pointes and the same shal be recompensed and deserued by measure of your owne contentation as my neighbour Phylopaes hath before profered Gnomaticus Worthy Gentlemen I yéelde you moste humble thankes for your curteous profers and I render infinite thankes vnto almighty God that my name hath ben so reported vnto you truly I would be lothe to deferre any lesse then the name of a faithful and diligent teacher so farre forth as it hath pleased GOD to endue me with knowledge Touching your proffer and request I do most willingly embrace the same confessing euen simply that it was mine errand to séeke such entertainement hauing of late dispatched out of my handes the sonnes of the Lord of Barlemont towardes the Uniuersitie of Doway and if the touch of your zeale be not contrary to the fame which is spred of your estates I shall thinke my selfe wel occupied in teaching or reading to the children of such worthy men as you are Phylopaes Well then sir we will be bold to send for the youngmen to the end that no time be lost or deferred in bestowing of them Fidus go your waies to our houses and bring hether our Sonnes Fidus. Moste willingly sir I shal accomplish your commaundement Gnomati. If it please you sir my seruant shall asist him Phylocalus It will not be amisse to acquaint hym wyth them Gnomaticus Sirha go with this gentlemans seruant and helpe him to conduct their children hyther Onaticus Well Sir it shal be done Actus primi Scaena tertia PHYLOPAES PHYLOCALVS GNOMATICVS PHYLAVTVS PHYLOMVSVS PHYLOSARCVS PHYLOTIMVS FIDVS and ONATICVS Phylopaes IT shall nowe bée our partes to vnderstand what stipend may content you for your paines Gnomaticus Sir in that respecte take you no care but let me pray vnto almighty God that he giue me grace so to enstruct your children as you may hereafter take comfort in my trauayle that done I can no wayes doubt of your beneuolence sithens your inward desire doth already manyfestly appeare and furthermore I would be lothe to make bargaines in this respect as men do at the market or in other places for grasing of Oxen or féeding of Cattle especially since I haue to deale with such worthy personages as you séeme and are reported to be Phylocalus Well yet Sir we would be glad to recompence you according to your owne demaund but in token of our ready will to please you we shall desire you to take at my handes these twenty angels as an earnest or pledge of our further meaninge as I am the first that presume to open my purse in this occasion so I beseech the Father of Heauen that I may not be the last which may reioyce to sée his children prosper thou knowest O Lord I meane not hereby my neighbours detriment but alas the shadow of a mans selfe is euer nearest to him and as I desire to be the first that may heare of their well doinge so yet if they hearken not diligently vnto your enstruction but obstinately reiect your precepts then I desire you and on Gods behalfe I charge you that I may yet be the first that shall thereof be aduertised but behold where they come these two I thanke the Father of Heauen are the tokens of his mercifull blessing towardes me the Eldest is named Phylosarchus and this younger Phylotimus Phylopaes And these too sir are mine onely children and God for his mercy graunt that they may be mine onely comfort the Eldest is called Phylautus and the younger Phylomusus Phylautus Sir according to your commaundement expressed by Fidus I am come hither to know your pleasure and haue by warrant of the same cōmission brought with me my Brother Phylomusus Phylosarchus And I in like maner Sir haue brought with me my Brother Phylotimus desiring to knowe your pleasure and being ready to obey your commaundement Gnomaticus Surely these young men giue none euill hope of their towardnesse and declare by their séemely gesture and modest boldnesse to be both of good capacitie and to haue bene well enstructed hytherto in humanity The Fathers adresse their talke to their children Phylocalus The cause that we haue sent for you is to committe you vnto the gouernement of this godly man whom we haue entreated to take paynes with you and to enstruct you in some principall poyntes of necessary doctrine to the ende that after you haue ripely disgested the same you may be the more able to go boldely into some Uniuersity and I for my part do here commit you vnto him charging you in Gods name and by the authority which he hath giuen mée ouer you to hearken vnto him wyth all attentiuenosse and to obey him with all humillity Phylopaes The same charge that my neighbour Phylocalus hath here giuen to his childrē the same I do pronounce vnto you and furthermore do charge you that you become gentle and curteouse to each other humble to your betters and affable to your inferiours in all respectes Phylautus Sir I trust we shall deserue your fatherly fauour Phylosarchus And I trust to deserue the continuance of your goodnesse Phylotus Phylomusus We hope also to immitate the good in all moral examples of vertuous behauiour Phylopaes The Father of Heauen blesse you with the blessing which it pleased him to pronounce vnto Abraham Isaac and Iacob Phylocalus Amen and now let vs depart leauing here in your custody the choyce lambes of our flocke defend them then for Gods loue from the rauening and raging lustes of the flesh and vanities of the world Gnomaticus Sir by Gods power I shall do my best diligence Fidus. My louely Gentlemen GOD guide you by his grace and though I be somwhat romoued from your dayly company yet spare not to commaund my seruice if at any time it may stand you in stéede to vse it Phylotus Gramercy gentle Fidus Actus primi Scena quarta GNOMATICVS PHYLAVTVS PHYLOSARCVS PHYLOMVSVS PHYLOTIMVS and ONATICVS Gnomaticus MY dearely beloued schollers since it hath pleased your Parentes as you haue heard to put mée in trust with you for a time it shall not be amisse before I enter further in enstruction to knowe how farre you haue already procéeded in learning that there vpon I may the better determine what trade or Methode shal be most conuenient to vse in teaching of you tell me therefore what you haue redde and in what maner the same hath bene deliuered vnto you Phylautus Sir my Brother here and I haue bene taught first the rules of the grammer after that wée had read vnto vs the familiar comunications called the Colloquia of Erasmus and next to that the offices of Cicero that was our last exercise Gnomaticus It hath bene well done haue you not also ben taught to versify Phylautus Yes truly sir we haue therein bene in maner dayly enstructed Gnomaticus And you Phylosarchus how haue you passed your time Phylosarcus Sir my Brother and I haue also bene taught our grammer and to make a verse we haue
it is not with God as it is with Princes of the worlde which to make themselues feared do become Tyrantes but the goodnes of almighty God is such that he desireth no lesse to be loued then he deserueth to be feared and though his might and power be vniuersall and there with all his Ielousie great and his displeasure soon prouoked yet delighteth he not in the distruction of mankind but rather that a sinner should turne from his wickednes and liue Tully in his second booke de legibus saith that God being Lord of al things doth deserue best of mākind bicause he beholdeth what euery man is and with what deuotion he worshippeth the Gods and kéepeth an accompt aswell of the good as the badde whereby appeareth that the heathen confessed yet that the Gods were to be loued bycause they cared for mankind and truly that opinion is neither cōtrary to Gods word nor dissonant to naturall reason For wée sée by common experience that we loue them best of whom we are most fauoured haue receiued greatest benefits I meane hereby those that rule their doinges by reason for otherwyse wée sée dayly wicked men which forgetting their duty do least loue wher they haue most cause When I my selfe was a scholler in the Uniuersity I remember that I did often tymes defend in Schooles this proposition Ingratitudo tam versus Deos immortales quam apud homines peccatum maximum Ingratitude is the greatest faulte that may be either towards god or man Let vs cōsider the good eies of almighty God who first created vs to his owne Image and similitude indued vs with reason and knowledge preserued vs from innumerable perilles and prouided thinges necessary for our sustentation and to consider more inwardly the exceeding loue which he bare towardes mankinde he spared not his onely begotten Sonne but gaue him euen vnto the death of the crosse for our redemption Oh what minde were able to conceaue or what tongue able to vtter the loue and goodnes of almighty God towardes mankinde And since his loue towardes vs hath bene and yet doth continue infinite our loue should also be infinite to render him thanks for his goodnes But though the causes be infinite which might bind vs to loue GOD yet is there no cause greater then the manifolde mercyes which he hath shewed alwayes alwayes to mankind In the first age when iniquity kindled his wrath to destroy the whole world he yet vouchsafed to preserue Noe and his family Loue him then since he preserueth the good though it be but for his mercyes sake When the people of Israell prouoked him at sundry times he did yet at euery submission stay his hand from punishment Loue God then since he is ready to forgiue and though he pronounceth his Ielousie in the twentith of Exodus saying that he visiteth the sinns of the Fathers vppon the children vnto the third and fourth generation yet ther withal he addeth that he sheweth mercy vnto thousandes in them that loue him and kéepe his commaundementes Loue him then since his mercy is ouer all his works To conclude when his vnsearchable Maiestie by his diuine foresight did perceyue that by the very sentence of the Lawe we stoode all in state of condemnation he sent down his owne and only Sonne to be slaundered buffeted and crucified for our sinnes to the ende that all which beléeue in him should not perish but haue lfie euerlasting Loue God then since mercy is aboundant with him and he shall redéeme Israell from all his iniquities And héere vnto this feare and loue you must ioyne a sure trust and confidence The promises of mortall men are often times vncertaine and do fayle but the promises of the Almighty are vnfallible For the wordes of his mouth returne not voyd and without effect Tully in his offices doth vse great arte in declaration what sortes of promises are to be obserued and which may be broken But the diuine prouidence and foresight doth promise nothing but that which he will most assuredly performe When he promised vnto Abraham that Sara his wyfe should beare him a childe Sara laughed bycause she was then foure score ten yeres olde but the almighty remembred his couenant Trust in him then for his woords shall neuer fayle When he promised Moyses to conduct his people through the desertes they began to doubt and murmure saying would God that we had dyed in the land of Aegypt or in this wildernesse c. and the lord was angry but yet remembring his promise at the humble petition of Moyses he perfourmed it Trust in God therefore since no displeasure can make him alter his determination he perfourmed his holy promyse in Ismaell although we read not that he praied vnto God therefore I would not haue you think hereby that I condemne or contemne prayer since it is the very meane to talke with God but I meane thereby to proue that God is most iust and faithfull in all his promises and by repeticion I say Feare God for he is mighty loue God for he is mercifull and trust in God for he is faithfull iust Herewith all you must also learne to performe duty towardes the seruaunts and ministers of God For as you shall onely be saued by hym and by cleauing to him in all your actions so yet are hys ministers the meane instruments of your saluation and do as it were leade you by the hand through the waues of this world vnto eternall felicity vnto whom you shall owe three seueral duties that is to say Audience Reuerence and Loue The Children of Israell by harkening to Moyses and Aaron were not only enstructed and taught their dutyes but were as it were made at one with God when they had at any time purchased his heauy displeasure By harkning vnto Phyllip the Apostle the Enuch was conuerted By harkning vnto Peter Cornelius the captain was confirmed strengthned in the faith By harkning vnto Paule and Sylas Lidia and the gaylour of Phylippos were baptised the holy scriptures are full of examples to proue this proposition Harken you therfore vnto the ministers of God for they are sent to enstruct you so shall it also become you to do thē reuerence in al places remēbring that as he which sent them is in all thinges to be honoured so are they to be had in reuerence for their office sake Such was the zeale of Cornelius the Captaine that he fell downe prostrate at Peters féete when he entered into his house the which though Peter refused saying that he was also mortall yet did it signifie vnto vs that the ministers of God cannot bée too much reuerenced The Priestes in the olde Testament were exempt from tributes and impositions they were not constrained to go into the battaile they were prouided for sustenance and all thinges conuenient and the people were commaunded to do them reuerence Do you likewise reuerence vnto
redde certaine Comedies of Terence certaine Epistles of Tully and some parte of Uirgill we were also entred into our greeke grammer Gnomaticus Surely it séemeth you haue not hytherto lost your time and the order of your enstruction hath bene such that you might presently be able to take further procéedinges in an Uniuersiry so that it should be vnto me but labour lost to stand still vpon those pointes since it seemeth that you haue bin therein perfectly grounded neuerthelesse wée will continue the exercise of the same and wée will therevnto ioyne such holesome preceptes as may become a rule and Squire wherby the rest of your lyfe and actions may be guyded For alchough Tully in his booke of dewtyes doth teach sundry vertuouse preceptes and out of Terence may also be gathered many morall enstructions amongst the rest of his wanton discourses yet the true christian must direct his steppes by the infallible rule of Gods woord from whence as from the hedde spring he is to drawe the whole course of his lyfe I would not haue you thinke hereby that I do holde in contempt the bookes which you haue redde heretofore but wée will by Gods grace take in assistance such and so many of them as may seeme consonant to the holy scriptures and so ioyning the one with the other we shal be the better able to bring our worke vnto perfectiō Sirha go you to my lodging cause in the meane tyme both bedding and dyet to be prouided for these young men that I may sée them vsed according to my charge in euery respect Onaticus Well Sir it shal be done with dilligence Gnomaticus Now let vs in the holy name of God begin and he for his mercy geue me grace to vtter and you to disgest such holesome lessons as may be for the saluatiō of your soules the comfort of your lyfe and the profitte of your Countrey You shall well vnderstand my well beloued schollers that as God is the author of all goodnesse so is it requisite that in all traditions and Morall preceptes we begin firste to consider of him to regard his maiestie and search the soueraigne poyntes of his Godhead The Heathen Philosophers although they had not the light to vnderstand perfect trueth were yet all of them astonyed at the incomprehensible maiesty and power of God some of them thought the ayre to be God some other the earth some the infinitenesse of things some one thing some another whose opinions I shall passe ouer as thinges vnméete to be much thought of but by the way the opinion of Plato is not vnworthy here to bee recited vnto you who taught plainely that god was omnipotent by whom the world was made and al thinges therein created and brought vnto such perfection as they be in Xenophon affirmed that the true God was inuisible and that therefore we ought not enquire what or what maner of thing God is Aristo the Stoicke affirmed lykewyse that God was incomprehensible To conclude Simonides being demaunded what God was required one dayes respect to answer and then being again demaunded the same question he required two dayes respet at the third apointment of his answere he came required thrée dayes and being demaunded wherefore he did so breake his apointments and require alwayes further time he aunswered that the more déepely that he did consider the matter the more infinite he found it and therefore remained alwaies astonyed what to answere and always craued further time Truly to leaue the heathen opinions and to come vnto the very touchestone I thinke it not amisse if we content our selues to thinke that God is omnipotent and yet his power vnsearchable and his goodnes vnspeakable And to be briefe I wil deliuer vnto you the summe of your dutyes in foure Chapters the first chapiter shal be of God and his ministers the second of the King and his Officers the third shall conteyne the duties that you owe vnto your Countrey and the Elders thereof and lastly you shal be put in remembraunce of your dutyes towardes your Parentes and what you ought to be of your selues In these soure chapters I trust by Gods help to enclude as much as shal be necessary for the perfect gouernment of a true Christian Phylomus Sir wée beseech you that for as much as this order of teaching is both very compendious also much different from the lectures which haue bene redde vnto vs you will therefore vouchsafe to stand somwhat the more vppon euery point to the end that aswell your meaning may be perspicuous as also that we may the better beare away the same and not onely learne it without the booke but also engraue it in our mindes Gnomaticus Your request is reasonable and it shal be by mée as readyly graunted as it hath bene by you necessarily required Your first chapter and lesson shall then be that in all your actions you haue an especiall eye and regard to almighty God and in that consideration I commend vnto your memory first God himselfe and secondarily his ministers As touching your duties vnto God him self although they be infinite yet shall we sufficiently conteine them in thrée especiall poynts to be perfourmed that is to say Feare Loue Trust And first to begin with feare it shal be necessary and aboue all thinges your bounden duty to feare God and his omnipoten power Linus that auncient Poet wryteth that with God all thinges are easie to be accomplished and nothing is vnpossible Tully in his Oration Pro Roscio amerino saith that the commodityes which wée vse the light which we enioy and the breath which we haue and drawe are giuen and bestowed vppon vs by God then if with God all thinges be possible according to Linus he is to be feared sithens the least part of his displeasure being prouoked the greatest part of his will is to him right easie to accomplish and if we haue our light our lyfe and all commodities of his gift as Cicero affirmeth then is hée to be feared least with the facillity of his omnipotency he take away as fast as he gaue or turne light into darknes life into death and cōmodities into discōmodities I might recite you many heathen authorities but it is most néedlesse since the very word of God himself is most plaine in this behalfe and yet I haue here set downe these fewe because they are not repugnant to holy Scriptures Wée finde written in the xx. chapter of Exodus that God is a Ielous God and doth visit the sinnes of the Fathers vppon the children vnto the third and fourth generation Feare him then for he is most mightie Againe who shall defend me saith the Psalmist vntill thine anger be past Feare God then since against his power no defence preuayleth Again both the heauens and the earth obay the voice of his mouth Feare him then for althinges are subiect vnto his mighty power And yet with this feare you must also ioyne loue for