killing of a man in cold bloud, vpon malice forethought. In the setting forth of the divers kindes of Homicides, the Civilians doe differ from the professors of the Common Law; for the Civilians doe reduce all manner of Homicides to one of these three, either to Homicide done Fulbecks Parall: ex casu, ex necessario, or ex destinato: In the first they doe include all such Homicides as are committed accidentally, as if it happen by the throwing of a stone, by the shooting of an Arrow, or by the running of an Horse, or by such like casuall meanes, that one man against his will takes away the life of another: In the second, they doe include all such Homicides as happen to be cōmitted in the defence of a mans owne person, or his possessions; as if a Theife happen to assault him vpon the Kings high way, or to breake into his house to rob it; or if vpon any other occasion, a man is iniuriously assaulted, and in defence of his person, or possessions, death ensue: In the third, they doe include all such Homicides as are committed out of rancor or an inveterate malice, when one man out of a deadly hatred sets vpon another, and pursues him to death. So doe the Civilians distinguish the divers kindes of Homicides; the professors of the Municipall Lawes of this Nation doe otherwise distinguish them, that is, by murther man-slaughter without malice, felo de se, or killing of ones selfe, man-slaughter in his owne defence, and man-slaughter ex casu & accidenti: So that whereas the Civilians doe place felo de se in an equall degree with murther, the Common Lawes doe distinguish them, because as it is not an offence of [Page 141] so high a nature as murther is, vnlesse it be committed by a Malefactor vpon himselfe, to prevent his tryall by the Law, seeing that it extends no further then to the person of himselfe, and is committed oftentimes ex infortunio, either by reason of the extremitie of some disease and sicknesse, or by reason of some agonie and perplexitie of minde, yet on the other side, it is not so much favoured in the Law as an act done ex casu & accidenti; and therefore aptly and vpon good ground haue the Common Lawes distinguisht this kinde of man-slaughter from the other three, ex destinato, ex casu, & necessario. Now although the Lawes doe varie as concerning the divers kindes of Homicide, yet doe they agree in setting forth the nature of those Homicides, for both Lawes doe agree that to be murther which is committed out of an inveterate malice for some supposed offence to be given before; such as was in the beginning of the world, the murther of Cain vpon the beloved of God his brother Abel. Homicide ex necessario they doe likewise agree to be then committed, when as the offender having vsed all meanes he can to prevent an vntimely death, is of necessitie at last compelled to requite Hester 7. v. 10. Haman with the reward which he provided for Mordochaeus. Homicide likewise ex casu, they doe likewise agree to be then committed, when as a man having no evill in his thoughts, doth yet notwithstanding against his will take away the life of another, as it often happeneth in the cases before mentioned, in the shooting of Arrowes, the running of Horses, and the like, so farre doe both Lawes agree: the disagreemēt then consisteth in this, the Civill Lawes doe include all Homicides within these, ex casu, ex necessario, & ex destinato, the Common Lawes doe not.
Sir, you haue sufficiently shewed wherein the Lawes doe agree, and disagree, concerning Homicides: I pray you in the next place, what are the Lawes that punish these Homicides?
The Lawes which punish these Homicides, are comprehended vnder these titles, de Homicidijs, de Parricidijs, de Sicarijs, de Talione, and the like, which haue beene aptly termed by the Auncients eyther Lawes of Plat. in Gorg. Commonition or Lawes of Animadversion.
What are the Lawes of Commonition, as you call them, I pray you?
They are such as are vsed to prevent and extirpate the growing evils, and to take away the causes and occasions of those many quarrels, Combats, manslaughters, and murthers, which are so often committed in the Common-wealth: which haue their originall most commonly from offensive provoking words, afterwards breake forth into blowes, vntill at last they come to mortall strokes, wherefore the Per statuta vrbis Romae si quis alicui verba iniuriosa animo honorem sugillandi dixerit, aut protulerit, paenam decem ducatorū auri incurrat; vel arbitrio senatoris corporali paenâ plectatur; personarum & verborū qualitate perpensâ. Vid. stat. vrbis Romae de verbis iniuriosis, cap. 71. Lawes haue beene ever carefull to provide to prevent a mischiefe whilest it is in growing, to nip the fruit whilest it is in the bud, to punish words in a sharpe and severe manner, blowes in a more severe manner, and death that ensueth with the greatest severitie that may be. And for that purpose the Lawes haue provided severall actions according to the nature of the severall wrongs done and committed: actions of the Case to stop the mouthes of brawling and backbiting persons, and actions of Trespasse and Mayhem, to binde to the peace and good behaviour, quarrelling offensive persons, which severall actions may well be said to be Lawes of Commonitio fit, cùm ei qui peccavit levi coertione mulcta dicta est, vt ad benè vivendum emendatior sit. Plato in Gorgia & Alexand: ab Alexand. lib. 3. cap. 5. Commonition, or warning peeces vnto them, to advertise them to take heede how they run into further danger.
And what are the Lawes of Animadversion, as you terme them?
They are those Animadversio, non ipsius qui paena afficitur, sed reliquorum qui supersunt gratiâ adhibetur, vt metu paenae reliqui eadem noxâ deterreantur. Lawes which punish delinquents, when an offence is committed, that by their example others may be warned and admonished.
And how are they punished?
Either by Inditements at the suit of the King, [Page 143] because that he hath lost a subject; or by appeale at the suite of the partie, because that he hath lost a Father, a brother, or a kinsman.
I pray you giue me leaue to expostulate a little with you concerning the Lawes of Commonition. Will you haue a man to appeale to the Law for every idle word that falleth?
Old Geffery Chawcer will tell you Had I venged all my harme, My coate had never kept me halfe so warme. Chawcer. no; nor yet to quarrell vpon every idle occasion, when as he may resort to the Law and haue See the Statute of the 13. yeare of Rich: the 2. cap. 2. by which, power is given to the Lord Marshall and Constable of England to punish words. redresse.
Flesh and bloud cannot endure to heare himselfe to be called a To be scandalized by the name of a Traytor, a murtherer, a departer from his banner, a ravisher, a false informer of his Soveraigne, are scandals of the highest nature; for whosoever is a Traytor, by the Lawes of Armes is to haue his Coate-Armour raced, his Shield reversed, his Speare trunked, his Spurres hewen from his heeles, his horse docked, hi [...] sword broken vpon his helmet, his Crest divided, his statues pulled downe, his bloud corrupted, his possessions taken from him, and his body tortured quia memoriae eorum destrui debent. A deflowrer of Virgins by the Lawes of Armes, is to haue his Eschutchion reversed. A teller of false tales to his Soveraigne, is branded by the Lawes of Armes with a Diminution in his Coate; and so is a departer from his Captaines Banner. Traytor, a murtherer of his father, a departer from his Captaines banner, a deflowrer of Virgins, a false informer, and teller of tales to his Soveraigne, neither to haue the honour which he hath purchased with the hazard of his life, to be attributed to another, as when that he hath beene the first that hath issued out of a besieged Citie, & given the onset to the enemie, and made him recoyle; and the last that hath returned, or when that he hath beene the first that hath scaled the walls of a Citie, and set vp his Ensigne in honour of it, and another hath vsurpt and set vp his; or when he hath taken an enemie prisoner, and brought home his Armes with him, & another hath iniuriously challenged it; or when he hath beene the man that hath guarded such a Fort, kept such a bridge or passage, maugre all the fierce and furious assaults of his Antagonists; or when on the other side, he hath beene the man that with the perill of his life, and the liues of such as he hath commaunded, hath driven the enemy from such a Hold, or made his way with his sword over such a passage, and another hath challenged it: these things, I say, being against the Lawes of Armes, flesh and bloud cannot endure, but it will discover it selfe in passion.
It is true, if a man had no m [...]re then flesh and bloud in him, then Buls & Beares, then Dogs & Cocks, [Page 144] he could hardly containe himselfe: the little Worme will turne if he be trod vpon; the Feris natura praescrip [...]it, vt omnem semper vim à corpore, à capite, à vita s [...]a propulsarent. Cicero. Buls will kicke if they be wearied; the dogs will bite or barke at least; the Cocks will spurre if they be set vpon; but it is because they want vnderstanding: but for a man that liues in a In otio Civili, & domestica quiete, cruenta spectacula sibi non placere, dicere solebat Constant: Imperator; eá (que) de causa gladiatores omninè prohibebar. setled government vnder a happie Prince, where the Courts of Iustice are open, whereunto every one may resort & haue redresse for all wrongs and iniuries done and committed: to kicke & bite and barke, he can purchase no Militis est, vtcún (que) furit, cohibere furorem. Fortem mansuetum esse oportet, vt proximi non tam metuant, quàm revereantur. Diog. Laert. in Chilone. fame or renowne by it; whosoever will be accounted truely valiant, must arme himselfe with wisedome and discretion, to know when, and where, and against whom to draw his sword; for to fight vpon all occasions given, is a foolish hardinesse or rash forwardnesse; not to fight when just occasion is given, is base cowardlinesse. But then to fight when Frangit et attollit vires in milite causa, Quae nisi justa subest, excutit arma pudor. Propert. Causa jubet superos melior sperare secundos. Lucan. Si certet aliquis non coronatur nisi legitimè certaverit, 2 Timoth. 2. v. 5. Sicut prudentia sine justitia calliditas est; temperantia sine fortitudine ignavia est; justitia fine temperantia crudelitas est; ita fortitudo sine prudentia temeritas est. Religion and thy Countrey is at stake, is true valour & magnanimitie; to fight with thy friend, thy Countryman, or thy supposed enemy for a word fallen in heate, or by reason of some offence taken, arising from some false rumor, which was never given, or indeed vpon any occasion, be the quarrell never so just, to make thy owne Country a Cock-pit, and to sheath thy sword in the bowels of thy Countryman, thou canst purchase no honour, the greatest glory that thou shalt gaine shall be this, that thou hast spirit & life in thee, This offence in the Edict of the French King, K. Henry the 4. is termed a brutish madnesse, and is made high treason: in which Edict the King doth sweare by the ever-liuing God, never to graunt any pardon to any that shall derogate from it. See the French Hist. in H. 4. Titus Manlius Torquam Cō sul filium suum quòd praeter mandatum extra ordinem duello pugnâsset, tametsi faeliciter, securi percussit. Sleid, lib. 1. de 4. Monarch. a Cocke or dog will deserve as much. If thou wilt purchase fame and renowne in the performances of noble atchievements, goe as thy fore-fathers did vnto Malta, vnto Rhodes, and vnto Argyers, there shalt thou finde fit skabbards to sheath thy sword in, enemies fit for thee to encounter withall; where thou maist winne glory by the Conquest, and triumph in the Victorie. Or if thou wilt needes fight, learne of Suetons in Augusto. Augustus when to draw thy sword, adventure not thy life to nothing, yea to that which is worse than nothing, to shame and ignominie, he will tell thee, that thou oughtest not to fight but [Page 145] when there is more hope of gaine, than feare of losse; for that a Victorie cannot adde so much vnto thee, as a disastrous fortune may derogate from thee; who will adventure a golden hooke for a small Fish, the losse whereof the greatest Whale in the Ocean cannot countervaile: and who but a fiery, forward foole will adventure his life to nothing. Learne againe of Plut. in Romulo. Romulus and Acron, of William Malmesh. lib. [...] de gestis regum Angliae. Harold, and William the Conquerour, of Charles the fifth, and Frauncis the first: Vtile est aliquando reipub: vt pugnet duo inter se ex pacto, ideó (que) monomachia inter duos reges in regno Siciliae a Martino Pontifice fuit concessa. Bern: Mirandul: de singulari certamine. Similiter monomachia stilt cōcessa inter Roberto Mountfordium, & Henrie, Comitem Essex per Henric. secundum regem Angliae pro eo quòd idem Robertus accusavit eundem H [...]ric. de crimine laesae majestatis. Math. Paris in H. 2. Item concessa fuit monomachia inter Henric. Hereford ducem & Tho: Mowbray ducem Norf: tempore Rich. 2. pro simili causa. Item inter Ioh: Ansley militem & Tho: Carthrington Armigerū regnante eodem Bege Tho: Walsing. in R. 2. Vtile enim est reipub. vt pugnarent, licèt enim privata sit causa, sequitur tamen vtilitas publica; nam si non pugnarent, amici & affines persequerentur injurias eorum vs (que) ad mortem, & ita vniversa Civitas (vt multis locis accidit) vexaretur. let thy Combating be to rescue poore innocent soules from death and destruction. Charles the fifth being at variance with Frauncis the first, in which quarrell many Christian Princes were interessed, and many harmeles soules like to suffer by it. Charles being moved as he made shew with a Christian compassion and Princely care, having in some respect, a care of such his enemies as were drawen into the quarrell as friends and allyes, by secondary meanes made this proposition to the Kings Embassadour, that the Controversie betweene them might be ended by a single Combate, which comming to the vnderstanding of the French King, he willingly embrac't it, and glad he was to haue any occasion to requite him for the entertainment which he gaue him at the siege of Pavia: so that in a publicke assemblie for that purpose called together in the presence of all or most of the Princes of the bloud, in the presence of all forraine Embassadours at that time residing in Fraunce: the Emperors Embassador being then present in his publicke Hall in his Court at Paris he caused one of his Secretaries of State with a lowd voyce to reade a Cartell signed with his owne hand, to this effect; that the Emperour accusing him to haue falsified his faith, had spoken vntruely, and that as often as he had or should say so, he gaue him the lye; and to the end he should not deferre the deciding of the Controversie by the Combate, he wished him to appoint the place, and that he would be readie with his [Page 146] Armes either on the Sea or on the Land, on horsebacke or on foote, and that if he should not persevere in that his resolution, he would proclaime his Cowardise to all the Christian world: these are wayes fit for Generalls to purchase Cùm Xemph. filium suum majorem in praelio cecidisse audivit, coronam deponere contentus est, sed cum fortissimè pugnantem corrui [...]e audivit, comnam capiti reposuit, & testatus se majorem ex filij virtute volup [...]atem. quàm ex morte ama [...]itudinem sentire. Valer. Max. lib. [...]. honour by, fit for Princes to treate of onely, to endeare their subjects vnto them, not fit for subjects to suffer their Princes, in the safetie of whose person their welfare doth consist, to put them in execution; but to fight at home in a Taverne, or at an Ordinarie, at a play, or in the streets, in out-braving of Iustice with a poore Serjeant, where to overcome will be a greater Id gere [...]e bellum cupitie in quo est optimū vinci: vt casta de Eteocle & Polyni [...]. Senec. in Thebaide. disadvātage vnto thee then to be overcome. When thou shalt be dragged along, not like a victorious Captaine, but a servile Captive, to enhabite with theeues, rogues, and vagabonds, vntill thou hast vndergone the sharpe and severe sentence of the Law; when thy Lands and goods shall be confiscate, and it may be conferred vpon thy persecutors; when thou thy selfe shalt hang tottering betweene heaven and earth as vnworthy of either; when thy veynes shall become like Mare mortuum, and thy bloud which was vsed like Chrystall streames to flow from thy liver as from a cleare fountaine, shall putrifie and be corrupted; when thy harmelesse posteritie, the childe vnborne in his Mothers wombe, that never knew evill, shall smart for thy offence, and thy leprosie sticke as close vnto him, as did the leprosie of 2 Kings 5. v. 27. Naaman vnto Gehazi, and his posteritie; when as those auncient possessions of thine, which thy fore-fathers enjoyed for many descents together, and which should haue descended vnto thy Children, hadst not thou broken the bridge which should haue conveyed it vnto them, shall be turned another way; when the very name of thee, so long as any of thy posteritie shall remaine vpon the face of the earth, shall be odious and contemptible: this can be no honour vnto thee; therefore it thou wilt haue honour on earth, or glory in heaven, [Page 147] thou must obserue and keepe the Lawes derived out of this sacred Law; Thou shalt doe no murther.
Sir, what are the Lawes, I pray you, that are so strict, in Case a man doe happen vnfortunately to commit wilfull murther?
Even the Lawes of thine owne Countrey, which haue for their warrant the Lawes of God: the Lawes of all Nations doe the like, yea, the Lawes of the most barbarous Heathens.
Doe the Lawes of God commaund such punishments to be inflicted vpon such malefactors?
Yes indeede; by the Lawes of God, whosoever shedeth mans Gen. 9. v. 5. bloud, by man shall his bloud be shed againe. It was a Law pronounced in the beginning, and ratified by the Court of heaven, and to this day never abrogated. Cain suffered vnder this Law, yet Cain liued long before this Law was written. Iezabel, Absalom, and many others likewise of whom the sacred Scripture makes mention, suffered vnder it. Reade but the storie of Gen. 4. Cain and Abel, of 1 Reg. 21. Iezabel and Naboth, of 1 Sam. 13. & 18. Absalom and Ammon, how God doth punish such offenders; besides the secret How our si [...]es are laid open to vs, see Beda in his Historie of England, lib. 5. cap. 14. & 15. Sueton: in Neron [...] 34 & Coru: Tacitus, lib. 14. cap. 3. Annal. Phil: Commin: lib. 7 cap. 11. Sir Th [...] More in Rich 3. p. 63▪ Paena autem vehemens & multò s [...]uior illis, Quas & Caditius gravit invenit & Rh [...]am [...]bus. Nocte dié (que) suum gest are in pectore testem. Iuvenal▪ punishments of the Conscience, which is the most indefatigable Sollicitor, and severest enemie and persecutor, that will ever torment and trouble them, presenting vnto them in the most vglie and deformed shapes all those punishments which are provided for such malefactors, that will not suffer their beds to giue them rest, nor their food nourishmēt; their beds yeelding nothing but wearinesse, and their food loathsomnesse vnto them, that makes all places tedious, and all companies troublesome; when they are in the Citie to long after the Country, when they are in the Country, to desire as much to returne againe; like vnto the Quìm proculineaut [...]m nemora inter Cressna fixit, Pastor agen [...] teli [...] — —illa fugâ [...] —Silva [...], faliús (que) poragrat Di [...]taos— Sed frustrâ, quia haecer lateri laetalis arundo. Virg. hurt Deere, sometimes to desire the shadie groues, sometimes the Sunnie-bankes, sometimes the coole Rivers, sometimes the dry and thirstie land, sometimes [Page 148] to heard themselues, thinking by companie to cure their maladies; sometimes againe to betake themselues into the Desert, but all in vaine; the place they may change, but the [...], vt eleganter Graeci. Balsama non prosunt aegris, nec aromata; morbus Est gravior quàm qui pendet ab artis o [...]e. Externa omnia leviter nec in longum nos tangunt, interna sunt quae angunt; vt magis in morbo judicantur, qui tabe, autmarcore labora [...]t, quàm qui febre, & tamē haec magis apparent: sic in majore paena sunt improbi, qui lento passu ducuntur ad interitum. Lips: maladie they cannot: So that neither Bacchus, nor Venus, neither Citie nor Country, nor any thing indeede can afford them comfort, every place being a dungeon, and every sight as terrible as the Basiliske vnto them, all musicke being but discord, and all recreations being but trouble vnto them, so will their Consciences torture & torment them, vntill it hath brought them to the Tribunall of their Creator, where then it becomes as sharpe and severe a Iudge in denouncing of judgement, as it was before in sollicitation and prosecution, laying to their Charge things done after many yeares past, as if it had beene done but the Bed: lib. 5. cap. 14. & 15. day before; I say, besides those secret punishments of the Conscience, God hath yet provided more open and notorious punishments; rather than Cain shall escape vnpunished, one of his owne flesh and bloud shall be made an instrument to revenge the death of Abel; rather than Iezabel shall escape vnpunished, the dumbe creatures shall be made instruments to take revenge, the dogs shall eate Iezabel; rather than Absalom shall escape vnpunished, the vegetatiue Creatures shall become revengers of the death of Ammon, the Trees shall hang Absalom by the haires of his head; rather than the death of I [...]icus shall escape vnpunished, the fowles of the ayre, the Plutarch de garrulitate. Cranes shall discover the murtherers; rather than the death of Caesar shall escape vnpunished, the very It is reported by the Romane Writers, that foure of those that embrued their hands in the bloud of Caesar, Brutus, and Cassius, and the two Casca [...]s, came to vntimely deaths with the same dagger that slew him; and not one of the rest being many, dyed a naturall death, or survived him aboue three yeares. See the Annotat. vpon Sueton: in the latter end of the life of Caesar. dagger that slew him shall be made the instrument to take revenge of his murtherers.
God never suffers any crying sinn to escape vnpunished, [Page 149] but Sera lic [...], tamen est vltior [...]ta Der. S [...]e Phil: Commin: lib. 3. cap. 4. fol. [...]0. Qui crimen gestat in pectore, idem Nemesin in tergo gestare solet. Lips: lib. 2 de const. cap. 13. See the tragicall Histories of Grand-Pree & Mermanda, of Mortaigne and Iosselina, of Alsemero and Beatrice Ioann [...], of Alibius and Merilla, of Sypontus and Victorina, of Antonio and Berinthia, of Beville and Laurietta, of Castelnovo and Perina, of Sturio and Paulina, how murther never escapes vnpunished. first or last he meets with the delinquent; Caligulam in primo Tyrannidis suae cursu sustulit, Neronem grassari paulò diutiùs sivit, diutissimè Tiberium; he nipt Caligula in the bud, Nero in the blossome, Tiberius at full growth. Atreus and Thyestes peradventure in the first and second Scaene of the Tragedie, may be lifted vp on high, rule and governe, set vp and pull downe at their wils and pleasures, sed faede ruunt in extremo; in the last part of it they are brought low enough. Tiberius for a time may sway the Scepter, but before his death wee shall heare him call and cry vpon the Tacit. lib. 6. cap. 1. Annal. Gods and Goddesses to rid him out of his paine. Nero may for a time swill himselfe in innocent bloud, but in the end we shall heare him pittifully complaining and crying, Lips: lib. 2. de Constan. cap. 14. Nec amicum habeo nec inimicum, haue I neither friend nor foe that will doe me that curtesie, as to ease me of my miserie? It is said of Augustus, that he was (i) vnhappie in his Livia, in his Iulia, in Tiberius, in Livia, that his wife which lay in his bosome, should be —Te Livia sortis Dicitur humanae misto admon [...]isse veneno. the plotter of his death: in Iulia, that shee who was his beloved daughter, should turne whore, and leade a lewd and dishonest course of life; in Tiberius, that the sonne of his enemy should inherite his possessions. Punishments indeede greater than a man could well wish to befall vnto an enemy, yet the greatest of them is not to be parallelled to the least that the murtherer vndergoes; punished is he in his conscience with the guilt of an abominable act done; punished is he in his posteritie, his Children, poore Children that never had evill in their thoughts, are in a sort bastardised & made incapable to inherit his possessiōs; punished is he in his goods and Chattels, strangers and enemies enjoy those things, which his Auncestors carefully gathered together; punished is he in his death, an ignominious death doth he vndergoe: and well were it for him if his punishments might end there; but it cannot be; death shall be but as a gate to let him in into a place, [Page 150] where,Gehennae descriptio. wheresoever he turneth himselfe, he shall behold nothing but hydeous and fearefull apparitions.
In this place one sighing and sobbing to no purpose, in that place another beating of his breasts to as little, in this one tearing of his haire, in that another gnashing of his teeth, in this standing grimme palenes, in that sitting pale leanenesse, here Ixion turning of his wheele, there Sisyphus rolling of his stone, here the furies vexing and tormenting of Orestes, there Nero that drencht himselfe in innocent bloud, drinking of gore bloud & poyson, here Caligula, whose thoughts were ever busied in [Page 151] inventing of new torments to punish Christians, beaten with continuall stripes, there Heliogabalus and Sardanapalus full of sores and botches and boyles, the deserved wages of wantonnesse and luxurie; here Nestorius, Donatus, and Arrius, burning in Ad mala servantu [...] non moritura mali. fire that never goes out, there the Monkes boyling in scalding water in perpetuall darkenesse; here the Merchant, there the Lawyer, the Porter and the Courtier coupled together; for here there is no difference betweene learned and vnlearned, rich and poore, experienced and vnexperienced, prodigall & miserable, Prince and people; all are bound vp in chaines together without any distinction: every corner being filled with hydeous cryes and lamentations; into this stinking Dungeon, I say, motted about with Stygian standing waters, shall he be carried to liue perpetually, that is guiltie of the shedding of innocent bloud.
But doe the Lawes of other Nations punish murther with such heavie punishments as the Lawes of England doe?
Yes certainely: the Lawes of the Heathens doe so.
How commeth it to passe then that in Rome there was no Law to punish Parricides?
Certainly Plutarch in [...] Romulus never thought that any man was so barbarous to commit such a fact; who being demaunded this question, gaue this reason: therefore the old Romanes did rather thinke these men to be Tygres and Wolues, than reasonable men, and provided punishments for them accordingly; for they did vsually put them into a Alexander ab Alexandr [...] lib. 3. cap. 5. sacke, with an Ape, a Cocke, and a Viper, to the intent that they might take some revēge of them, and after cast them into Tyber: and the Alexand: ibid. Persians did vsually call such bastards, for they supposed they never had Fathers.
But how was murther and parricide among [Page 152] other of the Heathens punished?
If you search into the Lawes and Customes of the Aegyptians, Alexander ab Alexand: lib. 3. cap. 5. Diod. Siculus lib. 1. rerum Antiquarum. Cap. 3. you shall finde they did vsually thrust long Needles vnder their nailes and toes, the tendrest parts of their bodies, and to cut off their flesh before their faces, and to throw it into the fire. If into the Lawes and Customes of the Aethiopians, to haue vsed in the Citie of Elephantina, Vide quomodo apud Germanos, Lusitanos, Graecos, Macedones, Thebanos, homicida puniebatur. Alexand: ab Alexand. lib. 3. cap. 5. to haue enforced the murtherer to haue tasted of the hearbe called Ophuisa, which being taken would make his sleepe to produce terrible and fearefull dreames, presenting vnto them visions more terrible than death it selfe. So doe the Lawes of other of the Heathens punish the same.
Doe the Lawes, I pray you, punish all men alike, that happen vpon any occasion to kill a man?
No verily: they haue a speciall eye and regard to the manner of the fact; for as there are degrees o [...] man-slaughter, so there are degrees of punishments: for if it be not committed ex destinato, of malice and set purpose, then according to the Lawes of God, with men there is mercie to be found: by the Lawes of God there were certaine Deut. 19. v. 5. Loci refugij fuere, Kedesh in Galil. in monte Neptali, Shekem in monte Ephraim, Kiriatharba in monte Indath, Be [...]er in deserto, [...]umoth in Gilead, & Golam in Bashan. Iosh. 10. Asyla, places of refuge permitted, whereunto the offender might flie and haue absolution; as when a man had gone to the Wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetching a stroke with the Axe to cut downe the Tree, the head had slipped from the helue, and wounded his neighbour, so that he dyed thereof; he might haue fled vnto those places, and haue found refuge. Some resemblance vnto those Lawes haue the Lawes of Nations, especially the Stanford lib. 1. cap. 8. Lawes of the Nation wherein we liue: if any such offender shall betake himselfe to the Kings Court for refuge, the King will protect him as touching his life: yet he shall not escape altogether vnpunished; for as by the Law of God, if a beast had killed a man, the beast was to be Exod. 21. v. 28. stoned, and no man was to eate of his flesh. [Page 153] The Lawes of our Nation haue some resemblance vnto those Lawes; for if it happen at any time a beast to Stanford. pl. Cor. lib. 1. cap. 12. Fitzh: tit. Cor. 405.8. Ed. 2. Fitzh: tit. Cor. 397.398. kill a man, or a Cart loaden with graine to goe over a man, so that the partie dye by reason thereof, the owner shall escape with his life, yet the Oxe, the Cart, the Corne, and the graine, and all other things that did moove and conduce to the death of the partie, shall be confiscate. Agreeable with those Lawes were the Lawes both in Athens and Rome; in Athens the statue of Nico was adjudged to be Confiscate by the Areopagites, and to be cast into the Sea, because it fell vpon a man sitting vnder it, and slew him: in Sueton: in Caesare. Rome likewise the day, the moneth, and place, where Caesar was murthered, suffered for his death; for vpon that day by a generall Consent of the Senate, they were never to meete againe in Consultation: the Ides of March being the time when that bloudy Massacre was cōmitted, was named Parricidium, & the place they caused to be dammed vp, and never after to retaine the name of the Senate-house. So did the things which could by no meanes be accessarie vnto his death, suffer for it. All which was to shew how odious a thing murther is, both in the sight of God and man. So you see, though no Homicide or murther escapes altogether vnpunished, yet the Lawes haue a speciall eye and regard to the manner of the fact.
Sir, you haue given me good satisfaction, touching the Lawes derived out of these Lawes. I pray you goe on vnto the third Law of the second Table, and shew me what the Lawes are which are thence derived.
I will therein satisfie you: and first, I will shew you what is said to be Adultery in the eye of the Law; then how it is distinguisht from Incest and Fornication; then what are the Lawes which punish offēders in those kinds; and lastly, what the punishments are that those Lawes haue provided. You shall vnderstand, that [Page 154] Adulter & adulters dicuntur, quia ille ad alteram, & haec ad alterum se confert. Spieg. Adultery is then properly said to be committed, and he or she to be an Adulterer or Adulteresse, who having taken the holy state of Matrimony vpon them, instituted by God in Paradise, shall forgetting the promise which they sometimes made in the presence of God, in the face of the Congregation, and confirmed by the Ceremonies of the Church, in a presumptuous boldnes, or bold presumption, dare to infringe and Conjugium ex duobus facit vaum. Adulteriū ex vno facit duos. Spieg. vntie that knot which God had knit together, by an vnlawfull Concubinage in defiling of his neighbours bed, endevouring as much as in him or her lyes, to induce a spurious generation. Incest is then said to be committed, when they who by reason of consanguinitie and nearenes of bloud are prohibited by the Lawes of God, and the holy Church, to joyne themselues in Matrimony one to another, shall yet notwithstanding, carnally know each other. Fornication is then said to be Committed, when a single man and woman, be she widow or virgin, having not taken the state of Matrimony vpon them, shall carnally know one another. These are the differences of these severall kindes of whoredome.
I pray you, what are the Lawes which punish those offences?
They are comprehended vnder those titles, De adulterijs, de stupris, incestu, de nuptijs & matrimonio, de divortijs, de sponsalibus, and the like. And may well be said to be as are the precedent Lawes, either Lawes of Commonition, or Lawes of Animadversion.
What are the Lawes of Commonition?
They are Lawes made against drunkennesse, against pride in Cloths, or excessiue wearing of apparrell, and against idle persons, who cannot properly be said to liue like reasonable men, but to subsist and haue a being in the world like the Vana (moriente Theoph:) querimonia de natura putatur, quòd breve sibi, diuturnum cervis & cornicibus vitae spatium dederit; cùm non vivere sed vita valere benè est; vt fabula, sic vita, non quàm diu, sed quàm benè acta sit refert. bruit sensitiue Creatures, the birds of the ayre, and the beasts of the field: Man was not borne to sit still and sleepe, but like the Quae nobiliora, sunt mobiliora; iniuemur corpora caelestia, elementa, quae (que) ex ijs cōponuntur, in perpetuo motu, eó (que) velociora quò sunt perfectiora consistere. Ecquid fibi voluit Plato cum hominē plantam, non terrae infixam, & immobilem, sed caelestem & radicibus inversam nuncupavit. Sunne [Page 155] in the Firmament, to be ever in motion; and like the little Emmot in the Summer, to be ever working; and like the Trees and plants in the Spring, to be ever growing.
I pray you giue me leaue a little to expostulate with you concerning these Lawes of Commonition, as you call them: and first of the last which you haue named; How doth idlenesse conduce to the breach of those Lawes? and how can a man sitting still and doing nothing, be said to be a transgressor of those Lawes?
The wanton Poet in his amorous verses will tell you in Aegistus.
Whilest Venus is Courting of a looking glasse, paynting and pruning of her selfe, framing of her Countenance, speech, habit and gesture, to giue contentment, Cupid with his two Arrowes, opportunitie and importunitie sets vpon her, and surpriseth her; whilest Diana stands by and is impregnable, Venus entertaines him, and is Faemi [...]ae oculatae essa debent, & nunquam sine supitione degere, nec facilè cuiquam credere, quantumvis arridenti, vel complexanti, vel (vt ait Erasmus) dejeranti. Vnde Poëta; Fide parùm multúm (que) vide nam fidere multum, Et vidisse parùm maxima damnapar [...]t —lepidè Scaliger; Clarissima tententia, confidere paucis: Sed clarior est altera, confidere nulli. credulous, beleeues whatsoever he saith to be Oracles, Courts him, kisseth him, sports and playes with him, vntill shee be inchanted with his Charmes; and why, because shee cannot entertaine the time otherwise: shee was never bred to paines-taking, nor knowes what belongs to a Needle, Violl, Virginall, or Lute, shee can Court a looking glasse, dresse her selfe of the fashion, and knit a true loues knot, & this is all that she can doe, and is glad of any Company that suits & sympathizeth with her Condition: but as for Diana, it is not so with her, she entertaines him too, but it is to make sport with him; she knowes him to be a Verbalist, and so values him, esteeming his words as winde, and his charmes as the charmes of Syrens, heares him onely, because she [Page 156] cannot avoyde him, yet keepes him at a distance, and will haue no manner of dalliance with him, but in his greatest importunitie, puts him off with some merry conceit or other, so keepes him to recreate her selfe withall, and to make sport, yet keeps her selfe free from him, and why? because Diana is ever in imployment, she can doe any thing that is fit for a Lady or Gentlewoman to doe: shee can write and reade, sing and play vpon the Lute, Violl, and Virginall: Her Mos erat illius, solis sub lumina prima, Assiduas caelo sacrificare preces. Nec priùs in dulcem declinent lumina somnum, Omnia quàm longi reputaverit acta diei. daily exercise in the morning, is to offer vp some prayses and prayers to her Creator, that being done, for that is ever her first worke. Sometimes she takes into her hands the sacred History, and by daily reading and ruminating thereon, becomes so good a Textuary, that without troubling of her eyes, she will post over any Epistle of the Apostles as readily as her Alphabet, nay, more punctually poynt out in an instant with an intellectuall instrument, the strength of her memory onely, any verse that can be named in any of those Epistles, and so prettily when she was but a twig of eight or nine yeares growth, that I ingenuously acknowledge, I haue often cast away my money to heare and see delights, which haue not given me halfe so much contentment. Sometimes she betakes her selfe vnto the Courtly Castilio, well knowne to most of the Christian Princes of the world, speaking vnto them in their owne naturall language, in English, Latin, Italian, & French (for so it is indeed translated out of Italian into all those languages) and in her mother-tongue; informes her selfe how to choose a waiting Gentlewoman, and how a Qui vivit in Curia debet cum tristibus severè, cum remissis jucundè, cum senibus gravitèr, cum juvenibus comitèr, vivere; quòd nisi fecerit, nec magnus in Curia, nec diuturnus esse poterit. Ideó (que) opus est Aulico omnem in modum se conformare; moribus torum quibuscú vivit; & Alcibi [...] imitari qui Athenis Atticâ morú suavitate vixit, Lacedamone soluriùs. Castilio lib. 1. & 3. Qui sapit, innumeris moribus aptus erit. Courtier should be accommodated; how he should speake, and how he should write; and to what end he should frame and fashion all his actions; how his study should be Arts and Armes; how in his In sermone vtrúm (que) extremorum fugiendum est, rustici idiomatis vilitas & librariae cōcinnitatis affectatio. Ampullas & sesquipedalia verba, Aeschines condemned in Demosthenes. speech he should apply himselfe to the capacitie of those with whom he converseth; how his Octav: Caesar Macenatem, Tiberium & Marcum Antonium phanaticos & phreneticos esse putavit, quia scripserunt, vt admirentur potiùs quàm intelligerent lectores. Sueton: in Octav. Caesare. writing should be without any affectation of vnusuall words [Page 157] and phrases; and how all his actions should tend to this one end, to encourage his Soveraigne to listen to the Quotidiè est pramuniendus animus Principis adversus adulatorum contagium, qui nusqu [...] magis quàm in aulis Principum et Potentum familijs regnant; vnde Grammaticis adulatio quasi adaulatio dicitur; quò allusisse videtur Ovidium canentem. Agmen adulantum media procedit ab aula. —Heresb. de educand: Prin: liber. advise of his grave and learned Senators, and to stop his eares at the whisperings of vndermining sycophants and flatterers. Sometimes againe she betakes her selfe to her Lute, Violl, or Virginall, and with her little fingers so sweetly descants vpon them, that she is able to make the Hunc referunt duros lapides & flumina cantu, Detinuisse, suae captos dulcedine vocis. trees and stones with Orpheus to daunce after her, and with It is said of Tythraeus, that in a battaile against the Messeni, perceiving his Country-men of Lacedemony to quaile in their fight; by changing of the sound of his instrument into another tune, he did so revive their spirits, that they overcame their enemies. O what is it that Musicke cannot doe! —It makes the steruest men at Armes Let fall at once their anger and their Armes: It cheeres sad soules, & charmes the frantick fits Of lunaticks, that are bereft their wits. It kiss the flame that curbes the fond desire, Of him that burnes in beauties blazing fire. Bartas. Tythraeus, to reviue the most dull and drowsiest spirits. Sometimes she betakes her selfe vnto her Needle; and with that little instrument, attended with a silke or silver trayne, drawes out the picture of an Acorne or blossome, as liuely as Apelles could doe with his pensill. Sometimes againe she goeth into the Dairy, and converseth with the dairy-maide, and in a familiar manner of discourse (so curteous she is and loving to the meanest) learnes of her the mystery of her Art. Sometimes againe into the Pastry, where she takes much delight, and there either in raising of a Marchpane like vnto a Pyramides, or in ye pourtrayting out a Pheasant, Cocke, or Partridge, she doth a while recreate her selfe: Sometimes she walkes into the open ayre, to see that no wrong be done to the seedes of her huswifery, her Hempe and Flaxe which is growing without; from thence to her Bees, where she stayes a while, beholding profit come flying home vnto her, the little Bee bringing honey to the hive. Sometimes againe she walkes into the meades and pastures, to see her horned creatures, that doe as duly as the day comes offer vp the materials, wherewith the husbandman and plowman is so much delighted, of Butter and Cheese, of Cruds and creame, and if Cupid as she walkes doe come into her way, she will spend some time with him too, and in exchange of a wittie riddle or two put him to a non-plus: but after the expence of an houre or two, she hath enough of him; so that Verum est, arcum intentione, animum remissione frang [...]; ideó (que) apud Lucianum excusatie matri Cupido non posse se Minervam, Musas, vel Dianam vulnerate; quia semper occupatae, nunquam otientur. Cupid or his associates haue no opportunitie to sollicite [Page 158] her Chastitie: if the Vivere naturae si convenienter, amarent Mortales, [...] nil opus esset ope. Si saperent homines, tixis, avidis (que) carerent Litibus, & queruli garrulitate fori. Sic incompositus post scrinia Bartolus iret Et mus illectum roderet Hippocratem. Client would liue according to the Law, the Courts of Iustice would haue little to doe: if the Patient would liue according to the Lawes of nature, the Colledge of Physitians would grow into decay: if Venus would liue like Diana, Cupid might put vp his Arrowes into his quiver, and seeke him a new trade and occupation; for so the Poet hath long agoe discovered.
Among the Lonicerus. Eadem lex inter Apostolos; nam per Apostolicas ordinationes decretū erat, quòd otiosus non debet comedere ex bonis fidel [...]um; & Apostolus inquit; si quis apud vos non laborat non manducabit; odit enim Dominus noster otiosos. 2 Thes. 3.10. Gymnosophists, there was a Custome, that alwayes before dinner the younger people were to be examined how they had spent their time from the rising of the Sunne, and if they could giue no good account of it, they were not to be admitted to the Table: Among the Lacedemonians, the Custome was, that every tenth day the Ephabi were to be brought before the Ephori, the young men before the Governours, and if that during those ten dayes, they had not improoved themselues in the knowledge of some laudable thing, they were severely beaten and chastised. Among the Atheniās when they came to mans estate, they were more severely dealt withall, and were put to death as theeues; for they held idle drones to stand for ciphers, meere nothings, carkasses & dead men, which if they were not Morbida facta pecustorum corrumpit ovile Ne maculet rel [...]quas, est removenda grege. Well, better is rotten Apple out of board▪ Than that is should not all the [...] Chawcer. removed would stinke and putrifie, and like a Contagion infect their neighbours; which made the Poet in his Georgicks affirme, that there is no better way to keepe the prettie sweet Common-wealth in prosperitie, than to roote out those degeneres apum reges, buzzing drones that make such a noyse and clamor, yet doe no manner [Page 159] of good vnto it, and which gaue occasion to some of the wisest men of the world in their generations to affirme, that there are two sorts of people who dealt in extreames, which are burdensome to all Common-wealths, the busie negotiator and vndertaker, and the idle drone and sluggard, the one composed of the two light Elements, fire and ayre, the other of the two more grosse, earth & water; the one so busie that he will haue an Oare in every mans boate, and a hand in every mans busines, and so that he may be doing and going, cares not almost what he doth, nor whether he goeth; being one that consults little, but trots and travels much, and his legs for the most part out-run his wits: the other so lazie, who though he hath neither food for his belly, nor cloth's for his backe, will rather steale and starue, than take paines to get a living. The first of these, that is, the Vide fabulam de sue & Cane; qua oftenditur, non celeritate laudem, sed perfectione obtineri. Certamen erat inter canem & suem de pariendi facultate; Canis dicebat nullum animal hoc nomine secum gloriari posse▪ at Sus; memento te tuos catulos caecos parere. Vnde Proverbium; Canis festinans caecos parit catulos. giddie negotiator, Tacitus thus reproues, there haue beene, saith he, divers hopefull men, like to haue come to great preferment in the Common-wealth, who despising that which with little patience might haue beene had with securitie, haue hastened to that, which being gotten before due time, hath bred their ruine and destruction. And Lonicerus. Saint Martin thus in a Coach-man, a Coach-man travailing to Lutetia, now called Paris, the prime Citie of Fraunce, in a full Carriere meeting with him, expostulates with him, whether he might reach y• night to Lutetia or no, to whom Saint Martin answered, Si festines excluderis, sin lento passuincedas, vrbem hoc vesperi ingredieris, if thou ridest not so fast thou maist; which the Coach-man taking to heart, thinking the holy man had derided him, drives on as fast as his horses could well goe; but being not gone out of sight, one of the wheeles of his Coach broke, so that he was enforced to take vp his lodging there that night; the Coach-man then remembred what the holy man had presaged, and that if he had gone more [Page 160] easily, he had come sooner to his journeys end: the other, that is, the idle drone and sluggard is thus reproved by Caesar in Florus.
And thus by the Sueton: in Caesare. Citizens of Rome in Bibulus, Caesar and Bibulus being Consulls together, when any thing happened wor [...]hy of note during the time of their Consulship, the Citizens pleasantly in derision of Bibulus would say, that it was done when Iulius and Caesar were Consuls, making mention of his two names, as if they had beene severall men, and never remembring of Bibulus, but as a Cipher or dead letter.
Caesar will rather Emori per virturem praestat, quàm per dedicus vivere. Salust. & Aemilius Probus in Gabria. dye on the Mountaines, where honour is to be found, than liue with Florus or Bibulus in Tavernes and Taphouses. Caesar in dying gaines immortalitie, but the other in living perpetuall shame and ignominie: the industrious man liues when he is dead, but the idle man is dead whilest he liues. Nam qui nihil agit, esse omninò non videtur, saith the Orator. Of both these sorts, that is, both of the industrious and sluggish people, the Lawes derived out of this sacred Law take speciall notice; and therefore as they doe giue due respect to such as liue according to their professions, by the sweat of their browes; So doe they See the Statute of 5. Elizab: cap. 5. Rast tit. labourers and servants. Seeth-Statute o [...] 1 & 2 Ph [...]lip & Mary, R [...]st tit. Aegypt. brand idle persons with the Stigmaticall markes of shame & ignominie, as incorrigible vagrants and vnworthy members in a Common-wealth.
But how can drunkennesse be said to conduce to the breach of these Lawes?
Very well; and not vnto these alone, but vnto all other Lawes derived out of the sacred Lawes of both Tables, as will be made to appeare vnto you. And first that it doth conduce vnto adultery, fornication, and incest, I would haue you informe your selfe out of the Tragedie of Oedipus in Seneca, where you may behold the fruits and effects of this nastie vice, set forth to the life: Laius having drunke too deepe of the fruit of the grape, forgat what he heard from the Oracle, lay with his wife and begat Oedipus; this swolne-foote monster, afterwards requited him with death, lay with his —Aenigma. Avigener, patris (que) rivalissul, Frater suorum liberûm, & fratrum pa [...]ens, Vno avia partu, liberos peperit viro, ac sibi nepotes. The sonne in-law to Grand-father, the rival of his lyre; The brother of his little babes▪ to brethren father dire: The Grand-mother at every birth to husband (graceles elfe) Brought forth a son or daughter which was nephew to her selfe. Seneca in Thebaide. O fowle difect, O short, O dangerous madnesse, That makes the vaunter insolent, the cruell violent, The fornicator wax adulterous, The Adulterer become incestuous! Bartas. naturall mother, and of her begat two twinnes which killed each other, which the poore distressed mother beholding, in very anguish of soule killed her selfe: yet the Tragedie ended not there, for at the funerall of the two Twinnes Eteocles and Polynices, which was performed by fire, the ashes of them divided it selfe, the ashes of the one flying one way, and the ashes of the other flying another way; so that as they lived all their life time in dissention, so they dyed, and as they dyed, so the fruit thereof shewed it selfe in the manner of their funeralls, and in their posteritie; for as long as there was any of their posteritie remaining vpon the face of the earth, they could never be reconciled. This Tragedie moralised, will shew vnto you that from this roote of drunkennesse proceede those stemmes and branches Inter decreta Eutichiani dicitur, quòd ebrietas est malum, vnde omnia mala puslulant; ideò decretum est; qui hoc vitare noluerit, excommunicatus erit vs (que) ad congruam emendationem. neglect of the precepts and Commandements of God, murthers, incests, perpetuall hatred, division and dissention. Againe, you must vnderstand, that Vinum vt testatur Hieronymus, voluptatis incendiū est, et venter m [...]ro aestuans citò despumat in libidinem; & vbi ebrietas, ibi libido dominatur. Bacchus and Venus are inseparable Companions, and seldome goe asunder, so that he that is familiar with the one, cannot be a stranger to the other. It is a hard thing for a man to carrie Non facile est, Taurū visâ retinere juvenca. Ovid. fire in his bosome, and not be burnt, to liue in Sodome and not to partake of the sinnes of Sodome. Decepit Lot [Page 162] ebrietas, quem Sodoma non decepit, this Ebrietas est blandus daemon, dulce venenum, illecebra voluptatis, & pudoris injuria, quam nultus noverit Christianus. Bernard. sugred poyson deceived him whom all the daintie Dames of Sodome could not deceiue. Wherefore the holy Apostle taking speciall notice of the fowlenesse of this loathsome vice, how it drownes the soule in perdition, makes man the Postremum & perfectissimum opus dei est homo, & reliquarum rerum dominus. Zanthius. glory of the Creatures, to be a meere Chaos. How it distempers the whole bodie, dissolues the naturall heate of the liver, & causeth it in stead of bloud to send forth water; how it annoyes the braine, and in hot fiery Constitutions causeth phrensie and madnes, in cold & moist Constitutions, Epilepsies & Apoplexies, Cramps, Vidi (inquit Petrarcha) juvenem podagricum, eundem senem revidi; quaesivi causam; nullam mihi aliam reddidit, quàm quod se vino penitùs audicàsler. Pêt [...]th 3 samil. Epist. Gowts, and Dropsies, and oftentimes Hinc sub [...]ae mortes, ar (que) intestata senectus. Iuv: Sat. 1. suddaine death, by clogging and stopping of the vitall passages. How it infatuates the sences, confounds the memorie, intoxicates the phantasie, & very oftentimes occasioneth murthers, incests, adulteries, and all manner of vncleannesse, giues this speciall Caveat, to beware of the Ebrietatem tanquam libidinis [...]omentum sugite. 5 Ephes. hooke least we be taken with the baite: Erasmus lib. 8. Apophihegm. Erasmus in his Apophthegmes liuely setteth forth the proper wages & reward of this in a yong ruffling Gallant, who having wasted his patrimonie by drinking and whoring, and having run into debt further than his state would satisfie, became an humble suitor to Alphonsus King of Arragon, that he would be pleased to grant him a protection against his Creditors, that persecuted him like a Ghost wheresoever he went; to whom Alphonsus answered, that he would advise of it, and if he found vpon enquirie, that he had spent his eestate, either in his service, or for the benefit of his Country, or in relieving of the fatherles and widowes, then he would not onely protect him, but relieve and succour him; but if he found that he had spent it vpon himselfe, and was able to giue no better an account of it, than the wastfull Steward did, who being called vpon to bring in his bookes of Account, In his owne brest he thought it best, His money to inclose; Then wisht he well whatever fell, He could it never lose. Sir Tho: More merrily. Os primò, deinde podicem ostendit, first shewed his mouth, then his posteriors; the one being his booke of receipts, the other [Page 163] of disbursements, then aequum est vt luat corpore, qui tantas opes impendebat corpori, it is good justice, that the body which enjoyed the pleasure, should endure the paine. The Heathen Moralists having taken speciall notice of the inconveniences that arise by reason of this vice, haue presented vnto vs divers lively patternes and pictures of such who haue perished by it, to the end, that by their Pulchrum est ex aliorum erratis in melius instituere vitam nostram; & non quod alij egerint quaerere, sed quid optimè ac [...]ū sit nobis proponere ad imitandū. Faelix, quem faciunt aliena peticula cautum. harmes, we may be warned and admonished. When Plato saw a young man that had spent a great fortune (by Wine and Women) at the dore of Pandochius begging his bread, and supping vp cold water, passed by him, shaking his head, and relieved him onely in Vide Apologum de Cicada & formicis. Cicada petebat cibum à formicis; cui formicae, quid non colligebas in aestate? Cui Cicada; non eram otiosa, nam canebam musicè; cui formicae; si aestate modulaberis, hyeme s [...]lta. deriding him, saying, if he had dyned so when time was, he needed not now to haue supped so. When he saw another time the Agrigentines building continually, yet Drunkennesse and lust seldome goe asunder, and therefore Armorists haue provided the saine Diminution for the Coate of the drunkard, as they haue for the fornicator a gusset on the right side of the Coate for the f [...]ator, and on the left side for the drunkard drinking and whoring continually, he blest himselfe, casting vp his eyes and hands, wondring wherefore they did build as if they should live for ever, yet drinke & whore as if they could not liue vntill the morrow. When the Lonice [...]us. Embassa [...]dors of the Athenians, Philocrates, and Aechines, returned home from the Court of Philip of Macedonie: Demosthenes was desirous to know what newes was in the Court of Philip: to whom as a thing of note they related that Philip drunke much, yet was never distempered; to whom Demosthenes replyed; Habet hanc virtutem cum mulo communem, his mule would doe as much. Aurelianus the Emperour being told that Bonosus was surprised by Probus, and had strangled himselfe, said, that he never expected to heare better of him, that such a [...]. Vt m [...]ri [...]re pius, vivere disce piè. life as he led could not produce a better end; he was borne not to liue, but to drinke, and a Caske or vessell is never in his proper place, except he be placed aloft. Leontychydas being asked wherefore the At (que) euam Sparta mos est laudabilis [...]ste; Vt bibat arb [...]trio pocula quis (que) suo. Spartans did drinke so little, answered, because they did consult much, and being asked a second time, answered, because they did adore Chastitie much; intimating, that Wine was an enemy [Page 164] enemy to both. Diogenes being tendred a cup of Wine, accepted the Cup, but threw downe the Wine, and being demaunded the reason, answered, that he had rather spill it, than it should spoyle him; but I commend not this in the Cynicke. Pythagoras tells vs, that in the Vine there are three grapes, a sweet grape, a sower grape, and a rotten putrified grape; in the sweet grape there is pleasure and delight, mirth and melodie; in the sower grape, there is sharpnes and harshnes, ebrietie and folly; in the rotten grape, gall and wormewood, madnes and fury. Vinum modi [...]èsumptum intellectui videtur afierre acumen. Vnde Poëta; Vina parant animos, faciúnt (que) coloribus aptos. Ovid. Faecundi calices quem non fecere disertum? Nulla placere diu, nec vivere Carmina possunt, Quae scribuntur aquae potoribus. Horat. A little Wine revives and —The Commodities of the Vine. Her sacred liquor temperately taen, Revives the spirits, and purifies the braine; Cheares the sad heart, encreaseth naturall beate, Purgeth grosse bloud, and doth the pure beget; Strengthens the stomacke, and the colour mends, Sharpens the wit, and doth the bladder clense; Opens obstructions, excrements expells, And easeth vs of many dangerous [...]. Bartas. exhilarates the spirits; more than a little dulls and oppresseth the spirits; to drinke drunke kindles and enflames the spirits. The Sophister was vsed to say, that honey was to be touched with the end of the finger, not to be taken vp with a full hand; pleasures and delights may be touched and tasted of, not carowsed and drunke vp in full bowles. Among the Heathens, their merry boyes, as they called them (that went singing oftentimes like the Swanne to their graues, and dyed like a bird vpon a bough) did in their symposijs and merry meetings, vsually drinke their Mistris-health, as often as she had letters in her name; if Naevia sex Cyathis, septem Iustina bibatur; Qum (que) Lyda [...], Lyde quatuor, Ida tribus. Martial. Naevia six Cups, if Iustina seaven, if Lydas fiue, if Lyde foure, if Ida three; and as many more as they had a minde to. But finding that many Cups did oftentimes so dasle their eyes, that with the Proci illi apud Homerum non immeritò tidentur, qui relictâ Penelope, convertere se ad puellas. woers in Homer, they could not know the Mistris from her maide, they made a Law inter leges Convivales, that no man should drinke aboue three or thrice three Cups, which were nine, at any of those meetings.
All which Est Apulei liber qui inscribitur Floridorum; vbi quid primus crater agit, quid secundus, ac deinceps facetâ narratione disseritur. Primus crater pertinet ad sitim, secundus ad laetitiam, ternus ad voluptatem, quarre▪ id ebrietatem, quintus ad iram, sextus ad litigium, septimus ad surorem, octav [...]s ad somnum, nonus ad morbum. Apuleius vtterly condemnes in his [...]loridorum, vnles the first three; where he shewes how every Cup vnto the ninth, workes in the body of man; by the [Page 165] first, saith he, our thirst is asswaged, by the second naturall heate is stirred vp, and we are made inclinable to mirth; by the third we are made fully merry, by the fourth drunke; by the fifth angry; by the sixt quarrellsome; by the seaventh mad; by the eighth sleepie; by the ninth sicke: So I say, all but the first three he vtterly Non inutile consilium Poëtae; Qui cupit expertem morbis producere vitam; Accumbens mensae pocula trina bibat. Scilicet, vt primum sitienti serviat ori; Et sic dulce merum debile corpus alat: Deinde voluptati, vini conceditur vsus, Vt poteri [...]t curas corda subire graves. Tunc conviva bibat postremum largiùs haustum; Occupet vt citiù [...] lumina grata quies. His tribus epotis, sano qui corpore gaudet, De mensa surgit, laetus abit (que) domum. Qui verò fines praescriptos transilit, iste Noxia pro Bacch [...] rore venena bibit. condemnes. Symposia celebrare, & cum amicis interdum jocundari, non est contra sapientis, viri professionem, friendly meetings and houres to be set apart for recreations, were allowed both by the Lawes of the Lacedemonians & the Athenians, because it recreates the mind, stirres vp naturall heate in the body, sharpens the wit, and begets a great deale of loue and friendship amongst men; but to drinke vs (que) ad Crapulam, vntill we be as lothsome as a Sowe, as wanton as an Ape, as mad as a Dog, that, that hath beene disallowed both by the Lawes of the one and the other; and chiefly because it delivers vp the Chastitie of the husband belonging to the wife, and of the wife belonging to the husband, into the hands of strangers: A Germane taking notice how this vice of drunkennes was crept into his Country, thus bewayles the state of it: Nulla major pest is vnquam repsit in nostram Germaniam; facile erat tolerare Tyrannos, caedes, latrocinia; ist is occurrere & remedia cum tempore invenire possumus; Hanc curare luem nulla medela potest, hunc hostem in nostris finibus adeò superbeè grassantem vincere, aut prohibere nullo modo possumus; quomodo conversa est in luxum frugalitas nostra? quomodo degeneramus à patribus nostris? Magnus erat quondam splēdor, decus, at (que) venusta [...], Germanis, & Caelaries prolixá (que) barba; Sed levitas nunc est tanta & dementia tanta. Vt capita & barbasipsi inter pocula radant: Scilicet hic fructus, pudor & sapientia Bacchi. Luciemberg. de suis Germanis. majores nostri cum sanguine & sudore suo pepererunt nobis terrarumimperium; quomodo nos decipi permittimus? quomodo Aquilae ad gruem redierunt? Never greater plague came into our Countrey, than the plague of drunkennesse; it is an easie thing to endure Tyrants, slaughters, and Thefts, and in time we can finde out a remedy for them; but this Contagion, no physicke can cure: how is our frugalitie turned into luxurie? and how doe we degenerate [Page 166] from our fore-fathers, they with sweat and bloud made vs to be Lords of the earth? and how are our spirits effeminated, to suffer that which they so dearely bought to be taken from vs? It is a Germane recreation, and I would to God they would take it home againe to them, that we had no cause to Bruta bibunt quantum natura requirit, et vltra Quàm sitis ipsa ferat, flumina nulla bibunt: Solus homo immodico nū quam contentus I accho, Aeternùm stygijs exatiatur aquis. Alias. Taurus habet certas potandi tempore leges: Sic equus, & liquidus quam vehis aër avis, Sed nos divinâ qui cum ratione vigemus, Cur Venus et Bacchus nocte dié (que) tenent? Alias. Ventre domum saturo redeunt animalia quae (que) Manè perunt hilares pascua laeta greges. Solus homo potu immodico cerebrúm (que) capút (que) Obruit, at (que) cibo viscera tensa gravat. complaine with the Poet; for how many haue we knowne in this flourishing Iland, by reason of this to haue beene sent vnto their graues in the spring and flourishing time of their age by vntimely deaths? how many haue we knowne by reason of this to haue out-lived their fortunes, their good Quis non videt quotidiana inter ebriosos homicidia, parricidia, sacrilegia, stupra, adulteria▪ incestus, raptus, jurgia, perjuria de [...]i (que) in deum & reliquos Caelites, blaspha [...]mias, superstitienes, haere [...]s contemptu [...] superiorum, rebelliones, injurias & contumacias anim [...] praete [...]eà desperationem, ignaviam, ignorantiam, [...], & id genos al [...]? vnde rectè dicitur, omnium, non mul [...]orum vitiorum sc [...]ntem esse ebrietatem. [...] vae? [...]? cui sine causa vulnera? [...] his qui commonrant [...]r in vino? Prov. 23. Quanta dementia est libidinis regnum, virtutis exilium, vulgi fabulam & [...]isum, bon [...]rum odium & contemptum, luctum & ina [...]e gaudium, contentiones, [...]urgia, & incautos cōgrestus, vino promovere? Haec omnia sunt ebrietatis effectus. P [...]tr: names and reputations? how many incests, adulteries, fornications and murthers, haue we knowne by reason of this to haue beene Committed? how many haue we knowne, who whilest they haue beene themselues, to haue beene fit Companions for the best men of qualitie in a Country, when they are buryed in Wine, not fit to remaine in a civill Societie, so offensiue every way, so readie to take hold and except against every word that falls; so readie to strike and quarrell vpon every occasion? how many haue we knowne, who whilest they haue beene themselues, to haue beene so tender of their reputations, as not to looke vpon a woman dishonestly, when they are buryed in Wine, not to be abashed to adventure vpon a Common-Whore in the Market-place? how many hopefull plants haue we knowne by reason of this to haue beene so Videmus multos aetate storentes, formolos, etama [...]ilissimi colo [...]s [...]xistentes; mox vbi continentiae fines egressi, & ebrietatis consuetudinem induti, des [...]uere, [...], storem illum aetatis, et animi vigorem amittere. metamorphosed, that he that had knowne them when they were young, after some little discontinuance of acquaintance, would haue beene a meere stranger vnto them, so puft were they in their faces, so swolne in their bodie, so gowtie in their legges, so deformed in every part and member of their [Page 167] bodies? It hath beene a question in the Schooles, as those that are Academicks know, whether Socrates (though sober and temperate) were idem numero in age as he was in youth: but if this question had growne of any of the sonnes of Bacchus it would haue beene determined, as it was of the Theseus his Ship was a hundred times mended. Ship that was so often patcht and peeced, that none of the first materialls thereof remained; so doth it Quid turpius ebrioso, cui saetor in ore, tremor in corpore, qui promit stulta, prodit occulta, cui mens alienatur, facies transformatur? transforme a man, both in the inward faculties of the soule, and the outward lineaments of the bodie. It was a wittie and pithie answere of Anacharsis, who being demaunded whether there were women, intending dishonest women in Scythia, answered, ne Sinè Cerere et Libero friget Venus Terent. in Eunuch. vitis quidem, no Wine truely; thereby shewing that if there be no fuel there could be no fire, or if there be both fuel and fire, yet if there be no bellowes, it will not easily be kindled. Thus elegantly haue the Auncients set forth the deformitie of this nastie vice.
Sir, you haue shot your sharpest Arrowes at this abuse, but you might as well haue kept them in your Quiver, if you doe not shew vs how we may reforme and redresse it; for to discover abuses, and not to shew how to redresse them, is to lay open a wound, and not to apply a remedie to it.
The Melius quidem vel salubrius remedium (vt inquit Serenissimus nuper rex) ad curandam perniciosam ebrietatis contagionem non potest excogitari, quàm popinas ebriosorum receptacula, tanquam fomitem extirpa [...]e: leones vrsos (que) non reperia [...] nisi vbi caverna habent; et purgaretur respub: sipopinae eorum latibula extirpatentur. remedie is alreadie prescribed, and if it were not, yet my intent is not to take vpon me the office of a Senator to reforme abuses; that I leaue to men of riper judgemē [...], but to shew you the deformity of the abuse, that so you may avoyde both it and the Lawes: for beleeue me Sir, I am of opinion in this case, as Tiberius was in the like case, that —Sint paucae leges; Et valeant po [...]iùs pondere quàm numero. Vt solet in dab [...]s inter convivia caenis Multa gravant stomachum sercula, pauca juvant. Sic hebetat [...]entes legum con [...]usio, quae si Sintp [...]ucae et faciles, nausea nulla for [...]t. multitude of Lawes doe little availe, and that in some Cases and at some times the Lawes may well be suffered to take their rest. The Aediles vpon a time complained, that the Lawes concerning the excesse of expences was nought set by, and the sumptuousnesse of mooveables, which was forbidden, daily encreased, and desired the Lords of the Senate to [Page 168] assist them in the reformation thereof; the Lords not willing to meddle with the matter, referred the Consideration thereof to Tiberius himselfe; Tiberius wisely considering how vnseemely and Fertur dixisse Tiberius, satius omittere quod assequi oequiret, quàm tentare turpiter quod posteà non efficeret. Tacit. lib. 3. dishonorable it would be to vndertake that which could not be effected, or if it could, yet with the ignominie and infamie of many noble men: he sent his Letters to the Senate to this purpose; it would be convenient my Lords peradventure, that in other matters I should be demaunded my opinion in your presence, & speake what I thought behoouefull for the Common-wealth; but in this I thought it were better to withdraw mine eyes, because it is not in my power easily to redresse it. If the Aediles had before asked my advice, I know not whether I should rather haue perswaded them to let passe strong and rooted vices, than goe so farre that it should be knowne how vnable we are to redresse some kinde of abuses. If I should goe about any such thing, I know not where to begin. Shall I reduce to the auncient Custome your spacious Country-houses, the number of your servitors, the quantitie of silver and gold, your painted Tables and Pictures of most curious workemanship, the superfluousnes of apparrell both in men and women, your precious stones, for which our money is transported to forraine Nations? I am not ignorant that these things are blamed at publicke meetings, and a meane wished for; but if any man would make it a Law to punish them, those themselues that complaine would exclaime that the ruine of the Nobilitie is sought after, for that there are none free from this crime:Sapienter dictú cujuscún (que) illud fuit, Nec Veneris nec tu vini capia [...]is amore, Vno nám (que) modo Vina, Venús (que) nocent. Wherefore the best meanes to redresse a generall evill is, that every one would prescribe a Law to himselfe, and amend one: it was the wish of Tiberius in his dayes, & I wish it with all my heart in our dayes.
Sir, you haue sufficiently shewed how that odious vice of drunkennes doth conduce to the breach [Page 169] of those Lawes, I pray you in the next place, shew how Cloths and Apparrell doth any way conduce vnto it.
You must know, that decent apparell is Vestes nigellae & candidi mores maximè ornant. Augustin. commended and commaunded by the Lawes of God and men; it is inordinate apparell which is prohibited; when as we weare our Cloths not to cover our nakednes, but to discover it, by dasling the eyes of silly people, with glorious outsides. A misdemeanor, of which the Prophets, Apostles, and reverend Fathers of the Church haue taken speciall notice. Saint Peter in his 1 Pet. 3. vers. 3. In vestitu superbia à deo atrociter pu [...]ri Esayas Propheta Iudais denuntiat. Esay. 3. vers. 18. Venustè hoc dilemmate taxatur mollities muliebris; si pulchrae sint mulieres, sufficit natura; non contendat ar [...] cōtra naturam; si turpes sunt natura, id quod opponit, deformitatem magis arguit. first Epistle giues vs a speciall Caveat to abstaine from intemperate wearing of apparell; and the holy Fathers of the Church haue in some indignation arraigned the proud men of the world, and would needs know of them, why they should so expensiuely lavish out in disbursing of so much money to so little profit, in fading corruptible garments, and why they should be so proud of those poore vanities, which being at the best are but borrowed out of the guts of the earth, or of the silly silkeworme, and Vestis è peccato originem habet. Gen. 3. vers. 7. begotten by sinne and transgression, and still are subject to the moth and corruption. And why they should neglect those things which are of Divitias animi solas ego judico veras: Quae sita sunt extra nosmet, non sunt ea nostra. Stilpho captâ patrià, amissis liberis, amissâ [...]ore, dixit, omnia mea mecum sunt; justitia, temperantia, prudentia. Seneca. Haec non diripiant, nec depraedentur Achivi. more worth, and to be had at easier rates, and are out of the reach of time and corruption; the which the more they weare, the more gloriously they shine; and which they may ever carry about them, yet will they be no burthen vnto them. They ingenuously confesse, they know no reason vnlesse it be by such glorious outsides to deceiue the world, as did the Evam serpens decepit murenulae figurâ. Serpent our first parents in the beginning. And therefore as doe the Lawes of God, so haue the Lawes of See the Stat of 24. yeare H. [...]. cap. 13. men shot sharpe Arrowes against these persons, and prescribed them what garments they shall put on.
Sir, I pray you giue me leaue to expostulate a little with you concerning those Lawes you now [Page 170] speake of: for it doth concerne vs all: Is it not lawfull for a man to weare what Cloth's he will?
No; it is not The statute of 24. H. 8. in grounded vpon the Lawes of Armes. By the Lawes of Armes a Prince may vse powderings in his apparrell as thicke as he pleaseth; a Duke in his mantell foure ranges onely, a Marquesse three and a halfe, an Earle three onely. lawfull for Dukes and Marquisses to put themselues into the habits of Kings and Princes; nor for Viscounts and Barons to Cloth themselues in an attire belonging to Earles; nor for Gentlemen to weare such habits as are set apart for Knights of the order, and men of their qualitie and degree; nor for yeomen, husbandmen, and serving-men to attire themselues like vnto Gentlemen; briefly, it is not lawfull for such as are sordidati, to put vpon them the habit of Candidati, nor for the Plebei to attire themselues in the habits of the Patritij, nor for servi to goe as doe the ingenui: in a word, it is not lawfull for men of low degree to cloth themselues in the habit of men of high degree; nor honorable for men of high degree to attire themselues like vnto men of low degree; but necessary it is that every man should weare a habit according to his Forma habitus & vestitus apud veteres strictè observata fuit; nec inter homines solùm, sed etiam inter mulieres. Festus tradit matronas illas appellatas esse, quibus stolas habendi jus erat. Nam meretricibus inhonestís (que) mulieribus stolae vsus prohibitus erat; erat autem stola oblonga & ad talos vs (que) dimittebatur. Brissonius ranke and degree.
What if a man doe transgresse in this kinde; what danger doth he incurre?
Besides the danger of the Lawes, and the censure of the multitude, he doth incurre the Censure of Caesar. Augustus Caesar vpon a time seeing some Romane Citizens clad in short fullyed cloaks called vpon them with a lowde voice, Sueton: in Augusto Caesare.
As if he should haue said, yee Citizens which challenge to your selues a prerogatiue to be the Lords of the world, and to be the long-robed Nation; how cōmeth it to passe, that you are clad in habits more fit for such as liue in the Country, and follow Conveniunt longae vestes qui publica tractant Munia, consulto juris populúm (que) regentes. Conveniunt succincta vitis venantibus ipsa Pallia, neu rapiant spinae, aut virgulta morentur [...]urrentes, rapido resonent neu flamine venti. hawkes and dogges, than for men that governe & giue Lawes vnto the people: I would haue you know, that long Gownes would [Page 171] better suite with your professions, than such short Iackanapes Clokes.
In my opinion Sir, it is a needlesse thing for a man to stand so much vpon those Cucullus non facit monachum. Si promissa facit sapientem barba, quid obstat, Barbatus possit quin caper esse Plato? Morus. outward shewes and apparances; if a man liue as he should doe, it matters not what Cloth's he doth put on.
O but Sir, there is a decorum and order to be observed in every degree and condition of life, and these outward ornaments are the Vestis virum indicat. Huc valde pertinet elegans Ausonij Epigramma de duabus sororibus. Delia, vos miramur, & est mirabile, quòd tam Dissimiles estis tú (que) sorór (que) tua. Haec habitu casto, cum non sit casta, videtur; Tu praeter cultum nil mere, tricis habes. Cum casti mores tibi sint, huic cultus honestus, Te tamen & cultus damnat, & actus eam. Ans [...]. Epigr: 102. bookes in which the vulgar that cannot judge of thee, reade thy thoughts and intentions. If thou be a Student of the Lawes, & they behold thee walking in the streets in thy boots and gingling spurres, they presently conclude, there goes Hotspur the Lawyer, that thinkes the time never flyes fast enough, vnlesse he puts spurres vnto it. If thou be a Divine, and servest at the Altar, and they behold thee in an irregular habit, and heare thee to make it a case of conscience to put on those comely decent Ornaments, which the Church hath prescribed, they presently conclude, there goes a wilfull peevish foole, a disturber of the peace and the tranquillitie of the Church, who though he hath not wit enough to know white from blacke, meate from mustard Cùm multi adveniebant ad congratulandū cuidam, in quem Alexander [...] tus beneficium impendiò opulentū contulistet. Addubitat pr [...]mò simplex quid eslet beneficium, et obsonium aliquod esse suspicatus, rogavit, num esset elui. beneficium from obsonium, yet he will take vpon him to be more wise than all the reverend Fathers of the Kingdome, and prescribe vnto them what robes & ornaments are fittest to be worne in the Synagogues and Congregations. A prettie pert fellow, that never talkes of the Fathers, but with a kinde of sleighting of them, that never receiveth the blessed Sacrament with more outward reverence than he doth his ordinarie meate and drinke, nor ever feasteth but vpon good Friday, or speciall fasting dayes; that talketh much of truth, yet will lye abominably; and had he but art to his invention, Aesop might well giue him the Buckler, that hath charitie often in his mouth, and will Scit laudare magis nemo minús (que) d [...]re. magnifie his neighbours hospitalitie, & his beneficence to the poore, [Page 172] but as for himselfe, you shall sooner get a tooth out of his head, than a penny out of his purse; that will frequent the Church duely, but if he heare at any time the Organs goe, or the Chaunters Chaunt, then he runnes away as if he had beene scarred with some hag or hob-goblin; of what Nation, Religion, or what his name is, no man knowes, nor he himselfe, some say he came out of Vtopia, and is of the Religion there profest, and his name is Separatist, others say, he came out of the clouds from Aristophanes Citie of Cuckoes, and is of the Religion there profest, and his name is Brownist; others say he came out of the Moone from Lucians inhabited Country, and is of the Religion there profest, and his name is Neuteralist; others say, he came out of Platoes Common-wealth, scituated directly vnder the Poles, where the people swarme in Summer as the Bees doe in Winter, and is of the Religion there profest, and his name is Anabaptist; every man wisheth him at home againe, for wheresoever he commeth, he hatcheth nothing but schismes and dissentions. If thou be a If the Courtiers of our t [...]me would but apply such remedies to the good men of the Citie that are [...]cke of the fashions, as Sir Philip Calthorpe did to I. Drake a shoomaker of Norwich, they would quickly cure them of their maladies. This Knight having bought as much fine Cloth as would make him a Gowne, and sent it to his Taylor; I. Drake seeing the Knights Cloth in the Taylors shop, liking it very well, bought as much of the same, and gaue direction to the Taylor to make it vp in all points like vnto the Knights. The Knight being given to vnderstand thereof, remembring the old Proverbe, Ne sutor vltra crepidam; commaunded the Taylor to cut his Cloth as full of holes as his sheares could doe, and so to make it vp, which the Taylor did accordingly, and in like manner cut I. Drakes & made it vp, and brought it home to him, which when I beheld, he fell into a passion and sware by his pantosles, that he had spoyled his Gowne; Marry quoth the Taylor, then blame your s [...]l [...]e for it, for I haue made it according to the Knights in all points as you commaunded; Marry (quoth To:) if ever I became of the Knights cut againe, I will giue you leaue to cut as many [...] in my [...]in as you haue now done in my Gowne. Citizen, and they behold thee in an vnusuall habit and attire differing from the fashion of the Citie, they presently conclude, there goes a spend-thrift, one who hath bespoken his lodging in Ludgate alreadie. If thou be a Souldier, and they behold thee to fashion thine apparell according to the fashion of thine enemy, they presently conclude, as the Southsayers did of Darius his Darius [...] tex no aut altero anno priusquàm cum Alexandro cons [...] gerer, gladium quem indies gestab [...]t Persicum, in Macedoni [...] ensis formam commutavit; quod cum ad Augu [...] [...] est, sili e [...]s Persia rectores fore diceban [...], quorum mores Darius in gladio imitatus esset. Castill: lib. 2. Sword, that they into whose fashion thou puttest thy selfe, will be Lords over thee. If thou be returned from the Indyes, or out of some forreine Nation, where thou hast had some crosses and losses, and they behold thee in a habit vsed in those Countries, they presently in stead of pittying [Page 173] thee deride thee and say, well-fare his heart, he hath not lost all, though he hath had some knocks and losses, yet be hath brought home the fashion with him. If thou be a Gentleman, and they see thee lavishing out in embroydered suits more rich than thy revenues will maintaine, they presently conclude, there goes a Pictus quidem est, et magis pictus, quàm gallus gallinaceus triginta gallina [...]um maritus. painted foole, one who carryes a burden like Atlas, a whole mannor on his backe; whose end if he amend not, in time will be beggery and misery. If thou be effeminately clad, going all open in the dead time of the yeare, to shew a rich vndergarment that was never paid for, they presently conclude, there goes one of Venus darlings, or Cupids whirligigs, one that hath a wind-mill in his head, and the breese in his tayle: whose end (if Tyburne take him not) will be in an Hospitall. If thou be of the feminine sex, and in thy habit and attire doest resemble the masculine, cuttest thy Vittis olim vtebatur homestae mulieres, meretrices non. Briston: Vnde Poëta. Scripsimus haec illis, quarum non vitta ligatos Attingit crines, nec stola longa pedes. Ovid. By the Statues of Ireland English-men are prohibited to weare their beards like Irish-men. Vide Stat: Hibern: de Anno 25o. H. 6. cap. 4. Rot. Parliament cap. 20. Wee need a Law to prohibit English-Women to weare their haire like English-men. It would well become these women to put in vre the old fashion of England, to ride astride on their horses; for I finde vntill the raigne of King Richard the second they did so. Queene Anne the wife of King Rich: and Sister to the Emperour Winslaus, being the first that taught English-women to ride on side-sa [...]dles haire, thy chiefest ornament like vnto a man, and wearest thy Cloth's like vnto him, they presently conclude, there goes a strange woman, an Hermaphrodite, a Proserpina, a good wife for Pluto, Rhadamanthus, or some of their followers or acquaintance: if thou be an English-woman, and they behold thee following the fashion of thine owne Country in the Attire about thy head, in the habiliments about thy necke the fashion of the French, and in thy long robes the fashion of the Spanish, they presently conclude, there goes a Sphinx or a Chiwaram Homerus sic describit. Antè leo, retrò draco, media ipsa Chimara. Chimaera, one whom GOD once made a woman, and she hath made her selfe a monster. If they behold thee rufft vp to the eares, cufft vp to the elbowes, and banded over thy shoulders, they presently conclude, there goes Ruffe, Cuffe, and Band, a good subject for Poets to make sport withall. If thou be a Citizen, and they behold thee gadding after new fashions, turning fast into loose, a flap into a fan, they presently conclude, there goes a Counterfeit bastard Gentlewoman. if thou be a Gentlewoman, & they see thee one moneth in one [Page 174] fashion, the next moneth in another, the third in another, and so in as many fashions as there are moneths in the yeare, they presently conclude, there goes a wife for a Noble-man, that will make a Gentleman a beggar. If thou be a Lady, and they see thee daubed over with gold and silver, and pranckt vp with rich Iewels and precious stones, beyond thy degree & husbands estate, they presently conclude, there goes Ecce vas omnium vitiorum mulier sine pudore, bestia sine honore, appetens primos recubitus in mensa, primam sedem in Ecclesia, primatum in balneo, et chorea, semper pigra, rixosa, criminosa, scabiosa, omnibus odiosa, soli Cerbero chara, & in fallacijs optimè ins [...] tuta. a wanton, one who placeth her chiefest happinesse in It is the observatiō of a learned Herauld; as many of the Empresses in former times did weare whole Kingdoms at their eares: so many Ladyes now adayes whole Mannors on their sleeues. stones, and is not ashamed of it, she weares them in her forehead to enchaunt passengers, and to tole home Customers: the King of late honored her husband with the degree of Knighthood, and the Heralds gaue him Armes, and it shall cost her a fall but she will giue him a Crest, and bring him into the forked order of the Knights of the Post. If they behold thee comming from the Quae pictas geritis facies, vos jure potestis, Dicere cum Flacco pulvis & vmbra sumus. Owen: Similes sunt pulcherrimis istis libris quorum aurei quidem vmbilici, et purpurea foris pellis, caeterum intus, aut Thyestes, liberos in Convivio comedens, aut Oedipus matris maritus, aut Tereus cum duabus sororibus [...]em habens; de quibus Poëta; Illa foris picto similis mihi visa l [...]bello. Et aliàs. Hae quidem sunt foris pulch [...]ae, intus morbidae, marcentes et mirè informes, & similes parieti incrustato, intra quem multa ruinosa sunt; aut sepulchro splendide foris extructo, quod deformes intus calvarias, nuda ossa, & obscaenos faetores continet, Vnde Poëta; E [...] to [...]a quae primâ dulcedine fundit odorem. At graveformosâ sub cute virus olet. Painters shop, having apparelled thy face in an artificiall dye, they presently conclude, there goes a true Emblem of mortalitie, dust and ashes as beautifull as a rose to the eye, but touch her she is full of deadly poyson. As like her old Est serpens, verm [...]s, vultur, Crocodylus, et Hydra. Grand-father as she can looke, that can like him metamorphose her selfe into any shape, as blind as a worme with pride and selfe-loue, as greedy as a Vulture to satisfie her beastly appetite, as deceitfull as a Crocodile, and as cruell as a Hydra; if they behold thee at mid-day in thy night habit, they presently conclude, there goes an Owlybird, or more plainely, an vglybird, a fit wife for Sardanapalus or Heliogabalus, that turned the nights into dayes and the dayes into nights. Thus doe our Anticke outward apparances afford matter of sport and pastime to passengers and Poets. The Lawes therefore before mentioned are made to curbe vs, and keepe [Page 175] vs in, that we exceede not a decorum in our Modus in vestitu observandus; ita vt nec luxuriosus vt prodigus, nec sordidus vt avarus, nec comptus vt meretrix, nec rusticus vt colonus, nec ineptus vt aulae tyro, sed aptus, mundus et honostus, incuriosus, sed non indecorus. Vt eleganter Iac [...] nuper Rex in lib. 3. ad H. Principe [...]. Providè tam ab antiquis patribus, quàm à modernis tradita est moderatio de habitu; quia per exteriorem habitum, saepè interior de [...] signatur. Vide constiru: Othobon: sub titulo de habitu Cleric. habits and attyre.
What Cloths may we weare, I pray you, to avoyde the Lawes and the Censure of the multitude?
Any Cloth's that doe not savour of irregularitie, of too much basenesse, or too much pompe and gorgeousnesse. For by the wearing of Cloths, a man must not thinke to purchase any Cordato egregió (que) adolescēt nihil turpius est, quàm in cute curanda plus aequo operari. Seneca. Rectè Epictetus; hebetis ingenij esse docet in rebus corporis immorari, cum quae ad illud pertinent faciēda sunt obiter: cura autem omnis ad animum transferenda est. fame or renowne: Munditiae mulieribus, labor viris convenit, Neatnesse and cleanlines belongs to women, but the onely glory and ornament to a man is valour and magnanimitie. Insana est ambitio fimum tegere purpurâ, & pallidum cadaver in pheretro aureo pouere, nam quò plus ornatus, eò plus horroris habet, saith one of the wits of his time, the witty and sententious Petrarch was a man of great accounts in Italy, his Auncestors were Florentines, and lived in exile, but he returned home, and dyed in his owne Countrie of an Apoplexie, being seaventie yeares of age wanting but a day; he was buryed at Arquato Montanere, a village belonging vnto Padua, where in honour of him a Sepulcher of Marble was built, and an Epitaph of his owne making inscribed, part whereof is as followeth. Frigida Francisci lapis hic tegit osla Petrarchae, Fessús (que) interris, caeli requiescit in arce. Orator and Poet Petrarch the Italian, it is a kinde of madnesse to enamell mud-walles with gold and silver. Put a stinking Carkasse into a golden Coffin, it smells never the lesse. Put what Cloth's you will vpon a Blackamore, you shall never make him white, nay, the more rich you cloth him, the more deformed you shall finde him.
Wherefore if my advise might passe for Currant, I would haue every true Britaine to put on the resolution of a true Romane; and to be like vnto Augustus, who thought it a dishonour and disparagement to himselfe and his Country, to be beholding to his neighbouring Countryes for Cloth's to put on his backe.
I would to God I had given my Teeme of Horses and Oxen too, that there were a Law made to tye vs to weare our Country-Commodities, and none other; and the old Law made in the dayes of King By the Stat. of 11. Edw. 3. Cloth made out of the Realme was prohibited to be worne. Edward the 3. were revived, and the Statue made in the [Page 176] dayes of King Henry 8. were put in execution, I am sure, it would be well for vs if it were so. Our Wools would not sticke vpon our hands as now they doe; and I beleeve the Citizens would not be sorry for it.
Sir, in my opinion, there should not neede a Law in this Case if we did affect our Countryes as wee should, every mans reason should be sufficient to prevaile with him. Why should any English-man trouble himselfe or others to send so farre as Naples and Persia for silkes to Cloth him, when as he may furnish himselfe with materialls more vsefull and necessary in his Dictum fuit olim per H. Huntingto [...]. Anglia terrarum decus & flos finitimarum, Est contenta sui fertilitate boni. —Anglia dulce solum Et tua dulcedo pristina, dulce facit. Quae nihil a Gallis, sed Gallia mutuat à te, Quicquid honoris habet, quicquid amoris habet. Quicquid amat luxus, quicquid desiderat vsus, Ex te proveniat. Insula praedives quae toto vix eget orbe Et cujus totus indiget orbis ope. Dictū est de Innocentio quarto, quòd amote servido & flagranti ad videndum divitias Londini & delicias Westm. captus erat. In laudem Britanniae quidam ita scripsit. Illa quidem longè celebri splendore beata, Glebis, lacte, favis, supereminet insula cunctis, Quas regit ille deus; Spumanti cujus abore Profluit Oc [...]anus. Testes Lon [...]onia ratibus, W [...]ntonia Baccho, Hereford; grege Worcestria fruge redundans, Batha lacu, Salebira feris, Cantuaria pisce, Eboratum silvis, Excustria clara metallis, &c. Hen: Hunting [...]hist. lib. 1. initio. owne Country? Why should he bestow hundreds in forraine parts to feede moths and Cankars, when he may feede them at home a great deale better cheape? Certainely, I know not, vnlesse he will allow this Paradoxe to be a Principle, That things farre fet and deare bought are good for Englishmen. The Lawes of God and nature enjoyne vs to loue our Countryes, and to preferre the vsefull Commodities thereof before the superfluous Commodities of forraine Nations, the Wooll of sheepe before the excrements of wormes. If we lived neare vnto the Torrid Zone, or in any hot Country, we might haue some colour to affect the Commodities of Persia and Naples; but living in a Climate rather inclinable to cold than heate, where if one quarter of the yeare proue hot, the rest is cold. I know no reason for mine owne part, wherefore we should so much affect to weare those forraine light Commodities. If therefore we cannot be allured to affect our Coūtries (which every good disposition naturally doth, and preferreth the Commodities thereof before the Commodities of forraine Nations) by any argument drawne ab vtili & Commodo. Yet let vs be allured by arguments drawne a necessario; yet being as great a Solaecisme for such as live in cold Countries to put on light Cloth's, as for such as live in hot Countries to weare heavy garments.
Sir, if you tell Socrates or Seneca, that they ought to preferre their Countryes; the one of them will tell you, that he is Mundanus, that the whole world is his Countrie: and the In quam cún (que) terram venio, (inquit Seneca) in meam venio. Patria est, vbicún (que) est benè; illud autem per quod benè est; est in homine, non in loco. other, that that is his Country where he fares best, and hath best entertainement, and that it is not for Libera mens quae per orbem naviter vagandi facultatem habet ad vnum angulum, vel angustum vnius Civitatis, aut provinciolae gyrum terminari nolit. noble spirits to be chayned and wedded to any one corner of the earth, as to neglect the other parts of it, having an interest in the whole; it is for snayles that want legs to walke and wings to flie, for bondmen and slaues that are debarted of libertie to be tyed to places, but for Eagles and free men that haue the world at will, to take benefit of the whole. If the foggie vapours of the Ilands offend them, to flie into the Countryes more constant and setled: and if the heate neare vnto the line offend them, to betake themselues vnto more temperate Climates.
O but I would tell them againe, that
I meane that Country wherein he drew his first breath, where he trod his first steps, where he received his education, which fashioned his minde, and gaue him a well-being in the world, where his lands and revenewes lye, and where his friends and acquaintance are bound vp fast together in the bonds of consanguinitie and affinitie, and I would send them to no other Schoolemaister than to the dumbe Creatures to be instructed herein: the Naturalists doe observe, that the Hare when shee is hunt will hasten to the place where she was bred, to take her last farewell; that the Foxe though he prey abroad, yet will kennell at home; that the fowles of the ayre & fishes of the Sea by an instinct of nature, are so taken with the places where they were bred, that they will never depart farre from them. So that God and nature [Page 178] enjoynes every one to loue the Countryes & the Commodities thereof, where they are governed by good and wholesome Lawes, and enjoy their possessions in safetie before other forraine Countryes and Commodities; of whose Lawes they receiue no benefit.
O but if a man suite himselfe with such Commodities onely as his owne Country can afford him, no man will set by him, or regard him, whereas if he be clad in silkes and velvets and the rich Commodities of other Nations, every man will honour him, as the Cyprus apud Xenoph splendidissimo amictu describitur, et ob eum apparatum obstupefactos Persas caepifle ipsum adorare, cùm antehac adorâfset nemo. Xenoph: lib. 8. Cyrop: Persians did Cyrus, when they beheld him in all his bravery.
Truely amongst wise men Cloth's make no difference, if they savour not of irregularitie. Marry glittering shewes doe oftentimes dasle the eyes of silly women, and sometimes also of silly and simple men; whose wits haue not an edge to pierce any further than the outside onely, but Solon will discover Croesus to be Croesus, let him put on what Nemo ex istis quos purpuratos vides (inquit Seneca) faelix est, non magis quàm exillis, quibus sceptrū & chlamydem in scaena fabulae assignant, cùm praesente populo elati incesserunt, et cothurnati, simul exiêrunt, excalceantur, & ad statum suum redeunt. Senec. Epist. 56. Navis bona dicitur non quae pretiosis coloribus picta est, nec cui argenteum et aurcum est rostrum, nec quae filcis & opibus regijs presla est: sed quae stabilis et firma est, et ad ferendum incursu [...] maris to [...] da. Regula non quàm formosa, sed quàm recta quaeritur in homine curem nihil ad rem pertinet, quantum aret, quantū faeneret, à quàm multis salutetur, quaàm pretioso incumbat lecto, quàm pellucido poculo bibat, sed quàm bonus sit. Senec. ibid. habit he will, and a wise man will know an Asse to be an Asse by his neighing, though he be clad in a Lyons or a Foxes skinne. It was an apt answere which Solon once gaue Croesus, when Croesus had put himselfe into a gorgeous habit & attire, and would needs know of him whether ever he saw a more beautifull sight in all his life; told him that he had seene the Peacocke, that went more gorgeously on the weeke dayes, than he did on the holy dayes. It was a prettie passage likewise which happened betweene the poore man and the proud man in the Dialogue. A Glorioso vaunting of his painted Cloth's that they were not like other mens, but of a new fashion and different Cut vnto them, which the poore man hearing, thinking he had beene out of his wits, tooke heart vnto himselfe, and was so bold as to tell him, that better men were cōtent to weare worse Cloth's, and that worse Cloth's would better become him; they being neither fit for [Page 179] him, nor he for them; and that he did much marvaile, that he being but a servant should not content himselfe to weare such Cloth's as his owne Country could afford him, but should trouble the Tu fortassis aliorum servus disjunctissimas fatigas gentes, tibi nent, tibi pectūt, tibi nexunt Belga, tibi Persae: Augusto cunctorum domino, aut vxor et filia sorór (que) cum neptibus. Petrarch. Belgians, the Persians to spinne, card, and weave, to make him a garment, which was neither civill, nor manly, nor beseeming a Romane, but effeminate, profuse, and ridiculous. When as the great Augustus, that was Lord of all, could be well content to weare home-made Cloth's, such as his owne familie, his wife, his daughter, his sister, and neeces did provide for him. Such respect, as this Glorioso drew vnto himselfe, doe painted Cloth's and gorgeous outsides draw vnto a man, making him indeede to be hated and contemned. I would therefore haue every true Britaine, I say it againe and againe, to put on the resolution of a true Romane, and to be like Augustus, whom I finde in the Catalogue of the most renowned Princes, Sueton: in Augusto. Petrarch. Qui veste non aliâ quàm domesticâ vsus est.
I hope you will allow the gallant Courtly Ladyes, and the lustie Country Lasses, that haue not disposed of their Virginities, to set forth themselues in the richest Ornaments and attire that money can buy.
Quae pura sunt nuda viderì amant, mos est faeda coloribus abdere; vertue never appeares more beautifull than when she presents her selfe naked vnto vs. It is the condition of vice to cloth her selfe in colours to cover her deformitie. Certainely, the Ladyes of the Court, and the Lasses of the Countrey, can no way better set forth themselues, than by putting vpon them the habits of Peregrini odores, at (que) omne artificium benè olendi sunt signa defectuum; sed bonae famae odor bonus, latiús (que) sensibilis, quàm aromatum, si teratur, [...] sulphurū, si cremetur. Pe [...]arch. Bonne renommée vaut mieux que ceinture d'orée, A good name is better than a Crowne of gold. modestie and civilitie. These will make them glitter like the starres in the Firmament; smell like the gardens of Adonis and Alcinous, and draw the affections of Sutors and affectionate followers vnto them more powerfully, than the Cyneas fuit Pyrrho in delicijs, & de illo dicere solebat, quòd plures Cyneas cum lingua, quàm Pyrrhus cum gladio & pugione vicit. Linguam Ciceronis appellavit Ennius flexanimem, quia animum in quamcún (que) vellet partem raperet. tongues of Cicero and Cyneas did the eares of their Auditors. Esse potest locuples, improbus at (que) probus. Outward ornaments of Cloth of silver and tissue, of silkes and velvets, of jewels [Page 180] and precious stones, are common as well to the bad as to the good, to whores as to chast Matrons & Virgins: but these alone are impropriated to vertue and goodnesse. Yet I will acquaint you with a Custome which the old Romanes vsed; the Romanes were vsed during the minoritie of their children, to make little difference betweene their sonnes and their servants, their daughters and their hand-maides, by clothing and attyring them, that time they set apart for the beautifying & adorning of their mindes in all kinde of literature, and did conceiue to pranke them vp in Vestitus insignis superbiae vexillum nidús (que) luxuriae. Petrarch. Cloth's, would be a meanes to withdraw their affections from those things, which in future times would doe them more good; and therefore vntill the time they intended to bestow them in marriage, they kept them in a kinde of servitude, but then as Flora in her prime, as the Sunne at the highest, or the Moone in her complement did they set them forth; so that every childe tooke notice by the suddaine alteration of their habits, what their parēts did intend towards them: and so Sutors as to a fayre and market repaired vnto them. Which custome of theirs I commend as a most laudable custome, but for such as are alreadie preferred, to lavish out in Cloth's beyond their degrees and estates, and to no other end, than to steale away the affections of husbands from their wiues, or of wiues from their husbands, that I vtterly condemne and disallow.
Sir, you haue sufficiently shewed how idlenesse, drunkennesse, and the inordinate wearing of apparrell doe conduce to the breach of the Lawes derived out of the sacred Law; and what the Lawes of Commonition are which doe punish the same by way of prevention. I pray you in the next place shew what the Lawes are which doe punish Adultery when it is committed, and what punishments the Lawes haue provided for the same.
The Lawes that punish Adultery, are Lawes of Anineadversion; which (as the Lawes of Commonition doe punish onely ad Castigationem, that the delinquent himselfe may be stayed and stopped in his vnruly courses,) so these doe punish ad ruinam; that others seeing the punishments may be deterred from committing the like offences.
What are the punishments which the Lawes inflict vpon offenders in this kinde?
By the Law of God the punishment was no lesse than death; the Levit. 20. v. 10. Adulterer and Adulteresse shall dye the death. If you looke into the sacred Scripture, you may there behold that for the transgression of one man in this kinde, a whole Tribe hath suffered; for the transgression of many, whole Cities haue suffered; for the transgression of the multitude, the whole world hath suffered. If you reade but the story of Gen. 34. Sichem and Dina, you shall there see how that for the transgression of Sichem, all the Sichemites suffered; how the Iudg. 19. Benjamites suffered for ye abuse offered to the Levites wife: how David for Vrias wife; how Pharaoh for Abrahams wife; how Sampson for Dalila. If you looke into the story of Sodome and Gomorrha, you may there behold how that this transgression was a principall cause of the ruine and destruction of those famous flourishing Cities. If you looke into the Tragedie of Troas, you shall there behold the punishment due to this transgression lively set forth by Seneca in the beginning of the Tragedie in Hecuba, where she bewayling the incertaintie and mutabilitie of all worldly pompe and pleasure, wisheth all such as place their felicitie in it, to make her and the Citie of Troy their objects and looking glasses.
If you looke into the History of the Gen. 6. & 7. Heu tanta impietas toto grassatur in orbe, Vt submersa deus cuncta animata velit! old world, you shall there see that this transgression was a principall pioner to vndermine the earth, and to open the sluces to let in the deluge vpon it. So odious hath this transgression beene in the sight of God, and such sharpe and severe punishments hath God ever inflicted vpon transgressors in this kinde.
What Canonicall Lawes haue beene made to punish this transgression; and how did the Iewes and the Heathen people punish the same, I pray you acquaint me.
You shall vnderstand, that by the auncient Canons of the Church, that he or she that was convicted of Adultery, was to doe penance for the space of seaven yeares, before he could receiue a plenary absolution. By the peculiar Canonicall Lawes of this Nation wherein you liue, if a Minister had beene convicted of Adultery, all his goods were presently to Reformat. legum Ecclesiast: de adulterijs et divortjis. Cap. 2. devolve vnto his wife and children, if so be he had any; if not, to such good vses as the Iudge in his discretion should thinke fit; and if he had beene formerly promoted to any Benefice, to haue beene deprived, and to haue beene made incapable ever after to haue enjoyed any other; [Page 183] and to haue beene banisht, or otherwise to haue suffered perpetuall imprisonment; if she had beene a wife that had thus transgressed, she was to loose her dowry, and all the fortune she could expect from her husband, and either to be banisht, or to suffer perpetuall imprisonment. The fundamentall Lawes of our Nation take no notice of these offences, but leaveth the punishment thereof wholy to the Ecclesiasticall Iudges; but if the Adultery be inforc't, then doe our Lawes not onely punish the malefactors, but their Equus ejus dedecorabitur, caudâ ejus abscissâ, canis leporarius, vel alius eodem modo dedecorabitur, si habet accipitrem, perdat beccam, vngues, et caudam. Bract. lib. 2. dumbe Creatures, their Horses, Hawkes, and dogs, by disfiguring of them, that every man may take notice by looking vpon them, of what condition their Maisters are; which Lawes continued in force vntill about the time of King Edw. the 1. who by the Statute of Westm. 1. cap. 13. Westm. the 1. mitigated the rigor of those Lawes, making this offence to be but a trespasse; but afterwards finding some inconveniences to arise, by reason of this mitigatiō by the statute of Westm. 2.38. West. the 2o. he caused this offence to be made felony againe. So strict the Statute and fundamentall Lawes of the Kingdome wherein we live beene against enforc't Adulteries. By the Lawes of the Iewes the punishment was death, or a Bundorf. de Synagoga Iudaica. cap. 34. punishment as grievous. If the offence had beene committed in the Summer time, they were to vndergoe the Ant-penance, which was to sit for a certaine season in an Ant-hill, his eares and nose being stopt: if in the Winter time, then they were enjoyned the Water-penance, to sit vp to the chin in cold water for a certaine season. Which kinde of punishment it is said that Adam vnder-went in Medeasch for eating of the forbidden fruit: if the season were neither hot nor cold, then a certaine kinde of fasting was enjoyned for the present, and when Winter or Summer which first approached came, then they were to vndergoe the Ant or Water-penance. By the Lawes of the Heathens the punishment was different, according to the diversitie of [Page 184] Nations. In Tiraquill: in Alexand: ab Alexand. Tenedos the punishment was that the delinquents of both sexes should be beheaded: in Iudaea they were stoned. Among the old Germanes the punishment of the Adulteresse was first to haue her haire cut off and to be banisht from her husbands house, and afterwards to be whipt naked throughout every street of the Towne. Amongst the Pysadas, they were carried vpon an Asse, their head towards the Asses tayle. Among the Existimabant Aegyptij mulierem sese ad illicitā cō tinentiā exornantem, oportere ea parte mutilari, qua facies maximè exornatur. Diod. Sic: lib. 1. rerum antiq. Aegyptians, the woman had her nose cut off, and the man his privie members: which Law was put in execution by the Romanes and the Graecians. Carbo among the Romanes was bereaved of his privie members, because he willingly and wilfully mistooke his marke, and Dydimos the Fidler among the Graecians was hanged vp by that Instrument in which he tooke most pleasure. Among the Locrenses, Zele [...]cus made a Law, that he which committed this offence, should forfeit both his eyes; which he executed so strictly, that to satisfie the Law, his sonne being found guiltie thereof, he caused one of his owne eyes to be put out. Among the Parthians, no offence was punished with greater severitie. Among the Arabians, it was Capitall. By the Law of Opilius Macrinus, they were burnt that committed this offence. And certainely, if the man taken in the very act of Adultery, had beene bereaved of his privie members, it had beene good Iustice by the Lawes of the Graecians and Romanes. The Case stood thus, one being taken abed with his neighbours wife, the husband cōming in, and finding them abed together, without making any vprore, cut off the nose of the Adulterer; and so suffered him to depart; this man walking abroad with his nose in his hand, seeing every man to deride him, that knew vpon what termes he lost it: at the first was much dejected, but afterwards putting on as good a face as a man without a nose could doe, gaue out how Don Diago being drunke and starke mad, with foolish jealousie [Page 185] had assaulted him, and taking advantage of his nakednesse, being vnarmed, had surprised him and disfigured his face vpon a false ground, that he had beene too familiar with his wife: which begat a suite, and comming to hearing, the judgement was against the nose-cutter, for that it was not lawfull for a private man to doe which a publicke Magistrate could not: the Quis tibi persuasit nares abscindere maecho? Non hac peccatum est parte (marite) tibi. Martial. lib. 3. Epig. 84. nose never offended, and therefore to punish it was to punish the innocent; but had he served him as Carbo was by the Lawes of the Romanes, he might haue justified it. So strict were the Lawes even of the Heathens against Adultery.
I pray you giue me leaue to expostulate a little with you, seeing that Adultery and Fornication are things so odious & abominable in the eye of all Lawes, and marriage so honourable, to what purpose were the Iulian Lawes made, which did prohibite men after sixtie, and women after fiftie yeares of age to marry.
To no purpose at all, and therefore they were repealed by Iustinians Lawes; for generally the end wherefore marriage was prohibited was procreation of children, which did occasion covetousnesse, and to prohibite that in men of those yeares was but to prohibite that which the Lawes of nature had prohibited before. Chastitie was ever held an honourable and commendable vertue amongst the Heathens, yet such a Chastitie as was voluntary and not compulsarie. Porcia had never been recorded amongst the Romanes for a chast woman, had there been a Law to haue restrained her not to haue married, nor the daughter of Marcus Cato for her discreete Answers, who being moved againe and againe to marriage, answered no, I know not how to better my selfe, for if I meete with as good a one as I had before, I shall feare to loose him as I did him; if with a worse, the world will condemne me that I could not content my selfe when I was well: neither would the memories [Page 186] ofValeria solebat dicere sibi semper maritum suum vivere: & Artemisia quòd defunctum virum sicut vivū adamabat. Valeria and Artemisia haue continued so long, had not the loue they bore to their former husbands, and not the Lawes restrained them from taking other husbands vnto them. So that without doubt those Lawes were made to little or no purpose at all.
To what purpose then were the Lawes made which did prohibite second marriages, vpon a penaltie that women should forfeite whatsoever they had by their former husbands, and be branded with infamie?
Certainly, there were never any Lawes made to punish marriagesMatrimonium ritè factum nunquam punitur, sed nimia festinatio. Iustim: de secundis nuptiijs. duely celebrated and solemnized; but the Lawes you speake of were made to punish too too speedy marriages, that is, if the woman had married within the yeare after her husbands death, which in Olim tenebatur mulier lugere virum per spatium 10 menfium; tempus hodiè est annus. auncient time was set apart for mourning and lamentation, and not for mirth and marriages; which Lawes were therefore made to restraine the vnbridled lusts and affections of such immodest women as I shall acquaint you with. There lived sometimes in Vtopia a certaine woman, who so much lamented her husbands death as if she would haue dyed with Thisbe loved Pyramus so fervently that with the same sword that he slew himselfe for loue of her, she killed her selfe for loue of him, and dyed vpon his Corps. Thisbe vpon his Corpse, who attending him to his graue in a mournefull manner, sounded out nothing els but I would to God I might lye with thee, I would to God I might lye with thee; but it so happened that this Mulieri ne credas ne mortuae quidem. Horat. woman that made such a shew of lamentation, within very few dayes after married her selfe to a servant of hers, that led her by the arme to see her husband interred; so that by the sequel the people gathered that her meaning was yt shee might lye with him that led her, and not with her husband in the grave; which being noysed abroad, she became a scorne even to the children, so long as she continued in Vtopia. So that I say, that marriages duely executed were never punishable, but too too speedie marriages, such as this was.
To what purpose likewise (if marriage be honorable among all men) were the Lawes made that restrained decrepit, aged & impotent people from marrying with young wiues?
Certainely, I never re [...]d of any such Lawes, and indeed there needeth none, for such marriages are of themselues sufficient punishments vnto them, as appeares by the marriage of See the Marchants-tale. Chawcer. Ianuary and May in the English-Poet. Old Father Ianuary having past the heate of youth in a single life, in his decrepit old age doted vpon a wife, and none would serue his turne but a Virgin of fifteene; and why, marry because (to vse the Poets language)
And according to his desire it so happened, that he met with the young LadyDiscipulis quod virga, novis est Virgo maritis: Virga solet pucros, virgo domare vitos. May, whom he made his wife; but see what befell him. Not long after the marriage was solemnized,Balnea vina venus, ventus piper, allia, fumus, Ista nocent oculis, sed vigilare magis. See more of this in the tragicall Historie of Sypontus and Victorina; Where is shewed how disp [...]rity in years [...]lome maks true harmony in affections, and how difficult [...]his f [...]r youth & age to sympathize, and that then it due eternall prayse and commendation, when Ianuary and May liue like Venus and Adonis. Venus (as she is a professed enemy to the eyes) deprived him of his sight, and then as old men naturally vse to doe, he beganne to grow peevish, jealous, and suspitious, and to Conjure his young wife, as she desired to haue glory in heaven, honour on earth, and to enjoy his possessions, to be true vnto him: but notwithstanding she made this protestation.
[Page 188] Notwithstanding, I say, she made this protestation, yet she suffered Damian her servant, Damian in whom Ianuary reposed his greatest confidence, to defile his bed: So that (I say) such marriages are sufficient punishments in themselues, and neede no Lawes to restraine them.
Sir, I am [...]re there are Lawes that restraine Clergie-men from marriage, to what purpose were they made (I pray you) if marriage be Honorabile conjugium inter omnes 13. Heb. 4. neminem excludit qui dicit omnes. Zanch. honorable amongst all, and Adultery and Fornication abominable?
You must know, that at such times as those canonicall Lawes were made, the Pope sat in the chayre and swayed all, profit and commoditie was the end and scope of all, and Hospitalitie and reliefe of the poore were clokes and pretences to bring to passe and to effect all. For vnder those goodly pretences of Hospitalitie and reliefe of the poore, divers Councels were swayed to restraine marriage in the Clergie, being alledged that wife and children must needs occasion covetousnesse in them, and draw that reliefe to individualls which did belong to the multitude: whereas if they were restrained they could not be so vngratefull, but either in life or death to remember the poore, and the Church from whose breasts they had suckt whatsoever they had. These were faire pretences, and made a glorious shew in the Councell of Nice, vntill old Socrates Schol: lib. 1. cap. 8. Zosom. lib. 1. cap. 22 [...] ▪ Paphnutius stood vp and shewed the inconveniences which ensued by reason of this restraint, maintaining this position, Conjugall Matrimonie to be true Chastitie, with such reasons and authorities, that he drew the whole Councell vnto him; and these pretences prevailed much with Gregorie the great, vntill that he was truely informed, how that at one time there were found in a Fish-pond the Lonicerus. heads of two thousand Infants murthered, the issues of adulterous and incestuous persons, occasioned principally, as it was thought, by reasō of this restraint, for being prohibited the ordinary meanes, they fell to [Page 189] extraordinary, and so from one sinne to another, from whoredome to murther.
If such inconveniences arise by reason of restraining of men from marriage, it were more needfull in my opinion, that the old Law of the Romanes of Tacitus lib. 3. cap. 5. Papia or Poppaea, which prohibited single life, and provided, that if any should abstaine from marriage and die without issue, the people should inherit his goods, should be set afoote againe.
Without doubt if it were, there would not be so much vncleannesse, and so many exorbitant offences committed as now adayes there is in the world: neither should we so often as we doe, fall from one sinne to another, from whoredome to murther. The Nitimur in vetitum semper cupimús (que) negata. nature of man doth ever long and thirst after that which is prohibited. The Faelix qui proprijs aevum transegit in arvis; Ipsa domus puerum, quem videt ipsa senem. Indo cilis rerum, vicinae nescius vrbis; Aspectu fruitur liberiore poli. Claudian: de Sene, qui juxta Veronam consistēs, villâ suâ nunquam egreffus efset. old man in Claudian so long as there was no tye vpon him, could well content himselfe to liue within the Circuit of a little modell of ground all his life time, but when he was restrained his libertie, that went neare vnto him: the Omnibus hoc vitium cantoribus inter amicos, Vt nunquam inducant animum cantare rogati; Injussi nunquam desistant. Horat. lib. 1. Serum: Sut. 3. Singers in the Poet could hardly be drawne to sing at any time by their best friends, vntill there was a Law that did command them to hold their peace, but then their best friends could hardly make them to be silent. The strictest sect of men are men, and subject to the infirmities of men, and for them to be restrained from the meanes which the Law of God and nature doth allow to all Creatures, it cannot but goe neare vnto them. If a woman, a woman? no, but a monster in the shape of a woman, shall very oftentimes (the more the pittie) to avoyde shame and ignominy onely, lay violent hands vpon the fruit of her owne wombe, and send it to his graue by vntimely death, what can be expected from such vpon whom the Lawes inflict not shame alone, but By the Statute of 31. H. 8. cap. 14. it was felonie for a Priest to lye with a woman, though he had beene married to her. death for such an offence?
Sir, I am of your opinion, that if the Law you [Page 190] speake of were set on foote, so many murthers would not be committed, but I verily perswade my selfe that covetousnesse would more abound.
No certainely; for in whatsoever condition or state of life the Blackamore liveth in, he will never change his hew; to a covetous disposition it is all one whether he hath wife or no wife, childe or no childe, he will be covetous still; giue Alexander the world, yet he will desire more worlds. The Kingdome of Greece will scant content Agamemnon, when as Vlysses Ithacam suam immortalitati à Calypso oblatae anteposuit. Vlysses is well contented with his Ithaca. To moderate minds a Opes quid curas? fortunam, veluti tunicam magis concinnam proba, quàm longam. Lips: lib. 1. polit. cap. 6. little is enough, but to the covetous nothing. Doe we not see some in the midst of plentie, live in penury discontentedly, and to be readie to put an end to their dayes, with the Covetous man in Castilio, as often as Cùm in summa caritate f [...]umentum vendere reculâsset avarus; & paulò post dimidio minoris eslet pretij; desperatione exanimatus, la queo se clanculùm in cubiculo suspendit; cúm (que) accessit servus, & sunē ocyùs praecidit, avarus tanto discrimine liberatus cùm se recolligeret, fremere caepit & indignariconscissum esse laqueum tam novitium, & de pretio cum servo expostulabat. Castil: lib. 2. Corne growes cheape, and others full of Children to live happily & contentedly vpon a meane estate? wiues and children are but Clokes to the Covetous to cover their Covetousnesse. Caligulaes Sueton: in Caligula. Daughter was made the instrument to fill his Coffers, vpon her forsooth the burthen of his covetousnesse must be laid: as soone as she was borne, then he complaines of povertie, and of the heavie burthens that lay vpon him, the one as Emperour, the other as Father: and then doth he by a publike Edict declare that he would receiue all Newyeares gifts thankfully, and then & not before did he wallow in his heapes of gold and silver. But had his daughter never beene borne, he would haue adopted twentie rather than his Coffers should haue beene emptie. So that it is not the state and condition of life we live in, that can moderate our affections, & make them either covetous or abstemious, but it is grace infused in the divine part must doe the deede.
Sir, giue me leaue, I pray you, to aske you one question more, and so I will forbeare to trouble you any further touching the Lawes of Adultery. [Page 191] What is the reason wherefore by the Lawes of GOD the punishment due to the Adulterer and Adulteresse is death, and by the Canonicall Lawes but pecuniary and corporall, which manner of punishment as I conceiue, doth in no degree suite with the nature of the offence? for I ingenuously confesse, I should sooner pardon any one that should take away my Horse, my Oxe, or my Plowe, nay, my Horse, Oxe, Plowe, and all, though they conduce much to my livelihood, than that they should dismember me, take away one Maritus & vxor vnum sunt, vna caro & vna anima, ideó (que) tenetur apud Iuriscō sultos, quòd maritus potest vxorem suam defendere, & defendendo, (sinecessitas vrget) aggressorem occidere. Ayraus de Homicid. necessar: & casuali. halfe of my selfe, my wife from me. Yet we see continually at our grand Assizes and Sessions in the Country, how severely the Statute and fundamentall Lawes of the Kingdome of England punish the one, and how sleightly the Canonicall Lawes punish the other.
Sir, you must know, that the Lawes of God were as well Ceremoniales & forēses leges Mosaitae, quae tantùm Iudaico populo vs (que) ad Christum, & ad certum tempus, donec mansura esset politia Iudaica constitutae, cum ea politia magna ex parte extinctae. Ceremoniall and Iudiciall as Morall, and that as the Morall Lawes were to continue for ever, so the other Lawes were but Temporary and Arbitrary and might be abrogated. Now as the Lawes which prohibite the fact of Adultery were Morall and inchangeble, so the Lawes which provided punishments against the Transgressors were temporary. In the Common-wealth of the Iewes this sinne began to spread in selfe and to grow notorious, and therefore necessary was it, that the Law should shoot sharpe and keene Arrowes at it. But the Iewish Common-wealth being long since abolisht, the Lawes of God haue left the punishments to temporall Princes, or to their subordinate Magistrates and Ministers to punish the same, as they in their discretion shall thinke fit. So that although in the Iewish Common-wealth, Adultery was thought worthy of death, yet in other Common-wealths in after ages, pecuniary and corporall punishment was thought to be a punishment equivalent to the nature of the offence, yet this kinde of punishment is not a punishment so [Page 192] sleightly to be esteemed of as you would haue it: you may know, that Cain suffred more in his life than in his death; the Serpents, Toades, and Adders live, but they are continuall eye-sores to the beholders; Cain would haue dyed, for that his torment was greater than he was well able to beare, but he could not, a marke was set vpon him, and a penall Law made which did inflict a punishment vpon any one that should ease him of his torment; so that a man may liue and Veteres Aegyptij ignominiam morte graviotē esse putabant; ideó (que) in bellis qui ordinem reliquissent, aut non paruissent ducibus, non morte plectebantur sed maximâ ignominiâ. Diod: Sic. Non ego quos rapuit mors defleo; defleo vivos, Quos vrunt longo fata futura metu. Morus. suffer more than if he had dyed for the same offence: the good name and reputation of a man whilest he walkes vpon the face of the earth is like the soule in the body the life of man. When it departs from him, he may well be said to be a dead man; the Lawes Ecclesiasticall doe punish these offenders by this kinde of death, by taking away their reputations from them, burying them alive in the face of the Congregation, with their winding-sheets about them, displaying to the world in notorious Ensignes engraven in great Letters, what manner of persons they are, to the intent that they that behold their punishmēts may avoyde their offences, and that they may be an ignominy and scandall to all posteritie. So that you may know, the punishment is parallell in some degree to the nature of the offence.
You haue given me good satisfaction, I pray you goe on, and in the next place acquaint me what are the Lawes which are derived out of the next Law of the second Table.
I will therein satisfie you. And first I will shew you from whence Furtum, the word Theft hath its denomination; then how many Furti nomine benè intelligitur omnis illicita vsurpatio rei alienae: non enim rapinam permisit, qui furtum prohibuit, sed furti nomine etiam et rapinā intelligi voluit. kinds of theft there are; then who are properly said to be Theeves, and who improperly; then what the Lawes are which are hence derived, which punish delinquents of both kinds; and lastly, what punishments those Lawes inflict vpon delinquents and transgressors. You shall vnderstand, that [Page 193] some will haue the word Spieg. Furtum to take denomination a furno, from blacknes and darkenes, because it is vsually committed closely and secretly, and the night is made the vale to cover their vnlawfull practises and designes; others a fraude & ferendo, vel auferendo, which I doe conceiue to be the most proper Etymologie of it, being that it doth more fully expresse the nature of it. Theft being nothing els but an vnlawfull taking away of that which belongs to another man, be it by force or fraude, or by any other vnlawfull meanes whatsoever. The divers kindes whereof are well distinguished by furtum magnum & parvum, Larcenie and petit Larcenie. Larcenie being then said to be committed by the Fulbeck. Imperiall Lawes, when the thing feloniously taken away, amounts to the value of 5.s. and by the Lawes of See the Stat. of Westm. 1. cap. 15. tit. Mainprise. England, when it amounts to the value of xij.d. Petit Larcenie when the thing stolne amounts not vnto those values, the delinquents are distinguished either by open and knowne, or secret theeves; open & knowne theeves are such who make wrong and robbery their profession, and those are of divers kindes, either such as make the high-wayes the places of their Commerce, and are commonly knowne by the name of high-way Theeves and Robbers; or such as make the fields the places of their Commerce, whom the Imperiall Lawes terme Abigei dicuntur qui pecudes ex agris alienis abducunt. Abigei and Drovers of Cattell, who vse or rather abuse the driving trade, interessing themselues in things which they never paid for; and vnto which they haue no manner of title but possessiō, as horse-stealers, sheep-stealers, and the like; or otherwise such as deale more closely, making private houses the places of their commerce, such as are Burglarers, breakers of houses, picklockes, and the like; and generally all such as take any thing from any man to the values before-mentioned surreptitiously and feloniously; Clandestini sures viliores et sanè improbiores sunt illis qui vi rapiunt: hi enim fraude agunt, illi autem vi, & ideò juxta sententiam Ciceron: hi vulpeculis, illi leonibus assimilantur. Petrarch. secret theeues or enemies more dangerous than the former, are Church-robbers, [Page 194] Vsurers, Monopolizers, Enclosers, Engrossers, Regrators, and Forestallers, corrupt and ill affected Iustices, Advocates, Atturneys, double-dealing Vnder-Sheriffes, and Mechanickes, which vse fraud and deceit in the execution of their Trades and Occupations.
Of these latter I haue often heard, but I never knew them to be enemies so dangerous before. I pray you therfore acquaint me how I may know them, that when I meete with them I may beware of them.
Sir, to giue you satisfaction, I will acquaint you with some privie markes, & deliver vnto you some rude & impolisht pictures of them, drawne out though not to the life, in that deformitie as they themselues are, yet deformed enough, so that by looking vpon the dead you may know the living, and by knowing of them avoyde them. And first I will deliver vnto you the picture of the Church-robber. The Church-robber is a kinde of pioner that vndermines the Academies, and by his magicall spells and enchauntments pulls downe Churches and Steeples, yet never comes neere them; that roots out learning and Civilitie, and induceth Barbarisme into a Common-wealth, that with-holds the wages from the labourer, and takes away the Panis pauperum est vita eorum. Prov. 6. liues of many, yet offers no violence to the persons of any. Reward is the life of vertue, and the nurse and nourisher of liberall Arts and Sciences: it is Patritmonium nostrum apud Iurisconsultos, secundus hominis sanguis dicitur, & vitae aequiparatur. honour which leades the Souldier into the field, profit and commoditie that makes the freeman put vpon him the habit of servilitie; it is that againe that makes the Eò impenditur labor & periculum vnde emolumentum at (que) honor speratur; nihíl (que) non aggresturi sunt homines, si magnis conatibus magna praemia proponantur. Liv: Ea respub: tyrannidem sapit quae fortes & sapientes minimè honorat: Aristot. Marchant and Mariner to thinke the troublesome and tempestuous Seas to be delightfull vnto him; Impiger extremos currit mercator ad Indos. Sublatis stediorum praemijs, etiam studia percunt. Tacit: lib. 11. Annal. cap. 2. in fine. At vbi spiritum etsanguinem sub principe recipiunt, ad scribendum sui temporis historiam nunquā deerunt decora ingenia. Lips; lib. 2. polit. and the long and tedious voyage to the Indies to be short and momentary; it is preferment that makes the Father straine himselfe to trayne vp his sonne at the Academie, and the sonne againe to spend many a wearisome houre in musing and meditating. The ready way therefore to disanimate the Souldier [Page 195] from the field, to expell & banish the Tradesman and Artificer from the Citie, to pull downe Colledges, Churches, Academies, is to make an absolute separation and divorce betweene industrie and reward; and to damme vp the way betweene learning and preferment. This Iulian the Apostata, the great Church-robber, and Arch-enemy to God and all goodnesse put in execution; he fell not vpon the Priests and slew them, for he knew the next age would produce more; but vnder pretence to set them in a readie way to heaven, he fell vpon the Priesthood, and tooke away all the rents and revenewes of the Church, making vse of the words of the Evangelist to serve his turne, Redditus Ecclesiae furripuit ne possint ali docētes, & discentes, & virulentos jocos addidit se facere expeditiores ad regnum caeleste, spoliatis facultatibus. Hist. Tripartit. Blessed are the poore, for theirs is the Kingdome of Heaven. And this Valer: Maxim: lib. 1. c. 1. Dionysius of Syracusa put in execution, who at severall times disrobed the Temples of their fairest ornaments, at one time taking a golden beard from the picture of Aesculapius, for this cause, because his Father had none, saying it would be an vnseemely thing that Aesculapius should haue a beard and Apollo haue none. Another time taking a golden habit from Valer: Maxim: lib. 1. c. 1. Iupiter Olympius, vpon pretence that it was too heavie for Summer, and too cold for Winter, and that a habit made of Wooll would better fit both seasons. And this a Aethelwoldus. Bishop of Winchester put in execution, when in a small dcarth he tooke from the Temples all their vessels of gold and silver; saying, it was not fit that the sencelesse Temples of God should abound with riches, and the lively Temples of the holy Ghost should live in want. And this doe all they put in executiō that withhold the duties of the Church from the Church, and therefore may well be termed birds of a feather, & fellowes of that fraternitie whereof Iulian the Apostata was the head. The next in the Catalogue is the See the picture of this man lively set forth by Nash, in his Booke entituled Christs [...]eares over Ierusalem, in which I finde that verified of him in the returne from Pernaslus; His style was wittie, though he had some gall, Something he might haue mended, so may all: Yet this I say, that for a mother-wit, Few men haue ever seene the like of it. Vsurer, who indeede is the best friend in the world at the first, but the worst enemy at last: the readiest to assist you in the beginning; and the [Page 196] nimblest to assault you in the ending; the wearied Travailer in his bed, nor the seafaring man in the haven shall not finde so much contentment, as you shall doe in him vpon the first acquaintance; whatsoever he hath, if he like your living (liue how you lift he cares not) he will devote vnto your service, himselfe, his purse, and all that he hath shall be at your commaund, you cannot be so ready to demaund, as he will be to pleasure you in your demaunds; and whatsoever he lendeth vnto you, you will rather thinke it given than lent, so slow shall you finde him to hasten that which is due vnto him home againe; but the bush which for a time relieved the silly sheepe against the storme, will when he takes his leaue strip him of his fleece: the Hoste that whileome was so serviceable, will before he shake hands with you, present you with a reckoning as terrible as death; the man that was so forward to lend, so backward to call for what he had lent, will at the last make you Chrysostem: Vocat vsuram Schema misericordiae, quasi qui opem laturus, in soveam protrudit. pay both his forwardnes and backwardnes; there shall not a weeke in the yeare nor a day in the weeke passe, but he will haue an account of it; for he accounts that day lost, and cryes woe & alas at night,Hei mihi diem perdidi. that brings no profit to him; by these few markes you may know him; and that you may haue a more perfect knowledge of him, you may be pleased to take notice that this is the man that sets vp a Trade that robs the Common-wealth of those mutuall offices of loue and familiaritie which should be betweene man and man. The Evangelist gaue this in charge long agoe Luk. 6. vers. 35. Mutnum date nihil indesperantes, lend freely, looking for nothing againe. And it was a Custome amongst Christians freely to relieue their brethren in their wants and necessities; but the Evangelists Charge is wholy neglected, and the Custome in vse among the auncient Christians now quite and cleane abolisht, by the bringing in of that old Iewish trade of Vsury. And now it is become a Custome rather to lend [Page 197] to a Iew, a Turke, or any man for profit and commoditie, than to a friend, yea, the nearest of friends, though in want and necessitie. So that this greedie desire of having hatch out of this Iewish trade, hath beene an eye-sore in all ages of the world; and the wisedome of all times hath shot sharpe Arrowes at it, to banish it, especially the Iewish part of it, as one of the greatest enemies of humane societie, yet haue allowed of it as the Quis ignorat singulare certamen malum esse? quis ignorat cruciatus quibus homines torquētur malos esse? Quis ignorat meretrices in Civitate permitti malum esse? quis ignoratvsuram in repub: malum esse? quis dení (que) ignorat omnia illa aliquando permittenda esse, vt majora vitentur mala? Bernard. Stewes haue been allowed in many parts of the world, where if they were not allowed common Whores, they would fall vpon honest women. For even those very The Statutes doe not say, it shall be lawfull for a man to take ten per Centum, but prohibite, that he shall take no more. Lawes which doe allow of it by way of restraint, and not otherwise doe condemne it as a thing odious and detestable both before God and man. The Statute of the third yeare of King Henry the seaventh beginneth thus; that all vnlawfull Chevisances and Vsury be damned, and none to be vsed vpon paine of forfeiture of the value of the money so Chevised and lent, and so goeth on; the Statute of the thirty-seaventh yeare of King Henry the eight beginneth thus; where divers Acts of Parliaments haue beene made for the avoyding and punishing of Vsury, being a thing vnlawfull, &c. The Stat. of the fifth yeare of King Edward the sixth is verbatim as followeth; where in the thirty-seaventh yeare of the late King Henry the eight, amongst other Acts and Statutes then made, it was enacted by authority of Parliament, that no person or persons at any time after the last day of Ianuary in the said thirty-seaventh yeare, should haue, receiue, accept, or take in lucre or gaines for the loane, forbearing or giving day of payment for any summe or summes of money for one whole yeare aboue the summe often pound in the hundred, and so after that rate and not aboue of and for a more or lesse summe, or for longer or shorter time, vpon the paines and forfeitures in the said Act mentioned and contained, the which act was not meant or intended for the maintenance or allowance of vsury, [Page 198] as divers persons blinded with inordinate loue of themselues, haue and yet doe mistake the same; but rather was made and intended against all sorts and kindes of Vsury, as a thing vnlawfull, as by the title and preamble of the said Act it doth appeare. And yet neverthelesse, the same was by the said Act permitted, for the avoyding of a more evill and inconvenience that before that time was vsed and exercised. But for as much as Vsury is by the word of God vtterly prohibited, as a Iure optimo (inquit Arist.) in hominū odia incurrit faeneratio, quoniam ipsa pecunia fructus ejus est; nec ad permutandas res, cujus causa comparata est refertur. Aristot. lib. 1. polit. cap. 7. See Tacit. lib. 6. cap. 4. vice most odious and detestable, as in divers places of holy Scripture is evident to be seene; which thing by no godly teachings and perswasions can sinke into the hearts of divers greedie, vncharitable, and covetous persons of this Realme; nor yet by any terrible threatnings of Gods wrath and vengeance that justly hangeth over this Realme, for the great and open Vsury therein daily vsed and practised; they will not forsake their filthy gaine and lucre, vnlesse some temporall punishment be provided and ordeined in that behalfe. For reformation thereof be it enacted by authoritie of this present Parliament, that from the first day of May, which shall be in the yeare of our Lord God 1552. the said Act and Statute concerning onely vsury, lucre or gaine of or for the loane, forbearing or giving dayes of any summe or summes of money, be vtterly abrogated and repealed. And furthermore, be it enacted by the authoritie of this present Parliament, that from and after the first day of May next comming, no person or persons of what estate, degree, qualitie, or condition soever he or they be, by any corrupt, colourable, or deceitfull conveyance, sleight, or engine, or by any way or meane, shall lend, giue, set out, deliver or forbeare any summe or summes of money, to any person or persons, or to any Corporation or body politicke, to or for any manner of vsury, encrease, lucre, gaine, or interest to be had, received or hoped for, over and aboue the summe or [Page 199] summes so lent, given, set out, delivered or forborne, vpon forfeiture of the value as well of the summe and summes so lent, given, set out, delivered or forborne, as also of the vsury, encrease, lucre, gaine or interest thereof, and also vpon paine of imprisonment of the body or bodies of every such offender or offenders, and also to make fine and ransome at the Kings will & pleasure; the moity of which forfeiture of the said value shall be to the King, & the other moity to the partie that will sue for the same, in any of the Kings Courts of Record, by Action of debt, Bill, plaint, or information, wherein no wager of Law, essoigne, or protection shall be allowed or admitted. So much hath the Statute of 5. & 6. of King Edward the sixth. The Statute of the thirteenth yeare of Queene Elizabeth, by which in some sort it is allowed againe to avoyde farther inconveniences, hath in it this Clause; for as much as all Vsury being forbidden by the Law of God is sinne, and detestable, &c. and by the same Statute, it is enacted that the Statute of thirtie-seaventh of King Henry the eight shall be most largely construed for the suppressing of Vsury. By the auncient fundamentall Lawes of the Kingdome of England, it hath beene condemned as a thing most By the old Law of England, all the mooveable goods of an Vsurer after his death were to be seised to the vse of the King, though he made a Will, if a Iury found that he lived and dyed in that sinne; and for that cause his heire was to be dis-inherited, and his lands to escheate. Glanvil lib. 7. cap. 16. odious and detestable. In the time of Vsurarios invidebat Rex Edw: & principiebat ne remane [...]et aliquis in toto regno suo; & si quis inde convictus esset quòd faenus exigeret, omni substantia propriâ careret, & posteà pro exlege haberetur. Vide inter leges Edw: in priscis Angloru legibus per Lambertū edit fol. 140 b. Edward the Confessor, there was speciall provision made that no vsurer should remaine within the Confines of the Kingdome; and if any man had beene Convicted thereof, he was to forfeite all his substance, and to be reputed as an Outlaw. In the time of King Henry the second, they were denyed Christian buriall: in the Court of Fraunce, it was the common and ordinary Table-talke, as Edward the Confessor observed, during that time that he made his abode there, Quod Vide Lambert: ibid. vsura radix omnium malorum esset, that there was no evill in that Court that had not that for a beginning. So odious hath this beene esteemed in these parts of the world; neither hath it beene distastfull [Page 200] onely to these parts, but Asia and Africa in generall haue detested and abhorred it. Lucullus after that he had Conquered Asia, studying how to winne the people vnto him, could not thinke of a better meanes then to set them free from Plutarch in Lucullo. Vsury. And Cato having devoted himselfe to doe good vnto Sicilia, made this Law, desirous to free it from vnnecessary members, that no Vsurer should dwell within the Confines of it. Licurgus did so much abhorre it, that he made a Law, that in Sparta it should not be so much as named. Bocchoris in Aegypt made a Law, to banish it absolutely, which Solon brought into Athens, and called it Aegyptij & Athenienses instituêre legem Sysacthiam, ne ob faenus corpora adiudicaripossint. Alexand ab Alexand. Plutarch in Solone. Diod. Sic. lib. 1. rerum antiq: cap. 2. Nam iniquum putebant, milites, qui pro pattiae salute pericula subirent in carcerem pro faenore duci, Plutarch: in Agid: & Cleom: Sysacthia, which was put in execution by Agis in the Market-place, where he caused all the writing-Tables of the money-mongers to be burned, which when Agesilaus comming by by chance saw, said that in all his travailes in Aegypt, Persia, or Greece, he never saw a better fire, or a fire that gaue him such contentment. The reverend Fathers of the Church haue made an enquirie, and examined those kinde of people vpon Interrogatories, why they should persist in their Iewish and vnchristian course of life, and they can giue no other Answere than what Theeves, Robbers, and Strumpets doe for the maintenance and vpholding of their professions, Eleganter redarguit faeneratores August: audent faeneratores dicere non habeo vnde vivam: hoc mi [...]i lat [...]o diceret deprehensus in fauce; hoc & effractor diceret, deprehensus circa parietem; hoc & lena diceret, eme [...]s puellas ad prostitutionem. August. non habeo aliud vnde vivam, they would not doe it if they could tell how to live without it: they are aptly ranked together by the Fathers, and I will not goe about to sever them; but if any preheminence be to be given vnto those qui notantur infamia, I desire that he may haue it to whom it doth belong; for as to kill a man is a greater offence than to rob or steale; so the fault of the one is Majores nostri (inquit Cato) sic habuerunt, & ita in legibus posuerunt furem dupli códemnari, faeneratorem quadrupli: quantò pejorem Cive [...] existimârunt faeneratorem quàm furem, hinc licet existimari. Cato de re rustica. greater than the other; Faenerari autem quid est, nisi hominem occidere? as faith Cato in the Cicero lib. 2. Offic: Prope finem. Oratour. Orestes after that he had killed his mother, pleaded that he did it because that she had before killed his Father; and this was held a good plea to extenuate his offence, and to excuse him [Page 201] à tanto, Swinbourne in his Booke of Wills, will not honour them so much as to ranke them with thieues, but ioynes them with Sodomites; neither Vsurer nor Sodomite (sayth he) haue power to make a Will, nor to receiue any benifit by a Will. Swinb 5. part. 11. Chap [...] but not à toto. But can our delinquent plead any such plea? Not; he hath taken away the lives of many, that were never guiltie of any such crying sinne It was a prettie passage which happened betweene the Skinner and the Vsurer; these two meeting on the way, the poore Skinner humbly saluted the proud Vsurer, and desired further acquaintance of him, as being brothers of a fraternitie, and birds of a feather: the Vsurer disdainfully beholding him, would needs know how it should come to passe, that there should be such an affinitie betweene them two. Marry (quoth he) if with patience you will heare me, I will tell you, and will not goe so farre to deriue my pedigree, as the Quidam petijt Ele [...] mosynam à Philippo rege Macedonum, quia cognatus erat, vt vnus filiorum de AAam: cui rex respondit; si omnibus qui mihi sic attinent, pecuniam darem, nihil penitùs retinerem. Plebeian did that would be the kinsman of Philip of Macedone. Wee deale both in skins. You deale in the skins of reasonable men, and sley them whilest they liue, and I deale in the skins of brute beasts and stay vntill they be dead; and this is all the difference betweene vs. It hath beene a saying of old, that it is better to fall into the Company of Adulatores sunt sorices & tineae palatij, qui nocte dié (que) arrodunt, corrodunt, & devorant: de quibus valde prudenter Antisihenes olim monuit: si necessitas vrget, praestat in corvos quàm adulatores incidere; illi enim mortuos, hi viventes devorare solent. Huttenus. Crowes than flatterers; because that Crowes feede not but vpon dead Carkasses, but Flatterers vpon living men. It may as truely be verified of Vsurers; for if there be any Canniballs in our Horizon, these are they. The Turkes hold, that in the Resurrection all men shall rise againe with different faces: that some shall appeare with faces as cleare as the Sunne; others with faces as cleare as the Moone; others as the Starres: some againe with faces as blacke as darknesse it selfe; others with swolne tongues; others with Hogs faces; that they which attained to any perfection of goodnesse whilest they walked vpon the face of the earth, shall appeare as glorious as the Sunne; that others that lived vertuously, but attained not to that measure of perfection, shall appeare like vnto the Moone and Starres; that those that lived viciously and lewdly, shall appeare with faces as blacke as darkenesse it selfe; that they which gaue themselues over to lying, swearing, [Page 202] and blasphemy, shall appeare with swolne tongues, but as for Vsurers, that they shall haue no resemblance of the faces of men, but shall appeare with faces like vnto hogs and swine. Nay, they goe further, they hold that they which live vpon De faenore viventes non nisi quasi Daemoniaci resurgent; cùm ipsi faenerari quod Deus nefas, & illicitum statuit, licitis annectunt, dicentes, faenus esse qualis est mercatura: boni itá (que) viri deum timete, & faenerari praetermittite, nisi iram & odium dei & prophetae sustinebitis. Alcoran Mahom: Azoar. 4. Vsury, shall not rise againe, otherwise then with the Devils, as appeares amongst their Tenets in their Alcaron. Where this Caveat is given, Yee which are good feare God, and eschew Vsury, least the anger of God and the Prophet assoile you. There are many prettie tales whorded vp in History of these kinde of people. And amongst those many I finde this, that vpon a certaine time a Priest being willing to grant absolution to as many as desired it, wished them according to their severall mysteries to stand vp as he called them, and as they were absolved so to depart, and first he began and called vpon the Fabros, who stood vp and were absolved and departed; then vpon the Pannifices, who did likewise and departed; then vpon the Carpentarios, Ferrarios, and Macellarios, who all stood vp and were absolved and departed: at last, he calls vpon Vsurarios, who being ashamed of their profession, sate still and would not rise. Whereupon he demanded, Qualiter apparebunt in die judicij ad recipiendam ae [...]ernam maledictionem, qui coram hominibus non audent surgere ad benedictionem? how will they appeare in the last day before God to receiue a malediction, that dare not shew themselues before men to receiue a benediction?
Sir, you haue said enough, giue me leaue I pray you, to interrupt you a little. I haue heard of a man whose name was Philo [...]enum inter gulae proceres posuit antiquitas, quòd convivijs adhibitis in paropsides emungeret, vt abstinenribus caeteris solus ille frueretur. A junt optâsse sibi collum gruis. Philoxenus, a kinde of Epicure and belly-god, that if at any time he had seene a dish at a Table that he liked aboue the rest, that he would haue taken some occasion in Paropsides emungere, to spit into the platter where the meate was: to the end, that others abstaining, he might more freely feede vpon it. And of Philotas, who being in loue with Antigona, in all companies [Page 203] where he came, would most bitterly enveigh against her, to the end, that others absenting themselues, he might the more freely enjoy her: and of a Aen [...]as Sylvius. Vsurer that dwelt at Millaine, who in all companies where he came, would bitter enveigh against Vsury, vt prohibitis reliquis solus ipse faeneraretur; that others forbearing, he might the more freely exercise the trade. But I hope better of you, that you were never bred vp at Millaine a Disciple vnder that Scholemaster.
If you will beleeue me Sir, I never was, neither doe I speake affectionately or maliciously;Vsura pugnat cum lege naturae; contra naturam est (vt ait Aristot.) vt pecunia pariat pecuniam: pugnat cum lege dei, vt apparet in diversis locis sacrae scripturae: pugnat cum legibus Canonicis: Nicano enim confilio damnata est omnis vsura: pugnat cum legibus municipalibus vniuscujús (que) provinciae: pugnat cum bonis moribus. Ethnici (vt Plutarch: & alij scripserunt) totos libros de non faenerando. Approbata est autem solummodò causâ necessitatis, vt apparet in diversis statutis pro bono publico Anglorum constitutis. for as I never got any thing by it, nor intend ever to doe, so I never lost any thing by it, nor I hope ever shall doe, but because I finde it condemned by the law of God, by the law of Nature, by the Canonicall Lawes, by the Municipall Lawes of all Nations, yea, even by the lawes of the Heathens, therefore and for no other reason doe I condemne it, and adjudge it as a thing hatefull both before God and men.
You haue given me good satisfaction. I pray you goe on to the next in your Catalogue.
The next in the Catalogue is the Monopolizer, who is so deformed in every part, that if I should goe about to paynt out his deformitie, I feare I should purchase no more credit by it then the Painters in Apelles time did by paynting out of Venus Apelles painted out one part of Venus so to the life, that hee did disgrace all the Painters of his time. beautie. Yet I will adventure vpon him, and first vpon the fairest part of him, which is foule enough, his face is like the face of Vespasian lookt as if he had been strayning for a stoole. Sueton: in Vespasian. —Vultus gibbosus, et acer; Nasus curvatus, & faedus; autis acuta: Et grandis cervix dependens & macilenta; Caesaries & barba rigens frons & gena pallens. Vespasian, or the face which Diogenes spit vpon, who comming into a house that was newly swept and garnished, was requested vt salivam noneijceret, that he would not spit but into some fowle corner of it. Who seeing the good man of the house passe by him, spit full in his face, and being reproved for it, answered [...], that in all the house he could not find a fouler place: and for the other parts of his body, they [Page 204] are proportioned like vnto the Reeves in the English Poet.
And as for his qualities and condition, they are as deformed as is his outward feature and proportion; his thoughts are onely fixt vpon himselfe, and cares not though all the trees of the Forrest were taken with such vntimely fruit, as Ferunt Timonem cùm vidiffet hominem in arbore suspensun, optâsse vt quottannis tali fructu omnes arbores exuberent; ideó (que) non immeritò appellatus est [...]. Timon sometimes vnnaturally desired, so that he may but enjoy the fruits of the Forrest. That loues no man, neither is beloved of any. A common enemy, a generall grievance, a stumbling blocke, and blocke of offence to the Citizen, to the Countryman, to the people in generall. The Citizen complaines of him, that he takes away his living from him, which he hath purchased at a deare rate, with the expence of seaven yeares painfull labours. The Countryman complaines, that he hath enhaunsed the Commodities of the Citie, and that he findeth not that friendly and familiar entertainement there that he was vsed to doe; that in stead of Optatives, he is entertained with Imperatives, in stead of milde and gentle perswasions and intreaties, he is entertained with imperious Commaunds: and in stead of satisfactory Answers, with sharpe reprehensions; for if at any time he chance to make any enquiries how Commodities came to be so enhaunsed, he is presently silenced, and must make no reply, because Monopolium est cum penes vnum aliquem tantùm vendendi poteff [...] exi [...]it; id fit, cùm vnus solus aliquod genus mercaturae vniversum emit, vt solus suo arbitrio vendas, & pretium statuat. Spieg. he knowes not whither els to goe. The people in generall complaine, that by reason of him, Trading is much decayed, for that the Citizen in a manner is compelled to forsake his habitation, and to betake himselfe [Page 205] into the Country: and the Country-man is discouraged to send his sonne for education to the Citie. So that every man you meete withall, can tell you of this man. Yet there is one other marke, by which you may know him. He is alwayes talking of the common good, and pretends nothing more, whereas he intends nothing lesse, for Omnia cum fecit, Th [...] da Thais olet. Thais by her neigbours vpon the first sight is discovered to be Thais, not withstanding all the glorious ornaments & outsides she can put on. And the first hatchers of these new devises, to be for the most part like Sea-faring men, who having suffered Shipwracke at Sea, are ready to catch hold of every mast & planke, and pole of the ship, to helpe themselues. The next in the Catalogue, are Enclosers, a kinde of greedie people, and somewhat allyed to the former, who rob the Kingdome, not of the meanest Commodities of it by exportation, but of the chiefest treasure of it, the ablest men by expulsion and depopulation, by taking their lands and livings from them, and sending them into the highwayes or forraine parts, to seeke their fortunes. The next are The Condition of these kinde of people are well set forth in the Stat. of 5. Edw. 6. Rast. tit. Forestall: Regrat. & Ingross. Forestallers, Regrators, and Ingrossers, who out of a covetous desire of having, will not suffer the Commodities of the Country to come vnto the Citie: or if they can be content to suffer them to come vnto the common Market, yet there they will meete with them, and so first or last will make their private Granaries the publike Markets, whither every man must come and pray and pay before he can haue it. The next in the Catalogue, are corrupt and ill-affected Iustices; such as Exod. 18. vers. 21. Iethro wisht Moses to be ware of, men addicted to greedie Covetousnesse, that make too much vse of their hands in the execution of their places, which Apelles never thought of when he pictured them without hands, as he did Iustice without eyes. And these are of divers kindes: either such as aspire to places of authoritie, not so much to execute the Law according to Iustice, as for [Page 206] their private ends, to pleasure their Nulla erit distantia personarum apud Iudicem: nam Cyrus apud Xenoph: dicitur plagas accepisse, quia ex arbitrio, non ex legum praescripto judicabat. Lex né (que) cognatum, nec amicum agnovit, at aequis Lancibus et magnū ponderat et minimum. Danda opera est magnis, sed non cúvulnere mentis. Danda opera est magnis, sed comitante metu. Oportet amicis accommodare, sed vs (que) ad aras. Talis debet esse minister juris, vt in eius manu nullius authoritate personae titubet, aut vacillet libra justitiae. Magni quidem Alexand: causa in Castrensi judicio a Cō militonibus eius, abiecto terrore damnata erat. Nominatissimus eloquētiae doctor Protagoras in causâ quā habebat erga discipulum suum sententiā postulabat instanter; eius tamen petitio audita non erat [...] nec terror Alexand: nec authoritas Protagorae, justitiae lancem ab aequitate potuit declinare, Bles. friends. Which Publius Rutilius reproved in his friend; who solliciting him in a businesse not befitting him to doe, gaue him a sharpe answere, which his friend taking to heart, told him that in after-times he would not care for such friendship: to whom Rutilius pithily replyed, nor he for such a friend as would moue him in a thing not beseeming him to doe, and which Themistocles reproved in Simonides the Poet, who solliciting him in an vnjust cause, told him that Simonides could never be good Poet, except he did obserue the Rules of Poetry, nor Themistocles good. Praetor, if he should respect any mans person in the distribution of Iustice. And which Bias tooke speciall notice of, when he affirmed that in matters of Controversie, he had rather haue to doe with his enemies that his friends; for that of his friends he was sure to draw one of them to be his enemy, but of his enemies one of them to be his friend. Or such as stifle and smoother vp Causes in corners, which would be heard in publike, and in the view of the world. Which Antigonus reproved in his Brother Marsias, who having a suite depending, desired that it might not be scanned in publike, and in the view of the world: to whom Antigonus in some indignation answered; if thy cause be not Si injustam causam habere te scis▪ curlitigas? si iustam, curfugis hominū conscientiam, et ad domesticas latebras rem fore pertrahis? non cariturus sinistra civium suspicione. Plutarch: in Regū Apo [...]hiheg: just, wherefore doest thou contend; if it be, wherefore doest thou flie into Corners, where it cannot want just cause of suspition: and which Plutarch in Philippo. Philip of Macedone reproved in his friend Harpalus, who solliciting him to haue Craterus discharged, paying a fine, without any further prosecution, answered wherefore are the Courts of Iustice instituted? I had rather that thy friend should Praestat vt ipse malè audiat quàm nos propter ipsū. Non tibi quod liceat, sed quod fecis [...]e decebit. Occurrat, mentémo; domet respectus honesti. Claud. suffer vnder the Law, then I in not executing of them. Or such as are too affectionate, applying themselues to the hearing of the one partie onely, which Imperator Iulianus quā vis tyrannus, neminem inauditū damnare solebat. Lonic: Iulian the Apostata, though a Tyrant, reproved in one of his Councellors; who being moved by [Page 207] him to giue sentence against one that had offended, answered that he would first heare what he could say for himselfe: to whom the Councellor replyed, What guiltie man then will be condemned, if he may be permitted to make an excuse? To whom Iulian againe; nay, rather what innocent may not be condemned, if sentence be given before he be heard. Of which Alexander tooke speciall notice, who vpon the hearing of any cause, laid one of his hands vpon one of his eares, and being asked the reason, answered, that he kept that Defensori dandus audiendi locus. Plutarch in Alexand. eare for the other partie. Or such as are too carelesse and negligent in the hearing of Causes, which is well reproved in Plutarch in Philipp [...]. Philip of Macedone by the appeale of Machetes, who being tryed before him and condemned, appealed from his sentence, which Philip taking very ill, would needs know to whom he would appeale, who answered ad teipsum ô Rex si expergiscaris, & attentiùs audias causam; to none other then to himselfe, from Philip sleeping, to Philip waking. And which is reproved in Honorius by his beloved Sister. Lonicerus. Honorius being accustomed to put his hand vnto writings before he had perused them, which his Sister perceiving, and observing many inconveniences to arise by reason thereof, and having a desire to beate him from it; caused a Writing to be drawne, by which he should promise her in marriage to a man of an ignoble condition, farre inferior vnto her in every degree, which the Lady having gotten into her hands, came vnto Honorius vpon her knees and desired him that shee might haue the priviledge of the meanest subject within his Dominion, and that shee might not be enforced to marry such a one as she could neither like nor loue. Which when Honorius heard, he wondred at, and with many protestations affirmed, that he never dreamt of any such thing. But when the Lady shewed him his hand-writing, he found it to be pravam & parum tutam lonsuetudinem, an ill Custome, and resolved [Page 208] in after-times to be more carefull how he put his hand to any Writing before he perused it. The next in the Catalogue, are Councellors, Advocates, and Atturneys, who to gaine a Fee, or a blast of fame in the world, endevour as much as in them lye to seduce the Iudge that sits to decide Controversies, and to distribute Iustice to every one aright. The next are Tradesmen and Artificers, which vse false weights, lights or measures, of whom the Deut. 25. Lawes of God and men haue taken speciall notice. The next are double dealing vnder-Sheriffes, who by miscarrying of themselues in their places, haue brought the name of Vnder-Sherrife into contempt, and haue made the name of Vicecomes as odious almost as was the name of Vicarius in Martials time. The name of Vicar was sometimes honorable, and none could execute that office but such as ex mandato principis Diaecesin aliquam regebant. But afterwards when Churches beganne to be impropriated by Prioresses and Nunnes, which of Quibus in rebus ipsi interesse non possumus, in his vicaria fides supponitur. Cicero. themselues could not say divine service, nor administer the Sacraments, then it grew into contempt, for they regularly made choyce of such stipendary Priests to execute the Cures, whom they could haue best cheape, whom they called Vicars. By which meanes the name of Vicar grew to be more vile than the name of a servant; as we finde in the Martial. Poet: Esse sat est servum jam nolo Vicarius esse. The name of Sheriffe, Viscount, Comes, and Procomes was ever honorable, amongst the Germanes (as Tacitus obserues) none were named Comites but such as were principibus in Consilijs; and amongst the Romanes the Councell of the Emperour were called Caesaris Comitatus is dicitur locus, in quo vitam agit princeps, et Palatini omnes qui eunti Imperatori, Caesarí (que) assistunt, dicuntur ejus Comitatus, & ipsi nunc Comites, nunc Comitatenses. Spieg. Comitatus, who were vsed in secretis, or in remotis. Those which were vsed in secretis, were much honored and had accesse to the Emperour at all times, and vpon all occasions: those which were vsed in more remotis, were honored likewise, though not in so high a degree as the other [Page 209] were, as Comes domorum erat ille, qui in domesticos principis praefecturam habebat. Comes domorum, Comes horreorum qul habuit mancipia quaedam purgandis horreis as [...]ipta, coquendó (que) pani principis. Comes horreorum, Comes laborum, qui et praepositus laborum, cui mediastini omnes, alij (que) domus Imperatoriae artifices subditi erant. Comes laborum, Comes rerum familiarium privatarum, cui omnis res familiaris commis [...]a est. Comes rerum privatarum, Comes sacrarum largitionum, per quem Caesaris stipendia militibus erogaverunt. Comes sacrarum largitionum, Comes sacri patrimonij qui praeerat patrimonio Caesaris. Comes patrimonij; all these were Comites and Consiliarij, though in divers degrees. When the government of the Romane Empire began to spread it selfe into other parts of the world, then this title began to spread it selfe likewise. The Saxons vsed it, but not by the same name as the Romanes did; for those which they called Comites and we Earles the Saxons called Ealdermen, and the Danes, Earlas, which was a title and dignitie not hereditary in this Kingdome, as now it is, but temporary and arbitrary, vntill the time of William the Conquerour, who was the first that made it hereditary; for he having subdued the Kingdome, the affaires of the State being not fully setled, he created divers Counts as Overseers and Watchmen of certaine Counties; who because they were much with the King had Viscounts, who did execute the Kings Command in these Counties; so that the Office of Vicecomes (vt inquit Ferneus) est, cui Comes cōmittit vices suas, sive gubernatio [...] nem Castri. Vicecomes was even from the Conquest, though the hereditary dignitie of The first Viscount that was in England was made in the time of King Hen: the 6. as saith Sir Iohn Davis in his reports. But Sir Iohn Ferne in his Booke entituled The glory of Generositie, affirmeth that Escote Ville was the first Viscount, and that he had that honor conferred vpon him about the dayes of King Hen: the 1. and King Stephen. Viscounts were not knowne vntill the time of King Henry the sixth in these parts, or vntill the dayes of King Henry the first and King Stephen. But not long after the very first Creation of their Office, did these Vicecomites and their subordinate Officers, breake forth into divers outrages, and began to pill and pole the people, in so much that Pet: Bles: Epist. 95. Peter Blesensis, who lived in the dayes of King Henry the second, and was a Chauncelor of Canterbury, in an Epistle dedicated vnto him, thus inveighs against them. Forestariorum siquidem ac Vicecomitum innumeri officiales, dum avaritiae & Cupiditati suae satisfacere student, depraedantur pauperes. Simplicibus insidiantur, fovent impios, opprimunt innocentes, exultant in rebus pessimis, laetantur cum malè fecerint, peccata populi Comedunt, luxuriantur in lachrymis, & in fame pupillorum, in pauperum nuditate, in afflictione simplicium. Sic pauperes [Page 210] vicecomitum, aut nemoralium judicum & aliorum Collateralium sunt esca & potus, ac publica depraedationis occasio. In this Epistle he shewes that the greatest grievances in our Common-wealth, haue their originall from them, and their indirect proceedings. For that they regularly returne, and make choyce of such to enquire of offences, as either for favour or commoditie, doe rather cover and colour, then discover and make knowne abuses to the world. The King and Iudges he freely acquitteth; the King, because it is impossible for him to vnderstand of all abuses that are committed: for if in a Cùm multa fiunt in domibus quae dominorum notitiae subducantur, non est vestrae negligentiae aut incuriae ascribendum; si in tam speciosis & dif [...]usis regionibus, quibus dominus vos praefecit, singulorū excessus non noviftis ad plenum; ipsos autem Iusticiarios quos vulgariter itinerantes dicimus, dum errata hominum diligenter explorant, frequē ter errare contingit: excessus [...]am (que) hominum absconduntur, aut amore, aut timore, aut lege cōsanguinitatis, aut occultis muneribus redimūtur. Pet. Bles: ibid. private familie (sayth he) divers things happen which never come to the vnderstanding of the Maister, it is not to be imputed to any carelesnes in any Prince, if in a Kingdome which consisteth of many thousand families, divers things happen which never come to his knowledg. The Iudges likewise he excuseth, because things are smoothered, and either for loue or affection, or consanguinitie and affinitie, or for some other respect, they are never presented, and so he layeth the whole blame vpon the Forestarios & Vicecomites. Such were the complaints against these kind of people in the dayes of King Henry the second. Againe, in the time of King Edward the first, they were complained of in Parliament for their extortion, and oppression. Whereupon there was Westm 1. Cap. 26. a Law made that no Sheriffe should take any thing to doe his office of any other then the King, vpon paine to forfeit double as much as he should take, and to endure imprisonment at the Kings will and pleasure. In the dayes of King Edward the third they were complained of againe, for that they would not receiue any prisoners without fees paid vnto them: whereupon there was Stat. de An. 4•0. Edw. 3 Cap. 10. a Law made, that no Sheriffe or Gaoler should take any thing for receiving of felons. In the dayes of King Henry the fourth, they were complained of againe for their extortion. Whereupon there was Anno 1. Hen: 4. a Law [Page 211] made, that if a Sheriffe did any extortion, he should be punished at the Kings pleasure. In the dayes of King Henry the sixt, they were complained of againe, for the extorting of excessiue fees, for the making of Arrests. Whereupon there was An. 23 Hen: 6. Cap. 10. a Law made which did limit and determine what fees they should take. That the Sheriffe should haue xx.d. The Bailie that made the Arrest iiij.d. and the Gaoler iiij d. In the dayes of King Henry the seventh, they were complained of againe, for that they did often enter plaints in other mens names, and caused Amerciaments to be made for not appearance, whereas the parties amercied were never summoned, and by that meanes made pillage of the people. Whereupon there was 11. Hen: 7. Cap. 15. a Law made, that no plaint should be entred, vnlesse the partie to whom the debt was due, was then present at the time of the entry thereof. Againe, in the dayes of Queene Elizabeth, they were complained of againe for their taking of excessiue fees vpon the serving of Writs of Execution. Whereupon there was An. 29. Eliz. Cap. 4. a Law made, which doth set downe what they should take, and no more, viz. if that the debt did not amount vnto aboue the summe of 100. li. they should take for every xx▪s. xij.d. and if it did amount vnto aboue the said summe of 100. li. then for every xx. s. over and aboue the said summe of 100. li. vi.d. so that this abuse of that honorable title of Count & Viscount, is no innovation or new thing, but hath beene growing of old, and now it is come to that growth of scandall and ignominie, vt probrum penè sit esse probum, that it is a kinde of disparagement for a man to be honest in the execution of the office, or at least for an honest man to take a deputation of it. It being a Proverbe or by-word rather, to be twice or thrice an Vndersheriffe, is to be a dishonest man ever after. It is regularly an honor wee know for any man to vndergoe any office of command and authoritie, and the more often he doth it, the more [Page 212] honor it is still vnto him. But in the execution of this place it is not, and why? because by abuse it is become ignominious, and contemptible. It is worthy our paines therefore to enquire where the fault is. Is it in the Vicecomes? I wish I could say no, but I cannot; for he doth depute such subordinate Ministers and Officers vnder him, as doe pill and pole the people. If a Bishop be never so hospitious, charitable, and religious himselfe, yet if his Nulla regis aequitate, vel prudentia, vel labore salva possit esse respub: nisi etiā magistratus inferiores suum faciunt officium; nam frustrà est omnium judicum industria, fi suū Iraenar [...]ae subtrahunt anxilium. Vt ait Iac. nuper Rex in oratione 5ta. Stewards, Bayliffs, and other his Agents doe racke and pole his Tenants, it is all one to the Tenants as if the Bishop himselfe did it. If a Iudge shall be never so just, vpright, and free from corruption, yet if his servants and attendants shall exact and extort from the subject, it is all one to the subject as if the Iudge himselfe had done it. If an Officer be never so regular and confine himselfe to take no other fees, than are allowed by the Lawes and Statutes of the Realme, yet if his subordinate Clarks shall prey vpon and exact of the Client, it is all one to the Client, if the Officer himselfe had done it. If a Sheriffe be never so just, and his intentions never so good, yet if he commit the deputation of his Office to such as prey vpon the Common-wealth, it is all one to the Common-wealth if the Sheriffe himselfe did it: therefore it behooveth men in authoritie to haue a speciall eye and regard whom they doe vse in the managing of their affaires; for that the Law will tell them, what they doe by another in case of deputation, they doe it by themselues.
Sir, you haue sufficiently painted out these kinde of people: if there be any more of the same fraternity, I pray you let me know them, that I may avoyd them.
I haue named vnto you all the principalls alreadie, yet Accessaries there are of both kinds, both Accessaries before, and Accessaries after the deed done.
And who are they?
Accessaries before the fact done, are Parents, who traine vp their children in idlenesse, the broad way to destructiō; who are well set forth in the Apologue, in the Peccantem puerum quis-quis non corrigit, odit. Non inutile consiliū poëtae; Qui laetam laeta natorum forte senectam Optatis patres, duris neu parcite dictis; Virtutem exemplo, mixtó (que) docete pudore. Non secus ac pullos plausis circumvolat alis Rex avium. Fathers if you desire your children sage, should by their blessings blesse your crooked age; Trayne them betimes vnto true vertueslore, By awe, instruction, and example more. So the old Eagle flitters in and out, To teach his young-ones to follow him about. sonne vpon the Gibbet, & the indulgent Mother, the sonne vpon the gallowes espying his mother among the multitude, called vnto her, pretending to haue somewhat to say vnto her: whom his sorrowfull mother readily observed & came vnto him, and whilest she listned to heare what he would say vnto her, the sonne espying his opportunitie, in stead of his tongue vsed his teeth, and bit off her note, and in scorne cast the same amongst the multitude, with this Anathema, Such reward haue all such indulgent Parents as traine vp their children to such preferment as he was come vnto. Accessaries after the fact, are such as stop the Course of Iustice, interceding for such as deservedly ought to vndergoe the Censure of the Law. Who are well set forth in the Citizens of Lonicerus ex Mar: Luther. Oinguez villain il vous poindra: Poinguez villain et il vous oindra. Annoint a knaue and he will annoy you: But gall a knaue and he will annoint you. These sort of men are aptly compared to Nettles; if you handle them gently they will sting you, but if you presse them they will never hurt you. And as a child preetily cute told his Father, that there was a thing grew in the garden, that was worse then a dog, meaning a Netle, because that a dog will never bite any of his owne house: so wee say of these people, because they bite very oftentimes their best friends. Brandenberg; the Citizens of Brandenberg feeing a young man of a comely personage and countenance, that promised much, condemned for a light offence; they all with one vnanimous consent, made intercession for his pardon, which being graunted, and the Theife set at libertie; not long after in requitall thereof, he returned to their Citie and burnt it, and being asked, how he could be so barbarously ingratefull, to take away the liuelihood of them, that had been the meanes to saue his life, gaue them this answere in effect, that they deserue no liuelihood, that depriue the Law of life, which is the due execution of it.
I am glad to heare you ranke Monopolizers, Enclosers, Regrators, Engrosers, and Forestallers among the enemies of the Common-wealth; for in many places I heare they passe for good husbands, wise and provident men, and are called vnto places of command and authoritie.
Truely in our Coasts we esteeme of them in [Page 214] the body politicke, no otherwise than we doe of boyles & vlcers in the naturall body, and will allow vnto them no other place to dwell in, than that Citie which Philip of Macedone built for the excrements of his Kingdome, and called it by the name ofPlutarch in Philipp: Maced. Poneropolis Civitas Nebulonum, yet I must confesse, they thrust themselues sometimes into places of authoritie and command, and gird themselues about with Fures privatorum furtorum in nervo at (que) in compedibus aetatem agunt, sures publici in auro at (que) purpura. Aulaus Gell: lib. 11. cap. 18. Chaines of gold. But the multitude repine at it, for they thinke they better deserue it that lye bound in chaines of yron; for as to rob and steale from many is a greater offence, than to steale from a few, so the fault of the one is greater than the other.
I pray you goe on, and shew me what are the Lawes that punish the delinquents in both kindes.
I will therein satisfie you. And first what are Lawes which doe punish theeues properly so called: the Lawes which do punish theeues properly so called, are comprehended vnder those titles, Dererum divisione, de acquirendo rerum dominio, de rerum vindicatione, de furtis, peculatu, & sacrilegijs, &c. all which are made to maintaine and vphold that part of Iustice which the Iusticiaries haue named Commutative Iustice, that punish wrong & roberry, and root out the fraternitie of them that live vpō the spoyle by other mens labours, such as were in the dayes of King Richard the first, Robbin Hood and Little Iohn.
What are the punishments which the Lawes haue provided for such malefactors?
By the Imperiall Lawes whosoever taketh away any thing from any man aboue the value of v. s. is to suffer death for the same. If vnder that value, for the first offence he is to be branded with the ignominious name of Theft; and if he be a freeman, he is to be banisht for a certaine time. If of a servile condition, he is to vndergoe the punishment which Commanders vse [Page 215] to inflict vpon such souldiers as forsake their Colours; and is called Fustuarium [...] eretur qui signa reliquit, aut praesidio decedit. Lips: lib. 5. tolit. This punishment did Tiberius Nero cause to be inflicted vpon one, who having authoritie to cleare the passage, did not doe it. Sueton: in Tiber: Ner. Pro primo peccato fur, pro secundo fur consuetus, pro tertio fur famosus appellatus. Fulbeck. Fustuarium, bastinadoing: for the second offence he is to be branded with the ignominious name of an old Theife, and to loose one of his eares. For the third offence, he is to be branded with the name of a notorious old Theife, and toe suffer death as in case he had taken away the value of vs. By the Lawes of the Kingdome of England, whosoever taketh away any thing from any man to aboue the value of xij.d. his life may be questioned for the same; if vnder that value, then to be stockt and whipt.
Sir, in my opinion, the Lawes of England doe very much vnder-value the life of man.
No certainly; for no punishment can be great enough for such, who having eyes, and hands, and legs, and limmes, and are able to purchase a livelihood to themselues, even in the most barren parts of the world, will yet notwithstanding roue vp and downe, beg and steale, and expose themselues rather to an ignominious death for a trifle at home, then vndergoe any labour, or adventure themselues in the face of their enemies abroad, where honour is to be found, giving occasion thereby to our neighbouring friends beyond the Seas, to condemne our Lawes, and to magnifie their owne. For that in all their Coasts there are not such mendicant vagrant persons to be seene. The Lawes of Plutarch in Solone. Draco did punish him in an equall degree, that had stolne but an Apple, with him that had stolne an Oxe. Yet the Lawgivers did not alwayes giue full reynes to those Lawes, but set them in a Table, as they did the Dragon aboue the Iudiciall seate, to the terror of the beholder. The Alexand: ab Alexand: lib. 6. cap. 10. Eadem severitas inter Romanos; nam lex 12. tabularum adeò furto adversata est, vt furem manifestum in servitutem tradat illi, cui furto quidquam substractum foret; & si nocte furtum factum sit, si aliquis occidit, jure caesus est. Totum hoc commemorat Aulus. Gell: lib. 11. cap. 18. Vbi probat Decemviros non tam gravi severitate vsos suisse in puniēdo fures, vt Draco qui furtū omne morte puni [...]e vellet; ne (que) tantâ lenitate, vt Solon, qui sublato mortis supplicio duplitantū paenam furibus indixit, sed mediam quandamrationem puniendi delegisse. Lawes of the Athenians likewise did punish idle persons in an equall degree with theeues and robbers; amongst whom, if the mendicant Scholler had set vp his trade, their Lawes would quickly haue found him out. It was a pretty passage which happened vpon [Page 216] a time, betweene a Scholler and a Farmar; A Scholler comming to a Farmars house for an Almes, the Farmar seeing him to be young and lusty, and well able to take paines for a living, fell foule vpon him, and plainly told him, that he was Multis authoribus docemur non tam paupertati condolete, quàm mendicitatem detestari; nam publicè mendicare, & circumire civitates, semper vbí (que) gentium ab initio prohibitum suit: In lege Romana atctè statuit Iustinlanus Imperator, vt si quis laborarepotēs elcemo. syais se immisceat, captivandus sit, & in servitutem redigendus; ipsa autem Canonica Pontificūdecreta soltsillis pauperibus erogandas elecmosynas statuerunt, qui laborare non possunt, quoscún (que) mendicantes inter latrones & praedones numerantia. Ipse autem ordo mē dicantium apud Cornel: Agripp: generaliter damnatus est; illi enim veluti dijs sacri & abomnibus: nossenli, votorum & peregrinationum praetextu provincias obambulantes, laborem ex industria sugiētes, otiosa paupertate ostiatim mendicantes, civitatum explorant secreta, & ad omnem perditionum genus sese accōmodant; ita deni (que) vivunt, vt ne cum Regibus vitam commutare volunt; modo ijs liberū sit quolibet vagari, quodcún (que) collibitum sit facere, vbi (que) tuti ab exactionibus & publicis oneribus, & immunes fraudes, imposturas & surra exercere; vnde non minima nascitur reipub: pernicies. Cornel: Agripp. an idle knaue, and bid him be gone and worke for his living as he did: which the Scholler taking very disdainefully, answered him thus, Non te pudit (sordide agrestis) Bacchalaureum septenarum liberalium artium temerario ore lacerare, are you not ashamed, you Country Clowne, to revile a Bachelour of seaven Arts with such opprobrious termes? To whom the Farmar againe replyed; of what Arts, Sir, are you a Bachelor? Of none other I beleeue then of the drinking art, of the whoring art, of the theeving art, of the cheating and cosening art, of the lying and swearing art, of the begging art, and of the reviling and backbiting art. Ego arte vnica Agriculturae & vxorem & multos alo liberos, & tu, qui septem jactas artes, turpiter mendicas; I haue but one art, and with that one I maintaine my family, my wife and children; and you with your seaven Arts are not ashamed basely to beg of me that haue but one. Abi impostor, and take it for a warning, that if I catch you here againe, I will make you know that wee haue Lawes will punish such Bachelors of seaven Arts, whom we call sturdy rogues & mendicant vagabonds. If this man (I say,) had set vp his trade in Athens, it had beene death vnto him. So strict were the Lawes of the Athenians against idle persons, though they tooke nothing away. The Adversum errones (vt inquit Iac: nupet Rex in orationest1) legem habemus ab Edw: 6t• latā; cujus regis prudentia magis h [...]c en [...]uit in incunte aet [...]te, quàm aliorum in adulta. Lawes of England, I must confesse, in the strict executiō of them, doe punish a small offence sometimes with death: yet those Lawes doe receiue divers mitigations. First, it is in the bosome of the Iurors to mitigate the same; for tryals of Criminall causes being regularly by the oaths of 12. honest and able men. Those honest men in their wisedomes and discretions, if the value of the thing taken and stolne away, doe not [Page 217] plainely appeare vnto them, doe often value the thing though it be of treble the value of xij. d. to be vnder the value, then the wisedome of the Kingdome by severall Acts of Parliament haue specially provided, that if the felony be not aggravated with some circumstances odious in the eye of the Law, the offender is admitted to his Clergie, and so vndergoing some light punishment, such as the Lawes in such cases haue provided, the offender is to escape without any other punishment.
Sir, by the Law of God, a quadruple restitution was held a good satisfaction, how commeth it to passe then, I pray you, that the punishment should now be so grievous, and so much differing from the penaltie appointed by the Law of God?
In the time of the Iewish Common-wealth, the Iubile was solemnised every fiftieth yeare; but in the Common-wealth of the Romanes, it was changed from fiftieth to a hundred, from a hundred to fiftie againe; from fiftie to twentie-five; one of the Popes being demanded the reason why in the solemnization of the Iubile, the Romane Common-wealth did so much differ from the Iewish, gaue them this Answere, Non convenit politia Indaica politiae Romanae, that those severall Common-wealths were governed by severall Lawes and Customes, and that which was thought fit in the government of the one, was not thought necessary in the government of the other: the same answer in effect may I giue vnto you. Non convenit politia Indaica politiae Anglicanae, the Commodities of the earth when Moses Lawes were given to the Iewes, were not of that estimation as in after times they were in those parts of the world where the Lawes are so strict against theeues and robbers. And therefore there needed not such severe punishments, as now are provided against such malefactors. Againe, the Lawes of Common-wealths ebbe and flow, rise and fall, liue and die; that which was Law [Page 218] in the times of our progenitors, perhaps in our times is no Law, and that which is now Law, perhaps in the next age, though in the same Common-wealth, will be none; therefore no marvaile, though the Lawes of one Nation differ from the Lawes of another; the Lawes of England from the Lawes of the Iewes.
You haue sufficiently shewed what the Lawes and punishments against private theeues are; in the next place, I pray you, acquaint me what are the Lawes against pulicke theeues to the Common-wealth, I meane, Enclosers, Forestallers, Regrators, and Engrossers, and Sheriffs that abuse their places.
Sir, the punishments are of different natures, according to the different Lawes. The punishment of the Enclosers in one kinde, the punishment of the Forestaller in another, of the Sheriffe in another. The 4. Hen: 7. Cap. 19. punishment of the Encloser, that shall turne tillage into pasture, is a forfeiture of one halfe of the revenue of the land so converted: the punishment of 5. Edw: 6. Cap. 14. the Forestaller, Regrator, and Ingrosser, is for the first offence two moneths imprisonment, and a forfeiture of the goods so forestalled and ingrossed. For the second offence, a forfeiture of double the value of the goods so forestalled and engrossed, and halfe a yeares imprisonment. For the third offence, it is imprisonment at the Kings will and pleasure; together with the punishment of the Pillory, and forfeiture of all his goods and Chattels; who in former times were growne so odious in the eye of the Common-wealth, that they were not thought fit to liue in a Civill Societie: and therefore by a Statute-Law made in the dayes of King See the Stat. of the 3I. yeare of Edw. the first. Edward the I. they were turned out of all Townes, and sent into the remote places to seeke their habitations. The punishment of the Sheriffe for exacting more than is allowed him by the Lawes and Statutes of the Realme, is An. 29. Eliz. Cap. 4. treble damages to the partie that is abused, and forty pound [Page 219] to the King, whereof one moitie is to goe to the King; the other moitie to the partle that will sue for the same; as in case a Sheriffe for making of an Arrest will take aboue xx.d. and in case of serving of a Writ of Execution, will take aboue xij.d. in the pound, where the sum amounteth not to the value of a hundred pound. Thus briefly haue I shewed what punishmēts the Lawes haue provided against private theeues; and what punishments they haue provided, for many of those before-named publike theeues, or enemies to the Common-wealth.
I pray you goe on and acquaint me, what Lawes are derived out of the next Lawes, as they stand in order in the Decalogue.
I will therein satisfie you likewise; and first I will shew vnto you what the Lawes are; then the excellency of those Lawes by the antiquitie of them; then how strict the Turkes, and the very Heathens haue been in keeping of them, by the performance of such vowes and promises as they made; then how odious and detestable the infringers, that is to say, lyers, swearers, rumor-raysers, and periured persons haue beene amongst them, and what punishments they provided for them; then how miraculously God hath punished those kinde of people; and, lastly, what punishments the Lawes vnder which we liue, haue provided for them. You shall vnderstand, in the first place, that all those Nationall Lawes, that conjoyne Princes in Leagues and Truces one to another, all the severall municipall Lawes of Nations, that decide Controversies betweene partie and partie, and generally all Lawes that vphold societie and commerce betweene man and man are hence derived, and are comprehended vnder these titles, De actionibus & judicijs, de accusationibus, de calumniatoribus, de pravaricatoribus, de testibus, probationibus & appellationibus. The excellency of which Lawes is manifested vnto vs by the long vse and continuance of them, it being [Page 220] the most true and surest marke of a good and absolute Law; they being approved, & practised by all sorts of people, by the Prophets and Patriarks, Apostles and Evangelists, Turkes and Mahumetans, Heathens and Barbarians. Abraham amongst the Patriarks vsed it, he made a Covenant with Abimeleck, and tooke an oath, and because he had done so, he faithfully observed it, though it were to Abimeleck. The apostles and Evangelists vsed it, and that it might not loose the honor and reverence due vnto it, gaue speciall Command that in triviall affaires an oath should not be administred, nor in any other places, but at the August. Tombes of the Martyrs; which in the time of the primitiue Church were the places where Controversies were decided. Amurah tooke an oath, and though it were to the King of Hungary, a Christian King, yet observed it: and Regulus tooke an oath, though it were to the Carthaginians his profest enemies, yet would not violate it: and Pompey having made but a promise, that he might not be thought carelesse of it, exposed himselfe to imminent danger: so that oathes were vsed even from the beginning, by all sorts of people, though in a different manner. The Booke which the Prophets and Patriarks did vse to sweare vpon, was the Booke of Moses; the Booke which the Apostles and Evangelists vsed was the booke of the new Testament; the Booke which the Turkes and Mahumetans vsed, was their Alcoran;the obligation by which the Heathens bound themselues, was the name of Iupiter regularly. Yet they had their Multiplex apud gentes jufiurandum fuit; per terram, per amnes, per sontes, per vndas fluentes Apud thraces per Mercurisum, apud Persas per solem, apud Aegyp [...]os per alliū, portum, & c [...]pas jusiurandum fuit. Sophocles per Castorem & Pollutem. Aethiopes pet delunctos quos colebant vitâ; Gracorum plerí (que) per Rhadama [...]thú: Pythagor [...]i per quaternionem jurabant. Alexand: ab Alexand. lib. 5 [...] divers formes of oaths: Socrates had his goose to sweare by; Zeno his dog; Plato his Themides; yet all had their Iupiter; whose presence when they implored, they would sooner, die; than infringe their faith. It is remarkeable to see how strictly the old Romanes did obserue their words, and obserue such engagements as they had vnder-taken: they had a custome amongst them that when any league [Page 221] or truce had beene made betweene them and their enemies, to put the same in Writing; and afterwards to cause their Faeciales, which did execute the same Office with them as our Heralds doe with vs, to proclaime the same in the Frontiers of the enemies Country, and to call vpon their great God Iupiter, to beare witnesse that whatsoever was to be performed on the parts of the Romanes, they did promise to keepe Faeciallium juramentum fuit haec verba proferre; si sine dolo hoc faedus facio, dij mihi cuncta faelicia praestent; sin aliter facio, aut cogito, caeteris omnibus salvis, solus ego peream. Alexand: ab Alexand. lib. 5. cap. 10. inviolably; and if they failed in the performance thereof, they desired no more mercy or compassion to be shewed vnto them, then they shewed vnto that dog which they then killed: so that if at any time they had fayled in the performance of such Articles, as they had agreed vpon, they had a strong conceit, that some evil would suddenly befall them; as it did that yeare that Fabius prophaned the rites and Ceremonies of their Faecialls, at which time their chiefe Cittie was sacked by the Gawles.
Haue the Heathenish Romanes and Turkes beene so punctuall in observance of their engagements?
Yes certainly, as I will shew you in two memorable examples of the Romanes, & one of the Turkes. Regulus, a Romane, being taken Captive by the Carthaginians, was sent vnto Rome vpon this Embassie, either to procure so many Captive Carthaginians, which the Romans had taken, to be sent home vnto Carthage for his ransome, or els he to returne againe: but before he tooke his journey, they caused him to take an oath, that if he did not procure their release, than then he himselfe should returne to Carthage. Cicero lib 2. Offic. Regulus went accordingly, and comming vnto Rome he related vnto the Senate the cause of his comming; the Romanes overioyed with the sight of their Regulus, being one that had deserved well of them, granted what he desired before they knew what his desire was; which he taking most kindly, yet [Page 222] refusing their kindnesse, after some short stay of Congratulation with them, told them that he had a second request vnto them, which was that he might haue their loue and leaues to depart from them: at which the Romanes being astonished, and not so much joyed at the first with the sight of him, as they were now grieved that he would depart from them; would needs know of him the motiues that induced him vnto it. Regulus willing to giue vnto them all satisfaction, told them that he was abashed to come vnto them vpon so vnwelcome a Message, but desired them to excuse him for that he was sent by the Carthaginians, and he must needs goe whom the Carthaginians droue. The cause wherefore he did now leaue them was, not for any ill will he bare them, or by reason of any vnkindnesse conceived, but out of his Vicit amor patriae ratione valentior omni. Omnium societatum nulla est gratior (inquit Cicero,) nulla charior quàm ea quae cum repub. est vnicui (que) nostrûm; chari sunt parentes, charlliberi, propinqui, familiares; sed omnes omnium charitates patria vna compleza est; pro qua quis bonus dubitet mortem oppetere, si ei sit profuturus? Cicero lib. 1. Offic: loue and respect vnto them, for that he was now grown old and full of diseases and infirmities, and not able as formerly he had beene to doe them service: and that he was but one, nor one neither, but halfe one: one foote being in the graue alreadie, and why so many captive Carthaginians should be delivered for the ransome of one Romane, the meanest of which were better able to do them service than he was, (which was the cause of his Embassie) he saw no reason for it; and that they might justly taxe him of his neglect of them, if he should request so vnreasonable a thing of them, and so desired them as formerly that he might haue their loues to returne againe: with which the Romanes being yet not well satisfied, perswaded yet further with him, that as he had ever-loved them, so he would continue it to the last, and leaue his bones with them. My bones (alas quoth he) in them there is nothing but rottennesse and putrefaction, but that which is dearer vnto me, my heart I will: but as for O tér (que) quatér (que) beazil Queis ante or a patrū, Troiae sub maenibus altis Con [...]gi [...] oppe [...]ere. Virgil: Aeneid. 1. my bones, seeing I haue given my faith to the Carthaginians, to them I must bequeath them, and returne againe. When reply was made, but [Page 223] it was to the Carthaginians. O! but with the Carthaginians faith is not to be violated. And so notwithstanding all the perswasions that could be vsed, he returned againe: vpon whose returne the Carthaginians caused new kinde of torments to be inflicted vpon him, cut off his eye-lids, to the intent that he might not sleepe, and inflicted vpon him such ineffable punishments, as no Quis funera fando Explicet? aut possit lachrymis aequare dolores? Virgil: Aeneid. 2. tongue or penne is able to expresse. The like Romane resolution is said to be in Plutarch. in regū Apopht. Pompey, who having with some others engaged himselfe in a great dearth at Rome to make provisiō for the Citizens, being ready to hoyse vp sayle, there fell out on a suddaine very stormie and tempestuous winds, insomuch that they that were with him on the shore, and they which were with him in the Ship, and were to accompany him in the voyage, desired him to stay vntill the storme were over; vnto whom Pompey answered, Vt eam, non vt vivam, necesse est, needfull it is that I should goe, not that I should liue; for without me, Rome may well subsist, but not without meate and drinke; so in the midst of the storme, that he might not be thought careles of his word and promise, and of what he had vnder-taken, he tooke his voyage. Vide generalem historiam Turcarum in Amurah. 6. Amurah, a Turke likewise, having made a truce with the King of Hungary, and taken his oath vpon his Alcaron to keepe it inviolably, turned his forces intended for Europe into the Coasts of Asia. Of which when the King of Hungarie had notice, notwithstanding his oath, by the perswasion of Iulius the Popes Legate, and other the Romish Bishops, was drawne to invade the Turkes Territories in Thracia, contrary to the league, of which when the Turke was given to vnderstand, he reduced his Forces forthwith into Europe againe, and set vpon the Christians: where after a long Skirmish, the Turke enveighing against the trechery of the Christians, listed vp his eyes and hands and cryed, O Iesus Christ, if thou be God, as they say thou art, revenge this abuse [Page 224] offered vnto thy Name: and no sooner had he spoken it, the Battaile being before doubtfull, but the victory fell to the Turke: the King being taken, and his head as an Ensigne of trechery being set vpon a Speare, the Popes Legate and many of his Bishops being slaine with him. If Regulus a Heathen, and Amurah a Turke, were so regular, so strict & precise, that they would not prophane the name of their Gods, invocated to witnesse a vow made vnto their profest enemies; with what face can a Christian stand before the Tribunall of God at the last day, that hath so often mockt and deluded him?
Regulus in my opinion, might well haue dispensed with his oath, being made to his open and profest enemies.
If he had beene a Christian he could not; for he vowed no more then what he might well haue performed; which was either to returne againe, or to send so many Captive-Carthaginians from Rome; but if he had made a vow that had beene evill in it selfe; such as was the vow of Math. 14. vers. 7. Herod vnto Herodias for the cutting off Iohn Baptist head; for which both he and shee are branded with infamie, and the stigmaticall Characters remaine as yet vndefaced in them; or such as King 1 Sam. 25. vers. 22. David made for the killing of Nabal; or such as our Votaries now adaies doe for the leading of a single life, choosing rather to be the Fathers of a spurious generation, then to breake the vow which they haue made. In these and the like cases, they may very well Melius est vota stultae promissionis non implere, quàm crimen admittere. Morus ironicè commendat fidelitatem Herodis his versibus. O Regem fidum! sed tunc tantum modò fidum, Majus perfidia est cum scelus ipsa fides. Morus in Epigram. de Herod: & Herodiad. Illicitum juramentum non est servandum Lambert. inter leges Aluredi. fayle in the strict performance. The Lawes of Nature and Nations teach vs, that no tye or obligation, be it never so strong, will tye a man to doe a wicked act, or any thing that is in it selfe mischievous; as if a man make a solemne vow and protestation, or binde himselfe in an obligation to kill such a man, burne his house, or steale his horse. With these a man may well dispence withall, because they are against the Lawes of God and men.
Admit that Regulus should not so strictly haue performed the vow which he made to the Carthaginians: what harme or wrong could it haue beene vnto him, seeing that he was now at home amongst his friends, through whose importunitie and sollicitation he did what he did?
Certainly besides the horror of his conscience, which is the Maxima paena peccad est peccâsse. Mala conscientia similis est. vxori Socratis quae quotidiè illum cōvitijs insequebatur: nihil est miserius, quàm animus sibi conscius. Plaut. in milite. Heu quantum misero paenae mens conscia donat! Lucan. greatest torment that any man can vndergoe, the Romanes would not haue endured him, for they held him vnworthy the name of a Romane, and not fit to liue amongst them that was false and perfidious, and that faith even with theeues and robbers was to be observed, and for no respect to be violated, no not for a Kingdome. Apud Homerum Achilles non secùs ac mortem odisse inquit se cum, qui aliud ore promit, aliud pectore claudit: & inter mendacem & perjurum nihil interesse contendit Cicero; nam qui mentiri solet, pejerare solet; & qui ad mendacium, idem ad perjurium adduci potest, & eadem paena tam mendacio quàm perjurio à dijs datur. Alyar they hated as death, and made no difference betweene a lyar, swearer, and perjured person; for he that would lye would sweare, and he that would sweare would forsweare, if occasion were offered. A tale-teller likewise and rumor-rayser they could not endure; whom Plutarch in the life of Alexander in Philotas hath well set forth: As in a fury of a dreadfull fight, Their fellowes being slaine, or put to flight; Poore Souldiers stand with feare of death dead strucken; So with Antigona was Philotas taken. Phylot as having setled his affections vpon the faire and louely Antigona a Curtisan, whom he tooke Captive at the Battell in Sicilia, being desirous to endear himselfe vnto her, let fall some speeches tending to the dishonor of Alexander, affirming that what was done at that Battell, was done by his Father Parmenio and himselfe, and that they two kept the young man (for so he styled Alexander) in his throne, but no sooner had Antigona taken her leaue of him, but meeting with one of her acquaintance, related vnto her what Philotas had told her, and what words he vsed of Alexander; and so it went from one to another, whereby a fame was raysed, which comming to the vnderstanding of Craterus fuit Alexand. in delitijs, Ephestionem amabat maximè, sed Crateru [...] honorabat maxim [...]. Craterus, he forthwith acquainted Alexander with it, who sent for Philotas, and he for his vaine and foolish babling, received condigne punishment. Such kind of men as was this Philotas they would [Page 226] not endure, nor giue any Credit vnto their words and testimonies: but as for Per leges Aegyptiorum perjuri capite multabantur, tanquam duplici tenerentur scelere, vt qui pietatē in deos violarent, & fidem inter homines tollerent maximum vinculum societatis humanae. Diod. Sis. lib. 1. rerum antiquarum. cap. 3. him that had called their Gods to witnesse, that what they had said was true, or what they vowed they would performe, vnto which they would haue beene abashed to haue called a Non pudet (inquit Philo) deum patentem et gubernatorem mundi ad eas res testem advocare ad quas ne amicum quidem auderes adducere. friend, yet fayled in the one or the other; such a one they abhorred and detested. It is reported of Augustus Caesar, that he was vsed to say, that he loved the treason but hated the traytor: the name of a traytor was ever odious and detestable, in those two most detestable and Quis nisi de Stygio fuerat prolapsus Averno Tam dirum poterat sollicitare nefas. devilish Conspiracies, wherein Faux was an Enginere, and Gowrie a Conspirator. The Pope would never patronize the Conspirators, though as it was reported, he did allow of the Conspiracies. A perjured person who is an arch-enemy and traytor to God and man, is hatefull even of his owne Ministri scelerum tanquam exprobrantes ab ipfis authoribus semper aspiciuntur. Tacit. lib. 14. Vide Apologum de lupis & Canibus quo ostenditur proditores odiosos esse suae fraternitati. Vide Aesopicam Cornicem in Apologo. De Last bene proditore dicitur cum patriam suam Olynthū Macedonibus prodidisset, & obid apud eos in honore fatu [...]um arbitrabatur, ei secùs longè accedit; nam per Castra passim proditor appellabu [...]r, et cùm de ea re Philip [...] [...]onquer [...]batur, [...]i respō dit Phil [...]opus, Macedones suos homines esse admodū agreftes & rud [...]es, quires alio nomine quàm suo proprio vocare nescirent. Dicunt enim Scaphium scap [...]ium. It is reported of King Canute when Edrick had betrayed his King and Countrey into his hands, that he should say, that for his deserts he should be advanced aboue [...] Nobilitie of England, which he immediately performed by advancing his head vpon the Tower of London. fraternitie and societie; for though they loue the perjurie, by reason of the benefit that cōmeth vnto them by it, yet they hate the person; for that he which was sometimes periured in their behalfe, may vndoe what he hath done, and speake the truth when times serue. Solyman loathed and abhorred the Traytor that betrayed Rhodes vnto him, and in stead of his daughter whom he expected to be given him in marriage for a reward, he caused him to be fleyed and salted, and in derision told him, that it was not fit for a Christian to marry with a Turke, vnlesse he put off his old skin. [...], § Paulus Aemilius lib. 1. Derebus gest: Franc. in Clodo [...]a [...]. Charles the fourth rewarded the Souldiers that betrayed their Lord and Maister with counterfeit coyne, and being desired to deliver currant money, answered, that counterfeit coyne was the proper wages for counterfeit service. The same reward (as § Paulus Aemilius reports) did Clodovaeus bestow vpon them that betrayed Cannacarius into his hands. Alexander caused [Page 227] Bessus that betrayed Darius to be put to death; and Caesar would not endure to looke vpon Herodotus and Achillas, that presented him the head of Pompey: and certainely, if Maenas had cut the Cables at that time when Pompey feasted Caesar and Anthonie in his Gallies, Pompey would haue rewarded him as Alexander did Bessus. It is reported of Constantius Caesar, the Father of Constantine the Great, that he decreed that all such Christians as would not adore his Gods, should depart from his service; yet all those that denyed their faith, he banished too, for this reason; for that he which hath beene once false to God, will never be true to men. A lyar or perjured person amongst the Romanes was not to be beleeved, though he had spoken or sworne the truth. Vide Apologum de mendaci puero: quo ostenditur mendaces hoc consequi, vt verū cum dicunt nemo credat. Fallacem quemcun (que) semel cognoveris hostem▪ Huic debes post haec non ad hibere fidem. Quid non audebit perfid [...] lingua loqui? Regulus cùm vigilando necabatur, eratin meliore causâ quàm si domi periurus Consularis remansisset. Cicero lib. 2. Offic. Quoniam qui semel est malus semper praesumitur esse malus in eodem genere mali. For that he that hath beene once false is ever to be suspected in the same kinde of falshood. Wherefore faith is aptly compared to a glasse, which being once broken, can never be repaired; or to opportunitie, which once omitted, can never be recovered: therefore if Reg [...]lus had stayd at Rome, contrary to his oath, the Romanes certainly would never haue endured him, though he was thereunto required; so odious and detestable were those sorts of people in the Romane Common-wealth.
Had the Heathens any Lawes, I pray you, to punish these kinde of people: viz. lyars, rumor raysers, and perjured persons?
The Heathen Orator will tell you, that by the Lawes of the Heathens, the same Eadem paena cam mendacio quàm perjurio à dijs datur. Cicero. punishment was due to the lyar as to the periured person, and that amongst the most barbarous people of the Heathens the Alexand: ab Alexand. Indians: if a man had beene thrice found to haue beene a lyar, he was not to haue vndergone any office, but to haue had his fingers and toes cut off; and as concerning the punishment due to the Plutarch. in Nicea. rumor-rayser, you shall [Page 228] finde it well set forth in the end of the life of Nicea in Plutarch. It happened vpon a time that a stranger comming into a Barbers shop, to be disburdened of some superfluous excrements which he carried about him, whilest was vnder the Barbers hands, told him of some strange Occurrences which happened in Sicilia, which the Barber conceiving to be true, relates the same vnto the Citizens where he lived; the Citizens vpon the hearing of it make an vproare, which the Magistrate endevouring to suppresse, would needs know of them the cause of the tumult, which they affirmed to be by reason of some occurrences which happened in Sicilia, and being demanded to tell where they had their intelligence, it was found that it proceeded from a Barber; who being sūmoned to appeare before the Magistrate, affirmed, that what he related he heard of a stranger in his shop; but because he could not produce the stranger Pro mendace & Civitatis turbatore in rotam deligatus, & diu tortus est; he had the punishment of the wheele, as a disturber of the peace of the Citie, and was cruelly tortured and tormented.
But how doe these kinde of people stand in the sight of God, especially perfidious truce-breakers, and false-hearted perjured persons?
Most odious and contemptible; as is manifested in all our histories both sacred and prophane; looke in the Histories of former ages, and you shall see how miraculously God hath ever punisht this offence of perjurie. Diodorus Siculus, and Macrobius speake of a religious lake in Sicilie, where the Sicilians did vse to take their oaths for the deciding of controversies; and if they had sworne the truth, they returned without harme; but if they forswore themselues they were drowned. And Aristotle speaketh of another lake neare vnto it, which is called Fons Acadinus; into which the depositions of the Witnesses are throwne, and if they containe [Page 229] nothing but veritie, they swimme on the top of the water; if otherwise, they sinke to the bottome. And Solinus in Collectancis rerum memorabilium. Solinus hath something of a lake in Sardinia, with the water whereof the deponents are cōmanded to wash their eyes, and if they haue deposed the truth, their eyes became more cleare; if false, it put out their eyes. And Diodorus Siculus speakes of another Lake neare vnto Tiana, of which they that take an oath are accustomed to drinke, and if they sweare the truth, it affords a sweet and pleasant rellish to the palate, and becomes nutrimentall to their bodies; if false, it makes their bodies leprous, and so benummes them, that they are not able to stirre, but continue there, bewayling their miserable estate and condition; the like water he reports to be in Aethiopia. Thus miraculously doth God punish this offence. Looke againe into the Booke of God, and there you shall see what punishment 1 Regum Cap. 21. v. 23. Iezabel, and the rest that conspired against Naboth vnder-went; how the accusers of Daniel were punished; and the See the history of Susanna, vers. 26. false Witnesses that rose vp against Susanna? How Sauls 2 Sam. 21. vers. 1. posteritie were punished for the breach of the league which Iosuah made with the Gibeonites? How Gen. 49. vers. 5. Simeon and Levi were cursed by their Father at his death, for that they destroyed Sichem and Hamor, contrary to the Covenant and league made with them. Looke into the Ecclesiasticall Histories, and there you shall see how the Euseb: Ecclesiast. histors. lib. 5. cap. 8. three Witnesses that rose vp against Narcissus, Bishop of Ierusalem were punished; how according to their severall wishes they received condigne punishment: three false brethren having cōspired against the good Bishop, to the end that they might dazle the eyes of the world, and make the world beleeue, that what they had said was true, made three voluntary wishes: the first wisht, that if that which he had said were not true, that a suddaine fire might come downe from heaven, and consume him; the second wisht that some extreame sicknes [Page 230] might befall him, and like a Cankar eat out the marrow of his bones; the third, that his eyes might fall out; and according to their wishes it happened to them all: the first was burnt with all his possessions; the second perished with a languishing and loathsome disease; the third perceiving the punishment to happen to the other according to their wishes and desires, confessed his offence, and desired pardon of the Almightie, and by reason of his continuall penetentiall teares which he shed, at length lost his eyes. So the Bishop that fled out of feare, fearing that innocency could not haue withstood the fury of three such violent Witnesses, was sent for home againe, and restored to all his possessions. Looke againe into the Monkish and other Histories, and you shall see how William Malmesb. de gestis regum Aug. lib. 2. cap. 6. pag. 28. Aelfred a Nobleman of England was miraculously punished for perjury, who having plotted and conspired against Adelsta [...]e to put out his eyes, was put to his oath to make his purgation, by reason no evident testimony could be made thereof, who for that he tooke an Oath contrary to the truth and his conscience, he fell downe presently, and within three dayes dyed. You shall see again how H. Hi [...]nting d [...] lib. 2. p. 210. Precatio Godwin [...]. Si deus caeli verax, & justus, hoc panis frustulum concedat ne guttur pertranseat, si vnquam te prodere cogitaverim; Deus autem (vt est in historia) audivit vocem proditoris, & mox eodem pane strangulatus mortem praegustavit aeternam. Earle Godwin, Father to King Harold, who having conspired the vntimely death of King Edward the Confessor, denyed it with many protestations, being charged therewith; but at one time aboue the rest more seriously and solemnly wished, that the bread which he had in his hand might be his last, if ever he had any such thought; and as he wished, so it befell him; for in the eating of it he was choked. Looke into Plutarch, and you shall see how Plutarch. in Regum Apophtheg: Cleomenes was punished for the breach of the Truce which he made with the men of Argyers. Cleomenes having made a Truce with the men of Argyers for seaven dayes, set vpon them in the night, and slew many of them, and being reproved for doing so, answered that he made a Truce but for seaven dayes; but he escaped not vnpunished; for as the [Page 231] Story saith, assayling of the Citie, he had a most shamefull and disgracefull repulse by the women, which so perplext him, that he fell mad, and ript vp his owne bowells. Looke againe into Plutarch, and you shall see how Alexander Ecclipsed the glory of all his Enterprises by putting of the poore Indians to death,See Philip Commin: how the Duke of Bourbon was punished in his house for delivering vp of the Constable of France vnto the King, after he had given him safe conduct. Lib. 4. cap. 13. contrary to his promise, who submitted themselues vnto him. So odious haue Truce-breakers and perjured persons beene ever in the sight of God.
The offences of lying, rumor-raysing, and perjurie, being offences of so high a nature; how commeth it to passe, that we haue no Lawes amongst our selues to punish them?
Sir, you are mistaken, we haue Lawes which punish them in a high degree, though not in so high a degree, as did the Lawes made in the dayes of our forefathers and progenitors.
What Law is there, I pray you, to punish a rumor-rayser, and how were they punisht in the dayes of our progenitors?
By the Ancient Qui falsos rumores in vulgus spargēdiautor est, lingua ei praecisa erit, nisi capitis aestimatione vult redimere, per leges Alured: idem supplicium in coldem, per leges Edgari. Vid. Lam. Sax. [...]eg. Lawes of England, if any one had been the Author of any false rumor, his tongue was to haue beene cut out, vnlesse he would haue redeemed it with the price of his head. The Lawes of England now in force, haue provided punishments which haue a resemblance vnto the punishments spoken of in the life of Nicea, which were inflicted vpon the Barber by a See the Stat. of Westm 1. cap. 33. Statute-Law made in the dayes of King Edward the first; If any one shall rayse any rumor whereby discord and dissention shall grow betweene the King his people and Nobles, he that doth rayse the same shall be kept in prison vntill he hath brought him forth that did speake the same. In the dayes of King Richard the 2. there were See the Stat. 2. Rich. 2. cap. 11. Lawes made, that if any one should counterfeit any false Newes, lyes, or tales of any Prelates, Dukes, Earles, Barons, or other Nobles of the Realme, [Page 232] or of the Chauncelor, Treasurer, Clerke of the privie seale, Iustice of one bench or other, the great Officers of the Realme, which by the said Lords were never spoken nor thought of, whereby debate may arise betweene the Lords and Commons, and thereby great mischiefe incurre vnto the Realme, he was to vndergoe such punishments as was provided by the Statute made before in the dayes of King Edward the first; and to endure such further punishments as the Lords in their discretions should thinke fit; as by another See the Stat. of 12. R. 2. cap. 11. Statute made in the said Kings Raigne may appeare. So doe the Lawes of the Kingdome where you liue punish rumor-raysers.
But how doe the Lawes of our Kingdome punish perjured persons?
The See the Stat. of 5. Eliz. Per antiquas leges Aug [...]a si quis jufiurandum violaverit, fides ei in posterùm non fuit adhibenda, verùm in Ordalium adiu dicandus. Vid. Lam. in priscis Angl leg. inter leges Edw: Idem supplicium per legem Canuti, & per legem Edw: & Guthlemi; mulierculae perjuriosae à finibus regni relegantur. Vid. Lamb. Apud Persas lingua magis castigabatur, quàm vllum probrum. Curtius. Statute-Lawes of the Kingdome of England do thus punish them; as they haue endevoured as much as in them lye, to corrupt the Iudge that decides Controversies, and to infringe the bond that vnites and tyes man to man, so as an enemy to mankinde doth the Law behold them; for after that shee hath branded them for perjured persons, and burthened them with a fine more heavie than their shoulders will well beare, shee sequesters them by imprisonment, as not fit to partake of humane societie, and disables their testimonies in all other cases whatsoever. So doe the Lawes of our Kingdome punish perjurie.
I pray you resolue me this doubt, doe the Statute-Lawes punish all false Witnesses alike, making no difference betweene a Witnesse whose testimonie tends onely to the taking away of the goods or good name of a man, and a Witnesse whose testimony tends as well to the life as liuelihood of him.
Certainely, in both Cases the punishment is but pecuniary & corporall, yet more or lesse according to the nature and qualitie of the offence; for if a See the Stat. of the fifth yeare of Queene Elizabeth. false [Page 233] testimony be vsed in any Cause depending before the Kings Iustices in any of his Highnes Courts of Record at Westm. be it by Writ, Action, Bill, Information, or in any Leets, view of Frankpledge, Law-day or auncient Demesne Court, Hundred, Court Baron, or in the Court of Stanneries in Devonshire or Cornwall, for any Lands or Tenements, Goods or Chattels, the punishment is certaine, that is to say, fortie pounds against a suborner and procurer, and twentie pounds where no subornation is, if he hath wherewithall to satisfie; if not then imprisonment for halfe a yeare, without bayle or mainprise, and to stand vpon the Pillorie for halfe an houre, within the Market-Towne where the offence was committed, or in some Towne neare adjoyning; but if it be in Case of Confederacy or Conspiracy, where the life of a man is questioned, then the punishment is more or lesse, according to the nature and qualitie of the offence; as the Lords in their discretions shall thinke meete and convenient.
Giue me leaue, I pray you, to expostulate a little with you; how can a pecuniary punishmēt be in any degree aequivalent to the nature of the offēce, which tends to the taking away of the life of a man; and how cōmeth it to passe, that the intent in some cases shall be punished with death, when it ex [...]ends no further then to the taking away of the goods of a man; and in other Cases when it extends to the taking away of his life, it shall be punished but with a pecuniary and corporall punishment. As for example; If a man haue an intent to rob a dwelling house, and pursue it so far as to breake downe a wall, though he take nothing away, yet if his felonious intent doe appeare by the remoovall of goods out of their places, & packing them together, making them fit for portage, he shall vndergoe the same punishment as he should haue done if so be he had taken them away: but if a man shall suborne two Witnesses to depose a [Page 234] thing which trencheth to the life of a third person, though this subornation, plot, and Conspiracy be proved by Confession of the partie, or otherwise, yet the offender shall escape with a pecuniary and corporall punishment. By the Law of God such a Witnesse was punisht with death; Lex Taelionis fuit inducta à Pythagoreis ex authoritate Rhadamanthi, qui inter caeteras leges hanc tulit. Si quis quod fecit patiatur, jus erit aequum. Aristos. lib. 5. de iure Talionis. Oculus pro oculo, dens pro dente, Deut. 19.21. Exod. 21.23. Lex Talionis was put in execution, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. And as well by the Vide Stat. de Ann. 37. Edw: 3. cap. 18. Lawes of England made in the dayes of King Edw: the 3. as by the By the Lawes of Scotland, he that accuseth another of treason, who is acquited, commits treason. 1 [...]. Stat. Scot. 11. Parliam. Iac: 6 [...]. cap. 49. Non inutile consilium Iacob▪ nuper Regis in oratione 5t•. in ius venientes, iure cō tra vos reddito, quiescite, alias scitote non dormire Talionis legem. Lawes of Scotland made in the dayes of King Iames the sixth; False accusers were punished with the same punishment as they should haue beene that were accused, if the accusation had beene true.
Certainly, I know no reason, why the one should liue, and the other dye, vnlesse it were to that end and purpose, as Sueton: i [...] Nerone 34. Corn [...]l: Tacit. lib. 14. cap. 3. Nero was suffered to liue that his punishment might be the greater, who after the murthering of his Mother, was continually terrified with the apparition of her Ghost, and with conceits that the furies persecuted him with burning torches; or to that end and purpose as Phil: Commin: lib. 7. c 11. Alphonsus King of Naples was suffered to liue, who having vnjustly murthered foure and twentie of his Barons, could never afterwards sleepe quietly, but ever cryed in the night, that he heard the French-men comming, and the trees and stones sounded France: or to that end and purpose, as Sir Thomas More in Ri. 3. pag. 69. Richard the 3. was suffered to liue, who never enjoyed himselfe after the murther of his Nephewes: of whom Sir Tho: More thus writeth. I haue heard (saith he) by such as were secret with his Chamberers, that after this abominable deede done, he never had quiet in his minde, he never thought himselfe sure; when he went abroad, his eyes whirled about, and his body was privily fenced, his hand ever on his dagger: his countenance in manner as if he had beene alwayes readie to strike; he tooke no rest at nights, lay long waking and musing, so wearied with [Page 235] care and watching, rather slumbered than slept; troubled with fearefull dreames, sodainly sometimes started vp, leapt out of his bed, and ran about the Chamber, and so his restles heart was tossed and tumbled with a tedious impression and stormy remembrance of his abominable deede: or vnlesse it were for that end and purpose, as they were suffered to liue in the dayes of William the Conquerour, when the punishment in no case was Guilielmus Conquestor inter caeteras leges hanc tulit, vt ne quis occidatur, vel suspēdatur pro aliqua culpa, sed eruantur oculi, vel abscindantur testiculi velpedes▪ vel manus, ita quòd truncus solùm remaneat in signum proditionis suae. Vid. Lamb. interleges Guil. Conquest. Capitall; yet more terrible than death, the punishment sometimes being the losse of a hand, sometimes of a legge, sometimes of every member of the body; Ita quòd truncus solùm remaneat in signum nequitiae, according to the qualitie of the offence. I say, I know no reason, vnlesse for these reasons they were suffered to liue. And therefore I haue ever beene of opinion, that if in any case in the case of Susanna, and Phoebus his wife, Si quis quae fecit patitur justissima paena est. —né (que) lex est iustiorvlla, Quàm necis artifices arte perire sua. Ovid. 1. De Arte Aman. Expectes eadem quae nobis feceris (Albi) Nam quem tu laedis, te ferit ille libens. Lex Talionis should be put in execution, and haue often wished that some good Law were made to punish false Witnesses by the example of the Crow, which Chawcer in a few Verses hath well remembred.
Vna tantùm lingua ea (que)inter dentes inclusa nobis data est, aures verò duae, vt discamus multa audire & paucaloqui.
You haue given me good satisfaction hitherto, I pray you goe on vnto the next, which is the last Law in the Catalogue, and acquaint me (as you haue done of the former) what Lawes are thence derived.
I will therein satisfie you. And first I will shew you what Covetousnesse is; then how vnto it as the springs vnto the fountaine, all mischiefes and inconveniences in a Common-wealth haue relation; how from it arise discords and dissentions, factions and seditions, tumults and insurrections; how it subverteth the Lawes [Page 236] of God and nature; how it makes a man miserable both in life and death; how the poore man that liues contentedly with a little, is in better state than the rich covetous man; then, how the wi [...]est of the Heathens did abhorre it, and how the wisest of Kings prayed against it; and lastly, what Lawes haue beene made to restraine the vnbridled affections of covetousnesse and intemperate persons; and so conclude for this time. You shall vnderstand, that Avaritia quae Graecè [...] dicitur, non in solo argento vel nummis, sed in omnibus rebus quae immoderate capiuntur intelligenda est. Vbicún (que) omninò plùs vult quis (que) quàm sa [...] est. August. Ambitious hunting after honors, and worldly goods, were the causes of the civill Warres between the 2 houses of Yorke and Lancaster. See Philip Commin: lib. 1. cap. 7. Covetousnesse is nothing els but a thirstie and greedy desire after any thing which is prohibited; not of gold alone, sed vbicun (que) plùs vult quis (que) quàm sat est, but wheresoever any one desires more than enough of any thing; which the Auncients haue aptly termed radix & scaturigo malorum, the roote and cause of all mischiefes in a Common-wealth; for what evill is there in Court or Country, that hath not this for an originall? what factions are there in Citie or societie, that hath not this for a beginning? is it not this that disturbes both Sea and Land, Church and Common-wealth, that makes the sonne to wish his Father in his graue defore his time? that makes the nearest and dearest friends fall fowle one vpon another? Pylades vpon Orestes, and Damon vpon Pythias? Nee quenquam jam ferre protest Caesárve priorem Pompeiús (que) parem. Lucan. lib. 1. Caesar would not endure a superior, nor Pompey an equall. But what was the reason? they were bewitcht with a greedie desire of having. Plutarch▪ in Sylla & Mario▪ Florus lib. 3. c. 21. Nulla fides regni socijs, omnis (que) potestas Impatiens consortis erit. Lucanus. Sylla would not endure Marius, nor Marius extenuissimo opulentissimus, at (que) ex humili factus maximus, nullam faelicitatis metam sciret, ne (que) in honore effe, nee frui in otio praesentibus facultatibus effet contentus. Plutarch. in Mario. Postquam Sylla, ad mactan [...]um cōvertit se caedibus inundavit vrbem infinitis & immen [...]is. Plutarch. in Sylla. Talis inveniebatur in Campo Martio inscriptio in monumento Sylla. Anemine Syllam amicorum benefactis, vel inimicorum malefactis superatum. No man ever surpassed him in doing good to his friends, and mischiefe to his enemies. Plutarch in Sylla. Marius Sylla; but what was the reason? it was (as Florus obserues) of their inexplebilis fames, of their too much hungring and thirsting after greatnesse; they were but two, but too many by two; for had they perished in the wombe, or dyed as soone as they were borne, it had beene happie for the Romane State, how many thousand harmelesse soules suffered, to satisfie the pride of their hearts, and ambitious thoughts? How did the streets streame with bloud, & the poore Mothers mourne and lament to see their babes and sucklings taken from their [Page 237] breasts, & in their sight exposed to the fury of the beasts, before they were able to measure the ground with their pases? How did the poore Fathers sometimes lay violent hands vpon themselues, sometimes vpon their children, and all to prevent the fury of the enemy? How were the Squallida stat rerum facies, quasi tota retrorsum Esset in antiquum terra redacta Chaos. Vndi (que) fit planctus, singultus, et vndi (que) clamor; Quis (que) miser, nec quem qui miseretur, habet. publike Theaters sometimes the places of mirth and merriment, made the slaughter houses and shambles, wherein were butchered the Senators and the heads of the people? how were the high wayes tending to the Cities and the Market places, overgrowne with Mosse and grasse, thornes and briars? how was the mistris of the world forlorne and become like an Owle in the Desert? It is reported by the Romane. Writers, that during the last ten yeares Warres betweene Marius and Sylla, were slaine one Oros. lib. 5. cap. 22. Eutrop. lib. 5. hundred and fiftie thousand persons; besides those of the Nobilitie, with whose heads Marius was vsed to recreate himselfe vpon his festivall and gaudie dayes. And besides those that were slaine by his Watch-word, which was that it should be a sufficient Warrant to kill a man of qualitie, Cui fatalem illam scilicet manum non porrexerat salutanti, who passing by Marius and doing his dutie vnto him, Marius did not giue him his hand to kisse. Of which miseries the poore Inhabitants of Sulmo and Sylla slew 12. thousand men in Praeneste, being put all in one place, and would haue saved his Hoste, but he would not liue, his Countrymen being dead. Plut. in Sylla. Praeneste were too sensible. What was the cause, I say, of all those miseries, but their too much hungring and thirsting after greatnesse? Why should not one house content one man, nay more, one Village, one Citie, one Country, one Kingdome, one world, but wee must goe a hunting after many houses, Cities, Villages, Countries, Kingdomes; nay, with Non vnus Tuveni Paelaeo sufficit orbis. Iuvenal. Alexander after worlds? Why should not one wife content one man; but wee must with the barbarous Moores thinke him most rich that can keepe most wiues? Why should not one servant content one man? When as by nature wee are all the sonnes of one common Father. Why should not one Asse content one man, when [Page 238] as he that hath thousands can ride but vpon one? Why should we Cover our neighbours house, our neigbours wife, our neighbours Oxe, our neighbours Asse, or any thing that is his, when as we haue enough of our owne. Discite quàm parvoliceat producere vitam▪ Et quantum natura petat. Satis est populis flaviús (que) Cerés (que) Lucan: lib. 3. Clarum est dictum Epicuri (vt inquit Seneca) si ad naturam vives, nunquam eris pauper, si ad opinionem nū. quam dives; exiguum natura defiderat, opinio immensum. Senec. Epist. 16. Quisquis exit in lucem, juffus est lacte & pane esse contentus. Nature is contented with a little: shee desires but meate, drinke, and clothing, and a competency in all. It is opinion that is so restles, that will not be satisfied. When Philip of Macedone fell backwards and saw his portraiture in the dust, he began to take a strict account of himselfe, why he should covet after much when as so little a Vos et in humano paritis qui faenore faenus, Qui falsos numeros, et iniquo pondere lances Obijcitis plebi.— Praemia quae tandem praeter mucronis acumen, Praeter acus punctum — You Citie-Viters which (incestuous) ioyne Vse vpon vse, bege [...]ting coyne of coyne; Loc here the guerdon of your grievous paine, A needless poins, a mote, a mite you gaine. A nit, a nothing did you all possesse. Or if then nothing, any thing be lesse. Bartas. spot as his length & breadth must within a few yeares after containe him. Indeede neither Philip nor a greater than Philip, Alexander though he were the sole Monarch of the world, when death hath once levelled his body with the dust, haue a greater interest in the earth than the Victor ad Herculeas penettes licèt vs (que) columnas, Te terrae cum alijs pars manet aequa tamen. Morus. meanest subject within his Territories. King Henry the second had his eight foote allowed him, and no more, as appeares by this his Epitaph in Math. Paris in Hen. 2. Aeq [...]at omnes cinis, impares nascimur, pares morimur. Sen [...]s. Mathew Paris.
Which I may thus English; You which are the great Lords of the world, that doe so much desire to enlarge your Dominions, behold in me as in a glasse, your true estate. I that was sometimes as you are, a great Commander of many Nations, to whom no titles of honour were wanting; whose thoughts the earth could not containe, now lye environed in the compasse of eight foote [Page 239] of earth, and this little Tombe now containes mee, whom the whole world before could not containe. So little a spot of earth was his portion, and such a proportion is allotted to every man for his portion when death comes, and no more. Why should man be Quid superbis homo cujus conceptio culpa, Nasci paena, labor vita, necesse mori? Vana salus hominum, vanus decor, omnia vana, Inter vana nihil vanius est homine. Post hominem vermis, post vermem fit cinis, heu, heu! Sic redit ad cinerem gloria nostra cinis. Quid superbis terra e [...] cinis? (inquit Petrarcha) An non famosissimum illud Homericum audivisti? Nihil miserius terra nutrit homine. Scire velim quid te horum potissim [...] invitat ad superbiam? an fragilitas membrorū, exercitús (que) morborum? an vitae brevitas? an caecitas animi? an praeteritorum oblivio? an ignorantia praesentium & suturorum? an hostium insidiae? an mortes amicorum? an adversitas perseverans? an fugitiva prosperitas? Petrarch. proud then, dust and ashes, Wormes-meate, a sacke of dung and stercory; or why should he Covet so much to adde to his Territories? seeing so little must in the end, and within a very short time content him. Indeed if he well weighed that Epitaph of King Edward the fourth, made by Skelton, which I find inserted amongst the vnprinted Workes of Lydgate, he would be more modest in this kinde, which is in part as followeth.
Interroganti cuidam quid fui, quid sum, quid ero; respondit divus Barnardus vile sperma, vas stercorum, esca vermium
Quid est homo nisi testa fragilis, lurum solu [...] ile; pellis morticina, vas putredinis, fomes tineae, cibus vermis?
So much and more hath Skeltonus fuit vir lepidi & faceti ingenij, inter poëtas laure [...] donatus, in et Rhetores regius factus orator; obijt 21. die Iunij Anno 1529. sub H. 8. & tumulatus est in ecclesia Collegiata Sci Petri Westmonasteij cum hac inscriptione. Iohannes Skeltonus vates Pierius hic est situs. Skelton of K: Henry the 4. The Gymnosophists, vpon whom Alexander doated so much, that he promised to giue them whatsoever they would demand; being desirous to beate him from that greedie desire of his of compassing the world, demanded of him immortalitie. Vnto whom Alexander answered, that they demanded a thing which was not in his power to giue, he was a mortall man, and that immortalitie was proper vnto the Gods to giue, and not vnto men. Which when the Gymnosophists heard, they replyed, If thou be a mortall man, as thou sayest thou art, why are thy thoughts so infinite and boundlesse, that nothing but the world will satisfie thee? Macedone is a faire possession, and thy forefathers lived contentedly with it. Why shouldst thou inherite their possessions, and not their vertues? Remember that thou art [Page 241] a man, and that nature is contented with a little. When Alexander afterwards had compassed the world, and by reason of his victorious enterprises set himselfe on high, and would be called a God, the Curt. lib. 7. Scythian Ambassadors set vpon him, and told him, if thou be a God, as thou sayst thou art, remember thy selfe to be so; the Gods doe no wrong, they giue and take nought from any man. If Alexander could haue added yeares to his life, as he did Kingdomes to his possessions, he might well haue styled himselfe to haue beene a God; or if he could but haue assured himselfe to haue attained to the age of his Forefathers, Adam, Methuselach, or any of the Patriarkes that lived so long in the time of the old world; so that he might haue enjoyed what he attained vnto with such perils and dangers, he might haue had some cause to haue gloried and triumphed in his many victories and Conquests, but seeing that in the midst of his jollitie in the Alexander cùm multa insolenter scripfit, se (que) pro numine vellet propemodum adorari; Babylo [...]en [...] vbi venisset, febri, vel vt nonnulli tradunt, veneno fuit extinctus, cùm annorum esset triginta trium, & annos regnâsset duo decim. Sleidanus. spring of his age, when he should haue reaped the fruits of them; he must with Balthasar be taken off from them, it had been better for him never to haue known them, then having known them, so suddainely to leaue them; for a bondman that never knew what libertie was, it is nothing to liue in bondage; but for a Nihil tam miserabile, quàm ex beato effici miserū. Cicero. Turpiùs eijcitur quàm non admittitur hospes. O vid. Trist. 5. eleg: 6. Forth to be turned is greater shame, Than if a man in never came. freeman that never knew what it was to be debarred of libertie, to be cast into the Gallies, that is death vnto him; a poore man that never knew what riches were, but by report, can liue contentedly in want all his lifetime, but miserum est fuisse; for him that hath beene rich, to be stript of his riches, that is torture and torment; riches and honors and preferments giue a Per divitias vita & honos cōservantur, quae per inopiam pereunt. Vnde Poëta; Haud facilè emergant quorum virtutibus obstat Res angusta domi.— Iuven: Sat. 1. Sine opibus nuda est virtus, vt corpus sine amictu, gladius sine vagina, sagitta sine pharetra. Petrarch. grace and lustre to a man, whilest he creepes vpon the face of the earth; but what availe they him in the day of death? the poore man then is in Ire, redire, sequi ditum sublimia Castra, Eximius status est: sed non sic itur ad astra. Rastra & aratra coli et campiredolentia prata, Exiguus status est, sed sic magis [...]ur ad astra. better case than he, the poore man can goe freely to his grave without disturbance, he hath taken no mans house, no mans servant, oxe or [Page 242] asse from him; he hath done the Country-man no wrong; he hath depopulated no Villages, nor pulled downe any Steeples; he hath done the Citizen no wrong; he hath Monopolized no Commodities, nor debarred him of any priviledges; he hath done the world in generall no wrong; for he hath lived according to the Lawes of God and nature; desiring little more than meate, drinke, and Clothes. But is it so with the rich? No; Refert Philip Commin: Mahometem Imperatorem Turcicum nihil deplorâsse vehementiùs in Testamento suo quàm quòd subditos exactionibus gravârit. Phil. Commin. lib. 6: cap. 13. in fine Cap. Mahomet is troubled with his exactions, when he should depart in peace. Againe, Vide Apologum de flosculo & quercu, quo oftenditur quan [...]ò maius est robur, & longius aevum, tantò dolor gravior. Praeclarè Cicero, nihil est longum in quo fit aliquid vltimum. a little Tree falls to the ground without any noyse, but a great Oke that hath beene many yeares agrowing, cannot be cut downe but it will giue a great cracke. A poore man Et cùm transierint exactae tempora vitae, Concludit tacitos hic sine labe dies. steales out of the world, and doth no harme when he goeth; but seldome dyes the rich man, but stormes and tempests, suits and contentions follow after. Againe, a poore man is a kinde of a Praeclarum dei donum eft paupertas: huius autem doni gratiam intellexit ille Senecae nepos, referens securitatem animae psuperis inter bella Civilia. —O vitae tuta facultas Pauperis, angusti (que) lares! ô munera nondum Intellecta deûm, quibus hoc contingere muris, Aut Templis potuit, nullo trepidare tumultu. Caesarea pulsante manu! Lucan. Substantiue, as he stands by himselfe, so he falls by himselfe; but the rich covetous man, is an Adjectiue, as he cannot subsist without others, so he cannot fall without others. Againe, a poore man that is not rooted in the earth, can bid adiew vnto it without a loath to depart; but it is not so with the rich man. Croesus is so glued and nayled to his possessions, that he cannot be severed, or endure to heare of an vltimum vale, but with torture and torment; for it is impossible that those Divitiae quae [...]itu difficiles, custodi [...]u anxiae, amiflu flebiles. Petrarch. lib. 1. de rerum vtrius (que) sort. dial. 53. possessions which haue beene gotten with so much trouble and travell, kept with so many cares and feares, should be left without a great deale of griefe and sorrow. So that the Case of the rich covetous man, is more despicable and miserable at the time of his Pauci divites moriuntùr qui in exitu hujus vitae non desiderant fuisse pauperrimi. Blesens. departure out of this life, than of a poore labouring Cottager & husbandman. Yet I must acknowledge when sicknesse, the messenger of death comes, that Dives in the opinion of the multitude, is more happie than Lazarus; but it is in the opinion of the multitude [Page 243] onely, in Beatior in sua miseria reputandus est pauper, quàm dives in opibus Sophisticis, & gloria seductrice. Cumulus enim divitiatū in cumulum miseriarum transiturus est, quarum cruciatus ille impatientiùs sustine bit qui diutiùs & delicatiùs huius vitae desiderabilibus as [...]uevit se: illi in Evangelio qui ad refrigerium linguae ardentis digitum Lazari postulabat, dictum [...]st, recordare fili, qui [...] recepisti bona in vita tua, & Lazarus similiter mala. Pet. Blesens: Certè apud pauperem Christum pretiosior est titulus pauperis, quàm divitis. Christus pauper & pauperis Virginis filius pauperes elegit in Apostolos, nec domum Reguli introire dignatus est, ne honorare divitias videretur. Bles: true judgement it is not so. It is true, better attendance and more observance he hath, but it is better for him to be without them; for to what end doe they waite vpon him? Certainly, to none other, than the Crowes waite vpon a Carriers Hackney, or Iockys Palfry, that lies gasping for breath vpon the road; that they may pull out his eyes, and prey vpon him. One waites vpon him for Chremes his sake, and when he is readie to goe out of the world, puls him backe againe, & wisheth him to remember his old Vncle Chremes, that hath been beaten with stormes and tempests, with crosses and losses in the world. Another attends him for Pasibulaes sake, & cryes remember, O remember Pasibula the faire Pasibula, your old vncle Chremes his daughter, that is come to womans estate, and wants a portion to preferre her in marriage: a third attends for Davus his sake, and calls vpon him to remember Davus, his old servant Davus, that spent his youth and his best dayes in his service, and now being old wants succour and reliefe: a fourth attends to finde a fit opportunitie to speake for himselfe: every mans end and ayme is to get a fleece from him: no man waits vpon him for Gods sake, or for any loue they beare vnto him. But is it so with the poor man? No; he is never troubled with any such remembrancers, when death calls him, and sicknesse like vnto Philips Page, summons him with a Memento mori, he hath a free passage without disturbance. We reade in histories, that it is a Custome in some Mos Aegyptiorum suit, vt illi de quibus sumenda erat paena, pridi [...] quàm darentur neci, caenam ex regis mensa acciperent. Plut. in Cleom. Quem vsum Caesaris temporibus invaluisse legimus. Suet. in Domitiano. Countries, that when any man is condemned of any notorious Crime, to feast and fat him, that he may vndergoe and endure the greater torment; Even so doth God deale with the rich covetous man; he giues him riches as the Datae sunt multis divitiae in laqueum & capturam. Eccles. 5. vers. 13. wiseman saith, to his hurt, that when he is pleased to take either him from them, or them from him, his griefe and sorrow may be the greater; for the more he hath, and the longer he hath kept them, the more vnwilling will [Page 244] he be to leaue them. It is no trouble or cause of griefe for a man to abandon the societie of him whom he never saw; but either on the high-way, or in a Common Inne, or in the Market-place; but to leaue a familiar bosome friend hopelesse to see him againe; for Demas to leaue this present world, or Dives his Mammon, and to be sequestred into a dungeon of darkenesse and misery, there to remaine throughout all eternitie, that is torture and torment: and this is the Case of the covetous man, for what can that man expect when he dyes, that never adored while he lived any other God than his Matrimonium inter [...]urum & [...] est divortium inter Deum & a [...]imam. August. Per multas tribulationes intrant iusti in gloriam Dei: divites cum multis cruciatibus acquirere sibi gehennam student. goods, or looked after any other Heaven than earth? certainly, nothing els, but eternall woe and misery; so Miser est omnis animus vinctus amicitiâ rerum mortaliū, & dilaniatur cùm eas amittit, et ante quam eas amittit. August. lib. 4. Confes. Non tam iucundus in adventu, quàm molestus in de [...]essu est cumulus bonorum. that miserable in his life, miserable in his death, miserable in his body, miserable in his soule, and miserable in his possessions, vpon which he so much doated, is the covetous man; for when death comes, he knowes not what to doe with it, keepe it he cannot, & leaue it he will not, faine would he carry it along with him, but his Conscience tells him that in justice he is bound to leaue it behinde him, to make satisfaction for the many wrongs and iniuries he hath committed; faine would he then liue to make satisfaction, but the sentence of death being past, dye he must, faine would he then dye, but dye he cannot; for on the one side stands the husbandman and disturbes him, calling vpon him for satisfaction for the wrong done vnto him by depopulating of the Village wherein he lived: on the other side stands the Citizen and disturbes him, calling vpon him for satisfaction for the wrong done vnto him, for Engrossing of the Commodities whereby he was accustomed to get his liuing, round about him stand the poore, the fatherlesse and the widowes, calling vpon him for satisfaction for the wrong done vnto them; so standing distracted as it were, betweene life and death, at length death seizeth vpon him, and carries him out of the flame into the fire, [Page 245] into an Avaritiam et rapinam redarguit August: proponēdo supplicium: si in ignem mittitur qui non dedit rem propriam, vbi putas, mittendus est qui invasit alienam? Si cum diabolo ardet qui nudum non vestivit, vbi putas arsurus est, qui expoliavit? habitation prepared of old for such covetous oppressing people as he was, of the torture and torment whereof he had a kinde of taste and feeling beforehand.
Sir, it should seeme then, that Eleganter Poëta; Praestat supellex sobria. Recté (que) parta recula, Quàm rapta per vim divitū Fastidiosa copia. Quod vulgariter exprimunt, Cum dat oluscula mensa minuscula, pace quieta▪ Ne pete grandia, lautà (que) prandia, lite repleta. Aglaus the poore Arcadian Cottager, whose thoughts never trespassed vpon his neighbours ground, nor his appetite vpon his neighbours store, nor his back vpon his neighbours flocke, contented with his little Cottage, his own provision, and the wooll of his owne sheepe, is in better Case than Gyges, who ruled and governed over Lydia.
You know what Gyges Rex Lydorū quaesivitab Apolline, an aliquis se beatior inveniretur, cui ille Aglàum praeferebat qui erat Arcadum pauperrimus, nee terminos sui agelli vnquam excesserat. Valer: lib. 7. cap. 1. Sensit Alexander testa cùm vidit in illa Magnum habitatorē, quantò faelicior hic qui Nilcuperet, quàm quitotum fibi posceret orbem! Inv: de Diogene. Apollo's opinion was long agoe, and certainely I am of his minde, that the poore man that hath but little, and hath gotten that little well, is in better Case than he that hath much, and hath gotten it by wrong and robbery; the nights affoord him more rest and the dayes more solace and comfort, the one is ever disquieted in his thoughts, and when he should sleepe he tumbleth and tosseth, and faine would he rest, but he cannot; one while he is affrighted with the dreame of Suet. in Caligula. Tumultus attonitus pectora quatit▪ Penitùs (que) volvit, rapior, sed quò nescio; Sed rap [...]or; Tonat dies serenus. Senec. in Thyest. O si pateant pectora ditium. Quantos intus sublimis agit Fortuna metus (que)! Senec. in Hercule O [...]t [...]o. Vide Tacit Ann. lib [...] cap. 1. Caligula, that Iupiter with his great toe kickt him out of heaven. Another while with the fearefull apparitions of such whose houses he had ruinated and depopulated; one while againe the light of the Moone doth offend him; another while the darkenesse of the night doth terrifie him; the barking of the dogs, the crowing of the Cockes, and the yalling of the Cats must beare the burthen of his disquietnesse. Whereas in truth all is not well at home, a sicke Conscience he hath within him, which will not suffer him to take any rest. Whereas the other sleepes as Ecclesiast 5. vers. 12. Cespes Tyrio mollior ostro. Solet impavidos ducere somnos. Senec. in Hercule Octao. Illi blanda qui [...]s, dulcés (que) sub arbore somni; Non succo illecti, tardí (que) papaveris haufiu. To summon timely sl [...]epe he doth not neede, Aegypts cold rush, nor drowsie Poppie seede. The streames milde murmure as it gently rushes, His healthy limbes in quiet slumber bushes. Mens [...]ana in corpore sano. securely in the midst of the Ocean vpon a boord, as in a fetherbed vpon firme land, notwithstanding the sound of the Trumpet, the [Page 246] report of the Canon, and the raging of the roaring Sea; and why? Marry, because he hath an honest true heart in a sound and solide body. So that without doubt the night affords him more solace than it doth the other. When the day appeareth, the one is Si cogitationes ejus essent venti, defideria ejus aquae, multò periculosius esset in animo eius navigare, quam in alto mari. distracted with a multitude of businesses, & which to doe first he knoweth not; one while he goeth forth, & presently he makes a stand, something is left vndone which should haue beene done before he came forth; anone after he better bethinkes himselfe and goes forward, and is taken suddainely with a dropsie; thirstie, exceeding thirstie he is, but after what? after profit, pleasure, and promotion, and nothing but his neighbours house, his neighbours wife, his neighbours Cùm inter physicos quaestio esset, quid praecipuè conferret oculorum perspicuitati; cum alij faeniculi afflatum, alij vitri vsum dicebant, alij (que) aliud. Actius rari vir ingenij & facetus, aiebat invidiam. Protulit (que) statim Ovidianos illos versus; Fertil [...]or seges est alienis semper in arvis, Vicinúm (que) pecus grandius vber habet. goods, fortunes, & preferments will quench his thirst: whereas the other is never parcht with heate, or pincht with cold; never molten with a desire of having, nor frozen with a despaire of not obteyning, he never lookes after potentum superba palatia, nec Qui potiùs dubias rabularum pabula lites Quàm moveat, mavult cedere iure suo. formidata judicum subsellia, nec alicujus dedecus & ruinam, the stately buildings of the mightie, nor to sit as Iudge in the Consistory, nor to rayse himselfe by the ruines of any; he knowes that nature is contented with a little, that the chiefest happinesse is to enjoy God, and the best meanes to attaine thereunto is to deale with all men as he would be dealt withall, and to liue contentedly in that Quod sis esse velis nihil (que) malis Summum nec metuas diem nec optes. Mart. lib. 10. epist. 47. Esto quod es, quod sunt alij, sine quemlibet esse, Quod non es nolis, quod potes esse, velis. That man that true content would finde, Vnto his fortune fits his minde. state and condition of life vnto which he is called, and therefore his chiefest care is vt benè actam vitae fabulam, pulchro fine concludat; that he may liue and dye well: When dinner time appoacheth, the Table of the one is furnished with varieties of all kindes of dainties that the season can affoord, and no attendants are wanting. Circumstant canes aulici, mures (que) domestici, & adulatorum turba, but what is he the better for it; in the midst of all he sits like Tantalus, and is Nihil tam lautum, quod nausea non reddit insipidum. Petrarch. Vescuntur lautiùs, et vestiuntur insigniùs divites quàm pauperes, sed non vivunt meliùs nec diutiùs, nec laetiùs, & quod constat, nec securiùs, nec honestiùs, certè nec sanct [...]ùs: pro his omnibus vnum habent quo excellunt, pomposiùs, hoc est, stultiùs [...]ivunt. Petrarch. troubled either with an extreame winde, or an extreame heate, or an extreame cold: either he is puft vp with a tympanie [Page 247] of pride and ambition, and is plotting of treasons, and rebellions, or inflamed with the heate of envie and malice, and is thinking how to enveigle and circumvent his neighbours; or is frozen with the cold of distrust and despaire of not effecting and bringing to passe, what he hath mischievously imagined and conceived, so that nothing will downe with him; one while he desires to taste of the Venison, but downe it will not, it is not seasoned or baked as it should be: another while he desires to taste of the Pheasant or Partridge, but they rellish not with him, they are not rosted as they should be, the poore Cooke must suffer for it; when as G. Low when he did best, never did better; and when indeede there is no fault in him, but the fault is in the stomacke, occasioned by reason of the extreame winde, heate, or colde. Whereas the other appoints no set times for eating, when his stomacke serues him he falls to his meate, and when he is —cui ne fuit vnquam Ante s [...]timpotus, nec cibus ante famem. dry he takes vp the Cup and drinkes, and not before; he never sends into forraine parts for Oliues and Capers to sharpen his appetite, all his care is to get provision at home to take away the edge of it: as for sawces he lookes not after them, better Optimum condimentum est fames. sawces than Spaine or Portugall can affoord, he carries alwayes about him; his Table is like vnto the Table of The Table of Epaminondas never batched treason. Plutarch in Licurgo. Insidiator a best mensis, nec lancibus aureis Toxica decipiunt. Nec circumstrepuit raucis clamoribus amens Turba Togatorum. In golden platters never doth be licke. For sweet Ambrosia, deadly Arsenicke. Epaminondas, and is seldome burthened with varieties, or with more than an individuall; he commonly hath but one dish, and if it chance a second to be added to make vp a number, it is a gawdie and festivall day; he feeds heartily, and is never troubled with slatus hypochondriacus atra bilis or melancholia; riseth contentedly, and goes about his worke chearefully; when dinner is done, the one betakes himselfe to his old trade, and his old diseases betake themselues to him; ever Ambitio est hydrops, cui non est terminus, is qui Nunc plebeius erat, jam diadema cupit. For which alas, the brother kills his brother: The Syre his sonne, the sonne his syre and mother; The man his wife, the wife her wedded Peere; The friend his friend; O what a hel [...] is here. Bartas. bibbing he is, yet never satisfied, ever gaining, yet never hath enough, and so continues vntill Supper-time: the other likewise he takes himselfe to his trade, which is inter musas & liberalia [Page 248] studia, & novarum rerum inventionem & veterum memoriâ tempus consumere, to learne to liue and die well, and in this he continues all his life time; when Supper-time approacheth, the one betakes himselfe to his accustomed Crapulam; his Table is furnished as it was at dinner, and the same attendants, with many more, Pipers, and Fidlers, and Singers, and Maskers, must then be had to make him merry; and Wine must be drunke in full Bowles; but alas, these affoord him no ease: the fire casts a greater heate after that water hath beene cast vpon it: the Ague taketh faster hold vpon a man after he hath revelled vpon his good day; and the Current rageth more violently, after it hath beene stopt: Cantus, vinum, somnus, commotiunculas illas primas non rarò sanâ [...]unt itae, doloris, amoris, at nunquam aegritudinem, quae radices egit & fixit pedem. Lips: lib 1. de Const. Vt medicament a minus valida non extrahunt humorē noxium, sed movent; sic vana haec delectatio irritat in nobis fluctum libidinum & adsuget. Lips: ibid. Non domus et fundus, non aeris acervus & auri, Aegroto domini deduxit corpore febres. Horat. lib. 1. Epist. 2. Sincerum est nifi vas quodcùn (que) infundis acel [...]t, Sperne voluptates; nocet empta dolore voluptas. Horat. ibid. pleasures, delights, and jollities, doe adde fuell to the fire, administer materialls for the disease to feede vpon; and courage to the Current, to runne more swiftly: the wound putrifies and corrupts within, whilest it is stubbered over, and made faire to the eye onely: and this is the Case of the Covetous man. The other likewise, he betakes himselfe to his accustomed dyet, which is either to eate nothing with Nullo modo mihi placet bis in die comedere, & bibere, dixit Plato. Plato, or very little, according to the Rules of Ex magna caena, stomacho fit maxima paena: Si vis inco [...]umem, si vis te reddere sanum, Parce mero, caena [...]o parium. Galen and Hippocrates, and which of these two is the happier man, judge you.
Certainely, if I be Iudge, I must adjudge as all our Countrey doth (notwithstanding any thing you haue said to the contrary) the rich man to be the more happie man, for that every where, both in Countrey and Citie, he is cleped by the name of a good man, and is honored and reverenced, when the poore man is neglected and despised; and for evident demonstration, I will tell you what I saw with mine eyes. Not long since being in the Citie, it was my chaunce to come into a Barbers Shop, where I beheld two men attending the Barber to haue his helpe for the cutting off their haire; the one was rich, and had his purse full of Crownes, the other poore, and had not a penny in his purse; the [Page 249] Barber entertained them both, but with a great deale of difference, he that had the Crownes, had the finest linnen, the purest water, the sweetest balls, the choycest powders, the sharpest rasor, the keenest sissers, and as much of his art as he could afford him; but he that came for Gods sake, had no other linnen, than what he carried about him, his owne shirt to wipe his hands; no other water than what issued out of the Barbers mouth, he spat on his face, and with that water did he shaue his haire, and in stead of a rasor did he vse a kinde of a saw, which did rather deglubere than tondere. So shaved him that ad singulos tractus lachrymae exoculis vbertim manabant; that water issued out of his eyes at every drawing of his hand. In so much, that a little dog that had beene beaten in the streets, comming into the shop for refuge, the poore man thinking that he had shaved the dog as he had done him, because he cryed so, demanded, O canis num tu rasus es ob dei timorem, alas poore dog, hast thou beene shaven too? For if he had beene a dog, he could not haue beene vsed worse than he was vsed. So that in my opinion, it is an easie matter to judge which is the more happie man, the rich man or the poore.
The man you speake of Sir, was a true Odi hortulanum qui ab radice olera abscindit: odi hominem qui pennas ita incidit, vt nequeant renasci. Lips: lib. 4. Pol. Cut-throate, and a Iew, no Barber, and I must confesse, amongst the Iewish fraternitie in every place, Iudas with his bag, is better esteemed than Peter that had neither gold nor silver. It is the familiar language I know of that fraternitie, to confound vertue and riches. He is a good man, saith the Cicero saepè Socraticam exaggerat ironiam: viri boni in populo nuncupantur qui sunt divites, etsi vitijs omnibus inquinati sunt. Pet. Orat. de avaris. vitanda. Broker, when he meanes a rich man. But these men never knew where goodnes dwelt. Our forefathers in their Hierogliphicks, did vsually picture out the way vnto the Temple of honour, to be by the Temple of vertue; but this viperous generation hath dammed vp this way, and found out another way.
[Page 250]The golden way is now the way that leades vnto the Temple of honour.
Certainely, the fraternitie of Brokers, as you terme them, are in the right; for in most parts of our Country, if a man haue no Non me praeterie (inquit Petrarcha ironicè) quae nam esse soient avarorum monita ad liberos, ad amicos, ad contubernales: quantum sit pe [...]uniae, tantum est nobilitat [...]s & gloriae; perditâ pecuniâ fidem perdidi. money, let him be as just as Aristides, as learned as Homer, as valiant as Hector, as wise as Salomon, yet we value him not.
If we are rich enough, we haue credit enough, and can doe any thing we say; wherefore if at any time, wee meane to overcome an enemy in the field, we arme our selues with Argenteis pugna telis, ac omnia vinces. silver weapons, which haue this power in them to peirce and make way through any Armour, be it Pistoll, Musket, or Cannon-proofe, & to vanquish our enemies, though they doe exceede vs in multitude; as the French did the English at the Battell of Poytiers and Cressey; by drawing them vnto vs, as the Sunne doth the vapors, and the fire the moysture. Therefore if at any time wee besiege a Citie, or any Hold or Fortresse, if we can but send an Omnia Castella haec Machina deijciet, in quae Afinus auro onustus possit as [...]endere. Cicero. Hic, haec, hoc, nummut, regina pecunia, & aurum. Sunt tria quae vincunt omnia Nil tam munitum est, quod [...]on expugna [...]i pecunia po [...] [...]it. Cicero. Asse loden with gold into it, it will make way, though the gates be of iron, and the walls of brasse. So that in the time of warre wee are confident, there is no such weapon as money is, what ever it be in the time of peace.
It is an excellent weapon in the time of warre I must confesse, and that Alexander aurum & argentum rarò cuiquam, nisi militibus dedit. Lamprid. in Alexand. Alexander knew well, who would at no time part with his readie money, but vnto his Souldiers: but how many haue wee heard of in the time of peace, whom their riches haue caused to haue beene made fooles vpon record; who otherwise might haue p [...]st for as wise men as their neighbours. How many haue we heard of, whom their estates haue brought into misery and confusion, and made their owne Children [Page 251] become their butchers and executioners? Doe we not reade of a Citizen of Venice, who being banisht for a misdemeanor, and Proclamation made, that whosoever could bring his head, should haue his estate, his son onely being made privie where he made his abode, to gaine his estate, became his executioner? Doe we not reade of Vislar, a King of Gothland, who by his greedie Covetousnesse, having heapt vp an abundance of riches, and for that cause being had in Contempt of all men, that his sonnes thinking he had lived too long, seized vpon his treasure, set fire vpon his house, & burnt him, with all his familie? Doe we not reade that it was Croesus great revenue that set Cyrus teeth on edge, and made his body indefatigable, vntill he had subdued him? Doe we not reade, that it was Crassus proud speeches (being the greatest man of wealth in his time) that no man was worthy to be accounted rich, vnlesse with his proper goods he could maintaine an Army; that drew the Parthians vpon him, and made them never to giue him over, vntill they had overcome him, and filled his mouth with gold, after which he so much thirsted? Doe we not reade againe, that it was the Covetousnesse of the Iewes, that caused twentie thousand of them at a siege of Hierusalem vnder Vespasian, to haue their bowells ript vp, and be massacred? And doe we not reade in Diodorus Siculus, of the Citizens inhabiting the Ilands in the Spanish Seas, to haue cast all their treasures into the Seas, fearing they might be motiues to draw a forreine enemy vpon them, or to make them fall fowle one vpon another? So that you see, the golden way is not alwayes the surest and safest way.
Though some haue perished in that way, and by their greedie Covetousnesse, haue pulled their houses vpon their heads, yet, I hope, you will not blame that man that having a long journey to goe, maketh some provision to relieue him in his journey, & relyeth not wholly vpon fortune.
Mistake me not. I condemne him not; for as I hate to see an old man covetous, so I loue to see a young man provident. I cannot but commend him, who having a journey to goe, makes provision to succour him in his journey: but for him that is at his journeyes end: for an De senili avaritia quid efficatius dici potest quàm quod ait Cicero: potest quidpiam esse absurdius, quàm quò via minus reftat, tò plus viatici quarere? & prosectò illud Senecae; nec mul [...]ò opus nec diu; cùm in omni aetate verù in senectute verissimū. Petr: orat. de avarit. vitand. aged Father, whose head age hath dyed into a silver dye; whose teeth with age doe fall from him, as the leaues in Autumne from the trees; whose eyes with age are sunke into his head; whose sight is become dimme and darke; whose hearing with age is become thicke and hard; and whose body stands Po [...] me detinuit morbus (inquit Chremes in Comaedia) rogas vnde? senectus ipsa morbus est. Ter [...]. in Phorm. Ante senectutem (inquit Seneca) curavi vt benè viverem, in senectute vt benè moriar. Senes. Epist. 61. tottering at the mouth of the pit, ready every houre to fall into it; for this man to make provision as if he were to goe as long as journey as Methuselah went; that I condemne as a kinde of distrust and diffidence in the providence of God.
Sir, what would you haue a man doe, or how would you haue him liue?
Goe to Theol: and he will tell you; it would be deemed presumptiō in me to vndertake such a taske: Yet I will tell you freely, what I haue heard him say; If thou be a head of the Church, liue like thy selfe, as God hath placed thee in degree aboue others, so be thou in thy conversation, a light and lampe vnto others; keepe Perta patens [...]sto, nulli claudaris honesto, scripsit quidam Prior liberalis in portam suam: cuius successor mutavit punctum & scripsit. Forta patens esto nulli, claudaris honesto; sed propter vnum punctū amisit prioratum. hospitalitie, giue almes vnto the poore, and doe some deeds of charitie; it is thy dutie so to doe; for so much is enjoyned thee by the generall Councels, and by the sacred Scriptures. Read over the generall Councel held at Paris, vnder those two Emperors Lewis and Lotharius, in the yeare of our Lord 829; and there thou shalt finde, how that thy Episcopi domus (vt ai [...] Hycronimus) omni cu [...]une esse debet [...]ospitium: laicus aut vnum, aut duos, aut paucos recipiens, implebit ho [...]pitalitatis officium. Episcopus nisi omnes recipiat, inhumanus a [...] eo scribitur. houses are not thine owne, but the houses of the poore; and that if a lay-man entertaine one, two, or some few, he doth fulfill and keepe the lawes of hospitalitie; but vnlesse thou giuest entertainement to all, especially to the poore and needie, thou doest not. Looke againe into the sacred [Page 253] Scriptures, and thou shalt finde it to be thy dutie to be 1 Timoth. 1. [...]. [...], a lover of hospitalitie and of good men; performe thy duty then, and thou shalt loose nothing by it; thou shalt haue good will amongst men, and honour and glory in heaven in the last day, when it shall be said vnto thee, I was a stranger, and you received me. If thou be a subordinate Minister, liue thou like thy selfe, puzle not thy selfe with the affaires of the Cùm honestatis Ecclesiasticae speciale decus existit, à carnalibus longè fieri actibus alienum: [...] secularibus negotijs immiscere manus caelestibus negotijs deputatas, grave acsordidum putamus. Vid.Conflit. Othob: in Linwo. sub titulo, ne Cleri [...]i jurisdictionem secularem exerceant. world; it is not sutable to thy profession; thou art a man of God, and every action of thine is an instruction to the people; how canst thou reproue vice in another, when thou thy selfe committest the selfe same thing? how canst thou say to the worldling and Non potest dicere sacerdos amatoribus mundi, ebriosis, ambitiosis, contentiosis, rixosis & adulterionibus, futurum cogitate judicium, cùm ipse non formidat. Covetous person, Lay vp your treasure in heaven, where the moth and Canker fret not, and where theeues cannot breake through and steale; when thou thy selfe art ever groveling and poring vpon the earth? How canst thou say to the drunkard, leaue of thy drinking, when thou thy selfe delightest in no place more than in Tavernes and Taphouses? How canst thou say to the ambitious, desist from thy ambitious thoughts, whilest thou thy selfe thinkest thy selfe never Ambitioso quicquid est, quamvis amplum sit, id certè parùm est, cùm est aliquid ampliùs, cùm illi non quibus praesunt, sed à quibus praecedantur, inspiciunt. high enough, whilest another is aboue thee? How canst thou say to the contentious and malicious, desist from your malicious thoughts, whilest thou thy selfe livest in continuall strife & contention? How canst thou say to the fornicator, desist from thy fornication, when thou thy selfe livest in Adultery? These things, with many more, are put home vpon thee in that generall Councell. So that it is thy dutie to giue good Ensample, by a vertuous life and conversation; otherwise thou shalt Semper nocentiss [...]mi omnium habiti qui venenato exemplo, seu morsu viper [...]o nocuerunt. Petr. lib. 9. rerum senil. pull downe with one hand, what thou raysest with the other. If thou be a publike Magistrate, liue thou like thy selfe, now is the time to Non pectus vllius potest introspici vrbis magistratus priusquam gesserit. Sophoc. shew thy selfe: if thou be vertuous, thy vertues will shine like the Sunne, and cast a greater lustre: if thou be vicious, thy vices will like a Cùm semel impurae fuerint in fontibus vndae; In fluvijs alias quis sore speret aquas. Vt Capite aegroto sanos descendit in artus, Morbus— Sic in rura nefas sele divulgat ab aula. Contagion, spread themselues among [Page 254] the multitude▪ defects in an emptie vessell appeare not, but being filled with water, they quickly shew themselues; pure gold cannot be discerned from base mettall, but by the touch; the yeares of thy Consulship will like a touchstone try thee, whether thou beest like Caesar or Bibulus, actiue or idle, hospitable or Covetous, good or bad, and the poore will be the Trumpets and Heralds to proclaime and sound thy name and fame vnto the world. Exhaust not then the common Nullum vitium (inquit Cicero) tectius quàm a varitia, praesertim in principibus, & rem publicam gubern antibus: habere enim quaestui rem publicam, non modò turpe est, sed seeleratum, etiam & nefarium. Cicero lib. 1. Offic: treasure, nor rayse thy selfe by ruinating of the poore. If thou be a private man, liue thou like thy selfe, be not so eager after the poore vanities of the world, as if thou wert borne to no other end or purpose, but to rake and scrape together; nor yet so retyre thy selfe, as if thou wert borne onely to eate, drinke, and sleepe: if God hath endowed thee with abilities of bodie and minde, shew the fruit thereof in thy life and conversation: Deserts and solitary places are provided for the Savages, and the Cloysters for Maxima virtutis laus in agendo valet. Magnanimi haud laus est minimè faciendo mereri; Privatum & Monachum talia fortè decent. Monkes and Fryars; but for men of action, there are Cities and Villages provided. It was a good and holy resolution of Hilarion: Hilarion having cast out a legion of devills by the spirit of God out of Orion, Orion to shew his thankfulnesse vnto him, woulds needs haue rewarded him with some gratuities, which Hilarion perceiving, in some indignation asked him, whether he never read or heard what befel Gehezi? and when Orion still pressed him to accept of his gift, he made him this further answere; Why should I that haue Nemo negligens in re sua, praesumitur diligens in re aliena. left mine own, accept of yours: and when a third time, he pressed him to accept of it, and to giue it to the poore; he answered, who should better know how to dispose of yours, than your selfe, and who should better know who had most neede than you, who walke through the high wayes, and Cities, and Villages; as for my selfe, I liue in a Cloyster, and what I doe I must doe by others; but you may make your owne eyes your [Page 255] overseers. This was a holy resolution, and did well become this good man, because he was a man of God, and had sequestred himselfe from the affaires of the world: but for a secular man, that should be a man of imployment, to sequester himselfe from the affaires of the world, and to sit Sunning himselfe with the Cynicke all his life time, I cannot commend it in him. Diogenes was named by the name of a dog, and well he deserved it, because he would not endure the company of men. The sentence of Iupiter was just vpon the snayle, when Iupiter had curteously invited the snayle, with the rest of the creatures to a feast, when all other came, the snayle stayd at home; which Iupiter taking ill, would needs know wherefore he came not with the rest of his neighbours: vnto whom the snayle returned this Answere; Novi, Iupiter, nusquam gentium delicias optabiliores, quàm domi; certainely, my meate never rellisheth so well with me, as it doth at home: but he received a condigne punishment for his carelesse neglect, because he loved home so well, his punishment was that he should never depart from home, but should carrie his house vpon his backe. It was an vnseemely answere which Diogenes gaue to Alexander, when Alexander was pleased to stoope so low as to come vnto him, and to tell him, that he vnderstood he was in want, and that he was come to supply his necessities; he had not the manners to thanke him, but expostulates the Case with him, whether of the two wanted most, he that wanted but a Vter nostrûm plù [...] eget? ego, qui vltra peram nil desidero, aut tu qui non es cōtentus paterno regno? scrip or sachell, or he that wanted Countries or Kingdomes? Tyanaeus might well haue accepted the gift which Vespasian sent vnto him, without any disparagement, and forborne to haue given that Answer vnto him which he did, which was, that he would be pleased to turne his Curtesies another way, vpon the greedie and covetous, that looked after such things, as for himselfe he had enough, and looked after no more. For as to [Page 256] looke after every thing is greedie Covetousnesse; so to looke after nothing is carelesse wretchednesse: our desires therefore and affections, should be guided by the rules of reason and discretion; if they be dull, they should be quickned and rowsed vp with the thought of penury and necessitie; if they be too free, they should be curb'd and kept in with the thought of shame and ignominie; for as he cannot be but a poore man, and fall into misery, that having nothing cares for nothing; so he cannot be but a dishonest man, that having all things is contented with nothing: for him that hath but a little to refuse a reward from him that hath more, and can better spare it than he want it, it will be accounted folly or arrogancie in him; but for him that hath enough, to be catching and snatching from him that hath not, it will be accounted base covetousnesse & crueltie in him. An example of abstinence in this kinde wee may take from Tamerlaine without disparagement; Tamerlaine being told that a Countryman within his Territories had found much treasure, he caused the same to be brought vnto him, which he perusing and finding by the effigies and inscription, that it was the Coyne belonging to the Romanes, and not the proper Coyne of his Country, he caused the same to be delivered backe againe; saying, What God had sent vnto him, he would not take from him: the poore man had neede of it, and therefore was it given him. The like patternes may we take from divers others.Plutarch. in Dionysio. When Dionysius vnderstood of a great rich man that had much treasure, and put it to no other vse than the Anacharsis olim scitè de Athenicusibus dixit; nummis cos vti duntaxat ad numerandum. Athenians did, he caused his house to be ransackt, and a great part of his treasure to be taken from him; which when the rich man saw, he was at his wits end, and being desirous to know what offence he had committed that he should be so vsed; it was told him, that Dionysius tooke it ill that he should hord vp his treasure, and put it to no vse, he having [Page 257] daily occasiō to vse it: which when the rich man heard, fearing the rest might goe the same way, he began to bestirre him, to buy and sell, trade & trafficke, and no man was then more actiue than he; of which when Dionysius was given to vnderstand, he sent him his treasure backe againe, and withall sent him word, that it was not his money which he lookt after, but to let him know, that money was therefore Coyned that it might be vsed, and that silver and gold doth loose its lustre and beautie when it is horded vp. Gueverra. Philip of Macedone having overcome the Athenians, one night after Supper asked this question of the wise men that attended him, what they thought to be the greatest thing in the world; one answered, the water, because a man may see more of that than of any other thing; another answered, the Sunne, because it did enlighten both heaven and earth; a third, the mountaine Olympus, because it did extend itselfe aboue the Clouds; a fourth, the Giant Atlas, vpon whose sepulchre the fearefull Mountaine Aetna was founded; a fifth, the Poet Homer, who was so much honored both in his life and death, that seaven Cities waged warre for his bones a long time, as sacred reliques; but the wisest of them all concluded, that animus magna despiciens, a minde despising the world, and the vanities thereof, is the greatest of all. Gueverra. Plato who had beene in his youth an active and stirring man in the world, and was experienced as well in mechanicall trades and occupations, as in civill and military government, being requested by a familiar friend of his, to tell him in what Course of life he found the greatest contentment, gaue him this answere in effect; not in coveting after honors and preferments, because they are accompanied with perils and dangers, not in gathering riches and treasures, because they are attended with cares and feares, not in pleasures and vaine delights, because they quickly vanish and fade away. Ego nunquam [Page 258] tam benè contentus fui, quàm eo tempore quo negotijs civilibus relictis ad libros meos veluti bonos socios vitae meae reverti, I never received so much contentment in any thing as in looking over my Bookes in my studie. Charles the fifth, a puissant and a mightie Prince, of whose magnanimitie the Antipodes were sensible, having past the blustering time of his youth, and composed all the differences between him and Francis the first, contemplating the vanitie of the world, forsooke all, In the yeare 1565. on the 20th of Octob. Charles the fifth resigned the Kingdome of Spaine to Philip his sonne, with great Ceremonie at Brussell. The yeare following, on the 7th of Septemb. he resigned his Empire to Ferdinand his brother, and betooke himselfe to a Monasterie neare to Placentia, in the Province of Estremadura. resigned his Kingdome to Philip his sonne, and his Empire to his brother Ferdinand, and betooke himselfe to a Cloyster, taking foure servants onely along with him, to waite vpon him. Aristarchus, a man of great account among the Thebanes, was vsed to say, Quid optes, aut quid fugias nescis, ita ludit tempus; What a man should desire, or what a man should eschew, he knew not, times were so fickle, and therefore his resolution was, if he could but get a little meate and drinke, and a few Cloathes, he would be therewith content. Dioclesian and Maximinian, brothers rather than Copartners in the Empire, so lovingly did they liue and rule together, voluntarily laid downe their Crownes both in a day, and betooke themselues to private liues. The Plutarch. in Solome. seaven wise-men of Greece, one after another refused the golden Table that was taken vp by the Fishermen of Coo in Milesia: the Case was thus; a certaine man having bought the next draught that should be taken vp by the Fishermen; it fell out, that in the draught there was a golden Table taken vp, and to whom it should belong, grew a question: the Fishermen pretended that it did belong to them, for that they affirmed they sold but the Fish that should be taken; the buyer pretended that it did belong to him, for that he affirmed he bought whatsoever should be taken in the next draught: whereupon by Consent the matter was referred to Apollo to be decided; who to put them both out of strife did adjudge [Page 259] it to the wisest man of Greece, and so by a generall Consent it was given to Thales, but Thales would none of it, but put it off to Bias, Bias refused it, and put it off to Pyttacus, Pyttacus to another, and he to another, vntill at length it came to Solon, Solon resigned it to Apollo, and desired him to dispose of it to some other; for that he tooke no pleasure in it.Omnia contemnere aliq [...]is potest, omnia habere nemo potest: brevissima ad divitias per contemptum divitiarum [...]ia est. Senec. Epist. 62. These men thought them to be most rich, that were endowed with most wisedome, most patience, most temperance; vertues that could ad yeares to their dayes, and prolong their lives; as for gold and silver, they did in some sort neglect, as things which were attended with cares and feares; enemies to the life of man: all the glorious outsides, the delicious dainties, and all the vaine pompe and glory of the world they contemned and derided: how did Epicurus summus voluptatis astertor, aqua et polenta victum quaesivit, non quòd voluptates aversaretur, sed quod in tenui victu se plus voluptatis reperire ajebat. Alexand. ab Alexand. lib. 3. cap. 11. Epicurus that hath beene so notorious for a belly-god in all ages of the world since his time liue? did he liue, as Sardanapalus did vpon the egges and heads of Partridges, Popingaies, Pheasants, and Peacockes? No: his ordinary food was bread & water. How did Crates and Antisthenes liue? did they not contemne and despise the glory of the world, and betooke themselues to a staffe and wallet: how did Phocion, Pelopidas, Socrates, Ephialtes liue? did they not write Alexand ab Alexand. ibid. inscriptions in a Temple at Thebes against King Menim, for inducing delicacies into the Cities? did they not condemne the Ionians, that induced peregrina obsonia & gulae novissima irritamenta, second Courses into the world? and did they not make This Law Octav. Caesar put in execution. Suet. in Octav. Caesar. Lawes, which they called leges Cibarias, and which Cato Censorius called sumptuarias, for the regulating of excesse in meates and drinkes? and did not Gallen and Hippocrates learnedly Comment vpon those Lawes, and plainely demonstrate, Eos Athletas quorum vita & ars sagina est diu vivere non posse; those belly-gods that place their happinesse in their throates, can neither haue soundnesse in their bodies, or sanctitie in their soules? [Page 260] And did not the Nilmagis praedatur oculos quàm ingluvies ventris. Dionysius ille teterrimus Syciliae tyrannus, dum gulae vacaret, oculos perdidit. Iustin. lib. 2. Seneca taliter obiurgat gulosos. Taurus (inquit paucissimorum lugerum pascuis implecur, vnasylva Elephanti [...] plurimis sufficit; homo & terrâ pascitur et mari; quid ergo tam insatiabilem nobia natura aluum dedit, cùm tam modica corpora dediflet, vt vastissimorum, edacissimorúm (que) animalium avidicatem vinceremus? minime. Senec. Epist. 60. Sicilian Tyrant forfeit his eyes, for transgressing and infringing of those Lawes? And were not those men and women generally in most esteeme among them, that voluntarily submitted themselues vnto them, and those in most contempt that disobeyed them, and gaue themselues over to gluttony and drunkennesse? how did they liue in many parts of the world, before the vse of Corne was knowne? did they not liue vpon Mortales primi ructabant gutture glandem. Acornes, and vpon such things as the Earth brought forth naturally? What habitatiōs had our wise aged Fathers in auncient times, the Philosophers and learned men of the world? or in what houses did they live? did they not live as the Tartars doe, and as many of the Inhabitants of the Kingdomes of Fesse and Morrocco doe at this day, in Tents built vpon Plaines, moovable at their pleasure? They built not their Non tam latè habites, sed quàm laetè requiritur ad beatam vitam: saepè vel in palatijs regum labor dolór (que) habitant, & in tugurijs pauperum quies & gaudium. Petrarch. houses vpon the tops of hils like vnto Pyramides, rather to catch the eyes of passengers, than to feede their bellies: their houses were more for vse than for ornament, and were furnished with such materialls as the noble Duke in the Courtier preferred before his rich hangings of Arras and Tapstrie, and his vessels of gold and silver, that is, with Libraries of Greeke and Latine Bookes, contayning varietie of all kinde of learning: where they might converse with Kings and Princes, and with such of all professions as had beene most famous in their generations in the knowledge of all Arts and Sciences, at all houres in the day: with such Vtensels were their habitations adorned. What Clothes did they weare? their Clothes likewise were not so Ea sit vessitus confideratio, vt nec nimiùm dissolutus sit, quod est rusticitatis, nec nimiùm mollis, quod est inconstantiae, et levitatis: vtrúm (que) extremum fugiendū. Siquidē Diogenes perspiciens Rhodios petelegantes, hîc (inquit) fastus est; rutsus (que) Lacaedaemonios sordidos, hîc alius fastus; rursus idem Cynicus mundi [...]iem Platonis calcans, Platonis fastum calco inquit, cui ille, sed alio [...]astu. curious and effeminate, as to dazle the sences of [...]illy women: yet not greasie, and like an Almanacke out of date, but substantiall, to keepe off the parching heate of the Summer, and the pinching colde of the Winter: their dyet was not so daintie, as to adde fuell to their lusts, but such as did satisfie their hunger, and quench their thirst: they feasted [Page 261] continually, but their feasts did not consist of varietie of dishes, but of varietie of dainties; and happie was that man that could be admitted thereunto; there was no greedie Philoxenus, that to please himselfe would displease his neighbour; nor no man there did eate to please his palate; every mans desires were to haue his eares more expanse, that he might heare more, and his memorie more strong, that he might beare away more; there were never two hands in a dish, nor two tongues walking together, whatsoever was spoken was spoken without interruption, and no man would proffer to beginne before the first had made an end, or to disturbe the speaker: merry they would be often and jesting, but their jests were without offence, Semper haec ingenuis libertas permissa est, vt in commune hominūbonú salibus luderēt impunè, modò ne licentia exiret in rabiem; lusit hoc in genere divus Hieronymus, lusit Eliah Propheta in Idololatriae cultores. 1 Kings 18. v. 27. & Esay. Propheta. cap. 44. v. 16. Veteres dixerūt duplicē esse salē, nempè Mercurij et Momi; salem Merc: appellarunt facetias lepidas quibus non nocemus alijs: salem Momi vocârunt dicteria quibus mordicamus alios. Scurrilitas est vitium, quò in iocando modum excedimus, nullâ habitâ ratione aut loci, temporis, aut personarum. Omni studioso lusus est necessarius: nam sicut fatigatio corporis remittitur per quietem corporalem; sic fatigatio mentis per delectationem in ludo, quae est quasi quies animae. elegant, facetious, and voide of scurrilities, obscaenities, and effeminate ribaldry; invectiues were not heard of amongst them, vnlesse they met with oppression, extortion, bribery, corruption, and the like. These vices they lanct to the depth: and Invenall was not so jerking as they were then. These feasts were instituted for the Continuance of friendship and familiaritie betweene them, and in requitall of Curtesies which past betweene each other, and the guests were regularly sophi & philosophi, sober, discreete, wise men, no combibones, por-Companions, rumor raysers, or tale-tellers were hitherto admitted; but if they could fill vp the musicke, beare a part in the Consort, and end a Comedie with some wittie Apophthegme and Conceit, they were welcome guests: their Entertainments generally were such as King Edward the third gaue to Sir At the taking of Callis the King was stricken twice vpon his knees by this Knight, but in the end the King tooke him and divers other Knights prisoners, and beyond his expectation most royally feasted him, and graciously set him at libertie, and gaue him a Chaplet beset with pearles from his owne head, by which his clemen [...]ie he drow his very enemies vnto him. In this warre the King served vnder the banner of Sir Walter Mannie, and (as my Author saith) greater honour did Soveraigne never doe to subiect. Eustace Rabamont, the French Knight, at the winning of Callis; free and noble, and beyond expectation; and the prime dishes and dainties of their Convivium philosophicum. Feasts, were wisedome, temperance, justice, fortitude, and the like. Of which every one tasted, yet seldome or never but of one dish at one time. Sometimes wisedome was preferred, vpon which every one fed liberally, as vpon a receipt [Page 262] as could in a sort antidate their dayes, and giue them an essence and being with the holy Patriarkes, Prophets, and Evangelists, with the reverend Fathers & Doctors of the Church, and with the learned Naturalists and Moralists of the world, that were departed in peace to their graves long before their great Grand-fathers were borne; by telling them how they lived, and how they dyed; that by their examples they might prudently husband the time present; amend and reforme what had beene amisse in times past, and carefully provide for the time to come. Sometimes Temperance was preferred, vpon which every one tasted liberally likewise, as vpon a Cordiall that could adde yeares to their lives, and prolong their dayes; vnto which every mans purse would not Cuiuslibet edere e [...] bibere est, sed cum modo et mensura id paucorum est. extend. Sometimes Iustice was preferred, which they did compare for goodnesse vnto the Sunne in the firmament, vnto the soule in the bodie, to the rule of life, affirming there was no such Current to water a dry and thirstie land, no such bond to vnite and tye man to man as this was, without which no Quid s [...]nt regna nisi latrocinia remotâ justitiâ, quae est legum effectus. Augustin. Citie, societie, or Common-wealth could subsist. Sometimes Fortitude was preferred, which they did compare vnto a Minerall, more soveraigne than that aurum potabile, of which the Paracelsians make so much vse of, that in times of greatest danger can affoord them ease and comfort, animating them patiētly & couragiously to vndergoe that wch they could not necessarily & conveniently avoyd. Non inuerse Consilium, cave ne cui haec dixeris; nam omne arcanum vnitati comparatur, quae si progreditur ad binarium, tunc ad multitudinem vergit, et sese multiplicat: ideó (que) Alexander Ethestioni obsignavitos. Quis similis cribro? fa [...]ilis omnis homo. Altissima quae (que) flumina minimo sono labuntur. Curt. Vetabo qui Cereris sacrum Vulgârit arcanae. Horat. lib. 3. Od. 2. It was no meane commendation that Spintharas, gaue of Epaminondas, that he never knew any that knew so much and spoke so little. Secrecie likewise they highly esteemed, especially in things agreed vpō at their solemne feasts, for the good and welfare of their Cities; they knew well that a little vent in a vessel is able to deadē the strongest wine; a little hole is enough to drowne the mightiest Ship; and a babling tongue able to overthrow the greatest designes. Wherefore in matters agreed vpon at their solemne meetings, they were as secret as Peter King of Arragon, who being demanded by Pope Martin the 4th, [Page 263] what he meant to doe with that great Fleete he had provided, answered that if he did but know his shirt did know it, he would cast it off. Vnitie and amitie most necessary in a Commonwealth: Plutarch, in Solone. Non sic excubiae nec circumstantia tela, Quàm tutatur amor Claud, Hoc eleganter exprimit Scilurus in fasciculo jaculorum. Scilurus, qui filios relinquebat octoginta, cùm mortivicinus esset, fasciculum jaculorū singulis potrexit, iubens. vt frāgerent eum; cùm id eorum possit nemo, ipse iacula singula extrahens, omnia cō treg [...]t; docens illos, si cōcordes essent, permansuros validos, imbecilles evasuros fi essent dissociati & distracti. Plut. in regum Aphyhibeg. Cùm pugnant singuli, vincuntur omnes. Tacit. Vnitie and amitie likewise they much esteemed, and supposed their Cities never to be better fortified, than when the people were at vnitie amongst themselues. Wherefore if any one had beene contentious, they did esteeme him as an alien, not as a Citizen, and studied how to disburden their Cities of him; they knew well, that one scabbie sheepe in a flock, is able to do more harme to those that are whole, than twentie Shepheards could doe good to the diseased; that one infected man in a pestilentiall sicknesse, was able to doe more hurt to those that were sound, than the whole Colledge of Physitians could doe good to those that were infected; that one ill-affected member in a Citie, that knew the secrets and private passages thereof, was able to doe more harme vnto it, than the whole Councell could doe good. Wherefore if they could not reclaime such a one, they endevoured by all meanes to remooue him. Sometimes liberalitie and affabilitie were preferred, which they did commend as See the effects of liberalitie, excellently set forth by Chawcer in his Booke entituled the Romant of Rose. Pecuniā dare cuiuslibet est, sed date cum distinctione personarum, loci & temporis, id paucorum. Astabilitas et Comitas sunt nullius impendij, amicitias tamen magnas conglutinant exhibitae, dissoluunt praetermiflae. rarities, and did compare them vnto Iewells that could giue a grace and lustre vnto the most deformed bodies, and vnto attractives, that were more powerfull to draw the hearts of the people vnto them, than the Adamant to draw the yron. Sometimes Magnum ornamentum principi est coronâ senum & Cordatorum Consiliariorū cinctum esse. Lamp [...]id. Thales si volet, Rex esto; tamen si de sua ipsius sententia omnia geret, superbum hunc judicabo, magis quàm sapientem. Liv. Principem bonū faciunt plerúm (que) boni Confiliarij ideò, testatur Lamprid. tolerabiliorem reipub: statum esse, vb [...] Princeps malus, et Confiliarij boni, quàm vbi Princeps: bonus & Consiliarij mali Siquidem vnus malus à pl [...] rimis bonis corrigi potest; multi verò mali ab [...]no, quantumvis bono, s [...]parari non poterunt. La [...]p in Alexand advice and Counsell was preferred, which they did compare vnto Salt, seasoning all things; that was first set on, but last taken off the Table; to the heart in the bodie, being the first thing that liues, the last that dyes; to a benediction, that in all services hath the first and last place▪ to a cup of Nectar and Ambrosia, that warmes and prepares the stomacke before meate, and to a well-made Conserve that closeth vp the stomacke after meate, so that where this was wanting, bread, beere, salt and spoones, and all things were wanting. Pietie and compassion was in great request among [Page 264] them, they knew well that what befell to Cuivis accidere potest quod cuiquam potest. any one, might befall to every one, and therefore with Non ignara mali, miseris succunere disco. Virg. Ipse iubet summi Rex et moderator Olympi, Semper vt alterius perferat alter onus. Nec magis in toto qu [...]cquā reororbe ferinum; Quàm miserum laeta mente videre premi. Dido in the Poet, they had a fellow-feeling one of anothers misery. Contentions there were often amongst them, but they were such as are moralized in the English Poet in his Chawcer. Franklyns tale. Every one striving with all his might and power to exceede each other in the doing of Curtesies, and performing of friendly offices one to another, who should be most hospitable, and make more invitations? who should entertaine most neighbours, and relieue most poore? who should compose most strifes, and be most readie to make peace betweene such as were at variance? who should be most forward to vndertake a commendable and worthy atchievement, and most backward to attempt a dishonest action? most readie to patronize the good, and most slow to support the evill: most wise to finde out the subtiltie of the oppressor & extortioner, and most simple to offer the least wrong to the innocent: in a word, who should be most observant of that golden Rule of Moralitie, not to offer that to another which he would not haue done to himselfe. Nihil vtilius est quàm res regum non intelligere: vnde celebratur dictum Philippidis Co [...]i [...]; Hic à Lysimacho rege liberalissimè tractatus, & rogatus quam fortunarum regiarum partem vellet sibi cōmunica [...] respondit, participé me facias quocūn (que) volueris, modò ne secreti alicuius. Non inutile consiliū Poëtae; Arcanum non ru scrutaberis vllius vnquam: Commissúm (que) teges et vino tortus et irae. Horat. Matters of state they lookt not after; they knew they were standing & reserved dishes, which Alexander had provided for his owne palate, and commanded that no man vnder the degree of Craterus & Ephestion, should presume to prie into them, vnlesse they would incurre the danger which the men of 1 Samuel 6. vers 19. Bethshemesh did in prying into the Arke; and therefore with the wise Senators of Patribus vnus merus ne intelligere viderentur quod vellet Tiberius. Tacit. lib. 1. cap. 4. annal. Vide Apologum de vulpe gravedinosa. Tiberius, they did oftentimes professe they had dined and supped when their stomackes were emptie; because they would not haue Tiberius haue the least suspicion of them, that they gaped after the dishes which he had reserved for his owne palate. Prodigalitie they cared not for, they knew well that though it did delight the taste, and tickle the palate, yet it engendred nought but corrupt, waterish, and melancholike bloud, which [Page 265] would quickly waste and fade away; and therefore this saying went Currant amongst them, as nothing can savour of greater intemperance, than for a little pleasure which vanisheth in the throate, to adventure the health of the whole body; so nothing can savour of greater Subitae largitionis comes paenitentia: nim [...] hauriendo fontem ipsum exhauris; & liberalitate liberalitas perit. Lips. lib. 2. polit. cap. 17. madnesse and folly, than to waste and estate to be accounted a braue fellow for a short season, when he shall be accounted a foole ever after. Ostentation they lookt not after, they knew it to be a meate that would set the whole bodie on the Tenters, and produce nothing but noysome and ill-smelling savours; and therefore aptly compared it to winde in the belly, which being evacuated, becomes vnsavoury to every one but Suus cui (que) crepitus benè olet. Laus in proprio ore sordescit. By the Law of Armes a Braggadocia is branded with a diminution in his coate; a poynt dexter, paried Ten [...]e is due vnto him. Res ipsa loquatur, nobis tacentibus. Seneca. Non sua laudabit studia, aut alien a reprendet. Horat. to him that vented it. So that if at any time they met with a Rothomontatho, such a one as Castilio hath well set forth in his Courtier, that would be talking of Armes vnto Ladies, every one stopt his eares, as they did vse to doe their nostrills against ill-smelling savours; for they did vse ever, rather to assume too little with Cato, than too much with Thraso to themselues; they delighted not to garnish and set forth their dishes with leaves, words they compared vnto leaues, which had their Vt silvae folijs pronos mutantur in annos, Prima cadunt; ita verborum vetus interit aetas. I know that in forme of speech is change, Within an hundred yeares, and words tho That hadden price, now wonder nice and strange. Chawcer. Melius est (inquit August.) vt reprehendant nos Grammatici▪ quàm non intelligane populi: ideó (que) maluit dicere os osli quàm os ossis, vt faciliùs intelligeretur. August. blossomings and buddings, their ripenings & fallings, and were subject to be blowne away with every winde; and therefore in a stile that the meanest Capacitie might vnderstand them, not in tropes and figures, riddles and obscurities, or in phantasticke orpedanticke termes, did they expresse themselues. Sloth and idlenes they did eschew as two dangerous rockes and gulfes, that would dash them in peices, and swallow them vp quicke, without leaving any manner of remembrance behinde them. Hatred and intestine malice never came in in any service, but was as lothsome as Swines flesh to the Iewes; If any offence had beene given that was not of an high nature, submission was ever held a sufficient satisfaction.
The Lyon is as kinde to those that yeeld, as cruell to his foes; but At lupus, et turpes instant morientibus vrsi. Wolues and Beares, nothing will satisfie but bloud, bloud; they accounted it the greatest glory for them that could be, to deserve that Encomium and noble testimony which Tulley gaue of Caesar, to haue a memory never to forget any thing but Aulicus in errogatus qua arte in magnatum cultu cōsenui [...]et, re [...]pondit, iniurias [...]erendo et gratias agendo. iniuries. Augustus his Sueten in Augusto. Optima iniuriae vltio est oblivio. The Asse that beares the burthen, must haue leaue to bray vnder it; was the answere of Frauncis the first, to certaine Courtiers, who mooved him to punish some cōmon people, that spoke irreverently of him. Nobile vincendi genus est patientia, vincit Qui patitur, si vis vincere, disce pati. moderation by which he drew his very enemies, the Indians and Scythians vnto him, they had in great admiration; for with this they alwayes cured the venemous biting of mad dogges: one while they made vse of the Antidote by which Augustus expelled the poyson of Iunius Novatus, and Cassius Patavinus: anone after of that by which he preserved himselfe from the fury of certaine persons, of whom he came to haue notice by the meanes of young Tiberius vpon a time hearing certaine persons speaking irreverently of Augustus, acquainted him therewith: to whom Augustus answered, let it net trouble you Tiberius, that any man speakethill of vs; it is sufficient that no man is able to doe vs harme. Sueton: in Augusto. Verissimum est, quòd regium est audire malè cum facias benè. Plut. in regū Apoph. Tiberius. Pride and arrogancie they never touched or tasted of, but esteemed it as a Insuaves ad omnem vitae consuetudinē, superciliosi et caperatâ fronte magistri. Nettle in a Nosegay, which deprived the rest of the flowers of their proper worth and vertue.
Petulancie and peevishnes they looke not after, but left it for children and old folkes that were come vnto their dotage, to feede vpon: and as for See Avarice excellently described by Chavvcer in his Booke entituled the Romant of the Rose. Avarice held in her hand, A purse that hung by a hand; And that she hid and bound so strong, Men must abide wonder long. Out of this purse ere there came ought, For that neere commeth [...] her thought; It was not certaine her intent, That fro that purse ap [...]y went. Avarice, every one detested it, as Severus did an vniust Iudge, and wrot bitter invectiues against it; one called it stercus, another lupus, another demon: one shewed how Platoes Common-wealth [Page 267] flourished, because this was a strāger there; another how the Common-wealth of Sparta perished, because this was a familiar there: In Platoes Common-wealth (said one) no man wanted, because no man abounded; every man had enough, because no man had more than enough: In the Common-wealth of Sparta, many men wanted, because many men abounded; many men had not enough, because many men had more than enough. Which disproportion of est [...]tes occasioned a kinde of corruption in the manners and conditions of the people; it made the rich grow proud, high-minded, and to giue themselues to oppression, and vnto a licentious course of life: it made the poore to repine, to murmure, and to Inequalitie causeth tumults and insurrections. Plut. in Solone. mutinie, vntill it brought that Apollo Pythius Oraculo edidit, Spartam nullâ aliâ re nisi avaritiâ perituram. Cicero lib. 2. Offic. flourishing Common-wealth vpon her knees: which the Romanes fearing made a Law, which was called Lex Agraria, whereby inequalitie of possessions was Cryed downe. Such were the feasts that these wise men made, that gaue such contentment to their guests, that every one was well satisfied; yet every one rose with an appetite. Thus did these men spend and end their dayes, dying neither too rich nor too poore, having enough to carry them through the world to their graues, without being burdensome or troublesome to any. It was a devout and good Prov 30. vers. 8. & 9. Magni animi est, medio [...]a malle quàm nimia. Senec. epist. 89. Melius est modicum justo, super divitias peccatorum multas. Psal. 37. v. 16. Non sperno nummos, si sit possessio justa; Et nolo iniustos; vltio na [...] sequitur. prayer, and well beseeming the wisest of Kings; Giue me not too much, least I grow proud and so forge thee, nor too little, least I grow too much deiected, and so forget my selfe: a little to the wise, is better than great possessions to the foolish: a Cottage well gotten, is better than a Palace gotten by wrong and robberie. Which made olde 1 Sam. 12. vers. 3. Samuel arraigne himselfe and make Proclamation, that if he had taken any mans Oxe or Asse from him, or if he had wronged or oppressed any man, or if he had taken a gift, vnlawfully against any man, he was there readie to restore it. The dayes of man are few and evill, and that which in the end of those few dayes shall giue most contentment to a [Page 268] man, shall be this; that no man can justly say, that he hath taken ought vniustly from him. It was a glory to Cyrus, that he was accounted pater patriae, and he carried it to his graue with him; but it was an ignominy to Darius, that he was accounted a Negotiator, and he left it behinde him: Wee brought Incedebant nudi Adam & Eva in Paradisum: nos quó (que) nascimur nudi, & nudi hinc migrabimus. Cùm igitur ingressus & egressus noster sit nudus, discamus in vitae huius progressu ita contentos esse nostrâ sorte, v: affectibus ab avaritia nudis, in hoc mundo versemur; & si quid nobis au [...]eretur, dicamus cum I [...]bo ▪ nudus egressus sum de vtero matris meae, & nudus revertar, Dominus dedit & Dominus abstulit; ac sicut illi non erubescunt suam nuditatem; sic nos non pudet nostrae paupertatis in qua vult nos Deus vivere. Zanchi lib. 4. de hominis creatione. Est quaestus maximus pietas cum sufficientia; nihil intulimus in hunc mundum; haud dubiū, nec auferre qu [...]d possimus, ha [...]entes alimenta, & quibus tegamur his contentisimus. 1 Timoth 6. Nudus vt in te [...]ram veni, sie nudus abibo; Quid frustrâ sudo, funera nostra videns? Morus. nothing into the world, neither shall we carrie any thing out. Why then should we so greedily Covet our neighbours house, our neighbours wife, our neighbours Oxe, his Asse, or any thing that is his?
You haue sufficiently shewed me what Covetousnes is, and the fruits & effects of it; I pray you now shew me what Lawes haue been made out of this sacred Law, to restraine the vnbridled affections of Covetous persons.
You shall vnderstand, that from hence are derived all those Lawes called Tacit. lib. 11. the Cyncian, the Iulian, and Calphurnian Lawes. By the first, Orators were restrained for taking of rewards for pleading; by the second, suing after dignities was prohibited; by the third, bribery and extortion in Magistrates was condemned and punished. Againe, you shall vnderstand, that all those Lawes which are called Leges Cibariae, or sumptuariae, which doe take away excessiue dyet and superfluities, and all those Lawes which are called leges Agrariae, which punish the Depopulator and Encloser, are hence derived. Againe, all those Lawes which punish Incests, adulteries, and fornications, and all those Lawes which punish thefts, greater or lesser, publicke or private, and which are comprehended vnder these Titles, de Adulterijs, Abigeis, finium regendorum, Larcenie, petit Larcenie, and the like: generally all Lawes, by which any exorbitancie or intemperancie in any kinde is condemned, are hence propagated and derived.
I pray you Sir, satisfie me in one thing before you goe any further: I haue often heard, a man may be as intemperate in his studies as in his meales. Is this [Page 269] kinde of intemperance within the Compasse of these Lawes?
Yes certainely; vbicun (que) pluùs vult quis (que) quàm sat est; in what case soever a man desires more than Plus scire velle quàm sat est, intemperantiae genus est; Senec. & Aeschylus; qui fructuosa, non qui multa scit, sapit. enough, he incurres the danger of those Lawes; and for your further satisfaction, I would haue you looke into Tacitus in Agricola circ. principium. Tacitus, and there you shall see how Agricola restrained his affections, set a-fire after learning: and why? marry because (as he saith) the most part of vs at this day are as intemperate in our studies, as in all other things; and learne not how to liue, but how to dispute. So that Lips [...] lib. 1. poli [...]. Lipsius confidently affirmeth, that the rude multitude that know no more than what is needfull for them to know, are more wise than many of our talking men, that haue a swimming knowledge in the braine, and can vtter good things, but never make vse of it to reforme their lives, or amend their manners. It was a Rule amongst the Auncients, and it was a good one.
Let not the husbandman enterfare with the Citizen, nor the Citizen with the husbandman: let not the Lawyer meddle with the Divine, nor the Divine with the Lawyer. It is not for Glanco vmbra & rasa Tabula, white paper, vpon whom a man might write any thing, to talke what he would doe if he were Quibinos lepores [...]orâ sectatur, eâdem; Vno quandó (que), quandó (que) carebit vtró (que). King or Consull. The acting of that part alone belongs to Soveraignty and supreame power.Mirandum est, quantùm vbi (que) singuli huius artis se peritissimos esse putant, quotidie vmbras hominū, faecem plebis, cerdones, fabros, agricolas et alios imperitos audimus dicentes; O si Senator ego essem, ita juberem, ita consulerem: quibus Phormionibus meritò stomochatur Socrates; Si quis (inquit) non faber de domo, aut gubernator de mari consultaret, exploderetur è populo. Navita de ventis, de tauris narretarator: Enumeret miles vulnera— Quam quis (que) norit artem in ease exerceat.
It is Caesars part to rule and governe: it is Glanco's part to serve and obey.
O but Sir, if the husbandman shall in stead of Wheate vtter chaffe and tares, will you not allow the Citizen to tell him of it? if the Citizen shall sell & send forth base Commodities in stead of good and marchantable, will you not allow the Countryman to doe the like to him? if the Lawyer, whose house (as Crassus saith in the Orator) is as the Oracle in the Citie, shall set a man out of his way, will you not allow the Divine to tell him of it? and if the Divine shall publish false doctrine, will you not allow the Lawyer to doe the like to him?
By no meanes; for in every well governed Common-wealth, there is speciall care taken to haue superintendents, to whom the redressing of abuses in every faculty are committed. If a Divine offends, it belongs not to thee being The Polypragmon or busie-body needeth not to go [...] any further than to the members of his owne bodie, to learne to cōfine himselfe to his proper office the foot seeketh not to smell, the nose to walke, the tongue to combate, nor the hand to talke, but without traubling of their Common-wealt with mutinie, they voluntarily deale each in his [...]ice. Bartas —non cursum nares, non praelia Martis Affectat cerebrum; magnis non dextra vigere Consilijs, erúmve leves venatur odores: Non intestinâ respublica seditione Carpitur, at studijs, et certo faedere quae (que) Sponte suâ data pensa trahunt, &c. a lay-man to redresse it, but to the Bishop, goe to him and acquaint him with it, and if he will not doe it, let the blame light vpon him; thou hast done thy dutie. If the Lawyer offend in his facultie, it belongs not to thee being a Divine to redresse it, goe to the Iudges and acquaint them with it, and if they will not doe it, let the blame light vpon them. If the Citizen offend, it belongs not vnto thee being a Countryman to reforme it, goe to the Magistrate and acquaint him with it, and if he will not doe it, let the blame light vpon him. If the Countryman offend, it is not for thee being a Citizen to redresse it, goe to the Iustices and acquaint them with it, and if they will not doe it, let the blame light vpon them; it is a dutie belongs vnto them; and thou must not Covet that which is theirs.
O but Sir, if a Divine shall publish in writing any thing repugnant to the doctrine of the Church wherein he liveth, I hope you will not thinke it vnfit for any man of the same Church to write against it and confute it.
Nothing more vnfit; vnlesse he doe it by speciall [Page 271] Command from higher powers; for in so doing thou giuest occasion whosoever thou art, to the Adversaries of the Church whereof thou art a member, to triumph and say, it is no marvaile they agree not with vs, seeing they agree not amongst themselues. Againe, amongst wise men thou shalt be accounted a foole for thy paines, though perhaps among the ignorant multitude thou maist winne a little fame and renowne; Nam sapientes ambigunt vter stultior, is [...]e qui stultè dicit, an qui stultè dicentem seriò refutare contendit, the Doctors doubt whether is the more very foole, he that writes foolishly, or that seriously answers a foolish writing? Leaue then the reformation of matters of the Church to the head of the Church, to whom it appertaines, as his [...] est inspector & curator; vnde, vt Suidas ait, qui ab Athemensibus in subjectas Civitates ad inspiciendum ea quae à singulis mitterentur, Episcopi & custodes vocabantur. name will tell thee. And doe thou if any idle Pamphlets haue beene publisht vse thy best meanes to suppresse them; which is the best answere thou canst giue vnto them; and doe not thou reprint them by answering of them; So shalt not thou incurre the danger of the Lawes made against intemperance or exorbitancie in studies.
You haue given me good satisfaction; and to Conclude all, let me desire you before wee part, to tell me your opinion, in which of those foure wayes you haue proposed, you would haue a young man that is now to take his journey into the world to walke and passe through.
I might answere you as Ptolemie answered the Ambassadors touching their Lawes; There being met in Ptolemies Court at a supper, where he himselfe was in person, seaven Ambassadors; one from Rome, another from Carthage, a third from Sicilie, a fourth from Rhodes, a fifth from Athens, a sixth from Lacedemonie, a seaventh fromA Citie of Peloponesus neer [...] vnto Corinth. Sicion. Ptolemie mooved this question vnto them; Quaenam istarum provinciarum respublicae melioribus laegibus regerentur, which of their Provinces were governed by the best Lawes? Which question after it had beene [Page 272] wittily for a time debated, every one standing for the Lawes of his owne Country. Ptolemie to determine the Controversie, desired them vt quilibet tres leges quas in sua quis (que) repub: sciret observari omnium optimas, proserret, eá (que) ratione futurum putabat, vt, quaenam illarum meliùs regeretur, facilè perspiceretur, that every one would propose three of their best Lawes, by which he made no doubt but he should be able to judge which of the Countries had the best Lawes. Whereupon the Romane-Ambassador began thus; Romaetempla honorari, magistratibus obedientiam praestari, malos Castigari; at Rome God is glorified, Magistrates are obeyed, wicked men are punished. After him the Carthaginian Ambass: began thus; Carthagine nobiles viros semper cum suis hostibus decertare, populum laborare, Philosophos rudiores informare; at Carthage the Noble men alwayes wage warre in person with their enemies, all men are in action, and those that are skilfull instruct those that are ignorant. After him the Sicilian Ambass: thus; Sicilia justitia administratur, veritas amatur, aequalitas laudatur; in Sicilie justice is duely administred, truth is beloved, and aequalitie preferred. After him the Ambassador from Rhodes, thus; Rhodi honestos esse viros senes, pudicos juvenes, tranquillas et illabefactas matronas; at Rhodes old men are honest, young men are shamefast, matrones are sober and without spot and blemish. After him the Athenian Ambass: thus; Athenis non permittuntur divites factiosi, populus otiosus, gubernatores imperiti; in Athens it was not permitted that rich men should be factious, poore men idle, and Governors ignorant. After him the Lacedaemonian Ambass: thus; Lacedaemone nec invidiam, quia omnes ibi erant aequales, nec avaritiam, quia omnia erant communia, nec desidiam, quia omnes laborabant regnari permitti; In Lacaedemonie envie hath no place, because all men are equall, Covetousnesse is thrust out of dores, because all things are in common; idlenesse is banisht, because all men are made [Page 273] to worke. After him the Sicion Ambass: thus, Sycione nullos extraneos, qui res novas excogitarent, nullos medicos, qui benè valentes enecarent, nullos advocatos, qui lites in infinitam protraherent, admitti; at Sycion no new Lords are admitted to make new Lawes: no Physitians to kill men being in perfect health, no Advocates to spinne out and protract causes to the end of the world. All which when Ptolemie heard, and seriously pondered them in his thoughts, he affirmed they were all so good that he knew not, Quaenam illarū sit lex praestantissima. What Ptolemie said of the Lawes of those Countries, I may well say of the wayes we haue past through. They are all so good, I know not wch is best: let the young man take his choyce, as his phantasie leades him, he cannot choose amisse. A more satisfactory Answere at this time I cannot giue you; for you know it is a hard thing for an Artificer to fit a man with a habite whom he never saw, and knowes not whether he be high or low, little or great; and it would be deemed an inconsiderate part in me to take vpon me to Velle suum cui (que) est; huc valdè pertinet responssi cuiusdam erronis, qui miserè in soro flagellis caesus, cuidam adhortanti, vteó magis sestinaret quò citiùs tantis cruciatibus liberaretur, tale dedit responsum; tu cùm itidem per plateas virgis caedaris, vade vt voles, ego nūe, vt mihividebitur, ibo. Castel. lib. 2o. direct another what wayes he should walke, when as by the Lawes of Licurgus, Nemo sequi debet id quod alterius judicio sequi jussus est, sed id tantummodò ad quod à natura propensū se videt maximè. Yet I will tell you what I would doe in the like case. If I thought the young man you speake of would proue a Cholericke Capito, I would advise him to walke the private Country way invisible as neare as he could; if a patient wise man, then to take his journey through the Cities; if a devout religious man, then through the Temple; if an honest just man, then through the Courts of Iustice. And withall, I would advise him to beare in minde these Cautions: if he did pursue the Countryrode, then to take heede that he did not waste too much time in the vaine delights thereof, and so the night steale vpon him, and penury seize vpon him, and strip him out of his rich robes of plentie, into her owne rags of ignominie. [Page 274] If he had a minde to take the Cities in his way, then to take heede that he did not trifle out the time too long in dallying and feasting with Bacchus and Venus, and their associates, and so the night overtake him and he be compelled to take vp his lodging in Ludgate or Newgate. If he had a minde to take his voyage through the Temple, then to beware that Simonie and Hereditarius ille morbus, qui ab initio mundi eclesias afflixit, & pestundedit, est ambitio mixta avaritiâ vt ait Iac. nuper Rex in lib. 2 ad Henric. nuper principem. Covetousnesse, pride and luxurie, envie and malice, did not hinder him, and so the night overtake him, and he be compelled to take vp his lodging with Simon propter excellentiam qua in arte magica valebat, Magus appellatus; qui cum vidislet signa & miracula ab Apostolis facta fuisle, per impositionē manuū, adductus desiderio huiusmodi gratiam assequondi, pecuniam afferebat Petro, cui Petrus respondebat, pecunia tua tecum sit in perditionē, quia existimâsti donum spiritus pecuniâ acquiri. Simon Magus, and his fraternity If he had a minde to take his voyage through the Courts of Iustice, then to take heed that he be not hindred with falshood and double-dealing, with lying and false informing, with bribery and corruption, and so the night overtake him and lustice seize vpon him, and make him a scandall to all posteritie. To conclude, I would advise him which way so ever he went, to pay for what he called for, to owe nothing to any man but loue, and to carry a good tongue in his head, which if he did obserue, I would pawne my Credit, that he might walke any way vntill he were weary, without disturbance and molestation. And thus the Conference ended. And thus am I come to a period of my Discourse. Wherein I haue endevoured to shew that Lawes are not, as they haue beene fondly and ignorantly conceived, the streines and quirks of mens wits, or the meere invention of man; but as Vniversavita mortalium naturâ & legibus gubernatur; & id est lex, cuineceflarium est omnibus parere; & cum multis alijs de causis, tū praeseriim, quòd omnis lex est inventum et munus Deorum (vt in quit Demosthenes) in oratione contra Aristogitonem. Demosthenes long agoe observed [...], the invention and gift of God himselfe, and given to that end and purpose, as Kings and Princes were set vp in the beginning, when the great and mightie began to oppresse the poore and needie: God set vp a man whom the Graecians haue well set forth in their [...] (i. e.) fulcrū populi Cùm premeretur in ops multitudo ab ijs qui maiores opes habebant, ad vnum aliquem confugicbant, virtute praestantem; qui cùm pro [...] beret iniuria tenuiores aequitate constituenda, sūmos cum infamis pari iure detinebat, eadém (que) constituendarium legum cause, quàm regum. Cicero lib. 2. Offic. [...], to whom they might flee for succour and reliefe. Now admit those sacred mysteries are administred in earthen Vessells by polluted hands. Admit that Catoes Officers doe pill and [Page 275] polle the people, taking for their Syngrapha and Opistographa, more then is due or belongs vnto them: shall the springs of a pure fountaine loose any of their proper worth and vertue, because they run through some vnhallowed putrified Channels or Concavities, or shall Cato be condemned? No; the Lawes are springs of a pure fountaine, derivatiues out of the primitive Law of God, which cannot be polluted with vnwashen hands; we ought therefore to haue a reverend opinion of them; and be more Rex et lex differunt vnâ solâ litterâ. Si in Plut. Lycurgi et aliorum illustrium jura legendo, in quibus parùm fructus inesse solet, multùm temporis consumere solemus; ne fit itá (que) indignum et ignobile, etiam nobilibus in legibus proprijs municipalibus, sine quibus benè esse, imò esse quid, nequeant, paululùm temporis consumere. Conversant with them, because they are springs proceeding from such a fountaine.
EPILOGVS.
Lipsius lib. 5. cap. 1. polit. LIPSIVS having written foure Bookes of Civill government, and intending to write something of militarie discipline, knowing how prone the multitude would be to Censure and condemne him, that Vmbrosus one that had alwayes lived in his house, and mued himselfe vp in his study amongst his Bookes out of the troubles and turmoyles of the world, should presume to write of Armes and Military Discipline, desires them to take it into their consideration, how Alexander, great Alexander (for so he was indeede in re militari vere magnus) did esteeme of Homer a Poet, and but a Poet, that writ of warres and nothing els, and to doe him that honor that if they found him to haue received what he had written from the mouthes of men of Credit and reputation, not to be too rash and forward in their censures of him; if otherwise, then to value him and that which he had written vt quisquiliae volantes, & venti spolia, as dust and chaffe which the winde drives to and fro. Erasmus likewise after that he had written his [...], knowing the dispositiō of the giddie Nullum sretum, nullus Euripus tot motus, tantas, ram varias habet agitationes fluctuum, quantas perturbationes habet ratio Comitiorum. Cicero. vnstable multitude, to be prone to ranke him amongst mad-men and fooles, for that he had written in the prayse of folly, desires them whom the lightnesse of the subiect should any way offend, to take it into their consideration, on, that he was not the first that had written of toyes and trifles; for that Homer the most auncient and Homerus propter mirabilem rerum multarū cognitionem appellatus fuit à multis, imprimis à Dionysio [...]. learnedst of Poets, had writ of the Combate betweene the Frog and the Mouse. Glauco in prayse of Injustice. The grave Bishop Synestus in prayse of baldnes. The holy Father St. Hierome had something d [...] Corocotta, of a sowe making her will. Apuleius of an Asse. Plutarch of the shadow of an Asse. And Luscinius hath a tale of a scole, who by his fooling did his [Page 277] Master more good than all the Physicians could doe with their skill and cunning: and this it was; there was a great rich man that lived in Vtopia, who was much troubled with the winde Cholicke, and his daily prayer was, pro Crepitu ventris, to haue the winde to be loosed out of his belly; but finding no ease for a long time, and despayring of health, he changed his dittie, and prayed pro regno Caelesti, that God would giue him the Kingdome of Heaven. Which his foole hearing, burst out into a great laughter; and when the standers by reproved him for it, and demanded of him why he was so merry, his Master being so sicke, answered, to thinke that his Master should be so very a foole, as to thinke that God would giue him a Kingdome, that denied him so small a matter as a fart. Which when his Master heard to proceed from his foole, fell into such a laughter, that shooke his entralls, that he vented forth a little winde; in so much, that the Physitian gaue out, that the venting of that winde was worth a Hunc flatum centum crede valere minas. 100. pound; which the foole hearing, he like Boreas blew at his posterne cum ingenti sonitu, and to vse Chawcers words, let flew a fart, as great as if it had beene a thunder dent, and demanded of the Physitian what that was worth, that so farre surpassed Et tantillus (ait) si fie (te judice) tanti; Num poterit tantus mille valere libras? In artem medicorum jocus amarulentus. his Masters; which the Master hearing still to proceed from the foole, fell into a second laughter, and vented so much winde, that he became a sound and perfect man. So that Morio cured his Master, when as Quid admiraris opem medicorum, Si pretiosa magis podice pauper habet? Medicus could not. I shall neede no other Apologie for this my Quaternio, or more truely my Moria. If any man shall rip vp those merry gigs which Sir Thomas More made in his youth for his recreation; the scope whereof is, ne sutor vltra Crepidam, and say;
[Page 278] If any man shall rip vp those Rhymes, I say, and say, as I suppose I heare some whispering that it is not proper to a professor of the Law to personate a Countryman, Citizen, or Divine, or to talke of dogs and hawkes, things out of the lists and limits of his profession. To him I answere that Erasmus shewed no lesse Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit vtile dulci, Lectorem delectando, paritér (que) monendo. Indicat ingenium stultitiâ ista tuum; Vt de Erasus: Poëta. Art in writing of his Booke, for which he made this Apologie, than he did by setting forth the learned Labours of St. Austin, St. Hierome, St. Cyprian, and St. Chrysostome. And Sir Thomas More gained no lesse credit and reputation in writing his Vtopia, than he did in putting forth the life of Pycus de Mirandula; and the story of King Richard the 3. Nam vt nihil nugacius est quam Ludicra dum tracto gravitér, studeo quo (que), ludens; Dum leviter tracto seria, ludo studens. Owen: seria nugatorie tractare: ita nihil festivius, quàm ita tractare nugas, vt nihil minus quam nugatus, fuisse videaris; as nothing is more detestable than to handle a serious subject carelesly and negligently, so nothing is more delectable than to handle a toy and trifle elegantly and wittily. Who cannot goe in a Common rode without a guide, and who cannot write an Encomium of the foure Cardinall vertues, when as every Booke will yeeld vnto him a helping hand? But with that honorable Knight to write an Vtopia, or with Erasmus to write a Panegyre of follie, or with Synesius in prayse of baldnes, or with Glauco in prayse of injustice; to extract vertue out of a red Herring, or to make a Cat speak, hic labor, hoc opus est. Who cannot discourse of the nature of Countries, and tell how Lutetia is situated, and from thence direct the way into Italy, and commend Naples for noblenes, Florence for fairenes, Bononia for fatnes, Ravenna for oldnes, Venice for richnes, Millaine for greatnes, and Genoa for statelines? But with the three Optimi ad scribendū, pessimi ad loquendum. Scripserunt [...] loquuti sunt [...]. Vt loquutus Augustus de Tiberio. best and worst Orators, Demosthenes, Cicero, and Isocrates, to draw the affections of the Inhabitants of those Countries vnto them, as the Adamant doth the iron, that is prayse-worthy. Who cannot glut himselfe, having an appetite, that hath meate enough before him? and who cannot giue freely, that wallowes in wealth and abundance? But to extract water out of a Rocke, to satisfie [Page 279] himselfe, and relieue others, that is prayse worthy. Who cannot write in Commendation of the Country life, when as Cato, Columella, Varro, Palladius, and divers others, haue written at large de re rustica? And who cannot commend the Lawes to be most excellent, when as many before haue written of that subject? But with Seneca to reade vnto vs golden lessons of Moralitie, and to teach vs how to behaue our selues in the Citie, and in the Country; and with Herbachius, to shew whence the Lawes receiue this excellencie, that is prayse-worthy. If vnto this I haue given thee a helping hand, giue God the prayse, giue me thy loue and good will.
[...] names of such Writers, as the Author hath made vse of in this Booke.
- HEsiod.
- Alexād. ab Alexād.
- Senec.
- Ovid.
- Martial.
- Horat.
- Aristot.
- Cicero.
- Virgil.
- Cato.
- Bartas.
- Ferne.
- Rastall.
- Stat. vrbis Romae.
- Sir Edw: Cookes Reports.
- Petrarch.
- Chawcer.
- Phil: Iud.
- Aeneas Silv.
- Tibullus.
- Aesops fab.
- Plutarch.
- Xenophon.
- Tacitus.
- Gueverra.
- Io. Stow.
- St. Bernard.
- Origen.
- Chrysost.
- Hierome.
- Arcadiā.
- Diog. Laert.
- Lipsius.
- Gwillim.
- Vegetius.
- Frontinus.
- Commines.
- Plinius.
- Pet. Blesensis.
- Guicciardine.
- Scotus.
- Luscinius.
- Plato.
- Natal. Comes.
- Spieg.
- Sueton.
- Morus.
- Huttenus.
- Textor.
- Leighe.
- Paul▪ Iov.
- Plautus.
- Z [...]nch.
- Rhenanus
- Segar.
- Lo [...]i [...]er.
- Diodorus Sic.
- Castilio.
- Paul. Aemilius.
- Bellus.
- Ioh. Salisb.
- Cornel Agrip.
- Apuleius.
- Spartianus.
- Herodianus.
- Ortellius.
- Leand [...]y.
- Keckerman.
- Munsterus.
- Amianus Marcell:
- Aemilius Probus.
- Curtius.
- Glover.
- Iean de Sere [...].
- Scaliger.
- Perinus.
- Iustinianus.
- Augustin.
- Iuvenal.
- Reform. legum ecclesiasticarum.
- Britton.
- Bracton.
- Barletius.
- Iosephus.
- Eusebius.
- Aelianus.
- Math. Paris.
- Platina.
- Onuphrius.
- William Malmesb.
- Ioh. Rosse.
- Mantuanus.
- Ceremon: eccles. Rom.
- Lam: de prisc, Angl. leg.
- Dyer.
- Erasmus.
- Hemingius.
- Cambden.
- Valerius Max.
- Aulus Gellius.
- Macrob. Sat.
- Fulbecks parallels.
- Bernard mirandul. de singul. ce [...]tam.
- Bedae Eccles. hist.
- Stanford.
- Heresbachius.
- Salustius.
- Terentius.
- Bris [...]onius.
- Ausonius.
- Homerus.
- Epicterus.
- Buxdorsius.
- Tiraquillus.
- Iustinian.
- Socrates Scholast.
- Zozimen.
- Claudianus.
- Ayraeus.
- Hist. tripartit.
- Glanvil.
- Swinbourne.
- Alcoran Mahom.
- Lucanus.
- H. Huntingdon.
- Stat. Scot.
- Florus. Stat. Hibern.
- Orosius.
- Eutrop.
- Lydgate.
- Lamprid.
- Boswell.
- Walsingham.
Benignum est & plenum ingenui pudoris, fateri per quos profeceris, reprehensione autem diguum, Maiorum tacere nomina, & eorum sibi appropriare ingenia.