old but a substitution of new in asmuch as the Prophet Esay addes the former shall not be remembred nor come into minde And Saint Iohn the first heaven and the first earth passed away and there was no more Sea And Saint Peter The heavens shall passe away with a noise and the elements shall melt with heate and the earth with the workes that are therein shall be burnt vp And of this opinion Beza in one place seemes to haue beene Promittuntur novi Coeli ac nova terra non priorum restitutio sive in eundem sive in meliorem statum nec ijs possum assentiri qui hanc dissolutionem ad solas qualitates referendam censent There are promised new heavens and a new earth not the restitution of the old either vnto their former or a better state neither can I assent vnto them who referre this dissolution to the qualities alone But seing belike the singularity and absurditie of this opinion he recalls himselfe in his annotations vpon the very next verse But the truth is that by new heavens and a new earth is to be vnderstood in the Prophet Esay the state of the Church during the kingdome of Christ and in Saint Peter and S. Iohn the state of the Saints in the heavenly Ierusalem For the Prophet that which I affirme will easily appeare to any vnderstanding Reader that pleaseth to pervse that Chapter specially if therevnto we adde the latter part of the next touching the same point For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remaine before me sayth the Lord so shall your seed and your name continue and from moneth to moneth and from sabbaoth to sabbaoth shall all flesh come to worship before me saith the Lord. Vpon the alleaged passage of the former chapter Iunius Tremelius giue this note Omnia instauraturus sum in Christo I will restore all things in Christ Referring vs for the farther illustration thereof to that of the same Prophet in his 25 chapter at the 8 verse And for the exposition of the latter passage in the 66 chapter referres vs to that in the 65 going before So that aswell by the drift and coherence of the text as by the judgement of sound Interpreters materiall heavens and earth are not there vnderstood Which some of our English Translatours well perceiving haue to the first passage affixed this note I will so alter and change the state of the Church that it shall seeme to dwell in a new world And to the second this Heereby he signifieth the kingdome of Christ wherein his Church shall be renewed Yet I will not deny but that the Prophet may in those words likewise allude to the state of the Saints in the heavenly Ierusalem To which purpose S. Peter seemes to apply them according to his promise sayth he we looke for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth Righteousnes that is by the consent of the best expositours righteous and just men who after the day of judgement shall dwell no longer vpon the Earth but in the heavenly Ierusalem Which Saint Iohn more liuely describes in the 21 of the Revelation for having sayd in the first verse And I saw a new heaven and a new earth he presently addes in the second as it were by way of Exposition of the former And I Iohn saw the holy Citty new Ierusalem comming downe from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and by the sequele of that Chapter and the latter part of the precedent it cleerely appeares whatsoever Bright-man dreame to the contrary that he there describes the state of the Saints after the day of judgement and the glory of that place which they are eternally to inhabite being such that it had no need of the Sunne nor of the Moone to shine in it the glory of God inlightning it and the Lambe being the light thereof And Iunius thus begins his Annotations on that chapter Nunc sequitur historiae propheticae pars secunda de statu futuro Ecclesiae coelestis post Iudicium vltimum Now followes the second part of this propheticall history of the future state of the Church triumphant after the day of Iudgement And with him therein accord the greatest part of the soundest and most judicious Interpreters The other passage alleaged of the Prophet Esay touching the increase of light in the Sunne and Moone is likewise vndoubtedly to be vnderstood of the restauration of his Church according to the tenour of the chapter and the annotation of Iunius annexed therevnto Illustrissima erunt gloriosissima omnia in restitutione Ecclesiae all things shall then be more beautifulll and glorious in the restitution of the Church And with him fully accord our English notes when the Church shall be restored the glory thereof shall passe seaven times the brightnesse of the Sunne For by the Sunne and Moone which are two excellent Creatures he sheweth what shall bee the glory of the Children of God in the kingdome of Christ. Now for the words of the Apostle The fashion of this world passeth away what other thing intends he but that in these wordly things there is nothing durable and solide elegantly thereby expressing the vanitie of them in which exposition both Iunius Calvin agree That of the same Apostle in the 8 to the Romans touching the delivering of the Creature from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the Sonnes of God is I confesse in appearance more pressing But this passage the great wit of Saint Augustine found to be very obscure and perplexed in somuch as not a few vnderstand those words of Saint Peter of this particular that in Saint Paules Epistles some things are hard to be vnderstood It were then in my judgement no small presumption vpon a place so intricate and difficult peremptorily to build so vncertaine a doctrine But because it is so hotly vrged as a testimony vnanswereable let vs a little examine the parts and sense thereof First then it is cleere that the Creature may be delivered from the bondage of corruption and yet not restored to a more perfect and beautifull estate in asmuch as being annihilated it is thereby freed from that abuse of wicked and vngratefull men which heere it is of necessity still subject vnto But all the doubt is how the Creature shall be made partaker of the glorious liberty of the Sonnes of God I hope no man will dare to affirme that they shall be with them Coheires of eternall blessednes as the words seem to import how then are they made partakers of this glorious liberty But in asmuch as when the sonnes of God shall be made partakers thereof the Creature shall be altogether freed from the bondage of corruption So as that into the liberty of the sonnes of God is no more then together with the liberty of the Sons of God or by reason of
of him that devised it or the bold heart of him that vndertooke it To commaund such a thing to be done or to obey and yeeld and goe in hand with it But when wee haue sayd all that we can the folly of the blind and bold people of Rome went beyond all who trusted such a ticklish frame durst sit there in a seate so moueable loe where a man might haue seene the body of that people which is Commaunder and ruler of the whole earth the Conqueror of the world the disposer of kingdomes Realmes at their pleasure the divider of countryes and Nations at their wils the giver of lawes to forraine states the vicegerent of the immortall Gods vnder heaven and representing their image vnto all mankind hanging in the aire within a frame at the mercy of one onely hooke rejoycing ready to clap hands at their owne daunger What a cheape market of mens liues was heere toward what was the losse at Cannae to this hazard how neere vnto a mischiefe were they which might haue hapned heereby in the turning of a hand Certes when there is newes come of a city swallowed vp by a wide chink and opening of the earth all men generally in a publique commiseration doe greeue thereat and there is not one but his heart doth yearne and yet behold the Vniversall state and people of Rome as if they were put into a couple of barkes supported betweene heaven and earth and sitting at the deuotion only of two pinnes or hookes And what spectacle doe they behold a number of Fencers trying it out with vnrebated swords Nay ywis but even themselues rather entred into a most desperate fight and at the point to breake their neckes every mothers sonne if the scaffold failed never so little and the frame went out of joynt SECT 5. The third objection touching the pretended fortitude of the Romans answered in asmuch as their Empire is by their owne writers in a great part ascribed to Fortune by Christians may be referred to Gods speciall providence for the effecting of his owne purposes rather then to any extraordinary worth in them NOw that which is most of all stood vpon aswell by the Romanes themselues as by their Proctours Patrons is their great fortitude courage as appeares in their subduing the greatest part of the knowne world and in truth placing their chiefe happinesse in the honour and glory of their names withall supposing that there was for the purchasing thereof no readier meanes then the sacryficing of their liues for the inlarging advancement of their Empire they were in this regard for the most part even prodigall of their blood But shall we call that fortitude which neither aimed at justice nor was guided by true wisedome or rather obstinacie adventurous boldnes It is very true that they were often in their warres very successefull but Careat successibus opto Quisquis ab eventu facta notanda putat May that mans actions never well succeed Who by th' event doth censure of the deed By the confession of their owne writers they owed as much to Fortunâ—… as their valour whom therefore they made a Goddesse and placed in heaven Te facimus Fortuna Deam coeloque locamus Thee Fortune we a Goddesse make And grant thee place in heaven to take These two Fortune Fortitude Ammianus so chayneth linketh together as neither of them could well be wanting in the raysing of their Empire Roma vt augeretur sublimibus incrementis foedere pacis aeternae virtus convenit atque fortuna quarum si altera defuisset ad perfectam non venerat summitatem That Rome should rise to that height greatnes Fortitude Fortune made a league of eternall peace so as had either of them beene wanting it could never haue risen to that perfection Both of them performed their parts heerein seeming to striue which should precede the other which Plutarch disputes at large in his booke de fortuna Romanorum and Florus hath briefely but roundly cleerely expressed Ad constituendum Romanum imperium virtutem ac Fortunam contendisse videri that to the stablishing of the Romane Empire Fortitude Fortune seemed to contend which should be most forward Now if themselues attributed as much to fortune as to their fortitude wee may well conceiue that the latter was short of the former rather then otherwise And surely if by Fortune we should vnderstand Gods Providence we may safely say that for the effecting of his owne purposes though happily vnknowne to theÌ„r ather then for any extraordinary worth or merit in them he conferred vpon them the Empire of the world As Augustus Caesar was by Gods speciall providence directed in taxing the world that so euery man repairing to his owne Citty Christ by that meanes might be borne in Bethleem as was fore-told by the Prophet Micah so likewise was he by the same hand and power settled in the Empire that he might thorow the world settle an vniversall peace when the Prince of Peace was to be borne into it as was foretold by another Prophet They shall beate their swords into plow-shares and their speares into pruning hookes And may we not well conceiue that the world was therefore by the divine Providence brought vnder the yoake of the Roman government made subject to their Lawes and acquainted with their language that so when the Emperours themselues should become Christians as afterwards they did the propagation of the Gospell of Iesus Christ might finde an easier passage The Romans then perchaunce might challenge that as due to their owne worth in the conquering of the world which is rather to be ascribed to the hand of Heauen disposing these earthly Monarchies for the good of his Church or for the chastising of his enemies To which purpose he gaue to Nebuchadnezzar such great victories and large Dominions Thou O King art a King of Kings for the God of heaven hath giuen thee a kingdome power and strength and glory which was not for any extraordinary worth or vertue that we read of in Nebuchadnezzar but only to make him as a staffe or a rod in his hands for the scourging of other rebellious nations an instrument for the accomplishment of his own designes Answerable whereunto is that memorable speech of S. Augustin Non tribuamus dandi regni atque imperij potestateÌ„ nisi Deo vero qui dat faelicitateÌ„ in regno coeloruÌ„ solis piis regnum verò terraruÌ„ piis impiis sicut ei placet cui nihil injustè placet Let vs not referre the power of conferring Kingdomes but only to the true God who giues happines in the kingdome of heauen only to the godly but these earthly kingdoms both to the godly vngodly as pleases him whoÌ„ nothing pleases that is vnjust I conclude this point with that of Salomon The race is not alwayes to the swift nor the battle to the
AN APOLOGIE OF THE POWER AND PROVIDENCE OF GOD IN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE WORLD OR AN EXAMINATION AND CENSVRE OF THE COMMON ERROVR TOVCHING NATVRES PERPETVALL AND VNIVERSALL DECAY DIVIDED INTO FOVRE BOOKES WHEREOF The first treates of this pretended decay in generall together with some preparatiues thereunto The second of the pretended decay of the Heauens and Elements together with that of the Elementary bodies man only excepted The third of the pretended decay of mankinde in regard of age and duration of strength and stature of arts and wits The fourth of this pretended decay in matter of manners together with a large proofe of the future consummation of the World from the testimony of the Gentiles and the vses which we are to draw from the consideration thereof By G. H. D. D. ECCLESTASTES 7. 10. Say not thou what is the cause that the former dayes were better then these for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this OXFORD Printed by IOHN LICHFIELD and WILLIAM TVRNER Printers to the famous Vniversity Anno Dom. 1627. TO MY VENERABLE MOTHER THE FAMOVS AND FLOVRISHING VNIVERSITIE OF OXFORD WERE I destitute of all other arguments to demonstrate the providence of God in the preservation of the World and to proue that it doth not vniversally and perpetually decline this one mightfully suffice for all that thou my Venerable Mother though thou waxe old in regard of yeares yet in this latter age in regard of strength and beauty waxest young againe Within the compasse of this last Centenarie and lesse thou hast brought forth such a number of worthie Sonnes for piety for learning for wisdome and for buildings hast bin so inlarged and inriched that he who shall compare thee with thy selfe will easily finde that though thou be truly accounted one of the most auncient Vniversities in the World yet so farre art thou from withering and wrinkles that thou art rather become fairer and fresher and in thine issue no lesse happy then heretofore The three last Cardinals that this Nation had were thine if that can adde any thing to thine honour Those thine vnnaturall Sonnes who of late dayes forsooke thee fledde to thine Enemies campe Harding Stapleton Saunders Raynolds Martyn Bristow Campian Parsons euen in their fighting against thee shewed the fruitfulnes of thy wombe and the efficacie of that milke which they drew from thy breasts What one Colledge euer yeelded at one time and from one Countrey three such Divines as Iewell Raynolds and Hooker or two such great wits Heroicall spirits as Sir Thomas Bodley and Sir Henry Sauill How renowned in forraine parts are thy Moore thy Sidney thy Cambden what rare Lights in the Church were Humfreyes Foxe Bilson Field Abbot What pillars those fiue sonnes of thine who at one time lately possessed the fiue principall Sees in the Kingdome So as if I should in this point touching the Worlds pretended decay be cast by the votes of others yet my hope is that by reflecting vpon thy selfe I shall be cleared and acquitted by thine And in confidence heereof I haue to thy censu◅ submitted this ensuing Apologie which perchaunce to the Vulgar may seeme somewhat strange because their eares haue bin so long inured vnto and consequently their fancies fore-stalled with the contrary opinion But to thee I trust who judgest not vpon report but vpon tryall neither art swayed by number and lowdnes of voyces but by weight of argument it will appeare not onely just and reasonable in that it vindicates the glory of the Creator and a trueth as large and wide as the world it selfe but profitable and vsefull for the raising vp of mens mindes to an endeavour of equalling yea and surpassing their noble and worthy Predecessours in knowledge and vertue it being certaine that the best Patternes which wee haue in them both either extant at this present or recorded in monuments of auncienter times had neuer beene had they conceiued that there was alwayes an inevitable declination as well in the Arts as matter of Manners and that it was impossible to surmount those that went before them I doe not beleeue that all Regions of the World or all ages in the same Region afford wits alwayes alike but this I think neither is it my opinion alone but of Scaliger Vives Budaeus Bodine and other great Clearkes that the witts of these latter ages being manured by industry directed by precepts regulated by methode tempered by dyet refreshed by exercise and incouraged by rewardes may bee as capable of deepe speculations and produce as masculine and lasting birthes as any of the ancienter times haue done But if we conceiue thē to be Gyants our selues Dwarfes if we imagine all Sciences already to haue receiued their vtmost perfection so as wee need not but translate and comment vpon that which they haue done if we so admire and dote vpon Antiquitie as wee emulate and envy nay scorne and trample vnder foot whatsoeuer the present age affords if wee spend our best time and thoughts in clyming to honour in gathering of riches in following our pleasures and in turning the edge of our wits one against another surely there is little hope that wee shall euer come neare them much lesse match them The first step to inable a man to the atchieuing of great designes is to be perswaded that by endeavour he is able to atchieue it the next not to bee perswaded that whatsoeuer hath not yet beene done cannot therefore be done Not any one man or nation or age but rather mankinde is it which in latitude of capacity answeres to the vniversality of things to be knowne And truely had our Fathers thought so reverently of their predecessours and withall of themselues so basely that neither any thing of moment was left for them to be done nor in case there had beene were they qualified for the doing thereof wee had wanted many helpes in learning which by their travell wee now injoy By meanes whereof I see not but wee might also advaunce improue and inlarge our patrimony as they left it inlarged to vs And thereunto the Arts of Printing and Navigation the frequency of goodly Libraries and liberality of Benefactours are such inducements furtherances that if wee excell not all ages that haue gone before vs it is only because we are wanting to our selues And as our helpes are more greater for knowledge learning so likewise for goodnes vertue I meane since the beames of Christian Religion displayed themselues to the World which for the rooting out of vice planting of vertue no Christian I hope will deny to be incomparably more effectuall then any other Religion that euer yet was heard of in the World Or if others should chance to make a doubt of the certainty of this truth yet cannot you who preach it publish it to others Doubtlesse being rightly applyed without apish superstition on the one side or peevish singularity on the other it workes vpon the Conscience more
better cheape might be had from France then could be made heere and I make no doubt but as tillage with vs so the planting of Vineyards is increased with them and for this reason together with the Causes before alleadged it seemes to be that the French wines are better with vs at this present then they were in the raigne of Edward the second as shall by Gods helpe bee fully manifested in the next Section And that which hath beene spoken of the making of wines may likewise be vnderstood of the making of Bay sale in this kingdome in former ages for which as I am credibly informed records are likewise to be seene for to ascribe either the one or the other to the Sunnes going more Southerly from vs in Summer is in my judgement both vnwarrantable and improbable vnwarrantable as hath already beene shewed in this very booke Cap. 4. Sect 4. improbable for that if this plant should decay for this reason all other plants trees hearbes flowres should consequently partake of the like decay at leastwise in some proportion which our best Physitians and Herbalists haue not yet found to be so nay the contrary is by them avouched and as our wines are in a manner vtterly decayed here so their strength in France in Spaine in Italy in Hungary in Germany should vpon the same supposition be much abated which notwithstanding I haue no-where found to be observed SECT 4. An argument drawne from the present state of husbandmen and another for the many miserable dearths in former ages together with an obiection taken from the high prizes of victuals answered BVt that which farther perswadeth me that neither the goodnes of the soyle nor the seasonablenesse of the weather nor the industry of the husbandman is now inferiour to that of former ages is this that both this fyne and rent being raised his apparell and education of his children more chargeable the rates of publique payments more burdensome yet he fares better and layes vp more money in his purse then vsually in those times he did Besides it is certaine that if we compare time with time the famines of former ages were more grievous then ours I omit those of Ierusalem and Samaria because occasioned by the sieges of those Cities as also those which either Civill warres or forraine invasions hath drawne on Of the rest that of Lypsius is vndoubtedly true Iam de fame nihil profectò nos aut aetas nostra vidimus si videmus antiqua Now touching famine verily we and our age haue seene nothing if wee behold ancient records Vnder the Emperour Honorius so great was the scarcity dearth of victuals in Rome it selfe that in the open market-place this voice was heard Pone pretium humanae carni set a price to mans flesh And long before euen when L. Minutius was made the first over-seer of the graine Livy reports multos è plebe ne diutinâ fame cruciarentur capitibus obvolutis sese in Tyberim praecipitasse That many of the Commons least they should bee tortured with long famine covering their faces cast themselues headlong into Tyber What a miserable dearth was that in Egypt held by the Ancients for abundance of Corne the Granary of the world when for want of bread their greatest Nobles were forced to sell not only their lands but themselues and become bond-slaues to Pharaoh How vniversall was that fore-told by Agabus which also came to passe vnder Claudius Caesar as both Dion and Suetonius beare witnesse to S. Luke But to come nearer home few histories I thinke exceed our owne in this point About the yeare 514 during the raigne of Cissa king of the South-Saxons in his countrey raigned such an extreame famine that both men and women in great flockes and companies cast themselues from rhe rocks into the Sea in the yeare 1314 about the beginning of the reigne of Edward the second the dearth was generally such ouer the land that purposely for the moderation of the prices of victuals a Parliamēt was assembled at London but it increased so vehemently that vpon S. Lawrence Eue there was scarcely bread to be gotten for the sustentation of the Kings owne family And the yeare following it grew so terrible that horses dogges yea men and children were stollen for food and which is horrible to thinke the theeues newly brought into the gaoles were torne in peeces and presently eaten halfe aliue by such as had beene longer there In London it was proclaimed that no Corne should be converted to Brewers vses which Act the King moued with compassion towards his Nation imitating caused to be executed through all the kingdome otherwise saith Walsingham the greater part of the people had perished with penury of bread And againe to conclude this sad discourse in the yeare 1317 in the tenth yeare of the same King there was such a murraine of all kinde of cattell together with a generall fayling of all fruits of the Earth by excessiue raines and vnseasonable weather as provision could not be had for the Kings house nor meanes for other great men to maintaine their Tables Inasmuch as they put away their servants in great numbers who hauing beene daintily bred and now not able to worke skorning to beg fell to robbery and spoyle which added much to the misery of the Kingdome It will be said if the plenty of corne and victuals be as great as in former ages how comes it to passe that their prices are somuch inhanced But if wee compare our prices with those of the ancient Romanes wee shall finde that theirs farre exceeded ours The Romane penny by the consent of the learned and the judgement of our last Translatours in diverse parts of their Marginall notes was the eight part of an ounce accounting fiue shillings to the ounce so that it was worth of our money seven pence halfe penny Now by the testimony of Varro and Macrobius their Peacocks egges which are now of no reckoning with vs were sold with them for fiue Roman pence a peece and the Peacocks themselues for fifty Thrushes and Ousells or blackebirds were commonly sold for three pence a peece Nay Varro mentions one L. Axius a Romane Knight who would not let goe a paire of doues minoris quadringentis denarijs for lesse then foure hundred pence But these insana pretia as Macrobius calls them mad and vnreasonable prices wee shall haue fitter occasion to speake of when wee come to treate of the luxury of the Ancients In the meane time it shall not be amisse to remember what our Saviour tells vs in the Gospell that two Sparrowes or passerculi as Beza renders it were then sold for a farthing thereby implying their great cheapenes Yet for the same money it beeing the tenth part of a Romane penny and answering in value to halfe penny farthing of our coyne more may bee had at this day with vs But
will instance onely in the three latter To begin then with the Art of painting When the Romans arrived to the height of their Empire they equalled nay excelled the Graecians heerein who before were esteemed the best in the world Venimus ad summum fortunae pingimus-atque Psallimus luctamur Achivis doctius vnctis To Fortunes height we are aspir'd we paint we sing The skilfull Greekes we passe in wrestling Quintilian in the last chapter saue one of his last booke shewes how much this Art was accounted of among the Ancients and how by degrees it grew to perfection and so doth Pliny in his 35 booke 9 10 chapters Some inventing colours others shadowes landskips and others rules of proportion but in tract of time it so farre againe decayed that Aeneas Sylvius who liued about 200 yeares since tels vs in one Epistle videmus picturas ducentorum annorum nulla prorsus arte politas We see the pictures madu 200 years since polished with no kind of art And in another immediatly following Si ducentorum trecentorumve annorum aut sculpturas intueberis aut picturas invenies non hominum sed monstrorum portentor umque facies If we looke vpon the sculptures or pictures made about 200 or 300 yeares since we shall finde faces rather of monsters then men And to like purpose is that of Durerus himselfe an excellent Painter Penitus deperdita vltra mille annos latuit ac tandem ante ducentos hos annos per Italos rursum in lucem prodijt This Art lay hid in obscurity as it had bin vtterly lost aboue a thousand years til at length about 200 yeares agoe it againe brake forth into light by helpe of the Italian wits The most famous Italians in this Art were Michael Angelo Raphael Vrbin Some of our owne Nation as namely Master Heliard an Exeter man borne many Netherlanders whose names Icones are published by Hondius haue herein deserued good commendation But Durerus of Norinberg is indeed the Man who aswell for practice as precepts in this Art is by the most judicious most commended He was commonly stiled whiles he liued the Apelles of Germany nay Erasmus in his Dialogue of the right pronunciation of the Greeke Latin Tongues seemes to preferre him before Apelles Equidem arbitror saith he si nunc viveret Apelles vt erat ingenuus candidus Alberto nostro cessurum huius palmae gloriam Truly I am of opinion that did Apelles now liue being as hee was of an ingenuous disposition hee would in this Art yeeld the Bucklers to our Albertus But for singular rules in this kinde Lomatius may not be forgotten whom Mr Richard Haydocke hath translated out of Italian into English dedicated to the euer honoured Sir Thomas Bodley Such is the affinitie betwixt the arts of painting building by reason they both stand chiefely vpon proportions iust dimentions that Vassari who was both himselfe hath likewise written the liues of the most famous best skilled in both Vitruvius who liued but in the reigne of Augustus is the only man in a manner among the Ancients either in Greeke or Latine who is renowned for the rules of Architecture Among those of latter times Sir Henry Wotton in his preface to his Elements of Architecture reputes Leon Baptista Alberti the Florentine the first learned Architect beyond the Alpes To whom Angelus Politianus in an Epistle of his to Laurentius Medices Duke of Florence yeelds this testimony Ita perscrutatus antiquitatis vestigia est vt veterem Architectandi rationem deprehenderit in exemplum reuocauerit He so narrowly traced the prints foote-steps of Antiquity that he both fully comprehended the manner of the ancient building reduced it into patterne and in the end concludes touching his worth as Salust of Carthage Tacere satius puto quam pauca dicere I hold it safer to be silent then to speake in few wordes now as the most sufficient moderne Architects in most things follow the ancients so in many things they varie from thē that vpō just reason The ancient Grecians the Romanes by their example in their buildings abroad where the seate was free did almost religiously scituate the front of their houses towards the South But from this the moderne Italians doe justly varie Againe the Ancients did determine the longitude of all roomes which were longer then broad by the double of the latitude and the height by the halfe of the breadth length summed together But when the roome was precisely square they made the heigth halfe as much more as the latitude from which dimensions the moderne Architects haue likewise taken leaue to vary and that vpon good discretion The publique buildings of the Grecians and Romans were doubtles very artificiall magnificent and so were likewise many of those of the ancient Christians I meane their Churches Monasteries Castles bridges and the like But the houses of priuate men were in the memorie of our Fathers for the most part very homely till the Princes of Italy began to bestow more art cost vpon them Cosmo Medices Duke of Florence being one of the first who set vpon this worke the Italians were soone followed by the French after the victorious returne of Charles the eight from Naples and they againe by vs euer since the vniting of the two roses in King Henry the seaventh who at his comming to the Crowne had spent the greatest part of his time in France Before his entrance we had indeede some huge vast buildings but his house at Richmond his Chappell at Westminster except perchaunce some would preferre Kings College Chappell in Cambridge began by Henry the sixth were the two first neate curious peeces that this kingdome had seene The latter of which may well enough compare not onely with any peece this day in Christendome but for the bignes of it with any thing in antiquity of that kinde But for a stately dainty house that of None-such excells which King Henry the eight saith our great Antiquarie built with so great sumptuousnes and rare workemanshippe that it aspireth to the very toppe of ostentation for shew So as a man may thinke that all the skill of Architecture is in this one peece bestowed and heaped vp together So many statues liuely images there are in euery place so many wonders of absolute workemanshippe workes seeming to contend with Romane Antiquities that most worthily it may haue and maintaine still this name that it hath of None-Such according as Leland hath written of it Huic quia non habeant similem laudare Britanni Saepe solent nullique parem cognomine dicunt The Brittaines oft were wont to praise this place for that through all The Realme they cannot shew the like None-Such they it call So as what Sebastianus Serlius a skilfull Architect spake of the Pantheon at Rome may not vnfitly be applied to this pile of building
labour about it that it seemeth impenetrable What doe the poore labourers then They set vpon it lustily with iron wedges they lay on load vncessantly with mighty beetles verily they thinke there is nothing in this world harder then this labour vnlesse it be this vnsatiable hunger after gold which surpasseth all the hardnes difficulty that is Now notwithstanding the great danger and toyle of those workes infinite was the number which the Romanes imployed therein as may in part appeare by the same Authour in the same chap Here sayth he commeth to my remembrance an Act of the Censors extant vpon record as touching the gold mine of Ictimulum a towne in the territory of Verselles which act contained an inhibition that the Publicanes whofarmed that mine of the Citie should not keepe aboue fiue thousand Pioners together at worke there By which restraint it should seeme that their vsuall practise was to keepe more and this haue wee by Polybius fully cleared affirming that in the Spanish mines at New Carthage no lesse then forty thousand men were daily imployed SECT 3. Their vnmercifull pilling and poling robbing and spoyling the provinces not sparing the very temples and things sacred YEt had all this beene in some sort tollerable had they not herevnto added the pilling poling the robbing spoiling of their provincials sometimes by open force rapine but commonly vnder the colorable pretences of tributes or Fees Demades was wont to say when he was advanced to any place of government ad auream messem se venisse that he was come to a golden harvest and this was surely the conceite of the Romane Presidents when they went to their charges every one like another Iason promised to himselfe the bringing backe of a golden fleece these were in truth those Harpyes Quarum decerpitur vnguibus orbis Quae pede glutineo quae tetigêre trahunt Whose clawes spoyle all the world whose glewie feet Draw to themselues what ere they touch or meet That which Cicero charged Verres with in the government of Sicilie was doubtles the common practise of them all in like places as in part appeares by the conclusion of C. Gracchus his speech to the people after his returne to Rome from the government of Sardinia as Gellius relates it the bagges saith he which I carried forth with me full of money I brought backe emptie whereas others returned home those barels full of silver which they sent forth filled with wine They had officers vnder them for their collecting of their tributes whom they named Publicanes which word wee haue still retained in our Gospells but so as it there appeares they were an odious kind of people by reason of their vnjust and vnmercifull exactions whence some though improperly in regard of the word yet not impertinently in regard of their snarling and biting conditions haue stiled them Publicani quasi publici canes and if these were dogges surâ—…ly the Presidents themselues were wolues lyons not leaving the bones till the morrow as the Prophet describes the Princes Iudges of Israel One of them while he was yet trembling at S. Paules sermon touching Righteousnesse temperance the iudgement to come yet such a corrupt habit had he gotten that even then he groped him for a bribe though a man most vnlikely to afford it aswell in regard of his doctrine and profession as his poore estate But some where haue I read of this vnhappy Felix that hee was inexplebilis avaritiae gurges an vnsatiable gulfe of covetousnes Such a one I am sure was Sylla who raised out of the lesser Asia alone twenty thousand talents yearely Yet Brutus Cassius went farther forcing them to pay the tribute of tenne yeares within the space of two and Anthony in one by which computation they payd in one yeare two hundred thousand talents a mighty summe L. Paulus held one of their best cittizens pretending to make the Epirotes free as were the Macedonians whom he had conquered vnder that pretence calling out tenne of the chiefe of every citty he advised them to bring forth their gold silver which done he divided his cohorts among them gaue in charge to the Tribunes Centurions what his pleasure was In the morning his commaund was executed by the Townesmen and at foure of the clocke signe was given to his souldiers for the sacking of the Townes Tantaque praeda fuit sayth Livie vt in equitem quadringenti denarij peditibus duceni dividerentur So great was the spoyle as there fell to the share of an horse-man foure hundred denarij and of a foote-man two hundred Nay in Italy it selfe Plemminius Lieutenant to Scipio Africanus proceeded so farre vpon the Locreans over whom he was set with a garison that he abstained not from sacrilege neither did he spoyle other Churches alone but that of Proserpina robbing carrying away intactos omni aetate the sauros treasures till then vntoucht These were strange outrages that of Galba was indeede lesse outragious but more base he being Proconsull in Spaine vnder Nero the Taraconians sent him for a present a Crowne of gold affirming that it weighed fifteene pounds Hee received it causing it to be weighed found it to want three pound which he exacted from them Postposito omni pudore sayth Fulgosus laying aside all shame as if it had beene a due debt And to shew he was no changeling even after his comming to the Empire hee gaue with his owne hand to a certaine musitian that pleased him out of his owne purse 20 Sesterces about three shillings English to his steward at the making vp of his bookes a reward from his table This was base but that of Iulius Caesar most dishonest who in his first Consulship stole out of the Capitoll three thousand weight of gold laying vp asmuch gilded copper instead thereof He sacked in an hostile manner certaine townes of the Portugals though they disobeyed not his commaunds but freely friendly opened their gates vnto him for his entrance In France he robbed the Oratories Temples of the Gods stored with rich offerings ornaments laid waste their Cities Saepius ob praedam quam ob delictum saith Suetonius oftner for loue of booty then for any offence by them committed and afterwards supplied the expence of his civill warres his triumphes his shewes to the people evidentissimis rapinis sacrilegijs by most notorious pillaging sacrilege And no marveill since as witnesseth Cicero in the third booke of his Offices he had alwayes that of Euripides in his mouth Si violandum est jus imperij gratia Violandum est If right for ought a man may violate 'T is for a kingdome And I see not but that he might as safely hold that justice is to be violated for treasure by which Empire is to be gotten maintained as for Empire it selfe SECT 4. Of the base and most vnconscionable practises of
the other commaunding the one out of thy presence with an Ite Goe and inviting the other to approach neere with a Venite Come Come come my deare hearts now is the time that you must rest from your labours that your teares must be wip'd off that your long expectatiō longing hope must be turned into fruitiō your race is at an end you must now receiue the prize your wrestling at an end you must now receiue the garland your combating at an end you must now receiue the Crowne Come yee Blessed of my Father Blessed in your liues and blessed in your deaths blessed in your election blessed in your vocation blessed in your adoption blessed in your justification blessed in your sanctification and now for accomplishment of all most blessed in your glorification And the fountaine of all this your blessednes is none other then the very Father of blessings my Father and your Father mine by nature yours by grace mine by eternall generation and yours by spirituall regeneration And whom the Father blesses the Son cannot but most lovingly and tenderly imbrace Come yee blessed of my Father what to doe to inherit a Kingdome Least my words should seeme to be but winde least my promises should seeme to be vaine and your patience and beleeving vaine Come receiue that which I haue promised and you haue beleeved Come and take actuall possession of it yet not as a purchase of your owne but as an inheritance not as wages but as a reward not as bought by the value of your merits but conferred vpon you by the vertue of my sufferings and the benediction of my Father as the cause and your sonne-shippe and obedience as the condition Your title is good your evidence faire so as no exception can be taken to your right nothing so much as pretended or pleaded to disinherit you Come on then chearefully make hast and enter vpon it my selfe will leade you the way follow me But what may it bee gracious Lord that wee shall possesse surely no lesse then a Kingdome This reward is sometimes set forth vnto vs vnder the name of a pleasant garden or Paradise of delight sometime of a stately magnificent palace sometime of a large and beautifull Cittie but here of a Kingdome a glorious a spacious a secure a durable Kingdome whose King is the Trinity whose Law is Divinitie whose measure aternity as farre beyond all the kingdomes of this world and all the guilded pompe the glittering power and riches of them as the greatest earthly Monarch is beyond the King in a play Earthly Monarches haue their secret pressures and pinches they haue their feares and cares and griefes and envy and anger and sickenes mixed with their joyes and contents or at least by turnes succeeding them Somewhat is ever wanting to their desires and full of doubtes and jealousies they are that their dominions may be either impaired or invaded And if they were free from the possibility of all those yet may they in a moment and that by a thousand wayes be arrested by death and then all their honour lies in the dust all their thoughts perish But now with them that inherit this heavenly Kingdome it is not so they haue joy and content at full without the least intermission or diminutiō without the least mixture of any feare or care or griefe or envy or anger or any other troublesome passion whatsoever They are out of all doubt jealousie of loosing that which they possesse either in whole or in part they are confident and secure that neither this Kingdome can be taken from them by rebellion or invasion nor they from it by death or deposition And herein againe doth this Kingdome excell all other kingdomes that it is of Gods speciall preparing And such happinesse he hath prepared in it for them that shall possesse it as eye hath not seene eare hath not heard tongue cannot vtter neither hath at any time entred into the heart of man Such as his imagination cannot apprehend nor his vnderstanding possiblely conceiue O my Lord if thou for this vile body of ours hast given vs so great and innumerable benefits from the firmament from the aire from the earth from the sea by light by darkenesse by heate by shadow by dewes by showers by windes by raines by fishes by beasts by birds by multitude of hearbes and variety of plants and by the ministery of all thy Creatures O sweete Lord what manner of things how great how good and how innumerable are those which thou hast prepared for vs in our heavenly Kingdome where we shall see thee face to face and raigne with thee eternally If thou doe so great things for vs in our prison what wilt thou giue vs in our palace If thou givest so many things in this world to good and evill men together what hast thou layd vp for only good men in the world to come If thine enemies and friends together are so well provided for in this life what shall thy only friends receiue in the life to come If there be so great solaces in these dayes of teares what joy shall there be in that day of marriage If our jayle and prison containe so great matters what shall our Kingdome doe O my Lord and God thou art a great God great is the multitude of thy magnificence sweetnes and as there is none end of thy greatnes nor number of thy mercies nor bottome of thy wisedome nor measure of thy beauty So is there no end number or measure of thy rewards to them that loue serue thee SECT 7. Thirdly the consideration of this day may serue for admonition to all SEing then that all these things must be dossolved what manner persons ought we to be in holy conversation and godlines looking for and hasting vnto the comming of that day in which we all shall appeare before the judgement seate of Christ that every man may receiue according to that hee hath done in his body whether it be good or evill Truly I know not sayth S. Chrysostome what others doe thinke of it for my selfe it makes mee often tremble when I consider it And holy Hierome whatsoever I am doing saith he whether I be eating or drinking or sleeping or waking or alone or in company or reading or writing me thinkes I ever heare the shrill sound of the Archangels trumpet summoning all flesh to appeare and crying aloud Surgite mortui venite ad judicium arise yee dead and come away to judgement The remembrance hereof is like a bitter pill to purge out the malignitie of many wanton and vaine humours or like a strainer all our thoughts and speeches and actions which passe thorow it are thereby cleansed and purified As the bird guideth her bodie with her traine and the shippe is steered with the rudder so the course of a mans life is best directed with a continuall recourse vnto his last end It is hard for a man to thinke of