and this he relateth by way of recapitulation as it was reuealed vnto him I saw saith he a great white throne and one that sate on it from whose face flew away both the earth and heauen and their place was no more found He saith not and heauen and earth flew away from his face as importing their present flight for that befell not vntill after the iudgement but from whose face flew away both heauen and earth namely afterwards when the iudgment shall be finished then this heauen and this earth shall cease and a new world shall begin But the old one shall not be vtterly consumed it shall onely passe through an vniuersall change and therefore the Apostle saith The fashion of this world goeth away and I would haue you with-out care The fashion goeth away not the nature Well let vs follow Saint Iohn who after the sight of this throne c. proceedeth thus And I sawe the dead both great and small stand before God and the bookes were opened and another booke was opened which is the booke a of life and the dead were iudged of those things which were written in the bookes according to their workes Behold the opening of bookes and of one booke This what it was hee sheweth which is the booke of life The other are the holy ones of the Old and New-Testament that therein might be shewed what God had commanded but in the booke b of life were the commissions and omissions of euery man on â—…th particularly recorded If we should imagine this to be an earthly booke 〈◊〉 as ours are who is he that could imagine how huge a volume it were or how long the contents of it all would be a reading Shall there be as many Angells as men and each one recite his deeds that were commited to his guard then shall there not bee one booke for all but each one shall haue one I but the Scripture here mentions but one in this kind It is therefore some diuine power â—…ed into the consciences of each peculiar calling all their workes wonderfully strangely vnto memory and so making each mans knowledge accuse or excuse his owne conscience these are all and singular iudged in themselues This power diuine is called a booke and fitly for therein is read all the facts that the doer hath committed by the working of this hee remembreth all But the Apostle to explaine the iudgement of the dead more fully and to shâ—…w how it compriseth greate and small he makes at it were a returne to what he had omitted or rather deferred saying And the sea gaue vp her dead which were within 〈◊〉 and death and Hell deliuered vp the dead which were in them This was before that they were iudged yet was the iudgment mentioned before so that as I said he returnes to his intermission hauing said thus much The sea gaue vp her dead c. As afore he now proceedeth in the true order saying And they were iudged euery 〈◊〉 according to his workes This hee repeateth againe here to shew the order 〈◊〉 was to manage the iudgment whereof hee had spoken before in these words And the dead were iudged of those things which were written in the bookes acâ—…g to their workes L. VIVES OF a life So readeth Hierome and so readeth the vulgar wee finde not any that readeth it Of the life of euery one as it is in some copies of Augustine The Greeke is iust as wee â—…d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of life without addition Of the dead whom the Sea and death and hell shall giue vp to Iudgement CHAP. 15. BVt what dead are they that the Sea shall giue vp for all that die in the sea are not kept from hell neither are their bodyes kept in the sea Shall we say that the sea keepeth the death that were good and hell those that were euill horrible â—…dity Who is so sottish as to beleeue this no the sea here is fitly vnderstood to imply the whole world Christ therefore intending to shew that those whome he found on earth at the time appointed should be iudged with those that were to rise againe calleth them dead men and yet good men vnto whom it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are dead and your life is hidden with Christ in God But them he calleth euill of whome hee sayd Let the dead bury their dead Besides they may bee called dead in that their bodies are deaths obiects wherefore the Apostle saith The 〈◊〉 is dead because of sinne but the spirit is life for righteousnesse sake shew that in a mortall man there is both a dead body and a liuing spirit yet said hee not the body is mortall but dead although according to his manner of speach hee had called bodies mortall but alittle before Thus then the sea gaue vppe her dead the world waue vppe all mankinde that as yet had not approached the graue And death and hell quoth hee gaue vp the dead which were in them The sea gaue vp his for as they were then so were they found but death and hell had theirs first called to the life which they had left then gaue them vp Perhaps it were not sufficient to say death onely or hell onely but hee saith both death and hell death for such as might onely die and not enter hell and hell for such as did both for if it bee not absurd to beleeue that the ancient fathers beleeuing in Christ to come were all at rest a in a place farre from all torments and yet within hell vntill Christs passion and descension thether set them at liberty then surely the faithfull that are already redeemed by that passion neuer know what hell meaneth from their death vntill they arise and receiue their rewards And they iudged euery one according to their deedes a briefe declaration of the iudgement And death and hell saith he were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death Death and Hell are but the diuell and his angells the onely authors of death and hells torments This hee did but recite before when he said And the Diuell that deceiued them was cast into a lake of fire and brimstone But his mistical addition Where the beast and the false Prophet shall be tormented c. That he sheweth plainly here Whosoeuer was not found written in the booke of life was cast into the lake of fire Now as for the booke of life it is not meant to put God in remembrance of any thing least hee should forget but it sheweth who are predestinate vnto saluation for God is not ignorant of their number neither readeth hee this booke to finde it his prescience is rather the booke it selfe wherein all are written that is fore-knowen L. VIVES IN a a place They call this place Abrahams bosome wherein were no paines felt as Christ sheweth plainely of Lazarus Luc. 16. and that this place was farre from the dungeon of the wicked but where it is or what is
old booke hath occenà sset should sing out and I thinke better then otherwise the ancient Latinists saith Festus vsed occentare for the same for which we vse conuitium facere to mocke or reproach which was done aloud and as it were sung out vnto others hearing a farre off and this was held dishonest That the diuills through their settled desire to doe men mischiefe were willing to haue any villanies reported of them whither true or false CHAP. 10. BVt those wicked spirits whoÌ„ these meÌ„ take to be gods were desirous to haue such beastly stories spred abroad of theÌ„ though they themselues had neuer acted any such thing only to keep mens mindes inueigled in such bestiall opinions as it were in snares or nets and by that meanes to draw them to predestinate damation for company whether it bee true that such men as those that loue to liue in errors doe select for gods did themselues commit any such things for which the diuills set themselues out to be adored by a thousand seuerall trickes of hurtfull deceite or that there were no such things done at all but onely those malicious and suttle diuills doe cause them to bee faigned of the gods to the end that there might bee sufficient authoritie deriued as it were from heauen to earth for men to commit all filthinesse by Therefore the Grecians seeing that they had such gods as these to serue thought it not fit to take away any liberty from the Poets in vsing these stage-mockes and shames â—…dt is they did either for feare least their gods should bee prouoked to anger against them in case they went about to make themselues into more honest moulds then they were and so seeme to preferre themselues before them or els for desire to bee made like their gods euen in these greatest enormities And from this imagined conuenience came it that they hold the very a actors of such plaies to bee worthy of honours in their Cities For in the same booke Of the Common-wealth b Aeschines of Athens an c eloquent man hauing beene an Actor of Tragedies in his youth is sayd to haue borne office in the Common-wealth And Aristodemus d another actor of Tragedies was sent by the Athenians vpon an Embassage to Phillip about especiall and weighty affaires of warre and peace For they held it an vnmete thing seeing they saw their gods approue of those actions and artes of playing to repute those worthy of any note of infamy that were but the actors of them L. VIVES THe very a actors Aemilus Probus speaking of the Greekish fashions saith In those countries it was no disgrace for any man to come vpon the stage and set himselfe as a spectacle to the people which wee hold for partly infamous and partly base and vnworthy of an honest man b Aeschines An â—…rator of Athens enemie to Demosthenes hee acted Tragedies vpon the stage And therefore Demosthenes in his Oration de Corona calles him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 An apish tragedian or a tragicall ape Quintilian saith hee was Hypocrita that is Histrio a stage-plaier Plutarche in 10. Rhetoribus saith hee was an Actor of Tragedies So saith Philostratus also in his booke De sophistis and that he did not leaue his country through constraint or banishment but beeing iudged to bee ouercome in a contention by â—…tesiphon hee went away vnto Alexander who as then was Emperor of Asia but hearing that hee was dead before he came at him hee bent his course for Rhodes and liking the sweet aptnesse vnto study that that soile afforded hee settled himselfe there Aeschines himselfe in an Epistle hee wrote to the Athenians seemes to affirme that hee had giuen ouer his stage-playing before hee bore any place in the Common-wealth c an eloquent man That hee was most eloquent is most plaine as also that his voice was sweete and full and some there are that asigne him next dignity vnto Demosthenes nature gaue him more worth then industry Some say hee was scholler vnto no man but of a sudden from a scribe hee became an oratour and that his first oration was against Phillip of Macedon and hereby hee got such fauor and credite amongst the people that they sent him Embassadour to the same King Others asigne him Plato and Isocrates for his Maisters and some Leodamas This Rhodian Rhetorikâ—… was a certaine meane betweene the Asian and the Athenian Aeschines inuented and taught it in his schoole at Rhodes after his retirement thether d Aristodemus another actor This man as Demosthenes writeth went Embassadour to King Philippe with Demosthenes himselfe and Aeschines This is hee who when Demosthenes asked him what fee hee had for pleading answered a talent I but quoth Demosthenes I had more for holding of my tongue Critolaus reporteth this That the Grecians admitted their Plaiers to beare office in their Commonwealths least they should seeme vniust in despising such men as were the pacifiers of their Gods CHAP. 11. THis was the Grecians practise absurd inough howsoeuer but yet most fitly applied vnto the nature of their gods a they durst not exempt the liues of their cittizens from the lashes of poeticall pennes and plaiers tongues because they saw their gods delighted at the traducing of themselues and they thought surely that those men that acted such things vpon the stage as pleased the gods ought not to be disliked at any hand by them that were but seruaÌ„ts to those gods Nay not onely that but that they ought to bee absolutely and highly honored by their fellow Cittizens for what reason could they finde for the honoring of the Priests that offered the sacrifices which the gods accepted well of and yet allowe the actors to bee disgracefully thought of who had learnt their profession by the speciall appointment of the selfe same gods that exact these celebrations of them and are displeased if they bee not sollemnized Especially seeing that b Labeo who they say was most exact in these matters distinguisheth the good spirits from the badde by this diuersity of their worshippes that c the badde ones are delighted with Slaughters and tragicall inuocations and the good with mirthfull reuells and sportfull honors such as Playes quoth he banquets and d reuelling on beddes are of which hereafter so God bee pleased wee will discourse more at large But to our present purpose whether it bee so that all kindes of honours bee giuen vnto all the gods mixt and confused as vnto onely good ones for it is not fit to say there are any euill gods although indeede they are all euill beeing all vncleane spirits or that according as Labeo saith there must bee a discretion vsed and that these must haue such and such particular rites of obseruances asigned and those other others howsoeuer the Greekes did most conueniently to hold both Priests and Plaiers worthy of honorable dignities the Priests for offring of their sacrifices and the Plaiers for acting of their enterludes least
the fire falling from heauen and deuouring them imply the last torments of the wicked 13. Whether it bee a thousand yeares vntill the persecution vnder Antechrist 14. Sathan and his followers condemned a recapitulation of the Resurrection and the last iudgement 15. Of the dead whom the sea and death hell shall giue vp to iudgement 16. Of the new Heauen and the new Earth 17. Of the glorification of the church after death for euer 18. Saint Peters doctrine of the resurrection of the dead 19. Saint Pauls words to the Thessalonians Of the manifestation of Antechrist whose times shall immediatly fore-run the day of the LORD 20. Saint Pauls doctrine of the resurrection of the dead 21. Esaias his doctrine concerning the iudgment and resurrection 22. How the Saints shall goe forth to see the paines of the wicked 23. Daniels prophecy of Antichrist of the iudgment and of the kingdome of the Saints 24. Dauids prophecies of the worlds end the last iudgment 25. Malachies prophecy of the iudgement and of such as are to be purged by fire 26. Of the Saints offrings which God shall accept of as in the old time and the years before 27. Of the separation of the good from the bad in the end of the last iudgement 28. Moyses law to be spiritually vnderstood for feare of dangerous error 29. Helias his comming to conuert the Iewes before the iudgment 30. That it is not euident in the Old Testament in such places as say God shall iudge that it shal be in the person of Christ but onely by some of the testimonies where the LORD GOD speaketh FINIS THE TVVENTITH BOOKE OF THE CITTIE OF GOD Written by Saint Augustine Bishop of Hippo vnto Marcellinus Gods iudgements continually effected His last iudgement the proper subiect of this booke following CHAP. 1. BEing now to discourse of the day of GODS last iudgement against the faithlesse and the wicked wee must lay downe holy scriptures first for the foundation of our following structure Which some beleeue not but oppose them with fond and friuolous arguments wresting them either quite vnto another purpose or vtterly denying them to containe any thing diuine For I doe not thinke that man liueth who vnderstanding them as they are spoken and beleeuing that GOD inspired them into sanctified men will not giue his full assent vnto what they auerre but hee must needes professe as much bee he neuer so ashamed or afraid to auouch it or neuer so obstinate that he would conceale it and study to defend mere and knowne falshood against it Wherefore the whole church beleeueth and professeth that Christ is to come from heauen to iudge both the quicke and the dead and this wee call the day of GODS iudgement the last time of all for how many daies this iudgement will hold wee know not but the scripture vseth Daie for Time verie often as none that vseth to reade it but well discerneth it And wee when we speake of this daie doe adde last the last daie because that GOD doth iudge at this present and hath done euer since hee set man forth of paradice and chased our first parents from the tree of life for their offences nay from the time that hee cast out the transgressing Angells whose enuious Prince doth all that hee canne now to ruine the soules of men It is his iudgement that both men and deuills doe liue in such miseries and perturbations in ayre and earth fraught with nothing but euills and errors And if no man had offended it had beene his good iudgement that man and all reasonable creatures had liued in perfect beatitude and eternall coherence with the LORD their GOD. So that he iudgeth not onely men and deuills vnto misery in generall but hee censureth euery perticular soule for the workes it hath performed out of freedome of will For the deuills pray that they may not bee tormented neither doth GOD vniustly either in sparing them or punnishing them And man some-times in publike but continually in secret feeleth the hand of Almightie GOD punnishing him for his trespasses and misdeedes either in this life or in the next though no man canne doe well without the helpe of GOD nor any diuill can doe hurt without his iust permission For as the Apostle sayth Is there vnrighteousnesse in GOD GOD forbid and in another place Vnsearcheable are his iudgements and his waies past finding out I intend not therefore in this booke to meddle with Gods ordinary daylie iudgements or with those at first but with that great and last Iudgement of his by his gratious permission when CHRIST shall come from heauen To iudge both the quicke and the dead for that is properly called the Iudgement-day because a there shal bee no place for ignorant complaint vpon the happinesse of the bad and the misery of the good The true and perfect felicity in that day shal be assured onely to the good and eternall torment shall then shew it selfe as an euerlasting inheritance onely for the euill L. VIVES THere a shal be no place for In this life many men stumble at the good fortunes and prosperity of the badde and the sad misfortunes of the good They that know not that fortunes goods are no goods at all as the wicked doe beleeue they are doe wonder at this But indeede the wicked neuer enioy true good nor doth true euill euer befall the good For the names of goods and euills that are giuen to those things that these men admire are in farre other respect then they are aware of and that makes their fond iudgements condemne the ordering of things But at the last Iudgement of CHRIST where the truth of good and bad shall appeare then shall good fall onely to the righteous and bad to the wicked and this shal be there vniuersally acknowledged The change of humane estates ordered by Gods vnsearcheable iudgements CHAP. 2. BVt here on earth the euills endured by the good men instruct vs to endure them with pacience and the goods enioyed by the wicked aduise vs not to affect them with immoderation Thus in the things where GODS iudgements are not to bee discouered his counsell is not to bee neglected Wee know not why GOD maketh this bad man ritch and that good man poore that hee should haue ioy whose deserts wee hold worthier of paines and hee paynes whose good life wee imagine to merite content that the Iudges corruption or testimonies falsenesse should send the innocent away condemned much more vn-cleared and the iniurious foe should depart reuenged much more vnpunished that the wicked man should liue sound 〈◊〉 the Godly lie bedde-ridde that lusty youthes should turne theeues and those that neuer did hurt in worde bee plagued with extremity of sicknesse That silly infantes of good vse in the world should bee cut off by vntimeâ—… 〈◊〉 while they that seeme vnworthie euer to haue beene borne attaine long 〈◊〉 happie life that the guilty should be honoured and the Godlie
the vnbridled out-rage of dissolute souldiers at the sacking of Cities For when HALARICVS was ready to enter into the Citty he caused two Edicts to bee proclamed to his souldiers The one was that euery man should abstaine from slaughter and laying violent handes vpon any person because such cruell deedes did highly displease him The other was that whosoeuer had taken Sanctuarie in the temples of the chiefe Apostles should haue no harme done vnto them nor those holie temples bee prophaned by any and that the offendor should suffer death The City of Rome was taken by the Gothes after it was founded Anno. M. C. L. XIIII Cal. April PLAVIVS and VARRO being Consulls But after what manner is was taken the Historiographers make small relation PAPT STA EGNATIVS saith that he had the manner of the taking of it out of the workes of PROCOPIVS a Greeke author and that hee did not a little maruell why the Interpreter did wittingly and willingly ouer-skippe that place or if it were so that hee lighted vpon an vnperfect booke that hee tooke no better heed to marke what was wanting I my selfe haue not seene PROCOPIVS the Greeke author therefore the truth of the cause shall relie vpon the credit of EGNATIVS a man verie industrious and learned as farre as I canne iudge by his workes These are his words ensuing HALARICVS had now besieged Rome the space of two yeares when HONORIVS remayning carelesse at Rauenna was neither able nor durst come to succor and releeue the Citty For hee regarded nothing lesse then the wel-fare and safety of the City after the death of STILICO hauing no care to place another Generall in his roome which might haue managed the warres against the Gothes These things were motiues to stirre vp the Gothes to besiege the Cittie perceiuing that either the Romane souldiers daylie decaied or that they went about their affaires without any corage But when they found that they could not winne it by force hauing besieged it a long time in vaine then their barbarous enemies turne their thoughts to attempt what they may doe by policy And now they beginne to make a false shew of their departing home into their owne country wherefore they call three hundered young men out of their whole army excelling in actiuity of body and corage of minde which they giue as a present to the Noble-men of Rome hauing instructed them before hand that by their lowly carriage and obsequious seruice they should bend themselues to win the fauor and good liking of their maisters that on a certaine day concluded betwen them about noone-time when the Romane princes were either a sleepe or idly disposed they should come speedily to the gate which is named Asinaria Porta there suddenly rushing vpon the keepers murder them speedely and then set open the gate for their country-men to enter beeing ready at hand In the meane while the Gothes prolonged their returne dissembling cunningly that some-time they wanted this thing and some-time that At last these three hundered young men wakeâ—…il to take the tide of oportunity dispatched their taske coragiously which they had vndertaken at the appointed day set the gate wide open to their countri-men and friends Now the Goths hauing gotten entrance rifle ransack spoile and wast the whole City procuring far greater dishonor shame vnto the Roman Nation then they did losse by the taking of it There are some which thinke the gate was set open by the meanes of PROBA a most famous wealthy woman pittying the lamentable and distressed case of the common people who died euery where like brute beasts pined with famine and afflicted with grieuous diseases There are two things worthy of serious marking first that HALARICVS made an Edict that no violence or harme should be offered vnto them which fled into the Temples of the Saints especially of Saint PETER and PAVL which thing was carefully kept Next when it was told HONORIVS being at Rauenna that Rome was lost hee thought it had beene meant of a certaine French-man a quarrellous and fighting fellow whose name was ROME maruelling that hee was so soone gone with whom hee had so little before beene most pleasant And thus much writeth EGNATâ—…VS Now the most blasphemous and wicked people faâ—…sly imputed the cause of all their miseries and enormities vnto the Christian Religion denying that euer it would haue come to passe that Rome should haue beene taken if they had kept still the Religions deuoutly obserued by their Ancestors and commended by tradition vnâ—…o their Posterity As though the French-men before time had not taken wasted and ransacked that Citty for the very same cause namely for the breach of their oth yea at that time when the prophane ceremonies of their Heathenish Religion as they say were in their chiefest prime and pride And as though few Christian Emperors had managed their affaires well or as though the decay of the Empire and ruine of it did not begin vnder the Emperors of the Gentiles And as if HONORIVS had not lost Rome by the same negligence and sloathfulnesse that GALIENVS lost Aegipt Aâ—…a 〈◊〉 passing the matter ouer with a pleasant test when newes came vnto him of thâ—… lâ—…se of them Wherefore against these slanderous persons who would haue beene enemies and aduersaries of the Christian Religion though no calamity had happened to them AVGVSTINE wrote two and twenty bookes defending the Citty of God that is to say the Christian Religion against the rage and fury of their frantick and impious calumniations FINIS The argument out of the second booke of the Retractations of Saint Augustine TRiumphant Rome ruinated and deiected from her throne of Maiesty into a gulphe of calamity by the violent irruption of the barbarous Gothes managing their bloudy wars vnder the standard of ALARICVS the worshippers of false and many gods whom wee brand in the fore-head with the common name of heathenâ—… Pagans began to breath out more damnable and virulent blasphemies against the true GOD then their bestiall mouthes had euer breathed out befâ—… labouring with might and maine to lay a heape of slanders vpon the neck of Christian relâ—…on as the wicked Mother of all this mischiefe and murderer of their worldly happinesse Wherefore the fire and zeale of Gods House burning within my bowells I resolued to compile these bookes of the Citty of God to batter down the strongest hold of their bitter blasphemies and dispel the thick clowds of their grosse errors Some yeares passed ouer my head before I could compile and finish the whole frame of this worke by reason of many intercedent affaires whose impatient hast of quick expedition would admit no delay But at last this great and laborious worke of the Citty of God was ended in two and twenty bookes of which the first fiue rebate the edge of their erronious opinions which build the prosperity of humane affaires vpon such a tottering foundation that they thinke it cannot stand long
razed out Surely the loue of Saluting one another was great in Rome Highly was hee honored that was saluted and well was hee mannerd that did salute but great plausibility attended on both both were very popular and great steps to powrefulnesse Salust in Iugurth Truely some are verie industrious in saluting the people All the Latines writings are full of salutations b Sardanapalus The Grecians called Sardanapalus Thonos Concoloros Hee was the last King of the Assyrians a man throwne head-long into all kinde of pleasures Who knowing that Arbaces the Median prepared to make warres against him resolued to trie the fortune of warre in this affaire But beeing conquered as he was an effeminate fellow and vnfit for all martiall exercises hee fled vnto his house and set it on fire with himselfe and all his ritches in it Long before this when hee was in his fullest madnesse after pleasures hee causes this epitaph to bee engrauen vpon his tombe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Tully translates it thus Haec habeò quae edi quaeque exaturata voluptas Hausit at illa iacent multa et preclara relicta What I consum'd and what my guts engross't I haue but all the wealth I left I lost What else could any man haue written saith Aristotle in Cicero vpon the graue of an Oxe rather then of a King hee saith he hath that being dead which he neuer had whilest hee liued but onely while he was a wasting of it Chrysippus applies the verses vnto his Stoicisme hereof reade Athenaeus lib. 5. Tully his opinion of the Romaine Common-wealth CHAP. 21. BVt if hee be scorned that said their common-wealth was most dishonest and dishonorable and that these fellowes regard not what contagion and corruption of manners doe rage amongst them so that their state may stand and continue now shall they heare that it is not true that Salust saith that their common-wealth is but become vile and so wicked but as Cicero saith it is absolutely gone it is lost and nothing of it remaines For hee brings in Scipio him that destroied Carthage disputing of the weale-publike at such time as it was a presaged that it would perish by that corruption which Saluste describeth For this disputation was b at that time when one of the Gracchi was slaine from which point Salust affirmeth all the great seditions to haue had their originall for in those bookes there is mention made of his death Now Scipio hauing said in the end of the second booke that as in instruments that go with strings or wind or as in voices consorted there is one certaine proportion of discrepant notes vnto one harmony the least alteration whereof is harsh in the care of the skilfull hearer and that this concord doth â—…onsist of a number of contrary sounds and yet all combined into one perfect musicall melody so in a cittye that is gouerned by reason of all the heighest meane and lowest estates as of soundes there is one true concord made out of discordant natures and that which is harmony in musike is vnity in a citty that this is the firmest and surest bond of safety vnto the commonweale and that a commonweale can neuer stand without equity when hee had dilated at large of the benefit that equity brings to any gouernment and of the inconuenience following the absence therof then c Pilus one of the company begins to speake and intreated him to handle this question more fully and make a larger discourse of iustice because it was then become a common report d that a commonwealth could not be gouerned without iniustice and iniury herevpon Scipio agreed that this theame was to be handled more exactly and replied that what was as yet spoken of the commonwealth was nothing and that they could not proceed any farther vntill it were proued not onely that it is faulse that a weale publike cannot stand without iniury but also that it is true that it cannot stand without exact iustice So the disputation concerning this point being deferred vntill the next day following in the third booke it is handled with great controuersie For Pilus he vndertakes the defence of their opinion that hold that a state cannot be gouerned without iniustice but with this prouision that they should not thinke him to bee of that opinion himselfe And he argued very diligently for this iniustice against iustice endevoring by likely reasons and examples to shew that the part hee defended was vse-full in the weale publike and that the contrary was altogether needlesse Then e Laelius being intreated on all sides stept vp and tooke the defence of iustice in hand and withal his knowledge laboured to proue that nothing wrackt a citty sooner then vniustice and that no state could stand without perfect iustice which when hee had concluded and the question seemed to be throughly discussed Scipio betooke himselfe againe to his intermitted discourse and first he rehearseth and approueth his definition of a commonwealth wherein he said it was the estate of the commonty then he determineth this that this commonty is not meant of euery rablement of the multitude but that it is a society gathered together in one consent of law and in one participation of profite Then he teacheth f the profite of definitions in al disputations and out of his definitions he gathereth that onely there is a commonwealth that is onely there is a good estate of the commonty where iustice and honesty hath free execution whether it be by g a King by nobles or by the whole people But when the King becomes vniust whom he calleth h Tyranne as the Greekes do or the nobles be vniust whose combination hee termeth i faction or the people them-selues be vniust for which hee cannot finde a fit name vnlesse he should call the whole company as he called the King a Tyran then that this is not a vicious common-wealth aswas affirmed the day before but as the reasons depending vpon those definitions proued most directly it is iust no common-wealth at all for it is no Estate of the people when the Tyran vsurpeth on it by Faction nor is the commonty a commonty when it is not a society gathered together in one consent of law and one participation of commodities as hee had defined a commonty before VVherefore seeing the Romane Estate was such as Saluste doth descipher it to bee it was now no dishonest or dishonorable Common-wealth as hee affirmed but it was directly no common-wealth at all according vnto the reasons proposed in that discourse of a common-wealth k before so many great Princes and heads thereof and as Tully himselfe not speaking by Scipio or any other but in his owne person doth demonstrate in the beginning of his fift booke where hauing first rehearsed that verse of l Ennius where he saith Moribus antiquis res stat Romana virisque Old manners and old men vpholden Rome Which verse quoth Tully whether you respect the
Cattell dyed also so sore that one would haue thought the worldes vtter vastation was entered And then there was a winter how strangely vnseasonable The snow lying in the Market-place forty daies together in a monstrous depth all Tiber beeing frozen quite ouer If this hadde hapened in our times Lord how it would haue beene scanned vppon And then for that o great pestilence how many thousand tooke it hence which maugre all Aesculapius his druggs lasting till the next yeare they were faine to betake them-selues to the bookes of the Sybils p In which kind of Oracles as Tully saith well in his booke De diuinat the expounders of them are oftener trusted then otherwise gesse they neuer so vnlikely and then it was said that the pestilence raged so because that q many of the Temples were put vnto priuat mens vses Hereby freeing Aesculapius either from great ignorance or negligence But why were these Temples turned vnto priuate habitations without prohibition but onely because they saw they hadde lost too much labour in praying to such a crue of goddes so long and so becomming wiser by degrees had left haunting of those places by little and little and at length abandoned them wholy for the priuate vses of such as would inhabit them For those houses that as then for auoiding of this pestilence were so dilligently repared if they were not afterwards vtterly neglected and so incroched vppon by priuat men as before Varro should bee too blame to say speaking of Temples that many of them were vnknowne But in the meane time this fetch was a pretty excuse for the goddes but no cure at all for the Pestilence L. VIVES A Few a of the greatest The Plebeians either through hate to the Nobles or ambition in them-selues disturbed the common state exceedingly to assure and augment their owne pretending the defence of the peoples freedome notwithstanding in all their courses the Patriots opposed them abstracting from the peoples meanes to share amongst them-selues pretending the defence of the Senates dignity which the state would haue most eminent but indeed they did nothing but contend bandy factions each with other according to his power b deserts Some books put in incesserant but it hurteth the sence c Where then were All this relation of Augustines is out of Liuie read it in him least our repitition becomme both tedious and troublesome d It was scaled Incensum scaled and not incensum fired e SP. Aemilius This must be Melius assuredly by the history f Bed-spreadings It was an old fashion to banket vpon beds But in their appeasiue and sacrifical banquets in the Temples and in the night orgies they made beds in the place for the gods to lye and reuel vpon and this was called Lectisterium Bed-spreading the Citty being sore infected with the plague saith Liuie lib. 5. a few yeares ere it was taken by the Galles the Sybils bookes directed the first Bed-spreading to last eight dayes three beds were fitted one for Apollo and Latona one for Diana and Hercules one for Mercury and Neptune But how this can bee the first Bed-spreading I cannot see seeing that in the secular games that Poplicola Brutus his Collegue ordayned there were three nights Bed-spreadings Valer lib. 2. Censorin de die Natall g Another In yâ— Consulship of C L. Marcellus T. Ualerius was a great question in the Court about poisons because many great men had bene killed by their wiues vsing such meanes h Then grew wars Against the Samnites Galles Tarentines Lucans Brutians and Hetrurians after al which followed Pyrrhus the King of Epirus his warre But now a word or two of the Proletarij the Brood-men here named Seruius Tullus the sixt King of Rome diuided the people into six companies or formes in the first was those that were censured worth C. M. Asses or more but vnder that King the greatest Censure was but C X M. Plin lib. 33. the second contained all of an estate between C. and LXXV Asses the third them vnder L. the fourth them vnder XXXV the fift them vnder XI the last was a Century of men freed from warre-fare Proletarii or Brood-men and Capiti-censi A Brood-man was hee that was rated ML Asses in the Censors booke more or lesse and such were euer forborne from all offices and vses in the Cittie beeing reserued onely to begette children and therefore were stiled Proletarii of Proles brood or ofspring The Capite Censi were poorer and valued but at CCCLXXV asses Who because they were not censured by their states were counted by the poll as augmenting the number of the Cittizens These two last sorts did Seru. Tullius exempt from all seruice in warre not that they were vnfit them-selues or hadde not pledges to leaue for their fealty but because they could not beare the charges of warre for the soldiers in those daies maintained them-selues It may be this old custome remained after the institution of tribute and the people of Rome thought it not fitte that such men should go to warre because that they accounted all by the purse This reason is giuen by Valerius and Gellius But these Brood-men were diuers times ledde forth to the wars afterward mary the Capite Censi neuer vntill Marius his time and the warre of Iugurthe Salust Valer. Quintillian also toucheth this In milite mariano And here-vppon Marius their Generall was called Capite Census i Pyrrhus Descended by his mother from Achilles by his father from Hercules by both from Ioue This man dreaming on the worlds Monarchy went with speed at the Tarentines intreaty against the Romaines hence hoping to subdue Italie and then the whole world as Alexander had done a while before him k Who asking Cicero de diuinat lib. 2 saith that it is a verse in Ennius Aio and as in the text Which the Poet affirmeth that the Oracle returned as answer to Pyrrhus in his inquiry hereof Whence Tully writeth thus But now to thee Apollo thou that sittest vpon the earths nauell from whence this cruel and superstitious voice first brake Chrysippus fill'd a booke with thine Oracles but partly fained I thinke and partly casuall as is often seene in ordinary discourses and partly equiuocall that the interpreter shall need an interpreter and the lotte must abide the try all by lotte and partly doutful requiring the skil of Logike Thus farre he seeming to taxe Poets verse with falshood Pyrrhus is called Aeacides for Achilles was son to Peleus and Peleus vnto Aacus Virgill ipsumque Aeacidem c. meaning Pyrrhus l Pyrrhus was conqueror Pyrrhus at Heraclea ouerthrew Valerius Consull but got a bloudy victory whence the Heraclean victory grew to a prouerb but after Sulpitius and Decius foyled him and Curius Dentatus at length ouerthrew him and chased him out of Italy m And in this This is out of Orosius lib. 4. hapning in the Consulship of Gurges and Genutiuâ—… in Pyrrhus his warre n Prince of
compared should bee in the guift of any of them Nor can their state and hight compared with the basenesse of an earthly Kingdome in respect of them bee a sufficient cloake for their defect in not beeing able to giue it because forsooth they doe not respect it No what euer hee bee that considering the frailty of mans nature maketh a scorne of the momentary state of earthly dominion he will thinke it aâ—… vnworthy iniury to the gods to haue the giuing and guarding of such vanities imposed vpon them And by this if that according as wee proued sufficiently in the two bookes last past no one god of all this catalogue of noble and ignoble godâ—… were fit to behold the bestower of earthly states how much lesse fit were they all to make a mortall man pertaker of immortality Besides because now wee dispute against those that stand for their worship in respect of the life to come they are not to bee worshipped for those things which these mens erronious opinion farre from all truth haue put as their proprieties and things peculiarly in their powre as they beleeue that hold the honouring of them very vsefull in things of this present life against whom I haue spoken to my powre in the 〈◊〉 precedent volumes Which being thus if such as adore Iuuentas flourish in vâ—…or of youth and those that doe not either die vnder age or passe it with the â—…fes of decrepite sicknesse If the chinnes of Fortuna Barbata her seruants 〈◊〉 â—…ll of haire and all others be beardlesse then iustly might we say that thus 〈◊〉 â—…ese goddesses are limited in their offices and therefore it were no asking liâ—…â—…nall of Iuuentas that could not giue one a beard nor were any good to 〈◊〉 â—…cted of Fortuna Barbata after this life that had not powre to make one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he had a beard But now their worship beeing of no vse for those things in their powre seeing many haue worshipped Iuuentas that liued not to bee 〈◊〉 and as many honoured Fortuna Barbata that neuer had good beards and many without beardes that worshiped her were mocked by them that had beâ—…ds and scorâ—…â—…r is any man then so mad that knowing the worshipping â—…f thâ—…m to bee 〈◊〉 in those things whereto their pretended powre extendeth yet will beleeue it to be effectuall in the obtayning life eternall Nay euen those that did share out their authority for them least beeing so many there should some sit idle and so taught their worshippe to the rude vulgar nor these themselues durst affirme that the life eternall was a gift comprised in any of their powers L. VIVES BLessed a is the man The Septuagints translate it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That maketh the 〈◊〉 of the LORD his hope But the Hebrew originall hath it as Augustine citeth it Indeed the difference is not of any moment b Though they durst not They feared the lawes as they did the Areopagites at Athens as Tully saith of Epicurus c Being all Plato in Tiâ—… d Prâ—… to laughter Alluding to Virgill in his Palaemon Et quo sed faciles Nymphae risere sacello c. The shrine wherein the pleasant Nymphes were merry 〈◊〉 not call them Faciles pleasant or kind because they were soone mooued to laughter but beâ—…use they were soone appeased and easie to bee intreated Faciles venerare Napâ—…s 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his Georgikes to adore the gentle Napaeae And in the same sence are men called Geâ—… â—…iles What may bee thought of Varro's opinion of the gods who dealeth so with them in his discouery of them and their ceremonies that with more reuerence vnto them he might haue held his peace CHAP 2. VVâ—… was euer a more curious inquisitor of these matters then Varro a â—…re learned inuentor a more diligent iudge a more elegant diuider or a â—…act recorder And though he be not eloquent yet is hee so documentaâ—… 〈◊〉 sententious that to reade his vniuersall learning will delight one that 〈◊〉 matter as much as Tâ—…lly will one that loueth wordes Yea Tully a himâ—…e leaueth this testimony of him that the same disputation that hee handleth in his Academicke dialogues hee had hee saith with Marcus Varro a man the most â—…ute and d doubâ—…lesse the most learned of his time c Hee saith noâ—… the moâ—…â—…quent because herein hee had his betters but most acute and in his Aâ—…kes where hee maketh doubts of all things hee calleth him Doutlesse the â—…st learned being so assured hereof that he would take away all doubt which hee â—…ed to induce into all questions onely in this Academicall disputation forgetting himselfe to bee an Academike And in his first booke hauing comâ—…ed his workes d Wee saith â—…ee in the Citty were but as wandring pâ—…lgrimes 〈◊〉 â—…kes brought vs home and taught vs to know what and whom wee were Thy 〈◊〉 age time religious and politique discipline habitations order all the formes causes 〈◊〉 kindes of diuine and ciuill discipline by these are fully discouered So great was his learning as e Terentius also testifieth of him in the verse Vir doctissiâ—… vâ—…decunque Varro Varro a man of vniuersall skill Who hath reade so much â—…t â—…ee wonder how hee hath had time to write and f hath written so much that we 〈◊〉 how any man should read so much This man I say so learned and so witty 〈◊〉 he bin a direct opposer of that religion he wrote for held the ceremonies 〈◊〉 â—…ay religious but wholy superstitious could not I imagine haue recorded 〈◊〉 â—…testable absurdities thereof then hee hath already But being a worshippeâ—… 〈◊〉 â—…ame gods a teacher of that worship that hee proffesseth he feareth that his worke should bee lost not by the enemies incursion but by the citizens negligence and affirmeth that with a more worthy and commodious care were they to bee preserued then that wherewith Metellus fetched the Palladium from the slaues and Aeneas his houshold gods from the sacke of Troy yet for all this doth hee leaue such things to memory as all both learned and ignorant do iudge most absurd and vnworthy to bee mentioned in religion What ought wee then to gather but that this depely Skild man beeing not freed by the holy spirit was ouer-pressed with the custome of his city and yet vnder shew of commending their religion gaue the world notice of his opinion L. VIVES TUlly a himselfe What Tully ment to handle in his Academikes his thirteeneth Epistle of his first booke to Atticus openeth fully beeing rather indeed a whole volume then an Epistle He writeth also de diuinat lib. 2. that hee wrote fourth bookes of Academicall questions And though he certifie Atticus that hee hath drawne them into two yet wanteth there much and of the two that wee haue extant Nonius Marcellus quoteth the second diuers times by the name of the fourth The place Augustine citeth is not extant in the bookes wee haue b Doutbtlesse the most Uarro in his life time when enuy stirre
the watry playnes g The Moone Porph. Naturall deor interpretat That in the Sunne saith he is 〈◊〉 that in the Moone Miuerua signifiyng wisdome h Worlds fire Ours that we vse on earth belonging as I say to generation Though herein as in all fictions is great diuersity of opiâ—…ons Phurnutus saith Vulan is the grosser fire that wee vse and Iupiter the more pure fire and Prudentius saith Ipse ignis qui nostrum seruit ad usum Vulcanus ac perhibetur et in virtute supernâ Fingitur ac delubra deus ac nomine et ore Assimulatus habet nec non regnare caminis Fertur Aeoliae summus faber esse vel Aetna The fire that serues our vse Hight Vulcan and is held a thing diuine Grac't with a stile a statue and a shrine The chimeys god he is and keepes they say Great shops in Aetna and Aeolia i onely Heauen Ennius Aspice hoc sublime candens quem inuocant omnes Iouem behold yond flaming light which each call Ioue k Get the starre In the contention for Lucifier or the day starre That Varro him-selfe held his opinions of the Gods to be ambiguous CHAP. 17. BVt euen as these cited examples do so all the rest rather make the matteâ—… intricate then plaine and following the force of opiniatiue error sway this way and that way that Varro himselfe liketh better to doubt of them then to deliuer this or that positiuely for of his three last bookes hauing first ended that of the certaine gods then hee came into that of the a vncertaine ones and there hee saith If I set downe ambiguities of these gods I am not blame worthy Hee that thinketh I ought to iudge of them or might let him iudge when he readeth them I had rather call all my former assertions into question then propound all that I am to handle in this booke positiuely Thus doth hee make doubts of his doctrine of the certaine gods aswell as the rest Besides in his booke of the select ones hauing made his preface out of naturall theology entring into these politique fooleries and mad fictions where truth both opposed him antiquity oppressed him here qd he I wil write of the gods to whom the Romaines haue built temples diuersity of statues bâ—… I wil write so as xenophanes b Colophonus writeth what I thinke not what I wil defend for man may thinke but God is he that knoweth Thus timerously he promiseth to speake of things not knowne nor firmely beleeued but only opinatiue doubted of being to speake of mens institutions He knew that ther was the world heauen and earth stars al those together with the whole vniuerse subiect vnto one powerfull and inuisible king this he firmely beleeued but hee durst not say that Ianus was the world or that Saturne was Ioues father and yet his subiect nor of the rest of this nature durst he affirme any thing confidently L. VIVES THe a Vncertaine Of these I haue spoken before now a little of the vnknowne for it is an error to hold them both one The territories of Athens had altars to many vokowne gods Actes 17. and Pausanias in Attic. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the altars of the vnâ—… gods These Epimenides of Creete found for the pestilence being sore in that country 〈◊〉 â—…d them to expiate their fields yet not declaring what god they should invoâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 expiation Epimenides beeing then at Athens bad them turne the cattell that they would offâ—… into the fields and the priests to follow them and where they staied there kill them and â—…er them to the vnknowne propiciatory God Therevpon arose the erection of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which continued euen vnto Laertius his time This I haue beene the willinger to 〈◊〉 â—…cause of that in the Actes b Xenophanes Sonne to Orthomenes of Ionia where 〈◊〉 the Poet was borne Apolodorus out of Colophon Hee held all things incompreâ—… â—…nst the opinion of Laërtius Sotion Eusebius following Sotion saith hee did hold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sences salfe and our reason for company he wrote of the gods against Homer and Heâ—… There was another Zenophanes a lesbian and a Poet. The likeliest cause of the propagation of paganisme CHAP. 18. OF all these the most credible reason is this that these gods were men that by the meanes of such as were their flatterers a had each of them rites and sacrifices ordained for them correspondent vnto some of their deedes manners wittes fortunes and so forth and that other men rather diuells sucking in these errors and delighting in their ceremonies nouelties so gaue them their propagation beeing furthered with poetiall fictions and diabolicall illusions For it were a likelier matter that an vngratious sonne did feare killing by as vngratious a father and so expelled him from his kingdome then that which hee saith that Ioue is aboue Saturne because the efficient cause which iâ—… â—…es is before the materiall which is Saturnes For were this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should neuer haue beene before Ioue nor consequently his faâ—…â—…or the cause goeth alwaies before the seede but the seede neuer geâ—… the cause But in this endeauor to honour the vaine fables or impiâ—… of men with naturall interpretations their most learned men are 〈◊〉 into such quandaries that wee cannot choose but pitty their vanity asâ—… 〈◊〉 the others L. VIVES 〈◊〉 a each In this place the Copies differ but our reading is the most authenâ—… and most ancient Some Copies leaue out By the meanes of such as were their 〈◊〉 But it is not left out in the olde manuscripts wee reade it as antiquitie leauâ—… 〈◊〉 The interpretations of the worship of Saturne CHAP. 19. Sâ—… say they deuoured all his children that is all seedes returne to 〈◊〉 earth from whence they came and a clod of earth was laide in steed of 〈◊〉 for him to deuoure by which is meant that men did vse to bury their 〈◊〉 in the earth before that plowing was inuented So then should Saturne bâ—… called the earth it selfe and not the seedes for it is the earth that doth as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 deuoure the owne of-spring when as the seedes it produceth are all returned into it againe But what correspondence hath mens couering of corne with cloddes vnto the laying of Saturne a clod in steed of Ioue is not the corne which is couered with the clod returned into the earthes wombe as well as the rest For this is spoken as if hee that laid the clod tooke away the seede Thus say they by the laying of this clod was Ioue taken from Saturne when as the laying of the clod vpon a seede maketh the earth to deuoure it the sooner Againe beeing so Ioue is the seed not the seedes cause as was sayd but now But these mens braines runne so farre a stray with those fond interpretations that they know not well what to say A sickle hee beareth for his husbandry they say Now in a his raigne was not husbandry inuented and therefore as our author interpreteth the
not This I say is the way that will free all beleeuers wherein Abraham trusting receiued that diuine promise In thy seede shall all the nations bee blessed Abrahamâ—… as a Chaldaean but for to receiue this promise that the seede which was disposed by the Angells in the mediators power to giue this vniuersall way of the soules freedome vnto all nations he was commanded to leaue his owne land and kinred and his fathers house And then was hee first freed from the Chaldaean superstitions and serued the true God to whose promise he firmely trusted This is the way recorded in the Prophet God bee mercifull vnto vs and blesse vs and shew vs the light of his countenance and bee mercifull vnto vs. That thy way may be knowne vpon earth thy sauing health among all nations And long aftâ—…r Abrahams seede beeing incarnate Christ sayth of himselfe I am the way the truth and the life This is the vniuersall way mentioned so long before by the Prophets It shal be in the last daies that the g mountaine of the house of the Lord shal be prepared in the toppe of the mountaines and shal be exalted aboue the hills and all nations shall flie vnto it And many people shall goe and say come let vs goe vppe to the mountaine of the Lord to the house of the God of Iacob and hee will teach vs his way and wee will walke therein For the lawe shall goe forth of Syon and the word of the LORD from Ierusalem This way therefore is not peculiar to some one nation but common to all Nor did the law and word of God stay in Ierusalem or Syon but come from thence to ouerspread all the world Therevpon the mediator being risen from death sayd vnto his amazed and amated disciples Al things must be fulfilled which are written of mee in the law the Prophets and the Psalmes Then opened hee their vnderstanding that they might vnderstand the scriptures saying thus it behooued CHRIST to suffer and to rise againe from the dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sinnes should be preached in his name amongst all nations beginning at Ierusalem This then is the vniuersall way of the soules freedome which the Saints and Prophets beeing at first but a fewe as God gaue grace and those all Hebrewes for that estate was in a h manner consecrated did both adumbrate in their temple sacrifice and Priest-hood and fore-told also in their prophecy often mistically and some-times plainely And the Mediator himselfe and his Apostles reuealing the grace of the new testament made plaine all those significations that successe of precedent times had retained as it pleased God the miracls which I spoke of before euermore giuing confirmation to them For they had not onely angelicall visions and saw the ministers of heauen but euen these simple men relying wholy vpon Gods word cast out deuills cured diseases i commanded wild-beasts waters birds trees elements and starres raised the dead I except the miracles peculiar to our Sauiour chiefly in his birth and resurrection shewing in the first the mistery of k maternall virginity and in the other the example of our renouation This way cleanseth euery soule and prepareth a mortall man in euery part of his for immortality For least that which Prophyry calls the intellect should haue one purgation the spirital another and the body another therefore did our true and powerfull Sauiour take all vpon him Besides this way which hath neuer failed man-kinde either l in prophecies or in their m performances no man hath euer had freedome or euer hath or euer shall haue And wheras Porphyry saith he neuer had any historicall notice of this way what history can be more famous then this that lookes from such a towring authority downe vpon all the world or more faithfull since it so relateth things past as it prophecyeth things to come a great part whereof wee see already performed which giueth vs assured hope of the fulfilling of the rest Porphyry nor euer a Platonist in the world can contemne the predictions of this way albee they concerne but temporall affaires as they doe all other prophecies and diuinations of what sort soeuer for them they say they neither are spoken by worthy men nor to any worthy purpose true for they are either drawne from inferiour causes as 〈◊〉 can presage much n concerning health vpon such or such signes or cls the vncleane spirits fore-tell the artes that they haue already disposed of o confirming the mindes of the guilty and wicked with deedes fitting their words or words fitting their deedes to get themselues a domination in mans infirmity But the holy men of this vniuersall way of ours neuer respect the prophecying of those things holding them iustly trifles yet doe they both know them and often fore-tell them to confirme the faith in things beyond sence and hard to present vnto plainnesse But they were other and greater matters which they as God inspired them did prophecy namely the incarnation of Christ and all things thereto belonging and fulfilled in his name repentance and conuersion of the will vnto God remission of sinnes the grace of iustice faith and increase of beleeuers throughout all the world destinction of Idolatry temptation for triall mundifying of the proficients freedom from euill the day of iudgement resurrection damnation of the wicked and glorification of the City of GOD in 〈◊〉 eternall Kingdome These are the prophecies of them of this way many are fullfilled and the rest assuredly are to come That this streight way leading to the knowledge and coherence of GOD lieth plaine in the holy scriptures vpon whose truth it is grounded they that beleeue not and therefore know not may oppose this but can neuer ouerthrow it And therefore in these ten bookes I 〈◊〉 spoken by the good assistance of GOD sufficient in sound iudgements though some expected more against the impious contradictors that preferre 〈◊〉 gods before the founder of the holy citty whereof wee are to dispute The 〈◊〉 fiue of the ten opposed them that adored their gods for temporall respects 〈◊〉 fiue later against those that adored them for the life to come It remaines now according as wee promised in the first booke to proceede in our discourse of the two citties that are confused together in this world and distinct in the other of whose originall progresse and consummation I now enter to dispute eâ—…â—…oking the assistance of the almighty L. VIVES KInges a high or road the Kinges the Prâ—…tors and the Soldiors way the lawes held holy b Indian The Gymnosophists and the Brachmans much recorded for admirable deeds and doctrine c All the world Therfore is our fayth called Catholike because it was not taught to any peculiar nation as the Iewes was but to all mankind excluding none all may be saued by it and none can without it nor hath euery nation herein as they haue in Paganisme a seuerall religion But
eyther excerciseth the humility or beates downe the pride nothing a at all in nature being euill euill being but a priuation of good but euery thing from earth to heauen ascending in a degree of goodnesse and so from the visible vnto the inuisible vnto which all are vnequall And in the greatest is God the great workeman yet b no lesser in the lesse which little thinges are not to be measured to their owne greatnesse beeing neare to nothing but by their makers wisedome as in a mans shape shane his eye-brow a very nothing to the body yet how much doth it deforme him his beauty consisting more of proportion and parilyty of parts then magnitude Nor is it a wonder that c those that hold some nature bad and produced from a bad beginning do not receiue GODS goodnesse for the cause of the creation but rather thinke that hee was compelled by this rebellious euill of meere necessity to fall a creating and mixing of his owne good nature with euill in the suppression and reforming thereof by which it was so foyled and so toyled that he had much adoe to re-create and mundifie it nor can yet cleanse it all but that which hee could cleanse serues as the future prison of the captiued enemy This was not the Maniches foolishnes but their madnesse which they should abandon would they like Christians beleeue that Gods nature is vnchangeable incorruptible impassible and that the soule which may be changed by the will vnto worse and by the corruption of sinne be depriued of that vnchangeable light is no part of God nor Gods nature but by him created of a farre inferiour mould L. VIVES NOthing a at all This Augustine repeats often and herein do al writers of our religion besides Plato Aristotle Tully and many other Philosophers agree with him Plato in his Timaeus holds it wicked to imagine any thing that God made euill he being so good a God him-selfe for his honesty enuied nothing but made all like him-selfe And in his 2. de rep he saith The good was author of no euill but only of things good blaming Hesiod and Homer for making Ioue the author of mischiefe confessing God to be the Creator of this vniuerse therby shewing nothing to be euill in nature I will say briefly what I thinke That is good as Aristotle saith iâ—…â—…s â—…etorik which we desire either for it selfe or for another vse And the iust contrary is euil wâ—…efore in the world some things are vsefull and good some auoideble bad Some 〈◊〉 and indifferent and to some men one thing is good and to others bad yea vnto one man at seuerall times seuerall good bad or neuter vpon seueral causes This opinioÌ„ the weaknesse of our iudgements respects of profit do produce But only that is the diuine iudgement which so disposeth all things that each one is of vse in the worlds gouernment And hee knoweth all without error that seeth all things to bee good and vsefull in their due seasons which the wise man intimates when hee saith That God made all things good each in the due time Therefore did hee blesse all with increase and multiplication If any thing were alwayes vnprofitable it should bee rooted out of the creation b No lesse Nature is in the least creatures pismires gnats bees spiders as potent as in horses oxâ—…n whales or elephants and as admirable Pliny lib. 11. c Those This heresie of the Manichees Augustine declareth De heres ad Quod vult deum Contra Faust. Manich. De Genes ad liter Of the error that Origen incurreth CHAP. 23. Bvt the great wonder is that some hold one beginning with vs of all thinges and that God created all thinges that are not of his essence otherwise they could neuer haue had beeing And yet wil not hold that plaine good beleefe of the Worlds simple and good course of creation that the good God made all thinges good They hold that all that is not GOD after him and yet that all is not good which none but God could make But the a soules they say not part but creatures of God sinned in falling from the maker being cast according to their deserts into diuers degrees down from heauen got certaine bodies for their prisons And ther-upon the world was made say they not for increase of good but restrrint of bad and this is the World Herein is Origen iustly culpable for in his Periarchion or booke of beginnings he affirmes this wherein I haue much maruaile that a man so read indiuine scriptures should not obserue first how contrary this was to the testimony of scripture that confirmeth all Gods workes with this And God saw that it was good And at the conclusion God saw all that hee made and loe it was very good Auerring no cause for this creation but onely that the good God should produce good things where if no man had sinned the world should haue beene adorned and filled b onely with good natures But sin being commited it did not follow that all should be filled with badnes the far greater part remaining still good keeping the course of their nature in heauen nor could the euil willers in breaking the lawes of nature auoyd the iust lawes of the al-disposed God For as a picture sheweth well though it haue black colors in diuers places so the Vniuerse is most faire for all these staines of sins which notwithstaÌ„ding being waighed by themselues do disgrace the lustre of it Besides Origen should haue seene and all wise men with him that if the world were made onely for a penall prison for the transgressing powers to bee imbodyed in each one according to the guilt the lesse offenders the higher and lighter and the greater ones the baser and heauier that then the Diuels the worst preuaricators should rather haue bin thurst into the basest that is earthly bodies then the worst men But that we might know that the spirits merits are not repaid by the bodies qualitie the worst diuell hath an c ayry body and man though he be bad yet of farre lesse malice and guilt hath an earthly body yea had ere his fall And what can be more fond then to thinke that the Sunne was rather made for a soule to be punished in as a prison rather then by the prouidence of God to bee one in one world as a light to the beauty and a comfort to the creatures Otherwise two ten or en hundred soules sinning all a like the world should haue so many Sunnes To auoyd which we must rather beleeue that there was but one soule sinned in that kind deseruing such a body rather then that the Makers miraculous prouidence did so dispose of the Sunne for the light comfort of things created It is not the soules whereof speake they know not what but it is their owne soules that are so farre from truth that they must needes be attanted and restraned Therefore these three I
LORD shall weaken his aduersaries and make them be conquered by those whom Hee the most Holy hath made holy also i and therefore let not the wise glory in his wisdome the mighty in his might nor the ritch in his ritches but let their glory be to know God and to execute his iudgements and iustice vpon earth Hee is a good proficient in the knowledge of God that knoweth that God must giue him the meanes to know God For what hast thou saith the Apostle which thou hast not receiued that is what hast thou of thine owne to boast of Now hee that doth right executeth iudgement and iustice and hee that liueth in Gods obedience and the end of the command namely in a pure loue a good conscience and an vnfained faith But this loue as the Apostle Iohn saith is of God Then to do iudgement and iustice is of God but what is on the earth might it not haue beene left out and it haue only bin said to do iudgement and iustice the precept would bee more common both to men of land and sea but least any should thinke that after this life there were a time elsewhere to doe iustice and iudgement in and so to auoide the great iudgement for not doing them in the flesh therefore in the earth is added to confine those acts within this life for each man beareth his earth about with him in this world and when hee dieth bequeaths it to the great earth that must returne him it at the resurrection In this earth therefore in this fleshly body must we doe iustice and iudgement to doe our selues good hereafter by when euery one shall receiue according to his works done in the body good or bad in the body that is in the time that the body liued for if a man blaspheme in heart though he do no â—…urt with any bodily meÌ„ber yet shal not he be vnguilty because though he did it not in his body yet hee did it in the time wherein hee was in the body And so many we vnderstand that of the Psalme The Lord our King hath wrought 〈◊〉 in the midest of the earth before the beginning of the world that is the Lord Iesus our God before the beginning for he made the beginning hath wrought saluation in the midst of the earth namely then when the word became flesh and 〈◊〉 corporally amongst vs. But on Annah hauing shewen how each man ought to glory viz. not in himselfe but in God for the reward that followeth the great iudgement proceedeth thus l The Lord went vp vnto heauen and hath thundred he shall iudge the ends of the worlds and shall giue the power vnto our Kings and exalt the horne of his annoynted This is the plaine faith of a Christian. Hee 〈◊〉 into heauen and thence hee shall come to iudge the quicke and dead for who is â—…ded saith the Apostle but he who first descended into the inferiour parts of the earth Hee thundred in the clouds which hee filled with his holy spirit in his â—…ntion from which clouds he threatned Hierusalem that vngratefull vine to 〈◊〉 no rayne vpon it Now it is said Hee shall iudge the ends of the world that is the ends of men for he shall iudge no reall part of earth but onely all the men thereof nor iudgeth hee them that are changed into good or bad in the meane 〈◊〉 but m as euery man endeth so shall he beiudged wherevpon the scripture 〈◊〉 He that commeth vnto the end shall be safe hee therefore that doth iâ—…ce in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the earth shall not be condemned when the ends of the earth are 〈◊〉 And shall giue power vnto our Kings that is in not condemning them by â—…gement hee giueth them power because they rule ouer the flesh like Kings 〈◊〉 â—…quer the world in him who shed his blood for them And shall exalt the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his anoynted How shall Christ the annoynted exalt the horne of his anâ—… It is of Christ that those sayings The Lord went vp to heauen c. are all 〈◊〉 so is this same last of exalting the horne of his annoynted Christ thereâ—… exalt the horne of his annoynted that is of euery faithfull seruant of his as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 first my horne is exalted in the Lord for all that haue receiued the vncâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 grace may wel be called his annoynted al which with their head make 〈◊〉 annoynted This Anna prophisied holy Samuels mother in whome the 〈◊〉 of ancient priesthood was prefigured and now fulfilled when as the woâ—… 〈◊〉 many sonnes was enfeebled that the barren which brougt forth seuen 〈◊〉 â—…eceiue the new priesthood in Christ. L. VIVES SHâ—… that a had Multa in filiis b Nor had she The first booke of Samuel agreeth with 〈◊〉 but Iosephus vnlesse the booke be falty saith she had sixe three sons and three 〈◊〉 after Samuel but the Hebrewes recken Samuels two sonnes for Annahs also being 〈◊〉 â—…dchildren and Phamuahs seauen children died seuerally as Annahs and her sonne 〈◊〉 â—…ere borne c And my horne Some read mine heart but falsely the greeke is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 preachers there are Or nor in such as are bound by calling to bee his preachers the 〈◊〉 â—…py readeth but in his called prechers e No man knoweth Both in his foreknowledge 〈◊〉 â—…owlege of the secrets of mans heart f Are hired out The seauenty read it are 〈◊〉 g For the begger It seemes to be a word of more indigence then poore the latine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…ops or helpelesse hauing no reference in many places to want of mony but of 〈◊〉 Gâ—…rg 1. Terent. Adelpe Act. 2. scena 1. Pauper saith Uarro is quasi paulus lar c. 〈◊〉 â—…gens h The Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is both his and his owne the Greekes do not distinâ—… two as we doe i Let not the. This is not the vulgar translation of the Kings but 〈◊〉 cha 9. the 70. put it in them both but with some alteration It is an vtter subuersion 〈◊〉 God respects not wit power or wealth those are the fuell of mans vaine glory but let 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…th as Paule saith glory in the Lord and by a modest and equall thought of himselfe continually For so shall he neuer be pride-swollen for the knowledge of God that charity seasoneth neuer puffeth vp if we consider his mercies and his iudgements his loue and his wrath togither with his maiesty k And to doe iudgement The seauenty read this one way in the booke of Samuel and another way in Hieremy attributing in the first vnto the man that glorieth and in the later vnto God l The Lord went vp This is not in the vulgar vntill you come vnto this and he shall iudge Augustine followed the LXX and so did all that age almost in all the churches m As euery man As I finde thee so will I iudge thee The Prophets words vnto Heli the priest signifying the taking
were to raigne there â—…ingly The Lord will seeke him a man saith hee meaning either Dauid or the mediator prefigured in the vnction of Dauid and his posterity Hee doth not say he will seeke as if hee knew not where to finde but hee speaketh as one that seeketh our vnderstanding for wee were all knowen both to God the father and his sonne the seeker of the lost sheepe and elected in him also before the beginning of the world c He will seeke that is he will shew the world that which hee himselfe knoweth already And so haue we acquiro in the latine with a preposition to attaine and may vse quaero in that sence also as questus the substantiue for gaine L. VIVES Tâ—… a skirt Or hemme or edge any thing that he could come nearest to cut the Iewes vsed edged garments much according to that command in the booke of Numbers The Greek word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the wing of his doublet Ruffinus translateth it Summitatem b His 〈◊〉 Which were three hundred saith Iosephus lib. 6. c He will seeke A diuersity of reaâ—… I thinke the words from And so haue we acquiro to the end of the chapter bee some 〈◊〉 of others The Kingdome of Israell rent prefiguring the perpetuall diuision betweene the spirituall and carnall Israell CHAP. 7. SAul fell againe by a disobedience and Samuell told him againe from God Thou hast cast off the Lord and the Lord hath cast off thee that thou shalt no more bee King of Israell Now Saul confessing this sinne and praying for pardon and that Samuell would go with him to intreat the Lord. Not I saith Samuell thou hast cast off the Lord c. And Samuell turned him-selfe to depart and Saul held him by the lappe of his coate and it rent Then quoth Samuell the Lord hath rent the Kingdome of Israell from thee this day and hath giuen it vnto thy neighbor which is better then thee and Israell shall bee parted into two and shall no more bee vnited nor hee is not a man that hee should repent c. Now hee vnto whome these words were said ruled Israell fourty yeares euen as long as Dauid and yet was told this in the beginning of his Kingdome to shew vs that none of his race should reigne after him and to turne our eyes vppon the line of Dauid whence Christ our mediator tooke his humanity Now the originall read not this place as the Latines doe The Lord shall rend the Kingdome of Israell from thee this day but the Lord hath rent c. from thee that is from Israell so that this man was a type of Israell that was to loose the Kingdome as soone as Christ came with the New Testament to rule spiritually not carnally Of whome these wordes and hath giuen it vnto thy neighbour sheweth the consanguinity with Israell in the flesh and so with Saul and that following who is better then thee implyeth not any good in Saul or Israell but that which the Psalme saith vntill I make thine enemies thy footstoole whereof Israell the persecutor whence Christ rent the Kingdome was one Although there were Israell the wheat amongst Israell the chaffe also for the Apostles were thence and Stephen with a many Martyrs besides and from their seed grew up so many Churches as Saint Paul reckoneth all glory fiing God in his conuersion And that which followeth Israell shall bee parted into two concerning this point assuredly namely into Israell Christs friend and Israell Christs foe into Israell the free woman and Israell the slaue For these two were first vnited Abraham accompanying with his maid vntill his wiues barrennesse being fruitfull she cryed out Cast out the bondwoman her sonne Indeed because of Salomons sin we know that in his sonne Roboams time Israell diuided it selfe into two parts and either had a King vntill the Chaldeans came subdued and ren-versed all But what was this vnto Saul Such an euen was rather to be threatned vnto Dauid Salomons father And now in these times the Hebrews are not diuided but dispersed all ouer the world continuing on still in their errour But that diuision that God threatned vnto Saul who was a figure of this people was a premonstration of the eternall irreuocable separation because presently it followeth And shall no more bee vnited nor repent of it for it is no man that it should repent Mans threatnings are transitory but what God once resolueth is irremoueable For where wee read that God repented it portends an alteration of things out of his eternall prescience And likewise where hee did not it portends a fixing of things as they are So here wee see the diuision of Israell perpetuall and irreuocable grounded vppon this prophecy For they that come from thence to Christ or contrary were to doe so by Gods prouidence though humaine concâ—… cannot apprehend it and their separation is in the spirit also not in the flesh And those Israelites that shall stand in Christ vnto the end shall neuer perâ—… with those that stayed with his enemies vnto the end but be as it is here said 〈◊〉 seperate For the Old Testament of Sina begetting in bondage shall doe them no good nor any other further then confirmeth the New Otherwise as long as Moses is read d the vaile is drawne ouer their hearts and when they 〈◊〉 to Christ then is remooued For the thoughts of those that passe from 〈◊〉 to him are changed and bettered in their passe and thence their felicitie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is spirituall no more carnall Wherefore the great Prophet Samuel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had annointed Saul when hee cryed to the Lord for Israel and hee â—…d him and when hee offered the burnt offering the Philistins comming against Israell and the Lord thundred vpon them and scattered them so that they fell before Israell tooke e a stone and placed it betweene the f two Maspha's the Old and the New and named the place Eben Ezer that is the stone of 〈◊〉 saying Hetherto the Lâ—… hath helped vs that stone is the mediation of our 〈◊〉 by which wee come from the Old Maspha to the New from the thought of a carnall kingdome in all felicitie vnto the expectation of a crowne of spiriâ—… glory as the New Testamenâ—… teacheth vs and seeing that that is the sum â—…ope of all euen â—…itherto hath God helped vs. L. VIVES Bâ—… disobedience For being commanded by Samuel from God to kill all the Amalechites 〈◊〉 and beast hee tooke Agag the King aliue and droue away a multitude of Cattle 〈◊〉 lappe of his coate Diplois is any double garment c The Lord hath rent Shall rend â—…us But hath rent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is in the LXX d The vaile The vaile that Moiâ—…â—…ed â—…ed his face was a tipe of that where-with the Iewes couer their hearts vntill they bee 〈◊〉 1. Corinth 3. e Astone Iosephus saith that hee placed it at Charron and called 〈◊〉 lib. 6. f
Apostle saith Wee know but in part Besides it beleeueth the sence in obiects of which the minde iudgeth by the sensitiue organs because hee is in a grosse error that taketh all trust from them It beleeueth also the holy canonicall scriptures both old and new from which the iust man hath his faith by which hee liueth and wherein a wee all walke with-out doubt as long as wee are in our pilgrimage and personally absent from God and this faith being kept firme wee may lawfully doubt of all such other things as are not manifested vnto vs eyther by sence reason scripture nor testimony of grounded authoritie L. VIVES WE all walke a without doubt We haue no knowledge of it but beleeue it as firmely as what wee see with our eyes Of the habite and manners belonging to a Christian. CHAP. 19. IT is nothing to the Citty of God what attyre the cittizens weare or what rules they obserue as long as they contradict not Gods holy precepts but each one keepe the faith the true path to saluation and therefore when a Philosopher becommeth a Christian they neuer make him alter his habite nor his manners which are no hindrance to his religion but his false opinions They respect not Varro's distinction of the Cynikes as long as they forbeare vncleane and intemperate actions But as concerning the three kindes of life actiue contemplatiue and the meanes betweene both although one may keepe the faith in any of those courses yet there is a difference betweene the loue of the truth and the duties of charitie One may not bee so giuen to contemplation that hee neglect the good of his neighbour nor so farre in loue with action that hee forget diuine speculation In contemplation one may not seeke for idlenesse but for truth to benefite him-selfe by the knowledge thereof and not to grudge to impart it vnto others In action one may not ayme at highnesse or honor because all vnder the sunne is meere vanitie but to performe the worke of a superiour vnto the true end that is vnto the benefite and saluation of the sub ect as wee sayd before And this made the Apostle say If any man desiâ—…e the office of a Bishop hee desireth a good worke what this office was hee explaineth not it is an office of labour and not of honour a The Greeke word signifieth that hee that is heerein installed is to watch ouer his people that are vnder him Episcopus a Bishop commeth of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is ouer and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is a watching or an attendance so that wee may very well translate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a superintendent to shew that hee is no true Bishop who desireth rather to be Lordly him-selfe then profitable vnto others No man therefore is forbidden to proceed in a lawdable forme of contemplation But to affect soueraignty though the people must bee gouerned though the place be well discharged yet notwithstanding is b taxable of indecencie Wherefore the loue of truth requireth a holy retirednesse and the necessity of charity a iust employment which if it bee not imposed vpon vs wee ought not to seeke it but be take our selues wholy to the holy inquest of truth but if wee bee called forth vnto a place the law and need of charity bindeth vs to vnder-take it c Yet may wee not for all this giue ouer our first resolution least wee loose the sweetnesse of that and bee surcharged with the weight of the other L. VIVES THe a Greeke word of this before lib. 1. cap. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 comes either of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to consider or of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is to visit The Scripture where the seauenty translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doe read it a watch-man as in Ezechiel Osee chap. 5. where the Lord complaineth that they had beene a snare in their watching and a net vpon mount Thabor As if hee had spoken of the Bishops of these times who set snares for benefices and spread large netts for money but not too wide wasted least the coyne should scatter forth b Taxable of indecencie O but some fine braines haue now brought it so about that bishoprickes may not onely bee sued for but euen bought and sold with-out any preiudice at all vnto this lawe c Yet may wee not Hee sheweth that a Bishop should conuerse with the holy scriptures often and drawe him-selfe home vnto God now and then from all his businesses liuing if he did well as a pilgrim of Gods in this life and one that had a charge of Gods and his owne soules in hand not any temporall trash and yet ought he not to forsake his ministery to which he should be preserred by an heauenly calling and not by an heauy pursse Hope the blisse of the heauenly Cittizens during this life CHAP. 20. THen therefore is the good of the Holy society perfect when their peace is established in eternity not running any more in successions as mortall men doe in life and death one to another but confirmed vnto them together with their immortalitie for euer with-out touch of the least imperfection What is hee that would not accompt such an estate most happy or comparing it with that which man hath heere vpon earth would not auouch this later to bee most miserable were it neuer so well fraught with temporall conueniences yet hee that hath the latter in possession and applyeth it all vnto the vse of his hopeâ—… firme and faithfull obiect the former may not vnfitly bee called happy already but that is rather in his expectation of the first then in his fruition of the later For this possession with-out the other hope is a false beatitude and a most true misery For herein is no vse of the mindes truest goods because there wanteth the true wisdome which in the prudent discretion resolute performance temperate restraint and iust distribution of these things should referre his intent in all these vnto that end where God shall bee all in all where eternity shall be firme and peace most perfect and absolute Whether the Citâ—…y of Rome had euer a true common-wealth according to Scipio's definition of a common-wealth in Tully CHAP. 21. NOw it is time to performe a promise which I passed in the second booke of this worke and that was to shew that Rome neuer had a true common-wealth as Scipio defineth one in Tullyes booke De Repub. his Definition was A common-wealth is the estate of the people Respub est res populi If this be true Rome neuer had any for it neuer had an estate of the people which hee defines the common-wealth by For he defineth the people to bee a multitude vnited in one consent of lawe and profite what hee meaneth by a consent of lawe hee sheweth him-selfe and sheweth there-by that a state cannot stand with-out iustice so that where true iustice wanteth there can bee no law
ment hereby S. Augustine confesseth that he cannot define Sup. Genes lib. 8. These are secrets all vnneedfull to be knowne and all wee vnworthy to know them Of the new Heauen and the new Earth CHAP. 16. THe iudgement of the wicked being past as he fore-told the iudgement of the goodâ—…ust follow for hee hath already explained what Christ said in briefe They shall go into euerlasting paine now he must expresse the sequell And the righteous into life eternall And I saw saith he a new heauen and a new earth The first heauen and earth were gone and so was thesea for such was the order described before by him when he saw the great white throne one sitting vpon it froÌ„ whose face they fled So then they that were not in the booke of life being iudged and cast into eternall fire what or where it is I hold is vnknowne to a all but those vnto whome it please the spirit to reueale it then shall this world loose the figure by worldly fire as it was erst destroyed by earthly water Then as I said shall all the worlds corruptible qualities be burnt away all those that held correspondence with our corruption shall be agreeable with immortality that the world being so substantially renewed may bee fittly adapted vnto the men whose substances are renewed also But for that which followeth There 〈◊〉 no more sea whether it imply that the sea should bee dried vp by that vniuersall conflagration or bee transformed into a better essence I cannot easily determyne Heauen and Earth were read shal be renewed but as concerning the sea I haue not read any such matter that I can remember vnlesse that other place in this booke of that which hee calleth as it were a sea of glasse like vnto christall import any such alteration But in that place hee speaketh not of the worlds end neither doth hee say directly a sea but as a sea Notwithstanding it is the Prophets guise to speake of truths in misticall manner and to mixe truths and types together and so he might say there was no more sea in the same sence that hee sayd the sea shall giue vp hir dead intending that there should be no more turbulent times in the world which he insinuateth vnder the word Sea L. VIVES VNknowne a to all To all nay Saint Augustine it seemes you were neuer at the schoole-mens lectures There is no freshman there at least no graduate but can tell that it is the elementany fire which is betweene the sphere of the moone and the ayre that shall come downe and purge the earth of drosse together with the ayre and water If you like not this another will tell you that the beames of the Sonne kindle a fire in the midst of the ayre as in a burning glasse and so worke wonders But I doe not blame you fire was not of that vse in your time that it is now of when eâ—…y Philosopher to omit the diuines can carry his mouth his hands and his feete full of fire 〈◊〉 in the midst of Decembers cold and Iulies heate Of Philosophers they become diuines and yet keepe their old fiery formes of doctrine still so that they haue farre better iudgement 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hot case then you or your predecessors euer had Of the glorification of the Church after death for euer CHAP. 17. AND I Iohn saith hee sawe that Holie Cittie new Ierusalem come downe from GOD out of Heauen prepared as a bride trimmed for her husband And I heard a great voice out of Heauen saying behold the Tabernacle of GOD is with men and hee will dwell with them and they shal be his people and hee himselfe shal be their GOD with them And GOD shall wipeawaie all teares from their eyes and there shal be no more death neither teares neither crying neither shall there bee any more paine for the first things are passed And hee that sate vpon the Throne sayd behold I make althings new c. This cittie is sayd to come from Heauen because the grace of GOD that founded it is heauenly as GOD saith in Esay I am the LORD that made thee This grace of his came downe from heauen euen from the beginning and since the cittizens of GOD haue had their increase by the same grace giuen 〈◊〉 the spirit from heauen in the fount of regeneration But at the last Iudgement of GOD by his Sonne Christ this onely shall appeare in a state so glorious that all the ancient shape shal be cast aside for the bodies of each member shall cast aside their olde corruption and put on a new forme of immortality For it were too grosse impudence to thinke that this was 〈◊〉 of the thousand yeares afore-sayd wherein the Church is sayd to reigne with Christ because he saith directly GOD shall wipe awaie all teares from their eies and there shal be no more death neither sorrowes neither crying neither shall there bee any more paine Who is so obstinately absurd or so absurdly obstinate as to averre that any one Saint much lesse the whole society of them shall passe this transitory life without teares or sorrowes or euer hath passed it cleare of them seeing that the more holy his desires are and the more zealous his holinesse the more teares shall bedew his Orisons Is it not the Heauenly Ierusalem that sayth My teares haue beene my meate daie and night And againe I cause my bedde euerie night to swimme and water my couch with teares and besides My sorrow is renewed Are not they his Sonnes that bewayle that which they will not forsake But bee cloathed in it that their mortality may bee re-inuested with eternity and hauing the first fruites of the spirit doe sigh in themselues wayting for the adoption that is the redemption of their bodies Was not Saint Paul one of the Heauenlie Cittie nay and that the rather in that hee tooke so great care for the earthly Israelites And when a shall death haue to doe in that Cittie but when they may say Oh death where is thy sting Oh hell where is thy b victorie The sting of death is sinne This could not bee sayd there where death had no sting but as for this world Saint Iohn himselfe saith If wee say wee haue no sinne wee deceiue our selues and there is no truth in vs. And in this his Reuelation there are many things written for the excercising of the readers vnderstanding and there are but few things whose vnderstanding may bee an induction vnto the rest for hee repeteth the same thing so many waies that it seemes wholy pertinent vnto another purpose and indeed it may often bee found as spoken in another kinde But here where hee sayth GOD shall wipe awaie all teares from their eyes c this is directly meant of the world to come and the immortalitie of the Saints for there shal be no sorrow no teares nor cause of sorrowe or teares if any one