what the pains of Death are when the whole Body is corrupted and dissolved whereas many times Death passeth with less pain than the torture of a Limb for the most vital parts are not the quickest of sense Death is but felt by Discourse because it is the motion of an instant Aut fuit aut veniet nihil est praesentis in illa The Sickness that occasions our Death is perhaps less painful than many other Sicknesses we have formerly had however that is antecedent to Death and so relates not to it and for Death which is nothing but the seperation of Soul and Body I cannot concei ve it to be any pain or at most so short as not worth an hours fear If it were Death it self which caus'd the pain then all men would have the same Agony at their departure since Death is common to all Secondly If it be the fear of what shall become of us hereafter that depends altogether upon Faith which Faith ought to be regulated by the holy Scriptures but at this time writing in a Philosophical way I shall treat only of such Opinions as have been maintain'd according to un-enlightned Nature Know then that some have deny'd any Reward or Punishment hereafter as thinking that the supream Being concern'd not himself with humane Affairs Ipsa suis pollens opibus niâ—il indiga nostri Nec bene promeritis capitur nec tangitur ira Lucr. 1. Rich in himself to whom we cannot add Not pleas'd with good deeds nor provok'd with bad Others deny any future Account believing that when we are dead we shall be as though we had never been born according to these lines of the Poet Post mortem nihil est ipsaque mors nihil Velocis Spatii meta novissima Spem ponant Avidi Solliciti metum Quaeris quo jaâ—â—as post obitum loco Quo non nata jacent Tempus nos avidum devoraet chaos Mors individua est noxia corpori Nec parens animae Taenara aspero Regnum sub domino limen obsidens Custos non facili Cerberus ostio Rumores vacui verbaque inania Et par sollicito fabula somnio Senec. Troas Act. 2. Chor. Thus English'd by a Person of Honour After Death nothing is and nothing Death The utmost limit of a Gasp of Breath Let the ambitious Zealot lay aside His hopes of Heaven whose Faith is but his Pride Let slavish Souls lay by their Fear Nor be concern'd which way nor where After this Life they shall be bâ—rl'd Dead we become the Lumber of the World And to that Mass of Matter shall be swept Where things destroy'd with things unborn are kept Devouring Time swallows â—s whole Impartial Death confounds Body and Soul For Hell and the foul Fiend that rules God's everlasting fiery Iayls Devis'd by Rogues dreaded by Fools With his grim grisly Dog that keeps the Door Are sensless Stories idle Tales Dreams Whimsies and no more Many other as vain and impious Tenents were held amongst the un-enlightned Heathens which I shall treat of more at large in my Illustration of the Souls Immortality and have only instanced these at present to shew that before the Gospel shin'd amongst them many denied a future Reward and Punishment and those who did so could have no fear of Death upon the account of what would become of them hereafter But now writing in a Christian Government I shall wave all such Arguments and fly only to the infinite Attribute of God's Mercy which were not infinite did it not extend to the vilest Sinner in Hell He delights not in the death of a Sinner and we have found daily Experiments of his Mercy may such a thought never enter into my heart that the Deâ—s optimus maximus communis Pater of all Mankind should create men to damn them The best natured of the Fathers viz. Origen had another opinion of God and thought the very Devils themselves would not suffer eternally which if it was an error was an error on the right hand Has God brought us into the World preserv'd us in it several years given us a comfortable subsistance brought us to our Journeys end in peace and happiness and shall we then at last distrust him We knew not how he would dispose of us when we came into this World and we know not how he will dispose of us when we go out of it but since he dealt so bountifully with us before why may he not do the same again The very Dogs that wait at out Trenchers will upbraid us with this Diffidence when after two or three meals meat and one days sport they chearfully follow us without any distrust at the first whistling Summons Neither will I despair when our Divines tell me I have offended an infinite Majesty unless I had infinitely offended him which I neither can nor would do For I consider him not only as my God and Creator but also as my heavenly Father who will own me for his so long as I do nothing purposely to offend him and that if through the sensual Nature in me I commit any frailties he will give me only a filial chastisement and with that his pardon I think I may without vanity affirm that the thoughts of Death are not at all frightful to me and though an unprepared Death I dread yet a sudden Death of all others appears to me least terrible Mitius ille perit subita qui mergitur unda Quam sua qui liquidis brachia lassat Aquis Ovid. de Ponto l. 3. Lastly As for a future Account I find the Bill to swell rather than shrink by continuance From all which I conclude that Death needs not seem terrible to any out of a fear of what shall become of them hereafter unless it be to such who by their hard censures of God Almighty make Salvation seem almost impossible and of those I wonder any will marry since according to their belief 't is above ten thousand to one but the Children they get are damn'd Men saith the Lord Bacon fear Death as Children fear to go in the dark and as that natural Fear in Children is increas'd with Tales so is the other Nevertheless the Groans Convulsions discolour'd Face Friends weeping Mourning and Obsequies represent Death more terrible than really it is Pompa mortis magis terret quam mors ipsa It is as natural to die as to be born and to a little Infant perhaps the one is as painful as the other Moreover Death hath this advantage also that it openeth the Gate to Fame and extinguisheth Envy Extinctus amabitur idem Horat. However this fear of Death which Nature hath implanted in us all is one of the greatest Benefits Mankind enjoys since without it there would be no Peace no Meum or Tuum and no security either for Life or Estate all Laws then being rendred uneffectual Now some are so base-spirited to judg of men according to their Deaths if they be of a Perswasion different
than from Cruelty to dumb Beasts which made him so great an Enemy to Fowlers Fishermen and the like Concerning Pythagoras's Precepts most of them were abstruse resembling the Aegyptian Hierogliphicks he held that the Principle of all things were Numbers and their Proportions But of this see more in Plutarch's Morr as also in Diog. Laert. lib. 8. Pythagoras founded his Sect of the Pythagoreans A. M. 3360. about the time that Ierusalem was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar 2 Samos is an Island in the Ionian Sea call'd Cephalenia wherein is a Town of the same Name but now it is call'd Porto-Guiscardo Laertius tells us that this was the Birth-place of Pythagoras 3 Euphorbus a Nobleman of Troy that was slain in the Trojan War by Menelaus This Euphorbus's Soul Pythagoras affirm'd to have been transmigrated into his own Body according to that of the Poet Ipse ego nam memini Trojani tempore belli Panthoides Euphorbus eram Ovid Met. lib. 15. Pythagoras held that God was the Soul of the World and that from him each Creature receiv'd his Spirit and return'd it to him again at his Death so that afterwards the Almighty did bestow the same Soul upon other Men or other Beasts according to his divine Will and Pleasure But of this I have treated more at large in the last Chapter of Philostratus's 8th Book concerning Apollonius 4 Heu quantum scelus est in viscere viscera 〈◊〉 Congestoque avidum pinguescere corpore corpus Alteriusque animantem animantis vivere Letho c. Ergo ne pietà s sit victa cupidine ventris Parcite vaticinor cognatas caede nefandas Exturbare animas nec sanguine sanguis alatur Ovid. Metam lib. 15. Thus Ovid in the 15th Book of his Metamorphosis gives us a full and admirable Character of all Pythagoras's Tenents whereof the abstaining from Flesh-meats was one however not out of Superstition as some would have it but rather as Laertius observes for conveniency and healths sake as thinking all those sanguinary Meats too gross and stupifying for the Brain and therefore most disagreeable with the study of Philosophy 5 Mankind being for the most part ill-natur'd and unapt to oblige others without some reward as also judging of God Almighty by themselves did at firâ—t conceive the Gods to be like their Eastern Princes before whom no man might come empty-handed And thus came the original of Sacrifices Now the crafty Sacerdotal Order who like Swine fatten'd with trough were maintain'd and made rich out of the Follies and Passions of men did above all things improve and propagate this Opinion and that because great part of the Offerings fell to the Priests share Wherefore they soon left off Pythagoras's poor Institution of Frankincense Fruits Flowers c. which lasted till their Gods or to speak truely their Priests grew so covetous that nothing but the Blood of Beasts could satiate them and so fell to sacrificing first Beasts then Men Women and Children and the very Gods themselves if they could have got them And all this was to bring Rost-meat to the Priests But one of the wisest among the Heathens who was guilty neither of this Folly nor this Impiety sings you another Song saying Non Bove mactato coelestia Numina gaudent Sed quae praestanda est vel sine teste fides Ovid. But if you would discover the whole Roguery of these Priests in this matter you may find it written at large in a Piece that is lately stolen forth under this Title Great is Diana of the Ephesians or the Original of Idolatry and politick Institution of the Gentiles Sacrifices Cum sis ipse nocens moritur cur victima pro te Stultitia est morte alterius sperare salutem 6 A Hecatomb was a Sacrifice wherein were offer'd up an hundred Beasts of a sort all at one time as an hundred Oxen an hundred Sheep or an hundred Swine Vota Iovi Minos taurorum corpora centum Solvit Ovid Met. 8. This Sacrifice is said to have been first instituted by the Lacedemonians who having subdued a hundred several Cities made an Offering of Oxen proportionable to the Towns they had conquer'd 7 If Preachers Teachers and Pastors of the Church disagree about Matters which they preach up as necessary points of Faith they deservedly lose all their Credit and Authority for who will believe Witnesses on their own words if they disagree in their Testimony 8 One chief Command which Pythagoras imposed upon his Disciples as well as upon himself was a five years silence In all which time though they were to refrain from speaking themselves yet might they receive company and hear others discourse to them Asserit haec Samius post docta Silentia Lustri Pythagoras Sidon Apol. Again At non Pythagorae monitus annique silentes Claud. Now this refraining from Discourse did not only corroborate the Memory but heighten'd the Fancy and improv'd the Understanding by such a constant and uninterrupted Meditation far beyond any Converse or Study For that Reading is like Eâ—â—ing and Contemplation like Digestion where if we observe out of all the twenty four hours two only are sufficient for Eating and all the rest for Digestion Nor are any men so considerable in a Kingdom and so odious to a dissolute Prince as such thinking Subjects who must needs contemn him in their hearts 9 Among all the Beasts of Sacrifice none was higher esteem'd for that purpose than the Ox who at all such times was offer'd up with great Pomp and Ceremony as you may learn from the Poet Victima Labe carens praestantissima forma Nam placuisse nocet vittis praesignis auro Sistitur ante aras auditque ignara precantem Imponique suae videt inter cornua fronti Quas coluit fruges Ovid Metam lib. 15. After all things were in readiness and the Priest had ended his Prayers to God Ianus and the Goddess Vesta without whose Intercessions they might not have access to any other Gods then did he lay upon the Beast's Head a little Corn together with a Cake made of Meal and Salt call'd in Latin Mola Spange salsa cala taurorum mola Sen. Oedip. Act. 2. Then giving a long crooked Knife to under-Officers call'd from thence Cultrarii they kill'd the Beast therewith See Rosin Antiq. lib. 3. chap. 33. CHAP. II. How Apollonius having foretold many Things was accused for Magick when at the same time Plato Socrates and Anaxagoras were not taxed with the like Crime although they were likewise divine Men and foretold the most remote Things IT would be a very 1 unjust thing for any Man to tax Apollonius with such a Crime only because he foresaw and foretold sundry Things In as much as 2 Socrates will come under the same Condemnation for the Things which he foreknew by the help of his Genius as also 3 Anaxagoras for the many Things which he by his Wisdom foretold would come to pass For who knoweth not that Anaxagoras at Olympia when
Artabanus whose Story we read in Tacituâ—â— his Annals lib. 6. lib. 11. Artabanus dying left behind him several Children viz. Arsaces Darius Bardanes Gotarzes Orodes Volâ—geses Pacores and Tiridates besides one Daughter whereof we have no farther mention Now Arsaces having the Government of Armenia given him by his Father was there kill'd by his own Subjects being suborn'd so to do by Mithridates and Pharasinâ—â— two Princes of Spain Darius was sent in Hostage to Rome to the Emperor Tiberius whereupon the third Son Bardanes of whom Philostratus here speaks came to the Crown by his Fathers Will by reason of his two older Brothers misfortune which happen'd to them during Bardanes's Life Of his Wars you may see an account at large in Tacitus as also of his unlucky death 3 Babylonish Wine Strabo lib. 16. speaking of the fertility of the Province of Babylon says that this Country produces greater store of Corn then any other in so much that it is said to render 300 for one and for all other necessaries requisite to the subsistance of man their Palms supply them with as Wine Honey Vinegar and Cloathing which they extract from the Palm-Tree together with Nuts which serve their Smiths and such as make use of Fire instead of Coals also these Nuts being steep'd in Water serve to fatten their Sheep and Oxen Plâ—ny lib. 14 writes that all the East used no other Wines but what are made of Palms Athenaeus lib. 14. ch 26. saith that the Persian Kings used only to drink the Calyboniaâ— Wine which as Possidonius affirms grew only in Damascus of Syria for that the Persians had there planted Vines He that would know more of this Subject let him peruse Pliny's 14 th Book as also Athenaeus wherein you may find all the several sorts of Wine extant in the World together with their original growth and encrease 4 Those Fruits are sweeter that grow wild Apollonius esteem'd them so as admiring the simple works of God and Nature beyond all the Art and improvement of Man How much sweeter are the wild Notes of the Nightingale than any Artificial ones which we teach our tame Birds How much more beautiful are the colours of the Rainbow than any we can imitate and we find by daily experience how much sweeter many of our Fruits are which grow of their own accord than such as we nurse up with our hot Beds in Gardens 5 Wormwood is call'd in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 impotabile ob amaritudinem vel ingustabile quia illud non tangunt animalia in Depascendis herbis Dioscorides calleth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 à profundo amarore Dioscorides and Galen make mention but of three sorts of Wormwood the one a common sort well known by all men whereof the best grows in Pontus and Cappadocia the other Sea-wormwood or Seriphium and the third Santonicum of the Country beyond the Alpes in France Nevertheless there hath since been found out many Herbs accounted to be kinds or sorts of them both for their likeness of Face and Virtues Absinthium vulgare or the common Wormwood is of an heating and binding property it purgeth Choler that cleaveth to the Stomach or Belly But of this see more in Parkinson's Theatrum Bâ—tanicum Tribe 1. ch 36. also Pliny lib. 27. ch 7. 6 Barbarous Language Charron who is but an imitator of Montaign wearing his Thoughts at second hand tells us in his Treatise of Wisdom that Speech is the interpreter and image of the Soul animi index speculum the Messenger of the heart the Gate whereby all that is within issueth forth in so much that an ancient Philosopher said once to a Child Speak that I may see thee that is to say the inside of thee As Vessels are known whether they be broken or whole full or empty by the sound and Metals by the touch so Man by the sound of his Tongue or Speech Of all the visible parts of the Body which shew themselves outward that which is nearest the Heart is the Tongue by the root thereof so that which comes nearest unto our Thought is our Speech for from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh Life and Death are in the power of the Tongue so that there is nothing better and nothing worse than the Tongue Hearing and Speech are the two Gates whereby the Soul does traffick at the one all things enter in and at the other all go forth But Hearing is the first Gate through which all must first pass for there can nothing come forth of the Soul but that which first entreth and therefore he that by Nature is born deaf the same is likewise dumb Now from the communication of these two as from the stroke of two Flints or Irons together there comes forth the sacred Fire of Truth The Tongue like other benefits of Nature is bestow'd upon us as a singular blessing yet nevertheless as with those Legs which are given us to walk about our necessary occasions we may leap into a River or off from a Steeple or with those Hands which are lent us by providence for our defence and service we may cut our own Throats so likewise our Tongues though an eminent gift of Nature may if irregularly managed prove our destruction as I have already shew'd in the 11th Chapter of this Book A man's wit should serve rather for a Buckler to defend himself by a handsom reply than a Sword to wound others though with never so facetious a Reproach remembring that a word cuts deeper than a sharper weapon and the wound it makes is longer in curing A sudden blow is the effect of an inconsiderate Passion but a disgraceful Speech is the result of a low and base esteem settled of the party in your Heart Therefore nothing blows up Anger into mischief like Bitterness of words especially if they be aculeate and proper for communia maledicta are little resented No sharp expressions are so much allow'd of as smart Repartees which being both ex tempore and on the defensive part are not only pardonable but commendable wherefore all applauded that Nobleman who being given the Lye by a Physician told him he had rather take that of him than Physick I must confess there is nothing for the which I have a greater aversion than foul words in so much that I can sooner Study with twenty Drums beating about my ears than with two people a Scolding for not only the noise but also the curiosity to hear what they say too much commands my attention and that out of an opinion I have that there is not so much Truth spoken any where as at Billinsgate when the Orange-wenches call one another Whore Thief c. 'T is the same reason induces me to peruse those Polemical Books which are written in a more refined Billinsgate Dialect such as the Friendly Debate its several Parts the Books in Answer to Mr. Hobbs Marvel's and Parker's several
the fatal hour Again if I knew I should dye at such a Relations House this might terrifie me from visiting him for fear of making his Habitation my Sepulchre So that the All wise disposer of all things who doth nothing in vain hath for the good of mankind conceal'd this prescience from us 3 Eretrians were the Inhabitants of Eretria which was a famous City of Euboea They are said to take their name from Eretrius the Son of Phaeton Herodotus lib. 6. speaking of these Eretrians says that Datys and Artaphernes being arrived in Asia took these Eretrians Prisoners and sent them away captive to Susa for that they had exasperated Darius in making War upon him wiâ—â—out any provocation where being presented before Darius he planted them at Anderica in Cissia about 210 furlongs distant from Susa. 4 By Darius This Darius was the Son of Hystaspes who got the Crown of Persia by the Neighing of his Horse at Sun-rising for his Groom Oebares having the Night before let his Horse cover a Mare at that place the Horse was no sooner brought thither the next morning but he immediately fell a Neighing in remembrance of his past pleasure and by that means won his Master the Crown after the death of Cambyses He married Atossa the Daughter of Cyrus for the strengthning of his Title He recover'd Rebellious Babylon by a Stratagem of Zopyrus one of his Noblemen who cutting off his own Lips and Nose and miserably disfiguring himself got in with the Babylonians to be their Leader against the Tyrant his Master who as he pretended had so martyr'd him which done he betray'd to his Master Darius After this he march'd against the Scythians who in derision presented him with a Bird a Frog a Mouse and Five Arrows which by Hieroglyphical interpretation signified that if the Persians did not speedily depart from them flying as Birds in the Air or ducking themselves as Frogs in a Marsh or creeping as Mice into Holes then they should have their Arrows in their sides to send them packing which was soon done with shame Upon his being defeated by the Scythians the Greeks rebell'd against him and were subdued which encouraging him to think of conquering all Greece and thereupon marching with 600000 men against it he was shamefully overthrown by Miltiades the Athenian who brought but 10000 against him in the Field of Marathon and register'd as Plutarch saith by almost 300 Historians In this Fight Themistocles the Athenian gave sufficient proofs of his valour wherein also one Cyneris a common Souldier was so fierce that when both his hands were cut off he fasten'd his Teeth upon a flying Ship of the Persians as if he meant to stay it Afterwards Darius thinking to repair this ignominious loss the Rebellion of the Aethiopians and quarrel between his Sons for the Succession brought him to his end for Artabazanes his eldest Son claimed it as Heir but in regard he was born whilst his Father was but a Subject the younger Son Xerxes carried away the Crown he being Grandchild to Cyrus by Atossa Of this Prince you may read at large in Herodotus lib. 3 4 5 6. also in Iustin lib. 1 2. in Valerius Maximus Aelian and others He began his Reign An. Mund. 3431. 5 Euboea an Isle in the Aegean Sea on the side of Europe over against Chios it is sever'd from Achaia by a little Euripus by the Ancients it was sometimes called Macra Macris Chalcis Chalcodontis Aesopis Oche Ellopia and by Homer Abantis and the Inhabitants Abantes It is now called Negropontâ— or Egriponte and by the Turks who won it from the Venetians An. Chr. 1470. Egribos and Eunya 6 Clazâ—menian Sophist so called from Clazomenae a City of Ionia in Asia built by Paralus it was afterwards called Gryna it lies near Smyrna This Clazomenae was the Country of Anaxagoras it borders upon Colophon 7 Sophist a Sophism is a cunning evading Argument or Oration in Logick it is when the form of a Syllogism is not legally framed or false matter introduced under colour of Truth whence a Sophist is in plain English but a subtle Caviller in words Thus we read that Protagoras the Disciple of Zeno as also of Democritus wanting Solidity endeavour'd to be Subtle and coming short of a Philosopher set up for a Sophist 8 Nomades were a certain people of Scythia Europaea said to be descended from those that follow'd Hercules in his Expedition into Spain Salust They were called Nomades 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is à pascendo in that they spent their time chiefly in feeding Cattel and lying amongst them Dionys. vers 186. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Also Virgil mentions the same Aen. lib. 4. 8. They are also thought to be people nigh Polonia and Russia as likewise of Numidia in Africk otherwise called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Numida Also people of Asia by the Caspian Sea now call'd Daae and Parni 9 Caphareus a high Mountain of Euboea towards Hellespont by which place the Greeks Navy were sore afflicted for the death of Palamedes Son of Nauplius King of that place who was slain by Vlysses Homer Odys 4.11 and Ovid Met. lib. 14. represent to us a famous Shipwrack which the Grecian Navy suffer'd in their return from Troy Euboicae cautes ultorque Caphareus Virg. Aen. 11. 10 Forum So call'd by the Romans was a Market-place or Common Hall wherein they kept their Courts of Judicature 11 Xerxes This Xerxes was the Son of Darius Hystaspes who in the third year of the third Olympiad succeeded his Father to the Crown and was the 4 th King of the Empire drawing his Title thereunto from Cyrus his Grandfather by the side of his Mother Atossa Now his Father Darius having at the time of his death prepared all things in readiness for a War with the Aegyptians his Son Xerxes had nothing left to do but to begin his March wherefore his first Expedition was against the rebellious Aegyptians who had revolted from his Father wherein proving successful he returns and makes that great Feast mention'd in the Book of Esther who becomes his Queen in place of Vasthi His second Undertaking was to revenge his Fathers Quarrel upon Greece against which he is said to have led the most numerous Army that ever was yet heard of consisting as Herodotus writes of 1700000 Foot and 80000 Horse besides Camels and Chariots Diodorus writes of 800000 Foot Trogus Iustin and Orosius mention 1000000 in all also 1207 Ships of War all which numerous Army was entertain'd by one Pythius at Sardis who besides presented Xerxes himself with 2000 Talents in Silver and in Gold four millions Now having from Sardis sent into Greece to demand Earth and Water in token of subjection he afterwards march'd from thence with his Forces making Mount Athos an Island for the convenient passage of his Fleet also passing his Army over the Hellespont by a Bridge of Boats which Bridge happening one time to be broken by
daily Experience inform us of the truth thereof When Sultan Achmet who lived but in the year of our Lord 1613. had 3000 Concubines and Virgins listed in his Venereal Service Purchase's Pilgrimage page 290. Nay in those Countreys the Wives are not all offended at the Rivals of their Bed for as custom hath taken off the shame so also hath it extinguish'd their anger Thus we read in holy Writ that Leah Rachel Sarah and Iacob's Wives brought their fairest Maiden-servants unto their Husbands Beds also Livia seconded the lustful Appetites of her Husband Augustus even to her own prejudice and Stratonica wife of King Deiotarus did not only accommodate the King with a handsom Maiden but also enroll'd the said Concubine for one of the Ladies of her Bed-chamber educating her Children and using all means possible to have them succeed in his Thronâ— of so base a Spirit was Queen Stratonica Again Princes have been as often ruined by their Wives as by their Concubines Thus Livia is infamous for the poysoning of her Husband Roxalana Solyman's Wife was the destruction of that renowned Prince Sultan Mustapha and otherwise troubled his House and Succession Edward the Second of England his Queen had the principal hand in the deposing and murther of her Husband Now this kind of danger is then chiefly to be fear'd when the Wives have Plots either for the raising of their own Children or for the promoting of their own new Religion or else when they be Advowtresses of all which her differing from her Husband in Religion whether she be Wife or Concubine renders her the most dangerous for then she looking upon him as out of the reach of God's mercy can think nothing an injury to his person or a loss to his Estate if her ghostly Fathers are pleas'd but to encourage her Lastly Upon another account Women have many times been the destruction of States Nam fuit ante Helenam Cunnus teterrima Belli Causa Horat. Lib. 1. Sat. 3. Paris his Robbery committed upon the Body of the fair Helena Wife to Menelaus was the original cause of that fierce War between the Greeks and Trojans the Rape of Lucreece lost the Tarquins their Government the Attempt upon Virginia was the ruine of the Decem-viri the same arm'd Pausanias against Philip of Macedon and many other Subjects against many other Princes in so much that Aristotle in his Politicks imputes the abomination of Tyranny to the injuries they do to people on the account of Women either by Debauchments Violences or Adulteries and this he delivers the rather for that no one Vice reigns more amongst Princes than this of Venery Semiramis is said to have had conjunction with a Horse and Pericles to have begun the Peleponesian War for the sake of Aspasia the Socratick Curtezan Iuda the Iewish Patriarch was a Fornicator and Sampson one of the Judges of the people of God married two Harlots Solomon the wisest King of the Iews kept whole Troops of Curtezans Sardanapalus that great Assyrian Monarch lost his Kingdom for a spinning-Wheel and a Whore Iulius Caesar the Dictator was called the Man of Women Mark Anthony was ruined by Cleopatra and Thalestris Queen of the Amazons march'd 35 days Journey through strange Countreys only to request Alexander the Great to lye with her which having obtain'd she returned home again well satisfied Much such another was Ioan Queen of Naples of fresher memory as also Pope Ioan which though denied by modern Papists I find confirm'd in some Books I have now by me that were both written and printed before the Reformation as for instance Polycronicon and another old great Chronicle entituled Chronicon Chronicorum Again Queen Pasiphae was another Example of Lasciviousness Heliogabalus much advanced the Art of Bawdery and Domitian is reported to have acted Sodomy with a Bull. And many other great persons were there whom History mentions that forsook their noble Enterprizes for the Snares of Love as did Mithridates in Pontus Hannibal at Capuâ— Caesar in Alexandria Demetrius â—n Greece and Anthony in Egypt Hercules ceas'd from his Labours for Iole's sake Achilles hid himself from the Battel for Love of Briseis Circe stays Vlysses Claudius dies in Prison for Love of a Virgin Caesar is detain'd by Cleopatra and the same Woman ruined Anthony For being false to their Beds Clytemnestra Olympia Laodicea Beronica and two Queens of France called Fregiogunda and Blanch as also Ioan Queen of Naples all slew their Husbands And for the very same reason Medea Progne Ariadne Althea and Heristilla changing their maternal Love into Hatred were every one the cause and plotters of their Sons Deaths 3 Nay if he be not a very Coward he will kill himself c. All things are importuned to kill themselves and that not only by Nature which perfects them but also by Art and Education which perfects her Plants quickned and inhabited by the most unworthy Soul which therefore neither will nor work affect an end a perfection a death this they spend their Spirits to attain this attain'd they languish and wither And by how much more they are by man's Industry warm'd cherish'd and pamper'd so much the more early they climb to this perfection and this death And if amongst men not to defend be to kill what a hainous self-murder is it not to defend it self This defence because Beasts neglect they kill themselves in as much as they exceed us in Number Strength and lawless Liberty yea of Horses and other Beasts they that inherit most courage by being bâ—ed of gallantest Parents and by artificial Nursing are better'd will run to their own Deaths neither solicited by Spurs which they need not nor by Honour which they apprehend not If then the Valiant kill himself who can excuse the Coward Or how shall man be free from this since the first man taught us this except we cannot kill our selves because he kill'd us all Yet lest something should repair this common Ruine we daily kill our Bodies with Surfets and our Minds with Anguishes Of our Powers Remembring kills our Memory of Affections Lusting our Lust of Vertues Giving kills Liberality And if these kill themselves they do it in their best and supream perfection for after perfection immediately follows excess which changing the Natures and the Names makes them not the same things If then the best things kill themselves soonest for no Affection endures and all things labour to this perfection all travel to their own death yea the frame of the whole World if it were possible for God to be idle yet because it began must die Then in this Idleness imagined in God what could kill the World but it self since out of it nothing is Donn's Paradoxes The two chief Objections against self-Homicide are the Law of God commanded in the Scriptures and the Law of Nature which obliges every man to self-Preservation As for the first of these I refer you to that excellent Treatise entituled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉