commodiously distributed vnto many So Alexander the Macedonian aunswered vnto Darius that the worlde could not holde two Sunnes as though one shuld hinder the other in gouerning Neither was Cicero ignoraunt of this reason who in his .3 booke de Officiis sayth that Remus slewe Romulus vpon a certayne shewe of vtility as though he saw that the kingdome should better be gouerned by one then by two Whom yet he confesseth to haue offended beyng deceaued with this shewe of vtility and that he put of all humanity and piety The other thing whiche they pretended is that therfore they slewe theyr brethren or kynsfolkes bycause they had conspired agaynst them But when I praye you complayne they of conspiracies euen then when they had slayne those whom they complayned of they could not defend theÌ„selues He slewe 70. brethren excepte one namely Iotham of whome shall mention be made afterwarde The Hystorye writeth that there were 70. slayne either bycause Abimelech so willed and commaunded or elles bicause onely one wanted of that summe The maner of the scripture in reckenyng of numbers whiche thyng we may see oftentymes vsed in the holy Scriptures that some certayne number is mentioned as a full number from whiche yet some may be taken away He slewe them vpon one stone It is thought to haue bene some notable stone which was appoynted for a place of execution Abimelech therfore is by a greate and detestable murther of hys brethren consecrated kynge Kynges were appointed to profit men and to defend them but he begynneth his kyngdome with murther Wherfore he ought rather to be called a Tyranne then a king The place where he was created is setforth wherfore we must vnderstand that this worde Alon signifieth a plant whiche R. Dauid in libro Radicum supposeth to be a pine tree Ionathan maketh it a chestnut tree and Ierome turneth it alwayes an oke Sometimes it signifieth a plaine and the Chaldey paraphrast interpreteth it Mischar that is a playne field thether assembled the Sechemites to create a kyng There was an image or piller set vp as some thinke to a superstitious woorshippyng whiche thyng althoughe it be not agaynst the wicked manners of thys people and impiety of Abimelech yet it is not of necessity that we should so thinke for we rede many tymes in the Scriptures that images were erected not for diuine worshippynges but for other causes In the booke of Genesis the 31. chap. a heape of stones was set vp in mount Gilead as a border and monument vnto the posterity of Iacob and Laban and in the 35. chap. of the same booke a piller was erected by the tombe of Rachel Yea and Absalon adorned his tombe with an image The famely of Millo The famely of the mother of Abimelech was not noble when as she tooke her name of the towne Millo is the name of her house That worde signifieth other wise a gulfe filled whiche Salomon built by the City of Ierusalem The Sechemites created a king the other tribes neither were at it neither wer they called So was there a schisme among the Israelites whiche is wont oftentymes to happen when the worshipping of god is viciated These thynges haue I briefly noted as concernyng the Hystory Now let vs more nighly looke vpon the wicked and flagicious actes by which this man came vnto his tyranny First he was very ambitious he deceatefully and falsely accuseth his brethren vseth the corruption of bribery to worke treason is a robber of the commoÌ„ threasory he wrought by open violence and at the last committed murther of his brethren called Parricidium ¶ Of Ambition What Ambicion is What honor is Excellent men are iustly honored AS touching the first Ambition is to much desire of honor And honor is that reuerence which is geuen vnto any man to beare testimony of his excellency And that testimony is borne vnto hym iustly and of right bycause it is mete that we recompence somewhat vnto them whiche doo helpe and norishe vs and are endewed with giftes of God And we haue nothing more worthy or better then honor Farther that they and their like may go forwarde to excercise them selues longer and more constantly in helping keping of other Moreouer that we adding such reuerence may get vnto them authority whereby they may the more aptly and commodiously execute their office It is lawfull for godly men to receaue the honours offred them Hereby it is manifest that it is lawfull euen for holy men also to embrace the honours whiche are geuen vnto theÌ„ for vertue doctrine and pietyes sake For they both desire and allow things that are iust and do reioyse that men performe that whiche the law of God will haue done And he commauÌ„deth to honor the father the mother the Magistrate and such like Wherfore if men obey his preceptes holy men can not but accept it thankfully Thou mayst adde that if it should not so be their ministery would be contemned whiche is by all meanes to be auoyded What must be taken heede of when honours are admitted But bycause we are prone to pride hautines and arrogancye therfore we must beware and that circumspectly that for the desire of honor we abuse not that whiche after a sorte may be iust Wherfore I thought it good to note those thinges which I iudge are to be taken heede of in this thing First that we rest not in this kinde of good as in the last end Whatsoeuer we do must be directed vnto God and especially that honor whiche is geuen vnto vs when we rightly and orderly execute our dutyes so that thereby both we our selues may know also teach other to glorify God Honor is the reward of vertue not men in good workes For this hath Christ commaunded that we shoulde so directe our wookes whereby they whiche see theÌ„ may glorify God the heauenly father Neither ought this to moue vs which is â—oÌ„monly spoken the honor is the rewarde of vertues For that is not to be vnderstaÌ„d neither as touchyng the vertues theÌ„selues nor yet in respect of the meÌ„ which are adorned with theÌ„ For it shuld be very yll with either of theÌ„ if they had no other ende performed then honor The ende of good men is eternall lyfe and the heauenly kyngdome And the ende of vertues is to prepare and renewe vs to the glory of God But honor is called the rewarde of vertues as touching other whiche doo beholde and wonder at the giftes of God in good and holy men Howe honor is the rewarde of vertue and and when they desire to offer or recompence them somewhat and haue nothing excellenter then honor then doo they geue that Wherefore after this maner is honor counted the rewarde of vertue The other caution is that a man doo not so burne with the desire of honor that he care not howe he come by it whether it be by right or by wrong Salust hath writteÌ„
troublesome dreames 137. b Bearing with others weaknes 52 Beda liued in a corrupt time 42. b Bearfoote is Elleborus 164. b Bees of bullockes dead 218 Begging disalowed 203 Behauor in prosperiti aduersiti 6 Benefits degres worthines 198 Benefits whether they be to be wtdraweÌ„ froÌ„ vnthaÌ„ful persons 198 Benefits of god ar of .2 sorts 198 b Beniamin had .x. families 269 Beniamites worthy to be condemned 271 Beniamites how many of theÌ„ wer slayne by the Israelites 273. b Berdes of Priestes 201. b Bernhards error of angels 209 Bethabara 141 Bethel is not alwayes a propper name of a place but wher the ark of the couenant remained 269. b Bethlehem .2 of that name 239. b Betraying handled 36 b Betraying defined 37 Betraying wurs theÌ„ besieging 37 Betraying lawful 37. b Betraying examples 38. b Betrothing in woordes of the future tence 284. b Bezek situate 11 Bibles preserued by the Iewes 57 b Bishop of Rome hath nothing common with Peter 149 Bishops of Rome refused kingdom in the church at the first 147 Bishops ambicious 12 Bishops coÌ„secrating of kings whether they be therein greater then kinges 261. b Blabbing a vice moste peculiare to women 221. b Blasphemies horrible 235 Bloudshedding iustly and rightly restrayneth not from the holy ministery 146. b Boasting what 87. b Boasting against God 132. b Body what it signifieth with Tertulian 209 Body spiritual how 211 Body and bloud of Christe howe it is eaten 212. b Bodies of men after the floud whether lesse then before 17 Body humaine cannot consist with out flesh and bones 118. Body remoueth vs not from the beholding of God 117. b Bodye is ioyned to the soule for a helpe and not punishment 208. b Body is anoyed with druÌ„keÌ„nes 163. b Bodely diseases les grieuous then the mindes 247. b Bona goods 139. b Bondage first of the Israelits 77 Bondage more grieuous then losse of goods 70 Bondage is agaynste the nature of man 80 Bondage is a ciuill death 36 Bond saruants may not flye from their masters 227. b Bonifacius the right 257. Booke de Patientia none of Augustines 158. b Booke de Dogmate ecclesiastico is none of saint Augustines 121 borders of the Hebrues couÌ„tri 267 Bramble a vile plant 160. b Breade remayning in the Eucharist 205 brethreÌ„ for al maner of kinsfolks 23 Brothers children ar not forbidden to mary by Gods lawe .19 but by the law of nature 21 Brothers wyfe onelye lawfull for the Iewes to mary 21. b Bribery of Abimilech 158 Burials of the Hebrues in their own possessions 66 Burnt offringes 271 Burthens personall 263. b C. CAesar touched 153. b Caiphas the hie priest was no prophet 137 Calcedonia Synode 147. b Calfes made by Aaron IeroboaÌ„ were made of a good intent 48. b Calues of the lyps 192 Canons of the apostles allow mariage of Ministers 94. b Canons latter corrupt 215 Canons authority aboue the Ciuill lawes 217. b Cantones vilages of Heluetia â—67 Captains ouer ten Centurions c why God appointed 115. b Captaynes to haue Ministers in their campes 96. b Captaine needefull in great daungers 176. b captiues returning or escaping 85 b Carthage inhabited wyth Sidonians 243. b Cardinals hoorehunters 232 Carefulnes contrary to securitye yet not alwaies to be praised 247 case new requireth a new help 88 b Cases of lying to auoyd dauÌ„ger 90 Castels whether it bee lawfull to fence 113 Castels municions cannot defend from the anger of God 112. b Cathecumeni 42 b Cato burthened with droÌ„kennes 163 Caues described 112. b Cause of synne is not to be layd vnto God 167 Cause iust vniust differ much 271 Causes first more to be considered then the second 71 Centurions c. why God appointed 115. b Ceremonies complayned on 190. b Ceremonies neede not be all a lyke euery where 54. b Ceremonies of the law howe long they might be vsed 52 Ceremonies of the law howe farre Paule condemned them 51. b Ceremonies are not good bycause they had a good begynning but bicause they be good of theyr nature 48 Ceremonies in the Masse what they signify is vnknowen 50 Chaire of Peter 149 Chaldry paraphrast with the Hebrues is of great authority 285. b Chalebs petigree 18. b Chaleb a faythful spy 18 Chanaan nation discussed 7 ChanaaÌ„ deuided by Iosua before it was possessed by the Israelits 7. b Chananites why God woulde not by and by destroy them 8 Chananites expelled by the Israelites went into Affricke 7 Charges extraordinary 263. b Chariotes for warre described 32. they can not resist God 32 b Charity is neglected when we depart from the true God 155. b Charity not broken in destroying of Cities 31 Chaunce is not with God 172 ChauÌ„ce is not wtout gods wil 165 b Chaunge is not in God 175 Chemos god of the Amonites 185 Cherem vowes 192 Ches play 220 Children many is an excellent gyft of God 200 Children fayre of foule Parentes how 4. b Childe of a day old is not pure 180 Children are more of the father theÌ„ of the mother 156. b Children deuided for legitimacion c. 177. b Childrens obedience to their Parentes 203. b Childrens duties to their parents al one with subiects to their Magistrates 265 Children whether they may marye wtout coÌ„sent of their parents 214 Children when they maye disobeye their parentes 253 ChildreÌ„ ar not punished for theyr fathers as touching eternal life 182 Choyce of meates is not to bee followed 278 Christ is man 211. b Christ is the vniuersal head 147. b Christ the head of the church 241 Christ dissembled 89. b Christ as wee reade oft wept but neuer laught 63 Christ how he resembled Melchisedech 261 Christe is the mediator in makyng leagues 73. b Christ refused a kingdoÌ„ offred 147 Christ is our peace 122. b Christes appearing to the olde Fathers how it may be proued 119 b Christ how he is taught bi the boke of Iudges 2. b Christ had a true body after hys resurrection 209 Christes bodye howe it entred the doores shut 211. b Christ appeared to Gedion 115 Christes body bloud ar not included in the simbols or signes 212 b Chronicles howe they differ from histories 3 Chrysippus foolish answer 147 Church is gouerned of God wyth a singuler care 203 Church had not two swords in the apostles time 260. b Churche howe it maye haue twoo swordes 259. b Churche geueth not authoritye to the scriptures but contrary 5 Church hath three offices touching the word of God 5 Churches consent if it be to be waited for in reformacion of religion 265 Church ought to entreat for the reconciliation of the repentant 250 Church that payeth tythes is greater then the minister 261. b CipriaÌ„ resisted the church of Rome 148 Circumstances make much in euery matter 101 City of Palmes what 27. b Cities whether it bee lawfull to fence 113 Cities of refuge beloÌ„ged to the Leuites 18 Citizen good who 150 Ciuil lawes are to bee corrected by the woord
¶ Most fruit full learned Cōmentaries of Doctor Peter Martir Vermil Florentine Professor of Deuinitie in the Vniuersitye of Tygure with a very profitable tract of the matter and places ¶ Herein is also added contained two most ample Tables aswel of the matter as of the wordes wyth an Index of the places in the holy scripture Galath vi God forbid that I shoulde reioyce but in the crosse of our Lorde Iesu Christe wherby the world is crucified to me and I to the world ¶ Set forth allowed accordyng to thorder appointed in the Quenes maiesties iniunctions ¶ Imprinted at London by Iohn Day dwellyng ouer Aldersgate These Bookes are to be solde at his shop vnder the gate Ptolomeus Marinus Strabo Polibius Aratus Hipparchus Geometria Astronomia Arithmetica Musica MERCVRIVS IB F DROICT ET LOYAL ¶ To the ryght honorable my most singuler good Lord and Maister the Lord Robert Duddely Earle of Lecester Baron of Dynghby Knight of the honorable order of the Garter one of the Quenes highnes most honorable priuy Counsel and Maister of her Maiesties horsse THe old opinion right honorable and my singuler good Lord being no lesse auncient then true whiche accomptes hym an ill man that is good but for him selfe as who saye from whom no goodnes commeth to the help of others most like a Drone in a Bee hiue shrowded there for his owne sucke not for the common wealth of Bees whom therefore they suffer not among them but kill cast out as an vnkinde member vnnaturall and not to be endured in their state hath bene alwayes the rappyng hammer in my head and the spurre to my side to knocke and pricke me forward that am of my selfe lytle able to do to procure what I can to my calling at least for the profit of my vniuersal country men by whom among whom as a member I lyue In respect whereof among other it hath pleased God to geue me leaue by your Lordships meane vnder the lisence of my most dread soueraigne Lady and Prince to publish and set out to the glory of Gods Maiestie chieflie I haue taken vpon me to plant and put foorth lyke such a husbande as can not endure the plowe of my profession to stande vnoccupied this notable and right excellent woorke of that famous graue and great learned Doctor Maister Peter Martir entiteled His Commentary vpon the booke of Iudges being turned at the request of the learned out of that tounge wherein he wrote it into our English phrase in which it is most meete for vs. As who shoulde saye what he published into one toung priuately he ment as I take it shoulde be deliuered to all men generally Christians or other to whom it maye doo good VVhose labour tending to suche effect cannot but like a tree that beares many braunches spread it selfe abroad tyll it stretche with hys fruit to many countries nacions and languages out of the same spryng and stocke wherin he first planted it to grow and hath graffed it for vs And happy that spring yea very happye that caries such course of water to furnishe so many Conductes for the necessity and helpe of so many inhabitors as it can not but haue concourse among And happy that seruant that hath so bestowed his maisters talent as it cannot but turne agayne with so great an interest to the owner And twise happy they that may so taste and drinke of it as the glory may be Gods and the comfort theirs which being the onely but and marke wherat this Markmā shot what deserueth such an Archer to be accompted of I that thinke my selfe scant meete to set out his booke do recken my selfe much more vnmeete to expres his prayse As if I were either able or meete what should I labour to shewe your honour a whole man by his peece vnlesse as it might he said I ment to shewe your honour the Sunne by a candle Him selfe therfore that hath taken this paine vpon him and best can shewe him selfe by his owne shape shall report him selfe in his owne labour to your honour as he is best able VVho as he thought it most meete for his part to vnfolde the secretes of that cōmon wealth in the time of the Iudges for the plainer vnderstanding of the sence therof to the commoditie of vs and others after vs and him So haue I thought it meete for me and my very duty to your honor humbly to present and offer the same by me now published vnto your honorable hands as from the Iudges of Israel and him to one a Iudge and Ruler of this my natiue countrye and people vnder our supreme Iudge our most dread soueraigne Lady the Queenes Maiestie Hauing had nothing meeter wherby to expresse my faithfull hart good mynde and duty to your honourable Lordshyp then thys the simple laboure of my plowe the fruite wherof cannot be but yours that are owner of me Humbly beseching the same to accept it in as good part as my faithfull seruiceable hart towardes your honour hath and doth meane it Beseching God that so graciouslye hath lyked to beginne wyth your Lordship hitherto mercifullye continue and keepe the same to hys glorye to the comfort of your selfe and hope that this your Countrye of Israell whereof you are a Iudge hath conceaued of you Your Lordships humble faithfull and redy seruaunt Iohn Daye ⧠To the noble and most vvoorthy men the Lordes chiefe gouernours of the Schoole of Argentine my good Lordes for their godlynes and wisdome much to be reuerenced D. Peter Martir Vermilius Florentine Professor of the holye Scriptures in the Schoole of Tigure wisheth health and felicitye from God through Iesus Christ our Sauiour WHen it pleased God most woorthy and honorable mē of his mere goodnes and not for any my vertues or merites to cal me to the obedience of his sonne our Lord Iesus Christ to exercise my selfe in setting forth his Gospel in such maner as hath pleased him I thought it my duty as much as lay in me to execute my vocation and assigned burthen not onely in teaching but also in minde lyfe and maners For thus I reasoned with my selfe If vnto al men being iustified onely by the mercy of the true God through Iesus Christ our Sauiour not vndoubtedlye by woorkes but freelye receauing forgeuenes of synnes there remayneth no other thyng in the course of this short lyfe then that hauing obtayned the holy Ghost and nature being somewhat relieued from his proper corruption they should by pure lyfe and holy actions liuely expresse God hymselfe their regenerator and Christ their redeemer the same thing without doubte is much more required of men of my profession whom the ecclesiasticall spirit hath appointed to administer liuely doctrine vnto other men that whylest they teach vprightly by their euil deedes they deface not the waight and al the authoritye of their doctrine which thing if they do they shal in the darknes of this worlde most brightly geue
to the history of Athalia in the bokes of the kings The wife of Lappidoth What this man was we can not by the holy scripture certainly know The Hebrewes thinke that he was Barak but this is onelye the reason why they thinke so bicause the signification of these names haue great affinity one with an other For Barac signifieth lightninge and Lapidh is a lampe A fained tale the Rabbines whose plurall number is aswell Lapidim as Lapidoth And lampes or torches and lightninges are very lyke Other thinke that thys woman was so called of her handye crafte for that shee made matches for the candles of the sanctuarye But that the Rabbines fayned as thoughe God doth neuer bestowe freely hys grace or giftes For they signify by their fable that she by desert became a prophetesse and a iudge bicause her woorkes serued for the tabernacle that very religiously Others also write that she was so called bicause in that howre wherin she was endewed with the sprite of prophecy her face was made shininge casting forth beames as the holy history writeth of the countenaunce of Moses But all these thinges are trifles and leane onely vnto the interpretacion of the words neither ar they by any meanes proued by the holye scriptures But there is a certayn coniecture that Barac was not the husband of Deborah bycause she dwelled in mount Ephraim and he in Kades of Nepthalim And it is not agreable that the wife and the husband did dwell one so far distant from the other Vnles thou wilt say that Deborah went thē onely to mount Ephraim when the people should come vnto her And if we graūt this thē wil it be meruelous why her husband went not thither together with the other Israelits Wherfore that way semeth to be the plainer namely to say that she was the wife of Lappidoth but therfore she gaue not thys gouernance vnto her husband For that thing should be gouerned by mans reason but she did folow the counsel of God as she ought Of the mariage of ministers God despyseth not those which are maried THis is also very worthye to be noted that maried folkes are not contemned of God For of them certain hath he chosen to be Prophetes and those notable prophetes For Esay is cōmaunded to go vnto a Prophetesse which both conceiued also bare to him childrē Ezechiel also was maried Wherfore that Romane Sircius his like ar not to be herd Sircius is not to be heard whē they forbid the vse of the ministration of holy things to such which are maried this godly reason forsooth bring they for it namely bicause Paule writeth that they which are in the flesh cannot please God and in the old law it is in this manner commaunded be ye holy for I am holy and agayn sayth Paule ye are the temple of God or of the holy ghost But these testimonies now alleged if they should serue any thinge to theyr sentence then vndoubtedly should they declare that no men whiche are maried can please god neither that anye are to be counted holye excepte they be chaste The temple also of God or of the holy Ghoste shoulde be drawne onely to the clergye But howe vayne these thinges are all men so well vnderstande that they neede none of my labour to expresse them For who seeth not that the sentences nowe alleged are not spoken vnto this man or to that man alone The manner of the Ethnykes as touching virginity or sole lyfe but preached vnto all the faythful It was the manner of the Ethnickes to haue theyr prophetesses eyther Virgines or such as were of sole life as it is written of the Sibils They also appoynted certayne priesthodes vnto womē but yet only to virgines namely the holy thinges of Vesta and also of her that was called Bona dea Neyther must we beleue those maried folkes They which were maried called to the holye ministerye did not forsake theyr wyues which were by God taken to the office of prophecying or to the holy ministery did streightway forsake theyr wyues for neyther God nor yet Christ were authors that any man shoulde deuource himselfe from his wife We know in deede that Paule permitteth them which are maried sometimes to be a sunder whereby they mighte more expediently geue them selues to fastinges and prayers but he permitteth not that vnles they be both agreed therunto and that for a short time and he commaundeth them to returne to their old estate lest by the temptacion of Sathan they should be ouerthrowne Wherfore this sentence which they bryng is not sufficient to proue the necessitye of sole life for ministers forasmuche as the aduersaries gather more out of it than can be gathered For the Apostle sayth that sometimes it is lawfull to abstaine from accompanieng But these men take it to be a commaundement to all sortes of ministers euer to be vnmaried Which argument is both weake and vnprofitable as the art of Logike manifestly sheweth For we graunt that it is mete for ministers sometimes to conteyne themselues and that oftner than other men but not continually This they obiect if other men moderate themselues makinge their prayers but sometimes what shoulde they do whose duty is alwayes to apply themselues vnto prayers to the administration of the sacramentes I aunswere First that we much marueile at those which allege these thinges when as the clergy for the most part neuer almost teach distribute the sacraments very seldom celebrate that their most fylthy abhominable masse scarce once or twise in a whole yeare But in the mean time play the whoremōgers pollute thēselues with adulteries And they cauile that they cānot mary bicause of the ecclesiastical degree which they haue takē vpō thē Vndoubtedly the reasons which they bring do nothing defend this kind of men Farther we must marke that the wordes which Paul there speaketh A distinction of prayers and fastinges Sometimes fastinges publike prayers ar commaunded belong not to cōmon fasting or to cōmon vsual prayers otherwise it were lauful for none ether to mary or to haue a wyfe for as much as al mē ar cōmaūded to pray with out ceassing And there ar sometime certayn solemne praiers and fastings appointed ether for the auoyding of iminente calamities or for the chosing of ministers of the Churche and for such lyke necessytyes in whiche wee muste with the prophet the Apostle councel exhorte the husband not to depart out of the bedchāber the bride out of her bed Howbeit I would gladly hear of these new masters most seuere cēsors what they did in the old time in the church of Rome At Rome they did cōmunicate dayly which they so much alow aboue all other worship what I say was done when christians did cōmunicate as Ierome Augustine write was done in their time They indeede communicated and yet had they wiues Of the
Christ in Iohn aunswered of the man borne blynd Neither hath this man sinned nor his parentes that he should be borne blynd but that the glory of God should be made manifest Also Peter and Paul when they were put to death could not complayne that they had not deserued death Although God when they were killed had not a respect vnto this to punishe thē What God regardeth in the martyrdome of his sainctes but that by their bloud might be left a testimony of the Gospell of his sonne Wherefore seing the matter is so and we be al subiect vnto sinnes there is no cause why we should complayne that God dealeth to seuerely with vs if we be afflicted for the sinnes of our parents For God can so directe those troubles The scourges of the children profite sometymes the parentes that they shall pertayne not onely to hys glory but also to the saluation of our parentes For oftētymes he punisheth the parents in the children and the prince in the people For the parentes are no les grieued for the punishement of their childrē then if they themselues wer afflicted If the children dye for the parētes cause they haue no wrong done vnto them for death is also dew vnto then they should otherwise haue dyed Wherfore if God will so vse their death he may doo it iustly The grieues of the children are the grieues of the parents Which thing also we may affirme of other calamityes For if the sonne be vexed with sickenes he deserued the sickenes if he haue lost money thē hath he lost thinges transitory and vnstable and which were geuen hym on that condition that they mought easely be taken away agayn God as touching the regenerate turneth punishmēts into medicines Wherfore if god will with these kindes of calamityes punish the parentes in the children he can not be accused of iniustice Wherfore Augustine in his questions vpon Iosua the 8. question by originall sinne sayth he many punishements are dew vnto vs which yet God conuerteth into certayne medicines and maketh them very much to profite vs although they seme vnto vs euil For if the sonne had lyued peraduēture he would haue followed the euill steppes of his father or els committed woorser things Wher fore if God take him out of this life he can not complayne that he is ill delt with For through the benefites of god his death redoundeth to his profite For he is taken away least by malice his heart should chaūge And vndoubtedly we must suffer easy euils to atteyne vnto great good thyngs For so the Phisitions with a bitter purgation trouble the throte to restore the sicke person to hys former health In lyke maner when we haue deserued punishmentes God yet turneth them to good By this means discipline is kepte in the worlde And by this meanes saith Augustine a certayne discipline is established in the world For vnles it were so men would continually proue worse and worse A certayne coniunction also and society of mankinde is declared whē one after this maner is punished for the sinne of an other For they whiche pertayne vnto one kingdome or City or Churche are after a sorte one body among themselues And in the body one mēber suffereth for an other Wherfore seyng thys is so in the body it is not absurde that the same do chaunce also in the society of men Plutarche Plutarche in his booke de Sera numinis vindicta hath very well taught this The eye saith he is sicke the vayne of the arme is cut so the father hath sinned and the sonne is punished the prince hath behaued himselfe ill and the people is vexed and such compassion or suffring together is there in things humane That author iustly accuseth the rashenes of men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whiche as often as these thynges doo chaunce do complayne that God dealeth cruelly For the father sayth he is either good or euill If the sonne of a good father be peraduenture afflicted with euill straightway they crye out that God doth vniustly neither is it meete that the sonne should be so miserably handled which had so good a man to his father But if the father be euill and the sonne come into misery agayne they make exclamation that here also god is vniust For the sonne ought not to haue ben punished when as the father sinned wherfore the common people thinke that the sonne should by no meanes be afflicted But what if the father be euill and yet all thinges go prosperously with the sonne here also they cōplayne as he sayth of the iniustice of god For they deny it is iust that then the sonne should lyue prosperously whiche hath so euill a father These thinges this man thoughe he were an Ethnike writeth very godltly Children are certayn partes of the parentes Moreouer we must consider that children are as certayn partes of the parētes and haue somewhat of the parentes in them Wherfore it is not absurde if God punish the part of the parentes in the children But I will returne to Augustine who saith the god by this meanes setteleth discipline in the world in the publique wealth in the Churche and in the famely Whose saying in any iudgement can not be discōmēded for if the children be punished for the sinnes of their parētes they haue nothing wherof to complayne They owe vndoubtedly this duty vnto their parentes for of them they haue that they are Wherfore if they leaue theyr lyfe for them they haue no wrong done them For they render vnto them that whiche they receaued of them If god shoulde saye vnto them I will vse your punishment to the saluation of your parētes they can by no right refuse it Iohn sayth that euery one ought so to loue his brother to be ready to lay euen his life for him And if we must geue our life for our brother how much more ought we to geue it for our father God vseth sundry instrumentes wherwith he draweth men vnto him Why then should he not vse either the sickenes or death of the children either for the chastenyng or for the saluation of the parentes Augustine in his .8 Augustine The lesser part iustly suffreth punishment for the greater question vpon Iosuah whiche I haue oftentymes alledged sayeth That it is iust that the lesser part suffer punishement for the greater as in that hystory it happened bycause of the sacrilege whiche Achan committed A fewe fel in the battaile and the whole multitude was absolued Hereby we vnderstād how great the anger and vengeance of God would haue bene if the whole multitude had sinned when as the sinne of one manne was so excedingly punished And Plutarche in that booke whiche a little before I brought This thing sayth he also the Capitaynes doo in their hostes If there be any thyng commonly committed of all they put the tenth manne to death that by the punishment of a fewe the rest