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A13830 The Spanish Mandeuile of miracles. Or The garden of curious flowers VVherin are handled sundry points of humanity, philosophy, diuinitie, and geography, beautified with many strange and pleasant histories. First written in Spanish, by Anthonio De Torquemeda, and out of that tongue translated into English. It was dedicated by the author, to the right honourable and reuerent prelate, Don Diego Sarmento de soto Maior, Bishop of Astorga. &c. It is deuided into sixe treatises, composed in manner of a dialogue, as in the next page shall appeare.; Jardin de flores curiosas. English Torquemada, Antonio de, fl. 1553-1570.; Lewkenor, Lewis, Sir, d. 1626.; Walker, Ferdinand. 1600 (1600) STC 24135; ESTC S118471 275,568 332

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ingender in them a certaine vvorme which by little and little becommeth great and feathered and at last lifteth vp the wings and flieth into the ayre Cassaneus in his Catalogue of the glory of the world in the twelfth part repeateth thys otherwise In times past sayth he there grew in England vpon a Riuers side a strange and wonderfull tree that brought forth a fruite like vnto Ducks the which being ripe and falling of those which fell on the Land side rotted and perished but those vvhich fell into the vvater receaued presently lyfe recouering feathers and wings and in short space became able to flie Others write that there were many of these Trees and so by consequence many such foules in great number But whether there be any such nowe or no I know not Besides these Authors I remember that I read in an Epitaphe which is written in the Map of the world printed by a Venetian called Andreas Valuasor that one Andrew Rosse cittizen of the same towne had at that present two of these foules about the bignes of two little Ducks the which were brought him out of Spayne but I think there was an error in the writing and that he should haue written England or Scotland for a thing so miraculous as this is cold not in Spayne be obscure vnknown BER Truly as you say this may wel be termed miraculous but mee thinks this disagreement of opinions maketh the matter seeme doubtfull LU. There is no mortall sin neither in beleeuing nor vnbeleeuing it but Nicolaꝰ Leonicꝰ affirmeth another thing as strange as this that in the Citty of Ambrosia situated at the foote of the hill Parnassus there should be a tree called Ys and by another name Cocus whose leaues are like those of the Dock and the fruite about the bignes of a Pease the which if it be not gathered in season engendreth a little flie like vnto a maget at the beginning which afterward cōmeth to haue wings flyeth away leauing the fruite hanging on the tree withered vp which some let perrish of purpose because the blood of those flyes is singulerly excellent to die silke withall AN. Of no lesse admiration are those trees of which Pigafeta in his relation to the Pope maketh mention whose leaues falling downe presently moue go as it were vpon 2. poynts which they haue on the one side like feete seeming to haue life he affirmeth to haue seen this himselfe Therefore whatsoeuer is said and affirmed by graue Authors we ought to beleeue that it may be for though some haue a fault in ouerreaching yet others will not register any thing but that which is true Turning therefore to our purpose of waters let vs not in silence passe ouer the greatnes of such Riuers as haue beene in our times discouered for till now Nylus Ganges Danubius and Boristhenes haue bin accounted great but at this present the greatest that is in all Asia Affricke or Europe is but a little streame in comparison of those vvhich by Nauigation are newly found out in the West Indies scarcely to be beleeued vvere they not sufficiently authorized by the infinite number of so manie vvitnesses As for example the riuer of Orellana so called by the name of him that first discouered it is so great that it beareth fifty leagues of breadth at the mouth where it entereth into the Sea and through the extreame furie vvith vvhich it forciblie passeth it pierceth in such sort through the vvaues of the salt vvater that the Saylers call that Coast the Sweete vvater Sea The Riuer Dela plata nowe inhabited by our Spanyards there as the Sea receaueth it containeth xxv leagues in breadth and the Riuers of Maranion fyfteene There are also many others of infinite largenesse whereby we may coniecture that there is a greater quantity of Lande thē that which is already discouered for it is not possible that such mighty Riuers shoulde rise out of any Spring but that many other Riuers shoulde fall into them and that out of diuers Regions but let vs leaue this till we meete another time when we shal haue more leysure BER First I pray you tell vs what is your opinion concerning the source and rising of Riuers both these and the rest and whence theyr spring issue and proceed for I haue heard herein diuers contrary opinions which cause me to be doubtfull I would be glad to be resolued AN. The opinion of Aristotle and others that imitate him is that the Riuers are engendred in the hollowe and hidden parts of the earth where the ayre through the great moysture coldnes conuerteth it selfe into water the which running along the veynes of the earth cōmeth at last to the height thereof where not being fully perfected it taketh thicknesse and issueth out discouering it selfe as well in great Riuers as in little streames and Fordes such as wee see Anaximander and many other Phylosophers with him affirmed that the earth hath within it selfe and in the midst thereof a belly full of water out of which breake forth all these Fountaines Riuers and Springs but the surer opinion and the truth indeed is that all Riuers streames and Fountaines and Lakes that come of flowing waters issue proceed out of the Sea as sayth Ecclesiastes in the first Chapter by these wordes All Riuers enter into the Sea and the Sea for al that encreaseth not and the Riuers returne to the same place out of which they issued and begin to runne anew BER You haue giuen vs very good satisfaction in this matter of vvhich we doubted onely one thing remaineth in which I beseech you to resolue vs concerning the foure Riuers that issue out of earthly Paradise for in all that I haue seene or read I haue onely founde the names of Tygris and Euphrates as for Gion and Fison I heare them not named in the world Besides I should take it that these Riuers must needs be of great vertue seeing their source Spring originall commeth out of Paradice AN. I would not willingly that you should engulfe either your selfe or mee in a matter so profound and deepe entring once into the which I know not how wee should gette out for of such difficulty is this poynt which you haue touched that he had neede of great vnderstanding and learning that should therein well resolue you which both are in mee wanting neyther being so great a Diuine or so well seene in the holy Scriptures that I can satisfie you without bringing you into many doubts whereas you haue nowe onely one For to discourse of these Riuers of force we must first declare that which may be said of Paradice of which when I set my selfe to consider my vnderstanding is in it selfe confounded for the disagreeing contrariety of Authors which haue written heereof is such that I know I should weary you with hearing them LU. I knowe not how wee may spend the time better then in searching
may be gathered that put the case that Paradise stood towards any part of the East yet could not the same be far off frō the Citties of Ierusalem Tyre because he nameth iointly together Charam Heden being a thing most manifest that Charam is a Prouince in Chaldae or Mesopotamia which appeareth by the words of Genesis saying God took thē out of Vra Prouince of the Chaldaeans that they might go to Canaan they cam euen to Charam these are euident reasons to proue that Paradise stood in that Coūtry that if as yet it be it standeth there it maketh the better with this opinion because the two Riuers Tygris Euphrates bath and water that Prouince Besides we may suppose that the Arke of Noe during the 40. dayes of the flood while it floted vpō the water being so great huge built so monstrous as appeareth by the holy scripture to no other end then that it should not sink made no very long voyage which staying setling it selfe on the mountaines of Armenia is a token that Noes biding was not farre from thence of the other side it is certaine that his habitation was not far off from that part where Paradice was which by consequence could not be farre off from Armenia vpon which these prouinces before rehearsed doe border and that the Country where Paradice stood was enhabited appeareth by these words of S. Chrisostome Before the flood saith he men knew the place where Paradice stood the way to goe vnto the same But after the deluge they found thēselues out of the knowledge thereof neyther could Noe or any of his Successors remēber or find out the place where it had beene And seeing that Chrisostom saith that it was neuer afterwards knowne neither can we know if it still remained or if it were dissolued for standing in part where notice might haue been had thereof LV. Indeed if Paradice should be in a place so neere vnto vs how were it possible that no man should haue knowledge thereof or at the least of the place where it might stand AN. To this answereth Eugubinus that granting his former opiniō to be true or that Paradice was planted in a flat ground or at least not so high as other Doctors affirme then certainly it was destroyed by the waters of the flood God through our offences not permitting a thing so notable of so great perfection to remaine amongst vs in the world LV. It seemeth not vnto me that Eugubinus hath reason to gainsay the opinion of so many Doctors agreeing all in one Strabo being both a Historiographer and a Diuine writeth that the sword with which God placed the Seraphin at the gate of Paradice was called Versatilis which is as much to say as turning because it could turn back as it did when it gaue place of entry to Elias Enoch though the same be otherwise vnderstood of Nicolaus de Lyra who saith that Torrida Zona is the firy sword which the Seraphin held whose exceeding furious heate defended that passage frō all men liuing But this is out of date seeing the industry of this our age hath found the same to be passable BE. I dare not determinatly affirme whether Elias cam out of terestrial Paradice or any other place when he was speaking with Christ at his transfiguration for it is generally held as a thing most certain indubitable that Elias where so euer he be is in body and soule AN. Truly there are for the maintenance of each of these opinions so many reasons that it is best not to trouble our wits withall but to leaue the censure of thē to wiser men greater Doctors then we are only one thing remaineth the which truly if it were in my power I would not permit that so many fables shold be set forth divulged as there are as that which is written in the life of S. Amasus that hee stoode so many yeeres at the gates thereof and also in a treatise of S. Patricks Purgatory where it is written that a Gentleman entring in passed through the same into earthly Paradice for in such matters no man ought to be so hardy as to affirme any thing but that which is knowne to be true and approoued LV. In good sooth you haue great reason but now seeing you haue sayde as much as may be about the situation of Paradice goe forward with that of the Riuers which come from thence a matter vnlesse I be deceaued of no lesse difficulty then the before rehearsed AN. I assure you it is such that I should haue been glad if you had ouerslipped it doubting least I shall be vnable to satisfie your expectation for as Eugubinus sayeth there is so great and so intricate a difficulty heerein that he is hardly able to vnwinde him selfe there out whom of force in this matter I must follow for as for the other Authors which write heereof it seemeth that they stay at the halfe carere without reaching to the end of the course To begin therefore it is sayd in Genesis that there issued a Riuer out of Paradice deuiding it selfe into foure parts the which were Gion Fison Tygris and Euphrates But seeing the difficulty of the seate and place of paradice cannot clearely be determined much lesse can this be of the foure Riuers which issue thence especially knowing at this present that their Springs and risings are in diuers different parts of the world yet for all this sifting and bolting out the truth we will approach as neere it as we may This Riuer which deuided it selfe into foure first issued out of the place of delights which was according to Eugubinus the Prouince of Heden and from thence entered to inundate Paradice whence comming forth it made this deuision It is manifest that the first part therof called Gion is the same which we now call Ganges for this is it which watreth the land of Heuylath The second Riuer Fyson is without all doubt that which wee now call Nilus seeing there is no other which watereth and compasseth about the Land of Aethiopia as the text it selfe sayeth As for Tygris Euphrates they retaine yet their selfe same first names and runne along the Country of the Assirians and of these two last it may be sayde that they rise or at the least that the first Land which they water is the same which according to that before alleaged may be called the prouince of Heden BER These two Riuers are by all Cosmographers described to haue their risings in the Mountaine Taurus in Armenia and it is true that they vvater the prouince of the Assirians but theyr rysing and beginning is farre from thence as saith Strabo by these words Euphrates and Tygris rise in the Mountaine Taurus and compassing about Mesapotamia ioyne themselues together by Babylon and from thence goe to enter into the Persian Sea the spring of Euphrates is on the North side of
it freeze and become more hard and cleare vsing the same in certaine warlike pastimes they haue in steede of a Castell of lyme or stone one troupe entereth there-into to defende the same and another bideth without to besiege assault or surprize it and this in most solemne sort with all engines stratagems and manners of vvarfare great prices being ordained for those that shall obtayne the conquest besides the tryumph wherein the conquerours doe glory ouer the vanquished Who so amongst them is found to be fearefull or not forward in executing that which he is commaunded is by his companions stuft full of Snow vnder his garments and somtimes tumbled starke naked in great heapes of the same enuring them therby better to abide hardnes another time These Septentrionall Lands haue many Lakes and standing waters of great largenes som of the which are a hundred miles long These are at somtimes so frozen that they trauaile ouer them both a foote and horsebacke In the Countries of East and Westgothland there are Lakes vpon which great troupes of horsmen meete and runne for wagers their horses are in such sort shod that they sildome slide or fall in time of warre they skirmish often vpon these frozen Lakes yea and sometimes fight maine battailes vpon them At sundry seasons they hold vpō them also certaine Faires to which there resorteth a great concourse of strange Nations the beginning of which custome was ordained as saith Iohn Archbishoppe of Vpsala Predicessour to Olaus by a Queene of Swethland called Disa who being a woman of great wisedome commaunded her Subiects on a certaine yeere in which her dominions were afflicted with extreame dearth scarsity of graines to goe vnto the bordering Regions carrying with them such merchandize as their Country yeelded and to bring with them in exchange thereof Corne and graine withall to publish franchize to all such as should bring thither any victual to be sold where-vpon many strangers repairing thither at such time and season as the Lake was frozen she appointed them that place for holding of their Faire from which time till this day that custome hath continued Northward of these Regions there are many great and meruailous Lakes such as scarcely the like are to be found in any other part of the world that is peopled of which leauing apart one that is neere the Pole is called the white Lake which is in maner an other Caspian Sea yeelding great commodities of fowle and fish to the adioyning Prouinces part of the same reaching out euen to the Muscouites There are in the Regions of Bothnia Lakes of 300. 400. miles long where there is such quantity of fish taken that if they could conueniently be carried about they would serue for prouision to halfe the world Thereby also are many other notable Lakes of which the three most famous are as the Authors write Vener Meler and Veher Vener containeth in length 130. miles which are about 44. leagues as much in breadth within it it hath sundry Ilands well peopled with Citties Townes and Fortresses Churches and Monasteries for all those three Lakes are in Country of Christians though we haue heere little notice of them Into this Lake enter 24. deepe Riuers all which haue but one only issue which maketh so terrible a noyse amongst certayne Rocks falling from one to another that it is heard by night six or seauen leagues of making deafe those that dwell neere there abouts so that it is sayd there are certaine little Villages and Cottages thereby the enhabitants of which are all deafe They call the issue of these Riuers in their Country language Frolletta which is as much to say as the deuils head The second Lake called Meler is betweene Gothland and Swethland hath in the shore thereof many mynerals of mettals both of siluer and others the treasures gathered out of which enricheth greatly the Kinges of those Countries The third also called Veher aboundeth in mines on the North side thereof The waters thereof are so pure cleare that casting there-into an egge or a white stone you may see it lye in the bottome though it be very deep as well as though there were no water betweene Within this Lake are many peopled Ilands in one of which wherin are two great Parish Churches Olaus writeth that there happened a thing very meruailous and strange There liued in this Iland saith hee a man called Catyllus so famous in the Art of Negromancie that in the whole worlde his like was scarcely to be found Hee had a Scholler called Gilbertus whom hee had in that wicked Science so deepely instructed that hee dared so farre presume as to contend with him being his Maister yea and in som things seeme to surpasse him at which shamelesse ingratitude of his Catyllus taking great indignation as alwayes Maisters vse to reserue vnto themselues certaine secrete points with onely wordes and charmes without other band fetter or prison he bound him in an instant both body hands and feete in such sort that he could not wag himselfe in which plight he conuayed him into a deepe Caue vnder one of the Churches of the same Iland where he remaineth till this day according to the common opinion is alwayes liuing Thither vsed darly to resort many not only of that Country people but strangers also to see him and to demaund questions of him They entred with many Torches and Lanternes and with a clew of threed of which they fasten one end to the dore whereat they enter vnwiding the same still as they goe for the better assurance of finding their way out the Caue being full of many deepe pits crooked turnings and corners But at length because the moisture dampish cold thereof with a lothsome stench besides anoyed so much those that entred that some of them came out halfe dead they made a law that on greeuous paine none of the Countrimen should frō that time forward resort nor enter into that Caue neither giue counsaile aide or assistance to strangers which for curiosities sake shold atempt the same LV. This is without doubt the worke of the deuil who the same Gilbertꝰ dying perchance presently entered into his putrified stinking carkasse abusing the people aunswered to their demands For though the force of enchauntments be great yet can they not preserue life any longer then the time fixed appointed by God AN. You haue reason and in truth it seemeth that the deuill is there more lose and at greater liberty then in other parts so that som wil say the principall habitation of deuils to be in the North according to the authority of holy Scripture All euill shal come discouer it selfe from the Aquilon Zachary Chap. 2. crieth ho ho flie from the land of the Aquilon howbeit that these authorties are vnderstoode cōmonly in that Antichrist shal come from those parts whose like was neuer in persecuting the people of
of but the most part tooke it to be the iust iudgement of God vvhom it pleased to make this man an example to the vvorld in suffering him to end his dayes so miserably and to haue his tong torne out of his head and carried away for he vvas noted to be a great outragious swearer and blasphemer of Gods holy name vvhile hee liued LU. And may it not be that the vvhirle-vvind catching this man in the midst thereof might haue povver to vvorke these effects as vvell as vvhole Rocks to be vvhirled vp and trees to be turned vp by the rootes by the furious buffing together of vvindes when they meete AN. I confesse vnto you that the force of whirle-windes are very great and that they worke often very dangerous and damageabe effects as that which destroyed Algadefres ouerthrowing the houses and buildings and making them all flat with the earth in like sort it is passing dangerous at Sea when two contrary winds take a ship betweene them for sildome or neuer any shippe so taken escapeth but as for this which happened in Benauides I cannot iudge it to be other then the worke of the deuill through the permission of God as by two reasons it appeareth the first that they being two men together the one was saued the other that the dead mans tongue was wanting could not be found LU. You haue satisfied vs as concerning the power which the deuil hath and the limitation thereof therfore passe on I pray you with your former discourse AN. The fourth kind of Spirits are those which are in the waters as well the Sea as Floods Riuers and Lakes these neuer cease to raise damps and stormes persecuting those which saile putting them in great and fearefull dangers through violent and raging tempests procuring to destroy and drowne the ships also through the ayde of monsters rocks and shallowes which are in the Sea the like doe those of the Riuers guiding in such sort the Boates that they make them to ouerturne and causing those that swimme to entangle them selues in sedge or weeds or bringing them into some pits or holes where they cannot get out and finally by all meanes possible they persecute and molest them so far as the limitation of their power extendeth The fifth kind of Spirits are those which are in the Caues vautes of the earth where they lie in waite to entrap those that digge in Mines and Wells and other workes vnder the ground whose death and destruction they couet and procure as much as they may These cause the motions and tremblings of the earth through the ayde of the windes which are therein enclosed whereby whole Citties are often in danger to be swallowed vp especially those which are built neere the Sea whole mountaines are heereby throwne downe infinite peoples destroyed yea and sometimes the Sea heereby breaketh into the Land wasting deuouring whatsoeuer it findeth before it The sixth and last kinde of Spirits are those who are in the Abysmes place whose name is Hell whose principall and proper office is besides the paines which they endure to torment the damned soules This is the place where is no order at all as sayth Iob but continuall feare horror and amazement BE. Seeing you haue declared vnto vs how many sorts of Spirits there are tell vs also I pray you whether they haue bodies or no because I haue often beaten my braines about this secrete without finding any man that could herein resolue me AN. You may well call it a secret considering the diuers opinions that are thereof for many say that they are pure Spirits as Apuleius who made himselfe so well acquainted with them writeth that there is a kinde of Spirits who are alwayes free from the strings and bonds of the body of vvhich number is Sleepe and Loue whom he termeth spirits vvhereby he seemeth to confesse that there are others which haue bodyes so thinketh S. Basile who attributeth bodies not only to these Spirits but also to the Angels The like is vnderstood by the words of Pselius They who followe this opinion alleage for the maintenance thereof the wordes of the Prophet Dauid where he saith He which maketh his Angels spirits and his ministers of fire c. They alleage also S. Augustine to haue beene of the same opinion saying that the Angels before theyr fall had all their bodies formed of the superior purest part of the Ayre and such those haue as yet which remained guiltlesse of Lucifers offence the bodies of whose followers were turned into a thicker and grosser ayre to the end they might be therein more tormented But the Maister of Sentences sayth in his second booke that this is not Saint Augustines opinion but falsely attributed vnto him and so the common opinion of all the holy Doctors is that both the Angels and deuils are pure Spirits as S. Thomas and Saint Iohn Damascene and S. Gregory who aunswere most sufficientlie to such doubts as may herevpon be mooued as how they may feele suffer and receaue punishment though Gaudencius Merula defend the contrary saying that thinges incorporat cannot onely suffer or receaue feeling of any bodily paine but that also to feele them in vnderstanding is vnpossible But as for this opinion holde it for a manifest error for truly Gaudencius in some of his opinions goeth farre vvide of the marke If I should heere rehearse each of the seuerall Doctors opinions I should beginne an endlesse worke leauing them therefore I will come to the poynt indeed that which the rest confesse to be the generall opinion as I sayde before of all or the most part of the holy Doctors of the Church which is that the Angels when it is necessarie doe fashion make vnto thēselues visible bodies for the effects which they pretend as we finde in many places of the holie Scripture whether it be of ayre thickned of fire or of earth it maketh no matter but that so it is see what is written of the three Angels that came to the house of Abraham in the likenesse of three beautifull young men and the Angell Gabriell appeared to the glorious virgine in a most goodlie forme and figure when he brought her the salutation The selfe same is permitted to deuils in their operations whose bodies though we call fantasticall because they vanish presentlie away yet they verily are visible bodies formed of some such substance as I said before but the same is so fine and delicate that it straight dissolueth vanisheth And because this is to the purpose of that which you asked mee and which we now discourse of I haue so lightlie passed ouer all the rest for there haue not wanted Doctors vvhich affirme the deuils to be in such manner bodily that they haue neede of foode vvherewith to sustaine themselues and that they feare stoute men and flie from theyr sharpe vveapons and that beeing striken they