precept that they giue them how to liue well is to blaspheme crie exercise gluttony and drunkennes to dispise the substance of their innocency to be a fornicator and to kisse women and maidens in their presence And manye mothers there are this daye in the worlde which doe as Herodias did that learne theyr daughters to daunce Rethoricke termes to haunt companies scoffe flout to paint and plaister their faces to deck their fingers with rings their neckes with Iuels as though they were Iuell sellers pretending to kéepe a shop But in the ende it will chaunce to them as it chaunced to the Prophet Dauid whose sinne was punished by his children which were so wicked that one of them named Aman did deflowre his owne sister Thamar and the other called Absalon did kill hys brother Aman. Afterwarde he sought the death of hys owne father and chased him out of hys kingdome The rule of the auncient Philosophers hath alwayes bene found true that many committe manye grieuous crimes in this world y ◠punishing wherof God kepeth in the other worlde except the sinne that man committeth in the bringing vp of his children for the whiche customablye he beareth the paine and punishment in this worlde For the father can giue to the child but fraile and mortall fleshe by the corruption whereof the life taketh end but by good learning and knowledge the eternall praise and memorie redoundeth Therefore to conclude if that the children haue hene in great perill and misery being nourished with spotted milk for the most part of straūge nurses yet the perill doubleth to those that shoulde cause them to be instructed for that the foode of the bodie is more vile than the foode of the soule But for bicause that we haue not yet spoken of Plato who hath more deuinelye philosophied vpon humaine calamities than all the rest of the heathen the whiche he hath so well gathered together and set forth that many reading his booke of the immortalitie of the soule did cast them selues from the hie rockes and mountains into the flouds and raging waues to the ende that ending the thréede of their spitefull life they might haue the fruitiō and ioye of the seconde life which is the true and assured place of rest This greate Philosopher Plato in a Dialogue that he hath made of death and discourse of this wicked world writeth to a certaine Philosopher named Socrates and sheweth by a maruellous eloquence the miseries of our life as followeth Knowest thou not sayth he that this humayne lyfe is as a pilgrimage the whiche the good and wise men performe in ioye singing with gladnes when that of necessitie they drawe to their last end Doest thou not know that man consisteth of the soule the which is shut vp within as in a tabernacle with the which nature hath inclosed vs not wythout great troubles and vexations and yet in the meane time if she destribute vnto vs any part of hir goods they are hidden from vs and are of a shorte time ioyned with sorrowe and bitternesse at the occasion whereof the soule féeling dolor and griefe desireth the celestiall habitation and wisheth for the benefites thereof Consider that the departure out of this worlde is no other thing than a chaunging from euill to good But harken sayth he from thy natiuitie vnto thy graue what kinde of misterie is there but that thou hast tasted eyther penurie colde heate stripes c. yea before that man can shewe his cogitations and thoughtes What other messenger or more certaine token can he haue of his miseries than his wéepings wailings and complaintes after that he hath tasted so many euils that he is come to the seauenth yeare of his age then it behoueth him to haue tutors and scholemaisters for to instruct him in good learning growing further in yeares and comming into his adolescency it behoueth him to haue more rigorous reformers for to tame his wilde youth and to breake him to labor This being done his beard beginneth to grow and then he becommeth man and yet notwithstanding it is then the time that he entreth into déeper cogitations and trauaile in the spirite it is requisite then that he frequent publike places that he haunt the company of those that are as touchstones for to knowe the good from the euill If he be come of a greate and noble stocke he must make many enterprises of warre to put himselfe in infinite perils hazarde his life to shed hys bloud for to die in the bed of honor or els he shall be reputed a dastardlye coward and despised of all men If he be of base estate and that he be called to the knowledge of Artes for all that he leaueth not to runne into a thousand daūgers trauailes paines and lettings aswel of the bodie as of the soule He trauaileth daye and night and sweateth water and bloude for to get againe that which shall maintaine his estate during his life and oftentimes it is séene what paine so euer man doth take for his liuing he can scant get to serue his necessitie It is not therefore without a cause that Marcus Aurelius the xvij Emperour of Rome considering the miserable condition of oure humanitie was wont to saye I haue thought in my selfe whether there myght be founde any estate anye age any kingdome or any worlde wherin might be founde anye one man that dare vaunt not to haue tasted in hys lyfe time aduersitie and if there might be founde one it shoulde be suche a fearfull monster on the earth that bothe the deade the liuing woulde be amased to behold him then he concludeth after this sort saying And in the ende I founde mine owne account true that he that was yesterdaye riche was to day poore he that was yesterday in helth was to day sick he that laughed yesterday to daye did weepe he that was yesterday in prosperitie was to daye in aduersitie he that was yesterday aliue was to day deade Let vs now return to our former wordes and deduct the great things by the lesse Who is he among the humaines that hath giuen himselfe to any science or otherwise to liue whose science hath not in the ende accused him and with the whiche he hath not bene displeased combered and werie and for the better triall therof let vs consider particularly the principall estates Let vs beginne with those that occupie the water and sayle on the seas in howe many daungers are they in day and night what is their habitation any other than a foule and filthy prison as also their maner of liuing what is their raiment but only a verye smell of the wether they are alwayes vagabondes and continually in exile without anye rest beaten with windes raine haile snowe in feare of Pirats and Rouers rockes and tempestes and in hazarde to be buried in the bellies of fishes For this cause it is that Bias y e wise Philosopher Gréeke knewe not whether he should
anye thing in his net draweth it vp and so goeth away withall othersome there are that play all out and others that remayne vntill they are as full as spunges and in the ende they are made to restore all others also that doe nothing but inuent subsidies and séeke meanes to inlarge or multiplie the treasures of kings and so become riche with spoyling of the poore people And Princes do by theÌ„ many times as we do by our hogs we let them fatten to the ende to eate and deuour them afterwarde so are they suffered many times to enriche themselues for to be despoyled after when that they are so fat and one that is new come shal manytimes be preferred in their places here you may sée how y t these poore courtiers sel their liberty for to become rich they must obey al commaundements be they iust or vniust they must frame theÌ„ selues to laugh wheÌ„ y e Prince laugheth to wéepe wheÌ„ he wéepeth approue y â— whiche he approueth coÌ„demne that which he condemneth they must obey to al alter and chaunge wholy his nature to be seuere with those that are seuere sorowfull with those that are sorowfull and in a maner transforme themselues into the nature of him whoÌ„ they will please or els to get nothing If the Prince be impudent they must be the like if he be cruell they must delight in bloudshed To be shorte they must frame themselues to all ordinances and maners of the Prince or whom they will please and yet many times one little offence stayneth all the seruice that one hath done in his life time The which those that assisted y â— Emperor Adrian did féele who when they were elected by him into hie estates and dignities by the reporte of diuers flatterers they had not only taken from them that which before he had giuen them but also they were declared to be his chiefe enimies The which Plato liuelye considering and foreséeing in the Court of the Atheniensis did proÌ„ptly quit their deliciousnesse and yet he coulde not so well take heede to himselfe but that he returned to Dennis a tyrant of Sicilie who in the ende solde him to Pirats of the sea But what happened to Xenon that olde sage graue Philosopher whom Phalaris in satisfaction of his seruice caused most cruelly to be put to death as also did the King of Cyprus AnacreoÌ„ to the noble philosopher Anaxagoras and Nero his tutor Seneca AlexaÌ„der Calistenus for that he woâ—â— not worship him caused his féete to be cut of his eares his haÌ„ds also his eyes to be put out and so left in the mercie of a straight prison or dungeon wherein he finished most miserably his dayes Such hath bene many times the ende of a great number of learned men who bicause they woulde not obey to the fearfull affections of Monarchs loste their liues in recompence of their good seruice and wholesome counsels without putting in account the vices that frequent those that followe the Courte whereas the most part of humain thinges are abolished Many in y e Court put of their cappes to thée that woulde be glad to sée thy head from thy shoulders such bow their knée to do thee reuerence which would that they had broken their leg to cary thée to thy graue Many haue the name of Lord that meriteth y e name of a hangman there is alwayes I know not what nor how or one I vnderstand not who is the cause that incessantlye one complayneth altereth or els despiseth In the Courte if thou wilt be an adulterer thou shalt finde of thy complices if thou wilt quarrell thou shalt find to whom if thou wilt lie thou shalt find those that will approue thy lies if thou wilt steale thou shalte finde them that will shewe thée a thousand wayes howe if thou wilte be a carder or a dicer thou shalt finde them that will cog and playe with thée if thou wilt sweare and beare false witnesse thou shalte finde there thy like to be shorte if thou wylte giue thy selfe to all kynde of wyckednesse and vices thou shalt find there the very exaÌ„ple giuers Here may you sée the life of my maisters the Courtiers which is no life but a continuall death Here you may sée wherin their youth is emploied whiche is not youth but a transitorie death WheÌ„ y â— they come to age knowest thou what they bring from theÌ„ce their gray heades their legges full of gouts their mouth hauing a naughtie smell their backe ful of paine their hearts ful of sorow and thought and their soule filled with sin to be short in the Court there is very little to write but muche to murmure at of the which things yf thou desier a more ample knowledge reade the worke that Dom Anthonie Guenera bishop of Mondouent and the Crowner of the Emperor and Eneas Siluius otherwise called Pope Pius which haue compassed twoo most excellent and perticular treatises of thys matter wherein they haue painted my maisters the Courtiers so in their coulors that they haue stayed the hope of adding to those that will discouer after them Let vs leaue speaking of y e Courtiers with their life so vnquiet and miserable and let vs contemplate a little the estate of Kings Princes Monarchs and Emperors for whome onely it séemeth that felicitie is created for if we consider all that maye render the life of man in tranquility happy and content we shall finde that fortune among all other mortall creatures hathe prouided for them prodigally What maketh maÌ„ more wonderfull in this worlde but goods richesse dignities Empire liceÌ„ce to do good or euill without correction powre to exercise liberalitie all kind of volupteousnesse aswell of the spirite as of the bodie All that may be wished for for the contentation of man be it in apparell in meates or drinkes varietie in meates in magnificence in seruices in vestures that which maye tickle the memorie and flatter the concupiscence of the fleshe is prepared for them euen from their cradell for to conduct y e estate of their life in more happe and felicitie The discourse of which if we wil consider outwardlye there is not one but will confesse that they alone triumph oner that that others languish in But if that we will consider things more nearer and examine and waye them in a true ballance we shall find that the selfe same things that we thinke degrées for to attaine to felicitie and to cause them to be happie are the verie instruments of vice that cause them to haue more greater sorowes that doth render theÌ„ most vnfortunate but wherfore serueth their costlye ornaments and honorable seruices or delicate meates when that they are in continuall feare to be poysoned seduced and beguiled by their seruitors haue not we had the experience therof in our time doeth not Platina write of a certaine Pope that was poysoned by the siege with a paper that his seruant did
present him others with the smoke of torches and flames But thys thing is most to be maruelled at yea and most horrible to heare that the humaine malice shoulde be so greate that there hath ben some that haue mingled poyson with the water or singing cake and by this meanes hath caused to die Henrie the seuenth Emperor as I haue red in Fluschius in his first composition of medcinable things We maye reade in Histories that certaine Emperors durst not lie downe to rest in the night before y ◠they had caused their beds to be visited and lien on and all the places of their chambers to be searched for feare that they had to be murthred or strangled in their sléepe others woulde not permit Barbers nor Chirurgions to touch their face for feare that in trimming of their head or bearde they wold take from them their life And yet at this present daye they are in such feare that they dare not put their meate into their mouthes before that one haue tasted therof Were it not better said Iulius Cesar to die once than to liue always in such feare and dread But what felicity can a king or a prince haue that hath vnder his gouernement so manye thousands of men he must watch for al heare the plaintes and cries of euerie one procure euery mans safegard prouoke some by liberall giftes to do well the others by terror and feare he muste be no lesse circumspect to nourish peace among his people than to defende hys Realme against the inuasion of the straunger without putting in count many other calamities that are vnder the scepter They commaunde all and and manye times one or two doeth gouerne them Pege the Florentine hathe made a perticular discourse of the infelicitie of Princes he meaneth of y ◠wicked where he sayth that for the moste part thrée kindes of people are to them most agreable and familiar flatterers kepe the first ranck which are the chief enimies of veritie and that empoison their soules with a poyson so pestiferous and daungerous that it is cōtagious to all y e world their follie and temeritie they call it prudencie their cruelty is iustice their luxurious life desolutions and fornications are pleasures and pastimes they are couetous which they they call good husbandrie if they be prodigall they call it liberall in such sorte that there is no vice in a Prince but that they cloke it hide it vnder y e protexetie of some vertue The seconde sort are these inuentors of newe subsidies they reste no night but that in the Morning they bring some inuention or new practise to the Prince to drawe monye from the poore people they cause newe statutes to be erected they break forme reforme diminishe and adde they demaund confiscations and proscriptiōs in such sorte that all their studie is to make themselues rich on the calamities and miseries of the poore people There is yet another sort that vnder the shadowe of honestie counterfeiting good men haue alwayes the eye on other mens liuings and make the office of reformer of vices they accuse and espie out other mens liues they inuent wicked and false deuises yea and not content to get other mens goods but also séeke their death and by their meanes they cause manye a one to be put to death whose life before God are innocent For this cause it is that the Elders as Herodianus writeth if their Kinges or Princes had behaued them selues wickedlye in the administration of the publicke affaire they condemned them for diuels after their death and assembled in the temples with the Priestes praying openlye to the Gods not to receiue them but recommended them to the infernall powers to the ende that they might be grieuouslye tormented The which hath not bene onely obserued of the Elders before vs but also of certaine in our time as witnesseth Anthonius Geuara Crowner to the Emperor in a certaine Epistle wherein he sayeth that to the Viceroy of Sicilia for vengeance of the tyrannies that he had exercised against his subiectes after hys death they made this Epitaphe on hys tombe that followeth Qui propter nos homines propter nostram salutem descendit ad inferos Here you may sée the miseries wherin Princes are subiect Here are the thorns that they receiue in recompence of their brightnesse and royall dignitie whiche ought to be like a Lampe that giueth light to all the world But when that it is darkened with any vice it is more reprochable than in any other priuate person For they alone sinne not as Plato writeth by the fault that they commit but by the euill example that they giue if it be hard to be good as Hesiodeus writeth yet with more greater difficultie can Kings and Princes be for the abūdance of honors and deliciousnesse the which they sée that they enioye serueth them as a bayte to enduce them to euil and they are the verie lanternes of vices What was Saul before that he was made King his goodnesse is shewed in holy scripture whō God only did elect but neuerthelesse he made a sodaine Eclipse or chaunging Howe wonderfull was the beginning of the raign of king Salomon the which being plunged in royal delices gaue himself incontinently a praye to women Of .xxij. Kings of Iuda there is founde but fiue or six that haue continued in their vertue bountie As touching the Kings of Israel if thou wilt cōsider their liues from Ieroboam the sonne of Nabath euen to the last which were in nūber .xix. they haue all in general yll gouerned the affaires of the kingdome If thou do consider the estate of the Assirians Persians Grecians and Egyptians thou shalt finde more wicked than good Let vs consider what the Romane Emperors were which haue bene estéemed the most flourishing common welth in the worlde thou shalt find them so ouercomed with vices and all kinde of cruelties that I doe almoste adhorre to read in Histories their liuings so corrupt defiled What was the estate of their common wealth before that Silla Marius did chaunge it before that Catallina and Catulla did perturbe it before that Iulius Cesar and Pompeius did slaunder it before that Augustus and Marcus Antonius did destroy it before that Tiberius and Caligula did defame it before that Domitiā and Nero did depraue it For althoughe that they had made it riche with manye kingdomes and Lordships notwithstāding the vices that they brought with them are more greater than the kingdomes that they haue gained for the goods and richesse are lost but the vices remaine vnto this daye But what memory remaineth now of Romulus that founded it of Neuma Pompillius that erected the Capitol so hie of Ancus Martius that compassed it with walles of Brutius that deliuered it from tyrants of Camillius that draue out the French men Did not they shew by their doings what felicitie is in the principall the which is more subiect
his pollicies The Atheniensies murmured at their Simonidus for y t he spake too hie y e Thebiās accused Paniculus for that he would spit oftentimes the Lacedemonians noted their Ligurges for that he went alwayes holding downe of hys head the Romanes founde a great vice in Scipion for that in sléeping he snorted too loude the Vticences defamed the good Cato in his eating they founde Pompeius vnciuile for that he woulde scratch with one finger onely the Carthagians blamed Hannibal for that he was alwayes vnlaced and open before his stomacke others murmured at Iulius Cesar for that he caried the girdell of euil grace And yet this is but little in comparison of other good men that this people or common sort haue persecuted banished and in the ende put to death in satisfaction of their good seruices that they had done in the common welth If that greate Orator Demosthenes were aliue he could say somewhat who after that he had bene so iust and faithfull a protector of his common wealth of Athens was in the ende vniustlye banished as though he had committed some notable crime Socrates was also poysoned Hannibal was so yll treated of his that he was constrained to wander miserably in the world The Romanes did the like to Camilus the Gréekes to Ligurges and Solon the one of them was stoned and the other hauing y e eye pulled out was banished like a murtherer Moyses and many other holy men haue so manye times tasted the furie of the people that if they were this day liuing they would poure out maruellous complaintes against them And as we haue shewed and set forth the defauts and miseries that procede of the peoples parte so must we in like case put into the balance the errors and corruptions that is found in wicked Iudges of the which sorte some to be short are corrupted by feare for the feare that they haue to displease a Prince or a great Lord they violate iustice and are as Pilate that cōdemned Christ to death for feare that he had to displease the Emperor Tiberius Cesar other magistrates are corrupted by loue as was Herod the Tetrarch who for to please by foolishe loue the Damsell that daunced condemned to death S. Iohn Baptist although that he knewe he was iust and innocent Some are many times corrupted by hatred as was the chiefe Priest who of malice condemned S. Paul to be smitten and stoned thoughe he deserued it not Sometimes the Magistrates are corrupted by golde and siluer and other giftes and presentes as were the children of the Prophete and great Prieste Samuel and this disease is so contagious that at this day it is commō among many They all loue sayth the Prophet presents they all séeke for gifts they do not right to the orphelin and the widdowes complaint commeth not before them and in another place woe be to you that are corrupted by mony and by prayers by hatred or loue and that iudgeth the good to be euill and the euill to be good making of light darknesse and of darkenesse light woe be to you that haue not respect to the merits of things but to the merits of men that regardeth not equitie but gifts that are giuē that regardeth not iustice bnt monye which regard not that which reason ordeineth but only to the affection whereas youre desiers doth guide you you are diligent in riche mens causes but you defer the cause of the poore you are to them cruell and rigorous but to the riche louing and tractable Thē Wisdome following the like matter sayeth the poore crieth and no man giueth eare but one will aske what he is the riche man speaketh and all the world pleadeth his cause and lifteth vp his wordes with admiration euē to y e skie yet this is not enough for when that they are in the degrée of honor they haue another worme that gnaweth them they do with their childrē as the mother of Zebede saide Lord graunt that my childrē may sit the one on thy right hand the other on thy lefte hand in thy kingdome after them they aduaunce their children in their dignities being sometimes ignorant and foolish Then the Prophet Ieremie sayth they are magnified and become riche they are become fat they haue lefte the orphelin and haue not done iustice for the poore shall not I therefore punishe such things sayeth the Lorde God and and my soule take vengeance on suche maner of people Heare also the sentēce that sainct Iames pronounceth against them at the day of iudgement you haue condemned and killed the iust you haue liued in wantonnesse in this worlde taken your ease you haue satisfied youre hearts now therfore sayeth the Lorde of hosts wéepe and howle in your wretchednesse that shal come vpon you your garmentes are Moth eaten your golde and your siluer is cankred and the ruste therof shalbe a witnesse against you and you shall eate your fleshe as it were fier for the complainte of widdowes is ascended vp to my throne These are the complaintes that the Prophets and the Apostles made against worldly Iudges here are the Censures that our good God hath thundered against them There resteth now nothing more but to know what is done in Matrimonie séeing that we haue sought out in generall the miseries of all the estates of the world There is nothing more certaine if we will weye in our mindes the originall of Matrimonie excellent and well accomplished on both partes as Plato did his Commō weale Cicero his Orator S. Augustine in his Citie of God There is nothing in the worlde whiche may compare in pleasures to mariage ▪ be it true the fortune aswell prosperous as aduerse is common and that more is there is so great Communaltie of bodie and vnxion of spirites that they séeme two transformed into one And if the pleasures séeme to vs greate to confer our affaires and secrets with our friendes and neighbors how much is the delectation more greater that we receiue to discouer our thoughtes to hir that is ioyned to vs by such a place of charitie that we put our truste in hir as in oure selues making hir wholy treasurer or faithfull kéeper of many inwarde secretes and cogitations of our soule But what may be more greater witnesse of feruent loue than to forsake Father Mother Sisters and Brothers and generally all the Consanguinitie till they become enimie of themselues for to follow a husband that doeth honor and reuerence hir and hauing all other things in disdaine she only cleaueth to him if he be riche she kéepeth his goods if he be poore she employeth all the Arte that nature hath giuen hir for to compare with him in his pouertie if he be in prosperitie his felicitie is redoubled in hir she séeing hir selfe partaker of his benefits if he be in aduersitie she beareth but the one halfe of the griefe and furthermore counterfeiteth him assisteth and serueth him If a man wyll
so great flame from two hils or mountaines that all the townes and mountaines about them were burned and many inhabitants burned and consumed by the violence of the flames that came forth by great violence I can in like case make mention of thunders and lightnings and how many noble personages haue bene consumed and killed by this kinde of sodaine death as Zorastus King of the Bactrians Captaine in the warre of Thebes Aiax after the destruction of Troie Anastatius the Emperor when he had raigned .xxvij. yeres Carius also and manye other Kings and Emperors that haue taken their end by this kind of death The ayre is so requisite for the preseruation of our humanitie that there is no liuing beast that can haue life without the vse thereof And yet notwithstāding it is so pernicious to humaine kinde when it putrifieth and corrupteth that the most part of pestilences before mencioned take their originall and beginning as from their verie Author The earth that is the most gentillest and tractablest of all the elements which is our common mother of all receiuing vs whē that we are borne that nourisheth vs and sustaineth vs and in the end receyueth vs into hir bowels as into a bed and kéepeth vs vntil the day that it pleaseth God to call vs to appeare and come forth to his iudgement and notwithstanding it bringeth forth all the venims and poysons with the which our life is daily assaulted And sometimes by these earthquakes and internall agitations many townes haue bene weakened and many thousands of men swallowed vp in these openings and earthquakes In the time that Mithridates raigned the earth beganne to moue and to shake with suche a rigor and furie that there was not only manye townes rased but also there was aboue a hundreth thousande men swallowed and ouerwhelmed In the time or raigne of Constantine sonne to y e Emperor Constantine there were suche a number of townes ouerthrowne and swallowed vp with their inhabitants in Asia by earthquakes that the Historiographes had much to do to number thē In the time of Isocratus and Plato the concauits bottoms of the earth did open in Europe by suche vehemencie that two great Cities with their inhabitants were swallowed vp in a moment There is not reade to our memorie nor to the memorie of man a more dreadfull earthquake than that which happened in the raigne of Tiberius Cesar by the which in the space of one night twelue Cities were swallowed vp with their goods and inhabitants amōg the which Apolonia Ephesia Cesaria Philadelphia and manye others numbred And yet it is a thing more to be maruelled at and that turneth to more confusion the pride and loftinesse of men that the earth bringeth forth certaine littel beastes that oppresse and make war vpon him yea chase excile and banishe him from his habitation and dwelling the which maye be thought vntrue and fabellous if it were not for the great nūber of Historians and Writers y ◠which shew iust true witnesse thereof Elian writeth y t there increased or multiplied such a nūber of Rates in certaine places of Italie that for the destructiō that they made to rootes of trées and herbes for the which there was no remedie cansed such a famine to be that the inhabitants were constrayned to forsake their countrie Marcus Varonus one of the worthiest writers that euer writ in Latine sayth that in Spaine there was a great Borough situated on a sandie ground that was so vndermined with Cunnies that in the ende the inhabitants did forsake it for feare to haue sunke into the holes or dennes of these littel beastes by whose meane it was at the last ouerthrowne The same Author writeth that there was a town in Fraunce that was left vninhabited bicause of y e multitude of frogs In Affrica the like chaūce happened by Grashoppers Theophrastus maketh mention of a certaine Prouince that they caused the people to dishabit Plinie reciteth that there is a Prouince on the limits of Ethiopia whereas the Antes and Scorpions with other vermin exiled the men that there did inhabit The Flies caused the Megarensians to depart out of their Countrie The Aspes chased the Ethiopiās Athenor writeth that honie Bées and other flies chased out of a towne all the inhabitantes thereof made their hiues in their houses What witnesse of our humaine infirmitie is here declared in al these thinges O what discipline or schoole is this for to teach man to know himselfe what a maruell of the powre of God is thys toward his creatures of whom the iudgementes are so terrible and fearfull that as soone as man thinketh to spread out his horns or to rise against his god he can so well at the first bridle and pull down his boldnesse and proude lookes so tame him that not onely he doth send Heraulds and forerūners of his wrath war famine pestilence but in abunding there is neither element nor other brutish creature but that séeketh his decaye euen to the little beasts which are as ministers and executors of his diuine iustice y e which is manifest not only by the witnessing of y e Heathen but also by holie Scripture when that the Frogs Grashoppers did forsake their places for to ascende and come vp to the chambers and euen to the bed of the obstinate Pharao We haue here before shewed a straunge philosophie of the miserie of man For if man were of yron or as hard as a Diamond it is maruel howe he can endure the one halfe of his life without being brused and broken séeing the paynes anguishes trauels and passions that it behoueth him at all times to sustain Notwithstanding what misfortune so euer happē him what charge or burthen y ◠nature doth lay vpon him yet he can not nor wil not hūble himself vnder y ◠mighty hand of God for to cary his yoke nor yet to know himselfe to be as he is Therefore by good right doeth the Lord God reproue him by his Prophet that he hath the forehead of brasse and the necke of yron the which things being yll vnderstanded of Plato and of Plinie séeing the great gulfe of miseries wherein man is plunged in euen from his birth to his graue hathe called nature cruell and a vsuresse the whiche causeth so many interests to be payd to man of his excellency and dignitie that they haue esteemed y e brute beastes more happier than man but both the one and the other vnder this name of nature haue chalenged or complayned on God of vniustice and crueltie But to proue the contrary all the euils and this sea of miserie wherewith man is charged cōmeth not of the hatred of God but of the malice and corruption of man who is the very Author of all his afflictions and calamities for thinking to be equal with his God he hath begonne to fal frō his noblenesse and to efface the ymage
haue employed all their wit and policie for to remedy this passion Samocraceus Nigideus and Ouid haue written many great volumes of the remedie of Loue by the whiche they shewe the remedies for others but they can find no remedy for themselues for that all thrée died pursued destroyed not for the harmes that they did at Rome but for the Loues that they inuented The Emperor Marcus Aurelius knowing that Faustine his wife loued a Ruffian so that she was vnpacient and was in perill of death for y e furious desier that she had to haue him in hir possession assembled a great many people learned and of al faculties and sciences for to giùe him counsell to quench the burning heat that consumed hir by little and little But after manye resolutions certayne of hys Nobles counselled him to kill him whome hys wife loued and that one should giue hir secretly of his bloud to drinke the which was promptlye executed This remedie was great for hir affection was quenched And yet it was not of so great efficacie as Iulìus Capitolin writeth but that Comodus whome they engendred afterwardes was bloudie and cruell and was more like in conditions to the Ruffian than to the father and also was daily conuersant with the Ruffiās and delighted more in their companie than in the companie of others so that it séemed that the Mothers passion was transported to the childe But this is little to that whych I haue read in manye Histories that things are come to such desolation that when this foolishe frensie doth take holde of vs it rendreth vs brutish and mad as it hath bene manifestly and euidently shewed and séene in a yong Lad being of the highest kinred in Athens and well knowen of all the Citizens of the Citie the which hauing many times beheld a faire statute of Marble very excellentlye wrought whiche was in a publicke place of Athens he was so stricken with the loue of it that he would neuer léese the sight of it and alwayes remayned by it embracing and kissing it as if it had bene a liuing soule And when that he was out of hir sight he wept and lamented so pitifully that it woulde haue moued the most constantest to pitie and in the ende this passion got so much powre on him was brought to such extremitie that he desired the Senatours to sell it him at what price they woulde to the ende y ◠he might haue it to beare about with him the which thing they woulde not graunt for that it was a publicke work and that their powre or auctority extended not so far wherefore the yong man caused to be made a rich crowne of gold with other sumpteous ornaments and went to the Image set the crowne on hir heade and decked hir with precious vestimentes and then began to call vpon hir and worshippe hir with such obstenation and partenacitie that the commō sort were ashamed of his foolish and ridiculous loue so that they defēded him to approch or resorte to the Image anye more so that the yongling séeing himselfe to be depriued and kept backe from that which was more deare to him than his life killed himselfe For the vertue of this passion is such that after it hath entred into the heart of men it walketh vncurable by the most liueliest and sensible partes of the bodie and being in ful possession of vs she causeth an infinit number of teares and sighes to be powred oute so that oftentimes it taketh awaye oure life The which the great philosopher Apolonus Thianeus confirmed to the King of Babilon who most earnestly praied him to shewe him the most grieuous and cruellest tormēt that he might inuent by all the secretes of philosophie for to punish and chastice a yong Gentleman whom he had found a bed with one of his damsels whiche he fauoured The moste greatest torment sayth the Philosopher that I can shewe thée and inuent for to punishe him is that thou saue his life for thou shalt see by little and little the burning heate of loue to get so muche on him as it hathe alredy begon that the torment that he shall endure wil be so great that he shal not imagine nor find remedy therefore and he shall finde himselfe so stirred and prouoked with diuers cogitations and thoughtes that he shall burne and consume in this flame as y e Butterflie doth in a candel in such sort that his life shal be no more life but a verie death more crueller than if he passed throughe the hands of al the tyrants and tormenters of the worlde Here is in some the cause why I haue treated at large on this passion of Loue which is the whole decay of the most part of youth in our age for haue they neuer so little set their foote or mindes on y ◠pleasures of this world they prepare themselues to loue then youth libertie and riches are the worst things in this world and in those wicked occupations they lead without fruit the best part of their life Thē after this great sea of miseries with the which mā is as it were ouerwhelmed euē from his birth age commeth on and then when we ought to rest the sores and dolors are renewed we must pay the rigorous vsuries and cruell interestes of all the faults and excesse that we haue made in our life for the heart is afflicted the brayne is troubled y e spirit languisheth the breath stinketh the face is withered the bodie is crooked the nose dropping the sight is troubled the haires fall the téeth are rotten to be short there is alwayes some loose nayle and this bodie is a similitude of death without putting in count many diseases of the spirit that age is subiect to They are prompte to wrath harde to appease light of beliefe forget oftentimes praise their Elders and dispraise the wise they are sadde melancholike couetous suspitious and difficile to be shorte it is the retraite whereas are emptied and purged al the vices and vncleannesse of our age The whiche being well considered by the Emperor Augustus said that whē men had liued fiftie yeares they ought to die or desier to be killed bicause that till that time was the pleasure of mannes felicity and that which is more or aboue that age passeth in sorrow and grieuous sicknes vnsupportable death of childrē losse of goods to burie his friendes sustaine processe paye debtes and in other infinit trauels so that it were better to haue the eyes closed wayting for theyr graue than to behold these things with their eyes in this crooked age the which thing the Prophet foreséeing cried out to God saying Lorde withdraw not thy hand from me when I am olde or when that I am assailed of age We haue now to my iudgement sufficientlye shewed the maledictions and miseries wherein man is wrapped whilst he playeth his Tragedie in the circle of this world but if his entrie be
maruellous miserable difficill and perilous no doubt his issue and departing is not lesse and whereas we haue shewed manye straunge childings and dreadfull so is there also straunge sortes of death muche more horrible and wonderfull This therfore is the laste seale and laste confirmation of all the actes déedes of the infelicitie of oure life after that man hath sighed and sorrowed all hys lyfe vnder the vnsupportable déedes heauie burthens of all his euilles he is forced to liue always in feare waiting for death and oftentimes by vncredible torments At the whiche the greate Doctor Sainct Augustine maruelling setteth forth his complaint to God after this sorte O Lord after we haue sustained so manye miseries and afflictiōs the vntollerable stroke of death commeth that rauisheth thy creatures by infinite wayes and meanes some he ouercommeth with Feuers or Agues others by some extréeme dolor an other by hunger an other by thirst other by fier others by water others by iron others by poison others by feare others are smothered others are choked others are torne of wilde beasts others deuoured of foules of the ayre others are made meate for fishes and others for wormes and for al this man knoweth not his end when he thinketh himselfe moste at rest he falleth and perissheth It is therefore the most dreadfullest of all dreadfull y e most terriblest of all terrible when that the bodie separateth frō the soule but what spectacle is it to sée in a bed him that is oppressed with the pangs of death what shaking what feare what alteration and chaunging in all the bandes of nature the féete become colde y ◠face pale the eyes bollow the lips and the mouth to retire the thombe to deminishe the tongue waxeth blacke the téeth doe close the breath faileth the sweate colde appeareth by violence of the sickenesse which is a certain token that nature is ouercome Then whē it commeth to the last gaspe or at the sorrowful departure that the soule maketh frō his habitacle all the vessels and bandes of nature are broken withoute putting in count the furious assaultes that the diuelles and wicked spirites reare against vs when y ◠they are assured of our end for there is no inuention craft cōspiracy or practise but that is then wrought for to bring vs into a presumption to haue liued well that oure might be fixed vpon that false opinion and not on the mercie of Iesus Christ or els laying before vs an infinit number of grieuous and enormeous sinnes that we haue committed in oure life time to the ende to bring vs in mistrust or dispaire of Gods mercie it is the howre the moment and the poynt whereas Sathan doeth his powre to striue against God for to let or hinder the saluation of mankinde and he is more busier in these latter days for that he knoweth that his time is but short that the end of his kingdom is at hād therfore he is the more enflamed so that he doth practise that which he did when he knew that our Sauiour Iesus Christ drue neare to the possessed of diuels for he neuer rageth and tormenteth those more cruelly whō he doth possesse than when he knoweth that he muste depart For this cause it was that the Prophet Dauid did lament for his sonne Absalon so bitterlye saying I woulde that I had died for thée my childe knowing that he was wrapped with an infinite nūber of grieuous and enormious vices and sinnes Now when that they haue passed that path and disgested this peare of anguishe where is become their glorie where are their pomps and triumphes where are now their volupteousnes and wantonnesse where are their maiesties their excellencies and holinesse they are vanished as the shadow sayth the Psal It is chaunced to them as to the garmēt that the wormes haue eaten and as the wooll that the Moth hath deuoured saith the Prophet Esaye they are become a pray for wormes and serpents But let vs behold man when he is in his graue who euer saw a monster more hideous what is there more horribe and vile thā the deade creature behold the holynesse excellencie maiestie and dignitiy couered with a lumpe of earth here is hym that was cherished reuerenced and honoured euen to kisse his féete hands yet notwithstanding by a sodaine mutation he is become so abhominable that all the faire and bewtifull Tombes of Marble and Aliblaster all the faire statutes or Images Epitaphes and other funerall pompes can not so well cloke nor hide them but that it is well knowē that it is no other thing but a vile and stinking carin carcasse and to them it happeneth as Salomon writeth in his Wisedome what hath it profited them sayth he the pride and great abundance of riches all these things are passed as a shadow or as the Arrowe that is shot to the white or as the smoke that is dispersed with the wind or as the remembrance of an host that passeth by that is lodged for one day Let vs leaue therfore this bodie sléeping and resting in the earth as in a bed for a season this is the moste doubtfullest and perilloust acte of all the humaine tragedie It is that which Dauid feared so muche that he prayed God not to enter into iudgemēt with his seruaunt It behoueth that this creature appeare before the iudgement seate of God with such a terrour to those that consider it well that there is no member but shaketh it is the daye that the Prophet Esaye speaketh of that the Lorde will come like a tempest euerye ones heart shall fayle them and all the world astonied and then the paines shal be like the paine of a woman that trauelleth this is the daye of the Lorde he shall come as one full of wrath and indignation for to make the earth desert and roote out from thence the sinners the Sunne shall be darkened and the Planets shal bring forth no more light I will trouble sayth he the firmament and the earth shal moue out of his place bicause of the wroth indignation of the Lord God Heare also y e words of our sauiour Iesus Christ in Sainct Mathew euen as the lightning that riseth in the East and extendeth to the West so shal the comming of the sonne of man be the tribulation then shall be so great as the like hath not bene since the beginning of the worlde vntill now nor neuer shal be the like the Sunne shall be darkned and the Moone shall giue no more light the starres shall fall from Heauen and the waues of the sea shall rage and men shalbe amased with feare and y ◠powres of Heauen shall moue Wo shall be in those dayes to them that are with child and to them that giue sucke but as the time of Noe was so shall the comming of the sonne of mā be for as in the dayes before the floud they did eate and