layes hold vpon Christs mercies and euen whilest it is called to day and hee may bee found that bore all our infirmities vpon his crosse O Lord saith S. Bernard I may walke about the heauen and the earth the sea and the dry land but I shal find thee no where so soon as on the crosse there thou feedst there thou sleepst c. And as he further addeth so may euery sinner in this kind concerning his vnworthinesse and his sinnes either to seeke or finde him Non sum laeta seges lolium sum treste sedero Me tamen in messem collige Christe tuam English No fruitfull field am I no blessed wheate But cursed Cockle to weede out not eate Yet though I am this out cast lost sold To sinne yet Lord reduce me to thy fold Q. VVhat is the carelesse liuer compared vnto and most fitly A. To him that seeing his face in the glasse goes away and either forgets his deformitie or cares not to amend it A good and short rule to meditate Quid sis quid fueris quid eris semper meditaris Alwayes meditate what thou art what thou wast what thou shalt be The yong mans question to the old man concerning life and what it is to liue Dic venerande senex humanum viuere quid sit The old man answereth Principium vitae dolor est dolor exitus nigens Sic medium dolor est viuere quis cupiat English The beginning of mans life is griefe and misery the end of it griefe and misery and the middle noting but griefe and misery which conioynes both the middle and end and makes one compleate masse of sorrow of all of which we may say as one saith VVhat ioy to liue on earth is found VVhere griefe and cares do still abound And therefore the more firmely to fixe this exhortation againe he sayth yong men heare me an old man that beeing a yong man heard old men and haue both by relation and experience found the truth hereof Q. What sinne is that which by making Q. What sin is that which by making others contemptible in a mans own eyes makes his owner contemptible in the eyes of God A. Pride a sin so much beaten against by the learned of all ages that it is admired how it hath preserued a life so flourishing to these times of ours A Pythy aenigma whereof to that purpose is here infixed O SVPER Be Mors SVPER Te Cur SVPER Bis Deus SVPER Nos Negat SVPER Bis vitam SVPER nam Englished O proud man Death is aboue thee Why wilt thou be proud Seeing God aboue vs Denies to the proud The life aboue Further motiues for humility If these deiect thee not then consider a little further with me whither thy life will leade thee which is to death and whither death will carry thee but to iudgement But before we come to speake of the iudgment let vs a little consider death Mors antror sū retror sū considerata Death considered backwards and forwards Mors solet innumeris morbis abrūpere vita M Omnia mors rostro deuorat ipsa fu O Rex princeps sapiēs seruus stultus miser aege R Sis quicunque belis paluis et vmbra eris S Englished The many sorrows that are heirs to breath And twins adioyn'd to it are freed by death With whose impartial sith the wise the iust Princes kings are al mowed down to dust Q. What is there concerning the last iudgement Iudicabit iudices iudex genera lis Ibi nihil proderit dignitas papa lis Siue sit episcopus siue Cardina lis Reus condēnabitur nee dicetur qua lis Ibi nihil proderit multa allega re Neque accipere neque replica re Nee ad Apostolicam sedem appella re Reus condemnabitur bene sciens qua re Cogitate miseri qui qualis es t is Quid in hoc iuditio dicere potes tis Quo nec erit codici locus nec diges t is Christus Iudex Demō actor reustes t is Englished Before this Iudge all Iudges must appeare Despight their greatnesse dignitie or place For to be iudgd as they haue iudged here VVhere feare nor friendship Iustice shall out face Excuses there to alledge will but vaine As to appeale vnto the sea of Rome For there the guiltie though he much doe fame Shall not peruert his iustice nor his doome VVeigh then must wretched man thine estate How in this iudgement thou-maist stand vpright Where shall no booke be opened to relate But euen the conscience shall it selfe indight Q. What shall be the last words that shal be spoken in this world A. Come ye blessed Go ye cursed c. Aspera vox ite sed vox benedicta venite Ite malis vox est apta venite bonis Frō which bitter word I pray with S. Bern. Deliuer me O Lord in that day Q. What language according to the coniectures of some learned shall we speake in the world to come A. The Hebrew a language that Christ himself spake in this world and the most ancient most sacred of all other and which was not changed at the confusion of Babel the next wherto is the Greeke as most rich then the Latin most copious Q. Which of al the Psalmes of Dauid is the longest and which the shortest A. The shortest is the 117. the longest the 119. the one cōsisting of 175. ver reckonning 4. lines where the meeter ends to a verse as the other of 2. stanzes Q. Which of all the Psalmes of Dauid is the most mournfull compassionate A. The Psalme 77. Q. What Psalme is that the wicked nay the verie diuels themselues according as Athanasius writeth tremble and quake to heare reade or recited A. 68. Psalme Let God arise and see his enemies scattered How many Innes or lodging did the Son of God vse in this world Prima domus Christi fuit alnus virginis almae Altera praesepe cruxtertia quarta sepulchrum Englished Our Sauiours first house was the Virgins wombe Second his stall third crosse and fourth his tombe testifieth vnto another that it waxeth olde as doth a Garment or the birth of a woman and experience it selfe findes that both in the fruitfulnesse strength and operation of hearbes plants and vetigables the defect and decay whereof is dayly seene and the lessening of the operation and virtue most sensibly perceiued in the languishing dolor of many incurable diseases Q. Wherefore doe the Iewes breake the glasse in which the bride and bridegroome drinke A. To admonish them that all things are transitorie and brittle as that glasse and therefore they must bee moderate in their pleasures Q. Wherefore haue all Iewes a ranke smell or savour A. Some thinke because they are of a bad digestiō others think because they vse not labour nor exercise but liue by vsury some think the wrath of God vpon them the immediate cause howsoeuer they haue bin a people strangly dispersed ouer the face
of the earth slaughtered tormented in al coūtries France Spaine Portugall Germany and England some of their offences were washing clipping the kings coyne circūcising stealing of christian children pricking them full of holes for their blood which they cōceited wold cure the leprosie ranke smel both of their breath skin In king Iohns time they were fined at 1000. marks a man vpon penalty of not payment to lose their teeth an old Iew had 6. of his teeth pulled out because he refused to pay his fine Many 1000. of them were slaughtered in diuers kingdomes vpon a rumour spred that they had poysoned all the wells in those countries and where euer they liue at this day among Christians they liue in subiection and slauery to them they most hate Q What country in the world is the most desolate and solitarie A. The countrey of the Sodomites where Sathan wanne so much ground that whereas according to Strabos description stood 13. cities scituate vpon one of the most fruitfull soyles in the whole earth euen a second Eden or garden of Paradise for pleasure beauty whence sprong those clustering grapes from those vines of Engeddi so renowned in Scripture stands not now one of those cities to magnifie her selfe aboue her fellowes but all with Sodome the Lady of them all desolated and destroyed not one stone left vppon another nor no other witnesse of their somtimes being more then the dry smell of fire brimstone the heauy iusticers of God that destroyed thē for the fruit of that vine that made glad the heart of man in thē peruerted from his true vse to sin and drūkēnes are only found now apples of a beautious appearance but touch them and they are but ashes and of a sulphurous sauour an ayre of so poysonous a vapour aboue that as Historiographers write stifles the fowles that fly ouer it that they fall downe dead and the fishes likewise in that dead sea vnder it poysoned as they fall in or flote from the siluer streames of Iordan that thence emptie themselues into that sulphurous lake There are foure kinde of men that lay clayme to their owne or others and but one rightly and these are they 1. The first saith that which is mine is thine and that which is thine is mine and this is the Ideot 2. The second sayth that which is mine is mine and that which is thine is thine and this is the indifferent man 3. The third saith that which is mine is thine and that which is thine is thine owne and this is the godly man 4. The fourth saith that which is thine is mine that which is mine is mine owne and this is the wicked man Christ all and without Christ nothing Possidet ille nihil Christum qui perdidit vnum Perdidit ille nihil Christum qui possidet vnum Q. What doe wee owe vnto our neighbour A. Three things that is to say nostrum nosse in consiliis nostrum posse in subsidiis nostrum velle in desideriis To counsell to assist to desire his good Three things are most precisely necessarie for euery Christian man and what they are Faith without the which we cā not please God A good name without the which we cā not please our neighbour A good cons. without the which we cā not please our selues Of the latter which one writes O vita secura vbi est conscientia pura O life secure that hath the conscience pure Q Why do yong men many times say they are yonger then they are and old men they are older then they are A. This doth youth that hee may seeme to preserue the flower of his youth the longer this doth age to regaine more reuerence and authoritie but either foolishly Q. Hee that learnes from youth who doth he resemble A. He that eats grapes before they are ripe drinks wine before it be setled Q But who doth hee resemble that drawes his precepts from old men A. He that eates ripe grapes and drinks old wine for seniores sunt saniores incipientes insipientes And likewise Quae laboriosa fuere inuentuti studia ea suntiucūda senectuti otia Whose studies were not painfull in youth their pleasures are more perfect in age and truely she lends the more nourishment whē to the other but as Bastards she withdraweth it from them Q. Why are Cats and Whelps brought forth blinde A. Because that drawing neere to their maturity and ripenesse they wound and pierce the Matrixe with their clawes wherupon by their Dams they are hastily and imperfectly cast forth before their time Q. Why blood issues afresh from an old member or wound many dayes before made and dryed vp the murderer approching neere vnto it A. Our Naturalists obserue diuers Naturall causes to the effecting of the same which for their vncertainty wee meddle not withal But thus conclude that murther shall not bee concealed or vnreuenged and to that ende that blood of the slaughtered cries for vengeance at the hands of God which God so regarding by that meanes answeres to approue to man what often seemeth doubtfull Q VVhy doth the affections of Parents runne vpwards to their children and not their children run downewards to them A. Euen as the sap in the root of a tree ascends into the branches thereof and from the branches returnes not into the root againe bu runs out from thence into seed so parents loue their children but children so loue not their parents but their affections runs forward to a further procreation wherby it comes to passe that a father with more willingnesse brings vp ten children then ten children in his want sustaines one father Q How is it that there be many more women in the world then men A. Some thinke because women are exempted from the warres from the seas imprisonment and many other troubles and dangers of the land to be a reason sufficient So others likewise there are that thinke this may be a reason because in the whole course of Nature the worst things are euer most plentifull to which effect Plynie tels a Story of a certaine field-mouse that euery moneth brings forth thirty when the Elephant a creature of vse and seruice is three yeeres in trauell with one Questions of the Earth Q. How many miles is the earth in circuit A. It is vncertaine and cannot rightly bee defined for as the Lord saith who hath measured the earth yet the Mathematicians Astrologiās are of opinion that it is 4. times 5400. miles but howsoeuer in respect of the Heauens they conclude it but a point where euery Star in the eight spheare is esteemed bigger then the whole circumference thereof where if the body of the earth should bee placed in the like splendor it would hardly appeare yet as saith a Father we make this little so great a matter so admiring this miserable dust on which not onely wee that are but dust wormes do creepe but also many other wormes
woman 12. ribs for that rib of which Eue was formed was peculiarly made by God to that purpose neither was it a bare bone but had flesh likewise And therefore since froÌ„ earth the slime of the earth froÌ„ a bone froÌ„ that earth all posterities are descended though some be rich some be poore some be noble and some base yet they are all but of one mettall and discent as to that purpose followeth Aurea nobilitas luteam si bestiat ollam Non ideo sequitur hanc minus esse lutam If golden titles guild an earthen pot That it s lesse earth for that it followes not And concerning the pride of cloathing this admonisheth vs that they should not bee abused to that excesse but rather for our humiliation the sad remembrancers of the fall of man for Adam in his innocency wore no cloathing Pellitus nunc es fueras sine bestibus ante Mudus eras purus crimen amictus habes Q. VVhat seed of all other is the least yet bringeth forth the greatest tree A. Christ himselfe expresseth this of the Mustard seed of whom it is reported in some countreyes to be trees of that bignesse that they yeeld a shadow to sit vnder Q. VVhat kinde of men are most rare in the kingdome of heauen A. Some say hypocrites for when Christ threatens destruction to the wicked he saith their portion shall be with hypoccrites some say Vsurers But the German prouerbe sayth Princes which are as rare in heauen as venison in a poore mans kitchin but this is alwayes to be vnderstood of wicked and irreligious Princes Q. VVho are those that are called the sonnes of Thunder A. Saint Iames and Saint Iohn the Apostles and the reason of their attribute is for that they affright the wicked rouse vp the slothfull drawing alâ— to an admiration of their highnesse from whence it is as Saint Bede writes of Saint Iohn that sonne of thunder that he thundered so high that if hee had thundered a little higher all the world could hardly haue comprehended him Q. VVho were those that found not a Physitian to cure them being liuing but to raise them being dead A. Christ Lazarus daughters of Iayrus the widdowes sonne Euticus Dorcas and others Q Who were those that liued in the earth and neuer dyed A. Henoch and Elias Q. Who and how many were those that had their names foretold and spoken of before they were borne A. Ismael Isaack Iosua Cyrus and Iohn the Baptist. Q. Who was hee that prophesied before he was borne A. Iohn Baptist in the wombe of his mother of whom S. Austine saith that hauing not yet seene the heauen nor the earth yet he knew the Lord of both Q. What issue was that that was elder then his moâ—her A. Christ to which purpose the Poet thus wittily followeth it Behold the Father is the daughters sonne The bird that built the nest is hatcht therin The old of time an howre hath not out run Eternall life to liue doth new begin c. Q. Who was he that seeking his fathers Asses found a kingdome A. Saule Q. Whether of the two companions the soule or the bodie haue the greater hand in sinne and why for the sinne of the one they should bee both together ioyntly punished A. It is thus aunswered by a Similitude a Master of a familily committeth his Orchyard to two keepers of the which the one is lame and the other blinde where this cripple that had his eye sight spies out certaine goulden Apples hanging vpon a tree delightfull to his sight contentiue to his tast if hee might but obtaine them he not able to pluck them relates to his fellow how pleasant the fruite seemes to him that hee lookes vppon with his eyes and how willingly he would tast if hee had but legges to beare him to them To whom the blinde answers and I would not sticke to pull the apples if I had but thy eyes to see them and so at last between this debate they agree that hee that had his eyes should ride vpon the others shoulders that had his legges this being done they were able to plucke the fruite and did eate and hauing eaten the master of the Orchyard enters and finds his damage enquires by whom it was done and they both confesse their act and furtherance how the one vsed his feet and the other his eyes and so they did it betweene them The master finding it so punisheth both with one equall punishment as they had both deserued After which Example doth this more wise Gouernour exempt neither body nor soule because they both lend their furtherance to sinne and beeing thus both guiltie thus hee punisheth them inseparably for euer Q. But why should eternitie punish that which is committed in time and oftentimes but a short time A 1. Because the sinne though it bee committed in time is against an infinit Maiestie Secondly because God iudges according to the wilful inclination of a sinner that would sinne eternally if he might liue eternally and to his indefatigallibent of wickednesse God answers him with euerlasting punishments Q. VVhether do fooles bring more profite to wise men or wisemen to fooles A. Cato saith that fooles bring more profite to wise men because wisemen seeing their folly they endeauour to avoyde it whereas fooles on the contrary make no vse of the wisedome of the wise by reason of their folly Q. VVherefore doe Serpents since they hate all mankinde yet chiefly bend their forces against women A. By reason of the perpetuall enenmitie put by God betweene the woman and the serpent and the seede of the woman and the seed of the serpent Of which one thus writes concerning the blessed seede of the woman that broke this head of the Serpent Quos anguis dirus tristi de funere strauit Hos Sanguis mirus Christi de vulnere lauit And as another to the like effect Anguis peccatum mortem generauit in horto Sanguis iustitiam vitaÌ„ reparauit in ara 1 Where the dire serpent brought in wounds and death Christ his by blood hath heald restord our breath 2 Both sinne and death to our succeeding losse The serpent gaue in garden to mankinde But Christ restorde againe vpon his crosse Iustice and life whereby we ransome finde And as another to that purpose Soluit pendendo quod AdaÌ„ coÌ„misit e dendo Q. How is death proued to be nothing to vs A. Thus when death is then wee are not and when we are then death is not therfore death is nothing to vs. Q. How is our life proued to be a something almost depending vpon nothing A. Thus the yeeres that are past are gone those we haue not the future we are not certaine of and therefore boast not of the â—ime present is but a moment and that is the brittle thred it depends vpon And therefore to this I adde with a father happy is he that in this his short minute
beasts besides and yet this point is diuided among mortals into many points and with fire sword contended for and sought many are so besotted therewith that they would exchange for a mote of this point their part of Heauen could they meete with a Chapman Q. Where is the Center or Middlemost part of the earth A. At Delphos as the Auncient would haue it to which purpose Strabo tels a Story of two Eagles sent from Ioue one from the East and another from the West which met at Delphos some are of opinion that it is neere the Mount Taurus Ptolomeus thought it vnder the Equinoctiall Strabo at Pernassus a mountaine in Graecia Plutarch was likewise of that opinion But most of our Ecclesiasticall Writers haue thought Iudea to be the middle of the earth and Hierusalem the very point and Center of which opinion was Saint Hirom Hillarius Lyra and others according to the Psalme God hath wrought saluation in the middest of the earth That is at Hierusalem by his passion Yet in respect of the whole world there is no place properly the middle because it is round Q. What were the names of those two theeues that were crucified with Christ A. The Scripture mentioneth not yet we haue it by tradition and from history that they were Dismas and Gesmas Dismas the happy and Gesmas the vnfortunate according the Poet. Gismas Damnatur et Dismas ad Astraleuatur Q. VVherefore is the world round A. Because that it and all therein should not fill the heart of man being a Triangle receptacle for the holy Trinitie Q. How farre is the East distant from the VVest A. A dayes iourney for the Sunne passeth betweene them euery day Q. VVhether is the water or the earth the greater A. It is answered The water is bigger then the earth the aire bigger then the water and the fire bigger then the aire Q. VVhat comparison is there between the Sun and vertue A. So much that when as the Sun is at the highest the lesser shadow doth it cast vpon the earth as the neerer thereto the greater so vertue the more high eleuate it is the more it shines vnseene vnlesse to it selfe and such as participate in the fruition thereof as that other the more vnreall and declining a greater but a worser light to the World A certain old Doctor of the Church compared the Old Testament and the New to the Sun and the Moone the Old borrowing light from the New as the Moone from the Sun the New being wrapped vp in the Old and the Old reuealed in the New Q. VVhat is the highest of all things A. The Sea is higher then the earth the ayre higher then the Sea the fire higher then the ayre the Poles higher then the fire God higher then the Poles higher then God nothing Q. VVhat may the world most fitly be compared vnto A. To a deceitfull nut which if it be opened with the knife of truth nothing is found within it but vacuity and vanity Q. Si fugio sequitur si me fugit illa sequentem Res mira varia est dic mihi queso quid est A. The Rainbow which seemes to vary in colours according to the variation of the minde of him that beholds it Q. VVhat times are we chiefly to select to our selues for the ordering of our affaires and as the most conuement for that purpose A. The morning and the euening in the morning to prepose what wee haue to doe In the euening to consider what we haue done and effected so that we may husband our time in the early and wise disposall and accomplishment of our affaires and next That we may also haue the first of these golden verses on our side and the other either frustrated or not strongly against vs which ensue as followeth and first for our early rising and the morning Sanctificat ditat sanat quoque surgere mane Englished To rise betimes hath still beene vnderstood A meanes to inrich make wise preserue pure blood For the second Omnia sireputes transactaetempora vitae Velmale veltemere vel nihil egit homo Englished Suruey all times and there swift progresse scan Rash bad or nothing in them 's done by man Q. VVhether throughout the whole yeere are there more cleere or cloudy dayes A. The dry are more then the Rayny cleere more then the cloudy according to the Poet. Si numeres anno soles nubila toto Inuenies nitidum saepius esse diem Number the dayes the cloudy and the cleere And thou shalt find more faire then foule in the yeere Q. VVhether are some dayes to be accounted infortunate or not as in our Callend are set downe A. They are not as in the Countrimans Counsellor here ensuing is further to that purpose related And therefore Heracluus not without cause blames Hesiod for his distinction of dayes good and euill as if he were ignorant that all dayes were alike To which purpose is here annexed the noble courage and resolution of Lucullus the Captaine who with no lesse happy euent then ripe iudgement being indangered by an enemy and vpon an ominous day as his souldiers termed it surprised animated them on not withstanding to a famous rescue and victory with this perswasion that giuing the onset with resolution they should change a black day to a white and the successe was answerable Q. VVhether is the custome lawfull or not that is commonly vsed for the celebration of our birth dayes A. The Heathens in ancient times had this custome in great esteeme and reuerēce in some measure we may be imitators of thē but how we shold celebrate ours S. Austen hath giuen vs a Rule that is with thankefulnesse and reioycing in God that hee would haue vs born to be temples consecrate to him then truly reioycing when we find in our selues a willingnesse and perfection in some measure to goe forward and indeauour the end of our creation which is the seruice of God vnto the which vnlesse we referre our whole care we shall haue small cause of reioycing but rather to wish we had neuer been borne And most of the fathers are of opinion that none of all the Saints thus celebrated their birth dayes but Gentiles as Pharaoh Herod and the like From Heathens we discend a moment to the Pope and Rome Q. The Pope borrowes two prerogatiues from the Apostles and what are they A. Saint Peters keyes and S. Pauls sword that what he cannot enter into by the one he may enforce by the other after the example of Iulius the 2. Pope of Rome who leading his army along by the riuer Tyber threw therein his keyes saying When Peters keyes profit vs nothing then come out Pauls sword and how it is drawne at this time the world takes notice as against Venice France the Duke of Ferrara and in an hurly burly vnsheathed throughout all Italy The dog that with shut eyes barks against all truth Q. Tell me in the vertue
of holy obedience what garments weare they that preserued their wearers from the diuell A. The garments of S. Francis as the Papists tell vs as if the diuell cold not as well know a knaue in a Fryars habit as in any other Q. VVhat is the reason of all other things that the Pope christens his Bels they hauing many times that preheminence before men A. That the sound of them might driue diuels out of the ayre cleare the skies chase away stormes tempests quench fires and giue some comfort to the very dead and the like To which purpose here the Bels ring out their owne peale En ego Campana nunquam denuntio vana Laudo deum verum plebem voco congrego elerum Diffunctos plango viuos voco fulmina frango Vex mea vox vitae voco vos ad sacra venite Sanctos collaudo tonitrus fugo funera claudo Funera plango fulgura frango sabatha pango Exicto Lentos dissipo ventos paco ceuentos Englished Behold my vses are not small That God to praise assemblies call That breke the thūder waile the dead And cleanse the aire of tempests bred With feare keep off the fiends of hell And all by vertue of my knell Q. VVhat numb was the most fatall to Rome A. The sixt number according to the verse ensuing Sextus Tarquinius Sextus Nero Sextus iste scilitet Papa Alexander 6. Semper sub sextis perdita Roma suit What other names or numbers to her woone In the sixt still she lost was Rome vndone Q. VVhat inscription or motto was that according to the fiction which Martin de Asello fixing ouer his Gate by reason of the false povating of the Painter cost him his Bishopricke A. Portapatens esto nulli claudaris honesto Where the Painter mistaking himselfe made the point at nulli and so made it Gate be open to none but shut out all honest men The Pope riding that way before Martin had corrected his inscription taking it profest knauery discarded him of his Bishoprick as it was a wonder and placed another in his house Who kept the inscription still but only altered the point and made it thus Porta patens esto nulli claudaris honesto Adding therevnto Ob vnum punctum caruit Martinus Asello Gate open to the good and shut out none For one poore point is all from Martin gone Q. There is a certaine thing that hath not the art of numeration neither knowes the order of time how it passeth and yet least wee should be ignorant or the time should deceiue vs it instructs vs both honestly A. A Clocke vpon which on thus writeth Qui nescit quo vita modo volat audiat bora Quam sit vitae breuis nos docet ille sonus Hee that would know how minutes steale away That peece vp howres that patch out the day This trusty watchman to supply our need Proclaimes our liues short span in their swift speed Q. What are the natures and dispositions of the foure Elements A. The earth is dry the water cold the ayre moyst and the fire hot Q Which is the highest of these Elements A. The fire whose nature is euer to mount vpward and if you turne it downeward it goes out thereupon Thence proceeds Saint Chrysostomes admiration that the Rayes of the Sun in nature hot in quality glorious doth shoot downeward so contrary to the fire Q What fire is that that sometimes followes and sometimes flyeth away A. An Ignus fatuus or walking fire one wherof keeps his station this time neere Windsor the pace of which is caused principally by the motion of the ayre for the swifter one runs the swifter it followes the motion of the ayre enforcing it Q. VVhat thing is that most vsefull and pretious in the world that produceth another of novse nor goodnesse at all A. Fire from whence proceedes smoake of which Lipsius writes Ita te tolle a humo vt absis a fumo Q. VVhat Coales do longest of all other preserne fire A. The Coales of Iuniper of whom it is reported that they haue kept fire a whole yeere together without supply or going out Q. VVhat is that which being the heauiest hardest of all things yet yeelds both to the extremity of fier and water A. A Stone Q. VVhat stone of all other is the greatest wonder A. The flint stone that preserues fire within it a wonderfull secret and benefit to man Q. VVhat is that which being first water afterwards assumed the form of a stone and still retaines it A. The Chrystall congealed by frost Q. What stone is that that yeelds neither to the fire nor to the hammer A. The Adamant which as our Naturalists obserue is dissolued onely by goates blood wherevpon S. Chrysostome writes though the heart of a Sinner be more harder then the Adamant yet wil the blood of Christ mollifie it Q Whether haue stones a vegitiue life or no. A. This if we doubt our Pioners and Mineralists will resolue vs who finde out by experience that although Mineralles buried deepe in the earth yet through diuers vaines and channels suck in moysture and nourishment as doe plants and trees and that they do likewise increase and grow though in a slower progression and degree then other things is probable and certaine Q. Is there a difference of prerogatiue among stones A. T' is answered there is For the stone in the Altar hath more honour then the stone in the streete For the one is kneeled vnto with deuotion the other troden on by the feet Q. Which are the most precious stones for mans vse A. The two milstones of the mill Of which the one neuer stirres and the other ne're lies still Q. VVhat birds of all other are the most gentle the most innocent A. The Doue for gentlenesse and simplicity is commended in Scripture for the Doue is among birds as the Sheepe is among beasts frō whose kind no hurt proceeds to man being a sotiable creature for his seruice of whom it is obserued that he yeelds vp his life for the sustenance of man sobbing it out with a kind of meeknesse and patience more then any other creature and for his vse there is nothing vnnecessary for our seruice in the whole composure of him his flesh being good for meate his guts for the strings of Instruments his dung to inrich the field his wooll for cloth so nothing superfluous So likewise the Doue a patient not an offensiue creature without beake or tallents of oppression hauing no other offence against their enemy the Hawke such like more then the swiftnesse of her wing according to the Poet Fello columbo caret rostro non ledit possidet innocuas puraque grana ledit Her food is graine her beake doth not offend No gall this creature hath nor no bad ende And therefore they hate the Hawke as it is said because of his beake Odimus Accipitrem quia semper vinit in armis We hate the Hauke and feare
sences are described A. Gen. 27. vers 4. seeing ver 18. hearing ver 21. touching ver 25. tasting ver 27. smelling The 5. windowes of the soule of which one thus writes S Lucem occulis video varios discerno colores H Consona me iuvat offendit simphonia discors S FragraÌ„ti oblector visioso offendor â—dore T Insipidum sapidum quid sit me indice constat T Sentio quid Callidum aut Gellidum quid molle quid asprum The seeing light colors doth discry The hearing tunes and discords doth arraine The smelling odors sweet and sowre doth try The taste respects the Cookes both art and paine The touching hard and soft and hot and cold Through these 5. windowes doth the soule behold Q What is the least member in the body and yet darkens the whole man A. The eye lidde Q. Is the most perfect eyesight sometimes deceiued A. Oftentimes and assoone as any other of the sences for example cast a straight staffe into a troubled water and â—t appeares to the eye as crooked and wauering Stand vpon the shore thou seest the ship goe stand vpon the ship why then thy eye will tell thee the shore goes and the ship stands stil. So the head being distempered thou shalt thinke fixt things moue and one flame two Q What is the the swiftest of all things in the world A One answered the Sun because his speed is such that in a day he compasseth the whole circuit of the earth But another replyed that thought was swifter then that because it trauelled the whole world in a moment Q. VVhat foure euils are those that chiefly trouble a house Sunt mala terna domus imber mala femina fumus QuartuÌ„ cuÌ„ mane surgunt pueri sine pane A smoke a storm a contentious wife Three ils are found that tire a husbands life To which a 4. is by the prouerbe sed When children crye for hunger wanting bread Of Martin Luther and P. Melancthons eloquence and sweetnesse Diuisae his operae sed mens suit vnica pauit Ore Lutherus oues flore Melancthon apes Twixt Luther and Melancthon so long gone There works were diuers though there faith was one For Luther soundnes loded by degrees His sheepe as did Melanctons flowers his bees Q. VVhat meanes this speech nourish not the whelpe of the Lion A. It giues to vnderstand that wee are not to cherish any power aboue the Law nor to foster that strength that may afterwards oppresse zs. Q. Why do they that are troubled with the Gowt euer loue to talke most A. Because they cannot runne with with their feete they loue to run with their tong For the benefit of any meÌ„ber we are depriued of hauing two of them wee esteeme the other in the reckoning of them both as concerning the eye no man desires to be blinde or to haue but one eye yet if any mischaÌ„ce should befall the one wee esteeme the other the dearer as it follows in the v. 9 Non habeo nec habere velim quod sitamen ad sit NoncareaÌ„ craesi si mihi deÌ„tur opes Mine eye I would not sell for drosse Thogh Craesus wealth repayrd my losse None more blind the Bayard as the saying is nor none more forward to venture then he that least knowes the dangers that he enterprises as by this example is made manifest The trees on a time went forth to select them a king and in their progresse they came to the Oliue tree and sayde vnto it raigne ouer vs and be king but it refused saying shall I forsake my fatnesse wherewith I am suppled and man is nourished no I wil not with these and the like reasons refused their offer Then they came to the figge tree and sayd raigne ouer vs who answered shall I leaue my sweetnesse and fruites more delicate then the hony of Hybla Then they came to the Vine and shee refused saying shall I forgoe my sweet shade and comfortable clusters that comfort and make glad the heart of man it shall not bee Then spake the Bramble let me be king ouer you that I may curbe you with sharpe lawes thus what the good refused the worst offers to take vppe and embrace for none are more ambitious then the vnderseeming as in the proposition before declared Q What waters of all other are the most deceitfull A. The teares of a woman the which in the blessed weeper are called the bloud of the soule Q. VVhat creatures of all other are the most wanton A. Insatiate women acording to the Poetâ— Gallinâ— Gallus ter qui ni sufficit vnus At ter quinâ— viri vix sufficit mulieri One Cocke sufficeth twise fiue hen Scarce one lewd woman twise 5. men Q. VVhat women of all other are the most fruitfull A. Beggars wiues that of all other one would think should be most barreÌ„ Q. Of imperious women what did Cato report A. Cato sayde our wiues rule the common wealth for wee gouerne the people and our wiues gouerne vs. To which purpose Themistocles said O wife the Athenians rule the Gretians I the Athenians thou me thy son thee Therfore in my opinion he spoke not amis that sayde hee neuer knew common wealth nor priuate family well gouerned where the hen crew and the cock held his peace for though it be sayde of women that they are so able of tongue that 3. of their clappers will make a reasonable noyse for a market yet though they talke they should not commaund or at least wise should not gouerne Q. Whether was the night or the day first A. Thal. Milesius answereth the night was before the day as in the creation is manifest so the euening and the morning were the first day From which notwithstanding wee vary in our opinions as preferring the day before it and for because the euening is but the latter part of the day which must precede it Q. How many colours are there in the Rainebow A. Various colours but two especially most apparant a watry and a fiery colour which two colours expresse two iudgements the one of water past in beginning of the world and the other of fire to come in the end thereof Q. Which is the longest day in all the yeere A. S. Barnaby answereth that which hath the shortest night Q. How many are the properties of good wine A. As many as there are senses in mans body for to euery sense should good wine haue a relation 1 To the sight good colour purenesse and cleerenesse 2 To the hearing being powred forth a sparkling and speaking noise 3 To the taste sweetnesse 4 To the touching coldnesse 5 To the smell sweetnesse Q. How many are the veines in the body of man A. As many as there are dayes in the yeere of which one thus writeth That euery thing we doe may vaine appeare We haue a veine for each day in the yeere Q. How many bones are there in the body of man A. It is answered
he did me so much grace To take the worse leaue me the better place For if by th'owners wee esteeme of things The wals the Subiects but the way 's the kings Epig. 5. NIX IX CorNIX Snow 9. A Crow NIX I that the winters daughter am Whilâ— thus my letters stand Am whiter then the plume of Swan Or any Ladies hand IX Take but a way my letter first And then I do incline That stood before for milk whit snow To be the figure nine And if that further you desire By change to do some trickes As blacke as any bird I am Cornix By adding Cor to nix Epig. 6. De sanit Medico Health is a iewell true which when we buy Physitions value it accordingly Epig. 8. In Amorosum A Wife you wisht me Sir rich fayre and yong With French Italian and the Spanish tongue I must confesse your kindnesse verie much But yet in truth Sir I deserue none such For when I wedde as yet I meane to tarry A woman of one Language I le but marry And with that single portion of her store Expect such plenty I would wish no more Epig. 9. Vpon an Vsurer and an improp Parson A Clergy man that oft had Preacht From his stopt steeple throte And to his congregation teacht Full oft this certaine note There could no Vsurer be sau'd Vnlesse he did restore What he so wrongfully had shau'd From th'backes of needy poore Vpon a time it so fell out This Vsurer did meete The Parson as he went from Church And thus he did him greete Good Sir quoth he I wonder much You take such fruitlesse paine To preach against a sinne that 's such As you your selfe maintaine But ten in the hundred do I take On good occasion when But you a hundred do reserue Allowing out but ten The Parson hearing him say so Began to be affeard And neuer preacht against that sinne To this day that I heard Epig. 10. In Aulum West Westminster is a Mill that grindes all Causes But grinde his Cause for me there hee that list For by Demurs and Erros stayes and claâ—ses The tole is oft made greater then the grist Epig. 11. In Iacobum Hee that doth aske Saint Iames doth say shall speed O that King Iames would answere so my need Epig. 12. Consilium From the Confessor Lawyer and physition Hide not thy Case on no condition Epig. 13. Hayw. Rent By lease without writing one once let a Farme The Lesser most lewdly the rent did retaine Whereby the lesser wanting writing had harme Wherefore hee vowed whilst life did remaine Without writing neuer to let thing againe Husband quoth the wife that thing againe reuâ—rt Else without wryting you cannot let a fart Epigram 14. One time as was my ordinary wont I went abroade into the fields to hunt Started a Hare pursud ' her with ful cry And had neere wearyed her when by and by Miso because I hunted in his grounds Let lose his running dogges and baukt my hounds From thence that sport I vtterly forswore Being so vnkindly croft by such a Bore So shunning the open fields and forrests wide My common haunt was by the water side For what thought I though lands inclosed be Yet Seas and Riuers questionlesse are free There will I sport mee with the scaly frie Fearelesse though all the world were standing by I had not scarce cast in my bayte to take But straight one comes it seems he hast did make That bids mee packe when first I did appeare Away went I it was no fishing there Scarce knowing now what sport to entertaine Being banisht both the earth and watry plaine I tooke a peece next time and foorthwith went To sport me in the airy regiment Where hauing scarce discharg'd to kill a Daw Another coms brings me statute law Vpon my peece where I it lost then swore I nere would hunt nor angle nor shoote more Then tooke I dice in hand my heauy fate Thus crost in al lost my whole estate HEREAFTER FOLLOWeth certaine Epitaphs on sundry persons 1. On the Vsurer HEre lies as least ten in the hundred Shackled vp fast both hands and feet That at such as lent mony gratis wondred The gaine of Vsurâ—e was so sweet But thus being new of life hereâ—â—â—n T is 100. to 10. he is scarce gone to heauen Epit. 2. Vpon a Spendthrist Here lies Iacke carelesse Without Tombe without thought without sheete That liu'd in the Alehouse the Bowling-Alley And dide in the streete Epit. 3. Vpon a riotous Courtier Here lies he now where no man sees That liu'd by crooked hams and knees Yet in his heart did boyle that lust That nought could quench but earth and dust Where if he had sooner beene layde Lesse summes his reckoning would haue payde In Papam Pium quintum Papa Pius quintus moritur res mira quod inter Pontifices tantum quinque fuere Pii Pius the fist is dead and vnderstood Of some so cald because but fiue were Good In all the line of Popes Fallar ego nam nemo pius re nomine tantum Pontifices constat quinque fuisse pios Yet erre I doe in this to their more shame For none were good indeede though fiue in name Certaine verses fixed vpon a childe laide in S. T. Hospitall Conceiue a fault by me conceiu'd By my seduced mother Who vowes vntill she be a wife I nere shall know a brother And for this hospitall is rich And hath a plenteous purse And she is poore and cannot pay She hath put me here to nurse No further she imparts her selfe Then that she is a sinner Though not the last that so shall erre No nere then th' first beginner How ere she here hath packt me vp The witnesse of her shame And left me vnto you to feede To cloathe and giue a name Vpon the vnequall diuision of the earth how some haue all and some none Though th' earth's the Lords and all that is therein And nothing really mans owne but sinne Aâ— is the sea the tributer of fountaines The sheepe and cattle on a thousand mountaines Though he that all these made doth al these feede And of no creature ayde doth stand in neede Yet doth he froÌ„ his high exalted throne Suruay the wayes men title these their owne He sees his earth the base of this fayre frame Intayld to greatnesse to their bloud and name Meate to the rich in Akers of such store That what makes one too prowde makes ten too poore Some of his walking earth he sees haue gold That rusts for vse too seâ—doÌ„e being told And some again so sâ—aÌ„ted in their need Their sinnowes cracke before their bellies feed Some choycest dainties sea and land afforde To surfet on seru'd daily to their bord And some again are so penurious fed They thinke they fare rich if they purchase bread Anothers glory lies vpon his backe And hauing pleÌ„ty there appears no lack Veluets silks c robes of endles wast Altering
One yeaee thus to another yeelding roome Haue fild vp many a sepulcher and tombe Fretted out brasse with age marble with rust Conuerted generations into dust FroÌ„ which collect though nere so yong thou bee This may doomsday finall yeare of thee And froÌ„ that motiue such a method borrow As thou shouldst liue an age or die to morrow A Briefe Chronologie of the times wherein these famous men liued and dyed  Anno mundi Aristotle 3640 Homer 3003 M.T. Cicero 3980 Virgil 3998  Anno Domini S. Augustine 400 S Anselme Bishop of Cant. 1080 Agrippa the Magitian 1550 S Bernard 1130 S. Chrysostome 400 Erasmus 1528 Martin Luther 1520 Melancthon 1530  yeares Since London and Paris were paued 416 Since the building of London bridge 435 Of a Yeare and what it is and why it is most properly called ANNVS THe word Annus which most properly signifieth circle or Compasse is here termed for the year which is properly that space of time that the Sunne runnes through the whole Signes and Zodiacke and the reason thereof is for that as little Circles are called Annuli Rings so the greater circles of time are called Anni yeares or circuits because they euer run round and with continuall compasse inuiron all thinges within the verge of Age. Q. What are the parts of a yeare A. Ver estas Autumnus hiems sunt quatuor vnum Qui si membra simul iunxeris annus erit It containeth Moneths Solar 12 Lunar 13 Weekes 52 Dayes 365 so many as there are veines in the body of man Howers 8766 According to the Poet. Ter centum ter viginti cum quinque diebus Sex horas neque plus integer annus habet Or thus Lxv. tria c. capit annus quilibet in sae Addito sex horas anni compleueris oras The yeare Astronomicall or Iulian yeare addeth thereto 6. howres and 6. minutes which euery fourth yeare increase to a day which maketh the Leape yeare or his sextill compounded of bis and sextus because the 6. day next before the Calends of March is twise repeated or reckoned which indeed is the 25. of February Saint Mathias day so adding to the moneth of February one day from whence proceedeth the difference betweene vs and other forraine accounts Q. Why is it called the Iulian yeare A. Because Iulius Caesar the first Romane Emperour caused the yeare according to the course of the Sunne to bee reduced to the number of daies and howres before expressed and whereas March was the first Moneth of the yeare with the Hebrewes and Romanes as now with vs and Iuly was the fift moneth called by the Romans Quintilis the fift month March being the first which Iulius Caesar borne in that moneth altered and called it Iulius or Iuly as August Caesar in whose raign Christ was borne the moneth Sextilis or 6. moneth after his owne name Augustus now August with vs and so reckoning from March the 1. Moneth September according to his signification will bee the seuenth moneth October the 8. moneth Nouember the 9. Moneth December the 10. month which if you reckon from Ianuary they crosse their names Q. The holy Scriptures make mention of sundry thinges done at certaine houres of the day not like vnto the howres of our account as in S. Iohns Gospell the Rulers sonne healed of his sicknesse it is sayde at the 7. houre the Ague left him and the Laborers that came into the vineyard came at the 11. howre and Christ in his Passion t is recorded by the Euangelists that at the 6 houre was darknesse ouer the whole earth and about the ninth houre be cryed with a loude voyce and so gaâ—e vp the Ghost Now I would know by our account what howres of the day these were as of the rest A. The Iewes did diuide their Artificiall day into 4. quarters allowing to euery quarter 3. houres accounting the first houre of the first quarter at the rising of the Sunne and the third houre of the sayde quarter they called the third houre and the third houre of the second quarter they called the 6. houre which was mid-day the third houre of the third quarter the 9. houre and the 2. houre of the 4. quarter the 11. houre and they called the 12. and last houre of the day Euentide So the Rulers sonne being healed at the 7. houre it was with vs at one of the clocke in the afternoone and the 6. hower when darknes was vpon the earth at midday with vs the 9. hower when Christ yeelded vp the Ghost 3. a clocke in the afternoone the Laborers that came at the 11. howre came at 5. of the clocke in the afternoone or an hower before Sunne-set Q. How diuided they their night A. They diuided their â— artificiall night likewise into 4 quarters called by theÌ„ the 4. watches of the night for the first 3. howres was the first watch during which time all the souldiers both young and old of any fortified Towne or Garrison were wont to watch the second third hower they called the second watch which was about midnight at which time the young souldiers onely watched and the third quarter of the night contayning also 3 houers was called the third watch in that season the souldiers of middle age did watch and the last 3. howers called the 4. watch was about the breake of day in which the old souldiees onely watched The day is accounted with vs for payments of money betweene Sunne and Sunne but for inditements of murther the day is accounted from midnight to midnight and so are fasting dayes Q. How in the more purer and auncient times from the example of the Apostles were the dayes of the weeke named since corrupte by the Heathens and called after the names of the seuen Planets or their Gods A. One or the 1. from the Sabboth two or the 2. from the Sabboth three or the 3. from the Saboth and so of the rest Our yearely Almanacks make mention which many read but few vnderstand of the Golden Number Epact Circle of the Sunne Romane Indiction and such like of which I desire to know some reasons or vse And first of the Golden Number what it is when it beginneth and why it is so called THe Golden number is a number of 19. proceeding from 1. to 19 and so beginne againe at 1. and is so called because it was sent in Golden Letters from Alexandria in Egypt to Rome and it is the number of 19. because in 19. yeares the Moone doth make all her sundry motions and changes and returneth againe to the place where shee first begunne To finde out the aforesaide Number adde 1 to the yeare of our Lorde whereof you enquire and diuide the same by 19. and the remainder shall bee the Golden number What is the Epact THe Epact is a Number not exceeding 30. because the Moon betweene change and change nueer passeth 20. dayes The Epact is thus found out multiply the Golden Number of the