Now it would be tedious to giue but a light touch to those manifold fables which they haue broched of their lying Saints as of Saint Christopher Saint George Saint Catherine which neuer saw the light nor euer had being saue onely in picture and imagination And which they shame not to tell vs in their lying Traditions as namely of the bodily assumption of the virgin Mary into heauē c. In their lying reuelations as of the deliuerance of Traians soule out of hell c. And which they dayly broach in their lying reports as that Ignatius Loiola was rapt vp into heauen and saw the holy Trinitie in three persons and one essence and that God shewed him the patterne which he layd before him when he made the world And lastly in their lying letters of the miracles done by the holy Fathers of their societie in the West Indies as that a burning taper of a cubit length being set before Xauiers tombe burnt aboue three weekes day and night without wasting That a man who neuer saw further then the length of his nose opening Xauiers tombe and rubbing his eyes with his hand recouered his sight That a peece of his whip and girdle cured all sorts of diseases and a thousand such like which our holy Mother calleth Pias fraudes godly cosinages and the milke which Saint Paul gaue the Corinthians to drinke being vnable to digest stronger meate as a Frier at Gaunt was wont to say And no maruel they should send vs ouer so many Legends or rather legions of lies and such a fardle of fooleries out of forraine countries when they are not ashamed to feed vs at home with as fine fables and that not onely in print but also in picture as namely that some for the Catholick cause haue bin here in England put into Beares skins and baited with mastiues That others haue had bootes full of boyling grease pulled on their legs And that others haue bin shod with hot iron shoes c. That Luther was begotten by an Incubus and strangled by the diuel That Caluin was a stigmatick and banished for a Sodomite That Bucer renounced Christian religion at his death and died a Iew. That Beza reconciled himselfe to the Church of Rome and died a Catholicke That Iewell after his challenge at Pauls Crosse being requested by a Catholicke to shew his opinions out of the Fathers should answer that he spake not as he thought but ad faciendum populum as they say That Doctor Sands Archbishop of Yorke should entice his hostesse to vnlawful lust when as the world knowes she was brought to his bed as Lais the famous strumpet was to Xenocrates That Queene Elizabeth had a blacke beard That when Campion was drawne to the place of execution the water in Thames stood still That a Preacher in London speaking against the holy virgin Hallensis was suddenly twicht out of the pulpit and caried away by the diuell These few examples I haue here alleadged out of their old Legends and late worthy writers as Cochlaeus Staphylus Bolsec Surius Coster Puteanus and such like the Popes parasites partly to shew their diffidence in defence of a bad cause that as foule gamesters when they cannot make their part good by faire play begin to quarrell with their fellowes or to cog with a di◠so they not able to maintaine their Catholick cause by plaine dealing are driuen to defend it with a tricke of a false finger namely with one of these three figures of Roman Rhetoricke to which they are so much beholding Auxesis in aduancing their fauourites Meiosis in debasing their opposites and Pseudologia which in Latin is termed mendacium we Englishmen call it a lie Partly to shew that they haue small reason to lay lies in other mens dishes seeing all the packe of them from the proudest Pope to the poorest hedge-priests are but a lying generation For as lying wonders are his part as the Apostle saith so wondrous lies are theirs as the former examples do sufficiently declare And lastly to let the Reader see what a spirit of giddinesse what strong delusions what efficacy of error God in his iust iudgement sends vpon them to beleeue lies because they receiue not the loue of the truth We were in good hope they would at the last haue bene ashamed of these Legendary lies when as their owne writers began to distast them For Petrus de Alliaco exclameth against them in his booke de Reformatione Ecclesiae And it was one of the hundred grieuances which the Germans cōplained of that their Friers fed the people with fables and told them nothing but tales out of the pulpit And Viues writing of the Lombardica historia saith that it is not fit to be read by any Christian and that he cannot imagine why it should be called the Golden Legend considering it was written by a man ferrei oris plumbei cordis And Bristow himselfe reiects certaine of their miracles which saith he we reade in I know not what Legenda aurea And as for that execrable booke of Conformities written by Bartlemew de Pisis for that of Iohannes Capella one of Saint Francis his schollers and that other of Ieremie Bucchius are not altogether so notorious euen the Friers themselues after the light of the Gospel began to dispell the darknesse of Popery were so ashamed of it that they called it in again and laboured to suppresse it by buying vp all the copies they could heare of that the world might neuer for shame know how shamefully they had abused our forefathers But behold the malice of the diuel who of late is growne farre more impudent as he who knowing his time to be but short meanes to vse it to the full proofe For that which our good Catholickes in former ages were ashamed once to heare of his impes at this day sticke not to defend For now if a man do but once call the counterfait history of Saint George Saint Christopher or Saint Catherine into question he shall straight with Virgerius be suspected of heresie and expelled their societie And it is no longer since then the other Mart that we receiued an Apologie in defence of this worthy worke of Conformities written by one Henrie Sedulius a Minorite Frier against the Alcoran of the Franciscans yet so performed as that it doth not onely call his modesty but his wits also into question Therefore seeing they are not ashamed to thrust vpon vs such rotten wares and to rake vp such rusty stuffe out of the dead dust and darknesse wherein time and shame haue suffered them to rest Necessary it is we should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cast some of their filth in their faces againe and answer fooles according to their follies that so they may haue a qui pro quo a Rowland for an Oliuer at leastwise oyle for their vineger But lest
least courtesie he could shew him he desired him to remember what he told him the other day concerning the close keeping of his mony wherefore quoth he I thinke it not amisse if we take a paire of oares and carrying a paire of ballances with vs row vp and downe the great channell and there weigh our crownes The French-man answered that he was ready to do what he thought good The next day therefore they tooke a paire of oares where when the Italian had weighed the French-mans crownes the better to colour his knauery he put them in his purse and pocketed them vp and making as though he had bene seeking for his Pistolets which he was to giue in exchange he caused the waterman to whom he had formerly giuen the watchword to land his boate And because he landed in a place where there were many short and narrow lanes on either side the French-man lost my gentleman in a trice neither hath he yet I suppose heard any newes of him nor of his hundred crownes My self came to the Inne three or foure daies after that pageant was played Another marking a French-man putting his purse into his bosome and after taking a paire of oares to crosse the water an ordinary thing at Venice leaped in after him with such violence that he caused the boate to leane so much on the one side that the French-man fel into the water where leaping in presently after he pulled him into the boate againe yet not without pulling his purse out of his bosome by the way which he did so nimbly that the partie perceiued it not till it was past recouery and so the Italian departed with a thousand thanks and a purse to put them in Another vsed more speed for faining that a Scorpion was gotten into his backe he intreated another Italian to looke if he could espie it in the meane time iuggling his purse out of his pocket And here I may not omit a like tricke of conueyance which another Italian played with a French gentleman newly come into Italy with Odet de Selue Embassadour for the French King at Venice for as he was in his Inne looking vpon two cheating Italians playing at cards who were partners as appeared afterward one of them faining that he had lost all his mony and had nothing left but certaine peeces of gold at which his fellow refused to throw because they were not weight he intreated the French-man to lend him a few crownes for them who had no sooner drawne his purse but they scattered all his mony and marking on which side of the table it fell blew out the candle We might well admit into this societie a Sergeant of Paris whose goods had bene distrained and sold to the very straw of his bed who going by a Goldsmiths shop cast sand in his eyes and hauing so done put as much gold into his boxe as he thought good But to returne to our cunning cut-purses how actiue nimble may we thinke were they which cut fortie or fiftie before they could be descried What say I forty or fiftie Nay I haue heard of one of this theeuish trade borne at Bourges chiefe Clearke to an Atturney of the Parliament called Dennis Gron in whose trunke after he had bin taken and conuicted of the fact were found fourescore purses and about three thousand crownes in gold who doubtlesse would haue obtained his pardon if his cause had bene tried by the lawes of the Lacedemonians which permitted theft the better to inure their people to nimblenesse and actiuitie so they were not taken in the fact which as Xenophon sheweth stood with good reason for no man ought to follow a trade wherein he hath no skill Now these bunglers who are taken with the manner shew that they are not their crafts masters in going no handsomlier to worke then a Beare when the picks muskles Which a Duke of Burgundie well obserued a man naturally giuen to this lurching legerdemaiâ—e which he practised more of wantonnesse then for any want as knowing himselfe to haue a notable filching facultie and an answerable dexteritie in cleanly conueyance the rather for that by this meanes he was better acquainted with such companions espying one of these light fingerd gentlemen as he was iuggling away a siluer goblet at a great feast and holding his peace for the present sent for him shortly after and told him roundly of it in this sort Sirra you may thank God that my steward saw you not pocket vp my plate for I can assure you he would haue hanged you all but the head What will you follow a trade to which you were neuer bound prentise and wherein you haue no skill Well you shall haue it vpon condition you wil giue ouer the occupation and practise it no more vpon paine of death sith you go so grosly to worke By which we see how this Prince concurres in opinion with the Lacedemonians But why may some say should we thinke the Lacedemonians would haue pardoned him considering they held such as were descried and taken in the fact vnskilfull in the trade and consequently vnfit to follow it Doubtlesse they would haue pardoned him for his great dexteritie in cutting the 80. purses in that he was taken but with the 81. For it fared not with him as with those filching coÌ„panioÌ„s born vnder the vnlucky planet Mercury who being pardoned the first offence fall into it again and againe Which hard hap befell one Simon Dagobert the Kings Atturneys son in Yssoudun who hauing plaid the filching fellow a long time and admonished to keepe himselfe true lest in the end he found the gibbet a Iew was taken at the last and condemned to the gallowes where as he was led to the place of executioÌ„ the duke of Neuers chanced to passe by and mediated to the King for him because he heard him spout a little Latin which albeit it was not vnderstood made him and the rest beleeue that he was a man fit for some great emploiment And as if he had bin so indeed the King hauing pardoned him sent him with one Roberual into the new found land in which voyage he verified that which Horace saith Coelum non animuÌ„ mutant qui trans mare currunt For after his coming thither he fell to his old trade of nimming more freely then euer before So that being taken the second time he went the way which before he had missed And I perswade my selfe he would not haue escaped better cheape either with the Lacedaemonians or with the foresaid Prince sith in all probabilitie he had bene often taken with the manner before it being almost impossible that committing thefts in this sort by the dozen he should euer go closely and artificially to worke Howbeit if euer there were any in whom we might see what a nature prone to theft may do him we haue as a liuely mirror thereof For I heard it credibly reported by his owne citizen a man of good
and of their shamelesse and intollerable couetousnesse IF we consider a little more narrowly the cunning sleights wherewith the Popish Cleargie abused our auncestors and abuse many euen at this day we shall find that all of them from the least to the greatest haue serued theÌ„ to this end to bring the moulter to their mill And that that which seemeth to vs and not without cause to be foolish and absurd to say no more seemes to them very excellent and grounded vpon good reason when they consider the profit that accrews to them thereby so that whatsoeuer could possibly be alleadged or said to the contrary was but so many wast words spoken in the wind because it was spoken against their bellies which had no eares which is truly verified of others also according to the old prouerbe And we may well thinke that they kept this auncient saying alwayes in memory Lucri bonus odor ex re qualibet Gaine is good whence soeuer gotten Neither may we doubt but that those proud Prelates who would needs be termed pillars of the Church when they were finely flouted and nicknamed pillers and pollers of the Church deuourers of Crucifixes Canuasers of Requiem Abbey-lubbers loytering and lazy lozels hypocrites and rauenous wolues would say with the couetous Athenian in Horace Populus me sibilat at mihi plaudo Ipse domi simul ac nummos contemplor in arca For they were mocked and derided of old as shall be declared in the chapter next ensuing and verily they were then grown more impudent then old filthy bauds And here comes to my remembrance what a Monke at Blois told certain good fellowes who derided him and his order The seculars quoth he shal neuer mock the Church-meÌ„ so long as the Church-men haue mocked them Which he spake in regard of those fine trickes of conueyance wherwith they had deluded the silly world so long leading men by the nose like Beares or Buffes True it is indeed that in so saying he spake not so outragious wickedly as Pope Leo the tenth who answering Cardinall Bembus alleadging a certaine place out of the Gospell said ô what riches we haue gotten by this fable of Christ Doubtlesse as for riches this wicked miscreant lyed not howbeit he should haue spoken most truly if he had said ô what riches haue we gotten by abusing the name of Christ And verily it is almost incredible how great the wealth and riches of the Clergie was considering that which Baptista Fulgosius though a fauourer of the Roman religion recordeth of one Peter Riarus who being a Fryer of the order of the Minorites was created Cardinall by Pope Sixtus the fourth For he saith that he was not contented to haue his gownes of cloth of gold and the couerings of his bed of cloth of gold likewise but not so much as his fetherbed ticks but were of cloth of gold and his other furniture all of cleane silke Besides he affirmeth that at Rome he made a feast to Eleanor of Arragon as she was on her iourney going to marry the Duke of Ferrara called Hecules d' Est wherein were so many sundry sorts of meates and daintie dishes that it lasted for the space of seuen houres And lest his guests should haue bene wearied he caused sundry plaies to be acted whilst they were at table And amongst other magnificences which he vsed this was not the least that euery seruitor at euery new course tooke a new sute Yet all this is nothing to that which afterward he reporteth of the said Cardinals where or concubine called Tiresia viz. that he kept her publickly in such sumptuous manner that she wore shooes set full of pearles and precious stones He that doubteth of the truth of this report may reade Fulgosius lib. 9. cap. 1. where intreating de hominum Lâ—xu atque delicijs he speaketh of it as of a thing which at that time was notoriously knowne to all the word But to returne to Pope Leo who maruailed at the riches which this fable as he said had brought them how I beseech you did he enrich himselfe and fill his coffers by one onely Croisado when a Franciscan of Millan called Samson by the money which he had scraped together by that meanes could offer an hundred and twenty thousand duckats for the Popedome And if he offered thus much how much may we thinke had he gained besides For it is not to be thought but that he would keep a mease for Allison in store and reserue some prety round summe against a hard winter Now if the vassals were so rich what may we iudge of their Lords and Masters How euer it be they haue verified we see the foresaid Prouerbe iumping in opinion with the most villanous vsurers that the sauour of gaine is good whence soeuer it ariseth which was then more truly verified then euer before when they would needs increase their reuenues by the hire of harlots And now gentle Reader consider a litle whether that be not true which Ouid saith as we must needs confesse Turpe tori reditu census augere paternos That is Base gaine to raise ones state by lone of lâ—st Consider I say what a shame it is that the Romish Saint Peters and Saint Pauls should haue part of their reuenues from them which get their liuing by such miserable sweat of their bodies and that so profane a thing which is a shame once to name should be consecrated vnto them as a holy thing True it is indeed in the time of Pope Paulus the third the number of the foresaid lusty lasses was wel abated for there were in his register but fiue and forty thousand as historians who haue written of the liues of Popes do constantly affirme And certen it is that the name Courtisan being the most honest Synonime that can be giuen a whore had his originall from the court of Rome namely from those religious Dames which conuersed somewhat more then familiarly at bed and boord with the Romish Prelates Now this discourse of Popish riches puts me in mind of a sermon made by a Monke of Gascoine wherein he affirmed that Antichrist at his coming would vse large liberalitie sparing no cost to win the hearts of men vnto him in a word that he would sow siluer gold in the very streets Which words made a Gascoinâ— teeth who was one of his auditors so to water that he cryed out aloud E diu quaÌ„ biera ed aquet bon segno d' Antichrist that is O Lord when will that good gentleman Anchrist come If this poore Gascoine whose case was to be pitied had bene informed who this Antichrist was he would neuer haue asked the question when Antichrist should come but wold haue craued commendatory letters to carry to him Howbeit it behooued him to learne some craft if he were not experienced therein before of those by whom men are wont to come in fauour with his Holinesse 2 But I leaue these great Churchmen so addicted to the
how easie a matter it is for those who credit the common report which hath often a blister on her tongue to condemne Herodotus as a fabulous fellow and lying Legendary But let vs see how many authors they here encounter For if Herodotus must not be heard with his ten moneths neither must Hippocrates Galen Plutarch Plinie sundry lawyers nor the greatest part of Poets as Theocritus Plautus Cecilius Virgil and Propertius who affirme as much But certaine it is that they which condemne Herodotus in this particular either haue not read him or do not remember that they haue read as much in these writers and being forestalled with this preiudicate opinion that he maketh no conscience of a lie they scorne any further information to which if they would but lend a patient eare they should without forraging so farre find the like nay some farre greater and more wonderfull things in the extraordinary workes of nature then any mentioned by him For clearing of which point I wil adde an obiection of another kind That which he reporteth of the fertility of the territory of Babylon that one graine yeeldeth for the most part two hundred and oftentimes three hundred farre surpasseth the fruitfulnesse of our soyle and therefore say they it is out of question he here lied for the whetstone But let these horned Logicians which frame such crooked arguments answer whether nature can bring foorth fruite any more of her selfe then the knife can cut of it selfe They will answer I am sure that it cannot I demaund then what is that ouer-ruling hand which guideth and disposeth all these things They dare not denie but that it is Omnipotent which if they grant why should they thinke that to be impossible to him which is here affirmed by Herodotus If they shall further say that he and other historians tell vs strange tales of the fertilitie of certaine countries whose plentie consisteth at this day only in scarcitie want and penurie and hereupon shall accuse him of forgerie let them beware lest they inuolue the holy scriptures in the same accusation For they make some places fertile which are now in a maner barren But if we consider the hand which somtimes stretcheth forth it self and somtimes drawes it self in again which now sendeth forth a blessing and now a curse vpon one and the same country In briefe if we call to mind the saying of Dauid Psal. 104. and refer the reason of such alterations to that supreame and soueraigne cause we shall find the true answer to such obiections Moreouer those who for the former reason will not beleeue Herodotus his report of the fruitfulnesse of Babylon will neuer beeleue that the citie Babylon was so great as he reporteth it to haue bene viz. that those which dwelt in the suburbes were surprised and taken before they in the heart of the citie had knowledge thereof For if we measure the largenesse of it by the greatnesse of our cities it cannot chuse but seeme false and fabulous I proceed now to prosecute the second part touching the actions of men First then as Herodotus is suspected of falshood and forgery for reporting that Babylon was so beautiful great rich and situate in so fertil a soile so is he also for the large report which he maketh of the puissance of the Persian Kings Lords of that citie For who can beleeue that a King of Persia euer led such an armie as drunke riuers drie I meane such small riuers as he speaketh of True it is I confesse if the Reader shal consider the power of our moderne Kings and thereby iudge of the puissance and power of the Persian Monarchs he cannot but hold Herodotus for the fondest fabler that euer writ But to make this comparison were to demaund as one did whether the Sea were greater then the Lake of New-castle and it were to speake with as good iudgement as he that said as it is reported Se le Rey de Franse se fousse bin gouuerna è fousse maitre d'houta de nâ—utron seignaâ— It were I say to measure the power of Princes with his mete-wand who said Mo l'è pur matto'sto ré à â—olerse â—uffar con san Marco L'è perso che i signori ha deliberato di mettere in terra cinquecenti cauai fottili For looke how much these fond fooles debased the King of France by such ignorant and doltish speeches so much do they decase the King of Persia who compare him with our moderne Kings But as he which asked whether the Sea were greater then the Lake of Newcastle would neuer haue demanded this question if he had seene Danubius or Nilus but wold at least should haue gathered that if these riuers do incomparably exceed this Lake in bignesse the Sea into which all riuers do run must needs be of a huge and spacious greatnesse so he that hath but read what forces Tamberlaine leuied of late yeares in comparison being at the first but a Neatheard will no doubt if he haue but a dramme of iudgement thereby gather that the power of the Persian Kings did infinitely surpasse the forces of our moderne Kings For Tamberlaine had sixe hundred thousand footmen and foure hundred thousand horsemen when he encountred Baiazet the Turkish Emperour and hauing discomfited two hundred thousand of his men led him away prisoner in fetters of gold Now then if Tamberlaine of a neatheard became so puissant a Prince to what height may we think mounted the Kings of Persia considering that euen from their cradles they were men of matchlesse might which at their dying day they left much more increased For confirmation whereof though many pregnant proofes might be produced yet I will content my selfe with such as historians do affoord as namely how Xerxes one of these Emperours gaue to Themistocles fiue great cities the first for his pantry the second for his celler the third for his kitchin the fourth for his wardrobe and the fift for his bed-chamber And what great thing was this for the King of Persia to giue Verily no more then for a King at this day to giue one or two small villages They further affirme that it is not probable that euer any King should play such prankes as Herodotus reporteth not onely not beseeming their places and persons being Princes but any simple swaines or corridons of the countrey Whereunto I answer that if it were a new thing to see Kings commit facts vnbeseeming their places and persons we might well suspect his report in this behalfe But if it be common and ordinary in euery childs mouth why should we not beleeue it What may some say is it credible that a King should so farre forget himselfe as to expose his naked wife to the view of his seruant as Herodotus affirmeth of King Candaules To which I answer that if Candaules were the onely King that played so shamefull a part we were in some sort to be pardoned if we did not subscribe hereto
in France betweene gentlemen and gentlewomen c. is permitted and held as honest be they kinsmen or others whereas such a kisse in Italie would not only be scandalous but also dangerous In recompence whereof Italian dames make no conscience to paint themselues as French Ladies do those at leastwise that are not Italianized These few examples which may serue vs as a patterne of that which hereafter God willing shal be handled more at large shall suffice for this present and herewith I will conclude that if in so neare neighbouring nations and in the same age the manners of men are so dissonant and disagreeing one from another we may not imagine the difference betweene vs and those of whom Herodotus speaketh so incredible they being so farre remote from vs not onely in distance of place but also of time But because the difference betweene our customes and those of our predecessors may easily be discerned I spare examples Yet one thing further is to be noted viz. that some which at the first blush may haply seeme foolish and ridiculous and are therefore thought forged and fabulous if they be throughly considered will be found to be grounded vpon good reason Among the rest that of the Babylonians recorded in the first booke may well be numbred In euery market towne saith he once a yeare they assemble all the mariageable maides and leade them to a certaine place appointed for the purpose where a multitude of men come flocking about them and there they are sold by an officer to him that offereth most the fairest of all being cried first and she being sold at a high rate the next to her in beautie and so the rest in order yet vpon condition that they marry them and take them for their wiues Whereupon the richest Babylonians intending to marry but the fairest and most beautifull virgins in the company one out-bidding another in the bargain The country swains contenting themselues though they haue not the fairest take the woodden-fac'd wenches and the ill-fauourd-foule-fustilugs for a small summe For when the officer hath sold all the handsomest he comes to the foulest of them all her especially that is lame or hath but one eye or some such deformitie and cries aloud Who will haue her for such a price In the end she is deliuered to him that will be content to marry her for the smallest summe The mony which is giuen for the mariage of the foulest acrewing of the sale of the fairest And thus the faire marry the foule and such as haue any bodily blemish or imperfection Neither is it lawfull for any to giue his daughter to whom he thinkes good nor for him which hath bought her to carry her away before he hath giuen his word that he will marry her This story at the first sight seemeth not onely strange but also ridiculous howbeit if we consider the causes and inducements which moued the Babilonians to marry their daughters in this sort we shall find that there is more reason and lesse sin in this custome then in sundry lawes deuised by those great Philosophers Plato and Aristotle Now as it cannot be denied but that there are in Herodotus sundry customes and fashions both wilde and wicked which for this cause carry small credite with them so must it needs be granted that he recordeth many noble enterprises famous acts and valiant exploits vndertaken managed and atchieued with such courage prowesse and valour as may well deserue admiration And that there is nothing in â—his history so abhorring from truth or so incredible but may winne credence if we compare it with that which other historians haue written in the like kinde For they report farre stranger facts I meane such as were atchieued with infinite greater prowesse and valour And verily since the first inuention of guns it was necessary men should as it were double and treble their valour in exposing themselues against their mercilesse fury and rage And we haue dayly euents and occurrences which do in a maner compel vs to beleeue that to be true which before we held to be false The fact of Cocles alwayes thought so strange and incredible was confirmed Anno 1562. by a Scot who being pursued by certaine Reisters from whom he could not wind himselfe leapt with his horse from the top of the mountaine Caux neare to Havre de Grace called Hable into the Sea and so escaped safe to land which is a story confirmed by innumerable testimonies I am further to aduertise thee gentle Reader that some stories recorded by Herodotus which seeme very strange and which a man would think were written for the whetstone are confirmed not onely by the testimonies of approued later writers but of our moderne historians as I haue shewed in my Latine Apology Of which number that of the women of Thrace may wel be reckoned who contended when their husband was dead for one man had many wiues which of them should die with him for companie For each of them affirmed that they were best beloued and thereupon great suite was made by their kinsfolkes and friends that they might haue the honour to accompanie him at his death For she that was thus graced was accounted happie the rest going away with shame enough all their liues after Verily this history cannot be sampled nor paralelled by any example of women in these countries for euen those kind hearts which loue their husbands best would looke strangely vpon him that should aske them whether they could not be contented to lay downe their liues for their husbands as Alcestis did a fact grounded vpon better reason then that of the Thracians And I perswade my selfe they would aske so many three dayes respite and so many termes to answer in one after another that there would be no end But shall we therefore say it is a fiction For my part though there were none but onely Herodotus that affirmed it I would not hold it incredible considering what Caesar and other auncient historians write of those which suffered voluntary death with the Kings of Aquitane For the King of that countrey saith he had six hundred men with him whom he entertained in his Court permitting them to haue a hand in managing the affaires of the State vpon condition they should beare him companie at his death which without further intreatie they were readie to performe This history I say maketh the other much more credible But to omit this known example we find this very thing which Herodotus reports of these Thracians recorded by other historiographers who as we know neuer tooke it out of him and testified also by others who were eye-witnesses thereof albeit they report it of the Indians and not of the Thracians I further affirme that our moderne historians report some stranger things then any is to be found in Herodotus which hath purchased him so ill a name which notwithstanding go for currant from hand to hand because the authors thereof are men of
benefite by euery particular here recorded but further learne to parallele auncient stories with moderne by obseruing their conformitie and Analogie if this word sound not too harshly in English eares and consequently to speake with greater reuerence and respect of auncient historians as also to omit no remarkable thing which may stand him in stead when occasion shall serue without due obseruation I say this worke once come to perfection because this is but an Introduction or Preparatiue treatise as the title purporteth albeit a man may here take a tast of that which hath bene said which is the cause why I call it A preparatiue Treatise or The first booke of the Apologie But you may here haply demaund the reason that moued me first to pen the Latin Apologie which was my first Essay Verily to deale plainly with you the great pleasure which I tooke in reading the Greeke storie made me not onely forget my paines in correcting infinite scapes in the Latin translation but further so obliged me vnto it by the great content it gaue me that I could do no lesse then pleade for it in these my Apologeticall discourses against the Philippicks and sharpe inuectiues of such seuere and rigide censurers as cease not to accuse it of falshood forgerie and fabulositie and that the great desire I had to testifie my good will and affection towards this author shold banish all feare of mine owne insufficiency to vndertake the penning of such an Apologie til some other better able to furnish out this argument should take it in hand Moreouer I confesse for I can conceale nothing from my friend that one reason among the rest which moued me to affect this storie being common to me with all French-men who are seene in the Greeke tongue was not onely the great affinitie the French hath with the Greeke aboue any other language as I haue shewed at large in a treatise which I published touching the conformitie of these two languages but for that there is not a Greeke author extant at this day nor any to be found in the best Libraries in France or Italie which agreeth so well with the French phrase and to the vnderstanding whereof the knowledge of the French is so necessarie and auaileable as Herodotus is Now as I haue taken vpon me to be Herodotus his aduocate so I am to intreate you to be mine in pleading for me against such supersilious censurers as not content to lash me for my faults for I feare me I haue giuen them iust cause in many places shall straine themselues to go a note aboue Ela and to correct Magnificat in calumniating that which their consciences tell them cannot be bettered And albeit it may be thought that I haue stretched euery storie vpon the tainters and made mountaines of mole-hils in enlarging each other narration thereby to winne the greater applause and admiration yet you who know me so well can witnesse with me that I make conscience of enhancing the meanest historie And verily I was so farre from taking this libertie to my self that where I found my authors who are for the most part classique writers or historians of note iarring and at discord I left all circumstances doubtfull and vncertaine contenting my selfe with the substance of the storie fully resolued and agreed vpon You may also boldly speake it vpō my word that if I haue brought in any like mummers in a mask concealing their names it was not because I was ignorant of them but for that I knew it would be more odious to some and lesse profitable to others How profitable may some say Verily the examples in the first part of the Apologie serue in stead of crystals wherin we may see the waiwardnesse and vntowardnesse the peeuishnesse and peruersnesse of our nature how backward it is to any thing that is good and how prone and propense to that which is euill as also what we are of our selues when we are destitute of the feare of God which as a bridle should curbe and keep vs in which point is handled more at large Chap. 11. sect 4. Againe they serue in stead of aduertisements or warning-peeces to admonish vs of sundrie subtill sleights and deceits so common and rife in the world Those in the second part shew how farre one age exceeds another in clownisme and rusticitie more especially they serue vs in stead of so many mirrours wherein we may behold the naturall blindnesse of the multitude in the maine matter concerning their saluation and consequently in what great need they stand of diuine illumination True it is indeed I haue there also blazoned the vertues of our good Catholickes of the Popish Clergie who feede themselues fat by famishing of others in debarring them of the foode of their soules and wickedly prophaning that which they beare the world in hand and vrge vpon others as the onely true religion Whose inditement I haue so hotly pursued and trauersed euerie point thereof that I feare me I haue somewhat ouershot my selfe in setting downe some of their sweete sayings and doings in the darke not worthie to be heard but by their owne eares which I perswade my selfe not you onely but all that know me will interprete no otherwise Notwithstanding let me intreate you to do the part of a faithfull friend in informing those with whom you shall conuerse of the sinceritie of my meaning herein lest haply they stretch my words beyond the leuell of my thoughts or make some other construction of my meaning then indeed was meant And thus Sir accordingly I recommend my suite vnto you and my selfe to your fauour desiring the Lord you may rest in his From our Helicon the sixt of Nouember 1566. AN INTRODVCTION TO A TREATISE TOVCHING THE CONFORMITIE OF AVNCIENT AND MODERNE WONDERS OR A Preparatiue Treatise in defence of HERODOTVS Which may also be called The first booke of the Apologie for Herodotus The Preface to the first Part. AS there are many who do highly esteeme of Antiquitie and haue it in great admiration and are if I may so speake so zealously affected towards it that the reuerence they beare it is in the nearest degree to superstition so there are others on the contrary who are so farre from giuing it that which of due belongs vnto it that they do not onely disgrace it what they can but euen tread it vnder foote Now that these two opinions be they fancies or humors haue borne sway among the auncient shall appeare hereafter by pregnant proofes But for the better manifestation of the reasons whereon they ground their opinions I thought it not impertinent to treate in generall of the vertues and vices of auncient times searching out the first source and spring thereof that so in the sequel of this discourse I may come to examine and trie the truth of the old prouerbiall sentence which saith by way of aequiuocation Le monde va tousiours à l'empire The world growes daily worse and worse And
long traines their furres of sable their gold wherewith they all to bespangle their heads and which they weare about their necks and on their girdles and how Menot saith The poore starue for cold in the streete whilest thou stately Ladie and thou delicate Dame hast seuen or eight gownes in thy trunke which thou wearest not thrise in a yeare and doest thou not thinke thou shalt be called to account for this vaine superfluitie before Gods iudgement seate I know not what excuse a Ladie can make who seeing a poore man naked and crying for cold trayleth two or three elles of veluet after her But how women in all ages haue desired to excell in brauery I should say in pompe and pride Poets do sufficiently declare who like heraulds haue proclaimed the folly of their sumptuous superfluities in this kind whose testimonies if haply they shal not satisfie any they may haue recourse to sundry others recorded by historians as namely by Liuie who reports that certaine Romaine Ladies and Gentlewomen nobly descended and otherwise accounted graue and chast matrons did murmure and mutine against such as would not suffer them to returne to their braueries againe and that in such turbulent and furious manner as though they had bin besides themselues And wherfore I beseech you were laws enacted of old to cut off the excesse and riot of women but because there was need of such bridles to restraine them and curbes to keepe them in Menot also vseth a word which puts me in mind of a place in Terence where he shewes what paines women tooke in tricking and trimming of themselues For whereas he saith hyperbolically that a man might sooner make a stable cleane where fortie horses had stood then a woman will haue pinned all her pins and setled her attire Terence said long ago Dum comuntur annus est The same Preacher doth often fume and fret against those huswiues who attired themselues so modestly that a man might see euen to their nauels His words are these fol. 25. col 1. Habebit magnas manicas caput dissolutum pectus discoopertum vsque ad ventrem cum pectorali albo per quod quis clarè potest videre Which put me in mind of that which Horace saith Altera nil obstat Cois tibi pene videre est Vt nudam But some may haply say As for this light loose and lasciuious kind of apparell I hold it to be a wicked thing indeed but why should brauery and sumptuous attire vndergo so sharpe a censure To which I answer that in some persons it cannot be reproued notwithstanding such costly array hath euer bene condemned because that for one that maintaines it at her owne cost there are an hundred which maintaine it at their cost that cannot do withall as Barelete and Menot testifie though the mony come out of their husbands purses or accrew to them by cutting asunder the true loues knot For proofe whereof consider the place formerly quoted out of Barelete O ye such and such mens wiues I tell you if your garments were put in a presse the bloud of the poore would drop from them And Menot also who iumpeth with him not onely in iudgement but almost in words Ye my Lords Ladies who are so addicted to your pleasures and weare scarlet gownes I verily think that if they were wel pressed a man might see the bloud of the poore wherein they were died runne out of them Which prouerbiall phrases though they may not be taken strictly according to the letter but hyperbolically the better to set out such impietie as it were in orient colours yet Barelete not content to houer thus in generalities bringeth for instance that which befell an vsurer no lesse strange then the former for he saith that bloud came out of the bread which he ate As for those huswiues that maintaine their pompe and state by false play at the tables in bearing a man too many contrary to duty and promise Maillard and Menot say them their lessons But I will content my selfe with the testimonie of Maillard who hauing said Tell me whether it be a goodly sight to see an Atturneys wife who hath not twentie shillings a yeare left him after he hath payed for his ffice to go like a Princesse to haue her head bespangled with gold a gold chaine about her necke and a golden girdle You say your places wil maintaine it alsoâ—â—â—ddeth â—â—â—ddeth afterward It may be you will say Our husbands giue vs no such gownes but we get them with the paine of our bodies All the diuels in hell go with such paines For these are his words Dicetis fortè Maritus noster non dat nobis tales vestes sed nos lucramur ad poenam nostri corporis Ad trigenta mille Diabolos talis poena Now it is easie to vnderstand without further explication what this paine is neuerthelesse if it seeme so obscure to any that it need a glosse a man may fetch it out of Maillard where he exclaimeth against such as are their daughters bawds and who make them get their dowrie with the paine and sweate of their bodies Faciunt ei lucrari matrimonium suum ad poenam sudorem sui corporis fol. 35. col 4. But to apply these testimonies to the particulars which I haue here vndertaken to intreate of If in Hesiods time there was small fidelitie to be found among men no not among brethren nor yet in children towards their parents doubtlesse there was lesse in Ouids time and much lesse in the ages following and least of all in this wherein we liue And if charitie did waxe cold in former times it is now altogether frozen if iustice did then halt of one foote she now halteth downe-right of both If she had then but one eye she is now starke blind If she was deafe but of one eare she is now as deafe as a doore naile I speake according to the old prouerbe There is none so deafe as he that wil not heare to which we may adde this There is none so blind as he that wil not see And whereas she then tooke onely with her hands she now taketh both with hands and feete and whereas brauery and effeminatenesse in attire lasciuiousnesse in speech and behauiour and all such vices as are fore-runners of greater mischiefes went but on foote and slowly now they go on horsebacke and in post All which notorious and grosse sinnes we may assure our selues are now in the ruffe and as it were in the Aprill of their age whereas the former were but in their winter hauing so much more vigour and strength now then they had in former time as trees and plants haue in the spring time then in the winter season The truth of all which shall be demonstrated hereafter in particular Now we haue so little cause to complaine of the want of Christian reproofes instructions reprehensions and admonitions or to iudge it to be the reason of the loosenesse
former point as hauing shewed how farre the wickednesse of these times doth exceed and go beyond that of former ages in sundry things it remaineth I should endeuour the like in the second which when I shall haue fully finished I hope I shall haue made a reasonable good preparatiue to the Apologie for Herodotus But how may some say can these particular instances and allegations sufficiently serue to winne credit and authoritie to Herodotus his history cōsidering they consist of moderne examples borrowed partly from this and partly from the Age last past Marke therefore my answer which will further shew the scope which I ayme at Albeit we find strange stories in Herodotus which seeme to some altogether incredible partly because they cannot conceiue how men should be so notoriously wicked and prophane partly because it will not sinke into their heads that euer any were so rude and rusticall yet I doubt not but when I shall haue decyphered the villanies of this Age how transcendēt they are in comparison of former times we shal haue iust cause to say that as we haue seene sundry strange things in this last centenary of the world which were not knowne nor heard of in the former much lesse in the ages before and yet are such as we cannot call into question except we wil distrust our senses as hauing bin eare-witnesses and eye-witnesses thereof so we are not to thinke but that the age in which Herodotus liued and the precedent had some proper and peculiar to themselues which would not haue bin thought so incredible had we liued in those dayes I affirme the like of the second point assuring my selfe that when I shall haue shewed how those that liued in the age last past were not onely simple but also rude and rusticall in comparison all men of iudgement wil easily grant that as we cānot doubt of the rusticitie of our late forefathers it being so authentically witnessed though otherwise perhaps it might seem incredible so neither are we to thinke but that they which liued so many hundred yeares ago had their clownishnesse proper to themselues which would not haue bin thought so incredible as now it is had we bin their next successors seeing we might haue had it confirmed by infallible testimonies Now this argument my purpose is to handle generallie to the end it may serue as a preparatiue to the Apologie for Herodotus till I haue more time and leisure as also better meanes and oportunitie to handle it more distinctly and to find out moderne examples to sute and parallele those which seeme so strange in this our Historian 2 But what may some say should a man thinke those stories in Herodotus to be incredible onely in regard of the two former reasons viz. their notorious villany and sottish simplicity No verily for many mens incredulity proceeds from a third cause viz. in that they consider not the great change and alteration which is to be seene almost in euery thing since those times but would haue the naturall disposition of men in diebus illis and their course of life so to sute ours as that they should take pleasure in those things wherein we take pleasure and contrarily that whatsoeuer disliketh vs should haue bin distastfull vnto thē And which is more they would find an agreement and correspondence betweene the estates of ancient kingdomes and common wealths with those at this day Nay some are so inconsiderate in reading of ancient stories that they measure the climates of forrein and farre remote countries by their owne No maruell therefore if finding such discord and disagreement in all these things they iudge auncient stories to be as farre from truth as the things they reade are differing from those they dayly heare and see Knowing therefore this to be a third reason why many can hardly subscribe vnto them I haue reserued for it the third part of this treatise But I am to intreate thee gentle Reader to giue me leaue to omit that for the present which my occasions will not permit me to annexe not doubting but I shall giue thee a specimen hereof in the Preface which I am to prefixe before this present worke CHAP. XXVII How some Poets contrary to the current haue preferred their owne age before the former as being much more ciuill and of farre better grace THe sighes of Hesiod and groanes of Tibullus vttered in the depth of their discontent in dislike of the customes and fashions of their times haue bin sufficiently witnessed before by their verses wherein they affirme as we haue heard that they had bin happy men if they had bin borne before whereas they thought themselues wretched and miserable in being borne in so bad a time But what shall we say of those who contrarily thinke themselues happy in that they were borne in so good a time good I say in regard of the former For what saith Ouid Prisca iuuent alios ego nunc me denique natum Gratulor haec aetas moribus apta meis Let others praise the times and things forepast I ioy my selfe reserued till the last This age of all doth best my humour fit Where though he crosse and contrary Hesiod and Tibullus in his wish and desire yet he concurres with them in the cause thereof For the reason which made them wish they had bin borne in some other age was the exceeding great loosenesse leudnesse of their owne On the other side the reason why Ouid contented himself with his owne and preferred it before the former was not because there was lesse wickednesse and impietie but greater vrbanitie and ciuilitie For he saith expresly Sed quia cultus adest nec nostros mansit in annos Rusticitas priscis illa superstes auis And if I were to prosecute this argument I might particularize wherein his age was more ciuill then the former and namely then those which came nearest to that of old dreaming Saturne as Poets speake I might also draw out a long thread of a little flaxe and shew how mens wits haue bin more and more sharpened refined and as it were sublimated from time to time Whence it cometh to passe that they haue had a further insight into the workes they tooke in hand and haue dayly added something vnto them to perfect and polish them the better so that antick words and workmanship seeme to be but rude and rusticall in comparison But if I should further proceed in handling of this argument I should but intangle my selfe in an endlesse labyrinth it shall suffice therefore if according to my former promise I compare the age last past with this wherein we liue yet not taking vpon me curiously to scan euery point of this comparison but after I haue handled some of lesse moment to come to the maine and most materiall point of all which deserueth a farre more ample and large discourse Howbeit I am first to performe my former promise and to alleadge certaine French phrases whereby we
I say were curious others not onely curious but also vaine and friuolous yea for the most part sottish and ridiculous notwithstanding such curiositie as it is well knowne hath bene censured in all ages For we see how greatly it offended S. Paul and many ancient Doctors after him among the rest S. Augustine as I remember telleth vs of one that shaped a fond fellow such an answer as his curious question well deserued For hauing demaunded what God did before he created the world he answered him that he made hell for such curious companions And Constantine the Emperour sheweth in a certaine Epistle what mischiefe such curious questions brought with them VVhich notwithstanding could not keepe Peter Lombard Thomas Aquinas and other Schoole-men from broaching thousands of such vnprofitable and friuolous quirkes and quiddities nay some pernicious and blasphemous Neither hath it kept our moderne Doctors from disputing of them in the schooles nor dayly coyning of new And what I beseech you do these questions concerne They concerne God the diuinitie and humanitie of Christ and the Angels As Vtrum Deus posset peccare si vellet c. Whether God could sinne if he would Whether he can make those things which he could in times past Whether he can know any thing which he knoweth not Whether he could haue taken vpon him humane nature in the weaker sexe But these are reserued for the most illuminate Doctors I say illuminatis Doctoribus Vtrum plures in Christo filiationes Item Vtrum Deus potuerit suppositare mulierem vel diabolum vel asinum vel cucurbitam vel silicem Et si suppositasset cucurbitam quemadmodum fuerit concionatura editura miracula quonam modo fuisset sixa cruci Item what should Saint Peter haue consecrated if he had then consecrated when the body of Christ hung vpon the crosse Itē whether it shal be lawfull to eate and drinke after the resurrection And concerning the Angels whether they agree wel together or not Whether God doth vse the ministery and seruice of all or not Whether they be grieued at the condemnation of those which are committed to their custody or not I omit the questions which are moued about the names of Angels and Archangels their preheminences and seates to wit how high one is aduanced aboue another and other speculations concerning their Hierarchy They haue also sundry questions de notionibus relationibus instantibus formalitatibus quidditatibus ecceitatibus and other such like bald and barbarous words which seem to haue bin inuented of purpose to coniure diuels which notwithstanding were ordinarily tossed vp and downe in the mouthes of schoole-doctors as well Nominals as Reals as Thomists Albertists Occamists Scotists and the rest They haue also in former times vainly busied themselues and do stil beate their braines euen at this day about fond and fantasticall questions which they moue touching the articles of our faith and Christian beleefe and namely touching the holy Sacrament of the Altar as they call it as we may see in a booke called Cautelae Missae And yet their skill was neuer such in multiplying question vpon question about this point but that a man might moue a nūber of others neuer heard of before And surely no maruell considering their sacrifice is liable to so many and great inconueniences For albeit they haue moued many doubts of the inconueniences that might befall their consecrated host notwithstanding some such haue befallen it as they would neuer haue dreamed of For they speake not a word of such an accident as befell S. Francis as it is recorded fol. 72. of the booke of Conformities so often before alleadged how he saying Masse vpon a time found a Spider in the chalice which he would not cast out of the cup but dranke her vp together with the bloud and afterwards rubbing and scratching his thigh where he felt it itch caused her to come forth againe This verily is such an accident as might minister matter of sundry other questions neuer heard of before For first it may be asked whether the bloud being so poysoned had as great vertue in it as if it had not bene poysoned and whether it were of such a piercing nature that it could penetrate euen to Purgatory Item whether the Spider came thither of her owne accord or rather by reuelation aboue the strength and against the course and current of nature Item whether she were partaker of the merits of the sacrifice at leastwise whether she were sanctified or not It may further be demanded whether she could be made tipsie with this drinke or not And they that are well seene in such subtilties may yet moue two or three dozen of questiōs more which made me say that we are not to maruaile if hitherto they could neuer find how to make an end of these questions which this strange mysticall or mysterificall manner of sacrifice ingendreth 2 Notwithstanding their case were not so greatly to be pitied if they did but busie their heads and breake their braines about the former points but they are so farre from resting there that they will needs enter in Sanctum Sanctorum euen into Gods closet and secret counsell And this their curiositie hath excited them through their foole-hardy inuention to patch to the historicall books of the Bible a number of circumstantiall fooleries as we may see by that which hath bene already spoken of their paraphrasticall expositions Nay they haue proceeded a step further in subiecting the histories of the Bible as they haue done the fables in their Legends to such seruitude and slauery that they come at their whistle and tell them what was the name of Tobies dogge 3 For exemplification of which particulars to begin with curious questions wherein there is lesse danger let vs heare the pleasant conceited reason alleadged by Menot fol. 47. col 4. why Christ would not suffer Saint Peter to vse his sword Because saith he he was not cunning at his weapon as hauing neuer learned at the fence schoole as wel appeared when he cut off Malchus his care whereas he should haue cut off his head For is it a seemely sight thinke yee to see one carry a booke at his belt whereon he cannot reade Euen so saith he it is as vnseemely a thing to see a man weare a sword by his side who knowes not how to vse it But to omit this bold blind assertiō let vs here obserue touching the cause which moued our Sauiour to giue this commandement to Peter notwithstanding the true reason be most euident two other points which he holdeth as most certen truths though no logician on the earth be able to conclude thē out of the text vpō which alone we are to ground our faith First that Saint Peter meant to haue cut off Malchus his head when he cut of his eare but that his blow somewhat missed Secondly that the blade wherewith he cut off his eare was a Rapier I omit another particular
yea so great that whereas in times past they were subiect to Kings in ciuill causes now they are aboue them and take vpon them to command them For it is to be obserued that by reason of their pardons or indulgences they were worshipped as gods and gathered Peters pence apace by reason of excommunication they were feared whereof we may see infinite examples in the liues of Popes And these words thunderbolt and thundering helped them well to play their parts with those who tooke the Pope to be the man whom he affirmed himselfe to be Yet I will not say but that they haue inriched themselues by their excommunications For as they forbad the vse of sundry things to the end men might buy dispensations so they excommunicated men to the end they might buy absolutions As we reade how the foresaid Emperour Fredericke bought his absolution of Pope Gregory the ninth at the price of an hundred thousand ounces of gold But what shall we say to Boniface the eight who not content to excommunicate the French King according to the vsual manner excommunicated him and all his to the fourth generation By which we may perceiue how at their pleasure they trod Kings and Emperours as well as meaner men vnder their feete openly mocking at the Lombard-like patience and sottishnesse of the world For what colourable excuse or pretence could his Holinesse haue to excommunicate a man with all his posteritie to the fourth generation The like mockage vsed the foresaid Pope when to spite the forenamed King Philip the faire he nullified all the indulgences granted to the French by his predecessors For had these pardons had such vertue in them as they were supposed to haue they should haue deliuered many millions of soules out of Purgatory whereas being manifested to be but trumperies meere nullities it should follow that these poore soules were to returne back into Purgatory againe As a malefactor who hauing got out of prison by meanes of the Princes pardon if it so fall out that his pardon be reuersed or repealed there is no remedy he must be cast into prison againe 3 Further we may see how men excommunicate were driuen to despaire and what cruell reuenge was taken of the Laitie for offending and wronging the Cleargie by a story recorded in the life of Honorius the third where it is said that Anno 1223. Adam Bishop of Cathnes in Scotland being burned in his own kitchin by some of his diocesse for excommunicating certaine of them because they paid not their tenths this Pope was neuer at quiet till for this one he had hanged foure hundred of them and gelded their children Which history to omit other particulars shewes into what a desperate case poore soules were driuen by this meanes For it is not probable that they which did so handle their Bishop who had excommunicated them would haue broken out into so great outrage but that formerly they had bene instant suppliants and importunate suiters for an absolution which being denied caused them to fall into this mad mood 4 Consider now gentle Reader how these Antichrists made all the world to tremble vnder them for if any shal reply and say that al Church-men were neither Popes nor Prelates to keepe the people in such aw and to be so much feared I shall desire him to remēber what the prouerbe saith De grand maistre hardy valet A great lord a bold seruant which if I be not deceiued hath bene more truly verified and better practised by thē then by any men in the earth For hardly durst a man looke a paltry priest in the face for the great reuerence and respect which was had of our holy mother the Church Besides it is to be obserued that their Lord and Maister did not reserue the thunderbolt of excōmunication to himselfe alone but affoorded it them when and as often as they stood in need which they so little spared that for halfe a quart d'escu yea for a matter of three pence as Menot saith they would not stick to excōmunicate poore men who were therupon driuen to despaire as thinking themselues to be damned And because the place in Menot serueth so fitly for this purpose I will here insert it He saith therefore fol. 143. col 4. He that is excommunicated is forsaken of God and giuen vp into the power of all the diuels in hell and therefore it is a great and grieuous sinne to put such a sharpe sword into the hand of a foolish Prelat seeing it is no small matter to send a man to the diuell Sutable hereunto a Caualier said vpon a time to one of our order Softly father I would gladly be resolued of you in a difficult point I cannot sufficiently wonder at the dealing which is practised at this day in the Church in that we secular men send those whom we cut off with the stroke of iustice to heauen you Church-men send them straight to the diuell I will shew you how when we condemn any man to death which he hath iustly deserued before we send him to the gallows we procure some good man to shriue him and when he is led to the place of execution we comfort him and put him in good hope and labor by all meanes to work him to a good dispositiō that so he may dye in a good mind whereas you Clergy-men who haue the cure and should haue the care of mens soules for three single pence or an old paire of shooes send a man soule and body cloathes and all to the diuell such great zeale you haue of the saluation of our soules To which this ghostly father as he confessed to me could not answer him with al his diuinitie seeing his conscience told him that he spake nothing but the very truth he is yet to take counsell of his pillow what answer to make him If this poore Franciscan was constrained to cōfesse thus much who had affirmed a little before that all that were excommunicated by Priests were no longer vnder the protection of God nor in the bosome of the Church but were deliuered vp to Sathan in such sort that euen vpon good Friday when men pray not onely for Christians but also for Iewes Pagans and other infidels they pray not for them If I say his conscience inforced him to cōfesse this in what a pitiful plight may we thinke were they ouer whom they did so tyrannize by terrifying them with the thunderbolt of excommunication 5 And no maruell if they stood in such feare to be excommunicated by a Priest considering the opinion which they had of them which was often beaten into their heads I meane the opiniō which they had of their power authority for they would not sticke to say Potestas Mariae maior est potestate Angelorum non tamen potestate sacerdotum Which sentence is alleadged by Menot fol. 107. And God knowes what goodly lying legends they alleadged to proue the power dignitie and greatnesse of Priests