eare that wee doe no good thing but much evill and that good wee doe we doe it badly What felicity is in this knowledge when it Waâ—…th us continually of our wickednesse But hee that giveth himselfe to contemplation climbeth higher God is immortall immutable impassible that God dyeth not like a man nor is altered or moved And when he is come thither he is at the wall his minde can goe no further And what kind of knowledge is this What madnesse is it to take upon us to know a thing by that it is not Shall we perswade our selves that wee know what thing a Camell is because wee know it is not a Frogge So that our highest knowledge we must confesse to be meere ignorance And who will place mans end or soveraigne good and felicity in ignorance But those that climbe highest to search for knowledge fall into such errors and entangle themselves in such labyrinthes that they know not how to winde themselves out But as men that looke stedfastly upon the Sunne the more they behold the brightnesse thereof the more their eyes dazell untill they become starke blind so happeneth it to them that aspire to the knowledge of God and divine things thâ—…more they search the lesse they know by their owne wisedome which peradventure moved one to say Simple ignorance is better than arrogant knowledge We are forbidden by Saint Paul to be over curious in seeking the knowledge of things above our reach Nolt altum Sapere The want of ability in us to know the causes of naturall things here in earth the effects whereof we see daily before our eyes argueth plainely that God would not have us aspire too high in knowledge when he hath hidden these base things from us Who knoweth the cause why the Lodestone draweth iron to it which being there with rubbed pointeth toward the North pole and garlike and a Diamond hindereth his operation though some take upon them to draw reasons thereof from their owne conceit to feed their owne humors And who knoweth the cause why the fish called Echeneis or Remora no bigger than a Carpe will stay the greatest ship or galley that is if hee cleave to his side notwithstanding any force of wind or oâ—…res And who knoweth the cause why the fish called Tâ—…rpedo having touched one end of a pyke or speare casteth the man into a traunce that toucheth the other end The beast called Catoblepa killeth a man a mile from him with his sight onely A Wolfe seeing a man first maketh him unable to speake with an infinite number of like things which sheweth that God will not have us enter into his secrets of these base things much lesse of divine things further than he hath given us power Where of if his meaning had beene to have given us knowledge he would have given us another sense and a deeper reason by which we might have known these and the like hidden properties of his creatures Therefore our onely refuge is to attaine to that by faith which we cannot attaine by our mind and understanding that by a lively faith we may be lifted up above our mind that what by the sharpnesse thereof we cannot reach comprehend by faith we may pierce and see thorough And what is it to have faith in God but to looke for all our good from him to beleeve that all refterh with God And seeing that to have faith continually to hope to expect is to deâ—…re that we have not already it is evident that wee can never here see possesse the thing we looke for but the greater a mans faith is the more he despiseth worldly things the more fervent his desire is to heavenly things the greater is his mislike of himselfe and the more â—…hement is his love to God Plato saith that what course soever men take they cannot be happy or enjoy the soveraigne good in this life but in the other life without doubt saith he they that follow vertue shal be rewarded with beatitude And Pythagoras saith that man as it were banished from the face of God walketh as a stranger in this world And Hermes saith that the end of man is to live by his minde and the life of the mind is God Thus farre the Philosophers knowledge did reach that the end of man is to live by his minde that his soveraigne good or beatitude is not to be enjoyed in this life but is to be found in the other life with God But they wanted faith to carry them whither their wisedome could not reach For that knowledge of God we attaine unto in this life by naturall wisedome is ignorance by supernaturall faith In vaine therefore we seeke here either by action or contemplation the thing that is not here to be found For Plâ—…tinus alwaies affirmeth that beatiâ—…de and eternity goeth ever together which beatitude saith Platâ—… is that we be joyned and made like to God who is the top the boâ—…de and the end of all blessednesse In seeking then for this end and soveraigne good of man we finde that the world was made for man man for the soule the soule for the mind the mind for some higher cause which is God For the world was not of it selfe nor for it selfe bâ—…t was made of some and for some So man not having his being of himselfe cannot be the end of himselfe He that mâ—…eth any thing maketh it not for it but for himselfe so that he is the end thereof neither is the thing good in it selfe but to him that made it as touching that he made it to his own use He therefore is the good of that thing by whom and for whom it is called good And seeing man is made by God and for God he must needes be his end and the greatest good So saith Plâ—…tinus the soveraigne end of man is meere good that is God Other things appertaine to the end but they be not the end By this it appeareth that after the ancient wise men and better sort of Philosophers that were guided by reason onely the felicity or beatitude and soveraigne good of man must not be sought for in this life but in the other life And that man ought to employ his time in this life to the knowledge and worshipping of God as to his onely end that he may with God and in God have the fruition of all good things perpâ—…tually in the other world By the authority allâ—…grd of the leâ—…d Heathens and by the reasons and arguments and grnerall consent of the learned Divines among which number I account the Lord Pleâ—…s whom in this Part I chiefly follow it is manifest that as the body of 〈◊〉 is to the soule so is this morraâ—… life to the immâ—…ll And that the end of man in this world is the knowledge and worshipping of God and his foveraigne good 〈◊〉 to that end is the fruition and possession of God in heaven but by reason of our
honours and such like bringeth not felicity but the service of God Iugera non faciunt felicem plurima frater Non Tergestini dulcia musta soli Non Tyriae vestes Aurâ—… non pondera flavi Non ebur aut gemma non juvenile decus Non dulcis nati soboles non bellula conjux Non tenuisse suâ—… sceptra superbamanu Noveris rerum causas licet astra polique Et nostro quicquid sub Iove mundus habet At mea si quaeris quae sit sententia Frater Dicam vis felix vivere vive Deo Brother not many acres make thee blest Nor the sweet grapes in Tergestine prest Not Tyrian garments not thy golden treasure Not Ivory gemmes nor all thy youthfull pleasure Not thy faire issue not thy beauteous bride Not a proud scepter with thine hand to guide To natures secrets though thy skill extend And thou the starres and poles dost apprehend With all the world doth beneath Iove containe Yet if thou ask'st of me what thou shalt gaine By these I le speake if thou wouldst make thy ' boad In heaven so live that thou mayst live to God The end of the fifth booke THE FELICITIE OF MAN OR HIS SUMMUM BONUM THE SIXTH BOOKE CHAP. I. The Creation of Man and the estate he was in at the beginning before his fall Mans alteration after his fall how he participates with the nature of brute beasts All things made to serve man rebell against him Man only of all other Creatures declineth from his originall nature The reason why God suffereth evill to be committed The means that God hath given to man by which to escape the dangers into which he is fallen Of the three faculties of the soule vegetative sensitive and understanding c. IT appeareth by that which hath bin said what manner of felicitie men may enjoy in this life which is rather an usurped name and improperly so called than so indeed Now resteth to discourse upon the true end and felicity of man or beatitude and Summum bonum When God had created this goodly frame of the world being so called of his excellent and beautifull forme replenished with such varietie of creatures and placed the earth in the middest last of all he made man after his owne image which St. Paul interpreteth to bee justiâ—… and holinesse of truth who was after called Aâ—…am of the veine of red earth whereof hee was made And when God had finished this worke and made man hâ—… ceased from creating any more things and rested in him in whom hee delighted and would for ever after communicate himselfe his wisdome his justice and his joy and gave unto him a companion for his greater comfort and pleasure This man he adorned with many goodly gifts and placed him in Paradise which signifieth the best part of the earth and that estate of men in which they should have lived without sin and death In which place appointed for their habitation are the four fountaines of the goodly rivers of Euphrates Tigris Ganges and Nilus which they water passe through and containeth almost a third part of the earth But when this man by the temptation subtill practices of the Serpent tasted of the forbidden fruit withdrew himselfe from the due obedience of his Creator he lost many of those goodly ornaments wherewith God had endowed him and fell into the punishment appointed for his transgression eternall death and damnation But the son of God bearing a singular favour to man pacified his father to satisfie his justice which was immutable he took upon him to fulfill all that obedience 〈◊〉 God required of man and restored him into Gods favour againe though not with recovery of all his lost ornaments revealed the promise of God which he had also procured to send him to be a protector of mankind against the tyranny of the Divell therefore he is called the word because he revealed this secret decree out of the breast of the eternal Father And this was the first miracle that God wrought after his creation of the world and the creatures therin contained staying them that were to dye without the second causes and without that ordinarie course of life which before hee had established Iosephus writeth that Adam set up two tables of stone in which he wrote the beginning of the creation the fall of man and the promise Now if wee consider what a worthy and beautifull creature man was before his fall the very habitation temple of God without sinne and without death wee may easily judge what an ungrateful and unhappy creature he was to revolt from God to the Divell whereby he and his posterity became subject to sinne and death For first God made him after his own image likenes that is he made him most good uncorrupt holy righteous immortall furnished him with most excellent gifts that nothing might bee wanting unto him to all blessednesse in God His understanding was wholly divine his will most free most holy he had power of doing good evil a law was given him of God which shewed him what he should doe or what he should not doe For the Lord said Thou shalt not eate of the tree of knowledg both of good evil God simply required of him obedience faith that whole Adam should depend upon him that not constrained by necessity but should do it freely he told him also the perill willed him not to touch the tree lest he dye So that he left him in his own counsell whose will was then free might have chosen whether he would have broken Gods commandment or not Neither did â—…atan in the serpent compel him to eat but perswaded the womaÌ„ with hope of a more excellent wisedome who drew on her husband willingly to bee partaker of the same by the false and lying perswasion and promise of the divel by the delectable shew sightliness of the tree the fruit whereof after the woman had first tasted she gave to her husband also to eate By meanes whereof hee lost those goodly gifts ornaments which God had bestow'd upon him which gifts hee gave to Adam upon condition that hee would also give them to his posterity if himselfe did keep them but would not give them if hee by his unthankfulnes would cast them away so that by his transgression disobedience hee was cast out of Paradise that is out of that happy estate found al the elements lesse favorable His nature condition was alter'd from goodnes holines to sin and wickednes from sincerity to corruption the influences that descend from the stars and planets which are of themselves simply good through our sinnes and corruption turne to evill so as all things made for our use rebell and conspire together against us and our sinnes are the cause of all our evill Which fall and alteration of mans nature and his ingratitude towards
they be eyther oppressed or oppresse Of which things the others be free that want that imagined felicitie and the onely evill is that they thinke the lacke thereof to be evill A goodly happines no doubt when for one reputed good thing thou shalt have an infinite number of evils for the shadow of felicity a sea of troubles miseries And what be the fruits of these torments of ambition Thou art saluted in assemblies of people with caps knees art reverenced in feasts with the highest places at the table But thou considerest not that many a wicked and vicious man is ofâ—…imes preferred before thee And wherein doth that help or amend the estate of thy body or mind whereof a man doth consist Thou art of great power dominion if that should be mans end felicitie how coÌ„meth it to passe that one mans power should spring of the impotencie of infinite numbers of others how can that be accounted the greatest good which is not onely converted often into evil but also perverteth them that possess it maketh them worse But admit power dominion to be good one is adored ten thousand make courtesie one triumphs thousands follow the chariot one rules millions obey serve So that one man shal be the end of infinite numbers the felicity of a few the misery of al. But we â—…eck not now the end good of a few but of all men Neither doe these few if wee looke throughly into them possesse it Which the Courtiers themselves even the best sort of them that be in most estimation must needs confesse whose hearts bee more painefully pinched by a sowre looke or sharpe word of their Prince than their eares and eyes can bee pleased and delighted by a thousand flatteries and as many a dorations a whole day together It is not without cause said that the displeasure of the Prince is the death of the subject And Princes themselves feele many times more corzies and unquietnesse of minde by some offence taken within their own wals than any triumph or publike pastime can â—…create or make glad But felicitie is in the matter it selfe and dependeth not either upon the frowning countenance of any person or of fortune it selfe which must be also peâ—…tuall But honourable estate dyeth and is buried with the body And what is honour but a vaine admiration of the common people Ambition therefore is so farre from the right way to that good we seek that the very same thing hath cast us all downe head long from the greatest good into extreme evill and misery Insomuch that if wee desire to find that good we must be driven to seek it in our selves seeing we cannot find it with others nor in these worldly matters In vaine therefore doe wee seeke felicitie in worldly vanities which is to bee found in the service of God which was well observed by the Poet Si 〈◊〉 alies in qualibet arte quid inde Sifaveas 〈◊〉 si prosper a 〈◊〉 quid inde Si prior 〈◊〉 Abbas si Rex si Papa quid inde Si rota fortunate 〈◊〉 ad astra quid inde Annos si felix regâ—…es per 〈◊〉 quid inde Tam cito 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nihil inde Sola inde Ergo Deo servi quia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 voles in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 corpore 〈◊〉 haberis If that thy house be faire and table 〈◊〉 what then If that thy masse of coyne and gold be great what then If thou hast a faire wife that generous is what then If children and great farmes and nought amisse what then If thou thy selfe beest valiant rich and faire what then If in thy full traine many servants are what then In Arts if thou to others Tutor be what then If fortune like the world shall smile on thee what then If thou beest Prior Abbot King or Pope what then If fortunes wheele raise thee beyond all hope what then If thou shouldst live a thousand years in blisse what then Since that so swift so swift times passage is that then All 's nothing only then by vertue strive That after death thy glory may survive All you that are Gods servants and good men From what 's before said learne this lesson then All these good deeds you to your death deferre Doe when y' are young so shall you no way 〈◊〉 The end of the third Booke THE FELICITIE OF MAN OR HIS SVMMVM BONVM THE FOURTH BOOKE CHAP. I. Aristotle Concerning the Summum bonum with other of the Sâ—…cks Of king Alexander and the Gâ—…rdian 〈◊〉 The excellent effects of Morall vertue Of king Agesilaus and Meneâ—…aus a vertu glorious Physician Of Marcus Regulus Decius Codrus king of Athens Of Tubero and sixe observable Frenchmen Of Marcus Curtius a noble young Gentleman of Rome Of Leonidas king of Sparia who with five hundred men put the Army of Xerxes to â—…ght which consisted of 1000000. WEe have shewed before by many examples and by the opinions and reasons of wise and learned men how much they are deceived that thinke the Felicitie of man to consist in pleasure riches or in worldly honour and glorie Now before wee come to shew what opinion is meete for a Christian to hold of this matter let us first discourse upon one thing wherein the most approved Philosophers Plato and Aristotle held that this Felicitie or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should consist that is in vertue or in the action of vertue The Philosophers entring into consideration of naturall things found that the proper action of every thing was the end for which it was created as the proper action and end of the Sun is to illuminate the earth And in naturall things there are three kindes of life vegetative or increasing which is in plants sensitive which is in beasts rationall or reasonable which is in men So that the life of plants is to grow and increase of beasts to follow the motion of their senses of men to live according to reason after the Philosophers opinion Which reason sheweth a man how to live wel but what it is to live well the Philosophers cannot agree After Aristotle and others it is to live vertuously But because a man is a sociable creature and not borne to himselfe but to be helping to others it is not sufficient for a man to have vertue in him but hee must also exercise and be a doer of vertue And because all our actions and labours bee to some end which end is taken of us to bee good for every man desireth that which hee thinketh to be good for himselfe the last of all ends to which the rest are applyed for which all our labours are and ought to bee bestowed is the most perfect and best of all things that nature desireth and therefore the thing wherein the felicitie of man consisteth For that is desired for no other thing but for it selfe Which after Aristotle is the action of vertue
necessary members for our corrupt nature by whose skill mens malicious contentious humors are many times especially in these daies so artificially fed maintained that they who at the first were ordained as instruments to defend men from injury seeme now to be imployed as whips to the punishment of mens sins The elder Cato was wont to say that pleading Courts were strawed with Caltrops Pope Pius the 2d. compareth the Sutors to Birds the place of pleading to the Field the Iudge to a Net the Atturneys and Lawyers to Fowlers Pope Nicholas the third a man well learned banished out of Rome Advocates Proctors Notaries the rest of that Society saying that they lived by poore mens blood But Pope Martin his successor caused them to return againe saying they were good men to draw water to his mill One reporteth that if Lewes the eleventh had lived a few yeers more he had reformed in France the abuses of the Law Lawyers Of these meÌ„ one speaketh thus Dicere sepeforo turpique inhiare lucello Gaudet hoc studio vitam solatur inertem Vaenali celebrans commissa negotia lingua To plead of gaping for dishonest gaine Fattens the Lawyer studying to maintaine A slothfull life And be they right or wrong Opening mens Causes with a servile tongue Thus much of this estate as it is used in other couÌ„tries written by their owne Authors much more which I forbeare to recite because I take this sufficient to prove that felicitie is as hard to be found in this estate as in others though some countries be free from these faults for the generalâ—…y maketh the matter the use or abuse of every state of life bringeth to their professors felicity or infelicity For the law is necessary in euery CoÌ„mon-wealth Plato saith principatus sine lege grave molestus subjectâ—…s another calleth it prasiaem bonu malis and that in the lawes consisteth the safegard of a Common-wealth And how great infelicitie happeneth to the ludges who when they are old and should reape the fruit of all their travell in their youth that is rest and quietnesse then must they begin to travell about their Circuits in heate and cold durt and dust frost snow wind and raine as it were a penance for their life past which they must continue untill they be ready to fall into their graves Alexander Alexandrins an excellent Doctor and Advocate when hee had lost at Rome against all right and reason a matter of great importance gave over his practice and betooke himselfe to the studie of humanity saying That the greatest part of them that in these dayes sit in judgement either as ignorant mâ—…n doe not understand the lawes or as naughtie men doe corrupt the lawes And Augustine saith That the ignorance of the Iudge is often the calamitie of the innocent Onâ—… said These five things bring chiefely the Common wealth farre out of square A 〈◊〉 Iudge in the Consistorie a deceitfull merchant in the market a coverous Priest in the Church a faire whoore in the Stewes and 〈◊〉 in Princes Courts One likeneth the law to the web of a Spyder that taketh little Flies but gâ—…eater things breake their way thorow which seemeth to point at some thing that maketh nothing for the felicitie of Iudges and Magistrates CHAP. II. The estate of Iudges and Magistrates Of Bellizarius A Villaine reprehends the Senate of Rome An excellent Oration of a Iew A Dialogue betwixt a Philosopher and Iustice The estate of a Courtier A Courtiers description The manner of the Court The Courtiers life The estate of Princes The Hystory of Cleander and of plantianns LET vs leaue these men pleading their Clients causes and looke further into the estate of Iudges and other Magistrates which is an honourable estate and necessary for our humane nature And though these men command and iudge and are honoured aboue the rest yet haue they their part in those troubles and vnquietnesse whereunto other men are subiect Their charge is great and care without end to preserue the people committed to their gouernment in peace and concord at home and to defend them from their enemies abroad They must wake when others sleepe and howsoeuer they behaue themselues yet are they in danger of their Princes displeasure or the peoples obloquy whereof ensueth many times their vtter ouerthrowe A great number of examples may bee produced of good Magistrates and honourable Personages that by the ingratitude of the Prince or people in recompence of their good seruice haue beene bereaued of their liues and goods pellizarians a noble Gentleman and Generall vnder the Emperour Iustinian ouercame the Vandals triumphed ouer the Persians deliuered Italy many times of the Barbares in recompence of so notable seruice the Emperour through enuie and suspition caused his eyes to be plucked out of his head insomuch that he was driuen to get his liuing by begging And standing in a little cottage that was placed in one of the most frequented streetes in Rome asked almes in this sort Yee that passe by giue poore Bellizarians a farthing for Gods sake who for his vertue was famous and through enuie is made blind so that it is truly said A great good turne is often rewarded with great ingratitude and the vncertainty of the peoples fauour Petrarke taxeth thus Faire weather of the Spring the mornings sweet winde of Summer calmes of the Sea the estate of the Moone the loue of the people if they be compared together the palme and price of mutabilitie shall be giuen to the last But of Magistrates that bee euill after the corruption of our flesh grieuous curses be threatned vpon them Cursed bee ye that be corrupted with money and by prayers by hate or loue iudge euill to be good and good euill making of light darkenesse and of darkenesse light Cursed bee ye that haue not regard to the goodnesse of the cause but to the fauour of the person that haue not regard to equity but to the Presents that are giuen you that regard not iustice but money that haue not regard to that which reason sheweth you but to that onely which your affection or desire leadeth you yee are diligent in rich mens causes but yee delay poore mens suites to them ye are sterne and rigorous but to the rich pleasant and affable which agreeeth with this saying of Aristotle Amor odium proprium commodum 〈◊〉 faciunt indicem non cognoscere verum Loue and hate and his owne commodity oftentimes maketh a ludge not to know the truth The wise man pursuing this matter saith The poore man cryeth out and no man harkneth to him but they aske what he is the rich man speaketh and every man clappeth his hands and exalteth his words with admiration above the skies yet this sufficeth them not that are advanced to honourable estate there is another worme that gnaweth upon them they doe by their children as did the mother
those things that doe cause discontentment And hee that looketh alwayes to liue happily seemeth to bee ignorant of the one part of nature for the crying and lamenting of a childe when hee first entereth into this world doth seeme to presage his painefull life as a vauntcurrer of his miseries to come for where is hee that can vaun◅ that either in his body hee hath not felt some paine in his minde some griefe or hath not suffered losse of his goods or reproch to his person These be diseases incurable accidents remedilesse and alwayes incident vnto vs euen as there is no Sea without waues no Warre without perill nor iourney without trauell so is there no worldly life free from troubles nor any estate voyd of incumbrances So as no man liueth so happily that hath not something whereof to complaine and be grieued Boetius saith Nihilest ex omni parte beatum Nothing is in all parts happy There is nothing in this world vniuersally blessed or perfect and therefore that which cannot be auoyded by prudence nor resisted by fortitude must bee ouercome by patience after Saint Augustines counsell Vt exercitatione tolerantiae sustineantur temporalia sperentur aterna that by exercise of bearing we may endure temporall things and hope for eternall things For as much then as there is such a mixture in this life of good and euill as the Poet saith Miscentur tristia latis Let sad things be mixt with glad That no man can alwayes liue contentedly or happily but the felicitie we seeke must be found in him that liueth least discontented or vnhappily let vs see how a man must behaue himselfe so much as in him lyeth to enioy this felicitie or happinesse Though wee cannot flie from cares and troubles so long as we walke in this world yet we may endeuour our selues to auoyd as many of them as we may for much more in nūber be the displeasures griefes we seeke to our selues then those that are brought to vs by any other meanes We said before that he vpon whom God bestoweth his graces by which he liueth contentedly is happy and in felicitie and no man is vnhappie but he that thinketh himselfe so neither is any man happie but hee that so esteemeth himselfe And yet not euery contentment bringeth forth happinesse but such as is cōtained within a certaine manner and measure For as contentation consisteth not in the much or little that wee haue no more doth happinesse consist in that to which generally we are inclined Many by nature or ◅uill education or custome are so inclined to vice and strongly addicted to lewd life that neither reason nor perswasions nor terrour of lawes can reforme them wherewith though they be contented yet are they farre from happinesse and may rather be accounted most vnhappie For in all our actions and in euery course and trade of life wee must haue alwaies respect to our common and true end that is to praise and glorifie God that we may haue the fruition of the ioyes of the other life which is our true felicitie and beatitude And seeing the happinesse wee seeke for in this life seemeth to require contentation I see not how that happinesse can well be had except in some measure we enioy the things whereunto we are enclined that thereof contentment may follow for reason may rather perswade patience then bring foorth contentment And therefore wee may affirme that as they which seeke for contentation by following their vicious appetites and inclinations in stead of felicitie finde infelicitie so they that enioy the things whereunto they are inclined not being repugnant to vertue and honesty nor to our common end before recited haue a great aduantage to the happinesse of this life which commeth by cōtentation For he saith one liueth happily that liueth as he will and will nothing that is euill Mens minds are diuersly affected according to the variety of their inclinations which draweth their labours industry to satisfie their appetite and to bring them to contentation and happinesse And if the end be good for which they employ their study labor whether their life be actiue or contemplatiue for happines consisteth not in nihil agendo ◅ter the Cyclopes they may attaine to that they looke for Among things that be indifferent that which pleaseth one displeaseth another euery vocation and estate of life contenteth not euery man some desire rest others loue to trauell some like to exercise their minds others their bodies some wish for pleasures others for riches and honour and if the end be good for which they desire these things the way and meanes right which they follow to come by them and the vse as it ought to be being gotten they may attaine to a contentation and happinesse notwithstanding the great difference of the estates and kinds of life because they enioy the things whereunto they are inclined And this diuersitie or contrarietie of mens inclinations maketh a good harmony that is compounded of contraries and seemeth necessary to the maintenance of societie But seeing we haue no good inclinations nor motions of our selues since the corruption of our nature wee must pray vnto God for his grace to stirre them vp in vs and then so to employ our endeuour as wee receiue not his grace in vaine They that plough vnrighteousnesse and sowe incumbrance gather the same Diuine seed is sowne in mens bodies which if a good husband receiue it riseth vp like his beginning but if hee be an euill husband it killeth like a barren and morish ground and bringeth forth cockle in stead of corne The Sunne shining vpon waxe maketh it soft and dirt hard Hee that rightly receiueth Gods holy Spirit turneth all his inclinations and all that happeneth to his good For such a minde is stronger then all accidents that chance but an euill minde turneth all into euill But it may bee obiected that seldome or neuer all those good things concurre together in any one man God by his secret iudgement hauing so disposed them And Ennius saith Nimius boni est cue nihil est mali It is too good that hath in it no euill for he doth all things for our good and respecteth our true felicitie or beatitude in the world to come to the attaining of which hee bestoweth his graces according to his owne pleasure and our disposition Wee see some children of so gentle a nature that they will be sooner reformed with a faire word then others will be with stripes others againe there be of so stubborne a disposition that neither threatnings nor seuere correction is sufficient to bring them to obedience So God distributeth not all his gifts equally to all men but to some he giueth riches and possessions others he suffereth to line in lacke and pouertie some hee afflicteth and punisheth diuers wayes to others he giueth a quiet and peaceable life according to his pleasure and the difference of mens dispositions
hee could have hindered it and did not because he ought not to hinder it lest hee should disturbe his apointed and settled order and destroy his owne worke God therefore is not the Authour of evill and sin for al things which he made are good It is no efficient but a deficient cause Evil is no substance nor nature but an accident that commeth to the substance when it is voyde of those good qualities that ought naturally to be in them and supplieth the others absence with his presence And that hee suffereth evill to be done agreeeth with his great justice and mercy For if God should suffer no evill to be done men could not finne which agreeth not with his nature the Creator of all things having given him in the beginning free-will And except there should bee sinners how should God shew mercy But because all men commit sinne many waies God findeth every where matter to forgive every whereupon whom to shew mercy Saint Augustine sayth If the disease were light the Physitian would bee contemned and not sought and if the Physitian should not be sought the disease would have no end Therefore where sinne abounded there also grace abounded which onely divideth the redeemed from the damned All which things are sufficient testimonie against us that God made all things good and the evill that is happened to us is come upon us by our owne fault that disobeied God to obey the Divell Wee must confesse therefore that God made man good and a divine creature after his owne image that he endued him with many goodly gifts and ornaments that hee made the world and all things therein to serve man as he made man to serve him and as man is the end of the world so God is the end of man that he esteemed him in place of his sonne and opened his mind to him But because man preferred his owne appetite before the will of his Creator and became as a bastard and degenerate not onely by breaking Gods commandement but by affecting an equality with him he fell out of his favour and lost those gifts hee first gave him and is justly punished by him that is most just with the alteration of his estate and condition as a rebell against his Sovereigne and Creator because he would not continue and rest in his felicitie wherein God had first placed him that is in the contemplation of his Creator but would needs seeke his felicity some other where For the end of man is to glorifie God having made him for his own glory and the end felicity beatitude and Sumâ—… bâ—…num of man is all one by the Philosophers confession as hath been shewed before Therfore God that hath made all things good and is most good and goodnesse it selfe is the felicitie or beatitude and Summum bonum of man And though man by his ungratefull revolting from God that had bestowed such innumerable benefits upon him deserved justly to bee utterly destroyed yet hee dealt mercisully with him that hee took not away all as his demerits required and left him a meanes to returne into his grace againe For by taking away the things he first gave us he would make us humble by the fall of our first parent lest by the like presumptuousnesse we should fall againe A King buildeth a new city and endoweth it as the manner is with many priviledges and liberties it happeneth the citizens to rebel the king taketh away from them many of their liberties and priviledges Which punishment of rebellion descendeth to all their posterity though the city was begun with a few families it groweth at length to bee very populous His giving those priviledges to the first inhabitants was to bee imputed to his bounteousnesse and liberality that he took them away was his justice that he denied restitution of them to their posterity was his clemency lest they being of the same disposition should procure againe their owne destruction So God gave unto man liberty a great priviledge and adorned him with many goodly gifts both of body mind for the which he ought to praise his goodness And because by abusing his gifts he hath taken them away or diminished them is to be attributed to his justice which hee hath done lest by example of the first man his posterity being of the same condition should commit againe the like offence and fall into the like punishment Thus it pleased God of his goodnesse to chastise his people and to suffer them to bee governed by his lawes but not utterly destroy them And that mankinde might feele and know how great miseries follow their sin and fall and thereby learn humility and godlines and to call for his great mercy apparent in the middest of his high justice that notwithstanding mans grievous offence ingratitude he would not utterly destroy his posterity whom he had made to his glory but raised up one out of that rebellious stocke that should satisfie his justice wherby they might live and bee received into grace againe hereby it is evident that mans nature is corrupted not so created at the first by God but by abusing his gifts and graces is fallen from goodnesse into wickednesse from his speciall favour into his just indignation And as we are of the nature of that man our first parent in whom humane nature was universally polluted so doe wee receive from him his nature and draw to us the corruption thereof from whence is derived by propagation the cause of our miserable estate and condition Now that we have shewed how by what meâ—…es wee fell out of Gods favour into this stinking pit and dunge on let us see how we may wade out of it againe God all men confesse to be Creator of all things and as he is good goodnesse it selfe all that he hath made must needs bee also good as proceeding from the fountaine of goodnesse And because God is wisedome all his creations we must needs acknowledge were made to some end For nature say the Philosophers doth nothing in vaine but all things well much more God the Creator of nature doth all things to an end And as God is the beginning middle and end of all things so hath he none other end of his workes but himselfe For he made all things to his own glorie and therefore we that be the creatures of God of whom we have our beginning and life can have no other end but God So that God is our Summum bonum or Soveraigne good our beatitude and felicity To that end therefore to the attaining of that good which is the proper action and true felicity of man all our studies and desires all our labours and diligence ought to be directed and employed If mans first nature had remained whole and uncorrupted there would not have needed any great search to bee made to find out his felicity For our end or felicity did then shine in our understanding and the same
sensitive and understanding Now let us see in which of these wee may lay the end or felicity of mā The soul giveth life to the body the perfection of life is health If we respect nothing else in this life then he that was first created healthfull had nothing wherewith to occupy himselfe But if sithence our corruption our principall care ought to bee of our health what thing is more unhappy than a man whose felicity standeth upon so false and feeble a ground Seeing the body is subject to an infinite number of perils of hurts of mischances weak and fraile alwaies uncertaine of life and most certaine of death which commeth to him by many means and wayes who is he that is so sound of body or so feeble of mind that if his choise be given him will not rather chuse a sound mind in a sickely body than a little frenzie or imperfection of mind in a very healthful body In the mind therfore our chiefe good must be seeing we be willing to redeem the perfect estate of our mindswth the miseries of our bodies Next unto this is the sensitive part whose felicity seemeth to bee in pleasure but then were beasts more happy than men that feele pleasures more sweetly and fully And how soone are these pleasures ended with repentance also It pleased the gods said Plautus that sorrow should follow pleasure as a companion But wee seeke for the greatest or soveraigne good and if it be good it will amend men aud make them better But what doth more weaken and corrupt men than pleasures and what doth lesse satisfie men and more weary them But wee looke not for that which doth finish but that continueth our delight whereas these pleasures contrariwise soone decay and quickly spoyle us As Petrarke saith Extrema gaudii luctus occupat The extremity of joy and pleasure sorrow doth possesse The delight of the mind is greater and more meet for a man and more agreeable to his end than the pleasures of the senses And if choyce be given to him that hath passed all his life in pleasures and hath but a few houres to come either to enjoy the fairest curtisan in Rome or else to deliver his countrey who is so beastly or barbarous that will not presently chuse rather to delight his mind with so noble an act than to satisfie his senses with pleasure And to conclude the place of pleasures is in the senses which are decayed taken away by sicknesse by wounds by old age And if these pleasures that be exercised by the sensitive part will not sooner be abated yet death will utterly extinguish them But seeing man hath two kindes of life mortall and immortall the one of which he preferreth as farre the better before the other we must not seeke for such an end or good as perish both together but such as maketh men happy indeed everlasting and immortall which cannot be found in these transitory things Now followeth the third part of the soule which is understanding which is occupied sometimes in it selfe sometimes in the matters of the world and other while in the contemplation study of divine things Of these three operatiōs springeth three habits vertue prudence sapience And seeing that understanding is the most excellent thing in man let us see in which of these we may place our soveraigne good For in this part of the soul the end beatitude of man must needs consist for what thing can be imagined beyond man beyond the world beyond the Creator of both That vertue cannot be his end or soveraigne good hath bin shewed before For vertue is nothing but the tranquility quietnes of the affections what be affections but a sodaine tempest in the soule that are raised by a very smal wind which overthrow the mightiest ship that is in a moment and maketh the most skilfull mariners to strike saile and reason it selfe to give over the stern And if our end of felicity should be in vertue what were more miserable than man that must fight continually against his affections which neverthelesse will not be overcome as the mariners labour to save themselves in a tempest from the raging of the sea that gapeth every moment to devoure them So that in this life vertue cannot bring us to felicity and in the other life it can stand us in no stead where wee shall have no affections Therefore vertue cannot bee our end or Soveraigne good Neither is prudence the thing we seeke for which is nothing but the right use of reason in exercising the affaires of this world And what bee the affaires of this world but contention strifes sutes warres bloudshed spoile murders burnings and sackings of townes and countries with an infinite number of such like stuffe Neither can they that have the charge of government in common-wealths which are all subject to these things be accounted happy but they rather are happy that are defended from them by their cares and unqui◅nesse for the Physitians care is more profitable to the f◅che body than to himselfe Besides that men are turned to dust and the world will be destroyed but the soule liveth and forsaketh these kind of affaires Therefore prudence cannot bee the end and felicity of man that is included within the limits of this world CHAP. II. Divine co◅ the best wisedome That our greatest knowledge is ◅eere ignorance Of wonderfull and strange secrets in nature The excellency of faith Religion our reconciliation to God All nations acknowledge a supreame Deity That no vertues are vertues that swerve from religion and godlinesse Of the only true religion Salvation of man the only true beatitude Markes by which the true religion is knowne The necessity of a Mediatour Who and what our Mediatour is And that the soveraigne beatitude is onely to be attained unto by our blessed Saviour Christ Iesus the Righteous LEt vs now examine sapience after Morney as we have done the rest or that part of wisedome which is conversant in the contemplation of God and divine matters for that in all mens judgements seemeth to bee a mostexcellent thing By instinct of nature every man knoweth that there is a God for the workes of God doe present him continually to us But how should we enter throughly into the knowledge of the Creator of all things when we know not the things before our eyes Socrates confessed freely that he knew this one thing That he knew nothing Which confession as himselfe thought was the cause he was by the Oracle called the wisest man of his time And Porphyrius said that all Philosophy was but a conjecture or light perswasion delivered from one to another and nothing in it that was not doubtfull and disputable But he that knoweth God in this wherein is hee the more happy Reason sheweth us that God is good that he is just that hee loveth the good and hateth the evill Our conscience whispereth us in the
been said Man is immortall his soveraigne good or beatitude is not to bee had in this life but it is to bee joyned with God in heaven to which hee shall attaine if whilst he is here upon the earth he love and worship God with all his heart and bee obedient continually to his will But our first parent that was by nature free and capable of goodnesse revolted from God that is from his soveraigne good and by his rebellion was made a flave to sinne by means whereof he fell from God and from his beatitude And therefore except he find pardon by grace he is fallen into extreame misery which we call hell From this man wee derive our pedegree whose 〈◊〉 hath begotten our flesh and made us the servants of sinne as hee was made himselfe so that naturally we are to expect the reward of sin that is death for wee are heires to our father whose inheritance is death onely and damnation And we heape daily more coales upon our heads For no man performeth that to God which the law most justly requireth and therefore every one daily offendeth God many waies in thought word and deede so as they sinke continually deeper And against whom do wee commit these offences Against our Father our Creator that hath bestowed so many things upon us from whom we revolt to the deuill his enemy And as the offence doth multiply and encrease according to the respect of him against whom it is committed so doth the offence against his divine Majestie that is infinite deserve punishment In what case then are wee miserable creatures that dayly commit sinne upon sin except God himselfe discover some way how his justice may by satisfied and how wee may come into his favour againe In this distresse religion presenteth it selfe to us which sheweth us the true God But what is that but to present the guilty before the Iudge What doth religion then availe us It leadeth us to the Scripture which sheweth the expresse will of God to bee that we should love him with all our heart and our neighbour as our selfe and to them that obey his will he pronounceth eternall life to the disobedient eternall death Seeing the same Scripture sheweth that mankind is corrupted from the beginning and that all our imaginations and 〈◊〉 are wicked and seeing we all feele in our selves and in our members motions contrary to the will of God and therefore wee detest with horrour the botomelesse pit of hell But as this Scripture pronounceth against us our condemnation and a severe sentence of death so doth it also shew us a Mediator by whose helpe and meanes we may obtaine pardon and grace and be reconciled to God againe In which conjunction that beatitude and felicity may bee restored to us for which wee were created at the first And this is the third marke of the true religion for it is certaine that the religion which God hath so deepely engraven in our hearts is not in vaine Now he that will enter into himselfe and duely consider his owne insufficiency to performe the justice of the Lawe shall easily see how necessary it was for us to have a Mediaâ—…our to pacific Gods wrath and to satisfie his justice and how greatly we are bound to our Creator that would not reject or utterly destroy us as our demerits required but rather would leave us a meanes to returne into his favour againe without which wee must have all suffered eternall death and damnation which favour sheweth us plainely that as God is just so he is mercifull This Mediatour therefore must bee such as will not onely 〈◊〉 his wrath by fulfilling our obedience due to our Creator and purchase his grace and procure us his mercy but also satisfie his justice which is immutable And for as much as the offence is infinite and the punishment likewise being committed against the Creator which is infinite the satisfaction of the punishment must also be infinite If man should offer the world to God hee received it of God and by his owne fault hath lost it againe And seeing God made the world of nothing which must also have an end the world can bee no sufficient satisfaction for the offence that is infinite If man offer himselfe what doth hee offer but an unthankfull and rebellious mind blasphemous wordes and perverse deeds by which hee shall provoke the wrath of God and incense him the more against us If an Angell should intreat for us a creature will bee no sufficient Intercessor to pacifiethe the Creator and though hee bee good yet not being infinite hee cannot cover an infinite evill So that we must needs say that God must set himselfe between his justice and his mercy and that as hee created us at the first so he must new make us againe and as he created us in his favour so hee must absolve us from his wrath and as hee declared hi wisedome in creating us so hee must shew the same in restoring us But who then is that Mediator God against God Infinite against Infinite that can both cancel that infinit obligation satisfie that infinite punishment It is even Iesus Christ the only Sonne and wisedome of the eternall Father both God and man A man that he may be borne under the law God that he may fulfill the law a man that he may serve God that he may redeem a man that he may submit himselfe with all humility God that he may submit himself above all things a man that he may suffer God that he may overcome a man that he may die God 〈◊〉 hee may truimph over death It is also necessary to our salvation that our Mediatour be a man that he may suffer punishment for our sins and reconcile mankinde to God againe For except he were descended of the same kinde we are wee could not bee partakers in any sort of him nor he of us so should his satisfaction merits appertain nothing unto us therfore it is requisit that he should be borne of our progeny that he may be flesh of our flesh bones of our bones that as we be all in Adam the servants of sinne so we may be in the Mediatour free and discharged of the reward of sin that is from death againe he must overcom sin he must be without sin and because he must make us cleane he must be without spoâ—… for we are conceived in iniquity borne in filthiness and corruption insomuch that as it is necessary he should be a man so it is requisite hee should bee conceived in another sort than after the manner of men And after so many great miracles which God hath wrought we need not wonder at this that 〈◊〉 was conceived of the holy Ghost and brought forth by a Virgin Hee that could draw out a woman from a man without a man could also bring forth a man from a woman without a man Many things seeme unpossible if
to enter into their Countrey saying that if kingdomes grow rich by trading with strangers they become poor of their proper vertues Wee cannot say with the Poet Câ—…lum non animors mntant qui trant more current Though forraine seas you passe and nations strange Yet t is the Climate not the minde you change For we change both ayre and minde not as he would have it in reformation but rather in deformation of maners from simplicity or singlenesse to diffinulation or doublenesse I allow well of the counsell of Favorinus the Philosopher Vivendum est moribus prateritis loquendum verbis prasentibus We should live after the maners used in times past and speake with words used at this present It is noted among learned men for a dangerous thing in a common-wealth a change or ruine to bee feared when the authority of good lawes is contemned faults goe unpunished vertue not rewarded and honest manners changed for worse The people of Creta being ill used of the Rhodians their enemies desired their gods that they would suffer some evill maners to be brought in among them thinking that to bee a worse curse than warre or pestilence or any other thing But had it not been more honourable and commendable for our nation to have continued in the simplicitie of habits and manners of our forefathers retaining their vertues than to receive the vanity of attyres and gestures of other countries with their corruption of maners with them to exchange our vertues for their vices are our maners and habits better now than were in times past those of our forefathers because they cannot lately out of Italy out of Spaine out of France from the Dutchmen Is there no better rule to be given how to discerne between that which is good that which is not good but by the example of other countries doth dignitie consist in sumptuousnesse of apparell decency in varietie of attires civility in vanity of gestures hospitality in excesse luxuriousnes order in consusiò Vertue in former ages was wont to be in estimatioÌ„ with the antiquity a rule to direct their lives by through which many became famous aswel privat men as whole Nations But what fruit hath bin brought to us with these new fashions and strangers manners what effect hath it wrought If it be lawfull to speake the truth besides to be proud and effeminate and the exchange of our vertues for their vices a confusion of all things What difference is there in habits betweene estates Doth not the baser sort glitter in gold and silver equally with the greater whereof ensueth many mischiefes The maners that in time past for reverence were peculiar to Princes the greater states of the Nobility as due onely to them are they not now common and usuall with the baser sort and even among carters But this alteration of fashions and manners so highly esteemed both brought forth no Decios no Fabios no Fabricios no Scipies no more than they have done with them from whence we had them since their old simplicity of manners were corrupted for where there is so great care for the backe and belly there is smal regard had to provide for the mind and soule where men so carefully desire to decke their bodies with silke silver or gold they have no care to garnish their minds with vertue learning and godlinesse The manners and fashions of these latter ages I meane in a civill life are so contrary to the manners and precepts of antiquity that 〈◊〉 must needs bee either they were fooles then and wee wise nowâ—… else they were wise then and wee not sowise now But because they were schoolemasters to the world and attained to that by their vertue which wee hunt after by a formalitie of habits and manners and cannot come by that is to bee famous in the world in all ages and had in admiration even to this day I rather beleeve that they were wise and led us the right path by morall vertue to civility without these vaine toyes now in use and we out of the high-way and many wayes their inferiours For what is civilitie but the manners of men grounded upon morall vertue and the precepts of wise men No man is looked into what is within him If the outside be gay and well set forth to the shew his 〈◊〉 trickes used with the right grace then all is well 〈◊〉 is a worthy man and surely he that beholdeth him must have a deepe conceit if he thinke better of him than he thinks of himself like unto the Asse that carried the image of Isis upon his back when he saw all menbow their knees do reverence to the goddesse he waxed 〈◊〉 and stately as though they had done all that reverence unto him untill he that drave the Asse gave him a 〈◊〉 or two with his whip and told him that this honor was not done to him but to that which he carried upon his backe and yet an ape is but an ape though he be clothed in purple gold And it may be sayd to them 〈◊〉 set so much by outward forme 〈◊〉 inward matter as the Fox when he saw a mans head so artificially made that there seemed to want 〈◊〉 vital spirits to 〈◊〉 it a lively head of a man the tooke it up and after he 〈◊〉 be held it a while ô quoth he what a goodly head 〈◊〉 is but it hath no braine And such vaine-glorious 〈◊〉 that hunt after fame beyond their merit may do 〈◊〉 teach birds to speake and to give them a 〈◊〉 let them flye into the fields as 〈◊〉 did If 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 advisedly consider what a disorder and confusion befides many inconveniences the alteration of our maners and habits from the simplicity plainenes of our forefathers through a vain imitation of other countries fashions and mislike of our own hath brought forth may we not rightly say to the authors thereof Defunct is patribus successit 〈◊〉 Cujus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 valuere ruunt The fathers dead they leave a wicked brood Whose lewd example ruines that which stood And it is not sufficient for men to delight in the matter of evill but they must also give it after the maner of other countries a peculiar forme to set it forth with the greater grace that it may allure and draw their desires to a further and more generall mischiefe The Romanes complained that the men of Asia and Greece sent their vices with their manners into Italy and corrupted the simplicitie of their former manners and vertues left to them by their forefathers from whence our travellers have brought the same corruption to us and given us the like cause of complaint of them as they had of the other There hath beene an old saying that all evils rise out of the North but we may say that all our evils come to us out of the South How happy were that common-wealth where yong men would labour to shine
to the world by the ornaments of their mind and to excell one another by vertue and knowledge as they now covet to glitter in gold and silver and to exceed in vanitie of attires and gestures and where old men would give example of godlinesse temperance and modestie and 〈◊〉 their desires from worldly superfluities If Noblemen and Gentlemen would follow the manners of kings in times past who had 〈◊〉 care of their 〈◊〉 not thinking themselves kings by their apparell but by their mind differing from the common sort within not without One of the praises that the Emperor Commodâ—… gave to his father Marcus Aâ—…relius after his death was and that worthâ—…ly that others had made the common-wealth rich but his father had mâ—…de it vertuous others repaired walls but he reformed manners and one of the praises given to the Emperour Severus was that hee never beheld any man in Rome apparelled in filke or purple But to what time could â—…cans verses be more aptly applyed than to this Non â—…ro tectisve modus mensasque priores Aspernata fames There is no meane in gold or buildings proud Our fables skorne what former times allowed After the famous champion Starchater had reckoâ—… up the old manners of the antiquity and reprehended the deliciousnesse of the latter ages he conchâ—… Nunc reâ—…ens 〈◊〉 facies 〈◊〉 â—…mnia pressit New men new manners But admit that the mâ—… of other Nations which we so greatly desire to imâ—… be more agreeable with civilitie and their knowleâ—… of vertue likewise greater than were those of our foâ—…faters surely their ignorance of strangers vices 〈◊〉 more profitable to them than is now the 〈◊〉 of their manners and vertues to us And what made these great Princes and wise men of former ages so carefull to continue the old manners and simplicitie of habits of their forefathers but onely habits by their excellency of wisedome and vertue they 〈◊〉 which we find by experience that whe the and habits of other coâ—… were brought 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their vices would also come with them and that when costlinesse and varietie of 〈◊〉 had gotten 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men would be easily drawn to such a delight to 〈◊〉 forth their bodies with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they would have small regard to the ornaments of their minds for proofe whereof we need not go far to seek for examples But to returne againe to friâ—…ship where we left Gaine now adayes contracteth frieâ—…p which is no sooner discontinued but friendship is also dissolved Vertue and honestie neither beginneth nor continueth friendship but as the Poet truly saith Vulgus 〈◊〉 as utilitate probat Cura quid expediat prior est 〈◊〉 quid sit 〈◊〉 Et cum fortâ—… statque caditque 〈◊〉 Friendship the vulgar doe no further prise Than for their profit we doe first devise What 's gainefull before honeâ—… profits all And faith with fortune doth both rise and fall 〈◊〉 writing to his friend Atticus restraineth one friend to wish to another more than these three things to enjoy health to poâ—… honour and not to suffer necessitie But if I had such authoritie over my friends I would make some alteration and forbid them to wish one to another more than these three things to feare God to enjoy health and not to suffer necessity which were sufficient to bring them to the felicitie of both worlds Friendship was wont to extend but now what is more common in every mans month than friendship and honestie and what thing more rare and lesse in use Plato saith that friendship is given us by nature for a helpe to vertue and not for a companion of vice Dicearchus adviseth to make all men our well-willers if it be possible but onely good men our friends who are not obtained but by vertue Plutarch warneth men to take heede how they seeke for a swarme of friends lest they fall into a waspe-neast of enemies Pythagoras disswadeth men from joyning hands with every one All which counsell tendeth to this end to make us wary what kinde of men wee make choice of to bee our friends and that no friendship can bee perfect but between a few and those vertuous and honest men such as was betweene Ionathan and David and some others but such counsell is needlesse in this latter age when vertue is in declination men bee noâ—… so hasty to enter into faithfull friendship nor so forwardly in performing that they need raynes to draw them backe but spurres rather to pricke them forward The fable of the Beare could not bee more aptly applyed to any time than to these latter ages for the reprehending and setting forth of false friendship As two men were walking together in the fields that had professed faithfull friendship each to other there commeth oâ—… of the woods by chance a Beare towards them the one perceiving the Beare at hand leaveth his friend and climbeth up a tree to save himselfe the other seeing himselfe forsaken and left alone fell downe to the ground as though hee had been dead the Beare came running to devoure him that lay upon the ground and muzling about his mouth and 〈◊〉 finding that he breathed not for hee held his breath knowing that the property of a Beare is not to prey upon a dead carkasse the Beare departed and after the man was risen againe I pray thee quoth hee that was come downe from the tree what was that the Beare whispered in thine â—…are he willed me said the other to beware hereafter how I trusted such a false friend as thou art There need no such tryall of friends in these dayes a lesse matter than the fear of a Bear wil discover mens infidelity dissimulation And if men would consider how farre they are surmounted by brute beasts in perfect love friendship they should finde cause to be ashamed to see themselves inferiour to unreasonable creatures in things that appertaine to vertue honesty Report is made by credible authours that as king Pyrrhus marched with his Army hee hapned to passe by a dog that guarded the body of his master who lay dead upon the high way after the king had beheld awhile this pitifull spectacle he was advertised by some of the countrimen that the same was the 3d. day that the poor creature had not departed out of the place nor forsaken the dead corps without meat or drinke which moved the king to command the body to bee buried and the dog for his fidelity to be kept cherished caused an inquisition to be made of the murder but nothing could bee found It chanced that not long after the king was disposed to take muster of his whole Army that hee might see how they were furnished the dogge alwayes followed the king sad mute untill such time as they that killed his master past by then he flyeth upon them with a wonderfull violence fury as though he would teare them in peeces turning this way
some way to hinder the resolution for men to haue two wiues and to bring to passe rather that women might haue two husbands The matter was carried so speedily from one to 〈◊〉 that the next day when the Senators should enter into the Senate-house they found at the doore a great number of the principall Matrons of Rome vpon their knees who made a very earnest petition to them 〈◊〉 they would not make so vniust a law that a man should haue two wiues but rather that a woman might haue two husbands The Senators knowing nothing of the matter were not a little amazed and when they were entered into the Senate one asked another what this strange kinde of inciuilitie and shamelesnesse of their wiues should meane But no man being able to make any reason of the matter the little Boy seeing them so confused steppeth forth and told them openly how the matter had passed and that he was driuen for feare of stripes to deuise this answer to satisfie his mother The Senate commended the Boy and decreed that none of their sonnes should enter any more into the Senate-house but onely this Papyrius lest their secrets might be disclosed by the importunacie of their mothers Demosthenes gaue this counsell vnto Corinthus that asked him with what conditions a wife ought chiefly to be furnished Be sure saith he that thy wife be rich that the necessities of thy life may be supplied and the continuance of thine estate plentifully supported Let her be nobly descended the better to minister to thy reputation and bring honour to thy posteritie Let her be young that shee may the better delight thee and thou finde no occasion to thinke marriage lothsome Let her be faire the better to content thy desires and containe thee from others And let her bee vertuous and wise to the end thou maist safely commit thine estate to her gouernment For whosoeuer taketh a wife without these conditions is sure to finde that hee feareth and faile of that which should make the marriage happy For of all accidents ordained to trouble the life of man there cannot bee a greater infelicitie then to bee euill encountred in marriage Hee taketh small pleasure of all that euer hee hath besides that is wiued against his appetite One being asked who was a chaste wife answered She that is not bold that doth not cuill when her husband offends her that may and will not that hateth money the doore and the window that careth not for feasts and bankets for dancing nor to be curious in apparell that heareth no messages nor receiueth letters nor presents from louers that will not goe 〈◊〉 stand alone that esteemeth her husband whatsoeuer he be aboue all others that spinneth seweth feareth God and prayeth often and willingly to him that is the last that speaketh and the first that holdeth her peace which made Propertius commend women of the elder time thus Non illis studium vulgo conquirere amantes Illis ampla satis forma pudicitia They studied not to range abroad For Louers to inquire To be held chaste the beautie was Which they did most desire The old Romans seemed not to think marriage a happie estate by a speech vsed by Metellus the Oratour to perswade them to marriage If we could said he be without wiues we should then be all free froÌ„ that trouble but seeing nature hath so ordered the matter that we cannot commodiously liue with them nor by any meanes without them wee must haue respect rather to the perpetuall good then to the short pleasures And what doth more vnquiet a mans minde then to stand in doubt whether the children of whom he beareth the name of their father be his or not To this purpose I remember a pretie deuice reported by a credible Authour that a woman made to satisfie her husband This man was of the Nobilitie and of great possessions and married a wife of the like estate and beautifull withall but not of the best fame This woman was deliuered of a goodly boy and as shee held him on a day in her armes and perceiuing her husband sit very sadly as though his mind were greatly troubled fetching deepe sighes shee asked him what was the cause of this great pensiuenesse and sighes The husband sighing againe I would quoth he giue halfe my land that I were as certenly assured that this boy were mine as he is known to you to be yours There shall not need said the wife keeping her countenance with great sobrietie so great a price only giue mee an hundred acres of medow wherewith to feed my cattell and I will put you out of doubt of this matter and when he had told her it was vnpossible yet they agreed to call in certaine Noblemen and Gentlemen to heare the bargaine which in their presence being agreed vpon shee holding the boy in her armes said vnto her husband Is this boy in very deed mine When he affirmed it to be so shee held foorth the boy in her armes to her husband Take him said shee I giue him to you now hee is out of doubt yours Wherewith all that were present fell into a laughing and gaue sentence with the wife condemning the husband Alphonsus King of Arragon was accustomed to say that if a man will see a perfect and well sorted marriage the husband must be deafe and the wife blinde that hee may not heare her brawling nor shee see her husbands wanton toyes When one admoâ—…shed his friend that hee should stay the marriage of his sonne vntill he were wise Yee deceiue your selfe my friend quoth he for if he once grow to be wise hee will neuer marry One hearing this preached Whosoeuer will be saued must beare his Crosse ranne to his wife and laid her vpon his shoulders Pbilemâ—… said that a wife is a necessarie and perpetuall euill to her husband because there is nothing more hard to be found in all the world then a good wife following the old prouerbe That a good wife a good Mule and a good Goate are three naughtie beasts But ynough of this It shall bee good to be warned by old Homers counsell and not to touch this string too much lest we plucke the house vpon our head Talia nate loquens haud multo tempore viues Speaking these things oh sonne Thou hast not long to liue Thus may wee see how hard a matter it is to finde out any estate that is not subiect to infelicitie and miserie and if wee should peruse the estate of peace which is desired of all men and is a great blessing of God we shall finde that the long continuance of that happie estate is many times the cause of great infelicitie Such is the corruption of our nature to turne that good which God sendeth to the benefit of men to our owne euill and harme which is by the Poet truly affirmed Nunâ—… patimur longae pacis mala saeuior armis Luxuria incubuit victumque
vlciscitur orbem The euils of long peace Now luxury is held w'indure Amongst vs raging worse then Warre To auenge the conquered world Philemon in his Comedie bringeth in a plaine Countriman that derided the Philosophers disputing vpon their Summum Bonum one placing it in this thing another in that according to the diuersitie of their conceits Yee mistake the matter quoth this homely fellow to the Philosophers peace is the thing wherein the felicitie of man consisteth for nothing is better nor more desired or pleasant that God hath giuen to men then peace Yet notwithstanding wee doe see that a long continued peace engendreth luxuriousnesse and intemperance whereof ensueth beastly drunkennesse and an infinite number of diseases both of body and minde that besides many torments hasten men to their end it encreaseth riches which bringeth foorth couetousnesse pride vaine glory and ambition whereof ensueth vncharitable contention by law and effusion of innocent blood by ciuill Warres to the vtter ruine and destruction oftentimes of many goodly Kingdomes and Common-wealths Which was the cause that mooued Scipio to disswade the Romans from the destruction of Carthage lest by liuing securely in continuall peace without feare of any enemie they should at the length turne their weapons to their owne bodies which came euen so to passe Lodouicus Guicciardine in his description of the Low-Countrey seemed to presage the fall of Antwerpe before their Ciuill Warres began by reason of their abundance of riches wherein they were thought to exceed all the townes in Europe and luxuriousnesse security of life by their long peace Which may be a warning to other countries that finde themselues drowned in the like vices Cato said that luxuriousnesse and couetousnesse were two plagues that ouerthrow all great Empires Cyprian findeth fault with the corruption of his time by long peace Idlenesse saith he and long peace hath corrupted the discipline deliuered by the Apostles euery man laboureth to increase his patrimonie and is carried away with an insatiable desire to augment his possessions What would he haue said of the couetousnesse and greedy desires of these dayes Many examples may be produced out of Histories of the ouerthrow of Cities and countries by the vices gathered by long peace Euscbius reporteth that the long peace and rest which the Christians enioyed from the persecution that was in the gouernment of the Emperour Aurelian to the raigne of Dioclesian was the cause that the Christians manner of liuing began to be corrupted so as many iniquities did grow presently and the former old holinesse began to decrease and such disorders and dissentions began to be mooued among the Bishops and Prelates that as Eusebius saith God suffered the persecution of Dioclesiâ—… to serue in place of reuenge and chastisement of his Church which was so extreme and bloody and full of crueltie that neither is it possible for a pen to write not tongue to pronounce it So that whether wee liue in the warres or in peace each of them hath in them their infelicitie Occidit ignavus dum pralia pace quiescunt The slothfull dyes whil'st warres sleepe in peace Now if wee should prosecute in a generalitie this discourse of the miseries of man as wee haue done of their particular estates how many kinds of paines and torments hee suffereth in this life and how many wayes and in what miserable estate hee commeth by his death wee should rather lacke time then matter to write of But to follow the course that we haue already taken in other things let vs of an infinite number of examples select some few What paines and troubles men suffer in this life in labouring to attaine to their desires something hath beene said before and more shall be said hereafter Likewise what miseries men haue suffered by the warres hath beene touched already Now resteth to speake something of the calamities that happen to men by diseases and accidents which bring them to their end whereof we will recite some few examples of those that be rare and somewhat strange But first wee will adde one more to that which hath beene spoken before of famine a most miserable plague and horrible kinde of death one of the whips and scourges wherewith God vseth to punish the sinnes of men In the fourth booke of the Kings mention is made of a famine in Samaria in the time of Helizeus which was in all extremitie and when all their victuals were consumed the mothers did eate their owne children insomuch that a poore woman made her complaint to the King seeing him vpon the walles that a woman her neighbour would not performe a bargaine made betweene them which was that they should eate her childe first which said shee vnto the King I haue performed for wee sod and ate my childe and shee presently hath conueyed away her childe and hath hidden him that I should not eate my part of him which when the King heard his heart was ready for griefe to breake and leape out of his body and hee beganne to rent his garments and couered his flesh with sack-cloth saying God make mee so and as followeth in the Text. CHAP. IIII. Of sundry sorts of plagues and pestilence and great mortalities The Iudgements of God vpon diuers euill men Of Popyelus King of Polonia and his Queene Arnolphus and Hotto Bishop of Ments c. Other strange accidents concerning Gods great Iustice. The miraculous effects of feare sorrow and ioy approoued by History The instability of fortune instanced in the story of Policrates King of Samos His daughters ominous dreame His great prosperity and miserable end That no man can be said to be happy before death Of the vaine trust in riches and of rich and couetous men Auarice reprooued and punished c. CRedible Authors report that in Constantinople there was a strange kinde of pestilence in such manner as those which were sick therof thought themselues to be killed by other men and being troubled with that feare died madde supposing men did kill them Thucidides reporteth that there was a corruption of the aire in Greece that infinit numbers of people died without finding any remedy and such as recouered health lost their memory knowledge so as one knew not another not the father his child Certaine souldiers that were vnder the Lieutenant of the Emperour Marcus Anthonius being in Seleucia went into the Church of Apollo where they opened a coffer thinking to find some great treasure but the contagious aire that came forth of it first destroyed a great part of the people of Babylon then it entred into Greece and from thence to Rome whereof ensued such a pestilence that it destroyed a third part of the people In France there was such a disease at Aix that the people would die eating and drinking many would fall into a frenzie and drowne themselues in welles others would cast themselues out of their windowes and breake their neckes The mortalitie growing