himself from biting with the other hand by thrusting his Coat into the mouth of it so letting it creep whither it would he followed holding it as his guide until the way was too streight for him and then dismissed it The Fox being loose ran through an hole at which came a little light and there did Aristomenes delve so long with his nails that at last he clawed out his passage and so got home in safety as both the Corinthians and Spartans after found to their cost 6. An. Dom. 1568. upon the Eve of All-Saints by the swelling of the Sea there was so great a deluge as covered certain Islands of Zealand a great part of the Sea coast of Holland and almost all Frizland In Frizland alone there were 2000 persons drowned many men who had climbed to the tops of Hills and Trees were ready to give up the ghost for hunger but were in time saved by Boats Amongst the rest upon an Hill by Sneace they found an Infant carried thither by the water in its Cradle with a Cart lying by it the poor Babe was soundly sleeping without any fear and then happily saved 7. William of Nassau Prince of Orange as he lay in Camp near to the Duke de Alva's Army some Spaniards in the night broke into his Camp and some of them ran as far as the Prince of Orange his Tent where he lay fast asleep He had a Dog lying by him on the bed that never left barking and scratching him by the face till he had waked him and by this means he escaped the danger 8. In that horrible Earthquake at Antioch it 's said by Dion that the Emperour Trajan was saved by miracle for by one of greater than humane stature in the ruine of the houses he was snatched out at the window After which for fear he abode some days in the open Air and in the publick Tents of the Hippodrome 9. An. Dom. 1045. the Emperour Henry the Third travelling toward Hungary upon the River Danubius Richilda the Widow of Albert Earl of Ebersberg entertained and lodged him very sumptuously and as she was making her supplication to the Emperour that Bosenburg and some other Lands in the Earls possession might be given to her Nephew Welpho while the Emperour in token of his Grant reached her his hand the Chamber-floor suddenly broke under them The Emperour fell into a bathing Vessel that was in the Stove underneath the same room and had no harm but Bruno the Bishop of Wirtzburg Cousin to the Emperour Alemanus the Bishop of Ebersberg and Richilda lighting upon the brinks of the Vessel were so sore hurt and bruised that they died some few days after A little before saith Aventine there appeared to Bruno as he was aboard the Barque with the Emperour a certain Ghost like an Ethiop who stood upon an high Rock and having called Bruno vanished 10. In the Earthquake of Apulia that happened in the year 1627. on the last day of Iuly one writeth That in the City of St. Severine alone ten thousand souls were taken out of the world that in the horrour of such infinite ruines and sepulchre of so many mortals a great Bell thrown out of a Steeple by the Earthquake fell so fitly over a child that it inclosed him and doing no harm made a Bulwark for him against any other danger Who balanced the motion of this metal but the same fingers that distended the Heavens 11. In Edge-hill Fight Sir Gervase Scroop fighting valiantly for his King received twenty six wounds and was left on the ground amongst the dead next day his Son Adrian obtained leave of the King to find and fetch off his Fathers Corps and his hopes pretended no higher than a decent Interrement thereof such a search was thought in vain amongst many naked bodies with wounds disguised from themselves and where pale death had confounded all complexions together However ever he having some general hint of the place where his Father fell did light upon his body which had some heat left therein the heat was with rubbing within a few minutes improved to motion that motion within some hours into sense that sense within a day into speech that speech within certain weeks into a perfect recovery living more than ten years after a monument of Gods mercy and his Sons affection The effect of this story I received from his own mouth in Lincoln Colledge 12. Pomponius was one of the number of those who were proscribed by the Triumvirate at Rome but he escaped death by a notable shift He takes to him the Ensigns of the Pretorship he in his Robe his Servants as so many Lictors with their Fasces kept close about their Master lest he should be known by such as they met in this order they passed undiscovered through the midst of the City At the Gate as Pretor he took and got up into a publick Chariot and so passed through all Italy pretending to be an Ambassador from the Triumvirate to Sextus Pompeius and was thereupon also furnished with a publick Barge with which he passed over into Sicily at that time the securest Sanctuary for the distrossed No small wonder it is that amongst so many men in so many places upon divers occasions he should not meet with any person that did betray him to those who sought after his life 13. Strange was that escape of Caesar in Egypt having hither pursued Pompey and discontented Ptolomy the King by demanding pay for his Souldiers he had his Navy which lay near the Pharos at Anchor assaulted by Achillas one of young Ptolomy's Courtiers Caesar himself was then at Alexandria and hearing of the Skirmish he hastned to the Pharos meaning to succour his Navy in person But the Egyptians making towards him on all sides he was compelled to leap into the Sea and swim for his life and though to avoid their Darts he sometimes dived under water yet held he still his left hand above and in it divers Books he drew after him his Generals Coat called Paludamentum with his teeth that his Enemies might not enjoy it as a Spoil and having swam thus 200 paces he got safe to his Ships where animating his Souldiers he also gained the Victory 14. Sir Richard Edgecomb Knight being zealous in the Cause of Henry Earl of Richmond afterwards King Henry the Seventh was in the time of King Richard the Third so hotly pursued and narrowly searched for that he was forced to hide himself in his thick Woods at his house at Cuttail in Cornwal Here extremity taught him a sudden policy to put a stone in his Cap and tumble the same into the water while these Rangers were fast at his heels who looking down after the noise and seeing his Cap swimming thereon supposed that he had desperately drowned himself and deluded by this honest fraud gave over their farther pursuit leaving him at liberty to shift over into Brittaigne 15.
very time he was carried out in a Cart towards the gate all covered with dung The man overcome with these entreaties of his friend â—mmediately runs out to the gate where he finds the Cart he had seen in his dream he seiâ—es and searches it finds there the body of his friend and drags the Inn-keeper to his deserved punishment 23. Upon a Sally made upon some of the Forces of Alexander the Great out of Harmata a City of the Brachmans many of his Souldiers were wounded with empoysoned Darts and as well those that were lightly as those that were deeper wounded daily perished Amongst the wounded was Ptolomy a great Captain and exceeding dear to Alexander when therefore in the night he had been solicitous about his welfare as one whom he tenderly loved he seemed in his sleep to see a Dragon holding a certain herb in his mouth and withal informing him both of the virtue it had and of the place where it grew He rises finds the herb bruises it and applies it to Ptolomy's Wound and by this means that great Ancestor of the Royal Family in Egypt was speedily restored 24. A rich Vessel of Gold being stolen out of the Temple of Hercules Sophocles by a Genius was shewed the resemblance and name of the Thief in his sleep which for the first and second time he neglected but being troubled a third night he went to the Areopagi to whom he made relation of what had passed They upon no other evidence summoned the party before them who after strict examination confessed the fact and made restitution of the Vessel For which discovery the Temple was ever after called Templum Herculis Indicis The Temple of Hercules the Discoverer 25. When Marcus Cicero was forced into Exile by an opposite Faction while he abode at a Village in the fields of Atinas in his sleep he thought that while he wandred through desert places and unknown Countries he met with C. Marius in all his Consular Ornaments and that he asked him wherefore his countenance was so sad and whither he intended that uncertain journey of his And when he had told him of his misfortune he took him by the right hand and gave him to the next Lictor with command to lead him into his Monument in as much as there was reserved for him a more happy Fortune and change of his condition Nor did it otherwise come to pass For in the Temple of Iupiter erected by Marius there it was that the Senate passed the Decree for the return of Cicero from his Exile 26. In the year of our Redemption 1553. Nicholas Wotton Dean of Canterbury being then Embassador in France dreamed that his Nephew Thomas Wotton was inclined to be a party in such a project as if he were not suddenly prevented would turn to the loss of his life and ruine of his family The night following he dreamed the same again and knowing that it had no dependence upon his waking thoughts much less on the desires of his heart he did then more seriously consider it and resolved to use so prudent a remedy by way of prevention as might introduce no great inconvenience to either party And to this end he wrote to the Queen it was Queen Mary and besought her that she would cause his Nephew Thomas Wotton to be sent for out of Kent and that the Lords of her Council might interrogate him in some such feigned questions as might give a colour for his Commitment into a favourable Prison declaring that he would acquaint Her Majesty with the true reason of his request when he should next become so happy as to see and speak with Her Majesty It was done as the Dean desired and Mr. Wotton sent to Prison At this time a Marriage was concluded betwixt our Queen Mary and Philip King of Spain which divers persons did not only declare against but raised Forces to oppose of this number Sir Thomas Wyat of Bexley Abbey in Kent betwixt whose Family and that of the Wottons there had been an ancient and entire friendship was the principal Actor who having perswaded many of the Nobility and Gentry especially of Kent to side with him and being defeated and taken Prisoner was arraigned condemned and lost his life so did the Duke of Suffolk and divers others especially many of the Gentry of Kent who were then in several places executed as Wyats assistants And of this number in all probability had Mr. Wotton been if he had not been confined For though he was not ignorant that another mans treason is made mine by concealing it yet he durst confess to his Uncle when he returned into England and came to visit him in Prison that he had more than an intimation of Wyats intentions and thought he had not continued actually innocent if his Uncle had not so happily dreamed him into a Prison 27. This forementioned Thomas Wotton also a little before his death dreamed that the University Treasury was rob'd by Townsmen and poor Scholars and that the number was five and being that day to write to his Son Henry at Oxford he thought it was worth so much pains as by a Postcript in his Letter to make a slight inquiry of it The Letter which was writ out of Kent came to his Sons hands the very morning after the night in which the robbery was committed and when the City and University were both in a perplexed inquest after the Thieves then did Sir Henry Wotton shew his Fathers Letter and by it such light was given of this work of darkness that the five guilty persons were presently discovered and apprehended without putting the University to so much trouble as the casting of a figure 28. Aristotle writeth of one Eudemus his familiar Friend who travelling to Macedonia came to the noble City of Phaecas in Thessaly then groaning under the immanity of the barbarous Tyrant Alexander In which place falling sick and being forsaken of all the Physicians as one desperate of recovery he thought he saw a young man in his dream who told him that in a short space he should be restored to his health that within a few days the Tyrant should be removed by death and that at the end of five years he himself should return home into his Country The two first happened accordingly but in the fifth year when encouraged by his dream he had hope to return from Sicily into Cyprus he was engaged by the way in a Battel fought against the Syracusans and there slain It seems the soul parting from the body is said to return into its own Country 29. Actia the Mother of Augustus the day before she was delivered of him dreamed that her bowels were carried up as high as Heaven it self and that there they were spread out in such manner that they covered the whole Earth a notable presignification of the mighty Empire and Grandeur which her Son afterwards attained unto 30. When Themistocles lived
where sate the Lacedemonian Embassadours who mov'd with the age of the man in reverence to his years and hoary hairs rose up and placed him in an honourable Seat amongst them which when the people beheld with a loud applause approv'd the modesty of another City At which it is reported that one of the Embassadours should say It appears that the Athenians do understand what is â—it to be done but withal they neglect the doing of it 13. Diodorus Cronus abiding in the Court of Ptolemaeus Soter had some Logick Questions and Fallacies propounded to him by Stilpon which when he could not answer upon the sudden the King reproached him both for that and other things he then also heard himself called Cronus by way of jeer aâ—d abuse whereupon he rose from the Feast and when he had wrote an Oration upon that question whereat he had been most stumbled he died through an excess of modesty and shame 14 C. Terentius Varro had almost ruined the Republick by his rash Fight with Hannibal at Cannas but the same man when his Dictatorship was proffered him both by the Senate and people did absolutely refuse it by the modesty of which act of his he seem'd to redeem his former miscarriage and caused men to transfer that calamity to the anger of the Gods but to impute his modesty to himself 15. C. Iulius Caesar assaulted in the Senate by many Swords and having received by the hands of the Parricides twenty three wounds upon his body yet even in death it self had a respect to modesty for he pulled down his Gown on both sides with his hand that so he might fall the more decently 16. Cassander gave command for the slaying of Olympias the Mother of Alexander the Great which so soon as the Executioner had acquainted her with she took special care so to wrap up her self in her cloaths that when she should fall no part of her body might be â—een uncovered but what did become the modesty of a Matron And thus died the Wife of Panthcus the Lacedemonian when ordered to be slain by â—tolâ—maeus King of Aegypt 17. Michael Emperour of Constantinople having been ever victorious in war yet being once beaten in Battel by the Bulgarians was so exceedingly ashamed of that his disgrace that in meer modesty he resign'd up the Empire and bâ—took himself to a private and solitary life for the remainder of his days 18. That was a modesty worthy of eternal praise in Godfrey of Bulloign by the universal consent of the whole Army he was saluted King of Ierusalem upon the taking of it out of the hands of the Saracens there was also brought him a Crown of Gold sparkling with Jewels to set upon his head but he put it by saying it was most unsit for him who was a mortal man a servant and a sinner to be there crowned with Gems and Gold where Christ the Son of God who made Heaven and Earth was crowned with Thorns 19. M. Scaurus was the Light and Glory of his Country he at such time as the Cimbrians had beat the Romans at the River Athesis and that his Son was amongst them who â—led towards the City sent his Son this word that he should much more willingly meet with his Bones after he had been killed in Fight than to see him guilty of such horrible cowardise in flight And therefore that if he had any kind of modesty remaining in him degenerate Son as he was he should shun the sight of his displeased Father for the memory of his own youth did admonish him what a kind of Son M. Scaurus should esteem of or despise Upon this news from the Father the Son's modesty was such that not presuming to shew himself in his sight he was constrain'd to be more valiant against himself than the Enemy and slew himself with his own Sword 20. Cornelius a Senator shed many tears in a full Senate when Corbulo called him bald Ostridge Seneca admireth that such a man who in all things else had shewed himself so most courageously opposite against other injuries lost his constancy for one ridiculous saying which might have been smothered in laughter but this blow was rather given him by imagination and a deep appâ—eâ—ension of shame than by the tongue of his Enemy 21. Archytas did ever preserve a singular modesty in his speech as well as in all other his behaviour he shunned all kind of obscenity in words and when there was a necessity sometimes of speaking more absurdly he was ever silent he wrote upon the Wall what should have been said but he himself could never be perswaded to pronounce it 22. We read of divers who through modesty and fear when they were to speak publickly have been so disappointed that they were fain to hold their tongues Thus Cicero writes of Curio that being to plead in a cause before the Senate he utterly forgot what to say Also Theophrastus being to speak before the people of Athens was on the sudden so deprived of memory that he remained silent The same happened to the famous Demosthenes in the presence of King Philip to Herodes Aâ—ticus before M. Amonius and to Lysias the Sophist being to make an Oration to Severus the Emperour Nor are we ignorant that the like misfortune hath befallen divers excellent persons in our times and amongst others to Bartholomaeus Sozzinus who went from Rome in the name of Pope Alexander to congratulate the Republick of Siena but was not able to speak what he had premeditated 23. Martia Daughter of Varro was one of the rarest wits in her time was skillful in all Arts but in Painting she had a peculiar excellency notwithstanding which she could never be drawn to paint a man naked lest she might offend against the rules of Modesty 24. A grave and learned Minister and Ordinary Preacher at Alcmar in Holland was one day as he walked in the Fields for his recreation suddenly taken with a Lask or Loosness and thereupon compelled to retire to the next Ditch but being surprised at unawares by some Gentlewomen of his Parish wandring that way he was so abashed that he did never after shew his head in publick or come into the Pulpit but pined away with melancholy CHAP. XIX Of Impudence and the Shameless Behaviour of divers Persons AS many are deterred from some kind of praise-worthy Actions through a natural Modesty and Bashfulness that attends them so on the other side some persons of evil inclinations are by the same means restrain'd from dishonest and unseemly things but when once the Soul is deserted of this Guardian and as I may call it a kind of Tutelar Angel to it there is nothing so uncomely or justly reprovable but the man of a Brazen Fore-head will adventure upon 1. This year 1407 saith Doctor Fuller a strange accident if true happened take it as an Oxford Antiquary is pleased to relate it to us One
God to take care of heavenly things and not to cross him in his worldly actions He kept no promise further than for his advantage and took all occasions to satisfie his lust 18. Philomelus Onomarchus and Phaillus had spoil'd the Temple of Delphos and had their punishment divinely allotted to them For whereas the ordained punishment of sacrilegious persons is this That they shall die by being thrown head-long from some high place or by being choak'd in the water or burnt to ashes in the fire Not long after this plunder of theirs one of them was burnt alive another drowned and the third was thrown head-long from an high and steep place so that by these kinds of deaths they suffered according to that Law which amongst the Grecians was made against such as are found guilty of Sacriledge 19. Agathocles without any provocation came upon the Liparenses with a Fleet and exacted of them fifty Talents of Silver The Liparenses desired a further time for the payment of some part of the money saying they could not at present furnish so great a summ unless they should make bold with such gifts as had been devoted to the gods and which they had never used to abuse Agathocles forc'd them to pay all down forthwith though part of the money was inscribed with the names of Aeolus and Vulcan so having received it he set sail from them but a mighty wind and storm arose whereby the ten Ships that carryed the money were all dasht in pieces Whereupon it was said that Aeolus who is said thereabouts to be the god of the Winds had taken immediate revenge upon him and that Vulcan remitted his to his death for Agathocles was afterwards burnt alive in his own Country 20. Cambyses sent fifty thousand Souldiers to pull down the Temple of Iupiter Ammon but all that number having taken their repast betwixt Oasis and the Ammonians before they came to the place perished under the vast heaps of sand that the wind blew upon them so that not so much as one of them escaped and the news of their calamity was only made known by the neighbouring Nations 21. When those bloody wars in France for matters of Religion saith Richard Dinoth were so violently pursued between the Hugonots and Papists there were divers found that laughed them all to scorn as being a sort of superstitious fools to lose their lives and fortunes upon such slender accounts accounting Faith Religion immortality of the Soul meer fopperies and illusions And as Mercennus thinks there are fifty thousand Atheists in Paris at this day 22. Bulco Opiliensis sometimes Duke of Silesia was a perfect Atheist he lived saith Aeneas Sylvius at Vratislavia and was so mad to satisfie his lust that he believed neither Heaven nor Hell or that the Soul was immortal but married Wives and sent them away as he thought good did murder and mischief and whatsoever he himself took pleasure to do 23. Frederick the Emperour saith Matthew Paris is reported to have said that there were three principal Impostors Moses Christ and Mahomet who that they might rule the world had seduced all those that liv'd in their times And Henry the Lantgrave of Hesse heard him speak it That if the Princes of the Empire would adhere to his institutions he would ordain and set forth another and better way both for Faith and Manners CHAP. II. Of such as were exceeding hopeful in Youth but afterwards improv'd to the worse THere is nothing saith Montaigne at this day more lovely to behold than the French Children but for the most part they deceive the hope that was fore-apprehended of them for when they once become men there is no excellency at all in them Thus as many a bright and fair morning has been followed with dark and black Clouds before Sun-set so not a few have out-liv'd their own vertues and utterly frustrated the good hopes that were conceived of them 1. Dionysius the younger the Tyrant of Sicily upon the death of his father shew'd himself exceeding merciful and of a Princely liberality he set at liberty three thousand persons that were under restraint for debt making satisfaction to the Creditors himself He remitted his ordinary Tributes for the space of three years and did several other things whereby he gain'd the favour and universal applause of the people But having once established himself in the Government he re-assumed that disposition which as it appears he had only laid aside for a time He caused his Uncles to be put to death whom he was aw'd by or stood in fear of he slew his own Brethren that he might have no Rival in the Soveraignty and soon after he raged against all sorts with a promiscuous cruelty in such manner that he deserved to be called not so much the Tyrant as Tyranny it self 2. Philip the last King of the Macedonians but one and who made war upon the Romans was as Polybius saith of him who saw and knew him a Prince adorned with most of the gifts and perfections both of body and mind he had a comely visage a straight and proper body a ready eloquence a strong memory comprehensive wit a facetious ingenuity in his speeches and replyes accompanyed with a Royal gravity and majesty he was well seen in matters of Peace and War he had a great spirit and a liberal mind and in a word he was a King of that promising and fair hope as scarcely had Macedon or Greece it self seen any other his like But behold in a moment all this noble building was overturn'd whether by the fault of Fortune that was adverse to him in his dispute with the Romans brake his spirit and courage and wheel'd him back from his determined course unto Glory or whether it was by the fault of Informers or his own who gave too easie and inconsiderate an ear to them however it came to pass he laid aside the better sort of men poysoned some and slew others not sparing his own blood at length for he put to death his own son Demetrius To conclude that Philip concerning whom there were such goodly hopes and in the beginning of whose Reign there had been such happy and auspicious discoveries declin'd unto all kind of evil prov'd a bad Prince hated and unfortunate 3. Herod King of Iudea in the six first years of his Reign was as gallant mild and magnificent a Prince as any other whatsoever but during the rest of his Rule which was one and thirty years he was fierce and cruel both to others and to his own friends and family to that degree that at one time he caused seventy Senators of the Royal blood to be put to death he slew his Wife and three of his own sons and at the last when he saw that he himself was at the point to die he sent for all the Nobles from every part of Iudea upon the pretence of some weighty occasion and when they were
Wife of Seleucus had not one hair upon her head yet notwithstanding gave six hundred Crowns to a Poet who had celebrated her in his Verse and sung that her hair had the tincture of the Marygold I know not how this soothing flatterer meant it but this Queen became very proud of it which made her so much the more ridiculous 16. Rudolphus King of the Heruli warred with Tado King of the Lombards and when both Armies approached each other Rudolph committed the whole to his Captains he himself remained in his Tent in the mean time and sate jesting at the Table 'T is true he sent one to the top of a Tree to behold the fortune of the day but withall told him if he brought him ill news he would take his head from his shoulders This Scout beheld the Heruli to run but not daring to carry that news to the King consulted only his own safety by which means the King and all that were with him were taken and slain 17. Nero the Emperour was so luxuriously wastful and beyond all reason and measure that he would not fish but with Nets of Gold drawn with purple coloured Cords It is said he took delight to dig the Earth with a Golden Spade and when there was question about cutting the Isthmus of Corinth a design that had long troubled his brain he went thither led on with musical Violins holding in his hand the Golden Spade with which he began in the sight of the whole world to break the ground a matter which seemed ridiculous to the wiser sort living in that age 18. C. Caligula presented himself to be adored ordained peculiar sacrifices to himself at nights in case the Moon shined out full and bright he invited her to embracements and to lye with him the day he would spend in private conference with Iupiter Capitolinus sometimes whispering and laying his ear close to the Statue of him and sometimes again talking aloud as if he had been chiding Nay being angry with Heaven because his interludes were hindred by claps of Thunder and his banquetting disturbed with flashes of lightning he challenged Iupiter to fight with him and without ceasing roared out that verse of Homer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 None is O Iove more mischievous than thou or else that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dispatch thou me Or I will thee whereupon Seneca inferrs what extreme folly was that to think that either Iupiter could not hurt him or that he could hurt Iupiter 19. The servants of the Moscovites yea and their Wives too do often complain of their Lords that they are not well beaten by them for they look upon it as a sign of their indignation and displeasure with them if they are not frequently reproached and beaten by them 20. In the worship of Hercules Lyndius it was the manner that such as stood by him that embowelled the sacrifice did curse the bowels and wish heavy Imprecations upon them 21. Poliarchus the Athenian was arrived at that height of Luxury and Folly that if any of his Dogs or Cocks that he loved chanced to die he made publick Funerals for them invited his friends and buried them with great sumptuousness erecting Pillars upon their Monuments upon which also he caused their Epitaphs to be engraven CHAP. XXVII Of such as have been at vast Expences about unprofitable Attempts and where-from they have been enforced to desist or whereof they have had small or no benefit THere is scarce any thing of that difficulty but some one or other have had the confidence to undertake it and there have been some men of that nature as to desire nothing more than to effect that which others have looked upon as altogether impossible Some of those costly designs have been given over as suddenly as they were rashly adventured upon and others made to miscarry by some accident or other 1. In the Province of Northgoia a part of Bavaria the Emperour Charles the great caused a Ditch to be begun which should have been in length two thousand paâ—es and in breadth three hundred whâ—reby through the help of the Rivers Regnitz and Altmul he meant to have made a passage for Boats from the Danubius into the River of Rhine which begun work was hindred by continual rains and the Marishness of the Grounds 2. Full West of the City of Memphis close upon the Libyan Desarts alost on a rocky level adjoining to the Valley stand those Pyramids the barbarous Monuments of Prodigality and vain glory so universally celebrated the Regal Sepulchers of the Aegyptians The greatest of the three and chiefest of the Worlds seven wonders being square at the bottom is supposed to take up eight Acres of ground every square being three hundred single paces in length The square at the top consisting of three stones only yet large enough for threescore to stand upon ascended by two hundred fifty five steps each step above three foot high of a breadth proportionable No stone so little throughout the whole as to be drawn by our Carriages yet were these hewen out of the Trojan Mountains far off in Arabia a wonder how coâ—veyed hither how so mounted a greater Twenty years it was in building by three hundred sixty six thousand men continually wrought upon who only in Radishes Garlick and Onions are said to have consumed one thousand and eight hundred Talents It hath stood as may be probably conjectured about three thousand two hundred years and now rather old than ruinous Herodotus reports That King Cleops became so poor by the building hereof that he was compelled to prostitute his daughter charging her to take whatsoever she could get Arsinoe is eighty Miles distant from Cairo the ancient Kings of Aegypt seeking by vain and wonderful works to eternize the memory of themselves had with incredible charge and cost cut through all that main Land so that Vessels of good burden might come up the same from Arsinoe to Cairo which great cut or ditch Sâ—sostris the mighty King of Aegypt and long after him Ptolomaeus Philadelphus purposed to have made a great deal wider and deeper and thereby to have let the Red Sea into the Mediterraâ—ean for the readier Transportation of the Inâ—ian Merchandize to Cairo and to Alexandreâ— which mad work Sesostris prevented by death 〈◊〉 not perform and Ptolomaeus otherwise perswaded by skilful men in time gave over for fear lest by letting in the grâ—at South Sea into the Mediterranean he should theâ—â—by as it were with another general Deluge have drowned the greatest part of Grecia and many other goodly Countries of Asia and with exceeding charge instead of honour have purchased himself eternal infamy 4. The Emperour Caius Calâ—gula desired nothing more earnestly than to effect that which others thought was utterly impossible to be brought to pass And hereupon it was that he made a Bridge which extended it self from Baiae to Puteoli that is three Miles and six
he advised men to marry their daughters when Virgins for age and women for wisdom thereby obscurely hinting that Virgins were to be instructed To do good to friends and enemies to oblige the one and reconcile the other that going forth we should ask what we are about to do and returning what we have done to be more ready to hear than speak not to dally nor quarrel with our Wives in the presence of others to overcome pleasure and not to be insolent in prosperity he died seventy years of age his saying was A Measure is the best Laert. lib. 1. p. 23 24. 7. Periander the Corinthian was the son of Cypselus he seised upon the Government and became the Tyrant of Corinth being the first that kept a Life-guard about him he said They that would Rule safely must be rather fenced with love and good will than arms that rest is desirable petulancy dangerous gain â—ilthy pleasures fading but honour is immortal He advised to keep promises reveal no secrets to be the same towards our friends fortunate or otherwise and to punish not only those that commit a fault but those also that are about to do it he held his Tyranny forty years and flourished in the thirty eighth Olympiad his saying was In meditation there is all Laert. lib. 1. p. 24 25. 8. Anacharsis the son of Gnurus and brother of Cadvides King of the Scythians came to Athens and was received by Solon as his friend he used to say That the Vine had three Clusters the first of pleasure the second of drunkenness and the third of sorrow and repentance that Sea-men are but four inches distant from death and that the Market-place is a spot of ground where men meet on purpose to deceive oâ—e another Being asked what Ships were the â—afest he replied Those in the Haven when reproached by one of Athens for being a Scythian My Country said he is a reproach to me but thou art so to thy Country When abused by a young man at a Feast Youngster said he if you cannot bear your Wine while young you will carry Water when you are old He is said to have found out the Anchor and the Potters Wheel returning into Scythia he highly commended the Laws of Greece and endeavouring to abolish those of his own Country he was shot dead at a hunting by the King his brother Laert. lib. 1. p. 26. 9. Epimenides the son of Phaestius a Cretans is said to have slept fifty seven years was illustrious amongst the Greeks and a friend of the gods he purged the City of Athens and thereby freed it of the pestilence Phlegon saith he lived one hundred fifty seven years he was contemporary with Solon Laert. lib. 1. p. 29. 10. Pherecydes the son of Badys was a Syrian strange things are reported of him as that walking upon the Shore and seeing a Ship sailing with a prosperous wind he said that Ship would be presently cast away as it was in their sight also having drank water out of a pit he foretold there would be an Earthquake within three daies which also came to pass coming to Messana he warned Perilaus his Host to depart thence with all that he had which he neglecting to do Messana was taken he is said to have died of the lowsie disease he lived in the fifty ninth Olympiad Laert. lib. 1. p. 31. 11. Anaximander the Milesian held Infinityâ— to be the beginning and element of all things not air or water which changed in its parts but immutable in the whole that the Earth is the Center and round that the Moon has no light of her own the Sun is bigger than the Earth and is the purest fire he found out the Gnomon upon Dials first described the compass of Sea and Land and made a Sphear he lived to sixty two years and died about the fifty eighth Olympiad Laert. lib. 2. p. 33. 12. Anaxagoras the son of Euâ—ulus a Clazomenian was noble and rich but left all to his friends when one said he had no care of his Country Yes but I have said he pointing towards Heaven He said the Sun was a red hot iron bigger than Peloponnesus that the Moon was habitable and that there were Hills and Valleys therein that the Milky way was the reflex light of the Sun that the Origine of Winds is the extenuation of the air by the Sun Being asked what he was born for To contemplate said he the Sun Moon and Heavens he said the whole frame of Heaven consisted of Stone and that it was kept from falling by the swift turning of it He died at Lampsacum in the first year of the seventy eighth Olympiad Laert. lib. 2. p. 34. 13. Socrates the son of Sophroniscus was an Athenian he was valiant patient constant and contented His food was so wholsom and he so temperate that though the Pestilence was often in Athens yet he alone was never sick seeing a multitude of things exposed to sale What a number of things said he have I no need of He took no notice of those that reproached or backbited him He was powerful in perswasion and disswading as he apprehended the occasion for either he said it was a strange thing that all men could tell what Goods they had but no man how many friends he hath so remiss are they in that matter that knowledge is the only good thing and ignorance the only evil that Riches and Nobility have nothing of worth in them that his Genius did presignifie future things to him that other men liv'd to eat but he did eat to live Being asked what was the principal vertue of youth He replyed Not to over-do and Whether it were best to marry or live single he answered In both you will repent He advised youth daily to contemplate themselves in a glass that if handsome they might make themselves worthy of it if deformed they might cover it with Learning By the Oracle of Apollo he was judged the wisest of men by which he fell into the envy and hatred of many was accused as the despiser of the old and a setter forth of new gods and thereupon being condemned he drank poyson the Athenians soon after bewailed the loss of him he died in the ninety fifth Olympiad aged seventy Laeâ—t lib. 2. p. 37 38. 14. Aristippus the Cyrenian moved with the glory of Socrates came to Athens and there professing himself a Sophist was the first of the Socraticks that exacted a reward he was a man that knew how to serve every place time and person and he himself aptly sustained what person he pleased upon which account he was more gracious with Dionysius than any other and by Diogenes called the Royal Dog Being asked what he had learned by Philosophy To use all men said he with confidence When one upbraided him that he lived sumptuously If that were evil said he we should not use it in the Festivals of the gods Dionysius asked him the reason Why Philosophers came to
by them 11. It was a received opinion and confirmed by Oracles that out of Iudaea should come the Lord of the Universe the Jews interpreting this to their advantage rebelled and assembling in Mount Carmel brake out into Sedition they flew the Prefect forced to flight the Legate of Syria a Consular person who came in with Forces to reduce them and endeavoured to drive out the Roman Name from Iudaea To repress this Commotion when it was thought fit to send a strong power and an able Leader Flavianus Vespasian was pitched upon as the fittest person He having reduced the Jews upon the death of Otho was saluted Caesar by his Army and having overcome Vitellius obtained the Roman Empire Thus the Oracle was fulfilled which being ill understood by the Jews had administred occasion to them to rebel 12. An Astrologer having viewed the Nativity of Constans the Emperour predicted that he should dye in the lap of his Mother now he had been trained up by Helena his Grandmother his Mother Fausta being dead before but when his Grandmother was dead also he looked upon the prediction as altogether vain but there was a Town in Spain called by the name of his Grandmother Helena there he was slain and so after his death the obscurity of the prediction was unridled 13. There were some ancient Verses of the Sibyls in which was contained that when Africa should again fall under the power of the Romans Mundum cum proâ—e suâ interiturum This Prophecy of the Sibyls affrighted very many extremely solicitous lest the Heavens and the Earth together with all Mankind should then perish But Africa being reduced by the fortunate vertue of Belisarius it then appeared that the death of Mundus the then General and of Mauritius his Son was predicted by the Sibyl who in a Battel against the Goths were both slain at Salona a City in Dalmatia 14. Nero Caesar consulted the Oracle of Apollo at Delphos touching his future Fortune and was thereby advised to beware of the sixty and third year he concluded that he should not only arrive to old age but also that all things should be prosperous to him and was so entirely possessed that nothing could be fatal till that year of his age that when he had lost divers things of great value by shipwrack he doubted not to say amongst his Attendants that the fishes would bring them back to him But he was deceived in his expectation for Galba being in the sixty third year of his age was saluted Emperour by his Souldiers and Nero being forced to death was succeeded by him in the Empire 15. Alexius the Emperour having long delayed the time of his return to Blachernas at the last Election was made of a prosperous time according to the Position of the Stars as to the day and hour he set forth and the truth is so happily that so soon as ever he began his journey the Earth opened before him he himself escaped but Alexius his Son-in-law and divers of his Nobles fell in one of his Eunuchs also that was in principal favour with him was presently killed by it 16. The Sicilians and Latines had blocked up the Seas near to Constantinople and both infamy and loss being daily presented before his eyes Manuel the then Emperour set forth a Navy against them again and again which was still repulsed with slaughter and ignominy Whereupon the Astrologers were consulted Election is made of a more fortunate day and then the success is not doubted in the least Constantius Angelus an illustrious person prepares himself to conduct them and sets out against the Enemy but he is called back by hasty Messengers when he was half way and that upon this account that the Emperour did understand that the matter had not been sufficiently discussed amongst the Astrologers and that there was some errour committed in the election of that time A Scheme therefore was erected a second time and a long dispute held amongst the most skilful in that Art At last they agreed upon a time wherein there was a benevolent and propitious Aspect of the Planets Constantius sets forth again and you would now expect that the Victory should be his but it fell out otherwise for scarce had he put forth to Sea when which was the worst that could come both he and his were taken Prisoners 17. Alexander King of Epirus consulted the Oracle of Iupiter at Dodona a City of Epire about his life he was answered that he should shun the City of Pandosia and the River Acherusius as fatal places he knew there were such places amongst the Thesproti warring therefore upon the Brutii a warlike people he was by them overthrown and slain near unto places amongst them called by the same names 18. I have heard saith Bodinus of Constantine who of all the French is the chief Chymist and of the greatest Fame in that Country that when his Associates had long attended upon the Bellows without hope of profit they then had recourse to the Devil and inquired of him if they rightly proceeded and if they should attain to their desired end The Devil returned his answer in this one word Travaillez which is Labour The fire-men were so encouraged with this word that they went on and blowed at that rate that they multiplied all that they had into nothing and had yet further proceeded but that Constantine told them that this was the guise of Satan to make ambiguous Responses that the word Labour signified they should say aside Alchymy and betake themselves to some honest Art or Employment that it was the part of a man purely mad so fancy the making of that Gold in so small a space of time seeing that in the making of it Nature it self is wont to spend more than a thousand years 19. The Emperour Valens consulted the Devil about the name of him that should succeed him in the Empire the Devil answered in his accustomed manner and shewed the Greek Letters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THEOD intimating that the name of his Successor should begin with those Letters Valens therefore caused as many as he could to be slain whose names began in that manner the Theodori Theodoti Theoduli and amongst others Theodosiolus a Noble person in Spain others in fear of this new danger changed their names but for all this he could not prevent Theodosius from succeeding him in the Empire 20. Pope Sylvester the Second before called Gilbertus by Nation a French man obtained the Popedom by evil Arts and though while Pope he dissembled his skill in Magick yet he had a brazen Head in a private place from which â—e received Responses as oft as he consulted the evil Spirit On a time he inquired of the Devil how long he should enjoy the Popedom The fallacious Spirit answered him in equivocating terms If thou com'st not at Ierusalem thou shalt live long Whilst therefore in the fourth year the first month
roots with great care and then bruise them with stones till they become so soft as to cleave together of which they make a kind of Cakes of the bigness of a Brick as much as they can well hold in their hand and having baked them a while in the Sun they feed upon them 10. The Hylophagi are a people who live near unto these the manner of whom is with their wives and children to march into the Wood-land or fielden Country where they climb up into the trees and crop off the most tender branches of the boughs and young sprouts of them with which they fill their bellies and feed lustily upon By continual custom they have acquired such a dexterity in climbing that which may seem incredible they will leap from tree to tree like Squirrels and their bodies being lean and light they climb upon the smaller branches without danger if their feet slip they catch hold on the boughs with their hands and save themselves from falling or if they chance to fall they are so light that they receive little damage thereby 11. The Inhabitants of the Island of Corsica feed not only upon little Dogs that are tame but upon those also that are wild and therefore Cardan saith of them that they are cruel unfaithful bold prompt nimble strong according to the nature of the Dog the Thracians also fed upon Dogs 12. In a corner of Caramania dwell the Chelonophagi who feed upon flesh of Tortoises and cover their houses with the shells of them they are rough and hairy all over the body and are covered with the skins of fishes In the shells of the larger Tortoises which are hollow they sit and row about as in a Boat they use them also as a Cistern to preserve water in so that this one fish is the food and furniture the house and ship of this people 13. The Ancients fed upon Acorns especially the Arcadians made them their continual and daily food 14. The Inhabitants of Cumana both men women and children from their youth upwards learn to shoot in Bows Their meat is Horsleeches Bats Grashoppers Crevises Spiders Bees and raw sodden and roasted Lice They spare no living Creature whatsoever but they eat it which is to be wondred at considering their Country is so well replenished with good Bread Wine Fruit Fish and all kind of flesh in great abundance Hence it is observed that these people have always spots in their eyes or else are dim of sight though some impute this to the property of the water in the River of Cumana 15. In our Travel with the Ambassador of the King of Bramaa to the Calaminham we saw in a Grot men of a Sect of one of their Saints or rather of a Devil named Angemacur these lived in deep holes made in the midst of the Rock according to the rule of their wretched order eating nothing but Flies Ants Scorpions and Spiders with the juyce of a certain herb growing in abundance thereabouts much like to Sorrel These spent their time in meditating day and night with their eyes lifted up to heaven and their hands closed one within another for a testimony that they desired nothing of this World and in that manner died like beasts but accounted the greatest Saints and as such after they are dead they burn them in the fires whereinto they cast great quantities of most precious Perfumes the funeral Pomp being celebrated with great state and very rich offerings they have sumptuous Temples erected to them thereby to draw the living to do as they had done to obtain this vain-glory which is all the recompence the World gives them for this excessive penance 16. We likewise saw others of a Sect altogether diabolical invented by a certain Gilen Mitray these have sundry orders of penance and that their abstinence may be the more agreeable to their Idol some of them eat nothing but filthy spittle and thick snot with Grashoppers and Hens dung others clods of blood drawn from the veins of other men with bitter fruits and herbs brought them from the Woods by reason whereof they live but a short time and have so bad a look and colour that they fright those that behold them 17. In the Empire of Calaminham there is a sort of people called Oquens and Magores who feed on wild beasts which they catch in hunting and which they eat raw they also feed on all kind of venemous Creatures as Lizards Serpents and Adders and the like 18. Anchimolus and Moschus the Sophists throughout their whole life drank nothing but water and satisfied their hunger with Figs alone These were their only food yet were they no weaker than others that used better diet only such an unacceptable and filthy smell came from them when they sweat that no man could endure to be with them in the Bath but industriously avoided their company CHAP. XIV Of some persons that have abstained from all manner of Food for many years together THE Ocean continually floweth into the Mediterranean Sea by the Straights of Gibraltar and the Euxine always floweth into the same Sea by the Propontick yet is there no appearance that the Mediterranean is more filled though no passage whereby it sends forth its waters is discovered nor seemeth the Euxine Sea any thing lessened though there appears no supply of waters to it but by some small Rivers Thus there are many abstruse things in Nature almost every where to be met with which when we cannot solve for the most part we resolve not to credit though never so well attested as in the following Chapter 1. Paulus Lentulus a Doctor of Physick in the Province of Bearn a Canton in Swisserland hath published a Book intituled A wonderful History of the fasting of Apollonia Schreira a Virgin in Bearn he dedicated it to King Iames of England at his first coming to the Crown where he tells us that himself was with the Maid three several times and that she was by the command of the Magistrates of Bearn brought thither and having a strict Guard set upon her and all kinds of tryals put in practice for the discovery of any collusion or fraud in the business in conclusion they found none but dismissed her fairly In the first year of her fasting she slept very little in the second not at all and so continued for a long time after 2. Margaret a Girl of about ten years of age born in a Village named Roed about two miles from Spires began to abstain from all kind of sustenance An. Dom. 1539. and so continued for three years walking in the mean season and talking and laughing and sporting as other children of that age use to do yet was she by special order of the Bishop of Spires delivered into the hands of the Pastor of the Parish and by him narrowly observed and afterwards by the command of Maximilian King of the Romans committed to the keeping