power brused with a rod of iron and broken in peeces like a potters vessell yea himselfe shall be consumed with the spirit of Gods mouth and be abolished with the brightnes of his comming Of Iesuites Chap. 24. IGnatius a maimed souldier not for any feruency or zeale that he bare vnto a new austerity of life but feeling himselfe weake any longer to souldierize follow the warres communicated with diuers persons and among the rest with one Pasquier Brouet a man altogether vnlettered ignorāt of Diuinity These two together with their enchaunted cōplices to apply their title vnto their zeale named thēselues deuout persons of the society of Iesus And thereupon presented themselues vnto Pope Paul the 3. about the yere of our Lord 1540. This Pope permitted them to be called Iesuites but with this coūtermaund that they should not surpasse the number of threescore persons Thus for a time they satisfied themselues But within a while after they obtained greater priuiledges of Pope Paul the fourth which made their troublesome order like ill weedes to multiply a-pace and attempt many horrible things yea euen most wicked treason against the liues of high potentates and Princes as against our soueraigne Queene against the French king and diuers others In Portingal and India they termed themselues Apostles but in the yeere 1562. sundry of them were drowned by the iust iudgement of GOD. Who is so simple but hee vnderstandeth that they in naming themselues Iesuites do goe about to degrade the auncient Christians and blaspheme against GOD rather they should call themselues Ignatians and not bring in newfound orders This the Sorbonistes of Paris knew very wel when they doubted not about sixe yeers agoe to exhibite a bill in the Parliament against them What shall I write how they giue themselues altogether to be Machiauellians and vngodly Politicians how they hoord vp wealth how they possesse Earledoms and Lordships in Italy and Spaine and yet for all this they presume to entitle themselues of the society of Iesus O wretched caitifes O hellish heretiques◠the time will come when this outragious profession of yours shall be extinguished by the Sunne-shine of the true and Apostolicall doctrine as the Sorcerers rod was eaten vp by Aarons rod in the presence of Pharao The fift part Of Magnanimity Chap. 25. MAgnanimity is a vertue that consisteth in atchieuing of great exploits and is touched chiefly vpon eight occasions First a magnanimous man is he that wil neuer be induced to enterprise any dishonest point against any man no not against his vtter enemy Secondly he will chuse the meane rather then the extreame Thirdly he will tell his minde plainly without dissimulation Fourthly he will not respect what the common people speake of him nor will hee measure his actiōs according to their applauses Fiftly a magnanimous man though he should see all the world eagerly bent to fight and though hee should see euery thing round about him set on fire and almost consumed yet he notwithstanding through an assured confidence will remaine constant Sixtly a magnanimous man will withdraw his mind from worldly affaires lift it vp to the contemplation of great matters and in Gods law will he exercise himselfe day and night Seuenthly a magnanimous man wil scorne vices and forget iniuries Eightly he will speake nothing but wise and premeditated words according to that old saying A barking dog wil neuer proue good biter and the deepest riuers runne with least noise The auncient Christians of the primitiue Church were right examples of this vertue Magnanimity as they who had all the properties thereof imprinted in thē They I say who cheerefully gaue themselues to be massacred and tormented Like vnto these were our late English martyrs in Queene Maries daies who gladly in defence of the true religion yeelded themselues to fire and fagot For the vndoubted beleefe of triumph in heauen both diminished and tooke away the corporall griefe and replenished the mind with cheerfulnesse and ioy They knew mans lyfe to be but a bubble on the face of the earth They considered with themselues our miserable estate for assoone as wee are borne wee seeme to flourish for a small moment but straightway wee die and there is litle memorial left behind They knew Magnanimity to be the ornament of all the vertues Briefly they perswaded thēselues to see their sauiour Christ in heauen and euermore to dwell with him These these be the duties of magnanimous men which whosoeuer do couet to embrace shall at last attaine to euerlasting happines Obiection All scornefull men are wicked magnanimous men are scornefull therfore they are wicked Aunswere There bee two sortes of scornefull men That scorne mens persons and they are wicked That scorne vices they are good after which maner magnanimous or great-minded men do scorne insolent men dastardes by reason of their pride and cowardize Of Ambition Chap. 26. IN ambition there be fiue mischiefes The first is that causeth a man neither to abide a superiour nor an equall The secōd an ambitious man by attributing honour vnto himselfe goeth about to defraud God of his due The 3. plague in ambition is that it considereth not what hath chaunced to such as exercised it Lodowicke Sforcia vncle to Iohn Galeaze Duke of Millan whom he poysoned was one of the most ambitious men in the world but yet for all his Italian trickes he was at last in the yeere 1510. taken captiue by the French King and put in prison where he continued till hee died Cardinall Wolsey likewise here in England may serue for a patterne of ambition who beyng preferred by King Henry the eight her maiesties Father would notwithstanding haue exalted himselfe aboue the King for which his intolerable ambition his goods were cōfiscated and himselfe apprehended The fourth mischiefe in ambition is that hee hunteth after false and deceitfull glory and thinkes it a faire thing to be pointed at with the finger and to be talked of This is he The fift an ambitious man waigheth not his owne frayelty and weaknesse Remedies against ambition Chap. 27. THe forward horse is not holden back without foaming and shewing his fury The streame that rūneth is not staied contrary to the course thereof without making a noise the ambitious man is not reclaimed frō his aspiring thoughts without good and wholesome admonitions I will neuerthelesse as well as I can endeuour to cure him of his cankered malady First let the ambitious man consider whereof he is made namely of dust ashes Secondly he must diligently goe to heare Sermons and read the holy Bible Thirdly he must thinke vpon the wauering actions of fortune how she taketh frō one that which she trāsferreth on another and how she respecteth not the equity of causes nor y ◠merits of persons but maketh her fancy the measure of her affections Fourthly let the ambitious haue a regard whether hee be commēded of wise men
the Scots In the yeere 1544. chaūced foure Eclipses one of the sunne and three of the Moone Wherupō the L. high Admiral of England arriued with a fleet of two hūdred saile in Scotland where he spoiled Lieth and burned Edinburgh King Henry the eight went himselfe in person to Fraunce wiith a great army cōquered Boloigne The Marques of Brandeburge died in his banishmēt And before three yeeres after the fight of the said Eclipses were fully expired king Henry the eight deceased Likewise the French kings sonne the Duke of Bauarie the Queene of Polonia the Queene of Spaine the Archbishop of Mogunce Martine Luther ended their liues In the yeere 1557. a blazing starre was seene at al times of the night to wit the sixt the seuenth eight ninth and tenth of March when presently after open war was proclaimed between England and Fraunce and a great army was sent by Q. Mary ouer to S. Quintaines The Protestants were persecuted and cruelly dealt withall in this Realme And Queene Mary before a tweluemoneth came about departed out of this life In the yeere 1572. was seene towards the North a straunge starre in bignesse surpassing Iupiter and seated aboue the moone At which time succeeded the bloudy massacre and persecution of the Protestants in Fraunce Many great personages ended their liues as King Charles the ninth of Fraunce Mathew Parker Archbishop of Canterbury and sundry other Pirats robbed and spoyled many of our marchants on the West seas The sect of the family of loue begā to be discouered at London Sebastian the king of Portingal and Mule the king of Moroco were both slaine within lesse then sixe yeeres after In the yeere 1581. appeared a Comet bearding Eastward Whereupon a little while after certaine cōpanies of Italians Spaniards sent by the Pope to strengthen the Earle of Desmond in his rebelliō landed on the west coast of Ireland and there erected their Antichrists banner against her Maiesty Campian and other Seminary priests returned to this Realme and were attached In the yeere 1583. appeared another Comet the bush wherof streamed southeast But the effects thereof followed in the death of Edmund Grindal Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Earle of Sussex and in the apprehending of Arden Someruile and other traitours in Warwickshire Also within a while ensued a great dearth here in England In the yere 1596. appeared a Comet northward At which time Hēry Carew L. Hunsdon L. Chamberlaine of her Maiesties houshold and Sir Frauncis Knowles ended their liues Robert Earle of Essex and Charles L. high Admiral of England Generalles of the English fleet burned the Spanish nauy sacked the towne of Cales Moreouer there continued here in England a great dearth of corne with straunge inundations of waters Graue Maurice got a famous victory ouer the Spaniards in the low countreyes Alphonsus Duke of Ferraria departed out of this life The Pope and the Bastard of Ferraia had diuers bickerings about the Dukedome Finally before the yeere went about died Gunilla the Queene mother of Swethland and Gustaue Duke of Saxony her Nephew Likewise Iohn Marquesse of Brādeburge one of the Electours Anne Queene of Polonia daughter to Charles Archduke of Austria being great with child ended their liues In the beginning of the yeere 1598. was seene a most fearfull Eclipse of the sunne in the seuenteenth degree of Piscis neere to the Dragons head the like whereof was seldome heard off at any time before for the sunne was darkened full eleuen poynts which very neere is the whole compasse of his body The effects of it are these following Sigismund Prince of Transyluania not finding his power sufficient to encounter the Turks voluntarily resigned his dominion to the Emperour Rodolph the second The King of Swethland returning into his Realme from Polonia had diuers conflicts and skirmishes with his subiects William Lord high Treasurer of England deceased And so did king Philip the second of Spaine albeit after a more strange maner For it is credibly enformed that this tyrant was eaten vp of lice and vermine A punishmēt no doubt befitting his vsurping life Rome was againe ouerflowne by the riuer Tiber whereby fifteene hundred houses perished and in a maner all the Popes treasure was lost Cardinall Albert sent Mendoza Admirall of Aragon with his rascalitie into the Low Countries where vpon his owne confederates of Cleueland he hath exercised many bloudy tragedies Theodore Duke of Muscouie ended his life There was a great deluge of waters in Hungarie The Turks had wonderfull bad lucke vpon the seas The vnited States of the low Countries sent a huge fleete into Spaine where they had verie good successe to the vtter vndoing of many a Spaniard What shall I write of the terrible rumours of warres which were noysed throughout all England this last summer Assuredly these enents were foreshewed vnto vs by the horrible Eclipse which appeared now aboue two two yeeres agoe Since which time I waited continually for some notable effect or other neither could my mind otherwise presage but that such things would come to passe which now GOD be thanked are ouerpast This after a sort I communicated at that time to master Ia. Pr. an auncient wise gentleman and a deare kinsman of mine at whose house I as then being lately come into my countrey after my fathers decease soiourned God grant vs better and happier successe in this new yeere Of the causes of sedition and ciuill broyles Chap. 54. THere be sixe causes of sedition The first and chiefest is the contempt of religion For if men loued God which they cannot doe except they loue their neighbour doubtlesse no such effects would follow from their actions The loue of religion breaketh swords into mattocks and speares into sithes and causeth that nation shall not lift vp sword against nation neither learne to fight any more The second cause of sedition is the factions of the subiects which euer haue beene and euer will bee the subuersion of estates The third cause is riotous prosperitie for ouer-great aboundance of wealth is the prouocation of mischiefes and maketh men to become diuels The fourth is when the Prince ouerchargeth his subiects with tributes and when hee substituteth niggardly and deceitfull Treasurers and Lieutenants to receiue the leuied money that will not sticke to detaine a part thereof for their owne priuate gaine The first cause of Sedition is iniquitie as when that which is due by proportion is not giuen to them that bee equall and when the Prince bestoweth honour which is the hire and guerdon of vertue vpon raw and meane men This was one of the originall causes of the late troubles in France when the Queene mother for the establishment of her regencie dubbed simple Gentlemen knights of the honourable order of Saint Michael first instituted by King Lewis the eleuenth and til that time held in great estimation The sixt cause of sedition is
to take paines to hinder our peculiar damages for What man is there that hath a sheepe and if it fall on a Sabaoth day into a pit doth not lift it out In like maner it is lawfull to worke when there is an inundation or deluge of waters and also vpon vrgent necessitie to take vp a draught of fish which for that day being let alone would haue beene cast away More yet would I write if I feared not to be termed a gagling sophister as hauing alreadie discussed this question in my Commentaries vpon Persius I will therefore proceed to the next Of the duties of seruants towards their Masters Chap. 17. THe first dutie of seruants towardes their masters is that they be subiect vnto them e and please them in all things not answering againe nor replying although otherwhiles they know better what is to be done then their masters The second is that they be honest and faithfull vnto their masters and not as many now a-dayes do flatter cologue with them therby thinking to get some bootie The third duty of seruants is that they seeke their masters profit more thē their owne The fourth that they reueale not to others their masters secret affayres The fift that they defend their masters euen to the hazarding and losing of their liues The famous effect whereof appeared in that couragious seruant of Maurice Duke of Saxonie who of late yeeres seeing his master sodainely assaulted by certaine Turks that lay in ambush and cast from his horse couered him with his owne body valiantly repelled the enemie vntill certaine horsemen came and saued the Prince but died himselfe a little while after being hurt and wounded in euerie place of his body Finally to fill vp this discourse seruants must diligently and honestly guard their masters and their masters goods for They that keepe the figge tree shall enioy the fruite thereof and they that waite vpon their Masters shall come to honour The fourth Plant. Of the Acquisitiue facultie Chap. 18. NOw hauing sufficiently disputed of the chiefest parts of a familie I come to the last part that is to the acquisitiue or possessorie facultie wherof I find two kindes the one naturall the other artificiall The naturall consisteth in breeding of cattell in manuring of the groūd in hauking hunting fishing in spoyles and pillages both by sea land The artificiall way of getting lyeth in exchanging either ware for ware as of cloth for silkes of wool for graine or els of wares for money And againe those acquisitiue Arts bee disallowed which are loathed of men as the trade of Brokers huxters toll-gatherers bauds vsurers and ingraters Of which three last after my next discourie of money I wil God willing entreat Of money the chiefest part of the Acquisitiue facultie Chap. 19. MOney as Plinie writeth was coyned by King Seruius of Rome with the Image of a sheep and an oxe Others say that it was first inuēted at the siege of Troy But I find that money was many yeeres currant before the warres of Troy Abraham bought a field of Ephron the Hethite for foure hundred siluer sicles of money currant amōg Marchāts Which is of our money three and thirtie pound six shillings and eight pence Howbeit there is no vse of coyned money in sundry coūtries at this instāt In y e coūtry of Pretious Iohn salt goeth for money The Indians of Peru neuer made any account of money before the Spaniards robbed them of their gold Besides within these two hundred yeeres mony was verie scant heere in England for King Edward the fourth in the ciuill warres betwixt him and Henrie the sixt beeing on a time pursued by the Earle of Warwicke who then was turned to the contrarie side bought a ship in the yeere of our Lord 1461. for eight score nobles to saile into Ireland which price in those times was esteemed wonderfull deare Also in the yeere 1514. money coyned of leather was rise in this Realme Of which kinde of money my selfe haue seene of late aboue tenne bushels in an olde castle in Wales stamped as farre as I remember with the Duke of Lancasters Image For in those dayes certaine Dukes were licensed to coyne money So likewise wee reade that countie Palatines as Chester Durham and Ely could then giue pardons concerning the pleas of the crowne and send writs in their owne names In the Kingdome of Cathay money is yet neither of gold nor siluer nor of any other metall but onely of the barke of mulberie trees which is cut as well into sundrie small as great round peeces whereon they engraue the names of their countrie rating them as wee do ours according to their greatnesse smalnesse It is petie treason among them to employ any other money Sir Thomas Moore reporteth that his faigned Vtopians did make chamber-pots and other vesselles that serue for most vile vses of gold and siluer Moreouer he saith that they made great chaines fetters and giues wherein they tyed their bondmen of the very same metals and whosoeuer among them for any offence was infamous by his eares hung rings of gold about his necke was a chaine of gold Thus by all meanes possible they procured to haue gold and siluer among them in reproach and infamie And if wee Christians examine our selues somewhat more neere wee shall finde that money is one of the chiefest causes why so many felonies murthers treasons be committed and why the crie of the poore is so often come before the Lorde For this cause Plato the Diuine Philosopher saith that In a common-wealth well gouerned there should not any money bee vsed because it marreth good maners and maketh the mind of a man couetous and in satiable Of Bawdes Whether they ought to be suffered Chap. 20. ALthough I haue touched this infamous question in another Booke of mine yet notwithstanding I iudge it not amisse if I repaint the same with more breuitie in a more familiar tongue The first that instituted the filthie order of stewes was Venus who because shee alone would not seeme to bee a whore as hauing lyen with Mars Vulcā Mercurie Anchises and sundrie others appoynted in Cypres that women should prostitute themselues for money to all commers Which custome was renewed by the Popes who built most statelie houses for whores and ordained that they for the same should pay yeerely great summes of money There bee some men liuing that know how Pope Paul the third had aboue fortie thousand courtizans that paied him an infinite tribute The report goeth that Pope Clement the 8. that nowe is receiueth of euery baudy house in Rome yeerely a Iull that is twentie thousand duckets These Panders are to whorehunters as brokers to theeues They entice yong lasses with gaudy garments deceitfull promises to serue euery mans turne for gaine which done they teach these virgins their schoole-lessons namely to bring in swaggrers to outsweare a mā of his
they haue worshipped the goldeÌ„ calf Fourthly to giue counsel coÌ„cerning the present time of those things which are coÌ„prehended in the sences So Christ said vnto the disciples of Iohn Go and shew Iohn what things yee heare see The blind receiue their sight the halt do walke the lepers are clensed the deafe heare the dead are raised vp the poore receyue the Gospel Fiftly to foresee things to come to forewarne men of them as he that shall offend shall be bound hand and foote and cast into vtter darkenesse where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Of Counsellours Chap. 24. SEuen things are required in a counsellour First the feare of God for he is the only authour of al good counsels Secondly experience in matters of policy Thirdly learning knowledge in the lawves For hardly will they bee infected with â—â—â—onious viâ—es whome learning hath purged Fourthly mildnesse Fiftly a couÌ„sellour must be naturally borne within that state where he gouerneth Sixtly he must be secrete lest he worke to himselfe the occasion of his owne death as the bishop of Setto did who because he reuealed to the French king that Cesar Borgias his master brought with him a Bull authentike ratified from the Pope his father for a diuorcement to the French king which hee dissembled was by the said Duke eftsoone poisoned Seuenthly a counsellour if it be possible ought to be of noble pareÌ„tage for they which haue more nobility haue more right in a coÌ„moÌ„wealth then the ignoble And euery one esteemeth nobility in his countrey as a thing very honourable seeing it is likely that the best parents should beget the best children and nobility is the vertue of the stock and race Of Parliaments Chap. 25. PArliaments are right necessary in a commonwealth without them the whole estate is mortified and sencelesse For euen as a man cannot liue without a soule so a commonwealth cannot liue without Parliaments By experience it is found out that they haue saued commonwealths froÌ„ ruine decay Greece had neuer so long flourished if the great counsell of the Amphictions first instituted by Amphiction the sonne of Deucalion had not beene holden twise a yeere in spring time and in Autumne at Delphos in the temple of Apollo which was seated in the heart of all Greece The counsel of Nicene hindred the proceedings of the Arrians and caused the true religion to be planted The ParliameÌ„ts of Germany where the Emperour and the seuen Electours meete haue preserued the state thereof from the intrusions of the Turkes So likewise the Aggregation of the Genowayes the Iourney or Diet of the Switzers the great councell of the Veneâ—ian Gentlemen the Diuan of the Turks the assembly of the states of Polonia the 7. councels of Spaine to wit the councell of Spaine of the low Countries of the Inquisition of the Indians of Italy of the order of saint Iohn of warre the meeting of the states of Fraunce and the parliament of England consisting of the Prince Baronrie and commonalty haue maintained their commonwealths more securely aswell from hostile as from domesticall enemies To hold a Parliament is when the Prince communicateth his affaires of importance with his subiects demaundeth subsidies of them taketh their aduice heareth their molestations prouideth for them reasonably The Iudges in our Parliament of EnglaÌ„d are the Prince the Lords spirituall and temporall and the commons represented by the Knights and Burgesses of euery shire and Borough towne The officers are the speakers the clarks and the committies The authour of this Parliament was king Henry the third induced thereunto as I suppose by his Barons who rebelling against him made England tributary to PaÌ„dolph the legat in the Popes name And doubtlesse the calling and holding of it is the chiefest meanes of all our welfares For in times past it appeased ciuill warres it deliuered the whole realme from the incursions of forraine enemies and maintained continuall warres abroad with the Scots and Frenchmen In a word this holding of parliament is the anchor of our whole comonwealth wherby it is set sure and stayed as a ship in the water Of Iudgements Chap. 26. IVdgemeÌ„t is that which is decreed by the Iudge not altogether dissenting froÌ„ the tenor of the law Of iudgements some be called ciuill some criminall but because our Ciuilians haue largely treated of them I will proceed to another diuision which makes most for our politique instruction Iudgements againe are either priuat or publique Ordinary or extraordinary Priuat iudgemeÌ„ts coÌ„cerne testaments successions mariages contracts wardships gardianships bondages prescriptions Publique iudgements are of grieuous offences against God and man as high treason petie treason murthers rapes felonies riot bribes forgeries and insurrections Ordinary iudgements are those which are executed by the Iudge according to the prescription of the law Extraordinary are called when the Iudge departing somewhat froÌ„ the rigour of the law iudgeth more mercifully according to his owne conscience The coÌ„mon vsuall forme of iudgement that is exercised here in England is by the great assise or by a quest of 12. men necessarily of that shire where the defendaÌ„t dwelleth These meÌ„ the sherife warneth to appeare vpoÌ„ pain of amercements And appearing vnlesse exceptions be made against theÌ„ they besworne to tell the truth of that issue or criminall cause according to their conscience and euidence or writings autheÌ„ticall laid before them Then these 12. men are shut vp in some roome hard by and kept by a bailiffe without any kind of sustenance fire or candle vntil al of them agree vpoÌ„ one verdict about the said issue or criminall cause This is our common order of iudgement There are likewise other formes whereby iudgement is giuen as by the parliament by combat and such like which are absolute and without appeale howbeit they be seldome vsed Of Iudges and their duty Chap. 27. IVdges must not goe astray from the right but discharge themselues pure innocent to God the prince the law They must not be corrupted with bribes and extorsion nor by other mens bra â—les hunt for a pray They must be men for their yeres very ripe in prudence iudgement and experience for their countenance seuere and graue for their parentage if it be possible renowmed aboue the residue of the people for their credit strong in opinioÌ„ with the common people * They must not pronounce sentence against the statutes of the realme or against the common law Neither must they condemne any man vpon suspition for better it is to suffer the guilty to escape vnpunished then to condemne an innocent They must neither be too seuere nor too remisse but they must determine circumspectly as the matter and necessities require Howbeit in light matters let them be somewhat addicted to lenity and in waighty affaires to seuerity being teÌ„pered with a meeke countenance And if they would needes remit penalties
Peter Thy money perish with thee because thou thinkest that the gift of God may be obtained with money Simony may be coÌ„mitted three maner of waâ—es First whosoeuer selleth or buyeth the word of God is a Simonist Wherefore the Lord said vnto his disciples Freely you haue receyued freely giue Secondly hee that giueth or taketh any thing for a Bishopricke Benefice Headship or for a fellowes or Scholers roome is guilty of Simony Thirdly The Minister that denieth to bury the dead or say Diuine seruice committeth Simony Now hauing declared how many waies Simony is committed I wil shew that it is the vtter ruine of the Cleargie and consequently of the whole commonwealth First Simony is condemned with excommunication the seuerest censure of the Church and therfore odious Secondly Simony hindreth house-keeping so that ministers cannot distribute almes Thirdly it breedeth the desolation and destruction of the state For commonly there ensueth a dissolution of the commonwealth when the fruits 〈◊〉 reueneâ—es therof are decreased Fourthly Simony discourageth parents to send their sonnes to the Vniuersity for what parents bee so foolish as to bestow in maintenaunce of their sonnes at least three hundred pound before they attayne to perfection and then to pay againe two hundred pouÌ„d for a benefice or foure hundred pound for a Chauncelorship surely it is a lamentable case I had rather saith one that my sonne be a colier then a scholer For what shall I put my sonne to schoole when he shall pay so much for a liuing Better it is for me to leaue my sonne an ingram foole then to buy him a liuing through vnlawfull meanes Besides who is so bluntish that knoweth not the great infinite labours of Scholers that seeth not their eyes weakned their bodies empaired which is worse their spirites decaied O stony hearts O wicked Simonists Doubtlesse this abomination portends some great calamity to follow Lastly Simony is an heresie and for that respect it ought to be reiected from all true Christians To wind this vp in a word I wish all Pastours and patrons of benefices and Chancelourships to looke more narrowly vnto themselues and to stand in feare of God who vndoubtedly is offended with their Simony and will one day requite the slacknes of their punishments with the weight thereof wil cast them downe headlong into the bottomlesse and tormenting pit of hell where euery sence of their bodies shall abide his peculiar punishment Their eyes shall haue no other obiects then Diuels and Snakes their eares shall bee afflicted with clamours and howlings their noses with brimstone and filthy smels their tast with poison and gall and their feeling shal be vexed continually with boyling lead and firy flames The sixt Plant. Of the alteration of a common-wealth Chap. 52. COmmonwealths euen as mortall men haue their infaÌ„cy childhood stripling age youth virility middle age and old age that is they haue their beginning vegetation flourishing alteration and ends And like as diuers innouations maladies do happen to meÌ„ according to the coÌ„stitutioÌ„ of their bodies or according to their diet and education so in like maner it falleth out with commonwealths as being altered eyther by domesticall ciuill wars or els by forreyne or perhaps by both together or by the death of the noblest inhabitaunts or to bee briefe by vices which are suffred to creepe in It is necessary that all things which are in this world should waxe old and hasten to the same end some sooner others later according to the will of God their Creatour and by his permission through the influence of the heauenly bodies from which this mutuall succession of life and death issueth Howbeit notwithstaÌ„ding I confesse that prodigious signes are not the causes of euents but rather foretokens of them Like as an Iuy bush put forth at a vintrie is not the cause of the wine but a signe that wine is to be sold there so likewise if wee see smoke appearing in a chimney wee know that fire is there albeit the smoke is not the cause of the fire God onely chaungeth the tymes and seasons hee discouereth the deepe and secret things and the light is with him The effects of all the Cometes and the chiefest Eclipses which hapned in this last age Chap. 53. FOrasmuch as the alterations of commoÌ„wealths are for the most part foreshewed vnto vs by heauenly signes I iudge it more meet for mee to declare those which chaunced within this last age rather then in any other especially for that they are neerer to our fathers memories and also more familiar vnto vs. In the yeere of our Lord 1500. there appeared a Comet in the North after the which followed many and straunge effects For the Frenchmen assaulted the kingdome of Naples the Tartarians the kingdome of Polonia Then was a great famine in Swethland and a cruell plague throughout al Germany besides ciuill warres amongst themselues in taking part with the Bauarians against the Bohemians TheÌ„ died Pope Pius the 3. together with the Archbishop of Treâ—ires and diuers other famous wights In the yeere 1506. appeared another Comet Whereupon died Prince Philip the father of Charles the fift and Ferdinand afterward Emperours Maximilian the Emperour made warre with the Frenchmen and Venetians In the yeere 1514. was an Eclipse of the sunne About which time George Duke of Saxony inuaded and spoyled FrizelaÌ„d King Lewis the 12. of FrauÌ„ce and Vladislaus king of Hungary Bohemia departed out of this world In the yeere 1518. was seene another Eclipse of the sunne Immediatly after the which died the Emperour Maximilian the first Christierne the 2. king of Denmarke fought a most bloudy battell with the Swethens within a while after he was deposed of his kingdome In the yeere 1527. appeared a great Comet the operation wherof the poorâ— Hungarians felt as being barbarously to the shame of all Christians martyred destroyed by the Turkes The prodigious disease of sweating was rife here in England The riuer Tiber ouerflowed the citie of Rome The sea also consumed away a great part of the low countries In the yeere of our Lord 1533. waâ— seene another blazing starre whereupoÌ„ a litle while after king H. y â— 8. was diuorced froÌ„ his brothers wife The sect of the Anabaptists begaÌ„ to rise Pope Clement the 7. departed out of this life and Pope Paul the 3. was inuested in his roome In the yeere 1539. chaunced an Eclipse of the sunne presently after appeared a Comet the effects wherof were many For there was a great coÌ„motioÌ„ in GauÌ„t which the Emperour not without much damage at leÌ„gth appeased took away their priuileges froÌ„ them Iohn the K. of Hungary ended his life And so did Henry Duke of Saxony The Duke of Brunswisk was by the young Duke of Saxony and by the Landgraue of Hassia driuen out of his countrey The English ouercame