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 S^r Edw: Cooke, in his fourth Booke, and in the beginning of the Stat. 4^to 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 S^r. 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 M^t. 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 M^r. 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 M^r. 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 y^e 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 y^e 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.

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.

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,

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,

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,

[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,

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,

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,

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,

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 5^ca•. 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, o^o 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 M^r. Connock, and remaineth in the Custodie of my good friend M^r. 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. 2^o. 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. 1^o. 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 y^e 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 y^e 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.

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. Ann^o. 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.

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 y^e 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 y^e 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.